#lfls meta

[dropthedemiurge]

Love for Love's Sake | Things you didn't notice (probably)

Finally, I am watching a good K-BL and can enjoy multi-layered meanings within language, culture and translated subs altogether (unlike with Thai series where I need to learn a new language again xD)

So I'll be pointing out some fun things that I noticed for fellow foreign viewers =) Beware of a long post!

Disclaimer: I'm not fluent in Korean, but I've been learning and using it for years + lived and studied in Korea for a while so I'm offering my perspective and knowledge but it might not be the Ultimate Truth

Episode 1

«I prefer lonely supporting characters instead of happy protagonists. Cha Yeowoon is still unhappy. ... - Where are you going? - To see my main (최애). I mean, Cha Yeowoon.»

The word Tae Myungha used to described Cha Yeowoon, as I heard, was actually 최애 (choe-ae). It's a slang that can be translated as "my favourite" and typically is used for K-pop group members, meaning "my bias" (think One True Pairing but One True Person instead). Then, as his fellow classmate gets confused, hearing such word referring to a popular student in their school, Tae Myungha changes to "I mean, Cha Yeowoon", and it works because the word and the name sound similar.

Myungha uses this word because in the intro he stated that Yeowoon is his favourite character in the book out of all. So basically, his first reaction was "- Where are you going? - I'm gonna run to find my blorbo<3", which is so admirable. I'd also get obsessed with making happy my fav side character that was treated unfairly by creators :D

«Kids like chocolate, right? ... (Yeowoon grabs an icecream, Myungha grabs the same, adding with surprise:) Didn't see that coming. Bi-Bi-Big (비비빅)? You eat like an old man.»

What surprised Myungha there? That Yeowoon chose this icecream->

It's a traditional icecream that is made out of red beans. This taste is usually associated with older people (because typically kids like sweet things and older people like less sweet/bland tastes), also red beans or read bean paste is used in many traditional desserts in Korea. Yeah, who would've thought that a high schooler would choose this icecream out of all options?

Later, Myungha gets the message "You can compare Bi-Bi-Big to big Ba-Bum-Bar (another icecream with "old man taste" from chestnuts), why the hell would you eat it?" and gets confused as the message seems missent. I am confused as well, because Myungha wasn't the one choosing this icecream and Yeowoon wasn't typing in his phone. Considering that the phone number is unknown, I can guess that it might be a commentary from the book's author who's watching Myungha playing his story game? Let's figure it out in the next episodes!

«- You eat like an old man. - Do you play sports? - No. - Weird. You're a whiner like I've always heard. - Kids these days have no manners.»

My quick translation->

«- You eat like an old man. - Sunbae, do you play sports? - No. - Strange. You sound like one of those older jerks (꼰대). - Kids these days have no manners.»

More on the differences between Tae Myungha and Cha Yeowoon:

Myungha tried to poke Yeowoon about his "old man tastes", and Yeowoon called him out for his conservative/stereotypical thinking.

Yeowoon keeps calling Myungha sunbae (because he knows MH's a senior in their school so he must be polite), and Myungha REALLY TALKS LIKE AN OLD MAN to him ("Kids these days" in the subs does translate this style of speech correctly! I'm glad). We all know he's much older before he was thrown into high school times (~25-30yo?), but his words and intonations really make you feel like he's 50-60yo or something xD

Yeowoon doesn't like this at all, though, so he calls Myungha a sort of derogatory term 꼰대 (kkondae), which is used to described old conservative people who are set in their ways and keep nagging and scolding young people for not behaving properly. And, as a runner, he implies that there are senior sportsmen that are hazing or nagging younger sportsmen like this as well, that's who Myungha reminds him of. No wonder the affection stats fell down in the minus zone so hard!

There you go, guys, these are my comments on the first episode of Love for Love's sake! It is filmed so well, I like the idea, and I really enjoyed it (if this one gets really popular just like Semantic Error, we might get more BLs about gamers or gamedevs and I WILL LOVE IT I am so here for it, hehe)

Stay tuned for more as I watch next episodes :]

#love for love's sake #kdrama #love for love's sake meta #korean bl #bl series #lfls #lfls meta #love for love's sake reaction #dropthemeta #love for love's sake comments

[dramadramallama]

random things i noticed in Love for Love's Sake and couldn't fit in my other posts

yeo-woon's name in korean is 여운 which is oddly fitting for a character who mirrors and echoes myung-ha at every turn:

myung-ha and yeo-woon's new story begins in spring, which is arguably the universal symbol of rebirth, youth, and hope. they're on the cusp of summer, where flowers go into full bloom (what better season for a second chance story where self-love/self-realization is the core theme?)

myung-ha wears the same (?) bracelet as his grandma's, during the bar scenes, and in at least one "real life" scene (the one where he gets broken up with). I guess he started wearing it after grandma dies (and I like to think it worked like a little talisman for him and brought him good luck!)

i don't know what to make of it, but the café location where he always meets up with Si-a and friends is the same place he gets dumped. (also, in the break-up scene, he's outside ((actually, he might be inside, after all. the plants threw me off, but they're also inside decor lol)) drinking a hot beverage. in the "game", he's inside the café, and he's drinking iced ones lol)

i find it very sweet that he tries to fix every hurt with ice cream: again, i like to think he got the habit from his grandma (and in turn, got yeo-woon into the same habit lol). the flavor (red beans) and brand (비비빅/Bi-bi-big) he picks is a very classic, almost "old people" flavor, just as the first text he receives points out "why on earth do you eat this? it's on par with a ba-bam bar" (바밤바 chestnut flavored - also not very trendy for kids/youths)

the first big "glitch" myung-ha experiences is when he finally tries calling the number that keeps sending him the texts (which are possibly from his past life/another reality/[insert your theory]) and accidentally creates some sort of paradox.

i had to zoom in so much but one of the texts was left untranslated in both the iQiyi and GagaOolala versions and it reads something like: "do you get along well with your friends? if you fight with them, santa won't bring you any presents"

#love for love's sake #love supremacy zone #lfls meta #love for love's sake meta

[wen-kexing-apologist]

Symptoms of a System Error: The Manifestation of Myungha's Depression in Love for Love's Sake

Ok I will almost certainly have more thoughts about this when I go back to rewatch Love for Love’s Sake in the next couple weeks, but I’ve been thinking about the finale for the last couple of hours and I want to get some stuff out of my head. Before I get too far in to this, I want to say that I think most of the ambiguity in the show is brilliantly executed in a way that allows people to take whatever meaning they want to from it without contradicting each other, without stepping on toes, and without having to twist or bend the narrative beyond all recognition to  make it make sense. 

