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absolutebl · 3 years ago

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This Week in BL

Aug 2021 Wk 4

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Love Area Ep 4-5 - (ep 4 fan subs here and ep 5 here) play within a play was fine, look on the bright side at least it wasn’t a music concert. But OMG Non & Toon taking over the noodle shop was the cutest thing ever. Valen is such a big sulky yearning baby. We got us a genuine love triangle going on, and everyone of them a tiny disaster. Partly because of that, this show feels a lot faster paced than most pulps. Meanwhile, I’m not sure what happened to get PeetKing back together but it looks like, with Ice in the mix, that King’s got himself a uke to look out for, form of... flexible archetype, love triangle part deux! How exciting. Two different love triangles (and two different kinds seme/uke\seme and seme/flex/uke) in one BL - from Thailand no less. Is this a blessing or a curse?

Check Out the series Ep 0 - this one isn’t supposed to come out until next year, 2022, but they dropped an ep 0 on us anyway with so many tropes I wonder what’s left for the rest of the series. YouTube is excited X a million for this one. The production values are good and the leads have killer bodies and great chemistry so yeah, what more do we want? Oh it starts with a one night stand, something new and different for BL and a personal favorite of mine. 2022 is too far away now.

Siew Sum Noi ep 3? - did’t show up in the grey.

The Yearbook Ep 7 - NOTHING is happening in this show. I mean I’m used to BLs without plot but this is ridiculous.

Don’t Say No Ep 4 - I got drunk and watched the world’s fanciest dumpster fire. What can I say? Or, to be fair, what didn’t I say? It’s not pretty, people. The sex scene isn’t pretty. The wardrobe ain’t pretty. I’m not pretty about either.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Friend or Lover Ep 5 - indie micro series from Taiwan that has been airing for a few months on YouTube. I’m enjoying it. It’s fluff with very little substance, but sweet and harmless. There is at least one more ep, but this kinda felt like the ending.

Given (Japan) Ep 6 fin - a surprisingly happy even sweet final episode. I was not expecting it from this show or Japan. My only issue is that this whole series was a “sing your feelings” chassis as that is one of my least favorite tropes. (It’s why I don’t like rockstar romances.) However, put that aside and this was a solid little live action yaoi from Japan that could have come out anytime in the last 15 years, but I’m gad we got it now. (full review here) 8/10 RECOMMENDED.

Gossip

Jang Eui Soo (Where Your Eyes Linger and Nobleman Ryu’s Wedding) starring in a new Korean BL My Sweet Dear. (Viki Original and it’s listed so you and save it to your watch list NOW! Read all about it here.) Not much is known about this drama yet. except he’s opposite Lee Chan Hyung who was one of the otherworld counterparts in The Uncanny Counter.

Secret Crush On You (formerly Stalker) up coming Thai BL produced (but not starring) Saint, has a GL side couple! We are all very excited by this.

Thai BL adaptation of KinnProsche seems to have been adopted by a new company under a new name. It’s like the shelter dog no one keeps for very long. Perth is out. No idea what’s going on. Frankly, don’t care. Wake me when it has an air date and is actually releasing.

More of our trusted BL grey suppliers on Daily Motion had their accounts taken down, not sure what’s going on or where to find stuff until the dust settles.

Lots of gifs dropped from the ep 0 of Thai BL Check Out the series, coming 2022. Not a much is known about this one except its a cohabitation hotel set piece. But it looks hot.

In Case You Missed It

Seven Project FINALLY got its official trailer from Studio Wabi Sabi. I might have watched it several times. It looks like we have 1 GL, 2 definite BLs, 1 possible BL (never count on BoomPeak kissing), and 3 het romances.

GL Samantha (Manaow in UWMA + lots of other rolls) & Pineare (Del in UWMA, Yuri in Love Sick)

BL Boun & Prem (WinTeam in UWMA)

BL Earth (In in UWMA) & Santa

BL? Boom & Peak (TeeFuse in MIR)

Perth (Ae LBC1&2)

Yacht (Pond in LBC1&2)

Plan (Can in LBC1&2)

Look, imma be honest with you, as cute as SantaEarth are, as fabulous as BounPrem’s chemistry is, as charmingly familiar as BoomPeak are on screen - I just REALLY WANT SOME GOOD THAI GL. I can’t wait for Sammy & Pinaere. I don’t really care about anything else, just give us THEM!

There’s a BTS from Light On Me that shows prep for the kissing scene (spoiler: there is no prep). I rarely suggest looking at BTS stuff but in this instance, you can see why Korean romances (in general) don’t handle kisses well. They spring it on the actors without workshopping first (as opposed to Taiwan - here’s SamYu's prep activities as a counter example). You know I’m always interested in how good kisses happen, I figured you might be as well.

A baby teaser for the second half of Love is Science was the most exciting thing to happen since the last ep of Light on Me. @heretherebedork and I have been waiting MONTHS for the return of our confident gay + disaster bi pairing and it looks like Taiwan is gonna serve them up on a sizzling hot platter. (Erm that metaphor got away from me, but watch the clip and you’ll get it.) This drama also features an older woman/younger man main romance, a lesbian side nibble, and a mature hets side plot. Both het romances are with beta males. Honestly, what would we do without Taiwan?

Next Week Looks Like This:

Thai BL Love Advisor (teaser) starts up Aug 28. You can watch this one on Vibie’s YouTube channel. The teaser’s subs aren’t inspiring much confidence, and it looks like a lockdown project, but they’re trying? And it’s something new.

Korean BL Peach of Time is supposed to start Aug 30 on WeTV (trailer). This is 10 episode crossover project between Korea & Thailand involving Mii2 AKA JimmyTommy of Why R U? and Choi Jae Hyun of Run On. Korean set and support cast means we can expect high production values, short episodes, and mostly Korean language. It’s about a Thai boy, Peach (Jimmy), who travels to stay with his online Korean friend, Yun Oh. Yun Oh has a strained relationship with his mother which Peach tries to mend. There is also a ghost element.

Some shows may be listed later than actual air date for International subs accessibility reasons.

Upcoming 2021 BL master post here.

Links to watch are provided when possible, ask in a comment if I missed something.

This week’s best moments?

Non & Toon taking over the noodle shop in Love Area.

The shower scene in Check Out. Look it’s been a while since we saw this trope. I like it, okay?

The kiss in Given.

These two are back and back in uniform, making them officially the longest running BL couple (until Not Me comes out, of course). Either way they sure have been in high school a SUPER long time.

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sevenyearslumber · 3 years ago

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I Love Gravity Falls

So a few weeks ago I finished Gravity Falls for the first time and I really want to compile some of my thoughts in a post, both to express my love for the show and to practice/get back into writing. I’ve spent a considerable amount of time recently reflecting on what I like about the series, rewatching certain scenes, and after countless nights of spending probably too much time in the shower just thinking about this Disney Cartoon that’s nearly a decade old, I came to some startling realizations. One; I was ten years old when this show first came out and I’m now twenty (terrifying), but even more startling; Gravity Falls has probably been the most fun I’ve had watching something in a very long time.

Just to clarify, it’s not that my surprise at how much I enjoyed Gravity Falls stems from going into the show with low expectations, but rather, the complete opposite. I knew well before beginning the first episode that Gravity Falls had a super passionate following and was held in the utmost regard by its fans. So if anything, when I started S1Ep1 Tourist Trapped my expectations were through the roof. And much to my delight, as I got further and further into the series, each and every one of my expectations were surpassed.

From start to finish Gravity Falls is an emotional rollercoaster in the best possible way. One minute I’m crying from laughter at the show’s ridiculous sense of humor, and the next I’m on the verge of tears at how real some of the characters’ struggles are. The series was able to evoke such a wide range of feelings from me, and I think that’s one of Gravity Falls’ biggest strengths. Whether you’re watching because you’re looking for a laugh, invested in the show’s various mysteries, or just wanting a really unique and heartfelt story, there’s something here for you.

Speaking of Gravity Falls’ biggest strengths, I feel it would be amiss to praise the show without talking in depth about its characters. Of course at the center of it all we have the Pines family, specifically Dipper, Mabel, and Stan, all of who I found myself immediately fond of from the get-go. I really love how full of personality each of the main Pines are, and can appreciate how much they’re all fleshed out over the course of the two seasons. They genuinely feel at times like real people, each with their own interests, beliefs, and behaviors.

As for other supporting characters of Gravity Falls, my endearment for them isn’t so straightforward. I no doubt like characters such as Soos and Wendy, but I also feel that I don’t fully realize how much I love certain characters until specific moments. For instance there are episodes such as Blendin’s Game, where I absolutely adore Soos and am near bawling my eyes out over him. Conversely, there are other episodes such as The Love God and Roadside Attraction, where Soos kind of just slips into the background and I don’t think twice of it. However, I wouldn’t at all consider this an inherent knock against the show, and I understand that not all characters are gonna receive the same amount of focus. Overall I would say the characters as a whole are no doubt likable and charming in their own ways, but it’s the Pines family that really made Gravity Falls special to me.

On another interesting note, as much as I love all of the colorful personalities Gravity Falls has to offer, I don’t think I would consider most of the characters in the show all that complex. None of the cast really undergoes any drastic arcs, nor do we know much about the backgrounds of these characters other than what we personally see. Instead, the characters of Gravity Falls gain a lot of their depth from their relationships with others. One of my absolute favorite aspects of the series is Dipper and Mabel’s sibling dynamic. It’s somehow both unbelievably adorable and incredibly realistic. They may bicker, fight, and won’t always see eye to eye, but they’re always there for each other. As someone who grew up having a very close relationship with my own sister, there were countless moments that really resonated with me. I just love the themes of family that the show explored and thought they were so beautifully executed.

My time with Gravity Falls was an amazing experience that brought me more joy than I can possibly explain. I’m so glad I watched this show and I’m sure it’ll still be occupying my thoughts for many years to come.

#gravity falls #sorry for my ramble of poorly connected thoughts #this took way longer than it should but listening to goat & a pig gave me the power to finish

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lumilasi · 3 years ago

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I saw this in my feed and since I was pretty bored and FINALLY free from the said boredom, figured I could do this one. I generally enjoy question based tags, especially if they relate to art/writing/fandom/are some general things about favorite colors, music, foods, things about your home country etc.

(basically, you can tag me in stuff similar to listed above things and I’ll probably do them if I see them/have time lmao)

Fic Writer Questions!

How many works do you have on AO3?

44 total. I used to have more but I’ve deleted an old Bleach one I knew I’d never continue to write, and two bnha ones for the same reason (those two were also at the very beginning stages so nobody missed a lot anyway)

What's your total AO3 wordcount?

4 269 068......wow. It’s even MORE than I even imagined. Over 4 million words.

....Someone take my writing tools away from me lmao

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Three. I started with MCU, moved on to Bleach and now I’ve done most ofr BNHA

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Crossroads - 3069

Family Secrets - 3015

Reanimate - 1534

The neighbor - 809

Espada and Fraccion - 782

.....Admittedly this list surprised me. Not the first three but the last two. The fifth is an one shot for Bleach that I wrote AGES ago. I also for some reason expected this list to match the bookmark list more lmao

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I always try to respond to every comment I get, but often times when it’s just one word or a heart emoji I don’t really know what to say, so I might not reply to those. I do appreciate every comment I get, and read every single one, even if I don’t respond

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

I don’t do angst endings typically, but Family Secrets is probs the most obvious choice, given what happens at the end.

- and its not even the real end, because I couldn’t help myself and made two more stories for the AU that was like “hey! this character I made you all love so much actually DIDN’T die, he just had unfinished business back home” lmao

Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you've ever written?

Rarely, typically they’re between my own fics (the story that crosses the paths of Crossroads and Family Secrets AU’s, literally titled Crossover, creative name I know OTL I was out of ideas)

Or between me and other people’s fics. Currently there’s two, both with Crossroads: one with Theteapotofdoom’s fic Something Good, and another with leontheneon’s fic Here with you. Both stories are basically a two part series that is non canon to actual Crossroads. The first story is finished, second one has two chapters left...that...I uh...struggle to write it seems OTL

(not tagging either person into this because Tea is very busy IRL right now so I don’t want to bother her, and Leon hasn’t been around in ages, IDK if they even use tumblr anymore)

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not really no? I can only remember one time with somebody kind of demanding me to completely rewrite one fic in the past. It wasn’t really hate, more just...kinda unreasonable in my eyes? This was years ago by now.

