#and less screaming for 3 eps for a power up

[agatharkn3ss]

Lilia's premonitions theory (contains spoilers)

Well, my brain has been in overdrive and I love puzzles so... "buckle up!"

If it's too long for you - you can jump straight into the last section titled "How does it all fit"... I really think there could be something there.

OTHER THEORIES

There have been many theories about Lilia's powers and her moments of visions. Some think it's just some loose wiring on most part, some think it's past traumatic events catching up with her, some think they are predictions of the future, some even went as far as suggesting that Lilia (loosely) predicts the last words of the next person who's going to die (based on the fact she said "Get off me!" in ep.2 and we hear Sharon shout "Don't touch me!" in ep.3). But we keep seeing more and more of Lilia's blips in ep.4, they make less sense to any of the above theories, so personally I am not sold on any of them.

There is also a possibility that her premonitions could just be linked to the events that follow - but the words aren't accurate because Lilia can't quite see the "full picture". So her screaming in her shop could be linked to Teen's reaction when Salem Seven attacked in that same episode. Or when she says "Alice, don't", we see Agatha pleading "Don't" with Rio.

BUT then I saw people discussing that maybe these are actually "misplaced" moments in time - from the future AND the past. And that they will make sense if they were said in the correct moment, but somehow got lost and sent to a different time. For example - when Lilia talks about the vampire by the campfire "You know, we really kind of hated each other in the beginning, but now..." then zones out. We could assume she's still talking about the vampire, but this pause could actually be easily filled with "I love you guys!" from the "botox" scene in ep.3, because she was actually touched by their campfire stories. Or when she shouts "Get off me" in ep.2, it could be taken right out of the ep.4 scene where she's burning on the floor, shouting "Get it off me!".

WHAT WE KNOW

All those theories got me mighty intrigued, so of course I made a list of all of Lilia's apparent 'blips' and tried to make sense of it! I believe there are two types of Lilia's visions - one where she has "wrong messages" and one where she exclaims names of tarot cards.

The tarot cards she mentioned so far:

Three of Pentacles - right after she wrote the coven names down

High Priestess - when she meets Jen at Agatha's house

Three of Swords - as Jen is trying to heal Teen

The "blips" are:

shouting and flailing her hands - when Agatha and Teen ask her to join the coven in ep.2

writing the coven names (same scene as above) - this is the only premonition where we see burst of power - the electricity flicker around her, the water boils and it all seems really intense.

shouting "Get off me!" and looking like she was pushing someone away - just before the witches begin summoning the Road

"I love you guys" - when Jen questions Sharon about her poison symptoms in ep.3

"Try to save Agatha" - when she and Agatha are searching for potion ingredients

"Which is it, am I wispy or am i kooky?" - when talking to Alice about her mum during the trial in ep.4

"Alice! Alice don't" - shortly after the one above

Zones out - during the campfire scene when she talks about the vampire scar

We also know that her Air trial will be all about tarot (confirmed by Patti herself) and the promos show Lilia in some sort of princess dress and tiara, Agatha as the green Wicked Witch of the West and Jen looking like the Evil Queen from Snow White but in the old hag form. This makes me think in her trial she will have to confront all those stereotypes about witches that she always said she hated so much. She will likely have to do a tarot reading too. There is also a room with ceiling full of swords that could fall down on them. And finally, in that same room there is a brief shot with her and Salem Seven, flowing mid-air.

One promo also shows one of Salem Seven (Vertigo) opening her mouth to release a swarm of cicadas (her spirit animal).

We know the witches slowly regain their powers once they passed their trial.

There is also this thing about Alice (I will need to make a separate post to explain this) - where my prediction is that in ep.5 she will try to protect the coven by attacking Agatha while she's in her "possessed" form. Unfortunately, Agatha will (willingly or not) completely syphon her powers and Alice will die.

HOW DOES IT ALL FIT?

Well. I think we will potentially get some answers during or after Lilia's trial, once she starts regaining her powers. I think Lilia will try to send a message to the witches in the past, but she will still be struggling with getting the times right.

I could almost see a scene where she sits at her crystal ball or does a tarot reading and talks, not realising that EVERYTHING she says is "sent out" without any filter.

Something like...

.........

Lilia is in a room with other witches, it is a high pressure situation because the Salem Seven are chasing them. Her task is to send the names of the witches to her past self so that Agatha can form her coven - they realised that without the list, they would've never gotten there. Maybe their existence or memory depends on it.

So Lilia starts a tarot reading and begins "tuning in" to her memories, saying the names of the revealed cards out loud - "High Priestess" (she says it in a surprise voice as her vision suddenly flickers to the moment of meeting Jen), "Three of Swords" etc. Maybe one of other witches in the room starts antagonising her kookiness, so that she would just hurry up, because this is not working and Salem Seven are close. So Lilia responds in annoyance "Which is it, am I wispy or am I kooky?!" But then she realises she is standing in front of Alice from the fire trial (in spirit anyway, Lilia is still physically in the scary room). She exclaims in relief "Alice!" and realises this is also her chance to warn Alice so that she doesn't die. She begins saying "Alice, don't try to save Agatha!", but mid way through, her spirit gets transported to the first trial, searching for potion ingredients. So Alice only hears "Alice don't..." and Agatha hears "...try to save Agatha". At some point Lilia is transported to sitting in front of the campfire, reminiscing their stories. This is a fond memory so she starts saying "You know, we really kind of hated each other in the beginning, but now.." and before she can finish, she gets transported back to the "Huge tiny lies" house "...I love you guys".

Maybe at some point Salem Seven break their way into the tarot room and one of them attacks Lilia. She screams "Get off me!" and pushes them away (while her spirit is transported to the moment before they opened the Road). Vertigo releases her cicadas, flying around Lilia's head. She flails her hands and screams, while her spirit is inside her shop where Agatha and Teen just approach her. She realises she's close, focuses all her energy and channels her spirit to write the list of names herself. It takes enormous effort to stay focused on that one moment, hence the energy around her is bursting. She either doesn't have enough time to finish writing Rio's name or feels cheeky and draws a black heart instead. She finishes by revealing and naming the last tarot card: "Three of Pentacles". She completes the task, the End!

....

So..... What does everyone think?!!!!!!

[simply-whump]

Tale of the Nine-Tailed 1938 ( 구미호뎐 1938) - Whump List

Whumpee : Lee Yeon played by Lee Dong Wook, Lee Rang played by Kim Bum and Cheon Moo Young played by Ryu Kyung Soo

Synopsis : An unexpected case leads Lee Yeon back in time to 1938, where he reencounters Ryu Hong Joo. Once a guardian spirit of the mountain in the west, she's now the owner of a high-end restaurant in the capital city of Gyeongseong. He also meets his younger brother Lee Rang. Meanwhile, another former guardian spirit and ex-friend Cheon Moo Young has become hostile. Lee Yeon struggles to return to the present, to his loved one. (MDL)

Genres : Historical, Romance, Fantasy

Warning! Possible spoilers below!

Lee Yeon

Ep 1 : Tied with a rope, at gunpoint (semi-comedic), frees himself, shot, falls to the ground, gets back up unscathed, shot again multiple times — Shot at with some sort of  bazooka, blasted through a shed, shot at — Thrown away by an explosion blast — Drugged, vision blurry, passes out— Wakes up tied up — Lets himself get stabbed by an axe — Worried for Rang — Fighting, choked — Fighting, thrown against a tree, sliding down

 Ep 2 : Punched — Fighting, choked

Ep 3 : Has a nightmare (is actually attacked by some sort of monster) — Suddenly becomes blind, attacked, protected — Wearing a blindfold — Pinned to a couch — Attacked, fighting while blind, side cut —Shot at, arm cut, leg cut, arm cut again, leg pierced by an arrow, falling to the ground, in pain, pulls the arrow out — Eyes bleeding, in pain, can finally see again

Ep 4 : Fighting Moo Young, stopping a blade with his bare hand

Ep 5 : None

Ep 6 : Fighting Moo Young, stabbed (more like impaled) by a sword, sword pulled out violently, bleeding from the mouth, barely standing, groaning in pain, collapses unconscious — In bed unconscious, healed with magic — Drugged?, wakes up tied with a rope

Ep 7 : Choked — Cut by a sword, grabs a sword with his bare hand, choked 

Ep 8 : None

Ep 9 : Fighting Moo Young — Surrounded by poisonous gas

Ep 10 : Gets his body switched with an old man

Ep 11 : Real body stabbed — Gets switched back to the right body, collapses on one knee — Collapses exhausted — Bandaged wound starts bleeding, realises he is in an illusion — Hypnotised — Hit on his wound, crying out in pain — Wincing in pain, holding his wound — Carried — Worried for Moo Young, crying, emotional 

Ep 12 : Fighting, in an explosion, coughing, choked with magic — Teary eyed, hugging his brother

Lee Rang

Ep 1 : Tied to a pole — Gets stabbed in the back, bleeding from the mouth, collapses, concern for him, passes out in his brother’s arms — Carried unconscious — Unconscious in bed, dying — Wakes up as a ghost ?! — Unconscious body taken hostage

Ep 2 : Fighting 

Ep 3 : Hit by a dart, passes out — Tied up in a well with water slowly rising, struggling — Still struggling inside the well, helping someone while almost drowning — Underwater, unconscious, drowning, given air (you know how) — Wakes up, coughing water

Ep 4 : In bed, looked after

Ep 5 : Shot at, cut by a sword

EP 6 : None

Ep 7 : Attacked by a very powerful monster — Cut and stabbed with knifes by an enemy he can’t see, bleeding from the mouth, keeps getting cut — Saved

Ep 8 : Depressed, emotional, crying — Betting his lifespan, losing, has less than a day to live, weak, concern for him — Very weak, collapses

Ep 9 : None

Ep 10 : Surrounded by monsters — Worried for someone — Fighting monsters, struggling, scratched and bitten, poisoned 

Ep 11 : Poisoned, worried for someone, concern for him, drinks the antidote — Worried for someone, screaming, blaming himself, crying

Ep 12 : Worried for someone — Fighting, getting thrown around and beaten up, concern for him, choked, stepped on, remembering traumatic past, worried for someone, collapses on one knee after using a lot of power — Crying, hugging his brother

Cheon Moo Young

Ep 1 : Beaten up (brief)

Ep 2 : None

Ep 3 : Stuck by lightning, collapses

Ep 4 : Fighting Lee Yeon — In pain, showed that part of his body is made of stone

Ep 5 : Suddenly in pain, collapses, grabbing his chest

Ep 6 : Fighting Lee Yeon, stabbed with a sword — Drugged?, wakes up tied with a rope

Ep 7 : Emotional, angry — Cut by a sword, stabbed, sword twisted, choked 

Ep 9 : Fighting Lee Yeon — Surrounded by poisonous gas

Ep 10 : Poisoned, spitting blood — Unsteady, collapses — Weak, given the antidote

Ep 11 : Frozen, unfreezes himself, fighting, thrown around, worried for someone, squeezed, screaming in pain, bleeding from the mouth, restrained, collapses — Asleep in bed — Choked — Walking very unsteadily, heavily wounded, collapses, found, concern for him, passes out — Unconscious, treated — Wakes up — Emotional, crying, heart stopped, collapses, dying, found, concern for him, dies

Ep 12 : Revealed that he was actually saved and survived

Bonus whumpee: Yoo Jae Yoo played by Han Gyu Won

Ep 12 : Imprisoned as a hostage — Hit, slapped, manhandled — Injected with a dangerous poison, tied with ropes to a tree, hostage, tortured to make him scream, screaming in agony, concern for him, untied, screaming in pain, attacking a loved one against his will (controled by the poison), momentarily regains his clarity, in pain, stabs himself to stop himself, lots of concern for him — Dying, concern for him — Still dying, concern for him, saved

>> More Whump Lists

[kadextra]

so on a whim I started reading omniscient reader’s viewpoint manhwa

..and got hooked on the story so hard that I easily blasted through all available eps in less than a week. istg they put dr*gs in this thing it’s so good???? 😭

[SPOILER WARNING! big ramble ahead. if you’ve never read it, leave this post. consider checking it out you won’t be able to put it down]

lets get this out of the way first.

