#And like. If you watch the show up until episode 10 is almost a full narrative (with some holes here and there of course) but it feels | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sh1-n0bu · 1 year

Note

This anon know what is good, i guess i never make a ask so i'm doing now. Can u do that concept with any character (and mc of course) , may a hybrid? Idk, sorry if is confuse, a lil nsfw maybe?

-🍑

✿ 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙩𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙘𝙖𝙩 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 ✿

characters: cat!6reeze x nb!reader

warnings: fluff!!!! fluff fluff fluff fluff fluff! also modern au!

notes: wanted to take a break from writing smut and take inspiration from my own fluffy bby for this one. also @junerixi , simping for only one☝️anemo boy is an illness. i hope you recover soon😚 honkai:star rail ver can be read here!

art by Mechodes on twt

oh gods

a menace

a complete menace i say

you know that thing cats do? when they just keep a direct eye contact with you as their little fluffy paw slowly pushes your potted plant or a cup full of drink to the edge of the table while you watch hopelessly bc your hands are dirty or busy doing smt?

yeah, it’s the 5th time the flower shop owner is seeing you this week and your wallet is crying

it’s almost as if you two were sworn enemies in your past life and scaranya is out for blood

doesn’t have that much of a zoomie episodes but when he does oh boy

you better retreat into a safe place but even then you’re not safe from scaranya’s terrifying zoomie powers

he’s literally running and jumping around everywhere

the table, on top of the fridge, the curtains, on top of the washing machine, your little bookshelf - everywhere

scaranya is such a little shit (affectionately)

his preferred way of waking you up is faking puking noises and when you throw your covers off and literally zoom into the living room, he gives you a look as if saying “finally awake, you silly human slave”

sometimes he even jumps on top of your chest harshly but that’s only used if you’re oversleeping with your alarm clock snoozed for the past 20 minutes and you’re running late to work

despises baths with a burning passion

if you’re taking him anywhere a large body of water is, he’s trashing around, kicking, hissing, biting, scratching - the whole pack

after a successful bathing time, with added new scratch marks on yourself, he would not approach you until you fall asleep

after you have fell asleep, he would quietly approach your sleeping figure and give small, shy licks to the angry red scratches he caused as if apologizing for being so aggressive

hates rainy days too, especially the ones with thunder and lightning

jumps up 5 ft into the air if a thunder strikes and runs into your lap, shaking small body curling into himself with all of his cockiness and pride out the window

scaranya appreciates you greatly but he’s just a bit too bad at communicating and so he shows his affection by lapping up the scratches he gave you

“scaranya, aren’t you gonna go out to the back garden and play with the rest? it’s nice outside today”

hmph! what do you mean by play with the rest of the cats? he’s a royal! he’s superior! scaranya has never heard of such bullshit befor- oh! a bird! must. catch!

scaranya and miao gets into fights sometimes and whenever you separate them, scaranya goes to sulk in the corner of the house silently

until you go over to him with a sigh and pick him up gently, he doesn’t even resist - just choosing to simply curl his tail around your wrist

a solid 9/10 kitty if he would just stop being a tsundere

art by Mechodes on twt

miao acts more like a guard dog than a cat sometimes

the smallest out of all the kitties yet also the strongest one. honestly the sheer amount of times miao has taken down a wild dog 10 times his size just keeps giving you more and more heart attack

doesn’t get zoomies, if anything he stops the other kitties’ zoomies if they go a bit too far - which most of the times escalate into scaranya and miao fighting

cleanse the land house through slaughter bug hunting

a sweet baby

miao’s preferred way of waking you up is to silently sit on your side of the bed and stare until you get that feeling of being watched and wake up to 2 piercing yellow eyes just staring holes into your soul

yes, you have yelled and fell off of your bed many times due to that

you found little miao at a dark alleyway, covered in blood and barely on the brink of death with his tiny paws twitching constantly

grew up malnourished on the streets with his 4 siblings dying out one by one, so due to that miao’s body is very small and he’s extremely territorial with you - his one and only sweet human

always leaves his scent on you by rubbing his head around your ankles

miao is indifferent when it comes to taking a bath, unlike scaranya, and he can be very obedient as well

when rubbing soap into his legs and washing his paws he would stretch out his limbs to make it easier for you to wash him - anything to lessen the load of his favorite human

he also seems to like your co-worker, zhongli a lot

one time you came home with zhongli due to a deadline of a great project coming closer and upon seeing him, miao immediately jumped into his lap, purring lowly, rubbing his head on zhongli’s hand

yes your heart broke at the betrayal and yes miao apologized with a dead rat in his mouth

but if it’s any other guests you’re bringing home, then miao would either get on top of the fridge and simply watch or hiss at the guest

oddly likes being in high places

one time, you made him a small necklace-collar thingy out of a few pearls and he wears that with pride, chest puffed out (a replica of his necklace)

loves sleeping on the lower parts of your bed at night. it’s soft, fluffy and he can keep an eye on you and keep you safe so it’s a win-win in miao’s book

“miao-miao, do you wanna come with me to the back garden to pick up the tomatoes?”

before you can even finish your question he’s already at the back door, staring at you expectantly with his tail thumping slowly against the floorboards

thanks to miao and kazunya your house will never get any bugs, roaches or mouses inside

if feeling incredibly vulnerable and soft, miao paws at your arm to ask for pets bc he just needs the comfort of his favorite human

literally a 9/10 kitty if he would just change his way of waking you up

art by ayon🌿 on twt

heinya is another little shit (affectionately)

he likes to cause trouble and drama here and there

also really enjoys spilling tea to you

it doesn’t matter if you’re waking up and is still groggy or just coming in through the front door, back from work - heinya is spilling all the drama of the shows he watched on the tv while you were away or the different birds he saw through the window - meowing away at you excitedly

another helpful hand

if you’re coming back from grocery shopping then heinya can take some of the smallest and lightest bagged things and dragging them to the kitchen alongside miao, kazunya and nyaether

heinya’s preferred way of waking you up is to make biscuits - you know that cute thing cats do with their paws squishing at their favorite spot over and over - on your stomach or lower back or! he just meows besides your ear over and over until you eventually wake up

the perfect alarm - heinya

he’s such a sweet baby

and heinya really likes watching real life crime documentaries for some reason

at first when you found this out, you couldn’t help but think heinya is going to murder you in your sleep but soon you realized he just loves crime related things

and bc he like crime related things, you bought heinya a cute spy glass shaped squeaky toy

when getting the zoomies, heinya decides to bite and kick at the spy glass shaped squeaky toy - making the toy let out squeaks at every little kick

heinya enjoys spending time outdoors, sniffing at the different scents wafting in the air, tracking down all different sorts of footsteps and paw marks with great interest - you sometimes wonder if heinya was a detective in his past life

loves to bring you all sorts of interesting things he found - an old ripped part of a newspaper article, a weirdly shaped leaf, a flower he has never seen before, a half bitten chicken still warm - wait where’d he get this?

loves to sleep using your hand as a pillow my cat does that to me so rip bc you have been captured by the amazing detective heinya and you won’t be moving for hours on end, let’s hope you had a nice snack and a toilet break beforehand

chose to wear the smooth, black satin you tied around his neck as a collar - either bc he loves to wear soft things or he just loves it bc you gave it to him

heinya is an incredibly affectionate kitty, always meowing for you for pets, cuddles and perhaps his favorite soft wet food? he’s been really good!

doesn’t really mind taking baths as well, if anything he uses this opportunity to shake bubbles everywhere!

for some reason, also loves to groom your hand. maybe it’s just something your kitties all share?

overall another solid 9/10 kitty, if you don’t mind being splashed with water and bubbles while bathing him

art by @bbadtime on tumblr

kazunya, me beloved

literally an angel, how could you ever be mad at him even as he took a whole bite out of your potted plants’ leaf?

another kitty that loves staying in high places like miao and stay outdoors like heinya

joins miao on his duty to cleanse the land house through slaughter bug hunting from time to time

a lazy, sweetheart of a cat that loves to sleep on warm places and the sunlight - you literally had to buy a window sling just for him to nap under the sunlight

another helpful hand!

will drag the lightest and smallest bagged things to the kitchen whenever you come back from grocery shopping - more so if it’s cat food

isn’t a picky eater but sometimes, just sometimes, prefers food with fish in it’s ingredients

kazunya is mostly tasked to wake you up by the other kitties bc he’s the sweetest

wakes you up by purring and snuggling with your face, neck, hands - anything just you in general

soon enough, the small fluff purring and cuddling you wakes you up and as a reward for waking up, kazunya gives you a small kiss - a lick to the tip of your nose - making you laugh

doesn’t meow a lot, only when he has to or if it’s an emergency such as the litter boxes not being cleaned, the food trays being empty etc

always gives you a kazunya kiss as a thank you

a gentle baby, even to the guests

whenever a guest comes over to your house, they always gush about the cute white cat with a small red streak in his fur

kazunya doesn’t get zoomies. even if he does it’s rare like only once a week

always grooms himself to keep himself clean, not to mention his white fur sparkling as well

surprisingly enjoys bath times, would even suggest you to bathe him by tugging on your sleeve then pointing to the bathroom with his fluffy paw!

however there’s just one thing that kazunya does that makes you shiver

it’s that he always, always! brings you dead animals or bugs. birds, rats, mouses, cockroaches, crickets - anything that he managed to hunt - he brings over to you with his tail swishing happily behind him

it’s considered a gift in cat language, you know that! but it’s just a bit dirty especially if he brings over different bugs. the rats, mouses and birds you can handle but the bugs brrr

one time, kazunya proudly brought you a dead wolf spider as you held back a tear and a screech, deciding to take his gift with a forced smile

you never recovered from that

a 10/10 kitty if he would just stop bringing you dead spide - kazunya is that a mf dead tarantula in your mouth?

