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hshtag · 3 months

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🦢 ─────── *ೃ ‍୨ POPULAR STARTAG (HASHTAG X STRARCRUSH, OT5) SHIPS !

STARCRUSH & HASHTAG are the most well-known artists currently under MELODY MEDIA and are known for being each others sibling group, their lore often intertwining or overlapping occasionally. These pairs have formed overtime and are fans most popular and most liked ships between the two groups, gaining both more shared popularity. There are multiple other ships that are included in Hashtag x Starcrush, but these few are the most popular.

INSPIRED BY THIS POST.

── *ೃ ‍୨ YUNHEE X YUAN / DOUBLE YU.

Yunhee & Yuan are the definition of Sun & Moon, Yunhee being the sun, Yuan being the moon. Fans believe that these two are the best duo between the two groups because of all the content put out from the two, for both fandoms, and wish that more people payed attention to their friendship. It’s mostly a marketing scheme Melody Media made to promote the groups better but their humor is what mostly attracts people.

FAN FAVORITE MOMENT …

“Welcome back to the DOUBLE YU cam where I, Kim Yunhee, film clips of Wang Shanyuan, also known as Yuan, for free! Solid deal, right?” The shaky camera flips to show Yuan, glaring silently, looking ahead of him, seemingly frustrated. The camera zooms in on his face. “As you can see, we’re backstage just before a collab stage between both our groups, and Yuan over here, isn’t very happy.” He scowls at her words, swatting the camera away.

“Get that out of my face before I lob it at you.” He grumbles, turning away. “Hey, I don’t appreciate empty threats, Wang. As I was saying, he’s not very happy cause we’re performing his least favorite Hashtag song, Talk & Talk.” She attempts to stifle a laugh as she continues to zoom into the elder boy’s face. “Please explain to the viewers why you are a hater of Talk & Talk?” Her finger enters the frame, nudging Yuan’s shoulder.

“I don’t hate it, It’s just got too many complicated moves and I’m tired.” The camera zooms out at this, her hand still shaky. “Ooh, you heard it here first everyone, Talk & Talk is terrible to dance on stage to because it’s got ‘too many complicated moves’, as said best from our favorite, Yuan.” He blinks up at her from his chair, reaching his hand up to ruffle her hair in an attempt to annoy her. “Yuan! Listen the only person you’ll be angering, is my hair stylist.”

Yunhee slaps his hand away, the camera focusing on the floor instead before she remembers its existence and flips it back round to have her face in frame. “That’s it for the DOUBLE YU cam today, if you have any questions or queries, please message my melodytalk account. Thank you for watching DOUBLE YU cam, stay tuned for the next cam and wish us luck during our performance!” She says, smiling as she waves the camera off with Yuan standing awkwardly behind her, rolling his eyes.

── *ೃ ‍୨ MINSEO X DAE / MINDAE.

Minseo & Dae were initially paired up on a variety show for a very long time, thus causing them to also be paired up by the company for practically everything you could think of and have now become seemingly, closer. Fans say they’re only friends for convenience, which is technically true, but others truly believe they gradually became better friends since it didn’t look like they were as close as they were now, previously.

FAN FAVORITE MOMENT …

“I think i’m finally finished!” Minseo said, clasping her hands together in celebration. The live seemed to be very active, with comments comments coming in every few seconds, making it difficult for Minseo to choose a question to answer without her Manager getting upset. “I feel like i’m getting older and older, but thank you all for joining my birthday live.”

“Yes, everyone sent me happy birthday wishes, I think the earliest person was Annie, but she’s always up when she should be sleeping so i was grateful, just not surprised.” Minseo laughed along with her words, fixing the birthday hat placed on her head. “Actually, one person forgot to say happy birthday to me, he’s a bit late but we’ll see what excuse he has for his lateness.” She grins.

Minseo picks up the Ipad on the table and continues to answer more questions, speaking about random topics when her phone begins to vibrate. “Oh! See? I told you guys he would call in the middle of the live, let’s see what he has to say.” Minseo laughs before she answers the call. “Hello?” there’s a small pause. “I didn’t forget to wish you a happy birthday! The message sent late, I told you my phone’s broken!” Dae says desperately, in an attempt to redeem his actions.

“Not true, ‘cause it says it was sent at 2:33pm and I started my live at 2:20pm.” Minseo folded her arms over her chest, grinning once again. “Okay, fine you caught me but it was a pretty good lie, right?” she scoffed, holding back laughter. “No it wasn’t Dae, now if that’s all, i’ll talk to you later.” Her fingers hovered over the decline button when Dae yelled out. “Wait! Happy birthday, Seo.” She smiled softly, commenting a quick ‘thank you’ before ending the call and continuing her live.

── *ೃ ‍୨ YOORA X THEO / YOOREO.

Theo & Yoora are the most popular Startag ship to date, always being paired together whenever they both feature on things ranging from variety shows to constantly posting on their instagram stories when they can. Some argue and say that their friendship is strictly promotional but others say that it’s clearly a true friendship between the two and that they have a strong bond. They also appear to hang out the most, more than other ships included in the groups.

FAN FAVORITE MOMENT …

Yoora holds Theo’s wrist as they walk through the hallways together, holding a camera in one hand, previously splitting up with their group members to form small groups of two in order to complete their mission for the variety show. They make a sharp turn and enter a room with a few desks and chairs decorating the space. Once they do the door closes and Yoora shrieks at the loud noise.

“That scared me.” She mumbles slowly as Theo chuckles at her sudden reaction when her hold on his wrist tightens out of pure fear. The room is dim without any lighting but is extremely spacious with drawers everywhere. Yoora points to one of the drawers and asks Theo to look through it, doing the same to another drawer on the opposite side.

She first looks through the top and bottom two drawers and checks the middle compartment finding a small key inside, nearing the corner of the empty area. “Have you found it?” Theo asks impatiently, turning around to face his partner. She nods, motioning for him to follow her out of the room.

They open the door and rush into the main entrance of the hallway when a man dressed in dark clothing and a frightening mask appears in front of them. Yoora screams and attempts to run away, tripping over herself but Theo manages to catch her in time, still laughing at her as they run away from the masked man.

Yoora stops to catch her breath, “Please remind me next time to never say yes when the company asks me to star in a horror show, because i will never do something like this again,” She groans, quickening her pace as Theo walks beside her, laughing even louder at this.

── *ೃ ‍୨ LILING X SUNDAY / SUNLING.

Basically the serious + unserious duo. Liling is always joking around, being way too hyper and Sunday is the one who looks at her weird for doing so, but still cares for her nonetheless. The media sees Sunday as a spoiled and stuck up person, but when with Liling she is easily more liked, despite Liling being the more preferred one out of the two due to Sunday’s behavior. They’re another very popular ship, but they’re very known individually and have too much content together whether it be any type of video footage or hundreds of monthly photos of them.

FAN FAVORITE MOMENT …

The camera currently points upwards, towards the ceiling of the room as shuffling and a few muffled voices can be heard. Liling picks up the camera, still directed upwards, and waves eagerly before placing it down on a table. The shot shows Liling and Sunday sitting on a small couch together. Liling’s knees are pressed against her chest and she wraps her arms around them for support. Sunday turns her head slightly to look at her silently and the pair suddenly burst out into loud laughter. Liling points to her goggles, worn for aesthetic purposes, with the tip of her charm-decorated nails as she speaks, “They’re pretty cute, right?” She signals the question towards Sunday and she nods blankly.

“Anyways, we’re about to go on stage so wish us luck!” Sunday says, smiling as she animatedly talks to the camera. She leans in to hug Liling as they both raise their hands to signalize cheering themselves on. Liling pauses for a moment and then reaches over to pull out a pair of similar goggles from behind her back to give to Sunday. “Here. We’ll look better if we’re matching! Okay now seriously, bye guys!” They both wave excitedly and the clip fades out.

── *ೃ ‍୨ CLEM X BONNIE / CLONNIE.

Everyone’s (second) favorite and most underrated duo in all of Startag history! Clem and Bonnie are most likely, and naturally the closest compared to others. They’ve known each other for a very short amount of time, but Clem is also known to be the least friendly person you could ever meet so Bonnie must be very special to her. They have the most amount of on-screen interactions and always speak about each other, whatever the context is. CLONNIE is also known for being extremely chaotic when put together, and always being the loudest no matter what room they're in.

FAN FAVORITE MOMENT …

The clip was featured in a Hashtag Behind the Scenes Episode, taken by Reiko. Reiko is talking about the collab stage both Hashtag and Starcrush have just performed and in the background you can see Bonnie and Clem talking to each other whilst Clem fixes Bonnie’s stage outfit and brushes her hair out of her face. In the next clip, Bonnie reaches out to hug Clem whilst still talking to the other and most likely exchanging praise for their performance. Later, they come into frame, holding hands and waving at the camera with their free hands. Reiko notices and points this gesture out, they both simply shrug and laugh.

#👾 ˖ ࣪ 𓂃 tag us ! “ development. “#fictional idol community #fictional idol oc #fictional kpop idol #ficnetfairy #fake kpop addition #fake kpop group #fake kpop member #fictional idol group #fake kpop company #fake kpop gg

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boysplanetrecaps · 1 year

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Boys Planet Episode 11: Recap and Guide

Hey, fellow Star Creator! Are you ready to have your heart smashed to smithereens? …. No? Me either. In fact, I'm late getting this recap to you because it was hard to type with my heart next to me in a basin of saline solution. But I managed.

Let’s go!

At 0:38, we start off with the boys hanging out at their dorms after their third mission, high fiving each other and expressing some anxiety about the upcoming eliminations. They have to pack to go home now for a while. The staff has set up a photo booth for them to make some memories. In case anyone thinks that there’s animosity between Woongki and Zhuang Shai Bo, there definitely isn’t.

The trainees go back back home, awaiting the next elimination ceremony.

Pretty sure that’s Ricky, just being mysterious and painting roses in a graffiti covered studio, because how else would Ricky spend his time when he’s not performing?

We spend a little time with Han Yujin and his very popular pretty mother. We also see Keita and Kum Junhyeon hanging out with Eunho from Younite and Hwi from Ciipher -- it seems that Junhyeon used to be a trainee at Rain company and trained with some or all of the Ciipher, which explains how they both know Hwi, but I’m not sure the impossibly faced Eunho fits in (seriously, who has a face like that? He looks like a Bratz doll come to life, in a good way). I also don’t know how we never knew that Junhyeon and Keita have been friends this whole time??? They’re just out having a meal and talking about how young Kum Junhyeon was when they used to train together. We see a lot of other stuff, including Kim JiWoong at a dog cafe, even though he’s apparently allergic to dogs. They’re all visiting with friends and family.

Then we see the guys all packing to go back to Planet Camp, even though many of them know that they probably won’t make it through this elimination ceremony. It’s pretty sad. But remember, they’re all going to be ok, right, team? A lot of them are signed with good companies and will probably debut in 2025, if not sooner. So deep breaths. It’s ok!

Then we visit with Park Hanbin, who is wearing a very soft looking blue sweater, as if anticipating future MNET shows. He says he’s worried about not being able to debut. Park Hanbin, you silly goose. You’re going to debut whether or not you make it into Bepler. Listen to BPR Noona. I know of what I speak.

6:15 Now it’s time for the elimination ceremony!

So, I actually watched the live streaming ceremony, which popped up on my phone as I was getting ready to go to sleep. Cannabis is legal where I live and so I might have been particularly ready to close my eyes, you know? But I watched, my eyes blinking heavily, because I wanted to know! The things the boys were saying weren’t translated, so I was only able to catch the gist. Also, the live broadcast was just a raw feed of them, and without the editing and background music, it felt like I was watching a first rehearsal.

Anyway, as usual, we start with the boys backstage talking about how nervous they are -- us too, guys -- and then coming out in small groups based on their most recent challenge mission. They do various kinds of schtick, and once their whole team is out they do a combined schtick. It looked heckin’ awkward in the live broadcast, but edited down it looks much better.

Here’s the order they come out:

Kim Tae Rae, Na Kamden, and Zhang Shuai Bo (Switch)

Keita, Park Hanbin, and Yoon Jongwoo (Switch)

Wang Zi Hao, Ollie, and Haruto (Supercharger)

Woongki, Takuto, Seo Won (Supercharger)

Zhang Hao and Lee Jungheyon (Over Me)

Ricky, Chen Kuan Jui, Jay (Over Me)

Sung Hanbin and Han Yujin (Say My Name)

Yoo Seung Eon, Seok Matthew, and Kim Ji Woong (Say My Name)

Hui (Lee Hoe Taek), Hiroto, and Lee Seung Hwan (En Garde)

Kim Gyuvin, Kum Junhyeon, Park Gunwook (En Garde)

And who is their Star Master this time? In the live broadcast, she stood with her back to the camera for just a few seconds and then came in, but of course, in the edited version, there’s 15 minutes of guessing first.

But it’s Jeon Somi!

I would impale myself on those spikes every time I moved slightly, but she makes it look good.

If you’re not familiar with Jeon Somi, she is a successful soloist who went through the reality show gamut. First she was on a show called Sixteen, a reality competition show that created the kpop giants Twice (you know, the ones who sing “Feel Special”). She didn’t make the lineup of Twice, but she got pretty popular from being on the show. Then she was on the first season of Produce 101, the precursor of Girls Planet/Boys Planet, and ended up pretty much killing it, taking first place in the final episode and becoming the “center” of project group IOI (pronounced “eye-oh-eye”). Check out their song Very Very Very if you want to see what IOI is like.

After IOI disbanded, Somi became a soloist. I love her song Birthday -- my fella doesn’t like much kpop, but for whatever reason he loves Birthday. (He specifically loves how she she says “eyyy”.) Despite it being a pretty great song, Birthday wasn’t a huge hit because she was “f a a t “ at the time (she absolutely wasn’t, and even if she was, it shouldn’t matter, but people can really be The Worst, and also her stylist didn’t know how to dress a young woman with actual boobs). Anyway she has other songs now, like Dumb Dumb, and she’s frighteningly skinny now, so she’s a lot more successful. I think she’s always been a sparkly fun person. I wish she’d given her cue cards a bit of a read before she came out on stage, but… whatever. Oh, and if you’re wondering, she’s 22, half Korean and half white, and was born in Canada.

The boys go crazy when they realize it’s Somi -- Kamden says he won’t be able to sleep tonight, and a few of the others talk about how tall she is. She’s 5’8, which is fairly tall for a girl, especially in Korea.

She reads some usual stuff off a cuecard, and then adds, “It’s not easy being on a survival show, is it? I remember HATING this studio myself” (as in, when she was on Produce 101). The boys give her some serious snaps.

We find out that people in 182 countries voted a total of 31,750,293 votes, and that trainees ranked 1 through 18 will survive. We also find out that during the first phase of the announcement, they’ll only be announcing trainees from 11 through 17 inclusive, which is only seven people, so this is really silly.

After that, in the live broadcast, Somi said something that MNET translated thusly: “I know how much effort and sweat they have put into this far because not only I but so many world star creators are sending their cheers to them. Believe in your time and the sweat dedicated, and get with it to the end.” That part didn’t make it into the final airing, as far as I can tell, but I think it’s funny. She read it at top speed, sounding like a bored flight attendant reading the same safety instructions for the millionth time, and not looking up from the cue cards once. Maybe that’s why they didn’t air it.

Anyway -- so now that the stakes have been established, we bring up two teams to start with: Switch and Engarde.

First Round of Eliminations

Here are the 12 trainees who are waiting to hear their fate, in order of their rank in episode 8:

6 Kim Gyu Vin Love Me Right - K / Love Killa/ En Garde

7 Kim Tae Rae Back Door - K/ Man in Love/ Switch

8 Keita Kill This Love - G/ Zoom / Switch

9 Park Gunwook Kill This Love - K/ Tomboy/ En Garde

10 Kum Jun Hyeon Back Door - K /Gang / En Garde

11 Hui Love Me Right - K / Tomboy /En Garde

13 Park Hanbin Hot Sauce - K / Law/ Switch

15 Yoon Jong Woo Back Door - K /Home/Switch

20 Na Kamden Back Door - G /Law /Switch

21 Lee Seung Hwan Danger - K/ Gang /En Garde

23 Zhang Shuai Bo Back Door - G/ Feel Special /Switch

28 Hiroto Very Nice - G/ Rush Hour/ En Garde

Somi announces that they’re going to announce the trainee who is 11th place, who got 2,365,604 points. It’s someone who did the killing part.

