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natlacentral · 8 months ago

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Secret Auditions Where The Actors Had No Clue What They Were Auditioning For, And 22 Other Behind-The-Scenes Facts I Learned About "Avatar: The Last Airbender"

Albert Kim, executive producer and showrunner of Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender, has a massive task on his hands. After M. Night Shyamalan's live-action film left viewers disheartened, fans have been craving an adaptation that truly captures the heart of one of the most popular animated series in history. I was honored to speak with Albert, who was warm and welcoming, yet protective and passionate about his live-action adaptation. We spoke in depth about the differences between the animated series and his Netflix show, the motives behind those changes, and what was important to leave the same. 🚨 There are spoilers ahead for ATLA Season 1 🚨

1. Albert wanted to strike a balance between the episodic format of the animated show and his more serialized motives for the live-action adaptation.

"We always used the original as our guide for everything. It wasn't like we were creating a whole new story out of whole cloth, we were looking at all the stories of the the first season of the original, regardless of whether they were episodic, or led to a more serialized narrative. And then we kind of laid them out in front of us at the beginning of the season, and said, 'Which ones help us in getting from the beginning to the end of the season.' Because we knew we were trying to create a narrative thread that took us on a journey from the Southern Water Tribe to the Northern Water Tribe. And so once we had that framework in place, certain elements just started clicking into place. We could see something like Jet. Jet is a great character, who has all the right intentions, but has been driven into a bad place by the extremes of war. And then we could see a character like The Mechanist; same thing. Good character, good heart, but doing some bad things because of the war. And you know what? He would be in direct conflict with Jet. So let's bring them together. That meant taking them out of their original locations and then putting them somewhere like Omashu. It was a little bit of putting a puzzle together in that way. And as we did that we realized we could preserve the feeling of the original in those adventures. It was a challenge, and we had to walk a tightrope to do it. But that's the case with pretty much everything in the show."

2. Albert has been a fan of the original show for years, because his daughter would watch the animated series when she was a kid.

"I was a huge fan of the original ever since my daughter started watching it when she was a kid."

3. Albert used references from the animated series to change how the Avatar State would work in live-action.

"There's an episode in the second season, "Avatar Day," when Kyoshi inhabits [Aang's] body. It's a very short sequence in the original series, and slightly more for comedic effect. But we thought we could use that, and combine that with what we saw on the Roku episode. Roku also manifests through Aang, and we used that early on, because we needed the audience to understand what the Avatar State was and how powerful it was. In the second episode, we were traveling to Kyoshi Island, so we said, 'Why not use Kyoshi to do that?' We can't wait until we get to Roku's Temple to do that, so let's use Kyoshi. There's precedent for it in the original series, and we can adapt our rules for the Avatar State. There are little tweaks we made to the canon here and there to help us understand a little more of why this was important for [Aang]."

4. Albert spoke with Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko (the creators of the animated series) before embarking on his showrunner journey and was "bummed" when they exited the Netflix series.

"When I got the call [to work on the series], I was really excited just for nothing else [other] than the opportunity to talk to Bryan and Mike, and kind of indulge my inner nerd about the show. Our first conversations, were me just asking a lot of Aang questions, and stuff like that. And, that was great. And then we got into the process of talking about what the show could be and the visions they had for it. And what I thought I could bring to the table as someone who hadn't been so intimately involved with the original, or the development process they had been involved with. I really enjoyed that process. I enjoyed collaborating with them and working with them. At around the time I had written the pilot episode, they had decided, for personal reasons, to leave the project. And I can't really speak to those reasons. They had been involved, obviously, for some time before I joined the project. And I was bummed about it, because I genuinely enjoyed working with them, talking to them, all of that. And I had hoped we could continue. But again, that was their personal decision."

5. Albert has never seen The Last Airbender film by M. Night Shyamalan

"I haven't seen it and it just sort of fell through the cracks for me beforehand. And then when I started working on this project, I deliberately avoided it, because I didn't really want to have those images or the creative choices they made in my head. I wanted to be independent."

6. However, Albert was aware of the criticisms of Shyamalan's film.

"That's not to say I wasn't aware of the criticisms of [Shyamalan's film]. I knew what people didn't like about it. And I don't think we were reacting specifically to those criticisms, but a lot of the choices we were already organically making corrected a lot of that. For instance, I always knew that we were going to be casting all Asian and Indigenous for this. It wasn't in reaction to what Shyamalan did in this feature. That would have happened if the feature didn't even exist. I know how it appears in certain cases, it looks like we may have been doing something in reaction to what happened in [his] film, but I never saw it."

7. Michael Goi, who directed the first two episodes of Netflix's adaptation, is still trying to get Albert to watch Shyamalan's film.

"Michael, our director of the first two episodes, he keeps teasing me trying to get me to watch this movie. Now that we're all done, he keeps inviting me over to his house. He's going to put up a screening room so we can all watch together. I said, 'I've gone this long. I'm not gonna break the record now.'"

8. Although the animated series does not show the decimation of the Air Nomads, Albert felt it was "important" for him to include it in the Netflix show to set the stakes for the series.

"I felt it was important to see that event, which is discussed often in the original, but never seen because, for me, it sets the stakes for the world. It shows you what it is that Aang is trying to stop. And without actually understanding that viscerally, for new viewers as much as for the diehard fans, it was a little hard to go on the emotional journey with him. You have to know what he's facing. And what he's facing is this incredible attack. And when you watch it, you see both the power of the Fire Benders, as well as the struggle that the Air Nomads faced, as well as their destruction and the death. And when Aang gets to ask himself, 'How am I as a 12-year-old kid able to stop that,' you understand it a lot more. It'd feel a lot more abstract as a burden and responsibility for him if we hadn't witnessed that."

9. Albert also felt that starting the series with the Fire Nation attack on the Air Nomads narratively helped viewers understand that he wanted to expand and differentiate the feeling from the animated series.

"Narratively kicking off the show with [the Fire Nation attack] helped, in my mind, send the signal that this was not going to be a note for note translation of the original. We weren't going to tell the story in the exact same way, with the exact same scenes and the exact same dialogue. We were starting off in a different direction. And signaling that this is our version of Avatar: The Last Airbender."

10. Albert felt that including the Agni Kai between Zuko and Firelord Ozai, which was also not shown in the animated series, was needed to flesh out who Zuko is as a character.

"The Agni Kai is so important to Zuko's character, it really forms who he is. And that's the same in the animated series as well. They just didn't show it. And I can understand why, because it's very intense and emotional. And possibly a little too intense for say, a Nickelodeon audience. But for a Netflix serialized drama, which is intended to be for all ages of viewers from 10 to 80, it felt like it was appropriate to show that scene. To show exactly what it is that made Zuko into the person he is. That was something I always knew we were going to do. And I don't think anyone would argue that it isn't the linchpin to Zuko's character. Not showing it felt to me, a little bit irresponsible."

11. Tying Zuko's ship crew, and his intention of saving their lives, into the Agni Kai storyline was Albert's way of expanding on the original in a way that felt organic.

"That was a great example of our entire philosophy for this series, which is that we were drawing upon familiar elements from the original, but then pushing certain things a little bit further. Fans are gonna recognize a lot of the events and scenes in that episode from the original. But then we also extrapolated a little bit, and added elements that felt true to the spirit of the original, but hopefully adds a slightly new dimension. Making his crew the ones that he saved, it felt like it was right for the moment."

12. Changing the gender of Shu, and making the Omashu love story a tale of forbidden queer love felt "apt" to Albert.

"I remember even in the original when I was watching the tale of two lovers, I don't know why maybe I wasn't paying attention, I actually thought they were [both] women. And someone in the writers' room corrected me. So I said, 'Oh, well, it feels a little more right if they are women because it's supposed to be a forbidden romance.' Even in the original, there was a reason they couldn't be together. And they had to hide their love. Which ends tragically, but then leads to a piece of understanding. And for those reasons, it felt like making them both women actually was apt for this story."

13. When it came to casting, Albert wanted to make sure the actors were "ethnically and age-accurate."

"Our casting process was thorough. We saw a lot of great actors and great performers. We always knew it was going to be a challenge. Because we were all committed to making sure we were ethnically and age-accurate. We knew that we didn't want to cast a 20-year-old playing a 12-year-old, and we wanted to cast someone who was Asian. We always knew it was going to be tough."

14. The casting was done secretly, meaning none of the actors knew what they were auditioning for.

"It was even more challenging for them, because the casting process was conducted in top secret. They did not know they were auditioning for Avatar. And I had to write fake scenes for all of them. I think [the fake scenes] were about some math wiz applying to a private academy. Gordon, when he was auditioning, didn't know he was auditioning for anything."

15. There was never a doubt that Gordon Cormier should be cast as Aang, even after Albert auditioned several other actors for the role.

"When we saw people like Gordon, there was something about him that just captured the essence of the character. And we kept coming back to him even after we kept seeing other actors who were great. A lot of them were incredibly talented. But after every discussion I would have with the producers, we would always say something like, 'But what about Gordon.' And then we would come back to him, and we kept coming back to him. What we were looking for was a certain spark, a certain essence that said, 'This is who [Aang] is.' And that's what we kept seeing. It didn't matter what the scene was, it was just his personality, his overall character that was shining through. And I think you see that when you see the show. A lot of people I know are a little weary about our version of Aang. But when you watch it, and you see Gordon in his performance, I don't think there's any doubt. He doesn't even have to say a line of dialogue for him to be Aang. He could just give you a look, or a smile. And he's that way in person. He was like that on set every single day. I can't count the number of times crew members would come up to me and say, 'This kid is Aang.' Even when he's not on camera, he is Aang. Whether he was hopping on the back of a camera car, or running around with the other kids. We were incredibly happy that we found him, and all the others."

16. Although Sokka is less sexist at the beginning of the journey than his animated counterpart, Albert felt that they "preserved" his character growth in other ways.

"It wasn't a matter of, say, removing anything from his character. He still has a complex and nuanced journey. But in the process of going from an animated series, to a live-action, we knew that we wanted to portray his journey with a little more groundedness and subtlety. He starts out with attitudes that are the result of living in an isolated life and community. And yes, some of them are rooted in sexism. But he's not out there saying, 'Girls sew and guys hunt.' People have been reacting to comments without having seen the show. When you do watch it, I think it'll become clear that we've preserved Sokka's character, flaws and all. And he has a journey that's as complex as the one you saw in the original. It's just not a one-to-one."

17. Albert also felt that he had more room to build Sokka's character than his sister, Katara.

"Sokka was a character that there was a little more room to add to his character. Katara had trauma over her mother's death, and it's well told in the original. Sokka, we had to fill in the gaps a little bit more, especially for this first season. It was one of the things that struck us immediately. The question of imagining, if you're Sokka, and you're left alone by your father, to take care of your entire community at that young of an age. That's got to be a great burden. And what does that do to him, because his character is naturally lighthearted and funny, and a little bit goofy. But he's got this incredible responsibility to bear. And what does that do to someone? We play with that all season long until you get to the episode [with Koh]."

18. Bringing Azula into the first season as a main character, although that doesn't happen until the second season in the animated series, helped "dimensionalize" Zuko and his family.

"We had the benefit of hindsight, and we knew where the original series was going. And we knew what a great character both Ozai and Zula were going to be. And we wanted to pull a little of that into the first season just to balance out the storytelling a little bit. Creatively speaking, we wanted to use the characters of Azula and Ozai to help dimensionalize Zuko a little more, and then help us understand exactly how he became who he became outside of just the Agni Kai, and that traumatic event. Even though physically, Zuko and Azula are never together in the first season, it doesn't matter. You can still see how the dynamics of this family made him who he was, just like it made Azula who she was. In a way, the first season is a little bit of a prequel story for Azula because when she arrives in the cartoon in the second season, she's kind of fully formed as a character. Here we see a little more of her journey as to how she gets there."

19. Albert feels like the Zuko/Azula/Ozai relationship is representative of an Asian family dynamic.

"And to me, it's very much an Asian story, not that it's limited only to Asian families. But that pressure to exceed the parental expectations. The sibling rivalry all feel, from my personal point of view, like an Asian story."

20. The actors went through an intense six-week boot camp to train for their fighting scenes

"We're incredibly fortunate in that both Dallas [Liu, Zuko] and Ian [Ousley, Sokka] came to us as incredibly accomplished martial artists. Both of them are world-class in their fields. They already knew what they were doing. And even with that, we put all four of them through a pretty intense boot camp before we even started shooting. It was about six weeks, where they trained with the stunt team every day, in order to learn all of the bending techniques."

21. Kiawentiio, who plays Katara, was more "tentative" at first about her action scenes but acclimated beautifully, which helped her character's progression on screen.

"For someone like Kiawentiio, who didn't have a background in martial arts, she started out a little more tentative, in terms of physical movements. But that worked for her character because Katara is not supposed to be an accomplished water bender at the beginning, and as the season progressed, and as Kiawentiio got better and better, Katara got better and better. It worked really well in terms of the progression of her character."

22. The massive action sequences were hard to pull off, and took a lot of set building and choreography.

"Some of the epic action sequences were challenging to do. Whether it's the escape from Pohuai, where we built an entire wall of that prison, and then also had bamboo ladders, and an army of stunt people going through all of that. It was tough. Also, the fights in the finale; the giant battle sequences between the Northern Water Tribe. For those we built a huge section of Agna Qel'a, with the bridge and the wall and scores of extras running through it, and fighting, that was incredibly challenging, as well. The Southern Air Temple fight in the very first episode was another epic undertaking. Those were all really challenging. We relied on the skills of the stunt teams and everyone involved to pull that off."

23. And lastly, Aang's first meeting and conversation with Zuko was the hardest scene to capture on an emotional scale for Albert.

"Emotionally speaking, certain scenes where I felt it was crucial to the season, and would be challenging for the performance [was filming] the scene between Zuko and Aang. The scene between Zuko and Aang, after the "Blue Spirit" episode, when they're hiding out together, away from the Fire Nation soldiers. The first bonding of them. I'll be honest, I was a little nervous going into that scene because I thought it was so important. It's the first time the two of them get to really talk. But once Gordon and Dallas started getting into it, all my weariness melted away because they were so good at it. They did the whole scene all the way through, and it was incredible to watch. But for me, if we didn't get that scene right, a lot of things wouldn't have worked for the season. Or, frankly, for the entire series. We needed to understand who these characters were, how they go from being enemies to having certain bonds, and how that sets the stage for everything else to come."

#natla #atla #netflix avatar #netflix atla #avatar the last airbender #avatar netflix #atla netflix #buzzfeed #albert kim #article

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darasideblog · 8 months ago

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Offloading thoughts on the whole Goshawk season of the White Vault because I need to put to word what didn't land for me with this season and I don't want to annoy my friends babbling about shit

It. Is. So. Slow.

And yet there's no tension whatsoever. Despite that the production value and voice actors are absolutely top notch as always. I have zero critique on that front, everyone's great.

I don't have any reason to root for these characters. At the start of the season I knew one thing about Iffy.

She's a nature photographer.

At the end of the season I know a whole two things about Iffy.

She's a nature photographer. And probably Casner's daughter.

Which is just dropped right at the end in such a abrupt way that I half expected to hear the 'dun dun' music that the Black Tapes used whenever they'd drop a revelation without really setting it up.

I don't mind the change of format, the found footage format worked great for season 1-3, but pretty obviously had gotten forced by season 5.

But if I the listener am no longer privy to the characters' inner thoughts, they need to externalize those thoughts. Within half of the first season you have a good grip on who the Svalbard team is, what they have left behind and want to get back to, which just makes it all the more heartbreaking when they get killed (or transformed). The season 3 expedition is a odd half and half in that the academics are pretty much just there, but Simon, Dragana, Maheer and Raimy get enough presence and dialogue between them for me to care about them.

There's none of that in Goshawk. I can honestly barely keep the sisters apart in my head because there's nothing beyond 'one has a injured leg' to really keep them separate. They don't talk about themselves, and neither do Iffy. Which makes sense for the first half, running from kidnappers in a blizzard doesn't leave room for much chit chat. But once they find shelter there should have been some room to get to know them. Even your shittiest action movie will let one soldier have a line about how much he misses his wife and baby at home, so you'll at least feel a little bit sorry for him when he inevitably gets shot or blown up.

Which really is the second major issue I think there is with this season: the narrative is split between two stories, in every episode.

The whole family stuff is... interesting, in that world building kind of way, but it adds absolutely nothing to the overall horror and survival story. It isn't really helped either that the stakes feels so hilariously low. Dís and her entire family is all acting like the sky is falling, and they're all about to die to various accidents because their protection is disappearing, when Ardna throws herself in front of a car to save a friend, and... walks away with what amounts to a bump on her head that just requires a couple of days in the hospital and off home she goes.

You could pretty much cut out half if not two thirds of the family side of the story, put it in the latter half of the season as a cut away, and ramp up the stakes to build some proper "Oh shit, something is up with this system that's been in place for centuries" feeling. Artifact showed there's plenty of creepy feelings to get when the guardians starts to mess with things, even while you're in the safety of civilization. But aside from the very last bits with one randomly showing up at Dís place and whispering to her, there's nothing really supernatural going on here either. Just a mother concerned for her daughter, which is all well and good but it's not a supernatural horror story.

So one story line feels like it's not really getting any room to establish its cast and do the whole supernatural horror thing, nor actually drop any 'oh, something is suspicious about our saviour' hints in regards to Jason, and the other is honestly taking up too much space with too little substance to it.

Honestly, I was hesitant about this season anyway, since I left season 5 feeling a little sour at how it felt like it just wanted to get rid of this particular story beat and start over, without really giving much payoff to the whole five season story line (and the miniseries' events), but I wanted to give Goshawk a fair shot.

And now I'm not sure if I'll even bother with the next season. Which sucks, I started listening to it shortly before season 2 dropped, and have eagerly awaited each season since then.

#the white vault #white vault #the white vault critical #IDK

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guillotinekim · 2 years ago

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So my last bit of Smallville commentary saw me nearing the end of season 3. Since then, I've made some decent progress. I just recently completed season 6 (and started a couple episodes of season 7) and I've returned to once again dump my scattered thoughts and unsolicited opinions into the Tumblrverse (prepare for an essay because brevity was never my ministry).

*ahem*

Season 4 was...??? Here's the thing though: I started off liking it. Prior to that season, I guess you could say they'd established a working format where every episode featured a new meteor infected superhuman (or in the words of Chloe, a "meteor freak") creating unrest in Smallville, which would then lead to Clark hunting them down and dealing with the situation in some way or the other. I was getting tired of that, so it was a refreshing change of pace to see an ongoing arc take center stage. But actually working my way through the season was a journey that ended with me harboring less than positive thoughts.

