#and I get to see FOB Saturday!

[lenacopperleaf]

Avs lb I’m at an Avs game!!!!!!!!

[transforgaytion]

If you're still doing the "I wish" prompts, what about those really big eggs? I think it's emu eggs I'm thinking of. Plural :)

-always- accepting "I wish" prompts! (these are now accessible on my blog by clicking the "wishing curse" folder, and will be tagged with "wishingcursetf" ! Really? Is the first thought through her mind. Why on earth would someone utter those words in that order??? Who on earth desires emu eggs??

But before she has much time to react, she begins to feel the first subtle signs of the curse reacting. At first it's just a very very slight bloating feeling. Nothing is visible from the outside yet whatsoever. And at the mall of all places, on a busy Saturday afternoon...Nowhere to hide... How big are emu eggs again? She wonders to herself. To her shock, before she has time to leave the food court, the person who'd initially wished -kept talking-. "Yeah, I wish I had at least a dozen of 'em. Emu eggs, I mean. I wish I had some ostrich eggs too I guess, but I do like emus better as a whole, so I'd rather breed them than ostriches-" .... She pauses to process what she's just heard. How likely is it that at this mall she's stumbled across a wishful EMU FARMER. Wait a damn minute, did he say over a dozen???

Oh god. And with the size of them...this was about to get bad. The band of her jeans began to feel a bit tight against her stomach. They weren't loose jeans to begin with, but she knew what this meant.

She stood up from her seat, grabbed the trash from the table, and begun to quickly try to make an escape. If she could at least make it out to her car-...

"hey! What're you doing here?"

Are you -kidding-?

"Oh, sorry if I startled you!" her most recent ex continues as he looks at her, gauging how she's been doing since the breakup.

It was a smooth breakup, almost more of a break than an actual ending point for the relationship. But her ex didn't know about her curse. She wasn't cursed until two months ago, and they broke up around 5 months ago now.

"No, that's okay... I'm so sorry, I really have to go-" she started to try to exit the conversation, making it a point to apologize later, but she felt a very slight tug on her sleeve as her ex carefully got her attention as she moved to leave.

"Sorry, I just...it's been a while...you don't have a couple of minutes? I promise I won't take up too much of your time, I just-..."

The look in his eyes was so....so sad. So pleading. And he wasn't a bad guy, it's just...

"Look, I'm so sorry, I -really- have to go..."

The look on his face almost broke her heart. But she didn't have a lot of time to pay attention to her heart as her loose t-shirt was beginning to brush up against the skin of her stomach as it was slowly starting to protrude now.

"Wait!" he called after her as she tried to run. Her center of balance was already being thrown off, so she was already struggling to run like she would have been able to an hour ago.

She pants as she runs for the exit door, feeling more bloated than ever.

Once the automatic doors finally slide open, she's met with a terrible realization.

It's community day.

The whole town is in this mall parking lot, complete with food trucks from out of town, live music, the WORKS.

She slowly made her way through the crowd, resisting the urge to put a hand on her stomach to help her balance as she moved quickly through the people to the other side of the parking lot.

She'd actually parked on the other side of the mall entirely, but she got so desperate to leave that she'd gone for the first available exit.

She felt the fabric of the t-shirt starting to get tight around her slowly inflating stomach.

It felt so heavy. So hard. After last time, with the real babies, surely these eggs wouldn't be harder to birth, surely....

She clicks her car key fob a few times, listening through the noise from the community festival to try to hear her car's horn.

She can see it lighting up across the parking lot now, now it's just about making it over there.

 It's 8 rows over, she counts.

The t-shirt was starting to ride up. If anyone saw her, they'd definitely think she was pregnant. She wasn't pregnant yesterday. Word would get around that something's wrong with her if she wasn't careful.

She passes between cars, avoiding any people she sees, pulling her shirt back down over her still expanding bump.

It wasn't lumpy like she was afraid eggs might make it, so there must've been fluid in there too. It looked almost exactly like a typical human pregnancy, but perhaps shaped slightly differently?

 Either way, her shirt is slowly riding up her stomach higher as she continues to navigate the maze of cars, and her bra is beginning to feel tight.

She can feel her nipples getting so hard and rubbing up against it even with how hot it is outside.

She makes it to the car, -finally-, and turns the key in the ignition before pulling the front seat up as far as it'll go, and letting herself into the back seat.

She locks the door, and tries to breathe a sigh of relief. She feels huge now that she's sitting down, and she knows she's still growing.

Emu eggs. God. Why???? This curse was awful. There's no telling how many times she'd have to endure this.

They said ostrich eggs too...how big were those again?

She pulls the t-shirt off as it's now barely a bra functionally, her stomach too large to contain within it anymore.

She breathes in as her chest increases in size, causing her to rather desperately start moving to take her bra off, as the straps are starting to cut into her shoulders.

It has to start soon, right? The actual contractions have to start soon, she feels like she looks very due.

She finally gives in and lets herself run her hands along her stomach, rubbing it for comfort as it continues to grow.

"A dozen...." she says aloud, trying to keep herself calm.

At least this usually doesn't hurt as bad as real pregnancy would. Eggs should hopefully be even less painful than last time this happened.

Suddenly, as she's finally being able to relax a bit, she hears a loud sound against the car.

She looks up to see her ex, gently knocking at the driver's side window to see if she's in the car. He's really not a bad guy at all, something must be really bothering him for him to be this persistent, but damnit...now is SO not the time, she thinks.

It's not long before he notices her in the back seat. He glances from her face down to her stomach and then back.

She winces. He looks shocked. This isn't good.

"Oh my god!" Even though it's muffled, she can still hear him.

"Let me in, I can help!" he says, after watching her continue to rub her own "due-with-twins" sized belly.

She ignores him at first. She doesn't need help. He's not even supposed to know about this.

"I...I just saw you...how did you hide-...? You know what nevermind, I can still help! Please...?"

What on earth was his deal. And why was he being so-....he was willing to help after looking at her like this??

He tries the car handle, but only once.

It's locked.

her stomach is still growing. It's now taking up her entire lap. It's incredibly obvious how pregnant she is.

Physically, her body never 100% got the memo that the pregnancy was egg based, so she does feel her breasts get heavier and heavier, filling with milk no doubt.

her nipples are finally growing too. Preparing for feeding babies that will never drink from her.

Her ex is looking around now, contemplating if he should call for help. That'd be bad. She really doesn't want to be experimented on or something.

She just wants to lay these eggs in peace.

"Please..." he asks again. On any other guy, this level of persistence would NOT be a good look. But she knows he means well. She knows he's worried about her.

He looks around again, and while he's looking like he's about to go running to beg for medical assistance, her stomach finally, after growing to a size so large she can barely reach around it, finally clenches tight with her first contraction.

When it stops, she looks up and finally meets her ex's eyes. He froze when she clearly contracted, looking like he's feeling her pain with her.

She made a split section decision at that moment and reached up and unlocked the car door. She did her damnedest to scoot over to make room for him to sit beside her.

"Get in and close the door, quickly!" she spat at him in a hushed tone.

He moves quickly, getting in beside her and slamming the door and then re-locking it.

"Okay, what can I do? How can I help? Are you in any pain?"

She is baffled. Why'd she break up with him again? She would be able to recall if her entire mid-section wasn't getting tighter and tighter and oh god-, tighter, tight enough that it starts to hurt, and then it goes even further, it's so tight, so hard, it's squeezing her inside out, it's-....it stops.

"I....you weren't pregnant an hour ago, were you." her ex says flatly. She shakes her head slightly 'no'.

"Is it normal babies?" he continues. She nods 'no' again.

"Okay...uhh...."

"Eggs." She interrupts. "it's eggs."

"Oh!" he exclaims "Well, at least eggs aren't that bi-"

"Emu and ostrich eggs...." She clarifies. He freezes.

"Do-...do you have any idea how many?"

She feels the telltale sensation of her cervix slowly beginning to open around something.

She answers through gritted teeth as her stomach contracts again "uhh...at least a dozen, probably more...."

He looks shocked. He looks around the car. The running car.

"There's barely room back here...how are you going to-....uhh...okay, hold on."

He unlocks the door, and she moans as she tries to protest through the contraction but instead it just devolves into a groan.

He gets out of the back seat, climbs into the front seat, adjusts it for his legs, and re-locks the doors.

"I know you probably can't buckle a seatbelt back there, but I know a place close to here where it'll be really quiet....you'll have room to spread out and be safer there. Can I take you there?"

"oh god.....-" she murmurs as her cervix stretches around her first emu egg, "yes, god, it's happening fast, please...." she doesn't even know what she's begging for.

He puts the car in reverse, and she can tell how carefully he's driving already. Precious cargo and all.

He manages to get out onto the highway, and begins heading out of town. She feels fear for a second, before all her attention is back on her stomach. it's clenched down so hard she can't breathe. It doesn't hurt like it -should- if it was a 'real' non-curse related pregnancy, but it's clenched so -hard-.

