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votederpycausemufins · 3 years ago

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Already here with another chapter. Much shorter, but last one was long, so what do you expect?

au by @hermitcraftheadcanons and @helleborusangel gets tagged in my writing.

Thousands of people waited on bated breath as they tuned into what was likely to be the next episode of Hermitcraft Recap. Pixlriffs and Zloy had already made a public announcement that they had no idea about the new season or what happened to the hermits, only learning when they themselves watched the day one recap.

In fact, the two of them were on their couch, ready to watch another episode. Their hope was that this was some sort of elaborate prank and this week there would be no weekly recap and instead a reveal. But luck didn’t seem to be on their side, as a new clip started to play.

As a clip of Joe and Beef seeing a giant structure that had suddenly appeared started to play, both the recappers got notebooks ready. The intro started just the same as before, Zloy quickly writing down the names of Noah, Goofball and Valentine so they could look into their player records later.

From there, they again went from hermit to hermit, recapping all that had happened, though there was one thing that stood out to the recappers. In a few clips, a new structure was featured, one near most of the hermits. But it was completely ignored, other than either Noah or Goofball saying the hermit had ‘found something’ and then not elaborating.

A worrying detail was the fact that mob hybrids seemed to be acting more towards their instincts, such as Zedaph munching on wheat and Ren attacking Etho when he was hit. The other that a few of the hermits were gaining traits of the area they were stuck in, like Wels growing tusks or Bdubs becoming black like the void.

Speaking of those two hermits, both of them had found someone new. Wels of course had found his evil copy in the crimson forest, but the footage was cut off before he could be talked about much. Bdubs on the other hand had found someone hanging onto what looked like a mix between an end gateway and the things that had been appearing near others. Again, they couldn’t get much of the hermit’s reaction due to a cut taking them elsewhere, but it was enough to take note of, getting a description of a person in pink armor and white hair.

There were also two other new people who hadn’t interacted with other hermits, though these people the new recappers actually covered, them being Pearlescentmoon and Geminitay. Apparently they weren’t there on day one, but had been there most of the week. Gem was in a better situation than a number of the hermits, not being stuck somewhere or in a death loop, though she was still stranded who knew how far from spawn.

Pixl and Zloy took as many notes as they could, then the presenters said the thing they wanted to hear. “Now, rolling things back a little, some things have appeared at everyone’s spawn, the question is what they are.”

“With a few minor exceptions, every player has had these pillars appear at their spawn made of different blocks depending on the spawn.” Goofball was speaking, explaining the structures. “For example, in the deep dark, Xisuma’s pillar is made of deepslate. Meanwhile Hypno’s has birch and honeycomb.”

“Right now, the pillars only show each person’s spawn,” Noah picked up. “But over time they may lead to something more. Though right now, there are three exceptions.” Noah paused as there was a little bit of whispering. “Right. Four exceptions. The first two of these four are the most important, those being Beef and Joe’s pillars.”

“As you saw.” Goofball spoke up again. “The two of them found a large tower in the middle of spawn that was not there before. The pair briefly explored the tower to see what was inside, finding a parkour course leading upwards. Instead of following that up, they tried to build up with little success, and shortly after found a number of their harder to find items missing.” And the audio paused to show a clip of Beef and Joe finding all their diamonds and other similarly rare items gone.

“Possibly in the future they’ll try getting up there again. But eh, who knows when that will be. And with that marks the end of today’s Hermitcraft Recap. I was Toon Noah-”

“And I was Mysterious Goofball and our writer was Pin Valentine. If you’d like to see original content made by us, you can find us if you already know where to look.”

“Don’t forget to give this show a good rating and tune in next week for the next episode of Hermitcraft Recap. Thank you all so much for watching and goodb-”

The recappers had already both looked up at the television when the outro started, so many questions still left unanswered. If they hadn’t, they would have suddenly looked up when the audio cut out. Though it seemed to have stopped, the panorama of footage from the new hermitcraft season, if it could be called that, was still playing. Zloy was about to get up and check their sound when there was suddenly another noise from the tv, the sound of a crash that seemed to come from off camera.

Then one of the new recapping pair spoke up. “What are you doing here? Look, if you’re angry about-”

“Angry? Why would I be angry?” A new voice spoke up. It was familiar, but for the life of them, neither Pixlriffs nor Zloy could figure out who it was. “No, it’s a wonderful idea! In fact I want to help out with your recording next week. I assume you have general scripts for the upcoming events, yes?”

“I mean, yeah.” Goofball spoke. “But shouldn’t you-”

“Great. Now I think I want to talk about these player files. They shouldn't be- oh, you’re still recording, aren’t you? Shut that off.”

And a moment later, the episode finally finished, leaving Pixl and Zloy sitting quietly on the couch with their notebooks.

“Pixl, you were recording this, right?”

“Yeah. Want me to replay it?” He asked Zloy, who nodded. Pixl pulled up the recordings and replayed the recap episode, only to find it very different from before. The entire video was now replaced with a black screen and purple text scrolling across the screen.

‘Sorry for the inconvenience, but this episode cannot be rewatched. -Xelqua.’

“I’m guessing we want to add that one to the player list.”

“Already writing it down Pix. We’re taking this up the ladder tomorrow, right?”

Pixlriffs nodded. “At this point, it might be better to go now.”

#hermitcraft #scattered au #hermitcraft recap #pixlriffs #zloyxp #evo in a nutshell #Toon Noah #Mysterious Goofball #Pin Valentine #The hermits #watcher grian #grian #grian xelqua #the watchers (evo)#the watchers #watcher!grian

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skekheck · 4 years ago

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Theory: UrVa’s Arrows Were Originally Meant To Incapacitate, Not Kill, skekMal

Maybe this is common consensus, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while. On the surface, it seemed like urVa had wanted to put an end to skekMal at the Circle of the Suns and the Hunter escaped before he could finish the job. But then there was this line in episode 10 that always felt odd to me:

urVa: I had a dream that I was one that became two that became one again. I looked through my dark half’s eyes and knew Aughra was right. [...] ...The Hunt must end.

It’s just “but urVa, weren’t you doing just that a day or so prior?”. But then after rewatching their standoff again it hit me: maybe urVa’s intentions were not to kill skekMal but to incapacitate him.

Let’s look at the scene again

SkekMal was shot a total of three times: the first one through his upper arm, the second around the bottom right of his torso, and the last through his upper leg (possibly thigh?).

(Sorry couldn’t find a better pic of his leg shot)

Weird places to aim for if urVa had wanted to kill him, right? Wouldn’t he have gone for targets that would more likely result in death, like the throat or through the eye sockets? It’s not like he would miss: urVa’s a master marksman. Instead, all three shots prevented (or at least was an attempt to stop) skekMal without taking his life.

The first shot prevented skekMal from harming Rian. The second was retaliation for ignoring the Archer’s warning. UrVa flat out told him to not approach the Gelfling but you see the Hunter take a step forward anyway, prompting him to release the second arrow. The final one was an attempt to stop skekMal from escaping with Brea. Seeing as how urVa immediately collapsed after firing that arrow, it would have worked. However, he underestimated how committed skekMal was to the Hunt, considering he pushed through the pain to get what he needed done.

Those arm and leg wounds aren’t inherently life-threatening. The arrow in his torso, though, is more concerning. It’s possible it could have had or at least be at risk of damaging his organs. Now, the Skeksis have weird-as-fuck anatomy (that goes without saying) so we have no real way of knowing if it was endangering him or not. But considering the nature of his other two wounds, I don’t think it was a kill shot. A more serious wound, but not deadly if tended to. And that’s probably what urVa intended: he aimed for that spot in the hopes skekMal would stop to take care of his wounds.

But Weren’t Both skekMal and urVa In Critical Condition?

Oh yeah, they still were and skekMal’s partially to blame for it. It’s not a great idea to move around too much with arrows lodged in you. The arrow heads and shaft could move around and cause more internal damage. SkekMal moving made what would have been minor to moderate wounds way more serious. Not to mention, he never stopped to pull them out and heal himself: he kept those things in.

And let’s not forget how far of a distance between the Circle of the Suns and the Castle is. There are multiple versions of maps of Thra that have some siginifcant differences, but the main point is those two locations are pretty far from each other. Even if he used Bennu to fly all the way over to the Castle, skekMal would still have to deal with Brea thrashing around on his back. And it looks like he took a detour to grab a cage for her, which he then dragged through the Castle’s corridors. Baiting Rian and his friends just so he can fulfill his Hunt was apparently more important to him than his well-being (which is ironic if you believe skekMal’s philosophy surrounding the Hunt is his own way of self-preservation).

EDIT: Wanted to add that skekMal was in a difficult position in terms of what he wanted. He would know that if he’d pull those arrows out he would have to treat them right away otherwise he’d bleed to death. At the same time, he would also had to keep Brea from escaping. I think he weighed his options and found that he’d had more success just pushing through it and keeping them in then treat them later. SkekMal might had also thought the other Skeksis would be able to treat him if it was serious enough?

And SkekTek Made It Worse

SkekTek is no doctor. He can cut up and research on animals all he wants, but that doesn’t count as medical knowledge. It’s painfully obvious he has no idea what he’s doing: his diagnosis and treatment of skekMal’s condition is enough proof of that. And speaking of which, skekTek’s diagnosis is full of nonsense:

Skektek: Subject suffers severe exsanguination. Extreme distress to the humus. [...] Imbalance of intrinsic fluids. Manifold ruptures in corporeal morphology. [Checks for a heart beat] Ah. Ah... . Expiration... is... [dramatic pause] inevitable.

Literally he’s saying skekMal has multiple holes in his body and he’s bleeding out. You know, pointing out the obvious. Also, I tried finding out if “humus” related to anything biologically, but all I could find was it’s a term for... soil made of organic matter. I’m not sure what he was trying to refer to, I think he was just misusing it to make himself sound smart.

EDIT: I have been told by a few people that skekTek might be referring the humerus, which is a bone found in the upperarm that’s forms joints at the elbow and shoulder. This would make more sense and would mean skekTek made a proper diagnosis. However, at least to me, it still sounds like he’s saying humus. Another skeksis repeats him and they also say humus, not humerus. Turning on the captions also has it as humus. This could either be a typo or skekTek did mean humerus, but said humus instead.

