#also this is yet another show where no one in the production team knows how craps works

[adorablest-mutt]

percy jackson is great vause im a craps dealer so this whole episode im just sitting like "propane tanks? Wow i *fill* these for a *living*" so loudly several of my friends had to turn me down

[wolf-star-chaser12]

Little Notes

| Little Notes - word count: 2874 - jegulus/starchaser oneshot

no warnings |

James knew he should give the book back to Regulus, but the sticky notes inside made it almost impossible. When he opened the book to see whose it was, he didn’t expect to see several sticky notes with Regulus’ handwriting inside. 

James meant to give it back right away, he did, but the sarcastic comments and responses to the boring history book made it automatically interesting. It didn’t help that James also had a slightly massive crush on the book’s owner. 

James wanted to know everything about Regulus, Sirius was only so much help after all. He felt guilty, reading the first few notes. It felt like he was trespassing on something private even if it were only witty remarks as to why people throughout history were stupid and what they could have done better. But if he wanted to know Regulus better, there was nothing more intimate than knowing one’s thoughts.

James' curiosity overpowered his guilt. So he spent the next hour reading through the boring history book, only made better by Regulus’ remarks. At first, it was just chuckling and little huffs of laughter, but then it grew louder and louder. After three warnings to keep quiet by Madame Pince, he was finally kicked out of the library for laughing too hard and loud.

James walked up to the Gryffindor tower, wiping away tears as he remembered the whole ass paragraph Regulus wrote on why Dumbledore was incompetent and could have easily been defeated by Grindlewald. James respected their headmaster, but Regulus had some pretty strong points as to why he wasn’t truly the strongest wizard.

The Marauder’s room was strangely quiet but a quick look at the map showed that Sirius and Remus were in the astronomy tower and Peter was in the greenhouse probably checking on his plants. Another quick look showed Regulus in his room with Crouch and the Rosier twins, along with Marlene’s girlfriend, Dorcas.

James smiled as he thought of their little group, he always wondered how they managed to become friends with Pandora, but nobody could turn her away. Then again they probably didn’t need to since she was Rosier’s sister. But why Dorcas was friends with Crouch and Rosier remained a mystery. She insisted they were secretly soft and refused to let anyone know it, but she also admitted they were as insane as they appeared.

James was caught up in thoughts of Regulus and his friends, but mainly Regulus. He definitely needed to give the book back to him tomorrow. But he also wanted to know more about him. Just then, James had a brilliant idea. He would respond to each of the little comments, even the paragraph.

James spent the better part of two hours writing little responses on the sticky notes. At one point he wondered where Regulus got the sticky notes but then he quickly dismissed it thinking it wasn’t important. He was the most productive he had ever been, writing silly little responses to Regulus. If only he were this productive with his actual schoolwork. By the time he finished writing responses, Peter had already fallen asleep and Sirius and Remus stumbled in, hand in hand. 

“Prongs! You’re still awake? Don’t you have quidditch practice in four hours?” Sirius asked.

James looked at the clock that every dorm had— the only clocks that worked throughout the school, just so they could get up in time.

“Shit, I got carried away. But so do you, in case you forgot.”

Remus’ brows went up in surprise. “You’re doing homework? You? James Potter?”

“Yeah, yeah.” He rolled his eyes. He decided to go with it since he didn’t want anyone to know yet about his maybe not-so-little crush. James knew Sirius would be fine with it and support him, but things were still tense. After Regulus ran away with him, they were still trying to figure out how to be brothers again.

Thankfully the couple left him alone and he soon put away the book, falling deep asleep.

—

If James weren’t the captain of the quidditch team, he would strangle himself for making him get up so early. He wasn’t going to complain, it was worth it responding to all the little notes and getting an up-close look at Regulus’ mind.

James didn’t know when he would be able to see Regulus, at least not until dinner. Even then, he would probably be in the kitchens, away from everyone else. They didn’t have potions that day— Regulus was so smart he was in the seventh year’s class. James sighed as he thought about how smart Regulus was, how beautiful and deadly. It was his own fault when Sirius snuck up on him during the practice he was supposed to be leading.

“Okay, that’s it. Practice is over,” Sirius shouted. 

The team looked relieved to be dismissed even ten minutes earlier.

“You can’t do that,” James said in disbelief. 

“I can, I will, and I just did. Besides, you’ve hardly been leading practice today. Marlene is doing all the work.”

James felt a stab of guilt. Was he really so caught up in his thoughts of Regulus that he wasn’t able to focus on quidditch? Apparently so. He flew down with the rest of the team, hoping to avoid his best friend for a moment longer. 

“Not so fast.”

James grunted as he was pulled back hard by his quidditch jersey. He and Sirius stared at each other before James began to run his hands through his hair nervously.

Sirius sighed. “What happened?”

“What do you mean?”

Sirius punched James on the arm. “Don’t be dumb. What happened?”

“Noth– nothing happened I swear mate.”

Sirius glared at him. It was unnerving how much the Black brothers looked alike. They practically looked like twins, the only difference was their height, hair, and eyes. Not to mention the way they held themselves. But their glares could kill. Luckily for James, he was practically immune to the death glare.

Suddenly, Sirius’ eyes lit up with mischief and sheer joy. “You were thinking about someone, weren’t you?”

James grinned, unable to help it. 

Sirius gasped, “You weren’t doing homework last night were you?”

“Nope,” he continued smiling.

“What were you doing?”

James shrugged. “Eh, just writing.”

“Who is it?”

James' smile faltered then. Sirius wouldn’t be mad, but was it the right time? Regulus made him so happy with his mean comments and sarcastic responses. There had to be something wrong with James, but if there was nothing wrong with Regulus, then what was so wrong with loving him?

Oh. It wasn’t a slight crush. No, it was so much more wonderful than that. He, James Potter was in love with Regulus Black. As simple as that.

Sirius seemed to misunderstand James’ silence for something else when he pulled him in for a hug. James held him tight, not caring that it wasn’t something most boys did. But Sirius was his brother, he would gladly hug him any time.

“I won’t judge you, or be mad. You know that right?”

“I know. Just don’t know if it’s the right time to say anything.”

“That’s okay, you don’t have to. Do they make you happy?”

With no hesitation, James responded, “Yes.”

They pulled away from each other, and James’ hands were still on Sirius’ shoulders. “He makes me so happy, you have no idea.”

“Oh yeah?” Sirius said. 

“I’m just worried he doesn’t feel the same.”

“Well, if he doesn’t, it’s his loss.”

James grinned even wider. “If he doesn’t, I’ll woo him.”

They left the pitch and headed down for breakfast. James hoped he would see Regulus, even if it was in passing. James knew he and Regulus had a gap between classes around the same time, he would try to find him and give him back the book.

When the time came, James was buzzing with excitement. Just the thought of being able to talk with the beautiful boy made his heart soar. He knew he was cheesy and romantic, but that wouldn’t stop him. Looking at the map, Regulus seemed to be walking from Ancient Runes to the library. Much to James’ delight, he was alone.

He rushed through the halls, only slowing down whenever he saw a professor or prefect— even though he needn’t worry about prefects since he was Head Boy. James arrived shortly before Regulus did, which was perfect because he could say he had just found the book.

Regulus looked like a dream with his curls framing his pale face. He always looked perfect— at least that’s what James thought. Regulus walked up to the table where he left his book and looked confused for a second when he realised it was gone.

“Regulus,” James said breathlessly. “Hi.”

Regulus scowled but his ears turned slightly pink. “Where’s my book James.”

He called me James.

“Wher– oh! Here.” James handed him the book, trying not to show his nervousness. What if he didn’t like it? What if it made him mad? 

“James, why did you have my book?”

Regulus’ green and grey eyes were so pretty, James could get lost in them forever. “I just found it, I figured you didn’t want anyone to accidentally take it or put it away so I was going to give it to you but you just got here.” He was rambling and he knew it. But the boy in front of him made his mind melt like butter.

Regulus looked at the book suspiciously before saying, “Thanks.”

“Y-yeah.”

They stood there awkwardly for a few seconds. 

“Right, I’m leaving.” Regulus walked bruquely past James and out of the library. 

James was too dazed from counting Regulus’ freckles— he counted fourteen before he left. James wanted to feel a little disappointed at the interaction, but Regulus didn’t outright insult him or ignore him for once, so James was more than happy. He walked out of the library and to his next class with a lovesick expression.

—

Regulus didn’t immediately think there was anything off about the book. James seemed to be telling the truth so he wasn’t worried. He walked to his next class and met Pandora on the way.

“Did James give you the book yet?”

Regulus stopped and looked at her with a confused expression. “How did you know?”

“I know all sorts of things.”

“I know that,” he said exasperatedly. “But you know everyone’s secrets and little details. This wasn’t even a secret.”

Pandora giggled. “Of course it wasn’t a secret. I saw him take your book last night after he got kicked out my Madame Pince for laughing too loud. I was going to grab it myself but he got to it first.”

Wait what? “Last night?”

Pandora nodded. 

This instantly made Regulus suspicious of the book, but he wouldn’t be able to check it until he finished this last class. All throughout Transfiguration, Regulus’ thoughts kept straying to James and the book. Pandora said James was kicked out for laughing, but why was he laughing? Surely he wasn’t laughing at his notes, was he? 

“Panda?” he whispered, quietly enough so Professor McGonagall wouldn’t catch him.

“Yes?”

Regulus hesitated. “Why was James laughing last night?”

Pandora smiled sweetly, instantly knowing what Regulus was really asking. “Your little notes you always make.”

Regulus felt dread pool in his stomach.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “He wasn’t making fun of them, he kept muttering how funny you were and how smart too.”

Regulus felt a funny little flutter in his chest. He tried to concentrate on the rest of the lesson, but his thoughts were filled with James and his laugh. Oh, how he would give anything just to hear James laugh. The things he would do to be the one making him laugh. 

He was gone for James Potter, his brother’s best friend. 

There was no way someone like James would possibly like him. After all, he was only “Sirius’ little brother.” James would never see him any other way. Impossible.

Pandora leaned into him again. “Maybe when you stop blushing and daydreaming about him, you should open the book.”

If Regulus wasn’t blushing before, he sure was now.

As soon as Transfiguration finished, Regulus tried as subtly as possible to rush to his room. Judging by Pandora’s smile, he wasn’t that subtle to her.

When he got to his room, he noticed the curtains around Barty’s bed were spelled shut and there was a silencing charm around it. Thank Salazar, Regulus would kill Barty first and then Evan if they forgot it again.

Regulus closed his curtains but didn’t bother putting up a silencing spell. Opening the book, he had no idea what to expect, but it was not this— little notes under his little notes. Butterflies erupted all throughout his body and he knew he was sporting the biggest blush ever. He read through the notes like his life depended on it. James’ notes were variations of his if he had said something sarcastic. 

“Pathetic. I could do better.”

“Could you?”

“Honestly, I’ve never seen so little common sense from someone. There’s a reason history is documented just so people don’t repeat it.”

“Clearly this guy doesn’t understand that.”

“I could’ve done that in half the time and with less mess.”

“I would love to see that happen.”

“She left obvious traces. I wouldn’t have gotten caught.”

“She truly shouldn’t have left the gloves there.”

Some were actual notes that gave his opinion, meaning James took the time to read through the passage of a class he was no longer in, just to give his insight. It was the most adorable thing Regulus had seen. The giggle slipped past his lips before he blushed in embarrassment at the noise.

A dramatic gasp sounded from Barty’s bed. “Did you hear that Rosie?”

Regulus shoved the book under his pillow.

Evan pulled back Regulus’ curtains with delight. “It was actually Regulus.”

“Impossible,” Barty said.

“Bat, do you think someone is using polyjuice potion?”

“No one is dumb enough to sentence themselves to death by impersonating Reg.”

“I’m right here,” Regulus scowled.

“You just fucking giggled,” said Evan.

“Shut up,” he growled. Regulus shot them a glare that made them fidget from nervousness. 

Barty dropped it, surprisingly. “We’re about to go to dinner, you coming with us?”

Regulus sighed. “I’ll meet you there.”

They smiled and left the room. 

Regulus spelled his curtains shut and cast a silencing charm this time. He grabbed his pillow and screamed into it before dissolving into giggles. He put the pillow back and took a few breaths to regain his composure before heading to the Great Hall.

—

James swore he wasn’t stalking Regulus, maybe, but when he looked at the map and saw Regulus heading towards the Great Hall, James jumped up and nearly ran to intercept him. He didn’t know what he was going to do or say, but he would figure it out.

Turning the corner, he nearly tackled Regulus to the ground. The boys jumped back before either one could get hurt. Much to James’ delight, he noticed Regulus blush from his ears to his neck before he scowled.

“Do you ever pay attention?”

“To you, yes,” James smiled.

Regulus gaped and flushed a deeper red before he found his words. “You shouldn’t go through other people’s property.”

“Yes, well, it’s technically not yours but the library’s.”

Regulus raised his brow. “Why?”

“Why what?”

Regulus cleared his throat. “Why the notes?”

James hesitated. “Because… You never really talk to me— in fact, this is the longest conversation we’ve had. It felt like it was the only way I was going to talk with you.”

Regulus studied him carefully, visibly relaxing. “I’m not, I don’t.” He took a deep breath. “I’m not good at talking.”

“I know,” James smiled fondly. 

“Then why bother trying?”

“I want to get to know you, Reg.”

“But why?” he asked softly.

Forget wooing, James would just tell him. Maybe not that he was in love, but that he had feelings.

