#I was going to do a bunch of outfits but listen clothes are hard and I’ve been so busy

[teeth-draws]

Another post of my boy with messy lines and a white background ig lmao

[burningcomputerpersona]

also how is it that spanish love songs has such good merch??? i don't think I've ever been to a show before where I had to struggle so hard to pick just one thing, like in a lot of cases there's only really one thing that appeals to me or I just get something bc i love the band and need to have them on me regardless of what the design looks like. but i was spending ages just staring at the merch stand trying to pick one out of alllll the things i wanted

[sabrina-kpop]

HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII, can I request a the poly hashira x fem gyaru reader who gets made fun of by the other demon slayers? (Angst but a very fluffy ending) :3

ׅ𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑢𝑡! ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

my very first request yay!! and it's of my life style!? Double yay!! In this oneshot I made the reader off of my sub style which is manba!! And sorry if this is bad which it probably is.. AND YOU ARE NOT IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH MUICHIRO YOU ARE SEEN AS A MOTHER FIGURE

WARNINGS: swearing (Sanemi ofc) slut shaming (I'm based this on my experience with being gyaru) bullying ect.

Being a gal while also being a demon hunter has is pros and cons, pros being hanging out with Tengen and Mitsuri for new clothes and cons being your makeup sweating off and hair getting messed up while on a mission.

Today is a day where the hashira (specifically Tengen) invited you and the rest to a summer festival, of course you where excited you haven't gone to a festival since you were a little girl.

You have finished doing your hair and makeup looking beautifully crazy along with your outfit, you hear a knock on your door and before you could answer Shinobu walked in "Ara ara, well aren't you looking beautiful my butterfly" she said complimenting you, you utter out a small thanks,still not being used to compliments.

you walked out with Shinobu and met up with the rest, Gyomei and Giyuu grabbed your hands and the rest began to go to the city.

What you didn't know is that Rengoku, Shinobu and Giyuu brought some of their tsugoku's and slayers with them and they don't really get along with you. They saw you as a weirdo because of your fashion sense and looks although you try your best to ignore them sometimes it can hit you a little hard......

"What is she wearing" strike one.

Ouch that hurt. You are so confident for your rebel style and yet now you're feeling like it's getting pulled away you try to ignore it but it remains in the back of your mind.

"Y/n...are you feeling okay..?" Said Muichiro you reassure him that your fine and continued your way to the city with the rest.

It was evening and you have a ride to the city it was crowded and it was bright seeing people talk, dance, laugh and show of their Japanese pride.

"Ah! It's so crowded! " Mitsuri said in a high pitched voice. Obanai suggested that you all go to a restaurant to rest and eat but you said that you wanted to see the jewelry booths and clothing booths set up outside.

Giyuu sent two of his kakushi just in case something happened.

You immediately wandered off into one of the booths that were selling jewelry. You mean started buying a bunch of them some for partners and some for you.

"Jesus Christ doesn't she have enough... She going to die from blood stopping with all those tight bands around her wrist... "

Strike two.

You really put some back listening to what they said it hurt you like if someone stabbed you in the heart you tried to ignore them again but how could you all they do is talk about you and your features you feel like nothing you feel like a clown.

"I'm back!" You said with a bag in your hands "I bought all of you some new cute clothes!" You said happily as you hand them their gifts. They happily thanked you and began to order food.

The food was delicious. The meat had a juicy flavor and the rice was perfect.

"Fuck, I'm full" utter out Sanemi

"Really? I could go for more!" Said Mitsuri. Both Obanai and Sanemi look at her in a "what the fuck?" face as Shinobu and you giggled from the side.

You got up to go to the restroom but you ain't mean it shivered due to your clothes being slightly revealing. Although you knew that this will be the consequences from deciding that your outfit looked better without a jacket and quickly shrugged it of as "beauty is pain"

As you went to the restroom and finished doing your business, you were washing your hands so you heard this.

" you can clearly tell that she's cold she was shivering so hard that when she gets for being a slut with those revealing clothes. "

Strike three, your out.

You immediately began to tear up why were they saying these things to you what did you ever do to them this has been going on for years now and it hasn't stopped. why couldn't they just accept you for who you are? Why couldn't the see that you were happy being yourself? Why couldn't they see that you are human too?

Suddenly you heard a knock on the restroom door.

"Y/n you've been their for a while are you okay?.." It was Giyuu.

"Y-yeah I'm okay..." You said trying to cover up the sound of your crying.

"Are you sure..? It's sounds like you aren't.."

You went quite and started sobbing as Giyuu opened the door and went in while the rest followed..

Mitsuri went up to you and tried to calm you down the best she can, keyword "tried"...

"Y/n just tell us what happened..!" Said Mitsuri panicking not really knowing what to do..

"Am I w-wierd?" You utter out as the rest looked at you with worry

"The fuck is that supposed to mean" said Sanemi.

"I-it's just that people when they see me the way I am they think of me as some kind of slut.."

Who the hell told you that I swear I'm going to beat them into next wee-" Sanemi said as Shinobu cut him off.

" Oh my little butterfly....you're nothing like that you're not even close you're beautiful and you're special.

Shinobu said.

" yeah you have the courage to be flamboyant while the others are just idiot with no sense of style "

Said Uzui.

"Y/n your beauty is like a flame bright and beautiful! "

Said Rengoku

"You're so beautiful doing your nails everyday is so much fun especially trying out new patterns!"

Said Mitsuri.

" Seriously tell me who made you think like that, I will show them no mercy.. "

Said Sanemi.

"You remind me of that one flowers...what was it called...? Hibiscus..? "

Said Muichiro.

"You remind me of water.... Useful and when at sea.... Sparkling.."

Said Giyuu.

"Your personality is bright and energetic...I will always pray for it to stay that way.. "

Said Gyomei.

But your personality is also soft and kind... It's one if the reasons why Kaburamaru loves you so much...

Said Obanai.

You can't believe them each and every one of their words fix your heart piece by piece you made them all get into one group hug even if Sanemi and Giyuu can't stand them..

"Wait! Hurry the fireworks are about to start" squealed Mitsuri dragging you and the rest outside. You guys found the perfect spot to watch the fireworks. as you all sat down you couldn't help but think of grateful you are to have such partner's "Thank you.. " you said as they look at you and smiled. You rest you head on giyuu's shoulder while you all watched the fireworks...

[twodogs-twocats]

Sleep Token as Roomates

For whatever reason, my Sleep Token fixation has chosen to lodge itself in my brain in the form of a New Girl-esque scenario…

Translation: You and all four band members are roommates. Annnd there is definitely romantic tension with every one of them.

Content Warning: very little justification for any of this. Just my 🌈imagination🌈

POV: fem reader

Vessel:

- the one everyone thinks is in charge.

- the most fun one to do chores with. he will get them done, but have a good time along the way. car karaoke on the way to get groceries, dance parties in the kitchen while cooking, playing the floor is lava while vacuuming. he will always try to make you smile even during the most boring of tasks

- workout gear everywhere. he’s got a pull up bar installed above his door, where he does shirtless pull-ups every morning. you only watch sometimes…

- honestly, probably always shirtless in general

- the best smelling of the bunch. lights incense and candles on the reg

- always doing little things to impress you. like as soon as you come home, he starts playing piano, or doing pushups. and then will pretend he didn’t know you were home when he catches you watching

- likes to come up behind you. if you are standing at the kitchen counter, he will reach around you to grab something, with his chest pressed up against you. he uses his size to his advantage, and he gets the sense you like how big he is

- paints your nails sometimes. and sometimes wants you to paint his. black polish only

- a very good cook. often cooks family dinners

- a bit unhinged, but I could see vessel borrowing your clothes and jewelry. like going to bed in your tshirt or stealing some of your rings for his shows

- honestly, I just picture roommate vessel as a generally soft goof

II

- the one who’s actually in charge

- very clean and organized. keeps everyone else in line (if you know the show new girl, to me, II is a quieter, scarier Schmidt lol)

- he’s the best listener. when you have had a rough day, he will listen to you vent for hours. or if you need help making a decision, he will help talk you through it. he gives 100% attention to everything you say

- he will surprise you with finishing little chores for you. you’ll come home to a freshly washed car, or your laundry already folded

- a plant guy. always brings home plants and takes very good care of them. runs your little family garden

- morning person. this man is up at the crack of dawn and has already accomplished about a dozen things before anyone else is even up

- enjoys learning about your hobbies. if you are a reader, he wants to know what you’re reading. if you’re trying to learn something new, he will help you practice

- toxic trait is that he would be the most jealous if you ever brought someone home. like very openly hostile

- light touches. like he tries so hard to keep it platonic, but you’ll feel his hand on your back when he walks around you, or his fingers will linger on yours just too long if he hands you something

III

- the messiest of the bunch. like he will help out with cleaning, but if anyone is leaving laundry or dirty dishes around, it’s this man (often causes little spats with II)

- loud and fun. he is always singing, dancing, playing music. when you get home he will greet you with a big hug. his goal in life is to make you laugh

- likes to braid your hair. and you help him with his space buns

- takes the longest in the bathroom for sure. He enjoys regular bubble baths, and often teases you that you are welcome to join him

- when III’s energy has come down a bit, he is a master at chilling. Im talking movie nights with popcorn and candy, building blanket forts with lots of pillows. (he will sometimes try to sneak an arm around your shoulder. Not unusual for you two to end up *platonically* cuddling on the couch)

- the best dancer. You always bring him when you go out dancing or to a concert.

- the most openly flirty. will always compliment your outfits and tell you how beautiful you look.

- he will also find any way possible to touch you, even when it’s completely unnecessary — hugs when you come home, putting his hand on your knees when he’s talking to you, and occasionally even kissing you on the cheek. he especially loves to see you blushing and flustered

- tinkers with his guitar into the late hours of the night. the sound often puts you to sleep

IV

- the most “bro”-y of the roomates

- like the only one of you who will ever put sports on tv (and you all complain and tell him to put on something else)

- the house barista. makes great coffee and is very particular about his process.

- you like to take naps with IV. You both will pile on the couch and fall asleep watching some stupid comedy. you often end up with your head in his lap and his hand resting on your waist.

- has a bit of a staring problem. he is the most obvious one about checking you out, and he does not seem to care if you notice. when you get dressed up, he will give you a full head to toe scan, and then proceed to stare at you like he wants to eat you (and he probably does, of course)

- enjoys going on walks with you. might not say much, but he always has a good time

- adds lots of artistic touches to the home. buying art or cool knickknacks to add around the house. this man has excellent taste

- the most protective of you. makes sure he knows where you are at and who you’re with. installed a lock on your bedroom door so you could have some privacy. (but he kept a key for himself, you know, just in case)

Etc.

- you definitely have a black house cat, and II is definitely the cat’s favorite

- your living room has been taken over by musical instruments. there is always, always music playing in the house

- all the boys are great at comforting you when you are sad. I could see any one of them holding you while you cry

- big family movie nights. all the boys love movies, so you will all regularly get together to watch something

[mx-julien]

each ninja was a different kind of teacher (except Lloyd who basically went on a year long press tour) and it also explains why Rebooted and after they seem a bit more responsible than in season 1 and the pilot

Cole has my favorite teacher characterization because he's objectively an interesting person with cool hobbies but when he is responsible for a group of children he just becomes Dad Who Is Helping Out At The Summer Camp. we never see his classroom, but given his proficiency in the arts we can assume he's the English teacher

since he went to art schools, he's probably not used to kids who aren't actually interested in what's being taught. the louder kids seem to dislike him (ref: running gag of "Mr Cole is the worst"), but that doesn't mean he's necessarily a bad teacher- just not one to humor pranks

also his and Kai's teacher outfits belong in the 1970s. I like the touch of making their ties the same color as their gis

little bit of meta: most of the people who worked on this show went to school in the 80s/90s so to them "older/boring" teacher outfits would look like this. also, as someone who was in the intended age range and saw it at the time of release, this sort of clothing conveyed that the ninja were doing a stuffy adult job- juxtaposed with their colorful gis

Kai appears to be the history teacher? his teaching style is likely structured and straightforward. given his nontraditional childhood, his frustration with the kids likely comes from both his jealousy that they aren't aware of how valuable schooling is and that Nya was much easier to work with when she was their age. at the end of the day he's an older brother who's now in charge of a bunch of kids

he's using an old-fashioned projector with film, which I assume (1) shows how low-budget they are, (2) emphasizes that Kai is out of his element (pun not intended), and (3) juxtaposes them with New Ninjago City

Zane is the one who doesn't know what a vape pen looks like but will listen to you infodump for an hour after class, then drive/walk you home because you missed the bus. he probably doesn't get any of the classroom humor or notice if the kids make fun of him. I can't imagine him ever getting angry at the kids, and he probably is very good at keeping them to a routine and a schedule

in rebooted episode 1 he seems to be teaching science? and the use of catapults is actually quite endearing- he's probably explaining tension and going to get his kids to make little models, which shows that he both is a pretty good teacher and hasn't realized that giving elementary/middle/primary schoolers their own catapults will only lead to chaos

he and Jay have personality-based outfits, with the snowflakes being an obvious allusion to Zane's element and the zig zags on Jay's emulating lightning

the little bowtie on Zane reminds me of Bill Nye the Science Guy (program with a a host of the same name who taught kids about science in a fun and accessibly way- very nostalgic for kids who went to american public school)

Jay is the exhausted teacher who's more interested in his hobbies than class material, and if you get him talking about that hobby, he won't stop until the bell. as a jokester, I think he'd get along well with the kids and definitely encourage them to annoy the other ninja

we don't see his classroom, but given Jay's skills he's probably the math teacher. he'd have a difficult time explaining things in different ways- very gifted people who learn well on their own often find it hard to teach things to others, though he would make sure he doesn't leave anyone behind

Nya definitely teaches math classes, but she probably handles tutoring as well since she's well-balanced in most subjects. it would also give her an intelligence network- kids come to her room after class/during lunch to complain and gossip. she uses it in the noble pursuit to antagonize the others

i'm used this video and the ninjago wikia because I'm on mobile and finding other sources would've taken too long

extra group photo I found! love the detail that Zane blinked (Dr Julien probably took the photo)

[petersbaby]

Stepbro!steve x Reader installment #1

Warnings: stepcest, smut (sex), cum talk. A short one

A/N: third story of the day woo. So listen I’m not sure the direction I want this to go quite yet, I’m not sure if I wanna make installments like I did with stepbro eddie or if I want to just make a bunch of different fics that stand alone. For now, we’re gonna call this installment #1 :)

-

“God, you look so fucking good. You know that, right? Know you’re torturing me?”

