#but i just honestly feel like we really need sana as the main like i just think it would open people's eyes so much

[muffinrecord]

How do you feel about the Magius?

Like the organization as a whole or the three top brass...?

For the organization, I feel neutral-ish. I think the game sometimes went the easy route in making them too villainous when they could have been a lot more sympathetic and engaging. For example, having the underlings all get brainwashed and kill nonparticipants was kind of too much for me at one point. Like, one of the first targets we see them try to kill was Ren-- they knew what they were doing. It's such a lame and easy way of making them into bad guys.

As much as I dislike the Neo-Magius faction, I think they're better writing-wise. They have a lot of fans for a reason, and I think it's because they're very sympathetic and character-focused. It surprises me that it took along time for the game to give us characters from the Magius' underling perspective, like Ryo or Ikumi. Shizuku kind of counts but she was still brainwashed, so...

But with Neo-Magius, we see that these girls have compelling reasons to form and join a faction of terrorist supremacists. Of course, these reasons include things like "people don't respect me while I ignore them all the time" or "my boyfriend killed himself and now he lives in my brain but no one believes me and i will make everyone suffer for it" but like. At the end of the day, these are still young teenagers who don't have a support system at all. Shigure doesn't need to be brainwashed to be here, you know? She can be in control of her actions, sympathetic, and still wrong.

That said, there are still elements I like. I like that the Magius was born out of a desire to save magical girls. I think it's crazy that no one ever mentioned that Iroha would have straight up died and turned into a witch if the Magius didn't exist. The Magius saved magical girls, and continues to do so in Arc 2. In a way, the Magius won in the game world. They did it.

Hot take (actually very controversial take) but I prefer some elements of the anime Magius to the game. While there are still aspects that go too far (I don't know how I feel about some of the cult imagery, particularly with Touka talking at magical girl rallies-- although I guess it can be argued to be in-character if you view Touka putting on a mask to inspire confidence in people), thinking back on it I really like that characters such as Momoko, Rena, Kaede, Felicia, and even Sana joined. I like that we see the girls cooking food together. They aren't faceless goons under a cloak, these are scared kids who don't know what they're doing but know that they're going to die (and possibly kill people on their way out) if they don't do something. They're floundering all the way down and you really feel it.

Oh wait, I just realized... you probably mean if I like them and not like, my stupid-ass opinions on the writing afkalkfjaf

Uhhh let's see. I dunno? I'm neutral. They aren't my blorbos and there are other characters/factions/plots/whatever that interest me more in the game, but I don't dislike them either. I don't get upset if they pop up in a plot.

Honestly you know what, maybe I should keep my mouth shut until I do my rewatch. It's been a few years since I've watched the game main story so a lot of this is colored by time, fandom, and the anime. It'll be curious to see if any of my opinions change once I rewatch everything again.

[himejoshikomaeda]

i'm kind of curious what you like about lostword. never really tried it myself n all.

— io

1. really easy to get your favorite characters

2. really easy to make your favorite characters viable no matter who they are

3. game isn’t very hard — no artificial difficulty spikes that force you to spend money to max out a unit or whatever. on that note, leveling up and upgrading units doesn’t take much time at all, allowing you to use lots of your favorite touhou characters if you’d like to.

4. the only characters that would probably require real money to aid in acquiring are the game’s made-up alternate universe versions of characters that i can’t imagine anyone giving a shit about. (sorry guys i’m never going to want to spend money so i can have.. sci fi space warrior sanae)

5. no temptation to buy anything in the store because the prices are all absurdly high. i will literally never be tempted to spend 80 dollars on a microtransaction. i consider this point to be a positive, because what is being sold is completely unnecessary.

6. game is written by perverts.

7. protagonist is a girl. this can’t be changed.

8. the main story is FANTASTIC. it’s really really really cool. finishing chapter 3 is what made me gush last night. the hifuu story is really cute too.

9. this might be something not everyone cares about, but the characters are very touchy-feely with each other, and with the protagonist. it’s very nice. i like when characters are handsy. skinship is compelling to me

10. writers aren’t pussies about yuri (important)

11. there is never not an event story going on (they rerun old events in between new ones), so if grinding event points is fun for you (it’s fun for me), that’s always an option no matter what.

12. great autobattle features. lots of customization for autobattles and auto-rematches for grinding materials.

13. despite what i just said, grinding is honestly optional. you don’t need to grind for levels, because levels come easily, and you don’t need to grind for materials after a while, because they give you so many.

14. story card (equippable items basically) art is cute. where would we be without modelo patchouli and her fat thighs?

15. despite having the usual scarlet devil mansion bias, a LOT of more obscure characters get a lot of spotlight, especially in event stories. one i remember enjoying a lot starred seija, sagume, and.. shizuha aki.. as the main characters (along with the protagonist of course). there are lots of cases like that.

16. characters all feel like they love you without it feeling at all like a harem game. sorry if this is cringe but don’t fucking lie and say you don’t want to be loved by the cast of touhou.

17. less of a point for me because i’ve been playing it since launch, but my girlfriend got into it recently and they have been ABSURDLY generous with her as a new player.

there are obviously criticisms to be had with the game (it’s a mobile game, it’s not perfect or anything by any stretch of the imagination), but you asked me what i liked about it. i’ve had a lot of fun with it in my time playing it, and my girlfriend is, like, obsessed with it, just getting into it.

[danny-likes-sharks]

Age what? pt. 5

it was saturday and the girls had made plans to have mina over in the afternoon but honestly, they were so busy that week they totally forgot, and they didn't have anything to eat at their place, that's what adult life does to someone.

so, a bit after mina arrived, sana excused herself to go to the supermarket nearby and although it could seem unpolite, mina was a part of their home already; there was a table, a couch, a tv, mina, a microwave and all that fun stuff. that's also why momo was still asleep when her friend arrived.

to that day, momo had only ever regressed around her girlfriend who's still the only one to know about it.

she woke up with tears rolling down her face she'd wet the bed in her sleep and as one could expect, it wasn't comfortable at all. mina heard the cries and worriedly walked to the room where she knew her best friend was sleeping.

it was difficult to know which one was the most surprised one, to the point where if it were a competition, they'd probably tie in the first place.

momo quieted down for a second as she spotted mina at the door and burst out crying even louder out of fear and embarrassment. at this point the non-regressed girl main worry was to make the crying girl feel better, therefore, she decided to approach slowly as to not startle her friend.

"hey momoring, are you okay? what happened?" she asked ever so softly. "m-mama" momo sobbed, heartbreakingly. "i'm sorry tiny, your mama is not here right now but let me take care of you while we wait for her, okay?" she guessed the little one was referring to sana so she offered to help while the older girl got back from shopping. the baby calmed down slowly as she sensed the safety mina offered.

deciding to trust her, momo stretches her arms as she made grabby hands, asking to get picked up which was complied, in that moment mina realized what was bothering the girl at first, she asked the little for permission to change her clothing and asked whether she had diapers. getting a nod as an answer, she noticed as momo sort of pointed the drawer at their left.

once they got done with that, mina took the girl back into her arms and took her to the couch to turn the tv on and look for something appropriate for the regressed girl to watch.

for the next hour or so, mina cuddled and played with momo, waiting for sana to arrive. to be honest, she didn't really want to text or call her to let her know as it seemed as she had the situation under control and didn't want to worry the older girl.

once sana got back, she was surprised by the scene unfolding in front of her, momo was giggling cutely as mina blew a raspberry on her neck. "mina? uh, what's going on here?" she made her presence known, surprising the other girls. "mamaaa" momo squealed happily, already asking to be held. the caregiver obliged and received a sloppy kiss on her cheek as a greeting and a thanks. "hey princess, did you have fun with mina while i was gone?" she cooed " 'ina" the little replied happily, quickly changing her expression into a pout "mama yum yums" she said. "why don't you wait here with mina for a bit while i grab something to put in that tummy of yours".

said and done; the eldest came back quickly with a 'frozen' bowl with applesauce, a spoon and a couple of napkins. "i'm thankful you took care of her but i still kind of need an explanation." sana said as she fed momo.

"well, a bit after you left i just heard her crying in the other room and i got worried so i went to check on her and after calming her a bit she asked me to hold her and that's when i realized she'd wetted herself so i asked if i could change her and when she said yes, i mean not say because it seems like she doesn't speak a lot but she kind of made me understand that it was a yes, well you know, that, and i did it and i took her to watch tv while we waited for you because she asked for you as soon as she saw me you know? i mean, she said mama but i just guessed she meant you, not YOU you, but like you as in you, sana" mina rambled nervously as she didn't want to mess up or make it sound like she took advantage from her friend because at least she didn't mean to.

"i can understand that. by the way, how did you know what to do? at lot of people would freak out or be assholes about it" sana asked curiously "mama no-no word" momo reprimanded.

"uhm actually i'm a flip but usually tzuyu takes care of me since she's a caregiver" mina blushed at her own revelation as well as talking about her girlfriend. it's not the very first time she confessed that out loud but due to her personality she still got shy every time she said it.

sana was kind of surprised but still nodded "i can't believe you still find ways to surprise me even after all these years. as expected of our minari" sana chuckled. "you know it's cool with me, right? probably momoring thinks the same" they both looked at the little who was way too focused on blue's clues and smiled softly.

"i know, thanks sattang" mina said honestly.

[anything-but-predictable]

For the past few months my level of anxiety had been sky rocketing high.

Received the result of my cervical biopsy today which thank God came back negative for CA. Apparently, abnormal cell growth was detected during my cervical screening on November last year and my GP referred me to a Gyne specialist for further review and got diagnosed with CIN 3 or high Grade 0 cervical dysplasia which if left untreated can eventually lead to cancer.

Fuck me, I was overwhelmed with fear right at that moment when I was told by my Gyne specialist. God knows how much I am praying na sana even at my late 30s I could still conceive. Right there and then, on my own, I was told that I have to undergo LLETZ (large loop electrical excision) procedure where a large loop wire has to be inserted in the cervix to remove the abnormal cells and I’m not kidding when I tell you that it was bloody painful despite of 4 shots of regional anesthesia. I fainted and literally felt my heart pounding. But if I won’t be able to tolerate the procedure then I will be booked for OR table which I really don’t want as it would make me feel that it’s officially major. I remember biting my lips so hard during the whole procedure. I told the Dr that I wanna do it right away coz there’s no point on delaying if it needs to be done anyway and I just want to get over it. So it was done and the excised specimen was sent to lab for biopsy, which took painstakingly looong.

Three things na iniisip isip ko after that. First, my main concern is kung papaano ko sasabihin sa parents and sister ko if say I have cancer, I feel like I could easily process and accept it than them. It will break their hearts and that I’m not really sure if I can handle. We have lost one of our sister when I was a teenager and I don’t even want to relive what we went through after we lost her. My parent’s just don’t deserve to go through that pain and agony again in their life.

Second is, I feel bad for myself coz I am praying so hard na sana I would still be capable of conceiving in the future, honestly I don’t know when. I try to remind myself na di pwedeng just because I’m kind of desperate to have a baby is kung sino sino na lang. My children cannot choose their father but I can, not that Im saying Im perfect but hell no Im not nor nowhere near that but, I know what I deserve and as well as for my future children. I want to experience motherhood and seeing my children grow up and be a hands-on mum.

Third and last is Im grateful that Im insured, and that healthcare in the UK is free. Like literally you go in the hospital penniless but no worries at all dahil ni pence wala kang babayaran maski chemo, radiation or whatever therapies or even surgery that you have to undergo. How I wish na ganito din tayo sa Pinas. ☹️ Also, Grabe pala yung feeling pag insured ka, I didn’t realize how important it is not until I was almost get diagnose with Cancer. I mean if anything happens, the least among all the worries my family have to think about is money because I’m covered. It’s literally a security blanket considering that I am the 🥖 winner in the family.

I cant help not to overthink during that time. Ikaw ba naman kaya ang nearly diagnose to have CA. Inisip ko na ayoko magalit kay Lord because, as cliché as it sounds, I believed that everything happens for a reason, whatever it may be, hindi man natin maintindihan right at that moment, but eventually along the way, life unfolds itself. And I always tell sa lahat ng prayers ko na kahit ano pa man yun will ni Lord no matter how painful it could be, I know He knows better than I do, kaya dun ako. Let thy will be done. 🙏🏻

Quite a long read but yeah, my heart is full. ✨

[sanjiafsincedayone]

Why SaNa over other ships?

Now, this is not to hate on other ships or downplay them, because what shipping really comes down to is often simply preference. What characters or dynamics you enjoy and what reasons you might have for liking different things. 

No, this is simply my own reasons for why I like SaNa and also why I think they could make sense and thirdly why it’s possible Oda could be setting it up to actually happen in canon. It’s all just my views and I apologize if I forget a moment or add something that is more head canon, but again, this is my reasons and they will always be partially biased. (And there are too many to remember them all properly, so if you want to add feel welcome to do so.)

I think Sanji and Nami is a lovely ship even based just on fan content and the community. But we also get some great moments in the manga, and I personally think there is potential for Oda to make an actual romance work between them.

