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verysium · 2 months

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I’ve been seeing some discourse around twitter about the blue lock boys and whether they’d be a loyal bf or not 😭 Curious to know who do you think would be more inclined to cheat or who just wouldn’t at all!!!

I saw someone say sae would 100% cheat like whattt I feel like he wouldn’t even bother looking at anyone else if he already has someone (Cuz I mean dating him would likely mean you actually mean something to him) but I digress

ok anon you had me pulling up a whole argumentative essay here cus WHO TF SAID SAE WOULD 100% CHEAT??? 😔 that mischaracterization is so painfully inaccurate. twitter really took the whole emotionally unavailable itoshi archetype and ran with it. let me just clear the air here because my man deserves some explanation.

sae itoshi would not cheat. as in capital N and capital O. he took nearly an entire decade off his life just to work on his own issues and finally form a functional and healthy relationship with another human being. and you're telling me he's just going to let all that wash down the drain for someone else? 😒 twitter logic really be showing its illogical side here. apparently a man can be loyal to a professional sports career for eighteen years, but he can't be loyal to his significant other.

i think this misunderstanding probably happened cus of shidou. people read the manga and saw that sae dropped rin for a bug-eyed freak and automatically assumed he was disloyal. 😑 let me just say two things here:

(1) sae and shidou's relationship is strictly professional. imagine being stuck in an god awful corporate office with coworkers who bore you with their weaponized incompetence and a boss who annoys the living shit out of you. and then one day, the company hires a new recruit who is probably the most unhinged and debauched creature known to man. you're probably left wondering how he even got hired in the first place. but then you find out...he's useful. he takes risks and gets a high return on what he invests. it's impulsive and stupid, really. but at least it's unconventional and outside-the-box. he has your interest piqued. that's basically sae and shidou in a nutshell.

(2) just because sae gave shidou his number after the u-20 game does NOT mean he would do the same to any other person who would try to encroach on your relationship. and let's be real here. sae would get one text from shidou and block his contact.

anyways, here is my analysis on the bllk boys in general. introducing the anti-cheating to pro-cheating spectrum:

(A) cannot cheat under any circumstance (as in they already hate the fact that they live on a planet with 8.1 billion other people who are not you):

itoshi brothers (atp they don't even have the physical or mental capacity to entertain a third party), ness, reo

(B) cannot cheat due to physical incapability (literally cannot pull anyone within a five-meter radius to cheat with):

ego, igarashi, raichi, bachira (not that he's in any way unattractive...it's just...i feel like he would purposefully act weird to drive off people who aren't you)

yukimiya, barou, kunigami, noa, loki, gagamaru, chigiri, niko, hiori, karasu (baby boy literally felt inferior cus his crush was the cutest in his class), kurona (head empty, just you)

(D) would not cheat (on you but everyone else is not included)

isagi (unintentionally a homewrecker to others but would never let anyone homewreck his relationship with you), leonardo (idk why but i just don't trust him entirely)

(E) could cheat (depends on what they get out of it):

kaiser, shidou (honestly what did you expect when you willingly dated a blonde man...)

(F) would cheat (either proven by canon or they accidentally fucked up somehow):

otoya, oliver, nagi

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intersectionalpraxis · 7 months

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something needs to be said about cishet men who think it is 'insulting' to tell a woman that she will be living alone with her cats when she's old & grey if she doesn't (essentially) cater to patriarchal values

aside from the fact that lifestyle being comfortable for so many of us (& what did cats ever do to you? aside from probably having more maturity & emotional intelligence) is that it is statistically untrue.

single & childfree women are the happiest on the planet. women's mental/overall health improves when she's not married to men. women patients are also far more likely to be accompanied by loved ones (kids/relatives/friends) to appointments compared to men in all stages of her life.

so what is it here that makes them believe a statement like this could 'put a woman in her place'? could it be the ways in which young boys & men are taught women need men to feel a sense of validation, safety & love? and that when women say they don't, they resort to reinforcing biological essentialist discourse because controlling women's bodies is a tale as old as time?

i think part of the uncomfortable truth for so many of cishet men is that their identities, having been shaped around heteronormativity in ways it has for women with specific roles and expectations, has been challenged in ways that no longer benefit/are relevant to most women (of course i acknowledge cross-cultural exceptions, such as matriarchies & countries where equity/inclusivity has been/is a genuine a focus)

but access to autonomy in many ways is key here & women growing/unlearning/learning about themselves in ways that reinforce their choices, their desires, their wants over someone else's is what men here are really threatened by.

like women can want to have men as romantic/sexual partners, but they don't NEED men & those men in turn get angry because they aren't able to control the narrative about women needing men to be happy.

the fear of being alone is ironic because ultimately if women, who have been perpetually objectified in patriarchal, white supremacist, capitalistic, sexist, misogynistic societies, are saying enough is enough & are finding ways outside of heteronormativity to feel fulfillment then the one's most scared of being alone are mostly cishet men.

the 'old cat lady' sentiment will always be an ageist/sexist/misogynistic sentiment meant to guilt/shame women for doing what is best for them. and is entirely a projection on his end, which is ultimately very pathetic.

