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ohctranscripts · 2 years

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Naughty Till New Years: Secondly, the Past

[Singing saw music starts, bells tolling]

Narrator: Let us go back in time. When the janitor first came to the Eiffel Tower, he did not speak, so much so that his boss, Mr. Chouinard, believed him born unable, and immediately went about the task of learning sign language. At that time, the janitor spent most of his time in the janitor’s closet. He comes out only when the rest of the world is asleep, like a mouse emerging from its hole, tentatively, and ready to run back at any moment.

[Julian breathing, footsteps]

Julian: Hello?

Narrator: Ah, there he is! Oh, he looks like a baby… or, no, just kidding, he actually looks just about the same. Anyway…

At this time, the janitor’s life had two primary problems. One, the intrusions of Mr. Chouinard, whose actions and motivations confounded the janitor, but whose comings could easily be predicted by a clock.

Julian: Um, Mr. Chouinard’s okay.

Narrator: And two, the intrusions of the night watchman, who is scary, and whose comings could not be foretold by a clock.

Julian: Oh… but the night watchman, he’s—he’s not alright.

Narrator: Then, the night watchman was something quite different. You see, at this time, the Eiffel Tower’s night watchman was a terrifying man. One might imagine a horrible man, brutal, and violent.

[Footsteps, gasp]

My god, he’s coming!

Julian: No…

Narrator: The janitor dives into his closet, hiding in the dark.

[Heavy breathing, footsteps approaching]

The footsteps arrive…

He’s on the other side of the door! The janitor cannot breathe. Suddenly, the whole closet lights up! The night watchman shines his lantern under the door, flooding the closet with light! His hands are on the knob! There is no lock… he is going to open the door!

But, like a beast saving his prey for later, he… does not.

For now.

Meanwhile, elsewhere, Mr. Chouinard proves to have no talent whatsoever for sign language. We find him, now, practicing on his family.

Child: [speaking in French]

Chouinard: I do not look like a seal!

Lisabetta: You look like a seal clapping for fish. The child means nothing by it, relax. Do you want a sardine?

Narrator: Undaunted by the fact that his youngest children have now mastered sign language chapters ahead of him, and assured him that his patented combination of dyslexia and lack of coordination result in signs intelligible only to trainers at the aquarium, Mr. Chouinard continues to practice, and several days later we find him nervously approaching the janitor’s closet door, in the hopes of communicating with him properly for the very first time. The janitor, of course, is hiding behind that door.

Chouinard: Okay, Chouinard… you’ve got this. You’ve practiced hard, and, uh, hello… yes, ah ha. Zat’s hello! It would be a pleasure… to work… mmm, zat’s right, work is, eh, ze hand like zis! Mm, right! With you, hmm. Pleasure, mm… pleasure, work, what was pleasure… zis? No, uh… zis? Ah, yes! Ah! It will be a pleasure to, uh… to work, mm-hm… [breathes in deeply, exhales] Okay.

[Knocking]

Right… he cannot talk. He cannot say, ‘Eh, come in, Mr. Chouinard’, and you cannot see him saying it in sign language through the door, no no, he does not even know you understand sign language right now. No, you just have to open ze door.

Narrator: Mr. Chouinard throws the door open!

[Door opening]

Exposing the cowering janitor…

Julian: Uh…

[Door creaking, Chouinard groaning]

Chouinard: Yyyyes! Ah… hello! Ah… what was it, ah, I’m almost there, I’m almost there, hold on, stay right there! [Straining] It would be pleasure… to w—work with you! It would be… it would be a pleasure! A pleasure, it would—it would be a pleasure! To work… with you.

Julian: What are you doing?

Chouinard: You can talk! He can talk! Mon dieu! I have cured him, with my sign language! I have reached him, I have… [Exclaims] he’s a miracle! Wait till I tell Lisabetta!

Narrator: Mr. Chouinard storms off! Here we must point out that, at this moment, it had been a very long time since the janitor had talked to another person. The janitor notes that speaking seemed to send Mr. Chouinard away…

Julian: Wow.

Narrator: …and so resolves to do it much more often. Ah, yes, that takes care of him. But… what of the night watchman, who can show up at any moment?

Wait… I hear something!

[Gasp]

Julian: What was that?

Narrator: Chouinard is gone… it is the night watchman!

[Skittering]

Ah, no, just mice. They come because the janitor feeds them.

Julian: [Whispers] Breathe…

Narrator: Julian cannot stop his heart from pounding. You see, the night watchman’s footsteps sound exactly like the janitor’s stepfather’s did on his drunken rampages. I have an awful feeling something bad is going to happen. Something must be done about this terrifying specter of the night! The janitor realizes he has got to take a terrible step.

[Music starts]

He… must go to it. Find the night watchman in his lair, spy on him when he emerges, follow and learn the method to his madness, the secret of his rounds, so that he might avoid them for once and for all!

He stands and strides out into the night, heroically!

[Music swell]

Julian: Ugh, I… no!

Narrator: I said, he stands and strides out into the night, heroically!

[Music swell]

Julian: Uh-uh.

Narrator: Yes.

Julian: No!

Narrator: Yes.

Julian: No.

Narrator: Yes!

Julian: No.

Narrator: Yes?

Julian: No?

Narrator: Yes!

Julian: No.

Narrator: No. Yes?

Julian: Yes. Wait…

Narrator: Heroically…

[Music swell, faintly]

Julian: [Sighs] Fine.

[Footsteps, door opening]

Narrator: That was timidly.

Julian: [Sighs] Shh!

Narrator: He climbs down the stairs, quaking with a cowardly gait.

Julian: Ugh, give me a break…

Narrator: He reaches the bottom, where, outside, lies the ticket booth, which at night becomes then night watchman’s office. The janitor puts his hand on the door… it’s been a long time. He opens the door, just a crack…

[Creaking]

…and pokes his head out. It’s the first time any part of him has been outside the tower in…

Julian: In…

Narrator: In a long time. The janitor feels a sudden feeling he remembers from childhood: The great desire to go outside!

Julian: Can I…?

Narrator: His hand on the door, his head poking out, he looks. The night watchman is in the ticket booth.

[Creaking]

The janitor steps out…

Julian: Wow.

Narrator: Carefully making his way across the shadowy base of the tower, where…

[Shuffling]

He hides. Luckily, the janitor is an excellent hider. It was his extracurricular activity at school.

[Gasp]

The night watchman is leaving his office! The janitor can’t see him clearly, he’s—he’s—he’s looking this way! He doesn’t see the janitor… he’s walking into the tower! This is it, he’s beginning his rounds! Go, go, go!

[Footsteps]

The janitor begins to follow him at a distance silently, which is very brave. The night watchman goes up the stairs…

[Slow, echoing footsteps]

The janitor follows, bit by bit, hiding against the wall.

[Breathing]

He really is the best hider in the world, and thank god. They reach the top of the stairs. The night watchman goes out first, onto the observation deck…

[Saw music starts]

The janitor follows…

Julian: Quiet, Julian, quiet…

Narrator: The night watchman goes past the commissary, past the elevator. The janitor keeps track of the night watchman’s movements by the position of the moon. He… doesn’t own a watch.

[Wind whistling, gasp]

Wait! The night watchman is just around the bend ahead. He stops. He’s… right in front of the janitor’s closet! He’s listening at the door… [Gasp, door opening] He throws the door wide open, and he goes inside!

Julian: What if I was in there?

Narrator: The janitor shivers as if he were inside. [Gasp] Wait! The night watchman’s come out. He’s… he’s turning around! He’s walking towards the janitor!

Julian: No, no…

Narrator: Has he heard him? The janitor’s backing away, towards the stairs. The night watchman follows! The janitor begins backing down the stairs, one by one. The night watchman reaches the top of the stairs. He looks around. Maybe he hasn’t heard him! The night watchman is starting down. The janitor keeps backing down the stairs and locks step with the night watchman so as not to be heard. How long can he keep this up? Down they go, and down, and down! Oh, thank god, they’ve reached the bottom. The janitor’s going out.

[Creak]

[Gasp] No! Don’t go that way, you’ll be trapped! The janitor isn’t thinking. He crouches down against the ticket booth and closes his eyes! The night watchman walks right up, and—he’s two feet away, he’s reached him! He’s… passed him. He goes… inside the ticket booth, he didn’t see him! The janitor made it. He’s opened his eyes, he’s home free now. He only has to creep away—[Gasp] What are you doing?!

Julian: I’m not gonna run away anymore.

Narrator: He’s drawn to the ticket booth window like a moth to the light. He’s gone right up to it! Crouching down beneath the window in front, the night watchman is near that window. He’s looking down at some papers.

Julian: [Sighs] I gotta look.

Narrator: The janitor cannot contain himself. He steals a look, and—

Julian: [Gasp] Oh my god!

[Piano note]

No!

Narrator: We will return in just a moment.

[Christy Gressman break]

[Music starts up]

Narrator: When we last left the janitor, he was crouched beneath a window of the ticket booth. The night watchman is just behind that window. He looks down at his paperwork, and the janitor rises up. He steals a peek, and—

Julian: [Gasp] Oh, my god! No!

Narrator: What the janitor sees is… oh, no, no, no. This is where we must point out that the night watchman, like all terrifying specters of the night, has never actually been seen clearly, not up close, like this, by the janitor. He’s imagined him, all right, hearing the horrible approach of those footsteps, who wouldn’t? But the janitor must admit, now, that the night watchman isn’t exactly as he imagined him. For one thing, he’s about five foot four. Maybe he’d once been taller, but stooped that way, it’s difficult to tell.

Julian: He’s… old!

Narrator: Not a day past 80… or 90. This is all a bit embarrassing, actually. The janitor continues to hide outside the window and when the night watchman turns away, he steals another peek and sneaks away. And later, back in his janitor’s closet, he lies in his cot. It was a big night for him. He actually went outside! And he faced his boogeyman, and it turned into something… quite different.

Julian: You know, I almost think he was a performer. Like, when he was young. Like, I just picture him on a stage. I don’t know, I need to look again.

Narrator: And the next night, the janitor finds himself drawn out of his closet to follow the night watchman again, finding himself enjoying going down to the base of the tower and hiding, and looking at the warm glow of the light coming from…

Julian: The ticket booth!

Narrator: He does this the next night also. And at the end of the night, the night watchman puts on music in the ticket booth while he does his paperwork.

[Music starts, distorted slightly]

And the janitor watches him from outside, and listens.

And Coco—and this was Coco, inside the booth—loosens his collar and, putting his papers aside, turns to a small window at the back of the ticket booth and opens it.

[Glass sliding]

The janitor is just beneath this window, crouching down. The janitor can hear Coco’s music now, clearly pouring out through the open window. It reminds him of being very young, and being near somebody quite old he liked… very much. And then, one night…

[Cash register dinging]

Coco in the ticket booth begins typing something.

[Furious clicking]

My god, look at him go! Who would’ve thought those old hands could type so well? He’s like a machine! Where did a man of his age learn to type like that

Julian: What is he writing?

Narrator: The janitor has to know. He dangerously crosses to the windows at the front of the ticket booth where he can peer in just over the night watchman’s shoulder. Uh-oh. This is not good. New janitor cannot be found, please advise—[Gasp] oh, it’s addressed to the tower management! This will reach the janitor’s boss’s boss! This is bad. And indeed, the next night, Coco finds the janitor’s boss, Mr. Chouinard, waiting for him at the ticket booth door, as the janitor hides near, listening in.

Coco: Sit down, make yourself comfortable. Here you go.

Chouinard: Oh, thank you. Ah, okay, ah… ‘ow was your day?

Coco: My day has been… a little bit mixed up, because a couple of things happened. [Laughs] But I’m okay.

Chouinard: Uh-huh. Ah, my day, ah, was a little bit more zen mixed up, heh. Ah, I am in trouble.

Coco: Oh.

Chouinard: Big, big trouble. Coco, anything ever to do with ze janitor, ever, ever, ever, ever, please come directly to me!

[Paper ripping]

‘Ere, ‘ere is my telephone number, ‘ere is my address! Just, come on over if you want to, but do not tell my bosses!

Coco: Okay.

Chouinard: Okay. Now, please, listen. I went to check on ze janitor earlier, and he is ‘ere!

Coco: Nah…

Chouinard: No, no, ‘e is always ‘ere! Ze janitor has never left ze tower!

Coco: [Mumbles]

Chouinard: Coco, do you have a cigarette? Thank you.

[Breathing in deeply]

Narrator: At this point, Mr. Chouinard rises with the thought of closing the window, suddenly realizing he might be overheard.

Chouinard: [Exhales] Okay. Ze first night… [window closing, muffled mumbling]

Julian: Oh, what’s he saying?

Narrator: This makes it much more difficult for the janitor to overhear, and so he presses his face right up against the window and peers in.

Julian: I can hear now!

Narrator: When he does, the ticket booth is filling up with smoke, and Mr. Chouinard is placing his hand on Coco’s shoulder.

Chouinard: Coco… if ze janitor ever tells you anything about his past, call me. I don’t care w—what I am doing, I—if, if I am performing open ‘eart surgery, you come in, you grab my ‘and, and you say, ‘Chouinard! Ze janitor has told me something about his past!’ Just like that. Is very important.

Narrator: Minutes later, the ticket booth door opens and Mr. Chouinard walks off. Coco emerges behind him. Having learned that the janitor has been there all along, Coco has a sneaking suspicion he is being made a fool of, and renews his search with a new look of determination. The janitor emerges, looking just as determined, and follows.

[Fast footsteps]

Coco walks, alert, like a cat, and the janitor no longer smiles. It’s taking all of his hiding abilities not to be discovered now.

[Sliding, music starts]

The silent chase continues, passing through the whole of the tower, for one hour, and then two.

[Footsteps, heavy breathing]

But the janitor’s behaving strangely! He’s not hiding as well… Careful, Julian, I think he’s onto you. Your sleeve is peeking out of the shadows! Your shoetips are peeking out! I think he saw.

Julian: I… let him.

Narrator: You… let him? He’ll… ask you questions! The old man takes a step toward the janitor. Their two eyes meet.

Coco: Hello. I’m Coco, the night watchman here.

Narrator: The janitor’s heart starts pounding. You see, there are so many things he can’t explain, like—

Coco: What brought you to the Eiffel Tower?

Narrator: Coco sees that this was a mistake. The question seemed to surprise the young man. Taking a step backward almost as if he was struck and finding himself quite literally pinned against the wall, the janitor does what he has done his whole life in similar situations: He tells a story.

Julian: I came… to go to the ballroom at the top.

