#and I was being nice not saying this before but truly this is unreal & v rich coming from taika

[survivor-marieta-islands]

Episode 4: "Tell me why i power nap for 6 hours and wake up to the vote being for me"—Ellie

Sin Sazonar

Tanner

Adeline seems to be on my side if we lose challenges but I don’t think we will

Adeline

I’ve tried to be a little more active recently but it’s v hard hehe. Got some talking in today tho with Trinica, hairie, and tanner

Shawn

Okay I don't know I'm not loving how everyone wants to bow out. Like puzzles are fun, this is supposed to be a fun game. And people want to bow out instead, because they don't feel confident in it. Like that doesn't matter, have some confidence, we can't all sit it out. I understand I HAVE to participate, but I said repeatedly before that I was so down to do this. I play online puzzles for fun, I feel good. It takes me around 3 min per puzzle but I can get that down further if I concentrate.

Trinica

My tribe is truly driving me nuts with challenge strategizing. Why did Shawn suggest I sit out after I did so well in the other challenges? Why would we not sit out someone like Tanner who has already shown poor challenge performances in the past? Why, when I suggested we rate ourselves and simply sit out the worst two, did everyone AGREE and THEN ARGUE ABOUT "WELL TANNER REALLY WANTS TO PLAY"??? okay but i really want to WIN y'all ;___;

AJ

Puzzles? In a Raffy Season? Madness.

--

In all seriousness though I do believe we’re going to lose this challenge. Current normal tribe time is around an hour - I have heard nothing from Tanner and I do worry about that. My only hope that we win is that someone is mysteriously super good at this puzzle and finishes it in under ten minutes otherwise we….we lose. I mean I feel like we’ve already lost - this really and truly was and is our challenge to lose. But I’ll go to sleep, and what happens when I wake up happens.

Arvin

I sat out of the challenge because I'm not really confident in jigsaw puzzles, and it seems like everyone is not gonna sit out so I volunteered. But if it's a slide puzzles, I'm gonna play 100%.

I'm gonna sit out. I really enjoyed my time in the sit out bench. I even asked Jay if they have something for me in the bench, like an advantage or something, but yeah, they got nothing for me. Hahaha. But yeah we won the challenge. I didn't know what the strategy was but it worked. New school strategy rules.

Brandi

I was at my highest high from the win and my lowest low when I thought we lost for .5 seconds.

Now sin sazonar are back babyyyyy!!!!!!

Ps. Jay is the best host and they really helped me feel welcome and it makes me sad when they say they are crying or others aren’t being very nice to them. They are putting on this entire game! We are so lucky they put in all this effort for us. I hope people learn to be nicer.

Shawn

Trinica really helped us out with the puzzle thing. Our host got a lil bullied because of that, but what can we say, everything is turning out new school. No tribal tonight again for us. I hope we keep winning like this, maybe there won't even be a merge after all. Ps still hoping I make it to merge. I won't be able to win, I know that, but id like to make it to merge. Just to say I did.

Trinica

First of all, stream Unreal Unearth by Hozier gays!!!!

Second of all, we WON THE PUZZLE CHALLENGE!!!! In a way I actually hate but listen you gotta do what you gotta do, and if you gotta game a puzzle platform, you gotta game a puzzle platform. Sorry to that man (Raffy) because no way was I beating your 18 minute score. But you're the true winner of this challenge.

Tanner got 174 minutes, and Adeline didn't submit and got 178, so if it wasn't for our 10% AD we would have lost this one thanks to those 2. I would sooner vote out Tanner if we get a chance since he has done poorly on every single challenge and this is the first Adeline flopped on (and she was not in top form as she was sick).

Anyway, Hairie said he doesn't want to write my name down ever and I'm hoping he means that 💓

Hairie

There wasn’t enough social battery to get on video for confessional so this time it’s by text.

This challenge was ours to lose. A jigsaw puzzle. At first we couldn’t decide on the sit-outs which led to a randomiser.

Then, the tribe was clearly struggling with 174 mins and then the rest ranging from 30+ - 60 mins … Deadly indeed and it was probably going to someone that did not perform well going home had we lost.

I knew I had to step in and share the strategy that I learned from an ally from a game shout out to you !!!

Reducing most of our times and we ended up clutching the win thanks to the challenge advantage because that was a close one.

With that, sending the old school tribe to another tribal and hoping they shake things up. (I don’t even know what’s going but yeah) 😂

The idol hunt is interesting. People are interesting. So I decided to fake a message for shits and giggles. Maybe it sent someone spiralling? I don’t know and do I care? Also no. I’m in my unhinged era and Jay’s here for it so am I. Actually I’m THE calmest person on my tribe (or maybe I’m delusional) well maybe I am also in my delulu era because who says we cannot be in two eras concurrently. I should have been on the old school tribe since they say they’re calm and not chaotic or messy (or behind the scenes). Then I came clean about the lie of the idol hunt the next day and called people out (stop lying too much) and making stuff confusing or cryptic and to pay it forward, told more truths about the idol ground (probably more than anyone) because I did publicly. Nobody knows what game I am playing … even me LMAO

Trust rankings 1. Trinica 2. Arvin 3. Clefford 4. Tanner 5. Adeline 6. Brandi 7. AJ 8. Shawn

Antigua

Amy

no but it's the way the other side had a strategy where people were finishing under 5 minutes and they just let someone on their own tribe do that puzzle for almost 3 hours.

Raffy

I know everyone on the tribe is hung up on the other tribe doing so well, but I need them to understand that if Zo had participated, like AT ALL, then we would have won the challenge. All Zo needed to do was complete the puzzle ONCE under 51 minutes and we would have won regardless if they had some super secret strategy. Not only that we BEAT them without their advantage. I am so upset with Zo right now, but I can't even do anything about it because she has a whole non-men alliance protecting her. Without it, I could probably make a very successful push to eliminate her, but alas. I am at the whims of those on the top of the food chain and I have to exist as a second-rate tribe member.

Colin

god im so tired of LOSING i dont wanna VOTE ANYONE OUT ANYMORE i just want to REST

Raffy

So, on this call with Ellie, we both agreed we need to cut our losses and take out Colin. They are being entirely too messy with that last vote. And it's dragged both our games down as a result.

But what do I even do? I guess just survive until a tribe swap, survive until merge. My whole ORG career and life is just about survival apparently. I gotta keep being in the good graces of Zo since she is fully just controlling this entire tribe. Hopefully, Amy, Jinx, and/or Ellie can put in a good word for me with the people who actually control this tribe. It's not the worst position to be in, but it is not ideal either.

I really just don't know what more else I could have done in this game. Like, it seemed like everyone liked me, but I guess I'm just not in-group material for these types of things. Oh well. That's enough wallowing for now.

--

I am now shifting the target to Zo because the challenge performance makes it easier to target her. I talked to Ellie and Colin about it. Ellie seemed to want to do it. Colin seemed hesitant. I talked to JG. He seemed ok with it. But, according to Amy, he was just saying what I want to hear and placating me. Amy also seems hesitant since she doesn't seem to think the numbers are there. I'm tired. I'm not doing this anymore. People can just vote me out or not. It's not like anything I say can convince anyone.

Maddison

HEY PARTY PEOPLEEEE. i’ve been MIA visiting my parents but here we are at tribal again :) not live laugh loving the fact that we keep losing but it iz what it iz. i suspect a swap or a twist of some sort after this given the number discrepancy between the tribes, but who knows. i’d like to keep the barbs together for this vote and make it easy with 5 on whoever we choose, barring an idol. honestly i’d love for colin to go home because he is a self-professed ‘messy’ player, but raffy is also a threat down the line. jg seems like an easy target but i don’t think he’d be a social threat at swap/merge. the barbs are a whole other set of considerations but why ruin a voting block at this point in the game? we will see how it shakes out ig!!

Zo

I’m sensing some woman on woman crime this evening…

Maddison

barb on barb violence… stay tuned

Raffy

JG is throwing me under the bus to Zo about how I am spreading her name along with Ellie. I'm so tired of this man. I could literally give him all the information in the world and he still would rather shoot himself in the foot, dive off a cliff, and swallow a gallon of bleach before ever thinking, maybe, JUST MAYBE, that Steven, or Colin, or Ellie, or I are telling the truth. Get your head out of your ass and maybe you'd be able to win this game. But as it stands, JG is dead to me in this game because he cannot see what is right in front of him, he cannot keep his mouth shut, and he has some sort of vendetta against me and my friends. But we'll see how that works out for him.

Colin

so theres TWO major alliances (that im aware of) on this tribe. the first one was me + raffy + steven + ellie. the other one is zo + jinx + maddison + ellie. zo told me that maddison made this alliance round 2 when her name was going around. it was a huge reveal because ellie was in our alliance and didn't say ANYTHING about it. and jinx is working closely with raffy and hasn't said anything about it. thats what my perception of the two sides are.

So there’s a Secret Plan happening to vote out Zo because of the challenge (she didn't submit), but I think it’s mostly because Raffy wants to make a move against the other alliance. I like Zo a lot and don’t wanna vote her, except Zo has that alliance and I'm not in it, so I have no idea if she even actually wants to work with me, we've just had a few one on one game conversations.

meanwhile, I want JG OUT. like he has no intention of working with us and it's so obvious. I get Zo is a scary social player but I don't think that it's worth it to vote her out rn, we need allies heading into a likely swap next round.

Zo

my name: *is on the chopping block* me: but what if i took a nap until tribal?

Colin

okay THE RATS ARE LOOSE. I REPEAT, THE RATS ARE LOOSE.

i TOLD Raffy not to trust JG. like I've BEEN saying that. he threw him under the bus last round, and he's doing it again. So last round it was me, Raffy, and Ellie who decided we wanted to go vote JG. But Raffy told JG that it was Zo who put his name out. JG promptly went to Zo and was like “Heard you were throwing my name out” when she literally was not, that was just a lie said by Raffy.

NOW JG is going to Zo again, telling her that Raffy and Ellie are coming for her, and is i guess trying to orchestrate a blindside against Ellie it seems?? now I'm in the corner over here like OK NOW CAN WE VOTE JG?! I think raffy is finally getting the message that keeping him is NOT smart.

I talked with Zo and it sounds like she and Jinx were already playing with the idea of voting ellie last round. i think she thinks i can be a part of their voting block. I believe that me and Amy are smack dab in the middle of this and can realistically join either side

heres how i THINK the vote is gonna go tonight:

Ellie + Raffy + me + Amy voting JG JG + jinx + zo + maddison voting ellie

so....... did someone say rocks? :)

Zo

So the funny thing about me is I can go away for a nap for an hour and a half and come back and my name is off the block hdjsjdjjs

JG

Amy

honestly I just want to have fun so I'm being messy telling everyone everything 🤣 I will not be shocked if this gets flipped onto me but apparently Ellie Colin and raffy want me to vote out JG with them and jinx JG me zo? Maddison? will vote Ellie? I mean here's the problem I've played with Ellie enough to have assumed from the start they are with everyone (as I am 🤠) but the whole being in two opposing alliances wasn't grand with some people even though they chose to vote with the girlies but there's a concern about a swap and then being closer to Adeline than say I would be which would immediately put me more at risk of going home especially down numbers. Anyway tbh if raffy didn't flip his idea I would have voted zo out 100% and I already had my voting confessional planned.

Let's see though bc Colin wanted to make a group of me Ellie raffy and Colin to "fix communication" and force rocks lol and it hasn't been made so.... Would be a funny way to go

Oh also I can go on the other side of the idol hunt and made it directly to the other resort and was immediately barred from entry lol whoops where are these wristbands?

Colin

okay so tribal is in 50 minutes and everyone has been SO quiet today. like to a very stressful extent. i'm needing to take a step back and remember that as long as it aint me, i'm fine. I'm planning on voting JG, and honestly just because I think that everyone is so quiet, I don't see an actual organized effort happening against Ellie this round. JG and Zo seemed like they wanted to take her out, but no one's putting in the work to do so. i hope that means that ellie survives this round and JG gets out, which is what i've been trying to do since last round.

Ellie

Tell me why i power nap for 6 hours and wake up to the vote being for me

[princessnijireiki]

like do you know how bad a movie has to be to make me go "the guardians of the galaxy films were actually better + significantly more emotionally resonant than this"

[blueeyeswhitegarden]

Plenty of people have talked about what Kazuki Takashi and the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise as a whole have meant to them over the past couple of days, but I figured that I’d try my best to convey my feelings into words.

