#on top of the fuckery I heard with the actors

[snackugaki]

I was semi-joking last post but ....she’s so fun to draw wtffff

Following 2007 and Rise Splinter’s example, Bay Splinter absolutely watches soaps, teleseryes, telenovelas, and dramas and Venus watches some with him 

Casey taught them how to make their own skates, so now the entire sewer is an impromptu skating rink 

... I forgot that Leo, Donnie and Mikey’s shoes actually match (as much as they could make their custom frankenshoes match-- Mikey’s is like 98% duct tape and bandage wraps tbh; “But they’re still chucks underneath...!”) I just subconsciously went Punky Brewster on her shoewear. problem is I like both. so. nyeh.

have I settled on the size of her tesse--- hahahahhahahhahhahhha no.

in a brighter timeline, if they did a 3rd movie or just put both scrotes in and pumped out TMNT movies like they have Transformers movies I’d guess Venus, Jennika, Slash, Tokka, Rahzar, whoever were probably whatchamacallit, experimental groups to Splinter & Co.’s ....control group? subjects from different experiments with the ooze before April’s dad went whistleblower. or maybe experiments from the 15 year interval trying to recreate the first lab’s results ‘cuz Sacks would’ve had the resources to recommence pretty fast after the disaster

although to explain Venus and Jennika... since Sacks had ties to the Foot Clan, and Shredder pulled that double cross with Baxter in OotS. what I would guess is that Sacks pulled whatever weight he had left with the Foot Clan (maybe with Karai at the helm in Shredder’s absence) to use their resources for any gaps with his own and as a cover to reconvene his experiments. blah blah Karai studied under Shredder obvi and so probably thought to have the scientists report to her before they report to Sacks. Sacks was kept in the dark, not told they were more or less able to recreate the original lab results on the turtles who’d become Venus’n Jennika. “oh oops they died sacks, sux 4 u try again maybe, here’s some more animals for you.” 

Venus and Jennika are taken in under the Foot once they exhibit the same potential the boys showed; Sacks just goes a little apeshit on the science, as a treat, hence Slash, and then Tokka’n Rahzar and again told they failed. Sacks fully thinks he couldn’t recreate the first lab’s results womp womp u bitch

....how would any of them break out from under the Foot? lol i dunno. uh. mmmmmaybe black market “weapons” dealing-- Venus and Jennika break out (willingly or opportunistically) during shipment to... where? nyc why thefuck not, oh look they end up in chinatown *eyebrow waggle* oh now they’ve stumbled upon a grandpa, maybe his name is Grandpa Chung in the community, I don’t know, and he adopts them surprise! is he blind and therefore just thinks they’re lost kids? blech, does he see two turtles and see an auspicious omen? ehhh hmmm..... I guuuuesssss? or is he just gonna be an example of people doing good things with no prompting because it’s the right fuckin’ thing to do, they’re obviously kids with no guardians, and goddamn we know it’s for the plot but also people are just out here being good to each other guys, it’s real, it happens.

[borbersk]

So, it's reasons you want!? Well, I have plenty of better things to do, but this is the Internet so we all know I'm playing for maximum pimento wastage. Beware potential minor spoilers, but I'll try and avoid it.

The vanishing act is a hilarious drama that managed to do what Ricky Gervais wishes he could. It made a pitiful, impolite, insecure, dislikable character funny, and did I in such a way that you find yourself rooting for this detestable little bastard even though I you ever actually met him you would hope it was the last time. This got me through a week and a half of being shut in a room in the Spanish heat missing my friends, and the plane rides to and from. And the ending was fucking unbelievable. The perfect blend of foreshadowed and surprising

The beacon holds a special place in my heart. It's not the best audiodrama out there by any means but that doesn't mean it's not good. It wraps you in a blanket of what I (as an irishman who watched someone play life is strange and then read the comics and knows nothing about this type of thing beyond that) call gay American west coast indie culture. Like, the main character feels like her older, more mature sister sang Jimmy by moriarty. The characters all feel like they have thir own problems and like that makes then human. The lore feels like something I used to write about my friends when I was fantasising about going on adventures and honestly it doesn't fit the format. Audiodrama just isn't the right choice for what they were attempting, but that makes up for itself as audiodrama was the only way this project would be as good as it is. The whole thing radiates diy project/labour of love energy, and that's what appeals to me

