#the musical and reality tv episodes are some of the best

[suplexingsteve]

Um actually is feeling more like a comedy panel show and less like jeopardy. On one hand that feels much more like the brand of dropout on the other hand I love trivia and I'm kinda missing the vibe. It's ifys first season so I won't make any type of generalization

[benisasoftboi]

I am so happy with the conclusion of BBC Ghosts.

There were so many things I loved about the final series that I can't even keep it all straight in my brain, I'll have to rewatch it all (and the Christmas special, of course! Must remember it's the not the true end yet!)

But something I can immediately say I loved was what they didn't do. See, that line in the trailer that turned out to be from episode 5 - about there being a pattern to when they move on - worried me. One of the best things about the show, to me, is how there truly is not any reason at all to why the ghosts are there, or when they go. It's something the creators have said over and over, and that the show has always backed up; we saw so many times that, unlike in most ghost media, addressing unfinished business or achieving emotional resolution changes absolutely nothing. Pat hit some sort of emotional resolution three times. And Julian realised the importance of family, and Robin saved someone’s life, and Thomas discovered the truth of his death, and so on and so on. Finding closure isn't the end, and equally, the end isn't predicated by a climatic conclusion. It just happens. And the same is true for why people become ghosts. It just happens. And you exist, and fill your days, and then you’re gone. And no one knows why.

It's kind of the most agnostic television show I've ever seen.

I love that. Every other afterlife show I've ever seen has some kind of reward and punishment system. Or at least says that there's a reason for things, some kind of higher power at play, not necessarily a god but something like it. Even the American adaptation felt the need to bring Hell into it, which is why I need to specify that I'm only talking about the British version here. And I feel like a lot of fans wanted there to be reasons too, or felt like there simply had to be, that it wasn't even a question. I get why - it's not just because it's the standard for ghost narratives. It's really uncomfortable to think about the randomness of life and death. But Mary didn't go because of anything that happened before that day, and Cap was never going to go because he came out, and one day, when they've all gone, there won't have been a reason for it.

Because the real point of BBC Ghosts is that there is no point. You’ve just got to make it through the days, surrounded by people that irritate you, trapped in a confusing world where you’re mostly powerless. And it sucks, and you're angry, and sad, and bored as hell. And you also find happiness in the mundane chaos, and you get really good at chess, and watch the ants in the garden, and write bad poetry, and read terrible romance novels, and gamble money you don't have, and go camping, and play games, and learn French, and watch reality TV, and have sex with a decapitated Tudor nobleman’s body, and dance to old music, and look at the stars, and find that you actually really love all those annoying people after all, and that’s the point.

[cinnbar-bun]

Watching Reality TV With You (Various One Piece Characters x Reader)

Characters: Zoro, Sanji, Trafalgar Law, Luffy, Perona + Mihawk, Nami, Kizaru/Borsalino, Eustass Kidd

A/n: Sorry I’m a huge fan of Real Housewives so take these silly headcanons!!!

Note: GN reader, the relationships with the character(s) and reader can be seen as platonic/romantic depending on what you prefer :) Mihawk + Perona’s relationship to each other is also not stated just for your personal preference. These are all just very silly things, don’t take this too seriously since it’s crack!

Zoro

“The hell? Why are you watching this crap? It’s not even real!”

He just sighs and grumbles about how this is dumb the whoooooole time.

Tends to sharpen his swords or try and nap while it’s on.

Until lowkey he starts peeking a bit like ‘did she just say that?’

Suddenly has opinions on it and tries to deny he’s interested but his eyes are GLUED once they start arguing and the suspenseful music is playing.

“Well, if I was her, I think I’d just kick them. Or maybe cut their car in half.”

Sanji

Opposite of Zoro. The man is probably a bigger fan than you and most likely is reading the gossip online.

It’s your weekly night hangout where he brings snacks and cozy blankets for you two to sit and enjoy while watching.

Gasps audibly and loudly.

He’s both the best and worst to talk about this with because he respects all women and he forgives them for everything, so they all get passes from him.

“Yes she may have talked badly about [name] and stole [name]’s house and maybe crashed a car. But we all do that. We need to show forgiveness. She’s having a tough time- her dress came in the wrong color.”

Law

Like Zoro, he’s very disturbed by the very prospect of reality tv.

But he’ll try. Let it be known he’s trying.

He doesn’t get interested in it but he does try to follow along so he can discuss it with you.

Not gonna lie though he’s the guy who’s focusing on their plastic surgery or illnesses.

Will literally pause the show just to examine what they may/may not have done and if the surgeon botched it up.

Imma just manifest this, he’s prolly a Terry Dubrow stan.

“Who’s your favorite Housewife so far?” “Terry.” “But… Terry isn’t-“ “It’s Terry.”

Unironically would drop a horrible quote from whichever show you’ve been watching and he’d say it so seriously that everyone’s jaw will drop and it takes him a sec for him to realize what he said.

Luffy

Imma keep this short for you- he ain’t looking.

He ain’t caring.

No thoughts.

He only cares when there’s a party and food is being served.

“Woooooah! Look at all that food!!!”

Doesn’t even recognize who is who and will just mindlessly wait for food to come on screen.

Perona + Mihawk

I’m putting this as a two for one they’re my everything <3

You and Perona are the ones who watch it lots. Perona does complain about how much they argue but she loooooves looking at the houses and clothes of the women. Makes comments about wanting to fly first class or visit the beautiful places they go to.

Mihawk is reading.

Perona is biased as hell and only defends the people that are wearing cute clothes. Otherwise? Shit list.

“Ugh! What is that dress?! It’s so hideous!” “Is that all you’re focusing on?” “I agree with (Y/n), Perona, she just had gotten into some relationship troubles with [name], so I think [name] is wrong.”

You and Perona are gasping and shocked that Mihawk 1) talked and 2) had an opinion on this???

Turns out the man had been listening the whole time (he’s quite the multitasker).

If Perona is the most biased viewer, Mihawk tries to remain objective and impartial. He's always listing out the nuances of a conversation.

“I think [name] is just jealous.” “Well, if we remember in season 4, episode 14-“

He’s a smart ass sometimes, but it’s okay, he’s our smart ass.

Perona is always enthusiastic about marathoning the shows again and watching it. She tends to do dress up requirements for watching it.

Nami

I’d hesitate to call Nami a “fan” of reality shows.

She’s aware of them, yes. Does she particularly care for it? Nah, not really.

They’re more background noise and eye candy for her.

She just likes putting them on and glancing every once in a while to gaze at the beautiful houses and trips.

“Oh that’s so expensive… imagine what you could do with all that!”

Sometimes has a fun game for herself to estimate the cost of an outfit, accessory, or house. It’s scary how accurate and detailed she can get with it.

Tends to mostly focus on fashion and get new ideas to steal- I mean, incorporate.

Doesn’t have strong opinions on the cast, but she isn’t too crazy about the louder members.

Kizaru/Borsalino

He’s heard of it, he thinks.

And, well, since you’re so into them, he’ll give it a watch.

“Oh my, these ladies are incredibly wealthy and beautiful.”

He’s not even ogling them he’s just amazed at the way they dress, behave, and/or decorate their spaces. It’s almost like being starstruck???

The guy who will pause the tv at certain scenes to point at random decorations or outfits and be like “darling, would you like that?”

He does get sad when they start to fight.

“Aw… I was just liking the party… why are they arguing now?”

His favorite cast member is your favorite one <3 he’s just a cheerleader like that, dear.

He could listen to you talk about it for hours if you wanted, and he’d be amazed by your knowledge.

“You know, if you’d like for me to have you be on a show like this, I could probably pull some strings!”

Kidd

1000000x worse than Zoro

I cannot recommend putting it on in front of him.

“The hell is this shit?! Turn it off!”

You refuse and now he’s stuck watching grown women argue over dumb things (in his mind).

Complains the ENTIIIIRRRRE time. Nonstop commenting and complaining.

Okay but he’s hooked after a bit, the drama is just too good.

But now he’s WORSE cuz he’s got OPINIONS and THEYRE ALL SHITTY!

This man is an instigator. I swear to god he’s just saying shit just to rile you up and be contrarian.

He's stanning the biggest menaces on the show.

You two will probably get into (very silly) arguments about some of the situations and people.

And unlike say, Sanji, who tries to defend a person, Eustass will just say you’re wrong and then add something unhinged to it.

“Naw you just don’t get it. If I was her, personally, I think I’d just burn their mansion down and then slash their tires.”

[ponett]

really really enjoyed your article on hazbin hotel. have been hearing about it for years, but did my active best to learn literally nothing substantial–until your article. even all the incredible bigotry aside, it's shocking to me just how...messy the show seems to be? i've never, EVER heard of a show where you're expected to have fandom and pilot knowledge ahead of time. that's nuts. cannot fathom how it all got approved with such a massive budget & cast given how Clearly Haphazardly put together it is. anyway. great article, spread it to a few friends, your writing was really engaging and drew me in 👍

I ended up not talking about this in the piece because it was already more than long enough, but I do wonder if the messy writing could partially be a result of A24 being a bad match for the project. Because, you know. A24 is not an animation distributor. This was the first animation project they funded.

Obviously I wasn't a fly on the wall at Spindlehorse and this is pure speculation, but based on the show itself it does feel like A24 looked at the millions and millions of views the pilot had on YouTube and went "Well, you guys clearly know what you're doing! We'll stay out of your way." When in reality, like I said in the review, what I think the show really needed was just an experienced cartoon showrunner on hand who could gently nudge things in the right direction and help them nail down basic TV writing stuff. Not calling the shots, but just looking over Vivzie's shoulder with feedback like "Does this episode have a satisfying three-act structure?" or "Could you explain this worldbuilding detail a little more clearly?" or "This episode doesn't have a clear enough focus on its central emotional arc." I have to wonder if a studio with an actual history making cartoons could have more easily hooked Hazbin up with someone like that.

(Some of the work on Hazbin was also done by Bento Box Entertainment, who've worked on a bunch of adult cartoons like Bob's Burgers, but I'm not sure how much creative input they actually had.)

Without that outsider perspective, I can see how it's extremely easy to get lost in the weeds and just write for the audience that's already there. Of course dedicating an entire three-minute musical number to Vox in the second episode seems like a good idea when you're surrounded by excited fans who've spent the last five years asking what's up with the TV head guy teased in the pilot. Of course you take for granted how much people already know about the characters and world when you've been talking about them online for years, and also producing a bunch of supplemental material like a whole spinoff show. It takes a lot of effort to not fall into that mindset and put yourself in the shoes of someone who's going in blind.

Again, this is all speculation. But these are easy traps for independent creators, especially ones coming from the world of webcomics, to fall into.

[fr33time]

hello! welcome to the fandom !

can i have bf headcanons for subaru please ?

thank you for taking my request!

have a great day <3

A/N: I would love to do bf headcanons for subaru, he is actually so sweet. Also thank you! I love the game so far, I can’t wait till episode 9 releases. I’m hoping it’ll be longer but a person can only hope… I hope you enjoy these! Honestly I have so many headcanons for him, I think he would be a lovely boyfriend. These were fun to do, I love relationship headcanons so bad!

BF headcanons with Subaru Kagami ♥︎

Credits for divider!: @thecutestgrotto

Genre: Headcanons, Fluff

Find my requesting rules here!

╔══ஓ๑♡๑ஓ══╗

♥︎ Even as your boyfriend, Subaru still gets nervous around you, especially in the early phases of the relationship. He apologizes whenever he touches you by accident, and you have to remind him that you don’t mind the physical affection.

