#male dancers are great i just. it would work better

[babybluelove2]

the losers club as pretentious dance convention kids cause i just went to my last dance convention (at least with my studio, i am sure i will go to another one) (still :(((()

౨ৎbill is one of those stupid good contemporary dancers. always wearing baggy clothes, only ever dances in socks. he is friends with the ground to the point where like gravity does not pertain to him. weird contemporary solos but. not so far that hes straight up dancing to a recording of a person talking

౨ৎeddie is 100% a ballet dancer. his technique is to die for although he struggles to emote. what sucks is that he isnt your stereotypical male ballet dancer - his leaps are average height, hes flexible and has gorgeous lines, he despises pas de deux...the works. this however is a great combination for a convention dancer !

౨ৎstan pretends to be a ballet dancer...he is lying he is that kid who traveled around with a convention every weekend and is super versatile and performative but in that specific way that you can tell hes a convention kid. really his strength is weird contemporary, not the slide-y rolling around on the ground stuff like bill, the weird stuff. the you-are-a-bird, you-just-got-electrocuted-and-all-your-movement-is-intiated-from-your-neck (directly inspired by two combinations i learned this season) stuff. freak

౨ৎben is a lyrical dancer cmon! ben is so a lyrical dancer. he is the male lead in all of his studios intense sad romantic lyrical pieces cmonnnnnhhihjbnk babe can perform! he gets uncomfortable with the weird shit that stan likes; he doesnt love jazz or hip hop but like. hes good at it hes just not confident enough to fully sell it

౨ৎbev is a jazz girl, definitely gets into commercial work when she starts dancing professionally. she is most comfortable with commercial jazz funk, as opposed to the energetic triplette-little-kid-doing-molly-long-choreo-where-they-keep-doing-one-leg-over-and-over-again. she thinks the camera is fun, and the camera man loves her.

౨ৎi am going against my better judgement and making richie a hip hop dancer ik i am sorry i try to make richie as uncool as possible but. hes a hip hop dancer :/ annoyingly good musicality and movement quality. also just has fun; there is no way he takes it as seriously as like. eddie. his movement style also lends itself well to contemporary even though hes not super technical. figured out he could hold a handstand and is now on his hands whenever possible,,, deliberately changes the combo so he can do a little twirl on his hands

౨ৎmikey is a tapper! i love tap as a style but convention tap is either good or just complete dogshit because so many people skip the classes because they dont tap at their home studio. i know his tap shoes are cool asf definitely fun colored. is the perfect mix of style and performance and also technical tap ability. he can do the other stuff dont get me wrong but he always pulls through with a banger tap solo

[wendysimp]

Who’s better?

Lisa X LeeJung X Male Reader

Tags: Tease, threesome, blowjob, double blowjob, rough sex, face sitting, swallowing, deepthroat, daddy kink, Jealously, titfuck, doggystyle, pussy eating

(Third person POV)

Today was the day! Coachella weekend! Lisa was backstage along with the girls and her choreographer Y/n, which was someone that she had been dating for two and a half years.

They first met when Lisa was making the choreography for one of her solo dance performance that she would later post on her YouTube. It was getting a little difficult to think of the choreography but she was still trying her best to finish off the moves. As she kept going, Y/n was stopped when he noticed one of the practice rooms was open. That, was where he saw Lisa for the first time… in person. He stood there, watching her every move. He couldn’t help it but walked in and offered to help.

(A little flashback)

“Um, hello?” A voice was heard behind Lisa which made her jump.

“Ahhhh!” She shouts out and turns around fast with her fist up. To Y/n, it wasn’t intimidating… but cute.

“I’m sorry.” Y/n giggled as he puts his hands up.

“N-no you’re okay.” She replied softly putting her fists down. “W-What are you doing here?”

“Well, I just noticed you were stuck with the choreography of your dance you were practicing. I thought I’d come over and help you out. Sorry if I was interrupting.” He felt bad for barging in uninvited.

“No no no, you’re fine. So you dance?” She walked over to grab a bottle of water.

“Yeah, all my life.” Lisa also noticed his little accent when he speaks which she thought sounded cute.

“I love the accent. Australian right?” She asked, making Y/n chuckle and nod. “Can you please say water?” She jokingly asked and laughed.

Y/n rolled his eyes playfully. “Warduh.” He laughed. “Is that what you wanted to hear?”

“Yes!” She laughed as well. “Are you a staff here? I’ve never seen you around here before.” She asked curiously.

“I’m actually a choreographer. I started not too long ago and I’ve helped out some idols and groups with their comeback dances. I’m also a really big fan of you and the rest of the BlackPink girls, and I’m like trying not to freak out right now.” They both laugh. He then introduced himself and both talked more for a little bit.

“So, mind if I help out?”

“Yeah, of course! Thank you so much!” She smiles her beautiful smile which made Y/n blush a little.

“No problem, let’s get started. I think we should continue from where you left off. I think after this move, you should…”

(2 and a half hours later)

They were finally done. Done with the choreography thanks to Y/n for the help. They both worked really well together and the both of them noticed that.

Y/n grabs a bottle of water for them both and sit together, side by side on the floor.

“Thank you Y/n, I really appreciate your help. You really are a great dancer.” She compliments him. She couldn’t see it due to Y/n turning his face a little as he blushes.

He controls himself and looks back at her. “Thank you Lisa. We really make a great team when it comes to making up the choreography. You’re like the best dancer I’ve ever seen.” His eyes landed onto hers.

Lisa was the one to blush this time. She smiles at his words. “Y/n, would you wanna be my choreographer? I think it would be fun and I’d get to see you a lot more. Maybe even hang out?”

He smiles big. “I would love nothing more than that.” He says without hesitation.

They both look at each other in the eye, it felt like they were in puppet strings as they both leaned in and kiss each other. A nice and soft kiss.

After they pull away, Y/n opens his eyes slowly and slowly and looks at Lisa looking at him. He becomes nervous and gasps as he rushes up quickly.

“I-I am so sorry Lisa, I-I didn’t mean to do that.” In his head, he thought Lisa was uncomfortable with the kiss. “I-I’ll… m-maybe I’ll… okay see you around.” He runs out the room.

Lisa Laughs as she thought it was cute that he was acting this way after a kiss. A kiss that made her feel some type off way about him. She then gets up and packs up her things and finish up for the day.

Days become weeks. Y/n runs every time he sees Lisa in the YG building. But one day she catches him. Tells him to stop avoiding her anymore, that she wants to see him and hang out with him or else she would punch him in the face.

After telling him that, he nodded and apologised to her again. She tells him not to worry and smiles.

“Now come on, let me introduce you to my girls.” She says excitedly and drags him throughout the building.

This was the start of a friendship, that’ll later turn into something more.

(Flashback end)

“Baby?” Lisa calls out to her boyfriend.

“Yes?” He looked up from his phone. Lisa turns around, facing him with a smile.

“How do I look?”

Y/n looks up and down, head to toe as he bites his lips. “You look… sexy.” His comment made her blush and she goes over and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Thank you baby. You’re looking really sexy too.” She tells him.

“Ughh really?” The girls say as they witness the scene before them.

“Really? Here?” Rosie’s face says it all, meanwhile Jennie pretends to gag in disgust.

“You two kids should say things like that when the both of you are alone while we’re not here.” Jisoo sighed. She really is the mother in the group.

Lisa rolls her eyes Y/n just laughs before kissing her. A few minutes later, their changing room door opens and they all look over to see who it is.

Yep! None other than Leejung.

“Hey girls!” She greats all the members while giving them a hug. But once she got to Y/n, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kisses his cheek before looking up at him with a big smile. “Hi Y/n.”

Y/n and Leejung had been friends for a while. Even before he met Lisa. They’ve been dancing together around the world and had become very close friends.

Anyway, Lisa watches the way Leejung hugged Y/n. She felt something on the inside… jealousy? She watches them talk and laugh and rolls her eyes as she sits back down on her chair, facing away from them but still has a view of them through the mirror.

“Lisa? We’ll be outside before our performance. Have fun with Y/n… but not too much fun.” Jennie teases her which made Lisa blush hard.

“Shut up unnie! I’ll see you guys in a bit.” She tells them before they head outside the room. She continues to fix her makeup until she hears Y/n and Leejung’s conversation.

“So Y/n, let me show you a dance I’ve been practicing.” She hears Leejung.

“Sure let’s see it.” He goes over to her.

“I’m gonna need a partner for this though.”

“Well I’m here. Show me what you’ve got.” He says and waits for her to show her moves.

Lisa looks up after hearing that. She looks closely as she watches their move. Leejung turns around and backs up towards Y/n.

“Okay so you hold my hips like this—.” She guides his hands down to her hips.

“Okay just like that, what else?”

Lisa sees that and balls her fists and clenches her jaw. It was definitely jealously and anger rushing through her body but she stays silent.

“And then we both move like this—.” Leejung moves her hips around, basically right against Y/n’s body.

The view didn’t sit well with Lisa. She hits the table in front of her, breaking them apart. Y/n looks back at Lisa as she gets up and walks towards then without saying a word.

“Is everything okay baby?” He asked Lisa.

“Really?! Don’t you see what she’s doing?” Lisa looks up at him. The look she had on her face right now was something that Y/n was familiar with… she was obviously angry and upset about what she just saw. Of course Y/n doesn’t know until a few minutes later.

“Okay baby calm down, she was just showing me what she’s been practicing.” He tries to calm her down but pushes him off when he tries to hold her.

“No! Are you blind Y/n?! She’s clearly grinding her ass onto you.” She then glares over at her then faces Y/n once again.

“She was just showing me a move, nothing else.” Nothing was able to calm her down at this point.

“God Y/n, you’re so blind! Did you like the way her ass was rubbing against you?”

“W-What!? No! It isn’t like that—.”

“How about you keep your hands to yourself or your own man.” Lisa cuts him off, looking over at Leejung, glaring at her.

“First of all, I was just showing him a dance I’ve been practicing, and second, he probably did like my ass rubbing against him.” Leejung steps closer to her while Y/n makes sure to separate them.

“Leejung enough! Baby calm down—.”

“Oh I’m not gonna calm down! She thinks she can just try to steal my man in front of me.” This was a different side of Lisa that Y/n has never seen before.

“Oh please, he was mine way before he met you.” She smirked at her. Lisa looks over at Y/n and crosses her arms.

“Leejung, we were never together—.”

Again he was cut off. “And also, I remembered how big and deep Y/n was when he used to fuck me from behind.” She tries to get to Lisa which her plan was working.

“Oh so you fucked her before?!”

“W-what? No b-baby—.”

“Y/n cut the bullshit, we use to fuck a lot before.” Leejung exposes him.

Lisa raised her eyebrows at him making Y/n swallow a big chunk of his saliva and becomes nervous. “O-Okay, but it was only once.” Lisa was not buying it. “Okay maybe more but, it was before I met you, a-and we were only just friends. Nothing more—.”

“Who was better?” That question had instantly caught Y/n off guard.

“W-what?”

“You heard her. Who fucked you better? Was it me? Or that bitch over there?” Leejung moves closer to him, softly places her finger onto his bicep.

“Fuck you!” Lisa moves her hand away of her man as they continued to trade words back and forth. Y/n didn’t know what to do but keep them apart.

“Fine let’s both show him and ask him who was better. How’s that?” Leejung smirked.

“As if I’d let you touch my man!” She emphasised on the ‘My’ part.

“You scared he’d pick me?” She challenged.

She laughed sarcastically. “Oh yeah right. I bet he would huh? Don’t be surprised when he picks his girl.”

Y/n couldn’t believe what was going on. “W-What do they mean by that?” He asked himself in his head.

“Oh so do you agree we show him and find out?”

“I agree bitch! You’re on!”

(Y/n,s POV)

They both look at me. Of course I just stood there not knowing what to do or how to react. They just keep staring as they move in closer and—.

“Baby, clothes off now.” She said demandingly.

“W-what was that?” Am I dreaming?

“She said clothes off.” Leejung leans forehead while also licking her lips.