The absolute reverse of this is the lovecraft investigations. This is the BBC going back to their radio broadcasting days and showing us that what they do best is still done best by them. The actors, writers, and sound engineers are all on-fucking-point and while it lacks a certain amount of humanising grit in the gears that's a small price to pay for what is the audiodrama equivalent of something like taboo or cursed (look, I'm not usually one to use a Netflix original as an example of good media but they were some good watching. We need more dark fantasy) in that it's professionally made, unfortunately advertised, and underappreciated in the mainstream

Going back to the good indie shit, tapes from beyond is one of my all time favourite audiodramas which is saying a lot. This psychological fuckery gets to me in the same way as the first episode of the magnus archives did. But whereas the magnus archives relatively quickly turned into a more monster of the week thing for me with some amazing horror thrown in, this one stays thrilling if not actually scary throughout. I'll admit some of the more important plot points are more predictable than I'd like and... honestly kinda shit, and the believability of the meta subplot dissolves sooner than it could've, but the bulk of it is nearly perfect. It's just those few moments that brings it down. And all in all it's a magical show that does something I've seen attempted so many times before, but actually does it well, which is rarer than you may think

Last in my top five audiodramas that you haven't already heard would have to be brimstone Valley mall. It's hard for me to describe a comedy podcast without just saying "it's funny", but this is so much more than just a comedy podcast. There are plots upon subplots all held together by some of the funniest scenes you'll get in the format. This is one of the two podcasts that got my boyfriend into them. He sent me a voice message after listening to the last episode frustrated by the fact that there was no more to it. The characters are all compelling, interesting, fleshed-out, and yet wacky. This one is harder to accurately describe without spoilers, so I'ma just shut up and let you listen to it and form your own opinion

My most popular post since coming back is about recommending podcasts.

Good and valid. Please keep recommend g me your favorite podcasts that are macabre yet funny, dark and brooding, mysterious and gruesome, yet again still light in some places.

Some of my faves, throughout the years:

The Magnus Archives

The Amelia Project

The White Vault

WTNV

Currently on my To-Listen list:

Wolf359

Silt Verses

Archive 81

The Bright Sessions

If you can pitch it to me, I'd very very very very much appreciate it. Just saying 'I like this' doesn't inform me on *why* you like it, and I'm more interested in why you like it versus a one sentence plot summary. Thank you in advance to anyone who recs!!!!

If you'd like me to yell at you when I listen, please let me know. I love yelling at people when I'm listening to something they really enjoy :)

[hopefullystillatheatrestudent]

i'm so excited about you taking asks again ahhhh okay so. if you'd absolutely had to choose. what would be your top 5 cockles moments, and why? thank you ily <3

here’s the thing: there are so many routes i could go down with this, because cockles moments come in all shapes and sizes and formats. these include moments from their panels, their bloopers, the footage we get when they don’t even know they’re being recorded, stories being passed down from photo ops & autographs(one of my personal favorite ways to get cockles, tbh, because they’re all insane), and social media(tweets to each other, instagram posts & comments, etc.). 

SO! since many a list like this has already been made, and i want to stand out from the crowd, what i’m gonna do is definitively give the number one spot to each of these five categories.(i might even throw in honourable mentions because they’re so despicably in love that they warrant that. i really put my whole pussy into this, guys, i hope you’re happy.) 

disclaimer: these are my own personal opinions. but that also means i’m right. so. enjoy. 

number one: top cockles panel moment

so we’re starting off with a bang, because how do you even BEGIN to rank what atrocities jensen and misha commit at jibcon. every single one they’ve had is damning in it’s own right, for different reasons.

however, considering just how much unabashed fuckery they’ve given us to sift through, it’s a good thing i do have a personal favorite despite it all. it’s heartwarming, the sweetest thing i’ve ever seen, AND it’s jarringly cinematic - mainly because it has a whole ass arc to it that was years in the making. it might even be surprising to some people, but my favorite cockles panel moment, and what i consider the one that encompasses their entire gut-wrenching journey from 2008-2013 in the most sweepingly romantic gesture possible, is this one.

i want this burned into my retinas. i am not even joking. when i'm through with my explanation, let me convince you why this is thee most romantic cockles moment of all time.

first, some history: people call this the resume off, but many seem to forget the botched attempt at a resume off a year prior. and yes, you guessed it: it's during their break up. it's a juicy time period for a reason, guys. it came across as exceedingly one-sided and VERY awkward. let me refresh your memory as to just how bad it was, and just how hard jensen was trying and ultimately failing at winning misha over: the funniest part of the whole resume off in 2013??? every joke/bit had literally already been made/done. they were just going through the motions again, but the difference THIS time...is that misha reciprocated jensen's energy. it. is. fascinating. i want to get into it more detail in another post, and i'll link it here when i'm done, but the main takeaway, i think, and the main difference that showcases how much they've grown in a year, is that in jib 3, misha flat out refused to do an accent, and this time around, he indulges jensen for literal minutes. when i tell you they're crazy, they're crazy. i can't wait to actually dive into it later.

