#anyways my faves are green and purple :)

[skunkes]

[spacebugarts]

Please leave your answers in the tags if yours isn't here/you have multiple/its a specific shade, and if you choose to reply "vanilla extract" please also include a color response! I'm genuinely curious!

[fauna-and-floraa]

Birth date colour series // I.N.

[ilottthepilot]

Me: how is my fave's qualifying lap looking?

F1 graphics: don't worry about it love❤️ anyways, here's max verstappen purple sector:)

Indycar graphics: GREEN! 0.003 second lead

Me: what?

Indycar graphics: RED!! 4 tenths too slow

Me: Thanks-

Indycar graphics: GREEN!! fastest by one tenth. pole position incomimg :)

Me: huh????

Indycar graphics: RED!!!!!!!!! his ass is not even gonna transfer

Me: ?

Indycar graphics: 🔴🟢🔴🟢🔴🟢🔴

[rebouks]

I got a load of those fact acts stewing in my inbox, so I thought I'd post a bunch about our fave lil lady.. 🤸‍♀️

Alex is 10!

Her birthday is July 18th! 🥳

She recently grew some new teef, but now she has to wear a stinky retainer at night.

Her & Brodie have been staying in Fabian's watchtower for a few months now, he said he'd be home sooner cos he thought he'd get yeeted home asap but alas.. 🤭

Alex's mom Nylah died when she was five.

Aside from the odd fall out, her and Brodie are pretty close though! They like to do puzzles together or go off exploring when they have time.

Alex was born in Sulani like her momma, Brodie's from Selvadorada though - they usually flit between those two places but their house is technically in Sulani.

Despite being from Sulani, Alex is a poor swimmer at best and doesn't usually entertain the idea of submerging herself in water.. unless it's a bath 🙈

Alex and Brodie stay with Brodie's uncle whenever they visit Selvadorada, it's usually cos Brodie has a lot of work there as an archaeologist.

They've been all over the place for Brodie's work, but her fave was probably Moonwood Mill.. it was fun to explore! (yes she got in trouble for wandering off there too)

Her favourite pastime is exploring when she's been told to stay put... 😅

She's been to a few schools in the past, but she's mostly home schooled via tutors.

Her favourite subjects are science and geography!

Her favourite colours are orange and purple-.. and green and maybe blue too, and yellow-.. she can't pick.

Her fave snacks are brookies 🤤

She has no idea what she wants to be when she grows up.. at one point she wanted to be an acrobat in a circus but she lost interest when she fell off a balance beam and broke her arm - Brodie said she should probably pick something that didn't require so much grace and balance lmaoo 😅

Alex has had a few pen-pals in the past but they've usually fizzled out, she has a bad habit of losing their addresses too - blame all the moving!!

She could spend hours painting her nails and drawing lil pictures on em and stuff 💅

Really REALLY wants a pet rat but Brodie thinks they're gross so no deal-.. they move around too much for pets anyway.

Alex can't put her finger on it either, but there's definitely something up with Robin 🤨

[raayllum]

i'm literally sitting here trying to figure out what EVEN i can SAY about aspec rayllum here? i think about them and i want to combust into heart emojis. i watched the first season when it first came out and then only happened to catch up last year with my qpp, and in between i was like. so infuriated when i found out they'd made rayla and callum a thing bc i - naturally - latched onto the green and purple character as an aroace icon at 18 years old, and my partner was like "no no no no TRUST me you've got to watch it, you'll love it"

they weren't wrong and after bingeing the whole show i'm stuck thinking about rayllum a LOT. they're written so much like my own ideal relationship that i kind of want to explode from it sometimes. anyway, my absolute favorite thing about them is how much emphasis there is about their friendship - to the point that when i watched season four, I can't remember which episode specifically it was number wise but when rayla suggested splitting up and offered to go with callum and he turns her down, my first immediate heartbroken thought was "she misses her best friend..." i just love how they're in love but they're in love cos they're best friends....11/10 no notes i need more relationships like that in media

ANYWAY long rambley ask about my loves aside, my question is what are some of your favorite moments where rayllum are so clearly best friends/goofballs in love?

No like honest to god though — me and the Rayla to my Callum are also in a QPR + dash of romance relationship and like... arc 1 and arc 2 Rayllum are just so goddamn sweet??

I don't agree generally that arc 2 Rayllum is more Mature™ than arc 1 rayllum — Callum is more patient and Rayla is more open, so they've matured as individuals — but merely just that they're different flavours of aspec-ness. Like arc 1 is the craziness and rollercoaster of meeting a stranger and realizing they're Your Person, and arc 2 is the deepness after the fact of "I know you, and I know that we can get through everyone so long as we have each other" mostly cause I think the main reason people label arc 1 Rayllum as more immature is because s3 Rayllum gushes over each other, but that's bc people have a hard time conceptualizing having deep admiration for your partner(s) that isn't infatuation... even though like? It's totally normal and welcome, like any long term relationship is "my partner is the most amazing person ever and i'm also very aware of all their flaws simultaneously" and like, arc 1 Rayllum hits that balance perfectly imo

I just love all of their stages and sides to them so so much

But yeah! Some of my fave moments Rayllum wise for the Best Friends quality has to be when they help each other up in 3x05 (Callum after the soulfang chase and Rayla on the ambler) because things are Weird but they're still always going to help each other? The "I missed my best friend" quality in s4 with no one laughing at Callum's jokes / talking about magic with him (vs their first scene in 5x01 being him telling her all about the magic stuff he's reading) and Rayla keeping her disappointment at bay always hits hard and I loove 4x06 when she's beating herself up and he takes care of her because a Good Relationship isn't about how you treat each other when everything's fine, it's 100% about how treat each other when life is hard/stressful and/or you're upset with each other

But I love all the gentle teasing in early S5 and the fist bump lives in my head eternally rent free. The 2x03 hug also means a lot to me cause that was the turning point she went from being a friend to being family and I think in a lot of ways, that's their relationship's most important turning point alongside maybe 1x06 (trusting her anyway!) 4x09 (forgiveness) and 5x04 (her opening up).