1. Why I like Sanji and Nami

I personally fell in love with Sanji before I even started to watch or read One Piece, simply based on his voice actor (Hiroaki Hirata), his design and his fighting style. So obviously I already have a bias towards Sanji (SanjiAFsincedayone having a bias towards Sanji? Who knew?). I didn’t ship Sanji with Nami from the start and even now I am a multi shipper who enjoys fan content with Sanji as a main part of several pairs, most prominently ZoSan.

So, when did I fall for SaNa then? Well, I have talked about it in various posts before which you can find in my Masterpost - SanjiAFsincedayone, but for me shipping Sanji and Nami more seriously didn’t start until Thriller Bark. 

Sanji took a knife in the back for her as she is dressed in a wedding dress, even this one scene is enough to explain why someone might like to ship them together.

I for sure saw many SaNa moments before that, and felt Nami seemed special to Sanji, but I didn’t think it would have a big chance of happening and I preferred other ships above it when consuming fan material. Again, shipping is after all mostly fantasy and wanting more of something in a romantic/sexual way. Thriller Bark was when Sanji and Nami’s interactions caught my attention properly and I started to look a bit closer and actually note the way Oda wrote them and their moments. Going back after and rereading I think there is a lot of interesting things even before that. But the wedding theme and bridal carry and how Oda showed them in Thriller Bark was just too on the nose to ignore.

What got me into shipping Sanji with Nami were mainly three things. 

1. Their dynamics getting more interesting over time and Sanji and Nami being two of the most well written and interesting characters in One Piece. 2. Sanji consistently seeming to have a preference for Nami in combination with my belief that he is after true love and isn’t just a pervert forever doomed to be alone. 3.  The manga showing the potential of it actually happening and them finally catching my attention in Thriller Bark. Basically there are moments to follow and look at in the actual story as well, which in turn also leads to more fan content and material for shippers.

So point 1 and 2 really is mostly about my preference and how much I enjoy watching them together and how well I imagine they would fit together. I think their personalities and desires overlap well with them being able to understand and compromise for each other while aslo being on a similar level of intelligence and communication. They also have their kindness and empathy as a highlighted shared theme for their characters.

Them talking about the Children in Punk Hazard or Sanji helping Nami turn in the argument between both Luffy and Vivi and Luffy and Usopp are some examples. Or Nami letting Sanji smoke in her body because she knows how hard it is for him. Small gestures like this show both understanding and a willingness to compromise.

I think they are fun and have a relationship that right now might need working on, but it’s clear how much they care for each other and how they actually appriciate each other a lot.

Simply put I think they are interesting together and I think they could work as a romantic couple in the future, where their dreams and family oriented views migh allign. Again, from how I view them as characters and interpret their wants and possible futures I think Sanji and Nami is a good match. They can have a restaurant either traveling the world or docked close to both Cocoyashi and Zeff, Nami can tend to her mikans together with Sanji and they can manage a restaurant for a living. I also think they are the most parental members in the crew and has shown some possible signs of wanting to settle down with families. This would also work well as a final contrast to their less than happy childhoods (You might also want to check out my post (Part 3) Sanji x Nami hints - Thematic parallels).

There is a lot of potential in their dynamics and how different they seem while they also seem willing to adapt and try to understand each other that make them interesting as characters of romantic plots. At the same time they have enough in common to relate to each other and work well together. Again, as a fictional ship within the fandom there is a lot of great artists, writers etc. that truly explore them and make Sanji and Nami a great and fun ship with an active fandom to engage with.

Of course there are more shallow reasons like them matching in age and being good-looking but really I could ship Sanji with almost any woman if it was only about the looks. I mean, Purin is basically made to be a perfect match for Sanji, but I personally find his dynamic with Nami much more interesting and his dedication to Nami is of course unpraralleled thanks to the time Oda has spent on them over many years.

I love Sanji and Nami as individual characters and with the amount of moments between them there is also a lot to explore and enjoy in the manga. It makes them interesting in a third aspect for me, which is of course analysis and the potential of them actually ending up together and looking closer at the way Oda writes them from a story perspective. For me what we have gotten from Oda in terms of Sanji x Nami moments is very interesting and I see potential there even though it would need more development to truly work for the current story.

But, again shipping doesn’t have to mean anything for the actual story... There are crack ships or slash ships that surely will never happen but that could still be great and fun to explore for the fans. Honestly, everyone is free to ship whatever they want. We all have different taste after all.

So, what about the manga then? 

2. Why do I think they could make sense as a romantic couple even in canon?

First, my own view is that Sanji is someone who seeks true love, and as briefly shown with both Violet and Purin it seems like he would take an actual relationship seriously if given the chance. I also think it would make him happy and thus as Oda might want to create happy resolutions for the strawhats I think Sanji ending up with someone has quite a big chance of happening. This is combination with his preference for Nami and in turn Nami truly caring for him (though not yet in a romantic way) is something that makes me think it could happen. Other ships have potential too depending on how Oda decides to develop them, but considering how he keeps adding moments for SaNa in the way he does as of now I still think SaNa is the most likely ship for Sanji.

As I mentioned earlier I also think Nami has shown some possible inclinations for wanting a family (or at least being a great mother if we look at her with children in many arc, not the least Punk Hazard) and maybe even getting married eventually. 

If she ends up with someone we will need to see a more obvious attraction and want for romance from her no matter what ship we might consider. She has at this point not shown a lot, but I do think the thematic parallels she shares with Sanji in combination with how their moments are written has the potential to grow into something more. 

As a romantic pair I think Sanji and Nami would be happy, he would adore her and take care of her and both of them would probably find that ideal. In fact it’s already a big part of their dynamics and seem to make them both happy. They also seem to try to understand and show interest in knowing each other as seen with several scenes and general attention towards each other’s backstories. They also challange each other in different ways and we have seen them compromise a few times. I think compared to many other relationship in the manga Oda has shown more personal moments between them. So a romantic additional aspect is not too far off. Not that Oda would make it happen now, but that he would lay down the groundwork for it to work by the end of the series.

In short I think they would make each other happy, but also challange and grow thanks to the other. I think their dreams of traveling the world with Nami drawing her map and Sanji cooking on all the seas and finding All Blue and then settiling down together close to both their “homes” in East Blue with a restaurant and family seems to fit them both. It wouldn’t always be easy, but I think they would actually enjoy their dynamics with Nami bossing Sanji around most of the time.

Now this all sounds nice and all, but it’s of course just my imagination based on biased interpretations of the manga. So where do I get it from?

3. The way SaNa is portrayed by Oda

Now this is really the biggest point... Because again, I can ship whatever characters I want and it is just for fun. It doesn’t have to happen for me to enjoy it or I wouldn’t ship Sanji with Zoro. But with Sanji and Nami there are legit reasons in addition to my preference that makes me think it could happen in the manga.

It might take years to actually go through it all in order with my additional interpretations, but I will try to go through the basics themes and moments that to me could indicate SaNa over any other Sanji or Namji ship.

I think the obvious thing to talk about first is simply how Sanji definitely has a romantic (and sexual) interest in Nami. No matter what other character you might see with either of them, this has been shown consistantly over the whole manga. You may argue that Sanji might be interested in others equally, and though I wouldn’t agree it’s a fair point. However from a story perspective it would still need to be resolved. It’s highly unlikely for Nami to end up with anyone unless Sanji ends up with someone else and gets a happy ending too.

As for Sanji’s interest in Nami I personally think Oda has paid a lot of attention to it in a way that makes it the most likely ship for Sanji. He might yet add moments between other ships and develop them (most notably San/Pu of course), but in my opinion the way Oda has added Nami in other potential romantic moments with Sanji it seems Nami is above every other woman so far.

Most importantly I think we have seen: 

Sanji leave Violet who actually seemed to show interest in him to run off to save Nami (and the crew, but the point is that Oda chose to highlight and add this moment with focus on Nami to begin with).

Sanji being more focused on Nami even when Vivi and Robin has been on the ship or at the same place. Oda definitely puts Sanji with Nami above other women at least in amount of moments and involvment.

Sanji being very concerned with Nami in front of Purin and being shown happy with her (the bridal carry for example) and saying he loves her right in front of Purin.

Sanji having stronger reactions to Nami than other women. This could just be my way of seeing it, but I do think we have seen the strongest reactions from Sanji when it comes to Nami. Not the least with turning into a literal devil when he heard she was kidnapped by Absalom. For example compare Sanji rushing after Nami in both Skypiea and Thriller Bark even to him going after Robin. Or his reaction to Nami getting sick in Drum. We simply have a lot of strong reactions from Sanji towards Nami in different ways and more importantly Oda seeming to add focus on them. 

We also have him reacting to things like “women’s tears” or calls but only indicating Nami might be calling him personally. For example Sanji hearing Tashigi cry or saying he trusts Violet or Robin even though they are lying but for Nami adding things like “I think I heard Nami call out for me” or moments like “I leave my Nami to you”. Basically the way Oda writes it there often seems to be added a more personal stake in Sanji’s reactions and moments with Nami compared to with other women.

So from Sanji’s point of view, and the way Oda has written them so far, I think he puts Nami above every other woman. But more importantly, Oda shows us moments between them that he doesn’t add for other ships as consistantly or in romantic looking ways. Keep in mind that both Nami and Sanji are main characters, but they are not Luffy. Oda choosing to not use Luffy (who will obviously have strong moments with all of his nakama, like how he had his own time with Sanji both in Baratie and WCI) for some of these moments but rather insert Sanji or Nami instead for each other’s stories makes it more relevant. Because it’s not an obvious choice in the same way. It’s a choice based on their characters and dynamics within the world, not because of their roles as main hero or heroine. Here are some examples.

1. Their first meeting. Sanji is for the first time seen in love cook mode and he basically seem ready to leave everything behind for Nami. Right away his reaction to Nami is stronger than what we have seen from him and it seems to hold true even with time.

2. SaNa having interest and plot relevance to each other’s back stories. Sanji getting involved with hearing Nami’s back story and saving his sister.  Also, calling her “sister” which indicates a platonic familiarity where he puts Nami above Nojiko romantically (yes, despite flirting some with her). Nami in turn also getting involved and showing interest in Sanji’s backstory, pushing to go with Luffy to save Sanji and being the one to remind us of Sanji’s past and character traits.

3. Sanji getting personally tantalized by using Nami. This has happened several times, the first with Kuroobi in Arlong Park, but also with Mr. 2 in Alabasta, Absalom in Thriller Bark and then in Fishman Island (Zou too, but that wasn’t just Nami) and on Zou. You can check my post (thought not updated fully) Sanji and Nami – Fights and danger for a more detailed view. (Even in movies like Strong World Sanji has a direct talk with Shiki about Nami and it seems most people are aware of Sanji being extra sensitive to Nami.)

4. Sanji asking Nami if she is jealous or if she loves him, indicating again that he is interested to know is she is interested in him. Once even responding “I love you too”. In general Nami responding in these situations in a more “positive way” or Oda showing Sanji interpreting her actions as more romantic. For example the “proposal” or the hug in WCI.

5. Romantic looking moments or themes. Now this is of couse not something that has been done mutually between them and thus aren’t actually romantic scenes. But the tropes and common use for many of the things that Oda has chosen to use for Sanji and Nami are romantic in nature. Of course the two forced marriages are the strongest examples with them rescuing each other from getting married to someone else. But we also have the switch body trope, the slap and of course smaller gestures like the bridal carries or the way Oda drew the hug between them in WCI. I am not saying that SaNa is the only ship with romantic looking moments, because San/Pu And San/Violet obviously has some as well. However, considering the amount SaNa moments and the fact that he has left Violet and Purin in particular for Nami seems to make the SaNa moments trump any other ship. At least for me personally SaNa as it is now and as Oda has portrayed it in comparison to other Sanji ships gets in the way of Sanji ending up with someone else unless Oda starts to make some changes.

I want to make some emphasis on how Nami and Sanji seem to get some “bigger” moments between them in almost every arc. Again, compare this to Sanji with other women, or even Nami with other crew members.

Baratie - Their first meeting and Sanji’s reaction to Nami and interest gets focus. Arlong Park - Sanji shows interest in Nami’s past and Kuroobi mocks Sanji by specfically mentioning Nami. ( Loguetown Arc, Reverse Mountain Arc, Whiskey Peak Arc and Little Garden mostly have small moments, like Sanji asking if Nami is jealous or Sanji giving Nami his jacket.) Drum Island - Nami is sick and we see Sanji worry and care for her and in the end even sacrificing himself for her. Nami worries about him too. Alabasta - Sanji fighting Mr. 2 looking like Nami and lots of small moments like Sanji asking Nami if she loves him.

Jaya - Nami showing interest in Sanji’s back story. Small things like Nami hiding for the bugs behind Sanji or Sanji. Skypiea - Sanji being hell-bent of saving Nami and making the others look for her. Then him saving Nami and Usopp from Enel and Nami being worried in return. (Both times Sanji gets hit by Enel Nami is there and worries.) Then a lot of small moments like him giving her a flower and Nami pulling Sanji’s ear for flirting with Conis. Long Ring Long Land - Nami encourage Sanji be the ball and win, but mostly small moments like Sanji getting annoyed with Aokiji for flirting with Nami or him sitting next to her and trying to kiss her. Water 7 - Sanji leaving his love letter to Nami and Nami being worried for (and impressed with) Sanji. Enies Lobby - Sanji losing against a woman, Nami being understanding and then stepping in to basically revenge him. Also Sanji hearing it as Nami loving him and then him showing up to save Nami and Usopp from Jyabura.

