#like when i see a REALLY nice astro set

[mizugucci]

watching peaktime and doing a stroll down memory lane re: my fav nugus makes me want to put everything on this main blog & not split onto a sideblog

[hisui-dreamer]

to the happiest place on earth

Characters: Octavinelle (Azul, Jade, Floyd)

Synopsis: going on a date with them to Tokyo Disneyland!

Tags: fluff, Disneyland date hehe, reader's tolerance for attractions is based on my own, self indulgent, bot proofread

Word count: 1.4k+

Notes: because obviously i kept thinking about the fish mafia when i was in tokyo disney resort

did i write too much for jade? no

Masterlist

Azul plans everything

weeks before even going he's doing so much research on every little aspect of the park

he's become an expert, because how else would he impress his angelfish?

asks you what rides you like and sets out the perfect plan for you to experience everything

basically you just need to tell him what you feel like doing next and he'll instantly suggest the best plan

fast pass? fast pass.

he's rich, he's definitely going to buy all the available passes only to improve your experience

time is far more valuable than money! the less time spent lining up for rides and azul having to come up with engaging conversations, the better

his headband of choice:

doesn't really understand why the mouse ears are so prominent in the park, but he wants to match with you and take nice couple pics hehehe

also apparently that's a sorcerer's hat?? perfect! he's a diligent student of magic and follower of the sea witch!

is reluctant to get on fast rides like space mountain and you can see how pale he looks afterwards

he doesn't complain at all tho, and he's very willing to try rides with you

he has great night vision (deep sea octopus), so he is less affected by rides like haunted mansion and pirates of the caribbean

speaking of the latter, he's incredibly grateful for the darkness of the room, because the way he blushed when you held on to him when the boat fell from a waterfall shook all three of his hearts

fascinated by stitch encounter and considers making a mascot for mostro lounge using the same tech

also definitely gets the best seats for the fireworks/parades so his angelfish won't have their vision blocked

overall great experience, the capitalist thrives in capitalism, and he gets to experience all the joy and wonder of the theme park

The sound of the waterfall only seemed to grow louder and louder, yet there was not a single one in sight. Unless...

"Angelfish," Azul whispered, trying not to disturb the other guests. "Hold on tight, I think the ride will drop off from a waterfall."

You barely had time to react to his words as you felt the pull of gravity on you. By instinct, you reached out to hold onto him for dear life, letting out a shriek of surprise as you crashed onto the water below.

Thankfully, the fall was over in seconds. Azul coughed and shakily whispered, "A-ahem, are you alright Angelfish?" he murmured, though with your ear right next to his chest, it seemed he wasn't really alright himself.

Jade doesn't really plan as much as azul, but he does come pretty prepared

briefly learns about what rides and restaurants there are and considers your taste all the while

you brought a cute but small bag that couldn't hold a lot of stuff? no worries! your boyfriend is used to hiking with minimal packing

he can help you carry all your essentials and not have it affect him at all!

his headband of choice:

ok so apparently moray eels eat flounder fish? so I believe this silly eel would find great pleasure in wearing this headband (even better if you're wearing the ariel headband to match)

he's definitely more into the thrilling rides, but he's very happy to sit along for whatever ride you'd like

he's really really good at the buzz lightyear astro blaster, but his favourite is definitely haunted mansion for the chilling atmosphere and the way you clung onto him while convincing yourself everything was fine

whispered things in your ear to calm you, but he definitely tried to spook you a few times bc of how cute you were

your man is a foodie ok, the way his eyes sparkle when he stares at some street food other guests are holding is telling

he's absolutely interested in all of the disneyland food though, so apple caramel churros from le fou's shop, popsicle sticks from food stands, baymax curry, etc.

wdym food's expensive? he's also rich from working with azul and his family background

also super attentive to you, oh you'll need to take off your headband for this ride? gently plucks it from your head and places it in his bag before you can even do it yourself

and oh dear, your hair is a bit messed up after space mountain, let me just brush your hair and smooth it out for you

gets ugly plushie keychains for azul and floyd as a joke saying "i think it quite resembles you, no?"

tall boi sees the parades really clearly and he lifts you up to eye level so you can enjoy the same view as him

and dw about the disappointment of other guests behind you because one eerie smile from your eel is enough for them to know your boyfriend is not to be messed with

overall a very food oriented visit, and plenty of moments where this teasing eel tries to make you flustered

"Oh, it seems we must take our headbands off for this ride as well," Jade mused as he observed the guests in front. In a quick, but gentle motion, he took off your headband and smoothed out your hair.

At your flustered expression, he merely chuckled as he reached up to take off his own, carefully placing both into his sturdy backpack.

"Come, my pearl," he said as he reached out a hand to you. "Should you be afraid any moment, feel free to hold onto me," he teased, his eyebrows furrowed as his eyes glinted in amusement.

Floyd is very much going with the flow and sees where you/ his energy wants to take him

did no research at all because his Shrimpy can be his tour guide hehe~

also brought minimal stuff, but he definitely takes a moment to show off his new shoes that he bought recently to go on the date

given his mood swings, it's not a great idea to line up for 30 mins plus, particularly if there's minimal air-conditioning

so definitely fast pass where available, water bottles and mini electric fans

also consider downloading some 2-player mini games on your phone to kill time

his headband of choice:

he finds the "rubber duckies so cute and squishy! just like Shrimpy!" and chip and dale in sunglasses just gives off a memeish chill vibe

you can't convince me this man doesn't consume stupid memes

once he's tried one thrilling ride, he basically demands to ride all of the thrilling ones

runs off to the next one and pulling your hand to catch up because he memorized the map smh

absolute menace when it comes to teacup rides

like you are not walking straight after that intense spinning all the better because he gets to hold you and support you

he will be a menace again and push you in front during the baymax cool down parade so you'll get wet

but you can't stay mad at him for too long when he's laughing so innocently

okay maybe slap him on the shoulder a bit

absolutely gets the electric fans with the water sprays, and attacks you with sprays of water

laughs at you whenever you get scared in haunted mansion, but also "don't worry" because he likes protecting his Shrimpy

funny selfies from weird angles or everything's just a blur

also it's very convenient to have a big scary eel glare at the other guests to convince them to line up another time :)

in conclusion this menace of an eel will without a doubt have a blast stringing you along to his shenanigans, and you find yourself laughing with him all the way

"Ahahaha! That was sooo fun~" Floyd exclaimed as he got out of the teacup. The world continued to spin though the ride had long come to an end. You felt Floyd reach out and help you out of the ride, and you leaned into his touch for help as if you were drunk.

"Hahaha, Shrimpy's all dizzy!" he giggled. "You wanna go again?" As soon as the words registered in your mind, you turned to look in his general direction to glare at him, but maybe your direction was off or you just didn't look intimidating enough, because he just laughed even harder.

"Okayy, okayy, let's do another ride," he said as he began leading you to the exit. "Your choice this time then, where d'ya wanna go Shrimpy?"

Masterlist

if you liked this post, don't forget to reblog!

[capricornsims]

Some headcanons featuring screenshots from my Sims 3 Strangetown game.

PT9 and Jenny met in 1985. Based on the Sims 2 memories, she found him drowning in the pool since he dived head-first into the shallow end. While everyone was running away in fear - she rescued him and fell in love at first sight. PT9 vowed loyalty to his savior and gifted her with knowledge about Sixam.

Jenny and Lyla were roommates until she married Buzz Grunt. She doesn't get Jenny's attraction to PT9 but she was supportive. Meanwhile, Jenny tried her hardest to break up Lyla and Buzz because she deserved so much better!

The Curious Brothers were forced to cut contact with Jenny since she 'betrayed' their father by marrying PT9 ( valid honestly - thinking about it makes my head hurt )

Pascal having Tycho brought the family back together.

5. Glarn was an emotionally absent father who paid no attention to his kids. Pascal was Glarn's favorite which was why he went to private school. He was also responsible for looking after his younger brothers when they moved out.

6. Pascal is " Well achually" incarnate. He loves to talk about theories and science. Aliens and Astro physics are his hyper fixation

7. Vidcund and Lazlo spend their time joking about how Pascal takes himself way too seriously. They were best friends throughout school and Vidcund was the one who helped Lazlo get his degree.

8. Lazlo is a genius, he passed school with no effort because he was just that smart. Glarn didn't see his genius because he was too busy scolding him for being messy.

9. Lazlo takes Vidcund out to hang out with his friends and works overtime trying to set him up on dates so he can get over Circe.

10. The Curious Brothers weren't that close - and often butted heads but since Tycho was born they are closer than ever. ( UNTIL VIDUND SOLD TYCHO)

11. I know Vidcund was mind-controlled, but imagine if he wasn't. He's in serious debt and these blue aliens offered him like a billion dollars if he sold his nephew. The Dudes in Black wanted to run experiments on him idk.

12. Pascal never really recovered after his kid was stolen and was overly protective of Tycho. Tycho grew up anxious because of the overarching threat of being kidnapped again.

13. Olive Specter is not a serial killer (allegedly) - she just has really bad luck, but she kept up the bit so people would leave her alone! She is really superstitious because she's connected to the supernatural. She makes good luck charms and ensures that Ophelia is really cautious and wears all her charms.

14. Ophelia has a serious anxiety disorder - partially because Olive raised her to be scared of everything for her own safety. She makes sure Johnny and Ripp don't go under ladders, cross poles, or step on cracks. She gets really stressed out when Ripp makes dark jokes.

15. Olive was a good mom until she was wrongly accused of being unstable which led to her baby being taken away. She tried to get him back but there were too many roadblocks and Nervous was already given away.

16. She loves the Grim Reaper and longs for the day she can see him again. Her partygoer job entails her going to funeral memorials.

17. Nervous met Annie Howell in foster care and they are really good friends to this day. He missed her because she was adopted by her older brother and left alone in the orphanage. 18. Nervous was a constant runaway and ended up in the Beaker's house as a teenager with the promise that he wouldn't have to go back to a group home. Unfortunate :(

19. I like how most people agree on how rude and not nice Nervous actually is. He's standoffish for good reason and gives Vidcund a lot of snark for being into Circe. He's chill with Lazlo though.

20. Nervous is the fun dad, and lets Tycho do whatever they want. Meanwhile, Pascal is pretty strict about his schooling ( which doesn't matter because Tycho has alien intelligence) and being safe. 21. Tycho grows up to follow in Pascal's astrophysics footsteps, mostly to build a ship and hunt down his Pollinator dad.

[lookslikethatsallthetimewehave]

In your opinion, what's the darkest thing in Poptropica?

Oh... wow. You know, some people might be surprised at some of the dark stuff that's happened/implied throughout the franchise. And from such an innocent looking world too :)

I guess I'll make a list of some stuff that stands out to me:

24 Carrot Island 

The 4 children were kidnapped and brainwashed by Dr. Hare probably for months.

Astro-Knights Island 

Mordred almost died in a crash, and had to replace half of his body with robotics. 

Mordred kidnapped the princess because he wanted to marry her. And her parents most likely thought they were never going to see her again, since they had no way of going after her.

Counterfeit Island 

It's implied that Black Widow was gonna torture the player in order to get answers. 

Reality TV Island/Wild Safari Island 

Villains allowed to be on reality tv… and being treated as celebrities... WHAT.

Skullduggery Island 

Captain Crawfish probably killed a lot of people. Cause… pirate.

Steamworks Island 

The entire backstory of this island: the people were doing experiments on plants, when the plants mutated and tried to kill them. The only way they could survive is by freezing themselves.

Captain Ziggs sacrificed himself to hold off the Plant Monsters. Mayor Crumb must be feeling pretty depressed now that she's free and forced to live without him.

Red Dragon Island  

The Shogun being a pretty terrifying tyrant. 

Shrink Ray Island  

POV: you're an elementary school student and your teacher's star pupil. You trust him, because he's a nice teacher. And then he goes crazy and kidnaps you.

Mr. Silva threatens to shrink CJ and the player to the point where they can't be seen by anyone, which is kinda dark honestly. 

Blimp Adventure 

Dr. Cumulo Nimbus sets fire to the rain to all the islands. 

Game Show Island  

Robots take over and enslave humanity. 

Ghost Story Island  

A really depressing murder mystery/ weird love triangle story that involves several character's deaths.

S.O.S Island  

The ship sinks and everyone inside almost dies. Also a child.

Vampire's Curse Island  

Count Bram outlives his wife, and goes crazy. And he kidnaps a child due to insanity. 

Cactus von Garlic has killed many vampires. But not all vampires in Poptropica are evil (if Haunted House is any indication). 

Twisted Thicket Island  

The forest creatures turning into stone. I'm not 100% sure if they're still alive in there or not...

Poptropolis Games Island

The island sinks back into the ocean, with people still on it. Some of the ancient islanders are waterlogged (but still alive, for some reason).

Lunar Colony Island (Book)

The PASE workers are oddly sociopathic to Glen John's situation, only caring about Glen helping them. Glen is 13 btw.

Super Villain Island  

Zeus almost winning. He blew up the world for no reason. Also, there's something really scary about the way he blew up his own island.

Zomberry Island  

Zombie apocalypse. 

Virus Hunter Island  

A pandemic almost happened. 

Monster Carnival Island 

Ringmaster Raven's backstory: Pretty messed up. 

Edgar is an orphan who ran away and joined the carnival. He put a lot of trust in the Ringmaster and seemed pretty happy… and then the Ringmaster hypnotizes him and uses him for his scheme. Pretty messed up. 

