#American Idol soles

[ginalinettiofficial]

played the game ok boomer at my family party today, ended up explaining to a room of ~20 of my relatives what fanfiction is so they could understand the question, “in fanfiction, what does AU stand for?”. and then the card’s definition of “AU” was wrong so i also had to get into the concept of “canon”.

can u believe. in front of my whole family. a room full of people, aged 3 to 80. all staring at me intently as i explain the difference between an alternate universe and canon divergence. at one point my mom was like “daina i think we get it” and a cousin and two aunts were like “wait no we’re interested please continue” and i had to say to my own mother in front of god and my i am kenough sweatshirt “sorry but unlike you the rest of them DON’T have to listen to me talk about fanfiction on the regular”. my uncle is a retired judge. my one cousin worked for the federal government in a job that was so classified that for years he literally couldn’t legally tell us about ANYTHING he was working on. and today those men sat and patiently listened to me define “coffee shop AU”.

also, not one, not two, but THREE of the answers for the young folks, i knew solely because they were either plot points on stranger things or they were things i found out whilst reading stranger things fanfics. and then i was the only person in our age bracket (10 people, ranging from ages 9 to 42) that knew who anne rice was, and had to explain yet again that the reason i had this knowledge was because… fanfic.

it was surreal. also my aunt, aged 68, may or may not begin attempting to read fanfic now because, according to her, “there are so many stories where there are these small side characters and i’d just KILL to hear their backstory or like what was going through their minds during the main action!” i’m very happy for her. today was wild.

[sabakos]

You probably don't know another language if you live in the United States and both you and your parents were born here unless you go out of your way to learn it. This is a problem of geography more than it is a moral failing because if you are an American, then learning another language is not immediately useful to you. This is because your options in school are as follows:

Spanish: Second most common language in America. Most people who speak it also speak English and will look at you funny if you know Spanish and will not appreciate you being able to eavesdrop on their conversations. But, it's the only non-English language with an appreciable population of native speakers that you can encounter without getting on a plane. However in all likelihood you will probably be taught by a non-native speaker who could not pass an A1 exam and you will learn no Spanish just the same as everyone else.

French: The only French speakers in North America probably don't want to talk to you ever, and if you speak non-Quebecois French at them they really won't want to. You are probably going to major in literary studies and spend the rest of your life pretending to read books no one else actually reads. You have opinions on Freud and Lacan.

German: No one in North America speaks German as their primary language. It's really only useful if you like philosophy or World War II history or want to move to Germany. You probably really like beer and will study abroad and be really annoying about it afterward. But most Germans you are likely to meet outside of Germany speak English somewhat well so you aren't really doing anything for yourself? So most people will also think you're a Wehraboo or worse unless you are Jewish.

Russian: You already speak Russian or another Slavic language at home and will insist that you do not up until the first day of class, when you and all of your classmates will spend the entire time gossiping with the professor in Russian. The few American kids will hang out in the back and probably talk about Dostoevsky and drink vodka out of their water bottles. Everyone will get an A and no one will learn anything new.

Mandarin Chinese: You (or more likely your parents) think "we'll all be speaking Chinese in twenty years" and so you want to get a head start. This attitude self-selects against people who will ever need to know Mandarin. You probably idolize Ezra Pound and use phrases like "command economy" unironically. Every single person from China who has ever met you hates your guts.

Japanese: You are a weeb. All of your classmates are weebs. Your professor may or may not be a weeb, but wants to die regardless. You'll probably give up halfway through the first semester along with the most annoying 80% of the class and switch to Spanish once you realize how hard it is to learn Japanese.

Korean or Arabic: Congratulations on your new job at [redacted]!

Pashto or Urdu or Farsi: Congratulations on your new job at [redacted], but also I really doubt you are supposed to be telling anyone that you are learning this language. Good luck on your future job search.

Navajo: Most Navajo people don't speak any Navajo and unless you live in New Mexico you will literally never meet someone who is Navajo. They don't want to talk to you anyway. I don't think many people ever even try to learn this, this is solely on this list because I've seen insane but clueless Europeans try to guilt Americans for not learning it for some incomprehensible reason.

Latin: Latin is a dead language. I'm sure you are tired of hearing about that by now, which is why I reminded you about it. Even Catholics will make fun of you now for learning this. Your parents probably want you to be a doctor, and will stop talking to you when you drop out of med school. Or maybe you're a classics student who will spend the rest of your life incorrecting historians about pissing contests no one cared about anyway. Go forge a historical demonology book or get off to a picture of Thomas Aquinas or Cicero or something, I don't know.

Ancient Greek: Oh, are you a theology student or something learning Biblical Koine? The Evangelical Christians don't care what the bible actu- ...No? You're learning Attic Greek? And you're not like, a linguistics or classics major or something, you chose to do this specifically. Hey, uh, are you doing anything later? Or right now, even?

[drvirgus]

Why You?

Idol! Yunjin X Idol! Reader X Idol! Chaewon

Description: What if the first official lesbian in the K-pop industry has to fake date her biggest school enemy? What if Y/n is already in a relationship, and it happens to be with one of the Member of Yunjin?

Warnings: kind of Cheating? Lots of Communication lack, strong language. Kys jokes

Chapter: Party (2) (half-written)

Masterlist

———————————————————————————

With a grin on my face, I stood up from the couch, immediately squeezing through the space between Jimin's legs and the coffee table to reach the front door. The glass in my left hand, I used my right hand to open the door and instantly recognized the familiar faces of my friends.

Minji wrinkled her nose as she squeezed past me, "I can't believe you called every one of us," the younger one exclaimed as she headed to the kitchen to put down the heavy bag she was carrying. My eyes shifted to Yeji, who gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, and then to Ryujin, who also arrived and went straight to Jimin.

"How long have you been drinking?" Kazuha asked as she looked me up and down. I chuckled a bit as her cool hands landed on my visibly warm face, and she sighed contentedly. I closed my eyes at the touch but opened them again when I felt a hand on my hip.

Turning my head to my beautiful girlfriend, I grinned as I focused solely on Chaewen. She smiled immediately as her arms wrapped around my neck. "Not in front of the kids," sakura playfully remarked as she pulled Eunchae along.

Amused, I laughed, and my free hand, not holding the glass, landed on Chaewan's hip. "Hey," I said, softer now, and Chaewon responded with an amused snort, "Hi," she whispered back as our lips met. I closed my eyes in pleasure, setting the glass in my hand carelessly on some nearby cabinet, which made Chaewen laugh, interrupting the kiss.

Chaewen's hand on my shoulder pushed me slightly away, "I just got here," she said, a glint in her eyes as she looked at me. I continued staring at her, my mouth slightly open, just watching my girlfriend.

"Okay," I whispered, now a bit calmer as I took a small step away from my girlfriend. My hand gripped my glass again as I took a small sip. Chaewon shook her head amusedly and gestured for me to follow. Smiling, I glanced at the entertaining crowd in our living room. Some sat on the couch, while others were on the floor. A few had brought chairs, while others hadn't.

"If you're just gonna hang out with your girlfriend, you didn't need to invite us," Sakura remarked, rolling her eyes. Eunchae laughed wildly and clapped her hands like an otter, which made me place my glass back on the table. "No, no! Not again!" Sakura exclaimed, making me grin.

With a sudden move, I flopped onto Sakura, causing her bones to crack a bit. She emitted a pleasurable sound, almost like a moan, which surprised me. My eyes widened as I looked directly into her face. Embarrassed, her hand landed on my face, pushing me away.

Shocked by what I heard, I stared at Eunchae for a while. My mouth opened and closed before opening again. "We're not kids anymore, Eunchae," Aeri said, swirling her wine glass in a circular motion. My eyes briefly shifted to Minjeong and Jimin. "Oh, come on. I've seen this a lot in American movies, and everyone had fun with it," Eunchae explained, pleadingly looking at me.

I licked my lips once. It could be a good way to set up Jimin and Minjeong... Thoughtfully, I sipped my drink and then nodded my head. "Okay! Let's play 7 Minutes in Heaven," I replied, prompting the others to look at me inquisitively. Yunjin chuckled. She looked at me, smirking, and nodded, "Yes, I'm up for it too."

We all put our phones into a bag, and Eunchae shook it like crazy. Minjeong was the first to pull phones out of the bag. "Kazuha and Yeji," she said, and the mentioned individuals immediately stood up. Yeii gave her girlfriend a kiss before disappearing into the bathroom with Kazuha.

Eunchae clapped her hands joyfully. Smirking at the younger one's behavior, I just shook my head. "What exactly are we going to do in the meantime?" I asked, looking at each one of them. Chaewon's hand was on my thigh, while she repeatedly brought her glass to her lips.

"I hope they won't be making out," Ryulin grumbled, which made Minji laugh. "What? Making out? Why?" Chaewon asked indignantly, looking around.

Yunjin laughed and leaned forward. "Well, it's actually normal to kiss during these 7 minutes. It's called that for a reason," Yunjin answered with a persistent grin on her face.

Chaewon looked at me, "Why did you want to play then?" she asked, a bit louder, making me flinch. Almost immediately, I saw Minjeong stop smiling, and giving Chaewon a deadly look. I smiled reassuringly, "You don't have to kiss," I replied, placing my hand on Chaewon‘s thigh. My thumb soothingly stroked her exposed skin, making her relax.

Time flew by, and more people were chosen to spend these 7 minutes together. A grin spread across my face as I saw Minjeong and Jimin, exactly the couple I had hoped for, coming out of the bathroom. Minjeong's face was completely flushed, but neither of them said anything. None of us knew exactly what happened inside.

