#And you can only download 1 album a day

[im-not-a-sheep]

does anyone know any sites that let you download osts/albums/music to mp3? That are preferably good quality

[tojisun]

hockey player simon pt 0.5 // pt 01 & 02

(pre-pt 1 & 2)

there is something that riley (41) does that kind of—or really, if you're being honest, which you aren't—makes you breathless. you wonder if it's a deliberate habit, or if it's something he does unconsciously. whatever it may be, it drives you fucking nuts.

when he's on ice, mid-game, riley chooses to chew on his mouth guard instead of wearing it.

thing is, he's not the only one who actually does this—countless lead players are photographed as they chew on their mouthpieces, their eyes faraway because they are in the zone—and you've always noticed them, of course you have, but there is something fundamentally different when riley does it.

it's pleasing when it's him who does it. attractive.

the others barely make you blink, but riley? god, you can't even show your camera roll to your friends anymore because of that one day when you mass-saved every single photo of him biting on his mouth guard that you could scour.

you probably downloaded about forty-one (ha!) images of those types.

it's embarrassing to admit out loud, but dear god he is so charming like that—in full hockey gear, his damp hair framing his flushed face, and his grin made cheekier by the fact that he's biting down on his mouth guard.

one was even your homescreen for a while.

fuck him for being gorgeous.

---

(post-pt 02)

simon skates towards you at the sound of the buzzer—the first period is over, and now it was time for the intermission. the rink is being cleared out for the re-icing, but here he is being a bastard, loitering and everything. even his coach seemed to have given up at shouting his name already, and after a quick glance at him, you know simon’s going to be reprimanded for this.

but the thought and the fond exasperation is squashed into hot smithereens, with your heart lodging itself in your throat again. you feel faint, your eyes going wide as you map the way simon moves towards you, gliding across ice with a rugged grace.

simon’s eyes are dark, lined with exhaustion and adrenaline, and his teeth, pearly, are chewing on his mouthpiece.

fuck—

he stops just in front of you and taps the glass protector. cameras flash by your sides and you know damn well you’d see your face later posted in different socials, but right now, in front of simon, you can’t even begin to care how ridiculous you might look.

(you looked breathless. cowed. in awe. everyone can’t fault you, really, after all that’s riley.)

you don’t even know what you did—did you wave your hand too? did you tap back? did you do something else, something that you typically wouldn’t have done?—but whatever it was, it has simon smiling, his lips tugging up to show more of his pearly teeth gnashing on his mouth guard.

you whimper.

-

"why the hell do you keep chewing on ye' gumshield?" mactavish asks in the weight room while he spots simon's reps. garrick is in the corner by himself while price is out with the coaches, discussing about other plays they can start with come the second period.

simon has to tamp down his smile at mactavish’s words, his arms almost buckling as the rush of inexplicable giddiness that fills him up, before he murmurs, "s'none of y'r business."

"oi!"

well what does mactavish want simon to say? that he accidentally peeked into one of the albums in your old phone only to be met by series of pictures of him biting on his mouthpiece and decided to tease you during today’s game?

that’d make him look like he isn’t serious about the game, wouldn’t it?

this is, truly, inspired by draisaitl 😔 and for @spngingerbread21 <33

[tomorrowillbeyou]

Thursday 2005 demos

These are some early demos for A City by the Light Divided which were stolen from the band and leaked in September 2005. I haven't seen anyone post about them so I thought I would myself. Below are lyrics and some extra context. I have tried to transcribe the lyrics as best I can but I have pretty bad auditory processing disorder so there will inevitably be some errors. If you spot a mistake, let me know and I will edit the post. The formatting and details of the lyrics are mostly based on the CD booklet.

Blog post

After the demos were leaked, Geoff made this blog post on the Thursday website on September 21 2005:

1 - At This Velocity - Lyrics

Hey friends-

SO… we see that the early demos we did for the record have FINALLY leaked. In this day and age anything and everything that passes through a computer eventually ends up being available to everyone at the click of a button. Many of you know that Thursday is one of the few bands that actually supports file sharing!!! We love the fact that music is available to everyone whenever they need it. We have always told our friends and 'fans' that they should download any of our albums that they can't afford or can't find in stores.

These demos, however, weren't ready for anyone to hear. These songs have all changed substantially since those demos and will probably change between now and the recording. Just to help you guys understand these demos, here's a user's guide: 1. most of these songs don't have names because the lyrics are still being written… a song only really becomes a song for us when we figure out EXACTLY what it's about. 2. One of these songs is actually the reincarnated out-take of a song that we cut from war all the time. 3. Andrew had just joined the band as a full fledged member when we recorded these and his keyboard parts were still sketchy at best. 4. There is one song, however, that is much closer to finished than the other's. It's called "At This Velocity" and it's about a crash landing in an airplane on the other side of the world. This song was started when we were in Australia on tour with the Flaming Lips, the Mars Volta and Poison the Well. The first line of the song is, "We were safe, Now we're paralyzed, Suspended in flight…" We hope you enjoy it.

On a related and timely note, we are very excited to announce that we will be heading into the studio with Dave Fridmann at the beginning of October to start on our new album. His work with the Flaming Lips, Weezer, Mogwai and Sleater Kinney has produced some of the finest albums of the last ten years. Dave is one of the few modern producers really pushing the medium and he's one of the nicest guys in the business. We started preproduction on the sixteen songs we've written. In the short amount of time we've been working with Dave he's already pushing us to new musical and emotional ground.

Anyway, thank you all for the love that you have always shown us. These demos aren't really a good indication so try not to listen to them too much (we don't want you to get used to them this way!!!). We're just happy that all the really great stuff on this album is still a secret!!!

Keep checking the website for updates and tidbits.

thanks and love,

Geoff (and all the Thursday boys)

We were safe

Now we're paralyzed

Suspended in flight

At this speed it makes no difference

Where I start and where you end

Or if you sit in an emergency aisle.

We could be dead

Complete the equation:

Our names are X and N

We have no value

In these calculations:

We're placed on a plane,

Pointed straight down,

Traveling at five hundred feet per second,

Five thousand feet from the ground -- how long will it take us to hit?

How fast will we start the disintegration?

No time left - just keep moving

No time left - just keep moving

How fast will it take us to hit?

How long till we start the disintegration?

2 - Telegraph Avenue Kiss - Lyrics

We could be safe here, forever,

Floating in the clean blue air.

Somewhere between the sun that gives us light and the ground that puts it out.

And we'll kneel in the aisles

Press our hands together, close our eyes, speak these words so softly into the black box

And it goes:

"Mother, father, can you hear this?

I want to thank you for all the sweetness.

I'm not coming home, we're never coming home."

She's the song that you tried to sing

And the note that you couldn't hit

So you locked her up in a music box

Turned the key on all of us

She spins silver strings in the dark

With metal teeth that ring in her heart

When the cover drops

The world just fades away, away, away

From her, waiting, waiting, waiting for her to say:

It doesn't matter what you say,

Doesn't matter what you think you mean,

You know our love's not unconditional.

A book of matches and a cigarette

A love note that you never sent

You can fold it up but you won't forget

You can strike a match but it still might not light

Now I'm the one that's stuck inside the silver cage,

The bird that can't fly away, clip its wings if it sings

Of the way, the way, the way that it hurt

Waiting, waiting, waiting for her to say:

It doesn't matter what you say,

Doesn't matter what you think you mean,

You know our love's not unconditional.

Doesn't matter what you say,

Doesn't matter what you think you mean,

You know our love's not unconditional.

The music box is open

It's spinning with the room

If you're the record playing, I'm the needle in the groove.

Listen to our song:

You're in my heart,

In my hands

In my lungs.

3 - The Other Side of the Crash / Over and Out (Of Control) - Lyrics

We move like a carousel

Streak lights and mirrors in our eyes

It's time to let this go

Can't stop spinning

Around, around, around, around, around, around, around, around, around, around, around

You know our love's not unconditional

Unconditional

Unconditional

You know our love's not unconditional.

Note: This contains a section from Panic On The Streets Of Health Care City, the "reincarnated out-take" mentioned in the blog post. Panic later appeared on Kill The House Lights.

The lights go down, outside (before our cars collide)

The city silhouettes itself (in forty shades of fire)

Do you know where these lies are leading? I'll meet you there.

I'm covering up my eyes

Before they cover up your eyes

And wrap your body all in white,

And we awake in the light of all the lies

This can't be happening

These sirens are for me, yeah

We wake up

Covered in the marks of all these razors

Racing up our veins

We'll live and learn to love again

Open up your eyes and we'll be safe again

From the razor's edge.

And the hospital ward sleeps

Through the surgery

Hiding needles in the drawer

(for emergency)

While upstairs they sleep

In maternity

Fever and the pitch.

It's a brand new day,

Just to be awake,

This is how it feels

To live and learn to love again

Open up your eyes and we'll be safe away

From the razor's edge.

4 - Autumn Leaves Revisited - Lyrics

The I.V. drips, the days drag on

The anesthetic's not wearing off

Adjust the light switch in the hall

Someone has left it on,

And maybe the x-ray screen keeps it from getting dark

The bulb burns out when it gets too hot

Keep crashing this car (over and over)

Keep crashing this car (over and over)

Keep crashing this car (over and over)

I can't keep crashing this car

Still it spins out of control

So hold me close or I might disappear this time

Out of control

We fight currents in the water

When we can't let go of the shore.