art by os_Amaniwa on twt

another best kitty!

a sweet kitty that never complains!

helpful, never complains, never picky with his food - a literal angel

however sometimes nyaeather disappears randomly, coming back after a day or so

he always seems to be searching for something - his twin - you soon found out, by registering him and getting his pet password

and so you decided to help him reunite with his twin by putting up posters, articles, news on the internet, tv, radio - anything to make nyaether happy

after a whole half year of dedication and endless search, nyaether’s twin was finally found!

turns out the person who adopted nyaether’s twin was your co-worker, dainsleif, the quiet and mysterious tall man

after talking to him about the situation of the twin kitties, you both have come to an agreement to let the kitties have a play date once a week

when the day of the first play date has arrived an someone knocked on your door, your kitties gave you a confused look

upon taking nyaether in your arms, you walked over to the front door before unlocking it and letting dainsleif inside. as the blond man placed down the catbag and opened it, from inside stepped out a cute, similarly blonde furred kitty with a baby blue colored collar

upon seeing the kitty, nyaether jumped out of your arms and tackled his twin. cuddling her and licking at her face with a teary eyes - you and your co-worker dainsleif couldn’t help but laugh at the adorable situation

since then nyaether had made a silent oath to always be beside you and be your best kitty! you have done a lot for him by helping him reunite with his twin - nyumine - so he would do anything in his power to lessen your load!

nyaether’s preferred way of waking you up is by giving a gentle meow beside your ear and give your cheek three kisses - repeat the process on the other side until you eventually giggle and wake up

another kitty that doesn’t mind taking baths! however he just prefers the water to have a bit of bubbles to soothe his nerves

likes to sleep in your arms since he has separation anxiety like scaranya - due to the incident with his twin

“nyaether, keep the others in check okay? i’m going out on a quick grocery shopping!”

“myaaa!”

such a sweet baby🥹

his meows are higher pitched and not full “meow” like kazunya or miao’s instead it’s a short “myaa!”

a solid 11/10 kitty. highly recommend, get yourself a nyaether today!

art by os_Amaniwa on twt

a little shit AND a menace (affectionately)

very hyper too! sometimes you wonder if nyenti has ADHD but in cat version

it’s like he’s always in his zoomie mode as if to make up for having 2 kitties that barely has zoomies - which are miao and kazunya

his affectionate attitude doesn’t help as well

twirling, rubbing himself on your lap, hand, bageling his way around you - he’s always sticking close to you 24/7

one time as nyenti was rubbing himself on your hand while you were working on your computer for an important document, he tripped and fell on your keyboard - deleting your entire progress of work with a “myeeew!”

yes, you cried that night

unlike heinya, nyenti doesn’t really enjoy being outdoors - he just prefers to stay on your lap, lazily bathing in the sun - as he sometimes meows with heinya about some dramas

another kitty that loves to spill the tea to you

him and heinya meows your ears off with the things they have seen, watched, witnessed and heard - sometimes even adding some dirt on the other kitties such as kazunya eating leaves from your potted plants, scaranya sleeping on your hoodie bc he missed you, miao destroying the pantry during his duty to cleanse the land etc etc etc

nyenti’s preferred way of waking you up is to play with your hair. whether it be grooming at your hair, playing with them, tugging on the ends gently - it doesn’t matter which form - as long as nyenti wakes you up, that’s all

he also doesn’t do much hunting either, preferring to watch from the sidelines as the others chase some bugs and small animals they found

for some odd reason nyenti likes you to put flowers on top of his head or a flower shaped charms as a collar - his most favorite and preferred one being the white lily

cut the flower's bud and place it on top of nyenti upside down like it's a cone hat and nyenti would give you the biggest, affectionate "myew!" while rolling around on the ground, showing you his tummy

a sweet kitty if he would just stop being a little zoomie induced shit

nyenti is another kitty that hates taking baths

doesn't react as aggressive as scaranya but he likes to yell his defiance a lot and i mean a lot

overall, a solid 8.5/10 kitty if he would just stop meowing loudly in your ears everytime you take him for a bathtime, making you more and more deaf

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coucouatoi · 8 months

Text

we're not who we used to be | h.s.

Pairing: Harry Styles X Reader

Summary: Some letters you've written but never sent to Harry over the years.

Warnings: Angst... so much... there's some fluff, emphasise on the some, there's a hopeful ending tho!

A/N: Sooo this is the childhood friends to strangers fic no one asked for... Hope you all enjoy! This is my writing debut in Harry land :)

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April 10' 2010

To: Harry Styles From: Your first fan

Hiya Harry,

It's currently 11:29 pm about 10 hours away from your audition. I figured since you told me to stop praising you and boosting your ego, I'm writing down the rest of the things I want to say.

Firstly, I know you're going to smash it! All the judges are going to want you in. There's no chance that they won't see how special you are, how you're the next big thing.

I won't let you back out of it last second! Anne, Gemma and I are ready to drag you onto the stage, we've discussed it thoroughly...

Secondly, I'm already so proud of you. This is a huge step, I know how nervous you are about it. How you think that everything is going to go wrong and that you'll fail. I've got enough hope in you for the both of us. I'll stand by your side the whole time and I'll cheer the loudest.

To finish, you're Harry Styles. You can do anything.

Break a leg superstar!!

Cheering you on already,

Your first-ever fan

╭┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈╮

December 12' 2010

To: Harry Styles From: Your biggest fan

Harry!

You've made it all the way to the finals! It's crazy! I knew you could do it but seeing you go further and further has been surreal.

I hope you and the other boys get along well! We haven't had much chance to really gossip about it all, you seem excited with them!

The finale is set to start in about 2 hours and I had to get some emotions out (my mom was tired of hearing them... rude) Anyway! I remembered that I had written you a letter a few months ago and now I'm back in this notebook.

I'm so nervous, excited and kind of nauseous about watching the last episode tonight. I can't even imagine what you're feeling right now... You must be so scared but incredibly jittery!

I'm counting the days until I get to see you again! I want to hear everything that's happened behind the scenes! You know how nosy I am!

I've already taken up two pages so I'll stop for now.

You can do this!

Talk to you soon,

Your favourite person ever

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March 7' 2011

To: You From: Me <3

You called me Angel today...

I don't know what to make of that.

I had so many butterflies in my stomach.

Could you call me that again?

You're my favourite person,

Angel

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November 20' 2011

To: Harry From: Angel

Boo!

You finally let me listen to the full album today! Said you had to be there when I listened to it so you could give me all the secrets. You also wanted to see live how I reacted to every song. You're too cute.

"I Want" is my current favourite.

You did tell me that you'd resonated with a lot of the lyrics you sang on this album. That almost scares me.

How did you relate? Who was going through your mind?

You do have the world at your feet now. I shouldn't feel jealous but I do like having you all to myself. Don't worry I'll get used to sharing...

The Up All Night Tour is starting soon! I'm happy that you've invited me to come to some shows. I'll be there no matter if I have to miss school.

I have to show all these newbies that I'm THE biggest Harry Styles fan out there!

Hopefully, you thought about me while signing.

Because I think about you all the time,

Your favourite fan.

╭┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈╮

April 13' 2012

To: Harry From: Angel

G'Day Mate!

So you're officially all the way in Australia now! That's so exciting I wish that you could have stuffed me into your suitcase... sniff

I bet it's super warm there! Or not wait their seasons aren't the same as ours, are they? I'm not even sure...

Hopefully, you can tan a little while you're there! Don't go near any animals or insects!!

I miss you a lot, maybe I'll send this one (spoiler I definitely won't).

Talk to you soon hopefully.

Go swim in the ocean,

Someone who wants to be in it

╭┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈╮

August 29' 2012

To: Harry From: Angel?

You haven't come to see me since you've been back.

Too busy being a celebrity?

I've been seeing all these tabloids... I'm not allowed to be jealous I know but I miss you.

I hope you've missed me.

I really really wish you were here with me or that I was with you wherever you are now.

I just want to be us.

Have you forgotten your friend from the small town already?

╭┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈╮

January 1' 2013

To: Harry From: Someone You've Hurt

I don't know what to think,

You kissed me. It made me happy.

You said it was a New Year's kiss.

You said you drank too much, it hurt.

You ended up kissing someone else about 20 minutes later.

That hurt even more it almost made me feel used.

I'm happy you were my first kiss.

I don't think you'll even remember it,

Y/N

╭┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈╮

November 27' 2014

To: Harry From: Me

I love the new album, took me a while to finally listen to it. I thought you'd come home and make me listen to it in your presence.

You didn't. The first album that I've listened to alone.

Spaces and Fools Gold are my favourite songs. I wonder how many lyrics you resonate with. How many of them did you write?

Come home?

Only for a day please,

Your first Angel

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October 21' 2015

To: Harry From: Y/N

It's been a while,

It's your mom's birthday today. Well only for a few more hours...

She invited my family and me to the party, and of course we went. I didn't think you'd be there. I haven't seen you in almost a year.

It was fun.

Catching up about everything that's been going on with you and the band. Your life is so much more interesting than mine now.

I'm just a boring college student... you're this huge star but that's ok there's no one like you for me, you're my safe place. No matter how far away.

You asked about my love life and I told you about the date I had a few days ago. You asked if we had sex, I lied and said yes. I didn't want to embarrass myself by telling you no one's ever been with me like that.

We ended up getting drunk. Too drunk.

We fucked.

You took my virginity and you have no idea... should I tell you? You were so good. So gentle, loving but you fucked with a purpose, you needed to get off. I won't ever see your childhood bedroom the same way.