Post-Enies Lobby - Not much, but Sanji stepping in to make Nami and Zoro stop fighting and make Nami understand Zoro’s pov. Thriller Bark - Sanji just being extremely focused on Nami and worried about her throughout the whole arc. Also him getting specifically selected by Luffy to save Nami. Of course the wedding theme with the bridal carry and Sanji’s reaction to Nami. Also Sanji’s Zombie protecting Nami (and later kicking Robin) and his “obsession with Nami” being mentioned. Sabaody Archipelago - Another smaller arc, but we do get Nami worried about Sanji possibly drowning. And smaller moments like Sanji being angry for Nami being put in danger by the Fishman Riders or him telling Franky to take care of Nami as he runs to protect Zoro. When they return we of course also get the nosebleeds, and Sanji daydreaming about Nami’s development.

Fishman Island - Sanji’s reaction to Jinbei and Arlong. Also the fishmen pointing out that Nami might be their weakness due to Sanji’s “over reaction“ to her falling. Punk Hazard - The body swtich, Sanji’s body saving Nami and Sanji being careful with not hurting her etc. Also them working together to save the children, Sanji listening to Nami’s request and saying he loves her more because of her kindness. Also small things like Sanji giving his jacket to Nami again. Dressrosa - Sanji leaving Violet behind to save Nami, insisting that he should be the one to save her and then him getting attacked by Doflamingo and Nami getting worried and not wanting to leave him. Sanji basically tries to sacrifice himself for Nami for the 4th time (Drum, Skypiea x2, also maybe in Thriller Bark). Zou - We get a lot of focus on Nami and Sanji together, and then of course when Sanji is gone Nami is the driving force for his plot. Once again Nami is also used to taunt Sanji (inside Capone). Then Nami is both the one to mention Sanji being from North Blue and to listen to Pekom’s talk about his family. Not to mention her insisting on going with Luffy to WCI and having a fight with Zoro as she defends Sanji. Whole Cake Island - The way she pushes for them to find Sanji, her hapiness when they find him and her hurt and the slap. We even get something like Nami being tantalized with Sanji by both Purin and Brulee. The only strawhat besides Luffy who gets a personal story thread with Sanji and a personal resolution for their conflict is Nami. The tension seems personal and combined with Sanji having another love interest but choosing Nami above her it does seem like Nami is the more natural choice both for Sanji and for Oda. 

There is also a distinct increase in romantic-looking moments between them, with them touching more than ever before.

Wano - Even after WCI it doesn’t seem like Oda is stopping the SaNa moments. Sanji manages to save and carry Nami three times in the beginning of Wano. On top of that we have the bath scene and of course a lot of small moments and mentions between them like Sanji asking Usopp to take care of “My Nami-san” or Sanji jumping in abobe Nami to save her from arrows. 

How many times have we had Sanji be the one to go after Nami or save her? By his own choice, by being the one present or even by Luffy asking Sanji to go. Oda puts Sanji next to Nami a lot, and I think it’s possible he might be doing it for a reason.

Who knows what we might get, but the fact that we have as much as we do really seems to show Oda having a preference to put them together in various ways.

The point is they have a lot of time and moments dedicated to them from Oda despite them both being secondary characters. At this point it’s possible Sanji is the person Nami has moments with the most in the story besides Luffy (and perhaps Usopp) as they often end up together. Of course this is including them thinking about and talking about each other as well, and not just direct interacting. For example counting the body switch and Nami being worried and focused on Sanji while on Zou. Oda doesn’t have to, but he has chosen to write it like this. On top of that he adds romantic interest from Sanji and romantic looking moments between them.

I could go on, and there are plenty of moments and examples to find between Nami and Sanji that are interesting to look a bit deeper at. You can check out my Masterpost - SanjiAFsincedayone for some of them. But as it is now here are the main points for why I think SaNa at least has a bigger chance to happen than other ships with the two of them as it is now.

One-sided attraction and romantic interest from Sanji’s side that needs to be resolved in one way or another.

Nami seems special to Sanji. Even small things like only using -san for her and -chan for others is a detail that makes her stand out to him.

Great involvement in each other’s stories. Oda likes adding Sanji and Nami in moments together both for interaction and explenation about each other. For example Sanji is also often used to save Nami.

Interactions of understanding and changing dynamics between the two, like them compromising for each other or wanting to know about the other’s past. Matching personalities and a possible future.

Romantic themes and moments, mainly the weddings, but also the amount of times Sanji has saved Nami and things like the hug being drawn in a very romantic looking way with Nami being more focused on.

Tension and urgency. This is basically Sanji and Nami having a lot of focus on each other in dire situations and Oda showing it with specific mentions.

So, to summarize, I like Sanji and Nami both as indvidual characters and together. I enjoy them as a ship and to explore their dynamics in a romantic way no matter what they might end up as in the story. Anyone should be able to respect that people have different preferences. Additionally I think and speculate that they would work well and could happen in the manga as well. This is obviously a biased interpretation and opinion. 

I might be wrong, but you should be able to respect that too as we have yet to get anything objectivly confirming any ship. We don’t know if any ship with end up canon at all. Maybe Sanji and Nami will remain a ship that never becomes canon, but even so they are a ship that is definitely worth enjoying.

I hope you found this post interesting and can enjoy your own ship and fandom while also seeing that it’s ok for others to like something different than you. Thanks for reading.

[nolabballgirl]

Im a white girl and im just learning here so forgive me if im slow on this. But i don't understand why druck is put on a pedestal with regards to how they've tackled race/developed their characters of color. Druck also tends to dismiss race entirely (Sam, David, Fatou and Abdi) or make the trauma of characher their whole character (Ava and David) or underdevelop characters when they've had space to do more (Amira, Sam & fam). So why is druck deemed better than other remakes in this area?

hi, Anon! thanks for your ask. okay, so for me to answer your questions, you have to accept two premises:

neither skam nor any of its remakes (including druck) are perfect.

when a remake acknowledges audience pain and admits that it has made mistakes, hires writers of color, and then greatly improves upon its mistakes, that has to be commended.

so, let's break down race and representation for the remakes. and as you will see below, the remakes are so egregiously bad when it comes to race and representation, that when you compare druck after jünglinge took over, it's on a separate level altogether and that's why i believe druck is deemed to be better when it comes to race and representation. (also, i'm skipping skam nl and skam austin from this analysis because who knows how those two would have ended up...and begoña owes me a heart to heart after she ruined by beloved skam españa, but let's be real, eskam had a long way to go too.)

druck -

well, from the list in your ask and from the hard work that skamofcolor put in, druck is a remake with one of the most racially diverse main cast members in both the old and new gens as well as the most characters of colors in side characters as well, so that's an improvement compared to the other remakes. but you're right, there were a lot of missed storylines they could have tackled with the old gen.

druck's sana season (amira mahmood) does not put their sana through weeks of torture or ruin the girl squad in the process. (and as a muslim, i will say their handling of islam was the best among the remakes but i digress...) however, amira did not get her full 10 weeks of screen time and the show missed a huge opportunity diving into shared microaggressions and racism that sam, abdi, etc. also faced. and druck was ripped for it! for cutting amira's time and playing it way too safe and not giving sam her fair due, among others.

now, here's where druck does something that no other remake has done and honestly, this is where i think most of the praise stems from. they listened to the criticism! wait, showrunners and writers can do that?! do you mean we are not just yelling into the avoid? not only have the writers said the ways in which they could have improved (even after s6 they discussed audience perceptions and overestimating how ava/mailin would be received, etc.) but they also hired JÜNGLINGE to bring the new gen to life. if you are unfamiliar, this is how they describe themselves:

JÜNGLINGE is a film collective of mid-twenties raised in the hybrid cultures of post-migrant Germany. We believe that young, European film needs to tell queer, diverse and most of all – specific – stories about growing up and living together in our societies.

so looking at that progress over time from druck s1 to druck s6, i can't help but give them them props for such a marked improvement. in fact, i don't think ANY single skam season covers race and ethnicity as well as s5 and s6 did. sure, they were not perfect (see point 1 above), but my god, the strides that these two seasons made. so much so that in s6, we had a non-white interracial couple as main, who were both unapologetic about their ethnicities and upbringing and culture (Gambia and Vietnam). and having fatou/ava's friendship be so prominent, listening to them talk about black hair, and referencing nazis in germany - yes to all of this!

and let's talk about ava! what an amazing character who was allowed to be angry, giggly, happy, sad, and express herself, without falling into tropes like imane from skam france, and so many people can relate to her struggles with white liberal mailin. there was a sensitivity there that's so rare in these remakes. and what druck couldn't do with amira/kiki, they were given room to explore here, and i really do feel that it was an important story to tell, especially in the age of whitesplaining, white feminist tears, and white liberals talking over women of color.

skam france -

eight seasons in and skam france is STILL mistreating its characters of colors and not given them their full due. now with bilal literally taking a back seat to jo (look at the YouTube header for crying out loud!) but ever since yann in s1, skam france has done such a horrible job with its depiction of POC, especially black characters. daphne is one of the most racist vildes and the treatment of imane (even beyond her season) has been vile and unfair.

and you would think that post s6 and after a new showrunner and writing team was hired on, that there would be improvements (similar to what druck did above), but no! look at how both aurélien and judith were treated in s7, and after a strong opening for s8, it looks like bilal is now taking a backseat to jo, and once again, skam france and its new team are prioritizing a white character over a character of color.

and has there been any acknowledgment by the skam france team of the criticism over the years? rather, david has often doubled down in the face of fan critiques - just an unwillingness to listen, and so we are left with this as a result.

skam italia -

say what you want about skam italia but when it comes to race?well, they certainly take the cake for the whitest remake, so much so that swaths of fans will refuse to watch this remake for the "wana" debacle, and rightfully so. (whitewashing of the sana casting) and remember how people tried to defend this casting decision? but don't forget that italy has a higher percentage of muslims living in the country than norway does! give me a break.

and how can i forget how hajar brown was dragged after she, as a woman of color, deemed to shade and criticize casting decisions for this remake?

wtfock -

do i even need to get into wtfock and its representation on race?! i mean s4 and s5 are arguably the two worst seasons of any skam remakes period. and the complete lack of acknowledgment from the showrunners after the torrent of criticism they received. the egregiously racist writing. i am a defense attorney by profession, and even i am struggling. there's seriously no defense for them here...

so given all this above, i hope this explains why i value the steps druck has taken, especially in s5 and s6, to tackle and improve their depiction of race and representation.

[tvitr]

uwu I don’t make the ruwules

(Okay fine, reasons/opinions below the cut but be warned! I won’t be holding back on game or book spoilers. Or rambling. This got longer than I anticipated lol)

BETTER IN THE BOOK

Eis “Fireman Sam” Glover: I don’t know what the game was trying to do with this one. I guess he gets overwhelmed by the fire and loses his composure or gets scared or... something?  Also why did he not bring a hose. Or a mask.  This is why so many reviewers thought Wonderworld was a metaphor for purgatory and all the inhabitants are dead I swear. Who cares, the book handled it a lot better. I wouldn’t say it’s perfect, but there’s definitely a good idea here with some interesting themes. The gist is that he feels ashamed following his captain’s orders to retreat during a serious blaze, which his colleagues disobeyed, and his colleagues are later hailed as heroes by the press.  Is Balan the Book trying to take on toxic masculinity...? How brave. Tl;dr, the book conveyed the story a Hell of lot better than the game. Honestly I’m surprised this is the only one.

BETTER IN THE GAME

Haoyu “Airplane Boi” Chang: So the book tried waaaay too hard to draw a parallel between Haoyu and Fiona (aka, Dolphin Girl) to the point that they both share a similar backstory, in that they had a hobby which led to a near-fatal accident and now they’re too traumatised to resume said hobby. And that’s not a bad thing per se but... “near fatal accident” was already Fiona’s backstory. We didn’t need a duplicate. And this is more personal preference, but I kinda liked Haoyu’s story in the game anyway. His failure at building a functioning aeroplane out of crap he found in his garage is endearingly funny in the game, and the resolution of him taking time out to sit down and study before building anything is a nice spin on the whole “if at first you don’t succeed” theme the chapter wanted. 

Sana “Bird Lady” Hudson: So the book decided they didn’t want to make Cal an angry sore loser so guess what? They made Sana an angry misanthrope. Wonderful. Okay maybe that’s harsh, but she definitely came off as very bitter and unsympathetic in the book. Like there’s a scene at the end where she harasses a firefighter and tries to steal a fire engine because they’re working on a building fire and not supervising her park. That’s not a character you wanna root for. That’s a Karen. The game had a better plot thread and resolution to her story rather than a boring cookie-cutter “humans vs. nature grrrr humans are so evil” story, like the game story here had a bit more depth to it and approached the topic more maturely than the book did. Which is ironic considering how hilariously edgy the book gets sometimes, but I guess throwing a few smashed eggs and frozen bird skeletons into your story doesn’t mean anything if you’re still going to paint such a black-and-white narrative.

