#here’s to many more years with woh

[wanderingfandoms]

For Word of Honor’s 2nd Anniversary

Special thanks to the shl archive carrd

[zhongwans]

How ZZH's Instagram account was compromised

aka the question that's been plaguing us all since last year. But now we have enough info to put together a theory. (As always all this info is thanks to the hard work of QV and her friends. I'm just compiling)

During 813, Xie Yihua's son, Abner, said in a comment on Bilibili that ZZH's instagram account isn't actually his. It was set up by staff when ZZH was still under the management of his former boss, Yu Zheng, and that the phone number that was registered to the account doesn't belong to ZZH.

This means whoever has access to the actual phone number can reset the password and take control of the account.

Also how on earth did Abner know the details of the IG's account's security (or lack thereof)? Did his mother tell him? We already know Xie Yihua is ZSJ's handler.

On June 2020, ZZH posted on his IG after months of inactivity, and in the comments section he thanked a woman named Virginia. We can infer from their convo that he had lost access to the account sometime ago and that this Virginia helped him gain access again.

Based on ZZH's IG activity, he did stop posting for a few months and only started posted there again when he started filming WOH. That's when he thanked this Virginia person.

There's an interesting comment under Flora's tweet saying that when they first read this, their interpretation was that this Virginia helped ZZH gain access to his account by setting up a VPN for him. And I was the same. That's also how I initially interpreted it, that ZZH wasn't able to access his IG because of the Great Firewall. But with all the info that has come to light, it looks more like ZZH was unable to access it because it was set up by someone else, with a number that didn't belong to him. And Virginia probably helped him by contacting whoever it was that had access to the account in Yu Zheng's management.

So if all this time ZZH's IG account was under the control of someone from Yu Zheng's studio, how did it wind up in the hands of ZSJ's team?

Recently, Yu Zheng was seen promoting the hat from ZSJ's brand. (Photos from bluebird and QV)

It's worth noting that Yu Zheng doesn't seem to like ZZH very much. He interacted with a ZZH anti and implied that it's ZZH fault Zhao Ge did not air. So why is Yu Zheng promoting "ZZH's" brand if he doesn't even like him?

The person Yu Zheng interacted with literally has the username 'zzh liar' and is an active ZZH anti.

And for those who don't know what Zhao Ge is, it's the show where Yu Zheng asked ZZH to come back for additional shoots while he was still recovering from his knee injury. This is widely understood to be the reason why ZZH's knee was messed up for good. More details here.

Zhao Ge was already running into problems way before 813. The script had a lot of elements that likely got it into trouble with the censors, plus in December 2020 more than a hundred industry folks signed a letter calling for a boycott against Yu Zheng and another person for being notorious plagiarists and all around shitty human beings. If it's not the script that sank Zhao Ge's chances of airing, then it's Yu Zheng's awful reputation as a plagiarist amongst his peers. Even before 813, the chances of Zhao Ge airing were not looking good.

Yu Zheng was brought to court by Taiwanese author and producer Qiong Yao for plagiarizing one of her novels, and a Beijing court later ruled in her favor. He was ordered to pay her millions. So you know...Yu Zheng is quite literally a criminal. That along with the script is probably why Zhao Ge will never see the light of day. ZZH should actually be the angry one here because his knee was pretty much ruined forever just for a shitty drama that will never even air.

A document that was circulated amongst ZZH fans last year and associated with him can also be linked back to a lawyer that once worked on Yu Zheng's legal counsel. Coincidence? Maybe. But it's interesting how many times his name comes up in relation to ZSJ.

And this is just personal speculation but I wonder if Yu Zheng was pissed when ZZH blew up after he was no longer within his management, and he could no longer reap the benefits of ZZH's fame for himself. Remember during the WOH concert ZZH mentioned that a lot of old friends suddenly came up to him after WOH's success, asking for all sorts of favours and whatnot, and then him apologizing for not being able to attend to them all. Looking back on that, it's interesting that a lot of people involved in the scam had more or less a connection with ZZH in the past. The Chens from the teashop, Xie Yihua, Zhang Su, Xiao Chu Nada, etc. And now Yu Zheng.

So yeah this is it. Yu Zheng's involvement with ZSJ was the last piece of the mystery behind the compromised IG account.

[funishment-time]

Alright. Now that I know the questions, and forgive me if these have been asked before, 16, 19 (for Miu), and of course, our good pal, 17

whee hee hee!!!

16. Do you have any ideas for a Danganronpa murder? Share!

the series is lacking a good murder-suicide or Lover's Suicide. (i mean as an individual case/trial. you could argue that all of DR1 is a murder-suicide or Lover's Suicide)

beyond that, a high-temperature complete burning-to-death that results in ashes and little Evidence, or withholding important Medication that keeps a character alive, would both be Interesting

17. List five headcanons for your favorite characters!

special edition!! wee woo wee woo! for this one i will list 5 SFW ship headcanons, but if you're not into these Ships (or Shipping in general), i have 5 regular headcanons here too. double the value!

skip these if you don't like Ship dynamics:

KAEDE x. MIU: Kaede insists on being the little spoon, which flusters Miu for all eternity

FUYUHIKO x PEKO: they never have kids, but they do have a hundred thousand fluffy Creaturas of various sorts. dogs and cats and rabbits and chinchillas and maybe even a herd of Alpacas roaming their great Yakuza estate. "no one's gonna fuckin' take us seriously," Fuyuhiko always says, but he's smiling because his wife is

SAKURA x HINA: after scientific evidence shows that naps have a positive effect on the human body and its growth (see DR1's School Mode), Sakura tries to get Hina to take short naps with her daily. like, 20 minutes tops. unfortunately, this rarely Works, because no one taught Hina how to sit still for longer than a half-second, but it does give them cuddle time on a busy day

FUKAWA SYSTEM x KOMARU: neither of the Fukawas ever stop lusting over Byakuya. it's just that Komaru is their wife, the love of their life, their girl, their beloved. their crush on Byakuya ends up being more, uh, purely NSFW in nature. in the end, though, the Fukawa system would rather be with Komaru, because she's Domesticity, she's Love, she's Healing, even if she won't turn them into her own personal livestock or whatever it was Toko wanted in UDG (i black out during those scenes). anyway, Komaru perfectly understands this, and really doesn't feel Threatened by it at all, because it's not like Byakuya is ever going to give the Fukawa system what they want

MAHIRU x HIYOKO: after her growth spurt, Hiyoko gets intense stretch-marks, which knocks her self esteem down a peg. thankfully, Mahiru loves her terrible banana-headed gee eff Just As Much

and now for the regular headcanons:

Nekomaru is generally asexual. he's never felt shame in it, as it allows him to Focus on his athletes better in an increasingly competitive world

in a non-despair AU, Kokichi ends up on the student council every year, inexplicably, as Treasurer. no one notices when he's lifting money from HPA because no one notices when Jin Kirigiri is doing it, either

Ibuki has been the first kiss of many-a girl at HPA

in her own way, Junko felt threatened when Mukuro was pretending to be her, both in DR1 and in Zero. this factored into Junko kebabing her, but also into Junko's obsession with putting her down in Extremely Childish Ways, as well as her insistence that Mukuro was Gross and Nasty and Could Never Be Her!!! at the end of DR1. by the Despair Twins' HPA days, Junko was too far gone to ever deal with it or admit it, but so much of her final despair centered around her identity and her sister. she may not have gone full Killing Game if not for Mukuro

Sakura has dislocated bones, sometimes during a match, and then immediately popped them right back into place without hesitation or pause. this only makes local Lesbians more in love

BONUS: the Warriors of Hope do heal in their own way as they grow, but they always have a hard time patching up the wound named "Big Sis Junko." on a fairly Objective level, she did nothing but good for them and took them out of a Bad Situation when no one else did. so: while the WoH become as content as they can be as adults, they also have an exceedingly difficult journey understanding Junko as a Very Bad Person Actually

19. What kind of fantasy creature would you make Miu?

Miu is most definitely a goblin. gross, loud-mouthed little thing tinkering and tonkering, but extremely Lovable

[olderthannetfic]

Escapade Dance Party 2023 Writeup 2/3

Here is the playlist I ended up with this year, plus my commentary:

First Half

Good Omens | Running in the 90's by Maria Morningstar

Good Omens is so tricky. On the one hand, there are a billion fantastic vids, many with editing that's better than this one. On the other, a lot of the preferred music is syrupy and slow, and GO fans are actively seeking out vids and have already seen many of the ones intended for cons in the English-speaking world.

