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mammonsvulva · 3 years

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Hi there! I just discovered your page and i loved the bachata headcannon!

On that same line, can you do a female latina headcannon? Like, more specifically, Colombian, you know, an MC that's like normally fluent in english but when mad she just burst on angry spanish screaming session with latin curses and a strong accent and also just getting really mad if deemed as Mexican by default? I'd love that! Thank youuuu (also feel free to ignored this if it's not of your fancy)

I hope you have a great day!

Of course! I really hope you like it! :)

(I tried to incorporate things some of my relatives say as Colombians please don’t hate me🥲)

The Brothers + Datables and a Latina MC with Colombian Habits

Lucifer❤️

Lucifer has always been amused by the boldness MC portrayed, that is until Mammon pissed her off

MC actually f*cking explodes, calling Mammon “culicagao” (like a bratty kid) and a bunch of profanities out of rage

Actually leaves Lucifer surprised, who could she hate so much that she’d put a curse on them?

Is actually kind of scared to speak up after she went silent, kinda just stares at her like “what the fuck do I do”

“I’ve told Mammon A THOUSAND TIMES. IM NOT F*CKING MEXICAN”

(Oooohh Mammons gonna get his ASS WHOOPED)

“MAAAAAAMMMMOOOOONNN????”

Mammon💛

Could learn a thing or two from MC, had some strong clap backs

Is counting his money when OUT OF NOWHERE MC just starts incanting a literal curse

Literally has his quaking in his boots dude, like he’s genuinely terrified

He can’t keep up with anything she’s saying and feels like his time to die has come

Doesn’t say A WORD when she calms down, jumps when she starts apologizing for reacting like that

“W-w-what happened? ( ⚆ _ ⚆ )”

“I LOST 10 GRAND IN BLACK JACK! ITS FUCKING RIGGED!”

Is genuinely more cautious for a while, kind of traumatized him

Mammon thought it’d be a great Idea to take her to meet one of his witches, MC already didn’t like her but listen to this

First thing the witch said was “Aren’t you that Mexican transfer student or whatever?”

(‘Oooh Ms. Girl you fucked up’)

Leviathan💙

Wishes he could have MCs confidence, ‘how does she respond like that 0•0’

He’s reading Manga while MC just lost on the same level for the 5th time

Accidentally shifts to his demon for he got so scared

Has to whip his tail up and grab the controller before she could slam it, genuinely terrified for his well being

Once she calms down she goes to give him a hug, to help with her frustration

*PANICS* “I-I can h-help you with that level, if y-you want..”

MC watches as he beats it with ease and heaves a sigh of relief, literally such a stupid game

Gets just as offended as MC when somebody said “I went to Mexico on vacation once, what was it like growing up there?”

Will let her handle it and he’ll be her Moral Support <3

Satan💚

Loved that MC was always ready, he was like that too being the Avatar of Wrath

Is genuinely amused when MC burst out swearing because she got a bad grade, he actually thought it was hilarious

Thinks of like a game to keep up with everything she’s shouting, makes her more upset

“What the fuck are you laughing at juemadre de la-“

“You’re Hot when you’re mad, Did you know that?”

Makes her go silent immediately, why is he like this, making people wanna act up on DIAVOLO

When they’re BOTH mad at something it’s like a f*cking BOMB RAID bro

They both just keep adding more, even when Satans speaking a Demon Dialect and MC is speaking Spanish LMAOO

When an arrogant soul decides to purposely mislabel MC as Mexican, the fool needs to count his seconds with MC and Satan both getting on his ass

Asmodeus💞

Has always liked the spunk MC had, it entertained him to watch her bicker with his brothers

Surprised, but not happy AT ALL with the fact that MC could blow up like that

Gets on MC for lashing out, “MC! THIS IS TERRIBLE FOR YOUR SKIN, DO YOU WANT WRINKLES?”

Gets MC to tell him what made her loose her cool like that

“That stupid b*tch from class posted saying “That Mexican transfer student isn’t pretty enough to be this annoying”

Almost explodes as bad as MC did

“MS. GIRL SHE SAID WHAT? Lemme hop on Devilgram and end her career real quick💖”

Devilgram post- Asmodeus 19:34: “Aw sweetie, Not everybody can be as gorgeous as MC and muah, but don’t go trying to drag her in the dirt with you. Filthy🥱”

No mercy on the haters💔

Beelzebub🧡

Like Asmo, found it entertaining to see MC bicker with his brothers every now and then

MC just couldn’t keep calm anymore when she messed up the recipe she was working on AGAIN

Beel becomes more concerned than scared, ‘Is she ok? :(‘

Gets up to hug MC, hoping it’ll help calm her down a bit

She explains that she kept ruining the dessert no matter how hard she tried

“MC, it’s ok to do it wrong, because it helps you learn how to do it right :)”

She’s tried again, except this time with Beel to help her :)

Gets upset when someone defaults MC as Mexican, knowing how much she hates it

He may be a teddy bear but man don’t f*ck with his Chef

Belphegor💜

Thought MC was amusing with the way she made sure everyone knew she wouldn’t take any BS

MC just happened to stub her toe while Belphie was sleeping, and now he’s awake, and heated

“What the f*ck happened?”

Is actually more concerned than upset, she wouldn’t lash out like that for no reason

When MC explains that a picture of her in the RAD Catalog still ended up being there even though she made it clear she was against it

“Oh, MC- you look good in every photo, I wouldn’t be upset about it”

Assures her it’s not a big deal and then invites her to come take a nap with him

Will mean mug the f*ck out of anyone who assumes MC is Mexican, because he finds extremely disrespectful (as it is)

Might commit homicide if they keep saying Mexican but I ain’t no snitch

Diavolo♥️

At first took MC as disrespectful, but learned it was only when she felt she was being disrespected (then by all means, go off)

Surprisingly, Diavolo speaks Spanish, but he still kind of struggles to keep up

He’s just laughing the whole time too, like MC isn’t furious

Later, MC calmly explains just some random student pissed her off again

“Who is this student you say? Do I need to have a chat with them as the Demon Lord of The Devildom? :)?”

Dia actually admires how passionate MC is about her home country, agrees that it’s disrespectful to mislabel someone

Because he can, Dia starts to learn about Colombian culture and throwing parties just for MC

Starts saying shit like “politas pa la rumba!” (I’ll buy beers for everyone¿) just to sound cool to MC

Barbatos💟

Barb doesn’t understand how someone could be so beautiful but so hostile sometimes, overall doesn’t really mind though

Is surprised that such things could conde from MC, kind of chuckles thinking about it

He figured he should try and step in to calm the situation

“Is there anything I can do to ease you, MC?”

It ended up being that Diavolo was completely ignoring her and brushing her aside when he never did that with Solomon

Asks if she’d like him to talk to Dia about it, since he may approach it better than she will

Barb will quietly correct anybody who believes her to be Mexican, just so MC won’t have to deal with their arrogance herself

Takes his free time and makes dishes from Colombia, or Colombian themed cookies or cupcakes to make MC happy :)

Simeon🤍

Is trying to teach MC better ways to respond to idiots, more Angelic ways

When MC blows up for the first time in front of him, the literal shock she sent him into omfg

*GASP* “MC?! WHY ARE YOU SAYING SUCH VILE THINGS?”

Like, HELLOOO? SHE DARES TO SAY SUCH THINGS IN AN ANGELS PRESENCE?

Helps to calm her down after showing distaste for her words

“You’re lips are to beautiful to speak such sinful things”

Will go on to give MC a long but kind lecture about why exploding like that is bad for her Aura and whatever

Will politely make it known that someone was wrong for assuming MC is Mexican, does get a bit irritated though

He now goes up to MC when she’s getting upset, to remind her to breathe and comfort her with a deep hug :)

“See? It’s ok MC~ just breathe in and out for me, ok? :)”

Solomon⚛️

Will piss MC off on purpose just to see her pop off, he LOVES it

Literally her #1 cheerleader when she blows up, adding on to what she’s upset about

“Period MC” “No way she said that! What a fugly b*tch” “Right, she’s just a hater”

Hypes her up all the time, even when she’s obviously in the wrong

Sol needs ALL the tea, pulls up like “who we talking shit about?”

Will get on someone’s ass just because, now think about when someone mislabels MC😳💥

Gives MC a sense of pride hearing him say “Cagué” when he messes up a potion, he obviously picked that up from her

Luke⛅️

Gets kinda (really) scared when MC becomes a little aggressive

Actually bursts out crying because he was scared MC was mas at him

MC traumatized this kid so bad, he ran to Simeon like he was getting chased be some demons

“M-m-mom is really m-mad and *sobs* I’m s-scared *sobs more*”

MC IMMEDIATELY feels super bad because she scared away his soul

Simeon, having talked to her about it already, mouthed “Apologize now.” In a very not polite manner, kinda scaring MC too🚫🧢

Has MC apologizing PROFUSELY, trying to explain it wasn’t Luke’s fault

Once he calms down, they go to bake cookies like usual, except this time he’s sniffing the whole time :( 💔

I really hope this fit what you asked for :( </3

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elffees · 3 years

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okay so i was queueing this post and was losing my mind in the tags struggling with the constant warning of hitting the word limit bc i had so much to say, until my brain was finally like “dude just make your own damn post” so here i am!

basically my thoughts were about Sean and his experience in episode 4. episode 4 was nuts. the shit Sean endures, regardless of your choices, is horrible. and i just wanted to connect why all the BS Sean experiences makes the choice of shooting or sparing Lisbeth so much more weighty.

(sidenote: i’m not going to be referring to if Sean asks/lets Daniel kill her and will mainly just be focusing on if Sean does it himself or lets Lisbeth leave the church unharmed.)

to start off, i don’t think it’s a reach to say that by the end of the episode Sean has to be fucking exhausted. it’s undoubtedly one of the lowest points of their journey. like from beginning to end: Sean was just held hostage by the feds! he very recently lost an eye and is still struggling to adjust to his now dramatically reduced vision! and still during this recovery phase he crosses hundreds of miles in the desert to find Daniel while trying to avoid discovery. then very quickly he runs into verbally and physically abusive racists who mock his cultural upbringing, raid through his belongings, and then beat the shit out of him, possibly breaking his fucking ribs, while laughing in his bloodied and bruised face. but at least he still has a car oh wait NOT ANYMORE bc he has to abandon it soon after the harassment/assault and is forced to walk several miles in the desert on foot with little food, little water, and little shade.

and then after that absolutely tiring, painful, and no doubt life threatening trek, he finally finds Daniel. finally he gets his brother back but OH WAIT the minute Sean gets there Daniel rejects him, even going so far as to use his power to push him away, bc of the awful brain washing and mental abuse Lisbeth has subjected him to. but ohohoho the horror still isn’t over yet bc in the same exact day literally a millisecond after being kicked out, guess what fucking ghost pops back up in Sean’s life seemingly just to be the sweet cherry on top of these Fuck Sean set of events?? MOTHERFUCKING KAREN REYNOLDS!!! the person that was the very first to fuel his horrific snowball of trauma! that left when he needed and wanted her most and now that shes literally the farthest thing from his mind, ironically spits back in his face that “of course she’s there now, they need her”.

after all this you just know, without a shadow of a doubt, that Sean has to be tired. he has to be fed up with just about everything after being dealt the most atrocious cards ever seen and (intentionally or unintentionally) shat on again and again and again.

then, at the end when he finally convinces Daniel (if you succeed) and tries to leave, Lisbeth will stand in his way after just having her beloved henchmen beat the shit out of him. mind you, Sean still has broken ribs if you rebelled against the desert racists. Sean still can barely see shit. there is blood drenched down his face bc of how much Lisbeth’s goon tried to bash his skull in and Sean is so weak and wounded that, whether they’ve reconciled or not, he has to lean on Karen for support bc he is so fucked up he can barely stand on his own two feet. not even including the absolute mess of mental and physiological trauma the desert pursuit had to have taken on him in the first place.

and Lisbeth, this mass manipulator with absolutely no redeemable qualities, has the GALL to stand in his way afterwards???

the choice to shoot Lisbeth or spare is so so huge i cannot stress it enough, not just as a teaching moment for Daniel but also smthg monumental for Sean. bc what does he do? he just wants to leave, he just wants this part of their journey to be done with already, he just wants it to be over. and again mind you, Sean CANONLY picks up the gun. it is not a choice nor a determinant. Sean grabs it knowing he may need to use it. taking out Lisbeth or sparing her is the culmination of everything that’s happened to him this episode and begs you to wonder:

where is Sean’s head at? has he had enough? has he become so mauled and beat down by practically everything that he finally says “fuck you” and hits back, pulling the trigger? OR does Sean try to maintain the shred of innocence he may or may not have left? does he look at this personification of absolute shit that’s literally daring him to kill her and say “no”?

shooting or sparing Lisbeth at the end of episode 4 is basically asking: will Sean come out of all of that trauma and pain and hurt and fight to remain merciful? or will he mold into hardened steel?