We've lost control.

The leaves will fall and so will you

When you do, bury me under them too

Seconds pass, we'll make it through

Eventually we all go home

It won't be long

It won't be long

I live with a girl who’s been waiting

Seven months left till they bring home the baby

He swore he was paying for school

They shipped him over. Now he scatters on the front lines

He swore he would follow his conscience

But done the wrong way follows his orders instead.

When he shoots, he sings this song

But he doesn’t know that she’s been singing it, too.

It won't be long

It won't be long

Until they find a way home

We walk along the wire tied between horizons

You close your eyes like it's nothing at all

Throughout the rise and fall, everything, everything

Changes, I will be here when you die

Did you hear the trumpets play the day your father died?

Did the violins swell those circles under your eyes?

Did you play the part straight like a march?

Or get lost in the beat, thinking and feeling…

Did the drums in the streets make the people dance?

Or fall to their knees from the sound?

Knock the leaves from the trees,

and they fell from the branch?

They looked beautiful

As they hung in the air

Spinning around

Did you float in the air?

Spinning around?

There must be somewhere that cigarettes burn through the night

And the leaves don't abandon their trees to the light

Where the sky's always clear and the summer never ends…

Won't you take me there?

5 - Untitled - Lyrics

The leaves will fall and so will you

When you do, bury me under them too

Seconds pass, we'll make it through

Eventually we all are going home

Note - this didn't end up on ACBTLD, but did make it onto Common Existence as Last Call.

The center cannot hold, the side collapses

Full of broken words, sing the song inside the dark arcade

Color me in city greens

The streets unwinding, spitting flames

Cars around the arteries

We scream and swerve and fall apart.

Everything we love, it falls apart,

And the architect abandons us.

I'll save us from the sky until a feeling burns, you try

It plants a seed of fire that flowers in the corner of your eye

Circular breathing

We'll keep them always moving

Heart attack efficiency,

Erase the figure as it falls.

Everything we love, it falls apart,

And the architect abandons us.

Everything is falling apart.

The city shakes like tired hands

The light divides what darkness mends

Our bodies echo in our plans.

Everything is falling apart.

The wedding starts

The guests appear

The church bells ringing endlessly

The bride and groom are hand in hand

And everything goes as it's planned:

The parents smile,

The priest chokes up,

The organ plays "Amazing Grace"

And underneath the thin white veil

And the people sing:

La la la la, da da da…

Everything is falling apart.

The city shakes like tired hands

The light divides what darkness mends

Our bodies echo in our plans.

[evenstar]

TOKYO BABYLON FST: BOX

what's poppin TyoBabi fandom, I got a present for you

.zip File Download: DISCS 1 & 2 (109MB)

This FST is basically an in-depth run down of the collection of songs that were sung/mentioned/in the "VOL. 7/BOX" chapter of Tokyo Babylon 5, with some info about the artists and songs themselves. This, as far as I know, is the most thorough run-through of the music of "BOX" on the English web! I've divided it into two "discs", the first being the songs mentioned themselves, and the second being a few fun related extras. You can check out the second disc over on Radio Free T.Y.O, if you're interested ♥

Ginza no Koi no Monogatari

銀座の恋の物語 - "Ginza Love Story" 石原裕次郎・牧村旬子 - Ishihara Yuujirou and Makimura Junko mp3 download || youtube

The song that Seishirou and Hokuto are pouring their very souls into to perform in the beginning of the chapter. Released in 1961, this a smoky, jazzy duet typical of its time, telling the story of two star-crossed lovers, one in Tokyo and one in Ginza. It was an immediate hit, even having a movie based upon it made, starring Ishihara-san in the lead role. It's a staple duet in karaoke even to this day.

Nakanaide

泣かないで - "Don't Cry" 舘ひろし - Tachi Hiroshi mp3 download || youtube

The song that the random selector spits up for Subaru to sing, which Sei-chan subsequently picks up after sending him off to buy cigarettes/exorcise the OL. This was released in 1984, by Tachi Hiroshi, a singer and actor who became quite the sensation when he had a starring role in 西部警察 (Seibu Keisatsu; "Western Police") -- incidentally, directed by the abovementioned Ishihara-san, as you'd have it. "Nakanaide" was a hit, coming in 59th on the ORICON's 1984 top singles list. It's from his seventh album In the Mood.

Nanpasen

難破船 - "Shipwreck" 中森明菜 - Nakamori Akina m4a download || youtube

The song that the OL ghost sings. A dark and heartfelt song about a dying love, it was a massive hit when it was released in 1987, shooting straight to the top of the ORICON charts (as Nakamori-san's 17th number one hit), and has been a karaoke regular since then, just as the OL says in the chapter. Originally written and performed by the very respected Kato Tokiko for her 最後のダンスパーティ (Saigo no Dance Party; "Last Dance Party") album of 1984; she personally requested that Nakamori-san perform the song. It's been covered countless times, including by the original singer/songwriter and the cover artist themselves.

Daite...

抱いて… - "Hold Me..." 松田聖子 - Matsuda Seiko mp3 download || youtube

Not actually sung, but the OL ghost suggests she'd like to sing it next. A dramatic and emotional slice of idol pop from the Eternal Idol herself, Matsuda Seiko (who also performs "Who's That Boy", found on Single White). Released in 1987 as a promo-only single from her fifteenth studio album, 1988's Citron. Despite never being released as an official single, it's one of Matsuda's more popular songs, especially karaoke-wise. It's rather interesting that the OL picks a Matsuda song directly after a Nakamori Akina track -- the pair were notorious rivals in the 80s, supposedly even in love.

Benkyo no Uta

勉强の歌 - "Study Song" 森高千里 - Moritaka Chisato mp3 download || youtube

The song Hokuto is singing when Subaru attempts to sneak back into the karaoke box. Released in 1991, it peaked at #4 on the ORICON charts, and was remixed on Moritaka's second remix album as ザ・勉強の歌 (Za・Benkyo no Uta; "The・Study Song"). It was used as the opening theme to the anime TV series "Mischievous Twins: The Tales of St. Clare's". It's a totally gimmicky song (complete with voguing in the very weird video clip), though cheerful and catchy, so its popularity on the karaoke circuit at the time shouldn't surprise anyone. (You just know that Hokuto unironically adored this song, and drove Subaru batty by singing it at every opportunity.)

Wakaretemo Suki na Hito

別れても好きな人 - "Beloved Even if We're Separated" ロス・インディオス＆シルヴィア - Los Indios & Silvia mp3 download || youtube

The song that Hokuto announces Subaru should sing with Seishirou as punishment for being late. Another staple in the duets section of karaoke, still, this 1979 release was actually a cover. The song was released by two Toshiba EMI artists, Matsudaira Kemeko and the Purple Shadows, respectively, in 1969. In October 1975, Los Indios released a single-voice version, and in 1979 it was rearranged as a male and female duet, with some lyrics changed slightly. The song was an instant hit, and by 1980, it had sold a million copies.

[putschki1969]

YKL vol.#20～Japanese Seal 20th Special～ Kanagawa Performance Broadcast

2024.06.09 Kanagawa・Kenmin Hall The second concert of this year's Yuki Kajiura live tour was broadcast last night on TBS Channel 1. The tour is titled “Special Japanese Seal” referring to the fact that no Japanese songs are performed. This exclusion does not apply to the encore section. User 蓝原延珠_ on Bilibili kindly provided their recording of the broadcast, you can watch it HERE. I was only able to download a 720p version (~1GB) of it but for the time being, it will do. I am eager to watch it and write a little report. Hopefully an HQ version will pop up in a few days. Without further ado, let's get going〈(•ˇ‿ˇ•)-→

overture〜アンチヒーロー〜Main Theme〜: Right off the bat, I'm noticing that the audio is quite dull and maybe even slightly tinny? Might be the specific recording but it's probably more a matter of the TV broadcasts generally having bad audio. That was clearly noticeable when you compared the Kaji Fes TV broadcast to the BD release. Anyway, we are off to a great start. Glad to see rito and Lino on stage from the get-go and not just for a couple of songs here and there. It always feels a bit awkward for them to have the status of "regular" members but only appearing on stage sporadically. I haven't listened to any songs from the Antihero soundtrack so this is all new to me. Classic YK, the type of song I will always gravitate towards. Beautiful harmonies. Enjoying the slight whine in Eri's voice, so emotional. Love when the epic part starts and you can hear an entire chorus in the background (maybe a bit too much studio magic going on here but I don't mind for grand sections like that). Must have been a real goosebumps moment at the live.

the four rings: Wow, this one is so good. Don't think I've heard it before. Not too familiar with the Heaven’s Feel OST tbh. Really getting goosebumps now. Although I will say that here, the post-editing is a bit overbearing, it seems to almost drown out the vocals of our songstresses. Don't get me wrong, it still sounds amazing and I am enjoying the hell out of it but I wonder how it was like at the venue (with presumably less studio magic). With six singers on stage, they can certainly achieve some powerful choral work but of course it would still pale in comparison to a larger choir. Nonetheless, this is an instant favourite. Hope they will perform it during the Asia tour leg. Although I kinda doubt it since they said that the setlist would be very different. But who knows, it's Fate/stay night so it's probably among the more-likely pieces to be performed among Yuki's huge repertoire. My guess is that they will stick to the most popular anime stuff because they know that will get the audience excited.

absolute configuration: Perfect transition. Never getting tired of this song. And I'm glad we are back to a more natural sound with less studio magic. Solid performance as always.