RAHHHHHH KIM DOKJA….. KIM DOKJA I LOVE YOU

GUYSSSSS 🥺 LISTEN. HE’S SUCH A GOOD PROTAGONIST. MY TRAUMA BOY. MY DUDE WITH THE POWER TO INFODUMP PEOPLE TO DEATH. YOU SELF-SACRIFICING IDIOT. his cunning intelligence makes him super attractive what can I say, I LOVE smart mcs with ambiguous morality and self sacrificial nature

here’s a big ✨shut your mouth✨ to every character who’s said he’s ugly- get your eyes checked, get a job get away from him (I know it’s because of the fourth wall’s filter it’s not their fault I’m just being silly)

the fourth wall is such a cool power to have. the complexity of how it acts based on his perception of fiction vs reality as the reader …. that’s very interesting and well thought out!!! how it lowkey has a consciousness too and it’s so tied into his mental state makes me want to psychoanalyze this guy even more. probably one of the most unique powers I’ve seen created and explored in a story tbh

I think the entire system of how the world works is really well done in general. constellations watching the apocalyptic bloodbath via livestream and sending donos to their favorite little guys shouldn’t work as well as it does and cracks me up so much 😭 (uriel is the best). I enjoy learning about all the irl different fables, history & mythologies too. plus doing my own research is fun! I did a deep dive through the web to learn about dokkaebi folklore lol I’m having a good time

I also related hard to how dokja read TWSA throughout his life, the story was a companion for him. got choked up bc I reflected on how much my own favorite companion stories for years mean to me. there’s been situations I’ve thought “what would (character) do?” dokja saying stuff like “what would joonghyuk do?” felt like I got called out <3 I’d probably be the same as him if my favorite characters suddenly came to life

anyways yeah I caught up with the manhwa looked online and discovered it comes from an already completed novel with over 500 chapters and the manhwa is barely a third into adapting it though it’s been releasing every week for 4 years. and that it’ll take like 10 more years to finish. I then planted my face in my hands and screamed with despair

I’ll shrivel up waiting to see what happens……………heyyy woahhhh.. whats this light of salvation ? the novel file just completed download on my phone ? that’s crazyy wow I opened it ? im scrolling it right now ? omg I’m telling myself in the mirror “pace yourself, try to space your reading out do NOT read too fast” ?

jokes aside im excited, first I’ll take some time to read back through the earlier chapters for extra context of scenes! >:D after I finish doing that…. pls pray for my self-control to try stretching this for as long as possible. I’m pumped to see what happens next with this demon king part so maybe I’ll read along with the manhwa unless I get too impatient heh

to conclude- I had no idea the fandom of orv was so passionate. while closing my eyes to spoilers, I was looking at beautiful fanart and animatics (watched this one and ascended that’s one of my fav rin songs). I can tell how much you guys love the story, there’s always going to be people like me who get interested so keep it up :D if the fandom does end up reading this, ummm *knocks on the door* hi im new

I will likely talk about it more in the future!! tagging under “#kade reads orv” ! might draw fanart on my art blog too bc brainworms <3 happy reading everyone

[bengiyo]

Cherry Magic TH Ep 3 Stray Thoughts

Last week, Achi grappled with what it meant to have someone interested in him. He enjoyed the attention, but felt like he might be taking advantage. Eventually, he came to understand that one sided attraction is also difficult for the person holding back. We left the two on a rooftop after Achi stressed that Karan wasn't making him uncomfortable. Meanwhile, Jinta also developed the same powers as Achi and had a less than stellar interaction with Min as a result.

Cannot believe I am watching BL in standard def in 2023 because Square Enix is greedy as fuck.

I kinda like that the whole office interrupted instead of just Rock.

LOL, Jinta actually has really practical concerns about this power.

Oh ho, who is Pai worried Bout running into?

I'm so glad this version of Kurosawa is also impatient with Rock for getting between him and Achi.

This whole office trip is new to me, but I'm liking it a lot. The manager seems to care about her people and seems to genuinely want them to have a good time.

Okay, that onsen scene was great.

Ah, so this is what they're replacing the fake dating for the parents with. Pai is trying to impress an ex boyfriend instead.

Well well well. You can't fall in love if you ain't clumsy.

Newwie is extremely attractive as Achi.

I like that we still got the scene where Pai realizes that she's okay by herself and then Karan shows up to defend them from street toughs. Achi even still got scraped.

Wound tending, my beloved.

This fond smirk is giving, "P'pEtE aBoUt AbOyZ"

For once they don't want me to believe this man is a good singer.

Pai's ex is played by Papang!!! Wow, be sucks!

YES, BITCH, YESS! READ HIM! READ HIM FOR FILTH! READ HIM FOR BLOOD!

Welcome back, baby is a messy eater. Marc is beautiful, holy shit.

Karan is down bad for Achi. I'm so glad they got Tay Tawan for this. He is so valid for that internal scream.

I'm excited about Songkran next week, but not Pai having a crush on Achi!!

The company trip was new to me this week, but I really loved it, and how they incorporated what was familiar. This is one of my favorite watches of the week. It's nice to be enjoying the GMMTV weekend block again, even if it requires me to jump through so many hoops.

[ringsreforged]

DOOMED TO DIE - First Thoughts

This week, we learned how hard it is to discuss an episode the day after - especially one as good as this - because, coherent thoughts how? Doomed to Die was spectacular, and we are flailing. We kick off with Kissgate (00:03:38) so if you're tired of talking about it by now, you can jump ahead. From there, we're a little bit all over the place, so timestamps were difficult, but it goes something like this... We love on Celebrimbor breaking free and being a badass (00:21:27) before a quick talk on death and Mirdania (00:28:58). We then talk about the incredible scene with Brimby and Galadriel (00:34:54) before a quick dip into ARONDIR IS ALIVE (00:40:51). We then ask WILL HE COME and cry a bit (00:43:03) before discussing our guy Adar (00:47:59). Finally, we wrap up some bits and bobs (00:50:04) before tackling deathwatch and some finale speculation (00:56:40). Friends. Less than 48 hours left now. *deep breaths* *SCREAMS*

Also. Just to let everyone know: we will be discussing season finale Friday morning. Expect it to be as full of flailing and only slightly coherent as this one then, lol. Therefore, you should get First Thoughts on it beginning of next week similarly to this ep. ;)

Anyways. Follow the pod and our social media. <3

Twitter - @RingsReforged

Instagram - @ringsreforged

Tumblr - @ringsreforged

Natalie - @Natalie_Crown

Paulina - @SapphiresOfWest

Or you can email us at ringsreforged@gmail.com

Be like a Harfoot & live good!

Pau & Nat

[clonerightsagenda]

Ok I'm back on my grind liveblogging the adventures of sad British children who roadtrip to various afterlives. L&Co ep 3, let's go.

While delayed I was pondering the whole Mind Landscape thing from the last episode and wondering if they'll use that to show the skull's face much earlier, although the fact that Lucy can't see him is part of how she willfully ignores that she's doing all that to a real human person. In the same vein she should beat up Marissa's old lady form in the psychic mindscape. *Georgie Crusoe voice* She's great at beating up old ladies. Anyway, onward. Time to meet the first CEO she kills.

Did they have that copy of Hamlet on hand or did George run to the library to do his dramatic research presentation. I say sitting like 2 feet from a copy of Hamlet from high school.

"Mandatory oversight." I'm still kind of amused that TV!DEPRAC actually does stuff instead of book!Barnes showing up on his off hours like "hey a bunch of the most powerful people in London want to murder you. My hands are tied. try to be less annoying. bye"

Fairfax didn't approach them directly in this version? He's covering his ass better

And he didn't prepay them either. How are they going to get his money after they kill him

They're drinking beers…. takes away from these kids going 'god what a fucking day. time to go have a hot chocolate' because they're 14.

Man when I was joking about Lucy having a thing for dead girls this was before I watched her TV counterpart sneak off to psychically commune with one while only wearing a towel. Get it, girl. It being frostbite.

Never mind she was just doing some light workplace theft. Never let it be said she steals mundane office supplies like paper clips.

I'm looking forward to seeing how they do Combe Carey hall because that was the only haunting in the books that I found genuinely suspenseful/frightening. Bring on the blood

We didn't even get the screaming? On the screaming staircase? Come on that whole scene was made for a scary tv adaptation. They should've given it more breathing room.

I'm not sure if book!Lockwood guessing that Fairfax wants to kill them but still taking the job without telling his team or show!Lockwood totally buying it is a worse leadership fuckup. At least by later books they're assuming out of the gate basically every adult who interacts with them wants them dead.

The goggles are nicely bulky to contain the pieces of dead children that they're presumably made of.

uhhhhhhh well that sure was a lot more dramatic. is that what ghost touch usually looks like

Orpheus gear spotted

Lucy spends the series signing various NDAs and then spills everything in her memoirs which is kind of why I think she waited until she died and then went I am hanging around just long enough to hang everyone's shit out to dry.

Eyeing Penelope's necklace given they switched what kind of jewelry Annie's was. Doesn't look old enough to be Ezekiel though. Also, her mother? Did they cut one generation out of the Fittes dynasty? Marissa stealing her own daughter's body is a bit kinder than stealing her granddaughter's body and then using that body to murder her daughter while the poor woman thinks her daughter is killing her.

The skull does have its lower jaw. Envisioning some poor Fittes employee dredging what's left of a dead kid out of the sewer, washing 100 years of gunk off it, and painstakingly wiring the pieces together only to present this rare find to their boss and it calls her a bitch until she throws it in the trash. There goes their promotion.

Hey what the fuck. Strongly worded post to follow

[boysplanetrecaps]

The Great Produce 48 Rewatch: Ep 3, Love Whisper Challenge

Welcome back to the Great Produce48 Rewatch Project, the project that asks, “should I do this?” then answers itself “no!” and then does it anyway! When we left off, we had concluded a brief overview of everyone’s prep for the first Group Battle Challenge Mission Thingy. And now it’s time for the actual performances! What heights will the trainees hit in their singing? What lows will the trainees hit in their arguing? No way to know but to watch! Woot! So let’s go! We're starting off with the two performances of Love Whisper, originally by Gfriend.

It’s performance day. Fans are lined up, excited to see their favorites perform. 

The girls are getting ready…. Ready for some product placement, that is! All I know is that I want those colored contacts lenses and Subway sandwiches that come in those really cute neoprene bags. 

I did some digging (thank you, auto translation in Google Chrome) and apparently these bags were a pretty big hit when they came out in 2018. I wonder if any of the girls still have theirs? I would treasure mine! As the blogger of that link wrote, "Look at the avocado's solemn face! They're so cute they give me a headache."

Anyway, back to the show.

Lee Seungki comes out on stage and is greeted by an auditorium of screaming fans. He explains the rules -- each of two teams will perform the same song, and then the audience will vote for the single trainee amongst all the girls who deserves their vote. And then… it’s showtime! … Kinda. 

As you know if you’ve watched these shows before, what is going to happen is that we’re going to call the groups up on stage, and then we’re going to watch an extended flashback package about their experience getting ready for the performance before we finally get to kind of see the performance itself. I say "kind of" since the MNET edit will be almost completely intolerable.

To introduce the first group (though I get the feeling they didn't actually perform first), Seungki says, “Which girl group comes to your mind when I mention innocent looks and powerful dance moves?” And the whole auditorium is like, “yeoja chingu!” (G-friend). So out come the Love Whisper teams.

The two groups come out and introduce themselves as “Never Give Up” and “Giant Baby”, respectively. Kang Damin from "Giant Baby" -- who you may know as the Kawaii Avengers -- starts in on the smack talk, saying that they’re cuter than the other team. Gravel-voiced Yamada Noe says, in English, “But! My team is powerful!” In the judging room, Dance Bae says that Noe is so funny it makes her happy. Soyou replies, “But her singing skills…”

And we cut back to the flashback (1:38:45 - 1:47:04). 

Just to remind you of who is who in group Never Give Up:

Left to right:

Son Eunchae, 18, future member of Bugaboo, who moved up from C to B and is ranked 85th. She’s the leader and we'll be seeing a lot of her here.

Wang Ke, 17, a Chinese girl who had the red polka dots in Celeb Five, moved down from B to D and is ranked 33rd. She’s the center and is easy to spot since she's the tallest. She will also get a lot of story focus.

Nagano Serika, 17, who auditioned with Mister by Kara, has lived in F class and is ranked 81st.

Yamada Noe, 18, with her gravelly voice, moved from C down to F and is ranked quite high in 9th place. 

Muto Tomu, 23, the chooser of this group, a D class mainstay and ranked 28th. She actually seems to have a lot of personality but we hardly get to know her.

Ichikawa Manami, 18, with the shorter hair, from What's Your Name?, rose from F to C, currently ranked 83rd. She’s currently the main vocal by default, since no one else wanted to do it.

The story so far: Tomu’s team basically cannot sing. Noe cannot make sounds come out of her mouth, and others aren’t much better. Of the group, it seems that Manami is actually the best singer -- she physically can hit the high notes. We were left wondering: Can they sing this song?

We cut to their vocal lesson. It’s going really, really poorly. Soyou is looking like this…

.. then asks them to turn off the music. She says she doesn’t know if she can even help them, that it’s even worse than a middle school talent show, which is true, but even so. Hey, Soyou, what the fuck? Teach them to sing. Get Jeremy in here or something, because it’s not helpful to just insult them. They’re bad singers. Noted. Now help them. 

Eunchae feels bad that as leader she hasn’t done a better job of helping her team, but her team is a bunch of girls who cannot sing. I mean, what can anyone do? 

Poor Manami tries again, and a few notes in, she gives up, shaking her head. “Manami-chan,” Soyou says, more gently. “Why are you the main vocalist?” Manami just shakes her head. Poor kid. I think that it’s kind of obvious how Manami ended up the main vocal, Soyou. Be nice. Soyou asks Wang Ke to try, and she does. Wang Ke sounds pretty awful to me too, but Soyou seems to think Ke is better. 

Manami interviews that she is determined to do her best as main vocal, but Eunchae, who is trying to be a good leader, announces in pigeon Kor-pan-glish, that they need to change who the main vocal is. She asks Manami-san if she’s daijobu (ok), but Manami-san is definitely NOT daijobu. She spent a lot of time memorizing her part -- the song is in Korean, which she does not speak -- and she is gutted that all that time was wasted. Not to mention that she’ll have to learn new lyrics. Eunchae feels awful too. And Wang Ke feels awful too, that she’s not good enough to be main vocal. She’s willing to do it, though, if it will help the group. Everyone feels awful. 

Ke does her best, and then ends up crying in a closet. 

She’s full on sobbing, but the staff just jams a camera in there to investigate, and the poor kid has to summon up enough Korean to explain herself (remember, she’s Chinese, so every part of this has to be 2x as stressful and difficult for her than it would be for anyone else). Everyone’s crying, and Eunchae feels like she let everyone down. The situation is so dire that the other team (the Kawaii Avengers) even comes over to investigate. 

Poor Eunchae is taking it really hard, like she is at fault, but she's only 18 and it's not cool that there's so much pressure on her. I know that when I was 18 I thought I was an adult, but now that I’m a lot older, I realize that you kind of never really become an adult. You just creeping closer and closer to adulthood, like Zeno’s arrow. And 18 is so, so young. I just want to hug all these girls. They really need mental health experts to be available on these shows.