ANYWAY, the resume off culminates in this moment here. and, like, a million things happen in this gifset. actually, more like a million and one. the music starts playingneediremindyouthatthesongissingingintherain(h e l p), misha starts dancing, jensen 'perpetually fake grumpy' ackles lets misha think he's not going to join, misha sits down defeated, but no!!! that was jensen's plan all along(look at his stupid fucking smirk) and he offers his arm to his dance partner who immediately grins like a fool, jensen then leads misha into their kick step, they perfectly synchronise and let loose, and are then very clearly having the time of their lives, hanging off of each other with joy and ease. from their expressions alone i can tell that this moment is so. so. so. so! much more than what initially meets the eye. i mean-misha is fighting back the biggest smile i've ever seen. to me, it reads like jensen is offering something to misha, something that misha kind of gave up on expecting, and him offering his arm like that is like, a surprise to him in the best possible way(and it's so not platonic, let me just say that.) as soon as jensen did that, it ushered in a new era of cockles. this panel is jensen and misha's favourite for a reason, and i think this moment is the biggest clue as to why.

whew!!! ok. that took a lot out of me and that was only point one. moving on,

number two: top cockles blooper moment

cockles bloopers hold an extremely special place in my heart, because it shows just how fucking disastrous jensen and misha are. they are so goddamn infatuated with each other that they HOLD UP PRODUCTION ALL THE TIME TO FLIRT WITH EACH OTHER(???). let me repeat. let it sink in. jensen ackles; arguably one of the most professional actors on that show who puts everything he has into each scene, with mountains and mountains of notes to prove it: would rather hold up production to flirt with misha collins. this sounds fake. it's not. he does it. all. the. time. and here's the thing guys!!! i'm gonna let you in on a secret!!! misha loves it. he loveesssss it. on top of that-misha collins: overlooked because he's pranked and people assume he's unprofessional as well, but his only pranks are in retaliation/off-set, and he rarely if EVER causes problems if he can help it....lets himself get carried away when it comes to jensen making kissy faces at him!!! are you actually kidding me!!! i mean. misha. it's just a face. you've seen it a million times. i don't buy that it triggers something in you that strongly....you like it, and you like jensen's reaction. you can't fool me!!! lisa berry's face in that one gifset shows just how fed up the crew is with their gross, coupley boyfriend antics.

i could pull up so many examples. sooooooo many. but my favourite was sealed since the moment i saw it.

i actually already wrote an analysis on it but i can't find it :(((( which SUCKS because i really unpacked the whole thing. i'll try to summarise.

basically, a backstory is part of this too!!! jensen and misha both had a really really hard time with this scene(because it's explicitly romantic there i said it), they sat down for hours and poured over their scripts together, they were super super nervous going into filming, both of them, jensen especially, were super hard on themselves for their performances not being true to their characters but they both complimented the other's work(boyfriend moments fr). so, yeah. they weren't confident going into shooting. and how do they get themselves to feel better???? by cuddling each other, apparently.

a lot. a LOT. happens in this specific blooper. to the point that i saw it years before i knew about cockles and it raised all sorts of flags for me.