So I want to talk about the use of depression in this show, because the way Myungha exists in the world is recognizable enough to me that these moments of choice, and the system errors were extremely legible. That doesn’t mean my take is the correct one (and I honestly don’t think there is one right answer here anyway) but it’s what I got out of it, so with the needless ramble complete, let’s get to it. 

Prologue

gif by @dramascene

I connected rather quickly to Myungha as a character from right near the beginning of episode 1 because of how passionate he was about the character of Yeowoon and how much he hoped for a happy ending for that character. As someone who processes a lot of my feelings, and who understands myself better through media consumption, I was quick to appreciate the fact that Myungha recognizes the parts of himself that speak to Yeowoon and to know that because Yeowoon is fictional, he has a chance not to suffer with merely a stroke of a pen. The Author could have chosen from the beginning to give Yeowoon a happy ending, and did not because he believes that there are people for whom bad things will never stop happening. But from the perspective of a fictional story, the Author should consider who he is writing the story for. Myungha connects to Yeowoon, and it sends one hell of a tragic message for how Myungha’s life will end up if even in fiction the people who suffer have no hope of happiness. 

Myungha tells the Author that someone like Cha Yeowoon, someone like him [Myungha] with awful lives can still be happy. Looking back on that statement with the knowledge that Myungha kills himself, sends a very clear message, at least for me, of the hope that he was clinging to and finally lost his grip on. The Author asks if Myungha can change the outcome, and thus begins our story.

Debuffs

Now, I don’t know that I will have much more to say here than what @jemmo said in their very brilliant post, beyond the fact I agree with their interpretation of the debuffs. But I am thinking about the debuffs as it relates to mental health and to Myungha’s independence. One of Myungha’s first missions is to befriend Cha Yeowoon, and we see the difficulties associated with doing so when it comes to the Fondness Level meter and the debuffs that happen as a result. I love what Jess said about the dichotomy there: the debuffs mean that every time Myungha gets close to Yeowoon, something bad happens, Myungha uses that as a reason to stay away from Yeowoon to protect him when in fact, being around Myungha and increasing his fondness for him is the only way to really keep Yeowoon safe. 

gif by @dramascene

And here again there is something recognizable to me in this dichotomy. Myungha likes Yeowoon, Myungha wants to be friends with Yeowoon, every time something bad might happen to Yeowoon, Myungha is there to intervene. But Myungha is convinced that the potentially negative events that might occur during a debuff are because of him, and so he avoids Yeowoon as much as he possibly can. To me this makes the debuffs a stand in for depression symptoms. Myungha has convinced himself that he is the cause of the bad moments in Yeowoon’s day. Myungha has convinced himself that Yeowoon would be better off if they weren’t friends, because he only makes things worse. And that is not something he can easily shake off, it’s not something he can logic his way out of, that’s the game, that’s just how it is. And so he withdraws until Yeowoon comes to him. 

And honestly thinking about it, nothing bad really happens during those debuffs. The light doesn’t shatter, the boys back off on the bus, Yeowoon doesn’t punch Sangwon. Maybe the reason why nothing at all happens is because Myungha intervenes. Maybe if Myungha hadn’t been there, the light would have broken, maybe if Myungha hadn’t been there Yeowoon would have punched Sangwon. But that is not a lens that Myungha is capable of viewing himself through, that is never an option that crosses Myungha’s mind because he is too focused on feeling like the cause of Yeowoon’s problems. 

System Errors

I know there is a lot of confusion or at least uncertainty around the system errors. Why are they happening? Where are they coming from? For me, I think the answer is Myungha himself. The first time we get a system error, it’s in Episode 6, what I think is the day after Yeowoon and Myungha have their first kiss and very soon after Yeowoon and Myungha kiss on the rooftop at school. The first error isn’t subtle, but it’s not explicitly stated. Myungha walks in to a room to take a phone call and walks in to the middle of band practice, falling through the world as he tries to remove himself from the situation until he (literally) runs in to Yeowoon. Myungha goes home that night and gets his first moments in the black abyss, and the first explicit mention via pop-up of a system error. I have not gone through (yet) to track every instance of what happens before a system error pop-up occurs from that point on, but I will say moment that was most legible for me in terms of indicating that these system errors were stemming from Myungha himself were when he gets the notification both times that Yeowoon looks directly at him and tells Myungha “I love you.” 

gif by @dragonsareawesome123

That moment was a guy punch for me because I was not able to see it any other way except that Myungha is so incapable of believing that people could actually love him that someone telling him directly and sincerely that they love him cannot exist in his world. He literally cannot compute it, and thus an error occurs. Again from the perspective of depression, or trauma, or what have you, this is familiar to me. It is perhaps the most reflective part of Myungha to my own psyche. Neither of us know how to be loved. 

Myungha is called out on this repeatedly, he is nice to everyone, he does so much for everyone and refuses to ask for help himself. I’m the same way, I will bend over backwards as much as I can to help the people that I care about, but it is a rare occasion where I can ask for help myself. I’m not sure if this is the case for Myungha, but for me at least a lot of that stems from needing to make myself useful to people in some way so they keep me around. And so I end up feeling like a commodity to the people that I care about and help, and merely tolerated by anyone else that I do not help but that interacts with me any way. Myungha is called out consistently by multiple people, real or NPC about this similar habit. Myungha does not want to be a burden, Myungha only cares about other people’s happiness, Myungha is not happy himself and has maybe never been happy and so he pours everything he can in to lightening the load for others. 

