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disneyprincemuke · 5 months

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triple threat * fem!driver

it’s always the three of them against everybody else

pairings: oscar piastri x fem!driver, logan sargeant x fem!driver

warnings: swearing

notes: i’m such a crybaby for all those long live edits on tiktok so here i am crying over a fictionAL SERIES THAT I CREATED ALL ON MY OWNNNN

(series masterlist) | (📂 pre-formula 1)

-> 2016

“i can’t believe it,” oscar says, appearing behind her. she turns around and meets the two pairs of eyes she’s been looking for. “you finally beat me.”

her eyes are teary, cheeks flushed as her hair stuck out from her ponytail. “did you let me win?”

“of course not!” oscar pulls her in, wrapping his arms around her. “you did it all on your own. good job, mate.”

“finally,” logan appears from behind oscar, replacing him for another tight and comforting hug. “congratulations on the win. you did amazing today.”

“thank you. i can’t believe it,” she giggles, a hand covering her lips. “i finally won a race. i might actually have a shot at this.”

oscar raises his eyebrow, tilting his head slightly. “you’ve always had a chance. you’re wonderful on the track.”

“yeah, but i’m a girl,” she mutters, sighing as she watches the crowd build up for the podium announcement. “it’s not very often someone like me is accepted around here. you guys are my only friends.”

logan smacks her shoulder. “we don’t care if you’re a girl. i’d beat you at any competition any day.”

“i will continue putting up a fight, though,” oscar grumbles in a frown, giving her a side eye. but upon meeting her eyes, his lips spread into a proud smile. “but not today. today is all yours. embrace it.”

she sighs, closing her eyes as the sun shines brightly above them. “it’s not every day i get to beat you on the track.”

-> 2017

“i can’t believe it! i’m so happy for you!” she shrieks, arms thrown around oscar’s shoulders as she sways their bodies. “another win in your pocket.”

“i’m sorry you crashed out,” oscar frowns as he pulls away. “you would’ve caught up with me and won if you hadn’t.”

truthfully, crashing out in a karting race dropped her morale by a lot. walking back to where her parents were, she had to hold back her tears and bite her quivering lips to hide disappointment.

but she can’t do that with all these eyes on her. so while her two friends made it on the podium that day, she forces a smile to her face and opened her arms wide to congratulate them.

“doesn’t matter. i’m proud of you,” she smiles. she turns, noticing logan walking towards them. “and you!”

“thank you! it was a good race, don’t you think?” logan beams. “i’m sorry for your crash, though. was it bad?”

she shrugs as she scrunches up her nose. “doesn’t really matter. today is about you guys! you made the podium again!”

“it’s not a podium i consider successful if you’re not on it with us,” logan drops his head with a frown. oscar nods in agreement, giving her a small smile. “you’ll come back next race.”

“of course!” she smiles, taking the hug logan is offering her. “go on the podium. i’ll wait for you guys right here.”

“ice cream still on for after?” oscar grins as he takes a step away. “take my good side, okay?”

“and mine,” logan adds. “i know you’re not a photographer often. but please, i beg you to take good pictures for once.”

she rolls her eyes, pushing logan towards the direction oscar is already walking. “i promise you will look good in your pictures today. blythe’s here to take pictures — she’s good at taking pictures of you.”

-> 2018

glancing through the small gap between the makeshift wall and the curtain, logan towers over her smaller frame as they watch the crowd gather beneath the elevated stage.

“this is a sight to remember,” she says excitedly, turning to meet his eyes. “this is so fucking cool.”

“i know. you think anybody important is down there?” logan mutters, raising his eyebrow. “where is oscar?”

“i’m here,” oscar giggles from behind them, prompting the two to turn around stiffly to look at him. “i was in the bathroom.” he raises his eyebrow as he realises where they are. “the hell are you guys looking at there?”

“the crowd for the podium,” logan smiles, beckoning him to come forward. “look, dude. it looks amazing.”

“i would hope so,” oscar grins, hopping over to them to peek through the gap they were looking at.

his smile drops, developing into a stare of awe and shock. the crowd has developed since he last glanced at it on his way to the bathroom.

“oh,” he says as he breathes out. “you’re right.”

she squeezes herself between oscar and the curtain, phone held out between the gap to snap a quick picture. “i’m remembering this moment for life. first of many.”

-> 2019

oscar rips his helmet off his head, running over to crowd that’s formed behind the barrier ahead of him.

“i did it! i won in formula 3!” he cheers, pumping his fist in the air as he runs over to where his team is gathered. he jumps into the crowd, choosing specifically where she stands, just slightly taller than the barrier that separated them.

“bitch!” she shrieks, falling backwards as his weight falls on her. “i’m proud of you, but god, oscar!”

“i won! i won!” he cheers as his feet meets the concrete floor once more. he jumps on the spot, grabbing her wrists. “did you see me on the track?”

she jumps, grabbing his wrists tightly. “i did! you raced an amazing race today!”

“dude, you won!” logan’s voice approaches them, joining the jumping huddle they’ve formed. “i can’t believe it!”

“i did!” oscar screams, one of his hands smacking logan’s shoulder. “i’m sorry for pushing you off track, though.”

“doesn’t matter! you won, you won!” logan cheers. he turns to the girl behind the barrier. “today, we eat a meal. not ice cream. i’m starving.”

“dude, same,” oscar says calmly. he turns to her. “you choose where we eat.”

“what?” she cries incredulously as she throws her head back. “you guys raced today. you choose where we go after the race.”

“no, you’re always here during our races to support us. this time, we give you a choice,” logan grins, leaning on the barrier towards her. “our way of giving back to you, of course.”

“i’m here because i want to be here,” she smiles. “i want to be able to support you from the sidelines! i’m your biggest fan.”

watching her friends progress to be in a league higher than her hurt, of course. but there are some facts she’s come to terms with and it’s that they will never have the same opportunities.

all she can do is swallow back the bitterness of it all and look at the brighter side. if racing doesn’t work out for her, there will be other opportunities for her. surely, somewhere else if it’s not here.

oscar hums, raising an eyebrow at her. “fine.”

logan sighs, shaking his head. “stubborn. let dalton choose, then.”

“i can’t believe it!” she drops her helmet onto the cushioned chair. her hands are quick to cover her eyes, catching the tears that fell as she heaves with every breath. “i could’ve won that race!”

logan and oscar, stood behind her, are speechless as they follow her to a spot without cameras. the race was brilliant, overtaking countless cars and climbing her way to a good spot.

but then she made a mistake and stalled, causing her to lose out on a couple of positions. realistically, she could have won the race.

“everyone makes mistakes,” logan says softly. “it’s okay.”

“no! i raced like it was my first time in a stupid car! i’ve never stalled before!” she cries.

logan quickly pulls her into his arms, rubbing her back as they try their hardest to comfort her. “this was the race! this should’ve been the race that did it for me!”

“there will be more races, you know,” oscar tries his luck at saying something.

despite growing around many women in his life, comforting any of them is a feat he has yet to meet. he never know the right words to say to them.

she breaks free from logan’s grasps, falling into a squat as she continues to cry. “i’m never making it to f1.”

“hey, don’t say that!” oscar scolds her, tapping her shoulder softly. “i stalled the other day in an f3 car. it could happen to anybody.”

“it shouldn’t be happening to me! i’ve got a lot more to prove than you guys,” she sobs, rubbing her tears all over her face. “you know that. i’m never making it out of this league after that. i fucking-“

logan squats right next to her, rubbing circles on her back. “you’re too hard on yourself. one race doesn’t define you.”

she frowns, rubbing her eyes. “it’s over for me.”

-> 2020

she takes a deep breath as her name is called, tears filling her eyes. she walks past the wall and out onto the elevated stage as the crowd erupts in cheers.

in the crowd below her, she spots her parents standing against the barriers with oscar and logan behind them.

a smile stretches her lips as she catches their eyes, phones held up to document yet another achievement from her in the sport.

logan gives her a thumbs up, while oscar gives her a simple smile and a nod. but it tells her more than it needs to.

her parents are in tears once more, watching their eldest achieve things people never thought she could and would.

after the podium celebration, she pulls her hair out of her ponytail as she approaches the two boys that’s come out to support her. “hey! thank you for coming to watch my race!”

“i wouldn’t have missed it for the world, stupid,” oscar smiles, turning immediately at the sound of her voice. “that overtake you did in the last corner? masterclass.”

“dude, i thought you were gonna crash out with that move,” logan says through gritted teeth, shoving her back slightly. “you were so good!”

she flips her hair over her shoulder and bats her eyelashes. “i learn from the best.”

“you’re very much welcome,” oscar grins. “how was it up on that podium? hearing your national anthem and all? cool, right?”

“amazing, actually,” she says exasperatedly, throwing her arms in the air. “okay, let me be a good daughter. i’ll find my parents, let me get changed and we’ll head out to dinner like we planned.”

oscar nods. “be pretty. you’re going to be all over our snapchat and instagram, mate.”

-> 2021

she taps her card onto the reader, the gantry opening up for her. when she crosses that line, oscar appears next to her with a smile.

“the f1 paddocks look so much better than i remember,” she whispers to oscar as they start walking. “this is so cool.”

“oh, look who finally made it,” logan sasses them, approaching them with his hands on his hips. “never changing out of being tardy, i see.”

“you were early for marketing, stupid,” she scowls, walking further in with them.

her lips part as she looks around in awe, a smile spreading her face. “i want to be here every weekend someday.”

“we’ll get there,” oscar grins, nudging her slightly his his elbow. “but this is fun, isn’t it?”

“i could get used to this,” she nods, folding her arms over her chest. “but it’s unrealistic. i will stay in my lane, actually. maybe f2 is the furthest i’ll get?”

“i’m not making it to f1 without you.”

-> 2022

she frowns, looking at her phone screen as chaos ensues in her living room. dalton and oscar are battling it out over a game of just dance, screams passing their lips as they continuously miss dance cues.

her team has just announced her entry on their socials, and the comments are less than ideal. there were a few supportive ones, but they are all from known figures in the sport who are technically obligated to put a positive word in.

“hey, you’re awfully quiet,” ciara says softly, crawling towards her end of the couch.

which is true, because a couple of minutes ago, she was hurling insults at oscar’s ability to deliver a convincing performance to beat dalton at a game of just dance.

she locks her phone, resting it on her stomach as she forces a grin to her face. “nothing. just looking at something.”

“no, something’s bothering you,” ciara frowns, sitting on her feet.

logan pops up behind the couch, leaning on the backrest. “is it the instagram post for your announcement?”

she smiles weakly, nodding. “did you read the comments they had on there? i’m a good driver,” she says softly, slightly discouraged by the comments she was unlucky enough to have read. “i worked hard to be considered for f1.”

“they will never care about that,” ciara says.

her eyes snap up to her younger sister. how naive can she be to think that ciara would have toned down her harsh words for once?

but ciara slumps her shoulders and continues to speak. “you know that,” ciara says, resting an elbow on the back of the couch. “but you were chosen to be in f1. it’s now up to you to prove them wrong.”

logan smiles, poking her cheek. “she’s right.”

“i know, but it’s just unfair. all this hate because i’m a girl? like i haven’t had enough of that since i started karting.”

“they’re always going to say the same things,” logan sighs. “but now you made it to the big league. you’re going to be amazing.”

she doesn’t notice the game is over. immediately, dalton tackles ciara and oscar is sitting on her feet.

“what ‘cha talking ‘bout?” oscar asks, grinning at them. upon meeting her downturned lips and sad eyes, he drops his smile immediately. almost as if he already knew.

and he actually does, suddenly remembering that she mentioned her team will announce her transition some time today. “oh. i’m sorry. they already posted it, haven’t they?”

she nods, pressing her lips together.

he pats her knee. “they’re not in f1. don’t let it get to you, mate.”

-> 2023

“look at me!” she shrieks, jogging out of her racing home, jumping in front of oscar and logan. sebastian follows shortly behind her with a small smile and a phone held up.

“oh, purple is your colour,” logan agrees as she twirls with her arms out to show off her racing suit. “look at mine.”

he copies her actions, twirling around for them. “oh, let’s go, williams driver!”

oscar laughs, covering his mouth before stopping abruptly when they stare at him blankly. “what?”

“show off your race suit, duh,” she says, giving him a knowing look. “it’s your first year as a racing driver! do it!”

“no. i was here last year,” oscar smiles, trying to wave off her request. but their stares gives him the impression that they will not let him pass without doing it.

so he slumps his shoulders with a sigh. he twirls around slowly, arms out to show off his race suit halfheartedly and sebastian’s laughter prominent above his friends’.

“cute friends,” sebastian laughs. he puts the phone down, handing it to the younger girl all suited up for the test session. “welcome to f1, guys.”

taglist: @wcnorris @treehouse-mouse @laura-naruto-fan1998 @mindless-rock @inejismywife @vellicora @leilanixx @meadhgbcavanagh @2bormaybenot @ironmaiden1313 @angsthology @cherry-piee @christianpulisic10 @elliegrey2803 @cashtons-wife @love4lando @sadg3 @bborra @a10vely-yutazen @mellowarcadefun @glitterf1

#oscar piastri x reader #logan sargeant x reader #f1 x reader #oscar piastri x you #logan sargeant x you #f1 fem!driver #female driver #f1 female driver #formula 1 #formula 1 female driver #disneyprincemuke #disneyprincemuke imagine #disneyprincemuke imagines #disneyprincemuke f1 #disneyprincemuke vr #vettel reincarnate

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danrifics · 5 months

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you all pestered me for it and here it is. the closeness analysis/ theory.

now if you didn't see I basically had this theory that the closer to BIG and COTY we get in the DAPG timeline the closer dan and phil sit to each other. Dan made a comment about how them playing Heartthrob being like a gay soft launch and that got me thinking of some other ways they could have done it and one of those being the idea that as time goes on you get less and less strict and worrisome about what others think of you and so they end up gravitating closer and closer.

This post will be under a see more cos its probably gonna be long af.

I will be splitting it into stages.

2014 -15

2016 - 17

2018

revival

sorry the screenshots arent clickable to make bigger tumblr only allows for 30 on a post so i had to group them together!