"Y/n and..." Minjeong started, pulling out a phone. She looked at the phone case, questioning, "Whose is this?" Immediately, both Yunjin and Chaewon raised their hands. Minjeong hesitated, "What's your wallpaper?" she asked, making Chaewon smile. She glanced into my eyes briefly before answering Minjeong, ",A picture of Y/n and me," she replied, and Chaewon briefly illuminated the phone.

Curious, Minji looked at the phone, but Minjeong locked it again and tossed it into the bag. "Yunjin," she announced, raising my eyebrows. Minji looked at Minjeong, and both of them seemed to communicate with their eyes. "Okay," Yunjin said and stood up from her seat. I quickly gave my girlfriend a swift kiss before following Yunjin into the bathroom.

[unicornsaures]

Schools need to stop ignoring the fact thomas jefferson was a horrible person. Please for the love of god school systems stop ignoring Sally Hemmings. She deserved so much better; she was a CHILD. She deserves to be recognized for what she faced. Just because Jefferson is so important to american history schools blatantly ignore the abuse he put this girl through and INSTEAD talk about how he was against slavery??(my school did at least.)

I hate it so much; like despise it. The founding fathers are not to be idolized. Their achievements can be idolized; but they should not be as PEOPLE. Schools lack the ability to mention the fact that whether they did good or not, most of them were absolutely horrible men. SPECIFICALLY THOMAS JEFFERSON!!! My schools have never once mentioned Sally Hemmings, and honestly they do whatever to avoid ot.

Its upsetting to see, in all honesty. Just because Jefferson and the other founders did good work does not mean they were good people. There are actions that even then were not acceptable(from my knowledge r@pe was illegal during the 18th century)-and those actions are certainly not acceptable now.

Justice needs to be done for Sally, and honestly every person hurt by not only jefferson, but other founding fathers. Whether they founded america or not, they are not people to be idolized and the fucked up shit theyve done shouldnt be ignored for the sole purpose its "innapropriate," or "controversial." Because no, its not controversial. Its a fact.

Jefferson specifically makes me upset because the knowledge of his abuse to Sally is well known. Its not some foreign consoiracy, people know that it happened and choose ignore it. Jefferson was a massive fucking piece of shit and his actions should not remain a "hush hush" topic.

Just because Jefferson is important to US history does not mean he gets a pass on this. Sally needs to be addressed, she needs to be learned about, and shoving into kids heads that the founding fathers were great people is absolute bullshit. This goes for every historical figure, too.

Dont need a whole lesson on it; just one mention. Just one singular mention about Sally and how horrible Jefferson was would suffice if its THAT controversial. Sally was a child. Not an adult. A 13-14 year old girl- Jefferson was over 40. For YEARS i was under this impression that the founding fathers could do no wrong yet here we are after i had to learn about it MYSELF.

I am aware schools lie all the time but my god this should not be something simply glazed over. American schools especially struggle with properly educating kids on topics like slavery and its just..why? Is it so hard to just acknowledge that jefferson was a bad person? The founding fathers are not to be glorified and idolized??

Im sorry for ranting but my god it just takes one brief mention to a class of kids and they have more knowledge on this than at least half of america.

[diorkyeom]

「✦」 oh, how i adore you | TEASER

joshua x dokyeom, non-idols, friends to lovers, fluff, slight angst, inspired by "jump then fall" by taylor swift

READ THE FIC | WANNA BE TAGGED?

teaser word count: 860 (full fic ~ 22k)

warnings: none

notes: this was meant to be part of a svt fest but,,, the disorganization of the mods bothered me so i dropped out lmao. couldn't abandon the fic tho, so i finished it here! there are vvv blatant references to the song lyrics but like. it's a very seoksoo coded song. what can i say.

summary: "and joshua… well, joshua had realised something. seokmin’s laugh was, without a doubt, one of the best sounds that he had ever heard." - in which joshua always has and always will do anything for seokmin, and perhaps that should have been his first sign that he'd well and truly fallen for him a long, long time ago.

Joshua had met Lee Seokmin for the first time during his third year of university.

It had been an odd encounter, but it had been an encounter brought on by one Yoon Jeonghan, and so when Joshua thought about it, by that man’s standards it hadn’t really been all that odd in the slightest.

“Joshuji,” Jeonghan had declared one afternoon, opening the door and flouncing through the small dorm into their kitchen, dragging a tall boy by his oversized hoodie sleeve behind him. “Meet the first-year that I’ve collected this year.”

Joshua, who had been peacefully sipping his fifth coffee of the day, didn’t even bat an eye at Jeonghan’s declaration. “Another one?”

Even in the present, Joshua could very truthfully admit that Jeonghan had been the sole reason he’d decided to carry on going to uni in Korea and not turn on his heel and return to the States three months after the first day. 

It was because Jeonghan had had this… thing, where he liked ‘collecting’ first-years in their literature department who he wanted to take under his wing. During their first year at uni, he’d latched onto Joshua, who’d been a confused Korean-American student that Jeonghan had, for some reason, taken an immense liking to. Their second year, it had been Lee Jihoon, prickly and snappish but who had a hyper boyfriend who Jihoon stared at with hearts in his eyes.

It was a weird, almost mother hen-like act from Jeonghan, but it was a sweet habit, and Joshua had long since given up questioning anything that he did. 

And so, a little absently, Joshua had turned to look over at Jeonghan’s newest adoptee, a polite smile on his face, before promptly freezing.

“Meet Lee Seokmin,” Jeonghan had said, proudly, like a mother introducing her favourite son. “Isn’t he just the cutest?”

Joshua blinked rapidly, because goodness, Lee Seokmin really was cute.

He was biting his lips nervously, tugging at the sleeves of his hoodie before Joshua finally made eye contact with him, and his eyes rounded as if surprised that Joshua had looked his way.

And then Seokmin waved, before ducking his head, as if attempting to (unsuccessfully) hide behind Jeonghan’s much shorter form. The action was so startingly cute that Joshua couldn’t help the genuine smile that tugged at his lips, giving a small wave back even if Seokmin looked too busy avoiding his gaze to see it.

“Hello,” Joshua said, and awfully, his voice managed to crack on that single word. Jeonghan stifled a snort. So, in order to cover the awkwardness, Joshua did something even more awkward, and stuck his hand out in Seokmin’s direction. “I’m Joshua Hong. Or, Hong Jisoo. You can call me whatever’s easiest.”

Seokmin had stared down at his hand for several seconds, confused, and Joshua wanted nothing more than to turn back time and restart this entire interaction because really, how much more embarrassing could this get?

Before he could retract his hand, trying to forget the handshake and hopefully forget the new layer of awkwardness, Seokmin leaned over and grasped Joshua’s hand, strands of hair falling into his eyes as he looked up at Joshua, eyes startlingly warm and earnest.

His hair was awfully fluffy, Joshua realised suddenly. And he had big eyes.

He looked like a large, adorable puppy, if adorable puppies were tall uni students who drowned themselves in oversized hoodies.

Seokmin’s cheeks were rather flushed as he shook Joshua’s hand, eyes wide. He had a brief thought that maybe Jeonghan had chased him around their apartment block until he finally reached their floor.

Jeonghan did that sometimes.

And then Seokmin smiled, so brightly like a blinding beam of sunlight, his earlier perceived shyness completely forgotten as he released Joshua’s hand and instead lunged forward to engulf the elder in a hug.

“Hello!” Seokmin chirped, arms still wrapped around Joshua’s shoulders, and when he pulled away, he was still smiling so widely that Joshua felt a little dazed. “It’s nice to meet you, Jeonghan hyung’s told me a lot about you. I like your eyes! Can I call you Shua hyung?”

Joshua blinked rapidly, surprised by the sudden and random bout of chatter coming from the boy, but Seokmin’s eyes were lit up with that white gold light and he was so cute that Joshua couldn’t be anything but endeared.

“Sure,” he said amusedly, and marvelled internally at how Seokmin’s eyes crinkled and he seemed to vibrate happily on the spot. “You can call me Shua hyung.”

Seokmin let out a small laugh, delighted. “Shua hyung!” he cried, and then launched himself into Joshua’s arms again, pulling him in for another hug as the elder stumbled back, arms wrapped securely around Seokmin for balance.

Jeonghan had met Joshua’s eyes over Seokmin’s shoulders, face set in a curiously indecipherable expression. When Joshua furrowed his brows, he just grinned, nodding proudly. “Seems like I chose my first-year very well.”

And, well, Joshua couldn’t say anything at that, because Seokmin still had his face buried in his shoulder and he was just so warm and friendly and also because—

Because Jeonghan might have been the tiniest bit correct.

[shouts-into-the-void]

Happy pride month to:

Cancer patients with a history of arson

Former detectives with attitude problems

Goth athletes forced to wear orange

Lesbians in the survival version of American Idol

Lactose intolerant gangsters with a napoleon complex

Female manipulators with anxiety

The sole living heir to a line of psychics

Autistics from Vegas with a special interest in math

Redheads who like antagonizing the FBI

Gay models whose crush will never like them back

Former cult members

Guys with homoerotic relationships with their nemesis

Monsterfuckers who actually have fucked a literal monster

Playwrights who give their OCs trauma as a coping mechanism

School headmasters with no teaching degree

Bleach blondes with questionable relationships with the police

People on the ace spectrum

Lobotomy victims

Cannibals

Stage magicians murdered by their assistant

And also the rest of you lovely queer people :)

[jingchu-time]

Spoilers for all of DRDT so far (all the way to the end of Ch.2 - Pt.1)

(This is my first attempt at a character analysis, so forgive me if it's a bit messy, I'll try to fit it up later. Also my first time using tumblr, intimidating but I'll figure it out.)