He loves Yeowoon, but to be loved by Yeowoon is different. To experience any moments of joy cannot possibly be real. Maybe I am projecting too much on to the character, but it makes complete and total sense to me that Myungha’s worldview would break down upon having someone state wholeheartedly that they want to be a support system for him. 

Cruel Choices

gif by @dramascene

With the enmeshment of depression and video game mechanics in mind, I want to talk about the scene at the end of Episode 6. I love this scene so much for a number of reasons: 

It turns the game on a head for me as we slip further and further in to a nightmare scenario

It raises the stakes and attempts to get Myungha to make a hard choice 

It forces Myungha to think about what is important to him 

It’s ultimate purpose and who is posting the mission is ambiguous/uncertain 

I’m going to focus on number four. I think it is a perfectly valid read to see this and all video game mechanics as designed by The Author in an effort to help Myungha change Yeowoon’s story in which case this mission feels particularly vindictive and cruel. @lurkingshan posed the question in a conversation we were having about Love for Love’s Sake, where she wondered why the game could not hold two sources of love for Myungha at once. I love that question because it made me realize how differently this show can be read and how important who you choose to read as the entity in control of this game is for what this scene specifically means and I love so many interpretations of it, I love the interpretation that is was simply cruel, I love the interpretation that in retrospect this was the Author being angry at Myungha for dying, I love the reflection from @jemmo that said this felt like a choice between staying rooted in the past (sparing grandma) or choosing a future (sparing Yeowoon)

For me, I think I am leaning heavily in to the pop ups are under Myungha’s subconscious control, his mind, the missions he thinks are important, the problems he thinks he is causing are what is driving the base game. Because of this my base instinct is to lean in to the depression/anxiety/trauma tent where things have been going a little too well for him lately and he has convinced himself that he is due for something bad to happen. I am happy to once again acknowledge that this probably projection, but I know that my own mental illness(es) does not let my peace linger for long. Myungha is spending so much time with Yeowoon, Yeowoon who grounds him when his world is literally falling apart. Yeowoon who cannot contain his smile whenever he is around Myungha, Yeowoon who is downright desperate to bestow love and support upon Myungha, Yeowoon who has accompanied Myungha to the hospital late at night to be there for his boyfriend in a stressful time, and Myungha can’t have that. He loves his grandmother, he loves Yeowoon, they both love him and so obviously means that something bad is going to happen to them. 

gif by @25shadesoffebruary

[As an aside I am thinking about what the Author said in the final episode about wanting Myungha to be able to see himself from the outside, and how I took that to mean Yeowoon is supposed to be a reflection of Myungha and a journey to self love, and how Yeowoon told Myungha that something bad always happens to the people around him in relation to this hospital scene]

Secondarily, I do think being confronted with this choice at all allows Myungha to have a moment of reflection, and is clarifying for him to know that both Yeowoon and his grandmother are important people in his life that he doesn’t want to lose. That’s fucking huge, in my opinion at least. And for all this mission was cruel, it was the first time Myungha refused to complete the mission. He was asked to save one, he decided to save both, and the game could have been cruel and taken his grandmother and Yeowoon away for refusing to choose, but it didn’t. They both got to live, and sure Myungha’s mission to make Yeowoon happy was shortened significantly, but I do think fifteen days was enough time to be successful in his mission if the depression and the grief had not gotten to Myungha instead. 

Grief 

gif by @my-rose-tinted-glasses

Something about grief that my therapist told me once was grieving people love helping others. And I think that is the case of Myungha here just based on the way he throws himself in to helping as many people as he can, especially Yeowoon. He knows Yeowoon is grieving, he knows Yeowoon is struggling, and he can distract himself from his own shit by helping Yeowoon instead. But once Myungha is confronted with the possibility that either one of the people that he loves could die, the penality for failing in his mission to make Yeowoon happy looms over his head like a knife. Just like Myungha considered himself the problem with the debuff, he knows how high of a likelihood it is that Yeowoon would regress, would isolate, would sink into a massive low. 

And it would be Myung’s fault (in his mind). 

Especially because Yeowoon keeps saying that even thinking about going on dates with Myungha is making him happy but Myungha’s mission isn’t complete. Myungha has started to get low, he is not as engaged in his relationship with Yeowoon, he’s convinced himself he is going to fail, and is thus setting himself up for failure because he decides 15 days is not enough time to find happiness, but it is enough time to break somebody’s heart in preparation for a devastating loss. And maybe, maybe Myungha would have snapped out of it with enough time to spare initially, but any hope of that being the case was shattered the second Yeowoon admitted that he wasn’t happy because Myungha wasn’t relying on him. 

Myungha is so used to be self-reliant there is no way for him to break out of that habit in just two weeks. Myungha knew his death would hurt Yeowoon, but the final nail in the coffin for him was learning that his life was hurting Yeowoon too. And he almost got there, he almost did it, he admitted that he didn’t know how to, but he withdrew at the last second. He has spent all this time, all this energy, all this focus in to changing Yeowoon, he does not have the space to do that for himself. 

The Choice 

gif by @supanuts

The last moment I will really speak to as it relates to my interpretation of this game being controlled by Myungha as a manifestation of his depression is the author’s pen. Considering the fact The Author asked Myungha if he wanted to try again, I do not think if the Author was controlling this game world that he would have had Myungha disappear from it. Because according to the Gaga subs, the change that Myungha writes is that he wants Yeowoon to be happy, and immediately upon finishing that request, Myungha starts to fade. 

If we hold these game mechanics as manifestations of Myungha’s depression, which I do, it makes complete and total sense to me that Myungha would fall back in to the pattern of believing that Yeowoon would be happier if Myungha wasn’t there. Yeowoon has a modeling deal now, he has some modicum of fame, he has friends now, he has supports in place that he did not have before, so what need does Yeowoon have of him, when his inability to let people love him is what is now causing Yeowoon to feel sad. 

And I think that massive server error at the end where the world is burning and the universe is melting in to the game is a result of Myungha realizing too little, too late that this isn’t what he wanted. But it can’t be undone. The line he says when he is sinking in to the water about how at the last minute before he died, he regretted it. The game, the drowning here are one in the same to me. 

