#freakout release

[cloudbends]

im trying to work (futile) (been rewriting the same sentence for ten minutes) i dont really have any recs but have u seen look back yet? ive heard good things but i havent had the time to watch it sadly

(Head in hands in agony) I've seen it and it changed my life forever . You have to watch it rumi. Genuinely masterful adaptation of the source material which is one of the few mangas that I own physically and means a whole whole lot to me.

Also you and me both I too am trying to work to no avail

[whentherewerebicycles]

the moon looked bigger in real life

[will-you-pick-me]

WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE CREATOR OF WEATHERING FEELINGS IS HERE TOO

[senorboombastic]

Live Review: Hot Chip at The Warehouse Project in Manchester 03 February 2023

Words: Mark Bowers As a huge fan of Hot Chip for nearly twenty years, the excitement of seeing them for the first time since late 2019 could not be quashed by anything – man nor beast. A train strike? Nah. Overzealous drug spaniel (incorrectly) detaining me on entry because I had a dog treat in my pocket? No sir, tonight I’m going to dance like it’s 1999 and under muted lights I’ll be raving…

[opold]

post cancelled i just remembered shaka wear has a 7.5 oz shirt

people are afraid to say it but gildan heavy cotton >>> anything bella and canvas is doing

[oacest]

wait I'm sorry but I'm kinda new to this fandom and I still don't know all the lore and stuff, would you mind explaining about the noel signing their record deal and the 40 40 percent stuff

I saw your tags on it and i don't get it I'm so sorry😭

In late 1999, Alan McGee (the man who originally signed Oasis in 1993) left Creation Records and the label folded. Oasis proceeded to set up their own record label -- Big Brother Recordings. cough. (and the catalog number for each song starts with "RKID" but that's a different freakout altogether)

The original structure of Big Brother actually had Alan White with an equal share:

Bonehead and Guigs left the band around this time, so I guess this was perhaps a bit of "batten down the hatches" move. White left the band in 2004 (and the label finally in 2006? wonder what happened there). For whatever reason, Gem and Andy were never brought on as directors, so when they split in 2009, Oasis material was controlled by Noel and Liam, 40% apiece with Marcus Russell and Alec McKinlay having 10% each for band management purposes.

This means that the permission of both brothers is needed for any new Oasis release, and that either brother can block the other. which both have done lol

[tmbgareok]

Always love hearing Spy in concert and y'all have been killing it on this tour. I dug through my archives and unearthed a recording I'd made of what appears to be just the third time you had ever performed it live (thanks, TMBW!), at Toad's Place way back in April 1993. Far closer to the released arrangement and not quite the glorious live freakout it was destined to become:

[thanksjro]

More Than Meets the Eye #52 — The DJD Once Again Prove to Be an HR Nightmare

Ratchet and Drift, looking fresh as hell in their matching paint jobs, stand on the cliff they made their cool entrance on last issue, as they snipe at each other over whether or not Drift personally knows the DJD. Considering how Tarn and Friends had a space-cocaine induced freakout over seeing Drift on the quantum duplicate Lost Light, they may want to talk a little quieter, especially with the face Helex is making.

You better watch out, Ratchet— this man's going to do Sakamoto-got-all-the-way-to-pencils shit to you!

The Pet takes the opportunity presented by our recently returned newlyweds being too busy flirting to pay attention to the fight at hand, leaping to chew on Ratchet's head. Luckily, Ten is an ally, even when he’s been beat to shit, and punches the shitty little Pomeranian into the air. Kaon, card-carrying freak and dog dad, takes this abject display of animal abuse about as well as he can.

Ratchet, having his gun eaten by the mouth pervert, is beginning to worry that he, his rich boytoy, and a mostly out of commission Ten might be sliiiiiiiiightly outnumbered against a dozen Decepticons, two of whom belong to the Super Murder Death Squad. Drift, after a bit of needling, heelies a dude’s face off, jumps into the air, does a bunch of sick flips, blocks a laser with a sword in such a way that it looks like he got shot in the dick, and then lands, like, 70 feet away to scoop up the Pet and threaten to chop its head off if Helex doesn’t stop trying to vore his boyfriend.

Kaon, #1 dog dad, orders everyone to fall back. Helex, who has Ratchet like 70% inside his smelting chamber by this point, can’t believe that Kaon’s ruining the fun. Helex releases Ratchet, letting him crowd onto Drama Point with Drift and most of Ten, as the Decepticons circle them. Drift, unfortunately, didn’t think past doing sweet flips to show off after his sabbatical from the comic run, and they’re back in the same situation they arrived to, but now one of them is holding a crusty little dog.

Then a platform descends from the sky, and we see what Ravage has been up to.

Grand theft auto!

Yes, it turns out that this cat can drive, and well enough to get the boys up and out of danger, though Ten’s size means that the lovebirds have to dangle off of his remaining arm. Drift still hasn’t put down the Pet. Sure hope that thing’s been socialized to cats.

Oh, who am I kidding? Kaon wouldn’t have bothered.

Speaking of Kaon, he looks like he’s about to cry, because someone’s kidnapped his princess baby angel, and Helex doesn’t even CARE, the heartless bastard, as he orders the other Decepticons to fire on the shuttle. They, of course, hit it, as there’s at least ten of these guys firing, and they’re all decently tall. The shuttle begins to lose altitude, and Ravage, who does not have traditional hands and is currently using his tail to man the control stick, attempts to crash as close to the “fortress” as possible.

Meanwhile, over at Megatron’s plinth, we get back to that whole thing where he surrendered himself to Tarn. Tarn, feeling an excuse to monologue coming on, says that he’s well aware of Megatron’s new schtick, and he’s not a huge fan of it. Megatron clarifies that he wishes to give himself up so that the rest of the Lost Light crew stranded on this planet might live, because this is his fault to begin with. Tarn agrees, reminding him that he paid for Tarn’s plastic surgery. Megatron states that he only brought Tarn to his side to hurt “someone”.

