#the balance has been so off all season as far as featuring the contestants

[magratpudifoot]

I haven't seen every season of Drag Race, but I have watched most of the US episodes, and most of those I have watched in the past 4 months. So I feel comfortable saying this week's episode was the worst the show has ever had.

[arbeaone]

For “Great British Baking Show” Contestants, The Real Loss is the Endless Trolling

by Rae Robey Published on December 2, 2019 at 11:51am

Against the vast backdrop of high-octane and anxiety-inducing cooking competition television programs, The Great British Baking Show is an aberration. Internationally beloved for its affable contestants and endless supply of baking-themed anglicisms—“soggy bottoms” and “saucy puds” abound—the show follows a dozen or so home bakers as they compete to be named Britain’s best amateur baker. When the 2019 season premiered with a record-breaking 9.6 million viewers, each contestant was thrust into the public eye; most have racked up tens of thousands of Instagram followers since the season began in August. For American audiences in particular, The Great British Baking Show’s intrinsic wholesomeness makes it a cultural phenomenon: We could never be so well-mannered in a televised competition, but we do enjoy pretending.

The Great British Baking Show is, at most, an estranged cousin to American cutthroat cooking competitions like Chopped, Iron Chef, or even Cupcake Wars. In the Baking Show tent, contestants help each other finish their bakes, are graceful (even grateful!) in defeat, and despair when their purported rivals are dismissed from the competition. Each episode is predicated on kindness, love, support, and the freely-given home-baked comforts of the feminine domestic realm. Even the grand prize—a cake stand and some flowers, no cash—highlights the show’s near-pathological humility. Produced by a team called Love Productions, decency is, we can only assume, woven into the show’s DNA. But when Baking Show airs on TV, long after the last bun is iced and the final bap prodded, the trolling begins.

Each season, the bakers spend months immersed in icing sugar, bavarois, and ganache, frantically preparing for the 30 challenges of the competition. In addition to the generalized stress of executing difficult pastry skills while trying to impress professional judges on an international stage, the bakers are told by producers that they’ll likely deal with some backlash from a handful of disproportionately peeved viewers. After all, it’s a competition. But the backlash goes beyond competition, and, despite the warning, most bakers are blindsided by the frequency and ferocity of their trolling. And though adoring fans are certainly in the majority, online trolls yell the loudest. Stacey Hart, a Season 8 semifinalist, dealt with severe online harassment as soon as the season began airing. “I’m smug, I’m a bitch, I’m a worthless piece of shit, I’m a useless baker,” Hart told Bitch, describing the comments that strangers sent her. “[The show] was the best experience and the best thing—at the time—that I ever did. It became the worst thing I ever did.” Trolls loathed her pink, glittery bakes and how often she brought up motherhood; their caustic DMs and comments drove her into a months-long depression. “I’m quite a self-conscious person anyway, and it made me question myself,” says Hart. “Am I good enough?”

Before Hart, there was Ruby Tandoh, a Season 4 runner-up who was deemed a “filthy slag” who traded sexual favors and weaponized “female tears” for preferential judging. Tandoh wrote a piece for The Guardian in October 2013 describing the waves of “lazy misogyny” that followed each episode’s release, but shining light on the problem change much for future contestants. Claire Goodwin, the first to leave the tent in Season 5, was inundated with fat-shaming comments. Season 6 winner Nadiya Hussain, a first-generation British Bangladeshi, was told to “go home” on Twitter. Candice Browne, winner of Season 7, regularly endured comments from strangers who “fucking hate Candice, reckon she’s a right bitch.”

In a 2018 joint study with Element AI, Amnesty International named online trolling of women a human rights violation—one that social media platforms like Twitter continuously refuse to be held accountable for. The trolling of Baking Show contestants generally reflects the Amnesty International findings: White women are trolled hard, but women of color are trolled harder. Commenting on the viciousness of a particularly nasty troll, Hussain offered a succinct explanation: “I’m Muslim, brown, working-class and a woman! I may as well have ‘punching bag’ written on my torso.” In general, men are less likely to be trolled and, instead, are more likely to be trolls themselves, due to years of learned misogyny and—according a Brunel University and Goldsmiths, University of London report—a higher rate of narcissism. But on Baking Show, trolling often extends to the men with nearly as much vitriol and regularity as it does to the women.

Dan Beasley-Harling, a 2018 contestant and self-identified “gay-at-home dad” received the overwhelming bulk of Season 8’s cumulative harassment. “It was about five weeks of people just saying horrible things about me constantly. I had some really overtly homophobic comments,” says Beasley-Harling, referring to unoriginal jabs about queer sex and the suitability of a queer parent. Trolls can generally find a problem with any woman, but two types of bakers stand out as exceptionally deserving of harassment: women who don’t land neatly in the realm of palatable, perfect femininity, and men who aren’t stereotypically masculine. Beasley-Harling’s experience suggests that Baking Show trolls might take a more nuanced approach to their vocation.

Perhaps it’s not just about harassing women online—it’s about re-establishing gendered power dynamics and punishing those who flirt with the domestic on public-facing platforms. Domestic work has historically been an unpaid at-home venture delegated to women, so Baking Show contestants are either women overstepping their household boundaries or men crossing gendered labor lines. For a troll, either is a damnable offense. But with each record-smashing episode, Baking Show subverts the assumptions of where femininity belongs, who it belongs to, and how much it’s worth—roughly £24.2 million in predicted revenue. Still, exploitation is often and easily disguised as empowerment. Lest we forget, Baking Show contestants aren’t paid, and the grand “prize” has little to no real-world value.

To an extent, we all participate in the uninformed and unkind public judging that trolls have championed. We experience celebrities and public figures—especially women—as dehumanized subjects ripe for public dissection, each one existing in a vacuum sealed behind a screen. After all, the Baking Show contestants are filmed, edited, and packaged by professionals into easily digestible archetypes for the sake of a comprehensible and compelling storyline. For example, the latest season featured Michael Chakraverty as the optimistic goofball, Steph Blackwell as the irrationally insecure savant, and Helena Garcia as the spooky, whimsical free spirit. While these personas are fully inspired by who the bakers actually are, they’re ultimately deployed to create drama and tension where it doesn’t exist—that’s just the mandate of reality-TV editing.

But trolls live in the extreme, and for them the editing spurs online abuse. Beasley-Harling, for example, saw the trolling as a direct extension of Love Production’s editing. “I felt like the editing choices were very much treating me like collateral damage,” Beasley-Harling says. “I phoned Love Productions and said, ‘I don’t think you’re representing me fairly, I understand why people don’t like me.’ And they said, ‘No, you’re crazy, everyone’s getting a fair, balanced view on the show. It’s all in your head.’” Gaslighting, the Old Faithful of emotional abuse is regularly deployed against women, people of color, the LGBTQ community and other marginalized groups, is remarkably efficient at restabilizing power dynamics—exactly what trolls seek to do. A representative for Love Productions stated via email that: “Love Productions has always taken contributor care seriously and has robust protocols in place to protect and support those taking part in our shows throughout production and after transmission. These protocols evolve to acknowledge and address the changing media landscape and scrutiny.”

Depending on who you ask, however, the robustness of their protocols fluctuates. According to Beasley-Harling, past contestants have speculated that the Love Productions team tailors their level of attention and support based on the profitability of the contestant in question. After leaving the tent halfway through the competition, Beasley-Harling felt like Love Productions was less interested in protecting its contestants from trolling when money was to be made elsewhere, a behavior not dissimilar to reality television at large. “I barely left my house for three months. I was a shitty parent for three months,” Beasley-Harling says, describing the impact of his trolling. “To me, that felt like, ‘We’ve used you for the entertainment value and now we’re disposing of you.’” But Hart, the semifinalist who received the brunt of Season 8’s trolling and suffered a depressive period similar to Beasley-Harling’s, found Love Productions reassuring throughout airing.

“Every time I called them, they were wonderful. Didn’t matter what time of day,” says Hart. But she does concede that the emotional scarring from her online abuse outlasted Love’s self-proclaimed robust protocols. “They’ve got no idea how it’s affected me to this day,” says Hart. “I don’t think that’s their problem anymore, is it?” It remains to be seen how this year’s cohort of bakers will fare. Airing in the United Kingdom continued through October, and this year’s crop of bakers appear as chipper as ever, even online. So far, trolling appears to be minimal—maybe the bakers can avoid it if they subscribe more closely to normative gender expectations. “When I went on the Bake Off I wasn’t worried about my hair or my makeup or what I was wearing,” says Hart. “Maybe if I had made more of an effort, people would have been nicer to me.”

[rkheejin]

‧ ₊ ˚ ♡ MGA SEASON FIVE, EPISODE SIX— THE GROUP PERFORMANCES!

           •  •  •  vixx’ shangri la  ❪ 1:15 — 5:05! ❫                      w. kyungsoo, hyojin, suwoong & eric

     on her lips sits a beaming smile of triumph, satisfaction radiating outwards, and finally, she can allow herself a moment of peace. it feels far better than she'd originally thought it would, hearing her name among those considered the best for the second time that season, and she's elated ( she knew, oh she knew, that this performance would have been her best chance at making it back to the top— sure, they hadn't taken first, but they had gotten damn close. heejin could live with that for now ).

     even if she wasn't number one, she'd still been recognized— despite her shortcomings, despite the obvious weak link she was sure she proved to be in terms of certain skills when compared to kyulkyung and minho, she'd still managed to shine and show off her very best. heejin could never admit her true thoughts, too fearful of vulnerability amongst those she still needed proper time and a more relaxed setting to grow closer with, but she'd been worried.

     the thought of having to rely on her teammates to the possible point of them almost needing to carry her along as a way of compensating for her weakness' had plagued her all throughout the week. it had been a strong motivator for her as well, however, especially with the chance of her solely being eliminated if she couldn't match up to them and help keep them steadily afloat amongst the others— so, heejin had wanted to improve, had wanted to get better, and she had done just that with agreeable success.

     yet, despite being safe for another week, eliminations still manage to make her heart stop with full force and disbelief.

     she’s still proud, her body buzzing with unending excitement, but it no longer reaches her eyes the same way it had only a few short moments ago. what does reach her eyes, however, is the brunettes frame as she's made to leave. heejin doesn't even try to hide the obvious frown that pulls at her lips, brows furrowing in her own dejection— things seem to shatter then; wishful, rosy visions of her and jungeun continuing on in this journey together, succeeding together, advancing towards their dreams together just as they'd promised each other they would before all of this started.

    now, it's just her.

     she's lightheaded— it's an odd sensation, to cruise almost seamlessly on such a desperately craved high, but to still taste nothing but bitter disappointment.

     it's hard to focus after that, ears still ringing as her emotions fight for dominance, and it's all heejin can do to keep her features from conveying anything too telling anymore.

                                                                      ♡

     with her emotions already proving to be mildly unstable, her heart still throbbing from both eliminations as well as events in her personal life, now beautifully stained in vibrant violet hues, heejin has no idea what she should expect when her first day of proper practice with her new group for the week rolls around. introductions had gone as smoothly as any, dynamics presenting themselves almost immediately, and despite the unknown, heejin is given at least some insight from the very start— coach cheri was as sweet as her name, coach ella was not one to play games with, and coach wonwoo proved to be far softer than his piercing eyes probably led others to believe.

     it interests her greatly, especially once all eight of them are together and ready to get down to business. that interest, however, slowly dissolves into thinly veiled annoyance as days pass, and it's all she can do to keep herself from raising her voice in front of greedy cameras and impressionable seniors.

     heejin wants to succeed, wants to make sure she only gives her best— that had become her goal from the very moment she had learned who her coaches would be ( who her teammates would be ). they were a mixed bunch, more balanced in some areas and greatly skewed in others, but that was the least of heejins worries— she’s done this before; she’s worked with those different from her, managing to put on performances that succeeded despite these differences.

     but now, surrounded by four men as the only female contestant on her team, the determination to make herself stand out and to not let herself be overshadowed by those bigger than her ( physically speaking, of course ) had taken root in her mind strongly. she understood the risks someone in her position posed— not being able to hold her own, not being able to stand out properly, not being able to showcase the same amount of charisma as the boys on her team.

     she wasn't blind. she knew there were so many out there who still failed to see a girl's strengths when surrounded by boys doing exactly the same thing.

     heejin wouldn't let herself be seen as weak, not by anyone— not when labels like could hurt her standing in the long run.

     she needed to focus— doing so was easier said than done.

     the first real sign she picks up on comes during part distributions once they've all agreed on a song, and heejin is more than happy in how she excels the most vocally amongst them all. deciding her parts comes easily, her naturally higher tone and timbre slotting almost perfectly with every line she tests out, and for just a second, heejin believes the unanswered tension she can hazily feel in the air is simply there because they're all mostly still so fresh to one another— wanting to tread lightly when it comes to newly met people was only natural, after all, even when it came to people as friendly and outgoing as suwoong seemed to be.

     her gaze finds suwoongs frame the moment he voices himself, eyes darting back and forth between him and kyungsoo as her lips remain sealed. she doesn't move from her spot before the practice mirrors where she'd started trying to fine-tune certain points of their choreography, phone in hand as the recording they had taken of them dancing silently plays on. his voice rings so clear in the quiet of the room— can i try this part, too?

     it's rare that she ever finds herself witnessing squabbles like this, and it's in the way she sees kyungsoo stand his ground, the way suwoong doesn't falter in his challenge, that heejin thinks she finally understands why the air seems thicker than it really should be.

     personal attachments and grudges were a tricky thing— they were the main reason heejin didn't feel the want to get too close to anyone during the duration of the competition, people like jungeun, yuri and kyulkyung being those among the exceptions. she hadn't come here to make friends; heejin came here to compete, to show her talents and move on to the next stage in her life. there was no time to dwell on personal feelings, not when practice and performing required as much energy and attention as possible.

     maybe, had she met certain people in a different setting, she'd have felt more interest in making proper friends— but that wasn't the case here.

     she remains silent as their little debate comes to an end not too long after, trial and error settling them right back where they’d been. in her mind, there was no use in coming between others arguments, not when she wasn't needed ( not when this wasn't about her ). heejin already had more than enough to worry about— if her teammates could solve whatever issues they had between one another amongst themselves at some point, she felt no need to stress over them. for now, she needed to worry about herself.

     unlike last week, every group would be down a member once eliminations were over. there were no longer any safety nets, no cushions to relax on regardless of how outstanding your team was. one of them would be gone come thursday, whether they felt it justified or not.

     yet, it seems distraction after distraction is all she gets the longer they practice. granted, not everything dissolves into ruin, their general teamwork skill fairing well at certain points of the day. no one explodes, causes disruptions, or sours the mood more than it'd already been earlier.

     the first time suwoong hits her with his fan, however, fingers unable to get a proper grip before it delivers an audible whap to the back of her head, heejin wants nothing more than to yell at him ( had this been the only incident that day, had she not already been a little tired from how hard they'd all already been working in order to perfect what they could, maybe she'd have been more lenient and not so ready to explode, but it's not— no, she feels he'd done his best to disrupt her multiple times already, bumping into her a tad too harshly from time to time in the groups efforts to get their movements more in sync ).

     she does well to keep it together, however, the only tell of her feelings being an annoyed quirk of her brow, lips forming a tight line, a sigh leaving her silently to let out built-up steam. she stares at him for a moment, gaze hard as she gives a small shake of her head, and his apology falls on somewhat deaf ears— she doesn't want to hear it, not now. "it's fine, let's just keep going."

     she has to save some sort of face in front of them all, has to show, while she's not one to push around, she can be civil when the situation calls for it.

     it surprises her, however, when suwoon extends an invitation out to her to join him and eric during a very much needed lunch break the next day. her mind is still reeling from the events that'd taken place not even a moment before— the tension in the room coming to a head, exploding in an outburst between kyungsoo and wusoong, and heejin can't help the way she visibly flinches as the former bursts out of the room, his fan hitting the practice rooms floor with a thud. maybe it's the shock of it all that prompts her to accept despite her own personal feelings, wanting nothing more than to get out of a room sophisticating with negativity.

     for the most part, she remains quiet as the others reveal their own feelings about things within the group, but it comes out of nowhere— she'd wanted to leave it be, keep herself silent until all was said and done, mainly for the sake of making it through the week without causing even more distracting rifts between them all. but she can't.

     she's gone too long holding her tongue, with keeping herself silent where she'd normally be so outspoken and ready to let her thoughts known. it makes sense, she thinks, that at some point, her exterior would chip. so, as she voices her own annoyances to suwoong, tone curt brows furrowed as her gaze stays locked on him, it feels as if some kind of weight has been lifted from her shoulders. it's an unfamiliar feeling, but then again, letting everything go after bottling it all up is something heejin has never done before.

     she hopes she never has to do it again.

     her confessions help some, but there's still something in her that wants to stay annoyed— call her petty, childish for holding into to things that very well might not be there, but her own assumptions and drive to prove someone ( anyone ) wrong won't let her calm down completely. at least she's given an apology.

     with monday comes mild fatigue— both mentally and physically, the worst she thinks she's felt yet during the competition ( more so than last week, when her emotions had been in an all-time confusion ). it's a lot to keep her gaze forward and mind focused when it seems there's always something causing a distraction, her body finally succumbing to slight soreness with how dance-heavy their routine is for her. heejin has always been a singer, has always put her time and attention towards strengthening her vocals over everything else, so she'd been well aware that being thrown into such dance-heavy routine requirements for two weeks in a row would take a toll on her body at some point.

     it's as she giving her body the proper stretches it needs before they all officially begin with more practice, face bare for the first time in front of them all ( unlike the last few days where she'd decided to do light makeup ), that suwoong and kyungsoo bring them all together. she wants to hate how nice the former is to her now, holding out the donut box they'd brought for the group as a final way of hoping to quell any lingering negative thoughts, but even with how stubborn she is, heejin knows better— she understands what this is, a silent peace offering.

     heejin swallows her pride, a small half grin making its way onto her lips as she reaches in for the first pick. "thank you." we're ok.

     with one final heart to heart, all five of them present and willing to speak for the sake of bettering morale and motivation, that day proves to be one of the easiest to breathe she's had since they came together. it's refreshing, ending things off on a higher note as they finally break and begin to practice.

     dancing still proves to be her vice, but there is undeniable improvement in her movements, heejins will to work harder and clean up anything pointed out as lacking or messy at its highest— with everyone now relatively on the same page, it's easier to out her focus on improvement, and as their final few days pass, she's happy with what she's able to showcase. she no longer has to hope for her vocals to boost her standing when paired alongside her dancing, more confident pulling off a routine as elegant and unified as theirs is ( even with the changes that'd been made to make it a bit easier to follow ).

     the day before filming, fans in hand with varying enthusiasm from each of them, fans are gifted to the three of their coaches— the serve as thanks for the time spared working with them, messages written as a way of immortalizing their gratitude. while the week may have been a trying one a good chunk of the time, with things ending on a higher note before the big day, heejin feels good.

     now, they just had to perform.