I wanted something high-energy to open the dance with, and this ridiculous song fit the bill. It woke people up and got them noticing the music had started.

I don't know Maria, but her channel has a bunch of things with cyrillic titles, so I'm guessing she's Russian. That meant a higher chance of this vid being new to people at Escapade.

Tubthumping by Aaronantium

To be perfectly honest, I do not care about this anime, but I was chilling with Aaron at Vidders Chat and discussing my plans, and he offered to make me a vid for his vampire fandom.

I don't generally accept premieres because it means wrangling more people and dealing with uncertainty, but Aaron suggested this song, and it's always a crowd pleaser as is the vid everyone makes to it. This fandom is also unusually perfect for said joke, featuring as it does a repeatedly dying vampire who… well… gets back up again.

Actually, despite it not being most people's fandom, I think this vid got one of the biggest laughs and reactions of anything during the party.

Kirk/Spock | I Knew You Were Trouble by mogo nit

K/S is a perennial favorite with con attendees—more TOS but AOS too. I don't recall why I was specifically looking for it this year. Probably, it ranked best out of things people mentioned on their site profiles.

This is an old-ass vid from 10 years ago, so if people have seen it, they probably haven't seen it lately. It's also a song I love, cliched though it might be for vids.

Word of Honor - Wenzhou - Hit and Run by CelestialMoonDragon

I knew I wanted to include WoH, both for its many fans and for people still dragging their feet about checking out Asian live action m/m stuff. The fandom has a wealth to choose from from vidders all over the globe. The big issue was simply finding vids that weren't too plastered with show audio.

When I heard this song choice, however, I knew it was the one. WoH has some unusual genre elements for wuxia, specifically all the central government focus where wuxia characters usually stay away from politics. The song really highlights that aspect. Those lyric matches! Genius!

【夜访吸血鬼】【莱斯特】【Young and Beautiful】献给我最心中最美艳的吸血鬼——莱斯特 by 欧阳夏右

Obviously, if I was going to celebrate the new IWTV, I couldn't leave out the old movie!

This is a brilliant song choice given what happens to Lestat. It's interesting to me how many Chinese vidders use music I know well. It's always fun to see what they do with a Western source and Western music, and I think bilibili is largely uncharted territory for most Escapade attendees.

【The Sentinel】【Jim/Blair】It's consuming me（Lash视角）美剧-哨兵 同人mv by ozakikaoru

The Sentinel still has monofannish fans, but covering it for a dance party is a pain in the butt. I generally end up scraping the depths of Bilibili, and this year was no exception…

So how excited was I to find this refreshing and freaky take! This audio is apparently from some short film and has become something of a meme amongst vidders, but I hadn't heard it before and I don't think anyone at the con had either.

It's always extra surprising and wonderful to find a more serious and darker vid for fandoms everyone associates with camp and retro cheese. The Sentinel fans I included it for were blown away too. It's apparently a pretty good representation of the episode in question.

Forever Knight Vampires | Darkness, Darkness | Gothic 90s by knightvision1228

Because I had the vampires theme, I made a huge list of vampire fandoms to try to include. Forever Knight was one of my fandoms of the 90s and very popular with het shippers and slashers alike. Finding a vid that didn't look like bad VHS transfer, however, was easier said than done.

This one won out for featuring a rare song from the FK soundtrack that was never released. The vid also showcases the main trio instead of just being Nick/Jeanette het.

Megatron x Optimus (Song: Wrecking Ball) by Mellew

We have a lot of Transformers fans, and it's always so hard to find something I can play in the dance party… well… something that's not a 10-minute compilation of explicit fan art to horny reggaeton. Personally, I'm all about that reggaeton, but I've been looking for actual shipper vids that are a little more representative and a little less likely to make the fans combust in embarrassment.

When I heard the song choice… well… no other vid could compete.

But don't let the literalism and hilarious if one-note joke fool you: this is a fantastically edited vid that makes excellent use of the song's varying tempo.

And yes, I made sure to loudly say "WHY ARE YOU ALL LAUGHING? THIS IS A VERY SERIOUS VID" as the vid started.

BakuDeku AMV - Lucky Strike by caliowl 333

Do I watch BNHA? No. Do people at the con watch BNHA? No. Do antis hate this ship? Absofuckinglutely YES!

I love stupid shonen nonsense, and this fandom provides it in spades. It took a while to find an AMV that wasn't littered with not only show audio but dubbed show audio. (What am I, an animal?!)

I also just really love this song for dance parties.

Dancing on My Own - Robyn (Izzy Hands Edit) by auxiliarywardrobe

OFMD is another tough one. It's not due to a lack of vids: if anything, there are too many. But so many aren't suitable for a dance party and many are already familiar to people.

While I did find this on AO3 (honestly nearly a requirement for finding non-show audio vids in this fandom), it hadn't gotten any attention from people I recognized as an Escapade type crowd.

I loved the indignity of pairing Izzy with this ridiculous song. OFMD was a little anodyne for me in some ways, so the sleazy obnoxiousness of Izzy is a welcome antidote to all of the fluff and angst vids about the main ship.

At the same time, I don't particularly ship Izzy with anybody. I enjoy watching him be miserable, and the song is actually quite a good lyrical match for his impotent frustration.

Do You Wanna Touch Me? [Fanvid] by resurrecho

Okay, this one is cheating on my own rules. I'm sure people had every opportunity to see it… But it's also a femslash vid that is very, very horny.

This one's for you ladies tired of ~dewy flower~ soft bullshit!

Cult of Dionysus - Leverage OT3 - Eliot/Parker/Hardison by leverage brain worms

Leverage remains a perennial favorite and the new show had attendees talking,  but people often request the same tired old vid choice. I went looking for something that hadn't been played at every con over and over.

I liked that this vid was relatively recent. The song with poly lyrics was a fun touch.

HeiHua FMV~|| Hei Ye falling for the Thorny Flower by Black Flower

When I saw this vid, I said to myself: I don't know who they are, but I ship them!

AND GUESS WHAT? SEEING THE SHOW DID NOT CHANGE THAT OPINION!

Yes, this vid is directly responsible for me watching all these DMBJ adaptations.

I knew a lot of Escapade attendees were vaguely familiar with Reunion because of Zhu Yilong, but I didn't think most had checked out the rest of DMBJ, and this vid was so diametrically opposite of both that adaptation and the vibe of the big ship that I knew I just had to include it.

But seriously, this vidder actually has an excellent grasp of narrative. Now that I've seen the show, some of this stuff is repurposed and out of context, but you wouldn't know it from the eyelines.

Cover Me - A Fanvid by TinTurtle

Ah, Pros. The Professionals has the most dedicated fans at Escapade, hands down. They keep the con afloat and keep their fandom vibrant even after decades. Finding a dance vid to include for them, however, is a bit of a trial.

Realistically, I'm never going to find a vid they haven't all seen unless I make it myself, so I look for songs with a better beat than the typical old fandom vids tend to have.

The Fanged Four - Play with Fire (BTVS/ATS) by SlayerVid

People were talking about the Buffyverse again this year. Was it an anniversary of some kind? I can't recall, but it's a big nostalgia fandom for a lot of attendees, and it's one of the bigger vampire fandoms, so I wanted to include it.

While there used to be a billion vids for Buffy and Angel, only a fraction of them are findable online now. I went hunting for something not by a con regular and with visual quality that would play okay on a projector.

This is a great song for its grinding beat, and the vid is both recent and features a variety of vampire characters.

BL | Mobu ✘ Kikuchi S2 || So What by rosenana708

I suspect I found it by looking for Kei x Yaku vids, but as soon as I spotted it, I knew it was a must-have.