(i will not be covering horror games apart from in the revival stage and i will also not be talking much about gamingmas 2023)

2014 - 15

now when i initially went to collect my evidence, i was suddenly worried maybe i kinda had things wrong because i feel like in Donkey Kong Country (the first dapg video, see screenshot below) they're sat pretty close but honestly when we get to how they sit a lot later on you'll see that this is actually pretty far apart

now here are some screenshots for the inital look at at the end of them we'll talk (this will be the layout for most of this post i think)

now of course this is only a selection of those year's videos if i screenshotted them all i fear this post would never end. now these first 2 years are a good mix of at desk videos on sofa videos. i noticed from some other videos not show here that in sofa videos they rend to sit a lot closer to each other than they do at the desk, this is kinda funny to me cos really they definitely have room for a wider frame on the couch if they wanted to sit like normal people.

2016 - 17

2016 and the start of 2017 feel like a mixed bag of how close together they are but i did notice that the more into 2017 we got the more they seemed to be shoulder to shoulder! these also started to wean out sofa sitting games (not 100% gone yet but almost). now if you're wondering why i've kept this screenshot apart its cos this is the last one in the first london apartment.

and honestly from here on out is where i believe the "soft launching" begins!

so lets finish 2017 and see if im right!

just had to single out this screenshot for a sec:

in case anyone wondered that is the face dan made during dream daddy when phil reads "we were roommates for a while too"

softlaunch?

anyway moving on

watching these videos definitely feels like something changed btw, while they still arent as close as we'll start seeing them sit, i definitely noticed more often they were shoulder to shoulder. but like a new room has definitely changed the vibe a little bit between them, and now we can move on to the next and final year of pre hiatus dapg, where things as you will see immediately start to change.

2018

like i said... immediately we are met with this, i would also like to let everyone know that 2018 is my favourite era of pre hiatus dapg

lets see what the rest of this year will bring

now i'm splitting 2018 up into parts because i need to do a whole talk about the tour situations so for now lets look at the above screenshots, now its very obvious that they are sitting so much closer to each other which i think is really funny considering how big that room is and often in this section of videos there is a lot of room either side of them so they literally do not need to be that close.

now lets talk about the tour bus. this is how close they're sitting

thats for sure a 1 person seat yet they've both forced themselves on even tho the sofa literally behind them would have been perfectly fine to sit on, and they cant give me "this is the only place to set up the camera" babe its really not theres a whole surface behind you.

okay thank you for listening to this, moving on to the final part of 2018!

(the last 2 screenshots are out of order oops)

idk about you but yeah i think they are definetly a lot closer than they were way back in 2014. i really dont have a lot to say other than that, and i have definetly proven my theory so now we've established that lets have a brief look at post hiatus dapg!

Revival

Now this is gonna be really brief its just a summary of where we are post BIG/COTY and post hiatus (things my brain still cant quite believe is real)

now here are the revival moments i wanna give a mention!

firstly sims season ep 3 when dan moves his chair away from phil and their wheels are literally locked together, pushing phil's chair too

heres dan looking into the monitor and then moving closer to phil <3

and finally

hand hold

thanks for reading all this and sorry if it didnt live up to the hype lmao

#dan and phil #dan howell #phil lester #amazingphil #daniel howell #danisnotonfire #phan #dapg #dnpg

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kyouka-supremacy · 4 months

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BSD Interviews Masterlist

A new masterlist by yours truly. There's so many interviews out there that I wouldn't dare to aspire to include them all; but since I've been stumbling across a lot of Asagiri interviews after they attended Anime Expo this year, I wanted to at least have one place where I can keep track of the ones I see. If you know any interview I failed to include, please let me know!!

The dates reported here refer to the date the interview was published, and not when it was taken; even then, please take them with a grain of salt. Some rows feature multiple links to dislocated translations of the same interview, so be sure to hover over all the text so you don't miss any piece. Finally, sorry if the list results a little bulky at times, I couldn't seem to come up with a better way to format it.

Manga interviews

Asagiri, Harukawa (April 2013) /// original text

Asagiri, Harukawa (January 2017)

Asagiri, Harukawa (October 2019)

Asagiri (July 2023)

Asagiri (August 2023)

Asagiri (October 2023)

Anime interviews

Kensho Ono (Akutagawa's va) on season 1 (June 2016)

Kishou Taniyama (Chuuya's va) on season 1 (June 2016)

Yasuomi Umetsu (season 1 ending director) on the season 1 ending (June 2016) /// alternative translation

Kishou Taniyama (Chuuya's va) on season 1 (July 2016) /// alternative translation

Suwabe Junichi (Oda's va), Miyano Mamoru (Dazai's va), Fukuyama Jun (Ango's va), Miki Shinnichiro (Gide's va) on season 2 (~2016)

Takuya Igarashi (director); Mamoru Miyano (Dazai's va); Jun Fukuyama (Ango's va); Yuto Uemura (Atsushi's va); on season 2 (~2016)

Takuya Igarashi (director), Yoji Enokido (screenwriter) on season 2 (January 2017)

Bones producer on Dead Apple (January 2018)

Asagiri, Takuya Igarashi (director), Yoji Enokido (screenwriter) on Dead Apple (December 2018)

Asagiri, Hiroshi Kamiya (Ranpo's va), Yuto Uemura (Atsushi's va), Yoji Enokido (screenwriter), Nobuhiro Arai (character designer), Mari Suzuki (character designer), Nobuhito Takemoto (character designer) on season 4 (February 2023)

Kishou Taniyama (Chuuya's va); Asagiri, Yoji Enokido (screenwriter), Chiaki Kurakane (Kadokawa producer); Asagiri; Kensho Ono (Akutagawa's va); Asagiri; on season 5 (August 2023)

Kensho Ono (Akutagawa's va) on season 1 (June 2016)

Kishou Taniyama (Chuuya's va) on season 1 (June 2016)

Yasuomi Umetsu (season 1 ending director) on the season 1 ending (June 2016) /// alternative translation

Kishou Taniyama (Chuuya's va) on season 1 (July 2016) /// alternative translation

Suwabe Junichi (Oda's va), Miyano Mamoru (Dazai's va), Fukuyama Jun (Ango's va), Miki Shinnichiro (Gide's va) on season 2 (~2016)

Takuya Igarashi (director); Mamoru Miyano (Dazai's va); Jun Fukuyama (Ango's va); Yuto Uemura (Atsushi's va); on season 2 (~2016)

Takuya Igarashi (director), Yoji Enokido (screenwriter) on season 2 (January 2017)

Bones producer on Dead Apple (January 2018)

Asagiri, Takuya Igarashi (director), Yoji Enokido (screenwriter) on Dead Apple (December 2018)

Asagiri, Masahiko Minami (Studio Bones President), Chiaki Kurakane (Kadokawa producer) on season 5 during Anime Expo 2023: coverage 1; coverage 2; coverage 3; coverage 4; coverage 5 (July 2023)

Kishou Taniyama (Chuuya's va); Asagiri, Yoji Enokido (screenwriter), Chiaki Kurakane (Kadokawa producer); Asagiri; Kensho Ono (Akutagawa's va); Asagiri; on season 5 (August 2023)

Stage plays interviews

Masashi Taniguchi (Oda's actor), Hideya Tawada (Dazai's actor); Hirofumi Araki (Ango's actor), Hideya Tawada (Dazai's actor); Hideya Tawada (Dazai's actor); on the Dark Era stage play (2018 ?)

Masashi Taniguchi (Oda's actor), Rui Tabuchi (Dazai's actor) on the Beast movie (January 2022 ?)

Masashi Taniguchi (Oda's actor), Rui Tabuchi (Dazai's actor) on the Beast movie (February 2022)

#This has been sitting in my drafts since early November. Honestly I have not a single clue why I haven't posted it right away.#Oh well. I hope you enjoy!#bsd #bungou stray dogs #mine #my masterlist

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soraontop · 4 months

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SORA of ENHYPEN 𓊆ྀི❤︎𓊇ྀི

STAGE NAME sora (소라)

BIRTH NAME jung sora (정소라)

POSITION - *

BIRTHDAY october 31st, 2003

ZODIAC SIGN scorpio

CHINESE ZODIAC goat

HEIGHT 162cm (5’3”)

WEIGHT 44kg (99lbs)

BLOOD TYPE a

MBTI ENTP

NATIONALITY korean

REPRESENTATIVE EMOJI 🐯

MIC. COLOR pink

SORA FACTS

She is from Ilsan, South Korea.

She is the oldest child of four, and has three younger brothers. (2009, 2014, 2018)

Training Period: 3 years, 2 months/2015–2018 (Cre.Ker Ent) 1 year, 3 months/2019–2020 (BigHit Ent.)

She was in I.O.I previously and placed 2nd in Produce 101 Season 1 with 782,883 votes.

She ranked 2nd in the final episode of I-LAND with 1,362,913 votes.

She is the current MC for Inkigayo with Yeonjun and Woonhak. (July 2023)

She is a former Cre.Ker and BigHit Entertainments trainee and knows The Boyz well from training with them.

She played Jungkook’s partner in ‘Love Yourself’ highlight reel.

Byeolies is Sora’s fandom name created by fans.

Education: Chadwick International School

Sora speaks Korean and English fluently. She understands Japanese but isn’t confident in speaking it.

Her English name is Lucy. She chose it because she liked the song Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds.

Her favorite colors are lavender and coral.

She was on a swim team when she was younger.

She auditioned as a joke in 2015.

She has her own room in ENHYPEN’s dorm.

She has a Chihuahua named Miso.

She played Jung Somi in The Man From Nowhere in 2010, the daughter of Won Bin’s character in the movie who was kidnapped. She won Best New Actress at the 2010 Korean Film Awards for her role.

She also played Do Kyunghee, Cha Eunwoo’s character’s sister, in My Gangnam Beauty in 2018.

She is childhood friends with RIIZE’s Seunghan. (WeVerse 2023.09.8)

Specialty: Vocal and dance

Hobbies: Making friends, drawing, taking care of others

Charming Point: Her eyes, lips and cheeks

Her nickname(s) are Korea’s Golden Girl, Doll, ‘Malgeumi’ (bright), Da Vinci, Mermaid, ‘Nation’s Girl Next Door’, ‘Nation’s Little Sister’, Star.

Likes: Jay, Sunoo, swimming, her dog, makeup

Dislikes: Waking up, being taken care of, pineapple pizza, Mint Choco

Motto: Expect nothing.

* Position is currently being inferred.

inspired by @enmi-land & @laladellakang <3

poly ot7 enhypen fic with female 8th member, don’t like don’t read !!!

#˖ ࣪ . ࿐ ♡ ˚ . sora ⌗ profile #enhypen #enhypen 8th member #enhypen female addition #enhypen addition #kpop female oc #kpop female addition #enhypen imagines #enhypen scenarios #enhypen fluff #enhypen reactions #kpop imagines #kpop scenarios #bts female addition #txt female addition #txt 6th member #le sserafim 6th member #stray kids 9th member #ateez 9th member

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mirai-e-jump · 5 months

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TV Guide Dan, LDH Special Issue dan the Girls ft. Yuzuki Hirakawa Interview (translation below)

Publication December 1, 2023

-RESOLUTION-

"Hirakawa-san, you entered the entertainment industry after winning the Grand Prix in the vocal and dance category of LDH's, "LDH Presents THE GIRLS AUDITION" held in 2018. Please tell us why you took part in the audition."

Hirakawa: I've always liked LDH artists. I would go and see their live performances, and I watched "Weekly EXILE," a music information program that was being broadcast at the time. Then, I heard the announcement that they'd be holding an audition for female artists for the first time in a while. Before that, auditions had been limited to singing and dancing, but the auditions I attended included various categories, including singing and dancing, as well as acting and modeling. At the time, I wasn't interested in the entertainment world, but my parents and those around me recommended I do it, so I did it partially out of curiosity. However, as judging progressed, before I knew it, I won the Grand Prix…is how it felt. I like singing, but I didn't have any dreams of becoming a singer. After joining the agency, I took singing, dancing and acting lessons equally, and during those lessons, I decided to pursue acting.

"Winning the Grand Prix helped you in deciding to pursue a career in the entertainment industry."

Hirakawa: I was in my second year of high school when I won the Grand Prix, and I had to move from Kumamoto to Tokyo by myself, so I was determined, or rather, I felt I had no choice but to do it. The final stage of the audition was a training camp exam, where about 10 finalists spent a week together. While there, I met other kids who were seriously working hard to pursue their dreams, and I realized that I could no longer be half hearted in my efforts just because I had been chosen. However, when I made my debut as an actor in the stage play of "Moryo no Hako," I didn't know what to do or what was expected of me on the stage, so I just went along with things. It was only last year when I was cast as the role of Rita Kaniska (PapillonOhger) in "Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger" that I was able to proudly say, "My profession is an actor. Actually, before I was cast for the role…there was a time when I was wondering if it was okay to continue down this path, or if I should look for another one. That's why I was so happy when I was chosen to play the role, and thought I could continue as an actor. However, I was alittle anxious before the broadcast started. Rita is the king of Gokkan and the Chief Justice of the International Court of Justice, but their gender isn't clearly stated, and their face is almost invisible, being hidden behind their collar and hair. Since this type of character hasn't been seen in the Super Sentai series before, I couldn't predict what kind of reaction we'd get from the viewers. But thankfully, the positive feedback I've received since airing started has made me enjoy filming even more.

"We feel that characters who don't specify their gender are appropriate in the current era."

Hirakawa: I'm grateful to have been given such a role. I've always thought that my appearance, personality and voice were (gender) neutral, so I was happy to have landed the role of Rita. At first, Rita was a calm and quiet character who didn't say much, but as the story progressed, they're able to rely on others, and gradually become able to express their feelings in public. Slowly, their humanity and cuteness is showing, and I hope that my performance will make the character even more beloved.

"We feel like it's more difficult to express a character that changes gradually, rather than one that changes drastically, but do you find it difficult?"