I’m kinda hoping this is real life. Anyway, so I do what I was told, slowly taking my clothes off one by one. As I was about to take off my boxers, they stopped me from doing so.

“Sit back and let me take off the last piece.” Lisa moves closer to me and traces her finger on my abs.

I sit back on the couch that was behind me. Looking at them both, I can’t lie, they both looked really….. sexy. I felt my cock slowly getting hard through my boxers and their eyes instantly laid onto my lower half of my body.

“Fuck Y/n, did you really miss me that much?” Leejung teases as she rubs my thigh up and down in a slow and seductive motion. I was getting chills. Chills running down my spine.

Lisa rolls her eyes and pushes her out of the way, trying to show her that I was hers and only hers.

“Nope he doesn’t. He’s got all he needs right here.” She grabs my crotch and squeezes it causing me to let out a soft moan and my cock throb in her hand. “Mmm baby, so hard and big because of me.” She looks back at Leejung then winks.

I could tell she didn’t want Lisa to have all my attention and moved her to the side a little. They both hold each side of my waistband on my boxers and slide them off. My cock sprung out and they lick their lips as if they were looking at the most delicious meal they’ve ever seen.

They both glare at each. “G-Girls? I don’t think this is a good idea—.” Once again I couldn’t even finish my sentence as felt both of their warm mouths wrapped around my tip.

I gripped the pillows that laid on the couch while feeling the sensation and pleasure I was getting on my cock below. I could feel their moans vibrating around my dick as they take turns sucking.

“Hmm, you’re not bad, but I do remember how much Y/n loves this.” I look down and see Leejung take her shirt and bra off making her beautiful and nicely shaped big tits drop out. My eyes shot instantly towards them. Fuck, it’s been so long since I’ve seen them.

Leejung licks her lips. “God I missed having your cock in between my tits. I bet you do too.” Her tits felt so warm as soon as it got wrapped in between them.

“F-Fuck! Y-Your tits… I-I missed fucking them.” Shit, I really said that in front of my girlfriend.

Next thing I know, Lisa gets behind Leejung and wrapped her arms around and holds her melons for her. “Then fuck them, like you miss them baby boy.” He words completely took me by surprise, but watching Lisa hold her tits while I fuck them? That was turning me on.

“Ahh shit!” I let out. Pleasure and lust was filling my body and they both knew what they’re doing was making me insane.

“Ugh, he’s too loud, we might get caught. Go shut your man up and sit on his face.” Leejung looks over her shoulder and towards Lisa. Leejung’s words made Lisa smile from ear to ear. She gets up while Leejung continues her amazing tit job on my cock.

“Baby boy, shut up and fucking eat this pussy you own.” Lisa removes her outfit completely and wastes no time sitting on my face. Another thing I love, Lisa sitting on my face. They way she tasted. All of that.

“Eat your girlfriend out.” I could hear the girl down below say and also feel her stroke my cock up and down before shoving me back into her mouth. I comply and had no problem eating my girl’s pussy out.

“Ahhh fuck baby! Right there! Right there— ahh fuck yesss!” Lisa’s moans were music to my ears. I wanted to hear more.

Her pussy wasn’t the only thing that made me feel like I was in my own world. It was Leejung’s mouth. I could feel myself hit the back of her throat while her moans vibrating around my cock that was covered with her saliva.

Lisa rides my face like there’s no tomorrow. She rides and rides then not too long after, her juices were all over me. I smile and clean her pussy up. “Leejung, let’s switch.” She bites her lip. And breathes heavily.

“I’ll show you the better way to ride his face.” She challenged as Lisa gets off my face. Watching them both was definitely turning me on.

“As if, my man knows I’m better than you anyway. And also, he might of enjoyed your little blowjob, but this is how he loves it.” I knew what she meant. I wanted to watch her work her magic with her warm and amazing mouth but was denied as Leejung kept me down with her ass and started to grind her wet pussy onto my face.

I heard and felt Lisa spit onto my tip and spreads her saliva all over my cock. I was moaning into Leejung’s pussy then felt my cock slap against Lisa’s face.

“See? He loves when I slap his big hard dick all over my face.” I hear her say to a moaning mess which was Leejung.

“F-fuck you— ahhh!!!” She couldn’t control herself.

I slap and grab onto Leejung’s ass as it felt like two big soft pillows.

“Mmm fuck Y/n!” I hear her giggled. “See that Lisa? The way he smacks my ass? Mmm f-fuck, he misses me so much I can tell.”

“Ugh” Lisa was getting frustrated. “He doesn’t miss you… not one bit you bitch.” She takes my length back into her mouth right after her words.

I still can’t believe what was going on. My best friend that I’ve known for a long time riding her pussy on my face, and my girlfriend working wonders on my cock.

“F-Fuck Y/n!!! You’re gonna make me cum!!!”

Lisa smirks as she had a plan to fuck with her. She gets off my cock and moves Leejung off my face before she could reach her climax.

“W-What the fuck are you doing?!” I sit up, and lick their juices from my lips. I just sit there and watch them go at it.

“I’m gonna ride my man.” Lisa straddles my lap as she gives the middle finger towards her. She turns to me with a smirk. A smirk which made me feel hotter and turned me on a lot more. Without any instructions, I grab her hips as she grabs onto my rod, lining herself up with her dripping wet pussy. Leejung smashes her fist onto the couch.

“Ughh! What a bitch!” We hear her say which made Lisa satisfied.

“You’re mine. So fuck me like your little slut.” Lisa moves close to me as she seductively whispers to me. She didn’t have to tell me twice. I grab her and lay her on the couch, one hand on her hips, and the other rubbing her clit as I began to pound her with all my strength. She becomes a moaning mess, I fucking loved hearing her this way.

“Ahhh fuck— s-so deep baby!!! Fuck me! Fuck me just like that!” Lisa moans as her eyes roll back with pleasure.

“Who’s my good little girl huh?!” I growled and moan out as I look down at her.

I know how much Lisa loves rough sex and dirty talks. Her smile gets wider and she looks back towards me full of lust.

“M-Me d-daddy!” She grips onto my wrist. I smirked and fuck her more harder. She was leaking so much, her makeup was a little messed up, but she didn’t care.

“Y-You’re so tight! Y-you’re gonna make me cum!” I keep going as I felt her walls get tighter and tighter around me.

“Keep g-going daddy, I’m so close too! Make your good little girl cum!”

I thrust and I thrust and I thrust while hearing our bodies slam against each other, our moans filling the room. I felt it, I felt myself about to explode. I lean down and kiss my girlfriend deeply and passionately. Finally, after a few more hard and deep thrust, my load shoots deep into her.

“F-Fuck!!! Y-You filled me up so good daddy.” She smiles and kisses me once more.

“Anything for my good girl—.”

“Ohhhh Y/n.” I hear Leejung. My head turns and what I saw next made me hard again, throbbing as I was still inside Lisa as her pussy clenches around my dick. She was face down and ass up, shaking it left and right.

“Ugh, just hurry up with her baby. I don’t want her to touch my man anymore” Lisa whispered. I nodded and kiss her before I move towards Leejung, grabbing her ass. I position my dick right with her entrance, sliding in as I felt her warmth around my shaft.

“F-Fuck Y/n, you’re so deep inside me.” She moans out as she grips the pillow and bites on the corners to lower the volume of her moans. She really loved this position.

“You fucking like that?” I groaned and moan as I pound her like crazy.

“Y-Yes Y/n! I fucking love the way you fuck me! I miss it, I miss it all!” I can’t lie, I miss it too.

Lisa rolled her eyes again as she watches. But then a smirk appeared on her face again. She’s got something in mind. She moves in front of her, laid back, spread her legs.

“Why don’t you put that mouth to good use?”

“W-What the fuck?! L-Lisa what are you doing— ahh fuck Y/n! Y-You’re so fucking deep inside my pussy!” Leejung moans out then looks down towards Lisa’s pussy. She felt something she’s never felt before…

“Aww come on Leejung. I wanna see if you’re really good with your mouth.” She teased

“F-Fuck you. A-As if I would.” She was hesitant. But then I watch her slowly move closer and closer and shove her face down to eat my girlfriends’s pussy out.

My fucking god this was the best day of my life. Leejung taking my cock from behind while she eats my girlfriend’s tight wet pussy. Both of them moan out with so much pleasure. This was a fucking great view.

“Mmm fuck yes! I like the way you use your tongue!” Lisa leans her head back feeling the pleasure down her pussy from Leejung’s mouth.

I could hear Leejung giggle against her pussy then right back to screaming out as I go deeper, hitting her spot. I could feel her walls getting tighter and squeezing my cock. I was ready to explode.

“F-Fuck! L-Leejung… I-I’m gonna cum!” I groaned as my hands grip her hips and ass.

“F-Fucking cum inside!”

“You heard her baby! C-Cum deep inside her pussy!” I could tell Lisa was close by the way her beautiful legs shake.

Pound after pound, it was finally time. I bury my dick deep inside her and released all the white cream I had left in me and into her leaking wet pussy as I start to throb. Leejung covered me with her cum while her mouth was covered in Lisa’s cum. The room was filled with heavy breathing. I slowly pull myself out off Leejung and sit back while she crawls onto Lisa then slowly kiss her. It was really hot but she’s my girlfriend. Only mine!

I gently move her to the side and pull Lisa towards me and kiss her deeply and passionately. She chuckles into the kiss and pulls back to look at me.

“What was that baby boy?” She smirked.

“No one gets to kiss you besides me and only me.” I say to her as if I was a kid.

“Relax Y/n, afraid I can steal your girlfriend too?” Leejung teased then comes over and kisses me while pulling Lisa forward to join us in a three way kiss.

We all pull away and smile and the wildest time we just had but Lisa and Leejung both glare at me and my smile slowly vanishes.

“W-What?”

“Time to give us an answer. Who was better?” They both asked at the same time. Shit! Please help me guys!!!

The end!!!

[ivykim]

ENHYPEN PLAYS: LETHAL COMPANY

MISSION START ▶️

the five members bow slightly to the camera, “hello ENGENEs! today, we are playing another game.” jungwon starts off.

“since everyone enjoyed us playing the backrooms and there were a lot of positive reactions. we decided to bring in a new game!” jake continues.

“since noona is joining us today, would you like to introduce the game?”

she claps once, “everyone! today we are playing a game called ‘Letal Company’. ooooo, is everyone excited?”

“I’ve never heard of this game before.” sunghoon says. ivy gasps.

“you’ve never heard of the game? it took the whole world by storm. maybe not Korea? I don’t know but I watched a bunch of people play this on YouTube!”

“foreigners?” heeseung tilts his head. ivy hums.

“yup! anyways, usually the game only allows 4 players at a time but! I added a few mods into the game to make it more fun. just teensy tiny ones.”

“oh, I don’t think engenes know this. we’re playing at the dorms instead because noona said that PC cafes don’t have this game. she paid for each game on our own computers.” jake explains.

[IVY proving how rich she is. FLEX💪🏻]

ivy rolls her eyes playfully, “I just want you guys to enjoy the game without any troubles.”

“and we are thankful for that noona.” jungwon smiles. ivy pats the younger male.

“my favourite.”

jake gasps, “you have favourites in enhypen?”

“now, jaeyun-”

[please note that IVY has no favourite in ENHYPEN she loves them all equally]

“okay! everyone in on their computers now?” ivy turns to look at each of the boys on the discord call.

“yup, but how do we join the game?”

“i’ll send you guys invites just click on it.”

“okay.”

the 4 boys wait for ivy patiently. that is until jake storms into ivy’s room and starts to mess with her.

“yah! sim jaeyun, back to your room! just wait.” he starts poking ivy. “wait!”

“jake hyung!” jungwon yells from his room.

“ouh? it’s working, it’s working!” heeseung says as he loads into the game.

jake runs back into his room to attempt to join the game. once everyone loads into the game, ivy clicks the number 1 on her keyboard. her character starts dancing.

“what? how do you do that?” sunghoon says.

