#roadtrip posts

[waitmyturtles]

Quick notes on two shows that (holy shit, I did it!) I ACTUALLY FINISHED on this crazy trip I’ve been on.

1) A Shoulder to Cry On: I think the wonderful ​@bengiyo‘s stray thoughts post on this show captured exactly my thoughts -- your analytical thought of “[i]t’s the promise of a compelling drama” is spot on. I think the pace of the story undermined what could have been some really great emotional connection. And the avoidance of intimacy also confused me. I’m just gonna guess that because of the status of the two actors as Omega X idols, that many risks could not have been taken, but if risks HAD been taken, the story would have been far more seamless. I just wanted a bit more richness in emotion. At least this helped shine a light on the issues that Omega X faced, and I’m glad to see this group re-group.

2) Our Dating Sim: Speaking of emotional richness....

Wow. Wow wow wow wow wow. Wow. I didn’t write much about this show leading up to my trip -- I just leaned in on enjoying the feels.

BUT. WOW. Episode 7! Gi Tae’s feelings of abandonment and fear! How they came through in his emotional outburst to Wan!

Geez. I loved how we were kind of led on in the first episode by Wan’s fear. We assumed Gi Tae wasn’t interested in Wan. We assumed Gi Tae had the POWER of being a potential LEAD over Wan. We didn’t know Wan needed to enlist that next day after the first rooftop kiss. Wan thought that Gi Tae had pulled back.

There was a lot there in that first episode that SET US UP (or, at least, set ME up) to think that it was Wan in the weak spot, with Gi Tae having the power to say yes or no to a connection.

And then, the pursuit by Gi Tae throughout the series. The confessions, the connections. Wan seemed a little speed-blinded by it all -- how could all of this be happening? It’s happening fast. We might be wondering about Gi Tae’s sincerity throughout episode 5 since he’s coming on so hard, and Wan is avoiding it all.

We see a glimmer of heartbroken emotion by Gi Tae at the end of episode 4 -- and then the full admission of anxiety and heartbreak in episode 7.

THIS SHOW HAD BALANCE. Wow, it teased us! I couldn’t really put a finger on how it moved SO fast for Wan, and what Gi Tae’s real intentions were, and if he was sincere. I think Wan wondered that too, and Wan was played SO WELL under this curtain of confusion. His hesitation was so beautiful.

AND THEN EPISODE 7! HE HAD TO HOLD GI TAE TO COMFORT GI TAE! Wan -- Wan had to take the emotional lead to soothe Gi Tae and reassure him that the past wouldn’t repeat itself. Episode 7 BEGAN with Gi Tae fearful that the old anxiety was going to return.

Gi Tae seemed SO confident and self-assured throughout the series -- EXCEPT at the end of episode 4 and during episode 7. But those two emotional windows were PERFECT to help us understand, in this short series, what Gi Tae had been going through this whole time.

And then -- it was on WAN to comfort Gi Tae, and to make a decision to STAY with Gi Tae, and he SHOWED UP and he made that decision. And then that decision led to an even better work outcome for Re:Try.

Come awn! THIS SHOW WAS GREAT! I TOTALLY didn’t expect to LOVE this show as much as I did at the end. And I love to see the love for the two actors on social media, because they did fabulously.

I’m gonna miss this show! I hope Korea can repeat itself. I’m seeing such great things about The Eighth Sense -- I can’t wait to get back into my regular swing of things and check out more Korean BLs and how they’re improving over time.

[waitmyturtles]

Accomplishing the things on this long trip — finished Jack O’ Frost. No time to analyze, but it was a FABULOUSSSSS ending. The simultaneous recollection not just of Ritsu’s memories, but also of how they first met on the beach — and how Fumiya’s support propelled Ritsu in his career, and then much later on in his recovery. How the two of them transcended their everyday bullshit to appreciate each other vis à vis the omnipresent, potential tragedy of a relationship ending.