And for me there was just something so beautiful and hopeful from Myungha telling The Author that he wants to try again. We started the show with Myungha telling The Author miserable people can be happy, and we end the show with Myungha and Yeowoon finally getting the happy ending they never thought they would have. 

gif by @junghaesin

God I loved this show.

#love for love's sake #lfls #love for love's sake meta #love for love's sake analysis #one thing about this show is that it almost certainly will lend itself well to a rewatch! #and I *love* rewatching shows #wka long post

[waitmyturtles]

Love For Love's Sake: unorganized musings on an utterly brilliant show

TW: suicide, suicide attempts and ideation among LGBTQ+ youth

I love that @lurkingshan clocked early on, before my heated two-day binge of Love For Love's Sake, that I would NOT be able to write meta on this show right after I watched it. It's been five days, and all I have are just loose mental strings. Everyone has had such amazing input and theories and thoughts into this incredible show. What I said to @bengiyo while I was watching it was: I'm not entirely sure I'm following everything, but this show is still hitting every high point of my dopamine cycle, which means it's GOOD, and maybe making sense, somehow.

In any case, I don't think I can write meta on this show, in part because I don't know if there are any concrete conclusions I can come to about this show -- which I think is an inherent part of its brilliance. I'm just in awe that we, as BL fans, got this show in the genre we love, complete with stellar acting, gorgeous cinematography, phenomenal writing, all of it. (I'm back a lot on iQIYI right now, ready for my KinnPorsche OGMMTVC rewatch, and I'm noticing that LFLS is just eating by way of numbers. Fucking WELL DESERVED.)

All I want to do is just share some instinctual feelings about where my mind was landing a couple days after I finished watching LFLS. This is the scene I've been thinking about the most right now.

I don't have a theory as to the "reality" of the ending of the show -- if Myungha is alive in "reality," is alive in an alternate universe, is reincarnated, or if what's shown at the end of the series is a kind of heaven. I love that there's no real way we can interpret that.

What I love about this scene that I've screencapped -- and thinking about the elusive and inconclusive meanings of the ending -- is that, truly, theories about fate and destiny ARE indeed theories. Myungha's grandmother believes one thing, and Myungha believes something else. Sunbae is able to play around with.... something, with time, with fate, with our dependence on technology, something, to make something happen to Myungha that gives him a happy ending with Yeowoon somewhere, sometime, in some wrinkle of time.

Going back for a second (I told you these thoughts were unorganized), something that hit me deeply about this show were the great number of themes it touched upon. This show touched upon:

Suicide Homophobia Bullying Self-acceptance Self-love Familial abandonment Familial abuse Substance abuse Intergenerational trauma Elder hierarchy and respect (both in families and in society) Pre-destination Christianity (stay with me for a sec) Buddhism (same)

and probably many more that I'm missing.

I couldn't help but think of Lee Sun-Kyun's recent suicide in South Korea -- even though this show was likely produced well before that incident. Nonetheless, it had me thinking about what suicide means in South Korea, considering the ever-growing presence of Christianity in that country, with 23% of South Koreans identifying as some kind of Christian. The show also had me thinking in general of sins, and of fate, in Christianity.

Just thinking out loud. Korea produces fewer BLs than we'd expect from that national entertainment powerhouse. Efforts to cancel Seoul Pride last year were made in earnest by pro-Christian forces -- but Pride won out.

As same-sex orientation so often is, suicide is also discouraged in Christian circles. We can see, literally, how homosexuality is discouraged in South Korea vis à vis Pride. I'll assume the same for suicide in South Korea, despite the many celebrities in the recent past that have met that fate publicly.

What does South Korea feel about the suicides of young people who might be queer? The percentages of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among South Korean LGBTQ+ youth are high.

We can see and feel the palpable message from LFLS that self-love, despite how oneself, and society, might feel about an individual's sexual orientation, is well worth fighting for and celebrating. But Myungha, in some reality, is still dead. And death will be his eventual fate anyway, as will be the fate for all of us.

If Myungha found self-love, AND love through Yeowoon, and found a happy ending in happiness, somewhere, somehow, then -- any Christian judgements about same-sex orientations and suicide are moot, regarding Myungha's fate.

But Myungha also reveals, vis à vis his grandmother, the Buddhist spin on fate. He mentions that she believes in reincarnation. He mentions that she believes in doing good in this life, so as to have a happy life after reincarnation.

And he refutes that. He says -- no. Predestination of any kind is not right. I believe that one can change their lives NOW, in the present, for a happier fate and future, NOW. Otherwise, why even bother trying?

And Sunbae hears that, and constructs a world in which Myungha COULD find a path to a happier ending, simply by working on finding love for himself and unto himself -- in part, though a partner that Myungha relates to deeply at the start of the series. (That Yeowoon might very well be the EMBODIMENT of self-love that Myungha discovers -- yes, that may also be "true" of the show's ending. Whew.)

You know what I love about this show? I love that this show just absolutely CHEWED UP those predestination theories that we get from our generations past, from the spiritual practices that we may have grown up with -- from the indirect, unspoken, unconscious ASSUMPTIONS we may have about life and death. This show iterated that being either in "the" or "a" now, a present, and being willing to change oneself (which I've often written about as being THE hardest thing you can you in your life) can have great, long-lasting -- even eternal benefits and consequences.

I love that this show says: you don't have to rely on all the structures and expectations that lead one to behave the way that they do. We might always expect to be a group of schoolboys who'll bully another for being gay. But -- did we expect one of those bullies to BE gay? The show said, we can also very much turn that on its head, even though it might cost someone some bruises.

Within the absolute truth that all humans will die one day -- what other absolute truths do we have? Man. I need a vacation, some..... stuff, you know what I mean, I need TIME to contemplate that.

This show said, no absolute truths today. Everything is up for grabs by way of how we'll love and accept people, and this show examined ALL THE WAYS, good AND bad, that people are loved and accepted, from total rejection by a parent, to unconditional love from a partner, with a slipper-bearing and loving grandma in-between.

