#ok so my brain was like LETS LEARN SOME KOREAN

[dwaekkicidal]

Oh my god I beg for some mean skz smut 😔😔

hmmmm ok but what are we thinking for the hyung line?

is it about meanie channie who snaps after you slut yourself out in the studio when staff was in there- along with the rest of 3racha who you know has a little crush on you hehe. he barely waits for them to walk out the door before shoving you towards the door, forcing you to lock it before shoving his cock into you while you're pushed up against the door- mind you with minimum prep because "You don't deserve it. after that shit." his cock is soooo much thicker like this!!!! >.< and he manages to make his thrusts prove his anger? hips smacking into yours so harshly that it feels like the soundproof door isn't enough to drown any sounds out

what about brat tamer minho who forces you to sit between his legs and watch him jerk himself off? you have a pretty little vibrator thats connect to your clit and your g-spot simultaneously, and he has the controls on his phone that rests in his free hand. he fucks with the controls so much... maybe even teasing u by drawing his full name- in english AND korean- before setting it to the highest setting and leaving it like that until you're cumming at least 3 times.

my sweet binnie who's only mean if you beg him to be or if you reaaaaally push his buttons- maybe throw in a dig or two about how theres another man out there thats better than he is (spoiler: theres literally negative of them). your punishment (reward) is always the same! one of those those sexy ass arms around your neck and squeezing as he fucks into you so roughly that your whole body is jumping forward, your moans cutting off from how aggressive he gives it to you!!!

ok but what about lover boy hyunjin who is actually one of the meanest doms you have ever seen, 99% of the time it being unprompted as well??? the first time you push him to get rough in bed, you're in for ittt~ he ties your wrists up and connects you to the hook in the ceiling, leaving just enough rope for you to be on your tippy toes (also the same hook he previously told you was for painting... yeah, my fucking ass) and speaking of asses, yours is sooo sore from the big handed smacks he leaves there >< he'll always stop if you want it, but otherwise he has no plans to until you submit to him completely <3

whats on the menu for the maknaes today?

definitely munch hannie who ties you up with the most random shit that works- any ties he has laying around, your panties, and sometimes he'll straight up rip his shoelaces out for it?? but it's all so that he can show off the shibari he secretly learned- the main one being a series of knots that tie your arms to a leg each, forcing you wide open for him all the while he eats. and what a messy fucking eater!!! your last 3 orgasms worth of cum dripping down his jaw as he nibbles at your sensitive spots <3

"angel boy" felix me thinks.. who makes you fuck yourself onto him in doggy, refusing to put any effort because he's the "angel" who deserves to be worshipped (yes but...) if you falter even slightly or move to his disliking, you're getting a series of mean smacks- ones that leave a pretty little heart shape in its wake from the pretty pink paddle he insisted on buying (OR HIS INITIALS IF HE GETS A CUSTOM PADDLE OMFFF)

ohhhh but owner seungmin who fucks your brains out with a pretty little collar around your neck <3 (maybe even one also with his initials engraved hehe) he tugs at it to fuck you back onto him, not even need a leash when he slides his finger through one of the loops. huffs and puffs about how tight you are while he actively works to make you tighter, from squeezing your legs together to overstimulating the hell out of you all the while he disallows himself to cum for as long as he can handle, all so when he finally busts theres so much and its all getting fucked right back into you

and god... toy fiend jeongin... the second you let him know you're ok with toys being brought into the bedroom, you're almost regretting everything!!! he's SO fucked up about it >:( he keeps one of those big hands around your throat while the other slides a vibrator as deep into you as it physically can go without causing you pain... and when you squirm around and your legs squeeze together, he's either digging his fingers into your thigh to push them apart or he's biting whatever he's closest to- your thighs, your calf, your shoulder, or (his favorite) your nipples <3

hnnnnng....

Taglist (red=can’t be tagged):

@valkyriexo @lunearta @jabmastersupriseee @rylea08

@yaorzu-blog @amararosesblog @jiminssluttyminx @clemissleepy

@miss-daisy04 @kittyxnoa @dwaekkiiracha @bubblerizz

@mariteez @fun-fanfics @honeyybbuubblleess @kittycatkrissa

@nicora04 @chuuyaobsessed @moonlightndaydreams

@aeri-skzver

[thoughtsforsoob]

you’re frustrated because you’re struggling to learn Korean - txt

a/n: hello! I thought this post would be a little relatable bc I’m struggling rn with Japanese (but not bc of a man 😋). So much kanji to remember and so many words that they just all mush together. I love the language but it is testing my patience and my memory rn :( please enjoy this and lemme know if y’all speak other languages :) it’s cool to know im not the only one struggling with a trilingual brain🥰 requests are open as usual (no pics belong to me! Found on Pinterest)

yeonjun

It was actually his idea to teach you Korean, starting with basic stuff such as phrases at the convenience store and at coffee shops. He knew it would help when you had to go out places on your own. You’re on the phone with him after he’s hyped you up and refreshed some phrases for ordering coffee. You finally are up to order and while your pronunciation has been good, you mispronounce a word and your face goes red. You apologize to the cashier who was very understanding and helped you say the word correctly. You paid and thanked them for their kindness. Yeonjun heart could burst at how the cashier was patient with you and how you tried your best and finally said the word right. “Oh my goodness! You did amazing! Next time you’re ordering coffee for the both of us.”

soobin

As the days went by, he could see your passion for learning his language was dwindling. You were struggling with your conjugation skills and he was just trying his best to help you learn and eventually practice. You both are sitting at the kitchen table, with your textbook in front of you (giving flashbacks to elementary math homework). He’s giving you example of conjugations your currently learning and how to used them. It’s starts to all mush up and you can’t figure it out or focus. You start to cry into your hands. He pulls you close to him, “don’t be sad. I promise that you’re gonna learn really soon. I believe in you.” That’s all it took for you to keep trying. He also promised he’d take you for a melona pop if you tried a few more conjugations (I love melona I’m so sorry 🤤…melon and banana are the best flavors not sorry)

beomgyu

homie is so serious and you get mad at him because of that. he’s teaching you silly phrases and on one occasion, he purposely teaches you the wrong phrase. So, you’re out at lunch with his members and you try the phrase on yeonjun and he looks so confused. “Did you just call me dumb?” Your face is furiously red and you run off, crying. Your frustration sets in. Why would be do this to me? He comes after you after giving you some time to cool down. “Baby? I’m so sorry. I didn’t think that would make you so upset. I promise I won’t do it anymore. We’re gonna get serious I swear.” He lures you out by telling you he’s gonna start teaching you from a really good Tex ok that was recommended to him. He also explains to yeonjun what happened and yeonjun gives him an earful as well, taking you side.

taehyun

he actually is a really good person to help teach you. He has the patience of a saint when teaching you grammar. If you’ve attempted Korean, you know how challenging grammar can be to understand. Let’s say you’re out at a restaurant and try to order your own food..you make a mistake and the waiter is looking at you like huh? You start to feel embarrassed but taehyun explains you’re still learning and has you try it again. When you get it right this time, he smiled and the waited smiled as well. The pride he feels when he can see your improvement is like no other. “You did such a good job, honey. Tell you what, how about we get some ice cream after? You deserve a little treat.”

huening kai

I feel like he’d be very empathetic and understanding towards your struggle. He speaks many languages too and understands how frustrating when something isn’t sticking or when you forget words or grammar. For example, you’re at home and you’re both working on vocabulary. you messed up a few words in a row and start to feel discouraged. His best tool to keep you motivated to learn was tell you he was proud of you. He would always encourage you the best he could, “you’re for this bub! I’m so proud of you! I’m gonna keep helping you until you’ve got this :)”

[orangesaek]

Ok so I've been learning Korean recently and thought it was so cute how 포포(popo) means kiss and 포도(podo) means grapes.

So Ive been thinking of a cute scenario with Mark where his s/o is learning korean and mixes the two up when asking for grapes and it makes mark super flustered.

omg my boy mark lee 🥹 i could easily imagine his flustered face lmao should i name this "the grape mistake"? 👀 sorry anyway, thanks so much for requesting this! let me know what you think ♡ hope you liked this! a/n: not proofread. lowercase intended.

mark was working in the studio late at night when you texted him that you'll be visiting him at the company to bring him some snacks and just hang out until he finishes work since you didn't have anything to do the next day anyway.

he mentioned about craving some street food the other day, and so you went to the night market. of course, knowing how much your boyfriend loves watermelon, you started looking for the nearest fruit stand. much to your dismay, the only fruit stand that was open that time ran out of everything else except grapes.

it hasn't been that long since you have moved to korea, but you were already quite quick to learn the language (also thanks to mark's help). however, you never really bothered to learn some of the most basic words for some reason. like fruits, for example.

you were just standing in front of the fruit stand quietly for about a minute, trying to remember a word you never even learned before. you were just about to say grapes in english when the stall owner decided to speak first.

"do you want to buy some grapes? they're fresh," she said. you knew she was talking about the grapes (because obviously there was nothing else in her stall but grapes), but it was the first time you've ever heard of the korean word for it.

"i'm so sorry, but what do you call this fruit in korean?" you asked, hoping she wouldn't find your question too silly. the stall owner gave you a bit of a puzzled look before realizing that you were a foreigner.

"it's called podo," she kindly repeated. after thanking the kind lady and memorizing the word in your brain, you went on your way to mark's studio.

on normal occasions, nobody else but strictly the company staff and artists were allowed to enter the building. however, thanks to mark's popularity within the company and the company actually owing him a lot of gratitude, you were given a bit of a special treatment as his girlfriend.

you were about to knock on the door of his studio but decided otherwise, thinking he might be in the middle of recording something and end up disrupting his work. instead, you sent him a text message that you were already outside of his studio, and thankfully, he was able to immediately open the door for you.

"my babyyy," he greeted in english, clearly delighted to see you again. more often than not, the two of you spoke in english whenever you're alone together. when his members are around, however, you'd mix korean here and there.

he ushered you inside before taking the food you bought for him and placing it on an empty table. he then opened his arms wide and patted his chest for you to come to him for a hug.

"you know you didn't have to bother, but thank you so much for all of this, babe" mark said as he tightened his embrace. "really appreciate it, thank you."

right after eating, mark went back to work while you quietly scrolled through your phone. the two of you were in comfortable silence though, and that was one of the many things that mark appreciated about you. you weren't the type to constantly seek for his attention, and you knew how to entertain yourself when he's busy.

"babe, there are still some grapes left, right? can you please get them for me?" he asked. you got on your feet and passed him the remaining grapes.

"thank you," he said before putting his headphones back on. he placed the grapes on the right side, which was on the other side from where you were seated.

while you were scrolling through your phone, you could see mark pop a grape or two in his mouth every now and then while he was on his computer. you never got the chance to taste one while you were eating earlier (because you were too full), and looking at mark just eating it so deliciously made you want to have some, too.

mark was about to put another grape in his mouth when you lightly poked his left arm. he then looked at you, the grape still between his right thumb and index finger.

"podo juseyo~" you asked in an aegyo voice, both hands open in a gesture to receive. mark blinked at you twice, suddenly feeling flustered while you were there just cutely blinking your eyes at him, waiting for him to give you the grape he was holding.

"w-what?" he nervously asked, his ears turning red at seeing you ask for a 'kiss' after briefly having a coughing fit (poor boy just choked on his own spit). it was definitely not the first time the two of you have shared a kiss, but it was the first time for him to see you ask for it so cutely.

"podo," you repeated. "isn't grape called podo in korean?"

mark's mouth fell in an 'o' after realizing what you have just said. he took off his headphones and asked you again if you were asking for podo, and not a kiss.

you broke into laughter, with mark sheepishly laughing along with you for his mistake. after laughing for a good minute or two, you then took mark's right hand (which was still holding the grape).