While I did understand their side and the particular struggle they had (once they actually explained it, the first comment at the time came off pretty rude and demanding), I still feel them wanting me to re-write an entire multi-chapter fic just for them is a bit unreasonable, like said.

Like it wasn’t just couple of grammatical errors that was their issue, we’re talking weeks and even months long process of completely reworking multi-chapter story, because the grammar wasn’t tip top perfect. (I’m not a native speaker so there’s bound to be some mistakes; pointing out small occasional things is one thing - asking me to rewrite an entire multi-chapter story is another)

You can imagine that is not exactly high on my priorities list with IRL responsibilities and being more focused on the actual content of what I write, the ongoing stories I’m updating. This fic isn’t even finished yet either, so...yeah. Like after they explained their side of the story I was a bit more understanding, but its still....a bit ridiculous and unreasonable in my eyes to ask somebody to do such a massive overhaul when the story isn’t even finished yet?? Like maybe once its done and I have time I can go and edit it, but not when I haven’t even finished it lmao

Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Nah. I don’t care about smut a whole lot personally. I much more enjoy writing emotional scenes, character interactions and mystery. Plot over porn basically lmao

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don’t...do people actually do this? It feels like such a weird and pointless thing to do. It’s fanfic. stuff you write for fun and for free, for people to read for free. I’d also imagine its pretty easy to get caught given AO3 shows when you first posted your story.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes, a couple of times. In Russian and I think other one was Chinese?

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Writing the crossovers was kinda that? Like I asked feedback from Tea and Leon on how to write them. there was also actually third crossover story that was supposed to happen (only I wasn’t going to be the one to write it) but this project has been shelved as the other person had to drop majority of online activity due to some IRL health related things. (I’m just glad they recently contacted me to inform they were doing better)

What’s your all time favorite ship?

Right now it’s..probably pretty obvious its Shigadabi, but I can never really say any ship is my all time fave, as it always changes depending on the fandom lmao.

I guess my favorite character x proper sleep/emotional stability/happiness will always be the OTP

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Oof. I always try to finish every single one, and if I absolutely know I won’t, I tend to just delete them. Thankfully I’ve only done it thrice. Which I guess is still a lot, but compared to how much I write, in context not really?

What are your writing strengths?

From what I’ve gathered of feedback, its typically emotional moments/character dialogue and interaction/character arcs and so. Mystery plots too. Or maybe that last one is just me lmao

What are your writing weakness?

Personally, while I tend to get positive feedback on both, sometimes I feel like I struggle to choose a good pacing for a fic, and fight scenes are always a pain. Namely, I might struggle with making the pace too long-winded and slow sometimes. Ironically, my IRL update pacing is probs a bit too fast in turn. (To add another layer of irony, I got an update ready for Unravel that I’ll post after making this tag)

Also writing shorter stories. I’ve been trying to write one-shots more (like the Spinaraki series thing) to kinda try and get myself to pack up my stories better and not let them always spiral out of control haha

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I did try to do that once with a fic I deleted, I had a native speaker help me with the canadian french bits. This person is no longer active on tumblr, and I deleted that fic because I realized I’d never finish it.

Technically tho, as a non-native English speaker, EVERY word is in other language to me lmao. I could only add Finnish as an extra one easily, and it rarely makes sense to do so anyway.

What was the first fandom you ever wrote for?

MCU. It’s what I originally made my AO3 for, as I felt brave enough to post things. I also can’t remember writing fandom related stuff before that, it was typically more oc related. Writing fics has helped me learn a lot about world-building, character consistency and all that stuff, without having to make everything from scratch (tho I do enjoy doing that as well of course). I feel like my original work writing has improved too thanks to my fic writing shenanigans in a way lmao. Tho that might just be me, IDK

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Oooof. This changes a lot depending on the time. I can never really pick just one either: my current favorites are Stringmaster, The neighbor and Family Secrets

Stringmaster because I love building the Steampunk AU, and Tomura’s relationship with Dabi and his Sensei, The neighbor because I personally think the romance build up in that one is probably one of the best I’ve done so far (the character dialogue in that is among my favorites I’ve written as well) and FS, because it taught me a lot about character building through writing a character like Hisashi.

Plus I just really like Hisashi.

And baby Izuku and little Tenko are super adorable.

And Inko is the best mum.

Also the fact the whole story is so ironic in a sense its still kinda funny to me.

The only writer I know that might be around rn is @nightlilly0110 soo...I guess I’ll tag them if they want to do this! Anybody who’s a writer can snatch this too of course ;)

#tag game #writer tag #fic writing

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inevitably-johnlocked · 4 years ago

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i was wondering, since you were here(tumblr) when s4 happened...how was it? i’ve read it was a disaster and everyone was blind mad and disappointed and many deleted on here and never came back :( so sad to see all that and the wasted hope and opportunities!! Steph, do you still think we’ll get a special? even if it’s a short one? our, and most specially their’s, deserved ending?

it just seems so surreal that you and some others are still so dedicated to the fandom and the motives, theories and contributing. I entered tumblr only a month ago and discovered it all and i just have this fear that everyone is going to vanish away

i’m so sorry for sending the most depressing message ever, i just needed to let it out and for some kind of reason i feel close to you? it must be because you are soo dedicated and i absolutely love that about you! it just blows my mind

Hey Nonny!

I THINK all of these are meant to be together since they were all sent in at the same time and seem to stack properly but if y’all are different Nonnies, I apologize!

So, the aftermath of S4 was a shitstorm, absolutely, because we did expect something so great from a show that, previously, only gave us high-quality content. So when we got what we got, initially it was “how to I theorize from this that makes no sense?” and then it progressively got worse as each episode aired. Once TFP did, a lot of us did just say fuck it and left, and a lot of others tried to make sense of things.

Some great theories eventually did come out of it if only so that S4 makes some sort of sense. I’m with the lot that thinks S4 was fucking garbage and the only way it makes sense to the narrative is if it was fake somehow (I genuinely don’t understand people who think that S4 was great and it’s some sort of mirror series that actually happened and isn’t fake, but not my place to gatekeep), so John’s Alibi / TAB / some blog theory makes the most sense to me logically.

I’m gonna be frank and honest here, and will probably lose friends and followers because of this; I think a lot of people left because of the toxicity from the hardcores. There were a lot of people who were genuinely hurt and didn’t want anything to do with the show but wanted to still interact with fandom, but the hardcores essentially shunned them like some weird cult and proclaimed those that “didn’t believe” weren’t “real fans” and the gatekeeping began anew. It was so fucking ridiculous. Fence-sitters like myself (there were quite a few of us after S4) also got criticized because we didn’t like S4 and had different reading on the show, and eventually a lot of them left too. It even drove out new fans who joined after S4. Eventually, the hardcores quieted down a bit and kept to their own spaces but they won’t let anyone have any dissenting opinions, which is rather sad and not conducive to creativity in my opinion.

The writers and artist now mostly make up the core fandom, because BOY after S4, people were DYING for anything to make S4 better, and the authors just surged in their popularity and creativity. So I’m actually really happy about that. These days most of the fandom oldies are here (the OG authors and artists and old-schoolers) who keep the fandom alive with their theories and stories and works, and I’m just a curator of fandom, nowadays. I still like to write meta and theorize, but a lot of meta writers are now authors, or have moved on from Tumblr to Twitter, (”why?” is the question... the format and timeline are terrible) which is a shitstorm all its own... I don’t like the format of Twitter so I never committed to it, I just use it to promote my lists and art.

Anyway, so yeah, that’s a bit of the fandom history from MY perspective. It’s different for everyone. I know some old-schoolers who are only recently coming back because the toxicity has died down and it’s mostly creative content nowadays. And new fans like yourself who come and get to soak in all of the past content. I envy you for missing out on the drama, really, and I hope you never have to experience it. Tumblr fandoms are a hellscape once shipping slash theory slash blogger wars break out.

That said, with regards to the special, this is a question that’s been asked for years, honestly. A lot of us have various theories, which you can read in my “secret episode” tag, and there’s some in my “twin theory” tag. My current thoughts on it is that they lost their opportunity to air a secret episode years ago, but I do hold out hope for a small nugget on August 8, the same day that TGG aired 10 years ago and officially marks the end of the 10 year anniversary, but I’m not holding my breath.

My thoughts are still generally the same as this post I did a few months ago. I really REALLY want to give Mofftiss the benefit of the doubt and say something happened behind the scenes that prevented a Johnlock ending, but it doesn’t make sense since it’s BBC and BBC Three was all over the “Johnlock 5evah” thing, so... yeah. And I know how Mofftiss are. So. Yeah, I’d love for it to be BBC Sherlock that confirms them as a couple, but I fear it’s not going to ever happen. We’ve got Furtive Festivity, and it’s gross-cute, and I’m happy with that. <3 Maybe Ritchie Holmes will be the ones to do it, but with Warner Bros the ones who get their fingers all over shit, and given their history-similar-to-Disney, don’t think it’s gonna happen either, even though all parties are open to it. :./

Anyway, Nonny, don’t apologize for the content of your ask; it’s my schtick to be approachable. I know a lot of people believe I’m faking it, but I’m really not. I’m lonely and you guys are all I’ve really got in my life, which is sad, but there it is. Helping you guys makes me feel better, though occasionally I do need the words of comfort directed at me too <3

And I’m sorry if anyone was offended by anything I said, because I know I do have a few followers who are people who liked S4 and who do tinhat still more than I, and I just want you to know I have NOTHING against y’all at all. Y’all ain’t going around shitting on people who didn’t like S4. I’m talking specifically people who drove others out of the fandom and didn’t make them feel like part of the family anymore.

We’re all entitled to our opinions, and it’s no one’s place to gatekeep.

#steph replies #chatting with nonnies #fandom history #shitposting steph #s4 shitposting #fandom life #Anonymous

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nadjastersurveys · 4 years ago

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Randomly Random - Part 1

Middle name? I don’t feel like revealing my middle names here.

Favorite color(s)? I like purple but every color can be nice.

What college do you want to/or are attending? I’m not attending a college/university right now and I have no idea if I ever even will.

What do you want to/are you majoring in? -

Democrat/republican/other? Other?

Birthday month? I was born in October

Do you dress according to your mood? I’m not sure, I don’t really pay attention to that lol but I dress according to the weather and where I’m going to though.

Tomboy/girlie girl I still don’t know lol. I guess mostly a bit more tomboyish.

Are you good at doing hair/make up? I don’t wear makeup and the only hairdo I do is that I put my hair up in a ponytail lol.

Do you wear glasses? No.

Can you drive? No.

Are you shy? In front of people I don’t know, but I wouldn’t call myself shy in general.

Are you always worried or stressed about something? Not always but I get stressed and worried really easily.

Tell me about your dream wedding. I don’t dream about having a wedding lol.

Randomly Random - Part 2

Do you like to sing? When I’m alone, yes.

Do you like to write poetry? I don’t think I’ve ever actually done that.

Can you swim? I can but I’m not a swimmer, so I’m not good at that.

Do you like the pool or the ocean? I prefer actually swimming in the pool. I just dip my feet and maybe legs in the ocean/lake.

Do you hate water in your face? Well no unless it gets in my eyes lol.

Do you hold grudges? Noo, I don’t feel like that solves anything.

Are you/have you ever been in love? I don’t know, I feel like I am right now though.

Do you/did you ever sleep with a teddy bear?if so who gave it to you? I have a big bunny plush toy in my bed but not a bear. My mom bought it for me haha.

Are you a very random person? I don’t even know what that means lol.

What do you do when you’re nervous? I tap my fingers on everything and just do anything with my hands.

Do you love making new friends? Yeah it’s fun because I’m not very good at getting to know people.

Do you like the twilight series? Never read/watched those.

Favorite animal? Cats.

Randomly Random - Part 3

Do you have any pets? We have two cats.

What would you name your daughter? I haven’t thought about it yet lol.

^ your son? ^

What length hair do you like in a guy & why? Whatever fits them pretty much but I’d say boys with a bit shorter hair are usually more attractive, especially like a buzzcut lol.