♥︎ Doesn’t have experience with relationships. He grew up as an actor at a young age and didn’t have the mind to focus on romantic relationships. Still learning how to be with another person, but he tries his best and makes sure to mentally note what you like. He has a habit of only serving you, and not paying attention to what he wants. Gets a little flustered when you give him gifts, but he cherishes it with all of his heart.

♥︎ He’s a great listener, he listens with an open heart and remains empathetic towards you. He doesn’t mind sitting down for a while and hearing your troubles. Usually likes to hold your hand to make sure that you know he’s there for you. Afterwards he’ll offer tea in order to calm you down, something with lavender since it’s known to be an anxiety reliever. If you don’t want to talk about it though, that’s fine too, he can wait. He always has patience for you.

♥︎ When relaxing together, he pulls out a blanket so both of you are comfortable. If you prefer it, he can put on tv, listen to music, or just sit in silence and enjoy the other’s presence. He enjoys being close to you, he’ll grab both of your hands and lean into your shoulder.

♥︎ When you two go out to eat, or try to find an activity to do, he won’t tell you what he wants in fear that you won’t have fun if he suggests something. You try to reassure him that it’s a relationship and that you want to experience something he enjoys as well.

“I’m a bit hungry, you should choose where we eat today!”

“Oh ummm… I’m fine with anything you want, I’m not particularly craving something.”

“…Subaru I’ve chosen where we eat the past week, I promise you that I don’t mind.”

He can take a while on deciding, at some point you just start learning where he likes to go and occasionally bring him there. He appreciates that you mix up things for him, sometimes he mentions that there’s a new shop opening somewhere, hinting that he wants to check it out.

♥︎ Takes you on walks around the Hotarubi grounds. The flowers are always blooming, and it’s constantly raining so it smells beautiful all the time. He grabs an umbrella and keeps you close when you walk together, he’ll slink an arm around you and pull you in to make sure you don’t get wet in the rain. In reality he just likes the physical contact. The grounds are big so you take your time wandering around and talking.

♥︎ He finds it a bit silly, but both of you enjoy doing impressions of other people. It’s something fun to do when you’re sitting around. Especially when you’re bored of studying, you have studying sessions together and when you need a break, you’ll pull out the awful impressions of people to make him smile. He eventually joins along, his impressions are much better though since he’s been doing it for his entire life.

♥︎ Loves buying food from Sho’s truck and sharing it together. When you open up the food, sometimes you’ll find little hearts made out of sauce on top of the rice. Thanks Sho!

♥︎ Occasionally when he talks, he can ramble on a bit. It surprises him a bit since he doesn’t talk too much around others cause he doesn’t want to bother people. But he gets comfortable around you and starts to go on, saying sorry after the fact and that he didn’t mean to talk for so long.

♥︎ He can get really somber, when he doesn’t smile he has a sad look on his face. You can tell he’s thinking about something, but you don’t pry because he’s one to keep his feelings to himself. You softly encourage him to tell you about what he’s currently thinking but he brushes it off and tells you that he’s fine, chalking it up to losing track of time. In these moments, you silently lean on him and watch the flowers, someday he’ll tell you but you understand that it’s difficult for him at the moment.

♥︎ Doesn’t really participate in PDA, when he’s brave enough he’ll hold your hand in public. Besides that, people can mainly tell you two are together through rumours, and the fact that you are around each other all the time outside of classes. His hand is always warm and inviting to you, when it’s cold, he’ll lace your hand with his and it feels wonderful each time.

♥︎ Whenever you have to leave and run an errand, or you need to go back to your dorm, he’ll give you kisses before you leave. He hates when you have to leave, but understands that you have places to go, he supposes that he should catch up on his own things as well. He softly grabs your cheek before kissing you, he makes a sad face and at that point you have to promise that you’ll be back soon to ease his mind.

♥︎ When you’re sick, he gives you the royalty treatment. If you need something from the store, he’ll get you whatever you want. He forces you to get plenty of rest and to not think about any stresses. He feels incredibly sorry for you and sticks by you if you wish. He’ll softly sing you a lullaby to help you fall asleep, and gives you herbs that help with sleep. When you’re finally resting, he stares at your face and plays with your hair a bit before leaving to let you be at peace.

╚══ஓ๑♡๑ஓ══╝

[crepesuzettey]

Thoughts on Bit City episode 1

Let me just start off by saying that I think objectively it was a good episode. Many people have pointed this out already, but the 1D reunion was definitely a standout, Tommy was so funny in that. I also thought the end segment was funny, and a good note to end on.

I'm sure the series will grow on me, but for this specific episode, I kind of didn't feel like I was the target audience lol. I mean, I know some pop culture stuff, but... yeah I just don't really get very invested in a lot of stuff about musical artists. I barely know anything about Sabrina Carpenter, I haven't even listened to her music since she was on Girl Meets World. I don't even know much about 1D, but maybe that's for the best because I'm sure they got some stuff wrong lol

Overall, I also don't think the late-night show aesthetic really appeals to me personally. I think I always felt like late night shows were so distant from the type of content I watch (except for like, MAD on Cartoon Network? Which I don't think Smosh is aiming for lmao) and that has not changed at all lol. I also personally was never really a fan of the reunion videos -- they're definitely funny, but I never got excited for them because I don't watch reality TV. I think the appeal of a video or series doesn't just depend on whether it's funny or not, but also the overall brand and vibe.

But again, these are all MY PERSONAL OPINIONS. I do think I'm probably in the minority here, and I'll still watch the show going forward. Even if it doesn't really seem like my type of vibe. It's not like I hate it lol I'm just not crazy about it.

[total-drama-takes-takes-2]

celebrity manhunt

Inside a small studio, a large desk wraps around two seats, an orange striped background and TV monitor decorating the set behind them. In one seat, a tight-faced, full-lipped gentleman with stark black hair holds a bouquet of cue cards. Next to him, a tight-faced redhead in a blue dress is holding a clearly empty mug. 

“It’s a beautiful night here in Toronto, perfect temperature for the TV event of the season- that’s right, everyone- it’s time for the Gemmy’s!” 

The gentleman fixes his bowtie. “We’re reporting live, just a block away from the action- it’s your faves, Josh-”

“And Blaineley!” the ginger cuts in. “Welcome to a very special episode of Celebrity Manhunt! Tonight is the night, folks- it’s time for gossip, cheer, and chatter about this year’s nominees!”

“Who will be taking home the gold? Stay tuned to find out!”

“Josh, that was my line,” Blaineley hisses. He rolls his eyes. 

“In only half an hour, our field reporters will be walking the red carpet with this season’s celebrity stars- until then, let’s catch up with the juiciest gossip from the past year,” Josh grins. “With a special focus on our personal faves, and the audience choice’s- the Total Takes Island cast!”

“Those teens braved it all on the newly-resurfaced Wawanakwa island, competing in death-defying challenges and looking fly while doing it!” Blaineley squeals. “Just to come back for another season of screams, screams, and crazy teens on the set of Total Takes Action!”

“Those are some brave contract holders, especially after watching what happened to the other casts,” John winks. “And like our blasts from the past, these teens have scored a nomination in the category for Best Reality Ensemble.”

“Let’s cross our fingers for them this time, Josh,” Blaineley chuckles. Her smile seems forced. “But before then, let’s catch our audience up to speed with everything that’s happened since Total Takes Action closed its doors- or should I say, gates?”

"Sure thing, Blain- from breakups to makeups to arrest records and more, our stars have had a lot going on for them!" Josh grins. "O has been living the high life back home, but not before starting an advocacy group for those who were negatively affected by the psychiatric healthcare system. Peter was spotted giving a promise ring to his girlfriend, Lois- still going strong! And Kitty's been banned from at least eight national parks in the United States so far,"

"Speaking of spectacles, let’s talk about Alistair’s award-winning performance as Disco Horatio in the viral Broadway musical 70’s Hamlet, a pop-infused retelling of the classic play,”

“Alistair’s performance was so good that he even found himself a brand new fanbase of Hamlet-crazed fangirls- some of which have been taking things a little too far,”

An image of Alistair’s character in a Miku binder fixes itself on screen. It's been autographed.

“Yikes- but hey, if he's owning it, then more power to him! Next up, we're talking about the pop sensation band that’s been on everyone’s minds- that’s right, guys, we’re talking the Takes Three trio!”

Blaineley grins as a sequence of images of McLovin, Sha-Mod, and Joner starts overlaying the screen. “Our Total Takes faves shocked the world when they released their first album, Boi Tearz, to widespread critical acclaim,”

“The rap-swing-darkwave fusion has been called “surprisingly tolerable” by critics, leading the Takes Three to their own claim to fame outside of reality TV. Make sure to stay tuned, because we'll have them right here after the break!”

---

The Celebrity Manhunt logo flashes across screen and then fades as the studio comes into focus. McLovin, Sha-Mod, and Joner are all sitting beside each other at the end of the table, wearing matching outfits.

"Takes Three- you've been called international pop sensations by at least six Twitter users. How do you respond?"

"We're just grateful for our fans," Joner says, shrugging. "Making music for the world to enjoy is a rite of passage where I'm from."

Blaineley blinks. "The Midwest?"

"Yeah, it's been crazy. We've been signing all kinds of notepads!" Sha-Mod nods. "Big ones, little ones, ones shaped like circles..."

"I didn't even know you could make circle paper," McLovin shakes his head. "Our tour has been world-changing."

"Eye-opening," Sha-Mod agrees. "And to thank you for inviting us on the show, we wrote a song for you. Ready, guys?"

All three reach under their chairs and pull out three sets of bongos. They look between each other.

"I though I was bringing the bongos," McLovin says.

"No, you were bringing the synthesizer. I was bringing the bongos!" Joner responds.

"I thought you were taking the triangle!"

Blaineley and Josh look at each other, then back to the trio.

“So, boys, how has skyrocketing to commercial and financial success affected your bonds on a scale from “a lot” to “IMPOSSIBLE to ignore!”?” Blaineley asks, grinning widely. The three stop bickering and immediately turn to her.

“You know, we’re actually closer than ever,” McLovin states, matter-of-factly. “Our music is a really hands-on creative process.”

“Yeah, can’t have rap-swing-darkwave without the swing!” Sha-Mod smiles, setting down the bongos. "Or the rap- or the darkwave!"

Joner nods. “It's been chill. Our new album-”

“BORING!” Blaineley shouts, pulling a lever behind her. The floor under the three musicians disappears and they scream as they disappear. "All I heard there was "blah blah blah" let's get to the real juicy gossip, shall we? It looks like it’s finally splitsville for Patjulia.”

Josh chuckles. “Oh, yes, after months of vicious dating, our sources indicate that those villains-to-be have finally called it quits- and publicly, at that. Our undercover reporters came across this juicy little tidbit. Roll the tape!”

---

The monitor fizzles to life and focuses on the inside of a restaurant that looks like a tornado went through it. A chair flies across the screen and the camera whirls around to one side of the room, where Julia is screaming and throwing furniture. 

“I should’ve NEVER even TALKED to you!”

The camera pans around to the other side of the room, where Patrick throws a handful of spaghetti back. “You should be HONORED I gave you the time of the day!”

“Your hair looks like a dead rat got glued to your head!”

“That’s rich, coming from a fake blonde!”

“IT’S NOT FAKE! We are so over!”

“You’re not breaking up with me! I’m breaking up with you!”

Julia throws a table and it sends Patrick flying across the room and straight out the back wall, creating a him-shaped hole in the plaster. He screams one final "YAHHH OH HOO HOOEY!!" as he goes flying.

---

“Yikes,” Josh chuckles. “That’s gonna leave a mark!”