#life is strange #lis: 2 #lis 2 #sean diaz #lexi plays lis2 #i love LIS2 so much and i love sean so much i’m going to cry #the choice to shoot or not shoot Lisbeth is so HUGE for both daniel and sean!!!#long text post //#i’d also like to clarify in case anyone misinterprets:#i’m not trying to take away from the horrible psychological abuse Lisbeth did to Daniel #i just wanted to make a post illustrating Sean’s personal experience too #lis2 meta #life is strange 2 #lis2

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ihidemydemons20 · 3 years

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PTD is causing PTSD (Post Track Snob Disorder)

This is gonna be long so read it or don’t...

I’m actually really sick of listening to all of these people say that BTS is losing their Korean culture, or that they aren’t a fan anymore cause of one song or that not streaming or buying is the way to go. Like you call yourself an ARMY but you actually want BTS to fail?

BTS has had numerous comebacks over their career and there has definitely been songs not everyone liked but overall ARMY still supports because how else can BTS keep making music? And seriously, it’s three English songs! There’s been a bunch of Japanese songs (and not just the remakes the Jpn only singles) and they all sound very much non kpop, very jpn but nobody had a problem, as a matter of fact people loved them.

But now even after BTS released both BE and Film Out in between these English songs some people are complaining they aren’t giving us enough depth? I’m sorry did you not listen to Blue and Grey?

Also those dark and painful songs BTS wrote were about their lives, why are you sad they’re not in pain anymore?

English is not their first language so yes at the moment their English songs are very pop and just light and happy, but maybe once they feel more comfortable with the language they’ll be able to put their lyrics into, or maybe they won’t. Maybe like jpn they’ll make English songs for western audiences who, lets be honest, accept shallow pop like gospel, or did none of y’all see the popularity of Me!, WAP, Yummy and countless other songs filled with empty, meaningless drivel, at least BTS is just trying to uplift people (I did not like Happy or Can’t Fight the Feeling but I respected what they were trying to do)

I would also like to remind those who don’t know of JKs unpublished song Decalcomania, also fully in English, as far as we know and filled with deep meaning and pain. So there’s every chance that once BTS gets the hang of the US public and the language they may release English songs with depth.

You don’t need to love the song or even like it, I haven’t liked some of their Korean songs (wasn’t a fan of Stay even though JKs my bias) but have at least enough respect for BTS not to comment on their culture (especially if you don’t share it) or their musicality.

They’ve already proven they can sing, rap, dance, write, produce and perform against the very best and win, they’ve had to prove it their whole careers against so many people, I can’t believe now ARMY is going to have to be one of those people too.

Also this is by no means telling people not to express their opinion but just saying once that you don’t like the song is totally different to going on about why your opinion on BTS and their culture and musical journey is above reproach and is bullshit cause no one ever made think pieces like this about the Korean BTS songs they didn’t like in the past.

Would also like to point out that Monsta X released an entire English album and Super M was created to make an English song that could hit the charts (which no one said shit about cause no one cared about language til BTS did it) so K-POP is clearly not just about the Korean language or Korean culture (once again refer to jpn songs) Also keep in mind most Kpops groups don’t make songs like Idol, Daeschwita or Ddaeng with Korean music influence, it’s literally just pop music in Korean so all that ‘it doesn’t sound like kpop anymore’ is BS, K-POP doesn’t have a sound unless you count empty upbeat tunes as a sound, which oh wait doesn’t that sound familiar? Almost like what people are accusing BTS of, which by their logic means BTS has never sounded more kpop then right now, just in English.

Everybody is entitled to their opinions and if you don’t like BTS anymore that’s fine, but if that’s the case, remove the seven from your twt handle, change your pfp from any of the members and do not celebrate ARMYs birthday cause it’s no longer your birthday.

I am so frustrated and angry about this, I have never listened to any other musician have this problem before, there are always songs people may not enjoy as much, nobody starts questioning their artistry or culture after three songs, that is a painful exception reserved only for BTS.

#bts #bangtan sonyeondan #jikook #park jimin #jeon jungkook #bts army #jung hoseok #kim namjoon #kim seokjin #kim taehyung #min yoongi

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mythiccheroacademia · 4 years

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African!Reader Series

Request: how would class 1-a’s main three be with a fem!black african s/o?

A/N: Did I just give myself my own request unprovoked? Yes I did. Am I gonna turn this into a series? Yes, because it’s about time I start being selfish with my own writing. This is gonna be the first time I see 100% of myself in a headcanon, so that’s exciting. Being stuck in that middle space between the culture you grew up in vs. the culture you’re born into is hard. Sometimes I feel like I don’t fit in anywhere. But, I’m learning to equally embrace both. So this is gonna be me navigating that space. I’m also excited for all my African/African-American (first gen) readers who’ve reached out to me about their experiences. Being African isn’t monolithic. I’m def gonna be keeping it vague enough for everyone to be seen. I’ll specify if I need to. Anyways, this is for y’all as well as myself. Hope everyone enjoys this 💋

All Characters are 18+

Warnings: cursing, some content that’s not even spicy enough to call pepper 💀

Midoriya Izuku:

just as with everything in his life, deku dedicates 100% of himself to learning everything there is about you

the first time he saw you? you had this man’s knees wobbling

your rich dark skin was doing wonders under the sunlight

and your body? went crazyyyy

but when he heard you speak your language, it was a wrap

doesn’t know how he ended up being your bf, but he doesn’t take you for granted

he’s always eager to learn more about your culture

has notebooks dedicated to your foods, clothing, hairtsyles, dancing, etc.

izuku practiced how to say I love you in your language for literally four weeks so he could say it to you perfectly on your six month anniversary

he stumbled a little, and his accent peeked out, but it was perfect and your emotional ass almost started crying

he studies and practices a lot so he can understand/speak to your parents if they don’t know english or japanese

your parents are urging you to marry this man. quickly.

he loves that you have 7000000 family members bc for awhile it was just him and his mom

your family loves him because he’s so sweet and respectful

already has the kids calling him uncle izuku

your mom and his mom use google translate to talk whiles they cook together and it’s so cute n wholesome

it makes you both go 🥺

a big part of your culture is dancing

whatever event you go to weddings, church, funerals, etc. you gotta dance, there’s just no getting around it my guy

you know your bf a little stiff in the hips LMAO so you show him some moves

and uh...he tries. really hard. but it’s looking rough so you just wave it off bc everyone gets hyped up regardless

so imagine your surprise when this man busts out with the shaku shaku at your auntie’s wedding, leg movement and hand gestures on point

the whole venue is screaming

they throwing money on him and everything😭

when y’all make it home (it’s like 4am smh) he’s knocked but you watch a little yt and find all these recommended how-to videoes about african dancing and everything makes sense

Bakugo Katsuki:

y’all met during a mission that required international heroes

being the asshole he was, he walked right through a conversation you were having w someone

him: “out of my way extras!”

he was shook when you told him to fuck off in perfect japanese before smacking your teeth and ending with “you foolish goat”

him: 😦😐😡 “hah!? what’d you just call me?”

and the rest was history

actually, he wouldn’t leave you alone and disguised it as him trying to intimidate you but it was bc your comebacks were so unique but so fucking funny (mannn the shit african parents be coming up w is violating 💀) and he was taking notes lowkey

you don’t take any of his shit and he loves it

it didn’t hurt that you looked like a goddess straight out of a fucking fairytale

he loves your sense of style

your hero costume is laden with traditional cloth and you just don’t see that anywhere

like your drip was immaculate

every time you step out, he’s thinking “motherland drip on meeee 😍”

he sends pictures of you to his parents to brag about you

speaking of which, ever since you met them he has this sneaky suspicion that they might like you more than their own child

but he couldn’t blame them bc after tasting your traditional dishes, he was sprung

especially the spicy foods you make bc they give him a run for his money (it’s not spicy unless you start sniffing)

has an uncanny ability of doing headwraps, like them shits are perfect on the first try

if you know your native language, please cuss him out in it, especially if your voice gets deeper

he’ll freak out on you at first, bc he’s a hothead, but it turns him on in the weirdest way

everyone knows he’s in deep when he starts adopting your insults and speech patterns

kirishima: *says something dumb*

him: “my friend, use your head before you speak to me, you castrated bull frog”

he even says it with the accent and all

and youre dying

my poor baby kiri is so confused even tho he knows he should be offended

Todoroki Shouto:

todoroki unofficially knew you bc he followed you on insta

he always thought you was a baddie but never had the chance to make his move

he was also a little scared of the culture clash

but then you dropped this here video with your friends 🥵

homeboy had never slid into anyone’s dms so fast before

he’s dead ready to change his life for you

luckily you knew english, so y’all were able to communicate

after two days of talking, he hits you with the “so when can I see you?” and he’s fine af so you make some plans and it goes really well

youre so different from any woman he’s met before and he loves that

you two are always talking about the similarities and differences of your cultures and it makes him fall harder for you

lives for your confidence

and your smile kills him every time

loves it when you start trying to speak to him in japanese, he doesn’t care if you butcher it

learns your language bc he wants to feel closer to you 🥺

show him some of your music and he’ll start playing it around the house

make him some soba with a twist of your traditional meals and he’ll drag you to the court house bc, ma’am, you finna be a todoroki starting today

whenever you step out in any traditional clothing, he insists that he takes pictures of you

when you start dancing and the ass starts a-jiggling, don’t expect him not to touch bc he will

don’t let him talk to your dad/uncles for too long bc he’ll start popping out with a dashiki print shirt and those wack ass sandals (y’all know the ones i’m talking about) like he did something 💀

all the boys will obviously defend you if someone comes at you on some racist/ignorant bs about your race/ethnicity, but todoroki will step for you

he will decimate a mf for even looking at you sideways

calls you queen bc he genuinely believes you are royalty (you can decided whether or not it’s cringey tho)

#bnha headcanons #mha headcanons #midoriya izuku #bnha bakugo katsuki #shouto todoroki #bnha x black!reader #bnha x african!reader #mha x black reader #mha x african!reader #bnha x poc!reader #mha x poc!reader #bnha x y/n #mha x y/n #honestly this was a self care post #just a little content between the drabbles im writing

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chalkrevelations · 3 years

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Street Dance of China S3, Ep 3. It sounds like maybe I should step up my pace on these, as they’ve announced the captains for S4 now? (Yibo back, Lay Zhang back, plus a couple of new guys I don’t actually recognize yet.) When is this going to air because it is just LAUGHABLE that I can keep up with 3+ hours of this a week. Particularly if I’m going to keep obsessively re-watching Word of Honor AND try to finally finish Killer & Healer in the miniscule free time I actually have for teevee. There’s certainly no way I can watch and dither on about 3+ hours/week worth of dance show in realtime before January, at least.

ANYWAY, this ep, we get a recap of everyone falling out after the captains’ cypher, and we learn who got the final extra towels and passed through to the next round: Lu Jiao Ni, who we barely see, on Team Jackson Wang; Yuan Ye (as promised) and A Li (who we barely see) on Team Lay Zhang (ETA: Wait, we find out later that A Li isn’t even on Lay’s team, she’s on Yibo’s - he wouldn’t move her on, and she gets one of Lay’s towels instead); Bullet (as promised) on Team Wang Yibo; and Xiao Ming (as promised? maybe? as we’ve barely seen this guy?) on Team Wallace Chung.

