#is it because of choreo I did as a child?

[gaylordlady]

Have I watched high school musical? No. Do I think those little baseball bitches be gay? ye

[docholligay]

Dr. Holligay Tries Things That Aren't Running: Zumba

It's January second! The air is cold, the frost decorates the windows, and the gym is heaving with bodies, people assured that this is the year for them. It is my month of the year that recalibrates me into remembering how to streamline my daughter's morning so we get out of the house in time to get a slot at childwatch.

So, Jewlet annoyed that I rushed along the intricate ritual of "sitting and reading 80 books at least halfway" we go into the YMCA, and get a spot in childwatch, and all is well. I dress out into my running gear. I walk by the front desk. There is a--oh hello, what's this?

Every year, my YMCA holds a fitness bingo. This is mostly for the benefit of newbies, in that it encourages a sampler of all kinds of classes to see what you'll take to. I do not do the fitness bingo. I do not explore. I run. I put my headphones on and jog on a track, and I think about absolutely nothing. Or everything. Perspective. Once a week I physically toss myself into a strength class so that I have some semblance of bone density when I get older. I love my fitness routine. But. On the countertop, my Achilles heel.

An expensive and indefensibly unitasking kitchen item. I would never buy this. Ever. I would not consider spending three hundred dollars on this. But it is free. For the low price of luck and being willing to diversify my portfolio. I take a bingo card and consider my options.

The good thing, about being a generally social and cheerful person with a recognizable fluff of red hair, is that people notice me, they remember me, they think of me. This is also the bad thing, because as I'm looking this over and absent-mindedly walking toward the track, a gal we'll call Martha, who was actually my neighbor as a child, calls out to me.

"Oh, Doc! Are you gonna come to class with us?"

Something like six women including the instructor are staring at me, smiling, and I realize I have no good defense. I want that stupid kitchen item. I'm sitting here thinking about how to take classes every day and obtain kitchen item. It may as well be this.

"What IS this?" I ask.

Friends, it is Zumba. Zumba, for the uninitiated, is a latin-based jazzercise type situation, with full choreo and salsa steps. There will be many older woman in this class, should you walk in, but do not let that fool you. They will absolutely make you look a fool. "Idiot can't even do a grapevine into three toe taps into a spin!" Says Gladys.

But I don't have a defense! It's on the bingo card, it's even in the row where Boot Camp is, which I do attend every week anyhow, and I'm standing there. NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT. I know this is a bad idea, I know it is, and yet I walk in.

As it turns out, I'm more than willing to tolerate mild humiliation for the promise of an unnecessary and expensive kitchen item.

Let me tell you what, I am giving it my all. I am dancing with the stars, and by 'with the stars' I mean, 'Gladys and her compatriots are wiping the floor with me.' But I am me in all things, and I am giving it my all. I'm giving baby deer gambols across a field ten minutes after being born, I'm giving drunk Midwestern drag queen, I'm giving enthusiastic and untalented Mexican toddler at the annual Fiesta Mexicana. I am jumping and doing the full jumping jack every time I can, because my functional knees are my only stranglehold over Gladys.

I don't like to pay attention ever when I work out, and this was nothing but attention. I got to the end of a 50 minute silver shoe latin dance party and I felt like I had just done my taxes by hand. The instructor has the audacity to come up to me, who tripped over her own water bottle while trying to serve up a hip thrust, and tell me I did a great job for my first time.

I thrust forward my bingo card for her to mark with their special stickers.

I will keep you posted as to the rest of the month. I will have that stupid as shit appliance.

[nso-csi]

230703 K909 pre-recording

After listening to 91s' bickering, BoA was like "how long you gonna plan to bicker like this?" Both MinKey answered they gonna bicker until they don't see each other. BoA: "Seeing you all, you're really like a married couple & Taemin is the son"  cr.

After Taemin did his rap in HARD, Kenzie noona said that it’s cute.  cr.

They mentioned Taemin's "hip hop angel" nickname. Taemin said he did have rap parts on debut but it's his first time have a proper rap part. As Taemin prepared for it, he asked Bewhy "what is hiphop" and Bewhy said what Taemin's doing rn is hiphop as in he should be himself.  cr.

When Minho & Kibum were answering the questions with Boa unnie, Taemin kept looking nervous like he was worried he won't be able to quickly pick up talk midway when a question would be addressed to him. Seeing that Boa unnie said, how is Taeminie still like a baby. Key: Our members undoubtedly grew up and matured but somehow we are still like we were back when we were 18yos, we really haven't changed much at all. cr.

Closer to the fans during the pre-recording🥺 >the chairs for the interview were so low so minkey adjusted the height for theirs but when Taemin wanna adjust his, he couldn’t do it lmao, in the end a staff came and help him adjust the height.  cr.

Minho and Kibum are having fun tgt so no fighting at all... Taeminie mentioned tht when they have another anniversary or birthday kinda special day he would love to spend time with members (like going on a trip) without cameras or anything work related.  cr.

Preparing for the concert together with the album, they rotated between recording and practice. 1 member would go to the recording booth whilst the other 2 continued practice then switch. Kibum mentioned it was as hectic as when they first debuted... and when they were learning Hard choreo Minho found it difficult at first but once he rode the rhythm into the groove, it got easier for him.   cr.

Key: as soon as i heard DCM demo i understood why Boa rejected the song Taemin: I really thought it was a good song and thought it matched Boa noona well so was happy when the song could go to SHINee Boa: this is the difference between person who knows me off work or not   cr.

K909-Gratefulness towards left member on their 15th anni Taemin>Minho: You’re always the same & it’s because of the affection hyung give me that I can be a child. Hope you’re healthy but being too healthy is a problem too so you’ve to show a weak side of you sometimes to get cared for. Key>Taemin: there were many times when it’s very fun thanks to taemin nowadays. Kibum’s up and down is quite serious and minho is just the same and thanks to Taemin being a good middle man they were able to come this far.  cr.

[writerblock-sucks]

[ 📞 ] kbs song festival … collab stage 

faith’s masterlist

note | i may comeback and edit this later but who knows and if I could figure out away to do twitter fan reaction i’ll try

warning(s) / includes | none

a/n | layout inspired by @skz-angel

song claim | how ya doin’?

— BACKGROUND: she knew there wasn’t going to be many idols that would properly execute the ‘y2k’ theme so she asked to have an addiction special stage to do so, instead of just jyp nation. both jyp and the organizers okayed it but they said it would be sectioned at the very end. div1 was originally going to pick who she was preforming with but since faith decided to make an original song they were going to perform, faith wanted to personally pick the idols/voices. she picked aespa’s ningning, ive’s yujin, and le sserafim’s chaewon.

— CREATIVE PROCESS: composing and arrangement was left to faith and 3racha, but producing and lyrics were a combination of all four girls. even though faith had a heavy hand in everything, she wasn’t going to let the rest feel left out, yujin and ningning created the hook and chaewon and faith made the chorus and pre-chorus. chore wise faith didn’t want complicated, she wanted it to flow and groove, the song was very vocal heavy and thought to add a dance break for the end. faith main inspiration was missy elliott and destiny child.

— STRAY KIDS REACTIONS: all of them knew faith had a special stage with other female idols, but only 3racha and i.n knew more then the rest, i.n help with some styling choices and stage details. at the actual performance everyone was shocked, danceracha was amazed by the simple but still eye catching choreo, 3racha was making stank face, it’s a good thing for those who don’t know, the whole stage, faith did the final touches so they didn’t really know how it truly sounded. vocalracha was in their element and seungmin had his eye closed and look like he was humming along, stays clowned him and said he looked like an elderly man listen to a symphony.

— VIEWERS REACTIONS: fans and non-fans loved this stage, which is how it became the most viewed in 24hrs. western fans loved the song and styling, because let’s be honest a lot of those stages were not on theme. domestic fans loved the song as well and thought the dance break was cool. live viewers notice the editing for the stage was reminiscent of 1st and 2nd generation of idols, which many older stans adored. many people were unset that this song wouldn’t be released on stream platform, non kpop fans saw the clips on twitter and tiktok and feel in love with the performance and keep asking who the group was.

— STAGE: before the second pre-chorus the stage looks like a stereotypical western girls' room in the 2000s clueless, mean girls, and legally blonde were used as inspiration. at the start of the 4th chorus, it transforms into a nightclub, step up movies were used as a base.

— STYLING: in order faith, chaewon, ningning, yujin

hair and makeup were left natural with little product, makeup was nudish lips or had a brown lip liner with glittery eyeshadow. the girls pick the outfits themselves, however 2000s black fashion was used a heavy inspiration for the clothing and makeup choice.

— VIEWS/LIKES IN THE FIRST 24 HOURS:

2.3 million views

870k likes

2022 © writerblock-sucks

[solarwynd]

I don't understand thinking Jimin doesn't fully know about all the sabotage that took place. It's his career we are talking about and for us to assume we know more about acts that directly affected the success of his album seems insulting and as if we are treating him like a child. I'm always blown away when I read that people actually think he's not on social media simply because he's not posting. I don't think he's consumed by social media but I do think it's human nature to him to scan Twitter periodically. Why do we assume he sees our positive trends and not the ones exposing the sabotage from his own company?

I said “intricacies” and “Everything is always gonna be speculation or assumption unless something comes out to confirm it.” For a reason.

I’m not treating jimin like a child I know he’s fully capable of advocating for himself and knows what he’s doing with his career. But I also don’t think it’s wrong in assuming that he doesn’t know every fine detail of what we have discovered hybe is doing against him. We’re so hyper vigilant to everything that company does because we’ve had to be. If we’re reducing the extent of his own knowledge down to him just seeing trending words or a hashtag on twitter, then he’s not gonna know how deep it goes unless he’s really digging.

He’s not gonna know hybe is purposefully not restocking the like crazy CD because they don’t want his sales to increase. He’s not gonna know that we’re asking for like crazy to get recombined because hybe viewed it being so as that much of a threat that they called for a split. And those are just the main two issues we’ve been on hybe about. There’s still the multiple weverse articles they greenlit, scooter’s freelance goon at forbes whom they pay to write disparaging article about him, geffen purposefully not reporting sales etc. We could assume he knows about everything or speculate that over time he became aware, then it would just be up to us waiting for the next release to see if anything changes.

We’ll never be 100% certain on what he knows because most likely he’s not gonna divulge that to us. I know with hobi and what happened in his lalapolooza doc he said outright that he saw the backlash fans had given him about not having a physical album or him not having choreo for JITB. So I know they all see things, jimin could very well know something, but the difference with that is that’s concerning fans. With jimin’s situation it’s with the company and that’s not something I’d expect for him to put on blast if he does truly know about every single thing that’s happened. He’d handle it internally. But say if he ever did publicly make it known or an article was released. If nothing changes with the next comeback what do you think is gonna happen? People are gonna come out the woodwork claiming he’s content with what’s going on and call him a pushover or a doormat. Some people are already doing it just because he hasn’t up and left hybe. So it’s not just automatically assuming he does just to give him maximum agency within the sabotage.

I’m not on either end of the extreme like how armys outright deny the sabotage hybe is committing or those pjms who try to manage jimin and say he’s fumbling his career by staying in hybe. I’m not undermining his intelligence or awareness either. I’m simply saying we’re more prone to catch the different kinds of sabotage when they happen than he is because we’re constantly looking for signs of it.

[beautifulpersonpeach]

BPP I have been thoroughly wrecked by Yoongi. HIS VOICE? HIS CHARISMA??

My god. He's been your bias since debut?! You're strong woman. How did you do it?? One concert and I'm ready to bear kids for him. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

/gen

*

Ask 2: I'm sorry!!! But look at this!!!! twitter com/sujimschim/status/1652517741226790913 looolll I think army's gonna be okay (pun intended lol) Sorry I think I'm having a post wlive high right now. lol Also did you hear about that insanely lucky army who got Yoongi video on their phone AND got to sit next to Jimin during the concert?! Like WOW. I'm amazed. Isn't that harder than the lottery?? lol Ok I'll really stop. Have a good night!!

