#dances cutely as i give silly opinionated analysis

[vellichorom]

I don’t know if someone has asks this before, but what is your favorite ending from The Stanley Parable?

nobody's actually asked me that before, so thank YOU for being the first!

i think there's something to like in EVERY ending, so this was. hard. HOWEVER, my's indisputable, all-time-favorite, you-can-quote-this-in-my-biography TSP ending is... 🥁

The Countdown Ending.

( closely followed by the elevator / confusion / apartment ( w/ the bucket ) / any games ending / the vent ending / the sequel/new content ending + pretty much any ending regarding the sequel )

& let me tell you why!

this ending HITS in EVERY way.

this ending is such an immediate SWERVE from what a newer player might expect from the game, especially since THIS ending stems from one of the first you can get just by playing as you're told to. in fact, though dependent on how one chooses to play, this could be your introduction to the underlying plot of what's ACTUALLY going on here, & it's very much- at least to me, the best way TO introduce it all.

you do the menial thing of deviating from the path at the last minute, devastatingly deciding on stanley's behalf that he wants to take control of everything, & you get RIPPED TO SHREDS for it, the world unravelling at your feet, you are punished & laughed at for panicking; you are CHASTISED for trying to act on your own accord, first treated like a sin ( because of the implications of stanley activating the facility ) & then having it rubbed in your face that you don't even HAVE control & your choices seemingly don't matter.

& the best part? new players wouldn't know this, but the seasoned ones would: the narrator is JUST as helpless as you are beyond being able to direct the game. it's chilling to figure that, look back, & simply realize.

speak of the devil; this introduces a WHOLE new light to your trusty narrator, him going out of his way to teach you a lesson, executing your character, explicitly, DELIBERATELY making you sit there for every painstaking second of this ending - rather than nullifying it to a cutscene, for his own enjoyment in milking your horror, at that.

i don't think we talk about that enough. & i don't think we realize how shocking that must be to someone just getting into this game blind.

i remember LOSING MY MIND seeing this ending for the first time, & to this DAY i'm still chilled each time i watch it, especially the more i think about the ever-expanding list of implications.

BEYOND said list of implications, as well as the plot itself, the environment & visual setup GETS me; running around a darkening facility, desperately trying to find anything to reverse the clock while everything starts shutting & breaking down around you. you are alone, nobody's coming to help you & you are assured of this fact SO many times over. everything is a reminder that you have a limited time left to play. oh my god i'm dying thinking about it

not to mention, you've got red lights of doom swirling around the room, harmonizing with the music- WHICH HEY, I COULD TOUT THIS AS MY FAVORITE ENDING BASED ON THE MUSIC ALONE. the ' countdown ' track is DAMNING, a haunting melody that feels like you're waltzing with fate itself, glimmers of hope in the belting choir, only to fail & die by it's unforgiving, cold hands. you are aweing at the scene as the helpless player, & the music will highlight that MERCILESSLY. it's so good. that's one of my favorite tracks in a game ever.

...........& yeah the narrator's growl here is something but i feel like this ending gets hyped up TOO much just for that / the narrator being seen as wildly attractive for trying to kill you. YES, he is, we know, that's not the point though, i'm gayer for the music

I COULD GO. on & on, but I'm going to stop myself here, because I think you get the idea.

& i think the funniest thing here is, i love the countdown ending for being such a massive nail in the coffin of the narrative here, but the rest of my favorite endings are much more silly, dare i say domestic, even. my range. is immense. feel free to ask about those too if you like!

BUT YEAHHH i really like the countdown ending. 10 cookies out of 9!

[spyxfamilyanalysis]

Chapter 97 & 98... shock me a lot (Part 1)

Alright, before reading my point of view about the chapters, ...

Thank you all so much because we finally reached 80 followers, we are on the way to 100 followers!!! I couldn't have done this without your support on liking my analysis. Though I may be not the best at analyzing anime or manga, and I probably be inactive quite long (could be because I'm busy studying, and I ran out of ideas), I will do my best giving you guys something to read (?) to entertain, all to the fans of SPY x FAMILY!

And Happy 2nd anniversary for this blog @spyxfamilyanalysis!!!

Now let's get back to the post.

After the ball dance event in chapter 97, we get to see Martha (Becky's butler) and Mr. Henderson (Anya & Becky's housemaster)'s past when they were schoolmates.

Now that I know Martha is 3 years younger than Henderson 😮

And oh boy, how I love this cute "romance" between the both of them :")))

From strangers to familiars, they have a very cute bond between a senpai and a kouhai. Firstly, if you haven't read chapter 97 and 98, read it now! Because this post contains spoilers!

Well, not because you can't read this post duh! I feel like if you read the manga first, you will get what I'm writing, so you can follow the flow of this post better.

(why this pic is so messed up...)

Just kidding really, I know you will keep reading anyway... Ima right??? 😏

Now first, plot of the story:

Chapter 97

(seriously, i dunno what to explain here, since this is the intro for senpai and kouhai's friendship~)

Ok why is the lady has Anya's signature smirk :D

Every since Martha's debut in ballerina show dance, the first ever word Henderson ever spoke was "How elegant!", which to everyone's surprise, from an elite to a transfer student.

And after that day, Martha, and new transfer student, ended up having friends thanks to her talent in ballerina, while Henderson, an Imperial Scholar, lost some because of his strict attitude (?) and his arrogant, was called "Mr. Elegant".

Yet these 2 opposite characters ended up spending time having tea and conversation, and they both enjoying each other's company, as if they are close friends, more than just the relationship between an upperclassman and an underclass-"woman". Personally, I think that is a great start to build relationships with not only just your peers, but also your upperclassmen. I mean, you can ask for the latter's advice, they can support your study, since they know more than you.

Heck, I wish I knew an upperclassman to help me with my studies and exams, too much for an introvert :")) But I guess I don't have time for that anymore... because I AM now the upperclassman. It's my last year in high school already, and 7 days left before my entrance exam for university. My sister is lucky to have me to guide her...

Martha also helped Henderson by protecting and defending him from his bullies, and hell, she was very funny when she was young. This could not get any more silly huh 🤣🤣🤣

And so, after graduation, he decided to become a teacher, probably because of how "unclever(?)" the teacher was, kinda blaming Henderson for boycotting military, and the bullies were the ones at fault.

And finally, ya all know, the prom dance...

Yes, he is not interested at all! Like bruh man >:(

Becky felt so bad for Martha, her butler. I, too, felt bad for her. But uh, I understand that at this young age, "love" is something hard to describe, feel, understand.

Off-topic: I also experienced love at first sight before, and you know, the feeling "love" is very vague. When I saw "him", a friend same class as mine in secondary/ junior high school, but not same class in high school, someone I kinda like, but not truly "love", I couldn't really confess my love to him. I can't say that "I love you" so randomly. Because, like, in my opinion/ definition of "love", you have to understand the other person's true self, and decide whether it is worth enough to confess, and you must stand on your ground of what truly happen, and what it means to love somebody. And I was an amateur of that, so I really am unsure what feeling I am experiencing. Like I had said in one of my "fact post" about me and Liam in my blog @laurenmiki06, I don't experience love before so I'm not sure of my sexuality. Besides, I know in some parts of America, ya care a lot about your sexuality and pronouns, but I'm in Vietnam, so they don't matter to me. I am not being offensive about this. I mean, what if he already has someone in mind that is not me? What if I got rejected, and probably, I couldn't bare the pressure, the pain I have to endure. That's why, in this 12-ish year of studying, I tried to ignore and set the feeling "love someone other than my family" aside, and focus on studying to pass grades, before heading to university And well, what Martha said is very true, you are still young and naive about your surroundings, you need to understand life first, before making decisions, that might affect your future.

And oh well, Henderson did say so himself: I was still so ignorant. So obsessed with pursuing my ideals... so desperate to radically change the world... that I couldn't keep step with those around me... or even spare a thought for the hearts of those even closer.