This was only a few hours ago.

I've felt every emotion about it. Now I'm crying because I know you'll find someone new to share a bed with. I'm just a notch in your headboard.

It meant everything to me.

But I think I regret it...

Y/N

╭┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈╮

May 12' 2017

To: You From: Me

Really?

I hope Only Angel isn't about me.

But I'm overanalysing every single song. Is one about me? Did you think of me while making this album?

We haven't talked since the last time we saw each other. When we fucked again. It wasn't even the second time, after your mom's birthday two years ago we never stopped. It's all we do when we see each other.

It doesn't make me feel all that much better but I feel like if it wasn't for that we wouldn't even know each other anymore.

I'm moving away this year. Got a job offer in Canada and I'm taking it.

Maybe I'll get over you... hopefully.

I can't live my whole life waiting for someone who I don't know anymore.

I'm blocking your number.

I miss who we used to be,

Your first-ever fan

╭┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈╮

December 4' 2019

To: H From: Y/N

Hello,

You've crawled your way back into my life, Harry. This morning, you decided to send me your album. Your new one, Fine Line. Your fans haven't even heard it yet. The public hasn't either.

You didn't write a single thing in your email, the mp3 link was staring me down with your automated signature. Not even a greeting.

I shouldn't have listened to it.

I don't know why you sent it to me. We haven't spoken or crossed paths in over a year. Not since I moved and tried to get rid of every way of contact between us.

I still haven't answered, I don't think I will.

You don't get to know what I feel about it. Not anymore.

I'm sorry Harry.

I've moved on,

Y/N

╭┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈╮

December 13' 2019

To: H From: Y/N

Your new album came out today.

I'm proud of you even if we are strangers now.

You're a superstar.

I always knew you would be,

Y/N

╭┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈╮

March 17' 2020

To: H From: Y/N

I saw that you had to postpone your tour.

You must feel so defeated.

I know I do. Everything's been closed and opened and closed again here in Canada. It's getting exhausting.

I hope the world starts working again soon.

This all sucks...

Crossing my fingers for the tour,

Y/N

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May 18' 2022

To: Harry From: Y/N

Hi,

You sent me the album before the release again.

This time you did say something: I miss you Angel, Can we meet up?

I didn't think I could feel so many butterflies in my stomach. I felt like a teenager again. And I cried more than once listening to Harry's House.

I'm still considering if I should answer... if I do what should I choose? Should I agree and go into the unknown or forget it happened and keep on going with my life?

I miss you too... the one I knew. Not the one who used me. I guess I used you too... How did we get here?

All I want is to be loved and to be in love.

I'm not sure if I'm ready for the hurt this will bring but maybe I should just be a grown-up about this...

I want you back in my life.

That scares me,

Y/N

╭┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈╮

August 16' 2022

To: Harry From: Y/N

Well,

I'm going to the Love On Tour today and after we are going to "meet". We even have until the 20th because that is when your next show is, after today obviously.

You were so excited when I agreed.

It's almost as if no time has passed when we text (he changed his number in the last few years... no need for an embarrassing unblocking).

My friend, the one who convinced me to agree, helped me pick out an outfit. Thankfully for her, I won't stick out like a sore thumb in the crowd of feather boas and cowboy hats.

I really want this to work.

I want to believe that we can be good again. We can be healthy for one another again but I'll be worried until I see you.

Until we speak.

I won't let myself touch you, I have a feeling that it would be far too easy to fall back into a bed. Maybe a hug would be okay.

I'm excited for the show, to see the Superstar Harry Styles in action. After so many years you have to have evolved so much.

You aren't little Harry from Worcestershire anymore.

I'm not the same person I once was either.

See you tonight.

Break a leg,

Y/N

#harry styles x reader #harry styles #harry styles imagine #harry x reader #harry styles fic #harry styles x you #harry styles x y/n

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pastelcheckereddreams · 4 months

Text

Four Seasons Manor (四季山庄): Set Layout, Part Three!

This is the third and final post detailing my set sleuthing adventure, looking for the sets that make up Word of Honor's Siji Manor. If you're stumbling over this post in the wild - hi! I draw architectural drafts of cdrama sets, as accurately to the show as I can. A huge amount of research goes into creating my art, and so far no set location has been as elusive as this one.

Split across two sets - one located in Hengdian World Studio's Spring and Autumn Tang Park, and the other in Hengdian's Huaxia film studio - this post is the final part uncovering the layout of Siji Manor. (And nothing will make sense if you read this post first, go back to part one and part two!!)

A reminder, before we dive right back into the breakdown of my completed birdseye view, that this last part will cover the main courtyard of what I have dubbed the "interior" Siji set, highlighted in red below:

Let's dive in!

project list | kofi | prints

The Main Courtyard

The main hall (6), the largest building in this set, is what I and @minnarr, who shares my brainrot 🙏 and has been a great help in this process, have been calling "Everlasting."

This is because sign over the entrance reads, "萬古長青" (wàn gǔ cháng qīng), which to my layman's knowledge translates as "Everlasting and Evergreen," an idiom that can be extrapolated to mean "forever green throughout the ages," which describes a noble spirit or deep friendship that will last forever, like an eternal Springtime:

In the above screenshots, you can see that Chengling's training area (9) is set up in front of this main hall, and over his head in the third picture, you can just about see the moon window that is a feature of WKX's room.

Importantly, the pavilion (10) just about seen behind Chengling's training area, marks a de facto boundary for this set as it appears in WOH, as the camera angles of these episodes never never stray past it. For a long time - until I began to watch Mysterious Lotus Casebook and Heroes, which handed me the final puzzle pieces to rule out this set as part of the film parks - I thought the entire set must finish just to the right of the pavilion.

That is not so. If I pull up some screenshots from MLC and reintroduce the scant few photographs I've found of the "Mansion Scene" Huaxia set itself from part two, you can see this main courtyard in full:

In these photos and screenshots, we can now see the main courtyard almost in full: the main building with its projecting entrance (I'm unsure if the term portico applies to Asian architecture); the pavillion to its left, standing opposite Building 8 which we will come to in a moment; and Building 11 at the end of what, in MLC, is a central pathway - but that I have interpreted in my own drawing to be a path of scattered stepping stones like the rest of the set, considering the smaller courtyard (5) - as discussed in part two - appears to be taking on the role of a more formal courtyard.

'Everlasting' and 'Gentle Winds'

For a moment, though, I need to draw us back to the main building. This building - Everlasting - is very important as, by vehicle of drama magic, this is where the two Siji sets conflate.

In episode 24 we cut from a shot of the main building in the exterior Siji set, whose sign reads "風輕雲淡" (fēng qīng yún dàn), or "Gentle Winds and Light Clouds," to this interior shot of Everlasting:

And to confirm that this interior shot is Everlasting, or building 6, we return to MLC, where we are treated to an outside-to-inside shot of the build, whose inset floor matches that of WOH's Everlasting building, seen clearest in episode 24, above, and episode 28:

(I do have more screenshots that I may add in later, but right now I'm running out of steam, please just take my word for it. 😂)

Cold River Room

Now, unfortunately I've been unable to place the medicine room, in which ZZS grinds herbs, in what photo resources I have of this film studio. Likewise for the room I've taken to calling the "infirmary" (where WKX takes a healing bath after his confrontation with YBY). Equally as unhelpful, there's simply no discernible exterior details seen from inside these two rooms that I can dig my research claws into and try to identify a placement or orientation for them:

The room they spend their first night at Siji Manor in, however, is a different story. That room - dubbed as the "Cold River Room" by Minna - is Building 8.

This was quite easy to place, thanks to this screenshot of a behind the scenes video (that I've since long lost the link to, unfortunately - if you have a link, I'd be very grateful if you share it with me so that I may add the source). Here, we can see the column inscriptions on Everlasting through the window:

So I can confirm this building to be the room they spend their first night as Siji in, seen here behind Chengling as well as in a MLC screenshot - showing its place across from the pavilion clearly:

The Pond

The last part of the main courtyard - and of this set breakdown overall - is the pond and Building 11:

I had suspected their was some kind of water trough or strip of pond between the seating area (4) and the pavilion (10) for a while, but never had the resources to confirm it. I still can't. However, a film studio's entire purpose is to shapeshift from one design brief to another. Sometimes, there is a pond and sometimes there isn't, as these two images show:

The left image is a photograph from the article about Hengdian's film studios linked above, taken from the seating area (4), while the right image is a screenshot from Heroes episode 13, the camera positioned in front of Building 11. I simply decided that I liked the pond there, so I included it in my Siji layout.

As an aside, in this scene in Heroes, with the camera panning just a bit further right, we get a lovely clear shot of the archway from the formal courtyard (5) to this one:

Finally, we come to Building 11. You'll notice that I called the courtyard of the QHZ snow scene in WOH a "formal" courtyard (5), on account of the clearly defined, linear paving.

However, it doesn't have the large gate of a main courtyard:

This courtyard, the one with Everlasting, does. The winding steppingstones used as paving in the Siji set dressing of this location takes away from the formality of this courtyard that, once you see it in its entirety in shows such as MLC or Heroes, it certainly has. To that point, Building 11 - or rather, structure 11, as may be more appropriate to call it now - is actually a large gateway. This is easiest seen in Heroes, episode 13:

Of course, that doesn't mean we have to designate it as a gateway in the Siji layout. I don't think it's meant to have that identity, based on the above - well, it's not meant to have an identity at all. It's never seen in the show. But, given the Siji set dressing and the resemblance it bears to Building 8, the Cold River Room, I might consider giving it the identity of one of the rooms I've been unable to locate - the infirmary, or the medicine room.

Let me hear your thoughts!