Survival Island 

Myron Van Buren. Enough said.

Mission Atlantis Island 

The alien was trapped underwater for years and died.

PoptropiCon Island  

Omegon taking over the convention center, and turning the people into Hench-Bots.

Arabian Nights Island 

Scheherazade attempted to steal the player's soul… what the heck.

Graphic Novels

The kids almost died… several times. (A Saber tooth tiger and polar bear almost maul them, they almost fall to their deaths, they almost freeze to death, they are almost stabbed to death by Lieutenant Rogers, they almost got erased from history on the Ancient Egypt Island, they almost burned alive in a volcano eruption, etc)

The ancient Egyptians are erased from one timeline, and a bunch of people on earth died... and it's unknown if they were brought back, or what.

When Spencer Albright is murdered, Jonas is so overcome with grief that he completely loses it and becomes murderous like Octavian. Jonas is 18-20 btw.

The backstories for the main characters (Octavian is forced to let Paulla die, Mya's mom abruptly dies and she goes through depression, Oliver’s dad walks out on the family).

Octavian's fate at the end is this: he accidentally jumped through the portal before the universe he wanted to go to fully formed. Because of this, he jumped into the in-between point of universes, and was split into an infinite amount of versions of himself. Sounds complicated, but is incredibly messed up.

Mya was seriously considering leaving her own timeline, even though she would be leaving her family and friends behind. Whether or not she knew this is unknown, but if she did... kinda messed up.

And… that's it. No more dark things that stick out to me after that. Probably because after this, they fired the writer who was responsible for most of the dark undertones in the franchise. OOPS!!! >:(

I think the darkest stuff comes from Monster Carnival, Survival, and the graphic novels.

[hearts4youz]

The Captains Daughter- Chapter 18

A/N: Thank you all for readinggg!! this one took awhile to come out so thank you for being patient with me :D

Word count: 1.3k

Taglist: @abbiesxox @n30n-j3lly @weird-katthing @kayoyamamegame @kroowonderemporium @astro-ghoul99 @darkravenqueen98 @gaylilangelbaby @yuunnnaaaa

Ghost's pov It's been a few days… I have not spoken to Y/N once. I feel terrible as she spends less time with me. Occasionally offering a sad, guilt filled smile in the mess hall or at meetings. I haven't shown up for training in days, I wonder if she still waits for me at the gym. I hate to say it but I miss her. Even though I feel so bitter and cranky this time of year. I've never felt this for anyone. Being around Y/N makes me feel good. It makes this job feel less like a job. It sounds cliche but it's true. This morning, I find myself walking to where Y/N and I usually train. I straighten my shoulders and put on a serious face as I walk in. I expect Y/N to not be there, but Instead I am greeted with the sight of her pretty face breaking into surprise as I enter. I try my best to keep my eyes void of emotion, although I want nothing more than to hold her and whisper apologies into her ear. "Good morning Lieutenant," she says respectfully as she stands at attention. My gaze softens. "Y/N…" "About the other day, I shouldn't have yelled at you. I just…" I can't believe I'm about to tell her this "I don't know how to deal with this… your kindness." She looks up at me questioningly. "The guys don't usually question my behavior because that's just how dude's are, but you… You're changing me Y/N." I pause "I really enjoy your company, you don't piss me off… well, not as much as other people I guess," I smirk. She giggles. "I want to be a better person, I don't like how people are scared of me," I sigh as I finish. "Can I give you some advice?" She asks. "Mhm" "This might not make sense to you, but I think you should save Ghost for the battlefield and just be Simon for everyone else," "I don't follow," I say, confused. "Well, when I think of Ghost, I think of you in a fight. The huge guy with the skull mask and a gun. But Simon, Simon is you when you let loose. I haven't seen it much, but I like that version of you a lot better." I nod. "Okay… I think I get it." She changes the subject, "So, what do you have planned for training today?" "Hm, I think that's more of Ghost's thing, I'm Simon today," She beams at me with that radiant smile of hers, "You mean it?" "Yeah, It's time for a change," I say solemnly. Her and I walk out of the gym and into the hallway surrounded with a comfortable silence. We walk past the mess hall and break area and I notice something unusual. "What are they setting up over there?" I ask. "Oh, It's New Year's Eve so everyone who's off duty tonight is going to throw a party," She says softly, knowing the holiday topic is still sensitive. I surprise her with my answer, "Ah, I see… are you going?" "I guess so… why not?" We continue to walk in silence for a few moments. "You know… I think i'm going to go as well," I say finally. Her head tilts to the side and she raises her eyebrows, "Really!?" "…You know you don't have to go just because I suggested that you come out of your shell more often. I don't want you to get too overwhelmed." "I want to go, I should be getting out of my comfort zone more often." Y/N purses her lips, seemingly contemplating it. "Good, i'm glad," she smiles.

-Timeskip-

That night, I stood with Gaz and Soap having a beer while scanning the room for Y/N. "I wonder who Ghost could be looking for," Gaz joked to Soap, who snickered in response. I only rolled my eyes and looked down at my half empty drink. "Y'know LT, i'm glad you came, this is nice," Soap confesses. "It is, I like this more laid back you," Gaz agrees. "You can thank Y/N, she inspired it," I tell them. "Psht, of course she did." "You could get some action tonight… if you play your cards right," Soap says leaning in closer and lowering his voice. "Wha- I'm not… she wouldn't…" I sputter out, rapid fire. "Not like that, get ya head out the gutter!" I blush and chuckle. "What is it then?" "The captains on duty tonight, he won't be here to supervise his daughter, you could make a move," Soap shrugs. I bite my lower lip, realizing that this is the perfect opportunity to confess to Y/N "But, what if she rejects me, I still have to be able to look her in the eye in the morning," "Oh, for fucks sake! would you take a risk for once? live a little?" Gaz says, shaking his head. "Hey, I've never done this before! i'm nervous," I try defending myself. "LT's nervous? Ha! that's a first," Soap blurts, clapping me on the back. I ignore the rest of their gibes because I notice Y/N entering the room. Time seems to slow as she makes her way towards us in a sparkly silver mini dress. I feel my cheeks heat up beneath the mask as she flashes her signature smile when she sees us. I take in her hair and makeup, done to perfection. The heavenly scent of her perfume lingers in my nostrils when she stops and stands beside me. "Hey everyone," she says casually. I find myself lost in her beauty as she joins in the conversation, but as the night goes on, our group splits off. Gaz and Soap mingle with other people, I try to stick next to Y/N and talk with her, but she gets whisked off by someone every five minutes it seems like. Eventually I get overwhelmed, stepping outside and pressing my back up against the cold stone building. I fish around in my pocket for my cigs and a lighter. I put one in my mouth and thumb the lighter until I get it lit. I exhale deeply and watch my cold breath swirl up and away with the smoke. Maybe this was a bad idea after all… I think to myself. I watch the twinkling stars shift in the sky for awhile, It seems to calm my nerves. That, or the nicotine. I hear the sliding door open and close and peer at the person out of the corner of my eye. "Simon…?" the voice says. Y/N "Yeah, It's me," I gesture to her with my cigarette. "Is everything alright, I've been looking for you," she says softly. "Yeah… it's just a lot to take in I guess." "The party?" "The party, the people, the mindless, drunken talk." "Yeah, I get it." I turn to face her and she still looks beautiful as ever, her mascara smudged slightly onto her upper eyelid. Lipstick worn off, the remnants of it staining the glass of the drink in her hand. Her breath has a slight tinge of alcohol to it as she speaks. I notice the redness in her face, I can't help but think it could be me for a moment but then I look down at her. "Ah shit, you don't even have a coat on… here, take mine," I insist. "No, it's alright… I just got out here. Besides, wouldn't you be cold." "Just take it," I say, holding it out to her. "My father only taught me a few things that were worth a shit, being a gentleman is one of them." She reluctantly takes the jacket and slings it over her shoulders, thanking me. The heavy fabrics envelop her frame, her legs are still exposed. I have half a mind to bring her inside but then she starts talking. "Happy new year," she says quietly. I check my phone and see that it is indeed past midnight. "Happy new year, Y/N."

[pushing500]

Can we see mechis full base please?

You most certainly can! Mechi put so much effort into it (or rather, Wire and Megabyte the constructoids have) that it would be a shame not to show it off.

Behold, the colony tour of Sparks!

Here's a quick overview of the whole base as it stands currently. Nice and simple with room for one colonist and nobody else.

(putting the rest under here so it's not clogging up people's dash)

Here's the Void Monolith, well-lit and surrounded by chain link fences... Just in case.

We have a cemetery outside the main wall, which came from a prefab that some traders sold us. Mechi added the flowers and grass, just as a show of respect for the dead. He doesn't hate dead people as much as everyone else, I assume, since they don't try to talk to him.

There's our containment facility with platforms for Ms Clarabelle the sightstealer, Susskind the ghoul, and Kitschy Flamingo the fingerspike. They are very well-behaved, and Mechi seems to enjoy studying them.

To the right is the hospital, with one bed, because only one person will ever need to use it (that's Mechi). Anyone else can make do with the "guest room," which we'll get to in a bit.

At the back of the hospital is the shelter where Cowgirl and Georgia, our tw wildebeest, sleep at night.

On the other side of the containment facility is our lovely picnic area and fountain, next to the psychic ritual spot in a suitably spooky countryside hedge-box.

Then we have a killbox, which has only recently been constructed. It seems to work well enough so far, but it hasn't really seen much action. I suppose we'll find out in time, though.

We have a power grid of solar panels and wind turbines overlooking our farm, with lots of nice plants to keep us sustained. The farm is tended by Astro, Mechi's agrihand mech.

Mechi likes sitting on the verandah to drink coffee sometimes, but it's nothing too fancy. We have a ground-penetrating scanner set up, but not much time to actually scan for stuff. I think we've found a fossil deposit since we set it up, but that's all.

The kitchen/dining in Sparks is pretty barebones. The most important part is the coffee machine, everything else is just sort of there.

Mechi has a lovely bedroom and a private bathroom, with a comfy cat tree for Charlotte and plenty of things to keep him entertained when he's not researching.

There's a crowded storeroom beside Mechi's bedroom, and outside is the stonecutting bench and the spot where Butter the boomalope sleeps alongside Belle and Mariana the sheep.

Mechi's research lab/robotics workshop/library is full of things to look at and workbenches to play with. It's his most-frequented room in the colony, I think.

The "guest room" we mentioned earlier, which has stuff needed for people to survive comfortably as long as they get frequent deliveries of nutrient paste. The top half of the room will eventually be home to our ripscanners and the like once we've defeated enough mech bosses to get to that stage.

And finally, the "temple", which is just a hastily cobbled room to make Mechi stop griping that he didn't have one. He's got a neural supercharger (which he uses every day) and a biosculptor pod (which he never uses) and that seems to have appeased him for now.

And there you have it! The colony at Sparks, home to one snappy mechanitor, a lot of robots, and the few pets that are allowed to stay without being shipped off to Arwell the first chance we get 😁

[that-starry-freak]

Welcome!!!!

Hello!!! I'm Echo, or Starry I don't mind! I am just a silly little guy here on Tumblr thinking about my silly guys and studying them! Don't mind me!

I have a side blog for my current main hyperfixation, for now being my Tsams side blog! Go check that out if you are interested in my Tsams content: @dont-hug-me-im-hyperfixating

DISCLAIMER: not all my art is Tsams/tsbs!! I draw a lot of Fnaf sb dca things, and ship Sun x Moon outside of the tsams fandom! I do not ship incest, and any of the ships you see will never be in the context of them being siblings!

Tags and Aus vvv

My Tags!

#art - this may be shocking, but its my art

#traditional art - my art, but its ~traditional~

#Astro Rants - chat I yap a lot

#oc stuff - its in the title hon

My Aus! (Needs to be updated and changed but I dont wanna)

Dca/fnaf

Mind over Matter au: You've known about fazbear ever since you were 3. You grew up with it, and started working there pretty early on. Now you're moving to their newest location, The Mega Pizzaplex. But you have ulterior motives, and you arnt just there to be a security guard.

You're told to stay out of the daycare, but you've never really cared about what Fazbear tells you to do. You meet the daycare attendant, and when the lights turn off, you have to think quick on your feet. But you end up taming and saving the viruses Moon, and start to slowly get closer to the prickly Sun. While slowly working on your own, personal and more important mission (left vague because I hope to write this story, so I'll keep the twist a suprise <3)

Tag - #MoM au

Rockstars and Romance: In a world with soulmate marks, its unsurprising that everyone wants to know what the back of your's looks like. You however wear a pair of gloves to hide the marks, not needing people claiming to be your soulmate. But when your manager Mr. Emily says you'll be working with Sun and Moon, two robot rockstars that work under the same manager as your rival Vanny, you begin to have sneaking suspicions of who they're for.

Sun and Moon were never made to be rockstars, they were created for the circus. But when fazbear decides to rebrand, they were the only robots that were spruced up and forced to sing. They enjoy it for the most part, but marks began showing up on their hands. They paint over them, but every time they wake up, it's there again. They can tell one set is supposed to be each other, the sun and moon marks were obvious, but the two red stars were not so much. They assume they were meant to represent their dead ex, but when they meet Red, they begin to have other theories.

Tag - #Rsr au

Companion: Sun was always very, very stressed. So they made him a companion: Moon. Thats it, that's the au.