Hirakawa: I'm not sure…personally, I don't find it that difficult. More than the changes of Rita in the story, I think the relationship between me and all the cast members were the biggest change. As filming progressed, the relationship between the cast members deepened, and I feel that we're able to understand each other. I think this naturally led me to express myself in the role. The atmosphere when Rita and their retainer, Morfonia (Hasegawa Kasumi), are together has also changed. Of course, this happened after the halfway point of the story, but it also reflects the fact that the cast members have become closer to each other.

"And now, "Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger Character Book: The Bonds Connected by Moffun and Racules?!" featuring Rita, Morfonia, and Hymeno Ran (played by Murakami Erica) is on sale. Please tell us your thoughts after looking back on the photo shoot and interview."

Hirakawa: In the TV series, Rita and Hymeno, and Rita and Morfonia are sometimes filmed together, but this is probably the first time that Hymeno, Rita, and Morfonia are together. This was the first time doing an interview with the three of us, so it was very refreshing. Rita is called the "Immovable King," a character with very few movements. So, there aren't that many posing variations, but Hymeno and Morfonia moved alot to add variety, so I felt thankful for that (laughs).

"In episodes 32 and 33 of the TV series, there was a collaboration with "Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger." You co starred with Shiono Akihisa-kun, playing the role of Souji Rippukan (Kyoryu Green), who also belongs to LDH."

Hirakawa: The day after it was decided that I'd be appearing in King-Ohger, I had work to do with Shiono-san, and when I told him, "I'm going to be your junior in Super Sentai," he said to me, "I know it'll be a tough year, but please do your best." He also said, "I hope we can work together again somewhere." At that time, I never imagined that I'd be able to work with Shiono-san in King-Ohger, so I was really happy when the collaboration episodes were announced. We only had one day of filming, but I was able to hear stories about the "Kyoryuger" days, and I was deeply moved by being able to appear in the same scenes for the first time. The collaboration episodes were directed by Sakamoto Koichi, who's famous for his action direction, and although we had to fight more enemies without transforming than usual, since I like action, it didn't bother me, and it was a valuable experience. I'm also working with Amano Kousei-san, another senior at LDH, who plays Grodie Leucodium starting from episode 30. Since Grodie is Rita's enemy, they have many scenes together. Amano-san is very considerate, lending us things to cool our necks when we were on location during the hot season. Also, he gets involved with me on Twitter, and is a really funny and friendly person. However, once he gets into his role, he completely changes, which I think is amazing.

"Since our magazine mainly features men, we'd like to ask what kind of men Hirakawa-san likes."

Hirakawa: Someone who's firm and flexible. When he messes around, he'll completely mess around, and when he talks about serious matters, he's serious. I'm the type of person who gets excited when I'm having fun, so ideally, I'd like someone who has the same enthusiasm as me, and to take the initiative and have fun doing whatever it takes, instead of being drawn away from me (laughs). Also, I think it's wonderful if he can say, "Thank you" and, "I'm sorry" for even the smallest of things, and if he cares about family.

"If you could be reborn, would you prefer to be male or female?"

Hirakawa: I'd like to be male. I used to play with my brother, who's 5 years older than me, and his friends, and I wanted to be a boy too.

"Well then, if you could be a man for one day, what would you like to do?"

Hirakawa: I wonder…(taking time to think), I guess I'd do some muscle training. If I can become a muscular man like Kaku So-san, my co star in King-Ohger, I'd like to go to the gym and train my muscles until he admits defeat! Kaku-san said he can bench press 120 kg (265 lbs), so I'd like to aim for that too and show off my muscles to everyone (laughs).

#👀#ohsama sentai kingohger #kingohger #super sentai #rita kaniska #rita kanisuka #moffun #my scans #my translation #toku cast #kingohger cast #yuzuki hirakawa #hirakawa yuzuki #tokusatsu #ohsama sentai king ohger #king ohger #tv guide dan

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arlathvhenan · 5 months

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I really wish people had a better understanding about how production pipelines for AAA games work. Been seeing a lot of misinformed takes by frustrated fans.

And yes, I get being frustrated. I’m as eager to play this game as anyone. But I also know that large productions like this take a long ass time and involve a huge amount of moving parts. And that’s before you factor in the kind of production hurdles this game has been through.

First it was delayed because they moved a ton of staff over to triage Anthem and Andromeda. Then it got cancelled altogether before they decided to resume development a year later. After that you had the frequent turnover of high level staff which can seriously kneecap progress on a project as big as this one. And that’s only what we know so far. To say nothing of the incredibly precarious position BioWare itself is in as a studio.

I’ve heard a lot of people asking why the game isn’t out yet then it’s been in Alpha since early 2022, and I have to imagine it’s because people have a mistaken idea of what the Alpha stage means in terms of game development.

Here’s the thing. Alpha does not mean that the game is almost finished. What it means is that the core mechanics and gameplay loop are in a finished enough state to be tested. What you have when entering Alpha is essentially a bare bones proof of concept that may or may not have *some* finished assets, but on the whole there’s still a ton of heavy lifting to do.

Most assets have yet to be finalized. The story itself might not even be finalized. Maybe the central story line is, but secondary and tertiary components like Character Sub-Quests, Codex Entries, etc are likely still in the works

In order to test things out mechanically, unfinished assets will be represented by placeholders, which is why Alpha gameplay might look a bit more put together than it actually is. It’s not until we get to Beta that a game is considered finished enough to start polishing off the rough edges—bug fixes, cosmetic triage, supplementary features, etc. And even then with large scale AAA games it’s not unusual for Beta to last up to half a year or more.

I know it’s frustrating having to wait so long for an anticipated game like this. I really really do. But here’s a few more things to keep in mind:

1–Collectively speaking, production for Dreadwolf has only been going on for about four or five years. It started in 2016, got cancelled in 2017, and was then revived in 2018.

2—Dragon Age Inquisition didn’t get much more than a teaser trailer until the summer of 2014, which was about half a year before the game was released.

3—Radio silence usually means they’re actually working on the game.

#dragon age dreadwolf #BioWare #dragon age

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bananaofswifts · 1 year

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Whether she's breaking records or breaking Ticketmaster, Taylor Swift has proven time and again that she's one of the most powerful figures in modern music — and the Eras Tour is a manifestation of that.

By TAYLOR WEATHERBY

But after witnessing it in person, it's clear that Swift is not just delivering the tour of the year — it's the tour of her generation.

Sure, Beyoncé fans can't wait for her tour this summer; Harry Styles is about to embark on the final leg of his highly successful Love On Tour trek; BLACKPINK sold out stadiums around the country too. Yet, it's hard to imagine that any other tour this year will have a cultural impact as big as the Eras Tour — something that's wildly apparent whether or not you were there.

Even before Swift hit the stage for her first night at Nashville's Nissan Stadium on May 5, her influence was felt. Practically every fan of the 70,000 in attendance (a record for the venue — more on that later) was wearing some sort of reference to their favorite Swift era: a beloved lyric, or an iconic performance or music video look. While that's not necessarily a new trend in the Swiftie world, seeing all 10 of her eras represented throughout a stadium-sized crowd was equal parts meaningful and remarkable.

As someone who has been to hundreds of tours and most of Swift's — including the Reputation Tour, which I naively referred to as "the peak of her career" — I didn't think this one would feel much different than a typical stadium show. But even when Swift was just a few songs in of her impressive three-and-a-half hour set, a feeling came over me like I wasn't just watching one of music's greats — I was part of music history.

Below, here are five reasons why the Eras Tour will go down as one of the most iconic of Swift's generation.

It's Treated Like A Holiday

In the week leading up to the shows and over the weekend, Nashville was abundant with special events in Swift's honor. From Taylor-themed trivia nights to pre- and post-show dance parties to wine lists transformed into "eras," practically every place you went was commemorating her return (she last performed in Nashville in 2018).

While it's unclear whether this kind of takeover is happening in every city — after all, she does consider Nashville a hometown, as she said on stage — it's rare to see an artist have such a ripple effect by simply just coming to town.

During her May 5 show, Swift added to the excitement by sharing the highly anticipated news that Speak Now (Taylor's Version) was coming on July 7. Upon the announcement, three of Nashville's monuments — the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge, the Tennessee State Capitol and the Alliance Bernstein building downtown — were illuminated in purple, the album's color.

It's Breaking Records Left And Right

Though Swift is no stranger to breaking records, she continues to do so with the Eras Tour. After setting the all-time attendance record at Nissan Stadium on night one of her Nashville run, Swift topped herself (something has become accustomed to on the charts as well) with another attendance record on night two.

And despite the controversial ticketing frenzy the tour caused, Swift also broke a Ticketmaster record with more than 2.4 million tickets sold — the most by an artist in a single day — in the presale alone. If Swift announces an international leg of the tour, Pollstar projects that the Eras Tour could surpass $1 billion, which would add yet another first to her ever-growing list.

It's Spawned Parking Lot Parties

As if history-making attendance and record-breaking ticket sales aren't indication enough of Swift's power, the Eras Tour is so highly in-demand that fans are sitting outside of the venue to still be part of the show. Fans crowded barricades and camped out in the parking lot of Nissan Stadium, ready to watch (and sing along) Swift on the big screen — something that has seemingly been happening in every city.

It Can't Be Stopped By The Elements

Adding to the magnitude of the Eras Tour, Swift performs 45 songs across three and a half hours. And to make her last night in Nashville even more momentous, she did almost all of that in pouring rain.

Swift didn't get to take the stage until after 10 p.m. on May 7 because of storms in the area (she normally goes on around 7:50 local time), but that didn't mean she'd be shortening her set. Carrying on until after 1:30 a.m. — even through the "element of slippiness happening," as she joked — Swift made it clear that she's determined to give each show her all regardless of the weather.

It's Simply A Feel-Good Celebration

Perhaps it was the five-year gap between the last time she toured. Perhaps it was the four new albums of material. Perhaps it was the celebratory nature of the show. Whatever inspired the vibe of the Eras Tour, I've never seen Taylor Swift or her fans so alive. The passion was tangible, the energy was magnetic.

Though Swift has always been known as an artist with a very loyal following, it was still mind-blowing to hear 70,000 people belt out every word for three hours straight. There aren't many artists whose catalogs are as equally beloved as they are extensive, especially one who hasn't even seen her 34th birthday. No matter how many albums and tours are in Swift's future, the Eras Tour captures a special moment in time — and celebrates a legend in her prime.

#taylor swift #the eras tour #grammy

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lesserafim-eden · 4 months

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✶ ׅ ࣪ 🫧 ◛ ❀ THE SCANDALS OF EDEN NOELIA LEE ; PART ONE

ׅ. ୨ ❪ ONE! ❫ ୧ ⊹ COCKY IN PRODUCE 48 )

✶ ׅ ࣪ Time frame: July 11, 2018 to August 1, 2018

✶ ׅ ࣪ Popularity: 100%

✶ ׅ ࣪ Situation: in which Eden gets told that she’s too cocky by netizens

✶ ׅ ࣪ Public opinion: negative

✶ ׅ ࣪ Parties involved: Eden Noelia Lee ( 에덴 노엘리아 리 ) K-netizens ( K-네티즌 )

✶ ׅ ࣪ Overview: During the premiere of Produce 48, Eden was one of more popular trainee as it was the first SM decided to have one of their trainees enter a survival show which shocked the Korean entertainment industry. Eden was always on top ranked trainees but that quickly changed when she mentioned that she was confident about debuting and how she thinks she has improved. This provoked netizens into thinking that she is way too ‘cocky’ and that she thought she was the best in produce 48. From then on Eden’s rank dropped which to 14 year old Eden to quickly loose her confidence and asked the other trainees if they thought she was slacking or had decreased skill wise. The sudden change in the vote upset her and made her work even harder to push her limit and practiced while everyone else was sleeping.

As the episodes went on, the public saw how hard she was working and she really wanted to make this debut. On the final day of voting many people came together and voted for her. When it was announced that she ranked third place, she burst into tears as she expect that outcome.

ׅ. ୨ ❪ TWO! ❫ ୧ ⊹ ࣪attention seeker of IZ*ONE )

✶ ׅ ࣪ Time frame: November 11, 2018 to December 1, 2018

✶ ׅ ࣪ Popularity: 97%

✶ ׅ ࣪ Situation: in which Eden has an outfit malfunction causing her to stand out on stage

✶ ׅ ࣪ Public opinion: negative

✶ ׅ ࣪ Parties involved: Eden Noelia Lee ( 에덴 노엘리아 리 ) K-netizens ( K-네티즌 )

✶ ׅ ࣪ Overview: during the debut era of IZ*ONE, freshly coming out of Produce 48 Eden had gained a lot popularity due to her outstanding visuals and talent. However, when it was coming to the end of promotions, before going onto stage on November 11, 2018, the skirt that Eden was wearing matching with the other members of IZ*ONE was, ripped. The zip to secure the skirt in place on Eden’s waist got jammed within the zipper and the material. The staff did everything they could to try and get it unstuck, though in the midst they made it unwearable.

Eden and the rest of IZ*ONE members were due to go on stage any minute and now, the Lee girl had nothing to wear. After looking through a bags of clothes, a staff was able to find a shiny glittery purple skirt. Relief was felt and without another doubt, Eden changed before heading on stage to perform.

The next day however, Eden woke up to see her name trending number one and receiving hate from K-netizens. They were dragging the girl through the mud and spreading hateful & rude comments about how she was so desperate for attention and the spotlight that she had to wear ‘different’ & ‘prettier’ skirt than the other members. It was so annoying for Eden, as all she wanted to do was speak out and deny the rumors and explain what had actually happened, but she couldn’t. She was an idol. It would ruin her ‘idol image’ the staff said. With weeks of receiving hate, it eventually died down when one of her stylists decided to speak up about the situation and explained why she wear a different skirt than the other members.