“Yeah right.”

It’s apparently about the outfit you’re wearing, but really, he says this pretty much every day. He thinks it’s flattering, but it can just be annoying most of the time.

“I’m serious. Don’t walk away from me.”

“I have things to do, Steve.”

“Yeah? And I think *im* the first thing on the list.” He says, looking down at an imaginary piece of paper.

“Yeah, no, it doesn’t say that. Also, that list isn’t real.”

He comes up behind you, clothed cock rubbing against your bare ass as you’re bent slightly over to reach something.

“Stop. They’re right there, stupid.”

You both glance over at your respective parents in the living room from where you are in the kitchen.

“C’mon, be nice.” He frowns.

He was annoying, but he was really fucking good at making up for it. You decided you’d have him make up for it now, at least he’d be good for something.

“I will be nice, in the bathroom.” You smile and run up the stairs. He follows you up to the bathroom, quickly shutting and locking the door behind you. He gets way into your personal space, having no sense of it. The smell of him invaded your senses and enveloped you.

“God, bend over for me.”

You do, leaning against the counter, and you skirt rides almost all the way up. He takes generous handfuls of your ass and squeezes hard, as well as delivering some small but effective spanks that had you whimpering.

He presses up against you from behind again, cock even harder now, straining against his blue jeans. He ruts into your core, teasing you, leaving you needing more. He knows you want him, of course he does.

“Please, Steve.”

“Aww, good manners.” He talks to you as if you’re a dog who just did the right trick.

He hooks his fingers around the waistband of your thong panties, pulling them off of you, but they stick a bit.

He smirks, you can see it in the mirror.

“This wet for me?”

“Yes, for you, dumbass.”

“What happened to being nice, hmm?”

“I’ll be nice when you give me what I want.”

“I’ll give you everything, baby. Shit, I’ll give you everything.”

He finishes pulling your panties off, then moves to unfastening his belt, button and zipper. He pushes them down his legs, to just above his knees. He runs the tip through your folds, spreading the wetness all over.

“Fuck, so warm.” He comments quietly, feeling heat radiating from your core, begging for him to come in. “Ready?”

“Mhm.” You nod, desperately trying to be patient but failing. Thankfully, he finally pushes in, and you let out a light, breathy moan. You know you need to be quiet but can’t, drunk on the way he stretches your tight pussy out every single time. He pulls out and pushes back into you, starting to thrust in and out, and you struggle not to whine.

His nails dig in to your ass while he picks up the pace, slamming into you unforgivingly and hitting your cervix. The moan that came out, just came out. You didn’t give it permission, but it didn’t care.

He takes one hand off your ass to bring it to your face, covering your mouth with it. You make eye contact with him in the mirror, both of you looking incredibly raw and desperate. His expression gives a warning, a warning to be quiet.

You nod your head as much as you can, to tell him you’ll try, but another moan comes out the second he removes his hand and thrusts into you deeper than ever.

“Shut up.” He whispers harshly in your ear, losing patience but having an idea.

He pushes two of his fingers into your mouth, and you happily suck on them. It keeps you busy and quiet, and it was definitely a sight to see. You took his fingers all the way to the back of your throat, treating them just as if they were his cock.

“So dumb, fucked stupid. Such a slut for her ‘brother’, hmm?”

“Mhm,” you try to say but fail.

“Yeah, I know. Being good for me. Be real fucking good for me.”

He continues to pound you from behind, ruthlessly getting harder and harder. Each time hitting a spot deep within you that had you falling apart quickly.

He could tell you were gonna orgasm just from the way you tightened on him, and he clasped his saliva covered hand over your mouth to quieten your impending release.

When you cum, he shows no mercy, still fucking you hard and deep at the same pace, maybe even harder than before. When he doesn’t stop after you cum, you get a second orgasm quickly, this time squirting around him and feeling the fluid dripping down your legs.

“Fuck, you’re so hot. So. Fucking. Hot.” He enunciated each word with a thrust.

“Oh god, I’m gonna cum, baby.” He says in a hushed tone, both hands gripping your ass again. You feel him unload into you, hot cum painting your walls.

He didn’t stop til he had absolutely nothing left. He said he would give you everything, and he did. You felt like a toy for him, just a place for him to dump his cum, and you were okay with that.

He pulled out of you, panting.

“God, pretty girl, you’re so beautiful. So good.”

You turn to face him and he places a giant kiss on your forehead, leaving slobber that you wipe off with your sleeve. You’re so happy when he’s sweet afterwards, because you don’t feel used; but loved.

“Thank you, Stevie, but get out. I need to take a shower now.”

“Alright, alright, I’m going.” He says, hands up in defeat. You smile as he opens the door, looks both ways, and leave. You lock the door behind him and get ready for your shower.

[deadal3x]

Dionysus and/or Dionysus kids headcanons? If you do that, but it’s worth a shot:)

YES I LOVE DOING THIS, I HAVE SO MANY. thank you sooo much for this question dez!

okay so, Dionysus definitely cares about the campers and the camp itself.

It shows when he heals Chris Rodriguez from the bout of insanity, it shows when he grieves for Castor and asks Percy to look after Pollux.

I like to think his kids also care like that

they care so deeply for their close friends and family that it hurts sometimes

Dionysus can't show it normally anymore because he's seen so many hopeful kids get their spirits crushed.

he's also seen them die. countless times.

if gods could dream, Dionysus would be plagued with haunting nightmares.

Dionysus kids are really good with plants, but not as good as Persephone or Demeter kids

They're also the type of people who say "I listen to anything!" for music and they mean it.

They have the best outfits. Sorry, cabin 7, but their fits slay, hardcore.

that being said, Specifically Pollux has TERRIBLE style.

My OC Grayson's style is definitely also bad, he dresses similarly to his father (oof)

Dionysus leaves shirts and stuff in the cabin and somehow his kids are stealing them and wearing them better than him

He doesn't know where they get the style from

The cabin has all the best quality "Slime tutorials" of your favorite musicals. You do have to take some chores off their camp chore list to get the footage though.

can and will rant to you about Gender being a social construct while wearing clothes typically associated with the opposite gender

Grayson is genderfluid, and so while he definitely prefers masc terms and whatnot there are days he goes all out with dresses and skirts and he literally slays

Castor will definitely go all out with a skirt, but dresses are a different story.

Dionysus secretly encourages his kids to break the gender normality.

Dionysus is definitely also a hands on dad, He tries so hard to be there for his kiddos before they reach camp age

in my story, the twins are at camp as early as 9 years old, simply for two reason- hella powerful and bonding time with Grayson

but, Dio was there, giving the twins mother (I've named her Marryane Moncharm) any help she needed.

for Grayson it's a different story, so you'll have to read the story to see

but I digress

At camp, he's attentive with his children, listening to their issues, giving advice if they want it and a distraction if they need it.

He will, however, tell his children that silly drama is below him before helping.

Dionysus has a secret obsession with dad jokes

think Patton from sander sides, but way more disgruntled and gruff than typical.

Dionysus has made Zeus tell a dad joke without realizing it, and to this day, it is his best achievement ever.

Has a shirt that says "Dad jokes? I think you mean Rad Jokes." and will wear it unironically.

as for his actual cabin and how I picture it.... that's a whole different set of headcanons.

I've previously said I think the cabins got a major upgrade at the end of the titan war thanks to annabeth, I believe.

prior to that, Cabin twelve feels the most homely.

there's no big harsh lighting. only soft warm lighting.

the beds have the best bedding ever, like it's so cozy

lots of theatre memorabilia hanging up

uh, like that one guy from only murderers in the building, I forget his name but he had theatre stuff all over his apartment- like it was a lot

also, Dionysus definitely has like, his item of power hung on the wall in there because he Does Not Care™ and the only rule is no touching the insanely powerful pinecone stick (Thyrsus)

Cabin 12 to me is the physical embodiment of Noah Kahan's music if that makes sense.

there's a bunch of headcanons for you friend! I hope you enjoyed them!

[gooseloverfiction]

Maintenance

Ken x Afab!Reader

NSFW, 18+

Wordcount: 1459

Summary: Some new additions needs maintenance...

Content warning: some fluff, masturbation (male)

You looked at the pad and the house in front of you. You checked off the rooms, the external condition of the house and the yard.  Everything looked fine.

You moved on to inventorying furniture, clothes and accessories.

Considering Barbie lived for few decades and fashions changed... even faster, it was going to be a long day.

The kitchen took you about 5 minutes. Luckily all the Barbies and Kens were on the beach. No one will disturb you or engage in small talk ending in full-blown discussion about the Real World. 

At least that's what you thought.

Ken was sitting on the couch in the living room, leaning against a pillar, which is why you hadn't seen him before. He was reading a book about horses. But didn't look like he was paying attention to it, constantly shifting in his seat. 

“Ken?”

He stood up quickly and looked at you in surprise.

"Who are you? A new Barbie?” the man…you mean the doll, you reminded yourself, was as surprised as you.

“No, I work for Mattel. I'm checking out the Dream House for a new doll.”

Ken lifted his head and stared at you with his blue, sparkling eyes. Only now did you notice his rosy cheeks.

“You're from Mattel?!” he cried, his voice full of hope. "Can you help me?! Sublime!"

“Uh, sure, I can help you, but I need to do this inventory first.”

“Inven…what?” Ken tried to pronounce the new word, but eventually gave up. You looked at him discreetly, 'checking' the furniture in the living room on the pad.

The doll was wearing his new lightning bolt tracksuit and a leather vest with fringes. He used a fingerless gloved hand to straighten the falling fringe of his platinum hair on his bandana. You wouldn't admit it at work, but he looked great in those clothes. They gave him his own, individual look. He was no longer just an accessory for Barbie. 

Seeing his still questioning look, you showed him the clipboard. He stood towering over you and began to read aloud.

“Oh. So you check if everything is there? I didn't take anything.” Ken raised his hands in a defensive gesture he had learned from being arrested twice in the Real World.

You smiled at him and patted his back. His muscles were rock hard.

The poor guy was tense as if he was about to explode.

“I’ll help you, then you will help me faster, right?” His tone was almost pleading. What was so important that he needed a human?

However, you agreed and with Ken behind you, you went upstairs. The wardrobe and dressing table will take the most time. But when you were looking through the first bunch of clothes, you felt that Ken's help would be indispensable.  He knew every garment, line and name of the limited editions.

You quickly went through the wardrobe and stood in front of the display where outfits for a given occasion or day were displayed. You took note of everything that was visible, feeling Ken's breath on your neck. Strange... The dolls didn't breathe. And certainly not with hot air.  You turned to him to ask about it and saw his rosy cheeks and neck. He grabbed your arms desperately and you felt yourself shaking.

"Everything's all right?" you asked, seeing how his lower abdominal muscles tighten. You opened your mouth unconsciously, seeing the impressive size of the tent in his sweatpants. Oh my… The dolls had no genitalia.

“Okay, let's go to the bedroom, you need to sit down," you took charge and went there first.

Ken looked miserable when he showed up on the floor. You gestured to the open clamshell bed, placing pillows behind his back. He needed to relax. Or… No, you didn't even think about that. And how are you supposed to teach a man (a doll) what to do?

“Let's try this…close your eyes and think about something disgusting,” you suggested, knowing it would be a long ordeal. Ken must have been in this shit hole situation for a while.

He listened to you and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, but he didn't even budge in his pants.

“Argh, I can't! I don't know what could be disgusting, all my thoughts are nice!” Ken groaned, looking reproachfully at his crotch.  The pink on his cheeks began to turn into a redder shade and spread to the rest of his face.

“Okay, let's try something else…” you couldn't watch him suffer. You knew perfectly well what it was like to feel frustrated when you wanted to feel good so much and you couldn't. And he didn't even know about this possible pleasure.  Something had caused him to start turning into a human and now he sat there with a raging boner. You were responsible for the maintenance of this part of Barbieland, so technically showing Ken how to please himself was... your job?

You sat on the edge of the bed and took one of his large hands, guiding it to his crotch and still keeping your hand on his, you pressed down on his cock and moved your hands up and down. Ken let out a guttural moan, so deep and shuddering, you thought he was going to cum.  He looked straight at you. Something in his blue eyes made your breath catch in your throat. By force of will, you removed your hand from him and placed it on the zipper of your jeans.

