#I actually don’t know if they’d be wearing their outfit in this scene but I decided to draw it anyway

[madbard]

I think Tumblr might be giving me a skewed impression of what ‘In Blood and Stars’ is about.

@actingwithportals this image is your fault. Thank you.

[smokingsoothesthesoul]

# DREW STARKEY — LIVE TALK SHOW

ִֶཐི༏ཋྀ ────୨ৎ──── drew’s first time on a talk show, which just so happens to be jimmy fallon’s and he’s known for scheming. he surprises drew starkey with his celebrity crush. which just so happens to be you.

ִֶཐི༏ཋྀ — pairing: actress!reader x drew starkey !

author’s note: please show some love, also this is my first time posting on here, and i don't know how good my one-shots are. enjoy!

word count : 1.8k

you were known for being one of the most famous actresses sought after. they’d been right for it, your acting was phenomenal. as much fame as you had, you never really let it get to your head, knowing where you had come from was the most important thing to you. 

not only that but you were also known for the activist and humanitarian organizations you’d created or supported alongside other celebrities, like angelina jolie, phoebe tonkin, daniel craig, etc.

so when daniel craig’s managers reached out to you it wasn’t a big surprise, apparently they had been reached out to by a talk show if they could invite you along as well. knowing daniel was more than glad to pass the invitation along, you accepted. 

you wondered why they’d want you there seeing as queer had just premiered, and that had nothing to do with you

—

drew had been nervous, he’d be on a talk show, but nonetheless he was a wreck. it took him forever to decide what he’d be wearing, ultimately deciding on a charcoal grey, and white tux with a black tie. he hoped his outfit would be fine for the show.

as he waited backstage for his introduction he paced around nervous, spinning his gold ring on his finger, an anxious tic he had. 

before he knew it, he heard jimmy fallon, “ladies and gentleman, let’s welcome the man everyone's been talking about, he’s rising to fame, the one and only drew starkey!” he announced as drew walked out and shook hands with the bodyguard on his way to the main set. 

hearing the loud cheers and roars of everyone was amazing and he couldn't help but be shook to his core, never in a hundred years would he have expected this. 

he waved to everyone as he made his way over to jimmy and shook his hand, before he proceeded to sit down in one of the couches.

“so drew we’re glad you accepted our invitation, isn’t that right?” jimmy asked the audience, before they all roared in agreement.

“i’m honored, thank you for inviting me.” drew replied confidently, knowing he was nervous inside.

“so we know you’ve been chasing gold for about four years, and now you’re in a queer relationship with daniel craig, james bond, which has premiered if i’m correct?” jimmy asked, knowing the answer but trying to build up the conversation.

“yes, out in theatres about a week ago.” drew replied. 

“how did that transition work, you know, from filming a show where you don’t really have a romantic relationship until recently to a full blown queer relationship?” jimmy asked curiously.

“honestly, a bit overwhelming and a lot of anxiety from my part. not more so because of the transition but just because i knew i had to ace this role. getting the opportunity to work alongside daniel craig and for luca guadagnino was truly the opportunity of a lifetime. whatever time it was, i knew i had to give it my all. sometimes i doubted my performance but daniel helped me and gave me advice whenever i needed it,” drew replied, while he felt himself relaxing a bit as he got comfortable enough to share personal details.

“there was even a time where,” drew began before lightly biting his lip amused at the story daniel shared with him, before continuing, “daniel told me of an experience he had with another co-star. basically when you first film scenes and most of all when they’re scenes like we were filming, the first day on set really is just practice. not reading lines, but actually practicing how certain scenes will go. in our case mature scenes were what we focused on at the beginning seeing as we’d be testing out our chemistry.”

“anywho the point is that once we were literally in the middle of a bed scene, nothing too explicit, and daniel chuckled when i fucked up a line because instead of saying ‘we can’t be doing this’ i said ‘we shan’t be doing this.’ he literally rolled out of bed and said he had to take a breather, i was confused, i mean we fuck up lines sometimes but never enough to call break,” drew explained.

“yeah normally that doesn’t happen, i would’ve been nervous,” jimmy commented.

drew laughed and nodded his head, before continuing, “i was dying of anxiety in the inside, i was like did i fuck up this badly. and i guess daniel could see it written on my face, which is when he walked over and explained how in his last role the same thing had happened with his co-star. and i couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief and literally said, ‘thank fuck’ to which he laughed at as he walked away to get a water.”

jimmy let out a chuckle at the ending of his story, and said, “oh my god i would’ve died of laughter too.” 

drew nodded as he swiped his backhand on his nose, a reflex of his, before replying “yeah i definitely would’ve too but honestly i was too nervous at the time, now i think back on it and laugh about it.”

“actually there was something i was looking forward to, with you here, let’s show this clip,” jimmy said motioning towards the tv for the audience.

before they knew it, drew was being interviewed by a reporter who asked who his celebrity crush was, ‘y/n y/ln’ he answered without falter.

as the video ended drew couldn’t help but let out a chuckle and turned to jimmy while he began, “is that still true?” 

drew knew the answer to that, and nodded, “yeah it is,” he replied confidently.

“we have a surprise for you if you look at the monitor,” jimmy said before motioning towards the tv.

if the world could swallow drew up whole, he’d let it. at that moment. because then and there on the tv, where times he’d stated his celebrity crush was y/n to interviewers and it was playing in chronological order.

as the video ended jimmy looked at him and playfully asked, “anything to comment?” 

drew couldn’t help but cover his mouth with one hand before sliding it down to reply, “genuinely that’d be mine if i could somehow reach her.”

“well who knows maybe one day you will,” jimmy commented supportively.

“unless i get the courage to actually dm her, it’ll be a pending matter,” drew replied.

“why the need for a dm? i’m right here,” you said after making your way quietly behind him signaling the audience to not spoil it.

at that moment, drew froze up, and instantly rose up from his seat but slowly turned around, not knowing if it was real.

as he slowly turned, you waved at him and slightly giggled at his nervous reaction. you waited for him to say something before you said anything else.

as you stood there waiting, drew finally caught a grip and let his charm play out even if he was a train wreck inside. 

“i’m drew starkey,” he introduced, stammering quite a bit. 

“i know,” you replied smiling.

hearing that drew’s brows rose in confusion, he didn’t expect that. he was a nobody and you were everything.

“i was invited to your premiere but i ended up in the er or else i would’ve been there, apologies,” you said, genuinely honest.

drew was lost for words, yet jimmy asked him, “drew you still there or are you too starstruck?” 

“mhm,” drew nodded, not necessarily indicating which one but they could all guess.

he couldn’t get over the fact you’d just apologized for not attending his premiere, gosh he was literally about to faint before he talked to himself in his head ‘get your shit together before you scare her’ which he proceeded to do, and extended his hand for her to shake.

“none of that, my mama taught me better than that” you replied before walking closer to him and pulling him into a hug.

drew couldn’t believe this was happening but reacted fast enough to not make it seem awkward for the audience, at least that's what he hoped and reciprocated the hug. wrapping his hands around your body.

as they pulled apart, you walked up to jimmy and shook his hand seeing as there was a literal desk between you both and greeted him. 

“jimmy it’s been a while,” you commented.

“glad to have you back on here,” jimmy replied genuinely.

“now that we’re dealing with a starstruck man, we actually have a few live questions, if you don’t mind answering them?” jimmy asked.

“of course, ask away,” she replied amused, wanting to know what was being asked.

jimmy read from his phone, “how does it feel to be drew starkey’s celebrity crush?”

“well honestly, and i quote, from the man himself, ‘i’m honored,’” you replied knowing drew was known for his replies of being honored.

next to you drew couldn’t help but smile amused knowing he said that quite a lot, he hadn’t been lying he really was honored. but to hear that you were honored he thought of you a certain way, well that was the most fucking honored he’d be in his life. before, now, or after.

“what do you think of drew starkey and his roles?” jimmy asked, reading off the second question being asked by the audience.

“well honestly, i’m definitely an outer banks fan. i’m glad he’s finally getting the recognition he deserved, i’ve been there since season one, people now are barely catching on,” you started.

as you replied, drew couldn’t help but feel touched at what you were saying. he really had just risen to fame this past year, with the new season of outer banks even though he’d been there since day one of the show.

“i’ll admit this new season and the past one that came out, i couldn’t help but feel a tad bit jealous that our local psycho was tied up and locked in with someone,” you admitted lightly, chuckling amused.

“for me this is a situation where i love the actor but hate the character unfortunately, because rafe deserved better, in this season four that came out. sofia betrayed him and genuinely frustrated me,” you explained.

drew couldn’t help but feel touched at how you were talking about his character, because it was something he’d poured his heart into. 

“one last question for both of you before we go,” jimmy asked before a drum roll sound came on to build anticipation.

“have we created a successful cupid match?” jimmy asked, to which the audience cheered, curious as well.

at that moment both drew and you gazed into each other's eyes, “only time will tell,” you answered truthfully, ‘but maybe we’ll get there’ you tried to communicate that through your gaze with drew. 

the cameras cut and now there was a rising to fame actor, holding out his hand for a famous actress to take. 

and that she did.

[junebluues]

ROUND 7 TEASER ROUND 7 TEASER SCREAMSS

OH GOD ITS SO FUCKING OVER.

i’m actually a little bit obsessed as to how this round looks more like a concert than a competition. i don’t think we’ve ever seen a stage like this in alnst at all.

like. LOOK AT THIS THING. they’ve got light sticks and everything. (which are popular at k-pop concerts, for those who don’t know.)

i mean, i guess it makes sense that they’d go all out like this because round 7 is the last round. what i find interesting is the amount of bright and colorful light that’s been used… even in luka and till’s individual frames in this trailer.

okay so, it’s confirmed that till is wearing green, which is also present in the lights on stage. and that green tank top is see through with a black one under it. and the orange light from above… i can really only think of the first teaser art we got of this round and the meteor shower scene.

i feel like this could mean we might see ivan from till’s pov this time. and i’m also wondering if the lights we see on stage (that also look like a sort of projection at the back of the stage? i won’t say they’re using a cyc because this is alien civilization here, but it looks pretty similar) will change colors as the round goes on. i’m starting to think they will, only because we’ve seen colors other than the blue and green that are important to both luka and till, and i doubt they’d miss a chance to use some color symbolism in r7.

if the lights on the back of the stage ARE a projection, i’m very interested to learn what they’re going to project onto it. i don’t really have an idea of what a projection could be for this round, because i personally think it’ll be too foul to put the meteor shower footage on screen while till sings…

oh and don’t even get me started on luka’s outfit.

YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. WHY ARE THE GIRLS OUT LUKA. and the back is open too. luka. why are you getting so bold.

i think luka’s outfit is still pretty much white? but i’m not all that sure because of this lighting. which means, they’re both still wearing black and white. and that feels so odd to me, because the duos wearing black and white have only been mizisua and ivantill. and in all the other rounds, the competitors were wearing the same color. that’s making me a little scared, except the one wearing white always dies. in this case, luka is wearing white, so if we follow the old color rule, that means he would die. although, i don’t think this is the case now.

till is also wearing green over his black top. it seems like a rebellious act, covering up what the segyein gave to him, just like him covering up his brand in the all-in cover. i genuinely feel like the outcome of this round could be anything. i do believe that till will survive, but he won’t come out unscathed. as for luka, i have no idea. the green with the black tells me that something else is going to happen that we might not expect.

basically, i’m terrified for late october

[strarri]

here is me just rambling about kimetsu gakuen obamitsu :33 1.6k word vomit i did not reread this whatsoever and i might just continue!!

obamitsu in the kimetsu gakuen needs more appreciation… i find obanai and mitsuri’s relationship in the kimetsu gakuen just so cute and its tearing me apart GRHAHHHHH

it’s an alternate universe, so just imagine the two in a relationship without demons without trauma. i still don’t get why obanai still wears a mask even though we’ve seen the snake demon in the diner and he doesn’t seem to know her at all so i’m assuming they kept it for his signature designs sake. i understand it since there are alot of writing holes on all of the characters in the gakuen, since you do take away the demons that make them, well them?? small headcanon that obanai is just allergic to everything that it’s embarrassing

he still has issues with eating food in public and still eats small portions or nothing at all, and the writers just stuck with him being aftaid of women?? (shown in chapter 10 and the extra scene in chapter 30) so they really just kept him as obanai iguro with no trauma. it’s kind of sad that the gakuen author never mentioned a reason why he’s still the same but it is just a highschool au and there’s nothing we can do about it either way. i find it rather unfortunate that iguro barely appears in the gakuen at all

i really do love obanai and mitsuri’s wardrobe in this au though, their outfits look really comfy and even matching their personalities. a part of me doesn’t imagine mitsuri to be the type to wear revealing clothing, not that it’s a problem or anything!!!! but her vibes just remind me of a gal who lives in the fifth floor apartment taking care of 23 cats, i think she’s a cat lady. her outfits in the gakuen consists of pieces like turtlenecks, long skirts, jackets, and maybe hats and i LOVE ITT!!! considering she’s an artist as well so her outfit colors are so cute and sandwich well together

and i just love obanai’s wardrobe is like a basic middle aged teacher and it’s so funny he really is just some basic guy with or without demons…. the kind of guy who has “I 🩷 my GF”(mitsuri bought them matching mugs) or “No. #1 Snake Guy” (mitsuri gave him that as a christmas present) imprinted on his coffee mug. or OR his favorite mug is just a cute cat mug.. that mitsuri gave him….

it’s really obvious but i noticed that obanai and mitsuri are actually dating/ and their relationship is so healthy that it’s like “oh my gosh i saw a kite today” and sends a picture to the other person thinking they’d like how it looked, like they talk to eachother about EVERYTHINGG that goes on in their life, because they wish they were together in that moment!!! i think they just communicate alot and it’s adorable.. but i just noticed this cute detail in the chapter where gyomei was trying to get the cat plushy and mitsuri wanted to take a pic of tengen and him and send it to iguro because it was funnyy and the one where she was talking about her lil sushi manga.

i think their occupations in the gakuen are just really silly in general, i can visualize mitsuri stressing about her college terms and part time job and asks obanai to help her😭being a teacher is arduous work as well though so at times their schedules definitely aren’t well fitting so… i’d like to think that they visited each others places to study??work?? or just be in each others presence to lighten the stress <33

mitsuri is the cliche broke college student, working her ass off to pass her class and to pay for her month’s worth of rent soo, buying things for her own accord is probably a rare occasion for her, and obanai probably funds alot of it😭😭mitsuri isn’t the type to ask for things, so obanai probably volunteers to treat her to things like restaurants, get her nails done, buy some materials for her drawings whenever her money is in the slums, though i know mitsuri can handle herself of course!!

in one of the extra panels in chapter 30, though iguro is afraid of women, and especially eating food infront of others, he still tries his best to not upset the students who don’t deserve of it. he still thought of a solution to help the butterfly triplets with their medicine stall even if he himself couldn’t taste test their medicine and it shows that he still cares for his students, though definitely has a bad side with the lousy ones

mitsuris hobbies are like the silliest thing ever and it’s so fitting for her?? she just draws cute little characters just for the sake of making people smile and giggle and i love her for it. i think she’d go to iguro whenever she was facing writers block trying to make an outline for her manga considering he is a teacher and all??? if it were anyone else, iguro would probably think the idea of food manga was silly, maybe childish(?) but it’s mitsuri he has grown to her silliness!! if mitsuri were to ask iguro for critique or advice he’d probably have to broaden his own imagination because obanai seems like the type who can’t even comprehend the idea of walking food.. he is REALLY closed minded

mitsuri has an image of iguro where he’s like the sweetest, nicest, well adored teacher ever(maybe an overstatement?? im totally convinced) and it’s actually so funny.. like what if she found out iguro tied his students up on a daily basis and throws bottle rockets at them just for being noisy?? and even better what if this image of him still remained in her head after knowing that nevertheless??? she’s so hopelessly inlove its pathetic and it’s KILLING MEEE

i’d like to imagine that mitsuri would just text him while he was in the middle of the class and then he’d just run to get his phone the moment his gf texts him, and then someone like zenitsu goes like “mr. igurooo, how d-“ “shut up!” ???? he needs to cut zenitsu some slack but its way too funny

and and!!! even though they have phones since this au takes place in the modern era, they still send love letters to eachother crow style??? and mitsuri’s letters are designed so cutely it actually hurtsss… they’re genuinely so romantic and no shame in that at all!!!! like fuck texts look at them doing traditional romantic gestures:33

this applies to literally any other universe but i still think it’s cute, i don’t think iguro is written to have any trauma in the gakuen but he deals with ed and probably some stress from being a highschool teacher, yet mitsuri is the one person that melts those cold walls of his and he’s able to show vulnerability towards her :(( he really does his best to show how much he loves her by putting so much thought into his gifts and actions, like hell he needed help from two highschool students just to decide a gift for mitsuri but knowing her she would have love him to be with her all the same.

there is clear sign that mitsuri doesn’t doubt that he loves her at all!! there are still steps and layers in their relationship that are yet to be but mitsuri willingly waits for him nevertheless, and of course iguro waits for her as well.

i’m just so happy that there was nothing like demons and trauma to stop them from expressing their love for eachother, in the second fanbook it is mentioned that mitsuri never confessed to iguro due to the trauma from her previous marriage interview (fuck that guy) and that she has always thought he was just nice to others. which probably proves my statement from before? iguro could shoot her ex and mitsuri would still be head over heels for him?? OR MAYBE MORE????

but yeah again their relationship being official in the gakuen brings me pure bliss😭and the two wouldn’t have to embarrassingly pine for eachother until they reached their death bed. i just find their relationship so cute and intriguing, i’m dead glad it’s canon but i really wish there was more content of them shown in the anime in some way. especially mitsuri, she was barely given two minutes of screentime in the hashira training arc and it hurts me, it’s sad because her breathing style is such an awesome concept but it’ll barely be given screen time going forward. i personally love kimetsu no yaiba and its story, and i appreciate that it actually focuses on the fighting elements, but i really wish that they gave a bit more credit to one of their most significant romantic elements.. (includes hakuji and koyuki & amane and kagaya i love them) some more official art would’ve been nice i’d continue talking about this but it’s derailing from the gakuen topic😭

most of my source is just chapter 10 and some mentions from other chapters but… if you need pictures of my points i can provide. mostly?? i really just need more gakuen chapters specifically obamitsu centric it’s not funny anymore. i’d love to know how they got together and as i’m writing this im beginning to scramble my brain for ideas so i could make a fanfic outline that i’d probably just draft again… if someone were reading this post i encourage you to write an obamitsu gakuen au PLEASE.. maybe a long fic haha… but anything is enough for me really, there are barely any fics i find on ao3 considering most of the ones i find are really just obamitsu as a side ship which kinda makes me sad, i do personally aspire to become better at writing so i could start making stuff for others to enjoy as well but my time is diminishing as i have alot to do.

i think this is enough rambling<33 i’d hope to spread the obamitsu brainrot because i dont want to be the only one stuck here

anyways dropping screenshots but just read the kimetsu gakuen😭💗

Chapter 10 is obamitsu centric but there are bits on other chapters! :3

https://ww7.demonslayermanga.com/chapter/kimetsu-gakuen-chapter-1/

[my-castles-crumbling]

omg okay, I feel like u caused a revelation. 

probably one I should’ve already had. 

“I think it’s possible for you to have had a great childhood AND not be supported now” - You. 

I thought I was. Supported. Now. Because they’ve been doing everything they’ve always done, right? So it was normal. BUT, if they were really supporting me, they’d be supporting me. In the ways I need to be supported, not just the ways they want to support me. 

It’s Purple anon btw :) Ur really good at this advice thing. Like genuinely. Thanks. 

Also you ready? I HAVE NEWS. 

Ask her if it was a date. You make it sound so easy Cas. 

But I decided it was infinitely more embarrassing for it to be a date and I didn’t realise than if it wasn’t a date but I asked if it was. So I asked… 

you ready? (also please be prepared for how absolutely incredibly dumb i’m about to seem. benefit of hindsight and all?) 