Then she gives the clue that the person in 11th has the family name “Park.” Well, that’s either Park Gunwook or Park Hanbin. Gunwook doesn’t want to be announced in 11th place; Hanbin would be delighted to be in 11th. So they sort of awkwardly grin at each other from across the aisle.

At 17:13 And then we find out that it’s Park Hanbin! So they’re both happy! Everyone is proud of him and a little surprised.

Look how happy Z-Bo is for him, and everyone else, too! That’s their fearless leader!

He says, “I won’t be able to be the shiniest star on Boys Planet, but I want to be the one and only star. Since this could be my last chance to shine the brightest, I’ll try to give a great performance.” Somi tells him he shines brightly already, and his gives her a huge, eye squinting grin. That’s doing to be a “happy memory for a sad day” for him -- one of those happy memories you return to when you need a boost. But hopefully Hanbin won’t have too many sad days in front of him.

Kum Junhyeon says to Park Gunwook, “he didn’t deserve the low ranking,” which is so true. Park Hanbin has been great since the first day. It was just hard to get to know his personality at first.

In the live broadcast, Somi asked him to show his “favorite facial expression,” and he did, but it’s all so weird. Does anyone else think that Kpop is getting a bit too codified? Can there be any mystery or general stage technique that isn’t parsed down into the tiniest bits? Anyway, that doesn’t make it into the final broadcast, which is all for the best

As Hanbin walks up to lonely seat 11 all by himself, Jay says, “Park Hanbin serves and deserves,” which is a great way of putting it.

Here’s the floor plan to help you figure out who is sitting where as the episode goes on-- that’s P-Hanbin in 11th.

This is where the live broadcast ended, so I was a mixture of happy (I was so stoned and sleepy and just wanted to close my eyes) and contented (at least my Park Hanbin is safe!) and furious (seriously, MNET?). But that’s all they gave us, the fuckwits.

Rank 12 is next, and it’s someone from En Garde, someone who stood out because of best friend energy, so that could be a lot of people.

We find out that it’s Park Gunwook! He’s fallen from 9th place to 12 -- everyone is shocked, and there’s a silent pause before people start applauding. That peach, Lee Seunghwan, who probably isn’t going to make it through this elimination, gives him a high five and tries to cheer him up, but he looks really sad.

Sad, but still cute! I like the ruffly hair.

Ok, everyone’s super surprised that he fell out of the top9, but I’m not that surprised, really. Don’t get me wrong, I still quite like Park Gunwook and am rooting for him to succeed in life. I’ve heard that some people dislike him, but I think he’s essentially a sweet guy who jokes around in uncomfortable situations. I also think he’s talented, with a loveable face, and I hope that Jellyfish will figure out some way to promote him if he doesn’t make the top 9 here.

That all said, he’s been showing the same part of himself again and again on the show. It’s that super masculine, powerful style of dancing that he always does, you know? I think people are just a tiny bit tired of the powerful powerhouse of power. I feel that way a tiny bit myself. I didn’t need him to do something super cute like Say My Name or something mega sexy like Over Me, exactly, but I think I would have liked to see him in something more like Switch -- something that requires a different, more lighthearted style of dancing. I think he can do it, so I hope that he can show that in the next episode.

Who’s next? Rank 15. Who could it be?

It’s someone known for his unique facial expressions, and it’s an extrovert, so it could be a lot of them -- not Keita, Hui, Hiroto, or Lee Seunghwan who are introverts, but any of the rest. (Is anyone else surprised to hear that Kim Taerae is an extrovert? He comes across as more of an introvert -- probably MNET editing striking again.) Anyway, it could be almost any of these six…

And at 22:45 we find out that it’s Yoon Jongwoo, who had been ranked 15th in episode 8.

Everyone is super surprised, including Jongwoo himself. I think he was expected to be eliminated after his ignominious treatment in episodes 9 and 10, but seriously, watch his fancam from Switch. He’s such a good dancer and performer. He’d be a benefit to any team he’d be on. I really hope he does a cover of Over Me and puts it up on Youtube. Just putting that out into the universe.

Kum Junhyeon and Kim Gyuvin have given up on casting spells.

Who’s next? Rank 16. Who could it be?

Park Hanbin mutters to himself, “This is daebak.” I should have mentioned this in an earlier recap, but for those of you newish to K-culture, “daebak” means something like “amazing” or “surprising” or even “cool.” Sometimes people just say “daebak” as an exclamation, in which case it means something like “wow!”

Everyone is anxious but Zhang Shuai Bo, who already knows that there is a 99.99999% chance that he is eliminated. He probably didn’t even pack anything in his suitcase. His new brown hair looks nice, though.

It’s someone who’s rank has fallen, and someone who never had a killing part. That could be a lot of people.

And at 25:49 we find out it’s Kum Junhyeon. (The Viki subtitler spells his name Guem -- the G/K sound in Korean is sort of halfway between G and K, so you see it either way depending on the transliteration system in use. And there’s a lot of variation in how people transliterate vowel sounds in Korean, which is one of the reasons I learned to read actual Korean sybmbols!)

Kum Junhyeon has dropped a lot from 10th place. I don’t have a specific theory as to why he dropped, but I kind of think that he’s stopped looking like one of the it-crowd, somehow. Put on a team with Gunwook and Gyuvin, he sort of faded into the background. I like Junhyeon a lot -- he’s charismatic, funny, open-hearted, and a really great singer -- and hope he debuts, but I don’t think he’s going to debut with Bepler. I think he knows that too -- he looks like he’s going to cry.

We hear from each of them.

Yoon Jongwoo says, “Since I came here without expecting anything, my memories here are so precious. I kept telling myself to be in the final, at least. And I ended up being here. I’d like to thank the Star Creators who support me one more time.”

Park Gunwook says, “I really wanted to be on stage one more time. My goal coming here was moving on to the final. Thankfully, I’d be able to join the final with such a high ranking. I’m relieved. I’d like to express my love and gratitude to the Star Creators who support me.”

Then Somi asks Gunwook to do something aegyo, and he chooses instead to do something kawaii instead. He says, in Japanese, things like “I love you! I like you a lot!” (The on-screen words are transliterated Japanese with Korean translation underneath.)

Side note: “aegyo” is a thing in K-culture. It’s when idols and other performers do over-the-top, cloying, saccharine cuteness as a… mini performance. It’s quite popular among Koreans, and is often requested by variety show hosts, but international audiences often don’t like it. Personally, I don’t like it, but it’s not my culture and it’s not my place to say “stop doing thing because I don’t like thing,” you know? Though I really do wish they’d stop.

Anyway, Gunwook speaking Japanese spurs Kum Junhyeon to do his speech in Japanese as well, and he sounds like a first semester Japanese student. It’s much cuter than his old “I am 5 years old” shtick, though, I’ll say that.

So, this group takes their seats, and everyone wonders, Who’s next? But there isn’t anyone else in this group.

Though the show plays danger music to make it seem otherwise, it’s fair to assume that Kim Gyu Vin, Kim Tae Rae, Keita, and Hui are probably in the top 10. But unless Na Kamden, Lee Seung Hwan, Zhang Shuai Bo, or Hiroto is ranked 18th, they’ve all been eliminated.

The trainees think that Lee Hoetek/Hui might have been eliminated, but that seems extremely unlikely. The people who’ve been voting for him as of episode 8 are probably going to keep voting for him -- he just hasn’t done enough to attract new people to him. I don’t think he’ll make the final lineup, but I don’t think he’ll be eliminated today.

Then Somi announces that she’s heard that “on a beautiful day, the trainees spent a day full of doubts and suspicion.”

Oh no.

It’s…

30:05 FILLER TIME

If you’re not into Kpop -- and even if you are a little into it -- you may not know about the whole ecology that surrounds idol groups. There are these variety shows, such as After School Club and Weekly Idol, shows where idols come on and get made fun of and forced to do silly things, like dance to their songs at 2x speed, or chicken fight, or answer trivia questions, or whatever the show feels like doing to them.

There’s also a custom of idols creating content specifically for their fans, to hold up their side of the parasocial relationship. They joke around, they play games, they cook or eat food, and most importantly, they talk to the camera like it’s their girlfriend and talk about how much they miss their fans and want to see them again. This stuff makes me uncomfortable, but I know a lot of people like it.

Anyway, all the “filler” stuff we see on Boys Planet is a good introduction to the kind of content you often see on shows or videos like these. As such, even though it’s filler, it’s actually an audition for a big part of the job that they’ll be doing as idols. Plenty of idols are known as much for their reality show appearances as for their performance skills (if not more so).

That said, there isn’t a lot to say about this stuff -- it’s just cute fan service. Here’s a super quick recap:

The boys gather outside at an area with big platform tents, on what must have been a lovely sprint day. Park Hanbin is wearing that same soft looking blue sweater, and Kim TaeRae is wearing a sweatshirt that says Thrasher on it, with just enough dark tape over the logo that they don’t have to blur it. My 17 year old self fainted dead away when she saw that Thrasher logo. Is there anything cuter than a skater boy? (Other than my fella, who is the cutest boy of all boys.)

The trainees are told they will have to dress like cute animals and spend a self-sufficient day in the forest - - which is complete bullshit, but that’s ok.

First, they have to put on loose pajama pants without using their hands -- which is an excuse to help each other and touch each other’s crotchal areas with their feet and teeth -- in order to choose which team gets to wear which animal outfit. That part is actually pretty fun to watch, especially when Chen Kuan Jui uses his powers of stretchiness to get’er’done.

Once they get their animal outfit on (they’re just big loose onesie outfits), they’re all told that each team will have a “raccoon” in it (basically, like a mole -- someone who ruins everything) and that they have to figure out who it is. They have to go into a tent one by one to find out if they’re the raccoon or not -- it’s not as if they choose to be the mole. If the team can figure out who’s the raccoons amongst them, then everyone else wins the prize, but if they don’t, the raccoons win the prizes. The stakes are high.

Say My Name comes in first and chooses unicorn.

Switch comes in second and chooses something red; I can’t tell what it is.

En Garde comes in 3rd and chooses dinosaur.

Supercharger comes in 4th and chooses something pink; I can’t tell what it is.

Over Me comes in last and chooses something black.

Over Me’s raccoon is revealed immediately as Lee Jeonghyeon, and he says, “thank you” and that he’s confident he can do it. Just more MNET spotlighting him to try to get another K-group member in the top9 if possible.

They’re hungry and have to play a game where they spin around until they’re dizzy and have to poke at a board with ingredients written on it. The best things are in tiny boxes, which are hard to target. But most of the trainees get at least something decent for food.

Then they play another game to win dessert -- prizes range from shaved ice to “healthy tea” -- and this game is my least favorite Korean reality staple, “Scream in the dark.” It’s this game where they all wear huge headphones that block out most sound, and have to shout at each other and read each other’s lips. This game is played on all the idol shows, and it’s really not my favorite. Maybe it’d be more fun if I were a fluent Korean speaker…? Also, it’s obviously going to be hard for non native speakers from G-group.

This part goes on for approximately 3,791 years, so if you’d like to skip to the end of it, go to 49:18.

After that, the boys discuss who amongst them could be the raccoon (mole). We find out that each raccoon has a purple raccoon symbol stamped on his foot. So they choose who among them is the raccoon and then that person has to reveal their foot.

Though Over Me’s team seems to suspect Lee Jeonghyeon, they cast out Jay, almost as if they are the general public viewing the show. Of course, Jay is innocent.

Switch team picks Keita, but he’s innocent as well. Turns out the mole was Park Hanbin! Back when he found out that he had to be the mole, he said -- with his face hidden and voice distorted -- “I can’t lie!” and collapsed on the floor. But he was good at it after all! Have I mentioned lately that I really like Park Hanbin? Because I do.

Say My Name team picks Sung Hanbin, and he’s also innocent. Turns out it was really Han Yujin. Interestingly, when he was chosen as the mole, he said, “I’m good at this kind of thing.” A rare glimpse into the personality of Han Yujin.

Supercharger picked Wang Zi Hao, and he is in fact the mole.

En Garde team picked Kum Junhyeon, and he’s also innocent. Turns out the real mole was Park Gunwook.

The raccoons have won! Their prize is a variety of high fashion outfits -- in other words, their animal onesies. (Ten bucks says they all got to keep their onesies anyway.)

And that’s the end of the filler!

56:50 SECOND ROUND OF ELIMINATIONS

They joke about the game for a bit longer, and then go back to the eliminations.

Next up will be the other teams: Supercharger, Over Me, and Say My Name.

Ricky says to Jay, in English, “Let’s survive together.” Kim JiWoong leans over to Matthew and says, quoting from Love Killa, “Oh I’m sorry, did I make you anxious?”

Here’s everyone who’s up on the chopping block, in case you would like a refresher as to who is who. I’ve listed their most recent rank as well as their three challenge missions.

1 Sung Hanbin Love Me Right - K / Tomboy / Say My Name

2 Zhang Hao Kill This Love - G/ Tomboy/ Over Me

3 Han Yu Jin Back Door - K / Law / Say My Name

4 Seok Matthew Kill This Love - G/ Love Killa/ Say My Name

5 Kim Ji Woong Back Door - K /Love Killa /Say My Name

12 Jay Love Me Right - G/ Home /Over Me

14 Ricky Back Door - G/ Rush Hour /Over Me

16 Haruto Love Me Right - G / Zoom/ Supercharger

17 Yoo Seung Eon Very Nice - K Home Say My Name

18 Seo Won Very Nice - K Love Killa Supercharger

19 Wang Zi Hao Kill This Love - G Law Supercharger

22 Chen Kuan Jui Kill This Love - G Butterfly Over Me

24 Lee Jeong Hyeon Love Me Right - K Gang Over Me

25 Takuto Danger - G Rush Hour Supercharger

26 Cha Woong Ki Very Nice - K Feel Special Supercharger

27 Ollie Hot Sauce - G Zoom Supercharger

Who’s up first? 13th place. Who could it be?

Someone who’s noted for their talent (thanks, that’s unhelpful). It’s someone from Over Me. We see Park Hanbin with his hands folded, as if in prayer -- he’s hopeful it’ll be his WakeOne teammate, Lee JeongHyeon.

At 1:01:00, we find out it’s Jay.

We see that Jay’s Korean support is painfully low -- only 62,829 votes, while everyone else announced so far has had 200,000+ -- while his global support is super high -- 1,400,606 while no one else has broken into the millions. He’s a little sad because he’s dropped another spot, and it’s looking less and less likely that he’ll make top9 in the end.

Honestly, at this point, I think it’s better for Jay that he *not* debut in Bepler. Looking at what’s going on with Kepler, all the fan wars and stuff, I think he’s better of not in that kind of situation. Who wants to debut based on global vote and then have to go to fan meetings in Korea where literally no one acknowledges you? He’ll have a more fulfilling career using this as a spring board to make his own music and release it mostly online, the way that B.I. and Jackson Wang do. Let K-netz hate him all they want, and let him just sing in English like he’d probably prefer to do. I’d much rather have B.I.’s career than, say, Park Jihoon’s. (Though I do absolutely love all three of the songs I linked to, for the record. But Jihoon’s stylist noona deserves serious sanctions. His whole MV team does. Send them to the naughty step for a few hours to rethink their choices in life.) There’s life after Boys Planet and it doesn’t have to involve Bepler.

Who’s next? 14th place. Who could it be?

Someone indispensable -- so team Supercharger hopes it’s Haruto, as do we all, right? Haruto is everyone’s unproblematic fave.

At 1:02:34, we find out it’s Yoo Seungeon.

Yoo Seungeon is signed to Yuehua, along with current trainees Ricky, Zhang Hao, Han Yujin, Ollie, and Kim Gyuvin, and eliminated trainees Brian and Ji Yun Seo. He really is quite young to debut, and doesn’t really need to debut right now -- it seems quite likely that Zhang Hao and Han Yujin will make the final lineup, and Ricky and Gyuvin have a decent chance, so the Yuehua team that debuts in 2024 or 2025 will start off with a lot of momentum. It still can’t hurt for Seungeon to have more exposure, so it’s nice that he made it. He seems like a sweet kid and a genuine talent. All that said, I’m so worried about Haruto I can’t think straight.

