#And like I mean a month or so after the english release so people aren't spoiled

[idontknowanametouse]

Presenting to gringos (people that aren't from Brazil) Mundo Torajo (Torajo World)

Mundo Torajo is a brazillian animation youtube channel that will be very soon releasing a series thanks to a gofundme. Unfortunately, there is still no english translation, so I can do it here if you want.

Torajo was a channel like Jaiden (same video format) until about august/september of 2023, when a short was released (this one) beggining the lore, in which a red version of Torajo took his place. This continued on for almost 2 months with no sign of Torajo, only through glitches and links on the shorts that lead to audios of Torajo and Morajo (the red one) talking about the channel's future and video format. 2 months after Torajo was gone, Morajo made this video showing all the audios together. He said he made all of this to prove Torajo the audience didn't really care for him (their whole argument was about youtube algorythm vs passion and a nice audience) because they only stayed for the mystery. In the next video, this one, the two fight and we find out that they are brothers and Torajo called Morajo when the channel grew and he needed help, with everything getting more and more unstable between them. At the end, they set apart and Morajo starts his own channel. The two start a "war" between them until this video (followed by this one), when he introduces a new character, Zulmi (I love her, you'll see more about her later). She is friends with the two and stops their fight... at least, for a while.

Then, this happened. Basically, Morajo got infected with algorythomus, a substance that is, well, the youtube algorythm. He goes a little crazy and threatens Torajo while hacking other youtubers, and then Torajo posts this video. He explains he lives in another planet, Verade, that can be only kept alive when people watch their videos. The next video, this one, is the last part of this series/saga. The two have a fight with a really emotional flashback of them as kids, and in the end THE POWER OF LOVE WINS AND THEY MAKE UP YAAAAAAY

And, for a while, all is well. They continue Torajo's channel together (the 3 of them), introduce a new character, Linn (I love him, you'll see more about him later) and even post a compilation of the fight. And then something happens.

The channel is hacked by an unknown person and this video is posted. In it, we meet the "hacker", Abel, who is basically Verade's god/narrator and that does propaganda to the gofundme for the creation of an animated series (he also wipes Torajo's memory after this). 1 week later, they reach their goal and publish this video, with a sneak peak of the series (also wiping the character's memories). Now, there's just 2 videos left for its release, and the story is warming up. They post shorts daily and this week, Morajo seems very unwell, and as we know algorithomus is coming back, this is surely the cause of it.

This is the lore at the moment, and I can keep you aware of it. They are very popular with kids. I recommend, even if you don't know portuguese, to watch their videos, cuz they are really fun and charismatic. Now, I'll show you the characters!

Torajo

[ID in alt]

He is the main character. He is, as you can see, a green apple and is very nice, though a bit sassy and dumb. There are many memes about him, like him bald or as a banana. He has a crush on Zulmi but won't say it. Loves coffee and minecraft.

Morajo

[ID in alt]

Torajo's brother and former antagonist, now a co-protagonist. He is a red apple and kind of an emo, grumpy, kind of mean sometimes but actually very emotional, soft, shy and nerdy. People often call him a mango. He wears glasses but usually doesn't do it on videos. Loves Tetris and cats.

Zulmi

[ID in alt]

She is a co-protagonist. She is a blueberry and kind of a diva, but also very extroverted and likes gossips, also being nerdy about science stuff. Is often called a pineapple. Has a crush on Torajo, but won't say it. Loves Club Penguin.

Linn

[ID in alt]

He is a co-protagonist. He is a lemon and very introverted and shy, being very nerdy about anime and videogames, also kind, calm and phylosophic. Is besties with Morajo. Likes to play ukulele, ducks, Zelda and bread with lettuce.

Azedo (Sour)

[ID in alt]

He is Linn's little brother and a side character. He is a lemon and basically an ipad kid (looks like the collector from the owl house, is currently called Enzo Gabriel/Azedo Gabriel). He likes spider man, chicken nuggets and saying stuff on the community's discord server (I've seen him there sometimes).

Abel

[ID in alt]

He is Verade's god/narrator. He is a mango and kind of crazy, but really funny. He hasn't appeared much, so we don't know a lot about him, but we'll probably see more about him soon.

Amby

Ok, this one ain't canon but I am including him anyway. He is from an arg of the official Discord server and was a villain from an alternate universe that was friends with Morajo and then tried to dominate the channel. He is definitely a tumblr fave cuz he is completely crazy and unhinged, while also being a master manipulator and loving creating enygmas. He is a raspberry.

[bleachbleachbleach]

Is Mayuri, in your opinion, an opera-playing villain or a techno-playing villain? I ask because I had a whim to listen to the Akhenaten opera and was, after being moved by the singing (I had never heard a countertenor before and the sound was so gorgeous and otherworldly whether in English, Egyptian, or sci-fi-esque vocalizing), struck by the realization that it might be a tripleBleach and/or Mayuri thing.

Mayuri is beyond genre. Like, you know how a few months ago we were talking about hearing aids and Mayuri's ear cones, and were speculating about the frequencies of sound they're tuned to? THAAAAT. When they're not tuned to the frequency of mandatory conversation, man's out here listening to ghost shrimp crackles and piecing together the aural profile of reishi itself. Not the bludgeoning soundwaves that accompany sword releases or surges of spiritual pressure, but the latent music of reishi motes holding different constellations to take the form of this material or the next; reishi as atmosphere; reishi as some quality of this universe that is not solid, liquid, gas, light, Abstract Metaphysical Quantities A-Z. It is only perceivable as sound.

That being said, Akhenaten definitely seems like a spectacle he'd be into! And if he had to choose a composer from the Living World (teeth grit, lip curling) why not Philip Glass?

I went to an undergraduate institution with a bunch of brutalist architecture and a "central campus" specifically designed to be inhospitable to large public political demonstrations, as well as a system of underground tunnels for covert political operations. Definitely the vibe you want to accompany your bioengineering flagship, LOL. Not dystopian at all! (I think normal people who walk through this school do not think of it in these terms, and consider it a very pleasant place. But THEY DON'T KNOW.) And of course, big Central 46 energy.

It also has a well-regarded contemporary music program, which is very contemporary. As one of my college-mandated cultural experiences, I once went to a piano concert that consisted of a man, every so often, hitting a discordant note or two on the piano, only to let the notes sink into prolonged silence for minutes at a time. It was like the musical equivalent of water torture, because it'd be just

a

drop, a

note, every so

often--

--always (perhaps? or maybe not) with the promise of more; and there you are, waiting, anticipating, brain pleading for a stimulation as you become fully awakened to the oppression of silence. The sublime power of silence. Pain music.

I think Mayuri would like music like that, because the brainwaves must be sublime. And I think he'd love the temporal fuckery of it all, given his fight with Szayel.

He probably makes the labs work in silence--even though it literally doesn't matter what kind of noise is coming out of them, since he can tune his cone-ears to refuse the sound, if he wanted--because, per my co-blogger (who had to attend the water torture concert with me, lol), "nothing is more monotonous than a completely silent lab."

But mostly, the mandate of silence is simply to control for variables. Some labs are doing stuff where the vibrations of sound might actually throw off data. I mean, most aren't, but all the labs are experiments in themselves, because sometimes Mayuri plays water torture music for them, for Science. Sometime he plays sounds imperceptible to any ears but his, to see if it produces any measurable, if silent, effects.

Akon plays music in the lab when Mayuri's not around, though. Anything from Millennial American rap to Beijing opera to experimental jazz to the Fast and Furious soundtracks.

[starscreamfireworks]

on the topic of questions

What do octopus eat

or what EATS octopus. (other than people. Also i feel kinda sad that i like eating them. theyre so smart and nice and pretty...)

also whats the plural? octopuses? octopi? octupos?? why is english so weird)

how does the color changing thingy work?? the ink thingy?? also i DO know they have a beak ?? thing?? and its why they have a limit on how small a hole they can squeeze through

i am probably making no sense im just curious and idk how to word questions lol

THANK YOUTH ANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ASKING!!! I LOVE ANSWERING OCTOPUS QUESTIONS (read more bc long)

Octopus diets mostly consist of crabs/lobsters, clams, snails, smaller fish (including sharks), and sometimes other octopuses. To help them get to the flesh inside of the hard-shelled animals, the octopus uses their beak to drill a hole inside the shell, then they release a venom that relaxes the muscles so the shell opens, then paralyzes the animal in that state so it can't run away. This is a really interesting part to me; for certain prey species, octopuses have learned to always drill in the same spot on the shell to get to the 'target muscle,' basically where the most flesh is. It allows them to get as much venom as possible into their prey to make it easier to relax, then paralyze them! If the shell is too hard to drill into, the octopus will use its powerful suckers to pry it open; just one large sucker of a Giant Pacific has the strength to lift 25 pounds, they're very strong.

Speaking of the beak itself; it's very parrot-like, and it's extremely sharp, used for eating prey as mentioned, and it's also retractable. Octopuses have something called a hydrostatic skeleton, it has no bones but is an empty cavity that gets filled with water. Because water can't be compressed, the octopus uses it to apply force or change shape (muscular contraction.) It's sort of similar to how our tongue works, but I think a comparison both of us understand is the zipper muscles that Ardeans have lol. They concentrate water in a certain muscle to make that area move, if it makes any sense. It's very cool, and this flexible skeleton allows them to compress themselves into any space that is larger than their solid beak!