I woke up yesterday morning to the news of his passing and it still feels unreal to me. Just the shock of seeing the headline on ANN and processing it throughout the day was just so overwhelming that I didn’t know what to say or do. It was just such a tragic and sudden passing.

I’ve been a fan of the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise since the DM dub. I had seen a few episodes early on in season one, but the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon duel, particularly its ending, grabbed my attention and I’ve been hooked ever since. This series has been such a huge comfort and constant presence for me for years. Arc V is my absolute favorite series in the franchise and it, as well as all of the other spin-off series, would not exist without the manga. I do have a lot of nostalgic fondness for DM too. As much as I do like Atem, Yugi being the shy kid who loves games and just wanted friends was a lot more relatable to me and I’m sure to other fans as well. The DSOD movie was such a terrific anniversary movie and a great way to send off the DM cast. It lead to so many good scenes that I just adored like Yugi and his friends talking about their futures and Yugi’s brief reunion with Atem. I didn’t know I needed that extra bit of closure until I watched the movie in theaters. The whole movie made me happy that I’ve been a fan for all these years. While he hasn’t been too involved with the franchise since DSOD, it was still nice to see him occasionally post some new artwork. Seeing his artstyle evolve over the years was impressive. Knowing that he won’t be able to do more drawings, something he clearly loved to do, is quite sad too.

I’ve made so many wonderful friends through this series. I met my best friend in middle school not too long after the DM dub started and we still talk with each other all the time. I’ve met even more people over the years through this franchise. I think that’s one of the reasons why his passing has hit me so hard. Without the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga, I wouldn’t have met so many of my friends and I would be a much more unhappy person as a result. Knowing that the person responsible for creating the franchise that has brought me so much joy and comfort over the years and has allowed me to make many dear friends is suddenly gone is just heartbreaking.

This quote from one of the manga volumes has been going around since the news broke out: https://twitter.com/danajiru/status/1544966774130544640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1544966774130544640%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=

I’ve seen that quote before over the years, but reading it after trying to process the news for awhile finally made me start crying. Just the thought that people becoming friends through his manga brought him the most joy felt so bittersweet to me. I have jokingly say that “friendship is magic” is the theme of the franchise, but it’s true. The power that comes from forming friendships has always been a central theme of the series. I think that’s a big part of its appeal. The characters creating strong lasting bonds with each other can make it easier for the audience to be invested in them and having the cool and dramatic flare of duels with monsters on top of it can be a good hook.

I truly hope that Kazuki Takahashi knew how much his work meant to people, that it did allow many people to form friendships and that it continues to make people happy. I wish I could thank him for creating the manga, for allowing me to meet so many wonderful people and for all of the precious memories I have thanks to this franchise. I’ve been struggling to find the best way to convey how much this franchise means to me for days and I’m still not sure if I pulled it off. For now, I think this is the best I can do. I hope that Kazuki Takahashi is at peace and his family and friends will be okay as well. Thank you again for everything.

[atrainernamedradish]

Top 5 Favorite Rivals

Least Favorite list: https://atrainernamedradish.tumblr.com/post/190290513502/top-5-least-favorite-rivals

Top 5 Favorite Rivals:

5) Barry [Diamond & Pearl; Platinum]

I think people can agree with me when I say Barry either needs to lay off the sugar and caffeine, or needs some Adderall, because holy fuck he was so damned hyper it was unreal! And before someone gets mad at the joke let me remind you that there is some dialogue where he tries to count to ten, and proclaims he can’t even sit still to do so! Like sweet Lord Barry calm the fuck down lol!

Jokes aside, I thought Barry was a solid rival. He wasn’t mean-spirited about being so or always trying to act better than you about it. Sure, he was cocky, but he eventually learned that he had to put his ego aside to actually learn how to be that much of a better trainer. His teams were pretty solid too. He wasn’t the hardest person to face, but he wasn’t a pushover by any means. Sometimes his hyperness was a bit annoying, but nothing that bugged me for too long. He was a good rival to have when you’re trying to deal with the headache that is the other rival that is your boring opposite gender.

4) Marnie [Sword & Shield]

Marnie is an interesting character. When I first saw her in the reveals for Sword & Shield I thought she was going to be this arrogant punk (I blame the black leather and spikes :P), but when you actually meet her that isn’t the case. She’s actually someone who doesn’t have that much confidence in herself, at first though, but as you progress through the game she builds up to that. In fact, the only thing she was confident in was not taking over her brother’s gym and setting out to do her own thing. Besides believing how confident she was going to be, I was also expecting Marnie to have this annoying personality (but I feel like that was due to Team Yell being there more than anything), but once again she blew my expectations out of the water! Her personality was sweet and likeable and it was refreshing! Her team was actually a pretty powerful one and was actually fit her aesthetic! That’s actually rare for a rival in this series if I’m being honest… From her aesthetic that mixes hard and soft (which yay the girls will be getting her outfit which I adore and can’t wait to have on my alt character!), her sweet shy personality that eventually gets some quiet confidence behind it, and her battle prowess, I enjoyed her as a rival as opposed to the other two who either got shafted by the overdone formula, or the one rival trying to be the OG rival who we’ll never truly get back.

3) Blue (Green) [Pokemon Red & Blue (Green); Yellow (Pikachu Edition); FireRed & LeafGreen; Let’s Go Pikachu & Eevee]

And speaking of the OG, here he is: Blue (or Green if your Japanese). Many Pokemon games after the originals have tried to replicate this character, and haven’t quite made one that is up to snuff. This character is a perfect blend of cocky asshole and a strong trainer. You almost liked how much smack he talked then enjoyed kicking his ass after the fact, and doing so wasn’t always an easy feat, even in the remakes (excluding the Let’s Go series since he isn’t your rival in that). He had almost the perfect team not only against your starter but to also counteract your team members that made up your team for said starter’s weaknesses. That’s why kicking his ass was all that much sweeter because he didn’t just hand it to you. He made you work for that victory. While I’m not necessarily someone who is looking for a rival that has to be an elite trainer or anything, it’s nice to not have a friendly rival who talks a big game but is always going to face defeat, and quite easily and quickly too, by your hands. There have been some other rivals that have been pretty tough to deal with, but not as challenging as Blue will ever be… There’s a reason you will find this asshole on almost every top rival list. He earned that spot. Because despite being that smack talking asshole that you have to work extra hard to beat… he is kind of charming. He’s the rival you love to beat.

2) Bianca [Pokemon Black & White; Black 2 & White 2]

I want to make this clear with about my opinions on characters in Pokemon: they don’t have to be the strongest to be my favorites or even liked for that matter, and Bianca is one of those characters as far as battling prowess is concerned. I like Bianca for her character arc as well as the character herself. I think this character gets a lot of hate for no reason other than her not being a strong trainer, or not automatically being this confident cool character that should be ready to adventure which is honestly sad…

For me, Bianca is a very relatable character who in my honest opinion is a very underrated character. She is a character who wanted to do something with her life, but wasn’t sure how to start or go about doing it. Her first attempt is by doing what all the other characters her age do and that’s to set off on her own Pokemon journey, even if she wasn’t exactly ready. As her story progresses she comes to realize that that isn’t for her, and honestly not every person in that world is going to go out there finding out that this is for them. Not to mention not everyone who sets out on their Pokemon journey is going to find themselves being these super powerful trainers who are always going to confidently beat everything in their path. Bianca getting picked on by Team Plasma was not all that farfetched. She was a brand new trainer experiencing new things making her an easy target for them. Your character could have easily been just as privy to Team Plasma. Generation V showed that anyone was susceptible to them. But anyway, I’m going a little off topic, Bianca did struggle, but her struggles eventually took her to her calling: being a professor’s aid. Which fits her and overall is a good story arc for her. She’s not your typical rival of going around trying to one-up you and getting on your nerves trying to do so. She’s a friend, a main character, and unlike the typical power hungry overused rival archetypes, she grew and I was happy for her.

Not to mention, Bianca is one of the first few characters in the series to actually really… notice that there is this big new world around you and it’s something to explore taking it in as opposed to rushing into filling the Pokedex or doing the Gym Challenge, and honestly that’s refreshing for a character! Because you cannot tell me that if you were to leave your home setting off on a journey traveling to many new places that you’d overlook everything? Probably not. You’d want to explore all the new sites. That’s the whole point of an RPG is to explore. I felt more immersed in Black & White than most Pokemon games because I had a character in my journey to make it feel like it was actual exploration instead of bare bones places with much to be had. Unova, as to other regions, had a lot more sightseeing options and a lot more to explore. Unova just felt big, kind of like Johto and Kanto for GSC/HGSS. Just, thanks Bianca for feeling like a real person, instead of one-dimension rival who either wants to kick my ass or is so boring that I wish they were annoying lol…

1) Wally [Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire; Emerald; Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire]

It’s like I stated with Bianca: a rival for me doesn’t have to have battle prowess to be liked by or be a favorite for me. Not gonna lie, I wish Wally had a better team, but unfortunately Wally falls under the earlier formulas of forcing trainers to use entirely new Pokemon instead only peppering their teams with a few new ones, but whatever… 

Wally has one of my favorite rival arcs. He is a sickly kid who wants so badly to be healthier and have a Pokemon of his own so he could one day to set on his very own Pokemon journey like the other kids who have probably left by now on it. Nicely enough your character is there to guide and watch over him as he finally catches his very own Pokemon, even if later you were there to kick his ass a bit later on… While I do like how ORAS gave more facial expressions for this character to make you more sympathetic to him in the story… I wish they hadn’t had him show up after your battle with your dad to keep that mysteriousness of him actually progressing along side you on your Gym Challenge (yes I know you could read the gym signs to see that he’s doing it, but no one thinks to read those, let’s be honest!) before running into him at the end of Victory Road, but oh well. Honestly I wish they had had him in the Champion spot, kind of like what RBY did with Blue, but instead of knowing your rival was one step ahead of you as always you had the sickly kid you thought you sent home after a crushing defeat there instead who actually overcame it and decided to meet you there to prove he did so.

Overall Wally was an underdog and I like characters like that. You don’t expect him to become much more powerful after Mauville. He takes his defeat and he does his best to make up for it by having it push him. He wants to be stronger to prove to everyone, but more importantly to you, the person who was there to witness his journey from the start, how capable he was. Yeah, you do inevitably beat him, which is the fate of the main player in Pokemon, but when you do it you don’t think “aw man I beat another weak rival” or “hah! I beat your smug ass again!” you think of how it was a fun battle and a great progression in a well developed character’s story. And even then, Wally doesn’t take the defeat as a loss, but more as a way to push himself even further. He sees losing as a way to overcome something as to trying to cover up his frustration or to go packing home, and that is an admirable trait. Plus the final battle with him on Victory Road was pretty epic with that new theme of his as well as made me a bit sad because I had to beat him and all he did was smile and thank me… Made me want to cry lol… But that’s why Wally is my favorite rival. He has a great character arc, personality, and he makes me feel so many emotions that I feel like other rivals or characters couldn’t give me… Good job Wally you will always be the rival. 

[fyeah-bangtan7]

The Greatest Showmen: An exclusive look inside the world of BTS

Maybe you saw them piled on the klieg-lit couches of Ellen DeGeneres and Jimmy Fallon, trading light bilingual banter with their starstruck hosts. Maybe it was when they spoke solemnly on mental health and self-love at the United Nations General Assembly last September, or when a wall of dolphin-like screams greeted them as they rolled into February’s Grammy Awards in trim matching tuxedos, their hair tinted various shades of pastel macaron.

Or maybe the cover of this magazine is the first time you’ve truly noticed BTS. (Stranger things have happened in 2019.) But it seems indisputable to say that sometime over the past two years, the septet have taken over the world: two No. 1 albums on the Billboard chart in the span of three months; more than 5 billion streams combined on Apple Music and Spotify; a string of sold-out concert dates from the Staples Center in Los Angeles to London’s famed Wembley Stadium.

That hardly makes them the first boy band to dominate a cultural moment, but the fact that they are all Korean-born and -raised, singing Korean-language songs only occasionally sprinkled with English, feels like something brand-new. And it speaks to an unprecedented kind of global currency — one where pop music moves without barriers or borders, even as geopolitics seem to retreat further behind hard lines and high walls.

