halfcactus | Recents:

I've been watching Tender Light (formerly Gone with the Wind), a drama with crime/thriller and coming-of-age elements, and major domestic abuse and rape storylines (multiple scenes of both).

Eps 1 to 9 were great at depicting coming-of-age bits with the younger characters (as well as the younger versions of the women), but not so much with the main storyline and its characterization of both the adults and Qingshui Town. It does nail down the right notes for a small town where the sun hits exactly right and you can feel the heat settling in in various ways while the darkness festers, etc. But the storytelling was rough, and the parts that surrounded Nan Ya's abuse felt, though obviously having a destination, overblown.

The crime stuff picks up at at the end of episode 9! It's getting twistier. The POV flashbacks are more immersive and functional rather than gimmicky and distracting. The (adult) characters still feel more contradictory than complex, and I'm still not sure if the dubious plot points will be sufficiently explained, but we'll see when more things come to light!

Misc:

sighyam: essay on Thai language & trans culture: about a certain slur and the Anglosphere misconception that it is broadly acceptable to use in Thailand just because sex workers refer to themselves with it. I'm adjacent to the SEA side of Twitter and have been increasingly seeing people, even non-Thai SEAsians, use the word casually with the assumption that it's socially acceptable, so it's great to see it addressed.

English translations of Shirahame Kamome's (Witch Hat Atelier mangaka) TCAF 2024 Q & A sessions: Day 1, Day 2

capturedwarmth: Free self-care wallpapers (lettering / illustration) | Translation of second image: "Take it easy / Life's not a race / Who says I have to finish first?" (BINI song lyric)

Comics by

daruma_tatsuma: The Many-Many-Happy Collection of My Elder Girlfriend: My girlfriend is a lefty / My girlfriend is right-handed

Also I have... once again... made a vid... of a Cdrama G4G prompt... This one was not claimed by or assigned to me, but it was Justice in the Dark (Modu) and I had a song in mind for it and all. I'll cross-post it to Youtube AO3 Tumblr etc at some point (I hope my computer doesn't die before then lol), but for now:

Fanvid: Murderer!Fei Du (Pei Su) (Twitter link)