5x02 post-inn and stargazing scene are also faves just because of how happy they are talking about Nothing and everything, and like — that's just so fucking real, y'know? When someone makes everything automatically better just by being there

As Callum says, "We've been through a lot, and a lot has changed. Well, some things have changed, but not everything," and this never will

[mewizard]

mh if i made the reboot pt 1. essentially thinking about my personal headcanons, if it was marketed to a larger audience and had unlimited budget, as well as catering to pop culture

flats n deets below!!

the goal i settled on was like. aspirational career monster high dolls but for weird tweens who might not otherwise play with dolls

so they keep the darker/edgier lurk and each would have a specific field or subject associated with them

which is inspired by the mythological world of teens being able to do whatever that's present in a lot of 2000s media,. high school movies yknow. mean girls type stuff. i miss that from g1.

frankie is ib medicine/biology + engineering to a degree

i think being a man-made freakshow kept pumping by electricity and stitches would mean frankie would be a good poster child for the medicore tumblrinas

their doll would come with an iv drip and teeny pillboxes and their prosthetic could pop off to be switched between dolls

main colours are pastel blue and pink with neutral white and yellow highlights

their possible legs include a shaker. like novi stars but with eyeballs

i imagine loads of frankie leg shaker keychains lmao so maybe you could turn them into charms

spin offs include plasters, science kits like lemon clocks and circuits, entirely take-apartable anatomy doll, and a lolita style monster ball dress with trousers bc thats just obligatory

i dont know whats going on with the sock i just saw it and im sorry

put yourself in clawdeen's shoes. youre an outcast kid in the 2000s, always felt a little different, always buried your face in your artbooks... only to find out at 16 you're actually the wolf you always dreamed you'd be. of COURSE this one is for the sparkledog girlies

her tagline is kill the part of you that cringes. <- joke. soz

clawdeen's academic focus is finance/marketing/graphic design

i did think about making it fashion but thats kind of boring for a fashion doll. sorry rainbow high

also she had that whole thing in g1 where her fave subject was economics iirc. eekonomics, even

anyway she would run the fake social media for monster high. maybe the magazine. tweens still read magazines, right?

spin offs include furry cover artbooks galore, a colour-your-own set

for some reason i keep coming back to the idea of those how to price commissions/adoptables guides everyone was all over making on instagram back when i used instagram but idrk how to work that in

tosses her. idk i just thought id draw my ideal texture doll.

main colours are neon purples and pinks with green highlights (also a smidge of yellow i might scrap)

[jesterable]

am i danganronpa posting in the year of 2023? yes. i am. anyways sdr2 will forever be one of my favorite casts of characters and i love them all dearly. so i basically just drew all of them as stylized as i could. 

these were 90% done from memory except for mahiru bc i forgot what she looked like entirely besides her color scheme.

thought process for all of them under the cut in order of when i drew them

mikan: my brain went to that one sprite of her as it does. and she’s purple and honestly doesn’t have enough specific craziness to have more than one color so she’s very one-color 

kazuichi: very sharp. very square. very pink as well, but just pink didn't feel right. he has to have that gross green 

akane: i couldn’t see her colors being changed v much but not so much that its. too normal.

 teruteru: very proud of his face. he's very oval.  and still not crazy enough for many colors 

hiyoko: it was a very specific vision to have her with the UGLIEST yellow hair. also i don’t like the banana shape so i tried several other pigtail shapes to be normal about 

gundham: took me about 3 tries to get his drawing right. i still have a crush on him. he’s mostly magenta but i felt like that was too little so i gave him red eyes

ibuki: i am proud of her. needed her to look fucking radioactive 

sonia: silly girl! she's relatively normal looking but she is not a normal lady. very :3 coded 

chiaki: im sOOO proud of my color choices for her. idk why but the dull pink and blue combo is my fave. also i completely went off base with her design on purpose bc i don’t like her actual design. my girl is a GAMER. let her look like one. 

mahiru: i don’t know much about her i actually had to google just her so i knew what her hair looked like. ok bowl cut you eat that up! 

nagito: he’s fucking insane. don’t like how his hair looks ingame so i made it better. i also totally forgot his outfit if you couldn’t tell. love giving crazy people neon eyes 

fuyuhiko: made him accidentally smaller than the rest but i think it fits. baby face... little fucker 

peko: tried to make her colorful but at the same time incredibly gray. she gives gray to me. she radiates gray

monokuma: i don’t like the strictly black and white design so i might it alot more red, and just made all the extra bits bright fucking red 

imposter: i didn’t know what to do with him but my brain told me to make him orange so i did. 

nekomaru: originally he was just gonna be blue, but my brain was like no... give him a more prominent smile. so i did ! 

monomi: had to make her soo pink and silly coded... gave her a closed eye, a tongue out, and made her folded ear just tilted down a bit more. 

hajime: i tried to make him the most normal looking out of all of them. he just had to be.