Do you have friends who are shorter than you? No I’m the shortest.

When you get mad do you cry? Sometimes yeah but it just depends on the thing I’m mad about.

Would you ever consider modeling? Nah.

What color eyes do you wish you had? I'm happy with my eye color but sometimes I wish for more lighter brown eyes, like amber eyes.

Silver/gold jewelry? Silver.

Do you always wear jewelry? My earrings and my nose ring are the only jewelry I wear.

Are you afraid of needles? Not really.

How many kids do you want? I don’t know yet.

Long/short nails? Short but not too short.

Do you like wearing hats? Sometimes yeah.

Randomly Random - Part 4

Do you love taking pics? Yeah it can be fun.

Do you sunburn easily? Not super easily, no.

Does mall Santa Clauses or Easter bunnies freak you out? I've never seen mall Santas or Easter bunnies haha.

Do you prefer to call a person or wait for them to call you? I like when people call me first for sure but sometimes you just have to call first.

Are you scared of crossing bridges? Those wonky bridges, yes lol but I’ve never had to cross one.

Do you have a short attention…oh squirrel…span? Yeah.

Do you hate sitting in silence but get irritated if someone talks too much? Well yes something in the middle of those two is nice.

Has anyone ever called you baby or hun? No.

What’s your favorite kind of chocolate? Milk chocolate.

Would you consider yourself clumsy? I can be pretty clumsy.

Do you hate using public restrooms? Yess I try to avoid them as much as possible.

Do you like when a guy picks you up in his arms? No guy has ever picked me up in his arms haha but sure, that would be nice especially if he’s someone I like.

Ever bought ice cream from an ice cream truck? Yes but that was ages ago.

Do you hate chihuahuas? I don’t.

Randomly Random - Part 5

Has a teacher ever made you hate your favorite subject? Nope.

Do you like hairless cats? Yeah I think they look cool and kind of mysterious.

Did you ever cry at school? Yep.

Have you ever had a poem or story published? Nope.

If you had/have a kid would you ever let them get a tattoo? Well if they’re old enough then yes.

What’s your favorite thing to have for dinner? Just something with chicken or fish.

Would you ever paint your walls red? Nah, I like them white.

Have you ever licked a pole? No lol.

Has your hand ever gotten slammed in a car door? No but my head has lol.

Are you allergic to grass? No.

Do you love guinea pigs? Yeah they’re pretty cute.

Do you prefer to write on chalkboards or white boards? Chalkboards are nice but I wouldn’t mind writing on a white board either lol. It doesn’t matter.

What is the worst thing you ever did that got you grounded? I don’t know if I’ve ever been grounded haha. I’m not sure what that even actually means. I was sent to my room a lot when I was an annoying 7-10 year old though lol.

Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars? I could really use a wish right now so yes.

Randomly Random - Part 6

What would you do if your best girlfriend said she was lesbian? I’d support any friend who tells me that.

Have you ever been chased by a snake? No.

Where do you wanna work? I don’t know.

Is there something you tell yourself you’re going to do but never do? There’s some things, like I’ve been meaning to watch this one movie for like 6 months now.

Has a teacher ever called you an idiot? Not to my knowledge but I wouldn’t be surprised if they did lol.

What awards have you won? Medals from dance competitions.

Do you get nervous eating in front of people? Usually no, but that has happened.

Would you consider yourself good at taking care of kids? I've never actually taken care of kids so probably not now.

How old would a guy have to be before you wouldn’t date them? Right at this age I wouldn’t date anyone older than 18.

Be honest, have you ever tried weed? No.

Has anyone ever broken up with you with a note? Never broken up with anyone before.

Have you walked into a wall? I’m sure I have.

Do you have sensitive teeth? No.

Do you sleep with a fan on? In summer if it’s really hot.

Randomly Random - Part 7

When you hear sirens, do you get afraid its someone you know? When I see a firetruck go with sirens on I always worry if it’s going to our house.

Do you often get nosebleeds in the winter? I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a nosebleed because of winter lol.

What’s a word you use to substitute for a cuss word? I don’t use substitutes for swear words lol.

What was the worst thing you ever did to get detention/suspended? I’ve had detention mostly for forgetting to do my homework.

Have you ever suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder? No.

Have you tried the new crackle nail polish? No.

Do you enjoy the “i love you more” argument? No lol.

Do you like the color yellow? Yeah I like it.

Trees are awesome! Yes? Why not.

Do you suffer from nasal allergies? I don’t.

Marrying your cousin. Yay or nay? Well, no lol.

Are you distracted by anything shiny at the moment? Ooo shiny!! No.

Has your parents ever called you names? Like mean names? No like they were trying to be mean, they were just telling the truth haha, like lecturing me if I did/do something annoying or wrong.

Have you ever seen a cat have a hairball…i have soo gross Yes.

Randomly Random - Part 8

Have you ever had a tooth pulled, i have : / No, the thought of that scares me.

Do you still watch tom and jerry? : ) I’ve never watched that but I read the comics often as a little girl haha.

Do you use your hairbrush as a microphone? No lol.

What’s your usual morning routine? I get up, go to the bathroom, brush my teeth, get some breakfast and get dressed properly if I have to go somewhere.

Do you ever get bored with something so you’re unable to finish it? Yes I get bored so easily it’s ridiculous.

Do you wanna redecorate your room? I’m happy with my room.

Have you ever worn black to someone’s house & left covered in fur? Haha yes people who have cats have cat hair everywhere around their house usually, just like our house.

What would i expect to find under your bed? Just dust lol.

If i were to walk into your room, would i be able to see the floor? Yes it’s not messy and I hate when I have stuff that is not furniture on the floor.

What is something you did when you were a kid that you still enjoy? Dancing is one thing.

Has anyone ever said they would love you forever, was it true? I don’t think anyone has ever said that to me.

Do you watch America’s Got Talent? No but I sometimes watch some clips of it on YouTube.

Do you ever sit and look at old photo albums & recall memories? Yes that’s fun.

Do you watch onision on YouTube, if not you should he’s hilarious. This didn’t age well lol. I’ve seen some of his first videos and yeah they’re pretty funny but now he’s in deep shit and so many people hate him. I feel so uneasy and weird watching his new videos also because he disabled the comments in the videos and you can’t see the likes or dislikes either.

Randomly Random - Part 9

Don’t you just hate taking showers in the winter? Noo, I like it but I like taking showers in any season.

Do you say “epic fail” a lot? I’ve never said that lol.

How personal does a question have to be so that you wont answer? In surveys? I wouldn’t tell my last name or the place i live in like the adress.

Do you ever feel like sometimes you have short term memory loss? Yes because I have really bad memory.

What if a stranger came up to you yelled BATMAN & ran away? I would jump a little because it’s something I don’t expect to happen lol.

What’s your favorite kind of pudding? Vanilla or caramel.

Did you ever run over something with a lawn mower? Never used a lawn mower.

When someone says don’t look do you look? Well sometimes.

Have you ever played spin the bottle? Once yeah.

Did you ever have a cat that was obsessed with shoes? No lol.

I believe i can fly! Ever jump off things & try to fly? I haven’t haha.

What was your first Halloween costume? I’ve never dressed for Halloween I think.

Ever have chicken pox? Yep.

Did you eat your Wheaties this morning ? What was for breakfast? I had a smoothie and crackers for breakfast lol.

#survey #feeelsss good to be baaackk

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greedy-fox · 4 years ago

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Rankings from Summer 2020

1st

Re:Zero Season 2 Part 1

Storyline finally getting exciting. After finally going through the witch trials and dying and being stuck in the same death checkpoint. Subaru now has an actual target in mind for the next season! But with soo many new questions needing to be answered, will Subaru finally be able to complete his new mission with all the hints he gathered (from the trials, deaths and witchly meetings) and move on to the next checkpoint.

Opening was also diabolical in a great way!! Instead of spoiling what could be happening in the new anime season, they decided to review what happened in the first season and reminding everyone how ridiculously depressing and dark the anime really is.

The animation also upped its game once again. Especially when it came to talking to the witches, and how he kept on dying over and over and over again.

2nd Deca-Dence

The storyline was amazing!! It was a very interesting cross between reality and fantasy. I loved how there was a good flow of character development happening and the dynamic between the 2 main characters was off the charts.

The opening and ending were pretty on point too. A great start to the episodes and the ending had some really refreshing concept art to help end the episode.

I loved the artwork and the way the characters were animated. It was very lively and colorful like they were real humans and not just any old cartoons. Even the robotic form for 1 of the characters was soo adorable it

3rd

Appare-Ranman!

The story line was everything I expected and more. The cars were amazing and the character were even better. I had a lot of fun watching this anime, and I believe that a lot of people don’t give it much credit for the little things.

The opening animation was a bit all over the place but I guess they did it on purpose to show the characters and what their strong points are.

The animation was honestly fun. I am not a big fan when it comes to mixing 3D and 2D animation together. But for this anime it went pretty smoothly.

4th

Fruits Basket: 2nd Season

The storyline kept on pissing me off!!!I swear to god I pity the Soma children who have to deal with all this unnecessary mental and physical turmoil, and their parents just make it all the more heartbreaking by being very selfish. Not to mention that the head of their house Akita Souma is a woman (which explains the hysterical over possessiveness)!!

The openings were very heartbreaking to be honest. But the artwork was so so beautiful, it was like the openings were telling the audience no matter how painful their turmoil is they will still stand beautifully when the next day comes.

The animations were beautifully drawn and smoothly transitioned from scene to the next. They were very straightforward with a lot of situations from flash back to the present pain shown in the show.

5th

The Great Pretender

The storyline was on point and pretty repetitive but it made sense for the last story arc. Each con heist story had a personal story attached to one of the characters, so it made the pulling of the heist all the more righteous.

The opening was pretty good. The speedy jazz made a lot more action like. and the silhouettes of the people and places were a great change of pace. Also with out realizing it, they are showing off the places the of where the heist happen. Basically spoiling the anime series, but we really don’t notice it.

Top notch animation, everything is beautiful from the characters to the places. Everything is high quality and just calming.

6th

Fugou Keiji: Balance:UNLIMITED

The opening was amazing the color scheme. Always reminding me of the James Bond movies. The ending was also pretty fun to listen too and the

The story was ok. The character interactions were what made the storyline stick. The one surprise was the fact that the main character joined the police force because of a conspiracy that happened within his family. Only to end having another twist where he finally finds out that his whole purpose was based off of false advertisement.

The animation was pretty great. Every episode ended in a flashy way only because the guy had so much money that he could do whatever he wanted.

7th

No Guns Life 2

Opening was great as always. You could feel the dramatics though the song.

Storyline finally went above and beyond. We finally got to see glimpse of everyones past. Especially the main character and what he was like when the war happened and ended, also what happened to all his brethren when the war itself.

Animation was awesome. Especially when it came to the fighting scene.

8th

Muhyo to Rouji 2

Opening had a bit more pepe in its step. PRobably because they were getting pretty serious into the storyline.

Storyline finally continued the manga series. We got meet a wider range of characters

Animation was amazing as always.

9th

Bungou to Alchemist: Shinpan no Haguruma

Opening was amazing. I like how it was a jazz number that. It really seemed to fit the aura of the storyline itself.

Storyline was interesting because you had a lot of important figures basically playing the main characters. But it seemed that one of them ruled over the rest especially since he was the silent type and also has amnesia for some reason.

Animation was beautiful. Just drawing all those handsome men was a the ultimate fan service any animation company could give. I really hope those animatore got a bonus for their great work.

10th

The God of High School

Opening was interesting to say the least. But not a big fan those types of DJ players. Who knows people must have really liked it.

Storyline, really skipped over a lot of thing from the main story. My guess is because the original storyline had soooo much happening. Hell the webtoon itself isn't even done yet and its been out for like 3 to 5 years.

Animation was amazingly smooth. Especially since they did it all in 2D (not a a single speck of 3D element whatsoever and I loved it.) Also in some of the fights they animated some special effects just adding to that beautiful smoothness that I pointed out earlier.

11th

Sword Art Online: Alicization - War of Underworld Part 2

Opening was not that great.