-

(TW: Talks about parental death and neglect. Mentions of racism, not talked about in much depth)

---

Intro:

Whit is one of the most interesting and mysterious characters in Despair Time. Despite being so well-loved by the fandom, his character is not taken nearly as seriously as I believe he should be. Objectively, Whit has one of the most in-depth characters, which isn't talked about with how often he gets reduced to a possible love interest for Charles. I also love their relationship (and ship it as well), but compared to Charles, Whit's other traits are ignored in favor of their relationship, which is unfair with how complex Whit's character actually is. Likes his backstory for example.

Part 1 - Whit's Backstory:

Whit's backstory is still shrouded in mystery, since it's only Chapter 2, but that isn't to say we know nothing about it. During Episode 4 of Chapter 1 Whit talks about his home life. He reveals that he's an only child, and briefly mentions that he thinks having a sibling would be cool, since he could be friends with them. This will be mentioned again later in the analysis, so keep this fact in mind. He then goes on to talk about his parents. First, he talks about his father, Lin or Steve. Whit says he doesn't see him a lot since he works overseas. All Whit is able to say about him is that he's quiet. Then Whit goes to talk about his mother, Elizabeth. Whit shows actual happiness when he talks about her. He doesn't go in depth, but he does call her pretty and sophisticated. He says he even bleached his hair to be like her. He clearly admired her a lot. He finally goes on to talk about his since nobody is ever in their house for long periods of time, he couldn't have pets. His home seems decent solely based on this information, but we have gained another part of it recently. In Episode 9 of Chapter 2 (what a jump) the secrets of all the cast are finally talked about. During the trial, Whit admits his secret is, "Your mother is dead. You always omit that truth." This isn't all that surprising when you consider how Whit deals with stuff like death (which well talks about in a different section) or his secret quote, "We tend to idolize the Dead."

So that's all of Whit's backstory, right? Insert *Sore wa chigau yo!" meme here. Is it all we've seen in the story, yes, but there was a Q&A done a while back that gave us an even greater idea of Whit's past. Anon asked if Whit was Biracial. The creator said yes, since his father is Chinese and his mother is American. It's also mentioned that for the first part of Whit's life, he was raised by his mom, so he doesn't have many Chinese experiences. What is mentioned next is what I care about the most. It's said that his father was very absent from his childhood (and life in general it seems). I think this makes it safe to say that Whit probably experienced some form of neglect from his father. He could barely say anything about him, the house is so empty that he can't even have pets, the way he talks about having a sibling. His mother is dead, and his father is never around. Whit was probably a lonely kid. The idea of having a sibling could fill the void because of his basically non-existent family. Also, regarding his mother's death, I'm gonna guess it was around his teen years, though I'm not sure.

Why mention his backstory first? Because this fandom never acknowledges anything about his past besides his dead mom when we clearly have more to look at. I also think this backstory can explain a lot of Whit's actions throughout the game. Speaking of…

Part 2 - Whit's role as comic relief, and how he (and Ace) subvert the stereotype:

Whit is easily seen as comic relief by most (I hope). Comic relief is a character used to defuse tension from certain scenes in shows/movies, plays/musicals, or video games. Whit is clearly made for the role, but another character, Ace, plays (or did play) the role as well. How can they both share the same role? You see, all roles have different stereotypes that are repaired with them. Comic relief is no expectation. I would say that comic relief tends to come in two types.

Characters who take absolutely nothing seriously. The lack of seriousness can be so bad that their jokes can fully screw over the tone of a scene, or story as a whole.

Using flanderization, which is just exaggerating a certain trait (or even sometimes traits) in a character. Character traits like paranoia, anger, happiness, or even sadness will become so amplified that you, much like the story, won't be able to take them seriously.

Whit and Ace fit these two stereotypes very well. After Whit's introduction in Episode 4 of the Prologue, Teruko calls him frivolous. A word, when used as a trait, is characterized by lack of seriousness or sense, which is a fairly accurate descriptor for Whit. Ace fits the second very well. Ace is characterized as both extremely aggressive, and as an extremely large coward through the entirety of the Prologue and Chapter 1. It's hard to take either character seriously at first glance.

Yet both Whit and Ace manage to subvert the stereotype and do interesting new things while doing it.

Ace goes through (negative but natural) character development after Chapter 1. He takes on a fully aggressive persona so that he's not seen as someone that can be easily killed off, the more intimidating the better. If he's seen as all bark no bite cowards, then he'll be an easy target. The cowardness is replaced by more anger and now the anger isn't funny now since we see it negatively affecting both the rest of the cast and Ace himself. He loses the role as comic relief by going through his natural character development. He subverts the trope by getting proper development, which leads to him losing the role entirely.

Whit subverts the trope by fully admitting that he's trying to be it. In Episode 4 of Chapter 1, Whit talks about how his constant joking is just him trying to lighten the mood. Whit wants to find a way to make the others happy, or at the very least lessen the stress they have because of the current situation they're in. He does this by joking and teasing. Whit subverts the trope by admitting he's trying to be the trope.

Both Whit and Ace subvert the same trope in vastly different ways, which are both effective for both of them. This does lead me to a question. Why does Whit do this? Well…

Part 3 - Goals vs Motive, actions, and what differentiates Whit and Hu:

When discussing characters' popularity, Hu and Whit are basically opposites. Whit, as mentioned earlier during the intro, is one of the most popular characters in the DRDT fandom. Hu, on the other hand, has gained a distaste by a majority of DRDT fandom because of how she's acted during the course of Chapter 2. This is very interesting, since the two are fairly similar. This is probably surprising to many, since the two seem so, so different. Hu is a serious mom friend, while Whit is a jokester.

I won't deny their differences, but what makes them similar is actually really important. The biggest similarity between the two is their goal. "Help the others through the killing game". This goal is special to these two because while the others are all (mostly) actively trying to find a way to either get out or end the killing game. These two don't though. They don't make any active attempts to find a way to or escape like the others, or their attempts are way more subtle than everyone else. So, if they have the same goal, why do they go about it so differently? Motive. A goal is what a character wants, a motive is why your character wants to achieve their goal.

We already know Hu's motive. Her motive is feeling useful. I'll discuss it more whenever I get to making a Hu analysis, but Hu has self-worth issues, making her believe that if she isn't doing some then she is completely useless. The idea of being useless seems to scare her. The reason Hu wants to help the other through the killing game is because it will make sure she isn't useless. Her actions to achieve her goal are by giving all her love to certain people, since she's aware that she can give equal love to everyone. She'll do whatever it takes to keep those certain people safe and happy, even excusing their bad actions. She plays favorites so that there will always be someone that finds her useful.

Whit is very different in regard to motive, since we don't really know fully what it is yet. We can make assumptions, but we can't be fully sure yet. Our best answer currently is simply, nobody can. This leads me to the next section…

Part 4 - Whit's calm persona, and it's relation to his motive:

Whit likes to make others happy. Whit also likes to help others. I believe these two traits heavily influenced his persona. Whit doesn't show emotion. We've seen happiness, concern, surprise, regret, confusion, and neutrality. He legit says "Jeez" after watching Min's execution in Episode 12 of Chapter 1, which is very tame compared to the others. Then he says, and I quote, "Oops" after seeing Arei's dead body in Episode 8 of Chapter 2. That is not a normal/socially (and morally for that matter) appropriate response to a dead body. What does this mean? Well, Whit doesn't show a real hint of sadness, or what he has is a very closed off version. Why does this point matter? Well, Whit is doing what nobody in the cast can. Whit is able to be a kind while being a reasonable/neutral force in the killing game. Hu and Eden, while kind, are both easily swayed by their emotions. Whit is less swayed by emotions like that and is shown to be logical when it counts. Like when he reminded David that they only knew Xander for a few days, so there was no real way of knowing if how Xander acted was in or out of character during the scrum debate in Episode 8 of Chapter 1. Whit can manage the role of a jokester and calm person very well. However, his calm side has grown a lot over the killing game.

Whit has always been generally calmer compared to a majority of this cast. You can take his dialogue after the killing game was revealed during Episode 5 of the Prologue as an example. However, his persona is something growing in intensity over the course of the series. When Min was executed, Whit showed off at least some form of sympathy, compared to when Arie died. He barely acknowledges her death, focusing much more on comforting Eden. This is all odder considering that while he and Arei didn't always see eye to eye, he still had more connections to her than Min from what saw. While everyone else slowly descends into madness, Whit just keeps amplifying his calm persona.

How does this relate to his motive? At the very least, for Chapter 2, Whit's motive is something along the lines, "Because someone has to". Whit likes helping others. If he doesn't help the others through the game, literally nobody else will. Mainly because this cast is extremely mentally unwell. Also, having a goal and motive doesn't mean they'll be good at achieving said goal. Whit hasn't been particularly helpful despite his efforts, but I'll explain why this is a little later. Anyway, if you compare Whit and Hu's motive to help others, then it makes sense why they're so different. It also explains why Whit is more easily likable compared to Hu. Neither of them are bad, not by a long shot, but we still have to wait for more of both. I would like to move into my next section, since this section does reference something in there…

Part 5 - Whit's ability to see the best in others:

This is one of Whit’s lesser known traits, which is so odd because this trust is seen so much in his character. Whit’s main relationship is with Charles. He and Whit have lots of interactions. Like during the Prologue, where half of Charles’ introduction is him and Whit. Or during Chapter 1, where the pairs' friendship begins to develop. And Chapter 2, where we get to watch their friendship fully develop. At the start, both of them disliked each other. Charles disliked Whit for his jokester person and how often Whit would use him as an object for humor, which didn’t mix well with how much Charles hates being looked down upon. Meanwhile, Whit didn’t like Charles for his very rude and arrogant personality, which make sense considering how much of Whit’s persona(s) are based around being kind to others. What happens in Chapter 1 is what I’d like to discuss in relation to the topic of this section.