Me: *in the kitchen with her, drying the dishes she’s just washed after dinner cause we don’t have a dishwasher- background music was my Chappell Roan playlist, just to set the scene* Hey so, I had the best time on Wednesday. Thank you for planning all that, you’re amazing. 

Daisy: You’re welcome. I had the best time too. Oh and I named the bear, which is getting more adorable everyday, just so you know. I named it Candy. After the road we met on. 

Me: The road? 

Daisy: Yes. The road. I cannot believe you. You don’t remember? 

Me: I- how do you remember that? 

Daisy: I met you. Of course I remember. A invited me to that adorable house party at her friends place, and as if it were in a movie, when I went outside to the street to get some air, on the left was the road sign, and on the right was you. I mean A was there too but who cares? I’m pretty sure she introduced us but I don’t remember what she said. 

Me: And you’re offended I don’t remember? I might not remember the name of the damn road, but I do remember everything she said about you. And your ridiculous outfit that night.  I never did find out where the hell you got that purse from.

Daisy: I stole it from my mum.

Me: But you told everyone a few months later that it got ruined at that party? 

Daisy: Oh yeah it got stained bad. And it was all your fault. 

Me: All my fault? How exactly? 

Daisy: You, you flustered me. 

Me: I? I flustered you? Now that’s hilarious. When did I fluster you, when I rambled on about the moon while we were stood outside?

Daisy: You don’t remember, do you? 

Me: Remember? I remember that night. You had that cardigan on, and you were very sensibly drinking water. 

Daisy: Yeah. And you definitely weren’t drinking water. Plus don’t get me started on outfits. I had on a silly brown cardigan, one of my favourite shirts and joggers. You had those boots, and glasses that everyone swore were a fashion statement, it took four months for me to realise you actually need those. They just fitted perfectly with your look. And your hair, don’t you remember how long it was back then, all wavy in the wind. God it really was like a movie. 

Me: Oh come on, i’m not buying that. Those glasses were dull and my hair was horrifically tangled that evening. Plus, “dumb brown cardigan”, don’t disparage my favourite cardigan of yours. I know you still have it. You wear it when you read. And it matches your eyes. Plus it has little caramel flowers, like the specs in your eyes. And that random shirt had Tori Spring on it. That’s how I knew we’d be friends. 

Daisy: Yeah I remember. You really don’t remember what happened that night? 

Me: I am literally talking to you about how I remember every detail, what have I missed? And pray tell how it was my fault your adorably weird bag got ruined?

Daisy: I- you are quite something. Okay so firstly, I brought up the moon and you not only indulged my random facts, you then gave your own. Then you trailed your hand down my chest, pointing at Tori and left your hand just resting on me as you chatted about how much you adored Solitaire and loved a book that surprised you with twists. THEN you trailed your hand back up my neck to my chin and pulled my face towards you, and whispered something about how amazing my eye makeup was. And then you downed your beer or whatever was in that horrific cup, grabbed my hand and pulled me into the house. Where we then spent an hour or so dancing, closely. Then your phone rang and suddenly you had to leave. You shoved your newest drink into my hand, kissed my cheek, and ran out the fucking house. And then I didn’t see you again for a month. So yeah, I dropped the stupid beer you shoved in my hands onto my mums bag when you kissed my cheek and then I had to explain that I of course wasn’t drinking, which I wasn’t. And then I had to tell her about you. It’s still stained, the bag. That’s how I remember it anyway. 

Me: I- erm- okay you must be exaggerating parts of that. And I wanted to see you, I had that family crisis, I disappeared to everyone. A freaked the hell out. Wait, is that we barely spoke that year? Our friend groups were overlapping so much but- besides a few moments- we didn’t talk much. Christ when you say it all like that I sound like a dick. I didn’t mean to-

Daisy: Flirt with me? 

Me: I didn’t mean to flirt with anyone back then. I was walking, talking mess. 

Daisy: And yet you charmed everyone. 

Me: Oh please, they put up with at best. But I charmed you?

Daisy: At first. Then you disappeared. Then i was less charmed. But it worked in the end, i’m still here aren’t I? 

Me: Yeah. You are. Look i’m sorry if that hurt you, I didn’t intend to but honestly that does sound kind of shitty of me. Why did you start talking to me, after like a year? Cause I tried starting conversations, I really liked you. But that whole year you couldn’t care less. 

Daisy: Couldn’t care less? I had a massive crush on you and you clearly weren’t in a place to be dealing with that. Hell, you’d barely figured out that you weren’t straight. And your parents were being extra dicks. After a year, I thought it’d be fine to be friends with you without getting a silly crush. 

Me: It took you a year to get over me? But 16 to 17 year old me was such a dickhead. How did you ever like her? 

Daisy: I like all of you. 

Me: That was cheesy. But same. For the record. 

Daisy: You like all of you too? 

Me: I obviously met you. You’re the worst. 

Daisy: Thought I was the best? 

Me: You can be both.

Daisy: Can I now? What an honour. 

We carried on in silence for a bit. I added this bit so you could see what gave me the final courage to ask her. Cause- clearly i’ve always been this much of an idiot. 

Me: *a few minutes later, I don’t remember how long it was tbh, Chappell Roan is STILL playing cause she’s iconic* Can I ask you something? 

Daisy: Sure, I guess.

Me: Wednesday. It was a lot of fun. 

Daisy: It was. That happens to not be a question though. 

Me: I- was it maybe, supposed to be a date? 

Daisy: What? 

Me: Shit i’m sorry, it didn’t- I just- It’s okay if not, I just thought i’d ask. 

Daisy: And, if it, if it was? 

Me: Then i’d say you really should’ve told me outright cause evidentially I can’t take social cues and I would’ve been way more romantic. 

Daisy: You held my hand. 

Me: You’re a touchy person. 

Daisy: You won me something.

Me: It made you smile, I always want you to smile. It wasn’t specific to Wednesday. 

Daisy: I’m sorry, are you saying you do all the lovely things you do to see me smile?

Me: Not to see it, that’s a bonus, just to know, that you’re smiling. To know you’re happy. It makes me happy. 

Daisy: I- shit. You can’t just say stuff like that.

Me: Why not? 

Daisy: You are and will always be the weirdest person i’ve ever met. You send crazy signals you know? 

Me: To be fair I don’t think i’m aware that i’m sending like half of them

Daisy: That much is evident 

Me: I was trying to send one now though. See, now you’re the one who can’t pick up signals 

Daisy: And what signal were you sending me? 

Me: You know you’re making this really difficult right? 

Daisy: Have I not proved that half the time I have no idea what you’re saying or doing? 

Me: Fine. I’ll make it easy. Wednesday was not a date because when we go on a date I want us both to know it’s a date. 

Daisy: But you do… want to go on a date. With me? 

Me: I would love nothing more. 

Daisy: You’re an idiot, you know that.

Me: With all the proof you seem to have that I don’t know what’s going on all the time, you’d think you’d have told me it was a date, you know, so that I knew. 

Daisy: This isn’t even the first time this has happened.

Me: I’m fairly certain this is the first time we’ve had this conversation.

Daisy: Maybe but it’s definitely not the first time i’ve taken you on a not-a-date date before.

Me: Don’t act like I don’t also plan nice shit for you.

Daisy: No you do and that’s worse cause then I have to spend ages trying to see if you realise you just planned us a date.

Me: Well obviously I did not realise. 

Daisy: Obviously 

*Small bit of silence*

Daisy: Just to check, this isn’t just a one time thing right?

Me: What? This conversation or our date that i’m gonna plan, and totally upstage Wednesday by the way, just watch me. 

Daisy: You’re an idiot, I meant the date. I don’t want one date with you and I need you to know that. I know you’ve got a lot going on with your parents and I don’t ever want to seem or feel like some kind of pressure against you so if-

Me: Look, Daisy it’s been made abundantly clear to me by A, all our friends, your mum, a tumblr blog and my professors that I could fuck up us, while trying to deal with my parents. At the end of the day, you’re the person I imagine being by my side for like- forever. And if my parents can’t get that, then they’re the ones who are wrong. 

Daisy: Sorry did you just say, my mum, a tumblr blog and your professor? 

Me: Yeah? 

Daisy: What? 

Me: Well- your mum called me last month with a super cryptic message about her supporting me, and that she’d have my back if I needed a parent and that she “loved us together”. In hindsight  I realise she was trying to hint to me to ask you out. 

Daisy: And the others? You told a blog and one of your professors about me? I thought you used tumblr for your cute Harry Potter obsession.

Me: Oh I do. There’s this blog that answers advice and stuff, I just told them I was in love with you and told them about my parents and stuff and they told me that I need to realise my parents don’t accept me, oh and that I need to ask you out. And technically two of my professors know about you. I told my favourite one, it came up during office hours cause were kinda buddies now and turns out she’s a lesbian, and she’s friends with this other professor and he came in and we all chatted about it for a while. So yeah.

Daisy: Sorry, just back up a second, this blog, you told it- you- you told it you’re in love with me? 

Me: Yeah? 

Daisy: You haven’t told me that yet!? 

Me: Oh- sorry I thought it was obvious. I’m in love with you.

Daisy: I- same I guess. Shit Purple- I am being bombarded with information right now.

Me: Sorry? I can stop. Also, “You guess”? That seems a little offensive. 

Daisy: I love you too. I’m in love with you too. But mine is obvious. I have been obviously in love with you for at least two years.

Me: YOU HAVE? 

Daisy: You didn’t know? 

Me: Clearly I never know. 

Daisy: Yes well i’m starting to realise to what extreme now.

*slight silence*

*laughter*

Me: Holy shit i’m so stupid.

Daisy: We both are. And we thought we were so good at communicating. 

Me: I- I don’t even know what to say. 

*we’re very close to each other now*

Daisy: I don’t have to wait until our first date right? 

Me: Wait? For what? 

Daisy: *rolls her eyes* for you to kiss me idiot.

Me: Oh. No. Unless you want to and then-

Daisy: Shut up.

*We kissssssssss!!!!! Guess what? Heartstopper level fireworks ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ Called it*

Daisy: Better plan that date fast.

Me: I wish i’d pulled my head out of my ass faster, I can’t take you on a good date right around exams

Daisy: Well then maybe i’ll just have to keep best date title until after uni exams, then you can upstage me.