Predators of octopuses are sharks, seals, sea otters, and eels. Octopuses primarily use camouflage and ink to get away; they'll shoot a cloud of ink from their siphon, which is made from a combination of mucus and melanin, and it contains chemicals, one of which has been seen to actually relax predators. This means that the predator, if it still sticks around the octopus, is less likely to attack it and might just leave it be. However, the ink itself also chokes whoever lets too much of it get into their gills, and this leads to a lot of deaths when octopuses are kept in small containers to be transferred to aquariums. They'll ink in self-defense because they're stressed, and then have nowhere to escape.

Also, related to predators; when an octopus gets its arm bitten off, that arm can continue to function for up to a day after being separated from the main body! In fact, it will continue trying to do all of its main functions; it will attempt to hunt, and if it finds prey, it will bring it up to where the mouth is supposed to be. This is because 2/3 of an octopuses' neurons are found in the arms, allowing each arm to act independently of the main brain, making decisions without even letting the octopus know what it's doing. This ability to function independently of the body is really helpful; an octopus can use four of its arms to explore a cave for a potential den, while the other four can go on hunting! Octopus arms also regenerate really quickly, in just 2-4 months, and unlike animals like chameleons that regenerate tails that aren't nearly as good as the original, regenerated octopus arms grow back almost identical to the original!

Octopuses change color using tiny pigment sacs dotted all over their skin called chromatophores. These pigment sacs are attached to muscle cells, and when those muscles contract, the sacs stretch and absorb more light, then reflect that light back in different wavelengths (there are explanations out there that make much more sense than what i just said gkfsbvsjgk, but basically it just means expanded pigment sac = color being more visible). They have a LOT of chromatophores, and allows for a very wide range of coloration. Those muscle cells contracting also allow them to change their texture, creating projections of varying sizes called papillae!

The corrected plural is technically octopodes, though barely anybody actually uses that, and octopuses is also correct and much more popular. It's because the word octopus is derived from Greek, and so the proper ending would be "odes", but when octopus was adopted into English, it was just given an English word ending, making octopuses. Octopi is the most common but not right because it's a plural for a Latin word, but octopus is originally Greek so it doesn't really work (use whatever u want tho i barely understand it myself)

thank you for asking about octopuses!! :)

[alwaysxyou]

Always interested in your full posts on pr, marketing and english literature (lol). Please, allow your education to class up our dashes a bit!

so i don't work on either of these movies so this could be totally wrong, but i think the biggest thing that's causing frustration is that it seems like mp is being ignored and not given the campaign that dwd got. but in my opinion, that's not the right way to look at it because the campaigns seem to be very clearly designed for different goals.

dwd the goal is consumer and sales. butts in seats, get people to go to the theater and buy a ticket. no immediate streaming option, and all press was focused on trying to build buzz around the movie premiering so people would buy tickets (which based on what we know about the narcissist's deal where the more the movie makes the more money she makes, that makes sense to me). this is done through big public events with talent, shown in all major theaters, large marketing spend, pr stunts to keep it in tabloids.... get people to buy a ticket to see the movie. box office is SUPER important in this case.

my policeman the goal is awards. the box office return for premiere is not the big goal here - it's to get awards buzz and nominations. and it's doing this through positioning itself as an arthouse movie. arthouse movies and indie movies and those types of movies draw huge crowds of voters. the industry that votes for guild awards, the academy members, etc - they see the blockbusters and mainstream. but they focus on the arthouse releases. that's why you're not seeing it being released widely in your amc and regal theaters. they are being very selective about which theaters it goes to, to help build the reputation (plus they need to show it in certain amounts of theaters in NY and LA to be eligible for awards) and then it's going to be on streaming for the general public. that's why it's in so many film festivals - those are voters and the people who influence the awards races. word of mouth spreads that the movie is very well done, and the people who vote start to listen.

and that's why except for certain things, it looks like the campaign has barely happened. cause it hasn't. i was just talking to someone yesterday about certain movies that are currently listed at the top of the oscars prediction lists, and laughing cause you never want to be at the top in october. no one has seen enough yet and it's so likely things will fall as critics and awards people see more. hell as it shows with mp a ton of the movies aren't released yet - they're still in prescreening stages. you want to be on the top in january and february.

and when you have hugely in demand talent - and by that i mean literally with busy schedules demand - you use them in the way that's most effective, knowing your time is limited. that's why harry carved out time in his tour for TIFF. that's so important for him to go in person. i imagine we'll see more things like that start to pop up throughout the fall and winter months.

on that note - we'll probably also see events with other cast and no harry. that's a very good and very strategic thing! the more you can separate the notion of "this is a movie only for harry fans" the better it will do from an awards standpoint. (as opposed to dwd which needed the harry fan support for box office, making sure it was on hshq newsletters, etc) so when you add harry back into events, the people who are important to the race are taking the film seriously and are looking forward to hearing harry talk about the film as one of the main actors, and not hearing Harry StylesTM talk about it. i do think that the entire cast will have to put in the work if they want it to breakthrough and get noms, so im looking forward to seeing what they use them for coming up.

you're also seeing quite a bit of a break in between dwd and mp promo. i think that was a pointed adjustment after the dwd circus blew up even more than expected due to the shia matters. i think they had probably been planning to piggy back (talk shows tied to dwd but he gets to talk about mp, promo in the middle, etc. the timing was planned too close to be accidental) but there has definitely been a separation now. thank god. it's to help keep the seriousness around my policeman and not make it just a footnote in the dwd drama.

[thedissociatives]

10 songs 10 people ! tagged by @whitenikes thnx :) hope i got this right (also i definitely do not have 10 ppl to tag lol but i'll try to get as close to that as i can)

without me by eminem - used to listen to this whole album in the car with my mum all the time when i was like 3 lol one of my fav songs that she showed me

stuck in the middle with you by stealers wheel - have had this stuck in my head for like a month it's so bad. do not even need to say where i first heard it we all know

love from the other side by fall out boy - was so hyped for this to come out cuz i knew it meant a new album and it did not disappoint ! fav fob song they've released since ab/ap cannot wait for the album

don't dream it's over by crowded house - yeah yeah yeah i get half my music taste from films and tv what about it. heard it on the americans in october when i watched like the whole show in a month and now it's on most of my playlists

break by fugazi - one of my fav songs when i was 14 that i rediscovered recently. don't have the best memories tied to it but now i can create new ones w it instead :) cuz i haven't rlly listened to much of em the past few years and i can't let a bad time stop me from enjoying music i like

i can tell there was an accident here earlier by saosin - my all time fav band and their fav song of mine ! remember having to go on youtube for ages to listen to it before they put it on spotify. ngl the demo sounds way better the vibes just aren't quite the same on the spotify version

bathroom light by mt joy - i guess i couldn't escape the nolan patrickification of hockeytwt haha i do rlly like them now tho (want to see them when they play london next summer but 1. it's the day after my exams finish and i'll be too tired and 2. i don't have anyone to go with)

one way or another by blondie - mean girls my beloved <3 sorry to literally everyone but that's where i first heard this song. the soundtrack of that film is so good tho i'm glad this is on it otherwise idk how i would've found it

я сошла с ума by tatu - poppy's cover of the english version of this song is one of the best covers out there imo but nothing beats the original. it hits so different in russian too even though i don't understand most of it (but the bits that i do ? omg)

i hear you calling by gob - think this song is on an old chel soundtrack which is cool. one of the many bands i got into through looking at old tour posters (eternally grateful i figured out i could do that when i was 12 i've found so many good bands this way). this whole album is fuckin amazing but the guitar riff in this song is soo nice. always gets stuck in my head

(@smolpieceoftoast @memphisbelle @fagdeniro @fiftysecondstreet @emuchipmunk @rocket-eighty-eight plus like. anyone else who wants to do this)

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

I’m kinda thinking of making a sideblog for liveblogging reactions to P5R’s release. I kinda did something like that with PQ2 (and with P5 I just.....had it on this account but tagged cause I dunno 8U). That way people that don’t want spoilers, don’t get spoiled, and people that do want spoilers get the spoilers they want. It’s mostly reactions to what’s going on-onscreen, and just screen shots (or really taking pics with my phone, with PQ2 I had an emulator to do that so flkdajdslfjs R.I.P. quality pics but whatever), and talking about the stuff I find (like quests or how to do them). 

[isabellazohreh]

daffodil • jack bruce

warnings: mild angst; 25 years of yearning; cute nicknames; short king; bass player; etc.

a/n: this is dedicated to @jonesyjonesyjonesy because she is my partner in lust for bass players from fifty plus years ago <3

Amelia’s fingertips graced over the plasticky thistle in the field she lay in. If there was one thing she missed about Lanarkshire, it was the wide-open fields all over the county. She loved Paris, but she could only weather the city for so long before she grew homesick.

Speaking of homesickness, Amelia was waiting on the arrival of her childhood friend Jack, who had just returned to Scotland from America. He had been on a farewell tour for his band Cream, who had officially disbanded after a few months in limbo.

“Christ, and he says Ginger’s the tardy one,” She muttered to herself, though she knew she could never be mad at her friend.