Storyline is basically overused at this point. Only difference was that Kirito was basically in a coma, which was done by a forced

Animation was only good that stayed, but I’m pretty sure that they over exaggerate the special effects. You know when the character were doing their Ultimate battle techniques.

#personalrankings #summerseason #2020 #lifestyle #anime

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fyexo · 5 years ago

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191016 Breaking Down the SuperM Phenomenon: The K-Pop Debut Group With the No. 1 Album in America

When K-pop super label SM Entertainment was deciding where to launch its new all-star boy band, it settled on an emerging growth market for the genre: the U.S. Now at the top of the Billboard charts, the group may have revealed a path for other Korean acts to follow.

K-pop fandom in America is an increasingly accessible way of life, but never has the industry catered to U.S. fans as directly as it did in Hollywood this month. In early October, new seven-member boy group SuperM made their official international debut at Capitol Records, notably choosing to focus on the American market from day one. Compiled from several established SM Entertainment acts—SHINee, EXO, NCT 127, and WayV—and created in partnership with Capitol, the all-star supergroup took over Los Angeles, shutting down Hollywood streets for their first showcase and popping up everywhere from billboards and posters to an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

SuperM’s self-titled EP dropped on October 4, and the group promptly made history as the first debut Korean act to hit no. 1 on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart—they are the only K-pop group other than BTS to reach the top spot. To those unfamiliar with the industry, it may seem like SuperM came out of nowhere, but the group was constructed from some of SM’s most popular boy groups for a reason—they brought with them a dedicated legion of fans. SuperM’s immediate sales success could reveal a path to follow for other K-pop groups hoping to make it in America.

SuperM’s first week of U.S. promotion was designed with their established fans in mind, and there were plenty to be found in L.A. alone. The weekend began with a live Q&A broadcast from Capitol Records, during which the group answered Twitter questions, interacted with fans, and watched their new music video from casual seats in the audience. Then they closed down Hollywood for a live performance on the following Saturday, performing three of their new songs for a crowd of thousands on a giant stage built outside Capitol Tower. And on Sunday—once they’d been deposited practically on my doorstep—it was time to get to know the boys in real time.

When I walked into the interview room at Capitol Records, I was greeted by raucous hellos and bursts of recognition from the seven members of SuperM: SHINee’s Taemin, EXO’s Baekhyun and Kai, NCT 127’s Taeyong and Mark, and WayV’s Ten and Lucas. No, we’re not longtime BFFs, nor had I interviewed them before; the group had been inexplicably seated directly behind me in the press section for the first viewing of their “Jopping” music video a few days before. After offering to move several times, dodging photographers, and enduring a series of increasingly ridiculous interactions, I finally gave up and appreciated my literal front-row seat for SuperM’s video premiere. Despite my best efforts to make sure they could actually see their hard work play on the big screen, several members—Baekhyun especially—became extremely well acquainted with the back of my head.

On Sunday, it was clear that they were slightly less familiar with the front of it. As I got set up, the guys chatted among themselves in Korean, laughing quietly. It was only when I heard Mark (born in Canada, and the group’s most fluent English speaker) ask, “Wait, should I translate?” that I looked up and realized I was on the receiving end of a table full of amused gazes. “Are you talking about me?” I asked. Group leader, eldest member, and unofficial comic relief Baekhyun nodded mischievously and gestured to Mark—no matter that there were several professional translators in the room—who said, “They’re asking whether you were at the afterparty yesterday.” I replied that I hadn’t known there was one—“Sick invite, though!” I added. When Mark sheepishly relayed my answer, Baekhyun erupted out of his seat with a shout of indignation, which quickly turned into an embarrassed bow.

I tried to start the official interview, but Baekhyun refused to move on until he figured out how he knew me, if not from the afterparty. Mark helped me explain, and when Baekhyun realized I was the one awkwardly slouching in front of him so that he could see his own music video, he decided there was no recovering from our rough start. “Sorry, I’ll go!” he said in English, dramatically shoving away from the table and pretending to walk out with a flippant wave. The exchange was scored by giggles from the rest of the group—a constant soundtrack to just about everything Baekhyun does.

He returned with a grin, and Mark got things back on track—already a familiar scenario from the first month of promotion, as the youngest member of SuperM stepped up into his role as the unofficial English voice of the group. The 20-year-old’s original awe of his older, more experienced groupmates has been an ongoing narrative during the first few weeks of their debut, but it’s hard to imagine him as shy or intimidated now. Many fans may still think of Mark as the endearingly goofy NCT youngster of years past, but SuperM has brought out a new side of him—confident, eloquent, and thoughtful. As their primary English speaker, he was under a lot of pressure during the group’s first week in the U.S., but he said he left the anxiety in Korea.

“You always worry the most before the actual thing happens, so I guess I was worried before we came to America,” Mark said. “But once I was here, I realized that we’ve all worked so hard. To see everyone learn even the shortest English lines took my worries away.”

The members of SuperM said they’re invested in learning English because they want to communicate with American fans, but fans aren’t the only ones appreciative of their hard work. SM Entertainment founder Lee Soo Man attended Thursday’s Q&A, serving as SuperM’s biggest hype man. Every time a non-fluent member attempted a sentence in English—which was impressively often, for their first U.S. appearance—Lee erupted in whoops from the audience. That energy extended through the first live “Jopping” viewing, as Lee sat with and practically tackled the boys during standout moments in the video. It’s no surprise that Lee has made his support painfully obvious—they’re his golden boys, and he has a lot riding on this venture. Providing a little hype is perhaps the least he can do.

Despite the fact that many of SuperM’s members have never worked together in a group setting, most of them have known each other for years. Longtime best friends Taemin and Kai are the main dancers of their respective groups, and widely considered two of the best dancers active in the industry; it’s not the first time they’ve collaborated, but it’s their first time working together as fellow group members, which inevitably ups the stakes. In the room, I asked both of them, sitting side-by-side like two perfectly coiffed peas in a pod, whether they’ve learned anything new about each other now that they’re groupmates. They turned to each other simultaneously and seemed to be at an utter loss. “We know everything, right?” Kai asked. Taemin agreed; both were smiling, but clearly serious. “They’re so close,” Mark told me. Everyone nodded.

“We’ve known each other for such a long time, there’s nothing new to learn,” Kai said in Korean. “But if I had to add something … we’ve been friends for such a long time, but we’ve never worked together as artists. We’ve had separate groups and careers, so coming together on the same team like this has changed the way we communicate, because we’re teammates now. We’re not just friends, and we’re not just giving each other advice, but we share the same goal and create team synergy. So that’s something that’s changed with our dynamic.”

Before SuperM officially debuted, theories abounded that Taemin would be named the group leader—a designated role in nearly every K-pop group that amounts to an official team captain of sorts. At 27, Baekhyun is one year older than Taemin, but the latter has been active in the industry longer and has an impressive solo career to boot. In fact, early teasers seemed to paint Taemin as the architect of SuperM. But Taemin appeared to have no interest in the role, and when Baekhyun was officially announced as the leader, it became clear that Baekhyun’s primary focus would be on keeping everyone happy and relaxed at all times.

Thus far, I’d been addressing different members at random, trying to follow the natural flow of conversation, and I’d unintentionally ignored the leader’s corner of the table after our initial chaotic beginning. As I swiveled toward Baekhyun, he made an exaggerated “Finally!” expression, rolling his shoulders, leaning forward, and sucking in a deep breath as if he was about to hit one of those iconic high notes. But no, this time it was just a steadfast commitment to the bit. The other members craned their heads, already grinning, as he pretended to psych himself up for my incoming question. I asked Baekhyun whether he had any newfound empathy for Suho, the leader of his other group, EXO, now that he is a leader himself.

“I can’t really relate, because I feel like I don’t actually do much,” Baekhyun said in Korean. “My biggest role here within this team is to keep the spirits high, and that’s easy for me—because I’m usually in high spirits myself, and it’s really easy for me to do that with these guys.”

Fellow EXO member Kai laughed at Baekhyun’s over-the-top delivery, but piped up in disagreement. “I’ve been in EXO with Baekhyun for a long time, but before he was just a member. Now, with him as a leader, I definitely see the difference. I can see that he has more sense of responsibility for what he does, and he really goes out of his way to care for each of the members. When it’s hard for us to voice our opinions or complaints, Baekhyun makes sure that everyone’s opinions are relayed, and that everything is communicated. He doesn’t realize he’s good, but I’m 100 percent satisfied with his leadership.”

Language barriers aside, Kai was feeling talkative—our Korean translator was forced to scribble intricate outlines to keep up with several of his elaborate answers. At one point, Kai told a story about shooting the “Jopping” music video, complete with dramatic gestures and poses.

“It was my first time in a helicopter,” he said. “They told me it was going to fly really low, and I thought I could handle it. But all of a sudden, they put me up in the helicopter, and it flew around the area four times. The director and cameraman yelled, ‘Keep your eyes open! Have good facial expressions! Fight the wind!’” Kai imitated the shouting crew members, then leveled his signature intense gaze at me in a re-creation of the action-star pose he was going for.

It was a lot.

“I tried my best, and kept my eyes open for as long as possible, and when I came back down, there was sand in my eyes and I couldn’t open them. I thought, ‘OK, I did a good job,’ but when I saw the final cut, none of the footage was used! Nothing at all!” He burst out laughing as Lucas clapped him on the back. Ever the optimist, Kai continued. “It was still a good experience. It’s motivated me to work harder until I can ride a helicopter again—maybe from Korea to America.”

The younger boys seemed impressed by his goal, but Taemin was skeptical. “Wouldn’t it take too long?” he asked. Baekhyun had other concerns: “From Korea to America? You’d get shot down with a missile.”

Ten and Lucas had their own iffy encounters with heavy machinery on the “Jopping” set. There were no helicopter rides for them, but they posed on a giant tank in Dubai in the summer. Lucas summed it up nicely. “So hot!”

Ten elaborated: “We couldn’t really touch the tanks, but we needed to pretend that we were cool on top of the tank.” He struck a pose as if he was leaning against the combat vehicle, then flipped back one stylish sleeve to gesture at his elbow. “I got burned a little,” he said. “But it was pretty cool. It’s not every day you get to sit on top of a tank and like, take a selfie.”

Ten, born in Thailand, collects languages like he collects earrings, and they were all on full display during our chat. In a light, lilting accent, Ten said that his (near-perfect) English hadn’t gotten much practice during the past few years in Korea and China, as he and Lucas promoted with NCT and WayV in quick succession, and he’s still self-conscious about using it around native speakers in the U.S.

That said, Ten loves getting the opportunity to learn about new cultures and languages. “If you know multiple cultures, it’s easier for you to express yourself in performance. You learn more about dancing, singing, and expressing. It makes you grow and mature, I think. You don’t need to care about people’s race. No matter what, you can empathize with them. That’s the most important thing.”

It’s not immediately obvious from his answer, but Ten was demonstrating his aptitude for learning in real time. According to fellow reporter Elizabeth de Luna, who was helping record the interview from the other side of the room, Ten had leaned over to Mark earlier as I asked Baekhyun about having newfound empathy for his EXO group leader. “What does ‘empathy’ mean?” Ten asked Mark. After a whispered discussion, Ten nodded and returned to attention. Then, just a few minutes later, he inserted the word perfectly into his own sentence. So goes the quadrilingual life–and, to a certain extent, the future of K-pop as an ever-evolving, increasingly global industry.

To wit, Ten and Mark aren’t the only SuperM members juggling several languages. WayV’s Lucas is Chinese, born in Hong Kong, and he’s actively working on his English and Korean. Still, he doesn’t have any trouble communicating with his groupmates, four of whom are native Koreans. “Anything can be overcome by music,” Lucas told me in Chinese. “Cultural differences do exist, but music gets rid of all that. I just use music to simplify everything, and I don’t think too much about the differences.”