1) stop pulling my face towards your crotch(as a thinly veiled request that misha would, in fact, move jensen's face towards his crotch, considering it was jensen moving himself there in the first place. also, why so comfy down there guys???) 2) you're my baby daddy i know(in the most intimate voice i've ever heard please) 3) i know, i know, i love you too i didn't say i love you i know but you wanted to say it etc. misha's right, of course. that's what jensen meant.

it just reeks of comfort, familiarity and intimacy between the two, and it's a moment that is extremely sweet and silly at the same time. they're so <3

number three: top cockles found footage moment

WONDERFUL category. truly the culmination of the cockles experience. many people have said that shipping cockles doesn't work because 'they're just onstage you dummies!! they're playing it up for the audience!!!' here's the thing, love. i could not disagree with you more. once you climb your way up the cockles ladder, you soon learn that they are, in fact, playing their dynamic DOWN, not up. they really are just Like That™, and they could not care less about the paying audience, if we're being honest, considering how much time they take to giggle with each other and refuse to let the audience in on the joke. and i love them for it <3

anyway, my point is that this category is for all you naysayers out there, all you 'jensen and misha's relationship is just for show and is real life queerbaiting'(?????lordhelp???) oh yeah? ok, explain this.

he. he. he calls jensen sweetheart. literally enough said. there's nothing to really add here, except, misha and jared then immediately engage in damage control. jared's method is distraction and misha's is retconning('get out of the car, dude') this was what got me to buy into the cockles dumpster for GOOD good. you don't call your buddy sweetheart accidentally and sound so completely earnest while doing it! especially not when that buddy is jensen ackles!!! you think he would let any of his friends call him that? do you?

one more thing; if it was a slip of the tongue, little mouth thing or whatever, you think jared wouldn't have jumped on it immediately??? i can hear it now. 'did you just call him SWEETHEART???' yeah. that's what i thought. you know why he didn't? because it was too revealing.

number four: top cockles autograph moment

i mean, i think we all know what it's gonna be, and if you don't, well, do i have the piece de cockles resistance that is gonna send you over the edge.

if you haven't heard of this story by now, as a cockles, truther, i'm gonna go ahead and get you to read it, because there is no possible heterosexual explanation for any of it, and you're fooling yourself if you think otherwise.

spoiler alert: it's the story where phones weren't allowed in an auto session, jensen nuzzles himself in misha's hair, leans his full body weight onto him, holds his hand, etc. etc. i'm imploding just repeating this back, actually. also, just, the sheer amount of stories from photo ops where they tackle hug each other or slap each other's asses or sing romantic songs to each other or almost kiss is, frankly, a lot. if i could wish for anything, it would be to witness them in person.

and finally,

number five: top cockles social media moment

this one is super difficult, because there's obviously a lot to choose from. but you know what? full send, i'm going with this one:

i just. what to say about this. how often do misha and jensen watch sunsets together for it to qualify as ‘always’ ??? why are sunsets synonymous with their relationship??? that’s like??? a very romantic thing????? ‘this guy’??? the fact that it’s a CANDID??? i don’t know guys.

that could have been better but i am TIRED so. there you go rose ily

[chickensarentcheap]

Spiderhead spoilers ahead

I could talk about this movie and Abnesti forever....for real...

@tragiclyhip​

Okay, so seeing the Spiderhead hate (and especially the Chris hate! WTF is wrong with you people? This performance was SPECTACULAR!!), I thought I’d bust out one of my fave parts of the movie.  And it’s strictly due to facial expressions, mannerisms, all that little shit a lot of people don’t appreciate in an actor.

Now (SPOILER ALERT) you’d think Abnesti is reacting to Heather’s suicide as “Oh my god, one of the people I’m in charge just fucking off’d themselves!”.  As one with empathy and basic human decency would.

But he wasn’t upset about what he’d seen. Not from a grief stand point. Not even the horror of witnessing what he did. Oh hell no.  What’s he flipping shit about?  This could ruin him.  If news about Heather got out, everything he’s accomplished so far will have been for nothing.  And then when it also gets out that he’s been using these people as test subjects for mind and emotional manipulation,  his ass is being sent to jail. That’s what he’s concerned about.

You sick fuck.

Chris played this perfectly.  The body language, the movement of the hands, his facial expressions, the way his eyes change (even the colour changes, for crying out loud).    This is the horror of a man who knows his entire life could be over because of this...well for a lack of a better word...fuck up.

Well done, Christopher. Well done.  

Yet somehow, you still find yourself sympathizing with Abnesti.

And think he’s insanely hot, despite his weirdness and quirks and just plain crazy fuckery.

But I digress.

This isn’t ‘over the top’ or ‘cringe’ as I’ve heard people say about Chris’ performance. This was a character driven piece and he stole the show. From start to finish. Unlike the rest of the cast (save for Mark Paguio, who as Steve’s assistant Mark was low key and flying under the radar the whole time with his quiet yet strong performance), Chris went all in and brought Abnesti to life in the most deliciously disturbing ways.

