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boysplanetrecaps · 2 years ago

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Boys Planet, Episode 8: The First Hour

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

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

Here we go!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Back to the show.

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

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

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

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

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

This:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

21:26: En Garde

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We’ll have to see

which member they kick out later on, and

which member gets to keep the Killing Part.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It’s u n c o m f o r t a b l e.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sigh.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So, we’ll have to watch to find out

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

what will happen between JiWoong and Matthew

what will happen between Hanbin and Matthew and

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

40:14 Over Me

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So we’ll have to find out:

Which teammates they’re going to kick out

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

Whether Lee Jeong Hyeon will get to do his rap

50:01 Switch

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So, I guess the questions to be answered are:

Who among this team will survive?

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

1:00:00 Supercharger

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The other trainees are looking at them like this:

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

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

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

So the questions that remain are:

Which trainees, if any, will survive?

Which trainees will end up joining this team?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And then the eliminations start.

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

#boys planet #Cha Woongki #Wumuti #Park Hyunbeen #Hiroto

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onegirlatelier · 2 years ago

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1930s Qipao - a masterpost

Hey there!

I haven't posted on Tumblr (well, on this sideblog) in a long, long time. I have made plenty of things, just didn't have enough energy to write it all down in coherent sentences.

I think I'm going to make a new series though, since I don't have a blog elsewhere and I need a public space to organise my thoughts, on the making of a qipao in the 1930s style and tradition.

I have made two qipaos before (when I was still a baby to couture dressmaking) but whilst they were wearable, they were very messy with structural issues. Now that I'm a bit more experienced, I'm determined to a) make a proper toile/pattern, b) improve my pressing skills with a steam iron, and c) have nice and round fabric buttons and neat 'button legs'.

I won't have time to smooth out my notes, so I'm just going to reblog and add stuff in the thread or edit the post directly. I'm going to note down the methods I use as well as other methods I've learned about, since there are different ways to make things and each dressmaker develops their own techniques over time.

So for today I just want to share my choice of fabrics and notions.

Main fabric

'Pink sketchy retro garden rayon fabric' purchased at Guthrie & Ghani (a shop located in Birmingham, UK). The selvage reads 'AMSTERDAM by Anbo Textiles designed by Sholto Drumlanrig', so I guess that's the actual textile company and designer.

The website says the rayon is 'similar to viscose', but since rayon technically equals viscose, we don't actually know if the rayon used here is the old-fashioned stuff or a more eco-friendly version like Ecovero.

It feels very smooth with a good drape, a bit heavier than silk.

I got 2.5m which would be enough for a 120cm long qipao. A 1930s qipao has no shoulder seams so you cut the front and back in one piece, hence the length of fabric=2*(length of the garment). I only need 80cm in width for a short-sleeved qipao though. If you have a wide fabric width you can actually make two sleeveless/short-sleeved qipaos, or you can save the other half for something else!

Other fabric choices

The perfect choice would be silk. This is because silk drapes nicely and is very easy to stretch/shrink and be molded into 3D shapes. Of course you need a drapey silk, not too stiff and not too flowy.

Other natural fabrics, including cotton, linen, and wool, are all good. Cotton and linen will be harder to shape though.

Synthetic/semi-synthetic fabrics can be used too, just keep in mind that some are hard to shape, and some do not wash well. You want something that is very breathable, since it fits snugly around the neck, and drapey.

A medium, non-transparent fabric for a single-layered (or lined for colder weather) qipao. A transparent silk can be paired with a slip (which you would wear anyways if you follow the norm of the 30s).

If you plan to wash your finished garment you must choose a fabric that can be washed reasonably without fuss and pre-wash it.

Binding tape

Mine is a pre-made tape from Atelier Brunette. You can make your own with the fabric of your choice. It has to be on true bias (very important)!

I have eight metres in total, not sure how much I will end up using.

Stay tape

Super important. 99% of the resources I've read suggest fusible interfacing. A very thin but sturdy woven tape would work too. Sometimes I use strips of silk organza cut on straight grain (or leftover selvages), which is also what I plan to try for this project.

You need at least 4*(length of garment).

Sewing thread

I always use Fujix 100% cotton sewing thread. Also a thicker (maybe cheaper) thread for thread-marking and basting. If making surface decorations, silk threads would be nice. I don't feel the need to wax the Fujix threads but if using another brand/type I would certainly consider waxing.

Starch glue

Either buy some or make your own. Another soluble stabilizer would probably work too. This is used for the edges, especially at the neckline. If I didn't want to bother with a glue, I would leave the cutting until the last minute, baste with running stitches, and minimize the handling.

Interfacing

This is for button strips and the collar. I use a medium-soft cotton canvas. I know most people use a fusible interfacing, but I don't like it. Organza is not the most suitable, though if I needed a semi-transparent natural fabric for the style then it would be my best bet. You can also starch the fabric to stiffen it, but a starch glue washes out.

Also a lot of sharp pins and a trusted pair of scissors. Some people use spaghetti straps to make buttons, in which case you need a drawstring threader type of thing.

#qipao #sewing #sewblr #dressmaking

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mizkit · 2 months ago

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new blog post: now that i can fill a bobbin...

new blog post on https://mizkit.com/now-that-i-can-fill-a-bobbin/

now that i can fill a bobbin...

..I have far less excuse to not sew. I mean, yes, time and all that, but honestly, it’s not that I don’t have time, it’s that I spend A GREAT DEAL of my not-working time fucking about on the internet to no good purpose. And as I keep mumbling about, I do have ambitions to be doing stuff that will cause me to NOT fuck about on the internet (and i’m getting better about it! I genuinely am!), but a thing I learned doing four days of all-consuming sewing is that having a SPECIFIC, not nebulous/ideal, project in the evening is actually a really good way to keep me offline for a lot of hours.

To that end, I did pick up the hat I’m knitting and start on that again, although you must understand by “hat I’m knitting” I mean “I’ve done like six rows,” so let’s not get too excited. But still, I HAD done like four rows and now I’ve done six. So that’s something. :)

But anyway, instead of spending a million hours on social media despairing, I’ve been looking at patterns as if I have in fact unlocked a whole new version of myself who sews and will wear clothes that are not t-shirts & jeans. One of my friends rather sensibly suggested that perhaps instead of going straight for the 1940s Matrix dieselpunk vibe that my greedy little heart lusts after, perhaps I should make a vest which I might actually wear WITH jeans & ease my way toward the punk rockabilly future-retro heartbreaker thing, or at least, new clothes.

I do have a couple of dress/top/tunic things that I’ve worn to pieces and would like to replace, but they were apparently in fashion TEN YEARS AGO, not a vague 3-5 years ago like I thought, and there’s nothing like them available now in the stores now. I’ve found patterns for ones similar enough to work, and if I sewed those it wouldn’t be expecting myself to completely change who I am. But of course my natural tendency is to do things the hardest way possible, because the dress/tops are for knit fabrics which I’ve only done the tiniest bit of sewing on and which are Tricky.

But anyway, so I found that pattern, and then decided okay I’d go for it, except it turned out it was 70% off now so then I had to look at OTHER patterns to see what was irresistibly 70% off. The catch is that most of these are actual printed patterns that they’d send to me, which actually I prefer to pdfs that I have to glue together, but it does mean adding the cost of shipping & customs on to them. OTOH they’re light & VERY CHEAP.

I ended up with five patterns for under fifty dollars including shipping and customs charges (which, given that they often run $15+, is a Real Bargain). Two of the patterns are PDFs, so instant gratification. One’s just for a t-shirt; one’s for a skirt which, if I’m competent enough, I might end up making two of: one of the leftover green fabric from Indy’s costume, as a test run, and In Due Time, one from the Glasgow Worldcon tartan, which I (hopefully) got enough of to make up to 3 pieces.

So far the only waistcoat/vest pattern I’ve found that I really like is a DIY/make your own pattern by following these instructions one which is…man, I don’t think I’m that skilled, but…idk, I’ve got a ton of old sheets that I can cut up for practice, maybe I’ll try that. And again in a sort of ideal world, I’d do a green one & a tartan, eventually.