It’s the next day and they’re at a dance lesson with Psychopath. They start the dance, and the first move is to take each other’s hands. Eunchae can feel everyone’s desperation, and she just starts to cry. 

She’s trying to smile and dance but she’s crying, and it’s just awful. She’s talking about how this is her last chance (you’re 18, girl!). They try again, and Wang Ke begins to sob too. We never even see Psychopath’s feedback, just them crying and talking about how desperate they are. 

And now… it’s time for the show. 

A beautiful soul on Youtube named PD48 editing has created videos that allow you to just watch the performances without constant interruptions and instant replays. Bless you, PD48 Editing. Blessings on you and your family and your cow. 

Link to the edited version 

Serika, Eunchae, Motu Tomu, Noe, Manami, Wang Ke

Serika, Motu Tomu, Manami, Eunchae, Wang Ke, Noe

Tomu - subvocal1  Eunchae - subvocal 2 Serika - subvocal 3 Noe - subvocal 4 Manami - subvocal 5 Wang Ke - main vocal

My thoughts: Vocally, they were much better than I had feared they’d be, to the point that I wonder if something is up, like if they prerecorded some vocals or something. Tomu and Eunchae end up singing a lot, as subvocals 1 and 2, and though Tomu is a bit wobbly, they sound ok. Wang Ke managed to hit the notes, though she sounded pretty shaky and rough. 

Dance-wise, I didn’t notice any mistakes. The choreo to this song is so weird that even when it’s done correctly it looks wrong, so I checked it against the original and it was actually right, though they added in a few cute flourishes. I thought that Manami really stood out in the dance parts.

Stage presence wise, Noe is super distracting. She is turning the cuteness up to 1000% and honestly, it’s offputting. It comes across as sarcastic.

The rest were all pretty cute, if a bit dead eyed sometimes. Wang Ke does the doe-eyed look straight to camera really well. 

Oh, god, Eunchae is crying in the ending fairy. 

Overall, this really wasn’t bad. The song is so not my favorite so I don’t know if I would ever be into a performance of it, but I think they did exceptionally well given their skill level and the time they had to practice. 

The MNET edit: The judges praise their facial expressions and energy, and we see lots of shots of the other girls backstage looking nervous, implying that they’re doing well. After Wang Ke’s high notes, Jeremy and Soyou exchange glances, and Soyou nods, as if to say, “This is good for them.” Soyou says that they practiced a lot and improved a lot. 

Backstage, the girls are saying thank you to Eunchae, and they’re all crying. They did a good job, overall. 

GROUP 2

Left to right:  Nayoung, Damin, Eunbin, Nako, Sae, Misaki

As a reminder, the members are:

Kim Nayoung, 15, future member of Lightsum who auditioned with I Don’t Like Your Girlfriend, went from C to A, and is now in 63rd place. She’s subvocal 2 and leader.

Kang Damin, 14, the cute future member of Queenz Eye, went from B to A, and is ranked 74th. She’s subvocal 5.

Yoon Eunbin,14, one of the CNC girls, stayed in B, and is ranked 68th. She’s subvocal 1. 

Yabuki Nako, 16, who moved up from F to A, is currently ranked 27th. She’s Main vocal.

Kurihara Sae, 21, who had the great bangs in Never Ending Ferris Wheel, who went from D to F and is now ranked 84th. She’s subvocal 4.

Aramaki Misaki, 17, who auditioned with the blighted Never Ending Ferris Wheel group, has been stationed in F class, and is ranked 61st. She’s subvocal 3. 

As you’ll recall, Nako picked this group to be the Kawaii Avengers, they seem poised to take this one.

We find out that Nayoung has been a fun and sweet leader, constantly telling her teammates that she loves them and that they’re doing a good job.

She helps the Japanese members with their pronunciation and tries to keep all their spirits up. 

In their dance rehearsal with Psychopath, he dings them first for not being ready the second he says standby. Then they have to dance without music and they make a bunch of mistakes. He basically makes them feel like shit, which is his M.O. Honestly, I think this is just because they’re not having any drama at all, so they had to find some stuff for their rehearsal package. The tiny mistakes they’re making are so minimal that it seems stupid to verbally abuse them for them -- not that any amount of mistakes justify verbal abuse.

Fast forward to dress rehearsal and they’re not synchronized enough. So they decide to keep practicing. “Let’s start,” Nayoung says, in Japanese. And they try again. 

Now it's performance time!

PD48’s blessed edit 

Misaki, Nayoung, Damin, Yunbin, Sae, Nako

Top row: Nako, Nayoung, Yunbin

Bottom row: Misaki, Damin, Sae 

My thoughts: Overall, really good, to the standard expected of this song.

Vocally, they were definitely superior to the other team. No one here has a voice that I would delight to listen to, like how I love listening to Yuju, but voices like Yuju’s are rare. Nako does hit those notes cleanly, but I find her vocal color a little shrill. It’s not a deal breaker, though. Vocally, I thought Nayoung had the most pleasant voice to listen to. But it was actually hard to tell their voices apart, so that’s a sign that they were doing something right.

Dance wise, I don’t notice any mistakes. Given that the camera man hardly ever shows their footwork, there’s almost no point in them even learning it. Nobody really stood out for good or bad. They seemed energetic and confident. Man, this choreo gets weirder ever time I see it. Sorry if this is your favorite song or something. 

Stage presence wise, Nako obviously knocks everyone else out of the water.

That's Nako top right, with the braids.

Everyone else was being cute, but Nako just *IS* cute.  I don’t know how anyone can smile that much and still make it look natural. Is there a special smile implant surgery that she underwent? More witchcraft from Nako.

I think Misaki could have brought a little more energy and I think Damin low key gives off “kid in a child beauty pageant” vibes...

but again, none of that is a deal breaker.

Really, they all did pretty well. Thinking more about it, it becomes even more clear to me how much having Yamada Noe hurt the other team for me. I’m sure a lot of people would disagree, so it’s fine if you are one of them, but Noe’s weird fake cuteness was kind of painful to watch and super distracting. I think Team 2 wins merely by not having that. I think they would have won anyway. 

I know all the girls tried their best, and my heart breaks for Eunchae, Wang Ke, and all the girls who try their hardest and still lose. But I think it would be hard to vote for anyone else but Nako.

MNET edit: There’s this cute part where they show Psychopath mouthing along with the lyrics -- kind of funny. Of course everyone goes batshit when Nako hits the high notes. Other than that, it wasn’t that intrusive of an edit, thank god.

When the Kawaii Avengers are done, both teams come up on stage to make their final appeals.

Lee Seungki asks Eunchae about how she almost cried at the end, and she says “Each one of us worked so hard, and I know this might be our last stage, so I got emotional.” Poor Wang Ke starts crying again, and Manami almost starts up as well. 

Backstage, the other teams all tear up as well, and then, and THEN, AND FUCKING THEN, the judges say to each other that they feel bad for the kids. Cheetah says, “They must have been really stressed.” And Soyou is fanning her face to dry her tears.

Where was all this fucking sympathy and empathy when they were rehearsing? Do you think that maybe part of the reason they were stressed is that you guys were YELLING AT THEM ALL THE DAMN TIME? 

Seungki gives them time to appeal to the audience, but we only get to hear what Noe and Nako say.

Noe yells, in halting Korean that I think she reads off a note written: “HELLO PRODUCERS! I ALWAYS HAVE THIS HUSKY VOICE! I LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR KIND EVALUATION!!!” 

Nako says, in smooth Korean that she must have carefully memorized, “Hello, I’m Yabuki Nako from HKT48. I know I was nervous, but I had a lot of fun, thanks to the National Producers.” 

Imagine standing there, looking at the audience while they vote, or don’t vote, for you? No thanks.

They go to the Results Zone, which is clearly just a the bathroom area of a women's locker room. The chairs are gym mats placed on top of a bench and there are 197 cameras arranged to catch Nako from 197 angles. 

The producers reveal the votes slowly, of course, and at first it looks like Eunchae’s team might win. 

Motu Tomu gets 52 votes, more than Eunbin’s 42.  Eunchae gets 88 votes, more than Nayoung’s 32.  Yamada Noe got 106 votes, much more than Sae’s 18. Manami gets 38, more than Damin’s 36. Serika’s 22 loses to Misaki’s 30. But even so, Team 1 is winning.  It’s down to just the main vocals: Wang Ke versus Nako. 

And then they reveal the result. Wang Ke gets 28 votes, and…. Nako got 330 votes. 

Three hundred and thirty. 

No one even reacts at first because it’s so much more than anyone else, by a lot. And I, an intellectual living in the year 2024, can tell you that this will turn out to be the most votes of the whole night, by a LOT. No one else even breaks 200! 

Nayoung is tearful, and at first I thought it might be because she got only 32 votes. But it turns out that she is both grateful and sorry -- grateful to Nako that she won the night for them, and sorry that the team needed her to do that. 

She’s crying like a little kid, sniffling and wiping her face, and she just seems exhausted. Jalhaess-eoyo, Nayoung-ah. You kept your team together and helped everyone. You have nothing to be sorry about. I think Nako just really suited this song, and also that her smile has magic powers. 

And I hope that Eunchae was ok when her team lost. She was taking the whole thing so hard and she seems like a really nice girl.

And that's it for this recap! When we pick up in the next one, we'll cross the border between Episode 3 and 4 with coverage of Peekaboo! Thanks as always for reading, and I hope you find a warm cinnamon bun left for you by a kindly elf.

[bambiesque]

New thread for Troughton!Doctor

Serial: The Power of the Daleks: Ep.1 - The fact that this is animated makes Polly and Ben's bewilderment even more hilarious. The Doctor has his recorder and a badge that says Accord Every Access so he's happy.

Serial: The Power of the Daleks: Ep.2 - Ben continues to be hilarious. The Doctor's 4ft hat is amazing. I wish I could see the real thing. I can't wait for the Daleks to zap all of these idiots with their whisks.

Serial: The Power of the Daleks: Ep.3 - Troughton!Doctor really loves his badge. Poor Polly has been locked up by the bad guys AGAIN. Ben is the only one who cares though.

Serial: The Power of the Daleks: Ep.4 - If you have 1 Dalek and you add 3 Daleks, that makes 4 Daleks - Troughton!Doctor can do basic arithmetic. Ben can only think about Polly. I know how you feel, Ben. I miss her too.

Serial: The Power of the Daleks: Ep.5 - I still find the Daleks hilarious. Their sarcasm is top notch. EXTERMINATE!

Serial: The Power of the Daleks: Ep.6 - I realise this is animated, but the head bad guy really looks like The Demon Headmaster. Pretty good serial overall - not enough Polly though.

The Highlanders is missing, so we're moving on to The Underwater Menace.

Serial: The Underwater Menace - Episode 1: Welcome, Jamie! (Belatedly). This is just a slideshow with sound, unfortunately. 5 minutes in, and Polly's in danger.

Serial: The Underwater Menace - Episode 2: And now an actual real-life episode! And a very fun one at that. The Doctor is playing dress-up; Ben and Jamie are re-enacting The Great Escape; and Polly's new gf is saving her from becoming a fish. Classic.

Serial: The Underwater Menace- Episode 3: The Doctor is organising a strike amongst the fish-people. This "Underwater" ballet is quite something. Wow! That ending was proper super-villain stuff.

Serial: The Underwater Menace - Episode 4: Another slideshow episode but a brilliant one. Funny and camp. 

Serial: The Moonbase - Ep.1: Apparently the moon is inhabited by the Clangers. Cybermen! And looking more like Cybermen this time. Polly is a very good screamer.

Serial: The Moonbase - Ep.2: The Cybermen are truly creepy and sneaky in this episode. Very menacing.

Serial: The Moonbase - Ep.3: Polly is not having any of your love triangle nonsense boys. She's been told to make tea and to stay put while the men do manly things. She doesn't believe in any of that either.

Serial: The Moonbase - Ep.4: This is very violent already. But after all that it was quite easily resolved. Not the most thrilling serial but Polly was wonderful as always.

Serial: The Macra Terror - Ep.1: The first episode in colour! The whole serial is animated - this is the best of the animated ones so far. Very creepy.

Serial: The Macra Terror - Ep.2: They're trying to hypnotise our heroes by screaming at them. I'm not sure that's how that works. Ben's love for Polly transcends even the shouty hypnosis. THE CLAW!!!

Serial: The Macra Terror - Ep.3: Welcome to the danger gang. Troughton!Doctor is hilarious. Never listen to the voices, Ben.

Serial: The Macra Terror - Ep.4: The giant crabs are just... amazing. I'm so sad we can't see the real ones. I enjoyed this serial. I felt Troughton!Doctor had a personality for a change.

Serial: The Faceless Ones - Ep.1 & 2: Ben disappeared for a very long time. Slightly distracted by cartoon Wanda Ventham. Poor Polly has been replaced by a doppelganger. Ben has been replaced too but I care less about that.

Serial: The Faceless Ones - Ep.3: Why animate this in black & white when you could animate it in colour? That weirdness aside... this serial is pretty dull. I miss Polly and Ben.

Serial: The Faceless Ones - Ep.4-6: I liked the supporting cast in this one - except for Samantha. Goodbye to Ben and Polly. I will miss them but I'm glad to know they lived happily ever after together.

The Evil of the Daleks is missing, so we're on to Season 5!

Serial: The Tomb of the Cybermen: Ep. 1 - I feel like that had barely started before it was over. The Cyberman popping up gave me a genuine scare. I hope Victoria perks up a bit.

Serial: The Tomb of the Cybermen: Ep. 2 - Surprising no one, the bad guys are here to wake up the Cybermen. Unsure why the resurrected Cybermen have scissorhands but it's best just to go with it at this point

Serial: The Tomb of the Cybermen: Ep. 3 - The Cybermats are kind of adorable. Victoria is growing on me.

