#can perform peak masculinity right ? idk

[samaspic31]

I respect their gender identity i just think they have shitty morals and complacent in being tools of imperialism-

[franken-douche]

Making an ongoing list as I'm watching Season 2 of Glee. *Ahem*

Things from Season 2 of Glee that we were robbed of.

Episode 1

More of JBIs interviews + him roasting the fuck out of Will

Seeing Sue bake. The fact that Sue canonically bakes. (Yeah, they're shit cookies, but she did make them herself.)

That shimmery red coat we see Kurt wearing in "What I Did For Love"

Episode 2

Emma gushing about how she overcomes her OCD. (She's so proud of herself, I love it) + Seeing Carl help her with it.

All the Glee kids super high on anesthesia ("I petted a snake" KILLS ME)

Finn and Rachel hugging, because he is literally a whole head taller than her and his hand is the size of her face.

(Unrelated but watch the Toxic performance and watch a different kid each time. I guarantee you'll see something new each time.)

Episode 3

Finn Hudson Cooking Channel™

Finn Hudson sitting like a fucking ELF ON THE SHELF (In the park during Papa Can You Hear Me istg)

The kids in the hospital talking about religion and straight up being like "idk, one of them has gotta work right?"

Episode 4

More of Sam talking about being comfortable with his masculinity unlike SOME.

More Tike dancing 💞

Episode 5

More of Finn's body image issues because I'm sure there had to be macho guys who felt seen during that. Rachel just brushes it off.

THE REST OF DAMN IT JANET.

I really wish we could've seen more behind the scenes of the play. The costumes and makeup are absolutely *chef's kiss*

Artie absolutely eating Time Warp up.

Episode 6

We were robbed of seeing more of Kurt's cute bowties. Look at his bowtie in this first scene, it's so adorable I can't 😭

MORE OF THE GLEE GORLS WEARING ALL BLACK FOR CHRISTS SAKE.

WHAT DID KURT GO AND DO AFTER DAVID KISSED HIM? I genuinely would probably go home and sleep. For a week.

More behind Pucks outburst. It really does represent how a lot of kids feel when it comes to stuff like that. And also his daddy issues just peak through that.

[chessiesystem]

StEx Appreciation Month, Day 31: Nitpicks

SO, I have a LOT of nitpicks about literally every aspect of the show, like I could go on and on, but then this post would be the embodiment of this gif:

So for today I’m just going to focus on costume nitpicks! Like with everything in the show I have an ideal version of everyone’s costume/wig/makeup, so today I’ll just go over my main nitpicks with the various costumes and post my favorite versions!

Obligatory JapanAus picture because those tours overall had the BEST costume aesthetics.

Let’s get started:

(Also just to go ahead and get this out of the way, this post is almost completely ignoring the 2018 redesigns, like. Those don’t live in my head. I’ll just be focusing on the Broadway/Bochum/tour designs.)

Rusty:

Okay so with Rusty my main nitpick is!!! That stupid empty black space that’s above his chest plate in SO many of the costumes!! Like WHY is that there?! Here’s a good picture of it:

It drives me absolutely insane aljsldf. Luckily Bochum eventually corrected this but that it was ever there drives me up a wall.

Another nitpick is his headband… I can tolerate it when it’s paired with the hat, but I can’t stand it on its own, it just looks ugly to me. And speaking of his hat, I love most versions of it, EXCEPT for the New Starlight Express one where it was styled after a baseball cap. That bothers me on a level I don’t even fully understand alsjflds.

Anyway, I think overall my favorite version of Rusty’s costume is the 2018 version… I think the silhouette looks strange, especially from the side, like kind of too baggy? But overall it’s really cute, I love the colors and the new chest plate design, and the HAT. Also really like the new makeup!! It was looking rough for a minute lmao.

This is Peak Performance (not the Pearl…definitely not the Pearl):

Pearl:

Being as I’m in love with most of Pearl’s costumes I actually don’t have a ton of nitpicks. I think my main one is that I’m not a fan of the salmon/gold tones that were sometimes used for the bodice. For example:

I think moreso than the costumes I’m critical of Pearl’s wigs. I HATE when she has straight wigs… the only exception to this rule is Stephanie Lawrence’s and Nikki Belsher’s because those wigs were also big and fluffy. But that lanky thing Bochum had in the early 2000s? Terrible. Pearl should have big, dramatic curls. Also, this should go without saying but her hair should be PINK. Blonde Pearl actually gives me acid reflux.

