#i wish i could do this jusitice

[the-heaminator]

@icarusian The pygmalion fruk au that you so kindly infected my brain with, i did try to stick to the original story as much as i could but reading ovid gave me a headache.

The best marble was in Cyprus, marble of such high quality that once sculpted would look like the purest of ivory, and combined with his prowess in sculpting so potent it seemed to have been bestowed upon him by Hephaestus himself.

It was to be the closest to a sapient human in appearance that one can get without the flame of life or the breath of spirit within.

The sculpture was to be of a man, the most beautiful the world had ever seen, perfect in his divinity, the most perfect one would ever see in their lives, whether human or not.

He was to be everything Arthur was not; his hair long, free and soft, his nose sharp and handsome, eyes tender yet fierce, cheekbones high and proud, laughter lines because this man would be unafraid of happiness. His hands would have the calluses of a swordsman, yet are so beautiful in their own way, frame soft yet strong enough to protect.

To find a model for such perfection was an undertaking of the aeons, all the men on this island and beyond were imperfect and full of so, so many visible flaws, let alone what he couldn't see, he hunted and searched high and low, near and far; but finding someone so perfect to model his statue was impossible, nobody had what he needed, only his mind held the image, the perfect image of what he wanted.

Bitter at the world for the difficulties it had caused him over the years and now the impossibility of finding the perfect man to model, he decided to create his own from the depths of his psyche, and so he started. He isolated himself from the world more than he did so previously, focused solely on his creation, what was to be his magnum opus, slowly and oh so tenderly carving, chiselling, whittling away at the block of marble till it showed in broad strokes the body, but it wasn't perfect yet. He kept chiselling, working on it for days, weeks sometimes, on end, until it had all the details he needed.

Smile lines, an expression both soft and fierce, a body worthy of Olympus in its beauty, soft yet elegant yet strong, hair soft and flowing as a waterfall did, hands callused like ones of a swordsman, he was beautiful, there was no other word for it, simply beautiful.

When he was done, done with creating the most perfect man on earth, he realised, that despite his vow of celibacy, he had fallen in love with his creation, deeply deeply in love, the type of love that gets the notice of the Gods, but he didn't know that, the type of burning, pure love that gets people killed or in history books.

He finished his piece with a kiss, on the carefully carved lips, hoping that somehow the structure would come to life, he had poured out his heart and soul for it, so maybe just enough that he would come to life, but to no avail, he stayed as he was, beautiful and perfect, but made of marble and not flesh.

He had never experienced such burning desire prior, and may as well never do in the future without him, but well, at least he could love the statue, it would never be as real, with no feeling of warm, living flesh under his skin, the statue wouldn't move to protect, but it was the closest he would get, and he was happy for that.

He named it, named it Francis, though he knew not why he called it such, he made it a bed, softer than his ever was, and dressed it in the finest linens he owned, he slept with it every night and treated it almost as if he was a real man, cleaning him as he couldn't do it himself and guarded him fiercely against every and anybody who even as much as looked at him oddly.

And that was how it was for a long time, well until Aphrodite took notice on her feast day, Arthur had prayed to no end for his love to one day just come to life, and She had noticed, and on her worship day, she obliged, he made an offering and nearly cried at her altar.

The type of love that got people killed or in history books.

He never knew that she had obliged until he got home, and instead of the statue, in its place stood the most beautiful man he had ever seen, it was as if the marble had cracked open to show his love, which, who, was even more perfect than he was carved.

Hair softer than he could ever imagine, golden enough that it seemed to have been spun from the rays of dawn itself, smile crooked and toothy, so genuine and sincere, he was taller than Arthur, though only slightly, though enough that he had to lift Arthurs head for a kiss, beard scratching against him in a way that could only be endearing.

It was his love, in the flesh, oh so much more perfect than he could ever imagine as Francis pulled him in for a hug, almost enveloping Arthur's rather small frame as he did so, it was at that moment when his eyes were opened to the world, the beauty not just the pitfalls, and it was beautiful.

[lesbiancarat]

Haha its fine! Im book anon for a reason so take all the time you need! Before I start, I wanna apologize for the possible asks you got about the merch and hybe in general. I didn't intend to cause stress and need to be careful bdjahdsj so slap me with a fish!

Onto the ask! But agreed, I mean before the big kpop boom we saw, this was very common. Build a decent fanbase and then move to Japan or China. (Of course sometimes you see INSTANT movement in other countries but that depends on the company and such but you know what I mean) but since we do have the more global kpop era, we may see more companies do America which isn't a bad thing. It makes sense buisness wise so they will jump on it after debut or something. Thus I don't see it a bad thing for kpop groups to promote in America because hey, if in Korea they do sell western artist music who also tour there, kpop groups can also do the same ya know?