Who’s next? 17th place. Who could it be?

Everyone is hoping that it’ll be themselves, and this is so painful. Cha Woongki tries to keep from hoping. The person is known for their rapping, so of course I’m hoping for Haruto, but there are a lot of rappers here.

Somi says that the person has two “ng” consonants.

Korean reading time! The little circles you see in Korean have a few different roles. Often, they’re silent, like when they come before a vowel. For example, the family name “Lee” (which is really pronounced more like Ee) is spelled 이, as you see above on Lee Jeonghyun’s name. (That straight up and down line thing is the -ee part. You also see it in the final syllable of Woongki’s name -- 기.) When you see the circle thingy at the top of a name, it’s more like “w-” sound. When it’s at the bottom of a word, it’s a -ng sound. That’s why you see it in the top and bottom of 웅 for Woongki (and for Kim JiWoong, also) and in 왕 Wang. You also see it in the bottom of Lee Jeonghyun’s second syllable.

Of course everyone has tons of little circles in their names since they do so much work in Korean writing -- even before I could read Korean I could always tell Korean from other writing systems by the little circles.

Who could it be in 17th place? At 1:05:05 we find out it’s It’s Lee Jeonghyeon. He burst into tears, which seems to surprise his fellow WakeOne trainees Park Hanbin and Kim TaeRae. Of course people are happy for him but sad that they (or their other friends) didn’t survive.

We get told that without the benefit, he would have been in 19th place.

The surviving trainees get to make a speech.

Jay says, in slow English (probably to make it easier for non-native speakers to understand): "To all my friends and family watching from all the way back in the states, I just want to say thank you so much for tuning in every week and screaming at the television.” Somi, who is Canadian and fluent in English, says “Blow them a kiss!” and he does.

Yoo Seung Eon says, “First of all, I never imagined that I’d survive in a high rank of 14, so I feel like I’m dreaming. I have no words to describe how I feel right now. Also, thanks to my Say My Name teammates who created the greatest performance, I really love you.”

Lee Jeonghyeon says, “At every survivor announcement, I was always on the verge of disqualifications. So today, I thought that I wouldn’t be able to make it. But I’m really grateful to the Team Over Me who practiced hard, so we could get benefits.” Then he says, in extremely halting Chinese and Japanese, things like “I love you” and “thank you”, with Hiroto and other trainees helping him from the sidelines.

They take their seats, and Lee Jeonghyeon regains his cool.

1:09:00 THIRD ELIMINATION SEGMENT - TOP 10

So, let’s look at the list of trainees, in their episode 8 ranking order. Those marked in green have already been seated in 11th through 17th place.

1 Sung Hanbin 2 Zhang Hao 3 Han Yu Jin 4 Seok Matthew 5 Kim Ji Woong 6 Kim Gyu Vin 7 Kim Tae Rae 8 Keita 9 Park Gunwook 10 Kum Jun Hyeon 11 Hui 12 Jay 13 Park Hanbin 14 Ricky 15 Yoon Jong Woo 16 Haruto 17 Yoo Seung Eon 18 Seo Won 19 Wang Zi Hao 20 Na Kamden 21 Lee Seung Hwan 22 Chen Kuan Jui 23 Zhang Shuai Bo 24 Lee Jeong Hyeon 25 Takuto 26 Cha Woong Ki 27 Ollie 28 Hiroto

Speaking of falling out and making room, Somi reminds us all that Park Gunwook has fallen out of top 9, leaving a space for a new person. From context, the only person it could be is Ricky -- unless in some weird world it’s Hui. I just don’t think Hui is doing well enough on the show to make top9. So yeah, given the obsessive nature of of Ricky’s fandom, I’m assuming he’s a lot of people’s one-pick and will probably be in the top 10, along with Sung Hanbin, Zhang Hao, Han Yu Jin, Seok Matthew, Kim Ji Woong, Kim Gyu Vin, Kim Tae Rae, Keita, and Hui. I’m trying to think, could any of these have fallen out of the top 10, leaving room for Haruto? And I don’t think so. I think Matthew will have fallen a few ranks, but I don’t think he’s fallen out of the top 10. And Hui -- I think he’s more nervous than he has to be. But we’ll see.

Next up, we find out the “candidates for 9th place”, ie, the people ranked 9th and 10th. And it’s Hui and Matthew.

Hui is relieved, as he’s been thinking the whole time that he’s been eliminated, while Matthew is resigned to what to him is bad news. Matthew was ranked 2nd and then 4th, so falling to 9th or 10th is a steep drop. I really wish he’d just been sweet and nice about the part switch, because he did a great job in Say My Name -- I think the best in the group -- and he definitely lost some fans. I’ll add, however, that he might have lost those fans anyway as we moved from pick-3 to1-pick. The dynamics always change a lot when we get to the 1-pick.

Matthew and Hui come up to the front to find out who came in 9th -- and it's Matthew.

Matthew says, “I want to thank all the Star Creators for allowing me to stay in the Top 9. Hanbin hyung, Ji Woong Hyung, Yujin-ee and Seung Eon-ee, I was just so happy to be with you. I want to become more cool like Hanbin hyung and JiWoong hyung. Thank you, and I also hope we’ll all be successful together.” Really putting on those retro-rockets, huh? I hope it helps -- I think he’s a great performer and would make a good member of Bepler.

Hui says, “I came worrying that I may have to go home today. I really want to thank the Star Creators for allowing me to get such an unexpectedly high rank. I also wanted to thank my En Guard team members who’ve worked so hard with me. I would like everyone to stay with me to the end, and although I cannot give amazing benefits like Boys Planet, I will becomes an amazing Hoe Taek and I will show you a good side of me.”

As Matthew goes to take his seat, you can hear Yoo Seungeon rush over to give Matthew-hyung a hug. Jay also comes over and says something in English but I can’t quite make it out.

Next is 8th place. Who could it be? Well it’s one of Ricky, Han Yu Jin, Kim Ji Woong, Kim Gyu Vin, Kim Tae Rae, or Keita. And at 1:16:42, we find out it’s Ricky!

Ricky says, “It’s so cool to enter the Top9 for the first time. I can’t believe it. Honestly, the sofa looked so comfy that I wanted to try sitting in it at least once. I will show an even more improved version of me during the final stage.” The show makes a big deal out of how “sofa” is probably not a Korean word or the right word for these chairs, but, whatever, everyone knew what he meant.

We hear Jay call “Ricky!” and it’s honestly very pleasant to hear someone pronounce it like that. (Not going to say “correctly,” just… correct to my ears, you know?)

Side note: with his hair styled down like this, I actually don’t recognize him. I mean, I know it’s him, but my brain doesn’t believe me.

Now it’s time to find out who is in 7th place. Well it’s one of Han Yu Jin, Kim Ji Woong, Kim Gyu Vin, Kim Tae Rae, or Keita.

And at 1:18:39, we find out it’s Kim Gyuvin.

I like the return to a messy mop of hair.

He says, “I want to thank you all for allowing me to end up in such a high rank. Through this final stage, I will prove to you why I need to debut.” Then he adds in uncertain Japanese, “I will become a more improved GyuVin. I love you.” Hiroto coaches him from the other side of the room.

I mean, I know that that interim ranking showed him really low, but it never occurred to me for a second he’d fall below 17. I think he might have been worried, though. He’s gotten some hate online. He sits down in the comfy chair and gives that weird smile of his.

Next is 6th place. Who could it be? Well, it’s one of Han Yu Jin, Kim Ji Woong, Kim Tae Rae, or Keita. Because it’s someone whose rank improved, it’s either TaeRae or Keita.

At 1:21:17, we find out it’s Keita. Nice! I knew he’d make it. I’m glad to see his rank improving. His Korean support is low, but his global support is insane. He’s the first person to outscore Jay in the global vote. (He outscored Jay’s Korean support, as well.)

Keita says, “I am just so happy and grateful to be able to move onto the final. I will keep doing my best.” Then he bows. That’s Keita for you.

Next is 5th place. Well, it’s either Han Yu Jin, Kim Ji Woong, Kim Tae Rae, or maybe Zhang Hao. The person is popular with teenagers, and his charming point is his shy smile. TaeRae doesn’t have a shy smile, but Yujin does.

At 1:22:58 we find out it’s Han Yujin, who at previous eliminations was 4th and 3rd.

Lee Jeonghyun turns around to look up at Park Hanbin and wonder out loud, “What place is TaeRae in?” Again, all three of them are signed together at WakeOne. And hopefully will all debut together ASAP.

Han Yujin says, “To the Star Creators who have shown me much love ever since Na Bina was released, I will work even harder from now on.” Then he adds in Chinese, “Hello. I’m 17-year old Han Yujin. I love you all. You’re so pretty. Thank you.” It doesn’t sound too bad to me but I don’t know Chinese.

Somi teases him about his legendary “Noona, I love you” thing and she asks him to say it to her. (Other trainees watching, including Kum Junyheon and Kim Gyuvin, mutter that they’d be happy to tell her that too.) He says, “Somi-Noona, I love you!” and Somi melts. It’s actually pretty cute, even though I have very little patience for this shiz.

As he goes to his seat, he’s mobbed by some of his friends, including his Yuehua teammate Ricky, who jokingly asks him to say “I love you hyung” to him, and his other Yuehua teammate Kim Gyubin, who seems happier for Yujin than he was for himself.

Next is 4th place, who only scraped past 5th place by a few thousand points -- I’ll do a point analysis at the end of this recap -- and it’s obviously Kim Ji Woong or Kim Tae Rae, or maybe Zhang Hao.

Almost immediately we find out it’s Tae Rae.

Hair stylist noona was really feeling the ruffley bang look today, wasn’t she?

TaeRae says, “To my Star Creators who have always supported me, thank you so much. I will do my best to repay you for your love and support with an even better performance on the final stage.” Then Somi makes him do a big weird laugh and it’s… weird. But he’s still cute.

He goes to take his place, and someone runs to hug him -- I’m pretty sure it’s his WakeOne teammate Park Hanbin.

Somi says she’s going to announce top 3, and Chen Kuan Jui says, in a big, bright, almost-not-sarcastic voice, “who on earth could it be? I’m so curious,” Big snaps for that, CKJ.

Obviously it’s Kim JiWoong, Zhang Hao, and Sung Hanbin.

Ok, so the show reminds us that the top placing trainee in the final episode will get to do a solo song on the group’s debut album, and we’re shown a clip of Kepler performing, with a focus on the first-place-winning Kim Chaeyoung. Thing is, though Chaeyoung came in first (and though she’s talented and sweet and I like her), she is definitely not the most popular member of Kepler these days. I checked a few different random rankings and she was ranked anywhere from 4th to last depending on which list I looked at. She has fans, definitely -- I’m sure plenty of people like her! -- I’m just saying that she’s not the runaway queen of the group or anything. Focusing on her just reminds us that it doesn’t matter AT ALL who comes in first, not even on the final episode, and definitely not now, a week out from first.

(Side note: Another example of this is Ni-Ki from Enhypen. He finished in fourth place in the show I-Land, and spent some time in the unfavored zone for the trainees, but is now the runaway king of the group, with his fancams showing millions of views. The public who votes for reality show trainees aren’t necessarily representative of the entire Kpop viewing population.)

Despite the show basically shoving that fact in our face, it continues to act as if we really care who will specifically will be first, second, and third. Also I think we all know who is third. But WHO COULD IT BE?

At 1:28:49, we find out it’s Kim JiWoong.

He says, “I am grateful and think of it as an honor to be able to provide comfort and happiness to others. Thank you.” I actually adore this guy. He’s a complete mystery of a human and I adore that.

Then there’s some dumb bit where Somi makes him do aegyo and it goes on way too long.

So now it’s time to announce who came in first between Zhang Hao and the impossibly, ridiculously perfect Sung Hanbin.

They say a lot of the normal, “what if confident, but polite?” type things, and then we find out that apparently Sung Hanbin helped Zhang Hao with the “Over Me” choreography to add some waacking elements. They weren’t even on the same team, and Hanbin still took time out of his schedule of providing solar power with his smile to go help his friend.

And at 1:34:19, we find out that Hanbin has taken first again.

He says, “Well, for this past Artist Battle mission, there was such a big benefit on the line, so I wasn’t really able to predict this. Please continue to cheer for me so I can run for the finish line, shining as bright as I can. My Say My Name members, I love you.”

Hao says, in his halting way, “I am so grateful and happy to be able to rank 2nd place again. I will continue running without stopping. Please continue being happy through my passion.” Then he adds in extremely halting Japanese, “motto ganbarimasu” -- kind of “I’ll keep going/ I won’t give up.” His vote tally shows that he is more than 800,000 points ahead of 3rd/4th/5th place (which are almost a tie).

But it’s nothing compared to Sung Hanbin, who is more than a million points ahead of Hao.

Sung Hanbin is dominating first place in a way we’ve never seen on the produce series. To put this in perspective:

In Produce 101 season 1, Jeon Somi and Kim Sejeong traded off between 1st and second, with Somi actually falling to 4th place at the 2nd elimination before finally finishing in first.

In Produce 101 season 2, Park Jihoon, Kim Jonghyeon, and Kang Daniel held first place at different times.

In Produce 48, Sakura, Lee Gaeun, and Jang Wonyoung held first place at different times.

In Produce X 101, Kim Yohan and Kim Wooseok traded off in first place.

In Girls Planet 999, Yurina was in first place in ep 5 and didn’t even make it into Kepler. Shen Xiaoting was in first place for most of the rest of the time, and then only made it into Kepler in 9th place, and Kim Chaeyhun came in first despite not ever ranking above 8th place before that.

Granted, all four Produce seasons were known for straight up vote rigging, so maybe one person really was the most popular the whole time. But regardless, Sung Hanbin’s DOMINATION of first place is completely unprecedented in previous seasons of this show, with or without vote rigging. If he comes in first on Friday morning, it will be something we’ve never seen before on this show.

Anyway, our top 9 is seated. Hey, if this is the debuting team, I’ll definitely follow them.

1:36:26 Chair 18

This is the part where they announce who is ranked 18th, ie, the very last survivor. I’m not going to go in much depth here because this part isn’t fun to recap, you know?

Haruto notices that Supercharger is still completely seated in the gallery -- no one has made it through the elimination. That’s the worst.

Here’s who’s left, with their episode 8 rank.

16 Haruto 18 Seo Won 19 Wang Zi Hao 20 Na Kamden 21 Lee Seung Hwan 22 Chen Kuan Jui 23 Zhang Shuai Bo 25 Takuto 26 Cha Woong Ki 27 Ollie 28 Hiroto

Who’s most likely to take that last spot? I hope Haruto, but really it could be any of them other than Z-Bo, Takuto, and Ollie, in my opinion. Let’s find out.

Somi announces the FOUR candidates for spot 18 -- that’s so cruel.

They announce Wang Zihao, Na Kamden, Cha Woongki, and Hiroto -- representing China, USA, Korea, and Japan.

Of course, this means that Haruto, Seo Won, Lee Seung Hwan, Chen Kuan Jui, Zhang Shuai Bo, Takuto and Ollie all have been eliminated.

I can’t believe it about Haruto. The way he hangs his head just breaks my heart. I don’t even want to screen cap it. I didn’t see it coming so it was just a punch in the gut.

I’m sad for all of them, really, but aside from Haruto, I’m also especially sad for Lee Seunghwan, who, you may not know, already went through the reality show ringer once and was a member of 1the9, a group whose promotions were severely impacted by covid-19. Poor Seunghwan -- luck just never seems to be on his side, though he’s handsome, sweet, and talented.

Side note: I was all up to date and ready to get this recap out on Saturday or something, but I just… didn’t… want to write it. I watched the whole thing taking quick notes to use as the basis of my recap later, and when Haruto was eliminated I just fast forwarded to find out who did survive and then turned the episode off and didn’t come back for several days. So if that’s how you’re feeling about it, me too. I guess maybe Haruto didn’t look like a viable candidate, so people gave up? Or maybe people thought that other people would vote for him, that he’d be safe? It’s strange to me that Hiroto beat Haruto in the final ranking. Nothing against Hiroto at all, but I’m just surprised.

