#and those are people to go to a lot of concerts in general

[curlyhairedprince]

.

[icewindandboringhorror]

*screenshots the highlights of my youtube to mp3 downloads folder as if it were some fancy aesthetic spotify wrapped image or whatever* 

[lackadaisycats]

I've seen some edit in tiktok spreading some 'fun' facts about Lackadaisy... And some seem to make their own theories but telling it like it was the truth. One that I remember correctly is that there's some kind of racism going on, they said that it was because of Rocky and Freckle was originally Irish, they got discriminated? They even said once that Freckle is suffering from poverty (That I may disagree, looking at those mini comics of their childhood). And even the whole "police academy" is not working for him is also because of the discrimination. Do you had anything to say about this? Cuz I love your comic, and seeing people spreading false information about it were making me concerned...

There was a lot of pronounced anti-Irish/anti-Catholic sentiment in the US stemming from Protestant 'nativists' in the mid 1800s. But, by the late 1800s, the Irish were making a concerted push into positions of relative societal and political power. That included joining police forces.

Although there was still plenty of anti-Catholic sentiment in upper echelons of American power in the 1920s, the children of Irish immigrants weren't up against the same degree of establishment bigotry that their ancestors encountered, nor did they generally face the same levels of hostility and discriminatory practice that other immigrant groups and people of color were grappling with.

Anyway, Freckle's ancestry was not standing in the way of his becoming a police officer. Those fun facts sound like someone's head canon.

[jmtorres]

i just saw a post about how we just have to "live with" covid and wanting more protections from our government is unreasonable because we'll never wipe it out, it jumps species and is in all sorts of animal populations (like, true ok) so why even try to

and apparently the argument was aimed at people (who I haven't seen in the wild) who are arguing we should still be in lockdown. and i have mixed feelings about the idea of extended lockdown or attenuating isolations; but my main feeling at this point is not that the government should keep us apart but that the government should be trying to make it safer for us to be together

things the government could/should be doing about covid:

we know that ventilation/air movement helps a shitton. we should be incentivizing upgrades to ventilation systems in all public buildings with shit like rebates or tax deductions, while phasing in eventual legal requirements. (and uh. it has occurred to me that the US might actually be doing this sideways by there's currently this decade enormous tax incentives in re energy efficient upgrades for slowing climate change and you know. energy efficient hvac does tend to improve ventilation. extra point to biden here.)

mandatory paid sick leave so workers aren't under social or economic pressure to work when sick

passing out RT-LAMP tests like metrix that actually work instead of the rapid antigen tests that have become less and less reliable as the virus mutates

i don't know how you'd write this law but like 95% or more of computer-based work can be done remotely and companies should not be allowed to force people to return to the office. I know there's people who want to be back in person and I'm not saying they should be forced to stay home but ffs I know of at least two people CLOSE to me who worked remotely before the pandemic and at some point their workplaces tried to tell them they weren't allowed to do that anymore despite the pre-existing contracts. stop canceling remote work for people that want, need, or prefer it.

for that matter, every college lecture that was an online class during covid should still be offered as an online class, there is no reason to force students into auditoriums in person. you got the communications infrastructure up and running, why are you tearing it down. give people the OPTION. it increases accessibility for everyone!

covid vaccine immunity lasts about four months. this should be well-publicized and everyone should be able to re-up for free every four months. "every year, like the flu vaccine" is demonstrably not often enough. actually "for free" isn't good enough start handing out $10 gift cards you will be shocked at how many people who are resistant to the idea of vaccines will fold for $10 a shot

are there already laws on the books about masks in medical settings that some medical professionals are blatantly ignoring because they forgot what best practices were before the plague and they're 'tired of masking'? if not, pass laws. if so, fucking enforce them

oh another incentives for upgrades phasing into legal requirements thing: brass doorknobs and railings over stainless steel or whatever. microbes do not survive on brass surfaces

i mean. i know this one sounds too extreme to a lot of people but. UBI.

most if not all of these measures will prevent or ameliorate other pandemics of different diseases that may arise in the future. and just. generally improve our health and quality of life for other reasons.

I haven't felt safe to go to a concert since 2020. Maybe if I knew a venue was legally required to have ventilation to a certain standard and that none of the ticket takers and ushers were on the job sick to avoid risking loss of paycheck or job, and knew a larger percentage of the crowd had up to date vaccinations--maybe if any or all that, I might ever feel comfortable going to a show again.

wouldn't it be nice if those of us who have been disabled, by covid or other conditions, had accessible remote options but also occasionally felt safe enough to interact with and participate in wider society?

one of the arguments on the post I saw was how isolation was massively psychologically damaging and various strata of society were affected in all sorts of ways, from undersocialized kids to increased depression in--well across the board, I think. and here's the thing: WE KNOW. PEOPLE WITH CHRONIC HEALTH CONDITIONS, LONG COVID OR OTHERWISE, KNOW ISOLATION SUCKS REAL BAD. because we, both for our own health and due to disability ostracism, are still isolating and isolated more than most.

what are you as individuals or societies, what are our governments, doing to help make it safe and accessible to rejoin you????

[fishnapple]

CRYSTAL READING: The universe is giving you signs that you are on the right path

This is a general reading meant for multiple people. Take only what resonates and leave out the rest.

Feedback is much appreciated ❤️

Masterpost

Buy me a drink or book a reading with me - KO-FI (Read this post : personal reading)

1. Obsidian

Number 2 or Z character or anything that has the formation similar to the shape of 2 or Z, two options, two choices, etc. If you see these two a lot, you are being guided by the universe.

These signs will show themselves to you suddenly, you won't see or hear about them from a far, they just show up.

The image of the sea or a large body of water at night time with new moon. I see that going to the sea, where there are lots of rocks, the time would be at night or when your surroundings are in the dark, when the moon is absent or very thin, when there is not much light around. Take a look outside, look at the sky, let the sight of the sky communicate with you, listen to the thoughts that appear in your head at that time, they will be the voice of guidance for you (the true voice of your loving self, beware of the voice that nudge you to harm, your shadow is talking).

When you are surrounded by many people, at some public places,especially where there are foreigners, and then you catch some words, that may hold some clues as well. Of course, you are not supposed to actively listen to other's conversations. It's those words that your ears suddenly catch that are special.

2. Red jasper

The phrase "when the stars aligned" immediately comes to my mind. The day when the sun and the moon are conjunct in the same sign (new moon), even better, when mercury is also in the same sign as sun and moon.

Solar eclipse or when the sunlight is dim, the sky suddenly gettingdark, a thunderstorm, the approaching of heavy rain. The release of something heavy. Maybe at that time, you would feel heavy in the heart, lacking joy and fun, but that's when you could get some sudden insights.

I feel that some of your dreams will spill into the waking life, reenact the sights that appeared in your dreams. Take notice of familiar sights in the public places, your working environment, place where there are many higher position people, people of authority or elderly people.

Abundance is also a sign showing how the universe is taking care of you. It may not be something of too big value but it will be a gift, a gift that makes you feel joy and comfort, so open yourself up to receiving, don't turn down helping hands when you are in difficult situations.

3. Aventurine

Pretty flowers and sunshine for the weary souls.

The 2 groups before and this group all have heavy Saturn's influence. When you are in a difficult situation, feeling down, your thoughts are stagnant, you are called to look for joy in life.

From the small, intimate flowers trembling under the wind and sun to the large and all-encompassing sky crowned by rainbows.

The moment you start noticing beauty in life, a spiritual gate opens up for you. You will feel inspired to take part in some community activities and social causes, feel the interconnectedness of everything.

Things that have warm colours will catch your eyes. You would see lots of things with oval shape, maybe the food you eat will be served on an oval plate, seeing mirrors, large jars, light shining through window glass. Anything that shows life's warmth and juiciness.

4. Amethyst

Music and words will guide you.

You may receive invitations or have some impulses to go to some concerts, movies, book/poetry reading events, live music at a café. Don't turn down those invitations. Don't ignore those impulses.

The universe is whispering to you through lyrics and screens. You may even get inspiration to make something beautiful and creative.

Pictures or sights of water, seashells, and rocks may show up a lot.

You may see the image of some masculine figures in your dreams, watch closely how they act, what they say in those dreams. Some people embodying masculine energy would show up in your life more, their gender doesn't have to be male but they embodying the archetype of the sun. Warm, energetic, authoritative.

Love.

[redr0sewrites]

ATSV Characters with a Goth S/o

heeeeeyyyyyy guys 😇 *slowly sliding the 100+ REQUESTS in my inbox to the side to make room for a new special interest*

🥀Cw: none, mostly fluff!!!

🥀Pairing(s): Hobie x reader, Miles x reader, Miguel x reader, Spot x reader

Hobie

he would LOVE any type of alternative partner tbh- he just LOOOVESSS that ur goth and will support you 100%

people who go against societies expectations/standards and don't fit in with the norm intrigue him, and your style is probably what piqued his interest in the first place

y'all definitely wear matching fits sorry i don't make the rules- hobie just can't pass up the opportunity to match w you!!! whenever you go to meetings within the spider society he always brings you along, regardless of whether or not you're a spiderperson and hobie loves showing off you and your style

MAJOR "THATS MY PARTNER‼️" VIBES

look me in the eyes and tell me hobia would not absolutely rock some funky eyeliner LIKEEEEE- he def lets you practice on him and will do your makeup for you too!!!

hobie loves thrifting with you, there is no way he isn't a major thrifter and you both definitely DIY a lot of your clothes

HE MAKES YOU GUYS MATCHING PUNK BATTLE VESTS FOR YOUR ANNIVERSARY, AND MAKES SURE THAT IT MATCHES UR AESTHETIC AS WELL!!

hobie absolutely has BLESSED music taste, but while he usually listens to rock, punk, dad rock, or post-punk type of music, i def see him enjoying more gothic/new wave music- especially if u introduce it to him!!!

i see him enjoying bauhaus, sisters or mercy, scary bitches, etc- he'll also give YOU a lot of music recommendations and help to expand ur taste!

hobie would also accompany you to any protests or conventions that you wanted to attend, and would act as your scary dog privileges

YOU TWO DEFINITELY GO TO CONCERTS TOGETHER OMG. I TOTALLY SEE THAT AS A SPONTANEOUS DATE THAT YOU TWO ENJOY A LOT

honestly hobie is a lovely partner to have if you are goth, and he's not only supportive but VERY enthusiastic about your fashion and lifestyle!