After two and a half years... she managed to become a Imperial Scholar, as she promised to him when they were still together at their own tea party-break.

And who would have thought that the new teacher they were about to greet was Henderson!?

And that's the end of chapter 97!

P.s.1. Bruh, I wish romance in real life could be like this... Lost and found again, and fall in love. And here I thought it would end up like this (I wish I COULD end up like this) but no, I still single :"))

And we all thought, Martha and Henderson will be on good terms again, like a fellow senpai and his trustworthy kouhai...

Chapter 98

At the start of the chapter, we finally have a reunion of Martha and Henderson (his first name is Henry, but I prefer to call Henderson). And we thought it would stay the same as that, still chatting at tea party... alongside with taking cover for bombs and war outside, of course.

Well, that's not until... this happen.

And there goes her future career in ballet... :"(((

Martha was depressed, but then something unbelievable just happened... Martha decided to join the army.

And what she said is true, they are living in the world where weapons are everything. Either you are saved from being killed or being killed. Survival is everything on the battlefield. Martha has to stand up and fight back, or she will lose everything. She has no choice, after all...

Henderson recalled himself as hard-headed, kinda stubborn, lost in a world of idealistic, where he thought that education can save the world, yet it worth nothing...

He was a history teacher, and you know what they say, let the past be the past.

When Martha heard that his parents were about to look for a wife, she overheard that and shed in tears. She knew that she ran out of time. You know already that I mentioned in chap 97 that she was in love of Henderson. She stood tall and bold, acted strong before the graduation ceremony and the ball dance.

While every ladies dressed in beautiful gowns and dressed, she dressed in an army suit, which surprised Henry.

And holy- their dance is hilarious, first time I saw his flaws in dancing, quite inelegant for a gentleman.

And the hit point, she was trying to confess her love to him... But it feel a bit... sudden and I felt it was missing something...

The English translate: "How much I truly come to-"

But in the Vietnamese translate: "Em thích a-" -> "I love y-" (it's a bit blur)

And that's the end of part 1

Part 2 coming soon...

P.s.2. Tatsuya-san really know how to make us insane.

Why!? It was good all the sudden! I was hyped after reading this, and then I became bored... This is the definition of a cliff-hanger. Well done, Tatsuya-san, you really know how make us drive insane :) Our adrenaline is rising and waiting for your next chapter.

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

The author's few words: Thank you for reading this!!! I've been busy lately, because I'm about to take my entrance exam (abt to die :"))) ), so after this post is posted, I'll be inactive for this blog for a week or so. I need to take a break from the test, it is pressured :")

Any ways, in truth, after chapter 98 was out for a while, I already start working on this. But it is hard for me to find time typing this (or could be I'm lazy), so long that chapter 99 just out a few days ago...

So Part 2 will be about chapter 99 then :)))

[seollenda-moved]

Hi! I have these ideas and I saw that your request box was open so here you go! (Also you don’t have to rush or write this at all!)

For mina (twice) x fem reader where they were assigned as partners for an art project where they have to illustrate each other in different mediums of art. Like, ex.- mina would paint the reader, and the reader would take a photograph of Mina, etc (your choice of what kind of art) and Mina has always had a crush on the reader (and the reader has a crush on her too, mutual pining ^-^) so she gets a bit shy and all that. And it's all cute and fluffy, with them flirting or you can put a bit of angst too if you like, and when they've already passed their projects, Mina gives the r an extra painting of her(the r) and there’s a not on the back of the canvas that says "you are a work of art" or "an art gallery could never be as unique as you" or something :D and I'll leave the rest to you!

You can make this into any form you like! (One-shot, full fic, or headcanons).

I'm sorry if this is a bit long hehe. Have a great day/night ahead!

this is so cute and i made myself a little emo ngl

you aren’t one to get distracted in class–but being sat next to myoui mina is testing you

not to say she’s talkative

rather, she’s the opposite, even quieter than she was with the last seating-chart

now she pays intense attention to the front of the class, to her paper, her book, whatever unseen space she stares off into when there’s nothing else to do

so you spend the better part of your (graduation requirement) art class working up the nerve to try at a conversation

you aren’t sure if it’s relief or panic you feel when the teacher announces that partners for the final project are decided by the desk arrangements

when she turns to you, her elusive gaze suddenly completely on you, smiling shyly, all the daydreaming you'd worked through evaporates because how could you have imagined this rush?

the project is simple--portraits of your partner, in any medium, literal or abstract, and some analysis applying art theory concepts you'd written a million essays on already, yadda yadda

you're just glad to finally get to make some actual art, you say.

it wasn't a particularly funny remark, but she laughs anyway, a soft giggle that you could listen to forever

luckily, she seems to find almost all your words particularly amusing

(talk about an ego boost)

---

the typical route is a literal painting. at least half of the class is opting for some form of painted portrait.

"do you paint?" she asks. you most definitely do not.

neither does she, mina admits sheepishly.

well what's mina's art? "ballet"

duh. what a silly question. everyone knows about myoui mina, juilliard-bound ballerina. the straight-As are just a formality.

"do you think they'd accept dance as an art medium?" you wonder. something perks up in mina at the thought

her project will be original choreography, she decides.

(you have to wonder how a portrait would work in that medium...but you can't argue with the rush of confidence it had seemingly inspired in your classmate)

so it only makes sense to make your half of the project photography, right? no better of a subject than a ballet dancer

that makes mina blush a bit

---

mina myoui gradually opens up through the few weeks of sitting next to each other, and you discover there is much to get to know about her

that she has a lot of opinions; some of which fiercely contradict the rather stubborn teacher

(she never really speaks them out loud to anyone but you, passing snarky notes, giggling behind textbooks until the teacher casts an evil eye your way)

that she has a close little family and an affectionate but contentious relationship with her older brother

that moving from japan as a child wasn't as hard as she'd expected; that she's always been proud of her independence

(but sometimes she misses her friends, and the castella from the bakery on her street, or the neighbor’s little white kitten who purred on her legs after elementary school every afternoon. but she’s glad to be here too. and making friends is nice. like you!)

and you find out that she thinks the castella cake from the bakery on your street is pretty good too. and that her favorite drink is strawberry matcha lattes, and that she really likes sharing her food with people, especially last bites

there's no real reason to go to each others’ homes, not when the art project seems to be progressing independently, and there's nothing to do until the video/photoshoot day.

but you tell your parents that it’s for school anyway

so she introduces you to her grumpy brother, her parents’ cooking

and you introduce her to your own embarrassingly loud family, your cat

(he's grey, not white, but still takes to mina instantly)

the end-of-year project is only for three weeks, but it quickly feels like you’ve known each other for a lifetime

(and a silly moment--when she admits that the reason she’d ignored you for the first couple weeks was because she wanted so badly to talk to you...but had no idea what to say. that's the subject of teasing for another few days.)