*

Ask 3: A TO THE G TO THE U TO THE STD

*

Ask 4: Yoongi looks SO GOOD IN WHITE T WALKING DOWN THE HALLWAYYYYYYSSSSSS?!@#@!K?!@! THANK YOU JIMIN FOR SCOLDING YOOOONNNNGGGGIIIIII!!!!!!!!!

*

Ask 5: I love how Yoongi sticks to his first iteration of Sorry for being cute choreo. That choreo is becoming a lore of its own. yoominforlife lol Also OMGGGG his concert haegeum performance is gonna be LIT. I personally really love the name of the song and all the word play that's hidden inside it

*

Ask 6: i want to fuck yoongi till the paint peels off the walls i need to suck his thick fat cock clean empty, gobble his midas balls till i gag and after that read him my deontological critique of neitzche's assertion that god is dead. because god is well and truly alive and i just sucked his balls dry. i was lost and stupid in the wilderness of my ignorance of his divine hotness. i doubted your mind for your esteemed love for him. i was foolish but he has made me a believer. i want to be shoooshed by yoongi. then fuck him till he blacks out. consensually.

sorry. pls don't hate me bpp yoongi just drives me so fucking insane.

*

Ask 7: D-Day tour setlist is INSANE. Banger after friggin baanger Bpp! Have you tried to rank Suga's songs before? All his solo songs too can you rank them Bpp?

***

Hi Anon(s),

Anon in ask 2, your link. And yeah, that person was super lucky. 💜

I need to confess to y’all. I caved and got myself an earlier ticket. Usually, I buy my tickets for later in the tour to give myself time to calm down and adjust. I’d have spoiled the setlist for myself, listened to it ad infinitum till the lyrics were ingrained and my hormones were in equilibrium. But this time I couldn’t wait till the Cali dates, (still going). I had to see Yoongi tonight.

And Christ, I have ascended.

I know I will not be coherent, I’m already trying to self censor as I write , but I want to get this out here because many of you have sent me asks about him, some I know I can’t post ever, so I’m hoping someone else gets it whatever it is I’m tying to say.

…

Yoongi is so beautiful.

Yoongi is a rock star, and I mean that in a literal sense. He makes rock music, thinks like a rock star, and sings like a rock star. His live renditions of Amygdala are the perfect example of this. Pairing screamo rock in the chorus with the guitar solos in the outro, everything about Yoongi's vision for that song is centered around liberation, a value that's inherent to a rock star.

*

(Yes. That’s the objective correct answer.)

I laughed reading all your asks btw. (Anon in ask 6, I see you, I get you, and I don't judge you.) Ranking Agust D's songs is impossible for me. My personal taste is screamo rock and dirty trap or drill, I like songs with distinct percussion, lots of guitars, and/or distortion, voice cracks, autotune, etc. Artists like Nirvana, ONE OK ROCK, Kendrick Lamar, Twenty One Pilots, and Jimin give me bits and pieces of that sound, but no one in BTS knows how to scratch that itch for me better than Yoongi.

He’s just the right kind of insane to speak my language.

The duality that shimmers around Jimin like a mirage and is central to his magnetism, where you can’t be sure of who, what, exactly you’re looking at - man, woman, child, king, snake, panther, cat, metal, silk, fire, ice - all in one. That duality, lives in Yoongi’s music.

It’s elsewhere too, but it lives in his music. Even underneath all of that, he just makes some of the best music around.

That beat change at the end of Shadow? That's music tailor-made for me. Cypher Pt 3, AGUST D (the song), What Do You Think?, Trivia: Seesaw, the live performances of HUH?! and Amygdala are a revelation. All his music sounds perfectly made for me.

I honestly have no choice but to love him.

(I have no words when it comes to Yoongi.)

I won��t exactly rank his music here. I’ll discuss some of my favourites based on things like production, message, flow, feel, etc. Maybe.

Production

724148

This song is criminally underrated. I mean it's a crime more people aren't screaming from the rooftops about how crisp this track is. Listening to 724148 was the first time it really hit me how brilliant Yoongi is as a producer.

So Far Away ft Suran

You need to listen to this song on good speakers. It will change your life for the better. Do that, then come back here and tell me how you feel.

Burn It ft MAX

You know, when I heard the live performance of this song, I called a friend to help me re-calibrate my speakers. To recreate that feel. The production on the song is insane. Not to mention Yoongi's flow in the second verse.

Amygdala

The guitars are placed and layered perfectly. I love how forward the drums are in the mix. The autotune is one of my favourite things about it too. The entire song is perfect.

Daechwita

Am I the only person who hears the same static in the song intro that continues faintly in the foreground for the entirety of the song? As though you're entering a glitch. It's so sick. The main/central beat doesn't vary much, all the texture comes from Yoongi's adlibs. And he does an excellent job elevating it to something more.

*

(It truly embarrasses me that I cannot allow myself to talk about him. He’s that… much.)

Flow / Delivery

You've all seen me go on and on about Jimin's vocals. About how much Jimin's voice is the catalyst for ecstasy when I listen to BTS's music. But Yoongi's voice affects me just as strongly, if not more, in a very different way.

I’m a sucker for the kitten. That insane high pitched thing he does drives me to the limits of my sanity. But he’s also a natural baritone. A nasty one at that. You can hear it in the music he makes. And that’s my kryptonite.

Have you listened to HUH?! Like, really listened to it? Do you hear his flow from 1:08 - 1:15?

Do you hear how disgusting this brat is?

Fuck.

Let’s just move on.

Some favourites where his flow, delivery, switch-ups, is frankly ridiculous:

Shadow

Burn It ft. MAX

AGUST D

HUH?! ft j-hope

Cypher Pt. 3

Aside, the instrumental of this track, along with Cypher Pt. 4, Dionysus trap remix, Danger MMA 2019 version, and We Are Bulletproof Eternal, is incredible.

*

Feel

Honsool

Making a list based on pure vibes, Honsool has to show up. Yoongi captured the unmoored, untethered feeling of drifting through haze, distilled and crystalized into Honsool. Genius.

Give It To Me

What Do You Think?

HUH ft j-hope

Tony Montana ft. Jimin

I'm a sucker for the grit in their voices in this song. The live version specifically.

(He’s such a problem for me y’all…)

*

Not to get into this, but he also does sweet, poppy songs too. Some faves being That That, Amygdala, People, Trivia: Seesaw…

He is a true artist.

And nothing is hotter than that.

*

Message

I started writing this long paragraph about the themes in his music and stopped because I’ve really gone on long enough. I’m barely keeping it together here. I just saw him lose his mind with happiness at the ARMY who disguised her iPhone as a Samsung. That wide smile on his face is still replaying in my head. I’m happy he’s happy, because he’s made me so happy.

Anyway, some fave tracks I reach for, for their message:

5 - Strange ft RM

4 - UGH

3 - Snooze ft Ryuichi Sakamoto & Woosung

2 - Amygdala

1 - People

In a class of its own, I have to mention The Last. That song is a reckoning and wake up call. It's everything and I'm forever proud of Yoongi for making it.

*

Have y’all imagined what the concert will be like in 2026? Have you really sat down to think about what it could look like? Because I have. And it looks like pure bliss. No matter what is happening in the world at that time, I must see BTS.

It’s a decision I made last June, but Yoongi on this tour has breathed fire into that desire. He’s made me want him, crave his sound, daydream of his music playing in my head…

If I could I would’ve sued this man already.

Anyway, Anon in ask 1, welcome to getting wrecked by Yoongi. He is layer upon delightful layer of loyal, creative, tortured beautiful genius hovering just on the edge of insanity. I’m hopeful that he completes his tour as planned, enlists as planned, serves as planned, and is discharged and back to BTS as planned.

In the meantime, I’ll fully enjoy the time he’s spending with us and the music he’s making for us. I’m happy y’all are joining me in this too. 💜

[intoloopin]

MAKE BELIEVE IT'S HYPER REAL.

starring: Lee Hanjae, Im Yoora; featuring: mentions of Fukunaga Haruki, Jeon Heejin, fellow LOOPiN and Hashtag members; set in: Mid September, 2022. word account: 5,401 words. tws: none that came to our notice!

author's notes: 1. Yoora belongs to the amazing, talented, brilliant Amber, and can be find at @hshtag​ alongside all of her show stopping bandmates! This piece was originally a thread we did together over Discord, which was a first (successful attempt of making that format work, lkkdj) for me. I’d like to use this space again to thank her for making this experience fun, and for being so patience with me as always! Other then that, the uhze: 2. English is not my first language, and it might show to a native speaker or someone who’s more fluent then I am. I tried my best to iron this piece out, but if any grammatical errors flew over my head, I hope they don’t ruin the overall experience. With that out of the way, have a good read!

Hanjae sets the phone tripod at the center of the room more or less at the height of his chest – which totally isn’t housing a heart beating like a drum –, and tries his best to not let it slip through his fingers – that very much aren’t shaking like a leaf – when he takes his cell phone out of his back pocket and opens the front camera. He raises his head – which, for the record, absolutely doesn’t feel like it’s going to explode with a migraine at any minute – just to find his undeniable meek reflection all over the mirrored walls of the Melody Media practice room already looking at him, his two restless eyes just right there, obvious for Yoora to see, and point at, and comment on.

Drying his palms on his jeans, Hanjae mutes the thought and turns around at her. He says, with a tiny smile that feels terribly wobbly on his face, “All done. We can, you know, do the thing. And by the thing, I mean– the dance thing, that we planned, which is why I’m here. Ha. All done for that.”

He coughs, just to make up an excuse to shut up. For very little, he doesn’t give in to the urge to bang his head against the wall. Fuck. Fuck. He really gotta learn how to be subtle someday.

Hanjae knows he has no real reason to be anxious; it’s Yoora, whom he trusted with his most chaotic truths, whom in the years they’ve been friends, saw all of his oddest habits and transparent flaws and still allowed him to stick around. Maybe the only person in the world who’ll understand why he wants to do what he wants to do, why this is the only plan that makes sense, and still, he starts quivering every time she does as little as look at his direction.

He clears his dry throat, gethers all the little courage he still has in him, stored for the stages and the fans, and decides to try again: “Uh, actually, Yoora, before we do anything, can we– Do you feel like sitting down? I really, really feel like sitting down.”

And Hanjae sits down, crossing his legs on the cold floor and letting his hands go to cover his face, no longer trying to not look like the poster child for a meltdown.

Yoora was exceptionally tired today. She was normally worn out on most days, but it was different somehow. She wasn’t really sure why she agreed to film a whole dance routine with Hanjae, but maybe it was because he sounded a little desperate, like he really needed her there, so she complied and tried to fight off the sudden waves of exhaustion she felt whilst they practiced the choreo before they had even decided to start filming it. 

It was clear that Hanjae seemed a little off recently and Yoora had noticed this. At the beginning, it could’ve been the occasional bad start to his day to explain why he had been acting like this but he began to seem more and more distracted and tense as the days moved by. Yoora wanted to ask Hanjae what was going on, but she didn’t want to force him into telling her all his thoughts just because she wouldn’t stop bothering him about it. 

Even during their meeting, he seemed extremely awkward, if not nervous. That’s what confused Yoora, what was there to be nervous about? Sure she got nervous around Hanjae sometimes, but that’s because Yoora was just always nervous around people in general, it would take a long time before she began to get comfortable with them, and before that, would come a whole string of awkward situations or conversations due to Yoora’s lack of communication.

She heard Hanjae clear his throat uncomfortably causing her to break herself out of her thoughts that were endless. Yoora watched as he restlessly looked around the room for something to focus his attention on when he suggested that the pair should sit down instead of filming the video, just when they had perfected everything and finally managed to stay in sync with each other without someone making the wrong move or turning the wrong way. 