Serial: The Tomb of the Cybermen: Ep. 4 - The Cybermen seem to be improving visually, but their voices are horrendous. Unsurprisingly, all the bad guys are now dead.

The Abomniable Snowmen is missing, so we're onto The Ice Warriors.

Serial: The Ice Warriors: Eps 1-4 - 3000 years in the future and the computer is full of plastic cutlery. Victoria doesn't like short, tight fitting clothes but she can hold her own with the raspy voiced aliens. Jamie is dressed like Liam Gallagher from the waist up.

Serial: The Ice Warriors: Eps 5-6 - Jamie can't walk, which keeps him out of trouble, I suppose. The Ice Warriors have Lego hands! That's pretty cute. This was a pretty decent story, but a smidge too long.

Serial: The Enemy of the World: Ep.1 - This is set in Australia 2018. Australia looks like the English countryside & 2018 seems to have a lot of leather. Victoria is a wet lettuce & Jamie doesn't like the beach, which may be the final nail in the coffin for my feelings on these 2

Serial: The Enemy of the World: Ep.2 - Patrick Troughton. now in the dual role of The Doctor and Evil Dictator, is having a blast. Victoria is still being a drip.

Serial: The Enemy of the World: Ep.3 - I think the Chef is my favourite character right now. I don't even think this episode was needed, except that Evil!Troughton now knows about Doctor!Troughton

Serial: The Enemy of the World: Ep.4 - I recognise Benik as Castellan Kelner, so this is a bit weird. I like Fariah, I'd rather have her full time than Victoria. There's a lot of incidental music in this serial. Oh no, poor Fariah!

Serial: The Enemy of the World: Ep.5&6 - The reveal of the people making the natural disasters was brilliant. Even better the twist in episode 6. Jamie and Victoria have been less than useless this story, but I have enjoyed everything else.

Serial: The Web of Fear: Ep.1 - The Yeti looks like a giant tribble. I love Anne. Anne is awesome. Unfortunately, Victoria is still a huge drip. I like the setting. It feels very intimate down in the tunnels.

Serial: The Web of Fear: Ep.2 - The giant tribble Yeti has multiplied. The Doctor has disappeared. Victoria is making tea. Soap suds are taking over the underground. I like this story.

Serial: The Web of Fear: Ep.3 - This episode is missing, so it's stills and sound only but who cares because the Brig is here, even if he's not a Brigadier yet 

Serial: The Web of Fear: Ep.4 - Everybody's dead, Dave. This is very exciting. A shoot-out, a traitor, The Great Intelligence. I love it.

Serial: The Web of Fear: Ep.5 - Victoria has been kidnapped but I wouldnt worry because after five minutes with her they'll be desperate to give her back. The Doctor is happy, playing with his ball. I think he and Anne are in love.

Serial: The Web of Fear: Ep.6 - Fantastic serial. One of my faves. I wish Anne had stayed with the Doctor. Can't wait to see the Brig again.

Serial: Fury from the Deep: Ep.1 - Another animated story. Victoria picked a lock with a hairpin, proving that Jamie is an idiot. The best thing she's ever done. And ending with a tentacle monster. Good stuff.

Serial: Fury from the Deep: Ep.2 - Everyone in this looks like a classic Hollywood monster. Apparently there's a rave going on in the undersea pipe line.

Serial: Fury from the Deep: Ep.3 - These tentacles look like those little worms on strings we all had in the 80s. Mine was bright pink.

Serial: Fury from the Deep: Ep.4 - Obviously the last episode was 3. Even the Doctor is fed up of Victoria's whining now. Why is there a poster of The Master on the wall?

Serial: Fury from the Deep: Ep.5 - Oh no. Victoria has been kidnapped. Stop. Wait. Come back.

Serial: Fury from the Deep: Ep.6 - Apparently, Victoria's screaming repels the tentacles. Finally she has a worthwhile skill. I think I'd take my chances with the tentacles rather than let the Doctor fly me in a helicopter. And Victoria is staying behind woo hoo! Let's go get Zoe

Serial: The Wheel in Space - Ep1-6: The majority of the serial is just a slide show so Ive included my thoughts in one tweet. I like Zoe in spite of the horribly misogynistic tone to this serial. I enjoyed Troughton just flying off on holiday for a whole episode in the middle lol

Serial: The Dominators - Ep.1: These people are wearing dresses made of curtains, like a lower budget Sewing Bee. Jamie is still getting on my nerves, but I do like Zoe's calm.

Serial: The Dominators - Ep.2: The robots! The robots are very cute. Jamie is going to be probed. Everyone is very stupid in this serial.

Serial: The Dominators - Ep.3: Zoe is trying to raise an army but everyone is against her. Jamie is unknowingly sabotaging her by being himself. Even the way the robots die is cute. I love them.

Serial: The Dominators - Ep.4 & 5: I'm glad they didn't stretch it out to 6 episodes. I think they could have made do with 4. Resolved very quickly but better than dragging it out for no reason.

Serial: The Mind Robber - Ep.1: I like Zoe's sparkly jumpsuit. Jamie is dreaming of Brigadoon, I see. Aaaaand Zoe's an idiot. Okay, Jamie and Zoe beckoning the Doctor with those smile is quite creepy.

Serial: The Mind Robber - Ep.2: Now the Doctor is doing an escape room and put Jamie back together wrong. I think I like new Jamie more than the real one.

Serial: The Mind Robber - Ep.3: I love this. Mythical creatures, fairy tale characters, some really nice animation on Medusa's snakes.

Serial: The Mind Robber - Ep.4: Zoe is kicking this superhero from the year 2000's ass and it is glorious. This really is a lot of fun.

Serial: The Mind Robber - Ep.5: The Doctor is now writing fanfiction about himself. And now Blackbeard has shown up. Ooo ambiguous ending. I love it.

Serial: The Invasion - Ep.1: Zoe has a new girlfriend who wants to take pictures of her. The Doctor and Jamie are kidnapped twice. BBC Television Centre is looking good.

Serial: The Invasion - Ep.2: The Brig is backI like Zoe's feather boa. Oh and the Doctor and Jamie have been captured AGAIN.

Serial: The Invasion - Ep.3: Benton! I amused that Jamie is always just "the boy" when other people are talking about him. He is so dumb. And now he's hiding in a box with a Cyber-embryo?

Serial: The Invasion - Ep.4: This serial has been non-stop so far. The helicopter escape was cool. I think the Doctor has been shushing everyone for 4 straight episodes.

Serial: The Invasion - Ep.5: Isobel and Zoe calling out the Brig and Jamie's misogynistic bullshit is wonderful. The Cybermen look so much better these days. Apparently they lied to the megalomaniac. I am shocked.

Serial: The Invasion - Ep.6: I hate this guy. I hope the Cybermen tear him apart. The image of them walking against the backdrop of St Paul's is pretty iconic.

Serial: The Invasion - Ep.7: Zoe has her sparkly jumpsuit back on. And now she's saving the world with her super maths brain. She's the best.

Serial: The Invasion - Ep.8: I suppose this jolly music means it's the end of the story. What a great serial. I really enjoyed it. Lots of adventure and excitement. Very little screaming.

Serial: The Krotons - Ep.1 & Ep.2: I love Zoe's outfit. I love the relationship between her and Troughton!Doctor. She's basically his daughter. Glad to get some confirmation that Jamie is an idiot, but that's no reason to kill him.

Serial: The Krotons - Ep.3: Why do the Krotons sound like slowed down Lennon and McCartney? Suddenly everyone wants to rebel.

Serial: The Krotons - Ep.4: And after spending 4 episodes dunking on Jamie, everyone is free at last. Great little serial.

Serial: The Seeds of Death - Ep.1 & Ep.2: This story is a lot slower going than the last few have been. I do enjoy the Doctor geeking out about rockets and how proud he is of Zoe.

Serial: The Seeds of Death - Ep.3 & Ep.4:  Zoe and Gia standing up against Jamie (AGAIN) when he tells them it's too dangerous for women to help.

Serial: The Seeds of Death - Ep.5 & Ep.6: The Doctor is having fun doing science with his science friend. I have to say, the wardrobe department did well with the Ice Warrior costumes and makeup.

The Space Pirates is missing, which means tomorrow we're onto The War Games and Troughton!Doctor's regeneration. Then I'll do a round-up and next week, make a start on Three!

Serial: The War Games - Ep.1: I have no idea what's going on yet but this is brilliant. It's a good thing Zoe is there to remind the Doctor and Jamie which is their left and which is their right. That little kiss of the Doctor's to Zoe's head.

Serial: The War Games - Ep.2: The shady General has a TARDIS! A very ugly TARDIS. Jamie is such an idiot. The hypno-glasses are very creepy. Romans! This is very exciting.

Serial: The War Games - Ep.3: I want to see more of the battle zones. The sonic screwdriver actually being used as a screwdriver! I'm impressed. Oh the German General has a hypno-monocle.

Serial: The War Games - Ep.4: The Doctor and Zoe are walking around the new TARDIS wearing strange visors. Poor Carstairs has been brainwashed again.

Serial: The War Games - Ep.5: Jamie and Lady Jennifer have joined the resistance. Zoe is being tortured by an evil Zorro and a low rent Blofeld.

Serial: The War Games - Ep.6: I like The War Chief as a villain. The gang's all back together finally. Or maybe not. This is a bit of a filler episode. I do like the shifty looks the Doctor gives Zoe and Jamie when they ask him questions about what he knows though.

Serial: The War Games - Ep.7 & Ep.8: More filler episodes. Aww, Jamie has been put in charge of something, finally. Loving the hints to the Doctor's backstory and the Time Lords.

Serial: The War Games - Ep.9: Ooo, the little box! I'm quite sad The War Chief died. The Time Lords! Oh, what an ending!

Serial: The War Games - Ep.10: And now, 54 years to the day this episode was first shown, Troughton!Doctor era comes to an end. Oh, the spinning TARDIS in the sky looks amazing. I may have shed a tear when Zoe and Jamie said goodbye. Forced regeneration and exile is a sad end.

Troughton!Doctor Era Round-up 

Favourite Companion: Zoe. She is perfect. 

Least favourite Companion: Victoria. A drip. 

Favourite Serial: The Web of Fear / The War Games 

Least Favourite Serial: The Faceless Ones 

Troughton!Doctor is fun once he gets going. A loveable dork.

[sambuckylovebot]

lowkey i wish the power broker episode of tfatws was extended somehow into two different parts. sebastian made bucky visibly be more withdrawn and darker with his body language (mainly his eyes, i wish i knew how he does it) and i feel like it could've created a meaningful conversation between him and sam where they actually talked about how hard playing the winter soldier was for him instead of relying on the subtext we were being given. because it's one thing to be able to appreciate seeing guys (especially superheroes) asking each other if they're okay instead of not trying to acknowledge their feelings at all, but the other part of me feels like it wasn't even worth it because bucky was clearly going through something serious that he kept unspoken throughout the entire power broker episode and through a little bit of episode four and sam getting him to talk about it on screen would've been perfect to make them get closer. it left me with unanswered questions like what was bucky feeling about the stuff zemo said about him? how did he feel after everyone in the bar looked at him like he was dangerous again? how does he feel about sam at this point in the show and him being the only person who doesn't treat bucky like he's going to break?

like there are so many cool plotlines this show introduced that deserved to be explored more than they were on screen, but this one should've been treated like a way bigger deal because of how monumental it was for bucky's character to be faced with this challenge again after trying to combat himself for thinking there was still some of the winter soldier inside of him.

[mamahersh]

Alrighty everyone, time for my thoughts on the last 3 eps of the Magnus Archives. I’ll post my thoughts on S5 and the series as a whole in a separate post, to be made either later today or potentially tomorrow.

This got really long, so I’ll put it under a Read More so I don’t clutter your dash.

TL;DR: loved the ending, had a thought or two; and look forwards to one more post where I basically write my thoughts on the series either later today or tomorrow!

So, MAG 198: Yes, that edge of the cliff fear is definitely rather unsubtle. Particularly in regards to their imminent choice. Also, have to say, I think Jon is entitled to being a little bitch about the cliff domain when he had to deal with a free fall domain via Mike Crew back in season 3. It is morbidly amusing that when Martin hears that his choices are: jump off the cliff to my pseudo death now or jump off the cliff after Jon talks at length about how terrifying watching people jump off the cliff is, he takes the jump immediately option. Listen, I’m sure Jon would have too if he had a choice, but alas Eye is hungee and Jon’s gotta be the mouth for a bit.

Also, big sad that the cultists all got stolen again while Georgie and Melanie had to listen to their screams.

MAG 199: You know they actually discussed that far more than I thought they were going to. So a misnomer that I’ve picked up on in fanfiction is that I thought there would be a less even handed evaluation of the situation. However, Basira did a good job at forcing everyone to discuss all possible avenues of discussion. However, I find it interesting that Basira draws the line at deliberate mass murder. That sounds terrible out of context I will admit, but up until this point she’s been rather willing to entertain a rather wide selection of options when it boils down to difficult choices. But in this one instance when given the choice between basically committing mass euthanasia/genocide and passively letting people suffer till their “natural” end she refuses to entertain the idea that the first is even an option. And she’s been keeping “just let an entire world of people suffer for an incomprehensible amount of time till the End finally finds them” on the table next to the other amazing /s option “send the horror terrors to upwards of infinite alternate universes to wreak havoc on unprepared innumerable numbers of people”. Just, it’s interesting is all.

On a different note, the Web is getting in a final “fuck you” at Jon with the web lighter by subtly pushing Georgie to borrow it by pulling on her old smoking addiction since I guess none of the others had one presumably. Plus, “Can I have a cigarette” is a nice call back to the first episode with the Anglerfish.