Iben “Frozen Elsa” Bia: This story didn’t need dialogue. Like... we don’t need her to justify why she’s upset her parents are dead because we’d already assume that. They’re her parents! Of course we’d assume she’d be upset! They died! Simultaneously! That’s horrible! WE DON’T NEED HER TO EXPLAIN THIS! Also her dialogue in the book was... pretty terrible, not gonna lie. Like if you’re gonna insist on dialogue at least make it gOOD. I’m actually planning on just reviewing her book scene so I can fully articulate just how bad it is anyway, so stay tuned for that mess lol.

FINE IN BOTH

I mean there’s not really too much to say here but anyways:

Jose/”The Farmer” having a family in the book gives him a bit more depth, even if we never hear from them again after his backstory dump.

Fiona/”Dolphin Girl” almost drowns in a slightly different way, with a dolphin straight up pulling her mask off rather than knocking it out of her mouth, and the book also goes more into detail about her love for diving and dolphins. Also the book ships her and Haoyu like. So hard. Like they never shut up about how similar they are or what they other’s doing or if the other’s okay or not. By the end of it I was expecting them to just start making out in front of everyone, they’re that obsessed with each other. And it would be funny if they didn’t use this to wreck Haoyu’s backstory like I mentioned earlier.

Yuri/”Bug Kid”/”Is that a Pokémon reference?” is now being kinda bullied for liking bugs, which yeah gives her more depth and reason to be upset but I also kinda related to her just being that One Kid with interests that nobody else had. But it’s not as bad as some of the other changes, so I can let it slide.

Atillio/Clown and Bruce/Old Man are the same, nothing to say here.

Lucy/”The Artist” is a total drama queen but then again so are Art People so I can let it slide. I did like them changing her problem from “artist’s block” (seriously?) to her feeling too under pressure to create masterpieces, unless that’s what the game was aiming for? Oh who cares.

JUST A BIG MESS

Cass “Dead Cat Girl” Milligan: This is a weird one because the story is the same between the game and book (though the book mentions she witnessed a more severe car accident rather than a speeding car which she assumes kills the cat, and the cat isn’t even her cat, it’s a stray) but the story itself is... flawed. According to the book, they wanted to convey the idea that running away from the accident was irresponsible, and she just needed to look back and she’d see her cat is okay, but the game kind of makes it look more like Balan turned back time to save her cat, and the book mentions a serious car crash which I don’t think anyone would willingly return to. I feel there’s a better way to convey this idea of being responsible for your pets, like say her cat escapes from the house and gets lost, and her resolution is going out and properly looking for it. That’s a more effective (and natural) way to relay that message, especially as they weren’t going to commit to the idea of grieving a lost pet.

I’M CONFLICTED

Cal “Chess Daddy” Suresh: God this was a tough call. On one hand Cal’s game backstory is one of the ones most YouTube players single out as the weakest backstory in the game. He’s just “that guy who lost one game of chess”. Being right before Iben’s level certainly doesn’t help. I could honestly write a separate post about how bad the story placements are in this game but that’s too long for here.  On the other hand, I still... kinda like it? Like I like this idea of him being a sore loser with a bad temper who needs to learn some humility, sure it’s not as serious as “I almost drowned” or “my parents are dead” but one of the few good things about the game is that it balanced “serious” stories with “benign” ones, if that makes sense. HOWEVER His book scene is... probably one of the best written in the whole book. Which isn’t saying much, but it felt like it hit the intended degree of darkness that the rest of the book was trying to hit. One of my main issues with the book is how much it edged up everyone’s backstory, which doesn’t sound bad but when you have 12 characters with edgy backstories to sit through, it starts to feel like a 14 year old's first attempt at writing an angsty fanfiction very quickly. And yes, Cal’s story is dark and angsty but it felt like the perfect balance of dark and angsty. Or as perfect as the book can get. Like even Balan’s annoying rhyming dialogue sounded good for the tone of the scene. Man maybe I should just do a review of both his backstories in a bigger post.  Obviously I could be biased because I’m a sucker for chess aesthetics and dark skinned men with long permed hair so I’m just putting more thought into him but still.

[lucidpantone]

So I need to talk Italia, since lbr it’s the only Skam worth discussing.

Assuming we’ve got our Elia season (feels pretty likely given the everything we have seen) what do you think the general theme of the season could be?

We know he was after a place to stay end of S4…but I honestly can’t remember much else about him other than that he will potentially be oldest Skam main we’ve had?!

Bit of a blank canvas.

What do you hope to see?

Hahahaha I bet no one ever thought the day would come when your saying skam italia is the only remakes worth investing in hahahaha.

So funny enough am rewatching skam italia slowly since its been awhile and i want to remember all the tidbits.

I feel like Elia may be like a italian basil/emma story. Elia has always been kinda of just there meandering aimlessly without a real plan for life. He doesnt have a defined journey but he also hasn't showed a ton of interest in anything. Clearly he was super interested in moving in with flippo and get out on his own but then I found him so strange in Sana's season like the crush disclosure was so clumsy and slightly offensive to Sana but it was also like woah what?!?!?! Elia has felt like this for Sana for how long. That storyline made me realize we really have no idea whats going on in elia's head at all. I feel like the rest of the italian boysquad are way more defined with Elia he def is a blank canvas where it could go in any direction because we really dont know whats effecting him. I do think he failed or something happened in school because we know they are using the school for shooting. Unless he is like teacher assistant but once again when the hell did Elia even express liking education. Its really gonna be a blank state I do think his family life is gonna get more unraveled tho and we will finally see whats been effecting him this entire time. Ahhh can't wait to see the old gang. I am really sorta of over the new gen skam and just want to sit on my couch cushing over all the OGs. I missed them!

[bowenandjohnson]

Hi Sarah 🙋‍♀️

Well, since you asked... 😉 Can you rate your favourite “Sanas”? & perhaps could you include both Imaan and Esra (🇳🇱) in the ranking? 👼 (since Esra was in a sense also a Sana and she’s soo precious! 😻)

Thanks in advance! 💐

Love,

anonacht 🌃

P.S. Yes, I’m everywhere! 😈 Only friendly fire though! 💚

P.P.S. “nacht” = the Dutch word for night! 🤓 And it’s still a shame skamNL never moved beyond season 2! 😭

Hello, Twitter anon aka anonacht :) I love you too (also thanks for putting up with me on Twitter, because I am insufferable, at least to myself lol)

Thank you for indulging me, and requesting my Sana ranking. 

1. sana bakkoush - skam

It’s kind of sad that no other Sana season has been able to top the original, at least in my opinion. But Sana Bakkoush deserves this crown, because she is a character who redefined Muslim representation onscreen. Iman Meskini was such a force in her season, and everything Sana felt, she managed to make me feel like that too. When she cried, so did I. When she was angry, I was pissed, and so on. I love her and her Yousef so, so much. She is everything, honestly. I hope Sana is out there, being a doctor and revolutionizing medicine as we know it.

2. amira naybet - skam espana

Ooh, okay. I know a lot of people won’t agree with me on this one, and that’s fine! Amira Naybet means the world to me. Like literally, she is my comfort character. As I began this past fall semester as a junior in college during a freaking pandemic, she and Hajar Brown took my heart and ran with it. I personally love that she was also the Jonas in Cris’ season, as it gave her so much depth before her season aired. Ultimately, I agree that her season was flawed, and I definitely think that her season needed actual Muslim writers involved, and not just consultants. Her season production was also hindered by the pandemic too, which sucks, because I think a whole episode was cut from her season, and there was a lot of rewriting in the back half so they could meet COVID guidelines. But overall, I’m glad the writers tried to be different with their Sana and change some things up. I still love Amira, and I do love her relationship with Dani (although I will never understand that Al-Queda joke in his first clip, it feels like a misguided attempt at Spanish humor that did not translate well at all). And I’m glad Hajar felt safe and secure with this team and was happy with Amira’s story, given the circumstances. (ps: she deserved the full nine episodes, I don’t care what Movistar thinks.)

3. amira thalia mahmood - druck / zoya ali - skam austin

AMIRA THE SECOND. I love her too. I especially liked that she was technically the first Girl Squad member introduced in Hanna’s season, instead of Miss Mia. I liked that change. I also love the friendships she had with Matteo and David, and that Matteo was saved as “idiot” in her phone. She was truly a queen. Mohammed is also a king, one of my favorites. I also liked that Druck also tried to change some things and make their Sana season more relevant, with the Christchurch references and setting her season outside of Ramadan. But sadly, like Amira N.’s season, it failed to really delve into the racism that Amira had dealt with in the GS from Kiki. If Nadia was able to apologize well, I don’t understand why Kiki couldn’t have done the same thing. Again, I feel that her season needed Muslim writers to really delve into these issues. Also, the whole eight episodes thing? Dumb. They could have delved more into Mohammed’s immigrant experience and Amira reintroducing him to Islam, etc. Why can’t Amiras just get their full seasons for once? 

Onto Zoya, who sadly didn't get her season, but I feel like she was a great character, perhaps closest to the Sana from OG in terms of characterization. She was “no bullshit,” but also the fiercest, loyal friend out of the Austin GS, besides maybe Jo, who really had Kelsey’s back at the end of s2. I feel like we really missed out on seeing her story, as she was a Muslim teen living her high school experience under a Trump presidency and a Muslim travel ban (that’s now thankfully been repealed). I loved that she got Prom Queen in s2, but I hate that literally everyone dropped the ball when it came to supporting her. The GS basically ignored the locker graffiti aka a literal hate crime? *cough cough* hire POC and Muslim writers. She was a queen though, like all Sanas who came before her.

4. esra aydin & imaan elami - skam nl

Imaan was cool, I enjoyed her entrance in s1, which I rewatched just for this ranking. Her little car? The music? I love it! It sucks that she was absent for chunks of s1, but apparently the actress had personal issues, which is why she did not return for s2. Understandable. Long reign her entrance clip.

ESRA! I loved her! I’m so glad that after Imaan’s exit that they decided to cast another Muslim woman for Linn. I love her, I loved her relationship with Ralph and the other characters, and I have a feeling that Skam NL’s season 4 would have been about her. An Esra season would have been great because it would have given us an young adult main outside of high school, and probably further depth into the Esklid character. Again, pour one out for Skam NL :(

5. imane bakhellal - skam france

Imane seems cool. I haven’t watched much of Skam France outside of s3, parts of s6, and s7, which is currently airing. I’ve been wary to watch her season, because I’ve heard about her having to apologize to the GS, and things dealing with Ingrid and her brother... and Sofiane actually dating Manon???? Like, WHAT. IS. GOING. ON. Her Yousef seems cute but dumb. But otherwise, Assa is really pretty and really supportive of her fellow Sana counterparts on Insta, which has endeared her to me. And due to that fact, I will defend Imane to the ends of the earth, and I will watch her season eventually. I promise.

6. yasmina ait omar - wtfock

Yasmina is still a bit of a mystery to the audience, I think. But I do plan to watch her season, if only for Nora Dari, who is very pretty. Bel!Yousef, treat her right!

7. sana allegui - skam italia

No words needed.

[inmyarmswrappedin]

I’m torn over whether those last two conversations with Fatou’s parents should’ve been clips. In general I feel like Skam was never meant to be a show where parents had a big role. I don’t know if it’s a Norwegian thing or what, but it seems like Skam was teaching teens how to figure out their own shit completely independent of their parents. Maybe it’s because Norwegian teens in certain areas move out for high school, so there’s already a level of maturity expected from high school teens. I know Julie Andem struggled over how to adapt her scripts for Skam Austin because parents are a much larger presence in American teens’ lives. 🤔

If this is different in Germany, then so be it. I do think if something is different in Germany or other country with a Skam, the writing should reflect that. I thought Skam España dealt with it pretty well by showing how parents influenced the girls’ personalities, without really involving the parents in the girls’ storylines too deeply. Like even Viri’s parents went away once the issue with the money was resolved. 

I guess my thing with both Amira M. and Fatou is that their parents make a crucial decision in the girls’ lives, and we only get to hear of this development and resolution secondhand. Hanna’s dad, Mia’s parents and Matteo’s mom weren’t really in a place where they could make decisions for their kids, or would even if they were. Hanna’s dad vaguely threatened to have Hanna move with his new wife, but it never became an actual thing, and eventually left her to her own devices. But Amira’s parents forbade her from going to Australia, and Fatou’s parents decided to take her out of school, and in both cases we didn’t see it happen.