Coco: There’s no ballroom at the top of the Eiffel Tower.

Julian: Uh, there is.

Narrator: And so began the story that was to be continued every night they met for days… and then months… until neither the janitor nor Coco could remember how long it had been going on. The janitor even commemorated the manner in which they met by making it part of the story. He sweetly told of a scene where the stagehands were in the giant backstage storage room, putting away some enormous canvas paintings that had been used as a backdrop.

Laeticia: Lift with your legs!

Jacques: Okay, I got it, I got it.

Narrator: While on stage, the night’s show wraps up, Laeticia can be found carrying one of those paintings with Jacques.

Jacques: [Groans] Okay, so, I mean like, my whole bedroom, everything in it—

Laeticia: Keep lifting!

Jacques: Yeah, yeah, I got it. So, what I was saying is—

Laeticia: I’m listening!

Jacques: —the whole thing, you could eat, like, the walls were chocolate cookie. The bed—the—the pillow was made out of some kinda marshmallow.

Laeticia: That’s disgusting—

Jacques: No!

Laeticia:—why would you want to put your head down on marshmallow?

Jacques: Because—it’s not disgusting, I don’t know where you’re from! The night table—no, no, no—the night table was my favorite rhubarb pie.

Laeticia: Oh, that does sound good.

Jacques: Oh, yeah, you know, like my aunt used to make. And I’m about to feast on this stuff, right?

Laeticia: [Laughing] Yeah.

Jacques: And then I wake up! I don’t get a bite, you understand?

Laeticia: Not a single bite!

Jacques: Nothin’.

Laeticia: Nothing. That’s terrible.

Jacques: Hold on, you can’t turn like that without tellin’ me.

Laeticia: Ow!

Jacques: Ooh, sorry.

Laeticia: I just remembered my dream from last night!

Jacques: I hope it was less disappointing than mine.

Laeticia: Totally! Well, actually, so I was a little girl, and I was out playing, and I got lost, and so I start looking for ze Eiffel Tower. Because my mother, you know, she always tell me if I get lost I should look for ze Eiffel Tower, I’ll know exactly where I am.

Jacques: Hey, mine too!

Laeticia: Oh, really?

Jacques: Yeah, my aunt, but yeah!

Laeticia: Yeah! Ah, zat’s nice. You know, I wonder how many French children were told zat same thing, eh?

Jacques: I bet lots.

Laeticia: Zat tower, it has personality, almost like, uh… almost like it was haunted with a benevolent presence, huh?

[Clatter]

Laeticia: Ow!

Jacques: Oh, hey, what was that?

Laeticia: Oh, I tripped over something, ah… it was a mop!

Jacques: Uh, you alright?

Laeticia: Yeah, I’m alright. Who left that mop there?

Jacques: It’s alright, let’s just keep going. Hey, you, uh, you had a dream about the janitor the other night, didn’t you?

Laeticia: Oh, right, I was telling you about it!

Jacques: Yeah, you didn’t finish.

Laeticia: Okay, so… well, I told you zat ze janitor, I overheard Mr. Chouinard telling Coco zat ze janitor had never left the tower, right?

Jacques: Right, and the night watchman had been lookin’, right?

Laeticia: Right, looking for ze janitor, but he could never find ze janitor, because ze janitor is following ze night watchman! That was where I stopped.

Jacques: Ah, yeah, yeah.

Laeticia: That was where I stopped.

Jacques: Right.

Laeticia: Okay, so… Coco is looking all over for ze janitor, and ze janitor is following Coco, but then maybe, ze janitor, he start to feel bad, you know? He is like, he begin to let the old man catch glimpses of him, and ze old man, he make an interesting decision. He pretended to not see.

Jacques: Ah.

Laeticia: He pretend to keep looking, you know?

Jacques: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Laeticia: So he zinks zat maybe ze best way to draw ze janitor out! And ze janitor, he saw this, and he think, oh! And then suddenly, zey are both playing this game together, you know what I mean?

[Groaning]

Let’s, uh… you want to put it here.

Jacques: Right, up there, up there, up there.

Laeticia: Against ze other one.

Jacques: Yep.

Laeticia: Oh!

Jacques: You alright? I got it, I got it!

Laeticia: Oh, you put me in a corner. So anyway, zat was how ze night watchman got ze janitor to come out and talk to him for ze first time.

Jacques: Yeah, well…

Laeticia: Neat.

Jacques: People who work at night… you know, they, uh…

Laeticia: Oh, Jacques, come on, come on, come on. Keep your shirt on, eh?

Jacques: What? The whole thing is so… okay?

Laeticia: It is not ze Friday night bingo in here.

Jacques: You’re wearing your undershirt, alright?

Laeticia: Well, I’m not trying to prove to the other stagehands zat I have a six pack, eh?

Jacques: Well, who’s that? That’s right! Hey! Guys, Laeticia says I do have a six—

[Crashing]

Narrator: Suddenly, the other stagehands hear a distant crashing sound.

Person 1: What was that?

Person 2: That was the sound of Laeticia breakin’ a painting over Jacques’s head. But it’s okay. It was the ugliest one.

Person 1: Well, Jacques is the ugliest one, I mean, of all the stagehands, right?

Person 2: Eh, it’s in the eye of the beholder.

Narrator: While on stage, the show draws to a close.

[Music]

John: Broadcasting from the top of the Eiffel Tower, the Orbiting Human Circus of the Air!

[Ending music]

Well, that’s all for this week, ladies and gentlemen. This is John Cameron. Broadcasting from the top of the Eiffel Tower, the Orbiting Human Circus wishes you a good night.

[Applause]

Jacques: Hey, yo, you hear what she said? I do have a six pack! I do! I do!

#tohc #ohc #tohcota #ohcota #transcript

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rainbowsky · 3 years

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SDOC4 - Finally Caught Up

I FINALLY caught up on all the episodes of SDOC4 and Let's Chat, after watching nearly 14 hours of this over the course of a couple of days. 😅

Here are some thoughts I have after viewing it all.

(Spoilers ahead)

I can't get enough of AC. His choreographed performance was ridiculous. Not only is he an incredible dancer, he has so much personality without being annoying or shrill like so many 'big personality' people can tend to be. He's smart, strategic and very, very talented.

Really looking forward to seeing more from him.

Han Geng

So surprising how well he did in the battle. I was really impressed because my expectations were fairly low, but he really brought out something that felt original and his own, and like it belonged in that battle.

He's also fun to have around as a sort of older brother figure to everyone.

Yixing

God God, his krump during the battle, that series of face grabs... wow. He is a powerful krumper. And talk about multi-talented. Playing the guitar and keyboards, all the farming skills he's developed from Back to Field. His producer skills. Talented guy.

It's also nice seeing him and DD interact, you can tell they know each other well.

Henry Lau

Love this man so much. He is such a sweet guy, but also so energetic and a huge gremlin. Like Han Geng, I wasn't expecting his battle performance to be as good as it was. A lot of originality and strength for someone who had never battled in front of others before.

Also very talented. Playing the violin, dancing, skateboarding, charming others. He impresses me every episode.

Mr 3

WTF, this guy completely blows my mind. His choreographed performance was entirely next level. WTF. Blew me away. Unforgettable.

Xiao Ji

I mean, we knew already how awesome he is, but man - this guy has starpower oozing out of his pores. His entire "I need to use the toilet but first let me blow you all away" flex was the highlight of this season so far, and this is coming from someone heavily biased toward AC.

His performance was quite possibly my favorite so far. Just mind-blowing considering he was unfamiliar with the music and his back teeth were floating the whole time. SO entertaining, so hilarious, so original. And watching Bobo freak out over him is priceless.

He has so much personality - again, and like AC it doesn't get annoying. He's just a really cool guy you can't help but love.

Ma Xiaolong

His choreography is next level, and he has all the required skill to perform it to its full potential. That's saying a lot. The elegance and precision he has make for very convincing performances that one can get completely lost in.

Bo Zi

I always have a weakness for the b-boys, but wow. That guy can move. WTF.

MT-POP

Absolutely incredible. SO original, so cool, so much rhythm and control. Guy blows me away. I can't wait to see more from him.

Kenken

So much style, skill, expressiveness and originality. This guy is exciting to watch. 20 years old. Wow, the guy has a hell of a career ahead of him.

Zyko

This guy is an alien. All I have to say. How is anyone even going to stand a chance against him?

Huang Xiao

Love his style, his ability, his beautiful lines, his creativity. Always a joy to watch.

Hapless Robot Server

This thing just keeps getting lost. Poor little guy.

Truly the star of the show. He brings himself to everything. His authenticity is what makes him so well loved by his fans.

I loved him in the battle. He has such a natural connection to the music, it's undeniable. I can't wait to see more dancing from him.

Watching him eat is almost as enjoyable. This is one thing I've always appreciated about DDU and SDOC - they give us plenty of DD eating moments.

He really didn't want to put his finger down on the marriage question. 😅

DD and his little seed garden

He loves that garden. I hope it grows well for him. I definitely enjoyed watching him get absorbed in planting, and his enthusiasm when he saw the fresh sprouts.

I had a lot more people I wanted to highlight and a lot more I wanted to say, but my brain is fried today (allergies), so I think I'll leave it here. Just really looking forward to more from everyone. Loving this season. Loving the quality of the dancers. Loving that I'm finally caught up on everything!

IMPORTANT: Please, when responding to these, remember not to post any spoilers. I want people (including myself) to be able to read the notes of these posts and not get spoiled. Thanks!

#wang yibo #sdoc4 #sdoc4 recap

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filipino-lesbian-pierre-curie · 3 years

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They Should Be Dead: A Collection of Works by The Living

Early on during the quarantine, I suddenly had more time to indulge in media. After a few months, I’ve notice a pattern, so here it is: a list of shows and stories that all have living dead people.

TV Shows

Ghosts (BBC) - The series follows a collection of ghosts from different historical periods haunting a country house while sharing the house with its new living occupants. This is a great show with well written plots, characters, and stories. I find it appeals especially to the queer and neurodivergent community.

What We Do In The Shadows - The series follows 4 vampires in a mockumentary format. If you like those shows where fiction meets real historical events, or just plain vampire humor, this is for you.

Pushing Daisies - The series follows a pie-maker with the ability to bring dead things back to life with his touch, an ability that comes with stipulations. Together with his formerly deceased childhood crush Chuck, private investigator Emerson Cod and co-worker Olive Snook, Ned uses his abilities to solve murder cases. Perfectly pleasing visuals, an interesting premise, and REALLY relatable for all of under quarantine. Lots of yearning.

Dead Like Me - George dies early in the pilot episode and becomes one of the "undead", a "grim reaper". The show explores the experiences of a small team of such reapers, as well as the changes in George and her family as they deal with George's death. I’m not sure if the show employs edgy humor but I like it. It is slightly nihilistic in tone but the way it connects the experiences of life with the reality of death is a really interesting take. It’s perfect for teens and young adults. Also, Mandy Patinkin.

The Good Place - Eleanor Shellstrop, a woman welcomed after her death to "the Good Place", a highly selective Heaven-like utopia designed and run by afterlife "architect" Michael as a reward for her righteous life. This series has everything: dreamlike scenes, nightmarelike scenes, philosophy, EAT THE RICH, genderless she/her icon Janet, good characters, accurate representations, and an all-around touching story.

Santa Clarita Diet - The series centers on husband and wife real estate team Joel and Sheila Hammond whose normal, boring lives change dramatically when Sheila shows symptoms of having become a zombie. The bewildered family seek a cure for her condition while dealing with its consequences. Wild family goes on the time of their lives because their mom has become a zombie. It’s great. They kill n*zis and a cop and eat them.

Star Trek - too many Star Trek episodes have the “oh no they died! anyway...” premise and aside from the idealistic paradise Gene Roddenberry pictured, death and resurrection are large themes in Star Trek.

Books/Graphic Novels/Short Stories

The Carpet Merchant of Konstantiniyya (by @reimenaashelyee) - A two-volume Eisner-nominated graphic novel set in 17th century Istanbul and 18th century England, about a carpet merchant's reconcilitation with faith, love and home in the aftermath of his death by a vampire. It’s a great story. I’ll be telling this to everyone who will listen: the graphic novel is engaging and insightful, life cannot get better than this graphic novel. (Also: ACE REP!) Also by the author is The World in Deeper Inspection which explores the setting and premise of other characters.

The Shadow of The Wind (by Carlos Ruiz Zafón) - Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer's son who mourns the loss of his mother, finds solace in a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind, by one Julian Carax. But when he sets out to find the author's other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written. Magical realism abounds, it’s sinister, it’s beautiful, it’s a perfect book about dancing the line between death and life.

The Graveyard Book (by Neil Gaiman) - Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a perfectly normal boy. Well, he would be perfectly normal if he didn't live in a graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor the world of the dead. Great book about growing up and leaving childhood.

The Book Thief (by Markus Zusak) - It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still. Featuring Death themself as the omniscient narrator, the story intertwines with books and stories of life and of survival. It’s a sobering book but important to read.

May Day Eve (by Nick Joaquin) - Magical realism, time travel vibes. But most importantly, myth, enchantment, the Devil, passion, everlasting love. There’s a reason why this is required reading for Philippine colleges. I cry every time I read it.

Movies

Night at The Museum Trilogy - Night guard in charge of museum. Exhibits come back to life, wacky shenanigans follow. The only downside to this is that they visited the British Museum and not one of the exhibits screamed “I DONT BELONG HERE! TAKE ME BACK!”

The Book Thief - I would say it’s a faithful enough adaptation of the book.

Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan and The Search for Spock

The Lovely Bones - astounding <3 ik she’s dead but letting her breach the curtain between life and death? Good shit.

What We Do In The Shadows - The mockumentary that started it all. Once again Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement are geniuses. And correct: all vampires know is be bisexual eat hot virgin and fly.

Musicals/Plays

Hadestown- Retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice. Folk type of music, features great talents and songs by Anaïs Mitchell. The story is good, it touches on capitalism, progress, labor, and love.

Indecent- Play exploring the play "God Of Vengeance" which was cited for indecency on Broadway for its themes and indecent acts committed by the actors. It begins as a play brought by several actors who rise from the ashes of the Holocaust and gradually extends to the multiple characters they become. I find this important for anyone interested in queer Jewish history.

I really like media focusing on death and life so recommend some and take some from the list!

ADDITIONAL NOTE: I have a really bad attention span but these stuff somehow get my brain. They're good.

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thosch3i · 3 years

Text

So here's my personal ranking of DMBJ adaptations, thanks @mejomonster for the idea :D

(but psst first if anyone seeing this post haven't seen it already, there's an interest check for a pingxie gift exchange! over here.)