---

it's filming day and mina had practiced the choreo until she deemed it perfect (a high standard)

she’d insisted on keeping it a secret from you until now

you brought a multitude of cameras; a polaroid, a fancy borrowed dslr, your phone, and of course a video camera to shoot mina’s dance

you meet her at her dance studio, late after classes had ended and it's an empty room

except for one ballerina, stretching deeply on the floor, the fringes of a full white tutu splayed against the hardwood flooring

her hair's drawn into a tight bun, her feet in neatly wrapped pointe shoes

her eyes brighten when she sees you, she waves you over

you spend way too long fumbling with the equipment to set it up and get the shot and lighting right. mina finishes stretching, finishes warming up, wanders around and watches you work patiently, fidgets with the polaroid

and then you’re finally ready. you set the camera rolling, pick up your dslr, and begin shooting as she starts

you don’t know any of the technical dance terms; all you know is that she moves in ways that could hardly be considered mortal

rather an angel, except the agile thump of her shoes on the wood floors are very much real and echo the sudden nervousness of your heartbeat

you hope your hands aren’t shaking too much as you snap your shots, moving carefully around the outer edges of the floor and taking a hundred pictures

her choreography is gentle, sweeping, expansive. she makes use of the whole room, her gaze simultaneously faraway yet startlingly present.

the music she picked swells, and she moves into a mode which you could only describe as effluent, playful.

you’re in one corner of the room when she happens to wander your way on joyful leaps

she makes eye contact with you and her trained expression breaks into a brief proud grin, giving you a quick pirouette that you almost forget to snap a shot of because it feels like a bird of paradise has landed just in front of you and you’re frozen, afraid of scaring her away

---

it’s finished in one take (what a shame, because you could’ve watched her all day)

you’d only used the one camera, but it was okay, because you probably have a thousand photos to sift through when you got home

instead of packing up, you sit on the edge of the dance floor, watching mina let her long dark hair down, wavy from the crease of her bun; deftly unlacing her shoes and discarding the unwieldy skirt of her dance outfit

in an inspired moment, you grab the polaroid camera and capture some shots of her undoing her ballet persona

she looks up at the flash, her startled expression turning to a shy grin as she realises she’s become the subject of a candid.

you shove the undeveloped film into your pocket before she can take it back

she only rolls her eyes good-naturedly and helps you pack up the equipment

---

something’s up the next day at school, the last week of classes before the long-awaited summer

you like to think that you’ve become somewhat familiar with mina’s otherwise imperceptible emotional tells

so when she’s just a bit quieter than usual, and her expression freezes at gracious smiles, you know there’s something the matter

what’s up? you nag her a couple times. but you quickly realise you’re testing her patience, so you back off

“don’t worry,” she finally says, patting your hand. “i’m not mad at you.”

because apparently she can read your mind too

---

by some stroke of misfortune, the two of you are picked to present your projects first. at least it’s the last day of class.

the analysis you wrote is slapdash, but you’d assembled your photos into what you think is a well-curated gallery of sorts, pasted carefully onto a series of trifolds that the class tours with mild interest.

and mina’s video–well. the otherwise antsy class is quiet, because you don’t see this kind of performance more than once in your life

when the video ends and she reads off her presentation in that softly confident voice, you only blush a hundred times, because all the ways she describes you and the choreography choices are things you didn’t think anyone could think of you

let alone myoui mina

when she finishes, you could’ve sworn some of the class had looked back at you and giggled…but you're too busy staring very attentively at your desk to be sure

---

school's out. students are running out of classes and dumping their notebooks in the recycling bins triumphantly, exchanging plans to meet up that night or weekend or all of break

when you turn to look at mina, an invitation to go out to a celebratory dinner at the tip of your tongue, her expression is distraught enough to actually stop you in your tracks

“mina?”

she’d looks at you with the most apologetic of gazes, her hands grabbing both of yours.

she's sorry she has to tell you now, she wishes she’d known sooner, she couldn’t have figured out a better time to tell you because you were so stressed over final exams and busy and everything, she's sorry

but the myouis are moving back to japan this week, her father’s job transferred suddenly back to kobe, mina had asked for more time in seoul but they have no choice, the cheapest ticket is tomorrow so she, her brother, and mother are moving first while her father wraps up business in korea

she is so sorry

of course, how can you do anything but assure her that it's okay?

that she has nothing to be sorry about

that you hope the move will go well

that she'll have a lovely time in kobe and see her friends again; that she should tell you if the cake really is as good as she remembers and to pet the cat-that-is-probably-not-a-kitten-anymore for you

it's okay.

you manage to elicit a giggle out of her again.

she presses something into your hand, closes your fingers around it

her face blushes brightly as she looks into your eyes, leans forward, and presses a quick kiss to your cheek that dizzies you a little bit

“we’ll see each other again soon,” she promises, and the both of you know it's true only because it has to be, there can be no other way

---

and with that she hurries away at the call of her brother waiting in the car, leaving you to finally look down at what she’d put in your hand

a dreamy-toned candid polaroid shot of you, determinedly hunched over a mess of camera equipment

something about polaroids flatters any subject; though maybe there's something to the touch of the photographer that makes it more compelling than any other photo you’d seen of yourself

in her light, fluidly legible handwriting, mina had written at the bottom

“nothing could’ve captured you as you really are. but you never forget seeing the art in person.”

[measuringbliss]

Glee Rewatch Masterpost

Hi, this post serves as introduction and as masterpost to my ongoing Glee Rewatch. I watched the show once before (during the first half of 2022) and I already missed it a month later, hence the idea to not only rewatch it, but give my thoughts on each episodes in individual posts. My thoughts range from simple opinions (you'll see a lot of me gushing on outfits) to full-on analysis (why is there a French cabaret poster on the wall?) but it's all very not serious. I don't delve much (at all? for now?) into the real-life stuff since I'm still new to the fandom and everyone probably already knows everything about everything.

Written on October 1st, 2022.

Season 1

Just finished writing for the first episode!

Finn is cute in Glee 1x08 after being slushied

Glee: Grilled Cheesus

Pilot | Showmance | Acafellas | Preggers | The Rhodes Not Taken

Vitamin D | Throwdown | Mash-Up | Wheels | Ballad | Hairography

Mattress | Sectionals | Hell-O | The Power of Madonna

Home | Bad Reputation | Laryngitis | Dream On

Theatricality | Funk | Journey

Rocky Horror Picture Show references in Glee

Glee is avant-garde

Season 2

Audition | Britney/Brittany | Grilled Cheesus | Duets

Rocky Horror Glee Show | Never Been Kissed | The Substitute

Furt | Special Education | A Very Glee Christmas

The Sue Sylvester Shuffle | Silly Love Songs | Comeback

Blame It On The Alcohol | Sexy | Original Song | A Night of Neglect

Born This Way | Rumours | Prom Queen | Funeral | New York

Intermission

The Glee Concert Movie

Season 3

The Purple Piano Project | I Am Unicorn | Asian F | Pot o' Gold

The First Time | Mash Off | I Kissed a Girl | Hold on to Sixteen

Extraordinary Merry Xmas | Yes/No | Michael

The Spanish Teacher | Heart | On My Way | Big Brother

Saturday Night Glee-ver | Dance with Somebody | Choke

Prom-asaurus | Props | Nationals | Goodbye

Glee: Sebastian, Seblaine and Kurtbastian

Thinking again about Cruel Intentions and the Glee CI!AU Seblaine fic and why is Blaine as Annette so great????

Season 4

The New Rachel | Britney 2.0 | Makeover | The Break-Up

The Role You Were Born to Play | Glease | Dynamic Duets

Thanksgiving | Swan Song | Glee, Actually | Sadie Hawkins

Naked | Diva | I Do | Girls (and Boys) on Film | Feud

Guilty Pleasures | Shooting Star | Sweet Dreams

Lights Out | Wonder-ful | All or Nothing

Season 5

Love Love Love | Tina in the Sky with Diamonds

The Quarterback | A Katy or A Gaga | The End of Twerk

Movin' Out | Puppet Master | Previously Unaired Christmas

Frenemies | Trio | City of Angels | 100 | New Directions

New New York | Bash | Tested | Opening Night | The Back-Up Plan

Old Dogs, New Tricks | The Untitled Rachel Berry Project

Season 6

Loser Like Me | Homecoming | Jagged Little Tapestry

The Hurt Locker, Part One | Part Two | What the World Needs Now

Transitioning | A Wedding | Child Star

The Rise and Fall of Sue Sylvester | We Built This Glee Club

2009 | Dreams Come True

Glee's iconic moments

Fandoms before and nowadays: Glee compared to Buffy and Hannibal

[aquacai]

compilation of bts/army tweets i retweeted but doesn’t actually appear on my profile (TWITTER WHY)

TEXT POSTS:

Namgi are actual prodigies, how did bang pd just casually pick em up like that

ARMYs give BTS amazing promo but it only works cause...

And just in case anyone doesn't know, we call K-army "diamonds" because...

namjoon: i made espresso!! jungkook: i wanna try it namjoon: u hate bitter coffee  

seokjin couldnt give less of a shit!!!!