Yes, this is full of stupid show audio, but too bad: Nobody at a slash or BL con should be allowed to escape without knowing that A Man Who Defies the World of BL exists.

The Locked Tomb | Fences (SPOILERS!) by peachy 💕

This fandom was the latest hot flavor for many and f/f to boot. I was skeptical about finding a vid, but what do you know!

die for you / beyond evil by butillmissyou

After being pimped in by last year's vid find, I knew I wanted to include it again.

This music grabbed me by the throat. I'd never even heard of LÉON, but the soulful sound is perfect for this fandom.

Personal Jesus by killabeez

I desperately wanted a vid to this song. The cover isn't my fave, but I couldn't turn down the combo of a vampire fandom and this classic.

True, Killa isn't exactly obscure to anyone at Escapade, but this is a relatively less seen older vid and excellently edited.

BTS Vampire FMV | Bad Things (True Blood OP) by GoldenArmy7

I'm so clever.

Yes, this is mostly here so I can follow the True Blood vid with one to the True Blood theme song. Also to inflict BTS on people.

● Ichiro + Shiro | 'dope' (KeixYaku: Dangerous Partners FMV) by xXScarshadowXx

And now some BTS music, LOL

Sadly no longer online from what I can tell

WEDNESDAY | “Sweet But Psycho” Netflix Serie [HD] by SHIK

There are like thirty vids to this fandom using this song. This one blew the others out of the water.

I'll be honest, everyone was trying to push Wednesday/Enid around the time of the con, and that ship is the most boring thing you could possibly take away from this show. I wanted a vid that showcased what's actually fun here, which is not sucking all the creepy out of an Addams Family adaptation, for fuck sake.

ALIEN SUPERSTAR | Wanda & Scarlet Witch by LittleLaceBoots

MCU is still big with attendees, but it's so sprawling that knowing what to choose is hard. I found this music choice quite interesting for how it showcases the weird schtick of this particular show.

A Cowboy's Love by lilly_the_kid

If there's one AO3 vidder I will always play, it's lilly_the_kid! I wanted something for Star Wars, and I wanted it to be slash. This classic and ridiculous vid fit the bill.

Is it appropriate for a dance party? It is IF I SAY IT IS!

Boss Bitch | Lan Wangji (陈情令 The Untamed FMV) by slowparade

Everyone vids this song, but this example is particularly great!

I like aspects of The Untamed a lot. Sadly, those aspects do not include the central ship. I'm always on the hunt for vids that actually work for me. This take on Lan Wangji is hilarious.

Geraskier - Fine By Me by CainnetreIt delights me to find vids to other versions of popular canons. This is such a classic slash vid. It's not particularly danceable, but it's so fun that I wanted to include it, so it needed to go at the end of a section. It's the kind of song you wave your beer around to.

[pastelcheckereddreams]

Four Seasons Manor (四季山庄): Set Layout, Part Two!

I found it. I finally found the second set. I'm so ridiculously proud of myself 😂 All details will be revealed and broken down shortly, here and in a third part, but first let me recap my Siji Manor drafting progress so far:

If you're stumbling over this post in the wild - hi! I draw architectural drafts of cdrama sets, as accurately to the show as I can. A huge amount of research goes into creating my art, and so far no set location has been as elusive as this one. All of my set design projects start with a lot of research and resource gathering, to ensure that I am drafting the sets as accurately as possible. One element of each of my finished pieces is, as you may know, a birdseye view of the set. I include this to show the spatial relationship of the architectural elements I draft, and to give the fictional location cohesion and comprehensibility as a "lived space," further enriching - I hope - your experience of my art and of the show itself.

This process, however, becomes incredibly complicated to achieve when 1) the set I am trying to draft is split across different film locations, especially if 2) I can't find one of the sets.

At the time of my last post, linked here, I had located the set used for the front courtyard of Siji Manor in Hengdian World Studio's Spring and Autumn Tang Park, (what I have begun to call the "exterior set"), and had ruled out the wider set as locations for the main "interior" set - the inner courtyards of Siji Manor where the majority of the scenes in episodes 24-29 take place.

Well friends, just over a year later, I have confirmed that my suspicions in my very first Siji Manor draft post were, in fact, true. The second shooting location for Siji Manor was inside one of Hengdian's film studios. It was filmed in the "Mansion Scene" set, in Huaxia Shed #2:

My journey to finding this set lead me through two other dramas, and to the discovery that this set was also used for part of the filming of WOH episode 5, in Sanbai Manor. By cross-checking all of these scenes, I've been finally able to identify all relevant buildings and map the main set for Siji:

(First part of an insane, dizzying breakdown under the cut. It's long. It's confusing. Godspeed.)

project list | kofi | prints

I will begin by saying that, although I am confident of this layout as you see it above being Siji Manor, I am not certain that this is the full Mansion Scene in Huaxia Shed #2. This is because my only source for the photos above comes from this article, which also includes three photos I've been unable to place in relation to the above map, despite clearly being from the same area. Moreover, because of the lack of wide camera angles or even full use of this above set in WOH itself, my scale/placement of buildings in relation to each other is still a little off. I've also given myself some artistic license with minor parts of the landscaping. That being said, let me break down this set layout for you, and reveal Siji Manor to you all:

WKX and ZZS's rooms

Buildings 1 and 3 are used as WKX and ZZS's rooms respectively. My confirmation of this fact - and many more to come - comes from the drama Mysterious Lotus Casebook (MLC), in which we see a clearer view of the courtyard between the rooms itself, where the kitchen in WOH resides (labelled 2):

Firstly, how do I know that the kitchen where Chengling has his chicken showdown is outside WKX's room? Because we can see it outside in this screenshot:

And how do we know that this room, WKX's room, is the one on the left side of the screen in the Mysterious Lotus Casebook screenshot? Because that room, belonging to Yun Biqiu, matches the layout of WKX's room:

(Note that WKX's room is used as the Princess's room in episode 1 of WOH, and despite significantly different set dressing/modification, her room - WKX's room - bears the same structural layout as Biqiu's. But you probably just have to trust me on that latter point because they like to move walls and floors in the film studios.)

To verify building 3 as ZZS's room (which is likewise used as Li Xiangyi's from MLC), and to show that you can walk straight through this room from the kitchen (2) courtyard into the formal courtyard (5), I'm going to have to let these door panels do the heavy lifting for me:

Did you follow that? Don't worry, I've mapped the route on a copy of the main birdseye view below. Hang in there!

Formal Courtyard

The snowy screenshot above brings us to what could be considered the "formal" courtyard of this mansion - the QHZ snow scene! It is the fact that this scene occurs with ZZS's room to the right (note those door panels) that makes me headcanon ZZS took up residence in QHZ's room on his return to Siji (and that WKX took Qin-furen's....).

There isn't much to say about this courtyard itself, but enjoy these screenshots from MLC:

Now, did you remember those other door panels? In MLC, Li Xiangyi walks from this courtyard around the side of his old room (again - note the door panels) past a small, private seating area for his/ZZS/QHZ's room - labelled as area 4.

This brings him, and us, along the walkway dividing the kitchen courtyard, and the main courtyard of this set. If you're struggling to follow along (as even I am at this point😵‍💫), this is the route I have taken you on so far:

I'm about to divert you into Sanbai Manor, WOH episode 5, for a look at area 7, and then we will dive into the main area of this Siji Manor set in part three.

So, surprise! This set is also briefly used for Chengling's room in Sanbai Manor. I thought I was crazy for this, but damn it, I was right. Here's a view of his "room" which is actually the side of the main hall (6):

It's at this point that I concede it might have just been easier to start this breakdown with the main courtyard and main hall. Whoops.

Anyway, I hope this first part has been an interesting, if chaotic, read. Let me know your thoughts so far! Have you been able to follow along okay? Do I need to clarify anything? What do you think about the revelation of all these sets colliding? (Particularly if part one and the first set is fresh in your mind.)

As always, if you'd like to support my research madness and help fuel my many artistic endeavors, please consider donating to my kofi or checking out my print shop:

project list | kofi | prints

Now, click through to part three below, where I will take you through the main area of Siji Manor. See you there!

