Hallie's Comut

My hopefully interesting Tumblr, mostly dedicated to escapism in it's many forms, i.e. books, movies, television, and music.

[halliescomut]

Masterpost (Under Construction)

It will likely take quite a while to get this off the ground, so please be patient.

I will also be slowing instituting a new tag for my meta posts (because if I had been using one all along this would be infinitely easier). Said tag will be #HallieSMeta.

Until there's something more interesting to look at here, please enjoy Jeffrey being a little punk:

Look at this motherfucker!!!! How dare he be so goddamn adorable!!!

Be aware that many of these posts are written months apart and so sometimes information is repeated...it happens.

KinnPorsche MasterPost

KimChay MixTape- This is my post-canon KimChay fic- as of 10/10/23 it's at 88k words and will probably be 100k by the time I wrap things up. The links below are lil preview posts I do when I update. This is the Google Drive link to the first 3 chapters (which is a complete arc in itself. Otherwise it is posted on AO3.

Ch 1 Ch 2 Ch 3 Ch 4 Ch 5 Ch 6 Ch 7 Ch 8 Ch 9 Ch 10 Ch 11 Ch 12 Ch 13 Ch 14 Bonus Chapters

Jeff Satur Music

Song Theory part 1

Lucid MV Discussion

Lucid costar-Nene

You can also search the tag 'jeff satur menace' to see many posts of Jeff looking handsome as fuck.

BL Industry Musings

2022 BL opinions

Colorism Fanservice Assumption of Queerness

Faux Incest in BL

BL Botany 1 & 2 Jeff

My Personal Weatherman

Mashiko Atsuki appreciation

No-subtitle watch throughs (eps 3-8): 3 4 5 6 7 8

Ep 2 Ep 5 Yoh's drawings 1 Yoh's drawings 2 Finale thoughts

Minato's Laundromat S2

Midseason check-in I have feelings Amnesia trope

Asuka and Shu

Our Dining Table

Please watch this show: 1 2 3

Costuming Analysis

Kiseki: Dear to Me

Ep 5 Ep 8 Ep 9

Mame/MeMindY BLs

Master post of all Mame-written shows, including Love in the Air, the LITA Japanese remake (Koi no Yokan), Love Sea, Wedding Plan, and The Boy Next World

Naughty Babe

Ep 4

Tadaima, Okaeri

Eps 1-3 kind of intro

Ep 4- Meta discussion, discrimination allegory?

Ep 5- Meta discussion, portrayal of parenting

It's not letting me add the links right now, so I'll try again later.

Stray Kids

Social Path MV Analysis

Hallie is TOO honest on Tumblr:

Broad backs

Discovering my Asexuality

Human Imperfection

[halliescomut]

Here to complain about Double Helix

I want to get back into tumblr, bc I'm kinda done with TT, and so I guess I'm gonna start with a rant. I watched the first four episodes of Double Helix on GagaOoLala, and I have a lot of thoughts.

If you haven't watched & don't care about spoilers, basic story is Lu Feng and Xiao Chen (a nickname I'll explain at the end) meet in college, I believe they share a dorm room or live in the same dorm building, but I'm also not 100% clear on that. Over the course of at least that school year, and I think a little into the next they fall in love, become a couple, and even get "married". Following a confrontation where Lu Feng is injured defending Xiao Chen, his family (very rich people) force him to leave the country and go to the US to finish school and start working at their company there. Four years later Lu Feng is back to take the reins at another company/location owned by his family, and Xiao Chen is a new hire. They meet again and from there have to start working through the damage those years apart caused.

Now onto my particular issue with the show, because truly I only have one. Otherwise I actually think it's a good story. Perhaps basic, at least so far, and a bit predictable, but that is actually totally fine with me. The problem is that we watch Lu Feng assault Xiao Chen multiple times. Literally there is not a SINGLE NC scene that starts from a consensual place. It makes it incredibly hard to root for them as a couple.

And I know I'm being a fraction too sensitive (because my period is days away from starting), but I also know that this doesn't have to be this way and it's what makes it so frustrating. I'm fine with series tackling assault storylines, but the problem here specifically is that it's not ever presented as negative. I've talked about grey areas when it comes to consent and sex in shows, with UWMA, LITA, and Wedding Plan, I know that it's not always going to be 100% clear, cut and dried, because that's not /drama/.

I've been around a long time in BL spaces now. Not as long as some, but I've also been smart enough to watch and listen and understand where a lot of these very common tropes stem from. I get the archetypes, the seme and uke, I get the often unnecessary and poorly represented BDSM aspects. But it feels like it should get to a point where people should want to do it better. Because I'm certain that part of the problem is that the novel the show is based on is several years old at this point, and novel fanbases absolutely refuse to accept any alteration of a storyline. If it's not as true to the novel as possible, then they will be angry and loud about it.

But you could so easily update this ONE thing, without changing who these characters are. If you think that the assaults HAVE to happen (I disagree, but still), then make it more clear that what Lu Feng is doing is wrong EVERY time it happens. Because it's not until we see the office scene in episode four where his behavior is shown to be negative in ANY WAY. And the side effect of that actually being made clear makes it so as the viewer, you're happy that Xiao Chen left and you never want him to try with Lu Feng again. You set up the viewer to hate the love interest and see him as irredeemable, which is kind of insane for a show that is intended to be a romance and as part of that have them end up together as the credit's roll.