On a blindingly bright March day in Seoul five weeks before the release of their upcoming sixth EP, Map of the Soul: Persona, the band is holed up at their record label Big Hit Entertainment, preparing. Buildings like this are where much of the magic of the phenomenon known as K-pop happens, though Big Hit’s headquarters on a quiet side street in the city’s Gangnam district (yes, the same one Psy sang about in his 2012 smash “Gangnam Style”) look a lot like any other tech office: sleek poured-cement corridors and glass-box conference rooms scattered with well-stocked mini-fridges, plush toys, and the occasional beanbag chair. Only a display case stacked with a truly staggering number of sales plaques and statuettes, and a glossy large-scale photo print of BTS at their sold-out concert at New York’s Citi Field last October, give away the business they do here.

Down a long hallway, all seven members lounge in various states of readiness as they gear up to pretape a thank-you video for an iHeartRadio award they won’t be able to accept in person. Jimin, bleached blond and pillow-lipped, is having his hair carefully flat-ironed in a wardrobe room filled with racks of coordinated denim and neon streetwear. Dozens of pairs of pristine Nikes and Converse are piled in a corner; a lone fun-fur jacket the color of strawberry ice cream slumps on a hanger behind him, like a neglected Fraggle.

Jung Kook, the baby of the band at 21, sits obediently in a folding chair in the dance studio, also having his hair tended to; J-Hope strides by in a white dress shirt emblazoned with an over-size silk-screen of Bart Simpson, then grins and disappears. Suga, V, and Jin huddle together on low sofas next door, scrolling through their phones and occasionally singing fragments of American R&B star Khalid’s “My Bad.” Twenty-four-year-old RM, the group’s de facto leader and lone fluent English speaker, is the last to arrive.

They run through their speech for a camera crew and do maybe four or five takes until the director is satisfied. Then they settle in for a conversation in an airy break room upstairs, accompanied by their longtime translator, a large, amiable bald man in a business suit named John. (Unless noted, the answers of all members other than RM come through him.) Several weeks after returning from their first Grammys, they’re still riding high off the experience: presenting the award to H.E.R. for Best R&B Album; chatting with Shawn Mendes in the men’s room — “I was like, ‘Do I need to tell him who I am?’ ” Jimin remembers, “but then he said hello first, which was really nice” — and being seated only a sequin’s throw from Dolly Parton. (“She was right there in front of us!” marvels Jung Kook. “Amazing.”)

As happily dazzled as they still seem to be by other celebrities, seeing BTS in the flesh triggers the same disorienting but not unpleasant sense of unreality. On screen, the band can look disconcertingly pretty; avatars of a sort of poreless, almost postgender beauty who seem to exist inside their own real-life Snapchat filters. In person they’re still ridiculously good-looking, but in a much more relatable, boyish way: bangs mussed, even the occasional chapped lip or small (okay, minuscule) blemish. Take away their Balenciaga high-tops and the discreet double Cs of Chanel jewelry, and they could almost be the cute college guy next to you at the coffee shop or on the train.

Except riding public transportation or casually dropping into a Starbucks stopped being an option for BTS a long time ago. In Seoul, their faces are plastered across makeup kiosks and street signs and the sides of buses — even on massive digital billboards that are bought and paid for by private citizens to acknowledge a beloved member’s birthday, or just because. In cities like São Paulo and Tokyo and Paris, fans camp out days in advance for concerts and public appearances, obsessively trading trivia and rumored sightings. When the band posted their takethis link opens in a new tab on Drake’s #InMyFeelingsChallenge, it became the most liked tweet of 2018; this summer, Mattel will release an official line of BTS dolls.

In the still center of this bizarre fame hurricane, the boys have managed to find a few pockets of normalcy. Jimin wistfully recalls a time in Chicago when they were able to slip out of their hotel rooms undetected “late at night, just to get some fresh air.” But most places, he admits, “that’s really out of the question” unless they split into smaller groups. “I mean, look at us,” RM adds with a laugh, running a hand through his own silver-nickel bangs. “Seven boys with dyed hair! It’s really too much.”

Instead, they focus on the things they can do, like sneaking out to the movies (“Always the latest or earliest show,” says RM, if they want to stay unseen), shopping online (V loves eBay, especially for clothes), going fishing, playing StarCraft at home. Group housing is actually common for K-pop stars, and BTS seem to appreciate the shared stability: “We’ve been living together for a while now, almost eight, nine years,” says Jimin. “So in the beginning we had a lot of arguments and conflicts. But we’ve reached the point where we can communicate wordlessly, basically just by watching each other and reading the expressions.”

Though they’re unfailingly polite and attentive in interviews, there’s a certain amount of contained chaos when they’re all together — a sort of tumbling-puppy cyclone of playful shoves, back slaps, and complicated handshakes — but also a surprising, endearing sweetness to the way they treat one another in quieter moments. When a question is posed to the group, they work hard to make sure each one of them is heard, and if someone is struggling to find a word, they’ll quickly reach out for a reassuring knee pat or side hug.

Even with the language barrier of speaking to an American reporter, though, their individual personalities quickly start to emerge: Asked to name their earliest pop memories, the answers land all over the map. “I loved Pussycat Dolls’ ‘Stickwitu,’ ’’ says J-Hope, the group’s most accomplished dancer, snapping his fingers and cooing the chorus. For RM, who started out in Seoul’s underground rap scene, it’s Eminem’s “Lose Yourself.” (“I think that’s, like, a life pick for so many people around the world,” he admits, “but I can’t forget when I first watched 8 Mile and heard the guitars. That was my turning point.”) For Jung Kook, who has released covers of Justin Bieber and Troye Sivan songs, it was Richard Marx’s deathless lite-FM ballad “Now and Forever.”

The soft-spoken Suga cites John Lennon’s “Imagine” as “the first song I fell in love with,” which feels like a fitting gateway to ask where BTS see themselves in the pantheon of musical heartthrobs that the Fab Four essentially invented. “Sometimes it feels really embarrassing when someone calls us a 21st-century Beatles or something like that,” RM concedes. “But if they want to call us a boy band, then we’re a boy band. If they want to call us a boy group, we’re a boy group. If they want to call us K-pop, then we’re cool with K-pop.”

Ah, K-pop. In South Korea, where the genre has become not just a prime cultural commodity but a multibillion-dollar export, the players, known as “idols,” go through rigorous Fame-style schooling in song and dance and media training that often goes on for years before they’re considered ready for the spotlight. And it’s paid off: Business has been booming since the early ’90s, with stars from Girls’ Generation to G-Dragoncrossing over to various markets across Asia, Europe, and the Americas. But while the sound has remained fairly consistent — a canny mix of club-ready beats, hyper-sweetened choruses, and the more urban inflections of Western hip-hop and R&B — it’s never before landed with the lightning-bolt impact of BTS.

Bang Si-Hyuk, the CEO and founder of Big Hit, began putting the band together in 2010, when all the members were in their tweens or teens: RM and Suga were coming up on the local rap scene; Jimin and J-Hope studied dance at performing-arts schools; V, who focused on singing early on, joined officially in 2013. Jin was an aspiring actor recruited off the street for his striking looks; Jung Kook, now the group’s main vocalist, joined while he was still in junior high.

Though fansites tend to lean on their extracurricular differences (Jung Kook is a Virgo who loves pizza! V collects ties and clenches his teeth in his sleep!), each member genuinely does hold a unique space in the group’s process, whether it’s leaning more toward production, lyrics, or the supersize hooks the songs rest on. “With seven members we have seven different tastes, of course,” says RM. “So when it comes to songwriting, it’s like a big competition.” Occasionally, adds J-Hope, “we’ll write a lyric and decide, ‘This sort of reflects me [more], who I am and my own color,’ so we’ll want to keep that for a solo song.”

Because Big Hit doesn’t restrict their right to funnel some ideas into side projects — and because the appetite for more BTS-sourced material online is seemingly unquenchable — members regularly release solo work through EPs, SoundCloud, and mixtapes. But the primary impact still comes through the official album releases, and the particularly weighty subjects those songs take on — a notable departure from the narrow, often strenuously upbeat topics other K-pop artists typically cover.

“I promised the members from the very beginning that BTS’ music must come from their own stories,” says Bang; their subsequent openness about their own struggles with depression, self-doubt, and the pressure to conform took them all the way to the U.N. last fall, where RM addressed the band’s Love Myself campaign and #ENDviolence youth partnership with UNICEF.

“They stand out,” says Japanese-American DJ and producer Steve Aoki, a top-selling global dance artist who has also collaborated with the band on several tracks. “And I’m not just talking about K-pop. They add so much of their personality to the music and into their stories and how they present themselves. And the world has fallen in love with them because they are showing that vulnerable side that everyone wants to see.”

It helps, too, that the group’s more pointed messages are often slipped into the sticky aural peanut butter of anthems like “No More Dream,” “Dope,” and “Am I Wrong.” But they always appreciate the chance, Suga says, to get “a little more raw, a little more open.” RM elaborates: “I think it’s an endless dilemma for every artist, how much we should be frank and honest. But we try to reveal ourselves as much as we can.”

Honesty has its limits, of course, when you’re the biggest band in the world. Asked to describe the new album, due April 12 (at press time, it had already hit over 2.5 million in preorders), members offer up cryptic but enthusiastic koans like “therapeutic” and “refreshing crispness.” To be fair, they can’t say much in part because the new album’s track list isn’t actually finalized yet — late decisions being a luxury of in-house production — though they do agree to play one song, a propulsive rap-heavy banger called “Intro: Persona.” (It was released as a teaser March 27; you can watch the video herethis link opens in a new tab.)

When it comes to more personal questions about the challenges of dating or the goals they might want to pursue post-BTS, they pivot so gracefully to evasive, nonspecific answers, you almost can’t help but be impressed; it’s like watching a diplomat ice-dance. They want you to know that they are incredibly grateful for the devotion of their fans, and so blessed to be exactly where they are; that they really don’t think in terms of five- or 10-year plans. But they turn reflective when the subject of American pop’s holy grail, the Hot 100 singles chart, is raised. They cracked the top 10 last year with “Fake Love” but have yet to reach a higher spot, largely because mainstream radio airplay—a huge component of Hot 100 domination—still eludes them Stateside.

“It will have to be a great song,” Suga acknowledges, “but also there’s a whole strategy that’s associated with getting all the way up. And then there has to be a measure of luck, obviously. So what’s important for us is just to make good music and good performances and have those elements come together.” Does a Spanish-language smash like 2017’s “Despacito” — which spent a record 16 weeks at No. 1 — make them more optimistic about their own odds? “You know, Latin pop has its own Grammys in America, and it’s quite different,” RM says thoughtfully. “I don’t want to compare, but I think it’s even harder as an Asian group. A Hot 100 and a Grammy nomination, these are our goals. But they’re just goals — we don’t want to change our identity or our genuineness to get the number one. Like if we sing suddenly in full English, and change all these other things, then that’s not BTS. We’ll do everything, we’ll try. But if we couldn’t get number one or number five, that’s okay.”

Aoki, for one, has faith they’ll get there. “I think it’s 100 percent possible that a song sung entirely in Korean could crack the top of the Hot 100. I firmly believe that, and I really firmly believe that BTS can be the group that can do that. It’s going to pave the way for a lot of other groups, which they’ve already been doing—and when that happens, we’re all gonna celebrate.”

Back at Big Hit, though, the band has more immediate work to do. RM offers a quick tour of his production room (each member has his own dedicated space on site). The door outside is guarded by a quirky assemblage of figurines by the renowned street artist Kaws, but inside feels, incongruously, like stepping into a tiny, luxurious Sundance lodge that also just happens to have a soundboard: There’s a beautiful coffee table made from a single piece of black walnut; Navajo-style rugs; tasteful art on the walls. RM talks easily about his admiration for producers like Zedd and the Neptunes (“Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo were my true idols in 2006, 2007. Pharrell’s voice! It’s so sexy, how he sings”), and plays down his own skills (“As a beatmaker, Suga is way better than me. I don’t even know how to play the piano — I just do the chords like this,” he insists, miming keyboard Muppet hands).

Then it’s back to the dance studio, where they’ve changed into track pants and T-shirts to run through new steps with a choreographer. It starts with a rough triangle formation, and an elaborate hip-swivel-into-pelvic-thrust/crotch-grab combo that actually plays much more innocently than it sounds, mostly because they keep stopping to crack each other up. Soon, though, they drill down — repeating the moves until they seem crisp but easy, almost an afterthought. It feels like time to leave them; the boys wave happily, shouting out a rowdy chorus of goodbyes. Then they turn back to the mirror, and keep dancing.