Also, Would like to throw down with Martin over his self-esteem. Thoroughly disagree that they were incompatible without the spooky trauma. I think if they had met before Jon was given power in the Archives, or if someone else had been Archivist while they both were Archival Assistants, I fully think they could have at least been friends. Just because you trauma bond with someone doesn’t mean you wouldn’t have bonded with them otherwise.

I would also like to formally welcome Traumatized Jon™ back to the show for one last hurrah. Is it terrible to say that I missed him? He does bring up good points, even if everyone seems to disagree.

AND FINALLY MAG 200.

I’ve heard the ending I think once or twice already, but I had never heard the origin of the Fears story before. I guess it’s still ambiguous if the Fears were still technically a shitty chain e-mail, but at least in the way that it’s framed it mostly seems like they originated in that universe. Particularly since it started as an amorphous blob and then evolved from there versus how they were sent out as a fractured, netted thing that even if you dissolved it down would still hold some “sharp edges” as it were. Gotta admit though, nice to know that at least on some level the plan worked. The Fears were completely removed, all powers were gone, and people were able to get back to how it was before the Change. A part of me wants to know what happened to Simon Fairchild, but then again it’s far more horrifying if you don’t fill in the blanks on that. Also have to love the ambiguous ending for our two fave blorbos. Jon and Martin, sent to the cosmos with the Fears, destination Unknown. The ending definitely fit, it didn’t seem like anyone acted too out of character to make the ending happen the way it did.

Admittedly with that said, I think the way I worded that opens it up to my thoughts that will go in the long post later. Thank you all for joining me on my journey the last like... week and a half? as I listened to MAG 150-200 in preparation for the big day tomorrow. See you all again soon!

[goldentsum]

━ submissives and overstimulation

CHARACTERS: bakugou katsuki, todoroki shouto, midoriya izuku, and kirishima eijirou

GENRE: smut

TAGS: overstimulation (male receiving), slight bdsm, oral, penetration, pegging, submissive males 

AUTHOR’S NOTE: my first bnha fic please-! i missed bnha so i rewatched a couple of eps of s4 and i got an idea-- a sinful one anyway-

━ bakugou ♡

surprisingly submissive. you both know he can throw you off him if he wants to but bakugou lives for the dominance that oozes out of you. 

a kinky piece of shit 

in the moment, he has absolutely no filter and is a fucking brat about it, hips jerking and moans loud as fuck that after you two finish, his voice is all scratchy and raw. 

but when you two are finished, he will get all embarrassed and angry if you comment about it like he wasn’t the one humping you like a dog. 

overstimulating katsuki is always so fun! 

bakugou growls whenever you two do something sexual but after a bit, it slowly turns into broken whimpers and you take pride on that.

his voice is just so fucking heavenly, his dick heavy in your mouth, and he taste absolutely delicious. 

one of the reasons you love giving him head is his cum. his cum just taste so amazing. there’s a hint of sweetness to it that gets you hooked and keeps you wanting more. 

so when it’s the 3rd time he came in your mouth, his voice is all raspy and raw and his body jerking nonstop but did you stop? nope. 

he’s too fun to tease to stop~ 

“f-fuck, (y/n)! don’t... s-stop--!” bakugou gasping through his 3rd orgasm for the night, body all sweaty and sensitive, as he felt you swirling your tongue around his dick’s sensitive head. 

you let of his cock for a moment, a lewd pop echoing in the room along with bakugou’s heavy pants. you smirked up at him, your hand encasing around his spent cock and rubbed him softly. it gained you a broken groan and a full on shudder, hips not knowing whether to lean away from your touch or thrust into your hand. 

“do you really want to stop, katsuki?” you asked, taking the reddening head of his dick into your mouth and licking around it gently but even that was too much for bakugou

“j-just-- let me breathe a second... geez, woman--” he groaned out and sighed in relief when he felt you stop though you didn’t remove him from your mouth. bakugou closed his eyes, breathing heavily and trying to calm his rapid heart. but then he felt a harsh suck making his eyes snap open in surprise and sensitivity and looked down at you with wide blown red eyes. 

“s-shit” his eyes rolled back to his head when you started taking more of him, your pace getting faster with each moment.

guess he just has to cum again, not that he’s really complaining. 

━ todoroki ♡

todoroki is a brat. thank you for coming to my tedtalk. but seriously though, he really is. he likes getting on your nerves and testing you and your patience as he tries out different things to get you to punish him. oomf--

he likes seeing you angry and getting punishments. his favorite is over-stimulation and orgasm denial, either is fine but over-stimulation has a special place in his heart~ 

he is a masochist. periodt. 

you don’t really like hurting him or call him degrading names cus you just wanna love him and kiss every inch of his body but shouto has different plans from you. 

and as time pass, you kinda got used to it but never really full on be dominant and sadistic on him.

so when you snapped one day, it lowkey scared him but damn, the punishment was amazing. 100000/10 todoroki will repeat again.

ngl though, shouto loves your aftercare more than any kinky shit you two tried. even if his masochistic side just wants you to leave him aching and covered with cum and sweat as he feels so worthless like a used sex doll, your aftercare was everything. 

it grew on you too, seeing him all bruised up and messy with cum and all sort of fluids raised a sick obsession in you. 

just imagining the big powerful pro-hero tied up in your bed and letting you do anything to him was making you horny. 

bratty masochist! todoroki is one hell of a ride. literally. 

ragged breaths escaped you as you stared down at the male beneath you. todoroki moaning at the pleasure, his hips trying to match yours but it was a little difficult with all the restrains you have on him. the burning ache on his wrists and arms being tied to the bedpost for who knows how long as the build up for his 4th orgasm made him dizzy. 

you bounced on his lap, feeling his large cock twitching inside you as it threatened to fill you up once again with his thick cum. over the haze of pleasure, you continued to watch your boyfriend get lost in the pleasure with his mouth open as a thin line of spit trailed down to his chin. 

growling when you felt him cum again as you ride him through his 4th orgasm, letting your hands fall down to his bruised chest and scratched him, leaving angry red lines on his marked up torso. 

todoroki groaned at the pain, hips frantically thrusting up to you and letting the overwhelming pleasure flood his entire body. broken moans and curses escaped the man when your thrust didn’t faltered even after his orgasm. 

“if you think we’re finish here then you’re absolutely wrong, you fucking whore. we’re only gonna stop if you make me cum, got that. you’re nothing more than a useless fuck toy.” you spat out, gripping his chin to make him look at you. todoroki’s half-lidded and fucked out eyes stared at you, letting out moans in between words. 

“yes-... u-use me more, m-mistress--” 

━ midoriya ♡

this boy is one whiny mofo-- goodluck 

midoriya may seem innocent but do not be fooled, he’s a sinful one. he may act all cute and stuff like that but when you two are alone, he will jump your bones like it’s no one’s business. 

he completely trusts you so you two try all sorts of kinks even if the other is unsure. it’s not gonna hurt to try. 

one kink he never knew he’ll have is pegging and you’re damn good at it. midoriya just can’t believe how well you just swirl your hips around making the dildo hit every spot in his walls that makes him see stars.

he’s really not afraid to be vocal and try all sort of things so sex is verryyy interesting. 

everytime you fuck midoriya into oblivion with a strap on, expect him to cum multiple times until he can’t anymore. he’s super sensitive too so yeah. 

midoriya cries when he’s sensitive but goddamn he looks so pretty like that. 

tears spilling down his freckled cheeks, his lips swollen, and his muscles contracting from the immense pleasure you keep giving him. 

he’s a greedy man though, even if he came multiple times he still gets soooo needy. loving the pain over-stimulation comes with. 

you love seeing the number one hero putty in your hands~ 

sounds of skin slapping and midoriya’s loud moans filled the room, your tiring hips started to get slower making the man beneath you whine at the decreasing pleasure. you clicked your tongue at that, stopping completely and leaned closer to midoriya, your chest pressed against his strong back while he heave heavy breaths. 

“s-sweets.. please m-move” he whined, grinding his ass to your strap-on and arched his back as he tried to get you to continue while he leaned against the pillow next to his head. his cock hanging between his thick thighs, cum spilling down his skin and to the blankets beneath him. he was still hard like he just didn’t cum 3 times already. 

you bit the broken skin on his neck as midoriya moaned at your sharp teeth sinking into his skin and arched his back even more, grasping the blankets. 

“good boys should take what they are given. no asking for more or less.” you said, hands moving to his chest as you thumb his nipples making him jerk his hips back and a hoarse moan escaping him. 

you started to move your hips again while one of your hands went to his thick cock, pumping him with the same pace as your thrusts, and midoriya’s eyes rolled back to his head, loud broken moans escaping him. 

you leaned away and pushed his head against the pillows, muffling his screams as you quicken your thrust. the strap-on hitting his prostate head on. 

“let’s see how many times you can cum before you pass out, izu~” 

━ kirishima ♡

red riot is a switch but leaning more into the dom side but this sweet boy loves getting praises and lives to please you. he will do everything in his power to make you satisfied and know that you are contented.

even when subbing, there’s still a hint of dominance to him. but! if you overstimulate him, his mind just melts and all thoughts and rationality flies out the window. 

his reactions are also so fucking yummy~ teeth gritting together, sharp inhales, eyebrows furrowed in concentration and pleasure, eyes rolling to the back of his head, and hands gripping the covers of your bed as his quirk threatening to activate and just tear through the cloth.

i said it once and i’ll say it again, kirishima lives for praises. 

so please praise him. 

he’s also soooo sensitive. because when he was a teenage, he barely touched himself with how hectic UA was but when he finally had time and you came along, his libido just skyrocketed! 

at first, he cums way to early but do not fret, kiri will never never leave you unsatisfied. 

his oral techniques are top tier. you can’t change my mind. 

kirishima also is pretty quiet with just loud grunts and groans but when he already came multiple times, he really goes feral. 

he keeps on chasing the pleasure even though it probably hurts with all the sensitivity he’s feeling. 

his moans are broken and it only gets louder at that point. 

“baby girl, ahh- fuck--! you feel so good-” kirishima groans out, mouth open and showing those sharp teeth of his that you oddly had some weird fixation with. you looked at his lips, it was red and tender, as his teeth peaked out. you rolled your hips when you heard his small whine as your hand went to his mouth. shoving two fingers in his mouth, playing with his tongue that eagerly met your fingers. 

feeling his cock twitch inside you, you smirked down at the fucked out expression the man was giving you. you pressed down to his throat making him gag but his thrust never faltered and only quicken at your action.

“you look so fucking amazing, eijirou~” 

at your praise, his hips jerked and a loud moan followed it, a bit muffled by your fingers. riding him, you moaned at the pleasure he gave you as kirishima’s thick cock nudged your g-spot. 

the red-haired male groaned loudly around your fingers when he felt you clench around him, your velvety walls tight and warm as you rip an unexpected orgasm from him. 

hips jerking wildly when he suddenly came, pleasure coursing through his veins. a pathetic whimper escaping him when you continued to ride him. the sensitivity brought tears to his eyes but he didn’t stop you, body jerking when pain and pleasure hit him. 

“i wanna see you cum again, ei~” 

[softlittleheartsandsparkles]

omg so um, for me being a 90s kid, i feel like: sailor moon first, then card captors, pokemon, digimon, bayblade and yugioh were my first 'animes'. In the 90s I only really watched what was on tv. (well ytv, 4kids, & teletoon. I didn't know what manga was.) I did also see inuyasha, full metal alchemist, witch hunter robin, gundma seed, and one piece were things that opened me up to seeing more! (xD ytv bionix block omg) also Tokyo Mew mew (mew mew power) made me explore more magical girl stuff. (this is how i found mermaid melody and other shojo magical girl stuff.) Come to think of it, probably around inuyasha time, (2003) they had shojo beat which really opened me up to more manga and figuring out there are 'types' of anime, and shojo beat also introduced me to the idea of cons. (well shojo beat and other anime magazines) also shojo beat really opened me up more to understanding different fashions/subfashions in japan. (lolita etc. now i'm rambling and off on a different point.)

That post about death note being "everyone's first anime" (untrue statement) made me curious and now I want to gather data for science

Can you reblog this and tell me where are you from and what was your starter anime?

[thessalian]

Thess vs TLoVM Ep. 4

Okay, here we go, Ep 4. ‘Cos this gives me nightmares and ideas all at once.

(Pity my players.)

I like Allura intervening, but not intervening too much. I mean, it is weird, isn’t it, if you actually are capable of thinking about it? How yeah, they’re uncouth, unmannered and yeah, there was a fight, but ... you’d think that if Vox Machina were the instigators, they’d have sustained somewhat ... less damage.

You’re putting Vox Machina under house arrest and expecting them to stay there? I hope she’s got good guards for this...

See? SEE? I told you the book-stealing was going to be a thing! When Sylas Briarwood is grinning like that over “the means to get them back”, it’s going to be horrible. ...in that “my wife is a powerful necromancer and priestess of the Whispered One and everything she does is wonderful especially when it makes people scream in torment” sort of way...

So they took all the weapons - including Percy’s unique ranged weapon ... and they left his workshop. They’d have a way harder time carrying shit out of there if they’d taken every means Percy has of making a weapon. ...Also, Pike’s issues notwithstanding, MAGIC IS A THING. At least they took Scanlan’s lute, I guess?

This was an actual thing, wasn’t it, Pike’s trying to get the Everlight’s blessing renewed? It was similar to this, but not as ... heartbreaking. Though given what I was saying about casters, this is one of those moments where Keyleth’s going to be put under pressure to shine.

“...I withdraw the question”. I mean, funny, yes, but even funnier when remembering that vampirism was on the cards for Vax if the others had been even the slightest bit slower.