I feel sorry for anyone that can’t see his performance for what it is.  A piece of truly refreshing art. A brilliant, quirky, off beat, often dark portrayal of a twisted and tortured -yet somehow immature and lonely- man.

A little bonus from another fave scene. I’ll discuss that one later:

[p101recaps]

Broduce 101: Episode  7 (Quick Livestream Recap)

I’m sorry this is late, I took down notes when I watched the livestream and effectively passed out from exhaustion after lol

We go back for the position evals, and I’m sure by now everyone knows what went down. Not only was it top class fuckery, it was just sheer nonsense. The utmost shameless fuckery, all thanks to the ridiculous voting system and petty fans.

Mnet switched their editing style up. It’s more all over the place as opposed to the normal levels of all over the place.

BTS’s Spring Day vocal team kicked things off. They’ve been dressed well, in shades of pastel pink. 

This is a team of sweet kids.

They decide the main vocal will be centre but none of them can seem to sing well enough at their first discussion

Kim Youngjin gets to be centre because he has more impact than little Woojin and he also makes them all feel a bit bad because he points out this may be his last performance. He’s a rapper but feels comfortable singing after carrying his team last group mission

Only baby chick Seonho votes for baby maknae Woojin lol

It upsets him and his satoori wavers. His singing seems inconsistent, even though the vocal coaches prefer Woojin’s voice

Youngjin gives up centre to Woojin, which is smart. Sidenote: Youngjin’s new copper hair is a good look

Baby Woojin makes new mum Kahi coo, but he’s having a hard time hitting some high notes

Jinyoung’s tone gets a lot of approval. It’s very pleasant but I suspect there’s something weird about how he was trained. He sounds so strained and out of breath, which should be corrected quickly for idols

Daniel gets unnecessary screentime during the performance. Mnet needs to cool down

The stage is very beautiful and the boys look good but the performance was not great. Seonho showed off his piano skills.

Woojin’s voice cracked, as we all know from fancams. It’s a shame because they should have rearranged the song if they knew their main vocal was struggling with it. Strangely enough, Kenta and Seonho ended up sounding the most stable because they didn’t have as much to sing. Kenta’s a better singer than I thought. Youngjin’s good for a rapper too.

Live rankings: Youngjin<Jinyoung<Kenta<Woojin<Seonho. Kenta almost cries again.

NSYNC’s POP is up next. I could’ve sworn it was called Dirty Pop for the longest time. 

This is the team of low ranking trainees that were forced to pick the position and song because it was the only one with spots lefts, with only Jung Jung as an actual dancer. Most of them are singers and rappers.

Woodam is particularly discouraged because he’s not the strongest dancer and he’s only received whatever attention he has due to his voice

They’re scared at choreo check in since Kahi doesn’t pull her punches, but Kwon Jaesung likes their choreo and Kahi appreciates their rallying despite not getting to show off the skills they wanted to

The episode focuses on Woodam but they were all desperate especially considering that they’re low ranked as well. 

They work hard, bless them.

The full performance is better on broadcast than it was on fancam (I think they released dress rehearsal cams), they do as much as they could. Jung Jung does his flips and flashes his underage stomach. All in all cute but largely forgettable. They flash hearts at the end. Chungha sends one too.

Live rankings: Sangbin<Woodam<Insoo<Jaechan<Kiwon<Jung Jung. 

Rap evals, SMTM Who You is up.

This performance trended because of the Ha Minho edit. It’s hilarious because this means Mnet can actually do their job but are usually just sloppy. It’s also scary because it reminds you that they can Chanmi you easy if you mess up

All of them are rappers rapping this time around, but they’re a bit awkward around each other 

Euiwoong is specially feeling the dread as he has to perform with Woo Jinyoung, who is an acknowledged talented rapper by all the trainees, and Sanggyun, who has done the rounds at SMTM like every idol rapper. 

They’re not impressed by Euiwoong’s desire to be centre, and they all end up voting to make Jinyoung centre. 

This editing is really slick, I can barely tell they’re missing Minho. I can only catch him in reflections lol

Sanggyun keeps forgetting his lyrics but the coaches rave about Woo Jinyoung. They all get praised at dress rehearsal though

THEY FUCKIN BLURRED OUT HA MINHO LIKE HE’S JAY PARK’S ARM

I take back my comment about their editing being slick

The performance itself is fine, they’re really confident on stage. Sanggyun and Jinyoung in particular are good. Euiwoong isn’t great but after Dongbin last episode, I’m glad he can at least keep up. They get a lot of hype from the crowd and coaches. 