#feminism #feminist #intersectional feminism #intersectionality #patriarchy #womens rights #empoweringwomen #gender ideology #gender theory #queer

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feminismisstillahatemovement · 2 months

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I'm certain that Elon is full of shit at some times, but what good things has he done that deserve recognition, too? And, what are commonly-believed lies about him, that are easily dispelled?

Putting aside that the man is singlehandedly putting human beings on other planets, and thereby doing more to try bring about the long-term survival of the human race than every climate activist collectively throwing soup at paintings, and that he - again, near-singlehandedly - has made electric vehicles both cool and a workable alternative to the combustion engine, with close to 17,000 Tesla Superchargers in the US alone... just the single act of him buying Twitter and removing the censorship and bias has likely altered the future of the entire human world, and for the better.

Because of one man, the entire mainstream media corporate narrative now has an unavoidably public alternative, and every one of their lies now gets community noted into oblivion within minutes of them speaking them. What once was an unquestioned Democrat party line, held by all major TV companies and news sites, is now being laughed at by the entire world in real time. It cannot be overestimated how much this changes the political discourse and narrative of the time we are living through, and everyone benefits from it. Freedom of speech is something everyone should appreciate and applaud, regardless of how they vote.

Maybe the weirdest lie that went viral is that his father owned an emerald mine and so Elon grew up sitting on a golden throne wiping his arse with jewels and dollar bills. Even the woke/left-wing Snopes debunked this, but there are probably millions of people out there still believing it, and vilifying Musk because of it.

I've noticed more girls seem to have believed this nonsense than boys: both a current female friend and my ex-girlfriend would only mention his name with a sneer, but when I asked them to lay out why for me, so I could understand what they were seeing, they both trailed off to a slightly puzzled silence, because when trying to articulate it, they realized it was based on nothing, just an attitude they'd taken on from the tone of media reporting and the groupthink of their peers.

Elon is a flawed human being like the rest of us, and I'm sure there are many things I'd disagree with him on, but he's a genuinely great man in a world of mosquitoes, and we desperately need more great men with vision and courage to get us out of the mess we all agree we're in.

#elon musk

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date-a-jew-suggestions · 2 years

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One thing I see a lot in political discourse is using the Holocaust death toll as a comparison point for other tragedies or perceived tragedies. I think that is almost always inexcusable. Reducing the Holocaust to a numbers game is fucking disgusting and it’s one of the things I resent most about how it is often discussed in politics.

The holocaust’s brutality and violence is by no means encapsulated in the number 11 million (6 million of which were Jewish.) Even aside from that incomprehensible number of victims, there are far greater long lasting impacts. The fact that roughly a third of the Jewish population globally was slaughtered in an attempt to quite literally eliminate us from this planet is a tragedy not just because of the lives lost, but because of the impact it had and still has on those living. The Holocaust was not a switch flipped that caused 11 million spontaneous deaths. It was the calculated mass murder of a handful of already stigmatized minority groups, particularly Jewish and Romani people. Beyond those killed were millions who were tortured in the camps. And beyond those even there were the people in hiding who subjected themselves to sub human living conditions and a life of constant fear because the alternative was the camps. And people who were lucky enough to flee their home countries that abandoned everything and everyone they knew, often suddenly forced into extreme poverty.

And even aside from those who lived through it, the Holocaust has ramifications for Jews today. The Holocaust didn’t just spring up from the ground, it was built on years of antisemitic propaganda and conditioning that was built on hundreds of years of animosity towards Jews. That hatred did not just go away when the camps were closed. Jewish people are one of the most likely minorities to be a hate crime victim in America. Every far right conspiracy theory thats currently gaining traction has deeply antisemitic undertones, often accompanied by Holocaust denial. The January 6th riots were full of proud boys sporting t shirts and flags that read some variation of “6 million wasn’t enough.” These people quite literally do not want the Holocaust to be a one time thing. The Holocaust was not just a mass murder, it was a fear campaign meant to strip an ethnic minority of humanity in the eyes of the rest of the population. And it worked better than you fucking think it did.

#Holocaust tw #jumblr #judaism #nazis tw #nazism tw #antisemitism tw #death tw

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jinx-blackout-84 · 10 months

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I may have a history of regrettable decisions

Hi! My name is Jinx!

Use whatever pronouns you use for yourself for me

And hey! If you're having a bad day, here's a masterpost of some links to cheer you up

Your residents tide pods georg, doorframe eating, vice president of the sad blonde boys club, thundercubed fanboy.

and a part of the mutuals cinematic universe (gay roleplay gang) with my husbands @glo-katt84 @felixisfruity and @swagaythor

My spotify

CWs for this blog: I talk about sex, I discuss racism and homphobia and abelism, I do not support any discrimination. I talk about mcyts, I curse, and I have a very weird posting schedule.