Three guesses who Megatron could have possibly hurting by bringing Tarn over to the Decepticons, and the first two don’t count.

Megatron thinks that by bumming around space on a borderline vacation, he’s returned to who he used to be (maybe he got his teaching license, who knows) and that the war was a waste of time. Tarn gets kind of intense here, because if Megatron wasted his life, what does that make Tarn? Tarn, who has decorated his home with nothing but Decepticon symbols? Tarn, who has had corpses nailed to his wall for the last couple million years? Tarn, who wears a fuckoff stupid mask every single day of his life, even while eating and trying to kill himself with space meth cut with time travel and gas station dick pills? Also, what about all the other guys who died trying to realize Megatron's ideals? What about the little guys, the cogs that made the machine run? What about Steve from accounting, whose husband left him, because he was too busy trying to balance the budget on Megatron's body remodels and Optimus Prime punching bags that also doubled as body pillows to come home? What about Steve, huh?

Megatron basically regrets everything he’s ever done, not that Tarn cares. Megatron then reveals that whole thing where Rewind tried to retroactively kill him as an infant, and how he sort of wished it had worked.

Tarn starts beating the shit out of Megatron before the guy can start going on about how his parents are Brainstorm and Whirl, though Tarn promises that this is just a healthy dose of tough love, as surely the wimp before him isn’t actually who Megatron is. Megatron doesn’t fight back, instead just staring sadly at the Autobot badge Tarn slapped off of him. This is really starting to piss Tarn off, as he was really hoping to beat some of the fire back into his former mentor and idol. This is when he starts trying to choke Megatron, even though their species doesn’t breathe. Still, I’m sure Tarn’s stiletto nails hurt something fierce.

Megatron then recalls his conversation with Velocity, and states that if the fool’s energon DID alter his personality, it was probably for the best, and he wouldn’t want to go back. Tarn, who has based his entire selfhood on the thing that Megatron threw away to live out his probation on a cruise ship, takes this statement with all the tact and level-headedness we’ve come to know him for.

Tarn is just one more double fusion cannon blast to the chest away from smiting Megatron utterly, and he’s fully committed to doing so. However, he gets distracted by the sound of Elton John’s “The Bitch is Back” coming from across the field.

WHO LET THIS MOTHERFUCKER OUT OF HELL

Anyway, it looks like Ravage can, in fact, drive pretty well, as the shuttle did crash pretty close to the “fortress”. Swerve, who still really wants to make up for his shitty boss behaviors and also accidentally dragging Ten into a microcosm of hell, lets Ten know that they saw his floor graffiti, and that it might actually work. Magnus, who still has his arm off, does his best to not kick Swerve across the room as he scurries underfoot, as he drags Ten inside the building.

Skids intercepts Ratchet to welcome him back, and also ask how the hell he knew to come to Necroworld. Apparently he and Drift had received a call from the handy dandy phone that he had given First Aid, who First Aid had then regifted to Velocity, just in case some bullshit happened. Velocity’s introduction to Ratchet is rough, as she manages to call him grumpy, old, and stubborn as a mule in the span of about fifteen seconds. Ratchet is mostly concerned with the fact that the Lost Light replaced him so soon after his return. Nobody tell him about Velocity’s track record with the medical exams, he might just shoot off into space to beat First Aid to a pulp for leaving her by herself.

Over in what might be a closet, Rodimus runs across Drift sitting in the dark and sharpening one of his swords. Drift seems to have used his exile to remember that he does, in fact, have some semblance of self-respect, as he doesn’t immediately forgive Rodimus for throwing him off the ship that he paid for, only to have given himself up as the real culprit behind the Overlordening, like, a week later, thus negating Drift’s sacrifice, and then never coming to find him, despite the fact that they’re supposedly friends, and, again, the ship is in Drift’s name, as was the crew’s allowance money. How the Lost Light has survived financially without Drift is unknown.

Rodimus knows that he sucks and is the worst, but he was really worried that Drift wouldn’t like him anymore, so he’d sort of been kicking the issue of “finding my ex-TIC to tell him he got publicly humiliated for nothing” down the road, to the point where Ratchet had gotten sick of it and went to solve the problem himself.

Of course, the meta reason for Drift not being found was so that Shane McCarthy could have his OC back, as well as Ratchet, for the miniseries Transformers: Drift— Empire of Stone, well known for being sort of silly and introducing the phrase “be shoosh” to Drift’s lexicon. In it, Ratchet found Drift traipsing around the edge of the galaxy being a neutral (in terms of war) hero to organic species affected by Decepticon aggressions, before crashing on a planet where Drift, back when he was “Deadlock”, had found a mystical stone army, one that Gigatron (a dude who totally isn’t anime Megatron) wanted to harness the power of, so that the Decepticons might claim victory over their enemies. Hellbat, Gigatron’s second in command, had gone mad doing nothing but killing over millions of years, and had been modifying the stone army in secret to do his bidding so he could "kill everything". Then the stone army woke up, Hellbat died, Gigatron died, and Ratchet went to take Drift to get detailed, because he looked like he'd been ridden hard and put away wet.

Also, if you think about it, having two former high-ranking Decepticons turning to the Autobot side being on the Lost Light’s high command might have been too many redundancies to make Megatron’s arc stand out. Perhaps, had Megatron not been added to MTMTE’s roster so late in the game, Rodimus WOULD have gone looking for Drift, finding him just in time for the DJD to catch wind that they hadn’t actually super nightmare death murdered Deadlock after all.

Drift, who can’t say no to Rodimus's puppydog face, lets Rodimus sit with him on the floor, as he apologizes for the fact that by coming here, Drift and Ratchet have unwittingly signed up for Tarn’s Political Theory and Dismemberment Slam Poetry Night, but he mega-promises that they’ll come up with something together to get through this. Drift appreciates the sentiment, but knows that Rodimus is just saying this to make him feel better.