“Move your hand up and down like this,” you pointed and Ken obeyed. After a while, his moans echoed around the area, but it didn't last long. When he looked at you in frustration, you knew you couldn't avoid this…

“It doesn't do anything, I'm so hot, and I feel… I feel…” Ken couldn't say what he felt. He wasn't sure, he had ever felt this before in his life.

“I know, Ken. Okay. Pull out… This,” you finished, your voice a little too rough. You cleared your throat and pointed to his hands gripping his cock.

Ken quickly pulled down the waistband of his pants and freed himself from the material. Of course he had no underwear. And he must have looked so amazing. Involuntarily, you felt warmth spreading between your thighs. Pull yourself together, girl!

“Are these… Ge-genitals?” the man looked at himself in surprise, stroking the delicate skin along his entire length, reaching to the head.  When his fingers ran over the frenulum, he shuddered and a large drop of precum appeared on the tip.

"Yes. Men have a penis, women have a vagina,” you explained. Since you were already teaching him how to masturbate, he could learn the basics of anatomy.

Ken's eyes became as big as saucers. “So you have something else? Barbie has…”

“The vagina, yes. Because we are women,” you finished.

“Oh… Ooooh,” Ken moaned, touching himself more confidently now, instinctively using the wetness coming out of him to lessen the unpleasant friction. The leather of his gloves creaked as he clasped one hand around the base and moved the other up and down. He threw his head back, resting on the pillow, and panted faster and faster.

“Oh my... What is happening to me...?!  Hahm… I… I can't… I feel so hot. I can’t hold it,” he groaned, looking at his hands and cock, and you felt how hot he was actually getting. Or at least you shared his feelings, knowing damn well that this sight would never be forgotten in your memory.

Ken's hands grabbed himself as he twitched and shot his cum high. You saw perfectly well how his body was torn by orgasm. It must have been intense.

After a while, Ken went limp all over, panting and looking at the mess he had made around him.

“It was… So…” he started, but you quickly cut him off.

"Do you feel better?"

Ken nodded lazily. With a sigh, you pulled out the pack of wet wipes you carried in your carry-on bag and handed a few to the man. He took the wet cloth from you and wiped his hands, sculpted stomach and chest. He handed you the ball of tissues and you grabbed it between two fingers and put it in a ziplock bag. You're lucky you had it all with you. And others often laughed at you for this.

“Ok, put it back…” you pointed to his still slightly swollen member and Ken lifted his pants, hiding his new addition.

“I have to finish my inspection… Umm, maybe you can get some rest…” you started, but a soft snore interrupted your words. You smiled slightly to yourself and checked the bed off your list.

[the-bjd-community-confess]

Mod: I'll post Anon's more recent update first, and the older confession under the break 💖 I'm glad you're feeling better now Anon!

Hey mod, if you see this, I’m the anon who confessed about my cats catching a fatal disease and it making me want to basically give up on everything like my work and my dolls.

I’m okay now and I’ve made peace with it and whatever happens I’m just gonna give my cats the best life I can in the time they’ve got. It doesn’t hurt to look at my dolls anymore, in fact, I’m anxiously anticipating the clothes I ordered them for fall/winter. I love my cats, but this was out of my control and it doesn’t have to ruin my life. Sending in that confession really helped me come to terms with the situation and get my joy back. I’m happy to say my cats are happy and my new boy likes to steal my doll wigs (which I’m not so happy about xp)

Anyway, you don’t have to post that confession, but I don’t mind if you do. If you do though, would you attach this or some kind of note letting people know I’m okay? Life happens and my refuge has always been dolls, I was just worried that I had lost that too in my sadness, but they’re still there for me after all.

Thanks for listening, and I hope you’re well!

~Anonymous

Previous confession below:

CW: pet death, pet illness, depression, rant

One of my cats died, so I got another cat so my older cat wouldn’t be lonely, but now we’ve found out that my new cat might have a deadly disease and he may have already given it to my older cat, now we have to wait 3 months to find out if either one is infected or not with no real way to prevent my older cat from being infected in the meantime if she hasn’t been already.

Before we found out I got paid for the first time in a while and bought a bunch of new doll stuff because I wanted to get my dolls fall/winter outfits as the season is changing. Slowly, the items arrive and I dress my dolls, put new eyes in because I finally bought the new eyes I wanted, but I’m just so empty.

I’m supposed to be working too, but I have no energy for that either, nor any of my non doll hobbies.

I know that even if my cats are infected they have a good chance of living another 3-5 years (according to the vet and Google) but the dread is eating me alive. Every night I have to take pills to sleep and I stare at my dolls which sit around my bed on tables and they seem so empty now. My heart hurts so much that I don’t see the light in my doll’s eyes anymore.

It’s all my fault. I wanted a new cat to help my heart heal from losing my sweet darling girl, and I may have doomed the cat I had left, not to mention I might lose the sweet baby boy I’m already so in love with.

Doll stuff came in the day we got the news and I tried so hard to enjoy it. My doll is beautiful and maybe my favorite of all of my dolls, but there’s just no joy left. I wake up every day feeling like things might be okay and I go to bed every night looking into their empty eyes and wish I could just not wake up.

Why can’t I wake up tomorrow and it be December so I can be free of this not knowing and get back to things I love again. If my cats will have shorter lives I’ll be devastated, but it’s out of my hands and I can move on and love them and get my dolls and my life back and enjoy my life again, but not knowing makes me ill and all the things that once glittered and gleamed and filled my heart with joy just seem so fucking pointless.

As if the world wasn’t already crashing down around me, why this? Why now? Why can’t I just keep moving and enjoying my work and my hobbies? I’m so fucking exhausted.

I’m sorry if this isn’t doll related enough. I just need to say this somewhere even if it’s just a void. Maybe someone here can understand the emptiness of not being able to love the one (hobby) thing you love above almost anything else (dolls, my special interest) because life starts falling apart. I think if I said this to anyone else they’d think it’s stupid to care about pieces of expensive plastic when something bad is happening to a living creature, but dolls always spark joy in me even when bad things happen, but this is just so fucked and I’m so ill that they don’t even do that anymore. I want to feel normal again. I can’t change what’s already happened, but I can’t let it go and I hate going up to my room at night and looking at my dolls because it feels like they’re judging me. I feel like a monster. I just want to feel joy and peace again.

~Anonymous

[multi-fandom-trash-22]

An Ocean Away ~ Sebastian Sallow x Reader

A/N: Song fic oneshot from the (unofficial) Bridgerton musical "Ocean Away" with reader and Sebastian Sallow. This idea has been in my head since I've listened to this song and seeing as though I don't know how to make animatics, a fanfic is the next best thing lol. I know there's a bunch of bs going on with those who made the unofficial Bridgerton musical but I still love the songs so meh. This fanfic will have spoilers so don't be mad if you haven't finished the game.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~Reader POV~

It's finally here. The winter ball.

After the tragic events that took place last year, the Professors decided to host a ball to boost the students moral and help them forget about it a bit.

It'll be hard for me to forget. I still blame myself for Professor Fig's death.

Life's been hard since last year. My whole world was so full so quickly, only to have some of it ripped away from me just as fast.

Another person I've lost is Sebastian.

I managed to convince Ominis not to turn Sebastian in for the incident with his uncle. He wasn't happy about it, but I knew he didn't want to send his best friend away. No matter how strong his moral compass may be.

Though Sebastian stayed at Hogwarts, he started to drift away.

He didn't seem to want anything to do with Ominis and I no matter what we did to try to speak to him.

When summer finally came, we didn't hear from Sebastian at all.

We kept ourselves company with each other however.

Ominis and I became quite close during summer break.

The summer months flew by quickly. It was time to go back to school.

I was dreading it at first. The halls reminded me too much of all the hardships from the year prior.

My friends really helped me through everything. They were the perfect distraction when I started to fall into a slump.

When the Professors first announced the winter ball at the beginning of the school year, many students were excited.

Only 6th years and up were able to attend.

That was a few months ago. With it being the end of December, the ball was finally apon us.

Sebastian still hasn't spoken to Ominis or I. I see him less and less in class and in the halls.

Ominis and I decide to go to the ball together. Only as friends of course.

Ominis dorned his house colors, wearing a deep emerald green tux with a velvety texture. He looked quite dashing.

We decided to match our outfits. I enlisted the help of Natty and Poppy to find the perfect dress to wear.

My dress was also a deep emerald green to match Ominis. He even gifted me a snake necklace to wear.

"It will help us match more." He insisted.

It doesn't feel very wintery to me but I don't mind that much.

The dress itself was sleek like silk. It hugged my body in the right places and left room where need be. The back of the dress was open quite low. The dress also had a slight train to it. Little gold flecks could be found in the dresses fabric, causing it to sparkle when I moved. It was gorgeous.

The girls and I get ready and meet up at the top of the stairs.

I smile when I see Ominis and call out to him to get his attention.

"Hey! Ominis!" I shout over the crowd of people waiting for the Great Hall doors to open.

"Hello (Y/N)," He smiles back at me.

I lowly whistled when I looked Ominis over.

"Looking good, Gaunt." I smirk.

He rolled his eyes with a grin of his own before gesturing to me. "I'm sure you look amazing as well."

I laugh a bit and chat with him and the others as we wait for the doors to open.

All chatter soon ceases as the creaking of the large doors could be heard.

The students start steadily filing into the now decorated Great Hall.

Gone were the long tables and benches. It was a totally different room.

The usual floating candles were now dazzling chandeliers. There was a beautiful black marble dance floor in the middle of the room. Flanking it on the left and right are circle tables with white table cloths and sparkling snow globes as center pieces. Where the podium usually is at the front of the room, there is a band surrounded by instruments. Behind the makeshift stage, there are long tables set up with food and drinks set up. In the corners of the room, there are pine trees dusted with light snow. Last but not least, the ceiling was enchanted to snow. Soft small snowflakes drift towards the ground, melting before it hits the floor.

I am awestruck at the beautiful scenery in front of me.

Smiling, I turn to Ominis and excitedly describe the room around us. Ominis softly smiles at my enthusiastic description.

We make our way to one of the tables and I ask Ominis if he'd like anything to snack on or to eat. He politely nods his head and I make my way to the snack and drink table.

As I'm waiting for my turn to get Ominis and I something, I can't help but take a moment to appreciate the decor and hardwork the Professors put in to give us a memorable night.

My mind drifts to the events of last year. Surprisingly I only think of the good times. Which leads me to once again think of Sebastian.

"I wonder how he is doing..." I feel my face drop into a frown at the thought before I take a deep breath and focus on the now.

Finally getting to my turn for ordurves and refreshment, I stop as I go to grab two butterbeers for Ominis and I.

I smile lightly as I remember my first butterbeer. Sebastian and I had just finished defeating a troll in Hogsmead and were treated to complimentary butterbeer.

Other than Rookwood interrupting us, the rest of the time we chatted and got to know eachother more. The first leap towards our friendship.

I realize I'm slightly holding up the line so I quickly grab our butterbeers and some pumpkin pasties and head back to Ominis.

When I get there, I notice our friends have also seated themselves around Ominis.

We chat for a while before Ominis stands.

"Everything okay Ominis?" I question.

He holds his hand out before responding, "It wouldn't be much of a ball if we didn't dance. Care to join me?"

I smile widely and jump up and grab his hand, rushing towards the dance floor.

As we take our stances, I think I see a glimpse of Sebastian behind him.

Not wanting to worry Ominis, I keep it to myself for now.

The music starts and I try to keep my eyes away from where I saw Sebastian as we start our waltz.

"Why is he here? He can't speak to us yet he decides to come to a ball?" I angrily think to myself.

I quickly sneak another glance at Sebastian. His face is emotionless, not even glancing in our direction. My eyebrows furrow at that.

The music picks up the pace as we move our feet quicker. It feels as though the music is in tune with my emotions. Or vice versa.

My anger starts to swell. After all this time holding it in, it's starting to spill out.

"I did so much for him. What do I get in return? Ignored! Not to mention I let go that he called me ignorant and never even apologize. Maybe he didn't apologize because he truly thinks I am ignorant. Ugh!" I let out a loud sigh as my thoughts keep racing.

Ominis starts to sense how off I was.

He dips me out of nowhere.

I gasp and look at him with wide eyes.

"You seemed a tad distracted." Ominis grinned.

It takes me a moment of shock before I start laughing.

He lifts me back up and we continue dancing.

"I was. I'm okay now though. Thank you." I genuinely smile at him.

I'm not going to let Sebastian ruin my night.

~Sebastian POV~

I grumble to myself as I make my way down the stairs towards the Great Hall.

I don't know why I even decided to come to this ball. I don't have time for this while trying to search for a cure for Anne.

Ominis had sent me an owl. He told me (Y/N) and him were going and would like to see me go as well.

I battled with this idea for a while, hence why I'm a hour later to this thing than everyone else.

Fiddling with my tie, I glance down at my outfit once more. I'm wearing a dark green vest with a green tie under a black suit jacket.

I sigh before finally waltzing into the ball.

As I enter, the musicians start playing their instruments.

People start getting up from the circular tables and making their way to the dance floor.

I see Ominis immediately. His light hair being an easy target.

I frown down at my old clothes after admiring Ominis's velvet tux.

My frown drops as does my jaw once I see (Y/N). She looks exquisite.

Clearing my throat, I pull myself together. At that moment, I think our eyes meet.

It's only a fleeting moment before she quickly looks away around the room.

I lean against the far wall and try not to stare at the two.

People all around me are coupled up and flirting. I roll my eyes at that.

Turning my attention back to my two old friends, my eyebrows furrow.