                                                                      ♡

     everything feels so different, contestants sat backstage, rather than in front of the stage alongside the judges. it's an unfamiliar feeling so heejin, staff members working around them all as last-minute preparations are done here and there before filming officially begins. she's not sure what's got her skin buzzing with electricity more— the bigger stage, the potential usage of more intense props in the hopes of making stages pop, or the crowd of 1500 people who would be watching them all live as opposed to relative silence and smaller numbers they'd all come to know once filming began.

     whatever it is, heejin wants more.

     eyes bouncing from face to face as everyone settles down to begin, a brief sense of melancholy washes over her— it's still so odd to her, jungeun nowhere in sight when she should have been there ( at least, heejin believed she should be there ). it still saddened her knowing that her best friends run had been cut right before the beginning of the end, but it was a reality she'd been forced to accept during the week between episodes.

     she'd come to terms with it in a way, as unfair as she wholeheartedly believed it to be, and strengthened her resolve— she would continue on and succeed for the both of them, and when the time came, they'd meet one another on the same field once more.

     as performances start, it's easy for her to let her mind wander for a moment, offering a brief moment of peace to steel herself and prepare her mind. vaguely, with her eyes stuck to the screen showing what the others are performing, she lets herself nod along to song choices and analyze. then, as if no time at all had passed, it's finally their turn to perform.

     stood before the judges and live audience, heejin is sure to keep her head high, a confident grin on her lips as she holds her fan loosely. with a cue from suwoong, they sound off their unified introduction before individual ones are given. when it's time for heejin to give hers. "i'm jeon heejin, youths over flowers' gladiolus. like a sword, the very thing this delicate flower is named after, i'll make sure my passion pierces your heart." for the dramatic flair, she opens her fan adorned with the pattern of the very same flower as if it's second nature, raising it slightly to cover the lower half of her face, letting only her eyes and the bridge of her nose show as she bats her lashes prettily.

     as suwoong ends off their introductions with his own ( heejin can't help the way her eyes roll playfully, suppressing a grin ), they're quick to find their positions, fog rolling at their feet, and suddenly, the playful mood they'd originally brought to the stage is gone in favor of something more somber with the dimming of the lights, intense and alluring.

     heejin no longer smiles, her features instead schooled into something more along the lines of captivating, eyes dark to match the mood as the instrumentals begin, the flick of her wrist down with a certain grace, one she'd been sure to perfect as best as possible over the last week. they had to do this right, in sync with one another in order to achieve the polished effect it was meant to give off as if they were all single parts that made up a whole.

     moving positions as starts off the song, the lights becoming brighter once again, heejin makes sure to focus on the sharpness of her movements while also trying to keep a certain fluidity to her body— it's an odd balance to try and find right from the start, but she does her best, sinking to her knees along with the others slowly as suwoong is revealed and sings his own line.

     coming to the center, heejin commands her own attention, vocals smooth, warmth present as she starts the second half of the verse and delivers her lines with tempting charisma. her gaze is intense, holding focus from those watching her. she's glad her portion for this part of the dance isn't too distracting or overbearing on her body, allowing for her to perform it well while keeping her voice steady.

난 네게 취해 아득한 향기에 기대

     she's swift in her change of positions as suwoong comes to the center once more, moving back to where he'd previously been standing before making his way back to the front. her features stay consistent, this brief time of being hidden as they all form a line as suwoong and eric do their parts for the bridge letting heejin put a little more focus on keeping her moves as in sync as she can. arm fanning out as it should, the line eventually parting as the two move off to the side, heejin comes forward with an air of mystery and longing.

모든 숨소리가 너인 것만 같아

     as she finishes the pre-chorus, moving back into position with the rest of the group, the chorus begins, hyojins vocals taking control as they all dance in sync. when practicing, there had been no questioning heejins trouble with making sure she did the moves correctly, even once certain moves that had proved to be a bit too difficult had been changed in favor of something easier. while rhythm wasn't the issue, it was more of making sure they all timed their movements correctly. there was also the matter of making sure she looked strong, charismatic, as she moved her body, letting herself follow the beat well as the others did the same.

     moving forward for the second half of the chorus, she does so with intent, gaze dead center. she moves gracefully, certain points allowing her to do so, and her voice is strong as she delivers.

난 취해 좀 더 취해 이 꿈속에 빠져들고 싶어 넌 다가와서 내게만 스며들어

     the next time heejin is meant to sing wouldn't be showing up for a bit, and so, she chooses to do all she can when it comes to her facial expressions and dancing. with no longer needing to focus on making sure her voice sounds as good as always, she's free to move with a certain edge, and she's able to look out amongst the crowd and judges every now and then. whenever she does, she's sure her eyes a half-lidded, lips never wavering from their neutral position ( though, sometimes, she does let a sliver of a smirk cross her lips ), long hair adding to the illusion whenever it happened to fall over her face perfectly.

     it'd act like a curtain, and once the chorus arrives again and she steps forward to take over the second part to it, she runs her fingers through her hair with her free hand slowly, freeing her features and adding to her own appeal.

난 취해 좀 더 취해 이 꿈속에 빠져들고 싶어 넌 다가와서 내게만 스며들어

     as she finishes and the others take on their parts, it all comes back down to focus— making sure every step she takes is one without hesitation, making sure the aura she bleeds is one that fits the tone of the song, making sure that, even when she isn't in the center, she still demands some form of attention by the look in her eyes. it's all simply a buildup, unknown to the audience, and with each line sung, each part of the choreography taken care of, everything changes as the lights dim once more, just as they had been for the start of their performance. this time, however, unlike how tame everything had been, this dance break holds more power in it, demanding precision heejin normally wouldn't care to give.

     now, however, she performs it with great attention and vigor, hoping to capture it's beauty and intensity the best that she can.

     she can feel her heart racing, breaths labored, but she does her best to keep herself from letting them out through the mic. instead, as they finish the break and the lights flicker back to normal, she takes a deep breath during their brief moment of rest before she belts out a high note, layering over eric as he begins the first part of the final chorus. then, she steps in to deliver her last vocal lines.

가까워지는 넌 다시 또 마음에 피어나잖아

     as their performance comes to a close, the chorus ending and all of them striking their ending pose, their fans all flick in unison as the lights dim for a final time, marking the end of their time on stage. heejin takes a moment, letting herself catch her breath before she shows her face fully once more, a smile growing on her lips. as they give bows all around and are ushered off of the stage, she lets out one last sigh.

     all there was left to do now was wait for their verdict.

[rksakura]

🔊: lo siento ( lyrics + lines ) | ( dance ) | 👚 duo performance with 💖 sakura miyawaki & kenta takada mentions: @rkmason​, @rkxkikwang​, @rkchoutzuyu​, @rkkenta​, @hyojinrk​, & @rkkyungsoo​ 

sakura isn’t one to showcase an upside-down smile, practically a frown on her bright features. she’s a ray of energy, an energy pill if you might even call her but she still has her limitations just like everyone else. she’s only human in spite of her charisma on stage, she still finds it hard to believe that as the episodes go by, so do her friends say goodbye. she’s never one to take it too well. moving around different parts of australia throughout her lifetime, every time she made friends, she’d cling but eventually parted ways, causing a great rift from her friendships. she’s the kind of person to store friendships in her heart deeply, always willing to go out of her way for her friends. she’d consider them a second family when her parents were out of the country, friends are her source of happiness!

she’s met faces where she forgotten in time too. sakura knew friends that she couldn’t remember by name but recognises them by their faces, it was at a time she went to summer adventure camp as a six year old in kyushu. this feels similar to that time, she’s growing at a certain distance from the ones she loves. she should’ve said hi or a good morning to her best friends, asking her other friends how they are doing as well! but she’s got her time busy filled with volunteer work from the aquarium, practising and being in and out of the studio for recordings or dance rehearsals, and university.

it feels like everything’s overwhelming, got a whole lot on her plate and almost as if she was carrying the whole world on her shoulders, juggling it. she had to balance everything out to the point she’d follow a schedule to keep herself grounded. that’s a great and healthy technique to go on about her days other than her body adjusting to auto-pilot mode for a lot of her personal moments. noted that sakura did her best to do her work while remaining sane throughout it. she liked her free time too much, especially freedom!

sadness flows through her as she nights pass by realising that she can’t share the same spotlight with any of her best friends. that meant no kikwang or tzuyu, plus she hasn’t even hit them up. she knows lacking but she’s afraid to say a word to her friends after the loss. she felt it too but she tried not to dwell on it too hard as she needed to smile on her performances, people were taking pictures and the cameras are all over the place. plus the big five ceo/judges had their eyes locked on the australian gal.

though, there’s faces she doesn’t want off the show that can be on the risk… it feels that anyone can be eliminated for various reasons. sakura didn’t expect herself to make it this far but she’s grateful for the experiences that are letting her experiment with the best of her abilities and themes that compliment her flair for rapping and music. she can only wish for the best when it comes to the others! she has to give in the other half her partner is dedicated to this project, she can’t be unjust and fair to her duo.

kenta feels refreshing and nostalgic, she’s reminded of how and communicating in japanese without hesitation. she gets along with him perfectly, vibing with his energy effortlessly. the aren’t feisty but rather friendly to one another! she’s been aware of his presence, long before this took place to where they’re led on the chapter of the mnet global audition season five.  he’s definitely a better dancer than her, without a doubt. so she finds solace in his advice when she learns through the moves over and over again until she moves through the choreography fluidly. it didn’t take much for sakura to memorise the instructions though. she’s able to dance but not on a level where she can run up on the stage freestyling to a strong rhythm! she’s on the flexible side than showing off sharp moves.

she touches up on her spanish from years ago, going through her favourite spanish playlist to help pick her pronunciation so that she doesn’t sound like she’s completely new to the language and its structures. she took the language repeatedly, moving up to levels on where she was able to hold a conversation in latin america and spain throughout her travels with her parents. sometimes, she’d rather sing in spanish rather than english but she didn’t get on the levels to be fluent. perhaps next semester she will if there’s extra time for her to fit in with her classes and the labs. she’s got the lyrics down after a couple of hours of singing through it, she needs to practise her pitch to hold a tune.

sakura’s vocals aren’t horrid, she’s able to stay on-key and present her soft, relaxing tone to her voice. she didn’t rely on herself to hit the high notes when it came to the ad libs, she worked around the song to stay within her range when in the recording. the sound is sweet and easy on the ears, meshing with the song quite well actually. there’s a part where she gets to a korean rap which requires her to flip the switch again to another language! she speaks korean on the daily so it isn’t hard to find the unique flow in her rap.

sharing tips with her duo partner is also essential, she’s giving him some pointers on facial expression when it comes to dancing. an aspect that judges make sure that they judge and notice when performers are on the stage. she’s been told that much from trainees that she knows of.

piecing the dance and live singing wasn’t exactly hard, the movements are simple. she needed to find the perfect outfit to go with the theme of the song, she decides to go with a flowy red dress with ruffles that was cool enough for her to dance in freely. gradually, being on the spotlight makes it a little hotter temperature-wise in terms of body heat. she’s going to perform in an area of luminescent so it’s best to stay in thin layers. she hasn’t worn heels when performing in so long but she picked up a cute pair of red dress shoes that looked like they were comfortable, tapping all around here and there when dancing. this outfit should work wonders with impressions! red is a nice, sultry colour that compliments her.

she sits down patiently until it was her turn to be called up.

she’s one of the first few to come up with her partner, kenta. she takes a bow greeting the other contestants who are watching, as well as the judges with a big cordial curve on her lips. waving a hand before the music starts, she lets the broadcast be known what she and kenta are as a duo! “we’re the global couple duo! and this is our performance for today. i hope you guys enjoy it!” she looks over at kenta, greeting him with a small smile too. he looked so fancy in this attire, a great choice for this theme that went with her red dress.

the pre-recording of her voice starts off, it’s a soft sound to the elements. she takes the lead up front, sliding to the side and letting kenta sing through the first lines. she makes sure to follow through the choreography naturally, showing a smile at all times as she’s enjoying the upbeat vibes from the song. the instrumentals’ a  good choice, it’s not the typical kpop sound but that’s what she was aiming for. to try out different themes to which she liked, she intends to be a versatile artist. she’s known to be a rapper but can also hold the title to being at least, if not, an average vocalist.

she moves her hips to the sound of the beat, staying on par with the rhythm of the song, getting ready to sing through the spanish lyrics. leslie grace has a pretty elegant-sounding voice with a light tone to it, so it’s not hard to sing-along to but sakura prefers to sing in her own tone to not sound like a copycat, trying to imitate the artist. sakura’s never been on this level where she has to dance in heels, holding a microphone and singing at the same time. maybe even rapping as it’s coming up. she’s crouching as she sings then picks herself back up on the floor once that part is over with.

grace is an essence she has to retain throughout the entirety of this performance, sakura’s picked up the tweaked up choreography that kenta improved to make her movements lean on the feminine side. she faces him in certain moments, with a deep look to her eye––emotions are deep, making the stage more entertaining. delivering a good and energetic performance, one that many will enjoy is her goal! she picks herself up elegantly through the dancing, delivering a torrid image than her typical signature cute expressions.

who knew she sounds so good in stage speaking three languages? english, korean, and spanish.

the dance is not normally in her element but she loves the light ballroom dancing and tangos that takes place in the chorus! it’s even more fun when she twirls, when she does she lets out some giggles. it truly looked like she was having a great time on the stage without faking it. that’s how much she liked music, breathing for the sensation of it. holding hands are couple things but kenta’s a good friend that sakura doesn’t flinch but flows with his dancing naturally too. practising made amazing results.

kenta’s korean is ridiculously good to the point sakura wishes she spoke it like him as she needs to learn more but is holding up to the best she can do. she mirrors the dance movements that kenta is doing, making sure to stay in sync with the beats. she doesn’t have a whole lot of experience with harmonising but this was good practise for it, she doesn’t sound horrible as sakura’s been practising to tune in with kenta’s vocals for this specific part. she takes some parts from the chorus but stays on tune the whole time whilst dancing through.

english lines come out from her voice pleasantly, no accent and punctual. her accent with her spanish sounded crisp too, sakura’s really holding up with speaking the languages. she’s more surprised that she didn’t wind up using a japanese song but she needs to leave a mark for this season. she’s more than just a pretty face or a jane doe.

once the rap comes up, sakura uses a stronger tone to her accent to adjust to the risque theme but not explicit to the point it would sound suggestable and not suitable for work. she still retains a lighthearted feeling to her rapping, but sakura has the charisma to get her through this and she can work through the rap without breaking a sweat. it’s what she’s best at, delivering a good verse with eccentric energy! she moves through the twirls swiftly, with a grin on her features as she dances!

when the instrumental is at its last few minutes, she shifts her body into a pose for the end. the spotlight on her and kenta, she takes a polite bow before taking her leave. still, the faith in her friends not being eliminated and kenta doesn’t leave her system. it gives her an itchy antsy nerve-wracking feeling but decides to stay to watch the rest of the performances. she wanted to see what mason, hyojin and kyungsoo had to show. she also wants to cheer for them, giving them some encouragement as the stage can be intense! sakura is the kind of person to stay behind her friends to support them in events.

[thesevenseraphs]

Bungie Weekly Update - 7/26/18

This week at Bungie, we’re preparing for a celebration.

The Tower is getting ready for the kickoff of Solstice of Heroes, starting next Tuesday, July 31. To keep the party lively, you’ll find bounties to help you track your Triumphs and new challenges for upgrading a new armor set. All the details are laid out in the Solstice of Heroes article. The event will run from July 31 until the weekly reset on August 28.

Today, we showed off what some of the new weapons and armor can do in Forsaken. We love it when the game does the talking. Here is a glimpse of some of the tools of the trade that arrive with Forsaken on September 4.

Full Stream Ahead

Ever since we started talking about the second year of Destiny 2, we’ve dropped a lot of hints about how the state of combat between Guardians will be changing. We know you have questions about how you’ll be using your weapons next season. How will you equip them? How will you customize them? How will you earn the ammunition you’ll need to use them?

Some of these things defy explanation, so we’ll demonstrate the performance of the new arsenal in real time. You are invited to watch us engage in combat—for science!

Year Two Combat Reveal Stream

Tuesday, August 7, 10 AM PDT

twitch.tv/bungie or youtube.com/Bungie

Joining us again in one of the hot seats will be full-time Senior Sandbox Designer (and part-time rockstar) Jon Weisnewski. He makes some promises that we’ll keep when we go live on stream.

Newsk: Hello friends! If you’re a sharp-eyed PvP enthusiast, you may have noticed from some Forsaken coverage that the weapons are doing a bit more damage than they do in the current version of Destiny 2. If you’re a seasoned Destiny 2 player, you may then extrapolate the possibility of a global lethality pass on weapons and abilities that may or may not be in the pipe to go live when Forsaken is released. I’m here to quickly confirm that, along with weapon slots and ammo availability, we have globally adjusted the “time to kill” in the Crucible. If you’d like more details, join us on stream and we’ll get into it! See you then!

And that’s just one question we’ll answer beyond the shadow of a doubt. Tune in for a full demonstration of perks, mods, loadouts, and everything else you’ll need to know to best your fellow players in battle. We can’t give you skill, but we can equip you with a pre-mission briefing.

Save the date, follow our channels, and prepare your favorite chat room snacks.

Back to the Lab Again

Crucible Labs has been on hiatus for a while. It’s time to start experimenting again. Senior Designer Andrew Weldon has the details about the new mode coming next and when you can expect to see it go live.

Andrew: 

Hello again!

Back in May, we launched the first Crucible Labs playlist with the game mode “Showdown.” As discussed in the following week’s TWAB, this was a good opportunity for us to test the playlist on a relatively safe baseline that we had mostly already shipped for Crimson Days and the standalone Doubles playlist. The first test served its purpose—we stood the system up and got great feedback on an in-development mode. We’ve also made one noteworthy change to Labs as a whole—with the 1.2.3 update, Labs matches will now also count toward your Valor ranking and will offer standard Crucible rewards at match complete!

Now that we’ve released that 1.2.3 update, we’re ready to deploy our next Crucible Labs experiment to you—“Lockdown.” Lockdown is a new 4v4 round-based Competitive mode that, like Control, is about capturing and holding zones. Unlike Control, your only score comes from playing the objective. Those of you from the Taken King/Rise of Iron era know this mode’s predecessor, the Control variant “Zone Control.” Here’s how it plays out:

Both teams start Lockdown with a “Progress” percentage of 0% displayed under the scoreboard. Once a team holds two zones, progress will begin ticking up for that team at a rate of 1% per second. There is no round timer—the first team to reach 100% will win the round, and the first to win three rounds will win the match.

That’s not all, though—if a team can successfully capture all three zones, they will instantly win the round, regardless of each team’s progress state. A well-coordinated push from your opponents will always be dangerous, which means you need to stay focused on your objective.

However, winning a round that way is not necessarily as simple as it might seem. To earn capture progress or win on the triple cap, you must hold uncontested zones. If a team holds two zones, you can fully halt their progress by contesting one or more zones (you’ll see “PROGRESS HALTED” display under the scoreboard to let you know this is happening). They won’t start earning score again until they clear you and your progress off the point(s). The same applies when going for the triple cap lockdown—the instant win only applies if all three zones are completely clear.

We’ve seen some really exciting matches play out from this ruleset internally, and we hope you have similar experiences out in the wild! As with any Labs playlist, this mode is not final, and you may come across some tuning issues or bugs. Your most direct avenue for feedback on this mode will be in a new Labs thread on the Feedback forum, and we’ll be monitoring the conversation we see around the mode to pluck out actionable items for future iteration and polish.

We hope you enjoy this first look at the new mode—and you can play it right now.

Shhhh

Many Guardians have heard whispers on Io and rushed to investigate. Some of you encountered a long streak of Cabal drills—far too many Cabal drills. We did some investigating to see if this was a bug. Turns out there’s no bug, but the current random generator doesn’t do a good job of preventing streaks of either event.

We’re currently investigating ways to prevent these bad luck runs in the future. We did some simulations to see if there might be any more long streaks of one type of event in the forecast. We expect a few more outliers, but balanced with long streaks of only Taken Blight events. This activity will be available every week, and once you do unlock the Heroic version, it will stay unlocked. We will continue to monitor the situation. Happy hunting.

From Now Until Forsaken

Earlier this week, we published a new Development Roadmap. Previous editions of this forecast were more focused on our plans for the future. With our immediate future looking brighter—even with a darker story to tell—we’re using the Roadmap to telegraph the updates you’ll need to download before your second year of Destiny 2 can begin.

We’ve been pretty true to the plans we laid out in the last roadmap, but there were some new entries. As we do, today we’d like to provide some commentary on Director Updates and Milestones and Challenges Updates.

Two of the main functions of the Director have been to help players know what to do next and lead them to sources of more powerful gear. We have some new ideas for how we can better support these goals, so we’re changing the way those things work.

There will be three ways to acquire Powerful Engrams in Forsaken:

A whole new challenge system that will replace the way you have been tracking milestones.

Specific quests and bounties will provide better gear, indicated by their summaries.

New mysteries are rarer sources—but if we told you about them, they wouldn’t be mysterious.

Most of these sources of power will be refreshed weekly or daily. Some will be one-time sources.

