#why did i take him as more of a 90s rap kind of guy???? | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

norcumii · 3 years

Text

...oh thanks, Tumblr, it wasn’t like I was trying to answer that ask or anything. -_-

OHKAY. Take two! For this trope mashup meme, @dogmatix asked:

Rex/Obi or pairing/characters of choice - Apocalyse AU / Mermaid/Siren AU / Aroused by their voice

This modern!AU got a liiiiiittle bit more absurdist than planned, but NO REGRETS. Assistance was provided by @dharmaavocado and @deadcatwithaflamethrower -- THANK YOU BOTH!

*****

There was a lovely breeze coming in across the ocean, the sky had just enough puffy white clouds to keep things interesting, and Rex was taking a maintenance day. The last family group of tourists to charter a day trip had included several children that were at least two parts sticky and three parts grime. His poor Vigilance needed a serious scrub down, and Rex was not looking forward to restocking. Small Grubby Fiend 1 had stumbled – supposedly due to a sudden swell, but more likely because Small Grubby Fiends 2 and 3 hadn’t stopped ‘not kicking’ each other for way too long. Not being an entire idiot, Rex has gone right for the band-aids with cartoon characters, but since it wasn’t a cartoon Small Grubby Fiend 1 liked, that meant another – until all three Small Grubby Fiends had been plastered with far more of his first aid kit than was good for anyone.

It had been a long day.

So there he was, untangling life-vests that hadn’t even been used, while singing along with whatever music was playing from the boat’s speakers. Rex wasn’t sure if the music was pop, rock, or some other unholy category he’d never heard of, but thankfully it didn’t matter. He liked it, and could figure out which of Tup’s mix tapes it was on, which was the important thing.

Tup always made hilarious offended noises when Rex called them mix tapes, which was a significant reason why he did so. They were music folders, sensibly labeled by mood, because his little brother had realized at some point that was the only way to keep Rex up to date on anything past the 90’s grunge music.

Tup’s accusation, not his. Rex damn well knew how to use a radio – several kinds of radio, thank you very much.

He was several songs into mind-numbing chores when he spotted a flash of red streaking under the dock, and Rex ducked his head to hide a grin. He’d started spotting movement like that a couple of weeks ago, around the time the neighbors descended on their beach house. There were several ginger teenagers, so he figured one of them was a hell of a water rat who had damn odd taste in music.

To be fair, so did he.

It’d been weird at first, realizing he had an audience that disappeared the moment he acknowledged their existence. But the most he heard or saw out of them beyond the momentary glimpse was a bit of percussion, someone drumming in time against the water – and once, the dock itself – so Rex had shrugged and accepted their presence. It was kinda nice, actually, just to have someone around. He lived a ways off the end of a long, sparsely populated road, and while he didn’t mind the solitude, sometimes you just wanted another–

Rex’s train of thought went off the rails with a loud yelp as he discovered something slimy stuck to the back of a life-vest. It might have been edible once – it was a shade of radioactive green he didn’t associate with anything other than candy or video games, at least, so that was his best guess. Much as he wanted to blame the Small Grubby Fiends, he hadn’t done more than a spot check of these vests for awhile – could’ve been anyone.

Ugh. At least unlike some clients he could name, Rex’s eavesdropper wasn’t vandalizing anything. Wasn’t about to begrudge that.

Rex had managed to get most of the neon green grossness cleared when the rumble of an approaching car caught his attention. He wasn’t expecting visitors, not that that had ever stopped any of his brothers. Lost delivery drivers usually turned around before hitting up the driveway, which was long enough and had enough private property signs to keep out idiots looking for easy water access.

“Who the hell is this?” he muttered, setting the vest aside. He didn’t recognize the little black car, or the burly guy stepping out of the passenger’s side, but the guy waved and casually started towards Rex as if he knew who the hell he was.

Not reassuring, especially since the stranger rapped the car’s roof, and it headed back up the driveway.

“You seem lost,” Rex said, standing up and trying to look just the right level of intimidating.

“Nope,” the guy said back, still heading towards him. “Need your boat.”

“That’s work related – you need to wait till I’m back at the marina tomorrow. I’m at home, it’s my day off.”

Burly guy finally stopped, planting his hands on his hips – a move which just happened to part the jacket of his cheap suit enough that Rex could see the gun he carried. “I don’t think you understand, Mr. Fett. I don't want any trouble – I just want you to head inside, and take that day off while I borrow your boat.”

Oh, FUCK. Nobody really talked about how the mob owned most of the marinas in Tatooine Bay, but you didn’t need to declare water was wet to get drenched in the rain. It just wasn’t something that ever happened to someone you knew, just friends of friends or something.

“And if I don’t agree?” he couldn’t keep from asking.

Burly Guy had a surprisingly expressive shrug. “Most people don’t enjoy pushing their luck that far.”

To his credit, it was a remarkably polite threat. “I’m surprised anyone ever does.”

“Eh, every now and then there’s some freaky masochist looking for cheap thrills, but it ain’t my kink. Don’t think it’s yours, either, so if you’d just head inside, that’d be appreciated.”

The smart move was probably to comply. Rex wasn’t inclined to cooperate anyways. He was saved from making either bad decision by...sound.

It didn’t register as singing – there was something too off about it, a combination that wasn’t quite autotune, or that polyphonic singing Echo had gotten into when Fives got obsessed with the guitar. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t right in a way that was madly distracting.

The...singing? – pulled both Rex and the goon around towards the end of the dock, and if Rex hadn’t been so muzzy-headed from that sound he would have been gaping much more blatantly.

There was someone slipping out from under the dock, and it was most definitely not one of the neighbors.

It was a trim, shirtless figure in the water – ginger indeed, short red hair just dry enough to be messy spikes. Pale skin was freckled in scales of shimmering reds, protective lines over what would be vulnerable areas on a human. It swam close enough to the surface that Rex could see the sleek fins and tail, and part of his brain kept screaming ‘mermaid!’ while the rest took in the long, sharp claws on webbed hands and whispered ‘predator.’ Its singing showed sharply pointed teeth, and it should not have been nearly that gorgeous.

The mermaid glanced over at him, eyes a deep blue-on-blue that could never masquerade as human, flicking a look up and down him that could have been flattering or terrifying – it all depended on if that was measuring him for a meal euphemistically or not.

The singing changed as the creature turned its attention back to the goon, and the magnetic pull on Rex lessened. He staggered back a step, not too surprised to find he was halfway down the dock without noticing. The hazy feeling in his brain stopped, or at least dropped down to levels that were close enough to normal, so he got a clear view as the goon started walking into the water, oblivious to everything except the mer-siren-thing he was shambling towards.

The siren moved when the goon was almost waist deep in the water, flowing forward to delicately place a hand at the goon’s throat. The singing continued, but now there was a new undertone, soft and somehow questioning. Rex couldn’t tell if there were words to it or not – maybe a whole other language for all he knew – but the goon responded, voice soft enough that he couldn’t make out what was said.

Whatever he said, it didn’t please the siren. It kept singing, but it snarled, showing more of those pointed teeth, then it twisted and dove, hauling the unresisting goon under the water.

A terrifying few moments more, and the last hums of the song seemed to stop vibrating through the water.

“What the absolute fuck?” Rex said numbly. Thank everything, no one answered.

A smart man would’ve hidden inside, or driven off to a movie theater or something – inland and away. Rex wasn’t sure why he stayed: curiosity – morbid or otherwise – shock, or a healthy disbelief in the whole debacle. He was maybe a bit too numb to not have some kind of shock, but –

He felt like he maybe deserved it. “Yeah, I can have a bit of shock,” Rex muttered to himself. “As a treat.”

Okay, he might have more than a bit. But by the time the siren poked his head out of the water again – politely out of arms’ reach – Rex had calmed down a decent degree. They just looked at each other for a bit, then the siren gave him a polite nod.

“Hello there,” he said in a pleasant, deep voice with a hell of an accent.

Rex held up a hand, needing a moment. Of fucking course the British even colonized under the goddamned sea. “Hi. You speak English.” It wasn’t quite the most inane thing he could’ve said, but his brain hadn’t managed to catch up yet.

He was talking to a goddamned mermaid who had just kidnapped and possibly eaten some mob thug who’d been trying to take Rex’s boat. It had been a day.

“You’re not the first land-dweller I’ve made the acquaintance of.”

Rex absolutely refused to make any kind of a crack about being charmed. There was too much hysteria lurking in there. “Speaking of acquaintances, you didn’t, ah, kill that guy, did you?”

The siren’s lips pulled back from his teeth a little. “I still haven’t decided what to do with him, so right now he’s out of the way.” He must’ve seen something impressive in Rex’s expression, because the angry disdain smoothed over to something more neutral. “He’s stashed in a cave I know. Enough air to breathe, but the only entrance is underwater and too far for most humans to swim without assistance.”

That was...a lot. “Thanks for the help.”

The siren smiled, an oddly sweet, bashful expression. “I’d be a very poor guest if I didn’t assist.” He cleared his throat, his expression going awkward. “Though I...suppose ‘guest’ is a bit presumptive.”

Rex grinned. “No, I spotted you a couple weeks ago – ah, I mean, sort of.” Before he could make more a hash of that, he cleared his throat. “The name’s Rex.”

The siren folded his hands together and did a little bow thing. “Obi-Wan. Pleasure to meet you.”

He wasn’t blushing. He absolutely was not blushing. “So...you in town for long?” Ok, now he was blushing, that was worst subject change ever meeting worst fishing attempt – meeting worst and wildly inappropriate pun.

Obi-Wan’s expression fell, sorrow way too visible in those non-human eyes. “I suppose you could say that. I...no longer have a home to return to.”

Definitely not a topic to change to. Right. Rex cleared his throat and shifted. “Well. You’re welcome anytime, for what that’s worth.”

The slow-growing smile didn’t remove that sorrow, but it did kindle something warm inside. This was at least three different kinds of trouble, but Rex didn’t think he’d regret any of it.

~end

#star wars #My writing #meme #trope mashup #Rex/Obi #mermaid #dogmatix #still not thrilled with how it wraps but it's certainly not the worst fic ending I've read recently #oh I'm still salty #whoops?#meanwhile there's several lines in here i adore more than is reasonable #AND I DON'T CARE

66 notes · View notes

justanotherteentitansblog · 3 years

Text

Bbrae Week Day 3 Into the Woods

There are giants in the sky! There are big tall terrible giants in the sky!

The changeling had his nose buried in the score as he attempted to read the music in front of him. ‘Funny’ Raven thought, ‘I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen him reading something other than a comic book’

When you’re way up high and you look below at the world you’ve left and the things you’ve known, little more than a glance is enough to show you just how small you are!

Raven hated admitting it to herself but dear god she loved his singing voice. He had this sexy tenor that was like honey to the ears. She could listen to him sing for hours and never get bored. Her favorite music was anything he sang, but she’d rather die than ever let him in on that.

When you’re way up and you’re on your own

In a world like none that you’ve ever known

Where the sky is lead and the earth is stone

You’re free to do whatever pleases you

Exploring things you’ve never dared

Cause you don’t care when suddenly there’s a big tall terrible giant at the door.

Stupid Robin and this stupid theater that’s closing down. If Robin hadn’t made such a huge deal out of trying to save the theater Raven would never be in this mess.

A big tall terrible lady giant sweeping the floor

Raven was just glad she could keep her cloak on for the role at least for most of the first act, she didn’t know if she was ready to face an audience without it.

And she gives you food and she gives you rest and she draws you close to her giant breast and you know things now that you never knew before

A Teen Titans production of the show, into the woods. Super. Raven didn’t even know she could sing up until auditions. She had never really tried before and once she did, she kind of blew everyone away, herself included.

Not til the sky

“Ok good work, you’ve obviously been practicing but next time hold out sky for a little longer, you’re cutting it short and you should be taking a big enough breath after before to be able to sustain that.” The music director, Dan, reminded Garfield.

“Thanks dude! I’ll work on it!”

“I know you will, that’s why I don’t hate you,” Dan nodded.

Raven liked Dan, he didn’t pussyfoot around.

Dan turned on the piano bench to face Raven motioning her to come forward with his fingers.

Nevermind, she actually hated Dan.

She sighed and slumped her shoulders trudging to the piano like a child being sent to timeout. She threw her hood over her face to hide the blush coloring her cheeks before Dan interrupted.

“Your character doesn’t have their hood on at this part of the show!”

‘Fuck you Dan’ Raven thought pulling her hood down.

“Ok top of measure 55, here is your starting note and…..go”

Careful the things you say

Children will listen

Careful the things you do children will see

Gar regarded Raven’s tense form. She was nervous, and she didn’t want to make a fool out of herself in front of an audience.

And Learn

Too bad she had probably the biggest role in the whole damn show, The witch.

Children may not obey

But children will listen

The role really was very fitting for her. Maybe not the rap about produce but everything else about the role was very...Raven.

Children will look to you for which way to turn

To learn what to be

If only someone could just show her how to relax into a character and just be natural in it, then it wouldn’t be so painful for her.

Careful before you say, Listen to me

Wait! He was someone! He could definitely show her how to get into character, and you know a little extra alone time with her wouldn’t be such a terrible thing now would it?

Children will listen….

Dan turned to Raven, “How do you think that went?”

“Well I was pitchy on measure 75 and I think I got off tempo towards the end, also my voice cracked at measu-”

Dan raised his hand to silence the girl, “No, you’re singing was perfect, the real issue is that you need to relax. You know what you’re doing so just let yourself do it without judgement.”

Raven glowered at the music director, “Easier said than done, Dan.”

After rehearsal, Raven gathered her things in her bag and was headed towards the stage door when a familiar voice called out.

“Hey, wait, Raven!”

“What do you want, Gar?”

“I think I know how to help you with your stage fright, that is if you want my help.”

Raven breathed a sigh of relief, “You don’t know how much I would love that, thank you”

Gar chuckled, “Well you’re gonna love the means of how we’re gonna do it even more.”

Raven was amused, “Oh?”

“Yep, I’m gonna show you how to meditate like an actor.”

Later in Raven’s room she had sat on her floor cross legged waiting for instructions from her teammate.

“Ok start with deep breaths in and out. In….Out….In”

Raven smiled despite herself, for him to give her instruction on deep breathing when she meditated everyday, it was almost laughable, but she complied.

He guided her through a simple grounding exercise and once she was fully grounded he began speaking again, “Now I want you to imagine you’re in a cottage in a forest…”

Ah, so this was a guided meditation, this she could handle easily.

“Now this is your cottage and your home, understand? Around your cottage is a huge garden, full of beautiful greenery. Can you see it?”

“Yes”

“Spend a few moments admiring your garden, truly soak it in.”

She did as instructed.

“Now I want you to imagine you hear a sound somewhere in the garden, I want you to move towards the sound.”

Raven found herself wandering a maze of vegetation in her mind’s eye until she found the source of the sound. A man in her garden. Not just any man but her neighbor stealing her vegetables! She tended that garden with every fiber of her being and the fact that someone she said hello to every morning was stealing from her, it felt violating. She was furious, she could’ve laid a spell on him right there! She could’ve turned him into stone, or a dog, or a chair…

Raven popped an eye open realizing what was happening, “Is this guided meditation based on the witch’s story in the show?”

“Yes, now get back into it!”

Raven shut her eyes and let her mind sink back into the story.

Her neighbor was begging for forgiveness but she knew it would happen again if she didn’t do something to keep him away. She had been lonely and barren all her life and having always wanted a child of her own, she was envious of the baker’s pregnant wife. She offered the baker a second chance at life for the baby growing in his wife’s womb. The baker reluctantly agreed before climbing over the garden wall, but as soon as he had left the sanctity of her walls...BANG FLASH, LIGHTNING CRASH! She watched as her hands shrunk and withered into the hands of an old crone. Raven ran to a small stream that ran through her garden to look at her reflection and much to her horror and dismay a 90 year old woman’s face stared back.

Raven sat up and screamed out of the meditation jolting Beast Boy backwards.

“Raven, are you ok?”

“Meditation is supposed to relax you Gar, not send you horrific images.”

“Yeah sure but...how do you feel about the baker now?”

Raven’s eyes glowed red at the mention of the name. “Oh I don’t care what it takes, I’m getting my face back and somehow making him pay for it in the process!”

Raven paused, confused at her own words, “What was that?”

“That was you finally being in character.” Gar smiled up at his friend.

“Ok but you said that you were going to help me with stage fright, not character development.”

“I did, Rae. Now when you go on stage, you’re not going to be thinking about the audience, you’re going to be thinking about what a rat bastard that baker is and how you’re going to make him pay. You’re going to think about how everyone sees you as the bad guy because you’re the witch when really you’re the victim in the show. You’re going to think about how much you love Rapunzel and you’re not ready for her to grow up yet. All the characters on stage, they’re not in front of an audience they’re just living their lives, it’s our jobs as the actors to give a venue to tell their stories.”

Raven was floored, since when did he get so...wise?

“That was a very impressive speech, Garfield.”

“Yeah well, you know, can’t be stupid all the time,” he shrugged.

“A slotted spoon can catch the potato..”