They're laughing. Having the time of their lives while I'm sulking against a wall.

I sigh and make my way to the refreshment table.

Going to grab a butterbeer, I stopped and smiled. I remember the day (Y/N) told me she had never had a butterbeer. It was after we defeated a troll in Hogsmead. We talked for hours that day, just getting to know eachother.

My smile drops as I remember the rest of the events from last year. We both went through hell. And I had to drag her into mine when she had her own to go through.

I down the drink and make my way to the back of the room once again.

I see some suspicious looking students off to the side, laughing to themselves before pulling out their wands and raising it to the ceiling.

My eyes widen and I quickly make my way towards them. I'm too late however as they already shot a spell from their wands.

I glare at them before they dart out of the room, still cackling.

As I look up at the ceiling, I notice the snow stop falling and clouds start to swirl.

~(Y/N) POV~

Ominis and I are still laughing and dancing before a loud boom rings above us.

I quickly look up and notice the ceiling now swirling with clouds.

"(Y/N)? What's happening?" Ominis questions as he starts to pull his wand out.

I turn to the doors and notice a couple students peeking around the frame laughing.

I sigh, "It looks like a couple of our peers didn't think tonight was entertaining tonight. It looks like they tampered with the ceiling enchantment."

Ominis nods in understanding. He does continue pulling out his wand though.

"Maybe we should get to the side then. Who knows what they did." He activates his wand to help him find his way back to our table.

I hum in agreement and start to follow him before another loud boom of thunder is heard.

As I look up once again, it starts pouring.

I gasp as I'm quickly drenched with rain.

All the other students start shrieking and running out of the Great Hall, not wanting to ruin their expensive outfits more than they already are.

I start to make my way with the students before I stop in my tracks.

Taking a deep breath, I hold my arms out and smile up at the ceiling.

"This is what I needed." I think to myself.

Spinning in circles, I start laughing with pure glee.

~Sebastian POV~

I start to make my way towards Ominis and (Y/N) after the two students run out of the room.

I'm about 10 feet away as it starts to pour.

Ominis quickly makes his way out of the Great Hall. (Y/N) starts to follow after him and the rest of the students before she stops and smiles.

I raise an eyebrow at her peculiar behavior.

I walk up to her and grab her hand, stopping her from spinning.

"What are you doing? You're going to make yourself sick." I state and slowly remove my hand from hers.

I know I'm in trouble when her smile drops and she glares at me.

"Oh. Finally decided to speak to me?" She crosses her arms in anger.

I sigh and push my hair out of my face from the rain.

"Can we not do this now?" I plead.

She raises her brows and tilts her head slightly.

"Then when are we going to do this Sallow? Last I checked, Ominis and I weren't good enough for you to speak to." She spits at me.

The use of Sallow instead of Sebastian hurts more than I was expecting.

I cast my head down in thought before meeting her eyes once again.

"I...I'm sorry." I try.

She deadpans and raises an eyebrow as if to say 'is that all you got?'.

I take a deep breath and try again.

"I shouldn't have shut you out. Either of you. After last year I...I didn't want to drag you guys into anything else you'd regret. I hate that I brought you both into my idiocy last year. I'm not giving up on Anne and I'm willing to do anything I can to save her." I explain with a frown.

I hang my head at her lack of response.

Suddenly a hand is reaching out towards me.

I look up at the girl in front of me in confusion.

My confusion is doubled when I see the bright smile spread across her face.

"I've always been there for you Sebastian. I will continue to be there for you. Instead of pushing us away to keep us safe, let us make that decision ourselves." She earnestly says.

My eyes start to tear up and a smile starts to spread on my face.

"Now are you going to dance with me or not?" She smirks.

I laugh and grab her hand, pulling her towards me.

"I would love to." I whisper.

We start to dance slowly, our eyes not leaving each other.

The band, seeing us continuing our dance, started playing their instruments once again.

Some students rush back onto the dancefloor and continue to dance in the rain whilst laughing all around us.

"I've really missed you." I confess, brushing a wet strand of hair out of her face.

She softly smiles and rests her head on my chest.

"I've missed you too." She replies.

Resting my head on top of hers, we continue to sway, music and laughter all around us.

Best winter ball ever.

~Fin.~

Hello! I hope you liked this story. This idea has been in my head for the longest time so it was nice to get it out lol. Anywho, thanks for reading!

[k3llyb3an]

🎵🦉👖🌿🌸!! :)

🎵 Last song you listened to?

i was pulling up spotify for you when i realized this was playing in the background while i was wrapping up work tonight... fffff

🦉 Are you a morning person or a night owl?

I'm a night owl. That being said I tried to build my work schedule as early as possible because I don't want to spend my most creative and functional hours at a job. So I've violently forced myself into a morning person life style.

👖 Jeans or sweatpants?

I don't really wear jeans anymore. I think I only own one pair at this point and I never really liked them even when I wore them every day.

I only recently started wearing sweatpants because I'm working from home now. I flop from one side of my bed to the other to activate work mode so I just needed something comfortable and warm to wear. I bought a bunch of cute ones from here. The designs are cute and the sweatpants are thick and comfortable to wear.

I don't really go outside in sweatpants though. I like wearing leggings and stockings when I'm out. I got a bunch of cute stockings from here that I pair with a lot of cute skirts I got from @mayakern's store here.

🌿 Describe your favorite outfit.

My favorite outfit is ... hm. I like clothes a lot so this is hard. Maybe. One day I wore a black long sleeve top and a bright red solid colored skirt. And I took a red and black buffalo plaid long sleeved shirt and tied it around my waist sideways so it layered over the red skirt to give it some dimension. and i had thick black stockings on and black boots with black laces that kinda seamlessly transitioned into one another so you couldn't tell where the boot ended and the stockings started. and my hair was a little longer so i did a kinda gibson girl-esque updo. i think i drew it on a sticky note the day i wore it... YES.

I don't get to dress up much working from home though so I end up over dressing whenever I go out to do errands now lmao -- but this was a banger.

🌸 Best compliment you ever received?

HM. Well. I was recently in a situation where I was being hardcore gaslit so it's a little hard for me to receive compliments these days and feel like they're genuine unless they're from someone I trust. Especially when it's about my intelligence or my work ethic. I can't really control how smart I'm perceived as and I work almost compulsively hard where I think it's detrimental to myself at this point. That being said when I post art or silly things on here and I read through the tags and people earnestly put their feelings about it I really value that. Being told something is really funny or well made reminds me why I like creating things and it in turn makes me want to create again.

[i-think-i-did-it-again]

A little clearer II

A/N: I had a request to turn this into a mini series so here is part 2! Enjoy!

Warnings: swearing, drinking, drugs

6 months later

From that first night together, you were hooked. Colson and you became completely inseparable. Every moment of every day, you thought about him. You found every day tasks hard to focus on because all your mind wanted to do was think about him. Think about his piercing blue eyes, his full pink lips, his bright smile, the sound of his melodic laugh. Then your mind would wander to the feeling of him. The warmth of his body as you nestled against him. The way he always smelt of a mixture of cologne, mint and weed. The way his long arms wrap around your body and make you feel so safe. Listening to him talk about his interests, about his music, about Cassie. You could sit for hours and just listen to the sound of his deep voice, filling your ears.  

“Hello, earth to Y/N?” Sophie waves her hand in front of your eyes and you’re immediately snapped back to the world around you. You’re sitting in a cafe, listening to Sophie talk about a party she’s hosting.

“Sorry, I promise I was listening,” you blush and avoid her eyes. You’ve never been the best liar.

“Ok, repeat back everything I just said?” you sip on your coffee to avoid her question and she bursts out in fits of laughter. “I’m totally kidding but the look on your face was fucking hilarious! What I said was, I've told everyone to come around 9 but I know Kellz will be in the studio until at least 10 so if you want to come earlier and help me set up, that’s cool.”

You try to ignore the fact that you’re annoyed that she seems to know Kellz schedule better than you these days but it does prick up a red flag in the back of your mind. You spent all over yesterday with him and he didn’t once mention going to the studio today or that he was even working or anything new. You don’t want to become that girlfriend that feels the need to know where her boyfriend is every hour of every day but you feel like that should’ve been something he’d mention considering you live together and you’d assumed you were going to the party together. He was still in bed asleep this morning when you left for your girl’s day with Sophie, so it wasn’t like you’d expected him to be going anywhere.

“What’s to set up? You put a bong in one corner, alcohol in the other, play music through your sound system and make sure your bed has fresh sheets for the freaks?”

“Don’t even joke about that! My bed is my sanctuary and my party is a cocktail party so there will definitely be no bong corner, especially after what happened last time.”

***********

After a quick phone call with Colson, where he confirms that he will be in the studio all day, you decide to take Sophie up on her offer and head over to her place around 4pm. At the cafe, she talked you into letting her do your hair, makeup and pick your outfit from something in her closet because according to her, flannel shirts are ‘not proper cocktail attire!’ You shrugged it off because you knew she was only trying to help but it wasn’t like you were looking to impress anyone. You had already found someone that you would happily spend the rest of your life with so why bother putting in so much effort for a bunch of strangers?

Ashleigh showed up no long after you and between the two of them, your head was spinning. It may have also been from the excessive use of hairspray, setting sprays and perfume but the constant yanking from one to the other was full on. Sophie wanted to start your hair first, Ashleigh wanted to start your makeup, Sophie wanted you to pick an outfit, Ashleigh didn’t like any of the outfits picked out. By the third outfit change, you were overheated, dehydrated and completely done.

“Ok, seriously you two, cut it out! I’m done. I want to pick my own clothes, I want to do my makeup my own way and my hair is fucking fine in a ponytail!”

“Sorry honey, we just got a little carried away playing dress ups we kind of forgot you’re an actual human being,” Ashleigh apologises, handing you a cold bottle of water. You gulp down half of it in one go and the room finally stops spinning.

“What do you want to wear?” Sophie asks, holding up a couple of dresses you hadn’t noticed before.

They’re all vastly different styles but somehow all similar in their classiness. The first one that catches your eye is a red, spaghetti strap, silk maxi dress, that’s tight in the bodice and then flares out as it trails down. You actually think you might love it until you notice the slit on the left side. You don’t really like the idea of a slit that leads halfway up your thigh so you shake your head. Sophie tosses it aside and holds up a black sparkly dress. This one is short but has long sleeves. It’s tight fitted without trying too hard but you’re slightly put off by the deep V of the neckline. You look down at your chest and realise you’d probably have to go braless, which would be fine until you had a couple of drinks and were less self-conscious of your boobs falling out. Sophie can immediately tell by your face that the answer would be no and she tosses the dress. She’s left holding the last dress and you fall in love instantly. The dress is a white lace, off the shoulders with a love heart neckline and would sit just above your knees. Pattern of the lace is like tiny roses and you melt at the delicacy of the dress.

“That one,” you utter, your face instantly lighting up.

Within seconds you’re pulling the dress on while Ashleigh grabs the perfect pair of nude heels to go with the dress. Sophie fixes your makeup and gives you a pink nude lipstick to apply to your lips, to match your shoes. You check yourself in the mirror while Sophie and Ashleigh wolf whistle behind you. You blush and shrug them off as you sit on the bed and watch them finish getting themselves ready. You pour yourself a glass of champagne from the bottle that Sophie bought up and sip it while Ashleigh and Sophie fight over the hair straightener. After what feels like forever, they’re finally both ready. For some weird reason, they insist that you walk ahead of them, even though it’s Sophie’s party. 

As you walk down the hallway towards the stairs, the sound of hushed voices can be heard and you find it weird that there’s only soft classical music playing in the background. As you reach the balcony of the stairs you stop dead in your tracks. Standing there, surrounded by vase after vase of pink roses and candles, is Colson in a crisp black tux, a huge grin plastered on his face. His usual mess of hair is slicked back and styled away from his face, a single strand falling back over his forehead. As you get closer to him, you look over the landing and realise there’s a large crowd gathered below. A mixture of your friends and family, even your mum and dad, are staring up with matching smiles. You look at your mum and notice the few pin pricks of tears in her eyes and your stomach immediately drops. Colson reaches his hand for you and you take it. He draws you closer so his lips can reach your ear.

“I knew you’d pick the white dress,” he whispers in your ear and a chill runs down your spine. 

Before you realise what he’s doing, he’s down on his knee in front of you, your left hand wrapped in his, as he looks up at you. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small black box and flicks it open with his long, slender fingers.

“Baby, I have loved you from the time I met you and I know we’ve only been together for a little while, I know that I will never love anyone the way I love you. So, Y/N, will you do me the honour of becoming mine forever?”

Every word in the English language has completely escaped you in this moment. You stare between him, the massive diamond ring and the crowd of people below and all you can muster in this moment, is a stunned nod of your head. Everyone below erupts into cheers and applause and Colson stands to kiss you, placing the ring on your finger. The feel of his lips on yours wakes you from your confused fog and it suddenly hits you like a train. You just got engaged. You kiss Colson as intensely as you can, knowing that you’re in full view of your parents, and when you pull away a huge grin spreads across your face.

“So, at the studio all day huh?” you smile knowingly at him. He chuckles and pulls you against him, kissing your hair.

“I had to beg Soph to take you out because I knew if I spent longer than 10 minutes with you, I’d give something away,” he explains as he leads you down the stairs to your family.