Sanggyun in particular gets a lot of passionate screams. 

The editing....oh man do I have a lot to say for this one when I do my in depth performance post

Live rankings: Euiwoong<Sanggyun<Jinyoung<Ha Minho. 

I am cracking up at how awkward this is. He must have been impressive though, he’d hyped himself up by whining about not getting to rap for a while so I assume he lived up to that. 

Rap evals, IKON’s Rhythm Ta is next

Namoo Actor’s Lee Youjin becomes an unwilling leader. He didn’t enjoy his stint carrying the responsibility last mission but his dongsaengs look at him hopefully. 

He sighs, giving in.

Starship’s little kid Gwanghyun gets to be centre although he’s originally a vocalist. He had rapped at the first episode evals too though?

He gets critiqued by the vocal coaches about his flow, and there’s a cute bit where he gets coached by Woo Jinyoung.

They seem to enjoy working together, and get along well. What a trio of puppies.

The stage is pretty average. There was nothing wrong with it per se, but there isn’t anything outstanding about it either. It would have been fun to watch live, I reckon, a fun song to dance or sing along to. Gwanghyun sings the bridge, which helps the performance. Enjoyable.

Live rankings: Youjin<Taewoo<Gwanghyun. He cries out out of guilt towards his hyungs. They must have all got really close. 

They showed the rap position rankings, and Nation’s Leader GodJonghyun was first. The performance was after his Sejung edit aired, and he looks very handsome, but he feels bad because of his mistake. 

Brand New Music’s Youngmin was second and Cube’s Lai Guanlin third.

Vocal evals, BoA’s Amazing Kiss is up

Aw I really miss her. 

Most of them picked the song never having heard it when their original picks got filled up. It’s an old song, and was more famous in Japan, where it was released first before it re-released in SK, if I remember right

They listen to it for the first time, and rearrange it with RBW Lee Gunhee’s help as leader. He also gets picked as centre over Yoon Heeseok, whose singing isn’t as reliable. 

It makes him Joo Haknyeon aka Kwon Hyunbin after, according to the editing, and he keeps being distracted and non committal. Gunhee feels bad. 

They have a discussion to talk it out. Heeseok cries. Healing and empathy. Power of friendship. Redemption arc! 

They impress BoA at their check in with her before before she leaves for her schedule

The set is beautiful, like the starry night sky. It reminds me of Lovelyz’s Destiny stages. Gorgeous.

The performance is good, the arrangements suits the song and the trainees. Yoon Heeseok forgets his lyrics and cracks his voice right after at the end of one of his lines, he recovers very well though. 

Gunhee and Sunghyuk are as good as I’d expected. Dongsu looks incredible, but that nasal tone needs to be reserved for sections where it truly fits. 

A wink from RBW Lee Gunhee that makes his eliminated RBW trainee friends die of shock. He’s really so extra, I love it.

Aw Dongmyung, I miss that ball of fluff. A fanaccount said Sunghyuk did his warm up dance that evening, which is beyond adorable if it’s true

Yoon Heeseok cries for Sung Hyunwoo too :(

Live rankings: Heeseok<Sunghyuk<Dongsu<Gunhee

Vocal evals, IOI’s Downpour. It’s also called Sonagi.

Lee Seokhoon is dressed in the same way that the team is lol

What is with this flood of millennial pink. 

I kinda like it.

Jaehwan picks Sewoon as his rival, look at this broship get the Mnet edit approval

Ha Sungwoon doesn’t want to be leader and suggests his hyung instead and so Auntie Jisung becomes leader with a dramatic ceremony befitting him

No one knew Yoon Jisung is a vocal behind the memes. A man of layers.

They all want to show off their serious vocal chops. Sungwoon gives up centre to Jaehwan. Auntie Jisung gives him a smiley double thumbs up

Hyunbin has really good luck with his teams. He gets a redemption arc edit from a very guilty Mnet that essentially pushed him off a cliff for Jonghyun

His team is helpful and he gets to be the Sohye to Jisung’s Sejung this time around. Jisung mentions he wants the team to do well and prove himself too since people have been horrid to him for being not handsome 

Trainer Seokhoon asks at one point if he knows why he’s 3rd in rankings, he says it’s because he speaks well/a lot. I’m not sure which one he said

Hyunbin gets a lot of coaching and support from his teammates but he can barely sing in his own range

Jisung essentially mothers Hyunbin like the halmeoni he is and his teammates flood the guy with support, creating one large GodJonghyun moment.