And there was a pattern that was also on sale that I’ve had bookmarked for a while, as a color block dress I want to make with my Glasgow Worldcon tartan. But anything to do with the tartan is very strongly Not First On My List Of Things To Do, because that’s frickin’ EXPENSIVE fabric and I need to get a looooooot more confident before I start cutting it up. (I will, in fact, almost certainly do a less expensive trial run to get familiar with the pattern even if I DO get more confident with sewing, because it’s a really cute dress that would make a perfect Everyday Cosplay Rogue outfit. Because I wear dresses so often.)

But yeah no those are down the road projects. For the moment, however, if I manage to make a t-shirt and a vest or skirt that’ll be quite an accomplishment, so I’ll consider those two things as, like, proof of concept or something, but also, importantly, as Specific Projects to work on instead of this vague idea that I should -waves hands- do something or other, probably.

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purplekiwis · 3 years ago

Note

Hiiii 💖 I love your writing and I was wondering if you would ever consider writing something about H dating a plus sized model or something along those lines. It makes me sad that everyone here describes their characters as 'much smaller than H' or mention their size difference in a way that makes it look like H is so much bigger because that's not relatable to all of us 😔

hi babygirl 💞 as someone who is chubby as well, I understand the struggle. i know there are some great plus size Y/N stories out there (unfortunantly i don't remember the authors or the titles rn, but if anyone knows any i would love to share) but your ask actually inspired me and i wrote a little something something, which is not that great but i'm gonna post it for you anyway.

here is a very small blurb of CEO Harry having v big crush on his brand-new employee Y/N.

Harry is going insane.

And it’s all her fault.

He doesn’t know what it is about her.

In the least asshole-y way of saying it, she doesn't fit with his usual standards. No, not even close. From his younger years up until this point in his life, Harry has consistently gone for conventionally attractive, usually on the skinnier side, type girls in terms of who he wanted to date or fool around with. Mostly because dating such-like women went straight to his ego. There was nothing quite like walking into a room accompanied by yet another Karlie Kloss lookalike and watching as all the other men began to drool like starving beasts over what was his. He got off on it - the greedy eyes, the shameless glances, that were usually followed by indiscreet pats on his back that aimed to let him know he had it good, as if he didn’t know that already.

It made him feel great about himself – successful in a way. He was more than glad to let everyone in on the fact that he had the perfect life. The perfect business, the perfect car, the perfect girlfriends.

So, when did that stop being enough to make him happy?

The answer comes to him easy – Y/N.

She’s one of the company’s most recent hires - technically his hires. But he won’t take credit for it, after all he wasn’t the one who interviewed her or decided she got to have the job. That's what the human resources people are for -it’s why he’s paying them after all. Still, he had taken a brief look at her résumé. It was nothing too impressive… plain average for someone her age, but Margaret, who had conducted her job interview, insisted that she had showed great communication skills and seemed very eager to work for their magazine. Her résumé came with a good professional photo of her pretty face as well, what admittedly caught Harry's attention on the spot… although he later found out that the picture didn’t even do her justice compared to the whole package in person.

Y/N is curvy and plumpish everywhere.

The flesh on her thighs jiggles when she runs around the office in her adorable dresses and skirts, her soft tummy pudges whenever she sits down, and the pants she wears never seem to fit her body quite right. She's always fixing them, he had noticed. Either by pulling them up at the waist or pinching at the leg fabric so that it falls to its right place.

But never once has Harry thought she was lacking in some way for those things, or that she would be better not being exactly the way she is… in fact, he thinks she couldn’t be any more perfect.

He also likes her style a lot.

It's special and distinctive like her, and Harry would be lying if he claimed that he didnt purposefully look up from his computer every time he heard the hurried steps of her chunky loafers going around the corner just so he could catch a glimpse of her through the office’s glass partition.

Harry is a big fan of loafers too, but he believes she owns even more than he does. Cheaper ones too, but he thinks they’re cute none the less - and she likes to combine them with ankle socks sometimes, in a 50's collegial prep retro fashion, what truly doesn't help Harry’s fantasies of taking her over his desk the slightest if he’s honest.

Often times now, he finds himself scrolling through the women's section of the expensive designer boutiques he shops at, trying to make out which pairs she would like or dislike. Somewhere last month he had seen some unique-looking, square-toed black ones that he thought were right up her alley… so much that he struggled a bit to come up with reasons not to get them for her - she could use a new pair… her black ones were already a bit worn on the soles and wrinkled at the edges, as they were the pair she wore the most.

But no matter how much he wanted to, Harry couldn’t possibly justify getting a pair of $300 shoes for one of his employees – let alone one of the newest ones to whom he didn't owe anything aside from basic professional cordiality yet. He wouldn’t think twice about it if she were his girlfriend, or one of his regular fucks – but not even those last ones get to receive gifts from him, unless he is feeling particularly generous, or needy for that real cheesy relationship stuff.

But ever since he found Y/N, he only ever craves to experience cheesy relationship things with her.

It’s driving him mad.

He has to find a way to make her his girlfriend.

And definitely not just because he wants to get her those bloody loafers.

I did a PART 2 🐿️

#im sorry if this is shit #i know its very stereotypical and i lowkey feel like i did a poor job at this but idk #harry styles writing #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles blurb #ceo!harry #harry styles fanfic #im thinking it should be fun to write a full plus size yn fanfic in the future btw - cuz now i got much better ideas in my brain 👀

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canary3d-obsessed · 4 years ago

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Lost Tomb Lewks: Reboot Part 11

(LTL Masterpost) (All Canary Masterposts)(Part 10)

I’m making my post titles more specific because I’m loving the clothes in The Mystic Nine and in Ultimate Note, so I expect I’ll continue this series with other shows when I get to the end of Reboot Season 2.

Look 56 is - surprise! - a cozy sweater. This one is a deep, huggable brown in a sort of waffle stitch (OP is not a knitter; knitters pls feel free to elaborate in comments). He wears this with loose blue jeans and...shoes. This show doesn’t feature his feet often enough for proper shoe commentary.

This is a perfect look for pacing and talking, half to yourself and half to your buddy, as he gets absolutely, completely baked.

Wu Xie is doing his pacing while he gazes at an enormous pin board filled with pictures linked together with red string. The red string board is becoming one of my favorite CDrama tropes. I’ve seen it in Detective L, Mystic Nine, that new show with Wue Xie number 2 Psych Hunter, and probably a couple more shows. It’s a thing in older American detective dramas, too, but not in modern ones and not nearly as often.

It does look cooler than a whiteboard with magnets, but it seems like a lot of work. For this pin board, Wu Xie Wang Meng had to cut a bunch of red string and print out a bazillion cell phone pictures, which someone managed to take during all of the running around & death defying action. All so Wu Xie could theorize that everything connects to...some random point in the middle of the board? I don’t know who these guys are in the middle picture, but I don’t think they’re responsible for all of the rocks in the other pictures.

If you change your mind about a connection, and move a pin, do you have to re-loop all the string to keep everything taut? What if you need to move an end pin when you’ve already cut the string? Perhaps OP is overthinking this.

This look is a comfortable one for lying on the couch when you’ve exhausted yourself with string management.

(more behind the cut!)

I love the aesthetic of this apartment. It appears to be full of furniture taken from Wu Xie’s study in Wushanju, but because it isn’t mixed in with the fancy older antiques, the vibe is totally different. The furniture is midcentury modern, with a lot of warm tones and leather, which matches Wu Xie’s clothing choices. This quality of furniture subtly reminds us that these guys are antique dealers. Even when they’re down and out, they have discerning taste.

The textiles, cushions, the throw blanket on the table, are all colorful, tactile, and comfortable, matching Pangzi’s clothing and overall vibe. Overall the space is a nice mix of both of their looks, which is appropriate for an old married couple long-term roommates.

He completes this outfit with a olive-green hooded jacket with lots of flaps and pockets.