The two had been born in neighbouring houses, barely a week apart. Ever since late May of 1943, the two were thick as thieves. Despite the restlessness of Jack’s childhood, the two never failed to find their way back to each other. Now, in October of 1968, the two were close as ever, although they were separated by the English Channel for much of the year. Despite their mother’s wishes, the two had never been any more than best friends, save for the time Jack’s mates had dared him to kiss her when they were six.

“Did you miss me, Daffodil?”

Amelia smiled from ear to ear as she saw her friend walking towards her holding a makeshift bouquet of helleborines in hand. His nickname for her came from a family trip to Portugal in the summer of ‘54, when the two had spent so long in the daffodil fields that Amelia had come home entirely sunburned.

“No,” She smirked. The both of them knew that was an outright lie.

“Oh shut up, you love me.”

“Do I? Or have our mums just forced us to be friends for so long that we’ve been lulled into a false sense of mutual admiration?”

“Christ, six months in Paris and you’re already a philosopher.”

Amelia giggled as Jack sat down next to her, placing the helleborines in her hands.

“These are nearly dead, Jack.”

“Can’t you just be happy to see me?”

“I’m only joking, don’t get your knickers in a twist.”

“Aren't I the one that’s supposed to say that to you?”

“If I was as petulant as you are, sure.”

“I missed you, you know.” Jack pulls his friend into a tight hug. “Brat.”

Amelia giggles. Jack hugs her tighter, just a bit tighter than usual, and then releases her.

“So how was the tour, eh? Got any salacious band stories?”

Jack grumbles. “No.” An outright lie.

“No?”

“Well, maybe, but it’s dirty.”

“I’ve hung around you three, Jack, I can handle a bit of depravity.”

Jack was deliberating whether or not to tell her. On one hand, he knew how much of a sucker for wild band stories she was, as she didn’t get to spend nearly as much time with them as she used to. On the other hand, the story involved his nemesis, Ginger, for whom his hatred was exacerbated ever since he had seen the drummer with his tongue down his best friend’s throat after a gig in Manchester.

“Okay, fine. But you have to promise not to freak out.”

“I promise.”

“Ginger and Jimi Hendrix had an orgy in one of our hotel rooms.”

Amelia’s eyes widen, and she audibly gasps as she shoots up.

“Oh my God, what? And you didn’t invite me?”

“Like you don’t get enough hedonism in Paris.”

Amelia grumbles as she lays back down.

“I don’t, actually. I haven’t had a boyfriend since that bloke you met, Michel.”

“God, he was such a pompous fuck. Idling his motorcycle outside your flat at all hours of the night like you didn’t have more important people to concern yourself with.”

Amelia smirks. “Like who?”

“Me.”

She scoffs playfully. Jack pouts like a whiny child.

“You’re so mean to me!”

“You love it.”

Jack mocks her like a jealous sibling, but lays down next to her so that their shoulders are touching.

“So how do you feel?” Amelia starts. She’s always been the more introspective of the two. Where Jack usually expressed his feelings through arguments and fits of anger (as exemplified by his relationship with his bandmates), Amelia was always the one to coax his feelings out of him in a healthier way. He missed her when he’d get angry and she wasn’t around.

“Fine.”

Amelia looks at him knowingly.

“Weird, it’s… I dunno, it’s strange. Obviously I’ve been in other bands, and I can probably join another, and the dynamic of the band certainly wasn’t optimal, but it grew quite familiar, and, I guess, I dunno, I guess I grew to like how we ar- were, in some bizarre way.”

“Yeah, I see what you mean. Calmness can be daunting sometimes. Plus, it’s like your dad used to say when we were children. We’re shit-stirrers. We thrive off of chaos.”

Jack chuckles.

“He paints such a wonderful picture of us, don’t you think?”

“Beautiful.”

“But anyways, what I was getting on about before, it’s not just the sudden calm, it’s the success too. I mean, we’re, God, we were big. I’ve grown quite comfortable in the lifestyle I have, and I don’t want the rest of my career, however it looks, to amount to nothing.”

Amelia’s fingertips start to trail between the valley of his pecs. Such touches are normal for them, but today, her touch is leaving him irreperably distracted.

“Just because you broke up doesn’t mean that you won’t have successful careers afterwards. Take… take The Yardbirds for example. They broke up, and now Jimmy Page is doing that whole thing with his new group.”

“His new group’s alright, I guess.”

“They’re quite good. They’re opening for The Who soon, we should go see them. Even if the music sucks, I wouldn't mind staring at John Entwistle for an hour or two.”

A twinge of pain stings Jack’s heart.

“I’m a better bassist than Entwistle.”

“If you say so.” Amelia giggles. “You’ve got such an ego sometimes, huh?”

“What?”

“One sentence out of me about another bassist and you’re getting all defensive.”

Jack thinks. She’s nearly found him out, and he’s not sure. As much as he’s been longing for his Daffodil to be his, he’s not sure he could bear it if she doesn’t feel the same.

“He’s not good enough for you.”

“Oh, and you’d know? You’ve barely even met the bloke”

Jack captures Amelia’s hand in his.

“Ames, I’ve got to tell you something.”

Amelia frowns in slight confusion. Jack isn't usually this precious about his secret, but she figures he may just be feeling a bit more vulnerable after all that talk about the demise of the band. She shrugs.

“Go on with it, then.”

“Promise me we’ll be okay after?”

Amelia’s brows furrow, this time in pure confusion. They’ve always been okay. More than it.

“Yeah… I promise. Jack, what’s going on?”

Jack brings her hand up to his lips and kisses it.

“Jack…” She starts.

“Daffodil, I-” The words seem to choke in Jack’s throat. Tears prick his eyes and he begins to tremble. He’s taken the stage in front of several thousand people, yet this is the scariest moment of his life.

Amelia’s other hand moves to caress his cheek.

“Jack, love, what’s wrong?”

So worked up he’s rendered himself unable to form words, Jack instead chooses to move his Amelia’s hand away and place his own on either side of her face.

He can’t hold it in any longer. He leans in quickly and captures her lips with his. Amelia has never been a daft woman, and yet, her eyes widen in total surprise at Jack’s actions. She doesn’t waste a moment in reciprocating, however.

The dam breaks and tears spill from both their eyes, but they’re tears of relief, rather than sorrow. Sometimes, when emotions have been brewing for so long, the release presents itself in strange ways.

Jack’s tongue slips into his friend’s mouth, and Amelia tastes the salt of their combined tears. With any other boy that Amelia’s kissed, the use of tongue has been solely to assert some feeling of dominance, but with Jack, it’s different. He seems to simply want to explore one of the only parts of his friend he hasn’t had access to before.

He’s completely engrossed in her, as she is in him, until she starts to giggle against his lips.

Jack pulls away with a blissful smile.

“What is it?”

“Your moustache, it tickles.”

Jack chuckles softly. He presses another kiss to Amelia’s lips.

“I love you, Daffodil. I’ve loved you ever since we were six and Glyn and Alfie dared me to kiss you.”

Amelia smiles, and kisses Jack’s lips once again.

“I’ve loved you ever since we were eleven and you let me wear your clothes because mine hurt too much with the sunburn.”

Jack kisses his lover’s forehead and revels in her serene smile.

“Our mums will be thrilled, won’t they?”

“Oh, they’ll be over the moon. They’ve been planning our wedding ever since we could talk.”

[quirkysubject]

Cold-Case Episode # 324: Plagiarism Uncovered

Recently, @natromanxoff posted an interview Freddie gave to a German magazine, Musikexpress/Sounds, published in June 1984. It's a really interesting read, so I thought about translating it. Since parts of it seemed very familiar, I dug around to see if someone else had already done that work for me.

Turns out someone had!

But it wasn't a fan - but a clever music journalist 37 years ago.

This widely quoted Melody Maker Article contains quotes by the band from a press conference in Munich in 1984. Freddie talks candidly about band's experiences in Argentine and about his 'outing' in The Sun.

Turns out, those 'quotes' are almost all cribbed from the earlier German article. It's not just a case of Freddie telling the same story several times, it's a word-for-word translation. I'll put the relevant bits side by side under a read-more at the end.

Now, the Melody Maker article isn't dated precisely, but the press event its referring to happened in August, 1984. In this video, you can actually see the set-up with the individual small tables that is described in the article.*

This dating also fits well with some bits mentioned in the text: The press kit handed out includes a picture disc of It's A Hard Life, meaning that it was the current single (released in July, succeeded by Hammer to Fall in October); the topics include the festival in Rio (January '85) and the upcoming tour dates in South Africa; and it refers to the "current Queen tour" through Europe, which started in late August.

Therefore it's clear that the MM article was written at least three months after the Musikexpress interview had been published.

So what happened here?

My guess is that the MM journalist - who, just going from the tone, wasn't a huge Queen fan - was sent to the press conference. But then they didn't get any good bits from Freddie. So they took an interview that had only been published in German, found some quotes that fit in well with what had been discussed at the press conference.

It's possible that the journalist is even the same as the one who did the original interview with Freddie... The MM article references a meeting with Freddie earlier in the year when he started his solo sessions, and again it sounds remarkably similar to the description in the Musikexpress article. Or that might simply have been cribbed as well.

Now, of course, that doesn't mean the quotes are fake - they aren't. But it does change their entire context. Saying something in a one-on-one interview with an obscure German magazine is different from saying it during an international press event, especially with the English music press present. Also, it turns out that it is in fact a double translation (English-German-English) instead of a direct quote.