“why is the astronaut a better dancer than us??” jungwon adds.

“noona!! teach us.”

“hit 1 on the keyboard.” ivy says and so the 4 boys listened. they all yelled in excitement.

“YOIIIIII.” jungwon yells.

“can we make it do fever?” heeseung asks.

“no, now. the premise of the game since i’ve watched multiple gameplays.” ivy breathes in. “number 1, our main objective is to go on planets and collect scrap. number 2, we have a quota to reach.” her character points to the quota. “we have 3 days to collect enough scrap and then by the 3rd day, we need to sell it to the company.”

“who is the company?” jake asks.

“mmm, let’s say it’s BELIFT. we are selling our resources to BELIFT. then they will give us money and then we can either buy stuff to improve ourselves or challenge and go to bigger places that are harder than the simple ones.”

“ooo great analogy.” heeseung compliments.

“thank you.”

“what if we don’t reach the quota?”

“we get booted off like we’re on I-LAND.” ivy explains brutally. the boys gasp.

“not I-LAND.”

“exactly so we have to meet our quota, boys. you ready?”

“umm, yes?”

“great.” ivy pulls the lever. it loads them into the game. the spaceship flies down onto the planet and they land. the aircraft door opens.

“welcome to the land so far it’s normal so you don’t have to worry about anything yet. however, if the planet is eclipsed, it’s best if you stay quiet or the dogs will be out to murder you.” ivy explains further. none of the boys moved just yet. “come on, follow me. click right click to scan where the entrance of the place is by the way.”

the boys followed her.

“oh, there is a bridge, will it break-” just as jungwon says so, the bridge breaks and falls.

“am i too heavy?” jake says. ivy laughs.

“nah, if there are too many people walking on the bridge then it breaks. it’s old. don’t worry, jake. you’re not heavy. you can try to go by the emergency exit if you’d like.”

“but noona, i’m scared.” jake says.

“okay, then climb up here. you can walk over there and then come over. me, sunghoon and heeseung will wait at the entrance.”

“what about me, noona?” jungwon yells.

“there is a stable bridge to your left! you can walk over there and then come over to us!” ivy yells back. she turns to the other two. “you two, if you’re brave enough you can go in. we don’t have much time since the time is going by now. if you see the clock above us, we have to be back on the ship by midnight.”

“can we leave early?”

“yup, just as long as we get back on the ship by midnight with scrap.”

“this game is complicated.”

“for your first time, yes but if you play it a bunch of times. nah. you two can go in together, i’ll wait for jake and jungwon.”

and so, heeseung and sunghoon head inside first. not even a second later, they came back out just as jungwon and jake finally made it to the entrance.

“hey, umm vivi you didn’t explain to the both of us that it was scary in there.” heeseung says.

“this game is baby compared to the backrooms. you two don’t have to be so scared. come on.” ivy enters the building and the boys followed in. their voices were slightly altered when they entered the building. like they were in an abandoned building (which they were).

“okay, so you guys wanna split up or stay together.”

“won’t we get murdered quicker if we don’t stick together?” jake says.

“not exactly. you get killed either ways.” ivy says. “how about this. jungwon, heeseung and jake can stick together. me and hoon can look around. we’ll meet at the entrance.”

“but noona, you know the game than us.” jake pouts.

“oh don’t worry, jungwon would probably find a way. which by the way, if you find a stop sign or any sign you can use it as a weapon to kill the monsters.” ivy smiles. “good luck! hoon, let’s go.” both ivy and sunghoon went to the right side of the building.

“WHAT? MONSTERS???”

[ENHYPEN’s journey starts now]

ivy and sunghoon went down the stairs.

“i probably should’ve told them that we can’t hear them and they can’t hear us since we are far from each other.” ivy says. sunghoon’s character turns to ivy, he looks at the camera and deadpans.

“are you serious?”

“yeah, unless we have a walkie talkie but we need to buy that.”

they opened the door and spot a rubber ducky on the ground. “hoon, grab that. that’s scrap. how much is it? scan it.”

“the value is 40.”

“woah, that’s an expensive duck.”

“inflation.” sunghoon says simply. ivy snorts.

they heard a yippie from somewhere and sunghoon starts panicking.

“what? what’s that?”

“you met your first monster. it’s a hoarder bug. it normally doesn’t make that sound. i just put that mod to make it less scary.” ivy explains.

“so i can’t take their things?”

“nope. they’ll murder you so it’s best we ignore it and move on. unless you want to risk your life.”

“oh, no thank you.” sunghoon eyes the bug and starts dancing in front of it. “will they trade if i dance for them?”

“you can try.”

“do you speak KoHReAN.” sunghoon says in english while his character continues dancing. ivy laughs.

“i don’t think they do.” the bug continues to say ‘yippie!’. “oh, hoon. i see something huge that could give us big money!”

“what?” ivy points to the item in game.

“that. it’s an engine.”

“engene? we have to get it then. save our engene!”

“yes, save our engene.”

while ivy and hoon are saving engene. let’s see how jake, jungwon and heeseung are handling their experience.

[JAKE moves forward while covering his eyes shut]

“jake hyung, it’s not that scary. don’t worry.” jungwon says.

“mmm! it’s better than the backrooms.”

“okay…you better not be tricking me.” jake uncovers his eyes. just as he does so, they heard stomping.

“i think i might start cursing.” jake says.

heeseung notices something. scrap!

“yah yah, look. there is scrap over there! let’s grab it and then look for more.”

however none of them moved. both jake and heeseung looked over at jungwon expecting him to do it. “okay, fine. i’ll go there.” jungwon walks over and grabs the scrap. “guys, there is more over here! my inventory is full though. i need help.”

heeseung and jake went over to help. they collected the items.

“is that all?” they inspected the rooms and then they spot a monster, thumping and getting closer to them.

“what the hell is that.” jake says.

the monster turns to them and so their eyes widened. they quickly left and ran away. all three of them yelled out loud.

“NOONA!!!” jake yells.

back to ivy and sunghoon, their trip was decently peaceful. their inventories were almost full. then they hear a couple of footsteps. ivy knew which monster it was.

“hoon, let’s get out of here and meet up with the rest.”

“why? what’s wrong, noona?”

they came across a spider web. “that is what’s wrong.”

“spider-man?”

“no! it’s a spider and we don’t have any weapons! let’s go!!” ivy says. the pitter patter gets closer and so both ivy and sunghoon left quickly. they went back to the main entrance. jungwon, jake and heeseung made it to the entrance. their hearts raced quickly. just as they caught their breaths. a shadow dude comes into the space. jake yells and leaves the building. however, heeseung gets his neck snapped. jungwon’s jaw drops.

“HEESEUNG HYUNG!!” he was about to chase after the monster but ivy and sunghoon arrived.

“do not chase after that monster. he’ll kill you too!” ivy says. “grab heeseung’s stuff, we have to leave. where is jake?”

“outside.” they grabbed heeseung’s scrap and left the building. it was decently dark out, the sun was setting.

“we have to get back to the ship now.” ivy says. they made their way back to the ship.

[this felt like a thriller/horror movie]

they heard large stomping sounds.

“get in quickly.” ivy whispers. she enters the ship and drops her items. “everyone in?”

“yeah.” just as sunghoon says so, there was a growl.

“close the door.” ivy instructs. “the dogs are out.”

“DOGS??” jake says. there was a terrifying growl. ivy takes off the ship quickly. just as the dog was about to come in, jungwon shuts the door. “those were not dogs.”

“they are blind dogs so they react to sound. like i said before if we go on an eclipsed planet, the percentage will increase for monsters. that means those ‘dogs’ will have a higher percent to spawn on those planets.” ivy says.

“what was the loud stomping though?” sunghoon asks.

“giants. they’re just mainly blind but they can hear.”

“what about the thumping in the building…” jake nervously say.

“that monster spawned too??” ivy’s jaw drops. “okay, let’s debrief first. heeseung should come back since we’re safe and in the air now.”

[HEESEUNG spawns in]

“okay, tell me how your trip went and what happened to heeseung?”

“so basically, we heard some thumping but still went forward to grab some scrap. once we collected it, we saw what was making the noise.”

“the monster didn’t have any body. just a head and arms for legs. he also looks like a fish.” jake says.

“then we got scared and ran to the main entrance. once we arrived, we heard a weird scary sound like a growl and then a shadow man came up, jake hyung ran out but heeseung hyung got his neck snapped and the guy dragged his body.” jungwon explains.

“that’s the bracken by the way. he actually lurks behind you before attacking you. i think the editors can put up a video of it for ENGENEs while i show it to you guys.”

[IVY showed the video to the boys]

jake cowers in fear, “i don’t want to play anymore!”

“same!”

“wait guys, drop your things. let’s see how much we made. then maybe we can just land and get a little more than leave quickly. I can show you the company where we sell everything.” ivy says.

“how do we drop things?”

“press G.”

the boys dropped their things. “okay, right click to scan and we should see the total up amount.”

“is 340 enough?”

“more than enough. our first time is only 130. we crushed it.”

“ooo that means we can just play around on the second day.”

“yup!”

which is what the five of them did. ivy types into the computer. “let me see the moons.”

> 41 EXPERIMENTATION - Eclipsed

ivy’s jaw drops. she looks at the camera. “editors can you bleep this when i curse?”

“why? why? what’s wrong?” heeseung asks.

“guys, we are absolutely f-”

[ARTIST PROTECTION]

“oh? why?” jungwon tilts his head.

“it’s eclipsed.” the aircraft lands and they instantly hear growling. the door opens and ivy crouches in game. she shuts the door.

“everyone keep quiet or whisper. i can tell you there is no way we are going to get out of this ship. we are screwed.” the boys too had crouched in game. jungwon looks over to the lever and just holds ‘e’. he pulls the lever and of they went.

“i think it was best.”

“definitely a good choice.” sunghoon says.

“so the company?” jake says.

“okay, one second.” ivy goes on the computer and types ‘71-Gordion’ (the company).

“what do you do in the computer anyways?”

“you can watch people on the monitor and see where we are. disable turrets, know where the monsters are, open and close doors, buy stuff and also see which moon is eclipsed or not or has bad weather.”

“woah, so this computer is like the main thing huh.” jake says.

“yup. anyways, who wants to pull the lever? i already set us to the company.” sunghoon pulls the lever.

they arrived at the company, it was dark and mysterious. ominous too. it sent shivers down jake’s spine.

“i got goosebumps. i don’t like this.”

“well, we are here. grab our stuff. maybe we can save some stuff. just enough for our quota.”

“can we keep the duck?” sunghoon asks.

“sure. just leave it inside the storage closet.” ivy opens the closet and sunghoon places the duck inside. “okay, for this part. everyone please silently walk up to the mysterious door and place the things on the counter.”

“what happens if you make noise?” heeseung asks.

“a monster will snatch you and kill you.”

“so let’s keep quiet.”

each of them placed their items onto the counter. “who wants to press the bell?”

“jake hyung.” jungwon points to jake.

jake sighs and presses the bell. he quickly runs away. the door opens and a hook snatches their items away.

“ewww what was that! why was there a hook taking our things away??” jake says.

“that’s the company.”

the money pops up and it shows that they reached their quota.

“we now have money and a new quota just dropped!” ivy says. she points to the new number.

“301?? oh god.”

“mmm, i think we played this game for at least 3 hours now.”

“yeah, it’s quite fun right? time flies by really fast in this game.” ivy says.

“maybe we can ask sunoo, jay and ni-ki to join us since noona added the mod for more people.” jungwon says.

“i don’t think jay would like this game very much. it’s too scary for him. he didn’t even want to play the backrooms with us.” jake says.

“well, did you enjoy ‘Lethal Company’?” ivy asks.

“we did, it’s quite fun.”

ivy turns to the camera. “well, ENGENEs i hope you enjoyed me, jungwon, jake, sunghoon and heeseung playing the game! be sure to also check out when these four played the backrooms! really fun to watch them play it. i wanna play it too but they only allow 4 players.”

“noona, me, sunghoon and heeseung hyung can play together.” jake smirks.