Also I don’t think much attention is given to her headpiece, but I really love when they’re big and princess-y. Like, this headpiece with these earrings? I love:

As far as a favorite Pearl costume, that’s really hard because I love so many of them, but I’ll say this one. I think it’s a nice balance of pink and white:

Greaseball:

I don’t have a ton of nitpicks about Greaseball’s costume… like, it fucks pretty hard? I moreso have beef with his makeup. NONE of these men know how to blend and it looks terrible. I get that it might be a stage makeup thing that looks better under stage lights but I still don’t even really buy that because every other character blends?? Also, I don’t like how the makeup is just contouring… I get that it’s to make the actors look more masculine, which does suit Greaseball’s character, but PLEASE give that diesel some character makeup!!

I really stan the Broadway makeup for this reason. Look at this Jareth-looking bitch, he looks amazing! And it’s just SO cool:

Idk even this London makeup is pretty okay imo… anything to make him more visually interesting 😭:

Dinah:

My main gripe with Dinah’s costume will forever and always be the apron lmao. I’m very, very picky about it because it’s SO easy to make look tacky as hell. The 2018 apron is the ugliest its ever been, I’m sorry:

LIKE WHY IS IT SO BIG AND LONG. Also the silver strap around her chest is WAY too high now. I swear they tried to make the 2018 coaches more modest in the ugliest ways possible. But anyway.

I prefer for the apron to only be beneath the belt, but if it also has to be above the belt I can tolerate it if its small, like the Broadway design or the earlier Bochum designs. I also prefer when her leggings are on the more silver/metallic side than just straight up blue. Broadway and Japan-Australia had the right idea with how metallic they made everyone look.

As far as Bochum goes, I feel like the costume’s peak was from like 1997 to 2007:

PERSONALLY, though, my ideal Dinah costume would be Debbie Wake’s from the Japan tours. The color, the leggings, the wig, it’s all so… Peak! I also really love how the top of her skirt is divided into sections?? It’s really cute. The only thing I’d change is I’d remove the part of the apron that reaches above the belt and adjust the color of her wig. But otherwise I love this one so much 🥺🥺🥺:

Electra:

I have a lot of very disjointed thoughts on Electra’s costume, but bottom line is I’m rarely content with it… but my MAIN nitpick is definitely the color scheme. I know that it’s intended to be blue/red/silver but instead it often looks blue/red/white to me and I just CANNOT dissociate that from the American flag/overzealous patriotism alsjdlf, it kind of gives me heartburn. I’ve seen some fan redesigns of the costume that incorporate a blue/red/gold color scheme instead and I think that could REALLY fuck, though I don’t know how it’d translate to the stage/irl. Or just?? Design his palette after the bi flag colors??

Another nitpick is how boxy and bulky his chest box often is. I feel like I can’t criticize this TOO harshly because, in my opinion, this musical should be FIRMLY 80s, and that’s probably what counted as “futuristic” in the 80s, but it’s just a personal preference of mine that I wish his chest piece was more slender and streamlined. I think it’d make the silhouette better and just?? Look better??

I also don’t like most of the mohawk wigs… they just look… VERY cheap and fake to me most of the time. I prefer the looser/wilder wigs because they look softer and more natural.

ANYWAY I’ve found that the costume that actually sates most of these complaints for me is the Japan-Australia costume. The palette actually looks blue, red, and SILVER to me, and the body suit is just?? Sooo shiny and metallic and sparkly?? It’s so pretty. The wig is a perfect balance of the looser/wilder London wigs and the early mohawk wigs, and the MAKEUP is so good, it’s the only time I’ve seen a silvery/metallic base on Electra work and NOT whitewash the fuck out of the actor. Not to mention the base in JapanAus matched the body suit REALLY well and aaaah idk I could wax poetic about this costume all night aljsfld it’s really good and I appreciate it for being the, like, one (1) Electra costume I vibe with 😭.

Again, I’d streamline the chest box if I could but overall? This is peak performance:

CB:

Off the bat I’ll say I hate how big his shoulder boxes have gotten over the years. Like they are just ridiculously massive, it looks kind of awkward when the actors can’t even rest their arms by their sides due to it. They look like little kids wearing arm floats. Also not a fan of how much lower the neckline has gotten, and how much smaller the bandana has gotten?? His chest and neck are SO exposed now when they use to be completely covered and it irks the hell out of me.

