#oldschool drama

[anemoiawithatouchofobsession]

AM I SEEING THIS RIGHT??????????????

WHAT IS LOVE/SARANGI MWOGILLAE ON MBC'S OFFICIAL DRAMA CHANNEL???

AM I WINNING?

AM I WINNING?

YES I AM!

YES I AM! MOTHERFCKERRSSSSSSSSSSSSS LETS GOOO

Can't wait to wait every week for an upload and watch it like in the olden daysssssss

WOOOOOOOOOOOO LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOO

I had watched What Is Love on a movie YT channel, unsubbed and commented, in 5 parts to 1 hour. I had watched that while staying up the night and I really really enjoyed it.

The channel has now reuploaded it in one full video of almost 6 hours... sadly all the parts and all the comments under it are gone TT. But you can at least watch it now.

It's eye-opening and funny, touching and very emotionally involving all at the same time. Just too damn addictive. It is such a simple and realistic setting you get to believe every damn thing about the characters and just forget the actors are acting. Too damn real for it to be a drama, but there's the 90s for you

[scarygirlsteakhouse]

total drama tumblr gods if you have ideas for drag outfits for noah and owen plz feel free to send me them via asks or whatever <— person that only knows drag queens from youtube shorts

[burningdreambanana]

Rutger Hauer in Turkish Delight (1973)

[rocket-sith]

Y'all. Y'ALL. I got anonymous hate on one of my fics for the first time since 2016. *sniffs* I feel so special!

Dear anonymous wanker:

Half the shit you said didn't even pertain to the fic, and the other half showcased your tragicomic inability to differentiate between the opinion of a story's author and the opinion of a fictional character within the story. *insert Shame Bell here*

tl;dr - Go spank your Twelve Monkeys to Shaw someplace else. There are plenty of amazing Shaw x Seven fics out there. I know because I've read them. I was also trolling an anti in your tags like three days ago on general principle while looking for fics, so once again - please learn to differentiate between the opinion of a writer (real person) and the POV of a fictional character (not a real person, whose feelings and perspectives we can only speculate about, especially regarding a dynamic that's clearly quite complex).

In conclusion, yo mama's so fat, Kirk broke the temporal prime directive by doing a slingshot maneuver around her ass. Also in conclusion - go touch grass. I may or may not be referring to cannabis. No stolen pots were harmed in the making of this post. This has been a message from the emergency GTFO system. *beeeeeep*

[mistofstars]

Klaas, your heart eyes are showing... 😉

[nellarw95]

Happy Birthday Vince 🥳🎂🎈🎁🎉

March 28,1970

Buon Compleanno 🥳🎂🎈🎁🎉

28 Marzo 1970

[non-un-topo]

I don’t want to jinx it but I think I might have fixed this plot-hole

[batdust]

Assigning the Batboys: Cologne

Bruce -

Deep, mature, and a bit mysterious. Elegant and floral with a timeless element to it. A blend of masculine and feminine scents in a classy and almost gothic way, fairly vampire-esque. Or like a man in a classic noir film.

Bruce would realistically have his own scent that was commissioned by a perfumer who takes like 2 clients a year HOWEVER I think it would be something like this

The floral and powdery elements that allow the scent to be more unisex would lend to the more Brucie side of his persona

This scent is also pretty divisive, some hate it, some love it, which feels very Bruce

Understands that he should smell good, but wouldn't give it too much thought past liking the scent I think.

Dick -

Smells fresh and blue. It's oldschool but can last as timeless. Has both an energy and sportiness mixed with a more elegant and mature drydown. Clean yet deep like Dick.

This is a pretty old scent so it has an element of nostalgia, particularly tied to the 80s which feels like a Dick era (discowing moment)

Smells a bit clean like shaving cream which is something he would like.

Bruce probably tried this at some point during his childhood and he just latched on and didn't let go.

There is a sense of familiarity attached to it for Dick and also a bit of drama that feels appropriate for the undercurrent of darkness he has

Jason -

Unwavering and distinct smell of leather. A highly aggressive scent that settles into something much smoother and softer with florals and a hint of spice. It makes a statement with a leather scent that is somehow earthy, animalic, and dark at once.

Incredibly divisive, it's just not a scent one feels moderately about, which perfectly describes Jason.

The way the scent settles and softens after coming off incredibly harsh and leathery also feels befitting of Jason.

I like to think that he started with Tom Ford Noir when he was much younger to be like Bruce; and then once he was older and everything was different he picked out something vaguely familiar.

Just feels very distinct and black sheep-ish to me, like a scent that could blend in with his lifestyle while making him smell good too.

Tim -

Sophisticated but aromatic. Citrusy and woody with a bit of depth to it, like a sunny day in a strange way. Has elements of smoke and spice but is harmonious enough to be versatile. Complex and deep underneath the clean citrus providing a more classy and dark feeling to an otherwise fresh and youthful scent.