[dragimalsdaydreams]

[image ID: two images of Razor from the game Genshin Impact.

the first image is a screencap of Razor's in-game model from the back. he's wearing a dull grey/brown leather coat with a bunch of red/brown leather belts hanging down the length of it. his hood is up, but his long, messy grey hair is streaming out from a slit in the back of the hood. this hair is split down the middle, streaming to either side of his spine to show the Electro Vision centered on the lower back of the coat. the sleeves of the coat are torn off, showing his bare pale arms, and orange leather gloves. he's wearing poofy green pants, and black/grey leather boots.

the second image is a cartoony drawing of Razor from the back, standing more hunched and looking slightly over his shoulder. his hair has been cut short and no longer sticks out from the back of the hood. the extraneous leather belts have been removed from the coat, with more visible, geometric patterning in its place. a rope hangs across the lower back of the coat, below the Vision. a few small, dead animals (a rabbit, a couple ferrets) hang from this rope, with text reading, "small game gives the vague impression of a wolf tail". Razor's boots have been removed, leaving bare feet and lower legs messily wrapped in white wrappings, and covered in dirt. nearby text reads, " you cannot convince me they wrestled this boy into boots".

end ID]

back again with another redraw instead of a screencap edit! though I did honestly attempt the edit before I gave up (Razor's hair covers up too much, it woulda been annoying to redraw it all..)

also, it's just the back view b/c I don't have much problem with the front of his design. and since Razor is one of my faves and mains, I'm intimately familiar with the back of his design, considering how often I have to stare at it..

more design notes under the cut~

more than anything else, I just hate Razor's hair. usually I'm all for male characters with long hair, but Hoyo just fucked up Razor's so bad. which is insane cus' a wolf tail shape feels so obvious, for a kid literally raised by wolves. I would've even forgiven the stupid hood slit for that-- sure, Hoyo could've just put the hood down for Razor's hair, but I like the hood up, so whatever. but Hoyo just had to split the hair in half, ruining the potential tail shape. and it's clear that they split the hair so that the Vision on the coat is visible, but the obvious solution there should be to just... put the Vision somewhere fucking else. like, the Vision could have been literally anywhere else, good god

either way, I just decided to cut off the hair, cus' I had a better idea for a "faux tail" anyways. I know dead animals are prolly too morbid for Genshin designs, but it definitely fits my feral vision of Razor <3

finally, evidence that I did genuinely attempt the model edit, before I decided, "oh, fuck this"

[image ID: the same back-view screencap of Razor's in-game model from earlier, but centered on his torso region. much of his grey hair has been manually blocked out using the purple background color. the parts of his back/arms that the hair covered have been roughly drawn back in as a messy sketch. end ID]

[yourmoonmomma]

Moots appreciation

Get the know the blogger

Tagged by @moonbeam-fox Thank you lovely!! I appreciate the tag <3

Music Genre: Rock & metal tends to be what I prefer, but I honestly do listen to a little bit of everything! As long as a song is playing, I'm happy lol

Colors: Pink, green, and yellow! Purple is has a soft spot in my heart too

Shows: I don't reallyyyy watch shows, but I'm enjoying the Fallout series! Jayson & I also watched The Power last month, and it was amazing.

Characters: All warrior cat characters LOL Leafpool, Jayfeather, Hollyleaf, Squirrelflight, The Sisters as a group is a fave dynamic of mine, Mallownose, and Dovewing.

Musicians: I don't reallyyyy have any fave musicians. Despite preferring heavier stuff though, I'd say the only artist so far who has yet to release a single song I haven't liked, is Chase Atlantic! Very 2012 Tumblr of me lol.

I tag @deemelomaniac @imaliteralnobody @foulwitchknight @fantasticcolortrash @aquanatalie @sona1800 @swordoftheseeker @googiekookk @l0vely-mysteries @crookeddoll @scamp-yeas and @whattthefricksophie no pressure to join, if I've tagged you! And if I haven't tagged you, I'd still love to see your answers anyway!

[ratnukegenius]

[ ID: a fullbody drawing in oranges and browns of a bear fursona. it has light blue, slightly translucent fur, with green and purple highlights. the character has his head tilted and is smiling with his eyes closed and tongue out. he's holding an orange bowl full of candy. ]

oc-tober day 1 prompt: favorite oc. it was so hard to pick a favorite, i don't think i always have a consistent fave to draw/think about.... but lately dizzy's been on my mind a lot so i opted to draw a little fall thing with him anyways.

[acaciapines]

son of sea foam fancats lets GO

yes i am normal. these were all made in the game pixel cat's end! its a very fun little cat-collection game with an adventuring feature thats really fun to do while watching youtube videos and the like! if you happen to have/make an account (next opening is late september i think) feel free to friend me! i'm bigwolf643 <3

Vera

the girl herself.....i spent SO LONG looking for a perfect gray cat to be vera (bc she is a gray cat. you get me) and then in the end i just used one that was the child of cats in my own village lol. i had her from the start too...technically i settled but also she's perfect. anyways!!! i love my lil vera...the lightning...the knife...the lesbianism....she is Perfect.

Leo

leo :) he is so orange cat coded. fun fact leo was actually one of my og faves i think...i always really liked the idea of his and piper's relationship. SO I STAY WINNING IN SOSF LOL. anyways, for his design i gave him the goggles + bandana + hammer for the like, inventor side, the fire for his Powers (and the purple fire bc it fit w/ the libertas stuff) and!! his heart locket that matches with vera <3

i got him after vera and when he moved into my village he IMMEDIATELY sorted to sit next to vera. so truly it was fate.