Funnily, this one picture pretty clearly displays all three of these nitpicks:

Compare this to back when the neckline was higher/the bandana larger, he’s completely covered. He also isn’t fucking DROWNING in his shoulder boxes:

Also not a fan of the hair piece Bochum has used in recent years. Like it was just so much cuter when the actors used their real hair :^//. And I just Do Not Vibe with how straight and neat the hair piece is, CB has wild, curly hair and I’ll die on that hill.

ALSO, and this is more specific to just one actor, but I kind of hate Dan Ellison’s makeup aljsldf. Like it’s well done but it just has far too much going on. All what CB needs done is his cheeks, his eyes, and his lips— all that extra that Dan does on his jawline and with the laugh lines around his mouth and eyes is just… too much. And it frustrates me so much because he would be SO much cuter if he went with a simpler makeup!! Ugh. But anyway.

This was 100% the makeup at its best, like. Absolutely peak, thank you Thierry Gondet:

And my favorite costume comes from the 1990 Japan tour. I ADORE how this chest box is fitted and designed, and it just looks so shiny and red? Like it was freshly washed and painted 😭. Not to mention the red contour on his temples is kind of a Look:

The only thing I’d adjust is I’d give him the suspenders present in most of his costumes, because they’re honestly adorable. And, of course, he needs his Chessie System sticker. But otherwise? This is Peak Performance.

Okay I was gonna do more but this thing is fuckoff long as it is, so I’ll just stick to the Big Six. If you made it this far you’re a trooper, thank you for taking the time to read my ramblings aljsldfs.

[bisluthq]

“Masculine energy” anon back, maybe that term is outdated and steeped in traditional gender role assumptions about traits traditionally deemed as masculine & feminine.A person is said to have more masculine or feminine energy based on how many masculine or feminine traits they have. I use the term to mean like vibes... I know problematic 😬. But honestly don’t know how else to explain it. I’m 24, a bi woman, married to a woman. I can be very femme and I can be more stemme depending on how I feel on the day or how I want to feel. I’ve dated str8 & bi guys, studs, femmes, a bi trans woman. And in every single relationship I kind of automatically change the way I behave to suit my partner’s “energy”. I can’t help it I just do. When I was with str8 guys I just automatically slipped into this submissive, overly feminine girly girl like just over the top with it. There’s a certain attention you immediately command ( I feel) when you play up that role but it’s also very very stifling. And with the wlw women and the bisexual guys I dated regardless of how they presented (fashion wise) it was always their personality or vibes that dictated how I would act, dress and what role I would play in the relationship. With any str8 guy it’s always the same role regardless of the guy with every other gender and sexuality I react based on that persons “energy”. So I guess I’m attuned to picking up on certain things and basically what I’m saying about Karlie is that there’s something about her “energy”. It’s hard to distinctly pin down which reminds me of myself. She’s like a chameleon she gives off different vibes based on the people she’s around (at least that’s what I observe from watching her in media) And then at other times she’s projecting very girly 101 in a way that feels like she’s projecting. It’s not all the time like that but sometimes it feels like she’s performing a textbook (insert type of girl) routine and than at other times she seems to give off a kind “masculine energy” (idk how to explain it). Plus like look at Karlie’s street style during peak Kaylor and the way she kinda took the lead with Taylor based on Taylor’s vibe. I don’t think str8 girls would be attuned on that level ( and definitely not to someone of the same sex) in order for them to seemlessly slip into a role that accomadates that person the way Karlie did with Taylor.

No I hear you anon and like I obviously buy something happened with them.

You’ve given a very good explanation! I just... think she doesn’t ping outside of Kaylor. 

She defs did with Tay tho - hence the rumors, right? Like people aren’t just cooked in the head, they seemed fruity together.

Tay seems fruity all the time.

Kar only seems fruity with Tay.

[comradesummers]

top 5 btvs episodes, top five buffy summers quotes?

I’ve answered top 5 episodes in this ask.

Now, top 5 Buffy quotes is going to be hard, because I love her so much, and there are so many good moments. Narrowing it down to five is going to be one hell of a challenge, but here is my very incomplete list:

5. “If I were at full slayer power, I would be punning right about now.”

Idk what it is about this one that always gets to me. For one, it’s just really funny. Like I legit laughed out loud the first time I heard it. But, as funny as this line is, it’s also really powerful, because it’s Buffy’s way of reasserting her self worth. Despite being betrayed, and stripped of her powers, Buffy still manages to save the day through her ingenuity and power of will, and she knows it. This line is a testament to that. Even powerless and alone, she can still make an incredibly meta joke about puns. 