Personally, if anyone wanted my suggestions, I do think that seeing Lu Feng ignore consent during their early relationship isn't "bad" from a story perspective. Obviously it's not good, but it adds additional emotional depth to him as a character. He's rich, he's privileged, he's lived a life where he is so rarely denied things. It unfortunately makes sense that he would not even really consider consent, especially when we see that his family has no issues at all removing any choice from him. And Xiao Chen in those early moments is actively wrestling with his sexuality and accepting it. The struggle we see onscreen can mirror his own internal struggle, being 'overtaken' by his desire for Lu Feng. Even wanting Lu Feng to make that choice for him, because he's too scared to fully admit how much he wants it. Then, as their relationship grows, matures, there is no fear. Lu Feng doesn't have to push because Xiao Chen is more comfortable saying yes. If you want, you can include visual callbacks, like the caged hands, but make it clear through other body language that Xiao Chen doesn't want to get away. And I do think there's a sort of attempt at this type of direction, but it's not presented quite clear enough to fully get across to the audience. It's more that you /could/ spin it that way, but it's certainly not explicitly presented on screen.

When it comes to the office scene in episode 4, then you've opened yourself for a choice, presenting it as it is in the show, which does paint Lu Feng in an incredibly bad light, and makes you not want to root for the relationship at all, but instead of only seeing negative, aggressive sexual encounters between Lu Feng and Xiao Chen, we would have now seen several positive, clearly consensual ones, which would give us hope that he is redeemable. Or, you can start it as it starts, but show Xiao Chen giving in, not because he's afraid of saying no, but because he still loves Lu Feng, and he /wants/ to say yes. This would set the audience up to understand that the emotions he's feeling when Lu Feng leaves and he gets up off the couch are not betrayal because someone who was supposed to love him assaulted him AGAIN, but regret, because he knows that saying yes was not a smart decision. It's okay for characters (and people) to make bad choices and regret them. The CHOICE part is the key.

But just so I'm not being insanely negative about this whole show, which I REALLY want to like, I'll talk about some things that I think are really well done. I like the pacing of their romance. I think that the portrayal of their relationship across the first couple of episodes, showing how they met and got together and truly fell in love was SOO well done. I liked that they showed their commitment to one another in a tangible way through the fake wedding. It speaks to the many thousands of queer people in history who chose to commit to each other and didn't give a fuck about 'government recognition'. I think the way they showed how poorly they both reacted to their forced separation was so well portrayed by the actors. It was so heartbreaking to watch, those swings between righteous fury and numbing despondence. Even the different ways Lu Feng and Xiao Chen chose to handle those years apart, with one acting out and the other shutting down. It aligned with their already established personalities and continued to build or understanding of the characters.

I'm consistently a victim of second couple syndrome, and I do unequivocally adore Chen Yi and Qin Lang's relationship. I think given the trope of 'make everyone gay' in BL's it's clever to set up Chen Yi as being so consistently resistant to the idea of being gay because he watched how Xiao Chen was so deeply hurt after losing Lu Feng. It's less a resistance to the sexuality, and more to the idea of love itself. I even like the weird fake dating storyline of Qin Lang and Xiao Chen, specifically because everyone is aware that it's not real. It's sad and uncomfortable, because you can see how much yearning there is from Chen Yi and Qin Lang. But seeing Xiao Chen develop a friendship outside of his brother, have a person that he does trust and feel safe with during this time is nice. And it matters to Chen Yi that Qin Lang truly does care about his brother as a person, because he loves him deeply. You never feel like Qin Lang is using Xiao Chen in a malicious way, because it's clear to Xiao Chen from the start that there's reciprocated feeling between his brother and Qin Lang. Also, they don't make the fake dating go on for toooo long, which was something I was initially worried about.

When we get to the time jump, and actually re-meeting of Xiao Chen and Lu Feng, I do like that we see clear maturation (to a point) from them, that is again keeping within their established characters. Xiao Chen has developed his own strength as a person over the years they were apart. While he wants to have that relationship with Lu Feng back, he's not afraid to go it alone. This is just as important in my opinion as his willingness to take the leap again in the beginning of episode 4. Bravery can look like a lot of different things. And we see maturation from Lu Feng too, but also in a harsher way. His life with his family, that pressure, that clear disdain that they have for him, has had it's own effect. He maybe has a smidgeon more independence with his willingness to sort of kowtow to their demands, but it's also clear that he's not given up.

So their interactions, their relationship, post time jump feels drastically different, because you can clearly see that they've changed as people, not just because of the trauma of their forced separation, but also because life does go on, it doesn't just stop. And I think that's something that isn't always presented, or presented well in series that have time jumps. It's just parting the hair a different way and putting on a black work blazer instead of a blue school blazer, and "TA-DA! they're 25 now, aren't they so mature now?" That doesn't always cut it.

Anyway, even with all my gripes, I'm curious to see where the rest of the season goes given that only just now have both Xiao Chen and Lu Feng really understood that they didn't actually communicate anything about what happened during their forced separation. Which I actually don't think is bad storytelling. Frustrating for the audience, sure, miscommunication always is, but I think Lu Feng's sort of obsessive desperation combined with his more hotheaded/impulsive personality means he never really looks at situations too clearly or too deeply. On Xiao Chen's side, he's always been more introspective, more logical, looking too deep into it could bring answers to light that he doesn't want, so he chooses ignorance.