“See? Now you’re in the spirit of the show.”

Color flooded Raven’s face as she stood to meet her friend at the door.

“Thank you Gar, I don’t know what I would’ve done without your help.” she leaned up and planted a kiss on his cheek.

Gar’s emerald skin met red as he flushed at the contact, “Uh, wait. What? Did you just?”

“Best to take the moment present, as a present for the moment” she said, grabbing him by the collar and pulling him in for another kiss.

#bbraeweek21 #bbrae fanfiction #into the woods

26 notes · View notes

high-five-of-teenager-trashblog · 3 years

Text

Discography Discussion: We Hate All Kinds of Violence

If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you probably know quite a bit about H.O.T. I assume you have a favorite member. I bet you’ve heard tracks like “I-Yah” and “Hope”. But I haven’t really discussed the start of H.O.T in depth, nor the discography of their first album. After making you wait so long, let’s talk about how this influential group began.

Before H.O.T

In order to understand why H.O.T was created, we’ve got to understand Korean history.

(Note: As this blog is about one group and the point of this post is to talk about one album, I am leaving out a lot of notable events and people to give you a basic summary of what led to H.O.T.)

Up until 1988, South Korea had been constantly under oppressive political regimes. This oppression extended to music, which limited who could sing and what songs would be allowed to the masses. 1988 is a very important year in Korean history because that was when the country opened itself to the world and hosted the 1988 Seoul Olympics in Jamsil, Seoul. Through various political, economic, and technological changes, Korea was gradually transforming into what it is now. However, music was still largely either patriotic tunes or shallow love songs.

You know what came next. In the spring of 1992 Seo Taiji and Boys debuted. They had mass appeal among young people in Korea because they made music directed to people in Korea that was about their problems. Even though there was management involved with the group, it was entirely under the control of Seo Taiji - not some executive who dictated what the group could say and do. Also, they were not the first group in Korea to use rock music or rap, but the way Seo Taiji combined different genres and styles was very different - and very appealing. Bland dance and pop music produced by large broadcasting companies weren’t going to cut it anymore.

Generally speaking, whenever there is some kind of innovation, businesses and investors crop up looking to make a profit. The Korean music industry is no different. The rise of Seo Taiji and Boys created this essential question: Could a company recreate Seo Taiji and Boys?

The answer came in 1996.

H.O.T Pre-Debut

Before SM Entertainment, there was SM Studio. It was Lee Sooman’s first serious venture into starting a music company. In 1990, Hyun Jinyoung debuted as the first artist in the company and led to the start of several careers. Lee Sooman eventually signed on other artists, such as Yoo Youngjin in 1993.

However, Lee Sooman had seen the Japanese system of training idols and wanted to adapt that for Korea. Some things came out of this and became standardized in K-Pop (to some extent), such as idols of the same group living together and going through training for a period of time. This also changed how artists were managed and signed on. It went from being like MGM during Hollywood’s Golden Age to the “factory” idea we know now.

The first idols (and lab rats) for this were H.O.T. Kangta was the first to be recruited for his voice when Lee Sooman heard him sing at Lotte World. Heejun was asked to audition due to his ability to dance, sing, and write music. Woohyuk passed his audition as he was also a talented dancing. Jaewon’s recruitment isn’t well-known other than that he gained points for his visual appeal, however, sometimes people make claims that he was previously friends with Heejun and yet aren’t able to provide credible sources (at least that I’m aware of). Tony, however, auditioned with his friend Andy in LA and was voted in by the other four members. Lee Sooman has said that Tony didn’t have much going for him, but he recruited him because he thought the teenager would work hard. Together, these five were everything the public wanted.

Before H.O.T debuted, they were seen in public. Heejun and Kangta were dancers for Yoo Youngjin, and Jaewon and Woohyuk joined them later (I’m not sure if Tony did, however, considering how late he joined). The group even performed their debut song at a festival at Heejun’s high school. They were generating hype and ready to begin.

The We Hate All Kinds of Violence Album

H.O.T debuted on Sept. 7th, 1996. Their first album was called We Hate All Kinds of Violence. The cover art shows a person sitting on a step with their head in their arms in a way that usually denotes sadness or despair while wearing uniform with a hat that says “Workers”. The combination of group name, album title, and album artwork set the tone of the album at a glance as being geared towards teenagers. This was a smart move on SM’s part. Seo Taiji and Boys had disbanded earlier that year, so there was a void in the music industry that needed to be filled, and H.O.T seemed to fit the bill for a lot of young people in Korea.

Warrior’s Descendant

Their debut track was “Warrior’s Descendant”. Just hearing that title tends to interest people even before they hear the actual song. It gives off the impression that the song is about someone who has a fighting spirit like their ancestors, even if they themselves aren’t soldiers.

youtube

Lyrics (DISCLAIMER FOR THIS SECTION: TW: BULLYING)

The lyrics themselves are about bullying. The opening words are, “Ah~ Why are you hitting me?” (Lyrics Source) From there the lyrics are presented as though by the victim themselves asking why they’re being beaten up. Parts of the song seem to indicate that this isn’t a one-off thing, it’s something that’s been going on for a long time:

You changed me without a guilt You hit me Once we were friends You ruined me

I was beaten like a stupid idiot I lost everything and was roaming around Now with sounds of punch, steal and breaths My heart was torn already because of my lost friends

However, this person seems to believe that someone will save them and that this won’t go on forever.

It's time to stop, The violence, hate, and all the mess, It's about time someone should stand for what is right, That is right

Now I want my future that I've been dreaming of I think of everything can be back as it was before I trusted you I trust you once more Save me Someone someone can

Unfortunately, the song ends with the realization that no one is going save them. That someone can save them, but no one does.

Someone someone can,someone someone can, That I know it, That I know it, That I know it, Can Can That I know it, Someone someone someone someone someone can, someone can, someone can, someone can can can can can, But I know it won't happen, Now I give up everything; I have because of you. They ruined me, They took it all even my last hope You became my enemy and now I give you up They ruined me, They took it all even my last hope. I look for the hope; It's nowhere Now I'm gonna punish myself.....

The worst part of this is that the victim seems to be blaming themselves. They seem to think that they were at fault so they are going to give up. The last line itself, “Now I’m gonna punish myself” is especially troubling.

While you might have been hoping there would be a happy ending, this song wasn’t meant to have one. For a debut song that was supposed to target teenagers, this was a perfect introduction. Bullying is common everywhere, but it’s especially bad in Korea. If you’ve been a fan of K-Pop or K-Dramas for a while, you’ve probably heard a lot about this.

I think the reason why the song ends on a hopeless tone is because the song verbalized what a lot of kids and teenagers in that position probably feel like. Considering how many people follow this blog, I assume that at least one person reading this has been (or is currently being) bullied, so these words probably resonate with you.

And that is the point of “Warrior’s Descendant”, as it targets two groups of people. The first group of people are the ones being bullied, as it tells their point of view. The second group are the bystanders, as it calls them out for not doing anything about it. It calls for these two groups of people to look at each other and see that this isn’t just something that happens, bullying is a choice. The point of the lyrics is to tell people who are bullied that what they’re going through isn’t right, and to tell people to stop being a bystander and do something. This song was a call to action.

Also, the beginning of this song tends to get used in variety shows. However, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it used to match up with the context of the lyrics. Next time you hear this song somewhere, you might want to take note of the feeling the song brings to the situation it’s used for.

(End of bullying discussion)

This was actually the first song Yoo Youngjin produced, and led to his long and successful career with composing and producing music at SM Entertainment.

The MV

The music video itself shows a story between cutting to H.O.T singing and dancing. The MV opens with a teenage boy looking up while bloody, then cuts to people walking away from him - great hook. It quickly cuts to the night before when the guy was walking with a girl while carrying his violin case. Three guys around his age come and beat him up, and then go after the girl. When the guy sees the girl being targeted, he gets up to fight them off of her and she tries to defend him as well. It ends with the teenager bloody in the daylight with his broken violin. Maybe it’s just me reading into things, but it looks like the guy got beat up in the alley and then possibly got dragged to a school due to the building in the background.

It also has a very 90s style to it. Their outfits were purchased by the members themselves - I don’t know if SM had a stylist who told them what to get or if they were just given free reign, but they did have to pay for them. In addition to the outfits, there were some hallmarks of the time period in the music video, such as graffiti, which was a very popular aesthetic in the 90s and can also be seen in Turbo’s “Black Cat” MV.

Also, even though I haven’t heard anyone else agree with me on this, I personally feel like “Warrior’s Descendant” sounds like “Come Back Home” by Seo Taiji and Boys due to the vocals, instrumental, and tone. Considering that H.O.T was largely created as a response to Seo Taiji and Boys, I think it’s quite possible that recalling the other group was intentional.

However, “Warrior’s Descendant” is simultaneously where Seo Taiji and Boys ends and H.O.T begins.

Candy

Does this song really need an introduction? Probably not, so I’m just going to jump into it. This is H.O.T’s most well-known song and is beloved by many people even years later. It was also their golden ticket and get-out-of-jail-free card throughout their time promoting together.

youtube

This music video is iconic for so many reasons.

First up, the location is perfect for such a bright song. It was filmed at Lotte World in Jamsil, Seoul.

Now, you might be thinking to yourself, “Jamsil? I’ve heard of that place before” and you would be correct! That’s where the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games took place, and it’s also a huge part of H.O.T’s history. They had their 918 concert there in 1999, their last concert there in 2001, and their reunion concerts have been there because of the 2001 concert as well.

As for Lotte World itself, it’s one of the major theme parks in South Korea. H.O.T filmed in front of the famous merry-go-round and various other sites around the park. Fun fact: this is also where the drama “Stairway to Heaven” was filmed at.

When I was in Korea, I visited Jamsil quite a few times and it was one of my favorite places. You have no idea how excited I was when I went to the Olympic Park and saw the stadium in person. I also got the chance to visit Lotte World and ride on the merry-go-round, as well as walk on the outdoor bridge they danced on. If you’re an H.O.T fan, I highly recommend going there.

Choreography

The dance for this song is very iconic because it’s bouncy and fun. When I say bouncy, I mean that literally considering as Heejun’s favorite dance move involves him bouncing on the ground.

Trademark Colors

If you’ve been a fan of K-Pop for a while, you probably know that a lot of groups have their own color. The first group that had an official fan color (to my knowledge) was Seo Taiji and Boys, and their color was yellow. However, colors became more of a big deal for K-Pop groups because of H.O.T.

H.O.T’s official color is white, which is why you tend to see them wear white suits and their light stick is white. However, they also have an official color for each member. Heejun is yellow, Woohyuk is blue, Tony is red, Kangta is green, and Jaewon is orange. If you see merch of the group, you’ll often see these colors being heavily associated with each member, and you’ll often see fans cheering with their individual color as well as white.

These colors helped the public to easily identify who was who when they were rookies.

They also had different accessories. Woohyuk had his floppy hat with eyeballs attached to it - that can be seen on that light stick he teased. Kangta had a bag. Tony had a hat. Jaewon had earmuffs - which was a win because it was getting to be cold when this track was released. Heejun, however, had a visor which he hated due to it not keeping him warm in the winter, nor cool in the summer. Their fluffy outfits also endeared them to the public because of how cute they were.

Lyrics

So now that we’ve talked about all the visuals, let’s talk about what “Candy” itself is about. First off, the lyrics to this song are so painfully 90s and cheesy. The story is this: a guy plans on going on break (or breaking up) with his girlfriend because he realizes he’s not the best boyfriend and their relationship isn’t doing great. He literally decides that suddenly when he wakes up in the morning - you can’t make this up.

To be honest with you I want to see you today to talk about us to tell you that I need some space Please understand me I’m telling you that it was a difficult decision Actually, I thought of it this morning

He admits that it’s something he needs to work on and says:

I will need to change myself Without your knowing it I’ve compared you to other girls

There’s a part of the lyrics that are very angsty and dramatic.

When I dream about us each time the dream would vanish and I am left by myself Crying so pathetic stuck in this position I decided I’m leaving you! I’m leaving you! Although I still love you I will leave I will forget and stop loving you As I look to the sky above me I told myself I must keep my heart cold towards you

However, he eventually realizes that even though their relationship needs work, he loves her and actually doesn’t want to be apart from her.

I love only you I said this to you All that I had prepared to say turned backwards I’ll always be by your side

It finishes up with Kangta saying this:

I’ll always be by your side You’ll never be alone again I’m here next to you

The conclusion the songs comes to is this: There can be problems with your relationship, but if you really love them and want to stay with them, you need to communicate and work on making your relationship better.

Also, don’t make huge decisions rashly - I think that should be the big takeaway from this.

Like “Warrior’s Descendant”, this song is also used on variety shows quite a bit. I’ve even heard it called, “The Perfect Song for Valentine’s Day”. Considering the context of this song is essentially about a breakup (until the end), I have my doubts when it’s used on broadcasts that are trying to hype up a love line.

(Lyrics Source)

The Candy Consequence

Earlier I mentioned that “Candy” was their golden ticket. Now that you understand the song itself, let’s talk about why it is that way.

“Warrior’s Descendant” was very serious and geared towards teenagers. “Candy”, however, took their popularity and gave H.O.T a family-friendly reputation. It was the perfect combination of cute guys, a sweet song, and iconic visuals that helped the general public to differentiate them from other groups at the time.

While Seo Taiji and Boys were massively popular with Korea’s youth, they were often thought of as being rebellious, especially since they famously criticized various aspects of Korea - such as the education system.

If you’ve read my other Discography Discussions, you’re well-aware of what H.O.T has done over the years. However, unlike Seo Taiji and Boys, they weren’t as censored or thought of as being nearly as problematic. Why? Look no further than “Candy”.

The popularity “Candy” has is two-sided. On one side, it’s annoying because people (especially newer or international fans) tend to associate them with it, instead of the rest of their discography. On the other side, because people associate them with it first, they tend to be more forgiving (and ignorant >.>) whenever H.O.T released tracks that were full of profanity or violence.

While “Candy” is quite different from most of their other popular tracks, it was the one that allowed H.O.T to rise to heights no one had been expecting.

Other Tracks of Interest

You’re Fast, I’m Slow - This tends to be one of those songs that H.O.T fans know because it gets used in compilations and as background music. The lyrics themselves are about a girl hitting on a guy and trying to make their relationship go at a faster pace than what he’s ready for. He’s asking her to slow down so that they can have a good relationship. They’re just friends, but the girl clearly wants to be more.

A day or two has passed and you've changed too much You kept catching me off guard with your "non-PG" questions You teased me, saying that I didn't have any courage and I was such a boring guy

And before y’all ask, yes, he’s into her. Warning: Explicit

But you don't know my heart I want all of you Don't rush it too much I want to show you my heart slowly

I want to have you, Something that I've deeply wanted If you give me another chance, I'll take you tonight

I'll make you feel real good Even make you groan & moan like I know you should

Remember how I said “Candy” allowed them to get away with more explicit stuff? “You’re Fast, I’m Slow” is Exhibit A. Yoo Youngjin is too obvious sometimes.

(Lyric Source)

Your Image in the Sunset - This is basically your standard breakup song. I’m just pointing it out because I love the instrumental and how this song sounds, tbh. It really gives off a 90s feeling.

Another Stressful Day - This song is about a guy who has a hangover and has to get to work. The kicker is that the members were too young to legally drink when this came out. Considering that the guy on the cover is wearing a work uniform, it is possible that true context of the image is that he is hungover, not upset due to some violent circumstance.

The Age of Individual Characteristic - This song has a great message about self love and not judging people by their appearances alone.

just because you think you're ugly, don’t just sit at home staring into a mirror, accept a new change - find a unique characteristic about yourself..

please, don’t let love follow changing fashion.. don’t let it change.. a male wearing tight short shorts with long hair and a female wearing torn long jeans with a 'sports cut' hair.. lets help each others individual characteristics prevail..

(Lyrics Source)

About Women - This is the final track on the album. It’s basically H.O.T saying that they don’t understand women, but they respect them. It starts out with talking about stereotypes men have for women, and then goes into arguing about it. However, these are the parting words H.O.T concludes the track and the album with:

Women sometimes make our lives hard and confusing, but we have to remember they're not toys, They're not toys but real deep beings...

(Lyrics Source)

Conclusion

We Hate All Kinds of Violence was an excellent start for H.O.T’s career and a new era of Korean music. It was an album for teenagers by teenagers. Although a lot of their work has been forgotten over the years, it is certainly an important artifact that waits to be discovered by those it speaks to.

Where to listen to the album: iTunes Spotify

#h.o.t #high-five of teenager #kpop #k-pop #old kpop #Moon Heejun #kangta #Jang Woohyuk #lee jaewon #tony ahn #tw: bullying

27 notes · View notes

allthefilmsiveseenforfree · 3 years

Text

Teen Witch

Controversial opinion: stories about witches are the best stories. Just look at WandaVision - bitches ate that UP because it’s about WITCHES, which means it’s ultimately about loss and trauma and female (literal) empowerment in the face of those tragedies (and I mean there’s some complicated stuff in there about inflicting trauma upon others, even accidentally, and that’s kind of a witch thing too). And Sabrina is all well and good and everything, but what if you want your witch story to be a little less Dark Arts and a little more candy-coated? Have I got the film for you! Wes requested Teen Witch as part of his quest to expand my cheesy 80s cult classic knowledge, and boy did this one deliver. How 80s-tastic are we talking? Well...