Anyway, let’s finish this.

21st place turns out to be Hiroto, the only eliminated member of En Garde. From his spot on stage, Park Gunwook mutters to himself, “If we’d just gotten 1st place….” A general to the end, worrying about his troops. I will hear no talk about Gunwook being “mean” or anything like that.

Hiroto says (in slow, careful Korean), “I didn’t get a good result because I was lacking, but…” (Woongki interrupts quietly, saying “that’s not true,” and Somi looks heartbroken) “...I am happy if the Star Creators were happy while cheering for me.” It’s a very sweet speech.

Somi says, “You are not lacking!” and Hiroto’s face lights up. She continues: “None of you are lacking! All of you here are amazing!” There, that’s my girl. That’s my Somi. 💓 She is so much more human than pretty much any judge or host we’ve had on the show so far -- well, Sunmi was great too, but she was barely there. Somi knows exactly how these trainees feel and relates to them as equals, even though she’s successful and they’re not there yet. I’m glad she’s here. I bet she made this easier for them.

Next we announce 20th place: It’s Woongki.

His final speech is at 1:39:55 and it’s great. He says, “When I said that I would appear on Boys Planet, people told me that what I want is different from what I can do, that my time is up, and that I would learn to face reality. But I feel like that’s not true. Through Boys Planet, I was able to learn more about my potential as Cha Woongki. Woongki boy is just beginning. Thank you!” and then with a bright smile, he bows. Yeah, Woongki!

Somi says, shaking a cue card in the air for emphasis, “Don’t give up on your dream!” And Woongki cheerfully says, “I won’t!”

Finally, we announce 18th place, which means announcing 19th place at the same time.

18th place turns out to be Na Kamden. Jay practically falls out of his chair in relief, and we see Z-bo’s face is lit up with happiness. Ollie gives him a congratulatory hug -- probably the whole English speaking crew got pretty close at the show. Other trainees gather to console Wang Zi Hao, who is taking it in stride, as he takes basically everything in life.

Kamden says, “Honestly, when I wasn’t called before, I was organizing my thoughts and emptied myself of expectations. But thank you so much for allowing me to stand on such a large stage as the final.” Then he adds in English, “Love you Mom!” and then in Korean says, “I made it to the final!”

We check in with Wang Zi Hao. he says, in Chinese, “I was grateful to be able to experience these times together with everyone. I will treasure the fact that I was able to make good memories with you all at this starting point of my life. Thank you.” He’s such a sweetheart. Haruto mentioned that Wang Zi Hao joined Supercharger voluntarily in order to help Haruto -- isn’t that sweet. There’s often a G R E A T A G E N C Y R E S H U F F L I N G following a show like this, so I’m hoping that WZH ends up signing at another agency so we can see more of him in the future.

Somi wishes the ten eliminated trainees the best, and we pan over them. Haruto seems to be having the worst time of it -- the rest saw it coming, at least.

Here is the complete final ranking -- filling in the last few spots with some help from the internet.

Sung Hanbin

Zhang Hao

Kim Jiwoong

Kim Taerae

Han Yujin

Keita

Kim Gyubin

Ricky

Seok Matthew

Hui

Park Hanbin

Park Gunwook

Jay

Yoo Seungeon

Yoon Jongwoo

Kum Junhyeon

Lee Jeonghyeon

Na Kamden

Wang Zihao

Cha Woongki

Hiroto

Haruto

Chen Kuan Jui

Lee Seunghwan

Seo Won

Ollie

Takuto

Zhang Shuai Bo

Sung Hanbin is 1,046,481 points* ahead of Hao, who is 816,760 points ahead of 3rd place. However, JiWoong, TaeRae, and Yujin are all within about 25,000 points of each other, making them virtually tied. Then there’s 432,355 points between Yujin and Keita, so that puts Keita down kind of a tier. Keita is only 51,928 points ahead of Gyuvin, making them almost tied. The next few ranks are all about 130k-150k apart from each other, like a stair case, but then there’s a big gap (311,148) between Matthew and Hui. But from Hui down to Na Kamden, they’re all pretty close together, like 6000-60,000 apart -- especially if you remember that Lee Jeonghyeon got that 200,000 point benefit.

*I say points because they’re not straight up votes, due to the K/G weighting thing.

What I’m saying is that unless something drastic happens, I think that Sung Hanbin and Hao will be 1-2 on Friday; JiWoong, TaeRae, and Yujin all look like locks as well, and from Keita down to Matthew, things could easily move around, but it’s not looking super-duper likely that many people from Hui down to Kamden will end up in the top 9 -- unless Park Hanbin continues his meteoric rise and Matthew continues his sharp fall. If you're curious, here's the ranking of the top 18 if only Korean votes decided things:

Sung Hanbin

Kim Tae Rae

Kim Gyu Vin

Han Yu Jin

Kim Ji Woong

Zhang Hao

Yoo Seung Eon

Na Kamden

Kum Jun Hyeon

Park Hanbin

Hui

Lee Jeong Hyeon

Ricky

Park Gunwook

Yoon Jong Woo

Seok Matthew

Keita

Jay

And here's the ranking if only Global votes decided things:

Keita

Zhang Hao

Sung Hanbin

Jay

Seok Matthew

Kim Ji Woong

Han Yu Jin

Ricky

Park Gunwook

Yoon Jong Woo

Kim Tae Rae

Hui

Kim Gyu Vin

Park Hanbin

Kum Jun Hyeon

Yoo Seung Eon

Lee Jeong Hyeon

Na Kamden

I'll let you draw your own conclusions from that.

So... the next phase is the one-pick vote. I could rant at length about how dumb the one-pick system is in terms of creating a sustainable group. Groups that are truly successful tend to have multiple members that are popular among fans. There’s a popular boy group that I personally like only 2 members of, so I really can’t consider myself a fan of that group. Meanwhile in Exo, I basically can’t pick a favorite because I really like almost all of them. So letting us vote for multiple members would tend to create a situation in which the group is all loved by all the fans.

The rest of the episode was the boys preparing for their next song, and I have to admit, I don’t much care about those two last songs. The performances happen AT the finale, once the audience has already voted, so there’s kind of no point to them.

Here are the two groups for the two songs:

Hot Summer Sung Hanbin Kim Taerae Kim Ji Woong Ricky Lee Jeong Hyeon Kim Gyuvin Han Yujin Keita Yoon Jongwoo

Jelly Pop Hui Yoo Seung Eon Zhang Hao Park Gunwook Kum Junhyeon Park Hanbin Jay Na Kamden Seok Matthew

Who knows, maybe I’ll recap the rest later, but I wanted to get this posted.

Hope you’re all doing well, and I hope that your one-pick makes it.

#boys planet #haruto #sung hanbin #park hanbin #seok matthew #hui #ricky boys planet #kim gyuvin #na kamden #zhang hao #wang zi hao

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lightaflme · 2 years

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— ☆ haneul’s relationship with svt (maknae line)

dokyeom ♡ neulkyeom

sun and moon, loving siblings, sunshine and sunshine protector

these two act like they are actual siblings! a protective older brother and his cute younger brother

kinda in a “excuse me, he asked for no pickle” way

“hi kyeomieeee” “hi neul hyunggggg”

using high pitched voices with each other

always hugging each other, haneul sometimes picks seokmin up while they’re hugging

haneul likes to argue that he technically “raised seokmin” even though they’re only two years apart. but haneul doesn’t care and seokmin doesn’t mind either, he is haneul’s other baby!

seokmin uses aegyo on haneul a lot, which he gives in to. not because he’s cute actually that’s one reason but because haneul absolutely despises aegyo and admires that seokmin can just act cute out of nowhere without cringing 😭

very popular haneul pairing <3

mingyu ♡ gyuneul

siblings, annoying best friends LMAOAO

mingyu may be taller, but that doesn’t mean haneul doesn’t scare him at times

“kim mingyu.” “haneul hyung?” “come here.” “why?” “give me a hug.”

always. always. always bickering.

haneul is always teasing mingyu too! mingyu fight back

he likes to tease mingyu by casually taking his things, hiding his belongings, etc

“it’s hot, i’m taking your water bottle” “wha- i was gonna drink that! give it back-“

always sulking at each other 😭

mingyu is also one of the members that forgets that haneul isn’t in the maknae line…

minghao ♡ neulhao

best friends

cafe dates, art museum dates, picnics, shopping dates, you name it!

minghao enjoys haneul’s company a lot especially when he isn’t being loud as hell but shhhh

“where are you going?“ “just gonna go out because i’m bored. don’t really have a plan-“ “and you never invited me?”

fashion kings

they kinda gossip with each other too LMAO

“hao, do you know what happened between jeonghan and seungkwan?” “oh i’ll tell you, come to my room” they actually ended up having an argument over something really stupid and neulhao were laughing their asses off

also a very underrated haneul ship</3

seungkwan ♡ hankwan

frenemies but not really

even the members wonder how they got along in the first place LMFAOO

but at the end of the day they’re just joking around and having fun with each other <3

always making fun of each other

like they’re always making up stuff about each other, especially on insomnia zero

“also seungkwannie you snore super loudly and it’s so ugl-“ “I AM GOING TO GET YOU KANG HANEUL. WE BOTH KNOW THAT IS NOT TRUE-” “I AM OLDER THAN YOU??“

but when they aren’t being literal enemies, seungkwan is very affectionate with him

they are each other’s no. 1 cheerleader!

vernon ♡ neulnon

chaotic friends

they have random 3am thoughts together

“do you think there’s an alternate universe where we absolutely hate each other and cannot stand each other despite being in the same group for so long” “yes we are currently in that universe” “…i’m going back to sleep” “wait nonie i’m just kidding come back i love you”

usually going on walks together and taking pictures of each other

haneul is probably one of vernon’s favorite hyungs, but we will never know

concerning, random texts at super random hours??

they usually send each other cat videos though

“haha this is so us” “i’m the dog that pushes the other dog. you’re the other dog”

chan ♡ channeul

siblings, kinda father and son??

3/3 of haneul’s babies trio

although out of jun, seokmin, and chan, haneul teases chan the most

“my nickname back in elementary was jimmy neutron because my head was big” “okay jimmy neutron, it still is 🙄” “WOW 🙄”

super supportive of each other though!

haneul says to stream dino’s danceologies or else he will rip your hair out. or bite all your fingers off. your choice

“lololol chan let me show you something” “what is i- i’m never talking to you ever again” it was a picture of mansae dino and emo mansae haneul together

masterlist hyung line maknae line

#kpop added member #kpop addition #kpop male oc #kpop oc #seventeen 14th member #seventeen added member #seventeen addition

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if-i-was-a-cucumber · 7 months

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gmmtv 2024 predictions!!!

the gmmtv 2024 presscon is in 3 days and will i be at school while it happens? yes. will i watch the livestream anyway? oh absolutely.

here’s my bingo card:

too lazy to explain most of my ideas but i’ll write some that i think need a bit more elaboration. explanations (and template) below the cut bc it got too long <3

parn nachcha x an our skyy 2 boy — i know this literally comes out of nowhere but y’all seem to have forgotten how much i love parn nachcha. i watched her in “why you… y me” and literally fell in love, she’s so pretty and talented and was so cute/endearing in that show. then her announcement as a new gmmtv talent, and she was in the “please be mine” MV, it literally made me scream. this is literally just wish fulfillment but i would cry if she got a drama with pond or joong or something

attempt to recreate the gemfourth magic — gmmtv would be silly if they didn’t try to put two mostly/completely brand new young actors together to try to re-make another young cash cow superstar CP. idk if it will work, but i’m sure they’ll try

season 2 of a 2022/3 BL — my response to the my school president season 2 rumors. me personally i’m not all that into the idea, but let me tell you the wonders a heartliming spin-off would do to my heart. also it just seems possible

mafia BL (w/at least one of the joylada) — idk but a lot of gmmtv actors have said something about wanting to be in a mafia BL. i think firstkhao and gemini all said somewhere they’d like a big-boss mafia role; as for the joylada, i just want to see clowns acting serious. y’all know phuwin or joong would slay a mafia boss

gem or fourth in a straight drama/CP — gem said in an interview he wanted to do a straight drama bc he wanted to see if people would ship them as hard as they ship geminifourth. also, their MVs were both straight. and they have massive individual fandoms as powerful as their ship fandom. and they’re super young. i can see gmmtv pairing gem or fourth with one of their new female actresses to try and boost their popularity, or just testing the waters with how possessive the geminifourth fandom is

firstkhao in a comedic/not heavy role — this is wish fulfillment. y’all know gmmtv can’t give our boys a break. the eclipse was super heavy. in moonlight chicken, alan (first) was literally just *emotionally draining the Character™* and gaipa (khao) was just there to get rejected by jim and have his mom die. in only friends, sand (first) is a light breeze away from crying every episode bc of how hard ray (khao) is toying with him, and ray is just a mess slowly unraveling from the inside out. in f4 thailand phupha (first) just existed to get punched and bullied and backstabbed; in the shipper kim (first) literally died and pan (also first - well in his body - it’s a long story) had to deal with the consequences; in not me yok (first) got betrayed by his love interest and sold out to the police, and almost thought he was about to be kidnapped/deported/exiled from his country and leave his disabled mom to die…………… y’all it’s just been a lot for them.

experiment w/CPs (partner swapping) — legit just seems interesting. you guys remember that weird ass shipping square with first, khao, gawin, and podd? i want more. do that shit again.

cyber/techy series (w/new cast) — idk what this even means. but i want it.

here’s the template i used in case you want to make your own! courtesy of @icouldhyperfixatehim. hurry tho the presscon is in 3 days

#gmmtv 2024 #bl predictions #gmmtv 2024 predictions #literally so excited #i need more GLs and more of my OLDER CAST #like there is a graveyard of skeletons in gmmtv's closet just waiting to be cast #that's definitely not how the saying goes

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tzuu-ii · 1 year

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Angel and Devil

Kim Dahyun & Fem-reader // Part One

A/N: Might not finish this. Im not sure yet 😭

In a school separated by angels and demons, it sure isn’t easy. That was what many thought at least. The demons were often treated poorly by the angels. There was no controlling it; the teachers and administrators would simply just sit back and watch like it was no big deal. You however, were able to conceal your identity as a demon. But it wasn’t because you were scared of the unfair treatment. No. It was to be able to cause your own little mischief behind the scenes. To you, the best thing to do in life was to corrupt the angels. Those who you believed deserved it or literally just anyone you laid eyes on when you got bored.

There was a set amount to how many sins an angel could commit before they would be punished and would be seized of their status. Seven in fact. If an angel were to commit one of each of the seven deadly sins, they can say goodbye to their status. That was the lowest of the low at the school. Angels would either treat them with the uttermost disgust or naturally act like they didn’t exist. And because of you, the number of those fallen angels would slowly, but surely increase.

You were quite popular, but that wasn’t really surprising. Afterall, you were endearingly stunning. Your style, unique. And there was something about the manner in which you carried yourself that everyone adored. Not to mention how you have your way with your words. Flirty but sweet, you could say. Anyone would be on their knees for you with just a simple glance, a tilt of your head, and a small, warm smile. You had an advantage and you knew it.

Today, it was rumored that there was a new student. Someone bright. Someone sweet and tender. Someone that all would love.

New victim, you thought.

Everyone settled down in their seats as the bell rang for the first period of the day. Whispers of the new student filled your ears. Do you think it’s a girl or a boy? I don’t know, but I hope they’re cute. Shouldn’t they be here by now? Are they a demon or angel? Gosh, I’m so excited!

Clack! Clack! Clack!

As the footsteps grew closer, the excitement radiating off of your classmates multiplied by at least ten. All eyes were on the door. Yours too of course, you weren't any less excited than your classmates. And through the door came your teacher with the new student.

She was gorgeous. Her soft porcelain skin shone as she walked in. Her hourglass figure short, but that didn’t matter. You could see the heart eyed boys practically drooling over the said girl and the girls nearly dying to become friends with her. The new student walked up to the front of the class and bowed.

“Hi I’m Kim Dahyun. I hope we can get along.” She spoke.

Her voice was as soft as her skin seemed. You were intrigued. Would this be easy for you this time? You usually would be able to read a person with one encounter, but her? All you can tell from her is that she’s far too good of a person to commit any sins, but you love a challenge, so why not?