And how he actually treats skekMal is atrocious.

He pulls the arrows out without making any attempts to stop the bleeding, clean the wounds, or apply stitches. He’s letting him bleed out and he should at least know they need blood to live. Do you know what happens when someone loses too much blood? Among other side effects, organ failure and falling into a coma. SkekTek did eventually made an effort to heal skekMal by giving him essence, but it was too little too late. SkekMal’s condition was so far gone at that point he really needed Aughra’s essence to survive.

UrVa’s Intentions

And now we’re going right back to urVa. While thinking over on urVa’s actions, I started wondering if he anticipated skekMal wouldn’t stay put and that the Hunter would do his own self in by moving around with the arrows lodged in him. I mean, urVa is a mystic, an indirect kill would make sense. But giving it more thought, I don’t think that’s the case. A lot of his actions during the series suggests otherwise.

UrVa was very contemplative, even saddened, about having to end the Hunt for skekMal. He is not like his other half: he respected and appreciated all life on Thra. He also sees the cycle of life as well as the wilderness as something untamable. This is implied while he was talking with Aughra in episode 4:

urVa: We do not get to decide when our part in the song is finished.

While urVa is one of the more proactive Mystics, he still is... a Mystic. He doesn’t believe he should manipulate or control what goes on around him and let things be. The Bestiary book points to the fact that while urVa did keep tabs on skekMal, he never interfered with his hunts. So it was a big deal when Aughra quested him with the task of stopping skekMal.

Also I’d like to point out urVa and Aughra’s final conversation because it’s also important for this discussion:

urVa; And where does my path lead? Aughra: Into the sands to face the Hunter. urVa: [sighing and looks away from Aughra for a moment] I cannot defeat my dark half. Aughra: You will find a way. But not without sacrifice. urVa: And if I fail? Aughra: The heroes of Thra will be lost. urVa: Mm... [pauses and takes a deep breath] I will end the hunt. Aughra: Good. Get a move on. You Mystics are not known for your swift speed. We have much to do. [...] urVa: [pauses and looks at Aughra] Will we meet again, Aughra? Aughra: [stops walking, saddened] Hm... [faces him] Some things... even Aughra cannot see, old friend. [urVa pauses and then groans, walks away from Aughra as they both parted ways for the final time]

He shows a lot of hesitance in completing this task. I’m sure he knew what Aughra was implying: that he may have to take skekMal’s life away but he still went and asked if they would meet each other again anyway. I think he was hoping for a positive answer, that it wouldn’t have to come to that, and seemed disheartened by her answer. But he still tried. He tried to stop skekMal in a way that, while not exactly peaceful, was not meant to be life-threatening. UrVa even pleads for him to stop... twice! The first time as skekMal was making his get-away and the second time while urVa helplessly watched him go after Rian again through the Hunter’s eyes.

These two only had one scene together so we don’t really know the extent of their relationship. But if there’s one thing that’s clear was the conflict between them. I mean, during their whole duel, the characters were purposely placed on opposite sides of the room while making sure to show that skekGra and urGoh, a pair who were able to find harmony, were always side by side. It’s also in the way they address each other: while urVa does refer to him as his dark half, he also called him by his name. SkekMal, meanwhile, only ever referred to urVa as his title and nothing more.

But I don’t think urVa had any ill-will towards his Skeksis. He seemed understanding of him and valued his life as much as he valued all living beings on Thra. I think if they both didn’t end up in a near-death situation, he’d try incapacitating skekMal again. However he understood and accepted his situation towards the end: with skekMal on an essence high, incapacitation method was no longer possible. If he allowed it to go on, all of Thra would be at risk. It was a desperate situation, but he knew Aughra was right. She gave up her life for the preservation of the world and urVa knew he had to do the same: for her and for Thra. The Hunt had to end and in order to protect the world he cherished he had to make the ultimate sacrifice.

#the dark crystal #skekmal #urva #I might go back into this and edit/add things but HERE YOU GO

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clefairymukeafterdark · 3 years ago

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heyyy what did you think of the latest aot episode??

obviously a spoiler warning for episode 78 if you haven't gotten to watch it yet!

unfortunately aot has always been spoiled for me. i was pretty adamant to my boyfriend that it wasn't something i'd be interested in way back when, so he always talked to me after new manga chapters came out. so it wasn't a surprise :( on the other hand, he told me that the rumbling started when eren got shot. so i have no idea whats going on with the whole zeke betrayal thing. that shook the hell out of me.

i wouldn't necessarily dub myself a yeagerist or claim to support any of the ideologies currently present in the show, but i do love eren with all my heart. obviously, i want him to succeed; when it comes to a question of if his success is at the expense of other characters i love, i'm not really sure where i fall. this episode is the furthest i've had spoiled for me, so i suppose i'll find out eventually. or perhaps i'll stay neutral. i'm a pretty big fan of rooting for anybody that i find attractive. just because you understand the complexities of a show doesn't mean you have to worry yourself with them. sometimes we can just be city girls.

my typical neutrality aside, i'll never forgive gabi for killing sasha. yes, i understand the nuance. yes, i understand that she's a brainwashed child. yes, i understand it's a fucked up take to hate her. no, i won't change my mind. now that she's decapitated my man, i'm even more averse towards her. and even still i loved her redemption scene in the last episode so much. it's a shame she's such a good marksman; we might have been able to be buddies if not.

seeing the scouts fighting in shiganshina again was everything. it made me want to go back and rewatch season 3. mikasa looked so good in this episode. everyone did, tbh. even porco had a momentary glow up. unpopular opinion: zeke is sexy as fuck. if you simp for reiner and not zeke, you're lying to yourself. open your eyes.

the colt/falco scene was so fucking sad. i don't have nearly the same emotional connection to the marleyans as i do the og cast, but it tugged pretty hard on the old heart strings.

then suddenly my baby daddy is headless, my husband is like half of a body still somehow alive with hange somewhere, and my boyfriend is all busted up and laid out like he just finished a round with mike tyson. if i existed in the aot universe, i would be preeeeeeetty fucking pissed.

all in all, i loved the new episode. the pacing was peak, the animation in the paths was beautiful, and i can't wait to see where this all goes. i'm not an anime critic by any means, but that's just my two cents. what did you guys think?

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fratboykate · 3 years ago

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have you watched the new euphoria episode yet? if so, what did you think?

Just finished it. I love this show. I still think it's overall the best drama on TV. More than Succession. That sequence at the end of the conversation between Jules and Rue that lead up to them kissing? Very similar - like VERY similar - to a sequence I directed on my first feature which means I love it. I'm obsessed and I could kiss Sam right on the mouth. So fucking beautiful.

That being said, I did have some major issues with that episode. I didn't understand that fucking transition from Fezco's background to the party. That was a HARD CUT and it made no sense to me. I get that Sam has been let loose by the network and probably gets no notes and he can do whatever the fuck he wants...but that's one of those things that should've been notes. For sure. That was an issue on that episode.

Also I don't know if I'm just not remembering something from the finale (or the two special episodes) which might fucking be the case because I have swiss cheese memory but AS FAR AS I REMEMBER last time we saw them wasn't Jules still in fucking...wherever? Jules all of a sudden being back, with her friends, and at this party was just so fucking jarring to me. And, again, maybe I'm just totally not remembering a huge chunk of story because I probably should've rewatched the finale + the 2 special episodes but...who has the time? I also kinda just wish Fez had shot Nate instead of beating him up. But, maybe that's just me. It felt like with the opening shot of his grandma that's what they were setting up and then didn't pay it off so it was a bit of a narrative let down.

Was it the best episode of Euphoria? No. Did it make me hype as fuck for what's coming? Hell yes and that's what season premieres are supposed to do.

#euphoria #answers #anonymous

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bewareofchris · 3 years ago

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Nostalgia and the Doctor

I’m not particularly well known for being a bit Doctor Who fan so lets get a few base Doctor Who judgements out of the way so that anyone who might not agree with these Christopher Truths can leave now:

- Doctor Who is by far not nearly as awe-inspiring as the fans might try to sell it. I love it and I try to get everyone to watch it with me but I’m also very honest and very upfront about it. Most of the solutions to the issues are silly. Most of the problems are a little silly. In fact, for the first 3/4 episodes you watch, regardless of where you start, there’s a good deal of silliness but you will find yourself, absolutely with no warning, unable to stop because you love the Doctor so stupidly you have no control over it.

- I started with David Tennant/the 10th Doctor and I loved him violently and remembered him with utmost fondness and considered him my favorite and would have killed a man for him. I judged the success and failures of all other Doctors by him until I rewatched the New Who.

- 10′s like 4-part victory lap at the end of his tenure had moments that broke my heart so deeply I still haven’t ever rewatched them. So fuck you David Tennant and your saddest face.

- I’ve never seen Christopher Eccelston’s Doctor and don’t have any plans to. I don’t particularly care for that actor and I’ll take no criticism.

- Rose is my least favorite companion out of the seasons I’ve watched except maybe 13′s.

- 11 is probably my favorite story/Doctor/Companions and that’s got a lot to do with how bright and sweet and idiotic he was as the Doctor. I found his boundless, unrestrained enthusiasm for everything good and bad to be absolutely beautiful. Also, I adore River Song.

- I absolutely adore River Song

- I unashamedly love how horny on main everyone was for 11 and how horrified he always seemed to be by it (unless he wasn’t)

- Peter Capaldi/12 was too good for this world and doesn’t get enough credit. Also he got fucked by the storylines they gave him really limiting his ability to be his own thing. Did anyone in the world want that many two part episodes? No. No we didn’t. Sometimes we just want to travel into a little boy’s cupboard to fight nightmares ok.

- Listen, the episode with the thing that may or may not be a monster, was an amazing fucking episode and I loved every minute.

- Donna was 10′s best Companion.

- Bill deserved better.

- Chris Chibnall was hands down the worst possible person to have been selected to run the show. Based solely off of viewing Broadchurch with it’s meandering pacing and it’s beautifully morose tone, there was 0 chance he could have pulled off the vibe required to captain a campy sci-fi family show.