I really don’t think it’s necessary to do this with the parents, esp if you’d rather stick with Skam’s approach not to have the parents too present (which honestly I do prefer!). In both cases (Amira and Fatou), it seems like removing the parents’ support is done just so the main has NO support anywhere. Not the love interest, not friends, not the things that usually bring them joy and not even their parents. But not even Sana’s season in Skam did that. Sana argued with her mom a couple times, but ultimately her parents didn’t add to her misery in any way (among other reasons because Sana never told them the boy she liked was Yousef lmao lmao). Her parents never even heard of all the shit that went on in s4, apparently. 😅

Ultimately I don’t miss those two clips that could’ve been, but if, in future seasons, the parents add to the pressure in hell week (and what Druck has made of the hell week concept is another issue, like in Skam episodes that started bad ended well, and episodes that started well ended badly, no episode was misery from beginning to end), then they also need to be physically present for the resolution. (Though I would rather not involve them at all lol, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.)

[elle-smells]

ok yeah I see how reblogging stuff not in my own words leaves a lot of room for misinterpretation so I guess I’ll make a post just for you anon <3 

Is my relationship with Wtfock, a show that made a racist season and did their poc actors and characters dirty for no reason at all, non existent? No, I can’t say that. Literally take one look at my blog and the first thing you’ll see are Robbe and Sander lmao and if you search wtfock in my blog it is pretty clear that I do in fact keep posting about it, and I dont think thats going to change anytime soon. I want to be very clear about something, I do not in any way shape or form support what that show did in season 4. The storylines, the main character and the reaction to backlash was completely tone deaf and insensitive to POC’s everywhere (myself included), in particular, Noa and Nora. It was way more than the word “bad” could describe and I do not support it. Here’s where the lines start to get eehh blurry so bear with me please. The way I see it, and I’m sure many other people in the fandom would agree, (to paraphrase something Daniel Radcliffe said) if someone finds anything in any piece of art or media that resonated with them, helped them through something, or simply brought them joy when other things couldn’t, THAT is between the person and the book they read, show/movie they watched, etc. For me, Wtfock S3 came at a time when I really needed it. I won’t get into a lot of detail but that is why the s3 storyline means so much to me, and why the characters mean so much to me. I got very attached to Robbe and Sander’s characters, seeing myself in them. I also LOVE Yasmina and can honestly say she is one of my favourite Sanas. Again, explaining this would take an entirely different post but bottom line is that my relationship with these characters goes a little beyond simply watching a show for entertainment (as is the case for my relationships with other characters + remakes). Having said that, I do realise how everything I’ve said so far can seem to contradict each other. At first I said I do not support what this show did in S4 and then said I’m happy to keep blogging about the parts I did love...yeah I see why you would feel iffy about that. But going back to what I said about relationships consumers can form with media, its not your fault if something you once enjoyed was ruined by tone deaf writer and creators. You can choose to keep a space open in your heart for something that became meaningful to you, no one can take that away from you. Thats all fine as long as you recognise and reject the damage. In wtfock’s case, you have people only watching the previous seasons of the show on youtube, not only supporting translators but also not boosting views and engagement on the offical website. Most of the fandom has also made their opinions against this season very clear not only to others online but to the show’s team themselves. We also can not and should not forget that this season existed, its important to talk about it and not let stuff like this slide wihtout fault. I do believe all of this can happen without completely errasing the characters you love from your life. Now, there are also people who simply can not continue to support the show in any way and are unable to look at anything related to it in the same way again, that is also very valid and very understandable. Like I said, thats between YOU and the SHOW you watched. 

In regards to my posts about wtfock being number 1 and number 3 in two of Tumblrs Top of 2020 lists, that wasn’t me praising the show in its entirety. Actually, it was just me being confused and shocked that the fandom manged to trend enough to earn that spot. Did it make me feel weird that it got the top spot considering their last season? yes it did, the show itself does not necessarily deserve to be there, which is why most of my posts were born out of pure amusement (which is the literal description of my blog anyways-) at the power a group of people (that I’m a part of) on the internet can have.The only thing I did 100% celebrate was one of my comfort character being on a list this year and I dont think I should apoligize for that. But I am sorry, if you misunderstood and thought I was ignoring season 4. Believe me, I don’t plan on doing that anytime soon. 

[harryhooksgazebos267]

Broken Trust~ Part Five

Paring: Bang Chan x reader; Mark Tuan x reader(arranged marriage)

Genre: Mafia au, angst, little bit of everything honestly

Warnings: Cursing, mafia life and shizzle

MASTERLIST

“Y/n.”

........

“Y/nnnnnnn”

.........

“Maybe she’s dead?”

“Jisung shut the fuck up, why are you even here?”

“Hey don’t talk to my Jisung like that!”

“You can shut the fuck up too hoe.”

“Changbin, Jisung, and Minho will the three of you stop acting like children? You guys shouldn’t even be here.”

“Ah Chan losen up a bit, we’re just messing around. Right guys,” Jisung said while pulling Changbin into a choke hold.

“What did I just say? Now leave!”

“But she could wake up any minute and we-“

“I said leave!”

With a sigh, all three boys left reluctantly. Muttering out smart remarks and little complaints. Chan sat down in a chair that was infront of yours. You currently were knocked out and tied to chair in Stray Kids basement.

“I swear, one of these days I’m gonna kill one of them,” he mumbled to himself while rubbing his head. He loved all of his main members but goddamn they got on his nerves sometimes. All of a sudden, you began to stir.

“Ah so the princess is finally waking up,” he thought to himself as he sat up straight in his chair, leaning forward a little.

Your head was beating heavily and your mind was foggy. You couldn’t quite remember what had happened before you woke up and your state of confusion was obvious. You see, Chan had set the chair up where he was in the dark so that you wouldn’t immediately see him. Was it extra? Yes but in his mind it was kind of badass.

“Where the fuck am I?” You whispered to yourself as you began to look around at the unfamiliar room.

“Isn’t it obvious where you’re at?” A voice suddenly boomed out which you recognized right away. Everything began to come back to you.

“Chan,” you hissed out as his figure stalked towards you.

“The one and only”, he mocked which caused you to roll your eyes.

“Why am I here?”

“Ah come on y/n, I know you’re a smart girl! You know why you’re here. Why don’t we talk about something else, something far more interesting.”

“Whatever, I don’t know why I’m here but pop off I guess.”

Chan’s jaw clenched at that.

“Moving on, I want to make a deal with you. I believe it’ll be beneficial to both parties.”

“I’m listening I guess.”

“You see, I have very good sources in JYP that have been extremely useful and helpful to my, no, Stray Kids plans. However, there are some missing pieces that I’m almost positive you have. If you were to cooperate 100% and the information you give us is accurate, I promise you I’ll-“

Chan’s speech was cut off by a hiccup.

“Yo that’s so damn embarrassing,” you laugh out as his cheeks turn a light shade of red.

“Hey it’s not *hiccup* funny.”

“Bro you cannot tell me that isn’t funny. “Oh I’m the king of serious and I’m getting down to business but oh no my long important speech that I’ve been planing for years gets cut off by a tiny little hiccup”. Seriously, you don’t find that a little funny?”

At this point you were in tears laughing so hard. Was it really that funny? No but in stressful, serious situations, everything is 100000% funnier.

“Stop laughing, it’s not even that funny,” he said while lowkey trying not to laugh at the situation. You were right, it was kind of funny. If he was in your shoes he would be laughing to.

“Okay, okay I’m done. Woo my stomach hurts. Anyway; carry on with your monologue.”

“As I was saying, if you can give me reliable information, I’ll let you go. No harm will come to you and everyone wins in the end.”

“You can’t be serious? Everyone wins in the end?”

“Yes, everyone does. I don’t see what the problem is.”

“I’m not going to turn on my future father-in-laws mafia. That doesn’t even make sense Chan.”

He paused for a moment, deep in thought.

“When are you getting married?” He suddenly asked, catching you off guard.

“Well that was random.”

“Just answer the question, I don’t need your commentary.”

You let out a loud breath as you looked away from him.

“Does it even matter? I don’t get why you wanna know.”

Chan stayed silent at that.

“Well if really want to know, our fathers haven’t selected an exact date. They’re thinking sometime in early October.”

“Oh happy birthday to me,” he laughed out bitterly while shaking his head.

You didn’t really know what to say. If you had it your way, you wouldn’t even be marrying Mark.

“Do you love him?” Chan tried to ask nonchalantly but you could tell it bothered him to ask.

“I....I don’t know. I mean he’s not hard on the eyes and deep down I know he cares for me but sometimes he-“

“Cares for you? He doesn’t care for you! None of them do! They’re all selfish, greedy men who will do anything in their power to do what’s best for themselves. They would kill you in the blink of an eye if they thought it would get them further in life,” he yelled.

“Oh what and you’re any better? You’re just as bad as them!”

“I am nothing close to being like those assholes!”

“You’re apart of the mafia, what do you mean you’re not close to being like them? And are you just gonna ignore what you did to me? You left me. For two fucking years you left me. Do you know how many nights I cried myself to sleep, thinking the guy that I loved was dead? Then suddenly you just decide to come back like it’s no big fucking deal, kidnap me, then have the nerve to tell me that Mark doesn’t care for me when you haven’t been here. What would you even know? Just because he doesn’t always say it, doesn’t mean he’s a selfish prick who wouldn’t care if I lived or died. So don’t act like you know everything.”

“Why are you defending him when you don’t even love him?”

“I never said I don’t love him.”

“You just said you didn’t know!”

“But I never said I don’t!”

Chan and you were both breathing hard as your tempers began to rise.

“Did you ever even love me?” Chan asked with a look of disgust on his face.

“What kind of question is that? Of course I did! I was going to marry you, why the fuck would I agree to that if I didn’t love you?”

Chan began to pace back and forth while rubbing his face in his hands.

“I guess it was one sided though,” You muttered out causing him to stop dead in his tracks.

“What did you just say?” He questioned in a low voice.

“You heard me, why should I repeat myself?”

“You know what, maybe it was one sided but I sure as hell wasn’t the one who didn’t love the other one. I wasn’t the one who went and got engaged the second the other person was out of the picture.”

“What the hell are you talking about? First of all, you’re acting like it was my choice when it wasn’t. Second of all, we literally didn’t get engaged until this year. You couldn’t have expected me to stay single for the rest of my life Chan, I thought you were dead. And you know what, speaking of being dead, I wasn’t the one who faked their own damn death!”

“The only reason I faked my death was because of you!”

To say you were shocked would be an understatement. Why would he fake his death because of you?

“What?”

“Whatever, I don’t want to have this conversation anymore,” he huffed out while moving his chair from the dark into the dim lighting and sat right in front of you.

“You can’t just say that and not elaborate on what you mean!”

“Trust me, we’ll have plenty of time to talk about that but today isn’t that day.”

“But-“

“Enough y/n, I’m not going to say what you want to hear so just drop it.”

You both sat in silence for a bit, the weight of the argument taking a toll on the both of you.

“Now, back to what we were discussing before. What I had in mind is, you could call Mark and tell him that we asked you to join Stray Kids. Just make up some story that I still love you and want to be with you blah blah, you get the point. So then you tell him that you agreed but in reality it’s just an act and you’re trying to get information out of us and you’ll report back to them with made up shit. I was thinking you could also talk to Red Velvet, Twice, GOT7, NCT, whoever you want and try to get information out of them but casually, you know? Like hey ummmm Sana, how’s it going? Oh, you plan on doing this super secret mission to get some super secret information? Oh cool, I will do nothing with this news and I sure won’t tell Stray Kids any of this teehee.”

“Teehee? Really?”

“That’s not the point. The point is you give them fake information, they give you real stuff in return, I don’t kill you, and everyone wins. I think it’s a great plan,” he stated with a shrug.

“Right yeah no I still don’t get how I win in this situation.”

“I’ll tell you anything you want to know about me leaving.”

“Wait are you serious?” You asked as you tried to lean forward, forgetting your arms were tied behind your back.

“Yeah I guess but I won’t answer them all at once and I don’t plan on exposing anything juicy just yet. Patient is a virtue,” he joked with a wink.

“You’re so damn weird. You were just breathing heavy like a bull who saw red and now you’re cracking jokes?”

Chan just gave you a little shrug.

“So, do we have a deal or not?”

TAG LIST (feel free to send me an ask if you would like to be added to the tag list or if you would like me to send a private message everytime I update <3): @elenaramos1​

Part six

MASTERLIST

[mydearestprongs]

I slept on this and I think what bothers me the most is how 1) Kato is cardboard, a Mary Sue, milquetoast and 2) the writing, the message. 

1) I don’t know what Kato’s flaws are, not even her backstory really. It isn’t that she’s racist or has serial killer vibes (I honestly feel like she has serial killer vibes), because LOTS of compelling characters are racist and the point of the character is that they’re racist. I mean, we don’t even need to look past Skam. The Vilde character is racist. But she’s still compelling and we’re also rooting for her to have a redemption arc about her racism. In Skam France, season 4 when the girl squad were really racist, they weren’t completely canceled. We wanted a redemption arc. So Kato’s racism and redeeming that is not an original storyline nor something Skam fans would be opposed to. HOWEVER, there’s nothing compelling about Kato. I binged through the clips mainly in shock that this was a season of wtfock, not because of Kato herself. She has never disappointed me, shocked me, made me think in the way that characters should (like Isak leading Emma on, Sana making the instagram account, etc). She is just this entity hopping from plot point to plot point. I’m intrigued about Vilde getting the redemption arc because she has flaws, a story, a truth, I’m intrigued to see her become more educated. I don’t feel that way with Kato because I just don’t care about her because I don’t know who she is or why I should care.