This week: Out of 400 people, we’re down to 105. Not all of these faces are familiar, and I suspect I don’t really need to learn 90 percent of the unfamiliar faces. I … am going to go out on a limb and make a guess that one of the dancers whose name has been bolded in one of the past two episode recaps is going to be the ultimate winner, because I have umpty SYTYCD episode reactions on my LJ, and I suspect I know how this works. I wouldn’t even put money on any of those five bolded names in the previous paragraph, quite honestly. Anyway, now it’s time to start culling down to 60. We bring out the team captains, and my first reaction is “MY EYES” because wth are some of you wearing? Wow. Yibo’s shoelaces are all over his jacket. Wallace looks like he rolled a flasher on the street for his trenchcoat. Lay Zhang is wearing a baggy pink jumpsuit, and I guess, OK, it’s easier to maneuver bathroom breaks in one of those when you have a dick, but that’s definitely a fashion trend that should have stayed back in the ‘80s. I guess questionable fashion is an international phenomenon.

There’s also an empty chair for the promised Mystery Guest, and there’s a game with clues, and a lot of guesses from our captains about who the Mystery Guest will be, and Jackson does A Bit through the whole thing. I don’t know whether to be entertained or annoyed by him. He’s the only one without some egregiously questionable fashion choices (so far) this episode, so maybe he gets a pass. Anyway, I don’t have the pop cultural context to understand the guesses, and I also don’t have either the pop cultural context or the knowledge of this area of dance to grok the Mystery Guest’s identity, but he’s Huang Bo, and apparently he had more than 1000 dance performances in the 1990s, so he must be at least as old as me and Wallace, if not older. Yibo takes the opportunity to make the – very NON-politic – remark that maybe HE wasn’t even born yet at the time? That … is not the way to win friends and influence people, Infant. Also, the Mystery Guest is NOT the person Jackson kept doing A Bit about. The reveal is all very dramatic, and he does a lil’ bit of choreography from of each of the four Extant Captains’ videos before he takes off his mask, and they act appropriately impressed, and there are some girls with short shorts among his backup dancers, so that all happened. The show obviously wants me to be very impressed by him. Show also tells us he’ll have a special skill that will be very important and at least leads us to believe that he’s going to be the “life-saver,” so the audience immediately curries favor, or at least plays at it.

Next up: Rules. Eliminations this week involve contestants self-selecting into groups of anywhere from one to five people and performing for a panel of all the captains. Teams pull a number out of a hat for performance order. Thumbs up from all four captains, you go to the next round. Abstentions from all captains, you go home. Thumbs up from some and abstentions from others, you face the possibility of a call-out from other contestants, whereupon you have to dance for your life battle to find out which of you stays and which of you goes. Oh, and we’re only going to keep going until the 60 available seats are filled, and then we’re done. If you’re number 35, you’d better be prepared to battle someone earlier and kick their ass, or you’re fucked, you don’t even get to dance. I’ve said it before: Audentes Fortuna adiuvat. Only wait, ETA: There will be some last minute BS rules fuckery, in a way that is clearly intended to save someone in particular, which I feel some kind of way about - and it is not really the way that almost everyone on the show seems to feel - but I guess we’ll get to that later.

And cue ridiculously long nattering, so we’re going to cut here.

First group is Lin Meng (Team Wallace), Teng Zai (Team Lay), Bing - of the infamous motorbike flirtation - and Dian Men (both Team Yibo), along with a dude we haven’t actually seen yet, Tang Qian (also Team Yibo). Your lack of even B-roll so far is concerning re: your chances in this competition, Tang Qian. I’m just sayin’. Anyway, this is a powerhouse group, and at least Lin Meng and Teng Zai are familiar with each other because they’re from the same crew, and Xiao Bao remarks from the audience of contestants that these guys are going to go through, no matter what. They’re going to do a totally popping routine. My sound drops out at the beginning which … yeah, makes them look even more like a boyband at the beginning, in their matching baseball uniform shirts. So, here’s the thing, they’re a little muddled, they don’t move smoothly around each other on stage - their dance moves are coordinated, but they’re not moving in space like a group that understands each other. (Somewhere in here, my sound comes back, and Yibo already can’t hold still to the music.) The other thing is, though - all of these guys are very good at what they do, they finally hit their stride a minute or so in, and when they do, they hit it hard. I’m frankly surprised they don’t get passed right through to the next round, but Jackson abstains on the vote, and when called upon to explain himself, it turns out he just wants to see them battle. I can understand the impulse, Jackson, but this is already super stressful on all the dancers, and it doesn’t escape my notice that you’re the only one of the four captains without a dog in this particular fight, so a little bit you look like you’re doing this just because you can. Remember this, because it will set a bad example for an 11th -hour vote. Anyway, there’s the chance for a callout, which no one takes because the entire audience is convinced this group is too good to beat. Five of 60 seats taken.

Group two is Shen Kai Xiang – the Jack Ma lookin’ dude. He’s flying solo. He gets to stand around uncomfortably for a while onstage while Special Guest Huang Bo does A Bit making fun of all of the captains’ speech patterns and accents and pronunciation, except Yibo’s, because Yibo apparently never talks. Ha ha. (I’m also wondering if there’s some socio-cultural stuff underlying some of this that I’m not cued in enough to fully understand.) Huang Bo then tells the contestant that Jackson has probably fucked him over by praising him too effusively (he came from Jackson’s team, and Jackson already is displaying a tendency to rhapsodize about how everything is “ART”), so all the captains now will have inflated expectations that Shen Kai Xiang is surely only going to fail to meet. I’m beginning to suspect that Huang Bo’s Special Guest Superpower is not “lifesaver” but “kind of annoying asshole.” Maybe it’s to take that particular spotlight off of Chick. ANYWAY, Shen Kai Xiang FINALLY gets to perform, and he gets a little bit of a slow start, but he packs in a lot of elements and gets a LOT of good air in his moves once he gets wound up. He’s lyrical and super emo about it. I’m kind of “eh” on him – technically, he’s good, but I’m not particularly connecting with him, which I’m willing to admit could be a me thing, as everyone else seems super-impressed. Three captains pass him through. Yibo does not and explains this decision as personal preference – he likes more “underground” styles, more battle styles. Huang Bo brings back the issue of too-high expectations to help explain why Shen Kai Xiang isn’t being passed directly to the next round, even though Yibo just explained his decision and that is literally not the reason he explicitly gave. Anyway, Shen Kai Xiang gets no call outs, which seems to surprise Yibo, and we’re at six of 60 seats taken.

In quick succession, we move through Liang Hua Jie – we don’t see much of him, but we learn that while Wallace likes his musicality, Yibo doesn’t like his face (OK, doesn’t like his facial expressions, which, what can I say? I get this. If I’d had the power to unilaterally send home Lacey Schwimmer on her season of SYTYCD, I’d have done it, that’s how fucking annoying I found the way she’d mug for the camera the entire time she danced. Like I couldn’t even watch her dancing, because I was too distracted by what she was doing with her FACE the whole time.); Jian De Chao (wait, is this Chao from the first episode?) & Chen Zui – who, from what we get to see of them have some good flow and move pretty well together, but can get a little bit mushy in their moves, and Yibo likes their skills, but Lay thinks they don’t feel like a group, which what? Incorrect; and a group that’s dubbed themselves Purple Storm Show, which includes Alex from Jackson’s team and four other people who I can’t even catch – we barely see their performance, and Lay likes them, but Jackson thinks they’re flat. I can’t tell if any or all of these guys were sent through to the next round or sent home, but if they didn’t make it, then :( because I liked Alex, and he got hit in the eye for this, he deserves better than to get sent home because his team can’t get it together. We still have no group that’s been passed through by all four captains.

And then, next up is another powerhouse team: Gongsu Wu Ming and Hei Zai (Team Lay), George and Xiao Ming (Team Wallace), and (Xiao) Bai (Team Jackson). Yibo is skeptical about an all B-boy group, and don’t make me fight you, Yibo, because an all B-boy group is like my dream come true (sorry, poppers; sorry, lockers; my heart truly belongs to the B-boys, they are my favorite). We learn they added a flip at the last minute – an assisted flip, with a couple of them flinging George into the air over the other two of them. Wu Ming thinks that George is the only one of all the competitors who could do it, but George – who has a little more skin in the game than anyone else, as the guy who could potentially land on his head wrong - is a bit concerned about whether they’re going to pull it off. They start, and they’re all good, a little bit muddled before they hit their stride, but the slo-mo cartwheel is great, and from there, they’re off and running. This is why I like the B-boys – I know it takes a lot out of you to do this, but there is nothing – nothing – like the magnetic energy they can generate when they’re in their performance headspace and everything is flowing. This is a performance, and Wu Ming has talked a little bit about wanting to step up breaking, and if this is the sort of thing he wants to do, I’m all for it – give him the platform now. I’m going to take just a minute to single out Bai and say that he’s better when he’s not doing A Bit like he did in his initial performance for Lay Zhang – he’s much more electric here, and someone else’s choreography may make the difference. Jackson, Yibo, Lay – they’re all out of their seats, none of them can hold still in the face of this. We get to the end, and unfortunately, everyone else is kind of cluttered and mushy moving into position for the flip – that is not a way to go out guys, DO NOT DO THAT at the last minute – but then George f’kn NAILS the flip, so that’s thankfully the last impression they leave. The captain’s faces are a picture. (Except Wallace, who’s suddenly too cool to give us anything, apparently.) FIRST ALL-PASS. George’s assessment: “Not bad.” :facepalm: OK, Mr. Cool Guy. They also cut in a post-interview bit with Bai about the performance, and he notes that they all know each other, they’ve been battling each other for like, a decade, now. Dance together more, guys.

Moving on, we fortunately have another very strong group to follow them: Gai Gai, Wang Tao and Huang Xiao, all from Jackson’s team, and you can tell he badly, badly wants to start in on the ART! bit but he (loudly) keeps his mouth shut about this group until after the performance. The only one of these three we’ve seen so far this season has been Gai Gai, but they all dance in the same group together, and they seem to be well-known by a lot of the other competitors, particularly Huang Xiao, both as a dancer and a choreographer. They say they’re doing jazz, although I’d be more likely to call this contemporary, if I was going to put them in a box. They are gorgeous – lyrical, fantastic dance vocabulary, amazing choreography, beautiful musicality, and the way they move together as a unit is … :chef’s kiss: I think Huang Xiao may be the best of the three, technically, but there’s something ineffably charismatic about Gai Gai that’s pulling focus a bit – just a bit – more than the other two in this performance. If there’s a weak link, it’s Wang Tao, and really, that’s only by comparison with the other two, which is a really high bar. We get some shots of the audience of competitors worrying about Yibo’s reaction, given his preference for the old-school battle dancers and an apparent “strictness” with urban dancers and related genres, but these three also get an All-Pass to the next round, and Yibo talks to them a little bit about the choreography and his (complimentary) reactions to the performance before they leave the stage.

And then. Oh, dear. Then we get a group of three – Da Mao, A Li and Tall(? Maybe? It looked like he was going to get out of this anonymously – probably lucky for him – but then the subtitles threw up this name on him at the last minute) – who are the only krumpers who’ve made it this far. Lay Zhang is really promoting them, because he really wants to see a bigger krump presence, and he’s really nervous about their performance, and he really, really should not have pinned his hopes on these three, because I hate to say it but they are a hot fk’n mess. They are … not good. I can’t believe any of the three made it this far, and in fact, we learn after their performance, while everyone is sitting in a kind of stunned horror (and y’all, I am not exaggerating for effect there), that Yibo did not pass A Li on from his team, that she got one of Lay Zhang’s final extra battle towels. I mean, there’s an obvious gap in the quality of this performance compared to everyone else we’ve seen. There’s also a lot of pacing around and standing around instead of dancing. They’re trying for the attitude, but they’re not managing it. They do manage to get an embarrassed reaction from Chick, which says something all on its own, as I wasn’t aware that he had any shame. Other competitors also are doing the embarrassment-squick cringe in the audience. Lay Zhang is literally hiding behind his clipboard. This is the first All-Out we get, where they’re directly eliminated – not even Lay can bring himself to vote “yes” on them. Now, all the krumpers are gone, and Lay is visibly sad and frustrated, but as we appear to move to a little bit of a break, Yibo displays the most emotional intelligence of anyone there and asks Lay to teach him how to krump, to distract him and get him actually doing the dancing he enjoys for a little bit. It’s also a chance for Yibo to learn a new thing, and he talks about his chance to improve in a little interview bit from later on that’s cut in here. I mean, yes, that actually was kind of a sad attempt at krump during the cypher, my dude, so this can only help you, but you also are being an extremely good guy, giving your fellow captain some emotional support right now. Thumbs up.