Anyway, that's my ramble. And here's the explanation about the the brother's names:

[halliescomut]

Just here to make this a gif. Enjoy

[halliescomut]

So...I just learned you can watch the Boy Next World special episode on iQiYi with your vip acct...maybe a regular acct, mine is vip tho, which I didn't know. I assumed it was like Love in the Air and you had to pay a rental fee. In fairness it might have been for a while and then they made it included with your subscription. But to my point- I watched it and I wanna talk about it.

I had my own issues with TBNW. (Link to my Mame BL masterpost) I felt like there was an opportunity to update some less than great tropes, and they sort of did, but in my opinion Mame didn't go quite far enough. BUT, overall I did really enjoy the series, I especially thought the cinematography was great, and ofc Boss and Noeul brought their A game.

But to get to the special episode, I actually think it's her best yet. Pacing is excellent, the story comes together well, it's a better glimpse of that happy ever after we want to see for Cir and Phi, just great.

To talk about some parts I found particularly outstanding- Noeul. I have felt since LITA that ppl don't really give Noeul the credit he deserves for his acting. I thought he was great as Rain, and I saw real growth in his turn as Phu the series. That only gets built upon as we see another universe version of Phu, this time one who is in pursuit of Cir. He's shy and reserved, something we haven't gotten from Noeul before and he does it well. And when we come back to the timeline we're used to, we see that sort of very honest comedy that Noeul is good at.

I felt from the beginning that TBNW had a very intriguing concept, but I felt like the execution of it in the series was like a 8/10. It was just a little too jumbled and confusing for me. And part of that could be the language/culture barrier. I'm certain there were aspects that may have been more obvious/understandable if I wasn't watching through that barrier. Like I still don't understand what black shirt Cir's deal is. But to get back around to my point, I always felt like the concept for TBNW was clever because it fed directly on the appeal that set pairs in Thai BLs have. You have the ability to sort of watch these people fall in love over and over. It has that slight red string of fate connection, something that is also incredibly appealing to romance fans in general, but very much to BL fans. (See the love for stories like Century of Love and Until We Meet Again).

So for the special episode to give us the chance to see Cir and Phu fall in love again was very smart. I also really liked that this love story in particular reversed what we had seen prior with Phu being the pursuer. Additionally, the fact that this story was a little more innocent. Yes, we get main timeline Cir and Phu and their sexual shenanigans, but we also get a bit of a gentler love story than we've been able to see from them. Much of what we've seen has been very angsty and dramatic, so something that was a bit more fluffy was a nice relaxing change in my opinion.

To be honest, there's nothing about this special episode that I disliked, which considering how harsh I can be about Mame is a little surprising. Watching it, I might sign up for a rewatch of the series, with a mind to pay more attention to the fantasy elements, because that was my biggest obstacle in the series.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. If you've been on the fence and you've watched TBNW, even if you were mid on it, I highly recommend watching the special episode just to enjoy some more Boss and Noeul.

[halliescomut]

GMMTV 2026 Line-Up

These are my first impressions based on watching the trailers today. I've given everything a #/10 rating. In general 8/10 or higher I'll definitely attempt to watch. 5-7/10 are maybes. Less than 5 is a probably not unless I hear some really good things from other people whose taste I trust. I do grade on a curve because my taste in Media is pretty skewed, so even something that is pretty clearly flawed in terms of story potential could still get a decent score just because I like the vibes. GL scores are automatically boosted solely because they are GLs.

When I say I'll give something a good shot, here's what that means. I have a rule that when I'm checking out a new show, it gets a minimum of three episodes to catch my interest, if I'm not invested by then I'll usually give it up. It doesn't mean I'll never watch it, but usually I will put it off and try again a few months later, if I want to try again at all. I think it's very difficult for television shows, even ones built to be singular seasons, to catch you just off of a first episode so to give it a fair shot it gets three. I do reserve the right to not give it three episodes and just bail immediately if I'm not having fun.

Now onto the shows!!

Ditto - GL (Milk Love) Fake dating; Ballerina Love. Both named Rafah (hence the ditto title I think) 7/10; feels a bit boring, story a little unclear tbh, we've seen better chemistry from them before, they feel kind of stiff here.

Bake Love Feeling - GL (View Mim) Baker/Lawyer; I'm a bit mixed, but I would also say 7/10. I feel like there's good potential.

Wish Upon a Star - GL (PahnFond) 'Nerd'/popular girl; time travel and murder. Intriguing, prime for angst. 9/10 for me in terms of interest.

Moon Shadow - GL (Emi Bonnie Film) love triangle, sugar baby, a lot of angst, chemistry looks good. I'm intrigued. 8/10

Enemies with Benefits - GL (JanJingJing) is what it says on the tin. I don't love a drunken ONS, but it's a trope for a reason. I like the comedy of it though. 9/10

Love’s Echoes - GL (JuneMewnich) Disability rep in the character, we love to see it (It would be nice to see it in the actor as well, but baby steps). I do really like this pairing. I thought they were very solid in Whale Store. 7.5/10, there's a lot of potential pitfalls when including something like a disability.