Hanjae sits down and Yoora sits next to him, smiling. “Sure, we can sit down for a bit. I’m actually getting kind of bored of repeating the same moves over and over again, I need a break.” She breathes out, pressing her hand against her chest to steady her breathing. “You look like you have something to say, you keep wanting to speak then pausing. Is that why you brought me here?” Yoora asks, rapidly, not bothering to give him time to answer the questions and firing them at him instead. 

She nudges his shoulder, leaning against him. “Whatever it is, you can tell me, it’s a judge free zone when I’m here.” Yoora states, fidgeting with the bracelets that adorned her wrist. “Whatever it is, It’s serious right? You’ve been acting weird all week because of it. So, what’s going on?” 

Yoora is gentle with the nudge, still, Hanjae’s body sways to the side at the impact. What’s not going on, he thinks, but doesn’t say.

What he does says it’s something that he hasn’t got the chance to speak out loud yet. It's been tormenting him like he’s holding onto it for years, not less than a month. A piece of truth so secret it comes out of his mouth in a rush, like pure word vomit: “The thing is Haruki and I, we– well. We’re not– having fun anymore. Permanently. That’s– I wanted to tell you that.”

It’s been well over three weeks since they both had sat down inside that rented car in nowhere South Korea, no plans to where to go, no fixed destination, and what should have been another weird date had turned into a disaster when all of Hanjae’s suppressed emotions exploded on his face. He’s never been a spontaneous person, but he thought he could pretend to be anything as long as he had been doing it for the sake of finding love at the end of the road. He can’t believe that for a bit, he really thought there would be love at the end of that road.

Hanjae recognizes now that he doesn’t have a clear idea what love even means.

How can he start to explain these feelings? Yoora knows the nature of their whole situation, spared the occasional nauseating detail – the side of the story that is not in his business to tell, because it’s Haruki’s and Haruki’s only. Hanjae couldn’t bring himself to stay quiet in front of what was arguably one of the closest friends he ever had about what had been, at some point, something important.

They weren’t ever dating, but he and Haruki weren’t not not dating either. They had been stuck in this weird Can We, Can’t We game for four endless months, and Hanjae never did get around to learning all the rules before he had enough and found himself wanting out. 

He takes a pensive pause, collecting all of his thoughts, searching for the right words. He fidgets with one of Yoora’s shoelaces until it unties, a timid attempt to amuse her through his silence – he really likes the sound of her laugh. Hanjae’s not particularly funny, but he wishes he had some comedic talent just to be the cause of it more.

She’s the right one for this, the loud thought that popped into his head days ago returns, louder; Yoora can make it all work.

“I ended it, you know, and I tried to do it gently, but I don’t think it worked in the end,” he clarifies with a helpless shrug of his shoulders. “He’s been weird, ever since. Distant, but not just with me, and– I know I messed up, and I misunderstood things, I then made them worse, but I keep having this one thought– Like I know what could help, really help him and me, I guess, but it’s not something I can do alone, or ask just anyone’s help, so… Enters you, maybe, but just if you want, okay? No pressure. None at all.”

Hanjae dares to reach for her hand and when he gets a hold of it, squeezes gently. He wants to look her in the eye as he says it all, from now on, so he does. “But what I want to ask you first, Yoora, is if you trust me enough to do something a bit crazy with me.”

She snorts quietly, attempting to hold back her laughter. She notices how long it takes for Hanjae to answer and just looks at him. It’s quite funny that she can almost see the cogs in his brain turning as a crease between his eyebrows appears, signaling that he’s still lost in thought. When he finally does answer, Yoora is a little shocked. “So, what you’re saying is, you two aren’t together anymore? Like, seriously?” He nods in reply and her eyes begin to water a little. It wasn’t because she was upset, definitely not, she had no right to act that way, it was due to the fact that she felt bad for Hanjae. 

His whole life story could make Yoora cry. She had always felt some sort of lingering remorse for him, especially when they first met. He seemed like a quiet person, the odd one out of a bunch of evens but it suited him. Even if he was the odd one out, it always made him seem different and different was always good for Yoora. She hates silence, she absolutely hates having to sit quietly for too long, or avoid the awkwardness that comes with it but when it comes to Hanjae and Yoora, silence is always comforting for her. Maybe it was just Hanjae’s presence, but she could sit and do nothing with him forever and not once say that she was bored. 

Maybe it meant that they were soulmates or something. Yoora didn’t really get that stuff very much, it all confused her, how could you possibly be soulmates with someone you haven't met yet? Her view changed a little once she began to get closer to Hanjae, she was certain that now, soulmates definitely meant something to her. They also had so much in common that it was easy for them to become friends. Yoora had friends, but none of them were like Hanjae. Hanjae understood every single choice or action Yoora would do, because he would’ve done it too. It was as if they just clicked together, like a puzzle piece, and couldn’t function properly without the other.

As Yoora lays her head on Hanjae’s shoulder, she can feel him begin to untie her shoelaces, which makes her smile a little. She finds it funny, she finds everything Hanjae does funny. He may not think it, but Yoora thinks Hanjae’s the only person she knows that’s naturally funny without trying too hard. She would laugh if she could, but she doesn’t have enough energy for that, so instead she lifts her head up and turns her body to look at him. “I laughed internally, now can you please re-tie them?” Yoora asks, using her head to point down at the shoelaces draped across the shiny floor. 

He listens and finishes tying Yoora’s shoelaces when he begins another sentence. “Sometimes ending things gently isn't the best thing for both parties. ‘Cause then it just makes everything seem like it was perfect, when it wasn’t.” She replies with a small, tight smile on her face. “Of course he’s gonna be distant Jae, Haruki’s probably got a lot going on and ending whatever you two had, was just something else he could add on to his king list, you know? Don’t stress too much about it, one day he’ll be back to normal and you guys can rebuild your friendship, somehow.” Yoora chooses her words carefully, not wanting to say something she shouldn’t by accident since she knows she’s getting a little more nervous as time passes by. 

Hanjae’s hands feel softer and warmer than usual, or Yoora’s paying too much attention to them. He squeezes her hands, and it puts her at ease. The nerves die down once they make eye contact with each other. Yoora has never been good at holding eye contact, but at this specific moment, it didn’t seem like a challenge, just a normal reflex. She’s always noticed how detailed Hanjae’s eyes were and how depending on the light, they would get lighter or darker. They were pretty, much like him. “You know that I trust you, and I’d help you with almost anything,” She pauses. “As long as I’m not like murdering someone, I’m in.” She gently removes one of her hands from his hold and slaps him on the arm. “Hurry up and tell me! I’ve been waiting for too long.”

“It’s not murder,” Hanjae says, lips curling up despite everything. He can feel a small wave of relief starting to wash over him, as Yoora’s encouraging energy takes over all around the room, gently untying the knot on his chest.  “The idea I had was more… simple.” 

“I figured that the quickest way to make it all normal again, might be just to show him that I moved on, because I really did move on. I’m doing fine with all the feelings– there’s not even that many to consider. Things were never all that nice between us, but nothing about it came close to crushing me. I don’t feel like running off to a mountain and becoming chaste for the rest of my life. I’m not gonna just give up all relationships, that’s not the right thing to do, but I feel that’s he’s assuming I’ll do, for some reason I don’t get. I think it would be good to make him think I’m seeing someone else soon– someone that he knows I like and that likes me, in a way, like you, because you’ve been my friend for a while and… You see what I’m hinting at? Maybe?”

The thing is: Hanjae doesn’t want to rub it all over Haruki’s face and parade Yoora around in a fake relationship as a big ‘got ya’ moment, that’s far from being a part of his plan, but he does want him to see that progress is a real option. Hell, if he weren’t such an introvert and Dispatch was never a thing, he really would be trying to get himself out there instead of running to Yoora with a grand scheme.

What’s really breaking his heart here is that no matter what he’s tried to say these last few days, no matter what he’s tried to do, Haruki just can’t recognize they both had been at fault; he keeps acting like a criminal waiting to be convicted, which is far away from the truth. For all the times Haruki had been evasive, and mean, and acted inconsiderate of his very obvious feelings, Hanjae had been terribly selfish to match, demanting time he knew his bandmate could not give him, ignoring the few real terms and conditions he got for the sake of signs he made up out of thin air.

But just because they couldn’t get the steps right between them, it doesn’t mean they can’t do this dance with other people.

There’s a joke here somewhere, about being about to make this one ask in this setting, with the one person Hanjae feels like he could dance with without his feet failing him. He has the feeling that he can’t deal with the punchline just yet. 

“So, with all that in mind,” Hanjae prompts, letting his free hand hover over Yoora’s wrist and picking over the jewelry around it, just as she did shortly ago. He’s looking up at the ceiling as he finally asks, "Would you fake date me, Yoora?”

It’s a bit ridiculous, but he feels himself blushing, out of all things. Hanjae has only had relationships that started off on the wrong foot so far; the only girlfriend he did have was still the partner of a friend when they first kissed, which definitely isn’t a feat to be added to the highlights of his teenage life. He doesn’t think he’s ever been in a situation where he even got to ask this one question to anyone seriously, which is a realization that makes him feel a bit sad.

He tries to not let his face fall again as he amends, quickly and firmly because Hanjae knows it’s important to get this one thing out of the way: “I’m not trying to do with him what Heejin did to you, Yoonnie, I promise. It wouldn’t be real, and it wouldn’t be long.”

“I didn’t think you were capable of killing anybody anyways, don’t worry.” Yoora giggles, letting out the laughter she’d been holding back for a while. She wanted to keep the mood light since Hanjae seemed uncomfortable with whatever idea he wanted to propose to her. “No, I totally get it. You want to prove to him that you’re capable of seeing other people and that he hasn’t, like, completely ruined your dating life forever.”  Yoora hums, nodding at his words to indicate her understanding. When she says she gets it, she really does get it. She felt the same exact way when she had just broken up with Heejin, she had moved on so quickly that Yoora didn’t even get a chance to be upset or anything, she had to move on quickly as well. 

That’s what she hated about Heejin, how unfair she was, she was always making things difficult for Yoora during their relationship but it made her feel better knowing that Hanjae understood where they were both coming from. Their situations may not have been similar, but they had the same exact feeling when it was over. “I would love to say that I know where you're heading with this explanation, but I’m getting a bit lost over here..” Yoora trails off, not knowing what else to say to continue the conversation. She had a lot of questions to ask, but she wanted Hanjae to finish speaking before she got too confused and fired all her confusement at him. 

Yoora averts her attention back towards Hanjae’s face, studying his anxious expression as his eyes flick upwards. “Sure, I'll be your fake girlfriend, what’s the worst that could happen?” She replies, uncrossing her legs and stretching them back out. Realistically, no-one should agree to something like this so quickly but Yoora was Yoora, meaning that she would do just about anything as long as it didn’t lead to her death.

She had sort of gotten the hints earlier, but didn’t want to jump to any conclusions. Hanjae finally blurting out what was plaguing his mind confirmed her initial thoughts and Yoora was quite proud of how fast it took her to get the gist of what he was trying to say. 

The only thing she was worried about was how she was going to convince everyone else that it was real. Obviously her group members would notice that something was off with her, but she didn’t want to tell them anything without Hanjae’s permission, in case it ruined whatever he had planned. Yoora wasn’t very good at keeping secrets from people closest to her, she was a good secret keeper in general, but this one was a little too big to hide. She feels the beads around her wrist tighten and loosen as they’re picked and Yoora somehow finds it quite calming, she’s not afraid or anything, just a little jittery after thinking about too many things at once. Bringing her legs closer to her chest, she notices the faint blush painted over Hanjae’s face. She wants to smile at how easy it is for the boy to be flustered over simple things, but decides to keep it hidden so that she doesn’t ruin the serious atmosphere.