My take-away from all that is to be even more careful in my work with sources. Even when we have an original, printed interview, we never now if the words printed there have actually been said exactly like that, at this time, in this context. It pays for journalists and biographers to pretend they're closer to the events and people in question than they actually were. It also pays for them to remove ambiguities and playfulness from quotes to make them sound punchier.

ETA: The video itself is wrongly dated to September 16th. Photos of the event were printed in a Record Mirror article that was published on August 25th.

(Oh, and I'll do the full translation of the Musikexpress interview, of course! 😊)

[First bit about Freddie's experiences in Argentine.]

MM: A Rolling Stone article about Queen in Argentina once described you as ‘the first truly fascist rock band’ Does that say anything to you?

Freddie Mercury: Oh dear, Oh dear. Noooooo okay explain it to me. What does it mean?

MM I was asking you

A whole lot of journalists came form all over the world to see us play in Argentina. It had never been done before, and we just happened to be popular enough with them. In Sao Paulo we played to 120,000 one night and 130,000 the next night. It was very new to them. It was not like North America. There was no such thing as any organisation. It could have turned out to be a totally unruly crowd, so they had the Death Squad doing the security.

MM: The Death Squad?

The heavy, heavy police who actually kill people at the drop of a hat. They were called in to protect us. We were actually taken from one place to another in armoured vehicles that are used for riots. And when the journalists watch that it becomes political. The music’s got nothing to do with it. I mean, before we came on stage the whole military was up front with bayonets. Just in case. They thought that if anybody could get such a vast audience it could become political. They pleaded with me not to sing ‘Don’t Cry For Me Argentina’ MM: How do you feel in the middle of a scene like that?

Oh, very powerful. You feel like the devil. You feel you could run riot with all these people. Somebody else with a different mentality could really use it to their political advantage. Or disadvantage. MM: You like to have thousands of people chanting your name?

Of course, It’s wonderful. The adrenalin’s there. Absolutely wonderful. But I suddenly think ‘I’ve got all this power, I can DESTROY!’ It’s not a destructive thing I’m too wonderful for that DARLING. I’M TOO GOOD

[Second bit, about Freddie telling The Sun he's gay. This time, smaller bits and pieces were picked from the interview.]

MM: Freddie, I understand you were upset about a story in The Sun that claimed you had ‘confessed’ to being homosexual.

Freddie: I was completely misquoted. But from the beginning, the press have always written whatever they wanted about Queen, and they can get away with it. The woman who wrote that story wanted a total scoop from me and didn’t get anything. I said: “What do you want to hear? That I deal cocaine?” but for God’s sake, If I want to make big confessions about my sex life, would I go to The Sun, Of all Papers, to do it? There’s no fucking way I’d do that. I’m too intelligent.

MM: But this is a good time to be gay. It’s good for business.

Isn’t it? Isn’t it? But it’s wrong for me to be gay now because I’ve been in the business for 12 years. It’s good to be gay or anything outrageous if your new. But even if I tried that, people would start yawning ‘Oh god here’s Freddie Mercury saying he’s gay because it’s trendy to be gay’

MM: Haven’t you always played with that image though?

When I started off, rock bands were all wearing jeans, and suddenly here’ Freddie Mercury in a Zandra Rhodes frock with make-up and black nail varnish. It was totally outrageous. In a way |Boy George has just updated that thing, the whole glam-rock bit. George is more like a drag queen. It’s the same outrage it’s doubled.

[mercyandmagic]

First, I want to thank you for your insightful updates on the situation regarding MXTX. I'm sure you've heard about the official English translations, I was wondering if you were going to dive into that as an update or if you could give your objective analysis. The publisher states that they were licensed from 'the Chinese copyright holders' and that they 'support the creator' but aren't the holders still JJWXC? Is it known an approximate of how much 'support' authors get in a JJWXC contract?

Ahhhhhhh. So yes, I will update, but the short version is: it changes nothing.

While the amount may vary from contract to contract, the creator should get compensated for any sales of their novel even though JJWXC maintains copyright. Now, according to one contract I read, JJWXC is does not need author permission to greenlight translations of a work, because the work is not being adapted or changed. As the contract said, more sales just help the author more. So this is not a sign that she is free (which I am putting in bold because people like to extrapolate what they want to believe, but unfortunately there’s no reason to think it’s true).

However, in regards to “is MXTX being financially supported by this release,” two things:

1) One of translators said she was, but I read that more as an assumption that official releases support the author – which is typically true! – not as “I have personally spoken to MXTX and confirmed that she is compensated.” 

2). We’re not in typical circumstances and I don’t know Chinese law on this. The sad truth is MXTX is currently in prison until most likely next May (idk if you saw the Medium update I did; none of it was good news but frankly it was detailed enough to confirm it ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’). I don’t know if the money can legally be held for her, or if JJWXC would do even that. (This isn’t personal, JJWXC. I don’t know simply means I don’t know because I do not, in fact, know). 

There’s also an ethical conundrum I have about the release of the un-revised TGCF, which was held for all print and translation on anticipation of MXTX publishing the revised version. Except, she can’t work on it right now, and beginning one month after her sentencing, suddenly the releases of the un-revised version began to be announced. I feel weird because I doubt she was able to approve it, since she can’t communicate with JJWXC according to the law.

And yet, all that said, I still think purchasing the English versions is supporting her, even if the financial aspect is murky. If MXTX is popular, if people keep buying her novels worldwide, when she is released she will have an internationally successful career to return to. She should be able to receive compensation from those continuing publications to support herself and recover. And hey, if she ever releases the revised TGCF, I’ll buy that version too. 

[magicbench]

what inspired you to write fujiwara and CoF? :)

[Sorry for the following wall of text, please bear with me lol] For Fujiwara, at first I actually didn't plan to make it a story this long...The project actually has a "first version", a really short game named "Fujiwara High School Festival" if I remember well the name and that I did for a visual novel's challenge called Nanoreno where you have to make something to start from fnish in 1 month. At the time I did it only to prove myself that I'd be able to do something on my own and be proud of it and the game only featured Ikki and Yuta who were simply called Delinquent-kun and Prince-sama. As you can see I didn't put much thoughts into giving them proper names xD And though they had "cliché" personalities, they didn't have a backstory at all either. Basically, the MC (who didn't have a name either) was a last year midle school student going to prospect a certain -but random- high school during its school festival's day, bumping either into Delinquent-kun or Prince-sama and doing a tour of the festival. Minami did already exist though ! And there was a super mega random classmate guy wearing a ghost costume too. That's pretty it.

But...the more I wrote about them, the more I got attached and in the end when I released this tiny project I realized it wasn't enough for me and started to give Delinquent-kun and Prince-sama names, friends, families, brainstorming why there personalities were like that, etc etc. More characters were added, Ikki would have childhood friends called Toshio and Ryu, Yuta would have a secret, and a smart rival (for studies and popularity) called Haru and who also have a secret. And this mister-random-ghost-guy ? Let's call him Kenji and be one of Minami's good friends ! Aaaand after that...I decided "Oh well...at this point I just want to write them all main and backstories. Let's make them LIs too !" I also tried and changed a lot the art style until I finally settled on what is the one in the current game ~ And there was finally born the Fujiwara Bittersweet that we know today, with Aya and the 6 sad boys x)

Now, for Colors of Fate, it was also after I did a Nanoreno on my own. Unfortunately you can't play it anymore (or was it Fujiwara V.1 ?) as the website where I uploaded it is down ^^" But maybe I'll share it on my Discord server someday since I still have the project's code O/ The only notable thing which change with CoF V.1 is that the prologue is way shorter than the demo's current version and that it has a end somehow, where you see the characters grown up after the incident. There was only one love interest at the time and the idea of adding more came after that, when I decided to make it a longer project. But...as you probably realized, this time I am not the one taking care of either the art of the writing and the reason is really simple : I thought that my style wouldn't fit a CoF's longer project at all and I didn't like my art for this kind of story either. I wanted something with a more flowery and poetic writing which I was totally unable to do myself, one of the main reason being that english isn't my native language and that wasn't confident in my capacities about conveying this kind of feeling in my writing x) Cirro did and I'm so glad she accepted to be CoF's writer ! The same goes for Aria's (sprite artist) and Kat's (backgrounds artist) art, I just fell in love with their work and couldn't in any way do such a good job as they did ! And with all the other members (music, code, proofreading/editing) I have no doubts that Colors of Fate will become a really beautiful project (I mean...the demo already is !) and that people will love our little Melia's story ! ❤ Also...for those who aren't aware, we decided to add the duke Aiden in addition to the other LIs. If you don't fear a fabulous "sadistic trash man", then you'll probably enjoy the experience with him too ;')

----- Phew, wow that was a lot of words ! Your eyes are doing okay ? ;-; In any case, I hope I was able to answer your question properly...don't hesitate to not read all of this in a one go xD

[thanakite]

That there are 3 Pinocchio movies coming out this year bugs me so much

For one, I understand that one of them is actually a Russian movie that is just getting an English dub this year, but I believe with 2 other Pinocchio movies coming out this year already the studio should have been able to tell that this isn't a good time to release this, and either worked to get it out before last year ended (or even within the first week or so of the year) or decided to delay it and put it out when there weren't already others coming out