ׅ. ୨ ❪ THREE! ❫ ୧ ⊹ flexing her wealth )

✶ ׅ ࣪ Time frame: May 2, 2019 to August 17, 2019

✶ ׅ ࣪ Popularity: 100%

✶ ׅ ࣪ Situation: in which Eden receives hate for hanging out with her friends

✶ ׅ ࣪ Public opinion: mixed

✶ ׅ ࣪ Parties involved: Eden Noelia Lee ( 에덴 노엘리아 리 ) K-netizens ( K-네티즌 )

✶ ׅ ࣪ Overview: ever since Eden joined produce 48, there many rumors about her coming from two chaebol family ( one from her father’s side & her mother’s ) she is the heir to the Hanyowon group. The family is one of the wealthiest families in the world & the family is estimated by Forbes to be worth US$50 trillion, according to the Forbes estimates the family has more billionaires among its members than any other families, which also makes them the family with the most wealthy members in history. The Hanyowon Group is involved in a number of markets, including electronics, oil refining, automobiles, telecommunications, and fashion brand companies ( REXEZ & REOZA).

The claim that Eden was born in a wealthy family once again resurfaced after she was seen hanging out with a "diamond-spoon" public figure. Eden became a hot topic among K-pop fans and internet users after her Instagram story, where she posted a picture of herself in a private resort which netizens found that it costs at least US$6,425 to a whopping $10,075 per night depending on size and amenities.

Netizens quickly began spreading their opinions about Eden and how she is flexing her wealth which led to her becoming the main subject of haters. Netizens also found who she went to the private resort with, and were surprised to learn that Eden is childhood friends and study abroad with Park Hyerim, the granddaughter of the chairman of Korea’s leading conglomerate Hyuneol Group & Han Soojin, also the granddaughter of the chairman of Korea’s leading conglomerate B&B Group. Fans quickly realized that if she is close to a chaebol granddaughters, her family background is definitely no joke. Netizens were also quick to send hate to Eden like there was no tomorrow, whereas Eden’s fans were busy defending her against the ridiculous hate.

. ׅ. ୨ ❪ FOUR! ❫ ୧ ⊹ IZ*ONE’s brat )

✶ ׅ ࣪ Time frame: November 28, 2019 to January 17, 2020

✶ ׅ ࣪ Popularity: 96%

✶ ׅ ࣪ Situation: in which Eden is said to be a brat after spotted speaking rudely to Lee Chaeryeong ( ITZY )

✶ ׅ ࣪ Public opinion: negative

✶ ׅ ࣪ Parties involved: Eden Noelia Lee ( 에덴 노엘리아 리 ) Lee Chaeryeong ( 이채령 )

✶ ׅ ࣪ Overview: During the 2019 MAMA awards, Eden found herself being screwed over again when the two girls of IZ*ONE & ITZY were spotted by plenty of netizens talking to one another, and at first, fans thought they were joking around with each other, but that changed once they noticed an offended expression on Chaeryeong’s face, and Eden with a nasty one. This took fans of the two girls by surprise and the day after the award show, the incident was trending number one. Chaeryeong’s fans were sending hate to Eden like there was no tomorrow, whereas Eden’s fans were busy defending her too. Fans of the two were desperate for answers and an apology from Eden, some even demanded that Eden should leave the group and due to her being in the group with Chaeryeong’s sister, Chaeyeon.

On January 17, 2020 the issue seemed to come to an end once Stone Music released a statement, explaining that the incident took place on November 28 was a misunderstanding by the public, and that the two girls are close friends and that is how they have fun. Some netizens that sided with Chaeryeong and refused to believe what the company had to say and labeled it as a ‘silly excuse’, whereas others understood, stating that was how they bantered with their friends too.

However, what really put an end to the controversy was when Chaeryeong and Chaeyeon posted a picture together on Twitter. It was simply of Eden between the two sisters and the Lee sisters making heart with her cheeks, it was a cute picture and made some fans apologize to Eden.

. ׅ. ୨ ❪ FIVE! ❫ ୧ ⊹ is IZ*ONE’s Eden a BlackPink anti? )

✶ ׅ ࣪ Time frame: March 20, 2020 to April 4, 2020

✶ ׅ ࣪ Popularity: 100%

✶ ׅ ࣪ Situation: in which Eden is said to be a BlackPink anti

✶ ׅ ࣪ Public opinion: mixed

✶ ׅ ࣪ Parties involved: Eden Noelia Lee ( 에덴 노엘리아 리 ) BLACKPINK ( 블랙핑크 )

✶ ׅ ࣪ Overview: On March 20, 2020 Eden was doing a Vlive to speak with Wiz*one’s whilst she did her monthly “chill with me” karaoke, where she picks an artist to listen to for the whole live. Her fans loved every minute of it because it was the only time she could get comfortable and just enjoy the moment with her fans. It was a harmless and innocent act and not only herself but the fans were enjoying the live. Though, things took a turn when “Kick it” by BLACKPINK started playing and she skipped the song, causing fans to believe the girl didn’t like the group and was an anti of them.

Although, Eden was a fan of BlackPink. She had all of their albums and merch, so seeing everyone claiming that she didn’t BlackPink and was an anti. When they were one of her favorite groups didn’t sit well with her especially when she is friends with the girls of BlackPink and the only reason she skipped the song was because she playing TWICE’s songs and BlackPink didn’t fit her vibe & theme.

Eden put the rumors to rest when she went live again on April 4, 2020 and this time she was in her shared room and showed her collection of BLACKPINK’s album and the countless amount of merch she has of them. She also stated that she wasn’t an anti of them and she is really close friends with them, and that she couldn’t understand why people would think ever.

───────────────

A/N; it looks like Eden can never catch a break a scandal after scandal

Eden’s taglist; @billboard-singer @eisa-core @skzinka @txt-yaomi @stealanity @seolboba @cosmicwintr

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gentlebeardsbarngrill · 1 month

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03/19/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; Rhys Darby; Cryptid Factor; World Exclusive; Rosie; Kristian; Vico; SaveOFMDCrew billboard results; Watch Parties; Newark Newark; Wrecked; Adopt Our Crew Rhys Radness; Fan Spotlight; Podcasts; Radio; Cast Cards; Trends; Articles; Uproar; Love Notes + 1; Daily Darby Tonight's Taika

= Rhys Darby =

Cryptid factor - World Exclusive

So Rhys, Dan, and Buttons revealed never before seen footage by Tchie Kellys from back in 2018 of the Lochness Cryptid!

You can see footage on their Patreon (the full 2hr+ episode)

Edited version of the podcast on Spotify

Short version on Youtube

And of course Rosie's gotta pop in with some snark, I love that woman.

= Kristian Nairn =

Episode 065 of Kristian's music show Spektrum is up on Mixcloud! Mixcloud Link

= Vico Ortiz =

Lots of footage of Vico posted today! I couldnt get the videos to download for some reason-- find them here on their instagram.

Source: Vico Ortiz Instagram

== Stretch Goal Billboard Survey Results ==

The Final Stretch Goal Survey is in...

Hey, crew! The results from the survey on the final stage of our London Ads campaign are in. 🗳️ Almost 94% voted to split the remaining funds between the three billboard fundraiser charities: Mermaids UK, RainbowYOUTH (AoNZ), and Point Foundation (US). 🧜‍♂️🌈

Read the rest here

== Watch Parties ==

= Newark, Newark =

When: Saturday 23rd March @ 7 pm GMT / 3pm EST / 12 pm PST Where: BBC iPlayer, Now TV

Hosted by @lamentus1

Extra Note: The Rhys Darby Faction Discord will be streaming it as well at 5pm GMT / 1 pm EST / 12 pm PST

Watch Party Hashtags:

#NewarkThePlank

#OurFlagMeansDeath

== Wrecked ==

Season 3 watch from March 18th to March 22nd.

Times will be 10pm GMT / 5pm EST / 4pm CST / 2pm PST. Watch two episodes per day. Episodes are 21-22 minutes each. Use the following Saturday for the tags/watch if interested but not able to make this time.

Hashtags:

#WreckedPirates

#SaveOFMD

#RhysDarbyFaction

== Adopt Our Crew Rhys Radness ==

Another day of the Rhys Radness brackets by @adoptourcrew on twitter! Some tough decisions to be made.

Yesterday Jemaine decided to share the Steve vs Murray vote! Sorry Jemaine! Steve won out.

Today Luke Higginson (Writer, Director, and Editor of 'Relax I'm From The Future' ) also tried to campaign for Casper!!

Then even @bluefox_enterainment (the distributor of Relax I'm From The Future and Uproar!) also campaigned for Casper! We'll see what happens tonight!

== Fan Spotlight ==

Never Left - Podcast

Another episode of Never Left - an Our Flag Means Death Podcast is out! -- featuring one of our lovely #RhysDarbyFaction members, @TazManiaZania! Part 2 to Beautiful Princess Disorder.

Our Flag Means Fanfiction - Podcast

Our lovely friends over at @OurFlagMeansFanficion have another episode out! 'For this week’s episode, LoopyDangerFrog, also known as Katie, has granted us permission to share her narration of The Thoroughly and Entirely (Im)Proper Cuddling of Edward Teach by queenbee42. Katie’s narration is just SO GOOD. The emotion. The feeling… This is why she’s one of the best narrators out there.' - @OurFlagMeansFanfiction

= Amanda Beezer =

Tomorrow, our crewmate Amanda (Beezer Bee) will be chatting about #OurFlagMeansDeath on a local radio station 88.9 FM WMCX (March 20) at 2:30pm EST/6pm GMT! Check out Her Twitter for more info! You can listen here: https://www.radio.net/s/wmcx

= Cast Cards =

Our crewmate @melvisik is really hitting all the cast members! Today is Tim Heidecker aka Doug!

== Trends ==

Thank you @indarltonitrust on twitter for catching this!

== Articles ==

Really wonderful article that actually talks a bit about being on set with OFMD. Please give it a read!

= Uproar =

Your requests are working (maybe? Idk if they were gonna do this anyway, but I'm claiming it as us, whatever)! Sounds like there are some additional locations coming soon 👀

== YouWear50Well ==

Early reminder! The 21st is Rhys' Birthday! Since it'll be the 21st for some crew members earlier than others, @yronnia was kind enough to give us information early regarding the 50th birthday news!Please be sure to Post your birthday wishes to Rhys and show him your appreciation! Send your fanart and other creations using #YouWear50Well. Please Note: Please do not tag Rhys repeatedly! He's going to be getting a lot of notifications. Even just having notifications under #YouWear50Well will help keep everything visible :)

== Kudoboards closing soon =

Last chance! Thank you to @sharpenyersword on Twitter for setting up ALL THE KUDOBOARDS! Rhys' birthday kudoboard will close on the 20th, the rest will close on the 22nd.

Go send the cast and crew some love folks!

Rhys Darby's Birthday

David Jenkins

Nathan Foad

Con O'Neill

Ruibo Qian

Leslie F*cking Jones!

Matthew Maher

Vico Ortiz

Samson Kayo

Alex "Ass Tonight" Sherman!

David Fane

Kristian "Wee John Wednesdays" Nairn!

Samba "BTS and Baking King" Schutte!

Fellow OFMD Fan Crew!

= Love Notes =

Hey Lovelies. Been a lot of excitement today, certainly a lot going on! Rhys' birthday week, actual footage of something in Lochness, podcasts, billboards and movies, oh my! I know some of us are struggling a bit with some personal stuff, it's a hard time out there. It hits harder too when you get all this fun dopamine from the internet, then you turn around and look back at normal life and things are tough. Remember to be kind to yourself lovelies. Things aren't always going to go the way you plan or want. It's okay if you can't get out of bed today. It's okay if you scroll on your phone and get your dopamine from goofy ass pictures of celebrities. It's okay if you get up and you brush your teeth, but just can't make your breakfast. Eat something simple. Drink some water, lay down for a while. Little things build to big things. If you can't do laundry today because you don't have the spoons/motivation, then don't do laundry today. Just remember to change your underwear if you have some clean ones cause you don't wanna get a UTI. If all you can do today is exist, you're doing great. You're doing better than great, you're fantastic. Tomorrow you can do a little bit more, or a little less, depending on what you need. Just be kind to yourself and give yourself grace; the world is hard enough as it is, you don't need to beat yourself up for struggling with very real issues. Thank you all for making the past few weeks tolerable, I appreciate that so much. It's keeping my brain chemistry in a spot that's healthier than is used to be. I hope you all know just how wonderful you truly are, and that me and the rest of the crew are rooting for you every day. We're here, we love you <3 Stay well.

= Love Notes Cont'd =

= Daily Darby / Tonight's Taika =

Tonight's theme is these two being goofy MFs.

Darby Courtesy of @kiwistede

Taika Courtesy of I don't actually know I'm sorry (I found it in my taika folder and normally I name them but this didnt have one)! Please claim it!

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ateez-himari · 5 months

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MAMA 2023: Exclusive Stage

D-1 to the award show and the final MAMA Exclusive Stage was finally unveiled: Stray Kids' Hyunjin will perform alongside ATEEZ's Himari. More about the performers -

[Hyunjin] Stray Kids' 23 year old main dancer and lead rapper who is one of the three members forming DanceRacha, the group's dance unit. He was chosen as Studio Choom's 'Artist of the Month' in October of 2021 and performed a cover of 'Motley Crew' by Western artist Post Malone. Has worked on songs such as Wow (DanceRacha), Red Lights (ft BangChan), Your Eyes and Miss You.

[Himari] ATEEZ's 22 year old maknae occupying the lead vocalist position all the while sitting in the producer chair since their debut on October 24, 2018. Songs from outside groups have also been released under her credits such as: Guilty (Taemin), Oh My God ((G)I-DLE), Black Swan (BTS) and Odd Eye (Dreamcatcher). She released her first single called 'Pray' in collaboration with Agust D on July 5, 2023.

From information disclosed both by the MAMA account and the artists this will be a dance stage covering two of 3rd generation boy group, BTS', songs. Their bandmates are to join as backup dancers.

Nominations and Awards held by the artists: Stray Kids (Male Group)- Worldwide Fans' Choice (Won), Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, Best Male Group, Best Dance Performance Male Group, Best Music Video ATEEZ (Male Group)- Worldwide Fans' Choice (Won), Best Collaboration (Himari), Best OST (Himari)

Stream MAMA Awards November 28-29.

Cr: Layout by @chiskz

#ateez 9th member #ateez au #ateez extra member #ateez female member #ateez imagines #kpop oc

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wenella · 1 month

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Zhu Yilong: My War

EN translation of Zhu Yilong's GQ Magazine March 2024 Issue Feature Interview by wenella

The interview took place a day before Lunar New Year’s Eve and the cold snap in Beijing has yet to end. It has been a hectic day for Zhu Yilong and our shoot ended only at 10pm.