He pulls off into a large field, off the main road enough that it's got no eyes on it at all.

"Come on, let me help you" he says as he climbs out of the driver's seat and opens the back door. "Can you walk? It won't have to be far at all, there's just nowhere for you to give birth in that backseat."

She barely nods, and then both her hands hold the sides of her massive stomach as it contracts again, pushing the widest part of the first emu egg into her cervix now.

When it subsides, although moving feels -very- odd, she does manage to step outside. The relief is instant.

She falls into a squat as soon as the car doors close. She can't control it, as soon as there was space, she felt herself squat.

But, oh- pants....

"I, I think I'm pushing, but I-" she babbles. he takes the hint, pulling her pants down gently but very effectively.

"I'm going to pull down your underwear too, okay? Then you can push." --------- part 2 soon if you like my work you can support me at https://ko-fi.com/transforgaytion 

[sirfrogsworth]

Wishlist Haul

All I asked for were pants, and those are coming Saturday. But you all came through in a big way with my wishlist and helped me solve some problems that have really been bugging me lately.

One of my biggest current issues is my decision to use my M1 MacBook Air as my main computer until I can move my PC upstairs at some distant time in the future. Which means I need to ask a lot more of it. And it is capable, as these Apple Silicon devices are amazing and very zippy, but I only got 256 GB of storage because I thought this would just be a secondary computer while I was taking care of my dad.

So I need storage. And if you do photography and use Lightroom, you know you need *fast* storage. In the days of spinny disc drives, going back and forth between images was maddeningly slow. I already hate the process of culling photos and picking the best ones. And sometimes you'd need to find 5 winners out of a few hundred. And when it took 3 seconds to switch between every photo, I wanted to die. And honestly, it could still be better.

But one of the best solutions is a super fast SSD. Which I had. I bought it right before my parents got especially ill and was planning to install it in my PC. But my priorities changed and I just never found the energy.

The problem is that was an internal NVME SSD. I needed it to be external.

Which is where this little thingie comes in.

This is an NVME enclosure, and if you are looking for cheap, fast external storage, this is so much better than those external SSDs they overcharge for. For $200 they give you a 2TB drive that can read about 2000 MB per second. Or you can get a 2TB NVME and this enclosure for the same price and get 3000 MB per second. Not only that, but it is upgradeable. In a year when 4TB is $100, you can plop that in. And the Mac's Thunderbolt 4 has a max speed of around 5000 MB/s, so there is room to improve there as well. Though sometimes advertised speeds are not reality speeds.

The only thing you need to be aware of is these drives run hot. You're going to think there is something wrong with them. Like, they top out at 90C. Which is nearly 200 degrees in freedom units.

I wanted a convenient way to mount my drive, but I didn't want 200 degrees on the back of my screen, so... MAGNETS!

And I can stack a few more if that section starts feeling too hot.

So, I have that problem solved. I can now use this as my main computer and work on my photography.

Next up... fashion!

I'm going out more and I want to look a little more presentable. I thought these two tone shirts looked a little more fashionable. And they are very comfortable too. I have a red one that I think I'm going to wear on my trip. I know you can't see the two tone well in the picture, so here is the product photo of the red one.

Next problem?

Well, it's maybe not a problem so much as something cool I wanted. A black light!

My mom had all of this uranium glass and I had no idea my salt shaker was marginally radioactive all these years. I really wanted to take a proper photo of some of the glass before it all gets sold at auction. So this should be a fun experiment.

I will say, if you don't have uranium glass, don't get a black light. You will want to burn your house down. It does not matter how clean you think you got something... you didn't clean it enough. And I have all of this dry flaky skin on my feet. It doesn't hurt. It doesn't bother me. You can't even really see it unless you look really close. But when I shined the light on my feet they looked like they had some undocumented disease. I will not be sharing a photo of that.

But the depression glass, that's super neat.

Some proper photos coming soon I hope. Maybe after my trip.

Next problem!

My key fob. This thing is a piece of shit.

Even if it looks cool under a black light, it is THE WORST.

It's cheap plastic, it takes a stupid watch battery, the symbols on the buttons all wore off. And all of that I could handle, but for some reason this fob has an effective range of about 2 feet. I literally have to be standing next to the door before it will work.

I had a black fob that worked much better, only the plastic casing was falling apart. But I taped it up as best I could and hoped it would not fall apart. Then I went to get my tires changed and they needed the fob to do some special reset of the pressure sensors and the battery died before they could. I went home to try and change the battery, and the entire thing basically disintegrated on me.

The inside looks like this.

The battery retention contact is held on by a tiny dab of solder. And if you pull the battery up even a little, it snaps off. And that's what happened. And to make matters worse, the rubber buttons were falling apart and the unlock button just... fell off.

So I was either stuck with the 2 foot range green one or I needed a new fob. Thankfully, they are only 20 bucks for 2 on Amazon. Unfortunately you need a dealer or an auto locksmith to program them. The lowest quote was $100 for about 5 minutes of work. The dealer actually wanted to sell me the fob as well, which they quoted as $150 for ONE. Same cheap plastic piece of shit and everything.

So, I got all of the parts from the broken fob and I hot glued that battery contact back into place and I transplanted that into a shiny new casing.

Works just like new. The buttons feel much better, I can actually see the symbols, and it has a range of at least 100 feet. And that hot glue isn't going anywhere. Changing the battery might be an issue, but these lasted several years.

Next problem!

An intervalometer is a fancy shutter button for a camera that allows very long exposures. It is detached from the camera so you don't shake anything and it needs a backlit screen because if you are using it, you are most likely in the dark.

My intervalometer is about 12 years old and uses another dreaded watch battery. And the backlight on the screen seems to be dead. So it is pretty much useless.

But look at this!

The light even works in the... well, light! And it takes normal batteries. Seriously, watch batteries need to stay in watches.

I don't know if I will get to take a long exposure in Florida, but I want to have this with me in case I do.

Next problem!

This one I actually solved on my own. But I found these stainless iron (yes, iron!) shims and I covered them with black tape and now all of my most used kitchen items never take up counter space.

Yes, I use magnets and hot glue to solve most of my problems.

Next problem!

My garage door is not very smart. And the remote control for it is huge and does not fit in my man purse.

So I downsized the remote.

But I wanted to fix the non-smart thing as well. A while back my brother got into my garage without me knowing. He must have taken a remote of his own. And I really don't feel like figuring out how to change the frequency, so I now have a sensor that lets me know when the door is open with a phone notification. Beyond that, I can open or close the door from my smartphone from anywhere. And I can give access to anyone with a smartphone in case of an emergency.

I will say, this company is really paranoid about people being crushed by garage doors. The instructions tell you to put up this sign in your garage...

And if you use the app to close the door, you get a light show with annoying beeping...

And I know that these accidents happen in real life. But whenever I think about how that could actually happen, all I can imagine is that scene in Austin Powers...

In any case, I am really glad I have this now. And I also like that if I forget to close the garage door, I can check the app and not have to get up to do it.

OH! I almost forgot. If I want, I can have Amazon place packages inside my garage.

Next problem!

What in the heck do I need galvanized steel plates for?

In product photography you need a diffusion panel called a scrim. If you try to buy one of these already made, they are hundreds of dollars. They are mostly made for movie productions, and those items always have inflated costs.

So most product photographers make their own out of tracing paper or a special plastic called Translum. It's $80 per roll, but lasts forever. I used to hang my scrims from the ceiling. But you can't really angle or move them, so you have to move the object you are photographing instead. Which is just a backwards way to work. So I invented my own scrims with two strips of very thin wood, metal chip clips, these little plastic feet that held up plexiglass barriers during COVID. And to weigh everything down... steel plates.

This is version 1.0 where I glued the plastic rather than affixing it with the chip clips.

The clips work much better and allow me to put different weights of plastic on, or even double plastic, for more or less diffusion. And I ended up not needing that board at the bottom which allows me to curve it as well.

And these scrims let me take this photo...

It's called graduated lighting and it makes things look neat.

I also got a backpack for my trip and shorts, but I am going to forego an explanation of those.

To all that helped, thank you so much. I hope you can see I am putting everything to good use.

[lixxen]

Since @the-chapmania and @eeternalferret told me I should do this, here is Fall Out Boy (and others!!) songs but I've assigned them to Always Sunny characters/ships because I'm absolutely insane and Fall Out Boy is one of my special interests (plus a ton of other songs that fit them at the end!!)

The first few will be above the cut then the rest are UTC

Disclaimer: most of these are just I think the characters fit the dynamics or I have specific situations and dynamics for the songs. I'll specify some of them. These are all opinions and you're allowed to disagree. A few will repeat!