My goodnight posts:

#goodnight post

Any discourse:

#discourse

Me just talking:

#jinx screams into the void

Talking to my friends:

#and the void screams back

Reblogs:

#Foraged from the void

Anytime I talk about fics I am writing:

#Fic stuff

Real life stories:

#real life stories

#jinx exists in real life D:

Song posting:

#Jinx lyricposts

#Jinx songposts

Talking to Katt:

#Katt my beloved husband

Speaking of which, DON'T go check out my Cannon CHEATING EX-husband, @glokatt

Roleplaying with the nutuals:

#mcu (mutual cinematic universe)

The husband War (first mcu story):

#the husband war saga

Katt's secret (second mcu story):

#katt's secret saga

DNI----

Usual DNIs, DREAM STANS GET THE FUCK OFF MY BLOG

I will use tone indicators if requested!

I am a minor so please don't send me sex things!

Check this out

Signed, ꧁༒☬𝙹 𝚒 𝚗 𝚡☬༒꧂

Whoah cool font

Thank you for reading <3

Time for my 50 billion userboxes and fanart

Flash warning below the cut

FANART TIME

⬆️ This beautiful art from the wonderful, lovely, talented, kind, and amazing @glokatt

⬆️This amazing art from my beloved friend @felixisfruity, who is so amazing and talented and I AGAHAGGAGA.

⬆️ this AMAZING fanart is also by @glokatt, who is perhaps the kindest, funniest, most chaotic person on this planet. They are so awesome and you should go check out his blog because they are the absolute coolest.

⬆️ this amazing fanart by amazing and wonderful and funny and super cool mutual @dumbartist101 whom I adore! Go check them put because they are amazing and wonderful and so cool aghggagagagag.

Sorry for being a userbox whore

#intro post #Fic stuff #Goodnight post #Jinx screams at the void #And the void screams back #Foraged from the void

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ominous-horse-noises · 1 year

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no bc the way mnet and twitter is trying to gaslight me into think the k team trainees have more talented members than the g team.... i know what i saw when i watched those performances!!!

#dont get me wrong g group has some stinkers #ouju sucked shit in aju nice (sorry king)#but. i think the handling of the k and g group's 'kick it' performances was representative of the preferential treatment for korean trainees #like if g group did all get all-star k group didnt deserve it either #yoo seung eon earned his all-star status tho i'll give him that. titanium voice indeed #ik the g group has some standout bad performers but on average the k group trainees largely make very little impact on me???#they're not exactly *terrible* they're just... mediocre.#uninteresting kings fr #seowon slays by being cute and hilarious tho i wont hear slander against him #boys planet #/discourse

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cdfreak · 4 months

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i love the discourse about whether or not lesbians can be boys. lesbians are better at being boys than possibly anybody else on this planet

#gone fishing

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spidermanifested · 3 months

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this is not my usual type of post but ive been rotating some thoughts and i guess my blogs as good a place as any to get them organized. okay so this is basically my take on the entire discourse surrounding the "feminine (presumed cis lets be honest) women are uniquely oppressed for being feminine/making female characters quote unquote Less Feminine is antifeminist" thing. which i keep seeing come up. on this internet of ours

context being im a trans guy. grew up largely seen by others as female, probably, sort of. was about as far from a cishet womans feminine as you can imagine. not in a cool tomboy way. not in a way that society had a box for. and thats the thing, is that when you fail at gender, whether youre conscious of it or not, theres this extremely profound loneliness that comes with it. part of it was the autism but i made like 6 real-life friends total from ages 4 to 18 and there were no examples of anyone with an even remotely adjacent experience i could find in the media or irl. anytime a female character skirted a little too close to actual masculinity in a tv show or movie shed get that makeover eventually. i was bullied by both boys and girls but the girls who bullied me were uniformly very feminine.

and so i see people talking about how hard feminine women and girls have it, how the world hates them for being beautiful, and on the one hand its like okay, Misogyny Exists. thats not really refutable thats just the reality of it. society hates women. and as for eurocentric femininity specifically i understand its a hard tightrope to walk!!! you have to put on all these masks BUT make them seem natural, youre forced into these narrow boxes of acceptable behavior and appearance and desires, and if you under- or over-shoot then people get reminded the whole thing is a farce and get mad (often violently!) at YOU for it

........but then my thing is, that on one side of the tightrope, the "overperforming eurocentric femininity" side, the tradwife or girlboss or blonde bimbo side, theres an entire history of structural trope-crafting to break your fall, right. like its a shitty box but its the box society WANTS you to be in. they look at you and go "yep thats a woman. we dont like those but that sure is one". there are known social niches to carve out. theres a script.