“Where’s Scruffy during all this, you may ask? Well, they’re busy interning for Sierra of Reality, Weekly!” Blaineley announces. 

An image of Scruffy wearing a pair of sunglasses and an earpiece, walking beside a woman with dark brown hair in her 30s flashes across the screen. 

"What an upgrade from Total Takes, wouldn't you say?"

"Oh absolutely- especially after Wawanakwagate,"

Blaineley nods. "But, speaking of relationships- Bonsar- to date or not to date?”

Josh grins. “That IS the question! The two best friends were seen holding hands downtown, sending fans WILD! In a recent press statement, Caesar did little to calm the masses,”

---

The monitor changes scenes to a press conference. Standing before a crowd of reporters and microphones, Caesar adjusts his bow tie and clears his throat while Bonnie is sitting on the stage, playing on their Switch. 

“I just want to restate that Bonnie and I are under no obligation to explain anything to the press,”

A reporter waves his hand. “So are you dating or not?”

Caesar smacks his forehead.

---

"Looks like trouble in paradise to me, Blain!"

"You said it, Josh! You know who's been sailing on smooth seas lately, though? Maxchela!"

"OMG, totally! Fans are still swooning over Max and Michela after they were named Reality couple of the year by Reality, Weekly,"

“Unfortunately, we here at Celebrity Manhunt were unable to reach the two for comment. Luckily, our star reporter under the pseudonym “Noco”, was able to get the inside scoop!” Blaineley smiles.

The camera pans over to Noco, who’s half-shadowed to protect his identity. He clears his throat. “I just want to say, first of all, that my findings have reliable and true evidence behind them,” 

He stands and pulls a poster down behind him- revealing a screen covered in images of Max and Julia with strings between them. “Let’s say, hypothetically, that Maxchela was staged,”

The light above him suddenly flickers on. He sighs.

“OOOKAY THEN!” Blaineley says, redirecting the camera back over to her. “More on that later! In the meantime, we have a very special guest joining us today- one you Canadian viewers at home might recognize right away as the household name of the month!"

Josh grins. “When Chris McLean’s arrest became an international media sensation, sparking thousands of internet “memes” after his mugshot went viral, there was one name to take the claim to fame,”

“Toronto Environmental Coalition’s own leader, Albert, led an independent investigation of Wawanakwa after former contestant Scary came forward with a case- but it was him who found evidence of illegal radioactive materials on the island,” Blaineley continues, images of the investigation flashing across the screen. "The case brought international attention to the Coalition, and to Albert himself."

“The scandal broke the Wawanakwa mystery wide open. Here with us today is Canada's sweetheart, Albert,”

The camera zooms out and reveals a third person at the table. Albert- a teenage boy with dark brown hair, wearing a gray windbreaker- adjusts his lav mic and then smiles awkwardly. 

“So, Albert- since your case went viral, you’ve been called a top-notch advocate, a genius, even a national hero. How does it feel to be getting all this attention?”

He thinks for a moment. “Um… well, I suppose at the end of the day the only thing that matters is the coalition, and the attention has drawn in a lot of donations!”

“Yeah, whatever,” Blaineley chuckles. “You’re the star of an international scandal- you’re a hero! How does it feel?”

“Uh… fine. I guess. What I’d really prefer talking about is the monthly agenda for the TEC, we’re planning on hosting a protest at a meat processing plant in-”

Josh clears his throat. “Our sources indicate that you and Scary were an item at one point. Is this true?”

Albert goes pale. “I- um, no comment, thank you,” he then leans in to whisper. “I thought we were going to be talking about the coalition.” 

“On this show? No chance!” Blaineley shouts, startling him and sending him flying backwards. “Celebrity Manhunt is about the drama, drama, drama!”

Albert cringes. “Is there anything else we can talk about, then?”

"We can talk about the juicy, juicy drama happening on the red carpet right now," Blaineley chuckles. "Looks like the first of the cast has arrived to the Poultry Pals sponsored Gemmy's!"

Albert holds up a finger. "Um- what was that last part? The sponsor?"

Josh leans in, his palm against his face. He whispers. "Since ratings have gone down, award shows have corporate sponsors now. Turns out the meat industry is bananas for awards!"

"That's- that's the business I'm supposed to be protesting," Albert stands. "I have to go!"

He runs out of the room, and Blaineley rolls her eyes. "Guess we know why Chris McLean was acquitted and found innocent, huh?"

Josh chuckles. "That we do, Blain. That we do. But let's talk about these red carpet looks, cause honey these contestants are serving!"

---

The red carpet outside the Gemmy's is surrounded by shouting fans and photographers. O waves as he walks inside the building, followed shortly by Alistair, then McLovin, both so preoccupied with waving to the crowd that they crash into each other.

Another limo pulls up on the scene and Peter steps out with a short ginger. She shows off her promise ring to the paparazzi and giggles.

Peter and Alistair fistbump as they reach the door.

"Aw, how sweet. Friends forever!" Blaineley's voice overlays the scene.

"It's nice to see those teens getting along," Josh adds. "Ope- and there's Scary, just released from the lead prison she was stuck in from radioactivity!"

Scary arrives next, her hair dyed a warm honey brown. She makes a show of coughing and wheezing as he exits his limo in a wheelchair, then rolls up the carpet.

"My, my, aren't they looking just proper?" Blaineley tsks. "I love that shade of brown on her!"

A photographer gets too close with his camera and Scary stands, beating him over the head with her wheelchair, before sitting back down in it and rolling indoors.

"What a stellar start to the most anticipated award season EV-AR!" Josh squeals. "Let's check in with Noco on the field."

---

“Reporting live from… wherever I am,” Noco says, squinting. He’s holding a microphone and looking around, slightly annoyed. The cast looks relatively tame, most just merrily chatting with each other. “Here's, uh, I don't know. Austin or whatever. Hey, Austin, you and Kelly get back together?"

"No, baby, I've been single and free! To hell with monogamy!" Austin shouts, flipping on a pair on sunglasses, tearing off his shirt and running off screaming.

Noco stares into the camera. “Now can I do my Maxulia bit?”

“Um. No,” Blaineley says, still in the studio. “What is UP with these drama-less hacks?! Someone get Ass and Courtney here, pronto!”

Noco rolls his eyes and walks down the carpet, approaching Courtney, who’s catching up with Bonnie. “Comment?” Noco asks. 

“Hm?” Courtney turns, then blinks. “Um, comment on what?”

“Ass,”

“Ugh. None, thank you!”

“I heard that!” Ass shouts from across the carpet. Courtney rolls their eyes. 

Staci and Mal walk down the carpet next to each other, arguing about welding. Noco sighs. “Now can I-”

“NO!” Blaineley and Josh yell in unison. 

Michela, walking alongside Max, stops suddenly and puts her hands on her hips. “Does this venue feel a little empty to anyone else?”

The camera zooms out- the group is on a carpet, but there's no reporters, no photographers, no fans to be seen.

“No, I see what you mean. I was thinking there’d be more… I don’t know, people,” Max says, then sighs.

“Did we get the right address?” Scruffy asks. “I mean, we’re all here, so we got sent the same e-vite, right?”

Mal pulls out her phone and reads intently. “Yep. This is the place,”

Another limo pulls up and Julia and Patrick stumble out, shouting at each other and having a slap-fight.

Joner and Sha-Mod look between each other. "Hey," the latter says. "Did we lose McLovin?"

Kelly walks up to the two and puts their hand right above their eyes, shielding their vision from the fluorescent lighting. "I don't see him,"

"Who else are we missing?" Michela asks. But before anyone can do a head count, a voice rings out from the distance.

"WAIT! WAIT! DON'T GO IN YET!" it shouts. The crowd turns in the direction it's coming from and Albert runs up, then collapses on the carpet, wheezing. "Don't go in..." he coughs. "Protest..."

"What's this supposed to be?" Ass asks, putting their hands on their hips.

Albert takes a moment to compose himself, then stands. He dusts off his windbreaker and pants, then pulls a small card out of his pocket. It reads "TEC Charter: LEADER".

"My name is Albert, and I am condemning this award show on behalf of the Toronto Environmental Coalition!"

"What award show, Einstein?" Ass snaps. "There's nothing out here!"

Albert looks around. Nothing but crickets. "Oh,"

Bonnie sighs and walks past him, approaching the doors of the supposed venue. “Let me guess-” they open one and the entire front of the building collapses. "Yep. Thought as much," 

“It’s CARDBOARD?!” Caesar shouts. “My hair took FOUR HOURS to do!”

“This has got to be some kind of Chris thing,” Staci says, crossing her arms. “Maybe it’s a scavenger hunt.”

“Oh, no, no way. I am not playing these little games again,” Ass says. “I’m going home.”

“Hey, everyone, we're still missing people,” Kelly says. 

Austin pops out of nowhere. “Yeah, baby, where’s the rest of the party at?”

Courtney does a quick headcount, then thinks for a moment. "I don't see O, Scary, Kitty, McLovin, Alistair, or Peter,"

"Kitty's in an Australian prison," Patrick says nonchalantly. Everyone turns to him. "What?"

"Never mind that. We need to figure out what's going on," Michela says, hands on her hips again.

Mal chuckles from across the carpet. "Guys, you should see this,"

The crowd hesitantly approaches her, peering over her shoulder to see a live broadcast of the Gemmy's on her phone.

"And the award for Best Reality Ensemble goes to... the teens of Total Takes!" the announcer shouts.

Peter, O, McLovin, and Alistair look nervously around their seats, as if trying to catch a glimpse of where everyone else disappeared to.

"Oh, crap," Julia sighs. "We got sent the wrong damn address."

"Are you guys watching the Gemmy's?" a voice from ahead pipes up. The crowd diverts their attention from Mal's phone to see a scrawny boy standing on the street in front of them, drinking a slurpee loudly. "Cause it's a total hack. It's rigged by the woke police."

"Who are you?" Ass asks, crossing their arms.

"I'm Phillip, but you can call me Alejandro," he says confidently. "I was just out training, to fight SJWs. You know how it is."

He does a few karate punches. No one seems very impressed.

"Do you know where the Gemmy's are?" Courtney chimes in.

"Oh, yeah. They're way across town. They're wrapping up soon, anyway, you shouldn't bother with them. Everything comes to an end, after all,"

"Ooookay," Michela says. Max rolls his eyes.

"Do you guys ever think about how red slurpees make your mouth look like you've been drinking blood... heh... just me, then... I have a twisted mind,"

"Am I dead?" Ass turns to Courtney. "Did I die and go to hell?"

"Enough whining. I'm going home," Bonnie snaps.

"NOT so fast!" A voice shouts. The sound of a helicopter hanging overhead makes everyone jump and turn skywards. Chris McLean pilots the aircraft, making a smooth landing in front of the teens (but not before sending Phillip and Austin flying in the wind).

The disgraced host steps out of his helicopter, grinning. "You teens have a contract to uphold!"

"What is going on?" Caesar demands. "This wasn't in my contract!"

"Oh, right. You're "exempt" because of your "lawsuit"," Chris air quotes, rolling his eyes. "Bonnie, on the other hand..."

Caesar pales. Bonnie chimes in. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about a brand-spanking-new season of Total Takes- that's right- we're doing TOTAL TAKES: WORLD TOUR!"

No one makes any noise besides Scruffy, who squeals in delight.

"Thank you. Glad to see someone's excited,"

"Okay, let me get this straight," Julia starts. "You lie to us about the Gemmy's location, drag us to the middle of nowhere in Toronto, make us hang out with these freaks-" she gestures to Albert and Phillip. "And Now you're saying we have to do ANOTHER SEASON?"