“I like you. As in, I fancy you and want to date you.”

Regulus stared at him with wide eyes. When he still hadn’t responded, James began to get nervous.

“I-I mean of course, if that’s something you’d like. I probably shouldn’t have sprung this on you since you don’t like talking about feelings or feelings in general. But I like you and I was planning on wooing you but then I thought it would be better to just tell you but you probably don’t like me back and I should’ve stuck with wooin–”

James’ rambling was cut off. Because Regulus Black kissed him. He was kissing Regulus Black. In the hall where anyone could walk by and see them. 

He was kissing Regulus.

“I’m not good at talking.” Regulus looked at James. Green and grey on hazel eyes. “But I can try to show you.”

“I’ll take anything and everything you have to give me.”

“It’s not very much, James.”

“It’s everything to me.”

“Even the little notes?”

“Even the little notes.”

James took Regulus to the kitchen for their first unofficial date. It might have taken them longer than necessary because James kept stopping to kiss Regulus.

[pilfappreciator]

ATTENTION TROLLS FANDOM!!

This is very important. Mostly to me but maybe you guys have been wondering this too idk but anyways:

How does troll reproduction work exactly?

Cuz I'm genuinely curious. I dont think anyone on the series production team has said anything and so far I've seen absolutely no one touch on this subject but as someone who's always had an interest in the habits of creatures (both fictional or otherwise), I kinda sorta maybe NEED to know this otherwise I'll never be able to sleep peacefully again

Full disclaimer that I'm specifically talking about the whole egg situation, I am NOT ASKING HOW THEY GET IT ON IF I WANTED THAT ANSWER I'D GO TO DEVIANT ART OR TWITTER OR WHATEVER LAWLESS PLATFORM GOD STEERS CLEAR OF. This discussion shall remain STRICTLY educational, thank you very much

But anywho. Let's dive in

So trolls come from eggs. This is basic knowledge. First instance of this phenomenon (as far as I know, I've only seen the movies) is from World Tour.

Egg pops out of Guy Diamond's hair, egg hatches and BOOM, (literal) baby. Now I understand that this whole sequence was probably just a gag and a way for DreamWorks to implement another (merchandisable) addition to the cast HOWEVER this sequence also raises a few questions

First off, as far as I know Guy Diamond has no partner (again: I haven't watched any of the spinoff shows). Either that or maybe the other troll was a sorta one-night-stand/no-longer-in-his-life kinda situation? Which is great either way cuz its shown he obviously cares for his son and we at Tumblr appreciate a loving single father no matter the circumstances, but if my former theory is correct than that would imply that trolls are capable of reproducing asexually. Like onions.

Now if that hypothesis is, as they call it, "cap" then that would mean that some sorta hanky panky has to go down before an egg comes into question. And if that's the case, does this mean that male trolls are traditionally the ones who carry the eggs?

But that can't be right, can it? Afterall, World Tour gave us yet ANOTHER egg scene later on in the movie

In Cooper's flashback, we clearly see Queen Essence being the one carrying the eggs meanwhile King Quincy is eggless. Now, as far as i see it, this could be explained either one of four ways:

1) Quincy was the one who actually produced the eggs and Essence is merely holding them for her husband (since her hair seems more fitting to be a makeshift nest compared to Quincy's)

2) Female trolls are the ones who produce the eggs. Guy Diamond is just a trans icon

3) Troll reproduction differs from genre to genre

4) There is a... *sighs* a/b/o type of dynamic among troll kind where certain trolls are capable of giving birth/siring children depending on a secondary gender

In regards to theory #3, this could also explain why Guy Diamond seems to reproduce and hatch an egg in such a short amount of time (like 5 seconds I'm pretty sure) as opposed to Queen Essence/King Quincy who's eggs presumably went a while longer before actually hatching.

Actually, speaking off eggs, are trolls the only species in their world that reproduce that way?

Because now that Band Together has officially been released, we now know for certain that it's possible for different species to crossbreed. Biggest example? Resident DILF Bruce and his giant muppet wife

(Credit to @captainunderkrupp )

When I saw these two... I swear...

And these two already have a shit ton of kids okay so like... either Brandi was the one giving birth or trollsona Daveed Digs was over here pumpin out eggs, which I mean-

DO YOU SEE HOW BIG THESE THINGS ARE COMPARED TO BRANCH AND POPPY?? Believe me I am PRAYING that Bruce gave himself some serious maternity/paternity leave because my guy is honestly a trooper

But yeah any thoughts? :))

[kanmom51]

JM's Production diary Documentary

And Live 23 October 2023

So, I don't know how to do this.

Write about JM's documentary separate from his live.

Write about the two without being all over the place.

Because not too much happened, and yet so much did.

So, where do I start? How do I get through this?

At this point I have so many ideas running through my head for posts, so much so that I'm not sure just yet how this post will work out, given that everything intertwines.

I still have JM's previous live to work on as well. Yeah, kind of overwhelmed at the moment.

I guess I will just get on with it, but I do think that more than likely there will be things I will either save for another post or two or three, or forget something (that I can guarantee) or just post on repeat, cause some things we just cannot get enough of.

Let's talk about the documentary a bit.

We got to see the process of JM creating his songs. How they would start with the idea, the narrative. Then the melody, instruments and the vocals and then the actual lyrics.

JM's musicality, his talent, his creativity all showcased.

We also got to see just how nice Pdogg is. How much he loves JM, how respectful he is to him, not to mention how talented he is himself. As a matter of fact, the whole team that worked with JM were super nice and talented and they just all seemed to be having a good time, even while working to the bone.

Oh, and how none of them actually knew English, lmao.

In the documentary we were shown how JM and Pdogg chose the quote from the movie to use in the song. Only that it wasn't the one they actually used in the song itself. And that is because, as JM revealed to us in the live, they picked it without knowing what the characters were talking about, picking a convo between the characters that sounded nice to them at the time, something that would suit the song. All while the two characters were actually talking about a visa, lol. And JM, well, he found that super funny (which truthfully, it really is), so he repeated it a couple of times.

We also saw RM in the documentary sitting down with them talking about writing lyrics. Only for JM to share with us that:

Which JM found to be very funny. I guess now it is, but back then... not sure he shared that same sentiment, lol.

He kept on laughing about him being an idea bank, lol. It's ok to acknowledge your genius, man!!!

Hobi and then Jin show up in the comments while JM is watching the documentary. And I was surprised at that point, given that I really did think JM wouldn't be doing this live, that it would have been pre-recorded. But it wasn't, and thank god for that, cause we all know what happened later on. Less than 1.30 minutes out of an almost 2 hour live, but gosh, what a 1.30 minutes they were, lol.

Anyways, Hobi shows up and JM goes all shy and even stops playing the documentary telling him to leave, that he won't continue playing until he does.

Guess who won that fight, lol. Hobi, of course. JM gives in and continues, once in a while saying they will go away at 9 pm (Jin came in to say that there is some kind of something military related, lol).

Letter

Yes, let's actually start with the name of the song.

Cause for some reason, although they all talk about the song using the word pyeonji (Letter), all while the translation is Dear.Army. Like what the actual fuck? Why would they do that?

Well, we kind of know, don't we?

Someone (cough Hybe cough) is working super hard to cement the song is for the fans.

Please tell me, if this was a song completely meant for the fans, why this incessant need of the company to sell this to us? Why change the name of it in the fucking documentary, while JM and the others are literally saying the word "letter" translating it to "Dear.Army"? There is only one answer I can think of here. And you know exactly what that answer is.

I'm not going to go back to all the reasoning as to why this is way more than a song for fans, I feel like we've discussed this ad nauseam. I will only say that NOTHING we saw in the documentary contradicts what we think about Letter.

You can see, throughout the process how emotionally tasking the song is for JM. And yes, a song for ARMY could be emotional, I mean both JM and JK have immense love for ARMY, and we've seen JK burst into tears talking to army or about army, JM getting very emotional himself. But this, this was more. There are moments there when you can see the anxiety just bursting out of JM.

This song was just MORE.

Especially when you take everything you see in the documentary, JM's state of mind, his words, his behaviour, and add it all up with the lyrics, even more so the missing lyrics. Would be hard to explain how "dongsaeng" fits into "this is a song for army"... Add it to the hidden track. But not only it being a hidden track, it's a hidden track only on the physical CD. Not the digital CD. So, no streaming. A track for Army, for his fans, that not all of his fans get to hear freely? A track for Army that, hmm... maybe wasn't supposed to even be in the album?

We got more than 2 seconds of JK. That's worth a mention too, no?

When I saw this I was: fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.

Cause, no way under the sun, yes, pun intended, that this was about ARMY.

Army was NEVER REFERENCED AS THE SUN BY ANY OF THEM.

NEVER.

You know who was?

The level of emotion we see from the two of them throughout the process... this was so personal.

I rewatched it again today before writing these lines. It's JK's body language, it's JM's body language, it's JM going in to cup JK's face when telling him he wrote a fan song, and JK's reaction.

Dare I remind you that "Still with you" was classified by JK as a "fan song". Dare I remind you what our sentiments about that song are? Yeah, a fans song.

And I will remind you, not that you need the reminder, who happened to state for all of us to see that he was JM's fan. Happening to do so during JM's promotions of Face and before JM's Face Live, which I do not think was a coincidence AT ALL.

They are just precious. What else can I say?

There is this as well.

Also, I don't think I'm the only one seeing this. JK at the end going in for a hug, but JM, reaches out for a hand shake and a bow.

He bows.

Twice.

Now, the not going in for a hug could be one of two with JM. The first could be that it was too emotionally charged and that hug, in front of the cameras, will just be too hard. Too hard not to show the emotions. Too hard to break off.

Or, the second could be that by doing this, bowing the way he did do JK, he was showing us, the spectators, just how profoundly thankful he was for JK, and for his participating in the song.

Now that I think of it there could be a third reason. Which would be the combination of the two.

You know what I also noticed there?

That JK didn't bow back.

So, that's more or less what happened with them in the documentary. Not too much talking, when there is it's subdued, understandably so, given this is all done in front of the cameras. But, there is an undertone of emotions there.

Oh, and did I mention we see JM wearing the very important, at the time, necklace throughout the documentary? On that day of recording as well.

And happy little coincidence them wearing the black and white bucket hats? Lol.

Ok then. By now we all know that JK joined the live. And he does it exactly when they started letter. Quelle surprise. Quelle coincidence. Or was it?

Observations:

JK is too skinny. JM thought so too all while grabbing his tiddy.

JK is really tired. Said he was practicing. Eyes red. He needs to eat and sleep.

JM was genuinely surprised by JK's appearance. Th way he lights up, he was surprised and giddy and excited, his whole body movement, practically dancing in his seat with glee.

JK walks in holding his right hand in place. At first I thought maybe it was injured or hurt or unable to move, a cramp maybe, like the ones JM suffers from at times. But later on it looked like there was nothing wrong with his arm. So was that his way of holding himself back? Restraining himself? Containing himself?

JM signals for JK to talk into his mic,

Pulls the mic up forward away from his chest, and as JK comes closer he lets it go and leans back for JK to move in.

And JK, well why? The mic is right there. Why does he lean in lower? To say hello to Army? Talking to JM's what? Not the mic, that's for sure...

There did not seem to be a chair there next to JM when the live started, and when JK was leaving JM had him take a chair with him. So, as JK came into frame were the staff assuming he's going to be joining JM for the rest of the live? Also making sure to hand him a mic?

And then, JM asks JK "why did you lose so much weight?", all while reaching out his arm, and JK moves forward towards him, and you can see JK's eyes moving down to JM's arm all while JM just goes for JK's chest. Just going straight for the grab.

And JK, he loses it for just a second.

Sniff, gulp, giggle...

And we are back.

JK laughingly tells us he just practiced. But kind of still dumbfounded I guess.

And then I think JM came to as well (you know, awakening from the aftershock of his own actions, lol) and tells JK "time to go", or more so "get the fuck out of here as fast as you can and take that chair with you while you're at it, cause if you don't leave now I'm going to jump your bones right here right now".

Ok, so maybe he didn't say those words exactly, but that was the sentiment, lol.

JM apologises. Thrice.

For sending JK on his way.

And we get the hug. One of those Jikook in front of the camera hugs.

And again JM rushes JK to leave, smacking his butt while he's at it.

JK grabs the chair, tells JM to enjoy watching with Army and tells us he loves us on the way out. And JM sitting there watching JK, giggling, smile plastered on his face, waving by. But that isn't the end of it.

Because as JK leaves JM follows him with his gaze, until he waves him goodbye and only then gets back to the documentary.

And this is when we lost JM for a few minutes there during that part of the documentary, and even more so when JK was on screen singing or during their interactions.

And we also got this reaction to their hug.

What was going through your mind at that moment JM?

After JK leaves there is not too much left until the end of the documentary. And then we have a JM giggles attack. And the man is telling us he's laughing about balloon placements, but seriously, do we really think that's it?

And yes, JM was as always his own shy self while going it alone, and yes, he was finding it hard where to go with the live once the video was over, but this was just more than just plain embarrassment or shyness.

Could there have been someone there waiting for him? Someone that has that kind of effect on JM perhaps?

I don't think JK was there the whole time. He really did leave when JM was waving him goodbye (if he hadn't have left JM wouldn't have been able to get back to the documentary the way he did). But possibly, very possibly, lover boy went to shower and came back in time for JM's ending.