on the unfeminine side theres just. nothing. its stone cold concrete down there. and apparently twitter would have you believe its actually that the "more masculine" somebody presumed female appears the more society respects them but that to me is the wildest and most nonsense take on the planet because if people see you as a woman or girl who has not taken the needed steps to justify your place as one of those things you might as well be an alien, or even a monster. theres no script at all. and i feel like this is one of the major experiences that trans and gnc people of every gender share-- god knows trans women get the brunt of the vitriol-- and from my knowledge a lot of nonwhite people too, and also fat and disabled people, like. there are SO many things that affect your ability to achieve even a fraction of success at this aspirational femininity.

ive had to see people for real make the argument that princess peach making an angry face is masculine. i think the most masculine woman anyone on twitter can imagine right now is like a businesswoman in a form-fitting pantsuit and light mascara. maybe the struggle of succeeding at femininity under patriarchy deserves exploration, ive seen plenty of coherent and reasonable points, its not without worth as a discussion. but i do not trust the general public with the topic without immediately sliding into bog standard gender policing and transphobia, and so in closing, when the mainstream feminist take on the whole thing seems to be "the more you perform the femininity expected of you the worse you have it", i get the sensation that nobody told me it was opposite day and im about to feel real silly

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gemini-care-barr · 2 months

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Interesting you say ur top three heroes are Batman, Hal and flash! I’m surprised superman (or a superman member like superhero) didn’t take place of third and Bruce did! Can you indulge as to why? X

Oof, this one is gonna be a loaded answer haha.

So, just to get it out there, my top 5 heroes, in order, are The Flash (Barry Allen), Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Batman (Bruce Wayne), Aquaman (Arthur Curry), and Superman (Clark Kent). There have been times in the past where Bruce and Hal have switched places, but they’ve been pretty solidly in their current spots for the past few years and I expect they’ll be staying there in the foreseeable future haha.

Now, I want to kinda defend my love of Clark while I’m here too, so I’ll start by saying I do absolutely adore him. I think he’s an amazing character and I’m absolutely already planning my future PHD dissertation on him and his stories haha. He has a rich history and is so admirable and sweet and good, not unlike my absolute bestest boy Barry, but I almost feel like that’s why he isn’t in my top 3. I already have Barry! And Barry scratches some intellectual and emotional itches that Clark doesn’t, which is the perfect segue into why I love Bruce.

I was a sad kid… lol. Like really sad! Like the level of sad where you can look at a ton of my childhood photos and I’m very rarely looking at the camera because I’d much rather be moping around with my face hiding up against my mom or dad ahaha. And it was with this incredible sadness that I looked upon Bruce’s face for the first time and saw a kindred spirit. Granted, Bruce had a (very well-known) reason to be sad while I was just a very marred by unfortunate events but otherwise mostly blessed child, but Bruce’s sadness was still very raw and real and relatable to me. And still is!

But I love him for more than just his broodiness, I also love him because of his incredible capacity to love and, maybe, hopefully, at least sometimes, be happy despite that sadness. Bruce is an amazingly tortured soul who still finds the time, and puts in the effort, to keep going, keep loving, keep finding and fighting for happiness. Does he get beaten down sometimes? Does he brood a lot? Does he come across as a bit heartless or cold? Self-isolate? Yes, all of the above. But he also has the BatFamily, he created the BatFamily. The BatFamily that includes Alfred, Selina, Dick, Jason, Tim, Damian, Duke, Barbara, Cassandra, Stephanie, Kate, Lucius, Gordon, Luke, and probably several more than I’m woefully forgetting. And he fights for and loves all of them and they are his happiness and light and motivation and I just love that so much because, yeah, same. I can be incredibly sad and mopey and not want to be with anyone, but then I remember my family and friends and I want to fight for them and their happiness too and I get Bruce in those moments.

Still, Bruce is not only intensely relatable for me, he’s also hugely admirable. Because, man, do I not want to do anything for anyone sometimes haha. Yeah, I just went on a whole spiel about wanting to fight for the happiness of my loved ones, but, hey, I’m not perfect and I am very susceptible to thinking “yeah, I care, but I’m sad right now and I don’t really want to care,” but Bruce’s unending fight is the fight to care despite having no reason to. He’s literally a vigilante in the most corrupt and crime-ridden city on the planet, a place where no one cares, and yet he puts on the cape and cowl each night to show and prove that he cares even if no one else does. He cares even if he has no reason to. He cares even when he has a reason not to. He’s so sad and broken and isolated, but he cares. And that is so dang cool.

So, yeah, I’m not here to start any “Batman vs Superman: who is the cooler hero??” discourse, but I am going to point out that I think their true dichotomy isn’t that one has powers and the other is just a man. It’s that one serves as a beacon of hope for a world that wants to hope, while the other is a beacon of hope for a world that is so sick and tired of hoping. The storytelling possibilities are endless in either direction, and I, personally, just find myself extremely drawn to the latter.