I noticed this in the comic as well, but I’ll say it again, ‘cos it’s carried over: Sam played Scanlan largely for comedy for so long, or seemed to, that it’s easy to forget what a bard is ... or more specifically, what a bard has. Both the comics and this series remember that a bard has Jack of All Trades, and a Lore bard (which Scanlan is) tend to lean into that on the ... well, lore side. In the comics, it was figuring out that their attackers weren’t from the Clasp because of a lack of distinguishing mark. In TLoVM? Translation. (Also if we’re looking towards the Vecna arc, puts him nicely in line for the blessing of Ioun. Whatever they’re calling Ioun in this series.)

One thing the writers did right is the Sylas / Delilah relationship. Now that we’re seeing things the players don’t, we have to really understand the “I broke the world for us” thing, and ... yeah. Also, graveyard. Necromancy weirdness. Oh shit. WHAT DID I TELL YOU?

(Wait. Given creatures of the night and all, how literally is “Keyleth’s time to shine” going to be? I mean, I do recall Marisha’s “I want to make him eat a bag of holy dicks” moment...)

Keyleth unable to cast Daylight in a time of minor inconvenience but not great need. That’s a set-up to “Keyleth calls Daylight at pivotal moment”. (Look, I don’t remember if that happened on stream; I just know my narrative beats and I appreciate when they can be leaned into like you’re ticking off a TV Tropes checklist and still have it be epic when it happens.)

Remember when I hoped Allura had very smart guards? I should have taken into account they take their orders from Allura. That gives them a +3 to any and all INT-based rolls.

Okay, fine, that’s a staple of all good horror movies, the lights going out and strange noises and shadows in the corner of the eye... But they still made it terrifying.

“The ashes of my ancestors.” ...oh fucking hell, Grog... I mean, okay, he makes up for it. Eventually. I mean, like, really eventually. I remember Grog being ... at least more emotionally present than this!

Was Matt just every single one of the guards except for Jarett?

Also THAT IS HORRIFYING JESUS CHRIST.

You locked Percy in his workshop? Well, I guess even with the Allura bonus, you can still critfail.

...Yeah. Yeah, this is “SUMMONS SUN AT CRITICAL MOMENT” set-up dialled up to eleven. Still touching as fuck. Also ... is he building Bad News? *looks carefully* YES. YES HE IS HELLO BAD NEWS. (Wait. Does this mean they’re gonna have the bit where Scanlan throws Pepperbox in the acid? YAY!)

Yes. Matt voiced every single guard except for Jarett. Also, when the bear is upset and it’s not at you, and given what that bear has seen? PAY ATTENTION TO THE BE-- okay, no, never mind.

The next person who complains that the animation “isn’t all that great” is getting slapped. By me. GODS THIS IS AWFUL. Somehow it’s worse with animation. It’s more immediate when everything is on the same ... wavelength, I guess? There’s no fake blood on real skin; it’s just all the same thing. It all being ‘fake’ means that if you’re invested enough, it’s all real, with no juxtaposition between real and not. Also, yeah. Nightmares and ideas. WITNESS ME.

“They want the book!” Your brother took it out of a portable necromancy shrine, and these are light-hating undead. The word I have for you, Vex’halia, is “DOY!”

Dude. You can see the light streaming from the eyes of these things as they come down from the ceiling NO ONE SAYS ONE BAD WORD ABOUT THE ANIMATION EVER AGAIN, YOU HEAR ME?!?

Rabbit. Plus antlers. JACKALOPE KEYLETH!

“A trigger? Ew.” Well, you get over it fast, I’ll give you that, Ms Ballistics Snob.

Okay, when’re they going to sneak in through-- *thump* AAAAAAAAA! I have no other words for the Keyleth Exorcist moment. HOLY FUCK.

“WHY. CAN’T. I. HIT YOU?!?” Now see, that’s Grog.

Pike spits at these spectre-things. Nice set-up for her basically threatening gods in defense of her friends.

GO JARETT!

Oh wait, I remember now! Pike’s amulet of Sarenrae cracked for reasons and while she could still cast, it was harder and that’s why she left; to meditate in a temple and make amends! There just wasn’t the drama a series needs.

Also, we’re about to get Keyleth’s time to shine right about-- “Prove yourself.” Nowish.

...I was right and also DAAAAAAAAAAAYUM. Just the framing of that whole scene was glorious.

Percy lacks a gun. Percy lacks a finesse weapon. Percy will just straight-up suplex a bitch. And ... okay, Count de Rolo of Curb-Stomp it is!

Ah, Jarett. Reminding us all why he was one of our favourite NPCs.

Ah, Neal Acree. You do know how to score a scene. And it’s nice how they put the focus on Grog and Pike’s friendship. Especially when you consider that Travis and Ashley apparently didn’t know each other particularly when the game first started, pre-stream. They threw together a shared backstory ‘cos reasons - I think because their personal backstories meshed together in a way none of them, Matt included, could resist (Travis needed a reason for Grog to have been exiled from his herd, Ashley needed Pike to have it underlined that she wasn’t the same kind of scam artist as the rest of the Trickfoots), and it made that friendship. Anyway, yeah. Choked up. Such a sap.

Now, see, if I’d ended the watching there, it’d have all been fine. But no. No, I had to continue to Ep 5. Which I will do for the quasi-liveblog (which is a bit more livebloggy since I’m watching a second time for accuracy and also because this is awesome) after I see one of my own players through a level-up. Thankfully it’s not overly complicated, since level 12 never is. Except in one case, but that’s because character swap and I’m brainstorming ways to make it as easy on me as possible.

[nctsjiho]

JiHo vs Geo (NCT JiHo’s Duality)

Fan Video by ‘NeoVerse’ on Youtube

(indented text = comments added by the maker of the video, in this case NeoVerse) So we all know JiHo. One of NCT’s rappers and dancers. She’s always portrayed as cool, confident, intimidating, so for today, let me introduce you to Geo.

The cute, easily embarrassed 00 liner, whom everyone in NCT (and the fandom) has a soft spot for. Though whenever Geo comes out she’s usually getting teased by the boys...

^^ Let’s get started!

[JiHo Vlive ft. Taeyong & Taeil 190407]

“So we’ll be in America soon for the second leg of the Tour.” Taeyong said. “Are you excited?” JiHo asked looking at the oldest of the three. “Yes, we’ll finally get to see all our overseas fans. And we’re even going to see Johnny’s home-”The 3 of them looked off camera once loud noise started to fill the room. The voices obviously belonged to Dream. Taeil and Taeyong shrugged it off and Taeil continued to talk. The noise wasn’t too loud, but it was still a bit distracting non the less.

JiHo continued looking off camera every once in a while. It looked like she finally made eye contact with one of the young boys, because she squinted her eyes a bit more and suddenly the room became silent besides for Taeil talking. The girl gave the tinniest nod before looking back at the camera and joining the two other men in their conversation.

In the background you could hear a door close just after a few silent “sorry’s” were heard. 

JiHo: the NCT member who can make Dream, who never stop talking, shut up without even saying anything. The power this girl has

[‘NCT - RESONANCE Pt. 2’ Departure Ver. Jacket Behind the Scene]

Loud cheers filled the echo-y room as JiHo walked in. All the 23 boys were already in their spots, but the girl had walked in late (for an unknown reason). She hides her face in embarrassment as she approaches Renjun who was standing on the far right side of the bleacher-like structure. “JiHo needs to go up one level!” One of the staff members yelled.

JiHo gets up on the structure a hand helping her up, it was Johnny.  As she stands up completely she notices she is standing between Johnny and Sungchan. “Please tell my I’m not standing between these two giants.” She looks in the direction of the staff, face full of concern. Her comment causing almost everyone to laugh. “Why? Don’t you like standing between us?” Johnny teased poking at her side. She squints her eyes at the taller man, triggering a few more laughs out of him.

The director instructs the girl to stand between Ten and Shotaro on the other side of the structure and she quickly walks over to them, almost tripping on her way over, where Ten greets her with a big hug. “Ah so cute~” Mark cooed, looking at the embarrassed girl.

[NCT World 2.0 ep 4]

It’s really no secret that JiHo is a very athletic person. She works out and tries out new sports for fun. So even though she might not have the strength as her male colleagues (well most of them, sorry Kun), she was definitely one of, if not the most, agile members in the group.

When they announced the next game, JiHo’s team mates had look slightly worried. The vault was already at 1.70 m which was already taller than her, though JiHo would never openly admit that.

It’s only when the vault is at 2 m high that the members realise the smaller girl had cleared all the previous heights successfully. She’s now standing at a couple meters away to sprint towards the vault.

“We didn’t expect JiHo to make it this far.” Defconn commented. “She’s definitely an ace.” Kim Hwan, the other presenter, added.

We’re talking about the same JiHo right? This girl can literally carry her members on her back!

“Wow~ Look at noona’s face.” Jisung pointed out to his team mates, who unfortunately didn’t make it. The girl had her eyes set on the vault. Completely focused she put up her fist. “JiHo, challenge!” Her first few steps were big but slow, then her pace started picking up, until she had reached the vault.

“Ji-” The camera picks up the shocked faces of the boys as her team members jump to her aid. JiHo was laying on her back on the blue mat, the vault in pieces all around her, with one of the pieces almost making its way towards the girl’s face. Thankfully because of the concerned boys’ fast reflexes they helped avoid a big accident.

“Are you okay?” Johnny asked now that they were standing again. “I think I can make it though...” She furrowed her brow, shocking the boys with her comment. Despite all the boys’ protest JiHo was one again standing at the starting position to run towards the vault.

Taeyong stood up in a panic. “She isn’t going to try again right-” “JiHo, challenge!” And without a second of hesitation she ran towards the vault, 5 boys ready to save her in case she was to fail again. Once her feet hit the mat she looked at the camera with a smirk on her face and a fist in the air. She had cleared the vault.

“I swear to God her confidence is going to be the dead of me.” Taeyong let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

[NCT World 2.0 ep 2]

JiHo’s challenge was to do a rope skipping routine. Since she has been rope skipping for as long as she can remember, it wasn’t really that hard. The challenging part came from that she had to learn a specific routine and execute it perfectly within 10 minutes.

After 3 minutes she had the short routine down, some moves were slightly more difficult, but nothing she couldn’t do.

“JiHo, challenge!” She yelled out. She pulled of the routine effortlessly. Or that’s what she thought at least. Everyone had jumped to their feet, cheering JiHo on those who never saw JiHo rope skipping completely in awe at what she just pulled off. “Let’s go-” Mark had yelled, just before the lights turned red. “Mission failed.” The deep voice boomed over the speakers. Everyone stunned, they could’ve sworn she just did it right. But after review JiHo realised her mistake.

She stood closely to Jaemin’s seat who asked her if she got the routine down now. JiHo nodded while she absentmindedly swung around the jump rope. A particularly hard swing causing the rope to round her back and hit her left arm harshly. The loud sound of the rope hitting her skin was accompanied with a wince at the sting. Jaemin had jumped up asking if JiHo was okay. The girl had slapped her hand against her reddening skin before she started whining that it hurt.

Jaemin took the opportunity to baby her. “Aigoo~ You need to be more careful.” He said rubbing her arms, before pulling her into a hug. The boys who sat a bit further away had started laughing once they realised the girl was okay. “Jaemin-ah, they are laughing at my pain.” She pouted and the boy pulled her closer, glaring at the other members.

Yangyang... I saw you laughing at our baby girl... 

[NCT JiHo notices SASEANG at the Airport]

In the shaky fan video with not much context you could see NCT at the airport. The reason why they weren’t moving unknown. The only thing you could tell from the first half of the video was that NCT was standing in the middle of a clearing in the airport with tons of fans surrounding them.

Jeno and JiHo were standing next together, being filmed by the fan. She kept on glancing in a particular direction. At some point Jeno leaned in to whisper something in her ear and she shrugged in response, her body seemed a bit tense.

After another couple of seconds went by, JiHo suddenly starts moving in the direction of the fans - the same direction she kept glancing at. This caused the fans to start screaming and a body guard to quickly try and catch up with her.

It isn’t clear what’s being said, but JiHo exchanges some words with a male fan. She then puts her hand out, the fans around her going quiet. The man hands JiHo his unlocked phone and she starts scrolling through it. With a bitter look she hands the phone back, grabs her own, takes a picture of the man and then leaves. Once she reaches the boys again an indifferent expression remains on her face. Jeno’s hand massages the girl’s shoulder but she doesn’t seem to relax until they are able to leave the airport.

Apparently the male “fan” was a sasaeng and on his phone were pictures he had taken of JiHo and the rest of NCT (?) during their overseas schedules in places no fans were allowed. She deleted them and taken a picture of him for the security, possibly also for the authorities.

[NCT 127 fan event @ Capitol Records]

After everyone had gathered on stage, it was time for each member to introduce themselves. JiHo was last in line and when she started talking in her mic, it was clear that her mic did not work. The girl looked back at the staff, but they didn’t seem to notice directly, so she turned to her right and grabbed Doyoung’s mic. He didn’t let go of it, causing the girl to lean in towards Doyoung and start introducing herself. “Hi! I’m JiHo.” She giggled slightly embarrassed, which emitted a chorus of “awe’s” from the fans.

Later on in the interview, now with a working mic, the question “Who is the most attractive member of the group?” had been asked. Some members had answered already but the interviewer asked JiHo’s opinion. “Uhm...” She hummed as she looked over her members. “I think everyone is very attractive.” She gave as her final answer which left everyone a bit “disappointed”. A fan interjected, yelling, “We all know you think it’s Jungwoo!” JiHo’s face turned the brightest shade of red as she looked at the audience in shock. Everyone at the event had burst out laughing and JiHo sank back in her chair.