The basic story is this: Louise (Robyn Lively) is a typical teen girl who occupies the nerd level of the high school hierarchy. You know the type - soft-spoken, nerdy best friend, has a crush on the cutest guy in school (Dan Gauthier), made fun of in gym class by all the cheerleaders. One day she crashes her bike in front of a psychic’s home/place of business and goes inside to use the phone, but gets her palm read first. The psychic, named Madame Serena, (Zelda Rubenstein, playing, I’m assuming, herself) tells her she will soon come into some witchy powers on her 16th birthday. When Louise’s birthday rolls around, you guessed it - witching aplenty. She gets the popularity, she gets the cute guy, she ditches her nerdy friend; it’s basically The Princess Diaries without Queen Julie Andrews. But then, y’know, she learns a valuable lesson about the high price of popularity and how important it is to be true to yourse--wait, no she doesn’t, she takes off her magic necklace and smooches with the boy she likes at the school dance and that’s how it ends.

Some thoughts:

This slow motion credit sequence is incredible. See, we just don’t have this anymore, where the movie starts and you have no fucking idea what’s going on. The 80s really knew how to draw an audience in. Is this a dream? Is this a music video? No one knows! That’s why it’s exciting!

Why are tv and movies so obsessed with a completely made-up depiction of what takes place outside a high school’s entrance before the first bell? Apparently there’s a busker festival going on at this high school every day - there’s guys doing BMX tricks, an all white rap group, I think I saw some jugglers.

I’ve actually taught in both middle and high school, so I know this English teacher (Shelley Berman) wouldn’t be fired for being such a shitty teacher, but he should be.

Is this like...a musical? First there was the terrible rapping, now there are cheerleaders doing “the new cheer” which is literally a song just saying “I...LIKE...BOYS!” and there’s a dance routine on top of lockers - there’s a lot of towel choreography. It feels like a musical in the sense that it’s nonsensical, but I don’t actually think it IS a musical. Genre-defying!

It’s kinda creepy that Louise is watching an extended montage of Brad (Gauthier) working out shirtless from the shadows but like...same, girl. Damn, Brad.

Aw, at least Brad is reasonably nice. Louise, show some backbone! You shouldn’t have been too proud to let him drive you home after he ran you off the road on your bike accidentally!

I am just mystified by the market for roles that were appropriate for Zelda Rubenstein in the 80s. What is this niche? Which came first, Zelda Rubenstein, or these characters?

I am also mystified by this gremliny little brother (Joshua John Miller) who seems to be obsessed with eating cake and never washing his hair. He’s like a goblin trapped in a diminutive nonbinary body made of pizza and spite. [ETA: I now feel a little bad for finding him so repellent in this, as the actor wrote one of my favorite meta horror movies, The Final Girls, in 2015. So at least he grew up and made something cool of himself.]

OMFG did Brad just hit the soda machine for her like the fucking Fonz?

There is (temporarily) a Very Good Dog who is not harmed in any way.

In what universe does Louise see what her date, David (Jared Chandler), is wearing and be like “he’s such a geek” when she looks like an extra from Leave it to Beaver.

The DJ just said “OK guys, grab your wallets, it’s a slow song.” What...does that even mean? Is he implying that slow dances are expensive? Ooh or even more nefarious, that there’s a rampant pickpocketing problem during slow dances?

Did Louise...just imply that the number of light years away a star is dictates how soon a wish you make on that star would come true? Listen. I’m no astrophysicist. But I have read enough Neil Degrasse Tyson tweets to know that that’s not how any of this works.

OK I take back what I said, David is a fucking CREEP. Drag his ass, Louise. However, I think she may have straight up murdered him by making him disappear. David is never seen or heard from again in this film.

Obsessed with the dad’s sweaters both because they are ridiculous and because he is the lesser Darren from the original Bewitched.

It feels weird that Louise’s revenge involves forcing Mr. Weaver to take his clothes off in front of the class.Who wants that? Like I get that it’s humiliating for him, but really, you’re only punishing yourself here Louise.

There is a rap-off that is meant to convey electric sexual tension between two nerdy ass white kids.

I don’t know what it was like at your school, but I can tell you for sure that at my high school no one ever applauded when the most popular girl in school walked into the classroom like she’s Kramer making an entrance on Seinfeld.

Why is Brad taking her to an abandoned house in the middle of nowhere? And why is she wearing heels?

Oh god she took the heels off and now she’s barefoot in this decrepit house, that’s so much worse! TETANUS EXISTS LOUISE.

Wait are they going to fuck in the abandoned house? Brad has a girlfriend! You brought heels, but did you bring condoms?? I guess she has bigger concerns than tetanus now. Also I feel so bad for these actors, they are both DRIPPING sweat. That must have been a miserable shoot.

I’ve said this before, but the 80s were such an incredible time for himbo fashion. Crop tops, those tank tops with the giant holes for the arms, teeny little basketball shorts. In the 90s all we had were JNCOs and weirdly “urbanized” Looney Tunes characters on baggy t-shirts. Gen X has no idea how good they had it re: male fashion.

I’m genuinely obsessed with the idea that popularity means the school just has banners all over that say “LOUISE” and she gets like, cards and fan mail that say “Louise U R the best.” This feels like if you ask a kindergartner what being popular means.

Madame Serena just said “the real magic is believing in yourself” which is exactly what Louise’s dad said like 15 minutes ago, but I guess he wasn’t a 3-foot-tall witch so no one paid attention when he said it.

Y’know for an 80s prom outfit, Louise’s dress is pretty cute.

I cannot stress enough that Brad’s girlfriend is at this dance while he and Louise are kissing! Does no one care? Were high school attitudes toward monogamy just way more flexible in the 80s?

Did I Cry? Shyeah, right.

This is such an odd, mostly charming, but wildly perplexing little movie. There was no antagonist or real conflict here, at all. Louise barely struggles with any sort of tension or remorse about having her powers and what it means for her life, she just kind of decides at the end that she’s over it, and she still gets the guy and no actual negative consequences from bending the entire school to her will for the past few months. I mean, in The Craft, when people use magic for their own gains, other people fucking DIE. I was definitely entertained, but a lot of it was due to me saying, “What? How? What?” loudly at the screen. I can see how this has gained a cult following in much the same way that other oddball 80s fare like Better Off Dead or Girls Just Wanna Have Fun did. Watch it once, then watch it again while you get drunk with your friends (in a post-Covid world, obviously) and you’ll probably have a pretty great time.

If you liked this review, please consider reblogging or subscribing to my Patreon! For as low as $1, you can access bonus content and movie reviews, or even request that I review any movie of your choice.

#121in2021 #teen witch #teen witch review #robyn lively #dan gauthier #zelda rubinstein #movie reviews #film reviews #patreon review

9 notes · View notes

wonderfulworldofmichaelford · 3 years

Text

Michael After Midnight: “Pregnant Pussy” by UGK

[TRIGGER WARNING: RAPE, PEDOPHILIA, ETC. NOT SAFE FOR WORK, NOT SAFE FOR LIFE. THE SUBJECT OF THIS REVIEW IS A SONG FEATURING EXTREMELY DEPRAVED LYRICAL CONTENT. PLEASE PROCEED WITH CAUTION.]

In the year 2010, A Serbian Film was released. The movie is something I refuse to ever watch or review, and for very good reason: the film is unrepentantly bleak, miserable and, oh yeah, it features an infamous scene involving, as the movie describes it, “newborn porn,” where a newborn baby is raped onscreen. As I’m sure you can imagine, I (and anyone who enjoys keeping the contents of their stomach firmly within said organ) really do not think baby fucking is alright. But of course, no one could possibly ever come up with something more depraved than this, right?

Well, I wish I could say that, but almost two decades before that twisted movie, the rap duo UGK (comprised of members Pimp C and Bun B) managed to one-up that fucked up shit.

The early 90s was a wild time for rap music, where violent, edgy gangster rap and the most ludicrous, over-the-top shit thrived. Look at some of the early work by rappers like Snoop Dogg or Eminem, with the cartoonish, boundary-pushing violence and offensive lyrical content. This was the norm. But UGK, most famous for guest starring in Jay-Z’s “Big Pimpin,” went one step beyond everyone else on their Banned EP. On said EP was a song called “Pregnant Pussy,” a song so absolutely fucked up and depraved it would probably give GG Allin pause.

I am going to go line by line of this song and dissect the sheer depravity of this be-all end-all of edgy, offensive humor. This is your last chance. You can still walk away.

youtube

The song begins almost normally, with a slow buildup to the music, but as soon as the main instrumental hits we are slapped in the face with the chorus, which unfortunately is one of the tames lyrics in the entire song:

Pregnant pussy is the best you can get Fucking a bitch while her baby sucking dick

So hopefully you can see the problem here. The problem is that Bun B and Pimp C have a crucial misunderstanding of how pregnancy works. Also they’re pedophiles I guess. This line is repeated a couple of times to let it really sink in, let it really hit you what exactly is being sung, to the point where you might not even notice the line that closes out this opening chorus:

I got your fat pregnant bitch in my waterbed And I'm 'bout to bust a nut on your little baby's head

To be fair, this one is kind of tame in comparison.

Now for our first verse, Pimp C takes the mic and comes in strong!

I guess you can call me a family man Cause I care for bitches' babies every chance that I can

As we are about to find out, no. We can’t call Pimp C a family man. We should not even allow him near babies, and here’s why:

I don't give 'em clothes, or diapers and shit But I like to feed they babies with my big black dick

This is actually a running theme with this song. I’m not simply talking about the rappers and their desire to get fellated by unborn babies, I’m talking about how they casually drop lines like that before switching to stuff that’s comparatively normal and even tame (or tame by the standards of a song about getting blowjobs from fetuses).

Like, look at the lines immediately after the above:

Cause I'ma tell you if you didn't know You ain't did shit 'til you fucked a pregnant hoe The pussy is hotter, it's got a extra kick It feel like hot potato pie around your dick Sometimes I swing high, sometimes I swing low Sometimes I like to fuck a pregnant bitch on my floor Hit it kinda hard, and speed it up fast Fuck her 'til she get the cherry blisters on her ass

It’s filthy and extreme, yes, but this is honestly the sort of horny, crass shit you’d expect from a rap song like this. This is normal, this is... well, “good” is a bit of a strong word, but you know, I’ll take it. Of course, immediately after those lines we get hit with this:

Cause if she expecting, I can satisfy And at the same time, give her kid a pacifier And I love it when I bust that old nut Cause I know that her baby's just gon' lick it all up

This is why we can’t have nice things.

The second verse has Bun B, the other half of UGK, step up to the mic and he delivers more comparatively normal, raunchy, old school rap sentiment:

Ain't no pussy like one impregnated A pussy made for nutting in, I could never hate it A swoll pussy hole is the best on earth And a big dick helps make an easy childbirth I love the big titties but I hate the taste of milk And a bigger, fatter ass on my dick is smooth as silk

Like yeah, this is vulgar and all, but this is pretty good. In their own weird rapper way, they’re showing love for pregnant women, and who says pregnant women shouldn’t get a rap song about how sexy and desirable they are? Maybe this is a turning point for the song, maybe from here things get bet--

Now if she got a boy, it ain't fun But if she got a girl, then it's two pussies for the price of one

The more I listen to this song, the more I feel like these two are just joking, but... why tell this kind of joke? I can’t deny this is funny in a shock humor kind of way, like “Jesus Christ why the fuck are these guys talking about cumming on unborn babies?” but it’s such a fleeting feeling.

Eventually as I listen to the song more and more I become desensitized to the shock and it just leaves me wondering why they thought this was a good idea to record? Did they just decide to go to the most repulsive extreme possible so that no one else ever would?

Once again the song seems like it’s going to be normal. We get like one normal rhyme this time, and then we’re hit with this:

I'm fucking all over the womb Now I move your baby to the side so I can get a little room

This song is pretty definitive proof as to why God no longer speaks with us.

I love to fuck them pregnant hoes Your baby's sneezing out nuts because I bust one in his nose So when your little child is born I bet the motherfucker tell you pregnant pussy got it going on

So, this part here is interesting. We’ve now heard from Pimp C and Bun B, we’ve heard both of them talk about how they love fucking pregnant women and indulging in their weird unborn pedophilia fetish, and that last line is delivered with the exact sort of tone you’d expect from a song wrapping up. It’s followed by the chorus and you think “Sweet fuck, they can’t go any further, can they? This has to be it. They dropped the fucking title in a verse, that’s it, they’re done.”

Sorry to disappoint you, but we live in a cruel, uncaring world.

You see, fuckin' pregnant pussy is simple All you gotta do is hope the baby think your dickhead is a nipple And if the cum snatcha stimulate my sack He just might get a fat load of Similac And if he start kicking, I'ma keep sticking Go a little deeper, give his bad ass a whipping Within nine months, I can hit it late or sooner It's me, Miss Jones, and Mr. Jones Junior And once I get the bitch in the raw Me and her kid can have a nice ménage à trois So believe I ain't kicking no bullshit Cause pregnant pussy is the best you can get

So yes, Pimp C drops this final, nightmarish verse, and then the chorus plays us out.

So, what do I think of the song? What was the point of all this? Is there enough bleach in the world to get this song out of your head?

Well, I think this song is utterly repulsive... but also rather fascinating. It makes songs like Eminem’s “Kim,” which is a six-minute murder fantasy where Em slaughters the titular woman, a six year old, and her boyfriend look incredibly tame. The lyrical content is just a non-stop pedophilic nightmare that goes beyond edgy humor and just leaves you feeling gross and uncomfortable.

But it’s just... fascinating because of that. This shit right here isn’t just a trainwreck. This is a train genocide. Pimp C and Bun B rounded up good taste, lined it up against the wall, and executed it with extreme prejudice. I almost don’t want to get mad, or offended, or disgusted at this, because I feel like if I do the boys of UGK win. The more I listen to this, the more I feel like this is just the ultimate troll song, sputing the most utterly repulsive lyrics one could ever conceive of just to garner a reaction. And I mean, it works.

Frankly, like or hate this song. Either reaction is understandable. I don’t know if this song can even be measured in metrics like “good” or “bad,” it’s just so beyond the realms of good taste, regular taste, human sensation...This shit right here is the sort of thing that almost tanked James Gunn’s career, and somehow these two went on to rap alongside the man Jay-Z himself. Is there any justice in this world? No, no there isn’t, not even a little bit.

But there is pregnant pussy. And I guess that’s something.

#Michael After Midnight #Review #song review #UGK #Pregnant Pussy #Banned #Not Safe For Life

13 notes · View notes

astro-break · 4 years

Text

Quick first thoughts on the first ep of the Hypmic Anime. Spoilers beware (and im writing this as I watch so :p)

Otome’s speech is.... questionable from a persuasive point of view. Manga did a great job of introducing her (which you can read here) but they really cut out the more terrifying parts of her speech and how she uses force to show people that she's not to be messed with

Its cool seeing everyone in their respective environments though. thats cool. Though they could have added Sasara and Kuuko (shhh i know why they didn’t let me dream)

I love how poppy the typography is. Its amazing how the visuals just leap out at you. The OP does a great job of this. The first few seconds before the title really gives me Persona 4 OG OP vibes with the influx of information given. The rest is a clear concise and streamlined way that still gives character. Animation is sparse but still carries across a general idea of each character and shows off each character object. Rendering is really nice and pays a bit of homage to the posing artwork thats done for the MVs. They also do their division hand signals and thats cute

Love how the OP has blatant HifuDoppo and DRB matchup foreshadowing

so far I really like what theyre going for. BB is about brotherly familial bonds and they show the goods and the bads. Jiro and Saburo bickering right out the gate really cements the fact that they get along like cats and dogs but you can still see that they love each other, working together when the situation calls for it

Now the 3d models. Theyre... not great but usable if you don’t look too hard. They serve their purpose and don’t actively detract from the viewing experience.

Visual typography in the rap itself are fun and poppy but they dont.... speak to me? like theyre there yes and I appreciate them but the only ones that got me excited were from Ichiro’s rap

I take my words back the group portion was kickass and I apologize

I love how they interpret the Hypnosis Speakers though. Esp. Saburo’s organs. That was super creative and I love it! If there was one thing that I felt was missing from the franchise was a deeper exploration of the speakers but the anime puts a new and fresh spin on it! Love it, especially with their attack patterns!