"babe, we can get the best of both worlds," you said, still chuckling and smiling in between. mark looked puzzled, wondering what you meant.

"we get to split the grape in two and kiss each other at the same time. like this," you raised mark's hand to your mouth, placing the grape between your teeth and motioning for him to lean forward.

mark chuckled at your idea but leaned in for a kiss and a bite of the grape anyway. needless to say, it was literally the sweetest and juiciest kiss he ever had.

- end.

requests are OPEN! feel free to send me an ask ♡

[galedekkarios]

mx galedekkarios dot tumblr dot com may i please have some gale and/or bloodweave hcs from your big beautiful mind 👉👈 (or honestly just any longform post of bg thoughts at all bc ur tags keep inflicting me w gory stickmen disease and wanting to read more ;;)

oh anon whadda hell.. u flatter me. 🫶 i unplugged my brain real quick and gave it a shake and this is all what fell out (some are mature):

in a modern au, gale's second favorite cuisine (after greek ofc) is east asian! he loves to both eat it and cook it from scratch. chinese, korean, japanese, etc. he's even good at other asian cuisines like thai and vietnamese. he's gotten very familiar with a lot of recipes and actively tries to learn more. when he doesn't feel like cooking that night, he opts for takeout. he's been a loyal customer of a handful of restaurants for so long that they already know his tastes too.

the only reason why gale's students don't try to flirt with him is because he's too much of a "my wife" guy. he's always wearing his ring, always talking about his partner, and has portraits of them in his office and everything. there's just no way you don't know that he's happily taken. you could be talking about the most random thing ever and he'd be like "omg! this reminds me of how my partner blahblahblah—" and everyone else is just like 😐 because he's already told this story five times before. not even tara is safe from this (and she was probably present for whatever story it is this time, too!). [this is assuming his students are older / uni prof]

i think gale would be the type of person to have a very Intense gaze without meaning to. the kind where you can feel it whenever he's looking at you. or when he's gazing at you lovingly, or even just looking you in the eye as you speak, it's almost too much. it's just so earnest, so sincere, so... intent on witnessing you and really paying attention, that it's like. whoa man. whoaaaaaaa now let's fucking chill before i blink and realize i've fallen in love with you alright 😳 (and, of course, this Greatly unsettles astarion in the beginning bc he's someone that can't afford to be seen.)

i know in my heart that mr "mine was a popular hand at the annual blackstaff's ball" + bagged a goddess + with the way i talk you can't be surprised i'm a generous munch + wyll, is it true that ppl think wizards don't fuck? :( bc i assure you we absolutely do!!!!! + mystra had pleasure domes dekarios was a hot girl once and his pussy still does pop severely. he's just in his depression era rn 💔

wyll calls gale elegant, minthara calls him dashing, shadowheart says he smells like a wealthy dowager, lae'zel assumes correctly that he had many tutors in his youth, and gale frequenting the temple of beauty in waterdeep all make me feel like gale x astarion are very the lady and the tramp coded. after they get married, they're old money x new money.

gale is always eager to teach astarion new spells, but astarion only gets excited about the ones that either help him be a better scoundrel and/or that spice up their sex life. which like. is still a win for them both either way

um. throat goat. that's it that's the headcanon sorry except it's also not really a hc bc he alludes to this but it's important to me tht we repeat it. but also maybe it shocks astarion the first time he's on the receiving end of it like boy WHAT!!!! you didn't tell me you was a freak like that!!! literally that damn shawty ok meme. gale gives him such wet sloppy glizzy gluck that it makes astarion feel like he has to wipe his ass afterward smh

neither of them want to get anywhere near bugs, but in any au gale would be the type to take it outside and astarion would just kill it using one of gale's 39304308309 books laying around

gale struggles to catch sarcasm and astarion loves to rile him up and take the piss out of him for it. lovingly ofc. whenever gale does understand astarion's sarcastic comments, he feels very proud of himself.

astarion sometimes drops things on purpose just to watch gale bend over. sorry (i'm the one that's sorry, not him btw)

[sun-to-sorrow]

So like, reading Maximum Ride again after like 4-6 years and like, there are so many things I’m questioning. For starter Manga reader only because I have this issue of not being able to read other forms of something I’ve already read. Brain kinda shuts down. So like

1) The whole Max, Martina (Martinez?), and Ella thing is just so strange. For starters Max is just awful. Prioritizing a random girl being cornered and has an easy escape route (Max took it after all) over your 6 year old sister who is in the hands of actual mad scientist who you know has actively done shitty unethical things is just, why?! Angel could’ve been saved just a bit earlier if you listened to Fang! But also the whole Martinez has something to do with the school but then it’s completely forgotten.

2) Max leaving the Blind guy and the 8 Year Old alone because “Angel (who is to young to know how to escape the school) might escape and come back here”. Gazzy has little combat experience because he is either told to run/hide or uses bombs and Iggy is BLIND!

3) Iggy really goes between I have the best hearing in the flock to I have normal human hearing. Like sometimes he can hear Erasers (like only twice?) or the homeless people in the subway and most of the time either he’s surprised by them (angel’s kidnapping or the ambush when Max and Fang leave) or Angel finds then before him (the two children). Like, JP make it’s consistent! Let Iggy be the Flock’s alarm so when they don’t have him in the group they suffer more casualties! Especially during when Erasers become robots so Angel becomes useless (like de buff the girl honesty)

4) speaking of Iggy. He has been shown enough times that he’s really REALLY smart. Building bombs, being able to remember recipes to cook, learning and mapping places out (E house and Anne’s place), yet JP literally doesn’t expand or utilize it to its fullest. Iggy could probably be the Flocks brain but no~, he’s to blind to be the flocks brain, let’s have Fang (the right hand man, second command of the flock, has invisibility powers and (I just learned) immortality) and Angel (child with telepathy, mind control, shapeshifting, and probably other things) be the brains and Max (leader and golden child) have moments here and there. The most I’ve seen of Iggy utilizing his brains was lock picking or making bombs/planning out traps. I could be missing some but JP makes it so hard to know.

5) the severe infantilism of Iggy

6) Gazzy still has no new power unlike everyone else (but Iggy’s are pretty shitty because they all are powers to “help him see without him actually seeing”). Like let him have telepathy or maybe a way that only him and Angel can communicate each other.

7) Nudge. Like she isn’t as bad as Iggy and definitely not the worst like Gazzy, but god she’s still really poorly written. She has this whole thing of not wanting to be a freak and wanting to find her family and wanting to be normal and not having to run all the time but every single one of these just stops on a dead note! It like stops existing after like 2-3 chapters and never brought up. Like she’s the most interesting girl in the flock but just so butchered.

8) their looks. Ok I’m not gonna harp so badly on the Manga artist because she is Korean and Korean beauty standards and all that is just bad in general but that’s just cultural differences. But one thing I never understand was that makeup transformation. Angel who has short hair suddenly has hair that goes below her neck. Nudge’s bleached streak somehow stays even though her natural hair should’ve shown by the 9 manga vol. Fang who always was shown with straight hair now has really curly hair. That’s not how hair works and let’s not talk about Iggy and those weird dark tips.

9) Fax and Ella/Iggy (which I learned was canon. I was wondering where all those Ella/Iggy stories came from) I don’t hate straight ships. I just hate these straight ships.

10) oh poorly written trauma handled even worse my beloved. Your telling me Iggy, the one who was awake the entire operation on his eyes doesn’t have trauma. Your telling me Fang, who almost died to an Eraser doesn’t have trauma. Your telling me Max, the one who continuously has a voice in her head, a chip in her shoulder, seeing an Eraser in the mirror doesn’t have trauma?! Angel?!

But like I could continue because there is so much but, there where definitely things I liked. I like how Iggy was drawn. Out of all the characters he looked always bony and skinny and long. Like even next to Fang who is supposed to be the same height he looks so twiggy and tall. Gazzy was so interesting because he was that grey “I suffered through the school but I was also way to young to remember” and I wish it was expanded more. I liked the Ari arc if you ignore every other Ari part in the story. Total was nice if we found nice as before he talked.

Like not to be the paranoid one but if I was in the flocked I would be questioning everything. A Gazzy photo from an abandoned apartment? They could’ve stuck it there after knowing their research was stolen just to trap the flock. Anna watching a new about Iggy’s parents? She purposely put it on so Iggy will be removed. Erasers still finding the flock? Did anyone thing that the others might have chips in them, especially when Fang, Gazzy, and Iggy where attacked. Also how does Fang still have his laptop when he was captured by the institute?

[manchineel-mistress]

in honor of our favorite 33 to 100000+ year old unemployed terrorist’s birthday (korean time), i present to you: puzzleshipping time loop au where yami yuugi gets worse instead of better from s0.

ok so we all know that the Gang(TM) got through some shit throughout the story, where they are pretty close to dying. a lot.

how consider, instead of making it through barely, they dont. (gets shot multiple times-)

ok but more specifically yuugi dies from the strain of shadow games and stress or a mishap in those games. and yami PANICS HE PANICS SO HARD PRAYING TO EVERY GOD THAT YUUGI DIDNT DIE AND THEN THE MAGIC OF THE PUZZLE ACTIVATES AND YAMI IS BACK IN TIME AND SAVES YUUGI and everyone gets out safe and sounds and sane :)

Except It Keeps Happening. Yuugi Keeps Dying. Yami Keeps Turning Back Time.

he can get it right if he just had another chance. he wont let yuugi die again. that wont happen and they would make it to the end of their journey this time-

Yuugi Dies To A Bully. (one more chance. please. i can make this right-)

Yuugi Dies To Silfer. (no please i not like this hes my partner i cant go on without him-)

Yuugi Dies To Marik. (NO NO THIS CANNOT STAND I WONT LET IT REMAIN THIS WAY-)

yami gets more desperate, protective, and unhinged as the cast makes it through their journey. he gets jumpy, withdrawn, and snaps at anything that might seem like a threat. his already tense relationship with kaiba because more testy as he loses trust in those around him other than yuugi’s close friends. hes also more violent and harsh, not really giving up penalty games like he does in the transition to duel monsters.

yuugi is scared of yami. he never quite got over it even with his friends’ acceptance of yami. but he also knows yami is scared and he cant pinpoint why exactly other than its related to protecting him. but hes also scared to ask because what if yami snaps at him. he doesnt want yami to hurt anymore but also doesnt want him to hurt anyone else.

eventually, the continuous use of extremely taxing magic starts eroding away at both of their souls. cracks form in yami’s soul room first. stair start crumbling and doors are barely holding on. yami slowly starts losing himself and he knows it, but he also cant let yuugi die. the cracks reach yuugi’s soul room after a while. a few of the toys start showing wear, board games losing pieces, cracks in the walls. thats when yami comes clean.

its a terrifying and heartwrenching experience for both the yuugis and the rest of their friends. Yuugi has been dying. These games are dangerous and they haven’t been making it through them like they thought. the only reason why yami kept going and pursuing his memories? because yuugi keeps encouraging him to find himself and he thinks he can protect yuugi better next time. and because he thinks that once hes gone, yuugi will be safe again.

they figure it out though. they make sure yuugi stays safe. why do they keep going? because yami deserves to know who he is, and yuugi is willing to risk his life to get there. as he already had, but this time it will actually be different.

and yami learns an important lesson on friendship, learning when to ask for help, and communication. and then we have the rest of  normal canon just with yami’s major ptsd and a slower to warm yami who is still willing to burn someone to the ground in like season 4.

how does this relate to orv? idk man i just think time loop and go “omg yjh vibes fr fr” i think it would be an interesting parallel between yami and yjh, they just match in my brain for some reason. doesnt quite follow yjh’s character arc tho LOL

anyway i like angsty time loop aus as much as i like silly time loop aus. they just have so much potential. here i just wanted yami to suffer :)

anyway back to silly au ideas

[jack-bytez-genuine-corner]

Dear Tumblr diary,

I had to make a Instagram and Threads in an attempt to follow con artists I've met and bought things from, but in doing so I have to interact with a social media that sucks and only wants to show me women "Working out" in the skimpiest attire imaginable with their gazoingas hanging out and not at all supported, which isn't just bad form that can get you injured but I'm gay and therefore am terrified of big boobs. Jokes aside it sucks as I already pine for the days when I first joined Tumblr and learned it had basically negative levels of coding for a recommendation feed but instead just drip feeds me content from people I already follow. Also you have to request to follow some people on Instagram? I'm not trying to be their friend I'm just trying to read any important updates they put out so I can toss what little money I can spare at them to keep them afloat. (As a side note I do have a fear of big breasts a little. I have no clue if that's a weird fear but I got it and I'll never understand it. I've started to learn to like big chested guys though so that's good but it's dumb.)