Me: It’s a draw at best, if we count Wednesday then we have to count when I jumped through hoops to get you those concert tickets, and then went with you and was super enthusiastic at your dance party.

Daisy: You loved that concert. And if you didn’t intend it to be a date, I don’t think it counts. 

Me: I’m pretty sure we’re gonna be in weird water if we try and figure out whether all the shit we’ve done over the years has been dates or not. So, even? 

Daisy: I’m totally winning

Me: I hate you.

Daisy: No you don’t. 

Me: You’re right. I don’t. I love you. So much.

Daisy: Oh my god.

Me: You’re blushing.

Daisy: Shut up! 

Me: I can’t believe I waited so long to tell you. I can’t believe you love me back.

Daisy: Of course I do. 

There was a lot of smiling and giggling and she teased me for singing Chappell Roan at her and I had to tell about your blog and my whole talk with my professors (I don’t remember if I told you about that).

But I have a girlfriend now. AHHHHHHHHHHH (happy excitement btw). 

Ugh this is so great. She’s been watching me write this over my shoulder and been correcting the parts of our conversation I got wrong. She also says i’m cheesy for giving her such a cute nickname and giving A a really basic one.

Also apparently A knows Daisy loves me? She told you, didn’t she? That stupid ask she sent. Damn her.

Anyways, the love of my life is my girlfriend nowwwwwwww!!!!!!!!

I haven’t decided what to do about my parents fully yet. Me and Daisy agreed to keep this between us (and A, and her mum, and you and my professors) during exams and then over the summer we’re gonna tell our friends and i’m gonna tell my parents and deal from there. So we’ll see.

I seriously cannot thank you enough Cas ❤️ (Daisy says your blog is adorable by the way). 

AHHHHHHHH

I need you to know that I went feral when I read this. I told my wife the whole story and she told me I need to get out more, but I'm just so excited for you <3

Also A did tell me Daisy loves you, yeah. I couldn't just tell! You guys had to figure it out on your own, or you'd never be able to communicate!

Sending you guys all the love and keep me updated!

[dkettchen]

The longer I think about it, the more I think/HC that the show just didn't show us some scene of sanji & nami hanging out for a bit somewhere in there

If they had A Conversation or any amount of time spent together and paying attention to each other (say while zoro was asleep and sanji was over cooking for the crew, before nami went to go read zoro a story), sanji’s actions of the last two episodes would go from alarming and straight up delusional to about the same level of overly familiar but justifiably attached as usopp calling luffy his best friend after knowing him for like A Day

noone luffy trusts would be this obvious of a red flag and making their fellow crewmates as uncomfy as this would be otherwise (let alone the one crewmate for whom luffy just spent a whole episode beating up a guy who made her cry)

nami doesn’t look particularly alarmed by sanji’s arm around her or surprised by him being there to begin with (as zoro was after waking up), also pointing to him being more familiar to her than the show showed us

he went from calling her madam to calling her nami like the others, I don’t think, considering his characterisation as someone generally polite & trying his hardest to flatter and charm women, he’d do that without her either literally telling him to or feeling that they’d grown familiar enough to make that switch (also considering luffy etc are traditionally characterised as the unpolite, unrefined ones, which doesn’t come across as much in the english and with the unrealistic amount of (delightful) outfit swaps they put in this show, luffy zoro & usopp wear like one outfit for that whole first bit and beyond iirc in the anime while sanji & nami change pretty much every arc)

Also (and most importantly) then this joke would actually work:

tldr: everything points to a scene missing rather than sanji being an actual menace

I think they intended for there to have been more interaction and it just either got cut from the script early on or was filmed but then left on the cutting room floor (if it's the latter we might actually get to see a deleted scene who knows)

[dorizardthewizard]

HSM (2006) rewatch pt 16 (final)

16: WHAT TEAM?

Yaaay champions! I like how he actually fakes right and breaks left in the game haha

We don’t get to see Gabriella winning though, but I imagine a scholastic decathlon win wouldn’t look so interesting

AND THE COCKBLOCK COUNTER STARTS NOW! : 1

This will be more relevant in the second movie

And yes I'm going to read too much into Chad breaking them up

Chad: So, you're going with me to the after-party, right? Taylor: Like on a date? Chad: Must be your lucky day!

Smooth, Chad, real smooth. Although I wish we could have gotten some moments of them actually becoming more close because it’s kind of out of nowhere? It's like they said, here’s the black best friend characters. Obviously we should just pair them up, no need to actually develop that everyone should get it.

^ For reference, it took like a few minutes of screentime for us to buy into Troy and Gabriella being into each other, so they really could have squeezed something in like, maybe during their talk when they realised they fucked up? They could have a genuine moment there.

Also quick fast forward but I read in an interview with Monique I think that she had the idea of giving Taylor a Britney-inspired outfit for the last scene, and yeah it's a pretty nice touch! A mix between preppy but also showing her letting loose.

I didn't clock that outfit at all at first though because I'm used to seeing school uniform in my country asdjhsf

Anyway yeah it’s too sudden for Sharpay to suddenly be cool with everyone now, but I don’t really care because they had no idea how big this movie would become and that they’d get sequels so I get why they wrapped that up quickly.

Awww Zeke! You gotta let it go man, there’s plenty of girls out there who will appreciate your cookies. Why does Sharpay reply “ew” to cookies what 😭😭 adding this to my lesbian Sharpay agenda

But Ryan picks them up at least and congratulates Zeke, he’s also wearing red so… supportive? Ok I see you Lucas I see what you were trying to do and I’m sorry Disney wouldn’t let you do it, but I do still find it hilarious how these little moments just get completely overshadowed by THAT scene in HSM2 LMAO

Aww Kelsi looking happy but awkward, same. Looks like everyone had an outfit change! She’s the playmaker! Troy’s like Kelsi fan number one and their friendship is so underrated honestly, he’s always lifting her up. Which must have been crazy for Kelsi, in the novelisation during their first interaction she’s like “THE Troy Bolton is being nice to me holy shit??”

Kelsi’s reaction is so funny though like, yeah I too would be like “Thanks!! Errr what do I do with this now I don’t know anything about basketball? Do I shoot it for fun? But I’ll probably flop and lose the ball, how long am I supposed to carry it for? Can I just… leave it to the side? Put it away I mean they’re gonna need it again? But I don’t want to look like I don’t appreciate it?????” This is what my brain is like during every single unscripted social interaction I engage in btw

Jason noticing her being a bit awkward and helping her shoot the ball is sweet, he’s just like that. Not a huge fan of taking her hat off though, I know it’s like this ooooh she’s letting loose moment but…. she had it on during Breaking Free when she’d just stood up to Sharpay and she was all energetic and confident during the performance, she’s all about her hats let her wear her hat! It comes off as the “oooooohhh this nerdy girl with questionable fashion sense is actually really beautiful if she just presents more conventionally!” trope

And now the final song! I've given up on making passable screencaps

I love watching the extras in this one because they’re obviously professional dancers and they just show everyone up, especially in that bit once the end credits start rolling. Ryan slays in this too, and happy to see Martha freely dancing there! As for the song itself, it’s iconic of course. For my personal listening tastes though, it's just a liiiittle too cheesy and for the kids. That’s what they were going for, with a pretty learnable choreography and all. Which is fine! It’s just not something I’d listen to much in my free time. I’m also haunted by another vine where these guys do a handshake or something and then break into this choreography idk, I can’t find it. Anyway B tier

WILDCATS EVERYWHERE! WAVE YOUR HANDS UP IN THE AIR! THAT'S THE WAY WE DO IT LET'S GET TO IT COME ON EVERYONE!! 😭

Hahahaha this post-credits scene, what was Zeke even doing just wandering around there aimlessly. Thinking about his rejection? : ( But no one can resist his baking for long!

His smile at the camera is so funny, yeah they never really went anywhere with this Sharpay-Zeke thing in the series so it’s kind of weird they keep throwing in little hints and Zeke still has a crush on her every movie

Aaaaand that’s the movie! This commentary has clocked in at over 9000 words, this is insane.

[nicnsmth1]

Akabane Karma x Transmasc Reader // Assassination Classroom

bi karma x transmasc partner. gn pronouns. reader is a bit insecure. reader presented as fem prior. wc 790

notes: this is a bit of a self-indulgent as I am transmasc myself, but I rarely ever see any for him, so I've decided to take things into my own hands!! ps the reader can be read as shizuha as well

Even before the dating scene, Karma doesn’t seem to be a person who cared much on how a person looks, whether it be masc or fem

In fact, he practically never cared at all until he got curious enough to actually ask, because to him, someone’s gender isn’t going to change whether or not he likes them

That is until he realized that the other person may take their appearance and actions more seriously when it comes to how people see them on first glance

Being an observant person, he starts to realize how his partner would often wear oversized shirts, get finicky whenever their hair looks a certain way or refused to look at the mirror some days

He wouldn’t be the first to ask, only thinking about what way should he mention his concern without appearing to be insensitive, ‘What if they think I’m being too forward?’ ‘What if they’ve been waiting for me to say something?’ ‘Am I postponing this too much?’

Karma’s not used to emotional talks despite knowing it was the only way to go about the problem

“Want to go shopping?”

So instead, he disguised his investigation on finding out the deeper problem through various invitations such as shopping

Asking: what kind of outfits do they prefer? No skirts? That’s fine, what about dresses? Sometimes? Okay, then what about color? Are there some that they don’t like? Were laces fine? What about beads?

“Maybe a new hairstyle?”

He’d offer to go through fashion magazines just to purposefully point out certain hairstyles that might suit his partner’s interest, maybe that’ll show him exactly what they’ve been fretting about

“Shorter hair? That’ll look nice.”

Throwing in a few subtle compliments after he finally figured it out

‘Masculinity? That’s what they want.’

It was definitely obvious to him that his partner wasn’t cis, but he never asked because they’ve never mentioned it. To him, they’re just them and he likes them. But maybe that might’ve come off as ignorant, now how does he fix up an apology for that?