Back at the worst fan club meetup in the galaxy, Tarn elbows Overlord in the throat and tells him to fuck off. Overlord tells him that he knows Tarn never finished his degree and only acts like an academic for the aesthetic. Tarn transforms to shoot him while reminding Overlord that at least Megatron’s spoken to him in the last few thousand years. The two duke it out with their tank modes, Overlord KRUMPing all over Tarn, before the theatre kid kicks him off and questions why exactly Overlord is even alive, given that he chainsawed his head off last year. No word on if he’s bothered to ask this same question about 75% of the people he’s here to super murder.

Overlord simply states that someone found him floating out in space and fixed him up, because it turns out that they both wanted to go after Megatron and kill his ass dead, because Overlord is sort of sick of not getting the attention he so obviously deserves. When Tarn, ever the opportunist, attempts to make a team up deal, Overlord tells him to shut up.

And then they realize they lost the old man they were fighting over.

Great work, fellas.

Over with the Autobots (and Cyclonus), Rewind’s outside, looking at that memorial to the disappeared and trying to figure out why the Necrobot laid out the names in the way that he did. He’s currently near the top, where you can see most of Roller’s name, someone whose name ends in “gator”, and Dreamwave Production’s smoldering corpse, which makes me wonder if Alex Milne ever did get all the money he was owed from his work with them. Rewind, who last dealt with the DJD not even a year ago, is trying really, really hard to not think about how many needles they’re going to jam into Chromedome’s eyes this go around.

Of course, Nautica, who has come out to find Rewind, doesn’t give a shit about Rewind’s PTSD. She wants relationship advice! She’d ask Chromedome, but apparently he’s taking a nap, still worn out from stabbing Tailgate in the brain after he rainbow-exploded all over the ship. Which happened months ago.

You know, at the rate he’s been going, Chromedome probably wouldn’t have lived too far past sunset anyhow.

Anyway, Nautica wants to know if, on Cybertron, you have to be besties before you can get hitched, because that’s how it works on some of the other colonies. She specifies that this ISN'T how it works on Caminus, which is good, given how problematic that would be, considering you need to be best friends with someone by the time you're five weeks old, and there's no telling if they're cool with platonic polyamory. Rewind informs her that it’s either one or the other on Cybertron, no double-dipping, and god help you if it’s a situationship. Nautica is asking this because she’s realized that she can’t waffle about on committing anymore, seeing as she’s probably going to die in the next hour or so, and she’d rather use that time to enter a queer-platonic partnership than get her face fixed.

Back at the Peaceful Tyranny, Tarn has, in fact, managed to bring Overlord to reason, much to Deathsaurus’s confusion and derision, if his squiggle face is anything to go by. Overlord, smug as fuck, informs Deathsaurus that in exchange for his compliance, Tarn has agreed to let him personally murder Megatron while everyone watches, because surely Tarn couldn’t actually kill his idealogical idol, because he’s a pussy. Tarn is being very brave about this, only letting the spot blacking on his linework show on his face, as his fists shake with rage.

Then Kaon shows up, begging they pull back their forces until the Pet has been returned, and the spot blacking gets a little heavier.

Tarn, who has had a very long day of tactical meetings, phone calls, facing his fallen idol, having a very unsatisfying beatdown with said idol, and dealing with known freak Overlord, handles Kaon’s inability to be a big boy about misplacing his shitty little dog with all of the tact and decorum we’ve come to know him for— he gives Kaon a big, beefy hug, acknowledges just how much Kaon loves that shitty little dog, and then makes sure that Kaon never has to worry about a thing ever again.

That’s a series wrap on Kaon! Let’s give him a hand, folks!

Tarn, who has had just about enough of Overlord in the last half hour, smashes Kaon’s head onto Overlord’s tits, covering him in viscera, as he demands he be treated with respect, because this is HIS house, where HE’S paying the bills and calling the shots, so help him god. Nickel is very displeased that Tarn’s killed one of the Twinksome Twosome. No word on how Deathsaurus feels about this, considering that a big reason he’s working with Tarn is because he refused to kill the rest of the DJD when demanded to do so, thus showing his dedication to his men. Also no word on how the rest of the DJD are going to handle Tarn decapitating their weed man.

Tarn tells everyone to pony up, as they’re about to go over and handle all the silly little bastards hiding out in the Necrobot’s “fortress”.

Speaking of which, it looks like Megatron made it home, despite Tarn blowing his tits clean off with that cannon blast. Rodimus and Ratchet carry him inside, as Magnus is probably too busy not getting his arm put back on to help, and Megatron is using the last of his energy to hold the Autobot badge Tarn slapped off his chest earlier.

Sure hope Ratchet didn’t forget to tell Drift about his old boss being co-captain of the ship, or else this is going to be a very nasty surprise for both of them— we've already seen that Drift loves to freak out and kill sick people.

[teenytinyjimin]

je ne sais pas (j. hoseok)

dans mon esprit tout divague, (in my mind everything goes wild)

je me perds dans tes yeux (i lose myself in your eyes)

je me noie dans la vague de ton regard amoureux (i drown myself in the wave of your loving gaze)

je ne veux que ton âme divaguant sur ma peau (i only want your soul going wild on my skin)

summary: in which two strangers spend an unforgettable day together without actually getting to verbally understand each other.

pairing: hoseok x reader

word count: 2.8k

tags: fluff, language barrier, idol!hoseok, quebecois!reader, strangers to lovers, im bad at this tagging stuff

warnings: none, just enjoy some sweet hoseok fluff <3

author’s note: im really excited about this one yall 😭 i love the idea of language barrier romance because just think about it... u love someone so much that talking to them doesn't matter as much as the memories u create with them.. god ok ill stop speaking please please enjoy!

── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──

The province of Quebec is often quite peaceful for about 85% of the year, with the exceptions typically being one of two things. First, there's always the typical influx of tourists that happens during peak times of the year like summer, Christmas, things like that. However the second exception is typically related to whatever artist is in Montreal for the Canadian leg of their world tour. It wasn't uncommon for there to be a little bit of buzz around the famous singer in question, however no one seemed to go harder than kpop fans when their group or soloist of choice was coming for a show or two.

You weren't really a fan of kpop in the way that many of your friends were. Sure, you've listened to some songs before, but you never felt the desire to get invested in any of the artists or the lore that came with them. It would be nice to hear your friends babble on about a new song that was released or a new tour that was announced, however you were absolutely not expecting the absolute freakout that was to come when BTS announced that they'd be doing a show in Montreal.

"Can you believe it?" One friend asked you with excitement. Yes, you could. They were famous. Of course they were going to come to Canada for a world tour. It's not that you weren't excited for your friends, who called themselves 'Army', but you just weren't as invested so it didn't mean as much to you. It also didn't help that a lot of their discussions with fellow fans and the things they'd post relating to BTS on their social media profiles were in English.

The majority of Quebecois people were able to communicate in English as well as their native language of French, but for some reason your family lived under a rock and you didn't learn anything beyond basic greetings and conversations in English. You felt rather left out because it felt like you were behind your friends and everyone else around you, however as you grew older you tended to not let it bother you that much. Since French is a prominent language in Quebec, you weren't bothered about language barriers and knew you could get around and live life normally without worry.

Since your friends were much deeper down the Bangtan rabbit hole, they were able to secure floor tickets to their Montreal show and were extremely busy completely overthinking the event and what they wanted to wear. It was now the day before the show and they were last-minute panicking, roaming the stores of downtown Montreal to put together outfits that were both cute and appropriate for the vibe of the concert.

Given that they were rather busy with this, you decided that this would be a weekend to yourself where you could peacefully do whatever you wanted. The quaint cafe you work at full-time decided to close for the weekend given the occasion (apparently the owner was also an Army), so it was a perfect opportunity for you to go down to the local park and do some reading on a bench.

And that's exactly what you did. You found yourself parked on the lawn of Mount Royal Park, right next to the lake. You brought some light reading with you, a small romance novel that involved the typical coffee shop trope, prepared to do some reading but also some people watching in between. It was absolutely perfect, and you couldn't have asked for a better way to spend the weekend. As you peacefully read your cliche novel, cup of iced coffee from a local coffee shop in-hand, you thought the day couldn't get any better. Until it did.

"Hey, excuse me, can you help me?" You looked up from your book to see a boy standing a short distance away from you. He had the warmest smile on his face and his eyes were bright with cheer. You tilted your head slightly, not too sure what he was asking. After a minute of silence, his smile dropped slightly.

"Uh... E-English?" He asked. It was clear that he was struggling with his words as well, even though you didn't speak the language. You shook your head, a slight frown on your face. "Français?" You ask in response, to which he mirrors you and shakes his head in return. The boy looks down for a second, clearly stumped as to what to do at this point. Part of you thought that he was about to walk away, however his feet didn't move from where he was standing.

After a second, he looked back up, his sweet smile once again appearing on his face. With his phone in hand, he pointed at it, then pointed at himself, then pointed at you. Was he asking for your number? Raising an eyebrow, you started to shake your head, however you watched as his smile dropped again and he shook his head rapidly. "No! No!" He said frantically, before mimicking the act of taking a photo, making a little 'click click' noise. He wanted a photo!

Finally understanding what he was saying, you grin and nod, causing him to squeal in delight. He approached you briefly to hand you his phone before backing up toward the lake a little more. You start to turn his phone landscape before he shakes his head and lets out a little yelp, indicating that he wanted the photo to be in portrait mode. You giggle at his antics as he attempts to pose in the way he wants, admiring his efforts to not only have a good photo but also to communicate with you.

Once it seems like he's ready for you to take the photo, you begin clicking the photo button and watch as he begins to move a little bit to hit different styles of poses. And wow, this man was incredible at modeling. You watched in wonder as he effortlessly moved his body in all kinds of directions, going from casual to silly to cute and back to casual. He was absolutely gorgeous, there was no denying that. A ten in a world of fives.

After a couple minutes, he stops posing and giddily bounces back over to you. When he takes his phone back to look at all the photos, he makes a couple of 'woaaahhhh' noises, clearly impressed with your photography skills. You turn away as a blush creeps to your cheeks, flattered that he's happy with the photos. When you look back you watch him slightly bow to you in thanks before pointing to himself. "Hoseok," He says, making sure to enunciate each part of his name in the correct way so that you know how to say it.

You smile and nod, offering your name back to him, to which his smile grows into one of the most beautiful smiles you have ever seen. If it weren't for your impeccable self-control, you probably would have fainted the very first time he smiled at you, given how absolutely charming he was. However, this most recent smile made you a little weak on your feet. You were able to tough it out and stay strong, but God, he was just stunning.

You go to sit back down on your spot in the grass, but before you get the chance to you feel a gentle hand grasp your wrist. Face hot with shyness, you peer back over to him and notice his smile has dropped. You watch as he points toward the exit of the park and into the main city, and gives you a 'come on' motion, indicating that he wanted you to come with him. If this would have happened a few minutes ago when he first approached you, you might not have taken the offer. But now that you've gotten to somewhat know this breathtaking stranger, it was an offer you couldn't turn down. Grabbing your book and iced coffee from off the ground, you decide to follow him out of the park.