Zhu Yilong sat in the dressing room, wearing his casual clothes and a beige velvet cap. It looked like Zhu Yilong is less reserved than before.

And it was indeed so. Now, Zhu Yilong exuded a sense of calmness and ease. He said that he has learnt to be accepting and embracing; he has put down much of his baggage and knows how to take things lightly.

In 2023, Zhu Yilong's works were released one after another. Audiences were surprised by his change; he has transformed from a young actor into a well-acclaimed actor. From Lost in the Stars to Only the River Flows, Zhu Yilong has used his characters to break through the thick wall. The thick wall that consisted two sides - behind the wall is an actor’s responsibility; beyond the wall is his self-expectation.

And now, his story will continue.

PART 1: SLOWING DOWN

Zhu Yilong went through several stages before this breakthrough.

Before 2015, Zhu Yilong was waiting patiently for his chance and had occasional success in the industry. During this period, he moved very quickly; once he joined the set, he would set his makeup and get into his role once the camera rolled.

2018 was a year to be called his own. He became active on major social media platforms and was surrounded by fans. However, he was still sincere and humble, maintaining the qualities that he had since young. During his interviews, Zhu Yilong admitted that he was afraid that his works did not live up to his fame.

Besides maintaining his humility, Zhu Yilong continued to work hard. Finally, his acting career reached another new height in 2022.

At the 35th China Golden Rooster Awards, Zhu Yilong won the Best Actor Award for his role as Mo Sanmei in Lighting up the Stars. Since then, he has more time than before and the autonomy to make choices.

Slow work makes perfect work; this is a truth that most people in the acting industry are aware of. Zhu Yilong has chosen to slow down. He said that the production period of making a film is now longer than before. From pre-production preparation, scriptwriting, and communication with the director, he would try to establish a cooperative working environment by involving himself in the creative process as much as possible.

Actors not only have to focus before the camera but also create their roles by immersing themselves in unfamiliar terrains and seeking new perspectives from literature and history. This is how Zhu Yilong fights his war; he has learnt to do desk research before the start of each production.

Recently, he read German philosopher Byung-Chul Han’s Die Austreibung des Anderen (The Expulsion of the Other) that discusses how people should break out of their information cocoons. Zhu Yilong's thoughts echo the author’s viewpoint. An actor should slow down and experience different ways of directing, narrative styles, and visual languages.

He should also head out – chatting with young domestic directors and actors, or interacting with foreign actors, directors, and producers. A movie is the result of a group effort and not an individual’s spontaneous creation. Heading out has brought Zhu Yilong pleasant surprises. He has received not only goodwill for expressing himself but also feedback that have served as inspiration. Zhu Yilong is extremely satisfied with his current state and hence feels at ease with himself.

Now, Zhu Yilong has more time and choices. Yet he still treats acting seriously and holds the “rein” for his roles tightly. He wants to keep his desire for creating new roles, which has been his original intention since he embarked on this career path.

The tensity of the “rein” is like the career anxiety everyone has experienced before, and it does trigger Zhu Yilong occasionally. In order to alleviate his anxiety, he chooses to compete with himself.

PART 2: IMPORTANT MOMENTS

Everyone has important moments in their life. For Zhu Yilong, attending Beijing Film Academy is one of them.

Zhu Yilong was a clueless high school student who has never learnt acting or attended art schools. He was just like any other regular high school student, who decided to take the acting entrance exam simply because of his mother’s love for acting. He said he was lucky; he secured a position in BFA after taking only 3 months of preparation classes.

However, Zhu Yilong had a tough time when he first entered BFA as he was unconfident and clueless. He was clueless as he wasn’t sure if he could excel; he didn’t dare to express himself as he wasn’t confident at all.

Zhu Yilong can never forget his first day at school. The teacher asked them to make fools of themselves on stage. Many of his classmates, who were trained in acting, knew exactly what to do, but Zhu Yilong didn’t. He felt embarrassed, stood frozen on stage, and was at a loss.

The moment that changed Zhu Yilong was an objectless performance at the end of the semester, titled "Waiting." He pretended to hold two ice creams in his hands and sat by himself waiting for his date. Time ticked by; he looked occasionally at his watch while the ice cream melted and dripped on his clothes and hands.

When his performance ended, his teacher Cui Xinqin gave him high praise. Up till today, Zhu Yilong still doesn't understand why, but this event gave him a boost of confidence – it laid the first foundation in him to become an actor.

Thereafter, Zhu Yilong suddenly realized that acting didn't seem as challenging as he thought. He seemed to have found an entry point – and the right one – for his acting career.

Zhu Yilong became confident gradually as he started exploring the more superficial aspects and then the deeper side of acting. He devoted himself to acting, adapting, and performing on stage, and started to enjoy the stage.

But everything became different once he graduated from BFA. It took a long time for Zhu Yilong since his debut to fully relax and transform into the Zhu Yilong we see on screen today.

He said that audiences can only see the actor in front of the camera. But while on the set, there might be more than a dozen crew members surrounding the actor. The sound engineer might even be lying underneath the actor to record the sound. In such a situation, it would be difficult for an actor to be completely relaxed.

He knew that this was something every actor had to go through. He just needed time.

Zhu Yilong cherishes every theatrical release of his works. Whenever the credits rolled and the lights came on, Zhu Yilong would always be filled with emotions as he stood before his audiences.

He cannot forget a conversation during one of the post-screening events.

A girl, who was going through a rough patch, hoped that Zhu Yilong could offer words of comfort. It was a quick interaction that left no time for elaboration. Zhu Yilong told her to broaden her perspective, to not limit her gaze to the present, and to focus on the future.

After a while, their conversation resurfaced on social media. It was only then that Zhu Yilong realized that the problem the girl was facing was not as simple as he thought. When he looked back, he felt bad as he thought that his reply was rather thoughtless and imprudent. Since then, listening attentively has become not only Zhu Yilong’s habit, but also a kind of self-expectation.

"You have to learn to listen in order to understand what is really going on, rather than to simply offer your thoughts immediately."

The second critical moment is the 35th Golden Rooster Awards.

After receiving the Golden Rooster Award, Zhu Yilong did not do anything to celebrate. He simply enjoyed a meal of Sichuan cuisine with his colleagues and celebrated in his own manner – eating a mouthful of rice.

Zhu Yilong has given up rice for a long time. He said, “It's not because I want to keep myself in shape. I just wanted to set a goal for myself and, in a way, compete with myself. So, I decided not to eat rice."

Zhu Yilong didn’t expect to win the Best Actor award for his role in Lighting up the Stars.

"I think it’s fate," he said. Many things happen by chance. Even if he produces a work that is better than Lighting up the Stars two decades later, it may not win any awards. There's no such thing as the perfect timing in life and these unknowns are what make life interesting.

After receiving the award, he went back to work immediately the next day, as though the ceremony was just a formality. But the award did help to ease Zhu Yilong’s anxiety.

He believes that an actor's right to choose his scripts depends on his skills and ability rather than awards and glory. The mutual attraction between actors and directors arises from deep communication, the ability to tap into different states and roles, as well as to create outstanding works together. This was one of the reasons why Zhu Yilong was highly praised by Chinese novelist Yu Hua after the release of Only the River Flows.

Zhu Yilong seldom think about the impact of his roles on him beyond the film. He would consciously change the habits he had developed for his role once the film wraps. Whenever he hears “It’s a wrap,” he will immediately remove himself from the context of the story.

Zhu Yilong has formed his own insights after acting for so many years. He said, "If you think you have mastered an acting method, it might actually pose a problem. There is no fixed method of performance."

For Zhu Yilong, acting is never straightforward. Acting evolves with time and the lifestyles of its contemporary audiences.

"If acting was just mere repetition, who would want to watch such shows?"

PART 3: NO EXPLANATION GIVEN

Regarding other people’s evaluation of Zhu Yilong, the only thing he can do is not to explain himself.

Not explaining does not mean indifference. In reality, when an actor debuts, there is only one path to take. He will join a set after graduating from film school. As a newcomer, the only thing that he can do is to seize all available opportunities. Choices? That’s a later story.

The same was true for Zhu Yilong. He realized very early on that every production is like a college entrance exam for an actor. The main difference is that the real college entrance exam has its rules, norms, and grades. But in terms of the acting profession, there are so many factors that can affect one’s career.

It is just like the jungle life in the film Tarzan of the Apes. One may mistakenly assume that they are familiar with the danger and the location of the beasts. Yet everything in the forest can shatter one’s confidence instantly. All Zhu Yilong could do as a newcomer was to push on even though he was unsure of what laid in front of him.

People in the jungle may offer him advice, dangle temptations or provide shortcuts. But Zhu Yilong knows that since he has chosen to venture into the jungle, he must persevere, and time would give him an answer; he needs to rely on himself to get out of this muddy terrain.

Zhu Yilong remembers a quote: the world is a stage for amateurs.

He said, there are people who gain fame and profit every day in his line. But Zhu Yilong, who has been through all of it before, has learnt to focus on nurturing himself and to remain focused about his career.

"Everyone has their niche. There’s no need to compete with others or to self-aggrandize."

Whenever Zhu Yilong is not on the set, he will be in his studio. Sitting in his studio, watching a film, or reading a book – these are his ways of relaxing.

Zhu Yilong is more attracted to the idea of travelling for work than leisure.

A few months ago, Zhu Yilong visited a wildlife sanctuary in Africa with WWF. He said that the trip has made him more determined to open himself up, to head out more, and to learn more about the world.

"Leaving the concrete city for the vast grasslands of Africa and enjoying the starry night skies. When you return to your everyday life and work after such an experience, you will have a different understanding of the world."

PART 4: THERE IS NOTHING IMPORTANT IN LIFE

Zhu Yilong, who is now at ease with himself, remembers up a line from Lao Mo in Lighting up the Stars: There is nothing more important in life than death.

As an actor, Zhu Yilong evaluates his career using a multifaceted approach. He does not think that winning one performance award meant that he has succeeded and adapted well in the industry. On the contrary, he feels flattered by this recognition, as always.

Outsiders view awards as an actor’s honor. Yet, to Zhu Yilong, an award is a steelyard. He needs to do better in order maintain the balance of the scale.

In addition, he said that it is also an honor for him to be an actor.

By now, Zhu Yilong is no longer reticent or doubtful. By accumulating his acting experiences, he is now able to communicate with his role and script on a deeper level. The sense of immersion, realism, and achievement during the acting process, stimulate Zhu Yilong's dopamine.

Actors respond to challenges in different ways. Zhu Yilong chooses to remember his original goal, his passion for creating characters, and his thirst for works. Zhu Yilong said that he just wants to compete with himself when he is working hard; this has nothing to do with being “juan” (involution/excessive competition with others). Sometimes, he is living life to his fullest; sometimes, he “wastes” time too. He enjoys playing basketball and visits the court whenever he has time. He plays the piano, sings, and plays computer games during his free time. Zhu Yilong is no different from ordinary people in his everyday life.

The term “traffic” is an unavoidable issue for actors. It signifies commercial value and the recognition of audiences. He said that the term has been misinterpreted.

"It is only normal for an actor to be recognized by the audience if he had produced a good work."

Actors, who have gone through this process, will have more choices and can produce more works for audiences. In Zhu Yilong's view, this is a natural process.

And that's how actors, past and present, have moved from the sidelines into limelight. The best thing that can happen in the future is for people to define the success of an actor not only by "traffic".

Up till this point in his career, Zhu Yilong said that his biggest reward is the audience's recognition of his works.

"Zhu Yilong’s films? I want to watch it." - Zhu Yilong hopes that this will be audience’s expectation of him many years later.

As for Zhu Yilong, his expectations of himself have never changed – that is, his original goal of, and his persistence as, an actor.

He said: "There are many actors of my age around the world who have reached where they are, and I still have a long way more to go."

After all, in his mind, acting is no small matter. On this path, he will continue to compete with himself.

**THE END**

Post-translation note: Translating this article took up my entire Saturday, but I’ve no regrets because this interview really marked a remarkable growth in Zhu Yilong. I highly recommend it.

I’ve been translating his interviews since 2020 and it moves me so much to see him grow so confidently and quickly as an actor over the past few years. As I was searching Weibo for pictures for my thread, I realized that it has been nearly two years since the release of LITS and Golden Rooster Awards. Time flies. This July will mark my 6th year as his fan.

Happy weekend reading! If you’d like to re-translate this, please DM me for permission + credit.

#zhuyilong #朱一龍 #朱一龙 #zhu yilong #wenella

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n7punk · 9 days

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Pairings: Adora/Catra (Catradora). Fandom: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018).

Rating: T (for now). Chapters: 2/? (Ongoing). Words: 6.1k so far.

Summary: Adora and Catra stopped speaking not long after they graduated from their acting college and Adora took off on Broadway while Catra struggled to get her foot in the door. Catra used to fantasize about getting to stand opposite Adora on the stage, but two years later playing her love interest sounds more like a nightmare than a dream, even if this musical could finally put her on the map. Adora just wants Catra to stop acting like she’s actually the villain off-stage, but she’s not sure a musical about death is somewhere real love can bloom again. (Heathers on Broadway Catradora AU)

#catradora #catra #adora #she ra #spop #writing tag #olig #i was supposed to update yesterday and i forgot lmao #migraines have been kicking my ass so it hasn't been easy to do or remember anything

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linghxr · 1 year

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I watched all the Chinese idol survival shows so you don’t have to (but you should anyway)

About three years ago, I watched 创造101 Produce 101 China, and it kinda changed my life. Yes, really! This show dragged me down a rabbit hole that eventually led to me watching many more Chinese shows and listening to almost exclusively Chinese music. I’m even branching out to cdramas now. All under the guise of, um, improving my listening comprehension!