Charlie

I Don't Care

Novocaine

What A Time To Be Alive

Saturday

Sunshine Riptide (I'm laughing over this one. You'll get it when you see it)

Mac

Sugar, We're Going Down

The Kintsugi Kid (Ten Years)

Young and Menace

Thnks fr th Mmrs

Dennis

This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race

The Kintsugi Kid (Ten Years)

Pavlove

Bishops Knife Trick

Stay Frosty Royal Milk Tea

Dee

So Much (For) Stardust

Fake Out

The Lawyer

You're Crashing, But You're No Wave

CharMac

Alone Together

Fourth of July

Disloyal Order of Water Buffalo

The (Shipped) Gold Standard

The Kids Aren't Alright

Bang The Doldrums

Favorite Record

What A Catch, Donnie

Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown on A Bad Bet (Dennis is the husband!!!)

It's Not A Side Effect of The Cocaine, I Am Thinking It Must Be Love

CharDen

Dead on Arrival (early friendship)

America's Suithearts (could be just Charlie, but has the vibes for both)

Disloyal Order of Water Buffalo

My Heart Is The Worst Kind Of Weapon

The Phoenix

I Slept With Someone In Fall Out Boy and All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me (early friendship)

Hold Me Like A Grudge

A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Touch Me (Charlie's POV if this makes sense)

CharMacDen

American Beauty/American Psycho

Twin Skeletons (Hotel in NYC)

Thnks fr th Mmrs

Bang the Doldrums

Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy

Grenade Jumper

MacDen

Wilson (Expensive Mistakes) [Dennis POV]

Immortals

Love From The Other Side

Last of The Real Ones

Dance, Dance

Where Did The Party Go

Miss Missing You

Irresistible

HOLD ME TIGHT OR DONT

Heaven's Gate (Mac POV)

CharDee

She's My Winona

Disloyal Order of Water Buffalo

Rat A Tat

Jet Pack Blues

I'm Like A Lawyer In The Way I'm Always Trying to Get You Off

DeeStress

Just One Yesterday

Last of The Real Ones

Pretty in Punk

CharStress

Chicago Is So Two Years Ago

Last of The Real Ones

The Patron Saint of Liars and Fakes

Tell That Mick He Just Made My List of Things to Do Today

Honorable Mention

Growing Up

Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy

Dennis & Dee (Platonic)

I Slept With Someone In Fall Out Boy and All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me (cover ourself in cheap perfume and can't cover it up is them fr)

Non-FOB songs:

Panic! At The Disco:

The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide Is Press Coverage (MacDen)

Nails for Breakfast, Tacks for Snacks (Dennis and Frank)

There's a good reason these tables are numbered honey, you just haven't figured it out yet (Dennis and Dee)

Nearly Witches (ever since we met) [CharDen or CharMac, pick your poison]

This is gospel (Mac)

Girls/Girls/Boys (Mac/Carmen)

Let's kill tonight (CharDen)

Casual Affair (charmacden)

Crazy = Genius (CharDen)

Folkin around (CharMac)

She had the world (past CharMac current MacDen from Charlie's POV. Charlie is Brenden and Mac is Ryan)

Ready to go (get me out of my mind) [DeeStress or charden]

Bittersweet (CharMac)

Turn off the lights (CharDen)

But Better if you do (MacDen)

Camisado (Charlie)

Spiritbox

Hurt You (MacDen)

Too close/too late (Charlie)

Jaded (Mac)

Lilyisthatyou

RELAX AFTER WORK WITH A DRINK (Charlie)

GRINDING MY TEETH (Charlie)

DANCE (Charlie)

SIREN (Charlie)

Competition (CharMacDen)

INTIMACY ISSUES (Charlie)

The Happy Fits

She Wants Me (To Be Loved) [CharMac]

So Alright, Cool, Whatever (MacDen)

Mary (Charlie)

Dirty Imbecile (CharMacDen)

Moving (Charlie and his mom)

Miscellaneous

Impressively Average by Brigitte Calls Me Baby (MacDen. LITERALLY THEIR SONG!!!)

Codependency by Orla Garland (Charden)

If you ever leave, I'm coming with you by The Wombats (CharMac)

Here comes your man by The Pixies (Charlie)

Alley Rose by Conan Gray (pre-canon CharMac)

[fcble]

FREEZE FRAME — A series of timestamps taking place over the first leg of Fable’s second world tour.

SATURDAY, APRIL 14, 2:49 PM KST — THE FABLE GROUP CHAT (SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA)

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17, 10:02 AM PDT — JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK (JOSHUA TREE, CALIFORNIA)

“This is it?” Mingeun asks.

Byeonghwi is inclined to agree with him. They’ve been on the road for almost three hours, having left the comfort of their Los Angeles hotel early in the morning. If not for the sudden loss of buildings in the little town they passed through fifteen minutes ago, he’d swear they weren’t moving. 

“Isn’t it fun?” Andrew asks from the driver’s seat. 

Byeonghwi, stuck in the middle seat of the back row, leans over Haksu to look out the window. As far as he can tell, they came here to look at rocks, sand, some scraggly plants, some more rocks, and surprisingly, a lot of other people and cars. 

“It’s the great American outdoors,” Andrew continues, rolling down all four windows of their rental car. Haksu immediately rolls his back up. 

“It’s just rocks,” Mingeun says, raising his voice over the wind whipping through the windows. 

“And sand,” Byeonghwi adds.

In the passenger seat, Intak reaches toward the center console and skips the next song.

“I like that song,” Haksu complains.

“That’s the third ballad in a row,” Intak says. “It’s putting me to sleep.”

Mingeun fiddles with a small video camera. Byeonghwi wouldn’t put it past him to “accidentally” drop it out of the window. He wishes they could have a vacation without the cameras. He could go anywhere on his own, or with normal people who aren't celebrities, but his closest friends are the rest of Fable. The smallest saving grace is that this time, there's no camera crew. It's just the five of them—Andrew had insisted on driving and told Daewoong in no uncertain terms that he wasn't allowed to come and besides, they wouldn't all fit in the car—and Mingeun’s camera and Haksu's playlist and the great American outdoors.

“Let’s play a game,” Mingeun says, setting up the camera to point to the rather monotonous landscape. “I spy something beige.”

“Is it that rock?” Haksu asks, pointing out the window.

“It was that one that we just passed.” Mingeun points vaguely to the back of the car.

“This is fun,” Andrew repeats, though it seems like it's only fun to him. 

Byeonghwi starts to feel a little bad for him. When he heard they had an extra day of vacation in LA, he thought they might go to Disneyland. He’s always wanted to go to Disneyland. Then Daewoong and Andrew disappeared somewhere last night after their concert, and returned with a car. Byeonghwi woke up to Andrew’s alarm and a Toyota key fob on the nightstand.

“I think it’s fun,” he ventures. It isn’t the full truth, but it isn’t a lie either. It’s fun to spend time with the people he likes, even if they’re stuck in a car all day, because they can’t risk getting lost in the desert one stop into their world tour.

“Thanks, Hwi.” In the rearview mirror, Andrew’s expression is inscrutable behind his sunglasses. 

Intak skips the next two songs on Haksu’s playlist.

Haksu crosses his arms, elbow poking uncomfortably into Byeonghwi’s side. “I don’t understand why we’re listening to my music if you’re just going to skip every song.”

“Intak-hyung can’t have the aux. He’ll make us listen to SoundCloud rap,” Mingeun complains.

“Which is better than lofi beats to chill and fall asleep to,” Intak says.

Byeonghwi always finds it amusing that a group of singers can’t come to a consensus on music to listen to.

Andrew interrupts over both of them, launching into what Byeonghwi takes to be his best argument-defusing method of too many facts. “Did you know this park is around our ages? It was established in 1994.” He sounds like he memorized that from somewhere. “The national park system as a whole owes much of its success to President Teddy Roosevelt. He died for our sins. That’s why we put him on Mount Rushmore.”

“That was Jesus,” Haksu mutters.

But Byeonghwi sees the flash of Andrew’s grin in the mirror, and he knows he said that on purpose. His phone vibrates in his lap, and Byeonghwi unlocks it to see a new group chat consisting of himself, Mingeun, and Haksu. There’s only one message from Mingeun, which reads, if i act like this in canada, push me into the waterfall.

Got it 🫡, Haksu sends back, and Byeonghwi starts to think that maybe looking at a bunch of rocks might be better than Disneyland.

FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 8:29 AM CDT — CIVIL GOAT (AUSTIN, TEXAS)

Andrew probably doesn’t have to be working all the time. Technically, he’s working because Fable is on tour, but in the early hours of the morning, he has no obligations other than the ones he sets himself. He doesn't have to wake up early in the morning and drag Daewoong out to a coffee shop with him so he can do real work. He does it anyway.

His current project isn't anything related to Fable, but a simple review and some feedback for the debut mini album of Zenith Entertainment’s next idol group. Their main songwriter is a fresh-faced, barely twenty-year-old Korean American who asked Andrew for a Gmail address so he could share his music over Google Drive. Andrew felt practically geriatric next to him, like he should be checking into a retirement home soon. Apparently kids these days don't burn demo CDs, which works out for Andrew, because his laptop doesn't have a CD player.