Evelyn

i actually was going to originally stop with just a leo and vera but evelyn was just a random kitten in my village and in vera's first scenario with her they became rivals which i thought was hilarious and thus. evelyn fancat!!! i think my inspiration was obvious lol, blues and greens and sea-themed! i added her little crown later but i think it was the right call, its VERY cute.

Hugo

and last but not least, hugo!!! he is a brown cat bc. uh. idk he seems like a brown cat to me <3. the skull-themed items are obvious, and the ornate copper-wear is cause idk, prince of the underworld??? he deserves to look Fancy. his outfit has the most custom content i think but also it slaps so i dont ever care.

and those are the guys!!! if anybody was wondering, custom items cost essence fragments, the premium currency (which you can earn in game via specific items/trading but its much easier to buy it outright with real money). all together these outfits costed 525 ef, which amounts to. about 50 united states dollars <3. or in my case, about a month of grinding adventuring for business cards which i sold for about 50 ef each.

anyways. I Hope You Love My Cats!!!!!!!!!!!

[thevikingwoman]

tag people you'd like to get to know better!

thank you for the tag @hylfystt!!

tags for @galadae @lilas @janzoo @gefiltefished @fantasmagoriam @consulaaris @impossible-rat-babies

LAST SONG: so a thing about me is that eventhough I love music, I do have a hard time with noise, it gets too much for me easily, so I don't tend to just have music on. Sometimes when I drive. If my husband puts it on. When the kids play something. Or when I go to the opera. I don't really recall my last song - unless CT raid music counts. It counts right? The music is great tbh.

CURRENTLY WATCHING: I am watching a bit of the Star Wars Clone Wars animated series while on my exercise bike. It's fun and lowkey!

THREE SHIPS: Meryta/Tansui (ffxiv), they make me insane. I've lost it over these guys, I have so many thoughts, so many things that compel me, so many ideas about their dynamic and the implications. I'm in a one-man rowboat for this ship and I appreciate everyone who is taking interest and cheering me on. Solas/Iwyn (Dragon Age), they just always and forever live rentfree in my brain. Sarkan/Agnieszka (Uprooted), they're delightful and their dynamic is so fun. I was waffling here, and ended up picking a ship I've written for and not just one that compels me or some of my fave friend's OC ships because there is a few. Also *this* close to picking Magnai/Hien, it's not a ship tho. It's not that would be madness, right?

FAVORITE COLOR: Green and purple

CURRENTLY CONSUMING: Cold tea. I made tea this morning, went back to bed with a cold, didn't let it stop me from consuming my tea now I'm up again

FIRST SHIP: Spike/Buffy (btvs) - the first ship where shipping was an active sort of thing I was aware of.

PLACE OF BIRTH: Denmark

CURRENT LOCATION: Washington, USA

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Married! 25 years this summer, where did the time go

LAST MOVIE: We used to watch so many movies, but we don't so often anymore. I miss it, but I'm also often just - nah, meh about it. Anyway I think the last movie I watched was the last time I was sick and I watched Marvel's Eternals. It was - a Marvel movie. The costumes were nice? Some of characters were nice too , but the plot man, just a bit mediocre. I feel like I've seen another movie since but I'm not sure what it is.

CURRENTLY WORKING ON: A piece of Tansui and Rasho with Tansui being drunk and missing Meryta thought he's not really happy to put words on it. I love writing friendships and I have a lot of ideas about their dynamic and no one can stop me :D

[racingliners]

☕️ as the livery watch reporter...2014 liveries (which ones are ur fave, which ones don't do it for you, etc)

Deliberately waited until we'd had dinner so I could devote the appropriate amount of time to this (yelling about liveries my beloved!!)

Under a read more bc I'm about to get so chatty (please note: we are not including the rather hideous car noses we were cursed to endure in 2014, just the paint!)

Caterham

Fun fact about British Racing Green: there isn't an exact hue for it, which is why the green Caterham used is much more brighter and more yellow leaning than the emerald green Aston Martin currently use.

Anyway, this is so pretty. It's glossy, the green looks utterly stunning and the splashes of white are really sleek and give it a slightly more modern feel than if it was all over green.

8/10

Ferrari

Ferrari's just look better in glossy paint. Please end the deluge of matte liveries I beg.

The shade of red is literally perfect and I don't really mind the black section at the back, the thin white lines bordering it definitely help make it look less jarring.

Si ragazzi, 9/10

Force India

Pre-BWT sponsorship, Force India liveries always leaned heavily into the colours of the Indian flag, though 2014 was the first year they incorporated a lot of black into the livery.

Which honestly? It slaps. The orange being on the sidepods still keeps the livery looking really bright despite all the black on the engine cover. I am torn on the block of white on the nose cone, but I think without it the car would feel a bit too dark, so for that it's fine.

7/10

Lotus

Oh, if this didn't have the splashes of red and used a proper metallic gold instead of the flat beige colour, it would be the best livery on the grid. Alas, it loses points for those two reasons. BUT the glossy finish is still stunning to thank goodness we have that.

7/10

Marussia

Much like the 2023 and 2024 Haas liveries, the red, white and black combination does look really good. Maybe not ground breaking, but it's far from being offensive on the eyes. I like the use of the warmer orangey red just to add a bit of brightness (and to make it look different from the Ferrari). It's a very solid effort.

7/10

McLaren

Every day I thank the racing gods that McLaren went back to their roots with the papaya orange livery bc their one for 2014 was very meh.

This year was McLaren's last year with Mercedes engines, hence why they kept the silver chrome, but their sponsorship deal with Vodafone had ended at the end of the 2013 season, which is why it doesn't look as iconic. The black sidepods are quite jarring and make the car look really dark and dull.