“Oh don’t worry, I know you’re nothing like Heejin. You’d be a better fake boyfriend than she was a real girlfriend, anyways.” Heejin had many flaws, so there was no reason for Hanjae to reassure Yoora. The only thing they had in common was the first letter of their names and Hanjae had always been a good friend to Yoora, helping him out with this one small thing was the least that she could do for him. “It could be as long or as short as you wanted it to be and I would still help you, I’m in.” Her shoulder collided with Hanjae’s as she leant back a little to stretch out her sore limbs. “We have to be careful about it though. We should make a list!” She suggests excitedly, clasping her hands together as things come together in her head.

Hanjae lets out his first real laugh of the day – or maybe the week, he isn’t quite sure how long it’s been – as Yoora reassures him Heejin isn’t a concern, as well outrights gets on board with an enthusiasm that, somehow, has cemented in him. He doesn’t like to think of himself as someone who seeks much validation, but it would be a lie to say her approval doesn’t make him feel confident. There’s nothing to disapprove of, anyway: it’s a good, harmless plan. 

Hanjae mimics her stretching, raising his long arms up and spinning his head to relax his neck, then gets up to go fetch his abandoned phone to put his Notes app to use. She’s right, after all. They’re remarkably bad liars, and will need to construct this out if they want to be convincing.

“I did want to treat you to something to eat, after everything had been discussed, so that could be our first ‘date’? It's been a while, right, since we got to go out?” He pauses. “Our PR manager has been insisting I go out more with ‘friends that remind me to take photos’. I need material to add to my Fab and Instagram feed.”

Hanjae lets himself chat away as his cloudy mind dissipates, leaving him with only two troughs to fixate over. 

The first is a surprising realization: Hanjae is pretty sure that this might be the easiest bit he’s ever attempted to keep up. Haruki will only need as much as hear him saying ‘I’m seeing Yoora’ once to get it, and none of his other members have ever cared enough for what he does to ask too deep into it or even register any plot holes if he gives them a story, except for maybe Seungsoo and Jiahang, but that's just because they both need gossip to live more than food and water.

There’s a very small chance Dylan will want more than the odd detail into his dating life from now on, since he's seemed to have picked up something of what went on, which Hanjae always knew had been a bit inevitable given his current position as Haruki’s roommate and latest emotional hostage. In a way, Chihoon might have been the one who planted this fake dating idea into his head with all the romcoms he made them sit through ‘for no reason at all, dude’, so it’s only fair.

The second thought, louder and more exciting, is simple: Hanjae is just optimistic that by doing this, they can just go all in on the light and fun and make this ‘relationship’ exactly how they want it. Hanjae’s a bit of a romantic, he admits, and the limitations that come with being an Idol haven’t stopped him from wanting to do silly couple routines like matching outfits or even outright sharing things.

He gives Yoora a discreet up and down, and finds himself suppressing a smile. Hanjae knows from experience that all of his jackets look big enough on her to cover her hands, when she wears them – it would be very, very nice if she did wear them more.

He taps into his phone ‘topic of conversation: couple look’, and tries not to look too pleased.

Yoora thinks Hanjae’s laugh suits him, and it doesn’t seem forced like the hundreds of other ones she’s encountered, it sounds exactly like him.

“I’m being serious! I hate not having everything planned out in front of me, we can just use that notes app, right?” She asks as she watches him open his phone and scroll to the said app. She had always been someone who needed everything to be planned out, otherwise she was sure she wouldn’t be able to keep things going. Or maybe that was because Yoora wasn’t an organized person and wanted at least one thing to go perfectly planned in her life. 

“Yeah, It has been a while since we hung out properly, without any hidden meanings or something and it is true, you definitely need to take more photos. Your fans are probably questioning what you’re doing right now.” Yoora smiles and gently hits him on the shoulder as she remembers how empty Hanjae’s instagram looks compared to her constant posting schedule. If she didn’t keep to the schedule, she’d probably be yelled at a few times, but it was easy for her to stick to it since she loved taking photos and social media in general. She also loved to be anywhere but the company building or the group’s dorm; it always felt too cramped there despite the fact that there were only five other people that took up the rest of the space Yoora wasn’t using. 

As Hanjae goes silent, she realizes that she has no idea how she was going to attempt to hide this from the rest of her members. They simply wouldn’t understand if Yoora just sprung it upon them and told them that she now had a boyfriend, it would be too weird or oddly timed. But then, she didn’t really want to tell them everything about the situation at hand, it wasn’t really her place to share anything that Hanjae had chosen to share with her out of trust for the girl.

Yoora didn’t feel any sort of resentment towards Haruki, but his name being brought up always made her feel bad for him, and Hanjae. Whatever they had trapped themselves into was a tough journey, especially with what they both had going on, it seemed like neither was truly happy. 

This led Yoora to her current thought, how was she meant to act? Obviously, she knew how to be a girlfriend, but she didn’t know how to be a fake girlfriend. She wasn’t sure if it required different needs to what regular relationships needed and Yoora wasn’t sure that she was a good actress. She already knew Hanjae could act, and it was clearly a gift of his, but she was a little short on that end. Maybe she could practice, or maybe she was thinking too much and getting too into the whole fake relationship mentality, but that’s just how her brain always worked. It was always coming up with stupid ideas, so she wasn’t surprised that she agreed so quickly, she had nothing better to do. 

It wasn’t as if she saw Hanjae’s proposal as a simple task or a good way to cure her boredom, but Yoora had absolutely no reason for her to object because it didn’t really affect her negatively or positively and Hanjae was as close to being her best friend as anyone could get to, she was simply helping him out. She was scared to get too deep into her thoughts and decided to shrug it off, coming to the conclusion that she would just have to figure everything out a little later.

“Okay…what other rules are we meant to have? Oh! We have to be really careful to not get caught, everyone needs to believe that it’s real, I know it’s obvious but it’ll ruin everything if we do.” The way Yoora was pushing her words together so they came out too quickly showed how interested she was getting, and when she was interested in something, she was never going to let it go. Yoora placed her hand on her chest, groaning quietly. “Actually, I’m exhausted, anything else I need to know?”

Hanjae will not lie: there are a billion steps they might need to take to orchestrate this pretend boyfriend and girlfriend scheme – improvising is really not his forte, and he personally could overthink this for hours on end, but–

Yoora brings her hand in front of her face to hide a yawn, and suddenly Hanjae’s hit with the delayed realization that they’ve been doing choreography for hours with little to no filmed content to show for it, since he looked like he was at his wits end during most of it. A part of him feels drained, too, physically but especially emotionally, maybe even for way longer than he allowed himself to stop to think of.

He might need a very intense drum session to work all the lingering tension off this weekend, or even an improvised retreat into Taesong’s yoga corner of the living room. He hasn’t had enough time to sit with just himself, lately.

This operation should start soon, yes, but not exactly right now. No good plan is made in one single sitting, and Hanjae can barely think of dos and don’ts now, when his knee muscles are threatening to start killing him in minutes.

“No,” Hanjae says to her, softly. “Just that– Thank you again for saying yes, Yoonie. I’ll try my best, with you. Even if it’s pretend, I’m not gonna mess it up. I promise.”

To himself, he goes deeper into the vow, and swears that he’ll not make a mess while trying to fix another. Hanjae will easily let Yoora go, when the time’s right, and he’ll be grateful for her time and for her help, and it’ll be all. He’s not going to suffocate her with a million ideas of what the two of them should look like, to pass as a couple in his eyes. He’ll not get too used to it to forget why they’re doing it in the first place. He’ll not want something he can’t have despite his selfish and grabby nature.

It’ll be a good and fun exercise, and– a flash of when they first met comes to his mind, of how captivated he was by Yoora and her everything – it could be a challenge, which he’s okay with. Maybe there is some sort of tiny part of Hanjae that needs something to put his strength to the test, a monitored try-out before he’s dunk into the big dating pool, some evaluation he can pass and deem himself… adjusted.

(He feels his jaw tense up immediately. He might have gotten Haruki’s initial deal with him better just now. Yikes. Big, big yikes.)

In front of him, Hanjae sees Yoora enthusiastically nod, hair swinging side to side, cracking a smile that communicates relief and amusement. He’s struck by the sudden urge to buy her heart shaped chocolate as a joke, probably. He starts mentally tracing roots to all the confectionery places nearby, but stops himself before his hand itches for his phone. 

Hanjae walks side by side with her to leave the room, stops by the door to crack it open, and just as Yoora is about to pass him by, he makes a less dubious humorous decision: Hanjae signals for her to stop, takes off his nylon jacket and places it over her shoulders, almost like it’s a cape. It’s a bit awkward and clumsily done, but that’s part of his goal. Their shared laugh is light, and it radiates fun.

More than anything, he wants to show Yoora that he’s serious, but just the type of committed serious one can be while playing pretend. Nothing is going to change, when it’s just the two of them. They’ll keep on being friends, which is what they’ll always like each other for.

Maybe that’s the complicity you should feel, he thinks just then, quicker as the practice room lights being turned off after he presses the switch; when you have a partner.

Sometimes, it’s really hard for Hanjae to believe that he’ll ever get to know.

[boysplanetrecaps]

Boys Planet, Episode 7 Recap Part 5: Feel Special

Ok, well, I know some of you were waiting for this recap of the trainees’ cover of Feel Special by Twice… Here it is! Warning: I spend a few paragraphs talking about why I love the original song so much. But you can skip that if you’re not interested. 

I watched this whole segment before I started writing this recap, and honestly, I’m not so psyched to talk about it. It was just kind of a bummer. Part of it is because I love the original song, like, a lot. A lot a lot.

Just give me a minute here to gush about Feel Special, or if you don’t care, go ahead and skip the next few paragraphs. 

Both the lyrics and the video for Feel Special tell the story of how the friendship between the girls gives them strength to overcome the way the public views them. Jihyo is being “watched” by TVs, possibly representing how she’s in the public eye (maybe for dating someone?). Nayeon is in this cold, hard room all by herself, in this beautiful but uncomfortable outfit, maybe symbolizing the weight and coldness of being so popular. Momo feels “too big” and out of place. Jeongyeon is all alone and doubting herself. Sana feels abandoned, out in the rain, maybe a reference to when the Korean population turned on her for something innocuous she did. Mina is a sort of ice princess in an alien forest, Chaeyoung is this super modern chick in a lonely modern dome, and Tzuyu feels like just a doll.  (Dahyun is fine. Dahyun doesn’t have a problem.) 

And what happens? They SEE each other. They connect. Jihyo and Nayeon see each other. Mina and Chae rescue each other. Momo and Tzuyu find each other. Dahyun saves Sana. And Jeongyeon sees herself in a new light, as someone who can have friends after all.

This look that Chae gives Mina -- I tear up every time. If you know that Mina had just taken some time off for extreme anxiety, and if you know that this look is real, genuine look that Chae was really giving Mina -- it’s beyond touching. I never saw Chae look like that before or since in a Twice video.

So the song gives me all the feels. It also sort of reminds me of the time toward the beginning of my current relationship when I realized that someone might actually really love me and how amazing that was, like a fucking miracle. So yeah, I tear up pretty much every time I hear this song. I don’t want to lose that, you know? I like tearing up every time I hear it. It’s a happy kind of tears. I know it’s a dumb kpop song but it’s not a dumb kpop song to me. 

Because of that, I don’t want to spend too long on this performance because I don’t want to ruin the song for myself. Ok. Let’s do this. 

As a reminder, our special feelers are: 

Trainee name (rank)   Star Level test /Challenge 1 /age final star level

Cha Woong Ki (25) Bloom Bloom /Very Nice - K/ 20 ⭐⭐

Zhang Shuai Bo (36) Reveal /Back Door - G/ 21 ⭐

Lee Dong Gun (48) Criminal /Hot Sauce - K / 17 ⭐⭐

Cai Jin Xin (50) Reveal /Hot Sauce - G/ 19 🚫

When we first saw them in episode 6, they were looking at each other like this, and Cai Jin Xin was saying, “I love our team,” and we were all excited for it! But a shadow loomed on the horizon, as no one seemed to want to take on a big vocal part.