I mean...the magical stones of Kryptonian origin scattered across the globe? There was a flashback episode in the third season that featured a youthful Jor-El frolicking around Smallville and falling in love with an ancestor of Lana's (shocker) that made me realize it was asinine of me to assume Clark was the first Kryptonian to ever set foot on earth. But even if I entertain the idea that some other alien from Krypton made the pilgrimage to Earth umpteen years ago and left behind those glorified paperweights...it's still not adding up for me.

Maybe I misinterpreted something here, but I feel like there were multiple moments throughout the season insisting (or insinuating) that it was Clark's "destiny" to locate all three stones and bring them together. But hear me out: if Lana Lang has a sorceress ancestor from the 1600s that not only knew of the existence of the stones, but was actively searching for them at the time, we can assume that these stones have been on Earth since at least the 17th century—which is well before Clark was born (NB: I don't know much about Kryptonian aging so this is an educated guess I made. In the flashback episode that shows Jor-El's time in Smallville, Jor-El evidently hadn't yet formed a relationship with Clark's mother...which means that Clark wouldn't have been born yet...and the events of this episode clearly take place much later than the 17th century). How could it specifically be Clark's destiny to find the stones if their arrival on Earth predated his existence?

And then the wild goose chase that takes place throughout the season as everybody and their mother (literally) attempts to find these stones? Clark? Lex? Lionel? Jason, Lana and Jason's mother? And last but not least, the Countess...because how could anyone ever forget the side storyline where Lana gets POSSESSED by the spirit of her ancestor, Countess Isobel Thoreaux, and is now sharing her body with a witch from the 17th century???

Then, when Clark finally manages to get his hands on all three of the stones and unite them...they fuse into a gem that teleports him to the Arctic (?) and after Clark chucks it as far as I assume his alien strength will allow him to throw, it collides with a mountain...the mountain gets decimated and in its place sprouts the famed Fortress of Solitude. (Side bar: Comic enthusiasts please let me know...is that how it really happens in the source material? Does the Fortress of Solitude really just...grow like a plant?)

So ALL of that...that entire arc...all the insanity behind trying to find these stones that allegedly promised so much power once reunited...all of it was just a way to introduce Superman's Fortress of Solitude? Somehow, an icy fortress of Kryptonian knowledge never crossed my mind as the reward for all of that effort. In retrospect, I suppose a hub containing a plethora of advanced alien knowledge could be both powerful and dangerous if used correctly...but it just felt really anticlimactic.

Anyway. The absolute best thing to come out of season 4 was the introduction of Lois Lane. I love the approach to her character. I like that she's got spunk and can defend herself. The whole damsel in distress shtick is a trope that gets old with me quickly. It's done with Lana often. Even after Lana picked up martial arts, it's like sometimes she forgets to use it or something? But I digress. I like that Lois kicks ass and never seems to doubt her own ability (in fact, one could argue that she overestimates her ability from time to time). I love that she's witty and snarky, yet suffers from discomfort triggered foot-in-mouth syndrome. I like that the person the audience knows she will eventually become isn't who she is right off the bat. It allows for her character to be developed over time. A passionate journalist who's in love with Clark Kent pretty much sums up my knowledge about this character. But when she's introduced to the show, she and Clark clash immediately and she has zero interest in journalism. As far as the love interest thing goes, they already did that "love at first sight" stuff with Lana. It's nice to not have to see it again. Having Clark and Lois go from basically hating each other to forming a reluctant friendship (which everyone knows will eventually end in them falling in love) is both refreshing and entertaining for me. Now mind you, my knowledge of the comics is restricted to a few random Golden Age issues, so for all I know this could've just been the result of the writers staying true to the current (at the time) source material...but regardless, I liked it. However, the build up to the start of her career at the Daily Planet was handled...oddly.

Since her first season on the show, Lois Lane has made it clear every chance she's gotten that journalism is not her thing. And since then, I've been waiting patiently to see what it is that eventually changes her mind. Because surely, if solving the mystery of her own cousin's "murder" wasn't enough to make her consider a future in investigative reporting, whatever finally does the trick will be monumental, right?

Wrong.

Lois makes the life changing decision to completely change her career path after almost being struck by an airborne barn door. And that's...the entire story. It's also a little ridiculous to see a bona fide reporter position at the Daily Planet just fall into her lap when Chloe, a character established from day one as having journalistic ambitions and actual writing talent is starting from the bottom and answering phones. I hate when main characters get things handed to them just because. I wanted to see Lois fall in love with it and really work for it. But this is cute too I guess?

Seasons 5-10 are the seasons I've really been looking forward to, because my basic knowledge about Superman says he's meant to live in Metropolis. So I've been waiting to get past the characters' high school years because I hoped that I'd get to see some maturation as far as Clark's character development and that I might get to see the life-changing move from Smallville to Metropolis, where Clark will spend his adult years.

He hasn't moved yet, but following the death of his father, he seems to be thinking a lot more about the consequences of his actions (CRAZY that his father dropping dead is what it took for him to start doing this...was accidentally killing your mother's child not a good enough incentive? Like hello? The lights are on...but is anybody actually home?).

But let's switch gears for a moment here and touch on Ms. Lang. So far, one of my biggest takeaways as I work my way through this series is that Lana-centric episodes and storylines are typically...not great. From the storyline of her discovering that she has a living biological father—a development that ends with him being written out of the show in the span of a few episodes—to the episode where the writers decided to basically make her a suicidal (?) junkie, writing where she's concerned is more often than not pretty questionable. I mean, did we need to turn her into a vampire?

Then of course there's the ongoing Clana saga. Jason dies in season 4 and following news of his death, Lana jumps straight into a relationship with Clark and it's weird. Granted, she and Jason broke up prior to his death...but as I recall, she also broke up with Whitney before he died and yet she still underwent a period of mourning upon finding out that Whitney had passed away...which is a normal reaction to finding out that someone you used to be in love with is now dead. This time around, no such mourning period is had. She just goes full speed ahead into a relationship with Clark. But of course, it doesn't work out (again) because Lana wants a partnership with full trust and transparency and Clark is still inventing every excuse in the book as to why he "can't" tell Lana that he's a crime fighting alien.

So they break up.

...And then you blink and Lana has romantic feelings for Lex.

Don't get me wrong...I like the idea of Lex coveting everything about Clark's life...from the stable family unit down to the fierce love and undying loyalty he's managed to get from Lana Lang. It adds to the incentive for his descent into villainy. But his feelings for Lana have come across as one-sided for a long period of time. The reciprocation on Lana's end feels very sudden.

Next thing you know, Lana moves out of the dorm room she shares with Chloe at Met U (and possibly also drops out of college altogether because I can't remember the last time she attended a class or mentioned anything academic related) and into Lex's mansion????? Then to add insult to injury, despite the fact that lying is the ultimate deal breaker for Lana and caused the demise of her relationships with both Jason and Clark...Lex is a pathological liar and no matter how many red flags Lana sees that confirm this, she just doubles down on sticking beside him. When she confides to him that she's seen a spaceship and witnessed an alien attack, he has his company sieze the ship for research purposes, then proceeds to try to gaslight her into thinking she imagined the entire encounter. She finds out he lied and forgives him? He has cameras set up in her bedroom without her knowledge. She finds out, makes him "promise" to remove them and then just...continues living there? She has strong reasons to believe he has a secret level in LuthorCorp where he imprisons and unlawfully experiments on meteor infected Belle Reve patients that were supposed to have been discharged. He of course, lies about having any knowledge of this and not only does she not show any sign of wanting to investigate this further...she announces that even if it were true, she'd be cool with it (a complete dismissal of her character's moral compass)??? Mind you, throughout all of this she's still trying to find out Clark's secret. Nevermind the fact that they broke up and she's now living with a whole other man who lies like it's his day job. Somehow, it's CLARK'S secrets that she needs to uncover the most.

But despite how neutral I am to Lana Lang and how uninvested I've been in almost every single Lana storyline featured in seasons 1-6...they finally got me with the pregnancy-marriage storyline. Between that and the level 33.1 storyline, I feel like a turning point was reached. Season 6 marked the first point that I saw Lex as a villain. Here I was thinking Lex had merely paid off a doctor to lie about her being pregnant (which would've also been awful, just to be clear)...imagine my shock when I found out she'd also been drugged. There is absolutely no coming back from drugging your wife to simulate pregnancy, going through the motions of preparing for the arrival of a baby that you know damn well is NOT in her uterus and then taking her off of the drugs so that her body can experience the sensation of a miscarriage. And adding kidnapping and torture to the mix certainly doesn't help his case.

In the midst of that nightmare storyline, I found myself rooting for Lana for the first time since...ever really. I've been exhausted by Clark and Lana's back and forth dynamic for multiple seasons...but her finding out Clark's secret and then staying in that hellish marriage to protect him actually made me start to wish they could get a happy ending and work out? Which is pointless because I know they never will. And remembering that little detail makes me think maybe the writers spent a little bit too much time on Lana. There's only like 4 seasons left. They should've found a way to wrap up their story sooner and focus more on Lois. It's way too late in the game for the transparent, loving relationship that Clark and Lana are finally getting. It creates too much investment in a pairing that was never meant to last.

Lastly, I've reached the point where I'm starting to recognize people more often (either because I know the character or I recognize the actor playing the role) and it's exciting. For one, the celebrity guest appearances? Bow Wow playing a villain and being introduced by "Fresh Azimiz" playing in the background? Lucas Grabeel playing a young Lex? Eva Marcille and Christina Milian??? And then of course, there are all the episodes featuring guest appearances from the future members of the Justice League. Those have been serious series highlights for me. The Arthur Curry (AC) appearances were my favorite simply because I'm always amused to see the same actors bouncing from one superhero series to the next (sometimes even crossing franchises). I guess when AC bid Smallville adieu he changed his name to Hank Hall and became a Titan? 😂

All in all though, it's safe to say I'm enjoying Smallville. Flaws and all. Even when presenting the audience with absolute tomfoolery, the show's just got a certain charm to it that really draws you in.

#smallville #talkville #dc #dc comics #the cw #arrowverse #superman #clark kent #lois lane #justice league

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schismusic · 8 months ago

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THE DISCOGRAPHY PRINCIPLE, Episode 3: Godflesh - or, Song Against Itself

The discography principle may be defined as an objective way to determine whether or not you're worthy of calling a band or artist "your favorite" or "one of your favorites". A possible enunciation of it goes as follows:

"Let u ≝ some asshole, B ≝ {b|b is a band}, n ≝ #({x|x is a record by b}); let p = #({y|y is a record by b in u's possession}) = p1 + p2 wherein p1 ≝ number of physical records by b you own in any format and p2 ≝ number of records by b you have downloaded. If p ≥ n ∨ p2 = n (for n → +∞), then ∃b∈B such that b is one of u's favorite bands."

When u = me, this subset of B (which we might call Bf) is comprised of six bands, off the top of my head: Autechre, Godflesh, Shellac, Kraftwerk, Fugazi and Coil, listed in no particular order.

If you want to read the prologue to this series, go here. Otherwise, let's get going.

Okay, okay, I know, it was the funniest bit ever to call this article like a song by the band I discussed in the previous episode and with a song title I'd teased in the post right before this one, please stop clapping, autographs on the left.

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As some of you might remember, a piece about Godflesh already exists on this blog and, if you're so inclined, you can read it here. The reason why I'm writing another one is because

a) that post doesn't entirely fit the criteria of this series, being mostly focused on autobiography and other such bullshit, and

b) somewhat randomly, last month I spent a really long time wondering if I should setup my guitar for C# standard tuning the next time I re-string it. The most obvious reason to do so is, of course, covering Godflesh on my free time, and I don't even really care about the added ease of playing and bending - I'm actually considering using .012 or even .013 gauge strings to maintain the same feel that .011 gauge has with E standard; I really just want the extra range.

My band is in a bit of a rut as we speak, writing songs is a bit hard for me at this given time and nothing new has emerged yet since last summer; we have a couple new ones that we've already played live, but our last gig kind of sucked if I have to be totally honest with you. I guess what I'm aiming for here is something that might shake up my playing again, get me to think a bit and explore new possibilities.

One of the key elements of Godflesh that have always captivated my imagination is their conscious, and tragically ill-fated, effort to not be perceived as a metal band. It's an effort I at the very least understand, not to say share. Most bands in the rock ballpark do this thing where they try to, somehow, relate to rock music more than they do the idea behind it. Let me rephrase that: the people who play an instrument who grew up on rock music almost always, without fail, talk about how rock music had them wanting to right the wrongs, do something new and powerful and liberating, but in practice that drive turns into constant blues jamming in E minor or A minor. Or, if you're a punk band, a liberal amount of power chord riffs bordering on pop-punk songwriting (assuming you haven't taken that exact road already). Metal is possibly the most open about its clichéd nature, to a point where it's kind of part of its perception in the general public: calling it "just noise" not only implies it not to be music, it implies it never goes anywhere else from there. And to be fair many bands kind of play on that idea: if it ain't broke, don't fix it. This is particularly evident in the case of the more rock'n'roll-adjacent types of metal, or in the more mainstream ones: a record like 72 Seasons by Metallica being hailed by the few who actually did say good things about it because "it's a return to their roots", or black metal bands trying to convince their listeners that this time they might be doing something different. And just to be clear, I'm not saying these don't happen in other genres as well (I still cannot for the life of me figure out why everything Aphex Twin put out from Syro onwards was seen as some kind of second coming of Christ even though 1) RDJ had been putting out a ton of music under his other aliases up until that point and 2) they're not bad records, but it all feels sort of like a retread of early AFX stuff).

Eloquently enough, in 1989, Godflesh put out a t-shirt with a pretty unequivocal sentence on its back: DEATH TO FALSE METAL. While the sentence was very happily appropriated by those who, as it turns out, eat and breathe and live and - most likely - even shit out false metal, in the year 1989 the statement could not resonate any clearer: no frills, no bullshit, no dicking around. Godflesh's presentation gave an excellent expression of what quote-unquote "true" metal could be. It's two people on stage, with a small stack of amps behind them and an Alesis HR-16 drum machine as the only other elements of stage decor. At three points of their career the band had a third member: an extra guitarist on a couple tracks on Pure, a drummer on the records Songs of Love and Hate and Hymns. But that was it. Justin Broadrick's retrospective grievances concerning the band's name applied to the records with a human drummer notwithstanding, it was unmistakable that Godflesh's music had the heart of presenting itself alone, naked and very much afraid. More than that: it was, for all intents and purposes, the band's only defense.

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Formally analyzing the music of Godflesh lends little interesting results, even though JKB's unconventional approach to guitar writing and GC Green's thunderous basslines offer surprises and subtleties aplenty for those who are willing to listen. The point is actually how much of a racket these two manage to conjure as much as the way it's never simply - as we said above - just noise, if you can give them the time to prove it to you. And I'm not even talking about their surprisingly keen if minimal melodic sense, or they way they construct memorable riffs from very restrictive elements (even on their least focused efforts, like for instance Songs of Love and Hate, there's always at least one brainworm level riff that you can't get out - for me it's Wake and Anthem, and for the latter - off of Hymns - the fault might very well lie with the spectacular Jesus Christ Superstar mashup floating around on the internet), but both pale in comparison to the band's consistent honesty. Like David Lynch characters, Godflesh never lie. They never try anything funny in the conventional sense of the word, and yet they remain open to flirtation with anything that might catch their interest. Which is also where the plethora of side projects JKB took part in over the years factors in: I will admit I've only ever explored Techno Animal/Zonal, but I guess I have all the time in the world to get that in order.

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Another thing that comes to my mind when listening to/thinking of Godflesh is Deus Ex, and specifically the original from 2000, in that everytime somebody mentions either the former or the latter I just have to play it again. It's quite hard to quantify just what exactly the special quality to these two things is - if I had to take a guess, it's simply the profound interest they radiate. It kind of always feels like it's in your hands, in full control, and yet something still escapes you, something could be approached differently. And it's surprisingly fragile and emotional. JKB and Ben Green's friendship is, I think, the best indicator of what Godflesh at its core is - an element of familiarity for someone who's unfamiliar to the rest of the world, who feels out of place and out of step.

And this last reference is nowhere near unintentional: just like Ian MacKaye felt "out of step with the world", or for that matter just like Henry Rollins had a whole slew of songs about profound feelings of discontent and solipsism both in and out of Black Flag, Justin Broadrick and Ben Green built their musical and social identities in a place of being unrecognized, invalidated, seen as weird and bad - it's no surprise that Godflesh saw themselves more aligned with Killing Joke than, say, Black Sabbath (despite coming from the same city).

Of course, an excess of sincerity - a policy of truth, even? - can very easily lead you astray, make you lose yourself in a way. But I still enjoyed that sense of laser-focused disorientation that Songs of Love and Hate, Us and Them and (to an extent) Hymns have to offer, and I still do give them the occasional spin. The same goes for the supposed (here we go again…) "return to form" with the last three records: but then again, when did Godflesh ever do anything like Post Self? I mean, ok, if you want you can trace it back to Selfless (the connection is pretty obvious if you can read, which at this point is a pretty safe assumption), and then again Streetcleaner's album cover back in '89 literally represented a world lit only by fire, and Purge is just Pure with an extra G. But all of the records sort of succeed in giving us a very interesting look at a mature Godflesh, a Godflesh that went through the trappings of their entire professional and personal lives and then once again come back and rearrange their influences. And how often does that happen? How often does a band offer a "critical retrospective" that is, for once, actually critical and not just a rehash or a best-of?

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For reference, I don't even like A World Lit Only by Fire that much, and I do recognize the irony in JKB admitting he literally just wanted to recapture the early records' magic after all I've said. I just kind of see it as getting your bearings again. And if I were them, I'd understand: you get back to the scene ten years after the band crashed and burned in the middle of their biggest tour yet, you essentially haven't spoken since 2002 and then you pull up to the Roadburn Festival and play your biggest record. A test drive would be in order: can we still do this?, can we get it up and running again? And if that riff at the beginning of New Dark Ages is any indicator, hell yeah they could.

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A World Lit Only by Fire is an excellent representation of why "artists must be allowed to go through bad periods, they must be allowed to do bad work, they must be allowed to get in a mess, they must be allowed to have dud experiments. They must be allowed to have periods where they repeat themselves in a rather aimless, fruitless way before they can pick up and go on" (David Sylvester). And Godflesh never were the kind to give way to the pressure - give them three years and they can still, at the very least, turn some heads. A track like the alternate version of Parasite they included in the New Flesh in Dub album and in the Japanese version of Post Self tells the whole story: its understanding of its own internal rhythm is as fragmented as ever in the work of Godflesh, sounding closer to a re-edit of Techno Animal's more rhythmically oriented moments, and the mangled guitar and bass parts reveal the truly skilled engineering of the violence going on in the studio - and the way that the band choose to sacrifice it in order to sound real. Because if the original Parasite has anything, that is believability and presence: it's uncomfortably close and tangible, with horrifying lyrics that would, at the very least, seem to be about historical recurrence and political discomfort with demagogy. Neither of which are particularly frequent topics in Godflesh's lyric book and are at high risk of turning cringier and more memeable by the second (see for instance Eminem's now-infamous anti-Trump freestyle), but here happen to come in very economically packaged doses that feel much more poignant specifically because they refuse to go too far into specifics. Like, for Christ's sake, what the fuck is a slateman?

