I Cannot Believe This Is What We're Getting In Week Three. Anxiety And Nightmares, Comfort And Protection,

win wanted to be called hia in bed but team took it as a permission and started called him hia all the time

Blue Hour Official MV (2020) | insp.

Between Us EP.4

A big reason I'm obsessed with Eddie in Kiseki: Dear to Me is because he is openly prepared to die for and with Chen Yi.

I doubt the show will touch on it, but the immense guilt Chen Yi must feel that Eddie willingly followed him down this deadly path instead of being a normal teenager who goes to high school would be a good reason he doesn't allow himself to reciprocate Eddie's feelings. Because Chen Yi knows Eddie is a smart boy, yet he decided to not go to school . . . since he loves Chen Yi.

Eddie chose to enter into a life where death is around every corner, and he did so because of his devotion to Chen Yi.

And Chen Yi is constantly confronted by that.

Chen Yi tries to nudge Eddie in a different direction each time, but Eddie refuses to leave Chen Yi's side.

So Chen Yi calls Eddie brother. He reminds them both that the bond between them is synthetic. Eddie doesn't have to abide by it. He could leave.

Because he has to know Eddie isn't there to be his brother. He knows why Eddie is offering his life in exchange for as much time as possible with Chen Yi. Even if his life is short, he will have spent it next to Chen Yi. So even if Chen Yi genuinely has feelings for Eddie, to act on them would mean to permanently cement Eddie's life with his where the only outcome seems to be a young death.

And that's a huge burden to carry. Someone's life has been benevolently laid before him without hesitation, yet he desperately wants that person to live.

Even if it means a life without him.

Question…. How do you feel about Win Hitting Team in the face after he saves him?

I wasn’t a fan of that part and I don’t know if I’m comfortable seeing it on screen. I know it’s a mix of emotions he angry, nearly lost him, but ……. I don’t know. Hope you understand .

I understand, Anon! It's a polarizing scene, and people don't need to have a unanimous opinion of it.

I personally really liked it in the novel! It was a moment of raw anger and flawed humanity from a character who's been composed and responsible ever since he got through a rebellious phase that mainly consisted of skipping class and body modification to get attention from his parents. Literally the tamest rebellion in teenage history. The punch is also framed as a mistake, and something he clearly feels guilty about almost immediately, since he then yanks Team into a hug. The novel describes Win as shaking like a frightened animal, which just underscores for me how primally terrified he was. After all, he was alone when he walked into the building and saw Team at the bottom of the pool, probably seconds from death. If Win hadn't acted as fast as he did, he would have had to watch Team die.

And Team put Win in that position through his negligence. Even worse, Team doesn't even have the grace to even act apologetically after he regains consciousness. He's dismissive and almost petulant, and while that's his whole thing, it's just not the time for it. Of course, Team's clearly suffering from a host of mental traumas, so it makes sense for him to diminish nearly dying, but from Win's perspective, he's probably imagining previously unthinkable things: would CPR and potentially breaking a rib have killed him instead? Who do you call to take a corpse? How would he ever swim again? Sleep again? I'm not arguing the punch was deserved, only that Win's so far removed from rationality at that point, he's just trying to get Team to understand the severity of the situation they're in.

Imagine how Win feels seeing Team shrug off his near-death. That could easily make Win believe that this could happen again. If Team doesn't value his life, if he takes risks like this again, if Win's not there the next time, if he doesn't take this seriously—

Anyway, that's why it worked for me. Plus, after the punch, after the hug, Win takes Team not back to the dorms, not even to his own dorm room, but to his own family's home. Win drives Team's car, stops at a convenience store to get ice for Team's face and snacks for him as a treat, literally feeds him at home, lets Team shower on his own to respect his space, and at the end of it all, he falls asleep with Team safe in his arms. Because this is who he is at his core. He's the one who talks Team down from intimidating Alex, and he's the one who gives rational advice to Dean. So I like that the novel shows that the only way to make him lose it completely is Team dismissing his own brush with death. Is it romantic? No, of course not. Is it healthy? Also, no. But I don't want a character to make the right choices every step of the way. Their mistakes and how they try to make up for them enhance their complexity for me. I mean, if Win were a real person, I'd be like, "He punched you?" but he's fictional, so I just see that scene as fascinating to explore his mentality instead.

ALL THAT BEING SAID, it works for me because it's that version of Win.

The Win we've seen in the series isn't the same Win we see in the novel. Boun made the decision in December of last year while they were filming the post-drowning scene for the pilot teaser for Win not to punch Team, and it works so well. Because it's Boun's version of Win. Novel Win didn't have a meticulous, restrained conversation about consent with Team before he slept with him the first time. Novel Win didn't even hook up with Team a second time. There are a lot of overlaps with Novel Win and Series Win, and they're both written by LazySheep, but Hemp Rope is a novel she started around 2017, and she had to take her time and a lot of consideration to adapt the novel into a script with 2022 sensibilities and growth.

So I think Boun was right to change it because he knows what this version of Win would do. And I think it says a lot in favor of Sheep and New that they saw the wisdom in his decision and allowed him to do so for the main series as well. (They show him raise his fist but switch to a hug in the trailer, just like the pilot teaser.) When directors understand and value the input of their actors, I'm always deeply impressed and appreciative. Collaborative art can be some of the most powerful, and I think Boun was incredibly smart to show that Win did have the impulse but decided against it. I think that's just as powerful for this version of him.

Essentially, I appreciate the novel scene for what it is, and I like that the series has presented a different version of it with unique nuances influenced by an actor who loves his character tremendously. <3

More than friends? What do you mean? More is just more, Hia. Like … when I eat with her, it tastes better than eating with friends. Or when I go see a movie, it’s more fun than watching with friends. Or when I talk to her, I’d be super happy. Something like that.

expected but not surprised ⚔

(221107) cheek pinching wars 🤏

love writing. writing is awesome. it’s a shame that it involves writing though

I'm so glad that the UWMA franchise decided to start with a different type of bang this time around.