JM tells us during that giggle attack that he will post a pic of the funny balloons only to later post a pic of 19 balloons, the ones in the front shaped like an S. And why do I feel like that was JK's doing? The S shaped balloons...

Clearly the balloons were not placed that way at first.

Someone did this. Question is which one of them. The S, the 19, not a coincidence.

I guess that's it for this post.

Like I mentioned, I know I probably forgot stuff, and there will probably several posts to follow.

But I just needed to get this one out there for you guys. And I guess we'll add on as we go (especially seeing that I've reached my image limit here, as usual).

To sum this up.

WOW!!!

[thelovetheystole]

Heads up, it's another long one !

I just remembered that I had saved this twitter conversation from a while ago, it's from a woman that manages several uk soap stars (Claire K etc), and they were discussing soap returns with her, and how long it can take to iron them out. Two small excerpts of what she said:

Apparently she manages an actress that is about to return to one of the soaps after like a decade, and it's been planned for a long while now, with magazine covers having been shot months ago etc. But still no news is actually out yet about who it is and when. And she's saying it's fairly common for it to take a year from a decision being made to bring someone back until they are on screen.

Anyway, as always I'm thinking of Ryan, and Robert returning lol. They called Danny at the start of 2023 and had him filming by august and appearing by october. Aaron was obviously fairly easy to write back in the show, since he had literally just driven away. But for maximum drama, they waited for SSW.

As for Ryan, when he and Danny had their pub meeting in 2023 he would probably have been gearing up to film ACGAS. We have no idea when he later secured Casualty and Miss Scarlet after that. But we do know now that he most likely started filming Casualty around December and that Miss Scarlet only wrapped their filming of season 5 in April this year. Then he was likely doing ADR for it after that, based on the picture he posted.

Would Emmerdale/ITV even try to secure a deal with an actor who is currently working elsewhere I wonder? Danny talked about trying to talk him 'round in his return interviews in October. But Danny isn't the same as Emmerdale's production team, which by the way has changed a lot since early 2023.

First Jane was there when Danny got the call, then she left, so when Danny was saying those things about trying to convince Ryan, a lot of changes was going on bts. Then Iain came in as head boss, then Kate left, most recently they appointed Sophie... They could all feel different about what direction to take.

Add to it that the Robert character is possibly more complicated to write back in than Aaron, with the prison sentence to consider, and also where they wanted to go with other characters. Would they want to finish something else first, would it clash with another story etc. Another thing is obviously they would want a super dramatic return for Robert, not a random thursday in, say, August. If Aaron got SSW for his return, I would expect nothing less for Robert. (There's always Christmas too!)

I guess this is my very long winded way of saying that I still don't think it's too late for a return, and I think the prospect of a love rivalry with a new half brother sounds a lot more promising from a story telling stand point than 'let's just tell Robert's return story with his brother instead'... They did say adding this particular new Sugden to the show would open for a bunch of new story possibilities down the road. Like what, if not Robert coming back?

But, then again, maybe they just lost patience in waiting for Ryan, and I'm being delusional again, lol.

[respectthepetty]

Pit Babe Colors Ep. 3

Because I have asks in my inbox about the color coding in Pit Babe even though I don't want to watch it, I'm challenging myself with this show and seeing how good my color skills really are. I'm doing my normal thing of watching it double-speed on mute, but now, I'm going to take off the captions.

Jeffery was outside listening (still sus) and these two finally have blue on their bodies but are also still sus. I'm not even going to learn their names because they will betray all of us.

I don't need captions for this. As a chismosa, I know when people are having the "you's a bitch and so is your man" argument.

Where is the red, Jeffery? I stopped for the tattoo, but Jeffery is swerving Alan's advances left and right. I know they will be an item from the trailer, but even though the whole purpose of this adventure is for me to read the visuals, like . . . read the visuals, Alan, and stop touching him.

I hate this club! Its lighting makes me trust no one! I trust Way. I do. I DO! (I don't trust him)

Is the interior of Babe's car blue?!

That one green-ish car among red and blue cars is upsetting me on a personal level, so I renaming it light blue. Also, Babe, why do you play with toy cars when upset?

What in the American Horror Story: Cult is happening here?

Wait, this is X-Men?! Did he kill their parents so he could get a tiny army of kids with special abilities?! HOMIE, NO! This is why Babe plays with cars. YOU STOLE HIS CHILDHOOD! You know what I always say? "KILL YOUR SHITTY FATHER KIDNAPPER!"

There was another guy talking to Alan, but I don't know him, and he was safe in blue. I know this is Pete and he will be with Way (the trailer and opening credits told me). He has no color, but I appreciate the visual.

I hate this show. Is that blue on that red driver? Is that black? Are you actually good, Kim (I hope that's your name)? *trust the visuals* You're good, Kim. *five minutes later* Why are you talking to Big Red?!

The product placement is not slutty and that is unacceptable, but Way always being buddy buddy with these two is even more unacceptable. Way, put some blue on you body, RIGHT NOW!

Do you see that teeny tiny slip of red? I don't trust you, Charles!

Babe even plays a blue car in his video game when he is upset!

I didn't fully understand that video Way showed Babe, but I do see the blue shirt underneath, Charles, yet this is behavior is SUS AS FUCK! Why do none of these guy get the hint when people don't want to be touched?!

Standing in front of a red car, Charles? . . . THE CALL IS COMING FROM INSIDE THE HOUSE, BARBARA!

Charles had been the light to Babe's dark the first two episodes, and suddenly he leaves bed and becomes dark while Babe is blue. I really hate Charles off of nothing but vibes and colors, and I would put a tracker on his ass yesterday.

Thank, God! Barbara got smart and followed his ass just to see him hug Jeffery who magically isn't opposed to touch now. YOU FAKE BLUE BOY!

Enemy #1. You are in my burn book. I told my mom about you, so that means the hate is permanent.

Did I misjudge them? No! Eff all these fakers.

Barbara is losing his shit over a man!

Yet still has him up in house next week. PENDEJO! He was standing next to a red car, Barbara. Do not fall for this liar's bullshit.

I really hope Babe pulls a Carrie and burns this whole place down because at this current moment, I only trust Alan and Pete (because he is pretty). Eff the Red Team versus the Blue Team plot. I'm Team Trust No One.

Order of how much I don't trust these hoes:

Charlie

Charles, but this time by his government name

Those two vloggers or whatever they do

Jeffrey

Way (my man, what happened?!)

[dr-spencer-reids-queen]

Amplification: Part Two

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~1.9k

Summary: A deadly spread of Anthrax is going around infecting and killing people. One of your own is affected that completely tears your world into two. How will you over come this?

Warnings: canon violence, canon language, canon talk of death, methods of kill

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Criminal Minds. All credit goes to their respective owners. If there are any warnings that exceed the normal death/kills from the show, I will list them. If you’ve seen the show, then it’s the same level of angst unless otherwise stated

x

The bookstore has been closed ever since Albert died, and Gayle's purchase happened right before it closed down. It would explain why only three people were hit, and when General Whitworth sent his men in for testing, they came back positive for Anthrax.

Albert's bookstore was the unsub's test run. He's gotta have a history with the place, so Penelope needs to come up with a list of present and past employees of the place, customers with grievances against the owner, and if any of them had a science background.

An attack of Anthrax isn't meant to kill three people inside a bookstore, it wants to be out in the open where it can feed and multiply in the way that it wants to. Just a small amount can wipe everyone out, and they'd never see it coming.

Another hour goes by and the six survivors of the attack are now down to four. This attack is killing people left and right and there is nothing you can do about it. The more they die off, the more family members demand answers for what's happening.

"It feels like the plague of Egypt," Linda says.

"Ten scourges created by God. Plague six was unhealable boils believed by biblical scholars to be caused by Anthrax."

"You never missed Sunday school, did you?"

"Actually, I've never been before. How is she doing?" Spencer asks about Abby.

"She's a fighter. She's held on this long because she's young and strong, but she's started to bleed into her lungs. We're running into another problem, though. When the next of kin have questions, what do we tell them about the cause of death?"

That is a question only Hotch and General Whitworth can answer. You can't tell anyone anything without punishment if it didn't come from Hotch. Instead of thinking things like that, you can try and think of the unsub and profile you have on him. It might help your team catch whoever is doing this.

Because the locations aren't symbolically significant, the attacks are personal. Understanding the significance of the locations will be the key to identifying the unsub.

This personal element strongly indicates a home-grown terrorist like the Amerithrax case. This is someone from the science or defense community. That's why the CIA is here. Hotch thinks they may know him. These home-grown terrorists are myopic zealots that believe that their work is of the greatest importance.

He may have preached about the threat of an attack on America. His coworkers would describe him as histrionic, paranoid, and secretive. He may have logged excess hours at work in the past weeks preparing for the attack. He even might have taken the full dosage of Anthrax vaccines over the recommended eighteen-month schedule and had yearly boosters.

This guy has his own workspace where he makes his product in privacy. He also has access to large, expensive, industrial-grade equipment at work. He's written about the threats of Anthrax attacks and published papers about it, yet he feels no one is listening, and that angers him. Now, he may have recently experienced some sort of professional humiliation like being demoted or fired. Now, that would have been his trigger, the moment he decided to go rogue.

He may have betrayed his loved ones to his cause and may be recently separated or divorced. This is somebody who knows every detail of the 2001 Anthrax attack and has talked about what that suspect did right or wrong. He's watching the news very closely to see how the country reacts, and it's not a good one.

The CIA dug deep into their records and found a video of a classified hearing with the Subcommittee on Defense and Homeland Security in January of 2002. Dr. Lawrence Nichols used to work at the institution and left in 2002. The video is sent to your team at the hospital, Derek's team in Maryland, and the main office with everyone else. You and Spencer go into an empty hospital room to watch the video. Dr. Nichols went to the Senator to ask for money for a project he wanted to do with dangerous chemicals. He went to talk to the Senator about the attack in 2001 and why he should have funding for his project.

"Five people died. If you ask me, we're lucky it was just five. We're lucky that whoever sent these letters used cheap porous envelopes and not a crop duster. America's enemies are capable of wiping out entire cities, and we are woefully unprepared."

"I'm looking at your proposal--"

"Yes, sir," Dr. Nichols cuts the Senator off. "Every household needs gas masks and a two-month supply of Cipro for each resident. Every major city needs hospitals with bio-safety decontamination capabilities."

"Regarding the budget you propose for this operation--"

"Anything short of fifty billion would be grossly negligent."

"Dr. Nichols, you've got to realize how unrealistic that is. We can't justify spending that kind of money on an attack that may not happen."

"You people are in denial!" Dr. Nichols exclaims.

"Doing this would incite fear and panic among the public."

"This country should be panicked! We should live in utter fear of being attacked! We live in a time of war and WMD proliferation. If you continue to be blind to our lack of preparedness, then Americans will die, and I will have no problem in pointing the blame at you!"

The committee didn't fund his project and rejected him because he was becoming unstable and fanatical, which is why they removed him from Fort Detrick and blacklisted him from other prominent positions. Even though he believes in preparedness, he felt like people weren't listening. He might have done this to prove a point.

He fits the profile of the unsub to a T. He had access to research on Anthrax, had the resources available to do something like this, lost a highly respected job, and got divorced in the process. The job he has now is through a company called Bio-Design Technology that doesn't deal with Anthrax but with the Flu. If he got demoted from working with such deadly diseases to working with the flu, he might be angry enough to use Anthrax as a weapon.

Either way, you need to bring him in.

Derek pulled you and Spencer from the hospital to go to his house while Emily and Rossi went to his work to see if he was there. Along with you, Spencer, and Derek, a hazmat team joined you so they can clear the inside of his house. You have to wait outside until they're done with their investigation.

"It's clear so far," one of the members says when he hears from one of his men inside.

"Alright, keep me posted." Derek turns to you and Spencer. "This guy just had people over for a charity event last month."

"We should probably take a look around anyway."

You three walk to the backside of the property when Spencer hisses in pain. You look over to see rose bushes with thorns sticking out of the stems. He must have cut himself on the thorns but isn't too concerned about it. For someone who messes with Anthrax, his backyard isn't too sketchy. There is a pool with a beautiful gazebo area and lots of blooming flowers. Derek's phone rings and he answers whoever it is.

"Yeah, Princess, what's up? ... Uh-huh. Yeah, we're here now. ... Sorry. what? The lab is clean? ... You're sure? ... All right." You watch Derek as he talks to Emily. You're not paying attention to Spencer who goes off on his own. He turns to you and Spencer to tell you what she said. "They got nothin'--Where's Reid?"

You look behind you to see Spencer run into the large shed in the backyard. You and Derek quickly follow after him, but he slams the glass door to keep you and Derek out of some kind of lab.

"Spencer!" you gasp.

"Morgan! Y/N! Get back!"

"What the hell are you doing? What's wrong?"

"Believe me, get back."

"Reid, open this door!"

"Spencer, open the damn door!" you yell and slam your hands on the glass.

"I'm sorry. You can't come in here."

"No, open the door," you whimper. The only reason he would be trapped inside there and refuses to let anyone inside is that this is the place where Dr. Nichols created his Anthrax poison. "Spencer, no, open the door."

"I'm sorry," he sighs.

"Come on," Derek says and puts his hands on your shoulders.

"No!" you gasp. "I can't leave him. I'm not leaving him. Call Hotch and get people out here now! I'm not going anywhere!"

Derek has no choice but to listen to you. He needs people out here now if Spencer has any hope of making it out of this alive. Derek leaves and gets Hotch on the phone, and you look at your boyfriend with tears in your eyes.