Next up, we have AK Dong (Team Wallace), also flying solo, and they give us a little heart-tugging B-roll about how he doesn’t have a team with him there, so he’s going it alone. He’s fantastic right out of the gate - good musicality, clean and precise, and he’s got a nice texture to his performance, it feels … full even though it doesn’t feel as big and expansive as some of the other dancers. Unfortunately, Lay doesn’t agree with me (incorrect), says he wants a performance that’s more elegant and “balanced,” and is the single holdout vote, which opens my dude up to a call-out challenge. This is the guy who looks like comedian Hank Chen, which has overshadowed his dancing twice now, because he had to listen to it from Haung Bo when he came out to dance, and he CANNOT catch a break, because now he gets challenged by three teams, including Bouboo’s team, which also includes Klash, Bullet and Colin (all Team Yibo), plus Boris (Team Lay), who we’ve only seen B-roll of so far although he speaks good Chinese, despite being from … I’m not sure where, but not China? AK Dong complains about how Boris looks at him with innocent eyes and tells him that they have no option other than to challenge, which is true (ETA: insofar as we know at this point), because they’re #36, and the 60 slots would almost certainly fill up before they even get a chance to dance. This team wins the bottle spin against the other two challengers, and I mean. :hands: This is a slaughter. They’re five-on-one, and they’re all really good at what they do, they make it look effortless, and AK Dong’s face is going to kill me. Wallace actually does vote for him, but the other three vote for the team, and that’s five more seats filled, and AK Dong eliminated, and I’m annoyed (although not as much as I’m gonna be) because I liked him, and I would have liked for him to get a chance to dance without having to listen to the Hank Chen nonsense at least once.

Next, we have Li Yue & Sha Sha, who appear to dance together on the regular. They have a kind of sultry number put together as the Green Snake and the White Snake that is … hm. I don’t know if we’re classifying this as urban or jazz for the purposes of the show, but it’s another piece that fits more into my contemporary box, if we were classifying them for most of the Western dance spaces I’ve seen. They’re good, as befits this stage of the competition, but a little inconsistent, technically. Also, I don’t find them particularly exciting to watch – I feel like something’s missing, although I can’t quite put my finger on what. I’m not sure their flow is consistent, and they’re probably not helped by following Gai Gai, Huang Xiao and Wang Tao. They get three yes votes from Lay, Yibo and Jackson, although they are … enough to maybe make Yibo a slight bit uncomfortable, being the shy and fragile homosocial forest creature that he may be, or that he may be getting edited as, who knows. Huang Bo pokes at Lay Zhang about his reaction to and vote for them. He also basically says that Wallace didn’t vote for them because Wallace wasn’t turned on by them, because Wallace is still doing his imperturbable cool-as-a-cucumber routine. Wallace’s hold-out vote opens them up to a call-out, and several groups come down to challenge, including – bad luck for Li Yue and Sha Sha – TI, who win the bottle spin. This group includes choreographer Zheng Jian Peng, as well as Su Lianya, who I didn’t realize was a TI member, both Team Wallace, along with … oh my god, Wei Ming, who’s the “Sir, what are you doing?” guy from Episode 2 when Wallace was giving out towels to poppers like candy, and I’m kind of pleased he’s made it this far, just based on that moment, alone, never mind any dancing skills. Rounding out the group are Long Long and Wei Lin, both from Team Yibo, and I think we got B-roll of Wei Lin at some point during Yibo’s eliminations in the first couple of eps. I know nothing about Long Long at this point. At any rate, everybody in this group is so good, I can finally see how they got their rep – fantastic musicality, and a great job of working as a unit. They feel like a team, even when they don’t manage to be quiiiiite synchronized. I’m not really feeling their costumes. Su Lianya continues to be a standout, even in a group that sets the bar this high. Wallace’s composure finally breaks when the other team captains evince interest in poaching her, and oh my god, he still has the hair elastic that he held for her at her initial performance, that they said would be a token of their vow to go all the way in the competition together. OK, I give Wallace a lot of shit, but this is actually kind of adorable. He literally pulls it out of his pocket to tell the other captains they can’t have her and to plead with her to remember their promise to each other. TI gets three votes and moves on. (Lay, still apparently captivated by the snake ladies although not enough to bald-facedly vote for them in the wake of TI’s performance, abstains.)

Next up are Tao and CiCi, and OK. I’m going to be honest here. I think they’re leveraging the “couple” schtick for all it’s worth, and good for them, it looks like they can pull it off, because I think some of the amazed reaction we get from the captains and from the audience is influenced a lot by their coupleness, but at the same time, I think some of the amazed reaction we get from the captains and from the audience is actually influenced by their coupleness rather than their dancing. I mean, Su Lianya and Wei Lin are in the audience of competitors clutching each other’s hands and crying, and it seems to be just as much about Tao telling CiCi out loud that he loves her just before the music starts and the fact that they kiss as part of the piece, if not more than it’s about their actual dancing. The show is also really pushing me on this, because whereas, with everyone else, it tosses up closed captions that tell me what moves are happening (in addition to dialogue subs), now I’m getting things like “heaven-made match.” They’re good, but I think they actually also suffer a bit from following the Gai Gai/Huang Xiao/Wang Tao powerhouse, because I think we’re unlikely to get anything on the lyrical side of things that’s going to match up to that for the rest of the day. Tao and CiCi are better than Li Yue and Sha Sha were, and it is pretty badass the way she manages to make herself so small and compact she literally disappears behind him for that last little bit, and if they’d won the bottle spin on the last callout, they would have won the challenge, I have no doubt. But. :hands: I think the show has actually done that thing Huang Bo accused Jackson of earlier and set my expectations too high. I’m’a sound like Yibo – or like Yibo normally would, because he also seems to get suckered into the overwhelmed reaction for this – and say that I think Tao was better in the less lyrical style when he danced with Yibo and Bing in the Ep 2 towel battle. They get an All-Pass from the captains and talk about their inspiration for the piece, which apparently is a couple who confessed their love to each other the day before the girl had to go into COVID quarantine, and well, now I guess I feel like just a little bit of an asshole for not appreciating the COVID love story properly? Anyway, the captains then keep asking them intrusive questions about their relationship, and Huang Bo mocks Lay for apparently never being in love so he won’t understand what it’s like, and I’m cringing in my seat a little before Jackson gets us back on track and Tao and CiCi finally go sit down.

Then Huang Bo takes the chance to go over to the contestants who haven’t performed yet and stress them out about how few of the 60 available seats are left. I mean, I guess it’s part of competition, but come on, dude.

ANYWAY, next up, we have a group calling themselves Team Wake Up – it’s the waackers, and this group includes Xiao Bao and San Jin from Team Lay, along with a guy we haven’t seen yet, Tu Zi; Meng Di from Team Yibo; and Gao Shi Yu, who we also haven’t seen, from Team Wallace. They start working it, and I’m like, oh wait … and then they hit the Cat Walk, and I’m like, oh shit, and a light bulb finally goes off, because I’ve been super-fk’n slow, but now they’ve shown me what this genre is about, and I’m interested to see what they do here, because a lot of this performance could be straight off the floors of the ball scene. The entire group is pretty good, although I do think Gao Shi Yu is the weak link, she’s not quiiiiite up to the standard of the rest of them. They move well as a group, though, good coordination, sharp and clean, fantastic musicality, high energy all the way through, with EXCELLENT attitude, which is half the battle, because if you’re not confident for this kind of thing – or if you can’t at least fake it flawlessly – you might as well not even be out there. They all do lose a little bit of focus when they’re in the background as they break out for their individual moves, and they fall apart a tiny bit near the end. Also, Meng Di’s belt is off-center, and I know that sounds super picky, but it kept distracting me, so I wish that hadn’t been the case. Xiao Bao is definitely still the standout here – he takes the lead from the minute they come out, with the mic, and never really relinquishes it. We finally get to see San Jin perform, and his extension could be better. Tu Zi must be lacking in the charisma department to not have shown up before this, because he’s better than I expected. Before they started, the group that Xiao Jie and Yang Kai are in together – who still haven’t performed – were debating if they should challenge this group, but Xiao Jie advised waiting to see how good they were, and then after the performance is all, “nooo, we should not challenge,” and props to you for not just writing off the waackers, my man, because they get an All-Pass, and there’s not even a chance for a callout. Before we move on, Wallace clams he’s learned some waacking during the show, and the other captains (led by Jackson, who calls him gege) make him demonstrate, and the contestants, who know what side their bread is buttered on, applaud.

Available seat check. Yibo participates in further stressing out the contestants by saying “Like, a dozen?” All y’all need to be challenging whatever chance you get. Now I bet you’re sorry you didn’t challenge Shen Kai Xiang back at the beginning, aren’t you?

Next up is our group of X-Crew representatives, hop-hop, and Yibo is excited. I almost expect him to do a little dance in his seat. Yang Kai helpfully lets me know that this group is from the top hip-hop crew in China. Oh, hey, that’s Qin Yu, from Team Wallace, the guy who Gongsu Wu Ming immediately recognized as the weak link in one of the towel battles and got up on; the guy who subsequently got taken out by Teng Zai, My Beloved. Qin Yu, the guy we hadn’t even had B-roll on, and still don’t. I wonder if I’m reading too much into that. He’s joined by Flea (which I’m assuming is a direct translation, as it doesn’t sound like “flea” when he says his name?) and Ding, also from Team Wallace - neither of whom we’ve seen before, I think - along with Ting and Lei Xiao Yang from Team Jackson. This is also the first time we’ve seen Lei Xiao Yang. I … feel weirdly unconfident about the famed X-Crew, given we haven’t seen more of them before this. Then again, we’d only seen Gai Gai from her group, so maybe this is a BigSurprise!edit … Ting comes out hard and heavy, and I actually think this is the best performance we’ve seen from her so far. She spends a lot of time out in front on this one, and I don’t think I got from her initial appearance or from her towel battle performances just how good she actually is. Overall though … I am … not that impressed with this group. They start out strong, but then they get sloppy. They have trouble working as a unit, which is surprising from people who supposedly have experience dancing together. They’re all very good, but they’re not synchronized. A lot of their solo showcase bits lack complexity, and that is an understatement. Qin Yu still has some of that nice fluidity along with his pretty face, but he’s not balanced, and he absolutely does not have the finesse he needs to pull this off. They all do move into the end strong, together again, hard, power behind their moves - almost everything from the slo-mo move is good - but … it’s a little late, y’all. That took way too long to get back together. And then, they inexplicably descend into … it’s not even sloppiness, it’s an utter hot mess during, like, the last 15 seconds of the performance, which is absolutely not the final impression you want to leave. And … wow. Shit. There are captains who actually agree with me on this. Sometimes you see the expected top dancers allowed to slide some in these early rounds of competition shows, but not this time – Wallace and Yibo both vote yes, but Jackson and Lay both abstain, and Jackson … wow. Wow. Is disappointed in them and expected more. Despite the fact that he’s like, 12, and that he’s done this to past groups just because he wanted to see them battle, a little bit this actually has a vague feeling of your dad telling you how much you’ve let him down. The audience is shocked, but I’m glad to hear someone say it. It was a good - if spotty - performance but certainly not the best we’ve seen.