So, we pick up with the team at rehearsal with the judges. 

And Zhang Shuai Bo, who up until this segment I’ve liked for no real reason, is being a passive aggressive sulky child. He’s half-assing the choreo in a really, really obvious way and pouting. 

I do not like this. 

Look, I fight so hard to not be swayed by MNET editing, but I don’t know how MNET editing could create this impression falsely. Maybe other trainees are also doing this and MNET isn’t showing it, but I can only judge what I see. If you’re unhappy, Z-Bo, then do something about it or suck it up. This passive aggressive “quiet quitting” thing ain’t it. 

I loved that Solji just stopped the rehearsal.

And then we’re reminded that this is apparently Z-Bo’s favorite song, which just makes all of this even worse. You chose this song for the wrong reasons, that’s on you, bud. But shouldn’t it be at least kind of fun performing your favorite song, no matter what? Man, if I had a chance to do a semi-pro cover of like, Automatic by Red Velvet, or The Eve by Exo, or Feel Special by Twice, with someone to teach me the choreo and let me sing it to people who are excited to be my audience? I mean, scary, but fun! 

I just keep thinking about Xuan Hao, the initially white haired center of the G-trainees’ Burn It Up team, the one who fucking werked that pink feather boa during the prank bit? You might also remember the way he collapsed into his chair to cry after his whole team was eliminated, and how MNET then dangled salvation in front of him only to let him know that he’d come in 54th.

I know that Xuan Hao would absolutely, positively, never have acted like this. If he had this opportunity, he’d make the most of it. So would've Kim Min Seoung, the super talented, backflipping member of Back Door who MNET ignored completely. Or Han Seo Bin, Park JiHoo’s partner in crime. Or Park Min Seok, the WakeOne trainee who showed his true mettle as the leader of the benighted leftovers team who did Danger. Or Park Gwan Young, who showed us his surprisingly good vocals in Burn it Up. Or determined Chen Yu Geng, or my duckie Ouju, or General Gunwook’s sergeants Jang Yeo Jun and Han Yu Seop, or genuine Hong Keon Hee, or unlucky Hyo, or good-natured Ichika, or five or ten others I could name. I am not necessarily saying that every single one of these trainees is more talented or more “deserving” of a spot on this show than Z-Bo is, but I am saying that from what we have seen of them, not one of them would half ass his choreo in front of the judges just to make a whiney point about how his part is too hard. 

They start over, and when they're done, the psycho judge tells them, “we’re fucked. This is humiliation. Letting you go up on stage like this will be a humiliation for you guys, me, and Boys Planet.”

Weirdly, this is the first time I think I’ve ever seen this judge just say what was on his mind in a genuine, almost vulnerable way. He doesn’t look like he’s specifically trying to make them feel bad -- I think he almost doesn’t care about them at this point. I think he is actually thinking about his job responsibilities and how he’s going to have to get some wheels turning to make sure that their performance can even be aired. In other words, he’s annoyed at them because they are going to cause extra work for him. That’s just my take.

Solji does have a specific, useful piece of feedback, which is that they aren’t supposed to just be doing a straight up cover -- they’re supposed to be putting their own spin on it and showing their own charms. But, as Woongki interviews, they haven’t made any of their own choreo because no one on the team knows how to, and, presumably, because the group leader hasn’t pushed them to do it.

Cai Jin Xin wears the L sticker on his shirt, but other than that, I see no evidence that he’s the leader. Woongki is the one giving pep talks and doing most of the work. He also isn’t really complaining about it in his interviews. 

That’s not to say that CJX is being a terrible teammate. You can see that he’s invested in doing his best. Also, he’s providing free translation service for Z-Bo, who, unlike, say, 15 year old Takuto, has apparently not learned a word of Korean this whole time. 

Side note on that: Languages are hard, and some of us are worse at them than others, and we can’t possibly all be fluent in all languages. But I’ve traveled a lot and been to places where I know only a few words in the local language, and most of the time, people just are glad I tried to say a few words. Just a hello in Khmer or Thai or Greek before switching to English, and I'm rewarded with huge smiles. That’s all most people want -- just to know that you give a shit enough to try. It would seem so different if Z-Bo were just trying a little. Most of the other trainees are learning some Korean, even just an extremely basic pigeon Korean that is probably mostly nouns and unconjugated verbs. Cong speaks in one-word and two-word sentences a lot, and he's mostly understood. Many of the foreign trainees took the time to memorize a Korean speech for the elimination ceremony. Others spoke in their native language but added a Korean phrase or two, like a kamsamnida. What I'm saying is, it doesn’t make Z-Bo a bad person that he hasn’t learned Korean, but it makes him stand out as uniquely unwilling to try.

Anyway, back to CJX. You can tell he’s trying to do his best on the song, but he just feels lost. Same with Lee Dong Gun, who is completely willing to sing, just not really… able. 

But Z-Bo can't sing the song in the high key, and when the team tries transposing the song down, he barely tries to find the note he'd have to sing. It really seems obvious that he just doesn’t want to do it. It’s really not a good look. Again, I am trying so hard to look for how this could just be editing, but I can’t see any way it could be. 

Woongki ends up stepping up to not only choreograph the whole piece, but also sing the hardest part that Z-Bo can't, or won't, sing.

Later on that night, Z-Bo is hanging out with CJX in their dorm room, and they're talking to each other in Chinese. (That’s fine, by the way. I’d probably revert to my native language when I was alone with someone who spoke it.) But he’s using the opportunity to speak Chinese to say things that maybe he doesn’t want people to hear him saying.

First, Z-Bo refers to Woongki by aiming his foot toward the bed Woongki sleeps in and saying “he”, rather than calling him by his name. That’s what you do when you don’t know someone’s name. Look, maybe I’m wrong and maybe the translations are misleading or something, but if he doesn’t know Woongki’s name at this point, that’s fucked up. And to point with your foot? I think that's rude in any culture, but I think it's even worse in Asian cultures. I might be wrong.

Then Z-Bo says, “If things don’t work out, the production team will help us out for sure. They won’t let the four of us stand on stage staring into space.”  I have no way to know whether or not that’s true, but to express that thought out loud shows a depth of entitlement that I have no wish to plumb. I mean, he is probably tired and all that, but this wasn’t just a stray thought with no precedent in his other behavior -- this is the apex of everything he’s said and done recently. Somehow both a depth and an apex, I guess. 

A few days later at dress rehearsal, the judges are aigoo-ing most of their vocals and general ineptitude. When they’re done, Master Lee, who often delivers the best and most well deserved smack downs on this show, says,

“I’m curious. As you practice, don’t you realize, ‘we’re not good enough’ and think it through?... What do you do at those times? Think ‘time will resolve it,’ is that it? Or think, ‘since the camera only captures the major parts, we’ll just skip through these,’ is that it? Is that what you’re thinking? The Star Creators will be coming and the whole world will be watching you. If you’re not prepared, don’t you get nervous? Even if we give you solutions to the problem, would they get fixed?” 

Then after their feedback, Z-Bo rants to CJX in Chinese, inches away from Woongki and Dongyeol and just counting on them not to understand him. He says, “This was to be expected. He (and he points to Woongki) didn’t tell us what the choreography was about and we never agreed to it.” You can SEE him pointing. I don’t know how else to interpret this. 

And MNET comes through with the receipts, running a clip to show Woongki explaining the meaning of the song and choreography. Hoo boy. I guess that Z-Bo might just not have understood, but I assume that CJX would have translated. 

By the way, I’m not blaming CJX here. I’ve been in his shoes -- a popular person wanted to gossip with me about someone and I didn’t really know what to do. When someone like that wanted to gossip with me, I felt like, CHOSEN, you know? They’re telling ME this stuff, so they must like me. I’m on the inner circle now! They like me better than the person they’re talking about! Of course, since then, I’ve learned that (a) if I agree with anything they say, they’re likely to go tell that person that I said bad things about them (b) if they’re talking shit about them to me, they’re also talking shit about me to them, 100% of the time.

So, nowadays I know what to do -- I say, in a really pleasant voice, “I can totally understand how you’d feel that way, but I like [person] and don’t really want to talk about them when they’re not around. Let’s talk about [topic] instead.” Usually they say something defensive, like “I wasn’t gossiping” or something, and I let them off the hook, saying, “of course not, everyone talks about everyone sometimes, it’s normal, don’t worry,” and then plunge into the new topic. Sometimes if it’s someone I don’t know well, I pretend that it was my New Year’s Resolution to not gossip. Like, I blame it on myself that I don’t want to participate -- not that there’s anything wrong with them, it’s me who is being the weirdo. 

So yeah, I’m not blaming CJX. He seems a bit uncomfortable with Z-Bo’s comments and we never see him adding anything. He just doesn’t know how to get out of the situation he’s in. 

Anyway. 

True to Z-Bo’s prediction, production does in fact step in a little, giving them an extra vocal lesson with Master Lee and an extra dance practice with LipJ. You get the sense that these appointments were definitely not originally scheduled -- they’re held in weird small rooms we’ve never seen before or since.

Meanwhile, poor Woongki interviews that his ranks have been dropping the whole time, from 10 down to 34 at the most recent announcement, and he’s worried. “If this doesn’t work out this is the end for me.” Surely not, Woongki. Awww. 

I also feel sorry for Lee Dong Gun, who is only 17 and is actually a decent dancer. He’s just not much of a singer, poor kid.

So we go to the performance. 

That link is actually to Woongki’s fan cam. 

My take: 

Donggun’s dancing didn’t fit the style of the choreo-- he overdanced almost every step. But bless him, he was trying.

CJX didn’t do so well, but I know he was really, really, trying too. 

Z-Bo sang kind of decently, though it was kind of unpleasantly shouty, and he had a great smile and flirty interactions with the audience. I didn’t necessarily get the sense he was trying his hardest, though.

Cha Woongki was the Jihyo, Nayeon, Dahyeon, and Sana of this performance, put together. He was also the Mina, Momo, Chaeyeong, Jeongyeon, and Tzuyu. He truly carried the team.

The editing

The editing was pretty kind. The reactions were mostly pretty good, and they didn’t zero in on small mistakes. The weak and often incorrect dancing was mostly hidden by the camera angles. 

By the way, what is with cutting to Seo Won constantly during this whole segment? Are Seo Won and Woongki besties and I missed it? Do people ship them or something because they’re both a little bit effeminate (which is dumb)? What did I miss?

The voting

The boys go to sit on the folding chairs of doom, and we find out that Z-Bo has won the fan vote with 703 votes. Most of the trainees are completely shocked, because they all expected Woongki to get it, but Woongki is a pro and rolls with it. 

Look at everyone in the background looking at each other in disbelief. That’s formerly blue haired Park Hanbin top left, doing that incredulous smiling thing he does. There’s Jay in the center, and Limousine’s Park Jihoo on the right, and Lee SeungHwan 🍑 and Bak Doha behind Jihoo. Everyone is shocked -- it’s not a K versus G thing, it’s universal. 

But Woongki manages to smile and clap. He has been a complete pro this whole time, though. He has not had a single negative word to say about Z-Bo in the confessional -- I am sure that if he’d said it, they would have used it. But he must know that Z-Bo views him with contempt. I feel certain that he picked up on it when Z-Bo would talk shit about him in Chinese just inches away. You really can feel that. It’s hard to explain, but you just know. So he almost certainly knows exactly what Z-Bo thinks of him, and he is smiling and applauding because he’s a fucking pro. 

I know that Z-Bo might have “evil edited.” I really am trying to imagine how this could have been misconstrued, but in the end I think that this wasn’t evil editing. I think it was honest-to-goodness shitty behavior. And it is extremely galling that Z-Bo won the fan vote over Woongki. 