Definitely not their best, 4/10

Mercedes

As a friend said to me some time ago, Mercedes are all the better for making the switch to having mostly black on their car. The metallic finish Mercedes used on their cars from 2010-2019 and 2022 was really odd in that it didn't look properly metallic despite very obviously looking silver (contrary to my above spiel on McLaren, all over chrome silver with the Petronas teal accents would look so, so good.)

And speaking of the Petronas teal, there's not enough of it here even though I love how the shading on the sidepods was done (as much as I think the accents on the wheel rims are incredibly fun). The blob of black on the engine cover also feels like an after thought, especially with the gradient at the front and sharp line at the back.

6.5/10

Red Bull

Now this is the superior RBR livery. It's glossy, we have the really nice dark metallic blue instead of the navy créme, and the purple Infiniti accents are so very pretty (I'm not so sure on the stripes on the side however).

I deliberately chose a night race picture to show off the metallic sheen and glossy finish. I am on my knees begging RBR to go back to using this livery.

8/10

Sauber

This is... sadly very corporate. Like Mercedes, the metallic finish on the Sauber just looks off (though, it's better than if it were a flat grey) and I wish there was more white on this to brighten it up. The shade of grey used almost blends into the tarmac, which isn't great.

3/10

Toro Rosso

As much as I hold a special place in my heart for the Toro Rosso drinks can livery circa 2017-2019, I still have such vivid memories of the gorgeously detailed Red Bull on the engine cover. Even though the Toro Rosso liveries were just a darker version of the main RBR livery (navy, dark red and gold in place of the more primary blue, red and yellow) I actually prefer the STR version.

Unlike the Lotus livery, the gold is metallic instead of créme, and the navy is also a gorgeous metallic (which ensures that it doesn't look flat, which is my main beef with the post-2016 RBR livery).

I just want to make sure that everyone looks at the bull on the engine cover again, IT'S SO DETAILLED!!!

9/10

Williams

No notes. One of the F1 liveries of all time. I genuinely almost bought a Williams shirt that year bc the team kit looked stunning too with the Martini stripes (and honestly I have been debating whether or not I should try to find one on ebay). The Williams Martini livery is proof that it is possible to make a predominantly white car sexy as hell (and it's also glossy!!!)

If James Vowles ever manages to bring this livery back he can have my hand in marriage no questions asked.

10/10

send me a ☕️ and a topic and i’ll talk about how i feel about it

[boysplanetrecaps]

Build Up Ep 1, Part 1

Hello and welcome to my latest project -- recapping Build Up: Vocal Boy Survival from MNET. The show features some familiar faves from Boys Planet -- Jay, Wumuti, and Hwanhee -- as well as members of CIX, Just B, Up10tion, KNK, Newkidd, Ab6ix, Vanner, A.C.E. Fave1, BDC, IMFACT, M.O.N.T., WEi, and Pentagon. Don’t worry, it’s not Hui this time! I already wrote some posts in which I introduce you to the 40 participating contestants, divided up by their chosen category: Allround, Soul, Power, and Unique. Now, I’ll start actually recapping Episode One. Come join me, won’t you?  

It's tough to find a video link for the full show, and the one that seems most stable doesn't have English subtitles, so I'm going to try my best to write the recaps in such a way that even if you can't see the show yourself, or if the feed you have doesn't have subtitles, you'll be able to understand what's going on.

We begin with a woman playing with little glowing metal bricks. You know, as you do.

Also, those ombre nails kind of slap. 

The woman is our MC, Lee Dahee, who you might recognize (or might not) as one of the hosts of Road to Kingdom. I know her because she played the female second lead in one of my top five K-dramas of all time, I Can Hear Your Voice. (It’s not about singing -- it’s a courtroom drama/noona romance about telepathy and revenge. You guys, if you need a kdrama to watch, just watch this one, ok? Ok thanks.) She’s stunningly beautiful in that show. 

She looks… different now, I guess I’ll say. 

I wish that there wasn’t so much plastic surgery pushed in this business, because I genuinely wouldn’t recognize her, and I’ve watched that drama all the way through at least three times. Anyway. 

She begins to speak, and we hear snippets of various singers as she does. The snippets that we’re hearing are the 40 brief performances that were uploaded to Youtube to tease the show. 

She says, “There are various voices in this world.  Unique voice: A voice that is a genre itself. Soul voice: Voice that moves people with its unique sentiment. Power voice: A voice that solidifies its presence.  All ‘round voice: A voice that can harmonize with anything. When they come together and gain chemistry, a new harmony is created.”

I can’t help but think of Exo. Baekyhun has a unique voice; D.O. has a soulful voice; Chen has a powerful voice, and Suho has a sweet all ‘round voice. Hey, what do you know - the lady is right! It does create a new harmony! 

She explains that they’ve gathered together 40 vocalists for this show, looking for the best combination. It’s a bit of a Queendom Puzzle vibe, but vocal based. And out of the 40, we’ll be picking four. 

We hear from some of these 40 vocalists, speaking over each other, their faces hidden in shadow. We’re going to have to go with these MNET subtitles, that say things like “Catharsis is created when voices are stacked, especially when there are four.” I think it is supposed to mean, “A four part harmony can really bring out the emotions of a song.” 

It’s an MNET show, so it begins with some of the contestants walking in and commenting on how big and cool the set is. They think it looks like the Colosseum, which, meh, not so much but I mean, ok. 