- Its absolutely criminal what they did Jodie Whittaker’s 13th Doctor

And most importantly, the thing that has brought me to making this post, Russell T Davies belongs in the past. The entire New Who fandom/success can certainly extend it’s heartfelt thanks to the man and his successful reinvigoration of the show. We can forever be grateful that he brought together something that was truly captivating, that drew in audiences and allowed us to have these many years of adventures with the various incarnations of the Doctor.

What we should not do is get caught in the trap of thinking that resurrecting this out of date dinosaur is going to save the show now. Russel T Davies’ Who and Torchwood are both a product of their time and are best viewed through the rose-colored glasses of nostalgia.

We were all younger then, all of us captivated by this thing that was new and vibrant (well, I mean, Davies’ who had quality issues because of its limited budget but you get my drift). We were taken in by 10′s severity, his grandiosity, his arrogance, his curiosity and most importantly that scene when he fell through the open window like a partially cooked spaghetti noodle. (Or maybe that was just me.)

David Tennant has something about his acting and his portrayal of the Doctor (and really anyone) that just draws you in. His charm undercuts everything he does so that even when you really kind of shouldn’t like him, you’re still kind of rooting for him and that might have been the most important factor of 10/New Who’s success.

That does not mean, however, that if we take the same set up and the same vibe and the same stories and the same writers and the same showrunner that we had then and ask them to fix the dreary, over-serious, righteous nonsense of Chibnall’s joyless time as showrunner that it will work out how we want.

Every article I’ve seen is praising this choice to call Davies back, like he’s the one that’s going to finally get us back to where we were all happy and excited to see new episodes instead of turning off the holiday special 5 times and still not having finished it (yes, i’m talking about me) but I don’t buy it. Davies belongs in the past, where we can go and watch his episodes and think about how much simpler life was then because that’s how nostalgia works.

If Who is going to succeed, and it’s going to really resonate with the current audience and pull in younger fans, it has to do so by moving forward. By finding someone who loves Who, and understands that TV shows (especially ones involving Time Lords who regenerate into new faces every so often) have to move forward with the present time. You need a show runner that is younger, that has new ideas, that has the energy and the drive to make something truly imaginative and truly great.

Nostalgia is cheap, and it never lasts.

#i'm not tagging this actually #i have opinions but they are mine

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haritrash · 3 years ago

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so i just finished my glee rewatch and i need to express my woes

i knew this but it really struck me how fairy-godmother-like kurt is . he's always organising and making this for others without them knowing or stopping to think of it (or thank him *coughcough*); showing up unexpectedly; seeing things no one else sees (namely outside the window); giving people advice as if he's not really there, like his voice is inside their head; telling them to close their eyes, breathe, imagine things, picture their goals, etc. he really is magical (∥￣■￣∥)

we all felt this at the time, but omg............. the l** m*ch*ll* OVERLOAD !! one episode ends w a r*ch*l b*rry powerhouse song and the next starts with one !! also seasons !! some other character has a problem ? let's hear r*ch*l ! the entire episode is about something else ? here's r*ch*l making it all better by singing an only marginally related potentially offensive song about it . actual serious, real, important, well-done plotline ? let's see r*ch*l's watered-down privileged version of... a vaguely simliar potentially offensive... problem ?? UUUUUUUGH

i just don't understand what is so interesting or relatable about r*ch*l . are we meant to sympathise with her ambition ? with her inconsistency ? with her selfishness ? with her 'okay i'll pretend to learn my lesson and do a good thing only to go back to being a bitch next week' thing? idk how we were supposed to feel anything but sick and tired of her

seasons 4-6........ what?

wtf was s*mch*l??

it might be too soon to say anything about s*nt*n*, but this idea that the bully or bitch act is funny is precisely what perpetuates bullying and prejudice . no, it's not funny to be a terrible person, it's just terrible, regardless of how many oppression cards you hold .

i know they fecked up every single character, but i will take to my grave the pain of never seeing kurt become his own independently successful superstar . thank god for colfer's ep and the one where he beats up two men and sings im still here to a similing whoopi goldberg bc YES! THAT'S MY FAVOURITE!!

yet, kurt doesnt sing enough

the s6 kids dont sing enough . but, in a way, they were kind of lucky that there wasnt much opportunity to feck them up .

THEY BROUGHT DAVE IN FOR THE LAST ND NUMBER I TOTALLY FORGOT OMG WHY DID IT TAKE 4 SEASONS FOR THAT TO HAPPEN HE LOOKED SO HAPPY #LETMAXSING2021

the entire show is both so good and so bad and so progressive and so bigoted so amazing and so disappointing and god can colfer write a cool musical, invite everyone except the primadonnas, and REDEEM this already PLEASE

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titusmoody · 4 years ago

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It’s the end of the first quarter of 2021. Here’s a brief review of the things I watched/played/read.

Games

Donut County- pretty charming, very easy, fairly satisfying to play. I’d recommend Untitled Goose Game over this, though.

Heaven’s Vault- If you only have room in your life for one space archaeology game, play Outer Wilds instead. However, you get to translate alien writings yourself (in a simplified game way) in this one, so I’d recommend both.

Donkey Kong Country 3 103%- so many fun level mechanics in this one. The difficulty of finding and completing everything in the game was spot-on for me.

Donkey Kong Country 2 102%- Each level mechanic in this one is explored and used in far more interesting ways than DKC3, though I honestly had more fun with 3 this time around. This one is the “dark, edgy” one aesthetically which is extremely dumb. Also, there was a lot of guesswork involved in finding some of the hidden stuff, which I didn’t enjoy.

The Room 4- I like escape room games. This one was good. It continued 3′s trend of trying to shake up the format a little, which is fine (better here than in 3, I think) but I wouldn’t have minded if all 4 stayed exactly the same, just with new puzzles.

Spider-Man: Miles Morales- Everything about it was competent. Not only was each gameplay activity fine-tuned to feel good, but the structure of the game also kept kept you experiencing a good variety of each activity. PS5 graphics are good, too. Nothing about it really got me excited to play it, it was just a good after work unwinding thing.

Cyberpunk 2077- Exactly the opposite of Spider-Man in terms of quality consistency. There are aspects of this game that are amazing, horrible, and every step in between. However, I’ve thought about it quite a bit and will probably continue to think about it for both good and bad reasons.

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair- Donkey Kong Country has better level design and controls. Well, the best levels of this were every bit as good as the best DKC levels, and maybe I’m just so familiar with DKC levels that I zone out a little during the boring bits, but had to pay attention to every moment of this game. Still, I didn’t have as much of an overall good time as the DKC games I played earlier.

Hue- Good 2D puzzle-platformer. I’m no longer surprised by these, but I still appreciate them, much in the same way as I like playing escape room games. I was under the impression for a few years that because I understood the potential of puzzle platformers, it meant I wouldn’t want to play any more of them, but that’s simply not true. I had a good time with Hue.

Shows

Gravity Falls- It’s fine. Pretty entertaining. I wish there were more low-stakes kinds of episodes, just to get more familiar with different sides of the characters. It would have made the characters and setting feel more rounded.

Cowboy Bepop- I didn’t get the hype for this show when I first watched it at 21, and now I can say that it’s simply not my kind of show. I have much more appreciation for it now than I did the first time, but it doesn’t hit me emotionally the same way that it seems to hit so many people.

Seinfeld- It’s Seinfeld. There was precisely one episode that I had never seen before, plus confirmation that I didn’t dream the episode that’s told in backwards chunks like Memento and is set in India.

Paranoia Agent- While it was disappointing that this ended up being a more simple morality tale than every Satoshi Kon movie I’ve seen, I still enjoyed watching this a lot.

Aggretsuko- I liked the mundane, every-day storylines like a modern, more empathetic Seinfeld. Unfortunately as the show went on, there were more and more wacky situations that no one actually gets into. I might watch the upcoming season if I hear that it’s less ridiculous.

Over the Garden Wall- This was really cool and I’m glad it exists. It’s ten episodes long, which is perfect for it. I thought it was at its weakest during the more lighthearted or humorous moments--precisely the opposite of Gravity Falls. The word “classy” comes to mind to describe this show.

Beastars- Really good when it isn’t falling into anime plot and dialog cliches. A lot of this first season is dedicated to introducing characters and the setting, which I thought was very well done. I’m curious to see what Season 2 is like.

Movies

Scott Pilgrim vs the World- It’s a fun movie to watch. It definitely makes many of the characters’ flaws seem like more fun than it probably should, but I’m more bothered by the criticism I hear that boils down to “it’s a bad movie because the characters are bad people” which I suspect is an impression you only get if you lack both empathy and media comprehension.

Big- Kinda bad. It has iconic moments that are only possible with its weird premise, but it’s just not a premise that supports an entire good movie.

Phantom of the Opera- Way better and way worse than I remember. Has the precise right amount of horses.

Knives Out- Not really a movie I needed to watch a second time, but it sure is good.

District 9- I didn’t remember most of this movie and unfortunately I zoned out for most of this rewatch, so I still feel like I don’t know what it’s about.

From up on Poppy Hill- Not one of the top tier Ghibli movies, but still really good in a down-to-earth way that I like from Ghibli.

Enter the Dragon- I knew to expect everything to be turned up to 11, which is good because it really is a lot. I liked it, though.

Shutter Island- I have never actually liked this kind of twist-reliant movie. I thought I would for many years, but I was always disappointed. At least now I am aware that it’s not what I’m into.

Soul- The premise is much too convoluted, but it does have an excellent moment near the end.

Onward- I liked this one a lot. Why don’t more people talk about this one? It’s definitely better than Coco, which itself was really good.

A Silent Voice- The kind of movie that reminds me that sometimes Japanese storytelling is more to my taste than Hollywood style, in that scenes can be more emotionally ambiguous.

Tangled- Good in exactly the same way as Frozen and Moana. I can’t really complain, but this isn’t the same situation as puzzle platformers or escape rooms. In this case, I do get a little sick of being completely unsurprised. This movie was made first, so it’s only by chance that this is the one that I saw last.

Monsters University- A good movie, but it really doesn’t have to be about the same characters as Monsters Inc.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail- Still funny

The Departed- Good if you want an enjoyable crime thriller to watch, bad if you want a Scorcese movie.

Titanic- Getting very drunk and watching this with Brittany might be the best time I had in the past three months. Maybe I won’t think too hard about why a movie about the overdue, violent death of a social order resonates with me right now.