1. Ultimate Note (2020)

So I wrote a long ass post about UN here, where I mainly talk about the Iron Triangle because they're the heart of DMBJ and their relationship is what makes or breaks an adaptation for me, all else equal. But thankfully UN also has good pacing, faithfulness to the original story (and honestly a smoother and less confusing way of portraying it, but thats not saying much), no exceptionally cringy added romance plot lines, female characters treated as well as they can be given they were fridged in the source material, and a cast and crew with a deep appreciation and love for the characters and story, making the most of what they could with a tiny budget and no promotion. (UN is now the most highly-rated DMBJ adaptation on douban!) The main cast is a bit green, no doubt, but the longer it goes on the better they get. (If you scroll through my #translation tag far enough you'll find stuff XYL and ZSX have said about their characters. XYL especially, really understands Zhang Qiling and I will always respect him for that, which is why he's my favorite Xiaoge.) I'm just eternally sad about the ending and that there probably won't be a S2 for the main story finale because NPSS won't sell the rights again.

2. The Lost Tomb 2 (2019)

Before UN came out, this was my favorite Iron Triangle. The Pangzi and Xiaoge friendship was also super cute here! A sorely underrated friendship, for sure. And I absolutely adore TLT2 Xiao Hua. He and UN Xiuxiu would make a great team. The entirety of the first half (undersea tomb) was remarkably true to the source material (despite being unnecessarily draggy at points), and I do like that they made the Bronze Tree arc more of an Iron Triangle thing than a Wu Xie solo mission like in the novel. But uh, the second half of this drama was just...really confusing lol with so many long shots of them trudging through snow endlessly. But it's a cute Pingxie and Iron Triangle. (Saw someone once say TLT2 is the fluffy Pingxie but UN is the angsty Pingxie, which......accurate tbh.) But...man...will TLT2.5 (Heavenly Palace) ever be released from jail ;;;;;; its supposedly already filmed (different cast) but can't air for...legal reasons? idk? ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

3. Time Raiders (2016)

A wacky movie that makes no logical sense whatsoever but God it was such a fun, wild watch lmao. Pingxie were so unnecessarily gay in this, and also TLT2 Pangzi is great as always. I liked A-Ning being a total badass as well. Movie gets a bit sad when you realize there's a deleted scene canonizing the movie as book!Wu Xie's wishful thinking and fanciful story he told because he misses his friends. In reality, Pan Zi and A-Ning are dead, his San-shu is missing, and he doesn't know if he'll see Xiaoge again (which is why TR!WX is always taking photos of him, I'd say).

4. Qinling Sacred Tree Donghua (2021)

So uh this still doesn't have official English subs (you can find it on a streaming site somewhere but I can't vouch for translation quality). But it's a pretty faithful adaptation of the Bronze Tree arc, but with a slight twist to make Xiaoge more relevant. (I'm still squinting at Liang-shiye.) Still largely a Wu Xie and Lao Yang duo mission, though. But the scenery in the donghua is gorgeous and the food looks really good too...and, like, it's a good and solid adaptation. I just wish it had been an Iron Triangle adventure 😅

5. Sha Hai (2018)

Qin Hao is an amazing Sha Hai Wu Xie. I love him, and the fact that ZSX posted a photo with him ;;;;;;;; my favorite Wu Xies ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; (fun fact: to this day, QH's Weibo pfp is of himself as Wu Xie!) But anyway. Yeah I mostly just love Wu Xie here and everything he's gone through and turned himself into now that Xiaoge is gone. There are several UN parallels because they were done by the same company (which is also why a lot of the actors are the same). Unfortunately, the whole plot was....??????? and I wasn't a fan of any of the romances, or any of the side characters in general 😅 Skipped...so much of it lol. Why did they do *gestures vaguely at the entire show* Man at least they had Three Days of Silence. Small mercies.

6. The Lost Tomb 1 (2015)

They did Pangzi so dirty, I'm sorry sweetheart. That aside, the OCs were also a big ?????? and the fact that they had the iconic Iron Triangle hotel fight so early...WITHOUT THE FULL IRON TRIANGLE????????? But TLT1 Pingxie were literally a case of love at first sight soulmates so that was sweet. Also the blood feeding. Nice 👌 This Xiaoge is probably what most of the tomb-robbing world (or very casual dmbj fans ig lmao) see when they think of Zhang Qiling: aloof, mysterious, terrifyingly strong, (and kinda 2000s emo-boy-looking for some reason???)

7. The Lost Tomb Reboot (2020)

Confusingly wild deviations from the original story, really cringy romances + fridged women, and unnecessarily dragged out plot aside, I just wasn't feeling the Iron Triangle in this one 😅 Nor was I a fan of the treatment of Xiaoge. (He was stolen from his mother as a baby and abused by the Zhang family ever since, used as a convenient bloodbag to get around tombs and he didn't even understand he was a human being with a heart who could want things until he met his mother again in Three Days of Silence, where he finally regained the "heart" given to him by his mother that the Zhang family had taken from him...and then the first thing he experienced was the loss of his mother. I think this was the only canonical instance of him crying. After that, he lived a life full of mostly loss and more trauma, being kidnapped, kept naked in a basket, and used as zombie bait when he lost his memories...and knowing all this about his past, Pangzi tells him to use his blood in a tomb, enthusiastically, without hesitation. Like...you don't tell your best friend to cut himself because you think his blood might be useful. Especially not your best friend who you know in his past has been abused just like that since birth by his blood-related "family".) I do, however, think all the actors did amazing jobs with what they were given and are very talented. The effects were also good and the music is fantastic too. I don't think I need to praise Z1L's acting because everyone knows how good he is, and he pulled off that hallucination scene where he saw Xiaoge die for him just beautifully 👌 And Xiaoge smiles! Also very cute.

So yeah that's all the adaptations I've seen! It's past 1:30am so I'm a bit rambly but 🤪🤪🤪

#shouting into the void #dmbj #give me a chance to talk abt dmbj and it WILL end with me being sad about xiaoge #i write fic for the sole purpose of being sad abt xiaoge #which is why all my current whopping total of two (2) dmbj fics are me being sad about xiaoge #long post

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shijiujun · 3 years

Text

[ENG] History3: Trapped Novel - Chapter Eight

Translation Masterpost can be found here

Disclaimer: Translations are entirely mine - these are not official translations and some phrases have been changed for better English interpretation so you’ll definitely see better/different translations elsewhere. Also keeping in mind when we translated this we aren’t exactly thinking about the style of writing and this translation is as close to the novel as we can make it XD So yes, some parts may be a little awkward to read. And yes some teeny weeny details and words may not turn up in the translation because the Chi to Eng mind acrobatics didn’t work out. If you see asterisks, scroll all the way to the bottom for notes!

Full chapter below the cut

*Note: ERMMMMM I’M BACK? So there was a plan for Chapter 8 and 9 translations, but I didn’t want to leave this until like 2021, so I’m trying my best to just clear it before New Years. Not sure how many of y’all are still reading this, but... I just don’t want to remember that this is incomplete hahahaha, so yeah, I did Chapter 8, and Chapter 9 should be up within the next couple of weeks, so it’ll be pretty and complete for 2021!

Chapter Eight

The act of handing Li Zhi De over to the police force led to the emergence of dissenting voices within Xing Tian Meng, and even the elders that were initially approving of the reform were beginning to shift towards a neutral position, stopping the biddings that were proceeding at hand.

Jack is walking towards the spot where he parked the car, and suddenly, someone emerges from behind a pillar and stops him in his tracks.

“Chen-ye would like to speak to you.”

After coldly shooting the man a glance, Jack gets into the other’s car and is brought to a tea house. Jack walks inside, and as expected, he sees a man with a scar on the right side of his cheek — Chen Wen Hao.

“I didn’t expect Chen-ye’s invitation.”

“When it comes to talented people, even if I have to personally make the trip, I will,” Chen Wen Hao pours a cup of tea for the other, and Jack raises the cup in a sign of respect for the man, before drinking it.

“Liang Dian, based on your intellect, you should have long established your own gang.”

“…”

Jack shudders, the sensation coming straight from his chest, and looks at the old, scheming fox before him without the slightest change in his expression. Fang Liang Dian, that is his real name, and the people who know this name are mostly dead already. From this, he can see that Chen Wen Hao has indeed gone to great lengths to obtain this information.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the ends of his lips curve up in a smile as he picks up the teapot and pours a second cup of tea for himself.

“Tang Yi spared no efforts in sending his own subordinate to the police, is such a person still worthy of being followed? Aren’t you afraid of becoming a second Zhi De?” Chen Wen Hao says as he looks at the young man before him, sliding a document filled with a list across the table.

“This is everything Wang Kun Cheng has in Taiwan, I can hand them all over to you.”

The red-haired man plays with the black leather gloves he has in his palms and without looking at the contents of the document, he returns, “How immense these benefits are, but… what do I have to exchange with Chen-ye?”

“You’re indeed interesting,” he answers, his eyes filled with impress at Jack, “I want Xing Tian Meng and Shi Hai Corporations’ data on their flow of funds, their current client lists, and also their proceeding bidding cases, as detailed as you can get them.”

“Aside from Tang Yi and Zuo Hong Ye, even Gu Dao Yi may not fully have a grip on all these you mentioned, Chen-ye, don’t you think that your exchange offer of Wang Kun Cheng’s power in Taiwan lacks sincerity?”

Jack raises an eyebrow, and bored, he takes out his butterfly knife and begins to flip it in his hands. A young henchman immediately steps up to stop him upon seeing this, but Chen Wen Hao interrupts him.

“Speaking to me with this attitude, aren’t you afraid that I’ll kill you?”

“Since Chen-ye is the one with a request, he can surely be like Liu Bei, and lower his position humbly to obtain what he wants.”*

Chen Wen Hao pats at the surface of the table, and loudly says, “Good, I did not place my bet on the wrong person! Liang Dian, Xing Tian Meng’s pool is too small, and it is a pity for you to stay here. You should come and discuss the Cambodian business with us.”

“Okay,” Jack smiles at Chen Wen Hao, the movement of the butterfly knife in his hands coming to a stop.

—

Investigations Team Three

Tonight, Zhao Zi is taking the night shift with Shao Fei, and one of them is standing in the office with the glass door closed, a cardboard box opened on the table and taking out the items inside one by one.

The box contains the last of Li Zhen-jie’s belongings, there are medals and awards, her police badge and also a team photo of Team Three.

“Boss, think back carefully, was there some connection and interaction between Li Zhen-jie and Chen Wen Hao?”

“When Li Zhen was transferred to Team Three, Chen Wen Hao was already in prison, so I don’t think they knew each other.”

“But there is Li Zhen-jie’s signature on the prison’s meeting logbook, I confirmed this, and it is indeed her handwriting. And she even went to see Chen Wen Hao with Tang Guo Dong!”

“Wait, when was this?”

“1990.”

Shao Fei looks through the things Li Li Zhen left on one hand, and recalls his conversation with Shi Da Pao.

“Since Boss said that Chen Wen Hao was already in prison before Li Zhen-jie transferred into the team, then she might have gone to see Chen Wen Hao for a case? But even if she was investigating a case, why would she have gone to see Chen Wen Hao with Tang Guo Dong? What is the relationship between them? Why did the both of them die in the same place?”

Opening the circular tube containing a graduation certificate, he doesn’t see anything else, and rifling through the books left in the box, he doesn’t find any other clues hidden between the pages either.

“Ah!”

Shao Fei yells in frustration, his hands pulling at his hair hard.

Incorrect! There has to be a clue he missed, he doesn’t believe that Li Zhen-jie was in cahoots with Xing Tian Meng, and so before she died, her meeting with Tang Guo Dong was definitely not because she wanted to leak information to him.

There has to be some other reason that made Li Zhen-jie contact Tang Guo Dong, there has to be!

It’s just, where exactly is the missing clue to the puzzle? Where is it?

“Damn it!” Shao Fei swipes Li Li Zhen’s belongings to the ground, and regrets it immediately the next second. Holding his head in his arms, he tries hard to breathe and calm his emotions down. Seeing the photo of himself and Li Zhen-jie, he remembers that when he first entered the team, he brought quite a lot of trouble to her because of his impulsive nature, but she never once chided him for it. Instead, she would generously teach him everything she knew.

“Li Zhen-jie…”

Looking at the him dressed in his police uniform and making a stupid face standing right next to Li Zhen-jie in sadness, he picks up the music box at the bottom of the box, turning the latch at the bottom to open it up as he listens to the melody repeat itself.

Suddenly, he sees a corner of what looks like paper trapped inside the box, and so he carefully uses the tip of his fingernails to grab at the corner of the aged paper, wanting to open it to see.

Shao Fei looks at the paper in disbelief, his eyes wide, this is actually something Chen Wen Hao wrote to Li Zhen-jie… a love letter?

I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, and the only right thing I’ve ever done is to love you. — Wen Hao

“My god!”

Shao Fei cannot believe his eyes, and so continues to explore every corner of the music box, and as expected, he finds a birth certificate issued by a hospital and on it is printed…

Name of Mother - Li Li Zhen

Name of Mother’s Significant Other - Unspecified

Date of Birth - 21 October 1990

Gender - Male

“Li Zhen-jie had a kid? And the date of birth is 21 October 1990?”

How strange, why is this date so familiar?

Hold on!

“Don’t be too touched, after all I did chase after you for four years, of course I would know today is your birthday. 21 October, Libra, people who are born on this day have extraordinary personalities and thoughts, especially when it comes to personal matters, they are more persistent and firm in attitude.”

“Pfffft…. how accurate! Super accurate!”

21 October 1990, isn’t this Tang Yi’s birthday? Also…

“How coincidental, Li Zhen-jie also has a similar music box.”

“Is that so? This is the only thing my mother left me.”

“Could it be…?”

A thought suddenly flashes across Shao Fei’s mind, and so he picks up his jacket and rushes out of the office. He almost bumps into Zhao Zi, who has just come back from buying supper.

“Huh? Ah Fei where are you going? Ah Fei? Ah Fei?”

Shao Fei holds onto his steering wheel tight, his thoughts jumbled up in a mess as he drives at an urgent speed on the road.

Suddenly, the phone he left on the passenger seat rings. Turning his head for a brief glance, he sees that it is Tang Yi.

“I’m working on a case, let’s leave it at that for now.”

He quickly responds after picking the call up, and then hangs up immediately after, slamming his foot down on the accelerator to a destination unknown.