2) I do not know if wtfock supports Kato’s racism or denounces it. We have Zoe and Yasmina (and now Moyo) pointing out her racism, but Kato’s the main, we’re supposed to sympathize with her. Even though I agree with Zoe, Yasmina, and Moyo, I can’t deny the scenes are framed in a way to go “why are they being so mean to poor well-meaning Kato.” Not only that, but part of the Skam mains is that they’re “shamed” by society in some way and they’re supposed to challenge our own prejudices. It’s aimed toward two groups: people who need the representation, and people who could learn to emphasize with groups of people not like them. If you don’t have bipolar disorder, aren’t gay, aren’t Muslim, etc etc etc, Skam is a chance to get into the headspace of people not like you and learn something. So not only are we supposed to sympathize with Kato, but we’re supposed to be challenged to see how her experiences are as valid as our own. I’m suspecting the season will go like this: Zoe and Yasmina are calling Kato out on her racism, but since they haven’t taken the time to get to know her well as Moyo has, they’ve “canceled” her. Moyo pointing out her racism bluntly is the hell week. He’s going to apologize for jumping to conclusions/assuming/without learning her sob story, but really apologize not like the 586093876 other apologies they have each episode. And Moyo will get to know her, see the racism is all because of her tragic past, and the message is to be patient to racists because they have a story and a reason too. We just need to be patient. 

I don’t know if I’ll be watching season 5 with Yasmina as a main because if this is how wtfock tackles racism as a theme.... GURL. NO. 

[yaraaimsakul]

in skam s1 - the only female friendship whose chemistry shines through is the eva and noora, season 2 needed to be centered around the girls again in order to get to know the other three and the overall dynamic of the girl squad. so when isak season happened, we missed them and also knew them enough in time for sana’s season. remember when skam italia chose to make martino the s2 main - the girl squad suffered as a result because of the new focus of the four boys friendships. as the audience, i didn’t feel much for them because a lot of the development was sidelined and offscreen so by elenora’s season in the spring i just missed the boys and their strong personalities. if druck moves to kieu my’s pov, i don’t think druck will suffer from same underdevelopment because: like the italian boys, there are only four and none of the four have been sidelined and pushed into a stereotypical trope like “sassy fat black girl”, they all have shining personalities that have been written especially for them so we don’t have wait for a 2nd season to get to know them beyond a stereotype (like what was done with sana). so yeah i could honestly see a kieu my season from a storytelling perspective but honestly i have my fingers crossed for a fatou season - bc 1) we haven’t had a lesbian main 2.) i just want one black girl season that is done properly and with respect 3) i love this squad so much

hi anon! 🌸 same to your last points about a fatou season, i completely agree. about the rest, i can’t really say about skam italia because i haven’t watched it yet 😔 but i do get the point and i have to say i agree!! you said it perfectly. the girls this season already have some development on their own (although it may still not be big), and they don’t fall into the obvious stereotypes, so that’s really promising in what’s to come. it’s amazing how in 6 episodes we already became so attached to all of them! that’s like a huge sign of how well written they are in my opinion

[reeesea]

Something Sweet: Part Two

~sweet lotus~

one ~ two ~ three ~ four ~ five ~ six ~ seven ~ eight ~ nine

pairing: minsung, jisung/minho

warning: mentions of alcohol I guess...

words: 5k ish

summary: Jisung gets side tracked and ends up following Minho into a host club/bar. That's it really :)

a/n: I’m cross posting this on ao3 but don't know how links work so I hope you enjoy if you do happen to stumble upon this. <3

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jisung’s been busy. Well, kind of. 

Jisung, along with the other two sleep deprived zombies that make up 3racha, have once again barricaded themselves in their shared apartment. The trio has been working nonstop to prepare for their next performance. Their recently hired manager, Sana, had notified them that the venue that they were playing was actually twice as large as their last. The boys had been trying to flesh out a few new songs/covers to play and hopefully win over the crowd.

Busy wouldn’t really describe the boys. Yes, they were working hard producing more and more, but the lulls of writer’s block and exhaustion would set in eventually. Each time would leave them to fend for themselves by staring mindlessly at the ceiling, or collapsing into an unplanned 4 hour nap, or just plain gorging themselves on the various carry outs of the day. 

Changbin, who surprisingly was able to work remotely for his producing job at JJP Ent., was juggling his work for them and his work for 3racha. Bin would sneak out of his studio/bedroom whenever the lull in creativity set in, or the anticipation of their Friday night show started creeping up on him. Almost every time this led to Chan or Jisung playing some of what they were working on and then the realization that the third rapper had joined them, neglecting his paid work, would set in commencing the throwing of shoes and a chorus of animated yells from all parties to arise. One way or another, always returning a reluctant Changbin back to his, as Jisung put it, “big boy work” and the other two back to their respective laptops and keyboards. 

Chan was probably the most focused of the three. His ability to juggle multiple projects at the same time was practically god-like and occasionally left the other two producers completely clueless as to which project he was actually working on. When the exhaustion had finally caught up with him, Chan could be found by the other boys asleep sitting in front of his laptop. Changbin and Jisung had worked out a little system to keep the older in check, taking turns moving an unconscious Bang Chan to the couch and making sure he had eaten before returning to their own assignments. The leader would wake up a few hours later feeling confused, but thankful for the other two's efforts to keep him on his feet. 

Jisung, the ever all-rounder of the group, usually was the one busy writing, composing, producing, and doing anything he could get his hands on. But this time, the main reason Jisung never quite felt busy was because no matter how hard he tried, sometimes he just couldn't quite find the words for his verses. The new addition to their set list actually didn't take much time to make, production wise, but writing his verse always turns out to be a challenge when the writer’s block sets in. Even with days straight of thinking about what he wanted to say on his part, no progress meant no work had been done, which to Jisung meant he had not been busy. It was a slippery slope that all of them had experienced before, but this time Jisung’s descent down that slope came in the form of trashing pages of lyrics and stanzas immediately after spending hours on them, and distracting himself in piles of blankets while scrolling forums, SNS, and internet videos for inspiration. From which the cycle continued. The concept of just freestyling it completely on Friday was starting to sound better and better.

Sana would occasionally come by (daily? None of them really knew what day it was, only that it wasn’t Friday yet), opening up the black-out curtains that lined the floor to ceiling windows of the apartment, always followed by at least one audible groan from one of the members. During one of the many occasions of Jisung staring blankly at the ceiling in the dark, Sana had entered the apartment and practically tripped over Jisung from where he was curled up on the floor in a blanket chimichanga, “Jisung-ssi, why are you on the floor, again. Its literally 3pm.”

Jisung liked to call them chimichangas, mostly because he really liked that it was a four syllable word, but it also described him best when he was in a blanket burrito feeling especially fried from exhaustion.

After tripping over Jisung for maybe the third time that week, Sana had left the apartment telling them to be sure to be ready for their performance tomorrow at five pm, when she would meet them at the venue. Although Jisung was the one currently rolled up on the floor, the other boys had somehow looked even more exhausted on the couch with emptied coffee cups in their hands and obvious dark circles under their eyes. They had finished in the early morning as always, trying their best to prepare for their performance, that apparently was tomorrow. That was news to Jisung, and still nothing written for his verse.

“You guys look so dead, how are you even awake right now” Jisung mused from his bundle on the floor. 

“I honestly don't know. Do you think I could just go to sleep until our performance tomorrow?” Chan chuckled at the realization that their call time wasn't more than 17 hrs away. 

“Honestly you need it, with how much you got done this week. You finished almost all the tracks for the album, right?” Changbin asked from his spot on the couch. Chan nods vaguely at the question . 

“Yeah out of the songs we chose, I was able to brush them up, and fixed the beat on a few. We can look at them closer after Friday.”

“This week didn't seem real. The last thing I remember was dragging Chan’s unconscious body down the hallway after we got back from Menu 98.” Jisung was gesturing wildly beneath the blanket he was under, but the other two didn't have to even look at him to know he was being dramatic. “Bin-hyung it took you like 3 whole minutes to put the right key in the door. I'm glad your attempts with the bottle opener didn’t end up damaging the lock.” 

That one earned Jisung a pillow to the face. 

“Well hopefully this Friday we won't end up in the same condition. Wine hangovers are the fucking worst,” Changbin held his head in remembrance of the pain but a smile was starting to sneak out on to his face. “But guys, since we’re finally officially signed with a company, I wouldn't mind getting to celebrate again this weekend.” 

His smile only grew as the other two joined in the grinning from their respective spots in the living room. It was true, they finally signed with a company. JJP Entertainment had reached out to them after having seen them perform one of their shows. Changbin had submitted a producer application to the company earlier that year, and seemingly as soon as they had seen the three in action all of them were accepted and got to sign with the agency. Changbin had begun working as a producer about a month ago while the other two had just recently been officially signed into the company as group members. To all of them it still seemed like it was too good to be true, but a week into it they were all just excited to be calling themselves recording artists and to have consistent pay for their professional work. 

Their manager Sana was a result of the company beginning to help promote 3racha as a group. Chan had mentioned that they weren’t going to be officially announced as a part of the company until they could properly debut with their album. Jisung wasn't going to complain though, he was just happy to feel like the dreams they’ve had since their underground highschool rapper days were finally being realized. 

All three of them, grinning wildly, were already feeling antsy to be on stage again. The hours until they could step onstage couldn't move fast enough.  

---

Minho had a busy fucking week.

 He had picked up two extra closing shifts that he usually would have days off on, but the reward of a bigger paycheck pulled his leg into accepting to take them. The bright side, he supposed, was that his coworker had taken his Friday shift and he was able to have a night off. His original plan to spend the entire night in the studio was pretty much shattered when his annoyingly loving roommates had scolded him when he had told them his plans. During morning rehearsal the group was able to get a lot done, and had polished their performance piece they had planned for a showcase in the coming week.

Minho told himself that he would have still stayed after practice if it wasn't for Hyunjin’s nagging to visit him at work that night, but he was packing his bag just as soon as the others once they were finished.The truth being that going to Hyunjin’s work almost always included free drinks and good company, and Minho felt like it would be the perfect way to relax his nerves after the week of productive practice, and painful working shifts. 

Hyunjin worked at the host club and bar a couple streets away from their apartment. The establishment was mostly known for the beautiful and handsome hosts and hostesses that worked there who served up drinks and polite conversation. In the more recent years, the place was becoming popularly known as being just a normal service bar that just had beautiful servers and bartenders. Many tourists and locals came to the bar in hopes of seeing and meeting these beautiful people, while also obtaining their weekend quota of alcohol. Of course as Hyunjin could attest to the host club wasnt without clients, as his boss asked him multiple times if he wanted to switch positions from bartender to host due to all the patrons asking if he was available.

“Come on Hyung! You can come and meet my new coworkers. Also you promised to visit Momo-noona last time and she’s still pissed you haven’t been back in like a month. Honestly at this point she wont stop worrying that you aren’t coming back to see her, and keeps asking me like-” 

“Okay, okay Hyunjin I’ll come with you, just stop rambling,” Minho giggled at the younger antics and his tendency to ramble to himself aloud, while in a conversation. It was reasons like this that made Minho glad the boy was only a bartender and not a host. Although, he would probably pay himself just to see the young 21-year-old try and make coherent conversation with a client. Hyunjin was beyond just beautiful, but when it came to conversing with strangers past their drink order, he was quite a bit less than suave. 

Hyunjin cheered as he skipped out the studio doors, joining arms with Felix as they made their way toward their shared apartment. 

---

Jisung left their flat early in hopes of being able to find the venue on his own, but still allow himself time to properly get lost. Surprisingly enough he was able to find the venue on the other side of town without much trouble and with Google Maps opened on his phone. One of the  reasons why it was so easy to find, was that the venue was huge. Among the lavish entrance, and its multicolored lighting, it had a large marquee with “3racha” shown in bold as the night's act. It was still the early evening and the district’s businesses were just starting to show signs of preparation for the night's patrons and customers. There were food stalls setting up, readily pre-cooking the batches of street food for those who would be passing by throughout the night. Clubs were just beginning to open their doors and prepare for the crowd that always came to dance away the start of the weekend. The bars were beginning to gather their additional servers and bartenders, from the looks of the various uniformed strangers on the street entering their respective places of employment. There were a few barhopping adults and students littering the streets with excited chatter and giggles of anticipation. 

Jisung can’t say he ever went out with friends much other than when the group would perform at bars and clubs right out of high school. He never had experienced the “wild night out with your friends” trope that he secretly loved watching in dramas and tv shows. There was just something watching a group of friends all going and enjoying a night together that made Jisung’s heart smile. Looking around again and escaping his thoughts, he spots a familiar face in the distance. 