The brighter, fresher, and cleaner opening feels like a representation of Tim's outward rich boy everyman presentation, youthful and fairly unassuming but pleasant

As it transitions into the deeper, much more musky, woody, and even spicy drydown, we get more of Tim's true personality, deep, thoughtful, and sharp

Tim is a rich boy at heart so he would also likely have some sort of custom commissioned cologne that he wears to everything but it would have some level of depth like this

I don't think Tim, much like Bruce, would worry much about this, but would still smell good everywhere he goes and this scent is safe enough to wear in most settings.

Duke -

A well rounded gourmand fragrance that manages to stay fresh and pleasant. With fruity top notes that blend with the prominent smell of hazelnut, it's warm, playful, and youthful. Sweet and unique but not cloying as it is balance out by a crisp and bright touch. The initial spray of fruit and ozonic notes drydown into sweets and earth in a way that is both bold and comforting.

This is genuinely just a really good smelling scent, and I just know that Duke would smell so good all the time. There is just an element of general likeability that I associate with Duke.

There is something distinct and different about this scent in a fun and carefree-ish way, feels impulsive and fresh like Duke.

Duke is someone who pretends to not be very concerned with this kind of stuff but if questioned will admit to doing a bit of research before purchasing, he probably honestly had fun too.

The sweetness of the initial scent seems to reflect Dukes polite outward behavior while the deeper and smoother drydown that still manages to remain playful fits Duke well the closer you get to him.

Damian -

The scent of Oud blended with rose and hinds of gormound elements like chocolate and vanilla. A powerful smell that remains very unisex and has a level of class to it. Beside it, a perfume with layers of flowers, leather, and spice. With undercurrents of wood and musk, the scent is more masculine yet still heavily features rose. Very distinct and lush, these scents are both deep, dark, and sweet.

Clearly there are two bottles here, but that's for the specific reasons that I think Damian would be more accustomed to using Oud over cologne, but would try both, and that I think he would genuinely enjoy picking scents.

I know in canon that Talia tends to have a floral scent (Jasmine and Rose of Taif) so I wanted Damian to follow in her footsteps in that way, though not exactly, so I figured maybe standard rose

Damian, much like Bruce and Tim, would probably have his own signature custom scent but it would be sort of like these

As Damian transitions further into adulthood I feel like his scent would shift a lot in comparison to the others who would stay more or less the same; A more mature Damian would lose some of the sweetness in the scent in embrace something dark, sharper, and more polarizing like Bruce and Jason I think, but until his like early/mid twenties I think it would be more like this

a/n; Happy (late) Valentines day! I kind of want to think about what they naturally smell like next.are Also this isn't edited so please excuse any grammar mistakes.

[olderthannetfic]

Oldschool Media Fandom zines were a hotbed of drama.

People learned to do art because artists were harder to get, and it was a highly sought-after skill. You wanted into the best zines not only because the editor would improve your fic but because it got you free zines. That was the big motivation: access to fic.

And from what people have told me, the zines were pretty expensive and access was a problem.

DIY punk zines are all about lowering barriers. Same with other social issue ones where the idea is to distribute women's health info or whatever.

Fanfic zines in the past... not so much. They weren't the glossy art books of today, but they still had a lot of the same social dynamics and wankfests, right up to and including money drama.

[tremendouskoalachild]

what we know: The Acolyte was pitched sometime in early 2020. The Rise of Skywalker had just ended the movie saga. The Mandalorian, which kicked off disney+, had just finished its first season with great audience response. Lucasfilm was reorienting itself to streaming. Rayne Roberts loved the pitch, got Kathleen Kennedy who also loved it, and the show was greenlit.

the show premiered in summer 2024, after a generous marketing campaign (including a clip shown with The Phantom Menace rerelease, an original Victoria Monét song, and plenty of trailers and tv spots). multiple pieces of tie-in media were announced both before and during the show's airing (an Acolyte comic issue, a Kelnacca comic issue, a visual guide, an art reference book, two novels featurig show characters).

the high republic multimedia project (THR), in advanced development when the show was pitched and published continuously from early 2021, greatly influenced the show's development. the costuming is largely based on the look of THR, the show makes plenty of lore references, and includes a main character from the books in its main cast. THR material coming out in summer 2024 has "a century before The Acolyte" prominently on the cover, the upcoming show tie-ins are largely written by THR authors, and often feature other THR characters.

the show was expensive, with a long production period and a great focus on the technical aspects - building large elaborate sets, filming on location in Madeira, detailed stunt sequences with a lot of actor involvement, plenty of attention given to costumes, make-up and creature design. the cast included many high-profile actors. everything suggests the show had full confidence of lucasfilm.

what i'm gonna speculate: lucasfilm was playing the long game with this show, or hoping to. cancelling the show this early was unexpected.

in 2019 star wars was quite literally centered on the original trilogy. the seven decades or so around the OT contained all currently canon star wars media, even as the franchise was spoken of as one with 25,000 years of history. the following years would plug up even more empty spots on the timeline, with the projects often overlapping. this gave the writers much less creative freedom, which was the whole point of decanonizing all pre-2014 media aside from films and shows. over time, fans started clamoring for onscreen content set outside of the known eras, and there were more and more voices in and outside of the fandom exhausted with fanservice (the glup shitto phenomenon).