[NCT JIHO Choreography | More Than That (Lauren Jauregui)]

JiHo’s know as a bit of a tomboy. I mean she hangs out with dudes pretty much 24/7. So when she dropped this video, let me tell you, we NCTzens were shook.

As the music starts playing the lights slowly turn on. JiHo is sat in the middle of a dance practise room in a chair, head tilted slightly backwards, exposing her neck.

The camera comes closer and JiHo makes eye contact with it, her mouth is slightly agape and she stands up. She hits every beat, dancing in her own, cool style, nothing very girly or sexy, until a certain line comes up.

“I got a situation, I can tell you wanna know“

She brings her clasped hands up, stretching them out above her hand, before pushing her right hip out circling it from the front to the side. She lets her hands drop back down.

“How you can take an honest girl and turn her to a”

Her facial expression turns more cocky. Her left hand goes down the side of her body onto her left thigh while she moves down to an almost squat position. Her right hand comes up from her chest to her neck at the end of the line where the singer lets out a gasp.

Turn her to a WHAT? Explain Lim Jiho! Into a what exactly?!

Stan twitter of course went crazy at the sight of their tomboyish, innocent girl choreographing such a seductive dance. Besides those two lines, most of the dance was just her usual boyish hip-hop style. But the whole vibe of the song, along with her facial expressions had caused such beautiful chaos. Also JiHo in those sweatpants and a sports bra/crop top was something NCTzens weren’t ready for yet.

[Weekly Idol ep 410]

This is probably my favourite JiHo moment ever. For a bit of context. The people sitting down on pillows have to come forward for the members they want to be partnered with and show their charm. After everyone has “seduced” the sitting member, they must close their eyes and if their rose gets picked they are partnered up.

The reason I like this so much is because JiHo was already pouty since Doyoung and Yuta were both seducers as well so there was no chance of partnering with them, but she really wanted to team up with either of them.

After Mark danced to ‘Pick Me’ (and JiHo did everything in her power not to cringe, she failed), he turned around to see which members would come over. When he turned around he saw 4 faces. Those of Doyoung, Jaehyun, Yuta and JiHo. The last two he didn’t expect to come.

One by one they all had to explain why they picked Mark. “Dude, honestly I just don’t want to be picked last.” The girl said in English sending Mark into a fit of laughter. They than had to show show their charm through singing, dancing or acting cute. Once it was Doyoung’s turn, he started dancing to ‘Pick Me’, just like Mark did earlier. “Oppa! I wanted to do that.” She said annoyed to which Doyoung looked shocked. “You were going to dance to a girl group song?” She just rolled her eyes.

Once it was her turn the host had encouraged her to dance to ‘Pick Me’ like she initially planned. “If you do it better than Doyoung, you will have a better chance.” One of the boys had reasoned, that was enough for JiHo to stand up.

She patted down her sweater before getting “in the zone” and she started dancing and singing the song as if it was her own. Some of the boys started cringing at the unfamiliar sight of their female member acting girly and cute, willingly. Then the camera shows Yuta and Jungwoo who were clearly enjoying the show and Taeil smiling fondly as well.

omg this is peak Geo behaviour <3 How is she this cute? Is she really a member of a mostly male group?

Cut to JiHo getting rejected right after Doyoung gets rejected. They sit back next to Johnny, the girl’s head resting on Doyoung’s shoulder. “I guess dancing to that song wasn’t the way to go.” She sighed.

This time it’s Jungwoo’s time to choose a member. He danced to ‘Havana’ to which everyone joins in. Once seated it’s time to start the next round. When Jungwoo faced the group again everyone, including JiHo has come forward.

Johnny danced and Jaehyun and Doyoung sang for Jungwoo, then it’s the girl’s turn. “JiHo! Aegyo!” Haechan yelled and before she can say anything, Yuta agrees. She looks at Jungwoo with a sigh. “Oh it doesn’t look like JiHo really wants to team up with Jungwoo.” Doyoung teased. JiHo quickly dismissed his claim, poking his side which had him twitch.

“Oppa... I think we could make a really good team.” She said with her face rested in her hands. Than she points at her heart. “It would really hurt right here if you reject me.” At the end of her sentence she stands up and throws her rose away. Everyone is dying from laughter or second hand embarrassment. The girl takes a few deep breaths to calm down and she sits back down.

ngl even though that was very cringy, how is JiHo this good at aegyo? I’m sure Jaemin would love it...

They have to make eye contact with the Jungwoo now and once it’s JiHo’s turn she locks eyes with him with ease. Her eyes never faltering which intimidates Jungwoo a bit. “JiHo, you’re supposed to make a connection, not scare him away.” She swats Doyoung’s arm at his remark.

Guess what. Our poor girl was rejected once again

JiHo stands up with her cushion and walks back behind the line. “I danced for you!” She points at Mark. “I acted cute for you!” She points at Jungwoo. “And this is what I get?” The girl actually looks a little agitated which prompted in Jungwoo hugging her and apologising, but she pushes him away. “Whoever my partner is, he and I will end your team.” She threatened while raising her brow. But she only manages to look cute, because she still has a pout very evident on her lips. The tall boy cooed at her and patted her head before walking back to his chair.

Finally Taeyong takes his place on the seat. Once he turned around he could only see Jaehyun and Doyoung sitting back at the line, making a heart with their arms together. A look of despair washed over his face for a quick second before he realises JiHo wasn’t there anymore.

“Where’s JiHo?” He asked and the boys motioned him to turn around once again. When he does he finds JiHo holding her hands up in a heart above her head. “I’ve been rejected twice by those men there.” She points towards Jungwoo and Mark. “And now Doyoung has betrayed me as well. So please be my partner.” Her tone is slightly sad and Taeyong nods and pulls her into a hug.

My heart! :’( She wanted to be in a team with Doyoung from the start, how could he betray JiHo like that!

“Let’s win this!” JiHo yelled, a smile finally finding it’s way back on her face after she found a partner.

That was all for today’s video! Thank you so much for watching! 

---

Side Note: This post is inspired by a post by @nct-aria​. They’re an amazing NCT addition blog, which I definitely recommend you check out.

[medusinestories]

Aaa Miranda is in this ep and so of course this got Long!

Black Sails, III (S1 ep03)

- I just LOVE the domestic scenes of Flint waking up at home, surrounded by white crisp linen, wearing an oversized shirt, and going straight to a pot of something that smells good (I'm guessing it's tea or a spice he intends to use afterwards). And also how, outside of the rough life at sea, he's actually delicate, wincing when Miranda tends to him a bit roughly.

- I think a reason why I didn't really understand Miranda on my first watch is because she's sulking in a very cool/restrained way in these scenes. She's relieved that Flint's back, but finds small ways to put him down (commenting on the blood on her floor, chiding him for not telling her about the wound, stinging him with disinfectant) that express that she's not altogether happy with him/his behaviour.

- In the meanwhile, Flint's back to being Captain Oblivious. In spite of Miranda's little digs he's so smug about having found the schedule that he doesn't notice that she's unhappy. It's only when she doesn't jump for joy when he gives her the Middleton book that he cottons on that she’s not in a great mood.

- Also, I'll die on the "Flint is bi" hill, and to me the way Flint looks at Miranda when she's fixing his bandages is not only smug but also seductive - she’s the one who’s not receptive in this moment. But the fact that Miranda talks of "having you all to myself" in the same conversation also suggests that their relationship is (still) romantic/sexual. (and while I’m on my unpopular opinion spree, I don’t want to hear anything about “straightbaiting”: reducing Flint and Miranda’s relationship to a trick used by the creators to make the audience think Flint is straight is deeply disrespectful of whatever these two characters share)

- We get to see a lot of Silver writing out the contents of the stolen page, and boy is he proficient with a quill and ink. Where/how/why did a little thief he learn to read and write? This definitely isn't the typical education of a London orphan.

- "Don't torture me, my pain threshold is very low, and I'd say anything to make it stop"... so Silver is threatening to be incoherent and/or inaccurate under torture? A pretty weak argument when faced with someone who wants to torture you for information. And this reminds me that Gates (and Flint, and Billy though he looked very ill at ease) was ready to torture Max in the previous episode to get information, though he presented it as a last resort. And yet here Flint snorts and walks away when Billy suggests torture decides to take Silver along with their crew. So how is Silver different from Max, here? Could it possibly be related to the fact that he and Flint eyesex stare at each other all through the conversation, hmm?

- Back to Breaking Billy: Billy wants to do everything in his power to prevent the crew from finding out that Silver is the actual thief, imo mostly because he doesn't want the crew to find out that he lied to them about Singleton. Billy is shown to be a terrible liar: when he brings Silver to Randall, saying Silver lost a bet to him, Randall immediately tells him that there's no betting onboard, catching him out and putting him in an awkward situation. Gates also warned Billy off canvassing to find out if the crew is still angry with Flint, and was quite right: Morley and Turk immediately figure out what he's doing. However, by the end of the episode, he also uses his reputation of being honest to convince Morley that Singleton was, indeed, a thief. I wonder how he feels about using his reputation of honesty to cover up a lie.

- In the meantime Silver actually does what Billy was trying to do very badly: he finds out who's still against Flint. Unlike Captain Oblivious, Silver has somehow intuited that Billy needed to find the dissenters, possibly because he's figured out that Billy hates keeping up the lie. In any case, he plays double agent in order to gain Billy’s trust (perhaps a bad strategy to gain an honest man’s trust... just saying).

- Hornigold, after an incredibly pompous tirade about the noble origins of the chair he’s sitting on, has the gall to call Flint arrogant and presumptuous. Apparently, arrogant and presumptuous is the kind of people who Gates is friends with/drawn to. I also can't help but wonder why Gates believes that Hornigold's crew knows and trusts him and that it'll be easy for him to captain them. I wonder if Hornigold used to have Gates as a Quartermaster, pre-Flint. The fact that Hornigold tells Gates that he's starting to speak like Flint, in a reproachful tone, could also  be a clue.

- Gates' advancing age is a major subject in this episode, with Hornigold saying that Gates is one of the rare people who's actually getting dumber with age, and Rackham playing on Gates' doubts about his physical condition and mental alertness to convince him to enrol Vane in their capture of the Urca. Gates himself mentioned previously that he doesn’t plan on pirating all his life. Interestingly, Flint doesn't once suggest that he has any doubt about Gates’ ability to captain a ship, and I really don’t think he has (both a sign of great trust, but also a Captain Oblivious trait, as he’s seemingly blind to Gates’ anxiety and possibly the reality of Rackham’s comment about Gates’ physical condition).

- In this episode, Miranda hands her copy of Meditations to Richard Guthrie. Some people have asked why she'd hand something so revealing about Flint to someone like Guthrie. At the point where she gives the book to him, he: 1) doesn't know who she is (she refuses to answer when asked) 2) is supposedly bedridden and being guarded by an armed man, and therefore 3) wouldn't be able to guess who "T.H." is with the information that he currently has. She didn't expect Richard Guthrie that would be a sneaky bastard who was less wounded than he appeared to be and who’d go snooping around her house at the first occasion (btw, snooping parallel: Guthrie in Flint’s house finds out personal information and Silver in Flint’s cabin finds out strategic information). I think that what Miranda wanted was to have someone she could talk to about Meditations, a book that she, her husband, and Flint had all enjoyed, and that she likely couldn’t share with Flint anymore because it’s too painful a subject for him.

- Which brings me to Miranda's situation: her loneliness and the precariousness of her life is already framed quite clearly in this episode. The pastor sends spies to watch her house when Flint is around, and openly asks her to join his congregation so that he can save her from Flint and the impending arrival of the Navy. In the meantime, the crew believe she's at the centre of Flint's "evil": some believe that she's a witch who controls Flint, and Morley tells Billy that she's the reason why Flint treats the crew like pawns.

- The whole Flint/Gates workplace comedy scenes never fail to crack me up. Flint laughing at the suggestion Vane should captain the second ship, followed by "you're serious", and Gates doing damage control in a very restrained tone at first, then the second time screaming insults at Flint... just... *chef's kiss*

- Rackham is shown to be incredibly devious and persuasive in this episode. He manages to convince Gates to convince Flint to take on his worst enemy as a work partner (in a moment when he's getting into Gates' head, he goes as far as to imitate his Yorkshire accent!). He's also extremely aware that Vane isn't all that interested in money, but definitely interested in what Eleanor will think of him. I’d also note that if someone is callous about Max in this episode, it’s him: he sends Vane to “deal with her”, expecting him to kill her off.

- As much as we know that Flint's "tough captain" behaviour is partly an act, we tend to forget that Vane is also shown to be keeping up appearances in order to remain a leader of an extremely difficult/unruly crew. I didn't address the punch in the face he gives Eleanor in ep 1, but he explicitly says this was to avoid losing face in front of his men after she punched him. The same goes for the capture/beating/rape of Max: "what you did required an answer", he tells her. But then chooses to secretly set her free rather than rape/kill her as he’s expected to do. He's obviously smitten with Eleanor, and is the one who initiates tender moments after sex. This is why I can never really dislike this ship, because it's between two very damaged people who are at odds mostly because they’re in a power struggle where they each have to look strong/powerful.

- I hate hate hate the whole Max-rape plot, as I'm sure most of the fandom also does. I do get that Max is furious with Eleanor, and possibly extra-furious because Eleanor instantly turns saving Max from Vane's crew into a strategic move where she punishes Vane (ironically, the one who wanted to let Max go) by forcing Vane’s crew into joining Flint, rather than focusing on, say, Max’s wellbeing. But "Max wants to hurt Eleanor/is hurting from the breakup so badly that she willingly submits to being raped/beaten by the crew, AGAIN"... hrm. I have trouble connecting this self-destructive side of Max's personality with the character we see after her ordeal. Again, opinions welcome because I may be missing/misunderstanding something, but I feel like the writers didn’t really know what they were doing with her character at this point.