If the production team ever feels inclined to, Id love to see those info sheets on Otome’s desk released. There seems to be very interesting info and stats written out about each member (like capabilities, personal status etc.) They all seem unique too so I really really really hope they release images of those sheets

OOOOOOOOKAY MTC. I have such a big biased for them so Im very torn to see what unfolds

Rio striking out on his own is interesting. Out of everyone in MTC hes the biggest team player yet here he trusts his teammates to go ahead. This either displays Rio’s willingness to trust his teammates or it becomes very OOC if the anime wants to set him up as a lone wolf like character

I love how they specify its a drug deal. It means that Jyuto surely will show up and it also shows that Samatoki knows Jyuto’s motives and willingly gives black market info that he knows aligns with Jyuto’s goal. Thats A+ detail writing there and a great establishing characteristic for both of them

OOohhhhhhhhhhhhh man Asunama-san’s voice acting is god tier his work as Samatoki is phenomenal. He pulls of Samatoki’s threatening voice so well with those almost calm words before his voice becomes loud and confrontational. Those rolling syllables in contrast to Komada-san’s almost lyrical and airy speech and Kamio-san’s strict and enunciated words is such a delight to hear. It just speaks to how amazing and great these Seiyuu’s are in order to pull of such amazing work

Im so biased but MTC has such a better rap than BB im so sorry. Just by watching Samatoki’s part, the imagery is amazing. Even the arrival of his Hypnosis Speaker was awesome and sent a shiver down my spine. using the lyrics to form blades and blood was such a great thing to do. Theres so much more variety that just him standing there and shots of his hypnosis speaker. The old fashioned vignette shots, the four panel spread, the nods to old Kurosawa era films are great and I love these small details. Even the typography looks better.

Again, the interpretations with the speakers is fresh and new. Its great and I love the different imagery and attack patterns. Each one is so unique but carries across each different style of rap.

The 3d modles aren’t any better tho lol

(Hi this is Astro who is reading over their assessment again and making a note. Yeah I’m a bit harsh on BB’s rap. I’m not going to change it since I still stand by it and this post is supposed to be a documentation of my first impressions. I think one of the reasons why I’m so harsh on BB is because of their dynamic as a trio of brothers. They Have to have a more uniform approach than the other divisions. Which in of itself isn’t a terrible thing, it just doesn’t catch my eye as much as MTC did. Thats all! I definitely don’t hate BB, they’re maybe my 3rd favorite division out of the current lineup [not including TDD era teams like Kujaku Posse, MCD, and Naughty Busters] its just that their rap was pretty meh)

Samatoki crouching like a real gangstar and the cigarette kiss killed me

sadjkhfjkasdghsadjkcsdjhsdfsjhf im dying i love these trio of dumbasses so uch oh y fod someone save me aaaaaaaa (Astro note here! yeah i died when the jyuto and samatoki’s stomach growled im weak please. Samatoki’s face is just so precious and funny I might set it as a profile pic somewhere)

But also my initial assessment of Rio possibly being characterized as a lone wolf is very much jossed and im very thankful for that. It seems that Rio was simply trusting his teammates to carry out their part of the plan while he carried out his own. I like that, it really shows how much of a team these three are and that they genuinely trust each other. He’s also comfortable enough around them to invite them to dinners after work casually and not just for special occasions.

I really love MTC guys

Oooh! we get Ramuda on his design process which is really cute. the inside of his studio is super cute and retro and i love it. the poppy old music you would hear in a cafe or 90′s resturaunt is also really cute (astro note: yeah i know that in ARB you see the interior of Ramuda’s office but its kinda different seeing it animated)

the translation i have has gentaro speaking in early modern english (Shakespearian english for those who aren’t english nerds like me) but from what I can hear, he doesn’t speak in a particularly old fashioned way? Its more formal than old? and hes speaking without any of his character persona lying thing that he likes to do (as he refers to himself as “Shousei” throughout the segment where hes in Ramuda’s office which is kind of his default pronoun of choice). so its kinda odd for the translation to go in that direction but im not complaining

Gendice banter is gold but it feels... flat? a little? it doesn’t have the same impact as in the drama cds or in the manga? i feel? Also Ramuda using gratuitous english is??? idk how to feel about that

kjshf thats against the rules Ramuda omgggg,,,,,,,, (astro note again: while watching i was under the assumption that using your hypmic for monetary gain such a as buskering [which is what FP is doing] is against the rules. May not be the case but whatever)

FP’s rap might be my favorite in terms of tune and lyrics though. It’s a nice laid back bop and really gives of chill vibes. the integration of 3d and 2d is really nice and i love how they play off each other in the rap. The wordplay is so fun with little nods here and there and the beat is poppy too so it really energizes me.

Ramuda’s rap concerns me slightly since he makes very subtle and small nods towards his past (being created in a laboratory, warfare, and his overall very unpleasant life experiences) but spins it into something cutesy. It could be a coping mechanism, it could be me overthinking it. But it does make me worry a bit. Gentaro and Dice’s rap really play off each other with Gentaro sticking to stories and Dice taking up the baton by carrying on that same imagery but putting his own spin on it.

the self awareness of how scattered they are as a team is interesting though. It doesn’t seem like something you’d speak about in a rap? but i guess since its not really a do or die situation they can afford to be looser on things like this.

Right off the bat, i don’t like how they handled Hifumi and Doppo in relation to Hifumi’s fear of women. Slug made a post once talking about this and I echo many of his sentiments. Hypmic has never been very tactful about tackling this particular issue and while I didn’t have high hopes that the anime would be any better it hurts to see Doppo take away the one thing that allows Hifumi to function within society.

Doppo’s breakdown mirrors a lot of my own mental state when I spiral though its shown a lot quicker than what happens to me oof. that hits close to home. though Jakurai’s advice is. Questionable. Its not the best advice to give to someone but we have no idea what kind of doctor Jakurai is so ill let it slide

Jakurai’s pose looks like hes going to do a mahou shoujou transformation lmao

I don’t have many thoughts about the rap though again. How they visualize the rap is interesting. the different imagery is quite interesting for each of them and the typography is nice a distinct but im still on the fence about the visuals here

The sound is in the same boat. The sound effects either drown out the rap or are too quet but some parts are nice at least. When they talk about Tokyo’s beating heart, the heartbeat sound is a but distracting especially since its only played once. But the imagery is at least nice

I wonder if for the eds they’re going to take a similar approach to what Enstars did and have a four different endings, one for each division. I love the blend of styles here and it really accentuates that although they’re different they mesh well together.

Ramuda’s silhouette though is hilarious. Love it.

:p and thats it. Uh not bad for a first episode. Established all 12 characters really nicely and their dynamics. I had some problems with it but then again nothing is perfect. I look forward to what they show us next week

#hypnosis mic #hypmic #hypnosis mic rhyme anima #hypnosis mic rythme anima spoilers #hypmic spoilers #my post

20 notes · View notes

aijee · 3 years

Note

hello aijee!! what are your thoughts on mingyu and wonwoo's bittersweet?

Oh anon. Oh anon, anon, anon. I have very many feelings about this remarkable intersection of ley lines. I’m sure the WWxMG spheres of the Internet are in some state of madness, and I felt like my meager offerings would be nothing in comparison. But you are now my excuse to write up a Pandora's box answer that I've done my best to organize below the cut. It’s honestly not that exhaustive, but I have to catch a flight soon.

The short of it is: I really liked it! It was nice to see WW/MG doing something distinctly not hip-hop, or eye candy-centric, or “let’s fight over this random girl for no reason other than to give (female) fans the feeling of being sandwiched between two hot guys.” The urban imagery was also wonderful. I’m a big, big sucker for Japanese films set in cities in the 80s/90s, so this video definitely hit a specific aesthetic nerve for me. ALSO LEEHI MY BAE!!

But, fair disclaimer, I do have some reservations. Nothing is perfect!

The song itself

It was refreshing to hear a softer song with WW and MG doing so much of the vocals. I’m so used to eleven other guys contributing (I’m personally a bigger fan of the group/non-solo tracks), it was almost jarring to hear only two male voices in something very much not hip-hop or rapping. And LeeHi? My ex-YG BABEE?? I honestly wished I heard more of her!! And saw her in the video! Her voice was a perfect addition to a song that sounds more, as its name suggests, bittersweet.

I feel like all three of the artists involved have a much more dynamic range that could have been utilized, even for a muted tone. The song overall doesn’t really stand out to me, especially within Seventeen’s wonderful discography and selection of ballads. The instrumental was kinda weak ngl. But I still very much enjoyed the song! The lyrics from an English-speaking standpoint were also very lovely and definitely struck the heart on my sleeve, as you can imagine from the types of themes I tend to write about. Kudos to MG and WW for participating in it! Always love seeing SVT showing off their creative chops.

The video/cinematography

Frankly, I wasn’t impressed by it. 3.5/5 stars. I’m personally not a big fan of the blurry type of slow motion. I get that, perhaps, it was meant to evoke a sense of reminiscing on old memories, which can be blurry and choppy. But I felt like those extra seconds could have been used for more evocative cinematography between the trio or combinations thereof. There was so much potential to have a more unified sense of “story.” I felt like the acting really carried it, but overall the visual artistry didn’t hold together in my opinion.

I also thought that the imagery paired with the lyrics was often too on-the-nose. (Take this with a grain of salt from someone who doesn’t know Korean, only the official English translations.) In other words, I thought that the shots could be too literal when paired with the lyrics.Yes, yes, eyes are are meeting but something still feels far apart because the girl ain’t lookin at WW. Yes, yes, the scent of a moment fills hands because we see a glass of alcohol in presumably WW’s hand. I do like that the lyrics actually match the video to some degree (since so many Kpop MVs are just dancing in a fancy room), but, again, it felt too one-to-one without much thought otherwise.

Also, those AirPods lmao. I don’t know why, but that took me out of the immersion. WW and MG had one each, and I’d be knocking furniture down at that observation if they both weren’t wearing right-side pods, thus eliminating the possibility of sharing. Imagine!! Turning the act of sharing AirPods into something symbolic! Remembering things when someone else “plays that old tune”, being disconnected and connected at the same time, etc. To think that I’d be yell-writing about the potential symbolism of AirPods...

The duo/trio

My first thought seeing this video was: Are Mingyu and Wonwoo okay with this? They clearly had a say in the lyrics, so I feel like they’re okay. Instinctually, I get concerned about how a company can push idols pairings in official content to the point of undermining the real-life relationship; I felt like WW, as a naturally shyer and introverted person, stepped back from the WonGyu pairing at some point. I think this was a bigger concern in the group’s earlier years, and I feel like they and the fandom have matured significantly over time. Fans reading this are certainly free to educate me on their takes regarding this, since I follow Seventeen’s official content more (as much as I am able to, at least) than fan content, like fancams, and I try not to make too many legit assumptions based on official content.

All this being said, I think they looked really comfortable with each other in the video! Which I loved the most, honestly. The premise didn’t didn’t feel like guys fighting over a girl (yawn). I’m not a fan of the overused K-Pop trope of “let’s have a random girl act as a stand-in for fans to feel like they’re being pursued by their oppars.” I felt like, while MG and WW expressed clear interest in the girl, there was interest expressed in each other as well—especially MG towards WW in my opinion, cont’d below. And the interest was never forced to be romantic, even though it could be! LOVE that for them. (I highly recommend reading up on “queer platonic relationships”, which a friend of mine taught me recently. Made the mistake of writing “romantic” instead of “platonic” so sorry 😬)

Motherfuckin Kim Mingyu AKA my interpretation of the story

*I did read the little summary in the description box about “three longtime friends”, but I’m choosing to ignore it because I don’t think the video portrays that well and I like my interpretation better haha!

That sequence of WW putting a hat on MG, with WW’s fond but exasperated face of a hyung (I’m okay, not okay).

The cut from that shot of WW and the girl breathing heavy and looking at MG, to MG staring vacantly behind a rained-on glass window (I close my eyes but thoughts of you...).

The way MG steps out first into the rain and smiles back at WW in that last sequence of shots (Eyes meeting but hearts apart); MG looks so content despite the sadness usually meant to be evoked by dramatic rain sequences.

As someone who normally connects with WW, I really connected to MG’s character this time around. I interpreted MG’s character as going through a really complex series of emotions towards both the girl and WW, platonic, romantic or otherwise. It’s hard to pin down, but the small age difference between him and WW felt so much more apparent in the MV. I almost got the impression that maybe MG’s character felt new, naive and lost in the city (he has a few shots of wandering or being in front of urban areas). Then he found stability with the girl and WW, the consequence being the whirlwind of feelings he must be experiencing because of them. I wish there was more exposition hinting at what happened to the girl, since she sorta just...blipped out of existence by the end.

At the start of the MV, WW’s character looked like he was at the end of his rope, drinking away his woes, maybe because of what seems like a nice job based on the suit. But then he found solace in the female bartender, who was kind and had open ears. The two of them became friends (maybe more, perhaps one-sided in WW’s disfavor). Then WW met MG through her. He saw MG’s character as a cute dongsaeng to be nice to, mostly on the whims of the girl, even dancing with them after closing time. But maybe WW’s character started having complicated feelings for MG’s character throughout it all. He started seeing MG more (more than the girl? Hard to say), based on how he was staring at MG at the end of the running sequence at around 2:08, not even looking back at the girl. He ended up liking MG so much, that he followed MG into the rain despite them both avoiding it, staying indoors, before the end sequence.

That’s sort of the dirty and quick of my initial thoughts. Honestly, I wish I had the energy and speed to throw out a proper written work because I LOVE stories that are basically just complicated feelings with relationship boundaries that are hard to define. Also, gotta say, that little sassy look the female actress gave at around 0:30 was real cute. 👀

#askaijee #might as well be an aijeepost

3 notes · View notes

borisbubbles · 4 years

Text

17. CZECH REPUBLIC

Benny Christo - “Kemama”

youtube

So first off, thank you for the nice commens. 😇The past few months haven’t been the happiest time for me, so thank you for your patience as I scraped my bearings together for another post! 😁

So I will now extend that same sympathy to Benny Christo, whom I think I damn fucking underrated. Let’s jump in~

ENTRY ANALYSIS

As one may expect i INSTANTLY liked “Kemama” because you know, it’s a fun, laid-back, tropical afro-breeze, completely different from anything else we would see in NFs and the year. EXACTLY the type of song I was hoping the Czech NF would deliver (and deliver they did, see NF Corner). This level of mild like swung into strong unironic like upon realizing that the title is a contraction of “Okay Mother” 😍 and the song deals with the subject of overcoming racially-tinged discrimination and rising above the hate. That just feels very poetic and apt? “Kemama” felt like the entry that had to overcome the highest odds in order to earn the respect it so fully deserves, and still hasn’t fully reached it.

.In our Western European bubble, comprised mostly of gays and left-liberal straights, we have a very grateful and universal acceptance of many different kinds of [lizard] people that make up Eurovision casts. Yet with “Kemama” we may have reached an unusually grimy undercurrent of coded racism.

Of course nothing I read was outrageously rancid, than Cod for that. The worst statement I read was a double-whammy of “EWW THIS ISN’T CARIBBEANVISION” and “WHY WOULD SOMEONE FROM *KENYA* WANT TO REP CZECHIA IN EUROVISION?”, and yes they first got the continent wrong and then *also* got the country wrong in the follow-up post and then they were torn limb from limb by a pack of aformentioned left-liberals. I’m sorry but i can’t not have any other response than laughter in the face of yet another fucking MORON faceplanting themselves with words like a... racist JK Rowling if you will?

Still, while I never read something outright vile about Benny doesn’t mean I found his deniers really annoying and they were! Think “Ew Solovey is ‘Too Aggressive’ it will NEVER DO WELL IN ESC”, a statement that isn’t coded nor racist (and yet extremely false and misguided), functioned as a similar idea by the same minds. A statement borne from the same breed of narrow-minded stubbornness which has caused elitist morons to be all “there is **SOMETHING** about “Kemama” i do *NOT* like and I cannot lay my finger on it... but I **DO NOT** like it at ALL. It won’t ever qualify because everyone will think the same way I do” -- Eurovision snobs, tiptoeing around racial coda in January 2020.

They would also insist that Benny was “arrogant” because he was seemingly impervious to their (de)constructive criticism. Like, if you were a biracial butterfly living in a slavic country who had to deal with statements such as the above on a regular basis, you WOULD block out the noise. And if you heard them often enough you will start to block them out pre-emptively. DO YOU NOT KNOW HOW COPING MECHANISMS WORK?? (oh wait you’re white-privileged. Nevermind 🙄)

So naturally, when Benny decided that he would revamp “Okay Mother” by adding in MORE African elements it only made me love him even more lol. 😍 Was it a bull-headed, contrarian and possibly really stupid decision? Yes, yes and absolutely yes. Was it worth it? Well he managed to incite even more meltdowns in a group of people I feel nothing but contempt for, so hell yeah? Eurovision was cancelled anyway so who cares how much ‘worse’ “Kemama” actually got.

Okay, so we’ve arrived at the revamp.