Side note: their buddy Jin Wan Tang (on the left) might be officially gay? Unlike the blatant subtle queer coding that appears in a lot of CDramas, this character (and that one guy in the Rain Village section) seems flamboyant in a stereotypical “gay best friend” way. But I’ve only ever seen one acknowledged gay character in Chinese cinema--the very stereotypical tailor in Kung Fu Hustle--so I don’t know if the semiotics are the same as in western media.

Anyway, I dig his mix of business suit and funky jewelry, and I share his appreciation of shirtless Xiao Ge (in Season 1, not today, sorry).

Look 57 is actually a rerun of Look 45, but it’s one of my favorites, featuring a beautiful soft suede jacket in a warm camel color. This time we get a much better look at the jacket, so I’m featuring it a second time. (Previously he wore this to hijack Li Jiale’s truck.) The jacket features detailed tailoring, with pleated pockets with flaps and buttons, and a nice strong collar and lapel that contrast with the softness of the material.

Under this lovely jacket he wears a cream colored sweater, jeans that fit really well for a change, and work boots.

This outfit is good for mournfully looking at a heap of smashed ceramics.

It’s also good for struggling through a gas attack designed specifically to destroy your unhealthy lungs...

...and make you hork up blood, because it’s not a Zhu Yilong show if there’s no mouth blood, and it’s been at least a couple of episodes since we’ve had any.

This look is perfect for going to visit your snippy ex-boyfriend while you’re unconscious, so he can bitchily save your life.

“Hey, Canary,” you might have thought up above, “with all these above-the waist shots, how can you tell his jeans fit well?”

This. This is how.

Oh and hey, we finally get a really good look at his shoes. His shoes, people.

Look 58 belongs to bitchy doctor/chef Huo Daofu.

He’s wearing a white double-breasted chef’s coat featuring contrasting piping and buttons. It is perfectly fitted, which will will learn is true of everything this man wears.

Over the jacket he’s got an immaculate work apron, and under it he’s wearing a thin grey turtleneck sweater with ribbed collar and cuffs. He wears turtlenecks a lot. Whoever is giving him hickeys, it’s not Wu Xie any more because he hates Wu Xie. Hates him!

Cue endless tender medical care and eventual deep abiding friendship. Also possibly shacking up, it’s hard to tell how many people really live in Wushanju at any given time.

The first part of Look 59 is a deep olive-green long-sleeve tee shirt worn over a grey undershirt.

It’s a shirt. It’s green.

He looks really fucking good in it, okay? His arms are beautiful even when they’re covered up. This shirt needs three gifs because...it just does.

Look 60 is Bai Haotian’s awesome green satin roller-disco jacket.

The styling is straight out of 1979, which is long before she was born, making this a fun retro throwback. Or possibly she borrowed it from her grandma. The collar and cuffs have sporty black-and-white ribbing.

The jacket has nice contemporary details to give it a fresh look. These include suns, moons, and mountains (I think) running down the arms in a contrast stripe, and the words “magical altitudes” in embroidered sections on the back and chest.

Wu Xie’s Look 59, Part 2 is also featured in these caps. He’s put a strangely short waisted grey jacket over his nice green shirt. Other than the short waist, it fits nicely.

Those jeans, on the other hand. Wu Xie’s ass deserves better treatment than this. Paging Xiao Ge

Periodic reminder: Xiao Bai is absurdly, absurdly pretty.

So is Wu Xie.

Bonus Look 1: Okay, Xue Wu is a bad bad man but damn, his clothes are always amazing. He favors emphatically Chinese looks, but always with contemporary tailoring details, so he doesn’t look old fashioned. For his daughter’s wedding he’s wearing a deep blue suit with blue embroidery and this cool gold collar pin.

Bonus Look 2 is Wu Xie in his favorite blue marl sweater. Or he has a few blue marl sweaters. Anyway, this time he’s lying down and resting his eyelashes while he wears it.

#reunion: the sound of the providence #the lost tomb reboot #the lost tomb reboot spoilers #zhu yilong #wu xie #bai haotian #lost tomb lewks #canary3d-original #my gifs #huo daofu

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vg-sanctuary · 3 years ago

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Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling

Moonsprout Games - Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC - 2019

I don't like the core gameplay of 99% of all RPGs, but the ones I do like have been some of my favorite games I've ever played. case in point, Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling, a modern interpretation of the classic Paper Mario formula and an ideal example of indie developers adding to the legacy of a cult classic. its main feature is turn-based combat with action commands, like old Paper Mario or the Mario & Luigi series, and strategy in its intentional design and small health and damage numbers that goes way beyond "spam damage and heal every third turn, use mana items as needed". (in case you want to be 100% blind for your playthrough, past the Keep Reading link are some very minor spoilers: an item a specific cook can make after a side quest, some basic enemies, environments that are about halfway through the game, and the names of some medals.)

“wow, vg-sanctuary posting about a game that's not even two years old at time of writing? and it's an RPG? are you not a retro/legacy blog anymore? who are you and what have you done with the writer?” I still am a retro/legacy blog, mostly, just this time I thought I'd share something that its developers still get money from, and whose developers aren't mega corporations. and I just beat it, enjoyed it, and really felt like writing about it because it still doesn't have the popularity it deserves even after that puppet guy on YouTube talked about it. not that this post is going to reach any significant number of people, but still. I'll write about some more indie games sometime in the future. (and indeed I am writing about another RPG and you better believe it has a lot to talk about.)

anyway, Bug Fables starts with a brash little bee called Vi and a polite and honorable beetle named Kabbu wandering into an explorer's guild and not having a partner to join the guild with. they reluctantly decide they're going to fight together because companionship is a requirement for this guild, foiling off each other and sometimes off their third friend Leif, a blue moth they find in a cave, for the whole game. every character has a distinct personality and all the party members get some valuable character development through a side quest, which I really liked, but I'm no connoisseur of RPG stories. while I'm on story, people that come here looking for a well-made world will get what they want from the many optional lore books hidden around the world.

the plot becomes more complex and compelling as the game continues, though it generally lets gameplay take the spotlight. which is great, because the gameplay is also mostly great. about a third of it is doing puzzles on the overworld using the abilities of each character to move forward a la the Mario & Luigi series. they generally make use of whatever your newest overworld ability is, and some areas early on have inaccessible things you have to come back to, sort of like a Metroidvania except it isn't required to do this for progression. some puzzles take longer they could because they involve using Kabbu's horn to repeatedly fling an ice block many times over a distance. it's never egregious, but it could have been faster if the guy would use his arms. this is a minor caveat and not a majority of the game.

a lot of people probably don't know how the combat for this or Paper Mario works, and it's really important to Bug Fables, so I'll explain that here. it's turn based, which is typical, but basic attacks and skills need you to time a button press to do as much damage as possible. you can also time a button press when an enemy attacks to take less damage. Paper Mario and Bug Fables also both have medals instead of other equipment that give characters higher max HP or a new skill, for example. you have limited medal points and stronger medals require more points.

this is going to sound like a lot, but any RPG's combat will sound like a lot if you try to detail it in a single paragraph. the game introduces these things slower than I am here. in Bug Fables specifically, the character standing in the front of the group does one extra damage but is more likely to be attacked, and you can pass turns from one character to another in exchange for that character dealing one less damage (which is a lot because basic attacks only deal two damage by default). certain enemies can only be hit by certain attacks; some enemies fly, so Kabbu can't hit them until Vi knocks them down with her beemerang. not a typo, beemerang. and many of Bug Fables' status effects have upsides -- being paralyzed reduces damage taken everything by one, poison has many medals that make it a good thing, and being asleep heals the sleeping character every turn. there are others that are straight up bad things, though, and usually don't come until later. all of this adds up to even small encounters having strategic depth, which is great, and if you don't feel like small encounters you can just avoid them. skills that would typically be relegated to one character, like healing and support skills all going to one, are instead split between party members to make decisions more difficult in a good way. there's also a lovely medal that instantly kills any enemy the game deems too easy for you, sort of like in Earthbound.