He's just getting into the rhythm of his review of the proposed title track when his thoughts are interrupted by a girl standing much too close to his table, asking, “Can I have your autograph?”

He registers the question first, her WHEN TIGERS USED TO SMOKE: THE FIRST WORLD TOUR sweatshirt next, and her UT Austin lanyard third. A fan, then. “Of course.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Daewoong start to stand across the room. Andrew waves him back down into his chair.

She drops her bag into the seat across from him and rips a page out of a notebook.

Andrew closes his laptop and picks up her proffered gel pen. “What's your name?”

“Hanna. H-A-N-N-A.”

He signs a piece of college-ruled folder paper, scrawling out a simple “thank you for supporting Fable” message alongside his dusty stage name, Yejun, in messy cursive. 

Hanna beams anyway, tucking it away into a folder. “I'll frame it.” It doesn't sound like she's joking.

She busies herself with tucking away her new autograph, but she seems to be lingering, as if she's indecisive about something.

“Let me buy you a coffee,” Andrew says, even though he knows he shouldn't. 

“You don't have to,” Hanna says quickly. “I don't want to bother you. I have to go to class.”

“You aren't bothering me.” Andrew lowers his voice into a conspiratorial whisper. “Don’t tell my manager. I'll put it on the company card.”

She smiles at that, and lets Andrew accompany her to the counter.

Andrew's phone buzzes as they wait. He picks it up long enough to read over half a warning message from Daewoong, before dismissing the notification. If Daewoong genuinely means it, he can walk over and demand Andrew leave. Until then, Andrew plans on ignoring him. It's ridiculous that he needs supervision.

Hanna clutches her latte with both hands. It doesn’t look like she’s going to drink it—probably because Andrew bought it for her.

“Thank you so much for the drink,” she says. She takes a deep breath. “I know you probably hear this a lot and it definitely sounds cheesy but I just wanted to tell you that your music has really inspired me. I'm learning how to play the piri because of you. It makes me feel like less of a fraud.”

That’s a feeling Andrew knows all too well. He wishes he wasn’t so intimately acquainted with it. He thinks he should have gotten over it by now, but he hasn’t. He imagines it’ll plague him for his entire life. But none of that is anything he can say in front of a fan, because he’s the idol, and he’s supposed to have his shit together. 

“I’m glad,” he says instead. Every follow-up line he can think of feels hollow and forced, like he memorized it from the playbook of Shit Idols Are Supposed to Say, which he did. “I'm glad I could be someone worth looking up to.” And someone I never thought I needed or wanted when I was younger, Andrew adds silently to himself.

The starstruck expression on Hanna’s face has yet to waver. “I'm really excited for your concert tonight.”

“I'll see you there,” he says, cheesy as it is, because he did read the playbook of Shit Idols Are Supposed to Say. Haksu would be proud.

He watches her pick up her backpack again, putting her drink down for the shortest few seconds. The coffee shop's door swings shut behind her.

And Andrew feels a little better, because it means he’s doing something right. He’s done some good in the world. Then Daewoong strides over to his table, and says, in what might be the coldest tone he’s ever heard, “We're leaving.”

Andrew is getting better at picking his battles, so he packs up his laptop without a complaint. Taein’s new group will have to wait.

MONDAY, APRIL 21, 1:23 AM EDT — THE FABLE GROUP CHAT (NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK)

MONDAY, APRIL 22, 12:49 PM EDT — HORSESHOE FALLS (NIAGARA FALLS, ONTARIO)

So far, Mingeun thinks he’s doing a pretty good job at keeping his cool. It’s easy, because he doesn’t have the same boundless enthusiasm for Canada that Andrew has for America. It looks like he won’t need Haksu to push him over the edge after all. It’d be difficult, anyway, because the guard rail is almost as tall as him, and he’d hit the rocks bordering the falls before the water.

He watches Andrew flip through a glossy pamphlet, oversized sunglasses covering most of his face. Mingeun can sense the way he’s going to share something he just learned, so he excuses himself, leaving Intak to suffer alone. He joins Byeonghwi and Haksu at the rail instead. Byeonghwi is taking everything in with the same wide-eyed innocence he had in every previous city. Haksu is trying to take a selfie without all the crowds in the background. He keeps repositioning himself, holding his phone up, posing, and then frowning at his screen. Mingeun watches him struggle a few times before he intervenes.

“Give me that, hyung,” he says, holding his hand out for Haksu’s phone.

Haksu gives it up without complaint. “You have to get my good side.”

Mingeun rolls his eyes. “Every side is your good side.”

“I know. I was making sure you knew it too.”

Mingeun stands back and makes sure part of his finger is over the camera lens in a few of the pictures. It won’t make Haksu any less cocky or more humble, but it amuses Mingeun. He hands the phone back to Haksu, watching closely for his reaction.

“For an idol, you’re really bad at taking pictures,” Haksu says. “What’s this?”

Mingeun peers over his shoulder at a picture of shapeless pink blob with the barest hint of the waterfall in the background. “You,” he says, unable to keep the smile out of his voice.

“That’s not what I look like!” Haksu squawks.

Mingeun takes a step back and pretends to consider him. “I don’t know. I see a resemblance. What do you think, Hwi?” He tugs at Byeonghwi’s shoulder and shoots him one of his characteristic death glares with the silent message to play along. Byeonghwi can be a bit of a killjoy sometimes, and that's not what Mingeun wants right now.

To his relief, Byeonghwi seems to get it. He shades Haksu's phone screen with his hand, looking intently at the picture. “I think Mingeun-hyung is right.”

Haksu pouts, sticking out his bottom lip so far it almost looks like he might cry. “You're both terrible.”

“I know,” Mingeun says, content with his antics. Haksu makes a good victim because he always bounces back. In a few hours, he'll recover perfectly fine and tweet the good pictures of himself. Mingeun doesn't doubt it.

THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 10:33 PM BST — HILTON LONDON BANKSIDE (LONDON, ENGLAND)

“We have a special guest with us tonight,” Mingeun says. He flips his phone around so that its screen is visible to their live broadcast camera. The remnants of their room service dinner peek into the bottom of the frame, phone and plates resting on the same hotel room desk, but Mingeun either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care. Byeonghwi pushes his plate out of view.

“Hello, everyone.” On screen, Eunsu waves with both hands. He’s silhouetted by what appears to be his bed, plain blue covers draping almost to the floor. Byeonghwi reaches over Mingeun and increases the phone’s volume. “It’s been a long time.”

Eunsu always says the same thing every time he’s in a setting like this. This time around, Byeonghwi has to admit it’s accurate. He can’t remember the last time they’ve done anything like this. Eunsu commenting on Mingeun’s Instagram posts doesn’t count. 

“If you don’t know me,” Eunsu says, “I used to be Fable's lead rapper. Now I'm a normal citizen and Mingeun's best friend.”

Byeonghwi doesn't think there are any other idol groups with such a public relationship with their former members. But Eunsu left on good terms, and he never wanted to leave, so Byeonghwi thinks they're different.

“What’s the topic for your live?” Eunsu asks.

Mingeun shrugs. “I don’t know. I didn’t pick one. You can decide.”

“One butt or two butts,” Eunsu suggests, but Mingeun dismisses him almost immediately.

“Old news. What about whether or not you should be able to sing if you want to be an idol?”

Byeonghwi shoots Mingeun a wide-eyed, worried glance. He resists the urge to turn around and check how Daewoong, sprawled out on a mountain of pillows on one of the king-sized beds, out of sight but within earshot, is reacting to Mingeun's proposal. It's more topical, sure, but he doesn't want to cause controversy.

“I’m joking,” Mingeun says. He doesn’t sound like he’s joking. “There isn’t anything to discuss.”

“Five Mingeuns or five-year-old Mingeun,” Eunsu proposes, changing the subject with the speed and alacrity of someone well-accustomed to Mingeun.

That’s an old debate too, but this time, Mingeun has a different complaint. “Why is it always me?”

“Haksu-hyung,” Byeonghwi suggests, and watches Mingeun’s expression light up.

“Let’s all answer at the same time,” Mingeun says. “One, two, three.”

“Five-year-old Haksu-hyung,” Byeonghwi says at the exact same time as Mingeun. Eunsu follows with the same answer a second later, delayed by the slight lag of FaceTime.

Byeonghwi could have predicted that. Five Haksus would be unbearable, and everyone else present knows that too.

“That’s what I thought,” Eunsu says, sounding almost sad. “Is there anyone you would pick five of? Present company, for me.”

“Andrew-hyung,” Byeonghwi answers next.

Of course Mingeun has to disagree with that too. “Five-year-old Andrew would have too much to say.”

“And five of him wouldn’t?” Eunsu asks.