“…”

Inside the Tang mansion, a Xing Tian Meng leader sitting behind his study desk in his office, looks dumbly at his phone.

Someone actually dared to hang up on him?

“Forget it,” Tang Yi sighs, looking at his dark phone screen helplessly, and continues working his way through unfinished work.

—

Investigations Team Three, The Next Day

Lu Jun Wei hurriedly runs into the office, and seeing their Captain, he rushes until he’s right in front of him, “Bad news! Li Zhi De died in the prosecution’s holding room!”

Shi Da Pao tugs at his own shirt, his face filled with alarm and fear, “What happened? Why did he suddenly die?”

“I’m not very sure either, all I know is that it is all under investigation at the moment.”

Shi Da Pao looks at Zhao Zi, who was in the interrogation room together with Lu Jun Wei after midnight, and asks, “Did anything strange happen yesterday during interrogation?”

“No. Li Zhi De refused to speak, and thankfully, Guan Zhi-ge was there, that’s how we managed to get some information out of him.”

“Zhou Guan Zhi? Why was he interrogating with you guys?”

Zhao Zi scratches at the back of his head, and seeing his unusually furious captain, explains, “Because Li Zhi De was very tough to handle, and Guan Zhi-ge said that he could assist us.”

Shi Da Pao immediately shoves the documents in his hand away and walks out of the team office. Seeing their boss suddenly leave like this, the rest of the team exchange looks, revealing concerned expressions.

—

Tang Household

“Ah De’s death was sudden, we need to find out who exactly did it.” Tang Yi instructs while simultaneously walking into the house as he loosens his tie, his expression serious as he faces Jack.

“Yes, boss.”

“And take note of the reactions from each Xing Tian Meng faction, we must reassure our own people. After all, I was the one who sent Li Zhi De into the station, if we don’t handle this well, it will affect the progress of Hong Ye’s current accounts.”

“I understand, I will handle this immediately.”

After Jack leaves, Tang Yi picks up his phone and once again dials for Shao Fei’s phone number, but he is still directed to leave a message after no one picks up.

“I’m Meng Shao Fei, leave a message if you have something to say, if not, hang up, thanks!”

“Meng Shao Fei, where exactly are you?”

How could he not pick up his calls or return any of his messages for a whole day?

Irritated and frustrated, he walks towards his study, and the moment he pushes the door open, he sees the man who has been missing in action for almost 30 hours standing right in front of him. The man is smiling, delighted as he presses at the phone’s mic function, and replays his previous voice messages.

“Meng Shao Fei, my whole life, no one has ever dared to not pick up my calls, and not return any of my messages!”

“Where are you? Why aren’t you picking up my calls?”

“Shao Fei, it’s been a day, it’s okay if you don’t pick up my calls, at least send me a text message to let me know you’re safe, okay?

“Shao Fei, I’m really worried about you. Can you call me? I want to hear your voice…”

Shao Fei stares as Tang Yi’s expression morphs from embarrassment to anger, and smiles, “59 calls and 15 messages, you were that worried about me?”

Tang Yi glares at the person before him, and angry, he says sarcastically, “I thought Officer Meng had evaporated from the face of the earth.”

Shao Fei walks over and apologises, tightly hugging the other, “I didn’t realise that my phone fell under the car seat, and was out of battery. I’m sorry I made you worry for so long.”

Turning his hand and returning the hug from his lover, who always manages to make him feel unlike his usual self, Tang Yi sighs, “The next time you go missing, I will put a tracking device on you. What super important case is this, that you would not even realise you didn’t have your phone on you?”

“…”

Shao Fei looks at Tang Yi, hesitant as he wonders if he should tell him what he has found so far.

“What is it?” the other asks, sensitive to Shao Fei’s unusual reaction.

“Tang Yi, do you remember the names of your adoptive parents?”

“He Ru Yu, Li Shou Xing.”

Tang Yi’s brows are furrowed, as if incredibly unwilling to bring up these two people. Shao Fei takes out the notebook he has with him and flips to a specific page. He lets Tang Yi confirm the details.

“This address here, is this the place you used to stay at when you were younger?”

“Why are you investigating my past?” Tang Yi asks, staring straight at Shao Fei with alarm, caution and confusion.

“I’m not investigating you, I was actually on another case, and who knew I found some leads related to you.”

“Leads that are related to me?”

“Mnn,” Shao Fei nods, and inhaling deeply once, he gently says, “Tang Yi, I found your mother, your biological mother.”

Before he can finish speaking, the sound of a phone ringing interrupts him. Tang Yi’s looks at Shao Fei, startled, before picking up the call.

“Boss, xiaojie was taken away by He Hang’s people, he said he wants you to go over personally in exchange for xiaojie.”

“He. Hang!”

Tang Yi says these two words through gritted teeth, then pushes away the person hugging him and rushes out of the study.

“Tang Yi! Tang Yi!”

Shao Fei chases after him, worried, and unheeding of the other’s disapproval, he squeezes into the passenger seat and follows the murderous Xing Tian Meng leader to the destination highlighted by He Hang.

—-

Investigations Team Three Office - Staircase Landing

Zhou Guan Zhi is slammed heavily against the wall in the staircase landing, held up by Shi Da Pao via his collar.

Because the impact of the force used was too heavy, the man whose back struck the wall ends up in a coughing fit.

“Li Zhi De’s matter, were you the one?!”

“The person died at the prosecution’s office, how is that any of my business.”

Zhou Guan Zhi pushes Shi Da Pao away, turning around and about to leave, but the other man immediately grabs at him.

“If it wasn’t you, how would you have known that he’s dead? And you also know exactly where he died?”

He deliberately used the word ‘matter’ to replace ‘death’, and so if Zhou Guan Zhi really had nothing to do with this, then his first reaction would be similar to that of other Team Three members. It would be disbelief, fear and alarm, and not this look, as if he knew about this much earlier. Even the fact that Li Zhi De was transferred to the prosecution’s interrogation room from their own after midnight, he knows such a detail this clearly.

“You were afraid he would implicate you, and so you killed him, didn’t you?”

“Of course I’m afraid he will expose me, but boss, aren’t you afraid?”

Shi Da Pao’s eyes shift, and he retorts, “You were the one who murdered him, it’s nothing to do with me.”

“How could this not have anything to do with you? The one who let Ah Fei do as he like and investigate this case was you, the one who allowed him to protect Tang Yi right at his side was also you. In the end, we even got to the stage where Li Zhi De was brought back to the station, of course I had to silence him! If I wait until he reveals everything then you and I both are done for.”

The man, his gaze murderous and cold, laugh as he pats at the captain’s face.

“You actually knew what I was doing all along, but when have you ever stopped me during these four years? You gave the silent approval to your subordinate to sell off the drugs the police force obtained in return for a profit. Shi Da Pao, do you still think this has nothing to do with you?”

“…”

Shi Da Pao is speechless as he hears Zhou Guan Zhi’s accusations.

“Besides, that case four years ago, you were also a bystander who did nothing to stop it. What was Li Li Zhen’s relationship with you, that you would allow the rumours of her cooperating with Xing Tian Meng run rampant in the station? And you never once helped to clear her name, so you’re an accomplice. You are an accomplice who caused the death of others for your own greed, just like me!”

The last few words smash through the last of Shi Da Pao’s strength, and he numbly sits on the stairs. Covering his face in guilt, his voice weak, he says, “Why didn’t you just stop at the incident four years ago? Ah Zhi, you have already earned so much in the past few years. It’s enough! Stop already!”

“Enough?” the person who hears this cranes his neck upwards and sneers. “We police officers put our lives on the line day in and out only to earn this meagre salary. It’s not even enough to stuff the gaps of my teeth, how do I deal with those chasing me to repay debts? Stop putting yourself on a high horse, you are no different from me.”

Shi Dao Pao puts down the hands covering his face and looks at the person who’s slowly descending into insanity, and shakes his head, “You’re like this because you gamble, and this is your just desserts. And me… I did it to save my daughter. These four years, I’ve never once had a restful night, and I live in terror and regret everyday.”

Zhou Guan Zhi smirks, his eyes slanting to look at the person seated on the stairs, “Boss, as long as you took the money, your hands are dirty. No matter if it is because I deserve it, or if you were forced into a dead end, you’ve been tainted, and it is what it is.”

“Besides, isn’t it the money you took that year which allowed Xiao Ya to live on happily, all the way until now, when she’s able to have her wedding? So it doesn’t matter who wants to dig up the case from four years ago again, I will definitely not let him get away!”

He knows Zhou Guan Zhi is referring to Shao Fei, who has been so focused on the homicide case from four years ago, and he finally stands up, grips at Zhou Guan Zhi’s shirt collars and yells for him to stop.

“Ah Zhi, stop! Don’t fall any deeper into this!”

“Boss, don’t worry. I’ll be very subtle, no one will be able to find out. As long as you don’t say anything and I don’t say anything, after a period of time, this will be slowly forgotten by everyone,” Zhou Guan Zhi says, arrogantly slapping away the hands at his collar and turns away.

“Ah Zhi, aren’t you afraid that I will turn myself in and expose you?”

“You!”

Zhou Guan Zhi turns back abruptly, his eyes betraying his impulse to strangle Shi Da Pao to death right at that very moment, but Shi Da Pao is no amateur either, and if they really do get into a fight, he will not have it easy. Instead, he tries the soft approach, lightening his tone as he tries to convince his Captain that they are both on the same boat.

“Boss, don’t do foolish things. Xiao Ya is about to get married, and you’ve done so much for her. Don’t you want to see her happily get married, and become the most beautiful bride?”

“,,,”

Shi Da Pao’s eyes tear up as he keeps silent, Zhou Guan Zhi hitting him where it hurts. Seeing that he has gotten his way, Zhou Guan Zhi smiles, smug as he stuffs his hands into his jacket’s pockets. He leaves the staircase, whistling casually as he goes.

—

In an Abandoned Factory

Chen Wen Hao sits on a chair, two men standing next to him on his sides. On the other chair, Zuo Hong Ye’s hands have been tied behind her, and a cloth is stuffed into her mouth, but she displays no sign of fear as she glares at He Hang, who has a gun pressed to her temple. Tang Yi, who arrived with Shao Fei, nods at Gu Dao Yi, who has been waiting outside for a while, and the three of them walk into the abandoned factory that is filled with a metallic stench.

“I’m here, let Hong Ye go.”

“No problem. My target is not her. He Hang, let Zuo-xiaojie go.”

“Boss, aren’t we making it too easy for Tang Yi by letting Zuo Hong Ye go?” He Hang refuses to loosen the ropes on Hong Ye as he glares at Tang Yi in fury.

“Tang Yi, I’ve been in Xing Tian Meng for so long, why did Tang Guo Dong let you become leader? How much authority does Xing Tian Meng wield in the underworld, and you want to go legal and reform? Aside from cutting off our brothers’ path to riches, you also handed one of us over to the police! I might as well just kill you here, lest you get in the way.”

The gun that was pressed to Hong Ye’s brain suddenly shifts to the Xing Tian Meng leader standing before him, but all he gets in return is the other’s cold laugh, full of ridicule and mockery for He Hang.

“You? If you were really capable, how would you have repeatedly failed in trying to assassinate me?”

“Fuck! I will kill you right now with a single shot, do you not believe me?!”

“He Hang, did you forget that I am still here? You’re in no position to talk here.”

“Chen… Chen-ye… but…”

Chen Wen Hao’s seemingly light tone belies a chilling warning under it, and He Hang retreats, not daring to say another word.

“Yes… yes, Chen-ye…”

Drenched in cold sweat, the man immediately keeps his gun, and loosens the ropes on Hong Ye, then pushes her towards Tang Yi. Tang Yi catches Hong Ye, and asks, concerned, “Are you hurt?”

“No.”

“Dao Yi, take Hong Ye and go.”

The bespectacled man stands between He Hang and Hong Ye, as if guarding against the possibility of another attack should the other man change his mind.

“I’m not going to leave, I want to face this together with you at your side.”

“If you get hurt I will hate myself, so, just go!” Tang Yi says in a low voice, tightly holding onto Hong Ye’s arm.

“I understand, you be careful,” Hong Ye bites at her lips, her eyes reddening as she leaves the factory under Dao Yi’s protection.

Chen Wen Hao gets to his feet from the chair and circles Tang Yi as he walks, just like a predator playing with its prey, and says, “Do you know why I had to find you today? Is it because you killed Wang Kun Cheng? Because you cost me losses of several ships worth of goods? Because you sent a bunch of my brothers to jail? Or-“

Suddenly, Chen Wen Hao stops in his footsteps right before Tang Yi, and stares into his eyes.

“Is it because four years ago, you saw the crime scene of Tang Guo Dong and Li Li Zhen’s death?”

“…”

Anger flashes in Tang Yi’s eyes, and the moment he takes a step, he is stopped by the other’s raised gun.

“No! None of that! I got you to come here because you are Tang Guo Dong’s son. Tang Guo Dong stole my woman, caused the death of my and Li Li Zhen’s child, and found someone in prison to create trouble for me, made me go through 24 years in jail. Twenty. Four. Years!”

“…”

Shao Fei stares at Chen Wen Hao in surprise, recalling the brith certificate he saw not long ago.

Li Zhen-jie’s child, was Chen Wen Hao’s? Tang Yi’s biological mother, is Li Zhen-jie? So… Chen Wen Hao is Tang Yi’s real, biological…

Chen Wen Hao does not see the young officer’s face go white, and continues, “When I came out, Xing Tian Meng became yours? What a joke, how is it that Tang Guo Dong could have everything, but I ended up with a broken family and nothing to my name? No, this is not fair, isn’t it?”

He pauses for a while after, and a dark, vicious smile emerges, “So… I want you… dead!”

All the men that were guarding outside of the factory suddenly rush in, surrounding Tang Yi and Shao Fei from the back. The both of them have no choice but to put up both their hands and pretend to surrender. Shao Fei takes half a step, opening his mouth to say, “Chen Wen Hao, Tang Yi, he’s-“

“Shut up, this is no place for you to talk.”

Tang Yi suddenly falls to the floor, avoiding the line of fire from the barrel of the gun and kicks out at the man holding the gun on him. It is only after the man falls does Tang Yi snatch the gun away, turning back to face Chen Wen Hao, the gun pointed at him.

At the same time, Chen Wen Hao has his gun turned towards Tang Yi.

“Chen Wen Hao, I’ve devised this plan for four whole years, all to force you to come back from Cambodia to take revenge for Tang-ye, because, it was you who killed him!”

“No! I didn’t kill him!”

“Shut up! You’re going to pay with your life!”