During Chapter 1, Xander tries to pin the blame on Charles by using Charles’s hemophobia. Charles’ phobia makes him breakdown when he sees gory or dead bodies because of his unresolved childhood trauma. After Charles gets lured into seeing Teruko’s dead body and runs away, he ends up running into Whit, who was in the cafeteria, mid-breakdown. At first, Whit assumes that Charles is messing with him, but ends up realizing he wasn’t. Whit ends up making the choice to stay and help out Charles. Levi brings up in Episode 9 of Chapter 1 that Charles could have been faking it. In a game where any wrong moves can lead to your death, Whit decision to stay and help could’ve gotten him killed if Charles had been. Yet Whit choice to stay, ignoring his own opinions about Charles at that point, decided to see the best in him. He chose to see the best in Charles despite only really having his intuition as a reason.

To continue this point, I’d like to bring up Teruko and David. Teruko is fairly straight forward, as during the dressing room scene in Episode 2 of Chapter 2, Whit says he doesn’t think Teruko or anyone else in the cast is a bad person. We get a small look into Whit’s thought process. He believes that, despite everyone acting callously, they aren’t bad people. They are human. They are just human with emotions and weaknesses, and that’s fine with him. He believes, even when Teruko herself doesn’t, that there is still a good person in her. That despite the current asshole she is being, she is still a good person, even if it’s a little deeper inside. This thought process also relates to how he handles David. Whit is the one who had David’s secret. David’s secret is, “You exist to manipulate others, others exist to be manipulated.” It is very hard to see this secret and believe whoever it’s about isn’t a bad person. But Whit having it actually makes this makes sense. Whit, much like Hu, likes to see the best in others. Unlike Hu, however, Whit keeps this fact to himself unless he’s having a moment of vulnerability. It isn’t hard to believe that he, despite how obvious the secret is, convinced himself that David wasn’t a bad person. Hell, we get some confirmation of this during Episode 11 of Chapter 2, when after David’s real personality is reveled, Whit makes a certain comment. “I was keeping that secret out of concern for your career. But if this is how you really act, then your career might be in trouble for reasons out of my control.” A majority of the fandom think he’s lying, and I won’t deny the possibility, but I feel like we should look at this comment from more than one angle. If we bring up the idea of him believing that the secret was simply worded badly, then it’s no wonder he of all people wouldn’t wanna take that risk. I don’t think anybody would want to ruin someone's whole career based on a secret that could be purposely worded badly. “...reasons out of my control”, this quote basically confirms that if David hadn’t gone insane in Episode 11, then Whit would have blamed himself for David’s career. Whit is a caring person, so this idea is very plausible.

If it was anyone else, then the idea would be unlikable, but it’s not unbelievable if you consider Whit’s character so far. A person who cares for others and has risked his life holding onto the idea of seeing the best in them. Whit is the only character who would hide a secret like that. Since I brought up Charles, Teruko, and David, that brings me to a different section…

Part 6 - Gaining importance through others:

This section should be fairly brief. Whit, while has not really been a major player, keeps having connections to characters who are. If most had to assign the DRDT cast cliché Danganronpa roles, then it tends to go Teruko is the protagonist (obviously), Charles is the support (stretching but okay), and David is the antagonist. Whit, as mentioned in the section before, is connected to all three. However, that isn’t all when it comes to his connections to major characters (this wouldn’t be a section if that was the case). Let me bring up Eden, Arei, and Hu. Whit has come to Eden’s defense twice now. First in Episode 5 of Chapter 1, when Arei and Arturo are insulting the cake which she was actually really proud of. Whit makes a joke about how cake=birthday song, which is able to distract the group from the insults and everyone becomes much less hesitant about eating the cake. Then in Episode 9 of Chapter 2, he buys Eden some time, since Teruko was asking about the note (that made Eden super suspicious), by bringing up the alibis. In Episode 1 of Chapter 1, we get to see that Whit and Arei were investigation partners. It’s not big, but is still a point of connection. Finally, he and Hu had a a fairly long talk about the killing game during the dressing room scene during Episode 2 of Chapter 2.

Whit keeps being given importance because of his connections with major players in Chapter 2. No matter how big or small. I honestly don’t have a good translation to the next section, so…

Part 7 - He is very different compared to the rest:

Whit handles most stuff in a very special way. Firstly, while a majority of this cast will become aggressive or start fighting with each other. Whit, however, is very different compared to the others in this case. Whit will make passive-aggressive or sarcastic comments. He is also very conflict avoidant, which will be dissected later for reasons. And second, his method of investigation. Compared to the majority of the cast, who go the logical route of investigating the body and scene of the crime in depth, then investigating other areas. Whit is one of the three character (the others being Charles and Rose) who don’t examine the body. This is odd considering that Whit doesn’t really seem to have a reason to not too, I think I know why, but it will have to be talked about a little later (I'm sorry, but this is the last time I promise). Anyway, as mentioned earlier, Whit is a very calm person. His type of calm (yeah type) is different from that of Hu or Veronika. Hu is calm but is very easily angered by her situation and constantly struggles to keep composure. Veronika is much more similar, but unlike Whit, Veronika finds joy in their situation. She finds the killing game fun and interesting, completely fine with her situation. She’s only calm because she doesn’t find the danger frightening. She’ happy because she hates being bored. Whit is only calm because, as mentioned many times, he had to be. Someone has to be calm and kind during their situation. One is more selfish than the other, and that makes them different. All the talk about Whit’s differences reminds me of one thing that only her has…

Part 8 - Whit’s intuition:

Before I get into Whit’s intuition, I want to talk about what intuition actually is. Intuition are just gut feelings. They are ideas that, while there i no logical reason to believe it, you just feel like you do. Whit’s intuition has been mentioned during Episode 4 and 9 of Chapter 1 and during his and Charles’ FTE. He claims, using his intuition, that one day, Teruko will be happy, that Charles isn’t faking the breakdown he is/was having, and that one day him and Charles were going to be friends. His intuition hadn’t been mentioned once through the first part of Chapter 2. I think this mostly because of the calm persona, He has to be more logical. This doesn’t mean his emotions won’t influence situations, but now he had to try to rationalize his decisions based on those emotions. He can’t just say it’s his intuition anymore, not with how the group is currently.

I still don’t have a good way to transition so let’s just-

Part 9 - Whit’s social life and conflict avoidance:

Whit isn’t a fan of fights, unless it for the sake of someone else. In Episode 2 of Chapter 2 (it’s a great scene okay), Hu and Whit are discussing how much the Mastermind knows about them. Teruko, being Teruko, finds a way to twist it into distrusting others. Whit then makes one of his passive-aggressive comments towards her. Then, only a little while later, Teruko is equally rude when Whit tries to call her a good person, and this time Whit keeps quiet. Whit won’t argue with someone unless what that other person is doing negatively effects others. His conflict avoidance is seen during Episode 4 of Chapter 2, where he refuses to try and break up any of the fights. His reasoning is that his talent isn’t couple counseling, therefore he can’t be the one to break up any of the fights. This is an excuse that Charles quickly shuts down. So yeah, Whit doesn’t like conflict, which is probably part of why he became a jokester in the first place, but we’ll come back to this though after the next section. Speaking of the next section…

Part 10 - The 4th wall (and finding information):

Whit is the character that shows the most awareness of the 4th wall. In Episode 8 of Chapter 1, Whit legit tells the audience to pause to read the list, since it would be useful. There is no way that he was directing that at the cast, since they can’t fuckin’ pause their lives. Then in Episode 10 of Chapter 2, Whit breaks the 4th wall, but in a far more subtle way. Whit says he doesn’t remember which secret Eden got, which leads to us, the audience, to be shown the list. Whit gave us a direct way to relook at the secret list, which is very weird since he could have just looked up and silently read the list. Something that Ace points out (kind of). Whit is the only character to show this much awareness of us, The weird thing is why would Whit want to help us? We’re the whole reason that he and the rest of the cast are stuck there, dying for our entertainment. So why would he want to help us? This is a question we’ll have to wait for an answer, since even I’m not sure yet. A downside of only being through half of the 2nd Chapter.

This section is the one I brought up earlier during Part 9, and will be connecting some of the mysterious points I didn’t expand upon earlier…

Part 11 - How does his backstory influence him:

You’ve probably noticed that despite his backstory being brought up first, I haven’t given it much though since. This is because I believed we all need a better understand of Whit before I could describe how his backstory affected all of what we’ve discussed. Before that, however, there is one part left.

If you remember, I said that Whit was a lonely kid. Along with what I said earlier in the backstory section this is also because of his talent and love life. Whit’s talent is something others have to pay for, mentioned in the Q&A earlier. He sets other people up as a way to earn money, which begs the question of why Whit took up the talent in the first place. Since we don’t have a proper answer yet, so we’re going to move one, just keep that as food for thought. Anyway, Whit is said to have a pretty bad romantic life despite his talent. He apparently just can’t find a partner, despite his efforts. This isn’t all that surprising when you consider that Whit isn’t all that socially competent at times. It’s hard to describe, so well use examples instead. During the FTE, Whit is shown to be completely shocked at Charles’ anger toward him. Whit hadn’t even considered the idea that the stuff he did earlier could be seen as negative. Even when it’d probably become obvious to anyone else at that point. Then, during the Computer Lab scene during Episode 7 of Chapter 2, Whit makes a dark joke about Min’s death in front of Teruko and doesn’t even think of the bad implication till Charles points it out to him. He is able to apologize and fix those behaviors, which is an interesting pattern of behavior. Not understanding a wrong till someone points it out to you, and then you improve it. Unless you point it out to Whit, he probably won’t notice the problem. I think these behaviors say a lot about his past and it’s effects on him.

Whit’s past would explain his social incompetence at times. His father wasn’t there to be a good example and his mom probably wasn’t there for his teen years, which is a huge time for development in minors. This leads to him not having the proper role-models.

