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#please god i have 80 from ONE mission
aemondvelaryon · 10 months
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love grows (where the mustache goes)
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summary: as the squad is giving jake as much shit as possible for the new offensive hair growing on his lip, you are frozen like a deer caught in headlights.
pairing: jake seresin x fem!reader
warnings: explicit language, realization of feelings, alcohol consumption to combat dirty thoughts.
word count: 2.2k
a/n: based on this lovely gifset by unicornships
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If you were being completely honest with yourself, you always kind of had a thing about Hangman.
Look, you didn't hate him, per se, but he definitely stirred some feelings in you that were less than normal. He made you feel totally feral, if you will, unrestrained and vicious. The sort of anger that made you want to scratch your skin off, vibrating and seething, screaming at the top of your lungs.
It took barely a look, less than a glance, not even a word before you were fuming just by being in his presence. He had some sort of grip on you.
So, you tended to stay as far away from him as possible. Leaving when he arrived, staying home when his attendance was announced, and sticking close to people that either didn't like him or didn't know him. It was easier that way.
Easier than thinking about why he really made you so angry.
But the worst part was, the cherry on top, was that he just loved being around you. Loved seeing how worked up he could get you, making you squirm under his gaze, and making you turn bright red from his flirting.
He had to know. There was no way he didn't. The squad must have told him how much you didn't want to be near him which is why he made it his mission always to find you in every room.
He had to know how much he rattled you.
On this particular night, he had yet to make an appearance. But wherever Rooster was Hangman usually followed, and the tall, mustached, Hawaiian-shirted pilot had already made his way over to the piano tonight and the rest of Dagger had slowly trickled in.
You didn't know why you came out tonight especially since their shore leave had just ended and all of the pilots had started making their way back to base and the surrounding area which always included the Hard Deck.
But it was the only fun place around and Penny was so nice to you and going out in a dress on a Friday night and nursing a drink for a couple of hours just to be seen and known instead of rotting in your little apartment after work was worth the possibility you might see him.
Your eyes lock on the little crowd surrounding Rooster, as charismatic as ever, singing another 80s hit. You smile despite yourself.
God, how you wished Bradshaw was the one that made your brain go fuzzy. He was sure of himself, not arrogant, teasing, not antagonistic, handsome, not drop-dead gorgeous.
Sometimes you looked at Hangman and wondered why God would make him so fucking hot and then let him open his mouth.
It honestly wasn't fair.
Eventually, you hear his voice, and your back goes ramrod straight, awareness prickling at the back of your neck, and your hands instantly sweaty.
"Bradshaw, you started without me? I'm heartbroken. After I went through all this trouble to do this just for you? Absolutely devasted."
You don't look. Because if you look it will just cement how much you want to look, and don't want to stop looking.
A choked laugh sputters, as if they're surprised and then Phoenix's voice pierces through the crowd. "You didn't. Please tell me that's not real."
"No way! Someone go pull on it! Probably glued on." Fanboy shouts and you hear the sound of someone falling out of their chair.
"You got to be kidding me. What the fuck is that! Did something die on your face?" Javy yells in disbelief and disgust.
You want to look so bad. Just their reactions almost make you turn. Did he get a bad haircut or something? You're just close enough that you can hear every word but not enough that anyone's noticed you.
"Pay up, now, I called it! I can't believe you guys doubted me. I said he would do something like this." Reuben sounds like he's smiling triumphantly.
Bob's voice is quietly astounded, "He looks like 70s Porn Star Ken."
You sit up even straighter. Oh god.
He grew a mustache.
Rooster finally acknowledges him. "Man, Hangman, I knew you were obsessed with me, but this is another level."
You can't ever look over there now. Just the visual has your skin feeling too tight.
"You like it? Took me a whole month to grow this bad boy just 'cause I wanted to see the looks on all your faces, but I gotta say, now that I'm here, totally worth it." He's grinning, he has to be, shit-eating and ear-to-ear, you can feel it, can practically see his smile in your head. You've stared at it long enough.
"That's great. When are you shaving it?" Natasha sounds disgusted and it almost makes you laugh if you weren't so fucking frozen like a deer in headlights.
"I can't believe none of you are appreciating the effort I went through to do this. Unbelievable."
"You look like someone from the cast of Boogie Nights."
"Well that's a great movie, so thank you." He sounds closer now and the hand around your glass threatens to break it. "Y'know if I can't get you guys to recognize my dedication, I know someone who will."
Oh god, oh no.
"Hangman, don't--" But before another voice can dissuade him, he's already sidling up to you at the bar. You feel the heat of him before you hear his voice.
"Hi, sweetheart, did you miss me? I know I missed you." You grab your drink and finish it off quickly, eyes not looking over at him.
"What do you want, Hangman?" You hope to come off as annoyed, not rattled to the fucking core.
"Well, I know you love Rooster so much so I thought I'd do something to make me look a little bit more like him. Maybe get you to not run out of the room every time you see me, yeah?"
Goddammit, he can't know that you do that. Unless he pays attention to you as much as you do him.
"I don't love Rooster, okay, I just don't like you." You grit your teeth and call the other bartender on duty for another drink.
"Will you at least look at it, before making your judgment, babe? You're hurting my feelings." The faux hurt in his voice almost makes you turn.
"Don't call me that."
"What should I call you then, huh?"
Your drink gets refilled and emptied just as quickly. "Woah, slow down there. Don't need you passing out on me." You have to get the hell out of here, quickly.
Your name, for starters, maybe. "Nothing. I don't even want you to talk to me."
You turn and make your way off the bar stool and it rushes over you all too fast. An empty stomach and tequila do not a wise girl make.
You nearly fall off the seat and onto your ass but a warm hand finds its way around your waist and catches you just as quick. "Easy there." You shiver and turn in his grasp trying to get away but it just makes you meet his eyes.
Shit, shit, shit.
"You good?"
No, you are very much not good. He looks--fuck.
You don't see Hangman out of uniform often. You weren't a pilot or even in the military. Just a casual acquaintance that sometimes had a few chats with his squadron. So, you'd seen him in what he usually hangs out in, his tan jumpsuit, his swimsuit, you've even seen him in his dress whites before. But this Hangman just got back and hasn't even been to the base yet so this is Jake Seresin, Texas born and bred, raised on a farm, rides horses in his spare time, mama sweeter than apple pie, probably owns a fucking cowboy hat.
So, of course, he's got a plaid shirt on. Over that is a bomber jacket, like one you've seen Mav sporting before, only it looks like something you'd wear to go ranching in the winter not fly a plane. He's got jeans on, they’re all beaten up and used, and a leather belt, and he looks like he stepped out of some country romance Hallmark movie.
The mustache is the icing on the cake.
It's not that you had a thing for mustaches. You didn't because you had no feelings for Rooster whatsoever, but you didn't think they were unattractive or creepy like most of the population seemed to.
Did you have a big crush on Tom Selleck in Magnum P.I. when you were younger? Yes. But who didn't? And liking Bella's dad in Twilight didn't make it a pattern, okay! Everyone liked him.
"Uh." You finally gracefully spit out.
He smiles teasingly. "Didn't hit your head, did you?" He knows you didn't. He's playing with you. Riling you up as he always does. Because it's funny to him. Not because he likes you--wants you.
You sober up slightly and push at him. "No, get off."
Jake--God, no, when did he become Jake in your head--just smiles more but it seems softer. "I knew you'd fallen for me, but I didn't think you'd also do it literally."
You turn even redder if possible. "Shut up."
Christ, how was it you had reverted to playground comebacks at just the sight of him? Were you really so weak?
"You didn't answer my question." Was he still talking? You felt fuzzy.
"I need another drink." You can still feel his hand on your waist because despite pushing him away he hadn't let you go.
"Did I finally break you?" He laughs and shit, he knows.
"Why are you still talking to me?" You finally snap at him and his face falls a little, just slightly, that if you didn't have every inch of his face memorized you wouldn't have noticed it at all.
"Because I care what you think." It's a confession. It has to be. You don't know what else it could be.
"Why?" You squint at him. Dumbfounded is the only word that comes to mind.
"Why? What--you don't, you seriously don't know?" He still holding onto you, and his hand flexes, fingers slightly digging into your hip and you feel yourself inch towards him, always stuck in his orbit, gravity pulling you closer.
"Don't know what?" You lick your lips in anticipation and he glances, once, up, twice, down, and then looks away and swallows.
"Why the hell do you think I talk to you all the time? Come find you in a room? Grew this fucking thing on my face?" He laughs, bewildered, and shakes his head.
"Why?" You ask again, if he doesn't say it, you won't. Too goddamn scared that you're making it all up, reading too much into it. "I thought you just liked to tease me. Get a rise out of me. I thought you were making fun of me."
"C'mon, you know me, I do the same shit I do to you that I do to Rooster. That's just what I do when I like someone."
You punch him in the arm.
"Ow! What the hell was that for!" He whines and grabs his arm, taken aback and pretending as if it actually hurt him.
"Why didn't you just tell me that, you ass!" You screech a little, desperately, feeling way too many emotions at once. He tends to do that to you.
He scoffs. "Have you met me? Do you really think I'm emotionally mature enough to do that?"
"That whole time you were just, what, flirting with me?" You question incredulously.
He laughs, a little bashfully. "I mean, come on, I thought it was obvious. I mean it was to everyone else."
You pale a little. "The others know?"
"Yeah, 'course they do. They're the ones that pointed it out in the first place. I didn't even realize I was doing it at first either." He scratches his neck, almost nervously.
"So why the mustache?"
"I don't know. I was just trying to get you to pay attention to me. Thought this might help." And god help you, Jake blushes, actually reddens a bit.
"How'd you know?"
"Hm, know what?" He smirks at you.
You cough. "You know, that I'd--that I'd like it."
Jake grins. "I didn't but you just told me you did."
You hit him again, a slap on the shoulder, almost playful, and you can't believe it, you're flirting with him, you're really this close to him, doing this. "Fuck off."
He smiles again but this one is different. His eyes are incredibly soft and he's looking at you and--did he always look at you like this? Were you really this blind?
"I need you to answer another question for me." His hand on your hips snakes around you and you stumble into him, putting your hands on his chest to brace yourself, and, Christ, he smells good. “Do you think I could take you out sometime?”
"Um." You're throat suddenly feels incredibly dry and you're heart feels like it about to beat right out of your chest. "I mean, if you want to."
"Yeah, baby. I want to."
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br-kker · 2 years
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Alright, alright, alright! I'm bored, so I'm gonna write down some Green Lantern Headcannons for my two favorite GLs!
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Pairings: Hal Jordan X Reader, Kyle Rayner X Reader (separate, romantic, gender-neutral)
Media: DC Comics.
Content and/or Warnings: Just my random thoughts, language, probably OOC for both Lanterns, too much talk aviation in Hal's part.
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H. Jordan - Green Lantern.
This motherfucker will take you down to Ferris Aircrafts and force you to ride shotgun with him.
"HAL PLEASE LAND THE JET!!!"
"Just breathe, (Y/N); the fun hasn't even began yet!"
I'm not even kidding there's a GL comic called "Green Lantern Secret Files & Origins 2005" where Hal and Kyle ride in a jet together and it's awesome.
Anyways, you eventually get used to him dragging you out to nowhere at 10 pm on a Saturday just to fly jets.
He even teaches you how to fly...
...in the smallest jet.
The both of you have watched Top Gun so many times that not only do you know the script off the top of your head, but you might be able to fly a fighter jet.
Moving past aviation, I feel like Hal makes really good blueberry pancakes.
Also, this man is canonically 6'2 (182 centimeters) and 186 pounds (84 kilograms), so expect this exchange:
"(Y/N), there's a bed for a reason."
"You're comfier, shut up." You muffled due to your face being buried in his chest.
Wearing his pilot jacket CONSTANTLY, especially in front of him.
That man will die happy if he saw you in his jacket
"Babe, wanna dance?" Hal asked, before the both of you horribly danced to some crappy 2000s' pop song.
Frequently patching him up.
"Baby, how did this happen?" You say as you clean a cut on his jaw.
"...ran into a stop sign."
He never lived that down.
He comes from a Catholic and Jewish (ayo fellow Jew) family, so expect the blending of religions
Ok, but just imagine you being part of one of the Lantern Corps and teaming up with him on missions.
Honey, you could be part of the Sinestro Corps and you'd both would raise hell together.
Anyways, both of you guys would take the piss out of Batman and The Flash
You guys have gotten whacked upside the head a few times.
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Kyle Rayner - Green/White Lantern.
Let me just get it out of the way: This boy draws you almost any chance he can get.
Especially if you're doing something and don't notice him.
I feel like Kyle would also be into photography, so there's about 292737 Polaroids of god damn everything on the wall or in a box.
You, himself, both of you guys, nature, a cute dog he saw, space, a picture of a hot dog. Name anything, he has a picture of it.
Same thing with his art: It's all over the walls.
Oh, and if you just so happen to be artistic in the slightest? Hope you wanted to keep the puppy-of-a-man for the rest of your life.
I truly believe Kyle makes the best tacos on the planet.
Before any of you come at me, no I did not say that because Kyle is canonically half Mexican. I say that because I literally thought of it and I can't get it out of my head.
This guy lives like a college student without being a college student, so he knows how to make food with minimal ingredients.
Karaoke nights, but it's y'all and a few friends getting absolutely hammered and singing 1980s' songs.
"DON'T YOU FORGET ABOUT ME!!!"
"DON'T, DON'T, DON'T, DON'T!!!"
I can't get this out of my head but Kyle would be best friends with Dick Grayson send Tweet.