4.”She irons her jeans! She’s evil!”

I am not even remotely exaggerating when I say that this line is peak comedy.

3. “I don’t know how to live in this world, if these are the choices, if everything just gets stripped away, I don’t see the point.”

Yeah, I sure do love me some angst, huh. 

So, for context. I’m not a person who cries a lot, or like ever. I don’t know if this is because I internalized some weird toxic masculinity bullshit from the men in my life, or if I’m just an emotionless robot, but for some reason, I just don’t do it. Certainly not at fiction.

But this scene is perhaps the closest I have ever gotten to crying at anything fictional. You can just feel Buffy’s exhaustion through the screen, She’s been at this so long, and she’s lost so much, and she just can’t take it anymore. It’s absolutely gutwrenching, and for my money, SMG’s best performance ever on the show, for which there is obviously very stiff competition.

2. “Me.”

So, a lot of people have spoken much more eloquently about this moment than I ever could. It’s absolutely iconic and meaningful to so many people, and I would just be regurgitating the words of better writers if I tried to explain why.

All I’ll add is that this line never fails to get a physical reaction out of me. Like, whenever I watch that scene, I have this intense need to take action. It’s empowering on the most literal level, in that it empowers me to get off my ass and do whatever it is that I’ve been avoiding due to anxiety that day. 

1. “I say we change the rules. I say my power should be our power.” and the entire Chosen speech.

Listen, I get that there is a lot that the show got very wrong in terms of feminism. And I get that Whedon sucks, and that for those reasons, the girl power message of this episode is going to ring pretty hollow for some. And that’s totally valid.

But I just love this speech so fucking much. I think it works so well for me because I just really love this idea that the end of Buffy’s journey is one of triumph over the Chosen One narrative. Buffy’s story isn’t, like so many of these kinds of stories, about accepting her fate. It’s ultimately about her recognizing that her fate is stupid. That there are better ways to go about this. That just because these are the rules, and this is how it’s always been, doesn’t mean this is how it should be.

And I love that all this is couched in the idea of the redistribution of power (maybe one day I’ll write more about the extremely accidental socialist themes of BtVS), and the understanding that this redistribution is what will truly grant Buffy freedom. That the answer isn’t martyrdom, but community. It’s really beautiful, and the perfect way to end the show if you ask me.

[felicityb-reviews]

Uhm Jung Hwa “Ending Credit” MV Review

I AM NOT WORTHY!!!!

MY NAME IS JACE (aka Felicity B) AND

I

AM

NOT

W O R T H Y!!!!

~The Song~

Ending Credit is a bop, sis. A lowkey, melancholy bop.

But a bop, nonetheless.

Ms Junghwa might have played racketball with my wig with Ending Credit.

She might have run up on my ass with a razor and faded me with Ending Credit.

I might need surgery cause I'm missing the first layer of my skull cause of Ending Credit.

But, you know… A bitch isn't mad!!!

Uhm Junghwa has a voice that you don't really hear a lot of in K-Pop. Her tone is very airy, but she lacks any of the brightness that the typical vocalist has in spades. She has a thinner tone than makes her voice easy to layer and stack, but you know it's her singing. Overall, she has a very distinct voice and after 25 years in the game, she's definitely learned how to harness it to great effect.

Ending Credit, like I mentioned above, has a very sad, melancholic vibe to it. It's a rather upbeat song, but it's more "dancing with tears in my eyes" than PSY's New Face. This is partly due to the New Wave/NuDisco style production, courtesy of Primary and SURAN (who are the absolute last people on Earth I would have expected to be Behind The Music™) and the chord progressions that make up the song.

New Wave is a very bittersweet sounding genre of music. No matter how many major chords you use to write a New Wave song, that shit comes out with a sad, almost nostalgic undertone to it.

But that's okay, because that's clearly the vibe they were going for in Ending Credit. The chord progressions used here are usually used when they're either discussing change that's happened in the past, or a change that's about to happen. There's a "life will go on" feel to Ending Credit, and it makes me wonder if Mrs Junghwa is retiring soon. I mean, she did debut in 1993, so I couldn't be surprised.

Let me say that again - Uhm Jung Hwa debuted in 1993.

Ma'am is touching 50 years of age, and she still makes your faves look redundant.

I have to say that my absolute favorite part of Ending Credit is the bridge - when everything but the synth pad and Junghwa's voice drops out. I freaking tear up every time I listen to that part. It's just so powerful!!