“You can sit next to Y/N over there, Dahyun. And Y/N, I expect you to help her catch up on the material we’ve learned in class this year, ” Your teacher said. Disappointed expressions creeped onto your peers who wished they were you. It only made you chuckle.

The two of you nodded and the pale girl headed over to your table. You shot her your signature smile as she did the same. The teacher began her lesson while Dahyun was visibly confused. Need help there? You wrote on a scrap piece of paper and passed it to her. She nodded eagerly. From that moment on, both of you became class partners and friends.

#twice fanfic #twice #x reader #i actually kinda like this one #i wrote more but i think ill wait to publish

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maxsix · 1 year

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MAXSIX: TOP 22 SONGS OF 2022

Hi tumblr! Wishing you all a Happy New Year in 2023. Things have been absolutely crazy busy down here so I haven’t posted much lately but I hope you’re all safe, healthy and will have a successful year ahead. I thought KPOP gave us an absolutely amazing year of music actually. It was truly the year of the Girl Group and even though I love boy groups more, I have zero complaints. Here’s my Top 22 songs.

22. That Feeling When by Enhypen. This song is just so comforting for me. I put it on when I’ve had an awful week. It sounds like a walk in the park on a sunny day. The structure, tempo and instrumentation sounds very very similar to Post Malone’s Circles but much softer and less traumatised. I appreciate that they consistently put out albums with fully-formed songs on them. I don’t think they will ever be my bias group because I just don’t really vibe with them. I don’t understand their identity or personality (as a group). I don’t understand what part of the market they are aiming for. But they are just new so they have time to figure that out.

21. BTBT by B.I. Oh Kim Hanbin, we meet again, under very very different circumstances this time. It’s been nearly EIGHT YEARS since Ikon debuted and excuse me while I ride this wave of memory and nostalgia for a minute. I’m always proud of how he came back. I wanted to include Illa Illa but that was last year. There’s something so fluid, calm and content about his material now. It’s a lot like the flow of water and I’m sure there’s a whole paragraph about symbolism and rebirth and change in here somewhere but ain’t nobody got time for my essay on him (me included).

20. Antifragile by LE SSERAFIM. I only checked out this group because I really think Bangs (Chaewon) is a big star and would be an IT Girl if Wonyoung did not already exist. I like Fearlesss and Sour Grapes too but I won’t lie, I am really in my Trash-GG-Pop era and Antifragile is so weird but so catchy. I like the use of these lesser-heard chords and it honestly sounds so enjoyably wrong. Fearless is the more stylish song but sometimes you’d rather wear a fur jacket than black suit, you know? They’re off to a good start but the reason they’re this low on my list is because I cannot really love them yet? There’s no gateway bias for me into LS. Excited for their future output though.

19. INVU by Taeyeon. She is one of those cases where I truly have to separate the artist from the art to enjoy it. Her voice is just beautiful here and this song is so lush and gorgeous. I really like the bittersweet nature of INVU and the emotion she was able to bring to it. She really connects with the audience and I think it’s why she remains so successful and popular. The rest of her personality? I will not comment on.

18. Shut Down by Blackpink. Sorry I ended up liking this trash. I know I am already contractually obligated to support all Australians in KPOP but sometimes the Garbage lady did well and needs to be promoted to Garbage Boss. It was a toss up between this and Pink Venom but this won because the Lisa verses bothered me less here. Jennie was always their better rapper anyways and for those who disagree, you are 100% entitled to your (wrong) opinion.

17. Feel My Rhythm/In My Dreams by Red Velvet. For me, they will never top Bad Boy and Psycho but I enjoyed the classic sampling of Bach in FMR. I’m including both in this because they are so similar and I often listen to them together when I want to be in this very particular mood. They’re just both so pretty and soothing to me and that’s all there is to this comment. Great gowns, beautiful gowns etc.

16. Ballroom Extravaganza by DPR Ian. The contractual obligation to support all Australians continues. He has some absolutely devastating material to be honest. He writes things that take me back to my disastrous uni years; when I thought I was living in a Hole album but truthfully, I just needed therapy and a good night’s sleep. He’s my Breakdown OST man. If you vibed with anything I just wrote there, you need Christian Yu in your life. I don’t listen to him often because I don’t like revisiting my breakdown eras but the music is very very good. He’s like the music version of Sicario, which is one of the best movies I’ve ever seen but never ever want to see again.

15. After Like by IVE. It’s just so cute. That’s all. It’s just fun and cute and you can listen to it without any kind of stress or expectation. The sample from Gloria Gaynor had me wondering how rich their management is because damm, not even BTS sampled something this famous. This one is particularly good to have on when you’re getting ready to go out.

14. Young Luv StayC. This was a song that I instantly understood and connected with. I always thought of this as the sister version of TXT’s Loser = Lover, which was actually my most played KPOP song of 2022, even though it was released August 2021. Sentimental rock songs are just my thing I guess. I really love the tempo of these pop-rock songs and it’s crazy to me that StayC and TXT do the genre SO well but don’t lean more heavily into it. This constant need for re-invention is not always necessary. Sometimes I wish groups could figure out what they do best and stick with it. Not everyone can be Seventeen.

13. Muddy Water by Stray Kids. This is my favourite Skz song this year and if they don’t play this when I see them live, I will protest loudly and annoyingly. Changbin usually has my favourite verse in every single Skz song but it’s all Felix MVP for this one because I always prefer deeper-rap to chipmunk. Hyunjin’s lower register is so nice to listen to and I’m so frustrated they don’t use it more often. Jisung is flawless as usual and I sit here patiently waiting for him to drop his (likely) psychological Jixtape. No clown music please, give me all the shadows of your mind Han Jisung.

12. Ash by Seventeen. What a surprise and revelation this song was, tacked to the end of the album like a “Oh yeah we’ll just put one of our best songs here like an afterthought”. This is Vernon’s song and his rap verse is one of the BEST I have heard all year. It is just flawless in its tone, pace and delivery. He’s a really good example of knowing what he does well and perfecting it over time. Black Eye just came out and I absolutely adore his voice on it. He’s just such a revelation and I hope there is more solo material from him in the future. I didn’t think Seventeen could do anything to surprise me anymore but they do it every time. What a group.

11. HOT by Seventeen. This was the song that got me back into the fandom, after Mansae (seven years ago!) I love the intro. Definitely one of the best intros I’ve heard in a long time because it set the tone immediately. This song always gives me a big hit of energy when it plays, kinda of like taking a sip of Red Bull. I have to just talk about how crazy talented the video editers were. The amount of work that went into the HOT mv blows my mind every day. Whenever I sit and watch it, my head can’t compute that humans put this together.

10. Guerrilla by ATEEZ. The most surprising song for me this year. It was at once the most expected thing from Ateez and so damm unexpected. I didn’t think any group would lean this hard into this genre because Korean versions of anything but pop is always a diluted Hello-Kitty version. I feel like it announced them in a Big Way and I love watching them riding this wave. Every time I listen to them I thank the Universe that they managed to get Jongho in the line up. I think this needed to be their title track (for the impact) but the album absolutely had even better songs on it.

9. Cheers by Seventeen. The confidence and arrogance and cockiness involved here was so tasty to witness. Also: Seungcheol ass. Yeah, I play this one a lot and whenever I blast it driving, my lil Kompressor thinks he’s a Nissan GTR in Tokyo Drift.

8. Wildfire by Monsta X. I know the bare minimum about this group so I had the lowest of expectations but the longevity of this song on my playlist truly surprised me. It’s a slutty club jam with torment and a narrative that I totally understand. I have always maintained that the writing, production and depth of this song is what ‘Red Lights’ was striving to be. I think you need to have lived through some shit to bring the necessary conviction to songs like this. Do I feel that Chan has been through a soul destroying toxic relationship? No. Do I believe Hyungwon has one every Sunday? Absolutely. I pray every day for him to release a solo version of this.

7. Attention by New Jeans. The first thing I heard from them and man, what an introduction. A total breath of fresh air in the age of mash-up noize songs. It took me a long time to figure out what I really like about them and it’s the minimalism. KPOP is so crazy and OTT where More is More so when you get something stripped back like this, it seems new.

6. Cyberpunk by Ateez. The World: Movement was one of the most solid albums released this year and it absolutely blows my mind whenever end of year lists don’t at least acknowledge how cohesive it is and how TIGHT that production was, like damm, they really kept only the choice cuts. I love the journey of Cyberpunk because when it started, my brain just went: Bladerunner 2049 Club Jam. The Hongjoong-Mingi rap though, worth buying the entire album for. They just never disappoint me. If you see Song Mingi today, please tell him that I love him.

5. Hype Boy by New Jeans. This song reminds me SO much of 2nd Gen SM girl groups. It reminds me of S.E.S, who were the first Kpop group that I knew about and loved. This is just a very very good and well written song. There’s really nothing else to it. When the music is so solid, there doesn’t need to be anything else added to the equation. By sounding 2nd Gen, they’ve managed to make groups like Itzy and NMIXX sound so dated and messy in comparison.

4. Run BTS by BTS. Well well well. And look what we have here. It took years of utterly whelming material for me to get something like this from them again. This is so fun, memorable, catchy and full of the attitude and personality I think they kinda lost along their way to infamy. It sounds like 2nd Grade lost all its baby fat and graduated from college with $3 in its pocket. If you think I sound like an old person then get off my lawn.

3. Ring by TXT. Kang Taehyun is my favourite boy on this entire list and this song is his (feat. Yeonjun’s rap, which is one of his best imo). It’s cute but not saccharine. It’s simple without being one of those superficial filler songs on an album. It’s lighthearted but performed seriously well. Anyways, Kang Taehyun is my favourite boy. Did I tell you how Taehyun is my favourite boy. No? Well he is my favourite boy. Ok. That is that all.

2. Ditto by New Jeans. Australians in KPOP always outsell but an Australian-Vietnamese Girl in KPOP? Represent, Pham Hanni. This song and the MVs were like a shot of Nostalgia Cocaine straight into my veins. It hit really hard in a way I was not expecting and I was thinking about all the friends from school that I don’t see anymore. I hope they continue to provide to us with great, well written (age appropriate) music. I have my own issues with their management and can only hope good things for them in the future. This just came out like 5 minutes ago and I already love it.

1. Love Dive by IVE. Even if I didn’t like this song (which I do), I can comfortable give it the title of Song of the Year. This is the perfect representation of them as a concept: high teen, unattainable but not intimidating, cool but not in a way that alienates kids who grew up unpopular. The minimalistic structure and tight production of this song is 10/10 but the things that truly made it for me are the ethereal angel vocals and that beat pause before the chorus at the end. The choices......they are flawless. Future Classic already.

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t3kandson · 1 year

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Love & Betrayal

Word count; 2,724

Fandom; A.C.E. & Oneus

Pairing; Reader X Kim Sehyoon Aka Wow & Reader X Kim Youngjo Aka Ravn

Characters; Kim Sehyoon, Kim Youngjo, Park Junhee, Lee Donghun, Kim Byeongkwan & Kang Yuchan

Warnings; Angst, unprotected sex & Cheating.

Notes; Happy Anniversary 💜💜💜💜💜

Earlier chapters found here

A specialised declaimer to this series if you have any questions.

Waking you shifted slightly to get an tingly buzz hit through your body. It wasn’t hard to realise the throbbing feeling was your morning glory hard against the sheet that you had moved against. Taking a look to the side your beautiful girlfriend was sprayed naked on her bed. Her morning bed head would make her wince but to you the view was perfect. The messy the better, it made you think of all the times you had exhausted her ravishing her body. The curve of her back so beautiful that you wanted to kiss. The duvet was wrapped between her legs just like at this very moment you wanted to be. Her beautiful resting face full of peace was delightful to witness.

You had been in love with this woman since you was a kid. Moving city’s your usual geeky appearance had no chance for the beautiful girl who lived across the road. She was so stunning and beautiful that most the guys threw there attention on her. You had tried to communicate with her but she never gave you more then a mere short lived couple of words. Boys often stealing her attention before you could even get a longer dialogue with her.

However, you was fortunate one time to find her alone in a field once not far from your school. She was sitting looking as if the world was lost. Your heart wanting to console and take her pain away. She found in the Distance a sunflower as she smiled to her self enjoying the beauty. Just like to you she was your flower the person that made you smile the warmest. Making your way to her she was startled as you approached. “Oh hi,” she smiled looking your way recognising you which warmth your heart. “Didn’t think you was the kind to love flowers,” you said sitting opposite to her on the hay. “I’m not usually, but Sunflowers they’re so pretty. They make me smile on a cloudy day,” she said frowning as she looked up at the sky. Dark swirls of clouds was beginning to form threatening to rain. “That’s a lovely way to think of it,” you smiled before watching the rain start to drizzle. “I forgot to ask you the other day, what’s your name?,” she asked as your heart beat a thousand times finally getting the question you wanted from her lips.

But before you could reply the rain started to fall harder, her beautiful body soon covered with wet soaking clothes. Taking your jacket you placed it around her smiling as you held your hand to her. “Thanks,” she giggled under the rain as you both started running. Drops of water streaming down your faces, her beautiful hair that was sticking to her face was such a beautiful sight. Your heart thumping like crazy from the warming clench of her hands in yours. Reaching your home saddened that your time with her was almost up, you pulled her towards you. She smiled looking up towards your lips and in that second you wanted to kiss her so badly.

But your first kiss was stolen moments later by the scrawny kid behind her. “Yiseo, your catch a cold,” he scoffed bringing a blanket around her. His eyes flashing to yours was one of possessiveness. Was this her new boyfriend. You knew she was popular with the boys, but seeing the moment of tenderness was heart wrenching. “I better go my brother can be annoying at times, thanks for the jacket,” she said passing it back to you. “No problem,” you said beaming at the revelation he was a protective brother not a possessive lover.

Your heart was broken when less then a week later it was revealed that she and her brother had moved to a high school in Seoul. Her Father had sent them there for better education. You had planted some sunflower seeds in your garden with permission from your mother. Hoping for some sort of closeness to the beauty that had stolen your heart.

She had returned for the summer the year after. You was so excited to see her dashing outside the minute you spotted her walking past. “Your back,” you squealed with far too much excitement then you wanted to show. She looked at you tilting her head. Her memory clearly trying to fumble your identity. You couldn’t help but feel the sting that you was so very little important to her. Not as much as she was to you, not a day you forgot about her like she was some sort of goddess. “Nice Sunflowers, sorry I forgotten your name,” she said sweetly your way. Before you could reply with your name you turned to see her attention stolen. A much more muscular bloke appeared as he walked towards her cupping her face as he kissed her. In that moment every dream that you ever made with her broke your heart beyond repair. “Bye Sunflower boi,” she smiled as if she enjoyed that kiss for show. Did she know you crushed over her?

“Bye,” you muttered feeling stupid and more importantly nothing. You swore in that second that you would never let a woman steal your heart ever again.

Each time she returned home, you avoided her focusing on your studies & health. You still kept growing sunflowers, looking after them well. It was a reminder to never give your heart to anyone else. You used the gym to build yourself up so one day you would be the heartbreaker.

You never however, imagined to see her at your creative art class at your new college. At first you was excited, it was like every emotion you ever held back came rumbling back. However, not just did she not recognise you but she had got even more full of herself over the years. You soon found out she shared an apartment with the senior Fuck boi Lee Donghun. Hearing the several comments of how they was extremely close, the pit of your stomach was full of jealousy. How was it that jerks who used women for holes was the ones she went for. It made you very irritable as you made it your challenge to annoy her as much as you could. Getting satisfaction from her strops and sulks had become your favourite moments of the day. Even if it did sadden you that she paid more attention now then ever before.

However, it soon changed the minute you noticed her that day outside your project room. You saw her lean against the window, her hands sprayed against the glass. Her eyes was shut as if she was ready to pass out. Dashing to the window your heart in your chest worrying about her health you looked at her concerned. Opening her eyes she looked at you with surprise, blinking confused at your sudden appearance. Blushing like you never seen her before you thought to yourself that you had witnessed that with others. Did she find you attractive? Your sure there was something when she dashed away as quick as she could. Swirling around as quick as you could your hopes and dreams was back alive. You was going to make sure you would get her what ever the cost. Enjoying every moment that you soon learnt made her squirm in your company.