“Tang Yi!”

“Don’t stop me!”

Seeing that things are about to spiral uncontrollably, to a point of no return, Shao Fei can no longer care about anything else, and quickly blurts out the truth from that year.

“Don’t shoot! Chen Wen Hao is your father!”

===

*This is a metaphor and you can temporarily ignore who Liu Bei is.

#history3: trapped #history 3: trapped #history 3: 圈套 #h3t #tangfei #tang yi #meng shao fei #history3 novel #translations #lmaooo it's been what #almost a year hahahaha

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dangermousie · 4 years

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Mousie’s New and Improved Top 20 Cdramas List

Because why not. These are ordered in terms of being my favorite as opposed to pure quality - if I was trying to be objective, it would probably be rearranged, but I like being petty and subjective.

You will notice that literally every drama on this list is a period drama. Much as I adore period cdramas, contemporary ones rarely work for me.

20. Princess Agents (tie)

MV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ll6x8zf2CnQ

Our heroine is a slave in a brutal society who becomes a feared general, fighting for freedom and love of a Yan prince. But her heart might actually lie with a seemingly cold adversary who is madly in love with her (I shipped them so hard!) I was one of five people who loved the infamous cliffhanger ending because it made a brutal kind of sense (You can read the novel if you want a different resolution.)

20. Tribes and Empires (tie)

MV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyRsPAGUz-Q

This one has a hell of an open ending, but it’s so gorgeous and epic, I don’t even care. Set in a fantasy empire, it follows three men - a half-human prince, a cursed son of a general, and an orphaned leader of a barbarian tribe. A feast for the eyes.

19. Ice Fantasy

MV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C05lhfrWgQg

A visually stunning high fantasy with elves, quests, a shockingly wonderful hero, brotherly love, toughest lady general ever as OTP and basically everything I like.

18. The General and I

MV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XDR17kwXYM

The lengthy OTP separation brings its place in this list down, but otherwise a gorgeous romance between two enemies - a general and a female strategist, is a total swoon and so intense.

17. Three Kingdoms 2010

MV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3RVpdYDpYA

This one is a magnum opus of 100 episodes, with a tour de force performance by Chen Jian Bin as Cao Cao. Battles, politics, and even though it’s very secondary, one of my favorite love stories in cdramas. This one is if you want to use your brain as well as your heart.

16. Colourful Bone

MV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4O5yb3VBh4

It probably doesn’t deserve to be this high on the list but it hits all my narrative and shippy kinks with a common-sense heroine taking in an abused and mistreated death machine and teaching him to be human. Mmmm.

15. Young Warriors

MV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BO83qvKaoSM

What do you get when you have seven awesome heroic brothers, a star-studded cast, tragic stories about heroism and love and just amazingness? You get this drama.

14. Strange Hero Yi Zi Mei

MV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFVDAuFOyWE

Band of misfits fight corruption and uncover mysteries. This one is the most underrated drama on my list. Also, Wallace Huo has never been hotter in his life and that is saying something.

13. The Battle of Changsha

MV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbgFMaUfpnE

By the same people who wrote Minglan, this follows a family in 1930s China and is a quiet, devastating masterpiece.

12. Prince of Lan Ling

MV (warning - spoilery): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jUVGP0HETo

He’s the consummate battle god. She is a mystical shaman. He is fated to be with someone else per prophecy but he doesn’t care and chooses her. True love, politics, battles, jealousy, amazingness, tragedy. I love them so.

11. Gong/Jade Palace Lock Heart

MV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVFPVkHaweo

This is Boys over Flowers goes Qing (where Domyoji’s behavior finally makes sense since he’s a literal prince and Rui likes to kill people.) This is such a amazing good fun, about a modern woman time traveling to the time of the fight for the throne between Kangxi’s sons. She thinks she likes the seemingly gentle Four but ends up with hot-blooded, awesome Eight. She herself is tough as all get out and this is pure deliciousness from beginning to end. Yang Mi and Feng Shao Feng had such amazing chemistry, people RPShipped them for years.

10. Return of the Condor Heroes 2006

MV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzXsBqVYp0I

My first cdrama ever, and what a gorgeous one it was. That’s what got me into cdramas. The childhood eps are pretty awful but after that, it’s pure shippy perfection with an incredible OTP. If you want to be in a constant romantic swoon, in that story of female master and her male disciple and their forbidden love, this one is for you.

9. Eternal Love/Three Lives Three Worlds Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms

MV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9-ry-W4Crg

Fated immortal lovers, reincarnations, the whole enchilada. Yang Mi and Mark Chao have insane chemistry that burns up the screen. The first few eps are slow, but it makes up for it afterwards.

8. Legend of Fuyao

MV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkMX1d0v7t0

A twisty epic romance with a super-powered heroine who is plain awesome and may destroy the world, and a smart, ruthless prince who’s only soft for her. I love it so much!

7. Legend of Condor Heroes 2008

MV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2fea109_qM

Plot twists, good guy hero with a mega smart OTP, tragic anti-hero who becomes a villain for a while with an amazing OTP, bromance, fights, everything. I just adore this one.

6. Bu Bu Jing Xin/Startling By Each Step

MV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9B3Rddrqt0

The one that started the time-travel craze (well, that and Gong), about a modern woman who time travels to the time of Emperor Kangxi’s sons’ fight for the throne, this is a gorgeously filmed tragic love story, with one of the most perfectly brutal endings out there. I adore it.

5. Nirvana in Fire

MV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4wps7SK9xo

This is a smart story about politics and revenge, where a survivor of a wrongly destroyed family comes to get justice. Seemingly laid back until it explodes. Not much romance but it doesn’t even need it.

4. Rise of the Phoenixes

MV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0BUvMKSj4E

Like the dramas to destroy you? Come right in. A story about a disfavored prince and a lost daughter of a previous dynasty, this is smart, gorgeous, and is going to wreck you.

3. Ever Night (s1)

MV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x99seU5qJuc

I have talked enough about it recently so I won’t say much more, but if you want epic, movie-like quality, characters you will love, amazing battles and cinematography, complicated world-building and an OTP to die for, come right in.

2. The Myth

MV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rfyfKM_Ww0

For the longest time, this was my favorite cdrama, to be replaced only by Minglan. It starts out funny and ends up tearing out your heart. This is the only time in my drama watching experience I cried so hard I threw up. The story is about two accidental time-travelers - a photographer and a cook - who end up in Qin Dynasty China. And from then on it’s about how that cruel, horrifying world takes two perfectly normal men and by wracking their very souls turns one into a hero and the other into a monster. To me, this is Hu Ge’s best performance and as you see his protagonist desperately try to hold on to his humanity and his love in a world that is doing its best to destroy it, I dare you not to cry like a baby. His character is my ultimate cdrama crush.

1. The Story of Minglan

MV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA7m2QktiUk

Aaaaaand, my n1. cdrama is the amazing, too short at 73 eps, The Story of Minglan. It is very hard to describe the plot of this - a sort of Elizabeth Gaskell meets period China. It follows three interconnected upper-class families, but more specifically, it is about Shen Minglan, a concubine-born daughter of a minister and Gu Tingye, the oldest, legitimate, and hated by his family son of a Marquess. Their narratives run largely parallel for the first half of the story and such is the genius of this drama that I, the ultimate romance junkie, did not mind that. Minglan is a rarity in dramaworld - she is fiercely smart, very collected and emotionally detached. Life in the troubled Shen household taught her to survive and to hide her feelings and talents. Tingye is a big cdrama love. Abused and reviled by his household where he can do no right (the Marquess hated having to marry his merchant mother for money and has displaced that hate on her son), Tingye manages to keep his warm heart but acquires the ability to go his own way. Both of the protagonists are wonderful and smart and magnetic and rootable for separately, but when they get together, the sparks go off the charts and they become my n1 cdrama OTP of all time. A lot of the story is about family battles, women’s world dilemmas and relationship (of all sorts) interactions. There is also politics and battles, but the true charm of this drama are the mundane details of the world and the fully-fleshed out people who inhabit it. If you watch only one cdrama in your life, make it this one.

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tsuki-sennin · 3 years

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Mina-san, bonne lecture~! (Tsuki recaps his feelings about Kamen Rider Saber, a personal essay.)

So, Saber... what a wild ride it's been, huh? Just a quick heads up, this is very long and rambling, and also contains spoilers for everything in Saber. It's fine if you don't wanna read all this, but I just wanted to get my thoughts out there.

TL:DR, Kamen Rider Saber's an undercooked hot mess I absolutely adore, warts and all.

Speaking as objectively as possible, it's a 6/10. Probably closer to a 5 than a 7... it's not great: All the different plot elements are cluttered and weirdly paced; character focus is disjointed and clearly biased toward certain characters, leaving great ones like Kento and Ogami, interesting ones like Kamijo and Hayato, and underdeveloped ones like Sophia and especially the Shindais in the dust; not to mention its balance of comedy and drama is off, and while both are very effective, there's a lot of mood whiplash that can take you out of the story. I also feel like a lot of the easily avoidable character conflict could've been easily resolved, even in universe, by simple conversations. Be careful Fukuda, I think Inoue might sue you if he finds out you've been biting his style and doing it worse.

Rider shows have a very frustrating tendency to drop cool form ideas and not do anything with them, and I don't think it's ever been more the case than with Saber. There's a similar argument to be made with the majority of Heisei Phase 2 after Gaim, but wow. The suits are expensive to make without just straight up recycling everything, I get that, but man, I really wanted to see more Wonder Rider forms. How come Touma got all the fun, eh? Of note are the Blades King of Arthur forms (which look amazing by the way), Espada's Jaaku Dragon forms (one of which I even drew last night), even the non-elemental random Wonder Ride Books all have awesome design elements that go tragically unused. Even if the other Swordsmen just kinda have the ones they do get to use slapped onto them, that's at least something. Touma also just straight up only uses Diago Speedy twice and never again. You have cool props guys, don't waste them like that!

Speaking of waste, Espada, goddamn. Since most of the Wonder Ride Books are Story Type and he needs one very specific Story Book to transform, he doesn't get much of... anything, really! No Wonder Rider forms like Blades, Lamp Do Cerberus being exclusive to Ganbarizing, only getting to use the Ride Gatriker like once, he even spends the second and third arcs as a completely different Rider, then once he comes back he doesn't get a King of Arthur-granted upgrade or even a Necrom Espada form. ...at least, not yet anyway. I'm holding out hope for Espada x Necrom and the eventual Saber V-Cinemas. Extra Rider stans, we will be well respected someday.

The Unreal Engine CGI used for fights in early Chapters was pretty good but wow it feels disconnected and they really drop it quick. I feel like if the animators had more freedom to use as many forms as they want, we'd have gotten a lot more mileage out of the books beyond... decoration basically. I actually really liked the CGI sequences, they felt creative and were fun to follow along with.

The soundtrack is pretty great on its own and conveys what it needs to, but they seriously overplay the orchestral themes. It honestly feels kind of... stock at times. I think my favorite parts of the score are when it winds down, since it feels a lot more natural and lets the cinematographers and actors speak for themselves.

As awesome as I think Falchion's design and the Mumeiken Kyomu are, The Phoenix Swordsman and the Book of Ruin comes up short as its own standalone thing. You'd think 30 or so minutes of non-stop action would be awesome, and it almost is? It's as good as a typical episode of the series with a higher action budget, but it kinda drags on a bit too long; and although I think Emotional Dragon looks cool, it feels a bit tacked on. Coming off of the incredible Zero-One REAL×TIME, it doesn't give you much room to breathe, which Rider films are typically great at handling. I also thought the resolution for the kid's subplot was kinda forced. He does an okay job at acting considering his age and doesn't overstay his welcome, but I really don't see how 20 minutes of violence and action is enough to convince him to be brave enough to go play with the other kids. 5/10, it's closer to a 4 than a 6 and I think that maybe Zero-One should've stood on its own if they really had to push back Kiramager Bee-Bop Dream because of the pandemic.

Alright, with all that said... As imperfect and undercooked Saber was, like Ghost I can consider it a personal favorite, 10/10. Call it a guilty pleasure if you want, but holy hell it's just the show I needed. Takuro Fukuda has a talent for creating fun, wonderful characters and utterly fascinating worldbuilding and concepts. It's a shame he doesn't utilize them fully, but hey!

The action and fight choreography are pretty top notch as usual. Lots of beautiful shot composition and set pieces, and plenty of great angles to help keep up with the extra busy action. I love watching the suit actors perform and they deserve all the respect in the world for their hard work in those hot, sweaty, and heavy costumes. Their visual design is also top notch, with lots of unique and fascinating forms and cool weapons I desperately want to play with despite being broke, all with spectacular finishers and hype jingles with the voice of Akio motherfucking Ohtsuka calling them out. A real feast for the eyes. Not a single bad suit among them, yeah I said it, fight me.

The crossover specials are soooo good too.

-I went over my feelings on the Zenkaiger crossover episodes in a separate post (good luck finding that btw), but to sum it up, they were great character moments for Zox and the Shindai siblings with lots of great screwball comedy and some good old fashioned meta humor.

-The Ghost crossovers are great little side stories all about how Daitenku Temple somehow had the Ghost Ijunroku Wonder Ride Book? I genuinely have no idea why it was there, or how Makoto had the Specter Gekikou Senki, and as far as I remember neither of their origins are explained. Did Luna or Tassel hand them off to them and told them to wait for a sword guy? And why do these generic French Revolution Gamma villains working for Danton get their asses handed to them so easily by Kanon, who literally just became a Rider? I thought that Makoto deciding to adopt all the Kanon clones into his family was both hilarious and adorable though; considering all the crap they went through, I think it was a good ending to this plot. Gimme Espada x Necrom already Toei/Bandai/Fukuda/whoever I need to yell at, give Kento things to do, I beg you.

-I haven't actually seen Super Hero Senki since it's not available for subbing yet, but apparently there's a Journey to the West plot starring the Taros and Ohma Zi-O and I want to see that so badly.

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra? Yoohei Kawakami? A match made in heaven, that's what they are. All of their themes are absolute bangers. All of them. Almighty, Kamen Rider Saber, Sparks, Taju Rokou, all excellent and empowering pieces. Rewrite the Story, Will Save Us, and The Story Never Ends are all amazing inserts done by the cast, and it makes me wish we had even more of them to help break up the monotony of the score.

The characters are what easily make this show such a great watch though. For the most part, they have great personalities and chemistry, consistently fun and interesting scenes, well acted and... sometimes well-written development, and deeply investing personal stakes.