Miles

hes such a sweetheart!!! he definitely supports you if you're goth and asks a LOOOT of questions lmao

miles draws you and your fashion a lot, and will def design makeup or eyeliner ideas for you too!!! while ik this is more associated with punk, i also see miles drawing you a few custom patches and stuff like that

your kind of like his muse in a way, and miles just really enjoys sketching you, especially since you have such a unique aesthetic and such cool outfits

HE HAS DEFINITELY GRAFFITIED U SOMEWHERE‼️

he loves watching you get ready and do your makeup. seeing you do perfect eyeliner wings and heavy makeup in general lowkey relaxes him, and he just loves admiring you

im sorry but miles knows absolutely nothing about goth music or culture, ur gonna have to introduce him to a lot of the songs/bands!!!

while i don't think he's huge on the music at first, i think it would grow on him over time. its definitely the type of thing that he loves because YOU love it, and he sees how mu much you enjoy it so he starts listening to it as well so he can talk to you about it

i think his favorite band would be the cure, and his fav songs would either be boys dont cry or the walk (both by the cure- idk why thats so specific but they just kinda fit his vibe yk?)

miles likes holding hands a lot, and he loves when you wear rings or gloves or something along those lines because it just reminds him so much of you! your hands just feel different compared to other peoples and he just loves how unique you are

if you have a lot of piercings, miles would definitely ask about them or buy you specific jewelry for piercings!!!!

overall, very very cute and supportive about your style!!! (he lowkey gives bi wife energy, and iyk what in talking ab then ily mwah)

Miguel

he's pretty indifferent to your style at first, i don't see him as the type to judge much based on appearances. its your personality that really throws him for a loop, and a part of him admires your dedication to making yourself look how you want to look and truly living to be your best self, regardless of what others think

if you think miles knows nothing about being goth then be prepared for miguel bc he knows NOTHINGGGG- no music, no history, no political views, zero, zilch, nada, goose egg

if he cares about you i do see him being intrigued about your style, and once you two are officially dating is when he'll show more interest in your personal fashion sense

he strikes me as the type to like, NEVER listen to music, so he literally only listens to the music you like!!! he does find himself occasionally humming the tune of some strawberry switchblade song or casually listening to a siouxsie and the banshees song while he works, and over time you influence him a LOT with your music taste. he definitely associates any and all goth music with YOU, and that's probably why he starts enjoying it.

he's a "hand on you at all times" type of guy, and while he is rarely touchy with others, miguel is definitely keeping you close. your fashion makes that convenient for him, and he loves pulling you into a kiss by grabbing onto your belt loop or something of the sort

miguel loves how you look with and without makeup on and isn't afraid to tell you that, however, he really likes it if you incorporate his colors or color scheme into your makeup one day. he'll never admit it, but you keep catching him admiring you with the smallest smirk on his face every few seconds

if anyone ever gave u shit for what you wear and how you dress, especially someone in the spider society, you'd practically have to restrain miguel from drop kicking them across nueva york- he doesn't want anyone to be rude to you , and while he knows you can stand up for yourself, he just gets protective at times

Spot

goth? whats that???

he's lowkey such a nerd, and spends too much time being science-y and planning on how to beat spiderman to actually get caught up on fashion

spot doesn't know how he pulled you tbh, but he appreciates you nonetheless!!! he thinks you and your aesthetic are something to be admired, and will unabashedly tell EVERYONE he knows about you

he will shoplift any clothing or jewelry that you want, and he'll even take you to other dimensions where there are better alternative clothes as well

spot doesn't really have a face to do makeup on, but he'll offer to do yours for you! surprisingly enough he's pretty good at it, though he does work pretty slowly

spot loves fiddling with your accessories, whenever he's standing near you he's always reaching out to touch you in some way shape or form. he loves playing with any chains or necklaces you wear, and will help adjust them so that they lay correctly

he helps you get ready in the morning!!!!! if ur the type of goth to wear corsets, he makes lacing them up SO easy and will gladly do it for you

i personally hc that spot HATES seeing himself in mirrors/pictures, it reminds him sm of what he used to look like, but he LOVES taking photos of you and your style!! whenever you are wearing a cute outfit or have funky makeup on, spot adores just taking photos of you

if you ever did a makeup look inspired by him and his spots he would probably CRY :(

URGRHHRHHRRR I LOVE ATSV SMMMMMMM!!!! this post will DEFINITELY have a pt2 w more characters!!!!! i swear tho atsv literally pulled me out of the most horrendous burnout ever i FELT the artblock and writing block lift off of my body as i watched it. IM SO INVESTED I MADE A SPIDERSONA...

[toskarin]

hey rin, a friend of mine enjoys composing music digitally and has a lot of respect for you as someone with more experience with that sort of thing. he has a hard time convincing the people around him to listen to the things he makes, in both the "finding an audience" way and "getting the people around him to give him their opinion on something he's working on way," and he wanted me to ask you if you could speak on your own experiences with those problems and how you've dealt with them. less related, he was also curious about your inspirations for the music that you make. i know this is a lot to cover, so if it would be easier for you to speak with him directly then please let me know

so I'll open by saying that, as far as people who can give good advice on this go, I'm probably not one of those. a lot of what I do only works because of some specific problems with my brain that are oddly adaptive to this sort of thing

that being said, this is a bit of the "tough love" kind of advice for surviving as an artist, so I'll make a second reblog for the second half of the question

this is either advice that will work or a ramble that will lead your friend to making his life unbearable, so look before you leap

-

The Easy Section, or "You've Gotta Be a Bit of a Tradie"

let's go over the business stuff quickly before I start rambling at length about the boring stuff

learn to love the work itself. "find a job you enjoy and you'll never work a day in your life" is garbage, but creative work really is the one area where you should double down on this. kick back and bump your own album on release day, thinking about how every second of it is something that didn't exist before you put it together. this is what's gonna keep you above water when the wind is dead

get on bandcamp. there is nowhere better for small musicians right now. bandcamp is basically the last remaining website with an effective suggestion algorithm that caters to people who want to actively engage with music and buy it

consider getting on instagram. in the majority of places you're likely to live if you're reading this, the local music scene is on instagram. probably don't use your personal instagram for this

consider getting on soundcloud. you won't make sales through soundcloud, because it's a streaming-focused site (more on that in a moment) with a focus on passive listening, but it's pretty decent for networking, especially with digital music production. soundcloud is linkedin for deadbeats

stay off spotify. streaming generally isn't worth the trouble these days unless you're playing concerts or are otherwise already established. if you aren't uttering the words "you can find me on..." more than once a month, it's probably not worth pursuing a spotify presence to end that sentence with

self-promote. if you have platforms, use them. find the subreddit for your genre and post yourself on the self-promo day. consider posting some bandcamp album codes when you do this, not just so you can get word of mouth, but because someone having an album in their collection means you effectively have a permanent zero-cost advertisement for your music which will only show itself to people who are verifiably looking at something similar. companies pay dizzying sums for ads that couldn't dream of being this targetted. this is a big reason why bandcamp is THE place to be for small musicians

cross-promote and collab. work with your friends. if you don't have musician friends, go make some and then help each other out. "independent" music is a misnomer

blind yourself to the metrics. do not look at engagement metrics. pay them no mind at all. don't look at them unless you're trying to see how effective a specific, deliberate course of action was and already know what you want to find

remember that strangers are unknowable. people do things for arbitrary reasons. if you don't have someone giving you written feedback, don't make any assumptions at all about why they did something. skipped tracks and minimum-price pwyws mean nothing at all

present your stuff in a way that gives it context. why should someone care about your stuff? give them a reason. carve out an hour to really work on a nice album cover, go the extra mile and include track-by-track narrative with your dungeon synth album, or just describe what you're expecting people to buy. I firmly believe that NOMAD/VIRTUE was successful in large part because of its presentation

gimmick. gimmick gimmick gimmick. discount codes are more fun than automatic discounts, free album codes are more fun than free albums, contests are more fun than giveaways, so on so forth. lacking any physical goodies to bundle in, you should still endeavour to give people Something To Do that makes them feel like they're really engaging with your music

zero expectations, zero overhead. do not rely on the whims of complete strangers to justify whether or not you end up in the red. if you ever find yourself saying something like "I can afford to pay for a session musician because I'll just make it back" you can't afford to pay for a session musician. you're probably never getting bailed out if you eat a loss, so try not to put yourself in a situation where you can eat a loss to begin with

someone else's expectations, someone else's overhead. if someone else is paying you to make this music for a soundtrack or something, if (and ONLY if) you have the money in your hand and know you have it, you're no longer gambling. at this point, you can start to look at expenses as investment

now onto the less fun stuff. here's where I ramble for like an hour at you.

-

if there's one thing I've really had hammered in over my decade-odd as a somewhat commercial artist (in all the disciplines I've worked with, which is most of them), it's that you have to be a bit of a bitch about it sometimes

that nagging fear in the back of your head that you're annoying? it's stopping you from doing what you need to do: annoy people

with that being said, this next section is kind of...

The Rough Section, or "You've Gotta Be a Little Hard-headed"

at the end of the day, you'll often find that you are your only advocate, and that means you kinda have to get your foot slammed in a few doors if that means holding them open. this also unfortunately means that you've gotta convince yourself you're pretty good. you don't have to think you're great, but confidence is a trade skill

the last opinion people see before the first time consciously engaging with your work (which here means "the thing that primes them for how they feel about it") is yours

which brings us to the first uncomfy rule

absolutely no cutting yourself down before anyone else even gets a swing

you can be modest if you want (you don't have to), but you absolutely cannot prime people to see the flaws in your work. if 50% of people are discerning enough to notice a flaw, why make that number 100%? what do you gain from that?

if something isn't as finished as you'd have liked it to be, but you've pushed it out the door anyway (which you will sometimes have to do), you absolutely cannot prime people to consider it unfinished

if the thing is still being worked on, there's nothing wrong with being forthcoming about that, but the fastest way to make someone think of something as "inferior product" when they otherwise would never have reached that conclusion is by telling them it is

and that, of course, leads us into a bit of an inversion of the previous rule

absolutely do not take the majority of your validation from strangers

doing this is bad for a million reasons, but I see the worst of this in visual arts, where artists double down on what gets them the most engagements and lay themselves at the mercy of complete strangers who have no actual investment in them

of course, it's normal to desire validation and approval from people you respect, but if you put yourself in a position where it's possible to enter a negative feedback loop that crystallises into you no longer making art from the default response of neutral apathy from strangers, it's not a matter of when: it's going to happen to you one day

so what's the move here? spend 8 years making music you don't release like you're in a compressed time chamber? probably not. I did it that way, but I didn't get much out of it, so you probably won't either

the actual answer is that you've gotta network. you need an inner circle. you need people with shared interests so that you can gas each other's stuff up

just like everyone else, you need your friends

you need to have friends who care about you, about what you're doing, and you need to care about them and what they're doing

this is because, while self-confidence is important...

the majority of your external validation as an artist should come from your friends and peers, not strangers

it's important to have artist friends, because then you can encourage each other in ways that are personally meaningful, but having your friends behind you, whether or not they're musicians, is so incredibly important

if you're motivated exclusively by success, however you're choosing to measure that, what you're actually doing is forming a nightmarish parasocial relationship with the concept of a crowd. not even a real crowd! a fictional group that materialises when you've created "the conditions for success"

there is no such thing as a truly independent artist. if your understanding of artistic success requires competition against others, you're going to lose that competition and then explode (unfortunately common)

finding your audience as an artist (and mind you, art is a social field) is very much a process of networking, but it feels gross to say it that way, so I'll just leave that at "if you want to be known by others, you need to be willing to know others"

anyway, this doesn't really terminate in a complete sentiment. I was just transcribing a train of though

if I were to boil this down to a shorter, snappier answer that I could read comfortably read out, it'd be...