Bottom line: he’ll always be my Bruce 🫶

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dana-chan-the-control-brain · 4 months

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I remember seeing things that were complaining about Fallout Boy's updated version of We didn't start the fire.

For some reason I thought it was disrespectful to the source material.

But....I just listened to it for the first time and.... No???

It's a pretty good version that encapsulates my generation of America through the past two decades to now. Listing all the big political events, and biggest franchises that came to be in those years and major sports events.

So I was wondering what the problem was.

From how my friend explained it to me, it was because Trump was mentioned and his supporters got mad and that was it.

.... really?

Cus that's so dumb. He got impeached twice, I don't know what to tell them. They're saying he didn't? It's a thing that happened.

They're getting mad about a song that lists off Pokemon, Twilight, SpongeBob Captain Planet, Isis and Micheal Jackson and Elon Musk more or less in the same breath.

Unless I'm missing something critical, yeah this is just a discourse I think I don't get.

Great bonus track

#personal #for people who are pro merica supporters of the trumpet man very easily want him to be a dictator. i dont get it #danachan's rants #it could be possible im misinformed #but its weird i knew the discourse before i heard the song #Spotify

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tricitymonsters · 9 months

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As a someone who sometimes occasionally does an art, how would the bois feel about an artist bg/gf/nbf?

Akello's kind of the odd man out here as he doesn't consider himself the most creative person on the planet but I think he'd be fascinated with a partner who's an artist. It might help him realize that he uses a lot of his plant work and garden construction as a creative outlet. He will be impressed with literally anything you produce!

Mori does art in his own weird ways and appreciates the dedication it takes to get good at a specific skill. Sketching is probably one of the few ways to keep more quiet and still for more than 20 minutes so if you're a traditional type artist you can expect a semi weekly sketch session. Mori also likes graffiti/tagging, tattooing (only people he likes + occasionally drawing designs for tattooer friends), and playing with graphic marker pieces in addition to his musical pursuits so expect him to be interested wherever your interests cross over with his. If there's no obvious crossover hes still nosy and wants to check out your process. God forbid you do life sketches or anything he'll insist he model naked for you.

As a classically and highly trained Artist™️Amir's very interested in breaking away from the academic structure of formal art education to explore more subversive themes. If your interests align with his expect him to infodump every single step of his latest piece onto you. He doesn't always need feedback but he likes to think out loud to someone he trusts. If your interests in either subject or medium aren't on the same page never fear! Amir's always ranting about hot art topics anyway so you can expect TONS of parallel play where you both occupy the same space and work on your personal projects while occasionally getting into Art Discourse about various topics.

#thank you for asking!#amir #mori #akello

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boysplanetrecaps · 1 month

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Build Up Ep 8, Part 2: 💖Guilty 💖

Hello and welcome to another Build Up recap in the series! In the previous one we saw a team rock out! In this one, we’ll see a team get sexxxy. I have a lot to say! Let’s do this!

We start off with the team coming out on stage as usual and greeting everyone. They joke that Donghun and Jeup are the parents and that Woong and Bain are their sons #1 and #2.

Left to right: Bain (Just B), Donghun (A.C.E.), Jeup (IMFACT), Woong (AB6IX)

Their name is transliterated Dongupjadur, I think? It’s written in a really stylized way and my hangul reading skills aren’t quite up to it.

As they’re coming out, the other teams backstage wonder out loud if the guys will be showing their abs -- specifically, if Jeup will be showing his abs. When I was watching this episode for the first time, I didn’t know that Jeup showing his abs was that a thing that could happen. I was like… What? Jeup? Abs? Tell me more!

Ohhh.

등 부시러 갑니다 = “I’m going to break my back.”

So you’re telling me that he just looked like that? Under his s w e a t e r s? THE WHOLE TIME?

Anyway, the team is going to… perform? A song? Something like that. What? Yeah, a song. This is a singing competition. I remember now.

The judges say that the combination is unexpected, and yeah, it kind of is. They’re all good, but aside from Donghun and Jeup singing one song together, no one in this group has performed with anyone else from this group so far on this show. So… what is the unifying concept? Why did Jeup pick them? You guys. YOU GUYS. I have so much to say. More on this soon.

We flash back to them meeting… on a… I don’t know, staircase. A big wide staircase.

Just like, a good staircase to have a meeting on, you know? We’ve all had meetings on big indoor staircases, why am I even explaining this?

Woong asks Jeup why he chose Bain and himself.

s w e a t e r

Jeup basically answers that Bain and Woong are good singers and he wanted to work with them and make a team that can do anything. Hmmm.

On a first watch, I wondered if maybe the real reason was that he wanted a group full of debuted idols? Bain is from Just B, Woong is from AB6IX, Jeup is from IMFACT, and Donghun is from A.C.E. But that just doesn’t seem convincing, does it? Ok, like I said, more on this soon.