This ending illustrated to me why I think we need more QLs with adults in adult situations. It was such a gorgeous, mature ending. It shone a light on a thing that’s very grown-up: two people who were at risk of losing each other, and who were EACH willing to CHANGE in order to stay together. That’s a tall order for people. Change is hard. Ritsu especially committed to changing himself. I found that so moving.

THIS WAS A GREAT SHOW! I’m gonna miss it.

[waitmyturtles]

(CW: LOTS OF JOYFUL YELLING)

I LOVE OUR DINING TABLE, I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT! I LOOOOOVVVVEEE ITTTTTTTTTTT.

We’re already getting into GOOD Kinou Nani Tabeta/great pace/lovely softness/all the emotions/fabulous food shots territory! Flashbacks! Little kids! Lots of ma! Longing shots of dudes!

Fuck yes. God damn it, I am so, SO happy TBS adapted this manga.

(Before I go on, I must implore any of you who have the time to PLEASE read this manga. It’s only one volume, beautifully translated, and I think the dorama is going to hew close to the story — at least, this first episode did. It is SUCH a fabulous read.)

I don’t have the moments to write a whole deep thing, but let me continue to list what I loved about this show and what I hope they’ll dive into more:

1) RICE! Y'all know I love rice, and I ESPECIALLY LOVE SHOWS that feature rice as a humble but potent character. (Oh, how I miss you, Moonlight Chicken.)

Onigiri is the humblest of foods, but also so beloved. (Onigiri can actually be a little difficult to make, as depicted in the Kinou Nani Tabeta manga -- if you place the hot rice on your bare hands, you salt your hands in advance and prepare for some owies.)

So about the rice: making rice in a nabe takes legit skill. I've burnt rice in a nabe before, as I'm really only used to using a rice cooker, but: rice out of a nabe is DEFINITELY special, because of the ability to make a crunchy bottom layer of rice at the end. If you can balance the timing just right, that crunchy layer adds so much depth and flavor to the rice. (I got this to make nabe rice at home, and you really need to use proper Japanese short-grain rice to get the best result, in my own opinion as a home cook -- but I'd love to learn tricks from others on how to use this pot for other types of rice, as I'm not skilled enough yet to do that.)

One more point about crunchy/crispy rice: it's beloved across Asia/Eurasia/the Middle East. Persian tahdig, Korean nurungji and dolsot bibimbap (when you order a dolsot bibimbap, mix everything as fast as you can and smush the rice against the hot stone bowl, then let it CHILL for a couple minutes -- then scrape it all off and mix the crunchy rice in with all your bibimbap stuff and AAAAHHHH SO GOOD), all the peeps love it. 

So Minoru and Tane getting excited about all the different aspects of nabe rice is so meaningful (the crunchy layer, the middle part of the rice), because honestly -- eating nabe rice means that you're at HOME, and someone at HOME knows how to make this humble food so well. Sitting around a nabe, whether it's filled with rice or a stew, means that you're likely sitting around a table with people you love, eating together. Our Dining Table takes this motif right out of the batting cage and hits a home run with it. (@respectthepetty, I'm goin' off on the food again, natch.) Sigh. All of this makes me so happy. And there's so much more food to look forward to in the show.

2) I love that the yellow smiley face motif is taking a flight from Thailand to Japan. This means a lot if you know Yutaka's backstory already.

3) I think the dorama is going to make me appreciate this even more than the manga, but it's a hell of a lot of work to take care of a little kid, lol. Seeing Minoru grabbing Tane when Tane first met Yutaka, it gave me the mom feels. This is also a really important point to this story, but -- visually seeing Minoru struggle automatically made me understand his character even more.

GIVE ME MORE OF THIS SHOW! Y'all, it's already so great, and it's going to get better. All of the emojis, all of them. I'm meeping so hard!