“I know what you’re doing”

He never gets caught in an act, in the middle of his own scheming, but when you’re with someone long enough, you catch on quick and that’s definitely the case this time. How can his partner not notice? Asking them out just to have questions after questions thrown at them? He’s much of a worrier than he’d like to think

Though, it was less of a coming out, but more of a confirmation; the real challenge starts now

“Is there anything you’d like to have?”

He’d offer his clothes, his older colognes, even his jewelry if they’re inclined on a more edgier look with the silver rings and necklace

Karma would suggest ways to style their hair, make it proper? Messier? However they’d like, he can do it

He’s not one to buy things because they’re trendy, but somehow he always looks the part “How do you do it?” He’d offer advice

This makeover to him was starting to get more fun each time his partner would ask something from him, whether it be a clothing item, an accessory, features that they should accentuate when doing makeup; he feels like a teacher of some sort

Karma would not show his happiness with everything that has happened, he’d brush it off whenever his partner says thank you, but the corner of his lips were raised and he couldn’t get the grin that his partner flashed out of his head

If they wanted to go all the way, they can even ask to workout with him, he’ll be glad to mentor (although, he might purposefully tire his partner out during the first week for laughs)

Karma isn’t one to say praises out loud, at least not often, but if his partner is down, he’d go out of his way to say affirming words for them and this especially happens if certain days get a bit dysphoric

He wouldn’t only be helping with presentation either, he’d do his research, taking times where his partner is not around to find out more about being transmasc, he wants to be useful without it being too obvious

Karma would hate to see someone get so down over their own body, he’d try to uplift them albeit his struggle to sound genuine when doing so, his teases and jokes are completely there to help, he would never mean harm when it comes to a serious topic like this

He won’t ever keep it a secret either, if his partner wants to be seen as a guy, he’ll gladly embrace it. After all, he likes them, what’s there to doubt?

“Oh, you haven’t met them yet, but they’re my boyfriend.”

[facingthefossegrim]

what’s going on?

I was reviewing the comic again a couple of nights ago (as one does), when I noticed that He Tian hadn’t changed his shirt & cardigan (blazer? jacket? coat... thing) in the past three days.

To recap the days, Evening 1 (aka chapter 405) was the showdown with She Li. He had to swap out his white shirt for a black one cause it was covered in Jian Yi’s blood, and after beating the shit out of She Li, he went back to Mo’s place, had the iconic first kiss (beautiful, perfect, everyone loved that), and stayed the night.

Cause he spent the night at Mo’s, ofc he didn’t have anything else to wear, and Mo prolly wouldn’t have had clothes that would fit him, so Day 2 (chapter 411+) was He Tian in the same outfit. Not the freshest, but eh, it’s a day; no biggie. It’s now Day 3 (chapter 419+), however, and He Tian is still in the same tops, just swapped out his pants for the school uniform ones. He probably had these on him (since that’s what he originally wore on Day 1); maybe carried them with him (likely) or had a spare pair in his locker (possible). (Or they were at He Cheng’s actually --figured it out as I was typing all this.)

At first the outfit got me wondering if he spent another night at Mo’s, but no, that’s not it. In chapter 419 we see He Tian texting Mo that he’d be late and to not wait for him.

That got me thinking that maybe He Tian didn’t go home, but stayed at He Cheng’s place (where else would he have been able to gather the ingredients for a Mo bento? And if the pants were at his brother’s, yeah, they’d have his clothes washed and ready for school, no prob.) What was he doing at He Cheng’s place? Finalizing the negotiations with his brother from chapter 405? He Cheng isn’t as cold as he seems; we know just how much he loves He Tian; he would do anything for him, so long as it didn’t blatantly conflict with their father’s wishes.

It wouldn’t have been surprising that that perfect Day 2 was one big beautiful good-bye. Waking up together, paying a visit to the dog house, introducing Mo to his mom; it all feels like He Tian is taking a stroll through the lives of those he’s loved and those who’ve left him; he’s preparing himself to part from Mo in turn.

The scene at the fish shop is cute and funny, but maybe it also echoes a certain sentiment; a wish that the hurt and lonely little black fish wouldn’t be alone anymore. A reminder for Mo (likely the one who’ll keep the fishes, since he was the one who got the first one and there’s only one tank) of He Tian.

I really don’t want this to be it, but I do think that this may be He Tian’s last day. It just feels like all this build-up is pointing to an abrupt climax. He’ll pierce Mo’s ear before he leaves, opening new wounds on his body and in his heart.

Translation credit: alexc1ting (19daysonly)

[worldcatlas]

DS9: Emissary (Part 2)

Read part 1 here. This is the last article wrapping up two-part episodes, which will be in a single article from here on out. Thank you for reading!

Part two of Deep Space 9’s pilot episode opens in Ops, giving us several lovely close-ups of Major Kira’s uniform, including her Bajoran-style comm badge and belt. The badge appears to be made of a brassy metal material, and is in the shape of the Bajoran logo, much like its Starfleet counterpart. The belt, in a deep burgundy colour that matches her uniform, has a texture that suggests reptilian leather (or, perhaps, a replicated substitute). We can also see in this early episode that Kira’s makeup originally included a slight brow ridge, like Ensign Ro.

I guess they still have cosmetic surgery in the 24th century.

Odo beams into Ops to join the team, briefly giving us a full head-to-toe view of the goo he has shaped into a brownish-beige Bajoran uniform. My favourite part are the Uggs boots. Do all the Bajoran uniforms come with little booties? They’re not particularly intimidating for the Chief of Security, although they do look like they’d be great for someone on their feet all day.

Fighting crime in comfort.

We can also see in this scene that the costume department has decided to flare out the lapels on the Starfleet uniforms; I actually don’t remember if this trend continues into future episodes of DS9, but the same uniforms lay flat on Voyager (which hadn’t yet premiered at this point), so we’ll check back in on that. It’s an interesting styling choice, and kind of makes Bashir and O’Brien look like they’re hitting the club after work.

I mean, I guess I don’t know that they aren’t…

Inside the wormhole, Sisko converses with the locals through his memories, and we see the aliens speak to him through various characters. Among them are Locutus in his full Borg makeup and Kai Opaka in elaborate Bajoran religious garb. We saw Opaka in this outfit in part 1, although it looks like they may have draped the outermost layer differently here.

It’s hard to tell what’s changed through the Memory Haze™.

The aliens also take on the appearance of the Chicago Cubs in old-timey uniforms – worn by fictional holodeck characters – and Sisko’s former crew in a TNG-era look. The baseball uniforms will show up again in Deep Space 9, but I suspect the Starfleet uniforms are recycled directly from The Next Generation, giving them a nice on-screen send-off before retirement.

These are all core memories for Sisko.

Back on the station, we get a better look at Major Kira’s Bajoran earring as she jumps on a subspace call with her #1 fan, Gul Dukat. The jewelry is made of a silver metal, with lower and upper pieces connected by a fine chain.

It channels her pagh, as well as six stations of FM radio.

Dukat, of course, shows up wearing the same thing Cardassians always wear, made out of old recycled tires.

It’s actually very eco-friendly.

Going back to Benjamin, we finally get some new costumes as Sisko finds himself snuggling his dead wife. Well, one of the aliens inhabiting the memory of his dead wife. They’re dressed for a lovely picnic in the park, Ben in a striped jewel tone shirt, Jennifer in an elegant pink dress.

Does this human look good on me?

We can see that the fabric on the top section of Sisko’s shirt has been pleated and pressed flat before being sewn, a trick that seems to be used a lot in Star Trek to create more exotic and visually interesting looks from regular Earth textiles. In this case, it complements the fabric’s vertical stripes nicely. The shirt also has a geometric neckline with a notch in front, giving just a little flirty peek of chest. As we zoom out, we can see it has been paired with an extremely high-waisted pair of olive green pants. From this angle, we can also see that Jennifer’s silky-looking dress tapers at the waist, and has been paired with matching tights and shoes. It’s an adorable look somewhere between “prom queen” and “dance recital.”

This is what it looks like when you can just beam to a picnic site instead of hiking.

In a scene that’s no doubt just as pleasing to our Commander, we next see him in the memory of a holodeck baseball game, wearing a baseball mitt and cap, while an alien inhabits the image of his son (dressed in a catcher’s uniform) nearby.

Is this going to become a theme, Dad?

In an incredible bit of attention to detail, even the background actors in this scene appear to be dressed in period-appropriate suits and hats. Then again, it’s very possible Paramount already had these costumes in the back, and they were among the few outfits they DIDN’T need to make custom for this episode.

Look, son: normies.

Back on the station, Cardassians have begun to attack, meaning we get to see a crowd of evacuating civilians in one-colour co-ords. Among them is the real Jake Sisko, who isn’t sure about all the monochrome matching.

It just doesn’t feel appropriate for the season.

Also present is– what the? What the heck is this guy?! I don’t even know what this alien is, but it has a cute hooded blue dress. If anyone recognizes this species, please leave a comment with the ID!

Is it visiting from the Star Wars universe?

We finish out the episode – at least in terms of costumes – with a fantastic showing from Quark. He hasn’t changed since part 1, but we do get a better view of the details of his outfit, including the giant, spherical, shiny buttons on his jacket, which may actually be small doorknobs. The jacket also features sparkly black bands around both arms and wide lapels that flare open dramatically. Like Sisko earlier, he finishes the outfit with olive green pants pulled up as high as they’ll go.

The Ferengi who invents belts will be drowning in latinum.

—

The Costume Designer for this episode was Robert Blackman. The Wardrobe Supervisor was Carol Kunz. Key Costumers include Maurice Palinski, Phyllis Corcoran-Woods, Jerry Bono, and Patti Borggrebe-Taylor.

[kidsnextdoor-doodles]

Prob know the answer to this but: opinions on either fanny or rachel? Just as characters in General, what couldve been done better abt them, or what shouldve been explored more?

Goes insane

I was waiting to be asked this. I’ve been incredibly attached to Fanny and Rachel since day one cause they were the first KND characters I saw other than Sector V and what got me interested in the show (mostly because I was thinking “the hell is that blonde kid wearing??”)