Part One | Part Two | Part Three

[simplegenius042]

Music Monday and WIP Wednesday

Tagged by @g0dspeeed @josephseedismyfather @socially-awkward-skeleton @inafieldofdaisies @direwombat @cassietrn and @adelaidedrubman

Tagging @shallow-gravy @strangefable @chazz-anova @josephslittledeputy @jillvalentinesday @wrathfulrook @poisonedtruth @voidika @strafethesesinners and @minilev

Got a snippet of The Years In Hope County (my almost slice-of-life September prompt collection fic that I'm still working on). You get to meet Silva's younger sister, Elsa Omar, and a special addition of Persephone. And a song for Elsa as well!

Additionally the chapter's almost done and might upload it either this week or next... so yay!

WIP below:

Sylvester’s brows creased at the word. She took a glance over to a group of men sitting at a table, one in a three-piece suit, a professional choice that matched his stoic disposition, while the other man, one she could only see the back of, was wearing a blue shirt and vest. Blue-shirt’s two companions had clothes that were shaggy, plain and they seemed less well-kempt.

She didn’t know many of the words they were saying, so she chose to move on. She listened to more conversations, writing down as much words as she could, until she heard the familiar call of her precious hermana and hija.

She looked up from her notebook and saw Elsa at the front counter of the diner, making idle and practised conversation with the clerk, her blonde hair locked into a course style that laid at her left shoulder, though there were still bangs that unavoidably stuck to Elsa’s forehead. Sylvester noticed she was wearing a regular blue checkered blouse with a plain green skirt, which wasn’t consistent to the eye-catching wardrobe Sylvester knew her young hermana had at her lodge. Even her leggings and flats were tame in comparison to Elsa’s usual… promiscuous tastes.

A blessing from Jannah, she supposed, considering Persephone was clutching at the hem of her tía’s skirt. Her hija's green eyes surveyed around the diner with intrigue, the three-year-old searching for source of the smells of hot food and warm beverages that tickled her small nose.

Once Persephone spotted Sylvester, the toddler's head perked up, then giggled as she ran over to her madre with a bright smile creased across her face, red curls bouncing. Sylvester got out of her seat to kneel down and catch her hija in a hug, nuzzling her little girl.

She saw Elsa cut her conversation with the clerk short, and made her way from the counter over to Sylvester and Persephone.

And here's a catchy song for Elsa that I believe somewhat describes her well enough:

""I fell in love with you 'cause you made me feel" "I fell in love with you 'cause you kept it real" "Man, you done changed up on me, you changed your flow" "Now I been hating on you everywhere I go", um, hold up

No, "I ain't too flawless" and, no, "I ain't the best" And no, "I don't say sorry" and, no, "I ain't perfect" But I am the man (DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO) I am the man (DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO) Shots fired!

(La di da di da di da da da! La di da di da di da da da da! La di da di da di da da da! La di da di da di da da da da!)

...

I am the man, no, I ain't aim for no crown (Woh! Woh!) But when you mention them, no, don't leave me out (Whoooooaaa!)

No, "I ain't too flawless" and, no, "I ain't the best" And no, "I don't say sorry" and, no, "I ain't perfect" But I am the man (DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO) I am the man (DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO) Shots fired!"

[chaos0pikachu]

tldr: censorship fucking sucks and word of honor and xena are mlm/wlw solidarity 

okay this was a random thought that came to me during a combo of rewatching of Word of Honor and reading a post that declared Word of Honor “didn’t count” on their BL list of whatever the fuck and here’s the thought, here’s the vibe, Word Of Honor has a lot in common with Xena: Warrior Princess

Hear me out

Everyone kinda knows that Xena - and by extension Lucy Lawless - as a bisexual/queer woman icon, and that Xena/Gabrielle is probably still one of the most prominent wlw ships in western canon. That’s a huge part of the shows iconography in pop culture. But like, if you rewatch the show, things between Xena and Gabrielle are kept pretty ambiguous but in that ambiguously totally gay way (like WenZhou!). 

The network was actively against Xena and Gabrielle being more than, what fans would probably call nowadays, bait. An executive told producer Rob Tapert that by making Xena and Gabrielle explicit there would be a surge of interested followed by a sharp decline. 

It should be noted that Xena was already a controversial show for it’s era - not just for the gay subtext but under fire from religious groups, anti-feminist groups, and others. 

The showrunners and producers also didn’t intend for Xena and Gabrielle’s relationship to, eh, blossom the way it did. Fans ran with it. Ironically, the intention of the show was to push Xena’s men of color love interests which also made the network gun shy (remember folks racism exists alongside homophobia!). 

Xena and Gabrielle operated in a highly censored space (that still exists in American media btw!! Take it from someone who knows first hand) that was beholden to network hand-wringing, capitalism, and societal homophobia at large.  So their relationship could only live within an ambiguous space. Ironically enough, just like WenZhou, Xena and Gabrielle are also referred to as “soulmates” in the text of the show. But ya know, sometimes soulmates are platonic, sometimes romantic. Which are WenZhou and Xena/Gabrielle? Well that’s up for the viewer to decide b/c the production teams hands are tied. 

Even so, even with the censorship, we all still view Xena as legitimate queer representation within the pop culture space. Why? Why Xena and not Word of Honor?

For me, they both count, especially WoH because it’s source material IS queer. But the filter of censorship snipped and cut the text away so everything would be forced to live within that ambiguous “up to the audience aka gotta make the advertisers comfortable” space. 

I don’t think it’s fair to throw WoH out because the production couldn’t, like they were not allowed, to showcase text on screen. Similar to Xena queer fans knew that her and Gabrielle were in love, soulmates (romantic) by the end (where Xena dies, like literal for reals death she’s ashes carried on by Gabby at the end btw spoiler alert for a 20 year old show at least WK got silver hair and immortality out of his death experience). 

Queer fans appreciated and cultivated what Xena gave us because, no offense but what the fuck else was there? Not a lot, and even less in the fantasy space. Hell, there’s still not a lot of queer representation in the fantasy space we’re only just now going “hey maybe Tolkien’s ultra white British view of things is not the only way to do things?" And now House of Dragon has Black actors in terrible wigs (they’re so fucking bad rip) in 2022. Woooo~ most queer chars in western fantasy media are mainly found in kids cartoons - which, fucking aces there but also - probably why there’s so many adults in those spaces in fandom (not my bag personally) and why I think the popularity of danmei, c-dramas, and k-dramas is on the rise. People are hungry for epic fantasy content, epic romance content, and queer content. 

but like, I think about queer folks who live in China, who watched WoH (ya know, the intended audience, not Americans) who are probably feeling the same thing people felt when they watched Xena. Yeah, Mr. Advertiser Xena and Gabrielle are soulmates (platonic) wink wink, Yeah Mr. Network ZZS and WKX are soulmates (platonic) wink wink

and I think that’s still valuable. idk I just don’t think it’s right for foreigners to be like “no you’re queer media doesn’t count actually because I deem it so” when the reason for the relationship being subtextual is literal censorship. And yet the text is hella gay anyway!! like at the end of the day we’re all battling the crushing weight of homophobia but not everyone’s fight is exactly the same especially country-to-country and I think that should still be respected. given how damn gay WoH is anyway I imagine the producers fought really fucking hard to give audiences what they did. Just like the producers of Xena fought against the network to do what they could. 