(This is an off section, but I felt the need to bring it up. Whit is biracial, Asian American, American/Chinese, a race that faces a lot of discrimination in America. The DRDT creator is very well versed in his research of the topic and ideas he handles. Ace is a lovely example, including the higher chances of anxiety and chances for eating disorders they have. I won’t say I know anything, but I wouldn’t completely discard the idea of him facing discrimination in the past.)

So yeah, Whit was a lonely kid, why does it matter? It matters because if he is as much of a former loner as mentioned, then that would also explain why Whit keeps people-pleasing. (I think there is a want for acceptance, but a struggle to believe that it’s possible without the personas.)

His backstory also explains his seeing the best in others' mindset. People tend to think that the only way to look at negative events in life is through negativity, but that’s wrong. When you have nothing, then you’ll leach onto anything to hold onto, like optimism. This idea was used in the canon Danganronpa games with Nagito, and I think a similar principle is shared with Whit. Whit probably attached onto something positive because he literally had nothing else. Optimism, in that case, is the easiest answer. Whit deals with life, and the killing game by trying to find the good. Whit's life might not be great, but that doesn't mean he has to see it that way. It's probably why he keeps omitting the fact about his mother's death. Why look back on the past when there is so much left to do in life. He probably thinks this is what she would've wanted, based on his idolization of her.

This all brings me to my last section…

Part 12 - His belief in privacy:

Whit is very adamant in respecting others' privacy. In Episode 1 of Chapter 2, Whit brings up the idea that everyone keeps the secrets to themselves until they have more time to work through it properly. This gets ignored by Arturo, who does it anyway. I've already gone into depth talks about privacy with Charles and David. What I wanna talk about is why Whit is so big on it. Because that is a question we haven't gotten an answer to. Why? Well, while I'm not sure, I think it has something to do with his past.

I have also lost my mom, like Whit. When I lost my mom, people wouldn't stop questioning me about it. Whit described his mom as sophisticated, so that makes me think she could've been fairly known in the community. Whit probably had a lot of strangers question him about it, despite his feelings about it. Mix this with Whit's pleasing other mentality, then his adamantly about respecting others' privacy. This is the only part of his mentality that goes against his more logical character. Charles even says he gave Teruko the secret he had because he wouldn't trust Whit to sacrifice someone's' privacy when it's necessary. Charles has a strong understanding of Whit's, so I'd trust him. This is the only part of Whit that he never changes, even when he has different personas on. It's consistent.

This concludes the final section to this analysis, so onto the conclusion.

Conclusion:

Whit is a character that gets overlooked by a majority of the fandom despite being pretty much universally loved. His past is so much more than what we've seen or is talked about. His caring nature is something that has so much hidden depths. And, unless he is the Chapter 2 killer, there is so much left to find about Whit.

---

(Thanks for reading. Again, sorry if it's a bit all over the place. I hope I could shed some more light on Whit's character for ya'll. Have a good day/night.)

[contemplatingoutlander]

The billionaire myth takes a beating

Jennifer Rubin provides some historical perspective as to why Americans idolize alleged self-made/ genius billionaires. This is a gift🎁link so anyone can read the full article, whether or not they subscribe to The Washington Post.

Below are a few excerpts about the history behind the American fascination with certain myths, including the self-made/ genius billionaire, the individualist cowboy, as well as to the perception that "big government" is akin to "socialism," and government departments would be better if they were "run like businesses."

And yet millions still buy into the [genius billionaire] myth, attributing superior knowledge and ability solely on the basis of accumulated wealth. “The American preoccupation with the genius savior dovetails with the American distrust of government and other public institutions; the conventional neoliberal wisdom is that institutions would be better, more efficient, if they were all run like businesses,” wrote Whizy Kim for Vox. In 2021, historian Heather Cox Richardson located the roots of the mythology in the days of Reconstruction “when white southerners insisted that federal efforts to enable formerly enslaved men to participate in the economy on terms equal to white men were simply a redistribution of wealth, because the agents and policies required to achieve equality would cost tax dollars.” Labeling any effort to deprive Whites of absolute power and riches built on slavery as “socialism,” the anti-government conservative movement forged in the Gilded Age tried but largely failed to dislodge the New Deal. “The myth of the cowboy — the individualist — was a kind of cover for the attitudes that favored large employers, including mining, railroad, financial and ranching interests,” Knute Berger wrote in 2021 for PBS’s Crosscut, expounding on Richardson’s work. “The bosses discouraged workers from unionizing or acting collectively. To the oligarchs East and West, North and South, the idea of the unrestrained individualism of the cowboy, devoid of responsibility for others, suited a divide-and-conquer strategy very well.” And yet the movement found new strength in the past 50 years: “They called themselves Movement Conservatives, and they celebrated the cowboy who, in their inaccurate vision, was a hardworking white man who wanted nothing of the government but to be left alone to work out his own future,” Richardson wrote. President Barack Obama in challenging the myth (“You didn’t build that”) attempted to remind these characters that they’ve reaped the benefits of government (which builds the infrastructure, educates the workforce, ensures public confidence in medicines, etc.); for that he was demonized as somehow un-American and anti-capitalist. The episode underscored the degree to which American oligarchs and their political surrogates depend on delusion and denial. [color emphasis added]

[skz-rin]

『📜』 ── 20 fun rin facts

✮ She was born with the name Ophelia Chaerin Bao but her mother got her middle and last name changed when applying for American nationality.

✮ She knows how to play the violin and a bit of piano.

✮ She used to take ballet, Ballroom dancing and hip hop lessons as a child. Learned all three but never finished a course

✮ Her parents are not legally divorced but are separated i.e they live separately and never interact. They went their separate ways because they both thought long distance at that time would be difficult and now they just don't talk anymore.

✮ Her and her brother have different last names due to her parents' divorce agreement.

✮ She also knows horse riding and would often do it when she was younger.

✮ She has different introductions for her name depending on the language she's speaking as in she introduces herself as 'Ophelia Bae' in english, 'Huilin Bao' in chinese and 'Hyerin Bae' in korean.

✮ She has been trained in opera singing

✮ She spam posts very often both on bubble and instagram she says she wants to maintain a friend like with her fans and that its important to 'keep the in the loop'.

✮ She is a huge fan of romance movies specifically old 80s-2000s romance movies and often watches them to relax

✮ Despite being named after a popular literary character she is quite bad at literature and has expressed her dislike for it, especially Shakespeare.

✮ When she's mad or hyped up about something she will end up blending her languages into one another which makes it very difficult for people to understand.

✮ She speaks with Chan and Felix solely in english except for during schedules.

✮ On a related note she plays the foreigner card way to often.

✮ She signed up to be a kpop idol partly because she wanted to and partly to spite her mom after a fight.

✮ She loves to design and make clothes so she often tailors her own clothes or upcycles them. she also posts tutorials on instagram for STAY.

✮ Social butterfly. She likes meeting new people and learning about them. She has a reputation of being able to make friends anywhere and with anyone.

✮ She is always donating to charities and NGOs and orphanages anything she can donate to. It's something she's been doing since she was little and wants to keep doing it.

✮ She likes running and can run really really fast, is the fastest in her group.

✮ She loves animals and cannot choose which is her favourite pls don't ask her to she might just cry on the spot.

[shrimpmandan]

I think at this point anyone who calls themselves a proshipper but is like, staunchly aggressively no-matter-what anti-RPF is either deluding themselves or thinks that the concept of "real people being reimagined as fictional characters" hasn't existed for decades at this point.

Everyone was fucking raving about Hamilton and Clone High barely a few years ago. A lot of extremely famous, influential movies are based off of real people, such as The Wolf of Wall Street. Every single fucking cartoon you've seen that references a real life historical figure like Cleopatra or Napoleon is technically doing RPF to some degree. THE MAGIC FUCKING TREEHOUSE IS RPF.

All this is ignoring how much we WORSHIP AO3, but-- but but, the founder of AO3 very much supports RPF. And by supports I mean they actively WRITE RPF. Tons of American Idol stuff that's all obscenely popular!

Now of course, there's gonna be some people who have a kneejerk rebuttal about how it's "different" with historical figures, that it doesn't matter because they're all dead, or that movies and books are different from fanfiction that may or may not be sexual. Except all of those arguments make absolutely zero sense when you think about them for more than two seconds.

Shouldn't the subjects being dead make it... more disrespectful, on a base level? You could made a valid case that with historical figures, nobody is left alive to mourn them. In comparison, people who have died relatively recently still have loved ones alive to mourn their deaths, and who would very likely be negatively mentally impacted by stumbling across an RPF fic. Understandably so--

but wasn't our whole argument that other people's feelings are their own to deal with, and not our responsibility?

You can make a similar case for serial killers, too. The victims of Jeffrey Dahmer still have friends and family that are alive. I would imagine they wouldn't want to see posts sexualizing or glorifying him-- but I doubt they're seeking out anything related to him /at all/, frankly. And then we're back to point one about how all that matters is that shit is consistently tagged and that people simply don't read what they don't like.

In my opinion, the sole, sound argument against RPF would be sexual RPF of minors. Even if no contact or even grooming is happening: that is still sexual content of a living minor. That is CSEM. That is a completely valid thing to be against. I honestly fail to see why sexual drawings of real minors are illegal, but not writings. Still, writings and drawings do not involve the same amount of /direct/ abuse as 'regular' CSEM and CSA, but making the argument of psychological harm is fair, especially when this is a case of a child being directly sexualized against their will.

But then we're still back to square one.

Don't like don't read.