I was talking about this with my fella, you know, the one who makes me feel special, and he said that he’s been where Z-Bo is. I guess we all have been. You know, when you’re really good at something in your personal circle, and then you go from your small pond to a big ocean and suddenly no one cares about your special talent. You can feel so lost that it changes your whole personality. And I get that, I do. I’ve been there too. But when I was like that, I was being an asshole. I see it now, and I regret it, and I’m glad that I’m more in tune with myself now where I can catch myself feeling envious or overshadowed and just give myself some time away to process. 

So, it's a human thing, and not always a sign that someone is an irredeemable jerkwad. Maybe he’s a hopelessly entitled, privileged pretty boy actively sabotaging his team out of laziness and selfishness, as he seems to be. Or maybe he’s not really that bad, and within a few weeks or months he’ll snap out of it and apologize to Woongki and strive to do better going forward. I don’t know, and neither do you.

One thing we do know is that Woongki doesn’t want us to go after Z-Bo or anyone else on his team. Look at the message he left on his fancam video (this is google translate).

In case you can’t read the comment, Woongki basically is saying that he really loves the song Feel Special by Twice-sunbaenim, and that he feels that the Star Creators are the ones who make him feel special. He then says that his whole team -- and he names them all -- worked hard, and asks you to please support the entire team and vote for them. 

So, whether Z-Bo is an entitled jerk or just a guy who is feeling scared and out of his league, let’s follow Woongki’s lead and be polite, right, fam? No death threats or anything -- we can all agree on that! I’m sure my readers already know, though. 

AAAAAAnd with that, we have finished this one! 

If you need a palette cleanser, here is a video of Exo's Kai and Twice's Momo dancing together. Yes, this is a youtube video of a tiktok being posted on tumblr. Enjoy it. 

Or go on to the next one -- "Not Spring, Love, or Cherry Blossoms."

[millenari]

If you’re up to more bitching about the broadway revival, what are your feelings on Jennyanydots’s number? Personally I was surprised with how much I didn’t mind the new stuff at the end (though I wouldn’t say I PREFER it) but I thought the choreo during the verses was… it irritated me. I don’t remember which boot(s) I watched but it felt like Jenny did a lot more sitting, less moving than I remember her doing in the ‘98 and in the older boots I’ve seen. In general I thought the new choreo took her out of her own number a bit, which is a real shame. Just interested to know what you think, would be happy to disagree haha.

hohohoh you're in for it now, anon. I could talk about revival!Jenny for a long, long time...

AND I WILL!

I hate it.

I don't love a lot of the revival changes, but with each song generally there's something I can be positive about? Yeah they removed the horndog parts of Tugger's song, but there's cute tuggoff and platoria dances. Yeah they made all those little changes to Macavity's song but at least they're small. Yeah they changed Misto's choreo, but at least it is admittedly exciting.

Jenny's song? Idk even the spots that aren't bad, I don't think I can point at any element of her new song and say that it isn't a downgrade.

I rewatched it just now, and I'd like to list the parts I do actually like for the sake of being fair:

Andy Huntington Jones? a very cute Munk

That bit with Misto & the little light on the floor which leads to him opening the boot

The Gumbie trio interacting with the 'mice' kittens

you're right, the end is pretty cool

That's it.

Like... let's go over what the '''original''' Jenny song does. Gumbie Cat, like a considerable number of songs in Cats, doesn't really contribute to the plot at all. Some songs do, like Misto's, but many don't. They only thing Jenny's song really 'does', arguably, is tell the audience what Munkustrap's idea of a Jellicle Choice looks like (given his lyrics at the beginning of the song).

So otherwise, all this song does is characterize Jenny.

Which the classic version does very efficiently, I think! The poem gives us an idea of her personality: she's lazy during the day and active during the night. She teaches the local varmints how to be 'upstanding' members of society. It's specifically mentioned she started a 'Beetle's Tattoo' (A tattoo is a military performance of stuff like marching bands, dancing, drill team, etc) so she has this association with a military-esque discipline. The song also talks about her and crocheting and knitting and baking, so she also has this homestead motherly vibe to her as well.

Her nature is two-fold: she's lazy but also hard-working. She's motherly but also militant. The song capitalizes on this dynamic: it starts out with a slow lullaby, and then transitions to an upbeat tune, and then goes back and forth between those two vibes until the Tattoo (aka the tap section) starts. The feeling of the music matches her personality. So does her costume change: at first she has a big floppy coat, then she switches into a flapper-like bodysuit.

The style of the Tattoo is tap, (as we all know lmao). Most songs in Cats build upon ballet, but Jenny uses tap, probably because it's a more ''''aggressive'''' (obv I use that word lightly) style of dance, unlike the flowing and effortless impression ballet tends to give. It matches the military vibe, it seems like something that might actually be in a real Tattoo, and it gives the actress the opportunity to characterize Jenny further by having her act like a little drill sergeant.

(And sometimes the tap battle is included here, which is also nice characterization. It's usually either Misto or a kitten who challenges Jenny, and I think it's hilarious that either A) Misto feels the need to clown on an old lady's tapping skills or B) Jenny rises to the occasion when a literal child tries to clown on her tapping skills. Either way, funny and defining.)

Despite ping-ponging back and forth, the song is well contained. Most of the props are made of garbage: the cockroaches are made from garbage bags, the mice masks are piping bags, the cockroaches hold spoons and forks, etc. The song also builds well: it goes as such.

Munk, alone, introduces Jenny

the Gumbie trio join in, we start ping-ponging

Jenny comes on stage

Jenny stumbles around stage a little as she wakes up

Music builds

Costume change from day Jenny to night Jenny, tone immediately changes.

Cockroaches start coming out

Cockroaches + Jenny dance together

(maybe insert tap battle here)

Music builds up, the Gumbie trio and Munk join in, big happy finale

Tugger interrupts

The revival... sort of follows this pattern. The way the Revival Gumbie was choreographed makes me think of this Blankenbuehler quote that annoyed me.

'mm yes in this play about a tribe theres a lot of tribal energy. in this play about Cats Dancing Together there's a lot of dancing in unison. lets get rid of some of that'

The Revival Gumbie takes forever to get everyone dancing together, and instead of growing momentum-- where characters keep joining the dance and it gets bigger and bigger (starting with just Munk, ending with everyone)-- it feels like a bunch of disjointed nonsense.

The beginning is mostly the same, except you're right, Jenny does do a lot of sitting there. (Also the Gumbie trio has that same thing that the Macavity song has, where they fiddled with their choreo and the changes don't do anything but also aren't that important either)

But the Revival starts to divert after that first section-- instead of the (nearly) full cast wearing cockroach costumes, three (3) characters are given 'beetle' costumes. (Which yeah, the poem mentions beetles, and yeah, the beetle costumes are made of hubcaps so it matches the garbage theme. But they look so unwieldy that the dancers can barely move, and honestly I didn't even realize they were supposed to be beetles until I saw someone on here mention it.)

But yeah, Jenny and the beetles dance together for like 3 seconds, [I just went back to check how long it is exactly? 10 fuckin seconds.] and Jenny changes costumes. It's actually a pretty smooth costume change, because I'm always so busy looking at the hubcap beetles and being annoyed by them I forget to look at Jenny, but honestly classic Cats never really sought to hide/distract from the costume change here, and tbh I feel like that showy deliberate change is relevant to her dual nature? Whatever. Not a big deal.

But anyways so Jenny and the beetles start tapping. Oh, are we going to build on this momentum? Is someone else going to join in? No. That bigass broom prop comes flying in, the beetles go off stage (and probably rip off those huge costumes), and Jenny stops dancing. Then we spend like an honest thirty seconds playing with the broom and then playing with those basketball/soccerball props while pretty much 0 dancing happens on stage at all. Jenny mostly just wanders around during this section (& you're right, she definitely does less in this version).

Then there's the 'tick tock tap' section where that big clock prop in the background makes a bunch of tick-tock noises and Jenny dances to it. While everyone just kind of watches. Which is fine I guess.

The music BUILDS UP, EVERYONE COMES ON STAGE, OH BOY ARE WE FINALLY BUILDING SOME MOMENTUM?

No. Everyone dances for five seconds and then stands there and watches Jenny dance. Some cats are ? scrubbing the floor with brushes like cinderella ?

THE MUSIC BUILDS UP AGAIN EVERYONE IS GETTING IN A LINE OOH NOW THEY'RE SPREADING OUT ARE WE FINALLY GOING TO HAVE OUR BIG FINALE?

Nope pretty much everyone just stops dancing again to watch Jenny. Also Jerrie is breakdancing for some reason.

OKAY NOW EVERYONE IS DANCING TOGETHER! HOORAY! YAHOO!

Then like 15 seconds of dancing later the clock goes off, interrupting the finale, and the song ends.

Yay.

Where classic Gumbie builds up by adding more and more dancers over time, this one just kind of slaps everyone in there and then takes everyone out, a chunk of kittens will join, then leave, a prop will come in and then out, and the Tattoo element that the song was mostly made of is pretty much gone entirely. Instead of one unified piece of choreo, it feels like getting random crap shoved in your face over and over. 'Isn't this cool? Isn't THIS cool? How about this? Or this????'

Then you have the props: only a couple cats wear bug costumes and they don't translate well and look unwieldy. The clock, balls, (tooth?)brushes, and the broom are a disjointed assembly of props. Everything in the classic song characterizes Jenny. These items have nothing to do with her-- they're not even really things you'd find in a Junkyard. What does a clock have to do with Jenny's duality between her militant and motherly nature? What about the balls? With the cleaning stuff, you can at least say she makes the mice and bugs clean, but the poem doesn't mention her making them clean, it mentions 'music, crocheting and tatting', mentions turning them into boyscouts, mentions the Beetles' Tattoo, mentions baking for them, etc.

If the stuff like the balls and the broom were cool enough that I could forgive them being just slapped in there, that'd be one thing. But I got sick of the balls like 5 seconds after they came in, and the broom didn't really do anything for me. The clock wasn't that bad, but I don't know why they took out the Tattoo and instead added these elements. The Tattoo had to do with Jenny's nature, this shit doesn't.

I get why a lot of the tapping was removed, because they added a lot of hip hop and stuff in there and you can't really cast for people who can act, sing, dance ballet, dance tap, and dance hip hop, but regardless of how much tap they decided to use (which is a creative choice, I get it) it just doesn't feel good. It builds to nothing, most of the props say and do nothing interesting, there's big chunks of the song where no dancing happens at all, and there's even bigger chunks where Jenny is the only one dancing and everyone just watches her.

Right after that quote I mentioned earlier, Andy adds, "It’s like that circus in the second grade. It’s completely labor-intensive. You’re choreographing 20 numbers instead of one number."

And like. Yeah, Andy. You're right. This does kind of feel like a circus.

[stormblessed95]

MOTS ON:E DVD Pt. 1

This package was released in September 2021 and covers the online concerts performances filmed on 201010 and 201011. There are 3 DVDs included in this package. The first 2 DVDs cover the actual concert in full from 201010. The 2nd DVD also includes the last part of that day 1 concert as well as day 2s solo stages. Disc 3 includes the merch and poster making film and VCR making film, the Rehersals and practice making films and the concert d-day making film. (300 minutes in total from all 3 DVDs.)