Granted, it wasn’t the best ‘vamp, I’d be a fool to deny it. The new elements threw a wrench in the melodic balance of the song. Out went tropical laid-back fun, IN went that fucking guitar oh my god this is some Hotel FM piano levels of overbearing I swear. (nb: this still didn’t stop me from ironically stanning Hotel FM’s lame asses anyway 😍). However, it made the personal backstory that I loved and savoured take a backseat to the now inferior composition. 😭

Regardless, New Kemama was fundamentally the same song, and I fundamentally liked Old Kemama, so whatevs, it made no different to me. In the eyes of many Eurovision diehards we were experiencing WORST PRESHOW SEASON EVER (after three songs... lol) and nothing clinches this brainworm more than a revamp announcement. “OH MY GOD HE WILL RUIN IT! I CAN GUARANTEE YOU I *WON’T* LIKE IT”. Self-fulfilling prophecies, ya know? It certainly didn’t help when the official channel accidentally uploaded a vid with broken soundmixing (‘OMG HORRIBLE LAST IN THE SEMI!!!!’ calm the ever-loving HELL down) and took another FULL WEEK to upload the correct vid. The damage had already been done. Typing "SEE I TOLD YOU THE REVAMP WOULD BE SHITE HA HA HA” in the Kemama comment box really just is the ESC equivalent of reponding with “Actually, *all* lives matter :smug:” to a BLM support pamphlet, isn’t it?

NF CORNER

While not my favourite NF of the bunch, I found the Czech NF to be lowkey epic. Not epic enough to remember its name but regardless Czechvision or whatever marked the end of an era because it was also the last selection spearheaded by Jan Bors :o

I think I’ve made it clear enough in the past that I’m somewhat mixed on Bors Era Czechia - Lake Malawi were a toetapping good, Ickolas was a pockmarked, skin-crawling evil and the other three inhibit a purgatory somewhere between “moderately nice” and “moderate timewaste.”

Still, I have great respect for the man who orchestrated Czech’s comeback after scoring NINE POINTS TOTAL across three years with the mindset of “So what? Why says we can’t win?” so ofc I was all into the idea of the “EIGHT INDIE ANGELS, HAND-PICKED BY BORS HIMSELF” NF that would serve as his swan song.

Naturally things went down the drain the second Bors left, with one of the eight peacing and his successor cancelling the live broadcast (does anyone remember what exactly happened? I vaguely recall one was the cause of the other but lol it’s July can’t be bothered to factscheck (Factsczeck?) anymore, bitches.

Anyway, ON TO THE GOOD STUFF, and yes, there was plenty.

We All Poop - “ All the Blood (Positive Song Actually)”

youtube

Yes, as you can imagine I ofc IMMEDIATELY fell into like when I saw that chyron and invisioned the inevitability of the Czech Rep’s Rep immediately alienating every parent just based on their name alone <3 😍 w/e WAP quickly became that “Good but not great” song you find in every NF that everyone gushes over because it’s the whitest option available. Like, yes, “All the blood” is good, but musically it’s identical to Green Day and Twenty-One Pilots and god name ANY 90s-early00′s American Punk Rock band. For me the enjoyment came from the fact that WAP were openly crazy vegan fundamentalists and the VC clip actively condemns the use ANY animal protein by replacing the cattle and game with LITERAL HUMAN BEINGS. 😍 :fusedmarcintensifies: :kasiamosage:

Pam Rabbit - “Get up”

youtube

Ohhhh YES a glorious experimental Synth-Trap song only I could love and ofc I did. God what is there even to say; the provocative darkness of the verses combined with the swirling amorphousness of the chorus gives me LIFE. LUFF THIS SHIT <3333 Ftr, this was also the fave of Slovene Juror duo / synth angels / Boris faves ZALAGASPER, further proving their pathetic naysayers that they own all things music and the haters can suck a series of-

Barbora Mochowa - “White and Black Holes“

youtube

Lol, yes even with a “Get up” existing, there was a song I liked even more. Barbora proved a very competent Lana del Gay last year, but I was a YUGE fan of this year’s... Kate Bush-Björk blend of ethereal awesome. It is so soothingly beautiful and the rare example of a song that I find completely free of flaws. Were the competition not such a hard place, I’d be pissed she didnt win (at least she won the jury vote MASSIVE KUDOS to every alum on that) but w/e this selection had opions and I’m rather robbed of a “Kemama” than I am of a BRILLIANT IRREPLICABLE AETHERBALLAD. ~Danse balance sûr les white and black holes~

Elis Mraz & Cis T - “Wanna be like”

youtube

I *VERY* strongly felt that if the Czech Republic wanted to win ESC, they should have picked Elis and even now I STILL believe she could have won. That isn’t to say I gushed over “Wanna be like” because I find it kind of annoying lol. Yes, I LOVE an annoying female voice (:Tones&Icackle:) but Elis’s reaches a Camilla Cabello sort of place for me (good lord get Senorita OFF the fucking radio) and the Scat + White Guy Rapping middle-eight. 😬. However, the second I opened up the video clip for this paragraph and was immediately BLASTED by Elis murdering a ukelele and wearing a “schoolgirl” outfit straight from a Japanese tentacle porn movie and OH MY GOD THE AGGRESSIVE TWERKING made me reconsider that hey, this min-sized Meghan Traynor actually kinda highkey owns, yo! Yet, I’m not at all bothered we lost her in the Czech NF because we got UNO DOS QUATRO CINCO SEIS :fatmansplit: fill up the megameme slot instead, so...

Eurovision 2020 vs Eurovision 2021

BENNY RUINED HIS SONG AND NEVER WOULD HAVE QUALIFIED. jk I’m not a moron. Sure, “Kemama” wasn’t an easy sell because you know AFROBEAT in a contest where half of the people watching are fash (ie: all of Eastern Europe, who watch out of ~Nationalistic Sentiment~ 😬), but there are Kemama live renditions out there and he owns them SO hard lol. A few soundmixing issues really would not have stopped Benny from qualifying in that RIDICULOUSLY WEAKSAUCE SEMIFINAL are you fucking kidding me. He probably would’ve bombed in the Grand Final, but I mean it’s Czech and it’s not Ickolas so ofc it would have.

And Czech renewed him for 2021 regardless of the sceptics, woohoo! I think part of it was due the Czech not wanting to re-organize an ENTIRE NF from scratch without Jan Bors, but probably also because Benny owns live when he isn’t engaged in psychological trench warfare with actual human detritus <3 and also because the Czech fucking CARE about their artists and don’t drop them like a sack of rotten potatoes wtfshitprus.

Can’t wait for the moment when he qualifies and Efendi does not, etc, etc.

FREAKY! FRIDAY! FACTOR!

I’d say that the core around which the Ben Drama spun was pretty standard fare: niche fave beats out the concensus fave, meltdowns ensue, people convince themselves it was the WRONG decision because it wasn the result they wanted, try to disown the song and make a fool of themselves because the song slaps, sorry. Even the revamp drama felt more of less generic for me, because yawn fantards melting down over a revamp of a song they don’t even like what else is new.

However, what I do take away that the revamp was ENTIRELY Benny’s idea which he told no one about (cue to JAN BORS having a social media meltdown like he’s Caesar at the Ides of March 💔) added MORE afrobeat just to troll his haters even more <3 God, I’d say it was bad from a musical perspective but this level of in-your-face defiance is fucking iconic and hilarious, sorry. This entire this year is so batshit bonkers that the concept of a someone potentially shooting themselves in the foot and “torpedo’ing” their qualification chances (not rly, he would’ve Q’d anyway lol) JUST to take the moral high ground in a racially coded argument only HE took seriously may not even be the craziest concept in the year! (lol it definitely isn’t. Look at the pics I haven’t greyed out yet)

This and more yield Benny some well-earned Senheads! Yay!!

Score: 3 Senhits out of 5.

#Eurovision #Eurovision 2020 #Eurovision Song Contest #Czech Republic #Czechia #Bohemia #Ben Christovão #Benny Christo

27 notes · View notes

curestardust · 3 years

Text

if you want: fantasy (generic but hey) / a handful of interesting side characters / nice character designs (mostly) / story has potential but very weak here

Okay, actually? I liked “Tower of God”.

Indeed, it’s riddled with most of the nonsense I usually tear apart without any guilt whatsoever but I had 0 expectations for this. Most of the people who were disappointed by the anime seemed to have expected something. Oh not me, actually, based on the cover art I thought this was going to be as bad as most isekai stuff I review (this isn’t an isekai btw).

So, let’s state that as usual, the only thing interesting about the male protagonist is that he has 2 names for no reason whatsoever. See, this anime was based on a manhwa which is Korean and his name in that is “Bam” literally meaning “Night” in Korean. In the subs, that’s his name but in the Japanese dub he is called “Yoru” which also means night but in Japanese. This is confusing to me because unless I was hallucinating, I’m pretty sure one of the characters was referred to by a Chinese name which by the way isn’t even his actual name in the Manhwa.

My answer to all this is mostly “Eh, whatever” which is generally how I approached this whole anime. Sometimes, I do want to turn my brain off with non SoL and ToG didn’t frustrate me to the point of wanting to punch the screen (a few eye-rolls did happen though) so that’s why I can’t really pinpoint what was bad or good, it just was.

The main character of previously mentioned Bam is as basic as you can get. Short brown hair, has amnesia and has apparently been stuck in some cave the whole time after he regained consciousness. Yeah, he is the empty canvas with the plot armour and the very *convenient* powers he gets. His only place in the story is tha because he is “untainted” by the problems of the real world, all the others accept and flock around him because he is... positive??? I guess??

Anyway, cue the rest of the cast who actually carry the show. The plot of ToG is that people who live in some...other place in the tower (we don’t get any explanation to the outlay of the world this story takes place in) want to and are chosen to climb the Tower and if you reach the top it’ll be like... very cool. I guess? We get no explanation what’s there or how it works. So Bam encounters 1 smartie pants guy called Khun and a screaming giant alligator looking thing called Rak. Through *spoilers* the 3 team up and they are supposed to carry the first half of the anime exceptttt the only interesting among them is Khun. Rak is a comic relief and the MC is... yeah. After a certain test, the rest of the cast get more spotlight, some background story exposision dumps happen. It’s good enough and I did come to like some of the cast but the amount of comic reliefs was way too much. The most interesting characters are definitely Endorsi and Anaak from the participants and the test administrators. All 5 of these characters are closely tied to the Tower and its history itself which is probably why they’re more interesting than the bumbling buffoons who have no idea what’s going on 90% of the time.

There’re some plot inconsistencies that confused me, like how the first Test is a battle royal but then in another Test when one of the characters is threatening another with a knife, the test admin is really freaking out over it... why? It made NO sense. He must’ve seen countless participants slaughter each other, hell, they MAKE them do it so his reaction made no sense to me. But that’s looking deeper into the anime which you must NOT do under any circumstances if you wanna have fun!

The ending is... very frustrating. Like VERY. And considering that I don’t have time to read manhwa OR manga and I don’t know if they will make a follow up, I’m even more pissed. By the way, this anime is best binged. The episodes cut off at really random moments and the flow of it can really be disrupted if you just watch EP by EP.

Now, the technical stuff is very dependant on what you like. I personally really like this more simplistic art style with barely any shading which makes the colours pop more. I already liked the OP and EDs before I even watched this anime as they’re by a Korean boy group called Stray Kids. It’s a mix of pop and rap (as is SK’s style, just toned down a bit). I can’t recall the OST which means it was good and didn’t interfere with my experience.

Closing off, if you go into this not expecting ANYTHING and like fantasy, interesting character designs with motivations and can turn a blind eye to certaint plot inconsistencies and kind of unexpected behaviour by some of the cast, you’ll be able to chill like I did. But... I almost want to tell you to skip the final EP. Cause FU****

[6/10] (x)

Recommend: HELL Yeah! | Yes | Eh??? | Nope | There was actual money spent on this

#dusty reviews #Kami no Tou #Tower of God #i wrote this while sleep deprived i don't even know if i divided the topics correctly zzzzz

1 note · View note

doof-doofblog · 3 years

Text

"What Has He Done To Her?!"

Thursday 4th February 2021

Hello again everyone! Hope your week is going well so far. Before we jump into the episode, there has been a few spoilers I'd like to share with you! Do you remember Gavin Sullivan?! He was a character who was mentioned in the 90s as Sharon's Father and then again in 2001 as Kathy's husband, but never actually appeared onscreen until 2015. He was known for being an "Evil" character who controlled and abused Kathy during their marriage. When he finally appeared on the Square, I'm sure the majority of you will remember that he actually kidnapped Phil during his recovery of alcoholism and caused him to start drinking again. Interestingly, considering we had heard so much about this character, he only ever appeared in 30 episodes. The last time we saw Gavin was when he was arrested for attempting to kill both himself and Sharon back in July 2016! EastEnders have announced that they are going to be killing off Gavin Sullivan off-screen! Pictures have been released of cast members including Sharon and Kathy filming, dressed in black, attending a funeral. This is going to be something that might bring Sharon and Kathy together after weeks of them being at each other's throats over Ian's disappearance. What do you think? Are you intrigued to how this storyline will unfold? I for one am really looking forward to it!

Also, it looks as if there could be some sign that Tina Carter could still be alive?! Apparently in recent spoilers, Tina is meant to be seen shoplifting by police in London. Viewers have been led to believe that she was actually in fact murdered by Gray, but what we never saw was where Gray left Tina, did he dump her body believing she was dead, when in fact she could've been just unconscious? The police will inform the Carter family about their finding, even thought it may give them some hope, could it also be a case of mistaken identity? Is Tina really alive? Also what will it mean for Gray if he gets informed about Tina's sightings? I for one hope she is and that the rumours and speculation could be true, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see! What do you guys think?!

Now following up on today's episode ... Wow!!! What an explosive episode! I really enjoyed this one! The first thing I'm going to mention first is Billy. I guess it's fair to say that Billy isn't in the right frame of mind right now. Having to come to terms with Honey and Jay's relationship, I guess it's fair to say he's not enjoying working for Jay right now and so he decides to look for something different. Even seeing his children out on the Square and noticing they're wearing different footwear, when Will informs him that Jay bought the kids new trainers, it looks as if that really hits Billy where it hurts. I think he's always tried to be a good Dad, but it's obvious that he feels that he could do a bit more for his kids. He approaches Kheerat in asking whether he can have job, pointing out that he's very good when it comes to sales. Instead of giving him a job straight up, Kheerat agrees to give him a trial run. I have to say this scene was particularly comical - Billy thinking he's the big man as he attempts to lean back and put his feet up on the desk, causing everything to fall on the floor. Also can I just say how lovely it is to see Bernie!!! Where has she been?! It's been AGES since we've seen her!! After a good hour or so of talking to a potential customer, Billy doesn't quite manage to grab the sale he needs, leaving himself and Kheerat pretty disappointed. Suddenly, Vinny makes an appearance, excitedly informing his brother that he's preparing to pick up a new car, almost showing off he shows Billy a picture of the vehicle on his phone. Billy seems pretty impressed, but it looks as if a very bad idea is brewing in his mind. Later on he approaches Vinny quite subtly, informing him that he knew about him and Dotty selling a small stash of gear whilst they were in Ruby's club, he questions how selling that stuff pays well. Vinny informs him it just minor stuff compared to other things, but Billy instantly shows an interest. This is something which I fear could be a huge huge mistake, Vinny then informs Billy that he has contacts, people who sell pretty high rated drugs compared to what he sold, but Billy seems more than willing to take their number. Is this what Billy has been drawn to? Drug-dealing? I fear this is not going to go well and it could lead him on a dangerous and/or dark path?!

The second thing I need to talk about is The Carter's and Phil and Sharon! After learning the truth about Sharon being the culprit who attacked Ian, both Linda and Mick are absolutely devastated to learn that they've been lied to and that Tina has been made to take the rap for her actions. Mick desperately tries to reach out to his sister, he makes a call to her but to of no avail, he ends up leaving a voice message informing her that they know who was behind Ian's attack, she's safe to come home! Something which doesn't make sense though, in their mind, is why she would send a text message admitting she had done it. Of course they have no idea that it was in actual fact Gray who sent that message from Tina's phone. Mick and Linda are both fearing that his poor sister is out there on the street, living in fear of coming home. Meanwhile, after bumping into each other on the street, Kathy begs Phil to try and help her search for Ian. Little does she know how he was involved in her son's attack. Phil states that he simply doesn't want to get involved, leaving Kathy, understandably very disappointed and upset. As Phil turns to walk away, he bumps into Sharon, she drops the bombshell on him that she's told Linda everything. As they return to the Mitchell household, they begin to fret of what's going to happen next and whether the police are going to come knocking, suddenly they're backed into a corner when Mick and Linda arrive at the front door. They explain to them that they never meant for Tina's name to be dragged into their situation, in all fairness they don't seem to care about what they've done to Ian, just what they've done to Tina. Phil asks Mick straight out what he really wants from him, to which Mick informs him he just wants his little sister home. To be fair, they haven't threatened to go to the police, it's only right that Tina should be able to return home and not have people think it was her who attacked Ian. Meanwhile, Gray is still fawning over Whitney. He suggests going out for a drink that night, to which she agrees. However their plans seem to be ruined when Phil urgently gives Gray a call. Gray apologises to Whitney and they postpone their evening drinks, As Gray finally arrives at the Mitchell household he questions what was so urgent, as he's led into the living room, it's almost like he's been stuck by lightning - Mick, Linda and Sharon are all waiting for him, he asks how he could be of assistance. That when Phil informs him that they his help to try and find Tina and bring her home!!! Oh my gosh - that was a twist I didn't see coming! How the hell is Gray going to squirm himself out of this one? He's going to have to tread very carefully if he doesn't want them to find out his dark secret??!!