The Acolyte was set in a whole new era, as far as onscreen content goes, and its only legacy character was from children's and YA books most viewers wouldn't be familiar with. it was specifically introduced as a show you wouldn't need any homework for. it had actors prominent in entirely different contexts (Matrix. sitcom. Squid Game. YA. superhero movies. independent films. relationship dramas.) and the cast was pretty international.

the show had a lot specifically for established fans - you could say it was the most wide-reaching in its star wars references, incorporating elements from every trilogy, the animated shows, canon books, oldschool legends lore, video games. but i believe it was mostly meant to attract people who were not previously fans, and especially target demographics that were underrepresented in the fandom. draw in international audiences, young people who were around for other star wars properties but they never caught their interest, women who either weren't in the fandom or felt pushed away by the reaction to The Last Jedi.

lucasfilm execs definitely weren't planning for viewing numbers comparable to Obi-Wan Kenobi, or even Ahsoka, since those are characters people are already invested in. i think lucasfilm expected the show's audience to grow over a longer period, since plenty of people might check it out because it seems cool and they like an actor in it, and hopefully stick around to watch other star wars and become new fans of the franchise. the audience would get a chance to establish itself through new viewers watching it outside the couple weeks when it aired originally - it's a streaming platform, after all - and the show would have a solid fandom for its second season (which they were clearly planning to make).

these new fans would keep disney+ in order to check out other star wars shows and film, and keep buying star wars stuff over the hiatus. even if they were only into The Acolyte and their interest never expanded beyond that, there were many merchandising products and tie-in materials coming out. the comics and books would have connections to THR, hopefully getting an influx of readers before the initiative finishes next year and boosting sales of already published works. the THR readers who weren't interested in the show originally would see all their favorite authors writing stuff for it and check it out, too.

but then someone higher up decided to cancel it a month after airing so no i guess

[anemoiawithatouchofobsession]

I just realised... the reason why Kang Susie's career lasted so long and longer than fellow "innocent beauty" troika girls Lee Jiyeon and Ha Soobin's did is because she debuted when she was 24. Jiyeon and Soobin debuted at 17.

Susie had lived in America, had experienced a life of poverty and discrimination, went working next to high school and college, Soobin and Jiyeon had lived nowhere else than in Korea and lived life as "normal" high school girls.

Susie was an ADULT and Jiyeon and Soobin were TEENAGERS when they all debuted - Susie knew how society worked, the other two didn't, BECAUSE THEY WERE HIGH SCHOOLERS AND TEENAGERS AND LEGAL MINORS when they debuted. Like, it all makes sense. Of course Jiyeon would suffer under her antis, and then throw her career away for the first man that told her he loved her. Of course Soobin would retire directly after the rumours that hit her -

THEY WERE NOT MATURE ENOUGH TO HANDLE IT and I want yall to think back when you were 17 and imagine having to handle fame and all of that what comes with it. Trying to manage the transition between teenage and adulthood IN THE PUBLIC EYE.

Compare that to 27 year old Susie, how she handled her dating scandal - she even scored two hits after that. SHE WAS 27. She was not just an adult with all of this adulting behind her, that is a fully developed, mature and grown woman. Compare that to 19-20 for both Jiyeon and Soobin when they hit their career lows.

"What If Jiyeon had just a more stable support network when her anti problem hit the fan" is literally my roman empire because if she wouldnt have retired, she'd have had a much better image change and would've slayed more mature thems and albums, Susie wouldn't have been able to fully take over that spot for herself, Soobin would've probably debuted but not been as famous and so wouldn't have dealt with so much hate, all three women would have had longer careers, and we'd have had a period of time where they all promoted together.

[shinelikethunder]

the thing about trying to convey what the fuck is up with outlander is that most attempts to explain all the ways it's Not Good Actually just sound like advertisements for how batshit it is. and it IS batshit, and horny, and self-indulgent fanfiction for weird little girls with the misfortune to grow up into straight women, and all of the above. but it is also, i cannot stress this enough, absolute fucking schlock

anyway, to offset the sin of having tempted any of you to sit through any more of it than the whipping scene and then the gratuitous torture porn in the last episode or two of season 1, let me just sit here and recommend with my entire chest that you read diana gabaldon's fanlore article, at least if you ever want a hearty oldschool-blog-drama laugh at someone who COULD at any moment have chosen to stop parading her ass in front of the entire internet but just couldn't help herself. i will never unhear the squeaking of clown shoes attached to her name, and if you're considering doing this to yourself, you should at least do it while giggling at exactly what serial numbers she filed off her self-insert fic before hopping on the internet 20 years later to get BIG MAD at people daring to write SEX SCENES about HER CHARACTERS.