The guys do a little skit where they pretend to be choosing a song together, but it seems obvious when you watch it that they already know what they’re doing, and what they’ll be doing is Guilty, the song by Taemin. That’s a ballsy choice! A choice full of balls!

Ok, a little bit about Taemin, in case you don’t know him well. He’s a member of SHINee, the same group that was once home to Jonghyeon who we talked about a lot during the 2x2 round. Taemin was only 13 when he debuted, and at the time, he basically couldn’t sing. At all. Like, at all at all. He was there to dance -- and boy can this guy dance -- and to be a cute maknae.

Over the years, a combination of a lot of hard work and some really good vocal training has made him a quite good vocalist. He also absolutely, positively drips with charisma -- both as in the sense of “star quality” and in the sense of “sexiness”. If you have never listened to Move or Want, you’ve been missing out, so rectify that ASAP.

Guilty came out in October of ‘23, shortly after Taemin came back from military service. He’s said in interviews that he drew inspiration for the album from a book called Erotisicm by a philsopher named George Bataille. A summary of the book: “Bataille challenges any single discourse on the erotic. … Investigating desire prior to and extending beyond the realm of sexuality, he argues that eroticism is ‘a psychological quest not alien to death.’” Well, ok then! So that’s the book that inspired him. What about the song itself? Well, the lyrics could be summarized: You know you want me, baby!

In other words, my friends, the song is a fuck song. And boy, do fuck songs do well on shows like this. Consider Boys Planet, if you will. Songs like Love Killa were always going to beat songs like Home. Team Over Me was always going to place ahead of Switch.

In addition to being a fuck song, Guilty is a good song, but I don’t know if it’s fucking good, if you feel me? Something about it -- I don’t know, I didn’t fall in love with it the way I did with Move and Want. In fact, the day I first watched the episode, I had actually skipped Guilty when it came up in my shuffle. Twice. Don’t get mad at me sometimes I have to hear some EXO or I’ll die okay?

Alright, back the episode. Where were we? Oh yeah, the guys were pretending that this was the moment that they chose the song. The show reminds us that Guilty, with its attention grabbing choreography, is a popular “challenge” right now, for idols and just anyone who thinks their belly is flat enough. (Hwang Soyeon, where are you?)

Woong points out that they really have to do the up-the-shirt-neck-grab move -- and he’s right, I mean imagine doing Gashina and not doing the finger guns? Some choreography is so connected to the song that you can’t take it away without missing it a lot. They also know, though, that they have to prioritize good vocals.

Next question -- should they all show their abs? The immediate answer is yes, but -- and this is really interesting to me -- Donghun gestures to his ab area and says “I’m going to wear Heattech in here.” I did some research and can’t find anything on singers traditionally keeping their abdomen warm in order to sing better, though it doesn’t seem completely crazy. I have a chronic illness (endometriosis) and I know that heat is really great therapy for a lot of things, but I just have never heard of singers doing this.

Plus, go with me on this -- even though in their little skit Donghun is the one who appears to suggest Guilty as their song, he apparently hadn’t thought through the necessary ab exposure or he wouldn’t be bringing this up now as a possible issue. See what I mean about it just being a skit? I’m pretty sure that Jeup had already picked out the song when he put the group together and then for some reason had to make it look like someone else was suggesting it when they filmed this scene.

And poor Bain is like, um, guys, I don’t *have* abs. Bain isn’t skin stretched over muscles like most kpop idols, it seems. That’s ok, Bain, I still love ya! I sure as hell don’t have visible abs. He says he thinks he needs to work out, as if it’s possible to go from not having abs to having abs in like, two weeks. Sorry, dude, that is not happening, or at least, not without doing something super dangerous for your health.

Anyway, luckily for the team, they have a leader who can also lead them in personal training.

The show gives us some good shots of Jeup’s bod, and in the interest of thoroughly covering this topic, I’ll take a screen shot.

What can I say -- I’m a hard worker. (That’s what he said!)

Then the guys go work out with Jeup and he does fucking leglifts hanging from a bar the way you’d lift a single finger.

“It’s easy,” he says. “Just hang on. And just put your legs up.” Sure. Just do that. Just. Do. That.

They all take a turn doing this incredibly difficult advanced move. Woong asks Jeup to hold him up from behind and says “I feel like I’m going to die,” but he can do it. He has abs already, anyway.

Donghun also needs Jeup to hold him up, but he can also basically do the move.

It turns out that Bain absolutely cannot do the move -- he can’t hang there and he can’t lift up his legs. So the whole team helps him.