I'd like to hear your suggestions and thoughts on that. On all of it! Because despite all of this research, I am still left with the gargantuan task of drafting it all into a finished piece. And as such, I am still faced with the dilemma I began to outline months ago in part one:

How could I merge these two very different sets together? Should I merge them together?

I have rambled ideas at friends about presenting an architecture draft that is simply reportage - showing both sets, and summarizing the information I've given you all here before making suggestions on how they could combine into "one true set".

But on the other hand, do I draft the Siji I see emerging in the crossover of these two sets - the one I can feel starting to take shape in my brain? And then simply offer this research up as the facts.

There's still a long way to go, but thank you for being here! As always, if you'd like to support my research madness and help fuel my many artistic endeavors, please consider donating to my kofi or checking out my print shop:

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And happy new year! I hope 2024 brings you happiness and opportunity in all that you wish ✨

Part One | Part Two | Part Three

#nikkidraws #四季山庄 #山河令 #four seasons manor #word of honor #shan he ling #shl meta #woh meta #word of honor meta #woh set design #shl set design #set design #yeeting this from me now it's taken two days to do both of these posts at the same time 😭#i hope this last post makes sense i'm so tiiiiired

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silviakundera · 3 months

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DRAMA REC: So I feel like any real review of Thai drama Moonlight Chicken is hard without heavy spoilers because honestly I don't know how to talk about what makes me passionate about it without discussing all the character relevations that occur over the course of its 8 episodes. I'll try to be generic as much as I can.

The thing about why it's hard to discuss without spoilers is that the characters and their full baggage are revealed slowly episode by episode, because like in real life you often learn about new friends & love interests slowly as intimacy deepens...

But from what I can see online, it's very subjective for viewers - depends on the person if they find these themes and personal challenges compelling or not. This doesn't fit with the typical "BL asian drama" format.

My personal viewing stake: There's an otp that has TAKEN OVER MY BRAIN. I have been searching for this energy ever since finishing Lighter & Princess. Gotta confess that I couldn't care less about the second couple who are teenagers. Apparently MDL and a lot of tumblr only liked the teen couple (valid!), but I just skipped over them mostly because when my brain locks in on Real Adults with Adult Problems I often cease to connect to high school student storylines. But the age gap couple with a 39 year old character who is FEELING his age... Jim & Wen. I've watched all 8 episodes now and they are like cocaine to me.

Ep 1 setup: We're not in Bangkok! (gasp) Jim is almost-40 and runs a late night diner in the less upscale part of town. Wen, about 10 years younger, is drunk at his diner as he's trying to close for the night. They pick up on the unspoken signals, instant electric connection, and end up wandering back to Jim's place and having what looks like fantastic sex together (without exchanging names).

But then after that first night, in the remaining 7 ep of the show you get a slowburn build up from zero as Jim doesn't want a relationship - with anyone. This is truly, sincerely a 'it's not you, it's me" situation. He is mired in baggage and the angst is SO DELICIOUS to me. Angst and soft hand touches and late night conversation. There's YEARNING. SO MUCH YEARNING.

And then my darling Wen! Who brings almost the same energy as the Lighter and Princess FL. @dangermousie I never thought I'd see this irrepressible determination and tender, good humored patience again! He is deeply sure that there is something special here with Jim and is unrelenting about trying to scale Jim's walls. I know that sounds like psychotic SML material lmao but it's all about the tone and context. It's very clear that Jim is allowing Wen in his life and doesn't, deep down, want Wen to give up on him. He's damaged and scared but I always felt he wants Wen to be right - that they are falling in love and can build something real together. He just can't make himself take that step. I mean, in their 2nd meeting he is EQUALLY INSANE to agree that it's v normal and hinged behavior to let his 1 night stand start randomly showing up to work shifts at his diner as 'temp staff' he can't afford to pay because... um. Basically to stalk him? idk I don't think it's stalking when u have a mutual agreement?? 🤔

Wen falling deeper into Jim and KNOWING the feeling is mutual no matter how many times he's (so gently!) pushed back... can be sooooo personal. 😭😭😭 The vibes of this "we're Not Together™" but it's inevitable, I'm just waiting for the timing to be right... reminiscent of the last 10 episodes of Lighter & Princess. This building intimacy and tenderness that stretches on until as a viewer you feel like... They ARE in love, they're together but just without the sex. They just have to stabilize their lives first before committing whole-heartedly. THE BITTERSWEET PINGING. (screams)

One thing I've observed is many people seem to struggle to connect with Jim's character. The closest thing we have to a protagonist (?) Maybe. Anyway, I suspect it might be a generational thing. I found the drama incredibly compelling, but I grew up queer in the 80s and 90s. I'm well into my 40s, a bit older than Jim, but I think the generational queer experience overlaps pretty well considering the sociopolitical differences btw us/thailand.

The screenwriter is an older out gay man, so I presume that's also a factor in how he did a pitch-perfect depiction of Jim's struggles to find home.

Wen has his own baggage that feels very real and raw. I loved his storyline because I could personally relate to it also from my queer relationship experience.

I've blabbered on here before about how I feel like there's something different about queer stories being told to other queers, not targeted to straight viewers primarily - I'm not saying it's better than the big brands and popular international media including lgbt rep. It's just different imo and I do think it's valuable. I want to see stories about the complexities of the experience & about the gay community that can't just be mapped to straight people. Where the story would not feel the same if you flipped the sexualities. That's what Midnight Chicken was to me: the characters of Jim and Wen and their personal development & slow love story together felt very queer and the age gap was a relevant part of this. And that called to me. I could recognize parts of myself in them and my personal experiences as a gay woman.

I was impressed by the writing. Strong acting. The directing of individual scenes is excellent BUT the 1 big flaw is the editing. Very amateur, super abrupt scene changes! Just jarring. But whatever, I've seen some terrible editing in cdramas too. Also note the storytelling tactic is to show a series of meaningful moments & interactions over like 6-8 months of time. Events progress in ways we don't always see and it's not always spelled out to the audience, everything that happened since we last saw them. That may or may not work for the viewer.

[Plus there's a very sweet & wholesome teen love story that also gets a happy ending, if you're into that. One of the teens is deaf and there's no "cure the disability" nonsense, don't worry. I was adult-focused but I did appreciate the complicated family relationship subplot with Jim trying to caretake his nephew and their relationship to the mostly-absent sister.]

ok so now into spoiler territory. Letting the relevations come out organically would be a much better viewing experience BUT...

SPOILERS ON JIM & WEN BACKSTORY

Jim's whole deal is he had a big love in his late 20s-early 30s that fucked him up good. He grew up being told gay love isn't real, leaves his rural farming town with his sister in their teens, disconnected from his family... But even his sister, who loves him, had the perspective that it's Just A Phase. Jim expects to Prove Them Wrong. Then his boyfriend cheats on him.... With a woman. Activate that generation's internalized homophobia and self-doubt. And then before he gets to truly confront his partner, his partner dies in an accident. So he never gets resolution.

And he's stuck under a mountain of debt, on the edge of poverty because he didn't get any of the guy's assets when he died of course. No rights under Thai law. Partner's family takes it all but the old car & the cat. All he has is the small chicken rice shop they had bought and ran together and it's killing him, he both hates and loves it. He's this amazing member of the local community but doesn't see himself and his own worth clearly.

Wen is working through the guilt of falling out of love from his 1st gay relationship that lasted 5 years of his 20s. Broken up but still living together. Trying to stay in each other's lives (I've seen this a lot, because in small gay communities you don't just cut ties with good people you care about). But living together is toxic for both of them, despite the real care that's there.

He also feels disconnected from a community at the start. He has work collegues, all straight friends, and his now-ex boyfriend. But you get the subtle sense that his local ties are all with the boyfriend Alan's family and mutual friends with Alan who don't all know about the breakup yet and he doesn't know how to interface with them anymore now that he and Alan aren't the same. He's the one who fell out of love, so he's "the bad guy" here and the straight friend he tries to talk to about trying to co-habititate with his ex and stay close friends doesn't really get it, because that's just way more typical behavior for older generation queers - it's notable that when the situation is fully explained to Jim, he doesn't seem to find it bizarre at all (as said, I've gone through that myself, and known friends in that situation; found that subplot to be very well done.) (I read that many viewers were disappointed this wasn't a standard infidelity situation where Wen is just regular cheating on Alan, but I have to say that I feel the opposite. The subplot and how it played out felt very relatable to me. I didn't need a cheating angst plotline in this drama that could be transplanted into a straight drama. I wanted more stories that represented my lived experience as an adult lesbian, and Wen's narrative gave me that.)

Wen keeps searching for a home even while living with Alan and having loved him in the past. Which to me was a sign that he'd moved to this smaller city, living in Alan's condo and in Alan's life with Alan's extended family... He started eating beef because Alan did and following along. He doesn't know where HE feels at home, what Wen needs to be comfortable and happy. When he more & more starts to believe he can make this home with Jim, he's determined to make it happen.

#really long post #agonizingly long meta #sorry to my mutuals #ily 😘😘😘#drama review #drama recommendation #midnight series: moonlight chicken #jimwen #moonlight chicken

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theselightsareblinding · 1 year

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My top 15 BLs

Finally I consider I've watched enough bls to make a top of my all time favourites. This is my personal opinion and based on my enjoyment of the shows, not only their quality. Minor spoilers.

1. Not Me (Thailand 2021) 10⭐

My favourite bl and one of my favourite series in general. Everything is almost perfect, the acting, the plot, the characters, the pace, the visuals... Not only the main couple has great chemistry but the whole friend group does. They tried to raise a bit of awareness on important social issues and in my opinion they succeed, felt like dipping bit by bit into the water, the start of the journey for something more. It has so many iconic scenes I can't forget. And so thrilling it had me at the edge of my seat every sunday.