[waitmyturtles]

(Please forgive me if any of this has already been written — I haven’t gone through all the reviews on the tag yet!) I have ZERO BUSINESS commenting on Midnight Museum, considering I only began watching from episode 5 ONLY for the guest stars, but since friends are puzzling over the plot, and it’s as confusing to me as I’m seeing in the reviews, I just want to say:

1) There is clearly a mishmash of religious/spiritual commentary happening here. I know far too little about the influence of Hinduism on the history of the Thai cultural spectrum, but give me an ashram and castes (and spiritual figures keeping people out of religious spaces for their castes), and I’ll say that’s a commentary on gatekeeping in sub-continentally-influenced regions.

2) Couple that with a burning at the stake. Could this have been a reference to the American Salem Witch Trials? I feel like that’s a REALLY specific American reference in a Thai show. The Spanish Inquisition also had burnings at stakes. So maybe that’s a reference as well?

3) In trying to parse Khatha and Chan/Dome’s situation, what’s really coming to my mind by way of comparison is Achilles and Patroclus. Achilles and Patroclus of the Iliad were… what, exactly? Certainly companions. Maybe friends? Likely lovers — likely lovers, as was common during the time of Homer, when subordinate male soldiers served as… what, exactly — companions, friends, lovers, to more powerful soldiers.

It’s foggy. It’s assumed, but our assumptions in modern times do not account for the unspoken cultures that were assumed for Homer’s time. History can be foggy…. as is being portrayed in Midnight Museum.

But besides the lovers bit (ship ship ship), here’s what I think are the important parts:

a) Patroclus was adopted by Achilles’s father. They were raised in the same family — but it’s not clear if they were raised as brothers, per se, or more like supportive friends/companions. Some theorize that Patroclus was kind of like a servant-friend to Achilles (even though Patroclus was older than Achilles — so that may indicate a kind of caste-or-class-like difference there, too).

b) It’s often written that Achilles allowed Patroclus to die. Patroclus asked Achilles to enter the Trojan War. Achilles consented. After Patroclus defied an order from Achilles, Patroclus was killed.

It was Patroclus who defied an order — but at least, when I read and learned about the Iliad in college, it was taught that his death was attributed to Achilles.

c) As we all know, Achilles also had a “weak leg,” but Patroclus, of course, didn’t heal Achilles’s tendon. I think the healing parable there is just Patroclus’s companionship to Achilles, who was known as a totally fearsome warrior.

In the show, we are told that Khatha was the one who killed Chan. But we don’t see Khatha lighting the fire. We just see Chan cursing Khatha.

I’m not sure we can trust history here. And I don’t know how to put this all together. (And I have almost no idea of why Ton/Nanon came back, which was why I watched this episode in the first place, dammit.)

But the last thing I’ll say is:

4) There is a goddess in Hinduism named Devi. Devi is often referred to as “The Mother.” Many have called her “The One.” What Devi represents is the “oneness” of the world — that while there are countless practices, countless deities, countless ways of being, that Devi represents that we are all ultimately As One. Wikipedia has Devi down as representative of “ultimate truth and supreme power.”

I’ll say again that I have really no idea what’s happening with the plot. But I wonder if awllllll of these spiritual references are beginning to coalesce under that figure known as The One (and hell, I might tell a whole bunch of Indian aunties that a Thai show might be serving GUN ATTHAPHAN as an avatar of Devi—those home shrines could look a whole lot different).

The One is making Khatha face… something. Truth? Foggy history? The theme of the show is The Witch’s Game, and Anthikka has referenced a Creator in previous episodes, so maybe truth seeking is all a game to her and her god. What I’m honestly wondering about this show is whether or not it is a huge, confusing, macro commentary on the crazy-ass diversity of religion/spirituality/mythology, and how it can lead to the perception of various realities, as it were, when in fact — we are all just One Humanity, One Truth, and we are possibly fucking each other over by way of our selfish preferences (as Khatha wanted Chan all to himself) (but then Khatha let Chan go) (so Chan dies) (and Khatha is to blame).