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So yeah, in short, you bet your ass my fanboy ass was in a record shop on June 9, 2023, and Purge was exactly what I expected it to be: a good record by a good band that still manages to prove capable to sound like they give a shit about what they're doing, unlike their former friends Metallica, and to be in touch with a form of emotionality that seems to exist firmly outside of the reach of anyone else involved in the genre - or outside of it. This is, by definition, the truest metal possible; the one that tugs at the heartstrings with the grace and poise of a mule with its balls tied to a fencepost.

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#schismusic #musica #music #long form content #godflesh #that's right you get another one #Youtube #schism writing

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sheacouleecametoslay · 2 years ago

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All Stars 5 (2020)

And I continue to be disillusioned by the All-Stars series! The main issue with AS3 and AS4 was the twists and the controversial finales, but the casting was solid enough to elevate their rankings. AS5 doesn't have those issues. Instead, the cast just doesn't feel like an All-Stars cast, no disrespect. I was pretty meh on Cracker and Mayhem during Season 10, and somewhat neutral on Blair as well. Meanwhile, India only had one memorable on Season 3, and it wasn't even her moment. Mariah was also an unexpected pick, but she's underrated. Still, she was an early out again. I was hyped to see Ongina back after all these years, but she bombed every challenge. Derrick could've been the villain again but she was out first. Which just left Shea, Jujubee and Alexis to root for. IDC about Cracker's track record, she was beyond annoying. The season felt uneventful too? AS5 was lacking in iconic, memorable moments. Alexis got into drama with multiple queens, Derrick and India had a fight, and Jujubee talked about her cats. That's about it really. The premiere and the Snatch Game are the best episodes; the rest were forgettable. The final 4 was so boring after Alexis was gone. And Untucked was pure filler. Mayhem/Juju/Blair talking about their addictions was a nice moment though. But yeah, AS5 saw the return of Untucked to All-Stars, which seems unnecessary because the deliberation scenes in the main episodes ARE Untucked. AS5 just didn't feel like a high-stakes competition either? There was literally two quitters. No shock eliminations. A predictable winner. And the final 3 was predictable too, since they were only 3 to win a challenge aside from India. The lack of a returnee competition also contributed to the uneventful feeling. Although having said that, there was no reason to bring Ongina, Mayhem or India back into the game, so maybe it was for the best. So AS5 introduced the All-Stars new format, because of how poorly the Naomi voting Manila incident was received. From now on, everybody casts a vote, and there will be one challenge “winner” each week. Said challenge winner will face a mystery Lip Sync Assassin. If the top All-Star wins the lip sync, they individually decide who goes home. If the LSA wins the lip sync, the group vote reigns supreme. But aside from Yvie, the LSAs weren't really trying this season. The lip syncs wouldn't have changed any of the outcomes either. And aside from Alexis and Mayhem voting Shea that one time, the votes were cast fairly this season. Side note: some of the LSAs must've been for storyline reasons, like Morgan during Mayhem's elimination, and Vanjie when Alexis almost got out. The other major twist introduced this season was that, starting from the final 6, if you're not the challenge winner, you're up for elimination. Which is both ridiculous and unfair. Episode 7 also ended with a twist, where Ru got a phone call, which segued into the eliminated queens hiding behind a glory hole in the finale. As for the challenges, they were mostly lackluster. I'd say the girl groups were the best one. The Snatch Game top 3 made me laugh so much; but the bottom 3 and that awkward almost kiss between Ru and JBC... yeah. And what annoys me about the Talent Show judging is that they reward self-referential jokes, callbacks, and catchphrases. I want to see unique talents. Moreover, nobody was funny in “SheMZ”. The hotel challenge was boring - it was a failed attempt to recreate the clubs challenge from AS4. The Ball was okay, but I've never really liked those voiceovers. The stand-up routines could've been stronger. And the “Clap Back” Ru-mix was missing something too. They didn't even show the queens working on their verses... I heard this season was supposed to have a New School vs Old School theme, since the cast is evenly divided that way. But we never saw that rivalry. I kinda wish we had. Instead, we had Derrick vs India (which I enjoyed but it only lasted one episode), the Cracker vs Blair/Mayhem stuff (which was whatever), and the Alexis drama. Her and Shea having to work together was funny. And India's accusation against Alexis became a huge ordeal. It even spilled into the next episode, after India was gone. It cost Alexis a potential finale spot. And we didn't know which side to believe until the finale. I'm glad the eliminated queens returned to give that closure.

Queens Ranking: 10. Miz Cracker Cracker had THE most forced confessionals: the constant screaming (ugh), the props, the heavy breathing, the mind blown effect, the twerking, the unnecessary body movements, the corny lines, the “I hate her” about Shea. Cracker was trying WAY too hard. She even screamed in the Werk Room during the sewing challenge. It's like she wanted to avoid her Season 10 perfectionism so bad. Plus she was so concerned about avoiding a negative perception with the girls. But, like Mayhem said, it didn't come off sincere. And that negative perception persisted anyways. Blair/Mayhem didn't like working with her. She felt misunderstood. One episode, Cracker announced she was up all night because she wanted to write Ongina's name in whiteout, as if this was some hardship for her. And she proceeded to lecture Ongina about believing in herself. Like WTF? All she did was made Ongina feel bad. Then she guiltily changed her tune upon seeing Ongina give up. While next episode, Cracker said her intentions were good, it just came out wrong; while Alexis called her out for apologizing too late and calling it a mistake. Then, after Cracker listed off the queens she respected, Alexis asked why she was omitted, and Cracker rephrased what she meant. Next, Cracker accused Blair of plotting to get her out because of Alexis's comment. And lastly, she sounded like an asshole when she sabotaged everyone in the stand-up order. Cracker was so unenjoyable to watch this season. In the competition: I kept Cracker's Ball win - she had the best construction, and the second best country cousin character. But not the other two. In “SheMZ”, she had the pill bottle, the Photoshop and the slapping jokes. While in the stand-up routine, she started slow saving the best jokes for the end (“humility and love”). But Cracker's comedy was too stiff and calculated for me. Otherwise, she went for self-referential comedy in the Talent Show. She did sexual innuendos for her “I'm In Love” verse, featuring tight choreo. She had the phone bit in the hotel challenge. She showed her identity in “Clap Back”, but sang too fast. And of course, she gave the driest and most unfunny Lady Gaga impression in Snatch Game, and mistakenly responded to Alexis's prompt. Two of Cracker's lip syncs were forgettable as well, and “Make Me Feel” didn't match the vibe of the song. She had the head poke thing in “Where Have You Been” I guess. Her best runways were the 3-in-1 cocoon and the plague doctor pre-reveal. 9. India Ferrah We're stretching the term All-Star here. India probably had the most to prove, but she pulled a Roxxxy Andrews without the fun Rudemption arc. Her confessionals were bland. She snapped in that episode 3 deliberation. And while she did bring the drama, she came off too smug; like her energy turned me off. First she corrected Derrick (I was fired! Your partner did an act mocking me! My insult wasn't directed at her!) Then she informed Shea of Alexis and Mayhem's “campaign” and stuck to that story despite Alexis's denial. But the truth finally came out at the finale, where Mayhem backed Alexis up, and India admitted the “campaign” happened after the votes were cast. So basically she misrepresented the situation. India's timing was too convenient and no one backed her up on it. She told Shea when she was about to be booted. All it did was ruin her friend's chances. Otherwise, India copied someone's entrance look again (shady production). She wanted her celeb crush to be her fiance lol. She made Alexis the choreo leader when Alexis didn't understand why. She talked about her shoplifting past. And she apologized to Derrick in the finale. In the competition: India gave it her all in the Talent Show with the choreo and she made a funny reference to the Mimi incident. No one was ever beating Yvie in that lip sync though. All of India's subsequent bottoms were deserved. Her “I'm In Love” lyrics were basic and that “I felt very attacked” scream was unpleasant. She barely talked in the hotel challenge, except for an awkward golden shower joke. Then in “SheMZ”, she licked a donut and peed broken glass... yeah. While in Snatch Game, she gave one creepy impression of Jeffree Star. Also, her 3-in-1 look was just one look. I didn't like her camo runway either. 8. Mayhem Miller Mayhem “The Drama” Miller lacked fierceness and boldness for me. Sure, she kept giving facial reactions in confessional, and her confessionals weren't bland (“but somebody HMM wants it her way”). She was in generally good spirits too (“I'm still here bitch *screams*”). And her impersonation of Ongina was funny. But she was so passive about leaving. She refused to campaign against India and ultimately voted herself. Only for India to throw her under the bus next episode. Mayhem was so loyal to India for what? Otherwise, Mayhem wanted to rectify playing it too safe on Season 10. She gleefully accepted an alliance with India. She was floored and took it personally that her friend Juju voted her. She got annoyed at Cracker during a team challenge. She didn't believe Cracker's reasoning on the Ongina thing. She voted Shea because she thought that was the plan... lol? And she had an emotional Untucked moment about her drinking, and later talked about her arrests. In the competition: Mayhem had a rough start. She went soft in the Reading, then mumbled during her Talent Show song. It was my least favourite performance of the night. But after that, her “I'm In Love” verse was about Mr Rogers, which was funny. She was also in the top for the hotel challenge. And I didn't think Mayhem was that bad in “SheMZ”? She paused at one point and I didn't understand the whole licking thing, but I thought she gave more effort than others. Still, Mayhem's runways were basic this season. Her 3-in-1 look lacked variety. Weird, since she was one of the top fashion queens of Season 10. 7. Blair St. Clair Falls into the bland/neutral feelings tier. Blair showed she had Nerve towards the end, but she lacked Charisma for me. I also kept forgetting she was on the show. Her confessionals were sometimes whiny (“I promise America I'm not a young bitchy girl I'm fun”; that groan before Snatch Game). Or kinda forced (“Mr cameraman show me my mark; hold my hand and guide me gently”; that cough at Cracker's running order). Or she said confusing things like “what if we're going to voting polls?” Alexis also called her entrance cocky. In Blair's intro, she promised that “I've finally gone through puberty... well almost” and that she's a “strong independent bitch” now. Later on, Blair pitched to the final 4 that wins shouldn't matter (lol). She also talked about her DUI. She mimicked the choreo during the finale, as if she was still competing lol. And she had some tensions with Cracker, calling her difficult and questioning their friendship. Blair tried to smooth things over with Cracker during the plotting accusations though. But she was later upset when Cracker considered her bottom 2. In the competition: Blair was the most forgettable in the Talent Show, but she impressed the next 2 weeks. She had some cannibalism wordplay in her Hannibal Lecter “I'm In Love” verse, and her choreo stole the spotlight. Then she was a solid actress in the hotel advert, even if her room wasn't my fave. Blair struggled after that though. Her “SheMZ” character was annoyingly whiny. She seemed awkward as Ellen DeGeneres in Snatch Game (“Squawk to keep warm” HUH?). Also, her country cousin jokes weren't that clever, and her second look was just some fabric draped over her. Then she kept flipping her notebook during the stand-up routine. Blair was one of the top runway queens this season though – her magenta skin, her 3-in-1, her camo butterflies, and her gender-bending prom queen. 6. Ongina Finally Ongina returned!... and it was a disappointment. She completely psyched herself out after the Reading challenge, worrying if she could still compete in the modern era. The nerves got the best of her. And I think Cracker's unwarranted “lecture” got to her too (“and 3rd there's no 3rd because just STFU already!”) Then Ongina broke down during the episode 2 deliberation, saying she deserved to go home. She even voted for herself. Still, Ongina was having fun in the premiere. She kept giggling at herself. She joked with Derrick: “are you talented enough to do it”. And she was nosy about the India/ Derrick drama lol. In the competition: I didn't understand the point of Ongina's Talent Show act... it was just some basic dancing and reveals to a RuPaul medley. She had an amazing entrance look though, and I liked her feathery runway. But Ongina's “reads” in the Reading mini-challenge weren't reads or jokes. And her “I'm In Love” verse was lacking, but she was sick while recording it. 5. Derrick Barry Derrick leaving first was a misstep by production. The India drama was the best part of the premiere! Derrick went all-in on India during the Reading challenge. Then she gossiped with Ongina and Juju about it. Then she fought with India (India was fired! She called my partner “a pig in a wig”!) Then during deliberation, she acted fake nice to India to stay. Derrick was also delusional, telling the girls “I could've slayed it as Britney and won”, while crying in confessional about how hard it is to not be seen as Britney. Derrick came back wanting to prove she can do more than Britney, but that entrance was Britney. Still, Derrick was funny in her one episode (“maybe she's all good with giving fake hugs”; “you were also quick to finish on your season”; “I think you being here is going to make you feel more validated”). While at the finale, she “relicked” in the drama. In the competition: Derrick's multitude of Talent Show impressions were cringe. The idea was better than the execution. Her finale dress wasn't Britney though! 4. Alexis Mateo Alexis's inclusion benefitted the season. She came back as a confident veteran aiming to win (“it's Alexis world and the rest is f**king parking”). And she was brutally honest. She told Derrick “I thought you were doing Britney the entire time”. She criticized Cracker over the Ongina thing. She continued to poke at Cracker with “so you don't respect me?” and "it's easier for you to just talk there". Shea thought Alexis was unnecessarily butting in, but Cracker was being shady listing off the queens she respected. I'm also not sure if Alexis meant to imply that Mayhem/Blair were plotting against Cracker. Anyways, Alexis's main drama came from voting Shea. Her reasoning was to save her friends, but India claimed otherwise. Alexis gave a logical counterpoint to that, saying a campaign can't be 2 people, and the edit never showed her campaigning. Because of these events, Alexis felt betrayed by India, and gave a frosty voting confessional: “you're a liar and this is why Derrick don't like you”. I mean, this stunt ruined Alexis's game, and with the new twist, her only path was to win challenges. It didn't matter who was right, the doubt was in people's minds. Otherwise, Alexis had fun moments like: wanting Daddy Yankee to grab her like a microphone; “this bitch is into eating people? And she's that skinny?”; not knowing what camo is; blurting out “gosh I need to have sex” to break the tension. That said, it did feel like Alexis was giving others a hard time for things. In the competition: Alexis did well, but not enough to win. She came off as a professional entertainer in the Talent Show, but I'm over these dance numbers. Her Daddy Yankee verse in “I'm In Love” was great, but she barely moved. She was fine in “SheMZ, but talked over Shea. She was hilarious in Snatch Game, especially when she roasted Cracker and India. It's probably my fave Alexis performance ever. But she kept repeating “you didn't see that one coming”. Her kiddy pool Ball look was ridiculous, but her character wasn't the best and the look was basic. She also played off that spray can mishap well in the hotel challenge. My fave Alexis runways were the camo and prom queen ones. Least fave was the circus 3-in-1. 3. Mariah Paris Balenciaga Mariah, with her many surnames, provides an underrated presence: “I wish I could've done this [vote] to a jackass”; “is she doing the Finding Dory whale call?”; “I coulda went out there in lizard skin, girl who is pu**y pink?”; “I know y'all spent the coin but I spent the mint bitch”; “my tear ducts have turned into raisins”. I also laughed when she ruined the other team's paint job. And when she took her fanny pack and left. And when was displeased at Mayhem quitting for India (“girl you just met this hoe”). Her TV persona came off natural. She was pretty honest with her opinions. And she told Cracker that she enjoyed working with her, when some other girls were getting on Cracker's case. I don't like Cracker, but that was a nice moment. In the competition: Mariah should've won the Talent Show – she voiced an important message and communicated it in an artistic way. But I guess dancing to your catchphrases is what the judges prefer. She also "went there" in the Reading challenge with the rose petals. Unfortunately, Mariah couldn't stay at that level. She looked “out of it” during her “I'm In Love” performance. Then in the hotel challenge, she made jokes about rattan furniture and girthy meats that didn't land. She also talked over Cracker at one point. Her 3-in-1 look wasn't my fave either. She looked pretty in the skin runway though. 2. Shea Couleé We all knew Shea was winning All-Stars from the second she agreed to it. It's Chad and Alaska all over again, who I don't agree were “robbed” on their seasons, but Shea lost to a new twist. Speaking of, her main storyline on AS5 was about how the rose petals affected her. Even though Juju was my fave, Shea outdid her in the finale, so I'm fine with it. Sure, Shea was hoping to cruise straight to the crown, and she acted like Alexis had such AUDICITY to vote her instead of India. She also took Cracker's side during the Cracker/Alexis confrontation (“bitch who was talking to you?”). But I get why Shea felt bitter and uneasy towards Alexis. Alexis based her vote on friendships. What if she kept doing that? And India was just playing into Shea's paranoia that was already there. I loved when Shea threw Alexis's remark back at her though: “So you didn't think that I worked hard?”. Otherwise, Shea had chances to play it strategically this season (like keeping Ongina or booting Alexis), but kept it fair. She was charming (“I know you've all missed me but it's okay”; “but were you surprised? Haha”). She helped the other queens during the sewing challenge. She had emotional moment with Ru about her dad and sister's passing. And she didn't take India's tea at face value, she had a group chat. In the competition: Shea had her ups and downs. She brought some pole dancing to the Talent Show. She ate with her “I'm In Love” verse. She was hilarious as Flavor Flav in Snatch Game (“roses are red, buses is yellow”). And her stand-up routine was consistent. But Shea was flat in the hotel challenge (“picture it”). And her “bitchy” character in “SheMZ” was whatever. Her wedding dress in the Ball was rough-looking too, but her country character had that “She Already Done Had Her Chips” joke. In the finale, Shea's “Clap Back” verse wasn't her best, but her choreo slayed. And she definitely won the “Make Me Feel” lip sync with her robot thing. Between that and her dance moves in “Neutron Dance”, Shea redeemed herself in the lip syncs. “Open Your Heart” was forgettable though. As for her runways, the skin one was a wow moment. I also liked her camo watering can. The colourful 3-in-1 was a lot though; as was the rose petal prom queen. 1. Jujubee “Gimme the crown RuPaul can I have the crown please?”; “I am the pu**y staircase”; “RuPaul what the f**k?; “If I put $20,000 in an IRA Roth, do you know how much money that is? $20,000 in an IRA Roth”; “John Stamos ahh ohh Greek yogourt”; “second language my ass”; “I could vote for Shea to leave ooh is this strategy bitch”; “what's going through my mind right now is ohh I miss my cats, they don't judge me, they do, but they have to live with me”; “it's like a Juju sandwich with two pieces of white bread... I'm aroused”; “WTF is backyard eleganza? I don't have a backyard”; “how do you unregister to vote?”; “her eyes... where do I buy eyes like that?”; “hey Ru it's Juju are you there? are you still gonna make us vote?”; “surprise! you gotta take a pink pill and a shot in the butt”; “I would wear it to the supermarket and shop for canned beans”. Juju's confessionals served stoner thoughts energy and I was living for it. I mean, she'd ramble about her cats while choosing a lipstick. She showed her cat pics in confessional at one point. She darted her eyes back and forth during the Cracker/Blair conflict and called it hot. She started a pillow fight at the final 3. She wanted an Alaskan themed hotel. And she fussed over not getting an India note. But on a serious note, Juju's sobriety story was a nice moment. And she came off perceptive. In the competition: Maybe it's just me, but Juju should've pulled a Ben/Manila. She was my fave in the Reading challenge. Her Talent Show singing was passionate. Her “I'm In Love” verse was smooth. She 1000% won the hotel challenge – the grandma mentions, the live mosquitoes, the "exotic" fruit. Her and Cracker were the only good ones in “SheMZ” (the Laganja pic!) She was hilarious as Eartha Kitt in Snatch Game (“sensually walk to the thermostat”; “... pick my cuz I love you”; “I am convincing you”). She had my favourite country cousin character (“Amberrrr”) but the watermelon outfit cost her the win. I didn't think her stand-up was that bad either; it was just the shoulders joke that didn't land. Her “Clap Back” verse felt generic and lacked bite though. And her “Juice” lip sync was disappointing for someone who survived 5 lip syncs previously. My fave Juju runways were the skin one, the prom queen, the freak, and her finale outfit. Favourite entrance look: Ongina Challenge ranking: 1. “I'm In Love” Girl Groups 2. Snatch Game Of Love 3. Talent Show 4. Backyard Ball 5. Stand-up routine 6. “Clap Back” (Ru-mix) (Shea > Cracker > Jujubee) 7. Hotel design (nearly fell asleep) 8. “SheMZ” (Improv) Lip Sync ranking: 1. India Ferrah vs Yvie Oddly ("Livin La Vida Loca") (Yvie is insane) 2. Miz Cracker vs Morgan McMichaels ("Where Have You Been") 3. Shea Couleé vs Alyssa Edwards ("Neutron Dance") (Shea was solid/Alyssa could've done more) 4. Top 3 Lip Sync ("Make Me Feel") 5. Miz Cracker vs Roxxxy Andrews ("One Last Time") (Roxxxy's reveal is the only memorable part and it didn't even match the lyrics) 6. Shea Couleé vs Vanessa Vanjie Mateo ("Open Your Heart") (Shea underwhelming/Vanjie shaking too much /cool camera work though) 7. Jujubee vs Monét X Change ("Juice") 8. Miz Cracker vs Kennedy Davenport ("Fancy") Those last 3 are all pretty boring. While the first 3 are the only ones where everyone involved was trying... Season ranking so far: 9 > 5 > 6 > 11 > AS2 > 4 > 10 > 2 > 7 > AS3 > AS4 > 3 > 8 > 12 > 1 > AS5 > AS1