Fanny is my all-time favourite KND character and one of my top five favourite characters from any media ever. So I kinda like her. Idk how to describe why I like her so much but I think she’s generally written well. I wish that they’d at least attempted to give her an actual Irish accent cause hearing her voice for the first time physically pained me as an Irish person. Also, why did they name her that it’s SO awkward talking about her to people I know irl and it’s worse because she is Irish herself, the gag is so much cruder over here than in the us. Also, they needed to stop trying to give her male crushes it isn’t fooling anyone, numbuh 19th century barely exists in my head. There are a few things I would’ve liked to see explored, like her relationship with her family since I feel like we only got tidbits of it, and I wanted to see her and Kuki actually being friends after op Slumber. And I wanted to see her and Abby interacting more but that’s purely because I like both of them a lot. Also backstory on why she went from being a nurse to a Decom soldier!! What happened she looks so innocent in the op Maurice flashback. When I first watched I expected at least something being implied but we basically got nothing. I just wish we got to see more of the Decom squad and how they work. I have a lot of thoughts about Fanny that I cannot put into words right now or ever and I also do not want this to be too long but just know there’s more! That I could say!

Rachel is my 2nd favourite KND character (who would’ve guessed) and, as I said before, her garish outfit is what compelled me to get into KND. Op IT is one of my favourite episodes because I like how it portrays Rachel. It’s what set KND apart from other shows cause I don’t think a lot of kids' shows at the time would’ve acknowledged how, realistically, stressful the job of being supreme leader would be, especially for a kid. I wish we could’ve seen more of her, especially from before she became supreme leader. I know it’s a small moment in hindsight but the end scene of op fugitive gives me the idea that she acted really differently before she became supreme leader. Maybe it’s just me but compare how she scolded Fanny to how she scolded Nigel in op Zero, the one in op Fugitive just seems more personal and rude. And the fact she wanted to be the supreme leader when Chad left even though it’s established that no knd operative wants to be makes me think she was a bit arrogant before she became supreme leader. I also wish we could’ve seen her interacting with other moonbase operatives like 65.3 and 35. Also her and Chad!! They definitely were close in some way why didn’t we get to see it?!

Unsurprisingly I wish we could’ve gotten more of Fanny and Rachel’s relationship. Obviously, Fanny has a lot of respect and admiration for Rachel, which isn’t connected to Rachel’s status as supreme leader since she felt the same way before Rachel became supreme leader. Honestly, the most compelling part of their relationship to me is that there’s a bit of a disconnect between how they each view it. Fanny admires Rachel but she doesn’t consider Rachel a friend since she claims she doesn’t have any in op Slumber. But Rachel openly calls Fanny by her name which the show itself establishes is for really close friends so it’s clear that Rachel considers Fanny a friend. I’d have to guess that Fanny’s self-doubt and how much she respects Rachel makes it so that Fanny can’t imagine that Rachel would be her friend. These girls need to communicate. Also, they’ve known each other for a long time since they’re both in the op Maurice flashback. And the fact they could’ve been in the same sector cause both their brothers are in sector w. God! There’s just so much potential and I wish the show explored just a little bit of it! At least I wanted there to be a moment where it’s said out loud they’re friends cause I’m sick of people trying to claim Rachel dislikes Fanny it isn’t true (is incredibly biased)

[emotionally-charged-arson]

Character lineup, Transitus historical redesign edition. In their sepia tone versions, in actual artwork they’d be drawn against some pretty vibrant painted backgrounds. Come back to me on that. Been meaning to do this for a while!

Have some design notes:

Daniel - Third from left. In @hawthorn-crow’s words: "like a stiff breeze would blow him over." His shoulders/upper body have deliberately been scaled down from that of real-life Tommy Karevik. I don’t know how else to say this but if I were Henry I wouldn’t be easing around in my brother’s personal life if he could drop kick me directly into the sun. Looks pretty normal, all things considered. The "standout" trait comes from the trust fund kid status: his clothes have a LOT of variety. Literally a different jacket, vest and tie almost every single scene in a period where that was not something easily attainable. Common thing between all of the ‘normal’ outfits is the little watch chain, somewhat prominently displayed.

Abby - Third from right. The exact opposite as Daniel; cycles through two or three outfits maximum outside of her work uniform before 1884. Her box braids are thicker than the original design. Has a pair of emerald drop earrings; gift from the himbo. As for the shoes, homegirl is working minimum 13-hour days, for Christ’s sake, put some treads on those industrial strength high heels. She likes quilting Why? Cause I said so and wanted her to have hobbies like human beings do. The dress shown here is one fabric/color all the way down, but the seams form a fun little pattern that looks nothing like fire haha what.

Henry - Second from left. Lots of age lines, grey streaks. Visibly much older than Daniel. Loads of aggressive angles, you want a sense of the douchebag aura from a distance. Literally Andrew Carnegie but with none of the redeeming qualities. Really narcissistic and intent on showing off his status and is thus obsessed with outward appearance. Sharply dressed and deliberately so. Flashy, patterned waistcoats and one very expensive and painstakingly tended to pair of sideburns.

Lavinia - Second from right. Same as Abby, just a few outfits to her name and sturdier shoes. Though she comes off to me as someone who has expensive tastes that can’t be pursued to their fullest extent. Don’t we all. Pays close attention to new fashion and alters her existing clothes (and hair) accordingly under budget. Is keen on appearing above her station, though not with any malicious intent. More just a desire to fit in and look nice.

Abraham - Far right. The beta version of Abraham of from the earbook bonus pages is peak and this is very heavily inspired by that. Has not purchased any major clothing items for himself since the mid 1860s; he’s got other priorities. Any new stuff is smaller, and usually cut from the same material as Lavinia’s skirts. Fabrics are worn out (along with their dyes) and lots of layers are worn as a result. Outermost layer that he wears pretty much everywhere on account of it being the only coat he has is a bleached and dyed Union army jacket.

Dee - Far left. Entire character is defined by being stuck in the past. Like Abraham his clothes are very 1860s based but in a more fashion forward and emotionally stunted, "I never got over my wife dying a d am making it my kids’ problem" way, as opposed to the much more reasonable "being impoverished" route. Hair is also very much mid-century and meant to look out of place next the shorter, clean-cut 70s/80s style that Henry has. ….old. Like basically on death’s door, he kicks the bucket almost immediately after Daniel does.

[thamepo]

DID YOU NOTICE DID ANYONE NOTICE THAT DURING THE ROOFTOP KISS (ep12 4/4) CHER/BOOK ACTUALLY HAS HIS EYES OPEN HE'S KISSING AND LOOKING AT GUN/FORCE AND NOT TO MENTION THE SPECULATION THAT THE KISS WAS FILMED ON FORCE'S BIRTHDAY (from those ig/twitter? story updates)

PLEASE PROVE ME OTHERWISE FOR THE SAKE OF MY SANITY

hi! yes, cher was watching gun the entire time akdkksks

and yes, we assume they filmed this scene on force’s birthday (or very close to it) because they’re wearing the same outfits from the video book posted. the timeline matches and it would make sense that they’d film it on force’s bday to celebrate him and the end of the series imo! 🥰

i cannot prove you otherwise because the evidence is in your favor aldkakkdsk

and you know how book took force to a fancy rooftop restaurant for his birthday in 2022 for forcebook show real?

i don’t think it’s necessarily the same place but when i first saw this rooftop on a boss and a babe, i immediately thought of fbsr 🥺🥺🥺

also gun says that he booked the entire place for the night to celebrate cher as well as they booked the entire place to celebrate force’s birthday last year.

all in all, it’s a lovely callback 🥺🧡

[conceptalbummultiverse]

References in chapter 36 of Strange Fascination

I know, I haven’t even made a post promoting it yet, but ssshhhhh…(yes, there is a new chapter!) I thought that I’d make a quick post about a few song/real life references in this chapter, since @tabb1tha pointed out one that I didn’t even intend. (Ziggy having white blood is not a reference to the Aladdin Sane album cover- I think that the mysterious liquid on his chest is supposed to be a teardrop, and as for why I gave Ziggy white blood, I've just always liked that concept in general; I first used that concept for a non-human OC in a story I wrote when I was about 10/11 and I wanted to bring it back- but I like that interpretation, it very well could be that!)

The most obvious one is the line “I’m never ever gonna die, and I’m never ever gonna get old” from “Never Get Old” by David Bowie, off his Reality album! (I like Reality a lot, and as an aside- I like the album cover, you guys are just mean.) I wasn’t intending to reference this song as there’s supposed to be a theme to the songs I do reference (that aren’t from the concept albums that I based the universe on), but I think I had been listening to Reality and just felt like throwing it in there.

When Whatsername reads the katakana on the back of Ziggy’s cape (side note- I’m not sure if you’d call it a cape? you know, that thing that Bowie’s wearing at the beginning of the Ziggy Stardust filmed concert that gets ripped off him? but I wasn’t sure what to call it), she reports that it says “hamburgers.” This is a reference to the last line of my personal favorite David Bowie song, “Sweet Thing” from Diamond Dogs. (Well, the entire Sweet Thing Suite is my favorite song of his.) I needed to think of something kind of dumb and silly that could be written on the cape- in my head, Ziggy’s cape was custom-made and the designer who made it had included it as a joke because he knew that the clueless English people (or… English-presenting in Ziggy’s case) who had ordered it wouldn’t be able to read it and would just think it looked cool, so he could write anything he wanted on it and they’d never notice. He was right. Anyway, I chose “hamburgers” because I always thought that non-sequitor at the end of “Sweet Thing” was funny, as if the narrator is losing their train of thought: “If this trade is a curse, then I turn to the crossroads and… hamburgers…” I don’t actually know if there’s a way to write that word in katakana, but… *shrug* Apparently in real life, Bowie’s cape said something badass like “breath of the dragon" and it was rendered in such a way that the letters, when read out loud phonetically, said “Bo Ee.” (I can't find the link where I read this originally, so I might be wrong about that.) I figured I couldn’t use that in my fic because I would have wanted it to be “Zig Ee,” and that didn’t fit the mood of the scene that I was going for.

The outfit Ziggy is wearing below the cape is this outfit from the 1980 Floor Show:

I like this weird-ass outfit. Not much more to say here!