2. Bad Buddy (Thailand 2021) 10⭐

Another almost perfect series. The pacing is the best I've seen, everything fits together smoothly, and every big or little thing that happens makes complete sense. Flawless equilibrium between comedy, romance and drama. And the acting... both mains are brilliant but Nanon, and specially Nanon's eyes, got to me. The moment I saw Pran getting teary eyed and trying to hide it in ep4 I was gone. The rewatch value is 100/10.

3. Semantic Error (South Korea 2022) 9.5⭐

Like with Bad Buddy, is smooth and very well done. Everything looks so pretty and I love how they play with colours. The leads are amazing too.

4. He's Coming to Me (Thailand 2019) 9.5⭐

The first series that made me ugly cry in a very long time. The only way to describe it's beautiful. I would never have imagined Ohm and Singto worked as a pair but they do. It would be a 10 if not for the ending, which it's neither happy nor sad, because it's not an ending. I wish they would have been braver and given it the closure it deserved, happy or not.

5. The Eclipse (Thailand 2022) 9.0⭐

The ending was only one week ago so I'm writing this with some leftover bitterness. Up until episode 11 the series worked perfectly, the characters and their relationships were developing flawlessly, but the plot surrounding the eclipse and the curse was not advancing at all. And then they tried to do everything in only one episode and it didn't work. Still, the rest of the show is worth it. I felt very connected to the characters, specially Akk.

6. To My Star (South Korea 2021) 9.0⭐

Like Semantic Error and many Korean productions everything technical was impeccable. Very cute and cosy for something that came from Korea. I could empathize with both Seo Joon and Ji Woo throughout the whole story. I can't include To my star 2 because even if I still like it, it was too sad for me and the ending too unsatisfactory.

7. Love Mechanics (Thailand 2022) 9.0⭐

I absolutely adore YinWar as a couple and that's it. They work together so well I could watch them in anything they do. The nine stars are basically for them but the series is good too, very messy but very entertaining.

8. Manner of Death (Thailand 2020) 9.0⭐

It's been a while since I watched it but I remember the chemistry being on point and the plot being messy but enjoyable. I appreciate the characters being full adults and the themes being darker than other bls, I love the uni dramas but it's good to have variety.

9. Dark Blue Kiss (Thailand 2019) 9.0⭐

As with Manner of death it's nice to have variety so the couple being already established is good. Most dramas don't know how to create plot with an established couple but this is the exception. Technically speaking is not the best on this list but I have a special fondness for it, them just being together, the domesticity, you really feel like this is a three year relationship. As a non straight person myself the 'not ready to come out' plot felt very real to me.

10. KinnPorsche (Thailand 2022) 9.0⭐

A few plot holes but interesting to watch as it's the first mafia bl I've watched. For me, the selling point is the main couple, amazing actors who you really believe are in love, desire each other and are comfortable with each other. Something I especially don't like in bls is the couple being afraid of contact between them, and this is the total opposite, they feel like a very real couple who grow together and adore each other. I know it's a weird point to make about a mafia series but it's what I loved about it and the reason it has nine stars. The side couples, I don't hate them but I don't care about them much.

11. Love by Chance (Thailand 2018) 8.5⭐

Not usually a fan of dominant/complacent couples but they are just so cute. And at least Pete is an active and enthusiastic participant in the affection and love making scenes. And I love Ae as a character, I think Perth did a fantastic job, especially knowing he was only 17 years old in this. Even if it's not together, I hope to see them both working again soon.

12. Star and Sky: Star in My Mind (Thailand 2022) 8.5⭐

Very mild series but I fell in love with JoongDunk, they have amazing chemistry and seeing them interacting in real life I feel like they have even more potential than what they've shown on this. Cute little show for a rainy day. I'm counting their scenes on Sky in your heart as part of their series.

13. Lovely Writer (Thailand 2021) 8.5⭐

Amazing physical chemistry between the main couple, and phenomenal kisses. They dive a bit into the problematic aspects of bl and I appreciate it.

14. 2gether / Still 2gether (Thailand 2020) 8.5⭐

Like everybody, this was one of the first bls I've seen and I'm fond of it. Absolutely nothing bad happens and sometimes I want just that, a comfort show. And I love a head over heels character like Wat here. It has many flaws but to this day I can still watch it and get hooked.

15. Why R U? (Thailand 2020) 8.0⭐

This is technically cheating because I'm only counting one couple. I haven't even watched it whole because at one point I just started to skip everything that wasn't FigtherTutor and never came back. Love the actors, love the couple, adore the chemistry between them. I'm still heartbroken about the fact that the only time they worked together they were given this mediocre script and it's never going to happen again.

Honourable mentions:

Secret Crush on You (Thailand 2022), My Only 12% (Thailand 2022) and Until We Meet Again (Thailand 2019) which I haven't finished watching but could possibly enter this list when I do.

Making this list made me realize almost everything Aof directs becomes part of my favourites, I would love to analyze more profoundly his style to figure out what I like about it. And I'm super excited for whatever he's going to direct next year.

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hughungrybear · 3 months

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Me while watching Last Twilight Ep. 12 (Final Ep.):

Okay, we'll finally see if we should take P'Aof's offer and storm GMMTV if the finale for this episode is unsatisfactory 😂

1. Hmmm, so Day was never able to get a successful surgery to restore his sight? I guess I could understand since endings that are *remotely* happy does not need to mean that he will be able to see again.

2. So after three years, Mhok is now a sous chef? Also, is this episode going the Bad Buddy route??? Cause if it is, I need to get ready 😂😂😂

3. Oof. They are trying to fool us with Porjai saying the "groom will be here" right after they show Mhok trying to call Porjai's phone <after 5 seconds> There it is! Seriously, I would like Night to be loved and happy for the rest of his life as he truly deserves it 🥹🥹🥹

4. At least, they weren't fooling us with the location. They have indeed met accidentally on the escalators of a hotel, not an airport. <after 5 seconds> P'Aof!!!!! I almost thought you'll never appear in this series 😂😂😂

5. Didn't Day got sus with the "usher"? I mean, Mhok still smells the same, right? RIGHT???? <after a few irritating scenes of Mhok in denial> I knew that perfume will make an appearance eventually. I mean, pretty sure at this point it is an official GMMTV merch 😂

6. Aaaaaaargh. Day wrote a book entitled "Begin with same person"??? With him and Mhok at the top of that mountain as a book cover??? It even has Day's voice for the audiobook??? 😱😱😱 No wonder Mhok's smile is from ear to ear.

7. I'm beginning to hate (affectionate) Mhok and Day 😅😅😅 What kind of flirting is this??? 😂😂😂

8. Night saying out loud that he is not paying for Mhok's "excellent care service" sends me 🤣🤣🤣🤣 I kennat 🤣🤣🤣

9. If looks could kill, Porjai would be dead on the spot 🤣🤣🤣 Night and Porjai playing cupids is the dream tag team lol

10. Mhok is freaking relentless 😂😂😂 Also, Day, you can go with Mhok to the US. I mean, you're rich enough to hire an assistant for your book shop. 😂

11. Don't worry Mhok. I also did not get why Day broke up with you lol (not until I read the series' writer's thoughts about Ep 11). <after 5 seconds> Ngl, that's a good conversation between the two. 🥹🥹🥹

12. Glad that Mum have accepted Porjai without difficulties 🥹🥹🥹 Their scene did managed to activate my tearducts 😭😭😭

13. Oh? Dad is also here. Will Mum and Dad have a fresh start too? I mean, Mum looks a bit shook and concerned at the same time. Also, why is Night just calling people to give improptu speeches? 😅

14. Oh, boy. NightPorjai's wedding is just full of happy tears and I have feelings 😭😭😭

15. Ugh. I hate it when the self-reflection is so late, it ends up with them rushing to the airport (or a bus terminal) to catch their romantic partner before they go away for good. But then again, Night and Porjai running in their wedding attire to look for Mhok is effing epic (even Porjai lying to the airport's information counter get Mhok is just 🤌🤌🤌) 😂😂😂

16. Wait, if Night knew that Mhok returned to the hotel, why the fvck did they all run in their wedding gear all throughout the airport looking for Mhok??? Does Porjai know about this? 😂😂😂

17. At least, it looks like we are going to get a happy ending. I really thought we are going to get an open ending based on previous events and the end credit song lyrics. Although, I am still not sure if this a good thing for the series as a whole.

18. Day can finally see (although again, it would have been more acceptable if he had stayed blind since a happy ending should not hinged on his ability to see). Also, Night hitting Day for being more excited to see Mhok rather than their mum (or him, for that matter) is 🤣🤣🤣

19. Oh? Is that Gee and August? Are they a thing now or just badminton partners???

20. Looks like they repainted Rung's car. I guess, it also symbolises a fresh start for it.

21. Two chefs in the family? I'm envious (and also hungry. I haven't eaten breakfast yet 😅). Also, Porjai's preggy again!

22. And they are back to the mountain top again. I hope it's much easier hiking this time around 😅. Also, Day, why are you lying? What d'you mean Mhok (Jimmy) is not handsome??? Lol

And it's ended. And it's happy (though a tad fairy tale-ish) 😭😭😭 Now, it was rumoured that 23.5 degrees will take the Friday time slot. I wonder if it's true. Can't hardly wait for it 😭😭😭

#last twilight the series #last twilight series #last twilight ep 12 #mhokday #mhok x day #jimmysea #jimmy jitaraphol #sea tawinan

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ablatheringblatherskite · 30 days

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Writing pattern tag game

Rules: list the last lines of the last 10 fics you've posted to see if there is a pattern.