So, we have a callout, and the group with Xiao Jie and Yang Kai, which also includes some guys named Shen Zi Hao, Xiao Zhi Bin and Oscar, pounces. And that is a very deliberate word choice, because these guys are on X-Crew like a lion on the trailing gazelle. They’re in their Men In Black suits (ETA: Wait, no, I think maybe they’re Agent Smith suits), and the audience of other competitors is losing it. Xiao Bao is very excited about Xiao Jie. Both Yibo and Jackson look like they’re in actual physical pain, to be forced to make the choice that’s coming up. Ting looks like she’s getting ready to throw up – she’s accepting this with less equanimity than she did the possible results of her initial performance, at least on the surface. I … am dreading losing her, actually, because I suspect that’s what’s getting ready to happen, and I am so so sorry, baby, that you worked so hard to carry your crew like that and they couldn’t keep their shit together. On the one hand, I’m impressed they’re pitting this level of competition against each other so early. On the other, I feel Jackson’s and Yibo’s pain. God. God. The Xiao Jie-Yang Kai group is here to f’kn battle. This is shaping up to be a slaughter. They are fast, clean, precise, great musicality, complex moves, super performance. They’re synchronized, high energy, fantastic animation – which could be a little cheesy, but they’re confident and fearless enough to pull it off - fun and interesting. They are maybe a little bit too gimmicky to be perfect for my taste, but I’m not the one voting them through, and what they’ve come up with is perfect for the audience that matters – the captains, the majority of which are 20-something-year-old boys – and knowing your audience, and performing for them, is a skill, too. BIGGEST (and frankly, only) ISSUE: Somebody fucked up a move, right at the beginning … I think maybe Yang Kai? (ETA: Yah, it was Yang Kai, ugh, what a time for that to happen.) If you’re going to fuck up, best to do it at the very beginning, I guess, and then give this performance afterward, to mitigate it as much as possible, but that one misstep gives the captains enough excuse put off a decision they really don’t want to make, like it’s not just going to make it worse to kick the can down the road a few minutes. Split vote, 2-2 (I thiiink, Yibo and Jackson for X-Crew, Lay and Wallace for the challengers?), which throws it to a further battle. Ting and Xiao Jie, one-on-one, and both of them are feeling the pressure of competing for their entire team instead of just themselves. Two rounds, hiphop and locking. So, each of them is better in their specialty. Ting’s got some fantastic, precise moves for the hiphop round. Xiao Jie is not as good in this round; I do notice he’s got a more directly confrontational style when he’s battling. I feel like she’s doing more waacking than locking in the locking round. Overall, she’s cleaner, more precise, he’s got a little bit more energy. I wouldn’t want to make this decision, frankly. I think Ting was better technically, but Xiao Jie might be the better performer – better at all that other stuff that adds up to stage presence. I do wonder how much of the captains’ decision is influenced by the groups, and who the captains are or aren’t willing to lose, even though it’s supposed to be based on this 1x1 battle. Just looking at who the show has put emphasis on already, we’ve got Ting vs. Xiao Jie AND Yang Kai, and I don’t know that they’re going to want to let that one-two punch go. Wallace votes Ting and X-Crew. Yibo and Lay vote Xiao Jie and the challengers. Jackson, the coward, abstains. Looks like Ting and X-Crew are going home, and this is the first cut that I’m genuinely upset about seeing. Ting feels bad for letting her crew down, but they let you down first, baby, or you wouldn’t even have been in that position.

Available seat check: 12. Dancers left: 27. Well.

We’re coming up on two hours now, and there’s clearly some kind of drama we want to get to, because we whip through the next few performances – few names, limited time spent on them. The ones who do make it through are likely cannon fodder in the next couple of rounds. There’s a group of four in khakis that gets sent through to the next round; Yibo liked their moves. Guy named Zhan Ke in a suit goes through to the next round. We’ve turned into a clip show now, and the screen literally says “ … ” at one point as each group of competitors gets 3 seconds of airtime. Cut to three seats left out of the 60. There’s about seven people left, and … that includes Chick. I have a sinking feeling this guy is going to be the real focus, at this point. He’s paired up with some dude named Long, and they have lost the bottle spin on callout after callout after callout, so they’ve never had a chance to challenge, and now, look at these morose motherfuckers, still sitting in the bleachers. I almost feel bad for them.

So, three seats left, and the next group is three people: Yang Qi aka “Apple” from Team Jackson, Lin from Team Lay and Bobo from Team Wallace. Urban dancers. I lose sound on them right at the beginning, but they’ve got some nice sharp moves, good choreography, they work well as a unit. Solid performance, if not the best we’ve seen. Apple’s got the best technique, I think. Audience likes them a lot. We get a cut to Chick and the other competitors who haven’t danced yet as we count down for the vote, and they are all dying. Three votes yes. Yibo abstains. Huang Bo is so prepared for this group to be sent right through that he starts clapping and congratulating them, and Yibo has to be all, “Wait, no. Not yet.” The captains give their reasoning: Jackson says that he felt their power, emotion, speed all deserved full marks. Yibo agrees.

Yibo agrees.

…

...

…

Their faces in response, y’all. Their little WTF faces as he explains that he really just wants to see the other dancers, too. Oh my god, Yibo. You can’t just say that out loud. Are you serious with this, you can’t even make up a thing to fake critique them on? Cut to a later interview with Bobo, who’s been the least able to school his face journey in response to this: “Wang Yibo, I won’t forget.” Also, Bobo says, you’re not even hot. (lol) Joking aside, the group goes on to make all the correct noises about sure, it’s a competition, you face competitors, it’s what happens, because what are you gonna say? Meanwhile, to be completely honest, I’m probably the person who’s been least able to school their face journey in response to this, because come on, Yibo. It’d be one thing if you were making some kind of statement about the way they set this up from the beginning, with all competitors unable to participate, but I’m pretty sure you’re actually doing this to give Chick another chance, because you have been inexplicably all up on his jock since he showed up, what is it about this guy? I don’t get it. At all.

So, we get a callout, and everyone left challenges, of course, because this is probably the last chance. The audience is rooting for Chick. I still don’t get it. Bottle spin ends up on … Zhao Hai Jie, from Team Wallace, who we’ve never yet seen perform. Here’s the thing: If he can win this battle, then he only takes one seat, leaving another two seats available. However, he is NOT going to win this battle, not without ripping off any figleaf of fair competition that the show may have, because he’s just not that great. If he wins, there’s no way around the fact, right in your face, that it’s a strategic vote. He does not win. Four votes for Apple, Lin and Bobo. Sixty seats filled.

HOWEVER, just in case you were worried there may be any integrity here, director Lu Wei comes ambling out to say, hey, you know those rules we have in place? Well, fuck ‘em. Who cares. Let everybody left battle, and whoever wins that battle can have a seat along with the 60 other people. I’m going to translate this one, because despite the limitations of my Level 1 Duolingo Mandarin, I have umpty SYTYCD episode reactions on my LJ and I feel like I’m pretty fluent in Dance Show BS: “We really want to keep somebody who’s left, so there’s going to be some chicanery on our part.” They really do not want Chick to go home, y’all. I know it’s him. It’s super extra obvious they’re desperately trying to save him, at this point. And I am here to tell you that if Chick ends up on this show and Ting goes home, there will be nothing on this earth that could possibly resurrect Chick from the Pit of My Dislike.

Anyway, we get Dai Dai from Team Lay, who describes herself as a fusion dancer and is pretty good for the first 40 seconds or so of her music and then completely loses the thread and kind of falls apart. The captains do not seem impressed. Possibly they also know we’re just killing time until we get to Chick. Up next is Su, who is Very Dramatic. He doesn’t say what team he’s from, but given Wallace’s reactions, I suspect he’s from Team Wallace. I suspect Yibo’s not going to like his face. His performance goes increasingly off the rails as he goes on. He’s got a lot of goodwill from the audience of competitors, but no. This is not a winning performance. And then we get Chick & Long, literally the last to perform. Chick spends the entire time doing A Bit. Long, who anyone barely remembers is even there, does 2/3+ of the dancing. Everyone – everyone – is apparently vastly entertained by Chick, and I just … :hands: Fine. He’s a character, but I have yet to see anything in three episodes, across, like, 7 hours, that lets me see whether he can really dance or not. Yibo literally tells Jackson, “He doesn’t have many tricks, but he’s got a ton of ideas” and later says he’s a B-boy without a power move. Anyway, one vote for Su (Wallace), three votes for Chick and Long. We’re at 62 dancers, and I cannot believe I’m going to be subjected to Chick’s continued clownery when Ting has to go home.

Thank GOD we’re activating the Special Guest Host Powers, the first of which is “REVIVE,” i.e., bring someone back who was eliminated. Yibo is immediately like, omg, the hip-hop group. Then we do Yet Another Bit where the captains cater to Huang Bo so that he’ll take their advice on who to revive, and it goes on too long when we are, my god, two hours and fourteen minutes into this. Meanwhile, Yibo reiterates, the hip-hop group. Yeah, Yibo, this I approve of - if I gotta watch you fall all over yourself over Chick, you need to get Ting back for me. So, we’re finally getting the captains’ actual recommendations: Jackson says the hip-hop group, possibly feeling bad about the fact that he’s the one who spiked their chance the first time around? Yibo is all, me too! Yes! That one! It’s kind of adorable. Also, yes, Yibo, you need to get Ting back for me. Lay says Li Yue and Sha Sha, the white and green snakes. Wallace recommends a popping group that I don’t even know if we saw perform? At any point in the past 7+ hours of three episodes? Wallace, are you high? Anyway, THANK GOD, Huang Bo brings back the X-Crew group. We’re at 67 dancers.

Second Special Guest Host Power is … “battle?” So, we’re setting up Qiang Qi Da Zhan, aka Seven to Smoke, which they’ve apparently done in past seasons? Each captain picks two people – eight total – to participate. Twenty minutes total. Increments of 30 seconds each to battle. And I guess you have to accumulate seven points in various battles. We don’t get to hear the captains’ picks, but I can see that AK Dong is called back for this one. Also, I spot one of the krumpers. (:eyeroll: Really, Lay? Because I know that was you.) We see some clips of this. We see AK Dong get to six points. He … maybe gets his seventh point? Anyway, he says in the last interview clip that he’s here. I guess we officially find out the Seven to Smoke results next ep?

Also next episode: Divided into two groups and battling by genre for the next elimination. Five rounds. Also looks like captains might get a chance to poach from other teams. Also some wacky fuckery with the dancers’ heads that looks like it’s going to be stomping all over my embarrassment squick, argh.

Finally, we get a peek at hotpot, and it sounds like they ended up with 70 dancers, so three people managed to get seven points in Seven to Smoke? And somebody’s mom is apparently coming to hotpot, but I’d have to watch the actual hotpot show to find out whose mom, and we’re out.

#wang yibo #jackson wang #lay zhang #zhang yixing #wallace chung #street dance of china #sdoc episode reax

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j-mysticalien · 3 years

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That Alex O'Connell story you mentioned in a post, yes I would love to know more sounds so goooood

Okay okay okay I wasn’t expecting ANYONE to respond to this (except romeomahbromeo I had a feeling you’d encourage this lmao) so I have to admit that its not exactly written yet- I am the OP of this - BUT here’s some more details rattling around in my head:

(this took longer than anticipated bc I kept accidentally deleting parts of it)

- No one has names yet, I need to work on that (feel free to offer suggestions)

- Character 1: folklorist friend. American who went to Oxford or Cambridge or whatever super duper British school Alex definitely went to. They became friends in a freshman writing class on museum ethics. They got into a heated debate in front of the class over illegally acquired artifacts in the British Museum (in short, She’s very much a “give that shit back” and Alex is neutral leaning towards “keep some of that shit”) Academic rivalry quickly turned to mutual respect and they’ve been best friends ever since.

-Character 2: bio anthro love interest. Another American (Alex rolls his eyes constantly bc of this. Once character 2 learns Rick is an American he torments Alex about it)This is a stem guy. Alex and 1 are their for the *culture*, the *lore*. he’s there for the biological evolutionary blah blah I don't like this particular branch of anthro but its his thing. He balances out the other’s adventure fantasy humanities bs. Down to earth, straight to the point, casually cocky. He’s got this lopsided smirk and--K maybe I’m in love with this character but you know what goof for Alex. They don’t get each other at first but with time they understand each other and are quietly yearning until their epic. romantic confessions, more on that later

General plot stuff: 1 pops up and visits Alex at the museum “catch up” though she quickly reveals that there's some spooky newly discovered site and she wants to have an adventure and drag him with her “get you away from all these artifacts before you become one. yourself”. Alex feels he’s fairly content with his life (and low-key high-key was traumatized by The Mummy Returns but more on that later) but reluctantly decided to go along for old times sake, curiosity, and to make sure 1 doesn’t get herself killed. 2 is 1′s friend from the states, they has some internship together, and’s he’s along for the ride. One site turns into the trio traveling the world getting into one complicated, dangerous, and often mystical situation after another.