Narrating it all is the delightfully eccentric Tassel/Viktor, portrayed by Romanesque Ishitobi "TOBI" of the Paris-based Les Romanesques. I was utterly confused by his presence at first, wondering why there needed to be a narrator when the story would've been perfectly fine without it. He even got a special spot in the opening despite having no stake in the plot despite seeming to live in Wonderworld, who the hell is this guy? But then I thought "OH MY GOD, HE'S THE MAIN VILLAIN USING TOUMA AS THE HERO IN HIS OWN TWISTED STORY, THE BASTARD". I thought it'd be some subversion of expectations, true form, "That Was His Mistake!" shit. Trust me, it made a lot more sense in my head. I'm very happy that they didn't do that, as I grew to love having male Yuuka Kazami as my narrator, and when he was shown to be actually important by being friends with Yuri my mind was blown. And doubly so when I realized just how deeply necessary to the plot he really is.

Rintaro/Blades is up there as one of my all time favorite secondary Riders, since his curiosity is always consistently funny and adorable, his forms are all gorgeous and impressively designed, his relationships with Mei and Touma are absolutely sweet and compelling to see unfold, and his arcs about becoming willing to call out those he views as family and coming to terms with his feelings of inadequacy and both moving past and using them to strengthen himself are always great lessons to pass on to kids. ...even if they took like 10 goddamn episodes to be conveyed in what could've been 5, but hey, Takaya Yamaguchi does a stand-up job all throughout. Rider veteran Eitoku's refined, almost logical movements with the Suiseiken Nagare absolutely beautiful to see in action, and his final form having the same white and blue color scheme as Zooous's base form is an amazing touch I don't see appreciated enough.

Mei Sudo's also absolutely wonderful, serving as the perfect emotional core of the story, responsible for most of the funniest lines, sweetest character moments, and some of the most deceptively compelling drama. Asuka Kawazu brings the perfect energy for such a dynamic and well rounded character, and absolutely nails her scenes of quiet turmoil. As much as I would've loved her to become a Rider, I don't think she really needed to. She's already done so much to help, and as cool as it would've been to see her pick up a sword and fight alongside them as Espada, Calibur, or Falchion she's already endeared herself to me as one of my favorite supporting characters in the whole franchise.

I can't get enough of my homeboy Kento Fukamiya/Espada. Like Rintaro and everyone else for that matter, he also suffers from Saber's pacing issues; and like his predecessor Valkyrie from Zero-One, he doesn't get a proper upgrade aside from his Wonder Combo, instead becoming an anti-villain using a completely different powerset and shifting the Raimeiken Ikazuchi out of focus for the Ankokuken Kurayami, and I feel there's a serious missed opportunity to see him use Jaaku Dragon with Alangina. However, Ryo Aoki's performance is probably among the most easily praiseworthy in the whole cast, managing to convey both Kento's kind and knightly stoicism as Espada and his emotionally unstable despair as Calibur perfectly, in conjunction with Yuji Nakata's experienced and expressive stuntwork.

Ren Akamichi/Kenzan's a dark horse favorite for sure. I remember back when Saber was first picking up, people hated this breezy mad lad for being such a simple character at first. Overly concerned with strength? Black and white world view? Annoyingly energetic? Agh, real-feeling character flaws, I hate them, get him away from me! But then y'all came crawling back. Eiji Togashi's apparently a bit of a rookie actor, and it really shows with some stilted delivery and the way he sometimes bobs his head when giving his lines, but man he improves dramatically as the series goes on. His inexperience ironically ends up really selling his character development, and his unexpectedly beautiful relationship with Desast is special evidence of that. The Fuusouken Hayate's three modes and Satoshi Fujita putting them to excellent use through his stellar acrobatic movements are also really cool.

Why did Luna have to be a child for so long? Does Wonderworld not age whoever inherits its power? Well since Luna randomly becomes an adult in Super Hero Senki and some of the final episodes, I guess so? Miku Okamoto does a fine job for a kid actor, but she's basically done all the heavy lifting for the whole series and doesn't give Mayuu Yokota enough time to get a feel for her character as an adult. How did she choose Touma to inherit the power anyway? Does she just subconsciously decide to trust him with it upon seeing how kind and passionate about storytelling he is? Well if that's the case, why didn't Kento get at least some of that power too? He's just as important to the merchan- I mean Luna-chan, isn't he? Why did Tassel pick her over someone who isn't a literal child who'd be understandably terrified about basically becoming an embodiment of storytelling?

Sophia also kinda suffers from the same problems. Rina Chinen's voice is very pleasant to listen to, but she doesn't really do much beyond serving as a source of exposition and support. I think her dynamic with Mei's adorable, and given her kindness I can certainly understand the respect Northern Base has for her, but she doesn't really contribute a whole lot. If she could use the Kurayami and become Calibur all this time, then why didn't she take it from Kento and Yuri and do so earlier when Kento decided to go back to being Espada? I know she's not much of a fighter and as the closet thing the Sword of Logos has to a leader after Isaac's death I'd understand not wanting to put her at risk, but considering Storious is destroying the world, and she's very evidently kicking a lot of ass in the first part of the final battle even in the basic Jaaku Dragon form, I think it would've helped a lot, just sayin'. Tassel at least has the excuse of being unable to interact with the real world, but Sophia obviously didn't just be put in charge of Northern Base just because she's a pawn in Isaac's plans right?

Ryou Ogami/Buster is also a victim of the disjointed character focus. I have no problem believing he's an excellent father and fighter thanks to Yuki Ikushima and Jiro Okamoto, respectively, but he feels a bit flat and simple in comparison. His rivalry with Desast is randomly dropped, his wife doesn't even show up until the final episodes, he's kinda sidelined in terms of action a whole lot. I imagine that must've sucked for the Rider Dads out there. He does get to star in his own manga, and that was pretty good, so I guess I can't be too mad.

Tetsuo Daishinji/Slash fares better though. Hiroaki Oka, being a Kamen Rider fanboy himself, manages to make him among the most relatable characters in the series. Not only are his hyperfixation on swordsmithing and anxiety played surprisingly believably, Hirotsugu Mori letting him cut loose is extremely cathartic and hilarious, and you really feel for him when the Onjuuken Suzune becomes the first victim of Calibur!Kento's sword sealing.

Yuri/Saikou's another dark horse favorite, for me at least. "Oh great, Avalon guy's got even more merchandise to sell, I wonder what his Sword of Light is- it's himself. Well... that's different." I admit, I didn't like him at first. He felt like he was there to fill out character dynamics in the absence of both Rintaro and Kento, I thought his gimmick was too silly even if his design and jingles were bangers, I didn't particularly care for his power set. But then XSwordman came around I totally got it. He's an endearing, hard-working man trying his best to catch up on all the cool shit he missed, unafraid of experimentation, ready to throw down at a moment's notice, serving as a wonderful bit of consistent support for our heroes, a truly knightly individual, an absolute Chad. and goddamn does he make me worry. Tomohiro Ichikawa, I salute you good sir.

Even if they fall short compared to the rest of the cast, the Shindai siblings are at least cool enough to not wanna write out entirely. They kinda devolve into comic relief after they become allies, something that villainous Riders from Chase onwards are very prone to doing, and it's especially awkward in their case because I think that they kinda get off scot-free for obeying the obviously sinister and crazy Isaac for so long, as well as driving a wedge between a lot of people and threatening children in Reika's case. I think their sibling dynamic is nice though, even if Fukuda recycled it from Makoto and Kanon and has some... questionable possessive undertones as a result. It's cool how they're basically foils to Touma and Rintaro though. The dispassionate and methodical Reika/Sabela is beautifully played by Angela Mei and her moments of emotional depth are fascinating to watch. Her Rider form is a thing of beauty, and its use of literal the Eneiken Noroshi's smokescreens and Yuki Miyazawa's precise and deadly stinging strikes are a joy to watch. And while Ken Shonozaki's not given the best direction as the undercooked plate of 7-Eleven fried fish that is Ryoga/Durendal, he manages to sell him as an experienced and hardened warrior with an awkward side that's especially evident in the Zenkaiger specials. His goddamn RWBY weapon that is the Jikokuken Kaiji is absolutely sick, I'm a sucker for transforming weapons and its combination of time and water powers is really cool, especially with Yasuhiko Amai's deliberate and forceful acting in the suit.

Daichi Kamijo/the Second Calibur, for as brief as his story was, was a pretty cool starter villain. Hiroyuki Hirayama brings this poor bastard to life in a genuinely touching way. I love how as Calibur he goes full force on his creative use of Wonder Ride Books for attacks, and his debut as Jaou Dragon got my blood pumping. His end is also deeply tragic, and I really felt for him when he realized just how badly he fucked up. Hayato Fukamiya also does wonders for the backstory, and while he also doesn't get much to work with, Mitsuru Karahashi makes his regrets and love for Kento feel genuine.

Legeiel and Zooous are both very intimidating and entertaining villains. On top of being just the right balance of goofy and threatening, Kairu Takano and Koji Saikawa's stage presences are both very strong, and their mixture of camaraderie and in-fighting is extremely believable. Zooous's rivalry with Rintaro feels incredible to see through to the end, and although Legeiel doesn't get quite the same treatment, Elemental Dragon had such a cool debut that it more than makes up for it. Their final fights are also absolute spectacles. I don't think their sympathetic angle works even close to as well as it does with MetsubouJinrai or even the Gamma, but I get it, power corrupts, and you probably feel a lot of sadness and regret for things you've done when you die unless you're a right bastard.

Isaac/Master Logos/Solomon is kinda generic. As wonderful as Keisuke Soma is, he doesn't get much dimension to work with. The result of that is while he nails being as smug and punchable as possible, he feels almost... comically generic. Genta Umemori from Shinkenger was full of personality! He was also basically some guy, but he was fun, he felt connected to the rest of the cast! Meanwhile the only real time we get to see Isaac's depth is when we see him crying over his failures. I almost appreciate him being unapologetically evil though, since I've seen way too many shows where redeemed villains get off scot free for way worse things, and some where they outright demand you to sympathize with them despite them doing nothing to warrant it.

Bahato/Falchion surprises me by not just being a movie villain whose actions affect the main plot, but also being a movie villain who actually gets to appear in series as a recurring threat! ...and it's not a particularly great showing on his part, sadly. Masashi Taniguchi does a wonderful job with what he's given, but his character feels like a retread of Eternal without any of what made Katsumi Daido a compelling and frightening villain. I'd like to believe Yuri when he says that he used to be a good person and a hero to the people, but I can only hear so many anime villain monologues about the pointlessness of life and the beauty of destruction before I can never take them seriously again. ...I think that's his biggest problem, actually. I thought he was an overall uninteresting and generic villain in the movie, and the cartoon nihilist he's shown to be in series is only a small step up. He still feels like filler. If only there were a far better written and much cooler villain who takes on the Mumeiken Kyomu after his de--

Desast is probably one of the finest anti-villains I've ever seen in recent years. On top of an absolutely badass character design and the excellent combination of Kazuya Okada/Danki Sakae's suit work and Koki Uchiyama's stellar voice acting, his story being so thoroughly intertwined with Ren's makes their shared journey and bromance a borderline Shakespearean tragedy. His struggle for identity despite Storious treating him as nothing more than a failed experiment and the Sword of Logos treating him as a mere monster really gripped me, and the way he uses what little time he has left to encourage Ren into blossoming on his own is absolutely beautiful. I think his enmity with Ogami is criminally underexplored in series, considering he killed several of the previous Riders and how Ogami's in desperate need of screentime.

Then there's our main villain, Kamen Rider Storious. Robin Furuya brings an incredible amount of charisma to this character, expertly portrayed as both a sinister, manipulative bastard , and as a lonely, tragic figure that arguably makes him feel even more villainous. Speaking as a struggling writer myself, it's easy to feel stuck in the idea of "fuck it, who cares, maybe everything is predestined", but I can't imagine what it's like to know that as the truth and carry it with you for all that time. All of your grand ideas have roots from your experiences, and you're not the only one who even could have those experiences. It's easy to just fall into despair and give up trying, but would that make you happy? Sure, Storious is sadistic, he may be fulfilling his goals, he may be ungodly powerful... but it's not enough for him, is it? All of his friends are gone, one of them even at his own hand, he probably doesn't have any idea what to do after he destroys all the world's stories, Touma even reached his full power before he did, and his downfall is so predictable that even a blind person could see it. He even seems to welcome it, what's up with that? But then I realized... OH MY GOD, HE'S THE MAIN VILLAIN USING TOUMA AS THE HERO IN HIS OWN TWISTED STORY, THE BASTARD. He's so far gone, he's so desperate to stick it to the Almighty Book, he's willing to twist the archetype of the Hero's Journey so hard, it snaps in two. What I think is interesting is that he's ironically trying to chase the trend of "edgy superhero story" that became super popular in the 21st century. The Boys, Brightburn, Kamen Rider Amazons, The Sentry, No More Heroes, Magical Girl Site, even mainstream comics from DC and Marvel... Surely Storious must've seen the cruelty and tragedy these stories are filled with, but he chooses to go through with trying to force the world into this direction anyway. Did they, along with seeing the ever-popular tragedies of legendary playwrights and bleak satire of the twentieth century fuel his despair?

And yet... there's one who stands in determination against his ideals.

Our hero, Touma Kamiyama, the titular Kamen Rider portrayed by Syuichiro Naito and Kousuke Asai, he speaks to me on a personal level. There're plenty of jokes to be made about his procrastination in early chapters, his godless fashion sense, and him doing the funny run up the slope, that's all fine and dandy, but I rarely feel so connected to a character the way I did Touma. The struggle to create, find companionship, live your life, reach out to others... these're things a lot of people struggle with, and of course you see them depicted a lot in media about creators, but Saber gets to the root of what the greatest thing about storytelling really is. Giving people hope, while using the pain of the past as fuel for the future. Sure, Storious may be right about how every story has been done as far back as human civilization gets, he may even be right about how any spin or creativity humanity has is outright predestined. It should be pointless to even try, right? That's where Touma Kamiyama disagrees. He didn't spend all that time fighting and creating just to give up at the idea of predestination. His novel writing-fueled creativity in his early training, his devotion to his friends that let him surpass Kamijo as Dragonic Knight, his compassion for the Primitive Dragon that let him combine their powers to destroy Legeiel as Elemental Dragon, his resolve that let Xross Saber dethrone Solomon, and his passion for the craft of storytelling that let our heroes channel their wishes into Wonder Almighty... all stemming from the belief imparted onto him by his predecessor that "Hope lies beyond your resolution." And that you decide how your story ends. He may not be the greatest Rider to some, he may be as lame as others think he is, he may not even be my favorite, but I have no issue calling Touma Kamiyama... Kamen Rider Saber, one of the all time greatest carriers of the Kamen Rider name.