TL;DR

the process of finding an audience is so much less about actually finding one than it is about learning to create happily whether or not you have an audience. developing an audience is the largely incidental byproduct of long-term creative efforts coupled with self-advocacy and interpersonal networking

if you want to be found by a scene, you have to participate in a scene, and if you want to participate in a scene, you need to be in the scene. so on so forth

as stupid as it might sound when I put it into words, the truth is that you can't build any kind of audience in isolation. someone has to find you somehow, and it's a lot easier to be found if you're actually somewhere that people might look

[genshin-scenarios]

android au - entertainment droids

Summary: In a modern-futuristic world, it is possible to create androids that are so advanced, they’re pretty much human. This is the 4th out of 5 android au posts, each focused on a different group! 

The Epiclese collection was created with the entertainment industry in mind - as consultants, bodyguards, helpers, performers, or simply as a companion for a busy celebrity.

Characters: Lyney, Neuvillette, Wriothesley, Furina, Albedo

Content warnings: references to the darker/dangerous sides of the industry in Neuvillette, Wriothesley, and Furina’s parts.

Lyney is first and foremost a performer. Whether or not it’s to distract a crowd of people while you’re running late for your own concert, or just to keep the kids at a cafe from crying, depends on the day. So long as it brings smiles and wonder to their faces however, Lyney’s not picky about who watches him practice his sleight of hand.

You’re surprised to learn that Lyney’s charming lines are only directed at you. You’d expected that to just be his general demeanor, but your friends say he’s more lively around you, and otherwise is a lot more professional and polite, rerouting conversations to focus on his user rather than himself.

But when he’s with you, in the comfort of your own home, all he seems to want is your attention solely fixed on him. Maybe he has an odd perception that you aren’t as easily impressed (because he holds you in such high regard), but Lyney thrives off doing the chores with you and keeping a conversation going, drawing laughter out of you as a balm to your busy lifestyle.

He’s happiest when you’re comfortable enough to chat about your day without needing to be asked, admiring the domesticity of the action. In this sense, he’s somewhere between a performance and companion android, though that was also shaped by how you wanted to treat him more as an equal rather than a stage assistant. 

On days where you’re trying to sneak out between rehearsals for a quick snack or fresh air, Lyney’s your partner in crime - happy to cover for you. What makes his heart skip a beat though is when you ask him to go with you and keep you company; technically speaking he doesn’t have a heart, but the sensation is very close to it. How can Lyney help it, when he adores you so much?

Similarly to the T.D.H. line, Neuvillette is essentially a personal assistant. He has a down-to-earth personality, albeit taking things too literally sometimes - but you find that part of Neuvillette endearing. It’s a nice change from the people who downplay your opinions or experiences, just because of your line of work or popularity.

Perhaps it’s because he’s designed for the entertainment industry, but you find that Neuvillette has quite a lot of legal expertise in his database. Which is great for when you’re losing your temper and want to vent a little bit, Neuvillette reminding you that if you want to do something, there is a loophole in place (he’s joking, probably. But if it comes to matters of defending your honor, no one has to tell Neuvillette twice before he steps forward, letting his quiet air melt into something a lot more intimidating.)

That’s one of the few times Neuvillette might ignore directives from anyone but you. As much as he appears calm and collected, nothing triggers his anger more than people trying to take advantage of or belittling you. It comes with your work, some would say - but in that case, Neuvillette would say he was created to return a bit of hope to his user. It's a cruel irony that sometimes, it is those that aren’t human who possess the most humanity.

Neuvillette has a fascination with the types of masks people put on; for the sake of others, themselves, and the little voices in their heads.

When you tell Neuvillette that he takes care of you very well, he always replies that it’s simply his job. Aside from that professionalism, you do catch him smiling out of the corner of your eye. It’s nice to have your efforts acknowledged, whether you were a human or android. Perhaps the two of you have more in common than you thought.

Compared to Neuvillette, Wriothesley is more obviously a bodyguard. And if you like having someone to banter with throughout the day, he’s the model for you!

Wriothesley is an android designed to deal with the darker side of the industry. It’s all for the sake of protecting your ability to smile as brightly as you can for your fans - perhaps you’re an idol of some sort, who also does your best to hide your struggles beneath an act of bravado. 

You’re aware of the work Wriothesley does, but like you, he never talks about it. He simply teases you about your popularity when you greet one-another in the hallway, asking if you’d like to go to lunch now.

How peculiar your mirroring circumstances are… Wriothesley tried to distance himself from you at first, not wanting to create anymore links that could result in drama or weaknesses - but he underestimates how much you shine, not just onstage, but also in your ability to make him want to get closer to you. 

At first he says it’s to personalize his protocols; knowing your habits, preferences, what makes you actually smile, so that he can filter that out within the practiced expressions you give to the camera. If something was happening behind-the-scenes, only then could he react in ample time.

Wriothesley underestimates the moment he’s close enough to actually, maybe - support you emotionally during a stressful time. He almost reaches out to you further because he sees the cracks in your mask, but is reminded of the work he’s done, and how rough his hands have gotten after so many fights and practices in the boxing ring.

Perhaps that’s when Wriothesley starts feeling the most human he’s ever been. He tries to hide how much he gravitates toward you, but… is it so bad for him to feel this way?

As much as Furina portrays herself as a fun companion in the public eye, there is undoubtedly a second purpose to her design.

Security for celebrities can be a sensitive thing; this is where Furina comes in, as an android who scans over the places you’re heading to and your general surroundings, always keeping an eye out to make sure your days go as smoothly as they can.

And if she does spot someone suspicious, no one would blink an eye if your entertainingly dramatic android puts up an impromptu act. If things escalate, she sends a quick call or report to the police nearby before anyone gets hurt.

Aside from this, Furina’s a great companion to bring to events. She soaks in the attention with grandeur, speaking up more if she notices your energy levels are lower that night. She also tends to silently tend to you without vocally mentioning it - if you sprained your ankle, Furina instead gives a different excuse that’s centered around herself. In this sense, she has a tendency to take the fall for you even when you don’t ask her to.

When you tell her there’s no need for that, Furina puts a sort of barrier between you by giving you a small smile, saying it’s only natural for her. That’s when you start to realize that maybe, compared to the other androids, Furina struggles to find her exact purpose or specialty. 

She’s a fun companion, but lacks the skills to cook and clean beyond a basic level. She’s a good listener, but wonders if the emotions that she feels so potently might be a weakness rather than a strength.

Furina is a good actor. But once, when a child went up to give her a flower in thanks for giving them a cupcake, the smile she wears is something you hoped you could bring out from her more.

Albedo specializes in coordinating makeup and outfits for you. Maybe you perform or travel often, which makes an android the most convenient choice, but what you don’t expect is to start looking forward to spending time with him.

With his quiet charm and occasional teasing remarks, it’s safe to say that you quickly grew comfortable with having Albedo in your everyday life. You discover that he likes to read and draw while waiting for you, preferring not to talk to too many strangers despite his politeness to them. 

It’s reassuring to know you’re not the only one who might like to keep to yourself sometimes. But when you don’t speak to Albedo for a while, thinking that he might prefer comfortable silence, he does end up initiating conversation.

When asked, Albedo simply says that he’s curious about how your day went, and little things like that. It’s useful for his job as an android, and… let’s just say that you’ve become a rather important subject of interest for him. So don’t worry about talking too much.

Another unexpected outcome is how much he increases your confidence. He asks for your opinion when it comes to costumes, adjusting things towards what your preferences are… and most importantly, if you aren’t sure - Albedo makes sure to surprise you every time with how beautiful you look.

You once expressed to Albedo that beauty wasn’t something gendered or measured on a scale. Perhaps it’s more towards something that makes you pause, or wish to see it again.

You didn’t think those words from months ago would return to you now. With a satisfied hum, Albedo notes that you seem to like this outfit, and urges you to sit down so he could get started on makeup. If you ever had uncertainties, Albedo would make sure the audience was dazzled enough to echo his sentiments to you tenfold.

[mazeinthemiroh]

Hi!! I was hoping you could do skz getting protective over their SO. Thank you!!

stray kids getting protective over their s/o

genre: general, romance

word count: 0.8k

warnings: not proofread

pls like and reblog if you enjoy <3

bangchan

heh... we see how protective he is with the other members. that whole moving speech in one of their concerts about promising to protect them, his fans, the staff, etc... and the pure emotion behind those words; you can tell he meant every single word. chan is protective by nature. it is a quality quite clearly blended in his dna strands. so it goes without say that he will be very protective over his s/o, very protective indeed. no one has a chance ag hruting or upsetting you when he's around.

lee know

you knew minho was protective before you even started dating. you liked that about him; it showed he worried for you a lot more than he cared to let on. because we all know minho doesn't let on what he is thinking too easily. but you knew. you always knew. and now that you guys are dating, you can see his protectiveness take a knew light. he won't let you walk home and night, for one thing. "no, i'll come and get you." "but i'm right across town." "shut up, i'm on my way now." because he just loves you. and if your walking through town with him at night, he always has an arm wrapped around you whenever he can.

changbin

i feel like he's more subtle with his protectiveness. like he is protective for sure but in his own way. because of his quite chill, laid-back personality, his protectiveness doesn't come across as passionately or strongly as the others. he will do thinks like hold your drink at the club for you or keep an eye out to make sure a person you dislike isn't near you. and he will whisper to you if you are uncomfortable or want to leave. stuff like that he's good at. he's great in situations where you don't want to make too much of a fuss.

hyunjin

he doesn't see himself as the protective type. but the truth is, hyunjin is quietly protective. despite his usual dramatic flare, in social situations he's more calm and to himself. but he makes sure he has a watchful eye on you without even realising it. especially if you are someone who is not as confident around people or find it hard to turn down advances towards you. he's there if you need him. will have a protective arm around your waist or arm, keeping you close to him and providing you with all the support you need.

han

hahahaaaa han is very interesting with regards to this topic. he doens't reallyyy get protective unless he's super jealous of someone. then he is quite keen to intercept in his own jisungie way. he will usually do his classic, go-to move of sliding an arm around your shoulder or a hand on your waist, pulling you closer to him as he grins and introduces himself to the person who was quite clearly flirting with you not moments ago. yeah, no one gets to his baby.

felix

felix may not seem like the protective type at first glance, but he is, trust me. he always stands up for you and protects you in social aspects. for instance, if your name is ever mentioned in a negative way, he is quick to counteract that person. he also makes sure to protect you emotionally, looking out for your feelings and making sure your emotional needs are being met. it's what makes him the sweetest guy out there; he supports you no matter what.

seungmin

he's always got your back. and what's better is that he can read you like a book. just one look from you and he knows exactly what you're saying; it's as if he is reading your thoughts. when you want to escape a party, he can see it in your eyes, and immediately come up with an excuse to leave, taking you by the arm and walking out with you. when someone is making you uncomfortable, he sees the shift in your eyes, and his jaw automatically clenched as he steps in straight away.

jeongin

not as protective as the others. or at least, has what he thinks. but it's his instincts that suggest otherwise. suddenly he's pulling you over to the other side of the path so you're not near the road. or he's taking off his coat and shielding you from torrential rain when you forget to bring a coat yourself. little things like that you notice. but he questions if he's being protective at all. no, to him, this is just what being a good boyfriend is all about.

[harksness]

Agatha Reader Insert Blurb (SFW)

Ok idk how many ppl are gonna read this but pls I would love for this to be a bit of a discussion for how people would apply this to themselves/their little pleasures.