Here she was with you even if it cost you your friendship with Kim Youngjo. Three years and going the every bit stronger for it.

Your cock throbbing still reminded you how much yours she really was. Finding your fingers, you raked them down her back stifling a chuckle when she arched sleepily. “Baby.” She cooed without opening a single eye. “Yes Princess,” you whispered deeply that you know turned her on as your lips found her shoulder. “It’s too early to wake up,” she grumbled fidgeting that was amusing. “Tell that to our friend,” you said nipping her ear lobe as her eyes fluttered open. “You tell him, I’m too tired this morning,” she whined as she flicked her head to not face you. Pouting momentarily you hovered over pressing your chest to her back, squashing her to the mattress as she groaned. “Well let me do all the work,” you said rolling your self against her ass. Legs sliding open to give you permission and better entrance, you smiled how she was such a slut for your cock. “Why is my girlfriend so lazy,” you growled once more rolling yourself into her again. “Because my boyfriend likes to get me up far too early,” she muffled from throwing her head in her arms.

Rolling the tip of your cock to her entrance she moaned that most delightful sound that has your shaft throb. You couldn’t help but take advantage needing her warm pussy wrapped around him. Slamming into her her cry’s of you stretching her filled the air. As always you felt guilt, you knew even after all these years stretching around you caused her discomfort at first. Stilling to help her adjust you pressed kisses to the top of her back. Starting a slow pace you let out a husky moan, her walls seemed to suck you in. It was like her pussy was made just for you. Picking your speed up your teeth pressed into the flesh of her neck marking her in ownership. Ever since she had become yours it was ritual to mark her up so every one knew she was yours. Panting in her ears you felt your cock squeezed by her walls. You could tell by the tremble in her thighs that her high wasn’t far. Squirming underneath, you chuckled inwardly at how caged and stuck she was with you fucking her into the mattress. Hips snapping harshly you chased your high, made easy from her walls that was clenching on and off around your throbbing shaft. “I’m going to cum,” she whined into the air with your cock feeling like it was being choked to death. “Then cream on my dick,” you choked out trying to hold back your orgasm. “Cum with me,” she pleaded panting as your hands reached for hers. Threading her fingers with yours made your body tingle. It was your favourite passtime holding her hands, but right now In this second it was intoxicating as you made love. Hands clenching each other tighter it was like you jumped off your high together. Her walls convulsing around your cock prolonged your euphoria as you filled her pretty cunt with your thick ropey cum.

Panting you collapsed into her, your cock buried deep still refusing to leave. “Love you,” you whispered after catching your breath like you did every time. “Me too,” she said clenching her hands with yours. “Suppose now I’m up we better get changed for work,” she chuckled as your lips slipped back to her neck. “Or round two,” you said against the soft skin. “How about shower sex, clean on the way to heaven,” She said chuckling as your dick twitched inside her. “He votes yes,” you said pulling out to manoeuvre to flip her. Your heart skipped a beat when her eyes found yours, like it always did stealing your heart away.

“You got everything?” You asked as Yiseo was roaming around her bedroom looking anxious. “No,” she pouted throwing her arms around you. “Why what’s missing?” you asked pressing a kiss to her crown. “Your not in my suitcase,” she sulked with her bottom lip that was just the most adorable look on her. “If I could I would, you know I would,” you said cupping her face as she gave her beautiful puppy eyes. “Man has to make his bread stop being a needy seductress,” Donghun’s voice fell from the door. He was leaning against it with his usual cocky glance but amused with what he was viewing. How on earth you could have thought those two was having sex was beggars belief. They was more like siblings, bitching yet protective to the bone of each other. Though to be fair Yuchan her twin was the same. When you realised that day that your attractive shy house mate was the same geeky boy you met as children you was annoyed with yourself for not realising sooner. You had really kicked yourself thinking that they was lovers instead of siblings. “When you get a real partner come back and lecture me,” Yiseo said as you chuckled at her sassiness. “I’ll tell Junhee he’s not my real partner then shall I,” Donghun argued back. “Open relationship’s isn’t a real one,” Yiseo said rolling her eyes. “Ok ok we’re wasting our time here bitching like a married couple you two,” you teased as they both deadpanned your way. Before either of them could bite back Junhee arrived. “Yiseo, come on,” he shouted through to your bedroom. She looked at you with sad eyes once more almost pleadingly. “Last chance,” she said before pressing her lips to yours in a passionate kiss. “Sorry baby,” you said with a gentle pat of her ass. “Well I’ll message you my room number incase you change your mind,” she said hopeful before picking her bag up to leave.

“If your missing her so badly just drive out there,” Byeongkwan said throwing himself in to the sofa. “Work,” you said swigging on your beer. “Just call in sick before you get love sick from missing her,” Byeongkwan replied as if it was so easy. “If you don’t go and see her then I’m going to be sick from hearing about it all,” Chan bitched as you smirked his way. “Seriously, you was suppose to be going with her anyway,” he said tossing his pretzel snacks into his mouth. “Who’s going to pay the rent while I’m away for a week,” you said trying to make a point. “I’ll pay the rent you can’t, it’s not like you and Yiseo’s not done it for me,” Chan offered looking at you with seriousness. “Come on Sehni, put yourself and us out our misery and go to her,” Byeongkwan pleaded as you laid your head back on the sofa contemplating.

It was that conversation that spurred you on the following afternoon. After your shift you was in the car and on your way to Busan. The early text from last week with the hotel details burning in your shirt pocket. Feelings of excitement at seeing her again even though you had only been apart a short period of time was extreme.

You already knew she was at the hotel having messaged a few hours ago that it was a chaotic day and she was looking forward to the comfort of the hotel room that she was on her way to. Though she had been quiet since that message, you had no doubt due to her busy schedule that she probably had fallen asleep.

Heart beating fast you knocked on the hotel room door, sunflowers your relationship flower in your grasp. Had she heard you? She was taking her time answering. Knocking again more louder you heard movement inside. Of course she was asleep, your perfect beautiful lazy head.

However, instead of excitement on her face when the door opened. The horror and fear on her features left your throat feeling like it was closing on you. The colour in her face draining instantly as your eyes fell to the person behind her.

You could have almost collapsed as you took the view of a topless Kim Youngjo. Had they had sex? Had he got his revenge for the affair you had when you was his. Three years he had ignored your calls had he ignored her? Had they even ever been apart? Your heart and fear and worst nightmares flashing infront of your eyes as your mind swarm in so many questions. But what was worse was you was struggling to find your breath.

“It’s not what it looks like,” She said panicking. It felt like a gutter punch. Those same words fell from her lips when Youngjo caught her from the after affects of your affair.

How could you let her break you once again. She was never yours all those years ago just like she wasn’t now.

To be continued……

Also plan to write a cross over series with Kim Youngjo.

Also as a spoiler incase your offended with how I left this. It’s not as it seems as all will be explained in Youngjo’s new series.

Previous chapter

Masterlist

#kpop smut #kpopidol #fiction #ace smut #oneus smut #kim sehyoon smut #kim youngjo smut #park junhee #kim byeongkwan #kang yuchan #lee donghun

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0613magazine · 1 year

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230123 Rolling Stone

Epik High’s Tablo on Trauma, Triumph, and the Truth

It’s this willingness to be defiantly vulnerable that has made him a popular collaboration partner for artists like Eric Nam, CL, Big Bang’s Taeyang, Brown Eyed Soul’s Naul, Lee Hi and, finally, BTS leader RM. Last year, the two made fandom dreams come true when Tablo traded verses with RM on “All Day,” from the idol’s critically-acclaimed debut solo album, Indigo.

“I was literally getting on a plane to go to Singapore to perform and RM texted me, [saying] ‘I have a song that I want to do with you,’” Tablo says. “And I literally could not listen to the song at the time. I couldn’t even download it. So I said, ‘Yo, I’m getting on a plane right now — but yes, of course.’ I hadn’t even heard the song and he’s laughing. But I mean, obviously, right? RM is not going to do a bad song. He’s incapable of doing that.”

When he got to Singapore, he continues, “The song was pleasantly not what I expected. I thought it was going to be either hard hitting hip-hop or something emotional. But it was something more energetic and positive-sounding that I really needed at the time – that energy. I told him I can record as soon as I get back to Korea. I think I sent him my phone recording. It all happened very fast.”

The lyricists trade verses in both Korean and English and partake in clever wordplay, paying homage to each other’s music. While Tablo references BTS’ hit songs “Dynamite” and “DNA,” RM pays respect to Epik High’s “Fly” — the 2005 song that influenced 11-year-old Kim Nam-joon to become rapper RM.

“To me, Tablo is like a huge mountain that I always look up to,” RM tells Rolling Stone. “Among many things, I admire his poetic and insightful lyrics, his musicality, and career as a musician, the way he overcame all the hardships he went through. Just listen to ‘Fever’s End,’ and you can feel it.”

Some might say that the two musicians get along so well because they’re skilled songwriters who bring a lyrical sense to their raps — or that they’re both geniuses who are renowned for their nimble minds.

“Tablo is a genius, but I’m not sure about myself,” RM continues. “I just try to give my best effort in everything. We have different backgrounds, but since he’s always been the hero throughout my musical journey so far, I think we could recognize each other. Epik High and Tablo have always been there during my childhood and they definitely influenced my music. Tablo is one of those who can handle social issues in sharp and beautiful ways through music…. I’ve always wanted to collaborate with him on a song in 2000s hip-hop that touches on a social issue.”

I ask Tablo if there’s the possibility of RM returning the favor and guesting on his upcoming solo album — his first since 2011’s Fever’s End: Part 1 and Fever’s End: Part 2. His reply is a combination of faux shock and bemusement.

“Who leaked that?” he asks, before cautiously replying. “OK, let me just put it this way. If there is a Tablo solo in the works, RM would definitely be Number One on my list to do a song with. But I also want to explore that more emotional, sort of painful kind of Epik High vibe, but in a completely new way with RM. And I’m just saying, if it were to happen, I think RM would do it. So that’s all I’m gonna say.”

Source: Rolling Stone

#2023 #rm

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sabraeal · 2 years

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I was tagged by @ccprovolomies! Thanks for the tag 💖

Rules: Tag some people you would like to know/catch up with

Last Song: Ainsi bas la vida by Indila, since I just found it on spotify after the last meme! It’s been IMPOSSIBLE to find there for years, despite how popular it got in like 2016 🤣

Last TV show: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood! We just caught up to where ‘03 covers in our discord watchparty, and I’m SO EXCITED for all the ‘03-onlies to see how FMA actually ends

Currently watching: Oh boy, that’s the question. I’ve tried a smattering of things so far but nothing’s quite taken-- I think I might go back to Kono Oto Tomare soon, to catch up before I read the manga. As for stuff I’m watching as it airs, I’m keeping up with both Kaguya-sama: Love is War and Spy x Family

Currently reading: Pale Demon by Kim Harrison and having a so-so time. I was excited for a Trent/Rachel romance but the interactions in this book have been off since Rachel realized that she’s attracted to him. They’re getting back on track now, but I hope having Trent as an actual potential LI doesn’t make him as dull and awful as her other boyfriends 😩 As for manga/webtoons etc, I haven’t started it YET but I’m going to read the manga (manhwa?) version of Trash of the Count’s Family. I’ve heard interesting things about the webnovel but I have been BURNED by translated light novels before (LOOKING AT YOU, HAMEFURA), so I’m starting with the medium I know I’ll enjoy 🤣

Tagging: @infinitelystrangemachinex, @claudeng80, @bubblesthemonsterartist, @onedivinemisfit

#meme #listen i cannot express how much i worry about Trent being stupid now okay #Trent/Rachel is what kept me in this series no matter how stupid her boyfriends got #i have lived through Marshall and Pierce do not fucking do this to me Kim #let Trent be cool

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ksjade · 1 year

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Treatment of Women Hip-Hop Artists

It’s common knowledge that the hiphop genre has and is heavily male dominated for most of its history and because of this it’s easy to find many misogynistic takes among many of the artists and followers. There has been sprinkles of women artists like Lauryn Hill, Queen Latifah, Lil Kim, and more that paved the way for more modern artists like Nicki Minaj, Cardi B, Doja Cat, etc. but it’s definitively, extremely hard for women artists to make a break in the industry and even when they do the hate never dies down.

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What women hip hop artists promote.

There is a lot to be said about this topic alone. This is one of the most argued topic when women creators are talked about.To start, the criticism. A common argument with those that have an issue with popular women artists is that these women promote a “lower standard of women.” Now, just typing that felt ridiculous. There are two routes someone can take when saying this, there’s the outright misogynistic take where the individual thinks a women letting her sexuality be known makes them “less desirable” or “easy” or there’s the extreme feminist take where these individuals think since women artists make tracks that are mainly explicit and sexual it allows for people to demean women and only see them as a sexual object. I can see where the argument may somewhat stand for the latter but regardless I’m going to argue that both are ridiculous takes.

Starting with the former, this opinion reeks of insecurity and misogyny. Since forever many women have been, and still are, unable to express their sexuality in any way, shape, or form. This is due to the societal misconception that if a women dares to desire or be connected with their sexuality it makes them “easy,” a hoe, thot, whatever demeaning term that has and could be applied to women. Because most individuals that spout this opinion can’t even comprehend the fact women can make good music they also have the idea that the only reason popular artists like Cardi B, Nicki Minaj, Megan the Stallion, etc. are popular is because they “sell themselves” and can’t make music that’s not sexual. This is just outright stupid. These artists do and have released music that aren’t about sex but also about heartbreak or their life. But they don’t like talking about that, huh? These women are not popular just because of their music, it’s also their online persona, and how they represent adult women taking back their sexuality on their terms, or women empowerment. That is why these ladies are popular. This take also refused to acknowledge the many women that don’t make sexuality centered art. A good example of this is Little Simz.

Moving on to latter argument. This take I feel is a backwards way of putting women down but masking it as concern. Although I do understand women are constantly sexualized there is no point in hiding their own sexuality because of other people. There is a very distinct difference when a women is sexualized vs. when she allows herself to be sexual. Usually the former is not consensual while the other is fully in the women’s power. I feel the whole point in this movement of music is to take something back that has always been out of women’s power. So while yes, these women are seen as a sex symbol it’s on their terms and it’s very backwards to try to take a moral high ground against these women because you may feel uncomfortable with it.

-Cardi B in response to Candace Owens calling her an “illiterate rapper”

Overall what both of these arguments ignore is the fact that women artists now are representing femininity and sexuality that has never really been seen before and that they’ve become a symbol for not just empowerment but also for many women to reclaim their sexuality for themselves and their own desire.

The next argument about many mainstream artists is that they’re not for kids to consume but kids are listing to it. To this I say: get over it. If you don’t want your kids viewing or listening to something how about watch what YOUR kids are consuming and not put all the responsibility on the artist. To quote Cardi B “stop expecting celebs to raise your kids.” Take some responsibility <3.

Breaking into the industry

New women creators trying to come into the industry is extremely difficult. This is obvious when Cardi B recounts her experience trying to get onto a magazine. She recounts, “I will never forget how I went to shoot for this magazine and the photographer, he was trying to get close to me, like, ‘Yeah, you want to get in this magazine?’ Then he pulled his dick out! I was so fucking mad.” This is definitely not uncommon for many women, even in normal everyday settings. Now, I’m not saying that this doesn’t happen to men in the industry, it does, and it should be addressed as well but in regards to women things like sexual assault is normalized in everyday society and it’s just a “fun chase.” That much is clear when Cardi tried telling the magazine owner about her assault and his response showed he could care less.

Not only this but tying back to the previous argument women artists have such high expectations on them to be perfect and put on the grandest shows. While men hiphop artists can get by with standing, jumping, mumbling on stage, and having overall careless lyrics, women are forced to prove themselves with amazing visual performances dressed with choreography, good bars, and beats. Yet, they are still criticized for this.

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Final Thoughts

It’s clear to see the double standards between women and men creators. While men are praised for their mumble rap about “money and bitches,” women are discouraged for similar things. When male artists are rude or outspoken their “cool,” but again when women do the same thing they’re a “bitch” or “disrespectful .” Kristine Wright, a Los Angeles college sociology professor, explains this spectacle best. She says “Hip-hop is a microcosm of society… The patriarchy we see in society, we see it in the hip-hop industry as well. The industry – and what they believe sells – is what they promote.”