Dynamics and such: When it comes to magic and stuff 1 is loosely a believer and 2 is very much not. Alex is understandably open to anything but 1 and 2 assume the opposite. 1 knows who his parents are as the famous egyptologists but the whole started-the-apocalypse-and -saved- the-world-twice thing isn’t common knowlege. This combo leads to fun early convos like

1: hey Alex, what are your thoughts on reincarnation?

A: Well...my mother os the reincarnation of Egyptian princess Nefertiti and I was kidnapped by the reincarnation of Anck Su Namun...so I'd say it’s quite possible.

1:...

2:..You could just say no lmao

Like for a WHILE they think he’s being sarcastic about ALL of it. And when the group inevitably gets in dangerous situations it gets more confusing for 1+2. 1 isn’t physically the strongest but she can fend for herself if necessary. 2 acts all tough and carries a weapon or two around on their journey. Alex was raised by Evie and Rick- the guy is a badass but a secret badass. First time 2can’t pull out a gun in time and it looks like it’s the end early on? BAM Alex suddenly reveals he’s had years of training and knows his shit

2:...did you know he had....that he could-

1: No....Alex you’ve been secretly ripped this WHOLE TIME-

Anyways on to the romance. 2 and Alex. Alex is kind of obnoxious at times, fairly consistent as his characterization in the movies but now he’s grown up. o he’s a little stuck up and 2 is a little cocky and they do not get along at first. Lots of banter but other ever serious. They go through a lot together though and develop a friendship-still full of banter and quips. Alex falls for him by watching 2 when he’s in the zone, full on geek mode. Alex’s “oh shit I might like him” moment is when it just the two of them one night, 1 is off somewhere, and 2 is explaining something they’ve found in full detail. He’s completely absorbed and fascinated by it, he’s got that sparkle in his eyes and excited smile and his hands are moving wildly as he describes why its so cool. And instead of talking about his own stuff or rolling his eyes and one-upping him intellectually as he had before, Alex asks him questions and 2 excitedly continues while Alex watches, a small smile inevitably tugging at his face.

For 2 it’s when Alex has a total Rick moment when their in danger. There’s a badass one-liner, intense glare at their adversary, shirt totally showing off his arms- 2 realizes later he had made mental notes of the details while he really should've been paying attention to the guns pointed at their heads. Alex knocks them out like the badass he is and they make their escape. Not a second after safety is secured Alex is all over 2, scolding him for getting them into the situation and bloody hell getting hurt in the process how stupid are you let me see that hand no I'm not asking a second time give it here, how the hell did you manage that where are the bandages-and 2 laughs.

OKAY THAT’S ENOUGH FOR NOW BUT I DO HAVE MORE AND MAYBE I’LL ACTUALLY WRITE IT SOME TIME SOON

#j-mysticalien the mummy #I'll take this bs with that #au?#the mummy #fanfic #oh boy guess im writing fanfic again

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lindberghtm · 3 years

Text

* . desirée lindbergh was spotted in the fashion district adorning prada platform chelsea boots , with some airpod pros on . they’re most likely listening to you know i'm no good by amy winehouse . you may know them as @desi or as that aisha potter lookalike . their twenty first birthday just passed . while living in the upper east side , they’ve gained a bit of a reputation . they’re known to be duplicitous but on the other hand reliable . wonder if they’ll be the next person to hit the headlines . ( cis female / she/her + c / 21+ / she/her ) .

hey !!!!!! i was planning on coming thru with a cool intro to establish myself as a ~ cool ~ person , but covid has absolutely ✨ decimated ✨ my social skills so ,,,,,,, this is what im left with . anywho hi i’m c ( short for clown tbfh ) , im 21+ , from the rainy ole’ pnw , & i use she / her pronouns . i was in wealthy like , , , , AGES ago & tbh i’ve been missing it real bad lately so here i am with a brand new bitch , , , , , ms . desi lindbergh 🖤 i just finished reading the girl with the dragon tattoo so you’ll find elements from that novel in my biography like the names , & the general ‘ company comes first ‘ & ‘ no one gets a divorce in this family ’ attitudes . but hennyway here’s a pinterest board , & my discord is 𝐌 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁#1264 ( the best tiktok song imo ) . my bio is rambly but there are stats at the top , personality & wanted connections ( inc . this sideblog w wanted plots ) at the bottom ! xoxo

* . stats .

full name : desirée ‘ desi ’ charlotte lindbergh - montenegro

age : twenty - two

gender : cis female

pronouns : she / her

pob ; current home : london , england ; current residence in tribeca .

family : henrik lindbergh ( 80 , deceased , ceo of lindbergh corporation ) ; miriam montenegro ( 46 , lives in the upper east side & london , supermodel turned vindictive widow ) ; no siblings or pets .

birthday : september 2 , 1998 ; virgo sun , taurus moon , cancer rising .

career : heiress / model / daddy’s credit card swiper .

drinking / drugs / smoking : yes / no / occasionally .

physical : aisha potter fc , dark brown mid - length hair , dark brown eyes , no tattoos , two ear lobe piercings in each ear , 5 ′ 6 ″ .

* . character biography .

1998 : miriam montenegro , an english model coming from a humble background , made it big when she was scouted for runway shows , eventually making her way to being a household name . by the age of twenty five , she’d found love ( or , financial comfort , rather ) with the fifty nine year old henrik lindbergh , a swedish business magnate whose involvement in global industrialization spanned far wider than the european economy . the relationship took the world by surprise , miriam’s friends being far more involved in pop culture than an aged man . while she claims it was love , the world had already made up its mind on her motive — money .

the pair got married six months after they initially became involved , & desi was born a year after . her father , the product of the ‘ silent generation ‘ , was of the impression that children should be seen , not heard , an outdated idea that her mother was comfortable abiding by . desirée , by association , quickly became accustomed to the spotlight , the interest in the uncommon relationship between miriam & henrik only growing after the birth of their sole child . desi grew up a prop , a toy for her mother to dress up in matching outfits & parade on the global stage , before stepping behind closed doors & forgetting about the child entirely . this led to desi being raised almost exclusively by nannies , her mother more interested in savouring the last of her youth & her father too busy with his international duties . originally based in london , the family moved to new york when desirée was starting her schooling to be closer to the hustle & bustle of american life .

2017 : desirée is graduating high school a year early after having been sent to institut auf dem rosenberg , a swiss private school that prides itself on being highly exclusive∫ˆ highly expensive . the name was a selling point for her father , but more importantly she would be safe & out of the way on another continent while her parents bickered ceaselessly . desirée found herself to be nothing special at rosenberg , her identity having been formed on the idea that public exposure equated to popularity ; without the constant public eye while at school , desi found a freedom & lightness she hadn’t before experienced . she could be real , & have real friends , & not be putting on a fake smile to allude an air of comfort . most of all , she could get away from her spiteful mother , who , once desi hit puberty , saw her as a threat to her own beauty , success , & public popularity . being sent to private school was the best thing to happen to desi & her mother’s relationship .

after graduating , desirée moved back to new york city , moving back into the expansive upper east side apartment , & being sure to move into a room on the opposite side of the home from her parents . being thrust back into the spotlight , a ‘ homecoming ‘ of sorts that her mother capitalized on , desi fell into a depression . she feared leaving the house , she feared that people would only want to be her friend in order to access the family’s wealth ( a seed of an idea planted in her father at the age of twelve , when she was told there was to be no dating unless their family’s net worth was over 500 million ) . soon enough , though , desi made the choice to get in contact with her mother’s rival modeling agency , inquiring about the possibility about modeling . they , of course , welcomed the legacy with open arms ; her mother , however , decided that this deceipt would not be tolerated under her roof , & kicked desi out as soon as she’d heard . desi called her father crying , explaining the situation over the phone , who immediately created a separate bank account of her own for desi , secretly hidden away in an overseas bank to avoid her mother finding out . the account held far more than desirée needed , but it was her father who enabled her to get back on her feet , find her own home , & start a career for herself .

2020 : desirée hardly speaks to her mother , though they keep up the public illusion that they are as close as a mother - daughter duo can be . her father though , now 80 years old , was actually close with desi , the two catching up daily & him celebrating her accomplishments she believed were self - earned . in october , though , she received a phone call from her father’s attorney , mr. berger , who informed her that henrik was in the hospital in critical condition after a heart attack . she flew to stockholm , where her father had been taking care of business items , & realized that it was time to say her goodbyes . her father & her played chess , talked about her childhood , & reconciled on any old issues . he passed away three days after she’d arrived . seeming as if he’d been able to tell something horrible was coming , henrik had updated his will a matter of weeks before the heart attack , naming desiree as the sole inheritor of all his assets & belongings . except , of course , her mother , who inherited a whopping five dollars from her husband . this was , mr . berger explained to desi , so that miriam could not claim that she had accidentally been left out , & was entitled to more of his estate .

if this wasn’t enough , the press soon released that interntional business mogul henrik lindbergh had passed away , & the companies he owned were now owned by a twenty one year old model who had never truly worked one day in her life . to make matters worse , her mother quickly played the victim , launching a multitude of lawsuits against her own daughter for defamation & coercing her father to leave her mother out of it . berger quickly chose desirée’s side , though he couldn’t become her personal attorney out of conflict of interest with the executing of the will . as the accounts lie in limbo during the legal battle , desi is relying solely on the secret account her father made her in switzerland ; if her mother knew , she would try to go after it , as well .

2021 : desirée has layed low over the last few months , her mother continuing her public display of heartache as the widow . desi can be said to be two - faced due to her sweet disposition one day & her cold attitude the next . in reality , she is normally kind & thoughtful , giving the benefit of the doubt to those two wrong her , but lately she has become more withdrawn , secretive , & volatile . she was recently photographed in a restaurant , crying on the phone with her head in her hand , something she would never normally allow to happen . overall , though , she doesn't want to speak publicly about the legal battle because she considers it a delicate matter & wants to take the high road . because of this , she puts on a face that she's happy , has done her mourning , & intentionally does things to make it seem like life is normal , like making appearances at events about new york city & being spotted hanging out with friends . only a very small handful in her inner circle notice the immense stress she's under because she's good at managing it , & doesn't want to be pitied .

* . personality .

personality wise , she is quite bubbly , thoughtful , dependable , observant , calm , & chooses her words carefully . on the other hand , she can be very hot & cold , self - isolating , two - faced , & tells blatant lies when she ought not to , & denies vehemently when others call her on her bs . she’s the type to remember someone saying they like something , in passing , then suddenly she shows up with that exact thing when she sees them next . her love language is definitely gifts & acts of service . considers herself a good advice giver but won’t take any advice others give her . kind of an air head , in that she can get so wrapped up in her own world that she forgets that others aren’t just npc’s in her life sfjklsd . can get overwhelmed easily , & retracts back into herself & isolates in her apartment for days on end , pampering herself with huge shopping sprees , overpriced face masks , & too much champagne . her way to deal with problems is to pretend they’re not there until eventually they go away 🤡

the world knows the bulk of the lindbergh - montenegro affair , as its known in the media , thanks to her mother taking interviews left & right to allude to her being snubbed by her own daughter . desi pretends that it does not bother her , that justice will be served & that legality will prevail over her mother’s cries , but the weight of the affair is taking a toll on her .