I figure I spent more time doing housekeeping like cooking (simple A+B=C or A-becomes-B crafting), buying items, and arranging medals in Bug Fables than in any other RPG, which is because it was designed that way. by the way, cooking recipes start hidden, but a foodie at each restaurant will share some strong ones for free, which is a big help early on. anyone who's played The World Ends with You (i.e. me) will be spoiled by its excellent quality of life: no consumable items and you instantly heal to full after every encounter. it makes items seem like a ridiculous formality that RPGs only still have because they've had them for years, but in Bug Fables any item that isn't simple healing -- a lot of them aren't simple healing -- has great strategic use, and the exact way you spend your medal points can determine whether you win or lose any fight, especially bosses. for example, one character having one extra damage for two turns when they typically only do two is pretty important, especially when they use an attack that does multiple hits, and having it in item form saves valuable medal points and skill points. part of that time was kind of a waste, though, because I generally had one set of medals I use for multiple enemies and one I use for single enemies like bosses. being able to save loadouts would have helped a lot. I would like to compliment Bug Fables on allowing you to restart any boss with different medals without having to repeat cutscenes, and commend it for letting you do-over your level up bonuses late in the game when it starts to matter.

it's not like spending a lot of time on strategizing before fights is strictly mandatory. I was mostly playing on hard mode where enemies have more health and more difficult attacks, and mostly with a medal called Hard Hits that makes all enemies deal one extra damage in exchange for extra money after each fight. it can be less difficult if you'd like, but it's never mindless; even if you're doing a strategy that manages 20 or 30 damage (again, a lot in this game) in a single turn, it takes effort to choose your medals to do so much damage and actually play the strategy out in combat. the combat strategy is the best part of Bug Fables, and it makes each fight almost like a puzzle. I've typed some form of "strategy" six times so far, which is fair because it's the best part of Bug Fables. don't let it put you off, though, it's RPG combat strategy, not chess-like or RTS or something, so if you've enjoyed any other turn-based RPG it should be easy to get used to.

it's also worth mentioning the ample side content. each chapter of the game unlocks a handful of side quests, some about trading, some about combat, and almost as many bonus bosses as main bosses. you're allowed to fight them fairly early on, and a few become available after the final boss that are actually a bit harder than it in classic Paper Mario fashion. basically, if you like Bug Fables, there's a lot of it to play. there's even a trading card minigame because of course there is. it's fairly fleshed out, too, and unlike the one in Chocobo Tales the animations between turns don't take six years. the reward for the whole card side quest isn't something that's important for combat, so you can skip it if you don't like it; I didn't especially like it so I think that was a great decision on the developers' part.

rewards for some of the other side content, though, are so good it's kind of a wonder they can be completely skipped. it doesn't make the game harder to not have those skills or medals, but they are some of the best in the game and undeniably really useful. they make great side quest rewards in that sense, but it's important to know for the people that usually wouldn't do side content. I don't know if that's a common kind of player, but just in case. (this game's 100% achievement has been earned by a sky-high 5.9% of players on Steam. usually it's more like 2% or less. the point is none of the extra content is overly obtuse.)

I will complain about the forced stealth sections though. and be astounded that they fixed the main issue with them in the last stealth section. these are minor caveats and take well under an hour total unless you're really, really, really bad at sneaking, but they bothered me when I got to them. I mean, I understand why they're in the game, I understand why Zelda has them, but I didn't really like them. the main issue for all but the last stealth section is that there's no vision cone or other indication that "if you stand here they will see you" or even an opportunity to recover from mistakes which are incredibly important for playable stealth. the last stealth section does have a vision cone and does have an opportunity to recover from mistakes, which is a great step up. I would like to use even more italics to remind you that these sections total less than an hour of gameplay. Zelda: Breath of the Wild's forced-ish stealth was much worse than this.

I don't know where else to put it, so I'll add here that the soundtrack is great and the graphics are perfectly Gamecube-y and the sprites capture the cuteness of Paper Mario really well, even though they're, you know, bugs. each environment is distinct and themed well, and each one’s music matches well. I really wish I knew how to talk about music because there are a lot of different songs in this game that work well for what they go with. boss music sounds intense and boss-y and appropriate for each boss you're fighting, the not-music hits just right, and everything else feels good. some songs use Nintendo 64 MIDI instruments, which I loved. and the bee boss music has a synth that sounds like bees buzzing.

anyone that likes RPGs -- and even some people that don't -- will probably enjoy the story and strategy that make up the excellent Bug Fables. it goes beyond being a homage to Paper Mario and becomes its own thing entirely, though its roots are obvious from the art style. not that this takes away from it -- Paper Mario is a great legacy, and this manages to be even better. for all its little bad things there are a dozen great ones. I admit I haven't played the classic Paper Mario games, but this made me want more -- I guess I'll have to go back while I hope for Moonsprout Games to continue forward.

#bug fables #bug fables the everlasting sapling #my writing #this was also on amazon luna but i didnt figure anyone would care if i omitted it #also screenshots i took myself wow

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nothingofpracticalgardening · 3 years ago

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i just finished the return of sherlock holmes (1987) after @a-different-equation made me curious with this addition to my post. thanks for adding more for me to check out! (warning: obviously there are spoilers, and this post got longer than i planned, so sorry about that!)

i absolutely loved the idea of this movie! in 1987, sherlock holmes, full of gentlemanly politeness and victorian chivalry, meets a good-hearted and smart private investigator named jane watson. with his heightened powers of observation and her resources and experience, they set out to solve a case that began several years ago but is about to culminate in murder which only they might prevent. and the best part is that because it's set in the year 1987, it combines the age of retro technology and style with the antique undertones of sherlock holmes himself. what an awesome setup!

the only thing i didn't like was the how. sherlock freezing himself in the early 1900s and then reawakening in a dank laboratory like frankenstein's monster was just too sci-fi for me. i totally get it--the idea was to have this genius archetype from another era try to insert himself into a modern world without losing who he is at heart. but i think something a little different might have worked almost as well, without the IT LIIIIIIIIIVES stuff in the beginning.

an alternative idea: sherlock holmes is the reclusive son of one of the oldest wealthy families in england; with his brother mycroft handling the lordly side of things, sherlock has plenty of remaining time to devote to his own hobbies and interests, which include studying victorian london and its culture and ideals (he's old-fashioned at heart, very prone to romanticize the past), practicing violin, conducting chemistry experiments, and more. but the biggest interest he has is the study of crime-solving. there's a house near his family's country estate where a great criminal investigator and writer once lived; it's been empty for years but he goes there for inspiration all the time.

sherlock isn't just educated and intelligent, though. he also has a great ability: logical deduction. and maybe he's actually managed to solve a few little mysteries in his tiny, secluded village, but nothing big enough for fame. so when the deceased writer's great-granddaughter jane watson arrives to sell the house for money, after she freaks out about his hiding in the basement like a creep, sherlock is able to wow her with his observational skills. you know, the whole, "you come from boston, i perceive" thing.

the rest of the movie can go pretty much the same way as canon. maybe jane has some old writings of her great-grandfather that sherlock wants to pick up, so he goes with her to boston. sherlock has been so distanced from the "real" world because of his circumstances, and so engrossed in his obsession with victorian crime, he doesn't quite fit into jane's city streets. he can't drive because his family always has a chauffeur, so that scene can stay for the comedy, etc., etc.

anyways, whether you take the movie as it is or entertain my version of it, one thing i adored was the relationship between sherlock and jane. they are SO cute like wow. sherlock staying up half the night waiting for jane to come home so he can make sure she's okay after her date, jane gripping the lapel of his jacket and kissing his cheek when he's going off alone into danger, the whole thing. the teasing each other was the best part, and their chemistry was very natural and sweet. i don't mind toby necessarily, but i much prefer jane paired with sherlock. and if the time-travel aspect of it is removed, they're just holmes and watson in the end, right? soulmates already, so why not?