For another, Netflix is continuing to be idiotic. Like they do have an interesting director and cast, but the reality is that Disney is essentially a cult, more people are going to watch the Disney version, full-stop, if only because Disney made it. Additionally, that leaves Netflix open to even more issues and criticism when they just continue to plummet. There will be comparisons made between the 2, especially with them both coming out this year, and unless the Netflix one is flawlessly amazing, they are likely going to encounter a number of people who will review it without watching to give it worse reviews than the Disney one and people will watch it, enjoy it, and still review it poorly because they are obsessed with Disney and firmly believe that they make the best content and listen to no other arguments

Netflix also has continued to go on about lost profit and such (They didn't lose shit, they just didn't get as much as they were expecting, companies completely ignore the difference between the 2 and it is infuriating -_-, but I digress), in part because of a lack of subscribers, yet they are likely paying a lot for this movie (given the director and cast (though the Disney one also has heavy hitters)), and aren't seeming to think about the fact that this isn't actual going to draw people in. Disney is cheaper than Netflix (I'm unsure of the current base price on Netflix but to give a good idea my parents pay $20/month for Netflix to give us 4 screens to use at once, it is my understanding that Disney has a bundle to get Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN, for $20/month), if they both come out with Pinocchio movies at around the same time, there is no incentive for people not already paying for Netflix to pay to see this Pinocchio over the other when they can pay much less to have access to the Disney one instead unless they happen to be obsessed with someone involved in creating it. It isn't logical for Netflix to have heard Disney is releasing a Pinocchio this year and for them to think, "Yeah we should release ours this year too"

Now, I do not know who announced their movie when or who started filming first or whatever, but realistically, given the supposed state of Netflix's finances and their terrible way of managing it (not only in the past but their current plans in place to "help" only seems to be hurting them), they should have heard Disney was making a Pinocchio and releasing it this year and thought, "Okay, so that means we either have to release it before x time or after x time to ensure we get the best out of releasing this movie" as people should when they own a business (honestly, it amazes me studios aren't better about this, like yes you can run into issues if you sit on something too long or whatever, but realistically, if something happens that means the market for a movie won't be as good as it should be, you should be able to put it on a brief hold or whatever to release it at a better time, but because of their desire to immediately make back money spent (or at least start making money back) and move on, there are probably a number of movies that didn't make as much as they potentially could have if they had just waited a bit to release it (also there are people whose pay is based on the amount the movie earns, who lost out on potentially getting more money since companies don't sit on fully finished movies if they could make more money if released at a better time))

Finally, this is an easily solvable issue if studios were not so obsessed with money and one upping each other. Realistically, there should be an online system connecting all of the production studios that everyone in the industry can use and see. In it, they should be listing things like projects currently being worked on, planned projects, etc. And their planned release schedule, this would allow a company to hop on there and easily determine one of the following options, "Oh, so X studio is already making Y movie, which is very similar to your pitch of Z, so we are going to pass for now, perhaps consider some changes to make your premise stand out more," "Oh, so X studio is making Y movie and it is set to release at M date, we will make your movie, Z, but will not release it until N time has passed to ensure you get the best release possible" "Oh, we here at studio A have been working on movie Z for several months, but now studio X is making Y movie and plans to release it at about the same time we were planning on releasing movie Z, that isn't allowed, we will file a claim about it" etc.

This would vastly help a number of people, but it isn't in place in part because the studios are terrified that information will get out about their project and either lessen the revenue it brings in or that another studio will "Steal" their ideas, but if they used this system, idea theft would be immediately obvious and would be easier to go after a studio for it. The other revenue issue is actually only an issue if your entire project is ruined by spoilers about it, and if knowing everything about a project spoils the project for anyone viewing it, it probably shouldn't be made in the first place because that means people will watch it a maximum of 1 time and then never again, whereas if they can watch it again and again despite knowing what happens then obviously the "spoilers" don't matter. This also has an additional piece though that the studios likely don't like, which is that if they list a project they are working on, and another studio likes it enough, they could offer the production more money to do it through their studio instead, and since studios know this and don't want to have to pay more, they don't want that, even though it would be beneficial to most everyone else involved in the project

This would force diversity into the industry, grant protections to studios, and give the best options available to project creators (who often deserve way more than they get) and should be in place, but because the people in charge of all this are paranoid assholes who want to hoard as much money for themselves as possible, it isn't in place

[jennsmischievousmind]

Fucks not Found

Ghosts

Summary: You hack, that's what you do. Dying to do so freely, wasn't what you had expected. Meeting the weirdest fucking squad; losing the best part of you; falling for a thief : was not planned.

Pairing : Four/Billy (Ben Hardy) - You

A/N: The story goes through the all movie, so I suggest you watch it before reading.

I don't own any characters other than Eight.

English is not my native language, I'm trying to get better at it, please be indulgent.

Tried my best to match Ryan Reynold's level of sass aha

Ch1 Ghosts | Ch2 Florence | Ch3 A Matter of Seconds | Ch4 I need a Backdoor | Ch5 Die Hard | Ch6 White Flag | Ch7 Haunt the Living | Ch8 One, but not done [end]

This is how you die.

"So you're the one who hacked the wrong guy" You swiftly turn around gasping at the sudden voice in your apartment

"Depends, you’re his hitman?" You were ready to run even if it means jumping by the window.

"Nooo, I'm an angel.” You snort at his sarcasm, unknown to you at this moment that he was full of it.

"Wanna disappear?" he asked taking a seat at the kitchen table eyeing your bags at the door.

"In a body bag? Slowly you make your way to the knives, just in case.

"You are a funny one, aren't you? I know the man you stole from, you won't get far until he got you. But, he emphasized, if you’re willing to do what's right.."

"I've already done my part for the flag." Assuming he was American by the way he talked.

"I'm not talking about shitty drug dealers. But evil war-lovers, genocide perpetrators, that kind of shitty so-called human. Those ones that are above the laws with governments' balls in their hands, ready to squish them.”

"That's gross" your brother appeared from the adjacent room. You let your mind consider the stranger’s offer as soon as you look at your confused brother, knowing he was in danger because of you.

“You two look at lot alike.” The guy leaned in, screwing his eyes at you both.

“We’re twin dumbass” your brother answered glancing at you wondering.

“What’s the deal?” you asked considering the offer

The guy smirked, “Well, to be short you die, and then you take down evil motherfuckers without governments’ backlash on you.” He tapped his fingers against the Formica table.

It took 5 minutes.

"One condition, my brother comes to!"

"What's he good at?" he crossed his arms.

"I can drive…Hold on what? Die? Who the fuck are you!?”

"Already too many questions” he rolled his eyes

"He's a hell of a driver, it got him under surveillance when he got chased by 6 police cars after an illegal race back in the States."

"So they caught up Muttley” the guy clucked his tongue

“Hey!”  

"No, you interfered almost ashamed, I told him to stop the car...I got motion sickness."

The guy erupted in laughter, you two watching him unamused.

_

“I’m more like Peter Perfect.”  Your brother mumbled as the guy left.

You look by the window discreetly, catching a glimpse of the guy mingling in the crowd. “You’re Muttley bro.”

A week later you got a text. The guy who called himself One had planned your fake death. A random trek in Italy’s mountains, an assumed fatal fall, no bodies recovered.

It was never supposed to be your life. But we all know nothing happens as it should.

Papà went to fight a war and disappeared, you were forced to move in America when you were 6.

Mammà never cope the loss of her motherland and husband. She died of a belated broken heart syndrome when you were 16. 

Both you and your brother were placed in a host family. It wasn’t a crappy family like it’s always the case in some tv show, they were nice and wealthy. The father was a tech engineer, somehow you took interest in his work and start learning to code, soon reading about hackers: white hats; black hats; “We are Legion”, you were hooked and skilled in a matter of time.

When you turned major though, things turned difficult, the host family had to let you go and Internal Affairs of your state caught you looking in their network. Which led to you working as a C.I for them, it was that or prison. Not thrilled by the idea but obliged to cooperate was your new motto.

Your brother had some job here and there but nothing steady, so money from the IA was welcome.

After a year and a half, I.A ditched you, it was rather good news in a way, they’ve erased your past mistakes but said they’d keep a distant eye on you.

So you moved on from your shithole that was the 1 bedroom apartment you and your brother shared and went to your parents’ hometown in Italy. Your brother was reluctant at first as he couldn’t even say hello in Italian, you taught him as your mamma had done it with you but he wasn’t that interested.

Working with people was not your forte, you were too bossy, so you got fired ... plenty of times: from a coffee shop, a rental bike shop and a tourist city tour bus thingy. So you started doing what you were good at, hacking for money, it went well for a few years, never being too greedy - until you hacked the wrong person and got in trouble.

That's how you became a Ghost and ended up in the middle of the California Desert.

_

One had built a squad. No names, only numbers to identify each other. Not calling your brother by his name was a challenge, same for him.

There were 7 of you.

One, the “boss”, a mysterious sassy billionaire who decided to fund his own strike team.

Two, a French blonde woman, pretty cold, a spy apparently

Three, a crazy hitman who couldn’t shut up

Four, a young parkour master and reformed thief

Five, a Doctor, but you heard she was actually working at a Dentist

Six, your brother, the annoying driver.