* . wanted plots .

click here for sideblog with wanted plots !

best friend / ride or die : someone desi’s been friends with for YEARS , knows all her family’s bs , prob has called her mother a b*tch to her face dflkjsdkl . literally the nicole to her paris , the lorelai to her rory .

squad : a group of friends who go clubbing every saturday & get brunch & gossip the next morning , have shady nicknames in their gc , have designated ‘ roles ’ in the friend group ( mom friend , the cr*ckhead , the wingperson , etc . ) , go on trips together , have the wildest birthday parties , etc . please !!

first love : this would’ve been in their teens , a summer fling that she fell hard for & who her father didn’t approve of bc he’s business - minded first . they tried to do long distance when she went back to school in the fall , but it didn’t work out & now they’re either on good terms & have sweet memories of that time , or one is still kinda salty how things ended .

bad influence : encourages desi to get the stick out of her *ss , & when she hangs out with them , they tend to go overboard on whatever the entertainment of the night may be .

friends to lovers / slow - burn romance : they’re friends first , but there’s been undeniable romantic tension between the two of them ( imagine pope towards kiara in obx ) , & their friends can pick up on it . they’ve never acted on it , worried of ruining the friendship , but they’re always a lil disappointed when the other goes home with or gets involved with someone else , but are ultimately there to pick up the pieces afterwards .

enemies / mutual dislike : maybe someone whose family her father screwed in business , their parents could have been friends before desi’s mom turned on them somehow , they think desi thinks she’s queen of the world , etc . let’s plan it out hehe

cheating : oop ! i love the angst , so gimme someone who either a ) cheated on desi , or b ) they think she cheated on them due to some tabloid article , rumor around town she was seen with someone , etc . their relationship was prob rocky as fuck , toxic , & lacked trust & communication . just a total shit show tbh .

that’s all i can think of now dskljfkl please feel free to reach out over tumblr msgs or on discord !

#wealthyhq:intro #excited 2 be here 🖤

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primordialnyx · 3 years

Text

eyo ma lemme rant for a bit

there was this article that talked about an american woman who lived in Bali for an extended amt of time due to teh pandemic (lol its recent relax but if anyone wants the article here it is)

feel free to ignore but i have a rundown here lol

BUT ALSO if you end up reading this, I have a little thing to ask of you at the end:

you dont wanna read the article? lemme give you the rundown:

woman travels to bali for fun for 6 months. pandemic said you sure you wanna come back? *covid bitch* so the indonesian gov. allowed foreigner to extend their stay despite higher and higher cases of covid rising right? okay all good right... except american women decides to LITERALLY SELL A BOOK ON HOW TO GET THAT GOOD LIFE IN BALI.

is getting that good life controversial? whyy ? well im glad you asked! in her book/ebook, she gives ppl tips and tricks on how to bypass government visas and restrictions, quoting that its the most queer-friendly place ever for cheap and all that.

ppl BIG TIME MAD (shuu they should be ok) because the dripping privilege. but like the hilarious thing is... people are getting big mad in like 2 different ways:

Indonesians are bigmad because being queer in any case is still punishable, encourages gentrification of an already heavy-tourism arae (Bali yall is hEAVY on tourism which is ok until it pushes out locals) and she wasn’t paying taxes in Bali and only in the US (bruhhh how you live in a different countryyyy howww -- also the US and Indonesia have a tax treaty to avoid double taxing).

The rest of the group (ie not indonesian) are mad because they thing its a race thing and this American woman is only targeted because she’s Black. Citing that everyone else is doing it but when she does it, it blows up to bigger proportions

Can I just? I just need to rant because this hits a bit personal for me (I mean.. having identifying as a first gen Indonesian-America, hell fucking yeah it hits different). But I will address said anger based on those two bullets above:

- Indonesians? Getting mad at tourism? In Bali? The most heavily touristy place in Indonesia?

Hell yeah they got every fucking right. Indonesia just made it off the thirdworld country list <10 years ago. There area still places that barely have running water. Which.. you know... US people you understand right? Remember Michigan? So when an American citizen overstays their visa and writes a damn book about it, promoting all BS, you gon feel some type of way.

That BS about the LGBT stuff? It’s so close to being fake news. Indonesia as a country is ranges from anti-gay to homophobic (this is very important because there are literally laws that punish queerness with death and then there are societal situations where its known but often ignored or shunned away-- can’t believe those are the only two options). Bali? Nah son her saying Bali is LGBT friendly is like saying only Brooklyn is LGBT friendly. It doesn’t make sense and frankly, its pretty fucking insulting to those who aren’t able to come out (!!! death !! yall remember!!) or are but are completely shunned from their friends and family.

ITS A RACE THING YALL BEING RACIST

I... oh god. If you are American and you said this than you’ve failed to consider that not everything is about America. Let me just say that racism obviously is a real thing but ask any Indonesia person about race and they, for the most part, don’t really fucking care. You want them to care though? Flaunt that BLUE passport. Hell pop out a RED if youre British. Watch them start caring. Your passport -- ie a visual representation of your privilege signified by your ability travel to a different country -- is the real mealticket here.

As an Indo-American who has gone back to her country, I can tell you for a fact that this is an unfortunate truth. Your passport carries your privilege. This woman got flaunted that-- she was literally able avoid paying Indonesian taxes. You know what white people do that’s also really fucking annoying and really shouldn’t be legal? Buy up land and push our the natives. Ahh but youre right, the natives should be fighting back. Mmm except... huh recently got off teh thirdworld list, barely enough clean water, little land to shelter .... I suppose they should definitely retaliate.

This American citizen wasn’t making “bank”. Like she’s not a billionaire, she just made enough to buy tix to Bali for 6 months. She wasn’t an entrepreneur of any sorts but a good, decent business woman right? She still broke the law and flaunted that and encouraged others to do so.

And.. That is why I don’t see it as a race thing. It doesn’t even make sense because there’s a whole different culture, environment, society, politics and government at hand. You cannot compare it to American environments - its a whole different playing field. When its racially induced, its fucking racially induced. South east Asian as a whole has always had this issue - colorism and what not. But..like yall..... someone tried to bring up the Malaysia incident and I’m like yeah you do realize Indonesia =/= Malaysia right? like you do understand that they are two different countries right? wtf you bringing up malaysia when the issue occured in the Indonesia?

ANYWAY UM. Please don’t reblog to add your own two cents on why I was wrong or whatever. If you have additional information that I should be aware of, message me (I’ll have anon off). I’m an adult and you are too and I welcome a civil but informative discussion on views. If you believe XYZ, I will honestly be open to answering back (mark * if you want private and itll continue to be private) without malice. I truly want to understand perspective but as I said before, I am biased as an Indonesian American who’s seen firsthand the power of someone’s passport. I merely offer than rant (lol horrendous man omfg) as an alternative to an American-centric view.

tdlr: don’t be a dick if you wanna have an open discussion with me

#dont fucking reblog it yall be a fucking adult about it unless you agree with everything here then shit son #you know what youre talking about

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topconfessions · 3 years

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I'm addictive to your bloog lol is so funny and diverse xd soo giirl spell the tea with rihanna and beyonce, I find hipocrital she defend Megan immediately buut when Chris brown beat rihanna in 2009 she never said something in her favor, alsoo all this year in the industry and they never collab she collab with Megan before Rih?? Like is obvios be have something with rihanna is too obvious now

it’s been obvious? the media and hollywood has conjured up the usage of fanbases to keep the masses wired down and bickering at each other. it’s bullshit. back in the day (I’m 26 but I grew up with hollywood tea always spilled around me pre internet age*) people picked up on stuff between celebs and saw it for what it was. Now people wanna act brand new and deny obvious stuff.

Rihanna had a fling with Jay-Z when he signed her and it went on up till around / slightly after good girl gone bad era. Everyone knows they slept together and had something going on. Beyonce is a weak woman in my eyes please folks stop taking her stage persona and hollywood facade as gossipal. Pay attention to the old days and old bey. she’s a shy semi introverted and insecure woman who let a mega rapper rob her of her youth and sexual identity for most of her life (if we are suppose to buy the BS she never fucked anyone but him and never took breaks from him to date a few others*) since 19.

She needs to stop blaming women for bs and look towards the man. Rihanna don’t owe her anything and it’s every woman for themselves to get where they need to be. She knew and does know what kind of person Rihanna is. But yeah this is ancient tea. Everyone knows that Beyonce has an unspoken rule that they will never ever work together. Rihanna is at a point in her career where she don’t need to work with Bey and she don’t even want to produce music period anymore it’s obvious.

Also I mean no direspect but people can get offended if they want to. Causes this current generation and racial tensions are making african american female artists or people in general into magical unciorns who aren’t exempt from making mistakes, being uncouth or unladylike, trashy, messy, or just presenting themselves in an unfavorable way but presenting it as “culture” and wrapping it with a bow of “bad bitch savage get money independent energy”. Nobody has the guts to speak out and call out the obvious that beyonce despite having enough money to be refined and educated at a higher level..........is NOT an articulate woman. She has a great work ethic and is talented and makes the right business moves but it’s all tied to her sex appeal her entire career among other things.

I’ll call it out point blank: she will work with unrefined women like Meg and Nicki a million times over before someone like rihanna. Now rihanna is always on her bs too but she is not of the...how do I say..she’s not on the sell out body morphing dumbing down type of route. I am neutral on Meg although I’m glad we have variety from Nicki now cause Nicki robbed lil kim and cardi & Meg are Nicki Minaj’s karma cause she got too confident thinking she’d be queen b of rap for this gen forever. Anyways, Nicki and Meg are not aspiring nor can they ever get into beyonce’s glamour lane where she kinda makes her self diverse (or tries to). Meg and Nicki minus Nicki’s pop crossover appeal to very urban men and rich non african americans who are always on trends and waves.

simply put: Rihanna is different and has her own unique type of influential vibe despite not being as “talented” as Bey. Beyonce recognizes this and doesn’t want to have to collab with someone who won’t be under thumb or mega grateful as it would be a power imbalance depsite the youth seeing it as Bey feat. Rihanna.

nicki and meg need bey more than Rihanna does. Rihanna relationship with the billionaire arab man didn’t work out cause of her not budging to the culture among other things with her personality. If rihanna was truly desperate or willing to settle she could have abided by everything like Janet Jackson did and been set for a good while. Rihanna had a miscarriage as well by the arab guy and also did some messy stuff in Dubai that was covered up by her having a report out that she got into a motorscooter accident when she was really hit by someone.

Anyways, notice rihanna (even if she has poor taste in men which she does *) never settles for men even if they are out of her league respectfully or got something she don’t? if beyonce was rihanna she would have adapted to saudi man and been a sell out. Rihanna leaves a lot of relationships and while it’s 50/50 good and bad I commend her for knowing her worth even if she tends to downgrade aka arab billionaire to the asap rocky. And I suspect the arab guy had MAJOR pull in her getting and sustaining that LVMH deal for fenty beauty. Isn’t it ironic that rihanna has this going on for herself but beyonce doesn’t? you’d think beyonce would have this all going for herself?

think about it.

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tellywoodtrash · 4 years

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Hi TT! How's life treating you? So basically I wanna ask if u were good in school? It's just really been stressing me out recently and I don't know what to do. It literally feels like everything is gonna go wrong if I don't score well...hope it's ok to ask xoxo

Hey anon!

It’s totally okay to ask!

I was stricttttttttttly average. I was always one of those “has potential, but doesn’t apply herself enough” kids, who was more interested in pop culture than being topper. Still I did fine, scored decently in the 75 - 85% range. Once I got to Year 11/12, I did fine in the subjects I loved but was definitely below average in everything else, coz of my sheer disinterest in the subjects and constantly playing the class clown. I even failed Math in my 12th Boards and had to resit the exam a few months later, which at the time was my greatest shame. (Dishonour on me!!!! DISHONOUR ON MY COW!!!!!!!!!) But it taught me a couple of things: like what I absolutely diddddd not want to be studying anymore, and what I didn’t have an aptitude for. If I’d done well, I’d have continued studying something I didn’t really want to, pressured by the expectations of my parents and society, and been pushed into a field that ultimately was a huge misfit for who I am as a person. This way, I finally got my parents off my back and chose my own way in college. In both my Bachelors and Masters, I did pretty well, but not without a few Bs and Cs here and there. (Goddamn Math!!!!!!!!!! ALWAYS BRINGING ME DOWN!) I did well, not because I was suddenly a genius or anything, but because more than anything else, I developed a work ethic on how to study and manage my course load. I established my own studying styles and productive times and stuck to them, even if they weren’t the “conventional” way to study.