As for non-Bowie-related references, it’ll become more apparent in the next chapter, but Whatsername’s letter begins with “Where have all the riots gone?”- the first line of the song “Letterbomb” by Green Day.

If you’re keeping track of lyrical references- by all means, do so! There is a rhyme and reason to how I chose them- I’d say about 99% of the lyrics I reference in the narrative that aren’t from the albums that the fic is about are from the same two OTHER albums. Both are by the same artist, and both were released in the 2010’s. And yes, that artist made one of the albums that the fic is about. (I feel like this has narrowed things down maybe a little too well, but I don’t want to start the hunt for lyrical references until the story is over and they’ve all been used.)

[fexiinfiniteficlist]

Fexi Spotlight Interview

Hello everyone! I am excited to share our first Fexi Spotlight Interview with the amazing @fexiana! Most of you know Fexiana for her Euphoria Sims videos, but she also has written fics! In this interview, we talk about her love of Fexi, the creative and technical process of her videos, and future content plans. Enjoy and remember to check out her blog and other socials to watch her videos!

How did you get into Fexi?

Fexiana: It is really crazy because I never thought that they’d make a great couple in season one- not until season two episode one did I realize their potential and how much their opposition could attract. They have so many similarities as the season continued, but I’ve got to say, the chemistry on that sofa in season two episode one is how I got into Fexi.

What do you like about Fexi? 

Fexiana: I think Fexi’s differences are what I like about them the most. Even though they were raised differently and have different morals, they have so many similarities that pronounce the differences to the point us Fexi lovers can feel the compatibility. “Opposites attract” is a famous saying, and Fexi’s differences can be compared to one another in such a healthy way that I see nothing but a positive outcome and future between the both of them. They both deserve each other—true happiness.

How did you get into making Fexi Sims?

Fexiana: Waiting for season 3 has been so hard that I had to create a vision for myself in terms of Euphoria Sims. It was a way for me to fulfill my Fexi needs, as well as a way to physically see them and control their lives as I missed Fezco and Lexi on my screen oh so much. And trust—in my game, I control their lives accordingly: going on dates, cooking together, watching movies, taking naps together, playing with their pet cat, having great yet intelligent conversations, Lexi joking with Ashtray. Really, it was for a piece of mind as we don’t see the gaps. Many Fexi lovers like myself wish there were more scenes between them, so I tried my best to capture that.

What is the creative and technical process for your videos? 

Fexiana: The creative parts of the videos have a lot to do with the fashion aspect. I try to pick an outfit I think the characters would really wear or go off references from actual episodes. I’ve even gone as far as to build Fezco’s home and business for the creative part—even Lexi and Cassie’s room, although, I do plan on finishing the Howard house and Rue’s house.

The technical part is a whole other story. I wish I could say it was easy and smooth, but it is indeed very technical. I recreated Lexi’s play episode and went through a lot of technical difficulties. Come to find out, I needed to update the processor on my computer. So, if you guys happen to watch that, forgive me because the video is very laggy, and I didn’t realize it until after I edited/finished the episode. I usually start by filming first, and then I edit the clips on a timeline and add subtitles/songs if necessary. No matter how simple the songs, trust, it is very tedious!

What is your favorite scene/detail from your video?

Fexiana: I would have to say I am the proudest of the recreation of Lexi’s play episode (minus the lagging). In this video, I had to have Fezco there in attendance for my own peace of mind. I do plan on making an aftermath of the play video to show them happily hanging out after her play (and Ash is still alive). 

What plans do you have for your videos? 

Fexiana: I have so many plans for videos! I could literally do one for every holiday if I wanted. My very first video was of Fexi having a baby (R rated). I would like to do other videos such as them going on a date to the skate park or restaurant, Fez helping Lexi do homework, Fexi partying, and even focusing on other characters in Euphoria such as Rue, Maddy, Cassie, Jules, and Nate. Even though I focus more on creating episodes, I find that there’s nothing wrong with not having subtitles. It’s so much easier to do a music video, which is another plan I have for Euphoria Sims. 

How do people find and interact with your videos?

Fexiana: You can interact with my videos on: 

Tumblr @fexiana

Instagram @ fexi_ana

Patreon @ fexiana (for my Euphoria Sims Rated X videos)

What are your hopes for Euphoria S3? 

Fexiana: My hopes for Season 3 are for everyone to be happy—mainly and selfishly, Lexi and Fezco. Hearing that it is set to be five years in the future, I hope to see their future TOGETHER and that they’ve accomplished their dreams, as well as all other goals to elevate them individually and as a couple.

Do you plan to make Fexi content outside of your videos? Like fics, playlists, art, collages, mood/vision boards, or social media AUs?

Fexiana: Yes! Before I started making Euphoria Sims videos, I wrote Fexi fics on AO3 by the name Fexiana. I started a painting of Lexi and Fezco that I was supposed to finish last year, and I do intend to make graphite drawings of them. I’ve made Fexi playlists, but rather than share them in writing with links, I incorporate them into my Euphoria Sims videos and put the names of the songs in the credits.

Any other news or facts do you want to share? 

Fexiana: I guess I’d like to share that I am a very approachable person who loves to execute ideas from other people because thinking alone can be boring and discouraging at times. I think that’s what made me take a break in the first place. So, please, I encourage everyone to give me ideas. What would you like to see me create in Euphoria Sims? It doesn’t even have to be Fexi related as I have ALL of the cast made. For instance, I wanted to make a video of Rue and Jules playfully messing with Nate, Maddy in her hot girl era, and Lexi and Cassie having a girl’s night with Suze—cute, simple things. I’d love to have a list of ideas from YOU ALL. This way I will always have a new video to make without questioning “What am I going to do next?”

[boysplanetrecaps]

Build Up episode 3: Jay versus Wumuti

Hello and welcome back to my Build Up episode recaps! In the previous post, we saw Seunghun from CIX and Neon go up against former member of Romeo, Ma Jaekyung, and “student who likes ballads,” Yoon Inhwan. In this one, Bitsaeon from M.O.N.T. and Jay go up against Wumuti and Kang Hayoon. Yes, that’s right, it’s a Boys Planet face off! Let’s do this!

As the guys come up onstage, the judges notice that both teams chose Western pop songs to cover -- specifically, songs by Charlie Puth and Harry Styles. 

The judges react specifically to Jay and Bitsaeon’s coordinating outfits. 

OMG. The s w e a t e r s. Yes. This is what I want. MORE SWEATERS.

They introduce themselves by singing their team name -- Sweet and Salty -- to the tune of Beethoven’s Fifth symphony. You know -- dun dun dun DUN.

Bitsaeon, left, claims he’s the sweet one and Jay says he’s the salty one, then they do some aegyo. 

At first glance, it looked like Wumuti and Hayoon are wearing white button downs, but no, on closer inspection, they are wearing….

S W E A T E R S

They introduce themselves as “Golden Boys/Voice” (saying the words in English). Since “Voice” and “Boys” sound almost identical with a Korean accent, I’m not sure which one they actually mean, but I think it’s a play on words at least. Wumuti says he’s “sexy and soft voiced.” I’ll leave that to you, the viewer, to agree or disagree with. Hayoon has a “unique” voice. 

We’re reminded that Jay did very well in the first round, and go into a flashback to their time in the Rival Choosing Platform Area (RCPA), which is frightening not just because it’s surrounded by terrifying blurs….

.. but also because it’s where your fate is determined!

But no one seems to want to challenge them. 

Jay mentions that he’s worked with Bitsaeon a lot, and we see this amazing old footage of younger Bitsaeon and Jay with Different Hair:

As I mentioned in my initial write up, Jay was part of a program to add more members to Bitsaeon’s group M.O.N.T., which wanted to have a sort of open-member concept kind of like NCT, I think. Although that never really worked out in terms of Jay actually joining, I assumed it would have meant that Jay and Bitsaeon would have gotten to know each other, and yep, I was right. 

Since no one will step up to the RCPA, Jay and Bitsaeon are allowed to choose a rival, and chose a pop vocalist team to make the match up appropriate. Side note: I’m going to just call Bitsaeon “Bit”, ok, gang? 

Jay mentions that he’s known Wumuti for five years. I also mentioned that in my write up that this is their third reality show in a row together.

 Wumuti says he’s the hyung in this relationship, and Jay puts his arm around Bit, who is older than both of them, as if to say “I have a better hyung now!” I don’t like this. Ok. 

Some time later, Bit and Jay unfold a nice folding table in a gray room with partitioned walls, put on a pair of almost matching fleece jackets, and pretend to talk strategy so that the camera can record them choosing the song they probably already chose off-camera much earlier. But it’s a pretty great scene. 

Jay and Bit say, “I think they’ll choose to do a female song.”

Smash cut to Hayoon and Wumuti in a different gray room with a much nicer table, who are in fact saying, 

… “What if we do a female song? Like, maybe something by Ariana Grande?”

Cut back to Jay and Bit: “I bet they’d choose something by Ariana Grande.” 

Back to Wumuti, who says, “I think Jay will want to do something by his role model, Bruno Mars.”

Cut back to Jay, saying, “I want to do a Bruno Mars song.”

Wumuti says he’s known Jay for five years, and they know a little too much about each other. We see a shot of Baby Jay and Baby Wu. 

“Two kids with the same kpop dream met”

I kind of get it -- when you are living in a place where you don’t speak the language that well, if you meet someone else who isn’t from that place, you kind of end up hanging out a lot. It happened to me when I was working for a royal family in an Arab country. I’ve had a weird life so far, my chingoos. 

They decide on Dangerously by Charlie Puth, because it’s high pitch, high risk, high reward. Bit says he really wants the “killing part” with the one high pitched “I love you!” standing out with a vocal “scratch.” 

I wonder, says I, I says, I wonder if they’re going to show us that part three or four times?????

Here’s the link to the performance without reaction.

My thoughts:

First off, really good song choice. It’s catchy, but it wasn’t a mega hit like “Attention” or “We Don’t Talk Any More.” It’s emotional, kind of sexy, with lots of opportunities to show off vocal skills. Really, perfect song choice.