“I wouldn’t mind five of Jaeseop-hyung. Or Intak-hyung,” Mingeun continues like Eunsu didn’t say anything.

“You have to pick five of Intak-hyung,” Byeonghwi argues. “We’d lose him if he was five. He’d be too quiet and go missing.”

“That’s better,” Eunsu says, interrupting the end of Byeonghwi’s explanation. “He’s the opposite of Andrew-hyung. All we have to do is give him an iPad. He won’t go anywhere.”

Despite the slight delay in Eunsu’s responses, it almost feels like he’s in the room with them. Byeonghwi lets Mingeun and Eunsu’s careful dissection of five vs five year olds for every Fable member fade into the background. He’s always been something of a third wheel next to the two of them. The years that have passed since Eunsu’s departure dissolve in public interactions like this. It’s like he’s still one of them, and it makes it impossible for any of them to move on. 

And at times like this, when Byeonghwi is sitting in a hotel room of a foreign country, he feels almost guilty. It was Eunsu’s dream to be an idol to escape his small hometown and see the world. Why is he the one here instead, achieving a dream that was never his at all?

Mingeun kicks Byeonghwi’s leg under the desk. “You’re spacing out. Thinking about the worst five-year-old Haksu scenarios?”

“Yeah. They’re pretty bad,” Byeonghwi says. This isn’t his dream, but it is his job, so he plasters a smile on and continues Mingeun’s conversation.

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 10:14 AM BST / 11:14 AM CEST — AIR FRANCE FLIGHT 1381 (SOMEWHERE OVER THE ENGLISH CHANNEL)

The roar of the jet engines drowns out any other noise, and that gives Haksu the confidence to take out a small camera. That, and he’s bored. The flight is only a little over an hour, but they’ve been on so many planes over the past two weeks that he’s exhausted everything he downloaded from Netflix and the majority of the same handful of in-flight entertainment options available on every flight.

“Mingeun-ah,” he says softly, poking Mingeun in the shoulder. “Where are we?”

“What?” Mingeun cracks one eye open, Haksu having interrupted his dozing off in his seat. Then he notices the camera. “Turn that shit off, hyung. McDonald's. Nike. Coca-Cola. Samsung.”

Haksu pouts and lowers the camera. “You’re no fun.”

Mingeun yawns and rubs his eyes. “Fine. I’ll do it. Ask your question again.”

Haksu doesn't really trust Mingeun not to mess it up again, so he does the exposition himself. He turns the camera on himself, so the two of them are in frame together. “We're going to France!” he stage-whispers. “It’s my first time, and I'm looking forward to it a lot.”

Then he turns in his seat and faces Mingeun. “Say something in French.”

He watches through the camera’s preview as Mingeun says, “Croissant. Cafeteria. Montreal.”

Haksu sighs, still disappointed. “I'll ask Andrew-hyung instead.”

The click of his seat belt unbuckling somehow cuts through the road of the engines. He kneels in his seat, pointing the camera over the back of his seat to where Andrew and Intak are locked in an intense game of air hockey on Intak's iPad. 

“Have you heard of Paris syndrome?” Andrew asks without looking up. The puck disappears into the virtual goal on Intak’s side.

Haksu stops the recording again. He trusts their video editors to somehow spin Mingeun's words, but not whatever Andrew is presenting him with. “I don’t have any kind of syndrome.”

Intak takes his iPad back. “It’s not something you need to worry about.”

Haksu can’t tell if his comment is meant to be demeaning, or if it’s just Intak being Intak. He ignores it and moves on, starting to feel slightly ridiculous as he turns the camera on again. “Have you been to France before?” he asks, deciding he doesn’t want to hear whatever French drivel Andrew will provide him with if prompted. He knows the answer to this question too, but the camera doesn’t.

“Once, when I was in college,” comes Andrew’s predictable response.

“Did you like it? Are you looking forward to performing there?” Haksu prompts. He’s used to conversations with Intak being akin to pulling teeth. Having the same experience with Andrew was unexpected.

“Of course,” he answers through gritted teeth. It comes with the silent assurance that he wouldn’t dream of saying anything else. “I thought you were bothering Mingeun.”

Haksu sighs, resting his chin on the top of his seat. “Mingeun’s boring.”

Mingeun jabs him in the side. “Am not.”

Haksu drops back into his seat, any thought of recording anything replaced with exacting his revenge on Mingeun. 

Daewoong’s icy baritone interrupts his thoughts. “You’re behaving like children. Sit down.” He stands in the aisle, looming over Haksu’s seat. “Camera, Haksu.”

He hands it over without complaint, leaning away from Daewoong and onto Mingeun, who pushes him off only half-heartedly. For once, it seems like Mingeun is actively trying not to cause problems.

Daewoong returns to his seat and Haksu rights himself in his.

“Your fault,” Mingeun whispers.

“Yours, actually,” Haksu whispers back, unwilling to take the blame for something he was provoked into doing. 

Mingeun shrugs. “Whatever.” Then he goes back to listening to his music, leaving Haksu to stew alone in silence.

MONDAY, APRIL 29, 3:49 PM KST — THE FABLE GROUP CHAT (SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA)

[chickrawker]

FOB at Riot Fest 9/20/24

I am absolutely too old for festivals but I needed to see a show when FOB was doing their Eras so that's how I ended up at Riot Fest.

Fall Out Boy

Riot Fest at Douglass Park

Chicago IL

9/20/24

Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes

(Snippet as intro)

Take This to Your Grave:

Chicago Is So Two Years Ago

Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy

From Under the Cork Tree:

Sugar, We're Goin Down (with Tim McIlrath)

Dance, Dance

A Little Less Sixteen Candles, a Little More "Touch Me"

Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying (Do Your Part to Save the Scene and Stop Going to Shows)

Infinity on High:

This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race

Thriller

Bang the Doldrums

Thnks fr th Mmrs

Folie à Deux:

Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes

I Don't Care

Save Rock and Roll:

The Phoenix

My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)

American Beauty/American Psycho:

Uma Thurman

The Kids Aren't Alright

M A N I A:

The Last of the Real Ones

Interlude:

Sweet Home Chicago

(Robert Johnson cover) (partial, Patrick solo; on guitar)

What a Catch, Donnie

(partial, Patrick solo; on piano)

So Much (for) Stardust:

So Much (for) Stardust

Love From the Other Side

Fake Out

Finale:

Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown on a Bad Bet

(Magic 8 Ball song)

I Slept With Someone in Fall Out Boy and All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me

(Magic 8 Ball song)

Centuries

Saturday

I've never had any friends that got into FOB with me; when they came out I was already too old to be going to their shows but I went anyways. So I never really knew about their fan base until these Tourdust shows. The fans are seriously incredible. They do friendship bracelets and have a little project to pass out pink seashells for Fake Out. I even went to Emo Bingo with a bar full of fans, hosted by a FOB podcaster.

ANYWAYS I knew how the set list would go since I've actually streamed some of these shows (again the great fans that do this!) We got some surprises- Tim from Rise Against on Sugar We're Going Down! Patrick doing "Sweet Home Chicago" for the medley was SO GOOD. I love when he flexes his music geek talents. And 2 Magic 8 Ball songs? Yes please.

Both Patrick and Pete commented about being back home in Chicago and feeling really grateful for the fans. It's always nice to see a hometown show, I feel like the emotion is higher for the band. Not like these guys aren't bringing it every night because they are, it's just a very special vibe. Plus fireworks at the end, who doesn't love fireworks?

ThnksFrThMmrs guys!

[wavernot4love]

hi guys before i crash have a little recap of my tourdust toronto experience because i will Never forget tonight, my first time seeing fob since my first concert ever nine years ago (!!)

- GINASFS AND WEST COAST SMOKER!! we WON methinks

- four tttyg tracks???? this has probably Been a thing lately but regardless it was. a Great Time for me

- pete magic trick genuinely had me baffled

- SO MANY SURFERS YIPPEE!!!! AND THE PIT (like the actual mosh pit) WAS SUCH A GOOD TIME!!! we had it open for probably a solid two thirds of fob's set!!! during cbts (i've been dreaming about pitting to that song someday for so long!) me and like 20 random folks got arm in arm & did a random kickline thing which we then opened during the bit where it totally picks up w pete near the end! pit also went HARD during bmth (i had a gr8 time in there). all in all i was super pleasantly surprised and had the time of my life w how sceney my crowd experience was

- bmth were INSANELY good. one band i somehow have not seen until now in the nearly nine years i've been listening to them and they completely blew me away. great performance

- oli like, slyly going "i have a question for you" and me in my head just KNOWING he was gonna say can you feel my heart and then him, in fact, doing it was a highlight. also his drown crowd thing is fun. also i found him saying fob were one of the bands he grew up listening to interesting. it's always crazy to me when big bands i've listened to forever also look up to other big bands i've listened to forever.