Once these changes are deployed into the wild, the “Milestones Blade” will call attention to these activities:

Critical, required missions such as the main campaign or new subclass path pursuits

Next steps for quests or other aspects of the progression of your characters

Legacy milestones from Destiny 2 campaigns that aren’t becoming “challenges” or quests

Additionally, the layout of the Director will be updated to accommodate two new destinations: The Tangled Shore and the Dreaming City. You’ll obviously need to purchase Forsaken to visit them, but they’ll appear on the interface that we all see.

Today, we wanted to set some expectations for what’s changing, and why it was on the roadmap. You’ll understand the full experience for how these new (and improved?) features lead you on your journey to your maximum potential as a Guardian when you play. That’s always the best source of understanding. Plus, discovering the path is part of the fun.

Save the Dates

There are plenty more than just downloads that have to happen before Forsaken launches. With Gambit as our special cargo, we’re heading to gamescom, where we will make some important announcements. We’re going to PAX West, where we’ll mix it up with the community (and, yes, play some Gambit) one more time before launch. As always, there will be fun things happening in the game to keep you challenged and entertained as you count down the days until September 4.

Check out our August calendar of events in the game and in real life.

The Sacred Texts!

A popular request among Guardians is to see the Grimoire committed to print. Today, we are proud to announce an upcoming Destiny Grimoire Anthology.

Until now, the myths, mysteries, and machinations of the Destiny universe were found hidden throughout the worlds—enticing threads that hinted at a greater tapestry. The Destiny Grimoire Anthology weaves tales from multiple sources together for the first time, casting new light on Destiny’s most legendary heroes, infamous villains, and their greatest moments of triumph and tragedy. Each unique volume intends to illuminate a facet of the world, and the complete anthology will confirm and challenge players’ thoughts and assumptions about what it means to be a Guardian, offering new and differing perspectives on the cosmic war that rages between the Traveler and its ancient enemies.

The first volume is titled Dark Mirror and available for preorder on the Bungie store. Look for it this fall wherever books are sold. It will also be published in additional languages and available in additional regions to be announced.

Service Guarantees Citizenship

There are many ways we collaborate with our players to make a better game. We pore over feedback loops from multiple sources on the internet. We contract notable experts among you to join us as testers for a limited run. Sometimes, we’ll even host a summit in our studio to dig into our future plans. Those measures, while effective, unfortunately don’t stand a chance of including everyone.

Bungie User Research casts a wider net. Willing test subjects complete online surveys. There are even occasional invitations to visit our studio and step into the lab to sample something in development. The registration questionnaire has been updated with new data points that we’d love to know about you. If you’re already in our database, hit it again. If you didn’t know about this opportunity to do your part, this is your chance to sign up for a future testing opportunity.

Would you like to know more?

Fill out our User Research Questionnaire, and we may call upon you to participate in a live-fire exercise sometime in the future.

For the Monarchy

New Monarchy claimed the third and final Faction Rallies victory of Season 3. They were dominant in previous seasons but were winless coming into this one. The faction managed to squeak out a victory despite Dead Orbit having more players pledged. It’s about action, not promises.

Helping Hands

This is the Player Support Report.

Tuesday Morning Glory

This week, Destiny Player Support became aware of an issue impacting the Glory bonuses earned by players who were completing three or more Competitive Crucible matches a week.

With the launch of Crucible Ranks in Season 3, it was intended that players who were Fabled rank or below would receive a bonus allocation of Glory points following the weekly reset of any week during which they completed three or more Competitive matches. After investigating player reports regarding this feature, we have determined these Glory rank packages are not being granted as intended.

While we’re working with our Crucible team to investigate this issue, players should expect that this issue will persist for the remainder of Season 3. Players who are aiming to unlock Glory rank–based rewards for Season 3 should plan their Crucible play accordingly.

For more information, players should visit our Seasonal Crucible Ranking help article.

Destiny 2 Hotfix 1.2.3.1 Next week we’re deploying Destiny 2 Hotfix 1.2.3.1 to players. This hotfix is the final barrier between players and the launch of Solstice of Heroes, and all players will need to install this hotfix before they can join the celebration. Provided below is a brief timeline of this deployment. On Tuesday, July 31, 2018:

9 AM PDT: Destiny 2 Hotfix 1.2.3.1 will become available to all players.

9–10 AM PDT: Players will be prompted to accept Hotfix 1.2.3.1 as they return to orbit after completing activities.

10 AM PDT: All players who have not yet accepted Hotfix 1.2.3.1 will be removed from activities and returned to the title screen to take this hotfix.

For more information on this deployment, players should see our Destiny Server and Update Status page. For live updates on this hotfix as it becomes available, players should follow @BungieHelp on Twitter or monitor our support feed on help.Bungie.net.

Solstice of Heroes

Next Tuesday, July 31, 2018, Solstice of Heroes will kick off in Destiny 2. Before this event goes live, here are a few points of vital information:

Before attempting to complete a Triumph, players should make sure they have acquired it from the Statue of Heroes. Some Triumphs may need to be completed again if the Triumph is not in the player’s inventory at the time of completion.

For Moments of Triumph, adventures and Region Chests are tracked by the character that has completed the most of them, and they are not tracked account-wide. Players who encounter issues making progress toward these Triumphs should make sure they are playing on the character that has made the most progress toward these Triumphs.

Progress toward Triumphs and event rewards may be lost if players delete any characters on their account. For the best experience, it is recommended that players do not delete any characters until all desired rewards have been redeemed and Solstice of Heroes concludes on August 28, 2018.

Since the reveal of Destiny 2: Forsaken, players have asked whether or not Cayde’s Exotic Stash will be included with pre-orders directly from platform online marketplaces. We can confirm that this pre-order bonus will be available to all players who purchase through the PlayStation, Xbox, and Battle.net online stores before launch.

Additionally, shown below is what players can expect to become available to them in Year 2, based off of title ownership:

For information on purchase eligibility from other retailers, players should visit the official destinythegame.com page.

[khellamendra]

GAC Often Cost Too Much

This was my entry for a Side Character Appreciation contest on the Voltron Amino which I actually ended up winning. I had a lot of fun writing this and I love the characters in it. They don’t get enough love. Voltron in general has a lot of great side characters that I would have loved to see more of. I’ve seen zero evidence that Rolo made it to the last season which makes me really sad.

This stands on its own as is but I plan to expand it. I’ll do it after October. I have like six other challenges to get through this month plus a Zine I’m participating in. Story is under the cut, enjoy!

Title: GAC Often Costs Too Much

Characters: Rolo, Nyma, Beezer, Te-osh, Matt

Pairings: None officially. I honestly love Rolo/Matt though.

Word Count: 4,334

“I need a favor.”

Rolo took a deep swig from the bottle, enjoying the burn of the liquid. He had been doing his best to keep his head down and not drag attention to himself. Even his normally flirty companion had yet to leave the table except to score a few free drinks for them. Despite picking a table in the back of this dive hadn’t apparently been enough. He didn’t know how these people did it.

“We’re not joining your little group Te-osh.” he finally said, leaning back in his chair. Putting a hand behind his head, he gestured to their group with the bottle. “Actually takin’ a night off, for what that’s worth.” It wasn’t exactly a great idea to try and pilot a ship when you were trashed. He could do it, had done it in fact, but the repair cost had been enough that he promised himself he wouldn’t do it again. His dismissive attitude apparently wasn’t obvious enough as the feathered woman took over the empty chair, much to Nyma’s annoyance.

“I’m not here about that, not this time but the offer is open if you ever choose to take it.” She said evenly. Nyma rolled her eyes though Te-osh missed it, eyes focused on Rolo who was still just as uninterested. 

“So why are you here then?” Nyma scoffed at his question and crossed her arms. He shouldn’t be encouraging this but if there was one thing he knew about the rebel, it was that Te-osh was very focused. If they didn’t hear her out, she’d hang around or try again at the worst possible time. When she wanted something important then she got it. When she leaned in, he knew it had to be along those lines.

“Very soon, I will need some...cargo moved.”

There it was. “I don’t do live cargo that isn’t a bounty. Not since that Yalmor almost destroyed my cargo hold. The pay was not worth the clean up and the jerk tried to get out of paying. Didn’t appreciate having to wring it out of him.”

“I did.” Nyma said, snickering when he made a rude gesture at her.  

“This one should be much more behaved.” the rebel pushed. From the look on Nyma’s face, she obviously wanted him to say no. Taking another long drink, he sat the bottle heavily on the table.

“Tell ya what. I want to see this ‘cargo’ first and if it doesn’t look like too much trouble, I’ll say yes.” Rolo ignored the obvious and loud sigh from Nyma.

“You’ll say yes.” Te-osh said, standing up. “Stay in the Eluridan System. I’ll contact you when I’m ready.” She continued, dropping several GAC on the table before leaving without another word. Large fingers pulled the coins towards Nyma.

“I don’t like this, something about it feels off.” She said, idly starting to count them.

“I don’t either but after the Empire confiscated all our stuff, we could use the GAC.” He raised a brow as a smile finally came back to her face.

“Looks like the rest of the rounds are on her.”Nyma said, flipping a coin his way. Holding it up, he grinned.

“At least we know she’s good for it. Doesn’t mean I’m gonna say yes.”

“Of course not. Any thing the rebels want is a bad idea and we’re already barely getting by as it is. You know that we got lucky with Prorok right? If those Voltron jerks hadn’t been so trusting, we would have been locked away, or worse.” She said, waving someone down for their next order.

“If they had been a little more trusting we could have gotten away. They were pretty stupid.” Rolo offered with a shrug. “Either way all this business talk is killin’ my buzz.” He picked up the new bottle when it was sat down. “To the rebels, for their contribution to this round.”

Nyma grabbed hers. “And to several more!”

By the time the call actually came, they had forgotten about it. After dropping off a bounty at the closest outpost, they were all ready for some more downtime. Even Beezer looked ready or that could have been the new algorithms Rolo had installed a few quintant ago. As far as they were concerned, Beezer was a much a part of the crew as either of them. Not the best drinking buddy but great for flying their drunk butts around when necessary. Pushing the button, a familiar face popped up. “Yo Te-osh, I almost thought you might be dead. Congrats on another day.”

“Meet me on Varaden. One varga.”

Beezer gave a warning beep and Nyma frowned. “Varaden? That place is a dump and overrun with space pirates.” she said, sharing a look with Rolo.

“One varga.” Te-osh repeated before cutting the communication. Taking his hat off, he ran a hand through his hair.

“Rolo-”

“I know, I know.” He sighed.

“You’re not serious. Varaden doesn’t even have good booze.” She argued, crossing her arms. He laughed wryly. “True. Still, you know how she is and something about this whole thing has my interest piqued. What would she possibly risk bringing to Varaden of all places unless it was super illegal? Job like that’s expensive too.” He said, rubbing two fingers together with a grin.

“I suppose Beezer can keep the ship ready in case we have to make a break for it.” Nyma muttered, still not looking convinced but caving all the same. Rolo slipped the cap back on.

“That’s my girl, let’s go.”

Varaden was a damp and boggy world where it always seemed to be raining. Rolo thought he remembered hearing it use to be a more lush and sunny planet. At least until the Galra had gotten a hold of it and wiped out the natives. Space pirates had decided it was undesirable enough they could have it, which wasn’t a wrong assumption. The Galra had moved onto bigger prizes though some showed up now and then to slum it up. The weather always made his lower leg ache and the ground was unstable, filled with hidden sink holds just waiting to steal unsuspecting boots.

Shaking the water from their hoods, Nyma grumbled at her pants. The cloaks were heavy enough to keep them dry but no matter how careful you were, the mud always found a way to come with you. The bar was an even bigger dive than their last stop, noisy with laughter and at least one fight that was going on. A few glances came their way but everyone seemed more interested in their own companions or egging on the fight.

Nyma tapped him on the shoulder and pointed. There across the room he could see her, looking as calm and put together as she always did. It wasn’t until they got closer that Rolo realized she had something at her side. No on a second look it was actually someone, dressed in a brown cloak though he couldn’t make out any features with the hood up. Joining her, the person at her side was visibly startled and she put a had on their shoulder. “It’s okay, they are going to help.” Rolo was tempted to correct that they might help but bit his tongue. Even Nyma was silent on that front. “I need you to take him to these coordinates.” She said, inputting the information and sending it. They both pulled it up but it was Nyma who looked the most pleased at the GAC amount that came with it.

“I think I’m starting to warm up to this job after all.”

“Good. You’ll need to leave immediately.” Teo-osh stated, glancing around for the first time since the two of them had gotten there.

“Leave? We just got here.” Nyma whined and the other woman shook her head. “It needs to be now.” she repeated firmly. Scowling, Nyma played with the ends of her hair. Rolo knew that signal, one of many they had when discretion was the most important. Glancing to the left, he saw them, almost obscured by the crowd, bounty hunters, empire ones at that. He knew they weren’t here for either of them but that didn’t make him feel any better, not when he had a feeling who they were here for.

“Now you see why you have to leave now. There was only one before.” Te-osh’s voice cut  through his thoughts. Rolo sighed. There were currently four and the more time that passed, the more that would surely show up. “Well no fun for us tonight. I hate exercise too.” he grumbled. “Hey you.” Rolo finally addressed their far to quiet guest. “Hope you can run.”

The figure glanced up briefly, most of their face still hidden by the oversized cloak. “I-I can try.” The voice shook, sounding a lot younger than Rolo expected. This was not going to end well, he could already tell.

“No try, do. Otherwise I’ll owe our friend here a refund and I hate giving back good GAC. Get ready.” Leaning back in the chair suddenly, he bumped right into a short Unlilu who had been painstakingly carrying way more glasses than was safe or practical. Immediately sitting himself back up, the small action had been enough to put the poor fellow off balance and tumbling right into the neighboring table that was already well on their way to being drunk. The rowdy songs died the minute the drinks came down, drenching half the party and leaving only one very obvious culprit who was face first on the floor. The Unilu looked up just as the large hand came down, trying in vain to cover himself. The blow never happened as one of his larger companions came to his defense and just like that the fight was on.

“Now, go!” Rolo didn’t have to tell them twice, all of them jumping up at the same time and making a break for it just before the two large aliens fell on the table, still fighting one another as the rest of their respective crews joined in on the fun. Looking back, he saw their mystery guest lagging behind, the route he wanted to take blocked by the fight.

With no other choice the boy had to go the other way, frantically looking for the woman he had come with. More patrons were starting to crowd into the space, drawn in by the new entertainment. Holding the cloak tightly around himself, he caught a glimpse of purple and gold moving away from everything else. With no other choice he followed them, dodging various creatures and appendages. Never had he been more happy to be out in the humid and wet air, welcoming the sound of heavy rain. He might have enjoyed it more if he wasn’t standing in the middle of the muddy courtyard, still looking for any sign of Te-osh. The sound of someone shouting drew his attention and he looked back to see an unfamiliar alien pointing at him. That was all he needed to start running as fast as he could.  

The consistent rain and mud weighted Rolo and Nyma down but they couldn’t afford to stop. A sharp cry caught his attention and they looked back just in time to watch the small figure fall. Swearing in his own tongue, Rolo stopped. He should have just kept going. This wasn’t worth the GAC, the clean up, or the stress. He was not a good guy and yet here he was running the opposite way of a nice warm and safe ship, free of drama. Long arms easily picked up the bundle that thrashed in his grip. The extra weight caused his leg to sink in the mud and he cursed again. “Stop it, it’s me you idiot.” Pulling with all his strength, he was glad the boy (because surely someone this small was not that old), couldn’t see because he wasn’t sure he was going to get himself free. Reaching for his blaster, a shot came from behind and caught the first guy square in the chest. Nyma put her arm around his waist, helping him pull his foot free in time for him to shoot another one.

“The least this planet could have given me was a drink or five.” She grumbled before they started running and he managed a wry smile.

“I don’t think even that’s enough to be worth this.” He retorted. Shooting another one, it was enough to trip the other two long enough for them to get around the corner and slip into a nearby crumbling archway. Pressed up against the wall, they both held their breath as the sound of shouting and footsteps passed by. It wasn’t until they had faded that either of them thought to breathe again. Nyma cautiously looked around, purple eyes peering through the heavy rain. After several ticks she shook her head.

“A-are they gone?” The kid had hands wrapped around Rolo’s neck, face pressed to a shoulder. Rolo would feel bad for the kid if it wasn’t his fault this was happening.

“For the time being but they’ll circle back around eventually. If we don’t make a move soon, they’ll find our ship and stake it out.” Nyma said, pushing buttons on her communicator.

“Oh. I..um...I can walk now if you want.”

“No offense but you’ll just slow us down. I think I’ll just carry you. Not like you’re heavy or anything.” Rolo stated, peering out as well before readjusting his hood and heading out into the rain with Nyma in tow. A face pressed closer and he could feel a small body shivering against him. Apparently he weren’t built for this kind of weather, what a shock.

They didn’t have any problems until they got to the docks where more of those same people were hanging out. Rolo couldn’t help but think that was way to many for one measly kid. Keeping an eye out, they made their way as casually and stealthily to their ship as possible. They finally breathed a sigh of relief as soon as they stepped on board. “They aren’t going to try and stop us?” Rolo had almost forgotten about the burden he had been carrying, mind more on not getting caught.

“Nah this ship is registered as a cargo ship for the Empire. We can go wherever we want. Now if they had seen us gettin’ in it, that would be a different story.”

As soon as the words were out of his mouth the small body tensed against him. “You’re with the Empire?”

Rolo rolled his eyes and practically dropped the boy, earning a startled yelp in the process as the kid got tangled in his own cloak. “If I was, I wouldn’t have carried your water logged butt this whole way. There were plenty of nice people out there just waitin’ to take you off my hands.” He said, pulling off his own cloak and hanging it up before heading for the cockpit, Nyma already ahead of him. “Better take yours off too. I don’t need whatever foreign germs you might have affecting us if you get sick.” Rolo said, flopping down in the chair and taking over for Beezer. They needed to get out of here before even thinking of cleaning up which he knew they were all dying to do. His companion could grumble all she wanted but she wasn’t the one that had to carry a wet and muddy kid around either.

They had just left Varden’s atmosphere when he heard their guest finally decide to join them. “Um do you happen to have something I can use to get cleaned up with? Sort of cold and...gross.” The soft voice asked, earning a chuckle from Rolo.

“That’s what you get for fallin’. I can show you where it is.”

“Hey ladies first!” Nyma protested, shooting Rolo an annoyed look which he ignored.

“Like we have any of those on this ship. Besides next checkpoint ain’t for another several varga. Beezer can handle this.”  Rolo turned around, smile turning into a frown as he got his first good look at their new charge. Something about the look on his face caught Nyma’s attention and she turned as well, swearing under her breath.

He had been right about their guest being a kid but he hadn’t expected a human kid with an all to familiar face staring back at him. If Rolo hadn’t already heard him speak, he might have wondered if they were the same person but no this obviously wasn’t one of the Paladins of Voltron. That wasn’t what had the both of them on edge, no the ragged purple and black outfit that clung to a too skinny and shaking frame was a big red flag.

(He’s an Empire prisoner.) Nyma said, switching her translator off. (She wants us to smuggle an Empire prisoner.)

(Which would explain our new friends.) Rolo stated.

(And not just any prisoner. Look at him, he has to be related to Voltron somehow. There wouldn’t be so many after him if he wasn’t important. We should drop him off on the nearest planet and be done with it. This is trouble that we don’t need.) She continued heatedly.

“Sorry did I do something wrong?” They both looked at the boy who had wrapped arms around himself in a vain attempted at warmth and comfort. Shaking his head, Rolo stood up.

“Nope, it’s cool. I’ll show you where to go so you can stop tracking mud everywhere.” Nyma scoffed and stood as well.

(Eventually our luck is going to run out. He’s not worth it.) She said, practically storming out of the cockpit. The kid had been quick to get out of her way, staring at the door she left through.

“Cool huh?”

“Yup. Now stop asking questions and follow me.”