Jay, again, was just amazing. His vocal color is obviously gorgeous, but he also seems to have worked out his issues with pitch and nasality. His adlibs and little growls add to the song appropriately. He was occasionally slightly screetchy, but it worked in the context of this song. His little mannerisms do slightly remind me of Dana Carvey’s “Choppin’ Broccoli” bit, but I guess in a hyper-regimented, always pre-planned world of Kpop, that kind of thing is to be expected. 

Working with Jay is a blessing and a curse. His voice is so impossibly pretty that it makes it likely that you’ll win the challenge, but it also means that anyone else’s voice is going to sound worse in comparison. And that’s what happened to Bitsaeon here. 

Bitsaeon’s voice is lovely, with good agility and a well-developed upper mix. He also pronounces the English really well -- possibly Jay gave him some tips. I don’t love the tone of his falsetto, and he also could get a little shrieky sometimes, but he’s never pitchy or nasal. As good as he was -- and he was really good! -- he just doesn’t have quite as pretty of a voice as Jay does. But I mean, almost no one does.

Their voices blend together well and the harmonies they worked out sounded great. 

The MNET edit for all these songs always seems to be about emphasizing how good everyone is, and this one is no exception. 

So, fun fact: I watched the performance itself while I was traveling for work. I have Youtube premium so I can download videos, and I downloaded as many ep3 videos as I could to try to get a head start on this episode. When I saw Jay doing the whole “growl then fall backward like you’re spent” part of the song, I was like -- I bet in the MNET edit, they show that part like, five times. They were pretty restrained though and only showed two of his parts twice each. I mean, they also showed the judges jumping to their feet and hugging each other so there was that. They also did an instant replay of Bit hitting a super high note, so that was good.

Looks like most of the judges stayed on their feet for the whole last third of the performance. 

When they’re done, the judges give them a standing ovation and the guys backstage wonder if their low score will be 100. 

The score is revealed: 

Baekho, Solar, and Jaehwan gave it a 100, and the low score from Eunkwang was 97. That means that the other judges gave 98s and 99s. 

It’s… pretty wild. How on earth can Wumuti and Kang Hayoon beat this? They decide to just sing their song and not worry about it. 

Dahee asks the judges for feedback. Baekho said he felt like he was just watching a concert -- nothing to judge. And Jay’s voice is so catchy, it’s good regardless of personal preference. We’re reminded of those parts that got the instant replays.

Jaehwan says he wants to be a CEO and recruit artists like them. Dahee asks, why not actually them instead of just artists like them? And he says, hey, I can’t right now, I just got a full time job finally, I can barely take care of myself!

VCG gives some love to Bit, which is nice to see. He really did great -- I really do love his upper mix. 

Seungkwan from Seventeen says, “I learned. I was humbled and even jealous. That’s how overwhelming your stage was. You did a great job. Thank you.”

Up next, it’s the other team, who come out calmly as if they didn’t just see their competitors get three perfect scores. 

Wumuti says he’s known Jay for five years, and that Jay is so good it made him and Hayoon even better. 

We flashback to episode one and see Wumuti hearing Hayoon’s voice for the first time and just loving it.

Sure, he did approach Gwangseok first, but Hayoon is who he really wanted. Wumuti says he wants to give a shocking performance, a song with bold colors and extreme details. 

We see Wumuti and Hayoon rehearsing in some sort of place with t-shirts and art and merch…? 

I tried to search for info on this stuff but didn’t find anything, so if you have light to shed, please do!

They spent a while picking the right song, which I think is smart. There’s another team that we’ll see in episode 4 that I kind of think chose their song too quickly -- we’ll get to them. But they ultimately decide on Harry Styles’ Falling. 

Hayoon says he thinks a lot of people could empathize with the lyrics, and  Wumuti feels like it relates to him and his struggles to debut.

Look at that gray and black s w e a t e r. 

They’re rehearsing so hard they levitate! 

The performance begins, and the judges wish them luck.

Full version without reactions

My thoughts:

I like Wumuti so much as a person -- I think he’s charming and I really like his optimistic, hard working attitude toward life. Also, I generally really like his singing voice, which is sweet with a nice bit of texture. His occasional belts are strong and lovely. That said, I think his voice can sometimes be a little nasal and he might need to work a little bit on his breath control, as sometimes he runs out of breath on a line or two. Regardless of those slight issues, I think this was a lovely performance, both vocally and emotionally.

I find myself kind of on the fence about Kang Hayoon’s voice. Sometimes the vocal color and stylistic choices are so overwhelming and affected that it’s a bit too much for me. But I think this was my favorite performance of his. He toned down the nasality and let what I think might be his “real voice” shine through. He did occasionally get a bit shrill on some of his louder belts -- a bit challenging to listen to, for me, like a tiny bit nails-on-the-chalkboard. Overall, though, I did really enjoy this performance. 

I know it’s weird to say for someone who recaps competitive reality shows, but competition isn’t my favorite part of all this, and I wish I could just say that both performances were good in their own way without taking a stance on which performance was better. But I also know that part of what I’m doing here is giving my opinions. So for me, I just enjoyed Jay and Bitsaeon’s a tiny bit more. There were a few notes that sounded a tiny bit off for me in this.  But they were both great and I enjoyed them both a lot.

The MNET edit continues the theme of just falling all over itself to say how good Kang Hayoon is, and sometimes I wonder if I’m the only person who doesn’t think he’s the obvious best vocalist on the show? Not saying he’s bad, just that a lot of people on this show are as good or possible a bit better than him. Tons of talent on this show! 

Everyone listening is very quiet, listening. When they’re done, there’s a moment of silence as people kind of wallow in the feeling, and then the judges all stand up. And Wumuti is crying! He explains that he felt like he was singing the words to a mirror, to the Wumuti who keeps running toward his dream of debut. 

“If one day, the stage doesn’t need someone like me anymore, what should I do then?”

The judges try to vote, but they’re kind of overwhelmed. 

The votes come in, and… commercial break!!!... the votes are revealed!

Everyone gave a 100 except for Eunkwang, who gave a 98, and Baekho, who must have given a 99. We can tell that this is a 697 point performance. Wow.

I feel bad for Jay and Bitsaeon. They got a higher score than almost anyone else but they’re still going to be up for elimination. This show is awful, isn’t it? Sigh. 

Everyone teases Eunkwang about his “low score” of 98, and then we get some feedback. 

VCG says he wished he had known back on Boys Planet how good of a singer Wumuti actually is, especially if he sits down and sings. Hey, VCG, *I* noticed it even in Zoom, when Wumuti’s awesome “LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION BABY!” right before Haruto’s dance break really was a highlight. Anyway, VCG says he’s glad Wumuti is on this show so that he can really show his vocals. 

They also heap a lot of praise on Hayoon, saying he’s a genius.

Jaehwan says, "I want to give you all the compliments of the world." Aww! That's great. 

Seungkwan says it was his first time awarding 100 points, and mentions that it was at least partly because they showed their mettle to pull off such a good performance right after the previous team. 

Eunkwang says he deducted one point for each so that they don’t get too egotistical. 

When the judges are done giving their feedback, Dahee brings back Jay and Bit to find out the winner, although it’s obvious if you pay attention to the numbers at all.

The guys exchange hugs. The judges say that there aren’t any losers here, but Jay and Bit lose, 693 to 697. 

Wumuti thanks the judges for their kind words, and then thanks Jay and Bit for motivating them to work harder. Jay looks completely unbothered -- I think voting is going to decide who stays and who goes, and if so, I think Jay knows that he’s going to stay. Jay and Wumuti tease each other a bit and it really doesn’t seem like there’s any hard feelings. 

Emotionally, I can’t help but be glad that Wumuti got the win because I think he really needed it psychologically, but I still enjoyed the first performance a little more. I really don’t want to lose Bitsaeon either. Maybe we won’t? We’ll see, I guess.

Then we get a bit of a teaser for the next performance. Looks like the next episode will begin with Seokhwa from WEi and Woong from AB6IX going up against the two trainees, Ji Yeonwoo and Jeong Yunseo. 

Finally, we get the current standings (as of episode 3). 

For each one, I’ll either list their home group or something about them to help you remember who they are. Those who are already known to be in danger due to losing their 2 vs 2 mission so far are in bold. Those who are already safe will be in italics. Everyone else hasn’t gone yet.

Jay Chang  (Boys Planet)

A.C.E.’s Lee Donghun

Wumuti    (Boys Planet)

CIX’s Seunghun

WEi’s Kang Seokhwa

Pentagon’s Yeo One

Up10tion’s Lee Hwanhee

AB6IX’s Jeon Woong

Park Jeup   (sang Sherlock)

Vanner’s Taehwan

Just B’s Geonu

KNK’s Jeong Inseong

M.O.N.T.’s Bitsaeon

Up10tion’s Sunyoul

BDC’s Hong Seongjun

Neon (sang Hmm-cheat)

Kang Hayoon   (sang Falling)

Just B’s Bain (orange hair) 

Fave1’s Hyukjin (red suit) 

Jung Soomin (from Chicago) 

Lee Gwang Suk (the model)

Hong Sung Won (that ombre sweater)

Park Joo Hee (top tier from Tomboy)

Kim Min Seo  (low tier in Beautiful)

Kim Seo Hyung (low tier in Shall I love You…)

NewKidd’s Lee Min Wook (that weird blue vest thing)

Kim Sung Jung (leaping lizard)

Lim Sang Hyun (top tier in Beautiful)

Choi Su Hwan (Decalcomanie/Sherlock)

Hwang Inhyuk  (Fragile people yellow sweater)

Yoon Inhwan (the student who loves ballads)

Taewoo (unique voice in Beautiful)

Ma Jaekyung (partnered with Yoon Inhwan for Take Me Back…)

Jo Hwanji (the soldier)

Choi Ha Ram (top tier in Breath)

Jeong Yun Seo (trainee, sang Beautiful, wasn’t nervous)

Ji Yeonwoo  (forgot words in Decalcomanie)

Kwon Euibin (the robotic guy)

Former Day6 Lim Jun Hyeok (sang Breath)

Jang Intae (sang Every Moment of You)

So, that's the end of the recap and the end of episode 3, so I maintain my status of being only two episode behind.

I'll see you in the next one, chingoos, dongsaengs, friends, oppas and unnies. Take care until then!