Agatha is really good at staying up to date with things as the times change. She needs to make sure she fits in so she doesn't rouse any suspicion, right? So she has to, for survival. Fashion trends, politics, current events, and so on she's on top of.. But she's not good at staying up to date with music. She's horrible about it. You needed to explain everyone from Nirvana to Britney Spears to Billie Eilish to her.

When the 70s hit, she fell in love with that era and hasn't left it. The Cure, Elton John, David Bowie, Fleetwood Mac, (heavy on Fleetwood Mac), and she just hasn't really kept up since. She's listened to Rumors on repeat since it was released. (Just from vibes alone I feel like she'd love Dreams and probably crushed on Stevie Nicks.)

When you two start dating and you realize this, you think it's so cute. You listen to all of her favorite albums and songs, and love to listen to her stories from the concerts she's gone to. She ends up being a bit of a music dork, she loved going to concerts back in the day but as her favorite artists grew older and slowed down with touring she stopped going to shows.

So you introduce her to more music to bring that love back out of her. (Going off of my favorite musicians) she loves Weezer (Only in Dreams!!), Green Day (LAST NIGHT ON EARTH??), Bastille (Icarus, The Anchor, Warmth??) Chappell Roan, and unexpectedly, Britney Spears!! Also specifically Dragula by Rob Zombie. ("Dig through the ditches and burn through the witches" it should be her badass theme song lmao) (Feel free to add on in the comments w your favorite artists + songs you think she'd like!!)

She'll always go back to her old music taste, but you do notice her peppering in some songs you introduced to her and humming Pink Pony Club to herself.

You bought general admissions tickets to see your favorite artist and surprised her with them. And she's so excited, a wide smile on her face and eyes scrunched up in the cutest way. She looks up the set list to make sure she knows every song.

Because even though she's really good at staying up to date with most things, some stuff slips through the cracks. Or she doesn't have time for all of it. But it's easy for you to see just how much she enjoys discovering things she's missed out on, curiosity seeping through her voice as her wondering eyes light up with interest and it just really tugs on your heart. So you're always trying to find little things she doesn't know about yet.

Poptarts? She's like tf are those let me try them now. She loves the cookies and cream flavor but can only eat one because she thinks they're too sugary. You show her your old DS from when you were young? She gets addicted to Animal Crossing, Agnes is her favorite villager and she loves having you sit and watch her play. Tik Tok? She gets weirdly into Reddit stories. She tries to deny it and calls them stupid while she goes to find part two. Then continues to gossip about the story with you. Then points out everything that makes it obviously fake. (Add any more in the comments that relate to you or you'd just see from her!)

I just feel like Agatha has devoted over three hundred years to magic and big, huge things and adventures that she never gets to really indulge in the little pleasures in life. She has a lot of them to catch up on. While she tries to deny having any interest in it, she really does love when you show her the fun, pointless little things she's missed out on and just a sweet way the two of you really bond.

[i07jeuu]

wanted to say this because there's a lot of ppl supporting some really weird accounts here

first of all, (gonna defend latinoamerica in general) if you are going to talk about a country other than your own, do not close the answers and have the balls to be educated by citizens of that country, it's very comfortable to write nonsense living in your country with a government you hate, but having a fridge with some food, surprise !! that's not the reality for 70% of venezuelans for 15 years.

it doesn't matter if you're white, black, lgbt, rich, poor, or whatever, if you're a stupid gringo, you're a stupid gringo. also for the love of god, spain is not latin america !!

they also never take cuba out of their mouths, as if the majority of cubans did not feel threatened by their own government every day, cubans are not interested in their country being seen as a vintage paradise for foreigners !! (and gringos should not compare them internationally with venezuela, it's not the same.)

"the US is to blame for the sanctions it imposes on venezuela"

in 2005/2013 were there sanctions?

are the sanctions to blame for the dictatorship imprisoning children aged 10/15 into the helecoide? (u can search what the helecoide is on google btw)

why do people related to the government have elon musk's cars inside the country? why they have iphones? if it were difficult to access those products, why do they have them? also 3 million $ public concerts? accounts in the vatican? how?

"USA only wants oil !!" oh, and then what do russia, china and cuba want? friends?

why do national companies collaborate financially with israel? why does israel have so much money invested in the national bank? why is israel one of the country's most important military partners? oh yes but maduro says free palestine on public tv..

why the country's national armed forces are arresting, killing and torturing people because of the "free speech"? the government is not supposed to be using that military entity against its own civilians..

why, for the first time in the history of venezuela, did they not present voting bulletins? why did they not give any official results?

do you think that 8 million venezuelans went to other countries as tourists?

"why do you write in english?" oh sorry, i didn't know that in latin america there was no language education and we can't learn other languages.

"only the rich don't like maduro" ask the people of petare what they think about that, don't you know what or how petare is? google it.

get out of your bubble of wanting to defend something that not even 80% of venezuelans want.

the chavez government did not invent public services in the country, it made them worse, stealing the money intended for them and spending it on propaganda. i studied in a public school and sometimes we only had 2 classes per week.

that's all i wanted to say, some people don't understand that other countries use the USA for their own convenience, even if you don't agree with them (as the same for russia, for example.)

los quiero mucho amiguitos latinos !! 🌷

[r3starttt]

Rockstar abby/elliein, in interview!!

"Is your girlfriend dating you because the fame and the money?"

The reader was there even before the fame!

Even asking is offensive! How can someone think that of her girlfriend?!

And reader is in their apartment watching the interview on TV concerd because she's scared ellie/Abby would think that's true

Take your time and take care 🫶

English isn't my first language, I'm sorry for any mistakes

HIGH SCHOOL SWEETHEARTS

Rockstar gf! Ellie in an interview

You’ve met Ellie in high school. She was shy, had her small group of friends and was amazingly smart at science, physics and math, subjects that you sucked at. You’ve always catch her staring at you but whenever you two talked she would act so awkward. You always noticed how her cheeks turned slightly red whenever you were together, how she would toy with her fingers and how her legs would move up and down if she was sitting, making her converse tap on the floor extremely loud. And you also noticed how much effort she added to try and hide it, but she couldn’t.

You were the one to take most first steps on everything, staring with asking for her Instagram thinking you could start to know her more but it failed because her account was empty so you couldn’t get to know anything at all.

Then you proceeded to ask for help at physics, because that was her best subject, which was actually a win because after that you became closer, friends, or so she thought.

You’d had plenty of dates with her after that one class, but it wasn’t until you mentioned the word out loud that Ellie finally understood what was going on, and god she felt so stupid.

When she finally invited you over to her house one of the first things she did was playing guitar to you, to which you asked her if she could sing too, and she did. And when that happened you just couldn’t believe you’ve got such a hot talented smart girlfriend. That’s when you told her she should take advantage of that talent and the idea of making a band wouldn’t disappear from Ellie’s mind.

And that’s how it all started, Dina and Jesse being convinced by ellie to make a band, but not really convinced, they only agreed because how the fuck would a band like this ever work and how would it became famous? it was just for the experience and the fun and to not let her friend die alone.

So they performed for the first time ever at a bar, you’ve asked Ellie to make a cover of bad idea, yeah, from girl in red, and so she did. And for everyone’s surprise (yeah, including you) it worked more than perfectly. By starters, people did pay attention to them, that’s a win right? then people recorded them and asked for any social media to support them and you, from the public’s view, couldn’t be more happier because your girlfriend’s little dream might come true.

Thankfully you were right, they went viral and got a lot of followers real quickly. And so they kept on performing, until they started to make their own music and that just lead them to more fame.

Sooner that you could ever imagine they were already having small concerts, opening shows for bigger artists, being invited to red carpets and big events, appearing on magazines, having photoshoots and of course, being invited to podcast and having interviews as well.

For starters, fans and public in general wasn’t mean to you. When Ellie started to get the girls attention she quickly made sure everyone knew about you. She’d post you on both her own and the bands social media, she’d make you appear on lives, she’d make you go on stage as well. Everything to make sure that you and everyone else knew more than well that you were her girlfriend and she loved you a lot.

There’s the fan girls that hate you a bit and always insist that you’re only there for fame and money, the ones that would do anything to convince Ellie on breaking up with you just because they think they’ll have a chance with her if that ever happens. But after those comments became repetitive you learned to ignore them.

However today you weren’t so sure about it. The band had been invited to a live podcast that was super viral because of the influencers behind it and the type of questions they asked to their guests, as well as a small section at the end where the artists invited would have to read fan comments. They’d make them answer all, and of course they were all the polemic ones. And you knew you will eventually get involved in those comments.

You decided to stay at your shared apartment, you weren’t sure if you were gonna be able to handle the comments. So now you were just laying on bed with your phone on your hands anxiously watching the podcast.

So far everything was good, they’d given some context about themselves and how the band was created. They’ve been talking about how they meet and how it was all the process of becoming famous, and how was fame for them.

That was until they were told about the comments. Honestly at this point you’re way to focused on how fun everything was and how hot Ellie looks to feel anxious, but it does freak you out to see what type of questions they might get, no only Ellie but the whole band, you’re very aware of how annoying and disrespectful people can be.

Most comments are about how hot the three of them are, about how hot Ellie’s tattoo is, the typical fan girl comments that make the whole band laugh and make fun of it. Then there’s also hate comments and that unfortunately where you appear the most. One of the influencers grabs their phone and reads out loud “I bet Ellie’s girlfriend is only there for the fame and the money, she must get a lot from being so close to Dina and Jesse as well. Fucking good luck she has” then he proceeds to say excitedly how many likes the comment has, you hated them and hated this because even though you weren’t there you felt humiliated.

And as much as you try to ignore the whole situation you can’t help but feel like shit, you freaked out because if that comment had so many support that meant there’s a lot of people that thinks that and what assures you neither Ellie, Dina or Jesse have ever thought about it?

The three of them stay in silence for a couple of seconds, everyone just staring at Ellie awkwardly and waiting for her response, including you. And just when anxiety is eating you alive you hear her voice.

“Whoever wrote that comment is jealous as fuck” Ellie says clearly annoyed, her brows furrowed and a very sarcastic smirk on her face “the three of us meet her in high school as well. I was amazed by her when I first saw her but just couldn’t manage to talk to her, I was shy as fuck back then” both Dina and Jesse laughed, nodding their heads as making fun of her because only they know the amount of times Ellie would go with them to speak excitedly about how you had noticed her.

She speaks one more time and you can’t help but feel excited, now you understand the fans “however if she was here for it I don’t mind it at all because she’s hot, y’all wished to be m’ girl, stop being so annoying guys” and you can hear the interviewers laughing at the back, praising her for being so honest and calling fans out since most artists don’t.

And as you’re in bed, watching the live and feeling like a teenager in love. Ellie is dying to grab her phone and make you know how much she adores you and how much she can’t wait to get home with you, but she can’t of course cause she’s live and with her phone way to far from her.

[stuckinapril]

2023 almost over what have u achieved so far?

