#rtk rambles

[jisungshotfirst]

that felt like it was their song honestly what a feat

[jinritual]

the camerawork on mcountdown for onf was so bad!!!!!!! its so choppy and just not good but it's mnet so I'm not surprised

[seongminiz]

aww sobs :(( i’m sorry ur so sick but i hope u can get lots of rest<3 im doing okay! a lot of working… i won’t go into it too much cuz it’s like, there’d just be too much to rant about loll but basically the staff where i work is rather small and ppl are needing time off/not having enough availability n it’s making things harder for me and the other staff :( but that’s just how it goes right😔🤧 and it’s like… i’m getting punished for being reliable basically :(

anyways! i’ve been watching rtk performances here and there, there have been so many good ones!!! 8turn did ‘pass the mic’ and it was SOOO GOOD😭😭😭

also been thinking about tbz a bit more lately… with how many groups i stan i sometimes just don’t keep up with certain ones but apparently they’re supposed to have a cb at the end of october i just learned? been looking at eric lately.. 👁️👄👁️

sorry for the rambles don’t feel pressured to respond to all or any of it hehe🤭

- 🧁 anon

nooo im so sorry ur having a hard time at work :(( i hope it gets better soon 🫳🏻

yea tbh i've been in the trenches with rtk i hate mnet n im trying not to be too toxic (especially on twt) but godddd some ppl make it so hard 👹 n yea 8turn r doing great !! pass the mic wasn't rlly my fav performance of theirs but im sure they'll redeem themselves in the next round , knowing its the elimination one makes me so anxious ,, especially bc im pretty sure we r getting 2 eliminations ? n one is like form the group ranking while the other is from the ace ranking ? which btw FUCK MNET FOR THAT ITS A GROUP SURVIVAL SHOW WHY R WE PUTTING SO MUCH IMPORTANCE N PRESSURE ON HOW A SINGLE MEMBER DOES . but yea im rooting for cravity (ofc) younite n 8turn ⸜( ˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝

YESSS they r having a cb on oct 28 !!! hshdjbfb n ur right eric is so fine ....

[hcuyk]

YESSS im sure youre referring to kingdom since they did win rtk LMAO but yeah and second place is still really good!! theyre very popular in sk so theyre THRIVING i love them all sm

I LOVE THAT :( i had all the opportunity to stan since debut and it makes me So Sad that i didnt :( like i was there for skz and atz, hell even onf, but tbz was truly that group i was Eh about. i think it worked out tho bc i stanned them when life got really tough and they just brought sm light into my life BUT NO I GET YOU I WILL RAMBLE SMSMSMSMMSMS TOO THEYRE THE ONLY GROUP FOR ME I SWEARRRRR tbz are Truly unlike any other

and my biases are actually sunwoo, eric, and hyunjae! all three of them caught my eye since the very beginning even tho i always considered eric my first bias? but ive started to notice ive Always loved sunwoo and hyunjae just as much as eric and i still do :( those three own my heart

we all have a life outside of socials so it’s understandable that we can’t be online all the time. of course there will be days we can’t respond right away so don’t apologize, vae!

okay okay i see! well no worries, fanfic writing is for fun and for who you want so that’s understandable, and thank you! uhh you’ve been with svt since 2017 omg… how long have you stanned tbz btw? also yes the boyz owning your heart is so understandable! i’m in the same boat so i can’t say i’m doing any better than you 😭 at least i can’t complain cause :( i love them so much :((

stop heaven you're so sweet :( and ive stanned tbz the latest out of all my fav kpop groups, aka 2021! i was a huge 3rd and def 4th gen stan, but i never tried for the boyz? but then i heard about kingdom and how my best friend was obsessed w tbz and rtk and i decided to check out rtk and my jaw Dropped at catching fire

its still my favorite stage to this day bc its so revolutionary like the FLAGS, THE FIRE, CYANHEES HAIR, THE ILLUSION WITH THE PAINTIBG (I THOUGHT IT WAS A SCREEN), THE SONG ARRANGEMENT, THEYRE ALL HOT? and they became my ult ever since :( i fr haven't stanned another group Properly since tbz bc i love them so much. how about you??