We can’t know who they are yet. It’s dark in the studio and they can’t even see each other. They still bow and greet each other politely, chatting about how nervous and excited they are as they take their spots on their… I don’t know, transporter pads. Beam them up, Dahee!

They’re walking in in small groups, made up of members of the same “category”, and their name tags are color coded to their category: unique is green, soul is blue, power is purple, and allround is orange.

Left to right: Bain, Jay, Jung Soomin 

I love this Korean thing of just shouting at each other, “You’re good looking!” Even in the dark. 

Eagle eyed (and owl-eared) Boys Planet fans probably recognize this guy:

It’s Jay Chang, from Boys Planet! As I said in my other recaps, I love Jay's vocal color, which is clean and lovely, and though I think he could work on his technique, he's definitely a great singer. He also seems like basically a nice guy, though he gives off slight fuckboi vibes to me. Is it just me?

Hong Seongjun (former BDC), in the white jacket that makes him look like a waiter, recognizes his neighbor in the brown jacket as Seunghun from CIX. Hong Seongjun says, “excuse me… aren’t you from CIX?” Seunghun bows to acknowledge it, and Hong Seongjun says, “But you’re way too famous,” ie, to be on this show, and Seunghun says, “no, I’m not, I’m really not.” 

Another group enters, led by a mop of light colored hair that I think belongs to Geonu, also known as Lee Geonwoo from JustB, who you may have seen on I-land. 

Some more people come in, and one of the trainees -- this red haired fellow, my darling Bain -- says “oh my God! Sunbaenim!”

That hangul there says “oh my God” phonetically. 

My darling Bain, also member of Just B , has recognized Jeon Woong from Ab6ix. I don't have any data on where they would have met, but they probably have a lot of friends in common at the very least. I think a lot of idols know a lot of other idols since they all train together at different agencies and go on these reality shows together all the time.

People are surprised that Woong and Seunghun are on the show, but not as surprised as they are to see Yeo One from Pentagon, who enters to the strains of Pentagon’s biggest hit, Shine. One of the other guys says, “It was so dark, but he was so handsome that I could see his silhouette.” I think the translation is a little wonky here, but I love the idea that if someone is really handsome, you can see them better in the dark.

My darling Bain says to Jay, “I’m shocked to see such big players.” Jay replies, in English, “Big time players make big time plays,” and do you see what I mean about the fuckboi-ness? Even if you like him, you have to admit that’s a bit cringey. Sigh. Jay, honey, why'ya gotta say things like that?

Jung Soomin replies, in English, “I’m a small time player. I just started!” Soomin is American, specifically from Chicago, and I guess his head was cold that day. 

They’re all present now, each one standing on his own transporter pod bay. Oh, MNET. 

They all applaud in excitement for the beginning of the show, and my darling Bain interviews, “Welcome to Survival!”

The lights come up in the studio and now the boys can see each other. So now it’s time for them to react to how handsome and famous they all are.

Yoon Inhwan in his gray suit interviews, “When I looked around, I thought I was in trouble. Everyone was too handsome.” Look at all the handsome fellas, including Kim Minseo, in blue, and a bunch of idols, including Seokhwa from WEi, and two members of Just B: my red-haired darling Bain, and pink-mop-headed Geonu.

Just FYI: I’m going to keep calling Bain my darling, because I listened to his stunning cover of Driver’s License by Olivia Rodrigo and now you know I still love him, baby. I talk more about it in my episode zero recap.

Hilariously, our old friend Lee Hwanhee (from Boys Planet) says he’s intimidated by the other guys. Hwanhee is always a little insecure, isn’t he? I think he’s had a lot of setbacks as an idol, and it’s wearing on him. 

Neon, in green, tells his neighbor Hong Sungwon in the half gray, half white sweater that he feels defeated in terms of looks. Aww, you’re fine, Neon! I think you have a cute smile. 

Seokhwa from WEi voice-overs that he’ll dominate with music, not looks, and this fellow on the left…

… says, “this is about voices, right?” He is Park Jeup, from IMFACT, who is also a solo artist. I just have to say, omg, his bow. That is a full on pussy bow, you guys. That square, lantern jaw juxtaposed against that bow is a sight to see and I am here for it. (The guy on the right, wearing the red suit, is Hyukjin, from a nugu group called Fave1.)

Everyone’s excited to hear each other’s voices. 

Sunyoul (in the pink sweater) from Up10tion, same group as Hwanhee, is looking around the room and sizing up the other people, wondering if he can tell who is or isn’t a good singer based on their looks.

Then there’s a bit where a few people notice Jay. Kim Minseo, in blue, who sang Rolling in the Deep, kicks things off. He interviews that he was wondering if Jay would be there. Guess he watched Boys Planet too! Or Under 19, perhaps.

There’s this cute moment, where Hwanhee points Jay out to his neighbor, Seunghun from CIX. 

Hwanhee is like, “That guy over there with his hands in his pockets? He’s really good.” I bet that Hwanhee and Seunghun have met before, since they both have been in the game for several years.  Hwanhee is a year older than Seunghun and debuted around four years before him, so he's both hyung and sunbae to his nervous neighbor.

Then there’s a mini montage of them all recognizing each other -- Hyukjin noticing Jay, Hwanhee noticing Hyukjin, Bain noticing Hyukjin and pussy-bow Park Jeup. Hwanhee says that they’re “vocal monsters.” Hey, man, so are you! Where is your confidence, my friend?

But a lot of the contestants are intimidated by each other. 

Suddenly…the lights go down again! And to make it even scarier, the subtitles punk out for a few minutes! This happens at about 6 minutes into the episode. So, let me give my google translate a real workout until the subtitles come back. Here we go. 