[scarefox]

This is a whole ramble but there is a theme in there (for fun and giggles)

I sometimes have to think about the whole "petplay" / master-servant game Gun has going on with some of the GMM guys (Tay and Joss, officially but he probably has some of the others joined too). It's just so damn wild and funny. And everyone is pretending like that's just the most normal thing besties do. I mean sure why not but also 😏 Just them taking turns in being the others obedient cute pet-servant for one day, while he calling him "his pet" and treats him like a pet (and that outside of cameras and fanservice stuff, they do that in their private time mainly. just dragging it out in the open occasionally). I love that for them 👌

OG Fun Night S1Ep3

-

-

-

... hmmm 😏

yea that's more likely

-

THE WHOLE ENTIRETY OF FUN NIGHT S2EP7 is just damn wild where they compete to be Guns number 1 pet, winning a freaking collar of all things! While talking about the drama "3 Will Be Free" (which is literally a canon polyamory drama with Tay, Joss and Mild)

-

-

also that TayGun date special

But Off is always like "You guys have fun but leave me out of that nonsense" 🙅‍♂️ whenever Gun asks him to join the pet poly circle....

BUT isn't he basically Guns first "pet" before Tay even?! Guns nickname for him is literally Papii... which I first thought means "dad" (or daddy if you will 😏) but someone once educated me that it means "puppy". Because of their first drama together "Senior Secret Love: Puppy Honey".

So what I am trying to say here is: Off you lost that fight already years ago!! You have been Guns doggo all along!! lol

(but that's fine, he just doesn't want to mingle with the others 😌)

It's tragic, there once was a compilation of all the Tay and Gun pet moments (+ trust falls) with parts of an interview where Tay explains his side. And the MC was shook like "And you just let him treat you like a pet??" and Tay all shy and giggly "Yea, it's just a thing between us. I don't even know why. I went with it" 🤷‍♂️ And that he thinks that Gun is the most powerful guy in whole GMM. (A+ video.. why did they take that from us)

Yall don't understand how neat the whole OffGunTay(New) and Gun swinger / poly dynamic is. Alone for the fact that they don't care for the strict exclusive ship rule where they can only be touchy with their on-screen partner. But Gun is touchy and playful with every GMM guy and that's fine and neat af (even tho they all mainly stay in their official ship constellation as well). Meanwhile there are still so many couple themed ship war fanvideos from fans out there about which couple would be most likely real and which one will sink: OffGun or TayGun 🙄 Like bruh, everyone is Guns pet or cuddle buddy, what are yall not getting? OffGunTay(New + others) love and cherish each other (in whatever way that is does not matter). And Tay AND Off and even New encouraging Gun getting cuddly and kissed by other guys. Off and Tay are literally that "You are doing great sweety" meme when Gun has fun with others. Off being jealous is literally just a playful running gag.

I swear most BL fans are way too innocent and stuck with the oldschool relationship style for this awesome GMM (friend)ship dynamic they are playing with here...

Like look at this pile of TayGunNew while Off takes a photo

I don't know why this post turned from the petgame thing to OffGunTay & GMM polycule but it's basically the same ven diagram. Just everyone gets kisses, flirts and cuddles. As they should.

But it does not have to be the one ship over the other. Each of them literally has two hands 😌

holding hand throuple style 😌

Thanks for coming to my TED talk

Anyways.... A poly drama with them when?? Didn't P'Jojo say he wants to do a drama with Gun but doesn't know what theme? (P'Jojo who did "3 Will Be Free" with Joss and Tay already). Here! This? ✨

EDIT: I had to ad this

[ystk-archive]

“I feel like we released a party-in-a-box album” (Nakata)

He makes music for Perfume and MEG, created the soundtrack of the TV drama “Liar Game,” and wrapped up an album with Sakai Kate as part of the unit COLTEMONIKHA. The number one producer on the cutting edge of now is unmistakably Nakata Yasutaka, and his main project capsule released their eighth album “Sugarless GiRL,” followed it with a remix best-of compilation called “capsule rmx,” and are already set to release their third album in a single year.