TYYY FOR THE TAG @nouklea, @wednesdayandherhyde, @nonamemanga, and @achillmango!!!

Most of mine are Wednesday fics LOL! I don't write Wednesday fics much anymore, but I am still proud of them!

(another note: I skipped one of the unfinished fics LOL)

how do you know when it's time to let go?

With that final thought, Raoul harshly wiped the tears from his eyes and cheeks, stood, and walked purposefully towards his wardrobe to get dressed, the dying bird of his heart pounding with the very same reckless determination that it had for that bright red scarf, all those years ago.

Til Death Do Us Part - 5+1

It seemed her black, twisted heart returned to her then, because for the first time in weeks she felt it again, beating wildly in her chest. She stared where the axe was floating and, for the first time in years, fully smiled. She grabbed a sword off the wall and held it up to the axe in preparation, then charged.

My Halloween Angel

Wednesday looked him directly in the eyes, her stony expression cracking just enough for a small smile to slip through. “As you wish,” she said quietly, “my Angel of Music.”

Angels in Hell's Kitchen

Matt couldn’t help it then—he grinned. A wide, goofy grin. Then he started to laugh, and Foggy started to giggle. Then they were both full on guffawing, and they didn’t stop until Karen came back to tell them that they were late for their appointment.

he's a little monster (underneath)

“I'm never taking you to the grocery with me again.”

“Good.”

wet face towels

These two would be the death of him one day, he was sure of it.

can I have this dance?

“But… I can't promise I won't try to take revenge,” Tyler finished, lowering his voice darkly. Wednesday seemed surprised, just for a moment, before her small smile actually widened, her eyes glinting eagerly.

The Valentine's Day Curse

By the time she was back in her room, Enid was fast asleep, and she contemplated smothering her for having quipped at her earlier before deciding against it. She was too exhausted for that now. Maybe next time. With that, Wednesday took off her hoodie, put her flashlight away, took off her shoes, and lay down in her bed, crossing her arms across her chest and shutting her eyes. She fell almost instantly into a slumber as deep and heavy as death itself. Probably the one and only good thing to have come out of that entire spectacle of a day. Probably.

"send your cutest delivery boy" (special instructions, Tyler's POV)

In the safety and privacy of the storage room, Tyler finally released his grin, leaning against the shelves and covering his blushing face with both hands, laughing quietly. He scrubbed his hands over his face and let them drop, grinning up at the ceiling like the absolute fricking idiot that he was.

stupid, stupid cartoon

Damn it. It was all stupid. He could have been watching anything else, too. He wasn't even sure Tyler had liked that show anymore. But he still always found himself coming back to that stupid song, and that stupid episode, and that stupid, stupid cartoon. Damn it.

no pressure tags!!: @rose-red-ink @clawedandcute @rainintheevening @nerdywriter36 @brendadaaedestler @meilas

#tag games #aster's writing journey

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olderthannetfic · 2 years

Note

Full disclaimer, I'm a monolingual American from a privileged background (though I suspect that much would be pretty obvious frim reading).

I think part of the reason Americans always act like everything should be translated not just to English, but to American English is because up until very recently, almost everything WAS "translated" for us.

We Americans are so babied about language & culture, it's embarrassing. The Harry Potter books had to be "translated" because apparently we couldn't be trusted to figure out that a jumper was a sweater. I heard about an author of a true crime book just last year complaining about how "mum" had to be changed to "mom" for US release.

Then there's the American idea of exceptionalism which shows up not just as "we're the best, why would you want anything else?" but also as "wow, how weird are you for liking something that's FOREIGN?" At least when I was growing up, if you watched or read stuff in any other European language you're a snob. If you like anything from Asia you're a weirdo. (Of course, during my formative years, I was implicitly taught that Africa and South America did not produce any media worth consuming. If they had, clearly it would have been on TV because American TV had the best of everything /sarcasm)

Like when I got into anime in the 90s, Sailor Moon episode sequences had to be mirrored so american kids wouldn't get confused about the cars driving on the wrong side of the road, half the characters in anime were constantly eating "jelly donuts" because we apparently had no chance of comprehending rice balls. I was freaking astounded when Netflix started hosting K dramas with only subtitles, no dubs. Just the other week I was watching an anime that actually kept the honorifics in the dubbed version and my jaw dropped because I remember my friends and I (pre-speedy internet) trying to parse mysterious words like "chan" and "kun." My well educated and generally liberal father reacted to my announcement that I was going to study Japanese in college (10 years ago) by listing the war crimes committed by Japan in WW2 (tell me you have a white American dad without telling me you have a white American dad 🙄).

It's also the way foreign languages are taught in US schools. Not just the fact that we start late, but that it's rarely viewed as a priority. I distinctly remember thinking "why am I learning French? Even if I ever go to France I'm only gonna visit for like a week, definitely not enough to need a whole language." There was almost no effort made to explain that 1) there are other countries that speak French, 2) there are people IN THE US who speak French as a first language and 3) you'll have a much better time overseas if you don't come off as a dumb American tourist. Culture being tied to language was never addressed at all. And I went to a well funded private high school where half the teachers held PhDs with language teachers were native speakers. (Actually I think it was one of my French teachers who explained that we 15 year olds were too old to really learn a language successfully, so that's awesome)

Do not get me wrong, this is not an excuse for Americans being, ya know, American about language and cultural literacy. But this is not an easy mentality to shake and pointing it out to a lot of your fellow Americans will get you a rant about how ungrateful you are for "attacking" the best country in the world. Sometimes I look back on the kind of cultural censorship that is so damn prevalent even now and it gives me a headache because this whole country feels like a cult sometimes. I wish I could have studied language earlier in life, I wish I would have seen it as more than just a graduation requirement, and I wish I had the time to prioritize it now, but I didn't and I can't.

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absolutebl · 1 year

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This Week in BL - Ending the Year FINE & simple

Dec 2022 Wk 4

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying the most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Never Let Me Go (Tues YT) 3 of 12 - Butler Dad (v.2) is going to be a problem, I can tell. Chimon is a cute, if suspicious, flirt. Palm, on the other hand, is the gentlest flirt imaginable. He wants spoiled prince + attack dog dynamic so bad. As, indeed, do I.

Between Us (Sun iQIYI) 8 of 12 - still enjoying it very much, annoyed by filler couples, WATCH ALONG HERE.

609 Bedtime Story (Fri WeTV) 6 of 11 - Oh, I see! The Mint storyline is to give more characters motivation to murder Dew. It’s all set up. How clumsy. Meanwhile, we got a confession right on schedule, classic romance beats.

I Will Knock You (Fri Gaga) 7 of 12 - Whatever.

Remember Me (Sun Gaga) 12 of 14 - Honestly? I’d DNF this show but its almost done and I've watched 12 already. Sunk cost fallacy in action. I’m not going to make this mistake with this production house again. JaFirst cry well, but I’m vetting and binging these in future.

My School President (Fri YT) 5 of 10 - no ep this week, resumes Jan 6

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

The New Employee (Korea Weds Viki) 2 of 8 - It’s giving me life, this one. Pining boss. Drunk lesbian bestie of awesome. Plus gay player (former college heartthrob) is a fun background for the faen fatal, not to mention rainbow rice cakes. COME ON. RAINBOW RICE CAKES!

HIStory 5: Love in the Future (Taiwan Thurs Viki) 1 of 20 - A cheerful kid from 1999 travels to 2022, works as a deliveryman, and meets an heir with a domineering personality. Directed by Nancy Chen (HIStory 4, Papa & Daddy). The time travel premise is interesting, the leads are giving me whipping boy vibes, but I don’t like seme’s stalker energy. It feels very HIStory franchise which means it could go any direction but sensible and I’m expecting problematic tropes. However! The sides are GREAT - they’re an office romance boss/intern relationship. And this is 20 full episodes so we will get plenty of them. Also, is that Taiwan I see giving us a femme character? I am all amazement. I think I like this show, actually. (Note; will be referring to this as H5 going forward.)

The Director Who Buys Me Dinner (Korea Thurs iQIYI) 5-6 of 10 - Is there a not very small part of me that wishes this were a love story between the earnest assistant baby boi, and the older anxiety-riddled rockstar? Yes. Although I did not expect Korea to go there with the lipstick mark AND an actually gay idol. What alternate reality are we currently living in? Also, is every character in this show slightly insane? Yes. Is every actor in this show slightly too pretty for my emotional well-being? Also, yes. Bring it on 2023.

Candy Color Paradox AKA Ameiro Paradox (Japan Fri Gaga) 3 of 8 - I think I just don’t like the photographer character much (although he’s very typically Japanese tsundere seme). Really quite a good kiss though, for Japan. On the flip side, it was nice to see the reporter being good at his job (competency porn is a very underused trope in BL). Then we get confession, immediate retraction, and a disbelief counter attack. Then more kisses. Huh. This isn’t progressing how I expect. And that’s kinda nice too. Oh Japan, you so cute & trixie.

It’s Airing But I’m Not Watching It

Love Bill (Vietnam Sat YT) - Bah Vinh is back but I’m too distracted. Also there’s a lot of fund raising stuff going on with them. I’ll wait and binge.

The Star Always Follow You (Vietnam YT) - same Team RL peeps we have seen before (Sunshine, Stupid)

Till the World Ends (Thai YT) 10 eps - it seems to be good but I don’t know about the ending with that kind of title, so I’m waiting.

Moonlight Chicken GMMTV’s Midnight series (Weds YT) 1 of 8 eventually - first segment has begun bit it’s not the EarthMix messy gays. Sorry all, I’m so not interested in messy hets, so I’m waiting until they grace my screen.