Tag - #cau

Sams

The Dying Sun's Protostar au: When Eclipse (v2) died, the star wasn't destroyed with him. So Moon brought it back to his universe and hid it. Things went on as normal, and soon they forgot about it. But when Solar died, Moon was desperate to get him back. He attempted to use magic to use his lingering energy and revive him, but it didn't work. Instead, the star absorbed his eccense and became sentient. Leaving Moon, and the rest of the celestial family, to raise a small powerful semi-animatronic child named Star. Also Moon changed his name to Nexus to distinguish himself from Old Moon, not wanting to keep being compared to someone who he wasnt.

Tag - #tdsp au

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Relocation au: Eclipse (v4) secretly went to a universe with a lord Eclipse with the help of Spanard, convincing his Servant Sun to go against him and steal the star. He brought his family back, and they all thanked Eclipse. He went there every once and awhile, because it felt nice to have people care about him. Sure, Earth in his universe did, but that was about it. But when Nexus went insane trying to bring Solar back, he succeeded in killing his family. All but Eclipse. He attempted to go after him, but Eclipse ran to the universe he had helped before, bringing Spanard with him, now living with the ex servant Sun's family.

Tag - #relo au

Cotl

Rather than a Widow au: The Lamb didnt remember his own name at this point, so used to being called "The Lamb". They were so stressed with the cult at this point, but there was one good thing: they were married to Narinder, their God. However, when Narinder betrayed the Lamb and asked them to die permanently for his release, they refused. They fought, and the Lamb won. They let him live, but they're divorced. The Lamb is exhausted now, tired of their stupid cult members and their ex now living in their cult. Narinder is still in love with them, but The Lamb really doesn't want to marry him again. Guess we've got a lovers to enemies to lovers slowburn

Tag - #RtaW au

[justmochi]

nursery

pairing :: eden x evelyn

word count :: 2.1k

synopsis :: eden decides to surprise evelyn by renovating evangeline's nursery.

time :: december 24, 2023

warnings :: just some feel good fluff!

a/n :: eden goes full HDTV!!!

taglist :: @cafemilk-tea @cixrosie @moonlight-additions @cosmicwintr @astraw-astro @ateezjuliet @fromfreesia @succulentmom @kimhyejin3108 @enhacolor @multiplums @alixnsuperstxr @meginthebuilding2727 @kang-ulzzang @hybesunstone @allthings-fandoms @itzy-eve @choihaneul @strmiu @angie-x3 @Kaitieskidmore1 @evaalopezzzz

Evelyn was four days out from having Evangeline. It was two days before they were released from the hospital. Now, everyone was working to fit into their new routine with a newborn in the house.

She doesn’t know how her husband did it, but he managed to convince Eden to move into the guest bedroom. The girl never wanted to intrude or be a bother to them, so Evelyn didn’t press any further. There was still a little bit of insecurity lingering in the back of Eden’s mind when it came to her brother in law. He was too desperate, knowing how good of a support system she was for both him and her. They would need all the help they could get.

Another night with very little sleep, Eden woke up with an agenda for the day. As soon as the sunlight started to peek in through the windows, she showered and dressed comfortably. Both Noah and Evelyn had been occupied with the baby ever since they came home and she wanted to do something nice for the both of them.

The nursery had never been properly complete, not having known their baby’s gender. They may have gone a bit overboard when picking things out for the room. Eden knew they probably wouldn’t use it too often but she still felt like making everything look cute.

Heading to the closet, she started with the clothes. She picked out the baby blue clothes and set them aside. She decided that blue items would be in the bottom drawer in case they ever needed it. She came across socks, her heart aching from how tiny and adorable they were. She rolled up the clothes, making them fit into the two bottom drawers of the dresser. Eden didn’t realize just how many clothes this child had.

Eden had assisted her sister in making a board of baby decor and organization, so she had an idea of what she wanted to do.

“Hey kiddo, whatcha doing?” Eden snapped her head to see Noah in the doorway, leaning against the door with his mug of coffee.. She exhaled, getting off her bottom and standing up.

“I was feeling restless and wanted to help finish the nursery, since we know she’s a she now.” She swiped her forehead of the hairs in her face.

“Really? You didn’t have to do that. We were gonna get around to it eventually.”

“No, it’s okay. I wanted to surprise you both but…”

“I can pretend I never saw anything.” He rubbed his eyes, soon squinting them.

“Actually, I could use your help. Do you know where all the baby supplies are? I wanna organize the rolling cart.”

Even though he was visibly worn out, he was still smiling and wanted to offer all he could. “We have it all in the garage. I can bring you everything you need.”

“Of course. Just don’t let Ev see you.”

“They’re both out, but it won’t be too long before we have to feed her again.”

He managed to quietly grab all the supplies to the nursery, watching Eden sort everything out with each trip he made.

“Thank you. Try not to let her come in here, tell her I’m sleeping in or something.” They both spoke softly to each other.

“Gotcha. Just message me if you need anything else.”

Eden nodded, watching him shut the door behind him before getting to work. She put in one ear phone, playing some of her relaxing music as she unwrapped everything. She was surprised to see storage dividers in the bags. Noah actually brought in everything.

The top drawer was divided into sections, starting with diapers, then creams, wipes, pacifiers, and a whole bunch of other stuff that she didn’t know the purpose for. She stored extra diapers, wipes, swaddles, and blankets into the rolling cart. The dresser and cart was done and she was excited to move on to actually implementing the color pink into the room.

She opened the closet, surprised to see even more stuff that was bought for the baby. She reached for a random bag, noticing the separate pink and blue flowers designed for the mobile. She started by hanging up the pink roses, giving it a good spin and smiling to herself. She was relieved to find most of what she needed was already in the closet, folded on a shelf. She removed the tiny mattress from the crib, fitting on a baby pink sheet and placing it back where it belonged. She placed the Krunk plush in the corner, folding the soft blankets with him as well. She hung the pale blush curtains on a rod, feeling the sun beam into the room.

It was almost noon and she had been at work for three hours. She moved closest to the door, getting a good view of the entire room. It looked very cozy, but something was still missing.

Eden snuck downstairs, making it to the foyer before her sister caught her.

“Where are you going?” She looked saddened.

“I just have a few things to pick up at the dorms. Want me to bring back some food?” It wasn’t entirely a lie.

“Oh yes please!”

Eden never imagined she would find herself in the crafts store, but here she was, venturing each aisle to find anything that would seem fit to decorate a nursery with. She didn’t find much, at least not what her sister would like. She did find pink 3D butterflies to scatter across the wall.

She texted Noah before she left the parking lot, telling him to distract her with the takeout while she took her items upstairs to finish later.

Eden first brought in the takeout rice cakes, watching Evelyn practically drool over them. She headed back out to the car, sneaking upstairs and hiding the bag in the closet. She rushed back down as if she didn’t do anything, joining the two to eat as her sister rocked Evangeline in her arm. She was amazed by how well she multitasked.

Shortly after Evelyn finished feeding Evangeline again, her and her baby started dozing off. Eden gestured Noah into the kitchen so they wouldn’t wake the two girls.

“I’m almost done. Wanna help me add the finishing touches?” She whispered, folding her hands together at her chest.

He didn’t waste a breath, following Eden upstairs. She pushed the nursery door open and watched as his face lit up.

“You…you did all of this?” His eyes were wide as he toured the room, pulling the dresser drawers out and back in. “This is amazing.”

“Do you think she will like it?” She asked, unsure of herself. She may have gotten too into it, forgetting whose child she was actually decorating for.

“She’s gonna love it. I love it. Thank you, Eden.” He rubbed the exhaustion from his face with his hands, opening up his arms to her.

“Don’t mention it.” She hugged him, patting his back before letting go. “I got these butterflies. And some blossom petals. I thought they would be cute on that wall.” She pointed with a smile.

The two scattered the butterflies and petals across one wall. It really brought everything together, and even Eden was proud of her work. If being an idol didn’t work out for her, she would want to be a renovator.

“Eva will be waking up soon. After she gets fed, do you want to show her?” He looked towards her.

“Yep.” Eden put her hands on her hips, noting his nickname for his daughter. “We make a great team, don’t you think?”

He nodded, raising his hand. She gave him a high five before he started gathering up everything that needed to be thrown away.

“I’ll be down. I want to take a few pictures.”

He nodded, giving the room one last nod of approval before shutting the door behind him.

Eden studied the room, making sure everything was perfect and adjusting anything that threw her off. She took her phone out of her pocket, snapping pictures that she’d eventually send to the girls and Seokmin when she finally laid down. She felt pretty accomplished, needing to see her sister’s reaction right away.

She came down the stairs, seeing Evelyn fitting a small baby hat on Evangeline's head. Noah looked like he had just sat down, not getting comfortable too soon.

Eden plopped down across from them, tucking her legs under her and smiling. “How’s she doing?”

Evelyn held her, tucking her hairs under the hat before kissing her forehead. “She’s just the best baby ever. She’s just so perfect.”

Eden and Noah shared looks, her sister taking obvious note. “What? Why are you looking at each other like that?”

“Oh nothing. We just have a surprise for you.” Eden smiled.

“More like Eden has a surprise.” He rolled his eyes.

“What did you do?” She stared her sister down like she was scheming something evil.

“Just a little something.”

“I swear to god if you spent money–”

“Don’t you want to see it?” Eden pushed herself off the sofa, crossing her arms.

“Of course I want to see it. What is it?” She looked back and forth between the two.

Noah stood up, holding his hand out. She was alert, taking his hand as he helped her up. She winced a bit, currently feeling the after effects of childbirth as the medicine wore off. She cradled Evangeline to her chest as he kept a steady hand on her elbow and back.

Eden led the way upstairs, taking each step slow as Evelyn waddled her way behind her.She reached the top, holding her hand out just in case she needed it.

“What is it? You two are scaring me.”

Noah led her to the door of the nursery, noticing the letter E that had not been there before.

“Shut up.” Evelyn snapped her neck towards her sister, making sure not to disturb Evangeline.

“Surprise!” Eden reached for the doorknob, twisting it and pushing it open.

Evelyn covered her mouth with her free hand, taking slow steps inside the room. She gasped as her eyes went wide, studying each and every detail that Eden had put into rearranging the nursery that morning.

“Oh my god.”

“Do you like it?” Eden leaned against the doorframe, watching them go over everything.

She was quiet for a second, worrying Eden until she turned around to face her. Tears were actively falling down her cheeks, trying not to cry.

“Do I like it? I love it…” She sniffed, bringing the sleeve of her sweater to her eyes. Noah rubbed circles on her back as he smiled. “You did all of this?”

“Well, most of it. I figured if I was going to be staying here that I should make myself useful.”

Evelyn pouted, running her fingers across the wood of the crib, in awe of the butterflies scattered across the wall. “Eden…”

She couldn’t keep her own tears at bay when she said her name. She watched her slowly circle, eyeing as many things as she could. She reached for the dresser drawers, pulling each of them out and finally letting the sobs escape. “Eden.”

“Don’t cry! At least not while saying my name.”

“I don’t know what to say… I love it! Thank you so much.” Evelyn waddled like a penguin to her sister, giving her a half hug with Evangeline in her other arm. “Eden…It’s perfect.”

“You’re welcome.” Eden wiped her sister's tears before looking down at Evangeline. She looked perfectly content with her pacifier.

Evelyn stretched down to press a kiss to her daughter's forehead. “Don’t you just have the best aunt ever? You are so loved.”

To everyone’s surprise, Evangeline began to murmur, as if in agreement to what Evelyn said.

“Isn’t she precious?” Evelyn cried, looking up with tears coating her lashes.

Eden nodded, tucking her hair behind her ear as she leaned down to get a closer look at the baby. “And you’re the best niece ever.”

Her eyes squinted as she began to smile, squirming in her moms arms.

“You two are gonna be best friends.” Noah spoke from behind, smirking to himself.

Evelyn kissed her forehead once more, offering her to Noah. “Why don’t you go to daddy?” Eden did not miss the wink she threw in her direction.

She locked arms with her sister, squeezing as they both watched the scene unfold. Noah made goofy faces to Evangeline as he supported the back of her head. He nuzzled his nose against her cheek before he ever realized what was going on. Evelyn snorted, trying her best to hold back her laugh when the foul odor finally hit him.

“Sweetie…” He whined to Evelyn.

“Honey…It’s your turn to change her now.”

Eden quickly plugged her nose with her fingers, hiding her face in her sisters shoulder as they both laughed at him.

[lilypatchkins]

Negai no Astro Chapter 5 Thoughts

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT

First off Kuran was a little hysterical to me, first noodle arms and then innocently asking Terasu if Hibaru’s Astro is actually just a strong right arm.

He has quickly become such a lovable character. His design was already amazing, and then we find out he’s a really strong fighter and a really nice guy. He set up a whole security team for Ikebukuro basically. And now we find out that Kou’s older brother was his best friend and he takes care of him on his behalf.

Side note: Im really not sure about Kuran and whether he has an Astro or not. At first I didn’t think so because he wasn’t shown as one of the ones to receive it. Also, he didn’t seem like the type to have some sort of strong wish, but now that we know his story with Kou I’m sure he has a strong wish to protect him. I really hope he does purely because I want him to be more plot relevant.