On another note I did a full body nude sketch of an anthro lamb that turned out VERY well. I don't really see many anthro lambs as so many artists draw them very cute and innocent and closer to the source but I just drew a dude and stapled a lamb head on him and I think it turned out very well for furry art and for my first full body sketch in over 6 years. I had to relearn all my 2D art stuff cause I got hit by some crap around my time in art college that made me hang up the pen until this last month ish.

I'm very happy that my friends, family and husband are all giving me much more of the support I'd like from art which is more than just "Ok" or "Cool" which definitely gives me that rush to keep going, but the core difference is that I'm far more accepting of my "Bad art" than I was even I was 18. Art to me is just about the process and making now and that brings joy, rather than grandiose ideals or dreams. I guess my pessism from having long COVID and brain fog has made me bury my dreams which let's me enjoy the present far more.

The Cult of the Lamb comic is insanely good so far and I feel like it's doing a great job of fleshing out every aspect of the characters but most notably I do like how terrifying and authority driven the lamb can be while also being extremely kind, really playing with both aspects of the potential read on the game's "Morality." I still have a couple con comic books to read ala Quested but I'm also going to read Kid Venom just cause I think more of these very western properties should hand them out to people in other countries to do their own spin. I talk about it with my dad a lot but getting an Idian film studio or Korean film studio to make a Star Wars movie or show would be really neat given just how much raw talent they have and how they might approach these concepts from a different cultural lens, especially since foreign stuff is taking off in the West due to how much desire people have to see and experience something new that isn't just made by us in America. Like get the people who made Monkey Man to make an hour and a half lone Jedi revenge story or something could be awesome.

Other than all that I'm about 3.75ish years into Long COVID brain fog with zero relief coming so that sucks as it made me quit college right before I had my associates while stopping me from working at all. Given how shtty the job market is with scams and fake job listings I can't really tell if that's a blessing or a curse. Hopefully I won't be like this forever, but I guess it's fine if I am too.

I'm wishing you all the best,

Jack

[tyrantzeye]

oc infodump hour!!! bc its a thing now!!!! itsukis revised backstory + itsuki playlist promo cuz why not ⬇️

ok so like shes a frozen egg baby n was born as like half indigenous hawaiian (moms side) half south korean (dads side) in hawaii yk n her mom is in a pretty good place rn but eventually her mom begins to erode her brain due to drugs and whatnot so itsuki has to move to a foster home in the mainland and also on the cusp of a bad neighborhood like that transitional spot as like a 3 yr old

anyways shes scared n shaky n notices that other kids talk ab having dads n shes like 'huh' so she goes and begs to the caretakers or smth 2 get a dna test n she finds out her dad was this south korean who was in a rlly bad spot but wanted 2 help something n so he moves to america specifically oregon n donates his sperm 2 like a bank n stuff yk??

at this time (itsukis like 10, bouncing between foster homes) she runs away to go find him n js gathers up all her loose savings and runs, makes money off of panhandling, shoplifts, n teaches herself basic middle school math and reading and whatnot through books at fhe library, and learns to play the HELL out of a harmonica so she can maybe earn money. eventually she gets in a fight n has to defend herself, right, n it leads to her pursuing a life of streetfighting after learning that it could make her pretty good money if fears plays ixs cards right so she can keep looking 4 ixs dad

her specialties with fighting are speed and agility, but if she needs to ix can.throw a good punch. shes pretty strong, despite fears size (given size has nothing to do with actual strength, u can still be skinny and not muscley n still strong), but prefers to hold back on actual physical violence unless necessary yk??

itsuki also grows her affinity to fire, spiders, strawberries, and destruction - she also dyes fears hair black instead of brown (which is now fading)..at this time she also kind of gains that standoffish but soft inside personality of hers

ok so now itsukis like, 14, right, n ix is rlly close to her dads supposed location n shes in like northern california n is looking all around n she just hops on a bus and goes directly to oregon n after a year she finds fears dad n hes rlly shocked to see this teenager covered in scars and bandages and is like "who r u" n shes like "im ur kid from that time u donated to the sperm bank" n fear tells him her whole story n her dad lets ix stay there n has her go bavk to school n shes like RLLY STUPID cuz she stopped school at 5th grade right but still tried to read barely so shes the oldest kid in 7th grade but after a while ix gets the hang of shit and skips to where shes supposed to be and saves up money and buys two pet spiders (midari and aya) and transitions xuz she yk finally has the resources yk(mtf) and some other room decor stuff but bc of this her dad kicks her out cuz midaris a HUGE spider n itsuki js lets midari roam about but still takes care of her yk???? so he kicks her out n is like "i can fo this bc i kinda signed away my patrnal rights" n gives her a bus ticket back to california n now shes travelling the world n living in diffferent alleyways n making money off of streetfighting + the harmonica

btw imo the best song to explain itsuki is the waitress by atmosphere... or american heathcare by penelope scott...self promo 4 the sook plylst https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7EKjIIQc47772MNnMDMTYt?si=GuytLe0bRxKI13zHW9WCJw

[bakudanma]

Thank you for the tag Koi <2 (in no particular order)

1. One Direction: I love this band so much, I know their entire discography by heart and I love love learning and explaining what my mum calls "useless facts" about the group and the fandom!!

2. Toilet Bound Hanako-Kun: omg I love TBHK and can talk about it all the time. It's also the longest fixation I've had and it has come back from being dormant to consume my brain. Even though I avoid the fandom (apart from my beloved mutual koko and my irl friend) like the plague it's just such a beloved media,, and the art!!! I love Aida's art so much and the way she draws hands just *incomprehensible noises* also I recently did a presentation night with some of my friends and did a last minute presentation on TBHK that would have gone on for 2+ hours if they didn't stop me lol

3. Webtoons + Manhwas: as an old webtoon user (been reading webtoon since 2017/2018) I have a love hate relationship with the platform as it's brought a lot of fun and enjoyment (and poor grades rip) for me over the years. I also grouped manhwas into this category since the majority of the webtoons I read are technically manhwas since they were made in Korea. Anyways I can rant a lot about the webtoons/manhwas writing, the fanbase being overall not the best and being extremely ship focused, some of the controversies and how shit the platform is all day

4. How I Met Your Mother: ok so I watched the show nonstop during the pandemic and was obsessed with it (Let's Go to the Mall and Nothin' Suits Me Like A Suit were my top songs in 2020) despite it being extremely outdated and problematic (lots of transphobia and misogyny) I still enjoy the main themes of the show. Also I can talk about how the show really is about Ted and the gang growing to become the decent people they are in the future and the journey it took to get them there and the whole amatonormative storyline that Ted has with love being the answer to all his problems and the soulmates/finding the "one" premise of the show

5. Boys Planet: ...yea I watched that, after seeing Ricky's introduction video it was all over for me. I had to download twitter to keep up with the show, started asking random classmates to vote for Ricky and Zhang Hao and watched the episodes live during class so yea that show had a chokehold on me and I will be exploiting that (I still have some Ricky propaganda in my gallery and some embarrassing texts from friends about it TT) but I specifically focus on the "dark side" of the show aka the exploitation and the fact that many global trainees were given the short end of the stick (not being prepared, given last minute songs, got sick with COVID demoting them to zero/one stars, being harshly graded on their Korean, etc) or how many of the contestants were sexualized, how trainees were evil edited or just edited to not get any screentime and a lot more

I could also probably talk about Dark Moon: The Blood Altar, taskmaster and Alien Stage but yea

Tagging: @thatonesongyouretryingtoremember, @buck-yyyy, @kokocae, @byler-is-endgame7 and anyone else who wants to join!!

tagged by mina to post about 5 things i can rant about for like an hour without prep :) ty mina <3 @jewishdainix

umm 1. succession that show has eaten me up i type this sitting snugly in its belly. and im not even the only one here im one among hundreds. anyway show of all time about capitalism and the horror of the family i could probably talk about shiv alone for an hour. normalgirl

2. jane austennn i have such a love hate relationship with these books they're the first books i truly fell in love with and i hate what theyve done for societys idealization of the victorian period. she wasn't as subversive as ppl paint her out to be; then again, it wasn't her goal to be so. she occupied a sally rooney esque spot where the goal was to portray social horrors and pleasures with wit; of course romance was a big part of that. anyway northanger abbey best novel ever. not really

3. the magnus archives um actually this post is getting too long. bye

4. realm of the elderlings specifically kennit ludluck. i could talk about this character forever well of course i know him he's me. stories that help you come to terms with the horrific things you've done, that portray victimhood and abuse and colonization so so well, that knows how to humanize (or rather personify bc i think human is a biological category rather than like a measurement of goodness but ykwim) the structures that prop up enable and even reward certain horrors..........."he knew the difference between a grown woman and a small boy well enough" you will always be famous. what a villain!

5. olivia rodrigo. yeah i have nothing to say about this i just spend inordinate amounts of time listening to her music and i have THOUGHTS on the music videos the art the tour etc etc. miss rodrigo i would be such a competent good personal assistant plz hire me

umm tagging anyone who wants to just say i tagged you<3 and also @mircallaruthven @captainahabgf @bejeweledmp3 @tiredguyswag @theatredelabsurde @lyinginthesnow <3

[rigelmejo]

So what my June-July study plan ENDED UP being:

Clozemaster experiments - mainly going by common words or fast track (listening game mode), or radio mode (so just listening in background generally - which I could do more if I tried). I’ve been doing mostly Japanese and a bit of Chinese, most days.

Reading guardian (partly L-R method, partly just re listening to chapters, partly redoing old chapters, partly just reading the actual physical book in my hand just... in general engaging with the audiobook and textbook lol)

Reading tiny bits of textbooks/study books (very tiny bits, just random stuff basically, watched a little of that YouTube Learn Korean in Korean cause it’s cool tbh.. I rediscovered my Barron’s At A Glance Korean book, which btw the At A Glance books are all great they have grammar guides and pronunciation guides and a bunch of useful words they’re compact but very nice I used to have a French one).

Language Exchange 1-2 hours a week. Not much but it’s regular and requires me to speak and write 30 min to 1 hour a week so it’s more than I had to have an active vocab before this lol...

Basically I’m busy with things. Anyway I will mention at the end of July if Clozemaster’s been useful! I am fairly sure I’m just planning to keep doing this stuff through July. I have other books I wanna read and clozemaster easy to just do randomly, and guardian I still want to keep reading.