[mystic-messenger-writing]

Hey there! I just followed you and I love everything you write! Can I request the rfa + v and Saeran where Mc is like really short and they lose her in a big crowd.

This is such a cute idea, poor little short MC! I’m on the taller side so I can’t really relate to much with this but these were still a lot of fun to write so thank you for the request! I hope that you enjoy!! :)

Yoosung

Yoosung had convinced you to go to a LOLOL convention with him and of course you couldn’t say no to this puppy

It was extremely crowded and since you weren’t that familiar with the game, you felt out of place

Yoosung was in all of his LOLOL glory as he walked around admiring all of the booths and stands

While you on the other hand were trying desperately to keep up with him but he found a display that he had to see and ran off to see it, leaving you behind

After admiring the display, Yoosung noticed that you were missing, causing him to freak out since one there were hundreds of people and two you were the shortest person he ever met

He tried to call your name and was starting to go into full panic mode until he saw tips of what looked like your fingers waving frantically in the air

Yoosung ran over to you and crushed you with a hug, apologizing as he promised never to leave you again as he held your hand for the rest of the day

Zen

You and Zen had the perfect date planned out for the day

That is until the media found you two and the press along with Zen’s fans started swarming you both

Of course Zen was using his charismatic charm on the spectators, answering the media’s questions and signing autographs for fans

All seemed to be going well until noticed that you were missing, panic instantly filling him since he knew how he could easily miss you because of your height

Zen tried to politely push the crowd of people away as he started frantically searching for you, calling out your name

He soon heard your voice calling his name as he finally found you, wrapping you up in his arms as he showered you with kisses

Even though you told him that you were fine, Zen told you that you had to start sticking by his side 24/7 from now on since he was so scared of losing you

Zen also suggested you start wearing high heels to make you taller plus they made you look sexy which earned him a slap to the chest from you

Jaehee

Jaehee asked you to go with her to a large shopping district for some new coffee beans

With an obvious yes, you and Jaehee walked hand-in-hand as the two of you window shopped

Jaehee suddenly saw a new coffee machine in one of the windows and was drawn to it, putting both of her hands on the glass then quickly going in the shop to purchase it

It wasn’t until she was outside again when she noticed that you were missing, feeling fear mixed with guilt

Jaehee knew how easily she could lose you in crowds because of your short height so instead of panicking, she decided to think rationally

After a moment, she knew exactly where you’d be and headed there right away

She sighed in relief as she saw you watching a chocolatier make some delectable chocolates but you huffed when you saw her, telling her not to leave you alone again

After buying you some chocolate as an apology, Jaehee promised to stay by your side, especially in large crowds due to your height, but still found you cute whenever you pouted

Jumin

You convinced Jumin one night to go out on the town with you to walk around and relax

You and Jumin were having a normal date, just you and him with no security guards, enjoying a nice night together

He’s out of his comfort zone here and keeps asking you questions, muttering how strange it is that commoners spend so much time in town

Jumin looks around and stops when he sees a small booth set up for kitten adoptions and donations

He’s makes a beeline there, petting the kittens and giving them a large sum of donation money, then turns to you

Except you’re nowhere to be found, causing Jumin to panic since this isn’t the first time he’s lost you in a big crowd, after all you were super short and he was fairly tall

Jumin tries calling your name as he pushes past people, starting to feel panicky

He feels his fears fade when he finds you on a sidewalk, playing with a kitten that escaped the adoption booth

Jumin tries to tell a short joke but fails so instead he has you promise to hold onto his arm anytime the two of you go out with large crowds around

Seven

The amount of short jokes and nicknames that Seven called you was unreal

But you usually ignored him and one day decided to take him to an amusement park for a much needed break from work

Seeing how happy Seven was made your heart happy since he truly deserved it even if it was a crowded day

Seven suddenly saw a food stand that sold deep fried Honey Buddha Chips and ran there to buy some

By the time he grabbed the food, he realized that you were missing, slightly panicking

But he’s lost you in crowd a bunch of times before so he sat down on a bench, whipping out his phone to alert your phone where he was

A few minutes later, you shoved your way past others to find Seven sitting on a bench eating his greasy food as he waved to you

After saying “I missed you shorty, I’m going to find you some growth pills so I don’t keep losing you tiny!” Seven finished his last fried HBC and got the silent treatment from you for the rest of the day

V

This man, this poor, poor man

V’s basically an almost blind giant who’s dating you, a short person who loves this big teddy bear

He’s lost you in big crowds to many times and each time he feels even more guilty

So V usually requests that you hold onto his arm or hand as you guide him throughout the streets

One day, the two of you were going grocery shopping and all was going well until a group of art critics came up to V, pushing you out of the way to talk to him

V started panicking when he no longer felt your presence and tried asking as politely as possible to leave to find you

It wasn’t until V heard the cried pains of the art critics as he felt he floor become slippery

You ‘accidentally’ spilled water on the floor, grabbing V’s hand and carefully leading him out of the store

V repeatedly thanked you and apologized for losing you in a crowd again but with a quick kiss on the cheek from you, V already felt better

Unknown

Saeran found your short height adorable but annoying at times like this

You had convinced him to go with you to a midnight release of a popular video game that you were itching to get

He grumbled a protest but agreed to go once he saw how excited you were, but the line was absolutely ridiculous

There were about a hundred people waiting in line and with Saeran’s luck, you commented how thirsty you were

Being the good boyfriend that he is, Saeran quickly went out to but you both a drink but by the time he came back they opened the doors to the store and had lost sight of you

He shoved his way to the store but didn’t find you so Saeran decided to just wait for you outside

Saeran spotted you a little bit away from the store, looking disappointed as you explained to him that you almost got trampled on because of your short height so you didn’t get the game

With a sigh then a smirk, Saeran held up a shopping bag and revealed your game, saying that he figured you’d need his assistance

He didn’t even finish his sentence before you tackled Saeran with a hug, promising to stay by his side whenever the two of you go out in crowds from now on

[cafephan]

hey hey hey if you're bored and have time i'd love to hear your favourite songs off of and/or an analysis of each of lm's albums. thanks

*cracks knuckles* this is gonna be a long ride, kiddos

DNA

Wings - forever one of my favourite lm songs ever, it just has such a beautiful message about self-love and realising other people’s opinions don’t define you, this song helped me a lot when i was younger

DNA - their vocals in this are unreal (especially the harmony/choir part) and the music video is one of my favourites, i just love everything about the song and the video

Change Your Life - like Wings, this song helped me a lot when i was younger, it too has a beautiful message just in a more stripped back beat than Wings, and i still listen to this song a lot because it usually always helps when i’m having a down day

Always Be Together - THE HARMONIES. the vocals are just beautiful in this song and it’s one of my favourites, i honestly will never understand why this song is so underrated, beautiful vocals and beautiful lyrics

Stereo Soldier - just a feelgood tune really, isn’t it, one of those songs that just makes you want to get up and dance, and i’ve had many a midnight dance party including this song

Pretend It’s OK - this song amazes me, the fact it was primarily written as a heartbreak song is one thing but the fact that it can be interpreted about literally anything astounds me?? like i don’t know many other songs that do that, and i will always applaud the girls for that. also knowing jade wrote her part about her grandad always gets me a little bit emotional myself

Turn Your Face - MY FAVOURITE ON THE ALBUM AND SO UNDERRATED. i think each and every one of the girls’ vocals shine, and this song is a prime example of why the world shouldn’t be sleeping on little mix, if you ask me. jade and leigh-anne’s solos in particular always stand out to me, but it is one of the most beautiful songs i have ever heard, much like Love Me or Leave Me, but we will get to that in a while. but yeah if you haven’t heard this song PLEASE DO.

We Are Who We Are - i bloody love this song, it too has helped me so much. it’s a song with a message of self-love, and realising society’s standards don’t define you and control you, none of us will ever look like the magazines want us to look (”throw away the books and the magazines, i’m never gonna look like a beauty queen”) and ah i just love it

How Ya Doin’? - this song always makes me feel really sassy when i sing it and i’m glad it’s a feeling that’s carried through the five years since the first time i listened to the album, it’s a prime singing-into-your-hairbrush-in-front-of-the-mirror song! plus it’s just a bop isn’t it tbh

Red Planet - at first i didn’t really get this song, but after a few listens i absolutely fell in love with it and the vocals continue to astound me

Going Nowhere - I. ADORE. THIS. SONG. it’s so sassy and so fun to dance around your room singing (trust me) and it gets out all the frustration towards a partner i’ve never had. their vocals are just so strong and the harmonies floor me. plus jesy’s beatboxing and leigh-anne’s rapping are so underrated give the girls credit i’m begging you

Madhouse - i’ve had a concept for a music video for this since the first time i heard it but because they never released it as a single it’s sad i’ll never see it, just listen to it and i think you’ll immediately get a music vid concept too. but apart from that, it’s just a cool song with a nice beat and its fun to try and match their voices (and in my case, fail every time)

Make You Believe: A BEAUTIFUL SONG. the vocals are just unreal and i love it a lot

Love Drunk: i will never understand why this song didn’t make it on the standard edition of the album because it’s a good’un

Case Closed: i love this song so much ah tbh i dont know why all three didn’t make it onto the standard edition of the album they’re all worthy

favourites from the album: Always Be Together, Turn Your Face

Salute

Salute - the female empowerment song we all needed, and still as relevant today as it always has been. i don’t really need to say much about this, but i adore it and will always be a staple of pretty much any playlist i make

Move - this is one of those songs that i always try to match their vocals on (and fail). it’s just a song that i can’t help but sing along to, it’s so catchy and they sound so good and the music video is SO GOOD and have i mentioned i love it because i really do (plus who remembers when my blog title was jade’s solo)

Little Me - the song we’ve all needed to hear at some point or another. for me personally it’s more relevant than ever, i always want to go back in time and tell kirsten who was being bullied all of the things in the song. plus the unplugged version is beyond gorgeous (”you’ve got a lot of time to act your age, you can’t write a book from a single page” is such an underrated lyric imo)

Nothing Feels Like You - just watch this live performance. i need say no more.

Towers - the lyrics are just so good?? and the vocals are just so beautiful??? i feel like jesy’s vocals in particular shine on this song and she owns it. “sorry heart, i’m sorry heart but we’ll have to start again” makes me sad every single time i don’t know why, but it’s just the sign of a good song AND THIS IS AN EXCEPTIONAL SONG.

About The Boy - just watch this live performance. i need say no more, but just prepare yourself ok you’re welcome

Boy - SO. UNDERRATED. this song is mainly acapella minus drums, and people have never really spoken about it??? like they literally make up this song entirely with vocals??? solos, harmonies and backing alike??? p l e a s e listen to this song to get it some of the recognition it truly deserves i can’t sing its praises enough. WATCH THE LIVE PERFORMANCE AND FALL IN LOVE.