Anyways speaking of Kou, this chapter did make me think a little better of him. Yes, he’s acting like an arrogant brat but the context of his brother makes his behavior more understandable. He was probably very young when he lost Botan, and from his perspective, he lost his dear brother to a random kid. Not to drag other series into this but it really reminded me of Kota from my hero academia. He probably also felt like that by choosing to be a hero, his brother was choosing strangers over him. So instead, he chose to walk the opposite path (probably also to protect himself from getting hurt like that again too).

Hibaru did have a point though when he reprimanded Kou for not appreciating Kuran who took care of him for all those years.

It does make me wonder if Kuran has ever like, talked to Kou about any of this, or if he just let Kou kind of do whatever he wanted while making sure he was safe from a distance.

Also, rereading the fight, I don’t think Kou actually wanted to kill Hibaru. At the very least, I don’t think he has the guts to actually do it. Otherwise, why yell at the guy to beg for his life and lecture him to be smarter? “Don’t die for a stupid cause like my brother, be smart, focus on yourself.” It makes me think Kou has mixed feelings towards Hibaru. He’s already admitted that Hibaru reminds him of Botan, and I theorized that Kou, despite what he says, did love his brother. It’s like he doesn’t want Hibaru to live the way his brother did because he doesn’t want to see someone else die over what he thinks is a stupid cause. That implies that to some degree, Kou does care about Hibaru? Or at the very least, doesn’t want to see a repeat of Botan.

Now as for Hibaru’s view of Kou, it’s very obvious that he and Terasu do not think highly of him. They think he’s a leech and I believe it’s been stated that he was the weakest in the family. But it’s also clear that they never knew about Kou and Kuran’s backstory until now, so I hope Hibaru and Kou can eventually become allies. Also because while I’m sure Kuran would not mind helping Hibaru, he won’t abandon Kou. Though at the same time, considering the type of person Hibaru is, I understand why he’s so mad at Kou. I know Hibaru says, “I won’t finish you off outta respect for Kuran!” But again I don’t think he would’ve really killed him either way. I think he just wanted to lecture Kou about loyalty and family.

It’ll be interesting to see how Kou reacts! He seems very stubborn so I don’t see him easily admitting to losing, but surely something is going to give right? (also because I really want Kuran to join them but he won’t leave Kou behind).

[khaylin27]

World Series: Astros vs Phillies

Part 3 of DODGERS V.S. PHILLIES BABY!!!

Pairing: Miles Teller x Fem!Reader

Chapter Summary: After Glen Powell commented on your post you guys set up a date to go watch the first game of the World Series at the Astros Stadium.

Warnings: JUST FLUFF Y'ALL

Word Count: 1436

A/N: BEFORE Y'ALL COME AT ME, I respect Miles and Keleigh's relationship and marriage. THEY ARE RELATIONSHIP GOALS!!!! I wanted to write this because I love Miles and baseball. If you feel this isn't for you, please don't read it.

A/N 2: PLEASE DON'T COME AT ME FOR PUTTING GLEN WITH THE ASTROS!! I ABSOLUTELY HATE THE ASTROS BECAUSE THEY'RE CHEATERS AND THEY'RE TRASH!! The only reason why I put Glen with the Astros was that he's from Texas.

A/N 3: ALSO PLEASE DON'T COME AT ME FOR PUTTING @eternalsams as Glen's girlfriend. I respect Glen and Gigi's relationship. THEY ARE RELATIONSHIP GOALS!!! I wanted to put @eternalsams as Glen's girlfriend because THEY LOVE GLEN!!! If you feel like this isn't for you, please don't read it.

A/N 4: HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY @eternalsams 🥳🎉 this chapter is dedicated to you 😉🫶 Everyone please comment a happy birthday for them 🥹

Notification: @glenpowell Oh it's on at the World Series!

"Hey, Babe. Guess who just commented on my post?" You look at Miles and show him your post.

"GLEN FREAKING POWELL. THAT SON OF A GUN!!" You laugh a little at Miles's reaction. "We should go watch it with him. Let's FaceTime to see if he's awake."

As Miles gets his phone from his nightside table, he opens his phone and goes through his contacts, and finds Glen Powell. He then clicks on FaceTime and waits for him to answer. "Hopefully he answers-"

"MR MILES TELLER!!! How are you, buddy? What's the reason you're calling me at this hour?" Glen says with his famous smile. He knows exactly why he's calling him.

"Doing good. I saw that you commented on my lady's Instagram post." He looks at you and then looks at Glen. "So do you want to watch the first game of the World Series together?"

"Yeah, I would love to. It could be a double date with my girl too." He gets up from where he was sitting at then goes to find his girl. "Hey, Sam. What are you going?"

Glen sees Sam finishing cleaning the dishes when he finds her. "I just finished cleaning. What's up?" He then faces the phone to them and they see Miles and Y/N on the screen. "Hi Miles. Hi Y/N. Long time no see!"

Y/N takes Miles's phone to go talk to Sam. "Hi, Sam! I know. We haven't seen each other in so long. How are you?"

"I’m doing good. Just finished cleaning. How are you guys? Why are you guys calling at this hour?” Sam asks them. With Glen in Texas and you guys in Philadelphia, the time difference was 1 hour.

“We’re doing good, just got back from the Phillies game. I posted a photo of me and Miles at the game on Instagram and Glen decided to comment on that post. So we were wondering if you guys want to watch the 1st game of the World Series?” Y/N explains to Sam why they’re calling at this hour.

Sam looks at Glen and he gives them a smirk. “Well I have nothing going on next week. It’s usually Glen’s schedule that’s difficult to make plans.” Sam explains to the couple on FaceTime.

“Let me go email my assistant and see if I have anything scheduled this week.” Glen gives Sam the phone so he can email his assistant on the computer.

“Who’s playing at the World Series this year? Sorry I don’t really know baseball” Sam asks Y/N as she sits on the couch.

“Astros vs Phillies. The first game is in Texas so we’re going to have a mini vacation over there for the weekend.” Y/N tells Sam the plan.

“That’s nice. You guys deserve it.” As Sam says that Glen walks in and sits next to them. “So what did your assistant say?”

“She said I’m not busy that day so that’s perfect.” Glen says happily.

“Yay. I’m so excited.” Y/N says until she yawns. “Sorry I’m just tired.”

“It’s okay. We should let you go. You’ve had a long night at the game.” Sam says as they see you yawn more.

“Well goodnight guys. See you when the Astros win at the game.” Glen says with his famous smirk.

Miles laughs when Glen says that, “Haha you wish. See you when the Phillies win.”

After they say goodbye, you and Miles go to sleep.

A Week Later

It’s been a week since you guys FaceTimed Glen and Sam. You guys texted each other during the week and said to meet each other at the stadium.

You and Miles arrive at the stadium in your limousine. Miles was wearing his all-out Phillies outfit while you wore a simple outfit with a Phillies hat. You may love your boyfriend but the only Phillies you are going to wear is your hat.

“Are you ready sugar?” Miles asks you.

“Ready as I’ll ever be Hot Stuff.” You kiss Miles and he opens the door and gets out of the car first. He gets out of the car, takes your hand and leads you out of the car and into the stadium.

“You okay sugar?” He says while you walk to your seats. You nod yes as you guys walk to you find your seats.

As you find your seats you see Glen and Sam. Glen was wearing an all-Texan outfit while Sam was wearing a simple outfit.

“Hey y’all!” Glen says as he gets up and hugs you guys. After you hug him you guys hug Sam. “So glad we get to spend time together.”

“I know,” Miles says to Glen as he helps you sit right next to Sam.

“How are you doing Sam?” You ask them.

“Doing good. There’s a lot of people here.” Sam says to Y/N.

“Oh yeah there’s always a lot of people especially during the World Series. But that’s the normal at Dodgers Stadium.” You laugh a little when you mention the Dodgers. “I never imagined myself wearing a Phillies hat one day.”

“I don’t know much about baseball except what you post on Instagram about the Dodgers," Sam tells Y/N.

While you and Sam were talking you hear Glen say something about girls liking sports to Miles. "You know guys like girls who like sports."

"That's true. That's why I fell in love with Y/N at the wedding we went to. She was watching the Dodgers vs Angels game." Miles tells Glen why how he fell in love with you.

Y/N butts her head into the conversation. "I'm surprised you remember that Hot Stuff considering you were drunk and was dancing to Single Ladies."

"I remember a tiny bit from that night but I knew you were the one when you went to a Phillies game with me the next day." He smiles at you and then looks back at Glen. "I agree with you Glen."

"Are you kidding me?"

Glen looks at Sam who just said that. "They do Sam."

"Guys think they like girls who like sports but they actually like is a girl in a very tight sports jersey serving them wings and getting the terminology wrong. Guys like girls who like guys who like sports. That's why I love you, Glen." Sam tells Glen and the couple.

"That's also true too," Glen smirks at Sam. "Love you, Sam." He then gives them a kiss.

FIRST ANNOUNCER: WELCOME TO THE FIRST GAME OF THE WORLD SERIES, EVERYONE!!! THE TEAMS WE HAVE TONIGHT ARE PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES *the Phillies fans cheer* AND THE HOUSTON ASTROS *the Astros fans cheer*

SECOND ANNOUNCER: We have some special celebrity guests in the stadium tonight. MILES TELLER AND GLEN POWELL FROM TOP GUN MAVERICK!!! *the crowd cheers and Danger Zone plays in the stadium*

The stadium cameras point to Glen and Miles and they stand up. A staff member goes to where they’re sitting at and gives them microphones.

“Hey y’all who’s ready for the Astros to win!!!” Glen speaks through the microphone. The whole crowd of Astros fans start cheering.

“Nah this can’t be happening. Who’s ready for the Phillies to win!!!” Miles says through the microphone and the section of Phillies fans start cheering. They were louder than the Astros fans.

“It sounds to me that the Phillies fans are louder than the Astros.” Y/N says to Miles and he smiles at you.

Glen and Miles looks at each and then say this together. “Who’s ready to play ball!?”

Tenth Inning

It was the tenth inning, the Phillies and Astros were tied 5-5. You guys were nervous until J.T. Realmuto capped off the comeback win in the 10th inning. All the Phillies fans including you and Miles were cheering; Glen however wasn’t.

Sam was hugging him as he was eating his Dip in Dots in sadness. Sam may not know how big this was to him but they knew their comfort was needed right now.

“It’s okay Glen. There’s always the next game.” Glen looks at Sam and gives them a smile.

“Hey, are you guys doing good?” Miles asks once the crowd started to die down and was leaving.

“Doing okay. Let’s get out of here and go eat?" Glen asks the group and they say yes.

After leaving the stadium you guys go to a classic Texas barbecue restaurant and had the best time of your life.

Y/N's Instagram Post dump

A/N: Hope y'all like this chapter. Please comment happy birthday to @eternalsams 🥹 they are the reason why this story is here today 🫶

Here's to be added to the taglist

Taglist:(crossed out means I couldn't tag you) @eternalsams @angiem219 @mizzysx @xlynnx07 @withakindheartx @lethalbeautiful @atarmychick007 @shanimallina87 @adoringsebstan @mak-32

[demonfox38]

Completed: Final Fantasy III (Pixel Remaster)

You know what? Yeah, it was.

Most of the time, when I start these evaluations, I go through what lead me to playing the game. It usually falls under the category of "life is complicated; played a video game to cope." This evaluation's edition is…uniquely spicy, in that regard. And by spicy, I mean soppy. You see, my parents have been living with me for several weeks as a result of a flood wiping out half of their house and town, as well as most of the vehicles. (The verdict's still out on whether or not my dad's Astro van will come back to life.) I also lost my car in the flood, as I was there when it hit. Luckily, no creature died! But, it's been a rough recovery period. Lots of mud-slopped possessions to wash—if they can be recovered at all.

So, I went from a house of 2 dogs, 1 human to 4 dogs, 3 humans, and 1 bird. "Life is complicated."

Not to say my summer was completely ruined! I was able to visit @jeannettegray for a few days, so that was a good reprieve! It's just mostly been me putting in my 40 hours at work, then putting in an additional 8-16 while I either babysit animals or clean possessions. When I haven't been working, I've mostly been sitting around with my parents, watching whatever they put on TV. 15+ year old sitcoms, crafting videos, and corpse shows, baby.

I finally reached the point where I didn't care if they were snooping on me while I was on the computer or a game console. I had to do something to keep myself sane while yet another re-run spooled itself out. My first attempt to get back to my 12 games beaten goal for this year was actually with a mushy-graphiced version of "Final Fantasy VI" that is no longer available on Steam for purchase. That lasted all of 5 minutes due to poor input mapping issues with the game. "Fine," I thought. "There's a deal on a Pixel Master set for 1-6. I would play at least half of these again."

And then I pivoted to "Final Fantasy III." The other "Final Fantasy III." The actual "Final Fantasy III."

Coping happened!

Now, it's never fun to acknowledge when you're a stereotype. But, on occasion, one must come clean. I am one of those insufferable bastards who is much more likely to play pre-"Final Fantasy VII" games and claim them to be among my favorites of the series. Like, I'm pro "Final Fantasy II" and willing to run a new "Final Fantasy I" file at any time. That kind of bastard. Having said that, I actually haven't been able to play an iteration of "Final Fantasy III" before! It was one of those games that got locked in Japan, only having a release in terms of a Nintendo DS remake in the late 2000s.

Could I have hunted down a fan translation of this game? Sure. It is nice to have this game handed over on a platter, though. Especially, such a well-polished platter!