anyway, thoughts and shit

[beevean]

hi, i set out today looking for fellow haters of the netflix castlevania show and it was honestly so tough, but amidst all the "why do people hate castlevania?? it's so great!!" circlejerks i finally found you. and thank god for it. i never played any of the games, so it's good to know at least that they make more sense in terms of characters and plot than that netflix shitshow

a friend who really loves it sat me down about a year ago and we watched the first three seasons or so together before i could finally escape it and never touched it again. i do like the animation and some of the fight scenes, but none of it comes even close to balancing out the corny dialogue, the lackluster character dynamics, and oh GOD the cultural faux pas. like?? why did they not google a single one of the romanian names they very frequently say? i heard at least three different mispronunciations of "târgoviște" and "greșit", and "țepeș" they somehow managed to get approximately half right (it's pronounced "tzeh-pesh", not "teh-pesh"). it's absolutely mind-boggling to me. wikipedia includes standardised phonetic spelling and google translate can just read it out to you. idk how it is in the games, but considering how big on alleged wokeness the netflixvania production team seems to be, they could at the very least have looked up these very basic and frequently used words once or asked a singular romanian for a pointer here and there

i am romanian, so obviously these things tick me off much more than they would someone who isn't. i just think that if they weren't going to pronounce anything right anyway and wanted to use a very generic western european backdrop (note: romania is in eastern europe), they could just as well have set the whole thing in a fake fantasy world and spared themselves some trouble. the houses look german. the priests and churches look catholic. there are way too many blonde people, especially for southern romania. i just don't like it at all

i hope you have great day btw 💞 thank you for lending me some new faith in humanity

Oh 🥺 I'm glad you sent me this ask <3 I feel that there are very few people who outright dislike NFCV (for the right reasons, at least), because you hear left and right about how not only it's excellent on every front, but So Much Better Than The Stupid games, Best Adaptation of All Time, and it kills me inside every time because am I stupid for not buying the hype? So yeah, thank you <3

I'm vindicated that you didn't like the show even without playing the games. The most common rebuttal against antis is "wah you just want the adaptation to be 1:1 with the games!" (or "wah you're just a bigot!", which drives me mad), but I always insist that the show fails on its own product as well. It's exactly as you say, and yes, I was also bothered by how every "foreigner" has an appropriate accent, but the Romanians speak in perfect British English. It wants to be inclusive but it ends up being confusing and lowkey xenophobic - what, Romanian doesn't sound sexy enough for you?

(also count your blessings that you managed to escape S4. Some of the plotlines enraged me like I can't convey in written word :) )

Eh, if incorrect pronunciation bothers you (and as an Italian who has seen what the English language does to their native tongue, I fully sympathize lmao), the games don't do much better. In one game the translator of the manual didn't know that Wallachia was a real place, they thought it was the fantasy town of Warakiya (which is how it's spelled in Japanese), and in another it's pronounced "woh-LAY-sha" lol. The chapels also look very Catholic for the aesthetic, even though the Orthodox Church exists (I'd wager that in Japan they're far less familiar with it). Overall, the settings in the games tend to be vaguer than in the show, rarely namedropped, except for two games set in Wallachia (the ones the show takes "inspiration" from) and two other titles set in Japan. The show tries a little harder, but hardly hides the historical inaccuracies and just went for the aesthetic as well :P

Same to you, anon 💕

[joylinda-hawks]

Leader Mo, someone asked me to send you to hell. WOH, episode 35, part 5. WKX recalls conversations with GX when she asked him if he was healthy, if he was dizzy, if he was hungry, because she could cook him something. He recalls fragments of memories from the last period when he scolded GX and many other people, including: the moment when she was walking with him with an umbrella when he was sad when he found out that ZZS was dying. He also remembered how GX was furious, calling him a scoundrel and accusing her of being a disobedient servant who abused her master. The next flashback is when a sad GX asks if WKX is leaving her. All these memories come to mind as WKX holds GX's dead body in his arms. After a while, he picks her up and carries GX to the wall, where he places her body next to CWN's. A memory appears as GX and CWN look at each other without saying a word. WKX picks up the Phoenix Crown and places it on GX's head, then with a wave of his hand he rips off the red veil and covers both bodies with it. When he finishes, WKX looks up, his expression showing his desire for revenge. Outside, MHY and his students fight the puppets. WKX is fanning its way to achieving MHY. He fights to kill, regardless of his own injuries. MHY doesn't fight anyone for a moment and looks around. He tells himself that he didn't think he would be tricked by the Scorpion King. However, he has no respite as he hears a voice telling him that someone asked that person to send MHY to Hell. WKX appears in front of MHY and looks at his opponent with hatred in his eyes. MHY calls WKX a damn bastard and goes on the attack. WKX stands calmly and fends off MHY's blows with sparing fan movements. Soon WKX starts attacking, it is merciless. Both men exchange blows and both men get hurt as well, look at those injuries. WKX looks like he's not in any pain and is just smiling. They both fight to the death, only one of them can survive. As time passes, they both become more and more exhausted. The fight seems to be over, but MHY manages to seriously injure WKX with his sword, but at the same time, WKX slams his hand into MHY's chest, and then looking at MHY, it rips his face, blinding him. He then breaks the sword and pierces MHY's chest with a piece torn from the body. Finally, he grabs the Mo leader by the throat and screams, breaking his neck and throwing his body away. When WKX sees that MHY is dead, he knows he kept his word. When the adrenaline wears off, WKX realizes that he is very seriously injured and with his last remaining strength he climbs a tree to sit in the shade and rest. He speaks in a weak voice, apologizing to GX that MHY died too easily, adding that she should wait a while because he will join her soon. Exhausted, WKX tries to breathe and slowly closes his eyes. WKX now has only one goal, to avenge GX's death, other things don't matter, it even looks like he forgot about ZZS for a moment. For many years, GX was WKX's closest family, he treated her like a daughter, not a servant. She was his ray of hope in Ghost Valley and made sure he didn't lose his human feelings. Therefore, WKX decides to kill MHY with all his might. MHY has many years of experience behind him, and WKX is a young man who is still learning. But this young man receives the strength to fight with hatred. MHY is surprised that he was tricked by the Scorpion King and this nervousness causes him to make mistakes. Despite a difficult fight, WIX emerges victorious and kills his opponent. He knows he brought out the worst instincts he had, but he had to do it because MHY killed GX and CWN for selfish reasons. GJ is fantastically great against his opponent here. His movements and facial expressions are unforgettable.

[fictionkinfessions]

HIIII JUNKO HERE TO WISH MY TWIN, MUKURO, A HAPPY BIRTHDAY THIS DECEMBER THE 24TH!!! I know some of you may not be happy to hear that from me, though personally my canons are all pretty canon divergent, and I only ever shift into non-mastermind or non-despair Junko shifts now that my mental health is better (it's been a few years of this, now). I do acknowledge that in some of my canons I definitely hurt Mukuro, which I feel very bad about now, but I don't want to weigh this ask down with regrets, so I won't dwell on that. Instead! I want to express my love and pride for all the Mukuro's out there!!! You're doing amazing!!! I'm so glad you've survived another year!!! Happy birthday, sis!!! Your existence is a gift and I hope you don't let anyone (including me/other mes) make you feel otherwise.

For that matter, I want to extend my Christmas well wishes to any Mukuro's who celebrate it, as well as any Yasuke's, Makoto's, Mikan's, or Monaka's! Yasuke, I still remember celebrating this time with you and your mom, and I will always look upon those memories fondly—you will always be my best friend in my heart, my childhood sweetheart, even long after we've parted, and I really wish you the best. Makoto, you made my sister happy, and I will always be grateful for that, too—you're a good dude, and in a lot of my canons, you gave me a chance even when I maybe didn't deserve it, and I'm grateful for that as well. Mikan, my sweet little orange, what can I even say? You're the light of my life, my love, and I miss you everyday. I love you, beloved, and I hope you never, ever doubt that you are loved, wherever you are. I hope you are doing well, that you have a loving family that you're celebrating with, this time. Just the thought of you keeps me going, love, and I can only prey I'm a similar source of strength for you, too. And Monaka, my dear little sister, it is not your birthday, but I hope you also know your existence is a gift, no matter what the neigh sayers might say, and that your big sister misses you, too. I hope you, as well, have found better luck with your family in this life than your last. I love you, little sis.

Merry Christmas to any other DR kins out there, too! There was so many more I could mention - the Imposter, Ryota, Chisa who was like a mother to me, Nagito, Chiaki when she existed in my canons, the other WOH, who while I wasn't as close to as Monaka, I did love dearly, and so many others, but I'll leave it at that for now. Even if I didn't mention you, please know I hold you in my heart even now.