[ask-whitepearl-and-steven]

Alright alright alright

You’ve all been asking for it, so here it is! 

This will be (edit: HELLA) long and obviously spoiler-y, so everything is under a cut. 

Are you ready?

Before we get to it, I want to mention that for the sake of keeping things organized, I will NOT be talking about my AU (@ask-whitepearl-and-steven​) in this post. I want to just analyze the show as a viewer and a fan first. I’ll make a seperate post for AU-thoughts a bit later.

Without further ado:

EP 1: LITTLE HOMESCHOOL

This is a great way to open up the episode and show the changes through the lens of someone who has been a bit out of it for a while (we are all Cherry Quartz, fresh from the hiatus, aren’t we?) but I’m sorry, this post still takes the cake:

Okay, okay, back to the program.

“That used to be a loaded question...“

Right off the bat, Steven is SO much more confident about saying that he’s... HIMSELF! What a good feeling. I’m very proud of our boy. 

I love the name “Gemglyph” for the gem language! I’ll need to know who wrote these, though. And who the heck drew the diamonds? Hopefully it was BP. 

And I’m not the first one to point this out, but MORE ANIME REFERENCES!

Which can be seen as either a reference to the Chill Low-Fi Hiphop Beats to Study To OR Whisper of the Heart. 

And absolutely no one cares but something that caught my eye is the fact that they have an EARTH FLAG at Little Homeschool! How cool is that!

Earth 4ever!!! 

Off-note - I love how INVESTED they are in this conversation Pearl is having with Holo-Pearl.

Peak entertainment. 

I love Professor Amethyst and I love the random human who snuck in to apparently take lessons on Not Giving A Single Shit About Anything, Ever. 

And here we FINALLY are in the FUTURE

Where we FINALLY get Jasper as a functioning character

And 

She’s

SO DRAMATIC, I LOVE HER.

This is literally SO funny like she... she was just... laying on top of her house... under a blanket..... FOr WHAT? To stand up dramatically and throw it off when Steven inevitably paid a visit? 

Is that just what she dOES? 

“It’s FINE I don’t need any HELP, I’m FUNCTIONING, I’m just having a SELF CARE DAY OK”

Also I’m sorry but

Jasper: “It took forever to yank those puny green earthlings out of the ground.”

Steven: “You mean grass...?“

THIS. RIGHT HERE. is peak Jasper. 

It’s also curious how INVESTED Steven is in this:

“I’m TRYING to give you [a purpose]!“

Why are you... trying to do that, though? Isn’t the whole idea for gems to surpass their ‘purpose’ and just kinda... do whatever? Isn’t Jasper just kinda... doing whatever? 

I mean, sure, it’s not useful to anyone, but she seems relatively happy. Aside from. You know. The whole laying on rocks under blankets until she’s disturbed thing and-- okay, you’re right, maybe an intervention would be healthy. 

I’m not gonna talk at length about the rest of the episode - although I think it’s really good, I don’t know what I can say about it that hasn’t already been said. Jasper is definitely poking Steven’s buttons and rephrasing a LOT of what WHITE has said to Pink: “You surround yourself with inferior gems because it makes you feel better.”

And Steven REACTS to this. The taunt WORKS.

And yes, he gains some extra powers for it, but something tells me this AIN’T the only thing he will get. It feels like a two-edged sword. Like it’ll be his own downfall somehow....... maybe at the end of the series. 

Ashes to ashes.... hole to hole.

And oh wow I thought they were gonna bond but LMAO

“Consider your fight back there your first and ONLY lesson.“

Basically:

I love you Jasper.

EP 2: GUIDANCE

I LOVE YOU AMETHYST.

sHE’S doing SO much and she’s SO good at it!! Look at her!! Organizing stuff!!!! 

RUBIES IN SUNGLASSES. IN SQUARE SUNGLASSES. 

I need 20. 

And I also need 20 of Larimar because holy shit that’s hilarious. 

Larimar: “I want to hear the human screams forever.”

Steven: “Okay that’s kinda troubling.”

I love the reference to Monsters Inc here and I love the callback at the end of the episode when Larimar switches to Human Laughter to get her fill of that particular erm... need. 

And honestly the ensuing chaos is equally predictable and entertaining. 

I’m SO glad to know that Rubies are just... Like That and that actually Navy is not a deviation from the norm but rather a different flavor of the chaotic energy all Rubies naturally seem to possess. 

Amethyst is also super relatable:

“Ah yes, the fool comes crawling back. Come to beg for forgiveness, have you?”

In fact, the episode’s WHOLe HUMOUR is just very much My Brand

“Sometimes you save all the people but the rollercoaster still crashes into the ocean...... and that’s okay.”

Including the Running Gag that is Onion. Who... does not appear to have aged. At all. And that’s okay.

EP 3: ROSE BUDS

Okay where do I even begin with this one. Um.

I have to openly admit that I spent the majority of this episode wheezing with laughter. Let’s start with the Zoomans:

Who are CLEARLY STILL SUPER SALTY AT GREG ABOUT REJECTING THEM??? Which is hilarious. 

And also this paradise is fascinating in and of itself. 

But the next scene is basically where I started losing my shit.

Okay, okay, alright so. Uh. I have... a few questions.

Like Why. WHY. Does she look. SO MUCH like Rose? 

Clearly Rose Quartz differ in coloring and etc. But She literally looks. Like THE Rose. VERY explicitly. 

So here’s several options here:

1) Pink made Rose Quartz way before any of the Rebellion happened and Pearl just basically pigeonholed her into THIS specific Rose Quartz appearance because she (???) had a crush? Or somehow saw this specific Rose, thought ‘hot, i can make my sympathetic Diamond wear this exact costume and that would be EXCELLENT fanservice for ME’

2) Pink didn’t have any Rose Quartz until the Rebellion, and thereafter quickly decided ‘I need these gems as an alibi, so we’re just gonna make them” and she and Pearl basically inclubated Rose Quartz like a pokemon trainer hatching for a Shiny until they got one that looked Exactly Like That. 

3) There was no Thinking involved because this is Pink we’re talking about, and it was all just a huge coincidence for the sake of this Very Hilariously Uncomfortable Episode. 

While we ruminate on that, let’s look at some Relatable Reactions.

And here we have the holy trinity of “I have just seen the clone of my deceased parent/parental figure/lover.”

Featuring: Bonus ‘I’m Almost Over It’ Pearl

Also, I need y’all to make this into a meme:

For example:

Anyway, alright, alright. 

That relatable feel when your (hot) dead lesbian lover’s clone asks you if you’re okay after another one of the (less hot?) clones offers you a whole ass stick of butter to eat. 

And then you and your friends all hide in the bathroom to talk about your feelings:

Okay, the rest of the episode gives me FEELINGS and I love how hard Steven is trying, so I’ll just close it off with:

I LOVE THEM. Unironically, they are EVERYTHING I had hoped Rose Quartz would be. They’re SO MUCH like Rose herself - did she model her personality after them? Or are they just like her because she WAS like that, and they’re made from her essence? WHO KNOWS?! They’re adorable!

And the conflict between them and Steven is honestly so gooD! I don’t know if it’s completely relatable but I’m glad they ended up talking it out.

I wonder if we’ll ever see Her again... you know who I’m talkin’ about. 

Her....

I’m madly in love with Rose, ok, I don’t need a callout post. Just leave me be.

EP 4:  VOLLEYBALL

Alright, alright, alright.

OKAy,.... It’s fine. It’s FINE. I’m fINE. 

Confirmed: 8000 years. That’s. UH. A LOT? That puts our timelines quite a ways back. We kind of estimated as much, but still, it’s so jarring to think about. And PP is VERY casual about it. 

She’s also VERY casual about the injury.

“This is all Pink Diamond!”

It doesn’t seem like it bothers her to talk about it at all. She’s not even trying to keep it a secret. So I’m almost wondering - was there a connection to her being taken by White and the injury at all or not? 

She came to Steven to get healed - she clearly wants it gone. At the time she was injured, did Pink not even attempt to heal the injury? 

Follow up question: If she DID care, why didn’t she try to heal it?

Follow up to the follow up: Was it because she didn’t know she could? Or did she simply not have the time to (White removed her before she could)? 

When Steven goes pink, she gasps - but makes no further comment. It’s presumably because she’s seen this happen before. She doesn’t try to move away, weirdly enough - she asks him if everything is alright. Perhaps the context is too different for it to be triggering for her. Perhaps there’s more layers to it? HMMM. 

What follows is, perhaps, the SALTIEST we’ve seen Pearl since Greg rolled around.

“Did you come to compete?”

This is doubly curious to me because Crewniverse has previously explicitly stated that Pearl was NOT in love with Pink Diamond. She was in love with Rose. So if this is true, why would Pearl care about her place as Pink’s Pearl? She is supposed to be past all that, isn’t she? 

And yet as time goes on, the salinity grows exponentially. Alright, you two, I know you’re Pearls but tone it down with the sass. 

(Also, I’m sorry but I will NEVER call her Volleyball. That’s all. Bye.)

Also it’s worth noting that... PP is clearly VERY much in love with Pink.

This is, perhaps, where the lack of a grudge plays into it. She’s completely enamoured.

Moreover, she’s VERY casual about how she talks here. This isn’t exactly how one talks of their Diamond. This is how people talk about their romantic partners. She calls Pink silly, calls her ‘funny’. That’s not exactly a term of respect - it’s way more intimate than that. 

Also, did anyone else notice how, although CG Pearl’s gem is usually shaded in teal, it’s in Pink in this episode? VEEEERY subtle, Crew.

Also, we can’t quite see Pink Pearl’s expression fully here because her working eye isn’t visible, which makes it hard to get a read on things like

“I’m older than you.“ Is she just saying it casually? Or is she fully aware that she’s poking fun at CG Pearl? 

HI SHELL. ISN’T IT FUNNY HOW YOUR VOICE AND YOUR NAME ARE A SUBTLE NOD TO PORTAL, WHICH IS FORESHADOWING HOW BADLY THIS IS GONNA END. 

Meanwhile, Pearl continues to be in character.

“No need to be overly... attached.”

And this has nothing to do with anything but

she cute

Aaaand now it’s creepy again.

The rest of this is super important so let’s get to it:

“Oh, no. Pink did this.”

“What did you say?”

“It’s a funny story, really. Once, Pink got tired of asking Yellow and Blue for her own colony, so she went straight to White. Of course, White told her she wasn’t fit to run one... and well! That set her off.”

“Set her off? What are you talking about?”

“You remember how she was! With her destructive powers, throwing tantrums left and right! She had a scream that could crack the walls. She didn’t mean to hurt me! (giggle) I just happened to be standing too close to her that time and--”

And then Steven interrupts. 

We get more CG Pearl arguing for how wrong this image of Pink is to her. What CG Pearl knew was a totally different (or, well, same, but VERY changed) Pink. 

But what we have to prove our point is Steven himself. He rolls into the EXACT same state as Pink presumably did - and begins to over-use his powers. 

(This isn’t the first time we have seen him use this attack.)

The reactions from the Pearls are telling - this is clearly not Pink Pearl’s first rodeo with this type of Mood. 

And it’s important to note that Steven clearly didn’t direct any attack AT them. He simply yelled - and the whole dang place literally started to crack. There’s weight to the argument that possibly, Pink really DIDN’T mean to hurt her Pearl - that she was just collateral damage. 

Which doesn’t make it any better, obviously. Even if Pink had no direct intention of hurting her Pearl (and there are theories that Pink purposefully hit or threw Pink Pearl or somehow physically acted directly to damage her, which I was skeptical of) the result of it is still the same.

If you raise your voice and yell, even if you’re just yelling because YOU are hurt/have feelings, you might still hurt the people around you. If you throw a tantrum, even if your direct goal was just to let off some steam without aiming to harm anyone, whoever gets in your way is still the victim. 

And this is all very much On Brand for Pink’s timeline as we know it. We already knew this about her - we KNEW she tended to throw tantrums (like in the flashback on Jungle Moon) and that she was childish. The fact that she accidentally hurt her Pearl in the process because she had no self-control at that period in her life comes as no surprise. 

(Although it’s important to mention that perhaps hurting her own Pearl WAS the breaking point during which she finally realized how her emotional outbursts could have negative consequences on those around her.)

And this is a very beautiful message - even if Pink Pearl still doesn’t want to blame Pink for what was done to her (”But... she didn’t mean to!”) Pearl brings the point of it back around to her (”But you were still hurt!”) The point isn’t the person who did the hurting - the focus is on the victim and how they were affected. 

And the rest, I daresay, is history. 

I like the fact that they managed to still bring it back around to the main message: 

It isn’t about just “Pink was bad”. It’s about how she did bad things. And there were multiple sides to her - multiple stages. And the Pearls who knew her knew different sides of her - the side that didn’t know how to be a good person, who was selfish and childish and unrestrained... and  the side that was, arguable, too restrained. Who hated her own past, her own character and her own mistakes so much that she would rather bury them and keep secrets from everyone. 

And neither of those things were good, and neither were healthy, but they are a GREAT contrast to a GREAT character arc that is, arguably, still being unearthed. And we have so much more context for it all now. 

I, for one, can’t wait to see and discover more of Pink through Pink Pearl - no matter how ugly that side of her might be. I think it gives great perspective to her later growth. 

And if you ship the Pearls.. .well, I get why. 

Personally I’m not interested in it that way. Call me unromantic - I don’t think their relationship NEEDS to be shippy in order to be satisfyingly deep. I love the idea of them having a deep bond over this - a shared past, a shared experience, and gaining confidence through one another. 

Cheers and thanks for listening!