My thoughts after just a few days are: I like Radio mode mainly because I will actually do it (whereas flashcards I will forget and am not always in the mood if I remember). I like that I see text during Radio mode if I want to look (again like flashcards but I don’t have to remember). I like that clozemaster specifically limits reviews per day so you always see a mix of new and old sentences (which is good since I get demotivated by reviews-only). I actually am noticing some clearer understanding of some parts of Japanese, mainly because I’m seeing SO MANY sentence examples for each grammar point and word (in the common word track), whereas in Nukemarine’s LLJ memrise courses I didn’t usually see “weird to me” but super common grammar early on and regularly at random.

So I feel like these clozemaster sentences are much more similar to stuff I ACTUALLY see in manga etc grammar wise and word usage wise - as in a mix of politeness levels, some shortening of common words, a mix of whether it’s in hiragana or kanji, different conjugations and verbs stacked together and common phrases. Which if you’re a total beginner might feel drowning tbh. But I’m at a point where Kanji generally look familiar so it’s just sound being drilled in for me, and I know a lot of the basic N5-n4 grammar and bits and pieces beyond from other stuff, so I can recognize if I’m looking at adjectives or verbs doing something and if it has to do with politeness or grammar.

One thing I like a LOT about clozemaster and I’m not even sure if it’s intentional but it splits off things like なさい as “do”, like ください which is like please do X, so you can see like しださい　- please do something, it splits of たい as “want” to, so したい　want to do, 見たい want to see. And like if you’ve read genki you’re used to those endings as conjugations of verbs, but seeing them like this sort of like their own verb attached to another verb stem makes it easier for me to recognize the verb stems, and the conjugations and their specific purpose. I’m not explaining quite how it does it since I’m not looking at the app this second, but just this way of breaking down the words is something I haven’t really seen in textbooks, and usually word lookup apps only look up the word stem so you can’t click たい to figure out that part and if it’s part of a new word or part of a conjugation (and if so then what it means). Clozemaster also links all definitions to jisho.org so I can go read more thorough explanations.

I think the clozemaster sentences would compliment reading a grammar guide like my Japanese in 30 Hours, or Tae Kim (which helped me with grammar a lot), or Cure Dolly. Because these sentences are good examples of realistic in life stuff you might run into but not simplified to only have one “new” grammar thing per sentence. So grammar specific sentences made as examples would be nice as a comparison to get a better handle on the rules/concrete patterns (ohhh or my Japanese Sentence Patterns book). However I am pleasantly surprised to find few actual totally-weird sentences so far in Japanese or Chinese (just some not literal translations so far), so I do actually think yeah Clozemaster would probably be a relatively similar substitute to learning a language primarily by sentence mining (like people who collect 2k-20k sentences from media with around 1 unknown things per sentence and learn by studying those sentences with srs flashcards). I see the benefit in the sense that... again, these sentences have more frequent examples of grammar I actually run into in shows and manga, versus my learner-material-made sentences in Nukemarine’s Memrise courses and Genki that do NOT cover this stuff this early (or Tae Kim’s which only barely touches on a few of these in the first section).

However, of course being more like what I see in manga and shows means it’s also less transparent to understand (and explained less well), so it really does feel a lot like studying ones own self-made sentence cards just less geared toward you personally. So a person who enjoys sentence mining would benefit more just continuing to sentence mine probably, but for a person who only wants premade convenient stuff (hello), this feels like a good balance between Nukemarine’s much more learner-geared material and native-material sentence mined stuff.

I also happened to find audio files for glossika back when it was a book and! I have some opinions. Mainly that it is literally premade “audio flashcard files” which I love studying from. So I will be experimenting with using those at some point - I will say the old glossika books opened with summaries of super important grammar words, key words, and grammar, which is nice and reminds me of when I look up about 300 keywords and a grammar guide when I start a new language. I also like that glossikas audio files seem to basically be like JapaneseAudioLessons.com or my Chinese SpoonFed Audio files. Which I learn very well from, particularly listening skills and some shadowing practice. And the glossika files have real voices so that’s nice (compared to clozemaster which has phone voices).

I’d still like to read... a lot of the books I got... see I just am trying to get through some lol ToT

[dari-ede]

In the Middle of the Night: Chapter 1

Chapter 1: “Cada noche el silencio es un mar”

Chapters: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30

MASTERLIST

Summary: As Bangtan prepares for a new chapter in their lives, they head to their private property in the forest for a songwriting workshop. As a songwriter and producer they have worked with for years, I’m asked to tag along. I was ready for the heavy workload and small amount of sleep during the workshop week. However, I wasn’t ready for the storm that came that changed my friendship with Namjoon forever.

Genre: Friends to Lovers, Fluff and Smut

Pairing: Idol!Namjoon x Female Reader

Rating: M (mention of sexual assault, explicit language, future explicit sexual scenes)

Status: COMPLETE

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

-Late Summer 2019-

Malibu, California, USA

I felt like a fat lady was pressed against my chest, keeping me from properly breathing. My palms started to feel clammy. The air surrounding me was having difficulty entering my airwaves.

It had been a while since the last time I had this kind of episode. But after the shitty year I’ve been through, it made sense my body had had enough. Even if I wasn’t fully in love with my ex, hearing his last words to me and watching him leave my house with his stuff had broken something in me.

I was broken. I was in shambles. And I was alone. ....I didn’t want to feel alone.

I reached for the phone in my pocket. I was so glued to my spot that if the phone had been in any location in my house, I wouldn’t have been able to reach it. My legs would not have had the strength to take me there.

I sent a quick and short message to the person I always could lean on my aunt Jia.

Even though my emotions were out of whack, my brain still functioned enough to remind me that my Tia Jia had a busy day today. And because of this, I made the message I wrote her sound like I wanted to have a casual conversation with her. Knowing she was busy with other stuff made me feel guilty. I hated to feel like a bother—thank you, childhood trauma.

As I waited for her response, I tried to remember the methods she would use to calm me.

I took a breath, held it for a few seconds, and let it out slowly. I repeated the process a few more times.

After what seemed like an eternity, I received a response from my Tia Jia, telling me she would call me once she got home. That would be hours from now.

Keeping the phone clutched in my hand, I took another breath and tried to settle down. I had managed to get myself to the living room and to the couch. I was able to regain some calmness, but I desperately wanted to talk to my tia.

I didn’t know how long I had been sitting down, but eventually, my phone rang. I was certain it was my tia. Without looking at the caller ID, I picked up, “Hey.” My voice sounded weak.

But the voice on the other end was much deeper than my Tia Jia’s. “Hey, I just finished listening to the track. Sounds great.”

“Who’s this?” I asked, confused. I looked down at the phone, then I noticed the Korean app logo on top of the call.

“Namjoon—RM,” the voice responded.

It clicked. I was cowriting a song for some friends of mine who were in a Korean group, BTS. RM was one of the members and one of the other cowriters. I sent him an email earlier today on the latest version of the track. He was simply calling me regarding it.

“Sorry,” I said.

“It’s ok,” he responded but didn’t say anything else. It was as if he was waiting, listening intently.

I wanted to hang up—I felt the need to lie about being busy and that I could call him later. But I didn’t have it in me to do so. Somehow, a part of me wanted to stay on the phone with RM. Over the years, we mainly had been colleagues. When I first met him, I developed a crush on him. However, I quickly learned how serious and private he was. Unlike most of his team members, who were more open and playful, RM was more reserved and kept a distance from people. I had always been quite the social butterfly and befriended people easily. I learned the hard way that RM took a while to break through. Today, after many years, I could confidently say we were friends. And I knew that’s what I needed right now: a friend. Someone to ground me.

After several long moments of silence, RM spoke. “Maya? Everything ok?” he asks, his voice full of concern.

I wanted to spill my guts, but once again, feeling like I didn’t want to be a burden, I lied. “I’m ok,” I said with a strained voice. But saying this lie out loud was bringing forth the emotions I had been avoiding lately. My breathing became uneven again. I was having difficulty getting the air through my lungs and I was certain RM heard it.

“Maya, slow breaths,” I heard RM say on the other end of the call.

I listened to his voice, feeling like it could be used as an anchor. I followed his instructions.

“Ok, touch each of your fingers as you count them slowly,” he instructed.

I pressed my thumb and pinky together. “One.” I moved my thumb and ring finger together. “Two.” I counted my remaining fingers at the same pace and felt myself feeling a little lighter.

“Good.” RM’s deep voice sounded clearer and I was positive it was due to regaining clarity. “How you feeling?”

“Better.” The emotions were still lingering, but they weren’t too uncontrollable.

“What happened?” Technically, it was a question but the tone in his voice made it sound more like a demand.

And I did. With all the buildup of the last months, having RM as an ear allowed me to lift some of the burden I felt off my shoulders. I spilled everything out. I admitted to my contract ending, my fear of an unclear future, the countless arguments I'd been having with my mother, my breakup with Jerry (I didn’t tell RM the reason we broke up), and the shittiness I felt for not being more upset over my breakup with Jerry—we had been together for years. Why was I not more upset??

RM let me let it all out for a good hour, giving out simple “yeahs” here and there, but mostly listening intently. And it felt good. I was never one to vent but knew I needed to. I was grateful RM allowed me to do this with him.

When it seemed as if I was done, he didn’t give advice but seemed to validate my feelings. “It’s only natural you’re going to feel stressed. All of that going through your head is bound to make your body react the way it did. I’m sure it was a panic attack you had?” It seemed more of a question than a statement.

“Yeah. I’ve had them a few times before. Usually, my aunt Jia is the one who calms things down a bit,” I said.

“Is she your Korean aunt? The one who taught you the language?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“How often do you get panic attacks?”

I thought about it for a moment. “Not very often. Just when things are too stressful, I think.”

“You think? You’ve never looked into it? To know what the cause is?”

“No, I don’t like medication. And I hate going to a doctor.” I didn’t want prescribed medication. There was too much of a history there.

“Well, you might not have to take medication. Perhaps a therapist can help figure out the root of the problem. They could assist in figuring out methods you could use to balance things to prevent the attacks from even happening—notice the signs before it gets too out of control.” He wasn’t the first to suggest therapy.

I wasn’t sure what it was about this time hearing I should see a therapist. Maybe it was because it was right after an episode had occurred or maybe because, in the past year, RM was the third person to suggest professional help. I knew about RM’s mental health struggles and knew he had sought assistance as well.

“Maybe I should see someone,” I said, surprising myself.