"Final Fantasy III" focuses on the story of four dink-ass orphans who drop into a hole and accidentally get jobs from a hidden magic crystal. They are then tasked with defending the other crystals, fixing elements from going out of whack, and eventually stuffing encroaching darkness back into the void from whence it came. Ya know. Your average "Final Fantasy" experience.

While the plot feels a lot like "Final Fantasy 1 2.0," the interesting portions of it come more from the beat-to-beat moments. Like, discovering that the land you are on is actually a floating continent being propelled by ancient machinery, for one. Finding out the world is flooded and almost every living being is turned to stone? Woof. That was a punch in the gut. So was the bit in Saronia, when you have the misfortune of being shot down and dragged into its town-wide civil war. From a 30,000-foot elevation, yeah, this game can look average. But, you do miss out on some cool looking critters from that high up. You definitely don't see into the cave depths that this runs, either!

Coming to this game so late, I imagine a lot of people are going to be thrown by how simple the game itself really is. There is a job system here, so veterans of "Final Fantasy V" may expect some value in multi-classing and maxing out experience in as many jobs as possible. Honestly? There's not a lot of reason to do that. You have options, sure. But, it's more about sticking to your guns and maxing out your job level to get the most value out of the class as possible. If you miss out on grinding out Bards and Evokers, well…are you really missing that much? Just stick to what you like, and problems will work themselves out.

The game does try to force players into shifting roles around, depending on what's going on at the time. I don't think you really have to force a player to carry a White Mage in the party, but the game does throttle progress until you use one to shrink characters or transform them into toads. Similar attempts are made to force the Scholar, Thief, Black Mage, and Dark Knight classes, although some can be worked around with the right toolset (or just a stubborn "don't give a damn" attitude.)

Additionally, the game enjoys being a little shithead about hidden passageways. You'd better get used to looking for cracks in the walls and pushing yourself through gaps. First, for better items. Then, to actually beat the game! If you have a shred of Metroidvania skills, it's not the worst to deal with. It does require some level of concentration, though. Maybe slowing down and not being on mach speed 24/7.

Speaking of which—the "Pixel Remaster" version of "Final Fantasy III" may be the easiest version of this game released to date. Particularly, with its speed modifiers, experience multipliers, and even the ability to just. Turn the monster encounters off. Like, okay! I know what speed runners are abusing for this one! Additional fun features include the ability to switch between music types and plopping filters on to make your computer look more like an old CRT television set. Which, hey. I'm crusty enough to put the original music back on, but that filter might be a bit too much.

You tell me.

It's very clear that a lot of people put hard work into this game. Like, if the several studios listed at the end weren't evidence enough. But, yes. Someone clearly put work into shining these sprites up. At first, I was wondering if they were for some WonderSwan remake that never made it to the United States. But, these seem to be new for the release itself. That, and the rescored, live-recorded soundtrack that I immediately turned off in favor of old bleep-bloops.

I know. You'd think someone who had played flute and bassoon would have more respect for that sort of thing. It is a bit excessive for what I'm visually seeing, though. Nothing wrong in appreciating what's older, either!

About the only accessibility issue I noticed was some minor flashing with the game towards the latter half. (It wasn't too overwhelming, but it's better to mention it happening than not say anything at all.) Otherwise, hell. Between controls over monster spawning, EXP/gold multipliers, and a glut of language options, this is probably about the most accessible this game is ever going to get. Shit, it even has a tracker for seeing what treasures are available for you to pick up, as well as what hidden items you may have missed!

I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a better version of this game. I mean, sure, there's the DS remake if you wanted your characters to have character or whatever. (Although, frankly, I'm one of those insufferable bastards that is happier having their characters shut up, if the characters are just going to spend the next 30+ hours being mopey, whiny, or over-caffeinated.) But, honestly? This is what I wanted. Famicom base code and square waves. A gentle coat of paint. A few accessibility options to make treasure/monster/achievement hunting less of a pain in the ass. Excellent. The only design choice I would have made differently is somehow augmenting the palette for each sprite to match the default Onion Knight color of each character. Like, pink guy always having pink highlights or base colors, green for green, etc. But, hey. It's not like the original game was doing that, either.

Well, someone could have polished up the NPC following code, too. Poor stuttery little guys just can't keep up!

Individually, "Final Fantasy III" is currently around $18.00 USD on Steam. However, there is a bundle to get all "Pixel Remaster" games for a discount as well that you may wish to consider. I'd wait for it to dip under $60.00 USD if you wanted to go that route, as that bundle does tend to get discounted more often than not. But, if there's three of the games that you'd be into from that set, you might as well scoop them all up. I've certainly enjoyed them in rougher states than this!

Again, though. You're reading something written by a person that is pro-"Final Fantasy II" and indifferent to "VII." Someone who habitually and gleefully plays "Quest 64." My sense of "good" may be much different than yours.

I suppose we all cope differently, don't we?

[thatcartoonnetworkblog]

Cartoon Network Friday Spotlight: The Jetsons- “Rosey the Robot”

Fun fact- did you know that in the original primetime season of The Jetsons, Rosey and Astro not only never interacted with each other, but were never even featured in the same episode? It’s almost like their episodes were made individually, like the Lucky and Miranda episodes of Bonkers. I believe there’s a similar dichotomy between Fenton/Gizmoduck and Bubba Duck in the later episodes of DuckTales, which also introduced those characters individually and kept them largely separate.

I dunno, I find this stuff interesting, just as I find it interesting that while I think Rosey has the more fleshed-out personality, I prefer Astro to her. I guess I just really like dogs and don’t relate with sassy robot maids as much.

But her introduction (as well as the show’s introduction to the world) is as classic as the series gets. Here, Jane is overworked from her schedule of (pressing the buttons to) cook, clean and everything in between, so she takes her mother’s advice on trying out a robot maid for a one day free trial, since that’s all she can afford. George, who’s also tired of his button-pushing life, needs a raise to keep his family afloat as it is, and the only way it would be possible for him to attain it is to entertain Mr. Spacely well enough, who invites himself over for dinner for a nice home-cooked meal.

So yeah, it’s not a good look for George when he comes home and sees a maid that he’s not supposed to be able to afford at his pad, but he also discovers that not only is she quite useful, but his kids love her too. She even saves the day when he and Jane realize that they only have leftovers to work with.

From the beginning, you get a lot of mileage out of these characters. George Jetson sets himself out from Fred Flintstone right away with a more restrained temper and a self-deprecating attitude that contrasts greatly with Fred’s hot air. Jane’s also a little more lively than Wilma, even if she doesn’t stand herself up to George as much as Wilma does Fred, but to be fair, she seldom has to. And of course Judy and Elroy are fun right off the bat, while Spacely becomes nearly as well-defined as Mr. Slate does from the word go, with his relationship with George becoming nearly as vital to the series as the family’s dynamics.

And Rosey is a lot of fun, giving Jean Vander Pyl a chance to show off a little more of her range than Wilma usually allowed her to. Besides being quick-witted, Rosey is kind-hearted and can read a room quickly, knowing when to save retaliation for necessity. I’m sure you can imagine what’s going to happen to that pineapple upside down cake.

I’ve mentioned before that I don’t think The Jetsons is as good as The Flintstones, and that’s largely still true, but this is still as good as a family sitcom as you can find.

[burnwater13]

Din Djarin holding Grogu from concept art by Christian Alzmann. From the Mandalorian, Season 1, Episode 1, The Mandalorian. Calendar by DataWorks.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away Grogu and his dad decided to take a father and son vacation. Things were going pretty well and his mom was busy with his little brother and sister. They were just starting their training with the Brethren and that required everyone’s focus and time. Everyone except Grogu and Din Djarin that is. 

“Well, buddy, where do you want to go?”

Grogu laughed and replied, ‘Galaxy, far, far away.’

“I understand. Solus and T’ad are a bit of a handful.”

His dad laughed as they put their gear in the N-1.

“Fun but loud. Need ear plugs.”

“I just adjust my helmet settings. Don’t tell your mom.”

“Mom knows.”

Grogu smiled at his dad as they both hopped into the N-1. His mom was a lot of fun and she always knew what the two of them were up to. He was actually pretty happy about that. 

“That’s why she’s your mom. There’s no tricking her. So where do you want to go? Jakku? Takodana? Naboo?”

“Ilum. Kyber crystals for T’ad and Solus.”

“Okay buddy, let’s go to Ilum.”

They were up and off Tzura a short while after that and nothing unusual seemed to be on the horizon. Grogu was annoyed that the N-1 still didn’t have a civilized privy and his dad complained that ship still smelled like the dung worms Grogu had left in the snack pocket the last time they saw Peli Motto. That was pretty normal.

But as soon as they jumped to hyperspace, Grogu knew something weird had happened. Not just the normal form of hyperspace weird either, a unique, never been seen form of weird. He had seen purrgils. You know, space whales. This wasn’t a space whale thing. Instead of the normal dazzling white light of hyperspace it was like they had entered a pitch black tunnel. But how could you have a tunnel in space?

It didn’t matter, because when they popped out at the other end, there it was… a planetary system neither he or his dad expected to find. 

Grogu asked R5 about it and found that it wasn’t on any of the charts the astro-mech stored. Huh. How did that happen? They’d have to wait to figure that out because first that needed to work out if any of the planets the sensors detected had anything useful on them, like a inhabitants, or a repair shop, or a privy. Those dung worms were definitely out of season. 

“Looks like this system has eight, no nine planets, a couple of them are gas giants, a bunch of moons, and a pretty good asteroid belt. Why don’t you reach out with the Force and see which one we should visit?”

Wow. Din Djarin was taking this pretty well. Grogu supposed that the Mandalorian probably had this sort of thing happen when he was a bounty hunter. There were some people who would go anywhere to get away from a Mandalorian. 

Grogu did as his dad suggested and reached out with the Force and found that one of the planets had a substantial life force signature. 

“That one.” He pointed at the planetary chart the console displayed.

“Okay, let’s see. Lot of water on that planet. What about this other one?”

His dad had pointed to the fourth planet in the system. Uff. 

“Nope. Like Jakku, not as nice. Droids.”

Grogu hoped the explanation helped. The third planet was closer and he really wanted to use a privy. 

“Fine. Fine. Let’s go and see what we find.”

Grogu nodded his head and just waited to see what sort of place his dad would find to land the ship. No doubt someplace cold. The Mandalorian really seemed to like cold places and this planet appeared to have frozen over spots that seemed suspiciously like that ice ball moon they hard landed the old Razor Crest on.

“Buddy, I know you don’t like the cold anymore than I like the water. But we both like sand, so here. I think I’ve found a place where we’ll fit right in. Marina Del Rey. I haven’t been contacted by any planetary authority, so hopefully we won’t have any issues when we land.”

Grogu thought that was strange at the time, but he really only cared about one thing… well two. Where the heck would he find a privy and he was fresh out of snacks. He hoped there was someplace close by where they could get some food. Maybe some frogs? Or even some bone broth. Anything but dung worms. 

To be continued.

[boysplanetrecaps]

Recap of Boys Planet Episode 1 (Part 1)

It’s time for another giant MNET show! Are you excited, fellow Star Creator? Woo!

This is Boys Planet, also called Boys Planet 999 by random incorrect people, including me. And this thing you’re reading is a “watch along” guide/recap to the show. You can read it as you watch the show to get the behind the scenes dirt, or to keep track of who is who and what is going on, or after you watch, or whenever. I don’t spoil anything with respect to who gets kicked off, but I will help you connect the dots with respect to who is who. I’ll use helpful pictures and stuff, too.

All time stamps will correspond to the version on Viki. When I list ages, I’ll use international ages (Korean ages have historically always been 1 more than the way the rest of the world accounts ages). 

Who am I? 

An internet rando. I live somewhere in the United States and am over 21 years of age. I used to sing acapella and have a strong sense of pitch, but for dancing I just know what I like. I can read/understand a bit of Korean and a bit of Japanese as well, and can tell the difference between spoken Korean, Japanese, and Chinese, so at times I might be able to shed a little light as to what’s going on. When it comes to evaluating performances,  I’m not likely to be mean, and I try to understand what might be going on with people but I will be snarky and honest, especially about the editing. Cool? Cool! 🙂To the recap!

Feel free to skip past the drama-teaser to 1:25 for an earnest promise that the show’s producers have paid other people to watch them so that they can’t possibly cheat, before the show can begin and of course, immediately begin to cheat. Yay!

The show’s host, I’m sorry, “Star Master”, Hwang Minhyun, talks earnestly and dully about how there are stars in the sky and foreign members of kpop groups. Hilariously, he appears to be in a futuristic room looking out into a starry sky, perhaps aboard an orbiting space station with a really good gravity system in place. His desk, a cheap Ikea looking affair, is bedecked with a model of the main seating area for the show -- The Space Council Chambers  --  a name plate that says “Star Creator”, an unusually huge yellow desk lamp, and an old fashioned globe. This is the shit I live for. 

Minhyun is known for his appearance on Produce 101 Season 2 (aka, Broduce 101) as well as for being a popular member of both Wanna One and NU’EST. I’m more of a Baekho girl, but I like Minhyun just fine. There’s something about his face that I never, ever, ever recognize him when I see him, which I find is often the case for Korean “visuals.” He is nice looking, if a bit… personality free? But that could be the directing. 