Oxytoxin - GL- Feels vaguely Gossip Girl-y; and I like that. Makes sense coming from the F4-Thailand producers. I feel a lot of potential, both as a GL, but just as a drama in general. 8.5/10

Her - GL (NamtamFilm)- A lot of this is very concerning to me.😬😬😬 I don't necessarily mind the revenge aspect. I don't love the use of a cis actress when there are very good trans actresses (I know it's bc they're an established pair, doesn't change my opinion). But my biggest concern is that if the character became a woman only for the revenge and bc his 'manhood' was damaged, that's not great....it's bad in fact. Which kinda sucks bc I do like Namtan and Film as a pair. 3/10

Overdose - hetero- looks absolutely ridiculous, might try and watch anyway, 7/10

Surf n Love - Hetero- I do love Ohm, I like the surfer vibe. I love the visuals. Seems more like a good time vs. something super deep (not a diss). Honestly makes me think of the summer I turned pretty (vibes wise, since I haven't actually watched that show).

Mr. Kill - Seems Bromancey (Dew Tee)- I want to be interested, but I'm not. Quality and potential: 7/10, chance I'll watch it: 2/10

Arrest and Action - Bromance? (Sky Nani)- It's giving Police Academy or 21 Jump St. I won't watch it, but I respect it. (To be so honest, this is a script I'd love to have seen FortPeat take on)

Scarlet Heart - Hetero- Time travel again, looks very melodramatic and I just know I would have trouble following the plot. 6/10

I will Always Save You - BL (JimmySea)- I do love a bodyguard romance. 9/10 (would be 10/10 but I haven't ever really loved a JimmySea project, so...idk)

The Invisible Dragon - BL (First Khaotung)- I'm already in bc it's First/Khaotung. It's exactly the kind of story I tend to love. Definitely looks fun and cute as well as dramatic and angsty. 10/10

Unlucky Bae - BL (ThamMac, AunStamp)- Not familiar with Tham and Mac, but I will say they grew on me more as the trailer went on. I can't say for sure it's a slam dunk for me, but it is a show I would give a good shot to. 7/10

Cupid’s Ghost - BL (EarthMix, OhmPoon)- It's EarthMix so of course, and I love Ohm also. The exact type of shenanigans I'm always down for tbh. Trailer shows a good balance of humor and heart, which is very much EarthMix's sweet spot. 14/10

How to Survive My CEO - BL (JoongDunk)- I will be honest, it took me a while to get on the JoongDunk train, like from the outside I see the appeal, I just wasn't feeling it myself. This does look very good. 7.5/10

17th Spring - BL (ChokunAston, PoddPapang)- Again with important representation (HIV+ character) I'm hopeful about portrayal. I really like the vibe here. Got a dash of 'old man yaoi'. Aston's dimples had me half sold already, he's a cutie patootie. I have some reservations, but they're minimal. 8.5/10

Plan B to U - BL (BounPrem)- Looks very silly, I love it. BounPrem are iconic for a reason and I love them in something more comedic. That being said....idk if this would be a weekly watch for me. More likely I would binge it when I'm in a comedy mood. 8.5/10

Roommate Chaos- BL (MarkOhm, FrancSave, SurfJava)- Feeling meh on this one. I might give it a fair shake, since it's got a bit of a P10L feel, & I did really enjoy that show, but we'll see. I do always have a soft spot for Mark. I'll say 6/10.

When Oranges Fall - BL (AlmondProgress)- and again with the same name thing. (Like considering how many Ohms, Guns, & Perths exist in BL, I know it's fair, but it does feel like a lot in terms of the trope popping up). I...feel very meh here too. I get what the story is going for. I don't know how well the trailer really showcases it. Personally-3/10 I probably wouldnt even give this one a shot unless I was hearing really good feedback about it.

Gunshot - BL (OffGun and Ohm was there too!)- Obviously I'm interested bc it's OffGun. I've been dreaming of Gun as a sort of hommefatale, so I'm totally down for this. Like all OffGun projects, this will certainly be a mood watch for me, their stuff always is, but I do see a lot of potential. 9/10

Good Boy Series - BL (LukeMick)- Similar to Wish Upon a Star really, and if we're being honest I'd rather watch the GL than the BL. I'm gonna say 5/10

Lovers and Gangsters - BL (ForceBook, GreatBright)- I love the aesthetic, but it all feels very musical theater vs real, which could be the intention. I like ForceBook fine, but idk. We'll say 6.5/10

Love of Siam - BL(GeminiFourth)- Musical, which I'm totally down for, but it feels hard to rate in comparison to series bc that's two totally different forms of media. Best I can say is that if it has English subtitles I'll give it the ol' college try. I do very much love a musical.

Twenty One - BL (JuniorMark, NutHong)- I'm interested to see Junior Mark as full leads, bc I did really like them in P10L. I'm intrigued by this sort of sliding into love vibe, BLs often default to love at first sight or enemies to lovers, and I'm always weak for a friends to lovers story. Definitely on the try list. 9/10 (it is getting extra points for the friends to lovers trope alone tho)

My Professional Boyfriend - BL (WinnySatang)- I do fear my first though was "Why is Winny dressed in Vegas cosplay?", I'm neutral on WinnySatang, so the story would have to really catch me, and honestly I'm on the fence, even though I do often enjoy a fake dating scheme. 6.5/10

Kiss Me Remember? - BL (BarcodeKin, KenPaul)- It's getting a good shot bc Barcode. It's an interesting premise even if I have mixed feelings on amnesia as a story point. I do feel like there's a solid amount of potential here, and I know Barcode's got the chops. Also Godji, whom I adore. 8/10

Billionaire Biker - BL (AouBoom)- I am excited to get AouBoom in lead roles. I hated their characters so much in P10L, but I thought their chemistry was pretty good. It's a simplistic premise (not a dig) but I think it's a good choice for them. Low stakes across the board. I will definitely give it a shot, but it might fall into being a mood watch vs something I follow week to week. 7/10