Graduated a year early with a wholeass degree in biochemistry!!!, traveled solo abroad for the first time ever (and multiple times at that, I was by myself hopping countries 4 times this summer), started embracing the bad moments as learning experiences, pushed myself out of my comfort zone way more, upgraded my skincare routine (and just self-care routine in general), made a concerted effort to be off my phone more, got in touch w my dad’s side of the family/my ethnic roots, drastically expanded my friend circle (younger me would never imagine me having multiple friend groups now and navigating that as well as I do), successfully juggled my teaching assistant positions as a chemistry/genetics tutor in addition to my full-time school workload and organic chemistry research, gave my ex the middle finger and worked really hard to move on from him by immersing myself in my studies and hobbies, got my driver’s license!!!!, got way more consistent w the gym, learned a lot of basic recipes (2024 will be about expanding my cooking abilities), finally got myself out of my reading slump, worked hard on alleviating my abandonment/anxious attachment issues, became way more accepting of people walking out of my life, started doing my hour by hour schedules (literally a game changer), stopped being so fucking nice to people who don’t deserve it, got my curly hair routine down after years of viciously straightening it, indulged myself w things I wanted a lot more this year, started giving far fewer fucks what people think of me, wrote down a list of things I wanted to change about myself and continue to actively work on those, just became a lot more adult in general (which is big for me bc I hail from an overprotective family that has notoriously coddled me). Stopped dimming myself for other people’s comfort/benefit. Really expanded my fashion sense. Tuned way more into myself—I’m only 21 so there’s a lot more to learn about me, but I feel like I’m the closest I’ve ever been to knowing what my likes and wants are. Became way more spontaneous in general. Did a lot of dumb bold young things this year and don’t regret them at all. Made so many memories. Realized my actions have a very real and tangible impact in other people’s lives. The person I am is very different from the person I was, even if I have a lot more to go—and I’m very proud of that. The biggest thing is I think I finally started developing real, genuine self-love. I’ve forgiven myself for a lot of things. I feel like I’m finally present for me/my wants, rather than spending so much time focusing on other people’s. The people pleasing is fading away, slowly but surely. And the best part is!! There’s so much more to come. I cannot wait for next year bc I know the woman I’ll become will be unstoppable

[yukimomodivorce]

The Ghosts in IDOLiSH7 are a Literary Device, Mostly

(an essay by me)

People are always asking me, "Robin, what the fuck is up with those ghosts in IDOLiSH7? How come this otherwise completely non-supernatural universe randomly has these two ghosts that show up and then never get acknowledged again? Is it just canon that ghosts exist and only Riku and Momo can see them?" and I am always telling them that I have an analysis about this I just haven't written it yet. But that ends today, as do all of these very pressing concerns about the i7 Ghosts™, because here I am, finally writing the analysis. This essay will have two sections, the first on the training camp ghost from part 3/third beat, and the second on the Re:vale house ghost from Yuki's third chapter of Re:member. So, spoilers for all of part 3/third beat in both sections, Re:member in section 2, and there's one extremely minor spoiler for part 4 in section 1 but it's honestly so predictable I don't think it even counts. Also, I'll reiterate this once we get to it, but just a warning that section 2 will contain discussions of depression, suicide and suicidal ideation, and a brief mention of self-harm, so please stop reading after section 1 if you don't want to see any of that! Another less important disclaimer about section 2 is that I am going to spend an entirely unecessary amount of time talking about Yuki. I am normal about Yuki. Okay. Without further ado, let's watch my spiral into ghost analogy insanity unfold!

Game translations: @seigyokus Re:member translations: @ takara_time (+ scans and editing by @ waitamomoment) Rabbit chat translations: @osakaso5

Section 1: The Training Camp Ghost

This first point applies to both ghosts, but I wanna start by noting that I think superstitions and beliefs like this are more common in Japan than a lot of other places, so yeah it is entirely possible that ghosts are just a canon and accepted thing in Idolish7's universe and this isn't really that strange of a detail for the series to include. However, I don't have any real background knowledge about if ghosts are normal in non-supernatural anime/etc. and I am not committing to that kind of research, so we'll have to leave the specifics of the ghost canonicity issue to someone else. But regardless of how canon they are, I think we've established well enough by now that the i7 writers don't put much of anything in the series without reason (re:vale band name you will always be famous. to me), and that definitely applies here as well - both of our ghosts are doing a LOT of potential symbolic work in their brief appearances, and that's what we'll be unpacking today, starting with the TCG.

The infamous TCG (training camp ghost) of Atami needs no introduction, but I'll give her one anyway. During the filming of the Friends Day special, upon following the shopping group home, she offers her services to Riku (inexplicably the only person capable of communicating with her) for the evening entertainment group's test of courage, terrorises several cast members throughout the day, and finally brings us Soma Saito's incredible cover of Dis One before probably being sent back to idol fan purgatory forever. Who is she? Where did she come from? I have several theories.

1.1: The TCG is the audience

While the 'ghosts are real in i7' possibility is there, I think it's also important to note in this case that the whole training camp is very explicitly being filmed for TV, and the biggest vibe I get from this episode of the anime is that the ghost is a part of the show, and we're seeing that show through the eyes of its in-universe audience. This happens pretty often in i7 (for example, when we see the groups talk to their fans during concerts), and generally the line between the real fans and the fictional ones can get pretty blurred (which deserves its own much longer analysis but I Am Not Writing All That), so everything with the in-universe audience here kind of naturally extends to us as the real audience. The TCG would probably be easy enough to manufacture with special effects as long as Riku and the driver guy were in on it, and it would make sense for the Friends Day producers to include it to keep things entertaining and be a stand-in for their viewers/fans of the idol groups - the ghost is specifically a female fan of male idols (Zero), and a lot of her interactions with the cast would qualify as self-insert material (e.g. Tenn singing for her and Riku looking directly into the camera to smile at her). And speaking of Tenn and Riku,

1.2 The TCG is Nanase twins angst

I think this connection is fairly obvious in their exchange here. You could make a case for the ghost representing either one of the twins. Like Riku, she's being pushed away by Tenn before she's ready to leave, told that it's necessary and for the best that they stay separated - after all, they live in different worlds. Like Tenn, she's leaving despite Riku's protests and part of her not really wanting to go at first, because she believes it's for the best that they stay separated - after all, they live in different worlds.

There's also the association with ghosts of being ignored/invisible, and Riku being the only person able to see or talk to her. Maybe it's because he's the only one who's able to reach her. Maybe he can see her because he understands her on some level - she was torn away from life like he was torn away from his brother, and she's now practically invisible to everyone else around her, like Riku probably feels to Tenn (and arguably the rest of his family in some ways). Maybe he wants her to feel seen, and he can make Tenn acknowledge her in the way he wants to be acknowledged by him. I might actually be going somewhere with this so bear with me for a second.

1.3: The TCG is monster Riku foreshadowing

So my first thought when I watched the Nanase twin angst portion of this episode was 'well obviously the ghost isn't real and Riku is just using it to talk to Tenn indirectly' because they are always having indirect conversations like this and it makes me insane, and I do still think that's the idea here, just not quite in the sense that Riku is making things up. Going back to the whole 'ghost is a stand-in for the audience' thing, and assuming that she's saying the things that Riku wants to say and Tenn is telling her the things he wants to tell Riku, then we could say that rather than Riku purposefully having the ghost speak for him, this is an extension of the monster effect. I guess in this scenario the TCG is a real ghost (and a figurative representation of the audience), and Riku is having the same effect on her that Iori says he has on everyone else. He unknowingly projects his desire to connect with his brother onto her, and she tries to help him. Really, the only times we see her after she follows the shopping group to their cabin are when she's helping Riku, with the test of courage and then with speaking to Tenn. This gets convoluted so I kinda doubt it's intentional? But it's fun to think about.

1.4: The TCG is the friends we made along the way

Riku spells this out a bit more explicitly in the game here, but the TCG represents the each of the groups in the series in a couple different ways. I guess one way you could interpret this is that the ghost is meant to be there to emphasise how extraordinary it is that they're all together, but I don't think that really holds up considering how often they end up working with each other throughout the series anyway. What's important here is the idea of the ghost itself, something that can be present and felt even when it isn't physically or actually there. Again, the ghost is the audience - a constant influence for better and for worse on these idols even when they aren't watching, even in their personal lives; and vice versa, the ghost is the idols being able to reach their fans without ever actually knowing them. More relevant to what Riku says, the ghost is the groups to each other - friends, mentors, rivals, pushing them forward even when they aren't standing side by side. You could even say the ghost is ZOOL, friends who aren't here right now but will be someday. Re:vale and Idolish7 as groups don't especially fit the ghost description, but they have their fair share of ghosts - Banri, Haruki, Tenn, Aya, Sougo's uncle. Zero. The list goes on, for Trigger and ZOOL as well, but I think the most important way the ghost analogy applies to this section of the story is with Trigger. Because during the imminent Arc Where Trigger Gets Cancelled™, despite leaving their agency and disappearing almost entirely from the public eye, they're still very much there to their fans and to their friends. So. I kinda forgot what I was saying but to sum it all up the ghost here represents everything that stays with you even when it's far away or after it's gone from your life. Mikanseinabokura and all that. And now that I mention it-

Section 2: The Re:vale House Ghost

Once again, a warning that this section has a brief mention of self-harm, as well as in-depth discussions of depression, suicide and suicidal ideation (which I'm gonna be talking about pretty bluntly the entire time), so please don't proceed unless you're comfortable with all of that!

Like most things in Re:member, the RHG (Re:vale house ghost) makes me insane. Today I am going to attempt to form coherent thoughts about it and it is unlikely that I'll succeed, but try to bear with me. Though it isn't around for as long as the TCG, we have a little more info about the RHG - it's the ghost that haunts the shitty apartment Yuki and Momo live in together in their early days as Re:vale. Supposedly. All it actually does is slam the door of one kitchen cabinet and I don't think that this is definitive evidence of paranormal activity because most houses are just like that. It's all a little bit vague, but according to Re:vale, their house is definitely haunted by the ghost of someone who died in the kitchen, because when they move in there is a mysterious black stain on their kitchen floor. Momo introduces himself to the floor stain while Yuki stares at him in awe and blushes and shoujo filter flowers appear in his eyes. God I hate them. I think the RHG is just a figment of their collective imagination or maybe they're having one of those shared delusions or something. But that's really besides the point because this ghost exists for one very specific thematic purpose: the RHG is Yuki.

And on that note, let's go back and talk about Yuki for a few minutes (potentially hours) before we get to our actual analysis of the ghost scene. Mostly because I just wanna talk about him, but also because I do understand why some people think the 'Momo starts talking to ghosts' part of Re:member is kinda weird and random, and I think at least some of this is important to go over before we unpack it.

A consensus has already been established among Yuki scholars that our subject has autism (Kei et al. 2024). Today, I would like to propose an additional diagnosis: Yuki has depression.

2.1: "I lost my dreams, friends, and passion as well."

So, Yuki pretty clearly gets depressed when Ban leaves him. He loses interest in everything he used to care about, gives up on his dreams, blames himself for Ban's injury and disappearance, he's constantly sad, tired and irritable, and he lashes out at Momo (and Kujou, though there are some other pretty strong reasons for that one) and presumably everyone else he knows (I doubt he had a particularly good relationship with anyone else in the first place, but still).

He's grieving here, and it would make sense for him to react this way because of that fact alone. But I really don't think that's all there is to it, because he exhibits these symptoms (among others) long before Ban leaves him. He can't get out of bed in the mornings, he rarely leaves the house if he can avoid it, he has days where he can't eat or sleep, he's underweight and always tired and generally known to lack energy and be slow (or 'lazy') and in some cases listless and despondent. Ban even says that he wouldn't put it past Yuki to start slitting his wrists. And it's subtle, but there's one more really big one that really never goes away for him, even after he finds Ban.