It's been... what, five days since I finished this show, and I CANNOT stop thinking about it. It's just brilliant. These thoughts were messy, but it's meant to be, because I just -- this show, I just can't with how brilliant this show was about all of the inconclusiveness of it that still told such an amazing story.

#love for love's sake #love for love's sake meta #love supremacy zone #love supremacy zone meta #myungha x yeowoon #yeowoon x myungha #lee taevin #cha joowan

[mikuni14]

The last 2 weeks have provided me with amazing experiences from the BL series fan community. Moments when several series with very active fandoms are aired at the same time are very rare, and with the end of 2 series this week, I'm already mourning this wonderful, one-of-a-kind experience.

I have been camping in the following tags for many days and each one is different and unique: Love For Love's Sake I can't put into words what this show and fandom has given me. The number of absolutely insane analyses, meta, touching declarations of love to this series from moved viewers, and beautiful gifs is staggering. The series is excellent, the audience's reaction is also wonderful, it was such a great experience. Which doesn't surprise me, because it was people's reaction to real ART, which is always something special. The series itself is 10/10 for me in every category: love story, plot, actors, emotions, my investment in the story, quality, execution, even the "heat", because even though there were no love scenes, the guys were able to convey that they are very into each other 🥰

Dead Friend Forever I also enjoy the fandom experience immensely, the tag is full of great analysis and meta. The plot is so interesting and full of surprising twists and turns that there is always something new to discuss and come up with wild theories. The series is still ongoing, but for this moment it's also perfect for me and 10/10: love story (hehe), plot, actors, emotions, my investment in the story, quality, execution, also the "heat" (hehe).

Pit Babe I rate the fandom experience as *chef's kiss*. Tag is also full of interesting analyzes and meta, amazing gifs of Way. The fandom is generally very cheerful and unhinged, which is GREAT ✨ But what's most interesting is that if someone who didn't know Pit Babe checked the tag now, they would never guess who the main character and main couple of the series are (and this doesn't only apply to tumblr!). I find this incredibly funny 🤡 I'm not that interested in the series itself, so I won't rate it. I treat it as pure fun and entertainment, so I have zero expectations for the finale, especially since, of course, I've already stumbled upon possible spoilers. Personally, what I will take away from the entire series is my deepened love for Nut and a fascination with Way, whom I want like little girls want a new Barbie doll.

Last Twilight Another wild fandom experience lol I practically didn't visit the tag of this series at all, but I spent the last two episodes there in full camping mode, in a tent and cooking coffee after coffee over the fire 😄 Fans have once again soared to the heights of perfection, writing amazing analyzes and meta responses to the crap of the last episodes. The criticism was precise, justified, systematized, methodical and accurate 👩‍🎓 As with LFLS, it was an intellectual experience. The fans provided better entertainment than the series itself lol

The Sign hmm, for several weeks the tag has been dominated by BillyBabe, which is not strange because only this couple is responsible for BL aspect in this BL series 😄 I rate my fandom experience with The Sign in two categories: "until episode 7" full of amazing meta, analysis, beautiful gifs and enrichment for me as a fan, overall 10/10 and "after episode 7" which I spent mainly on… liking BillyBabe's photos and videos . Which is ok, because, well, I do like them a lot 😉

Two of the above series have already ended, although fans are still present, two more are ending this week. That's why I would like to take this opportunity and say THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart to all the fans, those who wrote emotional entries, deep and thoughtful meta, funny posts, created beautiful gifs, analyzed endlessly the smallest details and posted photos and videos of their favorite actors. You all made these last few days so interesting and fun. I hope there will be more days like this in 2024! 🥰

And now I'll only have DFF…

#love for love's sake #dead friend forever #pit babe the series #last twlight the series #the sign the series #thai bl #korean bl #bl drama

[dotthings]

Then there's the tv critic who is complaining that The Mandalorian isn't for "casual" Star Wars fans any more because this particular critic doesn't feel like watching The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels or The Bad Batch.

This article wasn't aimed at an MCU-like glut. This was specific complaining that the live action tv series is treating the animated series as canon and drawing in characters and storylines from those shows.

So now it's considered "casual" to have actually watched the canon of the thing you're a fan of? Not stuff like posting meta, making fanart, fanfic, videos, cosplaying, going to conventions, no, just merely watching the canon is considered too much effort.

And the implication is there that the animated series are extra deep dive material solely for obsessives while the live action tv is for regular people.

Meanwhile The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, The Bad Batch continue to be some of the best Star Wars storytelling ever put on film.

And the head creative in charge at LFL overseeing the live-action goodness is the guy who helped develop The Clone Wars with George Lucas and has created, or co-created, some of the most beloved characters in Star Wars, and has guided the animated series.

I also don't agree that the live action tv 'verse is so complicated that you HAVE to watch the animated series, nobody has to watch, people can watch what they want, people can enjoy whatever parts of the Star Wars universe they want.

But if people are going to refuse to even give the animation a chance then complain and make negativity-for-clickbait petulant articles acting like their own unwillingness and narrow minded thinking is somehow the CREATIVES FAULT??

Also animated fans have been trying to tell you.

Please watch at least some of the animated series. There are numerous articles suggesting which key episodes to check out.

You do not even know the awesomeness there, if you haven't seen them yet.

Or what's about to hit in a much higher visibility in live action.

Funny I don't see critics whining that now it matters to be familiar with Timothy Zahn's Heir to Empire trilogy. No, it's just animation that's *whine* too much wooooooork. Just admit you're an anti-animation snob, relax, and enjoy the story as it unfolds, who cares if you're confused, bro.

#Star Wars Rebels #The Bad Batch #The Clone Wars #Star Wars

[breitzbachbea]

Charlie and Dilan make me insane, but p much all LFLS right hands do. The relationships to their bosses, to characters I did not create and even the few I did. It's just. The meta-level. Hi, I was made just for you. I was put into this fictional world to tie my fate to yours. I love you. I have no choice. I'll gladly bear this cross though. Because you came to love me. Your heart belongs to a thousand others in different universes, but you carved it all out just for me in this one. I was made for you. You were whittled into shape to be for me.