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the-only-ace · 3 years ago

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Hey I know you are really busy with all the request and job and all that but can you do shinee's reaction to s/o stealing their t-shirts and hoodies?? You can make them one shots of you want too😁

shinee reacts: their s/o wearing their clothes

heyyy~ i really liked this request because i personally love to do this. for this request, i want to try something new since you gave me an idea with the one-shots part. so instead of describing their reactions, i'll convey it in a form of a short story. it will still be per member! i hope you will like this one (heads up though, the posts is a bit longer than my usual shinee reacts) <3

p.s. if you guys can, kindly let me know if you like this kind of format for shinee reacts. thank you!

send in your requests here!

onew / jinki: you sighed for the nth time within just 10 short minutes. you were staring and pouting in front of your closet for you can't find the perfect clothes for your brunch date with onew. it was a hot day today and you just wanted to wear something cute but comfortable. however, it seems like your wardrobe doesn't offer that kind of outfit.

your eyes slowly traveled toward onew's part of the closet. his side was full of quirky graphic tees which you always find adorable. you don't usually borrow his clothes but you can't help but to take a peek at them and take the one that caught your eyes.

it was a white oversized shirt with a cute box cartoon drawn in front of it. you tried it on and it stopped perfectly on your thighs, making it look like a cute dress. surprisingly, it even matches the pair of sneakers you were wearing.

before you can even decide whether you were keeping it on or not, onew walked into your room. his hair a bit damp and he was only wearing a towel considering that he just took a shower.

"oh, is that my shirt?" he pointed at you.

"uh... yeah. do you mind? i just wanted to wear something that is yours." you sheepishly replied.

"no problem!" he beamed his big bright smile before proceeding to get his own outfit.

you muttered a thank you then went to your vanity to finish touching up your makeup. afterward, you grabbed your phone and wallet and placed them inside your shoulder bag.

"alright, I'm ready to go..." you trailed off as you saw what he looked like. "what the hell are you wearing, lee jinki?"

"your shirt?" he raised an eyebrow, clearly feigning ignorance.

he was wearing your favorite grey t-shirt and it looked pitiful on him, it was as if it can tear at any moment. it barely covered his abdomen and was stretched to its limit.

"no shit, sherlock." you facepalmed at his usual weirdness. "what i want to know is why... why are you wearing it?"

"i thought we were doing a thing wherein we wear each other's clothes." he shrugged as if his response should be expected.

"what? no! please have mercy on my shirt and put on your own clothes." you can't help but laugh at him as you pushed him back to the dresser.

"alright, alright! i just wanted to make you laugh and look, it worked perfectly." he playfully pinched the tip of your nose before taking off the top he borrowed. "also, you should keep that shirt since it looks a hundred--no, million--times better on you."

"thanks, love," you whispered as you wrapped your arms around his waist and pulled him into a warm hug.

key / kibum:

after the long busy months, you were finally having a girl's night with your best friends. you stood in front of the full-length mirror in your room to give yourself a final check. your hair was styled into textured waves and your lips were colored with the boldest red lipstick you can find. your nude heels matched the little black dress you were wearing. your outfit looked almost perfect and you just knew what you were missing. you quickly snatched key's gold leather jacket and put it on. ah, perfection.

this was the norm for you. your boyfriend's wardrobe was beyond incredible especially his outerwear collection and you just had to wear them every chance you can get. to be honest, key was very stubborn in letting you borrow his clothes... at first. after all the compromising, begging, and crying you made, he eventually budged and gave up. of course, it does not come for free. he practically made you sign a contract that once you stained his clothes, you have to shoulder the bill of the laundry and the shop will be chosen by him. however, if you damaged or god forbid, lost his clothes, you have to replace them. you immediately said yes to all of the conditions in a heartbeat. so far you only paid for 2 incredulously expensive laundry bills.

now, you were finally ready to leave. you walked out of the bedroom and made your way down the living room. there, key was sitting on the couch watching one of his favorite tv series.

"I'll be going out now," you announced as you grab your car keys near the front door.

"hey, hey, hey!" key clicked his tongue upon seeing your clothes. he was now looking behind his shoulder and giving you a stink eye. "is that my jacket?"

"um... maybe?" you gave him an awkward smile.

"of course, it's mine." he shook his head disapprovingly. "only i can pull that off, by the way." he sassily added.

"wow, i didn't know the fashion police was here. you should have given me a head's up, babe ." you bit back with a scoff. the last time you checked, you looked damn fine in it.

"just stating facts, baby," he replied in english.

"alright, then why don't you take me shopping then? so you can buy me a new set of clothes that will satisfy your standards." you challenged and if he said yes, you were clearly the winner.

"excuse me, i do call you 'baby' but i am not your sugar daddy. go now, you'll be late." he shooed you off.

"okay bye," a playful smirk appeared on your face. "daddy."

this made key rolled his eyes before turning his back on you. he would very much rather ignore you if you keep on acting that way.

"it's bye now, for real." you giggled as you open the door. "love you!" you called out before stepping out.

"love you too, brat." key mumbled with a small smile.

minho:

winter was approaching and the air was slowly becoming colder than usual. it was the best time to stay in the comfort of your warm home and enjoy hot cocoa with your loved ones. a perfect time to wear your sweaters and hoodies indoors. however, this was not the case for minho for his favorite hoodie was missing.

"hey, babe?" he called out from the bedroom. "have you seen my black hoodie? the one with the white writings on it."

"what's that, i didn't hear you?" you went inside a few seconds later.

and there it was, his favorite hoodie being worn by his favorite person. you looked smaller while wearing it since it was way too big for you. the hem almost touched your knees and your whole arms were lost inside the sleeves. he can't help but smile at the sight.

"nothing, i was just looking for my hoodie but it looks like i found it." he gestured at the clothes you were wearing.

"oh, shoot. sorry, i didn't tell you that i borrowed it." you hit your forehead with your palm.

"it's okay. you're free to use them anytime, anyway." he patted the top of your head.

within the last few weeks, minho noticed that you sometimes wear his clothes. it was not a daily thing though and you even asked for his permission. slowly, it became every day and he would just be surprised to see you walking around the house parading his jackets and sweaters. he didn't mind it though, he was just curious about what you do to your own clothing. also, he hoped that he still had some remaining tops for himself during the cold season.

well, guess luck was not on his side.

his eyes were staring at his closet wherein there was only one jacket left, one. you followed his gaze and you promptly felt the warmth raised to your cheeks. you were surely red from embarrassment now. you were happily wearing his clothes that you didn't have the time to count how much was left.

"oh my god, i'm sorry! i didn't--" you cut yourself off as you watched him put on the lone jacket from his dresser. "i'm sorry, i didn't notice it. i just... can't help myself. your jackets are so comfortable and warm compare to mine." you tried to explain yourself. also not to mention that they all smelled just like him.

"don't worry about it." he reassured you as he placed his arm around your shoulder. "just be mindful next time. i might end up half-naked someday, you know."

"how can you be so sure that's not my goal?" you teased before sticking your tongue out.

he laughed at your silliness and then pressed a soft kiss on your warm forehead. you decided to make a cup of hot cocoa for him as a peace offering.

taemin:

it was past midnight and it was raining cats and dogs outside. you visited taemin in his apartment for a stay-at-home dinner date but a storm came before you can even go back home. taemin then convinced you to spend the night there instead. it was not a big deal anyway since you stayed over a lot of times already. you just didn't bring your sleepover bag with you and the dress you were wearing was definitely not comfortable to sleep on.

your caring boyfriend of course promised to ease your worries. the two of you shared a warm bath after dinner and he lent you his clothes for you to change to. so that was how you ended up on his couch, fighting off sleep because the show you both were watching always had a cliffhanger ending per episode. you two needed some answers before you can drift off to sleep peacefully. it was the weekend tomorrow anyway so staying up late won't hurt that much.

your head was laying on his lap while his right hand was playing on the locks of your hair and his left one was comfortably resting on the top of your hip. his hand would occasionally rub circles on the exposed skin. as much as you hate to move from your cozy spot, you had to or else you might end up dozing off right there and then. not to mention, him playing on your hair does not help at all.

you slowly got up from the sofa as you tried to stifled a yawn. "i'll just go get some cold drink." you pushed yourself up from your seat.

you then raised your arms and stretched with a satisfied groan. your shoulders and back were sore after laying down for more or less 3 hours. you can even hear your joints cracking from stretching out. also, you felt the shirt you were wearing raised up.

taemin's shirts were not overly huge for you whenever you wore them. the hem barely covered your behind and right now you were sure that a tiny portion of your buttcheeks was peeking through the white tee. you weren't conscious about it, taemin saw much more than that anyway.

suddenly, you felt a slap across your behind which made you freeze on your spot. you looked behind and saw your boyfriend confidently leaning on the couch with his legs crossed.

"did you just slap my butt?" you inquired.

"uh-huh," he nodded with a cocky grin. "want me to spank you again?"

you frowned a little as you processed the sudden change of mood. taemin won't deny it though, seeing you in his shirts always made his heart skip a bit and his breathing ragged. you always looked effortlessly sexy in them.

"sure, why not?" you replied wickedly after a few seconds of silence.

taemin processed your answer in a split second and he hastily grabbed you by the waist and threw you on his broad shoulders. he did not forget you give you another smack on the ass when he made his way toward the bedroom, the television was completely forgotten.

#shinee #shinee reacts #shinee reactions #onew #key #minho #taemin #shinee react #shinee reaction #shinee x reader #shinee x you #lee jinki #kim kibum #choi minki #lee taemin #shinee world #shinee hoodie #shinee shirt #shinee jacket

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littledevil-jpeg · 3 years ago

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Okay, so last post I was giving Lucifer 5B some credit for getting me interested and intrigued about a shitty character, so, as all things should be balanced, here comes the other side of the question. I'll say right off the bat that Lucifer was never a show I took seriously, all at once because of the tone, the way they chose to develop and delve into the themes, the monster-of-the-week format (though also done in spn, there it's redeemed by the darker tone and more subtle theme-development. Obviously, this is S1-S5 I'm talking about) and again the overall way this world works. I've been known to accuse Cobra Kai and even Breaking Bad for coincidence-bending, but they don't even come close to the level of Lucifer here. Then, of course, there's how easy everything is, like a bloody sled on ice: drugs - no problem, kill someone - no problem, infiltrate a mafia group - no fooking problem. How? Well, glaze over that, it's not that important. Except it is. Remember how in that same Breaking Bad Walter's team spent considerable chunks of the show planning, hiding evidence, preparing, measuring little details, diligently covering up their tracks. And they were only involved in a measly drug manufacturing business. Imagine the shit Lucifer runs, with crime bosses, drugs, demons and prostitutes piling out of his front door. Obviously it's a show about angels and demons, and the realism isn't the focus of the program, but still, these things matter. There's always a convenience to it. Like, oh, you need to infiltrate the Russian mafia or some shit? Don't worry, I know a guy - and poof, problem gone. That's not even to mention the universe bending out of shape all around Lucifer, everyone (Chloe especially) putting up with his humiliating bullshit, the fact that he would be kicked out the police in anything even remotely resembling real life, that the mc's get away with almost everything, the unrealistic dialogue that no human irl ever speaks, the second-hand embarrassment, the cheesy "morale" speeches, the dull, predictable cases that are all done by the same formula... and more. So okay, there's a lot, a lot, of problems with this show. Which is why no one really takes it that seriously, we all know it's kind of trashy. But "kind of trashy" is one thing. Now, when season 5 introduces a genuine "evil twin" that we're meant to take with even a bit of seriousness, in the footsteps of such chef d'oeuvres as Dispicable Me 3, when that twin is the most caricature-like villain in recent history, when the allmighty is a buffoon with half a brain, forget omniscient, and isn't even in-line with the stuff he's done before, when one of the main cast is offed as though mid-sentense, with no lead-up, no foreshadowing, no preamble, like a toss of a dice, when the main character is on a race to become God himself, and his love interested Mrs God, and when, oh, Jesus fucking Christ, just stop already! I truly wonder if the writer's room a big dart board with all these drunk-ass ideas stuck onto it, and they blind throw to make the next season. It's finally hitting me now, as I'm writing this, what on god's green earth I watched yesterday.

Why does Lucifer need to become God? Why does a war in Heaven even have to be introduced? Why not focus of the more intricate inter-personal conflicts on Earth, on the characters and their mentalities, on those meaningful arcs that hold actual importance, and emotion, and down-to-earth (lol), well, meaning again. Why do we need a heavenly war? Why does Lucifer need the approval of the angels, when the moral seems to be that he makes himself who he is, not his status, not his people, not his past and not the Silver City (an excellent moral, by the way, so credit where it's due. This self-actualisation business is the second best thing in the whole show)? I get that this is why the majority vote doesn't work, but then what does work? Are they ment to self-actualise into becoming God? Now, I'm aware it's left uncertain whether Luci really is God, so I won't go there for now, but then we have the issue of his resurrection. Was it a reward for self-sacrifice? That wouldn't fit so well, considering all the previous sacrifices that were much more impressive than this one. And what's the philosophy behind that - he's acting out of love? But to what end, if by dying he practically fucked all the other people on Earth, including the very same Chloe he just brough back down? Are these really the qualities for a God to have?

Or did he once again self-actualise, but this time he actualised himself to life? That would truly be a stake-killer. I saw a theory that he finally saw himself as worthy of Heaven, which doesn't quite link to coming back to life. Well, these are perhaps, once again, speculations, and maybe this will be cleared up next season. As for Lucifer's God status, it's a shitty move on the writers' part. Not only was the execution rushed, but thematically, again, Lucifer becoming God to feel worthy of Chloe is nonsense. From a plot and theme standpoint, why does this need to happen? This Godly status holds no meaning, no emotional worth, it's not fullfilling, not symbolic of anything fitting other than that same old "bad to good" and I guess the irony of the Devil becoming God, but the irony is an empty one if it has no real meaning. Which is the case. The whole thing is empty of substance, and I don't know why they went there. You know, it's hollow anyway, not least because Lucifer really doesn't deserve it. Even this season, he is nothing but a child - he acts and thinks like a child, he unchangeably does the same "projecting" bs from season to season to season with no actual sign of emotional maturity other than that in the words of other characters. But you can say he's different all you want, it's not gonna work if the subtle signs of his change aren't there. Say, imagine if Endeavor kept running his mouth about atonement, but kept dutifully abusing his kids - this is that. And yeah, Lucifer loves Chloe in his own way, cares about her, and even comes out of his self-absorbed little world for her, which by the way bugged me about their uneven relationship since season 1 (you know, treating her like shit with a flimsy excuse and then "making up" for it with a grand gesture of sacrifice or a round of angsty suffering. Time after time, every time.)

And finally, of course, there's the issue of how inconsiderate it is to Chloe for him to become God. I mean, it's dead obvious no relationship will be possible there, not without becoming even more unhealthy than it already seems. Themathic significance and meaning aside, even then, even in-universe, it's a shitty thing Lucifer does, again, for himself. So that he feels worthy of Chloe. What she feels, once he's made it his goal to do something, essentially doesn't matter anymore. And the plot fascilitates this splendidly, I mean, she always forgives him without fault like a well-oiled machine. Always, whatever he does, and it's gotten old a long time ago. We know Lucifer can do anything, anything at all, and he will be forgiven - by Chloe, by Maze, by Dan, by Linda, by Amenadiel, by anyone that he needs to forgive him. You'll be lucky if they don't do it the same episode, and extraordinarily lucky if it takes them three or four.