Anyway, Minhyun gets up and pushes a button that says start…

And then we see a (computer generated) room which has been set aside to house a large…. gumball… machine... thing (that is computer generated). Large plastic balls fall from the two parts of the machine to meet in the center. None of this is necessary, or real, and I find that delightful. 

Minhyun tells us that now, we are all Star Creators and we’re going to make the next Kpop boy group that the world wants. You know, in case you’re not happy with A.C.E, Astro, Ateez, The Boys, BTS, Ciipher, CIX, Day6, DKZ, Drippin, Enhypen, E’last, Exo, FTIsland, GOT7, Golden Child, Highlight, IKON, JustB, Kingdom, Lucy, Monsta X, NCT, Oneus, ONF, OnlyoneOf, Pentagon, The Rose, Seventeen, SF9, SHINee, Stray Kids, TO1, Treasure, Trendz, TXT, TVXQ, Up10tion, Vav, Verivery, Victon, Vixx, WEi, Winner, Xdinary Heroes, Younite, or Z-Stars. But yes, we need more groups. Bring ‘em on. 

Minhyun goes on to talk about how there are two groups of trainees -- K group (Korean) and G group (Global), represented by blue and pink respectively, as well as two heavily mic’d flags. 

“Please vote for the boy shining brightest!” the shiny boys chant in unison.

You can vote for whoever you want, whether K or G, though the editors do strongly suggest you vote K, and the votes will again be weighted the way they were in GP999 -- ie, Korean votes will be weighted as 50% of the votes, and Global votes will be weighted as the other 50%. If you want to skip past the voting instructions, skip to 5:20. 

So, we look down at what looks kind of like one of those rolling-marble puzzles, 

but it turns out to be the hallway through which all the trainees have to walk on their way to the Space Council Chambers.

Lee Da Eul (18) and Lim Jun Seo (17) from 143 Entertainment,  the first to enter, are offered sparkly star stickers, and they decide to give themselves 1 star each, adding that they aren’t totally sure if they even deserve those one stars. Ok, politeness is sweet, but why go on this show if you don’t believe in your abilities? Anyway, these chosen two get to say “woah” and “eego buyo?” as the lights turn on loudly. They explore the Council seating, feel the soft seats for the top 9, then decide to sit in seats 4 and 5. (Later on, they’ll perform “Replay” by SHINee as their audition.) 

Next to enter are the trainees from Wakeone, who, we see in a flashback, had a pre-show meeting with their sunbae, Kim Chae Hyun from Kep1er, who did really well on GP999. Chaehyun encouraged them to be confident on the show, saying, “If someone is very good but has no confidence then there’s no charm to them.” The five Korean trainees from Wakeone gave themselves 7 stars each -- these are Kim Taerae, Park Hanbin, Lee Jung Hyun, Mun Junghyun, and Park Minseok. Their confidence spurs Lim Jun Seo to go move to seat 9. Wakeone’s maknae, Mun Jung Hyun (17), sits in the chair for #1. (Later on, these 5 will perform “The Real” by ATEEZ.)

From here there’s going to be a lot of fighting as to who gets to sit in that chair, and I’ll be honest, I don’t care that much. 

Next to enter is: Canada! One of the Wakeone trainees says “I would’ve never imagined someone from Canada” as the on-screen words say, “What will this Canadian trainee look like?” The combined impression from those two sentences is that people from Canada are unimaginably weird looking. Mun Jung Hyun wonders, “Will people with blonde hair and blue eyes show up?” Which, again, hilarious. Do they not know that Somi (IOI/soloist/future Star Master this season), Wendy from Red Velvet, Mark Lee from NCT, and a bunch of other k-idols are from Canada? Why do I know that, come to think of it? Why do I know that, and not where my keys are? 

Also, whenever Koreans talk about Canada, all I can think about is the k-drama, Goblin, in which they talk about “Canada” as if it is a single city with maybe two restaurants, and where it is always the beginning of autumn, encased in a gentle fluttering of orange maple leaves.

We meet Seok Matthew (20), who is independant, and has given himself three stars. He looks a tiny winy bit like Xiumin from Exo to me. In an interview, we can see that he speaks Korean reasonably well. His sister got him into dancing and now he really likes it, and he came to Korean to reach his dream. 

Then we meet Japanese trainee Takuto, born November of 2007, dressed for… boxing? He has boxing gloves hanging from a string around his neck and has a sweat band around his head. In his intro package, he speaks in sort of halting Korean -- hey, it’s a lot better than my own Korean -- and poses in power poses to show he’s a “manly man” (they translate it as “tough guy” but google translate says “manly man” and I think that’s funnier). 

An up close shot reveals he has actually stenciled “Takuto” in English letters on his cheek with blush. 

As the MNET editors mercilessly play the clip of him saying he’s a manly man ( “상 남… 상 남 자” /“Sang nam… sang namja…”) over and over and over again as if to teach us the proper pronunciation, Takuto looks around at the older bigger guys and makes a big heart over his head with his hands. All the other guys react by laughing and clapping, charmed. 

MNET obviously isn’t showing everyone who comes in, as eagle eyed viewer will spot additional trainees in the Space Council who were not shown entering, but hey, I mean, whatever, it’s MNET. This has been edited so much it’s basically fiction.

In comes Wumuti (23), who has such a unique look to him that I was curious as to his background. My internet roving tells me that he was also on the MNET show Under 19, and that he’s an ethnic Uyghur from China. I was like, ok, what is a Uyghur? Turns out they’re a sort of Turkish ethnic group but mostly they live in Northwest china, and oh…. It’s really sad and awful, guys. The Chinese government is doing things like work camps and forced sterilization and stuff to try to wipe them out. I can’t help but root for anyone who comes from a background like that. Also, his name written in Korean characters looks cute: 우무티. Later on he’ll perform UN Village by Baekhyun.

So, Wumuti comes in and we see he’s given himself 6 stars. He makes a beeline for Chair 1, where he loses Rock Paper Scissors. Come on, can’t the guy catch a break? 

Then we see a montage of trainees fighting for Chair 1, and again, I don’t care. They plank for it, thumb war, etc. Kum Jun Hyeon, 19, who has absolutely covered his nametag in stars to the point you can barely see even his name, is cheered on by his Redstart ENM labelmates as he nabs the chair. They have also gone completely HAM on those stars. (Later on, he’ll do Nunu Nana by Jessi.) I feel worse and worse for our initial two guys, giving themselves just one star. 

Apparently, MNET isn’t interested in spending time watching each trainee come in this time, and that’s possibly for the best, but it does make it a bit sketchy that we see certain trainees. 

For example, we meet the trainees from Taipei, who come in like this: 

Left to right, this is Chen Kuan Jui, Qiu Sheng Yang, Chen Ren You, and Dong Dong. Kuan Jui, holding that bejeweled stick, has given himself 5 stars, while the others have given themselves 2 or 3 each. Mun Jung Hyun and Kim Tae Rae wonder to each other, is that a magic staff? Like the kind that Sun Wukong carries? (Sun Wukong, aka the Monkey King, is a famous character from Chinese mythology.) (Later on they’ll do Tiger Inside by SuperM.)

Kuan Jui marches up to Chair 1 and does a full standing split that would actually put Le Sserafim’s Kazuha to shame

And thus, he earns the seat. 

I don’t know if the ability to put one’s ankle behind one’s neck is a something I need from a kpop idol. But I mean, good for him? I guess? 

In come the trainees from Jellyfish, and Lee Ye Dam reacts as if someone has splashed him in the face with cold water, which, given that this is MNET, is not impossible. Someone says, “no way!” which is very odd, because Jellyfish always sends trainees to shows like this. I mean, Mina and Sejong came out of PD 101. And it’s not as if Jellyfish is doing all that well. They squandered Sejong, they murdered Gugudan, and their most successful group is Verivery, who are very sweet, talented, and hardworking but not exactly smashing sales records. So yeah, not sure what Yedam is so excited about.

We get a bit of a slow-mo to take in what we might reasonably be excited about: sexy Park Gun Wook (18).

To be clear: I don’t personally find him sexy; he’s way too young to seem sexy to me personally. I’m saying that that is obviously what he’s going for. He gives off big time Kang Daniel vibes to me, not really in looks but in terms of what he’s aspiring to. He and his fellow Jellyfish trainees are tall and manly, and Gun Wook already may have a fan following since he did pretty well on another survival show called Wild Idol.  Gun Wook goes straight for Chair 1, and the other trainees comment on how muscular he is. He challenges the current seat sitter, a Japanese trainee named Riku, to a thigh wrestling game (??).  Poor Riku -- we didn’t see him take the seat, but we sure see him lose the seat.  

Time for an American trainee! I love that the Korean word for USA is “MiGuk” (or Bi-Goo, as it’s usually pronounced). Apparently it translates to Beautiful Country, which is so kind of them to say. I hope that the USA will do more things to earn that name going forward. 

Out come Jay and Na Kamden. Jay, lovey, there are already enough Jays in Kpop --you have to think of a different name. It seems like Jay strongly prefers speaking English, but understands some Korean, while Kamden understands Jay’s English but prefers to speak Korean. Kamden appeared on Wild Idol as well. 

Then we get a montage of tall global trainees, mostly Chinese. For people like me who don’t readily understand heights in cm, it’s good to know that 183 cm is 6 feet. So someone 188 cm is like, 6’2. 

We also meet Cong and Dang Hong Hai from Vietnam, who later on will perform View by SHINee. Hong Hai speaks Korean, even if it’s with a really thick accent. It has to be so hard for the global contestants. 

Then we meet the group from Osaka, Japan, and it turns out one of them is Keita, who the whole Space Council recognizes. He was on YG’s TreasureBox, the show that made the group Treasure, and then later on debuted with Ciipher. It’s not too weird he’d come on this show, as Ciipher is still, alas, in semi-nugu territory. 

Ah, here is Yuehua, who are sending in 4 Korean trainees and 4 Global trainees, each entering via their respective doorway, which is so charmingly unnecessary. The Korean trainees come out in all black, while the “global” team is a bit more colorful in faded denim. If you’re not familiar, Yuehua is a Chinese company with branches in Korea. They co-manage WJSN with Starship, and manage Everglow outright. They also manage new boy band Tempest. 

Anyway, then there’s a montage of the trainees finding each other handsome and saying they look like other famous people, capped off by the entrance of Sung Han Bin to the strains of tender piano music that presumably plays in his wake naturally due to his extreme handsomeness. 

Even I can tell that he is in fact, quite good looking in that classic kpop way. He looks like he should be with SM entertainment, but he’s from STUDIO GL1DE, which doesn’t bode well for his skills. A guy who looks like that who could do a nice step-touch and could at least carry a tune in a bucket would get picked up by a more prestigious agency. But maybe I’ll be proven wrong on that…. Hmmm…. 

Cube’s trainees are announced, and we’re treated to a brief montage of Cube’s top artists, including BtoB, Pentagon and G-Idle. The camera pauses for a moment on Hui from Pentagon as the group performs Shine. The trainees talk about how talented the Cube sunbaes are -- how talented would their hoobaes be? Out comes Bak Do Ha, looking like a figure skater. (Later on he’ll be performing My House by 2PM.) 

There’s still one more empty chair, and the Space Council wonders: what agency could sending the last trainee? It turns out it’s also… Cube?!? Bak Do Ha smiles and laughs to himself as the other trainees are wondering why this last trainee is being announced last and separately. They all immediately recognize him as Hui-sunbaenim from Pentagon, a group that debuted in 2016, has had some serious ups and some serious downs, and won a bunch of music shows as recently as a few months ago. This 29-year-old man who has already done his military service bows to the 15 year olds and introduces himself as Lee Hoe Taek from Cube, politely saying “I look forward to working with you.” 

Guys. GUYS. I have a lot of feelings about Hui from Pentagon being on this show. I could talk endlessly about it, but the upshot is: negative. I have negative feelings about this. When Pentagon went on Kingdom, they actually kind of… fell in my esteem. Hui seemed so sad, like the group was just so sad, and Hui was pushing so hard to make his song remixes cool that he forgot to make them… pleasant to listen to, or fun to see performed. I think Hui is a genuine, top-tier talent when it comes to songwriting, producing, and singing. I love a lot of Pentagon songs, including ones people don’t talk about but should, like Can You Feel It and Sha La La. I am still angry that E-Dawn got kicked out over being a human being with a love life, and angry that it hurt Pentagon a lot, and heartbroken that a lot of that probably landed on Hui’s head.I get it that he’s doing this to get people to notice Pentagon. After all, their contracts are up in 2023, and no doubt they’ll want to leave that awful agency. Maybe they’ll pull a GOT7 and all leave together and stay together. So I get it that he wants to promote. But the thing is, I don’t believe that “all publicity is good publicity.” I think having people feel sorry for you will make them not feel impressed by you, or attracted to you, and I think that will hurt you. I think this was a big mistake and it makes me feel second-hand-humiliation. I hope I’m wrong. Sincerely, I do. 

Anyway, this award winning songwriter and top-tier vocalist has rated himself 3 stars. Thinking about it, that was kind of the only move he could make -- he has to pretend to have a reason to be on the show, and that reason can only be to “work on myself and continue to improve to be the best Lee Hoe Taek I can be”, or something along those lines. To be Hui and give himself 4 (or more) stars would feel like an NBA star who came to dunk on a bunch of high school kids. 