“You should,” he said gently.

~~~~~

Three weeks and two therapists later, I found myself sitting in the waiting room of my third therapist, feeling a combination of nerves and slight pessimism. The previous therapists I had met with didn’t seem to fit well—I had felt disappointed both times.

As much as I wanted to give up on finding the right person to help me, I tried to keep optimistic about getting the help I knew I needed.

Being a good support system, RM checked on me often. It felt as if we spoke every day, whether it was through messages or on the phone. He wanted to ensure I kept looking for the right person to assist me.

I was currently messaging RM as I sat in the lobby of my third therapist. He had sent me a paragraph of words of encouragement when the lady at the desk called my name. “Dr. Rob is ready for you, miss,” she stated.

I made my way over to the door, sending a quick response to RM to tell him I was about to meet my third (and hopefully last) therapist.

“hwaiting!” he responded.

I took a breath and reached to open the door.

But someone beat me to it. The door swung open and standing on the other side of the door, was a tall redhead. An easy smile was on his face as he said, “Welcome Maya."

*************

AN: Thank you to whoever is reading this. I appreciate you giving this story a shot. I have been working on it for close to a year, not wanting to start posting until I had the majority of the story finished. I want to release a chapter on a weekly basis and I know myself well enough to know I get writer's block every once in a while; I don't want it to get in the way of a regular posting. 🥰 Also, I posted this as "reader" to bring in more audience. I'm doing my best not to be too specific in Maya's look. I gave her a name because it works better for me as a writer. I find "Y/N" too much of a distraction. I always end up calling the reader "Yoon" or "Yuna" in my head to make it easier. There WILL be smut, but it will be many chapters from now.

Chapters: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30

MASTERLIST

[jmdbjk]

I wrote this three days ago.

These are just my thoughts as I continue to process this very pivotal moment in BTS’s career. 

It has only been ten days since the “hiatus/it’s not a hiatus” announcement was made. 

Jimin said, please just take their words as they are. I hear you Jiminie.

But my brain is a mess.

They were too somber during the Festa dinner. Especially toward the end. They say it was filmed about a month ago, like May 20. 

We saw them last week on the music shows. Some time has passed sinced filming Festa dinner. They looked good and dare I say happy? Joon’s been spotted out of the country the last few days. Damn you people and your inability to not post that sort of shit. But anyway...he’s back now.

Something major happened to change the direction they had hoped to take this year. Six months ago, everything was in high gear in anticipation of COVID restrictions being rolled back:

Remembering some of the things they’ve been saying since the AMA’s and Jingle Bell Rock red carpet interviews last year:

They all blinked like their eyeballs were about to fall out. They were thrilled to be spilling tea about a tour and new music...

Now I wonder if they were ready to finish off an album of all new songs, or if they had planned this anthology all along. Regardless, they could have pulled off a sold out world tour with PROOF the anthology. ARMY WANTS TO SEE THEM!!! IT’S BEEN ALMOST 3 FUCKING YEARS! 

I think they were also working on or at least considering solo stuff too and I think they had it all timed out how things would just fall into place. I think that’s what they said about the MOTS tour, then taking a break for solo work was really their plan with a definite timeline. 

COVID cancelled all that. And now the military service has left the timeline non-existent because they still have no definite answers. Or maybe they do and the timeline now extends way into the future.

The timing of all this is just.... I want to take your words as you say them Namjoon. 

But six months ago, you all seemed to be preparing for a world tour.

I think once they learned about their military status in late April or May I think that’s when Jimin said OK I better get this done if I wanna do it because he did say during the Festa dinner that he just started working on it. He said he wanted to do it properly.

So I think all of this just happened quickly since April and I think it’s just a hard thing to work through psychologically for them, especially after having everything first snatched away by COVID and now this. Please, God, please let them make their way through this and be stronger than ever as a group. They have so much to give the world.

We know we’ve heard both sides of the military service debate regarding BTS’ service and how many people (even within their own country) think they deserve to be exempted because of everything they bring to the table already to their country. BTS contributes billions of dollars to their country’s economy. 

I am not Korean or live in Korea and I will not state my opinion here about what I think should happen. I am just stating the different sides of the coin for consideration. 

The ripple effect will be profound though. From the small companies that create the actual physical albums and their packaging, the print shops that create the photocards we all cherish, to the hundreds on staff that work for them when the giant machine is in motion preparing for those world tours: the stage production crews, the video production crews, the dancers, the stylists, the wardrobe people, the marketing/promotional people, the administrative people who pay the bills...the taxes the corporation pays...will be gone if revenues of the company goes down. We already saw the immediate effect on HYBE’s bottomline the moment they said the word “hiatus.” That’s instant impact. I hope it was a wake up call to some individuals in their government.

I WROTE THIS THREE DAYS AGO. Before people started sending out “official statements” to BTS to curtail this hiatus.

After the Festa dinner, 24 year-old Jungkook jumped on V Live the next morning, washed his dishes and soothed the stock market...if that’s not impact I don’t know what is.

A prosperous country is better equipped and has more resources to handle challenges such as high unemployment, social programs and housing crises than a poor country. Even if they can’t solve the issues they can at least afford to argue about them. In a poor country, everyone is poor. A poor country just tries to keep their people alive and not be invaded. I just stated all of those concepts very simply but in reality they are very, very complex issues.

We also hear the other side where it is a “right of passage” for men in South Korea to do their military service. It is very honorable and patriotic and many many people hold those values in the highest degree. Also, many are against an exemption for them especially those who have already served. Or some are against preferential treatment of any kind. 

South Korea and North Korea are still in a state of war with each other. That’s the reality. I cannot find the source but I read that there’s been over 70,000 exemptions from duty since the 1970′s when conscription was put into law. I would go ahead and venture to say these 7 men fall into any of the categories of consideration these previous 70,000 are in that gained an exemption.

Both arguments for enlistment or for exemption are very valid to those who fall on either side. Each individual member of BTS is capable of deciding on their own what is the best for them personally or what is important to them personally. 

We all know that many people, men and women, thrive in the military. It’s their life’s calling. But we’ve also heard the horror stories of psychological impairment that can result in individuals exposed to the trauma of war especially those injured in combat.

I fully believe that governments need to maintain their militaries to the highest degree. Look at Ukraine...what I thought would be unthinkable in this day and age is reality...anything is possible.  

I fully respect everyone who serves and I am so thankful and grateful that they do. I can understand how this whole situation for them is stressful. I can understand how Namjoon and the other members are feeling about wanting BTS to have a legacy. I can see how he is mixed up. I hope he clears his mind and finds his resolve.

Now that they’ve served in diplomatic capacities, now that they’ve represented their country beyond just music, it’s understandable they don’t want to be just a K-pop group.

The lack of a definite decision over their military service from the government, what it would consist of and the timing of it really messed them up this year. And I think Namjoon’s growing state of conflict dovetailed with the inability to make a plan for the rest of the year and beyond and just threw everything out of whack. But maybe all this have been decided and we, the fans, just don’t know what it is yet.

So perhaps there’s yet another source of distress for them. Maybe the results of the South Korean election, which took place March 9 of this year, took them by surprise, not being what they expected. It was a very close election, the results were 49% to 48% with the popular vote being 16,394,815 to 16,147,738. 

During the Festa dinner Namjoon said, “am I speaking as BTS, or am I speaking my own personal preferences?” Perhaps the things Namjoon is thinking now are very controversial. Maybe they all have different views on what is happening in their country and are affected by it differently and that can cause conflict. He wants BTS to send a message to the world and right now I think that message is very, very acutely negative toward the South Korean government and I can see how much conflict that could cause. 

I wonder if they really did think they were going to get some sort of exemption or something else that fit more with their ability to carry out a world tour etc. I mean all the things they said about planning for a world tour happened before the election and maybe they were optimistic that the other party was going to win. But the other party didn’t and now things seem to be drastically different in their country.

We wonder why JK is covering up some of his previous tattoo work. Jungkook was on a mission to “save” his arm. Maybe he’s felt those images did not represent him any longer. I wonder what caused him to reconsider some of them. He covered up some of the most Korean-centric images: the tiger and the three bars. 

This current government does not represent him, Jeon Jungkook, as the Korean individual that he is..anyway those are just my thoughts. We don’t know why he changed them, only he knows.

Perhaps they are playing a card...they said it’s hard to know what to choose, one day they’re here and the next they aren’t...so they played this card. Now let’s see what happens. Gambling with their future as BTS with the government of their own country. Balls of steel I tell you. 

I WROTE THIS THREE DAYS AGO!!!! 

We are hearing outsiders claim there might be disenchantment with HYBE America. From what I can gather, HYBE America is owned by HYBE Corporation. HYBE Labels is the music division of HYBE Corporation. BigHit Entertainment, BTS’s label, is a subsidiary of HYBE Labels and operates independently from HYBE corporation. HYBE America and HYBE Labels are two different companies. So I am not sure what influence HYBE America could be having on BTS. 

They were upset because they could not tell us all these things that have influenced this 180 degree turnaround from six months ago, of them looking forward to a world tour this year. The rules of the world weighing them down.

I am listening, Jimin, when you said “just take our words as they are.” I trust you. 

I am going to wait for whenever BTS comes back together as a group, whether that is next year or five years from now and until then I will support all 7 of them in their endeavors.

Like everyone else, I will be sitting here to see how it all unfolds with each day.

[taegyuun]

jay as boyfriend

genre: fluff

pairing: jay x reader

word count: 930+

note: i only just realised i haven’t done one for all the members so this is my next goal :D

well shiii here we go

mans is such a good boyfriend

very unintentionally but he really is

he doesn’t even realise it

hes just so incredibly caring when it comes to you and he just knows exactly how to take care of you even if you guys haven’t been dating for long

LOVES COOKING FOR YOU !!!! LOVES IT !!!!

it makes him feel all domestic and cute and what not y’know like a good boyfriend

if you ever tease him for something hes just gonna mock you or he’ll do that blank face where he’s not impressed right before breaking into the bRIGHTEST AND MOST PRETTIEST SMILE EVER HE HAS SUCHBA PRETTY SMILR PLS

anyways.

pls don’t take his clothes without asking 💔

one day he walked up to his closet to find one of his favourite shirts to wear for the day and hes like “where tf did it go-“ bc hes literally spent 30 mins looking for this one damn shirt

and then he sees it in the wash basket and hes like “i don’t remember putting it there ??”

hes wracking his brain trying to figure out when was the last time he wore it 💀

and then hes like lightbulb moment

will lecture you on it but won’t mean it seriously kinda

just warn him next time what shirt you’re taking so he can make outfit changes beforehand LOOOOL

that being said he did start to “subtly�� leave his clothes laying around or at your house as if he forgot them and acts annoyed when he sees you wearing them

if you’re not korean or have a different culture he’ll learn dishes from your culture/home country and cook them for you when you’re feeling homesick bc hes just that great

likes running you very nice baths after a crappy day so you can relax

will massage your shoulders or whatever hurts bc WOW hes so perfect

when he kisses you.... ooo lord have mercy

it’s so... perfect. i’ve been repeating this word too many times in this but come on am i lying

like good lord hes just very passionate with everything he does y’know so even the tiniest peck brings the upmost amount of butterflies to your stomach

but when yall kiss kiss... JTJSJFJEJEJWHDJAIR

likes having you on his lap with his hands either on your thighs or underneath your shirt only if your comfy with that obviously asks before doing anything and he likes when your hands are either on his shoulders or neck

he also likes having you sitting in his laps while he’s playing games or just in general

like i’ve mentioned in a few of my other posts he likes feeling the weight of you against him bc it just comforts him y’know

i think it was jungwon that said that jay denied but acts secretly like a baby

like he always cuddles up to you or smth and he does it unconsciously it’s so cute

you’ll sit next to him not too close not too far and then like 5 mins later hes leaning his head against your shoulder or has his arms around you waist but he only noticed bc you pointed it out