I’m the girl in the audience screaming Jisung-ssi Jisung-ssi hwaiting!

The performance is...very good. It’s like watching the If It Is You stage again. They get a lot of intense close-ups to look beautifully sad and use their voices to sound beautifully sad. It’s so lovely. Kwon Hyunbin’s voice is a sore thumb but it looks like Auntie Jisung is his coaching mum even there. 

Ha Sungwoon and Minhyun sound great, Jaehwan is of course flawless. 

Trainees that cry: Gunhee (ofc), Eunki (whose whole team helpfully flaps their hands at him to dry his tears)  and Seonho. 

Noh Taehyun blinks back his tears furiously, thinking of the fruit face comments, ending up having to brush his tears away before they fall at the end. Softie.

Hyunbin gets the whole crowd to chant don’t cry as he sobs. Little Woojin points out hilariously that Hyunbin yanked out his in-ear even as he cried

Live rankings: Hyunbin (pat pat goes Auntie Jisung) <Jisung<Sungwoon<Minhyun<Jaehwan. Auntie Jisung mom hugs everyone and Hyunbin cries again.

Vocal position rankings are announced, with Baby Chick Yoo Seonho third, Jung Dongsu second and Lee Gunhee first. 

Dance evals’ Get Ugly is up, with the most hype fans

They’re serving very teenage boyfriend looks, their styling is great.

Their behind the scene issues are stacked team problems. Daniel becomes leader, inspired by Nation’s Leader Angel GodJonghyun

Straight up, Samuel wants to be centre. So does Jihoon. Samuel has a breakdown. 

The more I watch him, the more it sinks in that he’s sixteen.

Park Woojin timidly wants to be centre too. Cutie.

They give it to Samuel because he’s so keen and the song is for a foreigner, whatever that means. 

The POP team says they have one good dancer with Jung Jung, but the Get Ugly team are all Jung Jungs lol

Coach Kwon Jaesung says they’re beyond the Avengers, they’re the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Okay then, Dabbing Ajusshi.

Their dance check in is a mess. They all have different dance styles and it’s affecting their team. Daniel suddenly feels the weight of being a leader, he’s more hesitant when it comes to choreographing as opposed to the other dance leaders. Kahi is not impressed, they need to get their shit together

The performance is fine. I have a lot to say about it in the in-depth post. Woojin stands out in particular as someone who catches your eye because of his dancing. Of course, Ong-ssi’s bit of showmanship is memorable. Daniel does too, his new hair works well on him. 

We see some more ab flashes. I’m becoming immune. I’m used to seeing them only when Nam Woohyun doles them out. It used to be like rain in a desert. And legal, too.

Hyungseob blows a kiss and winks. 

Park Jihoon made that anime reference a trend for real.

Live rankings: Samuel<Daniel<Hyungseob<Ong-ssi<Jihoon<Woojin

This show has wrecked a sixteen year old boy.

Dance position rankings place Noh Taehyun first, Joo Haknyeon second and Hong Eunki third. 

The stacked team’s fans sunk them. I hope they’re pleased. 

At least Noh Taehyun rose to heights he deserves. He’s a true triple threat, I’m glad for my crybaby.

I’m glad for Woojin getting some well deserved credit for his talent, but Samuel is a good dancer if nothing else, and having Park Sungwoo multiple ranks above him is a travesty. 

Jang Moonbok, in a display of unbelievable unfair immaturity, ranked last in the rap positions. Kim Dongbin ranked above him. I’m disappointed.

To sum up, Pledis Kim Jonghyun, Ardor and Able Noh Taehyun and RBW Lee Gunhee get the 110,000 vote benefit for gaining the most votes in their respective position categories. 

Next week, eliminations and song group missions!

This week’s rankings are based on on-site votings, plus benefits (10,000 for ranking 1st in their groups, plus 100,000 for ranking first in their position category):

Lee Gunhee

Kim Jonghyun

Noh Taehyun

Im Youngmin

Yoo Seonho

Kim Yongguk

Kim Jaehwan

Jung Sewoon

Joo Haknyeon

Park Woojin

Jung Jung