#beablabbers #storie nostre

[lovelylogans]

Hi! I haven't read Lavender For Luck in a while, so I apologise if it's already mentioned. But if Thomas is in the fic, what role would he be in?

good question!! i rarely write fics with thomas in them, so this is an interesting thought exercise. you remember correctly that he isn’t in lfl—i think i make someone’s middle name thomas?

i think i either would have gone very meta with thomas being a fae cousin and his magic being something along the lines of storytelling/changing the arc of reality (these are such odd refs, but think siobhan in twilight, whose ability is in essence manifesting reality the way she wants it to go, or the author’s ability in the tv show once upon a time) or have nixed maria as the fae family founder, made it thomas, and given a little flashback Moment to that history rather than the secondhand journals logan reads. something like that, i think!

#ask #lfl

[syam1974]

﷽ Seseorang (semoga Allah menjaganya) pernah berpesan, "Tidak ada hadiah yang lebih ditunggu oleh orangtua yang telah meninggal di alam kubur kecuali doa-doa dari anaknya yang shalih. Maka didiklah anak kita dengan agama." Nasihat tersebut merupakan salah satu faedah dari hadits Rasulullah shallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam yang diriwayatkan dari Abu Hurairah radhiyallahu ‘anhu pada HR. Muslim no. 1631. Follow Us : @tegurhati.id | @ikhwan_baubau Allahu yubaarik fii kum. #selfreminder #photooftheday #storieswithtypography #hijrah #islam #nikah #quotes #semanhaj #quran #sholawat #dakwah #salaf #manhajsalaf #reels #instagood #love #fashion #tbt #meta #typography #follow #sunnah #lfl #fyp #reelsinstagram #ootd #fyp #art #travel #likeforlikes #tegurhati (di Kapuas Kota Air - Kalteng) https://www.instagram.com/p/CmC0Fo_SCA_/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#selfreminder #photooftheday #storieswithtypography #hijrah #islam #nikah #quotes #semanhaj #quran #sholawat #dakwah #salaf #manhajsalaf #reels #instagood #love #fashion #tbt #meta #typography #follow #sunnah #lfl #fyp #reelsinstagram #ootd #art #travel #likeforlikes #tegurhati

[dropthedemiurge]

Love for Love's sake | Things you didn't notice #2

I had these guys for two (2) episodes and I'm already insane about them, no joke.

That said, the second episode was a bit less rich in terms of hidden cultural or language meanings, but I found some untranslated stuff and wordplay! So let's dig in 👀🧭

// Language+Cultural comments for LfLs Episode 1 is here //

Episode 2

Messages that Myungha texted to Yeowoon after their first meeting:

[Yeowoon-ah, sleep well^^] (affectionately, btw YW called MH kkondae again for using old ^^ emoji lmao don't call us out I love using it too)

(my screenshot doesn't have the best quality so I can't read this one:()

[You're already sleeping?]

[Are you really sleeping?]

[You have to answer!!!]

[I guess, you really are sleeping, have a good night^^]

[I'm gonna text you tomorrow again!!!]

[Good morning!! Lol lol]

[Did you sleep well, Yeowoon-ah?^^]

Lmao, he is so annoying (affectionately).

Since the debuff was all three guys eating extremely spicy food, Myungha offers both Kyunghoon and Yeowoon water. Later, the two of them are outside and you can see Myungha caring about Yeowoon once again, asking him whether he was alive and bringing him "delicious milk".

It's nothing special, but if your country's cuisine doesn't really have spicy food (like mine), finding out that the best defence against spicy food is milk and not water usually is a surprise.

«What's this? You're here to bully Senior Glasses (안경형)?»

And this is where I laughed :D The writers of this show are funny because they keep playing with character's names. In my previous post I talked about how Cha Yeowoon's name got used along with the term "my favourite".

And here, Sangwon shows that he has a nickname for Ahn KyungHoon (안경훈) as Ahnkyung Hyung (안경형), which translates to "Hyung with glasses" aka "Senior Glasses". (Hyung means "older brother/older male friend" in Korean)

So writers literally hid "Glasses" in the surname+name of the character wearing, well, glasses. I don't think it's a cheap move because he is literally a character from the book and other characters-bullies get to use the wordplay. At first I didn't even realize it because I read Ahn as a surname and Kyunghoon as a name, but if you read it all together, there are glasses (ahnkyung) inside 😅

That's it for Episode 2 comments from me! I'm glad you guys are having fun with my notes~

#love for love's sake #kbl #korean bl #kdrama #lfls #love for love's sake meta #love for love's sake comments #korean language #language shenanigans #bl series #dropthemeta

[dramadramallama]

Love Supremacy - brain rot part 1

So I have a problem. I enjoyed the first half of Love for Love's Sake without knowing I would get absolutely bowled over by the second half. I have so much to say holy fuck, I'm all over the place.

Unfortunately for everyone, my brain has been love supremacied, and I'm unable to move on. The show has a high rewatch value. It’s full of details; big, important ones, and small, insignificant ones, but they all add a lot of weight to the story. I need to exorcise my thoughts for my own sake. I guess if I have to intellectualize it somewhat, I really liked the show cause it’s perfectly balanced in terms of structure, and its themes. Judging from the amount of notes I have made on this show on my second watch, it’s safe to say it’s got some substance. It cleverly uses a mise en abyme, “a story within a story (within a story)” to really stack all those layers, and answer an age-old, quite difficult question: “what’s crucial to a happy life?” Dialogues, scenes, characters, and motifs all echo, mirror, and circle back to one another, giving the story enough dimension to avoid banalities.

Simply put, the thesis of the show is surprisingly philosophical, with universal themes. It posits that life is neither fate nor chance, and the answers are in mundane details of life. "Happiness is hidden somewhere in each of our days."

It’s obviously about love; a double love story even. Myung-ha learns to love someone else, and himself too. It's about life, and it's about death, new beginnings, and everything in between. The show made me feel like this, and like this, and like this, and...