It’s a sweet sentiment, but music can’t do it all—Lucas and the rest of the boys devote immense effort and concentration to even simple interviews like this one. When I first posed a question to Lucas via the Korean translator, there was a flurry of activity and laughter as the game plan was decided upon: First, Kai suggested in Korean that Lucas answer in Chinese, and Lucas turned with his ever-present smile to address a Chinese translator who was seated against the wall. Ten was then recruited to help from the other side of the room (“I will try, but my Chinese is not that great!” he chirped) and Lucas just leaned back in his rolling chair, swiveling his head around, and looking massively entertained by the commotion. In the end, Lucas gave his answer—with various interjections from Ten—to the Chinese translator, who relayed it to the Korean translator, who then gave it to me in English. It was like a game of multilingual hot potato. Lucas was rewarded for his efforts with scattered applause and high fives from Kai and Baekhyun. The group effort, energetic as it was, is painfully representative of the extra effort K-pop groups have to expend in order to break out in the U.S. market.

NCT 127 leader Taeyong is no stranger to the multilingual interview scene. As the face of the NCT megaunit, he’s worked with group members from China, Thailand, Canada, the U.S., and just about everywhere in between. He’s also unique in that he’s the only SuperM member with a producing credit on the EP. When I asked Taeyong to talk about his work on “No Manners,” which is basically a song about savagely dumping someone, I received a brief panicked look. “Speak from your heart,” Baekhyun suggested. Taeyong did his best. “At first, it was difficult to understand what the song was trying to say, so I tried to make my rap into a story to help listeners understand. I’m not saying that breaking up is always the answer, but a bad breakup is … ” he trailed off, and looked around for an assist. Baekhyun stepped in, saying that the song is about how sometimes it’s best to cut a relationship off before it hits rock bottom.

In our current context, it was hard to imagine Taeyong as an expert on breakups of any kind. He’d been engaged and friendly, but very quiet—mostly just watching the other members speak with wide-eyed attention. As he sat tiny in his seat, in an oversized T-shirt and fluffy purple hair, it was difficult to reconcile him with the fierce, steely-eyed Taeyong of the stage. Next to him, Taemin was quiet and serene as well, but no less attentive—just beaming cherubically as he sipped on his Starbucks. Such is the duality of some of K-pop’s most arresting performers.

After all, no matter how transcendent they can seem on stage—they’re called “idols” for a reason—at the end of the day, they’re just guys. It’s something they reminded us of during their showcase stage for “Super Car,” when it was revealed that the official choreography is centered around hitting the woah.

As soon as I brought up the viral dance move, I was faced with an entire room of boys hitting the woah, like it was impossible for them to talk about it without doing it. Lucas jumped out of his seat to put his whole body into it. “It’s just a feeling!” he exclaimed in English. The guys persuaded me to try hitting the woah a few times myself—unfortunately, it appeared to be a feeling I couldn’t quite grasp, but they very sweetly pretended I nailed it.

Always ready with the polished take, Mark weighed in. “We feel like ‘Super Car’ has a really trendy vibe to it. We wanted to include a movement that the American audience would find familiar. The woah has been popular for awhile now, but it’s all a cycle–it started in America and took a while to make its way over to us, so we brought it back. It just made sense for us to perform it in America.”

American music fans may think it would have made more sense for a group to incorporate the woah a few years ago when it first became popular here, but Mark is self-aware enough to know that it takes time for things like this to make the rounds in Korea. Besides, we all have a teenage cousin who refuses to stop dabbing—viral dances don’t come with expiration dates. Incorporating the woah into “Super Car” seems less like an attempt to cater to American audiences, and more a statement that this is what K-pop looks like in its current state—even if SuperM knows that the woah is passé in American culture, K-pop groups still love it. So, by god, they’re going to hit it as hard as they can.

“Super Car” was one of the three songs the group performed at their debut performance on a massive stage outside Capitol Records. It was a highly anticipated moment—for a group made nearly entirely of idols known for their dance skills, the first live show felt like a make-or-break moment for SuperM.

No one should have worried. SuperM’s first performance proved that they know how to play to each member’s specific strengths, numerous as they are. Need a standout high note? Baekhyun and Taemin are on it. Time for a rapid-fire dance solo? Ten is your man. What about a blue-steel gaze directly into the camera? Well, options vary, but Kai and Taeyong have turned it into an art form. Mark and Lucas have thrived both onstage and off, as the official crowd-pleasing charmers. It’s an all-star formula, and it’s no surprise that it has been a success. But the extent of that success in the U.S.—the blanket press coverage, the Billboard chart record—has exceeded expectations. SuperM’s immediate impact, both on the charts and in the history books, raises the question: If SM can beat the odds by debuting a new group in the U.S. market, who will follow? Other K-pop labels may now focus on America from the get-go, or create their own collaborative groups, following SuperM’s lead.

That, of course, is not SuperM’s concern. As we wrapped up the interview and said our goodbyes, Baekhyun dragged Mark over to apologize for him once more, and dramatically resolved our short-lived beef—as any good leader would. I told them I’d see them again on their upcoming U.S. tour, which kicks off in Fort Worth, Texas, in November.

To the person who will be sitting behind me at said concert, apologies in advance. You’ve got a tough act to follow.

source: Kate Halliwell @ The Ringer

#exo #baekhyun #kai #t: info #album: superm

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anistarrose · 5 years ago

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I don’t think anyone necessarily asked for a mildly angsty but mostly just ridiculous Gravity Falls x TAZ Balance crossover involving a case of mistaken identity, but apparently I sure did write the intro to one, so here it is:

***

“Excuse me? Anyone home?”

Stan was sorting merchandise in the gift shop when he heard the knock on the door and the muffled voices, and spent several seconds internally debating whether he wanted to answer. He was pretty sure he’d flipped the sign to around to its “CLOSED” side for the night, and he was positively exhausted from a long day of fixing the leaky roof with Soos — but autumn was also rapidly rolling in, with the least profitable season for tourism right on its heels.

Ultimately, his pragmatic side won out. These late-night visitors were also potential customers, and he couldn’t pass up any moneymaking opportunity after the latest series of unexpected repair fees. If he ended up losing the Shack by just a matter of a few hundred dollars that he easily could’ve scammed these tourists out of, he didn’t know what he’d do with himself.

As he made his way towards the door, a second, more gravelly voice spoke up from outside. “We’re just scientists looking to ask a couple questions! Should only take a few minutes!”

That piece of information didn’t give Stan pause quite like it should have. If anything, it gave him hope that maybe they’d be especially gullible, not unlike another nerd he used to know.

But his hopes were crushed only a few seconds after opening the door and putting on his best fake smile. He saw his three visitors’s expressions morph from something vaguely apprehensive to eerily enthusiastic, like they’d just reunited with a long-lost friend.

The man at the front of the party was the first to speak up, his eyes beaming behind square glasses. Like his two companions, he wore a long red robe with a patch vaguely reminiscent of the NASA logo over the left breast, but unlike the others, he also had on a pair of faded blue jeans.

“Ford!” he exclaimed. “It’s so good to see you again!”

Fuck, Stan thought.

“I told you two that I had a good feeling about this house!” The woman at his side stopped twirling her umbrella, and threw an arm over Stan’s shoulder. “But I hadn’t pinned you as a ramshackle log cabin tourist trap kinda guy, Ford! What brings you to this neck of the woods?”

“Got any mad science experiments hidden under that roof?” the man in jeans asked. “Out here in the middle of nowhere does seem like a good place to mess around with interdimensional rifts and that kinda shit.”

Stan sucked in a breath. “Can you… can you keep it down?” he stammered in what he hoped was a decent impression of Ford. “My research is supposed to be confidential —”

“Oh, of course! That’s my bad, didn’t mean to jeopardize your cover or anything,” the man in jeans hurriedly whispered back. “Is inside the house a better place to talk?”

“I might’ve… overreacted. Talking out here is fine, just lower your voice.” Think, Stan. How are you going to get rid of these people? “Normally I’d invite you inside to give you a tour, but for one thing, it’s getting late — and I also had an invention malfunction the other day, making the whole place… very smelly. Trust me, you don’t want to spend the night here —”

“Oh, we can handle it. Merle picked up a corpse flower seven cycles ago and it’s stinking up the ship like crazy right now. Your lab can’t possibly be worse,” the umbrella-toting woman told him as she walked past him into the Shack. “Tomorrow morning we’ll call Cap’nport and the rest of the crew over and we can all help you clean up. Then you’ll give us the grand tour and show off the inventions that don’t stink up the place!”

The final member of their party followed her into the Shack, giving the stuffed antelabbits in the hallway a bemused look while taking off the red jacket he wore over his matching robe.

“By the way, you probably guessed from our whole ‘knocking on random doors’ thing, but we’re still looking for the Light,” he announced matter-of-factly. “Only got about a month left before the big ol’ cosmic nihilism comes and slurps up this planar system for breakfast, so we could use your help searching.”

Stan’s jaw dropped.

“Hey, what’s with that look?” the man asked, tossing his jacket onto a faux antler coathanger. “You know the drill — unless…”

“Unless?” his colleagues echoed.

Before Stan could blurt out a half-convincing excuse, the man grabbed one of Stan’s hands and held it up to the light. “Aha! Five fingers!”

“You’re a parallel version of the Ford we know? Why didn’t you just say so?” the man in jeans asked.

Stan’s other two guests exchanged a Look with a capital L. It reminded Stan of Looks that he’d exchanged with Ford back in the good old days… and come to think of it, these two visitors did look an awful lot like siblings…

“I’m not quite sure it’s a parallel universe situation, Barry,” the woman with the umbrella spoke up after a moment. Narrowing her eyes at Stan, she added: “I can’t see why our new Ford-adjacent friend would’ve played along with it if it was…”

“Alright, you got me!” Stan blurted out. “I’m not Stanford, or any version of him — I’m his twin brother. Stanley Pines.”

Barry frowned. “Did Ford ever mention a brother to you two?” he asked his companions.

“Nah, but he did give us a lot of weird looks after he learned we were twins,” the man who’d discarded the jacket replied. “I think this Stanley guy’s telling the truth.”

“You go by Stan, by any chance?” the woman with the umbrella asked. “Stanford was always weirdly adamant that he was Ford, and not Stan.”

Stan nodded slowly. “Sounds like you got to know him pretty well, then…”

“Yeah, you could say that. We’ve run into him — what, twelve times in the last twenty years? By the way, I’m Lup, and this is Taako and Barry.”

(to be continued? I don’t know, I’ve got a million other fic obligations I need to finish writing. maybe someday)

#gravity falls #taz #taz balance #stanley pines #barry bluejeans #lup taaco #taako taaco #taz balance spoilers #gf x taz #gf x balance #crossover #rosalia writes fic

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wordinvader · 4 years ago

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The Dumbest Inning of Baseball

Whenever my friends who don’t follow sports ask me who to root for, I tell them to root for chaos. Outside of my favorite teams, I will always root for something ridiculous to happen during a game. 4 overtime periods, obscure rules violations, and large men carrying a football when they shouldn’t are the best, most absurd moments in sports that everyone can enjoy.

My favorite sport, baseball, has its own share of chaotic moments, and I’d argue it has the most chaotic moments out of any American sport. There’s just so much baseball out there. 162+ games every year for every team means that there’s so much more potential for chaos to take the wheel. And in a winner-take-all playoff game 5 years ago, we were subjected to the most ridiculous inning of baseball I have ever seen.

A bit of background: it’s game 5 of the American League division series, Toronto Blue Jays vs. the Texas Rangers. The series is tied 2-2, and it’s win or go home. Toronto is the home team, and the game is tied 2-2 going into the 7th inning. Rangers player Rougned Odor is on 3rd base with two outs in the top of the inning, and Shin-Soo Choo take ball 2 from Aaron Sanchez. And then this happens:

Doink! On the throw back to the pitcher, catcher Russell Martin hits Choo’s bat and the ball dribbles down the 3rd base line. Seeing an opportunity and actually knowing the rules of baseball, Odor takes off for home and scores to give the Rangers the lead.

Catchers throw about 320 pitches back to the pitcher every game when accounting for both teams. If you spread that out over an entire season, that’s over 750,000 pitches thrown back to the pitcher every year. I’ve watched baseball for over twenty years, and I’ve seen this happen maybe two other times.

If there’s no runner on base, no problem. The ball is retrieved, and you end up on a baseball oddities compilation on Youtube. But if there are runners on, the ball is live and the runners can advance if they desire. I was taught this when playing little league, when catchers weren’t as good at throwing and pitchers weren’t as good at catching.