Write You Again - BL (KristSingto)- Again, I do regret to inform you that I don't really get KristSingto, but they wouldn't get the love they do if they weren't good, and I recognize that. Amnesia again, which is ehhhh. I do like a good second chance romance, which I would categorize this as. Krist confirmed characters are verse in canon, so that gives an extra point from the jump 7/10

Weirdo101 - BL (SeaKeen)- Autistic representation?? Charming. It may not be for me, but it's kinda cute. Chemistry is a tinge lacking imo, but I'm okay with that since it seems to be geared towards being a tween/teen friendly show, so they don't need explosive chemistry. 6/10

Match Point - BL (TeshowPing, SingChimon?!)- I do love Ping, though I will continue to mourn MeenPing, and Chimon has potential, I just don't feel like he's been matched with the right partner yet. I do like rivals to partners, and tennis is an underutilized sport in Thai BL. The dads give Bob and Jimmy Pesto energy, which is amusing. Didn't see quite enough of SingChimon do get a feel there.7/10

You Maniac - BL (WilliamEst, BarcodeKin)- Again we know I'm in for Barcode. I haven't watched ThamePo, so I can't speak to WilliamEst. This is just young men making poor decisions and I'm pretty down for it. A fair amount of potential here, I don't feel like the trailer sells it super well. 7.5/10

The Spooky Love Tale - BL (PerthSanta, MondRyu)- I love Perth and Santa and PerthSanta. I get the premise of the story, but it does feel like the story is about as solid as tissue paper. There's also clearly some sort of metaphor happening with the concept that their ghosts disappear when they're together. It will get a fair shake, but off the trailer alone I gotta go 5/10.

Replay - (TayNew, PondPhuwin, JossGawin)- ANOTHER time travel premise. Love PondPhuwin, like TayNew just fine, I do love Gawin, but I couldn't get down with My Golden Blood, so we'll see. Feels a bit disconnected, but it is only a trailer, so no points off for that. I am intrigued, but I'm not sold. 6/10

High and Low Born to be High - Action Drama (pretty much everyone)- looks bonkers, should have a hot lesbian gang, that would make it 10/10. Obviously unclear what even the story is, but it's based on a Japanese series, so I imagine it's at least partly using knowledge of the original IP as a selling point. Idk, I'd probably give it a shot. It seems like the type of chaos I would vibe with. I do enjoy a non romance show from time to time.

[arewedoneyet]

calling all scientists to help with new research project.

the subject is a bit tricky this time:

jeff with glasses

since he doesn‘t wear glasses to correct his eyesight, sun glasses are allowed.

[halliescomut]

SoI do have this one....though it is slightly edited 🤭🤭🤭. Please enjoy 😁

[thelatestkate]

[vani-satur]

Okay I always see people think Kim released wdys online and sent Chay a link, but I always thought Kim just sent Chay the video privately so:

How did Kim send Chay WDYS?

Kim posted it on his account and sent Chay a link

Kim sent it to Chay only

Something else (explain in tags)

Voting ended onOct 9, 2025

I see people say it was public because at the end Kim says 'this is for Porchay' but I always felt like that was just Kim confirming he sent it purposefully if that makes sense?

[halliescomut]

I err on the side of direct message with the video, and the confirmation of it being for Porchay is probably bc he knows Arm has a clones copy of Porchay phone or is using tech wizardry to know every file being sent over the family wifi, but I do think that it is funny to imagine that Wik couldn't send the video by text bc of the file size or whatever, so he did the only thing he could think of which is upload it to his official YT as unlisted and then send that link to Porchay.

I do think the idea that it was fully public and was just this randomly dropped new single posted on his YT is very funny to consider.

[halliescomut]

Unknown the Series: My ramblings

So I watched a new series and I have no one to ramble at about it, so I'm BACK Bitches!! (spoilers, but many will be out of context)

So how did we get here? I struggle to watch things as they're coming out for a lot of different reasons, but most of the time it comes down to mood. Something that's actively airing just isn't what I want to watch right now, and sometimes it's also depression, the pressure to like a show because many other people currently watching do like it, it builds up and my reaction is just flat out avoidance. This has led me to randomly watching shows on various networks/apps to fill the time while I put off watching what's kind of in the moment. So cut to this past Friday, I was scrolling on Viki (the streaming subscription I currently have active, bc I rotate them) and saw Unknown and I had read the description before and I was a little iffy on it, I'll be honest.

"Wei Qian, who has supported his sister Wei Li Li and adopted brother Wei Zhi Yuan since losing his parents, risks his life working illegally until his friend San Pang guides him to a better path. Life stabilizes until Xiao Yuan confesses his feelings and kisses Wei Qian, prompting Wei Qian to send him abroad. Struggling with his emotions, Wei Qian wonders if they will remain as brothers or cross the line into love."

I think you can gather why I was a little iffy on the show, because the faux-incest, forbidden love thing in BLs especially gets to be a bit much and just needs to be handled very precisely to not be icky. And in the end I do think that it's handled as well here as it can be. None of the older love interests are aware of any feelings from the younger ones until everyone is of age and and nothing happens until people are full adults. There's a kiss when one is between 18 & 19, and then nothing further until everyone is in their twenties. There's not any hardline information about ages in the show really besides one person turning 18, and so it isn't easy to know exactly how old people are throughout or what exactly the age gaps are. Based on my best guess, I think it's like a 4-6 year gap.