- stardust project honestly looked beautiful during fake out! shoutout to them

- a fight breaking out and pete and patrick making fun of the prospect of a fight both at a fob show and in canada

- i heard my favorite song EVER (saturday) for the first time in nine years and my first time actually knowing it <3

- patrick rambling about what canada has brought to the world (notably, poutine) after sitting down at his piano

- the dudes all singing the end of srar together

- random list of my favorite performances tonight (besides cbts & saturday): heaven, iowa, srar, disloyal order, arms race, grudge, happy song, die4u, shadow moses, can you feel my heart

- tonight was yet another reminder of how absolutely boundless my love of live music is and i am so very excited i get to do this all over again on friday

[loudsilence-universe]

⚠️⚠️⚠️

Good morning mate,

It's Saturday. And I've not heard your voice since Monday. I feel rubbish. I want to speak to you. I want to hear your voice, your laughter and your cries. So, I went through our WhatsApp and found some voice notes, it's not the same though, is it.

I'm gonna go get the kitties later today to get them settled at mine. My mum is coming over, too, so fewer trips to move the kitties now I've got access to a car and a small van.

It's strange, init. Whilst you were alive, I listened to all your thoughts, worries, and fears. Now you're dead, and I'm writing down all mine. I mean, I know you'll never read this, but it's helping me. I can hear you responding to what I'm writing, so it's comforting. I mean, I'd rather you were actually here, but this is a way to keep our lines of communication open. I did warn you, though that my brain can be kind of hectic so me rambling on like this might actually be proof of my alleged insanity.

You are now my memories. You're safe from harm. You are peace. You are quiet. You matter and now you energy lol You're free from this weird human construct we call a body. You are free from this society & all it's rules.

I'm about to start the day. I'm getting a lot of phone calls and messages from my concerned family & friends and it's a bit overwhelming for an introvert like me, but I can hear you already "...at least they care, stop being ungrateful."

And I know they care and I am grateful but I supposed it's just my personality. I go inwards to comfort myself instead of reaching out to be comforted. But I'll try my best to accommodate others and their concerns for me.

The kitties are safe here with me. The move went smooth. They are so well behaved, currently no dramas at all. So, I've said my final goodbye to your home and posted the key & fob. That chapter is closed now. I'll help Phoebe if she wants but other than that I'm just focusing on our cats. They need me more than anyone else.

I'm sat here, watching football highlights and smoking a joint. I took another one of your photographs. And, I keep looking at your picture and being reminded of the circle of life. You know, life and death. You've completed your life cycle. It's just hitting me different, maybe cos I'm stoned. But yeah, you no longer exist in this form. You are energy flowing through memories.

So, you are all around, all seeing, all knowing yet you are nothing at the same time. You don't exist yet you are existence, itself. It's a head-fuck.

I'm sad. I keep crying because I feel sad for myself. That's what grief is, isn't it? I miss you. I want to hear your voice, your laughter. I want see you, to hug you... I... I... I... that's all I'm hearing. You are dead, so no one or no thing can affect you ever again. There is no pain or joy. That's a good thing though, right? I should feel relieved for you. I should feel relieved now that your energy is free and no longer trapped in your beautiful shell.

But no, I do not. I feel sad.

I feel an emptiness, a you-shaped void that will stay with me forever. I can feel a change in me, I know I'll never feel the same again. There's a numbness that might never go away. I have to live with this. There's no turning back, no rewinding time.

What's done is done, and I just have to accept that you felt total and utter despair and you needed to escape. You needed to escape life.

So, you killed yourself. Sometime Monday early afternoon in your apartment. This time, you didn't call me so I could help calm you down, no. You, instead, deprived your brain of oxygen via asphyxiation. You went without oxygen for over 20 mins and suffered cardiac arrest. The emergency services restarted your heart and you were placed in ICU. A machine was keeping your body warm but you were technically brain-dead. Then on Thursday, the machines were switched off.

Your head was tilted, facing my direction. You were laid on the bed, slightly upright. As the last of the artificial air left your body, your eyes slowly opened and focused on me. Your dead eyes, blank. There was no sign of life, but it was like you were looking right at me.

I can't deal. I'm stoned and I'm tired so I'm going bed. I hope you are resting well. Love you, mate.

21:10:01

[youlooksogoodinblue]

Fob albums as seasons

Because i saw sum ppl asking what seasons the albums r, also not including greatest hits or eps :)

TTTYG

early summer, like the weeks just after when school ends. This is probably bc of the lyrics to Saturday and the doa music vid. But the entire album to me is just sun burns, hot humid thunderstorms, staying up late and talking for hours with your friends, the beginning of summer excitement and regret for how the past academic year has been spent. Yeah

FUTCT

The obvious choice is the correct one, this album is autumn. Like the mv for Sugar is very obviously set in autumn and dance dance set in a school probably is the main reason i think this. But its like November Fall rather than September or October, its almost winter, its getting darker for longer, most of the pretty fall foliage has fallen to the ground, leaving the trees naked and cold, studying exhaustion and stress from midterms. apple cider, cinnamon and pumpkin spice flavored everything(but you’re still bitter).

IOH

This one is the haziest i think, i think it is spring. But the early spring i experience as a northerner(USA). Its snowstorms in april, seeing trees with buds on them dusted with snow. Its cursing that stupid fucking groundhog for the “two more weeks” of winter, that seem to last for months. Its spiders sneaking into your home because they exited diapause too early and while it was 72 degrees yesterday, ice has covered your driveway once again this morning.

Folie

Early autumn/ late summer, like late august early September, its back to school ads, the time you are wishing for halloween while it still reaching 80 degree weather, the smell of autumn just starting to linger in the mornings, the first few leaves falling to the earth. Regret of free time and good weather wasted and looming dread for the SAD winter yet to come.

SRAR And AB/AP

These are grouped together bc they are both summer, and in similar ways. They are July, they are fireworks going off for weeks before and after the fourth, and being able to see them from your bedroom window. They are amusement parks, concerts, and beaches visited and enjoyed, but maybe not as much as you hoped. Specifically Ab/ap is riding your bike to a local ice cream parlor and paying the teenage employee in coins. SRAR is scraped knees and palms, beat up chuck taylors, and heatstroke.

Mania

Summer. Mania feels like carefully selecting seashells from the beach, only to have your brother shatter them. Sticky popsicles dripping down your chin, no one has a napkin. Its the smell of smoke from barbecue and bonfires that you were not invited to. Its cloudless warm nights but being afraid to go out to look. Its standing in the middle of a thunderstorm in your bathing suit.

SMFS

Winter. Specifically the time after Christmas, Its being able to see your breath, its watching the ball drop and actually being excited for another chance. Its snow reflecting Christmas lights still left up. Its slipping and falling on black ice and being forced to look at the stars. Its enjoying the things you have already received and savoring the time you have spent.

[pixelatedquarter]

The Tour Of Fuck It We Ball Part 3: The Return Of The King (this is about tai… and the band of hobbits, not mikeyway) Days 7-10 of US Tourdust: North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre (Chula Vista, California), BMO Stadium (Los Angeles, California, night 1), KROQ Helpful Honda Sound Space (Los Angeles, California, secret show), BMO Stadium (Los Angeles, California, night 2), Shoreline Amphitheatre (Mountain View, California)

For the California stretch of the tour you need to understand the mood was set early on day 7 when instagram user mikeyway posted a picture of Andy with a teensy tiny little puppy. And then kept posting updates from stage side. It was extra upsetting for the people who rely on streams because for a while there the only updates we were getting were from mikey fuckin way posting pictures to his stories. When it was time for Saturday, mikey fuckin' way went on stage and played bass.

For the piano segment:

On day 7 Patrick said he didn't have anything interesting to say because he sings the interesting things and then we got a song Pete suggested, it was nothing compares 2 u by Prince.

Day 8 he said "i practice this at some point it's just a matter of if they will come back" and then played Mr. Blue Sky (Electric Light Orchestra cover) and then he did something new, he didn't follow that with don't stop believin', he followed it with Golden.

Next day they also had time so he got to do another cover/fob dual piano mystery medley with Every Breath You Take by The Police followed by I've Got This Ringing.

Finally, it took Patrick 10 days and probably a lot of restraint to play an Elvis Costello cover, Allison.

The relentless attack of the magic 8 ball which cannot be bartered with, cannot be persuaded, sees no friends or enemies, and so on and so forth continued, with new twists:

For Day 7 we didn't get any setlists, but the magic 8 ball song was (Coffee's For Closers) ("Should we play a new song we've never played before?/Should we play a fucking song from Folie à Deux?"). Very disappointingly, there was no waltz at the end as was tradition. But we did get theatrics.

LA featured a new twist, 2 8 Ball songs per night. We were unprepared. We did not have the setlists until after the 8 balls hit. They also taught us there could be repeats. We'll get to Pete's Very Specific Phrasing of his explanation after this segment.