I think it’s supposed to be funny? It’s a weird combination of horrible (because Bain is the butt of the joke) and oddly wholesome (because they’re all approaching it with kindness), but it’s also kind of wrong, because “abs start in the kitchen,” meaning, that it’s much more about whether you have abdominal fat than whether you have abdominal muscles. So all this work will not actually give him visible ads unless he, IDK, does this for two hours a day and also doesn’t eat, which is a bad thing to do.

They also do some rehearsing at BR N W MUSIC, whatever that might be!

And that brings us to performance day! Right before they perform, Yeo One backstage says that Donghun drew his abs on with a marker. Hey, man, don’t blow up his spot like that.

It’s time to perform, which means it’s also time for a commercial!

Full version without reactions

Alright, I want to talk about the performance itself and believe me I will but first, get your tinfoil hat ready because I think I know why Jeup picked out this group. It became clear to me as I watched the performance and did some thinking.

It’s because

Jeup is very smart

Jeup knows what a mostly-female survival-show audience loves best is sparkles in their pants

Jeup selected the other three guys on the show that can pull off a sexy concept most easily.

Look, I am not saying that I find any of these guys besides Jeup particularly sexy when they’re just goofing around. But they’re all sexy when they perform! Or rather, I should say, they create a sexy mood. Let me explain.

Have you ever listened to a sad song that makes you tear up a little, even though you’re not actually sad about anything in real life? Or maybe a song kind of makes you feel inspired and lifted up? Into the New World by SNSD does that for me. Or maybe a song makes you feel snarky and sarcastic, like Wife by G-Idle. It’s like that, but with sexiness. You get to live in a sexy world for a few minutes, without it being focused at anyone or anything in particular.

To put it differently: it’s like they emit the smell of baking cookies, only instead of baking cookies, it’s sex. You breathe it in instead of actually… having it.

Woong, Bain, and Donghun can all do the sexy concept. Not everyone can do sexy. In EXO, for example, I’d argue that Xiumin and D.O. struggle with sex appeal in performances, despite their beautiful faces; that’s part of why a comeback like Obsession was only possible when those two were away in the military. Suho can kind of do sexy on stage, but that’s helped by the fact that to me he seems the sexiest off stage. I don’t know, I guess it’s all subjective of course, but “doing sexy” is different from “being sexy” and both are different from actual sex.

So yeah, Bain can do sexy, abs or no abs. That’s why his whispering “like a river!” in River worked.

Woong can do sexy, as you can tell if you watch AB6IX perform.

And Donghun can do sexy, despite being kind of not sexy at all in real life.

Jeup knows that he’s a Kai/Hyunjin/Kang Daniel/Baekho/Wyatt type, and he knows that he has to give the ladies sparkles in their pants. That’s why he had to ditch Suhwan, despite Suhwan’s strong vocals. He needed a group that could be his backup sexies as he hit us full bore with the force of his sexiness.

And boy can this boy do sexy. I actually learned how to make gifs in order to make this one:

Just Park Jeup stroking his mic stand lightly all the way down, while Donghun hits a high note. Jeup is a fucking genius, and yes, I mean that. He knows exactly what he’s doing. It's funny because I later on noticed that all of them are doing the microphone stand stroke, but Jeup is the one who the editors decided to highlight, and I mean, come on. Yes. He does it best.

The ab reveal was fine. I think Jeup is sexier just staring into the camera, but that’s just me. Here are some gifs to delight you:

Did Woong tear his shirt?

As to the song and the performance itself.

I am now the world’s foremost expert on this song as I have listened to it approximately one million times in the past few days. I listen to it the way I listen to an EXO song -- noticing each new voice (“ooh, that’s Jeup! Ooh that’s Bain!”) and enjoying it.

And in my expert opinion, this was PERFECT -- the perfect choice of song, the perfect group, the perfect performance. There were high notes for Jeup to croon, whispered parts for Bain to whisper, emotional parts for Donghun to emote, and sassy parts for Woong to sass. And they all did their jobs.

I almost don’t even want to analyze their various vocals because I just love this so much, but I also do want to because they were so good. First off, if you listen to the studio version that was released and compare it to the live version, the live version is actually better. Seriously. There isn’t a note out of place here.

GOD but my Bain is SO GOOD. I am so proud of myself for picking him out at the start of the show as my main pick. He’s so good. His voice is just perfect. His adlib at 3:16 in to the Youtube version is so gorgeous. His technique is so clean, with no closed throat sounds or a feeling of being out of control of pitch or anything like that, ever. No nasality that I notice. Just the perfect amount of vibrato. It’s just perfect overall. His vocals are my favorite on this team.

Woong’s vocals are obviously not powerful and perfect like the other three’s but he adds this sassy contrast to the others. I wouldn’t swap him out for anyone else. He slightly reminds me of Woongki from Boys Planet -- offstage, not sexy at all, in fact kind of feminine seeming. And then give him the right concept (Supercharger for Woongki) and you see what he’s capable of.