As you step back onto the streets of Montreal, walking with this random man, you watch as he turns to you and thinks for a second. You can tell he was trying to figure out how to communicate his next thought, so you remain silent and patient. After a second, he points at his eyes, and then gives this huge gesture with his arms, almost like he's expressing something blowing up. Letting out a soft giggle, you tilt your head slightly, resulting in a laugh coming from his own mouth. His laugh was so loud, sweet, and full of joy, and it was like pure honey dripping from his tongue. He retries his previous charades, now acting like he is looking at something with his hand above both of his eyes. He then goes 'woahh!!' and gives an amazed look, and you realize that he's asking to see some of the highlights of the city. With a soft nod, you take his hand, watching a soft blush creep to his cheeks as you pull him along the street and show him everything he needs to see in your beautiful city.

˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗

After spending hours with Hoseok, showing him about everything in Montreal and taking a picture of him with it, you found yourselves once again back in the park where you first met. It was a rather chaotic day, pulling the boy around and watching his face light up at absolutely everything, but what seemed to be weirder was the fact that multiple times during your tour you guys received a few looks and even whispers. Every time that it happened, Hoseok would indicate to you that he wanted to move on and go to the next spot while also pulling up the light scarf that he had around his neck to cover his mouth and nose. You thought that it was rather bizarre but dismissed it as people being disrespectful since he was a rather loud and excited tourist.

Now, though, it was just you and him, sitting in the grass in front of the lake as you ate a late lunch/early dinner. He asked you to go with him to a local store where he went around and picked out a bunch of ready-made food as well as a bottle of champagne, paying for it all and implying that he wanted to eat it with you back at the park. Considering this stranger was doing more than anyone had ever done for you in the last twenty-something years of your life, you were beyond flattered and at this point you were hardcore swooning for him.

You half expected your meal to be quiet and consist of you guys looking at the lake, looking at each other, and silently eating your meal. But this was Hoseok, the man you had learned was anything but quiet. Even though he couldn't speak your language and you couldn't speak his, he was telling you all kinds of stories through the power of charades and sound effects. For most of the time, he had you in tears, laughing at his impeccable sense of humor and all-around silliness. But he also provided you with moments of peace so you could eat without choking, which was rather respectful of him, you thought.

After a while of fun storytelling, you two fell silent. You gazed over at the lake, watching as the sun made the water shimmer, and let out a sigh. When you looked back over to Hoseok, you caught him staring at you, causing a blush to creep to your cheeks. Raising an eyebrow, you nudged him as a way to ask 'what are you looking at?'. Shaking his head, he hesitantly stretched out his arm to wrap it around your waist. Just by looking at him you could tell he was internally freaking out, his eyes wide with nervousness. You smiled softly and inched your way closer to him, accepting his embrace as you rested your head on his shoulder.

There was something about this man that was so much different from anyone else that you had ever met. His charisma, his kindness, his energy – all of it was so attractive. It was the fact that he wasn't just a pretty face, he was a pretty human. You could tell he was raised right with a heart of gold and you felt beyond lucky to have ever met him in the first place. For him to have asked you of all the people in Montreal to take a picture of him made you feel extremely lucky, because had he not approached you, the two of you would have never met.

He pulled back a little bit to prompt you to remove your head and look at him. You watched as he pointed at himself, then cleared his throat before singing a little bit of a song. His singing voice was as sweet as can be, and you were about to just sit there and admire him, until you realized that the song he was singing was familiar. You didn't quite know what the name of the song was, and he wasn't singing it in quite the right tone, but you knew it was by BTS. The kpop group that was currently in Montreal and about to perform the following day.

Your mouth gaped open as you realized what was happening. You didn't even realize that you had been spending the entire day with a member of BTS. The people looking and whispering throughout were probably people who recognized him, not people who were judging him. And he was hiding his face because he didn't want to be recognized. He just wanted to spend the day with a beautiful girl and feel like a normal human being. You didn't blame him for not telling you sooner, though. It's not like you're a diehard fan of his group, but you probably wouldn't have looked at him the same way had he told you immediately.

After processing what was happening, you closed your mouth and smiled, giving him a vigorous nod. Once he gave you a smile in return, you went back to resting your head on his shoulder and grabbing your glass of champagne to hold. You wanted to show him that it was cool, everything was fine, and things weren't going to change. You liked him as Hoseok, the boy he introduced himself as when he eagerly asked you for a picture earlier. Not the kpop idol that stands in front of thousands on a stage and performs for them.

As time continued to pass and the sun got to a point where the day started to become sunset, you two sat in blissful silence while enjoying one another's presence. After a while Hoseok once again nudged you, causing you to look up at him. You watched as he once again admired your face, a blush creeping to your cheeks as you became shy from the eye contact. Just as you were about to look away he reached his hand over to brush a strand of hair behind your ear, and then rested that hand against your cheek.

At this point there was no need for charades because all you needed to do was look into his eyes and he told you absolutely everything you needed to know. He dipped his head down slightly as you both pulled each other in for a kiss, his sweet lips meeting yours in absolute harmony. Your stomach did about five thousand backflips as adrenaline coursed through your veins and your brain went fuzzy. Whether you wanted to admit it or not, this was a moment that you were waiting for practically all day. Little did you know, however, this was a moment that he had been anticipating even before he spoke to you for the first time. It all started when he saw you from a distance and his heart almost beat out of his chest because he was so enamored by your beauty.

As you both pulled away from the kiss, you watched as his mouth curled into the sweetest heart smile and he leaned in once again to peck the tip of your nose. You knew that today was going to be absolutely perfect, but your new romance made it about ten times better than perfect if that was even possible.

It's safe to say that the next day you were at barricade at the biggest concert of the year in Montreal, courtesy of BTS' resident rapper and dancer, J-Hope. Or, as you knew him, your smiley Hoseok.

[gacha-incels]

TBH

Looking at the CN gacha space right now, Situation may get even worse with current “有男不玩” ("If there is men, [I] don't play") movement in CN. They basically want devs to kneel to their demand to get rid of female MCs (only male MCs are allowed for self-insert) and all playable males, so "stinky female dogs" (as they refer to female players) stay away from their games. Also they emphasize, that they are "Number One" paying costumers and don't want their money to be wasted on creating content for female playerbase.