I feel like the synopsis doesn't really do the story justice, but the clarity of exactly what is happening is something you don't fully understand until the very end. The story is shown from the perspective of the two main characters Wei Qian and Zhi Yuan, but Wei Qian especially is a bit of an unreliable narrator for multiple reasons. Zhi Yuan is better, slightly more objective, but still colored by his own perceptions of what is happening around him. If this is the story of Wei Qian, think of it like the difference between a memoir and a biography, depending on whose perspective we're seeing at any given moment.

As someone who adores a found family trope, I do really like this story. It's also got a lot of grey-morality to it, which I enjoy, but also find realistic. I said it all the time in my discussion of KinnPorsche, but hardline morals are a luxury. You can know that stealing is wrong, but when it's a question of feeding yourself or the people who rely on you, sometimes you don't truly have a choice. I find the sort of individual moral compasses of Wei Qian and Zhi Yuan very interesting throughout the story.

I want to watch it a second time, since I'll have a better handle on who is who and the overall timeline of events, in order to really evaluate some of the storytelling choices made. Overall the story spans somewhere around 15-17 years by my guess, and for obvious reasons the main characters are cast in different age groups and not only do I think these actors all deliver excellent performances, but they also are really good castings as far as the physical match. But back to my point about a rewatch, I would swear that depending on perspective, the different actors are changed out, and I would need to solidify the timeline to verify that. And what I mean by that, is that there are events that happen around the same time in the story, but from one perspective a character looks older, and from another they look younger. The closest comparison I have is the flashback episode of Supernatural, where Dean is around the same age in both, but in an episode set from Sam's perspective he looks much older (and cooler) but in the episode from Dean's perspective he looks much more like a child (not necessarily less cool, but less mature).

(The pictures below are supposed to be the same character approximately 18 months apart, clearly it's a big difference)

But anyway, continuing along, there's a lot of subtle and interesting aspects to the storytelling, and the individual character's portrayals that really creates a fascinating story. It may not have repeat viewing watchability, especially given the trauma and violence, but it certainly will benefit from a second watch. I'm also fairly certain I will post again after that second watch, because there's a lot of moments that I found very interesting, but I need more time to formulate my thoughts about.

But to the reason I wanted to ramble about this show in the first place. There's two characters we meet fairly early on, I think both by episode 3, and that is Da Fang and Doctor Lin (pictured below).

Da Fang is a mid-level mob boss, not the leader of the whole outfit, but with his own area of control and responsibility (think district manager). He 'helps' both Wei Qian and Zhi Yuan, with an eye for his own gain. He's a very Fagin-esque type character, though smarter, I'll give him that. He bribes Wei Qian into fighting in a few underground matches, with the promise that should he win, that he will leave them alone. The thing with underground fighting is that when you get injured, you can't really just head to a hospital, especially when you're an orphaned minor with two younger 'siblings' that rely on you. So when Wei Qian gets injured, he gets sent to Doctor Lin. While we meet him as a full-fledged physician, context tells us that he was basically put through med school by Da Fang (or potentially the overall mob organization, but his main point of contact is Da Fang), and as 'repayment' he takes care of the medical needs of the ppl that the organization sends his way, Wei Qian included.

He basically ends up becoming Wei Qian's PCP, and so we see him throughout the series as Wei Qian continues to deal with the aftermath of a traumatic brain injury caused during his final fight. Zhi Yuan is a regular presence at his fairly run-down clinic, and someone he seems to have regular contact with as between the two of them they try to gently bully Wei Qian into taking care of himself. He's also Zhi Yuan's "informant" on the whereabouts of the Da Fang and some other more nefarious members of the mafia organization that still have this weird one-sided beef with Wei Qian and Zhi Yuan by association.

Why all this matters is that throughout the series it's known to us the Dr. Lin and Da Fang know each other, but THEN in the second to last episode we get a singular scene between them and the chemistry is absolutely insane. The very clear amused affection from Da Fang (in character, as he's pretty charismatic) and the aggravation, and almost resentment from Dr Lin, who up until this point has been a pretty genial guy.

My theory: They had a sort of on-again/off-again, kind of hate-sex thing going on way back when Dr. Lin was in med school, and it turned into less of an "I hate you, but you're a good fuck" thing and more into a "maybe I don't mind having you around when you're not being a criminal" thing. Then Da Fang gets re-assigned by his boss man, basically picks up and leaves without a goodbye. And Dr Lin, he doesn't know why he suddenly feels so lonely without Da Fang dropping in on him at 2 am a little drunk, sometimes a little bloody, and definitely a lot horny. Zhi Yuan asks him to keep an ear out, warn them if Da Fang or any of the others show up back in town, and he takes that as an excuse to to just keep light track of Da Fang's movements and what he's up to. The organization still sends him the occasional henchman to get patched up, and it's just some harmless gossip after all.

Now it's a few years later and Da Fang is back in town, but not just in town, in his clinic, and it was a lot easier to keep those boundaries firm when he wasn't looking at that charming and only a little bit punchable face. And he's past 30, fully cemented in his position as a respectable (and desperately needed) healthcare provider in a less than respectable area of the city, he shouldn't feel so churned up over a man that walked away from him without looking back.