Leading the boy through the ship, his companion was a little slower than he would have liked. That mostly had to do with the way he kept looking around in wonder at all the stuff they passed. Rolo didn’t think it was that interesting, the same typical stuff most ships had. Any modifications he had made over time were hidden and not completely legal. Then again nothing he did was ever completely legal. Stopping, he pointed at a door on the left. “That’s Nyma’s room. I would suggest you do not go in there for any reason. Fair waring.” Walking again, they went down another hallway before he pointed at a door. “That’s my room. For now you can have...” He thought about it before stopping again. “This one.” Pushing the button, the door slid open with a soft hiss. “Nothin’ fancy but probably better than what you had.” He said as the kid walked in, turning in circles as he looked around. “Get cleaned up, I’ll see if I can find something else for you to wear.”

“Thanks! Um..”

“Rolo. My name’s Rolo.” he said, watching as a smile finally appeared.

“I’m Matt. Thanks Rolo.” Such genuine cheerfulness just seemed so out of place with things the way they were. This kid had no doubt been through a lot and yet something as simple as this could make him smile. He wasn’t going to last long out here, Rolo decided as he rubbed the back of his head.

“Yeah no problem. I’ll leave whatever I find on the bed.” With that he left the kid on his own to figure it out while he went down to the cargo hold to dig through his stash. What did humans even wear? The Paladins had some kind of uniforms on so that didn’t help. Not wanting to think to much on it, he grabbed a bunch of stuff. Matt seemed pretty close to an Unilu in shape, that was was probably good enough right? Dropping it off as promised, he could hear the sound of running water coming from the adjacent room and someone moving around. “Brought you stuff. If you need somethin’ else I’ll be in my room for a bit or the cockpit.”

“Cool thanks!” a voice called out and Rolo bit back a sigh. This kid was too much. Maybe Nyma was right after all. Shaking it off, he went back to his own room to finally get cleaned up. He made a face at the sound boots made as they came off. Moving his leg carefully he could feel the difference in the prosthetic, no doubt clogged with mud from when the foot had sank after he grabbed Matt. Just another thing on a long list of things he was not going to let bother him. Instead he washed himself off, dropped his clothes into the laundry tube and pulled on some new ones before sitting at the desk.

It was messy with various tools and parts on and around it with just enough of an empty space for him to work. Carefully removing the leg, he pulled a light closer, switching it on before assessing the damage. The outside had been cleared of mud but as he started to take it apart, his concerns were proven correct. The slimy mud really did know how to get everywhere. Grumbling to himself he set to work, rolling himself around as needed. When he checked the time, a couple of varga had passed but at least it was finished and he was more aware of how tired he was. Leaving the prosthetic on the table, he rolled himself over to the bed, making a deep noise of appreciation as he laid down, putting hands behind his head. He must have dozed off, woken up by the sound of his door opening. (Finally cool down and get your head on straight?)

“What?” Opening his eyes, the person in the doorway was most certainly not Nyma as he had anticipated. Instead it was the kid again wearing some of the clothing he had picked out. “What are you doing in here? Figured you’d be takin’ a nap after all this.” Matt moved far enough in the room for the door to shut behind him, fingers playing anxiously with the long sleeves of the shirt he had chosen. It took Rolo a moment to realized Matt had tied the second pair back. Matt must have picked up on what he was looking at because he started fidgeting more. “There was an extra pair of sleeves and I didn’t want them to get in the way so this is the solution I came up with. I did try to sleep but I couldn’t. Every time I do I just have nightmares.” After everything that had happened, Rolo should have guessed that would be the case. It wasn’t uncommon for sleep to be elusive. Even for him, though he didn’t need much sleep to begin with. Generally enough booze fixed that problem but sometimes that was a luxury they couldn’t afford. Focusing on the kid again, he realized that eyes were now fixed on his leg or rather where it should have been. “It needed a little maintenance after all that runnin’ around we did. Was too lazy to put it back on.” He had lost it too long ago to be hung up on it though it was amusing the way the kid got all shy again. “I didn’t mean to- I’m sorry.” Rolo shrugged. “Don’t be, doesn’t bother me. Things like this happen.” He wasn’t prepared for the sad look that came across Matt’s face.

“It shouldn’t though.”   

“Maybe but it’s how it’s always been and always will be.” Loss was just a reality of the Galra Empire. Everyone knew that. Those that hadn’t lost anything would soon enough.

“It won’t be. Te-osh said there are people fighting against them and not just the rebels.” Rolo sucked in air through his teeth. Voltron had seemed so certain too but they had been less than impressive. Enough to beat a couple of low level bounty hunters who had gotten to cocky but not the entire Empire. Matt seemed pretty confident that he was right and as easy as it would be to prove him wrong, Rolo let it go. It wasn’t worth the fight or the headache, at least that’s what he told himself. Moving an arm from behind his head, he held it out to Matt. 

“Come ‘er kid. Before you fall asleep standing up.” Matt hesitated, obviously weighing his options before deciding to accept it. Maybe it should have seemed odd at how he curled up so easily against Rolo but considering he was a prisoner not so long ago, the comfort of another person had to have been scarce. It was obvious he didn’t want to be alone. “You seem pretty confident in all that.” Matt nodded. “I am and I’m not a kid. I’m seventeen.”

“What’s that suppose to mean?” Matt huffed.

“It means I’m practically an adult by human standards.” Rolo hummed thoughtfully.

“Well I can’t prove you wrong so we’ll go with that. Kinda small though.” He grinned at the pout on the boy’s face.

“As if you have anything to compare it to. Besides puberty generally happens between 10 and 16 for guys. I’m just a late bloomer, probably because of all the trauma. I’ll hit a growth spurt soon.” It was a bit of a surprise how easily Matt could say all that so matter-of-fact.     

“You got me there. Now go to sleep.”  The big yawn was more than enough proof Matt needed it, and he curled up a little closer.

“Okay.” The room fell silent again and Rolo was convinced Matt had fallen asleep before his voice filled the room again. “Hey Rolo?”

“What?”

“Thank you.” Rolo fought off a smile at the word.  

“Go to sleep Matt.” A small nod was all he got before breathing slowed and evened out as Matt finally stopped fighting sleep. He sighed softly. The kid was giving him too much credit.

[rkchungha]

✧ ☆⋆MGA SEASON 4 - #4040⋆☆ ✧

(ROUND 6 - Summertime)

✧ hurt locker - 9Muses (line distribution)

✧ outfit

✧ hair & makeup

✧ featuring: TEAM E Olympus: Demeter ( @rkwon ), Zeus ( @rkxsicheng​ ), Apollo ( @rktae ) Hermes ( @rksomi ), Ares ( @junhoerk )

oh how the mighty have fallen. to go from second place to nearly last the very next round makes chungha’s insides churn. she feels hollow with the mixed reviews her teams seem to be getting. barely good enough. never at the peak they could be. it was starting to feel like every other contestant in the mgas who hasn’t been eliminated has had a taste of what first place was like but her.

(she’s being dramatic but the mgas were a rollercoaster of emotion and it was dragging chungha along for the bumpy ass ride.)

her only saving grace were the new teams this round. she was in a group with people she mostly considered her friends; save for two individuals she had yet to meet. the first was wonwoo. he was a bit on the quiet side. he introduced himself as won (to which chungha said, “won? money man. you’re a money man.” and he jokingly responded, “i wish”). he was cool. shy but definitely worth getting to know.

the only other person she was first meeting was taehyung who, for some inexplicable reason, just exuded a funny and chill nature that he and chungha clicked immediately. no awkward getting to know each other conversations. it was just as it was. being that she was the eldest (again), taehyung took to calling her noona quickly. for leader, her vote went to sicheng. between him and wonwoo, she had worked with him previously. sicheng was a hard worker and despite the language barrier, he did well.

choosing the song was a long process. they had so many great summer songs to choose from. they started with ten songs and finally narrowed it down between two: red flavour and hurt locker. the group settled on hurt locker by 9muses. this sparked the idea from chungha that they should call themselves olympus like greek mythology. taehyung added that they should all go by greek god names too. chungha ultimately decided on aphrodite, with a smile tossed junhoe’s way when he went with ares himself.

by the end of the first day (after chungha sat down and got the basis of line distribution), chungha had taken to wearing a baseball cap while she practised with her hair stuffed into it. she stayed late that first day with junhoe. because he had so many main parts, he sadly had to be put in centre despite his lack of dancing skills. junhoe had the singing down pact, thankfully. it just required a lot of focus on the footwork.

it was nice to be on a team of dancers. somi, wonwoo and sicheng picked up on the dances as quickly as chungha did. this left the four of them to helping the two dance-challenged members of their group for the latter half of their practise days. wonwoo (money man, as chungha continuously referred to him as) offered to help with placements. there was six of them and 8 members of 9muses at the time of this comeback. it made it all the easier to shorten it for the group’s sake.

wonwoo seemed the most comfortable in conversation when it was centered around the performance. chungha thinks he’s cool, talented and obviously knows what he’s doing. “thanks for helping me,” she says gratefully. “usually because i dance the most in my teams i’m usually doing all the placements myself and having to figure it out.” she pats his back. “thanks, money man. i think you’ll make a great leader to your next group next round.”

during one of their breaks, while the group was eating together, somi and chungha were making plans for her outfit this round. “you know you can just borrow my clothes,” chungha tells her in between bites. “it’s cheaper that way and i know we wear the same size.” she shrugs. and if somi wanted to keep the outfit, she definitely could. lest her father get upset with her outfit again. “i’ll facetime you tonight and we can go through my closet.”

after practise hours she stays behind to work on her own parts and help whoever else needs it. in the morning, junhoe picks her up and takes her to the sphere building so they usually arrive together. on wednesday morning, they both stroll in wearing hats on their head, completely obscuring their hair. it’s a normal feature for chungha now but today she never removes her cap.

come time for the relay, chungha reveals her hair colour. after her two minutes was up, she stuffs her blonde hair back into the cap. it remains that way for the rest of the week.

taehyung and chungha (mostly chungha) were joking at first in attempts to find a way to make their group stand out that much more with their team name and stage names. they were mostly stupid ideas until chungha mentioned taehyung taking centre and doing something dramatic as he introduced the group. she demonstrated with her sweater how she envisioned him walking up and throwing a coat off of him, mimicking his deeper voice when she says, “we’re olympus!”

it pushes them both in a fit of laughter over it. the joke becomes a little more real the more they flesh out the idea. soon enough, the entire team is on it, pitching in ideas with how taehyung should be a diva and toss his coat on someone before they do their group introductions. they practise until they have it down pact.

come the day for recordings, they’re the last group to go on. it’s a bit nerve wracking having to watch everyone else and be unable to gauge how well their performance would be perceived. chungha hopes that with their introduction coupled with being a girl group performance (the only one) will catch attention.

when team e is called they go up on stage as they practised with taehyung in centre. ”we’re team olympus!” taehyung introduces. he does his coat stunt as they practised earlier in the week. chungha giggles as she helps push the coat off stage. for each of their solo introductions, they introduce themselves as their greek god counterparts. “hello, I’m olympus’ aphrodite!” chungha says with a wink.

they move into position for their performance. chungha adjusts her hair before the music cue. she keeps her demeanour bright as they start the song. it was more of a sexy song so chungha keeps it in mind to play up the facial expressions as she performs.

dancing, chungha’s right shoe felt a bit weird. she ignored it, dancing away regardless of the weird feeling it kept giving her whenever she rose from a squatted position. in the midst of somi and sicheng’s verse, chungha feels her heel snap. her right leg buckles. she stumbles the little hops during somi’s line. she kicks off the broken shoe towards the back at the end of somi’s verse. for a few counts she has to do in one heel, her barefoot on her tip toes to stay balanced. thankfully junhoe’s verse right before chungha’s own calls for her to go back into a kneeled position in the choreography. she quickly slips off the other heel and tosses it to the back of the stage. she has to rush a bit to reach her mark in the front. she does so calmly, singing the bridge into the chorus confidently. she stands at her normal height barefoot like this — which is shorter than how she’s seemed thus far considering most of her performances had been done in heels.

the stage is cold beneath her feet. she tries to not let it bother her (and she tries not to think about how mnet will choose to edit this). instead she puts focus into the latter half of the performance that she has left to finish strongly. to show that despite the malfunction, she can still dance and sing damn well. her cheeks are a bit red; she feels the heat in them. yet as the song goes on, the embarrassment washes away. besides, there’s better things to focus on in the performance. like how taehyung “subtly” (she can’t tell) pats her behind during his rap or how she smirks when hands are on her in her last full verse in the song, winking at the camera before the group separates to wrap up the song.

everything feels different once she’s off stage. it rushes at her all at once. she holds the final pose for three heartbeats until she moves, scurrying to the back of the stage to grab her heels. she feels a thick lump in her throat that she can’t remove. she can only hope that it doesn’t reflect badly on her.

[rkwon]

the curtains will quietly fall.

( ★ ) mgas season four       → 4.1: team beagle’s 2018 bop !             → love scenario cover ( line dist. ) !

placing so low last week reminds him that it’s never enough to believe in yourself or your team, to feel confident and comfortable in what you have achieved not only over the course of the week but in the real, final performance, too. it reminds him that there’s more to this than doing your best; that trying hard only works in academics when you already have potential, only works in sports when you already have a physical background. because at the end of the day, no one else knows you feel happy, no one else feels what you feel, they only see what’s on the surface, and it hadn’t been enough. 

it hits harder than he expects placing second from bottom, and even more so when changmin goes home. seeing someone he’d watched work so hard leave is another reminder that no one is safe. regardless of age, skill level, upbringing, popularity — no one is safe. 

( except the producers’ picks, of course, but from the inside and being so painfully inexperienced socially, he can’t tell who they are, anyway, so for all intents and purposes, no one is safe. ) 

he can’t even bring himself to be happy for mingyu who placed higher than him ( where he rightfully belongs ) because even his team places sixth and sees a member go home and won doesn’t really understand. after three weeks, he thinks it should be obvious to him what they’re looking for by now but he doesn’t understand. it’s a knee-jerk reaction; to wonder what lacked from the whole package that is his boyfriend, and from himself who had been so proud of what he and his team had achieved. he draws a blank.

he wishes he could say it motivates him to do absolutely everything he can to be better in the following week, but maybe it’s just the timing of it all, but instead, he draws further into his shell, wonders things he hasn’t thought about since december as he listens to his group chat around him. 

instead, what motivates him, and what he wishes was his main driver for the week instead for its healthier repercussions, is his team. having sua’s familiar ( and reassuring ) personality around makes him feel safe, and junhoe’s fire sparks his own, pulling him momentarily out from behind his protective shield every so often to quip back a playful tease. he’d never met donghyun or guanlin before, but he’d seen their other performances, seen their names pop up online in comments he certainly shouldn’t be reading at three am when he can’t sleep. after a little time with them, he warms enough to pitch in a nod of the head when he agrees with something said in discussion and this is how they decide upon a song, having thrown around close to a million before settling on one he agrees is a strong enough release in its own right to give them a chance of at least grabbing attention. that seems like half the fight with so many contestants and groups at this point. 

having seen mingyu rarely come home the week before, he wonders if that’s the difference between eighth and sixth place, wonders if he didn’t do enough in the ceos eyes to help his team push towards the top. maybe he comes across as uninterested because he happily went home each night to see mingyu’s family and sleep in a comfortable, albeit cold and lonely bed. it’s difficult to persuade the others to let him stay behind, and one night in particular there’s nothing he can say to convince them to leave him once they all go over to sua’s for a sleepover. ( and when mingyu asks him to come home on tuesday, the guilt of evening thinking about saying no begins to eat him alive. ) nights he can, he sleeps on the practice room floor for a few hours a night, wakes up before the others can arrive and quietly shrugs if asked if he’d been here all night or what time he’d arrived. he doesn’t call sujin, not after seeing himself on television the sunday before; in fact, he barely even touches his phone at all, only to text mingyu back and turn off his alarms as he stretches out tired arms. 

halfway through the week, he decides this group is less familiar than his previous, even if he already knows half the members. they bicker more than he had seen in team g, particularly junhoe and sua’s unaligned perceptions of leadership. ( even somi, who he had started the week petrified of, had become someone he could at least make eye contact with for longer than ten seconds without trembling. ) luckily, they vibe well in performance mode from what won can tell. 

( but he doesn’t know a thing, really, does he? ) 

despite his uncertainty, and despite learning the choreography himself that week, he does his best to help those struggling. he’s not the most talkative instructor, but he is precise in his movements and patient in his teaching. he’s sat in on enough of the lessons at the studio he used to clean to know that getting frustrated doesn’t help anyone. some things take time, even if realistically, they don’t have too much of it. 

he just doesn’t want to be a bother, or worse; useless. 

he doesn’t want to be eighth again. 

another motivator for their success, strangely, is meeting sua’s beagle. in a week where won struggled to find anything that made him truly feel at peace, seeing the wagging tail of a new dog had made the brightest smile stretch his features. maybe it’s stupid, but it makes him feel a little more energised seeing the endless, carefree happiness of a pup. once, years ago when he was young, he had been like that. he doesn’t need to ask himself what happened, but he does ask himself why he can’t still fight to be now that things are better for him. why is he letting so many things drag him down? 

it’s not what they want to see, but why isn’t he just focusing on enjoying this opportunity? 

he smiles as they bow. “lo-o-ove scenario! hello, we are team beagle!” hearts shoot from each member towards the audience, a refreshing, cheerful change from how he’d felt the rest of the week. it takes more than overnight to change an entire mindset but standing on stage, knowing that this is the defining moment and afterwards, all the stress will be over for another week, he feels some relief, some peace. his fingers still tremble slightly with nerves, but there’s no lingering worry or upset. this is it. soon, hopefully, he’ll understand. 

it’s unclear if it’s his insecurities or truth, but he feels like he takes less of a role this week, the song feeling overall more balanced. there’s more rapping, for sure, though he doesn’t think the dance is as impressive ( though he also thinks that’s strategic given that this group isn’t as strong at the skill ). honestly, he practices the dance alone very little, finding it more beneficial to run through the performance in its entirety, singing as he moves, precise movements made in time to smooth vocals. 

once, before they start, he pats his chest, feels the small key against his skin remind him of why he’s here. 

나 살아가면서 가끔씩 떠오를 기억 그 안에 네가 있다면 그거면 충분해

his first line isn’t until almost a minute in, giving him time to feel comfortable with their synergy as a group. with tensions earlier in the week, he had worried silently for a little time if they’d be able to come together and appear a well-oiled machine by the end of the week but it became apparent quickly that regardless of disagreements, regardless of his shy nature worsening this week, they were all talented in their respective skills and loved to perform more than anything. that doesn’t mean anything for teamwork, really, but when their desires to go forth with the competition and their dreams outweighs whatever they might have bumped heads on ( and he knows this himself, as it’s something he struggles with internally, too ), they can come together surprisingly well to form a team that is as passionate as it is talented. 

besides, perhaps how easy it had been to choose a song last week, how easy it’d been to mesh together, was their downfall, as ridiculous as it sounds to him. the last thing this competition has reminded him this week is that anything is possible.

the beat isn’t particularly fast, and the dance isn’t particularly complex bar a few choice moments ( at least not for someone who’s been dancing as long as he has ), but he thinks it’s intricate enough to show the skill any dance takes to those who are only seeing snippets through a television screen, or who don’t know dance as well as the ceos and many of the other contestants here do. but it’s fun. it’s not a dance that takes itself too seriously, nor is it too far in the other direction either. the song itself is calm, but not boring; upbeat, but not overwhelming. he thinks the vibe of their performance, streetwear and all, suits their leader especially, even if he wouldn’t tell the oldest. 

( he’d never hear the end of jeon won complimented me, does he have a fever? after all. )

네가 벌써 그립지만 그리워하지 않으려 해 한 편의 영화 따스했던 봄으로 너를 기억할게

his next vocal part is the bridge once again, his second favourite part of the choreography that conveniently follows his favourite. it’s honouring getting such important parts of the vocals, though the pressure to do well isn’t as exciting. he’s lucky that his parts aren’t demanding dance-wise, allowing him full control over his voice and its stability in particular. his vocals are smooth and calming at their best and this is one of those times where he can really take advantage of that. 

he doesn’t forget what sua had taught them last week either; how to really flourish in front of the camera once it hones in on you, how to command attention when the time is right and you’re front and centre. he doesn’t forget the patience she’d taught him, and he doesn’t forget the passion junhoe had drawn out of them this week. he’s humble as a member of a team, something he couldn’t have expected always having lived in a world for so long that was only ever against him and never with. every time he feels the lens following him, he meets it momentarily to flash a confident gaze, the bright smiles of last week’s pinocchio not feeling as appropriate for this performance. maybe if he exudes confidence without taking a moment to consider that he feels it is what the ceos want to see. maybe. he’ll probably never know. 