"Open this door, Spencer, or I'm gonna break it."

"Don't, Y/N. There is white powder in here, and the air is blasting."

You let out a heartbreaking sob and put your hands to your mouth to quiet them. Spencer's heart breaks at the sight of you crying for him. Hotch and the biohazard team arrive quicker than you thought they would, and Derek tells Hotch where you are.

"Y/N, get out of there."

"I can't leave him," you cry. "I'm not leaving him alone!"

"Please don't cry."

"Spencer, I've seen what this does to people. There has not been one survivor and you're infected now. If the cure is not in there, then you're gonna..." You can't even say it. "I can't lose you. I love you so much."

You place your hand flat on the glass and Spencer puts his hand over yours.

"You need to get out of here."

"I can't leave you!"

"I will be fine."

He doesn't believe what he's telling you because he doesn't know if he's going to make it out of here alive or not. He's lying to protect your feelings but he forgets that you can tell when someone is lying. Your chest feels heavy and your whole body is shaking from fear. Your legs can't hold you up any longer so you fall to the ground in a heap of tears. Someone from the biohazard team comes in and places their hand on your shoulder.

"Ma'am, you need to leave."

"Y/N, listen to them."

"Spencer," you gasp.

The man practically forces you out of the shed to where Hotch and Derek are. Derek catches you when your legs wobble.

"I need to be in there, please. I can't leave him alone. He's scared, Hotch," you cry.

"Y/N, you need to calm down."

"I can't," you hiccup. "I can't lose him."

Hotch needs you to calm down so he calls Spencer and places him on speakerphone so you can hear his voice.

"Hotch, I really messed up this time," Spencer sighs.

"Reid, we need to get you out and to the hospital."

"No, I'm staying right here."

The tears won't stop rolling down your cheeks.

"No, Spencer, please leave. You need medical attention," you cry. "Please!"

"Y/N, I'm already exposed. It's not gonna do me any good to stop working on the case."

"He's already infected," General Whitworth says. "If Nichols created the strain, he may have also created the cure."

"Look, Dr. Nichols is in here but he's dead. Someone must have bashed something in his head. My best chance is to stay here, see if there's a cure, and try to figure out who killed Dr. Nichols."

"Hotch, say something to him!"

"He's right. His best chance is inside. We're gonna get a suit and mask into you right away."

"Don't bother. it's not gonna do me any good. I'm already infected."

This thing killed the first three victims within hours.

The thought of losing Spencer is something you can't even fathom. The thought hurts too much, and your chest starts closing up.

x

Follow my library blog @aqueenslibrary​​​​​​​​​​​ where I reblog all my stories, so you can put notifications on there without the extra stuff :)

[barnowl265]

To all Acolyte fans. I'm not saying this to be mean, I'm saying this to hopefully bring some closure. The vast majority of people who watched The Acolyte did not like it. The numbers, reviews, and ratings are all out there to check if you want. Not enough people watched the show to greenlight a second season, and of the few who did, the vast majority didn't like it. This show LOST money, it doesn't matter how much you appreciated it. If the show isn't going to make money, to risk another season would be bad for the property as it's likely to not do well a second time.

I've seen plenty of comments from people who are showing support for getting the show a second season. While I admire the fact that you appreciated the show and want to see it keep going, you're probably not gonna get a second season. I've been a fan of the KOTOR games for years, and fans have been begging for a movie or show that retells its story. Yet, Lucasfilm has given us nothing but a possible remake, which we still haven't seen a proper trailer for yet. If Disney isn't going to deliver a certified moneymaker like a KOTOR movie trilogy for fans who've begged years for it, then they certainly won't deliver a second a second season of a show they already canceled.

I've also seen where you point the blame, other fans. First off, The Acolyte's cancelation isn't something to be happy about. A loss is a loss. It's a loss for the company, the actors, the production team, and every Star Wars fan out there. Hours of hard work gone to waste. No one wants a show to fail, but making a show is like baking cookies. You leave 'em in the oven too long, they get burned. The Acolyte had been delayed several times before release, and we know what happens to shows and movies that face production delays. It usually means the show has lots of problems and will be lacking in quality. The show failed because of various poor decisions being made behind the scenes that hindered its development as well as hiring a director who didn't do any research, tried to retcon at least two extremely important elements of the franchise, and doesn't consider herself a fan. If you wanna blame anyone for this failure, blame Disney's incompetence for letting this go on under there watch, blame the higher-ups at Lucasfilm for fumbling the bag on choosing a director, but the last thing we should be doing is blaming each other. It's not my fault The Acolyte failed, it's not the YouTubers fault, and it's definitely not the actors' fault.

Which also brings me to my next thing. To all the fans who hated The Acolyte. Yeah, I don't like what it did any more than you do, but be more mature about this. This show had people working hard at this for the past few years, give them some grace. The actors, set and costume designers, vfx artists, camera, and sound workers, where just doing their job. They don't deserve to be insulted for that. The show getting canned is heartbreaking enough for them as is. All that hard work and effort, wasted. C'mon guys, we're better than that.

Star Wars is a universe of infinite possibilities. Some of those possibilities have stood out while others fell away, and The Acolyte will unfortunately be a victim of the latter. I'm not looking for a fight, enemies, or an argument. I'm just hoping to bring Star Wars' horribly fractured community together a little bit. It probably won't amount to anything, but I wanted to share my opinion, and hopefully, someone got something out of it. Please, be respectful in the comments.

God bless you all, and may the force be with you.

[amarriageoftrueminds]

Thinking about how great CATWS was and how Marvel dropped the ball on all the characters from that movie.

Steve? Got character assassinated beyond repair.

Natasha? Killed off, didn't even get an on-screen funeral and her only solo movie was more about introducing Yelena than her.

Bucky? Never got a prober story, was victim blamed, and will possibly die in Thunderbolts.

Nick Fury? Got character assassinated in Secret Invasion.

Maria Hill? Was killed off in SI.

Sharon Carter? Turned into a villian.

Sam Wilson? Unlike the rest they haven't completely fumbled the bag with his character but he was still screwed by FATWS in many ways, and his first solo movie doesn't look very promising either.

Also consider that their sequel to the movie where we find out Howard Stark knew about Nazis in SHIELD (the specific Nazi that tortured Bucky and killed members of the 107, and tried to kill Steve) ...was a movie where Howard is assassinated by Hydra and yet Bucky gets blamed and brutally attacked for it. Even though this is the same movie where we find out Bucky was mind-controlled.

And their sequel to the movie where we find out Peggy knew about Nazis in SHIELD is..... Uh. Nothing. They never address it. A character who died offscreen gets screen time wasted on a fulblown Royal funeral (attended by people who didn't even fucking know her!!)

They treat her like some kind of living saint, to the point where she's now a full blown Mary Sue, with yet another bloody tv show where every storyline must be about her, and her possessing Steve, and Steve is reduced to a Stepford Husband wheeled out to repeat 'Peggy. Is. Perfect' type lines. 😬 (Steve. Blink if you need rescuing.)

All Bucky's everything now belongs to Peggy.

Oh, apart from the blame of course! He gets to keep all of that! 🙂

(Oh, and as per What If, Sam is no longer part of CATWS, his own intro movie, and even Natasha's own movie is now about- guess who?? Peggy! And Peggy having Steve!)

Apparently Sharon has been turned into a villain in the comics, too. Just as they start product-synergy introducing MCU!Peggy to over-ride comics Peggy. I wonder why...

(It's so funny that TFATWS assigned MCU-Sharon MCU-Peggy's annoyance at being overlooked by men (cough the man she's relentlessly hitting on cough) and decided that this would be her villain origin story... and yet nobody has connected the dots to Peggy and her behaviour?)

Sharon and Sam's characterisation only feels like an organic continuation because, frankly, the MCU never bothered to write them being particularly nice people to begin with?

Sam being a fratbro-style dick to Bucky in TFATWS, with a side of dispensing unsound self-contradictory counselling advice, is consistent with being a dick to Bucky (and arguing against helping him) since CATWS and quitting a counselling job at the drop of a hat. (Only the 1980s movie locker-room homophobia queerbait is new.)

Sharon being a villain is consistent with being a Carter not being asked to join the 'bringing down Hydra' team in CATWS, dressing up as the same profession as Steve's dead mother to 'befriend' him while she's just spying on him (contrast: the calling-out Nat got from Steve just for not telling him something), staying in SHIELD while they were hunting down Steve and Natasha, immediately joining the CIA (aka, the people who just happen to have a superhero-proof electric chair and want to shoot Bucky on sight, who also have Everett 'ex-husband of Madame Hydra who laughs at the idea of Bucky getting a lawyer' Ross on staff), ...which is easily infiltrated by a (thinly-veiled-Hydra) villain who wants to mind-control TWS to bring down the Avengers (deja vu??), being snippy to Sam for no reason, continuing to lie about herself beyond the point of it being necessary, and also being a creep who expects a thank you kiss from Steve just for doing one basic helpful thing when asked. *phew!*

But the geniuses who inherited the job of writing her in TFATWS can't see any of that... They see no issues, so they think they've written her 'turning' bad. The writing is still shonky because it still isn't self-aware about what it's portraying. The cognitive dissonance is still dissonant.

(Same problem with Fury. They keep giving him 'bad' things to do, showing him instinctively first joining the 'bad side', eg. Pierce's SHIELD, the Kree, etc. But with the exclusion of Steve yelling at him in CATWS -- and only so that Nick gets called out, but not precious Saint Margaret, ofc -- it's never addressed. They can't do anything interesting with the moral charcoal that they've accidentally cooked up, because they aren't even aware that it's there. 🤦‍♀️)

We were mercifully spared from Joss Whedon's terrible ideas for Maria... (supposed to be a villain in A1, baffled as to what to do with a female character so obviously she should be hinted as a love interest for Steve out of fuckn nowhere in A2) ...only to end like that.

Outside of that AOU Avengers party, where she was chill and kinda gay, I feel like the best characterisation we got for her was when- was it in one of the Spidey movies?? -she was a Skrull. 😤 If only I could say the same of Steve...

[mincedpeaches]

re: this post

>They wanted to focus more on Red Team

And yet no Donut or Lopez. hmmm. Whats that all about.

>considered Simmons to be somewhat of the main character and wanted to focus on his arc

Okay now this I can kind of see. The only thing I think doesn't work is where he ends up. Literally just send him off to be a Sargeant back on Chorus or with the UNSC or something and this would have been ace.

>difficult to get the pacing right knowing it would be a single release rather than an episodic one

Yeah, we could tell. But also I don't think the episodic pacing hurt the good RvB seasons rewatchability when they were the "complete" versions too much. I think they should have just tried writing it episodically and then stitch it if they thought that would be easier.

>they did revisit some earlier seasons while working on it for inspiration

Okay but did they revisit Chorus. The trilogy this was supposed to come directly after. Because if not, plus they're watching old seasons for inspiration, maybe that explains why their characterizations were so off.

>it would have likely been expanded into a trilogy, they condensed the story significantly for the movie

*Adelle voice* We could have had it ALLLLL. But seriously, we could tell this too just from watching it.

>The main story is based on the original pitch Burns gave for S15, but ultimately they went with Nicolosi's pitch instead

And WHERE was Jason's pitch RT? HMMMMMM? Also when did Nicolosi pitch this? What was the difference between his and Burnie's pitch? No offense to Nicolosi but I can't imagine him contributing anything better than Burnie.

>They were also working under relatively tight budget and time constraints

YEAH, WE COULD TELL.

>The production team was very small, Hullum speculates the smallest one they've had since Season 8.

And yet Season 8 is a masterpiece. Much to think about. (Obviously Season 8 probably had more time & money and also Animator Georg (Monty Oum) but its interesting that Matt would bring this up.)

>They consider bringing Tex back to be Caboose's decision, not Church's. Church's plan was trying to bring himself back. They tried to imply this in the script without directly stating it.

Okay I did NOT pick up on this and this fucking rules. Caboose character arc real.

>There was a cut scene showing that Tex and Church spent a lot of time (relative to them) inside the memory unit before it was destroyed.

I'm assuming when they say "cut" they mean cut before filming. Because otherwise why would you trim scenes from your already way too fast paced plot. Also awww. Cute.

>There's another deleted scene where it's revealed Simmons has access to Grif's internet history. Both of them are uncomfortable about this.

CUTTING THE GRIMMONS BAIT. I SEE HOW IT IS.

>Donut is Geoff Ramsey's favourite character.

WELL THAN. WHERE WAS HE. ANSWER ME GEOFF.

[ilikekidsshows]

wait where did astruc say that stuff about sailor moon now 😭 is that like a recent thing or??

---

There's a new interview out, or there's a proper translation for an older one, because I’d heard some of the stuff in it before, but Astruc could also just be repeating himself. The interview is for Astruc’s ego stroking, since he mostly spends it playing the pass the blame game for his contested writing decisions and trying to sound wise and experienced by pretending he’s seen critically acclaimed shows he actually hasn't. He also tries to hype people up for Miraculous being this never-ending show that just goes on and on by claiming he has only told 5% of the story he has planned. I’m just wondering, if he has so many story ideas, why didn't season 4 have a proper story and spent all its runtime setting up season 5 instead? He also claims season 7 will make you rethink season 6, which makes me think it's gonna be another season 4 where nothing actually happens despite this show being supposedly fully serialized now. Or they're going to make some more blatant retcons and pretend they're surprising and totally set up plot twists instead.