E.G.O: Have they ever performed this live for a home video release? I don't think so. It was included in one of the live complication albums (Fictionjunction 2010-2013) but I don't recall ever watching a live performance. I have to admit that I haven't even listened to the live audio track, must have dismissed it when I first got the album. I can understand why because it's not really my type of song. It's not bad but not my favourite either. Very old-school YK so that's fun. And there are a couple of nice Keiko parts, that's always a treat.

キッチン革命〜Main Theme〜: A completely new track from one of Yuki's most recent works. Definitely a perfect fit for a show called "Kitchen Revolution" XD Especially the percussion at the beginning. The harmony between Yuriko, Lino and rito works really well, they sound good together. Other than that, it probably won't become one of my favourite songs. Generally not a huge fan of Yuriko as main vocalist. No one does those gorgeous operatic higher harmonies like her but when the spotlight is on her, it's typically not my cup of tea.

voyagers: As far as I know, we only have the studio version and live audio from the compilation album as reference. No official live footage. The song has never really stuck out to me, it is okay but it's a bit too derivative of much better tracks from Yuki. Will keep it short so I don't trigger anyone. But it's definitely one of those songs where I prefer the version with Wakana. Joelle's vocals don't do anything for me here. But since I am not super invested in the song anyway, I can't say I care much.

Historia: opening theme: Beautiful rendition. Love that they brought all six vocalists back on stage for this. Naturally, I'm quite fond of Wakana's version once again (not least of all because this song will always have a connection to Kalafina) but Yuriko does a fanstatic job of singing her parts, admittedly, she has much better control so her voice sounds very crisp and lovely. Joelle provides great support here and their voices blend well together.

forest: Never been a fan. I didn’t like it when Wakana sang it and I don’t like it now that Joelle sings it. It’s not a bad song at all and Joelle sounds fine to me but it’s just not my cup of tea. Next.

My long forgotten cloistered sleep: Now THIS on the other hand I have always loved. I still remember everyone hating Wakana's live version during YKL Vol.#9 but I enjoy it quite a lot. It's true that it's probably not the best she has ever sounded but her vocals here certainly don't warrant all the nasty comments she has received throughout the years for that performance. Of course, I am also obsessed with that WaKei combo!! And you know me, I have a weakness for "lalala"s so this has definitely always been among my favourite YKL songs. As for this performance, I think both Wakana and Joelle are trying are little too hard to emulate Emily Bindiger's timbre. I personally don't think Emily Bindiger has a particularly nice voice so if anyone tries to sound like her, it's always a slight downgrade in my opinion. I'll just say this, if you are one of the people who say that Wakana sounds like a chipmunk in her version, you'll have to say the same thing about Joelle(¬_¬) Long story short, I don't mind this version with Joelle and Keiko. Still very enjoyable. Will definitely be listening to it on repeat.

I swear: Probably one of my least favourite Keiko songs but this is a decent performance. I might even like this more than some of the previous live rendition since it's a bit more delicate(?) I think.

fiction: Another song I could live without…The chorus is solid but it's not one of those songs I'd ever actively listen to.

I reach for the sun: Forever sad that they made Joelle the lead of this song. Keiko does a better job in my opinion and I like the song quite a bit more than "I swear". Overall, the English section has probably been the weakest so far, at least for me. I actually ended up fast-forwarding through most of it.

MC: This MC is quite interesting since Yuki asks her singers to share a story of something they are taking a break from right now. To explain the background of this question, it's a reference to the title of this year's tour: Nihongo Fuin = Japanese Seal ("fuin" basically means to seal up something. You are excluding it/taking a break from it/quitting it/etc). Lino says that despite being a huge lover of the sea, she has been taking a break from going to the beach and swimming in the sea during this summer because it might affect her voice negatively. Yuki has a funny response to that because she says that most of her songs have never really had a summer vibe and actually don't work very well in a summer atmosphere but for some reason, they have ended up always holding their annual tour during the summer time. Keiko has stopped drinking her beloved lattes for the past three months to prioritise her water intake. Gladly, she has overcome the worst parts of quitting already and is getting used to water. Yuki admired her stoic nature. Yuriko would typically refrain from certain things in preparation for a live tour but this year she has completely forgotten about that. About two weeks ago, she decided to quit ice-cream but she only did it half-hardheartedly because it was so hot that she ended up eating it anyway. So yeah, this is a big fail and it's really a "story of NOT taking a break from something" XD Joelle has stopped waking up early. Usually, she is the type to rise together with the sun but in order to increase her sleeping hours, she will wake up later when she is on tour. A restful sleep will help her body heal up and improve her voice. rito has quit chewing gum (and stopped eating certain chewy foods such as squid) because it's bad for your jaw and facial muscles. Kaori has taken a break from watching the drama "Anithero" (for which YK is composing music, the main theme having been performed as the intro of this live). Seems like the song is haunting her a bit too much and the story is getting to her. So once the tour is over and she is no longer singing the song, she will have an easier time watching the episodes. Yuki agrees that the main theme is quite haunting. Especially when she hears one of the singers rehearsing in the dressing-room right before a performance. Eri doesn't really have anything to tell the audience but she and Yuki briefly talk about the difficulties of learning so many songs with coined words.

Gaia: Wow, what a lovely song. Instant like. Really adore Eri here!! Such gorgeous high notes.

Credens justitiam: What a great team-up with Keiko, Eri, Yuriko and Joelle. Eri sounds great together here with Keiko. Does Yuriko sound a bit off here? I don't know. Not 100% into some of her parts.

hepatica: First time actively listening to this song. Very beautiful and tender. I feel like some of Yuki's KnK work might have been inspired by this song. Some parts immediately made me think of "Seventh Heaven".

godsibb: Waaah! Yes!! Always a joy to listen to this song. Glad everyone is on stage for a powerful finale.

Alone: I knew I would love this Pandora Hearts medley. I always do and this one is no exception. Flawless start.

Bloody rabbit: Some squeaky parts at the beginning but overall, solid.

Contractor: OBSESSED. One word. Perfection. There's a reason this is the performance I'm using for this post. I'm forever a slave to Keiko's solo part XD. Also, Eri is such a queen here! So cool!

zodiacal sign: This is the song where you can really tell that they are taking great care of Kaori's condition. No strenuous movements at all. How funny is it to see Rie joining the girls in their little dance?! Cute!! Super fun performance as always.

open your heart: Ughh, I do not like this song at all. They did "Sweet Song"/"paradise regained" for most of the other performances. Would have killed to get either of those two instead of "open your heart". Obviously, "Sweet Song" would have been perfect. From what I heard, the final concert with Kaori in July had an amazing and heart-warming performance of "Sweet Song".

En.Prologue〜このとほかやわらかい: Wish I could grow to love this song. It deserves my love, I know it. But I just can't get into it. But hey, it's a cool performance, I can't deny that. During her solos, Kaori sounds a bit nasal in my opinion. Nothing that takes away from the performance but it's certainly noticeable (throughout the live to be honest - at least during the few songs where she has a substantial solo part. I think you can also hear it during the main MC. Either she had a minor cold that day or it's just a symptom of her pregnancy. Lowered nasal resonance is actually a very common thing for pregnant women.)

En.Parade: Beautiful. No notes.

En.蒼穹のファンファーレ: Solid. Not a huge fan of the song though.

[roo-bastmoon]

Battle Plans for the next 4 days...

Guys, we're doing really, really well with only one version. But now is the time when lots of folks get back into work routines, or get complacent with their playlists due to fatigue.

We have GOT to buy from all stores, in addition to iTunes. And we need to BUY THE TRACKS SEPARATELY for BB200. If you need help with purchasing, JiminFunds is open. If you don't need help, please donate to JiminFunds.

If you order physicals online now, they will only ship in time for Week 2. So for now, you need to concentrate on either buying in person or digital sales. Don't neglect these stores, and remember that the BTS store has THREE DIGITAL ALBUM VERSIONS!

We have also GOT to diversify streaming platforms in addition to Spotify. I get it's a tough economy, but free trial premium streams count and you can go make a free account right now on Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, Qobuz, Tidal and Pandora. We HAVE to use YouTube and YouTube Music. There's no way around it; it's necessary for charting. There's no reason not to take advantage of a free trial-- they remind you to cancel before you get charged!

Later on today we are going to get remixes and we MUST use them correctly. Stream the album top to bottom. Then the remixes. Use Face and other songs as filler. Switch accounts and keep going.

We also need to vote. This is the last chance for Jimin to get a Countdown trophy before they close up shop for the Olympics and, surprisingly, the competition is super high (because we don't have tons of versions). So every single vote matters now. Download the Mnet app and just take 1 minute out of your day to vote, please:

My friends, we've done so, so well with our enthusiasm and hard work. So much better than we thought possible. The general public has embraced Who on social media; top playlists are ranking it high in public lists; and even some radio stations are picking it up. Muse is doing so well that the company is actually gonna give us remixes and put in the effort.