Honestly, I'm neutral on RPF. I'm against anything that involves a sexualized depiction of a real child, and I'm generally not super interested in or comfortable with reading fics about real people, but it's also not a topic I can just disassociate myself from and say that it's somehow disconnected from proshipping. It isn't. Proship communities are built off of the backs of RPF shippers, like it or not. And honestly, I couldn't care less so long as the shipper in question is still respectful of the privacy of the subject(s) they're writing about. The version of the person they're writing is fundamentally not real, and that's a weird thing to wrap your head around. One could even argue my own reasons for singling out child sexual RPF is hypocritical or contradictory, and I wouldn't disagree. I think having mixed feelings on the subject is understandable. But being completely, over-archingly against it due to knee-jerk discomfort? It just seems a bit silly to me.

[in-death-we-fall]

Fell In Love With A ghoul

Some people spend their whole lives searching for their soulmate. But as Murderdolls prepare to gatecrash the charts with their cover of ‘White Wedding’, Joey Jordison and Wednesday 13 explain why they’re made for one another…

Words: Dave Everley Photos: Roxy Erickson

(docs link) (Clown article x x)

Wednesday 13, frontman with the Murderdolls, is an avowed Mötley Crüe fan. He owns all 11 of their albums; he'll even defend their traditionally indefensible later, minor works with all the passion of a man who has divested large chunks of his earnings into the band's output at one time or another. He has, he estimates, read their infamous biography 'The Dirt' eight times.

    Now Mötley Crüe were undoubtedly dunderheaded arse-clowns of the highest order — and you can't help feeling that Wednesday 13, despite his unshakeable affection for the band, knows this. But they were also absolutely fantastic, if only for one particular reason: in the midst of the soulless, self-obsessed circle jerk that was the '80s rock scene, they were utterly, gloriously unique. Yes, they were as dumb as fence posts; yes, their behaviour veered between the mischievous and the truly cretinous; yes, they spawned a whole shower of shit that took years to mop up. But they were out there on their own.

It wouldn’t be inaccurate to call Murderdolls a Mötley Crüe for the ‘90s, if only for the reason that, in the midst of the soulless, self-obsessed circle jerk that is today’s rock scene, they too are utterly, gloriously unique. Whether you’re of the opinion that they’re a knowing tribute to the days when bands’ agendas extended no further than having as much fun as possible as often as possible, or simply the latest in a long line of shit-kicking party bands that began with the New York Dolls, there’s no debating the fact that they’re out there on their own as much as Mötley Crüe ever were.

And for that reason alone, the Murderdolls deserve your attention.

On paper, Murderdolls shouldn’t really exist. Or at least, they shouldn’t exist on the scale that they do. A modern day cock rock outfit put together by the drummer from Slipknot, a band who, love them or loathe them, at least managed to sneak a form of extreme metal to the top of the charts? Riiight.

Except the Murderdolls do exist, and they are successful. Their sole album to date, last year’s glam-Goth opus ‘Beyond The Valley Of The Murderdolls’, has sold 50,000 copies in the UK – half of what Slipknot sell, admittedly, but done with only a fraction of the hype the latter band has been fuelled with over the past few years. Their new single, a snarling version of Billy Idol’s ‘80s hit ‘White Wedding’ looks set to bust their B-movie indebted noise out to the masses.

In a sparse but stylishly furnished room deep in the warren of corridors that make up the West London headquarters of Sanctuary Management – handlers of Murderdolls, as well as Iron Maiden, Guns N’Roses and dozens of others – Wednesday 13 sinks into an expensive leather sofa and proceeds to empty the contents of his less expensive leather trousers onto the glass-topped table in front of him.

“Man, too many pounds in my pocket,” he says good-naturedly, his attempt at an English accent as successful as that of most visiting American musicians (that is, not at all).

Two days ago, Murderdolls played the main stage of the Download festival. They hung around the site for another 24 hours, soaking up the atmosphere and generally drinking themselves senseless. Wednesday started “partying” at three o’clock yesterday afternoon. He didn’t stop until the small hours of the morning. He woke up at eight o’clock. It’s now two in the afternoon. There’s not even a whiff of a hangover. Bastard.

“I don’t get them,” is his cheery response. “Never have.”

The Wednesday 13 sitting here, laid-back and grinning, couldn’t be further removed from the sneering, spiky, B-movie anti-hero that appears on Murderdolls records. That Wednesday 13 is a sneering, spiky B-movie anti-hero with arsenic and embalming fluid running through his veins. This Wednesday 13 is Joseph Poole, a 26-year-old Mid-Westerner who still lives in the same “tiny as fuck” North Carolina town where he’s spent most of his life and who hadn’t so much as set foot on an aeroplane until Joey Jordison paid for him to fly to Des Moines to join the Murderdolls.

He looks nothing like you’d imagine him to. He’s fleshier for a start – not fat in the slightest, but not the sunken-faced cadaver that leers out from photos. He looks younger too, though that could well be on account of the fact that he’s not made up to resemble death warmed over. Only the array of tattoos that adorn his arms – “horror movie shit” like Bela Ludosi, Linda Blair, the Bride Of Frankenstein, Herman and Lily Munster, ‘Hellraiser’ – equate the man sipping Diet Coke and beaming effusively with the dreadlocked ghoul who fronts the Murderdolls.

Actually, Wednesday 13 isn’t really anything like you’d expect him to be, full-stop. Back home in Landis, he lives in a suburban home with his longtime girlfriend and his five-year-old daughter, Zoe (“We’re like ‘The Addams Family’,” he smirks). He admits that he’s shy, that “when I talk to people, I don’t really look them in the eye” (this is true). He’s not embarrassed to admit that his relationship with his parents is “awesome – my parents were always super-cool”.

What was your childhood like? “Dude, I lived in a trailer until I was 13 years old. I didn’t even have my own room until I was 10 or 11.”

And how were you supporting your family before that call came from Joey? “Delivering magazines. I had to drive an hour to my job, so I’d get up at 4:30 in the morning, leave at five and be there at six. I drove a big delivery truck. I had to go to grocery stores and put ‘National Enquirer’ and ‘TV Guide’ and all that shit in there. That sucked.”

Ever think of jacking it in and moving to New York or LA to get closer to the action? “I always thought it’d be cool to live in New York, but I never had the money, and I never had a band that was willing to pack up and move. I really lucked out when I got a call from Joey. The last fucking dude on earth I thought would call me would be the drummer from Slipknot.”

Before Joey Jordison entered his life, Wednesday 13 fronted the Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13. Formed when he was 19 years old, the Drag Queens combined the twin influences of Alice Cooper and Ed Wood. Between 1996 and 2001, they released four albums of schlocky, snotty punk rock (several songs from these records would be reworked and re-recorded for ‘Beyond The Valley Of The Murderdolls’). Their schtik – wigs, dresses and zombie make-up – was as becoming as it was dumb. Still, in North Carolina – a pig’s squeal away from Bible Belt country – that’s one hell of a statement to make.

“When we started out, it was complete war,” is his memory of the Drag Queens’ early days. “We didn’t want to be friends with anybody. Every show was a fucking battle. I’d just say shit to the audience to get a rise – if they were drinking beer, I’d shout, ‘Beer is for fags!’. Then they’d start throwing shit at us, and I’d take my guitar off and jump into the crowd.”

Did it ever get physical? “All the time. At one gig, a guy in the audience threw a beer at me. I dived in the audience and tackled him, and started beating the shit out of him. I was wearing a pink dress and platforms at the time. This was in a new town and there were 100 or so people there. I thought they’d beat the shit out of me, but they ended up cheering me on.”

Remarkably, Wednesday managed to survive those early shows relatively unscathed. Even more remarkably, local club owners seemed to like the band’s mixture of outrage and antagonism. The buzz around the Drag Queens began to spread across the state.

“Everybody in town hated us, because we actually got gigs. The club owners kinda dug us. They were like, ‘We’re sick of all that other shit – this is fucking entertaining, let’s book them’. All the other bands hated us for that – ‘They’re fags, they’re wearing dresses, they don’t know how to play music’.”

What did your parents think of what you were doing? “My mom always sewed my clothes for me. She sewed all my dresses up.”

And your dad? “I dunno. I’m sure any man doesn’t want to walk around a corner and see his son standing there going, ‘Hey Dad, I got this new dress. Like it?’. But now I think he’s proud – he’s seen that I’ve stuck to my guns with it all.”

What was the best thing about being in the Frankenstein Drag Queens? “The very beginning was awesome because it was so fresh – I was working in a furniture store, making five bucks an hour, so I took out a loan to pay for the recording of the first record. The record came out, and we felt like we were above everybody else. Then two months later, the drummer quit. But by the end, nobody gave a shit – where I lived, it had really died. That’s why when Joey called I thought, ‘Fuck it, I’m going to do this Murderdolls thing’.”

There’s a track on the ‘White Wedding’ single called ‘I Take Drugs’. In reality, Wednesday 13’s recreational pursuits extend no further than an impressive capacity for alcohol.

“I’ve never done drugs in my life,” he says with a shrug that says ‘Why should I have done?’. “I guess I’m chickenshit. I’ve taken aspirin, but that’s all. I’ve never taken coke or E. I’ve probably smoked six cigarettes in my whole life. I don’t need it.”

It’s a strange admission from a man who shamelessly admits to a lifelong obsession with the most debauched of genres, cock rock. In fact, Wednesday 13 is so obsessed with cock rock that he’s possibly the only person on the planet right now who could not only namecheck long-forgotten Welsh glam tarts Tigertailz, but also take the time to describe their logo (he does both today). He might not be Mötley Crüe material, but he might just have sneaked into fell Sunset Strip darlings Faster Pussycat.

Have you ever dated a stripper, Wednesday? “Yeah, and it was one of the worst things I’ve ever done too. She tried to kill herself in front of me. I broke up with her, so she ran into my kitchen, pulled out a butcher’s knife and cut her arm open in front of me. I grabbed the knife and grabbed her arm – my fingers went into the cut, and I actually touched her bone. I threw her into the car and drove her to hospital. When we got there, there happened to be a cop in the waiting room. There was some very quick explaining done.”