And then Eight, you, the Black Hat somehow becoming a hacktivist.

Why not Seven? Long story short, it was one more condition you’d submitted to One.

_

_SICILY

"Your focus determines your reality.”

“Oh for fuck's sake One, quit your Jedi bullshit!” you loosed your temper typing on your keyboard angrily. An entire week, an ENTIRE WEEK quoting Star Wars!

Four and Five laughed in the comm. One braced himself on the other end of the line. Three cut the heavy silence.

“Eight, Chiquita please stop yelling”

“I’m not a Chiquita stop saying that!”

“Ok ok chi…Eight, damn you’re stressful” 

“God, why do I have to team you up!!” One facepalm

“Now what?” Five asked

Radio silence

“Oh so now no one’s talking! What are you, 4?” One angrily called out to you 2.

“Yeah, uh high, literally.” Four answered One, you snorted.

“No ..  damn not you!”

“You called me Mate!” Four said offended

“No, shush – Eight are you done with the system?” he was about to lose it.

“I’ve been done with it the second Three called me Chiquita!” you crossed your arms in front of your laptop.

“Hey ..” “We’re not talking about that again!” One cut Three

“Can we get going now?” Two interfered, you heard her bike roaring.

“Finally, some sensed words.” One said wrapping it up.

Four entered the place you’d hacked the system of. Six and Two were not far in case of trouble.

“Four, the hard drive is in the main office. Second floor.” One enunciated, you followed Fours progression with the security cameras.

It was enlivening, stressful, but oh so exciting. When you worked with I.A you were never there when they’d go down in action, it was nothing but boring data researched and dealer’s MacBook.

“Freeze Four, guards coming east.” Switching cams you gave him a safe path.

“Ok, you’re clear. Now to your left, third door then turn right.”

Four got his hands on the hard drive containing all you needed to know about the next target.

“Well done.” One congratulated the team

“Thanks, thanks, It helps to have a sexy voice guiding you” Four chuckled, you blushed, sexy voice? is that even possible?

“Great, kid. Don’t get cocky.”

You rolled your eyes at the endless use of Star Wars' quotes.

“Hum that’s my sister, remember?” Six growled tightening the wheel

“Luke grab Solo, meet up in 15minutes at the hotel. Everyone move!” One instructed you smiled at the thought of being Leïa. Gosh, you were as much of a nerd as One.

Climbing down the jeep Three had rented, you laughed seeing your brother holding Four in an arm lock for a few seconds anyway, Four reversed the lock, pining your brother’s arms behind himself.

You passed by them “Easy with my twin please.” Four wasn’t releasing his hold so you stopped, turning back you lift an eyebrow at Four insisting he let him go.

“Oh!” he lifted his hands in defence taking a step back.

Grabbing your brother by the sleeves as he was about to jump on Four “Come on piccino” you made your way in the hotel laughing.

_ 

Your first big mission started a few weeks after, everyone gathered in The Haunted House as One called it, an old bunker, cheesy name for an HQ.

“You don’t get it, I need a CAR!”

“That’s a car, Six.” Three argued back.

“No that’s a heap, that thing won’t get us through the paved road of Italy, believe me.”

Four and Five were amused by the situation, Three had rent a truck and an old Volvo for this mission.

“Alright, shut up, we’ll get another car!” One declared, Six flicked to Three.

One resumed the mission’s details. Giving everyone their own missions. A simple mission, retrieve a lawyer’s smartphone.

In the midst of it, your hand flew to your brother’s head next to you. The smacked resonating between the walls of the unfinished bunker.

“Why ..why’d you hit him?” One asked confused, your brother was rubbing the back of his head frowning at you.

“Cain’s instinct.” You replied wriggling your fingers for him to continue. Four snorted, Six nudged him in the ribs.

In a few months, you had learned a lot from this weird squad. Learning to shoot was an obligation, Three was insane but a good teacher.

You’d asked Four to teach you some parkour in case of a chase. Six and Four became close friends in a matter of time. Five was nice, but you were never one to be good at making friends. Two was not a big talker and frankly, she scared you a little.

So you spend your free time hacking and reading, on the hammock installed between a dismantle plane and a dead tree. Not far from there you could hear Four skating in the empty pool and three at the makeshift shooting range.

Suddenly,

“EIGHT!”

Groaning you closed your book “WHAT!?

Your voice boomed against the caravan and lost itself in the desert, but you still hoped Four had heard. It was his thing, screaming your name instead of coming to you directly. At his silence, you wriggle out the hammock and strode to the pool.

“What’d you want skater boy?”

He was lying in the pool his board by his side. “Four?” you made your way to the ladder, “hey” you gently nudge him with your foot but he didn’t move.

“Four? you called out worried, “shit” knees hitting the vinyl liner checking if he was breathing, he wasn’t.

“Hey wake up, seriously dude don’t make me do CPR on you, I suck at it!” suddenly laughter erupted in your ears. Six appearing on the edge, Four chucked on the floor.

“Pranking you..he tried to breathe in, is always the best sis!” Six laughed even harder at your confused face. Still kneeling at Four’s side, he was looking at you laughing, until he wasn’t, catching a glimpse of worry melting with anger in your eyes.

Punching his left shoulder, you hurried out the pool. He stayed on the floor watching you go.

“Don’t make me do CPR I suck at it!” your brother was still laughing his brain's out.

_

“What was that?”

Four leaned on the dead tree near your head, his shadow offering some shade.

“A real bad joke?”

“No I mean, why’d you hit me?”

Sighing you clasped your book closed for the second time today “you really got me worried, happy?”

“No, you propped up on your elbow at his answer craning your head to him, I didn’t mean to scare you.” His warm hand slide in your hair at the base of your neck, he leaned in, letting you enough time to push him away if you wanted.

"Sorry" he whispered, his lips pressing in your temple gently, warmly for a few seconds. Catching yourself leaning in you almost fell off the swinging' hammock as he released his hold, he grinned and left not saying anything more.

"What the hell Four!!" you yelled at him, an ounce of laughter in your voice, a blush creeping into your cheeks, his own laughter filling the desert's silence.

FLORENCE

A/N: don't forget to double tap if you liked it. 🙏

[bl4cklabyrinth]

Live Report: MY FIRST STORY TOUR 2019 Semi-Final at Kobe World Memorial Hall

Disclaimer: Take note that all of these reports were translated by ear, so there is no assurance of accuracy. Because of this, please do not retranslate my work. I am no Japanese or English native.

I am only reposting the relevant MCs from my Twitter thread for archive purposes. Please check my tweets to read more about my thoughts on the show.

Photo by Takashi Konuma | Taken from MFS’ official Twitter

Setlist

SE

不可逆リプレイス

Black Rail

ブラック・スワン

花-0714-(Re:arrange)

monologue

虚言NEUROSE

KING & ASHLEY

mine

君のいない夜を越えて

終焉レクイエム (Acoustic ver.)

Love Letter (Acoustic ver.)

LET IT DIE (Acoustic ver.)

Band session

無告

Missing You

Weight of my pride (Pay money To my Pain cover)

MONSTER

絶体絶命

ACCIDENT

モノクロエフェクター

REVIVER

With You

Encore

THE OVER (UVERworld cover)

LET IT DIE

ALONE

Story about Weight Loss

Hiro: Anyway, this has no relation (to the acoustic session) whatsoever, but didn’t I get super thin?

Kid’z: You did! Tell us more! You really did lose weight! Nob too!

Hiro: We declared during Hall Tour that we’d lose weight within one month, but we couldn’t do it. We made a promise though, didn’t we? I did my very best, you know?? I seriously gave it all I got!!

Kid’z: I’ve been avoiding carbs for a long time, and even tried diligently apportioning my meals and stuff like that. But before I knew it, I was already eating curry!

Crowd: *laughs*

Fan: How much weight did you lose?

Hiro: I dropped 6 kg.

Crowd: Ohhh! *claps*

Kid’z: That’s a lot!

Hiro: Amazing, right? On the contrary, I’ve always been fat.

Kid’z: No, seriously.

Hiro: I lost weight so that I can get fat again. I want to get fat so I lose weight. When I’ve lost weight, I’ll gain weight again. It’s a never ending cycle.

Kid’z: Don’t leave it as it is!

Hiro: I get told that all the time. I mean, I’m gonna gain weight before METROCK again anyway.

Kid’z: Isn’t METROCK great though?

Hiro: Can I say this? Why do they hold festivals at such a season?

Kid’z: Because (the weather) is cool? I once thought Doraemon was the one singing.

Hiro: Who you calling 123 cm tall?

Kid’z: Nobita-kun.

Hiro: I’m not the blue geezer.

Kid’z: He isn’t a geezer!

Hiro: He’s a geezer, isn’t he?

Crowd: *laughs*

Hiro: Generally, we release a CD around spring or summer. Then we start tour around autumn, right? From the beginning of fall, Hiroki starts losing weight. Little by little. Then, year end starts rolling in. By the end of the year, tour ends, it becomes production season, and eating Hiroki comes out. Hiroki enters hibernation, just like any other large mammal.

Kid’z: You need to stock up, right?

Hiro: Yep, so I can get through winter. Then it becomes spring again. METROCK is waiting for me, but I don’t want stocked-weight-from-hibernation-at-its-max Hiroki to be exposed there! Why do I keep getting told I got fatter or thinner every time?! Leave me alone!!!