OK, so “all the Chinese idol survival shows” might be an exaggeration. I’ll be talking about these three classic idol group survival shows from the “golden age” period of 2018-2021:

>> 偶像练习生 Idol Producer/青春有你 Youth with You (iQiyi)

偶像练习生 Idol Producer

青春有你1 Youth with You 1

青春有你2 Youth with You 2

青春有你3 Youth with You 3

>> 创造101 Produce 101/创造营 Chuang (Tencent)

创造101 Produce 101 China

创造营2019 Produce Camp 2019

创造营2020 Chuang 2020

创造营2021 Chuang 2021

>> 以团之名 All For One/少年之名 We Are Young (Youku)

以团之名 All For One

少年之名 We Are Young

Here is the order I actually watched these 10 seasons in:

创造101 Produce 101 China

青春有你2 Youth with You 2

创造营2020 Chuang 2020

创造营2019 Produce Camp 2019

偶像练习生 Idol Producer

青春有你1 Youth with You 1

青春有你3 Youth with You 3

创造营2021 Chuang 2021

以团之名 All For One

少年之名 We Are Young

I started 创造101 Produce 101 China in late 2019/early 2020 and finished 少年之名 We Are Young on Christmas Day 2022. I was literally tearing up. Three franchises, ten seasons, something around 1000 contestants, and three years of my life.

In order to refresh my memory for this post, I rewatched almost all of the performance clips from these shows. I didn’t watch the initial evaluations or any practice room videos (it’s simply too much content). It was simultaneously fun and exhausting. I will go over why you should/shouldn’t watch each season and give any other notable remarks. Let’s get started!

*Please note that for any YouTube links below, there is a risk of muted sections, parts/entire episodes being unavailable, and missing/out of sync subtitles. For official links, whether or not a VIP subscription is needed may change in the future. Fansubbed content may have sections or entire episodes missing.

>> 偶像练习生 Idol Producer/青春有你 Youth with You (iQiyi)

iQiyi rebranded the series by changing its name from 偶像练习生 Idol Producer to 青春有你 Youth with You after the first season. However, they really didn’t change much about the format at all. From what I’ve heard, iQiyi doesn’t have as large a budget as Tencent, which you can see reflected in the show’s production quality. However, I’ve long felt that this franchise has a real charming quality that makes up for lack of flashy sets.

偶像练习生 Idol Producer

Watch on iQiyi (English subs, VIP needed) Watch via Idol Producer Subs (English fansubs, missing part of finale)

Why you should watch it: Though not China’s first idol survival show, this show was the first of a new era. It’s iconic! The theme song is a bop, 10/10. Also, I had heard of all of the winners before I watched this season, so there’s some real cultural relevance. I can’t believe it was nearly five years ago! The whole top 20 remains iconic to this day. In most seasons, there are at least one or two popular contestants who I don’t really like or don’t see the appeal of, but that wasn’t the case this season. This season is also a lot shorter than later seasons, so it’s easier for those who are new to survival shows.

Why you shouldn’t watch it: As I mentioned, there is a lack of flashy sets/stages here. The background of the stage often looks empty. There were some performances that were better than I remembered, but there were others that were...not. I’m pretty sure 黄明昊 Justin was 15 when the show began, which shocks me in a BAD way. And if you’re a Jackson Wang fan, I think he barely appeared in the second half of the show.

My picks: 郑锐彬 Zheng Ruibin, 周彦辰 Zhou Yanchen, 蔡徐坤 Cai Xukun, 王子异 Wang Ziyi, 朱星杰 Zhu Xingjie, 周锐 Zhou Rui

Favorite performance: PPAP A组 PPAP group A This was a powerhouse group. And it was hilarious to watch the boys’ reaction when they heard the whole song and realized the style was not at all what they had initially expected! They totally pulled it off though.

Iconic moments: 蔡徐坤 Cai Xukun’s outfit (and ego) in the initial evaluation, B-A-L-A-N-C-E, when we realized 朱星杰 Zhu Xingjie can sing too, 林彦俊 Lin Yanjun's platinum hair, one of the songs was called Mack Daddy which causes me great distress to this day, 周锐 Zhou Rui aka 周美锐 Zhou Meirui, I’m still laughing over 朱星杰 Zhu Xingjie’s resemblance to 胡巴 Huba.

Verdict: Though this was not my first idol survival show, I think it would be a great first foray for anyone. It’s iconic for a reason. You should watch it (and I might rewatch it).

青春有你1 Youth with You 1

Watch on iQiyi (English subs, VIP needed) Watch via Qing Chun You Ni Subs (English fansubs)

Why you should watch it: This season is the forgotten child of the franchise, but it still had some great performances and a lot of talented contestants. The theme song is also probably my favorite out of all ten theme songs! It was love at first listen. Personally, I enjoyed this team of mentors more than the first season’s. I also feel that the vocal-based performances were stronger this season. For instance, there were great performances of 李荣浩 Li Ronghao songs.

Why you shouldn’t watch it: I feel that some of the magic of the first season was lost, and overall the contestants were not as memorable or charismatic in my opinion. There were also several contestants I found extremely irritating and some contestants who ranked much higher and last much longer on the show than I feel they should have based on their skill level...but I won’t name names.

My picks: 夏瀚宇 Xia Hanyu, 李振宁 Li Zhenning, 周士原 Zhou Shiyuan, 连淮伟 Li Huaiwei

Favorite performance: 隔壁泰山 A组 Neighboring Tarzan group A This is a very unusal song, but it’s so catchy and memorable. 夏瀚宇 Xia Hanyu really made this performance for me. And this song still gets stuck in my head months later!

Iconic moments: 冯俊杰 Feng Junjie and 夏瀚宇 Xia Hanyu trying to outdo each other, 胡春杨 Hu Chunyang looked angry 24/7 for no reason, they literally got 蔡依林! Jolin Tsai! as a mentor, 李汶翰 Li Wenhan was everyone’s older brother, their performance made me fall in love with the song 耳朵 Erduo, they kinda did a steampunk concept which I love.

Verdict: It’s not necessarily a must-watch, but I still enjoyed it. If you’ve fallen into the black hole of survival shows and want more, I think it’s worth your time.

青春有你2 Youth with You 2

Watch on iQiyi (English subs, VIP needed) Watch on YouTube (English subs) Watch on YouTube (no English subs, missing several parts/episodes)

Why you should watch it: As iQiyi’s first time with female contestants, this season was highly anticipated. iQiyi stepped it up with subtitles, got Lisa from BLACKPINK as a mentor (I saw people say they came for Lisa and stayed for the trainees), and made a lot of content available on YouTube. As a result, some of the performances from this season have millions of views. It’s well deserved—a lot of the contestants are overflowing with talent and charisma. And honestly, you should watch this for 蔡徐坤. He’s a great MC/mentor to the girls and was truly a highlight of the season for me.

Why you shouldn’t watch it: This is the only season that I watched week by week as it was airing. It was EXHAUSTING. iQiyi started pumping out two episodes a week, doubling the overall episode count. I was literally burnt out by the finale. So if you watch this, please take it slow. Also, I forgot how much they did that thing where they cut away from the performances to show other contestant/mentor reactions and then have to go rewind on the performance...it really drives me nuts. They overdid it for sure.

My picks: 刘雨昕 Liu Yuxin, 喻言 Yu Yan, 王承渲 Wang Chengxuan, 刘令姿 Liu Lingzi, 许馨文 Xu Xinwen

Favorite performance: 不奉陪 No Company This was a tough choice! I went with this performance because I actively sought it out for relistens. That’s so rare for 主题考核 theme evaluation songs for me. All the members got to shine yet they were a very cohesive team.

Iconic moments: Bad Guy was the ultimate dark horse, how no one knew the song 想见你想见你想见你 Miss You 3000, 王承渲 Wang Chengxuan defeated the evil quads, 乃万 Nineone basically replaced Jony J as rap mentor, seeing 刘雨昕 Liu Yuxin with a wig was terrifying, they let the girls wear shorts if they didn’t like skirts #feminism, I still think about 张钰 Zhang Yu and 王清 Wang Qing’s initial performance all the time.

Verdict: I don’t think I could rewatch this season due to its length, but if you can commit the time, I think you should watch it. I’m sad I’ll never get to see a second 青春有你 Youth with You female season.

青春有你3 Youth with You 3

Watch on iQiyi (English subs, no VIP needed) Watch on iQiyi (no English subs, no VIP needed) Watch on YouTube (no English subs, missing several parts/episodes)

Why you should watch it: This season was probably the one I felt most emotionally invested in. I feel like I got to know the boys and was in it together with them (parasocial relationships, I know). And the friendships between contestants were so touching. Like 青春有你2 Youth with You 2, this season was also extra long, but I watched this season after it aired, going at my own pace. There were so many charming contestants and memorable performances. The dancing especially shone, but we got some great vocal moments too. I think iQiyi did a really good job picking songs this season.

Why you shouldn’t watch it: Sadly, the finale never aired. Due to the infamous milk-wasting scandal, the show was cancelled (but a winning group still formed and debuted). Even though I knew this before watching the show, it was still quite sad to never see a conclusion. Additionally, I believe this show started with more like 120 contestants, and I felt that increased number. Lastly, there was some painful singing and lots of very uninspired rapping. I feel like the gap in skill between the contestants was larger, and some of the teams felt very unbalanced as a result.

My picks: 姜京佐 Jiang Jingzuo, 杨昊铭 Yang Haoming, 十七 Shiqi, 徐子未 Xu Ziwei, 张思源 Zhang Siyuan, 连淮伟 Lian Huaiwei

Favorite performance: 燕尾蝶 Wings of Love This performance was everything I could ever dream of. 徐子未 won the world over instantly. He has the voice of an angel. Love the song, love the concept, love everything about it.

Iconic moments: 罗一舟 Luo Yizhou and 余景天 Tony Yu Jingtians’s friendly rivalry, 徐子未 Xu Ziwei’s back-to-back victories, Yuta’s adorable accent, 王南钧 Wang Nanjun would not shut up about 竹 Bamboo, touch 梁森 Liang Sen’s head for good luck, 刘隽 Liu Jun dances like he’s possessed (in a good way), that 雨爱 Rainie Love stage was a trainwreck tbh.

Verdict: Despite the scandals and lack of a finale, it was worth the watch for me. I feel so fond thinking of this season. Truthfully, season three has surpassed season two for me.

>> 创造101 Produce 101/创造营 Chuang (Tencent)

I read somewhere that Tencent officially licensed the Produce 101 name from Mnet, making this franchise more “official.” For season two, they ended up changing the name to 创造营 Produce Camp. The Chinese name remained the same for seasons three and four, but the in English they started promoting the show under the name Chuang. I think they wanted to beat iQiyi in the contest to see who can have the most titles for the same show.

创造101 Produce 101 China

Watch on Tencent Video (English subs, no VIP needed) Watch on 腾讯视频 (no English subs, VIP needed) Watch on YouTube (no English subs) Watch on YouTube (no English subs, episode 7 here, episode 10 here) Watch via Produce 101 China Subs (English fansubs)

Why you should watch it: This is the only season I’ve seen twice, so that says something I guess! This season holds a special place in my heart as my first survival show, so I rewatched it earlier this year with some friends who hadn’t seen it previously. One thing that stood out to me about this season was that it felt like there were several dark horses who started to shine closer to the middle/end of the show. I liked this because it’s boring when the debut lineup is completely predictable! And if you’re not already a 孟美岐 Meng Meiqi fan, you will leave as a 孟美岐 Meng Meiqi fan, guaranteed.

Why you shouldn’t watch it: Not gonna lie, I was not a huge fan of this mentor team. I am fine with these people individually, but together it was not an ideal combo in my opinion. They collectively made some very odd decisions that I strongly disagree with. After my rewatch, I’m just kinda done with 黄子韬 Huang Zitao. I also realized there were a lot more instances of...rough singing than I remembered, so be warned.

My picks: 孟美岐 Meng Meiqi, Yamy, 刘人语 Liu Renyu, 许靖韵 Angela Xu Jingyun, 吴��香 Lucia Wu Yingxiang, 李紫婷 Mimi Li Ziting

Favorite performance: 别人家的小孩 Other People’s Kids This is one of the most iconic performances (and one of my favorites) ever from all of these shows! It’s so unique and really has everything you could want. It was truly a perfect collab performance.

Iconic moments: When they had to tap 杨超越 Yang Chaoyue so she wouldn’t miss the beat, 王一博 Wang Yibo’s blue hair was gorgeous, Triple A group reunion, Look What You Made Me Do with creepy marionettes was perfect, when 陈嘉桦 Ella went barefoot on stage, 黄子韬 Huang Zitao literally screamed at them all, I’ll never forget the iconic 乐华 Yuehua performance.

Verdict: Even the second time, this was a season filled with surprises. It’s not perfect, but I think it will manage to charm you anyway. There are some real hidden gems here.

创造营2019 Produce Camp 2019

Watch on Tencent Video (English subs, VIP needed) Watch on 腾讯视频 (no English subs, VIP needed) Watch on YouTube (no English subs)

Why you should watch it: This was the first ever male season I watched, and I remember being apprehensive. I ended up having a lot of fun! This season really tugged at my heartstrings with the touching friendships between the boys and the intense 导师推荐生 mentor recommendees segments. I felt like I went through the wringer with them as they were forced to repack all their belongings, endure the brutal F班 demotions, hike across the beach, and more. There were countless hilarious moments too. If I were to rewatch, it would be for 周震南 Zhou Zhennan AKA 南南 Nannan. He just dominates the stage (despite his short stature)!

Why you shouldn’t watch it: I’ll admit, this season probably has the greatest number of contestants that annoy me. Sometimes it’s for no good reason...I just look at them and go ugh. The first round especially has some pretty painful singing, so be warned of that as well. Also, my rewatch made me realize I remembered very few performances from this season, which probably isn’t a good sign. Also, a lot of the performances were very short, sub-three minutes, which personally bothers me.

My picks: 周震南 Zhou Zhennan, 高嘉朗 Gao Jialang, 姚琛 Yao Chen, 陆思恒 Lu Siheng, 李鑫一 Li Xinyi, 贺俊雄 He Junxiong

Favorite performance: 开门见山 Kaimenjianshan I’ll admit that this performance was not as good as I remembered it being (probably because now I’ve heard the original by A-Mei many times), but I picked it anyway to acknowledge the amazing 高嘉朗 Gao Jialang.