Getting confused every time he comes home with a different Green Lantern outfit.
I ain't gonna lie to you guys, but I think Kyle would love to be the little spoon
There's this GL comic called "Green Lantern #154" where Kyle beats the actual shit out of these homophobic dudes that almost killed a gay man. Kyle supremacy.
Guys, get "80 Years of the Emerald Knight." It has your Hal and Kyle fix.
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(A/N: Who was gonna tell me that Kyle paired up with Jason Todd and Donna Troy?)
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nonokoko13 · 10 months
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SXF MISSION 80
Woah, long time I didn't make a review. Hope you're all doing fine while I half disappeared.
Making a brief summary of this chapter. We got:
Yor and the dangers of being drunk while managing a fake marriage because drama is needed.
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Worst/Best timing yet to this day, depends on your view. I have faith in Yuri that he'll surpass himself in another occasion and break some best/worst timing record, including breaking in someone's property ofc.
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Yuri worrying about Yor doesn't have hobbies. This is, in fact, not a secret to anyone. It's public domain. No need to be a secret agent to get your hands over this information.
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Also, it was a matter of time the idea of cheating was brought up by someone, my bet was in Yuri or Fiona so yay. Plus fake rumors of cheating? That's some good ol' juicy reason to indulge one fave characters in angst, hurt/comfort. Any damaging gossip is, really. Fanfic material right there. 10/10
And finally.
Shit got real. Humorous situation escalated for real this time 100% real no bait more news on our web www-
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It's serious, but to me it was all giggles and happy noises because I've been waiting for Twilight VS Lieutenant Briar since Yuri's introduction and Endo is finally letting me have some crumbs.
These are some predictions for the future:
Fiona and Yuri finally meet. However, Yuri thinks Fiona is Loid's mistress from work and Fiona might be tempted to play along his suspicions, ultimately refraining herself because it would endanger Twilight/the Operation Stryx and she knows better than jeopardizing her efforts and others lives for some brief petty entertainment. I mean I hope she is above that God please girl I'm not telling you to raise our expectations just don't dig another basement in your obsession-
New short chapter of Becky and Anya on the zoo. Probably short but sweet and wholesome. Maybe on the middle of this arc or right after it and Lord know we'll thank that
The mole is a new character. Frankie can't be because it's stated the mole worked for WISE while Frankie is a third party who cooperates with Twilight and only with Nightfall due their connection.
Speaking of new characters, the girl behind Yuri seems too detailed despite being a background character.
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Perhaps it's my love for women or my need of more badass ladies and I'm overthinking here but she may be relevant later on and honestly it would be cool to get another SSS frequent character. Love the detail in her earrings btw.
Will she be Yuri's friend? Will she meet a tragic fate as yet another cool design forever forgotten? Another Fiona situation is in our hands? God let that last prediction live down, one is enough.
At some point Endo will reconnect this chapter plot to the story and Loid, with Yor's words still haunting him, will try to spend more time with Yor. Bonus point if it's right the day Yor has a mission and this backfires on her majestically
Following the previous premise, Yor tries to dissuade Loid on following her by saying something along the lines "I don't want to spend time together right now (or else you'll find I'm an assassin!)"
And Loid understands it as "I don't want to spend time together right now (because I'm still mad at you and the damage is already done. Nothing can be fixed at this point. I'm holding this gripe forever.)", furthering causing Loid brain damage by all the gymnastics this man does
Leading to a situation where Loid either backs up for now and lets Yor alone but compensates her later OR Loid keeps trying to please Yor in some way, decreasing her chances of sneaking and finishing the job, which makes Loid think his attempts are deepening more the problem that never really existed. A loop where both suffer by the other suffering until a miracle happens [read: Anya or convenient excuse] and she's free to go slay
Anyway that's all for today. Sorry for not taking the summary seriously I'm in Goofy mood®. What do you think about this arc?
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mildredpierce8 · 11 months
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BEAR WITH ME AND MY RANT ABT THE NEW FITO PAEZ BIOPIC TV SHOW ON NETFLIX
OK......
So, basically Netflix released a biopic tv show about the life of Argentinian rock star Fito Paez and I'm literally so excited to watch it for a number of reasons, but the second I found out that this was a thing I got the urge to go on tumblr and just explode so here goes.
The show is called "El Amor despues del Amor", named after Paez's sensational hit song linked below:
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*please listen its actually so good
Anyways the gringos butchered it and dubbed the show in English to be called Love After Music which makes no fucking sense because the song literally translates to Love after Love not Love after Music and it is just sooo stupid, but anyway what can I do abt that.
This show excites me so much, first of all, because I think Fito Paez 10000000% deserves this kind of recognition, because he really is one of the most iconic latinamerican artists of his generation, and his music challenged the assumption that good pop and rock music could only be made and produced in English.
I guess mostly the reason this show excites me is because it is a show about a latinamerican rock artist, which you just don't get that often and I have been dying to see one. (Also, Argentinian alternative rock is definitely one of my hyper-specific fandoms and new content being produced for it is really exciting).
My mission in life, amongst other things, is to give the South and Central American rock scene the recognition it deserves, because often times people act like it doesn't exist, and new wave/ 80s pop/rock only came out of the US or England. Latinamerican rock serves an extremely important purpose in society, as it was quite literally revolutionary. (I'm bullshitting and tired, so ignore the uneccessary sentences, but my point is valid). Rock in Argentina was used to fight back against A LITERAL MILITARY DICTATORSHIP. And the fact that all the rock music biopics are still England and US centric is really annoying.
I'm not saying I don't enjoy shows or movies about music produced in the US or England, but there are so many amazing stories to tell from the perspective and about the lives of Hispanic musicians. Why are they constantly overlooked?
AND NOT JUST ABOUT MUSIC
Where are the movies about Argentinian Military Dictatorship? (IK they exist guys im just saying we should talk more about the fact that it happened). Actually for anyone interested pls watch the movie "Argentina, 1985", it is great!
Where are the movies about indigenous communities being wiped from existence in virtually every South American country?
Or, as a Colombian, can we get a show about terrorism or the drug trade in Colombia that isn't made from the bullshit NARCOS perspective of white guy policemen saviors, when we all know that all American cops did in Colombia was militarize our police forces and teach them how to abuse the public.
I'm getting off topic
THERE ARE AMAZING MUSIC STORIES COMING OUT OF LATIN AMERICA
Like the entire Mexican punk rock scene it is so cool
Cafe Tacvba, Maldita, Caifanes.
Where's the series abt Colombian metalheads. The metal scene was huge.
Or the goth scene. There was a time where you would walk on the street and you would see crowds of Morticias going to dance The Cure at a club.
Or the fact that Seru Giran recorded their first album in exile in Brazil bcs the government literally had them on a hitlist.
Which speaking of Seru Giran, how is there not a movie abt that yet. Seru Giran is such an iconic fucking band led by none other than Charly Garcia. They are a gift from God to humanity, they are pioneers of progressive rock, I don't know anyone like them. And I'm always saying this but if Seru Giran were British or American they would be just as highly regarded as the Beatles or the Rolling Stones or Pink Floyd because they are just too good.
Here are some Seru Giran songs everyone should listen to:
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*this man is everything. synth on top of a keyboard on top of a piano.
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Anyways, if you're still reading at this point you are very dedicated and i appreciate that.
And side note, please watch this performance of Charly Garcia, Fito Paez and the one and only Fabi Cantilo bcs it is too good:
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*ojos de videotape is one of the most beautiful songs ever written and sometimes idk if its even real.
OKAY SO, TO CONCLUDE THIS EXTREMELY INCOHERENT RAMBLING,
I am extremely happy about the fact that latino stories are being told in media like this because its something that i feel as a fan of rock music and a latina i have been missing from my life. And you may think why do we need movies abt dictatorship or drug deals or terrorism. Doesn't that just perpetuate the stereotype that that's all your country has. NO ON THE CONTRARY. When it's told by big American corporations, it often loses meaning. Shows written by latinos about latinamerican experiences showcase the reason I am so proud to be latina. Because we are a resilient people. Our humanity shines through even in the darkest of times. In the midst of wars and dictatorship, we can come up with shit like this and it is so cool. And I wish there was more recognition for that.
So yeah maybe this isn't a rant abt Fito Paez, even though I love him so much. And I'm more than sure this show is about his life and not about Argentinian military dictatorship.
But I guess mostly I hope this will encourage more latino filmmakers to tell our stories. Tell our stories because they are so cool, and I love watching movies abt rockstars. But I would love it so much more to watch movies about rockstars who look like me.
So I'll get back to this after I watch the show. Chau :)
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bowelfly · 1 year
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while i usually keep this blog focused on art and bugs, movies are my third big passion, and since i don't believe in streaming services i don't have a spotify wrapped for 2022 to show off but i do have a letterboxd account so i felt like going through my 2022 movie watching stats. this post is basically for me alone and will be obnoxiously long so i'll put in a read more thing here out of courtesy:
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ooh so close to almost 1000 hours of movies! still 718 films is pretty good, though that does also include around 80 or so shorts, mostly animations, that i also logged.
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i was averaging around 2 movies per day for the year. being 500 miles away from all your friends, family, and partner does give you a lot of free time it turns out. the most movies i watched in a single week, december 10-16, was 28. the weeks i only watched a couple things were either when i was visiting my partner or too depressed to even watch movies
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one of the things i've done this year to keep myself sane in isolation was to stream movies for friends. however since i have multiple non-overlapping friend groups, there were a number of movies i watched multiple times because i have a deep psychological and emotional need to share weird shit with the people i care about. NOVA SEED, FANTASY MISSION FORCE, and BUDDHA'S PALM were the triple crown winners this year.
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i only watched 7 movies that came out in 2022. my sweet spot is genre movies made from the late 70s through the mid-90s which you can see clearly if you look at my lifetime stats. predictably, i have very strong opinions about practical effects and stunts and film stock
my ratings spread for 2022 is about what it normally is for other years with a lot of things ending up in the 3.5-4 star range. maybe i'm just generous with my stars or maybe i just like what i like and try to not watch things i won't like unless they're bad in a fun way but i really feel like i've been moving away from the whole so-bad-its-good thing over the years and focusing on things that i unironically like--though these are often films that other people do categorize as bad or so-bad-its-good.
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my most watched actors is a bunch of golden age hong kong dudes because i went super hard on the kung fu and wuxia films this year. like about half of these are big name stars and the other half are less well-known character actors that still are in like 200 movies playing assorted emperors and evil administrators. really glad to see my main man lo lieh running away with first place. he's most well known for playing evil white-haired kung fu masters usually named pai mei or variations of that, but he's also played the protagonist or antihero of a number of great films like FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH or THE FUGITIVE (1972, not the harrison ford one). my favorite role of his is without question Bi Gu of East Island the rascally kung fu wizard who hollers his name from offscreen before every time he enters a scene in BUDDHA'S PALM (1982).
also very pleased to see one of my favorite american character actors, brion james squeaking his way onto the list, though sad that he got separated from his best friend and frequent collaborator tim thomerson, who i think is just below the cut here.
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most watched directors. i've been a huge fan of the very recently deceased albert pyun for years now, largely on the strength of his absolute god-tier masterpiece NEMESIS (1992) though he has a number of other very entertaining movies (RADIOACTIVE DREAMS, CYBORG) and also a cavalcade of very bad movies that are nonetheless all fascinating in their own ways. i could go on about him at length but this post is long enough. maybe another time.
other than that, chor yuen (THE MAGIC BLADE, DESCENDANT OF THE SUN) and chang cheh (CRIPPLED AVENGERS, FIVE ELEMENT NINJAS) are gods of early wuxia cinema and fucking rule, and keita amemiya's 90s work (ZEIRAM, MECHANICAL VIOLATOR HAKAIDER, CYBER NINJA) are pinnacles of kickass japanese practical effects work.
i also watched a lot of russ meyer and john waters films because i'm a pevert.
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this is mostly just a reminder to check out my WUXIA WIZARD WARS tumblr post and letterboxd list if you like movies about wizards shooting lasers at each other and summoning fucked up monsters and shit like that
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finally, because i have a brain disease, i made a list of the 100 best films i watched this year, mostly first-time watches but probably like 15-20 rewatches that i especially enjoyed or think more people should know about or give another shot. if i didn't already have way too many projects i'd consider setting up another sideblog just going through all these one by one with reviews and screenshots but that's a lot of work and i am a tired old man. i might give an occasional highlight post like i did for THE BARON AGAINST THE DEMONS
and i guess that's about it? this has been an especially heavy year for golden age hong kong kung fu and wuxia films but i explored a lot of other interesting places and times and genres and microgenres and have a lot more i plan on checking out next year. i've got stacks and stacks of unwatched japanese V-cinema and pinku violence and kaiju and tokusatsu films; tons of giallo and hammer horror and eurotrash lesbian vampire flicks; classic westerns, revisionist westerns, spaghetti westerns; SOV horror, eastern european stop motion, hong kong CAT III sleaze, russian postapocalyptic dirges, poliziotteschi, krimi, and noir films; AIP and PM Entertainment action schlock; italian mad max ripoffs, italian alien ripoffs, italian conan ripoffs; approximately 300 movies with NINJA, BLOOD, or SHAOLIN in their titles; and probably some other shit too.
finally, if you've made it this far and you're a nasty little film freak like me i'll let you in on a secret: i have copies of every single one of these movies on my hard drive. literally thousands of movies dug out of dozens of digital dumpsters with my own two greasy grabby raccoon paws. if any of them particularly catch your interest but you can't find a copy, well you can maybe slip old professor bfly a little private request and get yourself a copy of whatever you need. it may take some time since i only have so many google drive accounts unless someone wants to subsidize a deluxe mega.nz subscription for me to mass-upload things to. i also have a soulseek account sharing the entire hoard but it's very slow and not always online but you can DM me for that as well. again though you may have to be patient because i am old and tired and slow and have a full time job and a hundred dumb hobbies and social anxiety and generalized brain damage
happy new year everyone now go watch a movie about some dudes kicking the shit out of each other for me
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monsignorjohn · 3 months
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(hamish linklater, 80 (appears 30s), cis male, he/him) welcome to crockett island JOHN PRUITT (PAUL HILL) from MIDNIGHT MASS. you work as a PRIEST, and have been here for A FEW WEEKS. you are known to be CONFIDENT, but also DECEPTIVE. you call to mind A WOODEN CRUCIFIX ON A WALL, GOLD VESTMENTS, A BLOODSOAKED SHIRT.