The final thing I have to mention is Denise, Chelsea and Denise!! Wow, wow, wow!!! This also took a turn which, to be fair, was only a matter of time before it was going to happen! At the beginning of the episode, Chelsea is seen packing her Dad's suitcase in preparation for her and her Dad's trip to Ibiza, however - (I think this is where it becomes clear) - she grabs what looks to be huge package of some kind and stores it within the lining of the suitcase. Drugs? Is she involved in or been caught up in some kind of drug trafficking gang and she's wanting to drag her Dad into it, potentially framing him? As she stuffs the brown package out of sight and zips up the suitcase, Lucas appears from behind her informing her that he's not feeling very well, he hasn't slept and proposes that they still shouldn't go. Chelsea is all smiles when she reassures her Dad, suggesting that she goes to the shops to buy him some tablets to settle his nerves. However the look on Lucas's face is more than suspicious. It's obvious that he knows his daughter is up to something. Later on when their taxi arrives to take them to the airport, Lucas puts everything in his power for them to miss their flight. Chelsea is shouting for her Dad from outside of the apartment informing him to hurry, but there is absolutely no response. Realising that her plan is falling apart, she claims defeat and informs the taxi driver to leave, as it becomes clear to her that they're not going to make their flight for Ibiza. Lucas is nowhere to be seen, but it looks as if he simply refuses to leave the flat, knowing that no matter how long he takes, he will make them miss their flight. As Chelsea walks across the Square in a state, Denise notices her daughter's emotions, claiming that once again her Dad is behind her feeling upset. Unbeknown to Chelsea, Denise takes it upon herself to give Lucas a piece of her mind. Now THIS is where the episode really explodes for me! Lucas is sat in the dark, she walks in to seem him alone with the suitcases. Once again she ridicules him, states how much of a disappointment he is as a Father, a man! How dangerous he is to even be on the Square and back in his daughter's life. Lucas doesn't say a word and allows Denise to go on and on, degrading him, insulting him. The editing of this section is absolutely brilliant!! The slow motion of Denise's words, Lucas's breathing, the tapping noise, the tension, the emotion, the camera work, every single moment of this was an absolute pleasure to watch, really creative and powerful! Suddenly Lucas just completely explodes, smashing everything in sight, throwing furniture across the room as Denise stands back in fear. It's then that Lucas claims he knows how everyone around him hates, how everyone he loves, hates his guts. He tries to explain that no matter how hard he tries to better himself as a man, as a Dad, there is always that notion of his past that people hold against him. Okay, yes he is a convicted murderer, but can people really change their ways? He closes in on Denise, informing her that she has no idea how it feels to be driven to hatred because of being hated. Meanwhile, as this confrontation is taking place, Chelsea is alone in Ruby's club as she makes a quick call to Caleb, deeply apologetic for her plan going the way she wanted it to. From what I can gather from the phone call, it's looks as if Chelsea owes this Caleb in some way, she's in debt to him - but what kind of debt is it? Drugs? Money? Who knows? Is this why she's attempted to drag her Dad into her problems so she can make him pay her debt? Who knows? I'm still trying to follow her story as much as I can, without getting a little confused. Caleb agrees that there will be other ways for her to pay her debt, to which Chelsea is ever so grateful. Elsewhere, after his conversation with Billy, Vinny goes to enter his apartment but as he approaches the doorframe, he notices the door ajar, with the apartment completely trashed, as he looks around he also notices splotches of blood on the front step. Taking in the scenery around him, he quickly dashes to find Jack. As they return to the apartment with Chelsea, Lucas appears to have vanished, the only thing I happened to notice is that there is only Chelsea's suitcase left waiting in the living room. As they all look around the apartment, Chelsea find's her Mum's iconic gold necklace with her initial "D" on it. Has Lucas taken his own suitcase and kidnapped Denise for second time? Will Denise be found alive?!

Ooooo overall a very powerful and explosive episode! So much drama! I love it! The more the episodes go on, the more excited I get, I simply cannot wait to see what's going to happen next. There are all sorts of directions each storyline can go. It certainly gets my heart pumping that for sure! Thank you all so much for reading, the weekend is nearly upon us! Enjoy the rest of your day and I'll be back very soon! Please feel free to leave a comment or send me a message, I'll always make the time to respond! Love you all xXx

1 note · View note

specdracers · 4 years

Photo

LANDON BENNETT + THE MOMENTS THAT MADE YOU

"thought i got through it, maybe i didn’t ; thought it was over, maybe it isn’t.”

he’s five years old in southern alabama, and he’s at the first foster home he can remember. landon’s happy. the parents are kind; there’s another little boy here, and they become friends. it’s like he finally has that brother he’s always been wishing for. at this point, he’s too young and naive, not having seen the harsh reality of the world. he thinks he’s going to be able to stay, the parents seem nice enough. his belly is full and the clothes are new, and the foster parents make it seem like he’s going to stay there for the rest of his life. he grows used to it, growing far too attached to the family, and there’s even talk about him being adopted! ( but he’s too young to really understand what that means. ) but he finally learns that all good things must come to an end when the social worker comes to the door and his foster parents have already packed his bags. he can’t remember what they tell him, probably blocked it out. but as he gets into the van and his friend waves goodbye to landon from the door, he can’t help but wonder what he did wrong as he’s being brought into the next house.

now he’s eight and in the third grade. he isn’t too cynical yet, but he’s known to be a loner amongst his classmates. he’s so, so young and he’s already learned that things are better if you keep people at a distance. he does pretty well in classes, getting by with what’s available at the home he’s at. the foster parents are okay, but he’s convinced they’re just doing it for the extra money because the mom just got laid off. the teachers look at him with sad eyes most of the time but he’s grown so used to it. the report card goes home with comments about applying himself and getting out of his shell to make friends. but he always ignores it ; why try to make friends when everyone inevitably leaves him?

middle school is rough for everyone, but for landon, at the age of twelve, he hates it with his entire being. kids aren’t kind, and he’s already gotten into so many fights. they think it would be easy to pick on the kid from the crappy group home on the wrong side of the tracks, but little do they know that he sometimes has to fight over his food when he leaves to go home at night⎯⎯ he’s learned how to throw a pretty nice right hook by now. but this time, they’re not picking on him ( thankfully ). instead it’s another boy, one that he knows just moved into the group home, and they’re talking about his clothes, or his shoes, maybe his hair? landon can’t remember, but he just thinks of how many times he’s been in that position and within seconds he’s on top of the bully, seeing everyone who has ever hurt him until the gym coach has to pull him off.

it’s freshman year of high school, and he’s on the bus to the town’s high school, knees pulled into his chest. and even though he’s trying his best to not get his hopes up, fourteen year old landon finds himself praying to every higher power in the universe that high school won’t be nearly as bad as middle school, he doesn't know how much more he can take of it. the bus pulls up at a huge building with teens all around the front, and he already begin to hide, drowning out the chaos with his headphones blasting 90s rap. a small part of him wants to make friends, but it’s been so long he’s forgotten how. so instead, he walks around the crowded high school hallways, hood pulled up as he ignores pretty much anything and anyone. it’s like this for months, him going through the motions and his teachers are always shocked when landon actually turns in work. they know he has the capacity of doing it, he just lacks the motivation for well, anything.

sophomore year, and his classmates are beginning to get their licenses and cars as they turn sixteen and he’s jealous. he knows he won’t be getting one, he’s not stupid. that doesn’t prevent him from walking around with a chip on his shoulders. landon’s developed quite the temper over the course of his adolescence, and he doesn’t take shit from anyone. he’s the poster child of teenage angst, a tongue that’s wicked quick and fists sometimes just seeming to itch for a fight. people take note of this and for someone who has always wanting to be invisible, he gains a reputation around the school. his teachers mutter it’s a coping mechanism, the poor boy’s never known a family. and they’re right, but they could at least have the decency to not say it when landon’s within earshot.

it’s about halfway through his sophomore year and all the rich kids are talking about their holidays down to florida for christmas when he’s approached by a group of boys. he knows who they are; while landon has a reputation of getting into fights some days, that’s about the most trouble he causes. but this group? it’s a whole other animal compared to getting into fights because someone looked at you wrong. they’re the type to get into trouble with the law ; it’s just petty robbery most days, but when they come to him asking if he wants to join, they say they need a driver, he can’t say no. he’s gone his whole life without being wanted, so he takes the first chance he can when sometimes says differently.

junior year comes around, and the boy just turned seventeen. he’s still with the same group of friends, and landon’s become the stereotypical stoner. comes to class high, sits in the back, and his teachers are still amazed at how landon manages to scrape by in his classes. it’s almost time for him to start applying to colleges ( as if he’s ever planned to go ) and he laughs in the counselor’s face when she says that he’s no future ivy league student but she knows he would have a good chance of getting into auburn ; what type of backhanded compliment is that for a seventeen year old boy? he leaves the office, throwing away the brochure for auburn as he leaves.

this is the year where landon knows he’s on the wrong path, but he doesn’t care. his friends and him wreak havoc on their town at night in a way of graffiti and breaking shit in alleyways. but one day as they’re walking down the street, his friends attempt at a robbery of a small convenience store ( the old guy was far too scary for these amateurs. ) too bad they were too dumb and didn’t even attempt to cover their faces and the store’s camera catches their faces. and after school the next day, the cops pull up arresting all of them. it’s quite a scene, and landon makes sure to smile for his peers’ cameras as he’s getting pushed into the back of a cop car. hours go by, and landon’s told that he’s free to go, considering the fact they didn’t steal anything and they are all minors. when he gets home, the old foster parents he had been staying tell him they’ve had enough of his bullshit. that they’ve tried to get through to him but he’s a lost cause. landon takes this as them basically pushing him out of the house, and he knows that the next day he’ll be whisked away to another home until he’s phased out of the system. with a quick and heartless ‘ fuck you ’ to the couple, landon stomps out of the door and to the closest bus stop with only a backpack full of clothes. after, he’s made his way to new york with the small amount of cash that he had saved for a rainy day ; he’s learned through his years that he always needs an escape plan. but just because he has an escape plan doesn’t mean he has a damn clue about what to do after the fact.

eventually, he figures out a way to survive. not many places hire high school drop-outs so he gets a job waiting tables. it’s not a lot, but it’s something. he’s staying in a halfway house that he found, and while there are plenty of unsavory characters around, it’s nothing he hasn’t dealt with before. he saves up just enough to get a shitty apartment that’s more like a closet, but it’ll have to do for now.

he’s twenty now, and he’s working probably close to three jobs a week just to make ends meet. landon is many things, but the one thing that his friends in new york can’t call him is lazy. his friends are a slightly older than the twenty year old, and he never really knows what type of jobs they do, but he knows whatever they do pays well. they have the nicest clothes and shoes, and he tries his best to not get jealous of them. one day, his friends ask him about his driving, and he laughs, saying they’re in new york and he grew up poor; why the hell would he need a car? but they explain to him that that wasn’t the question, and landon’s confused. he’s never told them about fucking around as a high schooler with his friends, doing donuts in the grassy fields of his hometown. when he tells them that he’s pretty decent, there’s a special kind of glint in his friend’s eye.

a year later, and twenty-one year old landon is in the middle of a crime-ring. did he mean to? absolutely not, but it beats having to wait tables with rude customers anyday. he’s moved out of the closet that his landlord had marketed as an apartment and moves in with his friends. and for once, landon is happy. he has friends that want to be around him ( granted they’re all criminals but at least they’re bonding! ) his clothes are nice, and he drives a decent car on a daily basis. for the time-being, he forgets what it’s like to constantly be worried about everything being taken away from you. and then it becomes too late.

it’s a STUPID easy job, the words of nolan ring through his head over and over again as his torso is flush against the hood of the cop car. it had happened so fast, all landon had to do was just drive and he obviously couldn’t do that very well considering him and his friends are all going to be thrown in jail because of his own stupidity. he can’t look at his friends, knowing that it is his fault that it happened. it’s almost like he blacks out before he finds himself handcuffed in front of a detective wanting to know more information about who he and his friends work for. and even though it’s his fault for getting everyone into this mess, he’s not a snitch. at all his questions, landon sits across, silent with a stupid smug grin across his features. his only demands have been a lawyer. did law and order lie to him? he’s always thought they couldn’t interrogate him until a lawyer was present. and soon, someone walks in and the detective leaves and he can only assume it’s a lawyer.

but it isn’t. it’s some instructor from a school called gallagher and all landon does is laugh. he doesn’t take it seriously for the first couple of moments, but the eerie stare of the instructor shuts him up enough. at first, he refuses. he argues, what about his friends? what about their freedom? surely, there’s room for them at the school too, right? but the solemn shake of the instructor’s head gives landon all the answers he needs. he decides to go with them, the charges dropped and he’s free, but he isn’t happy about bailing on his friends.

at gallagher, twenty-two year old landon is majoring in driver’s ed. it’s such a lame name in his eyes for such an exciting major, but he loves it here ( despite always acting like he’s too cool for it ). he’s known to be a little shit once again, but landon makes it fun. for once, landon feels like he has a home.

#* 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐭 / development.#tl;dr?? i dont blame you!#me all semester tryig to write papers - took weeks #me writing an emo self-para about landon - sAY LESS #literally it's just ... landon being emo tbh #yall: not a damn thing said #me: LET ME WRITE U 2K WORDS #i h8 myself

11 notes · View notes

queensdivas · 4 years

Text

Hidden Blade Chapter 3

Okay. This is one long ass chapter so be prepared. It’s about 5k if that shows you how much fun I had with this. So. Have a blanket, cheez-its, some water, a shot of absinthe and ready to have some good ass writing! Jk my writing sucks but some of y’all like it for some reason?

Also! I’m going to be writing a Eugene Sledge fic if y’all haven’t heard yet. Please message me directly if you would like to be tagged it in. It’s gonna be good and I can feel it in my soul that this one is gonna hit home. (If you don’t believe in my historical fiction writing. Read 39’ and The Great Mazzello).

ALSO! Never drink absinthe straight up! It’s way too strong for the human body. Here’s an article. www.absinthes.com/en/themag/the-absinthe-ritual/how-to-drink-absinthe-4760

Next Chapter

Previous Chapter

Dear God he looks like he snorted about 5 grams of cocaine and thought it would be a good idea to turn into Susan! Does he have a tennis ball in his crotch? Dear God what the flying fuck is going on? At Least two looks somewhat natural in her role while three just looks, he looks like a California surfer douche who thought the new trend of the year was tennis! Okay I’m done for now.

So. Now for the plan of action. One is heading to the track to listen in on the conversation with the Generals and the dealer. Once they get done with the trade, four and I followed him to wherever he’s keeping the gas, kill the supplier, destroy the supplies, and then come back to the hotel for a long time in the jacuzzi!

We sat in the parking lot of the race track with the engine off waiting for one to give us the cue. We needed to fit in today, so one bought a Hennessey Venom GT, while Four and I looked like something you would see on the cover of Afar Magazine. Yet we sit here in our usual clothes of sports pants, thin shirts, tennis shoes, and a crap ton of water and Powerade in the back. Ready to go kill an arms dealer!

I read over the binder again as these instructions we’re becoming a little more easier. Let me give you the spark note version. So you pop the hood off the chamber of where the gas is stored. They put the gas into a very fragile glass tube so if we break the glass we’re kind of fucked. But anyhow. You have to disarm the tube it’s around so that it will dispense the gas.

Remember the really cool scene in Jurassic Park where that dude was putting the Dino DNA or whatever into the bottle of shaving cream? Basically that except we have multiple bottles of shaving cream to move, a very small window before more people show up to kill us, no park to keep the power running, and no threat of dinosaurs. Just people with really big guns!

So after moving the gas from the compound to the desert, which is where five and seven come into play. We found an abandoned bomb shelter from where the US Government was testing in the 50s all the way up until the 90s. One obviously bought it so we toss it down there and destroy it.

That’s the plan. Disarm the gas, take it from the compound, throw it in a bunker and keep Turgistan away from their gas attacks. Sounds pretty easy doesn’t it? But if Florence turned into the shit show that I read on Google then we’re totally fucked!

“You ever wonder why rich ass holes have to have loud race cars?” I asked as I closed the binder.

“I mean. When you truly think about it, a lot of old rich white dudes have tiny penises. And what do tiny penis people do?” He’s got a good point.

“They cause world wars and bomb their own country.” One butted into our conversation as we saw the dealer begin walking out of the track.

“You guys got a lock on him?” One asked as Four turned on the car.

“Yup. He just got into his SUV. Meet ya in the desert, over and out.” I pressed the button for the convertible hood to move back on top as Four revved the engine a little bit. He licked his lips as he was so damn eager to floor the accelerator. We waited for the SUV to almost get out of sight.

“Just don’t be stupid because I get kind of CAR SICK!” He floored it leaving a trail of smoke behind us and the smell of burned rubber. OH god I get car sick and this is a very smooth ride!