Track List:

1. On

2. N.O.

3. We are Bulletproof pt. 2

4. Intro: Persona (RM)

5. Boy in Luv

6. Dionysus

7. Interlude: Shadow (Suga)

8. Black Swan

9. Ugh (Rap Line)

10. Zero o'clock (Vocal Line)

11. My Time (JK)

12. Filter (Jimin)

13. Moon (Jin)

14. Inner Child (V)

15. Outro: Ego (Jhope)

16. Boy with Luv

17. DNA

18. Dope

19. No More Dream

20. Butterfly

21. Run

22. Dynamite

23. We are Bulletproof: the Eternal

Disc 1

MOTS ONE STAGE Day 1:

I'll again mostly focus on some of my favorite cute interactions they have during these concert, but omg they are SUCH stage commanders. Those live vocals 😍 and the fact they did all this ONLINE during the pandemic. They killed it and I know we all know how gra d this tour couldve been if not for the pandemic. For anyone who hasn't seen the full concert included in this DVD and wants to, I found it for yall on daily motion. You can watch it here with Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 💜💜 these are day 1 streams only and come from the live steam online and not this MOTS ONE DVD. But it's the same concert in the end at least lol

BTS know how to open a show! This is my third time actually watching the concert all the way through since I watched it on the live streams too. But this set list, these performances and stages, these fits. They deserved a whole ass tour. And I'll never forgive C19 for taking that from us and them! 😭 The entrance with ON, followed by NO and the dance break into WAB 😭 GOD THEIR TALENT! I am obsessed with the dance break and their outfits too. (Dance Break Dance Practice should be included here too lol) And this VCR is dramatic as hell my god. 🤣 Intro Persona with Namjoon followed by the rest of the guys showing up to join him straight into Boy in Luv gives me so much MMA 2019 vibes. It's gotta be on purpose. They are SO COOL I swear. Namjoons voice live gives me tingles. I love it so much and same for Tae during Boy in Luv with the growls and Jimin with the high notes!

The intros are all so cute. I love Jimin giggling so hard and Hobi promising us that we will have a good time by starting to sing Promise only for Jin to also join in! And Jin being so excited to give his normal blown kiss to ARMY in greeting is the cutest thing. Yoongi's shadow performance is criminally underrated in this fandom. It's not talked about how epic and cool it was nearly enough and his quick change from white to black! And the transition from how he ended into the other 6 joining him straight into the black swan starting pose. And Jikook in their sheer mesh shirts for black swan. They've BEEN trying to kill ARMY. Followed by Jimin's ethereal solo black swan dance. That is also not talked about nearly enough.

Rapline UGH as boxers is the greatest thing in the world and no one can change my mind. It was so beautifully aggressive. And zero o'clock was just angelic. JinMins voices during that song 😭 istg. And the VCR between 00:00 and the other 5 solo stages is amazing with its allusions to each members solo song in their cuts too. Black Swan Jikook was just trying to warn us for My Time/Filter Jikook. Because they really were out for BLOOD this concert. Just for Moon/Inner Child TaeJin to melt us into a puddle of love. When Tae sings to that little boy, I could die I swear. 🥺😭

And Ego is such a mood lifter. Especially with Hobi reminding everyone that he is the definition of swag. I talk before about how much I love that he added waacking to the Ego choreo. But I love it. And when the other members come out to dance to the end of Ego with him and he goes "let's go my fellas!" 😭 CRIES vmin dancing to Ego together KILLS me too!

I love how BWL usually starts out with 3J dancing, but this time we got Vmin tossing an umbrella back and forth to each other to start us off! So cute. And then we have Vmon framed in rainbow umbrellas for their part which was so cute!! And when they were all running to the next stage together while singing, we had jikook being the cutest dancing together while getting to their new spots while singing "boy with loveeee." Ugh so cute. And if I want to say that they did this BWL performance for the gays with their rainbow lights on their umbrellas, Im going to 🌈🥰

Vhope always smiling so hard when they do their DNA choreo together. 🥺 and the iconic No More Dream dance break coming back in 2020! God I love it. Plus JK carrying Jimin for the iconic kick choreo! He makes it look so easy now! It's been 10 years of JK carrying Jimin 🥺

The way they are running around and looking at and interacting with all the ARMY screens during the last songs 🥺 they are so happy! Jikook finding each other to sing their part in run with arms around shoulders together is adorable. And Hobi Watching Tae do his silly grandpa dance and just immediately joining in! Precious. Everyone being JKs fanboys when he starts singing Dynamite 🥺 and everyone giggling at Taes antics at the end of Dynamite. Lol all the heavy breathing "we ran too much" 😅😭🤣🤣 Seeing how much and how hard the pandemic hit all of them too during these ending mentions is so incredibly emotional. And I can't ever see Jimin break down during his speech without crying myself too. I adore him. All of them. So much. And JK was so antsy to get over there to comfort his hyung too. I'm so glad they all have each other.

Ending the concert with WAB Eternal after all those emotional speeches. It's been like 2 years and I'm still hurting!! Lol and Namjoon, Jin and Jhope all checking on Jimin and lightly teasing him as they walked to the final ending stage all together. Lol his precious hyungs! And JK keeping an eye on Jimin for a bit down the line as they take their final bow. He truly is surrounded by so much love.

I'll do the making films from Disc 3 in the next part! So for now, this post is just the concert and the first two DVDs! Thanks for letting me share! Love yall!

[snackugaki]

venus de milo in rise personal funtime mega self-indulgent visdev project part 4a

prologue | part 1 | part 2 | part 2 ½ | part 3

*****

hey kids do you wanna see what happens when you ruthlessly hammer a comic-shaped peg through a storyboard-shaped hole???? ?  

👁👄👁  [ ragged breathing ]

reads top to bottom, row by row, left to right

*****

in which I make wild speculation in how Venus would get under Big Mama’s thumb to bring her into conflict with her brothers for tasty, tasty knock down drag out fight choreography but I guess also familial angst idk mostly the fight choreo

At this point a quick review since I didn’t post the parts of this teeny self-indulgent visdev project in a clean succession

Rise reinvigorated the love I had for TMNT. I was around 8-9 yo eating up the Archie comic run, the 90s movies were coming out, and as seen on Twitter recently they were even interviewed by Barbara Walters. They were HUGE in the 90s. But especially the tv show, Next Mutation, and then the eventual team up with the (Lost in Space iteration) Power Rangers that blew little 13 year old snackugaki’s mind. ...And then Sailor Moon started and I jackknifed directly into anime and manga for the next several years; lost track of what was going on in DC, Image, Marvel, Dark Horse, One Saturday Morning, WB Kids etc.

But one thing nagged me when I started catching up with TMNT media since ‘98 (and before the IDW reintroduction) Venus had apparently been.... not at all well-received during her time-- which, a travesty, a tragedy that through this little thing I’d rectify what Next Mutation skimped out on.

Shout out to tumblr user @venusdeservedbetter​ because boy howdy, she truly did, does, and by my hand will or I will carpal tunnel trying. 

One more note: In this little thing, I’m headcanoning Venus as another sibling. When I had first watched the episode that mentioned it, Venus sounded disappointed when Leo said none of them were blood siblings. In Next Mutation she was an only disciple/child to a single sifu/father figure and looking back now it hurts my heart that she seemed excited for a bigger family only to realize it didn’t really exist. 

Join me for part 4b where I throw darts at a wall chart to see how Draxum would recruit her to learn alchemy and fight against her brothers because they rejected his whole Humanity Bad campaign and then that good, good wuxia trope of disciple vs disciple/martial siblings vs martial siblings happens.

when am I going to get back to working on my own shit? lol lmao who knows maybe after aug 5 jk unless idk ig

[hotliljewishgirl]

Post-Jangle Ball Ramblings: Act Two (VHSCC)

I already posted a part one, so here’s my thoughts on VHSCC. Full disclosure – I’m mostly creating these posts for myself, because I am fucking terrified of forgetting even a minute of this show. I have waited too long for this to simply trust my very unreliable hippocampus. But if you enjoy this too, here it is (this post contains spoilers):

I had no idea what to expect for VHSCC. I wasn’t sure if the second act was going to be in costume, if they were going to do it sung through or do little out of character speeches before each song, if they were going to be acting like their characters or just performing their songs, etc. They did do it sung through but they were not in costume and they were mostly in character. I loved how they did it and I have no notes. I got digital tickets in both 2020 and 2021, and this was my favorite rendition of it. They seemed like they were having fun even in the serious moments and enjoying interacting with the audience on top of singing and dancing their faces off. I have nothing to say other than that it was fantastic and I wish I could see it like that again.

Brian as Tiny Tim made me laugh my ass off. Out of costume, a grown man acting like a sickly child is peak comedy. He came in riding piggyback on Joey, and Lauren reprised the thing where Emily is disgusted by Tim and pushes him away when he tries to touch her. Priceless in general was equal parts heartwarming and hilarious, which is exactly how it should be.

I know I already said this but it bears repeating: Dylan stole the damn show. Get that man on Broadway. I believed he was a crotchety old man, even out of costume, and he made me feel for Scrooge. There was not a single moment where his vocals faltered, and out of everyone he was the one who was most engaged with the audience. Seeing him perform live is truly an out of body experience.

Oddly specific, but I want to mention; Jaime’s Christmas Past came off as a little more gentle/kind than it has been in years past. Both versions of Christmas Past really worked, but the less harsh version was nice to see live. It sounded like she genuinely felt sorry for Scrooge on “she can’t hear it”, and she was trying to comfort him during That Scrooge. The nice thing about doing this show every year is that the actors can make tweaks as they see fit and we get to see it evolve. I hope little character choices like that continue to be made and changed.

Speaking of That Scrooge…Janaya. Girl. Stop being so damn talented. Brian, Dylan, and Jaime also killed it and That Scrooge is quickly becoming one of my favorite VHSCC songs (after Priceless and Three Spirits. I’m a sucker for a power ballad, okay?). Seriously, I’m really glad we have Janaya. I used to be scared when new Starkids were introduced, but that stopped after we got Angela because I realized the new faces are equally as incredible as the people I grew up with, and they don’t make it feel any less like a Starkid show (on the contrary, the new Starkids have become some of my favorites). Janaya is no exception.

Christmas Electricity was SO much fun to see live. I still feel like dancing just thinking about it. The energy in that room was indescribable. James has such great stage presence and command of his work, and his take on Christmas Present highlighted how great he is at working a crowd. This is another number that necessitates a mention of the dancing. I think most of the choreo was recycled from last year, which is fine because that choreo is iconic. I was seriously shocked by how incredible the dancing was. I don’t want to repeat myself but. Holy shit. Starkid dancing, guys.

Priceless was even more special live and out of costume. I forgot I was watching a show – it seemed like it was just a loving family vibing for three minutes straight, and I loved it, because the Starkid community does feel like family. The energy was just as high as during Christmas Electricity, but instead of making me want to dance it made me want to hug the person next to me. Also, Everyone’s vocals sounded incredible. I’m not sure if he’s doing it on purpose or if it’s just the way the harmonies worked out, but in every version of VHSCC, Joey has kind of stepped back and let Lauren shine (or maybe I’m just obsessed with Lauren Lopez lol). She killed it (again with the versatility!) and hearing “I’ll toast my hope that he DIEEEESSSSSS” live legitimately changed my brain chemistry. A note on the choreo - Joey and Lauren slow-dancing gave me visions of their wedding and I am the opposite of ok.

Unrelated to the performance, but I just want to give a shout-out to the audience. As someone seeing them live for the first time (and going to the show alone), I wasn’t sure what to expect. But within minutes of getting in line, I caught myself thinking “I’ve found my people”. Everyone was as excited and into it as I was and it made all the difference. Thank you, Starkid fans, for creating such a wonderful, positive, welcoming community.