Hi everyone! I'm Sophie, and I'm one of the admins of FlanaganHQ. I'm usually in the GMT timezone, but Tarin and I made this group while I'm staying with her for the holidays. We both love Mike Flanagan's projects, and this idea of this group came to us while we were watching TFOTHOU together (a rewatch for me, first watch for her!) I work with very old books for a living, which is as cool as it sounds. I work full time, so my activity might be spotty, but I'll try to be on of an evening when I can. I also write a lot of pretentious words, so never feel pressured to match my rambling replies, which will definitely become more rambling once I get used to writing John.
With that out of the way, let me introduce you to my hot priest vampire son. This is not written with any seriousness at all, because I struggle with intros:
For those of you who missed Midnight Mass, or haven't recently rewatched it, Father Paul Hill is the new priest on Crockett Island, sent by the diocese to replace Monsignor John Pruitt, the aging pastor who's been on the island for as long as anyone can remember. Pruitt was last seen on a pilgrimage in Jerusalem
Spoiler alert: Paul is Pruitt. While on the pilgrimage, he got lost in a sandstorm and took shelter in a cave, where he was attacked by a winged creature that drank his blood and force fed him its blood. With its leathery bat wings and glowing gold eyes, Pruitt obviously thought it was an angel. As the creature drank from him, he fell unconscious from blood loss
When he awoke, the years had washed away. He was now a young man, in his 30s. His memory and mental faculties had returned to him, and he saw this as a miracle, bestowed on him by the angel
He returned to Crockett with the angel in a trunk, Dracula style, and posed as Father Paul Hill, sent as Monsignor's replacement. Knowing the angel's blood is a source of miraculous healing, he is diluting the communion wine with it, feeding it to the residents of the island who attend Mass. This is resulting in the healing of serious physical injuries and minor ailments. To the Christians of Crockett, a religious revival is happening at St Patrick's
John is a liar and a manipulator, but his intentions are good. He's essentially my favourite kind of character — morally grey as a foggy sky, with a lean towards "evil" acts for his own ends
I will be filling in his childhood and youth as I write him and learn more about him, but for now, here’s what I have: his older sister Alice died of polio when he was a boy, and this turned him towards God and eventually led to him entering the priesthood. He came to Crockett in his early 20s after travelling to South America on mission, and remained there for the rest of his life. According to the newspaper on his wall, he moved to the island 8 years prior to the restoration of St Patrick’s, which seems to have happened in the 1950s. This would track with Mildred’s mention of “the war” in episode 7, and Alice Pruitt dying of polio
During his youth, he broke his vow of celibacy and had a daughter, Sarah, with Mildred Gunning, who was married at the time (someone bring me Mildred please and thank you). The two of them have never acknowledged Sarah as John's child, but he has watched her grow up from afar
I will be essentially going AU from around episode 3 onwards in order for others to take more creative liberties with characters in the show. Though I will refer to him in his internal dialogue as "John", others know him as "Paul" or "Father Paul"
I think this is all you need to know for the time being! Feel free to pop into my IMs to plot, or hit me up on Discord. I look forward to writing with everyone!
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perenial · 1 year
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you're one of the few i trust in the it fandom so. can you give some of your fav reddie fic recs pretty please??
okay. so,
this wouldn't be a gene perenial neé eurythmix rec list if i didn't hype up my main bitch cait @hyruling and a few of her stunning fics:
footprints in the snow | rated: e, wc: 62k
Eddie meets comedian and rising star Richie Tozier at a comedy club, and his life is promptly turned upside down. His Twitter followers jump from 80 to 80,000 overnight, he's being photographed in the subway, and the dreams that have plagued him his entire life are becoming increasingly specific and haunting. Richie feels strangely like the home he's long forgotten, and falling into friendship with him is the easiest thing he's ever done. But the closer they get, the clearer it becomes that Richie is hiding something.
we've been here before | rated: e, wc: 71k
Richie starts seeing Eddie everywhere after Derry. He's obviously hallucinating, until he isn't.
call my bluff, call you babe | rated: e, wc: 29k
"Why can’t I ask Bill?” 
“Because— he’s basically a celebrity too. That’s just. It’s already weird enough to people that you two even know each other, pretending to be romantically involved is just opening up a whole can of worms. I’m outside.”
“‘Romantically involved’, when did you start writing for The Sun, Eds,” Richie teases with a chuckle, just as Eddie reaches the final turn down Richie’s hallway. “That doesn’t really… I mean, people know we were friends when we were kids, so—”
“Just pretend to be my date,” Eddie says, and—
And nearly throws his phone into the fucking wall.
/
it also wouldn't be a rec list by me if i didn't talk about the incomparable mars @playedwright​ who totally changed the game with this little number:
let me name the stars for you | rated: m, wc: 58k
“So. To summarize. I’m stranded on Mars, entirely alone. I have absolutely no way to communicate with my crew or with earth, since our communications antennae turned me into a human shish-kabob. If the oxygenator becomes compromised, I’ll suffocate. If the water reclaimer stops working, I’ll dehydrate. Breach in the Hab means I’ll go poof. And if, for some god-forsaken reason none of those things kill me first, I’m gonna run out of food and starve to death. Oh, and we can’t forget that everyone I know thinks I’m dead. So… yup. Totally fucked.”
*
On Sol 6, an unexpected windstorm cuts the Ares III Mission short and six astronauts retreat back to Earth.
On Sol 7, the astronaut they left behind wakes up gasping for air.
(Or, The Martian au)
[part one of a series that will genuinely change ur life]
i was going to list all my other fave mars fics but im gonna be honest they all blow my dick clean off so just. read everything they’ve written, capiche?
/
misc fics that make me feel like wailing and screaming and crying etc etc:
in the heat of the summer (you’re so different from the rest) | rated: e, wc: 109k
 There’s a heatwave in L.A., the first time Richie sees Eddie naked.
  or
  One very hot year in the life of two idiots in love, working shit out.
[gene notes: so like. @skinks​ is an icon and i’ve yet to read anything, fic or original work, that captures atmosphere as well as joe does with this absolute behemoth. and i can GUARANTEE u’ll never read a hornier piece of writing. what a legend]
/
the more light series | rated: t, combined wc: 34k
When Mike calls from Derry, Patty answers the phone instead.
[gene notes: @theparadigmshifts​ my bestie @theparadigmshifts​!! be sure to read their other IT fics too, there’s some fab hanbrough & stanpat in there]
/
trashmouth for sale, gently used | rated: e, wc: 19k
“Richie is an award winning comedian and voice actor, originally from Derry, Maine. He’s a six-foot-two Pisces, and in case dinner goes very badly- CPR certified,” the auctioneer recites joylessly, while Richie is in stitches at her side. “Richie enjoys long walks on the beach, 1-800 number jingles, and debating the civil rights of robots. You can select any venue in New York for your dinner, but Richie says he especially enjoys Thai food and frozen custard and describes himself as a bottomless pit-”
Richie taps the auctioneer's shoulder and leans into the mic. “That’s a typo. That should say just ‘bottom’.”
   -
While Richie gets roped into a bachelor auction, Eddie struggles with his own worth.
[gene notes: holy shit i just found out this is the same @stitchyblogs​ who wrote a bunch of ofmd fics i love?? and they have more IT stuff i haven’t read??? AND their art is spectacular????]
/
the stupid deep series | rated: e, combined wc: 66k
Richie has a big dick, and Eddie is into it.
[gene notes: this anon writes p/orn like no one else and their characterisation is spot on to boot, what more could u want]
/
broken record | rated: e, wc: 55k
The house on Neibolt was standing again.
Bill was talking about going in alone. How?
“So does somebody want to say something?” Eddie asked, still breathing, still fucking breathing and alive and not dripping his Goddamn organs out of his chest.
“Richie said it the b-best when we were here last,” Bill said.
“Holy fuck.”
[gene notes: THEEEE time loop fic of all time. OF ALL TIME. i genuinely cannot overstate how good this fic is – it takes a relatively simple premise and goes places that make u want to start eating drywall. @spunknbite​ is a genius and i’ll be thinking abt this fic for the rest of my life probably]
[bonus spunknbite fic that has nothing to do with broken record but was a gift to me (!!) and i’ll never shut up abt it]
/
five things to do in derry when you’re dead | rated: t, wc: 3k
When he opens his eyes, there’s darkness out the window and a hand hovering over his chest.
“You know,” Eddie mutters, squinting up at it. “You could at least buy me dinner first.”
The answer he gets is an odd, choked noise. It’s halfway between a laugh and a sob.
*
Something dies. Something grows. The universe tries to keep itself balanced.
[gene notes: no joke, this is the fic that got me into the fandom]
/
the quickest way to a man’s heart series | rated: t & e, combined wc: 16k
"Are you... allowed to do that?"
The guy's forehead turns into a mess of wrinkles as he raises his eyebrows and gives a little bark of a laugh.  Richie recognizes him just as the guy says "Dude, it's my fucking restaurant."
[gene notes: CHEF EDDIE CHEF EDDIE CHEF EDDIE CHEF EDDIE]
/
slow down, you crazy child | rated: t, wc: 20k
Richie looks down at his own body and like the bed and the bedroom before it, he doesn’t recognize what he sees.
A broken sound escapes his lips and he slaps his hand to his mouth. Then he pulls his hand away, looks at it again, and slaps it back in place before his mouth gets any smart ideas.
“What the fuck,” he says against his not-hand.
(A 13 Going on 30 AU, sort of.)
[gene notes: have i mentioned how much i love time travel stories recently. bc it’s A Lot]
/
now what i’m gonna say may sound indelicate | rated: e, wc: 374k
Eddie Kaspbrak has lived his whole life being told that he's delicate, and he's not. And nearly bleeding out in an alien fear demon's lair has helped him realize that--as well as what he can live through. It puts his priorities in some perspective.
What he is, is injured. And married. To like, a woman. And gay. And stupidly, stupidly in love with Richie Tozier, after all these years. And he'd like to use his new lease on life to act on many of these things, if only Richie would cooperate.
[gene notes: okay so this one is a wip and i haven’t even finished reading what’s been posted (see: 374k word count) but i HAD to rec it bc it’s one of the best post-chap 2 fics i’ve read – the characterisation is stellar, the story is painfully real, and the writing is just?? so good??? man i’ve gotta read this author’s other stuff im in love]
/
there are SO many other fics out there that im sure i’ve forgotten (+ i haven’t been actively looking for reddie stuff since like.....mid 2020) so this isn’t the most comprehensive rec list out there but!! these are the ones that have rly stood out to me over the years and i hope u find something in this mess u’ll enjoy 💕
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boysplanetrecaps · 1 year
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Boys Planet, Episode 8: The First Hour
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Hello, friends! So, as you might recall, the first hour or so of episode 8 is devoted to going through the preparation that the various teams made for the third challenge mission, knowing that only half of them would actually be able to perform it. I didn’t recap it at the time because I was more interested in covering the eliminations, but I’ll be covering it here in this post! 
Please note that it’ll be hard for me to talk about these groups without sometimes acknowledging who does and who doesn’t survive the elimination from the second half of this episode. If you’re spoiler averse, you may want to wait until you’ve seen the rest of the episode to read this part. For what it's worth, I don’t feel like I’ll be saying anything that you wouldn’t have more or less guessed. 
Here we go!
We start at 5:45 in to the episode. The boys are gathered in a large room, still wearing their outfits from the second challenge mission. They’re there to be assigned to one of the five “artist” songs that were revealed in episode 6. (The link takes you to the mini demos, and is spoiler free.) I find it difficult to describe what the songs sound like, especially since we can’t hear the whole songs and the genres the show uses to describe them are kinda weird (“oriental pop”? “Sentimental hiphop”???). So you can listen for yourself. 
As was the case for all Produce/Planet shows before this, the trainees were matched to songs based on audience vote. The Star Creators were given like, 24 hours to vote on this, which means that for the most part, only Koreans really had a chance to do it. The idea is supposed to be that the audience would put, say, Cha Woongki in a cute song, and put, say, Kim JiWoong in a sexy song. Also, the trainees appealed to the Star Creators to put them in a particular song. That video is actually a lot of fun -- some of the trainees sing or dance to get your attention, and I feel like it’s the first time I actually heard Ricky just straight up sing. He’s got a really nice voice! Notably, Z-bo speaks some Korean in his video, too, so that’s cool! Anyway, it’s cute to watch, and has subtitles, so give it a look if you’re at all interested. 
Of course, since a bunch of trainees wanted certain songs, and not a lot of people wanted certain other songs, the matchup could never be perfect. I’ll get to all that in a bit! 