"Man, you guys need better lawyers," Chris chuckles. "You have a long, long few weeks coming for ya."

The teens look between each other nervously.

"And not only you- as your contract dictates, any and all at the time of casting are required to join- that means you," Chris points to Albert. "And you," he points to Phillip, plastered against a nearby wall.

"You cannot be serious," Ass says. "I want to talk to your lawyers!"

"No can do, buddy. This is set in stone. See you all soon!"

He chuckles as he gets back into his helicopter and starts off, leaving the cast abandoned. They look at each other one last time before the screen fades to black.

[vogelmeister]

Do you know any shows or movies in dutch or even music? Im trying to improve my skills (but this language is terribly complicated)

I wrote a post on dutch songs a while back so ill pm it to you. However media is a different story, and I'm actually not that great on media, even in English- but i will show you where i learned basic dutch aka important words aka… very random words.

may i introduce you to

✨Wie is de Mol ✨

(everyone clap)

hello dear reader would you like to TRUST NOBODY? yes. okay. cool. picture this. you are a semi famous dutch person and you, along with nine other dutch people go off to a foreign country to complete super cool challenges (opdrachten) and earn money to go towards a group pot. except there’s a twist. theres a saboteur (de mol) and their whole purpose is to ensure the least amount of money enters that pot. during this de mol must obviously gain the trust of the group (kandidaten) and the kadidaten have to figure out who de mol is. at the end of the episode theres often a test and execution in which the participants have to answer 20 questions re who the mol is (questions include things like ‘what city was de mol born in’ ‘how much money did de mol earn in the lasergame’) and whoever does the worst has to go home. the mol can never go home. the winner is the person who guesses de mol with the most correct answers in the final and they get the contents of the pot. im not kidding when i say this show is equal parts hilarious (bc they’re human and do stupid shit), suspenseful and very fun (bc you can play at home!).

Some of my favourite seasons include:

Season 18. This season is my favourite by far. Had one of the gutsiest mols, all around good group and honestly one of the best game show reality TV plot twists of all time. Art’s last season as host, too.

(Also I definitely stole his surname for my OC bye.)

Season 19: Idk why this ones here I just felt like including it. I actually think the 2018-2021 era of widm is the best one so that’s why im putting it here, and this season is fun. Cool mol reveal too.

Anniversary Season: Honestly I definitely recommend watching some older seasons before diving into this bc they definitely reference shit from old seasons and bring back old mols, but asides from this the mol this season was pretty good and Tuscany is lovely to look at. Fun group too full of old kandidaten.

Season 14: Unpopular I know but I loved the mol this season- they definitely reminded me of myself but also I just remembered this season as being super fun with cool opdrachten. Also a really important thing gets introduced here which was a staple in newer seasons

Season 13: The superior South Africa season with a very fun mol.

Season 21: Honestly? Shit mol this season, I figured it out via a DREAM but the kandidaten this season are iconic and it has one of the best alliances in widm history in my opinion. Czechia is stunning and it was the first time i guessed de mol too

Season 11: Watch for nothing if not Art Rooijakkers and the most unsafe opdrachten ever.

(If you want my opinion on any other season pm me lol, it’s late and I don’t want to type them all but SEASON EIGHTEEN!!!)

Anyways all episodes are on YouTube with English subs, just google widm English subs and you’ll find them. The seasons often ten episodes long, 1 hour per episode, with the final episode being the mol reveal. I think if you want that channel also supports dutch subs but i cannot remember rn!

enjoy!!!

:)

[doubleddenden]

Just for fun, I'm going to make an absolute WORST CASE scenario for Pokemon day (with sillies)

Pokemon decides to announce NFTs (they did put out a job listing for an NFT expert months ago)

Pokemon merch that's just more overpriced garbage. Shitty pastel tshirts that just have the pokemon logo stamped on the left breast area- $50, only goes to size XL.

Pokemon Go has way too much screen time for yet another Kanto fest

Pokemon Masters, Unite, and Cafe just won't end their trailers.

New tv show that's just a vague reality show about celebrities that liked Pokémon once, and it's more of an episodic celebrity biography show with one line or two about Pokémon. Not even fun ones, C tier at best. So, something like T@yl*r Sw*ft's boyfriend's football career, but one line about playing Blue for a few hours at his cousin's house.

Pokemon Home fees will increase

Pokemon Bank will close TODAY

Port of Red, Blue, Gold, Silver, Ruby, and Sapphire to NSO- you have to pay for online to access it over cloud- internet connection required, and for some reason you have to pay extra for them in a Pokémon exclusive expansion pass. No word of third versions. Does not include the events or Japan exclusives.

Black and White 1 remakes announced. It's chibi like BDSP, colors are dry and washed out, there's graphical errors in the trailer frames, they state BW2 specifically is not part of the remake, they promise tweaks to make the gameplay EASIER than ever. Parts of the game are made with AI and script rewritten by Chat GPT, with an error you spot easily in a trailer. Masuda has the remake game director's neck clenched tightly from the back. He looks at you and says "you will buy the games this time. This isn't a request." Japan pre-order exclusives are amazingly crafted Reshiram and Zekrom statues that even have light up tails and eyes, and also you get shiny versions of them only in the Japanese copies, US gets a cheap piece of paper with generic stock images of Pikachu and Charizard on it, everything is shiny locked for everywhere not Japan.

They tease a Legends game. You think it's going to be amazing, you think oh my god we're getting Legends Unova... wait, it looks Japanese, maybe LEGENDS CELEBI???...it's Legends......... KANTO, and it's the most gorgeous thing you've ever seen after the clear lack of care put into their non gen 1 games since the Switch launched. A selling point is, once again, no new Pokémon after the og 151 so older fans can enjoy it better. Your starters are Charmander, Charmander, and Charmander, you might encounter Bulbasaur and Squirtle in post game. Your job is to stop EEEVIL outsiders from the rest of the regions with their newer Pokémon from settling into Kanto. Johto is having an awesome party next door with all the regions invited, but there's been a convenient landslide blocking the only way over. It's just reskinned Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee. Professor Oak is your age and putting moves on your mom.

Features a mythical Pokémon based on depression that looks like a tiny salary man, comes with its own movie featuring Ash as a depressed Millenial realizing he peaked at 10. He has to get a job. Pikachu is dying of old age and Ash has to "grow up" and release him and all of his other still living Pokémon. It cuts to real life, and Pokémon was just a game he has been playing for years to cope with his parents' divorce and eventually his own with Misty, then May, then Dawn, then Serena, then Goh, etc. Ash's dad is finally revealed: it's Chris Pratt with bad cgi wrinkles, back with milk. They go to the arcade to play Mario to stomp on some................................................................................................................................................................................... KOOPAS.

"Well that's all. Oh wait, one more thing!"

Ed Sheeran and T@yl*r Sw*ft music video featuring 1 Pikachu in a frame that can be easily edited out, with a song not even about Pokémon. The song sounds like shit and is about another breakup.

There, the bar has been lowered to the floor. It cannot get worse.

[albonoooo]

what is your comfort media? like a book, show, movie, a race ect. (ps, i liked ur suggestions too!!)

amazing question, i've got a whole list anon!! i'll try to sort this into categories so it doesn't get too chaotic.

movies

die wilden hühner (trilogy). i have seen these films countless times, i've laughed and cried at them countless times and they make me immeasurably happy. i rewatch them at least once a year. i can't put into words how much i love them. (the third one lacks a little bit of the magic of the first two, but it's still amazing.)

vorstadtkrokodile (trilogy). a very close second, i saw them for the first time in primary school and have rewatched them many times since. the theme song used to make me feel invincible and hannes was one of my first ever crushes (i think i already said this in a tag game some time ago). (the first one is definitely the best!! the third one especially kinda doesn't have the same feeling to it, but i still love them all.)

sherlock holmes movies (the ones with rdj and jude law). something about them just tickles my brain right and i could watch them on a loop.

shows

deadliest catch (reality tv). there's nothing inherently comforting about it, quite the opposite actually, but i was obsessed with this show as a kid and if i had the opportunity now, i'd still be watching it all the time. it's so fascinating to me and just the right amount of engaging to not be overwhelmed, but also not get bored. that being said, as with all things, i did get very attached to the people in the show and cried several times over the course of it when some of them passed away.

books

the gemstone trilogy by kerstin gier. my most reread books by a country mile. are they perfect? no. are they perfect to me? yes. i gobbled these up the first time around and they're my go-to remedy for a reading slump. the only thing i don't like is the ending 💀 there is a movie trilogy that was made based on the books and they rewrote the ending, but it's still bad lol. (the second book, sapphire blue, is my favourite out of the three!)

youtube videos

the man, the myth, the legend, mike's mic. specifically, his appropriately unhinged recap of pretty little liars. top tier rewatch material. he's hilarious and i could listen to him speak for hours. have i ever watched pll? no. everything i know about it, i've learned from mister microphone and i'd like to keep it that way.

this performance of swan lake. i don't know anything about ballet and i'm not really that interested in it, but something about this is so soothing and relaxing to me. and, obviously, the music fucking slaps. tchaikovsky really ate with this.

honourable mentions

carlos sainz's interview on the 'p1 with matt & tommy' podcast has helped me fall asleep more times than i'll ever admit.

yakari was probably my favourite show as a child. it's been many years since i've last watched it and it would possibly bore or even annoy me now since it's tailored to small kids, but i can still recite a worrying amounts of episodes' content by memory.

from the bottom of my heart, i am sorry this got so long lmao. thanks for the ask, this was a really fun one!!

[boysplanetrecaps]

Produce 48 Recaps: Entrances (episode 1)

Hello there, National Producer! (That’s you. You’re a National Producer.)

Do you miss giant scale Korean reality shows? Are you fainting away, wishing there was one to watch? Or are you, perhaps, a fan of AleXa, Alice/Elris, Bugaboo, Cherry Bullet, El7zup, Everglow, H1-Key, IVE, IZ*one, k-dramas, Kep1er, Le Sserafim, Lightsum, Purple Kiss, Queenz Eye, Rocket Punch, Secret Number, or any of the 48 franchises - AKB48, HKT48, or NMB48? Did you watch Sixteen or Produce 101 and want to know what happened later? Did you watch GirlsPlanet999 or Queendom Puzzle and want to know what happened before? Are you bored and enjoy snarky recaps of tv shows from five and a half years ago? If you answered yes to at least one of those questions, then stick around! And if you didn’t, stick around anyway because this is going to be great. But if you’re not a fan of (a) honest assessment of skills and performance (b) curse words ( c ) sarcasm (d) long, chatty, rabbit-hole digging, silly recaps that take longer to read than it would take to watch the show, maybe not. 

You might be wondering, well, who are you, anyway? I’m an adult female human being living somewhere in North America. You can call me BPR-Unnie (or BPR-Noona, if that’s better for you. This link may help you decide!)  I know a smattering of Korean and a bit about Korean culture, but I’m not Korean. I know a smattering of Japanese as well but I’m also not Japanese. My favorite kpop group is EXO and from that you would be correct to conclude I tend to have a bias toward excellent singing. But if I sneak in the fact that I have watched more than my fair share of Kai fancams, you’ll learn that I am not immune to stage presence and dancing. I like girl groups and boy groups equally and am basically just the multi-est of multi-stans, though “stanning” for me doesn’t tend to include watching variety content or buying things. For the most part, I just listen to music and watch performances.