A lot of people are freaking out about Astruc saying there's enough of this sloppily-told story to last us twelve seasons, but I’m cringing at his claims that they have Gabriel and André’s backstories all figured out and they’d like to dig into that some more while giving André a redemption arc. He was really into the idea of an André redemption arc, because, as he puts it, André actually wants to change unlike Chloé, who Astruc really totally wanted to redeem, you guys, but she told him no :( 

I’m serious, by the way; he literally claims he wanted to redeem Chloé and gave her every chance to change her ways but she just wouldn't, because real people in her position wouldn't and they value realism oh-so-much, which is why Marinette can install a one-way mirror in the girls' bathroom at her school and not get a felony charge. He loves to act like he isn't the puppeteer holding the strings. I can hardly wait for some retroactive justification for how these rich, middle-aged white men’s abuse and neglect of their children is okay. The show didn't have enough abuse apologia in it yet! :D

Like, I expect writers to lie about how great their writing is, they're trying to sell you a product of said writing after all. I just think, if he's gonna claim he’s doing something new and unique, he should actually check the media he claims his show is related to. Every time he makes statements about shows, movies or comics, he makes it obvious that he doesn't actually know anything a person who’d seen them would know about them. Like, yes, Sailor Moon is the core Scout, but any decisions the Sailor Scouts make are made together or Luna gives them orders. Usagi is not the standard type leader Astruc makes it sound like she is when he says his Sailor Moon -like Miraculous AU would have Marinette “lead her own hero team”. Although I’d be interested in an AU where Marinette actually cares about what others think, Astruc has made it clear that's not what he's interested in, so his description of Sailor Moon is already incorrect before he says this version of Miraculous also wouldn't have a love story, because I guess he thinks the “Tuxedo Mask is useless” memes are the actual canon or something, which just proves that he hasn't seen the show, since from the first episode onward, Tuxedo Mask is an important, helpful ally to Sailor Moon. Just because he doesn't have flashy magic attacks in the first anime doesn't mean he doesn't contribute important insight or distractions or isn't actually physically capable.

Basically, Astruc can't say two sentences about a piece of media without all of it being incorrect. He's gotten way too comfortable thinking nobody in this fandom reads or watches anything not Miraculous-related, probably because, in all these years, the fandom at large hasn’t discovered that Marinette is clearly just Nikki Maxwell with superpowers all the way down to her character design. When you get away with plagiarism, it tends to make you cocky.

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

Doctor Who, but Chronologically 25

I know I know, haven't done this in a while. Check the tag for past instalments

But it's 1905! One year on from all that Flux stuff, and while Jodie Whittaker is back as the Doctor and Yaz is here again we nonetheless have Graham and Ryan back too and no Dan, so who knows when all that's getting resolved. Meanwhile we're in New York meeting Nicola Tesla, who is played by Damien Moreau.

This is a painfully average episode. On the one hand it's fun and features space scorpions. On the other the companions do pretty much nothing this episode, so it's yet another example of "Why are these people here". Yaz comes closest to being relevant by convincing Tesla not to give into a scorpion queen while they're on her ship, but honestly, you could replace all three with sexy lamps and nothing would change about the plot.

Not a lot of plot happens really, and it doesn't happen for 45 minutes. Turns out Tesla has received a signal from Mars, which of course is currently full of Ice Warriors evicting the British Empire, so maybe that's what he picked up? Except everyone thinks he's mad, which is strange, since Britain literally colonised Mars to steal gemstones like two episodes ago. Honestly, it's almost like these episodes were filmed several series apart with completely different production teams.

Anyway Tesla signalled back, but it was asshole space scorpions, and now they want to kidnap him to make him upgrade their weapons or something. They have a queen who is fully humanoid and also played by Rani from the Sarah Jane Adventures. The rest of them literally just look like scorpions. This is a very Legend of Zelda approach to character design.

The episode is mostly a philosophical treatise about dreaming engineers who want to save the world being hamstrung by capitalism, so that's great, but tbh it's thin on character-work. There's a dreary bit where the Doctor phones the scorpion queen and says they aren't handing over Tesla so the scorpions should leave or else, and the scorpion queen says they'll kill the planet in that case, and the Doctor looks flabbergasted even though that was very literally what the scorpions had already said they'd do. I honestly do not understand the shocked reactions at this point. Then Tesla says he has to sacrifice himself in that case, and we get a more toothless rehashing of the Percy Bysshe Shelley vs billions of people debate that we had like ten episodes ago, and once again, lads, once again, I must stress that this is a STUPID way to watch this show.

Eventually they blow up the scorpion ship with the queen on board. How like a Tesla.

Very little in the way of meaningful events! There's a bit where the scorpion queen asks the Doctor if she's ever seen a dead planet and the Doctor says yes and looks a bit haunted. That's about it though. No answers to any of our hanging plot threads, but also no new questions, so we're Winning

Hanging plot thread list:

“She” (an unknown person) is returning (perhaps River returned as Missy. Maybe Me? Maybe Clara???!)

There is something on Donna’s back

An entire planet, Pyrovilia, just… disappeared, somehow. (Maybe because the TARDIS is exploding??? Saturnine was also lost, and that WAS because of the TARDIS exploding. The lion man’s planet was also lost but he was a bit of a knob about it if I’m honest.)

Amy is maybe dead (she’s not)

The Doctor has been cubed (he’s out, but how?)

River is possibly blown up  (unless she’s Missy)

The TARDIS has blown up  (It’s fine now. Except it’s sort of melting now because it’s corrupted, but it’s fine again)

The universe appears to have ended  (the universe is back again)

The Doctor has employed(?) Nardole (And Nardole was “reassembled???”)

There’s a vault in the TARDIS and it contains Missy but we don’t know why (sometimes she knocks for the bants)

What has happened to all these companions and where are the new ones coming from?

There’s an immortal Viking girl now. Her name is Me and she’s now looking after the people the Doctor abandons

What’s With The Silence?

Why was Rory entirely unconcerned by the entire world suddenly going silent when that is Not Normal and should have been, at the very least, extremely disconcerting?

What did the Doctor do to Queen Lizzie One?

Who is Captain Jack Harkness? (Is he the one who gave the companions a warning about the lone cyberman?)

Why is Amy seeing a one-eyed woman in a vanishing window?

What’s with the Doctor’s future involving getting shot by an astronaut?

Is Amy pregnant and why is it inconclusive?

Who is Sarah-Jane Smith?

How is the Doctor Bill’s teacher and why/where does he have an office?

What is going on with the Cyber War and the Cyberium???

Who did the Doctor lose to Cyber Conversion?

What happened with the Other Cyber War?

What happened with the Third War that deleted the void?

Why does Rose seem particularly important?

What’s with the Weeping Angel statues, and why can’t you blink at them?

What order do these Doctors go in? (Eccleston, Tennant, uncertain, Smith, Capaldi.)

Which companion just… forgot the Doctor, and how?

Yaz and Vinder are about to die as Mori/Mwri/Muuri

There is a Lupari shield around Earth.

What’s a Time War?

What’s the Rift?

What’s Bad Wolf?

What happened with Amy’s pregnancy?

In which war did the Doctor become a war criminal, and how?

Who is the Master?

Why has Amy forgotten Rory?

Is Rory plastic or not?

Why is the Doctor sulking on a cloud?

How exactly does the Doctor have a cloud?

What exactly happened with Strax to, uh, tame him?

Which friend killed Strax?

Which friend brought Strax back?

Where did this lesbian lizard and human couple come from?

What happened with Clara as Souffle Girl and the Daleks?

How does Clara actually join?

Why so many Claras?

Why is Missy apparently in robo-heaven?

Why is probably!Missy pushing Clara and the Doctor together?

What is Trensilor and what happened there?

Who is Handles?

The Doctor is about to be dissolved by a beautiful geode man

The universe is being crushed by the Flux

Will the Doctor open the fobwatch?

Sontarans are invading Earth again

Who is Kate?

Who is Osgood? Another name of Clara’s again?

The fuck is the deal with the Grand Serpent

[thenationaltreasuregazette]

The 2003 Script, Act 1

Welcome! To the long-awaited deep dive on the 2003 script.

This will be the beginning of a series recapping the major differences, and similarities, between the 2003 script and the final film.

To refresh your memory, on ye olde internet you can find an earlier version of the National Treasure script from April 2003, and it is a wild ride. In a previous post, I looked at where it falls in the chain of development, who was involved, and how to understand this script as a production artifact.

The short version: it’s about 80% there.

The major beats are clear

All the characters exist in recognizable form

Nicolas Cage signed on as the lead one month later

All the major creative voices had gotten their fingers in the pie by this point

And yet as recognizable as this is as National Treasure, it’s a version of National Treasure from another dimension.

I’d like to go through it, summarize the major differences, and see what we can uncover.

→ I should also note that I basically agree with all of the changes that were made between this script and the final film. All of them serve to tighten and enhance the story, make the characters more nuanced, and make the story more subtle and rich. That’s not to say that this script shouldn’t have existed—just the opposite. I think this version needed to exist in order to get the creative team to the final film. I’m glad this isn’t the film that was shot, but I love this as a window into the process.

ACT 1

FADE IN:

No Baby Ben yet; we jump right into the legend of the treasure.

→ It’s longer and more detailed, including the fact that Andrew Jackson already knew Charles Carroll’s story about the treasure and didn’t believe it.

The story is being told by JOHN ADAMS GATES, who’s in a nursing home, not in his attic, to YOUNG BEN.

Ben shows his treasure hunting potential by suggesting that Charlotte could be an anagram, then promises more directly that he’ll find Charlotte. PATRICK is just as disgruntled as in the final.

CUT TO:

It’s just BEN and RILEY in the snowcat, named The Endeavor. Ben is in his

(late 20s, strong family resemblance.)

Riley is

(25, unkempt)

They’re searching with ground penetrating radar, get a hit, and discover the figurehead’s face in the ice. Then they radio base camp for Ian and the gang to join them.

We learn that Riley is the one who convinced Ian to fund the expedition.

→ My sense in the final film is that Ben and Ian brought Riley in together, and Riley was the last to join.

Shaw thinks the find is too small to be the ship they’re looking for, and Ben explains that it’s tilted, hence the smaller footprint.

But don’t worry, they won’t have to dig it out because...

...the Charlotte is trapped in an air pocket/ice cave.

The Ben, Ian, then Riley repel down into the cave.

Ben tricks Ian into searching the hold, and Riley into searching the berthing quarters while he searches the Captain’s Cabin.

→ Ben’s cleverness is emphasized a lot more early on in this version. He’s both able to think outside the box (as with the tilted ship) and able to manipulate people, including Ian, to get what he wants. Honestly I think he comes off as kind of a jackass. He's more like the Ben we see in Book of Secrets—a self-righteous know-it-all.

Under the Captain's desk, Ben finds a trap door that leads to the storeroom full of gunpowder. The Captain guarding one barrel, the meerschaum pipe, and the first riddle remain the same.

It’s different dialogue, but Ben works out the clue in a similar manner, minus the comedic stylings of Riley and Shaw found in the final.

Ian draws a gun with a literal, “Oh, you didn’t bring one of these?”

IAN Oh, you didn't bring one of these?

→ I'm not kidding he actually says this.

After the same stunt Ben pulls with the flare, only this time with a lighter, Ian opens fire on Ben and Riley.

→ In this version, Shaw is not in this scene to be Ian’s muscle. I think that was an important distinction the final film made, that Shaw does the dirty work and Ian stays one step removed. It differentiates their character functions and it helps Ian feel more intelligent and slick. He’s not just a wealthy thug, he’s the puppet master who pulls other people’s strings. I think that sets him up to be a more formidable antagonist, and a better foil for Ben.

Rather than riding out the explosion in the smugglers hold, Ben and Riley have to break down the hold door and use a harpoon gun to break out of the ice cave since Ian and Co pulled up the ropes.

All the while, Riley is complaining that he should have taken the job at Intel.

RILEY Intel offered me a job with my own cubicle. BEN Do we have to go over this every expedition? RILEY Until I get rich, yes. Ben wheels the harpoon around and aims it at Riley's head. BEN Fine. Now, duck!

They jump into the Endeavor just before the Charlotte blows…

…and go flying off a GLACIAL CLIFF.

Don’t worry, it floats.

→ This sequence gives you a taste of the level of action that will be present throughout the script (which is something a good opening should do.) By comparison, the final National Treasure feels fairly (and I recognize that this seems insane to say but...) mundane. I know that seems wild, cuz the premise of the movie is still ridiculous, but there was a significant toning-down of the action between versions, and I think that was the right choice. In this script, everything is so heightened that stealing the Declaration of Independence doesn’t seem like so big of a deal. Everything is a big deal. Everything is a daring, dangerous action scene. By toning down the action elsewhere, 1. we save budget, and that probably had a lot to do with these choices. But also 2. the story is able to put more contrast between both the life Ben normally lives and his decision to steal the Declaration, and between his belief in the treasure and everyone else’s reality. When everything is already James Bond levels of action for everyone, is a heist really that surprising?

Washington D.C.

Ben and Riley view the Declaration at the National Archives. They also see Ian and Shaw casing the place.

→ There's no "If Ian tries to steal it...." We know for certain that he's planning to. It sounds like that should add tension but it actually doesn't. More on that in part 2.

Back at Ben’s apartment, Ben gives a pocket watch he found on The Charlotte to his LANDLADY, who laments that he can’t keep a girlfriend.