Prince of Egypt- Impressive and grand, but I didn’t really care about the characters or story.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan- A good but not great (by TNG standards) concept for an episode that was made extremely enjoyable by the added budget and longer runtime of a movie.

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock- Not as good, but still watchable.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home- The kind of ridiculous concept you’d only make when you’ve already had three successful movies and are confident that you’ll be able to make at least another couple. The gang go back to the 1980s (present day to the original audience) and save the whales. It’s apparently exactly the right movie to watch if this is the third consecutive Star Trek movie you’re watching.

Mamma Mia- A lot of fun, but has weird problems that seem like they would’ve been easy to solve at the script level. Maybe if the conflicts had been introduced early on instead of dragging the whole pace of the movie down for much of the last 20 minutes, I would’ve enjoyed the whole thing.

Books

The Well of Ascension- The second book of a trilogy. Very competent. Introduces a whole lot of minor conflicts that really keep the momentum going and give the characters short-term goals that contribute to the overall plot and their arcs.

The Hero of Ages- The final book in the same trilogy. Equally competent. I wish there had been more long-term payoffs, which is the trade-off you make by stuffing the books full of those short-term conflicts. Spoilers ahead, but not ones that I think ruin the experience of reading. It’s very odd that of three of the central characters, one dies, one becomes a god and then dies, and one becomes God.

Check Please- About as pleasant as it gets. Full of the type of minor character that sitcoms end up running into the ground because they’re too one-note (Creed from The Office, for instance) but in a series with a pre-planned length, there’s no chance for it to get stale. Plus, I really liked both of the lead characters.

Milkman- Good book about “The Troubles” in Ireland. Very odd collection of characters, but the narrator had an extremely enjoyable voice to read.

And Then There Were None- Classic mystery story for a reason. Feels more like a Hitchcock movie than Sherlock Holmes. I read it in one day both because the prose was easy and I wanted to know what happened next. Not much substance to it, unfortunately.

Homegoing- Extremely ambitous book where each chapter is narrated by the descendant of a previous chapter, alternating between two branches of the same family. I liked it quite a bit, though because I only finished it yesterday I don’t have much reflection done yet so my opinion has yet to solidify.

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kristallioness · 4 years ago

Photo

2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019

*arrives a month late*... Happy 2021 to all of you, my dear followers! *raises a glass* It seems that my tendency to finish my artwork or personal posts on time has only gotten worse over time (I blame work *lol*). Oh well, better late than never, since there are things I would still like to take with me from this extraordinary year of 2020.

It is cringeworthy that I have two huge red X-s this year. But after I'd put these puzzle pieces together, I remembered far too well what was going on in my (work) life at the time, so it's completely understandable why I didn't have the time nor the energy to draw at all during those two months.

What were those typical statistics that I wrote about again to compare the years? *goes to read last year's post*.. Oh, right! In 2020, I managed to finish 3 full digital drawings (from the months of April, July and December) as well as work on several sketches. I wrote 28,154 words worth of fanfiction (oohh, that's a lot better than previous year), plus 3,126 words in English (I dare say I wrote an equal amount in Estonian) for the prompts I got during UYLD (making the total 31,280 words, which is quite impressive!).

I finished reading the 1st Kyoshi novel in the evening of the 20th and slightly past midnight on the 21st December (barely before the holidays, but I set this goal for myself and I did it!). Am already looking forward to starting with the 2nd part some time this year. Besides that, I ordered and received all the other new Avatar books that came out (3rd part of "Ruins of the Empire", "Katara and the Pirate's Silver", "Legacy of the Fire Nation") as well as BOTH Avatar series DVD sets (I still can't believe I found these on sale on some random online store in Estonia, but these are now among my most prized possessions!).

I finally started my Avatar rewatch last January, but merely got to the Ba Sing Se episodes in Book 2 (I need to continue with "The Earth King") and now it's been 5 YEARS since I last saw Korra. Reading through my journal personal posts from last year, I know far too well that it's not about rushing through it as fast as possible. Instead, I should enjoy the ride and continue watching the episodes when I'm well rested and in the right mood. That way I'll end up feeling much more at peace.

As for the entire year as a whole? I don't think anyone in this world of ours was prepared for the way this decade would begin - with an uncontrollable pandemic, the virus of which is randomly attacking and threatening to wipe out the weakest amongst us. If any of you (or even if you know someone who) have lost a loved one to this plague, there is not much else I can offer but my sincerest condolences! Me, my family, friends and colleagues seem to have managed to avoid catching it so far. *spits 3 x over her shoulder*

I had such high hopes for this year in so many ways. Event-wise I was looking forward to watching the Eurovision Song Contest in May (where Uku Suviste was supposed to represent Estonia for the 1st time ever after so many unfortunate failures to get selected as the winner of our local competition), the European Football Championships in June (asking my colleagues which countries they support, perhaps make fun bets / guesses with them to see whose team would win the matches), the Tokyo Olympic Games in July-August, the President of Estonia (Mrs. Kersti Kaljulaid) coming to visit my hometown to celebrate our Victory Day by taking part in the parade together with the Defence Forces (after 15 years *sigh*)...

I will always remember my last big event, which took place when life used to be "normal", so to say. It was the 102nd anniversary of Estonia on the 24th of February, when I took part of all the most important celebrations in Tallinn on our Independence Day, FULL-TIME (whenever I scroll through my Facebook timeline, I see the photos I uploaded of that day, my heart melts and I smile fondly). But the day after that.. utter hell broke loose. We had our first infected person in the country.

I will also remember the last day I went to work in "normal" conditions. Friday, the 13th of March (typically my lucky day-number combination): I missed the tram I wanted to get on in the morning, at work my team received great news that one of our colleague's family had grown bigger by a new tiny member the day before, we had our last team lunch together, we discussed the safety measures that we should take and joked about what might happen next week, I took the bus home instead of the tram (as the tram's route came from the airport and that place was considered to be more dangerous and with a higher risk of catching this virus).. It was another 2.5 weeks later by then (since the 25th of February) - Estonia (along with the rest of Europe) went into full lockdown.

The beginning was frightening and people were on edge, nobody really knew what to do nor what was gonna happen next. But in time, things began to shake into place and everybody developed a comfortable routine for remote work, including figuring out how to get everyday things done (such as grocery shopping). I found solace in taking photographs of various beautiful bird species, who began to fly around and serenaded me during spring, visiting the trees around my "nest" i.e. rented apartment (with a pair of them ACTUALLY building a nest in the chestnut tree right beside my window, thus turning me into a protective godmother of their chicks).

To be honest, I was awestruck by the positive / surprising aftermath of this lockdown: how the world / environment began to heal itself from the pollution that was normally caused by humans. I was taken aback by how dead silent our usually loud capital became in my neighbourhood (I could only hear trams passing by my house according to their schedules, practically no cars whatsoever, streets were empty of people.. absolute silence).

By May-June, things started to look up in Estonia (as well as the rest of Europe) and people were allowed to start travelling / moving around more freely. During my vacation in July, I managed to go to my last (open air) event (for the rest of the year) under these new "corona" conditions and ended up having a blast at the Open Farm Days in my home county for the first time.

Our country's shining moment came during the first week of September, when we hosted the first ever Rally Estonia of the World Rally Championship (WRC), where our very own Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja won. The event was so well organized and successful that nobody caught the virus nor did the spectators / participants spread it to others, which surely must've helped in ensuring us a spot in the WRC calendar for 2021 as well.

The remainder of the year was rather dull, with the exception of the US Presidential elections in November, when we were all holding our breaths that Joe Biden would win (congratulations, my American friends!). This eventually led to the painful downfall of THE WORST government the Republic of Estonia has ever had, and to the rise of our first female Prime Minister, Kaja Kallas (both happening in January 2021, I couldn't believe it all spiralled so soon, ha-ha!).

Anyways, during the last 4 months, work was very stressful and driving me nuts, so badly that when I eventually went on vacation before Christmas, I had a slight anxiety disorder that wouldn't let me relax for several days (luckily it went away just as quickly once I began to take it easy and managed to get some proper rest / sleep).

In hindsight, I kind of get this weird feeling as if I saw this whole thing coming, given how actively I was living my life throughout 2019. My final year of the 2010's was so full of important events and personal achievements. It's almost as if something mysterious inside was driving me, telling me to visit all the places and do all the things I wanted to do, cause I wouldn't have this sort of a chance again for a very long time.

This must be the main reason why I am thankful for 2020 for going the way it did. Sure, I'm disappointed that a lot of events were cancelled, that so many people have had to leave this world so soon due to this unpredictable disease.. But I think there are so many lessons to take from what came out of all of this. I believe the world needed some sort of a restart or break, given in what direction we were headed (politically, economically, environmentally, socially etc.). I'm just sorry it's had to come with such a high price of innocent lives.

I have even higher hopes for 2021, given how amazingly January has already passed for me and my country, and what is to come in my hometown in February. Let's take the lessons learned from 2020 with us and keep on heading back towards the "normal" lifestyle we used to know. Except this time, let's improve our ways, put all the hatred behind us, be more considerate, keep a distance, stay safe, but still try to make the world a better place for everyone. Thank you so much for reading, for remaining by my side, and for your support and love throughout the years, my friends! I hope to see you all alive and healthy at the end of the white metal ox year of 2021! *virtual hugs*

#personal #shards of Kristal

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odanurr87 · 5 years ago

Text

Flash Review: What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim?

Park Seo-Joon as Lee Young-Joon, and Park Min-Young as Kim Mi-So.

Release date: June 6 - July 26, 2018

Episodes: 16

Available on: Viki

Summary: Lee Young-Joon is the Vice Chairman of the YumYung Group, a large corporation and the family business. He’s smart, successful, and supremely confident to the point of narcissism. Kim Mi-So has been his secretary for the past nine years, proving herself to be extremely efficient in the execution of her duties and the only person who can keep up with his ego and intellect, anticipating her boss’ will and seeing it carried out. One day, out of the blue, Kim Mi-So announces she has decided to quit her job and start a new chapter in her life, what takes Young-Joon entirely by surprise. This event forces the two to review their relationship, as Young-Joon realises he doesn’t want to let her go, and Mi-So starts seeing other sides of her boss’ personality as she realises he might have feelings for her. As this is a kdrama, the return of Young-Joon’s hated older brother, Lee Seong-Yeon, complicates matters when he suddenly enters Mi-So’s life, turning himself into a rival romantic interest. Meanwhile, Mi-So starts looking into an old kidnapping case connected to the two brothers.