Now is time to be focused and precise. No distractions. No bullshit. Stay sharp, puppykitties.

Discourse can come later. Right now, we have a real chance to make history for our boy.

Do it for Jimin.

Love, Roo

[gumballsilly]

Compilation of all the pictures in the official Anais Watterson Flickr account (with the Original Image Resolution)

You can find the account here !! Just wanted to share all these neat images since I find them aesthetically and visually appealing. I'm sorry if this has been done before, this is mainly for my personal archive. More information under the Keep Reading !!!

All of these were downloaded in their original image quality from Flickr. Images going from chronological date (oldest to newest). First image: September 5th, 2011 Last image: December 19th, 2011 Anais apparently shot all these with a Diana mini with flash, according to a comment she answered on the First image

The only other time she responded to an image is the last one, where she announces the end of the photo series due to "a lack of film".

Anais also put titles to all the images, which I included in the image descriptions. [EDIT] She has 262 followers (as of August 6th, 2023, 8:35PM CET), isn't following anyone, and joined in March 2011. From the art style and dates we can guess this account was made at the time Season 1 was, the last image being posted a few days after "The Club" was aired. The first image was posted the exact day the episode "The Goons" was aired, according to the TAWoG wiki. Interestingly enough, she has two albums on Flickr. One titled "Elmore" (16 photos), the other titled "Family Life" (7 photos).

I remember when years ago you could access these photos/the account on the Cartoon Network games website too. It was a while ago and I'm not too sure of the date, but It could've been around 2014-2017 (?). If anyone else remembers it or can find a snapshot of it on the Wayback Machine, freely add onto this post whenever ! On her About page it reads "Take a look at some of the pictures I’ve taken around Elmore with my brand new camera! Enjoy!" and has a link to theamazingworldofgumball.com, which now redirects to the Cartoon Network games website, but at that time it could've looked like this:

Note: this snapshot was at September 25th, 2011

That's all the information I could find of the official Anais Watterson Flickr account. If anyone else has more info on it, feel free to add on to this post !! This was made for archival purposes, in case the account or website ever shuts down.

[0oliwia0]

The Kid at the Back - Day 1 guide all illustrations

!!! MINORS DNI !!! 18+ ONLY !!!

(keep in mind that I play the sfw version of the game) I DO NOT OWN THE KID AT THE BACK! ALL THE CREDIT GOES TO FANTASIA KITT! you can download the game and support the creator here

ROUTE 1 - LIBRARY

After Brittney asked you if you're coming with them to the cafeteria or not you want to choose the "To go to the library." option

Seeing that SOMEONE /ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ\ took your favorite spot you want to choose once again the middle option which is "Ask them to move away from your seat"

The "???" individual does not want to move from your favorite spot for free, once again we have 3 choices to make, either offer him coffe/hug or the right option to get the CG you want which is "Just give me my seat"

After that interaction you will unlock the first library route CG!

NOW THERE'S 2 CGS TO UNLOCK DURING THE CLASSES THAT DEPENDS ON YOUR CHOICE!!!

Choice number 1 "Not that good at art"

Will result in him sketching you and thats how you unlock the 2nd cg in this route

Choice number 2 "Pretty good at art"

Will result him to pose for you to draw him and unlocking once again another CG by doing the same route

ROUTE 2 - LIBRARY (again)

In this route you go to the library once again, but this time you have to choose "Find somewhere else to sit."

When you're looking for a book you hear a big thud, you decide to see what's going on, now you want to choose "Stop them"

And that unlocks your first CG for this route

Now the choice between "Not that good at art" and "Pretty good at art" doesn't matter in this case whatever you choose it will result in him drawing you

And that unlocks you the last CG for this route!

(which for some reason doesn't show up in your album)

And that's all for the day 1 illustrations, hope it was helpful for at least some of you! I didn't do all of the routes and focused just on how to unlock all of the CGS so if you want to play the demo for yourself and experience all of the routes you should definitely check it out in the link at the beggining of the post. Hope you will have an amazing day and see you in another post bye bye!! ₊˚���♡ ᓚ₍ ^. .^₎

If you want to see part 1 of day 2 illustration guide click here and if you want to see part 2 of day 2 illustration guide click here

[bananaofswifts]

Taylor Swift’s third re-recorded album, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), has earned over 575,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in its first four days of release (July 7-10), according to initial reports to Luminate — marking the biggest week for any album in 2023. Of that sum, album sales comprise over 400,000 copies – the largest sales week for an album this year, too.

Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is a re-recorded version of Swift’s 2010 No. 1 Billboard 200 studio album Speak Now. The 22-track re-recorded edition includes new recordings of the original album’s 14 standard tracks, along with bonus cuts and previously unreleased “From the Vault” recordings. Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) follows Swift’s re-recorded Red and Fearless albums, released in 2021. Both debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.

If Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) debuts at No. 1 on the July 22-dated Billboard 200 chart (which reflects the tracking week ending July 13), Swift’s count of No. 1 albums will rise to 12, surpassing Barbra Streisand (with 11 leaders) for the most No. 1 albums among female artists. Swift would also tie Drake for the third-most No. 1s among all acts, with only The Beatles (19) and Jay-Z (14) ahead of them. (The Billboard 200 began publishing on a regular, weekly basis in March 1956.) The top 10 of the July 22-dated Billboard 200 chart is scheduled to be announced on Sunday, July 16.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album.

2023’s previous largest week, by equivalent album units earned, was tallied by Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time, which launched with 501,000 units in the week ending March 9, as reflected on the Billboard 200 chart dated March 18. The year’s largest sales week was held by the debut frame of Stray Kids’ 5-STAR with 235,000 copies sold in the week ending June 8, as reflected on the June 17-dated charts.

Sales: With over 400,000 sold in only four days, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) already has the largest sales week for any album since Swift’s own last studio album, Midnights, debuted with 1.14 million copies sold last year (week ending Oct. 27, 2022; as reflected on the Nov. 5-dated Billboard charts).

Vinyl sales comprise over half of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)’s sales – as the three-LP set has sold over 225,000 copies on wax. The latter marks the second-largest sales week for a vinyl album in the modern era (since Luminate began electronically tracking sales in 1991). It is second only to the first week of Midnights’ vinyl LP, with 575,000 sold in its opening frame. Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is available in three color variants on vinyl – orchid marbled, violet marbled and a Target-exclusive lilac marbled color.

The remainder of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) sales is comprised of CDs, digital album download purchases and cassette tape sales.

Streaming: The collected 22 songs on Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) generated more than 200 million on-demand official streams in the U.S. July 7-10, according to Luminate. The most-streamed tune on the album, by audio on-demand official streams, is the “from the vault” cut “I Can See You (Taylor’s Version),” with over 13 million on-demand official audio streams in those four tracking days.

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 18/01/2024

MAGFest 2019: SiIvaGunner Presents - High Quality Ripping

Season 3 Featured on: MAGFest 2019

Presented by Nape Mango, Omknee, ShonicTH, Chaze the Chat, Harmony Friends, Trofflesby, Craz Xexe, Agent

Yeah, okay, this is cheating in a lot of ways - this is not on the SiIvaGunner channel, and its obviously not even a rip. But I felt it necessary to commemorate, as I mentioned briefly in Because I Love You, its finally time for MAGFest once again, and the SiIvaGunner team is to host their own panel there tomorrow! And in the spirit of that, I want to just...talk about SiIvaGunner and MAGFest, at least for a little bit. Because the first two panels in particular, the ones that marked the beginning and end of Season 3, are some of my all-time favorite videos associated with the SiIvaGunner channel.

A big part of the identity and gimmick of the channel itself, as you're likely well aware, is the bait-and-switch - to present it as a faceless entity simply uploading video game music, only to instead feature jokes, shitposts, edits, and so forth. Part of maintaining that kayfabe, then, is to intentionally obscure who makes what behind the scenes, to keep the real people under wraps for those who aren't going to dig deeper, in order to further sell the illusion of being an official VGM upload. The team does of course still give credit when its relevant, as any rip can be featured on an album be given full credits there, but just that degree of separation alone between casual fans and ones willing to download an album has probably led to a few too many people being unaware of who made their favorite rips. Back then, I typically fell somewhere in the middle - I wasn't actively using music listening software and thus missed out on listening to albums for a long time, but was still aware of some of the big names you'd see in comments sections, saw some shoutouts from Twitter, the works.

Yet with the two MAGFest panels of 2018 and 2019 respectively, it felt like the first time that the magnitude of what SiIvaGunner is and how much it means to people was revealed to me for the first time ever. The uploaded recording of the 2018 panel, posted by Chaze's own account, features a shot about seven minutes in that turns the camera to the crowd - and it's an absolutely packed-full room of nerds just like me. And even though I've never been able to go to any of these MAGFest panels due to travel costs and complications...just seeing how many people truly do care about SiivaGunner, in such a tangible way, something more than a number...it resonated with me, yknow?

Beyond that, these panels are just such fascinating pieces of history for the channel, such good time capsules in so many ways - and that's in a lot of ways why I chose to highlight the 2019 panel in particular. Rather than discussing the upbringings of the channel, it features members of the team reminiscing and going through Season 3's timeline of events in particular, going into surprising detail into the thought process and direction the various pieces of the year took - while also giving insights into the production of the Christmas Comeback Crisis, King for a Day Tournament, and more. I feel like with the turn from Season 3 to Season 4 Episode 1, you can really notice that the idea of "hype" for SiIvaGunner content becoming so much more prominent, so much more deliberately handled by the team, which is made all the more evident by the King for Another Day Tournament reveal live on stage.