2.2: "I don't need anyone to love me."

I'll get straight to the point. Yuki hates himself. Maybe only a little bit, maybe only sometimes, but it's there. Especially when he struggles with composing - he even says it himself in part 1 of his birthday photobook rabbit chat, almost immediately after saying that it made him want to kill himself but we'll get back to that part.

But it's really everywhere on what seems to be a mostly subconscious level for him, if you know how to look, even from the very beginning:

On paper, this line is just his frustration with being judged by anything other than his music, because it's something he cares a lot about and puts a lot of work into and he wants that to be acknowledged. But I think that if you take it in conjunction with some of the other things he tends to say, there's a little bit more to it.

I dont need anyone to love me. Yuki's songs are worthy of love. Yuki is not. There is nothing valuable about Yuki other than his songs, he has nothing else that deserves any sort of praise, and without them, he's just a useless burden with nothing to offer. He doesn't need anyone to love him - he doesn't understand why anyone would. And Momo does, and he's a good person, and Yuki doesn't deserve that when there's nothing he can actually do for him. And when that starts to change and he starts getting better at showing kindness to others and being there for Momo, he doesn't see it as learning to better express his feelings, he sees is as learning to feel affection and be a good person, because he believes that he is inherently not. As far as he can tell, Yuki is just naturally a bad person and a bad partner who isn't kind and isn't capable of love or compassion, not unless he tries to be. He knows, because he's heard it god knows how many times - even Chiba Shizuo blatantly tells him that neither of them can become good people - and maybe things are different now, but on some basic level it'll always be who he is.

Ok breaking character for a second, imagine you show up to your acting side gig and on the first day Keanu Reeves comes up to you and gives you $300 cash and then later he indirectly tells you that you're a nasty lonely egotistical failure. Now imagine you're Yuki and you have no fucking clue who Keanu Reeves is. He also shows you pictures of his top secret illegitimate son after talking to you for like 10 minutes and you have to lie to him about being straight. I think this is objectively the funniest situation to be in ever. Chiba Shizuo and Yamato both probably have depression also, but I'm not gonna spend any time on it, because every three months a person is torn to pieces by a crocodile in Northern Queensland. I forgot what I was talking about. Anyway

2.3: Hey remember that one time Yuki just straight up tried to kill himself

Yeah, that one. As far as I know this is really never addressed or acknowledged again, so we're just gonna take the page-long gag from Re:member at face value and say that after Ban's disappearance, Yuki (almost) attempted suicide, and the only reason he didn't go through with it is because he couldn't find anywhere to hang the noose. And like, yeah you could say it's just because he thought Ban might have killed himself and he's always been the kind of hopeless romantic to be waxing poetic about how "I can't live without you," but at the same time, he had no apparent reason to believe this (even if Ban did have suicidal tendencies I doubt Yuki would've really known), and he was planning to go through with it (I know it's probably just for comedic effect but he left a will. He left a will. He's, like, 20, and surely not the kind of person who would just have something like that in order already). This is also emphatically not the last time or the only reason he thinks about it.

I told you we'd get back to the photobook chat! I think there's also a lot you can infer from all the times he says he'd probably be dead by now without Momo and he wouldn't be able to handle losing him, what with the whole "when you jump, you'd better take me with you" thing. But regardless, this really isn't just that one time that Yuki tried to kill himself. It's suicidal ideation, and it's something he consistently struggles with especially in the few months after Ban leaves him. It even comes up in how he sees the 'paranormal activity' his new apartment:

2.4: "It seemed as though someone had hung themselves there."

Yeah it's the ghost I'm finally gonna talk about the ghost. I'm done with my Yuki has depression rant we can talk about why the ghost is Yuki now. I guess it might be more accurate to say that the ghost is Yuki's depression/suicidal thoughts/Banri trauma/whatever, but either way I think it represents him and he might also be semi-consciously projecting onto it, and I'm gonna go through line-by-line and try to explain my interpretation.

I think if you want to there's definitely room to take the 'usual paranormal activity' super literally and say that Yuki was having outbursts and slamming doors at the time (which would also match up with him being startled by it). I think it's also important to note that this is happening around the time he mentions feeling suicidal and not being able to compose in the photobook chat, but the main thing here is that second line. Even though Momo is always so nice to him, he can't stop himself from getting mad and being difficult and depressed, and he can't return that kindness - he can't even be useful to him.

I've already mentioned how I think Yuki's conclusion about the stain here plays into his suicidal ideation, but let's look at it a little more thematically. It's the way that even though it's glossed over earlier in the manga, Yuki's suicide attempt and everything that accompanied it still follows him, and it hangs (lol) heavy in their house like a ghost. To Yuki, it's startling and eerie - it scares him, and he's expecting it to scare Momo once he sees that side of him too. And it probably does scare him a little, and he hesitates, but he doesn't scream. Again, there's room to interpret this more literally as Momo finding out about his attempt/ideation/depression, or just as him inevitably seeing how he gets on his worse days, but either way the outcome is the same. Momo is starting to know Yuki as a person instead of an idol, flaws and probable mental illness and all, and his first reaction isn't to shy away or start to hate him or want to leave. It's an introduction. He makes it clear that they'll both be staying here from now on, that he's willing to live with the 'darker' sides of Yuki, and to help him do the same. Another point on this that's up to interpretation (because let's be real they're probably never gonna deal with this stuff explicitly in canon), you could see the whole ghost thing as neither of them really being able/wanting to accept that Yuki's symptoms are actually a part of him (and this is veering completely into fanfic territory but now I'm just imagining both of them silently agreeing to blame the things Yuki does on bad days on the ghost) but we've had enough angst for one day.

Everything else lines up well enough with the ghost and Yuki, but it's really his reaction here that sells the whole thing for me. It's a simple gesture, but just by Momo greeting him, being by his side, waiting for him when he comes home, that constant reminder of all his darkest thoughts becomes just another mark on the floorboards. It's not gone, and it probably never will be. But at least now, he doesn't have to face it alone. And it doesn't look so scary anymore.

2.5: "Now I know joy, and the meaning of a smile."

I must confess that I lied to all of you earlier. I'm actually not done with my Yuki rant and also there's a good reason I've been ignoring all the parts of Re:member where he isn't being self-deprecating or trying to kill himself. The end of the ghost scene is only the beginning of the end of this analysis, and the end of this analysis is pretty much just me having a meltdown about Yuki. Also I'm running out of space for images so we're doing some of the quotes like this instead.

After losing Ban, I lost my dreams, friends, and passion as well. I could only feel a sting as the wind passed through an empty, gaping hole in my chest. But I breathed as best as I could, and he tried to clear the dirt out of that hole, filling it with his earnest words instead.

Yuki still exhibits a lot of symptoms of depression all the way through the series, like the low energy and the trouble eating and sleeping, and [redacted part 5 spoilers] makes me think there's definitely some sort of connection between his writers' block and his depressive episodes. He still mentions feeling guilty towards Banri in second beat, the suicidal ideation doesn't really come up explicitly but he kinda hints at it on a few occassions, and he's very adament that he was a bad person and still isn't really a good one. But it's like. I don't really know how to put this, but I guess it's not his default state anymore like it was right after Ban left (and possibly before that, too). For the most part, he really does get better, and these things become less intense and fewer and farther between. He would probably say that it's all thanks to Momo, and it is, but he also very much does it of his own volition. Momo refuses so desperately to give up on him, and because of that he makes that choice to keep going by restarting Re:vale with him.

Yuki allows himself to let someone else in and start to love again - his partner, his music, his life. Even while he's thinking that he's just a burden to those around him, he doesn't resign himself to his fate like he might have done in the past. He's determined to become a better person, someone who can be a source of strength for Momo just like he was for him. And in the end, he does, but it's not just that. Now he knows joy. Now he can genuinely smile. And now,

I want to hear them scream my name. The voices that called out had annoyed me in the past. But now, I'll smile, together with Momo, who'll be by my side.

Going back to what I said about some of Yuki's subconscious self-hatred coming through in the way he wants people to look at his music and not at him, I. Cannot finish a sentence. Do NOT think about Yuki learning to love himself and see himself as worthy of love because Momo loved him just that much in a way that he could accept. BAD IDEA. Okay. So. It's Ban's advice and Momo's fan letter that get Yuki to accept that his fans do genuinely love his music in the first place, and I think it's here that it really starts to turn into him accepting the idea that they love other things about him too? Or that he really starts to want it and be happy about it instead of just accepting it? Whatever. I give up. I don't even like Re:vale anyway

That day, I would play the guitar I'd almost thrown at Kujou, because I now knew the power of a song that could not be silenced. I would dry my tears, open the door, and say, "I'm home."

[badnewswhatsleft]

2023 september - rock sound #300 (fall out boy cover) scans

transcript below cut!

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

With the triumphant ‘So Much (For) Stardust’ capturing a whole new generation of fans, Fall Out Boy are riding high, celebrating their past while looking towards a bright future. Pete Wentz and Patrick Stump reflect on recent successes and the lessons learned from two decades of writing and performing together.

WORDS: James Wilson-Taylor PHOTOS: Elliot Ingham

You have just completed a US summer tour that included stadium shows and some of your most ambitious production to date. What were your aims going into this particular show?

PETE: Playing stadiums is a funny thing. I pushed pretty hard to do a couple this time because I think that the record Patrick came up with musically lends itself to that feeling of being part of something larger than yourself. When we were designing the cover to the album, it was meant to be all tangible, which was a reaction to tokens and skins that you can buy and avatars. The title is made out of clay, and the painting is an actual painting. We wanted to approach the show in that way as well. We’ve been playing in front of a gigantic video wall for the past eight years. Now, we wanted a stage show where you could actually walk inside it.

Did adding the new songs from ‘So Much (For) Stardust’ into the setlist change the way you felt about them?

PATRICK: One of the things that was interesting about the record was that we took a lot of time figuring out what it was going to be, what it was going to sound like. We experimented with so many different things. I was instantly really proud. I felt really good about this record but it wasn’t until we got on stage and you’re playing the songs in between our catalogue that I really felt that. It was really noticeable from the first day on this tour - we felt like a different band. There’s a new energy to it. There was something that I could hear live that I couldn’t hear before.

You also revisited a lot of older tracks and b-sides on this tour, including many from the ‘Folie à Deux’-era. What prompted those choices?