In any case, we finally find out that the new Star Master is Key from SHINee. If you don’t know SHINee, check out their songs Sherlock, View, and Replay. If you don’t like any of those then it’s ok, but trust me, SHINee is really well-respected and completely changed K-pop. Before SHINee, no one danced while singing the way that SHINee did. If there had never been a SHINee, there would not have been a BTS, not the way that you know them. So, even if you don’t like their music, you should know who they are. (Oh, and side note, if you watched Run for The Money on Netflix, that featured Minho, who is also from SHINee.)
The SHINee boys are also sentimental faves of mine. SHINee and f(x) were the two groups who really got me into Kpop, and if you know much about kpop, you know that those two groups have something really awful in common and I don’t want to talk about it, but let me just remind us all to be kind to kpop celebrities, ok? Because we don’t want stuff like that happening again. 
Anyway, SHINee debuted in 2008, when Key was just 17 (and dance machine Taemin was just 14). They were HUGE -- they were absolute sensations. Their clothing set fashion trends, and their songs were all massive hits. The members have gone through a lot, but they’re still kicking. Key is the funniest, most snarky, most honest member, and he’s known for his sense of style as well as his performance abilities. Check out his new song Killer -- it’s got a retro-80s vibe that I really dig and I think a lot of people would like it! 
So yeah, when the trainees react to Key as of a god has walked into the room, they’re not exaggerating for the camera. Key debuted when some of them were still too young to know how to tie their shoes, and he’s fucking COOL.
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His level of fame leaves pretty much every other star master on the show completely in the dust, with the possible exception of Sunmi, who dropped by in episode 3. She's at least maybe kind of on par.
So, yeah, once they manage to rehinge all their jaws, Key gives them the rules of the next mission -- how they’ll all prepare the songs, then find out halfway through who survived and will get to perform them. I love how the trainees are always surprised when the show does exactly what it has done every season since Produce101 season 1. I mean, I know the show has a different name now but it’s still the same show. Six seasons, and you’re shocked? Come on, now. 
Since this is an “artist battle,” let me add in a quick note on the term “artist” in Kpop -- I think I talked about this in another recap but I don’t remember for sure so I’ll risk doing it again. In Korea, it’s understood that idols make idol music, and that artists make, for lack of a better word, “real” music. People like Bibi are understood to be artists, and as such don’t necessarily always dance, or have fan meetings, etc. People like Huta are understood to be idols; they’re praised for their “visuals” (ie, whether or not they have nice faces) and are generally expected to remain single to be a parasocial love object for their fans. They make their money off of brand endorsements as much as concert sales. People like Hui or Jeon Soyeon from G-Idle or G-Dragon from BigBang kind of toe the line between idol and artist, since they write their own songs and manage their own teams, but also happen to be really good looking and usually happy to endorse whatever you have lying around. It’s kind of weird to expect these trainees to be “artists”, but every reality show keeps making things more difficult ever year, even though their contestants aren’t necessarily getting more talented every year. I mean, have you watched the most recent season of Great British Bake Off? What WAS that? But I digress. 
Ok, back to the point. It's an artist battle; they'll be given demo songs and demo choreography, but they're expected to go ahead and change whatever they want and plan the staging and performance.
So the boys listen to the songs and aggressively love them all. My favorite is when they listen to the “oriental pop” song Switch and Seo Won says he feels like he’s abroad. Wut….? I guess to them, “oriental” means India? I also liked when Matthew said, “I don’t want to do sexy concepts” about the sexy song, which like, yes, thank you, Matthew. Figure out what you’re good at, please.  
Then Key tells them that the members of the team that gets ranked first at the Artist Battle will get 200,000 points each, with the “winning” member getting an extra 200,000. That is a substantial benefit, but since it will probably end up going to a mostly top-11 team anyway, it won’t end up mattering. They’ll also end up going on M-Countdown, and, even bigger to them, having a fan meeting. They’re excited about that, and I don’t blame them. 
Oh, I’m having a flashback to that GP999 fan meeting when they were still in the middle of c*vid and all the fans were in their cars in the middle of a field. I’m glad we’re through the worst of that stuff now. I don’t want to go off on a tangent about some of the stuff I experienced living in a huge, hard-hit US city, but it was awful. I bet a lot of us have stories like that, huh? It’ll be one of those things that in five or ten years, when you meet someone for the first time, one of the first things you’ll talk about in the get-to-know-you phase will be “where were you in March of 2020?” Like for the boomers, talking about where they were when they found out that JFK had been shot.
Back to the show. 
So, the boys are finding out which song they got, which means it’s another one of those lengthy “finding out who is in which team” montages, complete with pranks and stuff and it’s not that fascinating…? So I’ll just recap some of the highlights, and then get to the part where they’re actually preparing. 
I-Chan asked for Over Me in that video, but as he was leaving the room the other trainees say he wanted Switch, and that is in fact what he got. 
I really love Park Hyunbeen saying at first that Supercharger didn’t really “suit his taste” (he wanted the cute song, Say My Name, and I agree it would have been a cute performance!) but when he finds out that he got Supercharger after all, he gives a big smile and says that now he’s excited to do that song. Aww, why do I only end up really loving some of these trainees when it’s too late? You’re a cutie pie, Hyunbeen. 
It’s kind of heart breaking to watch Ji Yun Seo and Lee Yedam be so happy to get the song they wanted, knowing what we know. 
THEORY TIME: I think that for the most part, the audience did vote to give trainees what they asked for, and I think that when there were too many trainees for a given song -- “Over Me” and “Say My Name” were very popular -- the producers matched them to songs in order of their rank. Thus, as very few trainees wanted Supercharger, many low-ranked trainees ended up in that song; as Say My Name was heavily requested, it was filled mostly with higher ranked trainees. Just my theory but it seems to explain a lot.
This:
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I think that the reason Anthonny seems a little sad when he joins the Switch team is that he wanted Say My Name. But I think Switch could also have been great for Anthonny. 
The fact that Lee DaEul and both “houses” were put in Supercharger seems to confirm my theory that Supercharger was a dumping ground for unpopular trainees who wanted popular songs. That, or the audience put Lee DaEul in Supercharger to continue to punish him for his sins. 
I love Kum Jun Hyeon saying, “Park Gunwook and I decided to be friends. We became friends.” That’s how it works in my little cousin’s world -- he decides to be friends with someone and then is. Knowing that he’s good friends with Gunwook kind of explains that whole scene in episode 6 when he was trying to get Gunwook kicked out of Tomboy so Gunwook would have to come over to Ggang with him. 
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I know that the show format encourages the pranking and stuff but it’s really not my favorite. 
Everyone’s reaction to Zhang Hao arriving is amazing. Chen Kuan Jui just picking him up and carrying him around is my favorite bit. 
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It’s kind of interesting how Sung Hanbin, Kim JiWoong, and Matthew all wanted to do something “not sexy.” I guess I understand -- most kpop groups do all different concepts, and it’s a valuable skill to be able to pull off a song like Love Me Right and ALSO pull off a song like Love Killa. But still, I just think that Say My Name sounds like every “cute” kpop song thrown into a blender and then put into a “cute song” mold and allowed to solidify there before someone carefully dumped it out onto a plate. I don’t know. I know it’ll get stuck in my head eventually anyway but it’s not like that’s the kind of song I seek out to listen to.
JiWoong says, “I want to perform while smiling.” Do that ANYWAY, JiWoong. If Kai from Exo smiles in the middle of Obsession, you can smile in the middle of Love Killa, JiWoong. 
Ok! Let's talk about each team's preparation.
21:26: En Garde
Here is the En Garde team, with the song that each member wanted, as well as their previous song. I’ve arranged them in order of their Episode 6 rank, which gives you a sense of how likely they are to survive.
Kim Gyu Vin             En Garde                    Love Killa Hui                           En Garde                   Tomboy Park Gunwook         En Garde                    Tomboy Kum Jun Hyeon       En Garde                   Gang Park Hanbin             En Garde                    Law Lee Seung Hwan     Say My Name           Gang Hiroto                        En Garde                    Rush Hour Lee Ye Dam             En Garde                    Law Ji Yun Seo                En Garde                    Home Oh Sung Min            En Garde                    Rush Hour
They have to choose a leader, and Hui is like, WAYYY too invested in being the leader. He wants to work with his “database” and all the know how he’s built up over the years. The editors do him a little dirty, fast forwarding his speech on why he should be leader, and even showing him practicing his speech in the bathroom ahead of time. 
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The first time that I laughed out loud at anything that Kum Jun Hyeon has ever done was right here, when, after Hui finishes his lengthy speech, Kum says to the other trainees that their speeches about why they want to be leader “have to be lengthier than this.” I think it threw Hui off a little bit -- he may have been expecting grateful acceptance of his leadership, or else a challenge from Park Hanbin perhaps, but not someone making fun of his careful speech. 
In any case, naturally, Hui is chosen to be the leader. I’d choose him as the leader too. 
The crew members explain that there will be two people chosen for the killing part and other parts, because there are ten of them for now, despite there being six people in the choreography.  And of course, everyone wants to get the killing part, because as usual that means tons more screen time. Gyuvin, JunHyeon, Yedam, Gunwook, YunSeo, and Sungmin all want it. I actually laughed again as all six of them practice the same bit but at slightly different times. The edit focuses primarily on Gyuvin and Gunwook -- as if the other ones are laughable for wanting it. I think Oh Sungmin actually does a great job -- JunHyeon overdances and looks out of control, and we barely see Yedam or Yunseo. 
Side note: Oh Sungmin looked so much better with his real hair color. Why is he doing this blonde curl thing when he is capable of looking like this?  Oh, and while we’re looking at old T01 fancams, check out this one of Woongki, being all serious and charismatic. I know it’s not his personality but he pulls it off, in my opinion. I guess they just both don’t want to do songs like that anymore. 
In any case, Gunwook turns out to be a lock, and then they choose Gyuvin as well. 
We cut to their trainee self-evaluation, and we see them performing. Honestly, they look great for a midway practice run. I wonder if Hui deputized Park Hanbin to run dance rehearsals? I would, in his shoes. A good leader knows how to delegate!
Gyuvin is nervous to be compared to Gunwook, and when it’s his team’s turn to try, Gyuvin chokes a bit and forgets some of the lyrics. Still, later on when they get the evaluation forms back, many trainees choose Gyuvin as the better choice for the center, saying he suits it better. 
Side note: Look at Gyuvin doing a scaled down version of his hero Exo-Kai’s trademark leaning-back slouch.
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Obviously, Kai has it down to a limbo-esque art, but Gyuvin is working on it!!! 
The team does well overall. It’s great to see some of the trainees perform the song who won’t get to do it on stage -- good job, you guys. And we’re left with the thought that team En Garde is on track to succeed. 
We’ll have to see 
which member they kick out later on, and 
which member gets to keep the Killing Part. 
At 31:00, we switch over to team Say My Name. 
Everyone in this group wanted this song, so I’ll just list the trainees and their previous song to help remind you of who is who, but this group is full of fairly popular trainees and you’ll probably recognize all or most of them.
Sung Hanbin                         Tomboy Han Yu Jin                           Law Seok Matthew                       Love Killa Kim Ji Woong                       Love Killa Kim Tae Rae                          Man in Love Yoo Seung Eon               Home Seo Won                           Love Killa Takuto                           Rush Hour Ollie                                     Zoom Cha Woong Ki                       Feel Special
The team needs to elect a leader, and there’s this ex-cru-ci-a-ting-ly edited bit about Matthew possibly wanting to be leader and then Sung Hanbin volunteering. I cannot describe how irritating it is. The worst part is from about 31:55  to 32:15. I want to burn their editing studio to the floor. 
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So they decide to have Hanbin be the leader, and Kim JiWoong says, “Matthew, I think Hanbin will be good leader,” and Matthew says, “As long as he listens to you.” 
Matthew is doing a lot of that kind of “joking” that people do when they’re not really joking, you know? Ok, so, story time. I’m friends with two people who a couple, and we were all having a board game night, and when one member of the couple went to get another drink, the other one in the couple was like, “Oh, ha ha, he can’t enjoy an evening without drinking too much, ha ha ha ha, guess I better not get a second drink because SOMEONE has to drive home so we don’t end up in a ditch, ha ha ha,” and it was sooooo uncomfortable because she was saying it like it was a joke, but it was NOT a joke. You feel me? That’s the kind of “joking” Matthew is doing. 
That little dig -- “as long as he listens to you” -- manages to imply that (1) any issues JiWoong may have had with Matthew’s leadership stemmed from JiWoong wanting to inappropriately get his own way and (2) that JiWoong’s preference in a leader is rooted in who he thinks will give him his own way rather than in the quality of the leadership and (3) that JiWoong will probably have as much of an issue with Hanbin’s leadership as he did with Matthew’s once Hanbin starts actually giving orders AND (4) that there is no other substantive difference between Hanbin and Matthew’s leadership skills. You see what I mean? There’s a LOT there.
It’s u n c o m f o r t a b l e. 
We don’t see the team choose main vocal -- they must have given it to Yoo Seung Eon -- and instead we go straight to subvocal 1, a substantive part that a lot of people want. One of the people who wants it is TaeRae, who inexplicably is NOT the main vocal, again, what the fuck, everyone. The story editors, though, focus on Matthew wanting sub-vocal-1. He says, “If I don’t get sub-vocal 1, then I’m screwed.” Again, not a good look.