***********

You feel like you’ve hugged 1000 people tonight as you collapse onto the couch beside Rook. You feel exhausted yet giddy at the same time and you can’t keep up with your own emotions. Your phone vibrates in your hand again and you wince at the idea of looking at your social media again. You already know that multiple guests and Sophie posted that you and Colson were engaged and your phone hasn’t stopped since. You kick your heels off and rest your feet on the coffee table. You don’t think your feet have ever ached this much. A few more guests drunkenly stumble past, the last of the crowd to leave, heading for the door with a wave and you let out a sigh. 

After your mum and dad hugged you and cried for what felt like an hour, you were essentially passed around the room like a bag of chips. Each person wishing you well and gushing over Colson’s romantic surprise. A few even joked that maybe he should plan the wedding considering how well he planned the evening. You laughed along with them even in your mind you were thinking over my dead body. 

“Long night kid?” Rook mumbles beside you, slinging an arm over your shoulders.

“You could say it’s been the most amazing and overwhelming night of my life,” you chuckle as you lean into him.

You know he’s been planning this since the week after you two go together,” Rook confesses and offers you a sip of his whiskey. You take it, the familiar burn hitting the back of your throat.

“I highly doubt that Rookie,” you laugh him off but the look of seriousness on his face shuts you up fairly quickly.

“I’m being serious. You called me and demanded I come over urgently and when I got there he had brochures full of diamond rings and he looked me dead in the eye and said ‘I’m gonna marry that woman’. He organised Sophie to take you out to get your nails done and a facial. I suggested a different type of facial and got my ass handed to me,” you snort and Rook grins at you before continuing. “He begged Ashleigh and Sophie to keep you occupied while he got everything set up, which they didn’t want to do because they knew what a pain in the ass you’d be about getting dressed up.” you punch him in the stomach and he laughs. “Seriously though, he wanted the whole thing to be perfect because he wanted you to know just how much he loves you.”

You contemplate all this information as you think about how much more you’ve fallen in love with Colson. You always thought he was the impulsive type. The kind of guy to never really think things all the way through. His spontaneity is one of the many reasons you fell for him. You could go to his house and walk in to find many different scenarios. A full house water balloon fight, staircase tobogganing, strip pool or, your personal favourite, blind-folded chasey. The thought of Colson sitting down and planning every little aspect of his proposal makes your heart swell and you have the sudden urge to be with him.

You stand up from the couch, the dull ache in your feet causing you to wince slightly, and you pad around the house in search of your prince charming. You walk around the entire area of the ground floor of the house, even poking your head into the powder room, but Colson is nowhere to be found. You slip out into the backyard and hear the familiar sound of his voice in the darkness. As you’re about to call out to him, you catch the end of his sentence.

“Honey, I know you still love me but I’ve moved on,” he whispers and you realise he’s talking on the phone. “Yes, I think about you from time to time but it will never be the same as it was before. I have to move on and try to be happy. No, don’t cry baby.”

Your heart drops and your blood runs cold as you realise he’s talking to his ex. You feel your surroundings begin to spin and like your chest may cave in. You slink back into the house as you try to catch your breath but you just can’t seem to get any air in. You stumble through the kitchen but you don’t make it past the island bench before you sink to the floor. Your eyes are blurred from your tears but you can feel the hands of people reaching out to you. You hear the overlapping of concerned voices as your friends try and work out what’s wrong. You can’t form a sentence as you still struggle to take in a deep enough breath.

“What the fuck are you all doing huddled on the floor?” you hear Colson’s voice break through the fog and suddenly you're filled with white, hot anger.

“You mother fucking asshole!” you roar, jumping to your feet so you can be in his face. Well, as much in his face as you can be given that he’s a good head taller than you. “How could you?”

“Baby, what’s wrong, why are you crying?” Colson’s voice is full of concern as he takes in your distraught features and hostile tone.

“Don’t you dare call me the same name you call her!” realisation dawns on Colson’s face and he immediately backs away from you, shaking his head. “What, you call us both that so you don’t accidentally call us by the wrong name?” he doesn’t say anything, he just continues to shake his head. “Fucking cat go your tongue Baker?”

“You weren’t supposed to hear that,” he mutters, avoiding eye contact with everyone in the room.

“No fucking shit I wasn’t meant to hear. How long have you been seeing her huh? Sneaking around with her behind my back while I fell in love with you!? What were your words ‘I think about you from time to time but I have to move on and try to be happy’. So clearly I was delusional when I thought the last 6 months were the happiest of both of our lives!” you turn to walk away from him, sick to your stomach at the sight of his face but he grabs your arm to stop you.

“Wait, let me explain! I just tell her that shit to make her feel better. I don’t mean any of it. She’s only ever called me twice the whole time we’ve been together and I just tell her what she wants to hear so she’ll leave me the fuck alone. The last time I told her I was happy, she called me relentlessly for months until I told her what she wanted to hear. Tell her please Rook.” Colson turns to Rook with begging eyes and Rook nods his head.

“She hates the idea that he can be without her so she hounds him but he’s only spoken to her one other time and that was when you two went public. As soon as Kellz says ‘I’ll try to be happy’ she backs off and leaves him alone,” Rook explains with such a deep honesty in his eyes that you feel your anger dissipating. “Honestly, the woman needs some serious fucking help.” everyone else nods their head in agreement and you realise that you really can’t imagine Colson wanting to go back to her or having a secret relationship behind your back.

“I want you to call her right now and tell her the truth,” you look back at Colson and he pulls away from you. “No more lying to her, no more making her think that you’re not in love and that you’re not happy. Tell her the truth and tell her to fuck off or I’m done.”

Colson immediately pulls his phone out and dials her number. He tells her everything. That he’s been lying to her, that he’s in love with you and has been since the moment he met you, that he’s marrying you because he can’t imagine his life with anyone else and that he wants absolutely nothing to do with her. You hear screaming and crying on the other end of the line  and a few ‘bitch’ which you assume is directed towards you but Colson’s resolve doesn’t waver once. He tells her he wishes her a good life and hangs up the phone before she can say another word. Everyone kind of stares at you, waiting for you to do something before anyone else speaks. 

You think for a few seconds before turning and heading towards the front door. Everyone parts like the red sea to let you pass and you grab your original shoes from the front door before heading out into the warm night. You can hear Colson calling your name but you don’t stop walking to your car. Eventually his long strides overpower your own and he’s in front of you, blocking your path.

“Will you just stop for a second and talk to me goddammit!” he screams in your face and you step away from him. He reeks of alcohol and weed.

“I don’t have anything else to say to you,” you tell him calmly and cross your arms over your chest. 

“Please baby, you know I prefer yelling to the silent treatment. The silent treatment drives me insane and you know it,” he begs and your anger begins to rise again but you take a deep breath to push it back down.

“Do you know what I prefer baby,” you spit at him and he flinches away from you. “I prefer when my boyfriend is honest with me. I prefer when he acts like a fucking adult and has a rational conversation with me about his ex. You know what drives me insane? Lies! Feeling like everyone is in on something that I’m completely oblivious about. The fact that Rook knew about your little phone conversations drives me so fucking insane I may actually have a full on meltdown. So please, don’t try and get sympathy from me right now about your needs and wants because frankly my dear, I couldn’t give a rat’s furry ass.” and with that, you push past him and climb into your car, driving away into the night.

[foxolotlfreak]

home away from home

chapter two

colorful city

I blink the nightmares out of my head as i hit the ground on the other side of the rift

“Oh first master” is all i catch before being face to face with a young man around my age, his orange outfit matches the old photos of ninja gi’s in our history textbooks, with plate armor on his shoulder and head more similar to a kingambit’s.

“You ok? That looked like a hard fall '' I nod as I pick myself up from the ground with one hand and pull out the high range walkie talkie from my bag.

“Celeste to home base. I've made it over and” i look out to the sea of buildings not unlike levincia back home

“It looks like a mildly advanced city. Over "I spin to see the rift, its closing. Someone is shooting at it with a bright green beam.  I look to the source of said beam and see a young man in a green gi, his hood down to reveal blonde hair in a short ponytail. 

Colors pour out from my steps as I run over to him, that's my way home, and given the context I'm sure he’s why it was unstable. “Stop. please, that's my way home "I barrel into his side and the green stops pouring from his hands while we fall onto the ground.

To late

It closed 

I'm stuck

“Kid, what are you” it was then i noticed my bright trail from here to where my bag lay open on the ground. Oh gods, even my clothes looked splotched. I look down at the man as color seeps into his gi. That's odd the colors seemed purposeful, blacks golds and purples danced in the cloth.

“It's not supposed to do that” I sputtered as I climbed off the blonde. A gold shimmering symbol appeared on his right shoulder pad. I start to apologize and tell him I can fix it but he just gets up without a word.

“Are you an elemental master?” a what. Guess my face gave away that i'm not from here, if everything else didn't.  I mumble about being a demigod and blah blah small talk while I grab my bag.

“So you're a demigod of, what colors?” I nod as I pull out the delicately carved pokeball I put Miri in for the transport. I let zer out getting me some strange and amazed looks from who i now know as lloyd the skinny blonde in green, and arin the only slightly shorter black haired teen in orange.

“Miri travel mode please, im starting to think we’re gonna be here a while” the bright leds in zer neck, legs, and tail dim and fade to conserve energy. 

“So, I'm guessing you're going to need a place to stay- uhm, what's your name? '' Arin removed his horned hood to fully reveal his short black afro whilst talking to me.

“Celeste. My name is Celeste, and yes I would love to stay with you all. Especially given I'm gonna need to fix your sensei’s gi at some point” a word waterfall spilled out faster than i had hoped as i rambled about how my powers aren't normally that intricate, answering a few questions about my life and home.

“Sensei is a demigod too you know” earned poor Arin a god damn it look from said sensei, but he just kept talking and talking about lloyds family history. He ended up talking about something called an oni “a creature of destruction and darkness” he called them.

“Oni sound similar to my worlds ‘abyssal’, the soul stripped husks of an ancient race of people who worshiped the night” the look on lloyds face showed that he had thoughts he wasn't ready to say, while Arin got comfortable on the mat i had set out for us all to sit on. I ramble on about my world for a while as Arin listens intently. Asking questions every few sentences.

I get to talking about my family and bring up star. my shapeshifting older sister. And Lloyd seems more interested now, I'm starting to think he doesn't know much about his heritage. 

Arin says that he heard shapeshifting was like having a bunch of forms that are all just you in different bodies, which i explained was wrong

“Each form can have a mind of its own, but they tend to work together for the better of their main form. If you neglect one of those minds or arceus forbid try to cage it, it will start to work against you to gain control.” Arin seemed fascinated and looked like he could listen forever. But lloyd looked like he had an epiphany and an anxiety attack at the same time, he gestured for us to pack up and follow him

I gather the blanket up and stuff it back in my pack and explain it would be faster if we went on Miri while Lloyd gave directions. I received a head nod and off we went, i asked lloyd a few questions about power and if we could fashion a charge adapter so Miri could charge. He confirmed there was a good chance we could get something set up when we got to their home.

Their city was beautiful even from the outskirts we traveled on. It was bright and colorful like the flames of a flareon at the color festival, and the night sky was a dance of auroras that remind me of the night I made my first journey to town to see the stellaris lights last year. A sign of perfect harvest to them, but a sign our mother was thinking of us to me and vincent.

“Do you mind if I go to sleep?” I get some odd looks but Lloyd and Arin seem to trust Miri to listen. I shut my eyes and lay back on the seat. 

I think this is going to be a nice adventure mom.

I reach my hand up to my necklace and feel all the carvings.

 I'll tell you all about it soon mama, when you come home i'll tell you everything ive seen.

…

Goodnight

[lookismaddict]

KIN LIST?????????????????????????????????????

AHHHHHH SON!!! THANK YOU FOR THE ASK!! 😩❤️ I’LL GIVE YOU EVERY TYPE OF RAMEN DISH THAT YOU WANT. Also, KIN LIST??? MINE??? 😳

Hmmm… Well, I do have a few in mind, so here’s my Kin List:

Mary Kim: I resonate w/ her HEAVILY because her attitude, her behavior, and even the way she interacts with people (esp with Vin Jin) is literally me irl. If I’m close to ANYONE (guy/girl) irl, I’d usually be the type to tease a lot and be the “big sister” in the friend group who usually supports. And I’d be the type to throw hands if necessary, but would never initiate for no reason. Also, her FASION SENSE TOO??? I KIN. DEF KIN. Omg you guys have no idea how similar I dress like her sometimes. It’s insane. 😭

Zack Lee: I feel like his humor and mine, are similar. I just… have a feeing. Imagine, Zack reacting to a bunch of memes (probably dank, dark, and offensive memes) on his phone and he pulls out some Vine references out of nowhere. And I STG, our taste in music would be similar. Zack would definitely listen to rap music like Kanye, Travis Scott, Kid Cudi, Kendrick Lamar, etc. Even the way he dresses (usually in streetwear) is one of the clothing styles I mainly go with whenever I dress up to go outside.