→ While I like this moment showing that Ben is thoughtful (and also kind of pathetic if his landlady is the only one he as to give gifts like this to), I think the choice to isolate him further in the final film is the stronger one. He has literally no one he can turn to other than Riley and his dad.

For more about Ben as a loner and the changes to his character from the 2003 script to the film, see here.

At the Library of Congress, Ben lays out his plan of how he thinks Ian is going to steal the Declaration. They haven’t tried to tell anyone at the FBI, National Archives, or anywhere else yet.

In this version, it takes two minutes for the Declaration to be lowered into its vault, and that’s when its most vulnerable. Ben suspects Ian will create some external chaos that will force the Declaration to be lowered automatically when the guards aren’t there. No Preservation Room required (or mentioned.)

Riley is not trying to talk Ben out of anything, because Ben doesn’t reveal he’s thinking of stealing it himself until part way through this scene.

When he does, Riley is like “nuh-uh” and proposes an alternative.

That’s when the meeting with ABIGAIL happens and Riley does the talking because Ben will "make the whole thing sound crazy."

RILEY No, this is my idea. You’ll try to make it sound crazy.

SIDEBAR ON RILEY - He is by far the character who is most different here than in the final film. Let's do a separate article to unpack that.

ABIGAIL, by the way, is

bookishly beautiful, 26.

She and Riley go back and forth for a bit while Ben is distracted with Abigail’s GW button collection. Then Ben jumps in to spar with Abigail on historical knowledge (she doesn’t miss a beat). She makes the crack about Bigfoot, and realizes they’re treasure hunters.

Abigail is much more direct in telling the guys what she thinks of them:

ABIGAIL We have a very sophisticated security system designed to stop crazy people like yourselves from getting near it.

When they leave, Ben gives fake names for both him and Riley: Paul Brown and Tom Jeffries. In the hallway after the meeting, Ben explains that the fake names are to buy time when the feds start investigating the theft.

He’s also wiping his hands with a handkerchief, because he ALREADY HAD THE UV INK on his hands to shake Abigail’s hand at the meeting.

RILEY You knew we were going to do this all along, didn't you? BEN I was hoping she would believe us so we wouldn't have to.

→ Even if he thought it was a longshot, I like it so much better that in the final movie Ben is looking to Abigail as his last chance before making a desperate decision, not as a formality that he has to get through before he can do what he already wants to do (steal the Declaration.) And for their relationship, it’s important to me that they’re in that meeting on equal footing. He doesn’t already have UV ink on his hands because he’s already planning to screw her over. Like yikes. In that version, they should not end up together because none of the trust-building that’s so key to their relationship is actually real.

There’s also more emphasis placed on how the Declaration will always be in danger until the treasure is found. It's less about only stopping Ian and more about ensuring no one has a reason to ever think about stealing it again.

→ So let’s talk about dominoes. All the major dominoes that exist in the final film exist here, but in a slightly different order. And again, I think the changes made from this script to the final helped to strengthen the story considerably. In this script, Ian threatens to steal the Declaration, Ben reveals he’s already planning to steal it instead, and Riley attempts to make the theft unnecessary by talking to Abigail. Ben doesn’t believe this will work, and he’s already putting the pieces of his heist in motion. In the finished movie, Ian threatens to steal the Declaration, and Ben exhausts every avenue to stop him without getting involved himself. It’s his decision to talk to Abigail, and she’s his last hope. It’s only after she refuses that we see Ben make the decision to steal the Declaration himself. In the 2003 script, Ben seems like he was already ready and willing to steal the Declaration of Independence. He jumps right in. It’s not a hard choice for him to make, and in fact, he seems like he kind of wants to do it. Like he was just waiting for an excuse. He doesn’t try any other options first, and in the one alternative plan that Riley makes him try, he has so little faith that it will work that he’s already putting his heist in motion before that attempt is even done. Hell, we don't even see him make the decision on screen. That paints Ben as self-righteous and a little too gung-ho about this whole heist business. Here he doesn’t seem like a treasure protector; he seems a lot like Ian actually—someone willing to do anything for the quest with very little provocation. In the final film, Ben is pushed into stealing it by exhausting every other option first. We see the institutional walls he keeps running into, which are absent in the 2003 script. We understand that this was his last resort. It also makes his interaction with Abigail feel more genuine. He’s actually trying to connect with her, and taking the lead to defend his own theory rather than letting Riley do it. Then, once he’s decided to steal it, that’s when we go to the Library of Congress so Riley can try to talk him out of it. In the film, Ben is presented as someone who wanted any other option first, but then once he gets backed into a corner, his conviction is set and he won’t be deterred. That’s someone we can root for! That’s an underdog who nobody believes, and who is willing to put his freedom on the line for something he cares about! He and Riley also have multiple discussions about whether Ben should do this, and what it means if he does or doesn’t. In short, it feels like a momentous decision, because Ben has to be pushed repeatedly before he makes it, then spends multiple scenes digesting it and discussing if it’s even possible. In the script, he seems like a guy who decided to steal the Declaration almost as quickly as Ian did, and who will only half-heartedly consider other possibilities. He comes on screen already having a plan, and he doesn’t seem to think it will be that hard. In this version it does not feel like a momentous decision, and that’s a lot less sympathetic.

→ Next time, Act 2!

[sillygooseassociation]

The Facts of Life

Request: i'm screaming crying throwing the fuck up about that jason blurb...now that he mentioned another baby i need you to write about telling him he got you pregnant. pretty please?

Description: Recounting the events leading up to this point of your relationship with Jason, your view of how life works changes as you prepare to tell him big news.

Warnings: pregnancy, mentions of fertility issues and miscarriage

Pairing: Jason Sudeikis x reader

Word Count: 3.4k

A/N: This ended up being way longer than I thought it would be and I don't know if I even fulfilled the prompt how they would have wanted, but I'm super proud of how this turned out! This was requested as kind of a part 2 to Ignore the Headlines and I ended up combining it with the jsuds x reader of Meeting the Crew. Honestly, I think this could all be a little universe, idk, what would y'all think of that? Anyway, the two connected fics are linked, though you can read this one on its own!

-

You were always a very logical person. Facts were facts. Plans were plans. Hopes were hopes. It was best to not confuse or combine the three. There were many points in your adulthood that solidified the importance of their separation.

Walking into 30 Rock, the uneasiness in your stomach grew despite your attempt to push it down. It was finally here. Your first day as an intern at NBC hadn’t even officially begun and yet you felt the need to keel over and throw up everything in your stomach. Taking a deep breath, you approach the front desk where you are then directed to the second floor to have your picture taken, then handed a building ID with that same photo printed on it. 

After a day of being shown the ropes, you finally received your assignment. All you had ever wanted in life was to work for Saturday Night Live. Since eight years old, you stayed up late every Saturday to watch the show, it was your favorite day of the week. Your love for it didn’t deter as you grew older, it strengthened if anything. From Amy and Tina to Seth and Bill, the new age of cast members kept the legacy alive and well. 

So when you were instead assigned to The Tonight Show, a little part of your heart broke. Sure, Jimmy Fallon also helped to carry on the legacy of SNL, but the seemingly fake laugh and cheesy jokes just weren’t what you were hoping for. Hope, it just didn’t work out.

-

After your intern year, your dreams seemed to be coming true as a position opened up for a Production Assistant on Saturday Night Live. You decided to take your chances, updating your resume with your new year of experience before you submitted your application. No hoping this time, just confident in your abilities, that the hiring team would know you were the best person for the job.

That confidence ended up paying off, being offered the job only two weeks after applying, the email offer saying the NBC family didn’t want to lose you. While you were sure that was pure horseshit automatically included in the drafter letter, you didn’t want to complain. It seemed that everything was working out in your favor, not that you were going to tempt fate by jinxing yourself. 

Assigned to cue cards and props, you didn’t often interact with the celebrity guests. To be honest, that didn’t bother you much. You had met a year’s worth of stars while working on Fallon, they were nice enough for the most part. But you were just too excited about your job to worry about the famous people around you. Plus, if you thought about it, none of the hosts or musical guests of the season were particularly exciting to you.

That is, until the fourth week, when Mr. Jason Sudeikis walked into the studio on Monday morning. Jason wasn’t your favorite SNL alum, but he surely was in your top five, and you can’t deny how ridiculously attractive the man is. With your prop responsibilities, your run-ins with Jason were kept to a minimum. And by minimum, you meant a single time in which you spoke to each other when he happened to ask you to pass the sharpie on the other side of the table. You played it super cool, passing the marker to him with a small smile before looking back down to the card you were currently writing lines on, hoping your blush wasn’t too obvious.

It wasn’t until Saturday night that you became quite acquainted with Jason, well more like Jason’s crotch. Staring at his crotch for five minutes as two adults dressed like children harassed him. This situation would have been awkward enough on its own, but with him being dressed in khakis? Your suspicions about a certain size while watching him in khakis on Ted Lasso seemed to be confirmed.

Sitting in a small compartment for five minutes, only busy when handing Jason his two props, you decided to close your eyes in an attempt to ignore the view you had. That decision failed, not being able to do it for even thirty seconds. Trying to distract yourself, you thought of your plan for the rest of the evening: finish the show, clean up all the cue cards and get them in their room, head to the subway for your ride home, eat something when you get to your apartment and then head to bed, all before you then come back to 30 Rock the next day.

After a helpful host, a dirty accidental joke made by said host, and the episode coming to an end, you made your way to the card room. Less boring than it sounds, the room is lined with shelves holding every single cue card in Saturday Night Live history. The nerd in you feels like combusting every time you’re in this room. Hearing a light knock on the door, you turn to see Jason leaning on the door frame, a bashful smile on his face as you make eye contact.

“Hey, Y/N.” Hearing him say your name, you drop the stack of cards you’re holding, muttering under your breath as you reach down to grab them “Fuck.” Jason chuckles, walking closer as you stand back up, putting the stack in their spot on the shelf before turning back to him, “Am I really that horrible? I make you curse and drop things?” You shake your head and chuckle in response, looking down at the floor nervously, “No, you’re not horrible. Just didn’t expect you to know my name.”

Jason gives you a confused look as if you were completely stupid for even suggesting such a thing, “Of course I know your name. I’d be a piece of shit if I didn’t ask the name of someone staring at my dick for five minutes.” You laugh heartily, relaxing a bit as you round the table in between you two to lean against it next to where he stands. “Good to know, good to know.”

Jason turns to look at you, a small smile on his face before he looks down at his sneakers, playing with his feet a bit. “Speaking of which, I wanna apologize for that comment I made earlier, I would never mean to make you feel uncomfortable.” You smile at him in thanks, nudging his shoulder lightly with your own, “Thanks but, it's okay, I could tell you didn’t mean anything by it as soon as you realized what you said.” 

He chuckles, looking at you with a joking expression, “Um, excuse you, it was totally intentional. I was just making sure you had a good sense of humor. Had to make sure the SNL crew hadn’t lost the spark since I left, ya know?” Giggling as he winks at you, you nod your head, “Ah, totally. I’m sure that’s what happened.” 

Jason laughs with a twinkle in his eye, deciding to just go for it, “Really though, I’m sorry. I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable. Definitely don’t want to make a bad impression on anyone.” He pauses, looking down nervously before looking back up at you, wearing an impish smile, “Especially you.”

At that, your face turns as red as the giant dog often known as Clifford, a response that Jason laughs at before moving, standing in front of you as he begins to end a conversation he desperately wants to continue, “Anyway, I gotta get going, don’t wanna keep the old friends waiting. You’re coming to the after-party, right? I’d love to apologize once more over drinks.” 

You nod at an embarrassingly quick speed before realizing how desperate you probably look, slowing your nods in an attempt to come off as cool, “Yeah, of course. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Jason smiles brightly at your response, walking backwards to the door, never breaking eye contact with you. As a result, he walks into the door frame, and while it definitely hurt his shoulder blade, he would do it a million times over if it meant he got to hear your giggle that came out at his goof up. “Great, I mean, good, um, cool. I’ll make sure to keep an eye out for you.” 

So much for planning on heading home after that.

-

You reorganize the crayon box once more, wanting it to be in perfect rainbow order. But what do you even do with the browns? Do you put them next to red because of their similar darker hues? Or do you go from purple into gray which then goes to brown? And don’t even get you started on white, does it go with the light pinks and purples because they’re all light, or next to the black as the two ends of the color spectrum? Letting out a groan of frustration, you rearrange the order again before feeling someone sit down on the bar stool next to you at the kitchen island. 

“Um, baby? You okay?” Turning to Jason in exasperation, your worries aren’t gone but they are surely quieted when seeing the concerned and loving look on his face. “Y-yeah, I’m fine, just want everything to be perfect.” Jason gives you a look that seems to be a cross between compassion and pity, though you know he doesn’t truly pity you. “Y/N, you do know that my children have been to my house before, correct?”

Rolling your eyes, you give him a displeased look though his chuckle in response clearly shows that he’s not taking you seriously, “Yes, Jas, I know that your children have been here before, God. But they haven’t been here before while I have been here.” Jason nods in understanding, pulling you closer so that he can give you a reassuring kiss on the forehead, “That is true, but I don’t think it truly will matter.” 