Good Enough - another of those songs that can be interpreted in more ways than just a heartbreak song. as the girls say in the salute album livestream, it can be read as feeling insignificant to a sibling or not good enough for your parents or friends, and it’s just a song we all need to listen to because we’ve all been in that position at some point (or in my case, very often) and it just needs more hype over it because it’s beautiful and the vocals are showcased beautiful and needs more love

Mr Loverboy - i love the subtle r&b influence on this song (even though so many people hate it) and it’s a song i can’t help but sing along to whenever it comes on shuffle, it’s just an easy listening song for me i love itttt

A Different Beat - a feelgood song that always gets the ol’ feet tapping. a wholesome message surrounded by an upbeat track and it’s a good all-rounder

favourite songs from the album: Move, Towers, Boy, Good Enough

Get Weird

Black Magic - the one that everyone knows, a song that you can’t help but sing along to, and catchy as hell. i’ve seen so many people say this song is their guilty pleasure which i always fnd really funny idk why. watch this acoustic version to fall in love yeah okay cool

Love Me Like You - another foot tapper and a v good all-rounder. also the music video is great (so much so i wrote a videofic on it lmao) i like it a lotttt

Weird People - this is a song that i feel represents me emotionally. every time i listen to it i can’t help but think back to tour when they just parade around the stage in ridiculous outfits and accessories and it was the best night ever i adore this song and i adore the girls

Hair - if you’ve not sung this into your hairbrush at least once i want you to stop lying to yourself. it’s such a bop!!!! i much prefer the original, it must be said, but i love the music video, it’s so fun and poppy and i think they did a great job (i’d say relatable but who am i kidding i don’t have friends to have sleepovers with) it’s also catchy as all hell it’s never just in my head for a few hours, it’s in there for days at least

Grown - I LOVE THIS SONG. realising you’re too good for someone who wouldn’t look twice at you in the past but now you’re going places they’re coming out of the woodwork? nah thanks kick ‘em to the curb. I LOVE IT IT’S SO GOOD I ADORE THIS SONG. plus in case you were wondering, it’s insane performed live, trust me. just really listen to the lyrics, they’re stellar

I Love You - SO. UNDERRATED. the lyrics are beautiful, the vocals are exceptional (jade steals the show for me with this song tho it has to be said) and where is this song’s recognition?? where the hell is it??? (”even if the tears fall and my heart hates me, baby i love you” // “and it doesn’t matter what no-one says, even if it’s broken, i love you anyway” // “even if these three words choke and take me, baby i love you” // “there’s nothing left but these i love yous” THIS SONG IS SO RAW AND FROM THE HEART IT MAKES ME FEEL HEARTBREAK AND I’VE NEVER EXPERIENCED HEARTBREAK

OMG - this. is. leigh-anne’s. song. she absolutely owns it and the song is such a bop and so sassy and makes me feel like i’m appealing to people which is always a winner. it’s such a good one to sing at the top of your lungs, trust me. try it.

Lightning - perrie’s vocals in this song, did you mean my death??? the girl puts her lungs to good use. if you’ve heard the song before you know which part im talking about when i say wow. the fact they can perform it live sometimes even better than the studio version is still unreal. i just love this song and i love the girls

A.D.I.D.A.S - this song is one of my all time favourites, i just love it so fucking much. it’s so cheeky and fun and my love for it just never ends. i like that they spoke about the topic of sex like this, in a nice and breezy, fun way, a lot of bands don’t do that. plus leigh-anne’s solo? end me. “slaving in the kitchen, iced you a cake, and i served you a plate, but boy that ain’t what you ate” is one of the most iconic lines in music history don’t argue with me 

Love Me or Leave Me - ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SONGS EVER MADE (as i briefly spoke about in Turn Your Face) i will forever be sad that this was never a single and they never performed it live, not on tour or in interviews. all four of their voices shine on this song and their solos are all exceptional. it’s one of those songs that always makes me emotional. listen to it with headphones on in a silent room and really listen to the lyrics. i can’t even choose one in particular because there are so many that make me an absolute wreck. prepare for emotions to hit you like a ton of bricks. 

The End - MY. ACAPELLA. GODDESSES. 2 minutes of heavenly vocals. enough said.

I Won’t - i adore the message of this song. love yourself, you are enough as you are. listen to this if you need a pick-me-up, because it’ll work, i’m sure (”nothing good comes easy, if it did i wouldn’t be me” is literally the lyric that defines my life)

Secret Love Song, Pt. II - i’ve spoken about this song so much on this blog but it’s genuinely one of my favourite ever songs in the history of music, i just adore everything about it. (i didn’t list the version with jason bc he just ruins it #opinion) the lyrics, the fact they wrote it for their lgbtq+ fans, the vocals, everything about this song is beautiful and i will continue to scream its praises until i’m old and grey. this song is so important and dreamy and i just can never stop raving about it.

Clued Up - this song is so important and more people should know about it. the fact it’s acoustic makes me love it even more, it’s so stripped back and the fact it’s not layered with an intense upbeat backing track really highlights their vocals and the message of the song, and i just love everything about it. each and every one of them gets a chance to showcase their voice and they all do it flawlessly, i just think more people should know about this song. also try telling me this song isn’t the very definition of the journey that dan has been on over the years because it is

The Beginning - MY. ACAPELLA. GODDESSES. AGAIN. 1 and a half minutes of dreaminess and bliss , the vocals are unreal and the fact there is literally no music at all, is a prime example of why little mix need more recognition

favourites from the album: I Love You, A.D.I.D.A.S, Love Me or Leave Me, Secret Love Song pt. II

Glory Days

Shout Out To My Ex - this, my friends, is how you do a heartbreak song, let ‘em know what they’re missing out on now! i love how upbeat this is and how it’s not dwelling on the past, and the music video is so fun and shows off their friendship so well and i just love it

Touch - a fun little song with a fun beat, if you’ve not had a dance to this song i don’t know what to say to you

F.U - ONE OF MY FAVOURITE SONGS EVER. i adore the motown vibe, all four of their vocals are showcased so well (especially perrie), and the lyrics are so sassy and i still have a music video concept in mind though whether or not they’ll ever release it and i’ll see if im right or not, we’ll never know. definitely listen to this song, it’s one of my favourite songs lm have ever doe

Oops - i adore every little thing about this song. their voices and charlie’s work together really well (and that live performance on the x factor floored me) and it’s a fun song and an exceptional all-rounder, if you ask me. realising you’re still feeling things for someone you once had a thing with and eventually realising they feel the same, what’s not to love? (plus the beat is amazing)

You Gotta Not - the lyrics are absolutely savage but the girls deliver them flawlessly (perrie steals the show for this song imo) and honestly rip whoever meghan trainor thought about whilst writing it 

Down & Dirty - literally the epitome of a club banger. if you dont have an overwhelming urge to dance when the beat drops then you and i have nothing to say to each other (”we international divas, but i started out making your pizzas” TELL THEM HOW IT IS LEIGH-ANNE i love this line it’s so iconic)

Power - i. love. this. song. girls dominate in more ways than one amirite (a proper bop though, jesy’s solo forever remains a highlight)

Your Love - i could literally ramble on about my love for this song for at least four days. it’s so adorable and the vocals are outstanding (especially leigh-anne) and it makes me celebrate a relationship i don’t have and makes my heart warm, though maybe thats because i am a hopeless romantic and this song is the anthem for hopeless romantics. all in all, LOVE.

Nobody Like You - what. a. beautiful. heartbreaking. ballad. each of their solos is beautiful and breathtaking, and this song is guaranteed to make you feel things. it’s so raw and you can hear the emotion in their voices and it just adds so much to an already beautiful song. i cant recommend this song enough. must listen.

No More Sad Songs - an iconic heartbreak song. my initial thought on what the music vid would be was nothing like what the official vid is, and i actually started a songfic for it but it ended up going where i didn’t want it to so i scrapped it BUT i love this song dearly, turning something sad into something fun and positive, always a fan. 

Private Show - i love how cheeky this song is, and i love the choice of lyrics. it’s a proper bop and i love it, it’s one of those songs i can’t not sing along to whenever it comes on. their vocals are also on point and i can never match them despite how hard i try

Nothing Else Matters - this song is so precious. jade’s vocals steal it for me, it must be said, but the chorus harmonies are to die for. i love the lyrics and how down to earth this song is, and it’s no wonder that it’s one of the girls’ favourites (most of all jade’s)

Beep Beep - i will genuinely never know why i adore this song so much, but i just do. i love everything about it. it’s so fun and cheeky and poppy, and their vocals are fire as usual, i just can’t recommend it enough. one of my favourites by far!

Freak - i love jesy’s voice in this song, and how overall the song is slightly urban and a bit grunge, i really love those influences. and if you don’t sing along with at least the chorus then i admire your willpower i really do. i love the lyrics and how they tell a clear narrative and i just love it in its entirety. sold song, more than solid vocals.

favourites from the album: F.U, Oops, Your Love, Nobody Like You, Beep Beep

this was a journey and has taken nearly three hours to write, so thank you for reading if anyone has read this far, this was fun :’)

[yoosungshoodie]

Ends and Beginnings 3 | V x MC

Pairing: V x MC Warnings: None Genre: Angst and fluff. Mostly angst. Word count: 2635. PART 1, PART 2

Author’s note: and here it is, sorry for the wait!

Jihyun Kim had sworn he had never loved someone with such fierce determination as he had loved Rika. He saw into her soul as she did to him, she taught him things he could never unlearn. She was coiled in his brain and there hadn’t been a day where he didn’t think about her. All of these things were undeniable, but did it amount to love? After she had been sent to Alaska, Jihyun had been pensive about what precisely qualified as moving on and what meant that he still loved her. He tried to distinguish between the two, he tried to divide these parts of his life like a before and after section of a book, dissected and analyzed each and every foggy memory. And yet he still couldn’t quite decide, not with the chapters of history behind them.

He had decided that the significance of a relationship does not end after the relationship itself does. It lives on whether anybody likes it or not, and even if he had decided to hate her and to reject her from his life she had still changed him. He had tried the route of hating her and had failed miserably; the only person to blame was himself. So instead he had decided to accept what had occurred and move on with it. This plan had been foolproof until Rika had shown up at his doorstep asking for a place to stay. Truthfully, Jihyun had been torn himself in regards of his love towards her. As time went on, it became harder and harder to distinguish if he did still love her or not. Jumin’s only advice had been brief, with a voice dipped in exasperation at the topic: You’re old enough to do as you please, but if you truly want my insight I’d say any effort to salvage your former relationship is fruitless.

And Jihyun had something good going for him, too. He had met MC who had treated him with every ounce of kindness she had at her disposal. He liked her, it had been rather obvious to Jumin as they had a conversation over a glass of wine… then again, Jumin knew Jihyun before he knew himself. Jihyun would have been lying if the thought hadn’t come across his mind before--asking her on a proper date--but he never really mustered up the courage to. And now, he wasn’t sure what he wanted at all.

Deep down inside he was still holding out hope for Rika. Maybe her being back from Alaska was a sign that she was ready again, that she had changed… that maybe, a second’s time was the charm. If they tried hard enough, maybe they could work out. No matter what Jihyun did, he could never fully separate himself from Rika, and he couldn’t really decide if it was a dependency or true love. No matter what she did, he always gravitated back to her… and he lost sense of gravity around her. The longer he spent with her, the harder it had been to distinguish between right and wrong.

But after eavesdropping over a certain conversation, his daydreams would simply remain daydreams. He had managed to space out in the call he was taking with Rui and had heard the entire last half of MC’s conversation with Rika… possibly it was intuition that made Jihyun start listening, he didn’t know. But what he did know is that MC made a rather hasty exit towards Jumin’s, and Jihyun had let her go. What right did he have to stop her?

He wasn’t sure what to make of Rika exactly; her intentions coming back were nothing but welcomed. Maybe it was true that he wanted her back but not like this. He wasn’t even sure of what he wanted and he had just hurt someone because of it. Once Rui bid him farewell over the phone, Jihyun was left standing at the entrance of his own home, staring into the rain. He felt disappointed in himself. 

What are you going to do? He asked himself. However his heart was far ahead of his own head– before he could quite comprehend it himself, he was pulling his phone out again to call MC.

MC waved a hand towards Jumin as she walked into her guest room to answer the call. Somehow, her hopes seemed to have gone up seeing his caller ID on her phone. Maybe, just maybe…

“Hi.” She breathed into the phone with an attempt to be nonchalant, but her voice was strained and stuck in her throat. Why was he calling? The silence was momentary, a cough heard from his end of the line before he spoke again. “I was just going to ask if you made it to Jumin’s safe.”

Of course he would call for that reason. MC felt slightly ashamed thinking that it had become anything more. He was just checking up on her because he was nice. That was all. “And I’m sorry about tonight. I should’ve said something in advance, but I just got caught up in our conversation. I’d like to ask if I could make it up to you.”

Make it up to me, she thought pensively. She had so many questions and none of them could be asked due to the nature of their relationship. She felt as if she didn’t have the right to, not even being so much as his girlfriend or so much as sharing a kiss to give her the rights. Instead, MC could only support whatever his choices would be… even if that meant going back to Rika.

“That’s thoughtful, but you don’t have anything to make up to me. It’s not my business anyways.” She spoke with a evenness that would make even Jumin himself proud. Careful digits played with the hem of her shirt as if to ease some of the tension. She would not be reduced to a weepy heroine who would wait for a man. Not in a million years. She could take care of herself alone and her only weakness was an awful habit of drifting too far into a universe built of “what-ifs”.