[sangmil]

#deobirevival week 5 ✧ (some) favorite songs

daydream / no air / wings / reveal (catching fire) / bloom bloom / water / kingdom come

[gyeheoni]

omg i must have a maknae line radar, i always love the babies 😂 i just looked them all up and i think kangmin + hoyoung are the most eri line material hehe i will def keep watching their stages this promo cycle <33

HDJDJ i was going to say maknae line things :]] ! but it’s cute of you ^^ ! and oooh noted if you do lol ☺️ kangmin’s so precious 🥺✨ ! fun fact hoyoung lived in new zealand for a while so he has a cute lil kiwi accent when he speaks in english (also mom of the group energy so :p) but yea !

[minwooks-moved]

forgot how brilliant onf’s ‘n ptg’s performances on rtk were … so very yikes of me, actually

[shint0buri]

I feel like someone in PTG saw the mini debate(?)/discussion about how no one had done/had pulled off "sexy" yet, and they were like, "hold my beer"

Either that or they heard me going on about "The Black Hall" for the umpteenth time and were like "you know what, yeah, that was a lot of wasted potential, let's revisit that" (cuz I still think they would have promoted it more if not for COVID cutting down music performances)

[ohoshi]

mnet sucks 🙄

[cosmojjong]

really don't envy all those poor 'kids' on kingdom

[jisungshotfirst]

do I think doing an warfare concept with guns and tanks etc is not a good idea for a stage ever? yes absolutely. Do I think it's camp af to sing shinee while in camo holding a gun? yes absolutely

[mysjams]

i did some maths with the revealed rankings and scoring rules and it seems that it will be something like:

1. Stray Kids - about 5744pts

2. Ateez - about 3684pts

3. Ikon - about 2948pts

4. SF9 - about 2784pts

5. BTOB - about 2744pts

6. The Boyz - about 1893pts

[lobio]

I just listened to kill this love... HOLY MITHER FUCKING SHIT TAHT WAS AMAIZING IM???????

OK OK SO

HUI??????? DO I EVEN NEED TO SAY ANYTHING??? (@zimzalabinnie I feel like him in this performance is going to make The Thing™️ even worse ansnjdjfj)

THE GUY'S VOICE AFTER HUI, WYATT I THINK??? HOLY FUCKING SHIT THAT WAS AJJSHSUSUJRURIRIDURIUE

THE ONF SINGERS' SOFT VOICES SOUND SO FUCKING GOOD WITH THIS SONG??????

WOOSEOK????? I DIDN'T KNOW HIS VOICE COULD DO THAT???????????

KINO'S PART????????? MUCH SEXY????

THE MOTHER FUCKING ENDING???? THAT WAS SO COOL???????

I would scream even more but unfortunately I don't know ONF's members yet so I kinda cant aksjdjfjjfkg

Ok maybe I'm overreacting but I genuinely mean all of this ansnsjjsjfjfjfjjfj

FORGOT TO SAY: OVERALL THE STAGE WAS EXTREMELY SEXY BUT ALSO SO DAMN CHILLING IM AJSHSUUEUEUDUHRUDHDHDJISIWIR

[yngseung]

hey would any verrers be interested in setting up a network blog of sorts, or maybe agree on a tag we can use to compile the creative content people make of the boys??

[starlit-serenade]

I never knew I needed Sunwoo and Leedo rapping together. But damn. Apparently that is something I needed.

And Keonhee, Sanghyun, Seoho and New. Hwanwoong and Q too, they’re both amazing dancers. Juyeon and Ravn. Honestly, I didn’t know I needed a ONEUS X The Boyz stage, but God, this my favorite thing. That was beautiful.

[royaltealovingkookiness]

The three redemptions of the Fire Nation

I am completely pumped by the Ehasz interview about Azula‘s redemption arc. Maybe because I have been writing her lately in a post-series AU, and being in her head and thinking about her, I realized again how pissed off I was with the arc (if you can call that an arc) they gave her in the comics and how horribly her relationship with Zuko is portrayed. I just feel that if we got a Book 4, a lot of the emotional energy would have gravitated to the relationship between Zuko and Azula - there was so much left to unpack there.