In Case You Missed It

Coffee Melody special feat TitNuea & Jean like it’s counterpart was rather dull, but I find this a more appealing couple than the mains so I liked it better.

Moments Of Love - featuring SmartJames AKA LeonPhob from Don't Say No) from Foremorfilm Production supposedly aired Dec 24 directed by Golf Tanwarin (609 Bedtime Story and The Eclipse). But it has no rating on MDL so I guess not?

Next Week Looks Like This:

2023 forthcoming BL master post is in the works... wait for it... I’m doing all the 2022 wrap ups first. Also waiting for the last of the studio announcements.

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

Mujigae-tteok (Korean rainbow rice cake) - a new item has entered my never ending food quest list.

OhmFluke do domesticity well, gotta give them that.

Quick end of year thoughts on 2022 BL & the future of these weekly posts:

Honestly? Overall it’s been a fine year for BL with some good shows & and some ho shows, and also a lot of dross. But the most notable aspect was the overwhelming quantity to keep up with. My work world is opening back up with tons of travel. This plus my recent revelation that I actually prefer binge watching (especially the lower quality stuff) means that I can’t keep up with BL if it keeps up this insane pace.

So in 2023 you can expect me to try to keep these weeklies updated with what’s airing, of course, but also pull back on how many I personally watch and summate.

In 2022, BL sort of became my 2nd job, and it doesn't pay well enough for that.

All that said I think...

2023 is going to be GOOD for BL. Happy new year!

(last week)

Current Kpop earworm? I’ve been in a “beastly” mood recently so it’s Lee Gikwang’s (Beast, Highlight) Don’t Close Your Eyes. I forgot how fucking banging that opening rift is. Thank you Kpop gods for putting the 2nd gens through the ever eternal slut phase.

Now just put them all though a BL phase and we’re golden. Yes, I am thinking of Unintentional Love Story (Gongchan B1A4), why do you ask?

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lastweeksshirttonight · 9 months

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My boyfriend has decided to start watching The Daily Show with Jon Stewart from episode one to see how it evolves. So in case you were wondering if he and I are similar-minded folk...

Last Lee Tonight (wherein Lee gets slightly personal) Season One, Episode Eight

(original air date: 6/24/2014) Major topics covered: Monarchies, Dr. Oz

Trigger warning: brief discussion of Kevin Spacey/sexual assault; medical issues

"Let's deal with the elephant in the room tonight. I'm sorry that Game of Thrones is not on anymore."

Y'all. It has happened. We have reached the first episode where the only clip of the show on the LWT YouTube is the main topic.

This marks an exciting new era of these recaps... for now. Next week the videos seem to be a bit more scattershot again. Whatever, progress towards the future is being made!

Another major milestone is hit in this episode, as it is the first time that John wears something I would categorize as daring. Let's get "Lee's outfit review and thirst corner" out of the way - pink and purple checkered shirt with dark navy (almost black) coat and matte slate gray tie. I'm giving this a 9/10 because I feel like a shiny slate gray tie would have given it that extra 'oomph', but it is still an excellent look.

We start tonight with me really noticing the Ferris wheel in the corner of the screen for the first time. It's a bold ass Ferris wheel. Was that there before??

Jesus that's a neon Ferris wheel.

This episode starts similarly to modern LWTs, except John says "Quick roundup of the week" instead of "quick recap of the week" to kick us off. I did not realize how ingrained some of his speech patterns and word choices are in my head until this specific phrasing. It's one thing to see something completely different from what you're used to, like in past episodes of the show; this is a tweak I feel like few people would notice, and yet it stuck out like a sore thumb to me.

We start in Iraq, wherein Baghdad has fallen to ISIS. John makes a joke about Kevin Spacey's sex dungeon being the former scariest place in the world that got a huge laugh - three years before Anthony Rapp came forward with his story. His behavior was such an open secret, it's so gross.

The opening segment bounces from Iraq to Thailand, where a coup just occurred and the new regime has started a "happiness campaign". This is the kind of story John loves, absolutely ridiculous on its face with a very real undercurrent of torment because of its origins.

Finally in our early stories, Antarctic tourism! That phrase makes me vaguely ill. John is on top of creating the anti-tourism trailer for them:

youtube

Interesting to look at this short bit in comparison to a much larger exploration of a similar topic years later, Mt. Everest expeditions. Obviously that was a full episode segment as compared to the 3-ish minutes Antarctic tourism gets here, but it's a good illustration of just how much more in-depth John is allowed to go on these kinds of niche topics as the years wear on.

John then speaks about the King of Spain abdicating the throne. ("Who needs decapitations or poisonings when you have a 76-year-old man peacefully resigning?") This gives John the opportunity to mock monarchy, his favorite sport, and to mention the LA Kings, something I did not expect. This transitions into speaking about the general idea of monarchy, how just about every European royal is related to the English crown, and Middle Eastern royalty. He ties it back to the Thailand section as well, to discuss the Crown Prince of Thailand, who is, according to the news, "a buffoon".

Next is "And Now This", which discusses "Political Figures Telling You What They Are Not". Fucking Michele Bachmann shows up again, as does professional dingo Tom Wheeler. Christ I hate Michele Bachmann.

With that, about halfway into the episode (13 minutes), we now get to our main story. Truly, this is the basic structure of a modern LWT!

youtube

The main story is about Dr. Oz, someone who time has made much, MUCH more odious. It's not like Dr. Oz wasn't a complete shithead at the time of this episode - his pitching for huckster diet solutions and miracle pills towards vulnerable people is disgusting. I have so much loathing for people who do this. A huge part of why my health problems are so bad is because, around the time this episode aired, I, and people around me I trusted, were influenced by guys like him, guys selling folksy cure-alls or "conventional wisdom". In my case, this influence caused me to not seek medical treatment for obvious, glaring, red-flag stomach issues for nearly two years, at which point I was actively dying. (I wish that the key for me to go see a doctor had been this episode, but it was not.)

But Dr. Oz got so much worse as time went on. I'm glad that, aside from one joke early on about Dr. Oz's (relative) attractiveness, John puts Dr. Oz's feet to the fire the entire segment. And not just him!

I remember learning about how the FDA is not allowed to regulate vitamins and supplements and being absolutely flabbergasted. Everyone knows that there's hundreds of deaths connected to tainted or irresponsible dietary supplements, and John firmly roasts senators Orrin Hatch and Tom Harkin for taking huge amounts of campaign contributions from the supplement industry and them subsequently killing attempts to regulate said industry. I appreciate the work put in here.

I love how silly the pandering demonstration is. Puts such a massive smile on my face. I would be remiss to not remind you that John Oliver fucking loves t-shirt cannons, and his obvious delight and power trip at holding and using one makes me beam every single time I see this.

Other notes:

Lee, you already did the suit review: Yeah sure I did. But consider the way that John says "regulatory zeal" at 9:52 in the Dr. Oz clip while snapping his fingers and barely restraining his anger.

"Check This Shit Out with Some Guy Named Mehmet" is an amazing title for a show.

I can't believe I can't find the GIF of John getting nailed with a t-shirt cannon from The Daily Show. I think Wyatt shot him with it. I'm glad I remember literally everything about this except where to find the GIF itself.

Sorry about getting a bit personal in this one. I know I don't talk much about my personal life, aside from being like "damn I'm at work all the time", but rest assured I am much better now and in good health. I have chronic illness so I'll never be 100%, but I am leagues away from where I was when my untreated illness was at its worst. <3

#john oliver #last week tonight #last week tonight with john oliver #last lee tonight #i definitely don't want to tag anything else from this episode lol

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solarfeylix · 6 months

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These two shows have my whole heart, mind and soul.

Random review I typed (might not make sense) if you wanna read below

Scavengers Reign is definitely a solid 10/10, which is rare because I hate EVERYTHING. I know i'm no famous reviewer, but i do spend a lot of my free time viewing a lot of cartoons and movies; i guess i'm a buff about this sort of thing.

Scavengers Reign is very deep with story telling. Most of what we know is literally right in our face; we see the cycle of life in this alien planet and we see the way the life works without humans-and with.

In a way, this show is like Primal. Primal doesn't carry much dialogue; but in terms of aesthetic and animation similarities, and how it displays both worlds, are very similar.

Scavengers Reign and Primal both set up their individual episodes as if it were almost as, if for whatever reason that episode was the last, it would somewhat fit perfectly and allow the viewer to make up what they felt like happened based on what we knew from previous episodes, or the short encounters experienced in the hypothetical final episode itself.

Something I noticed about both shows, was that the episodes didn't feel like full cliff hangers. If the show ended right when Ursula saw the ship, and that was it, I could assume everything that happened between that episode and the current final one happened as it did or similar, maybe not the fungal human space monks, though; but everything else was totally plausible and then some.

Primal is similar, but different. Primal doesn't rely on dialogue story telling or very many flashbacks. Iirc, Primal has very few flashback scenes except when it is moments of critical standing or a side character/antagonist. Even the T-Rex has ptsd to some extent, but not a single word is uttered to tell you this. Instead, situations are introduced (similar to Scavengers reign) and we, the viewer, are tasked with puzzling the story together without dialogue and with only the rapid action and daily life of a Caveman and T-rex (for the most part).

Because of my love for Primal, Scavengers Reign really itches what I wanted primal to be, minus the Sci fi future stuff. There was dialogue, a connection to characters, and much more. While Primal had that minus dialogue, Scavengers Reign had it in a much more relatable and connective way; almost like you knew these characters before they got to where they are.

I urge you, if you enjoy Scavengers Reign and love prehistoric Era fiction, Primal is a show you should watch if Scavengers Reign goes on a hiatus until their next season (if they have one, I hope they do!). If you don't mind gore, fighting, and animated violence, I highly recommend Primal to give you the fix you desire until new episodes of Scavengers Reign drops after season 1 ends (if it hasn't already, I'm unsure if episode 12 is the end).