“Well… I’d feel bad if I didn’t. Call it a celebratory occasion, a ‘Congratulations to the end of your disappointing relationship’.” His chuckle bled through the phone and it proved contagious, provoking a small smile to reach her lips as well. She’d consider it. “Okay. I’ll be making the demands since this is my celebration, and I demand you buy me a coffee… maybe some fries if we’re feeling wild.”

There was a momentary pause before he spoke. You could feel his smile from the other end of the line. “You have yourself a deal.”

Jumin was swiveling his wine with a smug grin when MC appeared back into the room. “You look happy.” He mumbled before taking a large sip of his wine. She didn’t need to answer him; he already knew why. A hand reached out for her own glass of wine as she sat back on the couch next to him. His softened steely eyes had been fixated on Elizabeth the Third who was leisurely prowling around the kitchen counter.

“You would be a great benefit to him, I hope you’re aware of that.” He did not take his eyes off Elizabeth. “Judging from how he acts around you, I’d say you’ve taken his interest. He speaks highly of you.” Despite the nature of the topic, Jumin’s tone had imposed the feeling that he was leading a board meeting that MC was eavesdropping into.

Somehow, she was far more bothered by Jihyun than the man who had kicked her out of his car only a handful of hours ago; and what did that say about her? Jumin’s words bounced around the confines of her head, and while he didn’t say much it was already saying enough if it came from Jumin. She didn’t even know if Jihyun wanted her or not but she still had him in her thoughts like a lovesick teen. It was a shameful feeling to be this excited about a simple coffee date. Her sentiment had been interrupted again by a buzz from her phone. The RFA messenger notification lit up the screen with a message from Zen. Jumin was already on his phone, tapping away into the chatroom.

ZEN: MC is where?!

JUMIN: I thought I had already answered this question. She’s at my penthouse.

ZEN: Keep your grubby hands to yourself, trust fund. I don’t trust you in the slightest bit.

ZEN: Why couldn’t you just send her home like a gentleman?

JUMIN: She requested to stay with me. I don’t see why you’re so upset over this. Would you like to take her place?

ZEN: NO! What the hell?! You should have sent her home, it’s this late at night and she’s with you of all people! She would have been better off with me.

When she looked over at Jumin, he was enjoying himself with the same smug grin she had been greeted with. There was something comforting in all of this, despite all the events that had conspired in the night. Jumin’s cold and spacey home suddenly felt homey and familiar with the interactions in the RFA messenger and Jumin’s grin and Elizabeth the Third brushing against MC’s calves. It felt like this is where she belonged and where she was supposed to be. 

“I told you this was a celebratory situation, did I not?” Jihyun’s voice rang clear as MC took a seat in the cafe, her eyes fixated on a small light brown box that had a bakery’s logo emblazoned on the top. He broke into a small chuckle to enjoy his own joke. MC lifted the top to reveal a small circular cake that read “Congratulations” in red gel over the top. The smile that had reached her face couldn’t have been stopped even if she tried.

“Right then, so where’s my gift?” MC bantered with a brow raised. His eyes went from the cake to MC. “Me myself and I, and maybe some fries later.”

She wasn’t going to say no to that. Despite what had occurred only two days before, everything always seemed calm between the two. The tension had been dissipated by coffee and laughter and eyes glinted in the tiny cafe they sat at, chatting away at whatever came across worthy of speaking about. Everything felt possible around Jihyun, from him talking about trips to Ibiza and Los Angeles and the wild stories he’d engross you in almost made it feel like a shared memory between the two. Jihyun Kim had been a force of nature himself who conquered with kindness, and it was what made him so appealing to everyone. He introduced people to his world and it was a beautiful place to be. He could talk to anyone about anything and even if he knew nothing about it, he could conjure up something to say about it. He almost seemed unreal, and she had to recall to herself the moment when she had first met him to reassure herself that he was.

His blue hair and gentle voice and soft eyes and comfy cardigan made him a welcoming figure to her. His eyes held a rare ability that could instantly reassure you of every choice you’ve ever made. His smile was something else entirely, an entity that people wrote about and sang about and talked about. It was understanding and caring and loving for all the right reasons and it gave you the predisposition to do whatever was possible to see it again. She saw him clearly through the crowd of people at her first RFA party with that same smile on his face and hearty chuckle as he spoke with Rui over a glass of champagne. When she finally got to speak with him, he had already given her compliments on her dress and how successful the party was even though she knew he could hardly see at the time with his eyesight. They already spoke as if they were longtime friends, and she had to remind herself even then that she had only spoken to him a handful of times on the messenger.

MC was, to put it lightly, enchanted with him. They had barely been quiet a moment as they sipped away at their coffee and bit away at the celebratory cake, enraptured in their own conversation filled with laughter and poorly crafted jokes that only they would find funny. When their coffee cups became empty cups and the cake had disappeared into their stomachs, neither had hardly noticed that they’d been sitting in the cafe for over two hours simply just talking. As they left the cafe, Jihyun and MC walked side by side again, basking in the sunlight that was beginning to lower itself into the horizon. “The golden hour is arriving.” He announced suddenly, eyes squinted and fixated on the sun. He didn’t take his eyes away and simply kept staring onwards. “Do you mind if we check out the sunset? I might want to get a few shots in of the sky.”

And of course MC couldn’t say no to that as Jihyun and her had driven up the hills to a view that overlooked the entire city. When he had gotten out of the car, he already had his camera in hand and was snapping away as the sun began to sink behind skyscrapers that now seemed minuscule to them. MC followed as he leaned against the railing to get better angles. He looked fervent in his attempts to get the perfect shot of the skyscrapers, the sky, and the small clouds that loomed above them; she swore he had never looked so peaceful. 

The wind billowed above their heads and tousled their hair considerably as Jihyun had been so focused on taking pictures that he didn’t realize his hair was getting tangled from the wind. He seemed so comfortable in this new environment, as if this was where he was supposed to be and how he was supposed to be --- something like his natural habitat. She remembered seeing so many of his photos in different parts of the world with different landscapes and environments, to where she suddenly thought that she would be willing to go with him and see him like this in every part of the world if he allowed her. He looked so awestruck with his brows raised and his eyes glimmering and his fingers curled around his large camera, and she realized that he himself was as photo worthy as the breathtaking shots he took.

It felt too quick before the sun had disappeared into the ground and they were left with a darkening blue sky that had hints of purple and red and pink scattered around. The sun was gone, just enough for the stars to shine. The moon became more prominent as the sun had began its descent and now it had shone proudly in the sky along with the stars. She hadn’t noticed that Jihyun was no longer taking pictures as well, but instead standing next to her with the same awestruck expression. Suddenly, his hand had taken hers and she returned her attention back to the world before realizing that Jihyun’s face was far closer than it was before. He wasn’t staring at the sky anymore, either.

[weliveourdream]

Hola everyone.

Not to be dramatic or anything, but what I’m going to tell you today is something I would have never thought I’d ever be able to write down and tell the world. Never. And I’m not exaggerating. To keep the tension up a bit, I’m not gonna tell you all of it just now, but as you can see by the title, it has got something to do with my beloved Minnesota boys, also known as the amazing band Hippo Campus. And yes, it indeed includes me seeing them live. FINALLY. But let’s start right at the beginning.

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So, as most of you guys will probably know by now, I am a huuuuuge fan of Hippo Campus. I won’t go into detail why, because it’s pretty obvious once you listen to their music. Frankly, they are one of the best bands out there right now and their talent is basically unreal, so yeah. They are currently receiving more and more attention, which I’m honestly so happy about. They deserve all of it and so much more.

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Last year, they pretty much blew my mind with their new record ‘Bambi’ (here’s the review I wrote about it – click me) and to be honest, if TOP hadn’t released Trench in 2018 as well, Hippo’s LP would have been my favourite album of the year, by far. It’s just a work of art, it truly is. And so when I found out that they would be doing a show here in Brighton, I basically freaked out. I mean, they aren’t as big in the UK as they are in the US and they would never come to my country, not when they’re still so unknown there, so I wasn’t actually expecting to ever see them live. I didn’t expect it to be that easy, at least. I thought I’d have to fly to the US and see them there or whatever. But they decided to come to me and I’m still so happy about it.

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So, you probably already know where this is heading by now. Last Sunday was the day. THE DAY. The day I had been waiting for for such a long time. And oh my god, the wait was so worth it. And I’m not just saying this because I’m such a huge fan, I’m saying it because it’s true: the show was literally perfect. And I still can’t get over their talent. I mean, just when you think about all the different instruments and musical abilities they bring together on stage – one trumpet, two drums, two basses, two guitars, one piano, one tambourine and fire vocals on top of that. And there are just five of them who all do this. I mean, honestly, how much more can you wish for? That’s exactly the reason why they are so unique and why their shows are this good. They just absolutely know what they’re doing and you can feel that.

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About the show itself – besides it being absolutely fantastic – I basically got to the full thing, as I managed to get to front row (yes, I’m very proud of that, thank you very much). They played Bambi, the title track, as their very first song, which kind of surprised me, as it’s one of their biggest songs, but I didn’t mind at all. And after that, they stuck to a good mix between older and new songs, which was just perfect. And I didn’t really think it was possible, but they really are so much better live than on the studio versions. By which I obviously mean that the studio versions are so good that I never thought that they could even top that. But they can and they did. And I guess it was also just the atmosphere overall and their stage presence. You could really see how much they enjoy doing what they do and that made me so happy.

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If I had to pin down my favourite moments of the whole show, I think I’d end up with the following three:

First of all, they played Monsoon, which is basically unbeatable. It’s the first song I ever heard by them – I can still see myself sitting at home in the kitchen and finding the live version on YouTube and listening to it over and over again with my eyes closed. And after all this time, it’s still my favourite. So when they played it, I was immediately thrown back to that very moment in the kitchen and then I watched them play it and then the tears kept coming and I just let them. It was such a magical moment. Most of the people next to me had closed their eyes during the song, which I did too, and you could really feel how calm and emotional everyone had suddenly become. It was absolutely beautiful.

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And a few songs after that they played Violet, which is my favourite song right now. It’s just so much fun, so when they played it, I went full party mode and sang and screamed my heart out. I felt so alive and happy and it was then that I realized that this was really happening. And I was so grateful at that moment, for everything.

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And last but not least, my third favourite moment has to be one including Zach (what a surprise). He’s their bassist and v v v cute, but I’m not gonna go into more detail. But the scene was that inbetween two songs, girls were screaming “I love you” at Jake (the lead singer) and suddenly Zach just had had enough. So he went up to the mic and said: “Do you actually have an idea how it makes the rest of us feel when you scream things like that at Jake? I mean, what about the rest of us? How do you think this makes-“. And BAMM, suddenly a whole bunch of pink roses hit his face. I literally couldn’t stop laughing. And in the process he had caught one and was just standing there, holding the rose to his face, looking a bit startled. And then he smiled and said: “Oh okay, I feel better now.” And I felt like I’d faint on the spot. It was all just too much cuteness for me to handle.

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So, there you go, those are my favourite moments of the show. But let’s be honest, the entire show was just one big favourite moment. One that I’ll never ever forget. I’ve been looking through a few pics and videos I took during the show and their talent really is unreal. I kept watching Nathan (the lead guitarist) during the show and he’s just so incredible. All of them are. And they’re just very cool and lovely people. Which brings me to the one super crazy thing that I never thought I’d be able to tell you that I mentioned at the beginning of this post. I’m not going to go into any detail, but I just want to say it now so it’s out there in the world for me to read when I’m old and want to look back at all the incredible things I’ve done. So, here it comes: I didn’t get to front row because I was waiting outside the venue, but because I got interview the boys before their show and then watch the soundcheck and wait there until the gig. And I know, it’s basically the biggest deal of my career so far – and apart from some family and friends stuff and moving to Brighton also the biggest one of my life – and I still can’t believe that it really happened. Like I said, I don’t wanna go into detail, but I just want to say that they are incredibly nice and real and honest and inspiring people and I’ll forever be grateful for the way they treated me. In a nutshell, it was one of the most interesting, fascinating and fun chats I’ve ever had in my life and probably ever have. I honestly adore them so much.

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And this is where this post comes to an end. To be honest, I still cannot believe how lucky I am, I feel like I’m in some sort of trance. You know this feeling when something so big happens that you start to question whether you’re dreaming or it is really happening? This is what the past days have felt like, especially Sunday. Honestly, my life has become a dream and I’m living that exact dream. And I can’t even begin to tell you how thankful I am for that. I feel like the luckiest and happiest person on earth. Always believe in your dreams, guys. Always.