“oh? it’s a deal then!” ivy smirks. “anyways, ENGENEs thank you for watching this video! oh and comment down below if i should convince jay, sunoo and ni-ki to play along with us. maybe i’ll find a way to convince them.”

all of them waved to the camera and the video ends.

[brrrkdslek]

UM O E O

𖡎 youtube clips of ateez member, m/n that has atinys barking and rolling on the floor.

𖡎 ateez x 9th member! male! reader

𖡎 fluff, angst, idk slay???

𖡎 bullying, harassment, blood n gore(oop)

𖡎 2.8k

clip 1 — m/n standing up for ateez on variety show

ateez along with the mcs laughed at the jokes as they continued, "if i were a member of ateez, what position would suit me best?" the members looked around and whispered amongst each other before hongjoong spoke up, "i don't know, but i think you'd do great..."

everyone laughs at the captain's statement as he shrinks in embarrassment. the mc puffs out his chest, "i think i'd be able to handle m/n's position." jongho blinks in surprise, "you can handle being main vocalist and main dancer...?" the other mc retaliated, "yeah, he thinks he can! what about it!?"

you only smile, knowing how much these people underestimate your hardwork. wooyoung speaks, "but his position is very hard, m/n actually plays a huge part in our choreography too!" wooyoung nudges you, "tell them!" you giggle at wooyoung's excitement.

"okay. so, when our tracks release, let's say for our comeback song, bouncy. i would improv it once and record it, then i would mark down some move which i think would collaborate well with the song, and then i'd work out the full choreo with the choreographer-"

the mc cut you off, "i still think i'd be able to do it though! maybe even better than you!" it came out in a joke tone but you could hear the underlying saltiness the man had with you, why's he so reluctant on bullying you???

you brush through your long hair before breaking the awkward silence, "well, who's position on the team do you agree with the least and why?" the mc perked up as he spoke loudly, "i think i would be the visual." mingi had to physically hold back a snort from beside you, "i honestly don't think seonghwa should be the visual at all."

wooyoung held back a gasp as san glared at the mc from afar. yunho turned to seonghwa and he only blinked in surprise, jongho gulped as he sees your vessel popping out in your neck, the tips of your ears turning slightly red.

"hm, i see. then who do you think would be best for visuals?" mingi placed his hand in your lap, comforting you quietly as you sighed. "i think, maybe me?" the mc does some weird 'sexy' pose and the other mc applauses him while your members keep quiet.

you let out a loud laugh for a second before covering your mouth with your hand, "ah, i'm sorry!" the mc's face was blank, "what, do you think i can't be the visual!?" you look the man up and down, "are you sure you'll even make it past the audition?" 'oo's' and laughs were exchanged between your members as you and the mc only stared.

clip 2 — m/n toktoq live: response to the show

you were eating peacefully in your hotel room with your live on and singing to the atinys every now and then. "m/n, did you say that to the mc because you were mad?" you read out a question. pondering for a few seconds, you decide to answer honestly.

"yes, i was super mad, more that he insulted my members." you slurped the noodled as you spoke again, "listen, i don't mind if people insult or make fun of me. but i won't accept if anyone speaks ill of my members." you untie your bun, which had been messed up from how much you'd been moving around.

biting the hairtie between your teeth, you used your hands to fix a ponytail and spoke, "i can take any insults if it is directed to me," picking up the hairtie, you tie your hair into a bun and fixed your bangs, "but please, leave my members alone."

clip 3 — m/n going off at a saseang in the airport

you had your hood and mask on as you followed along your members in the airport. you always hated the airport since the amount of people surrounding you made you feel incredibly claustrophobic and annoyed.

you had just came back to korea from your long concert and is headed back to the company. during the trip, you felt someone poke you and turned around, "hyung..." jongho's face looks slightly paler, "are you alright, jjong?" you held onto his hand as he leaned onto your strong arm, "just a bit tired..."

you ruffled his hair, "let's get outta here as soon as possible, m'kay?" jongho nods as you kiss his head, following your other members.

as you neared the exits, the group began slowing down as more people surrounded ateez and pushed the mangers and even the members from time to time. you tsked and checked on jongho every few seconds to make sure he is still there.

you noticed a woman pulling on the hems of jongho's hoodie as you swatted her away, pulling his closer to you as you squeezed between the members. however, she came back and kept on trying to get his attention, making him incredibly uncomfortable.

you could feel jongho's hands tremble and twitch with every touch of the woman and you got increasingly angered. you even did as much as wrapping your entire arm around his waist and leaned your head on his shoulder, you know jongho likes when you do that, it made him feel relaxed and calm.

but of course the woman didn't fucking stop as san and mingi were trying their best to kindly push her off and not cause scene. you heard jongho continuously mumbled for her to get off but you weren't having any of it. you were on your last straw when she began pulling on his wrist, that's when you acted out.

you let go of jongho's hand quickly and went to the other side and shoved the woman, hard. she ended up tripping on her own feet and collapsing onto the ground. you could care less for the cameras that were capturing this moment, in fact, you wanted everyone to see.

"yah! what's wrong with you!?" the woman spoke as she fixed her hair and tried standing up, you used your feet to push her shoulder back down. "what's wrong with me? are you kidding me, lady? you had been touching jongho this entire time and you're asking me what's wrong with me?"

you let out a sarcastic laugh, "who do you think you are? did you think i wouldn't do anything cause there are cameras?" your members and managers made no move to stop you as they only watched, all silently agreeing that it is what she deserved.

you crouched down and leaned into her ear, "if there were no cameras, i would've beat your fucking face off. now get lost before i actually do that." the woman shifted away from you and scrambled to get up, running away in a hurry as she cried.

you got up and grabbed your bag before going back to jongho and holding his hand, "let's go?" he nodded as the managers lead you all to the van, the crowd becoming smaller after your sudden outburst.

as you got into the van, you never let go of jongho's hand as he leaned onto your shoulder, eyes getting heavier. "i'm sorry jjong. you must've been so scared..." he smiled, "but i wasn't." you blink in surprise, "really, why not?" he looks up at you and flashed that adorable gummy smile of his, "cause i knew you'd protect me."

clip 4 — angry m/n at kcon

you were performing as normal and was super excited for your upcoming high note part. you had a few lines before it and while you were singing, you found that your mic had disconnected or some shit, making you grumpy.

however, atinys thought you were doing a sexy concept and cheered excitedly watching you sing your part. the mic had become more and more annoying as you sang your part, proving to be useless.

during the few seconds of pause before your high note, your ripped the headset off and threw it onto the ground before hitting the high note perfectly, wowing the atinys at your impactful volume even without a mic.

clip 5 — m/n shoving paparazzis for getting too close

ateez was in america, dressed all nice for their interview with buzzfeed, and as they got off the van one by one, the members were bombarded with cameras flashing in their direction. it wouldn't have been a problem had they not been at hand's distance with the members faces.

you were the last to get off the van as one paparazzi had the audacity to shove his camera inside the van while you were getting off. so, being the good samaritan you are, you shoved the camera.

you shoved it forward so that it hit the paparazzi on his bald head, making the man scream curses at you as you walked into the building, smile never leaving your face.

clip 6 — yunho vs m/n

"yeah, and i got this last week-" "why does your hair look like that?" you turn to yunho looking pretty offended, "why does my hair look like... what?" yunho giggles, "like, like poo..." you deadpan to the camera before rolling your eyes, "why does my hair matter to you in the slightest bit?" he shrugs and bites into the dumpling.

"i dunno, i jus' think it looks better when it's down." you leaned down to slurp your noodles, "better than your crap coloured hair..." yunho's jaw drops as he tosses the wooden chopsticks on the table and stands up, "yah!"

you turn to him and look up, "why're you standing up??" he pouts, "my hair is NOT crap colour!" your forehead creases, "can you just sit down-" "at least i don't spend two hours every morning getting ready." you frown and stand up, growing more annoyed by the second.

"why're you picking a fight with me?" he rolls his eyes and cross his arms, mumbling something. "what'd you say?" looking down, yunho mumbles, "i'm not the one that throws headsets on stage..."

you had to blink a few times to process what he had said. "jeong yunho," the man stiffens and turns to you, "...what?" you stared at the man with the angry glare, making him shiver. "sit down right now and eat your food." as if on impulse, yunho's knees buckle and he plops back onto the armchair.

you side-eyed yunho for a few seconds before turning to the camera, with a large grin like you weren't just about to detached yunho's head from his body, "okay atinys, i think we have to cut the live short! have a good day!"

clip 7 — m/n noona revealed!

mingi bounced excitedly as he sat on the chair and waited for his questions, "has there been a time where your members has stood up for you?" mingi's eyes widen as he smiles, "yes!" he answers loudly.

"there was this time during a fansign when i was feeling really sick, m/n hyung noticed and tried to tell the staff but they wouldn't let me leave. i get it, cause they thought it would've been disrespectful and i told him that!

but he got so angry and only told me to take care of myself before he went back to the atinys. afterwards, he yelled and screamed at the managers!" mingi giggled, "it was really funny seeing them all just looking down like toddlers being scolded by their parents. i'm so grateful for m/n hyung!"

the other members including yourself smiles and giggled at the back as wooyoung spoke up, "you mean m/n noona?" you swatted the back of wooyoung's head as he only giggled, "that sounds so good!" mingi turned to look at wooyoung.

"right!?" "m/n noona!" jongho laughed, "m/n noona!" he leaned onto your shoulder as you only huffed, the rest of the members including hongjoong and seonghwa hyung also started calling you that.

clip 8 — fansign massacre!

it was a sunny day when ateez were in la, california for their fansign. hongjoong had asked the managers a few times for them not to do a fansign in such an area since america was a dangerous place as they could get stabbed and shot at any moment. however, the managers persisted.

the members were lined up in their seats in the order of their ages, with m/n squeezed between hongjoong and yunho. the venue was crowded with many atinys waving and screaming the member's names.

as the atinys sat in their designated seats, the fansign started. you were enthusiastic with a happy grin painting your face the entire time at all the pretty girls and boys that dressed up prettily to see you, it made your heart swell with pride.

suddenly, hongjoong leaned into your ear and whispered, "this one's sketchy, watch them closely." you blink in confusion before the next fan shifts in front of you.

you immediately get the memo as the person- you can't even tell the gender as their face was covered up with a mask and hoodie. you force a smile as you tried to bring up some conversation, "so, uh... how long have you been a fan?"

"i'm not," your eyes widen, "how long is each member?" you were shocked as it took you a second to respond, "f-five minutes." afterwards, you and the person only stared at each other before the time ran out.

you suddenly got a feeling in your gut something bad was about to happen. you were constantly turning to yunho who was on your left conversing with said person. why were they being so friendly with yunho only?

"are you alright?" the atiny asked as you brushed some sweat from your forehead and focused back on the fan, but making sure to keep an eye on yunho.

as the timer ran out, the atinys shifted seats again but the person never moved from in front of yunho. you felt your heart rate increased as the person stayed unmoving, the staff were already on high alert of this person after seonghwa's turn.

yunho's eyes widen in fear as the person abruptly pulled out a dagger and stood up, leaning forward to graze yunho. yunho leaned backwards, closing his eyes as yeosang reaching out to stop the person, everything was moving too quickly as m/n instinctively reached out.

yunho cracked his eyes open as he fell backwards onto his butt at the sight in front of him; you holding the dagger with your bare hand, gripping it so hard your veins were visible on your forearm. wooyoung almost threw up at the sight of your blood running down your arm.

everyone around you was panicked including the person as the crowd screamed and pushed around each other, but your face was stern. you stared straight into the person with half-lidded eyes, showing no sign of emotions even though your hand was burning from pain.

no one dared to move, not even the members or managers as you slowly spoke in english, "what," your eyebrows creased, "do you think you're doing?" your grip tightened as the person's grip on the handle loosened, stumbling backwards as he fell.

the staff immediately emerged from the shadows and pinned down the person, making sure to call the police. you violently threw the dagger onto the ground, making everyone jump as you wiped your bloody hand on your white tank top, eyes never leaving the attackers.

you squatted down and pulled their hoodie down, "if i see your face again," grabbing a fistful of their hair, you yanked the person so close your noses almost touched. they yelped in pain and gripped your wrist, "i'll kill you with this damn knife, got it?"

the person began to cry as you shoved their face away, grimacing as the staff dragged the person backstage. the manager came to you with first-aid and asked if you were okay. you brushed them off as you jogged to yunho, who was still sat on the ground.

you cup his cheeks in your hand as you turn his head left and right, "yun! are you okay? are you hurt?" yunho's eyes watered as his bottom lip quivered, "ah- i got blood on your cheek," you pulled your right hand away and wiped the blood with the back of your hand.

yunho stopped your movement and held onto your wrist, pulling his head into your chest as he silently sobbed, mumbling 'sorry's' and 'it's my fault's'. you kissed his head and patted his back, "no, i'm sorry i was a second too late."