We cut to his first interview with the staff, in which he said that he had only gotten discharged from the military a week ago and feels shy in front of the camera. We get a brief montage of trainees saying they’re not sure why he’s here, some of them seeming a little irritated. Others say that it’s a honor to be on the same show with Hui. 

Hui decides to challenge the current number-1 chair sitter (16 year old Park Ji Hoo, who says “I just got here!”) to a contest to win the chair, and bowing deeply and speaking politely, says he’d like to have a singing contest. Of course. He lets out a delightful musical phrase, and Ji Hoo stands there listening, then scurries away without singing a note. 

There’s something so poignant about Ji Hoo saying, “I just got here” to Hui. He just got here in the show, he just got here in this industry -- he just got here on this PLANET compared to Hui. And here comes Hui to take the chair. I like Hui, I do, I just…. Ugh. 

Ollie, who is representing China but seems quite comfortable speaking English, notices that the two sides of the room are really different, with K-group mostly wearing suits or leather, and G-group more varied and colorful. Yes, that is obvious. Can we have another season of Youth With You that doesn’t end with a milk scandal, please? Anyway… 

Interestingly, Ollie can also speak a decently pronounced, if slightly halting, Korean in his interview. Zhang Hao can also speak a bit of Korean -- it sounds to me like he has a Chinese accent on his Korean, but it’s not like I would really know. But they’re both Yuehua trainees and it wouldn’t surprise me if their agency gave them intensive Korean language training. Love that. It’s really smart of Yuehua, and so truly helpful to their trainees. 

0:23:00  The Judges Come Out

The room darkens and the trainees watch a short video about how they’re on Boys Planet now and are trying to become shining stars or whatever the shit. Turns out this year, there will be multiple hosts, and the viewers will be called Star Creators. The boys are nervous in general and in specific. 

Time to meet the vocal master: Lee Seok Hoon. The trainees recognize him, and while they clearly respect him, they’re scared of him after his time on Produce101. He’s known for turning his head to the side and looking disgusted when someone hits a sour note, or for nodding appreciatively with his eyebrows raised when someone hits a good note.

Solji is the female vocal master and their enthusiasm seems bigger -- it’s Solji from Exid! Who doesn’t love her? Wrong people, that’s who. A trainee says that she’s been teaching at a University, and like, I hope so. I just want Solji’s life to be full of respect and comfort. She just seems like such a class act. I bet she’s an excellent teacher. And then Onestar comes out, who we might recognize from GP999. The trainees cheer for him and he makes them cheer more. 

Then the rap master: pH-1 from H1ghr music, who introduces himself in rapid English. Several of the trainees claim to be big fans. I’ll be honest and say I’ve never heard of him. And I actually do listen to some k-rap. Per Wikipedia, he was born in Korea but moved to New York when he was 12. I guess he chose English as the lingua franca, but in that case, talk more slowly, dude. Anyway. Wikipedia adds,  “As the three keywords he pursues in his music are truth, positivity, and experience, his work contains positive or honest messages, generally excluding references to drugs, money bragging and excessive "flexing", and explicit sexual content.” So, look forward to that. Or not. I don’t know what you’re into. 

Dance Masters: From 1Million, Back Koo Young and Choi Young Joon. Look I don’t know much about much but I *do* know that 1Million is top tier when it comes to dance. So these guys are good. The trainees are psyched to see them. Also, Lip J, who is “the living legend of waacking.” The trainees say their judges/trainers are like the Avengers. 

The judges immediately move into intimidation mode. It’s time to find out how the trainees rated themselves, star wise. The Korean group was more confident, overall. 

What’s sort of interesting about this is that during GP999, the Chinese girls were far more confident than the Korean girls. That’s because Chinese culture isn’t as self-effacing as Korean culture is, in general. Kind of interesting, too, that they had the boys do this, but not the girls. With the girls it would have been such a mine field because it’s “unfeminine” to have faith in yourself. Anyway. 

Japanese trainee Haruto interviews, in Korean, “Only a maximum of four stars were allowed, but almost everyone did whatever they wanted.” Yep.

The judges explain that their first performance will be the “Style Level Test”, during which their self-assessed star levels will be replaced by judge-assessed stars. Also, we learn that K-group and G-group are being pitted against each other; the team that wins more stars overall will get access to the next song that they have to practice a day earlier. Kind of cruel -- my assumption, without having seen the whole episode, is that the K-group will win, and the G-group will be at a further disadvantage, having one day fewer to practice and needing even more time due to language barriers. Why do I watch these shows? Am I mentally well?  

Auditions Begin: 0:32:58

Finally, we get our first audition -- Team Jellyfish, who gave themselves all 4 stars. The trainees are suitably cowed; after all, Kim Dayeon from Kep1er is from Jellyfish. Kim Gyu Vin (who is a serious talent in his own right, and will later on perform Kick It) calls Park Gun Wook “Park Gun-Wook -nim” even though, as he notes, Gyu Vin is actually a bit older than Gun Wook. It’s just that Gun Wook looks so big and mature. Little boxer Takuto met team Jellyfish backstage and backed away from them as if scared, his hands in a fig leaf position, and they encouraged him to come closer and were nice to him and called him cute. Gun Wook is the leader, the all rounder, and is also apparently pretty nice. See? Kang Daniel vibes? 

They’re going to be performing GBTB (Go Beyond the Barrier) by their sunbaes, Verivery.  One of the dance masters actually choreographed this, but the boys seem confident to perform it in front of the choreographer. Fighting!

Left to right: Jang Yeo Jun, Park Hyun Been, Han Yu Seop, Park Gun Woo 

My thoughts:

I’ll be honest, this is my first time hearing this song, and I’m ok not hearing it again after this. Just sort of… like what if you took all the NCT songs and threw them in a blender with an electric guitar? Sorry, VERRER. I still think Verivery are very cute and charming and my bias is Dongheon.

As for the performance: I have not a ton to say, because it was fine. All four of them did fine dance wise. Gun Wook stood out with his charisma and his big nice face. (I know the Korean ideal is small faces, but I like big faces.) I think Jang Yeo Jun danced a little bit better than the others, doing those weird leg kicks a little bit better, and Park Hyun Been rapped really fast and pretty well. Their singing was on key, too. I think Han Yu Seop was the main vocalist, but I actually think his singing was among the weakest -- there were times that I couldn’t even hear him sing. But they were dancing really hard. So for an audition for one of these shows, he was ok. 

They ask GunWook to dance by himself, and he chooses a song by Seventeen. The dance masters warn him that it’s hard, but he’s unbothered. He has good charisma, great facial expressions, and sharp movements. As far as I can tell, he’s good. 

The judges give them all the same score -- 3 stars ⭐⭐⭐ . They took away a star because the boys didn’t sing loud enough. The boys do their best to accept their fate. 

WakeOne doing Glitch Mode. 

The team comes out in a choo choo train formation -- sorry for that extremely technical term --  then introduce themselves (and I’ll tell you a little more): 

Super Charming Anthonny! (He’s almost 19, from Japan, and got all A’s on Produce 101 Japan) 

Refreshing energy Min! (He’s 22, from Thailand, and also went on Under Nineteen)

Powerful Dance Haruto! (He’s 18, from Japan, specializes in dance, and went semi-viral for complaining that his profile picture didn’t look like him, even tho it kinda does….)

After they introduce themselves, Haruto asks if they can have a moment to check their formation -- basically, they want to rehearse on stage during the audition? The judges let them, sighing about kids today, but everyone is mildly impressed that these foreigners are talking to each other in Korean. Min’s profile says he speaks Thai, Korean, Chinese, and English, but not Japanese, so maybe that’s why they’ve settled on Korean to talk to each other -- plus it looks better to the judges that they know enough Korean to communicate. 

My thoughts: 

I have to note that Glitch Mode is the kind of song I’m a bit over. I really like Cherry Bomb and Firetruck and even got on board with Kick It but this sort of shouting-in-unison, wandering base line, jazzy-melodic-SM-bridge when the singers can sing… I just am a bit past it. Sorry, folks. (Update: But I do love Ayo, so who knows anymore?) So I don’t know this song super well. I listened to it twice before watching the performance trying to figure out what the melody is and kind of failed. So. There’s that. 

This was a really cute performance, though. I watched the full version on youtube before I watched the show version. All three of them danced well, with a lot of energy and great facial expressions. 

Haruto obviously stood out for dancing, doing aerials and backflips and splits. He rolled with the fact that his mic pack fell out of his pocket right at the beginning, and didn’t let it show on his face. But his singing was egregious. He’s not a singer, and this song is incredibly difficult to sing even when you’re standing still. Also, his rapping wasn’t too bad. 

Min did some high kicking and acrobatics as well, and his rapping was actually good. I won’t say his singing was good but it was on key as far as I could tell, which is an achievement. 

Anthonny was the vocalist of the team and as such didn’t do any flipping around, but he sang the best. Like I said, overall, pretty charming. I have a soft spot for Anthonny for no darn reason. He’s just a cutie. 

Interestingly, the version that aired on the show had most of the bad singing edited out. I think the show wanted Haruto to look better. The judges ask him about his dancing ability and he says he used to do ballet and proceeds to do a sort of crazy 30 consecutive ballet turns. Haruto is obviously a really good dancer, but so was Min, who also rapped well. And Haruto’s singing was very, very bad -- did I mention that? But they still gave him an All Star rating  ⭐ ⭐⭐⭐ , which strikes me as objectively incorrect. I like him, you guys. I do. He’s charming and cute and a great dancer. He didn't sing well in his audition. That isn’t an opinion; it’s a fact. I think maybe 2 or 3 stars would have been fairer. Or maybe Haruto sang a separate song and did a lot better in it, but we didn't see...?

Min and Anthonny both get 3 stars 3 stars ⭐⭐⭐ , though the show doesn’t care enough to bother to show it. 

Next up, at 49:00, is Team Taipei. I’ll put their photo back up so you don’t have to scroll back and forth.

Again, left to right, that’s Chen Kuan Jui, Qui Sheng Yang, Chen Ren You, and Dong Dong. 

The judges immediately ask about the big stick and he explains he needs it for performance. 

My thoughts:   They perform Tiger Inside by SuperM. As always, I checked out the Youtube version first, before I watched the MNET edited version. I like this song just fine, if you’re wondering. 

The flexible Chen Kuan Jui is 22. His online profile mentions he does ballet and that one of his hobbies is “stretching.” Yeah, that checks out. His dancing is very good -- little details like how he bends his fingers, stuff like that. You just know his toes are pointed inside those boots. That said, his vocal color is unpleasant, and his choice to retrieve and spin that dumb stick was…. You know…. A choice. A wrong choice, but a choice. Sorry if you liked it, but I found it really unimpressive. I’d rather just watch this talented dancer dance.

The blonde Qiu Sheng Yang is 21. He also was on Atom Boyz with Ren You, on the same team but eliminated much sooner than Ren You was. His performance here is not fabulous but not awful. He seemed uncomfortable to me, like he was overdancing a bit. 

The distinctive looking Chen Ren You is 19. His online profile states that he’s a singer; he was on a Taiwanese reality show called Atom Boyz that sounds like a frickin’ hoot, but doesn’t seem available in full with English subtitles, anywhere. Ren You has one of those faces -- like GunWook on this show, or Sehun from EXO, or that one guy from Drippin, Junho. Like a face that’s just like HI, I AM A FACE. I dig it, don’t get me wrong. Anyway, his performance was good. I thought his dancing was purposeful, but sort of calm, and his singing was really good. On key, on rhythm, pleasant, all that good stuff. I’m rooting for him.

The delightfully monikered Dong Dong is 22 and represents Stardust Entertainment. I’m old as shit but I am still apparently 12 years old on the inside because I can’t. He apparently was on a Chinese reality show called The Coming One 2. Anyway, he does fine, I guess. On key, dancing is decent, it’s not awful. Bring it on, bringenon, brigggedon! 

So yeah, I say Chen Kuan Jui was the best dancer in the group, and Renyou is the best singer in the group, but they were all basically ok. Of course, the MNET editing focuses almost entirely on the stupid stick, and Renyou’s excellent singing is edited out. They give Renyou 2 stars ⭐⭐ . Are we watching the same thing? Maybe his dancing was bad and I just can’t tell because I know nothing about dancing.  

The judges focus on flexy Chen Kuan Jui and give him time to dance, and of course, he’s genuinely a very very good ballet dancer. He can get up with his toes and flip around and do all sorts of crazy stuff. But I really dislike his singing voice and I don’t know, I find him off-putting for no good reason. That’s not fair of me, but yeah, it’s where I’m at. Regardless, the judges give him 4 stars.  ⭐⭐ ⭐⭐ We don’t see it, but Dong Dong gets 1 star  ⭐ and Sheng Yang gets 2 stars ⭐⭐ . 

Now we have a montage of G group groups: team Vietnam doing View, team Thailand doing Kokobop, and a Chinese group doing God’s Menu.  The editing here is brought to you by MNET’s editing team, shown here at their most recent staff meeting.

We barely see any of these teams, so I watched their full performances on Youtube and will let tell you about it! 

Team Kokobop:

A Thai duo who greet everyone with a sawadee ka. Zhang Hao from Yuehua (good looking guy with auburn hair -- we’ll meet him soon) tells Ricky from Yuehua (distinctive blonde guy, giving us Keifer Sutherland in Lost Boys vibes) that he wants to be friends with the Thai guys because he likes Thai food.