What I liked:

The pacing and execution of the romantic relationship. One of my main complaints when I reviewed The Secret Life of my Secretary (TSLS for short) was that I felt that show took too long to develop the relationship between the boss and his secretary, dragging the deception more than it should have, and even when the leads eventually admit they have feelings for each other, 24 episodes in, it didn’t quite feel believable and the wrap up felt a bit rushed. The Vice Chairman and Secretary Kim manage to get there by Episode 8, selling it every step of the way, giving us another eight episodes to see how their relationship progresses and concludes. Romantic misunderstandings, that staple of most romcoms, are thankfully kept to a minimum, something I was extremely grateful for. For instance, when the beginning of one such misunderstanding rears its ugly head at the end of Episode 8, Secretary Kim doesn’t waste a second to clear the air with the Vice Chairman and declare her feelings for him, marking the beginning of their romantic relationship. They still have their disagreements (Secretary Kim is definitely not a pushover) and face their share of obstacles and objections to their relationship; we see how their relationship plays out in the workplace, sometimes with hilarious results (Mi-So can be very protective of her boyfriend!); we’re treated to the expected bouts of jealousy from the two leads, the apparently required drunk scenes, etc. In short, it’s what you’d expect from a good Hollywood romcom but longer.

The absence of the “family member X trying to usurp power from the lead brother” trope. So refreshing to do away with this trope every once in a while. You will find no evil conspiracy here directed at any of the leads, a staple of kdramas where a chaebol’s involved, giving us more time to explore the relationship between the Vice Chairman and Secretary Kim, which is frankly what this show is all about. We still have that jerk relative that shows up to cause trouble, but he’s mostly harmless. I will address this plot in the next section.

The humor. The humor in this show is comprised of four elements, which I’ll proceed to highlight in bold. If you’ve watched the show, perhaps the first thing that comes to mind is Kang Ki-Young, who plays Young-Joon’s best friend, councilor, and president of the Yumyung Group, Park Yoo-Sik, as he does a fantastic job providing comic relief, taking advantage of the fact that he’s the only person who can make fun of Young-Joon and get away with it. I particularly liked his interactions with his clumsy and forgetful secretary, a pairing many viewers shipped. While I was taken aback by how much I liked him in Bring it on, Ghost, I was definitely less surprised to see what a great job he did here. Easily the best supporting character in the show. However, I feel Park Min-Young’s Kim Mi-So gives him a run for his money, not for being a prankster but because of how she reacts in any number of situations (as does Yoo-Sik), from trying to hide her boyfriend from her sisters, through punching a stuffed cow to make room for her virtual boyfriend, to trying to suppress her feelings of jealousy when faced with the prospect of having a rival for Young-Joon’s affection. You could call it situational humor perhaps, but seeing Mi-So’s facial expressions and her demeanor in these situations is priceless. These two are not the only actors/characters who partake in the show’s humor, but I believe they’re the standouts. Next on the list are the show’s well-placed sound effects, from weather effects to animal sounds, which really bring out the humor in certain situations. The sound effects in this show are 100% on point. Last but not least is the inclusion of a certain animated devil who pops up from time to time when Young-Joon or Mi-So are having lewd thoughts. As Young-Joon says at one point, “Fighting!”

Secretary Kim’s many facial expressions. Pity the sound effect wasn’t timed right in this scene.

What I didn’t like:

The older brother and the execution of his storyline. Perhaps I am less inclined to like his character because I initially watched the episodes out of order. During the first few episodes, Young-Joon’s brother, Seong-Yeon, clearly appears as the more likable of the two, returning home after years abroad, ready to make amends, only to find a brother who has nothing but contempt for him and a family who still favours Young-Joon. One should sympathize with him under the circumstances. However, for my part, Seong-Yeon showed his true colors even before he regained his memories. As I mentioned earlier, his return also results in the two brothers holding an undeclared contest for Mi-So’s affections, with Seong-Yeon believing he has the upper hand because of a past connection with her. When Seong-Yeon boasts how he’s going to exploit this connection to get her that was the moment I went, “This dude’s an asshole. He’s really going to exploit a painful memory simply to one up his brother.” Young-Joon, on the other hand, was actually doing his best to protect Mi-So from it, even at the risk of losing her. However, beyond Seong-Yeon’s likeability as a character, from a narrative standpoint, I just can’t believe the two brothers haven’t settled their score after two decades. Further, his transformation from jerk to good brother after he regains his memories seemed a little rushed, a little forced, with some scenes seemingly set up to cast him in a more favourable light. I have my strong doubts that someone who’s experienced that kind of mental trauma would make such a recovery in such a short amount of time (days? weeks?). Ultimately, he came across more as a plot device than a character.

How the parents handled the kidnapping. Letting your kids believe a lie for decades is not the way you handle a traumatic experience! It strikes me as unbelievable, irresponsible, and utterly reproachable, that the parents would rather scar their children for life than send them to therapy, especially when time proved that the lie had not improved the brothers’ relationship and possibly made it worse. There’s also some inconsistency with the character of the mother, who at one point looks to Mi-So to take care of Young-Joon, hinting she knows of their relationship, only for her to later ask Young-Joon not to date Mi-So because that would make Seong-Yeon unhappy. The gall of this woman. Fortunately, Seong-Yeon intervenes (this is the favourable light scene I mentioned earlier), as the mother was about to make yet another parenting mistake. I’m also slightly skeptical she didn’t figure out the truth behind the kidnapping earlier, specifically, the moment Mi-So’s involvement is revealed, a secretary Young-Joon personally selected over more qualified candidates. It’s a relatively minor detail though.

OTP: Damn, these two can kiss! If that’s not chemistry, I don’t know what is. Every moment these two are together is just perfect. I’ll admit I disliked Young-Joon’s unhealthy possessiveness, but I understand this was a conscious choice to show how much his character changes as a result of his love for Mi-So, eventually willing to let her go and choose a new path. I know some people disapproved of Mi-So’s decision to stay as Young-Joon’s secretary, seeing it as a regression and arguing she should try something new, but I disagree. At the end of the day, what’s important is that Mi-So is no longer pressured by circumstance to follow a path but is now finally able to decide for herself knowing she has someone in her life who will support her regardless. I’d question the timing of her decision but not the decision itself. She can always quit later. I also appreciated this show wasn’t afraid of showing the two characters actually tie the knot. Makes for a good change of pace.

youtube

Verdict: Initially, I dropped this show like a bomb in the middle of the first episode, as the thought of having a hardcore narcissistic boss as one of the leads did not appeal to me one bit, and having just finished watching the disappointing The Secret Life of my Secretary I really didn’t want to waste much more of my time on a show that promised to be similar. I was utterly wrong, as it turned out. What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim? is a great office romcom, with Park Seo-Joon and Park Min-Young easily delivering on the romance and the comedy, aided by Kang Ki-Young and a solid supporting cast. This is an easy recommendation and definitely worth watching multiple times.

Rewatch meter: High

#kdrama #kdramas #what's wrong with secretary kim #park seo joon #park min young #kang ki young #review

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darawonplease · 5 years ago

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trauma. ch1.1 - i’m doomed

Dara rewatches her infamous confession to SECHSKIES leader Eun Jiwon. She finally decides what to do when a message ruins her plans.

characters. Eun Jiwon x Sandara Park, CL, Park Bom

A.N. In the following chapter I refer to two different shows Dara has appeared on. The links to those videos are in the titles of the two shows that are mentioned at the start).

chapter 1 - i’m doomed, part. 1

[dara pov]

I turned on the tv with reluctance, a frown appearing on my face. I intended to avoid that very episode of Hun Maen Jung Eum since it first aired, but there I was, the curiosity of knowing how the scene I shoot was broadcasted on national tv being a valid reason to tune in on MBC’s channel.

[...]

“Dara had a crush on someone for 22 years…”.

The MC read through his script; my back tensed as soon as I heard my name called. In all honesty I didn’t expect the production to bring this news up.

“…that person is the one sitting beside her---”

“Here it is”. I thought, resting my sulky face on the remote I had in my hands.

“--- Eun Jiwon”. The MC revealed with a huge grin on his face.

I saw myself smiling on the tv screen but at the time I wanted to crawl in a hole in the ground and disappear forever.

“When Sandara was offered to be on Hun Maen Jung Eum she agreed without hesitation. She said that she liked three people on this show: JeA, Joonhyung and Jiwon”. Stated the MC while flipping the pages he held in his right hand.

“Woo~”. The people I mentioned smiled out of content, appearing pretty pleased by my statement.

I gulped as the MC continued to read the interview I had prior to filming, I felt instant regret. I should’ve known better then. Of course, they saw my confession for Jiwon-oppa on Video Star, the episode in question aired a couple of months before shooting Hun Maen Jung Eum.

I remember the day I was casted on that talk show so vividly. I had just started to appear on variety shows and winning a spot as host was one of the biggest accomplishments of that year.

“Sandara-ssi, we’re glad to let you know you’ve been casted as a fixed host on the program, congratulations”.

“Ne! I’m grateful for the opportunity given to me, I won’t let you down!”. I closed the call; a sudden burst of energy took over my body as I started doing my “victory dance”.

“Yay~ I’ve been casted Wonjun-ssi~”.

I jumped up and down while holding both of his hands.

“Isn’t It a great day to be Sandara Park’s manager-nim?”. I flashed my best smile and started dancing again, my limbs waving all over the place.

“It’s great Dara-ssi”. He hid his perplexity as to why I was acting like that behind a sheepish smile.

JJangmae-oppa was known for being 2NE1’s manager. YG ent. fired him right after the group disbanded, as we all had our own personal managers. JJangmae-oppa wasn’t just monitoring us, he affirmed himself as an older brother figure, cherishing us when YG sajang-nim scolded our group for not being pretty enough, for not being successful enough. Jjangmae-oppa saw us as people and not products, that’s why, seeing him disappear from our lives so suddenly, left a big hole in our hearts, firing up the resentment towards the unfairness of the decision made by the company.