©BRRRKDSLEK 2023

[kristenwell]

Shall we dance? - Leo Valdez x Male!Apollo!Reader

(I love gay people, I wish they were real)

(Also this song was my inspiration so definetly check it out if you're into ethnopop)

Leo was working on his latest project in Bunker 9 when he heard an unfamiliar song a familiar song. He got up from his seat and walked out, the music was coming from the deep woods. It was around 7 pm so he still had a few hours before curfew, he didn’t really expect someone else to be nearby at this time.

As he went deeper into the woods the outline of a certain person got clearer.

Imagine Leo’s surprise when he saw the son of Apollo in the middle, dancing and singing his heart out without a care in the world. Y/N spun around and his eyes landed on Leo’s figure. His face got hotter and he quickly turned the music off.

„Leo! When did you get here? I didn’t hear you.“ He admitted sheepishly.

„Clearly.“ Leo couldn’t help but chuckle. The usually calm and collected male was flustered and shy right infront of him, he couldn’t help but be amused.

„What are you doing here in the dark?“

Y/N rubbed the back of his neck, he didn’t want to admit it but it was evident that Leo has caught him in the act.

„I never have time to do this during the day, you know, with the training and stuff.“ He suddently regained his cool demeanor and flashed Leo a smile. „Your timing is perfect tho, I need a dance partner for waltz.“

Now it was Leo’s turn to get bashful, he wasn’t sure if he heard the boy infront him correctly.

„Haha, you’re real funny you know that?“ He avoided eye contact with the son of Apollo, the ground suddenly looked very interesting.

Y/N approached him with a devilish grin. He grabbed Leo’s chin and lifted him, making him look up at him. Leo stared at him in awe, his eyes sparking and the Moon reflecting on his hair made him look ethereal.

„Please? I really wanna practice, I haven’t danced with a partner forever.“ Y/N pleaded and obviously, Leo couldn’t say no to his puppy eyes even if his heart felt like it could jump out any second.

„Okay fine, just a fair warning: I can’t dance to save my life.“ The taller male let go of his chin and smiled in delight.

„Great!“ He started the song once again and got into position. Y/N placed his right hand on Leo’s hip and his left hand took a hold of Leo’s right. Leo on the other hand (haha funni 🗿) hesitantly put his left arm around the taller boy’s shoulder. This intimate position got him flustered.

Y/N on the contrary couldn’t seem happier even if deep down he was very nervous, he didn’t mean to be so forward but the words left his mouth sooner than he could stop them. If it isn’t the consequences of his own actions but holding the shorter male was more than a welcomed punishment.

„Now, just follow my lead.“ Once the chorus started, he slowly started to move in a 1-2-3 sequence. Leo managed to step on his foot a few times but Y/N just laughed it off. He couldn’t help humming along with the melody.

The son of Hepheastus didn’t think he would enjoy it this much. He was spun on the ground and then lifted in the air and spun again. The best part was undoubtedly when Y/N would bring him closer after every spin. If anyone were to see the two of them like this they would definetly consider it some romantic date.

As they finished dancing the son of Apollo noticed that Leo was uncharacteristically quiet, he thought better than to bring it up. He didn’t want to embarass him any more.

Y/N wiped the sweat from his forehead and smiled at Leo wider.

„Thanks again, you’re not a terrible dancer.“ He chuckled.

Leo brushed his hand through his dark curls and smirked even tho his face was still flushed from both the physical activity and the proximity. „Well, you’re not the worst teacher.“

The h/c-ette stared at him with awe. He shook his head before he spilled his heart and headed towards the direction of the cabins.

„We should head back.“ Neither of them realized it but almost 2 hours passed, time truly does fly when you’re having fun.

„Wait!“ Leo blurted out before he could stop himself and now the taller boy was looking at him. „Can we do this again?“

Y/N’s eyes widened and his mouth was opened slightly, he quickly composed himself and sent a reassuring smile towards Leo’s direction.

„Of course, tommorrow same time?“

„Yeah, sure. Meet me at the Bunker 9.“ He wiped his sweaty hands on his pants, a habit when he gets nervous.

„It’s a date then, goodnight, Leo.“ Y/N waved and left the woods.

Leo stood there dumbfounded for like two minutes and then his words hit him.

„Date??“ He quickly pat his ears, the last thing he wanted was the set the woods on fire.

[ranger-rai]

Since all three of these are sort of chained into each other, I figured I'd answer here! Let's start with Appleton and the whole Applin line.

it's pretty widely known that this line can produce edible segments of its body, with Appleton actually being happy to share it with others.

It's said that the happier they are, the better it will taste.

However, it's less commonly known that they can also produce special jams packed with tons of nutrition if their diet is changed, which can be huge for people with severe diabetes as their jams can contain little sugar, with most of it all being natural.

On top of that, Appleton is an excellent harvester and the leftover edible pieces work well for compost, so you can run a garden really well with them.

Next up is Meowstic.

They differ drastically between males and females, however they pair so well together.

Males are much more protective, while females are more aggressive.

Their quick instincts and precognitive abilities make them excellent in high-speed travel and public transport.

A lot of public transport might employ one or both of them to help with predicting driver actions, increasing the safety of the vehicle by quite a lot.

when paired together, these two are incredibly protective and nearly unstoppable, which is why they are trained to help in infant care, especially in hospitals as they watch over newborns.

It's said that the Meowstic helps guide and prepare new parents, and they might leave a psychic marker on babies who might have a more complicated life that only other psychic types can detect, resulting in a sort of unseen line of support for them in the future.

Gumshoos are great trackers, which is why they are heavily used in police and Private Eye work.

Some Pokemon are really just good at one thing, and Gumshoos is a pretty good tracker. They are tenacious as hunters and will wait and hunt down their prey for however long it takes, so training them to hunt down perps or items is cake.

If you lose stuff, they are great to have around.

And finally, we have Aegislash.

This Pokemon has been seen as a status of nobility and power for the elites, however, a lot of people don't know that Aegislash used to be the teacher of a very unique style of dance.

Way back in the day, some people would study their movements and their shifting of stance and create a dace from it.

Aegislash in return began learning from the dancers as well, and as a result, their movements have become much more sharp and precise.

You could actually still learn from them to this day and some ballerinas in Kalos still learn how to be graceful by following their style.

As a Service Pokemon, they can sense a person's life force and even boost it in a dire situation.

While it is not a simple process, people with weak immune systems who have frequent shutdowns might look to this Pokemon for support and help them pull through in serious moments.

[galedekarios]

Hello, you may have already talked about it but I love drows and Altonaufein is such an interesting character. Fun fact, I got the game a little bit later than everybody and for, like, a day or two, I thought he was an actual NPC or maybe a companion lol. Anyway, I'd love to read your thoughts about him! (or maybe I just feel some kind of kindship since my OC is also a drow with a lot of issues and an ongoing crush on Gale.

thank you so much for your lovely message and your kind words about altonaufein! i was really blown away when i saw your message. (((': i'm also super happy to find another drow player. i'd be super interested to hear more about your oc as well, if you feel comfortable sharing!

i'm very it took so long to answer, i just always draw a blank when i'm asked about my ocs, even though i love them and lot and probably have an entire library of lore inside of head about them.

i did manage to write up a bit about altonaufein, though! i've had his character for a very long time. he was originally intended for icewind dale 2, but then baldur's gate 3 was announced and i decided to try and translate his character into the game and was pleasantly surprised by how well it worked!

born in ust-natha, altonaufein is the third child--but the first son--of a small but prestigious house of a long line of clerics and devoted worshippers of lolth.

at a young age, altonaufein had a very cautious and gentle nature to him, showing signs of great magical and spellcasting talent. these talents were decided to be nurtured in the service of lolth--even if altonaufein was only a male, it stood to reason that he might still become a passable asset and tool for his house, if little else.

his life took a turn for the worse when he began to see a bright silver moon in his trances, heard the sweet melody of a lyre, saw a dark dancer in a sky he'd never seen. foolishly, naively, altonaufein told another of his house--his sister iraeae, who he had once been close to--about his strange dreams, his visions. his trust was misplaced and he was severely punished in hopes of correcting him, driving those visions from his mind, to not bring shame to his house any further. after this, altonaufein began to ignore his dreams and, consequently, unknowingly, eilistraee’s call.

he was initiated to become part of the clergy to lolth by the trial of strength: if he failed, he would become a sacrifice. if he succeeded, it would bring lolth's favour to his family--either way, he would not be a waste to his house.

altonaufein survived the trial, barely. though, with what was to come, he sometimes wishes he hadn't.

iraeae, at the same time as him, undertook her own trial of lolth:

chwidevbrii, or the test of betrayal. it's a punishment that strikes particularly deep. trust is a distasteful concept to drow, though they understand that sometimes it does happen and is even necessary to survive. to rid themselves of this, to succeed this test, the drow must betray someone who has garnered her trust or in whom she has placed her trust. mentors, teachers, leaders, friends, family. as long as there has been a solid connection of dependence made in the past.

the drow must utterly destroy her victim in a way that allows her to advance in some manner. the method is not important: blackmail, slander, torture... magic. in the end, the victim must die or be thoroughly disgraced and dominated. usually, the victim is murdered by the drow herself, commits suicide, or is killed as a result of the drow's action. so what better way to show to her goddess that she is a true drow, that she is worthy, what better way than to serve the house, than humiliating and dominating someone who was once a little brother.

drow females are able to dominate the mind of any chosen male with but a spell and one such spell was cast on altonaufein, and iraeae triumphed in her trial. a victim of inter-house politics as so many others before him, he was left as little but a thrall, serving in a many different ways.

he was there, under that spell, until it broke: iraeae dead by her older sister nadriina's hand--betrayed just like altonaufein had been by her. altonaufein doesn't remember how long it lasted, remembers only parts of it. the many hands. the pain. he remembers fighting. other drow. other prisoners. the surface. running. the moon. fever.

altonaufein escaped to the surface in a haze, he wandering aimlessly before all the strength went out of him and he collapsed. yet eilistraee must have guided, must have protected him, once more, as she tried to, so long ago: he had collapsed near a small settlement around a small church of ilmater, the god of compassion and healing, of mercy and atonement. they took altonaufein in because they deny no one in need of their help, not even a drow.

he was taken in and nursed back to health over the course of many months by a follower, living at the temple: an ex-soldier, a deserter, by the name of karl. they formed a deep bond, despite their differences--or perhaps because of them-- and despite altonaufein's initial distrust.

once recovered, altonaufein hacked off his long hair, so many issues, so many bad memories, tied to it.

still, he came to see what happened as a chance he doesn't think he deserves: to start anew, to help, to learn how he could be more than simply a honed weapon made for killing. he offered his services to the small settlement and the temple, even if ilmater is not the god he prays to.

he helped everywhere he could in any way he could, ignoring the whispers that followed him, his own intrusive thoughts, his episodes, triggered by too sudden movements, unexpected brushes his body or mind.

altonaufein helped to tend to the crops, helped with the harvest, repaired walls and fences, treated wounds and healed. he would earn their trust, prove himself.

the one person who stood by his side through it was karl.

karl, who, after his abduction on the nautiloid remains his guardian as he been so many moons before, swearing to protect him once more:

🖤

it's bit by bit that he learns to accept himself for who he is, what he is. his heritage, his past, his future, his new faith.

he gets to heal on this journey and find peace.

i'm sorry this got so long and ramble-y, but he's my special boy. (((': thanks again so much for asking about him!!!