There are many other things to discuss this season, like Dan's ridiculously badly written death, Chloe's whole character stagnation, the, khm, the musical episode, the saturaday morning cartoon villain problem, the fact that Michael manages to descieve an omniscient being, and God himself. I might do those separately, might not, we'll see, as those aren't nearly as interesting to dissect as the above.

Aaaand, anyway, if he is now God, I strongly suspect they'll play the angle of "even though he's God, he stills feels shitty, as true self-love/worth comes from elsewhere" and the usual thing.

#lucifer 5b #lucifer season five #lucifer season 5 #lucifer season six #lucifer #michael demiurgos #michael #lucifans #lucifer netflix #lucifer 5x16 #lucifer 5a #lucifer x chloe #chloe deserves better #chloe decker

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nzvalley · 4 years ago

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Rewatching some Star Trek: Enterprise

It’s been a long time since I have done one of these posts. What I kind of expected to happen did happen: once I hit season 3 and saw the network meddling, Trip/T’Pol, and the radical shift in tone of the series, it was hard to keep going. But I’m hoping to power through this season, and get to the much improved fourth season.

Just to remind anyone who is here for the first time. I’m doing a rewatch/analysis around the Archer/T’Pol friendship/partnership/relationship, based on my favorite episodes. I will be focusing on them, because that’s the aspect of the show in which I’m more interested.

Catch up on my previous rewatch posts here!

There will also be spoilers, not just for this episode but for the whole show.

Twilight (3x08)

Even though this is easily the shippiest episode for Archer/T’Pol, this isn’t one I automatically turn on when I’m doing a rewatch.

In part, it’s just too sad to rewatch frequently. Partly because it gets total forgotten with no impact on canon. It’s also just an annoying reminder of when the show and these characters were in a much better place.

However, it’s a really great episode overall and for Archer/T’Pol. It reminds the audience of how devoted T’Pol is to Archer specifically, calling back to T’Pol’s speech to Archer before following him into the Expanse. It feels out of place to the rest of the season, like it could have been written before the network mandates.

Just next episode (“Similitude”) we get a T/T’P plot that is equally a standout episode, but which is fully in everybody’s memories and has lasting impacts on the season. This contrast illustrates the suddenly differing priorities of this season.

Up until now, it’s worth reminding, the backbone of the show was how the relationship between Archer and T’Pol (and Shran!) shaped the formation of the Federation. But even in the worst of times, there seems to be a contingent in the writers room who still felt as strongly about Archer/T’Pol as they did in the first two seasons.

The start hooks you in immediately, with Archer’s confusion mirroring our own. Archer stumbles (shirtless!) into Captain T’Pol’s bridge. Seeing T’Pol commanding in her own right is so cool.

After the frantic and engaging teaser, we get a massive time jump. A gray-haired Archer wakes and makes his way through a home he doesn’t remember. He finds a devoted… caretaker… whose effort he can’t fully appreciate yet.

The altered dynamic immediately apparent between Archer and T’Pol, and the obvious changes in her look and demeanor, set the tone for the rest of the episode. Jolene Blalock is amazing as usual. She can play any version of T’Pol. There are great performances throughout, especially by Jolene and Scott.

Pretty much everything in this episode, barring the initial crisis itself and T’Pol’s accident, aren’t canon. As far as I can tell, not even the main two remember the alternate timeline, except maybe on an unconscious level. It’s one of those stories that gets completely stricken from the record, which is why it’s hard to fully appreciate.

Archer saving T’Pol at his own expense reminds the audience of how much he cares. Although it gets erased T’Pol repays that sacrifice in turn, devoting her life to his care.

Phlox’s dedication to finding a cure for Archer, and his overall concern, is another aspect of this episode that’s awesome. For me, the trio of Arhcer/T’Pol/Phlox was always the most interesting.

This episode shows one nearly concrete future where the Xindi win, showing how fragile the mission remains. The slow reveal of how complete the Xindi victory was, and the fragility of their settlement, is nice. This storyline was ahead of its time. Just a few years later BSG told a similar story, though much better and in a much-expanded manner.

Jolene does a good job, but has to explain so much story in so little time. This story seems like it should have been given more time to breathe, like it should’ve played out over 3 or 4 episodes. At least one more!’

T’Pol and Soval always have great scenes.

T’Pol: I won’t leave them. Soval: Them? Or Him?

T’Pol reiterates her choice of Archer and the humans over her own species, much as she did when initially choosing to join the mission to the Expanse.

T’Pol reveals she knows Archer’s deepest secrets now, even the proposal that was rejected because Margaret Mullen didn’t want to become a Starfleet widow. Has T’Pol made herself into a kind of Starfleet widow?

“Our relationship has… evolved over the years.”

Future Phlox is looking sharp. T’Pol’s hope about the treatment shines through.

Captain Tucker! Malcolm’s goatee!

Given the seeming romantic bias of the writer, it’s not all that surprising Trip/T’Pol sours pretty quickly in this timeline. Not only did T’pol and Trip’s dalliance fall apart, but they have seemingly stayed apart for years. T’Pol and her concern continues to follow Archer.

I may have missed similar instances before, but T’Pol’s casual, intimate, comforting touch in private is so cute. And a great visual indicator of how much T’Pol has grown. Archer seems on the verge of broaching the topic of the intimacy when he starts, “If this works…”

T’Pol once again turns down a chance to leave Archer’s side, even after he has seemingly healed.

Phlox: I understand I may have a passenger on my voyage home T’Pol: I’m remaining at the settlement for the time being. He may need my help during his recovery. Phlox: Have you told the Captain how you feel about him? It’s obvious you’ve become quite attached.

The blitz of exposition from Phlox and T’Pol to Trip about changing the past… there’s just so much going on in this episode. This story needed at least one more episode… Or maybe this could have been the plot to an Enterprise movie. Which still could work, given that the narrative necessitates the actors be older for most of it.

General Shran!

The bridge is gone. There are so many intense and devastating moments here… and then it all gets totally erased! Ugh.

Archer remains self-sacrificing to the end, deciding to just blow himself up if that’ll destroy the parasites. Ultimately saving the timeline through the same impulse that set it astray in the first place. He tries to get Phlox and T’Pol to save themselves, but they remain as steadfastly loyal as they have ever been. I love these three so much!

All three die carrying through the mission to the end. Phlox, then T’Pol, then Archer. Archer and T’Pol fall together and are laying together when this timeline comes to and end. The closest the ship ever came to being canon… and poof it’s gone.

There’s a tag at the end that’s real, with T’Pol admonishing Archer that he should have left her in the hallway accident that initially debilitated him. This calls back to her similar claim after her experiences on the Selaya. Archer, who has been isolating himself and becoming more ruthless, reverts back to his old self when it comes to T’Pol.

T’Pol: You could have been seriously injured. I told you to leave me behind. Archer: Fortunately, I don’t take orders from you. T’Pol: I believe you wanted to see this? Archer: Rosemary’s Baby? T’Pol: You were obviously looking forward to it. And since you’re not going to be able to attend tonight… Archer: Thanks.

T’Pol is always there for her Captain, whatever the situation! But the second half of the scene kind of ruins the sentiment. For as good as the rest of the episode is, this end scene is muddled in terms of what tone the writer was going for. I don’t think the actors quite got it either. It seems like Archer repays T’Pol’s kindness by being a brat. And when he drops a ‘nurse’ line… do they remember on some level? Or was that just for the audience? Either way, it’s a weirdly comedic end to a heart-wrenching and emotional episode.

#Star Trek Enterprise #Enterprise #Twilight #Captain Archer #T'Pol #Jolene Blalock #scott bakula

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masterhandss · 4 years ago

Text

‘My Next Life as A Villainess’ Anime is over...

SO WHAT NOW???

A lot of us are disappointed that Katarina’s adventures are finally over, and a lot of us are gonna miss watching the wacky hi-jinks of our dense villainess. I’ve seen a lot of people say that they will stop posting or paying attention to hamefura after the anime ends, and while I might be the same to some extent, I just want to say that there are still a lot of hamefura things to look forward to after the anime ends!

These are actually some very obvious things to look forward to, but you know I’d still like to share them so you can use them to fill the hole in your heart that the anime left behind.

-------

Edit: (9/30/20) I added stuff, as well as a cut for all yall who says my posts are too long qwq

The Manga

Hamefura still has an on-going manga that is currently in Chapter 3 of the Light Novels! A lot of you already read it, and understand that it can get frustrating when there’s a lack of updates on the english side of things, but if you’re really curious, you can go over and check out the JP releases every month so you can have an idea of whats to come for the manga :DD (The fan translation of ENG Chapter 26 came out a few days ago so you know it’s not dead!!)

I’d recommend reading the english translation on Mangadex, since most translation groups officially upload their translation on there.

The Spin-off (Hametsuo/Bakarina Alter)

It deserves it’s own category for just how unique it is in terms of its reception in the western crowd. I know a lot of people probably read it, but I guess people barely talk about because it’s not really that far into it’s premise yet.

I just can’t stop recommending this manga to people (despite not going where I thought it’d be) because of how good the art-style is and how much promise it has. It updates monthly, which I know is a long wait, but it does pay off when you see the quality of everything. Plus it’s just fun to imagine how hamefura would go if it followed the typical “villainess otome isekai” format.

I actually love talking about hametsuo, so maybe my posts are woth the look ;; w ;;

The Light Novels

credits to @sparckle-art for the scans!

I’m happy to read that a lot of people are gonna go switch and buy the light novels after the anime ends! By the time the anime ends, the Vol. 6 of the LN would release a week later, acting kind of like a replacement of what is supposed to be a new episode for that week.

The fan-translated version of the web novel is available online, up until half of Vol. 4, but I still recommend buying the books on bookwalker (i don’t know if the sale is still there, but I’d recommend picking up the book regardless!). If reading the fan translation piqued your interest, then playing for the books would definitely worth your money if you ask me!

An increase of sales might show them that there’s interest for this light novel, and might make them translate the JP novels even faster! (or maybe i’m just too impatient to wait 2-3 months for Volume 7 dshfjsfgs who knows?)

My only warning is that the tone really does shift post-arc 1 (Fortune Lover I) so if you’re looking for harem hijinks, from spoilers I’ve seen I think there would less of that and more of world building. (ps. please stop asking me where to read it ;;-;;)

Edit: Volume 8 is coming out in a few months, with Volume 9 probably being released at either Jan or Feb next year, then after that it’ll be a yearly update

StoryMe Otome Game

credit to the hamefura reddit discord for the screenshots!

I’m surprised a lot of people doesn’t know about the StoryMe game, despite it updating every week alongside the anime. Just kidding I didn’t either lol, I actually found about this thanks to the hamefura reddit discord server! StoryMe is a choose-your-own-adventure otome game, kind of like those “Episodes” or “Chapters” game that gets recommended on Youtube a lot.

It’s still in japanese, which is probably why not a lot of people knows of it yet, but it seems like you can play as Katarina and romance anyone from the entire harem (yes, the girls too), so keep you eyes peeled for if ever it gets an english translation!

It’s basically the bluray Fortune Lover game with the DVDs, but instead of Maria, you actually get to play as Katarina!

(I’ll make a separate post for this later, maybe)

Edit: The game just came out in English in September 16, and just spat out a 11-episode update at September 30

tldr: go play it, it has 19 episodes out right now

Katarina’s Farm

It’s a newly announced mobile game with a web trial version that centers around playing as Katarina, trying to earn money and points for expanding your farm land, planting more expensive plants and getting the other members of the harem to join you! It’s a 2D pixel game that seems like it wouldnt take too much time to play (you can get the first 4 characters within 30 minutes of gameplay, but that might be adjusted in the mobile version) so I understand if it might not interest some people, but that’s still something to look forward to!

I made another post about it so check out the link to the web version here!

The Bluray Otome Game

While I can’t say this for certain, but maybe if there was ever an official english bluray release, it might include the Fortune Lover Male Capture Target Routes that are included in the game. Maybe someone will play it and translate it even! It would interesting to see how different the boys are, and give us further appreciation for Katarina’s influence and changes!

There’s a preview for a CG in Keith’s Route, which comes with the second bluray (no pv for Geordo ;; w ;;)

Edit: All the boy’s routes are out in Japanese

We don’t know if they’ll ever be released in English though, so hopefully someone translates them at least ;;w;;

The Manga and Yuri Anthology

Missing the hilarious and heartwarming antics of Katarina and her harem? Then you should check out the Manga Anthology (that has just been been translated in its entirety). It’s 14 chapters of absolute hilarity!

There’s also a Yuri Anthology, featuring the 4 girls of the harem! If you’re looking for more of that then, it’s an absolute recommendation!

Spin-off Visual Novel

Edit: They recently just announced a spinoff visual novel! It takes place after the Fortune Lover 1 Arc and features sexy pirates hgsjhgsdf

It’s just recently announced so there’s not a lot of info besides the company making it (it’s Otomate) and the fact that it’s gonna be an all new Bakarina adventure uwu

Bakarina Radio

I heard there’s a Bakarina Radio too, featurning the VAs of the anime cast.

I don’t know if its a regular thing or a one time thing, but its still worth checkin out!

https//twitter.com/hamehura/status/1309831738525278209

The Second Season of the Anime

I seriously wasn’t expecting another season, considering how different the next arc is, but I’m happy nonetheless for more Bakarina! I hope this motivates the fans to continue supporting the series, as a bigger reaction will definitely lead to more content for us to enjoy! I have a theory about S2, which I think is worth the read :3c

Other Otome Isekais

There’s a lot of other Villainess Otome Isekai’s that are worth the read, and a lot of them as just as interesting as hamefura, despite the lack of a harem (from deep rooted revenge to hilarious and crazy villainess, there’s a lot!) The quickest recommendation I can give is just looking up “Akuyaku” and “Villainess” on Mangadex (do both btw they dont have the same results), but theres a lot that doesn’t get recommended so do your research! I swear it’s worth your time!

Anyways, I hope any of these fill the hole that the hamefura anime will leave in our hearts as we wait for season 2! (sorry for repeating the same line again hdsfgdjhsfg) Feel free to add anything like fanfic recommendations and artists, as I can’t cover everything on my own, as those really help provide hamefura fans with content :DD

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elizabethrobertajones · 4 years ago

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Did Bobo really create the Wayward Sisters? If so, why weren't Jack and especially Cas included in that episode? That's my biggest issue with that pilot honestly, I mean, the fact that the show abandoned Claire and Cas' bond after season 10 and gave that storyline to Salmondean. Her bond with Cas is more interesting because of their connection to the Novaks. I also think that Claire and Jack would've made a more engaging dynamic and spin off together, I think they're strong characters & actors

Hi there!

Bobo isn’t the “creator” of Wayward so much as it can even have one, as it was a very organic idea, which even involved a healthy amount of fandom input. The original campaign in season 10 was for Wayward Daughters, and the idea picked up so much steam the altered title for, I guess, a mix of copyright and thematic relevance was the Sisters one. I’d say 10x08 was the real genesis of it as something that could be really solid. Once Kim and Briana were put together the chemistry and star power they could have had together was really meteoric as far as our small SPN world was concerned. Phil Sgriccia directed 9x13 and wrote 10x08 and was more of the parent of Wayward than any specific writer in that sense. Jody and Claire were pretty much common property of the show by that point. Claire was really introduced again in relation to plotlines and questions about Cas and less to do with them really going out of their way to re-launch her. I think they’d have been much cornier about it from the start and while YA protagonist diary writing her way through the end of Wayward Sisters was cute, it’s the sort of cutesy that really has to be earned. If she STARTED that way, like maybe me and 3 friends would be stanning her and everyone else would be revolted :P

(I am a YA fantasy novel author, but I do think everyone should make room in their hearts for this level of cheese)

In any case, Bobo just threw his hat into an already crowded ring with Alex, but obviously loving the characters and having his own personal wayward child to contribute did help elevate him to the prospective showrunner seat, but also all the other writers who’d written these characters except Dabb had left at that point. If Bobo was going to shepherd them through to their new show, he’d be the legacy writer, even though he was a new baby writer in the season Donna was introduced... Attrition aside, he did genuinely write them very well, loved their stories and was great with writing Jody when he could get her, so he would also have been a good choice even if all the others were left still...

But anyway. Season 10′s subplot for Cas was about Claire and learning some stuff about himself along the way, but she was used very much for his personal development and for Dean as well, being a mini Dean herself in a season where he had lost a lot of his sense of self. It’s a total accident of scheduling but Angel Heart (10x20) being the last episode before 10x22 is a nice touch in that regard. And while Cas tried really hard with Claire and awoke his inner Dad side so that he’d be more prepared for fatherhood next time, it was pretty insurmountable between them to have anything more than a bittersweet relationship where the best he could do was make up with her and see her somewhere safe. The fact of him looking like her actual dead father is horrendous the more you think about it and while she managed to see him for who he was instead of a horrible monster, that’s more than enough trauma to inflict on an already traumatised girl for the sake of helping Cas’s manpain and tidying up the sticky question of Jimmy and Cas’s right to the vessel.

Angel Heart very specifically ends with TFW mailing Claire to Jody because they know she’s already good with Alex in a genuine way and can handle these sort of issues and has done it before. And also because she can be a guardian who will not constantly remind Claire that her father is dead but something is walking around wearing a perfect reconstruction of his face. Carver era did a few things here and there with bodily autonomy and the problem of angel and demon vessels, but it was also really hit and miss. They’d get random waves of feeling guilty about it but then by necessity go back to stabbing angels in their still-living vessels an episode later. Claire was a way to address at the very least that whatever Cas was being put through was only a punishment on Cas and not on Jimmy as well, which is probably why we got such sappy Heaven scenes. We NEEDED to be shown he was in Heaven and largely okay with what was going on so that the show could justify using Cas at all as a character without breaking the code of ethics they tried to make their own characters adhere to. Aside from that it also gave Cas a side plot for when he wasn’t needed in the main plot, and any emotional connection to anything that wasn’t Sam and Dean.

Anyway 10x20 caused this huge fandom high which was followed by one of the lowest lows of the fandom immediately after, and both centred on female characters (in fact, now we know, 2 lesbians even! Though I’d wonder if, The Gay Agenda aside, Bobo spite-wrote that specifically because of the roots of Wayward) and I think that galvanised the whole movement of fans and hopefully some self-reflection in the show. They DID start making an effort in season 11, which shows some of the early signs of better inclusion but also backtracking or edging nervously away from the more intense Carver era stuff. Not just because Dean didn’t have the Mark any more but in general it was like someone had opened a window and let in some fresh air... Even before Carver bailed somewhere around the midseason to go do a different show and Dabb started to step up.