The legendary sunbae-nim, Tony Ahn, member of H.O.T. was invited as guest on the first episode I hosted of Video Star; thinking back it was such a smart move on the production team part to cast me, knowing the relationship I had with Tony-oppa. Milking it created quite a stir, in fact.

Our ambiguous friendship became the main topic soon enough. The guest list included people in the friends circle me and Tony-oppa shared so they knew how to tease and prompt him into revealing what was his stance when it came to our relationship.

“When Dara got drunk, she had the silly idea of putting the bottle’s cap on her eyes, we all happily laughed about it”. JeA-eonni suddenly became a dispenser of embarrassing scenes, and I was the protagonist of them all. Who knew that she’d share other awkward stories about me later, on Hun Man Jung Eum too.

“Do you know what he said to me? He went - Don’t make her do those things!”.

Tony-oppa clapped his hands, embarrassed.

“I didn’t even tell her to do that!”. JeA-eonni was clearly upset as she stood up from her seat to directly complain with Tony-oppa, who sat right beside her.

“So - he must care about Dara a lot”. Commented Sook-eonni, glancing at me.

He defended himself – “I had such great fantasies about her, I thought it was impossible for her to think about doing so on her own”.

“He really doesn’t know how to date, as he got older, he even became more fearful and shy, he limits himself to observing only - so I told him that if he keeps observing he’ll lose her”. JeA-eonni was obviously determined to unveil every detail of the story.

Hyejong-eonni joined in the mission of collecting every piece of evidence that pointed at Tony-oppa being interested in me.

“That that’s why I suspected him and Sandara! He actually wanted to ask her out, but he lost his timing and Dara reacted passively at it, so you just ended up being friends”.

“Tony-ssi, are you observing Dara-ssi right now?”. Narae filled her role as host, interrogating him like a detective.

“She’s just a girl friend and there is no I way I could develop anything other than that. That is not what I thought when I first met her, who knows what might happen; that’s what I thought” – He replied with honesty.

“Then why did you keep watching her slowly and didn’t go for it right away?” – JeA-eonni spoke up again, interrogating him. She could pass as a host because of the fiery desire to uncover the truth.

A short sigh left Tony-oppa’s mouth. - “At that time, we didn’t have any occasion to meet”.

“So, you guys didn’t have any connection”. Concluded Sook-eonni from the host panel.

“There was documentary about her in Korea back then – I somehow managed to watch it and noticed she was good at singing and dancing, she was also pretty and charming – I made up my mind and wanted to producer the singer Sandara Park”. He revealed proudly, I didn’t know he had such high regards for me as an artist.

He went on saying: “But then an article came out – Sandara signed a contract for YG entertainment”.

“I thought he had been observing her for just a month but it’s been already 15 years!”. Exclaimed JeA-eonni, talking to the cameras, furrowing her brows.

“He is like the man in Old boy”. Eana-eonni commented, poking fun at Tony-oppa. He crossed his arms and laughed off, dumbfounded.

“This oppa really loves you Sandara!”.

I slightly felt uneasy as they kept pushing in that direction, I kept dwelling on how I should react without hurting his feelings as I, unfortunately, didn’t reciprocate.

Narae interrupted the laughter that filled the room until then.

“I don’t know if I should say this right now….”.

The atmosphere on set suddenly changed, a chill danced up my back not knowing what she was going to say.

“...well, Sandara has another man in her heart”. She stated with total seriousness.

“Ack-…” murmured Tony-oppa, with a disappointed look on his face.

“We also know about that”. Commented all the female guests sitting the other side of the room.

“Dara-ssi likes…. Eun Jiwon-ssi!”. Narae slammed her hand on the table as she looked away from the guests. She sure knew how to create a commotion.

I was taken aback, hearing his name all of a sudden made my heart flutter, but I didn’t hold grudges at Narae for revealing it, I somehow felt better because of the burden taken off of my chest.

A multitude of voices quickly started to overlap one another across the room.

“Eh?! Do you still do?”.

“I knew it!”.

“Yes, she does!”.

“Stop hurting him and say the truth!”.

Tony-oppa’s ears became red, he remained silent at the sudden revelation.

Jiwon-oppa was the leader of another legendary boy-group I loved in my teen years, SECHSKIES. It was a known fact that H.O.T and SECHSKIES were rival groups back in the day. Fans used to scramble with one another for their favorite singers. It sounded funny to think the feud didn’t stop with the music.

“Will your fans fight again for this?”. Hangbo-eonni joked, trying to defuse the situation.

“Leave the girl – there was a SECHSKIES song that went like that!”. Narae referred to the song “Chivalry” perhaps, but I remember the lyrics differently.

“How could I leave you like this?”. Hangbo started to sing SECHSKIES Road Fighter, playing around.

Tony’s soul left his body as he turned on his seat, trying to fleet the situation by facing the wall behind him.

“But Jiwon-oppa doesn’t know about this though – this is the first time I’m saying this”. I stated looking around the room.

“Ah- is that so?”.

“Since when have you been watching him?”. Sook-eonni’s eyes lit up with interest as she asked me for further information.

“…since 1997”, I muttered before bursting in a fat laugh, my cheeks becoming more and more red as we kept talking about the man I’ve been admiring for such a long time.

“The important thing is if she still likes him even now”. Commented Park Sohyun-ssi.

“Well… recently we’re in the same agency… - I’ve also been to their concert last time and he was so cool”.

I didn’t know how affectionate I sounded before re-watching this scene after the episode aired. My eyes filled with love and admiration as soon as I started to talk about him.

“He looks so tsundere!”. I finished my confession on that note, contented with my own honesty. The thought of him made my heart pit-a-pat hard.

JeA, Hangbo and Eana-eonni turned their backs away from Tony and created a small girl gathering where they started to whisper to one another.

“Tell me something about it”.

“She really likes him”.

“You didn’t know it?”.

“I knew it, but I thought she already put away her feelings”.

I was so relaxed and contented when confessing on that occasion. It was perceived as an innocent crush, something to laugh about during lunch. It only looked like I was a big fan, not a big deal at all.

But on Hun Maen Jung Eum, right beside him? I felt my heart sinking deep. I hated the thought of coming across so insisting and foolishly adoring of him – right in front of him. Revealing how much I payed attention to him recently made me look so hopelessly in love with him. Which I was not.

I shook my head and payed attention to the program that was being broadcasted on my tv.

The MC kept reading - “Joonhyung-oppa and Jiwon-oppa have different meaning for me”.

Everyone burst out laughing at my straight forwardness.

The Sandara on the tv started clapping her hands, uselessly trying to hide from the impending embarrassment.

“Joonhyung-oppa feels like a senior while for Jiwon-oppa…”.

“Please don’t say it…”. I begged in front of the tv over and over again, even if perfectly aware of what was going to happen soon after.

“...he really is like a man to me~”.

The guests gazed at me at once and screamed in disbelief, it was a commotion.

“Can I really say something so burdensome?”. The me on the screen blurted out while covering her face with her hands, as if that could prevent the sense of regret from manifesting.

I remember my stomach turning on itself, cold sweat was pouring down my forehead. I tried to control those violent reactions happening inside of me but failed miserably.

“I shouldn’t say burdensome things”. I uttered again while looking away.

“It’s not~”. I could see on my screen that Jiwon-oppa was averting his eyesight while saying so, with a sheepish smile on his face.

JeA-eonni then intervened revealing her testimony too. I realized only then that she knew so many things about me, making her a perfect snitch on the variety shows we participated together.

I was surrounded by my own embarrassment and couldn’t flee in any way. No matter where I looked, there was no way to avoid meeting someone else’s derogatory glare.

“We had finished a schedule together and were at the salon-…” She started, guiding everyone’s attention towards herself.

“…I told Dara I had a schedule with Jiwon-oppa” – She went on.

“Ah ~ Isn’t our Jiwon-oppa perfect?”. She mimicked me perfectly, from the high-pitched tone to the gestures, my jaw dropped to the ground at how accurate it was.

The studio filled with laughter again, so I just got along with the guests’ reaction and chuckled with them.

“Eonniii, why did you reveal that? I thought we were frieeends~”. I whined at the screen, throwing myself on my leather couch. The weight of my words appearing on my chest.

“Wow! Your vocal impression of her is exactly the same!”. Jiwon-oppa jumped out of his seat and exclaimed pointing at JeA-eonni.

“No but, seriously”. She continued.

My only ally was aspiring against me, strength escaped from my extremities, all I could do was witness my own self being torn apart in front of my crush, on national tv no less.

“Dara said that since he changed his hairdo, he looks younger than recent idols”. could feel my heart sink. I didn’t realize how childish my words sounded until someone else said them.

Various text appeared on the screen “Sandara who seems blinded by love”.

“WHY WOULD THEY WRITE SOMETHING LIKE THAT, AIGOO!”. I protested again, slamming my feet on the couch repeatedly.

I pointed at my tv, complaining about something I couldn’t change. I hid my face behind a small pillow, but I could still view the scene happening in my head, even with my eyes closed shut.

The hosts and guests gave mixed reactions. There were some oh’s and eh’s.

“Isn’t this an exaggeration?”. Jiwon oppa turned his head and referred to me, raising his eyebrow.

At the time I fled his confused gaze creating a wall with my hands in between us. I could not look at him normally, go figures if I had the gut to glance at him in a situation like that.

It was all or nothing, I gulped hard and quickly collected my courage – or what was left of it. What I could do was just go with it and confess altogether before other embarrassing testimonies popped out from nowhere.

I wouldn’t stop blurting about him for years, every time his name left my lips, I witnessed irked expressions on my friends’ faces because of how repetitive and annoying I got. I wouldn’t have been surprised if they had prepared other 50 testimonies to demonstrate my total and earnest adoration for him.

“Because he is next to me… I don’t know if I can say this…”. I muttered, keeping my hand-walls between him and me. My cheeks flushing by the minute.

I didn’t get to see his reaction while filming, it was the first time for me to actually watch how he behaved in that situation.

He looked straight in front of him, covering his mouth with one hand and listening attentively to what I was going to declare.

Joonhyung sunbae-nim smiled from to cheek to cheek like a pleased father, earnest to hear about my crush on Jiwon-oppa.

“And why do you like Jiwon-hyung?”. One of the hosts stood up and asked, raising his eyebrows in confusion.