▶️1. Mirrors/Symmetry

2. Fate, Free Will, and Happiness

3. Game/Reality

The story structure is very symmetrical. Circular almost. I LOVE IT, I EAT IT UP LIKE A HUNGRY, GRUBBY GOBLIN. Things begin where they end, elements keep repeating themselves like a series of mirrors.

By going through the game, Myung-ha finds himself on the other side of the mirror: he is supposed to find his own happiness, and will to live.

Yeo-woon is introduced to the audience as a sad side character in someone else’s story, victim of his “fate.” He almost perfectly mirrors Myung-ha: his background is eerily similar to his. He was raised by his (recently deceased) grandma, with an absent mother and a dead-beat dad. He’s lonely, unhappy.

When Myung-ha first meets him, Yeo-woon is resolutely standing on top of a building, about to fall or jump, which directly parallels Myung-ha's own suicide. In this new iteration of life, in this “game,” he saves Yeo-woon from hurting himself, which is the start of his own salvation. Saving Yeo-woon, the poor guy who didn’t get his happy ending, is saving himself. Yeo-woon is like a version of him right before he lost control of his life, after his grandma died, and he felt abandoned by all. It’s the core of the game, and the core of the drama, but Myung-ha (and we, the audience) can’t understand it right away.

Several details, in retrospect, show that he is the driving force behind this "game", and that it’s, by lack of a better term, both a test (as in, an exercise, a learning mechanism) and a Test (as in, an exam you don't wanna fail.) Myung-ha’s main, most important mission is to “make Yeo-woon happy.” Which he happily and enthusiastically tackles. He does what we all do: he takes a liking to the character most relatable to him. Time and time again, the way he reacts when presented with someone who struggles the same way he did is very telling.

He provides comfort. The comfort he lacked in his own life. (distant sounds of my heart shattering.)

But Yeo-woon isn’t the only one mirroring elements of Myung-ha’s life. Sang-won is a careless, tough-looking student, who seems slightly directionless. He picks fights easily and has a reputation at school for being “crazy.” He also smokes and rides a motorcycle (both illegal lol). His mom having abandoned Myung-ha, it’s also relevant to note Sang-won doesn’t seem to have a very good relationship with his own mother, and craves her attention. Although, he is your typical badboy, he is overall nice, sensitive, and has good intentions.

Myung-ha himelf appears to have been quite the turbulent student, with his own “mad dog” nickname. He, just like Sang-won, knows a thing or two about school fights, also drives a bike (lmao 100% sure he didn’t wait to have a license to drive though). Although he berates Sang-won for his rebellious side, with the patronizing tone of someone who’s done it all before, he shows genuine care.

Finally, Kyung-hoon. To me, he’s like another facet of Myung-ha’s personality. An absolute sweetheart, without friends, but always ready to help, and open to be befriended. While Myung-ha seems nonchalant about speaking badly of himself, he cannot stand it from others. He makes him his friend on the spot.

Once again, he provides like-minded friends the safe space he probably would have liked as a troubled, most certainly depressed teenager. Of course, it turns out Yeo-woon hates himself the most too (and by extension, dislikes everyone else.) It's the first clue for Myung-ha to realize some self-love might be the answer.

As it will become increasingly clear, Myung-ha has no issues protecting, providing for, and loving others, but fails to realize he should do the same for himself to achieve balance, and maybe, a little bit of happiness. The journey to get there makes him care for someone else the way he should care for himself, love someone else, like he should love himself. 

The last episode does a wonderful job of confirming what seemed to be threaded through the whole show, and explaining very clearly, in no uncertain terms, what it was all about.

However, the interesting aspect of this “mirror world," is that all of them, and Yeo-woon in particular, flip the script, in more ways than one. They all are a reflection of Myung-ha's life, but transcend their condition of “fictional character.” They’re not virtual. Yeo-woon is not made of something unreal, and he’s not a messed up copy of someone else. He has his own needs, desires, and quirks.

I don't think I can name them all here, but one of my favorite circular storytelling moment happens when Yeo-woon parallels Myung-ha by running to "find his fave." That moment in ep 8 counterbalances the one in ep 1.

Nothing is written in stone, and both of them set off to build their own happiness, against fate.

#love for love's sake #lfls #love supremacy zone #love for love's sake meta #the number of rambling sections i had to cut out #i'm feral :( #there's a part 2 and 3 coming too like i need help

[countessofbiscuit]

“Aberrant clones numbered just 3.5% of each batch.”

(Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Warfare by Jason Fry, et. al. [Legends])

And this was considered a real feat. 

But according to the cloning system laid out in this book, clones were decanted in batches/cohorts of 36, which evolved into platoons. So that’s about 1 clone per batch that would have been terminated or reconditioned (presumably before the Jedi arrived on the scene). So in point of fact these “platoons” of 36 would had to have been supplemented. 

Maybe some batches were fully operational while others had multiple defects and aberrants. One would guess these batches would be nullified and the functional clones parcelled out to under-strength batches. 

Makes you wonder what the stigma for aberrance was. There had to have been some superstitions/rumors on Kamino about where the clones were taken when they were deemed ‘unfit’ and from whence they never returned. (In Rep Comm  Darman acts as if that’s very much the case, but the initial burn rate of commandos versus clone troopers would probably have been really skewed, i.e. aberrance was less tolerated in commandos than your average ground-pounder -- a fully-trained commando represented a far greater investment than a trooper -- so I think they might have been terminated at a higher rate early on? Just speculation.) 

One wonders if the ranks of support clones (sanitation, maintenance, maybe mechanics?) were filled by aberrant clones, as this would be more efficient than just terminating every clone that didn’t pass basic training or whatever. But the Kaminoans also strike me as a species intolerant of defects to the point of not being able to bear the idea of utilizing them elsewhere. On the other hand, the support arms of any army are seriously vital, so one could imagine Kaminoans breeding clones specifically for those roles (again, at least until the Jedi came along and ceased the terminations, arguing for aberrants like 99 to simply be reassigned). 

IDK massive thought dump. I’m going to do a blow-by-blow of the GAR-relevant sections of this book soon, because despite being a Legends text I really do think it’s a vital resource as we simply have so little canonical information to refute it at this stage. 