The point is, while you should apply yourself to the fullest and do your best at school, it’s not the end of the world if you do slip up occasionally. Be patient and forgiving with yourself - don’t beat yourself up like I did back then. Ultimately, both myself and the kids who passed Math the first time around in 12th went on to have similar career trajectories and pay scales, even though we all chose different fields. The point is you learn stuff that you’re interested in and can apply it somehow to make a career out of it. Some subjects we just have to grit our teeth and get the fuck through, to throw far far away once you’re done with it and never look back (ADIOS TRIGONOMETRY! SAYONARA ACCOUNTING!!!!!!!!!! FUCK YOURSELF VERY MUCH!!!!!!!!!) Your score only pretty much matters when getting INTO a college; if you’re past that point, trust me, employers don’t look at the individual scores. They look at if you graduated, and what other experience, practical skills, and X factor you bring to the table. Yes, subject matter knowledge is important, but things like your personality and other soft skills matter waaaaaaaaaay more in the real world than actual scores.

About what to do re: this, I’d say reach out to someone and tell them you’re having a hard time. If it’s just the stress of it all, definitely talk to someone, like your parents or friends or even your teachers. No one that really cares about you wants you to be suffering. If it’s actually understanding the material, maybe they can help you out with some stuff. (My BFF and I had a system; we were pretty much opposite in our aptitudes, so we’d teach each other the material we were good at, so it served as revision for ourselves, while benefiting the other person coz being taught by a peer is always more effective!) Try researching stuff on your own, watching videos and reading articles and case studies on the matter than just powering through boring text books. Most of all, be kind to yourself. You wouldn’t judge a friend harshly for not doing well at school would you? You love them for who they are as a person, not how they do at school. Extend that same compassion to yourself; this is not any kind of remark on you as a person. We are all living through unprecedented times and no one has any clue of the way forward. You’ll get through this; one way or the other, you’ll make it through to the other side! Good luck!!!!!!!!!

#big sister TT gives life advice #tt answers

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incarnateirony · 4 years

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In what season and episode did you realised that Destiel went from subtext to actual text?

Difficult question really. I don’t exactly have a magic switch of some weird personal set goalpost I have, and frankly, wasn’t even really a shipper, just defended shippers, until... 13.5/6. I think I started slipping after 12.19 because I’m not a moron, I don’t live under a rock, I have eyes and know what the fuck a mixtape means to Gen X. But I kept it at arms reach because even Carver era was so totally subtextual-- atop all the stuff that got cut S10 after the S9 blowout, I didn’t exactly want to invest myself as much as point out shippers weren’t crazy for seeing what they saw, especially S8/9+ and even prior the resonance of the hero’s journey over our entire human civilization and historical othering of queerness made earlier readings or notices of it completely fair even if not really like, directional by the crew?

But to begin, Carver era was when I saw /intentful and meritful construction of the body of text, via subtext, to subtextually tell a story with classic queer coding./ Because a lot of what this fandom calls queer coding makes me want to hide my face behind a quantum hole of facepalms and is often like, pretty much the reverse of what should be advocated or considered. All those retro old “he’s been written as queer from S1″ make me want to kick puppies or something because oh my god it’s Not Good, most of the content there is Very Bad And Hugely Problematic, and it’s an attempt to retroactively prove what old canon was doing without any substance.

Carver era was the shift to substance, but silent substance. Subtext that’s genuinely thematically scaffolded into the storyline in a way that while the events themselves were largely cued on subtext, consideration of that subtext was critical to understanding the full body of text and people that refused to grow into and adapt with that text as the tone shifted are the ones that got more and more confused and angry.

Dabb era was the threshold crossing into (often low-visibility) text. Fandom intentionally arguing points that require complete removal from social structures (which is everything from regional meanings of major symbols, social codes, language, or why-letters-mean-things) doesn’t mean shit doesn’t mean what it means. A mixtape isn’t subtext any more than getting on one knee and popping open a box is subtext even if they don’t verbalize the words. We know what these fucking things mean and anyone who doesn’t is in DESPERATE need of going outside and experiencing the real world before making any kind of social commentary on a body of text.

When it comes to dialogue text, Last Call is where Bi Dean or at least Queer Umbrella Dean was textualized. Again, it doesn’t matter if people don’t understand the long argued history that was put to bed about repeat sexual encounters with men, it doesn’t matter what the gender of the other triplets were, literally none of that matters. It doesn’t matter if the person understands it. It doesn’t matter if they know their queer culture enough to know their arguments were already buried. It is what it is.

There’s this disillusionment that unspoken physicalized shit like kissing or sex, or verbalized ones like “I love you,” but “I love you, in a gay way, specifically and only you, and want to be romantic with you” because every other statement of the like so far has people crying or arguing about it as not enough either.

These things are nice, but it is not the only way to deliver a textual romance. These are things we want and deserve, and people aren’t wrong for wanting them, the only wrong comes in deleting other text because it isn’t the style of text they want. 100% unhelpful.

Text in AV is complex. No matter how decontextualized people try to pretend this all is, throwing pasta at the wall and calling it an argument worth validating, AV media study doesn’t just incorporate social codes on shit like dialogue -- though anyone that applies those social codes wouldn’t be arguing anyway, as per my old post on that -- but visual language and TV literacy are a long studied topic and are just as relevant as understanding of textual/verbal language and having textual literacy. People trying to eschew these in the interest of favoring fanspaces to try to keep them equal within the canon, which is NOT what fandom space equality is supposed to be about, is just... lol.

When that soap opera reporter that doesn’t even watch the show wandered in commenting on the full mise en scene of the 15.03 breakup being classical “Dark Point in the Romance” framing, that’s not subtext. In a book, characters aren’t running around on a blank canvas. Their environments are the text.

What people may draw symbolically out of an environment varies, and if someone’s /interpretation/ holds up, that’s fine. But being able to digest the entire presentation of a work, that is to say, to read an entire scene in a book and understand their setting and the relevance of that setting is simply a form of text. And when literal fucking randos can spot classic cinematography, it’s time to consider what the full cinematic framework is telling you both in incremental minutiae of texts and in the full body of work.

So basically, I acknowledged lowkey text based on the most basic understanding of social codes, by 12.19, even if I was still kinda eyerolling about it. By 13.5/6, Castiel returned to Dean in something later echoed by Eileen for the zoom shot, but the rest of the arrangement was verbatim identical to the original ending of Swan Song with Lisa, with the only difference being “Never too late” wasn’t a verbal line, but an entire sound track they applied to highlight the scene.

Despite the Swan Song parallel ending reactives went up in arms about the fact that they weren’t having big romantic moments anymore and kinda failed to wrap braincases around the fact that the endgame reunion that was literally the ORIGINAL endgame shot, which ALSO didn’t include physicality (in fact, the text read, “this isn’t sexual at all. He’s a lost soul, and she’s his home” in the script for Lisa), and this dumbass fandom would go “SEE PROOF THAT MEANS THE TEXT MEANS IT WASNT SEXUAL AND HE JUST BECAME BEST FRIENDS THAT WAS HER BEDWARMER MAYBE SHE HAS COLD FEET AT NIGHT” and that’s not how this fucking WORKS. Common sense is NOT removed from fucking discussion and what sense is applied needs to be levelly-- again, social codes.

So at 13.5/6 I had considered it textually paramount to the original endgame arrangement. S14 was just... blatant ass domesticity. Dean got his happy ending. He had his family. He got his win, his everything. They spoke frequently in the kitchen -- only vaguely over cases, more slapping around idioms, eyerolling over barbarous eating, and occasionally discussing how to raise their son. In fact, if you look at non-research-non-casework S14 kitchen scenes I’m gonna let you sit there and map out what all those domestic moments in the heart of the kitchen was, minding 13.5/6.

It was something gained. It was their life. And it was something to lose. 14.18 already advert framed it, we all saw it. Troubled family. People delete history of what is connected where to pretend “we” is vague or makes the romance any less of a canon piece and lmao guys

And season 15 is their year long run where they’re spearheading a huge part of the plot and will be a critical final resolution.

Speaking of 13.5/6 and social codes, anyone remember that Jack hadn’t met Dave Mather and looked at one nonphysical picture of them and recognized “he’s her boyfriend”? SOCIAL CODES MEAN SHIT GUYS.

So there’s no magic moment. There’s S8/9 coding and subtext. There’s S12′s tape and other elements -- tape is just the easiest to nail down but several through the year tbh -- there’s S13′s Never Too Late, and all things that followed that in waterfall. There’s S14′s established domesticity with Castiel having essentially moved into the bunker, something that wasn’t even entirely established in S12 yet even if he was more frequent there than Carver era.

Without social codes, I could argue that “Dean loves pie” doesn’t actually mean he loves pie. In fact, I could argue those letters mean nothing, because basic social codes are what even give words meanings. Without them these are just squiggly lines on a screen. If I eschew social codes, I could take a “love me some pie” line from Dean and say it means he fornicates with children and make long convoluded excuses around it instead of the observable fucking fact that Dean fucking Winchester likes goddamn pie.

Waiting for your perfect personally dreamed magic moment for a landmark to call text generally disregards the full body of the text and merit of the work. The amount of time and effort this FUCKING shipping fandom has put into -- even Destiel shippers -- bashing down and calling blatant ass text subtext because it’s not the text they want -- just because they want to argue with people that threw the logic baby out with the destiel bathwater they thought was dirty -- it’s fucking embarrassing tbqh. Imagine if people’s competitive fandom BS was muted how anyone here would be addressing this body of text.

Like. “After Carver directed Misha to play Castiel as a jilted lover in season 9, Cain through S10 escalated it into Castiel as Colette, which was confirmed by both the author and actors, seating him as a lover, as Sam was Abel the brother; by season 11, pining and connected hearts becomes the driving theme of the show, repeatedly denounced both in text and showrunner commentary that it wasn’t Amara that was that romance, and instead, a different one rose; by season 12, domestic arguments were many, mixtapes were shared, coming into rooms and playing people for things secretly stashed under pillows were a hinging plot moment, by season 13 he was the Never Too Late Big Win as a far more powerful version of Lisa, by season 14 Castiel moved in, by season 15 their giant sacred marriage euchartist ceremonies on repeat are driving the entire body of the season while overtly making the straight pairing a secondary parallel to the primary Dean and Castiel pairing by 15.09 such as the AU scene, or the ending where they mimicked the same phrase, truncated by physicality. But anyone viewing this text is an adult not competing for their preferred fandom playbox to be considered in the text, and had eyeballs, saw Sam and Eileen were clearly courting, flirting, and/or romantically engaged for a long time before this.”

Can we hope for the equality in that, sure. I want that, sure. That doesn’t erase all the other modes of text before that though.

But there, I just addressed 4 consecutive seasons of storytelling as its stands in the critical themes, without breaking down the dozens of independent scenes themselves that have already been analyzed to death and yall have scorched in your eyeballs by now like angels have prophet names.

I’ve seen people desperately, desperately try to reinterpret this text, or this story structure, in inconsistent ways that fall short. They’re never held accountable for their entire shit falling flat on their face, they just keep building new shit that falls on its face too and keep using it as a base. People can *interpret* ~text~ however they want. Anyone that tells you that “true text is inarguable” is either an idiot or selling you something for your subscription to their blog. Anyone CAN make any jackass interpretation of anything they want.

So sure. You can make some nonsensical explanation around every core theme their relationship is shadowed by, removing all social codes and context from basic elements understood by adult human beings natively, whatever. You can take 200 pages writing around it and degaying it. Generally when I see this, I see unhinged, incomplete writings with no central thread, just a thousand disembodied excuses that don’t even make a story. They’re just that. Desperate excuses. Years of it at this point. And they’re free to /interpret the text like that/ if they want. But that’s their /interpretation/ of a /text/ and as-above generally in /intentional, willful, conscious denial and erasure of the basic social codes we all understand./

Just because they /can/ warp the most left field interpretation doesn’t make it not text. If I pulled an “I don’t know I can’t english suddenly” and threw those codes out the window that doesn’t mean that the shit doesn’t mean the shit it means just because it’s inconvenient to me lmao

And this isn’t necessarily at you, Nonnie, I just feel the need to expand on this because any single time I don’t nail down these conversational stakes, someone breezes through and intentionally hotboxes the conversation to go down these very predictable manipulations and extremizations of the conversation that I really am far too tired to repeat the arguments raging in my mentions again, so I head ‘em off before the shit ever reblogs.

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