HE GET SO SHY AND BLUSHYYY AWWWW

whenever you two are standing outside and it’s cold or sumn he’ll always stand behind you and wrap his arms around you so you’re at least a tad warmer

dates with him are probably so fun

either very expensive or just extremely chill

if it’s expensive then expect to be taken to a super fancy cool ass amazing woah gobsmacking restaurant

if it’s just chill then you’re staying at home watching sumn and he either cooks or you two cook together and if you’re both feeling very lazy then ordering some food !

its always super fun no matter what

arguments with jay don’t really happen too often yall love each other too much

but when they do...

yeah. they’re not great

mf is a taurus MAN he is a stubborn bitch

so arguments can last a while but you both definitely apologise and make up with kisses and what not

he probably does give you the silent treatment if you caused the argument or pissed him off

but that doesn’t happen often so no worries

like i mentioned previously he unconsciously clings to you so you guys cuddle pretty often LOL

hes always whining saying how you’re so clingy or whatever but he is literally so in love with cuddling you it’s not even ok at this point

mans would sell himself on the black market just to cuddle with you

likes to be the big spoon 100%

also likes when you lay pretty much flat on top of him

it’s just that feeling of your weight on him that let’s him know you’re safe y’know like i said earlier

oh my god hes definitely super possessive 💀

him and sunghoon give me such possessive vibes PLEASEEEE

sees some random dude talking to you and instantly puts his arm round your waist or brings you in closer

i for some reason always forget that hes literally almost 6’ so he will assert dominance.

also forgot to say but shOPPING DATES !!!!

oMG YOUD GO TO LIKE SOME RANDOM STORE AND YOUD DO THAT THUNG WHERE A PERSON GLIDES THEIR HAND ACROSS A RACK OF CLOTHES WITH THEIR EYES CLOSED AND THE OTHER HAS TO SAY STOP YKNOW WHAT I MEAN

the ridiculous outfits that came out of that... aND THE PICTURES ???

they’re now used as black mail.

but yeah dating jay would be super fun

he always makes you laugh and always finds ways to make sure you’re safe and cared for because sometimes you forget to do it yourself :)

<3

[seirclys]

Liveblogging SUOL's twitch stream

People who missed it here's an informal recap

I should not be here, I'm in class and rushing my research paper for the next. WHO CARES

COVER AHH WHY IS IT DERDICK

hello suol-nim, I am taking all of suol's chat messages and throwing them into google translate

ahhhh good thing it's no audio bc I can't unmute my laptop wait no nvm

times like this i wish i learned Korean SHES SPEAKING

I let myself be "online" on discord solely to get pinged for when the cover is shown

I RECOGNIZE SOME OF YOU AHHHH THE COVER

WAIT SHES DRAWING IT

its so satisfyingggg penelope our beloved

saki and i said "did she say callisto" at the same time lmaoooo

SHE MENTIONED CALLISTO TWICE

DAGGER!! IS PENELOPE CUTTING DERRICK'S RIBBON

she's so fast holy crap

ok so tumblr deleted most of the stuff I had but it doesn't matter I remember some of them, the 1/3 after the keep reading is from my memory entirely; some of it is kinda out of order because I'm running on 5 hours of sleep combined in the past 4 days

Orange or Red roses i'm calling it im squinting at the thing

suol's imagination is big brained: deciding on penny's dresses based on environment and how it'll look next to ml

Karma thank you for telling me what's happening bc I'm in class and don't have audio

official English physical book coming out soon~

WAIT WHY ARE YOUR MESSAGES DELETED BY MODERATOR

oh no you got banned rip

read legally, ppl, rip my tapas ink

bald derrick lmao

she started lining him so fast omg

I should really brush off my csp program and draw again I feel art motivation!!!

ooh penny's eyes gradient

suol-nim has a shortcut for it it was like WHAM its on

derrick's collar went on- I didn't see it did she have a brush for it

we had pink-haired Penelope and derrick

I am taking notes like it's a class and suol-nim is my teacher, except I'm wayyy more attentive

coloring coloring

I'm so curious about suol-nim's brushes ooh I got answered

woahhhh the shading teach me suol-nim

MERCH DROP

it takes suol-nim a full week to make a chapter thank you for your hard work

dinner breakk

she's back! 6 hours strong

cover looks good! derrick and Penelope are present on the same screen and doing lighting nowww

I can see derrick's cut arm between penelope's hair-

PENELOPE AND CALLISTO COVER ART FOR VOLUME 4???

chat is freaking out so am I so am i

ahh suol started sketching other stuff and taking requests!

siyeon sketch! looking like a villainess

Penelope x gold lmaoo

KITTYLOPE MY DREAMS ARE REALIZED

squiggly reynold I can't read the Korean above it :((

GENDERBENDER CALLIOPE

male Penelope hand in marriage please

*knee slams to floor, opens ringbox, playing "let me be your woman" "hey mama"

SHORT HAIR CALLISTO and LIPSTICK LONG HAIR CALLISTO TOO!! CALLISTO SIMPS R GETTING FED

Iklies sketch!! sweaty boy

alr alr next one

hmm, small face, derrick? ah, I was correct

AHH ITS THE ECKART SIBLINGS

baby yvonne *holds in hands* precious innocent child

derrick as a child wears a suit no matter what

faceless yvonne, when will we see your face???

reynold looks kind of bug-eyed

alright next!! DUKE DADDY ahem, ok, chill

whoaa suol-nim's showing Penelope portrait DUCHESS EVELYN ECKART YEAHHHH wavy hair

I wonder if the duke adopted Penelope because he saw some of his wife and yvonne in her- his wife had curly hair and yvonne's pink hair as well

BABY WINTER READING AHH HE'S ADORABLE AND READING

eight hours into the stream!!!! suol-nim your poor wristt

SHE HEARD MY REQUEST FOR PENELOPE'S MOTHER THE TRAVELING MERCHANT, IDK IF SHES GONNA DO IT OR NOT BC I CANT UNDERSTAND KOREAN

nope. Mild consolation is that we're getting Alice

she's all of us: a fan of penelope

bonus penny chibi in alice's thoughts! looking very majestic indeed

oh- bonus sketch!

SMILING PENELOPE!!!!! WAVING AT US

stream ended. :) thank you suol-nim for your hard work!

[sanstropfremir]

kingdom episode 5 review!!! lets fucking go!!!!!

 look. was i insanely hyped for this episode? yes. was my hype justified? also yes. holy FUCKING SHIT. you’ll have to forgive me for going off the rails at some points because ateez and btob directly tapped into something primal in my brain and i am obsessed. i'm obsessed. there’s no other word for it I’m obsessed. 

 ok ok ok i'll focus. i'm focused. i'll do the stage breakdown first and then do my personal ranking at the end. i might do a quick runup comparison of the self and expert rankings for funsies but i'll see how i feel when i get there. instead of going in airing order i’m gonna reverse it, since that was the order i actually watched them in and also i will run out of brains if i talk about rhythm ta first.

skz

i feel for skz. i don't think this show is going to be as much of learning curve as it needs to be for them because the fan voting skews the rankings so much. I’ve said it so many times before, but letting something flop or getting a bad ranking is actually good, because it shows you that you need to improve. because skz keeps getting validated by the fan rankings and placing first in the last two stages, they aren't actually taking the time to evaluate what about their stages is or isn't working. and besides, we’ve now seen two very similar concepts in a row from them, just one is on a grander scale than the other. what they should be doing is what both ateez and btob did for this round, which was scale up production value, but scale down concept. i know this sounds weird but i'll explain. skz has done two very abstract and ‘grand’ concepts. first round we had ghosts/good self vs evil self, and this stage they just went straight for the throat with a deal with the devil type stage. now when you combine these very abstract concepts with an unclear narrative arc, you lose clarity of intent in the performance because there are no specifics that you’re playing off of. there’s a lot more places left up to personal interpretation and this is where people can get lost. btob and ateez both narrowed down their concepts to hyperspecific scenarios where they very clearly showing the audience the arc the stage is taking. audiences can be smart but also if you can lead them by the hand they like not thinking about highly conceptual ideas, and especially not so much in a pop song competition show.

 costume

this is so rare because generally stylists are pretty careful about this, but i genuinely think they got outshone by the backup dancers, especially in the ‘heaven’ sequence. those sash and skirt combos with the strapped white tops that look like straitjackets? the fucking angel wings?! these are some thematically fun costume designs and because they’re white they stand out so much more when skz are wearing black. i also think i've seen these tops on backup dancers before? i thought it was on the last stage but i might be going insane.

i am a sucker for beaded embroidery and the combined dyework on some of their sashes is beautiful. but again, thematically irrelevant? at least you can see the greco-roman inspiration in the backup dancers’ costumes. all this is telling me is that whoever the stitchers are at jype, they are fucking incredible, but they don’t actually have a good designer because the main costumes for all their stages have been both aesthetically similar and thematically irrelevant.

again, i applaud skz for trying more experimental makeup, but boys you have to go bigger, it has no impact right now.

set

well, i did ask for them to commit to the western art bit and they sort of delivered? the first space is not planned very well and combined with the wide wide camera shots instead of making the space seem grand and sweeping it just seems bare. the ‘heaven’ side was excellent though, there was much better control of the camera and the columns and altar scaled the space down so it was more believable. also the breakable columns were fun and corny and i love it when stuff gets destroyed onstage.

the child statue transformation into actual child was a neat trick that i think landed really well. i wish they had given that concept a little more grounding other than the flashback bit but it was still very readable.

i know using rodin's gates of hell is the easiest way to shortcut saying that like, “you are now entering hell,” but them being used SO literally feels a bit blunt when the last time we saw them used in kpop was by original blasphemous catholic lee taemin, who used them with such nuance and intelligence that i'm a bit put off by skz’s literalism.

on that note, i find it very interesting the conflation that happens between greco-roman/”classical” aesthetics and catholicism, because ideologically the two are opposed (see: the bible) and historically, they didn't exist at the same time. now i'm not going to go off on a tangent about neoclassicism because you are not here for an art history lecture but i thought i would make the observation about how catholics continued appropriation of greco-roman aesthetics without complete understanding or context of those aesthetics is as pervasive as it ever has been in the last several hundred years. 

lighting

generally the lighting is pretty good, but there’s an over-reliance on projections that cheapens the look of the stage but also devalues the intentions as well. at the core of it there’s a profound statement being made about trading away your innocence, but when you underscore that with like, clock graphics and a WoW looking demon, it loses that simplicity of message.

the thing about using this particular type of projection, which are actually screens and not typical projectors, is that screens always throw light. and due to where they are situated, this basically means that if you're using the screens at full capacity with a cool colour range, we are going to be able to see everything. this is another contributing factor to why the stage looks so empty; they’re lighting up everything and it exposes where the gaps are.

now i fully acknowledge that this possibly could have been a deliberate choice, since they do actually use some spot lighting at the beginning and end. however, if it was it did not land for me. 

i loved the intro of demon felix done in blue, that was a nice switchup from what we would usually see, but i wish there was more of a coherent colour arc. like the narrative it stutters around a bit.

sound

the arrangement was a miss for me. i found it a bit dissonant again, like their last stage, since the original i'll be your man has obvious lyrics about a good christian boy being sad about a girl. this gets a bit wonky conceptually as soon as you add a child self into it. i don’t know if they changed any of the lyrics in the singing to match this a little more because i don't speak korean, so i'll have to wait for episode subs for verification. 

i really applaud them for trying, and overall they didn't actually do that bad, but skz is not a vocal group. the most i'm going to say about it is that these boys don’t have the breath support. this is likely because they're trying to do choreographically complex movements, but also it's a training thing. you can hear the difference even just between eunkwang’s ‘vocal warmup’ at the beginning of back door, he’s not projecting full voice but he still has the breath support for his voice to sound full, whereas all skz boys sound thin in comparison, even when at full volume, because they’re trying to project from the throat and not the chest. that's all i'm gonna say about that. i don't think the cracked note was bad, i didn’t really clock it on first listen.

staging

thematically they could have had something really interesting here if they stuck to a more simple narrative arc. the genesis (i’m very funny) of the idea here is good, the whole mephistopheles deal with a devil + regret/loss of innocence is clear, but the arc isn't really an arc, and the colour story doesn't help. it kind of goes earth (green/blue) -> the gates of hell are opening (red) -> oh it's heaven now (blue) -> oh just kidding it's hell/lets destroy heaven (red) -> back to earth (blue). not necessarily a bad arc, just a bit complex for four minutes.

the choreo was a lot better this time, there was a lot more intention and relevance to theme and i didn’t feel like they were flailing for the sake of flailing as much as i have in their other stages. there was also a clarity in the overall blocking and movement patterns that was missing from their other stages. this stage has a really great handoff of each member playing the ‘main’ character, especially in the beginning. i especially liked the cut from falling off the stairs to laying centre stage. 