The creators of both shows definitely put a lot of work, effort, and love into their shows. I love each one with an unconditional amount of respect and amazement. I hope you guys decide to give Primal a try; and hope I explained things to the best of my ability here.

I love both of these shows, and hope more people start talking about how great Scavengers Reign is; I'm so happy people are developing a fandom on this site for the cartoon!

Thank you for reading this random blurb, lol

#scavengers reign spoilers #primal spoilers #Primal #Scavengers Reign #Gennedy Tartakovsky's Primal #scavengers reign max

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buddieisgoingcanon2024 · 18 days

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Not gonna lie, read that article and said to myself, Did that author even watch the show? I think what we are seeing here is how straight defaulted so many people still are. Correction, some adults are. Ive noticed in my kids generation (gen z) the vast majority of them I see on line and I have interacted with then to default people's sexuality as other until someone clarifies something different. I think that is what scares older people so much about the younger generations.

On to why i was really writing Though I take everything Max says with a grain of salt, he just tweeted

"Tim Minear gave me my new favourite expression: He’s basically laying down the train tracks on “9-1-1” while the train is still moving. They’re almost done filming episode 7, currently working on post-production for episode 6 & still in the middle of writing episodes 8-10 (!)."

Seriously i feel like something has changed here. so nah I'm not ruling out a surprise b.u.d.d.i.e by the end of this season even with it being short. Or at the least an awareness by both of them.

I'm also still feeling like they changed something with the Aerosol storyline. Just not sure what. but I feel like its shorter than it was originally thought out at the beginning of the season. (stole that nickname from twitter MAHAHA) Honestly I always felt her character was some kind of eddie catalyst even with the ending that was season 6.

I still feel like it they were going in one direction and then she found out they were thinking of changing it and she went full on homophobe online about the change. I mean lets face it, you got a small part on a show, you obviously wanted to stay around awhile, it must have become clear at some point that you weren't and you go all nasty on social media. I mean depending on what her next audition is for, social media can follow the heck out of you even when you are clearing stuff up. that risks jobs in the future. So I'm wondering if it was her being upset about it that let her true colors shine instead of her being able to "hold in it"

Oh thanks for the update anon. Especially what Tim said. That’s very interesting to say the least. We only got 24 hours and 50 minutes to go till 7x05 premieres.

#911 on abc

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27emailsicantsend · 2 years

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sorry to bombard you with what non shippers are saying, but do you think ricky was ignoring gina in season 2? i don't recall this happening but people keep bringing that up as if it's fact

Firstly, not bombarding at all! I love getting asks so much! I work full time at a job that requires my full attention so I can only answer when I get home, but I try to get back to asks as soon as I can :) feel free to send any! Just might take me a day or two to respond :)

But I have definitely seen this floating around and I’m going to give that a big H*CK NO. If you watch in the episodes leading up to 6, there are multiple times where ricky reaches out to GINA, to talk. He smiles at her at NYE and she walks out. On Valentine’s Day, he invites Gina into his house (which some might say as polite), but he later texts her thanking her for coming over and giving him advice. Then the next episode (the storm) Ricky tells Gina he likes her dance idea and jokes around with her at school. At Carlos’ Quincenero, Ricky comes up to her to ask for advice (while not well-received by Gina, he did come up to her). Then in “Yes, And” we see ricky trying, yet again, to be around gina. He asks her to be his partner multiple times and is visibly upset and leaves when he sees Gina crying to “Home”.

After that is when things get fuzzy. I think a lot of the problem is the show is trying to introduce EJ as this new love interest. They needed to have scenes of them talking and getting to know each other to build up chemistry. Ricky was in the midst of his problems (+break up) with Nini and EJ needed to be the guy who “showed up”, so we got that parallel from Gina’s convo with Jack (did he stay?… well…. not so much, but I digress). I think a lot of the reason we don’t see rina interact between 2x6-2x12 is due to gina trying to move on after her anger at ricky, ricky trying to work through his relationship, and the show trying to establish another love triangle (it wouldn’t be a good one if we didn’t have any scenes we couldn’t root for EJ in). But it is evidenced they had not forgotten about each other because literally in episode 10 (AFTER spring break where ricky comes to terms with his relationship being done), we see ricky and the chocolates get brought up with the girls and gina and ej get brought up with the boys. When Gina is brought up as having a “thing” with EJ, you can see ricky is hurt. That’s when Carlos’ line about, “not letting the next girl go” gets panned onto Ricky’s face. I think he didn’t want to let her go either, but knowing she and EJ had a thing *I* think Ricky gave up hope on that and found the NEXT girl (Lily). When Lily didn’t turn out to be who he wanted (3x1), guess where ricky goes? Right back to the girl who was the original second chance. I think that’s a big reason we get that song in 2x12. GINA was the second chance, not lily, but with p*w being canon by 2x12, it makes sense that ricky might have jumped to the conclusion that second chance was lily.

TL;DR: I don’t think Ricky was ignoring Gina. If anything, Gina might have been ignoring ricky a little to move on, but I don’t put that on her as a bad thing. I think she needed the space and ricky needed to know what it was like to not have gina in order for him to fight for her. 2x1-2x6 gave ricky an “out”, because Gina stayed when he almost could have lost her. It was a big relief for ricky, so he thought everything was “fine and dandy”. He kept talking to her, until she decided she was done waiting for him. She almost moved and then ended up going after the guy who was giving her romantic attention when ricky literally couldn’t. But then ricky could and now gina was with someone else. Ricky learned a hard lesson s2: you don’t realize what you had until it’s gone.

#rina #hsmtmts #high school musical the musical the series #gina porter #ricky bowen #ricky x gina #asks #send me asks #anon

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adultswim2021 · 2 years

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The Venture Bros. #28: “Showdown at Cremation Creek Part II” | October 15, 2006 – 10:30PM | S02E13

Well, it's all lead up to this! The second part of a two-part episode wherein a lot of heavy plot stuff happens. I have to say, honestly, these episodes rank pretty low for me for Venture Bros. Seasons of Venture Bros. typically end with a big plot-shake-up action-blow-out and they are way more focused on comic-book shit than they are the comedy. This episode is well-crafted, and the action is good, but you really do feel like the comedy definitely comes second. It's a problem the show would grapple with from here on out, especially in the next season. In fact, I would almost say that these two episodes feel way more like proto-season-three episodes than they do season two.

We continue from last week, with a mock “last time on Venture Bros” bit that simply fast-forwards through the first episode up to the point where Phantom Limb shows up. This erupts into a full-scale war between everyone involved. Brock takes over as commanding officer of the Monarch's minions (with the Monarch's sort-of blessing). Hank is among the ranks, still in disguise. Dean is stuck in the engine room and hallucinating from engine fumes. Dr. Venture and the Monarch wind up fairly chummy in this episode, with the Monarch's truce still in place. The Monarch even shares an escape pod with Dr. V.

The Triad (Dr. Orpheus, Dana Snyder, and the Blacula hunter guy) are trying to get in on the action, showing up to conveniently rescue Dean, preserving his easily-replaced life. Our principals mostly come out unscathed, except for Phantom Limb, whose invisible limbs are tripped over and made into trophies when the dust settles.

The most memorable part of this is David Bowie seemingly gets killed at the start when we find out that Iggy Pop and Klaus Nomi are actually double agents for Phantom Limb. Bowie, aka the Sovereign, turns out to be a survivor, and eventually shows up to put a pin in Phantom Limb's plans. Most of the humor in these scenes involve these characters constantly referencing lyrics from their various songs. Also we find out the Monarch's henchmen's wings actually work and can lift them into the air easily; a fact that had alluded them until his moment.

All that stuff is good. It's certain things like the Triad that feels crammed in, and Dean's storybook fantasy, which resembles childhood favorite The Never-Ending Story, doesn't do much to add to the proceedings, except that one scene where he keeps missing the hints to put a sword directly in the villain's black electrified heart, insisting on chopping off arms and stabbing him in non-fatal places until he basically starts begging Dean to just aim for the heart.That’s a fun scene, but it’s basically a Monty Python sketch or something just dropped into the middle of the episode.

With this week we've reached what I believe is peak Adult Swim as far as quantity; There are seven premieres to discuss this week, which means I'm moving in real time. Things will level off eventually. I forget if I pointed this out, but this era of Adult Swim represents my return to the Adult Swim fold; I actually started recording the entire block again so I could hang onto my favorite shows and bumpers and stuff. Somewhere in my vast archives I have a rotting case of DVD-Rs I badly need to exhume so I can rip the DVDs and share them in some capacity. Will I die before that day comes? Yes. Probably.

MAIL BAG

*david cross voice* open your mailbag *knock knock knock* open your mailbag

I remember this routine and it was a phenomenally long way to go to mock the band Harlow even though they were nice to him. What a JERK!!!!

What do you think of Taz- Mania, the Taz Cartoon sitcom?

I sorta remember enjoying it slightly when it was on TV but never cared for it that much. I got a best-of VHS from a thrift store and turned it off after the first short because it sucked, and then I watched it again for my bad Simpsons blog and thought it was pathetic. BAD SHOW.

I do remember my friend’s older brother quoting a line he thought was funny, which was from Taz’s Bing-Crosby-esque father, he’s waxing romantic about meeting Taz’s mother and says something like “I knew she was the one, so I looked her in the eyes and said ‘blah blah blah, yackedy smackedy’“ (that was that guys’ catchphrase). This joke is burned into my brain. It sucks!

#adultswim2021 #adult swim #the venture bros.

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