Iconic moments: 张颜齐 Zhang Yanqi giving away jars of 老干妈 Lao Gan Ma, we never saw 王晨艺 Wang Chenyi again, 姚琛来了~ (Yao Chen is coming), when 周震南 Zhou Zhennan had his hoodie on but his ears were sticking out omg, try saying 李昀锐 Li Yunrui's name ten times fast, they had 30+ year old men here, this was the OG 乘风破浪 chengfengpolang.

Verdict: Among so many seasons, I don’t think this season stands out that much, but I still remember it fondly. If you want a good laugh and some fun, check it out.

创造营2020 Chuang 2020

Watch on Tencent Video (English subs, VIP needed) Watch on 腾讯视频 (no English subs, VIP needed) Watch on YouTube (English subs, missing episode 3) Watch on YouTube (English subs, missing episode 3) Watch on Viki (English subs, no Viki Pass needed)

Why you should watch it: They went all out on the sets, the location, the accommodations, everything. The performance setup was that the seats were in the middle and various stages were located around the perimeter. The seats would rotate to face the stages!! Some of the stages were stunning. I also want to mention that there were some great vocalists this season and I feel like they got to shine, which always makes me happy. The best round by far was the second round (专业方向). We got some beautiful vocal performances and intense dance performances.

Why you shouldn’t watch it: This season felt messy to me. I think they tried to mix things up, but not everything landed. The beautiful sets almost got distracting…they were more interesting than some of the performances. Several very talented and promising contestants never even made it past the first round. And since the final group only had seven people, the finale was just a frustrating experience. I never want to hear that 小摩托 xiao motuo song or 夏天的风 Summer Wind again. I don’t feel this season lived up to 创造101 Produce 101 China (unless you wanted MORE comments about weight/thinness).

My picks: 王柯 Wang Ke, 华承妍 Hua Chengyan, 刘些宁 Liu Xiening, 苏芮琪 Su Ruiqi, 朱主爱, Joyce Zhu Zhu’ai, 王一桥 Wang Yiqiao

Favorite performance: Manta There were a lot of performances I liked, but I really struggled to pick a favorite. I ultimately went with this because it’s one of the most memorable dance performances I’ve seen on these shows.

Iconic moments: That thin waist contest was simply the worst, they were in a literal castle, we all went crazy for the band and 王柯 Wang Ke, 朱主爱 Joyce Zhu Zhu’ai won the collab stage, wtf stop filming 姜贞羽 Jiang Zhenyu, I want to ride that cute train up the mountain, 毛不易 Mao Buyi did not want to talk, pretend that 吴亦凡 Wu Yifan wasn’t there.

Verdict: This season was competing against 青春有你2 Youth with You 2, and I chose to prioritize 青春有你2 Youth with You 2. I would make the same choice now. If you decide to watch, just be warned it may be a frustrating experience.

创造营2021 Chuang 2021

Watch on Tencent Video (English subs, VIP needed) Watch on 腾讯视频 (no English subs, VIP needed)

Why you should watch it: I wasn’t sure I was going to watch this season because of its international theme. Having foreigners is nothing new, but such a large number was certainly going to alter the show’s dynamic. Well, I watched it anyway. Overall, I’m glad I did. There were some talented and lovable contestants that made this season all worth it. The mentor squad (mostly 宁静 Ning Jing, 邓超 Deng Chao, and 周深 Zhou Shen) were so entertaining. Lastly, compared to the 2019 season, there were more popular vocalists this season, which I 100% support. I’ll be honest, I didn’t remember a lot of the performances from this season, but I ended up pleasantly surprised by how many great ones there were!

Why you shouldn’t watch it: It felt like there was so much focus on Nine and Patrick, Santa and Riki, the Intersection boys, and eventually Lelush as well. The other foreign contestants honestly had very little impact. This didn’t ruin the show or anything, but sometimes I got a little sick of the Santa and Mika show, you know? Also, none of my favorites made it into the winning group unfortunately. While I acknowledge the talent of the winning members, for whatever reason I wasn’t really that invested in most of them.

My picks: 俞更寅 Yu Gengying, 井胧 Jing Long, 林墨 Lin Mo, 奥斯卡 Oscar, 张星特 Zhang Xingte

Favorite performance: Lover Boy 88 This performance was simply infectious! I even made my friends watch to it. 林墨 Lin Mo is so charming. And 张腾 Zhang Teng and 张星特 Zhang Xingte’s vocals were perfect. Just wish it had been longer!

Iconic moments: Mika and 曾涵江 Zeng Hanjiang = my last two brain cells trying to communicate, I still can’t believe Lelush went viral worldwide, 刘宇 Liu Yu broke the Produce curse, Nine and Patrick only learned Chinese for how long???, Caelan kinda does look like Leonardo DiCaprio, Oscar AKA 熊熊 Xiongxiong, the 网红 wanghong group was so talented actually.

Verdict: I think this season got more international attention than 青春有你3 Youth with You 3, and while I prefer 青春有你3 Youth with You 3, this season is worth a watch for its uniqueness and improvements over the previous year.

>> 以团之名 All For One/少年之名 We Are Young (Youku)

I watched both seasons of Youku’s shorter-lived franchise in 2022 only after (and only because) I had finished the other two franchises. I think Youku had a smaller budget and thus tried to stand out by shaking up the traditional survival show formula. I think they made some poor choices and some good choices. I don’t know the story behind the name change between seasons, but the seasons are so different from each other that it makes sense.

以团之名 All For One

Watch on Youku (no English subs, VIP needed) Watch on YouTube (no English subs)

Why you should watch it: I’m going to say a lot of negative stuff below, but I wanted to add at least a few positive words. During the finale, the remaining contestants sang S.H.E’s 你曾是少年 Wings Of My Words, and I don’t think I’ve ever gotten so emotional over a performance ever. 任家萱 Selina was a delight throughout. I also really grew to appreciate 奶茶 Naicha and what a great and thoughtful leader he was.

Why you shouldn’t watch it: As I mentioned, this show had some unique features that made it stand out. The contestants formed ten groups of eight, and the composition of the groups remained unchanged throughout. Entire groups got eliminated together. This created a dynamic where some really talented contestants went home too soon due to their group. It also meant that some groups were popular really just due to having one popular member. In the end, one group won...but I guess they realized this was a bad idea, so they formed a second winning group of the most popular contestants from the non-winning groups. I didn’t like this format and felt is really negatively impacted my viewing. Personally, seeing new team lineups form is one of my favorite parts of survival shows. And because the leaders were constant, they had there was too much focus on them. Also, the mentors were so harsh all the time. Maybe it was deserved, but it really bummed me out to watch them constantly talk about how disappointed they were.

My picks: 奶茶 Naicha, 田书臣 Tian Shuchen, 龙泓昊 Long Honghao, 赖煜哲 AJ Lai Yuzhe, 热亚提 Reyati, 赵品霖 Zhao Pinlin

Favorite performance: 饕餮 Taotie This was not one of the performances that stood out in my memory, but it stood out to me when I did my rewatch. I feel like they really nailed every element, and I don’t think the other teams could have pulled off this song.

Iconic moments: 何展成 Jonathan Ha gave up on speaking Chinese and 袁娅维 Tia Ray had to translate for him, the 王霏霏 Wang Feifei and 孟佳 Meng Jia reunion, 龙泓昊 Long Honghao’s beautiful dance to a Shawn Mendes song, I’m not sure why 奶茶 Naicha chose milk tea as stage name, AJ vs. the hidden snacks, they made 周艺轩 Zhou Yixuan perform a UNIQ song.

Verdict: Maybe you can skip this one. I definitely didn’t devote my full attention while I was watching it. And it felt like the show and the mentors were being mean to the boys all the time.

少年之名 We Are Young

Watch on Youku (no English subs, VIP needed) Watch on YouTube (no English subs) Watch via We Are Young Subs (English fansubs)

Why you should watch it: They improved on basically all the issues I had with the first season, and I was pleasantly surprised. Also, this is basically a 青春有你1 Youth with You 1 mini reunion with a few 偶像练习生 Idol Producer alums plus some future 青春有你3 You with You 3 contestants. It was so wonderful to see how the contestants I already knew had grown, and I loved seeing them get new opportunities to shine. There was surprisingly a lot of good raps/rappers on this show! Also, there were some truly incredible performances this season that aren’t like anything I’ve seen on other idol survival shows. And I enjoyed almost every performance—there were only a few that I disliked or thought were, um, not good. The mentors did not always agree...but I don’t care!

Why you shouldn’t watch it: Because they have to be different, when doing the initial evaluations, only about 50 contestants advanced to the next round. This was nice because it meant fewer names/faces, but wow, it felt so mean. Sometimes I wished they had stuck to a more traditional format. Besides that, I don’t have much else negative to say!

My picks: 郭震 Guo Zhen, 寇聪 Kuo Cong, 胡文煊 Hu Wenxuan, 左林杰 Zuo Linjie, 李希侃 Li Xikan, 崔少鹏 Cui Shaopeng, 杨超文 Yang Chaowen

Favorite performance: Don’t Start Now I don’t think I’ve ever seen this exact concept on one of these shows before. This performance was instantly a standout for me, especially because it had some of my favorite contestants!

Iconic moments: They literally had a corgi, 林 (Lin) MUA, everyone shipping 薛恩 Xue En and 程潇 Cheng Xiao, 胡文煊 Hu Wenxuan in a CROP TOP, 胡彦斌 Hu Yanbin told 寇聪 Kou Cong to wear less to show off his body what, 崔少鹏 Cui Shaopeng’s entrance through the pink smoke, 左林杰 Zuo Linjie really bungee jumped with his eyes closed, how 郭震 Guo Zhen, 左叶 Zuo Ye, and 胡文煊 Hu Wenxuan were in the same group four times without anyone noticing.

Verdict: This season ended up being better than it had any right to be! I think it’s worth checking out, especially if you are missing the boys from the 偶像练习生 Idol Producer/青春有你 Youth with You series.

>> Conclusion

If you actually read this entire post, I’m thoroughly impressed. If you, like me, have spent way too much time watching these shows, feel free to send me a message because I need someone to commiserate with.

I honestly have this weird feeling that a chapter of my life is over. I have so many treasured memories from watching these shows—moments of laughter, tears, shock, pride, and more. They’ve provided a way to ground my language studies and engage with Chinese pop culture. They made me feel less alone during earlier COVID times.

Well, I’m off to find something to fill the survival show-size hole in my heart...maybe I’ll just rewatch 偶像练习生 Idol Producer.

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hausofanya · 4 months

Text

┈─ 𖧷 i am mine . before i am anyone else’s .

BIRTH NAME ⸝⸝ cléo anya torell

‘CLÉO ANYA’ constitutes of her entire first name, much to the surprise of everyone she discloses that information to. ( no, she does not have a middle name. ) she’s named after her grandmother, french-american actress ANYA MONREAU - TORELL. her mother was also fond of the name CLÉO, wanting something regal, and so her first name was decided.

STAGE NAME ⸝⸝ CLÉO

RACE ⸝⸝ black

NATIONALITY ⸝⸝ american

ETHNICITY ⸝⸝ nigerian

GENDER ⸝⸝ female

PRONOUNS ⸝⸝ she / her / hers

SEXUALITY ⸝⸝ bisexual

HEIGHT ⸝⸝ five foot ten ( 5’10 / 178.8~ cm )

FACECLAIM ⸝⸝ courtney adanna ( @ courtreezy )

DEFINING FEATURES ⸝⸝ freckles & a skunk stripe running through her hair

𖧷

DATE OF BIRTH ⸝⸝ june twenty ninth, two thousand ( 06.29.00 )

PLACE OF BIRTH ⸝⸝ manhattan, new york

ZODIAC SIGN ⸝⸝ cancer

CHINESE ZODIAC ⸝⸝ dragon

MBTI ⸝⸝ INFP ( introverted, intuition, feeling, perceiving )

LANGUAGES ⸝⸝

ENGLISH ( 100 % )

FRENCH ( 99 % )

KOREAN ( 94 % )

JAPANESE ( 82 % )

FAMILY ⸝⸝

LILIANNE MONREAU - TORELL ( mother )

CÉDERIC TORELL ( father )

ALEXEI TORELL ( twin brother )

OREO ( black cat )

PRINCESS ( golden lab )

𖧷

CLÉO WAS BORN 1/2 of a set of twins to parents LILIANNE MONREAU - TORELL and CÉDERIC TORELL on JUNE 29TH, 2000 in NEW YORK. from a very young age, the girl expressed a grand interest in music, favoring the summers she would spend in france with her paternal grandmother over all. it was there that she learned of her mother musical past, being 1/5 of pioneer girl group CLOUD NINE ( CL9UD ), revolutionaries in the musical world and respected by many. that would explain the sunglasses the poor girl had been used to wearing both out and indoors, but her parents had made a game out of it, so she hadn’t known. until now, anyway. CLÉO would spend her summers in france away from the bustling city of new york, learning piano and doing all sorts of extracurriculars much to her mother’s delight, back and forth until the age of THIRTEEN, when her father ( a covert businessman with ever growing connections ) would land a job opportunity overseas that would change their family’s lives forever.

CLÉO IS FRESH into high school when her family uproots to move to SOUTH KOREA permanently, a culture shock experience like never before. being a fan of music groups garnering huge fame at the time like GIRLS GENERATION and SHINEE, as well as loving DESTINY’S CHILD and older groups like NEW EDITION, she landed a spot in the SCHOOL OF PERFORMING ARTS to study practical music and dance after hearing of musical legends attending the school. singing was her passion for as long as she could remember, and it’s there that she meets one of her now long time best friends, the pair sticking together after an admittedly embarrassing encounter involving heart shaped chocolate and a stray cat. through growing school-wide fame as the GIRL WITH THE GOLDEN VOICE, it was no surprise she was eventually scouted near the school parking lot while practicing for the mid - year talent show. and after going over her options with her mother, she was allowed to audition, ultimately passing and becoming a trainee in 2015.

THREE YEARS, A massive failure that nearly cut her drive into shreds, a slow rebuilding faith in her passion for music, and one soul sucking, grueling survival show later … the GOLDEN GIRL finally made her dreams come true on MARCH 25TH, 2018.