I don’t know if you guys watched I-Land -- the reality show that created Enhypen -- but there was this memorable scene in which a guy named Jay (see what I mean about there being too many Jays in K-pop?) kept trying to get parts. He tried for main vocal, then subvocal 1, then subvocal 2, subvocal 3…. Every time they went to assign another part, he raised his hand. Inside, he was kind of dying as the potential parts got smaller and smaller, but he just kept trying. He ended up with a smallish part in the song, but the audience watching at home fell in love with the way he kept trying. He ended up actually getting into the final lineup for Enhypen.  
Matthew, honey. Listen to BPR-Noona, ok? The audience already knows how well you sing, so you can relax. And truly, there are no small parts, just small players. Why did Sana’s “shy shy shy” take off in Cheer Up by Twice? Just because people liked the way Sana did it. I’m sure it wasn’t designed to be a “killing part.” You don’t need a "killing part" to win, or even a big part. The most important thing for you right now, Matthew, is for you to stop coming across like a greedy rude North American. As a fellow North American, I am telling you, bud. Rope it the fuck in. BPR-Noona has spoken.
In any case, both Matthew and TaeRae get the part, so we’ll have to see what ends up happening!
Then the trainees try out for the Killing Part, and both Ollie and Han Yujin get it. While I actually like both of them, I can’t help but root for Ollie to keep it in the end. He’s almost certainly not going to make the final lineup for Bepler, so I just want him to have this chance to shine on stage. But yeah that’s probably not going to happen -- no team would lower their chance of winning by choosing a trainee who barely survived over a Top9 trainee. 
After that, we focus on Hanbin’s leadership. He starts off by telling them their goal for the day, which just sets my teacher heart on fire in the best way. Goals should always be specific and achievable. Yes, Hanbin, yes. 
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Notice (1) the way that the only two “global” members on the team end up on the edges, just kind of interesting and (2) the way that Matthew positions himself as if he is also a leader -- he’s the only one not looking at Hanbin. Already, I have a bad feeling about this. 
Hanbin manages their expectations expertly, letting them know that the choreo is challenging without presenting it as scary, and then demonstrates the choreo once for them. (I love how Han Yujin immediately begins sort of dancing along as he watches in the mirror-- that kid really is kind of amazing.) Hanbin is a great leader, and Matthew is very, very envious of that. In an interview, when asked what he would rate Hanbin out of 100, he “jokes” that he “can’t give him a 100” and so gives him 90. The editors are still kind of on his side. They’re scoring his “jokes” with plinky-plunky comedy music. 
Hey, hey, uh, Matthew? Matt? Hey. It's me, BPR-Noona again. Um, why? Why can’t you give him 100? Isn’t he your friend? Aren’t you hoping to debut together? Why even joke that you can’t give him 100? What’s that about? Is it because you don’t want to place yourself below him in any way? Could it be that? Because other people who are excellent leaders themselves are letting themselves be led in other groups, and aren’t being “joking” jerks about it, Matt. General Gunwook and Park Hanbin are both really excellent leaders, and they’re following Hui in their current group. I don’t know, Matt, but I don’t think that this is a good look, no matter how plinky-plunky the comedy music is. 
Sigh.
Then there’s a hilarious bit in which Kim JiWoong openly admits that he’s never felt jealous of other trainees before, but he does now a little bit, because they so naturally suit the concept of the song in a way he doesn’t quite. Then he says that normally he just looks at himself in the mirror while he dances and enjoys his time that way. OMG. 
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See, JiWoong can make jealousy seem just fine because he’s honest about it. And just so fucking weird. I love this weirdo. 
Ok, then there’s this long scene that I don’t want to get too bogged down with, but basically, there’s trouble brewing between old friends Sung Hanbin and Seok Matthew.
While Hanbin is off in the bathroom (I assume), Matthew begins “teaching” some of the others the dance -- Takuto, Seo Won, and Ollie. Now, I don’t think it would hurt anything for someone to run through stuff with Takuto one on one, but I’ve never thought of either Seo Won or Ollie as people who need extra guidance when it comes to dancing -- particularly not Ollie, who actually basically taught his own team the dance in the first Challenge Mission. 
It’s pretty interesting how, when Hanbin comes back in, he doesn’t flip out and immediately make them stop. He watches for a bit and thinks before he acts, which, again, is a sign of a great leader. He knows there’s something a little off, but he waits. He’s also polite about it in his interview, saying, “I am grateful that he [Matthew] wants to help, but my style is to have people learn the overall flow and image of the choreo before moving on to the details.” I wholeheartedly agree with that. Again, it’s that thing of how we normally build the frame of the jigsaw puzzle first, right?  Hanbin also seems to say that some of the details might even change, or perhaps that Matthew is teaching them incorrectly --? Either way, Matthew isn’t helping here. 
Then Matthew full on asks Hanbin if he can be “sub-leader,” and though Hanbin doesn’t think it’s a good idea, he says yes. Dude, I think that’s something that maybe you talk about as a team. Like, “Hey, guys, let’s get into one of those awkward semi-circles and let’s talk about whether or not you want Matthew to be the sub-leader of the team.” But I guess Hanbin doesn’t want to devote the time to that, or was worried it would create division or strife, so he just says yes. Ennnhhhh I don’t like it….
We don’t see any footage of the team performing at the trainee self-eval, interestingly enough.
So, we’ll have to watch to find out
which trainees are going to get kicked out of the team (a lot of them!) 
what will happen between JiWoong and Matthew
what will happen between Hanbin and Matthew and
what will happen between Matthew and TaeRae with the subvocal one!
40:14 Over Me 
Here are the trainees, again arranged in order of rank in episode 6 so you have a sense of who is least likely to survive, with their previous song listed to help jog your memory. All these trainees preferred Over Me except for Ma Jing Xiang, who asked the viewers to give him Say My Name. However, I think the audience might have just voted for him to Over Me anyway -- it’s not impossible. 
Zhang Hao                 Tomboy Keita                             Zoom Jay                             Home Ricky                             Rush Hour Yoon Jong Woo     Home Wang Zi Hao                Law Chen Kuan Jui     Butterfly Ma Jing Xiang             Rush Hour Lee Jeong Hyeon     Gang Lim Jun Seo                Butterfly
The team starts off by trying to choose a leader, and it seems that some of them are reluctant to volunteer. Zhang Hao says that everyone should just take a moment to think about whether they want such a big responsibility, and then Yoon Jong Woo steps up. Almost immediately, the whole team says an enthusiastic yes. Jay says that JongWoo has cold eyes like a tiger but behind that he’s a genius. Heh. Everyone’s excited because they think that being on a team with JongWoo will give the team a good vibe.
Almost all of them want the killing part -- everyone but Jay, Lim Jun Seo, and JongWoo himself. 
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We see their auditions and are reminded again how great Keita’s and Hao’s vocals are. In the vote, Keita gets 4 votes and Hao gets 5. It’s noteworthy that Hao is the only one who didn’t vote for Keita or himself -- I think he voted for Ricky, but it might have been Chen Kuan Jui? It’s not clear from where his finger is pointing. But if Hao had voted for Keita, the way that Keita voted for Hao, it would have been a tie. Did Hao purposefully not vote for Keita in order to win? Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do. 
Side note: I’m kind of surprised that Keita didn’t volunteer to be leader. This seems right up his ally. But maybe he’s kind of exhausted after working so hard on Zoom. Or maybe he knows that the show will punish his team if he’s the leader. But when he’s not the leader, Keita becomes an excellent teammate instead. Just watch the way that he reacts to EVERYTHING here. He grins broadly at the idea of JongWoo being the leader, and even puts his fist in the air to cheer for the team. He laughs with genuine good humor when almost all the teammates apply for the killing part. Later, he grooves to everyone else’s singing. He’s a fan of every other member of his team. That’s the kind of teammate people want to be around. Just sayin’.
After that, the team moves forward with part distribution, and there’s an uncomfortable moment in which Ma Jing Xiang tries to ask for a section of a part that is in his vocal range. It’s also edited horrifically, with TRIPLE replays of MJX’s incorrect Korean.  Yoon Jong Woo shuts him down extremely thoroughly. Then we also focus on how MJX continues dancing even when Jong Woo calls the team over to circle up. You get the feeling that Jong Woo genuinely dislikes MJX, and it’s a little uncomfortable because all or most of the team feels the same way. 
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Like, Yoon Jong Woo is not fucking around. Not one bit. I get it, because MJX seems like a pretty irritating person to be around sometimes, but it might be a bit… much. 
The other storyline is that Lee Jeong Hyeon (that’s Lee of the Mun and Lee duo) thinks that there’s a spot in the song that he could write a rap for. His teammates support him in that. The next day, they go to the producers and Lee gets to do the rap he wrote in less than a day for them. The editing here gets REALLY annoying for a bit so feel free to skip ahead if you want -- the upshot is the producers say they like it and will consider it, so that seems like a win for Lee! 
So we’ll have to find out:
Which teammates they’re going to kick out
Who will get to keep the Killing Part between Keita and Hao
Whether Lee Jeong Hyeon will get to do his rap
50:01 Switch
Here are the trainees, again arranged in order of rank in episode 6 so you have a sense of who is least likely to survive. A lot of these trainees had bene hoping for a different song, as listed in the second column. I’ve also listed their previous song to help jog your memory. 
Zhang Shuai Bo          Switch               Feel Special Na Kamden                 Switch               Law Cai Jin Xin Switch             Feel Special Anthonny Say My Name Limousine Brian             Say My Name      Butterfly Dang Hong Hai Switch                   Home Wumuti Switch                  Zoom Krystian Switch                  Limousine Jung I Chan Over Me             Not Spring Choi Woo Jin Switch                   Man in Love Lee Dong Gun Over Me             Feel Special
So, this team, as leader Wumuti put it, is “nomu down.” (nomu = very) And with good reason -- their average final rank is 38, and as it happens, only a very small percentage of this team is going to survive. 
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Wumuti is doing his best, but his team knows that most of them aren’t going to make it through the eliminations, and it seems kind of like a waste of time to them to try. The sense I get of the vibe of the song is that they would be good choices even if other people DID want the parts. 
Because no one else wants the killing part, Na Kamden and Wumuti take it. Wumuti is hoping that as they continue, that they’ll “find joy.” 
For some reason, as I was watching this, I found myself thinking, “What would I say as the leader of this team, to get them to try?” And I think what I would have said is this: “Hey team. I know a lot of us are discouraged right now because the reality is that many of us, myself included, may get eliminated soon. But I still really want to try my best preparing for this song. So, let’s brainstorm reasons that we should still try our hardest, despite the circumstances. I’ll get us started by pointing out the cameras that are recording us, right now. Everything we’re doing right now? The Star Creators may see that in an upcoming episode. Some of them are Star Creators who may have voted for us in the past, or might become fans of us in the future, when we’re on a different stage. Don’t we want to do our best, for them?” Then maybe based on the vibe, I’d have us go around and each give our own reason for wanting to try our best, or else just let people say things, or if necessary, give more reasons myself, like  “We want to be kpop performers or we wouldn’t be here -- don’t we want to practice just for the sake of improving?” You have to get a buy-in from the people you’re trying to lead. 
Me saying this isn’t knocking Wumuti. I think he was doing a fantastic job, especially considering his quite low rank. 
Anyway, then the show spends like 3 minutes just shitting on Jung I-Chan, who obviously could work a bit on his focus (I really do wonder if he might have something in the vicinity of ADD?) and who is obviously feeling super defeated. He never has been much of a dancer, so him having trouble with the choreo is probably just too much. At some point, his self-defense mechanisms would kick in and tell him to just give up because it’s safer. I just don’t think the guy is cut out for this stuff, but that doesn’t make him a bad person, MNET. Jeez. He even tells Wumuti, “I want to work hard, but I’m scared to work hard. It’s over.” 
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And the show just HAMMERS on I-chan, even though Lee Donggun is just as “lazy.” It’s like MNET is trying to destroy this kid who obviously has some mental health issues. 
It makes perfect sense that Kamden, Brian, and Dang Hong Hai would keep trying, but I was a little surprised to see how hard Krystian keeps trying, though! I thought he was pretty much OVER the show. Maybe it’s just sort of in his nature to keep singing and dancing when he has the chance to do so. 
At the trainee self eval, they actually look pretty cool.
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I totally understand why Wumuti is irritated with I-Chan, though. I would be too, in his shoes. There’s no easy way through a situation like this. 
We see him in the dorm later, wearing his official pink pajamas, and talking to someone who I can’t really see but might be Na Kamden. I don’t think we’ve ever spent this much time with Wumuti, ever. He’s such a sweetheart, though. 
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At their meeting with the composer oversees -- at which they seem to communicate mostly in English -- Wumuti has a lot of ideas, and the composer seems to really enjoy the conversation. The choreographers are also impressed at their dance rehearsal. These are the kinds of things that people remember, my friends. It’s not just about how many audience members like you -- it’s also great if producers and choreographers and staff like you. That is how sometimes you can get gigs. 
So I console myself that even though most of this team doesn’t survive to perform the song -- and yes, that includes Wumuti, I don’t think that’s much of a surprise and I did warn you that there would be some mild spoilers -- I think that good things can still happen for them in the future. 
Hey, go follow Wumuti on insta, ok? Even if you don’t use insta much, it just helps him to keep his numbers up. He has a nice cover up of UN Village, and a long note he wrote in English about his time on the show. Fighting, Wumuti, sweetie!
So, I guess the questions to be answered are:
Who among this team will survive? 
What will it be like for the replacement team members to jump into this work in progress?