Johan Seong: Typically, the way he dresses is my MAIN go-to. Mostly, BLACK CLOTHING. Like bro… Majority of my clothes consists of 95% black clothes and 5% any other color. I’m not kidding. Plus, I can imagine me and Johan just chilling and walking out in the street, and some old ladies would ask us if someone died because we’re both wearing black clothing, which is just… our usual outfit. 🧍🏽‍♀️ Also, the way he deals with people who piss him off or is annoyed by them like he doesn’t give a fuck, is such a big personality trait that I kin with. When he doesn’t like someone, then he’d REALLY show that he doesn’t like them. Same goes for me irl too. I like how he doesn’t fake his attitude towards people as well, and he’d come for them like no one’s going to stop him. I fuck with that. 🤝🏽🖤

Lua Im: Lua got a bit of fight in her too, but I like how she isn’t really the type of person to fight in the first place. Similar to Mary’s explanation, she wouldn’t resort to fighting unless she has a good reason to. I also like her personality, and how she involuntarily handles things funny and does some “dorky” things when stressed (because honestly, me too girl). I’d panic and I’d say or do the dumbest shit ever and I’d just embarrass myself even more to the point that I want to die. 💀 In addition to how I kin with Lua through her actions and personality, I really mess with her sense of fashion too. Yeah, I know she rocking the Stüssy top and that one simple style with the hoodie and the jacket over it, because I’d wear those irl. Not joking. She’d def vibe w/ streetwear too, as if she’s the female version of Zack Lee.

Vasco/Euntae Lee: Vasco’s cheerful goofiness from the older chapters is something that I can relate to. Especially when I’m out with friends, I usually act like a fool whenever I’m with them. And tbh, before I even started to simp for Gun, Vasco was my comfort character LMAO. Because he was such a cute Cinnamon Roll back then, and now? What happened…? 😭 I even see Vasco as the “fun older brother” too. Man, if he was my older brother, I’d def want to ask if I can hang out with the Burn Knuckles Crew until it’s time to go home because they’re all so fun and lively!!

Daniel Park: Even though Daniel is attractive (even in those recent chapters 👀) I view him to be the “brotherly type” who'd protect anyone. That’s the type of vibe I get from Daniel. (To be honest, between Daniel and Vasco, I think they'd be the best "big brothers" ever.) Or, just a male/guy best-friend who you can always depend on and talk to whenever you want to rant/vent about something. I kin with him because I always have the urge to help out people who are having a hard time, and I usually offer to listen to friends’ issues irl because I’m aware that we all need someone to talk. If no one’s there for them, then I don’t mind being someone’s shoulder to lean on. In addition to his kind-heartedness, I relate to Daniel because of the whole “bullying” thing. Back then when I was in elementary school, there was a girl that used to bully me by poking me, flicking me, etc. And she’d even turn people against me so I wouldn’t be able to hang out with certain people (but eventually I became friends with her and we settled our differences ig). I even asked her what was the reason why she bullied me back then and she said it was because of the way that I used to look and the clothes that I wore, which made me look “dorky”. 😀 Sooooo, that’s why I kin with Daniel strongly too LMFAAAOOOO 😌✨

[puppygirlsounding]

Had

Quite

The day.

I, got crossfaded so hard the night before I woke up still high. Then once I finally got up, I started to do my laundry by getting everything together. Only to be interrupted by my friend asking me to go to a pop up cafe themed around Ouran High School Host Club of all things. Which I have never seen, but I am vaguely aware of. I agreed to go with my friend, and that made me decide to switch my plans. So I shelved the laundry in lieu of much needed clothes shopping. I walked down to a nearby outdoor mall and started with shoes, which went like shite because no one carries my size in stores. So I gave that up in about 30 minutes. I was debating going to a plus sized women's clothing store. Since I live in Texas and still go stealth most of the time I was anxious. Yet I wandered in anyways. I was really determined to buy something, I've been in this store before but only when older women were working. So I always went in with the lie ready that I was shopping for my conveniently me sized gf and just bought small stuff like underwear. This time however I was immediately clocked by an enby who could probably read the panic in my soul through my eyes. In comes the next 2 hours of this lovely person having me try on everything they could find in my size. I was sweating, practically fainted, forgot to bring water. It was a grueling experience, but in the end I found an outfit and made it out right on cue to meet my friend for the event. We went and had some delicious drinks, his treat. Also a little cake they were selling as part of the event. After all that we came back to my place and I finally could relax. We hung out the rest of the night. I cooked some amazing teriyaki chicken meatballs for us. We hung out, listened to a bunch of our favorite music, planned a new DND character for me. I have not had such a spontaneous 24 hours in years. The entire day just kind of happened, it was great. I'm now so tired I'm probably going to bed soon after I post this.

Before that though I'm going to post these cute ass pictures I took of course. If you read all the way through that and didn't just skip to here you're a champ.

[boysplanetrecaps]

Boys Planet, Episode 8: The First Hour

Hello, friends! So, as you might recall, the first hour or so of episode 8 is devoted to going through the preparation that the various teams made for the third challenge mission, knowing that only half of them would actually be able to perform it. I didn’t recap it at the time because I was more interested in covering the eliminations, but I’ll be covering it here in this post! 

Please note that it’ll be hard for me to talk about these groups without sometimes acknowledging who does and who doesn’t survive the elimination from the second half of this episode. If you’re spoiler averse, you may want to wait until you’ve seen the rest of the episode to read this part. For what it's worth, I don’t feel like I’ll be saying anything that you wouldn’t have more or less guessed. 

Here we go!

We start at 5:45 in to the episode. The boys are gathered in a large room, still wearing their outfits from the second challenge mission. They’re there to be assigned to one of the five “artist” songs that were revealed in episode 6. (The link takes you to the mini demos, and is spoiler free.) I find it difficult to describe what the songs sound like, especially since we can’t hear the whole songs and the genres the show uses to describe them are kinda weird (“oriental pop”? “Sentimental hiphop”???). So you can listen for yourself. 

As was the case for all Produce/Planet shows before this, the trainees were matched to songs based on audience vote. The Star Creators were given like, 24 hours to vote on this, which means that for the most part, only Koreans really had a chance to do it. The idea is supposed to be that the audience would put, say, Cha Woongki in a cute song, and put, say, Kim JiWoong in a sexy song. Also, the trainees appealed to the Star Creators to put them in a particular song. That video is actually a lot of fun -- some of the trainees sing or dance to get your attention, and I feel like it’s the first time I actually heard Ricky just straight up sing. He’s got a really nice voice! Notably, Z-bo speaks some Korean in his video, too, so that’s cool! Anyway, it’s cute to watch, and has subtitles, so give it a look if you’re at all interested. 

Of course, since a bunch of trainees wanted certain songs, and not a lot of people wanted certain other songs, the matchup could never be perfect. I’ll get to all that in a bit! 

In any case, we finally find out that the new Star Master is Key from SHINee. If you don’t know SHINee, check out their songs Sherlock, View, and Replay. If you don’t like any of those then it’s ok, but trust me, SHINee is really well-respected and completely changed K-pop. Before SHINee, no one danced while singing the way that SHINee did. If there had never been a SHINee, there would not have been a BTS, not the way that you know them. So, even if you don’t like their music, you should know who they are. (Oh, and side note, if you watched Run for The Money on Netflix, that featured Minho, who is also from SHINee.)

The SHINee boys are also sentimental faves of mine. SHINee and f(x) were the two groups who really got me into Kpop, and if you know much about kpop, you know that those two groups have something really awful in common and I don’t want to talk about it, but let me just remind us all to be kind to kpop celebrities, ok? Because we don’t want stuff like that happening again. 

Anyway, SHINee debuted in 2008, when Key was just 17 (and dance machine Taemin was just 14). They were HUGE -- they were absolute sensations. Their clothing set fashion trends, and their songs were all massive hits. The members have gone through a lot, but they’re still kicking. Key is the funniest, most snarky, most honest member, and he’s known for his sense of style as well as his performance abilities. Check out his new song Killer -- it’s got a retro-80s vibe that I really dig and I think a lot of people would like it! 

So yeah, when the trainees react to Key as of a god has walked into the room, they’re not exaggerating for the camera. Key debuted when some of them were still too young to know how to tie their shoes, and he’s fucking COOL.

His level of fame leaves pretty much every other star master on the show completely in the dust, with the possible exception of Sunmi, who dropped by in episode 3. She's at least maybe kind of on par.

So, yeah, once they manage to rehinge all their jaws, Key gives them the rules of the next mission -- how they’ll all prepare the songs, then find out halfway through who survived and will get to perform them. I love how the trainees are always surprised when the show does exactly what it has done every season since Produce101 season 1. I mean, I know the show has a different name now but it’s still the same show. Six seasons, and you’re shocked? Come on, now. 

Since this is an “artist battle,” let me add in a quick note on the term “artist” in Kpop -- I think I talked about this in another recap but I don’t remember for sure so I’ll risk doing it again. In Korea, it’s understood that idols make idol music, and that artists make, for lack of a better word, “real” music. People like Bibi are understood to be artists, and as such don’t necessarily always dance, or have fan meetings, etc. People like Huta are understood to be idols; they’re praised for their “visuals” (ie, whether or not they have nice faces) and are generally expected to remain single to be a parasocial love object for their fans. They make their money off of brand endorsements as much as concert sales. People like Hui or Jeon Soyeon from G-Idle or G-Dragon from BigBang kind of toe the line between idol and artist, since they write their own songs and manage their own teams, but also happen to be really good looking and usually happy to endorse whatever you have lying around. It’s kind of weird to expect these trainees to be “artists”, but every reality show keeps making things more difficult ever year, even though their contestants aren’t necessarily getting more talented every year. I mean, have you watched the most recent season of Great British Bake Off? What WAS that? But I digress. 

Ok, back to the point. It's an artist battle; they'll be given demo songs and demo choreography, but they're expected to go ahead and change whatever they want and plan the staging and performance.

So the boys listen to the songs and aggressively love them all. My favorite is when they listen to the “oriental pop” song Switch and Seo Won says he feels like he’s abroad. Wut….? I guess to them, “oriental” means India? I also liked when Matthew said, “I don’t want to do sexy concepts” about the sexy song, which like, yes, thank you, Matthew. Figure out what you’re good at, please.  

Then Key tells them that the members of the team that gets ranked first at the Artist Battle will get 200,000 points each, with the “winning” member getting an extra 200,000. That is a substantial benefit, but since it will probably end up going to a mostly top-11 team anyway, it won’t end up mattering. They’ll also end up going on M-Countdown, and, even bigger to them, having a fan meeting. They’re excited about that, and I don’t blame them. 

Oh, I’m having a flashback to that GP999 fan meeting when they were still in the middle of c*vid and all the fans were in their cars in the middle of a field. I’m glad we’re through the worst of that stuff now. I don’t want to go off on a tangent about some of the stuff I experienced living in a huge, hard-hit US city, but it was awful. I bet a lot of us have stories like that, huh? It’ll be one of those things that in five or ten years, when you meet someone for the first time, one of the first things you’ll talk about in the get-to-know-you phase will be “where were you in March of 2020?” Like for the boomers, talking about where they were when they found out that JFK had been shot.

Back to the show. 

So, the boys are finding out which song they got, which means it’s another one of those lengthy “finding out who is in which team” montages, complete with pranks and stuff and it’s not that fascinating…? So I’ll just recap some of the highlights, and then get to the part where they’re actually preparing. 

I-Chan asked for Over Me in that video, but as he was leaving the room the other trainees say he wanted Switch, and that is in fact what he got. 

I really love Park Hyunbeen saying at first that Supercharger didn’t really “suit his taste” (he wanted the cute song, Say My Name, and I agree it would have been a cute performance!) but when he finds out that he got Supercharger after all, he gives a big smile and says that now he’s excited to do that song. Aww, why do I only end up really loving some of these trainees when it’s too late? You’re a cutie pie, Hyunbeen. 

It’s kind of heart breaking to watch Ji Yun Seo and Lee Yedam be so happy to get the song they wanted, knowing what we know. 

THEORY TIME: I think that for the most part, the audience did vote to give trainees what they asked for, and I think that when there were too many trainees for a given song -- “Over Me” and “Say My Name” were very popular -- the producers matched them to songs in order of their rank. Thus, as very few trainees wanted Supercharger, many low-ranked trainees ended up in that song; as Say My Name was heavily requested, it was filled mostly with higher ranked trainees. Just my theory but it seems to explain a lot.

This:

I think that the reason Anthonny seems a little sad when he joins the Switch team is that he wanted Say My Name. But I think Switch could also have been great for Anthonny. 

The fact that Lee DaEul and both “houses” were put in Supercharger seems to confirm my theory that Supercharger was a dumping ground for unpopular trainees who wanted popular songs. That, or the audience put Lee DaEul in Supercharger to continue to punish him for his sins. 

I love Kum Jun Hyeon saying, “Park Gunwook and I decided to be friends. We became friends.” That’s how it works in my little cousin’s world -- he decides to be friends with someone and then is. Knowing that he’s good friends with Gunwook kind of explains that whole scene in episode 6 when he was trying to get Gunwook kicked out of Tomboy so Gunwook would have to come over to Ggang with him. 

I know that the show format encourages the pranking and stuff but it’s really not my favorite. 

Everyone’s reaction to Zhang Hao arriving is amazing. Chen Kuan Jui just picking him up and carrying him around is my favorite bit. 

It’s kind of interesting how Sung Hanbin, Kim JiWoong, and Matthew all wanted to do something “not sexy.” I guess I understand -- most kpop groups do all different concepts, and it’s a valuable skill to be able to pull off a song like Love Me Right and ALSO pull off a song like Love Killa. But still, I just think that Say My Name sounds like every “cute” kpop song thrown into a blender and then put into a “cute song” mold and allowed to solidify there before someone carefully dumped it out onto a plate. I don’t know. I know it’ll get stuck in my head eventually anyway but it’s not like that’s the kind of song I seek out to listen to.

JiWoong says, “I want to perform while smiling.” Do that ANYWAY, JiWoong. If Kai from Exo smiles in the middle of Obsession, you can smile in the middle of Love Killa, JiWoong. 