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For all of you music lovers out there, if you take one thing from this, then please be it that you need to listen to this fantastic band called Hippo Campus and that you need to see them live immediately. Like, right now. Trust me, you won’t regret it. I’ve already reached the post-concert-sadness, which is why I’m already looking for a way to see them again as quick as possible. And you should all do the same.

And yeah, until then I hope you’re doing good and wish you an amazing weekend. As always, I hope you enjoyed this post and if you’ve got any questions or thoughts, please don’t hesitate to leave them down below. And, of course, thanks for reading. x

.

A Hippo Campus Dream Hola everyone. Not to be dramatic or anything, but what I'm going to tell you today is something I would have never thought I'd ever be able to write down and tell the world.

[worldwrestlingfanatic]

Classic Review: WrestleMania 21

Now that we're officially on the road to wrestlemania I thought it would be neat to review some retro pay-per-views. Personally this is one of my favorite wrestlemania's of all time, so let's get started...

Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio

The night starts with the current smackdown tag team champions going one on one. Just a year earlier Eddie Guerrero was in a classic match against Kurt Angle for the WWE Undisputed Championship and this year, he opens the show with real life close friend, Rey Mysterio. While at times it can feel like the match was kinda slowly paced, this is truly a great wrestling match to start the show featuring two of the very best to ever set foot in a ring. Up to this point the story is Eddie Guerrero has achieved so much in his career, but he hasn't beaten Rey Mysterio. So a desperate Eddie Guerrero attempts to do all he can to add the name Rey Mysterio to the long list of legendary superstars that he beat. A lot of great near falls but ultimately, Rey Mysterio picks up the win with a roll up. Perfect storytelling to end the match. When it comes to this rivalry it perfectly shows how Eddie is always within inches of pulling off the win but cant quite do it. Perfect way to start the show.

Money In The Bank Ladder Match: Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit vs. Christian vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Edge vs. Kane

The first money in the bank ladder match ever and this truly did not disappoint. Just look at the names involved, there was no way this match could fail. Its hard to keep track of all the big spots in this match, so you'll have to either take my word for it or check it out on the WWE network, this match was awesome. Ultimately Edge gets the win here after hitting Chris Benoit off the ladder with a chair. I remember being surprised at the outcome my first time ever seeing this but, honestly, for the first ever winner of the money in the bank ladder match, it was the perfect choice.

Undertaker vs. Randy Orton

Just listening to Randy talk in the video package played before the match reminds me just how charismatic he was, how he had a passion for what he was saying and what he was doing. He was a young, top star at the time and for good reason, no matter what he did, it was great. Plus with his legend killer gimmick and his cocky attitude, Randy Orton was an obvious pick to be the man to challenge Undertakers undefeated streak at this year's wrestlemania. At the end, it was Undertaker who gets the win here. It was the right choice to have Taker go over and I'm not upset at the decision but can you imagine if Randy Orton won this match? The legend killer gimmick, the heat he would've had moving forward. This loss didn't make Orton lose any momentum but if he did win, that would've been massive for Orton at this stage in his career and the character he was portraying. This was also a pretty fast paced match, which is refreshing to see, an Undertaker that can keep up with his opponent. I mean no disrespect at all, its impressive that he even still can step in the ring today, old age is just something that happens to all of us and with old age comes not being able to move as quickly or efficiently as you used to. All I'm saying is, seeing Taker be able to keep up with a young Randy Orton is a nice sight to see.

Trish Stratus (c) vs. Christy Hemme

I didn't care too much for this match. Did WWE, honestly? We know today some female wrestlers can easily outperform some of the male talent but that certainly cant be said for WWE's diva division during the ruthless aggression era. You had a couple gems like Trish Stratus and Lita but Christy Hemme just was not ready to compete for the title, against one of the top female talent, on the companies biggest show of the year. I don't remember if Lita was coming off an injury at the time it should've just been trish vs. Lita. Lita was in Christy's corner and already had an old rivalry with Trish that could have been reignited but Christy was the cover girl for playboy at the time and sex sales so I guess from a money making standpoint the choice was clear who they had to go with to compete for the divas title. It felt like WWE treated its women like the fans did at the time, the restroom break of the show. Trish won by the way, but with a match with so little thought put behind it, does it matter?

Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels

This match was absolutely incredible. Two of wrestlings absolute best going one on one in a wrestlemania classic and this match lived up to the hype and so much more. Really, I'm not just overhyping this match, if you haven't seen this match, it is an absolute must watch, these guys made every minute they were given count. The fierceness in Kurt Angle and the resilience of Shawn Michaels made for one of the best matches probably ever. The chemistry between these two was unreal, even if you have seen this match its deserving of a second, third and even fourth rewatch. Kurt Angle gets the win in this match but both men left this match looking even better then they did coming into it and honestly, isn't that the indication of a great match?

Sumo Match: Akebono vs. Big Show

I guess WWE needed a "fun" and "cool" and "unique" moment for wrestlemania. But up to this point we've seen segments including Hulk Hogan, Rowdy Piper, and Stone Cold Steve Austin so this just kinda comes off as another bathroom break moment. Kind of a boring segment to be honest. This time could have been used to give some other superstars some screen time.

JBL (c) vs. John Cena

First off, the buildup to this match was incredible, all the best feuds feel personal and just watching the video package before the match, this felt personal. Watching this feud build up on a week to week basis had to be some of the most interesting storytelling in recent years. JBL may not have been the greatest wrestler ever but that man can talk with a cockiness and intensity unlike most today. Plus you had John Cena still doing his rapper gimmick. In my opinion Cena was doing some of his best work ever during this time. He had an edge to him when he spoke, a hunger in him to get to the top and he wasn't going to let anyone get in his way. I'm a fan of this John Cena. Unfortunately the match didn't really live up though. Pretty slow paced and one sided for the most part. This was Cena's first Undisputed Championship victory though and the celebration was fun to watch. Him jumping in the crowd and overall just losing himself in the moment. Its small things like jumping over the barricade and celebrating with the fans after a title win that superstars dont do anymore and its just nice to see someone actually celebrate winning a title they worked hard to get to, you know, being happy your hard work finally paid off, crazy right? This win started the John Cena dynasty though. We know him today as the guy who tied Ric Flairs record for most major titles won and this is where it all began. The ride to get here was fun to watch since he debuted back in 2002, the hype to the match was great and the celebration was fun to watch. I just wish the match was a little better.

2005 Hall of Fame Inductees: "Cowboy" Bob Orton, Nikolai Volkoff, Iron Sheik, Paul Orndorff, Jimmy Hart, "Rowdy" Roddy Pipper (RIP), Hulk Hogan.

Triple H (c) vs. Batista

Firstly, if I was booking the break down of evolution I would've put Randy Orton in this position. I like Batista and this wasn't a bad match, I just feel Randy was the first one to get screwed over by Triple H after he won the world title back at SummerSlam so I would've liked to see it all come full circle and Randy win the title back in the main event of the biggest show the company has to offer. I would've went as far as to keep Batista apart of evolution for a little while longer before feuding with Triple H. But that didn't happen and all I can do is talk about what actually happened. Some get upset about Triple H holding the title for as long as he did and beating the talent that he beat but I dont mind it, its what the world title needed at the time. Triple H was the first world champion since WWE decided to bring it over from WCW to make it raws main title so you have to put some prestige on it and solidify it as a title worth winning. Triple H was on the weekly shows every week, could cut an amazing promo and could put on a great match. Triple H is exactly what the world title needed. Triple H bled and he bled alot in this match. I know blood isn't need to have a great match but it does have some added intensity. It says alot about a match, a championship and a rivalry. It says "I'm willing to bleed and give everything I have to offer to put on a good match, I'm willing to go through anything I have to in order to win or retain this championship". It was fairly back and forth but it felt like Batista got in the majority of the offense which is odd because typically you'd expect the current champion to get in most of the offense and the challenger have a big comeback near the end to signify he went through a beating but hes still standing because this match means too much to lose. But, it was triple H taking most of the beating. Like I said, he bled and bled alot. Batista ended up getting the win and earning his first major wwe title. We all know now how good Batista but like I said, at the time I would've given the shot to Orton. In my opinion at the time he was better on the mic and in the ring. Batista was no slouch, he could talk and he could work but I think he could have benefited from keeping the title off him for just a little while longer. Maybe wait until next years wrestlemania or that years SummerSlam? But what's done is done and the match was entertaining and seeing a young star come out on top is always a good way to end a wrestlemania.

Pros: Money in the Bank, Undertaker v. Randy Orton, Kurt Angle v. Shawn Michaels

Cons: Trish Stratus v. Christy Hemme, Sumo Match

From what I saw the good outweighed the bad by a ton. As good as the show was I was believe it was still missing alot. There was no tag team title match, united states title match or intercontinental title match. I don't even remember who held those titles at the time but there certainly could've been some segments and matches that could've been shortened or scrapped to make room for all the champions to get some screen time. This was the first pay-per-view I ever ordered and watched live so when I say this one of my favorite wrestlemania's of all time it's because it holds a special place in my heart. I definitely recommend checking the pay-per-view out if you haven't seen it and have the spare time, it's a fun watch with some great matches

Final rating: 4/5

[laurenborrelli]

Lekkerrrr

When I moved to Boston 3 years ago, I got a text within my first 48 hours saying Kate and Daniel had booked a trip to visit the following weekend.  The weekend of their visit, I distinctly remember Dan telling me he was interested in applying to University of Pittsburgh because of their study abroad program in Cape Town, South Africa.  And then 3 years later he was attending that program through Pitt and I booked a flight to visit!

Dan is my childhood neighbor and 5 years younger.  So I had to mentally prepare to be around kids that were barely 21 years old...AND tackle it as my first semi-solo trip.  Not to mention I was able to use credit card points and fly for FREE!

Itinerary:

Wednesday, November 29th 2017:  My flight departed Boston in the evening and I arrived at my layover destination in the AM.  With a 9 hour layover in Munich, I ventured outside the airport to the Christkindlmarkt in the city center.  With a full belly of sausage, one (ok two) gluhwein, and new cashmere scarf to keep me warm during the snowfall, I headed back to the airport nice and tired.  Topping off with more hefeweizen (best type of beer to drink solo!) at the airport, I at least boarded verrrry sleepy for my 12 hour flight to Cape Town.

Friday: FINALLY arrived in South Africa around lunch time!  Since Dan’s semester had just ended, the school let us stay there for a crazy affordable price.  Would have been good to know that before we booked the airbnb in CBD...(theme with 21 y/o’s lol).  A couple dead cockroaches in the kitchen and no central wifi BUT I had an incredible view of table mountain from my bedroom window.  We spent most of this day booking tours / airbnb’s for the rest of the trip.

Saturday: We went to the Woodstock Market in the late morning.  Half is local food vendors and the other half is local artists selling jewelry, household goods, clothes, you name it!  Oh yeah and there was a DJ in the center right next to an aperol spritz station.  I mean...what could be more perfect?!? Started with an amazing pour over and some stuff avocado.  Then moved on to a spritz while I bought some awesome jewelry and a vegan leather clutch.  I could have stayed here alllll day!  And i probably spent less then $30 USD total.  Then we headed to the central business district (CBD) to check out the Company’s Gardens.  It is a beautiful public with a really awesome natural irrigation system for their vegetation.  AND super cool mega sized whicker baskets as swings and tree houses.  We grabbed fresh Juice on Long Street and ordered flights to try from brewery Beerhouse.  A quick freshen up and we grabbed dinner on the waterfront meet up with some of his friend’s.

Sunday: Dan was super sweet in arranging a day to hang to check out the newly finished Zeitz Contemporary Museum of Art!  It’s superrrr sick - a restored grain factory turned into museum.  Concrete was cast around the old silos, which created a traditional deceiving form on the exterior.  While the interior is just the reverse - a HUGE curvilinear entrance with a skeleton of a pterodactyl very Game of Thrones like in the center.  A guy who worked in Dan’s study abroad office was a recent architecture grade from the University of Cape Town - so he joined us on our day of touring architecture!  In fact, he is the one that told me there was a bit of an uproar of a British architect being selected for Africa’s first contemporary art museum.  The attention to detail and design was immaculate in the city - makes it hard to believe there were no African-based architecture offices that couldn’t have tackled the challenge... We then checked out the watershed project.  It’s an old industrial boat storage facility turned host for local artist vendors on the ground floor and communal “we work” style offices on teh second floor.  Once again, a SUPER cool space!!!  (BTW - this will be the theme of my architecture comments for this trip).  The enclosed food market next door was a perfect stop for lunch.  After walking around the waterfront some more, we made our way over to Camp’s Bay to watch the sunset.  This area reminded me a lot of Southern California w/o the prices plus mountains in the background.  Truly it was the most stunning sunsets I have ever enjoyed (and wth a spritz too!).  Quite possibly my favorite day in Cape Town of the trip!!