- Junko Enoshima <3

box

[jeriafterdark]

813 - The Reprise - Part 9 - One Year onward and how 813 never stopped, + muting of CAPA clowns

Masterpost here

Long time no post! I'm much more active on my twitter, I mostly retweet updates on 813/JunZhe / my art and fan creations if you're wondering where I am.

So it's been one year since August 13, 2021, the day that ZZH was cancelled / bullied off the face of Chinese Entertainment.

Table of Contents:

813 never ended - a one year summary adding context as well as relating it to Zhang Sanjian / ZSJ, a weapon in CAPA's arsenal against Zhang Zhehan.

CAPA clowns muted on August 12, 2022.

Below is my thread from twitter, but with links and sources.

1. 813 never ended, and ZSJ proves that.

You may have thought that 813 ended with ZZH’s cancellation, but it never stopped. The big picture: the IG/ZSJ scandal is part of a corrupt industry-coordinated effort to effectively erase ZZH’s presence from entertainment, for good.

Since the airing of SHL/WOH and ZZH’s subsequent rise into fame, he had to endure many harsh rumors generated by malicious people planted in fandom or on the periphery. If you’ve followed QV/Blue/Flora’s posts recently, more and more people are being identified, who came out of the woodwork to contribute to these false rumors. I.e, the GF rumor on the boat that ZZH was on. There are many groups of individuals with connections to each other and to CAPA, i.e. the teashop / the Chens, Weibo Antis, Xie Yihua and co., and the Shenzhen Gang.

Flora's character sheet keeps track of all the characters here and she also keeps an updated map of how everyone is related (as of 21/08/08), from CAPA execs to the tea shop to the ehzz ZSJ brand.

Leading to July of 2021, the rumors became more and more vicious, attacking ZZH’s credibility as a graduate of Shanghai Theatre Academy, attacking his character, etc.

And it culminated in the industry-wide ban on August 13= “813”. Within 2 days, he and his 10 years of work were erased from Chinese entertainment.

Even during these tumultuous times, when long-time HaiZhe/ZZH solo fans told everyone to quiet down and let it blow over lest fandom makes it worse for him, some planted fans/antis in the fandom tried to stir the pot even more. (revealed recently by QV and co).

On November 23, CAPA released a ban list of 88 names including Kris Wu (a known star who broke the law) and Zhang Zhehan. It was later revealed that the meeting that decided these names was over in an hour and barely had any oversight or transparency.

Bc CAPA wasn’t transparent in how they came up with this industry-ban list, Director Li Xuezheng (Uncle Li/LXZ) stood up and started a movement of accountability. One hashtag on Weibo that I followed was “justice for the people,” which reached BILLIONS of interactions, and never once did it make it onto hot search. Weibo itself was in a fight behind the scenes between different parties, constantly muting and unmuting, deleting and restoring Uncle Li’s daily updates and videos, as well as his audio interview with ZZH himself.

(Update Aug 8, 2022) QV came out with information: The reason that Uncle Li couldn't get ZZH's case onto the hot search was because of the Chinese Cyberspace Admin (CAC). This gov org prevented them from reaching hot search in order to prevent CAPA from unleashing its 800 yxh accounts to smear Uncle Li and company. They were investigating water armies at the time.

They really wanted to get on Hot Search, they were planning to smear LXZ as someone who was trying to whitewash history. They had articles planned, water armies readied as well as "fans" and "righteous passerbys" prepared to stoke sentiments.

There are many parties still fighting behind the scenes that we are not privy to(#QuestionCAPA). It may seem like ZZH is quiet but it’s a strategic silence until his case is ready to be made public. Otherwise, it’s still ongoing and private.

Uncle Li had major success in turning the tide of public opinion, and ZZH finally submitted an official police report to the Beijing PD on Dec 24, 2021. His recorded interview with LXZ and other party members and lawyers was released on Dec 31, 2021.

ZZH maintained his innocence. There was no evidence of him committing wrongdoing, and he submitted himself to court. March 18, a leaked audio of ZH expressed how he has the will to fight for his name, his family, and his innocence despite the barrage of corrupt industry bans.

Now cue ZSJ👻 Because ZZH’s fandom was largely intact, the agents of CAPA behind 813 wanted to thoroughly destroy his chance of ever coming back + destroy his reputation via stealing his Instagram, which fueled the ZSJ scandals.

Jan 13- Uncle Li was muted

Jan 16- The ZSJ account emerged. (Check Ennis's ZSJ timeline)

This is not a coincidence, the perpetrators knew LXZ will be muted and prepared their Second Act, the ZSJ scandal to destroy ZZH. And so we have the constant infighting between ZSJ fans, ZZH fans, and CP fans. Have you noticed how toxic ZSJ fans are now? And on twitter, they keep trying to stir up trouble with us, hijacking our hashtags, etc.

It created a RIFT within ZZH’s main fandom. Looking at it with this big picture, can you see that this is all one WHOLE campaign against ZZH? Because they failed to destroy him completely on 813, they planned their Second Act with ZSJ to finish the job.

This is where things stand, the ZSJ accounts shill merch using commonly available apps/tech to impersonate ZZH. They have him talking sh-t about his former co-stars (never by name), burning his bridges. A professional would never do this if they wanted a chance at jobs again.

Through all of this, the characters never once mention "Gong Jun" or "Zhang Zhehan" and never claim to be them. Just to "hint" at them. Why? So their impersonation scandal can't be easily traced back to them, they have the defense of vague words, ambiguous names.

Gong Jun is suffering a constant barrage of anti attacks also related to CAPA and associates (as revealed day by day by Blue/Flora/QV). I'm sure he has been preparing for this eventuality since 813 last year, so I believe in his and his team to keep him safe.

813 never ended. It is CRUCIAL context to ZSJ and ZZH’s silence. Let’s wait. Believe that the real ZZH is who he always was: a strong, loving man who focuses on the kindness surrounding him rather than burning those who wronged him.

2. Many CAPA / Xie Yihua etc Minions were muted yesterday (Aug 11-12, 2022)

Many CAPA clowns' accounts were muted yesterday, right before 813. It is unknown if it was the government doing this, or if it's just another part of CAPA's scheme, only time will tell.

The EHZZ Brand account was wiped out (still there though) on Weibo.

CAPA minions like Tony Peng, Sanke, intern lawyer, have all been muted.

I have cautious optimism that this is a sign of better things to come, but only time will tell!

[navs-bhat]

Student Of The Year Rewatch Thoughts? Idk reallly know what this is yet lmao

I hope this reaches my target audience

Firstly, it's been too long since I've rewatched this I used to watch it whenever it came on tv and I'd find it while surfing

Secondly, I still enjoy this movie I think lmao

Let's see

-okay so to start with the kukkad song

-I never realised that the lyric says " ainu vekhe de munde to kehnde Oh My God" I always thought it was kudiye both times

-kinda gay tbh jk jk

-Abhi is in the wrong tbh like this guy is parking a bike in a car park and then is like who said this is an entitled rich boy's parking LIKE WHY ITS A CAR PARK NOT A BIKE PARK

I STILL DONT KNOW HOW I HADN'T REALISED IT TILL NOW

-then he goes and ruins a beautiful Ferrari😭

-one big question I have is how can Abhi even have thee audacity to get into physical fights with rich boy on what seems to be his first day

-this man is here on a scholarship he can't afford to do all this on his first day bro

-I always loved Siddharth Malhotra more than Varun Dhawan while there were many dying over varun

-I remember the whole thing was just as big as Team Edward or Team Jacob here okay

-Rohan is too mean too Jeet

-ALSO why was even Shanaya still with Rohan like according to her first few lines he definately has a habit of flirting with other girls while he calls her his girlfriend LIKE GIRL YOU COULD DO BETTER

-Rohan's dad and brother are too mean yikes

-no wonder rohan hates his dad the way he does

-why is the dean so weirdly gay its too funny but at the same time CRINGE

-it's sad to see Rishi Kapoor now :(

-all the parents are so weird

-THE WHOLE CONVO ABOUT PUSHUP BRA AND FLIRTY DMS BETWEEN TANYA AND HER MOTHER DBCBFUFBGUEFGHFOIUHKEFJBSJK

-SHE SUGGESTS SURGERY?????!?!?!?!?