I was really glad to see Ehasz mention specifically Iroh. I’ve read countless metas on how Iroh didn’t do right by Azula (and maybe there would have been something he could have done, I’m not sure), but to me it is more significant how the ripple effects work. 

Sozin’s twisted evil rippled through the Fire Nation and the Royal family, leading to Azulon being an abusive father, to Iroh and Ozai having a terrible relationship, to Azulon’s and Lu Ten’s death, to Ursa’s and Zuko’s banishment and the almost complete disintegration of the family, symbolized by Zuko’s and Azula’s final, tragic Agni Kai on the day of the comet’s return. It’s a narrative of fear and violence passed down through generations, but also fits in with Sozin’s basic assumption that he can spread greatness by violence and oppression.

But Iroh losing Lu Ten and his redemption of rejecting violence is starting to weave slowly an opposite narrative within the family. Iroh’s redemption arc basically turns into loving Zuko through his worst and believing in him, putting him on a path of redemption, and generally playing a large part in Zuko becoming the kind of person, we see at the end of Book 3. This redeemed Zuko can then use his own experience to help Azula find her way. 

For Zuko, it would give the final piece of his redemption to be the one who forgives and gives Azula a chance, simply because he’s been there and he knows the way out. It could also complete his arc about his family which was his greatest motivation in Book 1. He will never get back the family he lost, but maybe he still has a family that can be saved.

As for Azula’s path, her story had three important themes:

Love v. fear: she saw love as a weakness, something that makes people vulnerable and irrational, so she pushed it away, and chose fear and calculation like Ozai. She tries to control Mai and Ty Lee through fear, but in the end they still betray her out of love. She still doesn’t see the strength of love, she sees it as proof that she has to make people fear her more. And this conflict culminates in the Agni kai, where she threatens Katara’s life, and Zuko chooses love over winning, even over his own life, and Katara also keeps fighting out of love, no matter the odds. In the end Azula still loses, despite almost having killed her brother (it really affects her, she truly falls apart the moment he goes down). Obviously, it would be a challenge for Azula to let love in, but she would need to experience personally the strength that comes from love, from making those kinds of choices.

People choosing Zuko: that’s another huge part of who she is. No matter that she’s smarter, that she’s a prodigy, that she’s perfect, she feels like people keep choosing Zuko over her. Their mother, Iroh, Mai, Ty Lee... I think this is one of the places where they could start - a situation where Zuko chooses Azula, when he has nothing to gain from it and everything to lose. Where he makes the irrational, reckless type of choice the others made for him. 

Born lucky: Azula’s self definition is so centered around being perfect, being better than Zuko. It stems from her own competitive streak which was reinforced by Ozai. She wants to win, and always does, so she has no idea how to deal with failure. While Zuko also started out constantly comparing himself to Azula, he gradually realized that he has to focus on himself, on his own strengths and be better than he was before. His arc is more and more about fighting and winning over himself. Once Zuko became Fire Lord, Azula would have to let go of the idea of measuring her own worth against him (I think this would be a huge challenge for her, and this is where her redemption would keep stumbling), and start to focus inwards to figure out who she is. Kind of an “Azula Alone” storyline, where she would have to redefine herself by something other than perfection, or winning. She would need to realize what drives her, what she is really fighting for. This is what I find tricky, to figure out what motivates post-series Azula. One of her strongest motivations is her absolute loyalty to the Fire Nation, and her strong identity tied to it. I think out of all three of them, Azula is the most quintessential Fire Nation.

Clearly, the redemption arcs of Iroh and Zuko are tied to the redemption of the Fire Nation as whole:

- Iroh’s arc plants the seeds of doubt, whether they have lost their way and whether the war is necessary;

- Zuko’s arc leads the Fire Nation to face itself, and choose to come back to the balance, and make amends.

But of course, for a lot of people, the loss of an empire would be traumatic, they would feel their pride hurt (this is where the opposition to Zuko comes from), and so I think this is where Azula could come in; her arc could be tied to the Fire Nation redefining itself in a post-war era in a positive way, so they can regain their sense of self, but not driven by an ideology of winning and superiority, but born out of a true sense of pride built on talent and hard work, but also a healthy dose of humility.