The final chapter's definitely not as great as some other Rider finales, but goddamn. Primitive Dragon consciously choosing to save Touma is so sweet and such a great emotional payoff, I loved jamming out to the opening theme while our boys lay the smackdown on Storious. Wonder Almighty's a fitting final bit to close the main series out with, if not exactly a great one. I think the cover is great, and the book's body is a lovely shade of candy apple red, but I really don't like how its pages are just the covers of the other books copy-pasted onto onto the pages, that feels lazy. Maybe if it were a panorama of all the books' characters, I'd like it a lot more as a symbol of how unified the Swordsmen are, but eh, what can you do? On a related note, does this mean all the "last episode extra final forms" of the Reiwa Era are gonna be named after their series's opening? That's a neat idea.

I felt a lot of feelings seeing all those video messages of Rider fans all across Japan talking about their favorite stories, and how their passion and fond memories help reshape the world. Mei's monologue at the ceremony about is also really touching and- IS THAT A HUMAGEAR!? :O

Y-yeah dude, it is! Wow, where have you guys been for the past 48 episodes?! Are you guys doing okay? How come you're like... the only one here? Is the technology of Hiden Intelligence only really that prevalent in that very specific metropolitan part of Japan and they're just not coming around much over here? Is it like Dragon Ball where anthropomorphic animals are just vibin' with humans while the heroes are off kicking ass? Apparently he's played by Hasegawa Keiichi, who wrote this episode and had the award ceremony named after him. ...is Hasegawa Keiichi a HumaGear in this universe then? Did he set up this award ceremony in Touma's honor? If so, why is it named after him? Did reading one of Touma's books lead to his Singularity? I know this is just a cameo, but... god, I have so many questions that probably will never be satisfactorily answered.

Overall, if I had to compare Saber to anything, it'd probably be Sam Reimi's Spider-Man trilogy. It's awkward, stupid, overwrought, undercooked, illogically written, scattershot, cheesy as fuck, and has a tendency to squander its otherwise fine execution; but the sheer passion for storytelling, sense of spectacle, deeply fascinating characters, and belief in the ideals set forth by the cast, crew, and fans are absolutely admirable. Improvements would certainly make it an overall better experience, to be sure, but there's something deeply captivating about how wonky this series is. Seeing everybody get their happy ending after all they've been through felt extremely gratifying though, and I may have to wait another for the epilogue to and then wait for Revice, but... man. I'm hella proud of our awkwardly-emoting, fashion disaster novelist and all of his heavily flawed friends for carrying the Kamen Rider name on to the future. Here's hoping Revice will keep it going.

Alright, that's everything I wanted to talk about. Sorry this was so long and ramble-y, I had a lot to say. I'll probably be liveblogging Revice as episodes of that come out, so... look forward to that, I guess. See ya.

#kamen rider saber #long post #tsuki talks #personal #kamen rider #whew #ok bye have a nice day

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wscldier · 3 years

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okay okay i’ve watched the episode again and i have thoughts. they’re under the cut below since i can’t post original stuff without like a million personals finding my blog

note these are not in order, so pls watch the episode fully before you read

sebastian goddamn stan deserves a goddamn oscar nomination already. i felt more emotion dripping from that scene in wakanda than i’ve ever felt in my goddamn life. his sadness, his fury, his confusion, his rage and his pain. the way he’s convinced that he’s gonna hurt ayo or do something terrible and then the immediate relief he felt afterwards? the confusion at it though, he’s free but now what? he’s free to do what? seb, you are one of the most talented underrated actors right now and honestly watching that scene was incredible. the man’s ability to portray so many emotions and really make you feel with single looks is just... it’s something else. holy moses.

also thank you for showing us how skilled bucky is, like speaking Xhosa? yes. he would have learnt that during his time in wakanda and he must have picked it up FAST

z*mo is a bitch and i hate him. no seriously. guy is a n*zi in the comics, just because he did a couple of dad moves doesn’t redeem him for what he’s done

sam standing up for bucky against z*mo is just excellent. z*mo saying all super soldiers have to be eliminated and sam asking “what about bucky?” because sam knows bucky didn’t have a choice in the matter.

sam is also talking to sharon. keeping her in the loop.

as for the power broker... i honestly don’t think we’ll get a reveal on who he is. i personally believe it’s another computer that z*la downloaded himself onto ( it would explain how the powerbroker is so well connected and can text karli ) or it’s general ross ----- who back in the incredible hulk pushed for the super soldier serum to be made. i think it’s much more likely to be z*la but i’m curious to see where it goes. again, i think the power broker is going to be a slow reveal. we might not even get an idea of who he is until the armor wars movie.

karli using sarah as bargaining against sam was cold and cruel

again, highlighting that bucky is massively talented and skilled, that he actually holds back a lot when he’s fighting and he can actually run and jump and move at incredible speeds. very good. i also think it’s interesting to point out that bucky didn’t get the “true” version of the serum. so people saying he’s nerfed against other super soldiers can shut up. these guys got pure unfiltered serum. bucky got a botched version.

sam using his counselling to try and talk karli down? heck he was getting somewhere as well and fucking w*lker turns up

i knew... i knew w*lker was going to do something stupid like take the serum. i knew that it was gonna send him into a blind rage i knew it was going to make things bad.

killing battlestar? that was... i mean i was expecting something like that to be the catalyst behind w*lkers rage. but i’m still a little disappointed that even in a racially charged piece of media, the black character gets killed. maybe that was the intention, maybe it was there to highlight, it’s not for me to say, but it made me feel uncomfortable.

the dora milaje can get it. and will ayo accept my hand in marriage please and thank you.

bucky shouting “looking good john” whilst w*lker is fighting ayo is one of the funniest things i’ve ever seen in my life then him asking ayo to talk about this?

okay over the last like 10 days all i’ve seen is like people laughing that bucky can remove his arm. i am glad finally that it proved something that only wakandans with knowledge about this technology can remove it. bucky can’t slip it on and off like a fucking glove. every tiktok i saw talking about it made me groan internally

also, bucky’s anger is so justified. like z*mo is using leverage against him, and he’s pissed as hell because the wakandans have done nothing but help and save him and he promised them he’d give them z*mo and he can’t do that till z*mo gives him the information. bucky’s anger is rightfully justified and z*mo is pushing him over the edge. it’s heartbreaking to watch.

the ending was... it was... oh god. it was extremely gory and i’m surprised that the house of mouse allowed the writers to push the show that dark. whether you like it or not, that shield is sold to thousands of kids across the world, it’s on toys, lunchboxes, folders, pencil cases. to soak the symbol like that with the blood of... okay he maybe wasn’t necessarily innocent, but he wasn’t exactly guilty either is... extremely hard-hitting. like extremely hard hitting.

i noted that after w*lker took the serum i heard traces of orchestra playing the same low mechanical tune that they use to introduce the winter soldier theme. now, this might be a coincidence given that h*nry j*ckman is the music producer, but also because h*nry j*ckman is the music producer i’m inclined to think it’s not. w*lker for better or for worse is a tool used by the US government. he is the antithesis of what bucky was to hydra. the perfect soldier. the perfect weapon. whereas steve broke away from that the second he got the serum, it seems w*lker is falling down the path that bucky was put on.

i genuinely think that bucky is going to have to fight w*lker because no one else is strong enough.

sharon is around but not in the episode nearly enough. i wanted more. i’m glad though she’s being the coolest spy ever. i’m hoping we get more interactions with her sam and bucky next episode.

the shot at the end where everyone is crowding around w*lker? bucky and sam looking on? that was... haunting.

#|| OOC #the bird and the robot spoilers #f.atws spoilers

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themuzzleofnemesis · 4 years

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3–Memory of the Four Seasons; Scene 12

The Muzzle of Nemesis, pages 138-147

--It was still snowing.

I continued to watch it through the gaps in the cherry blossom tree’s branches, laying on my back on the ground.

“You’ll catch a cold sleeping in a place like that,” someone said to me, and I gradually sat up.

I had hoped that was Shakuson’s voice, but naturally it wouldn’t be.

It was a man wearing glasses…Someone I had never seen before.

“Are you looking for someone?” he asked me.

I honestly replied, “…Shakuson. My boyfriend.”

His corpse was nowhere to be seen.

Maybe he survived—

But that fragile hope was immediately dashed by the man before me.

“If you mean his dead body, I put it back in his room. I couldn’t have someone finding it, after all. I’d just gotten back to carry you away too. And then you woke up.”

I didn’t cry again. I had cried so much that my tears had already dried up.

More than that, several questions were welling up inside my mind.

First—who was this man?

This man who was so calm despite knowing that I had killed Shakuson.

And another one…How was I alive?

I put a hand on my temple where I had shot myself.

“…Ow.”

There was definitely a wound there.

But it wasn’t bleeding.

…What in the world…

The man reached out a hand in response to my confusion.

“I’m sure you have questions for me…But first let’s get back to your room. There fortunately isn’t anyone else around, but—it’s very likely that someone heard the gunshots. It’s best we get away from here before the police run up.”

After saying that, he grabbed my arm and tugged me up to my feet.

It was only once we had returned to my room that I truly felt that I was in neither heaven nor hell, but the living world.

“Well then…Shall I now answer your questions, Nemesis?”

The man sat down and lounged on the sofa as though this were his room.

“If you know my real name, then…You must be from the organization after all.”

“Sadly, that is incorrect. I have nothing to do with Pere Noel, PN, or the Dark Star Bureau. However—I have been watching over you up to now.”

“You’ve been spying on me?”

“What an awful way to put it. Didn’t I just tell you I’m not related to the organization?”

“Then just who are you!?” I pressed the man.

“…Hm. Rather than explaining with words—Perhaps it would be faster to show you.”

Directly after he said that—

His body rapidly began to emit light.

“--!?”

I instinctively closed my eyes against its brilliance.

“…”

When I opened them again a short while later, the man was no longer there.

--Or rather, he had changed into a different creature.

“This is…it can’t be…”

It was a single blue octopus.

“…Are you Mr. Ziz?”

And then I heard a voice speak directly into my mind.

It wasn’t the “other me” I would usually hear. It belonged to the same man as before.

“Mr. Ziz…you survived.”

<Indeed. That old sorcerer got me good. A normal octopus would have undoubtedly frozen to death if made to suffer such nonsense as being frozen inside a lake. I managed to pull through, but it took a great deal of time for me to recover to how I had been before>

Mr. Ziz’ body once more began to glow.

And then he returned to his form of the bespectacled man.

“—Right. Yes, this one is better for talking.”

“Is that…your true form?”

So Mr. Ziz’ true identity hadn’t been an octopus, but a human—

But he shook his head. “No. My true form is neither an octopus nor is it a human being.”

And then he changed shape again.

This time—he was a small, golden key.

“A key…So you aren’t even a living thing?”

“…Then that means you talking to me right now are—”

<A demon dwelling inside one of those seven vessels—popularly called a “Vessel of Deadly Sin”. In other words, I am--> He once more changed from key to human. “—The ‘Demon of Wrath’ who resides in Grim the End. Demons have no physical bodies in the living world. And on the other hand, vessels have no will. When you join the two together—I can become a conscious person like this.”

--If I hadn’t had any talent in magic, and if I hadn’t heard the voice of the “will of the forest”, I wouldn’t have been able to believe what he was telling me at all.

But since “magic” and the “will of the forest” truly existed—then there was nothing unusual about there being “demons” in the world.

“Mr. Ziz—My mother was the one who gave you to me. …So then, was this all by her instigation?”

“No, she didn’t know my true identity. She had bought me at the marketplace thinking I was a simple octopus. –Though it is because I knew that she was looking to buy a pet octopus for her daughter that I infiltrated that market.”

“Why would you go to all that trouble to—”

“Let’s just say that I was ordered to by a certain someone—I’ll reiterate to be clear, but I have no connection to that organization. A demon can’t be ordered around by the likes of a normal human being, now can they?”

“…”

There are beings in this world that would try to protect me, that I cannot see—that was what the “will of the forest” had told me.

Mr. Ziz put a hand on my shoulder, and grinned at me.

“Well, I hope we can work well together from here on out. Though you may know my true identity now, there’s no need to go recklessly worshipping me or anything like that. You can treat me as you did before this point.”

“I’ve no intention of sinking so low that I start worshipping a demon.”

“Is that right? I’d still appreciate at least a little gratitude. It’s thanks to me—that you wound up not dying, after all.”

Yes—there was that.

How I was alive, despite having been shot in the head?

“You mean this is by the power of a demon?” I asked him, pointing to the wound on my temple.

“Not a power so much as—it might be better to call it a ‘Rule’ established by the gods. ‘Those who have contracted with a demon can only be killed by another contractor’…So it goes. By all rights you can’t commit suicide. Though well, it’s a different matter if your physical body were to be completely erased from this world.”

“I have no memory of contracting with a demon.”

“—That Christmas night when I first went to your house…Didn’t you have a dream?”

“A dream? …It was so long ago I’ve already forgotten.”

“That night, I spoke to you in your dream. I asked you to ‘become friends with me’. And you agreed.”

“…That’s a ‘contract’!? What nonsense!”

“Whatever you think, that night a contract was established.”

“A contract! But not a valid one!” I yelled.

Mr. Zis sighed regretfully. “If you really insist then I’ll respect your wishes. But—don’t you still need my power yet?”

“…I don’t know what you’re getting at.”

“Then let me ask you this. What do you intend to do now?”

“—I…wanted to die. Along with Shakuson. I would probably just try to do so again.”

“Are you really fine with that? Living while set adrift by the people around you only to helplessly give up and run away from this world—If you died now, that would be the sum total of your life. Isn’t that wretched? Don’t you have any regrets!”

Mr. Ziz raised his voice.

Were his words the whisperings of a demon?

Or—the advice of a friend?

“I don’t know…What I should…do…”

“Nemesis…The weak you is the one who died just now. From this moment on will be your true life.”

“…”

“You don’t have to come to a conclusion right away. What you do now is up to you.”

Mr. Ziz once more began to glow.

I closed my eyes, and when I had opened them again—

There was a single mask…and a single golden bullet.

“…What’s this?”

“So you can do that…”

“A demon…bullet.”

“…But if what you’re saying is true, then aren’t I already a ‘demon contractor’? And so I should be able to kill other contractors even without using this bullet, right?”