And anyway, in my headcanon Da Fang keeps showing up in front of Dr. Lin, bringing supplies for the clinic, the legality with which they were acquired being no one's business, trying to get back into Dr, Lin's good graces. Okay, at first he was just trying to get back into his pants, but Dr. Lin wasn't the only one with fond-ish memories of their past together. And he certainly wasn't the only one who wondered 'what could have been' if he hadn't been reassigned on less than a day's notice.

Anyway, after several weeks of aggravated requests to "leave him the fuck alone" Da Fang shows up at the clinic well after closing and a little worse for wear after a scuffle with a competing organization, and they bicker as Dr. Lin patches him up, not because he wants to, but because he takes his Hippocratic Oath seriously and he knows Da Fang won't go to a the hospital to get checked out.

The bickering builds and eventually it turns to yelling and culminates in Dr. Lin shouting "You left without even saying goodbye. Why did you bother coming back?!" And Da Fang with more earnestness than Dr. Lin's ever seen says "I couldn't say goodbye, because if I had tried, I wouldn't have been able to leave."

Then they have very excellent make-up sex (that does rip Da Fang's stitches, and Dr. Lin has to sew him back up again) and that they both partially regret, because they're getting a bit to old to be fucking on a narrow and fairly rickety hospital gurney.

Anyway I hope you enjoyed this incredibly long and certainly ridiculous ramble.

[pers-books]

Sir Ian McKellen is to open a new production of the Shakespeare classic Twelfth Night that will feature all trans and non-binary performers.

Sir Ian McKellen to open historic all-trans and non-binary production of Shakespeare classic

Sir Ian McKellen (Getty)

Sir Ian McKellen will open a brand new production of the Shakespeare classic Twelfth Night featuring all trans and non-binary performers.

The Lord of the Rings star, 86, will join in on the one-night only rehearsed reading by the theatre group Trans What You Will in July.

Staged at London’s The Space Theatre, the reading will be broadcast globally via a livestream. All profits are going to the UK-based trans charity, Not A Phase.

The performance will take one of Shakespeare’s most well known and gender-fluid works and reimagine it through a trans lens.

“With mistaken identities, cross-dressing, and declarations of love across shifting gender roles, Twelfth Night has long explored the complexity of identity,” a press release reads.

“This production makes that queerness explicit, reclaiming the story through the lived experiences of trans and nonbinary artists.”

Sir Ian McKellen (Getty)

Phoebe Kemp, who is directing, has said: “Twelfth Night already toys with gender and performance, it feels like Shakespeare wrote it for us. This reading is about joy, solidarity and showing what’s possible when trans and nonbinary artists are at the centre of the story.”

The performance, which will take place ahead of London Trans+ Pride, has also been billed as “a joyful act of protest and pleasure activism, celebrating gender diversity at a time when trans representation remains under threat.:

Twelfth Night – A Rehearsed Reading by Trans What You Will is set to take place on 25 July 2025 at The Space Theatre. Tickets to attend in person are available here. Tickets for the livestream are available here. Pay-what-you-can tickets are available.

-- Pay-what-you-can livestream?! I love you, Sir Ian!

[halliescomut]

Star Wars Poll

I have a genuine question to ask about Star Wars upon this re-release of Revenge of the Sith.

If Anakin had not taken the final step to the dark side on Mustafar, but had instead basically come to his senses at the last minute and been like "OMG, I was totally wrong. Padme, Obi-Wan, you were right that I was being brainwashed by Palpatine. I'm so sorry, let's get the fuck out of here" and left with them--do you truly think Padme would have forgiven him/taken him back? Like, knowing he had slaughtered the younglings, done all of those terrible things including force-choking her, would she still even want to create a life/future with him?

If you'd like you can assume that he would face the legal consequences of what he did. But even if basically no one but the three of them knew, so they could conceivably just have their babies and be a family, do you think she could overcome that knowledge?

Would Padme take Anakin back?

Yes

No

Voting ended onMay 6, 2025

[halliescomut]

Star Wars Poll

I have a genuine question to ask about Star Wars upon this re-release of Revenge of the Sith.

If Anakin had not taken the final step to the dark side on Mustafar, but had instead basically come to his senses at the last minute and been like "OMG, I was totally wrong. Padme, Obi-Wan, you were right that I was being brainwashed by Palpatine. I'm so sorry, let's get the fuck out of here" and left with them--do you truly think Padme would have forgiven him/taken him back? Like, knowing he had slaughtered the younglings, done all of those terrible things including force-choking her, would she still even want to create a life/future with him?

If you'd like you can assume that he would face the legal consequences of what he did. But even if basically no one but the three of them knew, so they could conceivably just have their babies and be a family, do you think she could overcome that knowledge?

Would Padme take Anakin back?

Yes

No

Voting ended onMay 6, 2025

[halliescomut]

Star Wars Poll

I have a genuine question to ask about Star Wars upon this re-release of Revenge of the Sith.

If Anakin had not taken the final step to the dark side on Mustafar, but had instead basically come to his senses at the last minute and been like "OMG, I was totally wrong. Padme, Obi-Wan, you were right that I was being brainwashed by Palpatine. I'm so sorry, let's get the fuck out of here" and left with them--do you truly think Padme would have forgiven him/taken him back? Like, knowing he had slaughtered the younglings, done all of those terrible things including force-choking her, would she still even want to create a life/future with him?

If you'd like you can assume that he would face the legal consequences of what he did. But even if basically no one but the three of them knew, so they could conceivably just have their babies and be a family, do you think she could overcome that knowledge?

Would Padme take Anakin back?