i think I’m right in assuming that it was a choice that the members were all playing the same character and demon felix was that character possessed rather than the actual devil, but personally i think it would have been a lot more fun if they had straight up just made him be the actual devil. there’s a bit of dissonance when you have a performer with such a specialized skillset that gets used in very specific instances, but then he shows up in the regular group choreo like any ol’ guy. they always put such emphasis on felix (as they should, he’s their most charismatic performer), but they never go the distance. i would have loved it if they had committed to the bit like TOO did in their magnolia stage from rtk, where they had a member just be blinded justice. that was literally the only thing he did and it worked so well. could have done the same here with felix and it would have been fun. that being said the felix parts were SO good. love love love him getting dragging in chains.

 btob

this hit every little one of the buttons in my tiny backstage crew brain. i'm in love with this stage. there’s so many true to life little details here that on repeat viewings you're still finding new things. i know i rag on and on about narrative every week but here is a good example of what i've been trying to get at this whole time: the stage needs a shape. an a to b. you don't need a whole pirates spiel or a game of thrones theme extended universe; all you need is a clear setting and a point a to point b. this stage has both those things perfectly. we have a hyperspecific setting, (american rockstars) and a basic arc (getting ready to perform -> performing). even though back door is outside of btob’s wheelhouse, they spun it in a way that played to their strengths and did a bit braggadocio, which is rightfully earned. i'm gonna be saying it every time but the experience shows!!!

 costume

good contemporary costume is SO difficult, i want to impress that here. because it's the the time period that we are currently living and seeing every day it's so easy for the audience to spot mistakes. although yes it's easier to source/shop for, to get it good enough that it doesn't pull people out of the immersion is surprisingly more difficult than you think. their stylists did an excellent job here. the backup dancers and btob are all in monochrome plus one and it adds a very clean unity to everything without visual clutter.

each of btob’s costumes have enough to give indication of character, along with the member’s acting, which i'll get more into in the staging section. regardless, never underestimate the power of a good fitting shirt and statement belt. oh and minhyuk in the stirrup motorcycle boots with the skinny jeans and the supreme boxers and the red satin robe? good bye.

i love love love a dyed buzz this was such a good aesthetic choice for peniel, 10/10 i have no complaints about the costumes.

set

oh my god i’m gonna french kiss this set designer. this is such a simple set but it’s executed so well. there’s the ‘backstage’ area, the corridor with four dressing rooms, and then the ‘stage’ that’s pretty much just velvet ropes. so simple, but all the detail is in the set decoration and props. the road cases, the monitor, the subtle flex of the posters of them on the walls, the clothing racks, all the booze. although this is not the actual layout of any theatre (they're normally much weirder than this), there’s so many little details here that really make the experience.

there’s a very straightforward path here and it works so well. i think this might be the best use of the gates so far? it appropriately suited the drama of the moment and they didn't have to do anything to them because they're already in a theatre. bada bing bada boom.

lighting

love the setup and continuation through the amber ‘BRRRMM.’ like with sf9 it gives a smooth transition into the stage. also loved no blackout. it's a general rule in current theatrical practice that you only use blackouts when they are absolutely necessary, because they can stop the pacing of a play dead in the water. so the lack of one here at the start of the stage was a really smart choice and makes the transition feel less jarring.

i will say that actual backstage areas are very rarely lit with amber because it travels far and it's bright. it's much more common to see running lights (the lights on during a performance) to be deep red or blue.

those blasting wash lights as the gates open? the DRAMA. such a seemingly innocuous choice that really cements the atmosphere of ‘we are about to perform.’

really smart use of the projections to accentuate the already existing stage facilities. it's pretty much unnoticable because it's very well done but i appreciate it.

sound

this ARRANGEMENT!!!! it's so good!!! back door has this premise essentially built into the song so it was so smart of them to put this gimmicky spin on it. loved the literal interpretation of the knocks into the structure of the stage, it makes the blend between the sound design and the staging that much more effective.

more rock versions of everything please and thank you. 

btob is just stunting at this point and i love it. i'll have to wait for subs but judging by the hands in front of the camera bit and the ‘your super high note’ i’m pretty confident the added rap lyrics are full of shots at the other groups and honestly? valid.

staging

there's some really sharp camera control here with the one take first half. It’s up very close and personal because there’s a lack of space but it really works for the ‘intimacy’ of seeing backstage at a venue. also this is such a simple movement track but it’s so effective. it backs over a couple spots but it doesn't feel repetitive because there’s a sense of urgency and drive.

there are so many good little details in here that are true to life and unnecessary to include but sell the performance as a whole. peniel flinging water onstage, minhyuk stripping down twice and flinging his clothes around, minhyuk closing the door on the standby’s face, the backup dancer as a dresser with the laundry basket, peniel stealing the hat off her but then not going on stage with it these are all things that I’ve either had directly happen to me or something very similar has happened. but the best one and the one that sets off the tone amazingly for the whole stage is eunkwang’s intro. that ‘vocal warmup’ with the quiet okay at the end? with the little jump? i see that moment of vulnerability before the transition between person and actor every time i watch someone go onstage for the first time and there’s no way to describe it other than magic. 

the luxury of only having four members, there was actually time in this stage to establish character. it also speaks to the performing strength of btob that they can establish clear character in this short amount of time. obviously it’s pretty one dimensional; there’s serious eunkwang, typical rocker minhyuk, fuckboy peniel (how many licks does it take to make your tootsie pop, anyone?), and comedian changsub. i’ve seen and met and worked with these exact dudes many, many times. ugh i love this stage

 ateez

the utter euphoria i felt at the proof that last round’s stage wasn't a fluke. this stage is so good. it's so good. i'm obsessed with how good this stage. as an unreformed pop punk teen who played a LOT of latin jazz i am LIVING. if you’ve only seen the episode cut and not the full version here i'll make it easy and link it for you because oh my GOD mnet destroyed the pacing by cutting in a full minute and a half of reaction shots. actually mnet fucked up the pacing for all of these stages but this one was the worst. and look. i know this is the closest these boys are going to get to being real punks and this is a carefully curated and artificial facade for narrative purposes only but oh the pandering tastes so sweet. regardless of that, i am IN AWE of the level of storytelling happening here. the narrative is so clear on just the first viewing even though there is so much going on and they use every possible element they can to further enhance that narrative. repeat viewings just add more and more little details. i’ll probably miss some things because there's so much but i'll try my best.

 costume

look, hanya and i were joking that my notes for this stage were just gonna be ‘san dog collar’ for a thousand words and i was so tempted to just leave it at that because.....woof. so here is a short list of things i am the most obsessed with:

san dog collar

san smeared lipstick

wooyoung cruella deville ponytail

hongjoong terrible blond crewcut

san crushed velvet cargo pants?!

seonghwa cropped fur jacket

yunho arm sleeve

hongjoong sockless in red derbys

but in all seriousness the costumes are so good. none of these are truly authentic punk looks but they capture the spirit right and that's what matters. all the right trappings are there; safety pins, patches, plaid, leather, and a lot of diy type looks. i love the painted masks, especially as a callback to the comedy/tragedy theatre masks. it was a thematic choice to have the backup dancers in black and the tac vests are a super simple contextual device.

also hongjoong’s quickchange hat/jacket combo is super fun and i hope that’s intentionally a preview of the next stage.

set

if you weren't convinced before that whoever is designing the ateez stages is a stage designer, i don't know what to tell you. it's hard to tell because there is so much environmental storytelling happening, but there is NO large scale set here. like with their last stage, kq smartly put money into two highlight pieces; the anarchist blimp and the van/wall, and the rest of the stage atmosphere is established solely through propwork and lighting. just think about that for a bit. every other group has some kind of large scale room or wall build. ateez has a bunch of tables, flyers, and a podium. i don’t know if i can accurately communicate just how difficult this kind of coordination is to pull off but holy fucking shit this is so hard to pull off. these are theatre people i see you and i see your work and i love you!!!

they fully used the gilt mnet stage as their pseudo government building and it works. everything about this (lack of) set is so smart i wish i could be more articulate about it but there’s so only so many ways i can say the same thing over and over again. 

lighting

the laser scopes. the LASER SCOPES!!! god this lighting designer is so good. whoever you are, i'm acknowledging your effort because you deserve it. there’s some really wonderful contrast and directional lighting: the van light, the pinlights/lasers/smoke as searchlights. a lot of atmospheric red lighting but it makes sense for the theme (alarm lights) and they offset it well (unlike in the other two predominantly red stages we’ve seen) by fill lighting the faces with blue or amber; this is what actually makes us able to see what’s happening on stage

the projections are used to augment the stage action in without being overpowering, they're at relatively low tonal value so they aren't lighting up the stage at full brightness like in the skz stage. 

the big brother eye on the tv screens (it's just a projection, not actual screens) combined with the government ban notice and the broadcast has to be the record for fastest visual explanation of fascist totalitarian state. 

sound

i love it. they really successfully made rhythm ta into an ateez song and it’s cool as fuck. i love that it isn't sonically very loud. a lot of the chorus is actually quite level tone and quiet, which is a bold choice and they pull it off. this is very comfortably in their range (excluding jongho) and they went more for style than range and that's exactly what every group should be doing. singing high does not equal singing good. yes i am looking at you jongho you should have stopped at that penultimate note, it was fine!!

using rhythm ta as a pseudo protest song against a fascist government that’s banned all music and art? galaxy brain. that intro of hongjoong whispering “hey hey hey hey, this is just a song so get on the rhythm” after gunning down military police/guards? king fucking shit.

staging

i will eat all five pairs of my fluevog boots if kq hasn't hired a bunch of theatre professionals to direct and design these stages because now it's been proven that last stage wasn't a fluke. the level of execution at work here is absolutely incredible. oh the gesamtkunstwerk of it all!!!  there is SO much happening so quickly in this four minute stage and it still manages to convey exactly the correct amount of information that it needs to on the first go round, and it only gets better on repeat viewings.

they use a really classic theatre perspective trick with san climbing the rope, and they absolutely didn’t have to do that. san probably could have actually climbed that himself, but here they made a choice for aesthetic artistry over tricking/other feats of skills we’ve seen the 4th gen groups do. instead of going with the more technically difficult and ‘impressive’ option, they chose the simple way that allows for more character to shine through. there’s actually very little tricking in this stage as whole, they're putting trust in the design of the stage and the raw performance abilities of the members to carry the stage and they stick the landing again. san has some breakdancing and so do the backup dancers, but it’s window dressing in the same way that the flyers are window dressing.

there’s a lot of really good little moments of acting that really sell the performance and dedication of the group as a whole to giving their all. hongjoong overall in his cocky aspirational leader role, seonghwa’s first verse and malfunctioning earpiece bit, san’s falsetto hostage interrogation bit. also i'm obsessed with how far yunho just hucks that mask. he gets like fifteen feet of air with that thing. also props to hongjoong barehanding that glass break.

the paper props are impeccable. the first notice sets up the situation right away, and then we get some further exposition with the newspaper wooyoung is holding (which says ‘the central government has defined the black pirates as a terrorist’ but honestly you don't really need to know what it says to get the point), and then we have raining anarchist flyers from the anarchist blimp. great atmospheric touches.

the blackout crash-to-mask transition is just so good. this is an example of a good use of a blackout. nothing else to add i just thought i would point it out because it's dope.

like with btob there's some really tight camera control here, that along with the lighting and the way they've laid out the space make it easy to follow the trajectory of where they're going and also make the space seem smaller than it is. this is a really big stage and if you don't control how you want it to be seen you end up like with what happened to the first part of skz’s stage. i wish they had tracked some of the one takes a bit better, but the end of that take where the camera followed the group movement laterally and then the formation swung around to face front? sexy. surprisingly the editing is pretty ok.