[dancemachinetrait]

September 10th, 1910- Letter extract, Clem Gillespie to Daisy Gillespie

I am certainly seeing a side of Greater Windenburg we never saw when Aunt Minnie used to take us to the pantomime at Christmas. You can tell Mother rest assured that I have not quite sunk into a pit of vice and voluptuousness, but my horizons have certainly been expanded. Our boarding house is in Villareal Square, and there are more kinds of people here than I knew existed! Just walking down to buy a loaf of bread in the morning one hears half a dozen languages. It makes me feel excited to be alive!

The boarding house is run by Mrs Travers, who was an actress herself in her youth. She is enormously proud of all the stars of the stage who were inhabitants of the house in their humbler days; singers and dancers and actresses and acrobats, even some I had clippings of in my scrapbook back home! The parlour is fairly papered with their framed photographs, and on her merrier evenings she is a goldmine of stories. We told her we were newlyweds. I'm not sure she really believed us- she looked us up and down and said that she wasn’t one to ask questions ‘if the rent is paid and the premises is orderly.’

Our fellow lodgers certainly aren’t what you would call orderly. All those years I longed to live among bohemians, I never knew how noisy they were! But what a collection of people.

Miss Christina has a popular female impersonation act. It feels strange to call her a female ‘impersonator’, when she lives as a woman on-stage and off. Everyone calls her Miss Christina. (I called her Miss Pickering once and everybody laughed.) I don’t know what her male name is and have no inclination to ask; I can’t imagine calling her Mr Anything. I suppose in a way she is like me.

Mr Berel and Mr Rivkin are quite a different kettle of fish. They work backstage, like me, and are very political. They stay up until all hours of the night arguing about Marx and drinking dreadful Russian spirits, and usually finish up singing maudlin songs in Yiddish until someone goes and thumps on their door. Otherwise they spend their free time going to political meetings in Vatore Street in the Jewish neighbourhood, near where Eli’s family lives! Although they argue incessantly they are plainly devoted to each other.

Then there is Bella Rosen. Some days the door rings two or three times with  deliveries of flowers, bonbons or love-notes from one of her gentleman admirers. I can well understand why. She is very popular in the vaudeville and musical comedies, and some of her costumes are quite astonishingly skimpy, but I think she could stand stock still in the middle of the stage wearing a potato sack and still bring the house down. Her rooms look as though they were transposed from the more scandalous sort of French novel. Mother People back home would say she was no better than she should be, but so far as I can see 'as good as she should be’ is perfectly sweet. She is forever passing on boxes of bonbons from her admirers, and I know she gives half of the jewellery she receives to Miss Christina, with whom she is great friends.

Miss Hammond and Miss Healy work in scenery and wardrobe respectively.  Miss Hammond is rather fierce. She smokes cigarettes just like a man and wears knickerbockers on her bicycle and even on occasion about the house! I suppose it would be rather rich of me to cast stones in that regard. Miss Healy is Irish and rather scatty. They are friends of long standing and share a room.

And lastly there is Cecilia Rheinhold, who is in the play with Hon. She is from Germany and apparently already quite well-known there. One certainly gets that impression to hear her talk, in any case. But Hon seems very taken with her. She says she is being perfectly sweet to her in rehearsals and showing her how things are done, etc. and even offered to ‘run lines’ with her (that means practice) outside rehearsal. The play is called The Cherry Orchard; it is by a Russian and apparently it is supposed to be a comedy. I must say the Russians must have a very odd sense of humour.

At present I am still working backstage as a sort of general dogsbody or factotum, generally with Mr Berel and Mr Rivkin. The work is so much more exhausting than anything we ever did on the farm. I fall into bed aching all over and some evenings it’s all I can do to stay awake at dinner! So you can rest easy knowing I have no time for fleshpots or debauchery.

All this is so I can make myself useful until Leslie King, the celebrated male impersonator, returns from tour. I am to be trained up as a sort of apprentice, and if I am good enough I might even have my own act some day. Just think of it! You might come and see me in top and tails. Quite a way from the Little Windenburg Dramatic Society!

Enclosed is a studio photograph of Hon and me, paid for extremely rashly out of my first month’s wages. You can’t think how exciting it is to have money one has earned oneself- even if it is hardly more than the pin money I used to get back home.

Your loving brother,

Clement

P.S. Please convey my gratitude to Eli for his willingness to pass on my letters.

previous | next | beginning

[storkmuffin]

Oh what ballets have you gone too and would you recommend them? The ones I do want to go to havent been put up locally yet so im thinking of widening my horizons until im in a better position to travel.

OKAY Omg I'm so happy to spout off about this!!!!!!!

My absolute favorites are ballets by the choreographer Balanchine, who founded the New York City Ballet. To start I would recommend Serenade (Tchaikovsky music to die for), Concerto Barocco (Bach), Symphony in C (Bizet), Jewels and Chaconne as entries. He has GREAT leotard ballets set to modern classical music but you have to like dissonant or atonal music (like Hindemith) and have patience for no costumes no sets no story and only movement which is not friendly if you don't already know his style. He also made a wonderful Nutcracker and a Midsummer Nights Dream if you want a story ballet. The New York City Ballet owns that repertory but! The Paris Opera Ballet has for years been doing a FABULOUS job of it too as have Stuttgart Ballet.

I have been to 4 types of ballets (my own categorization) put up by the following companies - New York City Ballet and other Balanchine type ballet companies, the American Ballet Theater, the Marijnsky, the Bolshoi, the Royal Ballet, the English National Ballet, the Royal Danish Ballet, the Paris Opera Ballet, the Korean National Ballet, Universal Ballet, San Francisco Ballet and the Bulgarian Varna Ballet too.

The four types of ballets are

1. Story ballets. 2. No story ballets 3. Modern ballets (sometimes story sometimes costume sometimes neither) 4. Total reworkings/Broadway adjacents

The Story ballets are Nutcracker, Giselle, Swan Lake, La Bayadere, Romeo and Juliet - that most companies will cycle through and put on. Oh Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty too - I like the English National and the Royal Ballet versions of these a lot.

The English, French, Danes and Russians all have very distinct styles from each other in terms of how they like to do movement and narrative using very similar steps and the same music so I would start anywhere and just dig in. I wish I could say stuff about the Italians like the Scala but I have only seen individual dancers like the IMMENSELY AMAZING Roberto Bolle and Alessandra Ferri doing guest spots with the ABT so I can't say.

The no story ballets are mostly Balanchine to me bc I see them as separate from the work of Jerome Robbins who sometimes had little plots and sometimes didn't.

These I would call Modern Ballets. Jerome Robbins is another WONDERFUL choreographer who is known for West Side Story which is sad bc I don't like those dances and his modern ballets are so much better! Like Afternoon of a Faun (two dancers meet in an empty rehearsal room and have a whole compact romance), Dances at a Gathering, Goldberg Variations. Fancy Free puts three Ballet boys in sailor outfits doing the cutest moves ever. He also made The Cage where female insects kill their males after mating. I recommend all of these but for Goldberg - the pianist can have a hard time lol.

Roland Petit made a Carmen for Paris Opera Ballet which is super sexy, which I also recommend.

Once you've seen a couple Swan Lakes - I would go with Bolshoi and Paris Opera just for comparison - and you like more Broadway type dancing you might want to watch Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake with boy swans. Completely reworked but so good.

I want to know more about Danish Ballet because of Bournonville- there's this wonderful friendly energy, a relaxed elegance to Danish Ballet that is very unique to that country but I haven't had that much chance.

Shading over into straight up modern dance, Twyla Tharpe made In the Upper Room which I saw danced by the American Ballet Theater which I found so cathartic I went into a crying jag of hysteria in the elevator down to the parking lot of Lincoln Center. Jerome Robbins also made a Ballet set to music by the same composer, Phillip Glass, Glass Pieces, which is so fun and feels very loving to New York City.

Uhh I think I have to stop even though I can say more. Anyway Ballet is great and I think everyone should go. Even bad Ballet performed badly is always worth it to me

[sunskate]

When people say Christina’s skating was technically weak before moving to IAMO, could you provide some examples of what that looked like or means or explain what has changed? My “goal” for the season is to get better at understanding the technicality of ice dance :)

i'd love someone who can be more technically detailed chime in on this question, but i watched this video of them skating Farrucas at Lake Placid in 2019, which was the first time i saw them live - and omg how they've grown

back then, they were doing types of lifts where he does a lot of the work- he's lifting and spinning her. many places you can see he's pulling or pushing her, and their speed is determined by how fast she can go. you can tell he could go faster. the video quality isn't great, but sometimes you can see the mark their skates make on the ice, and she's kicking up snow on some turns. she's not as deeply or smoothly curving into the ice as now.

i'm not saying any of this to criticize - Igor favors his male skaters and underestimates his female skaters. in a TSL interview he was asked to talk about VM and DW, and he didn't say a word about Tessa or Meryl, just talked about how good Scott and Charlie were - if he treated female Olympic gold medalist dancers like this, you can imagine what teen Christina's experience in that camp might have been

anyway, her performance quality- in 2019 she has less control over her limbs and her carriage isn't as open as now. the intentional quality all the way through movements isn't there yet

2023 Christina has face, she uses her upper body beautifully and expressively, her skating has more flow and glide, and she's SO strong - their handstand lift would be unimaginable for 2019 Christina. and most of all, she looks more confident and like her skating is personal - i know that's not technical, but it makes a big difference in how performances feel. their RD depends on feeling free

[deep-hearts-core]

1996

i'm not reviewing the songs from the prequalifying round here. those will be in a separate post after and not included in my yearly top or average table (just as i don't count the songs from 2020, or ro 2016/ru 2017).

Turkey This rocks - the piano part in the instrumental is super catchy and memorable. And ofc I think Sebnem's voice is great and she has a good, subtle stage presence. The prechorus is a bit of a vibe killer, though, it feels really off and destroys the momentum.

UK Gina G herself is undoubtedly the best thing about this performance. I like to watch her and I like the way she looks in that dress. However, her backup dancers are simply too hype (the routine could have been pared down or eliminated altogether) and whatever camera or lighting effects they were trying to do don't come across well, at least not 25 years later. The song is just ok. A little too frenetic for my liking but not terrible.

Spain That's a pass from me - it's better once the beat kicks in but I'm pretty bored by the whole thing and I don't like his voice.

Portugal This is a hard one. On the one hand, the sections of the song don't cohere, leaving it pretty jumbled-sounding. On the other, I like all of the different sections of it, even though I don't think it works as one piece. So it's good, but also fragmented.

Cyprus He sounds good, but again, I am bored. Ranks above Spain because he just sounds better.

Malta It's a very good song for her. It isn't personally to my taste, though, and more importantly there are moments where she overperforms physically and that affects her singing. But ultimately she looks good and sounds good for most of the song and we have to give her credit for that.

block ranking: Turkey > Portugal > Malta > UK > Cyprus > Spain (this was hard!)

Croatia Those screamed notes my GOD. Just. Frankly startling. Not welcome. Certainly, uh, gives the song a unique character. Ignoring those (hard not to), it's an OK song but she's got so much vibrato. Too much. I don't like it.

Austria Ok, let me get this straight, it's a gospel song sung in Austrian dialect by a guy who sounds like Elvis but just sits at the piano the whole time? Ok! Great! Um, I fucking love this and I think it's a lot of fun but I think it's also performative multiculturalism at its finest and that George sitting at the piano the whole time really detracts from the performance. His backup singers were so much more fun to watch - the male backup singer probably could have performed this as the lead artist and it would have gone better.

Switzerland I am learning why everyone hates ballads.