A different kind of vocalist would have gone HAM with the high notes n ad libs on the final chorus, but Miss Junghwa decided to keep it cute n classy, which I appreciate. I do think she could have done a little bit more, but at the same time, it's always from one extreme to the next with these divas.

~The Video~

Ending Credit the video sees Uhm Junghwa at the premiere for what I assume is her final role. The video flits between Junghwa watching herself on screen, and Junghwa dancing about various locations of the theater, looking every bit the powerful diva she is. Ending Credit was shot, on location, at the Universal Arts Center in Seoul, which is super cool because they could have easily replicated all the various locations Junghwa filmed in at a studio. It just adds to the whole concept of the video, sis.

Junghwa's makeup in this video is very heavy (I'm pretty sure it breaks every ~rule~ for a Korean style beat), but it suits the video. It emphasizes her age, but not in a bad way (even though there's nothing wrong with looking your age); she looks like the distinguished actress that everyone aspires to be. Her styling, in general, in this video looks very '80s/'90s which only adds to the finality of the video.

Ending Credit the video is a really cool experience, because it shows off just how amazing of a performer Junghwa is. Most of the shots in this video are solo solo, and she keeps you enraptured. If there's one thing I know about this woman, it's that she O O Z E S stage presence. And even when she has dancers supporting her, your eyes stay glued to her (even though her dancers are all fine as F U C K).

Which, I mean, she's been K-Pop's Dancing Diva™ for 25 years now. You kinda have to know a thing or two about charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent to survive that long.

~The Choreography~

Lia Kim (Ending Credit's choreographer) is a fucking genius.

Uhm Junghwa is a competent dancer. She's not BoA level, but she can hold her own, okay?!?!?! And Ending Credit's routine is not overly hard or complex. The moves are somewhat physically demanding (ma'am is up, down, and all around in the first minute of the song; that shit was exhausting to watch live), but I wouldn't say this is the hardest routine I've seen in my six years of K-Pop standom.

Lia Kim is a genius, because Ending Credit's routine is straight up performance art. Ending Credit's routine emphasizes Junghwa's performance ability (like I said above, this woman oozes stage presence), and shows us exactly how she stayed on top of her peers during her peak. Junghwa looks like she's dancing for her life, but also like she's having the time of her life. If this is her "last" role, then she's gonna give it her all and more.

Ending Credit is Junghwa's second video in the Cloud Dreamer of the Nine series that uses all male backup dancers (the first being Dreamer), and idk if that's a Thing™ for her (it's hard to find older K-Pop videos), but it speaks volumes to me?!?!?! I'm so tired of this division in K-Pop where it's like, "boys dance this way, girls dance that way"; and if girls wanna be taken seriously as a dance group, they have to do more masculine styles of dance. Getting beyond the misogyny in that (which you know my nonbinary ass has a lot to speak on), it's just boring as fuck. So it's nice to see Junghwa telling the rules of K-Pop to fuck off.

~Overall and Final Thoughts~

Ending Credit scalped me bald.

Junghwa gives us a whole lot with Ending Credit, sis - the song is so so S O addicting (Primary is more powerful than we ever knew), the video is awe inspiring (and tugs on the heart strings a lil), and the routine is up there with one of the best of the year. Everything was on point. I'm really at a loss for words here, guys; if I was rating this the same way I songs in my Review Roundups, Ending.

Uhm Jung Hwa is fucking badass. She really didn't have to come back to music after she dropped her 2008 mini album D.I.S.C.O. I mean, that era was way before my time, but it's literally one of my favorite minis to just play when I want something fun. She didn't have to start doing music again, because her acting career is probably making her far more money than releasing music ever did. But she really just does not give a fuck about that shit, boo. You can tell this woman loves performing with her whole heart, and she has a team that loves pushing the boundaries of what acts like her ~should~ be doing at her age.

Junghwa is really That Bitch™, and you cannot tell me anything else. She's not overly well known in international K-Pop circles (but then again, not a lot of actual K-Pop legends are), but I highly recommend checking up on her stuff. She was playing hopscotch with her contemporaries' wigs back in the day day the way she's playing with your faves' hairlines now.

Author's Note - this is a review that I left half finished when I halted reviews last month, so I figured I'd go ahead and release it now. I had a much different review planned for today, but I think it'd do far more harm than good if I posted it now. That, and I can't really bring myself to look at it right now. I hope you enjoyed!!