And we kinda see that happening ... I guess? correct me if I'm wrong

My friend told me if this goes on : in the next 1 to 2 years, all gacha will be all female cast aka the female players will flock away while incels stay.

Which for me : I doubt it's permanently but i won't be surprised?

Also Why when it comes to gacha incel I see it's always CN and KR? I tought JP had incels? or they're just the least vocal insufferable?

Edit- here’s some more info thx to @megafreelyfuzzystudentthing-blog ! “mixed toilets” is crazy. this type of misogynist gamer male is everywhere they just freak out about different things, while I think their level of hatred and vitriol towards women remains the same.

in regards to if we are seeing that right now, the majority of these games have been created with a male target market in mind for years and I don’t think there’s been an overwhelming change in the market with regards to that. I think even one game like Genshin being very successful and having multiple male banners in a row and male character designs that the men playing hate while being mixed sex is enough for these guys to think they’re “losing” this no girls allowed gacha playground, so they bug out and act like every gacha now has a feminist mandated fanservice male character they release every other patch for women. but because of the overwhelming success of GI, this shows the greater market it’s worth it to invest in getting female fans, and this is what these men are afraid of. this is also why they specifically use Genshin as the “Genshinification” of gacha, meaning adding male characters that appeal to women and making a mixed sex gacha. So in order to deter this from happening any further, they have to cause a big enough ruckus so that studios think “it’s not worth it to have to deal with all of this,” the end goal being gacha remains a separated boy’s club. this is just a basic read of the situation for anyone who is unfamiliar. It’s disgusting the way they talk about women but I think this is also the reason they emphasize how much more money they have and spend. But the way you write about it, do you see them ramping up tactics significantly? I’m interested.

edit lol I just saw this 💀 I would think things like bot spamming and AI use are going to become much more frequent. the second post talks about this so I added it. It’s kind of just gossipy but it talks about botting and the attitudes there. the hate they have specifically for this character is fucking unbelievable. I looked up this story since these guys were fucking losing their minds and everything seemed so benign. but the thing is he’s still used as a main character in stories and events so this type of freakout doesn’t do shit…and it seems like they’re able to remove the bot comments and mass one star reviews after a while anyway? maybe if the company was smaller. when I check the revenue it still seems to be making a huge amount of money

In the next 1-2 years in terms of tech it looks like the trend will be new 3D gachas and more 2D gacha studios transitioning to 3D. for the companies making the switch to 3D I think it could go fine or it will be like what happened to some actors with the transition from silent films to talkies. designs will depend on how much money has been invested and predicted to be made. From what I’ve seen it kind of looks like more of the same, either all female or all female with a couple male characters. this is typical. jiggle physics when a woman breathes like wuthering waves, “feet quality increase update” like snowbreak or another Arknights game you can say is just different than other gachas (jk). none of this looks like a huge shift in either direction but idk i could be totally wrong and something crazy could happen. let me know if I’m missing anything but this is the kind of thing I’ve been seeing.

in terms of this blog, right now it primarily focuses on the South Korean gacha incel phenomenon, I only started looking into this Chinese incel movement wrt gacha because I was able to find a little more information in English and I was curious but it isn’t a focus or mainstay. I haven’t put much here from Japan because I typically don’t check out their social media that much and like China it isn’t a focus, but off the top of my head I remember the FGO fans going after artists on twitter if they didn’t like the way a character was drawn, like sending congratulations to an artist that his father had died and that he deserved it??? After this he deleted his social media I believe, it was the artist for Parvati. Stuff like that. They have that otaku idol culture and I’m not sure if that bleeds into the gacha scene but I would think that would be the type of crossroads where you would find this gacha incel behavior. I hope this was a helpful answer and not just me rambling lol I’m always worried about this

[smilestrawbunny]

Bunny, do you plan on releasing any of the old unused sprites from earlier versions of Berrywitched: The Harvest back when it was in the previous art style? Along with any other content regarding the now cancelled Fairytale Freakout? It'd be nice to see what didn't get used.

Oh yeah! I can definitely do that. I’ll probably release the old harvest stuff as bonus content in an art book maybe or such… Fairytale Freak Out Stuff I already shared all the cgs I made, but I’m happy to share any more sprites of the characters if anyone wants them!

[loiswasadevil]

My life isn't satire. If you think I'm a Fake Family Guy kin Like those around me then you need to think harder because you would be wrong. I wake up and sometimes I make breakfast and I watch Family guy Until i shift (To Spooner street, in Family Guy) And when i come back I watch My favorite Show You guessed it Family Guy Until i go to sleep Or I just shift again. I am the master of this show and I long to be the master of my mind. Family Guy is more than Cartoons and a story It's a different universe and I won't interact with anyone trying to discredit my beliefs. Since i was maybe 2 years Old I have had hazy memories of my life as Lois Griffin That confused and disturbed me, And then as I grew up these memories started to align with my life. When I started watching Family Guy When it released I began to notice something that nobody else noticed, And i confided in my older brother and he believed me; About her Devil's Heart. Lois Griffin was given a Devils Heart from the Hatred of her Family. I have tried to lock away this Devils Heart but It comes out with a Catalyst, Which is most commonly The antics of Peter, and most recently anonymous people on this site. You can notice it in Lois too, Like in the famous Christmas Freakout in Season 3 Episode 16, You can pinpoint the moment the catalyst unlocks her Devils Heart It's easy to see it. The Devils Heart caused by our Parallel trauma in both Universes still exists but I try to lock it deeper every day and gain control of it and its power. If you think I am doing this to be funny or to get a ruse out of people then reflect on yourself and Watch Family Guy and you will understand everything. If you don't believe in reality shifting and universes You are ignorant because there is proof of these things. If you don't believe in Kin and Kin memories then you are ignorant because There are millions with Kin memories all over But I am one of the Only Lois Kins with fully canon memories. If you don't Believe in a Devil's Heart then Watch Family Guy. The numbers of People who see her Devils Heart are growing it's becoming indisputable. I understand it can be hard to notice and I may be naive because I am blessed with a greater understanding of Family Guy than most in this Universe so I think it is easy to see my Devils Heart but the others have given me faith.