“Up until now, I’d been sort of following the oldschool pop format to a certain extent. I think my songs until the ‘Sugarless GiRL’ album were easy to listen to, but I don’t feel like they need to be that way anymore because capsule isn’t the type of unit that would appear in music programs on TV. I’ll leave the karaoke-friendly songs to idols and pursue creating something with capsule that can only be done in the kind of environment we exist in. Our remix album that came out in October falls in line with this: it’s a collection of tracks that we use often, so there is the implication that it’s a best-of album, but I wanted to refresh the sound instead of just re-releasing the songs as they were. It takes the ‘party’ feeling and packages it up all neatly, like a party-in-a-box. But I do fundamentally want people to listen to our newest album first and foremost.” (Nakata)

“We’re having fun creating things that we think are interesting.” (Koshijima)

That new album is “FLASH BACK,” their ninth overall and first original release in ten months. It breaks from their previous works in that it isn’t like the soundtrack to a film that doesn’t exist; “FLASH BACK” instantly conjures up images and memories from the past in the way that a movie inserts a literal flashback sequence. It doesn’t use a story or specific pretense to do this — instead, particles of sound flood out from the listening device (whether that be speakers or headphones) and form intense, hard-hitting electro music, bit by bit.

“I thought it was interesting to have several moments in time playing simultaneously, like I’d cut out scenes from a movie. There isn’t a pattern to how it changes; the entire album is constantly shifting. I thought it’d be good to have a strong contrast like that. My mental image of it is a sort of inner dive. I made it with a clear contrast in sound so that the listener can really delve into it, and I think if you sync up with the music, you can get into the album quite easily. However, I did think it would be kind of tacky if the album was too trendy-sounding. It’s perfectly situated in that space where you can’t decide if it’s cool or not.” (Nakata)

“During recording, we’d get all excited like ‘this is SO lame!’ (laughs). But we’re really into just making whatever we feel is interesting to us right now, so we hope everyone will enjoy listening to it.” (Koshijima)

from spring magazine・scan & translation by ystk-archive・HD download (Google Drive)

[intoloopin-archive]

♯ ° ؂ A LOOK INTO iNSYNC CITY: LOOPiN INDIVIDUAL FANDOMS RANKED FROM THE TAMEST TO THE WORSE.

♯ ° 10 ؂ (🏆) DRUMPICKS / DRUMDANS (for HANJAE)

Recently named by Hanjae himself -- who was visibly emotional when he realized he had grown a big enough fanbase to demand distinction --, the title Drumpick comes from a mixture of 'drumsticks' and 'guitar picks', the two things multi instrumentalist Hanjae always carries with him. It's also the lovely abbreviation of 'the drummers picks'; as much as they have picked Hanjae, Hanjae, LOOPiN's designated drummer by sport, has picked them as well. In their vast majority Drumdans, as they often go by online, seek almost no trouble and cause no harm in iNSYNC spaces, since Hanjae has next to none anti sentiment in fandom; to everyone these days, is undeniable that his talent in dancing, rapping, acting and even producing at times makes him a precious hidden threat.

The biggest bickering happens amongst Drumpicks themselves, with fans of Hanjae, the Idol and Hanjae, the Actor, constantly disagreeing on who truly supports Hanjae the most -- with his recent acting fanbase being quite loud about their beliefs of being stronger Drumdans.

♯ ° 09 ؂ (☁️) ELMOS (for DYLAN)

To first explain why Elmos was Chihoon's name of choice, is necessary to explain that Dylan has been on a running gag with Sesame Street characters since his debut, specially Big Bird, who was his Halloween costume for The Loop Halloween Party of 2019, his icon on every single social media, and the most referenced character by him out of any piece of media -- even in songs. Naturally, the Chihoon enthusiastics got in on the joke too and started to deem themselves 'Elmos', which to him was hilarious. From then on, they got his blessing to consider that the name of his personal fandom, to the point yellow and red are now often associated with his solo stans.

As it's easy to assume, Dylan is the members who takes his solo fanbase the least seriously, running under the assumption that every LOOPiN fan with him as a bias is in on the joke too. He much rather prefers to acknowledge everyone as an iNSYNC, even if they tell him they're only rooting for him -- which is something some chronically online Elmos can get pretty defensive and dragged about by OT10 stans.

♯ ° 08 ؂ (🌻) SONGSYNCS (for TAESONG)

Songsyncs, an abbreviation for 'iNSYNCs for Taesong', is the only fandom that still keeps the oldschool LOOPiN stan nomenclature the solo fandoms used to adopt back in their early years; and now that Taesong has started to recognize and address them as such, they don't feel a need to change. Taesong attracts fans much like himself, meaning that to outsiders or baby iNSYNCs they can appear to be much calmer then they actually are.

But if you go deeper into the Songsync rabbit hole, you'll see they get extremely protective of Taesong over anything, and even have a code of their own for shading other members and their fanbases; although you will very rarely find them starting a fight, you for sure will see them quietly liking and vague tweeting about any iNSYNC drama, no exceptions.