[sizzlingpatrolfox]

So I don’t really care that much about song meaning,but I read some pjms and armys theories and I don’t really understand why dome of them are so against LC being about sex. I am not saying the song is only about that, LC is deep, it’s about escapism etc but when all back up dancer and doing very explicjt sexual moves I think it’s safe to say the meaning it’s connected to carnal please too

Getting this ask today reminded me of this other long ask I got weeks ago and never got around to reply. Finally I went and searched for my face posts 😅

- jimin confirmed on release day that he was inspired by Like Crazy (2011) and never missed any chance to mention this film during promos. so what was he trying to correlate? bear with me ✋

Sex and Alcohol are interchangeable coping mechanisms. both jacob + anna cope with pain of separation by carelessly drinking and having sex. in fact jacob's sex scenes also hold interesting symbolisms regarding intimacy. let's move to anna: she's toxic in wanting to get back with jacob despite being apart for so long. this is reminiscent to how the girl pulls jimin into the dream club and meets him midway the mv. as jm said in the spotify intvw, he's showing how "one loses themselves after a loved one in a Dream". what does it imply? he's yearning for something meaningful to feel complete yet it's unattainable, nor can he stay healthy post loss in Face-Off hence confrontation in the bathroom mirror cuz he's the problem. (the next track 'Alone' is where he accepts his mistake of not properly dealing w/ his complex emotions beforehand.)

the anima theory (which armys/jikookers poorly mutated into a gender crisis) is Jung's belief that man projects his inner desires on his wife/lover. this phenomenon is criticism by psychologists on emotionally stunted man-childs!!? so not only do theories which refuse to address the clear romantic/sexual imagery just plain disingenious but disrespecting jm as well.

he is a hopeless romantic but he referenced a movie about withering relationships here, and how sex is not necessarily love (jacob realizing his sexual compatibility with sam cannot help him move on from anna with whom his attachment is sincere)

i'm not peaking into jm's personal life but im not denying the song's adult concept either. he didnt need to dance such sensual choreo nor refrain teens during the fancall from watching the dance (the backup dancers were having full blown sex) but he did! for he had a story to tell! remember when jm, during encore, said he'll do a modest version of a dance step to pacify jealous fans, it wasnt the group hug intro but the mirror step, which he did with a male dancer instead on stage. jm and karmys had a mutual understanding of what that move signified, and why 1 female dancer was specifically chosen for it in the first place. jm was rightfully teasing them about the whole dance and not just because girls were in it.

---

There's nothing wrong with thinking it's about sex, but there's also nothing wrong with thinking it's not about sex. I mean, Jimin never explicitly said "it's not about sex" or otherwise, but at some point he did use a bed as prop with people all around (over) him. There's also the fact that men embrace him in the original choreo but he didn't think that was appropriate for music shows which would be aired on Korean tv. He also said he wanted the song to have an "ambiguous" feel and honestly, he got that concept very well executed. The song feels like a lot of things at once.

I agree with many points of the second ask, and I think you'd find I said similar stuff when I talked about my own interpretation.

The only thing I disagree with is the last part because it feels -to me- kinda deranged to see something sexual in the mirroring part because there's nothing like that going on. I think Jimin was just joking with the fans, and it was all banter, and that's the easiest part of the choreo to rearrange for fun. I really don't see anything sexual in that part of the choreo.

I don't think I have much more to add at least for now. I re-read my posts and I still feel the same way about the song.

Also this one about set me free because why not 🫡

[storiesofteyvat]

With An S/O That Loves Kpop

Au: Modern

Pairing(s): Xiao x Reader, Childe x Reader (No gender specified)

A/n; Aha so hello— :’) I know it’s been a while, but I honestly had to take a bit of a break from Genshin due to it not being as fun as if was for me, but there may be new updates here sometimes. Anyways, enjoy my new fixation - Mod Xiao

He never understood your obsession with that genre of music, how you’d go out and “waste your hard-earned money and time on merchandise and albums from people who don’t even know you exist”, but that never stopped him from watch your spontaneous wills to get up do the choreography along to one of the songs

Now you wanted him to come with you to a concert? Yeah, no. He’s not going to sit stand in a crowd full of millions to watch people perform and— y/n, stop looking at him with those eyes- no means no- stop it- please-

When he sees disappointment flash in your eyes, he’s quick to clear his throat and push back his pride to ask when it was for, and the way your eyes light up when he asked was enough to make him want to fly you straight to South Korea and have you meet them personally

You end up giving him one of your sweatshirts with the group on it for him to blend in, it’s safe to say that you never got it back after that night

He won’t admit it but he actually enjoyed the concert, subconsciously doing a few of the hand movements to himself because of all the times he’s seen you do the choreo

His attention was fixated on you most of the time, the way you sang out to the lyrics you knew, beaming from ear to ear as you jumped up and down with the rest of the fans… You looked so adorable

On the drive home, you could hear him hum to some of the songs from last night, even putting a few on his personal playlist

“Xiao! They came out with a new comeback, wanna listen to it with me?” “Tch, I have no interest in them.”

He in fact did, and enjoyed himself more than he should have

When he heard that you were into Kpop, he bought you so much official merch that you didn’t even have anymore room in your closet for the rest

Hell, he even bought you both lightsticks

He’s heard a few songs before but it hasn’t really stuck to him, but when he started dating you, he’d find himself constantly listening to the songs from the groups you liked (he also listens to them whenever he misses you)

Your screaming made his soul leave his body, immediately running over to your aid… But you just explain that your favorite group was coming to town

You don’t even have to ask him to come, he’s already buying you both the best row, all perks included, and even scheduled you both for a fansigning because he just can’t get enough of how excited you look

You both look so adorable in your matching outfits, lightsticks in hand as you both scream once the idol walk on stage! Singing out to the lyrics and ‘attempting’ to do the dances

He doesn’t think that he’s ever seen you so excited, there were practically stars in your eyes, so of course he had to get some pictures in

At the end, he played a few of their songs in the car as you fell asleep from such a long night

He definitely learned Ping Pong with you and posted the cover on YouTube, he’ll never get over how happy he’s able to make you feel this way

“We should learn Red Lights next!” “Ajax, no-“

With hard work and much dedication, you both were able to only learn the chorus, and even that was scuffed

[the7thcrow]

corynn’s first thoughts on txt’s temptation album:

1: farewell, neverland: anyone who knows my taste in music could tell this was going to be number one in the first 20 seconds. it’s the thursday’s child has far to go of this album. they actually wrote this specifically for me! sorry everyone!

2: devil by the window: are you kidding me? ARE WE FR RN? SO GOOD. DARK AND SEXY? LOL OKAY I’M FINE. i’m not saying this would possibly be a rival for number one if it weren’t for the outro… but that’s exactly what i’m saying lmao. didn’t think it fit seamlessly. still a damn bop though!

3: tinnitus: got me swaying my hips and everything. like this makes me want to dance and am i a good dancer? no, but it doesn’t even matter. the vibes are just too great. straight grooving.💃🕺🏼💃🕺🏼

4: sugar rush ride: okay first things first, kang taehyun was the only man in that music video. his ERA. HE’S SHINING. A STAR. GIVE ME A SINGLE CHANCE PLS.

anyway, i really liked it! it literally slaps so hard and if these b-sides weren’t so unbelievably good it could easily be worth a number one spot. it slays. i think the chorus is the weakest part in my opinion, but i can already tell it’s an ear-worm (sugarrushushsugarushushsugarrushushsugarrushushah) so give it a week and i’ll be pure vibing.

also i’m pretending they did not quite literally do this 👉👈 in the choreo for the chorus because it made my skin crawl. i did not see it. didn’t happen.

5: happy fools: the verses are bouncy and super fun. but the happy fools chorus is just way too repetitive for my taste.

so basically 4/5 of these are absolute bops and i haven’t loved an album this much in a hot minute. everyone cheered. everyone cried. i am everyone.

[etruatcaelum]

i am once again rewatching rwby.

RED TRAILER.

45s in i have to pause to yell (again) about “thus kindly i scatter”—THE SPEAKER. SUMMER ROSE IS NOT THE ROSE. SHE IS THE SPEAKER WHO KILLS THE ROSE AS A CONTEMPLATION OF HIS OWN MORTALITY IN THIS ESSAY I WILL–

“soon may i follow/when friendships decay/and from love’s shining circle/the gems drop away/when true hearts lie withered/and fond ones are flown/oh! who would inhabit/this bleak world alone?” the moon will sadly watch the roses die, huh.

lol.

lmao even.

i know it was just because the budget was a shoelace and chewing gum at this point but the grimm here being fully black with no plating is really funny in the context of my worldbuilding. because it means ruby just fucking slaughters a bunch of baby grimm bfrghfk

WHITE TRAILER

atlas is full of the worst kind of person (people who do flash photography in theaters)

it really is bonkers that jacques was like. yeah i won’t let you attend your college of choice unless you defeat this huge old geist that i have arranged to be captured and inserted into one of our comically oversized suits of armor. sir,

how did they even CATCH that thing.

this is probably my favorite of the trailers in all honesty. the duality of her public/private lives on such raw display. & i think the fight choreo is the cleanest.

the moon does not look broken so much as it looks like something has been nibbling on it. zhan tiri behavior.

BLACK TRAILER

i love how the thinking behind forever fall forest was clearly just “we cannot have green trees in this trailer it’ll ruin the whole aesthetic.” brhdjgh

YOUR HOPES HAVE BECOME MY BURDEN. I WILL FIND MY OWN LIBERATION. salem foreshadowing dot txt.

mumbles. V2 heavily implies that ozpin thinks blake is salem’s spy. so it is not inconceivable that that crow might in fact be qrow. i think about this often.

i have to imagine that this unbelievably over the top security robot was there because somebody tipped off the SDC as to the robbery plot. because lmao.

YELLOW TRAILER

“scathing eyes ask that we be symmetrical” this counts as arm foreshadowing tm

raven being here at the beginning really makes this. somehow a more attentive parent than tai BRGRHFKF (for legal reasons this is a joke)

ozma like yeah in my ideal society there is a minuscule class of elite special warriors with superpowers who roam around unrestrained by law or regulation and with zero meaningful oversight besides their own guild. & then there’s everybody else. why isn’t humanity united yet

i love them so much. they’re so stupid BRRHDKVJDNV

yang’s introduction vs the other three is really so hysterical though. she just- she swans into a nightclub and hospitalizes like fifty people HRGKH. she’s SEVENTEEN.

girl,,

junior and oobleck have the same basic weapon. oobleck’s is also a thermos, befitting his status as a hyper-caffeinated eccentric historian. junior runs a nightclub. do we think he can drink booze out of his

why is tai letting his fifteen year old wander around in the industrial district after dark 😭 man WHAT are ya doin

EP 1: RUBY ROSE

salem: humankind is wise, strong, resourceful, passionate, ingenious, did i mention resourceful? all it took for them to defy fate itself and flourish against all odds was a single spark of hope <3 …what was i talking about? oh, right. oz, your terror of change and your reliance on isolated guardians to hold up the rotting façade of your precious academies will be your undoing because there is no victory to be found in strength. fuck you.

oz: but perhaps!! victory is found in the simpler things that you’ve long forgotten. like hope and honesty <3

salem: ………really?

they are so. DIVORCED. AJDHSHDK

“so-called free world.” her protégée was a child slave. her protégée was a child slave whose mentor attempted to arrest her after she murdered her owners. slavery was abolished after the great war. your so-called free world.

shes so ANGRY.

“a smaller, more honest soul” says the LIAR LMAO

ruby: i think today i will murder some goons <3

ozpin pretending like he doesn’t know exactly who ruby is. most hysterical play of all time. it’s clearly not a secret he’s keeping for a reason—otherwise qrow wouldn’t have been so loose with telling the girls he’s tight with ozpin and ironwood later on—so like. ozpin are you just lying to this girl out of HABIT (probably)

“i want to be a huntress”/“you want to slay monsters?” -> “and what exactly does a huntress do?” “fight… monsters, i guess?” SCREAM LAUGHS.

glynda is like “he’s going to let this child into the school. gods help me” she does NOT get paid enough. whatever he’s paying her isn’t enough

ruby: i don’t want anyone to think i’m special or anything :(

ozpin: good news everybody—

“our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace! please do not ask why we need to train warriors to uphold this peace, thank you :)” cult behavior

the !!empty!! cloak floating above summer’s grave… she’s so alive it makes me crazy

“i don’t want to hear your absolution/hope you’re ready for a revolution” SCREAM LAUGHS AGAIN.