Man, look, it's an hour-long panel, and there's so many small things that I still remember from it, despite last having seen it five years ago. The members talking about their favorite rips, giving a round of applause to all the rippers who couldn't come join them at the panel or on-stage, the very funny last-minute rips made to "celebrate" the channel being terminated a day earlier (one of which I've embedded as the Bandcamp link), and even some slight discussions on what SiIvaGunner as a channel means to the team, what it represents, and what their goals have been overtime. And, of course, the fucking incredible PowerPoint hijinx with Inspector Gadget, which I am 100% going to take as confirmed canon that Gadget's level of sentience and awareness of the real world is just the same as Woodman's and The Voice.

I have, of course, been told a number of times that I overanalyze SiIvaGunner, that I'm uncovering depth that's clearly not intentional, looking too much into a silly meme channel. And sure, I'd admit that I do overthink things to a degree, anyone who read Vote Responsibly!! should be able to tell you as much. Yet its stuff like these in-depth behind-the-scenes looks, these moments of getting a face and a voice to attach to the works, that really just felt super validating to me even back then - that the intentions and goals of the channel that I myself had picked up on were in fact some sort of direction that the team itself were steering toward. And though Nape Mango does indeed declare in this very panel that "Everything is a coincidence with SiIvaGunner", I'm forever in awe at just how good the team has been at lining those coincidences up into something genuinely incredible.

We SilvaGunner, We Rip.

[peachjagiya]

You think bh wants to push jmn into US by hook or crook? Like don't get me wrong but Tae had excellent sale on first day but bh fucked up. His streams may be less because you've seen how armys make playlist for him and he doesn't have different versions. So all in all I think he is doing among GPs.

Jmn on the other hand I don't get how did he get so less albums sold on 1st day? Bighit went all out with his promotions. I saw army's playlist, it was perfect for streaming. Now they are getting 3 albums 80x. I think bght is targeting another gb Spotify 1. Where were they at the time of friends?

I used to think BH gave best promotion to Jungkook but this time's promotion raises the bar.

I am clueless. I can talk to you endlessly about why things are more likely to get radio play than others - JK and Jimin, yes. Tae and Joonie, less likely, just due to nature of songs - but I have no idea what BH do and don't do with promotions.

I think it's Jimin's goal to be successful overseas. Ditto Jungkook. I don't think Tae has exactly the same ambition. He focused all his self-organised promo on Asian markets. They were HIS decisions. As far as I can tell, promotions are pretty in line with their goals?

I also think perspective on success and promotion is very skewed by Twitter crowing. Louder and more dogged doesn't always translate to real life numbers. FOR EXAMPLE, and I'm only picking Jimin* as he's the most recent example, there was talk about Jimin hitting UK number one.

This is the official UK top 5. He's also not anywhere in the top 100 because the official UK charts (equivalent to Billboard hot 100) doesn't announce until Friday. The official UK charts factors in streaming on all streaming platforms, digital downloads and physical sales:

What Jimin actually did was entered the GLOBAL Big Top 40 as the highest entry at number one:

It's undeniably a great achievement but it's not a UK number one exactly. Global is like a KIIS-FM situation. A franchise of radio stations and they do have a pretty huge list of stations, 40+ across the UK though only half of them play contemporary pop music. Their chart factors in radio play on only THEIR stations, itunes sales and Apple Music streams.

So you see now how it's a little easier for a big push on streaming on itunes, like in pursuit of an all kill for example, can affect one chart in the way it doesn't affect another?

I suspect Sabrina will stay at number one on official charts but I am expecting a top 3 for Jimin if not an eventual number one. Edit: Meant to say we won't know until Friday if Global's chart got this right.

I guess it depends what you determine success to be and what Jimin and Jungkook might be aiming for versus Tae and Namjoon. Namjoon is hitting a number of highly respected lists as one of the best albums of 2024, getting a lot of praise for his artistry. PERSONALLY? I find that as impressive as numbers.

Do you think Namjoon made RPWP thinking it was going to be a radio success? He knows he put together some weird sounds and a fuckton of curses that made his songs nearly unplayable for radio. HE KNOWS THAT... and that's the album he wanted to make. Ditto Tae. There's no way he thought his jazzy chill album was going to be radio gold. But it's the album he wanted to make and he's proud of it.

Army are so obsessed with numbers as if they say a damn thing about the ethos and intention of the artists themselves.

My point is not that Golden and Muse aren't worth anything. On the contrary, there are times when all I want to listen to is Golden. It's kind of my happy place a lot of the time. I'm enjoying Muse too. My point is that it's not worth stressing over numbers and how promoted someone is.

Though there is one addendum to this and that is that a lot of weird stuff happened to Tae's album that felt like sabotage. I don't have enough knowledge to confirm but it sure felt like he got a raw deal out of it.

I don't think I answered your question really but I dumped my brain out, I guess.

Further edit: I know Army love him but I'm pissed about any promo that means I have to witness Jimmy Fallon with my eyes so I'm mad at Jimin right now. :D

*despise that I'm not allowed to be honest about anything to do with Jimin unless PJMs come at me but whatever.

[waterparksdrama]

hey y'all so you have a masterpost of unreleased parx perhaps? is pretty much everything on soundcloud? i got the demo album, all bonus tracks, hitchin' a ride, starry eyed, and the everywhere cover. they did anoter green day one i have too. also double dare and ent 2019. anything i may be missing?

we don't have a formal masterpost but i used to have a music player on the desktop blog i had to remove bc it kept fucking with our theme's javascript but i guess i can do that for you here

every unreleased waterparks song or cover that's not a demo or alt version of a released song or a live version (i guess)

1 (A COLLECTION OF UNRELEASED HOME DEMOS, THIS IS NOT G, OR EVEN AN ALBUM, SHUT UP ENJOY): self explanatory. the waterparks demo album released bc a joke tweet of awsten's got 20k retweets and then he actually had to release something. we are probably never hearing the sequel of demos to this.

hitchin a ride (green day cover): for kerrang's covers compilation of different artists covering green day aka green day american superhits! it's a good cover

all by myself (green day cover): a green day cover for the same compilation mentioned above. it's an acoustic solo hidden track by tre cool about jacking off so this is an acoustic solo hidden track sung by otto. and still is about jacking off. he played this during their fend acoustic set (at least once) during warped 2018.

starry eyed (ellie goulding cover): a bonus track from airplane conversations that was a free download for purchasing the ep. we need whatever he was doing in this song back.

play: presumably a friendly reminder or fandom demo that was leaked on july 2019. the fake fandom tracklist suggests that the song was also called kiwi but considering that entire thing was a fucking lie it's hard to trust.

waiting (need me back): a hook of a double dare demo leaked in october 2018. goddammit this one was actually good why didn't he ever leak the rest of it why why why.

why can't i (liz phair cover): the intellectual property target exclusive bonus track. thank you to the target employee that leaked the bonus tracks on reddit and me catching onto awsten liz phair posting so i could be right about what the cover would be. it's a good cover.

double dare 2019 and entertainment 2019: medleys of the band's albums released under equal vision. after their departure from the label, they lost the rights to their equal vision releases and made the medleys to combat this. they were swiftly taken off streaming services and can only be heard through their live album, fandom: live in the uk. i can't listen to these or else an incredible wave of sadness washes through me.

what we do for fun: japanese bonus track off of double dare. literally one of the greatest songs i've heard and i will never understand why it wasn't on the album.

candy: japanese bonus track off of double dare. fun classic pop punk track that feels like it could've been in a 2000s teen movie soundtrack.

as far as i know that's it for (studio recorded) songs and covers because if i had to write down every live cover snippet they did i would be here all night trying to find random shit like their fcp remix cover to the hella good cover to the goddamn national anthem and i don't feel like sourcing all of that. - iz

[freyahazel]

Musicians of tumblr!

I'd like to make FREE album art for you! (Yes, really!)

(reblogs and mentions appreciated)

If you are a musician or have a friend who is, please send me your albums. I'd like to listen to it and make art based on what I hear. If you like it, you can have it and use it. I only ask that you credit me for the work, and if you produce physical copies, please send me 2 copies (preferably one of the copies signed by you and your band if applicable).

I'll be doing as many albums as I can between now and my Birthday January 21st on a first come first serve basis.

"Why are you doing art for free?"

While I would normally recommend artists not work for free, I personally want to in this instance for the following reasons:

1) I am doing everything I can to make art fun for me again and this seems like fun to me!

When you do design as your day job, you can start to lose yourself a bit as an artist and you start to forget what it's like to create your own ideas rather than creating something someone else specifically wanted. This is a way for me to create pieces I enjoy again

2) I love music. Music motivates me when nothing else can.

According to my Spotify wrapped, I listened to 94 different genres, 106,855 minutes, 9,241 songs, and 4,016 different artists. Now that's just spotify. We're not even counting Youtube, physical records, radio, things I downloaded from artist io or other sources, etc... point is, I spend most of my waking hours powered by music

3) I want to diversify my design portfolio.