Ever filmed yourself having sex? “Never. But mirrors are cool.”

Ever been arrested? “No. And I don’t want to. I’m not the kind of guy who walked around going, ‘Fuck the police’. I’m totally pro-cop. I’m so pro-cop, it’s actually ridiculous.”

That’s not a very rock ‘n’ roll thing to say. “Fuck that. I think that being a cop is one of the bravest jobs ever. I couldn’t imagine pulling over some car at three o’clock in the morning, knocking on the window, not knowing who’s in there – you’re fucking with death. I’d never have the balls to do that job. I’m pro-cop all the way. And I don’t care what anyone says.”

What do your neighbours in North Carolina think of you? “Well, the guy on the left is a priest. He’s a nice guy. He helped me take my garbage out the other day, then tried to persuade me to come to church. I had to tell him no, in the politest possible way. The guy on the other side, I just know to say hi to.”

What’s it like being a father? “It changes you. I never planned to have a kid that young, but I would never take it back. My kid is my life. I’d do anything to protect her. I never forget who I am and that I’ve got responsibilities back home. When you go on the road, you turn into a monster, then you come back home and you’re back to normal, Mr Nice Guy.”

What does your girlfriend think of what you do? “She’s known me since I was 15. She’s got bright red hair and more tattoos than I do. She loves it. But when I get home it’s different. I’m just the family guy.”

Unlike Wednesday 13, Nathan Jonas Jordison – Joey to the rest of the world – is everything you expect him to be. Thanks to the phenomenal rise of Slipknot, and the volumes of press that have been written in its wake, it’s difficult to shake the feeling that you already know him inside out.

You don’t so much interview Joey Jordison as try to keep up with him.Sitting in the same position on the same sofa that was, until 20 minutes ago, occupied by Wednesday 13, the drummer and guitarist (he played both on ‘Beyond The Valley Of The Murderdolls’) will spend the next half hour machine-gunning out answers to a barrage of questions as quickly as they come in. He’s loud, assured, articulate and passionate. In fact, the only thing that’s surprising is that he still lives with his mother, in the same house in Iowa that he’s been in since he was two years old.

“It’s a real humble place out in the country,” he says. “I like the quiet. I like getting away from the busy streets and the noise and the chaos. It’s nice to go home to some peace and quiet, cos there’s none of that on the road.”

As we speak, Jordison has at least three projects on the go (there’s Slipknot and Murderdolls, plus an unnamed extreme metal project he’s working on with Necrophagia frontman Killjoy). His explanation is that he gets bored “very fucking easily”. Back home, he has three guitars placed strategically around the house (“one in my room, one in the bathroom and one downstairs”). Ask him what his greatest obsession is, and he replies, “music”. Ask him how he switches off from music, and he looks puzzled.

“What do you mean?”

Do you ever stop thinking about music? “No. It’s the only thing I know how to do well. I can spin upside down on a drum riser in front of 20,000 people with Slipknot, but I can’t go to the mailbox and figure out my mail. I have no sense of normal reality at all. Today I went out shopping. I walked to the fucking store, then I couldn’t figure how to get back. I have to be pointed in the right direction. That’s why I have to have an assistant with me all the time.”

As much as the Murderdolls are an equal partnership – and both Joey Jordison and Wednesday 13 are adamant that it is – there’s no doubt that it’s Jordison who provided the initial impetus. He’s the one who took the raw materials – specifically The Rejects, the glam-punk band he played guitar with intermittently during the ‘90s – and shaped it into something new. He’s the one who marshalled the personnel, calling Wednesday out of the blue and flying him to Des Moines to see if his dream could work. He’s also the one who, by dint of his status as a member of one of the biggest metal bands on the planet, gave the Murderdolls an instant profile.

Are you a control freak, Joey? “Yeah. Well, maybe not a control freak, but I definitely like to have my opinions. People respect me because I have strong opinions. But it’s not about ego – it’s about the end result. That’s all I'm concerned with.”

Are you friends with the people in your bands? “Every one of them. The Slipknot dudes are like my brothers. We’ve been through everything together – we started with jack shit and we became one of the biggest metal bands around. With this band, I don’t know everybody like I know the guys in Slipknot, but I love them all to fucking pieces.”

Does it bother you that the Murderdolls are still seen by some as ‘Joey from Slipknot’s band’? “I don’t think people see it that way anymore. When we first toured, all you’d see is Slipknot shirts. You don’t see that now. Now it’s kids all in red and black. Murderdolls is a fun band.”

What about a party band? As in a band who like to party? “Oh yeah.”

How much alcohol do you get through a week? “Wednesday got through a bottle-and-a-half of Jägermeister last night.”

What about the other trappings of rock ‘n’ roll? The sex, the drugs… “Certain guys in the band like the groupie thing. I don’t necessarily. Wednesday certainly doesn’t.”

Why don’t you like it? “I’ve kind of gone through it already. It’s not even really that good. It doesn’t… (pause) I mean, I’m into making girls do weird shit.”

Such as? “If a girl’s got a cool trick, she can come on the bus for entertainment purposes rather than sexual purposes.”

Give me an example of the sort of entertainment you’re talking about here. “A girl came on the bus once and fucking smoked a cigarette through her pussy, then blew it out of her mouth. I was, like, ‘I wanna see that’.”

You’re friends with Marilyn Manson. What does a night out with the two of you involve? “Actually it’s not as crazy as you might imagine. We might be round his house, watching TV, having a couple of drinks, talking about music. It’s not like you think – chicks and drugs and shit.”

The most common misconception about the Murderdolls, usually held by people who either don’t like the Murderdolls or have never heard them, is that they’re stupid. Murderdolls aren’t stupid. They’re stoopid, like Kiss were stoopid, like Mötley Crüe were stoopid. Yes, that might occasionally involve what Wednesday 13 calls “our idiot tendencies”, whether that means getting cross-eyed drunk on red wine and falling asleep in the lavatory of an airplane (as Wednesday recently did on a flight back from Japan) or starting a bar brawl in Germany (as Joey did when the band were last in Europe).

But ultimately, the Murderdolls are a rock ‘n’ roll band, and that’s precisely what rock ‘n’ roll bands are supposed to do. And now, more than ever before, we need rock ‘n’ roll bands who are willing to do rock ‘n’ roll things.

And that, once again, is why the Murderdolls deserve your attention.

Murderdolls are currently touring the UK with Stone Sour. Check Out There for details. Their new single, ‘White Wedding’, is released on July 14 via Roadrunner.

Gig Of The Week

Murderdolls/Stone Sour

Dates: Birmingham Academy July 9, Glasgow Barrowland 10, Manchester Apollo 11, London Brixton Academy 12. Admission: £16, London £18. Support: Elviss.

Some and see us because… Corey Taylor (vocals, Stone Sour): “Where else can you see five idiots kicking ass and getting naked? It’s going to be great playing with the Murderdolls, they’re a great live band. We can’t wait to get back because Donington was awesome. I got some comments about looking like Joe Elliot backstage, and it was weird playing with Metallica in the background. But that was crazy shit, and I got very drunk.” Wednesday 13 (vocals, Murderdolls): “You will see a rock show, not a nu-metal show with baggy pants, and you will see a group of pretty guys – us. It’ll be cool to play with Stone Sour. I sat down with Corey for the first time at Donington and we talked about movies and shit.”

Look out for… Corey: “A couple of songs that aren’t on the album, and Jim doing his weird goose-step walk. I’ll say no more about that.” Wednesday: “Toothpaste and toothbrushes. Fire and blood. That’s all just part of our show.”

Don’t go to the toilet when… Corey: “We’re playing. Hold your fucking piss. If you go while we’re onstage, I’ll fucking kill you.” Wednesday: “We’re playing. You could miss anything. There’s no telling what we’ll do. You could miss my big, giant gun. Which, incidentally, I don’t think we’ll have any trouble getting through customs. I know people.”

If you see me in the bar afterwards… Corey: “Buy me a Jack and Coke. Everyone knows that. We love hanging out and goofing off, when we’re not getting drunk and stripping.” Wednesday: “Buy me a shot of Jägermeister. Absolutely definitely come and say hello. I always hang out with the kids.”

Brett Callwood

[maurypovichofficial2]

I swear the sole purpose of the kelly clarkson show is so that kelly can sing every day to an audience

as it should! she has every right to remind us everyday that she is THEE American Idol.

[tomorrowxtogether]

Do It Like That, the Summer Smash TOMORROW X TOGETHER Brought

Meaning Behind the Collaboration of TOMORROW X TOGETHER and Jonas Brothers

2023.07.08

In early June a soundless video snippet was released in which we see Ryan Tedder and TOMORROW X TOGETHER in a studio listening to what we can guess is a new track. Ryan Tedder is known as OneRepublic’s lead singer, but he is equally famous in the industry – perhaps even more so – as a producer and songwriter.

He contributed to Beyoncé’s “Halo” and Leona Lewis’ “Bleeding Love,” and he already has under his belt three Grammy Awards for Album of the Year for his work on “21” and “25” from Adele, and Taylor Swift’s “1989”. A few days ahead of that clip being posted, Tedder had teased on his Twitter account with a selfie at TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s US concert with the jesting text “Joining @TXT_members ??” One could sense from the tweet that his familiarity with the group was too great for this to be a simple shout-out. Indeed, that video clip itself had been captioned with “A big one is coming”, and we most certainly got that.