Ok! Let's talk about each team's preparation.

21:26: En Garde

Here is the En Garde team, with the song that each member wanted, as well as their previous song. I’ve arranged them in order of their Episode 6 rank, which gives you a sense of how likely they are to survive.

Kim Gyu Vin             En Garde                    Love Killa Hui                           En Garde                   Tomboy Park Gunwook         En Garde                    Tomboy Kum Jun Hyeon       En Garde                   Gang Park Hanbin             En Garde                    Law Lee Seung Hwan     Say My Name           Gang Hiroto                        En Garde                    Rush Hour Lee Ye Dam             En Garde                    Law Ji Yun Seo                En Garde                    Home Oh Sung Min            En Garde                    Rush Hour

They have to choose a leader, and Hui is like, WAYYY too invested in being the leader. He wants to work with his “database” and all the know how he’s built up over the years. The editors do him a little dirty, fast forwarding his speech on why he should be leader, and even showing him practicing his speech in the bathroom ahead of time. 

The first time that I laughed out loud at anything that Kum Jun Hyeon has ever done was right here, when, after Hui finishes his lengthy speech, Kum says to the other trainees that their speeches about why they want to be leader “have to be lengthier than this.” I think it threw Hui off a little bit -- he may have been expecting grateful acceptance of his leadership, or else a challenge from Park Hanbin perhaps, but not someone making fun of his careful speech. 

In any case, naturally, Hui is chosen to be the leader. I’d choose him as the leader too. 

The crew members explain that there will be two people chosen for the killing part and other parts, because there are ten of them for now, despite there being six people in the choreography.  And of course, everyone wants to get the killing part, because as usual that means tons more screen time. Gyuvin, JunHyeon, Yedam, Gunwook, YunSeo, and Sungmin all want it. I actually laughed again as all six of them practice the same bit but at slightly different times. The edit focuses primarily on Gyuvin and Gunwook -- as if the other ones are laughable for wanting it. I think Oh Sungmin actually does a great job -- JunHyeon overdances and looks out of control, and we barely see Yedam or Yunseo. 

Side note: Oh Sungmin looked so much better with his real hair color. Why is he doing this blonde curl thing when he is capable of looking like this?  Oh, and while we’re looking at old T01 fancams, check out this one of Woongki, being all serious and charismatic. I know it’s not his personality but he pulls it off, in my opinion. I guess they just both don’t want to do songs like that anymore. 

In any case, Gunwook turns out to be a lock, and then they choose Gyuvin as well. 

We cut to their trainee self-evaluation, and we see them performing. Honestly, they look great for a midway practice run. I wonder if Hui deputized Park Hanbin to run dance rehearsals? I would, in his shoes. A good leader knows how to delegate!

Gyuvin is nervous to be compared to Gunwook, and when it’s his team’s turn to try, Gyuvin chokes a bit and forgets some of the lyrics. Still, later on when they get the evaluation forms back, many trainees choose Gyuvin as the better choice for the center, saying he suits it better. 

Side note: Look at Gyuvin doing a scaled down version of his hero Exo-Kai’s trademark leaning-back slouch.

Obviously, Kai has it down to a limbo-esque art, but Gyuvin is working on it!!! 

The team does well overall. It’s great to see some of the trainees perform the song who won’t get to do it on stage -- good job, you guys. And we’re left with the thought that team En Garde is on track to succeed. 

We’ll have to see 

which member they kick out later on, and 

which member gets to keep the Killing Part. 

At 31:00, we switch over to team Say My Name. 

Everyone in this group wanted this song, so I’ll just list the trainees and their previous song to help remind you of who is who, but this group is full of fairly popular trainees and you’ll probably recognize all or most of them.

Sung Hanbin                         Tomboy Han Yu Jin                           Law Seok Matthew                       Love Killa Kim Ji Woong                       Love Killa Kim Tae Rae                          Man in Love Yoo Seung Eon               Home Seo Won                           Love Killa Takuto                           Rush Hour Ollie                                     Zoom Cha Woong Ki                       Feel Special

The team needs to elect a leader, and there’s this ex-cru-ci-a-ting-ly edited bit about Matthew possibly wanting to be leader and then Sung Hanbin volunteering. I cannot describe how irritating it is. The worst part is from about 31:55  to 32:15. I want to burn their editing studio to the floor. 

So they decide to have Hanbin be the leader, and Kim JiWoong says, “Matthew, I think Hanbin will be good leader,” and Matthew says, “As long as he listens to you.” 

Matthew is doing a lot of that kind of “joking” that people do when they’re not really joking, you know? Ok, so, story time. I’m friends with two people who a couple, and we were all having a board game night, and when one member of the couple went to get another drink, the other one in the couple was like, “Oh, ha ha, he can’t enjoy an evening without drinking too much, ha ha ha ha, guess I better not get a second drink because SOMEONE has to drive home so we don’t end up in a ditch, ha ha ha,” and it was sooooo uncomfortable because she was saying it like it was a joke, but it was NOT a joke. You feel me? That’s the kind of “joking” Matthew is doing. 

That little dig -- “as long as he listens to you” -- manages to imply that (1) any issues JiWoong may have had with Matthew’s leadership stemmed from JiWoong wanting to inappropriately get his own way and (2) that JiWoong’s preference in a leader is rooted in who he thinks will give him his own way rather than in the quality of the leadership and (3) that JiWoong will probably have as much of an issue with Hanbin’s leadership as he did with Matthew’s once Hanbin starts actually giving orders AND (4) that there is no other substantive difference between Hanbin and Matthew’s leadership skills. You see what I mean? There’s a LOT there.

It’s u n c o m f o r t a b l e. 

We don’t see the team choose main vocal -- they must have given it to Yoo Seung Eon -- and instead we go straight to subvocal 1, a substantive part that a lot of people want. One of the people who wants it is TaeRae, who inexplicably is NOT the main vocal, again, what the fuck, everyone. The story editors, though, focus on Matthew wanting sub-vocal-1. He says, “If I don’t get sub-vocal 1, then I’m screwed.” Again, not a good look.

I don’t know if you guys watched I-Land -- the reality show that created Enhypen -- but there was this memorable scene in which a guy named Jay (see what I mean about there being too many Jays in K-pop?) kept trying to get parts. He tried for main vocal, then subvocal 1, then subvocal 2, subvocal 3…. Every time they went to assign another part, he raised his hand. Inside, he was kind of dying as the potential parts got smaller and smaller, but he just kept trying. He ended up with a smallish part in the song, but the audience watching at home fell in love with the way he kept trying. He ended up actually getting into the final lineup for Enhypen.  

Matthew, honey. Listen to BPR-Noona, ok? The audience already knows how well you sing, so you can relax. And truly, there are no small parts, just small players. Why did Sana’s “shy shy shy” take off in Cheer Up by Twice? Just because people liked the way Sana did it. I’m sure it wasn’t designed to be a “killing part.” You don’t need a "killing part" to win, or even a big part. The most important thing for you right now, Matthew, is for you to stop coming across like a greedy rude North American. As a fellow North American, I am telling you, bud. Rope it the fuck in. BPR-Noona has spoken.

In any case, both Matthew and TaeRae get the part, so we’ll have to see what ends up happening!

Then the trainees try out for the Killing Part, and both Ollie and Han Yujin get it. While I actually like both of them, I can’t help but root for Ollie to keep it in the end. He’s almost certainly not going to make the final lineup for Bepler, so I just want him to have this chance to shine on stage. But yeah that’s probably not going to happen -- no team would lower their chance of winning by choosing a trainee who barely survived over a Top9 trainee. 

After that, we focus on Hanbin’s leadership. He starts off by telling them their goal for the day, which just sets my teacher heart on fire in the best way. Goals should always be specific and achievable. Yes, Hanbin, yes. 

Notice (1) the way that the only two “global” members on the team end up on the edges, just kind of interesting and (2) the way that Matthew positions himself as if he is also a leader -- he’s the only one not looking at Hanbin. Already, I have a bad feeling about this. 

Hanbin manages their expectations expertly, letting them know that the choreo is challenging without presenting it as scary, and then demonstrates the choreo once for them. (I love how Han Yujin immediately begins sort of dancing along as he watches in the mirror-- that kid really is kind of amazing.) Hanbin is a great leader, and Matthew is very, very envious of that. In an interview, when asked what he would rate Hanbin out of 100, he “jokes” that he “can’t give him a 100” and so gives him 90. The editors are still kind of on his side. They’re scoring his “jokes” with plinky-plunky comedy music. 

Hey, hey, uh, Matthew? Matt? Hey. It's me, BPR-Noona again. Um, why? Why can’t you give him 100? Isn’t he your friend? Aren’t you hoping to debut together? Why even joke that you can’t give him 100? What’s that about? Is it because you don’t want to place yourself below him in any way? Could it be that? Because other people who are excellent leaders themselves are letting themselves be led in other groups, and aren’t being “joking” jerks about it, Matt. General Gunwook and Park Hanbin are both really excellent leaders, and they’re following Hui in their current group. I don’t know, Matt, but I don’t think that this is a good look, no matter how plinky-plunky the comedy music is. 

Sigh.

Then there’s a hilarious bit in which Kim JiWoong openly admits that he’s never felt jealous of other trainees before, but he does now a little bit, because they so naturally suit the concept of the song in a way he doesn’t quite. Then he says that normally he just looks at himself in the mirror while he dances and enjoys his time that way. OMG. 

See, JiWoong can make jealousy seem just fine because he’s honest about it. And just so fucking weird. I love this weirdo. 

Ok, then there’s this long scene that I don’t want to get too bogged down with, but basically, there’s trouble brewing between old friends Sung Hanbin and Seok Matthew.

While Hanbin is off in the bathroom (I assume), Matthew begins “teaching” some of the others the dance -- Takuto, Seo Won, and Ollie. Now, I don’t think it would hurt anything for someone to run through stuff with Takuto one on one, but I’ve never thought of either Seo Won or Ollie as people who need extra guidance when it comes to dancing -- particularly not Ollie, who actually basically taught his own team the dance in the first Challenge Mission. 

It’s pretty interesting how, when Hanbin comes back in, he doesn’t flip out and immediately make them stop. He watches for a bit and thinks before he acts, which, again, is a sign of a great leader. He knows there’s something a little off, but he waits. He’s also polite about it in his interview, saying, “I am grateful that he [Matthew] wants to help, but my style is to have people learn the overall flow and image of the choreo before moving on to the details.” I wholeheartedly agree with that. Again, it’s that thing of how we normally build the frame of the jigsaw puzzle first, right?  Hanbin also seems to say that some of the details might even change, or perhaps that Matthew is teaching them incorrectly --? Either way, Matthew isn’t helping here. 

Then Matthew full on asks Hanbin if he can be “sub-leader,” and though Hanbin doesn’t think it’s a good idea, he says yes. Dude, I think that’s something that maybe you talk about as a team. Like, “Hey, guys, let’s get into one of those awkward semi-circles and let’s talk about whether or not you want Matthew to be the sub-leader of the team.” But I guess Hanbin doesn’t want to devote the time to that, or was worried it would create division or strife, so he just says yes. Ennnhhhh I don’t like it….

We don’t see any footage of the team performing at the trainee self-eval, interestingly enough.

So, we’ll have to watch to find out

which trainees are going to get kicked out of the team (a lot of them!) 

what will happen between JiWoong and Matthew

what will happen between Hanbin and Matthew and

what will happen between Matthew and TaeRae with the subvocal one!

40:14 Over Me 

Here are the trainees, again arranged in order of rank in episode 6 so you have a sense of who is least likely to survive, with their previous song listed to help jog your memory. All these trainees preferred Over Me except for Ma Jing Xiang, who asked the viewers to give him Say My Name. However, I think the audience might have just voted for him to Over Me anyway -- it’s not impossible. 

Zhang Hao                 Tomboy Keita                             Zoom Jay                             Home Ricky                             Rush Hour Yoon Jong Woo     Home Wang Zi Hao                Law Chen Kuan Jui     Butterfly Ma Jing Xiang             Rush Hour Lee Jeong Hyeon     Gang Lim Jun Seo                Butterfly

The team starts off by trying to choose a leader, and it seems that some of them are reluctant to volunteer. Zhang Hao says that everyone should just take a moment to think about whether they want such a big responsibility, and then Yoon Jong Woo steps up. Almost immediately, the whole team says an enthusiastic yes. Jay says that JongWoo has cold eyes like a tiger but behind that he’s a genius. Heh. Everyone’s excited because they think that being on a team with JongWoo will give the team a good vibe.

Almost all of them want the killing part -- everyone but Jay, Lim Jun Seo, and JongWoo himself. 

We see their auditions and are reminded again how great Keita’s and Hao’s vocals are. In the vote, Keita gets 4 votes and Hao gets 5. It’s noteworthy that Hao is the only one who didn’t vote for Keita or himself -- I think he voted for Ricky, but it might have been Chen Kuan Jui? It’s not clear from where his finger is pointing. But if Hao had voted for Keita, the way that Keita voted for Hao, it would have been a tie. Did Hao purposefully not vote for Keita in order to win? Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do. 

Side note: I’m kind of surprised that Keita didn’t volunteer to be leader. This seems right up his ally. But maybe he’s kind of exhausted after working so hard on Zoom. Or maybe he knows that the show will punish his team if he’s the leader. But when he’s not the leader, Keita becomes an excellent teammate instead. Just watch the way that he reacts to EVERYTHING here. He grins broadly at the idea of JongWoo being the leader, and even puts his fist in the air to cheer for the team. He laughs with genuine good humor when almost all the teammates apply for the killing part. Later, he grooves to everyone else’s singing. He’s a fan of every other member of his team. That’s the kind of teammate people want to be around. Just sayin’.