<Naturally. But in that case, you and your foe would be on equal footing. There’s a chance you would have the tables turned on you. This is a “power” that helps avert that. A power separate from the “Demon of Wrath”, one that exists inside Grim the End itself>

In other words, by obtaining both the power of the “demon” and the “vessel” together, I had an advantage over other contractors.

A bullet that could kill a demon contractor—

“If…I were to shoot this at myself, what would happen?”

“…”

“And another ‘contractor’ would be able to kill me…I see.”

“I got it…Thank you. I’ll—think about it a little.”

I picked up the mask and the bullet, and set them down on the desk.

--Frankly there was so much to process that I couldn’t keep it straight in my mind.

<<prev------directory------next>>

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theormostat-terminator · 4 years

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ONCE AGAIN TAOB REACTION POST CUZ IM READING IT NOW

@hella1975

Okay, you say this is a hopeful chapter, but at this point I don’t trust you judgement of what is hopeful BECAUSE YOU’VE BEEN TORTOURING US FOR THE LAST MILLION CHAPTERS!!

Okay, I’m a few sentences in, and I’m just cooing over Zuko carrying Zi Se, idk why, but it’s adorable.

So far I’m just so confused about what Tovah is gonna do. Like, what the fuck is her plan?????

I’m in physical pain from the way Zuko describes being outside again and SEEING EVERYTHING AND oh my god, I’m gonna cry, ffs Hella, can we go one chapter without me crying please and thank you.

“Zuko’s life had been torn from him and she sounded bored”

I know this isn’t supposed to be a funny line but it made me exhale through my nose and istg WHY WAS THAT FUNNY TO ME??

But the sword thing, it made me think of how he had left the other sword so that Hakoda could find it. And then that made me think of the fact that Zuko probably thinks that they abandoned him or something, that no one came for him and I’m- I’m in shambles, I’m currently dying of feels, once again.

WAIT A FUCKING SECOND YOU CAN’T BE SERIOUS, SHE HAS TO BE LYING??!?!?!? THE WHITE LOTUS??!???! HUH?!?!??!?! HELLA WHAT? I THOUGHT SHE WAS A BAD GUY? NO? I’M??? NOT OKAY??? EXPLAIN???

Okay I read more and I got an explanation to everything and oMG idk why but I’M BREATHLESS AFTER READING THAT?? And I’m so happy she accepted Iroh as friend or whatever her definaítion is, and istg you’re making me love Tovah so much. How do you make characters so loveable? huh?? give me that talent now please

HGAJSHFKJHAFJ THE UNCLES MEET FINALLY IMALKFLJDKIAFOIHGOIAJFOJFLJFLJFLKHALFKJLFKJALFJLWKDJOAUGIOAHGOIHAFOWIJOIHFKHwgkajhfk

I read the rest and I feel like I just ran a marathon. SO MUCH HAPPENED IN THIS CHAPTER!!!

Okay so um, how is everyone gonna reunite though??????

Also I apologize that this post is so short compared to the other ones I’ve had but just so MUCH HAPPENED YET I HAVE NO WORDS BUT AJLAHFKJHDWLJALHWLFHLHLJLKWJDLK OMG

I hope you understand the language written by one emotionally crippled fanboy who has fallen into the hole of feels and will not be getting out of there anytime soon.

But srsly, this chapter was a rollercoaster and yes it was hopeful but ALSO MESSED WUHT MA EMOTION,, i need to go lay down holy shit

#love you hella #love this #love tovah #tovah #T O V A H #she's a queen #she's the definition of that one vine #I'm a bad bitch you can't kill me #that's her #uncles have met #uncles will throw hands #maybe cause some havoc #who knows #badass uncles #tomnook are a menace #but we love them #did i mention TOVAH

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honeylikewords · 4 years

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They took a perfectly good start and turned it into the white evil guy is just misunderstood and needs the love of the right woman crap, completely screwing up pretty much everything else. Poe deserved better. Finn deserved better. Rose deserved better. Heck, even Rey deserved better than being shoved together with him. It sucks, and I'm over it. And all the actors didn't deserve a single second of hate because they weren't white.

Yep.

I’ve been very vocal about my feelings on the many failings of the SW sequel trilogy, both as failures politically and failures as just cohesive narratives, but hearing firsthand, straight from John, exactly how much he endured because of not only the story-based racism perpetuated against him but the actual on-set and directorial racism that was also active against him is just...

Like, I want to be shocked. I’m horrified, I’m disgusted, and I’m angry, but what more can I expect from people who tokenize, dismiss, and humiliate Black people as an industry? These people don’t value him as an actor, as a talent, or as even a human person to treat with basic social dignity. I can’t fake surprise when I know that this industry, this country, this world runs on the fuel of delegating Black people to “less-than” status. Christ.

I really don’t know how to get through to people that rooting for R*ylo from the get-go was just such an insidiously white-centric, shitty move. I won’t even deny it with “let people ship what they want” politeness anymore: the narrative was setting up a FinnRey endgame, and people pushing so hard for a white, abusive, Neo-N*zi character to “earn his redemption” by being “loved better” by a white woman, shutting the Black male lead out of the film and out of the relationship he was supposed to build over the course of the coming films, was racist. It is racist.

I don’t care if people like Adam Driver. I like him too-- he’s a great actor and, from all accounts, a nice guy-- but liking him or thinking he’s handsome doesn’t excuse narratively rejecting a Black man in favor of a violent, totalitarian, abusive, white man who was a LITERAL NEO-N*ZI PARALLEL.

And the creative teams, LucasFilm, Disney, whoever listened to all the petulant white fans demanding to see the white people kiss caved to racism. They fed the fire and look where it got them.

It’s vile, it’s low, it’s degrading, it’s nothing less than a hollow placation of white fantasies at the expense of genuine progress and of even the most basic structures of storytelling.

We were promised a growing dynamic between a female Jedi and a Black Jedi. We were supposed to see their bond grow and evolve. We were supposed to see their characters develop and strengthen and watch them tear down a fascist empire.

But what we got was pandering to white people, pandering to heteronormative expectations, and racist action taken against the very small handful of Black and brown actors who had finally broken through in a heavily white-dominated fandom space.

Kelly Marie Tran was bullied off of social media, harangued and harassed, and had her character relegated to brief blips in the following film because the team behind the film caved to the racist mudslinging perpetrated against her.

Oscar Isaac had his character reduced to a heteronormative DRUG DEALER, despite having CHANGED HIS LAST NAME so that he would stop being typecast in drug dealer roles. He has even said that if he knew what was going to happen to Poe, he would have let them kill him off in the first movie like JJ Abrams had originally suggested.

And John.

What else can I say except that my heart burns and breaks and aches for him and everything he’s been through? What could I say that he hasn’t said?

I’ll drop this quote from his interview: “His primary motivation is to show the frustrations and difficulties of trying to operate within what can feel like a permanently rigged system. He is trying, really, to let you know what it feels like to have a boyhood dream ruptured by the toxic realities of the world.”

He has been so strong in his push back against this system and the people who seek to harass and belittle and dehumanize him and for that I am so grateful and I look up to him with intense admiration, but, God, I wish he didn’t have to. I can’t imagine what this must have been like behind closed doors. What must have been going on for him in private, in his heart and head and soul as he had to just sit there and smile and watch his big break get smeared in front of him, as vitriol and hate and death threats flooded his inbox for no reason other than him having the audacity to be Black.

I love the characters. I love parts of the movies and I’ll rewatch them and cobble together my own canon and enjoy what brings me love and warmth and happiness, and continue to support and promote characters like Finn and Poe and Rose and, hell, even my own version of Rey. Force Awakens is still an objectively great Star Wars film and a comfort of mine and a window into the future we could have had with these amazing characters.

But absolutely fuck every single person who contributed to tearing down the people of color in this series, and fuck every single person who harassed their actors, and fuck every single person that put all their energy into supporting Kylo Ren and his goddamn waste of a ‘redemption arc’ instead of giving a single thought to the Black man who should have been given his due depth.

And go John Boyega; every new project he takes on, I’m gonna be there watching and supporting as best I can. He’s more than damn well earned it.

#long post #messages #anonymous #sorry i got heated but this honestly isnt even HALF of what is inside me rn about all this and just UGH #anyway the next time some goofy ass white fan is like 'its just shipping its just fandom it isnt that serious!!'#remember that r*ylo fans DIRECTLY affected the course of these films because the corporate element decided to pander to them instead of #following the original arc set for the narrative #so yeah it's real and it does affect the media that gets generated and it therefore affects the fucking black and brown people involved!!!#it is that serious and just because you wanna fantasize about kissing a big scary white man doesn't mean that your fantasies are exempt from #whatever internalized racism you may hold and what you believe to be valuable/beautiful/attractive IS FULLY INFLUENCED BY RACIAL DYNAMICS #sorry now im going off in the tags ANYWAY FUCK THE SYSTEM AND GO JOHN GO

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koreanfodo · 4 years

Text

Freak - Lil Boi, Wonstein, Chillin Homie (SMTM S9)

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[Lil Boi] 해가 떨어진 다음에 난 집 밖에 나왔지 반대로 살아가는 하루 아침이 밝아 오면 되려 눈이 빨개져 모두가 집으로 들어 가는데도 난 이제야 내려 이상하게 쳐다보지 예상한 대로 텅 빈 거리 Neon signs yeah 불빛이 don't kill my vibe yeah 여기 남아있지 나 혼자 But I'm on fire After the sunset I walk out Living days in reverse My eyes get red at dawn I get off against people going home Suspicious gazes as expected Empty streets, neon signs yeah Lights don’t kill my vibe yeah I’m staying here all alone But I’m on fire 언제부턴가 말수가 적어졌네 아주 오랜만에 연락 온 친구가 날 만나기 부담스럽대 Cuz I'm on TV, lookin' busy 난 그대로인데 내가 보는 것이 너에게는 다른듯해 but I'm alright 혼자로 남아도 Got to fight the feelings 허나 너도 알다시피 나에겐 너무 익숙한 단어지, I I speak less since whenever Friend calling in a while feels uncomfortable to see me Cuz I’m on TV lookin’ busy, while I’m still the same Seems like what I see is not what you see But I’m alright even if I’m left alone Got to fight the feelings But as you know, I’m too familiar with the word, I [Hook] Guess I'm a freak 늘 혼자 있지 어딘가 고장 난 걸까 and I'm a freak 난 춤을 추지 모두가 잠에 든 시간 Guess I’m a freak I’m always alone Am I broken somewhere And I’m a freak, I dance it out When everyone’s deep asleep [Wonstein] 윙가르디움 레비오우사 우리 할아버지 내게 다가와 요즘은 트로트를 해야 빨리 성공할 수가 있다고 너의 주문 같은 노래 그만두고 무언갈 배워 누가 알았겠어 그 뒤에 만든 나의 노래로 할아버진 눈물을 참을 수 없게 되는 주문에 걸려 날 인정해 여기까지가 약 5년 Wingardium Leviosa My granpa comes to me and says If you wanna succeed fast, you gotta sing ‘trot’ Stop singing those spell-like songs and learn something But who knew, the song I made after that spelled grandpa into never-ending tears and approval of me, this took about 5 years 인생은 시트콤 가까이에서 비극 어느샌가 주변 어르신들 머린 희끗 But 어제도 말했듯이 노인이 되어서도 Pay me 패기는 이렇게, 저렇게 레일리 아직도 어린애처럼 만화 얘기를 해 언젠가는 마법이 이루어진다고 믿을래 원슈타인 이 정도면 이제 거의 Middle name 촌스럽지만 미룬다는 말을 미룰래 Life’s a sitcom, it’s tragedy when seen in close-up Elders around me are suddenly grey-haired But as I said, when old, they still pay me Passion like this, like that Rayleigh Still talking about comics like kids I believe magic happens at some point Wonstein, now it’s almost a middle name A bit old-fashioned, but I’ll delay saying I’ll delay [Hook] Guess I'm a freak 늘 혼자 있지 어딘가 고장 난 걸까 and I'm a freak 난 춤을 추지 모두가 잠에 든 시간 Guess I’m a freak I’m always alone Am I broken somewhere And I’m a freak, I dance it out When everyone’s deep asleep [Wonstein] I'll be loyal, 비록 난 상처를 받았지만 내겐 이 세상이 진짜란 걸 알아 When darkness comes, we chill with homies It's gonna be alright 그래 걱정은 말아 너도 알고 있잖아 저스디스처럼 보여주면 돼 I’ll be loyal even though I’m hurt I know this world is real to me When darkness comes, we chill with homies It’s gonna be alright Yeah don’t worry, you already know You just gotta show them like JUSTHIS did [Chillin Homie] My life ain't easy I've been through 이제 좀 익숙해진 듯 but 아직도 두렵기만 한 이 도시의 불빛들 사이 나를 비추는 Camera의 불빛들 차가운 눈빛들이 버거운 스물둘 내겐 센 척이 필수 나 질 순 없기에 버틸 뿐 나도 쉬었다가보고 싶다고 Mom I miss you My life ain’t easy I’ve been through Think I’m getting used to it but still I’m overwhelmed by the city lights and camera lights shining upon me I’m twenty two, can’t bear the cold stares so acting tough is a must for me I’m barely holding on as I can’t lose but I also need a rest, mom I miss you 달갑지만은 않은 사실뿐인 건 이미 알고 있었지 다 그런 거지 다 괜찮아엄마 큰 아들이 멈출 리 없지 라 말해 I ain't trippin', swear to god I ain't trippin' 그리 높지 않아도 여기까지 잘 왔지 My life's like a movie 내가 그린 엔딩엔 절대 실패란 없지 I already knew it’s all about unwelcomed truths It’s what it’s about, it’s all fine mom, there’s no way your son would stop I ain’t trippin’, swear to god I ain’t trippin’ Not high up, but still managed to come this far My life’s like a movie, I never fail in the ending I draw Guess I'm a freak You can’t fight the feelings Guess I'm a freak You can’t fight the Guess I'm a freak Guess I'm a freak Wonstein, Lil Boi, Chillin Homie, Team Zi x Gi, Slom Guess I’m freak -------------------------------------------------- I’m personally a big fan of Korean hiphop, and Show Me the Money (SMTM) S9 is one of my favorite seasons so far. So many great rappers with impressive talents and strong stories.

This track was from one of the previous stages where two teams competed on the same beat to get their track officially published. This show is ongoing, and next week (Dec 18) is the final! The translation in the youtube video is also great, I just felt like making my own version. Hope you enjoy! :)

#smtm #smtm9 #show me the money #쇼미더머니 #lilboi #wonstein #chillinhomie #kpop #khiphop #ziont #giriboy #mnet

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