If you’re wondering, what the heck is Produce 48? As Wikipedia says, it was “the third season of the South Korean reality competition series Produce 101. It was a large-scale project in which the public ‘produces’ a girl group by voting for members out of a pool of 96 contestants from South Korea and Japan…. The show was a collaboration between the MNET series Produce 101 and the J-pop idol group AKB48.” The winning 12 girls were announced as new project group IZ*One on August 31, 2018. (Other side note: IZ*one is pronounced “is-one” not “eye-zone”, per the Korean phonetics.)

It’s fun to go back and rewatch this show because around a third of these girls went on to do other things in the world of Kpop, and it’s fun to see them when they were so much younger. Also, shows like this are fun and weird just in general. 

This recap will spoil some things, but not every single thing. I’m going to, as we go along, mention where various people end up -- I’m assuming that if you’re here, you either already know or don’t mind being spoilered on that kind thing. I will point out future members of Alice/Elris, Bugaboo, Cherry Bullet, Everglow, H1-Key, IVE, Le Sserafim, Kep1er, Lightsum, Purple Kiss, Queenz Eye, Rocket Punch and Secret Number.  I’ll also point out future Queendom Puzzle visitors. But I’m not going to go out of my way to tell you exactly who makes the final lineup of IZ*one, exactly when people will be eliminated, and where every single person is going to end up (I’ll tell you after they get eliminated). That seems like the best compromise based on the poll. Plenty of people become famous after a show like this without making the final line up of the debut group -- like G-Idle’s Soyeon on Produce 101. So if you don’t know the name of every member of IZ*one, you can watch the show along with me and enjoy it, while still knowing who everyone is. And if you do want to be spoilered on who makes it into IZ*one, you can just look up the names of the members and keep that handy as you read. I hope that all makes sense! 

I actually watched Produce 48 many years ago -- maybe 2019? It was after IZ*one had already debuted, so I was watching to get caught up. It was the first such show I ever watched and I wasn’t in the habit yet of taking notes to keep track of everyone, so for the most part I had no idea who anyone was the whole time. I mean, with 96 girls, many of whom meet certain beauty standards and thus can look quite similar to one another, and all of whom are in the habit of changing their hair/eye color/style constantly, it’s hard. So I have almost no memory of the show except for two things: (1) loving Huh Yunjin and (2) feeling sorry for the girl who the show made fun of for having intense eyes. I thought Yunjin was obviously the best on the whole damn show and was irritated that she was ever ranked anything other than first fucking place, and that other girl, I just wanted to give her all the hugs. We’ll meet her soon enough!

Finally, you may wonder, where am I watching the show? I watch it here: https://kshow123.tv/show/produce-48/episode-1.html I have to note that sites like this are really spammy and you’ll need a good adblocker and, to be on the safe side, working anti-virus software before you to click that link. Once you’re on the page, when you first click “play” on the video, it always opens a pop up ad that you have to close and then try again, when it will actually play. The pop-ups I’ve seen haven’t been offensive or gross in any way, and this site is less spammy than the one called kisstvshow, which bombards you with actual photos of actual peens like, immediately. Just close-up peens, glistening at you. No thank you. You can also find clips of the show on Youtube, but they’re kind of disorganized. There are some bits and pieces of episode 1 in this playlist. I’ll also provide links to individual auditions as we go.

Ok, let’s go!

We start off with some typical MNET self-congratulatory stuff -- all the buzz about this show before it even debuted! -- complete with a picture of THE SAKURA™, future visual queen of Le Sserafim. Then as a gentle piano rendition of our soon-to-be-favorite song Neko-ya plays, a voice over talks about what the 96 girls (and women) on this show think about their training journey, and we see the lovely profile of Huh Yunjin. Yay! My favorite!

We hear that it’s hard for them to be trainees and that sometimes they almost want to give up. But they keep pushing forward to try. 96 seeds working hard to sprout, and the national producers will shine on them like sunshine! Awww. Produce48 starts now!

An alarm rings, shocking us awake from our gentle piano daydream. We’re confronted with… this. Whatever this is. 

It’s Lee Seung Gi, the host this time! His bed is vertical! It makes too much sense! 

Ok, folks, for me personally, Lee Seung Gi being host is super important, because he’s sort of the reason I’m even here. He was one of the stars of the ridiculous, the sublime, the problematic, the perfect, My Girlfriend is a Gumiho. 

This drama aired on a local Korean-language cable channel back in the day (I lived in a major city that showed foreign programming on cable), and I stumbled on it while changing channels and stood there staring at it wondering what in the actual fuck I was watching. Who needs subtitles or any knowledge of Korean when you have… this? 

It’s the first piece of Korean culture I ever consumed, other than kimchi. This was even before Gangnam Style! It led to me watching more k-dramas, including, eventually, It's Okay, That's Love, starring Do Kyungsoo, also known as EXO’s D.O. I was curious about what he’d be like as a musical performer, and the rest is history. So, what I’m saying is, Lee Seung Gi set off a chain reaction that led to me eventually recapping his own performance as host of this show. The circle is complete. 

Lee Seung-gi (born 1987) has been a singer, specifically a solo artist, as well as an actor, since 2004. He’s like Rain, but not as irritating. He hasn’t made much money from it because of his agency stealing from him. In fact, in April of 2023, a law was passed called “the Lee Seung-gi Incident Prevention Act” which requires entertainment companies to disclose their earnings settlement details to their celebrities at least once a year. Seems like a good thing to do. He’s still in demand, I’m sure, and quite loved, so he’ll land on his feet no matter what. Seung-gi, fighting!! 

Ok, back to the show! Seung-gi explains how to vote, which we can skip -- the only info of note is that only Koreans could vote back then, quite different from the modern era -- and go to about 5:30 for an extremely bombastic set reveal.

5:49 The girls start to walk in

Note: All ages given are the (international) ages of the girls at the start of the series.  

The first three to walk in are the Yuehua trainees.

Left to right: Yiren, Sihyeon, Yena 

Kim Si Hyeon (김시현), age 18, in the pinky/purpley long sleeved shirt 

She was also on Produce 101 (first season) as a “kaein” (individual/no-agency) trainee, where she did pretty well (made it to episode 8), but didn’t necessarily stand out. After this show, she debuted as part of Everglow, where she performs under her real name and is currently the leader, as well as a visual and “face of the group.”

Choi Ye Na (최예나), age 18, with her hair in a ponytail. We’ll be seeing a lot of her this episode!

Wang Yi Ren (왕이런), age 17, pink shirt with black edges, statement belt

She is actually Chinese, though she speaks Korean pretty fluently. You probably know her now as a member of Everglow, where she is lead dancer as well as a visual and also the “face of the group.” How many faces can a group have? Also, isn’t Mia the face of the group, as well as the body and the voice and the feet and the hands? Sigh. I really like Everglow. We just… all know the drill with line distribution and center time. 

They come in and exclaim how pretty and shiny the set is and say “daebak” a lot. They sit down in a row along the top, and faintly, in the distance, Bon Bon Chocolate begins to form in a songwriter’s head. 

Next in is Kim Min Ju (김민주) from Urban Works. She’s 17. She was a child actress before the show. The others are impressed that she’s here by herself and that she’s very pretty. 

I love how in Korea having a small face is a compliment. 

She goes to sit in the first place seat, then changes her mind and chooses 5th place instead so she doesn’t have to sit up so high. 

Up next is YG Kplus, a modeling agency not to be confused with regular YG, the agency that is home to Blackpink and Treasure. The trainees are Ahn Ye Won (안예원), age 17, and Choi Yeon Soo (최연수), age 19. Yeon Soo has a celebrity chef for a father but doesn’t want to just be another nepo baby. She has the black skirt, while her label-mate Ye Won is in all red. They walk in to the strains of Blurred Lines (🤢) and the other girls exclaim jealously about how tall they are. Yewon is 172 cm and Yeonsoo is 170 cm, making them both about 5’6. 

Next in is a group from CNC School, featuring some familiar faces!

Left to right: Kim Yubin, Kim Da Yeon, Lee YuJeong, Yoon Eun Bin, Hong Ye Ji

Kim Yu Bin (김유빈) is 16. 

Kim Da Yeon (김다연) is 15 and you may know her (now) from GirlsPlanet999 and Kep1er. Aww, this is before she got her teeth done! She’s adorable. I am a Dayeon apologist and will hear no words against her. 

Lee Yu Jeong (이유정) is 14 and you may know her (now) from Lightsum.

Yoon Eun Bin (윤은빈) is 14. 

Hong Ye Ji (홍예지) is 16.

Yena thinks that the CNC girls look like babies. I think she looks like a baby! And this old lady I tutored today told me that *I* look like a baby. So I guess everyone is a baby. 

Next is MMO, home to the sexy Kang Daniel, everyone’s fave from Produce101 Season 2 (often called “Broduce101”). The mere mention of his name sends Yena into a tizzy. I mean, low key same (though I’m more of an Ong Seungwoo fan [though not enough to watch his Pepsi commercial omg what was that?!?]). Anyway, out comes MMO’s Won Seo Yeon (원서연), age 18, a cute girl with a nice low voice and a pretty blue outfit. She seems worried about living up to her sunbae’s success. 

Next comes pretty, big eyed Ko Yu Jin (고유진), age 17. She’s from Blockberry Creative, and the Orbits out there are now resisting the urge to smash their device screen at the mere mention of that agency! [Side note: Sensitive is a great song even if Loosemble is a terrible group name. Check out the song, forgive the name.] She’s in a cute striped shirt and interviews that her role models are Taeyon and HyunA, and you know, same. 

The girls in the retro polka dot dresses are from How Entertainment. 

Yu Min Young (유민영) is 18, in the mint green.  Kim Min Seo (김민서) is 15, in the yellow and is a Jeon Somi fan, as are we all.  Wang Ke (왕크어) is 17, Chinese, and in the red. 

The next group, in white tops and black booty shorts, is from MND17 Agency. 

Left to right, they are:

Park Chan Ju (박찬주), unknown age. She has the tightest shirt. 

Park Min Ji (박민지), age 19, was also on Produce 101 and now (2023) is in Secret Number. She has the floofiest shirt and says she likes ChungHa, which, I mean, don’t we all, but also it’s kind of funny since she was on Produce101 with her so they probably kind of know each other. 

Lee Chae Jeong  (이채정), age 18, who now (2023) is in a group called Alice (formerly known as Elris). 

Another girl comes out in a big yellow shirt with purple… shorts? A skirt? Unclear. She is from an agency called A -team and is named Kim Cho Yeon (김초연), age 16. After this show she was in Bugaboo, a group that has since disbanded but certainly has its adherents. She also likes Chung-Ha, so much so that she also wants to be in fourth place just like her. Also, MNET hates her. HATES HER SOOOOO MUCH. 

Next out is someone from MNH Entertainment, the horrible agency that utterly mismanaged poor beautiful Chung-Ha for years. (Sihyeon, who must be practicing for later, says in Japanese that she loves Chung-Ha.)

The MNH trainee is little Lee Ha Eun (이하은), who, at 13, is the youngest on the show. She’s adorable, the way a little kid is adorable, and in a meeting with Chung-Ha herself, we see that little Haeun obviously almost worships Chung-Ha. Chug-Ha tells her to be herself and people will love her. Will this prove accurate? You’ll have to keep watching to find out! As Haeun seats herself amongst all her pretty unnies, she interviews, “This place is very pressuring.” I can’t imagine being in 8th grade and on a show like this. I don’t know how I made it to and from school every day when I was in 8th grade. I don’t know how I continued to like, breathe oxygen and use it in a redox reaction in my body without screwing that up and exploding. 