-Sumo is so sweet actually

-Dean massaging the coach 😭😭😭

-DID BOMAN IRANI JUST SPANK RISHI KAPOOR IN THE FLASHBACK SCENE WHAT IS HAPPENINGCJNUDKBKJ

-hes so gay its gay

-BIG FAT INDIAN WEDDING

-TOO BIG FAT MAN

-I KNOW YALL ARE RICH BUT WHO TAKES THE WHOLE SCHOOL LMAO

-kjo definately puts in gay-ish scenes for his own self idk pls don't come at me

-THEY'VE BEEN DATING FOR FOUR YEARS :0

-him throwing duffli lmao

-Alia looks so young in this

-this beach scene always cracks me up

-let me just say whoever thinks Alia Bhatt can't act should watch this movie and then watch her current stuff lmao

-classic guy gives other guy speach about a girl not knowing he loves her

-kjo🤝girl goes with one guy while her hand slips out of other guys hand

-I love the compition tbh its so fun I always wanted to play a big treasure hunt like they do

-the really? no kills me

-this rando girl in Abhi's team has no lines like none its too funny

-Galat ghanta lmao

-again Sudo is the best lmao

-WHERE AND HOW DOES DIMPY KEEP COMING TO SAY GALAT GHANTA LMAO

-DADI RULES LMAO

-in my opinion abhi and rohan together and shanaya single lmao

-baby face Alia is really affecting my brain lmao

HAPPY BIRTHSYA 😭

-caption "the love is like a ruby, the love is like a burning sensation, the love like purity, it's more than love, it's affectionate love, I'm in love with you, it's affectionate love' ??!?!?!?

WHO CAPTIONED THIS NETFLIX

-purest love in this movie dadi and abhi

-I find it so funny that anytime no one wants to choose between Abhi and Rohan they choose Jeet

-DISCO DEEWANE

-question- on what basis did they get eliminated in ths prom thing likeis it they can't dance or something?

-the triathlon just reminds me of jo jeeta woh sikandar

-these slowmo running shots i mean-

-kiss toh nahi karega na? me: do it do it

-everyone's way too invested in them making up

-anyway its over

THANKS FOR READING THIS IF YOU REACHED TILL HERE AND EVEN IF YOU DIDNT THANKS

[jmdbjk]

Boy in Luv to boys in love?

Part Two. 

(go back to pt. 1 here)

(nothing more manly man than standing at the urinal checkin’ out each other’s equipment, am I right?)

So now I am going to talk about something a little more meaty...Being homosexual in a heterosexual culture.

In these first years, we see how manly masculine males they were all trying to be. Tough men. Boy in Luv men. Stop-playing-with-me-if-you-lose-me-its-your-loss men (lets roll our eyes together 1-2-3 go). Hip hop and rap culture was (and still is) a heterosexual/misogynistic culture. Yet we know Namjoon was already a LGBTQ supporter when he helped a BigHit girl group write a pro-LGBTQ song before BTS’ debut. How to reconcile that with this music genre? Interesting to say the least. So here are our manly men in this manly man k-pop hip hop genre. And here we have Jungkookie and Jiminie who don’t know they will become our muscle bunny and chimchim. Boy in Luv MV released February 11 2014.

As far as BTS music and performances, they knew how to appeal to their fans. They obviously followed the k-pop idol formula in the beginning. Heterosexuality was a given. They put out a lot of songs appealing directly to “Miss Right.” The songs/lyrics and performances very noticeably targeted young female audiences. Example: War of Hormone...the lyrics... omg...cringe... and very heterosexual of them (reading the lyrics again...cringe again...sort of a blessing I didn’t look up the English translation the first time I heard it, right?). That being said, it is still one of my favorite MV’s, what can I say? Sorry? hahahaha! I love them in all their unabashed “bad” boyishness acting in this video. War of Hormone MV released October 2014.

This live performance of WoH is adorable, cheesy, and Jimin’s tongue again.

Setting aside the lyrics and intent of the song, I LOVE THE CHOREOGRAPHY! STOP JUDGING ME!

But that is them performing. That is their idol persona. That is their work. It’s called acting. It is not necessarily their real life personality. Some people have difficulty separating fact from fiction (looking at you antis, mantis, trolls, haters and cult people...)

When not working, which was hardly ever, they are seven, healthy, very fit, good looking, rowdy young men who pursued their various interests. They were surrounded by the idol industry with more physically fit and good looking humans. Even the security dudes are good looking. The whole industry is a conundrum with its sexually charged visuals yet the wholesome way idols are expected to live or at least be perceived to live. Korean societal norms are much more conservative, polite and reserved than us here in the U.S....(incidentally, BTS seemed to shuck off some of this idol identity but then they backtracked a little in some ways, ah another blog post...maybe someday.) 

So as it happens, during off hours...you can only play so many video games right?... read so many books... be so pure... (haha they are not pure little innocents) ... young men being young men (a few of them teenagers and fresh out of puberty), hormones exist and do their thing on your body and your mind and I suspect they did what you do to relieve that. Masturbation happens. And stuff...

In 2015, they began doing V Lives and the precursor to Run BTS. Their V Lives were very short, sometimes only a minute long, done very quickly while waiting at the airport or waiting their turn in the makeup chair before a concert. Even during these we get a brief glimpse at the relationship dynamics.

April 2015: We are still sorta in the manly men mode Officer Kuk and Office Worker Jimin during the Dope MV. 

July 2015: behind clip for NOW3, a photobook, that was shot in Chicago:

The stylists depart from the dark hip hop style and go for cotton candy colors. The eye make up was amazing, especially Jimin’s. I promise you, the regular people on the street in 2015 Chicago thought “look at those cute gay boys taking photos...”

August 2015: 

Just wrapping up Brazil and on to Chile, South America, Jungkook says to Jimin: “Chile sounds like you want to hit me in Korean...” and Jimin ducking his head shyly and giggling? um, ok? V Live from August 1, 2015:

Tae and Hobi: “Jungkook, Jimin needs a birthday spanking”...things escalated quickly and the V Live was ended abruptly, um, excuse me? again, what was that? HAHAHAHAH! V Live from October 18, 2015:

(pause a sec...these little hints at a fetish go wayyyyy back....and is a whole blog post in and of itself...again, maybe someday)

Do I think it was possible that they ever “dated” female staff? Mmmm probably not? Jungkook was too young and too shy, even if he did have thoughts of wanting to date a girl. I know Jungkook has said he had a “girlfriend” but broke it off when they didn’t speak for a long time. Can we really consider that a real relationship when he was what? 14 or 15 years old or younger? No. Those were all words from a very young person who possibly believed it counted as a relationship as well as thinking that was what he was supposed to say.

But honestly, I don’t think there was much going on with any attempts of either of them dating other people back then because of how ambitious and committed to their work they were. Flirt maybe, but date? Nah. How the fuck are you supposed to “date” when you are working from the time you wake up to the time you go to sleep, if you even get to sleep? From what I understand, even the staff are worked to the bone. And possibly non-disclosure stuff, I don’t know what the labor laws are in Korea, if there are non-disclosure agreements then that would prohibit dilly dallying with staff. Yeah, naw, staff mingling wasn’t a thing.

In 2016 they were working on the Wings album. Between jacket photoshoots and MV shoots they are still touring. The first Bon Voyage series airs the summer of 2016 (filmed months prior).

July 2016 we get the Osaka V Lives. I watched Tae’s V Live the day before Jimin’s and I understand what everyone is theorizing but there really is no concrete evidence that Jimin was hiding in the bathroom of JK’s room...except that Jimin seemed perturbed at Tae the next day during his V Live. Here they are if you would like to watch them: 

Tae’s V Live on July 12, 2016. 

And Jimin’s V Live on July 13, 2016.

They win a major award for their Wings album in November and it’s obvious that they are very overwhelmed by it.