Hoseok is Rock Lee

We have faves that are so willing to educate themselves...

I actually adore the final verses of The Last so much.

Hobi’s pseudo-triple entendres

why is this something i feel like rap line does in the studio

the funniest part of this run ep was when taehyung said...  

BTS teletubbies @ MBC Gayo 2017

every update this year

top three betrayals are bighit not releasing tony montana feat jimin...

When I first began to fully get into BTS, I had a pretty jaded view...

Dear BTS 2013, its ARMY 2018.

MY  DNA

*Yoongi's dating rumour*

this episode (run ep. 46) was so full of innuendos

fake trans on jin’s supposed feelings about the SIN separation

whoever is directing run should be reigned as the nation's hero...

What do you call a company that surpassed and outsold the big3?

bts are the definition of hyping ppl up for doing the bare minimum

an actual conversation that happened (run bts ep 46)

suran suga again and army

So I suddenly remember when Namjoon said these during Wings Tour The Final...

She was pushed by another members of staff  while doing namjoon’s makeup

I WAS IN THE SHOWER BLASTING BTS AND ONCE I GOT OUT...

to the female staff who consoled jimin and keeps saying “you didn't mess up”...  

they went from pardon to what was that

What happened at the first two episodes just made me respect Namjoon more.

on a serious note, it would be nice if when bts gets a special someone...

Next time during BTS concert, instead of screaming “encore encore”...

yall ever wanna think about how namjoon said that jimin needs lots of love and attention and thats probably why he shared a room with hoseok bc thats what exactly hoseok gives him

if I have any feeling towards BTS thats stronger than Love then it's RESPECT

the reason Jin was going on and on with his (R)evolution (E)volution (D)rop in the ocean thing might be because he was "hinting" at Youtube Red

one day, there will be a last...

namjoon came to post a selfie and left with a dating scandal

remember when hobi said “i wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for bangtan”...

Namjoon admitting that he’s also “just a kid” ...

"The reason I make music is because, after all, I am also afraid of the world."

Yoongi's scalp is braver than any US marine

Sometimes we forget that Namjoon is also just trying to figure out the world.

PUMA fansign: thank you for making music that changes the world

Everyone has a musical preference & enjoy when their artists reflect that.

let me talk about taehyung and how amazing he is as a friend

i like when seokjin shares stuff about his childhood, we get to know his orijin

BTS is also  for redefining masculinity (hiphop is their way of life)

from humble beginnings to legends

burn the stage makes me realize that whenever rm post photos of nature ...

what exactly makes namjoon the sexiest for me ...

the reason seokjin’s chest and shoulders are so wide

Bighit: O! R YU DEAD, 2?

"What's your favourite song currently?"

the mask guy: u didnt bring anything to exchange so i cant help u

namjoons exchange [in the Fake Love Teaser 1] is so funny to me...  

here are some of my favourite joon interviews

"How did you join BTS?"

jin: i’ve been doing it for 4 years

I hate it when people say armys have two brain cells like bold of you to think we even have a brain (sarcasm lol)

i’m a new generation anpanman

When the Billboard news was released this morning... (wisha)

interviewer: so what are your goals?

sometimes i still think about how the fanchant of cypher pt4...

"Hoe calm down, my shoe lace is untied"

“itʼs ok, we all found bts when we needed them in our lives the most”

i’m so sorry but it’s fake love

i want to see the world from taehyung’s view

just for youuuu

i love that taehyung is never anything but proud when talking abt the fact that he’s gained weight

i bet taehyung gives the best hugs

Our bomb is like a permanent reminder...

remember when we were like omg hixtape‘s mv gonna have bomb ass choreography lmaooo

no but it's so cute bts call it family pictures and not group pictures??

there's an undeniable sexual energy between yoongi nd every trophy... 

bh staff: describe yourself in one word

jin: man, blowjobs sure are a mouthful (incorrect bts quotes)

THREADS:

I came across the Deloitte 2018 Media and Entertainment Industry Outlook

hoseok is one of the best dancers in the industry...

meaning behind whalien 52

KPOP101 LESSON 8: THE MINIMALIST ART OF THE KOREAN BALLAD

getting people flustered is hoseok culture - a thread

MY TOP 10 BTS SONGS (by KommonSense)

an explanation of rap lingo BTS use in their lyrics: a thread

I have some free time so like for an unpopular opinion. (hobybIo)

My Favorite Soft BTS Moments - A Thread! (odie)

Burn The Stage made me feel extremely vulnerable. (Aileen)

as Kings of Korean History [A thread] (KommonSense)

a thread of my favorite bts-related tumblr posts

Why and how the BTS rapline's experience with rap mirrors that of OG rappers

Everytime a BTS member was supportive of the LGBT community in any way

Namjoon (RM) Owning Up to His Mistakes

odie

Bangtan dancing styles thread

hoseok is one of the best dancers in the industry

Sky’s experience as a veteran ARMY

Jimin’s gliding technique (more threads on his dance technique)

analysis of how well DNA is structured as an EDM-pop song

I took a closer look into BTS’ intro Serendipity

Park Jimin is one of the most graceful and beautiful dancers in the industry

ok newbie kpop stans, welcome to history class (fandom shit)

An Introduction for the New, the Confused, and the Curious

BTS introduction thread

Science & literature are intrinsic to understanding how BTS and ARMY

how Singularity choreography coincides with lyrics

WHAT BTS ACTUALLY SAID - A MEGA THREAD

BTS song recommendations based on genres: a thread

rap line’s verses analysis

Mnet Comebackshow (LY:Tear) pre-recording review - THREAD -

"remember when" (BTS edition)

I'm watching a BTS music video and I don't know what the hell is going on, a thread:

LY: TEAR - MUSICAL ANALYSIS.

You know why I never will trust or listen to people who say "I left because of the fandom"

Type out what the bighit intro sounds like

Tyra Banks and her biological sons; a thread:

a thread about how BTS uses their music in their storytelling

for hot100, bts did what fans suggested

"Silly Little Trivia: Literal Choreography" thread for Fake Love

UNDERSTANDING BUniverse

BTS showing LGBT+ representation and support, a thread  (this, too)

BTS meets Western standards of “cool” established by 1960s music, particularly rock ethics

BTS’ success: human brand x fan relationship

to celebrate bts festa, here is a thread of army stan twt’s best moments

MEME PICS/VIDS:

Jimin in the Danger mv

save Cook-Jin

Hope as mom : can you even get in any college with these grades?

Namgi & their annoyingly jumpy kids

IM WHEEZING JIN DID IT AGAIN

Everything makes sense noW (spider bite, cooky bite)  

when they let you love them

When you need to wake em up

coming soon: Kim Seokjin only wanted a boyfriend

salt baes

EXPECTATION: "We aren't talking about BTS enough!

summary of run bts ep 46

i-armys and k-armys (suga’s ghost patting the clay)

Heaviest objects in the entire universe

"You will witness taehyung and jin fighting"

The battle of the year.

Hangsang with my thug

"Tangina mo," - J-Hope, 2018

choose your mineral water.

We all know... K-ARMYS & I-ARMYS

so who is giving them the candy?

I AM FUCKING DYING LAUGHING AT THEM IGNORING ALL THE KNOCKING IN THIS SCENARIO

I got bored and made ART

remember when namjoon asked for armys to edit him in because he missed the group picture with halsey

me listening to bts album skits

hoseok: hangsang with my thugs ||  his thugs:

we're finally getting the country comeback we deserve

fixed Jimin’s shots in LY:Tear

jungkook: made before i was born

this is what your food looks like inside the microwave

is this a theory?

is this an invitation?

He returned from the war

avatar Jimin

Yoongi and JK’s muffled convo

im just trying to take a nice screenshot....

ah yes, the four elements: fire, earth, water and snickers

Tyra Banks: ��The BTS ARMY is devoted and crazy (in a good way!) xD

BTS [MV] - You Will Never Do a Live Alone

the nation's #1 producer & bts' hype man 

namjoon: you. me?

jungkook when he first met joon 

fierce lil meow meow

RM spinebreaker???

this looks like rap line were a group of friends who stuck together...