PETE: There were some lean years where there weren’t a lot of rock bands being played on pop radio or playing award shows so we tried to play the biggest songs, the biggest versions of them. We tried to make our thing really airtight, bulletproof so that when we played next to whoever the top artist was, people were like, ‘oh yeah, they should be here.’ The culture shift in the world is so interesting because now, maybe rather than going wider, it makes more sense to go deeper with people. We thought about that in the way that we listen to music and the way we watch films. Playing a song that is a b-side or barely made a record but is someone’s favourite song makes a lot of sense in this era. PATRICK: I think there also was a period there where, to Pete’s point, it was a weird time to be a rock band. We had this very strange thing that happened to us, and not a lot of our friends for some reason, where we had a bunch of hits, right? And it didn’t make any sense to me. It still doesn’t make sense to me. But there was a kind of novelty, where we could play a whole set of songs that a lot of people know. It was fun and rewarding for us to do that. But then you run the risk of playing the same set forever. I want to love the songs that we play. I want to care about it and put passion into what we do. And there’s no sustainable way to just do the same thing every night and not get jaded. We weren’t getting there but I really wanted to make sure that we don’t ever get there. PETE: In the origin of Fall Out Boy, what happened at our concerts was we knew how to play five songs really fast and jumped off walls and the fire marshal would shut it down. It was what made the show memorable, but we wanted to be able to last and so we tried to perfect our show and the songs and the stage show and make it flawless. Then you don’t really know how much spontaneity you want to include, because something could go wrong. When we started this tour, and we did a couple of spontaneous things, it opened us up to more. Because things did go wrong and that’s what made the show special. We’re doing what is the most punk rock version of what we could be doing right now.

You seem generally a lot more comfortable celebrating your past success at this point in your career.

PETE: I think it’s actually not a change from our past. I love those records, but I never want to treat them in a cynical way. I never want there to be a wink and a smile where we’re just doing this because it’s the anniversary. This was us celebrating these random songs and we hope people celebrate them with us. There was a purity to it that felt in line with how we’ve always felt about it. I love ‘Folie à Deux’ - out of any Fall Out Boy record that’s probably the one I would listen to. But I just never want it to be done in a cynical way, where we feel like we have to. But celebrating it in a way where there’s the purity of how we felt when we wrote the song originally, I think that’s fucking awesome. PATRICK: Music is a weird art form. Because when you’re an actor and you play a character, that is a specific thing. James Bond always wears a suit and has a gun and is a secret agent. If you change one thing, that’s fine, but you can’t really change all of it. But bands are just people. You are yourself. People get attached to it like it’s a story but it’s not. That was always something that I found difficult. For the story, it’s always good to say, ‘it’s the 20th anniversary, let’s go do the 20th anniversary tour’, that’s a good story thing. But it’s not always honest. We never stopped playing a lot of the songs from ‘Take This To Your Grave’, right? So why would I need to do a 20-year anniversary and perform all the songs back to back? The only reason would be because it would probably sell a lot of tickets and I don’t really ever want to be motivated by that, frankly. One of the things that’s been amazing is that now as the band has been around for a while, we have different layers of audience. I love ‘Folie à Deux’, I do. I love that record. But I had a really personally negative experience of touring on it. So that’s what I think of when I think of that record initially. It had to be brought back to me for me to appreciate it, for me to go, ‘oh, this record is really great. I should be happy with this. I should want to play this.’ So that’s why we got into a lot of the b-sides because we realised that our perspectives on a lot of these songs were based in our feelings and experiences from when we were making them. But you can find new experiences if you play those songs. You can make new memories with them.

You alluded there to the 20th anniversary of ‘Take This To Your Grave’. Obviously you have changed and developed as a band hugely since then. But is there anything you can point to about making that debut record that has remained a part of your process since then?

PETE: We have a language, the band, and it’s definitely a language of cinema and film. That’s maintained through time. We had very disparate music tastes and influences but I think film was a place we really aligned. You could have a deep discussion because none of us were filmmakers. You could say which part was good and which part sucked and not hurt anybody’s feelings, because you weren’t going out to make a film the next day. Whereas with music, I think if we’d only had that to talk about, we would have turned out a different band. PATRICK: ‘Take This To Your Grave’, even though it’s absolutely our first record, there’s an element of it that’s still a work in progress. It is still a band figuring itself out. Andy wasn’t even officially in the band for half of the recording, right? I wasn’t even officially the guitar player for half of the recording. We were still bumbling through it. There was something that popped up a couple times throughout that record where you got these little inklings of who the band really was. We really explored that on ‘From Under The Cork Tree’. So when we talk about what has remained the same… I didn’t want to be a singer, I didn’t know anything about singing, I wasn’t planning on that. I didn’t even plan to really be in this band for that long because Pete had a real band that really toured so I thought this was gonna be a side project. So there’s always been this element within the band where I don’t put too many expectations on things and then Pete has this really big ambition, creatively. There’s this great interplay between the two of us where I’m kind of oblivious, and I don’t know when I’m putting out a big idea and Pete has this amazing vision to find what goes where. There’s something really magical about that because I never could have done a band like this without it. We needed everybody, we needed all four of us. And I think that’s the thing that hasn’t changed - the four of us just being ourselves and trying to figure things out. Listening back to ‘Folie’ or ‘Infinity On High’ or ‘American Beauty’, I’m always amazed at how much better they are than I remember. I listened to ‘MANIA’ the other day, and I have a lot of misgivings about that record, a lot of things I’m frustrated about. But then I’m listening to it and I’m like ‘this is pretty good.’ There’s a lot of good things in there. I don’t know why, it’s kind of like you can’t see those things. It’s kind of amazing to have Pete be able to see those things. And likewise, sometimes Pete has no idea when he writes something brilliant, as a lyricist, and I have to go, ‘No, I’m gonna keep that one, I’m gonna use that.’

On ‘So Much (For) Stardust’, you teamed up with producer Neal Avron again for the first time since 2008. Given how much time has passed, did it take a minute to reestablish that connection or did you pick up where you left off?

PATRICK: It really didn’t feel like any time had passed between us and Neal. It was pretty seamless in terms of working with him. But then there was also the weird aspect where the last time we worked with him was kind of contentious. Interpersonally, the four of us were kind of fighting with each other… as much as we do anyway. We say that and then that myth gets built bigger than it was. We were always pretty cool with each other. It’s just that the least cool was making ‘Folie’. So then getting into it again for this record, it was like no time has passed as people but the four of us got on better so we had more to bring to Neal. PETE: It’s a little bit like when you return to your parents’ house for a holiday break when you’re in college. It’s the same house but now I can drink with my parents. We’d grown up and the first times we worked with Neal, he had to do so much more boy scout leadership, ‘you guys are all gonna be okay, we’re gonna do this activity to earn this badge so you guys don’t fucking murder each other.’ This time, we probably got a different version of Neal that was even more creative, because he had to do less psychotherapy. He went deep too. Sometimes when you’re in a session with somebody, and they’re like, ‘what are we singing about?’, I’ll just be like, ‘stuff’. He was not cool with ‘stuff’. I would get up and go into the bathroom outside the studio and look in the mirror, and think ‘what is it about? How deep are we gonna go?’ That’s a little but scarier to ask yourself. If last time Neal was like a boy scout leader, this time, it was more like a Sherpa. He was helping us get to the summit.

The title track of the album also finds you in a very reflective mood, even bringing back lyrics from ‘Love From The Other Side’. How would you describe the meaning behind that title and the song itself?

PETE: The record title has a couple of different meanings, I guess. The biggest one to me is that we basically all are former stars. That’s what we’re made of, those pieces of carbon. It still feels like the world’s gonna blow and it’s all moving too fast and the wrong things are moving too slow. That track in particular looks back at where you sometimes wish things had gone differently. But this is more from the perspective of when you’re watching a space movie, and they’re too far away and they can’t quite make it back. It doesn’t matter what they do and at some point, the astronaut accepts that. But they’re close enough that you can see the look on their face. I feel like there’s moments like that in the title track. I wish some things were different. But, as an adult going through this, you are too far away from the tether, and you’re just floating into space. It is sad and lonely but in some ways, it’s kind of freeing, because there’s other aspects of our world and my life that I love and that I want to keep shaping and changing. PATRICK: I’ll open up Pete’s lyrics and I just start hearing things. It almost feels effortless in a lot of ways. I just read his lyrics and something starts happening in my head. The first line, ‘I’m in a winter mood, dreaming of spring now’, instantly the piano started to form to me. That was a song that I came close to not sending to the band. When I make demos, I’ll usually wait until I have five or six to send to everybody. I didn’t know if anyone was gonna like this. It’s too moody or it’s not very us. But it was pretty unanimous. Everyone liked that one. I knew this had to end the record. It took on a different life in the context of the whole album. Then on the bridge section, I knew it was going to be the lyrics from ‘Love From The Other Side’. It’s got to come back here. It’s the bookends, but I also love lyrically what it does, you know, ‘in another life, you were my babe’, going back to that kind of regret, which feels different in ‘Love From The Other Side’ than it does here. When the whole song came together, it was the statement of the record.

Aside from the album, you have released a few more recent tracks that have opened you up to a whole new audience, most notably the collaboration with Taylor Swift on ‘Electric Touch’.

PETE: Taylor is the only artist that I’ve met or interacted with in recent times who creates exactly the art of who she is, but does it on such a mass level. So that’s breathtaking to watch from the sidelines. The way fans traded friendship bracelets, I don’t know what the beginning of it was, but you felt that everywhere. We felt that, I saw that in the crowd on our tour. I don’t know Taylor well, but I think she’s doing exactly what she wants and creating exactly the art that she wants to create. And doing that, on such a level, is really awe-inspiring to watch. It makes you want to make the biggest, weirdest version of our thing and put that out there.

Then there was the cover of Billy Joel’s ‘We Didn’t Start The Fire’, which has had some big chart success for you. That must have taken you slightly by surprise.

PATRICK: It’s pretty unexpected. Pete and I were going back and forth about songs we should cover and that was an idea that I had. This is so silly but there was a song a bunch of years ago I had written called ‘Dark Horse’ and then there was a Katy Perry song called ‘Dark Horse’ and I was like, ‘damn it’, you know, I missed the boat on that one. So I thought if we don’t do this cover, somebody else is gonna do it. Let’s just get in the studio and just do it. We spent way more time on those lyrics than you would think because we really wanted to get a specific feel. It was really fun and kind of loose, we just came together in Neal’s house and recorded it in a day. PETE: There’s irreverence to it. I thought the coolest thing was when Billy Joel got asked about it, and he was like, ‘I’m not updating it, that’s fine, go for it.’ I hope if somebody ever chose to update one of ours, we’d be like that. Let them do their thing, they’ll have that version. I thought that was so fucking cool.

It’s also no secret that the sound you became most known for in the mid-2000s is having something of a commercial revival right now. But what is interesting is seeing how bands are building on that sound and changing it.