Side note to my loves in middle school who may be reading this: First of all, how dare you, this is for grownups, and secondly, go ahead and read anyway. Matt Groening, creator of the Simpsons, famously said “Middle school is the deepest pit in hell” and yeah, it is. So, please know that I love you. You can do this. It’s going to be rough, can’t lie, but it does keep getting a bit better. Please don’t let these years matter all that much to you. Don’t let it scar you. You’ll get through this by just trying to have as much fun as you can and not caring about crushes and whether or not they have a crush on you, or whether other kids are being nice or mean or whatever dumb middle school shit they’re pulling on you. It doesn’t matter. Just enjoy life and be as happy as possible. Once you get older, you get to decide on the kind of adult you want to be, and if you want to surround yourself with Squishmallows and watch kpop videos with all your free time, you can. Or whatever makes you happy. Hold on. You got this. Now, back to the recap.

Yena chats a lot with her friend Sihyeon, and the editors keep showing them. Yena’s charismatic and it’s fun to get her perspective. They’re sitting in those big chairs that are kind of far apart, so she has to lean way over to do it. They are talking about how they’re excited to collaborate with the Japanese girls, and that they’re excited. Yiren grins widely as she says she want to make friends with the Japanese girls. I’ve already seen more charm and cuteness out of Yiren than I have in any given Everglow video. She’s really engaging in real life -- wish we got to see a bit more of that during her performances.

Kim Dayeon is sharing what she knows about Japanese language with her teammates, but her pronunciation is a little sus. 

Stone Music is up next. The four girls come out nervously, and the other girls in the audience think they look familiar. 

Left to right, they are:

Jang Gyu Ri (장규리),  age 20, in pink.

Jo Yu Ri (조유리), age 16, in yellow.

Lee Si An (이시안), age 19, in purple.

Bae Eun Yeong (배은영), age 21, in mint green.

All four had already appeared on a different MNET reality competition show called Idol School, which had aired the year before this show aired. What’s interesting is that Gyuri actually *won* that show and debuted as a member of its winning group, fromis_9. A lot of famous folk were on Idol School, including a personal favorite of mine, Natty (who has since debuted in the absolutely phenomenal group Kiss of Life). I’m starting to think I should go back and watch Idol School! Anyway, that’s for another day. 

Next out is Cube -- everyone is very excited since Cube is a larger agency. Han Cho Won (한초원), a tall mature looking 15-year-old in a hoodie and red pants, comes out to the strains of (then) Cube artist HyunA’s “Lip and Hip.” She squints at the audience, trying to decide where to sit, and while she does that, I’ll tell you that now (2023), Chowon is in a group called Lightsum. The other girls think she’s cool and swaggy, but to me she just looks a little confused. Maybe she has bad distance vision. 

Next out is FNC, home of N.Flying and AOA. (If you watched Queendom Puzzle, you might remember Chanmi/DoHwa, who used to be in AOA.) We meet Cho Ah Yeong (조아영), age 16, wearing black, and Park Hae Yoon (박해윤), age 22, wearing white. HaeYoon has since debuted as a member of Cherry Bullet. Everyone seems to be very intimidated that they’re from FNC, but me, an intellectual in the year 2023, is thinking, yeah, but no. As far as I’m concerned, FNC stands for “FuckiNg over Cherry bullet” and if you’re like, but BPR-Unnie, that doesn’t really work as an acronym, I respond, EXACTLY. Nothing about FNC works. 

People are excited to meet the Starship trainees, and MNET definitely wants all of us to be excited too. And I mean. Yeah. Here they come: 

Left to right: Yujin, Kahyeon, Wonyoung

An Yu Jin (안유진), age 14, in the sleeveless shirt. She had previously been in music videos and commercials. 

Jang Won Young (장원영), age 13, the tallest one, in the pants 

Cho Ka Hyeon (조가현), age 14, in the collared shirt and skirt 

Nothing against Kahyeon, who is a lovely and talented girl, but it’s hard not to focus on the one-two punch of Yujin and Wonyoung, future stars of IVE. It’s entirely possible you’re reading this recap just because you’re fans of one or other of them. I’ll say that I’m more of a Yujin girl than a Wonyoung girl, but I like them both. True to form, they’re boisterous, showing off their smattering of Japanese knowledge, and flirting with the camera. They take turns sitting in the number one seat briefly, and then choose other seats. 

The trainees are talking about how pretty everyone is, much prettier than in Season 1, and I disagree with that part, but yeah of course they’re all pretty. Yoon Eun Bin laments that she’s “the only ugly one.” Aww, baby! And of course, we keep checking in with Yena, our unofficial narrator of this episode, as she jokes non-stop with her friend Sihyeon. It kind of reminds me of how in Broduce 101 we hung out with Kang Daniel and Yoon Ji-sung for most of episode 1. 

Out next is Pledis: 

Who could these tall, beautiful girls be? 

Huh Yun Jin (허윤진), 16, with her hair up in a ponytail, is about 5’8. Her family name 허 is sometimes transliterated “Huh” and sometimes “Heo”. Korean vowels are hard, ya’ll. 

Lee Ga Eun (이가은), 23, with her shorter hair down to just her shoulders, is about 5’7. Her name is also sometimes transliterated as Kaeun.  

The others girls recognize Gaeun as a former member of After School, an idol group known for their sexy concepts. (In the performance I linked to, Gaeun is the one with her hair in two braided pigtails -- she starts off on the pole on the far left. We actually see a brief clip of that performance on this episode at about 20:58.) The girls are abuzz to see Gaeun back in the idol sphere after a few years’ hiatus. That hiatus was just due to Pledis’s mismanagement. Shock! Horror! Who would have thought that PLEDIS of all companies would screw over a talented idol group? Surely, neither of THESE girls will get screwed over on this very show? 

Anyway, back to 2018. You’re going to have to accept that fact that I love both of these girls a lot, but I doubt that will be a problem, because I think you’re going to love them too. Most people do -- more about that much later! Yunjin is one of the reasons that I’m rewatching this show -- I loved her the whole time I watched it the first time, as I said earlier, and I was so incredibly happy when she debuted in Le Sserafim. 

The two Pledis girls sit down and we have a brief “coming up!” montage. When we come back, we can see that more girls have come in unobserved by us, the viewers, which is fine. Finally, strains of Heavy Rotation by AKB48 begin playing (“I want youuuuuuu… I need youuuuuuu…”), and the Korean girls are excited to meet the AKB girls! 

First, we learn a little bit about the franchise -- it’s like, what if a female NCT, or a TripleS, but with literally 600 members, and they’re all wearing outfits that make them look like they are members of the Piñata Marine Corps. Also, most of them can’t really sing and their choreography is mostly step-touch wiggle-wiggle. 

Bless their hearts.

There is, obviously, talent amongst them, as we will see. It’s just that talent is not really a *requirement* for being in the group. Girls in the AKB48 franchise are expected to be cute and cheery on stage, to approximate some form of “singing” like noises, and to learn and do choreography so easy even I could probably do it, and I’m about as coordinated as a newborn deer. Plenty of them are capable of more, and I take my hat off to those who pushed themselves to come on this show and face this challenge. They’re in for a lot, and I respect them. 

I also want to say that the biggest issue I have with the AKB48 franchise is that their fanbase is almost exclusively men in their 40s who think that 19 or 20 is over the hill. It’s like, soft-core kitty-corn and I know you know what I mean. I guess a similar allegation could be made about Produce101 in general. I don’t want to linger on this for too long because these girls just want to be entertainers and to bring some fun and excitement into their lives, and it’s not their fault that middle-aged men ruin everything. But I have to acknowledge it. I could post some really disturbing pictures here of AKB48 girls in outfits that read *really, really young* but also are obviously meant to be sexy, but I really don’t want to, in part because it might make the FBI knock on my door. Similarly, I don’t want to link to it here but I’m amazed there wasn’t a public outcry about the video for Heavy Rotation. They’re all in lingerie and rolling around together and kissing each other and bathing in a bathtub together while feeding each other cherries and whipped cream. Like, it’s not subtle. Meanwhile the song itself sounds like something from a Kidz Bop album. The juxtaposition between the cutesy childish tone and the obviously sexy, almost pornographic images is really… disturbing, there’s just no other word for it. Add in the fact that Japan might be the only developed country that’s worse than the USA in terms of how it treats and cares for women, and you’ve got a pressure cooker of ick. Poor girls. I hope they’re all safe and well -- in 2018, in 2023, and beyond. 

And here they come, all 19 of the AKB48 girls, in red and black plaid outfits. This specific group is from Tokyo. (Each of the -48 groups is based in a different city.) We’ll meet these girls a bit later when they perform in smaller groups.

We see that one of them, 24-year-old Miyazaki Miho, can even write in Korean a little! Good for her. Takahashi Juri -- 20-year-old future member of Rocket Punch and visitor to Queendom Puzzle -- interviews in Japanese, “I think that the popular idol singers in Korea are really the best artists in the world.” Goto Moe, 17, says that Kpop idols are true musicians. Muto Tomu, a 23 year old palindrome, says she wants to learn from the Korean idols. She and Juri want to be the best in the world. Yes! I love the ambition. 

But where will they sit? 

Juri, in an outfit that would make Nina Garcia weep if she had tear ducts, is tempted by the number one seat. As she should be. We love Juri in this household. But the girls’ competitiveness gives way to their friendliness, and soon all the girls, Korean and Japanese alike, are giggling and waving and making heart signs to each other. AND THAT IS WHAT I’M HERE TO WATCH, by the way. I love this shit. Friendship is the best ship. 

Juri introduces herself to MND17’s ChaeJeong in careful Korean, and ChaeJeong responds in equally careful Japanese. Everyone is using the few words they know, combined with sign language and body language, to try to bridge the communication gap. They exchange hellos and names and try to figure out who’s older. The Japanese girls think the Korean system of adding a year to your age is kind of odd, but that’s how culture do. 

Next out are the girls from NMB48 - the Osaka team -- in blue outfits. Then the two SKE48 girls, from Nagoya come out, in different blue outfits. One of these two is Matsui Jurina, who is only 21 but somehow looks a bit older to me. 

Asai Yuka on the left, Jurina on the right. 

A lot of the girls recognize Jurina; per Wikipedia, “She is recognized as SKE48's absolute "ace", having placed in the top 10 in many of AKB48's annual general elections and winning the 2018 election.” Apparently she was in AKB48 for a while, and then chose to go back to SKE48, either for altruistic reasons (to support the smaller subunit’s success) or for her own reasons (to go back to her home city, perhaps). 

You’ll be hearing more about “elections”, so let me talk about that. In the -48 system, fans who have bought a copy of a 48 album are given the right to vote for the member they like best -- the general election. In other words, it’s a popularity contest, and only fans willing to spend money are allowed to vote. (There’s a story about a fan who spent $300,000 on CDs to vote for his favorite girl!) If Jurina has won so many elections, she is/was undoubtedly quite loved by her fan base. I approve of the fact that this woman, who looks like a woman and not a little kid, is/was so loved. 

Side note here, and it’s a real, real, real side note, so I'm putting it in a different color so you can skip past it if you want, but the story of the man who spent $300,000 to vote for his favorite member of AKB48 reminds me a bit of the story of Grant Amato. Let me explain. Grant Amato was in his late 20s when his life hit the skids for various reasons and he began spending a ton of time in a cam girl chat room. He began “tipping” her absurd amounts of money, convinced that this was creating a genuine bond between himself and her. He began stealing from anyone who left their credit cards in his vicinity, especially his parents, from whom he stole $200,000 or more. The family tried to put him in rehab, and told him he couldn’t talk to his “girlfriend” any more -- so he killed them, in part to remove the obstacle, and in part to get their money. Looking into this story more, I learned more about the psychology of tipping cam girls, and it seems really similar to the parasocial relationship between -48 girls and their fans. No other men in the girls’ lives; the illusion of sexy, available youth; the man feeling like a protector or guardian of the girl he's never met and never will meet…. This extremely NSFW guide to cam-girling has a lot of nuggets of wisdom, especially this: “A man wants to feel attention from an attractive women on him, and this is made even more satisfying when it’s to the exclusion of those around him. He is showing off his power by buying your happiness.” I know that Grant Amato is an extreme example when it comes to him literally murdering three family members, but other people -- nearly always men -- spend that much money on cam girls and on AKB girls and on other stand-ins for real love. I don’t have some big point to make here. Just that it doesn’t seem particularly healthy to me.