there’s probably still so much i could talk about but this is already so long so if i missed something just let me know.

ok finally lets do some rankings

personal ranking

this round wasn't as tough to rank because there were two clear top tier stages for me. i actually went back and looked at my ranking from last round and this is identical except the top two spots are switched, which i find extremely funny. however in contrast to last round, these stages were all leagues better than their predecessors. all the groups are improving, just some at greater speed than others.

ateez - i'm not even gonna explain this one.

btob - i won't explain this one either since i just did that.

sf9 - this would have been first if ateez and btob hadnt blow everyone out of the water.i still think they made all the right choices and played to their strengths.

ikon - this stage is so fun to watch but the others offer me more. that’s it.

skz - i like the idea behind it and i loved felix; i'm always down for some good catholic fuckery but like last round it just wasn't played out far enough.

tbz - double ding on the moulin rouge and the continued game of thrones references for me. there were a lot of strong elements here but when compared to every other stage it just doesn't have the same gravitas.

the self rankings i thought were fairly accurate, but again, what the fuck is up with these expert rankings? who are these experts? what stages are they watching?? i won't go more into it than that because then you'll be here even longer but i don't trust these experts who consistently rank btob at the bottom, do you have eyes??? ears????

 ok i'm done for real now im so sorry this 4.6k words......if you make it this far do something nice for yourself like eat a cookie or something. this is way too long you deserve a reward for making it through my nonsense. as always if you’ve got questions or want to share your opinions feel free to send me an ask!

[alwaysabeautifullife]

How did you learn so many languages. Do you have any tips?

Yes!!!! Yes I do!!!

Everything I wish I could tell myself before starting my language “journey” lol:

🦩Dont be intimidated

Don’t be intimidated, specifically by doing listening or speaking practice. I know in the US (or for most English speakers), when we hear someone that speaks perfect English but merely has an accent we think “they don’t speak English”, but from experience this mentality is not shared with other languages. When you know even a little bit of a language or can’t speak it very well, natives speakers are really really encouraging. I think since we view not being 100% fluent without so much as an accent, as “not knowing any of a language” we are hard on ourselves and give up pretty easily.

🦩Listening practice is as important as studying vocabulary and grammar

When you listen to native speakers talk, you are training your ear even though you don’t understand it. Listen and listen, eventually your brain stops picking out English words that aren’t even there, but rather, starts to catch patterns in the language (for example, the same words sticks out to you over and over).

🦩Set realistic and doable goals or you’ll get discouraged and quit

If you are a busy person, make small goals to fit language study in. Don’t tell yourself that you need to master _____ within a week. Instead give yourself 15 mins of reading in the evening, and 25 mins of language listening in the morning. It’s also easier to add the language into stuff you do on a daily basis anyway. For example if you are religious, find your prayers you pray daily in the language you are learning.

🦩learn to read the language first (obviously this tip might not be applicable for character based languages like Chinese)

I know everyone says “immersion is the best and most important part of language” but honestly, a lot of our native speaking knowledge comes from our literacy education. When we are taught how to read, it’s through reading we can discover new words through context. It’s also easy to pick up new language reading since it’s available anywhere, where immersion is only available when you are surrounded by native speakers. The first thing I do is learn how to read and write the language, then the entire language becomes accessible to me.

🦩Spend time perfecting the sounds of the language that are most difficult for you

The vocal sounds of a language is the foundation of a language. I know we are all impatient and want to simply learn as many phrases as possible as fast as possible, but if you get down the unfamiliar sounds of a language that don’t exist in English, you’ll have a better foundation of the language and your speaking and listening will be better from the very beginning. So take the time to practice those weird sounds by looking into the position of the tongue and where the sound comes from, from the chest to the lips. Look into how tense the mouth is, how much air comes from the lips, what the sound is like next to other sounds. When you master this speaking becomes more instinctual and it’s easier to pick up the language.

🦩Search YouTube, google, Instagram IN THE LANGUAGE YOU ARE STUDYING.

Don’t search “korean music” or “korean kids tv” or even “korean vegetables” in google. Just translate how to say them in a translator app, then copy and paste them into the search bar. This way native korean information, videos, posts will come up. For example, if you’re in the mood for some horror comics, and want to read/watch them in the language you are learning, go to the translator app, and figure out how to say them, then search it. It works way better, even if the translation isn’t correct or more natural, you’ll still get the information, posts, and videos you want to see.

🦩Find ways to practice speaking the language (I use HiNative) and don’t be discouraged by corrections.

Getting corrected does not mean you’re wrong, corrections are the most useful part of learning a language. If you are the type of person who is sensitive to criticism, you need to remind yourself corrections are NOT criticism. They are NOT a reflection of your progress, they are NOT you failing! You will always be corrected as a language learner and the sooner you are gentle with yourself in learning the sooner you will learn more. Get those first corrections out of the way, allow yourself to butcher pronunciation, get corrected for the first 10 times, let it sting a little and move on. Eventually you will be begging native speakers to tell you every little detail in where you went wrong!

🦩Tv and Books seems to be more useful for immersion and listening practice then music does

So far in my experience music is its very weird and abstract, and the things said in music aren’t really useful in speaking? It’s good for gathering vocab, but if you want music listening practice that’s music based try searching for rap in that language, although obviously you’ll be picking up a lot of informal language in music/rap. Tv shows however are typically how people really do talk, so turn off English subs and just listen! Books are really useful for learning new vocabulary, but sometimes written language is different than spoken (often), although when you speak it the way you’ve learned from a book the worst you’ll sound is “formal and poetic”.

🦩Look up “insert language you are learning phrases and words that aren’t useful or correct”

There so many programs and books that teach you phrases you’ll never use or that are only appropriate in very specific situations. I don’t know why language programs do this, but learning which ones are weird or only in specific settings before you start learning really helps. Chinese Especially does this...like I learned so many phrases and words that natives will never use and have no purpose???

🦩Know the different subjects of learning a language and which apps to use for that

Everyone uses Duolingo, but this app alone won’t make you speak a language. Duolingo and Memrise are great for memorizing vocab, but, is it vocab that in the context of your reading and listening practice? Are you learning words you are hearing and reading all the time? Duolingo is a lot of fun but I feel like the vocab is so broad and it doesn’t go deep enough into the language. Feel free to use it at first to get used to the sounds of the language, but try using flash card apps like quizlet or Anki instead where you can write down and study words you are hearing constantly. Memrise does have actually study sets for many language books and lessons! So you can study words you are hearing in specific programs and books which is pretty useful in regards to vocab.

There obviously is more than just learning vocab. What about grammar, listening practice, speaking practice and reading? If you are wanting to use primarily apps find out which apps are available for your language. Here is an example of the apps I use for each subject. Be aware some languages are not available on them.

Vocab: quizlet, anki

Grammar: books (printed or kindle), YouTube grammar lessons, websites

Reading: books (printed or kindle), beelinguapp, instagram (posts that have text), Netflix/YouTube with both subtitles in the language you are learning and spoken in language you are learning, epic app

Writing: just use paper and pencil/pen

Listening: audio books (beelinguapp/epic/kindle/YouTube), tv and movies (Netflix/YouTube etc with no English subs), conversations on YouTube (search in language you are studying, don’t search “Spanish conversations” or “Japanese conversations”)

Speaking: HiNative (pretty much all I use since it’s all languages, quick, and you get immediately answered and corrected by native speakers), get friends in language you are learning through lots of apps

Translator: it’s really hard to find a good one, most of them are really weird so only use them for words and the most basic or simple phrases and sentences, otherwise use HiNative to ask native speakers directly, or ask people on the apps that connect you to native speakers

🌱I should note that for talking to native speakers I only like HiNative, since it’s built to NOT be a form of social networking at all. It’s not personal in anyway, and there’s no way to private message or speak to other users outside a asking questions publicly. The people on there are only about learning or teaching a language, not usually making friends. I’ve found the sites that are built to make native speaking friends aren’t useful to me personally, as most of the native speakers are either dudes looking for a woman to date or people wanting to only practice English with you, so they wasted a lot of my study time. People who are willing to help you learn are there, but it takes time to filter everything else out. If you would find it helpful to make friends by all means use them but I don’t really use it myself.🌱

You don’t want to really study EVERY SUBJECT every single day (unless you have the time). It can get really overwhelming, and you don’t really absorb information that if you are just cramming. While I would say it’s good to read and listen daily, spread subjects out over the week. Grammar on Monday and Friday, vocab on Tuesday and Thursday. Take one day to review all of what you’ve learned all week. Pick a day you have the largest block of free time. Bi-weekly works fine too.

I have an old post on how I organize my study time for multiple languages: https://alwaysabeautifullife.tumblr.com/post/182817883372/what-do-you-use-to-learn-your-languages-im

🦩Write sentences daily of everything you’ve learned (no THIS I RECOMMEND DAILY)

Write as many as you can. Use all the grammar you’ve learned, the words you’ve learned, everything! Write them in your notes and submit them to be corrected in HiNative. The sentences they correct, put them in flash cards!

🦩It’s ok to abandon languages you aren’t passionate in

So you’ve learned to read the language, and you know basic phrases, and now you just don’t want to do it anymore. If you can’t think of any reason to maintain it and don’t know why you are studying it, learning some of the language is good! Fluency does NOT need to be everyone’s goal. You can hold a conversation, and that’s good enough for you. Feel free to try out various languages, there will be one or some that really are your passion, it’s fine to have the goal of fluency in those and conversational in others.

Don’t abandon languages however because you feel discouraged. Discouragement is just a bump to get over, when you train your brain to maintain study habits through the days you feel discouraged, you make it habitual. Habits are harder to break and abandon! Evaluate your reasonings for wanting to speak a language, and your reasons for abandoning them if you want. Don’t let difficulty, disorganized, discouragement, or poor time management get in your way!!

🦩With all that said it’s ok to take breaks

It’s ok to get overwhelmed and take breaks from language learning. If you can still maintain what you’ve learned by listening to music in your language or staying connected in some way that’s good, but the “you’ll loose a language” isn’t entirely true. I’ve taken year long breaks and refreshing what I learned previously is pretty easy! Your brain really does go “oh yeah I do remember this!” when you’re studying information you studied years ago.

🦩Be gentle with yourself

Be gentle with yourself. People that claim to be fluent in 6 months are selling something or want to be an influencer. Don’t compare yourself to them. Language learning even for natives is a lifetime education. It’s not something you do for 6 months then stop. It’s continual and that looks different for everyone (yes native speakers included). Don’t bother watching YouTube videos on how to learn in 10 mins or 3 months, you’ll only get discouraged about your own amazing progress and all the work you’ve done.

🦩Plan your “can you say something in it” phrase now

This one is just for fun but after hearing you are learning a language the first thing you’ll get asked is “oh cool you speak (insert target language here)? Can you say something in (insert target language here)?” It does not matter what level of fluency you are at, you will absolutely forget the entire language and your own native language when you are asked this because it sends your brain to another dimension. So think of some funny phrases to say to people who ask, master them, then when they ask what they mean you can have a laugh. Other wise you will say something stupid of jumbled words (my go to was ‘we women are fruit’ for some reason thanks brain you’re incredible) you’ve learned that don’t belong in a sentence, or even worse you’ll run a blank and you’ll just look at them like:

🍳👄🍳

So think of inside jokes to tell your friends, funny phrases, even goofy insults! Memorize them and tell them at your friends and family to torture them because they can’t escape sound waves! It’s a good way to memorize the language but also to become confortable speaking it!

Please excuse any errors I don’t wanna go over my mistakes so pretend u can’t see them 🙈