Greece What I will say is that this year is turning out to have a hard dichotomy between "good songs" and "boring songs" and while this is less boring than the last one it fails to capture my attention. The most memorable thing about it is the photobooth filter.

Estonia Maarja-Liis has a really beautiful voice, but it doesn't match too well with Ivo's, and the song doesn't have as much structure as I want it to. I'm never certain on where the verse is and where the chorus is.

Norway Something funny about her vocal quality on the word "evighet". A little too shrill, she's not exactly on the pitch or there's something wrong with her vowel or I don't know, it just sounds wrong. Anyway this is one of the better ballads, it's beautiful and all, but I /still/ find my thoughts wandering all over the place.

block ranking: Austria > Norway > Estonia > Croatia > Greece > Switzerland

France It's nice but I'm BORED! aGAIN! why is this contest so excruciating every other song. Please god. I wanted this to be good I wanted a good minority language song and then it was not that.

Slovenia This one is ok. She sounds good and there's some interesting chord progression stuff going on.

Netherlands Probably felt a little dated at the time, but here it is a welcome break from the deluge of boredom! There's good vocal match here and they seem comfortable with each other onstage too.

Belgium I'm glad it was another upbeat one but it wasn't the best of the upbeat songs for me tbh. I liked the card visual effect. And the further back I watch the funnier it is for me to see the camera effects like we've been seeing all night here. Poland 2022 did not come out of a vacuum, people!

Ireland It's different from everything else we've seen so far, and Eimear has incredible control over her voice. Her soprano range is light and airy and she makes hitting all those notes seem effortless. I wish there was something more to it, it feels like something is missing. But I am definitely not complaining about its win.

Finland It was okay? Nice guitar. It felt cohesive which is probably the most I can say for it.

block ranking: Ireland > Netherlands > Finland > Belgium > Slovenia > France

Iceland She sings this just fine but I do not really like jazz, sorry Anna

Poland One of the better ballads, it has good movement to it. She sounds very strained vocally though.

B&H This year is going to be so hard to rank because all the ballads are going to blend together and it's going to be awful

Slovakia Gets points above all the other ballads because of how gorgeous this man's voice is.

Sweden This is so unlike what I usually conceive of Sweden sending but I kinda like it. Nice passing tones in the chorus. Idunno.

My top 23 1)Austria 2)UK 3)Turkey 4)Portugal 5)Slovakia 6)Norway 7)Malta 8)Ireland 9)Netherlands 10)Slovenia 11)Sweden 12)Cyprus 13)Estonia 14)Croatia 15)Finland 16)Belgium 17)Greece 18)Switzerland 19)Iceland 20)Spain 21)Poland 22)France 23)B&H

^^ not sure what tf this is. the ranking's a mess, and i'm realizing that i maybe enjoyed, like, four songs out of 23. godddd.

Miscellaneous Thoughts at least these hosts did a good job. they're pretty funny and had good chemistry with each other, and the male host is a really good singer! especially obsessed with him trying to talk to the austrian guy's mom in german and being so utterly confused. i'm also a fan of the green screen scoreboard. all in all i think this was a well-done show, just with shit songs. it's very interesting for me, watching this voting sequence. ireland, about to get their 7th win, soared ahead in the juries very quickly, making the winner fairly obvious from the jump; i imagine that audiences in 1996 felt rather the same way as audiences in 2023 when loreen did the same. it's likely no coincidence that televoting was trialed the next year. i know that the ebu is likewise in discussions about the format and weighting of the juries. and lastly, it's kind of funny how ireland gave their 12 this year to sweden. the country at its peak, about to fall from grace, handing over their 12 to the country that will tie their record. [brb googling who sweden gave their douze to this year] oh, it was finland? in both the juries and the public? hm i guess we better get ready for finnish domination at some point in the next 30 years!

[struggle-but-its-all-ocean-floor]

Feel like making a giant post of some of the new songs I've heard in the past weeks... None of them are particularly good...

Let's start with Eunbi, because I like her. As usual, her music has that kind of tacky, dated sound that somehow charms while sounding cheap. I can't tell if I hate it or like it. She hasn't topped Glitch by a long mile, but she's very consistent. I think Sabotage is as good as any of her previous releases, like Underwater, but I remember liking her albums and this one, which is just 3 songs, isn't great. Unnatural is very forgettable, Bad Blood is better but also forgettable.

Let's talk about the Sabotage MV and choreo for a sec. The MV confused me, because I'm shit at understanding the obvious, but it seemed like she was hooking up with a guy and a girl, separately, and then found out that the girl and guy were hooking up alone and that was "sabotage" lmao? The lesbian subtext was pretty much text. It was certainly a bold video. Had me hooked. The choreo was... a choice. It's mostly pretty average gg choreo, but I really don't get the choice to have her support herself on a male dancer and twerk her ass at the audience, or the choice to have her dramatically lipsync two high notes like it was even remotely realistic (hate it when idols do this, it looks so fucking ridiculous and like they're insulting our intelligence), or why the song ends with a guy twirling a chair on the floor - where does the chair even come from? Can't even remember seeing it in the choreo... Anyway, choices.

Moving on to SVT, I wanted to talk about two songs. They're doing a lot of unit stuff now, it seems. I honestly only enjoy their tts - most of their music is very mid to me, and I don't get how they're overflowing with talent. A lot of the members don't have amazing stage presence, vocals, or anything and it's the half that does that people brag about. Anyway, Wonwoo and Jeonghan did a song together, which was... not great to me. They went all out on the MV, and the song itself isn't terrible, but Jeonghan has very weak vocals and can't carry a song by himself with just another person. Wonwoo is also nothing special imo. I watched their M Countdown stage and it was pretty boring.

The performance team released a song a while back, Spell, and it was... another choice... I thought the MV was lowkey pretty ridiculous - it was well edited, had some cool visuals, but the outfits were so outlandish and it was so maximalist... I think I'm being prejudiced because that much makeup and femininity was a bit uncomfortable to me, and I would probably like the video more if it was a gg - but, Dino saying "everyday I'll give it to you" while dramatically thrusting his hips was hilarious. You have 4 guys who, imo, are not sexy, trying to make a sexy song. Their vocals also aren't anything special, apart from Hoshi's. But kudos on them for making a bold MV - especially Jun, for his cropped top, short shorts and knee high boots combo - but, performance wise, nothing about it worked for me. The song itself is okay? It's probably a grower.

I've listened to so many other songs...

WayV She a Wolf - what a mess. Some parts were good, but some of the choreo and that antidrop chorus were a disaster. Only heard the song once though. Kudos to them for nailing the Korean.

RIIZE Boom Boom Bass - I started paying more attention to them when I saw they are all adults (young, but still). Their last song was better imo, but this one was pretty decent. Very Exo instead of NCT, which is different for SM.

Everglow Zombie - I liked the song on first listen because I was expecting worse, but it's pretty plain. I feel bad for them. They had their first comeback in a year or more, they don't tour... How do they make money?? (They probably don't). I imagine they're close to disbanding even if they're pretty well known among kpop fans. I thought fans would appreciate the chiller song after Pirate, but maybe not. Kpop fans always hate it when groups "change concept", but stop liking said concepts when they become dated... Have to listen to their other new tracks.

ARTMS Virtual Angel - An okay song... Nice... But the MV was... the strangest I've seen, like it was on actual crack. Have to listen to the album.

Treasure King Kong - First time I listened to it I had second hand embarrassment and couldn't understand why 2nd gen music was making a comeback. It has a certain charm - it's very camp, very kpop - but it's also the type of song people think of when they mock kpop. Wouldn't in a million years show it to a non kpoppie...

XG Woke Up - Choreo slaps in it's simplicity, the girl always doing the chorus has sick facial expressions (that smile), the girls are actually pretty good rappers, and some verses are amazing. But XG are definitely hard to digest. It's all about shock value. A lot of their lyrics are painfully cringe, and the whole wolf concept they did was both brilliant and yikes (MV was magnetic in it's weirdness - they made the members look kinda ugly and didn't care, but it was also so cringe; definitely for the shock value - those teeth... why are idols doing this now?).

WOOAH Pom Pom Pom - Have to listen to it again, but it didn't sound great, and, wow, they really went for the sexiness, I guess. Very different for them.

H1-Key Let it Burn - Please stop with the pop rock in kpop.

There are a million other releases I could comment on, but I'll stop here.

While I'm letting it all out, Nayeon's performances have been so dull. She has bright vocals and a fun personality, but on stage she's been emotionless and stiff. ABCD is a powerful song, supposedly mature and sexy, but she's unconfident on stage. She's just doing the choreo and moving her lips. It doesn't look like she's happy, and it's not sexy or cool at all. She doesn't have the skillset to pull off this choreo and song. The MV was one thing, but live... And her performance video was bad. JYPE tried to be hip and failed.

Okay, goodbye now.

[dwtsfun]

Dancing with the Stars Season 5 Week 4: Rewatch

I'm so excited for this week. I get to see some of my favorite dances from season 5. Anyway, hope you all are doing okay. I'm gonna go ahead and get started with the rewatch review. Also, Samantha is back this week.

Mark and Kym- Viennese Waltz (Judges' Score=22, My Score=7)- This was a major improvement for Mark. You can tell that he was feeling the music and really took CAI's critique to heart. His posture was a little off and I wish he would have more artistry in his dancing, especially his arms. I also saw that he lost time several times. But again, he's making progress.

Sabrina and Mark- Paso Doble (Judges' Score=30, My Score=10)- Perfection. Just perfect. And I really wanna talk about their attention to detail with this dance. Her hands, her fingers and her feet? *chef's kiss* It was absolutely gorgeous and one of my favorite dances of all time. Also, I love the color that they wore.

Jane and Tony- Viennese Waltz (Judges' Score=26, My Score=9)- I loved this dance so much. It was so sweet and so pretty. Her lines are amazing. Yes, there was a small lift, but I truly don't care if it's something that isn't planned, it just happened. I will say that Jane was a little too hoppy at times throughout this dance, but that's it.

Floyd and Karina- Paso Doble (Judges' Score=23, My Score=7)- This was Floyd's best dance by far. He still needs to work on more finesse and control. However, I see the improvement and that he has worked on that a lot. I also saw a huge improvement in posture. I just wish he was able to stay one more week. He figured it out. Also, CAI's lift critique was some bs.

Mel and Maks- Viennese Waltz (Judges' Score=26, My Score=9)- It was a really pretty dance. Her posture was especially impressive. What I will say is that similar to Jane, she was a little extra hoppy here and there. Otherwise, it was so good.

Cameron and Edyta- Paso Doble (Judges' Score=27, My Score=9)- Cameron started out the dance kinda shaky. I could tell that the confidence was not there immediately. Once the sleeves came off though, he was in it and focused and gave a fantastic performance. His upper body can be loosened up a little more, but that's it. It was great and I'm really enjoying rewatching these two.

Marie and Jonathan- Viennese Waltz (Judges' Score=26, My Score=8)- Marie's lines were much better, she was stronger throughout her core and she had a much better posture. The performance, as always, was great. Even though her technique was better, it was very obvious in this dance that her footwork needs a lot more attention.

Jennie and Derek- Paso Doble (Judges' Score=27, My Score=9)- Jennie killed this dance. She completely transformed. She was so confident and sure of herself. She also had a much better posture this week. I want to say that what I found most impressive about this dance was how Jennie stayed in control the entire way. With how chaotic the music was and the complexity of Derek's choreography, it could have gone left at any point. But it didn't.

Helio and Julianne- Viennese Waltz (Judges' Score=27, My Score=9)- Helio is back! This was such a good dance. Helio is so charismatic and special. I don't think there has been another dancer like Helio since this season. At least another male. I had to agree with Len. His head position was forward and odd. As a result, his posture was caved in. It was strange, but an otherwise fantastic dance.