#sorry this is so long #i just had so many ideas about this movie #and how it could maybe be improved #at least by my perspective #some people may love it as it is and that's fine too #i just think we always make sherlock holmes a city boy #and rightly so #but what if he was raised somewhere more secluded and distanced from city life #i think this movie demonstrates what he'd be like #and jane watson can be his entrance into the fame he's capable of #rather than sherlock involving watson in his cases #she involves him in hers #and they go from there #and fall in love of course #i mean the movie maybe wanted them to be more father daughter or something #but i think it works better as a potential couple #she's so sweet but also confident #and he's kind-hearted but also logic-brained #and they're super fond of each other by the end #ANYWAYS #i've babbled too much #sherlock holmes #watson #sherlock/watson #holmes/watson #johnlock #the return of sherlock holmes #retro movies #movie commentary

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gaymer-hag-stan · 4 years ago

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Ranking My Mains’ Debut Songs

Suggested by the legendary @everlasting-beg, I’m gonna try and rank my main girl groups’ debut songs from least favourite to favourite.

11. LA chA TA - f(x)

LA chA TA is one of those songs I always skip. I’m sorry I just can’t like this song no matter how many times I’ve tried. S.M. seems to have this thing with releasing subpar debut songs for its’ girl groups and only waking the fuck up and starting to give them good songs after the second or third comeback.

10. Into the new world - Girls’ Generation

I KNOW this is gonna be V controversial but hear me out. I love some of Girls’ Generation pre-Gee material like Girls’ Generation (the song), I adore it, I literally cry every time I listen to the chorus. But Into the new world is kinda just “there” for me. I know it has attained a legendary status among girl group songs but I wholeheartedly believe it’s more beause of GG’s own post-Gee stardom and success and less because of the song itself. I don’t necessarily dislike it like LA chA TA but it doesn’t do much for me either.

09. Lie - T-ara

From Lie onwards follow the songs that I actually like. The song itself has all the trademark T-ara must-haves: Soyeon’s melancholic-voice, retro-dance-y music, funny raps by Hyomin and Eunjung and of course Qri getting a single word as a line! Lie is catchy and I like it but it’s far from being an amazing song. The fucking b-side though? NEVER am I gonna skip Wanna Play? in my life.

08. Irony - Wonder Girls - The Wonder Begins

Irony is fun. I love the choreography, I love the music, I love the pretty decent and equal line distribution. I mean, it’s no Tell Me or So Hot but it’s cute. Also HyunA having no lines during the entire song and only doing the rap in the bridge compared to her usual 4Minute line distribution was quite surreal when listening to it for the first time. Also whoever chose that hairstyle for her should be persecuted as a war criminal. Again, we have a much better b-side in the form of Bad boy. I mean, this song is iconic. Sunye, the motherfucking Main vocalist is doing the rap part. Literally who does that other than icons?

07. Hot Issue - 4Minute

I love the energy during every single one of their performances of Hot Issue but I think it’s one of these cases where the song is not that good but because the artist is amazing they carry the song too and make it look good (kinda like every single song Teddy has produced in his entire career) I still prefer MUZIK over this one though. Also I think 4Minute represented the “QuiRkY” fashion thing in their earlier concepts much better than f(x) and maybe even 2NE1 did. f(x) and 2NE1 kind of made it their trademark and are known for wearing ridiuclous shit and still looking pretty but I remember getting a lot of “What the fuck did the do to you?” moments for MANY of f(x)’s and 2NE1′s looks but not as much with 4Minute. Except their awful 4Minutes Left period, that was not good.

06. Bad Girl Good Girl - miss A - Bad But Good

Now, JYP does the exact opposite than what S.M. does; JYP girl groups always debut FULL of potential but somewhere along the lines, rest assured he WILL find a way to screw them over! What’s worse with miss A is that literally all their comebacks that followed (all six of them...) NEVER dissapointed... Anyway... Bad Girl Good Girl is a bop. No more words needed. And of course Looking at Each Other and Love Again are bops too. Break It is pretty cool as well.

05. Come Closer - Brown Eyed Girls - Your Story

Honestly, when starting the ranking I wasn’t sure whether Come Closer would end up... Coming Closer to the bottom half or the top half but here we are! Maybe I didn’t use to care about it that much because I generally don’t like slow songs because I have the soul of a hoe that just wants to listen to loud dance music, but this is one of the few exceptions. I’ve said it a couple of times already but if you haven’t already, LISTEN. TO. YOUR. STORY. It’s THAT good, seriously. Also, I’m removing a few points for Miryo’s dreads... I’m glad this was not repeated ever again.

04. Break It - KARA - The First Bloooooming

“Ya wanna know what I think about you? You ain't nothing to me forget you I'm over all your lies Just look into my eyes to see the new light honey, now”

Bop. Honestly, I’m glad they found success with the concept change (because Korea and Japan ate that shit right up) but I can’t help but wonder how they would have progressed if they had stuck to this “R&B bad bitch” image... I guess Sunghee would have left anyway and I guess Hara and Jiyoung would have still been added which honesty makes me even more intrigued to see how OT5 would tackle a concept like Break It. I just realised I haven’t listened to this in a while and I need to fix this ASAP. Secret World is also pretty good. And I love Sunghee’s voice.

03. Push Push - SISTAR

Like I said before, I’m a hoe. I remember liking this song even in my “I HAtE siStAr” phase which just goes to show how powerful it is. I also think the line distribution was pretty decent and honestly wish Brave Sound had more working braincells and kept this lineup format for later songs but oh well. I don’t even hate the wigs for the jacket shoot!

02. Fire - 2NE1

I always liked Fire but I think I only started appreciating how good it is after their hiatus and eventual disbandment, and even more after one certain group FUCKEDT it up on that one performance. Iconic. The 2NE1 vesion not the "EThnIc HiPp” performance.

01. AH - After School - New Schoolgirl

I’ve come to realize how much I appreciate After School’s music in general over the last few months. They’re definitely in my top five girls, maybe even a solid third place behind 2NE1 and T-ara. AH is no exception. It was perfect for a debut song, their debut stage with the hot pants and Kahi’s abs was EXCEPTIONAL and if Korea had an ounce of taste they wouldn’t have turned their backs on every single comeback sans Because of You... Play Girlz and Bad Guy are SO good too but they’re too damn short, they’re basically an intro and an outro. The line ditribution is horrendous though, I don’t think Juyeon and Soyoung get any lines in the b-sides at all and they don’t get to shine all that much in the lead track either. I adore Kahi and her stage presence but she’s too dominating to let anyone else shine. She’s an icon but she shines better alone than in a group.

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plutowatchesyou · 5 years ago

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MELANCHOLY NIGHTS PT 1 | NCT DREAM

a/n : heyy guys so it seemed like y’all wanted more of this and I did enjoy writing it and even though I’ve started school this week, I’m still in quarantine so i really have nothing better to do.

𝚁𝙴𝚀𝚄𝙴𝚂𝚃𝚂 𝙰𝚁𝙴 𝙾𝙿𝙴𝙽

genre : fluff, bad boy au, retro au, high school au

pairings : nct dream x reader

warnings : swearing, mentions of drugs, mentions of drug usage

words : 2,6k

summary : after a chemical high you come crashing down into the hell hole that is reality when the town’s so called bad boys move in next door.

prologue

masterlist

holy shit.

you were so happy. you were so calm. you floated around this colourful void that had unnaturally coloured palm trees and broken statues of naked people that you swore you knew but you also didn’t really care because “hehe look how small your dick is dude.”

you floated aimlessly not really knowing where you were headed. Now you were in a castle with your brother and Taeyong, they both had on crowns that were titled and clothes that clearly looked like costumes bought from the reject shop next to the bakery down the street.

you sat between them giggling, at what? you don’t know, and frankly you also didn’t care. You turned to Johnny who was laughing his ass off and asked “the fuck you laughing at?”

he wipes away a single nonexistent tear in a dramatic fashion while gripping your arms tightly “we’re flying Jack, we’re flying!” All three of you burst out laughing as the wind blew your hair in your face, you looked down and saw that the couch you three were sitting on was now floating in the clouds.

usually you would be crying and screaming to get put down but the euphoria running through your system just made a wave of giggles past through you again as you watch your legs dangle over the edge.

