#holi-day

[thisonelikesaliens]

There's a new Taiwanese show on Netflix (Taiwan region and Chinese subs only) called Holi-day (拜六禮拜 which is "Saturday Sunday" in Taiwanese). Wanted to check it out because it's spoken primarily in Taiwanese (with maybe a few terms in Mandarin sprinkled in) and well this convo destroyed me:

Mom: "You like men? Does anyone else know?

Mom: "I hope I'm the first one, but I also hope I'm not"

Mom: "If I'm the first one, that means my son is willing to trust me, which makes me really happy"

Mom: "but if I'm really the first one, that means you've kept this secret alone..."

Mom: "...for over 20 years. That must've been really difficult on you"

Son: "I want to tell someone too but I don't know who"

Mom: "Me! I want to listen"

Mom: "whether your relationship is going well or you've fought or you want to be #1, I want to know all of it"

😭😭😭😭😭

(and mom already knows the 1/0 lingo 😭😭😭)

[thisonelikesaliens]

Tag Game: Hopeful Little Queer Shows 🌈

tagged by @soypim @my-rose-tinted-glasses @watchthisqqq (thank you!)

all of you have included many of the shows i'd have on my own list, and what you've shared about those shows ring true for me as well, so i'm just gonna use this opportunity to highlight two other shows:

1. Holi-day (geolocked for Taiwan and with chinese subs only, idk if it'll eventually get subbed but maybe yelling about it will help 🙏)

at the core of this show is the friendship between 3 47-year-old women who have been friends for 30+ years. two are single, one is divorced with a gay son (i have two long posts about this excellent mother-son relationship). what gives me hope besides one of the healthiest mother-son relationships i've ever seen depicted on screen is the message that even if your current life isn't what you had hoped for, even if you're feeling a bit lost, with the right people in your corner you can keep going

2. The Promise of the Soul

ok, this is entirely personal and not very rational. i know VBL gets a lot of flak which is understandable because they really do have A LOT of room for improvement, but i think Qiao jie's heart is in the right place, she knows life's hard and wants to spread some joy, so VBL to me is like a character who makes mistakes but keeps trying to do better because they are kind and i always, ALWAYS, root for this exact type (Oppan and Koisenu Futari i'm looking at you). why i picked this show though is because it gives me hope that i am capable of more joy than i ever thought possible. i haven't been this obsessed with a pair since MTYL and last time i felt inspired to translate 6 ost was Unknown. i'm having such a wonderful time in this tiny fandom and it's just really refreshing. huge shout-out to @my-rose-tinted-glasses for spoiling me with so many beautiful gifs 💙

no pressure tagging: @befuddledcinnamonroll @bettydice @romchat @ellsieee @nabi-unveiled @avorbl @easterndelights @incandescentflower

[thisonelikesaliens]

before i head into the finale i just wanted to share another convo between one of my fav mother-son duo

son: "what rank am i in your heart?"

mom: "no.1"

son: "but you're not no.1 in my heart"

mom: "i know"

mom goes on to lecture son about not cherishing his bf whom she assumes is his no.1 (the young couple just had a fight)

son: "Wu Wen Le (bf) is not my no.1. I am my no.1"

son: "if you change your no.1 to yourself, what would you do?"

like...do you all see how important and how healthy this entire exchange is? this show is doing so many things right and i'm so not ready to say goodbye

[thisonelikesaliens]

so...what if you're 47 and...

a) you're divorced; or

b) your dad retires and you're left with the family handyman business where you've been helping out all these years because you didn't know what else to do and just sort of went with the flow; or

c) you've been acting in support roles for so long and you feel like you've already missed your chance to make it big in the industry

well, you really don't know where life may take you next

maybe you decide to go back to college and get your degree...

...or maybe you decide to actually find a mentor and learn the ropes of running a handyman business, and your business thrives because you now have the confidence and skills of a professional...

...or maybe you land the role of your dreams, win a Golden Horse award, and as a bonus also find love with a younger man who supports you in everything you do

yeah, just take it one day at a time

don't get stuck in the past

or worry about the future

just focus on the present

with the right people in your corner, you'll find contentment in, well, just being in the moment

thank you, Holi-day, for gently holding me and telling me to keep going when i most needed it

i'm gonna miss these boys too

[thisonelikesaliens]

this show has one of my favorite mother-son relationships, and i'll yell more about it in hopes it'll get international distribution

mom: "are you disappointed? your mom is one of those bad women you see on TV" (she got roped into being the mistress of her supervisor, who turned out to be a serial cheater. she got fired, but as a parting gift sent their private chat with all the raunchy details to the entire office)

son: "why are you calling my mom a bad woman? that's so rude"

son: "mom, i'll teach you how to cry. we cry for lots of reasons. we can cry when we get our hearts broken, when we're sad, or when we're happy. we can also cry when we're saying goodbye to bad things"

mom: "why would i cry when leaving bad things behind? i'd smile"

🫂🫂🫂🫂🫂

and here she is protecting her son from his homophobic dad (her ex):

dad: "your son likes men, don't you have anything to say?"

mom: "his love life is his own business. as long as he's happy who am i to say anything?"

dad: "how will he have kids in the future?"

mom: "same-sex couples have many options now if they want kids. and your family line isn't so great that it must be continued"

and then mother and son are in their own little world with mom showing genuine interest and happiness as her son talks about his new relationship. dad left the chat

mom: "you have a boyfriend??"

son: "i wanted to wait until we were more stable before telling you"

mom: "why didn't you tell me? is he handsome? i shouldn't ask you, you'll say he's handsome anyway"

mom: "you're with Wu Wen Le? you seduced my producer just like that?" (she has a part-time job as a radio host and Wu Wen Le is her producer)

such a happy family with dad out of the picture

[thisonelikesaliens]

Holi-day, Episode 10 stills

[theside-b]

Yay I got a hold of the raws for Holi-Day!

Can't wait to gif and make sets that are going to get 20 notes 😂

[mygodbody]

SHUBH HOLI!