When you're a working artist, work breeds more work, however people have a hard time envisioning what they haven't already seen you do, so when people see the logos, packaging design, and other graphics I made they think those pieces are all I do. I want to show the world what else I'm capable of. This month will be album art but who knows what I'll do next. Maybe book covers, clothing, illustration who knows!

So, please, send me albums you'd like me to make art for, even if it already has album art made, let me just make something for you!

Again, I only ask that in return, you credit me for the work, send me copies if you make physical versions, and if you feel so inclined as to send me a tip or a share of peofits later, just let me know and I'll get you a way to send that securely later.

Have a happy new year!

(and yes I'll post my work as it's completed hope you all enjoy)

[buckyismybicycle]

Title: Miles Away [READ ON AO3] Pairing: Rockstar Bucky Barnes/Female Reader Rating: Explicit  Tags: Long Distance Relationship, Mutual Pining, Fingering, Love Confessions, Falling in Love Summary: How am I supposed to be everything they expect me to be? When I feel so alone, 'cause I left my heart at home

This is also for @buckybarnesbingo Flash Bingo K: "Kitten"

«« Part 1 | Part 2 | Series Masterlist | Part 4 (TBD) »

Bucky is the drug in your veins, the electricity that runs through your body. You had no idea how you had managed to fall so fast and so hard for someone, but as Bucky heads into the next state and you head in the opposite direction toward home, you realize just how magnetic he was. It took every ounce of willpower to keep yourself from making that U-turn and driving yourself right back into his arms.

Was it perhaps a little obsessive to download everything of his? Every single album, song, and even remix? Maybe. But his voice is the one that you want to wake up to and the one you fall asleep to. It’s his old school rock songs that you wake up to, that hype you up for the day and his post-hardcore songs that get your blood pumping during a run or get your body swaying as you clean your apartment. It’s his acoustic songs that lull you to sleep, his voice softer than it has any right to be, sweet in your ear.

Even though you call, text, and videocall, there’s a piece of you that craves his physical touch, that yearns for the solid warmth of his body to accompany that sultry voice of his.

He finishes his tour, and his next, and then before you could figure out what hit you, your one-night stand turned two-day stand has bloomed into something you weren’t sure you were ready for.

His next tour is in Europe and it feels like he’s gone for ages before he comes back even though it’s only three weeks. You only get to see him once, before he’s swept away again, back into a recording studio so he can keep doing what he loves, and that’s when you realize you miss him.

Then it’s off to Riot Fest in Chicago for a weekend, which isn’t terribly far and yet it feels hundreds of miles away. He’s supposed to be there in two weeks.

The thought makes you a little weak, but you couldn’t let him catch onto anything. He hadn’t asked for anything more and you knew what the life of a rockstar was like. Hell, they wrote songs about it all the time! Sex, drugs, partying, that was the rock and roll way, right?

Though… Bucky had never exactly been like that when you two spent time together. He’d have an occasional drink, maybe a cigarette, and he turned down invites to go clubbing, choosing to instead spend the night with you. Sometimes, you wouldn’t be doing much of anything and you wonder if he ever felt bored just cuddling up on the couch with you, watching a movie, ordering in. It all seemed pretty mundane now that you thought about it.

“Maybe it’s a little straight-forwad o’ me, doll, but I’d love to see you before I go. Maybe… Stay a few nights?”

You didn’t have to think about it, really. “Of course, Buck! You know I love having you here. But… Well, are you sure you wanna spend your limited days here in my tiny apartment?”

There’s a low chuckle on the other end of the line that makes your stomach flutter. “Sweetheart, there’s no place I would rather be.”

You smile a bit, cheeks warming at his words. “You’re always welcome here, Bucky.”

“Alright, well, we gotta wrap a few things up at the studio in a few days and I gotta pack and all that, but I can be down by… Thursday? Is that too soon?”

It wasn’t soon enough, actually. If you could, you’d have Bucky here right now. Instead, you breathe in for a count or two before responding. “Thursday’s great.”

“Lookin’ forward to it, baby.”

♪♪♪

There really isn’t a need for you to be nervous. Maybe, if you had known who he was before seeing him, or if you had anticipated for even a second you’d see him more than once or twice, it would be a different story. Instead, you had thrown caution to the wind, almost certain you’d never see him again. You answered all his questions without holding back, gave up every secret and detail like it was nothing.

Bucky had done the same, though you weren’t sure if it was due to the same reasons or because Bucky was simply an open book. Always boisterous, always open, you didn’t really see Bucky hide much, if you were honest. The things you could find on the internet about him… Jeez.

But you two kept coming together, time and time again, and by then it already felt like you’d known each other your whole lives.

There was no point trying to think about something else — Bucky consumed your thoughts and you happily let him. Humming along to one of his songs, you cleaned up around your place, picked up groceries and threw yourself into work to put all that pent up energy somewhere.

By the time Thursday rolls around, your skin was tingling with anticipation, as if craving his touch. You could even see a slight tremor in your hands as you prepared dinner some time after you received the text from Bucky saying he was on his way. It would still be two hours before he got here, driving from the next state over.

When the buzzer rang in, you had nearly dropped your phone in the pan. Oh god, Bucky was here!

You checked yourself one last time in the hallway, before unlocking the door, leaving it open a crack, and then cleaning the kitchen up quickly.

“Babe?”

Your heart skips a beat as you go toward the shuffling noises by your door. Despite the fact that you see him all the time — whether it be by video, album covers, or music videos — he still takes your breath away.

He’s dressed simply, in black jeans, a plain white t-shirt and a plain zip-up hoodie under his light jacket but you think he looks perfect.

“Bucky,” you greet as you close the distance.

His clothes and skin are still chilled by the outside, and you shiver in his arms a bit.

“Heya doll,” he murmurs into your cheek before he pulls back and looks you over from head to toe, the same way you’d done to him.

Your cheeks get a bit warm at the focused attention.

“God, I fuckin’ missed you,” Bucky says abruptly, tearing his jacket and sweater off in one go, pressing his lips to yours.

You melt into the kiss, hands coming to cup his face, hands warming his cheeks as he steps out of his shoes and crowds you up against the wall.

“Missed you t — ah!” You don’t get to finish your sentence as Bucky nips at your neck.

“S’that right?” Bucky asks voice gruff and teasing in your ear.

You nod frantically, hands scrabbling at his shoulders while he presses his entire body against yours. Goosebumps form across your skin when he gets his hands under your shirt, partially from the fact he’d just come outside but mostly because you’ve been dreaming of his touch ever since you last saw him.

“Bucky,” you gasp against his mouth.

“Oh fuck, yeah,” Bucky groans, running out of patience and scooping you up by the back of your legs. “Love when you say my name, baby.”

Your legs automatically wrap around his waist, your hands running through his soft chestnut hair and wrapping around the back of his neck. He doesn’t seem to be in any rush whatsoever, his tongue slow but firm across yours as you both pant for air, hot breath across your cheeks with every struggling exhale.

“Bucky,” you say again, this time breathless, as you squeeze your legs around him.

“Mmm? Can I help you with something, kitten?”

You can’t help the sharp inhale of breath, your heartrate picking up speed as he pins you with his intense gaze.

You’re already feeling dizzy, words getting harder to formulate so you try to answer with your mouth and body. Tugging at his hair and pressing back against him, you hope it conveys exactly what it is you want — and just how badly you want it.

“Missed me that much, huh?” He asks with a chuckle, finally carrying you to the bedroom.

You nod frantically. “God, yes, yes, missed you so much.”

He laughs and you can’t help but return it, the both of you fumbling your clothes off in a hurry, limbs getting caught as you try to tear the fabric off of each other.

When he lowers you into bed, your entire body is heaving with anticipation as you dig your fingers into him, refusing to let him go.

Bucky kisses down your neck softly, slowly like he hasn’t a care in the world while you were a squirming mess underneath him. You feel goosebumps forming as he breathes out hotly along the trail his tongue leaves behind. It feels like he’s mapping out every spot that makes you howl and filing it away for later, smirking as he breaks you down bit by bit.

“Fuck, Bucky!” You wail, curling his fingers into fists along his shoulder.

“Yes, kitten?”

Oh, you could just kill him right now! He knows exactly what he’s doing, of course, and you know that. You know that he’s purposely teasing you without giving you much, knows that he’s practically purring in your ear, all the sweet nothings and pet names to get you riled up.

“How’m I supposed to know what you wan’ if you can’t even tell me, sugar?” He continues, fingers finally entering you, the slick making it so, so easy. “Jesus, sweetheart, already so wet for me and I only jus’ started.”

You clench around him in every sense of the word — pussy clamping down around his fingers, legs locked tight around his waist.

“Aw, sweetheart, y’gonna come already?” Bucky asks, fingers slowly curling inside of you while his thumb runs over your clit from left to right slowly. “I haven’t even put my mouth on you…”

You let out a loud whine, our hands tugging at Bucky’s hair hard enough that you’re sure it must hurt but he doesn’t give any indication of it. “Bucky, please, I c-can’t —”

The rest of it gets lost in a moan that gives away the fact that you’re right there.

“Can’t what, princess?” Bucky mocks. “Can’t even speak, can you?”

You can’t bring yourself to care even the slightest bit about Bucky’s goading, the feeling overwhelming your entire body as you dig in while you come hard enough that you could swear you blacked out for a moment.