He had his five minutes of glory till we caught up to the SUV but being a few cars behind him. Trying not to look suspicious obviously which is easier than it sounds because we were behind two other very big sport cars. My stomach on the other hand is not have it’s five minutes of gloRY! Four made a sharp turn off the strip as I felt my stomach turn into more knots. Oh dear god. You’re on a smooth ride in a plane, with slight turbulence because a bumpy ride is a fun ride! A bumpy ride is a fun ride!

“Why don’t we turn on the radio.” I nervous laughed as I turned on the radio to get a blast of Elvis Presley through the speakers! TOO MUCH VIVA LAS VEGAS! Quickly changing the station to first classical music, then Mexican rap, and then finally a regular radio station. Which lead to Four turning it off because absolutely nothing good was playing.

“Well shit. Sadly nothing good is on. Do you do any pregame music for this or just go head on in?” I asked him as we began leaving the Vegas strip and out into the desert. One couldn’t find a house layout of this dudes place which is kind of shocking because I thought a billionaire could get anything! Four slowed down as the last car that was blocking us disappeared.

“Usually I’d rather just go head on in.” He was taping on the steering wheel with his leg really shaking hardcore. Is he getting nervous? Didn’t think anyone in this squad gets nervous since about all of us are hardcore killers! Well he is a thief so that kind of makes sense because I imagine killing people isn’t something he usually did in his career.

“Hey. I imagine this isn’t the first time you’ve broken into a dangerous compound, wanna know what I do before I get nervous?” He turned his head to me as I reached into my bag to pull out a bottle of Absinthe Eichelberger and two shot glasses.

“Takes the nerves away. Once we make it to the compound we’ll have a shot so that the Green Fairy will give us great fortune.” The SUV turned into what looked like a large fortress as we continued on, so we didn’t look suspicious towards them. We kept going until we were about a mile away as I pulled out my binoculars to watch them enter in the code to open the gate. Damn it! Can’t get a good look from this far. Get to it in a minute after a shot.

I poured us a shot then added some water to make sure we get the full affect. I handed him the glass as we clink our glasses together then down the hatch! Ah that’ll do it! We climbed out of the car to open the truck for our bags. He threw on his satchel as I for my book bag. I looked through my binoculars again to start the counting of the security cameras.

One..three..seven..nine..twelve and it looks like the only side the cameras that is somewhat accessible is the west side of the compound. There’s some type of tree that easily blocks one of the cameras. So. There’s about two ways we can do this and be successful. We can either A, we climb on the south side of the fence and find the gas. Or B, we try to get through with our car and possibly get shot since we don’t look familiar whatsoever. I’m going to with Plan A.

“So the westside has the least amount of the cameras and the best point of entry.” I told Four as he popped open the back of the trunk and threw his book bag on as I reached for my bag. Throwing it on my shoulders as he closed the door and locking it.

“You ready?” I asked as we began doing some quick stretching and loosen up the tension.

“Always.” We looked over at each other for a split moment as he looked a little scared. Me? Totally not shitting my pants over the fact I’m robbing a toxic compound.

We darted towards the west side as he followed the direction of the security camera. It began turning towards the opposite direction towards one of the other cameras. We made it to the wall as it turned the other direction. Just in time. Phew. I looked straight up as I got into my bag for the chalk powder, pouring a little on my hands then passing it to over to Four.

“So how do you scale walls then?” He asked as I looked straight up the wall. This place is definitely old so the walls have the knocks and crannies for an experienced climber to do their thing.

“Quickly yet carefully. You first.” Telling him as he didn’t move an inch up the wall.

“No you.” I don’t wanna go first! I’m new to the team! Newbies go last!

“No you!” We stood in front of each other till he reached into his pocket and pulled out a penny.

“Heads you go first. Tails I go.” He flipped the coin, caught it, then showed it before us. Tails!

“Yes! Have fun. Don’t die.” I chuckled at him. He groaned as he began climbing up the wall as I began planning my scale up the wall. He reached the top, looking over the wall to then motioned for me to follow up. I began climbing as he hopped over the wall to land in bushes.

“OW! Pointy!” As I looked down to see him crawling out of the pointy bush. I looked to make sure no guards were looking over in our direction. I climbed then fell straight into the bush for a not so soft landing.

“Gaaahh.” I whispered as I quickly crawled out then behind the massive palm tree. A few people came out of the SUV then more out of the house. A fat man came walking out with his hands opened wide to the dealer himself.

“You made the deal!” One of the men cheered as the dealer clapped his hands.

“Tell ya what. We finish some of the work then we head back to Vegas for a trip.” They laughed amongst themselves as we began moving towards the back of the compound. If this is where they make it, then I’m assuming they’re storing it in the basement of the compound because there’s no way this dude lives here, it’s not nice enough and it’s right outside of Vegas.

“Okay. So the gas is either in the basement of this building or it’s even back more of the compound.” He pointed to the side where it kept going way more.

“Alright. You check this house, I’ll head further back to see what we got.” We nodded till we noticed more people were coming out of the house, music started playing, and even a mariachi band came out? Two guards came walking by where we were then stopping a few feet away from us.

“So they got all the gas down in the cellar of the shed?” What a coincidence! Glad to know they got all the gas down in the cellar of the shed. Seems kind of rushing don’t you think? But ya know whatever makes my job easier than it needs to be.

We made our way over to the shed as a pack of women were standing around the balcony, talking, looking half naked, and doing cocaine off each other? Hollywood really needs to nail how these bitches do cocaine. Four stopped for a second as one of them tossed over the top of her shirt as her titties appeared before him.

“Four stop looking at the titties!” I ordered as I continued sneaking to the shed. I double checked to see if Four was following me, he’s still looking at all the now naked ladies on the balcony.

“Just a few more seconds.” I rolled my eyes as I grabbed his ear to start pulling him towards the shed.

“We’re dead and have a free night in Vegas. Just go on pornhub and watch your titties when we get back to the hotel!” I told him as we made it to the shed. He took one last look then got back into the game.

Four opened the window slowly as he climbed in as I quickly followed suit. I then closed the window as quietly as I could as Four busted open the cellar where the gas was being held. A foul stench of chemicals came out of the cellar. He reached into the bag to pull out two gas masks for us just incase something goes wrong.

“Got our shaving cream?” I asked him as he pulled out one of the bottles as I shined a flashlight into the basement. Nodding as we placed the mask over our faces then down into the dark hole of death.

The only light was my flashlight so no one would notice the lights or us moving around in the cellar. There were tables around the room with the materials they’ve been remaking the gases with. So they’re not in the bombs which is nice and makes us skip a whole bunch of steps. The only light besides my flashlight were tiny little windows that let only a little sunlight entering the room to show us the outline of the shelves. They haven’t started the production of too much gas so we hopefully have enough room for everything.

“One we made it in the cellar where the gas is. Starting our extraction.” I told one as I slid off my bag to start pulling out the bottles of shaving cream. I screwed open the bottle as we began shoving the chemicals into the bottles as quickly as we could.

A weird chirping sound began ringing throughout the cellar as four was too focused on trying not to drop any of the chemicals. It sounded like a mixture of a dying bird and a baby. It’s cries sound very familiar of one of a tiger. I grabbed my flashlight and began following the sound of the chirps. I was lead to the corner of the room where this little ball of orange, black, and white was curled up in the corner of the room. It lifted it’s head up and the poor thing look so malnourished oh my god!

I took off my jacket as the cub tried getting up, but it’s legs we’re so skinning that it could barely hold its own weight. Should I be taking you home? Yes. I wrapped it up in my jacket as the door above us busted open and what sounded like elephants running upstairs.

“Eight what are you doing?” Four asked as the cellar door opened as we both scurried around to hide behind the tables. Okay this is a horrible idea but the only way I’m going to get myself out of here is putting the cub in my bag. Dear God please don’t hate me little one, but you’re gonna have an endless amount of meat when this is over.

The guards came running down the stairs as I looked to see my book bag was only a few inches away from me after finding a table to hide behind. I put the cub on the ground as it stayed in the hoodie so I could try to reach for the hoodie.

“Hey! Who's been touching the goods?” One of the guards barked as they turned off the safety of their guns to start scoping out the cellar. I slowly rose from behind the table to see more of them coming down the stairs. Shit shit shit! Getting down as I turned the corner to just snatch my bag. I shoved the hoodie into the bag, leaving it opened at the top as the cub stuck it’s head out. I then put the bag on my shoulders as I began crawling through the cellar.

Ya know. If you take a bottle of ethanol and basically treat it like a Molotov cocktail, you can burn down a building much nicer than any regular whiskey and fire. Four was ready to kill one of the guys as I motioned him to stop, then pointing at the bottle of methanol. He nodded as he pointed to the cellar stairs as a cue for us to go up, Molotov those fuckers and kill a little birds with one stone!

On three I grab the bottle. One..two..THREE! I snatched the bottle almost knocking over a bunch of dishes. Shit shit shit! Four made his way up the cellar stairs as I crawled as quietly as I could to the stairs as the guards were beginning to come in my direction. Just stay calm..no need to panic! Just run up the cellar stairs and dump the ethanol! RIP IT OFF LIKE A BAND AID!

A very loud crash happened as one of the guards accidentally fell over one of the shaving cream bottles which gave me the cue to run up the stairs. I climbed up the stairs then popped open the bottle of ethanol to start dumping down the stairs. Once it was soaked into the wooden stairs, I kicked it down the stairs as Four pulled out his lighter then launching it downstairs. He then slammed the cellar door shut as we made a break towards the closest wall.

“Well not exactly according to plan.” He threw off his gas mask as we hid behind bushes. I think at this point we’re just waiting for the place to go BOOM! And I’d really like to see it go absolute boom because that means we just saved so many lives! The tiger chirped as four looked over to the back of my bag. I didn’t move at all as it’s head popped out of the bag which made Four almost scream.

“Why do you have a tiger in your bag!?” He whispered yelled as I turned to him.

“Why don’t you have a tiger in your bag hm?” I asked him as he rolled his eyes then just stared me down.

“We can’t bring a tiger back into the airfield! One will get rid of it!”

“I plan on raising it! I’ve worked with big tigers before!”

“Oh really!?”

“Yes real..” The shed exploded as we ducked down covering our heads as the explosion was beginning to ring through our ears. FUCK THAT WAS LOUD OH MY GOD!

The heat felt like it was going to melt our skin off our body and that's when we decided to make a break for it up the wall. I was the first climbing up as quickly as we could as the guards began yelling behind us! Crap crap crap!

“FOUR HURRY YOUR BUTT UP!” He was right behind me as they began shooting at the wall. I made it to the top then just jumped for it hoping that I don’t break my legs! I landed on the ground. Four landed right behind me as we made a mad dash towards the car.

“ONE PLANS CHANGED! WE BLEW UP THE SHED!” I yelled as he started the car as the place began catching on fire.

“What do you mean you blew up the shed? What the hell is going on?” I threw the bag into the foot area of the car as Four ran to the otherside of the car as he didn’t even close the door, just slammed on the accelerator then shifting into the fastest gear.

“I’m not much of a driver as six was, but hopefully we can get far enough away from this place.”

“Who was six.” He got quiet as he shifted gears as we slow down a little bit as we got close to Vegas.

“Six was a good friend before he got killed in Florence.” Before he could finish his story, one yelled straight into our headsets wondering what the heck has happened.

“Four! Eight! Are you two done having fun?” He yelled as I moved the ear bud out of my ear so I wouldn't go deaf!

“Well we destroyed the gas by burning the whole compound down. So mission accomplished on our end! Meet you back at the airbase in the morning. Four and eight over and out.” I yanked off the radio as I dove into the bag to pull out the cub.

“Four. How much do you think a few pounds of ribs are in Vegas?” I asked him as the cub was dead asleep in my hands.

“Ten pound ribs?” He asked as we turned towards Vegas.

“Make it fifteen. With a side of mashed potatoes.” Great minds think alike! The Tiger cub woke up a little as she began yawning.

“I think I’ll call you Anya.” Her beautiful yellow eyes opened wide as she tried licking my hand a little.

“That’s adorable oh my god.” Four commented as we were pulling up into the hotel. Damn right one got us a room at the Bellagio. I also think two and three are somewhere in here with us but on different ends obviously. He reached into the back for one of the bottles of water, pouring it into the empty shot glass from the absinthe. I held it up to Anya as she began slurping up the water from the glass.

“Tomorrow I’ll find some sort of wildlife sanctuary. As much as I would love to take care of her and turned her into a fighting machine, I’ve seen what control does to animals for most of my life. We’re just going to get ya to a bigger place with better help. Sound fun Anya?” She was so focused on the water she probably didn’t even hear me.

I know I focus on dealing with the horrid people of the world, sexual predators, corrupted Government leaders, and drug lords. But from this moment on. My ass will be going after poachers who hunt animals for money. Just now have to add them to the list which will make it ten times larger. Worth it so that one day Anya and her cubs can run around Russia in their natural habitat.

We made it to the bedroom as I put Anya down on the bed as she began sniffing around the room. Four immediately threw off his shoes and jumped onto his bed, picking up the phone to order room service.

“So we’re doing ten pounds of ribs, potatoes, and?” He asked as I grabbed the large glass so I can put some more water in it for Anya.

“See if they have any cheesecake. Make it an oreo cheesecake.” I poured the courtesy pitcher of water for Anya not to drink too much water.

“You wanna finish your story about six?” I asked him as I threw off my tank top I had on to reach into my bag for my hoodie.

“Six was a drag racer from somewhere out east who didn’t make me feel so out of place with the rest of them, till you joined the team.” My cheeks feel a little funny. They feel like they’ve been twisted a little bit as I tried to focus on Anya.

“Well. I’m glad I’ve made your experience on this team a little more relaxing because I can imagine being in this doesn’t have it’s relaxing or happy moments. Now order the food so we can stuff our faces and make One’s bank have a heart attack.” I told him as he dialed for room service then noticed something on the tv.

“Eight! We can go do a sky jump from Stratosphere tower!” Say what? I looked up from Anya to see an ad on TV about a bungee cord thing over by the tower.

“You in?”

“I’m in.” We’re two unknown people in this world and now declared dead. Let’s go have some fun then!

Now how do dead people usually have fun? Rob a bank, destroy a multi million corporation? Nope. You got bungee jumping and use the money to close it for the two of ya. Gotta love one’s money and how much can persuade two college students for the rest of their career.

“Ya know after the amount of buildings we’ve both jumped, dangled, and even fallen from. Yet I still am a little scared that it’s going to snap and I die.” Trying to calm myself down as we made it to the jumping area.

“Think of it as that jump oh my god this is going to be fun.” He was getting excited as he was the first to be put in the harness. He complained about jumping over a wall into a compound but now he’s dying to jump from a very tall needle thing in Vegas? Of course.

“See ya at the bottom.” He got a running start as he made the jump. I could hear him screaming in joy the entire way down. Is he doing flips? Oh my god it’s like being back home again. My body began to relax as it has before when I used to fly through the air when a time was much more simpler and full of color.

I was strapped into my harness as I made the running start just as four did! When my feet jumped over the edge it felt so damn freeing! The wind was rushing through my hair as I could hear the trumpets, trombones, drums, and the entire orchestra of a life before my true colors came into play!

“HELL YEAH!” I yelled as I finally did a front flip as I was getting close to the bottom. Four caught me from my jump as I tried to regain my balance from the jumping rush. He took a step back away as the kid came to help me out of this 80s tracksuit.

“Oh my god that was so much fun! I forgot how much fun that was oh my god!” I laughed as the other college student helped me get out of the yellow and blue jumpsuit.

“When we’re done with the whole turkistan mission. I think we need to take a climbing trip.” Four made the comment as I climbed out from the jump suit. A climbing trip?

“As in climbing a mountain?” I asked as we began walking off the target zone.

“Something a little smaller. Why not go scaling something in Wyoming or even Utah. I’ve heard there’s a lot of rock wall climbing out there.” Is he asking me out on a nature date? Or just a date in general? Although I’ve heard the southwest of America definitely has some beautiful views that is definitely worth the climb.

“Sure. Haven’t done a nature climbing thing in a very long time.” Well. Guess I have a date after we kill a Government leader.

How romantic. PFt hahahaha!

taglist: @filmslutt @bonafiderocketqueen @leah-halliwell92 @lazykittenstudent @radiob-l-a-hblah @itsmeaudrieee @intoanothermind @imjustboredso @4lendow-norris @wickedholland @takemetoneverland420 @raylan-c

#ben hardy #ben hardy fluff #ben hardy x reader #ben hardy x oc #ben hardy x female reader #6 underground #6 Underground Four #6 Underground Billy #Ben Hardy 6 Underground #Four/Billy #Four #Four x Reader #6 Underground Fan Fic #6 Underground Fiction

40 notes · View notes

writtenaboutshinee · 4 years

Text

SHINee for COOL, September 2008

Repost from shineeinterviews who originally reposted it from shineee.net

20 facts of ONEW

1. Nicknamed “tofu”. “Pure tofu”, “ondubu”, they all refer to him. Uses the introduction “I am only~you~ Onew” taught to him by Leeteuk and at times, switches to “Hello, my name is Michael Jackson(sincerely)!”