#clone troopers #kamino #star wars meta #star wars the clone wars #grand army of the republic #we're getting a frickin' library of solo tie-in material #but has LFL released anything better than a glorified picture book about the GFFA's militaries? #NO #it's not like the series is called Star Fucking WARS #*rant over* #GAR #tcw #clones #biscuit meta

[iamsithprincess]

This. Written by Timothy Zahn in Heir to the Empire. Luke truly IS the last Jedi, not because he turns dark, but creates completely new order.

#the last jedi #tlj #the last jedi meta #luke skywalker #ben kenobi #obi wan kenobi #new jedi order #lfl #star wars

[mandaloriangf]

Wow, Reylos are so bored that they are stalking you. Just because their fandom is dead and they get no content and get paid dust by Disney and LFL? How sad, write some ridiculous sex meta, start a new harassment campaign or complain about Rey's hair or how your abusive fascist boy died a virgin.

the more i think about it the funnier it is. like i don’t spend a lot of time on this blog anymore and never post about reylo unless it’s someone sending in an ask. yet they think im more obsessed with reylo then they are? they’re the one who has me blocked but posted a screenshot from my blog from over THREE YEARS AGO and i know it was a recent screenshot bc it has my current icon in lmfao. reylos need to get a life.

#ask amanda #anonymous

[dotthings]

Further Star Wars Rebels S4 rewatch ramblings:

These lothwolves and the Ghost crew journeying with with them across Lothal are beautiful sequences. Rebels is full of a sense of myth and legends as well as emotional weight. Something about the atmosphere, tone, style of this series.

The force ghost visit, the hand on Hera’s shoulder. MY HEART.

The Imperials doing invasive archeological digging at the Jedi temple…this has some Nazis in Raiders of the Lost Ark energy.

Sabine: “It’s art. Everything has a meaning.” Delightful meta-textual comment there. Symbols have meaning, and people who make TV series give thought to symbolism and arcs and parallels and it’s part of story, part of art. It’s part of what makes art/stories enjoyable. The creatives at LFL embrace this deeply, always have, in every era. It’s part of the backbone of Star Wars. Lucas and Filoni both know it. Plus, Sabine full on using the word “archetypes” to discuss art, in a Star Wars show.

The World Between Worlds: Ezra and Ahsoka. “You can’t save your Master, and I can’t save mine.” *crying in master-apprentice feelings*

Ezra finally understanding Kanan’s final lesson.

#Star Wars Rebels #Star Wars Rebels rewatch #i'll make one more post tomorrow finishing the rewatch before Ahsoka starts

[breitzbachbea]

Ask game time! When you get this post 5 songs and then send it to 10 other people <3

But also can they be like a 5 song playlist for Michelle or Charlie 👉👈

Oh, I didn't see the second addition! Who am I to turn down a request like this! <3 Michele has his own playlist on spotify as well!

Michele:

Blame It On The Girls by Mika - To combine your requests, I love the idea of Charlie taking Mika's role here as he sings to & about Michele 😆 It's really the "Your life could be perfect, but there's this little voice in your head that always ruins it for you" that makes it a Michele song. That, the dead father line and the pansexuality.

La ballata del Michè by Fabrizio de André - TW Suicide mention for this one. I love how it's a wonderful song to waltz to on a late summer day, but the song is about a man named Michè who killed himself in prison, because he couldn't bear to be parted from his love for so long - at least that is what the narrator tells us. No need to explain why this song fits.

The Man by The Killers - I know it's an ironic song about toxic masculinity and it's 50% that for Michele as well, a bit tongue in cheek about his role as a big fish in the pond. It's also 50% genuine though, albeit that it suits him genuinely better before his fall from grace.

I'm Still Standing by Elton John (cover by Taron Egerton) - Something for my recovering Michele, celebrating that he survived his childhood and all the damage it caused. "Looking like a true survivor! Feeling like a little kid!"

Vietato Morire by Ermal Meta - I imagine this song to be something that Michele teaches the twins, based on his own childhood experiences, but it's also a reminder to himself. The chorus goes as follows: "Change your stars, if you try it you will succeed // And remember that love never hits in the face // My son, remember // The man that you will become // Can never be greater than the love you give"

Michele's playlist has a lot of rather bleak songs, due to how central his issues and character development are to the mainstory. I tried to aim for a mix that showcases both. Honorary mentions to other stuff on the playlist: The In-Between by In This Moment, Requiem from Dear Evan Hansen and Eros and Apollo by The Studio Killers.

Charlie:

Grace Kelly by Mika - I don't know how far you've made it into Italian Affairs by now, but it's the Charco subplot. It's just the Charco subplot - and Charlie in general! It's as if someone had turned his feelings & train of thoughts into a song! He's so proud of his individuality, but he also craves validation from the people he likes so badly. "Do I attract you, do I repulse you with my queasy smile? Am I too dirty, am I too flirty, do I like what you like? Yeah, I could be wholesome, I could be loathsome, guess I'm a little bit shy. Why don't you like me, why don't you like me without making me try?"

I Like Boys by Todrick Hall - No explanation needed. It's His Gayesty.

Zielscheibe by OOMPH! - This song is about teasing and provoking people who try to bully or ostracize one. It's also in the Charlie & Robert playlist on spotify, for the obvious reason that the person Charlie likes to tease with his pure existence the most is Robert. "Shoot finally, pull the trigger at last // Come and use me as a target for your prejudices! // I like it when you take a shot at me!"

Who I Am by The Score - Charlie is by far not the only character who takes pride in who they are as a person, but it was an integral part of his character from the beginning. This song is a good example of it.

Open Wounds by Skillet - I haven't listened to this song in a long time, but it still deserves its spot on my LFLS Playlist as an example of the relationship Charlie had with his father Connor. Charlie really loved his father and hoped until his last breath that Connor would accept him after his coming out instead of making him feel like he had failed him as a son.

#beareplies #kitaychan #storie nostre #miche #charlie #thank you so muuuuch for this I hope you like a few of the songs <3