Winnie, from FirstOne Entertainment, claims his specialty is freestyle dance. He’s 24. I’ve seen his name spelled Winne, but more official sources spell it  Winnie. He’s a member of nugu group NINE.i -- two other members of that group are on the show, but they’re Korean, so we’ll meet them later. 

Nice is an individual trainee. He’s 22. He seems scared to look up or into camera lenses. 

My Thoughts:

They perform Kokobop, and I watched the whole performance on Youtube. I’m a huge EXO-L (my bias is ALL OF THEM) and I really love this song, so I know it well. Winnie was actually pretty decent, singing a really difficult song. He was a little sharp here and there but really not that bad. He also looked pretty comfortable and hit the dance moves reasonably well. I never know what the Korean public thinks looks good, but I think his styling isn’t working for him. He’s wearing way too much foundation, that shade of hair color doesn’t suit his skin, and his contact lenses just give him an unearthly, fake look. He looks better in some photos I’ve seen of him online, like this one: 

Winnie, I hope for good things for you going forward. 

Nice was terrible vocally; the dancing was ok but the vocals were unacceptable. He also looked really, really shy -- like he can’t even make eye contact with the camera. I think he is way out of his league, bless him. You’re very cute, Nice. I assume you’re rich or you wouldn’t be here, so I hope your personal wealth cushions the blow when you are rightfully kicked off. (Smash cut to Nice making the final line up because he’s cute….???)

MNET editing was pretty kind, honestly. Nice can only benefit by being edited down. He’s like the shark in Jaws -- looks great as long as you don’t see him for long. The judges give Nice 0 stars, and give Winnie 1 star ⭐ .

Next up is a G-group team: Team God’s Menu

Oh, these poor guys. They look good in their outfits, to be fair, but poor guys. Non-native speakers of Korean, trying to do this song? As someone said online, “Their souls probably left their bodies when they found out they had to do this song.” I’m trying to think of a group who could cover this song and do it justice. Monsta X probably could. And I mean, of course BTS could. Probably Hui or Jeon Soyeon could do a cool remix that would suit their own teams. Regardless, this is not an ideal song for a rookie group of non-native Korean speakers. 

I watched the whole performance on Youtube. I’m not obsessed with Stray Kids but I do like them (my bias is Changbin!), and I love love LOVE this song. Here’s my take: 

Xuan Hao also appeared on Youth With You 3, which I didn’t watch. He ended in 62nd place and apparently also uses the name “Swen.” He says on his initial profile worksheet that God’s Menu is his favorite song, and maybe that’s one of the reasons that he did a great job here. His dancing was sharp when it had to be sharp and fluid when it had to be fluid, and his singing was on key and on the beat. He’s a better singer than I.N. anyway. Yes I said it: I.N. is not a good singer. Come find me and kill me for it, I guess? That’s the kind of thing you should end a human life for, right? Anyway, I like Xuan Hao. 

Lin Shiyuan was apparently once a Cube trainee, but is now independent. He has the job of rapping Changbin’s intro rap. He doesn’t do very well. He very noticeably rushes the beat pretty much every time it’s his turn to vocalize in any way, maybe because he’s nervous, and his pronunciation is not great. He had definitely learned these complicated dance steps, but he wasn’t dancing them, just doing them. I could see the fear in his face, and when he wasn’t singing or rapping, you could almost see him counting the steps. When they were flipping the pancake, he didn’t look up to wait for it to come back down, which is 90% of the fun of that move. I can’t blame him and I’m not blaming him. Poor guy. 

Feng Junlan actually did pretty well. His rapping was on the beat and sounded good, and his dancing was precise. He looked up when they flipped the pancake -- it makes such a difference. If the judges have any sense that have to have noticed how well he did. 

When I tried to watch it to focus on Chen Liang, Feng Junlan kept stealing my attention. Liang did fine dance wise, as far as I could tell (but didn’t look up when they flipped the pancake!), but his vocals were very off key (if at least more or less on the beat). 

The judges are kind in their manner, but not generous with their stars. 

Xuan Hao gets 1 star ⭐ , which seems too low to me. 

Lin Shiyuan gets 1 star ⭐ , which must be for the dancing.

Feng Junlan gets 2 stars ⭐⭐ , which seems low to me, but I’m glad it’s not 1 or 0. 

Chen Liang gets 2 stars ⭐⭐ , which seems high to me. 

Team View - Vietnam

My thoughts:

Obviously, like any sane person, I love this song. 

Basically, none of their performance gets shown, but you guys, they were pretty good! Honestly, they sang on key and tried to keep their energy up and yeah, I don’t speak Korean but I know this song well and it didn’t sound awful. Check it out on Youtube and see for yourself -- compare their singing to that of Haruto’s and you’ll see what I mean. 

The judges give 22-year-old Cong just 1 star ⭐ , which is cruelly low, and give 19 year old Dang Hong Hai 2 stars ⭐⭐ , which is ok, I’m on the fence between 2 and 3 for him. But it’s like the judges are watching these auditions from Minhyun’s space station. And maybe… I don’t know… is there a little racism? Just a little bit? Against these two Vietnamese trainees? 

From what we can tell from the editing, the judges really dinged them for their pronunciation, as if that matters the most? As if the ability to sing on key isn’t, perhaps, more important? 

In an interview, Cong says, in Korean, that he practices Korean every day.  His pronunciation is pretty bad, though. You probably wouldn’t guess from hearing it that that was Korean, but if you listen closely you hear the Korean verb endings. It must be so hard for someone coming from a tonal language, like Vietnamese or Chinese, to learn a non-tonal language like Korean.  I think it’s much easier for Japanese speakers to speak Korean -- they’re totally different languages but have similar sounds in them. (To be technical: Japanese and Korean are not related at all, but they have similar phonemes, which are the basic sounds you make when you speak. Korean has additional vowel sounds that Japanese doesn’t have, and there are other small differences, but if you can pronounce one language it wouldn’t be too hard to learn to pronounce the other.) 

Then we get a mini montage about how much global trainees want to be kpop idols. Thai trainee Winnie says (in what sounds like very good Korean) that he wanted to be an idol since he was a kid. He turned down an opportunity with a very prestigious university, Chulalongkorn University (it’s the highest rated university in Thailand) in order to come to Korea and pursue this dream. -- in the audience,  Kim Ji Woong, a 24-year-old individual trainee we haven’t met yet but who I assume is handsome,* mutters, “Can I go to that school in your place?” which strikes me as… super sad. Like, there’s stuff going on here we don’t know but can kind of guess.

*I have to say things like “I assume this person is handsome” because my standards of handsome/not aren’t always the same as everyone else’s. For example, I think that Chen is the best looking member of Exo. I think all of these boys are nice looking, and some of them are cute or charming, etc, but I can’t always tell who is going to be the “visual King” or whatever for a given season. 

At 55:36, we see Qiu Sheng Yang (who we met earlier, in Tiger Inside), then his teammate, the flexible Chen Kuan Jui, then Osuke, a Japanese trainee we haven’t met (he’s going to do Crown), then Min, the Thai trainee who did Glitch Mode, all talking about how much they admire Korean pop music, all to the tender strains of gentle piano, and Koreans everywhere smile in satisfaction, I guess.  

And that’s enough for one post! Part II will be linked here. 

[ifuckinglovedinosaurssomuchjesus]

GODZILLA MOVIE MARATHON: Godzilla vs Gigan (1972)

We're really in the thick of it now, neck deep in the Champion series where budgets barely covered the catering bill, and god can you feel it.

The human element is laughably bad, another Goji movie to throw to the pile of forgettable plots meant just to be fast forwarded through. It's another alien invasion, directly meant to just rip off Invasion of Astro Monster, but this time the aliens don't even have cool costumes or flying saucers. It's like a sitcom, the entire movie takes place on, like, four sets. There's half a dozen aliens here attempting to take over the world, it's really not all that threatening or engaging. The whole movie has the energy of one of those cheap Hanna-Barbera cartoon episodes stretched to an hour. It's remarkably boring.

At least we get some good Kaiju scenes, right? Only if you like most of their runtime being stock footage with this horrible tint put over the top to try and make it look like night to match the original scenes. It's painful, genuinely.

The saving grace is our good man Gigan, though I argue most people know and love him from the next movie after this. Not only does he have a striking and unique design, but he has some great characterization, sadistically beating and taunting Godzilla and brutally slashing the good Kaiju to bits with bright red cartoon blood and everything.

It's also nice to see Anguirus again, this is the movie that turned him into "Godzilla's best buddy" that's a common characterization in the fandom. He even gets some good moments, like backwards slamming into Ghidorah with his spikes.

Speaking of Ghidorah, poor guy does not want to be here. If you cut out all the reused stock footage, Ghidorah literally does nothing but stand there. Mainly because the suit was so old and required so many people to move it that the budget didn't allow it to do much. Still, him just standing in the sidelines, refusing to help Gigan is hilarious. I love when Gigan tries to do a little claw slap but Ghidorah just ignores him and when they start arguing right in the middle of the fight. It all comes across as Gigan thinking they're closer friends than they actually are, it's genuinely funny.

So, this movie should sit around the same score as the others of its type right? Bad human plot but fun monster action usually comes out as mid, but I genuinely can't even give it that. The monster scenes in this movie are mostly boring too, they're so full of stock footage and awkwardly shot that I just ended up zoning out. The most fun I had while watching this movie was when my recliner fell over.

It's just bad, there's some good moments here and there but it's a tiny fraction of what's mainly a boring as tar experience. It gets a 3/10 from me, but luckily I don't think the series will reach a low this bad for at least a couple decades, so it's uphill from here.

[isntthatwrite]

Week of 9/16-9/22

Card for this week: Empress (reversed) - what contrast to last week's Emperor upright! the call for self care is loud as fuck. some might be "girlbossing too hard" these days. others may be doing the classic "take care of everyone else.... at your own expense". either way, you've had it. set aside a time for non-negotiable You time this week. let yourself recognize frustrations and when you might be picking yourself apart, honor those feelings and sit with them, and make that time for something "self indulgent" afterward. i'm feeling lots of old patterns re-emerging these days, things you thought you had moved past, and the resulting frustration that those can just reappear so nonchalantly. as annoying as this is, they are reappearing to be resolved! you will see how far you've come and how much you don't need to hold on to your old coping mechanisms or harsh ways of seeing yourself. you do not exist to simply take care of everyone else!

Transits/Astro forecast: hope everyone had a nice productive time last week! to put it simply, i am currently completing a free coursera course i bookmarked back in 2019. it was serious for me last week. this week shifts focus a bit toward past cycles we are ready to release and dream worlds we are looking to build. as we know- current rxs are chiron, saturn, uranus, neptune (topical this week!), pluto (back into capricorn One Last Time).

we have the lunar eclipse/full moon in pisces, lots of retrograde outer planet/sun contacts, and the start of libra season this week. Fall Has Arrived. i find it poetic how the autumnal equinox is always the start of libra season and one of the two days each year where the hours of daylight are exactly equal to the hours of night/darkness. balance. anyway, this week's motto is something like "why can't i do the thing i've been wanting to do?". notice all the ways you've subconsciously held yourself back. you're ready to let those go now. also, please let yourself rest this week when you're tired. this feels like it could get exhausting.

as for specifics-

tuesday 9/17 - lunar eclipse/full moon in pisces loosely conjunct neptune - could be some crazy dreams this week. so begins another eclipse season (until early october's solar eclipse). general vibe here is Lots of Feelings, rapid change, fated events. plot building moments. last eclipse featuring pisces was late february 2017, something going on back then could be coming back up now. neptune along with this piscean energy is likely to create distortions and emotional turbulence - let yourself ride the wave before coming to any big decisions. new chapters will emerge from what you'll be releasing this week, just give yourself time to process.

wednesday 9/18 - mercury opposite saturn rx - fight that inner critic!!!!!! you've worked really hard this year. and in life overall. you know the distortions are not truths and mistakes are allowed.

thursday 9/19 - sun trine uranus rx - the world loves your quirks and things you think you have to hide. that one person who insulted you in middle school doesn't know anything about you. come back!

friday 9/20 - sun opposite neptune rx - kinda crazy consistent energy here this week.... your haters are a social experiment. don't let confusions and deception sway you into believing you should be something you're not.

saturday 9/21 - mercury square jupiter rx and sun trine pluto rx - be inquisitive and curious this week. big Fuck Around and Find Out (affirmative) vibe. dare to ask the forbidden questions and receive answers you couldn't possibly have prepared for. shift your paradigm!

sunday 9/22 - sun enters libra/autumnal equinox, venus square pluto, venus enters scorpio - wowwww lots of shifting this whole week. libra and beauty/charm/grace enter the room first, then a whole bunch of plutonian energy comes in to get us thinking about what we realllly want. this is almost halfway between the eclipses as well, so many of us will be really feeling these Fated Events TM. deep relationship conversations/internal feelings emerging. this might be a day for that Self Love......

as i write this, there is a gorgeous grand trine between the moon, venus, and jupiter. beautiful, free flowing and loving energy after a lot of really self critical and harsher aspects lately. if i were one of the ig spirituality influencer girls, i'd call this "yummy" energy. this along with the Empress in reverse as the card of the week tells me there's such a need for unconditional self love this week. the kind of love you mentally reserve for a soulmate, the dedication and passion - give yourself some of that! going into libra season, remember that you are a major component in your partnerships, not an afterthought. love you, divas. you deserve the world.