A fanfare of glittering light heralds the entrance of MC Lee Dahee. The boys freak out. On screen, it says, “IS THIS TRUE?” as the trainees all stare open mouthed.

The camera does a full pan up her legs to her body, and on the Bilibili site -- now sadly denied to us all -- something in Chinese scrolls across the top, which my phone translated as “The English subtitle is so tiring.” I know that’s not quite what it meant, but I love it.

As Wumuti stares, open mouthed, it says “LIke a goddess!” 

Someone says, “Is this true? Isn’t this AI?”

“She’s a celebrity!" “Wow, she’s so pretty.”

As Hyukjin -- wearing that red leather suit jacket -- looks on, it says “Angel’s Descent.”

Hwang Inhyuk in his ombre pink sweater says “It’s a good thing you came out.”

Dahwee says, “Hello!” and they all say hello back. “I will go on this journey with all of you. I am the MC, Lee Dahwee.”  

On screen, as they all frantically bow, it says “Thank you very much <3 “

As our old friend Hwanhee gives the thumbs up, it says “Best MC-nim.”

I’ll give a sort of interpretation of the on-screen words’ translation since they don’t make a ton of sense. Basically, she’s telling them what’s going to happen next. There’s 40 of them and, through various musical missions, they’ll build a 4-member team. At the end, only one team will be selected to debut. This group will be an opportunity for the whole world to enjoy a kpop group with proven vocals.

Choi Suhwan in the black jacket over a white shirt and with parted bangs, says, “Ah… only 4…” 

This is Bitseon (from M.O.N.T.), on the left, and Taehwan (from Vanner) on the right. One of them is voice-overing, “I’m sure there will be a big fight over the song.” 

Lim Junhyeok, wearing a white hoodie that I guess he picked off the top of his laundry pile, voice overs, “there are many people who are good at singing.” Junhyeok was kicked out of Day6 after only being in it for six months -- I talk about it in my episode zero recap.

Donghun from A.C.E. is wondering what songs they’ll sing, I think. As I was writing these recaps, it was always so funny to me that Donghun is from ACE, because based on the way he’s dressed and his demeanor, he looks like he’s a detective in a noir movie who just got off shift and is about to order a whiskey at the bar. I hope you don't mind if I call him Detective Donghun in honor of that.

Dahee goes on that there are 40 participants, who chose what voice color represents them. 

And right around here the subtitles come back, bless ‘em!

Yoonseo in the red and black leather jacket says, “Allround voices go well with many genres,” and we see a few of the various Allrounders.

Next, we take a look at the Soul singers:

Then the Power singers:

And finally, Unique.

The weird LED stage they're standing on turns into a pie chart showing the breakdown of the categories, and that is delightful.

Then, Dahee announces that they’re going to dive into their first major mission: Voice Check. “You’ll listen to voice files,” Dahee says, referring to the teaser songs we already heard. “If you want to build up with that voice, press the button.” 

So this is a bit like the beginning of Queendom Puzzle, when the girls each performed for the others one at a time, and they all voted on whether each girl was good or not, essentially. Here, though, the boys are deciding who they want to work with in their teams of four. They’re choosing solely by the voice -- no looks, no sympathy.  

It’s worth noting that them wanting to work with someone isn’t necessarily equivalent to thinking someone is good singer. They’ll be looking for people who they think their voices would harmonize well with. Regardless, Dahee explains that “the outcome of the evaluation will impact your first mission greatly, so make careful choices.”

The boys are nervous -- what if someone gets zero votes?!? 

We see some staff members scurrying around giving them all some really uncomfortable looking plastic stools to perch on.

And as they’re settling in, Lim Junhyeok (former Day6) turns to his neighbor, Woong (AB6IX), and says, “Your name is Woong, right?” 

“That’s right,” says Woong.

“I knew you when you were at JYP,” Junhyeok says, putting his hand on Woong’s shoulder. 

Woong immediately gets really excited, jumping out of his chair. “Wait, you were at JYP?! When were you a trainee?” 

“Day6,” Junhyeok says, simply. 

“HYUNG!!!” Woong says, recognizing his old friend and giving him a hug. 

Filmed on MNET's very finest Idaho russet.

Aww! This is exactly the stuff I watch shows like this for. FRIENDSHIP IS THE BEST SHIP, you guys. 

They’re all asking each other what songs they sang, and from what we see, no one is telling anyone. Soomin, our friend from Chicago, asks Jay “Whad’ja’sing, whad’ja’sing?” They’ve got that English speaking connection. Jay, who is definitely feeling his oats, says “It’s part of the surprise.” 

Meanwhile, Hwanhee cannot take his eyes off the MC, Dahee. He’s like, this show is scary and I never do well on the 8 million survival shows I keep forcing myself to go on, but this gorgeous emcee is making it all worth it. I am going to use this as an opportunity to stare at her as much as possible before an actual bodyguard appears to drag me away. She’s 38 to his 25, but I believe in the power of love, don’t you?

They’re all nervous, especially CIX's Seunghun, who busies himself staring at the floor. Yeo One voiceovers, “How many of these people will like me just from hearing my voice?” Aww. As we'll see, that is Yeo One's major storyline -- he is used to being a good looking backup dancer in Pentagon, and wants people to actually like his singing voice.

Ma Jaekyung, in his too-big-for-him gray blazer, asks KNK's Inseong if he’s nervous. CIX’s Seunghun says his heart is beating like crazy. Taewoo wonders who the first one up will be.