All this to say that the Wayward stuff was always about the female characters and making up for the past sins of the show. It’s even a riff on the “wayward son” line which obviously centres around male protagonists and their journey. Claire stumbled into being a part of it in the lucky way of being in the right place and time, but the journey had already started even in the season 10 momentum with earlier work and it was that which suddenly made the prospect that Jody had two young women living with her now seem like a starter for the next generation of the show as it was a mirrored format to season 1 in a way, if you took Alex and Claire as the new Sam and Dean. It was exciting but people flipped out after Angel Heart because stuff had been bubbling since season 9 and earlier in season 10, so this was just pouring more candy into an already visibly full bowl of potential tasty gems. It made a possibility seem real that hadn’t before because we already had Kim bitterly complaining that the CW refused to hear the case for a Jody spin off because she was too old. The next best thing was a Jody spin off where she was the Gandalf to some CW age appropriate characters.

(the CW is and always has been garbage)

Anyway in season 13 Jack was introduced as a Claire 2.0 but as a male character with staying power for that reason, but he was filling the space she left for Cas. He couldn’t be a father to her and neither really wanted that set up anyway. But thematically it had created the possibility of Dadstiel and the space he had in his heart for that. Since the show was in its waning years they would be looking for endgame and handing Cas an easy win with a son he could unconditionally love who would love him back unconditionally absolutely filled that gap. It was a non SamnDean thing that Cas could have for himself outside of whatever happened with them. Not sure the memo came back that he was supposed to have mORE than that but oh well it’s not real if you don’t watch it :))) But yeah Jack was always going to be linked to Cas’s endgame, he wasn’t a free-floating character such as Jody who could go where she wanted and do as she pleased. He was main story relevant from start to finish and tied inexorably to another main character’s fate. Because the show wouldn’t do that with its female characters they could be bundled into spin offs but in practical terms Jack was both never what the Wayward as envisioned by fans or writers was about, nor would he have been free to go.

Since it would have been about centering the stories of people overlooked by the main story, Claire a case in point that she had her life ruined in season 4 and it was a footnote until season ten, and then metaphorically more the concept of having queer and non-white characters in the mix of main characters, it would have represented a future of the story where the main show was unable to tread. Probably because of the CW. Also inherent biases in the writers. Bad cocktail. Jack is both too white and too male to fit the brief to ever leave SPN, and not only that but he is so as a precise mirror to the main white male characters, being passably any one of their sons if you squint, and meant to be instantly instinctively read as such... he was one of the safest bets of representing the show as the network wanted to imagine its target demographic.

So I really don’t think that Jack has any place being in a spin off of the show unless you want more of the same. They tried to give us something different and the CW didn’t like it because it wasn’t more of the same. Ironically a Jack spin off, with or without Claire, would have more chance of being greenlit and more chance of success. But the spin off they put their heart behind was Wayward Sisters as it was. And I think it was absolutely correct that never mind leaving Jack out of it after his work was done in the lead up episode to help set the table, but honestly they could have cut all the middle scenes of Sam and Dean wandering in the woods and gained precious seconds with the girls and still had a functioning story with those guys. It was like some cowardly missive was sent that the show couldn’t actually go more than 10 minutes without showing a flesh and blood Winchester or the whole thing would spontaneously sizzle out of syndication and the money tree would wither on the spot. And in the mean time, we could have been having Banter with the girls. Or Claire and Kaia holding hands some more. The good stuff :P

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taekooktimeline · 4 years ago

Text

June 2 & 3, 2020 (filmed) - Soop Episode 8 -

That night it was Tae’s and Joon’s turn to cook. Shortly after they began, Jk made his way to the upper house in case they needed help. It was a common scene to see Jk in the kitchen during their stay, whether he was called upon or joined voluntarily - this occasion being the latter.

The first thing he asks is about how well they were handling themselves in the kitchen.

He continues by making a snarky / teasing comment as he lightly chuckles, jokingly. He’s alluding to the fact that both Tae and Joon are inexperienced cooks. He first looks at Joon and his pasta.

He then moves to observe Tae and changes to a supportive tone, letting him know he’ll happily eat it no matter what the results are. He’s being realistic but telling him to not be afraid to make mistakes.

Jk reassures him by saying one can’t mess up meat - it’ll always taste good.

Tae let’s his insecurities afloat by saying he would never cook again if he messed up such a delicious steak that was so difficult to botch. Jk was well aware of Tae’s lack of confidence when it comes to cooking & that was his way of encouraging him.

Since there is nothing to help them with, Jk silently watches his phone and stays close, waiting to see if he was needed. This precise scenario is actually unfamiliar - at least to Soop viewers.

Jk let’s out a couple more compliments about Tae’s meat before leaving to take a nap. He must not be too interested in the aglio e olio spaghetti since it’s a blander dish by nature.

Later on Jk literally held onto his bed as Hobi woke him up, but once on his feet he checked his phone and then began to run towards the kitchen as he tried to keep on reading his messages. He was apparently eager to eat steak because it appeals to his taste buds, which makes sense. “I really want to eat steak,” he sings.

He stops running to finish reading his messages before entering the kitchen.

Heavy speculation: Turns out Tae needed assistance and couldn’t leave the meat alone. Joon had left him around 5-10 minutes ago, depending on how long Hobi had to insist to Jk to wake up. Could or could not be related to Jk running while checking his phone as there is no way to know. Decide as you wish.

Hobi goes for paper towels while Jk asks what he could do to help - something he has done with other members as well. Tae says he only needed paper towels and plates.

Tae then expresses concerns about his cooking, seemingly having some trouble.

Jk stays as his cooking assistant from that moment onwards - a role he excels at. He first finds paper towels inside the kitchen and stays right by his side -

Then Tae asks him for some help with the seasoning. They cook in harmony -

Jk is the most wanted -

Full cooking scene:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LidgpCh7yKntT0_1VcUq-GhNKS4Wj-eN/view?usp=drivesdk

Later that night, Hobi and Jk spot Tae just as he started lighting fireworks so they make their way to him.

Jk quickly joins Tae, who hands him a firecracker, while Hobi asks about other members.

Taekook are too entertained to worry about the others whereabouts.

They pass the lighter between the two, heavily involved in the bonding activity. “When else will we ever get this opportunity?” they later said.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1n2_p1Qd4wUt3qtwWjoatGchl9GWk_fD3/view?usp=drivesdk

Jimin joins them too and all four enjoy the spectacle.

Taekook are the only ones setting the fireworks off. They must be the most excited and daring, taking into account Hobi was pretty scared of getting near.

Tae lights three at once - quite courageously - and runs off. Hobi about Tae: “He’s so eager”.

Hobi and Jk dance in front of the sparks which Tae vocaly marvels about. They are surely having fun together.

Tae prompts Jk to do the same as him and light three at once - scary to do as it’s time sensitive, but with beautiful results. He tried to listen but ran off at 2. This is faintly reminiscent of “we always got scolded together, even back then”.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mUkfEzN38QYCXD1TrqV-ATBDD3_e4OSK/view?usp=drivesdk

June 3 (filmed) - Tae wakens Jk to watch the sunrise, which they later mention. He is seen leaving the floating house a little after the first rays of light start illuminating the sky. *There is debate about whether Tae spent the night in Jk’s room or not, but we think the footage is inconclusive. It doesn’t contradict the official story but it’s also compatible with Tae staying over so decide as you wish. Some think Tae must have stayed over because he wasn’t shown entering the room, but remember this was a 1 or 2 hour long sped-up timelapse with many missing frames (many cuts). It was only luck that a single frame of Tae exiting made it into the final footage. The frame can't be seen in the weverse app due to differences in resolution, compression and frame rate compared to weverse’s desktop version (which is where the illegal uploads came from) as a professional explained to us. We checked the official desktop version and Tae’s frame is still there meaning BH didn’t try to hide it. In layman’s terms - there is no conspiracy from BH to backtrack and omit Tae leaving the boathouse. In order to modify Tae out BH would have to reupload the one file, meaning those viewing via Weverse on a desktop computer would also not see Tae. Only one file is processed and encoded to work across as many devices as possible. This means different versions of the same video in different formats with different compressions - but all derived from the one upload (according to the below cited individual who works in tech). Disclaimer: this individual works in tech and had discussions with her partner, who is also in tech. Please fact check.

Additionally, not turning on the light is respectful since Jk wasn’t obligated to get up. As previously said, anything is possible in this case (as far as if Tae stayed over / when he arrived at the boathouse).

https://twitter.com/tkgkurm/status/1316082109253996544?s=21 or https://twitter.com/borahaestreet/status/1316137683958329347?s=21 or https://www.instagram.com/p/CGS8Ub3IovM/?igshid=6ibd8ghe4ens

The next we see is Tae walking with his selfie camera to Jk to watch the sunrise together. It seems like he was coming back from the main house.

Adorable, sleepy Hobi joins them. Tae says “you did it!” which implies it had been taken into consideration. The gathering might have been talked about the previous night or it could have been spontaneous where Tae woke him up without a warning and hoped he’d make it out of bed. Both Tae and Jungkook happily greet him.

https://twitter.com/flirtaeguk/status/1315991107562401792?s=21

Jk is also sleepy and keeps yawning alongside Hobi, unlike Tae who is very much awake. They both made an effort to accompany him. Jk yawning -

Hobi yawning -

He asks Jk if he pulled an all-nighter.

Jk denies and explains Tae woke him up. *Personal opinion: Sara is inclined to think Tae was the one to pull an all-nighter while he hung out in Jimin’s room judging by his state of alertness (I’m used to doing it and they are too) and how there’s footage of vmin in Jimin’s bed from earlier that night. It’s not easy for Tae to wake up early. Anyhow, it’s not impossible he later hung out in Jk’s room. Regardless of what happened Tae chose & dared to get these two out of bed at such ungodly hours just because he thought the scenery was nice - lacking apprehension - which means he feels very comfortable with them.

Tae disappears and Jk immediately wonders where he went.

*Just for fun - the editors added an adorable caption for Tae canoeing:

Jk giggles when Tae reappears and asks him if he’s having fun - happy to see Tae enjoy himself.

He then compliments his rowing skills.

This causes Hobi to also comment. Jk agrees with an “exactly”.

Jk adds onto it pointing out more details about Tae’s good technique.

More of Jk yawning -

Jk films Tae with his selfie camera. At the start, he says “V” in a deep, playful voice - presenting him to the public (note the subtitle in the below pic - the English subtitle didn’t show “V” when Jk says it but it’s written in the Korean subtitle next to Tae).

When Tae softly asks them what they think of the scenery - looking directly at Jk - the younger sweetly replies with the following -

the original Korean text notes “GCF” (making reference to Jk’s filming skills):

https://twitter.com/borahaestreet/status/1316019584776826883?s=21

and https://twitter.com/flirtaeguk/status/1315996054337150978?s=21

and https://twitter.com/taekook1206/status/1316223828985487361?s=21

; Full sunrise clip:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/18uvnNmmboRHRaITTpa98ZKfpCO48abiZ/view?usp=drivesdk

Later on - it seems the members went back to bed after watching the sunrise. Tae wakes up at 12pm and is surprised he slept so little.

He then walks from the main house to the floating house, where Jk is staying.

He doesn’t bother changing out of his PJs as he makes his way to the floating house.

It’s uncertain whether he checks his breath or simply rubs his face as he walks there.

We find out he is, indeed, coming to visit Jungkook.

Speculation - There is debate if Tae locked the door when he entered. Decide as you like.

Personal stances: Sara is basically sure that Tae didn’t lock comparing it to the distinctively different & loud sound it made when Jk locked the door while playing with Jimin (Ep 7 behind the scenes, Jk locking the door: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1729xJUd1fvff5MozK0J7meAj4tZEOZ0w/view?usp=drivesdk ; Hobi closing the door without locking which generates the same “clicking” sound as in Tae’s occasion: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ITikRqRtKYJjVEjCxrF3t42UBu1IcuB6/view?usp=drivesdk) combined with the unlikely context, while Kayla thinks it’s possible (since we don’t see what they are up to for those two hours - maybe Tae unlocks it at some point (not saying they were up to anything but maybe just wanted privacy) + three non BTS listeners seemed certain they heard the door lock when shown the zoomed in clip without context - who Tae is, what room he’s in, etc … but who knows). As we stated above, it’s debatable so please decide as you wish.

Tae closing Jk’s door -

https://twitter.com/taetae_pteryong/status/1313898743939305472?s=21

It turns out Tae preferred to keep on resting with Jk rather than alone in his own bed, even if he had to go on a little walk. He throws his cap off and leans over Jk, his face close.

Note Jk’s raised arm as he slowly turns to have an idea of their positions.

Here Jk’s tattooed arm is blurred next to Tae’s head - Jk still facing upwards.

Tae says “move over” while Jk sleepily groans in protest.

Jk groggily rolls to his side, an act that conveniently gives Tae the space he was searching for & that prompts him to climb over to be the “big spoon” in the cuddle. His foot skims over Jk’s as he latches a leg and arm around him.

some close ups of Tae positioning himself (mostly for their feet since it’s quite intimate) -

https://twitter.com/recorder331/status/1313910423075266566?s=21

In a sweet moment that indicates closeness, Tae tries to pull the blanket up on him so he can be closer and warmer as he cuddles.

Jungkook appears to pull Tae’s arm closer - although it’s unclear. We have differing opinions. Decide as you wish.

https://twitter.com/loveforvguk/status/1314153041659125760?s=21

Tae then playfully boops his leg against JK. He may have wanted him to wake up after all but stay in bed, calmly laying together for a while - although they both ended up feeling too cozy.

Full clip:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/15UX3WLZ9jrNjHY5kNo876VQcLUc4-Ux6/view?usp=drivesdk

Hobi heads their way apparently two whole hours later with the intention of waking Jk up. The below images confirm the approximate timeframe.

Hobi says he’ll go wake Jungkook up, seemingly unaware that Tae had joined him in bed.

Once he gets there he first calls for Jk, pauses and also calls for Tae in a higher, slightly surprised tone. Goes to show it was unexpected for him.

Hobi is insistent, they have to eat and leave the cottage soon.

Jk stretches and gets up relatively quickly - although looks sleepy. Taking into account the cut, it must have been a couple of minutes since Hobi entered.

Hobi looks on and doesn’t leave until they get up. He had to make sure. This may be strongly subjective but he seems to have a somewhat wary demeanor, looking at them as if he was studying the situation.

Tae suddenly sprints out of bed.

Note Hobi’s face -

He pauses at the door for a bit before reminding them to hurry up. He might think they are capable of going back to sleep and miss lunch. Maybe that’s the only reason he looks faintly concerned, but that’s up for interpretation.

Publicly debated topic - There was a clear cut between Hobi entering the room and when he talks to Taekook, finally getting them out of bed. ARMY pointed out that the door was left more closed after Hobi entered, but when we see him again - after the cut - it’s wide open meaning someone crossed it in the meantime, which makes people wonder. Jk’s feet also change position which means there was substantial movement. This has led some to believe that Taekook were cuddling quite intimately and the cut was made to hide it.

Skeptical stance: Please keep in mind all content is edited, with cuts, and we don’t necessarily believe this is a big deal. It’s just being noted since it was a widely discussed topic.

Observations(both anticlimactic & open): Contrary to popular belief, Hobi did knock on Jk’s door in ep 7 when he was alone. The cut could’ve just been made to shorten the moment since TK didn’t want to get up. Maybe Hobi went back towards the door after getting a response from them, opened it, hesitated & decided to make sure they got up. Judging by their feet, Tae was already on his back before the cut - same as Jk who was even starting to turn towards the wall. Seeing that their positions weren’t compromising prior to the cut and that Tk were shown cuddling just moments before without a problem, I don’t think BH tried to hide anything with this specific cut. You can decide as you wish. Nevertheless, I think them cuddling before Hobi entered was very possible which is explained below.

Door looks more closed -

As you see, prior to Hobi’s entrance it is indeed possible that Jk was hugging Tae if you observe his legs and how he starts to turn the other way around. His left knee is lifted and folded which would be the one folding over Tae (in the speculative case) while the other leg was straightened. Why the need to move right when Hobi enters? Also, in this action one of his legs is left without a blanket to cover him which could indicate he was closer to Tae just seconds before.

However - still prior to the cut - Jk had already turned towards the wall with both his knees facing that way, therefore, there was nothing to hide anymore - if there ever was.

Tae was also on his back if you look at his right foot’s toe facing the door (the foot with exclamation points is Jk’s facing the wall).

In the next scene, the door is wide open and Jk’s position has changed further - rolling more on his side, straightening his legs and fully covering them with the blanket (except his foot).

https://twitter.com/_k91230v_/status/1314470859361247232?s=21

or may view footage of this in Korean here -

https://twitter.com/hellotae_vv/status/1314213325505400832?s=21

; Full clip:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AVMFqki3PWhCcXlN-rKrEGloODWk9l95/view?usp=drivesdk

Taekook sit next to each other as they eat - possibly the last two to join. They grow impatient when they finish eating and get up. First it’s Jk and then Tae follows suit, surrounding the table to go where he is.

It seems like they cross a few words - although not heard - and for some reason Jk hands his phone over to Tae. We’ve noticed the editors can alter the volume of their mics as Jimin is heard muffled at some point during this scene.

Members urge the duo to sit down so they can say thank you.

Taekook then can be seen walking together towards the main house, but choose to engage in different activities.

Full lunch + tk walking:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qLT2eoYEy_HI8CIbv7Iti-C29io1wZ92/view?usp=drivesdk

While Jk quietly carved wood -

Tae searched for playmates for a water balloon fight - clearly still playful unlike what they tried to portray in ep 6. Tae is certainly calmer compared to his younger self, but he still likes to joke around. The pandemic affected his mood and this was a time for healing, but his core personality didn’t drastically change and it was a recent situation. In late 2019 (around early November) Tae said these words: “They say I’m restless, but that’s who I am. I think that’s why they gave me that nickname. I don’t think my personality will change no matter how much time passes or how old I get. I’d like to be considered a playful person to everyone”. As we said, we reiterate they must have used Tae’s recent mood as the perfect excuse to naturally justify the separation strategy they had been using to pretend they drifted apart these last years.

Back in Seoul, BTS visit the studio to record the theme song for Soop. Even though there is an empty chair, when Tae comes back from recording his part, he proceeds to sit on Jk’s lap, who doesn’t protest. This is what Tae saw as he was entering the room -

He walked past Jk playfully smothering Hobi to leave the paper -

And turned around to look directly at them.

He hesitated for a second - standing still in front of them without looking around - and went for it, claiming his seat on top of Jk.

Jk was smiling, maybe about Tae or maybe about the silly singing he was participating in along other members. Regardless, he was in a good mood & unbothered.

Tae let himself fall flat against Jk, completely relaxed.