𖧷

COMPANY ⸝⸝ jyp entertainment

OCCUPATION ⸝⸝

IDOL ( 2018 — )

GROUP ⸝⸝

STRAY KIDS ( 2018 — )

PLUS3 ( 2023 — )

STRAY KIDS UNIT ⸝⸝ vocalracha

POSITION ⸝⸝ main vocalist ( set position )

TRAINING PERIOD ⸝⸝ 2015 - 2018

REPRESENTATIVE EMOJI(S) ⸝⸝ 🐱/🐈‍⬛/🧶

FANMADE / OTHER / OUTSIDE UNITS ⸝⸝ kittyracha, savageracha, english line, drama(mamama)racha, ‘00 line, usa line

SOLO FANDOM NAME ⸝⸝ anyangi ( official, taking ANYA + NYANGI, the romanization of ‘cat’ in korean ), kittenz ( fanmade )

SKZOO CHARACTER ⸝⸝ KITTY ANYA, a dark grey almost black appearing cat with freckles that imitate the stars for her love for astronomy. her paws and ears are black, with a white end to her tail to imitate the skunk stripe in her hair.

unveil the rumbling, trails of hustling, 찍어 위인전

#[ layout partly insp. by chloekwon. ]#skz female oc #skz female addition #skz female member #skz oc #skz 9th member #skz added member #skz addition #stray kids female oc #stray kids female addition #stray kids female member #stray kids oc #stray kids 9th member #stray kids added member #stray kids addition #fictional idol addition #fictional idol oc #fictional idol community

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mrschwartz · 2 years

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Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner: ‘I’m comfortable with the idea that things don’t have to be a pop song’

The most influential frontman of his generation is also the least at ease with it. He discusses abandoning rock norms, singing from the gut and treading the fine line between cryptic and gooey on new album The Car

Not for the first time, Alex Turner has lost his train of thought. In a booth of a downtown Manhattan diner, the Arctic Monkeys frontman is hunched forward, grasping for words to describe their new album – a black-tie orgy of cinematic soul, lurid funk and perfumed 60s strings. A waiter swoops in to save him. Would Turner like some milk for his coffee? “I’ll have a bit of milk, yes please,” he says. She returns a minute later, and Turner, having strung together no more than half a sentence, eagerly tops up his mug. “OK,” he says, rubbing his hands. “OK. Now we’ve got it.”

During our two-hour conversation, the affable introvert is determinedly, delightfully animated: he bashes imaginary woodblocks, sprawls across his moulded seat, clasps thin air and shakes it like a Magic 8 Ball. His turquoise jumper’s V-neck reveals a thin gold necklace, which he fondles while digressing into monologues on the genius of composer David Axelrod. Turner has been portrayed as aloof and evasive, but he is a man of pensive silences – an ambivalent overthinker trapped in an eccentric entertainer’s body.

He tries to describe orchestrating that new album, The Car. “Rather than strings on top of rock,” he says finally, “I was interested in switching the ‘rock band’ bit on and off.” He tweaks levels on a mixing desk in his mind’s eye. “With the Sculptures song” – the dizzyingly gorgeous Sculptures of Anything Goes – “the ‘rock band’ fader comes up for two bars here and there, and then it’s switched back off.”

He inspects this thought, then flings out his arms and freezes. He looks like a magician alarmed the rabbit is missing from his hat. Slowly, he reboots. “And I don’t remember doing that quite so … deliberately before,” he concludes. A boyish smile. “Phew!” He clutches his chest. “I didn’t think I was gonna get to the end of that sentence.”

But Turner, 36, is nothing if not acutely self-aware and very funny with it. But surely this superstar, whose new haircuts trend on Twitter, is too famous to be such a brooder. Each of his eight albums, including the two with the Last Shadow Puppets, his project with friend Miles Kane, has debuted at No 1 in the UK. Since its 2013 release, the Monkeys’ juggernaut of a fifth album, AM, has taken just one week’s holiday from the UK Top 100. It spent most of September back inside the Top 10, after the band headlined Reading and Leeds festivals.

The AM era lasted a couple of years – long enough for the Sheffield boys’ image as pomade-slick, leather-jacketed Los Angeles dirtbags to stick in the public memory for good. So when Arctic Monkeys got back to mischief, with 2018’s fantastically strange Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, fans were confounded. Turner had assembled a cast of distractible narrators to interrogate modern society – technology, politics, hyperreal LA – in a retro-futurist concept album set in a lunar colony. On stage, dressed like a 70s geography teacher, he now addressed crowds with comical formality. Sceptics said he had lost the plot, calling it an act of self-sabotage – or worse, a class betrayal. In Sheffield, somebody graffitied a coffin on a gate at Hunter’s Bar – the area immortalised in Fake Tales of San Francisco. “Hey Alex,” the caption read. “How’s California?”

While tighter and grander than its predecessor, Arctic Monkeys’ seventh album is blissfully unconcerned with correcting the record. It swings from a louche, movie-soundtrack intro to Portishead-stark noir, improbably catchy yacht-funk and the poppy bombast of Elliott Smith’s LA era. At times, Turner dips into a slick, syrupy croon, though he recoils from the word’s stuffy baggage.

“You sort of wish there was a way around the things attached to that word [croon],” he says. “But yeah, everything’s come down a little bit. And I like that, because if it’s come down here” – he runs a finger from his forehead to his ribcage – “it’s out of your head. It’s more coming from …”

He hunts for the word. The heart? I suggest, as he flings invisible confetti from his chest.

“The heart,” he agrees, sounding a bit uncomfortable. “Or even better: the gut.”

Turner is not all the way out of his head just yet. He sings much of The Car in a falsetto that trapezes between Sly Stone and David Byrne. The anxious melodies strike a delicate balance with the sumptuous strings. “You don’t want it to get gooey,” he reasons. “But it’s nice to get to the perimeter of that. There may have been discussions about where that line is, and how many times you can get close to it.”

Still, Turner’s bamboozling lyrics preclude slushiness. Traces of Yorkshire chansonnier Jake Thackray and punk-poet John Cooper Clarke remain, but Turner’s bon mots are now elaborately encrypted. Struggle though you may to picture festival crowds bellowing some of the lyrics here (Hello You opens: “Lego Napoleon movie / written in noble gas-filled glass tubes / underlined in sparks”), you can never rule it out. The similarly inscrutable 505, an album cut from 2007’s Favourite Worst Nightmare, recently caused a sensation on TikTok.

Maybe tackling impenetrable lyrics helps bring us deeper into a song, I suggest. Turner laughs. “I like the idea of you putting that in here and everybody going: ‘Ah, I dunno, sounds tough. We won’t give it a listen after all.’” He admits to scribbling notes in his printed lyric book, teasing out themes mysterious even to him. “The Annotated Lyrics,” he jokes, imitating a 1950s ad man. “Get that stocking filler out for Christmas.”

From the moment in the mid-00s when Arctic Monkeys blew up, Turner has longed to go incognito. He strode undercover into his new public life, a frightened teenager hiding inside a big swagger, collecting shiny awards for songs he had written for mates of mates in pub backrooms. In 2006, the band released what was then the UK’s all-time fastest-selling debut album – a death sentence for his man-of-the-people, kitchen-sink writing style.

On 2009’s Humbug, co-produced by Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme, Turner escaped into a rock archetype. The band’s hairier second phase amped up the sleaze and elliptical lyrics, culminating in the darkly spectacular AM. By this point, the bequiffed Turner was harder to read, particularly in his divisive speech at the 2014 Brit Awards. “That rock’n’roll, eh,” he drawled with indeterminate sincerity. “It’s always waiting there, just around the corner. Ready to make its way back through the sludge and smash through the glass ceiling, looking better than ever. Yeah, that rock’n’roll …”

At the mention of the speech, and its concluding mic drop, Turner winces, sucking air through his teeth. But, I say, since Tranquility, the moment looks more like performance art – perhaps it anticipated his scepticism towards the rock construct. He listens intently, then, on the last point, springs back as if harpooned to his seat. “That’s interesting, yeah, yeah, yeah,” he says, head bobbing vigorously. He chews it over, talking half to himself. “So we’re saying it’s tied to AM, because of the haircut and … that performer …”

He seems unsure just how much of himself was in the mic-dropping rock star.

“When you think about that, and the clothes,” he continues, “I wasn’t doing that with [fourth album] Suck It and See or [third] Humbug. It wasn’t grease in the hair.” He pauses again, considering each album’s “performer” – always a fractured reflection of himself. “Normally, the record you make encourages a certain style of performance. But thinking about the performer in relation to Tranquility, or even this thing” – meaning the new album – “I have considered that you can invert that. The performer can influence the music, rather than the other way around.”

The Car’s performer more closely resembles the Turner I meet today: brilliant company but palpably self-scrutinising – a far cry from the headstrong Brits character. Turner wrote most of the album at the piano, souping up Tranquility’s vanquished lounge singer with a spritz of Rat Pack razzmatazz. Turner and the band’s producer, James Ford, separately drafted string arrangements that the composer Bridget Samuels simplified and edited.

Turner seems mildly embarrassed by the prospect of using strings live (a proposed orchestral TV special was deemed too predictable), but the album sounds just as exquisite without them. During a stunning show at Brooklyn’s Kings theatre the week of our interview, the band premiere three songs: the resplendent There’d Better Be a Mirrorball, a fingerpicked heart-warmer called Mr Schwartz and soon-to-be staple Body Paint, whose gnomic chorus crowdsurfs along a festival-slaying melody: “Straight from the cover shoot,” Turner coos, “There’s still a trace of body paint / On your legs and on your arms and on your face.”

As with 505 or Crying Lightning, it is a head-scratcher fated for mass seduction. “Not exactly what you’d imagine singing over the loud bit,” Turner concurs, chuckling. The body paint could represent almost anything: a literal costume; a stubborn artistic persona; or in a spunkier reading, the residue of an illicit affair. “But it’s as much about the musical ideas as the lyrics,” Turner says. “On Mirrorball, before the words even come in, that instrumental piece [establishes] the feel of the record”: wistful, enigmatic, acutely reminiscent of 70s European cinema. “All right,” Turner recalls thinking after writing it in 2020. “This feels like how the next record starts.”

Turner now lives between London and Paris with the French singer-songwriter Louise Verneuil. He composed most of the album alone, using the technique he road-tested on AM and adopted wholesale on Tranquility: compose, demo, inspect, tweak and re-record, repeat the process to death and eventually add drums and vintage keyboards. Finally: bring in the band.

In the summer of 2021, Arctic Monkeys convened at Butley Priory, a wedding venue and makeshift studio in Suffolk. On a whim, Turner brought his 60mm video camera to document the sessions, later compiling his footage for the impressively chic There’d Better Be a Mirrorball video. “That gave everybody a bit of room,” he says. “James [Ford] definitely didn’t mind that I had something to play with.” During downtime, the band watched the Euros and nipped outdoors for kickabouts. “I do get caught up in those tournaments. Something about that feeling connects you to when you were a kid. You find yourself thinking about Euro 96. And then it ends, and you almost feel a bit mad for feeling like that.”

That proximity to yesteryear haunts the record, not least in the creeping jazz element, which evokes his jazz-musician dad’s records and saxophone noodlings in Turner’s childhood home. “It came out the front in Tranquility, and there’s definitely a bit more this time,” he says. “It’s one of those things that you try to fly quite close to without [crossing over]. That music you’re around when you’re a kid always has a special power.”

Strikingly, the more sentimentality creeps into the music, the less forthright emotion surfaces in Turner’s lyrics. I ask if he is equally withholding in private – does he find it harder, as he gets older, to tell people he loves them? He laughs. “No, no, I don’t think so. I like to think that outside songwriting, I find it more straightforward to be direct.” He is prone to embarrassment by lyrics from bygone years. Perhaps the more elemental style, with fewer obvious footholds, helps minimise the cringing? “I like the idea that I’m getting better at the … I sort of want to say distillation.” He handles the word cautiously. “I think I’m better at picking the moment to expose the idea behind the song. But you have to be comfortable with the idea that things don’t have to be a pop song.”

What has remained constant since the beginning, he says, “is the instinct of it all”. Even the meticulous experiments of Tranquility and The Car stem from his faith in his bloody-minded intuition. I remind him of something he said, aged 19, about the perils of fame: “When you want it and you get obsessive, you mould yourself to be whatever they want you to be.”

He laughs. “It’s a heck of a time to drop a quote from 2005, when we’re talking about stuff to be embarrassed about.” But he agrees Arctic Monkeys’ instincts and gang mentality insulated them from industry games and greed. “The name of the band seems to allude to how limited the expectations were,” he adds. “If you realised you were gonna be doing this 20 years later, you might’ve had another hour in that meeting.”

Fatalistic fans have already forecast the band’s demise based on the single’s valedictory lyrics, but while the album abounds with goodbyes, Turner seems full of optimism about the future. His bandmates are, too. “You can tell when they’re excited and when there’s that palpable indifference,” he says, grinning. Does he still get much of the latter? “Surely. Intermittently. I’m grateful for it sometimes.” He drifts off again with a dreamy look, zeroing in on the right turn of phrase. “Between the band and James Ford …” he begins, unhappy with the imperfect words he has found. “I can’t do it on my own, I guess is what I’m trying to say.”

#arctic monkeys #alex turner #the car #interview #SHUT THE FUCK UP THIS IS THE THING THAT HAS LEFT ME THE MOST INCOHERENT THIS ERA SO FAR #HE'S REFERRING TO HIMSELF IN EACH ERA AS ''THAT ALBUM'S PERFORMER''??????????????????????????????????????#WHEN HE SAID IT FOR THE FIRST TIME REFERRING TO THE BRITS SPEECH I THREW MY COMPUTER TO THE SIDE;#MY PHONE ON THE FLOOR;#STARTED PACING AROUND MY ROOM; AND STARTED CRYING #im not. i can't talk about anything that he said in this i need to sleep and then wake up in order to do so #soooooooooooo straightforward and honest. wincing about his past personas #OPENLY talkign about them??????? with THAT word????? performer??????w #IN THE THIRD PERSON?????????????????W

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