우리가 만든 love scenario 이젠 조명이 꺼지고 마지막 페이지를 넘기면 조용히 막을 내리죠

then, they all come together. it’s a mix of voices, tones, but after so much practice, they match well in a light harmony that feels as wistful as the original’s. again, it’s a part of the song that doesn’t feel like it takes itself too seriously, their voices filling the stage with ease rather than forced perfection and their movements relaxed and free, as long as they end in the correct formation for the small parts of organised choreography in the final chorus and two-part outro. 

as a dancer, he feels like he should love this part allowing him to show off how naturally his body moves to a beat but the ‘disorganisation’ ( of course, they had practised it a million times, so it’s never truly freestyle ) of it all makes him nervous. it’s all too easy for one of them to bump into another, step on someone’s feet, and he has to resist the urge to look down at his feet to make sure that person isn’t him. forcing his head high, he sings along with the others, quietening his voice so his deep tone doesn’t stand out too much with those understandably higher. 

they’re so close to the end now that won can taste it, can taste the relief he’ll feel sitting down to watch the others ( until the stress settles in as he wonders where everyone will place, of course ). he jumps the final hurdle with revitalised energy, desperate to show a strong performance worthy of much higher than they had placed last week, if not for himself, then for sua. 

우린 아파도 해봤고 우습게 질투도 했어 미친 듯이 사랑했고 우리 이 정도면 됐어

finishing on the youngest feels like a strong decision, the young boy certainly the main appeal ( in his opinion ) of their group with his fresh, youthful visuals and aura.

as the instrumental behind them fades to silence, won thinks the cyclical nature of the song is his true favourite part of it all. it makes him feel like the end of their performance truly is the end; that there’s no more to do, that nothing feels incomplete. 

it’s crazy how quickly three and a half minutes can pass under the heat of the stage lights, but with a pounding heart and the rapid rise and fall of his chest, he smiles. he’s proud of his group, but he reminds himself before he can get excited: anything is possible. 

[rkbenjizen-blog]

« mga contestant overview #1 »

alright so this is way past due, and i should’ve posted this weeks ago when the first episode aired but guess who’s a useless netizen?! this guy. but finally i’ve managed to gather all my info and sort out a good review of each and every contestant (including those eliminated this week). 

so, without further ado, i’m going to go over every contestant and my thoughts on them! this post will feature the first 5 contestants (i’ll be going over 5 in each post, otherwise my posts would be far too long).

LET’S START FROM...

#4003 : kim junmyeon

so, let’s start from the first time we saw mister kim, shall we. our first glimpse was in EPISODE 1, when he was shown boasting about how he made the makeup artists giggle and blush, and how his extra skill was taking ‘the perfect selca’ - now, sure, for some this might be endearing and draw in fans, since this kind of confidence is hard to find, but for me he felt a little too full of himself. sure, he’s handsome, but 1) he’s not my type and 2) i’m sure he’s no more handsome than a lot of the other contestants, so tooting his horn too much and focusing on his looks in that episode was kinda... not for me to put it lightly. 

but let’s move on to EPISODE 2, now, again, a large focus was put on his visuals with him saying “i’m the good-looking singer hopeful”. it’s tasteless if you ask me, and overshadowed his performance for me - he’d left a bad taste in my mouth already by that point, and though his singing was good, it wasn’t the best (and i’m not going to even mention how self-absorbed he seemed when checking himself out in his phones reflection after his performance). 

onto EPISODE 3, junmyeon was placed into TEAM A, alongside contestants #4017, #4034, #4036 and #4037. clearly he’s gathered some fans for himself already as one of the first shots of episode 3 is a girl declaring her ‘heart only beats for kim junmyeon’, which didn’t surprise me - a lot of people pick biases purely for a looks, because let me tell you i’m almost certain he’d be nowhere near as popular if he didn’t have a relatively handsome face. placed in a group where he was the main vocalist seemed like a stroke of good luck for this guy - he had no other vocalists to overshadow him, but i must say i was surprised he wasn’t chosen as leader since he seems like he’d like the attention. at least he showed he had some weaknesses (despite his tasteless confidence), when it came to dancing; he didn’t look like a dancer to me at all, and i was proved right when he was seen creaking his way through the dance moves. 

the actual performance shows him, once again, highlighting appearances (though thankfully not just his own this time) but i could comfortably agree that yes, the group was made up of attractive men, though i wasn’t sure what bearing that had on them skill wise. surprisingly junmyeon had fewer lines in the performance, which i personally felt was a bad choice, since so far the most i know about him is he has an averagely good voice, and being far too cocky. i’d have liked to see him show what he really has to offer vocal wise, but whether he was given less lines, or chose to have fewer lines wasn’t clear. he finished in centre position, which was, in a way, balancing the performance out, and with his charisma is did work. the performance was strong, but i’m still not too fond of the guy, and would like to see him place less importance on his looks and more on his singing. 

as much as i dread to see more of his focus on his looks, i’m hoping he shows more vocal strengths in EPISODE 4, as he’s been placed in TEAM A, a group with 4 dancers (remember he can’t dance very well, yet i’m sure the next performance will have a heavy dance focus, meaning he’s going to have to rely on his singing). i’m really hoping the focus on looks will calm down and that he’ll show us more singing, as he does have a good voice, and with some improvement he could be a great main vocalist.

#4004 : kim doyeon

sadly, i don’t have a lot to say about doyeon considering she’s gotten about half the screen time kim junmyeon’s gotten. she’s a dancer, born in ‘97, and has great proportions (if being an idol doesn’t work out for her, she could definitely be a model, that’s for sure, though i’d put money on her having done modelling in the past). in EPISODE 1 we don’t see a lot of her, just a clip of her dancing, and that’s about it. it’s enough to see she’s talented, at least, and knows how to move those long limbs of hers. 

EPISODE 2 shows her being the first female performance, which made her stick in my mind that was for sure. she mentions her height (an amazing 173cm) which definitely makes her stick out (in a good way!). her dance is sharp and fast, definitely showing off how well she manages to move long limbs (since usually taller individuals look a little awkward dancing). she definitely has talent, and i would say i’m rooting for her as she really has an idol vibe about her already. 

so, in EPISODE 3 she’s in TEAM B with contestants #4010, #4012, #4039 and #4052, a group composed of dancers and singers. the start of the episode clearly shows someone with a banner for her (which made me smile), there’s something about the girl which makes you like her, i think - it could be her smile, but i have a feeling she’ll have a lot of fans. she’s shown in a very positive light in the clips from their practise room when she encourages her group members. of course, it could be for show - you never know with things like this, people want to look good, so they’re going to show the best them they can be, and leave out all their nasty habits (at least for some), though with doyeon i doubt it, she really seems genuinely nice.

her performance is strong, showing she not only can dance, but her vocals aren’t all that bad either, and she’s able to catch the camera like a true pro (which further makes me believe she has experience with cameras and being in front of the lens). 

for EPISODE 4 she’s been placed in TEAM C, a very well rounded group with some dancers, singers and rappers (very different from TEAM A for this week). i’m looking forward to seeing was 2018 release the team will pick, and if we’ll get to see even more of kim doyeon’s dancing, singing and charisma that we’ve only been given a few little tastes of so far (this weeks performance certainly wasn’t enough to satiate my hunger to see what this girls got to offer). 

#4005 : jin longguo

if anyone caught my eye during the past 3 episodes it was this guy! he’s definitely my type (as some of you may have already been able to tell), but i’m a little disheartened at how little screen time he seems to get. in EPISODE 1 he showed us his amazing singing voice with an original song; very good idea in my opinion, a risk worth taking. it shows he’s creative as well as having good vocal abilities. 

EPISODE 2 showed us a very expressive, fun performance from longguo, who showed that not only can he sing, he plays the ukulele too. i find it funny that he seems basically stone-faced when he’s not performing, and though it could be taken the wrong way (which i know a lot of people do, thinking they’re only putting on an expressive performance to look good), i think it adds to his charm. 

onto EPISODE 3, this one showing he certainly has garnered some fans, one of the first shots depicting a sign made for him, held up among the sea of audience members. thankfully, i’m not the only one who likes him, so maybe that means he’ll go far and get more screen time as he gets more popular, but i guess we’ll just have to wait and see! in this episode he was placed in TEAM C with contestants #4026, #4038, #4040 and #4050. the group mainly made up of singers and dancers chose one of my all time favourite songs, troublemaker! the performance was, in my opinion, very good and showed off each of their skills well (and i loved the flirty performance between chungha and the guys.

so, next week, in EPISODE 4 longguo will be in TEAM D, another group of singers and dancers. i’m hoping there will be more footage of longguo next week, so i can see more of what he has to offer, as i feel positively parched right now. 

#4007 : choi yoojung

EPISODE 1 gave us our first look at choi yoojung, a very cute, small girl. she’s got a very pretty smile, but didn’t stand out to me all too much at first. she didn’t get a lot of screen time, so i’m not too sure what to think of her yet. 

EPISODE 2 was much the same - not enough content to really have an opinion on much other than that she can dance well. at this point i knew she was a great dancer with a nice smile, and that was about it. i think she sort of seems like the exact opposite of doyeon in a way - doyeon seems to have a lot of confidence and seemed very comfortable and calm, while yoojung seemed to be kind of nervous, in a cute way. not to mention doyeon’s super tall and yoojung’s pretty short. 

in EPISODE 3 yoojung was in TEAM E with contestants #4025, #4043, #4047 and #4049, a group with a mainly singers and dancers but one rapper (which in my opinion was a pretty good mix). i wasn’t too sure if i liked her rap part in the song, but she clearly tried hard. 

next week, in EPISODE 4 she’ll be in TEAM E again, another group of singers and dancers and one rapper. seems to be a bit of a pattern here. i don’t have much to say about yoojung yet, so i’m hoping they’ll show more of her as time goes on and i can get more of an opinion. 

#4008 : kim hyuna

what don’t i have to say about kim hyuna?! everyone will remember the fiery rapper from mga season 3. when i saw her in EPISODE 1 i was surprised to say the last - last i knew she was training under royal, but apparently that relationship ended. her song choice really showed she was coming back with a vengeance, but i did wonder whether it was going to be fair having a seasoned professional in the show among all the young’uns and inexperienced newbies. 

then, EPISODE 2 really showed what she’s made of. performing a song written by herself i found myself genuinely captivated by how much stage presence she has. it’s almost as if, even if she didn’t have the voice and skills she’d still be able to hold the audience’s attention somehow. i wasn’t sure if i was going to be happy she was there or not, considering she’s got a big advantage over the other contestants, and it’s pretty clear to see in my opinion when she performs, but from her performance in EPISODE 3 it was clear that she didn’t want to use her advantage to get above the other contestants unfairly. she really could have easily let the others fall behind and just put herself first, but since she didn’t it really helped me have a lot of respect for the girl. obviously, she was chosen as the leader, and though it sort of put her in the limelight a little, it was the best option since she has the most experience. also, she took her group out for dinner, and since i love food, i’d love to be in her group, so she shot up my list of favourites pretty fast. 

next week, in EPISODE 4 hyuna’s going to be in TEAM C with a good mix of rappers, dancers and a single singer. i’m excited to see if hyuna lets her experience bring her above others eventually, or if she’ll put effort into making things equal - it must be a hard balance to find, but she seems smart enough to manage it. i have high hopes for hyuna, though it could just be that i’m familiar with her from season 3, but we shall see where this goes, shan’t we. 

so, that’s the first five contestants! a mix of opinions i suppose, but i’ve got a lot more to go, so keep an eye out for my next mga post where i’ll be going over the next five contestants, #4009, #4010, #4011, #4012 and #4014!

catch you later, beibeis!

[aion-rsa]

Ranking The Jeopardy! Guest Hosts

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When Jeopardy! GOAT contestant Brad Rutter spoke to Den of Geek earlier this year, he shared his opinion that there is only one perfect Jeopardy! host to replace the departed Alex Trebek. 

“Alex,” Rutter said. “But we can’t do it, unfortunately. That’s one of the terrible things about it. I can’t even really imagine what it’s going to be like.”

Alex Trebek was about as irreplaceable as a TV personality can be. As the host and quiz master of Jeopardy! for 37 years, the Canadian entertainer was the perfect combination of studious, professional, and playful. Following Trebek’s death from pancreatic cancer in November 2020, Jeopardy!’s producers realized there was no point in replacing the TV giant with only one host. 

For all of 2021, Jeopardy! has been going with a host-by-committee approach, giving several pop culture figures the opportunity to try their hand at shepherding the game show in two-week increments. This parade of guest hosts is in part a way to honor Trebek’s legacy. It’s also an open audition to provide fresh blood with an opportunity to claim the job of a television mainstay. 

With that in mind, here are our rankings of how each guest host has performed thus far. 

14. Dr. Mehmet Oz

Show Air Dates: March 22, 2021 – April 2, 2021

No.

13. Robin Roberts

Show Air Dates: July 19, 2021 – July 23, 2021

ABC’s Good Morning America host Robin Roberts’ stint as Jeopardy! host wasn’t a disaster. The games began and concluded largely without a hitch. The studio did not catch on fire. No one was injured. And yet, her relatively poor performance underlies what a sensitive beast the Jeopardy! hosting position is.

Robin Roberts quite simply did too much. She was a bit too chatty and discursive at the top of the episodes and during the interview segments. She interjected a bit too frequently amid answers. All in all, she hosted Jeopardy! the way I suspect that I myself would host Jeopardy! – as someone completely jazzed to be there and unable to stop remarking on the surreal joy of it all. That’s fine, and ultimately endearing to Roberts as a person. But this show requires a sturdier hand than that.

12. Anderson Cooper

Show Air Dates: April 19, 2021 – April 30, 2021

Anderson Cooper is a good journalist and compelling TV presence. When it comes to Jeopardy!, however, he’s definitely not the right man for the job. Cooper is somewhat fortunate that human trainwreck Dr. Oz hosted first and gobbled up the lion’s share of bad Jeopardy! host press. Otherwise people may have noticed that Cooper did fairly poorly in his two-week stint.

Cooper seemingly didn’t prepare as intensely as Trebek or the other guest hosts as there would frequently be awkward pauses following contestants’ answers while the host checked if they were right. As a result, the number of Jeopardy! rounds not completed under Cooper’s tenure was unusually high. It’s a small issue, but an impactful one.

11. Savannah Guthrie

Show Air Dates: June 14, 2021 – June 25, 2021

Savannah Guthrie is an amiable and professional TV presence in her day job as the co-anchor of NBC’s Today. In her time as a Jeopardy! host, however, she came off as essentially filler. As is the case with most of the entrants on this list (save for the quack above), Guthrie was perfectly fine as Jeopardy! host. But while she got the job done, she did so without any particular distinction.

Guthrie also interjected a bit too frequently after contestant’s answers. Though that’s an admirable attempt to interject some of her sunny personality into the proceedings, the role of Jeopardy! host often calls for less rather than more. As such her two-week run as host is likely to be the end of the line for her hosting quest.

10. Katie Couric

Show Air Dates: March 8, 2021- March 19, 2021

Couric’s tenure as Jeopardy! host was the victim of bad timing. She had the tough act of following two guest hosts who were extremely steeped in the show’s history in culture in official Greatest of All Time Ken Jennings and executive producer Mike Richards. 

The longtime media personality ultimately did a fair job as host, with her only major flaw being interjecting a bit too frequently during rounds. Unfortunately, she doesn’t stack up well to the pros that preceded her.

9. George Stephanopoulos

Show Air Dates: July 12, 2021 – July 16, 2021

George Stephanopoulos faces a bit of an uphill battle on this list for a similar reason to Dr. Oz. Simply put: I just don’t like the guy. George’s case differs from Oz’s though. For while I’m morally opposed to Oz and his snake oil shenanigans, I just find George to be merely bad at his job as Chief Anchor ABC News.

Having said all that, it turns out that Stephanopoulos is quite good as a Jeopardy! host. While other guests got to enjoy a full two weeks to catch their stride, the Good Morning America anchor only had a week and used it quite well. Stephanopoulos was polished from the get-go, interjecting very little, and running some good, clean games. Ultimately, my personal distaste for Stephanopoulos’s journalistic performance keeps him lower on this list, but he performed well enough to rank even higher.

8. Aaron Rodgers

Show Air Dates: April 5, 2021 – April 16, 2021

While the presence of a NFL star may seem like a desperate ratings grab from Jeopardy!, Green Bay Packers quarterback and former Celebrity Jeopardy! champ Aaron Rodgers is apparently dead serious about wanting the full-time hosting job, telling The Ringer that he could easily fit the show’s shooting schedule into his NFL obligations. 

Rodgers’ eagerness was evident over the first week and led to him coming across as a bit too excitable. He really settled into the role in his second week though and projected the correct balance of expertise and personability. 

7. LeVar Burton

Show Air Dates: July 26, 2021 – July 30, 2021

Like many other millennials, my choice for Alex Trebek’s replacement before this whole guest host thing even started was LeVar Burton. Thanks to his work on as an educator on Reading Rainbow, Burton is one of the few TV presences with a level of learned gravitas approaching Trebek’s. He was a natural choice to get a guest host stint to try his hand at replacing the Canadian legend. How did he do? Well, it would appear there’s a reason Jeopardy! is opting for tryouts in the first place.

There’s really no way around it: Burton was fairly rough and unpolished as a Jeopardy! host compared to the top options on this list. While he did a superb job of respecting the format and not interjecting too much, there were several times in which he left the contestants hanging and forgot to prompt them to choose another category. It turns out that Jeopardy! contestants are helpless children when there isn’t a firm hand to guide them through the game.

Ultimately, errors like that are fixable and Burton’s warm, authoritative presence translated well to the Jeopardy! hosting format. As such, I still believe he would be a fine choice to succeed Alex Trebek. But in the spirit of judging these hosts on solely their performance, Burton lies near the middle of the pack.

6. Dr. Sanjay Gupta

Show Air Dates: June 28, 2021 – July 9, 2021

Perhaps this is a simple observation, but it’s really something to see how natural and poised TV veterans are on television. As CNN’s chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta has plenty of experience in front of a camera. And that experience absolutely came through in his two-week stint as Jeopardy! host.

Gupta did little to distinguish himself from the favorites to take over hosting job later on this list, but there were absolutely no hiccups during his tenure – just two weeks of excellent Jeopardy! that also happened to feature the season’s most fearsome contestant yet in seven-time winner Courtney Shah.

5. Bill Whitaker

Show Air Dates: May 3, 2021 – May 14, 2021

In contrast to Aaron Rodgers, Bill Whitaker apparently has no interest in holding down the full-time Jeopardy! job, telling The Philadelphia Tribune that he enjoys his current gig as a CBS journalist. That’s a shame as Whitaker came off as quite a natural during his two-week stint. 

Soft-spoken and consistent, Whitaker was such a steadying presence in his time as host to the point that the novelty of there even being a guest host began to wear off. Ultimately he might be a little too one-note for a full-time Jeopardy! host but his time on the dais was well spent. 

4. Ken Jennings 

Show Air Dates: January 4, 2021 – February 19, 2021

In the Jeopardy! canon Ken Jennings is the only figure that approaches the quiz show sainthood of Alex Trebek himself. Jennings is the most impressive and successful Jeopardy! contestant of all time, winning 74 consecutive games, amassing over $4 million in earnings, and taking home the title of Jeopardy! GOAT in 2020. When he was brought aboard as a consulting producer on Jeopardy! last year, many naturally assumed he was being groomed for the hosting role.

Sure enough, Jennings was announced as the first guest host of 2021 and got the year started on the right track with over a month of excellent hosting. Jennings has said that part of the key to Trebek’s success with Jeopardy! was his intuitive understanding that the star of the show wasn’t any host or contestant, but rather the show itself. Jennings put that understanding to good use, using his wealth of experience to make the game show feel both friendly and satisfyingly competitive. 