I…. I just feel like there might be a simpler way to explain all of this in a drama, but who am I to be critical? At least the acting is great, even if Gun has to play like, five or six roles!

[waitmyturtles]

1) WE MADE IT. My kids survived a nearly 16-hour flight. Holy shit. The jet lag is going to hit all of us like a shinkansen, but WE DID IT. (@clairificusrex, we’re in Sydney! Only for two days, but it’s GORGEOUS HERE. And humid! Wow.)

2) In more important news (ha), I was able to watch Bed Friend, episode 6 on the plane! (Thank goodness for offline iQIYI, glad I paid for that yearlong membership when KinnPorsche was on.)

I don’t have time to write a full-on thing, but:

Filial piety. Very interesting to me that King’s filial piety to his family is impeding on Uea’s potential feelings of connections/commitment to King. Because King has to engage in filial piety, too -- like Uea -- it’s almost like a turn-off to Uea. Maybe Uea sees King as an ESCAPE from the filial piety that Uea himself is emotionally locked into -- and King is the person that Uea can run to, to RUN AWAY from Uea’s internal sense of obligation.

But when King has to enter that ring, when King himself has to engage in filial piety, and when King has to step away from his growing relationship with Uea to pay attention to that filial piety -- Uea’s like, deuces, I’m out. You’re not the escape I need you to be.

And I think that’s why Uea cooled significantly on the idea of rescheduling that beach trip, and reiterated the FWB arrangement. Because the FWB label keeps everything at a distance, and makes everything the escape that Uea needs it to be, without him being emotionally connected to anything -- when I think we’re all beginning to realize that he WANTS to be emotionally connected to King.

My only complaint is that I just wish the dudes would talk. I would love to have more time to meditate on the motif of them talking on their phones while next to each other, but alas. There’s a wall that I need to figure out between the two of them (I think I need to catch up on @respectthepetty‘s analyses because I think you have some clues). But overall -- this was the best episode by far, imo. 

[waitmyturtles]

This trip’s been INNNNSAANNNNE (jet lag) (so. much. jet. lag.), but dammit, I DID watch episode 7 of Bed Friend because WHAT THE FUCK KRIT GOING TO UEA’S MOM’S HOUSE??? PREDATOR!

And in that dining room! Predator on predator on abuser! Pran’s dad! (lol @wen-kexing-apologist) Krit! That JACKASS MOM! Too many assholes!

But unfortunately, something hit about this episode (and I do have to say that each episode gets better and better). Now that I’ve been in a hemisphere and continent different than mine for a while now, and I’ve been catching up with my overseas-from-me fam and friends — there was something unfortunately realistic about that scene from my Asian lens, even though I think, from my American lens, it was a little over the top.

There was something about an OBSESSION FOR CONTROL in that scene that I could relate to from my Asian lens. A lot was happening there. Before that scene, Uea’s mom hit him up for money again — there’s filial piety, there’s collectivism. Uea still cannot prioritize his pain and healing in the face of his mom’s demands — that’s the movement away from his past abuse that he needs to make.

Pran’s dad needs Uea to shut the hell up about the past. If Uea forces this revelation (which he ultimately does), both Pran’s dad and Uea know that their family falls apart (which it does).

And fucking Krit. Krit knows — likely because he can vibe Uea’s weak spots, likely because Krit has, in the past, abused the abused — that going to Uea’s family would cause Uea MORE pain (wanting to hurt him), AND add ANOTHER layer of control over Uea, not only by being his boss, but by also getting Uea’s mom on his (Krit’s) side, all while Uea still supports his mom grudgingly.

And that’s why the anger that Uea threw was such a relief. His shell is beginning to crack.

There’s so much to say about King, but I don’t have the time, but I thought Net was FABULOUS in this episode, and I can’t fucking wait for the big-ass vacay and throwdown that’s previewed for next week. I LOVE THIS SHOWWWWW.

[deux-jared]

it's always let your freak flag fly until it's a control freak flag