After that, the team moves forward with part distribution, and there’s an uncomfortable moment in which Ma Jing Xiang tries to ask for a section of a part that is in his vocal range. It’s also edited horrifically, with TRIPLE replays of MJX’s incorrect Korean.  Yoon Jong Woo shuts him down extremely thoroughly. Then we also focus on how MJX continues dancing even when Jong Woo calls the team over to circle up. You get the feeling that Jong Woo genuinely dislikes MJX, and it’s a little uncomfortable because all or most of the team feels the same way. 

Like, Yoon Jong Woo is not fucking around. Not one bit. I get it, because MJX seems like a pretty irritating person to be around sometimes, but it might be a bit… much. 

The other storyline is that Lee Jeong Hyeon (that’s Lee of the Mun and Lee duo) thinks that there’s a spot in the song that he could write a rap for. His teammates support him in that. The next day, they go to the producers and Lee gets to do the rap he wrote in less than a day for them. The editing here gets REALLY annoying for a bit so feel free to skip ahead if you want -- the upshot is the producers say they like it and will consider it, so that seems like a win for Lee! 

So we’ll have to find out:

Which teammates they’re going to kick out

Who will get to keep the Killing Part between Keita and Hao

Whether Lee Jeong Hyeon will get to do his rap

50:01 Switch

Here are the trainees, again arranged in order of rank in episode 6 so you have a sense of who is least likely to survive. A lot of these trainees had bene hoping for a different song, as listed in the second column. I’ve also listed their previous song to help jog your memory. 

Zhang Shuai Bo          Switch               Feel Special Na Kamden                 Switch               Law Cai Jin Xin Switch             Feel Special Anthonny Say My Name Limousine Brian             Say My Name      Butterfly Dang Hong Hai Switch                   Home Wumuti Switch                  Zoom Krystian Switch                  Limousine Jung I Chan Over Me             Not Spring Choi Woo Jin Switch                   Man in Love Lee Dong Gun Over Me             Feel Special

So, this team, as leader Wumuti put it, is “nomu down.” (nomu = very) And with good reason -- their average final rank is 38, and as it happens, only a very small percentage of this team is going to survive. 

Wumuti is doing his best, but his team knows that most of them aren’t going to make it through the eliminations, and it seems kind of like a waste of time to them to try. The sense I get of the vibe of the song is that they would be good choices even if other people DID want the parts. 

Because no one else wants the killing part, Na Kamden and Wumuti take it. Wumuti is hoping that as they continue, that they’ll “find joy.” 

For some reason, as I was watching this, I found myself thinking, “What would I say as the leader of this team, to get them to try?” And I think what I would have said is this: “Hey team. I know a lot of us are discouraged right now because the reality is that many of us, myself included, may get eliminated soon. But I still really want to try my best preparing for this song. So, let’s brainstorm reasons that we should still try our hardest, despite the circumstances. I’ll get us started by pointing out the cameras that are recording us, right now. Everything we’re doing right now? The Star Creators may see that in an upcoming episode. Some of them are Star Creators who may have voted for us in the past, or might become fans of us in the future, when we’re on a different stage. Don’t we want to do our best, for them?” Then maybe based on the vibe, I’d have us go around and each give our own reason for wanting to try our best, or else just let people say things, or if necessary, give more reasons myself, like  “We want to be kpop performers or we wouldn’t be here -- don’t we want to practice just for the sake of improving?” You have to get a buy-in from the people you’re trying to lead. 

Me saying this isn’t knocking Wumuti. I think he was doing a fantastic job, especially considering his quite low rank. 

Anyway, then the show spends like 3 minutes just shitting on Jung I-Chan, who obviously could work a bit on his focus (I really do wonder if he might have something in the vicinity of ADD?) and who is obviously feeling super defeated. He never has been much of a dancer, so him having trouble with the choreo is probably just too much. At some point, his self-defense mechanisms would kick in and tell him to just give up because it’s safer. I just don’t think the guy is cut out for this stuff, but that doesn’t make him a bad person, MNET. Jeez. He even tells Wumuti, “I want to work hard, but I’m scared to work hard. It’s over.” 

And the show just HAMMERS on I-chan, even though Lee Donggun is just as “lazy.” It’s like MNET is trying to destroy this kid who obviously has some mental health issues. 

It makes perfect sense that Kamden, Brian, and Dang Hong Hai would keep trying, but I was a little surprised to see how hard Krystian keeps trying, though! I thought he was pretty much OVER the show. Maybe it’s just sort of in his nature to keep singing and dancing when he has the chance to do so. 

At the trainee self eval, they actually look pretty cool.

I totally understand why Wumuti is irritated with I-Chan, though. I would be too, in his shoes. There’s no easy way through a situation like this. 

We see him in the dorm later, wearing his official pink pajamas, and talking to someone who I can’t really see but might be Na Kamden. I don’t think we’ve ever spent this much time with Wumuti, ever. He’s such a sweetheart, though. 

At their meeting with the composer oversees -- at which they seem to communicate mostly in English -- Wumuti has a lot of ideas, and the composer seems to really enjoy the conversation. The choreographers are also impressed at their dance rehearsal. These are the kinds of things that people remember, my friends. It’s not just about how many audience members like you -- it’s also great if producers and choreographers and staff like you. That is how sometimes you can get gigs. 

So I console myself that even though most of this team doesn’t survive to perform the song -- and yes, that includes Wumuti, I don’t think that’s much of a surprise and I did warn you that there would be some mild spoilers -- I think that good things can still happen for them in the future. 

Hey, go follow Wumuti on insta, ok? Even if you don’t use insta much, it just helps him to keep his numbers up. He has a nice cover up of UN Village, and a long note he wrote in English about his time on the show. Fighting, Wumuti, sweetie!

So, I guess the questions to be answered are:

Who among this team will survive? 

What will it be like for the replacement team members to jump into this work in progress?

1:00:00 Supercharger 

So, not a lot of trainees wanted Supercharger. Among those who asked for it, all of them got it. A lot of the rest wanted the super cheerful “Say My Name” or the sexy “Over Me,” and this song is neither cheerful nor sexy. It’s easily my least favorite of the five, and I think that’s how most of the trainees felt as well. Below I list the trainees assigned to this song, the song they asked for, and their previous song.

Haruto                         Supercharger           Zoom Mun Jung Hyun Say My Name Gang Jung Min Gyu            Over Me           Man in Love Chen Jian Yu             Supercharger           Gang Park Ji Hoo             Supercharger           Limousine Cong                         Supercharger           Butterfly Bak Do Ha             Over Me             Not Spring Lee Da Eul             Say My Name Not Spring Lee Dong Yeol           Over Me             Man in Love Park Hyunbeen Say My Name Zoom

We don’t seem them pick a leader -- it’s Lee Dongyeol -- or the killing part -- they give it to Haruto and Park JiHoo, good call. Instead, we pick up with the trainees as they are watching the demo performance on their tablet. The choreo is difficult to say the least. The song still requires a lot of tweaks to the rap, performance, and choreo, and most of the team doesn’t really have the skill. They have Haruto, who can probably choreograph, and Park Ji Hoo, who can definitely write raps, plus I think Mun Jung Hyun and Park Hyunbeen are both into rapping and might be able to help a bit.  Lee Dong Yeol debuted with Up10tion in 2015 and must have learned something about performance by now.  But the rest of them, as Dong Yeol puts it, “aren’t there yet.”

They seem to be putting on a happy face as much as possible, especially Hyunbeen, who probably doesn’t want to be remembered for how much he cried at the first elimination. 

They talk about how they want to put on a good performance, and my theory is that what they mean is, they want to put on a good performance at the trainee self-eval. That’s the performance that they know is guaranteed to them, right? And they want to do really well there. 

If you operate under that theory, everything else they’re doing makes sense. They’re not dwelling on their low ranks. They are instead working really, really hard. Haruto is the dance captain, leading the rest -- Jung Min Gyu (red house) calls him “Haruto-sensai,” which is pretty adorable. 

They are trying so, so hard. The dance is probably the hardest of the five and the average dance abilities of this group is probably the lowest of the five, but goddamn if they aren’t trying, you guys, and it’s charming. Haruto is complimenting them, and they’re saying “This is fun!” and stuff. 

The other teams go back to the dorms to sleep…. 

… but all ten of them stay and keep practicing. Even back in their dorms, they’re continuing to practice in the hallways and their rooms. Trainees from the other teams notice and cheer them on.

At the trainee self eval, though, things go off the rail pretty fast. No one really sings, and they sort of lose their place in the choreo a few times. I think they rehearsed in a big group of tne, looking into the mirror the whole time, and didn’t work enough on performing as a group of five and singing along, without a mirror. They keep trying to pick it back up, but it’s a mess.

The other trainees are looking at them like this:

Kum Jun Hyeon says to a friend, “Wow, the choreo must just be THAT hard” -- that’s such a sweetly empathetic thing to say, cousin.  Park Hanbin is doing that thing he does where he smiles because he’s shocked. Hui is squinting at them, as if trying to imagine how he could fix it somehow. And Lee Yedam is just like, a full body Aigoo. Things don’t go better for the second team. 

It’s just heartbreaking. Afterward, Haruto is crying from embarrassment, and a few of the others are near tears too. The choreo is just too fucking hard for them. They probably should have focused on simplifying it a little, and maybe building in some rest periods, where a few dance a few don’t and then they switch. 

When they get the trainee evaluation forms, the feedback is brutal. But Park Hyunbeen says that this isn’t the worst. “The worst,” he says, “Was when I wore that vest for the Hot Sauce hidden camera.” Then he adds, “I was born to do Super Charger. I went on Boys Planet to perform that song and I don’t ever want to go home. I’ll make sure to survive and perform SuperCharger.” If only the show aired some of this footage before the voting period was over, lovey, but at least we see some of your mettle now. You’re a charming guy, Park Hyunbeen. Fighting!

So the questions that remain are:

Which trainees, if any, will survive? 

Which trainees will end up joining this team?

What will happen when they join -- will anyone be able to dance this choreo?

After that, there’s this bit where Seo Won and Cha Woongki go around and are silly with the other trainees -- the Planet Camp Tour --  and it’s cute, but I don’t have a lot to say about it. 

I still think Ollie was dumb to jam his finger into the camera and say that it smells bad. But he doesn’t know about my theory about bad smells on reality shows. Basically, something I’ve noticed is that on audience-vote-based reality survival shows, like So You Think You Can Dance, if someone on the show is revealed to smell bad at some point, they nearly ALWAYS go home the following week. Like once on SYTYCD, one of the dancers was complaining cheerfully that her dance partner had awful Doritos breath. Gone the next week. Another time, one of the dancers was joking about how awful he smelled at the end of a day of dance practice. Gone the next week. It doesn’t happen on shows where the judges decide, like RPDR or ANTM, but it happens whenever there’s an audience vote. Seriously, watch for it from now on. Let me know if you have another data point to add to my research on this. 

Anyway, the final moments we see before the eliminations start are all the trainees in their dorms probably the night before. We see a conversation between Hui and Kim Gyuvin, who worked together on Love Me Right and are together again on En Garde. It’s cute because Gyuvin doesn’t really fit on the bed. 

Gyuvin is worrying not about this elimination, but about the final one. It’s far more likely, he reasons, that he’ll be one of the 89 who don’t get into Bepler than to be one of the 9 who do. Hui is worried too. “If I were a Star Creator,” he says, “would I vote for an idol in his 30s? Even I wouldn’t do that.” Oh Hui. Then why did you come on the show, sweetheart? Why on god’s green earth did you do this to yourself?

We see Wumuti talking to his friend again -- it has to be Na Kamden, but I still can’t get a look at his face or get any other clue. “ ‘Give up,’ “ he says. “I used to say those words to myself once in a while. But I can’t seem to. I want it so badly.” Oh, twist that knife, MNET. 

Then we check in with Ji Yunseo and and Lee Yedam, who are with a friend in a mask who I can’t identify. The fucking subtiles say that Lee Yedam is Oh Sungmin, and I mean, omg, MNET, Sungmin has blonde hair right now, what the actual fuck.  

Then we check in Cha Woongki for a while, while he calmly but sadly talks about how he’s not really that popular and even expected to come in last in Feel Special. Now they’re not just twisting the knife; they’ve attached it to a power drill and are just spinning that thing at like 200 rpm.

Then there’s a bit with the boys all writing final messages on the wall about their time on the show. It’s as sad as you’d think it would be. A lot of the notes are addressed to the star creators. I hope that the boys are at least happy to know that people did vote for them, even if they didn’t win. Every single one of them got hundreds of thousands of votes. That must mean something, right? I do a creative performance thing myself, and I recently was eliminated in the second round of something, but people came up to me afterward and said that they voted for me and thought I was the best and were sad I’d been knocked out, and that meant a lot. 

And then the eliminations start.

Alright, loves! Thanks for reading! At this point, episode 9 is out and I haven’t even watched it yet, so I guess I’ll get on that. As always, I really appreciate the support -- some of you have sent in asks that I really loved and just haven’t responded to yet because I have the thoughts in my head and haven’t had a chance to type them. You guys are great. Hope that you’re having a good day and that you’re warm and cozy wherever you are. See you in the next one.