Jennings would be a fine choice for Jeopardy! host. Perhaps his only real weakness, however, is…the tweeting, as it always seems to be. Jennings has tweeted jokes that toe the line between bad taste and offensive in the past, something that he apologized for last year. The issue with Jennings on Twitter  though isn’t the risk of future offensive tweets but rather his continued use of Twitter at all along with the rest of us plebs.

Jeopardy! seemingly exists outside of time itself. Save for improved graphics and Trebek’s graying hair, the show has remained largely the same since it premiered. The Platonic ideal of a Jeopardy! host would seem like he or she was spawned from the set itself, returning backstage to sit on their trivia throne and contemplate the mysteries of life between tapings. 

3. Mayim Bialik

Show Air Dates: May 31, 2021 – June 11, 2021

Mayim Bialik was a real pleasant surprise in her stint as host. In fact, she’s the best Jeopardy! guest host yet who was not previously affiliated with the show. Bialik leaned more toward the friendly end of the familiar/authoritative Jeopardy! hosting ratio, which is particularly impressive given her academic background as a literal neuroscientist. She kept up that energy throughout but was able to establish a nice balance in her second week.

As a longtime Big Bang Theory cast member, Bialik certainly doesn’t need the Jeopardy! hosting gig to pay the bills. But her experience in front of a live-studio audience and a clear passion for learning could prove useful in the position.

2. Buzzy Cohen

Show Air Dates: May 17, 2021 – May 28, 2021

On the flip side of Bill Whitaker, Buzzy Cohen may at first seem like too dynamic of a personality to work as a Jeopardy! guest host. His fun nickname, distinctive eyewear, and trendy haircut are at odds with such an ancient and venerated TV institution. 

As host of Jeopardy!’s Tournament of Champions, however, Cohen was consistently great. Due to his time as a Jeopardy! champion himself, Cohen empathizes with contestants easily and keeps things going at a rapidly appropriate pace for the competitive tournament known as “The Nerd Super Bowl.”

Could Cohen still succeed in shepherding the game show when played by its more “normal” contestants? He certainly deserves some consideration to do so.

1. Mike Richards

Show Air Dates: February 22, 2021- March 5, 2021

Alex Trebek would occasionally be asked in interviews who he’d like to replace him. It was not a question he frequently answered because who would want to speculate about an event that would presumably only occur after their death. He often joked that Betty White should because she was a close friend. But in the few instances he did consider the question seriously, he offered up Los Angeles Kings play-by-play announcer Alex Faust, Turner Classic Movies host Ben Makiewicz, and CNN legal analyst Laura Coates. Ultimately, however, he told journalists at the Television Critics Association press tour that he “would leave it up to the people in charge.”

Well, what if one of those mythical people in charge was the right choice to host all along? Mike Richards is an executive producer for Jeopardy! and its Merv Griffin-created syndicated companion Wheel of Fortune. Richards has a long history of producing other game shows like Weakest Link, The Price is Right, and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? He’s even hosted a couple of game shows of his own such as Beauty and the Geek and The Pyramid. After Ken Jennings served his month-long stint as host, Richards stepped in for two weeks, seemingly only to buy the show some time before it could set up more guest hosts.

Richard’s two-week tenure as guest host, however, was absolutely superb. Despite the stuffy connotation associated with the job “executive producer”, Richards was the most outwardly bubbly and joyful guest host yet. He still projected an air of authority and trivia mastery, likely due to his comfort and experience with the format. Richards was also an attentive interviewer, and well-researched – his shows were among the smoothest this season thus far. 

Richards lacks important name recognition (in fact, his name is about as generic as they come) and would not win Jeopardy! any more viewers on star power alone. It also must be said that Jeopardy! could stand to diversify the syndicated TV game a bit with this hosting decision by choosing a woman or person of color.

Whether Richards is selected as the full time host remains to be seen. But as executive producer, he’ll be involved in the decision one way or another. And if his talent scouting is anywhere near as good as his hosting ability, then there is nothing to worry about. 

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Still to come: David Faber (Show Air Dates: August 2, 2021 – August 6, 2021), Joe Buck (Show Air Dates: August 9, 2021 – August 13, 2021)

The post Ranking The Jeopardy! Guest Hosts appeared first on Den of Geek.

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This little-known Japanese fruit now has a cult following As the group vice president of produce and floral at the grocery store chain Albertsons, Callahan is essentially a produce trend-spotter by trade — and he’s eaten a lot of fruit. But he described Sumo Citrus as unique. “The eating experience, there’s just nothing like it,” he said. The fruit may appear unappealing at first: It looks like a small, wrinkly orange with a knob akin to the top knot worn by the Sumo wrestlers for which it’s named. But it’s actually a hybrid of navel oranges, pomelos and mandarins and tastes like an extra-sweet mandarin. It peels easily, thanks in part to that knobby handle, and doesn’t make your fingers too sticky. But Sumo Citrus didn’t go crazy in the United States, at least not right away. In the years immediately after Callahan took that first bite, the fruit’s popularity grew slowly. There wasn’t much of the fruit to go around, anyway — AC Brands, the company behind Sumo Citrus, started selling its produce here in 2011 and increased its crop over time. But as more hit stores, more sold. And then once production hit a critical mass, Callahan’s prediction started to come true. Now, once you start paying attention, it may feel like the Sumo Citrus is everywhere. That could be because over the past two years, AC Brands — confident in both its relationship with retailers and in the size of its crop — invested in a major marketing push to place Sumo in front of the right consumers. It has built (and built off) buzz from Instagram influencers, and placed splashy magazine ads and targeted billboards to attract consumers willing to shell out up to $4 per pound of fruit. Over the past year, consumers spent nearly $62 million on Sumo Citrus fruits, according to Nielsen, still a small sliver of the $2.1 billion mandarin market. To make sure people try the product — and back up that price — AC Brands has been spreading the Sumo Citrus gospel. In its branding, it nods to the fruit’s heritage and to how it’s grown (painstakingly, carefully, with attention paid to each fruit). The short selling season that could be a drawback has also been used as an upside, helping the company to build buzz. Before the fruit hits the shelves for a period from January to April and again during a brief window in the fall, the brand can generate hype, and then encourage shoppers not to miss their chance to get it. US sales have jumped around 35% each year since March 2018, according to Nielsen data. “When you walk in our stores, in a lot of cases, you’re going to see them right at the front door with a great big display,” Callahan said. “Because we know the customers are hungry for them, and they want them.” But fruit marketing can be a fickle business. People who love Sumo Citrus today might find a new fruit to love tomorrow. And professionals like Callahan are always looking for the next big thing. So AC Brands has only a little while to ensure the product has the staying power to keep selling when the next hot fruit starts to trend. Sumo comes to America Sumo Citrus is the brand name for a type of fruit called shiranui, which is commonly referred to as the Dekopon, itself a brand name, in its home country of Japan. The fruit was born in the early 1970s. By the 1990s, it had become a popular, beloved fruit in Japan, selling for as much as $10 a pop, the self-described “Fruit Detective” David Karp wrote in a 2011 Los Angeles Times article titled “The Dekopon arrives in California.” Karp described a years-long effort by American growers to get their hands on the seedlings. Some smuggled the product over and were forced to cut trees down by the government, which feared that they would spread harmful plant viruses in the country. Eventually, Suntreat, which has since become AC Brands, was able to legally set up shiranui groves in California, an effort it undertook in secret. The growers involved “had signed confidentiality and exclusive marketing agreements with Suntreat,” Karp wrote. “No one was supposed to even breathe the word ‘Dekopon.'” By 2011, the company was ready to make its secret public and to introduce the new fruit to Americans under a different name. AC Brands didn’t think that the name shiranui or Dekopon would make sense to US consumers. So it came up with something new. “The Sumo Citrus brand was created because of … what the fruit looks like,” Sunnia Gull, director of brand management at AC Brands, told CNN Business. “It’s this giant fruit” compared to a traditional mandarin, she said, with “that top knot, which is sort of like what a Sumo wrestler has in the ring.” When branding something new, like a hybrid fruit, you want to go with something that is “approachable, easy to spell [and] easy to ask for in a store,” said David Placek, founder and president of Lexicon Branding, which helps companies name products. Plus, he said, by turning that knobby top into a feature, AC Brands is taking “what would be possibly a disadvantage, the way the fruit actually looks, [and] turning that into an advantage.” Ultimately, marketers are “looking for a story,” he said — something that will explain to consumers why this product is better than the rest, and why they should buy it. The most pampered fruit in the world Sumo Citrus is “probably the world’s most pampered fruit,” said Albertsons’ Callahan. A lot goes into making sure that the Sumo Citrus fruits that reach grocery stores are tasty enough to convince customers that they’re worth the price. “The trees are hand-pruned and trimmed,” said Gull. “The skin of the Sumo Citrus is actually so delicate that there’s this sort of clay that is put on, a sunscreen, over the summer,” for protection, she said. “We’re talking about every piece of fruit,” she emphasized. Each fruit is hand-picked and packed in pallets to make sure they don’t bruise on the way to stores. Other, sturdier citrus fruit don’t need quite as much attention. Scaling that process up could be challenging, said Roland Fumasi, a food and agribusiness research analyst at Rabobank, an agriculture focused bank. People won’t spend on a pricey fruit if they’re disappointed by the product. “You have to be careful that your quality control is maintained.” And, he noted, there’s a careful balance of supply and demand for AC Brands to consider, as there is for any product. Grow too little and it could miss out on potential sales. Grow too much and it might have to cut prices — or watch as that pampered fruit rots unsold. Influencers and New Yorker ads Some people may have first learned about Sumo Citrus through the Instagram of Eva Chen, director of fashion partnerships at Instagram and an influencer in her own right with 1.6 million followers. Chen has been raving about the fruit online since 2019. One recent photo shows Chen in her classic #evachenpose — feet casually up on the back seat of a car, with shoes, purse and a snack, often a fruit, on display — with a Sumo mandarin. One post from last year shows Chen illustrated in the manner of the surrealist artist Magritte, a floating Sumo blocking her bowler hat-topped head. Another shows her pulling a stack of Sumo Citrus crates, looking stylish in an Oscar de La Renta top and Chanel flats. The all-caps, multi-exclamatory caption reads “SUMO CITRUS FOR THE WHOLE OFFICE!!!” Chen’s initial interest in Sumo was “all organic,” Gull said. “There was nothing paid around that.” But over the past few years Sumo has started paid partnerships with influencers in an effort to reach more millennials. Online, influencers with slim bodies and wide smiles post photos of themselves with the fruit, promising giveaways. They often use the hashtag #healthyobsession, positioning the fruit as a health food. Sumo also sent Jenna Fischer, known for her role as Pam on “The Office,” a tree of her own. On the Sumo Citrus instagram account you can see a smiling Fischer kneeling beside the young tree, sporting a bright orange “Sumo Citrus” beanie. AC Brands declined to say how much it spends on marketing. In addition to social media campaigns, it has launched targeted ads to reach high-income individuals — those who might not bat an eye over the cost of the fruit. “We partnered with New Yorker magazine as well as Bon Appetit,” Gull said. “There’s electronic vehicle charging stations outside some key retailers, we’re advertising there and testing that,” she said. Sumo has also posted small billboard advertising in Boston, LA and Minneapolis, “key” markets where Sumo consumption grew last season. AC Brands also distributes marketing materials to retailers to help advertise the product in stores. Last year, it introduced new purple displays to grocers. Sumo also holds a contest, with prizes, for retail partners that have put together the most creative in-store display. Getting top billing in the grocery aisle Creating buzz online is one thing. Making a splash in grocery stores is an entirely different challenge. That depends in large part on convincing retailers to place products in highly-visible, well-trafficked locations. A big, prominent display can encourage people who may not have heard of the fruit to try it. At Stop and Shop, which has been carrying Sumo Citrus for over four years, customers can often find the product near the front of the produce section, said Joe Connolly, the chain’s category manager for produce. “If we brought them in and we just displayed them in the citrus section, amongst everything else, they’d probably be lost,” he said. So far, the strategy is working. “Each and every year we’ve been selling more and more of them,” he said. That doesn’t mean it’ll work forever. Sumo Citrus is starting to see competition. Fowler Packing, which sells mandarins under the Peelz brand, announced last month that it is adding a Dekopon product to the Peelz portfolio, which is already well known among mandarin lovers. Trinity Fruit Company, which sells peaches, pomegranates and mandarins among other fruit, recently started selling Big Honey Dekopons. Big Honeys, which have the same taste profile as Sumo Citrus, have gotten some buzz in niche markets: Earlier this year, the Produce Moms blog named the Big Honey one of the its 21 Must-Try Produce Items in 2021, after the “plumsicle” but ahead of the PinkGlow Pineapple, which is pink on the inside. And one day, Sumo Citrus could be dethroned by an even trendier citrus. Items that were hot one year can go out of vogue, and grocers have no reason to try to revitalize the sale of a flailing product — they can just move on to the next big disruptor in the space. It’s happened before, Albertsons’ Callahan said. “Seeded watermelons used to be the watermelon to buy,” he said. “And we were able to develop a seedless watermelon, and all of a sudden the seedless watermelon basically took over.” (Of course, trends can be cyclical: seeded watermelons are starting to make a comeback, he noted.) Another example? Red apples, which have been squeezed by more popular varieties. “There’s so many apples that are better than red apples today. Honeycrisp really changed the apple industry, it was really that first apple that just exploded across the country.” Already, Callahan is excited about a new product. “We’ve got this new lemon plum that we’re just starting to get ahold of that we’ve had really for the last couple of years,” he said. “It’s certainly not something that’s across the country and every one of our stores, but it’s really gaining popularity,” he said. “That’s one that I can see coming on.” Source link Orbem News #cult #Fruit #Japanese #Littleknown

[bomberlandia]

Part I: Ranking Every Bomber Since 2015

Welcome to Bomberlandia’s first ever look at every Essendon player that pulled on a jumper since 2015, featuring historian and lifelong Bombers diehard Dr. Dan Eddy. As far as I can tell, there’s never been an undertaking where someone has ranked every Essendon player for a period of time. In 2002 Simon Matthews wrote a book and ranked the 60 greatest Bombers players of all-time. I’m sure there have been other variations of that. But those books don’t include every player for a period of time. And some of those books need to be revised or revisited.

This is what got me curious about looking at the last five years of Essendon players and who sits where and who has made an impact. Also, apart from being something to read during the postseason I think these rankings will help explain Essendon’s story from 2015 until now by taking stock of who’s come and gone, who’s been able to stay the journey and which players failed to deliver.

I could never do these kind of rankings on my own. It’s an unreasonable task. For this I enlisted the help of prolific book writer Dan Eddy, someone who has analyzed Essendon through an historic lens and someone who really knows his AFL stuff.

The hope with this first initial crack is that it becomes an annual postseason tradition, where rookies and current players can improve their ranking or if things don’t work out, they can potentially fall. These rankings come at a time where the Bombers haven’t had a lot of success. But there’s a lot of players that have had opportunities to prove themselves since 2015. We’re now starting to see some of the kids step up like Andrew McGrath, Jordan Ridley, Kyle Langford, Darcy Parish, Sam Draper, Brandon Zerk-Thatcher, Irving Mosquito. These developments have been intriguing to observe.

Quite often with rankings they can get bogged down in statistics, and sometimes that’s the only way to separate one player from the next, but numbers sometimes don’t tell the whole story of what a player means to a football team. What we’re looking for are things like longevity and service to the team, elite skills, and sure, accolades. But we’re coating all of that with gut feels. And to be frank, this list is not perfect or definitive but it’s a start and most of all it will be fun to digest. We acknowledge there’s certainly some players too high and too low but we’re ok with that.

Here’s Part I of Ranking Every Essendon Player Since 2015.

Players ranked from 85 to 39

85. Nathan Grima 84. Tom Jok 83. Jonathan Giles 82. Jonathan Simpkin

JR: This quartet feels like the right way to kick off this list at the back end. Giles, Simpkin and Grima were top-ups for the 2016 season. Jok is the most interesting “what could have been” talent. Bombers picked him with their first pick in 2018 and called him an “exciting and raw prospect.” He played one game and was then delisted. What happened to Jok? I wish I had an answer.

DE: I realise Grima was taken at a time when we were desperate for players, but we should never have picked him up. Ranks with our worst ever selections, in my view.

81. Ned Cahill 80. Mitch Hibberd

JR: It’s early days for Ned but he shows promise. He could evolve and become a household name. Mitch Hibberd, with limited opportunity, looks more at home as a solid VFL contributor (saying that based on very small looks).  

DE: I agree on both fronts. Wait and see with Ned. As for Mitch, nothing wrong with his size but not sure he will be capable of holding down a senior spot over the long-term.

79. Sam Michael 78. Alex Browne 77. Tom Cutler 76. Sam Grimley 75. James Polkinghorne 74. Andrew Phillips 73. James Gwilt

JR: Browne was one of the banned supplement saga players who only managed 11 games in five years and was entering his prime in 2015. Browne injured his ACL in the 2014 pre-season and never fully got back into the mix. Probably had the most promise and potential in this section of players.

DE: I had high hopes for Cutler when we recruited him from Brisbane, as I felt his size could be of advantage to our list. But his first season was a disappointment. Hopefully in year two he can have more impact. Gwilt was another, like Grima, who we should never have recruited.

72. Jake Long 71. Kobe Mutch 70. Brandon Zerk-Thatcher

JR: Long and Mutch failed to take the next step but BZT had a season of growth and should progress to be a Top 40 player.  

DE: Tough gig for Jake Long, trying to emerge from his famous father Michael’s long shadow (pun intended). I’m glad he got to wear red and black, though, even if his time at the club was brief. If BZT keeps improving his fitness and builds on his strength, will be interesting to see how far he can go.

69. Jason Ashby 68. Ariel Steinberg 67. Elliott Kavanagh 66. Josh Begley 65. Mark Jamar 64. Brayden Ham 63. Nick O’Brien 62. Ben McNeice 61. Craig Bird 60. Tayte Pears

JR: I really thought Josh “Fridge” Begley was going to be something at Essendon. I watched a pre-season game against the Suns in his rookie year and he was clobbering blokes, laying tackles and kicking goals. He kicked the sealer against the Crows during a comeback win at Etihad in Round One that same year. His departure was perhaps more about list balance or not developing as quickly as the Bombers hoped. Tayte Pears was a very solid player. Unfortunately he was decimated by injuries which prevented his development. He could never get to that next level he needed to be at to cement his spot in the team. Ultimately his ailments curbed his progression

DE: Lots of players here who had impacts, but unfortunately were unable to sustain levels of consistency. I liked Pears, so was disappointed that injury cruelled him as he was entering his prime. Wasn't quick, but gave his all. I agree with your summation of Begley. When I first saw him, I was super excited about the possibilities. But, for whatever reason, didn't come on as hoped.

59. Mathew Stokes 58. Shaun Edwards 57. Nick Kommer 56. Irving Mosquito 55. Matt Leunberger 54. Will Hams 53. Jacob Townsend 52. Ryan Crowley 51. Jackson Merrett 50. Michael Hartley

JR: Like Chapman, the Cats got the best out of Mathew Stokes. In 2016 he came in as a top-up player for a “one-time only” season. He kicked 6.5 which was better than his previous year at Geelong. If we’re nickel and dime’ing here, Townsend’s 9.5 in his first year with Essendon nets him a higher ranking. I can see his position improve with a retooled forward line that will include a fit Stringer, Stewart and Peter Wright.

DE: Wasn’t a Crowley fan before he came to Essendon as one of those famous ‘top-up’ players. But have great admiration for him for what he did for our club during its time of need. Same with Stokes. Townsend has been disappointing in terms of his output, but too much was probably expected of him in our ineffective, underperforming forward line this year. Mozzie promises plenty, so hopefully he keeps improving year on year.

49. Dylan Clarke 48. Josh Green 47. Jayden Laverde   46. Will Snelling

JR: A former Essendon coach once told me that Laverde should be a lot better than he is but the Bombers haven’t done enough to develop him. This makes me curious then: what’s Laverde’s ceiling? Of all the Bombers’ peripheral players, Laverde stands out with his contested work. Inconsistent? Sure. And he’s not a no.1 key forward. But there’s something there. I think he has more to offer than McKernan. He could be a Mihocek. 