1:00:00 Supercharger 
So, not a lot of trainees wanted Supercharger. Among those who asked for it, all of them got it. A lot of the rest wanted the super cheerful “Say My Name” or the sexy “Over Me,” and this song is neither cheerful nor sexy. It’s easily my least favorite of the five, and I think that’s how most of the trainees felt as well. Below I list the trainees assigned to this song, the song they asked for, and their previous song.
Haruto                         Supercharger           Zoom Mun Jung Hyun Say My Name Gang Jung Min Gyu            Over Me           Man in Love Chen Jian Yu             Supercharger           Gang Park Ji Hoo             Supercharger           Limousine Cong                         Supercharger           Butterfly Bak Do Ha             Over Me             Not Spring Lee Da Eul             Say My Name Not Spring Lee Dong Yeol           Over Me             Man in Love Park Hyunbeen Say My Name Zoom
We don’t seem them pick a leader -- it’s Lee Dongyeol -- or the killing part -- they give it to Haruto and Park JiHoo, good call. Instead, we pick up with the trainees as they are watching the demo performance on their tablet. The choreo is difficult to say the least. The song still requires a lot of tweaks to the rap, performance, and choreo, and most of the team doesn’t really have the skill. They have Haruto, who can probably choreograph, and Park Ji Hoo, who can definitely write raps, plus I think Mun Jung Hyun and Park Hyunbeen are both into rapping and might be able to help a bit.  Lee Dong Yeol debuted with Up10tion in 2015 and must have learned something about performance by now.  But the rest of them, as Dong Yeol puts it, “aren’t there yet.”
They seem to be putting on a happy face as much as possible, especially Hyunbeen, who probably doesn’t want to be remembered for how much he cried at the first elimination. 
They talk about how they want to put on a good performance, and my theory is that what they mean is, they want to put on a good performance at the trainee self-eval. That’s the performance that they know is guaranteed to them, right? And they want to do really well there. 
If you operate under that theory, everything else they’re doing makes sense. They’re not dwelling on their low ranks. They are instead working really, really hard. Haruto is the dance captain, leading the rest -- Jung Min Gyu (red house) calls him “Haruto-sensai,” which is pretty adorable. 
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They are trying so, so hard. The dance is probably the hardest of the five and the average dance abilities of this group is probably the lowest of the five, but goddamn if they aren’t trying, you guys, and it’s charming. Haruto is complimenting them, and they’re saying “This is fun!” and stuff. 
The other teams go back to the dorms to sleep…. 
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… but all ten of them stay and keep practicing. Even back in their dorms, they’re continuing to practice in the hallways and their rooms. Trainees from the other teams notice and cheer them on.
At the trainee self eval, though, things go off the rail pretty fast. No one really sings, and they sort of lose their place in the choreo a few times. I think they rehearsed in a big group of tne, looking into the mirror the whole time, and didn’t work enough on performing as a group of five and singing along, without a mirror. They keep trying to pick it back up, but it’s a mess.
The other trainees are looking at them like this:
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Kum Jun Hyeon says to a friend, “Wow, the choreo must just be THAT hard” -- that’s such a sweetly empathetic thing to say, cousin.  Park Hanbin is doing that thing he does where he smiles because he’s shocked. Hui is squinting at them, as if trying to imagine how he could fix it somehow. And Lee Yedam is just like, a full body Aigoo. Things don’t go better for the second team. 
It’s just heartbreaking. Afterward, Haruto is crying from embarrassment, and a few of the others are near tears too. The choreo is just too fucking hard for them. They probably should have focused on simplifying it a little, and maybe building in some rest periods, where a few dance a few don’t and then they switch. 
When they get the trainee evaluation forms, the feedback is brutal. But Park Hyunbeen says that this isn’t the worst. “The worst,” he says, “Was when I wore that vest for the Hot Sauce hidden camera.” Then he adds, “I was born to do Super Charger. I went on Boys Planet to perform that song and I don’t ever want to go home. I’ll make sure to survive and perform SuperCharger.” If only the show aired some of this footage before the voting period was over, lovey, but at least we see some of your mettle now. You’re a charming guy, Park Hyunbeen. Fighting!
So the questions that remain are:
Which trainees, if any, will survive? 
Which trainees will end up joining this team?
What will happen when they join -- will anyone be able to dance this choreo?
After that, there’s this bit where Seo Won and Cha Woongki go around and are silly with the other trainees -- the Planet Camp Tour --  and it’s cute, but I don’t have a lot to say about it. 
I still think Ollie was dumb to jam his finger into the camera and say that it smells bad. But he doesn’t know about my theory about bad smells on reality shows. Basically, something I’ve noticed is that on audience-vote-based reality survival shows, like So You Think You Can Dance, if someone on the show is revealed to smell bad at some point, they nearly ALWAYS go home the following week. Like once on SYTYCD, one of the dancers was complaining cheerfully that her dance partner had awful Doritos breath. Gone the next week. Another time, one of the dancers was joking about how awful he smelled at the end of a day of dance practice. Gone the next week. It doesn’t happen on shows where the judges decide, like RPDR or ANTM, but it happens whenever there’s an audience vote. Seriously, watch for it from now on. Let me know if you have another data point to add to my research on this. 
Anyway, the final moments we see before the eliminations start are all the trainees in their dorms probably the night before. We see a conversation between Hui and Kim Gyuvin, who worked together on Love Me Right and are together again on En Garde. It’s cute because Gyuvin doesn’t really fit on the bed. 
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Gyuvin is worrying not about this elimination, but about the final one. It’s far more likely, he reasons, that he’ll be one of the 89 who don’t get into Bepler than to be one of the 9 who do. Hui is worried too. “If I were a Star Creator,” he says, “would I vote for an idol in his 30s? Even I wouldn’t do that.” Oh Hui. Then why did you come on the show, sweetheart? Why on god’s green earth did you do this to yourself?
We see Wumuti talking to his friend again -- it has to be Na Kamden, but I still can’t get a look at his face or get any other clue. “ ‘Give up,’ “ he says. “I used to say those words to myself once in a while. But I can’t seem to. I want it so badly.” Oh, twist that knife, MNET. 
Then we check in with Ji Yunseo and and Lee Yedam, who are with a friend in a mask who I can’t identify. The fucking subtiles say that Lee Yedam is Oh Sungmin, and I mean, omg, MNET, Sungmin has blonde hair right now, what the actual fuck.  
Then we check in Cha Woongki for a while, while he calmly but sadly talks about how he’s not really that popular and even expected to come in last in Feel Special. Now they’re not just twisting the knife; they’ve attached it to a power drill and are just spinning that thing at like 200 rpm.
Then there’s a bit with the boys all writing final messages on the wall about their time on the show. It’s as sad as you’d think it would be. A lot of the notes are addressed to the star creators. I hope that the boys are at least happy to know that people did vote for them, even if they didn’t win. Every single one of them got hundreds of thousands of votes. That must mean something, right? I do a creative performance thing myself, and I recently was eliminated in the second round of something, but people came up to me afterward and said that they voted for me and thought I was the best and were sad I’d been knocked out, and that meant a lot. 
And then the eliminations start.
Alright, loves! Thanks for reading! At this point, episode 9 is out and I haven’t even watched it yet, so I guess I’ll get on that. As always, I really appreciate the support -- some of you have sent in asks that I really loved and just haven’t responded to yet because I have the thoughts in my head and haven’t had a chance to type them. You guys are great. Hope that you’re having a good day and that you’re warm and cozy wherever you are. See you in the next one.
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After a Second Viewing and Much Consideration: The Boys E7, Take 2! 😁
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Dear Soldier Boy - Please stop being so beautiful when you're SUCH an asshole. Or better yet, stay beautiful, and stop. being. an asshole!
K, now that that's out of the way, you can find my much shorter, original reaction to the episode, here. (There are major spoilers to be found if you click on it. Just a head's up.) It was a lot to take in at first! 😜
Tons of spoilers and a few gifs under the cut:
Okay, on second viewing can I just say that as horrifying as it is to watch SB is in this episode, Jesus Christ Jensen is a FUCKING insanely good actor. I mean, not like this is news to any of us, but sometimes he still manages to blow me away. 🤯
Because in spite of all the evil SB has shown himself to be capable of, Jensen still manages to give the character layers. Obviously he is FULL of, not only TM, but a poisonous kind of rage and hate, yet I still saw moments of vulnerability. Brief and fleeting, and quickly smashed aside with some, as Hughie would call it, "Marlborough Man" BS, but they were there nonetheless. Like these moments:
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Kimiko (and Butcher a couple episodes ago) said the V doesn't change you, it just enhances what was already there. So, I wanna know how and why SB was so full of hate and anger to begin with, that now it's at absolutely horrifying levels? Where did that come from?
It was amazing to see how much of Butcher's dream showed him to be so much like SB, full of rage, and focused on "the mission" at all costs. And his actions at the end with Hughie absolutely broke my heart. I'm hoping to GOD that there's an ulterior motive behind what he's doing, that he has some kind of plan that will redeem him.
I'm also hoping against hope that SB is lying to HL, for some kind of ulterior motive, as well. But I'm definitely not holding my breath on that one.
What I actually think is going to happen, is MM and Noir and gonna team up to take down SB. They both have ample reason to hate him. Just a theory.
Anyway, other moments from the episode that I loved:
Kimiko CHOOSING to take the V again so she can protect her family. 😞😩🥺
Starlight filming HL and getting all that stuff on RECORD!! Don't know how he's gonna try to get away from that! 🎉🎉
I found some interesting parallels and differences between The Legend and SB. So, back in the 80s they were both happy to be living large, SB did shit, TL covered it up. He knew all SB's bullshit and helped him get away with it. (MM even said TL helped cover up his Grandfather's death) TL said he produced that horrifying, culturally appropriating, misogynistic, gross video that SB made. So he was right by SB's side, and then "profited from all of it", as he says. So, there are the parallels.
It's very clear, however, that TL is now quite regretful and mostly disgusted by the things they did.
So, as far as I can see, the differences between TL and SB is that TL was awake, alive and kicking, while change was happening in the world and within our society. He could change and grow with the world - learn, mature, age. I'm not saying if SB was around he would have necessarily changed. But I think it's an interesting point the show is making in showing that change is possible; it's not inevitable, but people can grow, even if it's in small ways, over time.
MM punching out that piece of shit, Todd! I know it was bad his daughter witnessed it, but he had it coming!! She's not your kid, asshole!! And he DID put her in so. much. danger.
I felt like the stuff with The Deep was just kinda thrown in there, kind of tacked on to the episode. For comic relief, no doubt, but mostly I just wanted to get back to the other storylines.
Omg!! A-Train is ALIVE and apparently back in the game. 😲 Except, I'm wondering whether he will still be happy to go along with Vought's BS. Interested to see where that goes.
Yay for Hughie's breakthrough, and for Starlight saying she's gonna save Hughie. 😊❤️
The first time through, there was just TOO much to take in. But second time around...still too much to take in. Lol!! But I could get past my shock with
THAT ENDING!!!!!!!
to appreciate more of the episode.
Now a few more gifs:
First, just JFC - I'm going to hell for finding this hot - I know it.
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Jesus Christ! 🤦🏼‍♀️🤯🤦🏼‍♀️🤯🤦🏼‍♀️🤯
What was going on in the couple times this ⬇⬇⬇ happened? I'm so curious?
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This second little nod to SPN 😁:
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And lastly, I'll repeat my original issue - why are you SO UNBELIEVABLY HOT, when you are SUCH a dick? It is absolutely unfair!
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This is my cycle of emotions when SB is on screen:
🥵🤬😭🥵🤬😭
Dreading and drooling for the finale next week!
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wisdomrays · 2 years
Text
The Messenger of God: Muhammad: Part 119
Factors in their Greatness: Part 4
Some claim that Imam Abu Hanifa said: "I don't take the opinions of three Companions as evidence in jurisprudence. Abu Hurayra is one of them." This is simply a lie. Allama Ibn Humam, one of the greatest Hanafi jurists, regarded Abu Hurayra as a significant jurist. Besides, there is nothing to prove that Abu Hanifa said that.
Abu Hurayra narrated more than 5,000 Traditions. When gathered together, they make perhaps a volume 1.5 times as long as the Qur'an. Many people have memorized the Qur'an in 6 months or even quicker. Abu Hurayra had a very keen memory and spent 4 years with the Messenger, who prayed for the strength of Abu Hurayra's memory. It would be tantamount to accusing Abu Hurayra of deficient intelligence to claim that he could not have memorized so many Traditions. In addition, all of the Traditions he narrated were not directly from the Messenger. As leading Companions like Abu Bakr, 'Umar, Ubayy ibn Ka'b, 'A'isha, and Abu Ayyub al-Ansari narrated from him, he also received Traditions from them.
While Abu Hurayra was narrating Traditions in the presence of Marwan ibn Hakam at different times, the latter had his secretary record them written secretly. Some time later, he asked Abu Hurayra to repeat the Traditions he had narrated to him earlier. Abu Hurayra began: "In the name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate," and narrated the same Traditions with exactly the same wording. So, there is no reason to criticize him for narrating so many Prophetic Traditions.
'Abd Allah Ibn 'Abbas was born 4 or 5 years before the Hijra. He had a keen intelligence and memory, and was an inspired man. The Messenger prayed for him: "O God, make him perceptive and well-versed in the religion, and teach him the hidden truths of the Qur'an." During his lifetime, he came to be known as "The Great Scholar of the Umma," "the Sea" (One Very Profound in Knowledge), or "The Translator (Clarifier) of the Qur'an."