“What do you like about him?”. Repeated another female host, her eyes sparkling with great interest.

“Well… he’s handsome”.

“Where did I get the guts to say that in front of him? eottokeeee?”. I facepalmed, feeling second-hand embarrassment for the Dara on screen.

Jiwon-oppa looked away, his cheeks turning red like two big tomatoes as soon as he heard my praises. An innocent smile popped up on his lips, showing the two front teeth he usually tried to hide behind his hands. He kept fidgeting as if he did not know how to put himself. His reaction was similar to the one you’d have when someone sings you “Happy birthday”. All you can do is just witness it and be grateful, even if it’s super-embarrassing.

“Ah~ but last time, from the Pom Saeng Pom Sa era he was like this, he had a tsundere charm”.

I basically repeated what I’ve revealed on Video Star. I refused to unveil more than what was already known to the public, what was revealed was already enough.

“But in real life he’s really kind…” I finished, emphasizing on the word kind.

I knew because of the You tube date that took place a year prior. Even if he looked cold and uninterested on the outside, he was quite comforting and soft-spoken once you got to know him.

am i really saying this out loud?

I felt dumbfounded, my body wanting to explode under the constant pressure I experienced throughout the conversation.

The MC spoke up, “Did you know about her feelings?”. He asked directly to Jiwon to keep the hype up.

I finally had the strength to look at him, anticipating his response. I was curious as to how he’d react.

He sat up, reuniting his hands, and looked around the studio.

“Well...uh”. He stuttered.

He rotated his whole body towards the MC who was questioning him - “22 years sounds like an exaggeration, but… when SECHKIES reunited, she came to the concert and cheered for us”, he indicated me with his left hand, avoiding turning my direction.

“I also really like 2NE1, because of that, I also felt really nervous and fluttering feeling…”. He finished on a high note, not giving any hints and directing the topic elsewhere, perfectly gaining control over the conversation.

“YAH, it’s weirder because you are saying it so gently!”, lamented Joonhyung sunbae-nim jumping out of his sit and pointing at Jiwon-oppa.

“YOUR TONE IS WEIRD!”. Shouted the male host.

Jiwon-oppa was known for his straight-forwardness and bold way of speaking. Him suddenly being soft-spoken caused agitation on set.

“I’ve had enough!” I whimpered. I reached for the remote to try to turn off the tv.

“YOU’RE SO STUBBORN, DAMN REMOTE”.

I hit it against the arm of the couch until the tv finally turned off.

“I gets more embarrassing the more I watch it…”, I murmured under my breath, the scene kept playing in my head in loop, line a broken record.

I got up and glanced outside my window, I really could use some fresh air to calm myself up. It was a chilly night of August, there wasn’t much movement on the street in front of my apartment.

did I really manage to say those things?

I moved towards the kitchen as I craved a big cup of green tea, maybe that could have helped with calming my nerves.

I stretched my arm to get a hold of the teabags in the cupboard on my left and patiently waited for the water to boil. The only sounds that could be heard in my flat were the ones coming from the water bubbling up in the boiler and my long and deep sighs.

I shook my head hoping to erase my memories but the mocking laugh and mixed reaction from that one episode echoed in my ears.

I was used to narrate over the top stories adding my own flare to them, it became my trademark. I was Sandara Park, the former member of 2NE1 and the one in charge of portraying absurd stories in my cutesy way.

That was different. I could already see the whole world looking down own me. The riot in my stomach was just a sign of how affected I felt because of that matter.

A week had passed from the original airing date of the episode, but I still had a hard time overcoming that river of thoughts that washed me up like a giant tsunami.

~ brbrbrbrbrbr~ tic ~

The boiler had accomplished its work. I sat on a stool in front of the island counter and started to pour the water in my red mug. It appeared as a regular mug to the eyes of strangers, but it had meaning to me.

Chaerin had gifted it to me when she returned from L.A. to visit. It was a hard time for her, she wouldn’t tell me at first so I invited her to stay over at my house for a couple of days; only the thought of her going through a difficult time alone made my heart shutter in a million pieces.

I started to use the mug any chance I could to demonstrate her that I appreciated her thought, a small smile would appear on her face whenever she saw me sipping from it. That same smile was like a minuscule gap in the enormous wall she was trying so hard to build around herself.

We sat right there, in front of the counter, when she revealed her honest thoughts. Her voice started trembling as she confessed to me that she wished to leave YG ent., the agency we worked together for the past 13 years. Small teardrops would fall onto the counter, forming a small puddle. I squeezed her for an unreasonable amount of time, feeling her body shudder against mine every time she sobbed. Her warmth against my skin it’s what I reminisced when sipping a hot beverage out of that L.A. red mug.

She then returned in the U.S, far from the mistreatment she received in the motherland. I couldn’t blame her because she was right. She had every right to do so and so did I. The difference between us was that she was stronger than me.

My home suddenly looked like a big cage where a lonely rabbit hops in search for an exit that doesn’t exist.

i am that rabbit.

Dadoong meowed, as if wanted to talk back to me.

“You’re not alone as long as I’m here”, something like that. Or maybe he was just hungry, that was probably the case.

I kneeled on the wooden floor and started caressing his smooth fur. “Mian~ I almost forgot about you, my cutie~”. I whispered to him.

“meowww~”. He responded closing his small like buttons yes.

“I hope that means that you’ve forgiven me haha~”.

I replenished his bowl with cat food, the sound of his paws on the wood was quite adorable. I smiled looking at him eating peacefully.

I stood up and took the mug, blowing on the hot tea to take it to a reasonable drinking temperature.

With the corner of my eyes I noticed a couple of notifications popping up on my cellphone’s screen. I slowly but steadily got towards the couch, trying hard not to tip over the tea. There was a small coffee table in front of me where I had placed my cellphone prior. I left the mug on it and picked up the phone.

I hummed – “mhh- I wonder what they’re saying about me on SNS”.

I scrolled through the news of Naver, the infamous Hun Maen Jung Eum confession being in second and third place in the “most researched” list.

“ Sandara Park Admits To Having A Crush On SECHSKIES’s Eun Ji Won For The Past 22 Years ”

I pressed on the article and started scrolling down to look at the comments beneath it.

[+510 – 2] Aww he looks so flustered, so cute ~

[+ 436 -29] Does she not know he’s a divorcee?

[+386 – 5] I hope they start dating after this~ ㅋㅋㅋ

[+203 – 76] I wonder how awkward it is between them now

[+105 – 2] Isn’t it obvious that he doesn’t like her?

[+57– 46] She is such a boring person, no wonder he doesn’t take interest in her.

[+48 – 9] ㅎㅎㅎ she confessed to have dated many celebrities and now claims to be in love with Eun Jiwon for 22 years, what a b*tch

“Ahh, i would’ve been better off without reading this huhu~”.

The malicious comments pierced right through my confidence, unveiling all my insecurities.

It is the harsh reality, one can’t possibly hope to be liked by everyone, still, those words were like salt on an open wound. I already felt vulnerable, as if someone stole my umbrella during a storm. All the opinions were painful waterdrops cascading on my head. A few do not hurt you but one after another they lead you to madness.

I’ve had been in this harsh industry for over 10 years, but I admitted to being still too vulnerable mentally to sustain the weight of words spouted at me.

A tear travelled lonely down my cheek as I threw the cellphone down on the couch, disappointed.

I already knew he perceived me as a hoobae and not as a woman, I was aware of that. That was exactly why I was so bothered by how I came off on tv. I disliked the idea that he would think of me as a delusional fool.

I sniffed and wiped off the tear with the long sleeve of my checkered pajama.

I enjoyed admiring him from afar, supporting him without being an annoyance, liking him without the risk of getting burned. I fangirled over him with all my girl friends, as if I were a 15-year-old again but deep inside I knew my liking to him had gone a bit further than just an innocent teen crush.

I knew he had divorced too; I was crushed at the thought of him suffering like that. Witnessing the love of a lifetime whiter with his own two eyes. How could people judge him for that?

love is not easy.

nothing is.

For work I was often surrounded by handsome celebrities who wouldn’t hesitate to confess their crushes on me, I’ve always managed to keep my cool and stay professional but there I was, my hands would tremble anytime Jiwon-oppa appeared in the same room, my body flinched anytime he’d touch me, even if inadvertently. I couldn’t control the redness from expanding on my cheeks when he talked to me.

behave self.

It wasn’t news that I dated a couple of celebrities since my debut, I even revealed how we met for dates on the same episode I confessed to Jiwon-oppa. It was thrilling to hide from the reporters, every relationship felt like a spy movie.

Those romance weren’t exactly k-drama worthy. Most of the times I was just a price to be won, I knew it deep down. It wasn’t anything more than a way to fill the silence in my flat with the pounding on the walls. No matter how many times I tried to convince myself that they loved me as much as I did, I was only a side event for when they were lonely.

Looking back, I wasn’t proud of my behavior. He gave me attention and I conceded him my body. I could feel his warm skin against mine, but when placing my ear to his chest, I didn’t hear his heart thumping. Relationship after relationship, the result didn’t change. Blinded by need for company I kept making the same mistake over and over again.

Bom-eonni once found me crying after one broke up with me. Reason being, he had enough of our relationship. He wasn’t wrong, it was me who expected it to be more than it actually was and ended up being disappointed.

“You’ll get hurt, please stop”. I remember her squeezing me until I implored her to stop, that eonni always ignored my weak build every time she embraced me.

“Dara don’t do this. Please”. She begged on the phone countless times because seeing me hurt like that was torture for her. She started to stay over at my place in case the man I was seeing decided to harass me.

I put a hold on dating after that, I gained control of my vulnerability for once.

Silence returned in my flat.

the life of an idol is quite lonely.

~parararing parararing - parararing parararing ~

“Dara-eonni ~ are you busy? how are you doing?”.

It was Chaerin-ah who called me.

“Hi Chaerin-ah ~ I’m doing fine… have you eaten yet? Don’t worry, I’m just chilling - I feel so tired.... ah~”.

“Honestly, lately I’ve lost my appetite”.

“How come? Force yourself to eat, even just an apple”.