[extraordinaryhistories]

#1 – 'We Are What You Say' (A Sun Came, 1998)

The candles are lit. The incense is burning. The choir is in the stalls. The text is on the pulpit, open halfway. The pews are full. The acolytes are hushed. The organ is playing a low E. The bishop is there. His hand is raised. The amber light flickers over his green Michigan t-shirt. He is ready to begin.

---

For those lucky – or foolish – enough to have discovered a copy of A Sun Came in 2000, ‘We Are What You Say’ must have been multiple things all at once. Impressive. Ambitious. Carefully written. Spellbinding, even. But yet also – and this is just undeniable, and Sufjan would probably tell you this himself – the product of standing on the shoulders of giants. ‘We Are What You Say’ has the homespun woodwinds of Celtic folk, the meshing guitars of Nick Drake, the hushed voice of Elliott Smith, the storminess of Fairport Convention, and the ending percussive freakout of early Pink Floyd. It was far from unprecedented. What does make Sufjan unique from the very first song he ever released, however, is that only he would dare bring these influences together at all, let alone convincingly do so. He would develop his own inimitable style very soon; he is not quite there on track one, and that is perfectly fine. ‘We Are What You Say’ is a stunning mélange of Sufjan Stevens’ influences – and arguably the single crowning achievement of A Sun Came. A high bar to clear, that is not. But clear it he does.

And this is all being rather unfair. ‘We Are What You Say’ does carry with it one of the most distinctive Sufjan hallmarks, something that he would develop further across the rest of his career: a radical simplicity. The song is in E minor, and the only chords used (prior to the wild outro, which introduces a seventh and a sixth, elevating the tension slightly) are the first, third and the fifth. Rise, rise, resolve, repeat. Underneath all the trappings of the arrangement, ‘We Are What You Say’ has about as simple of a foundation as one could possibly expect. Much the same with the melodies, dancing around simple scale degrees and resolving neatly on the E (only the double-tracked harmonies, and some of the woodwind lines, provide a degree of uncertainty.) He may be no more than five minutes and twenty-one seconds into his recording career, but there is already an effortless sense of confidence here, of trust in the essentials.

What else do we learn about Sufjan on ‘We Are What You Say’? If anything, we don’t learn so much as we are misled. This song is mysterious, languid, obscure, intimidating. Sufjan is many things, but he is rarely those things. You do not listen to ‘We Are What You Say’ so much as you stumble into it; it is the otherworldly juncture between service and séance, held in a misty church of unclear denomination with a choir dressed in pagan masks. It is a song with weight and heft, with double-tracked vocals and a small orchestra of caterwauling instruments making the constant evocation of the title – its unnamed ‘we’ – feel genuinely mighty. So much of Sufjan’s catalogue finds solace in a delicate, melancholic solitude: not so with ‘We Are What You Say’. We are many, and we have a sermon, and we have a song.

More fitting is the notion that Sufjan’s very first song ever released would directly invoke religion lyrically. It is not just the music itself that sounds cultish – there are mentions of tabernacle choirs and of bishops, of Bibles and of spirits. But this is a distinctly Gothic approach to Christianity, if it is indeed directly referring to any specific faith. The Christianity of ‘We Are What You Say’ is violent, cruel even. The narrator-cum-Sufjan calls his own bishops ‘easy’, ‘wrong’; the faith’s ‘word is a guard and the guard is a cleave’, in an especially well-written line. Sufjan will of course go on to present his religion from the perspective of the Devil’s advocate plenty more times in his career, but nowhere on Seven Swans or on Illinois is God so brutal.

Facing this, and with the benefit of twenty-four years of hindsight, we might be tempted to do one of two things. We might be tempted to dismiss these words altogether as lacking much real meaning, merely the free-associative poetry of an edgy twenty-something fresh out of a liberal arts college (which Sufjan very much was.) Or we might be tempted to interpret this song as a sharp rebuke to religion, whether in the abstract or regarding a specific sect (the latter seems to be a popular interpretation; one Genius user offers a very interesting reading of ‘We Are What You Say’ that suggests the song is a pointed attack against Mormonism.)

I don’t put too much stock into either view. I fear, specifically, that people are far too quick to confuse honesty with assault. ‘We Are What You Say’ seems to be a just-the-facts account of Sufjan’s faith, in all its gory, violent truth. The Lord is a god of vengeance and of tremendous fury; his acolytes are fallible, sinful beings who are susceptible to temptation. They can be wrong. The spirit is not. The spirit will guide its followers towards providence. ‘We Are What You Say’ is boldly about the violence of religion, non-believers be damned. The title is not an empty declaration – it is a warning.

You can certainly hear violence in the music. You can certainly hear it in the outro, a full-bore, top-volume race to the finish line, tin whistles wailing and oboes stuttering out notes, drum circles beating away, the guitar (ever the anchor) strummed with tremendous ferocity. It is one of the rare times that Sufjan shoots for a big, post-rock-esque wall of sound climax, and is certainly the most effective example this side of ‘All Delighted People’; a genuinely roaring, cathartic moment, full of that sort of Abrahamic rage that Sufjan is so fascinated with. And it doesn’t entirely end, either. The outro is so loaded with kinetic energy that when most of the instruments finally cut out, a few still sputter along, eyes bloodshot and crazed, until the song hard-cuts into ‘A Winner Needs a Wand’, which is in many ways this song’s complement.

Sufjan would soon achieve better, of course. But at this very early stage in his artistic development, ‘We Are What You Say’ is his best. All his ambition, his confidence, and his prodigal sense of melody is proudly on display here. Worth a listen if you don’t know it, worth another if you do.