He was a very handsome, tall man endowed with great eloquence. His memory was such that he memorized an 80-couplet poem by 'Amr ibn Rabi'a at one reading. Besides his profound knowledge of Qur'anic interpretation, Tradition, and jurisprudence, he also was well-versed in literature, particularly in pre-Islamic poetry. In his Tafsir, Ibn Jarir al-Tabari relates either a couplet or verse from him in connection with the interpretation of almost each Qur'anic verse.
He was greatly loved by the Companions.
Despite his youth, 'Umar appointed him to his Advisory Council, which consisted of elder Companions. When asked why he had done this, 'Umar tested their level of understanding of the Qur'an. He asked them to explain: When comes the help of God, and victory, and you see men entering God's religion in throngs, then proclaim the praise of Your Master, and seek His forgiveness; for He is Oft-Returning [in grace and mercy] (110:1-3). The elders answered: "It orders the Prophet to praise God and seek His forgiveness when he sees people entering Islam in throngs after the help of God and victory came." 'Umar was not satisfied, and so asked Ibn 'Abbas the same question. He replied: "This sura implies that the death of the Messenger is near, for when people enter Islam in throngs, it means that the mission of Messengership has ended." 'Umar turned to the council and explained: "That's why I include him among you."
Ibn 'Abbas was famous for his deep insight, profound learning, keen memory, high intelligence, perceptiveness, and modesty. When he entered a gathering place, people would stand in respect for him. This made him so uncomfortable that he told them: "Please, for the sake of the help and shelter (you gave the Prophet and the Emigrants), don't stand for me!" Although one of the most knowledgeable Muslims, he showed great respect to scholars. For example, he helped Zayd ibn Thabit mount his horse by holding the stirrup steady and explained: "We have been told to behave like this toward our scholars." In return, Zayd kissed his hand without his approval and remarked: "We have been told to behave like this toward the Messenger's relatives."
As noted above, Ibn 'Abbas did not like people to stand for him to show respect. However, when he was buried, something occurred that was as if the dead had stood in respect for him and the spirit beings welcomed him. A voice was heard from beneath the grave: O soul at peace! Return unto your Master, well-pleased, well-pleasing! Enter among My servants! Enter my Paradise! (89:27-30).
Ibn 'Abbas brought up many scholars in every branch of religious knowledge. The Makkan school of jurisprudence was founded by him. Such leading Tabi'un scholars as Sa'id ibn Jubayr, Mujahid ibn Jabr, and Ikrima acknowledged: "Ibn 'Abbas taught us whatever we know." He narrated about 1,600 Traditions.
'Abd Allah Ibn 'Umar was the only one of 'Umar's nine sons to be called Ibn 'Umar (the son of 'Umar). This shows that he had greater worth to be called 'Umar's son or to be mentioned with the name of 'Umar. Although 'Umar is the second greatest Companion, 'Abd Allah may be regarded superior in knowledge, piety, worship, and devotion to the Sunna. His care in following the Prophet's example was such that Nafi', Imam Malik's tutor, narrates: "While we were descending 'Arafat, Ibn 'Umar entered a hole. When he came out, I asked him what he had done there. The Imam answered: 'While descending 'Arafat, I was behind the Messenger. He went down into that hole and relieved himself. I felt no need to do that now, but I don't like to oppose him.'" Also, no one ever saw him take more or less than three swallows of water, for he saw the Messenger drink water in three swallow.
Ibn 'Umar was born in the early years of Islam. He saw his father beaten severely by the Makkan polytheists many times. When the Muslims emigrated to Madina, he was about 10 years old. The Messenger did not let him fight at Badr because he was too young. When he was also prevented from fighting at Uhud, he returned home so grief-stricken that he spent the whole night asking himself: "What sin have I committed that they did not include me in the army fighting in the way of the Messenger?"
Ibn Khalliqan relates in Wafayat al-A'yan (The Death of the Notables) from Sha'bi:
Once in their youth, 'Abd Allah ibn Zubayr, his brother Mus'ab ibn Zubayr, 'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, and 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar were sitting near the Ka'ba. They thought that each should ask God for something special in the hope that the prayer would be accepted. Ibn Zubayr prayed: "O God, for the sake of Your Grandeur, Honor, and Majesty, make me a ruler in Hijaz." Mus'ab stretched out his arms and prayed: "O God, for the sake of Your Honor, Majesty, and Grandeur, of Your Throne and Seat, make me a ruler in Iraq." 'Abd al-Malik raised his hands and prayed: "O God, I ask You to make me a ruler over all the Muslims and secure, through me, Muslim unity even at the cost of some lives." When 'Abd Allah prayed, he asked: "O God, don't take my soul before You guarantee Paradise for me."
The prayers of the first three were accepted: 'Abd Allah ibn Zubayr ruled for a while in Hijaz and was eventually martyred by Hajjaj the Tyrant, the notorious Umayyad governor. Mus'ab ruled in Iraq for a short time. 'Abd al-Malik succeeded his father, Marwan, as caliph and secured Muslim unity of Muslims, though at the cost of many lives and much bloodshed.
As for Ibn 'Umar, Imam Sha'bi remarks: "Whether the Imam's prayer was accepted or not will be clear in the Hereafter." Sha'bi knew something: "Ibn 'Umar never opposed the Prophet's descendants or supported the Umayyads. Hajjaj was afraid of him. Once, Hajjaj gave a sermon before the noon prayer that was so long that the noon prayer's time was almost over. Ibn 'Umar warned him: 'O Governor, time is passing without waiting for you to finish your sermon.' Hajjaj was full of rancor and enmity for Ibn 'Umar. Finally, during a pilgrimage he found someone to prick Ibn 'Umar's heel with a poisonous spear while he was in pilgrim attire. The poison eventually killed him."
'Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud, one of the first five or six people to embrace Islam, also narrated a considerable number of Traditions. As a youth, he tended the flocks of such Qurayshi leaders as Abu Jahl and 'Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt. After his conversion, he would no longer be separated from the Messenger. He entered the Prophet's house without asking to do so and so frequently that people thought he was a family member. During military or non-military expeditions, he carried the Prophet's water bag, wooden sandals, and mat upon which he slept or sat. Eventually, he became known as "the caretaker of the pattens (sandals-like shoes), couch, and water bag."
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mahvaladara · 2 years
Conversation
Father John: Master Seimei! -bows-
Chioro: What are you doing here?!
John: Master Seimei! -bows- I respectfully ask for you to allow me to accompany you back to Japan and become your disciple.
Seimei: You wish to be my disciple?
John: Yes! I wish to learn your art of omudo!
Seimei:... Onmyodo.
John: Onmyodo! I wish to learn it, if you'd take me as your disciple.
Chioro: You're a christian priest. How is the practice of Onmyodo going to work with the whole Jesus and God deal you have going on? Are you going to stop being a priest?
John: No! That's the beauty of it! I think I can be a christian and omoji!
Seimei: Onmyoji.
John:... Sorry! Well. I believe Master Seimei's mission is one that is attuned with God's teachings. Protection of life, upholding justice, forgiveness of spirits and life of righteousness and purity! Heaven! I wish to also aid ailing spirits and protect mankind from them! I already am learning catholic exorcisms, I think this practice will only help in my mission!
Seimei: You can't exactly go around mixing and matching rituals hoping they will stick together. It does not work that way. Rituals work because they have a certain procedure and aether associated to them.
John: Master Seimei, but you said it yourself! If you didn't know about the Fear Gorta nor how to deal with Gakis, we'd never would have dealt with that thing! You said it yourself!
Chioro: To accomplish your mission in a globalized world, you must keep an open mind to the beliefs of where you are!
John: Exactly!
Seimei: -smile- Very well, Father John. I accept you as my disciple.
Chioro and John: For real?!
Seimei: Of course. I am not one to joke about serious things.
Annauncer: Passengers for flight 7525, Kyoto, Japan, please procede for gate 80.
Seimei: I do believe this is our flight.
John: Yes!
Chioro:... You're finding an appartment! I am not giving up my bed!
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pipelinelaserraygun · 23 days
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This is my Mom's Sister, my Aunt Loida. ⬆️ That's me. I lived under HER roof, away from my Parents for a year.
Loida has 2 sons of her own.
Recently, 🦇 I re-established ties with one of her Sons, my Cousin, 🫂 following a years-long BITTER dispute. At a time now when there are fewer people we've loved STILL on 🌎 Earth, the fact that we've patched things up is none too soon.
John Paul Salazar will be part of a welcoming committee, when it's OUR time to head to Heaven. Making ready his Memorial service/Luncheon provides an occasion for a WIDER look 👀 at Heavenly residents, AS our Brethren.
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Soledad and I considered bids from MANY catering companies, until deciding upon a pork appetizer, ⬆️ THIS entree and sides.
We have prepared for an estimate of 80 attendees.
Some of the invited guests are DISTANT from the Lord. That's just a FACT, FROM a law of averages.
They will know we are ✝️🛐 Christians, by our love.
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MUST PRIORITIZE: We must globally take measures to aid MILLIONS of our broken and hungry that were born in the United States.
We AREN'T even helping 🇺🇸 our naturalized, born in the USA, residents ☠️☠️ left for dead on the streets.
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Who are ✝️ Good Samaritans of Brothers and Sisters, in *deeds and NOT just words?
A team of volunteers donate their time for 🆓, and put together 80 care packages monthly, which costs us an out-of-pocket act of more than $10,000 dollars, yearly.
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👺👺 No-good Samaritans of Brothers and Sisters are 🎈 hot-air balloons, FILLED with bad words AND bad deeds.
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am hours late but wanted to record my thoughts on new pokemon game announcement so future me can look back and laugh
don't care about megas* but still happy to see them back. please flygon this time?
is this the future or past?? the fact that the trailer's art style leaves even this ambiguous worries me a little. but i've also seen people declare confidently that it's been "confirmed" it takes place in the past. can't tell if this is literally true or if what they actually mean is "from my analysis of the trailer i am certain of this"
lack of gameplay footage also concerning, but probably a good business decision considering how bad gameplay footage made their last few trailers look lmao
ppl seem really disappointed by the "entirely in lumiose city" thing but idg why? that's different enough from any previous game that i'm curious to see it. i guess maybe that sounds more linear and fans want more open world? but the narrow scope sounds cool to me; it implies having an Actual Objective from the start of the game, which is so different from most pokemon games (where you just kinda dick around for 80% of the game and then get told about a world-ending event you need to fix) that i'm here for it
kinda glad they skipped unova since i couldn't envision a unova remake/revisit that would have pleased me. but also... really? all unova gets is a few homages in indigo disk? indigo disk sucked tho
mildly sad no johto bc i love johto but i didn't consciously want johto, you know? like i didn't endorse my wish for johto; i just get happy whenever i see it
i got so genuinely, viscerally irritated when the trailer started with pikachu, i think bc in my mind pikachu represents reassurance/pandering to the babiest of baby fans. does anyone actually need that? is anyone really going to feel lost if pikachu's not there to guide them? (this is not an important insight i just find it funny in retrospect that my first reaction was negative for suck a nitpicky reason)
but also, i saw one guy suggest maybe we're going to switch off playing from a human and pokemon perspective? this would be cool conceptually, but i will like it only if it's nothing like the synchro feature in indigo disk. if we sometimes inhabit a pokemon protagonist with their own agenda that involves communicating with humans, that will be cool; if we as a trainer command a pokemon whom we then go complete missions as (e.g., like, the rocket hideout puzzle in let's go but in first person), no thanks
that's all assuming that the blurb about "a vision of beautiful coexistence between people and pokemon" is a hint/loadbearing detail and not just fluff? i see people hanging a lot of speculations on that line but like... aren't there lines like that in every pokemon game? it could just be fluff
thank god for 2025 release. please be november like main-series games and not, like, january
*1. most of them look dumb to me 2. seems kinda cruel? like forcing your pets into a berserker rage. idk. but most importantly 3. i like that they buffed weak pokemon but what's the point if you're also gonna buff, like, garchomp
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adobecult · 3 months
Text
unhinged gta v babbling below the cut
so i’m about 10% through the game according to my save file, and i want to preface this post by saying that i love franklin. he’s smart and cool and nice and his special ability fucks so hard and i’m very excited to see where his character arc goes. i haven’t met trevor yet so we’ll figure him out later. however all of this is to say that this is going to be a hyperfixation on michael type of post so i apologize in advance
here are some things about michael so far in no particular order. just some things. you know
- that one cutscene of him listening to phil collins by the pool turned me into a ghost
- untreated manic depressive episode or mid-life crisis? nobody knows
- normally the meta in gta is doing a lot of missions and making quick cash or whatever but have you considered forcing the main character to keep going back to therapy or taking his wife out on awkward dates that always end with them drunk and screaming at each other
- his house is so fucking ugly dude, not necessarily the architecture because it’s the typical spanish revival type thing which is whatever but everything in it just sucks. rich people really have no taste
- it’s so funny to me how michael carries himself like an 80s movie gangster but he is literally just a guy who used to rob banks (???) and when he moved to los santos he didn’t even bother to learn the names of prominent gang leaders in the area
- he’s going to have long hair forever. i’m never visiting the barber shop again. so
- the way his relationship with jimmy is playing out so far is quite interesting. obviously a lot of their antagonisms stem from michael projecting his own insecurities, dissatisfaction with retirement, general malaise, etc onto jimmy, even though it is only because of michael’s past actions that jimmy lives such a carefree life in the first place. but jimmy and michael don’t exactly fit the “good men create great times, great times create weak men” bullshit either. instead jimmy is just very much like michael— impulsive, kind of self-centered, kind of reckless, and also very willing to speak his mind, notably to his father’s face during one of michael’s pretty violent anger outbursts. jimmy is also a good moral marker at this point in the narrative— even though he knew of his dad’s criminal past (arguably in a sort of “mystical, not-quite-reality” sort of way) before the boat incident, michael returning to killing so instantaneously after such a long “recovery” period with little to no regard for his actions clearly scares jimmy in a very real way.