This was nice, you cuddle up to the boys in the hammock that was tied to between the two thick trees in the jungle as you shut your eyes. You were so happy.

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ughhhhhhhh.

you woke up feeling like shit, so just a normal morning for you. You turned to your left and almost shit yourself at the sight of your brother. You didn’t remember Johnny getting back home, he must’ve been hella tired since he was still completely dressed.

after 3 failed attempts of pulling yourself up you finally succeeded, you felt like a ton of rocks, you gripped your head and let out a yawn. You turned to the other side of the bed to find a knocked out Taeyong. You reached over his naked chest and grabbed your phone next to the remaining joint that you and Taeyong shared last night. You tugged at your phone a couple times before the charger detached.

Opening your phone and scrolling through instagram and twitter for awhile before the intense urge to pee came upon you, you crawled over Taeyong not before taking a snap of Johnny’s drooling face and sending it as streaks.

you entered the small bathroom and closed the door, going straight to the toilet. after doing that shit you wash your dam hands because you ain’t no detty pig. You stared at the mirror.

yikes.

you dragged your hands over your face and let out a groan. You opened the mirror cabinet grabbing the antidepressants that your doctor prescribed you who knows how long ago.

you slammed the mirror shut and grabbed a tube of concealer that was on the verge of falling off the sink and squeezed some onto the back of your hand before dabbing your finger in it and aggressively rubbing it under your eyes.

you heard groaning as the door slams open, Taeyong stumbles in going to turn on the shower.

“hey Tae where’s the eyedrops?”

“ughh shit, we need to get more of those, um i think i saw some under the bed.” Taeyong said as he rubbed his already messy bright red hair. You nodded and left the bathroom, not before popping one too many happy pills into your mouth.

you got on your knees and looked under the bed. “god since when last did we clean under here? oi Tae what did we say about having friends over?” you smirked as you turned to Taeyong who had just stopped taking off his pants at the sight of an old used condom dangling from your fingers. “oh shut it y/n, that was ages ago, plus it was the last time she ever saw this fine piece of ass again, she couldn’t even-” Taeyong’s rant was cut off by his own girly screech as the old condom came flying at him.

you giggled as you grabbed the eyedrops behind a sock and unscrewed the cap before squirting it somewhat evenly between both of your eyes.

you walk into the kitchen and open the cupboard, grabbing a muesli bar. You sit on the counter and start eating it as Johnny stumbles into kitchen turning the kettle on.

“hello sleeping beauty.” you smile at him as he reaches over your head to grab a mug. “morning sunshine.” he replies back, pecking you on the cheek. “when did you get back? must’ve been late since you’re still fully dressed.” you take another bite of the bar.

“yeah, got into a fight with some people last night and decided to drive back home. By the time i got back here the joint you shared with Tae was already out.” he said taking off his shoes and tugging off his jeans before replacing them with one of the many sweatpants lying around. “you drove from the city Johnny, you must’ve been driving all night, I mean what about your classes?”

Johnny smiled and took off his shirt before pouring the hot water into the mug and plopping an instant coffee packet in it. “it’s fine I only missed one class this morning, and plus I would’ve been close to leaving around this time anyway.”

you rolled your eyes as Johnny sipped his coffee. There was a sudden loud knock at the door, you and Johnny looked at each other raising an eyebrow. The knocking soon progressed into banging as it continued. You stuffed the rapper of your muesli bar into Johnny’s pocket and drank some of his coffee.

“for fucks sake will one of you idiots get the damn door!” Tae yelled popping his head out of the bathroom as steam seeped out. You and Johnny laughed and replied in sync “yes mum!”, a slam of the bathroom door came seconds after.

you rolled your eyes at your brother before hopping off the kitchen counter and making your way towards the door, your skyscraper of a brother following you to do his duty of being the overprotective older sibling™.

You unlocked the door and opened it, catching the fist of your door’s assaulter. You released it with a groan as you came face to face with Jeno, behind him was Jaemin and Chenle. “what the fuck do you want?” you said crossing your arms and leaning against the doorframe.

The three boys stood shocked and silent in front of your door, just staring at you and your brother. Your brother. Oh fuck Johnny was shirtless and you were dressed in one of his shirts.

See everyone in the town knew you were related to the walking lamp post since when he was school he made sure nobody messed with you, but everyone also hasn’t seen Johnny in almost a year now since he usually stayed inside whenever he came home from the city before driving back there.

you stopped yourself from slapping the three boys when you saw a blush make it’s way onto Chenle’s face as Jaemin looked down ears red and Jeno’s lips trembled as he kept looking between you and Johnny.

“oh for fucks sake he’s my brother! god males nasty.” you put your hand up before Johnny could protest, “oi you can’t say anything.” Johnny let out a grunt.

“you three how do you know y/n?” you rolled your eyes as you could feel the overprotectiveness radiate from Johnny. The three stumble over their words, you scoffed, so much for a bunch of bad boys.

“they don’t know me, they’re Jisung’s friends. Why they came banging on our door i have no idea, and frankly i could care less because i’m gonna be late.” you walked under johnny’s arm that was propped on the door frame and walked to the bathroom.

You opened the door and grabbed the jeans you left in there and tugged them on. “off to work love?” Taeyong asked as he combed his fingers through his hair. “sadly. where you off to?” you asked as you grabbed a brush and started to tug at your own hair. “no where really, i can give you a lift there if i can get a free breakfast.” he gave you a smirk through the mirror. “a discount is all you’re getting.” he just chuckled and pecked your cheek before leaving the bathroom.

you followed after him and caught the sneakers he threw your way, slipping them on and grabbing your bag and jacket, stuffing your phone and earphones into the pocket of it. You and Tae made your way to the door where a shirtless Johnny still stood.

“see ya slut.” you giggled slapping him on the ass before squealing when he picked you up giving you a hug before putting you down after Taeyong gave him a smack upside his head. “bye you two, oi wait where you headed?”

“work.”

“breakfast.”

You and Taeyong both replied still walking to the stairs and past the three silent boys that were just observing the moment. “bye you two.” Johnny said as he closed the door.

Tae grabbed you hand and started to ramble on about what he wanted for breakfast, you turned your head to look back at the three boys and frowned at them when you saw them all staring.

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you looked up from the magazine as the shops door bell rang. You let out an annoyed sigh as Mark, Haechan and Jisung walked in.

“thought you worked at the old diner y/n” Haechan called out to you as he started flipping through a stack of records. “haven’t seen a girl with two jobs before Haechan?” you smirked back as you used your feet that was propped against the counter to swivel your chair side to side.

You kept your eyes locked onto the magazine when you saw Jisung start to make his way over to you. He leaned on the counter and just looked at you. “aren’t you going to ask if i need any assistance.” you could practically hear the grin when he said that and you resisted the urge to return it. “you’ve been here before you can figure it out.”

it was silent between you two for a bit before Jisung spoke up, “did i do something wrong.” this made you take your feet off the counter and stand up as Jisung got up from leaning on the counter.

“i don’t know Jisung, what do you think?” you bit back as you walked out from behind the counter and picked up a stack of records and made your way to the shelves, Jisung following after you like a lost puppy. “okay so can you tell me what exactly did i do?” Jisung mumbled as he watched you sort the records.

“do you wanna tell me why three of your little friends were outside my house banging on my door this morning?” you turned to him and leaned on one leg giving him a ‘you’re gonna get it’ smile.

Jisung gave you a cute confused tilt of his head. “what? who?” you rolled your eyes at him, “who do you think idiot, Dolphin boy, muscle man and pretty boy were just standing at my doorstep this morning, and they even though I slept with my fucking brother.” you walked around the shelves and shuddered at the last part.