Jk started to feel a bit asphyxiated after a while so he gently incorporated himself, making Tae sit straight but with no intention of pushing him off.

Tae stays there for a considerable amount of time, both comfortable and smiling whenever something funny happened.

Note that the members seemed to play a sort of musical chairs. When a member returned from singing, he would take the seat of the person who got up to go record. Therefore, the argument that Tae avoided the seat for Joon isn’t very credible. No one else sits on a lap and no one else had an issue finding a seat when he wanted. (Tae sitting on Jk’s lap: https://drive.google.com/file/d/14UhAYnWI4YWrMNoK3wa69m_tod-X7c9m/view?usp=drivesdk)

When all go in but Yoongi, Joon suggests the members sing in a breathy tone, to which Tae says it’s his speciality.

However, Vmin then show solidarity in hyping Jk’s voice. Right after they agree to an airy tone for the chorus, both Jk and Jimin start softly singing to themselves, but Tae doesn’t hesitate when he suddenly turns to Jk and grabs him by the arm to pull him to the center. As Tae is doing this action, Jimin asks the rhetorical question “isn’t he the best at it?”

Tae has a precious grin adorning his features -

Tae affirms Jk is the best at capturing the breathy tone BTS is striving for as he leads him to the center of the group. The younger shows modesty by questioning their decision as he says “why? why?”.

Notice Tae’s arm still pulling him -

Tae then gestures to the mic, insisting.

He briefly gives Jk’s arm an encouraging pat / light grab as he says again Jk should sing in the center.

Jimin agrees and says Jk is the chorus.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RqnHIjmLPjzxsBKaXbJEkbbiYZT7XQmK/view?usp=drivesdk

Towards the end of the recording session, Tae goes in to record a solo soulful piece (Jk follows after). When Tae begins, Yoongi and Jimin immediately turn to Jk and start laughing loudly, with Yoongi clapping as he laughs (other members also laugh). Jk grins.

Speculative stance: Yoonmin may have turned to Jk because it was expected he’d go in after Tae and “duel” as Yoongi later says. Perhaps they turn to him to gauge his reaction at following in recording his soulful take after Tae.

Jk introduces Tae with a “Here goes V” - raising expectations.

Yoonmin look at Jk as they laugh -

Members really want Jk to record the ad-libs he was doing while sited. They call it a “war” and an “ad-lib battle” (keep in mind neither Tae nor Jk uttered those words).

Once Jk is done and gave them all good laughs, Joon asks him to go back in to do a final ad-lib. Mirroring his prior actions, Tae excitedly hunches forward to get him off his chair and into the studio, very much looking forward to more of Jk’s hilariously soulful singing.

TK ad-lib battle:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1x1JYtCG-bwBD6WZWwUQ2WaLpi7gw2-CG/view?usp=drivesdk

#taekook #taekooktimeline #2020 #june 2020 #200602 #domestic #encouragement #supportive #cuddles #closeness #playfulness

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rovewritesit · 4 years ago

Text

Angel Of My Dreams (Chapter 3) John Deacon x Reader Series

Meant to get this out last night but I’m on call 24/7 for my job so ya know, life.

Series Summary: After reluctantly joining a band with your childhood best friends, you are thrust into oncoming stardom with no sea legs and an overwhelming sense of anxiety. But you just might find your way, thanks to some seasoned pros by your side. And the interest of one particular bassist.

This series is a work of fiction, and is loosely inspired by real people and events. Absolutely no offense is meant to actual Queen or their families.

PART 1 - PART 2 - PART 4

Pairing: John Deacon x Reader

Chapter Warnings: Strong language, you know the deal. Feelings of anxiety. Slightly sexual dialogue. Reader is kinda horny? Misogynistic comments towards reader.

Chapter Notes: I may have written out an ENTIRE episode of Pop Quiz before realizing that shoving music facts down your throats isn’t the best use of our time. Apologies if it got a bit disjointed in the trimming process. I work in TV so I just had to add in a cliche meet-cute. Sorry not sorry.

Song/Title Inspiration: Angel - Fleetwood Mac

Taglist: @yourlocalmusicalprostitute @brianmays-hair @deacyblues @squishy-geckboye

April 1982 - BBC Studios, London

“It’s not funny, Y/N! Stop laughing. You’re gonna ruin all my hard work!” Dawn chastises you as she sweeps a pale blue eye shadow across your lids, trying her best to complete your request to tone down your usual stage look.

You try to muffle your laughter, teetering on your chair set up in the spacious green room. It comes out as a wheeze, a soft whistle escaping through your nose. “I’m sorry, you said what!?”

“I kid you not, I took one look at his penis and said ‘What the fuck is that?”

A sharp laugh escapes from your mouth once again, failing miserably to prevent tears from leaking out of the corners of your eyes.

“I feel awful! It’s just that I had never seen one before,” Dawn whines.

“Okay, I know for a fact that’s not the first dick you’ve seen. Hell, even I’ve seen some of those. Like ships passing in the night as they raced out of your dorm bed,” you giggle.

“You know what I mean. I’ve never been with one that’s… intact.”

Your eyebrows shoot up, “Oh c’mon. Uncircumcised can’t be that different.”

“It wasn’t! I was just drunk and got spooked, I guess. It was actually kinda cute. Like it was wearing a little turtleneck or something.”

You lose it, yet again. Laughter falls freely from your lips, helping to alleviate the dreaded stress that has now become your constant companion these days. Appearing on a game show alone was not something you thought you’d have to tackle on your third day in London. You’re sure the boys were off exploring the sprawling city that none of you had stepped foot in prior to the trip.

Pop Quiz was apparently a big hit for the BBC, featuring a bevy of famous musicians battling out their knowledge of the industry. You’d never had the chance to watch, obviously not readily available to viewers back home, but a harried man had come in earlier to give you a basic rundown of the format. You were somewhat confident in your knowledge of music, having been a regular at your hometown’s local record shop, you just hoped it would be enough to keep you from making a fool out of yourself in front of an entire country. But your anxiety mostly stemmed from your upcoming appearance in front of the camera without the boys there to play off of.

“How was it, though? I heard they’re supposed to “feel better” or something like that,” your curiosity getting the better of you. “Ooo, was it curved? Sometimes that can be a great thing. Except for one I encountered that was going in the opposite way then you’d think. Like even it knew it should be running away from the dude.”

Dawn’s face screws into a pinch, “Was that Tyler... Wait, don’t tell me. Ew. And I wouldn’t know! The poor guy was so embarrassed he couldn’t even keep it up after that!”

“What a waste,” you sigh. “I thought I’d be at least getting some field research out of your antics. What did I even bring you to London for?” you joke as she holds a tissue out to blot your lips.

“Uh-huh. The day you do some “field research” of your own is the day I chop off my own hair,” she quips, narrowing her eyes at you.

You casually raise your right hand to flip her off. She wasn’t wrong; it had been a while since you’d been with anyone, let alone entertained the fact of jumping into a relationship. There were partners in the past, of course. A few geeky high school boys, a woman who worked at said hometown record store, and the occasional pretentious film kid while at NYU, who spoke condescendingly of women working in film but scratched an itch when needed.

“And there’s no time like the present! You know what they say. When in Britain…” Dawn trails off, failing to finish her bit.

You left eyebrow quirks, “Throw dental hygiene standards out the window?”

Her face twists in disgust again as she uncaps a can of Aqua Net. “Gross. Now close your eyes and shut up so I can be done with you.”

The spray sputters, emitting little from it. “Dammnit,” she curses, turning to rummage around her sprawling kit. “Of course, I didn’t pack a spare. I’ll be right back. Hopefully, their hair department has one we can borrow.”

She rushes from the room in a sweeping motion, knocking over a coffee that was precariously placed on your chair’s armrest in the process.

“Fuck me,” you breathe, jumping up, your white blouse now doused in caffeine.

You hurry to jog out of the room, trying to catch up with her. “Daw- Shit!”

Your face collides with a hard chest.

Two large hands grip your shoulders to stop your momentum. “Oh! Apologies,” comes a light voice from above, muffled by your full head of ringlets. You jerk your head away quickly, and your gaze lands on a pair of startled greyish, green eyes.

“S-sorry,” you stutter out. “Completely my fault.” You glance down to the hands that still rest on your shoulders for a moment before looking back up. The pair of eyes go wide, and the hands quickly retreat back to the man’s side.

The man being the bassist of Queen, John Deacon. You scold yourself for only having glanced at the day’s detailed itinerary this morning before heading out. How did I miss that one? Sweat begins to gather on your palms immediately.

“John Deacon,” he hesitantly smiles at you while extending a hand.

“Y/N L/N,” you squeak out as his hand engulfs yours, inwardly cringing at how moist it must feel. You hold it for a bit too long. “I’m one of the contestants on Team A today,” you yank your hand back to your side.

His brow knit together. “Oh? I was told I’d be with Nick Rhodes and Jon Moss today.”

You shift your weight uncomfortably from side to side, having yet to meet his eyes again. “Nick had to cancel, I believe. I’m a last-minute replacement.”

“Okay,” he replies with a tight smile. “Well, good then. I hope you’re ready,” he glances down, noticing the stain splashed across your top. “Or, at least close to it...”

“Huh?” you blurt out before realizing, looking down at your shirt. “Oh, yes. The reason I so rudely ran into you. I should go-” your eye catches something as they finally travel back up to his. “Aw, fuck.”

“Pardon?”

You grimace, pointing directly at his chest. Right to the giant imprint on his tight blue shirt. One that had been left by your bright red lipstick.

He follows your finger. “Ah! Will you look at that.”

“I am so, so sorry,” you rush out, absolute mortification seeping into your voice.

He dismisses your apology with a wave of his hand. “Not to worry. That’s what jackets are for,” he says, zipping up the oversized grey jacket slung around his shoulders. “And at least now I know this shade of red really isn’t my colour.”

You smile up at him, not really knowing what else to say—the full weight of your not-so-smooth first encounter with this man hitting you fast, as people squeezed around you two in the tight hallway. “I should go get fixed up,” you tell him, pointing your thumb back over your shoulder towards your dressing room, ready to make a quick exit.

“Alright. I’ll see you out there then. Cheers!” he smiles back with a wave of his hand, turning to find his own space to get ready.

You stand there watching him in a daze, mentally berating yourself for now having had two inappropriate run-ins with a member of Queen.

Dawn materializes into your field of vision, hands-on-hips.

“Honestly, what the hell. I left you alone for two minutes!”

- - - - - - -

20 minutes later, you follow a stagehand through the back of the soundstage, fidgeting with your outfit while trying not to crash into anyone else. Dawn’s top that she quickly switched with your own was cut much lower than you would’ve liked and left you feeling even more exposed than your current bout of nerves did.

You’re dumped onto the set with the point of a finger over to a tall man. Mike Read, the host of Pop Quiz, stands by a large desk, crew members bustling around him. You stick to your spot out of the way, not sure if to interrupt the conversation he’s currently having to introduce yourself.

You take in the spacious stage, never having been on a show of this size before. A wave of longing suddenly washes over you, yearning for days on set where you were a part of the crew that moved around you. While at school, you’d worked on several student films, usually as a 1st Assistant Director or Line Producer. You loved the pace of production. Keeping everyone on time, on budget. It was where you felt most confident. While there were a variety of different types of personalities on set, you found it exhilarating to be the one to settle disputes and help everyone stay on track. Your subtle superpower of putting out little fires everywhere you went. Never had it crossed your mind that you’d be on the other side of the camera one day.

“A change of wardrobe, I see,” a voice says from behind you, pulling you out of your daydream. You turn to catch John’s smirk, his eyes trained intentionally on your own.

“It would appear so,” you reply, glancing down at yourself quickly.

“Have you been introduced to Mike yet?”

“Nope. I was working up the courage,” you admit.

“C’mon,” he gestures for you to follow him as he strolls towards the man. “He doesn’t bite.” You follow, trailing behind his long strides as he daintily weaves between the many bodies in your path.

“John!” Mike exclaims as you both approach. “Good to see you, mate,” he claps him on the back.

“You too. Thanks for having me back,” John greets him cheerily. “And look, I brought a present. All the way from America, I’m assuming. Mike, this is--”

“Y/N L/N!” Mike says, a genuine smile forming. “I can’t tell you how happy I am that we fit you in.”

“Oh, thank you. I’m excited to be here,” you mumble as he brings you in for a hug.

“Can I just say, your video for Heart of the Night is absolutely outrageous. I thought my eyes were going to pop out my head when I’d learnt that MTV in the States had aired it,” he laughs. “Daring stuff, really.”

You feel a heat creeping up your neck as you try to accept the compliment. “Yeah, thanks. Glad to hear that you’re all a bit more relaxed in terms of watching the explicit murder of a teenage girl on your screens.” You immediately wince at your own bluntness.

You can’t help but peek over at John, curious if he’d seen the violent clip now making its rounds across UK television sets everywhere. He’s staring at you with eyebrows raised and his mouth hanging open slightly.

Great. He thinks I’m a lunatic.

“We certainly are!” Mike chuckles. “Have you been briefed on the logistics of how the taping will go?”

“Mhmm, I got the rundown from one of your producers.”

“Excellent. Well, you’ll be in good hands with John here heading your team,” he says, slinging an arm around the man’s shoulders and adjusting his large glasses with the other.

Good hands indeed, you think to yourself, remembering how large they felt when they gripped your shoulders earlier. No, stop that, you scold yourself.

“We’ll be getting started in just a few minutes if you’d both like to find your seats. And you’ll have to regale me with the gory details from that shoot of yours afterward,” he winks, gesturing towards your spots for the show. You turn to follow John to your side of the set.

“Oh, and Y/N!” Mike calls out. “I do hope you’re good. Deacon got absolutely spanked last time he was on.” You bring your hand up to your face to stifle your giggle. John makes a show of rolling his eyes but keeps walking. You notice his face is now tinged a lovely shade of pink.

“You must think I’m daft,” he says, turning to you slightly.

“Me? Oh no, I’m sure we’ll do great!” you reply, a bit too happily.

“No, no, not that,” he laughs lightly, his hand finding the back of his neck. “For not recognizing you during our... colourful meeting in the hallway. It seems you and your band left quite the impression on our dear Freddie.”

“Oh! That’s nice to hear. You can tell him he left quite the impression on us as well, but I’m sure he makes an impression on most everyone,” you shrug. “And don’t worry about it, please. It’s not as if I’m a part of the biggest band in Britain or anything,” you tease. He smiles shyly. You catch the crinkles on the outer corners of his eyes before he turns them downwards.

You reach the long table on your designated side of the studio. There’s one on the other side mirroring it, with three somewhat familiar faces already sitting behind it. You glance at the empty seats before you, moving hesitantly towards them until John pulls out the closest chair, gesturing for you to sit. He gingerly pushes it under you as you lower yourself down.

“Thanks,” you mumble. He nods and moves to sit beside you.

There’s a loud bang to your right, causing you both to jump and look to the source; a large Grip gingerly picks up the c-stand he’s knocked over. John hovers above his chair, watching on as a producer shouts at the poor man, his waist now at your eye line.

You had never understood the fascination with men’s butts. That is, until now. The tight jeans John had on left little to the imagination. As if that would stop you. You shake your head back and forth as if to clear your thoughts. All of Dawn’s talk earlier must have you seriously whacked out.

“Are you alright?” John asks, now situated in his seat.

“Hm?” you break out of your daze. “Yes, fine. It’s just- I haven’t done anything like this,” you gesture to the large room teeming with various crew and a studio audience, “before, on my own. Usually we’re all together, and I’m slightly less charismatic than the rest of them, I’m afraid.”

“Well, I would tell you that it’ll get easier, but I still feel like I’m rubbish without my lot as well,” he sympathies. “And I happen to find you quite charismatic as you are,” he adds softly. “You certainly had Mike going back there.”

“Oh boy,” a voice huffs from the other end of the table, drawing away John’s attention. You’re thankful for the distraction, finding yourself at a loss for words due to his comment, coupled with your previous thoughts.

“I see you two actually arrived on time, ya goodie-two-shoes,” the flamboyant man complains as he plops into the third and final seat at the table.

“Jon, welcome. Good to see you,” John acknowledges, shaking the man’s hand.

“And who’s this little thing at the end, then?” he points at you.

John’s expression turns slightly sour at the informal greeting directed towards you. “This is Y/N L/N of Lo & The…” he struggles to remember, “Legs?”

You bark out a laugh. “The Limbs. But The Legs sounds better actually.” You share a smile, holding onto John’s eyes even though it makes your insides flip.

An outstretched hand is shoved past his body. “Jon Norris. Drummer. Culture Club.” You accidentally brush John’s arm as you move to return the handshake, not missing how he jumps a bit at the contact. “Pleasure,” reply, tearing your eyes away.

The drummer retracts his hand, settling back to swing his shoes up onto the table. “I’m glad to have a bird on the team, actually. Maybe we’ll get a few extra points thrown our way for that tiny top of yours,” he smirks, not even glancing over in your direction.

You look down at your slightly exposed chest, but the color red quickly clouds your vision. John sucks in a breath as he sits up straight in his chair. “That’s a bit ru-,” he starts in an annoyed tone.

But you’re quick to cut in, leaning your body forward on the table to lock eyes with Jon, “Actually, we might get docked a few for that obnoxious suit you’ve got on. Didn’t anyone ever tell you that stripes bleed on camera, sweetheart?” you seeth.

He glances down at his bright pink and green striped suit, clearly taken aback by your quick comeback. “N-no…” he falters, shutting up for the moment.

You catch John’s expression, a mixture of confusion and awe while he gapes at you. You lean back, crossing your arms over your chest. Luckily you don’t have much time to stew over the misogynistic comment as the stage manager’s voice rings out a 10-minute warning.

“Just try not to show me up too much, would you?” John whispers, leaning in closer to you. Obviously, trying to lighten your mood.

You give in. “You, sir, are lucky to have me on your team,” you point at him. “Tell me, what’s more important? The scoreboard or your fragile ego?” You’re not sure where your sudden wave of confidence is coming from.

He brings his hand to his chest. “You caught me,” he says, trying to hide his smile. “One could say I’m overcompensating, given who my bandmates are. Roger’s won this twice already, and it only started airing last year. I’ll never hear the end of it if I muck it up again.”

“Well then, I’ll do my best to save your sorry ass, and maybe that one down there too, if he’s lucky,” you tease.

Great. Now I’m thinking about his ass again. Fuck you, Dawn.

“If you’d be so kind,” he says before turning his attention elsewhere, content to watch the happenings around him until the show’s start. You hear him start to softly hum to himself, not able to place what the tune is.

You try not to watch him out of your peripherals for the next few minutes, hardly even noticing your lack of nerves as the studio audience starts cheering.