♯ ° 07 ؂ (🦎) GYUGENIES (for GYUJIN)

Coming into the group years after debut, one of the first questions Gyujin ever got on fan meetings was what should his fans be called -- a heated topic at the time given his polemic addition to LOOPiN, two mere weeks after Beomseok's official departure, that parted the fanbase into his supporters and people who were not thrilled to have him around. He almost immediately picked Gyugenies, 'Gyujin's genies', as they are the people who made his wish of debuting come true. To many, it's by now a consensus that they have become the funniest and most entertaining sub fandom.

On their downside, Gyugenies sometimes have an exclusionist tendency towards some of the members or full group activities -- that sort of 'Gyujin is the only reason LOOPiN finally looked interesting to me, anyway' or 'All the others have too many fans already, let's just focus on him' mentality that OT10s don't appreciate, and has spread a littleto even iNSYNCs with a Gyujin ult or bias. It's clear that if Gyujin isn't involved, don't even bother trying to recuit them for anything regarding LOOPiN; they won't tune in, and won't hesitate to bringing up how long it took for groups fans to like him either.

♯ ° 06 ؂ (🎧) AMWOOS (for MINWOO)

Taking direct inspirations from Minwoo's producer allias BANGMFM, AMWoos -- pronounced A-M-Woos, like the radio frequency that came before FM and served as its base -- have had their bloodthirsty days; if the ranking took place back in 2020 or 2021, they would have been on the Top3 at the very least. But ever since Minwoo stepped up from honorary leader back when Taesong went on his 2021 hiatus, to official leader in 2022 and onwards, the fanbase has in its majority calmed down; although their air of superiority still remains, and it runs strong.

AMWoos have made a point loud and clear from their early days that they believe Minwoo is in a whole lane above any other LOOPiN member, and Minwoo's lack of recognition of them by name isn't even drag worthy to them; on the contrary, they think Minwoo's fanservice towards iNSYNCs, something so unnatural of him, is way less sincere than the quiet appreciation they receive by him in clues. The fandom operates much more quietly these days and, seeming to have fought all fights already years back, are left alone by anyone who's smart enough to not poke the beehive.

♯ ° 05 ؂ (🦔) HOJEOGONS (for HAEGON)

Placed right in the middle comes Hojeogons, Haegon's solo stans and the most 'sink or swim' out of them all; they're either the calmest or the most intense, no in-between. The Hojeo in their name comes from the romanization of the korean word for 'porcupine', Haegon's representative emoji and favorite animal, while the 'gon' is obviously taken from his name -- less obviously from the romanization of 'bear', which correlates to past LOOPiN member Beomseok's old fandom name, Gonbeoklies, as both used to be considered a package deal.

Haegon is an open and emotional book in all senses, which tends to get him in hot waters, and Hojeogons are always the first in line to defend him from being misunderstood. Their growing eagerness to see the youngest of the team interact with Idols other than his bandmates has been a currently sensitive topic, specially after Beomseok left LOOPiN; Beomseok as a whole is a whole can of worm's for Hojeogons, who have grown to pretend he never existed as they understand that's what Haegon would want, something older iNSYNCs find absurd to even consider.

♯ ° 04 ؂ (💎) RARERUKIS (for HARUKI)

Rarerukis, much like AMWoos, have been much bigger menaces in the past -- namely the period in which Haruki began his modeling career and fell into the good graces of Knets back in 2020, when they braced his merits as if they were their own and won the animosity of iNSYNCs with their big ego --, but they're still very much loud. Taking Haruki's diamond stan emoji extremely seriously, they know they have found a rare jewel to stan in him; the 'ruki' being often spoken as 'ruby', the crystal that has one of Haruki's favorite color.

With Haruki taking a quieter, less commercial approach to his career, as well as his more constant reminders of how much he enjoys unity and dislikes any of his bandmates exclusionists, has began a quiet change in Rarerukis pattern of behavior; after all, if there is one thing that's true to them almost universally, is the want to not cause him trouble or tarnish his fleeting reputation. Still, don't you dare say any other member is an IT Boy of any sort -- unless you want to see multiple 'Haruki Being The Ultimate Face Of LOOPiN' threads to invade your timeline for two days, at the very least.

♯ ° 03 ؂ (🤓) WIZZARDOS / WIZZARS (for O.Z)

Given his stage name, the connection drawn between O.z and The Wizard Of Oz was inevitable and surprisingly well received by Zhiming himself, who's added the 🧙‍♂️ emoji to his online sign-offs. Wizzardos are the first ones that come to mind when iNSYNCs think of a pretentious crowd. Good luck trying to express even the tiniest criticism of Zhiming's music or Idol demeanor to a Wizzar -- even the pacifist ones won't let it slide without a lecture. Since O.z also works outside of LOOPiN in a duo with soloist sensation NICO, his fanbase is almost a perfect half and half of iNSYNCS and people with no real interest in the group, a mix that tends to attract tension. They're also credit for popularizing calling LOOPiN stans Insects in petty fanwars.