“pretty boy?” he asked innocently with a hint of something else. “I mean I don’t even talk to your moron friends so why the hell were they at my house?” you questioned as you stopped walking and turned sharply around to face Jisung.

“p-pretty boy? who’s pretty boy?” you rolled your eyes and walked past the tall boy and towards Mark and Haechan. “oi since utility poll over there is malfunctioning, why don’t one of you tell me why your friends were banging on my door this morning.” Mark looked up and looked around before his eye landed on you, his mouth still slightly opened.

“what the fuck are you talking about?” Haechan asked, “Chenle, Jeno and Jaemin were knocking on my fucking door this morning and when i answered it they just stood there, opening and closing their mouths like fucking fish.” you leaned against one of the shelves as Jisung comes up behind you. “wait which one of them is ‘pretty boy’?” he pouted and you gave him a ‘seriously dude?’ look before turning your head back to the males in front of you.

“afternoon love, your shift is over for today.” Chris walked in from the back and gave you a bright smile, you returned it.

“wait did you say Jeno, Chenle and Jaemin?” Mark suddenly asked. You gave him a nod and his eyes widened, “what? what about them Mark?” Haechan asked the older boy. “they were checking out the people who were living near us.”

silence.

“excuse me, the fuck?” you asked. You turned to Jisung, “oh yeah i forgot to tell you that me and the guys decided to live together so we found this place to rent, Renjun knows the owner of the place so we were able to get a bit of a discount.” you cut Jisung off by walking away.

You made your way to the counter where Chris was and grabbed your bag. “Cheers Chris, will I be sharing the tomorrow’s shift with you?” “uh, um yeah we are.” you smiled and gave him a quick hug that he returned and jumped over the counter.

“Jisung! you’re walking with me. Come on!” you said storming out the door, Jisung following close behind.

When you made it out onto the street it was pouring down with rain, you pulled your jacket tighter to yourself and jogged across the street to the undercover. Jisung came up beside you, “why you mad at me?”. You looked at him “because how the fuck did you forget to tell me you were moving in with those morons, and how fucking stupid are you to not realise that it was the same building I lived in?!” You started to make your way home through the rain, Jisung walking beside you. “well, you never let me in your house-” “no, you can’t use that excuse. You’ve walked me home multiple times and you’ve even come to my door too.”

the walk back to the apartment complex was just you questioning Jisung and him trying to deflect it. By the time you were climbing the stairs it was silent between the two of you. “look, i’m sorry y/n.” you stopped, turning to look at your friend over your shoulder. “i really am, this was part of the reason i didn’t want to tell you, i was scared of how you would react, i know that you don’t really like the boys, so i didn’t want you to know that i was not only moving in with them, but that i was only just down the hall from where you lived.”

you turned fully around and looped your arms around Jisung’s neck. “look Jisung, i understand why you moved in with the boys, honestly as much as i don’t like those idiots, i’m glad you’re living with them, you’re safer with them. I’m not mad at you, just a bit disappointed.” You hugged the boy and let out a sigh.

Both of you walked up the stairs, “want to see it?” “huh?” you turned to Jisung raising an eyebrow. “want to see where i live now?”, you shrugged “sure.”

Jisung smiled and grabbed your hand, walking up another flight of stairs, passing your own apartment door and walking down the hall. You both stopped in front of one door and Jisung pulled out a key from his jacket pocket and unlocked the door. hands still linked the two of you walked through the door.

“what the fuck? don’t tell me you two walked in that rain?!”

end

𝚁𝙴𝚀𝚄𝙴𝚂𝚃𝚂 𝙰𝚁𝙴 𝙾𝙿𝙴𝙽

like & reblog for part 2 :)

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deep-sea-skiving · 5 years ago

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How to shop for vintage aesthetics!

With vintage fashion and aesthetics becoming increasingly popular, I thought I'll share some of my techniques of shopping affordably for vintage clothing. A couple of disclaimers to start with, my preferred aesthetic time period for clothing is the 80s and 90s however, this does not mean that this ‘guide’ can’t be used be used for whatever vintage style you’re shopping for. This post will also be UK based as that’s where I live, some of the places where I tend to shop may apply to Europe but I'm not entirely sure! Finally this is how I shop and what I look out for when shopping for vintage clothing, if you got any of your own tips please share, vintage clothes shopping unfortunately, has become incredibly expensive :( Now all that incredibly dull stuff is out of the way, lets get into it!

The first thing I would do before even attempting to go vintage clothes shopping is research. Knowing your era and the distinctive style of that era is incredibly important. I know it sounds self- explanatory but having a good insight of the fashion and culture of your chosen vintage aesthetic will mean that you can spot certain pieces in the wild with ease. With anything if you know what you’re looking for you’ll find it a lot easier. The best research in my opinion is just asking someone who grew up or lived through that time period, they tend to remember the more obscure and weird trends that have been long forgotten. Maybe, for the greater good, I'm looking at you leg warmers. If you don’t like social interaction and I don’t blame you, I don’t like talking to old people either, watching TV shows from the time will also give you an insight. Top Of The Pops in my view is the best show to watch not because of the awful obvious lip-syncing, like how did they fool anyone when they’re playing electric guitars plugged into nothing ? But because you can see how both celebrities and normal people dressed.

Other shows I would recommend have to be of course friends, we all know that Rachel Greene was a 90s fashion icon, ok. To summarise, research means that shopping for your chosen vintage aesthetic is a lot easier, you can avoid common mistakes such as buying something that’s way too modern or clothing which was not fashionable in that particular era.

When you have decided what vintage era you’re shopping for and what you are looking for, knowing where to shop is the next priority. Like I said I live in the UK so some of these are maybe UK specific and I don’t have loads of money, so that narrows down some of the options. One of the best places to look for vintage clothing is charity shops. Due to the troubling economic climate at the moment there’s like 10 charity shops in every town spreading like head lice in a primary school. Consequently, it’s probably the most accessible way to shop for vintage clothes. If you are like me and favour an 80s/ 90s aesthetic look in the mens section as most of the clothes from this era were unisex or have a more oversized boxy look which means many volunteers mistakenly put these items in the mens. Anyway who need to conform to gender norms, wear what you like! Unfortunately, some charity shops have caught on to the popularisation of vintage aesthetics as such some items will go on their online shops (Still worth a look) or prices for vintage clothing will be higher than other pieces of clothing but bear in mind these prices tend to still be lower than eBay and vintage shops. It’s really hit and miss but when you do find something it’s normally a bargain. Recently I managed to get a wind breaker for £8.99 and it even had it’s original tag still attached! Plus this method of shopping for vintage clothes is ethical and helps real good causes.

Another place where I look for vintage clothing is car boot sales. Normally you find absolutely nothing but they’re still fun to go to nonetheless. Anyway you could strike it lucky and find a long lost supremes costume at a French car boot (yes that really happened!). If you do find anything the great thing about car boots is that you can let out your inner apprentice candidate and haggle on prices. Though it’s rare to find anything apart from old ladies’ bone china plates with matching bowls, if you do you tend to find something you’ll get it for a steal when compared to eBay.

Shops that specialises in selling vintage clothing obviously will have the most stock and variety of pieces however, it’s going to cost you. Vintage sales are also a possibility but though the ‘low’ price per kilo is enticing once you put one sweatshirt or a pair of jeans in that bag you’re done for. Vintage sales are only good value for money when all the items you want are super light, if not they can become super expensive real quick. Also be aware that though these are called vintage sales there are a lot of items that are not vintage in the slightest.

So, how can you tell if a piece of clothing is vintage? The first thing I look at is the label. Most vintage t-shirts and jumpers will have a label sewn in, while modern clothing will have what would been the label printed into the fabric. It’s hard to explain so here’s an example:

However, this is not a definite rule some modern clothing will also have labels that are sewn in! Some over things to look out for to identify vintage clothing from modern is the materials. Look out for those incredibly flammable and definitely safe materials. Zips are also a big clue if a piece of clothing is vintage or not, older clothing tended to have metal zips while modern pieces have plastic. This is probably a cost cutting measure.