References: Fox News- Cardi B has heated response to critics who deny her story of sexual harassment, Life and Hip-Hop: How women’s role in the industry allows for empowerment, breaking norms,

#women artists #women empowering woman #Youtube #Spotify

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lgcichika · 2 years

Photo

what are the top 5 most used apps on your phone?

My top used apps? Does the camera count as an app? Oh, maybe that’s more of a function, correct? Well, I do have a really cute app on my phone to add stickers and text to give it that cute early 2000’s feel, but I don’t really post those because it seems a bit silly. I definitely use my calendar app a lot; I prefer to keep a handwritten planner but I also like to have my calendar up to date, just for quick access. Let’s see, I have an audio book app so I can listen to my books when I’m too tired from schedule or I’m doing something else. What else… oh, I watch Netflix sometimes with the members when I can, and the last app.. Please don’t make fun of me. It’s called Cats&Soup. It’s a really cute game where you have cats that make soup and you can dress them up and upgrade your kitchen.

what is the most random note in the notes app?

On my notes app? Oh gosh, do I truly need to answer that… this is so embarrassing… The most random thing I have I think is a list of the member’s bubble tea orders. I-I just like to know the answer to questions to requests from the managers… so sometimes I’ll write down snacks or drinks that my members like in case that information is needed. I also don’t really like to ask people ‘what do you like’ because— well, I mean, isn’t it better to be observant than forgetful? Can we please just keep this between the two of us?

what was the last message or call you’ve received and who was is from?

The last person who sent me a message was Soyoun. I honestly don’t know where she heard this, but apparently, she heard about someone who caught her boyfriend with his mistress, but turns out that the mistress was the boyfriend’s long-time girlfriend and the other girl was the actual mistress. I honestly don’t know where she heard this— a part of me is hoping it’s just gossip she just heard abroad because I can’t imagine the storm that would erupt if this was something that was happening within the company. I won't lie though… It was a rather fascinating tale.

what were the last 5 songs that you’ve listened to?

When I’m trying to relax I really enjoy listening to instrumentals of popular songs. I have a whole playlist of songs that were used in the Bridgerton series, does that count? I’m particularly fond of the arrangement by the Vitamin String Quartet. Aside from that I’ve been really enjoying Agito’s Do or Not, Apink’s I’m So Sick, SHISHAMO’s Happy End, and actually Voice from Crystallis’ last mini. By default, I believe Star also falls under that— I really do like both songs. I don’t know why exactly, but there’s something about both songs that I really enjoy. I think to date that is my favorite b-side I’ve been a part of.

what were the 5 most recent online searches?

Now I’m convinced you just want to embarrass me. If you really want to know, the last five things I searched were: myself, crystallis, versus kim alex, how do stoplights work, and ichigo daifuku. I know it’s not strawberry season, but I was really craving them and was hoping somehow I could find someone who made them in Seoul… I could not. I really don’t want to talk about the other three so I’ll just say that I was curious about the engineering of stoplights, and how they’re to know when to let people go. It really takes a good deal of work, apparently. May we move on to the last question, please?

what are your contact names for all of the group members?

danbi: danbi 🌦️ [ 단비 🌦️ ] yura: pretty yura [ きれいゆら ] soyoun: youn-chan [ ユンちゃん ] jaehwa: jaehwa-san [ ジェファさん ] hyejoo: miss youngwon somin: maknae-chan [ マクネちゃん ]

#lgc:cupdate004 #{ yi — solo }#[ clara is her step mother's name ... not to be confused with soyoun's mun ]#[ that is a complete coincidence ]#lgcalex #lgcsoyoun #lgchyejoo #lgcsomin #lgcjaehwa #lgcyura #lgcdanbi

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talkingwithghosts555 · 2 months

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Energy Vampires-Conversation with Chris Cornell

K: Good morning, Chris.

C: Good morning, Kim.

K: Been a while for me.

C: It hasn’t been that long.

K: How are you?

C: I’m good. (nods slowly thinking about it) I’m really good. I got a message from Paul that I needed to come in so here I am.

K: We talked a bit this morning about what’s really been going on but it’s very synchronistic how that happened. I would say “divine intervention”. (finger quote)

C: There always comes a point where the situation calls for it. There always comes a point where enough is enough…where a person has to realize that the truth of something is more important than what they find themselves spinning in or what they find themselves drowning in. This time of year, for a lot of people, is that time. It takes the reach of a hand, and the words help me to get that truth.

K: Does a person have to say help me through their physical mouths or does the soul make that call?

C: It can be both but usually it’s the soul and people are given…people are shown the way through things that just sort of fall in their lap, or they’re led to something that they say yes to without really knowing what they’re saying yes to. It’s those inner whispers that are the divine showing the way.

K: Paul and I had a huge conversation about this, and I had a really large lightbulb moment.

C: Yeah. He asked me if he could use us…you and me to make that connection and I was totally on board.

K: It was…sort of took me back a little bit, for real. I forgot or made myself forget.

C: I don’t think you forgot. I just think you didn’t realize that it was the same thing…just different faces.

K: For sure. But, enough of that. What brought us to this point is what I know you want to talk about.

C: I do. Yeah…I do.

K: Why don’t you tell me why you decided to come in today.

C: I need to talk about energy leeches…the energy vampires…the life force suckers.

K: (laughs) Wow…you’re all in, aren’t you.

C: (grins) I am.

K: I feel like that has happened, personally to me…for me…without even realizing that it happened.

C: Yes. I want to let people know that the energy of the energy vampire is more…underhanded and sneaky than ever before and the vampire or the leech…doesn’t even know that they are that or they’re using those tactics. Because it’s the tendrils of what their darkness or their fears…it’s those tendrils that are sticking out and attaching and feeding without the actual person knowing that they’re doing that to others. It’s a disguise.

Showing me a shadow with…almost like octopus arms but they attach to someone and start taking and sucking up another’s life force.

K: It’s somewhat scary to me that this is happening because before…it was very obvious, and I don’t like to label others, and this is more from an observation point of what I’m seeing.

C: Yes.

K: But it’s really, really worrisome how…stealth-mode the people that this is happening to or that are doing it…they don’t even realize the depth of this darkness because it’s in disguise.

C: It’s in disguise of innocence. It’s in disguise of…when someone says they’re just asking or they take an action on someone…reach out to someone just this one time or just one more time in this sort of hope that they can get what their fears or their shadows need…to feed off of and they are addicted to other people’s life force…their light but because they attach themselves to the lightworker or the light bringer…because that quotient of light is so large and so encompassing, the lightworker or the light bringer doesn’t even know it’s happening until it’s way too late and the lightworker is now under water and spinning in currents of chaos that they were swept up in without even knowing…realizing it was happening. They were just spreading their light.

K: Tell me about an energy vampire from five years ago compared to today.

C: (sits back and crosses his legs at the knee) Five years ago, it was very obvious. The word narcissist was a really popular word…still is today but it was very obvious. These people were cold, calculating, very manipulative and very obvious about it. They would send hateful messages, hide behind screens, verbally abusive…all of this stuff. It was very obvious so people knew that they had to put up boundaries with these people. So, because of this, the leeches or the vampires had to find other ways to feed. You saw the energy vampire sort of go into hiding especially when the world shut down due to COVID.

K: Really?

C: Absolutely. COVID…those tendencies for people went into hiding because they had to. They had no choice and so it gave them an opportunity to regroup and find the means to feed without being so…obvious or glaringly…upfront about their abusive tendencies.

K: Okay.

C: Now, the people have come back sweetly…I’m struggling to find the words to explain it. It’s sort of how an abusive partner wins their way back to someone. They make promises…empty. They apologize, they’re on their best behavior, they show up in the way that makes someone trust. And then the asks come slowly. It’s one small thing, then another small thing…then it gets bigger in a subtle way. And empaths…lightworkers…want to see the best in people so they say yes. They say no problem…when do you need me? When do you want it? When is it best for you? Can I fix it? And the vampire is so grateful. Thank you so much, I feel so much better, I’ll do that, I’ll work on that…it makes sense, you’re so right, you’re so on point…on and on and on. This builds up confidence with the empath and the lightworker and they get their validation of worthiness, and that’s the moment or the moments the tendril attaches. The vampire doesn’t have to keep it up. They don’t have to communicate anymore. They got what they needed…they got the attachment. Now they just feed as they keep the lightworker in their back pocket as a “friend” or a “mentor” but if you notice the pattern, they only connect when they need to dump their frustrations or when they need to make sure the tendril is still connected by dropping a line and checking in. The concerning part is…the vampires don’t even realize they’re doing it…that they’re feeding because it’s a part of them that is deeply ingrained and it’s shadow that is so heavy and thick that they ignore it and don’t want to do the work it takes to get that aspect of themselves that is hurt and in pain…bring it back to the light. So, they just feed.

K: Wow! But then, how does a lightworker realize that this is happening? Because at the heart of it, people are great. People are beautiful. People are a spark of Source and are love and loved.

C: Not all of these people are labelled “bad people”. People tend to read these things and spiral and make it about themselves or someone they need an explanation about. It’s not that because you’re right. People are born pure, and they’re born amazing. It’s life that shapes them and allows these patterns to come to the surface. If the vampire was raised with vampires and manipulated and abused, then it’s a learned behavior and one that they don’t even realize that they’ve picked up. Even those people that have done the most healing can still have the energy vampire tendencies because it’s what they’ve known. To know or understand what’s happening with a connection, a person has to really start using their feeling and their intuition and their wisdom factor. They need to pay attention to the signs.

K: Tell me some signs.

C: If you see a text from someone and it’s immediately exhausting to read. You know you’re dealing with someone with vampire tendencies. Or you feel confused as to why you’re giving a crap but you feel like you’re being ghosted…vampire tendencies. The same people keep coming back even though you’ve put your foot down and created boundaries…means your light is something they need to feed on…it’s life sustaining…they don’t take a hint…vampire. But the thing is…it’s not only a person. It’s not only this person or that person. It’s institutions…it’s some aspects of social media…it’s larger than just a one-person thing. If someone is opening up…I don’t know…(thinks) YouTube and they immediately feel this heavy burden feeling…that person is being taken by a collective vampire. If a person opens Facebook and they feel…they almost have a gagging sensation or a pit in the stomach…they are being fed on by a collective vampire energy.

K: Yes. I have felt that.

C: And it’s very, very important that they step away.

K: It’s Pinterest for me now. Nothing else.

C: (grins) I like the recipes. I like the food. I noticed you looking at that and I sort of dove into that worm hole and…it gave me an appreciation for home cooking again.

K: You’re joking. (laughing)

C: Not at all.

K: That’s actually very cute. Now that you’re talking about a collective vampire or leech energy…is it more of an energy than an actual thing or person?

C: Yes. People want to personalize it or label something as (using his hands to talk in an either/or fashion) so it’s tangible and it has form. The concerning thing about this situation is that it’s an energy. It’s not pointing to someone and saying…you’re an energy vampire! Stay away!

K: (laughing)

C: It’s an energy. It’s a shadow that hangs over someone until that shadow can be lifted by doing the shadow work on that particular issue or feeling that the person is carrying around. Because, if you think about it, when a vampire energy connects with someone…it’s usually about the same thing every single time. It’s about two things that keep coming up over and over again. That’s the shadow that they do not want to look at…the repeating pattern that hooks into an empath or a lightworker in the disguise of a “friend” but that’s the only topic of conversation that ever comes out of their mouth.

K: Crazy!!!

C: Even the lightworker or the light bringer…if they don’t do the shadow work…a leech or a vampire forms within them and can connect to someone and do the exact same thing. It’s an energy. That’s why the shadow work is so so important right now. We want to stop these tendencies from anyone because the connective tissues that are forming between everyone in this collective state are growing bigger and thicker and it doesn’t matter who or what…they are growing because the world is coming into oneness and that’s why Roth is here now with us…because he is the aspect of oneness.

K: The Avians.

C: Yeah. But not only that…who he is to you and who he is to Paul. So, patterns don’t repeat.

K: For sure.

C: People don’t really realize how…many spirits are on this planet to help with this situation now. We’ve always been boots on the ground. We’ve always been soldiers. You know that about us.

K: Yes.

C: Our numbers are a lot more and a lot stronger right now. So, we’ll lead you out of the currents and the chaos that you’ve wrapped yourself in, but you have to take the steps that are being laid out for you. You have to listen to the nudges and the urges and let the fingers do the walking when you’re booking appointments because we will lead you to what will lift the fog…what will take the blinders off so you can really understand and see what’s happening and what’s been done.

K: Are you still boots on the ground? I haven’t connected with the Table for a while now and I know a couple of you have been using heavy artillery in that spiritual sense.

C: The artillery has gotten heavier. You talked to Anton about the Draconian Wars?

K: A little bit.

C: It’s not happening out in the skies right now. It’s heavy heavy on the Earth right now. You’re novel you’re working on…

K: Yes.

C: The story is happening right now on Earth behind the veil. People can sense the war, but they can’t see it. They pick up on the energy and it manifest in the physical…like it did for you…

K: Yes.

C: But what they see in the physical is nothing compared to what’s happening behind the veil in the 3D.

K: Wow!

C: And…I’m continuing to fight. I’m continuing to spread that light. Cole…Heath…Roth…shit…we’re boots on the ground and dirt on the faces and really trying to work that love and magic so it’s all cleared.

K: Wow. I don’t even know if people realize the half of what you guys are doing. There’s channels of information going out but can people who connect with you actually see the work you’re doing on Earth?

C: (shakes his head) Nope. A select few know but very few have any idea because what they don’t understand or what they don’t know…they don’t and it’s not something that we advertise. It’s work we do because we signed up for it and it’s not to grab any attention and it’s not to advertise…it’s because it’s important.

K: Holy shit!

C: (grins)

K: I’m writing what’s happening through the veil right now!

C: I thought you knew.

K: No! I had no idea.

C: Information is always there. Information is the light of everything. The connection…when it happens…is a mind fuck.

K: Absolutely. It just tugs at the heart strings and makes my mind a little more confused so I had to step back from the story…it was getting to be a bit of a cluster-fuck.

C: And that’s fair. It’s more for your information and truth…understanding than anything anyway.

K: I sort of felt that. Well, Chris, thanks for this. I appreciate you coming in today. I’ve been wanting to channel but had no ideas.

C: Ideas will come from the team when they’re meant to. Today…with what you were talking with Paul about…today was the day for this.

K: Got it. Thank you. Thank you for your light.

C: Thank you for yours. I’ll see you soon. That’s a promise.

K: Thanks, Chris. Love you.

C: Love you. Be good.

K: Trying.

C: Bye.

#Chris Cornell #energy vampires #spirituality #talking with ghosts #channeling #channeling spirit #new age #mediumship #psychic #intuition #automatic writing #message from spirit #mediumship readings #channeled messages #messages from heaven

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boysplanetrecaps · 2 months

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Build Up Episode 6 Recap Part 3: Team Mismatch v. Team Maknae

Welcome back to the recap series that follows ALL the rabbit holes: BPR Unnie recaps MNET’s Build Up! In the previous post, we saw a team with not great teamwork lose to a team that had not great rhythm. In tonight’s scintillating tale, we’re going to see a team of maknae (youngest members of the show) take on a team that includes people of all different ages. We’re going to lose one of the teams, and it’s going to be sad no matter what, so… let’s face the music.

Dahee calls the next two teams up on stage. It’s Team Mismatch versus Team Maknae. (These are my names for the teams, but you have to admit, they’re good names.)

Team Mismatch:

Left to right: Geonu, Seohyung, Soomin

In the previous round, Geonu and Soomin performed Don’t Forget and came in 7th place; new recruit Kim Seohyung performed I Don’t Love You with Hong Seongjun of BDC, and lost to Geonu and Soomin. Hong Seongjun was eliminated, unfortunately.

You might remember Geonu as the one who used to have light pink hair. He’s on Just B with Bain. You might remember Chicago’s own Soomin as the one who sang “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” in the vocal check in. And you might remember Kim Seohyung as just being a kind of lovable weirdo with a surprisingly deep voice and a sort of stiff, formal manner despite his relatively young age.