I suddenly reminisced our trainee days. I was so thin compared to the other members; YG sajang-nim decided to put them all on a diet. I still felt guilty; there was nothing I could do because that was just how my body was built. I offered myself to diet alongside them, not to make them feel lonely but Bom-eonni whined at me – “You’re already so skinny, what’s the use of dieting Dara-yah?!”.

We were dubbed as ugly girl group, YG sajang-nim was the first one to call us that. The pressure of being pretty weighted on us whenever we made a public appearance beside other girls groups or ate something that had more than 200 calories.

She ignored my advice and went on - “How do you feel?”.

“Uh? Me? I’m just fin-“.

She interrupted me – “Come on! Dara-eonni! Bom-eonni told me about you and Jiwon sunbae-nim!”. Her tone seemed pretty serious.

Moving to L.A. made it harder for Chaerin to get a hold of the news regarding entertainment in Korea. That was probably why she heard about it from someone else and got upset.

I really didn’t want to talk about that matter. I already wanted to bury myself under 6 feet of dirt and I did not want her to feel second-hand embarrassment because of my actions.

“Ah~ Chaerin-ah... I didn’t know what to do so I just went along with it... huhu~ Is it that bad?”. I asked, full of anticipation.

“It’s ok eonni, really. He’ll think of it as a joke and you’ll both laugh about it when you two will meet again”.

I really hoped that was the case; we acknowledged each other but didn’t have any opportunity to develop our friendship.

“Huhu Chaerin-ah~ Are people going to think I’m a crazy lady that keeps a Jiwon-oppa shrine in front of her bed? I read so many malicious comments…Will he avoid me after this?”.

“I knew this would bother you, that’s why I called - Dara-eonni, you should’ve told me sooner, you know I’m here for you”.

She was right. I was bothered, but I hated asking for help. Opening up became so much harder since we all moved out from the dorm we shared. If we had secrets to reveal, we would invade Bom-eonni’s room to gossip between ourselves. We used to sit on the floor to whisper about crushes and things we witnessed during music shows.

Everything I did made me reminisce the time I spent with 2NE1; I forever cherished the warmth that came being so close with the members.

“Ah~ Chaerin-ah~ Thanks for calling me”.

I sipped the green tea that was waiting for me on the wooden coffee table, my brows furrowed as my lips touched the cold beverage.

“Even the tea became cold… huhu~”.

I slumped back on the couch. All I wanted to do was to avoid him, as if he was pestilence himself, I didn’t want for things to get weird - I wasn’t ready to enter YG’s building only to have Teddy-oppa or Jiyong make fun of me in front of him.

~ ting ~

I remembered the real reason I actually searched for my phone in the first place; I had to check the notifications.

“Dara-ssi, I’ll fetch you tomorrow at 10 o’clock to escort you to the agency”. It was manager-nim who wrote a couple of messages to remind me of my schedule for the week.

I felt dumbfounded as I remembered Suwon-oppa telling me that Sechskies were starting to record tracks for their future comeback that day. There was no way I could avoid him when we worked in the same workplace.

I drowned my face in the pillow sitting on my couch and heaved a long sigh –

i am doomed.

next chapter. ⋆ masterlist.

#darawon #eunjiwon #eun jiwon #2ne1 #sechskies #yg #radiostar #hunmaenjungeum #fanfic #fan fiction #dara #sandara park #cl #chaerin #park bom #산다라박

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mysterylover123 · 5 years ago

Text

BNHA Rewatch: Episode 41 “Kota”

mysterylover123

OK so just a few comments about my last post before we get into it!

First of all, like I predicted, it did get flagged, but quickly restored. Secondly, an ask pointed out that the scene with Bakugo reprimanding Deku about Tomura is not, actually, in the episode. I’m not sure why I thought it was, but oh well. I’ll try and double check next time before I post the recap. Anyway, off to recap-ville. Episode 41 time!

Quirk training! The anime seriously elaborated on this from the manga, where it was just a few pages.

WOOF. At this point Todoroki has spent more screen time in season 3 without clothes than with.

wow that looks like good cake. They did not skimp on the desserts here.

FULL VERSION! Gotta say, Ragdoll and Tiger really round it out; it just looks kinda silly when it’s just Mandalay and Pixie Bob. They have a really impressive clatch of quirks too, ngl.

I wish they’d given Deku more than basic boot camp training. I’m kinda split on how they handled Tiger being trans; on the one hand, he’s a cool hero who kicks serious ass and has respect, on the other the characters make a slightly disparaging remark about him...but that could be what a transgender person would deal with in reality, and this series isn’t exactly presenting a utopia...I don’t know, it’s the same way I feel about Pixie Bob’s age thing. I’d like to give it the benefit of the doubt and it could be a lot worse, but it could be a lot better, too.

Oh my. Breathless, finding-his-resolve Deku is giving me rather impure thoughts.

I’m not sure what purpose making them cook for themselves serves, honestly. Iida tries to come up with one, but it kinda comes across like the WWP are just being lazy. The kids are training hard all day, wtf is wrong with having food pre-prepared for them?

Maybe it was just for another excuse to humiliate Bakugo. At this point, he hasn’t even done anything. Karma just hates him.

Or to give us this shot of Momo and her main love interests. Momo standing up for Shoto’s rights, cute TDDMM moment!

Aw poor Kacchan!

Feels overload! Also, kinda low-key ship Todo/Ochaco sometimes. I dunno, they seem like they’d have a good repertoire.

Wow Momo’s getting a lot of moments this episode ain’t she!

Deku is inexplicably drawn to pissed off, antisocial spiky-haired punks who seem like they need saving from their own temper, ain’t he? (Good god Kota looks like a BKDK lovechild in this scene, doesn’t he? Same Kacchan eyes).

BEHOLD, THE SINGLE SADDEST IMAGE SET COMMITTED TO SCREEN! OMG THE FEELS. (Someone give me a firebending Deku au fanfic, please!)

Toga’s complaining about how not-cute her outfit is. I think the fanbase would disagree.

Dabi sure loves monologuing, doesn’t he? Maybe he isn’t Toya after all; the other Todoroki’s don’t like to talk this much. Anyway, cute sleeping babies!

OMG Bakugo’s shirt. It’s like he wanted to remind us that he’s cut too, ya’ll. Deku isn’t the only one with abs of steel. (I think Kaminari’s the one under the pillows).

Poor remedial course babies! I feel them. I’ve been having bouts of insomnia lately, like, 4 hours of sleep type, and I can’t imagine that schedule they’re on. Honestly, I know they’re trying to make ‘em stronger, but depriving them of good food and sleep is not going to help with that. I’m pretty sure most workout advisors advocate keeping your basic needs provided for for maximum performance.

Aizawa is telling Ochaco and Aoyama that they nearly failed. I think this is an important point that all the people who try and excuse the Uraraka/Aoyama v 13 fight need to remember. Even Aizawa called them out on their mess up. It was a fluke, and there’s something deeper getting in the way of their success. Everyone else either passed by changing, or failed by refusing to change. These two need to be challenged in the same way, or they’ll never change for the better.

The dream 3some is finishing each other’s thoughts! Wow, that used to just be a BKDK thing, but Shoto has effectively nudged his way in there. Also, I love the symbolism of Kacchan looking at his own reflection here. Visual metaphors!

“Is All Might - I mean, the other teachers, coming?” Haha Deku don’t even pretend like you care about any of the other teachers.

Oh I see that’s why we had to have them cook their food! So we could prove who secret best girl really is. And tease Kacchako a little. At this point I’m not sure who most wants a threesome with the Wonder Duo, Uraraka or Todoroki.

Ooh, Shoto’s gaining on her!

Honestly, this is one of my favorite Tododeku moments. I kinda like their smaller moments even more than the “big” moments with these two, where they’re having dramatic stuff. The little stuff like Shoto giving Deku such emotionally intelligent advice. It’s very strong.

Expectations vs reality

Team Animal Bromance Solidarity

Team Just F*ck Already

Team Maximum Cuteness

Team Saved Bakugo and Tokoyami’s Asses

Team Femslash Initiative

Team Poor Ojiro

Team Polar Opposites

Oh no my bbs all alone! I’ll be your teammate Deku!

Everyone on Team Ojiro is unsatisfied.

Tsuchaco begins!

OMG THEY’RE SO CUTE! (THE TODOBAKU ARC!)

NGL, Yui Kodai is really pretty and has a legit awesome quirk. Underrated Best Girl of Class 1B.

Holy Shit that Music tho! The League of Villains is In the Building! (Metaphorically, anyway)

This is the arc where I stopped thinking of the LOV as boring obstacles and started seeing them as kinda awesome.

“Kota” really picks up the momentum of Season 3, throwing us straight into a “holy crap” plotsplosion with little adieu. There’s a little more setup to go before we just jump straight into the chaotic, violent and transformative Training Camp Arc in the upcoming episodes. I pretty much binge-watched the whole first 12 episodes of Season 3 in one sitting the first time I watched it, so I don’t know what it would be like to watch these week to week. Next up: BEST BOY DEKU’S ARMS WILL NEVER BE THE SAME.

BKDK CORNER:

Nothing really in the actual episode, but I wanna acknowledge Best OP’s heartbreaking BKDK nod:

“don’t come deku” OMG episode 45 is gonna break my heart all over again in’t it?

Also the ED:

“Cause I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this place” (Todoroki’s sitting with them too for some bonus TDBKDK points.) Subtle, Bones. We know which way your bread is buttered.

BEST GIRL OF THE EP: Mandalay!

RANKER: The Test of Courage Teams

8. Ojiro and Mineta (poor Ojiro!)

7. Iida and Koda (normally Iida’d be pretty cool, but this team does basically nothing)

6. Jiro and Tooru (get knocked out pretty quickly.

5. Momo and Aoyama (they seriously saved everyone)

4. Solo Deku (who is better than most on his own and also saved Kota)

3. Tokoyami and Shoji (who are seriously metal)

2. Uraraka and Asui (another seriously awesome duo)

1. Todoroki and Bakugo (just add Deku for maximum perfection)

#my hero academia #season 3 episode 3 #kota #midoriya izuku #shoto todoroki #katsuki bakugou #himiko toga #kota izumi #katsudeku #bakudeku #this episode is heavy on the slash ships #they're all over it #femslash #ot3 slash #just slashiness all over #that kickass ending theme tho #pretty much overpowers everything don't it?

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