Pigtailed Sato Minami, age 14 and a member of Tokyo based AKB48, interviews that everyone in Japan knows Jurina. 17-year old Nakano Ikumi says she joined AKB48 because she idolizes her, and 14-year old Asai Yuka, the other SKE48 member in Produce48, says that they all admire her. 

They aren’t sure where to sit, as now only lower-ranked chairs are available, which is so silly since it doesn’t actually matter at all what chair you sit on today, but that’s the show for you. Jurina, befuddled, says “ehhhh?” which is sort of like “what” and sort of like “otoke?” It’s so characteristically Japanese that some of the Korean girls think it’s cute. Plus, they’re all eager to make friends. 

Jurina smiles with cute, puppy eyes, and then for a moment, a bit of avarice flashes over her face, and the xenophobic MNET editors make sure to zoom in on her, while letting one of the other girls give her a defining caption:

Bombastic opera music plays -- will she take the seat? She has been ranked number one enough times in her other life that it seems kind of fitting. But no. She ends up sitting down in a normal chair, interviewing that she didn’t have the courage. I don’t remember who sat in the number one seat and am starting to think it might just be whoever walks in last at this point. 

I feel like I could write a whole sociological paper about the difference between girl seasons of this show and boy seasons of this show and their approach to the Number One Chair. Girls eye it but don’t like to sit on it because it marks them as greedy and makes them unpopular. Boys fight over it, either physically with arm wrestling or via skill displays, like rutting caribou. It’s really interesting. 

Interlude! They’re all hungry. Juri shows off more of her Korean skills. The other girls at least know how to say the names of food and are building friendship off of a shared love of eating. Hey, that’s how you make friends with a cat or dog so it works for me. Food!

Here’s the RBW girls, who you might recognize: 

Na Go Eun (나고은), in the “Respect” shirt, age 18. She is now a main vocalist of PurpleKiss. 

Park Ji Eun (박지은), in the red striped shirt, age 20. She debuted in PurpleKiss but left due to an anxiety condition. Aww! Poor sweetie.  Hope she’s doing ok these days. 

The girls are excited for Banana Culture, partly because they’re hungry and want to eat bananas, and partly because it’s home to EXID, a group I’ve always liked too. 

Out come the two Banana Culture girls, who sit down immediately:

Kim Da Hye (김다혜), on the left with black accents, who I think is 16 (but reports vary). 

Kim Na Young(김나영), 15, on the right with red accents, who you may now recognize as a member of Lightsum. 

Next is Woolim, and the other trainees are impressed. They should be! Check out these four:

I know this screen shot is terrible, but I’m doing my best, folks. 

Left to right, that’s:

Kim So Hee (김소희), 14, who is now in Rocket Punch.

Kim Chae Won (김채원), 17, who is now in Le Sserafim.

Kwon Eun Bi (권은비), 22, who is now a soloist.

Kim Su Yun (김수윤),17, who is now also in Rocket Punch, and who you may also recognize from going on Queendom puzzle. She’s 5’7, if you’re wondering. 

I’m so excited to see Sohee and Suyun meet Juri! And for Chaewon and THE SAKURA™ and Yunjin to all meet each other! This is going to be so cute. 

And here’s WM Entertainment: 

Left to right, that’s: 

Cho Yeong In (조영인), age 16.

Lee Chae Yeon (이채연), age 18. Before this she was on Sixteen, the show that created Twice, and after this she will, among other things, make a brief appearance on Queendom Puzzle. She’s also the older sister of Itzy’s Chaeryeong, and they have a strong family resemblance. Everyone is pretty impressed by her, and I’m sure she’s glad about that.  

Lee Seung Hyeon (이승현), age 17. Ok, if you watched Queendom Puzzle, I dare you to try to recognize Seung Hyeon. Do you know who she is? Picture her with chin length hair. Hold your finger up to the screen and really try. Ok, give up? 

That’s Riina from H1-Key! I would have never guessed. I wonder if Chaeyeon recognized her on Queendom Puzzle? I wonder if she voted her up or down? Chaeyeon does seem to sort of do her own thing. Love how the show never mentioned that they knew each other.

It’s time for the Fukuoka-based HKT48 girls to enter, and their black logo prompts Million Market’s Son Eun Chae (손은채), 18, future member of Bugaboo, to comment to her label mate Cho Sa Rang (조사랑), 14, that black is her favorite color. Sarang replies, “Our faces must look black by now,” cracking Eunchae up. Aw, I like them. 

The other Japanese girls are excited, because they know that soon they will be seeing…. THE SAKURA™. Her name means cherry blossom, and she wants cherry blossoms to blossom in your cherry. I mean heart. Whatever. 

It’s always so odd to me the way that certain girls are picked out as stunningly beautiful, when to me they’re all pretty. It feels so random. Why is THE SAKURA™specifically the most beautiful? It’s like in Red Velvet. I think Seulgi and Wendy are every bit as pretty as Irene, maybe prettier. But what do I know? Also, I probably ranted about this exact same thing in one of my BP recaps. Anyway, Jo Yuri tells her labelmate Sian, “I made eye contact with Sakura and I almost fainted.” Ok, Jo Yuri is growing on me. 

Everyone thinks everyone else is pretty, and cool, and cute, and intimidating. We check in again with Sarang and Eunchae, who seem to be having a fun time. 

Who will be last to walk in? YG’s logo pops up on screen, shocking everyone, including our polka dotted friends from HOW Entertainment, one of whom is in the process of administering eye drops to another one when the logo pops up. YG? WUT? But no -- these are *former* YG trainees. Now, they’re here as “kaein yeonshipsaeng” -- individual trainees. Trainer-less trainees. Just… -ees. They walk out to strains of “I am the Best” by 2NE1, a song whose video I still watch whenever I need a pick-me-up. 

Park Jinny (박진희), 20, with dark hair, now a member of Secret Number.

Park Seo Young (박서영), 19, with light hair.

We cut back to an interview that must have taken place some time before taping began, when Seoyeong had brown hair. We find out that Seoyeoung was in the famous “Future 2NE1” video and both of them traineed with Blackpink. They’re here to make you wonder why YG let them go. 

There are only two chairs left -- the #1 seat and the #96 seat. The now-blonde Seoyeong plunks down on the number one seat and everyone applauds. When I watched it the first time, I thought even at the time that there wasn’t much chance of her making it after that. You just can’t sit in that seat and make it in to the final lineup. I’m with Yunjin, who says, “If that was the only seat left, I’d sit on the floor.” Yep.

35:10 Somi and Daniel

Two figures emerge and the girls go nuts as they recognize everyone’s favorites, Jeon Somi (ranked #1 on PD101 Season 1) and Kang Daniel (ranked #1 on PD101 Season 2). I’m happy to see them, though I’ll note that they’re both capable of looking a lot better than they do here. I’ll blame their hair -- they were both born to be honey blondes, even if it wasn’t in their DNA.

Must be kind of weird for Chaeyeong to see Somi again after they both competed on Sixteen together. But there are always all those ties amongst idols and trainees. 

Somi and Daniel talk about how only viewer votes will matter here. They don’t know that this is a lie, of course. Vote rigging was absolutely a thing on all four seasons of PD101. But we’ll talk about that later. 

The reality sets in for the trainees -- they’re really on PD101!  Or PD48, whatever you want to call it. S&D talk about how only the top producers will work with them, how they’ll debut in Korea and Japan at the same time -- this will be big. They talk about the specific producers, who have worked with some top groups, but the names of the producers don’t ring bells for me and likely won’t for you, either: Han Sung Soo, who writes kpop hits, and Akimoto Yasushi, the creepy old dude who created AKB48 and writes their most misogynistic lyrics. Great. I am just going to call him “Gross Guy” from now on. 

The girls find out that 12 of them will debut in the final lineup, which is great news, because now it’s a 1 in 8 chance of getting in. (Well, it’s a 100% chance for those whose agencies paid enough money!) Why couldn’t Kep1er and ZB1 have had 12 members? Then Park Hanbin would have been in ZB1 and I’m not sure who else would have been in Kep1er but I know it would have been great. Maybe Fu Yaning, who I will always love and hear no words against. 

Anyway. 

Say goodbye to Somi and Daniel because we don't see them again after this. It's time for the judges to come out! And that's what we'll pick up with next time, when we recap the first ten auditions!

[unhingedhearties]

For Reals, How Is This Legal You Guys?

This post was so annoying to put together. Sorry to come at you all with this one-two punch of stupidity, but I want to feature these two posts together. To paraphrase the Black-Eyed Peas, it's about to get "started" in here.

First off, all that stuff about "a play, singing, directorship" comes from this interview Erin and Kevin did that's sending these people into a meltdown. I've provided a transcript. Skip to 1:50.

Interviewer: Erin, are you gonna step behind the camera and direct? I know you produced the show but are you going to direct some episodes?

Erin: I would love to. I think that would be such an interesting challenge. I'm not sure what's possible because I'm American and we shoot in Canada but, um, I think that would be a really neat new avenue certainly something I'm interested in and I know Kevin's interested in.

Kevin: Yeah.

Erin: Yeah

Interviewer: And Kevin I mean with your history, I mean on stage and I know Erin has the same, but do you miss stage work?

Kevin: Yes of course all the time yeah. *looks at Erin* Why you don't?

Erin: No I just think it's an interesting question, I mean when was the last time you were on stage?

Kevin: On stage? Probably 10 years ago. 8 years ago. I'd be terrified to go up and do it now. We saw a play last night actually, we're here in New York right now, and yeah I was baffled. I was like "I used to do this" and I don't think… it would just be so difficult it's because they're just two very different mediums, acting in front of the TV, in front of, this uh camera and then on stage but I mean long story short I would love to get up there and do it again. I miss it every time I see it and uh yeah I hope I get the opportunity to.

Erin: We've actually talked about potentially producing a play together we thought it would be fun to, um, with another one of our castmates get together and do a play.

Kevin: Yeah.

Interviewer: That would be wonderful. We should see a musical version of When Calls the Heart.

Erin: Oh…

Kevin: We pushed for this idea well, yeah…

Erin: Oh, on screen yeah. A musical episode?

Kevin: Yeah, that would be great. A little choreographed dance number.

Kevin: Yeah. We… it might happen. I mean as… the fans love it and the seasons continue maybe we'll see it.

Interview: Erin, uh, 12 seasons of When Calls The Heart though, um… I mean your cast, your crew… this is family now.

Erin: It is. It really is, um I consider myself very lucky to have met some of my best friends on When Calls. Um, they're people who have stood by me in some of my lowest moments, they're the people that I laugh with, the people that I travel with, um that I adopt dogs with, it's just a really incredible community. I mean it's it's a lot of really good, fun, kind, talented, people. It's a great group.

Interviewer: Kevin, same question. I mean, uh, there must be people you know close to your heart that are crew members and all do you…

Kevin: Yeah, of course. I mean you're looking at one of them right now, but on top of that, you know, I met my fiancé on on the show and, yeah just, I mean everything that Erin has said it's, it's… my life has only gotten better from joining the show. Not only professionally but also personally.