So the rarity of this moment has everyone confused, including the umpires. Both managers come out to clarify the call. The umpires are asked to review the play and see if there was any batter’s interference on the throw back. The announcers are watching the replay over and over, saying the same thing to kill time. Overall, this delay takes 20 minutes. Meanwhile, the Toronto fans are pissed and they’re throwing garbage onto the field.

Fun times. Either way, the call stands, and the Rangers are now up 3-2. The Blue Jays have declared that they are playing the game under protest. They’re also not too happy at their fans.

And then, after the angriest 7th inning stretch, the bottom half of the 7th comes.

Oh jeez, where to begin.

Well, Russell Martin starts off the inning trying to redeem himself. He hits a weak grounder to Elvis Andrus, the Rangers’ shortstop, and Andrus misses it. Andrus is by no means a bad defender. In fact, he’s an above average defender in just about every season. Seems like he just got a case of the yips. This should have been out number 1. It’s a huge break for the Blue Jays, and Martin doesn’t have to do the walk of shame back to the dugout.

Next batter grounds out to first base. First baseman Mitch Moreland throws to second to get a forceout, but he throws it in the dirt and Andrus can’t catch it. Error #2 in two batters. Something weird is going on. The next batter comes up to bunt, literally saying “I’m sacrificing an out to move the runners up.” Third basemen Adrian Beltre fields it and throws to 3rd to try to get the forceout there. Andrus is at third ready to catch the ball. Andrus drops the ball. All runners are safe, Andrus has been at the center of all three of these mishaps, and if no errors were committed, the inning would already be over. Instead, the bases are loaded and nobody’s out. The inning has been sucked into the Twilight Zone.

A groundout and a run-scoring forceout later, the Blue Jays have tied the game, but there are two outs. They were gifted a perfect run-scoring situation, and only getting one run out of this would have been deflating for the team and their fans. The announcer casually says, “What next?”

Jose Bautista was next.

Boom. A huge 3-run home run puts the Blue Jays in the lead. Bautista tosses hit bat away in celebration. It’s one of the most majestic bat flips I’ve ever seen. The gif doesn’t do it justice. Just look at this.

Image credit: Getty Images

Loooook at it. Bautista looks like he’s saying farewell to an old friend. “You have done your job,” he might say. “The baseball has been obliterated, and now it’s time for you to be free.” The bat soars into the night sky. It’s flying to bat heaven where it can crush all the baseballs it wants. There were probably angels singing as it flew through the sky, but they were drowned out by the sound of everyone in the Rogers Centre losing their minds.

Watch the video too. It’s just too glorious.

Just imagine all the tension and anger the fans had about this game, and Bautista made that all turn into unbridled jubilation. I can’t imagine how that feels, but it must have been incredible.

Then the fans start throwing trash onto the field in…celebration? Sure, why not. The broadcast doesn’t show it, but the announcers commented on fans running on the field and trash all over the outfield. The game is delayed again. In this delay, the two teams start to get into an argument and the dugouts clear.

Image credit: Getty Images

Because how the hell do you recover from this as a Rangers player? Hell, even as a Blue Jays player? It’s been the most exhausting inning, wrestling with obscure rules, dealing with errors on three consecutive plays, and a capacity crowd that’s taken an emotional rollercoaster to the moon and back.

In the end, the Rangers didn’t recover. They lost the game and the series. The Blue Jays went on to the ALCS, where they were beat in 6 games by the soon-to-be-champion Kansas City Royals. And even though the Blue Jays’ season may have ended in disappointment, they will always have this. A moment where the baseball gods got drunk and destroyed the heavens and the earth. A moment of pure sports joy and catharsis. This will be the most memorable sports moment for Toronto baseball until their next championship.

So. Let’s recap: a freak accident invokes a rule that’s so obscure that even the umpires are confused about and gives the visiting team a lead in a sudden death baseball game. The game is delayed, fans are pissed, chaos ensues, and then the home crowd riots as much as they can without getting the game forfeited. Then in the home half of the inning, a generally sure-handed defense fucks up 3 plays in a row, which leads to a Blue Jays fan’s dream scenario: a big, huge, stupid home run to take the lead. The inning, after all the delays, took 53 minutes to complete. Incredible.

I love baseball. It can be so dumb.

In May of the following year, the Rangers and Blue Jays played each other again. The Rangers wanted revenge. This is what happened.

Odor got the punch that all Rangers fans needed to see to start the healing process. It was a stupid brawl, because all baseball brawls are stupid. But it felt like a proper epilogue for what was the craziest inning I have ever seen of baseball.

Here’s a video detailing the doink that started the chaos.

Here’s a video showing the entire bottom half of the inning in all of its messy glory.

#2015 alds #rangers #blue jays

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im-just-here-for-the-drama · 5 years ago

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LGBTQ Characters in Asian dramas: The Good, The Bad, and The Mediocre: 2019 Edition

No one asked, but here it is-all the gay I saw in 2019!

SPOILERS AHEAD!

The Bad (I’d say don’t waste your time on these, but who am I to tell you what to do?)

Graceful Family: Mo Wan Joon

The Story: Blah blah blah, revenge or something- at a point it’s revealed that Mo Wan Joon is a trans woman.

Should you watch?: If you really like revenge melos maybe, but if you’re looking for this show to do something good and offer up some good trans rep? Nope.

Literally nothing about Mo Wan Joon’s story is watchable. I wasn’t even entirely sure the show even knows what being transgender even means. It comes off as more of a plot twist to put the family all in a tizzy more than anything else. They don’t really show much of Wan Joon’s struggle or anything poignant or engaging.

TharnType

TRIGGER WARNING: Sexual assault/rape

Country: Thailand

Official Links: https://www.facebook.com/notes/line-tv/tharntypetheseries-line-tvs-official-links-for-international-fans/2525229217761969/

The Story: Type is a homophobe who ends being roommates with the openly gay Tharn.

Should you watch?: No. The good you get isn’t worth sitting through the bad. But if you really can’t help yourself, you’ll have to learn to ignore its problematic elements.

Type was molested as a child, and as a result he hates gay people. He’s clearly still traumatized by his experience. He has nightmares and is triggered by Tharn at least once remembering his assault. Type eventually tells Tharn about his assault and it’s pretty much never brought up again.

Type is shown to be ridiculously homophobic and he equates gay people with pedophiles and is never really corrected in this logic (even though his boyfriend is a whole gay man). Even after Type starts dating Tharn, Type’s homophobia is never really properly put to rest.

For some reason, the writer of TharnType loves incorporating rape/sexual assault into her shows when it’s clearly a sensitive topic she knows next to nothing about. And it’s clear in this show, because the show take the topic way lighter than it should. Because of what happened to Type in his childhood, he believes that gay men like forcing themselves onto others without their consent, and then the show proceeds to have Tharn do exactly that to Type multiple times. Also, thankfully, this happens offscreen, but another character pays several men to gang rape another character and that’s too heavy for a show that clearly wasn’t going to address it properly.

At the beginning of this show, Tharn had a huge issue with knowing what boundaries and consent were, but by the second half, Tharn chilled out and Type stepped up and became ridiculously childish and violent towards Tharn. Clearly these two have no real business being in a relationship with each other if you ask me.

Though there was a lot I hated about this show I did like some of it. I think this writer writes some really nice and sweet scenes between Tharn and Type. Mew and Gulf have great chemistry. I’ve seen plenty of videos of Gulf and Mew together and they are adorable. They work well together and they come off more natural than some other couples, but the way the relationship is handled in TharnType and some of the things that are glossed over in this show leave a bad taste in my mouth.

The Mediocre (These aren’t the best, but they’re watchable.)

Moment at Eighteen: Jung Oh Je

Country: Korea

Official Links: https://www.viki.com/tv/36633c-moment-of-eighteen?q=moment%20of

The Story: Transfer student Jun Woo has no interest in school life, as he is traumatized from being expelled from bullying. Meanwhile, Soo Bin has been watching Jun Woo all this time. She sees a different side to Jun Woo than the one that other people see. Oh Je, is Jun Woo’s best friend who starts to discover his sexuality.

Should you watch?: Hmmm… sure.

Oh Je has a decent side plot. It was interesting to see him figuring out he liked Hwi Young and coming out to his ex girlfried, Da Young and his friends. I do wish his story was expanded a little more though. There were several things I would have liked to have seen, like coming out to his family, and I thought they wrapped his story up a little too quickly at the end.

2moons2

Country: Thailand

Official Links: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdoEouCtbBvjdNkB5Wl0eYS4V4Zx-1MZY

The Story: Wayo is accepted at the Kantaphat University, in the Faculty of Sciences. Wayo has always been in love with Phana, who studies at the same university. When Wayo has the chance to become the “moon” of his faculty, the two begin to spend time together because Phana himself has been the “moon” of the medical school the previous year and must supervise the freshmen participating in the competition. The two slowly get closer and closer.

Should you watch?: Yeah.

Honestly, it’s not super memorable,and not super impressive, but there’s some cute moments, and an easy storyline. We get to see more of the other two couples (MingKit and ForthBeam) than we saw in the original 2moons. It’s fun and interesting enough. I’ll look forward to the next one.

Theory of Love

Country: Thailand

Official Links: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVsizYwoQ6B3LsKmcDDMNtHGXnjG88i4C

The Story: Third is a filmology major and a member of the Savage Team along with his best friends Two, Bone, and Khai, but he has a secret. Third has been secretly in love with Khai for years.

For three years he has kept his secret love in his heart, silently supporting and loving Khai while knowing there is absolutely no future between them since Khai is as straight as a streetlight pole and also an absolute player.

To make matters worse, Khai has a “no dating friends” policy. How long can Third love Khai silently while watching Khai bring a different girl home every night? Third has tried to see Khai as just a friend. But has failed time and time again. Because as easy as it is to fall in love, to stop is just as hard. Maybe even harder. But when Third finally decides to stop loving Khai, Khai decides to start loving Third.

Should you watch?: It wasn’t my cup of tea but, yeah.

Who knew one of my most anticipated shows of the year would turn out to be one of the most disappointing? The show spent way too much time on Third crying, wallowing, and letting his friend walk all over him, and not nearly enough time on Khai making a believable turnaround. Khai spent at least half the show being a dick of a friend, to the point that I was unsure as to why Third liked him for so long. Then when Khai started to have feelings for Third, I just thought it happened way too quickly and unbelievably to me. But despite all that there were some cute moments in the end that made all of that kind of okay and kind of worth it. And the side couple was cute.

Dark Blue Kiss

Country: Thailand

Official Links: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdoEouCtbBviEVFNHbg7dKw7Lfd8-6zB1

The Story: Kao and Pete being in a blissful romance, have grown closer. But Kao is closeted, and he fears the thought of others finding out. His mother introduces Non, a son of a colleague, to be tutored by Kao. With Non constantly giving off ‘iffy’ vibes towards Kao, it only fuels Pete’s jealousy. Their relationship is put in strain, but through this, they must ultimately overcome each other’s flaws.

Whilst Sun pushes his brother Rain to stay away from Mork, the younger man’s uncontrollable behavior brings him in. As his wildness is intriguing, Sun’s seriousness holds Mork down somewhat. Underneath it all, the two start to care for each other. However, with Mork’s dangerous life, he can’t shake who he is. But maybe he can for someone like Sun.

Should you watch?: If you’re a fan of Pete/Kao or a fan of the typical GMM show.

I wasn’t a huge fan of Pete and Kao from the series they were originally in and this show honestly didn’t really help. Pete and Kao’s relationship is pulled into an annoying direction when an outsider tries to come between the two of them. It’s classic bl tactics and frankly it’s boring and frustrating to watch when it drags on for multiple episodes. I did love Sun and Mork from the beginning, but even the writing for their storyline got annoying towards the end. The huge problem in this series is that none of our leads really communicate with each other. There’s some enjoyable things in this show but it’s ultimately more frustrating than it should be.

Ossan’s Love: In The Sky

Country: Japan

The Story: Haruta, a 35-year-old single man, has to switch careers and he begins a new career as a cabin attendant in Tenku Peach Airlines. Even though he’s clumsy, he seems to be protected by the Great Captain Kurosawa. One day, he finds drawings of himself in a locker and accidentally discovers tries to figure out who drew them. Haruta discovers that not only is the mechanic Shino in love with him, but Captain is secretly in love with him too. Meanwhile, Haruta takes an interest in the co-pilot Naruse.