Day 8 was GINASFS ("Should we play an old ass b side? no Should we play an old B side?") followed by America's Suitehearts ("Should we play a song off Folie à Deux?"). (GINASFS did not get a codename (other than generally standing for Gay Is Not A Synonym For Shitty), America's Suitehearts' codename was ASS)

Day 9 we got another (After) Life Of The Party ("Should we play an old B side?"), followed by Bang The Doldrums ("Should we play another old one?/Is this one gonna be a doozy?") (Codenames were Sierra Amazon and then Yankee Hotel Hotel. Because the pirate song Yo Ho Hos.) You can see Pete's written his part of Doldrums on the setlist!

Also on day 9 in response to "The magic 8 ball cannot be intimidated, cannot be bartered with. It seeks not friends nor cares for enemies that it makes" Patrick said "This 8 ball gets more intimidating every night" and was met with "I know. The 8 ball does not care how much you rehearse any of this shit". Truer words have never been spoken.

For day 10 it was back to a single 8 ball song, The Patron Saint Of Liars And Fakes ("Should we play a song off that record where we were sitting on a fucking couch on the cover?", Codename: PATRIZZY S). Pete was clearly feeling very inspired for the code names these days.

We also have more information and confirmation to their obfuscation efforts, someone who went to la2(day 9) also said on discord that their tour guide "said that even the crew other than one front of house person doesn’t get to know the surprise song in advance bc they sound check it in the inner ears only".

Days 8 and 9 were back to back with each other, so naturally, the reasonable thing to do with those hours between shows was to give an interview, and then a whole other secret show:

The interview gave us the very important information that once a song is played in the 8 ball it becomes fair game on the setlist. We thought that was to clarify that GINASFS got a repeat on the 8 ball slot. It wasn't and that very night we found out it meant "it becomes fair game at ANY point on the setlist". That answer also features him masterfully dodging the question of what GINASFS means to him.

It also inexplicably featured Pete pulling out a bunny puppet, that he proceeded to have answer "only the questions i'm nervous about". Look it's a lot to list here, so here's a compilation of every emotional support bunny moment, ft. Patrick interacting with the bunny. So far it hasn't been seen again.

It is very important that everyone reading this knows they had spinny chairs.

There were also other nice things to know (some overlap with the bunny supercut) like Patrick's not at all revisionist sounding take on the hiatus' meaning, Patrick's neighbor trying to be very tactful about the MANIA-sm(f)s wait and Joe being happy to be back. Oh yea and we found out that at no point did the flamethrower bass come with training in pyrotechnics

Pete spoke at one point during the show, and mentioned getting high and staring at a friend pissing, as a Wentzian metaphor and also as a story that happened to him.

Unmentioned until now but The Academy Is… were openers for Wrigley and this subleg of the tour. In Wrigley Sisky took over bass playing for Saturday. And he did it again on day 9. Not only that, but Bilvy finally sang his part during the performance of Sophomore Slump which was added to the main setlist for that night.

And that's not how we found out 8 ball songs are fair game to any placement on the setlist. We found out because during the attic scene they played Homesick At Space Camp.

Oh yeah and one of these shows was on July 3rd, you know what that means… That's right, it's Terminator 2 day, only significant thing to happen. There's no songs aptly named for the day after this. Pete made 2 whole references to Terminator 2. 0 references to the other country that celebrates independence the same day as the Philippines.

It's become increasingly apparent that Pete sometimes adds more narrative to his recurrent speeches, here's the version of his screwtop bottle of wine speech from day 7 where he adds a step after drinking.

Day 8 featured the lava boots speech, and a little about when they moved to LA in the pre-non-encore speech, without any details. But it was something that was rattling in his brain

He also added more for his pre-non-encore speech on day 9. This one's heavy. He talks about their time recording FUTCT and laying under a blanket thinking about death. And how he doesn't lay under a blanket thinking about death anymore

To bring things into something more upbeat, there was a lot of banter on day 10, including one where they almost spoil succession, ft. Andy intervening to take this tour into a real comedy act.

And now for the Fashion & Friendship corner, because fuck it, Pete keeps getting described as being in his Malibu MILF for Gay People era, and they sure are friends:

Our resident Barbara Millicent Wentz, at some point, got an update to his poncho

And on day 9 updated his outfit. Here's another look at the jacket. Other than that he's kept the leather and hoodies. Not the homework though. The roses are also safe, Pete's breath not so much.

Joe was spotted wearing a whole new different t-shirt (also helping a fan out in that vid), or rather the same t-shirt he wore earlier that day. It's still an incredibly momentous update. His commitment to wear a plain grey t-shirt so his admittedly extremely sexy guitar can shine and he's matching it is remarkable.

Andy got some bracelets too!! And he didn't share. We now know why he's packed only one change of clothes, he's living in the TREE

Patrick's hat for California was his green baseball cap with the crysmiley, and his black descendants hat with a leather-y jacket with the era's logo for day 7.

And of course, Patrick is a great hugger, and their friends are very tall.

Also the BMO Stadium was arranged with a walkway, they made good use of it.

As usual, sources and credits and additional content that those have and this skims over are located here in the masterpost!

Here's links to parts 1 and 2

[young-volcanoes]

One quastion

[riddlerosehearts]

okay so, long list of fall out boy concert thoughts mostly for myself and also for anyone who cares:

-i've been pretty excited about getting to see bring me the horizon open for them, and they were soooooo fucking good and got me so hyped. oli got off the stage and walked through the crowd at one point which was pretty cool. wish he had come close to me.

-love from the other side is SO hype and so amazing to see live.

-songs like uma thurman and save rock and roll that aren't normally favorites of mine are also hype just because of everyone singing and dancing and having fun and all the awesome fun stage effects! i was in the vip box area and had a great view of said stage effects. i hadn't watched many tourdust videos before so most of them were a surprise to me. loved the underwater background and bubbles some songs had and the spooky forest looking background, loved all the colorful fireworks, fucking loved when they had a giant doberman and it lip sycned during this ain't a scene it's an arms race and pete made it look like he was putting his head in its mouth. wish i got a photo of that.

-i got chicago is so two years ago in the TTTYG slot and i'm happy with that!

-i am still reeling from getting to hear calm before the storm and disloyal order of water buffaloes. it's 2023 and those two songs are permanent fixtures on the setlist. what the fuck.

-have to be honest that i got disappointed for a second when the opening chords to bang the doldrums played for the IOH slot just because like i don't get to go to multiple shows in one tour and don't know when i'll ever get to go to another show where i have a chance to hear hum hallelujah. so yeah i wanted to hear it because it's probably my favorite FOB song.

-BUT after that second of disappointment i was still fucking hyped and dancing and singing wholeheartedly to bang the doldrums because it's a banger, it's something they only started playing live on this very tour, and it's the one that was almost a shrek song, so can i really complain?

-got headfirst slide in the folie slot, it would've been super cool if they switched it for 27 again but i love headfirst slide too so no complaints there!!

-PATRICK PLAYED I'VE GOT ALL THIS RINGING IN MY EARS AND NONE ON MY FINGERS FOR HIS PIANO SOLO?? thank you patrick i love you i owe you my life

-i'm so glad we got one of the best MANIA songs for the tour, last of the real ones was so fun.

-umm okay so oli sykes may not have walked close to me but FUCKING. PETE WENTZ. GOT OFF THE STAGE DURING DANCE DANCE AND WALKED RIGHT BEHIND MY SEAT!?!?! i think my brain broke and i like almost died for a minute. i did not think to record a video of him walking by 😭 i panicked and snapped a blurry photo.

-AND THEN AFTER I GOT DONE SINGING ALONG TO HOLD ME LIKE A GRUDGE!!! THEY SUBJECTED ME TO FROM NOW ON WE ARE ENEMIES AS THE 8 BALL SONG!!

-look, the only reason i didn't put from now on we are enemies on my 8 ball wishlist was i didn't think they would even consider it. i thought it was just too delusional of a pick. i recorded a video of it and i'm pretty sure it starts with me shouting "HOLY SHIT" right at the opening chords and continues with patrick being inaudible because i'm screaming the lyrics

-made me sad that not many people seemed to know the song though :( like i GET IT because a song that was only ever released NOT EVEN as a b-side but on their 2009 greatest hits album and then never ever played live is a pretty big deep cut. but i wish there had been more energy for it. it does help that pete said "that went better than i expected!" afterward, and hey, i bet some people at that show heard it for the first time ever and loved it.

-the flame effects during my songs know what you did in the dark were sooo cool and fun and so were the big sparkly fireworks during thnks fr the mmrs and the confetti everywhere at the end.

-i saw someone say they should take saturday off the setlist. that is the most wrong opinion i've ever heard. fall out boy shows closing with saturday is a 20-year tradition still going strong and i'm so glad i finally got to experience it.

[coffeeghoulie]

OMG YOU WENT TO A FOB CONCERT? im so happy for ya :D pete with the roses looks so cool. hope you enjoyed your night! what was your favorite song in the setlist?