Kid’z: But you did your best, right?

Hiro: ...Yep.

Kid’z: Good job.

Crowd: *claps*

Kid’z: How about Nob? How are you doing?

Nob: I lost 5 kg.

Hiro: You lost weight only because you were sick, right?

Kid’z: Because his tonsils were taken out.

Nob: I haven’t gotten my sense of taste back up until now.

Hiro: Don’t let yourself lose one of your most important senses!

Nob: Some time ago I had pickles and it was the best.

Hiro: What an old man.

Story about Poor Kid’z (figuratively and literally)

Kid’z: This story has no relation to anything we’ve talked about so far, but you (Hiro) started an IG account, right? During Hall Tour. Since then, you did a lot of things to me, like that game with the paper cups and the 10,000 yen you put inside one of them, which I played along with having good intentions in mind. I chose the right cup and you gave me the bill, but you revealed that there was 100,000 yen in the other cups.

Hiro: Yep.

Kid’z: ...I tried that with a friend. I was caught. 100,000 yen.

Hiro: Eh?? They made a winning move, huh.

Kid’z: I was like, “Oh no, what should I do?? Should I take it back?” I wanted to be able to fool someone, to get a taste of how it feels! So I started turning the cups around thinking I could do it like you did. When it was time for them to pick, my friend chose a different cup, and in my head I was all, “No no no, not that!!!” and eventually they got it...

Hiro: That person probably saw my IG post and thought you were an idiot.

Thoughts on Marriage

After Love Letter, Hiro and Kid'z talked about being excited yet nervous to play the next song, since it's been a while since they last played it.

Kid’z: Speaking of which, the person beside me seems to be nervous!!

Nob: *rubbing his palms on his pants*

Kid’z: Can I do a hand check? *touches Nob's palm* It's all sticky!

Hiro: Eh? You're scared of making a miss again? Like in Yokoari? Higedan. Ah! Speaking of which, Satoshi-kun got married! Congratulations!

H&K: *congratulate Nob*

Hiro: Eh? Official?

Kid’z: This is Unofficial.

Hiro: Ah, sorry. Unofficial. He got married, huh... There's been a crazy marriage rush recently... 

Kid’z: Yeah, it's been all over LINE NEWS lately.

Hiro: Right. back number, Higedan, Maple Chogokin.

Kid’z: You're mean for putting Maple Chogokin as last!

Hiro: No no no. *laughs* The marriage rush is insane, right... Right... Insane right... 

Fan: Do you want to get married?

Hiro: ...I don't wanna get married. 

Crowd: Eh???

Hiro: Do you? Someday, I assume. As for me, I don't wanna get married at all. 

Kid’z: *in a teasing tone* Is it because you don't have a partner?

Hiro: *taunting tone* Ha? Ha? Ha? What the hell are you saying, you.

Kid’z: Ah, sorry we had a little quarrel.

Hiro: Let's get a divorce first!

Kid’z: What the hell is this breakup!

Poor Nob

Photo by Takashi Konuma | Taken from Hiro’s IG post

Hiro: Anyway, are we good? You (Nob) still seem nervous. How are his fingers?

Kid’z: They're tender. 

Hiro: If I had to play it in a room like this, I'd be pissed.

Nob: *strums a tune*

Kid’z: It's that song!! It's definitely that song, right? Can you do it, Nob bear? Are you alright? You practiced last night without sleeping.

Kid’z: Give him your support.

Crowd: Cute!! You can do it!!!

Kid’z: The pressure on you is rising, huh.

Hiro: *in an old man voice* You can do it! You can do it! You can do it!

Kid’z: Eh? What was that voice? Father?

Hiro: *taunting tone* Ha? What the hell are you saying. Who you calling father, come home and I'll kill you.

Kid’z: Ah, sorry. Father, I apologize.

Hiro: to Nob You okay? Dududadududa~ (T/N: the intro of LET IT DIE) The last song for the acoustic session. Please listen, LET IT DIE.

Then, Hiro crouched down from his seat and kneeled, looked at Nob closely, and so did Kid’z. Nob stared back, aced the dududadududa intro and everybody clapped for him! However, Nob made a mistake towards the very end, playing the last string of notes twice. When they were walking back to the main stage, Hiro put his arm around Nob and teased in a mocking tone, "Hey, in LET IT DIE, in LET IT DIE, hey, during the acoustic set, hey, I was satisfied with the beginning, but in the middle of the song, hey, you made a mistake, right? Even if you were doing so well." When they got back to the main stage, Nob bowed down in apology.

Weight of my pride MC

Hiro: Your voice has been heard! There were a lot of requests for PTP, and in my heart, PTP is my eternal hero. It shouldn't be just us; so that he can also hear your voices, shout as loud as you can Kobe!!! Next song is called Weight of my pride!

Check out their version of the performance at Saitama Super Arena here:

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モノクロエフェクター MC

Hiro: How are we doing Kobe? I thought everyone in Kobe could handle it, you know? Aren't y'all drinking too much milk tea? Your nipples are gonna become tapioca if you drink too much milk tea, you know? Well, if you're sure you're not drinking too much then you should be able to handle it, so let's all dance together!!

Reviver MC

Hiro: Thank you so much for today! It's been a great day, I'm really grateful. I've always been alone. I've lost so many people I didn't want to lose, and I've let go of things I didn't want to part with many times. I might not be able to change the world with music, but because of music, I met the members, I met all of you, and it made me think that my life was pretty impressive. I want to believe it was my destiny to meet all of you here tonight, so let's keep walking together Kobe!!!

With You MC

Hiro: Thank you so much for today, Kobe!!! After this, the tour will be ending soon. Thinking about it makes me sad, but knowing that you will all be supporting us next year, and the year after that, and the year after that, and even after 10 years makes me feel very grateful. But there's one thing I want to say before today ends: Kobe, I love you!!!

THE OVER MC

Hiro: How was it? MFS' UVERworld. Did I become Hiroki∞? This song was really difficult. The way the lyrics jump, especially during the part before the last chorus.

Kid’z: I didn't learn that note.

Hiro: *emphasizes the difficult enunciation of a line from the song* Unbelievable, I had a hard time remembering it.

Kid’z: The instruments were tough, too. Even Nob was complaining, there were notes he had never seen before.

Hiro: I couldn't match the timing of the lyrics either. I had to enter at an exact time, 3 characters in one second!! If MFS were to do it, we'd go with a lower key.

Kid’z: You say MFS but it's your key, right? Your voice is hella loud you know.

Hiro: It's because if I'm alone, then it's not MFS.

Kid’z: Nah, we were able to match the key, but only you can sing it that high, right? (T/N: They seemed to have raised the key by 2 octaves)

Hiro: You guys thought the cover song was only Weight of my pride, didn't you? You're wrong! We did UVERworld but we received many other requests. There were a lot of PTP songs in the tags. Who else was it... Sheena Ringo, Oral, and King Gnu too.

Kid’z: Weirdly enough, B'z was highly requested too. 

Hiro: It'd be weird if I sang their songs.

Crowd: Sing! Sing! Sing!

Hiro: 萎えぇぇ！萎えぇぇ！萎えぇぇぇぇー (T/N: Nae is Japanese slang that roughly translates to “no” or “ugh” in this context) Wait a minute. Change the song.

Kid’z: *offended tone* Huh?

Hiro: Well then, sing a line that starts with A!

Hiro: You're an Ultra Soul Idiot. Do you know any other song apart from Ultra Soul?

Kid’z: Of course I do! Don't you? All of you? I love them more than anyone else, I'm even in the fanclub! こいよ！！

Kid’z: *sings a B'z line that starts with A*

Hiro: Gi!

Kid’z: Gi? *sings a line that starts with Gi* I told you, I can do anything.

Teru: Yu!

Kid’z: Yu? YUME JANAI ARE MO KORE MO SONO TE DE DOA MO AKEMASHOU, SHUKUFUKU GA HOSHII NARA KANASHIMI O SHIRI HITORI DE NAKIMASHOU, SOSHITE KAGAYAKU ULTRA SOUL!

Crowd: HEY!!!

Hiro: Oi, Teruki!! Why did you say "yu"?! You should've let him build up first before making him sing "yu"!! It was too early to make him sing that as the third song!

Kid’z: It felt really good!!

Hiro: Why did you say "yu" so quickly?!

Teru: I just made a mistake.

Hiro: Don't be an airhead!!

Kid’z: I'm really grateful!

Nob’s Redemption Arc

After their UVERworld cover, Hiro asked the audience what they should do next. The crowd started screaming different songs, to which Hiro said "I'm seriously fine with anything." Nob suddenly played the first three notes of LET IT DIE, to which Hiro said, "Ah, from earlier?" Kid'z said, "He made a mistake a while ago, so let's give him another chance." Then Nob started practicing. The crowd screamed, "You can do it!!!" then Nob walked towards the center stage and did a moonwalk. Hiro was all, "You can't do it, you're not Michael Jackson!" then sang a MJ line and howled his signature "Woo!"