Should you watch? Yes, but you might be disappointed by the end.

I’m a fan of the original Ossan’s Love and I know what this show usually gives so I expected this show to be silly, ridiculous, fun. And it was for the most part. I always love Haruta. I would literally watch him in any reincarnation of this show and not complain. He’s always a joy to watch and that’s still true here. But this time around, things are a lot more messier than usual. There’s a complicated love triangle, which I hate, but even that was fine because I enjoyed the other characters. My only complaint was how it ended, because I would have preferred him with someone else rather than who he ends up with.

Love with Flaws: Won Suk and Ho Dol

Country: Korea

The Story: Joo Seo Yeon, is a hot-tempered physical education high school teacher who always wears sneakers, jeans and training uniforms. The death of her parents helped instill a deep sense of compassion, a generous heart and an outspoken objection for anyone who drinks and drives. Living in a house with three wild and very attractive brothers, she loathes flower boys. Her ideal type is someone who is “not handsome.” Won Suk is one of her handsome older brothers.

Won Suk has closed his heart to relationships and love, but he lives his life as an openly gay man. Ho Dol is closeted and lacks confidence. They meet one night at Won Suk’s bar.

Should you watch?: People have been kind enough to condense Won Suk’s and Ho Dol’s story into parts on YouTube so yeah, go ahead and check it out.

These two don’t get a whole lot of screen time, but the little they do get is nice. We get to see Won Seok help Ho Dol open up and be more confident with who he is and in turn, Won Seok opens up his heart.

The Good (These are worth the hours of your life you won’t get back.)

History3: Trapped

Country: Taiwan

Official Links: https://www.viki.com/tv/36410c-history-3-trapped?locale=en

The Story: Shao Fei’s police officer mentor and Tang Yi’s gang leader father were killed in a gunshot attack. No one knows why or what really happened. The only survivor, Tang Yi, stepped up and is now the gang leader. Police officer Shao Fei wants to find out what happened that day and he’s sure that Tang Yi’s hiding the truth. Shao Fei decides that the only way to figure out the truth is to investigate Tang Yi to the fullest and Tang Yi just wants Shao Fei to leave him alone since he’s trying to take the gang in a more legitimate direction, but what happens when the two keep crossing paths and ultimately start to fall for each other?

Should you watch?: Absolutely.

I watched this show twice last year and somehow I liked it even better the second time around. The story is fresh-school/university plots get real old real fast (not that I don’t love them though). Instead we get a story about a mob boss and a police officer. The plot is well written, coherent, interesting, and fun, and doesn’t revolve solely around the romance. And speaking of romance, it’s well integrated into the larger plot that focuses on figuring out what happened to Tang Yi’s father and Shao Fei’s mentor years ago. There’s just the right balance between plot and romance. There’s also a second couple that’s super cute. Both couples have great chemistry. What’s not to like?

He’s Coming To Me

Country: Thailand

The Story: After his death, Mes is a ghost that is consumed by loneliness. That is until he meets a strange boy that can see him. The two bond in a state of happiness and joy as they develop into friends. But what happens when Mes falls for the boy who is alive?

Should you watch?: Of course!

This is by far, in my opinion one of the most slept on shows of 2019. Who would have thought things could work out between a ghost and human? I went into this show expecting it to be full of sadness and angst and it really surprised me. Of course it does have those things, Mes is ghost so… but it’s definitely one of the sweetest dramas of the year. The boys forge a strong friendship and bond from the beginning, they’re ridiculously cute, the side characters are enjoyable, the friends are supportive, and there’s an interesting story of Mes and Thun trying to figure out the mystery behind Mes’ death. You should definitely put it on your list to check out.

What Did You Eat Yesterday?

Country: Japan

The Story: Kakei Shiro is a 45 year old lawyer who works at a small law firm. He is a good cook and a meticulous and thrifty person who keeps the monthly food budget to 25,000 yen. Shiro’s daily routine is to leave work on time and head to a discount supermarket nearby. His partner Yabuki Kenji is an affable hairdresser in his 40s. The two of them share a two-bedroom apartment and the finer points of two men living together comes up at the dining table every day. Although two of them have been in a relationship for three years and Kakei’s parents know he is gay, Kakei never shares the fact that he is gay or Kenji is his partner to anyone else.

Should you watch? Definitely.

Very slice of life, very sweet, very heartwarming. We get to see two older gay men navigate their lives and society. We see how Shiro struggles with coming out and being open and we see how he deals with his accepting but ignorant parents. We see Kenji struggle with Shiro’s closed-offness and the strain its puts on their relationship when Shiro refuses to let people know they’re together. Shiro and Kenji interact with other gay couples too, and it’s interesting to see the dynamics between the different couples. It’s a nice change of pace to the shows I’m used to. Also, there’s plenty of food to salivate over.

Hello? Spring Is Coming

Country: Korea

Official Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnyivXs1rWk

The Story: Every coming out is difficult, but most of all, coming out in front of family is the hardest.

Should you watch?: We get way too few shows about wlw. And also they’re way too short, and on that note yes you should watch. It’s sweet.

The Effect

TRIGGER WARNING: Rape, bullying, attempted suicide

Country: Thailand

Official Links (in the comments): https://mydramalist.com/32424-the-effect

The Story: Shin, a shy and reserved 1st-year university student, admires his senior Keng from afar. Keng is tall, handsome, smart and owns the heart of many girls on campus. But what others don’t see is the pressure to be perfect from his family that weighs on Keng’s shoulders. Due to Shin’s clumsiness, he becomes acquainted with the handsome senior. As Keng takes a liking to his junior, jealousy from peers makes the cyber world a breeding ground for hate and nasty rumors. Shin falls victim not only to the strangers online but to Keng as well. Nobody but Shin can overcome the trauma that will be placed upon him. All he needs is for the strangers to listen. Because only then can they understand “the effect” that they have on others.

Should you watch? Heed the trigger warnings, and if you can handle them, then yes.

You know those BL shows where one of the characters is forced or coerced into having sex with their love interest and then falls in love with him at the end? This show is thankfully, not that. I wouldn’t even consider this a BL because, well because it’s not. It’s not a love story. It takes a very very different and serious path that most shows in this genre don’t even come close to. This show did a good job of really showing the effects of social media, bullying, and rape, what they could really do to a person, and the support system one needs after a trauma. At a (way too) short 3 episodes, it was super emotional, mostly realistic, and it really left a memorable impression. There were a few things I wish had been explored and fleshed out more and I wished they’d changed the ending from the novel. I would have preferred something more uplifting, less open ended potential tragedy. But on another note, James as Shin was a stand out here with such an emotionally draining role. I’ll definitely be looking forward to his future projects.

Mood Indigo/Indigo No Kibun

Country: Japan

The Story: The story begins with Shiro Kido’s reunion with a former classmate, Rio Kijima, at a college teacher’s funeral. In the past, when they were students, Kijima used to show talent as a novelist, even earning a big prize. Kido was jealous of Kijima’s success, but after reading his works he became aware of his lack of talent and gave up writing novels and became an editor of erotic novels. However, after reuniting, it became clear to Kido that Kijima was stuck; facing a wall. He had used up all his talent. With Kido also being in a lost state he offers Kijima the opportunity to write pornographic novels.With the intense eroticism and closeness, both men open up and feed into their desire.

Should you watch?: Yeah.

As one of the more erotic shows on this list, It was interesting to see the development between Rio and Kido. Their dynamic certainly isn’t anything romantic,cute, or healthy but still very beautiful, passionate, and raw. I wasn’t a huge fan of this shows predecessor Pornographer, but this one really made me appreciate it from another perspective. It helped me realize why Rio was the way he was and how this relationship impacted his later relationship with Kusami.

Really Lily?

Country: Korea

Official Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=167D6kmuspU

The Story: Are we friends? Or…

Should you watch?: It’s short, sweet, and funny. Absolutely.

Rural Outcasts

Country: Korea

The Story: Sun Hui moves to a small village where she lives her life as Soon Ho until she can make enough money to become her true self. Dong Ja, a feisty 12 year old, breaks into her house one day.

Should you watch? Yes.

Found family always makes for a heartwarming story and this one is no different. I loved the bond between Dong Ja and Sun Hui and I loved their mother daughter relationship. Very sweet and heartwarming, but be prepared for some heartbreak too.

History3: Make Our Days Count

TRIGGER WARNING: Forced kisses, bullying

Country: Taiwan

The Story: At first glance, high schoolers Xiang Hao Ting and Yu Xi Gu appear to be polar opposites: While Hao Ting is an outgoing, hot-headed extravert and some-time bully, Xi Gu prefers to keep a low profile and focus on his schoolwork. They seem bound for totally different futures – the bookish Xi Gu looks destined for academic success, while life is just a long popularity contest for Hao Ting. But a quirk of fate – and a crucial intervention by a female schoolmate – results in the two young men’s paths crossing. But there is more to both young men than first meets the eye. Hao Ting was not always this way. He started out as a perfect student until he discovered the joys of going off the rails. Xi Gu has a reason for being so aloof and studious: His parents died in a traffic accident while he was younger, and he is being fostered by his aunt. As such, he works hard to get good grades in an effort to win a scholarship and ease the financial burden on his relatives. Xi Gu and Hao Ting find themselves drawn together, and passions ignite. The former notices that he has the unique ability to bring Xi Gu out of his shell – and becomes intent on melting his cold-as-ice exterior. What will happen when their two worlds collide? And can love be the catalyst that helps bring these two unlikely students together – as their high school days draw to a close?

Sun Bo Xiang is Hao Ting’s friend who has a crush on a man, Lu Zhi Gang who he meets at the gym. Zhi Gang’s runs the shop that Xi Gu works at part time. When Bo Xiang confesses to Zhi Gang, and tells him that he’ll love hm forever, Zhi Gang doesn’t believe it because Zhi Gang is young and overzealous. Also, nothing lasts forever, or does it?

Should You Watch?: Yes, but it doesn’t end happily so keep that in mind..

Given this show’s predecessors it had some big shoes to fill. I expected this show to be good and honestly, it was. The general consensus is that the ending ruined the entire show. And had I had time to sit on this series-if I had watched it over the weeks, I might have felt the same way. But I watched the entire show in one sitting over the course of a day and I just can’t bring myself to hate it completely. The writing was good, the directing was good, and the acting was so good I think a lot of the show was elevated because of it. This show made me feel so many things. The couples are great with natural chemistry, and the side characters fit so well (there’s never a dull moment with Hao Ting’s friends). I smiled, I laughed, and of course I cried (#heartbroken). I was sad and upset when episode 10 came around. I wasn’t disappointed once the credits rolled because I was still riding the emotional high of the first nine episodes, but after I had time to sit and think about it, the more disappointed and angry I got. Just like grey rainbow and wise prison life- why did you give me everything I ever wanted and then rip it out from under me? But even so, the first nine eps were great. Does it have its flaws? Well obviously, some things in the show are a little iffy (Hao Ting and Sun Bo practice some problematic behavior at the beginning towards their love interests, that’s where the trigger warning comes in) and the last episode is a glaring misstep. Do I wish things had ended differently? I think they absolutely should have. Even this ending would have been satisfactory with some proper execution and build up. Overall this show could have cemented itself as one of my favorite shows if not for the last episode, but I really don’t regret watching it, because when it was good? It was gold.

Out of Breath

Country: Taiwan

Official Links: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuUQH5CiOw6n9Z0O5ytuQY2EFuvbF_7DX

The Story: Ha Eun has just broken up with her girlfriend when she meets out and proud Min Seo.

Should you watch?: Yes!

It’s a short webseries about coming out and no longer wanting to hide who you are. It’s very sweet and realistic. The ladies are cute and their characters are believable. My only complaint is that I wish the show was longer.