Jeup is an absolutely top tier vocalist in addition to being a gorgeous man. I don’t know if I have anything more to say than that. It’s just like, yeah. Did you hear it? You heard it, right? I’m getting used to his vocal color and liking it more and more.

Donghun does a great job here too, obviously, especially in providing harmonies with the lightest touch imaginable. That’s a real talent. In fact, I think my favorite part is from :39 to :47, when Jeup and Donghun climb up that lazy scale together. It’s like a hand moving up your leg to your thigh. It’s really something.

See, Jeup is a genius. Everyone else kind of leans forward, like Donghun on the left. But Jeup keep his head up and just looks to the side, while leaning back slightly and tilting his pelvis up. He GETS it. How can someone look as tasty as Kai while also singing as well as Chen and not like, be the most famous person in Korea? I don’t get it.

I think I’m going to be cheering for Partners at this point. I just want this team to release a whole cover album with them singing like, IDK, Taemin’s entire catalog. I want this team to manifest. Just more singing like this.

EDIT: I just showed this performance to My Fella and he said, "So that won, right? That had to win. That made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up." My Fella is the best, isn't he?

Counter offer: I don’t really have one. This was the right song. Hoo boy. But if they had to pick out a song for next week (and I don’t think they do, based on what I think its next), I’d recommend Touch by NCT. There are lots of kinds of sexy, and they’ve already done the vaguely menacing kind of overt sexy, so next is the “boyfriend in jeans” sexy level to conquer. Alternatively maybe they could do Playboy by EXO (another song written by Jonghyun). It’s overtly sexy but in a jazzy flirty way instead of in an aggressive dangerous way.

Ok, so in the MNET edit the focus seems to be mostly on the shirt lift moment. There was a cute bit where Jeup the Genius gently strokes his collar bone area, as if to remind everyone of what’s under his shirt, and backstage, Wumuti is like, “hey! I was promised abs!!”

Wendy is impressed with Bain’s vocals

Jaehwan needs an adult!

So when they’re done, of course the audience goes batshit while the judges applaud. Jaehwan stands up and Wendy gives a thumbs up.

Backstage, the other guys have mixed reviews. They seem to think that this was pandering to the audience, but I think that’s unfair. I have been *listening* to this performance for days. Just on repeat while I’m on the plane or driving my stupid rental car around. If I could listen without watching or watch without listening, I’d much rather listen. I love this performance vocally, truly, I do. I respect the sexy cloud they generated, too. That’s not easy to do.

VCG compliments Woong and he lets out the cutest, goofiest grin.

The judges vote, and the highest score is revealed: It’s a 95 from VCG.

Seems like they’re pretty surprised by that.

Backstage, Haram says to his teammates that he’s not surprised by that high score. “You can’t ignore the sense of presence,” he explains. That’s the name of my next Jeup x reader fanfic -- “The Sense of Presence.”

VCG explains his grade. “I felt that the skills of reading the song for singers who have been on stage was different.” He also says that Donghun really understands the stage and how to change up his voice based on the flow of the performance.

Eunkwang says that the team had good teamwork -- that they divided the parts properly and worked well together.

Solar praises Woong, and he grins again.

Wendy asks about the killing part -- “Did you all work out together?” Ha ha!

VCG asks how they feel the ab reveal went -- did they get the response they were hoping for? I mean, if they were hoping from high pitched squeals from all the women -- and most of the men -- in the audience, then yes. Hilariously, Jeup can’t help but be honest and say that they had difficulties with that in rehearsal because their abs weren’t being revealed properly. They had to really work at it. I find the idea of them conscientiously making sure that their abs showed when they lifted up their shirts to be so funny. It’s this sensual move, and here they are like, “Is my shirt lifting properly? Let me adjust the angle. Hmm, I might need a different shirt. I think cotton slides more easily than poly blends.”

Solar’s like “it showed really well, don’t worry.” I mean, we know she was looking.

”Hey Solar, I know you do a bit of pole dancing. I do that too, on the side. It’s great for the abs. Want to hang out and work on our abs together? I know a lot of cool moves that will improve your balance and control. And abs. We can do ab lifts and drink supplement smoothies and then take pictures of each other for Instagram.” -- Jeup, probably

Backstage, Soomin wonders if his team should also show their abs, and Seohyung continues to be everyone’s favorite when he says:

“It’s kind of weird to reveal abs while saying MILKY UP.”

Dude, it’s kind of weird to do anything while saying MILKY UP. In fact, it’s weird to just say MILKY UP. I hate it.

And with that, we reach the end of this segment! We didn’t hear a single word of praise for Bain or Jeup’s vocals. Fuck that shit, man.

In the next post, we’ll visit with Waterfire, Wumuti’s team, who are doing a cover of Aespa’s Drama. See you then!

#mnet build up #bpr recaps build up #build up #build up mnet #park jeup #a.c.e donghun #ab6ix woong #bain #just b #a.c.e.#ab6ix #imfact

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