In front of him is his cute server from last week, Minho, walking down the street not even 50ft away. Granted Jisung had honestly forgotten about the man after that night, as the dull ache of a hangover had occupied his mind the morning after. Jisung never thought he would actually see the man again outside the confines of the restaurant that he worked at. And maybe because this coincidence felt more like fate, and maybe because Jisung is the kind of guy to believe in fate, or maybe because Minho had smiled and from 50 ft away it still took Jisung’s breath away, Jisung found himself stumbling forward to follow the man into the bar he had just entered. 

--- 

Minho had walked into the familiar establishment and immediately went and found his place on a barstool. 

“You didn't have to come this early.” Hyunjin was all dressed up in his collared shirt and vest, with his name tag reflecting the dim lights from above his heart. The completed uniform of all the bartenders and servers at Sweet Lotus, of course, made Hyunjin look even more like a prince than usual. 

It was barely 15 minutes after the bar had opened for the night when Minho’s leather pants and silk shirt wearing ass had entered. 

“Well, it's not like I had any other plans tonight. Felix had left for work and it was too lonely in the apartment to wait for the bar hopping crowd to pass through, so I thought I would just beat them instead.” 

“I knew you missed me.” Hyunjin made a kissy face toward Minho that was met with a gentle face slap by the hand of the older. 

“Please, I only came to get an early start on the night. Maybe try and beat the in house record for free drinks.”

“Oh please you already know you still hold the record, don't act cocky” Hyunjin rolled his eyes, and earned a giggle from the other. There was a running competition between the off duty servers and hosts of who could get the most free drinks from strangers in a night. It was a vanity competition as much as it was a ploy for the employees to boost the bar's sales when off shift. 

Minho thrived off of it, when he had worked as a host for the club. He had been in the highest demand on and off duty, gathering a total 19 drinks paid for by strangers within a single night. Even after Minho had left the club, his record still held. Hyunjin would sometimes come home updating Minho on how close some of his new coworkers had gotten to the record, well aware of how much the title inflated the man’s ego. 

Before Minho had the chance to respond a tuft of brown hair tripped into the bar entrance. A familiar looking boy with big shining eyes, searched the room until making eye contact with Minho. The determined look in the boy’s eyes was completely contrasted by the soft smile starting to appear on his lips as he approached the bar. 

Recognition flooded his memory as Minho looked back at the cute boy that had given him his number on a receipt the previous weekend. The boy struggled slightly at getting atop the stool next to Minho, earning him a slight snicker from the bartender as he watched the scenario play out in front of him. Hyunjin just watched his cocky ass roommate be made speechless by the entrance of a cute high school looking kid dressed in street clothes, there was no way he wasn't going to hound Minho when they got home. 

“Hi.” The younger looking boy smiled again fully creating a heart with his lips, and Minho couldn't help but smile back. That seemed to only make the younger grin wider if that was possible and his eyes sparkled with content. “I don’t know if you remember me, but I met you last week, I mean kind of. You were my server on Friday night, and you recommended a drink and a dish for me, and I’m pretty sure it was the best thing I had ever tasted before. And now that may seem like a completely crazy reason to low key follow you into a bar after seeing you on the street, but for some reason I feel indebted to you for giving me the best thing I’ve ever tasted also I’m pretty sure I was embarrass-”

“Hi Jisung,” Minho didn't know anyone else could ramble even more than Hyunjin, but here he was, Han Jisung, the cute boy in the pink hoodie who had given him his number and a tip that was quite a bit more than his 20% usual. In full honestly Minho had found the receipt a few times during the week in his work pants pocket, but had always returned it before considering actually dialling the number scrawled on it. 

“You don’t have to feel indebted to me, that’s all apart of my job…” A wave of guilt weighed on Minho as he made eye contact with Jisung again. “Also I apologize for never messaging you. I know you left me your number on Friday, and I usually don’t pay too much mind when customers give me their numbers, but for some reason I still kept yours.” Jisung’s eyes widened at that and his expression looked as if he had just realized something. 

Minho just continued, “To be completely honest, I didn't think I would see you again, especially outside of my work.” 

“I didn’t either,” Jisung quickly interjected. “And to also be totally honest, I completely forgot that I gave you my number. Tipsy me can be a little more bold than I thought.” He chuckled inwardly at himself. Looking at Minho now, Jisung had no idea how even tipsy he had found the balls to do something like that. In casual clothes, Minho looked god-like to Jisung, and something about the change in atmosphere made Customer Service Minho almost non-existent. Being able to look at Minho, his glittering sharp eyes, his perfectly styled hair, and breathtaking smile without any filters, and something about it made Jisung’s heart beat even louder. There was a slight pause as Jisung had stopped speaking and had got distracted with staring at all of Minho’s features. “Uh..um… anyway damn now I feel bad. Can I like buy you a drink or something to make up for it?” Jisung barely managed to stutter that out. 

“Hey Min-hyung, that's your first for the night, and it's not even five yet. Damn maybe you will break your record,” Jisung looked over to the voice's owner and seemed to have just acknowledged the presence of the bartender after entering.

“Shut up Jinnie, I don’t wanna make him pay for my drink, the sun’s not even set” 

“That hasn't stopped you before” 

“No I really mean it, I'll pay for your drink if you'll let me. Not really sure what you two are discussing but I don't have a problem paying, even just to mend my consciousness” Jisung pleaded. 

“You sure talk a lot with your wallet there, Han.” Hearing Minho using his last name to address him wasn't lost on Jisung. If anything Jisung was starting to take it as a challenge. 

“Well, let me buy you a drink and we can talk now because we didn't get the chance over the phone.” Jisung really wasn’t sure where that confidence came from but it diminished quickly as he held his breath waiting for Minho to respond.

Minho smirked and nodded agreement, ordering his drink. “What about for you?” the bartender asked Jisung as he was taking out his card to pay for said drink. 

“Oh nothing for me I have to get ready for a show soon,” squinting to read the man’s name tag “Hyunjin-ssi.” 

Minho's curiosities from the previous weekends returned, and he found himself jumping on the opportunity to learn more about the boy. They were just curiosities. Han Jisung was just a curiosity. “What is it you do exactly?” 

“Oh I’m a rapper in a group, with the two other guys you saw. Together were super cool rap trio 3racha~” Jisung put an emphasis on the name with excessive hand gestures. Minho thought they were cute. “And we're actually playing at the venue not too far from here. We’re on at 9 if you want to come watch.” Jisung smiles widely at that, cocking an eyebrow as if that was persuasion enough to get Minho to come. 

It was. “Maybe I’ll stop by then. I can’t say I’m not curious.” Minho tries his best to feign disinterest, but his roommate’s smirk from across the bar meant that he wasn’t completely successful. 

Minho glares at the bartender while Jisung continues the conversation. “So what was it that you were talking about? The record and all that, did I miss something?”

Hyunjin giggles at the question and puts on a dramatic voice, “Well, here at the Sweet Lotus even our employees will come on their off days and breaks to enjoy the bar and club as patrons, but of course flirting with coworkers is generally frowned upon, so we made up a fun little competition.” Hyunjin continues to explain what the casual competition entitles. Minho shifts to watching Jisung instead. Seeing the boy again had been somewhat of a shock, and now actually looking at him, something about Jisung made Minho’s heartbeat a little quicker. Probably just the beginning effects of the sip of alcohol he had yet to consume. Or it could be the way Minho kept thinking about how soft the boy looked, his cheeks, his hair, his smile. Jisung was cute. A cute curiosity

“So what’s the record then? The highest number of free drinks?” Jisung was asking both of them but had turned toward MInho to meet his eyes. They were full of stars, even when the rest of the place was dimly lit. 

“19 drinks in a single night, held by our very own Lee Minho. Making him the hottest guy to ever grace our establishment, at least by the objective body count” Hyunjin dramatically bows to him. 

“Hey I got 17 once” yelled the other bartender from further down the bar. 

“I better keep coming back then, so you can’t take my spot San-ah.” Minho responded and sent him a cheeky smirk. The other bartender responded with a pouty face and a groan, before turning back to another customer. “But technically I’m not an employee anymore, so I think that takes me out of the running,” Minho continues.

“Still, I don’t think you’d ever lose that title… n-no offense to any of the other employees. I mean I only just got here and have only seen a few of you, but you are all respectively very attractive, and-” 

“Jisung stop rambling.” Minho giggled at seeing how flustered he could make the other. “Plus I doubt I’d lose my spot if you have anything to do with it, Mr. rich boy rapstar.” Minho takes a sip of his drink as the other sputters once again into a bumbling mess, blushing even harder. 

“What noooo! Not me pshhhhhh. I am but a lowly underground rapper. Please my heart’s too fragile to handle being called a rapstar by you this early in the night, also I swear I’m not a rich boy! Not yet at least, I haven't even gotten my first paycheck, paycheck, you know?”

“Your tipping habits say otherwise” 

Jisung grumbles under his breath something that sounds like ‘damn it drunk jisungie you did it again’

Before the conversation could continue, Jisung's phone rings from his jacket pocket. “Hello?... AH Sana-noona please don't yell.... Yes I know what time it is. It is-” Jisung checks the clock on his phone “Five-Thirty! Fuck, I’m on the way” Jisung looks apologetically at Minho and Hyunjin and does a few hand gestures that indicate he has to go. “I'll be there in like 30 seconds, I swear!!!” 

Jisung hangs up and hops off his stool, “As you can see I am being forcefully summoned by my manager, I do hope you’ll come to the show later? Thanks for uh- I don’t know, why am I thanking you. But uh..Thanks anyway though, and I-uh hope we can do this again sometime… yeah, bye Minho.” Jisung smiles wide again and scurries out the door, almost at a full sprint. 

Minho really likes his cute smile, and tries to commit the heart shape to memory.

“Hyung, he’s sooo your type it practically hurts.” Hyunjin forms a cheeky look on his face.

“I don't know what you're talking about,” Minho retorts, taking another sip of the drink Jisung bought him. 

“Come on, cute, low-key a mess, big eyes, whipped as soon as he saw you. Don't even lie, you love the ones that just fall for you as soon as you smile at them. Practically all your clients were like that, and they all followed you to the restaurant” 

“That’s not true,” Minho denied. 

“It's true our numbers dropped when you left. We had to hire three new guys to make up the loss,” San added, now suddenly a part of the conversation.

“Well now I feel bad,” he did kind of, but it also was a huge ego boost for Minho.

“Don't. You know Momo would let you pick up a shift if you ever needed” San now joining Hyunjin in leaning on the counter. 

“Maybe I don’t know, I'll just boost her drink sales tonight insead to make up for it.” They laugh, and Minho’s cocky smirk returns as more patrons enter the bar, and the two bartenders return to their positions for the night 

-----

Jisung sprinted right into hair and makeup, finding his group mates already being dressed and powdered when he got there. He was able to just barely avoid a scolding from Sana as he ducked into a changing room instead. Switching from his streetwear into something that made him look more like his stage personality ‘J.One’.

By the time it was up for them to perform all three of them shared knowing glances and charged on the stage as their loud and overpowering bass beats flooded the speakers and the entire venue. The venue itself held a couple hundred people and the cheers and energy from the crowd only fueled the rappers as they began their opening song. For the three of them being on stage was like getting a high. 

Jisung felt like he had taken 3 shots at the bar before the performance. He felt drunk on the adrenaline and his ad libs and verses all came out even more powerful than usual. Chan and Changbin took his energetic aura in stride and fed off him to energize their own performances for the whole show. 

When their new track finally starts playing, the verse that Jisung had been agonizing all week appeared in his head as if it had always been there, and he knew that this verse was going to go down as one of his best freestyles yet. Jisung closed out the song with an electric verse that flowed and hit the rhythm in ways he had never thought he could before, and after the last beat echoed throughout the room, the entire venue filled with cheers and screams from the audience. 

Minho watched from the back of the venue witnessing the three boys on stage completely dominate the stage and steal every heart from the audience. He never thought that the big eyed clutz from a few hours ago would be the man he saw on stage. On stage, Jisung practically oozed with charisma, demanding the attention of all those who would listen. At the end of the show the last verse he spit out was so intensely captivating, that it guaranteed that everyone in the audience was now in love with Han Jisung. There was no way anyone would be able to deny it. Not even Minho, even though he would definitely try. 