- - - - - - -

“And to end out round one, we have Adam Ant’s team with 3 points. And with a slight lead, John Deacon’s team with 4.” The studio audience erupts in a deafening cheer. “That’ll bring us into round two, which will be a team question. John, your team to go first,” Mike directs from his desk in the center of the set.

John lightly taps his pencil against the notepad in front of him, the current tight score starting to bring about his competitive side. He peeks over to check on his teammates. Y/N looks like a radiating ball of energy. Her feet are tucked up under her on the chair as she hunches forward, pencil already hovering while her teeth chew on the eraser. To his right, Jon doodles away, drawing exaggerated characachers of select members of the studio audience.

“Right, question coming to you in a moment, but first here’s the band, The Band.”

A large monitor towards the front of the set comes to life with a clip from their concert film, The Last Waltz. The chair to his left gives a loud squeak as Y/N begins to scribble furiously as if already knowing the question before it’s been given.

“Here’s a clip from The Last Waltz, The Band’s famous taped last concert. Please name 10 of the 20 rock legends that joined them on stage that night.”

John’s face scrunches in concentration, trying to recall the recording of it that he’d listened to many times before. He writes down the first few that come to mind, struggling to get past 6 names that he’s sure were present.

“Bloody American bands and they’re American friends,” Jon says, shoving his own piece of paper into John’s view. It has 4 names on it, 3 of which John already has down.

“They’re Canadian,” John replies, transferring the extra name to his paper.

“What?”

“The Band. They’re from Canada, I believe. At least most of them are.” Jon shrugs as the clip fades out, their minute of deliberation up.

“Alright, that was The Band with a famous clip from The Last Waltz. If you’d please, John, name 10 of the acts that accompanied them that night.”

A sheet of paper smoothly glides in front of his, Y/N’s messy scrawl covering it with 10 names hastily jotted down. He raises his eyebrows to her, but she just nods at the paper, urging him to read it.

He starts, completely disregarding his own list. “Erm, yes, we have Eric Clapton, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Dr. John, Van Morrison, Ronnie Hawkins, Neil Young, Bobby Charles” he struggles to read the small scribbling, almost illegible. “Um, Muddy Waters? Yes. And Neil Diamond.”

John lets out a breath, silently praying that the young girl beside him is as bright as she seems.

“Right you are! 10/10,” Mike exclaims. “For a bonus point, can you name the two artists that recorded pre-taped performances with them for the film as well?”

“Uh…” John glances at Y/N for support. She shoves another scrap of paper to him. Emmylou and Staples the only thing written on it.

“Emmylou Harris and The Staples Singers?” he answers, more like a question.

“Wonderful, a full 4 points to you all.”

He watches as a deep grin breaks onto Y/N’s face as she finally reclines. She looks over to him, a bit proud of herself, he thinks, as the other team begins their own round of questioning.

He’s quite intimidated by the American next to him if he’s being honest with himself. Her anxious demeanor seemed to have vanished into thin air once the game started, tackling each question thrown at their team with a hungry reverence. But her laugh is what keeps him on edge the most. It’s brash and full, consistently breaking him from his determined concentration to send a confusing jolt through his body each time.

“While your knowledge reigns superior, your handwriting leaves something to be desired,” he whispers in jest, not being able to help himself. She simulates a shocked expression as she leans over to look at her own paper that sits in front of him.

Her accent is thicker as she returns his whisper, “What ya tawking about?” She moves her eyes closer to examine, her shoulder bumping his. “That clearly says Muddy Waters.” Her hair hovers below his chin, almost tickling his stubble. It smells of something citrusy and light.

“Y’ smell lovely,” he sighs, almost inaudibly.

“Hm?” she questions, bringing her body back into her own seat.

“E-ever-ly,” He stumbles out, still quietly. “I thought it read it as the Everly Brothers at first,” hoping to god his bad save is enough.

She snorts. “You sure you didn’t leave your glasses at home? Would’ve thought you’d bring them to something like this.”

He quickly fixes the flustered look on his face, “Hm, glasses aren’t conducive to my rockstar type of lifestyle. Take Rog, for instance. Always wearing those bloody prescription sunglasses indoors, looking like an absolute git.”

She lets out that sharp laugh again, immediately covering her mouth, embarrassed at the thought of interrupting the other team. “I’ll have to watch out for that. Eat my carrots, all that nonsense,” she answers softly. If Brian were here, he’d ramble on about how there’s no scientific evidence of that or some bollocks, he thinks to himself.

“Let us hope my ears are in far better condition. Then you won’t have to keep, how did you put it, saving our sorry asses?” She smiles down into her lap and bites her lip. Oh hell, don’t do that.

Mike is now wrapping up with the other team. “No, I’m sorry. Their other top 10 hit was “So You Win Again. 3 points it is.” He once again turns his attention back over to John’s team. “Moving on to our third round, we have individual questions. Y/N, we’ll start with you. Here’s the hit Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye. Please name the artists you hear in order.”

The sound bites begin, and Y/N is once again bent over her paper as she listens, brow furrowing. John identifies the first two singers instantly but is at a loss for the third, making him grateful the question isn’t his. The clips fade out.

“Y/N?”

“I think it was Glen Campbell.”

“Correct.”

“Johnny Nash.”

“Good. Last one?”

“And... Bettye Swann?”

“Yes, top job! Known for her R&B hit Make Me Yours. I’ll give you a bonus if you can tell me who the song was sung by originally,” Mike counters.

“The Casino’s,” she says confidently.

“No, I’m sorry. I’ll give you one more chance.”

John realizes she was probably too young or not even born yet when the original was released. He slyly slides closer to her. “Don Cherry,” he mumbles lowly, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.

“Don Cherry?” she shouts as if to cover up his assistance.

“Yes, John Deacon, you’re right. It is Don Cherry. The point is yours for at least attempting to be subtle,” Mike laughs. Y/N shyly smiles over at him, silently thanking him for his help.

John and Jon mostly breeze through their questions with ease, racking up a hefty amount of points in favor of their team before turning over to the others. He takes a sip of water as he smugly watches on.

“Glad to know my own ass is in good hands if it’s ever in need of saving again,” Y/N quietly comments. He chokes lightly on his water as an image flashes quickly through his mind. John racks his brain for a reply, but only overtly cheeky responses come to mind.

“Anytime,” he manages, afraid to catch her eyes. She lets out a light giggle, starkly different from her usual roar. It sends a warmth of color to his cheeks.

Intriguing, he thinks, silently hoping that he’ll get the chance to hear it again.

#queen fic #queen fanfiction #queen fanfic #john deacon #john deacon fic #john deacon imagine #john deacon x reader #john deacon series #deaky fic #deacy fic #deacy x reader #deaky x reader #angelofmydreams

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darkpoisonouslove · 4 years ago

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2021 Projects

It’s a new year and since my writing kinda slowed in the last couple of months (more like for over half a year now), I thought it would be motivating for me and informative for anyone who’s interested to lay out my ideas for my work during 2021. Now I do not call these plans because I do not want to jinx anything but I am excited about these projects and I hope that I will manage to fit them in throughout this year.

- Fix-It Series - a series of fics that deals mostly with the plot holes in the first three seasons of Winx. I have already written two works that would be part of that series once it is officially launched - Ice Is Stronger with Some Lightning and Darkness Mixed in; Left to Heritage - and have started work on several others. Now this isn’t so much a rewrite as much as it is me being petty enough to go “this could be fixed while still keeping the original sequence of events (on a grand scale) and I will prove it if the writers couldn’t be bothered to do so”. I am also confining this to the first three seasons because the rest would need complete rewrites (though, tbh I am not sure whether season 3 doesn’t fit into that mold as well).

- Season 2 CT arc - Now I already said that I would be writing fix-it fics but this one I feel deserves its own mention because I have taken it a bit far already. I am basically writing an entire curriculum about dark magic because I was getting annoyed by the fact that they never really learned much and I have taken the liberty to do some worldbuilding and mention a lot of other things that were never actually addressed. So now it will probably clock out on tens of thousands of words and it will need to be regarded as a separate thing. I am thrilled about all the things I have come up with, however, and hope this will be received well because I have really put my heart into it (and my mental energy) and have invested too much attention in detail.

- Speaking of rewrites, I have already started work on the season 6 rewrite thanks to an ask I got. I have outlined a big part of it and made all the changes to the overall structure of the season that I felt necessary. Currently, everything it needs is to map out each episode separately before I can write them out. I will be doing this in more of a script format because a full-on fic will take too much time that I really want to devote to some of my other projects from the endless pile. I am thrilled about the changes I have made and the arcs I have given the characters and I am really looking forward to actually producing the final form of this one.

- Fae creature AU - This is a story actually inspired by my rage over Fate: The Winx Saga. Or rather by the fact that they do not look like fairies at all in there so I actually took the liberty to reimagine the plot of the cartoon a slightly different way. The main gist is that Bloom never meets Stella on that summer day in the park. They meet years later after Bloom has already settled and has a family on Earth only for all of that to be shaken to the ground by the reveal that she is a fae creature with a long, long life ahead of her. The two of them need to adjust to the reality that they are some of the last of their kind and having a future becomes harder, the longer that future is. I have mapped out the most part of the plot of this but I am still staggering with my approach to the execution. I am currently betting on a long one-shot (something of 20-30k+ words) but we will see how that goes once I have a clearer idea about the actual structure.

- Bloom/Sky childhood... rivals AU - This one was totally born while I was making my Bloom/Sky Kerosene video. It deals with the way things would be happening if Bloom had been raised on Domino by her real parents and her and Sky had known each other all along. I have more concepts for this one than an actual, concrete plot but I have already done some work on the relationships that I want this to focus on. Bloom and Sky getting to actually develop as people alongside each other is the focus of this, of course, but there is a lot more that I would like to explore. Their relationship with their own parents (mostly their mothers) and responsibilities is something that I feel would have a big impact on them considering their titles. And of course, the best friends are also there - Brandon and Stella ftw! Plus, the other main characters will be getting in on this as well. However, due to the span of time this will have to cover and the lack of any plot or structure for it, this one will probably have a longer time to sit in the drawer until I can manage to solidify this as a story.

- 31-Day Fic Collection - I have already started this as a sort of writing exercise to keep me in the flow of things during January and February while I am dealing with finals and other uni stuff. I am planning on keeping this confined only to one couple (that you’ll never guess) but we’ll see. The prompts I have picked would require a certain dose of creativity that I usually get around exams when I am too busy to keep my eyes open, let alone write. I am planning on posting these during March in order to open that month for other writing but we’ll see how that will go since I am really behind on all of it (3/31). Anyway, I just wanted to announce this so that, hopefully. I will commit to it now that it is out in the open.

- 200-Followers Celebration - I still haven’t done that and it is the reason why I want to have March as a free month in my schedule in order to host this celebration. I was hoping I could post the ready works while I am working on completing any and all requests from the celebration. I am also pretty close to 300 followers but not quite there yet so it is possible that I will have the two celebrations together but only time will tell. I have not exactly figured out what to do with the celebrations but I have a couple options and will make sure to choose from them by the time this can be kicked into motion. In the meantime, I am open to ideas if you have any.

- Old requests - I have several old requests sitting in my inbox that I have neither forgotten about, nor abandoned. I just hit a roadblock with all of them but I am actually hoping to finish them by the time the follower celebrations are finished. Now these include a handful of requests for the Sparks of Life verse that are about to get a year-old at this point, the leftover requests about the Domme AU and two other requests from a random prompt list I reblogged around June last year. To be fair the SoL ones are the least thought out so far but I will get to all of them... at some point.

- Sparks of Life - now that I mentioned that, I have several works... in the works for this verse. I have announced all of them already but have not made much progress because I was just not feeling any kind of writing impulses lately. I am still excited about all of these stories but I just haven’t managed to find the right direction for them yet. I believe that stories get completed when they are ready to be completed but I will still do my best to actually put in the effort to finish all of these and finally share them because I have been hyped about them for so long and I have been posting random excerpts from them all and getting people on here hyped as well.

- Season 1 Re-rewatch - I will probably have to rewatch all of the seasons if I am fixing things in them but for this one, I might actually redo my “reviews” because I didn’t write my thoughts on it in-depth the first time around. Besides, it turns out to be the most solid season so taking it apart could help me immensely with all of my writing projects and that makes it worth the effort (besides, it’s not like I don’t rewatch random episodes whenever I feel like it).

- World of Winx Thoughts - I have actually started watching and reviewing this but I had to stop thanks to my uni workload and other things that needed to be done (honestly, everything is such a mess right now). I liked what I saw but, of course, I only got through the first episode so we’ll see how this goes.

- Fate: The Winx Saga Thoughts - I will be writing out my opinions on this as well but I have no idea when I’ll manage to get to that (either free time or making myself sit down and watch it). Not much of a project, really, but I thought I’d mention it.

#about me #personal #my writing #my fanfic #winx club #winx rewrite #au #world of winx #fate the winx saga

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photolover82 · 4 years ago

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The Masked Singer Season 4 Episode 10: THE SUPER SIX/THE SEMIFINALS Featuring a *TRIPLE GASP* Triple Elimination (Commentary & Guesses)

Oh hello friends! Welcome (or welcome back) to Ana’s Masked Singer Recap, the blog where I, Ana, recap The Masked Singer for all of you lovely humans. Today, we are recapping an episode that is wow insane and I have a lot of things to say (well not a lot, but I have things to say, ok? I am building up suspense here). We finally have all of the contestants together, groups gone, all 6 of them! So, let’s get into it... the recap is gonna look very different since you know, triple elimination, so you’ll see how it goes, it’s kinda gonna be like how I did the Group A and C finals.

Ok, so our Super Six are: Jellyfish 💚, Mushroom 🍄, Crocodile 🐊, Seahorse 🐠, Popcorn 🍿, and Sun ☀️

Ok so the format of this one was, um, dare I say, questionable, but the 2 masks from the same group go head to head and whoever loses goes home... yeah I don’t like it either, but here we go. Let’s start backwards with Group C:

Group C’s Battle is Jellyfish 💚 vs. Mushroom 🍄

First up was Jellyfish 💚 singing Stay by Rihanna ft. Mikky Ekko

Performance commentary: She did great, this song totally suited her voice super well, it was really great of a performance. I was really hoping she would do something move upbeat & fun, but it was still a good song choice, just a bit safe in my opinion. I still enjoyed it but there was no wow factor really compared to the others.

Competing against her, with the song Valerie by Amy Winehouse, was Mushroom 🍄

Performance commentary: ok his performance was pretty surprising, he surprises me every time he sings on the stage. I throughly enjoyed this performance, the choreography was spot on, I kinda loved it... That was until he started beatboxing. The beatboxing was a, um, interesting choice to do with an Amy Winehouse song of all songs you can beatbox to, but yeah it ruined it a bit ngl. It was a bit cringe, but you know what, he's versatile and we love that for him, so yay I guess?

Having said that, the person who lost this battle and was ultimately revealed was:

*DRUMROLL PLEASE*

Jellyfish 💚

Who was revealed to be...

Chloe Kim

Ok yes, I got it right! Look at me go, so far at 9/11 correct guesses! Anyways, yup it was sad seeing her go because she really did do such an amazing job!👏 to her especially since she isn't a trained singer and everyone else on there is (Super Six wise I mean). If this was any other season, she probably would be in the finals but everyone is insanely talented so I am not that surprised she got eliminated. She killed it tho! She should so consider singing like doing covers or something. She will be missed for sure.

Next, we have the Group B battle: Seahorse 🐠 vs. Crocodile 🐊

First is Seahorse 🐠, who performed Bruno Mars's That's What I Like.

Performance commentary: This was not her best performance ngl. She tried to go upbeat and do choreography which didn't work out in her favor tbh, but I'm getting ahead of myself. She was still amazing, but the song choice was not the best one, you know? Like she can go upbeat, I have faith in her because she is immensely talented it's insane. However, this particular song didn't suit her amazing voice. I honestly think she still did great regardless, I've just seen her do better.

Next came Crocodile 🐊, who sang I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing by Aerosmith

Performance commentary: Ok, I gotta admit that he nailed that performance, wow he really was like going through the competition kind of low key, but he really shone here. This was super amazing performance, he absolutely killed it, not the best one though (stay tuned) but still really great!

Ok, so who lost and had to take off their mask which made me super sad and kind of annoyed with this format:

*SAD DRUMROLL PLEASE*

Seahorse 🐠

Who was revealed to be...

Tori Kelly

I was really hoping that she would be in the finals, so this elimination made me (probably also everyone else on Twitter) pretty sad and annoyed because she didn't deserve to leave, Mushroom could have left in her place and I wouldn't be mad. Anyways, apart from that's I still guessed that it was her. 2 for 2! Woo hoo! I knew it was Tori Kelly from the beginning so yay. She really killed it & honestly would have been in the finals or even would have won if it was any other season. It is really sad to see her go, like Astronaut from season 3 if you remember how I felt about that you're an OG

Last but not least we have the Group A face off consisting of Popcorn 🍿 vs. Sun ☀️

First up, we have Popcorn 🍿, who sang Better Be Good to Me by Tina Turner

Performance commentary: Ahhh, ok I really wanted her to sing a Tina Turner song, and she did, which I was stoked about. However, this wasn't her best performance, I liked some of her past ones better. However, this song suited her voice amazingly, she really did a great job! Nobody did bad by any means, they are all amazing! So, yeah it was great!

Last but not least came the Sun ☀️ who sang When the Party’s Over by Billie Ellish

Performance commentary: Ok, this was THE BEST PERFORMANCE OF THE NIGHT HANDS DOWN no questions asked. She absolutely nailed this song and it was just her, her voice, acapella, almost no instrumentals and no dancers behind her. She legit made the judges cry! Like they usually talk & cheer when these people perform but they were dead silent, speechless. That tells you something, I could even dare to say this is the best performance of the season. Like, she better win & really bring it in the finals, because how can she top this? Idk, it was that good!

And the last mask going home is (are we even surprised at this point?)...

* DRUMROLL PLEASE*

Popcorn 🍿

Who was revealed to be...

Taylor Dayne

Yay! 3 for 3! I got 11/13 right now, kinda proud of myself ngl. As for popcorn leaving, I am not surprised, I'm still annoyed she stayed over snow owls but whatever she was great and an amazing sport. I loved her costume, it was the best one of them all. She's amazing and she will be missed

Ok that's it... Well I'm doing a part 2 because this isn't letting me put images on this blog post.. So I will share my guesses in part 2. Btw after this, we don't have an episode this week so December 16 I will be back recapping the finale

#the masked singer #the masked singer season 4 #themaskedsinger #celebrities #music #pop culture #tori kelly #chloe kim #taylor dayne #popcorn mask #jellyfish mask #seahorse mask #semifinals

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