But even the most hardcore iNSYNCS recognize they are the easiest of the solo fandoms to join, given O.z's polarizing history and the old jokes that are still being made about and towards him even by a percentage of OT10s -- to the point that any vocal Zhiming ult is often presumed to be an Wizzar akgae or at least an akgae sympathizer (because most truly are.) They're also regarded as the easiest people to offend and hardest ones to please.

♯ ° 02 ؂ (🗣️) SOOSOULS / SONNYSIDES (for SEUNGSOO)

Seungsoo has a quite notorious solo fanbase, with a reputation that grows more intense by the year. They're in between names at the moment, with many Soosouls, as they've been deemed since 2019, growing pretty found of Sonnysides, named after Seungsoo's recently updated producer tag, NASONNY. On a study on their crazy loyalty and how hard they regard and promote him as a person and an artist, most point Seungsoo's tendency to 'vent' to fans too openly as the main reason for the parasocial relationships between him and Soosouls growing a little out of control, as they take it as 'fresh' and 'real'.

What iNSYNCs agree is the factor that keeps them at bay and prevents them from being crowned the most annoying bunch of LOOPiN solo stans you can find these days, is how Seungsoo has most times eventually come forward to tell them to cut their antics out when they go overboard; be it by asking them to not trend tags pushing him to go solo or to not pick fights with other people over his 'deserved group positions'. He's clearly not a fan of the Soopremacist corner of his stans, as most call them, but doesn't seem too displeased to have an army ready to defend him.

♯ ° 01 ؂ (🌟) J.J.B.BS (for J.J)

To be a J.J.B.B -- J.J's Babies and Besties, as he baptized them himself in a fancall that's now considered both iconic and cursed LOOPiN media --, tick skin has been a must from day one; after all, Jiahang debuted with the 'filler' title firmly attached to him from LOOPiN's first ever stage. They were the very first solo fandom to be acknowledge, with Jiahang pushing the name himself early in his debut day and onwards as something private, a practice that was frowned upon and backlashed by iNSYNCs strongly, and only helped push the 'it's us against the world' mentality that keeps J.J.B.Bs so united and focused on J.J alone, no exceptions.

As a point of merit, you really can't find a more tight run ship: from the chinese bars to international fans, J.J.B.Bs are regarded as 'the final bosses' of individual events and stream parties, and won't ever let anything involving Jiahang fail. Calling yourself a J.J.B.B in the first place is already admitting you're not too far from being an only stan. The most extreme side of his fandom has been not so kindly nicknamed by iNSYNCs as BBitches, and are in a way or another always at the center of the hurricanes -- provoking other fandoms, making fun of other members and overall being the most frustrating people to encounter when they're on Xu Jiahang defense mode, which is next to always.

[mynameisnotthepoint]

Ossan no pantsu EP 5

Disclaimer: I had already watched this drama with subs that were mostly machine translated, so this is less of a first time reaction and more of an "i finally have the whole picture now". This will contain spoilers, so be warned!

As always: thank you to @isaksbestpillow for continuing to provide us with excellent subs to this drama!!

Quote

"That's how it is being a parent. You can't really think with confidence: 'I just handled this the best way.'" (Mihoko to Mika, translation by isaksbestpillow)

My very jumbled thoughts/extras

I am a bit behind with my posts about this series. Work and a cold caught up with me, but I will try to finish this.

Later episodes will deal with this more, but ultimately, older people are left behind by this rapidly changing system. My coworker's husband had to look for a new job at 62 after his bus driving company closed down. He spent months unemployed. Makoto here also knows that he doesn't have a lot to offer except grit and perseverance. You need them to survive a job, but these days you have to have many more qualifications to think about switching jobs. I also noticed that the coworkers call her Shimura-san!! Which also is something that will come back in a later episode.

I also love the fonts and color grading they used to show Makoto's entrance into the office - a contemporary suspense (?) font/music - and then the flashback scenes to when Makoto was starting out that feel very oldschool.

I think it is in this episode that Makoto realises he could be a burden to society. He is, in many ways: people bow down to his wiles (his wife) or ignore/avoid him (his subordinates, his children, even his dog). Throughout this series he comes to a bigger understanding of how respect should be mutual, and is also earned. --- INTERLUDE: Theme song and Daichi's actor Oppan's opening credits song アプデライフ (Updated life) is by the Jpop group FANTASTICS from EXILE TRIBE, of which Nakajima Sota, who plays Igarashi Daichi, is a member (he is a vocalist). This group has two members who have also played in BLs: Yagi Yusei (vocalist, from the My Beautiful Man-series) and Kimura Keito (dancer, from Ameiro Paradox). It is actually through FANTASTICS fans that I first learned about Oppan :) --- My heart aches for both Daichi and Madoka. You can see Daichi's face fall, a sadness creep into his eyes while Madoka tries to explain why he couldn't tell his parents he had a boyfriend. Meanwhile Madoka is just so scared to lose Daichi, so scared to be himself. And Daichi is the one who can muster up a smile, try to make everything seem OK. Madoka is so tall and yet, he always seems to make himself small, hunches over, ridden by guilt. The flashbacks of how they met and how they got to know each other are so well done (@twigtea and @bengiyo have written such good meta about it and the outing scene at the end!!).