Yes

No

Voting ended onMay 6, 2025

[halliescomut]

My Stubborn Ep 1

This isn't really a review just me listing the story points I remember from the first episode. (I will eventually learn everyone's name probably, but right now I know Sorn and Jun and that's it.)

-Sorn is masturbating by a koi pond, Jun sees him and then they masturbate together by the koi pond.

-Now it's two years later and Jun has an internship at some company. You get introduced to like 12 ppl. Two of them are ladies who I presume will be a GL couple eventually and one is wearing a suit jacket with a midriff cutout that has to be a wardrobe violation.

-The couple from Unforgotten Night is in this (the actors not the characters) and I guess they're idiots in love. The one who is like a boss guy is totally gone over the other, who is oblivious. They flirt over some sort of pork skewer.

-Jun is eavesdropping/spying around the office building and catches two ppl making out in the stairwell, and then Sorn catches him doing that.

-We get a flashback to a couple years ago (I'm guessing) where Jun gets drugged at a club and has a persistent erection and Sorn 'helps' by giving him a blowie in his car.

-We're back to the present and still in the stairwell and Jun thanks him for the blowie. Better late than never I guess.

-We see another moment with the unforgotten night couple where he catches the other guy's chin when he's about to fall asleep at his desk.

-I have no idea what this company does. We get a montage of Sorn walking by Jun while he does typically comedic office stuff like struggle with the copier.

- Day one of work over and Jun gets picked up by the guy he's casually seeing who is also a cutie patootie.

-Sorn meets up with some random chick and they fuck (but off screen we just see making out). I'm assuming she's a regular hookup of his, bc he doesn't act boyfriend-y.

-Now day two of work. Jun I guess came in early and fell asleep at his desk. He's woken up by his mentor, and he has a little dot on his nose and whiskers drawn on his cheeks.

-Sorn and Unforgotten Night guy come in and he's trying to ask about the face drawing but Sorn covers his mouth and nose and he's like 'OMG, your hand stinks. Did you not wash it?' and Sorn's like 'yeah'. So I'm guessing we're to assume his hand smells like that lady's pussy?!? Which...ewww (the non-handwashing part).

-Sorn is all flirty with Jun again, at his desk at work in clear view of the other employees. Wildly inappropriate.

-Mentor man tells Jun about the face drawing and Jun heads to the bathroom to try and wash it off.

-Sorn shows up in the bathroom, bc ofc he does. (We get a short flashback showing Sorn drew the nose dot and whiskers, then being super soft and simpy while looking at Jun.)

-Sorn asks Jun if he's really dating a guy and bc he's being kind of aggressive about it Jun's like 'why? Are you homophobic?'. The man has had your dick specifically in both his hand and mouth...what do you mean???

-Sorn clarifies he was just curious bc Jun used to only date women (while also masturbating with a man by a koi pond and getting sucked off in a dude's car, but yeah that's totally straight behavior.)

-Jun says he's changed and is now 'spicy Jun' and pulls up his shirt to smack his stomach for some reason. Just to remind you we're still in the company public bathroom, not even in a stall, just by the sinks in full view of the unlockable door.

-Sorn pulls up his own shirt calling his slightly more toned abdomen the 'real deal' and Jun starts to fondle him basically.

-He asks again what made Jun start being into guys and Jun's like 'it definitely wasn't you sucking my dick that one time.'

-Jun finally remembers they're in public, and is like 'we're not talking about this here'. Then Sorn asks him if he had 'used anything he had taught him' meaning had some sort of sexual encounter with another man.

-Jun says yes with the cutie he's sort of seeing. Idk if that's really true or if he was trying to rile up Sorn, but Sorn is riled up and kisses him and then a new guy walks in. (New as in we hadn't met him yet.)

-Everyone is uncomfortable and Sorn and New guy leave. New guy starts gossiping with another employee about Sorn and Jun fighting in the bathroom, so I guess he didn't see the kiss.

-Sorn and Jun bicker again. Day two of work over.

-Jun meets a friend at a bar. Gets flirted with by a cute boy. Then Sorn shows up bc ofc he does.

-Jun goes to the hall by the bathrooms (?) and Sorn shows up and starts making out with some lady. Maybe the same lady from the night before, but his face is in the way and I can't tell.

-Cute flirty boy comes out and Jun grabs him and starts making out with him to make Sorn jealous I guess....bc he's jealous of the lady Sorn's making out with. They're idiots your honor.

-Cute flirty boy's boyfriend shows up and starts beating the everliving fuck out of Jun (with some pretty silly stunt choreography). Totally fair Jun didn't assume he had a bf, bc he was being distinctly flirty, not just friendly.

-Angry boyfriend breaks his beer bottle, I guess planning to stab Jun with it which is kind of insane. And then everything fades to white and then credits. As far as we know though, Sorn is still right there, so he's probably gonna fight the guy and save the day. But we'll have to wait til next week to see.

This whole episode was absolutely ridiculous and I'm definitely gonna keep watching. 😂😂.

[teabree-shark]

Do you think Microsoft understands consent?

Yes

Remind me in 3 days

Voting ended onApr 23, 2025

[teabree-shark]

Do you think Microsoft understands consent?

Yes

Remind me in 3 days

Voting ended onMay 2, 2025

[halliescomut]

The fact that it's the SAME PERCENTAGE!!

[tgtbata]

it's me against the man he's always been

[agendratum]

ai di and his collars for @vegaseatsass