We all know that vintage clothing can be expensive so buying new versions of retro products can also be a possibility if you want to go for a certain retro aesthetic. This is a cheaper way of shopping however, quality and durability may vary when compared to the original product. I always buy new when it comes to shoes just because I’m not a fan of wearing someone’s else's incredibly worn 20+ years old trainers. But whatever floats your boat, I guess. Most athleisure brands like reebok will do a classic range which replicates retro shoes such as the freestyle hi which was worn by 11 in Stranger things 3.

Brands like Casio also continues to make vintage products such as the F-91W which sometimes gets discounted to as low as £7.99. The quality of these are superb and can add retro feel to any outfit.

so, there's some of my tips for how to shop for vintage clothing, this isn't all of them but I think this post is way too long now! If you have any tips that you would like to share please write them in the comments. I love learning new things!!

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ghostflowerdreams · 6 years ago

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What Is The Time Period In The Devil May Cry Series?

From what I’ve gathered the Devil May Cry series takes place in a Retro Universe -- basically where retro, vintage or antiquated technology, styles and aesthetics are still used, but which otherwise is or at least resembles The Present Day. Often cultural styles from different time periods are mixed and matched, usually with those that date no later than The '60s or so.

This makes sense as the technology in the series varies. For example, in Dante’s office he has a rotary phone, a boombox, a jukebox and a old color TV (in the anime). Later on in the series Nero shows up with some modernized-looking cordless headphones. This makes it hard to pin point the time period with just the few pieces of technology we’ve seen in the series. There’s also the possibility that Dante is just too poor to upgrade (or he doesn’t bother with it because his stuff keep getting broken every time). But that doesn’t explain why the rest of the DMC world isn’t up-to-date with modern inventions either.

In Devil May Cry 5 each of the characters used telephone booths to make their calls. But when Nero was at the fancy-looking hotel, he made his call with a rotary phone. However, with Nico in order to receive those calls from him, she used what looked like one of those first ever mobile phone (which probably took hours to charge, lasted 35 minutes or so, and cost a lot too). Or it could have been a satellite phone? At that point, it was clear that the DMC world isn’t modeled after a particular time period and it’s not going for realism either.

After all, modern cell phones would have been a thing for them by now and even computers. Instead, it borrow things from different time periods to create a retro and aesthetic pleasing game for us to enjoy. With a bit of digging around I also found out that Hiroyuki Kobayashi (the producer of DMC1, DMC4 and the DMC:TAS) once stated in an interview that the DMC world is very much like ours and it has phones -- just not cellphones. I can’t find the original article, but there was another old article that had a similar discussion with him about it...

Hiroyuki Kobayashi: In Devil May Cry [series character Dante's] office, they do have a phone, but it's a black analog kind of phone. That feeling of what the world is like is something that we really want to protect, so even though it does have phones, we don't want it to be a world where there is a cell phone and you can immediately talk to anyone in the world.

Having said that, it is a world where they do have motorbikes, so creating this mix between high-tech and analog technology -- a world where some things have advanced and some things haven't advanced -- is pretty difficult.

For example, there's a jukebox in Dante's office, but it plays old vinyl records. Some parts of technology have advanced, and some haven't advanced. Keeping that true throughout the series and the game is difficult, and we need to have all the core members on the same page. That is certainly one of the challenges in making the game. Having said that, it is a lot of fun to be able to create this kind of unique world of our own design.

After a little more digging I found more information on this subject and it’s actually a lot more recent too. On the Polygon website, Editor Matt Leone was at Capcom’s San Francisco office during this year’s Game Developers Conference. He met with Devil May Cry 5 director Hideaki Itsuno, senior producer Michiteru Okabe, and producer Matt Walker to discuss DMC5. Source: Devil May Cry 5: The post-mortem interview

Matt Leone [Interviewer]: To a certain degree, the game — and Devil May Cry in general — feels like a kitchen sink of different ideas; a lot of things could fit in the Devil May Cry world. Can you think of any things that have come up that felt too out of bounds for that universe?

Hideaki Itsuno: It’s interesting. I know this isn’t quite the direction you’re going for with that question, but there are things that technically don’t fit in a Devil May Cry, and it generally falls around the sense of style that we have. For instance, it’s not as cool for someone to take out a cell phone and say, “Devil May Cry” [with a normal voice]. But when you have a big landline phone on a desk, you can pick it up and say “Devil May Cry” [with a deep voice]. And that really comes down to the fact that we grew up in a certain era. We grew up in the ’70s and ’80s, before there was technology like this. That sense of style is something that’s been ingrained into us from having grown up in that period. There’s a lot of stuff in the game where they don’t use the latest technology, because from our point of view, this is what’s cool.

Eventually, if we ever have a director on a new Devil May Cry game who is in their 20s or something, they’ll have grown up with completely different stuff. So then the sense of style might change, and you might have stuff where in the game they’re watching YouTube or whatever.

But there’s also kind of that element of, what’s stylish? What we know to be cool is really based on our experiences in the ’70s and ’80s, but then also we have the cool dark hero element. Like with Dante, sure, he doesn’t really do terrible things — he doesn’t kill humans, that kind of thing — but there are dark aspects to him, or to the heroes in these games. Yet really, they’re pure, proper heroes that are very all about justice and protecting.

What got me thinking about all this was because when I was going over my old fanfiction I noticed something, well, more like the lack of something. I was wondering why I was making my original character go to the library to research books for information on the occult when she could’ve just google’d it (or use an equivalent of the search engine).

But then I realized that it felt out of place if I did that because not once had I ever seen or heard any mention of computers in DMC series (especially in DMC3 as that was the game my fanfiction was focused on). Maybe they do exist, but it was still in the early stages of creation? Or that it wasn’t available for the public and only scientist, military, government or whatnot were the ones using it? I do not know, but books are a valuable source of information and will always be around. So I figured I couldn’t go wrong with having my character do some old-fashion research.

It also makes sense that when Devil May Cry was first released it was in 2001, so of course that had some influence. At the time of writing this post it’s been 18 years since then and technology has made many advancements and will keep on advancing. But even before that in 1998, after the completion of Resident Evil 3, DMC originally started off as a part of the Resident Evil franchise, under the name "Team Little Devil". Early research and development work included a trip to Spain to examine various castles as a basis for the game's environments. So, of course, that also helped to shape DMC into what it is today.

I get the feeling that DMC4 to DMC5 is kinda like when the 90s meet 2000s. In which those who live in the era know what it was like to see cassettes and VHS tapes turn into CD-ROMs. Floppy disk to USB flash drives, Walkman/Discman to mp3 or ipods and so on.

Now, what about cameras? Hm, I do wonder which version of it is fitting for the DMC series. There’s a painted portrait of the whole family in Dante’s childhood home, but on his desk there is a photo of his mother. It might be one of those hand-coloring photograph? I figured because of the clothing they’re wearing looks old-fashion, it may suggest that photography might not have been that common during that time. Paintings were probably popular, but Eva’s photo on Dante’s desk is in color. Maybe it is an actual photo from a camera (the kind that’s not black & white -- film camera possibly)? Unless it’s a small hand-painted portrait of her?

I’ll research this later. Anyway, these were just my musings that spawn from my old DMC fanfiction. Obviously, I don’t have to be canonically correct but I personally like to do my best in sticking with the source material. That usually means I have to do a bit of research to properly understand whatever peaks my interest and then figured how what I want to do with that information. Sometimes it helps me to better build up the DMC universe in my stories from. I also find that it even helps to make it feel very immersive for my readers.

#Devil May Cry #DMC #writing fanfiction #writing fanfic #DMC5 #Devil May Cry 5 #Devil May Cry V #DMCV #thoughts #Dante Sparda #gaming #video game #video games #writing Devil May Cry fanfiction #writing DMC fanfiction #DMC fanfiction #Devil May Cry fanfiction #DMC5 fanfiction #writing Devil May Cry 5 fanfiction

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