“I’m CB97” “This has been SpearB” “and I’ve been J.One” 

“and together we are 3racha! See you next time”

---

That night as soon as Minho got home he searched his closet for the only connection he had with the supposed rapstar. Digging into the pockets of his work pants, he pulls out the paper with the boys number and immediately adds in to his contacts before texting him:

[Rich Boy Han Jisung]

This is Lee Minho  

I saw your performance 

at least I think that was you

If it wasn't some rapstar named J.One may be your twin 

Im sure hear you this all the time

But your performance was amazing. Good job Han :)

---

one ~ two ~ three ~ four ~ five ~ six ~ seven ~ eight ~ nine

[chaeryybomb]

JUNE COMEBACKS REVIEW

BLACKPINK: HOW YOU LIKE THAT

ngl I’m kinda sad bc a lot of y’all don’t like the song ;-; but I can’t do anything about it since it’s your opinion so

but I hope that people know the difference between hating and giving criticism saying the song sucks and that it’s trash music is straight up music

I can get why people are disappointed with the song since everyone wanted almost the same thing, “jennie getting a rap part”, “jisoo saying blackpink in your area” and a high note from rosé

personally I really like the song, to me it’s not the same as dddd and ktl tbh I think it’s different

plus I kinda expected it to be like that bc their songs usually follow that yg style ya know the only songs I say that don’t follow that stereotypical yg style is “love scenario”, “stay” and AKMU’s songs

i mean if you compare the song with other yg artists song, they all have the same vibe to it because of the “yg style” we always say

the song also gives me nct and skz vibes too, like specifically “punch” and “side effects” bc of the heavy edm and also bc their songs has been called noise before dhshd

but enough of that

I really like how the song starts calmly in the beginning and then it starts to be more aggressive

also I like the fact that each of the girls get a chance to say “how you like that”

lisa’s rap????? y e s

personally I feel like this time it had more of a fairer distribution, including lines and center parts

like jisoo actually gets some center parts in the dance break and chorus

i also really like the outfits this era, especially the modernized hanboks! though I have mix feelings about the pink wig dhshdh

speaking of hair, jennie!! she fucking dyed her hair!!!

and rosé is no longer blonde dhsjdj

the parts I found weird is when rosé says “look up in the sky it’s a bird it’s a plane” i have no idea how that fits in the song so

and the “dumdudurum” part at the end, it sounds out of place, like especially after it the song ends

i also think that this is their best choreography! right next to don’t know what to do

overall, I really like the song, if you don’t it’s fine! hylt has the most aesthetic mv’s I’ve seen and the outfits are so much better and it has been said that BLACKPINK’s old stylist left the company in January no not maeng

lisa’s fur coat outfit reminds me of yeji’s outfit in wannabe

would I say that hylt is their best song? no, I think playing with fire was their best song but it’s not a terrible song either

another I like is jisoo owning this era, say what you want, hylt is Jisoo’s era period.

STRAY KIDS: GOD’S MENU

what even is a concept anymore

we all thought it was going to be some street racer concept

buT NO

it’s a kung fu panda concept dhshdh

felix!!! my baby has lines !!!!

his demonic voice is bACK

hyunjin’s blond hair 😭😭

what the fUCK

the way he tied it up in a ponytail, like sir that is diSRESPECTFUL he really is jaebum’s son huh

okay okay on to the song

it honestly shocked me so much, like the rap parts were so aggressive like and the vocals are kinda angelic???

i really really like the pre-chorus, seungmin’s voice is just so !!!!! i also like seungmin+i.n’s little duet after felix’s part

spEAKING OF FELIX’S PART

“looking like a chef I’m a five star Michelin” bro that part is lowkey demonic looking in the dance

like mans pulled his knees up and put his hands through them while looking directly at you

does that not look demonic to you??? my friend said it reminded her of a spider dhshdhr

also the “dududu” part instantly reminded me of bp’s dddd dhshd like can someone edit a part of bp going “oh wait till I do when I hit you with that” and cuts to skz “DUDUDU”

the fact that no one has done it yet astounishes me

also what the fuck is that chain thing on Chan’s face, who put it there and why dhshd

bless whoever gave changbin dual contacts lens

AND WHO GAVE JEONGIN SLEEVELESS SHIRTS WHO ALLOWED THAT DHSHD

at first I found the choreography a bit funny bc they added like cooking gestures to it dhshd, like stirring the pot in the chorus but my favorite part of the dance is changbin’s part

the entire album was a bop okay, the fact that “god’s menu” wasn’t even the title track and they decided to change it, the fact that jyp has so much TRUST in bang chan also we get to see chan and sana being best friends uwu

“pacemaker” is literally “my pace” 2020 ver dhshd it even has the “nananana” part!

my favorites from the album is “TA”, “blueprint” and “haven”!!

also “easy”,,,, chan what did u do that it can’t be performed in shows

TWICE: MORE & MORE

wow girl groups are really being criticized this month huh

if y’all don’t know what happened with twice, a lot of people are criticizing twice for not singing live during their encore stages

a lot of them are especially going after momo

I’ve watched their encore stages and I don’t know why people are saying they sound bad???? maybe they need a better vocal coach but the fact that people are taking advantages of the situation just to hate on them smh

a n y w a y s

the song definitely gives a whole lot of “dtna” vibes bc of the tropical concept, its like “dtna” but the mature version

if “dance the night away” had an older sister, it would be “more & more”

also I really like the eve & adam concept, “more & more” is also another “creepy”ish song that is hidden behind a catchy tune, like “yes or yes” where ppl think it’s a cute song but the lyrics says otherwise

okay actually writing this out, it’s mv has “dtna” vibe but the song is so much like “yes or yes”

if you read the lyrics, the girls are basically saying that “no matter how hard you try to hide, you’re going to be mine again”

even in dahyun’s rap she says “I’m naturally selfish, I’m sorry if you didn’t know” and “you will fall for me, you can’t say no no”

it’s almost the same as her part in “yes or yes” where she says “there is no letters n and o” dhshdh sorry this becam a whole theory

back the real song review, I’m so glad that momo got a dance break! I think that this is their fairest line distribution yet. jeongyeon got her lines, dubchaeng got their rap parts and momo has a lot of center parts!!

and the girls look so much happier during their promotions especially tzuyu! she was smiling so much, maybe it’s because mina is with them and I’m so happy they get to perform as nine again

i really like their choreography and the part where they do the chest bounce is really satisfying idk why dhsdh

plus jeongyeon got better outfits this era cough feel special era cough

overall, I really like this comeback and it’s nice that nayeon got the high notes this time instead of jihyo

IZ*ONE: SECRET STORY OF THE SWAN

oh boy this is definitely my favorite song of this month

it’s so much different than their other songs!!!

and there’s so much to go on about!

wonyoung, minju, sakura and hyewon literally improved so much. im so proud of them !!!

hyewon, nako and sakua getting to sing the chorus??? y e s

chaeyena rap parts????? y e s

chaeyeon getting a dance break AND a high note???? Y E S

my favorite parts is eunbi+chaewon pre chorus wow I have a thing for pre choruses don’t I dhsh

i will say that this song vies the girls the chance to show how much they’ve improved throughout the eras, especially the j-line and visual line since a lot of people said they didn’t belong in izone

wonyoung and yujin's expressions are really on point as well

and yena's hip move dhshdhs

it's also rlly cute how eunbi throws confetti at her part dhshd

it’s refreshing to see how the girls improved

unfortunately, izone will be disbanding this year ;-; this is why I never liked the produce series

but we do have some ideas what will happen to the members though, we all know yena will be added into everglow, i having a feeling that eunbi and chaeyeon will be debuting as a soloist, they have so much potential plus the radiate chungha energy

nako, hitomi and sakura would most likely return to Japan, although I see sakura staying in korea to pursue an acting career and hitomi as a producer since she wrote some of izone’s songs

yuri might debut as a solo or debut in a new girl group as main vocalists, the same goes for chaewon

i see minju and hyewon going into acting careers and CF contracts, the same as kang mina, especially since minju is now an mc for music core

whereas for wonyoung and yujin, their both still young so I think they’ll finish school before re-debuting in groups plus yujin will be attending sopa

especially wonyoung, we all know that she’s actually really smart and is good at academics, i also think she might do modeling work, she fits the criteria

i also kinda see yujin pursuing an acting career because she will be in the theatre and film department in sopa. unless starship is going to debut a new girl group, I hope that yujin can debut as a soloist instead

WEKI MEKI: OOPSY

*inhales*

LUCY AND LUA FINALLY GETTING THE LINES THEY D E S E R V E D

I’m so happy dhshdhhs

also lua fits the short hairstyle so much, I’ve literally fallen for her help I can’t get up

as much as I love yoojung, it’s nice to see lucy rapping

the song is very catchy, I especially like rina’s part in the second verse of the song

i also love the “wolf & hunter” concept for the album

like the pictures were very beautiful, I also like how they use white for the wolves and black for the hunters, it’s like painting the hunters at the bad guys and the wolves as the good guys

I am in love with Lucy, Lua and Sei’s “nonono” part in the chorus

and the choreography for the chorus too

as much as I love elly’s blue hair, she slays in black hair dhshd I

I really love their outftis this era, i like how it’s all pants for the girls too

my favorite outfits are the black outfits from the gif

overall, this is definitely their fairest line distribution cough tika taka and dazzle dazzle cough

NATURE: GIRLS

this is my second favorite song of the month

I love the whole horror concept and I also like the fact that they released the uncensored version of the mv

it’s give the song much more of the horror vibe

I’m new to Nature and as far as I know, a member is stuck in China and another member sat out due to an injury. please correct me if I’m wrong

the outfits might be simple, but it fits so right with the song, I prefer the white dresses over the black ones

it kinda gives out the feeling that the girls are like asylum patients ya know, whereas the black dresses gives out that the girls are rich daughters that were sent away

I really like LU and Haru’s parts

the dance is also kinda a simple but it looks great!

overall, I hope that Nature will do this concept again, actually I hope to see more groups do this kind of concepts more

WAYV: TURN BACK TIME

did this comeback scare me? yes yes it did

bro the teasers were so scARY

yangyang was literally laughing like a mANIAC

MANS WAS IN AN ASYLUM OKAY

their teasers gave me so much suicide squad vibes

also, why the fuck were 4/7 members not wearing shiRTS

sm do you have a shirt shortage??? I’m sure nctzens are more than happy to donate some shirts to you

okay anyways, I’ve always liked wayv’s sci-fi concept, I don’t know if the mv’s are connected or not but I think they are

“take off” is them basically flying away from earth and they landed in space in “moonwalk” and it seems they have been captured in “turn back time”

very inch resting dhshd

listen, I may be chinese but I can’t understand 70% of the song because of how fast it goES

so with that saying, yANGYANG DID NOT COME TO PLAY

his rap was amazing !!!! he is definitely one of sm’s best rappers along with taeyong and mark

my favorite part is lucas and hendery’s rap parts and then it switches to xiaojun and yangyang + kun, ten and xiaojun getting highnotes

the dance break is so satisfying to watch too

“stop, rewind, turn back time” and “5432” part is so satisfying

also I’m really impressed with how fast LabelV responded when fans pointed out that some of the outfits had offensive phrases in them, they took the time to edit it out of the teasers and the mv, cheers to them

also! i find it funny that wayv released the Korean version of “turn back time” but all of us were much more shocked at the fact that Ten got another cat dhshd

SEVENTEEN: LEFT & RIGHT

first of all, dokyeom looks so gOOD IN THE MV

second of all, vernon and wonwoo’s “hana dul set” will forever be iconic

third, seungcheol is back 😭😭

just like twice, they get to perform as 13 again dhsjdsn

AND THEY LOOK SO HAPPY DURING THIS ERA TOO

LIKE HAVE YOU SEEN WONWOO?? HE’S SUCH A SMILEY BABY with his orange mic dhshd

also if y’all don’t have tiktok, svt has been doing the “left & right” with so many other idols including chungha and apink’s naeun!

haha joshua hong and wen junhui being real disrespectful with those sleeveless shirts

bonus point we got svt x nct china line + mark and joshua interaction at music bank

their choreography looks so fun too dhshd

the entire comeback is so cute and colorful

my favorite parts are vernon and seungcheol’s rap parts

also vernon be rocking that greaser style

their new album is so versatile, like, “fearless”, “left & right”, “kidult” and “my my”?? who’s doing it like seventeen

i love their new songs so much especially “kidult”

overall, I really really love this comeback

WJSN: BUTTERFLY

I couldn’t find a group scene gif pls forgive me

let me say, I am absolutely in love with the concept, the outfit concept for this is so creative, I don’t know if any other groups have done it before but !!

their outfits evovle like a butterfly!!

at first, the outfits were plain pastel colours but they slowly become more detailed and colourful throughout the stages, like a caterpillar to a butterfly!

center yeoreum!!!

and dayoung looks so pretty in short hair 🥺

and again, as far as I know, the Chinese members are in China, two of them are apart of the Chinese group Rocket Girl and I think Chengxiao recently returned to Korea

I really like their ending pose where their hands are in the butterfly gesture and the “wings” are slowly flapping

and how their arms represent their wings during the chorus

by far one of the moor creative comebacks in my opinion

also, it’s nice to hear soobin doing the high note instead of yeonjung, let yeonjung rest her voice once in a while ya know

SUNMI: PPORAPPIPAM

THE QUEEN IS BACKKK

also wonder girls reunion uwu

the teaser gave me so much "barbie: island princess" vibes so the entire mv was not what I expected

at all

the mv literally describes sunmi a lot, she basically does whatever the fuck she wants like when she posted that pic of jyp on instagram dhshdhs

it’s so funny especially the scene where sunmi is wearing the teletubbies head

and at the end when she wakes up and goes back to sleep is just a mood lmao

something about the song really gives me a lot of “siren” vibes but happier???

i really like the way she pronounces “pporappipam” it took me one week to finally pronounced it dhshd

idk why but I really like the instrumental, especially the intro, it’s very melancholic

also she wears converse while performing the song bc she has to step on the dancers at one part !!

speaking of that part, it’s so cool!!! the way she climbs up the dancers like stairs and then she just trust-falls into their arms