I did! It was an incredible night. As much as I love Ghost, FOB's been my favorite band since I was 13, and I was really excited to get to see them this close. This was my second time seeing them, the first time was last summer in Chicago. (I actually get to see them one more time this tour on Saturday lol)

I mean, I have to say that my favorite song of the setlist was Pavlove, I got the second ever performance of it! But I cried hearing What a Catch, Donnie and Kintsugi Kid, not to mention Spotlight, which was a very touching tribute to Casey Benjamin, a close friend of Patrick's who passed a few days ago.

It's tied for the best concert I've been to, tied with my Ritual last summer lol

[glam-rock-boots]

i will never emotionally recover from seeing fall out boy on july 1st so here’s a compilation of my favorite show moments:

MIKEY FUCKING WAY PLAYING BASS DURING SATURDAY????? OUTTA NOWHERE UNANNOUNCED??? CANNOT BELIEVE I CAN LEGALLY SAY I SAW THAT HAPPEN

COFFEES FOR LOSERS 8BALL SONG (rewatching my concert vids is so fucking funny because you hear me straight up hyperventilating when pete mentions folie à deux then i get to ass shaking once i hear the drum intro)

moshing to dance dance and thanks for the memories

also just my first time in a mosh pit in general, i did some during bring me the horizon’s set before the actual fob show and although i got my shit rocked it was still fun

during the pre chorus in thanks for the memories, there was a short break and me and some random girl were just screaming the lyrics to each other (it was a vibe)

hitting the uma thurman dance when they played uma thurman

getting fucking jiggy to the take over the break’s over and this ain’t a scene it’s an arms race, what can i say, i’m an infinity on high girlie <3

pete talking to the dog puppet in between songs

joe and patrick actually getting it on their guitars

andy’s drumming was so good i felt my brain rattle in my skull

dancing and screaming/singing with my friends

those are all of the ones i could think of but if anything else comes to mind i’ll add it <3

[farrahda5hy]

Hey

Favourite fall out boy songs??

Woof…I’ve been a FOB since I was 11 years old circa 2005, so it really hard to say I have an all time favorite song. From an objective standpoint from watching the evolution of the band, I think Infinity on High is the best album they’ve released (this was before SMFS came out. I will have to rerank but I imagine SMFS will be in the top three/for and maybe IOH will be bumped down one or switch with FUTC)

I think the beauty of being a longtime fan is that your favorite song also changes and stays the same as you get older. Because growing up it’s like being a Matrioshka doll of your former selves.

I am always singing “Thriller” because it reminds me so much of being an early teenager since Folie à Deux didn’t come out until the end of my freshman year. But “Gold Shipped Standard” is the song on Folie that’s underrated imo but I think it’s the truth it kinda that era. It’s the weird uncertainty of what’s going to happens it’s the desperation of having a voice but not have the courage or being kept from using it (which being a teen is all about sometimes especially being a teenager of color).

When Save Rock and Roll came out, I was in my sophomore year of college (technically would have been second semester if freshman year), so “Where Did the Party Go” and “Miss Missing You” were very much my jams. I don’t listen to that album as much because….i just don’t. Part of me still see it was the post hiatus album, but I think it’s also just kinda a moment in time that you kinda just think about fondly or something. I think the album being the first post hiatus album gets so clouded that I think I was just so happy they were back….fuck that I just remembered “Phoenix” best song (but also Young Volcanoes because I’m a Pete girlie and I love Patrick’s laugh in that song also umm Rat a Tat Tat.)

AB/AP I was studying abroad, and I was so upset that I thought I wouldn’t be able to hear that album. But I think other than Centuries (because I loved the Song “Tom’s diner” and the bass solo after the bridge still gives me the ASMR tingles to this day and even thinking about it gives me tingles), the song I listened to the most was the “Fourth of July” and “Immortals”. Those are still up there. I didn’t like Favorite Record when the album came out and skipped over it. But I appreciate that song now that I’m older. “Irresistible” has my favorite music video. I love the videos where the band is doing dumb shit, and I just love Andy in that video. Special shoutout to “Twin Skeletons” and “Jet Pack Blues.” FUCK EVERYTHING I JUST SAID UMA THURMAN! Best song! Best bass! Best summer fun! Good video! Yeah. I loved the Boyz of Zummer tour. Had a good time.

MANIA there are no misses on the album honestly. It was all good. But “Sunshine Riptide” is my favorite song on the album. “Stay Frosty”, “Church” and “Hold me Tight or Don’t” are tied for third.

SMFS there are also no misses on the album. Currently, my most sung while I’m out and don’t have music are “Fake Out” “Heaven, Iowa” and “SMFS.” Honorable mentions for “Baby Annihilation”

I literally was able to buy Clandestine Industries merch for the first time, and my inner selves were so hella impressed.

Also for FUCT: “Sugar” hold the #1 space mostly because it was on the radio playing early Saturday morning in May for the first time in Maryville, TN, and Patrick’s voice literally woke me up out of a deep sleep, and I was like “Who is this!?” Literally was so mad they didn’t say who it was because it was Saturday and then the radio hosts on Monday morning played the song again and I was like “it’s the song!” Fun Fact; the hosts were trying to figure out whether the lyric was “loaded God complex” or “loaded gun complex.”

I forgot Take this to your grave because I think at the time I found out FOB had another album before FUTC (I think this was between FUTC and IOH or slightly after IOH) but “Dead on arrival” “Saturday” (which makes me so happy that it’s their like encore or finisher song) and “Calm Before the Storm”

I will spare you the two EPs because this is just memory lane for me at this point unless you’re curious.

[vampylily]

Okay before i can muster up the courage to look at my embarrassing concert videos (I am screaming in all of them but my vocal cords can't really yell or scream loudly so it just sounds like a half wail followed by coughs lmfao),

General ~vibes~ of the Fall Out Boy show in Shoreline Amphitheater, Mountain View, CA

Had the best time. It was quite different from the 4 other concerts I've been to before (all kpop & all different venues) so I didn't have a frame of reference and it felt all very new.

Once through a quick bag check, security, ticket scan, shoreline amphitheater had a lot of food and merch before you get to the actual seating.

There was a lot of food options and a Lot of alcohol offers. I don't drink, and I really dislike the smell & being surrounded by alcohol/drunk people, so i put on a mask. But that's more of a me-specific thing. Everyone looked like they had a good time chilling with drinks and food.

Merch: from the area I was in, right inside the gate, there was 2 merch tables back to back, carried fob & opening acts merch. Line was about 30 minutes. The size I wanted was gone so I got the size up.

Openers: unfortunately I missed the first two openers, but managed to catch a few bmth songs. They were really good. The vibes of the crowd was different than for fob, more people were yelling & standing on the seats. idk much about bmth but they sounded good, the lead singer was charismatic, I'd be interested in checking their stuff out. (+ a couple in front of me, with the girl who didn't want stop standing on the seat when the bmth asked everyone to sit down for the last song, left like after sugar? Which was honestly great for me bc the guy was tall lol)

A lot less people were filming (compared to kpop, which makes sense) and everyone was vibing. Lots of dancing, waving arms, clapping, just having a lot of fun. (The couple next to me were making out half the time and kind of slow grinding? which was interesting shsj)

The pink seashell project! I wasn't able to find people who were handing them out, but it looked like a lot of people had them ready (even the couple on the other side of me, who were both really chill/casually bopping to fob, whipped them out for fake out). I ended up using my lightstick for the pink light, but it was amazing to see the pink lights irl. Just so so pretty.

There aren't much breaks or ments in between sections of songs. Usually pete will say a couple of lines (s/o to support act, smfs album, succession speech-interrupted by Patrick banter!-patrick saying pete just disappears again, patrick piano enrichment, 8ball ments, encore line). Everything ran smoothly in a set pace.

Pete in the Box; our venue didn't have a catwalk like bmo stadium did, but he still popped up for dance dance in the little area between the 100s and 200s! I knew it was coming but was still surprised when the spotlight beamed at pete across the venue.

A LOT OF CONFETTI FOR SATURDAY. I was in like the first 15 row and the whole lower 100s were COVERED in bnw confetti and streamers.

People watching: its the bay area, but even for that, gay people. Gay people everywhere, icluding me. (/j). Lots of people in black, celestial/star prints, mesh and fishnets, belts, and a lots of eyeliner and purple lipstick (so, a lot of hot people). but not everyone were in black/alt/emo, there was a lot of people in band tees (saw hella mega, green day, blink 182, even a corporate rainbow patd urie shirt, which hmmm.) It was really fun to people watch in lines, bc it was exactly what you'd see at a fall out boy concert in the best way.

After the show, a kind soul gave me a save rock and roll bracelet, which made the whole experience perfect.

And of course. Fall out boy put on an amazing show. The light effects, the Pyro, the plastic bubble balloons, streamers, etc were so engaging, and the performances were amazing. (Patrick, hand in marriage. Please)