V was written all along in Jimin’s tweet lol

jwimin-ssi

Hangs out with Tyra Banks ONCE... 

learn the alphabet with BTS

TRANS:

When Bighit said they’ll donate 3% of LY album sales, u guys mocked us...

Kim Seokjin strange points

k-netz’ reaction on the Suga-Suran dating scandal

"Can bangtan fans please not get swayed by rumors?”

BTS trainer instagram re:B.T.S.

Music critic Kim, Youngdae nim’s MINI REVIEW on “Face Yourself”

Music critic Kim, Youngdae nim’s MINI REVIEW on “Euphoria”

bang pd and namjoon about his post supporting macklemore's song 'same love'

Konkuk uni student who became Seokjin's fan after speaking with him

I'm a multi-fan, I watch and listen to many idols, but I'm truly scared of BTS

an older woman(non-celebrity) admitted how much she loved BTS

So many warm teas in this article wrote by producer/musician Seiji Kameda

#LOVE_YOURSELF_轉_Tear Album HYYH Notes Translation Thread

180518 Love Yourself 轉 Tear - Thanks To Translations

“The lyrics in BTS’ album are so great  Huge congrats to receiving at BBMA ”

response to #1 Billboard 200

BTS 2018 Festa Member’s profiles

VIDS:

KBS Happy Together 3 - Spring Day sung in karaoke room

imagine being this close to sunshine

Ashes - Lim Jeong Hee ft. BTS (2011)

kook's carelessness brought out his sunshine laugh just like that

Remember when bts proved to armys that they are all really spiderman

that time the cameraman was filming bts and jungkook started telling him...  

i still get so soft over this the way jin hugged taehyung...

Seokjin killed it in this part in boy in luv

the sound of their footsteps is so satisfying omg

Remember when Jin and Ken met on a year end event rehearsal and they just...

Jungkook’s ‘yes’ and smile when Miri jumped through his arms...

seokjin and his interactions with camera men

Remember when Yoongi & Namjoon sang the high notes in Young Forever...

look at the difference between taekook and jinkook’s handshake lmao

this dance break has a special place in my heart :')

remember when Taehyung accidentally cut his real hair...

Nver forget that iris stevenson was the first one to believe in taehyung...

did yall notice that fdjghgd i’m shaking (run ep 46)

To remember the great SiN/YoonJin moment...

the wings era might be over but this snippet of each member’s solo songs...

Yes, Mom. This man right here. I love him. No more questions?

this is the best video of jin to ever exist

here’s jungkook having fun dancing to mama and lie

slush ft. jin

tell me why is it so funny that yoongi only opened 1/10 of his door n went back so fast

nothing but respect for my choreography leader

when jungkook opened the window well aware that it was raining

what makes you laugh? seokjin’s face

Bringing this back when taehyung was dancing nae nae...

SOMEBODY GIVE THIS BABY BLANKET AND BED...

i love this performance so fucking much!!!!

your ultimate mood booster (hobiiii)

HOLY SHIT MIN FUCKING YOONGI DID THAT

susko sobra ung bucket hats

THE WAY YOONGI AND HOSEOK SAY "RM" TOGETHER

remember when seokjin and hoseok were recognized by fans in america

jungkook imitated namjoon's finger heart and wink in a cute way

A compilation loop of Hoseok sneezing because it’s cute. Bless you!!

remember when jimin was hyping about their concert but hoseok

Hoseok left the group during Trainee days

heres 12 seconds of yoongi doing That Scream™ ...

this is what happens when you openly listen to bts without prejudice

when i say i want a rock song, i want THIS.

When Jungkook couldn’t pronounce Army bomb because of his Busan accent

U kno the thing joon does when he finds something?

reminding all of you that the special talent yoongi prepared is... imitating a doorbell

Here's a compilation of musicians getting shook by the sudden change to major in Jimin's 'Lie'

He actually blew a kiss how adorable

The fanboying level on this video is just

Hoseok doing background vocals/harmonising in Let Go (??)

...namjoon literally gets amused at the toy which blows a ball in the air...

NAMJOON DROPPED THE MIC HE WAS HOLDING AND JIN...

Lie rough instrumental

rough draft of Autumn Leaves, Young Forever, Wings (RM), Wings (JK)

Joon’s voice in the BBMA nomination teaser

Jin's reaction when I (sky) told him I brought him a present...

why BTS was nominated for BB TSA 2018

taehyung was fighting back his tears when they won TSA at 2017 BBMAs

Yoongi forgot his lines in Ma City and he just...

mannequin Tae

Bangtan ended ALL fashion weeks tonight !! (4th muster japan)

members cheering jimin up, wings tour macao

RM’s ending ment, Wings Tour the finale (Day 2?)

never forget bts' iconic reaction when they won their first daesang

When Jin was bowing, Jimin held him down and Jungkook immediately ran to sit in front of him.

jimin and seokjin debating whether dolphins could breathe underwater

look at tae's reaction when bang pd's voice broke

interviewer: what?

“DonT FiGht, Dont Fight!” :(((

RM: “we want to focus on our career”

Q: what's your favorite thing about yourself? yoongi: ᶤ ˡᶤᵏᵉ ᵖᵘᵖᵖʸ

WHY IS NO ONE TALKING ABOUT HOW JOON TRIED TO DO THE LIL DISNEY WAND THING WITH HIS FINGER IM HURTING

jungkook’s closeups

BTS with Ciara at the BBMAs 2018

don’t ever forget that seokjin is one hell of a snowboarder

“the reason why bts, who was not supported by big agencies, succeeded, is that they tried to read the world and to breathe [with the world] together”

this is what happens when u leave namjoon and jimin alone together

this video of seokjin being hype then instantly stops when his manager look at him will never be not funny

LMFAOOO WAIT TAEHYUNG AND NEYO WERE JAMMING TOGETHER

An exclusive interview with #BTS ! (MBC News)

i love this version of airplane pt. 2 so much (jk+jm part)  (jimin mode~) yt link full

john cena getting asked whats his favorite song off love yourself tear

The female staff who video tapes BTS bangtan bombs is amazing

WHAT THE FUCK JUNGKOOK LOOKS SO MUCH LIKE SEOKJIN...

Q: Please say something to international ARMYs

awake (short harp cover)

airplane pt. 2 dance cover

compilation of yoongi stuff in raps

wHY IS JUNGKOOK LIKE THIS

the way he said "what's your name?" and shouted "michelle!"

full vid of the two links above

#ISeoulU bts vid 2015

Tyra Bank’s music vid for Fake Love

vmin in sync is scary

fake love original choreo

jungkook said ‘mic drop!’ after he stepped on the wire and made the mic fall

tae acting in euphoria

puppy jungkook is still the most ᵘʷᵘ :(

hobi jk mirror dance with finger heart (mcountdown)

ONEW WAS THROWING CONFETTI AT TAE PLEASE THATS SO CUTE

Look how Jiminie gave the trophy to Yoongi cuz baby boy knows

tae: so show me  army: i’ll show you~  {music core)

minho and tae hugging (music core)

tae’s aegyo in board game run ep

look at taehyung acting all cute in the back

when seokjin goes like (•3•) its the cutest thing ever

wow jimin was that an accident

YOONGI REALLY IMITATED HIM IM SKFJDJ

What 시 (si; hour) is it?