My Rankings and Scores Out of 30:

1 Sabrina and Mark- 30 2 Jennie and Derek- 28 3 Cameron and Edyta- 27 = Helio and Julianne- 27 5 Mel and Maks- 26 = Jane and Tony- 26 7 Marie and Jonathan- 25 8- Floyd and Karina- 23 9 Mark and Kym- 21

The competition this week was so close. Honestly, season 5 has been a fantastic watch so far. I also wanna say that one of the more recent dances (Nyle's quickstep) started playing automatically after Helio and the quality and content of the dances has changed so much over the years. It's honestly sad.

So unfortunately Mel and Floyd ended up in the bottom 2 this week. While I'm glad that Floyd was the one sent home, I do wish he had gotten another week. I wanted to see what Karina could've done with him after his breakthrough. That's all I got. Let me know your thoughts and I will talk to you all soon.

[kinetic-elaboration]

April 19: Coyote Ugly

I did a lot of sleeping today, which I suppose is something I needed. I fell asleep on my couch last night, so that’s like not great is what I’m saying. But I think this was good for me and I hope to feel better tomorrow.

After dinner, I watched Coyote Ugly, which I had never seen before although perhaps I would have been better off seeing it when I was 11, when it first came out. I think it’s the sort of thing that needs to imprint on you early and then its extremely timely look and sound will make you feel nostalgic forever. Not that it takes much to make me nostalgic for the late 90s. That was about half the reason I watched it: I wanted some lighthearted stuff from that era. The other half was that I wanted to see hot women dance on a bar.

Overall, I liked it. It was fine. I think it had too much romance and general drama centered around Violet and too little hot women dancing on the bar. That’s actually a semi-serious critique. Like, Violet’s underdog chasing a creative dream story is fine, very standard, very common in that era of teen/young-adult-centered film, but it’s also just not that complex. I wanted to pretend to be at the bar, I wanted to see more of the other coyotes, I wanted the whole found-family feel around the bar itself. Truly. Those were the best parts. Although it was very obvious that the dancers and the actors were not the same people and the frenetic cutting to separate face shots from body and feet shots was a little dizzying. I liked Lil a lot and I wanted her to be my scary/hot boss/older-sister-figure. And I want to hear more about Tyra Banks in law school.

Also I don’t think she got enough credit for running a successful business as a woman, and for all of the work she and the other women did in like… fighting back men who are always on the edge of assaulting them. Like….girl, you couldn’t make this in 2024, there would be #discourse. Instead, we have the two biggest male roles judging Violet for her job—a job she’s good at, where she’s kept safe by the power of her female boss, and where she pretty obviously isn’t doing anything with which she’s uncomfortable. And neither of them really apologizes for it? Like maybe there is sort of a critique to be had of her choosing the bar over her chance to play live and further the career she actually wants. But she’s fired the same night so there really isn’t any resolution to that idea, any chance for her to actually choose priorities. I suppose it comes belatedly in her choice not to return to the bar—but that’s an easier thing to do than to quit, or to scale back, or to recalibrate her priorities on her own. Neither she nor Kevin really apologizes or resolves anything. Both Kevin and Violet’s dad are at the bar at the end, so I guess they basically got over it. But that works with the dad more in my opinion, because he really got into it, he saw just how ultimately it was harmless fun, and that was rather heartwarming. Kevin just kind of… sails along as “the boyfriend” and tbh I feel like he’d pulled out the sexist critiques in a moment if given the least provocation.

I think the implication was that he was an undocumented immigrant and I was sort of curious why they walked right up to that but never actually said it. I don’t know. Even though the romance was probably fully 40% of the film, it still felt very obligatory and paint by numbers to me. The men in these films are never worth shit.

But I did get my 90s aesthetic for sure. Random actors I fully did not expect to see showing up (Melanie Lynskey’s Jersey accent… I’m glad she chose a different American voice for Yellowjackets because can you imagine). The fashion. The color scheme. The music. The music! That list of bands appearing at the Bowery alone SENT me. Vertical Horizon. Edwin McCain. Suicide Machines. I need my 90s playlist immediately.

[retphienix]

This little quest, like many, is more or less just filler while we wait on various background events to happen.

We help a bard, he doesn't know anything about our dream cave, now we know the artificer or whomever has finished analyzing the mcguffin we left back there, so we have a direction to go (or will) so this was basically just "Go do a side quest (90% of the game's content) to recruit a bard :)" and that's fine.

Speaking of: Bard!

The Bard in FFT is, well, pretty shit. BUT, I have nostalgic admiration to that iteration of the class. It's a favorite :)

It's one of the most difficult classes to unlock in that game (not saying much but still relevant!) requiring you to level magic themed classes (Summoner and Mediator) with a male whom in Tactics are statistically inclined towards physical jobs (quick way to gauge that being that at level 1 most males have 4 strength and 3 magic attack, and females have the inverse).

So already, it's "hard" to get and has a uniquely counter-intuitive acquisition method (train the traditionally fighter characters to be mages) which makes it neat, but also it has an entirely unique playstyle where Bards in FFT are channeling classes who target the entire map.

They can begin singing anywhere on the map and every time they finish an entire verse the song effect will play out, targeting everyone.

I just find that really cool because it's so unique in the game, only a few classes target (or can target) "everyone", one of the others being Dancers, the female counterpart whom fulfill all the same requirements but inversed (magic leaning character levels physical classes instead).

Anyways, Bards in FFT are underwhelming without abusing the 900 different ways you can break a character to FORCE them to be good. By default Bards are a support class that buffs or heals ally units (everywhere on the map) but for VERY small amounts and VERY slowly (often taking many turns to channel their song and complete a verse all to heal for like 10 hp).

I love em! I love em when they are bad, I love when you break the game and make them good, great and interesting class!

I'm stoked to see how they actually work here.

At a glance, it turns out Bard didn't exist in FFTA?

MOST of the classes in FFTA2 are just copy pasted from FFTA-

(For better- interesting archer classes,

and worse- so many underwhelming classes in my opinion lol)

-but as it turns out, Bard didn't exist in TA, and is a unique job in TA2 that apparently only this guy has, that's kinda neat, making Bard into a signature class :D

Reading the wiki it seems like they really did lean in on the same ideas as other bards in the series, namely "support magic" and the like. I'm actually interested in using this guy though, if only to see just how it works. Because it SOUNDS (heh) like his songs affect everyone within 4 tiles of him, basically being a magic bomb wherever he's standing.

That's, actually kinda cool, if that's accurate.

I hope that's the case and it's not just "You can target someone within 4 tiles" but I guess we'll see. That will kill my interest entirely.

Regardless, glancing at his skills, yep, that's a bard. I like that.

Geez, I kinda hope he's underwhelming though because I REALLY like my team right now.

Double mage, double melee, double range feels great with this lineup.

Both Paladin and Defender work fantastically for tanking through everything head on.

Redmage/summoner and my eclectic Nu Mou who keeps changing jobs have successfully covered the healing and "pelt them with spells" end of things.

And MY LORD is my hume hunter putting in work consistently- and my Clockwork spamming gun moogle might not be damaging things but the status buffs and debuffs are sensational (note, I'm cheating and save scum every time lmao- definitely a class I would HATE without cheating but I'm shameless and it's fun :P)

I'd really like to slip a bard in if it turns out he IS a magic bomb and doesn't target 1 unit at a time, but I'm genuinely not sure who I'd move out.

Maybe the red mage... but, while her tools are kinda just "magic lite" like elementalist who is just a simplified (and less prone to proccing status in my experience) geomancer from FFT, or red mage who is just black and white mage with extra steps, or summoner- who in this game certainly FEELS like black mage with extra steps since the damage is so mediocre- these are still useful tools to bring to the squad.

It's just a shame that she has so many options for magic but because they are all options conceived of in FFTA originally, they are all basically just "Cast a spell on 1 guy for a little damage" or "Cast the same spell a black mage does". Bleh.

I'm starting to think Viera just have shit options all around in terms of appeasing my tastes and that them, along with how I tried to master all the skills and found so much overlap in classes, tainted my entire FFTA run.

It's either "Magic lite" or "Normal attacks that sometimes proc status" or "Cast death (but with a bow)", all 3 aren't interesting enough.

*sigh* doesn't help that a lot of FFTA design, including here, is "Make it interesting by adding a debuff chance!" and that's it. Between Fencer, Elementalist, Assassin, Juggler, Ninja, Base Archer in a sense, Sniper, JEEZ- a lot of classes in FFTA mistake "add a status proc" to "Make this class interesting without making it play any differently".

There are winners though, like re-imagining tank classes to have more options to actually tank, or giving Hunters an identity by making their skills more effective against monsters, or, indeed, being a bit silly with some ideas like Morphers or Clockwork.

I just wish so many abilities weren't just "Hit for a little damage and sometimes proc a debuff" or "Hit HARD but inaccurately / Hit SOFT but accurately" but in the grand scheme of things that's not every option or even most- when so many weird options like morph exist etc.

[was-it-really-worth-it]

Game 224 - Final Fantasy XIV by Square Enix

What did I think it was at first? This is a review of of the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV, which includes a free trial that includes the entirety of "A Realm Reborn" AND the award-winning "Heavensward" expansion up to level 60 with no restrictions on playtime. FFXIV's newest expansion, "Endwalker", is out now.

Now that this is out of the way...

A year ago, my husband was really into this game and I wanted to try it so we could play together. I hated it so much I quit within the first hour, but they convinced me to try again a few weeks later. And now, it's been a year and I just finished the main plot of the latest expansion. I'm going to try to very gently sketch out the plot and avoid major spoilers for Endwalker, but I may accidentally spoil other expansions as it's all a blur at this point.

How was the character creator? You must assign your character as male or female, but you can choose from a multitude of classes (some combat, some not), races, appearance options, and outfit choices. I chose to play as a male Viera, and I have two classes at the level cap - one is dancer, and one is white mage. I'm working on lancer now!

I tend to prefer more feminine outfits on my bunny boy, and there are quite a few I can choose from! Some, however, can't be worn on a masculine frame which is a total downer.

I did enjoy that I could get married in the game! I married my RL spouse and it's the only wedding we got to have because of Covid. The perks are nice and it was a fun way to get my friends together, so that's a special memory I'll always have in this game.

How was the game? There's quite a bit going on here! The MMO gameplay is at the core of the adventure, and as the plot propels forward it spins through a variety of genres. You go from being a lowly adventurer to a hero on a cosmic scale, and on the way you build lots of relationships with figures in the world.

One of the things I really enjoyed about the narrative was how thoroughly planned it is. There are frequent callbacks to previous sections of the game where information gets expanded or revisited in a new light. They do a great job musically with this as well - motifs from other songs frequently pop up at significant story moments. As a whole, the music here is really well done.

You really get to love the characters - and because the story is so extensive, they really are able to show growth and development in the core cast. There are several plot twists and character changes that completely took me by surprise - a common refrain of my friends was "I couldn't wait for you to get to X part and see how that played out."

There's a really substantial main story that is carried through with typical MMO-style questing. The dungeons and raids are also like other MMOs I've played, though I appreciate that enemies telegraph their attacks a little more than in other MMOs I've played. I really feel like online raiding has taken the social niche that square dancing once held.

Each class feels a little different, and that's even without touching the crafting and gathering classes as I have not. There's also some farming sim elements that I haven't done yet. Housing is a huge part of the game - I didn't like it as much as I would in like The Sims, but my husband loves it so much.

What did I not love? My main quibble is with overworld questing. Unfortunately, I can only play solo for sort stretches of time on the main quest - the types of quests are a little repetitive and they get tedious. Go talk to someone, sit for a lore dump. go talk to someone...I usually nod off a little. The dungeon design is really fun and I wish there wasn't so much silly "go talk to x" design in the way.

The art assets are also starting to show their age a little, and closeups on pixelly textures aren't a cute look. The animations get better as the expansions go on, but a lot of the game isn't as pretty as most modern games.

At 23 days, 16 hours and $30 for the whole game plus $15 per month, was it really worth it? I really enjoy FFXIV, but I don't think I'd still be playing without a community of friends. If you have a social group that's into it, give it a try! I have definitely gotten my dollars worth!