- don’t get me started on how michael’s budding relationship with franklin mirrors how walter white found a “second son” in jesse pinkman because his real son would rightfully disown him if he knew how many people he had killed in the span of 6 months alone
- i know its the most lukewarm take in the world that this game has Issues With Women but god i hope against hope that better writing is in the cards for amanda and tracey.. they cannot possibly continue be as one-note and badly portrayed as they have been so far. please
- so michael’s original last name was townley, and then after faking his death and moving to los santos he changes it to de santa? painful. just horrible
- he needs shittier suits. i need his outfits to become shittier. i need him to become worse
- [so horny i can barely stand] it’s cool how they give characters realistic chest hair in video games now
- who is the bigger sicko, the violent and depraved protagonist from the car theft video game or the absolutely feral individual who pilots him around like a little puppet and punishes him for fun? tune in next time to find out
0 notes
onlinesikhstore · 4 months
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Stylish SARBLOH Pure Iron Steel Smooth Sikh Khalsa Taksali Kara KADA Bracelet M1
Stylish SARBLOH Pure Iron Steel Smooth Round Sikh Khalsa Taksali Kara KADA Bracelet M1
Design No. M1 
Please note we have customised these kara for a Sikh guy on demand. We had six of them, four of which were already sold before Listing on eBay. Only two left in stock. Please click buy now asap to avoid any disappointment. Gur Fateh Ji!
These Karas are from the Holy and Pious Land of Shiri Amritsar Ji (The City of Golden Temple/Darbar Sahib Ji/Harmandir Sahib)
Weight of this Kara is approximate 80-110g (variable due to size of kara).
Width is approx 0.8 cm and Thickness is approx 0.8cm
HEAVY Smooth SARBLOH TAKSALI KARA (variations are prepared by measuring the internal diameter of Karas).
These Kara are rememberance gift for life. Best thing ever to gift your loved ones and these always remind them about your presence. I am myself wearing a 15 years old Kara that my Grandmum has gifted me and it always remind me of her. Kara GIFT FOR LIFE #karaforlife #kadaforlife Visit My eBay Shop: OnlineSikhStore Check out my other items! Be sure to add me to your favourites list! Sign up for my email newsletters by adding my eBay Shop to your favourites Apart from religious values Karas are the best to be given as a rememberance/memorable gift. Hence, a brilliant gift idea for loved ones. These Karas are one of the Sikh Kakars.
(Very Smooth - as shown in photos - photos are zoomed to show details) - Very  Popular design in market right now - very famous in youngsters and we are the only seller who has this exclusive design for sale in UK.
Very Smooth from inside and heavy. Non allergic to Skin.
These Karas are from the Holy and blessed land of Shiri Amritsar Sahib (The City of Golden Temple/Darbar Sahib/Shiri Harmandir Sahib Ji). Please choose variation size while buying or mention it to us in your note:
Please measure diameter of your old kara or 3 and half knuckles of your fist then choose size from the variations.
Please read below more Information about Sikh Kara:
A kara  ਕੜਾ , کڑا  कड़ा , is a steel or iron (sarb loh) worn by all initiated Sikhs. It is one of the five Kakars or 5Ks — external articles of faith — that identify a Sikh as dedicated to their religious code. The kara was instituted by the tenth Sikh Guru Gobind Singh Ji at the Baisakhi Amrit Sanskar in 1699. Guru Gobind Singh Ji explained:
He does not recognize anyone else except me, not even the bestowal of charities, performance of merciful acts, austerities and restraint on pilgrim-stations; the perfect light of the Lord illuminates his heart, then consider him as the immaculate Khalsa.
The kara is to constantly remind the Sikh disciple to do God's work, a constant reminder of the Sikh's mission on this earth and that he or she must carry out righteous and true deeds and actions, keeping with the advice given by the Guru. The Kara is a symbol of unbreakable attachment and commitment to God. It is in the shape of a circle which has no beginning and no end, like the eternal nature of God. It is also a symbol of the Sikh brotherhood. As the Sikhs' holy text the Guru Granth Sahib Ji says "In the tenth month, you were made into a human being, O my merchant friend, and you were given your allotted time to perform good deeds." Similarly, Bhagat Kabir reminds the Sikh to always keep one's consciousness with God: "With your hands and feet, do all your work, but let your consciousness remain with the Immaculate Lord."
The basic kara is a simple unadorned steel bracelet, but other forms exist. It was historically used like a Knucke Duster for hand-to-hand combat. Battlefield variations include kara with spikes or sharp edges. Sikh soldiers of the British Indian army would settle disputes by competing in a form of boxing known as loh-musti (lit. iron fist) with a kara on one hand.
 Brilliant finish and very decorative. Ideal gift item for loved ones.
We polish all our Karas with Brasso Polish and Cotton cloth before dispatch. It gives them good shine that will be long lasting. We ensure that our karas are rust free but with Sarbloh you can't Guarantee that as Rust is the Characteristic of Pure Iron/Sarbloh karas.
There may be little bit rust present which is seen commonly in all SARBLOH KARAS due to purity of the metal/Pure iron + Cuts/marks are common on these warrior style Karas. These Kara have no joint, made with Traditional methods mostly by hand in Amritsar. Sarbloh Kara are warrior style Kara.
Brilliant finish and very decorative. Ideal gift item for loved ones on all occasions.
We are UK based supplier smartfashions.co.uk. Items can be collected from our shop in Rochester, Kent, UK.  We have 100% positive feedback. Please bid with confidence and check our other fantastic listings. If you are not happy with your purchase we will give you 100% refund on return of item. No hard and fast rules for refunds and returns.
Very Reasonable Economy Royal Mail Postage in UK for this Chunky Kara.
Postage discounts will be given to International buyers for multi-buys.
Any questions please do not hesitate to contact us.
Thank you for looking at our shop.
PLEASE NOTE: Please measure/check size of your kara/bracelet first while ordering to avoid any hassle or posting it back to us and paying extra for p&p for exchange and swap of karas with other desired sizes.
There will be charge of £4 p&p towards exchange/swap of Kara for any size issues for UK buyers and £9.99 p&p for international buyers that needs to be paid by PayPal in advance or interested buyer can send us pa repaid self addressed envelope for any exchange/swap along with the original item in its original packaging and buyer should also return us the gift item/bags sent along with the item for appreciation of purchase. We may post back gift items/bags along with the swapped item.
P.S. Colour of item may slightly vary due to camera flash and light conditions. Some Karas may have negligible small black grinding mark on the kara joint. This is always seen on all karas as most of the Kara making/shaping work is done by hands. However, this do not affect the quality/look of Karas.
Design Number: M1 Gender: Unisex Country/Region of Manufacture: India Main Material/ Metal: Sarbloh/Pure Iron/Steel Type: Bracelets/Bangle Main Colour: Silver Tone/Sarbloh Ethnic & Regional Style: Asian
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dailyaudiobible · 8 months
Text
8/5/2023 DAB Transcript
Ezra 1:1-2:70, 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5, Psalm 27:7-14, Proverbs 20:22-23
Today is the fifth day of August, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is wonderful to be here with you today, just like it’s fantastic to be here with you together around the Global Campfire every day. It's a joy that we even have this place that we can gather together. And so, I'm thrilled that we can do that, gather together and take the next step forward. Yesterday, we took a step in the Old Testament that brought us to the conclusion of a book named Second Chronicles, which means that as we move into our reading today, we have brand-new territory to move into, although it might not feel exactly like that we’re not moving into a completely different story, at a completely different time. We’re actually just picking up where Second Chronicles leaves off.
Introduction to the Book of Ezra:
The children of Israel are in exile in Babylon, they were carried away by Nebuchadnezzar, King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians who came and conquered, as a result of the rebelliousness of God's people. So, Ezra, as we read this, will cover about 80 years of time and three different kings of the Persian Empire: Cyrus the Great, Darius and then Artaxerxes and each of these kings use their power, influence and their kingdoms to favor the Israelites who are returning to their homeland, so that they could rebuild the temple of God and resume worship of the most high God in Jerusalem. In fact, that's the first kings' mission, Cyrus the Great, begins all of this with the desire to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem to worship God and he gives permission and resources for it. And about 42,000 of the exiled Israelites, who had been crying and weeping for restoration, finally actually make the trip back. So, we’re going back, and they will be under the leadership of a person named Zerubbabel to rebuild. And once they get there, we will find that they have all kinds of things that they have to face, all kinds of things to endure opposition to overcome. Some of that comes through the intimidation of the people that are nearby. Some of it comes through like political maneuvering. Some comes through just threats that we watched them stay true to the mission and the task as the rebuilding takes place and like most of the things that we find in the Bible, it becomes the mirror as we observe our own lives, our own faithfulness, our own endurance, to that which God has called us to accomplish in our lives. And we can find encouragement. We’re not the only ones to face opposition. So, let's see what is modeled for us as we begin, today, Ezra chapters 1 and 2.
Prayer:
Father, we thank You for Your word and we thank You for, well, we've graduated now into new territory in Old and New Testaments. And so, as we begin to engage with the book of Ezra and as we continue to move through Paul's letter to the Corinthians, come, Holy Spirit, lead us into all truth, lead us to what we need to hear and what we need to see. Give us eyes to see and ears to hear that we might obey You. Come Jesus and lead us we pray. In Your name we ask. Amen.
Prayer and Encouragements:
My precious Father in heaven, thou art worthy. Thou art worthy, Lord. You are the king of all kings Lord. I have a daughter, Tina, who is suffering from non-alcoholic liver disease. She’s down to 100lbs. She can’t eat. She’s trying to get a feeding tube. Please Lord, allow them to do a feeding tube so that she can get nutrition into her. And Lord, I pray for a doner for her liver. She’s a good Christian woman and believes that God will heal her. And Lord, I pray that You will find a doner and give her strength, give her peace of her mind, body and soul. Lord, thou art worthy. And people, if you would just pray for her and pray for a doner and feeding tube and her bodily comfort and comfort of mind. Lord, I just pray that Tina will come through this and be of glory to You. Thank you, people, for praying. You are my sisters and brothers in the Lord. And I would have it no other way than to be a Christian and love Jesus. Bye.
Intertwined, this is God’s Life Speaker. I heard you on the second day of August and you were pulling up to the gates of the jail which will be your home for the next couple of days. But I didn’t think I have ever walked through these kinds of gates with anybody in my imagination because you were able to describe it feelings and the place and you said that you knew that we were with you, and this was gonna be so hard, but you were just in such a spiritual state of mind. That you were able to paint a picture for the rest of us so that we would know how to pray into something with you and for you, even better. And so, thank you for that invitation. Thank you for that visual. Yeah, and this whole time, like we, we are with you. We are together in the spirit just praying for each other. So, Holy Spirit, we need to pray for Intertwined. Man, this is a such a Hebrews 12 lesson. And someone else on this morning's call, just called in about that and Lord, it is, we don’t like this kind of discipline. But God in it, let us be trained. Give Intertwined the training that You want her to receive. So, that she can come out of this with the peaceful fruit of righteousness. So, strengthen her feeble hands and knees. And Lord, just give her the footing and the pathway that she needs so that she can come out of this to draw others, will be so drawn to her because she is walking out You and the light will be seen. So, we just pray for strengthening. We pray for her to just come up out of this and to be stronger still. We know she will because Your word is true, and we believe this. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Hello Daily Audio Bible family. This is Jermaine from Clarkesville, Tennessee. I wanted to call and pray for the woman who was pulling up to the jail. I believe she said her name was Intertwined in God’s Love. Sister, I’m praying for you. Father, in the precious name of Jesus Christ, we come to You now, oh God, with our sister in mind. Father, she has to go into this institution. But God, we ask that this time will be an opportunity to grow closer to You. It will be moment of divine fellowship with You. That Your Holy Spirit will be with her, comforting her, leading her and guiding her to the people that she’s supposed to go to while she’s in there to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Father, I pray that You will invigorate her with Your strength. And I pray most of all, Father, that when this is over, when she leaves, that people, through her, through Your will, will have given their hearts to Jesus Christ. Father, I pray for her protection, I pray for her peace, and I pray, oh God, that this will go by so fast that it’ll be like a blip in her life. We thank You for Your love. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray.
Good morning, this is Abundantly Blessed Tanya from Massachusetts calling for Intertwined in God’s Love for Intertwined in God’s Love. And I just wanna say that is what you are, love that your name, your handle is actually reflective of who you are. You are not separated in any way from the Lord, and He’s always with you no matter where you are. The Bible says whether you’re on the far side of the earth or you make your bed in Sheol and at this point in time you have a hard thing to do but yet He’s with you in the challenge. And you will have a glorious time. There’s going to be such revelation for you. I believe this is time that is meant for you and Him, so that it is precious time for you to learn some things that He wants to share with you. Personal time of intimacy and time to be spoken to your heart, to go places in your heart that fingers can’t go, that massaging can’t go, that your friends' words can’t go, because it was only designed for Him. So, I just want you to look at this time that you have as a vacation with God, even though the surroundings don’t look like such. Where God is, He turns it all into a wonderful access. So, I’m gonna say enjoy, rejoice in this time. He’s gonna bring you through mightily.
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