SUGA: honestly, I rlly liked pro-wrestling

a fancam of taehyung spilling his water on his face

ARMY giving hobi a flower with his face on it (fansign) (180603)

BTS: *on their way to a very serious interview on one of Korea's biggest news channels*

yoonkok instant hug BV S1

sunud-sunod na aegyo in anpanman outfits

jungkook pulled off straps and threw down two straps then taejin picked them up

legends say this is the closest rep of how hoseok looks in real life

Kihyun really had the courage to throw confetti in yoongi's face tho

52 year-old man is a director of a company in Japan dancing DNA

I stan a king of fan service he's so adorable!

when taehyung was fake crying and jimin came & softly hugged him from behind

this or that game

jk imitating his hyungs (180607 fansign)

HOW UNSEE THIS IM LAUGHINF SO HARD shkhhh  (awake)

biggest mystery in kpop - who's collecting who in the background??? (taejin?)

SEOKJIN ENDED THE PERFORMANCE DOING A FINGER HEART... 180607

hopekook's modified mirror dance 180607 mcountdown

jk reacting to ariana grande bbmas 2018

Look a joonie :( look at him go :(

REMEMBER WHEN HOSEOK SAID HE WAS CLINGY WITH YOONGI (BV2)...

noona fan giving hobi and jimin “allowance”

namjoon drunk-tweeting?

carbonara

LOOK AT LIL MEOW MEOW GO (basketball)

look at jimin’s reaction when a noona gave him a finger heart

they had to throw the yellow cloth at the finish of the performance...

OTHER PICS:

tae being so accepting in star king ;w;

i may be not here since 2013, but im still lucky to witnessed yeontan's lil growth

remember when bangtan was running late for their show...

NAMJOON’S REPLY TO THE SELCA JIN POSTED OF HIM...

hobi and his hearts

ep 1& 2 of B.T.S. has at least cleared up 2 main issues in this fandom

RM has a little #WednesdayWisdom from Burn The Stage.

This photo is a complete mess.

yoongi’s kind of humor is my favorite

Their biggest dream isn’t to break records, its to stay together for a long time.

They recorded their interviews for the documentary when they did Gayo track 15

what jimin said here was really interesting and great

the most powerful twins

They decided not to blur these faces of people who's behind BTS’ success.  

BTS calls their staff with nicknames, noona or hyung...

it really went from edits to jungkook actually saying it

IM CRYING BIGHIT PAID FOR YOONGIS TUITON :((

LMFAO at none of them even touching the salad

tae’s uneven eyelids

when jin got allowance from his dad to buy steak...

LOOK AT YOONGI RUN SJDNDNDNDN

give me a better photo transition I'll wait #euphoria

love yourself 起 wonder (2018)

jin being peymous even pre-debut

THIS STILL GOTTA BE THE FUNNIEST THING JOON HAS EVER SAID

the most remarkable twins in history

a turkish tv show asked for ppl to send in pics w their siblings and someone sent in jin and jimin

taehyung’s a legend that listens to music on his laptop on the go

onigiri yoongi

MY MOTHER CAME INTO MY ROOM AND ASKED IF JIMIN IS MY BOYFRIEND

jung hoseok aka the king of mirror selcas

Tiny bestfriends vmin who have been inseparable since kindergarten AU

old bts pics I still can't believe exist: a thread

yoongi at namjoon's graduation (w/ hoseok)

I COMBINED TAEGI'S PICS TOGETHER AND OH MY GOD SJSB

"i put sticker on my carrier" yeah ryt

oh nothing just seokjin casually putting his LG G7 ThinQ at his jacket pocket

He show his flower uwu

taehyung accidentally becoming a meme on diplo's snapchat

Never forget Jungkook's Hongdae adventures

THANKS JIN for not killing jungkook

liam’s post of namjoon :D

that one time namjoon tweeted a picture of them with the caption of “we are all fools”

A 59-year-old friend of mine talking about Love Yourself:Tear

I was worried because I thought yoongi kept doing some kind of gang sign but--

This has to be the best reaction to a non-fan of BTS...

when you are sitting beside BTS but mcflurry ice cream is life

why is this exactly what all of their mixtapes sound like

dispatch - yoongi, fake love

taehyung’s chubby cheeks when he smiles

taehyung and his tea

OMFGGMFM LOOK AT Tyra Banks when boys went up for their award she’s a whole Mood I love her

BTS FESTA 2018 prediction

carry him again, jin

I KNEW THEY WERE GONNA CLOWN HIM

top10 mistranslations betrayal 

Yoongi doing ᵗʰᵃᵗ smile

wide open yoongi

brigada eskwela stairs album art

jin flower petals (fansign)

namjoon vs svt jihoon

yoongi continuing his lil meow meow agenda

These two cuties just melted my whole heart (tae and tanie)

So... are we gonna talk about how they drew one stickman thicker than the rest

Low key promoted BTS the past 3 weeks in our hospital...

The exact same cat, same plant & same island taken 1 year apart. (ARMYSelca)

yoongi bunched up(?)

[veryotl]

i rly enjoy how you discuss svt's personalities and dynamics and im curious ab your thoughts on each unit's group dynamic!! like i remember the members have said vocal team r kinda the most chill, like do you think it has someth to do w woozi, as the leader, not being one of the oldest and also being more of an introvert?

I feel like I’ve analyzed this before, but when I went looking for that analysis to use it as a reference, I couldn’t find it. So maybe it was a tag rant, or a analysis I did for a friend on a one-on-one level? Either way, I’ve always loved seeing the units interact personally, because it’s a really good basis for character analysis! 

So here we go! A breakdown of individual unit dynamics! 

1. Hip hop unit

I decided to start with Hip Hop unit because I think I’ve covered them the most in the past, so I’ll start with something I’m familiar with discussing. I like to call Hip Hop unit “family unit” because it seems to me that a lot of their dynamic is similar to a family. They like to play and tease each other, but they also support each other very well. They not only encourage growth and finding the high points in “failures” (see: Coups assuring Vernon that everyone still loves him and is jealous of him because he gets recognition from SMTM instead of angry at him for sullying their name at debut), but they also encourage growth in non-hip hop activities (see: Mingyu wanting to pursue art and Wonwoo pursuing being a vocalist). Instead of being focused on success in a business way, they seem much more focused on encouraging success on a personal level. It fits with Coups’s style of leading, where he would rather mediate problems and give advice instead of directly giving orders. He tends to focus more on making sure individuals are happy and taken care of instead of management to an end goal and that gives off more of a personal touch to his unit. He’s also very open to others teaching him lessons, which is also a good touch to the overall dynamic, encouraging people to view him more as someone to go to for advice and help instead of for orders and direction. While this style of leadership does have its faults- it’s hard to maintain a good balance and it’s easy to become insecure that others may not respect your authority- it works out well for Coups and the rest of the unit. The personalities under Hip Hop unit are also good to consider for how they react to this style of leadership, for instance Vernon and Wonwoo are seen as having very passive personalities that prefer to get their work done on their own time without having someone police them or tell them what needs to get done. Also the type of work, rap making, isn’t as group focused as creating harmonies for vocal unit or syncing the dance of performance unit. 

All in all, Hip hop unit has a very relaxed, very supportive dynamic that functions well on personal levels and matches with the leader’s style as well as the content they produce. Their dynamic is similar to that of a family or a very close group of friends in a workplace, and it goes over well.

2. Performance unit

Generally, when I talk about Performance unit’s dynamic, I talk about it in terms of a singular person, in terms of Hoshi’s leadership and how he leads a group with a hard dynamic to pin down. This is because Performance unit has such a difficult dynamic to begin with. It’s a unit with two foreign members and the youngest member, and the dynamic of the unit changes as Jun and Minghao get more solid in Korean and as Dino grows up and starts solidifying his style and preferences. However, this sometimes works in their advantage. In fact, you might say that their biggest strength is being dancers in the end, since the nature of their work is physical and goes beyond explanation or discussions. By putting the emphasis on the feeling of the music and the sync of the physical moves, Hoshi is able to move past the barriers of communication and into expression instead, and it works out very well. Performance unit becomes very harmonious and efficient, putting together synced up stages full of feeling and emotion. But Performance unit dynamic doesn’t end there. In observation, the close knit nature of the friendships in Performance unit is a testament to their non-working dynamic, for when they have a break or just hang out as a unit. Dino showcases his reverse charm of being the cute maknae but also being on top and responsible, Hoshi shows being encouraging of Dino’s hobbies and interests like doing his Michael Jackson girl group dances with him and making sound effects for him and taking his ideas into consideration for choreo such as the Dangerous and the Very Nice choreo where you get the touch of MJ and also shows that he’s close to The8 and Jun by offering advice and playing along with them, and of course Jun and The8 both become closer through their own good Peanut Butter and Jelly dynamic, and it adds a sort of “Four friends hanging out” feel to Performance unit when they get their own personal time. They all laugh and talk and play off of each other’s jokes, and while there may be some people who are closer than others, no one ends up feeling left out.