DE: Great to see Snelling receive another contract, as he was one of few shining lights during the car crash that was the 2020 season. Laverde has plenty of potential, just needs to become more consistent. That we haven't had a stable forward structure for some time probably hasn't helped him, but I see good upside if we keep a full list on the park.

45. Matt Dea 44. James Stewart 43. Aaron Francis 42. Matt Guelfi 41. Paul Chapman 40. Jason Winderlich

JR: Chapman was thrown a life-line and bagged 30 goals in two seasons. That’s pretty special. It’s not Michael Long’s run down the wing and goal in the ‘93 Grand Final special, but that’s a solid output from a then 34-year old when the club needed it. Winderlich was plagued by constant injuries – back, ACL, and more back troubles. His leg speed was phenomenal when fit.

DE: Thought Dea was terrific for us, and Chappy provided important leadership during dark times. Francis has such potential, but lacks consistency and impact. Wish Stewart got more of the ball, as that would help us up forward where we desperately need a couple of dominant key pillars. 

39. Jake Carlisle

JR: So, we end Part I of this journey with an anti-climatic Jake Carlisle. A guy who could take contested marks with ease, yet, could make you loathe him in an instant with his off-field “theatrics” My final memory of Carlisle was when he shouted “this club is f – ‘ed” in a match against the Giants in 2015 and that’s not a good memory to have of any player. I’m glad he no longer plays for the Bombers. 

DE: Carlisle could have been an all-time great defender at Essendon, but his final season was a major let-down and I was really disappointed in how he departed. In the end, I was glad to see him go. Like you JR, I lost total respect for him after that comment, and wasn't surprised with what happened a few weeks later at St Kilda.

________________________________________

Historian Dr Dan Eddy is the author of 12 books, including “King Richard” and “Always Striving.” A life-long Bomber supporter, you can follow him on Twitter @DanEddyBooks35 and read his sports books at www.daneddybooks.com.  

[aion-rsa]

Ranking The Jeopardy! Guest Hosts So Far

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When Jeopardy! GOAT contestant Brad Rutter spoke to Den of Geek earlier this year, he shared his opinion that there is only one perfect Jeopardy! host to replace the departed Alex Trebek. 

“Alex,” Rutter said. “But we can’t do it, unfortunately. That’s one of the terrible things about it. I can’t even really imagine what it’s going to be like.”

Alex Trebek was about as irreplaceable as a TV personality can be. As the host and quiz master of Jeopardy! for 37 years, the Canadian entertainer was the perfect combination of studious, professional, and playful. Following Trebek’s death from pancreatic cancer in November 2020, Jeopardy!’s producers realized there was no point in replacing the TV giant with only one host. 

For all of 2021, Jeopardy! has been going with a host-by-committee approach, giving several pop culture figures the opportunity to try their hand at shepherding the game show in two-week increments. This parade of guest hosts is in part a way to honor Trebek’s legacy. It’s also an open audition to provide fresh blood with an opportunity to claim the job of a television mainstay. 

With that in mind, here are our rankings of how each guest host has performed thus far. 

11. Dr. Mehmet Oz

Show Air Dates: March 22, 2021 – April 2, 2021

No.

10. Savannah Guthrie

Show Air Dates: June 14, 2021 – June 25, 2021

Savannah Guthrie is an amiable and professional TV presence in her day job as the co-anchor of NBC’s Today. In her time as a Jeopardy! host, however, she came off as essentially filler. As is the case with most of the entrants on this list (save for the quack above), Guthrie was perfectly fine as Jeopardy! host. But while she got the job done, she did so without any particular distinction.

Guthrie also interjected a bit too frequently after contestant’s answers. Though that’s an admirable attempt to interject some of her sunny personality into the proceedings, the role of Jeopardy! host often calls for less rather than more. As such her two-week run as host is likely to be the end of the line for her hosting quest.

9. Anderson Cooper

Show Air Dates: April 19, 2021 – April 30, 2021

Anderson Cooper is a good journalist and compelling TV presence. When it comes to Jeopardy!, however, he’s definitely not the right man for the job. Cooper is somewhat fortunate that human trainwreck Dr. Oz hosted first and gobbled up the lion’s share of bad Jeopardy! host press. Otherwise people may have noticed that Cooper did fairly poorly in his two-week stint.

Cooper seemingly didn’t prepare as intensely as Trebek or the other guest hosts as there would frequently be awkward pauses following contestants’ answers while the host checked if they were right. As a result, the number of Jeopardy! rounds not completed under Cooper’s tenure was unusually high. It’s a small issue, but an impactful one.

8. Katie Couric

Show Air Dates: March 8, 2021- March 19, 2021

Couric’s tenure as Jeopardy! host was the victim of bad timing. She had the tough act of following two guest hosts who were extremely steeped in the show’s history in culture in official Greatest of All Time Ken Jennings and executive producer Mike Richards. 

The longtime media personality ultimately did a fair job as host, with her only major flaw being interjecting a bit too frequently during rounds. Unfortunately, she doesn’t stack up well to the pros that preceded her.

7. Aaron Rodgers

Show Air Dates: April 5, 2021 – April 16, 2021

While the presence of a NFL star may seem like a desperate ratings grab from Jeopardy!, Green Bay Packers quarterback and former Celebrity Jeopardy! champ Aaron Rodgers is apparently dead serious about wanting the full-time hosting job, telling The Ringer that he could easily fit the show’s shooting schedule into his NFL obligations. 

Rodgers’ eagerness was evident over the first week and led to him coming across as a bit too excitable. He really settled into the role in his second week though and projected the correct balance of expertise and personability. 

6. Dr. Sanjay Gupta

Show Air Dates: June 28, 2021 – July 9, 2021

Perhaps this is a simple observation, but it’s really something to see how natural and poised TV veterans are on television. As CNN’s chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta has plenty of experience in front of a camera. And that experience absolutely came through in his two-week stint as Jeopardy! host.

Gupta did little to distinguish himself from the favorites to take over hosting job later on this list, but there were absolutely no hiccups during his tenure – just two weeks of excellent Jeopardy! that also happened to feature the season’s most fearsome contestant yet in seven-time winner Courtney Shah.

5. Bill Whitaker

Show Air Dates: May 3, 2021 – May 14, 2021

In contrast to Aaron Rodgers, Bill Whitaker apparently has no interest in holding down the full-time Jeopardy! job, telling The Philadelphia Tribune that he enjoys his current gig as a CBS journalist. That’s a shame as Whitaker came off as quite a natural during his two-week stint. 

Soft-spoken and consistent, Whitaker was such a steadying presence in his time as host to the point that the novelty of there even being a guest host began to wear off. Ultimately he might be a little too one-note for a full-time Jeopardy! host but his time on the dais was well spent. 

4. Ken Jennings 

Show Air Dates: January 4, 2021 – February 19, 2021

In the Jeopardy! canon Ken Jennings is the only figure that approaches the quiz show sainthood of Alex Trebek himself. Jennings is the most impressive and successful Jeopardy! contestant of all time, winning 74 consecutive games, amassing over $4 million in earnings, and taking home the title of Jeopardy! GOAT in 2020. When he was brought aboard as a consulting producer on Jeopardy! last year, many naturally assumed he was being groomed for the hosting role.

Sure enough, Jennings was announced as the first guest host of 2021 and got the year started on the right track with over a month of excellent hosting. Jennings has said that part of the key to Trebek’s success with Jeopardy! was his intuitive understanding that the star of the show wasn’t any host or contestant, but rather the show itself. Jennings put that understanding to good use, using his wealth of experience to make the game show feel both friendly and satisfyingly competitive. 

Jennings would be a fine choice for Jeopardy! host. Perhaps his only real weakness, however, is…the tweeting, as it always seems to be. Jennings has tweeted jokes that toe the line between bad taste and offensive in the past, something that he apologized for last year. The issue with Jennings on Twitter  though isn’t the risk of future offensive tweets but rather his continued use of Twitter at all along with the rest of us plebs.

Jeopardy! seemingly exists outside of time itself. Save for improved graphics and Trebek’s graying hair, the show has remained largely the same since it premiered. The Platonic ideal of a Jeopardy! host would seem like he or she was spawned from the set itself, returning backstage to sit on their trivia throne and contemplate the mysteries of life between tapings. 

3. Mayim Bialik

Show Air Dates: May 31, 2021 – June 11, 2021

Mayim Bialik was a real pleasant surprise in her stint as host. In fact, she’s the best Jeopardy! guest host yet who was not previously affiliated with the show. Bialik leaned more toward the friendly end of the familiar/authoritative Jeopardy! hosting ratio, which is particularly impressive given her academic background as a literal neuroscientist. She kept up that energy throughout but was able to establish a nice balance in her second week.

As a longtime Big Bang Theory cast member, Bialik certainly doesn’t need the Jeopardy! hosting gig to pay the bills. But her experience in front of a live-studio audience and a clear passion for learning could prove useful in the position.

2. Buzzy Cohen

Show Air Dates: May 17, 2021 – May 28, 2021

On the flip side of Bill Whitaker, Buzzy Cohen may at first seem like too dynamic of a personality to work as a Jeopardy! guest host. His fun nickname, distinctive eyewear, and trendy haircut are at odds with such an ancient and venerated TV institution. 

As host of Jeopardy!’s Tournament of Champions, however, Cohen was consistently great. Due to his time as a Jeopardy! champion himself, Cohen empathizes with contestants easily and keeps things going at a rapidly appropriate pace for the competitive tournament known as “The Nerd Super Bowl.”

Could Cohen still succeed in shepherding the game show when played by its more “normal” contestants? He certainly deserves some consideration to do so.

1. Mike Richards

Show Air Dates: February 22, 2021- March 5, 2021

Alex Trebek would occasionally be asked in interviews who he’d like to replace him. It was not a question he frequently answered because who would want to speculate about an event that would presumably only occur after their death. He often joked that Betty White should because she was a close friend. But in the few instances he did consider the question seriously, he offered up Los Angeles Kings play-by-play announcer Alex Faust, Turner Classic Movies host Ben Makiewicz, and CNN legal analyst Laura Coates. Ultimately, however, he told journalists at the Television Critics Association press tour that he “would leave it up to the people in charge.”

Well, what if one of those mythical people in charge was the right choice to host all along? Mike Richards is an executive producer for Jeopardy! and its Merv Griffin-created syndicated companion Wheel of Fortune. Richards has a long history of producing other game shows like Weakest Link, The Price is Right, and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? He’s even hosted a couple of game shows of his own such as Beauty and the Geek and The Pyramid. After Ken Jennings served his month-long stint as host, Richards stepped in for two weeks, seemingly only to buy the show some time before it could set up more guest hosts.

Richard’s two-week tenure as guest host, however, was absolutely superb. Despite the stuffy connotation associated with the job “executive producer”, Richards was the most outwardly bubbly and joyful guest host yet. He still projected an air of authority and trivia mastery, likely due to his comfort and experience with the format. Richards was also an attentive interviewer, and well-researched – his shows were among the smoothest this season thus far. 

Richards lacks important name recognition (in fact, his name is about as generic as they come) and would not win Jeopardy! any more viewers on star power alone. It also must be said that Jeopardy! could stand to diversify the syndicated TV game a bit with this hosting decision by choosing a woman or person of color.

Whether Richards is selected as the full time host remains to be seen. But as executive producer, he’ll be involved in the decision one way or another. And if his talent scouting is anywhere near as good as his hosting ability, then there is nothing to worry about. 

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Still to come: George Stephanopoulos (Show Air Dates: July 12, 2021 – July 16, 2021), Robin Roberts (Show Air Dates: July 19, 2021 – July 23, 2021), LeVar Burton (Show Air Dates: July 26, 2021 – July 30, 2021), David Faber (Show Air Dates: August 2, 2021 – August 6, 2021), Joe Buck (Show Air Dates: August 9, 2021 – August 13, 2021)

The post Ranking The Jeopardy! Guest Hosts So Far appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[theseaeaglelives]

Round 16

THE SEA EAGLE

MAKING RUGBY LEAGUE GREAT AGAIN!!!

There has been no joy for Manly or their long-suffering fans since the Sea Eagles last report. In fact season 2020 is now a write off as far as the Sea Eagle is concerned and the best that we can hope for now is for a 3rd or 4th wave of COVID to put us all out of our misery and bring a swift end to the non-event that season 2020 is fast becoming.

Round 14 (recap)

Manly Sea Eagles             24

Defeated by

Newcastle Knights          26

Since ridding themselves of the non-premiership winning, DFI infected ex-Dragon slapper (i.e. Nathan Brown) the Knights have become a far more formidable conveyance, especially when facing Manly and again as was the case in Round 8, Manly came up short.

Despite going into this game on the back of a towelling by the Panthers and an embarrassing loss to the Panthers, Manly started well and led 12 zip after as many minutes.

Unfortunately, in what is becoming somewhat of a regular occurrence of late, a sustained period of poor defence let the Knights back into the contest and three tries in quick succession gave them a 16-12 lead at the break.

When the Knights opened the scoring shortly into the second half, things were looking grim and a repeat of the drubbings inflicted in the past few weeks looked on the cards. Somehow and somewhat against the run of play tries to Jack Gosweiski and Lachlan Croker saw Manly take an unexpected lead with only 10 minutes to play.

Alas, it was not to be as the Knights rallied to score in the dying minutes and consign Manly to the scrapheap for this season.

Round 15 (recap)

Manly Sea Eagles             16

Flogged by

South Sydney Rabbits    56

Manly were very slow out of the blocks in this fixture and found themselves on the wrong end of a 38-zip score-line after as many minutes. After this slow start things then went downhill for Manly eventually losing by a record margin, with only a couple of late tries (to Manly) preventing total humiliation.

Despite the well documented spate of injuries, to go down in this fashion is completely unacceptable as far as the Sea Eagle (or any other Manly supporter for that matter) is concerned. Let’s face it, historically Manly teams do not get beaten like this. Quite the contrary, traditionally it has been the Manly sides (of past eras) that dish out these sorts of drubbings, rather than copping one.

Des Hasler and his squad have some serious soul searching to do and a visit to the room of mirrors is a must if they are to prevent a repeat against the filthy wrestlers next week.

There were only two good things that came out of this game. Firstly, it was not on prime-time TV (a spot exclusively reserved for the Bronco’s), thus not many people got to witness it and secondly the Sea Eagle himself did not suffer the scarring that sitting through such an event would inflict.

Thankfully for Manly there are other teams going even worse, think Dogs and Bronco’s so at least the spoon will be avoided in 2020.

Round 16

Manly Sea Eagles            

Defeated by

Filthy Wrestling Cheating Storm

The say picture paints a thousand words. Simply put Manly were ….

Simply put, season 2020 is now officially a write off for Manly and the only thing the team can look forward to is mad-Monday and the end of season trip. Given their crap performance in the second part of the season since losing Tommy Turbo, the best that they can hope for is a round of drinks at the leagues club followed by a weekend south of the border.

The Sea Eagle has become so disenchanted with Manly’s capitulation and the debacle that is season 2020, no further report will be sent out until Manly turn the corner and win another game.

  THEY NEVER GO BETTER – THE FINAL INSULT

The Sea Eagle has over many years well and truly documented the phenomenon where those who leave the sanctuary of the nest never go any better elsewhere. (most recently refer Round 4 report).

The ongoing saga/debacle that is Anthony Seibold and his recent demise only serves to strengthens this premise. Unbeknown to many (apart from the eagle eye of the Sea Eagle) ex-coach Seibold spent time at Manly as an assistant under the guidance of none other than the DFI infected, non-premiership wining ex-Dragon/Shark Trent Barrett – this feature on your CV hardly the attribute of a successful NRL coach or for that matter a coach of anything at any level.

His time at the helm of the Bronco’s and his demise can be described as nothing short of a debacle. With a handy playing roster, a balance sheet the envy of most, unlimited funds to fork out on dodgy third-party deals and home town advantage during the WuhanFlu relocation to QLD, the Bronco’s were expected to be premiership contenders in 2020.

The reality however is after one win from their last 13 games, off-field bio security indiscretions, player discontent and finally some nasty personal online trolling and inuendo coach Seibold has fallen on his sword, taken an early payout for the remainder of his contact (rumoured to be $1.5m) and will in all likelihood never coach in the NRL again.

It was only a matter of time before his time at the Bronco’s ended in tears, however those responsible for his 5-year appointment should seriously consider their own competencies.

Surely those in charge of this appointment at the very least should have sought explanation and clarification of the following questions and issues, during the interview and appointment process. Namely; “Anthony:

Have you won an NRL premiership as a player?

Have you won an NRL premiership as a coach?

Importantly, have you ever played for the Bronco’s?

In any of your previous assistant coaching roles were you ever mentored by a DFI infected, non-premiership winning ex-Dragon/Shark

Was the aforementioned DFI infected, non-premiership wining ex-Dragon/Shark coach ever publicly slapped when he was a player.

Is it possible that as a consequence of the above questions, that you too are infected with DFI which is still transmittable to players that you coach?

Are you aware of the premise that no one ever goes any better when they leave the nest?

Finally, are you aware that when a coach is appointed to replace Wayne Bennett, that team/club usually goes to shit.

The demise of Seibold, his rapid fall and the manner of his departure from the Bronco’s continues the trend of those leaving the nest. Let’s face it, if Bozo can’t go better what hope is there for mere mortals. Despite how badly Manly are going at present, those currently involved should tread wearily when considering future options as moving to other pastures the grass is rarely ever greener.

In saying that the playing futures of most of the current player roster should be under review/consideration by Manly management and the decision for many to go to other pastures may not be theirs to make.

 THE SEA EAGLE

[ledenews]

OVAC Boys Finals Set for Saturday

The times is now for the final 10, time to put forth another valiant effort in hopes of achieving conference and class supremacy.  The OVAC Basketball Championships begin Saturday at Ohio University Eastern with the 4A title game and continue through the evening. In 3A and 1A, a new champion will be crowned.  The other three classes see returning victors yearning to extend growing championship streaks. The lineup is thus: 4A at 10 a.m., 5A at noon, 1A at 2 p.m., 2A at 4 and 3A at 6. A single ticket purchase provides fans all-day entry to witness some of the finest basketball the valley has to offer. All games will be broadcast on The Watchdog, 98.1 FM WKKX and 97.7 FM WVLY. Take the 5A title game. While Morgantown and University aren’t valley teams, per se, they are some of the OVAC’s best and happen to be ranked No. 2 and No. 1, respectively, in the state. This will be a rubber match as the two split earlier games this season. Morgantown, coached by the son of longtime Magnolia coach Dave Tallman, will look to snap the Hawks 3-year win streak in the 5A finals. Speaking of streaks, the day’s first contest will feature OVAC outgoing member Meadowbrook looking to place it’s stamp on its final conference season with a five-peat.  The Colts will face East Liverpool, a former big-school power looking to recapture past glories. Few teams have been as dominant this decade as Wheeling Central, winners of six of the last seven 2A crowns. The only break came in 2018 when the Knights were busy winning the 3A championship. They will face off against Shadyside, a team they’ve beaten twice this season. If the 3A title game seems familiar, it’s because the exact same schools faced off last weekend in the girls’ 3A game. Union Local is the hottest team in the OVAC, winners of 13 out of its last 14. They face a balanced, talented and unselfish Cadets team that is looking for its first title since 2014. Finally, in 1A, Madonna was the lone road team to win Tuesday, knocking off two-seeded Hundred 63-60. They will face a Frontier team which hasn’t won a conference crown since 2004.

Class AAAAA

No. 2 University vs. No. 1 Morgantown Monongalia firepower was on full display Tuesday. University torched Wheeling Park 108-69, scoring the most points ever against a Patriots’ team. This came after two competitive games earlier this season. Bowling Green signee Kaden Matheny finished with 29 points, including 15 in the first quarter as the Hawks built an insurmountable lead early. Park coach Michael Jebbia referred to Matheny as the best point guard he’s seen in West Virginia in 20 years.  That’s high praise from the Park and West Liberty all-time great. Matheny wasn’t alone as University placed five players in double figures, including 24 from K.J. McClurg. While University’s hot shooting put away Park early, across town, the Mohigans’ suffocating man defense was rendering Weir’s offensive output nearly non-existent. Morgantown held the Red Riders to single digits in all four quarters, including a 27-2 score after the first quarter. Alex Rudy’s 17 points led four double-digit scorers. The state’s top-two teams are primed to put on an impressive show at high noon at Ohio University Eastern.