------

Now, I don't want to go all "body language analysis" on them (because it's a pseudoscience with no basis in reality that only idiots believe in) but when Kevin brings up the musical episode of WCTH, the way Erin says "oh, on screen" sounds weird. Like it's just a joke and not a serious thing.

Also, wow, two actors who used to do plays and act on stage might potentially want to return and make their own play. That's literally never been done before. And how does being on WCTH give them an advantage to do this?

As for directing episodes, this is a great point to go into the second half of this post:

Johanna/Molly Director Shadowing for an entire block of shooting on WCTH during Season 11. How snobbish.

Loretta/Florence producing plays. I'm sure being on Hallmark helped her advance her career this way... some how.

Andrea/Faith, Amanda/Mei, Natasha/Minnie/, Hrothgar/Ned, Loretta/Florence together for one of Loretta's plays. Hmmm, sounds like they're all BFFs and helping each others careers. Very selfish.

Viv's own children playing his character Joseph's children on WCTH. Hmmm, sounds like nepotism.

Natasha/Minnie becoming an "Auntie" to her co-stars kids and then staring in a Hallmark movie with him. Hmmm, suspicious.

SOMEONE CALLS THE COPS! HOW IS ANY OF THIS LEGAL!?!?!?1?

But seriously, why is it that when literally ANY OTHER CAST MEMBER does this stuff, Lucas fans say nothing, but if Erin so much as briefly says "yeah maybe I sort of thought about directing an episode or producing a play" suddenly it's a government conspiracy meant to intentionally hurt Chris's fans?

And I've brought this up before, but Pascale/Rosemary is very obviously a close friend/BFF to Erin. If Erin is some bitch giving her friends perks, what is Pascale getting? I've yet to see any Lucas fans answer how Pascale benefits from nepotism. She's always conveniently left out because it doesn't fit their narrative.

Also, the idea that Ben is getting any perks from dating Erin is hilarious when you actually think about it. I like Hickam and I think he's a very funny character, but if after being on the show for ELEVEN YEARS the only perk he can get is "you can have a girlfriend, but your character is still an emasculated beta-male" then he sucks at negotiating.

[canonicallyanxious]

Watched the first season of house of chocolate (chocolate guy's Netflix pastry/chocolatiering competition show) and highkey obsessed with the producers and the editors doing the absolute most to squeeze as much drama as possible out of these eight very professional and serious pastry chefs over eight episodes like I think some people would be understandably put off by the fabricated tensions and the blatant framing of pettiness among a group of highstrung but very talented and Just Trying to Do Their Best individuals but I for one think it's fucking hilarious

Like amaury chocolate guy guichon is out here trying his damnedest to teach and support these chefs and give helpful advice and step in whenever something goes wrong, not sending anyone home and instead giving private one on one instruction to the people who need it, and then every scene is undercut with your typical dramatic cooking competition music and editing in close ups of people looking pissed and salty when they were probably just thinking about nice it'll be to go to bed because they've been filming 14 hour challenges all week

Like I don't think these chefs have nearly as much beef with each other as it seems like from the editing but I do find the narrative being created delightfully compelling like they are trying to tell a STORY here and I respect it. Mellisa and Thiago talking shit at the sink. The dramatic solo shots of all of them in casual clothes brooding angstily on rooftops and in parking lots. Chef amaury deciding two people in two different teams were tied for best in class one episode and making the rest of the teams vote to "break the tie" and then when they all inevitably voted for their own teammates forced the two people to VOTE FOR THEMSELVES (not even to mention that one of them voted for the other with a clip of a post filming interview from him like "I've never been selfish" IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWED BY THE OTHER VOTING FOR HERSELF). Mellisa picking tyricia to work with specifically so she could win best in class ONLY FOR CHEF AMAURY TO PICK TYRICIA OVER HER. Chef Amaury making the two winners of the pastry challenge one episode PICK THE PEOPLE WHO DIDN'T GET TO PARTICIPATE IN THE NEXT ROUND. IN FRONT OF GOD AND EVERYONE! They didn't have to do any of this but it took me the fuck out every time 10/10 reality TV entertainment thank u Netflix

[shiningdesignersreflections]

Vivian: Summer Sunflowers

Designer's Reflection: Summer Sunflowers

Obtained: Sea of Fantasy Gleam

Rarity: SR

Attribute: Green/Fresh

Awakened Suit: Midsummer Flowers

Story - transcripts from Designer's Reflection

Chapter 1 - Rebranding Woes

Chapter 2 - Surprise Guest

Chapter 3 - Precipitates and Blooms

Story - summarized

The show Miraland Geographic has great ratings... but it's losing views. The chief editor has been trying for months to rebrand the show, leaving Vivian and Jiang Beixi, the documentary creators, wondering how they can save the show.

As soon as the editor mentions reality shows, Vivian perks up. She had originally wanted to turn Miraland Geographic into more of a reality show, so she already has some ideas without losing the current show's integrity: she wants Lolory as the first guest.

The editor is stunned and almost turns the idea down. Beixi backs up Vivian and shares a data sheet on Lolory's appearances and ratings in shows. The editor concedes.

Vivian reaches out to Lolory's agent... only to get turned down. Lolory and her team weren't sure if this venture would work and didn't want to risk it. So, Vivian and Beixi discuss how they can move forward. And they come up with a plan together.

Lolory finally agrees to come out. It turns out she is the best fit for the pilot: her calm demeanor balanced out the wild landscapes, and she could turn something as mundane as grilling barbecue into something elegant. She has such a fun time that she agrees to do more episodes.

The show is a success, and Vivian can finally live her dream of being an entertainment star while also staying true to herself and the show.

Connections

-This Reflection concludes the TV Partner/Vivian trilogy, the first two being Wasteland Impression and Poem of the Wild. All three are SR rarity.

-Vivian mentions Lolory playing the piano. She does this in Black-White Encounter, where she prepares for a music concert in Ninir.

-When Beixi asks why Lolory would be a good candidate, Vivian recalls a striking magazine cover that Lolory did: the gothic, alternative elegance in Midnight Elegance. She learned that Lolory could make anything elegant and attractive with the right perspective.

Fun Facts

-While Vivian always wanted to turn Miraland Geographic into a reality show, originally she was going to change it from a documentary to a dramatic spectacle. Now, she wants to use the show to enhance the beauty and culture of Wasteland.

-In the language of flowers, sunflowers represent pride, but the extent varies by height: tall sunflowers represent a haughty, hubris-like pride, while short sunflowers represent confidence. These flowers symbolize Vivian's journey as a reporter from wanting immediate stardom to making the best and most of her current job.

-Beixi usually remains quiet behind the camera, except to correct Vivian's facts in Poem of the Wild. This is the first time she lets herself speak on camera when she comments on Lolory's presence in Wasteland.

-Despite taking place entirely in Wasteland, this suit is Indexed under Apple Federation.

[hotpocketcasserole]

X Files Season One

It's like 1 in the morning and I got work tomorrow so I'm gonna just go ahead and get some thoughts out about the season.

I first watched this in the mid 00's when dvds were becoming more popular. It started with reading the book series at my school library. I couldn't catch them on tv but I could save up my allowance and buy the dvd sets on the military base where my dad worked. They cost so fucking much, I think they were like 90 bucks per season. But I did a paper route and saved up what I could to buy at least three seasons. And I watched the absolute shit out of those dvds. I still got them on my shelf.

My husband and I started watching them again on Hulu and while I do miss the feeling of popping in a dvd, going through the menu and listening to the music and watching the special features that came with it, being able to stream the entire 9 (original) seasons is so convenient. Except when it fucking lags but w/e.

I thought the first season was a little shaky for a few episodes but like a newborn horse it found it's footing very quickly. Mulder and Scully always felt like a natural partnership to me. I never really thought of them as romantic despite it sometimes being hinted or implied. Maybe it's my young gay ass but I thought they were better as two workmates that work well with one another, keeping the other in line. Scully tries to keep Mulder grounded in reality while Mulder encourages Scully to be more open to the possibility of the extraordinary. I'm not gonna rank all the episodes but I will mention a few notable ones. Best episode: S1 E13 - Beyond the Sea

Easily one of the best episodes ever. Scully is given more space to grow as a character, we learn more of her faith and her family, and is a rare episode where Scully plays the believer while Mulder is the skeptic. Brad Dourif is absolutely amazing in every scene he's in. Great Episodes:

S1 E3 / E21 - Squeeze and Tooms Tooms is such a frightening villain. And introduced so early, right after two ufo episodes. The first Monster-of-the-Week. S1 E1 - Pilot Classic episode. Some wooden acting but an absolutely classic pilot episode to jumpstart the series.

Do you think I'm spooky?

S1 E12 - Fire Crowley from Supernatural plays a fantastic villain with pyrokinesis targeting wealthy British families. Terrific episode

S1 E4 - Conduit I loved the part where the sequences of binary numbers that the kid wrote out put together formed the face of the kidnapped woman.

S1 E20 - Darkness Falls I remember reading the book version of this and loving it so much. Like the episodes Ice and Firewalker, Mulder and Scully head out into the wilderness to investigate and are met with forces beyond their understanding. Love those kinds of episodes. In this case, it was glowing gnats that sucked people dry.

S1 E2 - Deep Throat Hey, Seth Green was in this one! Mulder and Scully go hunting for experimental aircrafts and ufos. That's always a fun time. I prefer Monster of the Week episodes generally but the alien subplot is very engaging.

Bad Episodes:

S1 E5 - Jersey Devil A boring episode. Spoilers, it was a feral woman who lived in the woods.

S1 E7 - Ghost in the Machine I used to like this episode as a kid but now it's just kinda cheesy. The AI would have been just slightly more believable if they didn't make it say "Program Deleted" after killing a dude.

S1 E9 - Space Boooooooring.

The Worst Episode: S1 E14 - Yeah, that one There really isn't much to talk about with this one. It's pretty transphobic. And the ending was awful. Like, it implied that they were aliens or something? I'm more than happy to write this off as non canon.

Anyway, my husband and I are now a few episodes into season two. Season one is a classic. It has some hit and miss moments, some very forgettable episodes, but it also helped establish the characters and really set the tone for the series. I can tell right off the bat that the success of this series led to a higher budget for season two and a lot more risky moments.

Season one will always have a special place in my heart for just how nostalgic it is.

[snoopysfriendwoodstock]

hi Scarlett I hope you’re well! It’s been a minute since you’ve given us a state of the union, what’s in and out for spring?

Hi!! I hope you are too! Thanks for checking in <3 here it is

IN:

inner child work but sorta just however you want to do it

keeping some things to yourself

cooking through a cook book

getting rid of words like “indulging” in your vocabulary about your diet

the sims 4

SO MUCH GLITTER

music from 2009-2012

watching an episode of tv then immediately showing it to your best friend

using “short cuts” in your cooking

saving pictures of snoopy to your phone

calling friends on your commute without warning

drinking juice from a wine glass (bc it’s fun!)

taking pictures of everything

not taking anything out on anyone

watching a princess movie

giving compliments

lip liner

throwing your hair up without looking

writing!!!

short stories

lisa simpson

saw

real alarm clocks

reality tv

OUT

sharing your opinion on the internet

projection

finishing a book you don’t care about

apathy

the “cloud”

laptop stickers

using makeup from a year ago

internet recipes

heat tools

working out in ways you don’t like

Driving

putting away clutter

candles that smell like dessert

ever getting over anything

tight pants

buying things advertised on tiktok

Tiktok

influencing OR de influencing. it’s all influencing.

HBO