In general, Performance team has a really good dynamic. They’re able to overcome what looks like a barrier and instead use it to their advantage on a professional level, and then on a personal level they really shine their individual personalities that work well together. The difference between the family dynamic of Hip hop unit and the friend dynamic of Performance is that while Hip hop unit is while Hip hop unit is really comfortable being with each other to the point of being able to take joking shots at each other that would be downright insulting from anyone else, Performance unit is like a group of friends hitting the mall who laugh and have fun and maybe tease each other a little on individual levels, but on the whole they’re here to have a fun time and take silly photos of outfits that they would never consider actually buying. Very lighthearted, very upbeat dynamic. 

3. Vocal unit

Since you asked about Vocal unit, I decided to tackle them last. Especially since I think it takes some context applied to it, because it’s very easy to hear my opinion here and assume it’s a bad thing.

In comparison to the other two units, Vocal unit has a much more businesslike dynamic. When Hip hop unit mostly works as individuals and Performance unit spends most of their time perfecting sync and emotion, Vocal unit spends a lot of time organizing, practicing, working on harmonies, a lot of activities that require a single boss of the unit who tracks things and delegates tasks and keeps everything in line. Woozi’s leadership style may not actually fit this well, as he seems like you said to be more introverted who prefers doing his work alone in a quiet environment, however with a little bit of time to adapt to his role i’m sure Woozi actually prefers the “sit down meeting” style to Scoups’s “one on one personal” style of leadership. He’s able to stay in his comfort zone, keeping the discussion focused mainly on work while he remains in control of situation and is able to use his personal connection to the music and attention to detail to help build harmonies and perfect tones. It’s important to understand that while Hip hop unit benefits from having leadership like Coups, Vocal unit benefits from having structure and focus through Woozi as vocal relies very heavily on teamwork and harmony with the other members, and so lots of communication and practice and work goes into it. And, like all the other units, they have a rest dynamic as well, where during breaks Woozi will sink more into the background and members like Seungkwan and DK will become center stage in the group. However, the strength of Vocal team’s play dynamic is that Vocal unit has a lot of emotion-based members. Seungkwan’s emotional intuition, DK’s kind heart, Jeonghan’s soft spot for caring for others and not wanting to see them in pain, and Joshua’s gentlemanly manner with playful tones all culminate in a single unit. So even when Seungkwan takes center stage, he’s not as hyperactive as when he’s paired with Hoshi. Instead, he considers the personalities in the Vocal unit and adjusts his humor accordingly to bring out the playful sides of members like Jeonghan and DK, resulting in a dynamic full of sunshine and laughter that is relaxed and still playful, not too over the top and ridiculous. 

In conclusion, Hoshi has said that three units in Seventeen is like three high power engines in the same car, and that’s very true. Different leadership styles and different dynamics lead to different strengths in different times and areas - Hip hop unit is so fun to watch in a competition, Vocal unit is always good for a game and a laugh travelling from place to place or in between shoots, and Performance unit is great in action, playing around, running and dancing... Seventeen’s strength really does lie in the diversity of their personalities and talents, and there’s a little something for every person and every situation.

[cracktheglasses]

Would you mind telling us more about your Tolstoy hate?

Sure, nonnie! 

FYI, I’m not even remotely an academic, so this isn’t going to be a well-crafted analysis, but I’ve read a lot of Tolstoy in my life. He’s arguably the Russian literary maître, or at least, up at the top with a select few, and his works are widely read in schools, beginning with his children’s books and ending with the big ones, usually The Kreutzer Sonata, Anna Karenina, and War and Peace. 

Basically, I want to talk about three things, but I suspect it’ll be WAY too much and I’ll probably need to stop: 

the characters of Natasha Rostova (from War and Peace)  and Kitty (from Anna Karenina) and my belief that Tolstoy was not capable of writing women as people. I’d talk about Anna, too, but it’s gonna be a lot

his appalling treatment of his wife, Sophia (it’s very easy to be a faux ascetic back-to-the-earth, living the simple life, sex-is-bad recluse telling others how to live properly, when your wife hand-copies and edits your manuscripts, feeds you, clothes you, and takes care of your thirteen children, wrangles publishers for you, puts up with your sex-is-bad-but-i-still-need-it-so-be-a-good-wife ways, and really, I can probably stop there, but I’ll add some more below)

and, finally, the character of Levin, the “nice guy” fuckboy self-insert Gary Stu (see “back-to-the-earth” “living the simple life with the peasants” and writing treatises on philosophy while wife deals with actual mundane problems)

Note: I haven’t read much Tolstoy in English translation, only in Russian (I don’t usually like Russian classics in translation, with few exceptions), so anything I’m quoting or paraphrasing below is going to be my own translation/memory (easily verifiable with an English edition I’m sure; I can provide links to the Russian text online). I’m not a professional literary translator, so the translations will be accurate, but they’ll also be shitty writing. 

When I first read Tolstoy, I was a bookish, confused, angry kid, reconciling myself to a frustrating, ill-fitting girlhood. I read a lot, I read all the time, and I was usually drawn to the male characters, I identified much more with them, I wanted their realities – but I knew/was told that I should model myself more after Natasha Rostova or Wendy Darling than D’Artagnan. That my reality, and eventual choices, would have to be about growing up female, whatever that meant, aside from eventually stopping running around in the woods with my bow and arrows, and embracing princess gowns. I remember wanting to dress up as Cardinal Richelieu for a costume-guessing game at a fifth grade recital, but was kindly, yet firmly steered to Anne of Austria, instead. My grandparents wanted me to be a better girl, not an irresponsible delinquent like my cousin, but the eventual valedictorian cum successful mother and wife with a respectable career (funny how that goes: my juvenile delinquent cousin ended up all of the above, but I digress). My grandfather, who had made the bow and arrows for me, didn’t actually discourage me running around in the woods, but he did hope I’d grow out of it, and held up Natasha Rostova as the graceful ideal, the girl to emulate, and I’m sure he wasn’t the only one. 

Natasha is Tolstoy’s ideal woman; at the start of the novel, a 13-year-old girl, smiling, pink-cheeked, “that delightful age where a girl is no longer a child but not yet a young woman”, thin, fresh-faced and curious. We see her next at her first ball, at 16, charming, waifish, well-behaved, a graceful dancer. She is already named a woman here, at 16, a “proper countess”. She is beautiful but doesn’t know it (oh, that trope, when will it end), and described largely via the opinions of other men at the ball, which continues as she ages. She’s 20 and Pierre Bezukhov talks her physical qualities up to Andrei Bolkonski, they discuss her: “she’s a lovely treasure, don’t overthink it, what is there to think about, marry her, my friend, marry her” – “she’s a special sort of girl, a rarity here, she’ll dance here for less than a month and skip off into a marriage.” 

Natasha is flighty, she’s a bit boy-crazy, which Tolstoy describes in this indulgent manner, you know, that’s how young women are, lovely and a little flighty and obsessed with their young woman obsessions – and this would have bothered me less if Kitty in Anna Karenina wasn’t described much in the same way, this slightly silly delightful creature, happy to be noticed. This, then, was the right way to be a girl – cute and happy and exciting and available – but not too exciting or too available, because, of course, there are too many Bad Boy Vronskys and not enough Nice Guy Levins for all. Natasha sings, she plays guitar, she hunts (several comparisons to Diana the Huntress come up), she is passionate about her interests – but her passion is frequently presented as “in her nature”, she’s got that woman’s passionate nature when she jumps into a new venture, be it dancing or hunting. 