Monday: It was a big weekend of activities for Dan so he slept in while I wandered around a bit on my own!  Started with trying the world’s strongest cup of coffee at Haas Coffee (great I would only need one cup this morning!).  Then went to the District Six Museum - which is a museum dedicated to the district segregated and then bull-dozed down during apartheid.  Really heartbreaking but an excellent intro to how it has only been 50 years since this epidemic happened!  To put into perspective, my parents were born before this happened (sorry for the age exposure mom and dad)! I then grabbed lunch and took the scenic route from the V/A Waterfront allll the way down to Clifton Beach.  Stunning views, beautiful weather, and a good opportunity to see what South Africa’s non-working people are doing along the water at this time of day.  They consisted of surfers, mothers and sitters pushing kids in strollers, LOTS of people running or roller blading, and a handful of “lookers” that suddenly stop what they are doing when you walk by.  The beach is tucked between a bunch of wealthy homes in a pretty private location.  A great spot to water-color the ocean crashing into seals on the rocks beyond!  After much relaxing, I headed home for a quick change before Dan and I headed to hike Lion’s Head at sunset.  An easy hike but the views are stunninggggg.  Ended the evening with take-out of a Cape Town quintessential BFA (bacon feta avocado) pizza.

Tuesday: Walked to grab coffee in the nearby neighborhood of Rondebosch and then took a car to the beautiful, traditional Bo-Kaap neighborhood!  Vividly painted stucco buildings line the streets and are very well preserved amongst the expanding urbanism surrounds.  We took a cooking class with Cape Malay cuisine.  The culture descends from Southeast Asian, but brought to Cape Town through the Dutch Indian Trade Company.  So the cuisine has a interested blend of all three cultures - deep curry flavors with just enough spice for white people to tolerate LOL.  Great day learning more about the history and making amazing, brand-new dishes!  With very full bellies and a very strong sun overhead, we noodled to Camp’s Bay beach with a handful of Dan’s classmates.  They were a bit of a handful and we had to lay on every piece of clothing so it wouldn’t get swept up in the immense ocean wind, but the views were stunning!  We ended the night with trivia at a local bar.  Luckily we had a couple South Africans on our team, so they were able to help us answer “what is the most played African song in foreign films.”

Wednesday: Dan and I headed to CBD to pick up a rental car for our trip outside of the city!  We drove along swerve-y, cliffy edge road from Camps Bay, down through Hout Bay, down to the Cape of Good Hope!  It’s basically a national park with...wild baboons roaming around!  We went to the lighthouse at the Cape Peninsula and it was so windy I was scared to take my phone out in case it would fly away!  Awesome perspective of the peninsula if you had a strong enough grip of the railing surrounding you!!  I did a bit of hiking around the rocky cliffs while Dan and his friend Allie took lots of selfies around the water.  We then checked into out ocean-front apartment  in St. James that was so. freaking. BEAUTIFUL!  Unreal views, unreal price, unreal sunsets/sunrises.  Even got to see whales breaching form the balcony!!  We finished the day by grabbing dinner and drinks from the great restaurant Tiger’s Milk in Muizenberg.

Thursday: I started with a sunrise run along a beautiful ocean-front path that went right by all the morning surfers in Muizenberg and the super man-made formed but naturally resourced ocean pools in St. James.  We then hopped in the car for a morning snorkeling with seals, to only find the currents and wind were too strong. :(  Instead we headed to check out the legendary warm-weather penguins at Boulders Beach.  I grabbed some coffee, and a meat/cheese delicious hot-pocket style snack for lunch, and we headed the immaculate Noordhoek Beach.  Bright white sand, turquoise water with minimal waves - never seen a more beautiful beach!  So stunning and barren, for some very strange reason...maybe the large number of horse flies?  LOL despite getting swarmed it was so hard to not want to get swallowed up in the beautiful vista.  Even if I did leave with over twenty bites on my legs alone.  We headed home and while those two napped, I walked down to check out the shopping in Kalk Bay.  Also shops and the store owners were all super friendly - one woman’s husband photographs architecture professionally!  After stirring them awake we headed to Muizenberg to watch the surfers at sunset and check out the infamous painted beach shacks. We bounced around at a couple out door bars before ending up at the great Tiger’s Milk.

Friday: Another sunrise run and yoga on the deck.  I grabbed coffee at the super cute shop blonde + beard in Muizenberg, then we jumped in the car to head back to Cape Town.  We moved into a different university student housing buildling upon our return...and this is the point where I decided it was worth spending the money for a nice apartment not in the college area of the city.  We went to a natural watering hole only known to locals/students.  Amazing views of table mountain and the water was super clean and hella refreshing.  We grabbed dinner at an Indian restaurant close by then headed to drinks at Yours Truly on Kloof Street.  My. Favorite. Bar. HANDS DOWN!  Different DJ each level, awesome craft brews and cocktails, beautiful string lights and plants climbing up the terraces, super funky furniture, and people rocking all different trendy outfits.  Dan’s friends felt out of place but I freaking loved it!!  Finally I caved with how much they were itching to leave, and we grabbed Italian food down the block.  We then stopped at their favorite 21 y/o hangout sgt pepper on Long Street and I hung on the smoker’s deck with Dan while his friends had a couple items stolen from them on the sweaty dance floor.

Saturday: Time for our wine tour!  $60 for a round-trip bus to the infamous wine town of Stellenbosch. Tasting #1 included an array of cheese.  Tasting #2 was in a beautiful outdoor garden.  Tasting #3 tour of a cute farm where we tried wine from the syringe!  Plus a fullll traditional braai (barbeque).  Tasting #4 tiny little private winery.  Tasting #5 pairing with Chocolate!  Best part was bonding with everyone else on our tour!!  An american couple on grad school holiday, an older couple with one descendent of Upper Saint Clair, super cool British couple my age, older British couple who have travel to 80% of the world, and a British dad with his daughter about my age who works in an art gallery.  Great convos about how crazy Trump is but it humanized the U.S. to not be this great country anymore, to why haven’t I signed up to do bungee jumping yet, to you are crazy for staying with a bunch of 21 y/o’s up until now!  Left with lots of souvenirs and great memories!!  Brought my stuff to my new adorable apartment downtown and crashed during the sunset while watching elf on Netflix.

Sunday: Headed out solo to grab coffee/breakfast and then check out the Castle of Good Hope.  Strangely enough there was a cross fit competition taking place in the main courtyard, so that was a bit entertaining to peak at in between taking in all the history.  It was a dutch fort along the East India Trate Route to Indonesia - but more specifically acted as the home base during teh British invasions.  Free tours are given by of the military museum and the inter-workings of the castle which turned out to be very light and engaging!  I think picked Dan up and we went to the Kirstenbosch botanical gardens.  Amazing variety of wildlife here and a good chance to hang with Dan one-on-one.  We went to Moju Market and drove by a crowd letting out for the Springbok Rugby game.  Now those fans where some crazy costumes!  The market was superrrr lekker (va bene in Afrikaan).  There was a station for trendy oysters, a “salad bae” stand, local wines shop, curry shop - everything plus an elevated ocean view.  Awesome way to fuel up before Dan and I conquered a Table Mountain hike the next day.

Monday: I grabbed breakfast at the adorable Skinny Legs cafe and then coffee and beans at Origin Coffee Roastery.  Both make my mouth water thinking about them (and their beautiful interiors too!).  Then when to meet Dan at Kirstenbosch, where the beginning of our hike up Table Mountain began.  Started pretty steep, up wooden ladders in woodsy areas.  At the top we stumbled upon a completely barren water source.  It looked to be a collection spot for a small reservoir.  The water was unnaturally a rainbow gradient and was in a bit of a small canyon - making it seem like people were going to jump out at any moment like the hunger games.  We randomly heard a siren here too, making us jumping in our pants even more!  We then continued along the top of table which is mostly huge boulders - but it started to get windier.  We soon found that it was too windy at the top for the gondola to take us down!  So we had to bare the exposed edge by foot!  This was seriously soooo hard because any time we would hear a huge wind gust coming, we would have to duck and hold onto any possible branch around us.  Took a while it felt such a  rush of accomplishment as we ate at an Indian buffet afterwards!

Friday: Last day!  My flight was leaving in the evening, so i tried to squeeze in as much as I could!  Morning at Clifton Beach then lunch of mussels and a glass of chenin blanc at the waterfront with Dan.  Was able to do a little shopping at the artist in the waterfront too - most sold awesome sustainable home goods too!  Probably did the most shopping / consuming of good food/drink this trip - but thats because it was all my style, amazing flavors, accessible, and reallllly affordable!  I’m already counting this as one of my top 3 favorite cities and I can’t wait to go back and visit!!!

What brought me excitement:

Design Aesthetic: Yes the city is BUMPING with architecture, both new and old.  Now this may sound crazy, but when i walked into a basic enterprise office in the CBD, something struck me.  I followed the datum of the square floor tile, that then aligned with the line of small stair landing, that then aligned with the rectangular wall base, that then aligned wth the curtainwall mullion.  MY JOB IS TO ALIGN FINISHES FOR A MUSEUM!  How do these simple alignments just happen in the least design conscious interior spaces?! Still blows my mind the attention to detail and craft the culture just exudes.  And it is oh so clear in every interior of every store, restaurant, coffee shop, boutique, refurbished space.  Really inspiring as someone in the design field!!  Nothing boujee or over the top either, all very minimalist, modern, simple, earthy designs - amazing!

Cultural Blend: My first day at the beach, there were a bunch of middle school age kids that all playing soccer together.  A girl in a hijab kicking a ball to a blonde haired boy kicking to a black boy .  The integration of the future generation was so heart-warming to see it made my eyes ACTUALLY well up!  I’m not kidding too!!  It’s location is an ideal spot for not just europeans on holiday, but a great stretch of immigrants from the middle east and asian as well!  I can’t wait to come back in just 5 years and see how progressive it will be!!

What left me uneasy:

White Guilt: Learning how recent apartheid and many racist epidemics had occurred, it really left a sinking feeling in my stomach.  I felt guilt vacationing here because I didn’t want any locals (no matter their ethnicity) to feel like I was taken advantage of their home.  I didn’t want it to seem like I had some money to spend so I was creating a larger economic divide and taking anything away from the locals.  It was probably the biggest guilt I have ever felt, even though it wasn’t me personally who had done those hurtful injustices.  But it is up to me to stand up for those that are still getting hurt today.  It certainly empowered me to not bat an eye and turn a shoulder when something is happening you don’t believe in.

Water Crisis:  At first I was wondering why toilet’s in the student housing were never flushed!  Then i realized it was to preserve water.  They were in a serious crisis and I didn’t fully understand it still we were at our airbnb in St. James.  I remember standing at the sink washing my hands, looking straight ahead at the 180 degree ocean view.  After drying my hands, I stepped on the balcony to take in the view even more.  A line of people about 100′ away caught my eye and I realized they were waiting at a public water source.  The government has shut down water to certain neighborhoods - unfairly.  These people weren’t stumbling out of overcrowded buses - they were coming with buckets out of private cars in nice clothes.  I felt sooooo guilty that I had a water source right here yet these people are waiting for this small spigot down the street.  Would the airbnb host downstairs be pissed if set a couple of buckets of water outside for these people?  But also, how could the host bat an eyelash and not be wanting to do the same thing?  This tore at my gut throughout this entire trip.

Safety: Cape Town is a very walkable, and even bikable city!  Unfortunately i didn’t realize how much I had to worry about safety even during the day.  I do look like the native Afrikaan, as many people spoke it to me before I spoke English back.  However, I think the economic divide is still too much for there to not be some animosity between the various parties.  It made me feel a little limited, that I couldn’t safely take the public train to the beach or rent a bike along the coast - all things I take for granted in my day to day life.