Until We Meet Again

TRIGGER WARNING: Suicide

Country: Thailand

Official Links: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPXE51seODgcGxLQF_X5jzQ/playlists

The Story: Thirty years ago, Korn and Intouch were university students in Bangkok. Intouch entered Korn’s life despite knowing that he was the son of one of the most influential people in Bangkok, the mafia. At first, Korn kept pushing Intouch away, but in the end, he couldn’t resist him. However, in a time where homosexuality was unacceptable and having parents that were against their relationship and each other, Korn and In’s love was bound to be doomed. Amidst the chaos, while Intouch kept on fighting for their future, Korn could not deal with all the suffering his lover was facing and decided to give up. That day, two sounds of a gunshot rang through the air. Their story ended with tragedy, but something had already tied itself between them, bounding them together even after they were dead.

Years later, a freshly returned to Thailand, Pharm who is a freshman in T- University has grown up always feeling like he is waiting for someone. Being riddled with sad dreams that always left him waking up with a wet face, fear of loud noises, and a birthmark on his temple, the boy has always felt like there is someone he is missing. Dean, the third year swimming club’s president at T- University has also spent his life searching for someone whose face he can not remember. The red thread of fate that had tied them together in their past life once again pulls the two boys back to each other, tying them to each other and a past that might not be worth remembering, but a love that is unforgettable. Because the red thread that binds the two hearts together will always lead one back to the other. Even though it might tangle or stretch, it will never break.

Should you watch?: 100% yes.

This show isn’t finished yet, so I’ll just talk about what I’ve seen up to this point. I read a few comments about this show before I watched it and although it was one of the shows I was looking forward to the most, I was skeptical about watching it since the reviews were mixed. Lots of people love it, but there was also an overwhelming about of people saying it was boring and average at best. After watching the 12 episodes that are out, I gotta admit that it’s not perfect. It is a little slow in some parts, some times you feel like you’re watching Thailand’s version of the food network, the director needs to learn when a scene is over, the product placement can be distracting, the kisses are more awkward than I’d like them to be, and that sounds like a lot to be bothered by, but honestly- I love this show. I feel like Until We Meet Again is what happens when a production crew cares more about making a good show rather than making something that fuels the typical bl fan’s fantasies. It has an interesting storyline and it’s well acted. There’s great emotional moments filled with sweetness and sadness. It’s funny and there’s loving and supportive family and friends. A lot of the typical bl drama tropes aren’t involved here. There’s no girlfriends, no portrayals of women as evil incarnate, no cheating, no coercion into sexual activities, or the popular I’m just gay for you crap. I saw on Twitter a while back that someone was asking how they could get bl to branch out-how to reach a larger audience because there’s a lot of people that won’t watch it-this is how you do it.

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okie-loki-artichoki · 5 years ago

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Soo.. kinda wanted to hear ya rant bout pre mgs2 philanthropy era for awhile :p

OH!!!!! STRAP IN ANON I CAN DEFINITELY DO THAT!!!!! I could go on about metal gear for hours especially if it has to do with philanthropy. okay okay so in order to do this I guess i need to go into some vague headcanon territory in that i think. Which ending of metal gear 1 is the one that leads to the rest of the series?

Its the Otacon one. Obviously.

So for a while its awkward. Really awkward. After Shadow Moses, Hal obviously doesn’t have anywhere else to go and Snake isn’t going to leave him out in the cold (literally) but it’s clear he’s not going to stay forever (which he does), but anyway. Snake isn’t used to having anyone around at all, especially someone who calls him Dave sometimes and sometimes cries over cartoons. Philanthropy was something they had both ultimately come up with together as a joke, when after a couple of weeks of sitting around in the middle of snowy nowhere Alaska, off the grid but out of danger. It became not a joke when they realized they could both do something about private groups and militia making REX knock offs, or trying anyway. Hal got fired up and Snake saw something in his passion for peace and the size of his heart and so they packed up and ran.

Early Philanthropy is alot of long and awkward car rides. Hal isn’t good at being quiet and Snake is, well hes Solid Snake. He’s quiet, except for an occasional hum or questions to whatever Hal was rambling about. He tries to keep it mission specific, nervously going over blue print layouts he’s already gone over a thousand times and guard schedules and change outs so Snake doesn’t have to think about it and numbers, graphs and things and new leads that usually ultimately lead to nothing. And usually Dave will catch him spiraling and tell him not to worry. He wouldn’t have agreed if he wasn’t the best.

But after the first year or so it was less of a business partnership and more of a full fledged real life healthy, friendship. Support and trust and honesty was something neither had either really had and it hadn’t exactly happened on purpose. They were two people who had built up ridiculous iron walls around themselves that were welded together with past trauma and distrust and fortified with massive amounts of anxiety. But still, what had started with cracks that were justified by business partnership had become movie nights and talking through things neither had really talked about to another living person.

Early Philanthropy is alot of failed missions, or dead end leads. Alot of Snake going through the trouble of suiting up and sneaking into some big warehouse or a private militia base in the middle of the desert with Hal on tech support in a van close by that never lead to anything of substance. They erased some stolen blueprints every once in a while and destroyed some weapons, stuff that was helpful to the greater good but not exactly what they had gone in for.

Early Philanthropy is a lot of frustrating dead ends, dangerous solo missions. Hal has to learn how to keep his hands steady, and gets over his squeamishness the first time he has to pull a bullet out of Dave’s shoulder. It’s alot of Hal hacking around online to get them leads and information. And Dave tries not to be impressed when he learns just how good at hacking Hal is. He can get into government emails, dig through files of data that’s hidden behind layers of classification, he manages to gain access to some bank accounts Snake doesn’t want to ask about to get them some funding he’s sure won’t be noticed has gone missing.

Early Philanthropy is a lot of gross motel rooms with only one bed, and old apartments with stains on the drywall and no furniture, and that one week they stayed in a RV to avoid authorities who had been looking for a couple of terrorists who blew of a big old building. The big old building had had a prototype Metal Gear in it, they should have been thanking them but Dave assured Hal it didnt work that way.

“An explosion is still an explosion Hal.”

“Yeah well some explosions destroy robots.”

“Alright then why don’t you call the police and explain that to them.” Dave said through a smile.

Hal narrows his eyes and tries not to laugh.

“Hi yes 911, I’d like to explain that that big explosion wasn’t an act of terrorism but it was in fact a good deed and you may not believe me but big robots were in there. My name is Hal Emmerich, yes that one, and you can find me and the fugitive Solid Snake in an RV running from the law-”

Hal laughs and then rolls his eyes. “Fine, fine. But one day they’ll be thanking us. I mean, y-you know.”

“Oh sure. That’ll be the day. If we live that long.”

Philanthropy becomes legitimate eventually and the days of running and hiding and distrust disappear for a while. But that all go up in smoke, or you know, down in water when the Tanker sinks.

#asks #GOOD MORNING ANONS I MISSED YOU???!!!!!!!!??#WERE CRYING ABOUT PHILANTHROPY TODAY #AND EVERYDAY #YALL EVER WANT TO TALK ABOUT METAL GEAR MY ASK BOX IS LITERALLY ALWAYS OPEN AND IM HERE FOR YOU BBYS #i love you im feeling very emotional today and this literally made my week #like i gasped when i saw a message in my inbox outloud #happy wednesday guys!!!!!#mgs

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saiangelo999 · 5 years ago

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2019 T.V. show Tracker part 2

Part 1

Animes

Aggretsuko

I am really enjoying this! Finished s1 and am on s2. I really enjoyed the show! I liked all the friendships that Retsuko develops throughout the season and how her relationship with her coworkers evolve. A really pleasant workplace anime.

Mob Psycho 100

Originally planned to read it before watching the anime but... will probably binge it. 2020 Update - So I did end up reading 3 volumes before watching the anime. And then I just binged it. My thoughts are here.

Dramas

He is Psychometric

DNF - I really was intrigued by the premise initially as it was quite unique. I also did really enjoy the main cast and was especially interested in the brother’s backstory. However, there was just a point in the drama where all the intrigue that they built up just stopped to interest me. It definitely had to do with the tonal switch to more romantic between the main two characters. Maybe I’ll come back to it... But I am wary as a I heard that the ending was not well received.

The Last Empress

It’s a HOT Mess. Would I recommend the show? No.

Did I enjoy it? Yes, most of it. There was a point where I knew the plot had no meaning as it was so badly cast into the back-burner by the writers that I began to enjoy the show on how utterly ridiculous it was. Kind of like how people enjoy bad movies like The Room. Don’t watch it if you expect a good plot, consistent characterizations (or even a coherent plot).

So here’s the thing, the show had potential. It started out super dark and focused on politics, manipulation and featured the emperor who is a sociopath. The show had decent-ish pacing and it seemed promising as it was initially like watching a political thriller show. But after a few episodes, the core aspect of the show began to shift as it focused more and more on the main female character (The Empress) and as her part in the story became more prominent. It became very inconsistent (plot-wise and character-wise), became more of a rom-com and really undermined the tone set by the first part of the show. Lots of interesting characters were unceremoniously shoved into arbitrary boxes, character motivations went to shit. Whenever I thought the show couldn’t get any worse - it did. But, as I gave up on the actual plot, I just found it all to be very funny. I laughed at how the writers dug themselves into a deeper and deeper hole with the characterizations of what was once interesting characters... it felt like they fired the only writer that gave a fuck and replaced them with a bad fanfiction writer. Especially when they decided to create a sort of love triangle out of NOWHERE. Warning: even I couldn’t enjoy the cop-out ending episodes (last 4 or so) that they gave to this show.

It’s absolutely no wonder why I haven’t heard about this show before.

Stay Tuned! aka Channel wa sono mama!

A Japanese mini-series based on a manga about a news station (HHTV) with how the news crew comedically deal with their new idiot hire. It was a really fun watch! Definitely recommend for people who want to watch something light! Loved it! :D

Such a good show! I already miss it!

Kingdom

It’s definitely interesting. A very bingeable show as each episode ends on a cliff-hanger. Man, Bae Doona is doing well after Sense8. Also I can’t believe the prince was the same actor as the prince from Goong/Princess Hours.

Avengers Social Club

DNF - Will hopefully finish it off.

I love the main female leads. They are each so adorable and I love their friendship with one another. Hee Soo and the step-son have a cute friendship which is lovely to see. I like that all the relationships are developing slowly. From the first episode this drama definitely had a different vibe than the typical kdrama as it was way more toned down in the melodrama aspect (in comparison) which was nice. I also like that the characters are far more grey and complex, and the writing team seems to be doing a great job so far. Excited to keep watching!

Psychopath Diary

I am enjoying it so far. I LOVED episode four, and I am looking forward to it. Yoon Shi Yoon is so adorable even when brainstorming his little murder plots. Hope that the show moves forward in a direction that keeps me interested. Fingers crossed.

Episode 14 though. Gave me high hopes for how they wrap the show up. Definitely the drama I enjoyed the most in 2019!

Update: So I finished the show! I really enjoyed the show overall and it was definitely one of the kdramas I was more invested in 2019. I really enjoyed the show overall, I did think that that being said I was not completely blind to the faults. But, I think that the strong writing (for the most part), the characters and their respective actors were more than enough to make the drama enjoyable even if it did have a couple of plot-holes or things that didn’t make sense in it. I am really glad there was no huge emphasis on a romantic aspect between Bokyung and Dongshik given the pacing and the way the story was unfolding. I am slightly disappointed with Bokyung’s role in the end of epi15/beginning of epi 16 because I did hope that she would be given a more integral part but... alas it is a kdrama afterall. I do think that it was great her role had a lot to offer and personally I thought she could have carried the show a bit more if she was given the chance.

TV Shows

The Good Doctor s3

Trying to keep up with it as it airs.

Schitts Creek s2 & s3

Great casual viewing. So funny and love all the characters. I love John’s acceptance of Schitts Creek and Roland and Jocelyn during the anniversary dinner episode. So adorable! Also, I really love Ted the vet.

The Witcher

Started it in 2019 and finished it in 2020. Really enjoyed it. It was totally disorienting and confusing because I came in expecting a linear timeline, but I got used to the format quickly. The cinematography is just gorgeous. Not sure how to feel about it but I guess its cool that all the characters are pretty morally grey (Yennifer, Geralt etc.). I’m looking forward to more.

#2019 tracker #saiangelo tracker #the last empress #kingdom kdrama #stay tuned! jdrama #channel wa sono mama!#avengers social club #schitts creek #aggretsuko #mob psycho 100 #mp100 #psychopath diary #the witcher #he is psychometric #clean with passion for now

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