Left to right: Yeonwoo, Yunseo, Joohee

In the previous round, Ji Yeonwoo and Jeong Yunseo performed The Little Prince and came in 8th place; new recruit Park Joohee performed performed The Moon with Kwon Euibin, and lost. Euibin was eliminated, unfortunately.

You may remember Yeonwoo as the one who forgot the words to a Mamamoo song in front of Solar even though he’s from her agency. He certainly remembers, I’m sure. You may remember Joohee as the one who cried at the end of his song in the 2x2 mission and couldn’t sing. Meanwhile, Driver Yunseo is the hero of the maknae team, determined and confident no matter what.

Seeing the two teams onstage, the guys in the green room say the two teams look like villains and “a traffic light.” The judges think that Joohee looks like he’s wearing his dad’s clothes -- I think it’s his loose white pants that give that impression. He also looks terrified.

Team Maknae introduces themselves as “The Youngest Musicians” and do some anime poses. It’s cyooo!

Soomin from the other team immediately pipes up to point out that he’s the same age as the guys in Team Maknae.

The judges ask Joohee how he’s doing, and he says he has decided to be cooler this time. Well, I hope so.

Then Team Mismatch introduces themselves as “Taco Trio” because they ate Mexican food whenever they practiced and each had different favorite dishes -- tacos, quesadillas, and burritos. “Just like we like various dishes,” Seohyung says, “we want to show our diverse charms on stage.”

Dahee encourages the teams to smack talk, and they do, and it’s whatever.

We head into the flashback, picking up with the moment when Yunseo and Yeonwoo recruited Joohee. Joohee was really happy to be on a team with his fellow maknae (youngest) and is looking for a song that will go with their image.

They’ve decided on Nakka by Akmu.

If you don’t know Akmu, they’re a brother-sister duo with undeniable talent signed to YG. They’re not really idols; brother Chankhyuk writes their songs and sings on them, and sister Suhyun might have the single most beautiful voice in all of pop, both kpop and western pop. They’re super popular in Korea, and are called things like “The Nation’s Siblings.” They’re also my fella’s favorite Korean-based musical act by a wide margin. He full on just listens to Akmu.

If you want to get to know them a bit, you can check out Suhyun’s solo song Alien, which is probably her most “idol”-like moment. I already mentioned her performance in Hopeless Romantic in the previous post. And then from Akmu themselves there’s always Dinosaur.

Anyway, I actually hadn’t heard Nakka before but it’s great. A collab with IU? Of course I’m on board. It seems to be about taking a leap of faith when you’re in a good relationship….? I’ll let you be the judge. Joohee says that the song represents closing your eyes and sort of letting go and being courageous.

Driver Yunseo says that he thought the song might be a bit monotonous without some form of performance/dance, so they decide to add some movement. They want to provoke feelings, so they… wear sunglasses? Ok.

They’re rehearsing in a room at Mystic Story, which is Jeong Yunseo’s agency. (Mystic Story is home to Lucy, a boy band, and Billlie, a girl group.) They talk a bit about how they have a chingoo on the opposing team. And again, the subtitles translate “chingoo” as friend, so in the subtitles they’re saying things like “We can’t lose to a friend!” But of course, as you know, chingoo *can* mean friend but it also can mean “someone the same age.” Ok, cool, we’re good.

They’re at some sort of interim evaluation and see their rivals, so they decide to visit them and see… I don’t know, what they’re up to?

Geonu is up to wearing that hat, so, that’s good.

Driver Yunseo asks, “Is there anything you guys can do better than us?” And I mean, what did he think they’d say back to that? Geonu, reasonably, says, “What do YOU think? I mean, honestly, I do everything well.” It’s so odd -- did Yunseo think the other team would be like, “Actually, we’re bad singers, so you should win”? Soomin says, “In a way, everyone on our team has debuted. We’re pros, and you’re amateurs.” I don’t know if that’s entirely accurate, but I guess it’s true that Seohyung has performed on stage, and I guess Soomin put out a single or something, so, sure. Anyway this whole scene makes me really uncomfortable and I’m glad when it’s over!

It’s performance day. Team Maknae turns their backs to the judges then turns back around wearing sunglasses.

This isn’t as random as it might seem; when Akmu performed this song live on Sketchbook, they wore sunglasses too. I think they’re trying to look

The performance begins.

Full version without reactions.

My thoughts:

Aww, I really liked this. I think all three of them have great voices and they sound great together.

Left to right: Yeowoo, Yunseo, Joohee

I think Yeonwoo might hold his eyes open like that to make them look bigger, but it just makes him look scared. I don’t think he actually was scared, though. He sounded great.

It’s funny, I don’t have as much to say about this performance as I do about performances I like less. They all have similar voices; all three have good breath control, no nasality, and an lovely natural vocal color. When they did that bit where they sort of echoed each other back and forth, it almost sounded like the same person singing over and over.

Joohee’s voice is my favorite of the three. It’s just the cleanest and prettiest, in my opinion. I think this is the best I’ve heard him sing this whole time.

Yeonwoo might be the weakest of the three but that’s a compliment to them, not an insult to him. He seems slightly uncomfortable on higher notes -- it’s an issue with agility, I think. He can hit them straight on, but having to hit them suddenly on a run is harder for him. Still, he’s a great singer.

Yunseo’s voice has the most texture, which adds a bit of interest to the trio. He also had that lovely long note with amazing dynamic control (ie, he controls his volume).

I loved the close harmony and almost-acappela moment toward the end. Nice work!

I’m not sure I *loved* the whole stylized, robotic movement thing they did, but it was cute and funny enough. They were doing a thing and it was a way to add interest without using up the breath they needed to sing.

I do worry that maybe the song wasn’t the best choice, just because it didn’t have the emotional resonance or engagement that some of the other songs have had….? But maybe that will work in their favor, helping them stand out in a group of serious, ponderous songs. Regardless, I’m cheering for them to win. I enjoyed this a lot.

In the MNET edit, the judges are laughing during their super serious “bada badas,” but then Joohee starts to sing and Eunkwang loses his SHIT.

Every time the guys do the badabums in their action poses, everyone laughs -- but when they actually sing, everyone is like, “but they can really sing!”

We see Eunkwang the most, but it seems like everyone’s having a great time.

Dahee loves it too!

The judges applaud without hesitation when the guys are done, and all theother guys backstage cheer.

Wendy tells Joohee that when he started to sing at the beginning, she thought they were just playing the pre-recorded song. Fair -- that kid obviously ate the CD for breakfast. Eunkwang adds to the praise, saying that Joohee was like an uncut gemstone that has now become polished.

Eunkwang also praises the teamwork and staging, saying that it made everything fun and light.

Guest Judge Guy -- whose name I never remember so I’ll just have to call him Guest Judge Guy and you’ll just have to make your peace with that -- says, “You were so charming that I thought, ‘I could even become a fan if it’s a team like this.’” Me too, GJG! Me too!

That’s about all the feedback we hear, and then it’s time for Team Mismatch!

Everyone’s interested to see what the “bad guys” are going to do.

The judges wonder about this combination -- Seohyung seems to be an odd choice to add to the duo of Soomin and Geonu. They had had to choose among Seohyung, Joohee, Gwangseok, and Woong, and I’m not sure if there’s anyone they’d prefer to that.. I think Soomin didn’t want to work with Joohee -- he seems to look down on the young trainees, kind of like, I don’t know, like he’s too good to work with them? I don’t mean to be so negative about Soomin but I’ve been open about how he rubs me the wrong way, so at least I’m not pretending I’m totally objective here.. I also think Soomin wouldn’t have wanted to work with Woong -- the two of them worked together on Ditto and I didn’t sense much camaraderie on the team. I think Gwangseok’s voice wouldn’t mesh well at all with Soomin and Geonu’s lighter tones. So it kind of had to be Seohyung. And a bass voice could add a lot of interest to any team, right?

The judges ask Seohyung how he feels about singing the song the team is going to sing, and he says cheerfully that he’s never sung in this genre before, but that since the song is called Joker, he’s going to be a Joker in this performance. Love that! Imagine, just saying to your teammates, “Ok, I haven’t done this genre before, but I’m ready to try.” IMAGINE THAT!

We head into the flashback and see Geonu and Soomin entering the Small Room of Serious Decisions, muttering to themselves, “I hope he’s still there!” And quite to everyone’s surprise, they seem to be enthusiastically interested in Kim Seohyung.

I had assumed that they’d chosen via process of elimination -- that they didn’t want a trainee like Joohee, a low tier like Woong, or a strong, uncontrolled voice like Gwangseok’s. But nope, seems like they really wanted Seohyung, or at least are doing a good job of pretending that they did. Good for them either way.

Seohyung is like, “I can’t believe the ‘Chicago baby’ wants me!” (He says “Chicago baby” in English -- pretty funny.) When he runs into them in the hall, Geonu says in Korean, “We chose you!” and Seohyung replies in good-sounding English, “Seriously?!?”

We get a little flashback montage showing how high energy Geonu and Soomin are, and how calm and polite Seohyung is. I think my favorite is him bumping into a door and then saying thank you to it. Also we’re reminded that he likes to watch car documentaries. WHAT ARE CAR DOCUMENTARIES???

(The Korean letters phonetically spell out the English words “Welcome, my bro.” Also: s w e a t e r spotting)

The guys meet up to plan and rehearse, and Geonu and Soomin reveal that they already had a song in mind: Joker by Big Naughty.

Ok, Big Naughty is the guy who sang Hopeless Romantic, which we’ve talked about a few times -- the song that guest starred the female half of Akmu (who sang Nakka). Big Naughty’s song Joker features Jamie, formerly known as Jimin Park, who you might know for being a host/personality on a lot of Korean shows, or for her song 3D Woman or maybe April Fools (two awesome songs). She finally got out of JYP’s basement and she’s out and about now!

Joker seems to be about that tension between wanting to have a sincere, genuine relationship with someone, where you let down your guard, and wanting to protect your heart and keep things light. It has a light, sort of jazzy sound that reminds me a lot of And July by Heize and Dean.

So yeah, Soomin and Geonu tell Seohyung about the song they’ve picked, and he says he’s never heard it. Of course he hasn’t. It’s not a car documentary. Geonu explains that he thinks this will help all of them by letting them show something new but also use their talents.

Seohyung interviews, “I contemplated the situation momentarily. Truly, singing a ballad would be easier, but if I were to do so, how would improvement be possible?” See, that’s my guy. He tells the duo that he’s ready to try it -- “use me as a joker,” he says. Soomin challenges him to try smack talk, and he says, in English: “....… Babies! …. We… we go to the next round!” That’s about all he can do, but it’s great.

Then they decide they have to make a handshake and help Seohyung develop a “vibe.” I think they’re having fun and getting to be friends. It’s cute.

Cutting back to performance day, the judges are like, I can’t imagine Seohyung singing this song. I can’t either, but that’s mainly because Nakka by Akmu is so firmly stuck in my head that I can’t remember how any other songs go until/unless I listen to another one.

The performance begins.

Full version without reactions.

My thoughts:

Overall, really great, mainly because of Soomin and Seohyung.

I wish that Soomin had been entranced by Woong or Bain instead of Geonu, who I think has one of the weakest voices on the show. I really don’t want to feel that way, since Geonu and Bain are in the same group and I want that group to be successful, but I can’t help how I feel -- that Geonu is vastly outshined by nearly every other vocalist on this show. His voice is very nasal, he’s often a bit off key, his high notes are strained and shrill sounding, and he lacks breath support on longer notes. He also is awkward in his movements, the way he kind of jerks around as if he’s semi-dancing.

Geonu’s deficiencies are highlighted by how lovely and sweet Soomin’s voice is. He also has a nice spoken tone that gives warmth to his rapping. I don’t have much to say about Soomin’s performance because it was just sort of universally good.

Seohyung surprised me, and I bet he surprised the judges, with how well he did here. I’m calling it now -- they’re going to do an instant replay of his little growl at the 1:35 mark. His high notes sounded supported, and his deep notes were really satisfying.

I’m a bit on the fence about the arrangement and staging. I love the idea of giving Seohyung the majority of Jamie’s lines, and having him sing them down an octave, so you have a bass coming in instead of an alto. Fun idea. But it did mean that Seohyung hung back for the first third of a three minute performance. I guess we’ll see what the judges think of that. I also wish there’d been more harmonies -- there are only maybe 10-15 seconds total where they’re singing in 3-part harmony. I would have liked to hear more.

If I had to guess, I would assume the judges will give this round to Soomin’s team, if for no other reason than I’ve noticed that Korean judges tend to just sort of prefer awarding wins to older people. It’s a weird sort of age discrimination, where they are indulgent to young people, but also habitually prefer older people. I’m not convinced that Soomin’s team actually did better, though.

In a fight between Soomin and Joohee, I’d say it’s a dead heat.

In a fight between Yunseo and Seohyung, also, a dead heat.

In a fight between Yeonwoo and Geonu, I choose Yeonwoo, no question.

Judging based on team synergy and harmonies, I’d choose the maknae’s team.

So yeah, I’d give the win to the maknae, but I still think the judges are going to give it to Soomin’s team. Let’s see what happens….

In the MNET edit, naturally, we get a lot of reactions to Soomin’s first few notes. And of course, when Seohyung starts to sing, the judges are delighted too.

Ah, I was wrong, there’s no instant replay of Seohyung’s growl, but we do see Wendy make this face:

.. and we do get an instant replay of his lines “... so let’s just play the game.” Checks out.

After Geonu says “take a little nap,” he does this weird little dance and makes weird faces and it’s very like, IDK, your cousin dancing at a party when he’s high on shrooms and no one wants to tell him no music is playing. You know? Very that.

Baekho’s face speaks for all of us, I think:

When they’re done, of course everyone applauds.

Everyone is happy for Seohyung for trying something new and basically nailing it.

Best pals Jay and Wumuti do their best Seohyung deep-voice impression:

It’s obviously very affectionate.

Dahee asks the judges what they thought. Jaehwan says that he got on his feet almost immediately for this performance. He says to all three, “your free, sexy, and fatal charms mesmerized me today,” then calls out Soomin for his excellent intro notes.

VCG praises the group’s teamwork and harmony, and then reminds Seohyung that he (VCG) had told Seohyung to change not his voice, but his expression and manner. And Seohyung did really well at doing just that. Also, his bass voice added a lot to a team with a high tenor like Geonu.

Guest Judge Guy praises Seohyung for tackling a new genre. Yeah!

Baekho tries his best to tell Geonu to stop dancing like a dorky weirdo. He says, “Geonu, I think you have everything you need -- but the image you’re trying to portray kind of ruined the performance in general.” We’re reminded that Geonu did the same kind of thing in the other two performances. Baekho says that if Geonu could just tone that down, he could win a lot of fans. Is anyone going to mention his pitchiness or nasality or lack of vocal agility….? Just me…? Ok…

So, it’s time to get both teams up on stage to find out their fate.

The judges vote. Wendy notes that she might feel different if she’d heard the song in the opposite order. Not fair, then. Maybe watch a playback of both or something.

The results are revealed…

Red is Soomin’s team, and blue is Team Maknae. Only Eunkwang voted for Team Maknae, so Soomin’s team wins.

Dahee asks the winners to say a few words, and Geonu basically says he feels bad about the fact that the losing team is being eliminated, but promises to keep up the good work. Driver Yunseo says they performed with no regrets and enjoyed working together, and hopes to meet everyone again in the future.

They walk off stage together, and it looks as if Yunseo and Yeonwoo are both comforting Joohee. Aww. Backstage, they say they’re a little sad that it’s over, but they aren’t crying. I think they were pretty much expecting to lose. Aww.

Well, I really want to see all of them again in the future, and I think we will. Yunseo is signed to Mystic Story and Yeonwoo is signed to RBW -- both good agencies. I don’t know where Joohee is signed, or if he’s signed at all. However, things often shuffle around after shows like this, and it wouldn’t surprise me if Kim Minseo from Bain’s team ends up debuting with some or all of Team Maknae here in the next year or two. Team Maknae, fighting!

Soomin’s team has a group hug backstage and vows to stick it out to the end.

And that brings us to the end of the round, and the end of this post! Thanks as always for being a friend! I'll see you in the next one.

#bpr recaps build up #mnet build up #build up mnet #build up

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