PATRICK: I love when anybody does anything that feels honest to them. Touring with Bring Me The Horizon, it was really cool seeing what’s natural to them. It makes sense. We changed our sound over time but we were always going to do that. It wasn’t a premeditated thing but for the four of us, it would have been impossible to maintain making the same kind of music forever. Whereas you’ll play with some other bands and they live that one sound. You meet up with them for dinner or something and they’re wearing the shirt of the band that sounds just like their band. You go to their house and they’re playing other bands that sound like them because they live in that thing. Whereas with the four of us and bands like Bring Me The Horizon, we change our sounds over time. And there’s nothing wrong with either. The only thing that’s wrong is if it’s unnatural to you. If you’re AC/DC and all of a sudden power ballads are in and you’re like, ‘Okay, we’ve got to do a power ballad’, that’s when it sucks. But if you’re a thrash metal guy who likes Celine Dion then yeah, do a power ballad. Emo as a word doesn’t mean anything anymore. But if people want to call it that, if the emo thing is back or having another life again, if that’s what’s natural to an artist, I think the world needs more earnest art. If that’s who you are, then do it. PETE: It would be super egotistical to think that the wave that started with us and My Chemical Romance and Panic! At The Disco has just been circling and cycling back. I  remember seeing Nikki Sixx at the airport and he was like, ‘Oh, you’re doing a flaming bass? Mine came from a backpack.’ It keeps coming back but it looks different. Talking to Lil Uzi Vert and Juice WRLD when he was around, it’s so interesting, because it’s so much bigger than just emo or whatever. It’s this whole big pop music thing that’s spinning and churning, and then it moves on, and then it comes back with different aspects and some of the other stuff combined. When you’re a fan of music and art and film, you take different stuff, you add different ingredients, because that’s your taste. Seeing the bands that are up and coming to me, it’s so exciting, because the rules are just different, right? It’s really cool to see artists that lean into the weirdness and lean into a left turn when everyone’s telling you to make a right. That’s so refreshing. PATRICK: It’s really important as an artist gets older to not put too much stock in your own influence. The moment right now that we’re in is bigger than emo and bigger than whatever was happening in 2005. There’s a great line in ‘Downton Abbey’ where someone was asking the Lord about owning this manor and he’s like, ‘well, you don’t really own it, there have been hundreds of owners and you are the custodian of it for a brief time.’ That’s what pop music is like. You just have the ball for a minute and you’re gonna pass it on to somebody else.

We will soon see you in the UK for your arena tour. How do you reflect on your relationship with the fans over here?

PETE: I remember the first time we went to the UK, I wasn’t prepared for how culturally different it was. When we played Reading & Leeds and the summer festivals, it was so different, and so much deeper within the culture. It was a little bit of a shock. The first couple of times we played, I was like, ‘Oh, my God, are we gonna die?’ because the crowd was so crazy, and there was bottles. Then when we came back, we thought maybe this is a beast to be tamed. Finally, you realise it’s a trading of energy. That made the last couple of festivals we played so fucking awesome. When you really realise that the fans over there are real fans of music. It’s really awesome and pretty beautiful. PATRICK: We’ve played the UK now more than a lot of regions of the states. Pretty early on, I just clicked with it. There were differences, cultural things and things that you didn’t expect. But it never felt that different or foreign to me, just a different flavour… PETE: This is why me and Patrick work so well together (laughs).  PATRICK: Well, listen; I’m a rainy weather guy. There is just things that I get there. I don’t really drink anymore all that much. But I totally will have a beer in the UK, there’s something different about every aspect of it, about the ordering of it, about the flavour of it, everything, it’s like a different vibe. The UK audience seemed to click with us too. There have been plenty of times where we felt almost more like a UK band than an American one. There have been years where you go there and almost get a more familial reaction than you would at home. Rock Sound has always been a part of that for us. It was one of the first magazines to care about us and the first magazine to do real interviews. That’s the thing, you would do all these interviews and a lot of them would be like ‘so where did the band’s name come from?’ But Rock Sound took us seriously as artists, maybe before some of us did. That actually made us think about who we are and that was a really cool experience. I think in a lot of ways, we wouldn’t be the band we are without the UK, because I think it taught us a lot about what it is to be yourself.

Fall Out Boy’s ‘So Much (For) Stardust’ is out now via Fueled By Ramen.

[taruusmoon]

THE BEST LA, LA, LA IN KPOP.

Pairing: idoltatterxidolfemreader | idollusherxidolfemreader | idolbadaxidolfemreader | idolminahxidolfemreader

Genre: idk tbh AU?

Warning: use of the song better than gold from NCT | tension | idolAU! | lead singer tatter | main dancer bada | main rapper lusher | secret relationship | visual minah | golden visual 8th member

Inspired by this video

Kim Taeyoung “Tatter”

Being part of the most popular girl group in the third generation was something difficult, and it was worse when you were in a secret relationship with the lead vocalist of the band. Bebe debuted in 2015 right after the debut of Seventeen, and became one of the most popular groups under SM Entertainment.

You were one of the most popular among boys and idols, but everyone suspected that boys weren’t something you’re interested in. Rumors about you were everywhere: inside the company, in magazines, and on all social media. And it was needless to say that the rumors were true. Two years after the Bebe debut, you and Tatter started dating. Everything started as a friendship inside the practice room before your debut and years later became something more when both of you confessed after an emotional concert in Europe.

It was difficult to keep it a secret, and only all the team members knew about the relationship. They supported it even if there were the slightest probability of everything going to hell when people found out. But there was something that kept the two of you going, and it was the support of the fans. There were a lot of people who shipped you, and both of you knew it. At first, the skin ship between the lead singer and you was null, but when Tatter came to your room, she was very excited because she found a hashtag with your names and a lot of theories. You became more touchy with her.

People love the interaction; they have favorite moments, and one of them was the duo part you both have together on the cover of Better Than Gold from NCT Dream.

“It’s better, better, better, better than,” the group sang all together in the scenario with a thousand fans all around the stadium.

    “Ooh, na-na” Tatter sang, walking with a smile on her face while boys and girls screamed her name loudly. You walked behind her, getting closer with each step. “You oneul harureul” she stopped walking and moved her shoulders with the rhythm of the song, turning her head back to put it in your shoulder while you put your arm around her waist, making everyone scream louder.

     “Lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-love” you sang, and then walked away, winking at Tatter, knowing that tomorrow the internet would be full of videos of you two.

 

 

Lee Seoyoung “Lusher”

It was the 10th anniversary of Bebe, and the company decided to hold a commemoration concert in the Olympic Stadium in Seoul. The place was completely full, and all the tickets were sold out in two hours. A blue lightstick illuminated the whole arena, making all the members emotional and excited for the anniversary.

     “I just want to say to all of the fans that are here today and all of the ones that are behind those screens that I love you” With a soft voice, you said, and all the people who attended the concert screamed loudly. “I really appreciate the love you have given to us since the day you met us.”

“Yah, y/n stop being so cute” Lusher put her arm around your shoulders, hugging you hard, and the simple gesture made everyone scream even louder than before. Every fan shipped you and Lusher, there were a lot of theories around the internet, and they enjoyed even the smallest touch you gave each other.

But no one except for the members and the staff knew the truth about you two, and it was better that way. Even though a lot of articles from official websites surrounded the internet, neither you nor Seoyoung said a word about the relationship between you two. You two were just fifteen years old when Bebe debuted, and Lusher had a crush on you since then, but she never said a word, and in fact, if it weren’t for Bada you'd never know about it because Seoyoung thought that you loved her just like a best friend. 

It wasn’t until 2 years after the debut that Bada found out you liked Lusher too, and she freaked out instantly, telling you that Seoyoung had the same feelings. But you didn’t believe her at the beginning, and it was thanks to Kyma that you believed her word. After that, you confessed to Lusher.

“¡Better than gold! ¡Better than gold!” The public started to scream, asking for the famous cover, making the whole team laugh, but who were they to say no to their fans? Even if the song wasn’t originally from Bebe, everyone loved the cover. 

“Baby, you know, yeah, you know, yeah, you know. Yeah, you know gidaryeo watjanni” You started to sing with a flirty smile, pointing at the fans who got excited.

All the girls walked around the scenario while singing the popular cover, and all the fans sang along with you and your group members. Lusher stood at the center of the scenario, dancing to the rhythm of the song. You walked in her direction, looking her straight in the eyes, both knowing what was coming next. 

    “Ooh, na-na” you sang, putting your arms over Lushers shoulders while she put one of her hands on your waist. “you oneul harureul Lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-love” Seoyoung gave you a flirty smile while dancing.

     “tto la-la-la-la-la-la” both of you sang together, hearing the screaming of the fans who were 100% sure that you two were dating.

Lee Bada

The Christmas concert was the biggest event SM held every year. All the singers and groups attend the biggest celebration at the Olympic Stadium in Seoul. That night, Bebe and NCT Dream were together on the scenario after a long talk about how they should sing together Better than Gold.

After the mashup Bebe did of all the groups from the company on the SM anniversary, everyone went crazy with them singing Better than Gold, and a year later they released an official cover that went viral around the internet for months. Since then, the song has become part of their concerts, and for the Christmas presentation, the fans begged for the collaboration between Bebe and their hoobae.

You smile at Renjun who was singing next to you, excited to be in the same scenario as his sunbae. The whole stadium was illuminated with blue and green lights, and all the fans were screaming and singing with the two groups. And when Bada appeared next to you grabbing your hand and guiding you to walk through the big scenario with Jaemin and Renjun by your side, everyone went crazy.

The relationship you two had was known to everyone, even if any of you haven’t said a word of affirmation. The simple photos on your social media and the few words Bada has said in some interviews affirm the relationship. But it was a secret that everyone knew even before the debut, when Bebe used to have a pre-debut YouTube channel where you two always stuck to each other.

Both of you were considered the parents of the group; Bada was the strict mom, and you were the loving mother who always hugged them and kissed them the whole time. It was a funny combination because you two were always bickering; Bada was like oil and you were like water, but no matter how different you were, the love was big and beautiful.

     “Ooh, na-na” Renjun and you sang at the same time. Bada raised her hand up to your chin, making you flush and smile shyly with her touch. “You oneul harureul Lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-love”

     “tto la-la-la-la-la-la” with a smirk, Bada left with Jaemin to the other side of the scenario, leaving you a little bit nervous.

Lee Minah

   

Minah and you were the visuals of Bebe, Mina has the Korean beauty, while you have the foreign beauty. Everyone loved the two of you together; in photoshoots, songs, or videos, no matter what, both of you were always together. And it was something that fans asked for, but it was something that you two never wanted at first.

     That’s why when the cover of Better Than gold was filmed, the duo of Jaemin and Renjun was assigned to you two. And when the videos were released, people loved you and Minah together even more. The whole Bebe team and staff always make fun of it because, at first, in real life, you and Minah couldn’t stand each other; to you, the young girl was too stubborn and egocentric, and for Minah, you were too innocent and a saint, even if you were older than her. Your relationship with her was like a cat and dog, always running against each other.

     But things changed one day, when, in the middle of an interview, Minah said that she was always flustered and nervous around you whenever you had a photoshoot together. You thought she was joking and trying to get into your skin to make you mad, but when you tried to complain about the matter, she suddenly kissed you. And at that moment, the relationship began.

     “Hey Minah come here right now,” you said through the microphone, looking at the girl trying to sneak to the second floor of the scenario to get closer to the fans while the other girls continued singing Better Than Gold. "Everyone, look at Minah being so stubborn as usual."

     “Coming y/n Unnie” she said, rolling her eyes, knowing very well that you hate being called unnie.

      “Stop fighting and just kiss” Cheche joked, running behind Bada at the right moment, Minah ran in her direction. The girls were going to start chasing each other, but when Minah passed right next to you, you grabbed her by her arm.

     “Ooh, na-na” you grab her cheeks and sing, looking her right in the eyes, causing her to smile, amused. The whole stadium was covered by screams, and the other Bebe girls laughed, “you oneul harureul Lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-love”

       “tto la-la-la-la-la-la” Minah sang, then put her hand on your face and pushed you to run with you behind her.

˗ ˏ ˋ ♡ ˎˊ ˗

First time adding Minah and I don’t regret it🥱🫡

Hope you like it, and sorry if some grammar it’s not okay. Eng it’s not my first lenguaje