Final MC

Hiro: Today was truly an amazing day, thank you all so much. We had such an intense gathering here at Kobe World Memorial Hall. The first Coming Kobe was also held here. We have so, so, so many memories here in this place. Right now, we're still on our way to reaching our dream. From hereon, we don't know if we could make such a big dream come true. We still have a long way there, but we're doing our best every year, making music for everyone and visiting various places as well. Next year, and the year after that, and even after 10 years, it would be nice if we could all make amazing memories together. Thank you so much! We're definitely coming back, Kobe!!

Photo by Takashi Konuma | Taken from Hiro’s IG post

[loi-et-love]

SZ: hi.

first thing first..... T H A N K S ....for so many things... talking to me, being nice to me (even when i was pain in the ass) .... being frank and open..... talking whatever came to your mind (well that you do with everyone) ..... answering to some long emails... with equally wrong emails....

you know i had drafted a mail earlier but had to delete it ... thought might as well write something new and fresh..... and this is what you have done to me ..... When i have free time .... i think "let me write to aditi" ..... sometimes..... i even wake up in the middle of my sleep to check...... if there is any message from you.... but unfortunately only calls or messages i get then at that time are from GC .... some how he just knows when i am busy.... or sleeping in office hours and he will call me..... the joke i tell my mom is "if i want GC to call me ..... i should sleep" and hola ...tring tring ....

initially when we started talking...... i did want to know why is she talking so much to me .... but then i let go of it ..... realized later you are talkative.....

i dont talk to many people..... and i dont remember when i had written 100 odd emails .... to someone ...... i guess there have been days when we have completed more than 50 odd emails in a single day.... like today we are already near 42......

two reasons i dont talk to many people in office is 1) my last name: they have pre concieved notion about me and feel uncomfortable talking to me ...... and i dont like when people are uncomfortable .... and they do make it previous obvious

2) whatever little interaction i have had with some ..... i just dont connect... i dont feel the need to ... or in simpler words..... i dont find anyone else interesting enough

yes i like you,.... want to know you..... but i want to know you at your pace and your convenience .... i am not in a hurry..... but then its like you kind of sweet like an ice cream..... and i get worried... what if it just melts away .... so i want to know things about you......

all those questions hanky panky and all is just to get you open up..... as i always say.... i was also 24 for one full year..... and i know things that happen.... i am no saint either.... and i had a car since i was 16..... so had my share of back seat action too....

sometimes...... its obvious that i am the distraction .... that keeps you away from ex......... sometimes.... its just that ... you have too much stored in yourself ...... and you dont have the channel to release it all..... so you just treat me like an "agony uncle" or lets say punching bag.... i am ok with that.....

And you are currently occupying lot of my mental space..... whether is sleeping or awake ....

like today i didnt need to send the photo which i sent in morning ...... or didnt need to think about you when i saw rainbow ..... didnt need to go for walk ..... i went yesterday also .... the reason : well yesterday i knew you would be busy from 6-7 while driving to go home and today i knew you would be sleeping while i was awake so i thought might as well go for a walk

talking sarcastically or flirting or being funny is natural to me and so is the serious attitude.... seen a lot of things in life....

you dont like flirting we can always stop.... it will be difficult but i can stop.... no more checking out .... btw its not the ass which i check out first in a lady....... its something else

chalo will send across this email when you are back from lunch..... and done with your work

ohhhh last thing ..... you are B E A U T I F U L ....enjoy have a nice day .

I: God!! nobody is ever going to let me read this email with full concentration. *angry face*

Will you stop thanking me?? I didn't do anything FOR you. i'm selfish that way. So stop!! I did everything because I wanted to. I didn't do any favors for you. I talk to you because i like talking to you. I'm nice to you because you have been nice to me (no indecency). I'm frank and open... Well, that's just who I am. I speak my mind. And I respond to your long emails because I love talking to you and I love long emails. Long emails signify how much willing you are to talk to me. It shows your effort, that you are ready to type so much because you so much to say.

Maybe you can send me that email you deleted. I would want to read everything you type to send me because that's what you wanted to say to me.

I know how you feel. you have done the same thing to me too. I was late for lunch and made Kaalu and H sir wait becasue I wanted to finish writing an email to you.

It's true that I am talkative but I don't talk soooooo much with everybody. I'm friendly with everyone but not everybody is my friend. So, I talked so much with you because I chose to and not because I have a compulsive need of talking.

And BTW you spoke to me first. I had my seat changed and you had asked me something. I think you had asked me what I do here, etc. and then why my place was changed. I remember it was dark and there was nobody in the office except you and me and you were filling your water bottle and laughed (that cute laugh I love) when I told you that because French Translator and I talk a lot they changed my place. (I know it was silly of me. I didn't even care that you're a C (last name) and I shouldn't have and I should've maintain a decorum with you)

"i dont talk to many people" Tha'ts what Kaalu said, you don't talk to too many people. And if you talk, nobody hears your voice. So, it's more or less like you don't talk at all.

And those days are the best days where we write over 50 emails to each other.

I know why you wouldn't talk to people here in OIA. I saw and felt how lonely you are. and then you talked to me one day and I felt "god! ye accha baat karta hai. Decency toh baapre.. chalakti hai!! Has a nice soothing, amazing voice. English mast hai." And then Idk how and when I started talking to you. I don't remember. All I know is that I must've blabbered a lot for no reason, forcing you to be in the conversation. Do you remember how I started talking to you so much after you spoke to me once? (answer me) I actually you spoke to me twice. once ws in the elevator when we were going down. I think we started talking about cars and books when we would leave. And then you would advise me like an uncle to drive safe and use this direction than the one I use. Ufff... how annoying I found you then!! Treating me like I'm 10!

So, as i was saying i thought u r introvert n shy n lonely n dont have many friends here. but i was happy to see you chitchatting with anand sir then.. Sometime in february i think. I was relieved..

I don't understand what preconceived notions they would have about you.

People know you're C because you speak THEIR language. (That's how I found out). I would always see you talk with Kapil. And I wud make a face like why does this man have to talk to him (Atul), bichara.. paka raha hoga Atul ko! But then i found out u r a Chaturvedi and I slapped my forehead. Like whyyyyyyy............... But then your last name never felt like a hindrance for me. You last name never bothered me. Is that strange for you? (answer me)

So, you know how I feel about you not being here right now? So, you know how I feel about you leaving? There is nobody interesting in this office. There's nobody who reach my standards and actually hold a conversation with me. You have no idea how ecsatic I was to talk to you everytime!! I would wait for NL to leave so that I could talk to you. But you would shoo me away like a dog.. :( That did hurt me when you continued to do it for a few days but I didn't say anything because i know you didn't mean it

You have to ask questions to know me. Don't ask me questions about what hanky panky I have done. I won't answer that. i don't kiss and tell. I told you about Aditya. I told you I have daddy issues. You figured out I have trust issues. It takes time to get to know people. And it's more fun when you get to know them as the time passes by. Fast-fast karne me koi mazaa nahi hai. I have been very fast in my life and i've realized this now and i always prefer to go slow.

I want to get to know you too. You conceal so much behind this fluffy (hehehe) exterior. But it takes time.

You are not the distraction. Dude. I have many distractions. Do you think you are the only person in the office I flirt with? Think again! Yeah, it's true that you are the only person I actually enjoy flirting with!! ('im not buttering you up here)

Nobody can keep me away from BB. BB and I... We have the strangest chemistry. We wouldn't talk to each other for months (which felt like years) and we'd gravitate back to each other. It's just how it is. Nobody can stop what's happening between me and him. and you're not a distraction. I don't use humans anymore. not that person anymore.

This is true "you have too much stored in yourself ...... and you dont have the channel to release it all" But you aren't my agony uncle or punching bag. I have just been awfully mad at you, once !! Just once!!.

You are just completely different for me. You hold the weirdest place in my life. Never anticipated to go this far. I didn't know you'd give me your number and i would chat with you like its the end of the world!!

And you are currently occupying lot of my mental space..... whether is sleeping or awake .... --> i don't want to ruin the moment, but i do do this to alot of people. What you said in another email that i have made your boring life here in OIA, interesting and now you look forward to it. There was this intern (also Adi, he's a southernese) he too said the same thing. He wasn't somebody who would talk a lot but with me, we would talk for 9 hours straight for 2-3 weeks! He didnt have any work and nor did I. and he still cannot believe it. Yeah, so i do have an effect on people. (I won't say i dont enjoy it. i jsut hope it turns out to be a good experience for them)

If you thought about me when you saw the rainbow, then i think of you everytime i see XUV on the street. I wait for you to text me on whatsapp. I come to work and I check my email first for any email from you.

Today when i came to work, i really thought that you're lying n u have come back n you'll come to work today.

" it will be difficult but i can stop" --> really? it'll be difficult???

What's the first thing you check out in a girl? and what's the first thing u checked out in me?

"ohhhh last thing ..... you are B E A U TI FUL ....enjoy have a nice day ." --> i have to hug you for this. There's a way of saying things. it also matters who is saying to you.

I'm too disturbed after wat NL said yesterday. I jsut want to go to him anymore.. i'm not Veena or Marina. Nor do I behave that way (although i did speak things with you, i hit on you, that's different. but really, i didn't do it with NL)

"ohhhh last thing ..... you are B E A U TI FUL ....enjoy have a nice day ." --> you made my day. (you too have an effect on me, okay. you just don't realize it, although I say it out loud so many times) this made me smile shyly. main sharmati nahi hu.. thank you :*