The first song that plays -- at least, the first song we hear play -- is V02. Jaekyung and Inseong both recognize the song immediately and look at each other and say “Baby Baby!” in unison, almost like it was an improv exercise. 

Everyone recognizes the song -- we even see Dahee mouthing along -- and those of us who watched Boys Planet probably recognize the voice: Jay. 

The editors do this cute thing where they superimpose the image on the floor, but I really don’t think it was shown live.

I have to wonder if Wumuti at least recognized the voice? This is his third reality show in a row with Jay! But all we see is him saying, “well done.” 

Everyone seems to really like the performance. It is really good, naturally, though it wasn't completely perfect. (See my episode zero recaps for more info on what I thought of each performance. And please don’t get mad at me!) A lot of people are pressing the button to indicate that they’d like to perform with Jay. Can't blame them at all.

Hong Seongjun from BDC interviews, “He has a trendy singing style. He’d make up for what I lack.”

Everyone wants to know who the voice belongs to, but first, they’re going to reveal the votes, reveal the votes, reveal the votes, reveal the votes! The guys immediately realize that this will be their fate -- to have their vote talley revealed in front of everyone! Someone says, “oh no, this is like a public execution.”

The vote is revealed: 23 people voted that they’d like to work with V02 (Jay). Those who voted for him are surprised that only 23 voted for him out of 39, when to them, the voice seemed so good. Are people just way too strict? No. 

Kang Hayoon explains that he thought about voting for the voice, because it was amazing, but he didn’t think that it would harmonize with his. (Spoiler alert: I think he's right.) I think a few others had a similar thought. I’m pretty sure if the vote was “did you like this?” everyone would get 39 out of 39. Well... most people.

Of course, this voting criteria is a bit of a problem, because the show is using this voting system as a way to rank the contestants by quality, and yet the metric they're using isn't necessarily identical to the issue of quality. I guess it's better than voting whether the person is "better" or "worse" than you, like the girls had to do on Queendom Puzzle.

Dahee reveals that the voice belonged to Jay , and Hwanhee’s neighbor, Seunghun  from CIX, gestures as if to say, yep, you got that. Looks like Hwanhee at least recognized Jay’s voice!

Jay voiceovers that he was on an idol survival show (we see clips from Boys Planet) but didn’t get many chances to show his vocal skills. I mean, he did, but people just hated him for being foreign, mainly. Or for whatever random reason, IDK. Here at least people appreciate him -- his neighbors tell him he did a great job. 

Next up: V16, End of the Sea by Choi Baekho, as performed by musical actor Kim Seongjeong, the one in the tan jacket and striped tie. It’s a lovely performance, if not exactly to my personal taste, and everyone immediately reacts to his deep, rich tone. It’s a “real voice” that “fills the studio.” 

Seongjeong gets 25 votes, again, not an indictment one way or another on his quality. 

After that deep voice and sentimental performance, everyone is really surprised when he gets up and says he’s going to dance. He dances a bit while people clap, then unexpectedly just launches himself into the air with an amazing spinning leap. 

When he's done, he bows and says: “Dance, physique, and song. I’m the new actor, Kim Seongjeong.”

Dahee asks him if anyone has ever told him that he looks like well known actor Kim Woobin, and I guess I kind of see it. Seongjeong interviews, “Where do I look like him, exactly? What part of my face? My eyes? Is it because I look like a dinosaur?” and he offers us a huge grin that completely transforms his face. Aww!

What a cutey. 

Ok, in honor of his jump spin, and the fact that he said he looks like a dinosaur, I’m going to call him the “leaping lizard.” But I don’t mean that in a mean way. Like I said, I think he’s got a great smile! I like him. 😀 This is just to remember who I’m talking about. Cool? Cool.

Alright, I've used up my allotment of 30 pictures, so it's time to wrap up this segment of the recap.

And just as a note, the first 30-45 minutes of one of these shows are always really, really slow going for me as I get to know who is who. I have to do research, read Korean name tags, etc, etc, and it takes forever. I'm not going to promise to catch up to the show, but I hope to at least gain on it a little.

Thanks for following me on this ride! I'll see you in the next one!

[writerhellenemeyers]

Favorites Tag!

Rules: Answer + tag 9 people you want to get to know better/ catch up with.

I don't usually get tagged or play tag games on my main, but let's live a little! Thanks @oldefashioned for the tag ❤️

Favorite color?

I love greens 💚 and purples 💜. My wardrobe is mostly greens, though, because I look good in greens. All greens, really: mint, forest, olive, heck even chartuese although I don't look as good in that one, too much yellow for my fair complexion. Purples are usually in my environment, like decoration, but greens are my jam.

Last song?

Sameer is a fave. I met him once when I worked for a local radio station, and I was yelling at myself internally the whole time to calm down. Such a great guy, and great voice. Hot too 🔥

Currently reading?

Mostly fanfic. I'm currently finishing a first draft of a novel, so I'm not trying to get into a book right now. Just little things here and there, keeping up with fics as they update. That kinda thing.

I have been reading some non-fiction books recently for my coaching program. Like, The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer and The 4 Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. Great stuff that will surely open your mind to a new perspective.

Currently Watching? 📺

I finished the first 4 episodes of Season 3 Bridgerton. Now I'm back on my Jack Ryan binge. That's got me in a chokehold.

Currently craving?

Dinner! I'm making some Mexican rice, and I can't wait 😋

Coffee or tea?

Both! Coffee in the morning, or a chai latte, and then a lovely herbal number later in the day.

No pressure tags: @loganwritesprobably @claryeverlarkf @eevylynn

And just anyway else who wants to play! Open season!