So, we have this idealized lovely girl, much like Kitty; much like Kitty, she makes a mistake, falls for the wrong man, the bad boy: Anatole. Anatole, unlike Karenina’s Vronsky, who is interested in Anna, not Kitty, takes full advantage; he is already married, but Natasha is planning to elope with him, and breaks off her engagement to Bolkonsky. She knows she is doing the wrong thing, but she can’t stop herself, and has to make up for this transgression later in the narrative by nursing the wounded Bolkonsky until his death. This is all before she is 21; she is married at 21, to her childhood friend, Pierre Bezukhov, who has already been married, who forgives her for these transgressions as if it were his place – and then, when she is finally wife, the descriptions change. There is one particular description that struck me and stuck with me, the first time I read it, this “what the fuck”:

“… by 1820, she had three daughters and a desperately (note – Tolstoy uses ‘passionately’ as the verb here, because that is Natasha’s thing) wanted son, whom she was breastfeeding (Tolstoy emphasizes that she’s feeding him herself). She had gotten thicker, wider; it was hard to recognize the former spry, waifish Natasha in this strong mother. Her facial features had settled into a clear calm. There was no longer that fierce, perpetual fire that had been her beauty. Her soul was no longer visible, only her face and her body. Only the strong, beautiful, fertile female animal.”

Specifically, the word “самка“, which Tolstoy uses for Natasha, is sort of like saying “the female of the species”, but not quite. There is a more clinical and less reductive way to say that about a person rather than an actual animal. Specifically, that word emphasizes her fertility, reduces her to reproductive capabilities. I remember reading that and being absolutely crushed – that this already awkwardly idealized girl was suddenly not even worth that original pedestal, however shitty that had been. That her entire purpose was to become a wife and mother – and then be derided and chided for fulfilling it. You see, now married with children, she has no time, she is slovenly, she is no longer attractive: 

“…Natasha had left behind all her charms, the loveliest of which had been her singing…”

“… Natasha stopped taking care with her manners, with speaking properly, with showing herself off to her husband in flattering poses or dresses…”

“…she stopped singing, she didn’t think much before she spoke… it’s as if she had no time to take care of these things…” 

“The only subject that occupied her now was family – her husband, needing to be kept so he would belong to her and the home – and the children, who needed to be birthed, nursed, raised…”

This transformation is much the same in Kitty, when she marries Levin. In juxtaposition to the divorce of Karenin and Anna, and Anna’s involvement with Vronsky, Levin and Kitty marry for love, a pure and profound feeling, devoid of banal passion; an entire chapter describes their awkward, endearing wedding ceremony. Levin, who is not religious, expects the process to be ridiculous, farcical, but instead, both he and Kitty are touched by the words, they mix up the rings, they smile at each other, they feel uplifted, and like they’re meeting each other for the first wonderful time. But it’s telling that the final line of the chapter is the reaction of the casual observers outside of the church and at the ceremony, specifically the townswomen: “What a darling the bride is, like a dressed lamb. And yet, what a pity for our sister.”

Before the wedding, Levin gives Kitty his diaries, where he has detailed his sexual relationships with other women. Kitty is disgusted, appalled -- she doesn’t want to know these things about him, and yet he insists that she needs to forgive and accept him for this, while simultaneously thinking that he doesn’t deserve her forgiveness, that she is too pure. She cries, and says she forgives him, though what she’s read was horrible; this makes Levin even surer that she is too pure, too good, and he doesn’t deserve her. 

This scene is lifted entirely from Tolstoy’s own experience. When Tolstoy and Sophia married, he was in his mid-thirties, worldly, sexually experienced; she was 18, having been brought up the way girls from good families were brought up. After reading his diaries, where he detailed his relationships with sex workers in particular, she was appalled, yet couldn’t do anything about it. Her subsequent sexual relationship with Tolstoy, based on her own diaries, was viewed by her as largely non-consensual. 

A few chapters after Kitty and Levin’s wedding, we see that 

“Levin had been married for three months… he was happy, but not in the way he had expected to be. In every step, he found a new disappointment. He was happy, but family life was not at all what he had imagined…” 

“…he was surprised that the poetic, lovely Kitty was… able to remember and fret about the tablecloths, about furniture, about beds for guests, about serving trays, about dinners…”  

“…homemaking irrevocably pulled her in.”

“During this time, he could feel the straining chain connecting them particularly strongly, the pull of it from side to side. The honeymoon, that first month after the wedding, from which he had expected so much, was not so honeyed as it was the most difficult and humiliating period of their lives. In their subsequent days, they tried to strike from their memories the ugly, shameful events of this unhealthy time, when neither of them were in a normal mood, and rarely felt like themselves at all.”

After three months, Levin is displeased at the idleness of their existence, and blames Kitty: 

“... he knew it was not her fault, but perhaps it was the fault of her shallow, inadequate, too frivolous education...”

“...aside from an interest in homemaking (and that she had in spades), she had no other interests... she does nothing, and is absolutely happy...”

Kitty decides she will go with Levin when he receives news that his brother is dying; Levin interprets this as Kitty being bored and wanting a change of scenery. She cries, trying to convince him that she is going as a show of support for him, and Levin finally agrees to take her along, but is displeased at having given in, and thinks of himself as enslaved to her whims. In addition, he doesn’t want pure, proper Kitty to associate with “his brother’s woman”, mistress rather than wife; “the very idea of his Kitty being in the same room with the woman made him cringe in disgust and terror.”

After Kitty gives birth, Levin feels nothing but revulsion for the baby, and watches Kitty and the baby with distaste. He begins thinking about the meaning of life, about the role of religion, about faith, and every time he thinks of sharing these thoughts with Kitty, he is interrupted by the mundane tasks that Kitty has to perform -- bathing and feeding the baby, arranging for rooms for visiting family, and the like. Kitty makes sure that Tolstoy, I mean, Levin, is able to live his largely unchanged life -- philosophizing, working with his peasants, going to concerts, working on a manuscript -- while she takes care of all the banal, earthly things. Of course, she doesn’t do this by herself, as they are nobility, wealthy landowners, but still, Levin judges her for her work, for her inability to understand him, though he decides that this sort of suffering may very well be part of happiness. 

The novel ends before Kitty and Levin have any more children, however, Tolstoy insisted that he needed to have as many as possible, while Sophia was still able to carry them. He believed that breastfeeding by the mother was the most natural, best option, and so prevented her from hiring wet-nurses for any of the children -- I repeat, 13 in total -- Tolstoy was a wealthy count; they could most certainly afford the assistance. Sophia was his editor, his secretary, she put up with what she viewed as a series of rapes, she spent 13 years of her life nursing, over a decade pregnant. He spent years trying to convince her to get rid of all their possessions, to lead a Walden-esque life on the land with their peasants and his students; when she resisted, he tried to put the plan into place for himself, though, much like Levin, he still had all of the comforts and privileges afforded to him by his station. He chose to leave the rights to his literary works to his students, adherents to his philosophies, “Tolstoyans”, rather than to Sophia; she had to fight for these in court after his death. 

I would really like to talk more about the character of Anna Karenina, because Tolstoy doesn’t even subscribe evenly to the madonna/whore dichotomy there; Anna is sort of both, sort of something else entirely. However, her sister-in-law, Dolly, is described by Levin as an uglier, older, more pathetic version of Kitty. She is interested only in her children, while her husband has affairs and spends all their money. He is disgusted by her, because her quietly putting up with her husband’s ways is clearly repulsive, fake, subservient -- not a sign of true love, as in his own home. 

I haven’t covered everything I wanted to, but I am running out of room and steam here, nonnie, so I’m wrapping this up. Please feel free to ask for my opinions on Jonathan Franzen next week!