Class AAAA

No. 2 East Liverpool vs. No. 1 Meadowbrook Prior to Tuesday’s semifinal, East Liverpool suffered a disappointing upset to cross-river rival Oak Glen.  The result had Nate Conley’s Potters (14-4) playing with a chip on their shoulder when Martins Ferry came calling Tuesday in the semis. Behind 31 points from Tesean Jackson, Liverpool sent the Riders packing 80-41.  This is the second time during Conley’s 10-year stint the Potters have made the finals. They face a Meadowbrook team that is fresh off a big win against Harrison Central. The Colts took a committee approach in dealing with Huskies’ scoring machine Kobe Mitchell, choosing to focus more on his teammates.  So, while Mitchell had 30 points, the rest of his team accounted for 43 in a 70-43 loss. Jonathan McCall and Davis Singleton led Meadowbrook with 15 and 13 points, respectively. Will the Colts take the same approach with Jackson?

Class AAA

No. 2 Fort Frye vs. No. 1 Union Local This has the potential to be the best game of the day. These two teams that like to play fast with capable shooters, and this game features one of the valley’s top outside sharpshooters in UL’s Luke Merritt. Merritt had a school-record 79 triples and averages 19.9 points per game. He’s the straw stirring the drink, but his teammates are no slouches. Andrew Martin, Nathan Meyer and Zach Bateman average between 8.5 and 10.2 per game and are capable of catching fire should Merritt draw extra attention. The Cadets are equally difficult to defend. Their 15-3 record and 58 points per game average are impressive.  A more telling stat is despite that number, Fort Frye’s leading scorer, Zane Wallace, scores only 12.8 points per game.  Brady Schilling (12.4) and Kelton Fogle (12.1) are close behind. The Cadets distribute the ball well and have multiple ways to hurt an opponent offensively.

Class AA

No. 2 Shadyside vs. No. 1 Wheeling Central This was the 2A final most were expecting. The road for both teams was far from easy. Both Shadyside’s battle with Southern Local and Wheeling Central’s close call against a game Clay-Battelle outfit provided stern tests in preparation for the finale. Central has won the previous two meetings this season, with 6-5 post Clayton Abate erupting for 19 points and 22 points as the Knights made concentrated effort to attack the paint. It paid off in a 75-58 win. The Knights have a host of offensive options, including Ryan Reasbeck, J.C. Maxwell, Jalen Creighton and Avery Lee, who caught fire for 32 against the Cee-Bees. Shadyside is led by recently crowned all-time leading scorer Kelly Hendershot’s 18.3 points per game. Korey Beckett provides the deep threat with 57 triples and a 14.3 average while Bryce Amos and Tyler Parr both average 10.9. Central no doubt will have a different plan of attack, but if anyone can find a scheme to counter, it’s Tigers coach Ed Andes.

Class A

No. 3 Madonna vs. No. 1 Frontier The top-ranked Cougars haven’t won a title since the early 2000s and the days when Anthony Mossburg was the top athlete in the school. The current version of Frontier basketball is led by Logan Brookover’s 20.6 points per game and the double-double machine that is Kyle Daugherty (14 points and 13 rebound average). Lucky Pulice led Madonna’s upset of No. 2 Hundred with 18 points as the Blue Dons pulled it off after the lengthy trip into the depths of Wetzel County. Evan Boniti added 15 and Brennan Secrist totaled 14 for Madonna.  Read the full article

[junker-town]

Bracketology 2020: The bubble’s revolving door is back with a vengeance

Mississippi State picked up an impressive win at Florida on Tuesday night to boost its NCAA hopes. | Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Our latest bracket projection features three new at-large teams and some new names under consideration.

The bubble is shrinking, slightly. Last week’s first look at the bubble for the 2019-20 season included a whopping 27 teams beyond the cut line. That total has been reduced to 25 for this week. If we drop two teams a week the rest of the way, we’ll reach a more manageable number of 13 by the time Selection Sunday arrives in six weeks.

Before we get to all that mess, it’s time to start handing out locks. Here’s a reminder of how this all works.

For the 2020 NCAA Tournament, it looks like just 23 conferences will earn a single bid.

That means that just 45 of the 68 places in the field are truly up for grabs — the 36 at-large spots and the nine that will go to the tournament winners of those nine multi-bid conferences.

In turn, those 45 spots will also largely disappear as teams move into the lock category. By the time Selection Weekend arrives, those of us in the bracketology-industrial complex will hope to be left making educated guesses about a handful of spots. With the way this season has played out so far, that could be asking a lot.

Locks

By definition, these four teams are also protected seeds. As another reminder, that term means that a team is protected against facing a potentially hostile environment in the First Round only.

Note: The first number following a team’s name is its NET ranking as of the morning of Friday, Jan. 31. Second, is the team’s overall record in games against Division I opposition only. The third is its record in both Quad 1 and 2 games, with the fourth indicating its record in Quad 1 games alone. Record information is courtesy WarrenNolan.com’s incredible database. Auto bid holders are denoted with an asterisk (*).

No. 1s: 1. Baylor* (2/18-1/11-1/7-1), 2. Kansas (4/16-3/12-3/8-3), 3. San Diego State* (1/21-0/8-0/4-0), 4. Gonzaga* (3/22-1/6-1/4-1)

The San Diego State Aztecs and Gonzaga Bulldogs are two of the three teams in the country to have already surpassed the 20-win mark. The third, the Liberty Flames, finds itself in a completely different position because of a poor strength of schedule, including a pair of non-Division I victories. Neither of the Pacific Coast powers have that issue, so they’re good to go as locks. As for the Baylor Bears and Kansas Jayhawks, the top two teams on the seed list aren’t going to be able to accumulate enough bad losses in a strong Big 12 to drop out of the field.

The Other Protected Seeds

These 12 teams are nearing lock status, but need to pick up a minimum of one win.

Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports

Duke is about to enter the portion of its schedule that will determine its lock status.

No. 2s: 5. Duke (6/17-3/6-3/4-1), 6. Seton Hall* (14/16-4/10-4/7-4), 7. Dayton* (5/19-2/7-2/3-2), 8. West Virginia (9/16-4/9-4/4-3) No. 3s: 9. Villanova (13/17-3/9-3/5-3), 10. Oregon* (15/18-4/9-4/6-2), 11. Florida State (16/17-3/8-3/3-2), 12. Louisville* (10/18-3/5-3/2-3) No. 4s: 13. Butler (8/17-4/11-4/6-4), 14. Michigan State* (7/16-5/8-5/4-4), 15. Kentucky (24/16-4/6-3/4-2), 16. Maryland (12/17-4/10-4/5-4)

While the Duke Blue Devils are the top No. 2 seed in today’s update, they’re not yet a lock because of what awaits them in a down ACC. Mike Krzyzewski’s squad hits the road for three straight — all against teams that are either climbing up the bubble (Syracuse on Saturday night) or far away from it (Boston College and archrival North Carolina). A loss in any of those games could, at a minimum, lead to seeding trouble or, in a worse case scenario, begin a downward spiral for Duke.

All three ACC teams in this projection — the Blue Devils, Florida State Seminoles and Louisville Cardinals — rank among the top 16.

Two weeks ago, I neglected to include the Villanova Wildcats in my list of teams that could earn a No. 1 seed on Selection Sunday. That was a major error on my part, as Jay Wright’s team has won seven straight to edge up to the top spot on seed line No. 3. A huge matchup in the Big East is set for one week from tomorrow, Saturday, February 8th, when the Wildcats host the Seton Hall Pirates, currently a No. 2 seed and owner of a 10-game win streak. But both teams have tricky weeks ahead of them. Nova hosts the Creighton Bluejays and visits the Butler Bulldogs, currently atop seed line No. 4. Meanwhile, the Hall meets a pair of bubble teams — welcoming the Xavier Musketeers to Newark and heading to the Nation’s Capital to meet the Georgetown Hoyas. But wouldn’t it be something if the two teams meet at Wells Fargo Center having combined for 21 straight wins?

Top Four Seeds By Region

South: 1/1. Baylor* (St. Louis 1), 2/7. Dayton* (Cleveland 1), 3/10. Florida State (Tampa 1), 4/16. Maryland (Sacramento 2) - Total of Top 4 Seeds = 34

East: 1/4. Gonzaga* (Spokane 1), 2/5. Duke* (Greensboro 1), 3/9. Villanova (Albany 2), 4/15. Kentucky (Tampa 2) - Total of Top 4 Seeds = 33

Midwest: 1/2. Kansas (Omaha 1), 2/6. Seton Hall* (Albany 1), 3/11. Louisville* (St. Louis 2), 4/14. Michigan State* (Omaha 2) - Total of Top 4 Seeds = 33

West: 1/3. San Diego State* (Sacramento 1), 2/8. West Virginia (Cleveland 2), 3/12. Oregon* (Spokane 2), 4/13. Butler (Greensboro 2) - Total of Top 4 Seeds = 36

Seed lines three and four required shuffling to get the regions into relative balance. This is why the Michigan State Spartans are the Midwest No. 4 seed over Butler, who should have earned that position by virtue of being one spot ahead of the Spartans on the seed line. Florida State is technically two miles closer to Indianapolis than Houston, but since the difference is so small, I made the switch with Louisville, again for balance purposes.

Getting There

Beyond the top 16, there are a further 11 teams making steady progress toward a bid, including two Big Ten teams that own long NCAA droughts.

Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

LSU could have found itself in a seventh consecutive close contest when Alabama visited Baton Rouge on Wednesday, but the Tigers took care of business to stay undefeated in SEC play.

No. 5s: 17. Iowa (21/15-6/9-5/5-4), 18. Creighton (25/15-5/7-5/5-5), 19. LSU* (19/16-4/10-4/3-2), 20. Penn State (23/15-5/9-4/5-3) No. 6s: 21. Illinois (29/15-5/7-4/4-3), 22. Marquette (22/15-6/8-5/4-5), 23. Arizona (11/14-6/5-6/3-4), 24. Colorado (20/16-5/8-4/3-2) No. 7s: 25. Auburn (26/18-2/7-2/1-2), 26. Rutgers (18/15-5/6-4/2-3), 27. Houston* (36/17-4/6-3/3-3)

With the Iowa Hawkeyes swapping places with the Maryland Terrapins following the pair’s Thursday meeting in College Park, Fran McCaffery’s squad is one of four Big Ten clubs in this group. The Penn State Nittany Lions have won three in a row against teams below them in the bid pecking order to solidify their spot, while the Illinois Fighting Illini have won seven straight, including three road games (a mean feat this home-friendly Big Ten season) edging both closer to lock status. As for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, they really need to record a road win over someone other than the Nebraska Cornhuskers, thanks to a pair of very close home wins over them and the Purdue Boilermakers. Their next chance comes on Tuesday at Maryland, though the Scarlet Knights will play an odd midseason neutral-site game on Saturday against the Michigan Wolverines — a team behind them on the seed list — as part of Big Ten Day in New York.

On Thursday night, the Arizona Wildcats won their first true road game of the season by holding off the Washington Huskies, while the Colorado Buffaloes saw their seeding take a hit with a bad away loss to the UCLA Bruins, a team Tad Boyle’s club had defeated at Pauley Pavilion in both 2018 and 2019.

Welcome to the Bubble

We have fun and games (and anxiety).

Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

USC has won five of its last six to establish itself as a serious threat for both the Pac-12 title and NCAA bid.

No. 7s: 28. Ohio State (17/13-7/5-7/3-5) No. 8s: 29. Wisconsin (31/12-9/6-8/5-7), 30. USC (38/17-4/9-3/3-3), 31. Michigan (35/12-8/6-8/3-8), 32. Wichita State (32/17-3/7-3/0-1) No. 9s: 33. Texas Tech (30/13-7/4-7/2-7), 34. Stanford (27/15-5/3-3/0-3), 35. Saint Mary’s (34/18-4/6-2/2-1), 36. Indiana (46/15-6/5-6/3-5) No. 10s: 37. Oklahoma (52/13-7/7-7/2-6), 38. Florida (41/12-8/6-8/2-4) No. 10s (Last Four Byes): 39. Arkansas (39/15-5/5-5/1-3), 40. BYU (28/15-7/4-7/1-5) No. 11s (Last Four Byes): 41. Rhode Island (44/15-5/4-4/1-3), 42. VCU (33/16-5/2-5/1-3)

Few teams ranked outside of the top 27 on the seed list managed to win their midweek games. Of the 15 teams above, just seven won between Tuesday and Thursday, with the Ohio State Buckeyes, Wichita State Shockers and Wisconsin Badgers lucky to be idle. Michigan did win at Nebraska to complete a season sweep, while both the Saint Mary’s Gaels and BYU Cougars (in the Last Four Byes group below) picked up Thursday night wins before their Saturday night showdown in Provo and two sets of Atlantic 10 Rams, VCU and Rhode Island, also took care of business before their rematch tonight in Kingston. VCU’s home victory over the Richmond Spiders was particularly noteworthy as the Rams significantly damaged their crosstown rivals’ bubble hopes.

However, the Texas Tech Red Raiders and USC Trojans were the biggest bubble winners of the week so far. The Red Raiders picked up a second top 10 win by handling West Virginia in Lubbock on Wednesday night. One evening later, the Trojans took down the Utah Utes to continue a six-game stretch that has seen them only lose at Oregon in double overtime.

Most of the losers, however, fell in games they really needed to win. Both of the SEC entrants in this group, the Florida Gators and Arkansas Razorbacks, lost to teams below them on the bubble. The Gators gave up a double-digit lead in a home loss to the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Conversely, the Razorbacks’ late rally against the South Carolina Gamecocks, also on their own floor, came up short. The Stanford Cardinal remain an enigma on par with Florida, as the NET’s 27th-ranked team has now dropped three in a row after Thursday’s road loss to the Oregon State Beavers. The Oklahoma Sooners, meanwhile, dropped a 61-53 decision on Wednesday to the Kansas State Wildcats. At least the Indiana Hoosiers’ midweek loss came on the road to a team well ahead of them in the Big Ten pecking order — Penn State.

The Cut Line

If you thought the bid picture was a muddled mess before we got here, just wait!

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Virginia took care of business in the first of three home games against this season’s ACC heavyweights.

Last Four IN (No. 11s - First Four): 43. Virginia (55/14-6/6-5/2-2), 44. Utah State (54/15-6/3-5/2-3), 45. Alabama (40/12-8/3-7/1-5), 46. Mississippi State (42/13-7/3-5/1-5)

Of the four teams destined for Dayton in this exercise, three of them are here because of victories they picked up during a three-day span when most of their competition failed. Mississippi State sneaks into the field following its win at Florida, while the Virginia Cavaliers are back after they held off Florida State on Tuesday night and the Utah State Aggies also return, as three straight wins have pushed them closer to the NET Top 50. The Alabama Crimson Tide remain in the field despite their Wednesday loss at LSU because ... well, I’m just going to gesture wildly at what’s to come.

First Four OUT: 69. Virginia Tech (53/14-7/5-6/2-4), 70. ETSU (68/15-4/2-2/2-1), 71. Memphis (50/15-5/5-4/1-3), 72. Minnesota (45/11-10/5-10/3-8) Next Four OUT: 73. Purdue (37/11-10/5-9/2-8), 74. NC State (56/14-7/5-5/2-3), 75. Georgetown (49/12-9/6-9/2-7) 76. Syracuse (60/13-8/4-8/3-3)

Also Considered: 77. St. John’s (73/13-9/4-8/3-6), 78. DePaul (59/12-8/4-6/4-5), 79. Texas (64/13-7/3-7/2-5), 80. TCU (65/12-7/3-7/1-3), 81. Cincinnati (51/13-7/5-4/0-4), 82. Richmond (58/15-6/3-5/2-4), 83. Tennessee (62/12-8/4-7/2-4), 84. UNCG (67/15-5/3-4/1-1), 85. Arizona State (57/12-8/5-8/1-6), 86. Xavier (63/13-8/5-8/1-7), 87. Washington (47/12-10/2-8/1-7), 88. Utah (71/12-8/5-6/2-6), 89. Notre Dame (66/12-8/2-7/1-5), 90. Tulsa (69/14-6/3-4/0-2), 91. Saint Louis (73/13-9/4-8/3-6), 92. SMU (74/15-5/2-4/1-2), 93. South Carolina (75/12-8/5-6/3-4)

Of the first 25 teams left out of the field — a group that consists of the remainder of the NET Top 75 except for the Iowa State Cyclones, who aren’t included in my analysis since their record falls below .500 — a mere seven won their midweek games to continue a pattern of losing that began with the teams above them. Making matters worse, just two of these squads, the NC State Wolfpack and Tulsa Golden Hurricane, were idle. Purdue and Minnesota’s defeats were particularly costly, as both now sit at 11-10, and that winning percentage costs both teams their spots in the field. It’s a similar story for 12-10 Washington, which slips down the bubble after its loss to Arizona.

Other teams that hurt themselves badly this week include ...

A Georgetown squad that dropped its third straight with a 69-64 home loss to Butler.

Virginia Tech, which is back on the wrong side of the cut line following consecutive road losses to Boston College and Miami.

Arizona State, victim of Washington State’s newfound home-court advantage.

The aforementioned Richmond squad that followed up a home loss to Dayton with a road defeat against VCU.

DePaul, now 1-7 in the Big East, following Wednesday’s loss at Seton Hall.

Syracuse, which saw its five-game win streak rudely snapped by Clemson.

Tennessee, which recorded perhaps the worst loss of the group — to Texas A&M at home.

Xavier, which couldn’t manage to defeat Marquette at home with Markus Howard out for most of the second half and two overtimes.

TCU, which dropped a heartbreaker at home to one of the few winners from this group, Texas.

East Tennessee State, which surrendered both its Southern Conference lead and possibly its at-large hopes with a loss to Mercer at home.

Utah, seen above falling at USC.

St. John’s, run out of Madison Square Garden by Villanova.

And finally, SMU, 22-point losers at Cincinnati, another team from this group that’s making a midseason push towards relevance.

Whew. Besides, Cincinnati and Texas, Notre Dame (over Wake Forest at home), Memphis (at UCF), UNC Greensboro (at Western Carolina), Saint Louis (by one at La Salle after overtime) and South Carolina (an actual good win at Arkansas) are the only other teams currently on the outside looking in that managed to taste victory over the past three days.

Not only do we have three new at-large teams in the field since Tuesday’s projection, we’ve had some casting changes on the bubble. Duquesne, Georgia, Iowa State and Pittsburgh are now off the board, with South Carolina and Utah filling the void in a bubble that shrunk by two spots. Plus, a trio of teams on the outside looking in last Friday are now back in the field as members of our final group of teams.

(Likely) One-Bid Conference Reps

No. 12s: 47. Northern Iowa* (43/16-3/3-1/1-1), 48. Yale*, 49. Liberty*, 50. Furman* No. 13s: 51. North Texas*, 52. Stephen F. Austin*, 53. Vermont*, 54. New Mexico State* No. 14s: 55. UC Irvine*, 56. Bowling Green*, 57. Wright State*, 58. William & Mary* No. 15s: 59. Colgate*, 60. Winthrop*, 61. South Dakota State*, 62. Murray State* No. 16s (First Round): 63. Little Rock*, 64. Eastern Washington* No. 16s (First Four): 65. Monmouth*, 66. Prairie View A&M*, 67. Robert Morris*, 68. Norfolk State*

Those would be the Yale Bulldogs, now 2-0 in the Ivy League, and the Liberty Flames, though their at-large hopes are now all but over after last week’s consecutive road losses. The same can’t be said for a Northern Iowa Panthers team that’s back in as the Missouri Valley leader, but still under consideration for an at-large thanks to a 16-3 record against Division I opposition, including a win at Colorado.

I’ll have a full bracket update on Tuesday.