[silv3rswirls]

You have a rough time with work

♡Seokjin♡

Honestly, Jin has half a mind to go down there and scold your boss himself. He's over your shoulder as you pick at the food he put aside for you, explaining in great detail how he thinks you need to put your foot down and stop doing a job meant for two+ people. “They’re not paying you to do other people’s jobs, they shouldn’t keep pushing their work on you, etc.” He understands that it can be hard to say no, and whatever you decide to do about work, he’ll support you.

♡Yoongi♡

He hates to see you drag yourself to bed after getting home every night. Dead tired with heavy eyes and a beatdown demeanor. He lays with you on those dark evenings, brushing fingers through your hair, quietly talking as you drift in and out of sleep against him. It makes him sad that you seem to push yourself far beyond what you should. He suggests you begin to take steps to view your work with a healthier mindset and take more time to care for yourself. He’s no stranger to overworking, so he wants to ensure you don’t fall too deep into it.

♡Hoseok♡

He tries to hush your frantic tears as you realize your hectic work schedule has caused you to miss yet another award celebration for him. Having already missed his album’s release party, and so many little moments after, you seem more upset than he does. He wears the disappointment well, not wanting to make you feel bad. He does wish you would set firmer boundaries with work. Why should you be denied time off, reasonable hours, etc. while everyone else seems to get what they want? He hugs you and tells you there's always next time, hopefully, you don’t miss out again.

♡Namjoon♡

You had messaged him in advance about how horrible your shift had been. You break down all over again when you get home and start telling him about a customer's freakout towards you. All the yelling and name-calling over a little inconvenience, that really wasn’t even your fault. He apologizes that it happens, letting you vent all you want and brushing away your tears, and assuring you not to worry over things out of your control.

♡Jimin♡

You left work early with tears of disbelief and anger that a customer had had the audacity to throw a fit and throw their drink on you. He’s ready with a fresh comfy set of pajamas and a bubble bath. Honestly, just as shocked as you were over the ordeal. He helps you wash the sticky out of your hair, massages your shoulders, and just good TLC after a rough day. 

♡Taehyung♡

Huffs in annoyance when you tell him that your request for time off was denied yet again. When was the last time you actually got your desired time off? They never gave you a break, even on your days off you were trapped on your phone and worrying about how things were going there. He’s one to take your phone away and demand you take a mental break, they really don’t have any right to pester you all day. 

♡Jungkook♡

Hates when you mention that coworker. He’s weird, tries to push more work on you, blames anything he can on you, etc, etc etc. Jungkook’s never met him, but he loathes him as much as you. He tells you not to let him bother you, to stick your nose up and show him up. After all, your effort and quality of work are better. You vent and talk harmless trash about him together.

[bachirasbodyguard]

I think the interaction between Kaiser and Isagi at the end of chapter 203 is very important and foreshadows how Isagi and Kaiser's (and Ness') relationships will change soon. Especially since Kaiser had to admit that Isagi outplayed him at the end of the BM v MSC game, and Ness' following freakout. Look at this panel of Kaiser holding ness by his hair, essentially making him bow down:

We've seen Kaiser do this on multiple occasions.

When Isagi loses consciousness, there is this (in my opinion) very significant panel of Kaiser simultaneously releasing Ness and grabbing Isagi's hair in the same exact way.

I see it as a sort of crude metaphor for exchange that makes believe think Kaiser will try to replace Ness with Isagi, who has now proven more interesting to Kaiser. Not just to entertain himself or act on any other sort of personal feelings he has towards Isagi, but, most importantly, to put him in his place (the same way Kaiser has Ness under his thumb).

This is idea is further established simply by how the last panel is framed:

Isagi, no matter the circumstance and how you put it, is on his knees in front of Kaiser.

Remember this?

He finally really has. While it happened probably not how Kaiser had envisioned, he still has Isagi kneeling in front of him, proving his superiority as the player who endured.

But Kaiser did have to admit his (small, but nevertheless) defeat, and knowing how prideful he is, that must have been a blow. That makes be believe that he will be working very hard to somehow get Isagi on his side and crush him into submission the same way he has with Ness.

[myladyofmercy]

MID YEAR BOOK FREAKOUT TAG

thank you for tagging me @lazybug16 🥰

this is perfect because I've been reading so fucking much this year 😅

1. Best book you've read so far in 2024

the great believers by rebecca makkai

2. Best sequel you've read so far in 2024

the first to die at the end by adam silvera

3. New release you haven't read yet but want to

the temple of fortuna by elodie harper

4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year

the pairing by casey mcquiston

5. Biggest disappointment

the little friend by donna tartt

6. Biggest surprise

lies we sing to the sea by sarah underwood

7. Favourite new author (debut or new to you)

natalie heynes & jennifer saint

8. Newest fictional crush

henry from maybe in another life by taylor jenkins reid

9. Newest favourite character

orion & valentino from the first to die at the end, kya from where the crawdads sing, yale from the great believers

10. Book that made you cry

the first to die at the end by adam silvera, the great believers by rebecca makkai

11. Book that made you happy

malibu rising by taylor jenkins reid

12. Favourite book to film adaptation that you've seen this year

where the crawdads sing & normal people (tv show but still)

13. Most beautiful book you've bought so far this year (or received)

in like the cover or the story? cover -> lies we sing to the sea by sarah underwood, story -> malibu rising by taylor jenkins reid

14. What books do you need to read by the end of the year

the wolf den trilogy by elodie harper, the pairing by casey mcquiston, graveyard shift by m.l. rio, gentlest of wild things by sarah underwood

15. How many new books have you read so far

61

tagging (without pressure as always) @cantputitintowords @tessabennet @scrapsofinspiration @tooindecisivetopickaurl @its-tea-time-darling @newtness532 @faintedloves @theladyofpaintedstars @hergrandplan