By mid June, TOMORROW X TOGETHER posted a group photo by a pool with the caption reading, “We go Together”. It’s clearly designed to remind us of the cover art of the album “Happiness Begins” released by Jonas Brothers in 2019, as was the text which happens to be the opening line to their hit song, “Sucker”. And what do you know, it also happens to have been written by Ryan Tedder. Finally, on June 22, TOMORROW X TOGETHER and Jonas Brothers officially announced their collaboration project “Do It Like That” which will be released on July 7.

Jonas Brothers is one of the most successful boy bands of the past two decades. It is not an overstatement to declare this quite a singular feat, especially for an American boy band. Their longevity and continued new music releases to this day since 2005 – despite disbanding and reuniting in between– is another uncommon feat. From 2007 to 2009, the band appeared mainly on the Disney Channel and solidified their position as the unquestionable heartthrob for teens and enjoyed some of their most glittering years during this time. The members went on to pursue solo careers for about a decade after which the brothers at last found their collective adult identity as a pop rock band. Their being family might be brought up to downplay their success as a group, but maintaining the band as teenage idol musicians and consistently evolving over time is no small feat. 

One of the biggest contributing factors of this successful artistic reinvention is “Sucker”. Not only did it make its debut at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, but it remains their sole single to have reached that pinnacle to this day. What’s even more remarkable is it held its position in the top 10 until August, earning itself the accolade of being one of the “Songs of The Summer” in 2019, alongside Post Malone’s “Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse).” While the title “Songs of the Summer” may not be an official concept, it holds significant weight in the industry. With summer traditionally being the season with much family time – especially outdoor activities – it’s the perfect season for music to become embedded in our collective memories and transcend time and space. Summer anthems become global megahits dominating airwaves everywhere and very likely go on to become still-beloved golden classics. We all know how “Livin’ La Vida Loca” returns every summer.

In fact, Billboard has been running a “Songs Of The Summer” chart since 2010. In the most recent years, “Sucker” still reigned as one of the most successful summer songs. Along with the likes of “Peaches”, “Levitating”, and “As It Was”, for the foreseeable future we are going to hear “Sucker” during the heatwave months on beaches, by pools, and in shopping malls and cafés.

The meeting of TOMORROW X TOGETHER and Jonas Brothers for “Do It Like That” takes place like some learning-by-osmosis for a still fresh boy band that only debuted in 2019. “Do It Like That” has all the makings of a summer hit such as its danceable rhythm that’s bouncy yet chill, a hook that sinks in quick to reel you in fast, and chill and relatable lyrics. TOMORROW X TOGETHER is certainly one of the more successful K-Pop acts performing today, but adding to their loyal teen audience, acquiring universal appeal, and getting significant radio play are not easy tasks for any artist. “Do It Like That” presents an opportunity to clear all these challenges in one go. It’s especially apropos for TOMORROW X TOGETHER this summer as they gear up to make their summer festival rounds where a song like this really adds to their arsenal as a number that can get people vibing immediately regardless of whose fans happen to be in the crowd. 

As for the Jonas Brothers themselves, they have a massive 37-date North American tour planned. “Do It Like That” can be a nice follow-up to “Sucker” as it brings fresh blood to the group’s summer song catalog, especially since the song will bring in the broader K-Pop listenership. That is why the recent social media activity from the Jonas Brothers such as their “Excuse me BRUHH” TikTok with TOMORROW X TOGETHER that reenacts that meme-able moment from the film “Zoolander” and the adoption of a K-Pop industry move of releasing “concept photo” as part of their promotional material, all appear to be much more than just spur-of-the moment online humor. In short, “Do It Like That” is a definitive snapshot of how K-Pop’s most recent forays into the US market have evolved. It has a better understanding of what comprises the market's essence. With this insight, their moves are much more calibrated, thereby yielding opportunities for a mutually beneficial collaboration within the ecosystem. It’s a deft mix of the team’s musical color and K-Pop’s commercial cachet. This masterful positioning was also on display in last summer’s collaboration with iann dior who provided a direct line to the musical sensibilities of Gen Z, and now this summer TOMORROW X TOGETHER is aiming for the charts with Jonas Brothers. You don’t get to see a band like this every day.

[redrumrecords]

SIN DANYI (ENHYPEN) PROFILE & FACTS

➢ BASICS

STAGE NAME: Danyi

BIRTH NAME: Alix Sin

KOREAN NAME: Sin Danyi

NATIONALITY: Korean-American

BIRTH PLACE: Vancouver, Washington

BIRTHDAY: January 1st, 2003

ZODIAC SIGN: Capricorn

HEIGHT: 5'4" (163 cm)

WEIGHT: 44 kg (97 lbs)

BLOOD TYPE: O

➢ SOCIAL MEDIA

INSTAGRAM: @/alixx_sinn [personal]

TWITTER: @/aaahlix [inactive]

YOUTUBE: N/A

➢ GROUP INFORMATION

GROUP: ENHYPEN

SUB UNIT: TBD

UNOFFICIAL POSITION: Vocalist, Dancer, Rapper

FACE + VOICE CLAIMS: Haewon [NMIXX]

➢ FACTS

Representative Emoji: 🦉 [OWL] or 🐡 [BLOWFISH]

She was born in Vancouver, Washington but lived in Seoul, South Korea when she was from the ages of 4-10; then she moved back to Vancouver for a couple years before moving back to Seoul, South Korea to attend a performing arts school.

Training Period: 4 Years.

She speaks English, Spanish, Korean, and Japanese.

She has been signed under Redrum Records as a soloist since April 14th, 2024.

I-LAND Audition Songs: SF9's O Sole Mio and Red Velvet's Zimzalabim.

FINAL I-LAND RANKING: 3RD PLACE.

She ranked number 1 out of the five girls who participated.

She drinks 2 cups of Americanos daily; it's her favorite drink.

She is still friends with the other female i-LAND participants.

Other idols she is friends with: Ateez's Yejun and Yunho, Viva from Stupid Cupid, VeriVery's Kangmin, Minchan, and Hoyoung, Billie, Kep1er, xikers '03 line, Arsene from Bad Omens, Bayani's Yunji, Kwoo, and Narae, Tati from Valley of the Dolls.

She has dual citizenship in Korea and America.

Family: Mother, Father, Younger Sister ('09), Older Brother ('00), Older Brother ('02).

She has horrible eyesight and wears contacts; will wear glasses if her eyes become irritated.

[yumeblue]

my idmas producer...she works almost solely with alt/jfashion focused idols; an american who wanted to work within the idol and jrock subcultures she adored so much. she has a generally easygoing personality, and sometimes gets a little too casual with the idols she works with, to one girls chagrin especially...

[karizard-ao3]

Ask and you shall receive!

I remember thinking it would be funny if as the days of the week went by, Armins body starts to have a physical reaction to the stress he’s feeling so this is was what I had:

- Monday; wakes up late and start of his back rash, Tuesday; back rash has spread from his right shoulder to his left. He wakes up and finds he has a giant pimple on his nose. Wednesday; back rash has now spread to his middle back (very itchy!!). Jams his pinky finger in the classroom door which results in him having to wear a cast. Thursday; back rash has now spread lower. Breaks his glasses. Friday; pretty sure the rash is spreading elsewhere now, his pimple is about ready to pop, he has a cast on his pinky and hand, is forced to wear contact lenses and ends up getting gum in his hair. Also loses his shit.

Also, I loved this idea of both Eren and Mikasa listening to “Drivers license” by Olivia Rodrigo on repeat because they both think they’ve been broken up with. So after the disaster that was Monday, he decides to go visit his friends after school:

Mikasa

- knocks on the front door of Mikasa’s house and is met by the very tired stare of a father to a teenaged daughter filled with angst. Her dad tells him to come in, where he subsequently hears the bass of what seems to be the bridge of Drivers License. Mikasa’s mother also looks very tired sitting at the kitchen table, where she says to Armin “she hasn’t stopped playing it since last night”. He makes the very daunting walk up the stairs and down the hall to Mikasa’s bedroom where he waits long enough to hear the song end and start again. He knocks and is met by a very puffy Mikasa and a thousand tissues scattered around her bedroom with miss Rodrigo blasting against the walls. He leaves her house with absolutely no answers and a snot stain on his shoulder.

Eren

- goes to Erens place next where hopefully Aunt Carla will ask Armin to stay for dinner because his mom is making tuna casserole at home and the Ackermans had not uttered a single word about dinner invitations after he failed in getting Mikasa to turn the music off. As he stands at the front door he hears the music playing from Erens bedroom because his window is wide open and his room is directly above him. He doesn’t knock, Carla doesn’t care, she’s wearing noise cancelling headphones. To Armins horror Eren doesn’t have his door closed, no, it’s wide open and there he is, laying upside down on his bed, belting the bridge to Drivers License as if he’s the only boy in the world.

Armin goes home that night with less answers than he started with and rumbling of his tummy as he accepts his fate of tuna casserole. The bridge to Drivers License is stuck in his head.

Feel free to add your own ideas if you have any!! I would love to hear if you have any suggestions because you’re my idol when it comes to idiot EMA teenagers 😂😂

Please forgive me because I'm doing talk to text so I'm sure things are going to be misspelled but I'm too excited about this to wait any longer to reply LOL. I love that they're listening to driver's license because at 15 years old, in the US at least, the most those chuckleheads have are there Learners permits and so if they wanted to drive past each other's houses to be dramatic they would have to bring an adult with them. Please imagine if you will e r e n inviting Zeke over and not telling him that the sole purpose of him being there is for him to sit in the passenger seat while e r e n circles mikasa's block.

Also, I'm dying at arman's maladies. The rash spreading over his poor, frail body, his glasses breaking... This boy can't catch a break! And then the tuna casserole on top of that. Why does it feel so canon for Armin's parents to cook the most American Midwest shit? I just know his mom is a connoisseur of the different varieties of condensed cream soup.

Is Jean going to be opportunistic about the breakup or is he planning to bide his time?