It’s like being underwater, the sounds muffled in your ears — Bucky’s chuckle, drowned out by your fevered panting, your heartbeat.

“Nnnnggggg,” you groan, limbs heavy and uncoordinated as you essentially become one with the mattress.

Bucky’s smug face looks up at you while he kisses below your belly button as your stomach and chest still heave for air. “You okay there, doll?”

“Oh, fuck you,” you huff out, laughing along with Bucky as he crawls back up to kiss you.

“Mmm,” Bucky murmurs between your lips meeting.”Wanna fuck you.”

Even if you had just come, it’s like Bucky’s words ignite your body all over again. You smile dopily at him, hands cradling his face and running your thumbs along his stubble. “Yeah? Well what’re you waiting for?”

Bucky’s responding grin sends shivers down your spine again. Settling in, hauling your hips up until your ass rested on the top of his thighs, he licks his lips like a panther with its prey.

  ♪♪♪

You wake before Bucky does, your body pleasantly sore and still tired. With a small wiggle, you settle back into his arms, taking the time to just enjoy the moment and memorizing it. You let him sleep a bit longer, knowing he has a long night ahead, though it’s not like you could pull yourself away if you wanted. There was only an hour left with him, so you had to make the most of it and look over every detail in front of you.

It was so easy to imagine that this was your actual life — waking up beside this beautiful man, sharing more than just your bed with him. Your home. Your heart.

You trace a light finger along that sharp jawline and Bucky inhales deeply as he rouses.

“Mornin’, beautiful,” he mumbles, eyes slowly blinking open.

“Good morning,” you whisper,. “It’s almost 10:00.”

“M’gonna miss you, dollface,” Bucky whispers, voice raspy with sleep and — well, maybe it was more than just sleep.

“Pfft, yeah right,” you tease. “Girls are gonna fling themselves at your feet and you’ll have your pick of any one of ‘em.”

You had tried to keep the tone light — joking — but it obviously doesn’t quite work.

Bucky gets a little furrow between his eyebrows as he props himself up on an elbow to look down at you, searching your face for something. “Is that actually what you’re thinkin’?”

You opened your mouth to respond but nothing came out. It was the truth, but you hadn’t planned on sounding so pathetic. Sighing, you tuck the covers under your chin as you look up at him. God, you’d miss this face — the stunning eyes, that little dimple in his chin, the way his hair looks when your fingers have been running through it, gripping it, pulling it.

“Bucky… I knew when you first kissed me that you wouldn’t be staying.” God, it even hurts just to say it out loud. “You’re — you’re literally famous. You’re a rockstar! I’m —”

“— mine,” he finishes, interrupting you. “You’re mine.”

You bite your tongue, because he’s about to hit the road and you don’t want your last moments with him to be about this. About the way your stomach flutters when he says that you’re his so adamantly, like he doesn’t say it to the other girls you’re sure he’s picking up along the tours.

“Hey, c’mon,” Bucky coaxes, a gentle finger crooked under your chin to make you face him. His brows are furrowed as he looks at you. “What are you goin’ on about, huh?”

It’s painful to even think about it — letting yourself believe that maybe this meant as much to him as it meant to you, but it was impossible, wasn’t it?

“Nothing,” you lie. “I just miss you sometimes, that’s all.”

He snorts with a short laugh. “Babe, I miss you all the time.”

Looking you in the eyes, he props himself up on elbow, his other hand stroking your jaw lightly. “You know, I never thought I’d hate touring but sometimes… I just wish I could stay here instead.”

“Oh my god, don’t say that!” You admonish, a strange feeling working its way up your throat. “You’ve said it yourself, you were born for this! Bucky, you really, really are so talented. You were made for this. I still remember seeing you on stage for the first time, I’ll never forget it. I felt so alive, Bucky. Better than I had in ages. I felt free — like I was flying and… Everyone out there should experience that, too. They need to.”

“I ever mention how fuckin’ incredible you are?” Bucky asks, his eyes a bright, shining blue. It’s not often that you’re the one making him bashful, but it feels damn good. It’s not like you had even tried to, you had simply been telling him the truth. “I — you know I’m just a phone call away, right?”

“I know.” You try smiling for his benefit before pulling him in for a kiss that hopefully distracts him.

Whatever Bucky might’ve said gets lost as he tangles his fingers in your hair again, bringing you close to him. It turns from a leisurely kiss into something more frantic, like you both know that there’s an impending deadline. Needless to say, your distraction works.

In fact, it works a little too well. He shoves his feet into his boots, phone wedged between his ear and shoulder as he tries to explain to Natasha that he’ll be right there and no, of course he’s not going to be late.

You try to hide a giggle as he throws the last of his things haphazardly in his bag and hangs up.

When it comes time to your goodbyes, you hug each other tightly. Bucky smells like you, like your sheets and your shampoo, he even smells like your lotion with how much time you’ve spent pressed up against him.

God, is it ever difficult for you to let him go. Something must show on your face because as Bucky’s about to say goodbye, his face falls for a second.

“Sweetheart —”

“No! No, it’s okay,” you rush to reassure him. “Really, baby, I’ll be fine. It’s nothing.”

You can see he’s not entirely convinced, but it’s enough that he relents and gives you a long, sweet goodbye kiss.

“See you when I get back?”

You nod without thinking. “Yeah, of course.”

♪♪♪

“What’s wrong with your face?” Nat asks him the moment he scrambles onto their bus and throws his bag on his bunk.

“Fuck you, my face is perfectly fine,” he shoots back, though there’s no real heat to it.

“Ooooooh,” she taunts with a wicked grin. “Someone’s in loooooooove.”

“N — shut up!”

He’s clearly outnumbered when Clint laughs from the small couch and Scott howls from the bathroom of all places. What the fuck is his life.

Natasha takes some pity on him, at least. Because she leans in close before she whispers to him with a wink. “That’s not a no.”

He hates the way she catches onto everything. It’s true, though, it’s not a no. Truthfully, Bucky’s not really sure what love is. Despite singing an inordinate amount of love songs, he’s never felt it as deep in his bones as he does now. All the songs from their albums were different now — all the lyrics that spoke of love, the lyrics that Bucky never thought he would connect to like the rest, they made sense now.

He takes out his worn, trusted and beloved journal, and puts pen to paper, his thoughts flowing out of him like a tsunami. His words fill up the blank spaces between his various other scribbles and doodles.

♪♪♪

You lay on your couch, Netflix playing at a low volume as you try to unwind from the day. Besides immediately taking off your work clothes and microwaving some dinner to settle in, you hadn’t done much else. Except miss Bucky, of course, which made you feel so pathetic. God, it’s only been a day.

When your phone goes off, you get a thrill of excitement before you realize that there’s no way it could be Bucky, he’d be performing any minute now. The name that pops up surprises you nonetheless, and you pick it up wondering if it was good news or bad news.

“Peter?”

“Oh, hi! Um, Bucky wanted me to call you and — are you busy right now?”

You stared at the TV playing nonsense you weren’t even paying any attention to. “No, I’m not busy, just — is everything okay?”

“Uh-huh, yeah! Great. They’re technically done but they’re doing one more encore song and it’s gonna be real special. He wanted you to watch! Can I FaceTime you?”

“Yes! Of course!” You didn’t do a good job of hiding how enthusiastic you were about the fact that you could see Bucky again so soon.

“Okay, hang on —”

The moment you accept his videocall request, you gasp. The crowd in front of Bucky’s stage was huge! You were so happy for him — for the whole band, really. They deserved to be heard and recognized.

There was Bucky, front and centre stage like usual. Except this time, the rest of the band wasn’t with him.

“Can you see okay?”

You giggle at Peter’s concerned, faraway voice and holler back at him. “Yep, I’m good!”

“Tonight I’m doin’ somethin’ a lil different,” Bucky says into the microphone as he adjusts the strap of his acoustic guitar over his shoulder. “It’s been a while since I brought out ol’ Betsy for you guys, huh?”

The crowd gives a laugh as Bucky tunes “Betsy” expertly, pulling the microphone closer to him. “You better feel lucky, ‘cause you’re gonna be the first ones to hear this. Are you ready?”

The cheer from the crowd is nearly a screech, whistles and catcalls mixed in.

A new song? How exciting! You wonder if this is why Bucky wanted you to be on the call, and smiled at how sweet that was.

“This one’s for a special angel of mine,” Bucky declares before he strums away, the opening notes slow but sure.

Special angel — no, it can’t be…

I pack my bags and say goodbye to my divine

For what seems like the millionth time

They said it gets easier, but they lied

She looks at me and says "Really baby, I will be just fine"

But then she looks away, so I don't have to see her cry

And that is when I ask myself

You freeze, hearing the exact words you’d said to him that morning. There couldn’t be a coincidence — Peter had very specifically called you, which meant that this was for you. That you were “angel” that Bucky was dedicating this song to.

How am I supposed to be everything they expect me to be?

When I feel so alone, 'cause I left my heart at home

She needs me, but I know they need me too

So God, give me the strength to do what you created me to do.

Well really I'm so thankful for the people I meet, the places I've been and the things I've seen

But when she's not here it doesn't feel like I'm living my dreams

I know they say that no one is perfect, but I swear she's perfect for me

And that makes it so much harder to leave

You’ve already started crying from the indescribable feeling that washes over you. Perfect for me — Bucky had just said that! You were in disbelief, and despite how sad the song sounded, it was also breathtakingly beautiful, just like everything else Bucky does.