Daichi's mom is such a wonderful person. She knows her son, knows when he is being chipper to hide that he is feeling sad. It shows the strength of their bond that he can show his anger with her, although it might be misplaced, as she was the one trying to help him. And Daichi knows, after raising his voice at her, he immediately deflates and apologizes. (my mom is so very similar to his mom. and i can also get angry at her or take her for granted, which i immediately feel sorry about).

BTW: Matsushita Yuki (who plays Igarashi Mihoko) plays Ida's mom in Kieta Hatsukoi AND Kurosawa's mother in the Cherry Magic movie!

I touched upon this briefly in a last post, but I love how they made Kakeru's hair truly look like it has grown out and he hasn't really cut it evenly. Although it does change quite a bit at the school scenes, which were probably filmed later. Through the series, Kakeru not only becomes comfortable wearing make-up outdoors, but also puts a lot of effort into his hairstyles.

I love Mika so much. Kakeru feels down and useless because he is unable to go to school again, and she encourages him to help her with the laundry. We later learn that she doesn't enjoy housework all that much, but in this moment she is happy to see him outside of his room and wants to spend time with him. He is also doing more housework just by helping out than Makoto ever seems to do...

The dynamics in this family are so developed!! Mika talks very differently to Moe, who seems to have the upper hand a lot in their conversations. But I really like how they genuinely seem to get along and want to spend time together. Them evaluating Makoto together if he can attend a barbecue with Madoka and Daichi and Daichi's mom was so funny. Also them preparing for the barbecue together and welcoming their guests together warmed my heart.

ME TOO. Also, this is one of my favourite Kakeru outfits. I truly love his style. Also, after meeting the girls who were nice to him, this meeting with Hasegawa shows Kakeru he can talk to people his age without feeling alienated. It takes repeated experiences liket this to get you to enjoy company again, but he smiles and is happy. (Now Makoto, we don't just assume our child is dating someone, he is literally just sitting next to him and talking - the face touching means nothing!! I do like that this makes the updating even more concrete for Makoto). The second time Hasegawa and Kakeru meet up starts a bit akward, but they talk to each other freely. Yet, Kakeru shuts down when Hasegawa starts talking about school and the baseball club. He'd still rather avoid the conversation and walk away than say what is on his mind. He is going outside, went outside to buy products for Hasegawa, but he isn't suddenly free of his worries and coping mechanisms.

Makoto buying books on queerness and acceptance is what makes Moe believe he has changed. And yet, reading up on things doesn't make you know how to react in real life. Makoto having his subordinates clap for him makes him overconfident, makes him think he knows everything. But, as @bengiyo pointed out, it is really important that he does his updating independently too, he shouldn't just wait for Daichi to explain everything to him.

The scene which hurts the most here is at the barbecue, when everyone has been having such a good time and even Kakeru is happy to watch them from his window. Makoto just says out loud what everyone has been avoiding all afternoon: he calls Madoka Daichi's boyfriend. It was just an unspoken rule that everyone at the party understood: Daichi and Madoka are there. What they are to each other is personal to them. Makoto wants to please, wants to show that he has updated, has such foot in mouth syndrome that he doesn't realise that rule. And Madoka very understandably freaks out. I must say, I have watched this episode three times now, and I have only been able to watch this scene without pausing or fast-forwarding once. It hurts.

What I did notice, in the aftermath, is that there are shots of the characters where Moe and Mika stand together in the foreground, then in another shot Daichi stands in the foreground while his mom is in the back, and Madoka and Makoto are both alone in their shot. I don't know if this was intentional, but it does illustrate how they feel about themselves in that moment in time. Moe and Mika are united in wanting to make this work, Daichi has his mom he can rely on, but both Madoka and Makoto feel alone and afraid in this moment.

An anecdote from when the show was airing: this episode was the one I saw people talk about the most before episodes 8 and 9 aired. It generally frustrated me to no end that people seemed to only focus on "the gays" and disregarded the rest of the story (Moe!! Kakeru!! Mika!! and even Makoto's development). Seeking out explicitly gay characters shouldn't make you disregard a story that is about queerness, about how women are treated, and so much more. It didn't help that a lot of fan translators were only focused on translating Sota's scenes, as they were fans of his group/him as an idol. It is so interesting to have an actual idol in a drama that has a whole story thread about being a fan of an idol group! (I am now just referencing later episodes...).