2. Feels shy about presenting himself to people, and because of it, he did not dare to participate in auditions. When he was a trainee, everyone else seems to be improving everyday, while he seems to be staying stagnant and not improving, that to him is the saddest period of his life up till now.

3. When performing on stage for the first time, he could not see anything in front of him, and even forgot the lyrics before going up on stage. But he thought of his parents who were sitting in front of the stage, he thought “Yes, I must look for them”, and thus calmed down gradually.

4. The Leader who commits the most mistakes during practices; the Leader who feels respoonsible for the group and solves problem, the Leader who will just zone out from time to time, the Leader who still stays strong despite sporting swollen, red eyes under the glaring lights, the Leader who cries in the car secretly after getting injured.

5. “Rather than saying that I use certain methods to make the sunbaes like me, I am just working hard to be respectful.” It is this thought that accompanies the 90 degree bow everytime.

6. Infamous NG King. “You just cannot not NG can’t you!” (KEY)

7. “Honestly, amongst all of the SHINee members, in the terms of looks, physique, expression…and everything is charismatic and the only phrase to describe the person is ‘near perfection’, that member is – ME!”

8. Good in studying, was second in the entire school before. To him, it’s nothing to be very proud of, because everyone has their own strengths that is irreplaceable by others, isn’t it more important to discover that strength and make use of it?

9. Because he got curious after hearing that “if there is something heavy on your chest, your thoughts will become heavy too, and you will experience illusions”, so he went went to sleep hugging a box, hoping to enter a land of illusions but nothing happened…

10. Looks gentle and quiet, but is very ambitious at attempting to be humourous, is always very enthusiastic about trying various methods to hype up the atmosphere behind the scenes. Also possesses the ability to freeze the atmosphere with whatever he says, but there are just once or twice a year when people do feel that he is funny.

11. 'What should you do if you are a victim of the SHINee poison?’ “ …Go to the hospital for cure! (innocently, seriously)

12. Can be quite blur at times. "Our album will be released in May (firmly) …. It’s already August now?! ….Oh then it should be in September…Ah (manager glares at him) No no, it’s in August, end of August…”

13. His idea type is something who has character, good personality, is responsible, knows how to cook, looks good in appearance, the hands must be especially pretty, and the most important aspect – it must be a noona!

14. If met with unbearable situations, changes mindset from “I have to do ____ before its fine?” to “It’s just doing _____ then it will be alright” and it will work. Be it heaven or hell, what matters is how you view it.

15. Tied his hair with the filigree(the golden strip thing) used to package bread, that was when he was really young, and had really long hair…

16. Strong at adapting, when dressing up as a girl for the first time, he felt fascinated and awkward, but after awhile he was able to start dancing sexy dances. If he does changes into a girl? He would probably date Key. Unique, strong personality, very interesting, just like his cup of tea.

17. Does not hide his worry about the possibility of him commiting mistakes because he is does not feel capable of it. “Can I do it well?”, “Will it be safe?”, “Will I get into trouble?”, whatever comes to mind he will voice it out, and after that, will feel more daring to continue on.

18. Suffers from the “Floudering about” syndrome, will sink into a state of baffling nervousness whenever he does not know how to answer something. When it comes to handling the direction of a conversation, it will be fine if he is not nevous, but once he ends up panicking, he will want to shout “umma”.

19. Will wake up early to make roast meat for Taemin, but sleep is also very important, must have a good sleep, eat well and abstain from unhealthy snacks – how else to maintain such a good complexion?

20. The most memorable present. the most treasured present, the happiest present received: Everyone’s love. How about using this year’s Newcomer Award to repay that? That is a precious gift that can only received once in a lifetime, want to receive it, and then…Hehe, not telling you! …Did I say that?…Eh….

Matters needing attention: Onew condition: Turning quiet suddenly, not talking to anyone, just sitting there in a daze; committing mistakes in most unlikely and unexpected situations, it is fine that others are baffled and fascinated by it but the main thing is that he does not even know why, muddles up from time to time, for details refer to point 12 above. If any of the above mentioned is committed, it is termed the “Onew condition”.

The X catalyst: Forcefully trying to bring him back into the reality world; questions why he commits such a baffling mistake; and reasoning with him.

The O catalyst: Wait for him to return to earth; laugh along with him. If he falls or trips, silently observe if he is trying to conceal his pain and divert other’s attention from his injury with his smile; take what he says as the final say, do not take it too seriously, since most of the time he commits blunders on what everyone else already know, even if he does not correct it, you will already know the right answer…

20 facts of TAEMIN

1. Must never forget to smile.

2. Carries a bag containing a lot of sweets around, all with a SHINee logo attached on it. Will give out these sweets whenever he sees noonas.

3. Has been said by many that he is good at aegyo, but will in actualy face, use half aegyo and half forcing to get what he wants, for example, mumbles “I want to be a director too” constantly while using his butt to push others.

4. Has been said that he is cute too many times, but “does not want others to say that I am cute”.

5. When first debuted, is used to blinking a lot when speaking, it is a lot better now, but somehow it has become a hot topic after Key umma has imitated it.

6. Will run around the practise room with a bottle/packet of milk in his mouth, spends a lot of time in the waiting room studying and rushing his holiday assignments and preparing for exams.

7. Being on stage is something to be enjoyed, and dance is the what makes him derives the most joy from. The title is just to attraction people to watch, you should only believe in what you see.

8. His dancing ability has been widely recognised, but do you know that his rap is pretty MAN too? Go listen to “Love should go on”.

9.Do not think that he is a child with a huge generation gap between the two of you, he idolises “MJ” and also likes to imitate Seo Taiji – “I don’t know anything!”

10. “I really don’t know anything!” (catchphrase)

11. Can transform an ardent swordsman into a kawaii youth, and can change the action of pulling out a sword to just raising a fire torch.

12. “When I first saw Taemin, I thought he was really pretty. At that time there was a trainee noona in front of him, and Taemin was even prettier than her.” (EUNHYUK)

13. Does not feel that he has a talent that can matches up to Onew, but if he were to do it(Onew’s talent)…he can do it too!

14. A very obedient child, even if he is asked to sit on someone’s lap, or getting hugged or being lifted up on someone’s shoulder, he does not object. He’s so young that the sunbaes find it hard to see him as a rising artiste who is catching up with them, but he is beginning to present a star’s disposition.

15. Knows how to play, and will play. A finger and a camera. that’s his best friend.

16. “Hyung, do you know what is love?” (to the rest of members)

17. “If I am a girl, I will choose to date Minho, because he is Flaming Charisma!”

18. “In the show, Yunhanam, the person who is the best at making a girl happy is Taemin.” (KEY) But he is still at a stage when he is more enthusiastic of dogs than girls.

19. If there is true love involved, how can age be limiting, isn’t there a guy who married a really old grandmother?

20. Has the care and concern of the hyungs, the love and care of the noonas, it’s really nice. If only he can see his family more…Hyung, saranghae…

Matters needing attention: Competitve: You can treat him as a exclusive young man but in front of him, you better see him as a man at heart.

The X catalyst: “Taemin ah, you go and do _____ k – You are the youngest!”

The O catalyst: Chant silently “He is a man! Do not be charmed by his smile! Do not be fooled by his baby face!” Hypnosis, the effect is threefold.

20 facts about MINHO

1. “Hello everyone, I am SHINee’s Flaming Charisma Minho. I have to talk for more than a minute? What can I say? One minute is too long!”

2. “Minho looks like a main character of a manga” (ONEW) “He is a living existence of selfishness!” (KEY) “When I first saw him, I thought "Ah! So handsome! Especially the eyes!” (JONGHYUN)

3. Has no concept about money, no concept about taking care of his health, has no concept about maintaining handsome or not – Why waste so much energy thinking about this kind of things?

4. If he were to pick the most handsome pose, it would be just to stand there properly. What he is most confident of: not blinking for 3 minutes!

5. “I will buy our album this time too, and keep it as a personal collection.”

6. Feels happiest when he is on stage singing and dancing, really. When singing, he will persevere on to the very end, and when singing, he will imeerse himself into the song until the last note ends. If it is not his song, it is even easier for him to get involved, like “Rokkugo”.

7. An inquisitve baby, is curious about everything. If he doesn’t do anything then it is fine, but if he goes about doing something, he must do it to his best capacity, a perfectionist.

8. Does not talk usually, but hopes that the members can become closer amongst each other, to become “forever SHINee”.

9. “The album is really manly and wild, Minho!” “They said we are manly and wild…(looks at other members) Is that good?”

10. His ideal type just need to be of an average height, must definitely be kind at heart, have long hair, wears dresses frequently – Ah, will just secretly laugh when thinking about it.

11. When singing “Love like oxygen”, he thinks of his fantasy girl (embarassed)

12. Sits upright and listens attentively on screen, but plays crazily off screen, occassionally will trip over the stairs and will turn back and glare at the stairs.

13. “Honestly, if I am a girl, the member from SHINee that I will definitely date is Taemin.”

14. Is good at doing everything, and is able to understand and analzye matters effectively – in reality, he is very aware if the people around him are comfortable or not – except when he is the camera PD: he still does not understand how to make the people in the scene stand properly.

15. “I have never seen a ghost, but I would like to see one.”

16. According to Taemin, Minho’s sleeping pyjamas is the cutest, but what is the pattern then? Flowers and grass? Animals? Hearts? It is unanswered.

17. “It shall be it then.” (catchphrase)

18. Does not have a personal talent. Does playing soccer counts? I am good at playing soccer, do you want to have a match someday?

19. Does not want to be hypocritical, refuses to be half hearted and insincere, if very straightforward in personality.

20. It’s not that he cannot be crazy, it’s not that he cannot lead, it’s not that he is not attracted to girls, you just to get hold of the that one single point that makes him interested and wait for him to give you a suprise.

Matters needing attention: Fretting: The most boring part about him is when he is bored, but when the most exciting thing is when he starts to fret. If all his frettings show themselves, then this world would be very much interesting.

The X catalyst: Uses a lot of effort to try to extend the topic and directing the atmoshpere.

The O catalsyst: Bring a puppy to him and wait for him to say stuff like “It’s so cute, looking at it makes me feel happy”, when that happens, he will naturally talk more.

20 fact about JONGHYUN

1. Has been said that the first line of “Love like oxygen” sounds like Michael Jackson’s style. “It does sound like it a bit.”, he admits it himself, but Usher is still irreplaceble, definitely!

2. “Bling Bling Jonghyun”, does it sound weird? He uses it all the time, be it during messaging or talking, he uses it. Because he loves R&B and Hip-hop too much, he wishes that he can shine forever (like bling bling). If you want it difficult to call that, “Hey Bling” can be used, thats what the members call him.

3. Will tend to talk at a really fast speed when he gets nervous, but because he talks a lot usually, nobody ever notices that habit of his.

4. There is no shortcut to acheiving perfection, just hard work and more hard work, if he is unable to take it, he will hide in the toilet for a cry, and then continue to work even harder during practice.

5. Has a lot of charisma on stage, but is very endearing and fun to be with off stage, before debut, he chats with Taemin everyday when returning home, is the member who is the most unanimous with his relaxation and lifestyle.

6. “If I meet an alien, I will definitely be scared at first, but after awhile when I get to know it, I will consider how to send it back home.”

7. Regardless of anything, no matter how many times he had performed on stage, whenever he hears his own song he will still get exceptionally excited, will lipsynch along, dance along, fidget around in his seat, even when he chokes on water he will still remain engrossed.

8. A very lively student in high school, able to digest English and Korean songs very well. Formed a band, composed music during that time, believes that if you truly like something, it is not difficult to persevere on.

9. Understands the importance of heath, so does not eat stuff like instant noodles even when he is very hungry. To practise on an empty stomach is definitely tough, but in comparison, won’t it feel really good to finally eat a full meal during breakfast? – After tolerating for so long, it’s finally time to enjoy.

10. Is not scared of the camera at all, a 180 degree display or 360 degree all show? Just state it.

11. Feels that he is a good hyung, and a good dongseng to the members, if not for the fact that they always interrupt him which makes him flares up at them shouting “Keep quiet!” at times, his image is pretty perfect.

12. Makes total and absolute preparation for everything, will even stay up overnight without sleep to prepare. If his progress does not meet his own expectations, he will feel restless and a little short tempered.

13. Likes girls who seek novelty at times, is willing to accept the age gap of up to 6 years…What about 7 years?….8 years?

14. Why cover up if you make a mistake, just admit it truthfully won’t it be good?

15. Taemin is very good, but too young. If he were to become a girl, it will be better to let Key be his boyfriend, setting aside the good personality, Key is very honest, which fits his view in life, refer to point 14.

16. Has a lot of notices, will show off to his members after returning to the dorm. Will also miss his members whom he don’t know what they are doing while he is at certain shows/programs, if there is a chance, he will like to bring all his members along.

17. The only secret to maintaining a good complexion despite a very hectic schedule is to simply maintain a positive mindset. 18. Is very proficient in the guitar, bass and piano.

19. Wakes up the earliest in the dorm, will wake up Key after he is done with washing up, Key will then wake Onew up, then Taemin and lastly, Minho – “I am the one who wakes up the earliest! I am most confident about it!”

20. “How do I wash the rice? Why doesn’t Key umma know?! …So you have to wash it like this, Taemin? Wow!”

Matters needing attention: Rebellious: A common puberty failing, it’s a phase that all teenagers will experience.

The X catalyst: Commanding orders, such as “You want me to do this?”, “You have to settle this.”

The O catalyst: Be more natural at it, as long as you don’t make him feel suppressed, he will always come to you, and is willing to endure hardship gladly.

20 facts about KEY

1. Will go to the CD shop and ask, “Where are the SHINee CDs? Are they selling well?” Cares about his welfare in outlook in life.

2. “Right from when we are trainees till now, the one who sings really well, dances superbly, gets angry only when it is an occasion to be angry about, makes people feel that "this guy is really amazing!”, that person is Key.“ (JONGHYUN)

3. Has a love-hate relationship with horror movies and horror stories, he yearns for them but he is also scared of them, he likes them but he also dislikes them. He lost his composure/image in the cinema many times because of that, he is only able to rent horror movies/dramas to watch at home to continue scaring himself.

4. "I don’t want a fantasy romance like those in the movies, I look towards a realistic and truthful relationship.” Honest, straighforward and open minded girls are OK, but girls who are soft on the outside but really fierce on the insides are a NO. Must have an opinion, not be too girly, and must like to freely express what she likes.

5. In terms of dressing up as girls, Taemin is the most suitable, but the prettiest is still the one who is looking into the mirror (ie. Key), if he really wants to do it, even a true woman will not be able to match up to him. (Proudly)

6. Is confident that he can be a gourmet chef, nobody can escape his dumplings trap.

7. “To be an idol, it’s not enough to just put in effort in the front appearance, your back appearance is important too.”

8. Good at saying honeyed words, but hearing lines like “Are you hurt? I am hurting too.” makes him burst out in laughter.

9. “If I were to become Yunhanam’s director, the viewing rates ought to be able to rise.” (smug)

10. His personal talent is imitating a robotic character from a cartoon show, the classic line being “Woah! Money! With money anything can be done!!”

11. Good at preparing, good at analyzing, belongs to the kind who is able to work out a plan from scratch with just a single detail.

12. “You cannot avoid me, you must look at me in the eyes.”

13. It’s his nature to take care of people? At first he was just Taemin’s umma, after that his nagging extends to include all of the members, and now it is becoming that he nags at whoever he sees.

14. Still nagging. Because he has been too naggy, Taemin really wants to change his umma now…

15. Become a girl? Then he would date all the other members once and see how it is. Does not know how it is like when they are in front of a girl, he is really curious about it.

16. “The person who is able to meet an ET who has come to earth and not feel scared but instead in able to converse naturally with it is Key…Even if he is left on an abadoned island, he will still be able to find a way to survive.” (JONGHYUN)

17. As long as he is being sincerely asked to do something, he will do it no matter how unwilling he is, even if he does not like to do it.

18. Sentimental and sensitive, even if it just a piece of paper from someone who he cares about, he will take really good care of it.

19. The group’s No.1 in fashion. Red, white, blue, it is normal for him to carry off these colours which are easy to carry off, but for colours like pink and grass green which are more difficult to pull off, he is still able to do it.

20. “I hope that this album can receive a lot of love from everyone, and, if only our friends all know SHINee’s songs, they only know 'Noona is so pretty’ …”

Matters needing attention: Height phobia: Will feeling giddy, disgusted, off balanced when standing on high grounds, feels very dangerous if he is suspended in midair.

The X catalyst: Rollercoaster or bungee jump or water slide…

The O catalyst: Standing with both foot on the ground.

Translations by atlantis-x @ soompi/shineee.net / re-post from (x)(x)(Both links are broken now but they led to SHINee’s thread on the old Soompi forums)

#year:2008 #article origin:china #era:llo #interview #cool magazine #group interview #shinee #shinee interview

8 notes · View notes