By the end of 2016 we get this chaotic December 15, 2016, V Live with the selfie Jungkook threatens to post to Twitter:

We start off 2017 with this February 7 V Live amongst other things right around Jungkook’s high school graduation:

And this cute V Live Twister game on February 13, 2017:

And then we get this February 28, 2017 Run BTS ep. 12...I know it was “acting” in a skit but y’all...the rough play and then JK slinging Jimin over his shoulder and the butt slap... the heavy flirting that was supposedly “ad libbed” was just...beyond words... it was just all too easy for them. Jimin and Jungkook’s segment begins at 8:41. This is what I mean by “chemistry.” They have it:

Their entire segment of that Run episode had me laughing so hard. 

I’ve said before, I am pretty sure they crossed that line with each other at some point. Exactly when? We’ll never know but why wouldn’t they go with the flow and take that leap? Because they aren’t gay? Yeah, right. 

Doesn’t matter if you are straight, gay, bi, or any other color/flavor of the rainbow... we know about sexual urges and libido and how the human body (and mind) works when one is horny. When and where though is really none of our business. We don’t know that. Regardless, I believe Something happened with a capital Sex with each other.  Alcohol may have been in the mix. I am not gonna venture much farther than that because I am talking about real people but when in the moment, you can get carried away even if you didn’t intend to. I think it’s possible this happened even if they are straight up straight. Which I don’t think they are. But sex is sex and it happened in some form. 

And in THAT process, they acted upon/confirmed things they either already knew about themselves or revelations occurred. I think in Jimin’s case it could have been more of a revelation. He’s stated some things that make me think he wasn’t really being true to himself at first. Maybe there was a lot of conflict and rejection before there was acceptance....he has said things that make me think this. This phase of self-discovery started and eventually Jimin blossomed into the Jimin we know. Thank God and Jesus and Dionysus.

Disclaimer #1: I am not gay. Surprise, surprise. Though I do appreciate the naked human body of any gender but I suppose that could be my artist’s eye I see the world with. Does looking at a naked female body turn me on? Perhaps. What does that make me? It makes me a horndog just like these guys. I have no idea and I do not know what it’s like to be a young person who might be confused about their sexuality. I can only speculate. Anyway, this isn’t about me...I digress...but see my point?

Back to the topic at hand. That’s the beauty of me sitting here pondering after watching 35,320 hours of BTS content. Something happened, that’s all I know!

So here we are, late 2017. These two Busan boys debut together and are now doing stuff several years later that they probably never thought in a million years they would be doing. Things were snowballing from 2016 through 2017... gaining momentum, not just their careers but whatever it was happening between these two. 

go to Part Three...

================

[a-student-out-of-time]

Well Happy Halloween everyone! And as what is seemly being tradition for this I have another ASOOT Hunger Games Simulator for you lot to get your teeth into. You may recall that I tried setting this up eariler and then the odds decided to say ‘No’ and make it not fun. Well good news as this Hunger Games is MUCH better then the previous one I ran as a third of the cast don’t die to random arena bullshit.

As a year has passed we have a lot of new characters. I’ve decided to take out all the not reformed villains as I’m evil and want all of the heroes to suffer. No NWPM parents or 2030 kids here for this one, maybe I do that next time who knows?

You also probably notice there’s one missing person and that is Kanata Inori. This is because since she won the last Killing Game she’s 'rewarded’ by not taking part in this one. So I put her boyfriend in there as a replacement.

Oh and for the WOH characters, they are in their 2030 selves. Just so you know. We still have all our heroes from last time but a lot more NWPM characters and a Voidswap character. Let’s see who comes out on top, shall we?

Next time I do this…I’m thinking of modifying the events so they are a bit more… ASOOT like. I mean, from here to Halloween 2023 there would probably be a bunch of more characters to include but I feel changing the events could spice things up and see how many of you get the references.

Oh! Right, you lot need the code for this Hunger Game. Its… 0JLjMmFP. Load that bad boy up, place your bets on your favourite characters and enjoy the fuckfest that is to follow~ - Review Anon

//Oh god, this is gonna be a mess, I love it : P

[baek1nho]

2022: a summary

Post your favourite or most popular edit from each month this year (it’s okay to skip months!)

i saw @moonlightsdream do it, so i wanted to do it!

january — most popular // my favorite

my most popular is the rain scene from ep 2 of beyond evil that i swear someone reblogs almost at least once a day. my favorite one is zishu being threatening, he didn’t get to do it enough. 

february — most popular // my favorite

both are wen kexing sets, i love word of honor anniversary month! both are my favorite.

march — most popular // my favorite

both sets are from twenty five twenty one. both are beach scenes! the beach eps were so pretty!

i had so many sets in march, so here are some honorary mentions: one / two / three. 

1. for seo kang joon!; 2. am still thinking about yao & zong gazing at each other was insane of them, 3. i made this as a joke but zishu really goes slow blink like a cat and i love it very much!

april — most popular // my favorite

both are twenty five twenty one sets again! 

may — most popular // my favorite

a solid word of honor wenzhou month! both sets are some of my top faves. i’m still really proud of the color masking & the blending on my pink one.

june — most popular // my favorite

my most popular set was a scene from alchemy of souls. my epilogue comp set I really liked how the typography & blending worked together. 

this was also another big giffing month for me so here are more honorary mentions: one / two / three

1. the pretty scenery of our blues, explains itself. 2 & 3. my rainless love sets i’ve very attached to.

july — most popular // my favorite

my most popular is porsche & pete, no surprise everyone love them. my favorite set is the aesthetics of insider ep 1. they really hit it hard with cinematography in the first ep and it came out so well!

august — most popular // my (2nd) favorites

my favorite set of the month is my most popular one, but the other 2 are also some of my favorite wenzhou scenes sets too. 

september — most popular // my favorite

my most popular is my dfqc derogatory / affectionate set. which is also my most popular set of the 2022. everyone loves a romantically unhinged man. speaking of romantically unhinged my favorite set was my comp set of jang uk & mu deok. 

I did also i like these: one / two. both woh sets but i do like my dfqc & kexing parallel set a lot! 

october — most popular // my favorite 

both are lbfad sets that are also my favorites! 

november  — most popular // my (2nd) favorite

my most popular set of november is one of my top favorite (wenzhou) sets i’ve ever made. i’m also proud of the other set it was my first time using custom shapes with a clipping mask. i’ve wanted to do a sun/moon set for seonho & hwi for so long and it came out well.

december — most popular // my favorite 

ended the year right with wenzhou & kang yohan! i realized the last set i made in 2022 was kang yohan, i love that a lot. 

anyone who wants to do this tag and haven’t, do it!

[a-very-fond-farewell]

tagged by the lovely @danhoemei , here’s a little tag game:

Getting to Know You meme:

favorite time of the year: i like early autumn. for some reason i think that should be the time the year starts anew rather than early winter;

comfort foods: bread, yakisoba, poke bowls, pasta;

do you collect anything: … too many books on chinese theatre apparently. i do read them for research tho! so i’m not an inconsiderate hoarder i promise!;

favorite drinks: coke;

favourite music artist: muse is a happy constant in my life;

current favourite songs: well i’ve been getting back on my kpop train as of recently, so i would say Generation by a sub-unit from gg TripleS. it just brings me joy when I’m studying and it’s pretty repetitive so it activates the adhd brain enrichment mode;

favourite fics: ah, i haven’t read much from word of honor in a while (too busy working on my woh fic tbh..), so i would say i’m still stuck on how heart-shatteringly beautiful this harbored deluge for you and i is; BUT there’s also the on-going beauty that Who Holds The Devil is, truly a pearl of the devil judge fandom. both are highly recommended! (but also, secretly, I am losing my marbles over this house of the dragon wlw fic bc.. well, ladies).

favourite video games: uuh, i don’t usually play, but my IRL friend E. was talking to me about a game called Potions Permit the other day and it sounds super chill? also there’s another two my equally IRL friend R. suggested me and that I enjoyed in the past to relax: Plant Daddy and Tiny Islands. both are pretty nice!

- anyone can join this! just tag me so I can read your answers and I will be able to get to know you more that way! :D