How am I supposed to be everything they expect me to be?

When I feel so alone, 'cause I left my heart at home

She needs me, but I know they need me too

So God, give me the strength to do what you created me to do

People say things like “music saved my life” or “music is my escape” and you always thought you understood what they meant. You enjoyed music too and almost always had some playing in the background no matter what you were doing.

You were so very wrong. This feeling, this sizzling, bubbling, tingling sensation that you can feel from head to toe is what it means to truly be moved by music. Like arrows, each one of Bucky’s words drive straight through your heart, sharp and unrelenting. You have to cover your mouth to stop yourself from making too much noise, desperate to hear the rest of the song.

If you miss me, I'm just a phone call away

Please be strong, be strong for me

I need you to show me how to change the inside of me

For my heart, for their sake, please be strong, be strong for me

Everything was blurry by now, the tears trickling down your cheeks as you hear his words — and yours — being played for hundreds of people live.

How am I supposed to be everything they expect me to be?

When I feel so alone, so alone

How am I supposed to be everything they expect me to be?

When I feel so alone, 'cause I left my heart at home

She needs me, but I know they need me too

So God, give me the strength to do what you created me to do.

You couldn’t believe it was over. The shock and the overwhelming feeling that you can’t quite place literally make you freeze in your spot, biting down on your lip to try and hold it together.

“And that’s all she wrote, folks! Well. That’s all I wrote, anyway. GOOD-FUCKING-NIGHT E’ERYBODYYYYY! WE LOVE YOU”

Love. The word sends a jolt through you as it all falls into place for you. You loved him and you just couldn’t admit it to yourself but it’s oh so clear to you now.

The applause was like lightning, cheers and howls mixed in as Bucky exited the stage, and the moment you could no longer see him, the first sob escapes you. There’s a shuffling noise, reminding you that you were still on a call with Peter and not up in the clouds where Bucky makes you feel like you are.

“Are you —”

“Hey, Peter, I gotta go!” You blurt out frantically. “Will you tell Bucky to call me later please?”

“Oh! Um, yeah, sure I can do that.”

“Thanks Peter,” you rush. “Goodnight!”

You only feel a little bad for hanging up on him, but you’d just have to apologize next time. Right now? Right now you had to bawl your eyes out at the fact that Bucky wrote a song for you. And not just a song for you, but a song about you, where he called you “his divine” and “his heart”.

All this time, you let your fears and insecurities get in the way, so convinced that Bucky wasn’t looking for anything more than an easy hook-up. How could you have been so blind?

You don’t know how long it is after the set is done before your phone rings again, and this time it’s Bucky’s name that flashes across your phone.

“Bucky, what the HELL!” You yell as soon as you hear the call connect, not even giving him a chance to say hello.

“Hi to you too, dollface.”

You can hear the smirk on the other end. “I can’t believe you!”

“Can’t believe what, babe? That I wrote a song for you? I always said I was gonna didn’t I?”

“Yeah, but —”

It’s true. He had always said that, but you hadn’t taken it seriously for even a second. “But I didn’t expect that!”

“Did you like it?”

“I loved it,” you tell him earnestly, voice cracking a bit as you get emotional all over again. “I loved it so much. I —”

You had almost let it slip right then and there. Heart pounding, you have to physically swallow the words down.

“Good,” Bucky says, nonchalant as if you weren’t on the cusp of a love confession. “I practically wrote it non-stop on my way here from your place. Wasn’t sure if it’d be any good to be honest with ya, only sang it once on the bus for the troops and they like fuckin’ with me. You promise you actually liked it and you’re not tryna make me feel better? ‘Cause y’know, I can always rework it and —”

“I love you,” you interrupt. It was just too much to handle, how endearing it all was that Bucky not only wrote this ode to you but he was even worried if you liked it, which was such a silly thought because you loved everything Bucky did.

“... You do?” Bucky asks, sounding adorably confused.

You grimace at yourself — what the hell ere you doing! “Sorry, sorry. I just — I don’t know I had to say it, Buck. That song was…. I’m —”

It was his turn to cut you off now, saving you from further rambling and embarrassment.

“I love you, too.”

You smile so wide that your cheeks hurt. Between the two of you and your newfound words for each other, you happily chat as you both get ready for the night. So absorbed in your conversation, both of you miss the social media storm until it’s far too late.

Thank you to @rookthorne as always for your support, encouragement and second set of eyes. This series exists because of you, sweetheart! 💕

[opulenceps]

||| || | MY World: Collection

This collection contains six psds inspired by aespa new album, MY World. Is included two free psds for everyone, one premium psd you can buy appart and three exclusive psds that you can buy on DeviantART or download in the sub area in case you're a montly supporter.

• BUY IT COMPLETE NOW! DeviantART ($7 + DA taxes= $8.75)

• Content: - PSD 315: Welcome To my World (FREE) - PSD 316: Spicy (FREE) - PSD 317: Salty & Sweet (PREMIUM) - PSD+: Thirsty (EXCLUSIVE) - PSD+: I'm Unhappy (EXCLUSIVE) - PSD+: 'Til We Meet Again (EXCLUSIVE)

ATENTION!

You will have some days to request the collection for free, with all six psds. But there's some requirements to avoid copies and people with bad intentions. TIME: June 17 - July 1

• Requirements: Your tumblr must be an edit blog, active, with more than 10 original posts. Follow me + reblog this post.

Request on my ask "MY World pack, please" with a logged account. With that, make sure to send at least the e-mail nick that you're going to use to access the folder. Do not send the link to anyone else othever I will think you already download it, and I will not accept you. Anonymous ask will be ignored, I will not remmember anyone about the rules. If you made until this far, you know them. The folder with the psds are gonna have a security system, you will be accept by your email. Again, do not share the link with other people, or these person will be accepted instead of you, and you're gonna lost it.

I will only start to send it when the time to request is closed. So be patient. You gonna get something exclusive, that most part of people will have to pay for.

[putschki1969]

【Lawson】What To Buy Part 3【Convenience Store】

Hello, this is Hikaru. Thank you for watching! This time, in response to your requests, I made a third video about my convenience store purchases 🛍️ Even though I am not mentioning it here, you can also buy soft kelp and tapioca milk tea at Lawson😋 If you have any items you often buy or would recommend, please let me know ☺️Please also send your video suggestions, I am always looking for new ideas 📝 [Introduced] ・Karaage kun ・Soft natto ・Kikyo Shingen Mochi Dora Mochi ・Mochi wheat bread cheese cream & double berry ・Salad chicken stick olive & cheese

“FEATURES” Acoustic Live Report

Yesterday, Hikaru was busy rehearsing for her upcoming acoustic live. Don't forget to tune in for today's live!! (Tweet by Hikaru | Tweet 2 by Hikaru) Following her first solo tour as freelance artist, Hikaru will be holding an acoustic live on March 17. It will be a live streaming concert so everyone can watch it. Hikaru will perform her songs from the album “FEATURES” ♪ Title: Stream LIVE “Hikaru Acoustic LIVE 2024 -FEATURES-” Date: March 17 (Sun)Time: 17:00~ Ticket sales start 🎫 2/10 0:00~ Ticket price: 3,500 (overseas credit cards accepted) Archive period: 7 days Link: https://musicchamp.page.link/PJByVDREEbTmdRf77 ※The ticket needs to be bought within the Music Champ app. Please download the app!

As always, I will do some live commenting as I watch the concert even though I am not too familiar with her new songs so I will probably not have a lot to say about them T_T Also not the biggest fan of an acoustic guitar-only accompaniment but that's a personal preference XD First things first, her shirt/blouse looks great, especially with the pearl necklace.

1.Flow: I recall not particularly liking the studio version. Can't say the acoustic arrangement has changed my opinion unfortunately. Still appreciate her vocals though. 2.Embrace: Very excited how this will turn out since I do enjoy the studio version quite a bit. Nice reverb effect. The verses sound amazing, obsessed with the way she sings the "mirai..." part. And the bridge with the “ai yueni…” is lovely. 3.Awe: "Embrace" and "Awe" back to back, YESSS! This honestly gets better every time I listen to it. Don't even mind when Hikaru gets a bit shouty because it works so well for this song. 4.Treasure: Meh... I'll admit that this doesn't do anything for me. Couldn't even remember listening to it before although I most definitely did. 5.Under the Rain: Ohhh, did not expect this song to make an appearance. Thought Hikaru would be focusing solely on her "Features" tracks for this acoustic live. Very happy. The chorus isn't my cup of tea but I love the melody in the verses. And the scene from the play will always be a personal favourite. Wow, the raspy voice Hikaru uses towards the end is pretty cool. Think this is my favourite rendition of the song so far. 6.Remain: Can't pinpoint what bothers me about the song but I am not a fan. 7.Escape: The acoustic version is better than the studio version I think. Not quite as chaotic. Still not my favourite. 8.Survivor: Feel quite nostalgic about Hikaru's first song as freelance artist. Solid performance. 9.奇跡/Kiseki: Still very fond of the melody during the instrumental section but the rest of the song is just okay I guess...Not even the lalala part works for me, it's a shame T_T