You sigh as you nod slightly, leaning into his side as you mess with a couple of the crayons, “I know, I know. I factually know that I have nothing to worry about, but that still doesn’t mean that I’m not nervous to meet them.” Jason rubs circles on your lower back, kissing the side of your head, not sure of the right way to calm your nerves but knowing physical touch won’t hurt. “And that’s totally fair hun, I would be nervous too if I was in your situation. But I truly don’t think you have anything to worry about. Daisy and Otis could be happy just sitting here and talking your ear off for hours.” You look at him with a small smile and a light giggle, “Hm, I wonder who they get that from.” 

Jason takes his arm from around you, standing up as he rolls his eyes and waves you off, walking to finish cleaning the dishes, “Yeah yeah, whatever. Anyway, you love them and you haven’t even met them yet, you’ve told me as much. As long as they have someone showing them the love they deserve, they will be happy and content. Which is exactly how I’ll be too.” He sends you one more reassuring smile before turning to the sink, scrubbing the last few dishes as you walk over, hugging him from behind and kissing his left shoulder blade through his sweatshirt. “Thanks bubs, you’re right, I know you are. I just want to make the perfect first impression, I plan on being in their life for as long as you and they will have me.”

Turning off the water, Jason turns around in your arms to return your embrace, kissing your forehead before then leaning his on yours, “So forever? Because that’s what I’m planning on.” You blush deeply, nodding intently before leaning in to give him a gentle kiss, “Sounds perfect.”

The doorbell rings throughout the Manhattan Brownstone, the two of you heading to the door, hand in hand. Before opening it, Jason turns to you, “You’re gonna be great baby, just think, you can’t make a worst first impression on the kids than I did on you.” You push down your sure-to-be loud laughs as he opens the door, two small humans hugging him tightly before turning to you with bright smiles.

Your facts were right, you had nothing to worry about. No one can make a worst first impression than Jason.

-

Jason began to tease you about spending the rest of his life with you after about six months, around the same time you met the kids. His teasing turned to serious promises to make you his wife a little after your one-year anniversary. Little comments about having children together were dropped here and there. Talks of an engagement coming soon came two years in, just before meeting his Ted Lasso family, the two of you finally feeling comfortable to take the risk of being seen in public together. He then made his raging baby fever known about a month after getting down on one knee. 

After four months with a ring on your finger, you had gotten in the habit of remembering to put it back on after taking a shower. The day after your engagement, Jason saw you walking around the house without it on and his heart broke just a little. You were slipping the ring back on during your morning routine when you realized it was the 15th of the month, or more specifically, three days after when your period normally began. 

As soon as Jason told you that he was serious about wanting more kids with you, the two of you began trying. Of course, the actual act was fun, but he was already a bit of an older dad and he wanted to be as young as possible for any children you had. You also couldn’t wait, the idea of carrying Jason’s child and having a human that was the perfect mix of you brought a smile to your face. Your hearts were full of hope that you would be able to welcome a child into this world together.

As you realized the date and that your cycle hadn’t started on schedule, you quickly pulled a pregnancy test out from under your sink. Quickly doing the necessary steps, you sat on the edge of the bathtub as your phone counted down from five minutes, the test placed on the counter in front of you. Of course, this wasn’t a complete surprise. You and Jason haven’t used condoms since you became exclusive and you went off the pill as soon as you agreed to start trying. You planned for this, you had sex at least once a day when ovulating, you abstained from alcohol, and you even tried the old wive’s trick of putting your legs in the air after orgasming (that one was Jason’s idea). Even with all of the planning, you never expected it would work after only three months of trying.

You were on your feet as soon as the phone timer went off, turning the test over to reveal the life-changing result. Tears instantly ran down your face, having trouble believing the word on the white stick, pregnant. Just to be sure, you took three more tests, all different brands. Sure, you were crying while peeing on each stick, but how could you not? Once the three additional tests agreed with the original diagnosis, you let out a screech, you were pregnant!

Once you and Jason decided to try, baby talk was pretty much all your conversations consisted of. Sure, you still talked about your days and went on weekly dates, but at night, when laying in your shared bed - often after sex - your conversations eventually led to being about the baby. How Daisy and Otis would respond, the different names you each liked, or how long of a break Jason would take when the baby arrived. No matter what, you talked about the baby. Jason would ask things like, “When we have a baby, do you think we should move out of the city? We have the space here, but maybe a brand new house would be fun.” You would respond and you wouldn’t correct him, but every time you talked about the baby, you refused to use the word ‘when’.

Sure, you dreamt of having a child with Jason. You were perfectly content being a stepmom to Otis and Daisy, they are your kids as much as they are Jason’s. But that doesn’t mean you didn’t yearn for another child to call your own. As much as you wanted another child, it wouldn’t necessarily happen. What if you and Jason are unlucky and couldn’t get pregnant? What if you are infertile and don’t know it? What if you get pregnant and miscarry? You don’t know if you’d have the ability to try again after that. Of course, you could always adopt or find a surrogate, but to have a child this way, there was no way to know for sure that it would happen. So you stood firm in your word choice, ‘if’ not ‘when’.

-

When Jason entered your house that night, exhausted after a day of filming, he was overjoyed to see a receipt from his favorite pizza joint dropped on the ground. As much as he loved your cooking, some days he just needed to fill his stomach with pizza to his heart’s content, and somehow, you always knew when those days were. Sneaking up behind you as you open the lid of the delivery box, he wrapped his arms tightly around you, pressing a kiss to the base of your neck, “Hey there, beautiful.”

Smiling brightly, you lean back into Jason’s arms, enjoying his warmth and smell. You always loved the smell of your fiancé, you stole his clothes whenever possible. But with how his scent dominated the smell of the pizza as soon as he walked in, at least in your mind it did, you could already tell that your pregnancy hormones would be going crazy for his pheromones. 

Pulling at Jason’s arms lightly, he loosens them just enough for you to turn around in his grasp, wrapping your arms around his neck before you pull him in for a sweet kiss. Jason deepens the kiss, running his tongue along your bottom lip; and as much as you wanted to give in, you desperately wanted to eat the pizza and also couldn’t hold your news in much longer. You pull away a bit, though Jason chases your lips, much to your entertainment. Laughing at him, you push him away slightly as you leave his embrace, sitting down at the table, “Settle down cowboy, maybe later.”

Playful pouting before laughing at himself, Jason secedes, pulling out his chair though you stop him before he can sit down, “Oh, sorry bubs, I forgot the plates, can you grab them?” Nodding happily, Jason rounds the corner to the kitchen, “What did you get up to today, hun?” Humming in thought, you remember the cute bookstore you passed that day, “Oh! I went into the cutest bookshop today, there was this whole kids’ series about soccer, well, football, and it explains the rules and everything, in baby terms of course. Super adorable. I took a picture so I can find it later, definitely need to buy that when we have the baby.” 

From the kitchen, which you don’t have a view of from the dining room table, Jason chuckles lightly in response, “That’s a fun idea, but does it explain offsides? But yes, definitely need to get that for…” He trails off, to which you smile, knowing he caught onto what you said. Jason rounds the corner with wide eyes, two plates in hand, “Y/N, did you say ‘when’?” Nodding with a bright smile, your legs bounce with excitement, “Mhm, I did say ‘when’.”

At the speed of lightning, Jason put the plates down and crosses the short distance to you, pulling you into his tight embrace. He holds you to his chest, tears running down both of your faces, then squeezes you with excitement. Pulling back, he kisses you passionately while holding your face in between his hands, your tears mixing together. Pulling back slightly, he rests his forehead on yours, both of you attempting to calm your racing hearts. Clearing his throat, Jason looks deeply into your eyes with a fondness you had never seen in them before.

“We’re gonna have a baby?” He speaks so softly, almost as if saying it out loud will snap him out of his dream. You smile softly, reaching up to wipe away his tears, “We’re gonna have a baby.”

Maybe you needed to rethink your logic. Looks like hopes, plans, and facts can all come together for good things, for the best things.

[tomorrowxtogether]

The inner workings of idol casting are what brought TXT and EN- to the world

When it comes to scouting, it’s all about plucking stars from the sky

2023.04.10

BIGHIT MUSIC Casting head Hong Seung Woo can still remember the first time he caught sight of future TOMORROW X TOGETHER member BEOMGYU. “Even though I was far away, I could see he had really strongly defined eyes, nose and mouth as he ran for his parents’ car, and I chased after him with all my might knowing I couldn’t just let him go.” His sharp eye, which he used to find TOMORROW X TOGETHER members BEOMGYU, TAEHYUN and HUENINGKAI, as well as ENHYPEN members JUNGWON, HEESEUNG, JAY and SUNGHOON, is a testament to how important scouting and, more broadly, casting are in the K-pop world. MOA, the fandom of TOMORROW X TOGETHER, often asks how BIGHIT MUSIC was ever able to find five members with their looks, personalities, backgrounds and capacity for growth, as well as how different they are from one another. If TOMORROW X TOGETHER were made up of different people, it’s unlikely they’d be anything like the group they are today. If ENHYPEN didn’t include former figure skater SUNGHOON and taekwondo buff JUNGWON, it’s likely the performance styles and even seemingly trivial in-house content items may have been impacted. “From management to production, things only move forward when the casting’s done the right way, and that’s what makes it the first step of everything in the entertainment industry,” Hong explained. “That makes the casting team an important pipeline that’s tightly integrated with all other areas.”

Every possible way is utilized for casting: open auditions held by labels, visits to K-pop academies and even scouting on social media. Of all the approaches available, you might expect chance encounters with future talent through street scouting to yield low results, but there’s a surprisingly active effort toward it. It’s exactly how Hong discovered BEOMGYU in front of his middle school in Daegu and where he handed his business card to future ENHYPEN member HEESEUNG as the idol-to-be left the entrance exam for an arts high school “wearing a red padded jacket” but whose “face is what immediately caught my eye.” While good looks are an important factor when it comes to street scouting, it’s what comes next in the process where the true casting takes place. According to Hong, although neither BEOMGYU nor HEESEUNG had ever had any training whatsoever, they showed clear potential during their auditions. “As soon as I heard BEOMGYU’s voice, I knew he would be great with some training,” Hong said, “and you could tell HEESEUNG had a feel for singing right from the start.” He could see what direction and how far the two boys would go after training with BIGHIT MUSIC (then Big Hit Entertainment) despite their as-yet unpolished abilities and that’s what led to the label signing them on as trainees. HEESEUNG had the skill and the attitude to make him, in the other ENHYPEN members’ words, the “model image and paragon of a trainee,” placing him top of the trainee class every month. BEOMGYU was not only ready to debut after a short time of preparation but also the song he wrote while first learning the craft, “Maze in the Mirror,” was included on one of TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s albums. Cases like these demonstrate why Hong emphasizes each person’s “potential” again and again. “There’s so many times that someone thinks they can’t sing or dance but they actually have a talent they don’t know about. We’ll even ask candidates to sing the national anthem or their school song when needed. We also have them rap or act. It’s impossible to say what talents will turn up where so we keep every door open.”

With the increase in people who want to become idols, the number of auditions has increased as well, giving them an opportunity to have their skills and potential judged directly. It’s for this reason that there are academies that specialize specifically in preparing students for the K-pop audition process entirely separate from those for music and dance alone. “We used to focus on vocal or dance skills, or teaching for school entrance exams, but now we provide training exclusively for idol auditions,” a representative from one such academy said, explaining that there’s now a demand for “training that prepares people for the audition screening process.” Their academy has come up with a system that focuses on teaching idol hopefuls to put on “a performance that most effectively shows off what makes them unique by taking a balanced approach that doesn’t prioritize either vocals or dance over the other,” and they coach students in how to maximize their individual visual appeal, too. For example, if someone aspires to join BIGHIT MUSIC and has something about them that reminds of YEONJUN from TOMORROW X TOGETHER, they receive help on crafting “a similar image, using YEONJUN’s hair and styling as reference.” As K-pop idols continue to become more skilled and the expectations in scouting and auditioning for labels have followed in tow, thorough training for a high level of aptitude across a wide spectrum of talents has become an integral part of the process for attaining the idol dream. In that sense, scouting and auditioning are equivalent to a job-hunting process in the eyes of prospective idols today, the academy rep said. “Everyone finds the process of looking for a job hard. You have to have the right stuff on your resume and put together a portfolio. What these people are doing is making a portfolio made up of singing, dancing and themselves.”

With everything idols-to-be put into training to try and become one of the labels’ trainees now, being selected through scouting or auditions is more and more about the amount of effort they’re willing to put in. It’s becoming less and less likely to be selected on looks or first impressions alone. “These days it’s hard to make it to the end, even if you look good, if you don’t have talent,” the academy rep said. “Naturally, talent tends to be proportional to the amount of practice you put in. So few people are actually scouted and it can take more than a year to be signed as a trainee, especially with the major labels, but those who continuously set goals and put in the time and effort make it in the end.” Some labels monitor how well probationary trainees are coming along before officially inducting them, and trainees in this situation are especially aware of this reality. “For those who get feedback from the label telling them where they can improve and that they should work on it, if they take that and make a real effort to improve, they usually make the final cut.” Some people therefore have the “potential” that Hong pointed to, but others can also reach the same level on their own sheer willpower. In ENHYPEN leader JUNGWON’s case, Hong received his photo from another trainee’s mother and was immediately “surprised by how cute he looked, so I had to at least check this kid out, even if it’s just because he’s so cute. They set up a proper meeting after JUNGWON had finished training with another label and Hong casted him after seeing he had “a good overall balance of singing, dancing and looks.” After Hong wrote a report on JUNGWON for the label, he was concerned how “his cuteness unfortunately didn’t come across as well as it could” and Hong suggested he go on a diet. The eventual ENHYPEN leader instilled renewed confidence in Hong, making a “drastic change in a really short timeframe thanks to cutting out his nightly ice cream completely and working out.” Hong felt “from now on he could do anything if he’s that driven and persistent.”

The academy rep said there’s been an increasing number of young hopefuls who “find the right academy and program by themselves and register after getting consultation on their own.” Teen stardom seekers have become very active in the process and it’s having a positive effect on their personal development, including in nurturing their talents. “Their one goal training to be an idol is to debut, but they also have a lot of fun doing it. They feel alive because they’re doing something and they end up knowing how to do more things in the world.” It’s also become possible thanks to “parents becoming much more aware about K-pop idols due to world-famous groups like BTS.” Hong added that he can feel how “the acceptability has clearly gone up because of this generation of parents having a comparatively strong understanding of K-pop culture.” JAY from ENHYPEN has previously talked about how he had given careful consideration to his future plans after wrapping up his previous training, at which point he had taken lessons with the goal of being a part of Big Hit Entertainment like BTS before him, practicing hard before finally passing the audition. “He stood out more than anyone his age,” Hong recalled upon having met him. “He was especially good at rapping and came across as shy at first but it was amazing to see how confident he looked as soon as he started rapping—like he had never been shy at all.” It was at that moment when all the effort he had put into, as he said, practicing for months to sharpen those skills, finally paid off. The representative with the academy stressed the importance for there to be safety measures in place to protect teenagers at a time when it’s become so commonplace for them to pursue the dream of becoming an idol. There’s fairly open access to relevant information now compared to how shrouded in secrecy the label audition process was in the past but there are still some questionable people who prey on kids’ dreams of the idol life, which is why the academy rep works so hard to share information about all the different trainee ecosystems, including their scouting and auditioning processes. “For aspiring idols, the more information, the better. I think it’s on the adults to create a healthy culture since this is a world for people in their teens and 20s.”

Generational changes have had a progressive impact on the casting process, but changes in the K-pop market have had an impact as well, as HUENINGKAI’s own experience shows. “HUENINGKAI looked particularly young for his age but it’s his voice that really stands out in my memory,” Hong said. “He had the pop vibe Big Hit Entertainment was going for at the time and I thought he would go a long way to making the team succeed not only in Korea but worldwide.” TOMORROW X TOGETHER was intended to appeal to a global audience directly from the debut and so Big Hit Entertainment was looking for trainees who would have global appeal right from the scouting stage. According to the academy rep, “It used to be that companies like overseas labels came looking for training or auditions, but now there’s far more individuals contacting us because they want to become idols in Korea.” As K-pop spreads the world over, people from all around want to become K-pop idols and, at the same time, the industry is looking abroad to scout for and cast people, which is exactly why the global BIGHIT MUSIC NEW BOY GROUP AUDITION is being held: to find future members of the successors to BTS and TOMORROW X TOGETHER. Hong said the auditions for BIGHIT MUSIC’s third boy group has an identical set of standards for all potential talent, whether Korean or not, and that “anyone who dreams of being an artist can try out.” The academy rep offers what could be another tip for those looking to audition: “The labels never used to give much thought to things like academic performance but nowadays I think they’re accounting more for grades and the ability to speak multiple languages. I think they’re paying more attention now to those who show themselves to be individualistic and self-motivated.”

When TOMORROW X TOGETHER member TAEHYUN talked about his own casting experience in the group’s promotional video for BIGHIT MUSIC NEW BOY GROUP AUDITION, he said he chose BIGHIT MUSIC over all the other labels that were trying to court him because he “felt certain that I would receive wholehearted support.” That was after the casting team spent a lot of time and effort to persuade the future idol at a point when he was refusing to become an idol trainee. Although he didn’t scout TAEHYUN personally, Hong was the one who first told TAEHYUN’s scout about him. “TAEHYUN’s so shrewd that he already had his whole life planned out despite being so young,” Hong said. “He was really passionate about his studies and was determined to get into a good school. He was mature and realistic, so we didn’t feed him an idealized version—we told him everything straight and we were realistic about it.” SUNGHOON was making a name for himself as a figure skater before he eventually debuted with ENHYPEN—again the result of Hong “pouring everything I had into” getting the future idol on board. Hong spent a significant amount of time talking with SUNGHOON’s parents, trying to persuade them with various possibilities including that he take on his careers in sports and music simultaneously. “In the end,” Hong said, casting is all about “sincerity.” Casting directors must come prepared with a full vision for their hopefuls and concrete steps the trainees-to-be can take to fulfill it, and be confident in their decisions at the same time. It’s that confidence that led him to persuading SUNGHOON, who already showed many different talents, to try out to be an idol. “I figured he would pick up dance quick thanks to all his experience figure skating and, seeing as he was an athlete, I was confident he would be responsible and competitive. People with that kind of ambition always end up doing well.” Hong’s confidence went on to completely reshape someone’s life. 

Back when they were still known as Big Hit Entertainment, the label had just one team taking on a new artist’s every need—from casting all the way to training and management. Now, BIGHIT MUSIC has a separate, specialized team for every concern, and they continue to iterate on their casting process to this day. According to Hong, the BIGHIT MUSIC Casting team continuously researches new methods on the best paths to cast artists, evaluation standards that are in line with the latest trends and approaches to promotion and scouting in addition to actually casting group members. “For casting, you can’t get stuck in an outdated mindset and you have to be quicker than anyone at picking up, and then keeping up with, new trends and especially those that are unique to and popular with teens,” Hong explained. That’s why the casting team “goes out and interviews teens directly about what they like to do, their patterns, what they’re interested in and more,” developing new avenues for scouting based on the information they amass. “Using apps like ZEPETO and Bondee that are popular with teens” is something else they consider when making contact. “We take many different possible approaches to casting, researching the trends of today and doing market research like plotting out the appearances of idols by generation and the characteristics of each country and making guidelines for that.” Hong said that casting is “mostly intuition- and feeling-dependent” and it isn’t absolutely required that they make concrete, systematic decisions for such a subjective and abstract job. Still, the reason for taking the approaches they do is clear. “If it could be in any way helpful, we just try it. We’re always eager to discover people’s latent potential and help them explore their dreams of becoming an artist. That’s also why we work hard to cultivate casting professionals by establishing a system for casting and improving on that process.”

Last year on Teachers’ Day, JUNGWON expressed his gratitude toward Hong on the EBS radio show Listen, calling Hong a memorable mentor and explaining how he spared no effort giving advice and encouragement from the time JUNGWON was casted to the day he became an artist. When artists he casted reach out from time to time to tell him they’ll never forget his efforts, Hong said, “any sense of feeling tired or drained goes right out the window and I think about how I made the right choice getting into this job.” But for anyone working in the field, that same sense of joy is accompanied by an equally serious sense of responsibility. “I used to go full speed, fearlessly, into casting, but since then I’ve necessarily started to think things through a little bit more and be more cautious,” Hong said. “My decisions change the daily and long-term lives of countless people.” Not only does the decision to cast someone in the role of idol have a profound impact on that person’s teens and 20s, but that one person in turn will have an influence on innumerable others. That’s why happiness for casting directors like Hong is their discovered trainee blooming into an artist. Hong and others can also rest assured they made the right choice when they see those artists grow. “I’m always rooting for TOMORROW X TOGETHER and ENHYPEN,” Hong said. “I feel as proud as a dad. When the members I casted myself and continue to cherish—people I realized were the one—continue to grow as artists and I see how much they’re loved by people …Is there any feeling in the world better than that?”

[danglovely]

Kim Possible Episode Tiers: The A-Tier

Since most of the episodes in the show are quality, the A-Tier is best defined as episodes that have a thing that makes them stand out. In addition to being quality, there's a reason to remember them.

This is also the largest tier, so strap in.

Coach Possible: The Kim coaching B-Story runs a little flat, but Jr. putting together a nonsensical plan that results in hypnotized Kim and Ron dancing in cages in a nightclub is what I live for. There's an underrated ending fight as well that culminates Kim fighting a Chuck E. Cheese robot, to catchy dance music, while Ron launches an evil disco ball to its destruction.

Bueno Nacho: Another iffy B-Story about petty work squabbles, but it's one of the precious early-series moments where we get to see Drakken and Shego at the top of their game. This was actually back when Drakken was still menacing, despite kicking off the tiny oversight that ruins his plan trend. Also, the lean.

Tick Tick Tick: The first episode in the production order. It does feel weird because they hadn't settled on the animation or the characters yet. That said, there is some amazing hero-villain banter in this one that they nailed right out of the gate.

Steal Wheels: The reveal that Motor Ed and Drakken are related pays off big time and it's sort of a shame that more team-ups between the two didn't happen. There are a couple of good things about the B-Plot here as well: (1) We sort of get a glimpse into how close Kim and Ron are, because she doesn't know what to do with herself when he's not there. (2) Always good to see Felix and have a character voiced by Jason Marsden.

Bad Boy: I honestly considered moving this lower, but I decided against it because the Attitudinator is too good of a concept to ignore. This episode drags a little bit because it gets bogged down in the exposition -- They felt the need to go through the whole process of Drakken not feeling evil enough, them going to the convention, explaining why Kim and Ron went to the convention, Ron being a bully for a bit . . . like get to the Evil Ron stuff already!

It's only a minor complaint though, this is still the A-Tier.

Mad Dogs and Aliens: Terrible B-Plot in this one because I never understood why Ron wasn't touched by Jim and Tim taking on the mantle and him immediately jumping in to show them how it's done (it's also kind of forgettable, it took some brain racking to remember it). The A-Plot is gold though. Bitter Drakken and apathetic turned jealous Shego reconciling the consequences of multiple episodes of Season Three wasn't really something I thought the show was capable of.

The New Ron: I've written it before, but the Seniors are brilliant villains. Combine a criticism of obscene wealth + Ron giving them the idea + the motivation for world domination being boredom . . . it's just a glorious recipe for a unique, comedic delight. I also relate to Ron's cowlick problems.

Monkey Fist Strikes: It's another villain introduction for a very good villain. I think what really puts this one up there for me is another top fight scene. Another good music selection (that I'm not sure really how to describe other than giving off a Sherlock Holmes vibe). It results in Ron coming through, by himself, and leaving Fist cinematically strewn across the Tai Sheng Pek Kwa insignia and surrounded by four broken idols.

Odds Man In: What a surprise, another sort of weak high school B-plot. The interesting aspects here are Drakken getting caught up in the sort of corporate villainy he had previously expressed distaste for (see Rappin' Drakken). Also, Wade goes on a mission with Kim!

Mind Games: I love the body swap concept, but fiction always sort of does it the same way. Freaky Friday, Gravity Falls, this episode . . . it's all sort of the "I didn't understand how hard you had it" thing. What makes this episode A-tier is Drakken and Shego's interactions over the body swaps and the Neutronalizer are some of the funniest bits in the series.

Low Budget: I love Frugal Lucre. I love that he is voiced by Richard Kind and I love the idea of trying to hold the world hostage without spending any money.

Crush: I made a whole post about how this is a really good Ron episode. It also might be the exception to this tier where it's just really high quality all the way through, but without anything particularly high concept about it. That's probably why it aired first.

Car Trouble: All of Shego and Drakken's interaction with Dr. Freeman are fantastic. It's too bad he wasn't a recurring scientist like Bortle. It's also a better B-plot than most because Sadie was a perfectly likeable vehicle.

Go Team Go: One of the brief glimpses we actually get of Shego's past. I'm not sure if I'm 100% sold on her brothers or not, but undoubtedly this is one of the more interesting episodes. Plus, evil family.

A Very Possible Christmas: I've taken to watching this on Christmas. A lot of gushy holiday feelings between the two lead pairs. The ending is a little weird though.

Dimension Twist: There is an element of cringe here -- It's weird to put Shego in a very milquetoast Friends parody. There's a lot of good as well (trap trap, Drakken's book) and honestly, I just want to see what else the Pandimensional Vortex Inducer can do.

The Ron Factor: I wrote a whole post about this one too. It's a very interesting subversion of the metanarrative within the show and the only reason it isn't S-tier is that Global Justice annoys me a bit. Could definitely have used more Gemini in later episodes though.

Sick Day: This is the best of the sub-15 minute episodes and the whole point of them is to go for quick laughs and nothing else. I would say it achieved it here with both sides having to quickly adjust to illness and the introduction of Hank Perkins.

Hidden Talent: "Say the Word" is a certified banger. I also like to see Drakken taking initiative to try and be a step ahead of the heroes. Don't forget, the only reason he loses here is because he tries the most complicated way of finishing off Kim ever.

Overdue: The second best of the 15-minute episodes. Once again, we're only here for jokes so we're going to see what happens when Ron tries to rush through defeating a bunch of different villains. It's enjoyable.

Oh No, Yono!: It's the end of Monkey Fist. It's a satisfying coming-of-age conclusion for Ron and a heartwrenching moment when Kim gets turned to stone. It's only not S-tier because Yono's presence detracts from Ron's real archenemy.

Exchange: For as good as this episode is, it's also very much a setup for what the series planned to do with Ron in the future. We've seen him succeed on his own at this point, but Exchange is interesting in that it creates a part of his life that Kim just can't be associated with.

The Twin Factor: The first of like a hundred mind control plots. It's fun to see brainwashed Shego and Kim and it was important for the series to actually develop Jim and Tim a bit, lest they be pigeonholed into one-joke obstacles for Kim to overcome.