Now onto the hybe comment, I will try not to speak too much on it so I will try to summarize. I think my theory is due with merch from their main artist, they think maybe it could work with svt which maybe could but svt has a different fanbase so throwing on random merch won't make fans really want to buy (not saying some won't which kudos to you! As a fan you are allowed to consume what you please except not be a bad apple about it) so thus like the infamous water bottles which was done for bts, they thought why not do it for svt because bts fans sold it out apparently for a 2nd wave of it being sold again. (Which to this day idk why someone in the hybe team thought this was smart. Like...this is just in bad taste imo) I do wanna agree that it appears that hybe doesn't seem to have a proper art team for svt because while sometimes wild, I do know for their main artist they do have thoughtful merch based around say an album concept I recall. Kf course they will make mistakes i.e. the water bottles. I do wish it can improve because even though it is capitalism, I think fans do want decent merch. We have seen interesting ideas like svt making their own magazine and selling it lol. Of course it is hard to please because some fans want subtle merch ideas while others don't mind the vibrant pastel colors we got or some want wild ideas like svt figurines or something. Overall I hope I didn't drag this too much as I just wanted to respond back to you, I agree with many points you said so yeah cx I say let's also wait as this is barely what, a year or even less of svt being under hybe properly. Especially when hybe had its rebranding and expanding so things are being changed, I know fans are worried about this which is valid but let's not panic just yet. Let's come back in a year to this and see what has improved and what hasn't. (OK but peldis sold the boys rings!? :o since when!? I haven't heard of this actually, when did this happen if I may ask?)

Oof yeah sadly with streaming, many view "oh you don't stream it means you aren't a fan" when isn't the case (which is why I personally don't like when certain companies also do "listening parties" which seems a bit ???) I do remember this popped up big in 2017 but many fans called it out so it quiet down a bit. Like we didn't see it so often where fans were causing problems over it so idk why this returned nor what the cause of it was.

But thank you!! It really was a nice closing chapter, I think when I have personal stuff settled I will try maybe get a new bunny? And oohh congrats on the album! (Note to hybe or pledis. Please make the us store a more common thing, it makes things so much easier! Am happy it was at your place quick so kudos to the us store. Oohh wonderful choices! I think for many fans anyone or heaven's cloud seems to be the popular picks? For me, I may have to say game boi or heaven's cloud as well! Those songs make me just so happy? Like game boy is just so creative with the way it was made. As a video game nerd, it is perfection. I could make an essay about this song lol and heaven's cloud is just...wow. I feel so at ease with the song, comfortable and soothed. Like you are on a cloud lol. Also that is totally fine! Rtl was a grower for me (I blame the mv, it didn't do the song jusitice) but it is a bop and can't stop humming the chorus at random moments. Overall a great summer album. Just imagine any of these songs performed live ndjansns

lol don't feel too bad about it! honestly they weren't that bad + i can always delete asks if i really don't want to answer them, i just always get a bit paranoid that things will get out of hand so i may end up getting more serious in those situations OTL

and yeah i agree! i don't think it's a bad thing for groups to promote in the US, as you said, it's similar to groups expanding their fanbase by promoting in china or Japan or other asian counties, it makes sense from a business standpoint and there's nothing wrong with promoting in different countries. i just wish that some kpop stans understood that western and/or global popularity is a bonus and not a requirement for success. while they do have a global appeal, at the end of the day kpop's main audience is korea, and groups that achieve popularity in Korea have already achieved what they set out to do. but there's unfortunately a decent chunk of international fans that prioritize western popularity over anything and can't fathom that a group can be successful without being popular in the US. or they just talk as if their groups western achievements are more valuable than their Korean ones and to me that starts to look like xenophobia... (sorry if I'm repeating anything i said before in regards to this, i feel like i am but I'm too lazy to go back and check OTL)

since you sent this ask hybe released the caratland merch which was actually really nice, and today they also announced that there will be birthday merch for cheol (and presumably all members from here on out). we don't know what the bday merch is yet but some carats are already a bit miffed that hybe is even thinking to capitalize off the boys' birthdays... i bring both of these up bc i feel like the caratland merch proves your point that hybe is capable of designing good and thoughtful merch, and honestly this does reassure me a bit. but on the other hand them trying to capitalize off the boys' birthdays also proves that they still don't fully understand carats wants and priorities as a fanbase. which, if the future of seventeens merch is gonna be quality merch with some shitty cash grabs in between, i can live with that. I'm not gonna like the shitty cash grabs and i think it would be in our best interest as a fandom to not go crazy buying those shitty cash grabs, because if we don't then hybe will hopefully stop wasting their time and put more effort into /quality/. but if we get quality merch for important events like concerts and fanmeetings, i can live with it. as you said too, it can take time for these things to change, and we should all recognize that. but at the same time merch specifically is market driven, so i don't think it's a bad thing if people like @ hybe on twt about any bad merch that comes out in order to drive that change dhfkfj

but also on a maybe more fun note in regards to the merch... with some carats being upset about the bday merch i was thinking about what hybe could do for merch instead that would fill the niche of being at intervals throughout the year that could still be limited time drops but that carats wouldn't be mad at them capitalizing on and then i was like duh! they could literally just make merch off of going seventeen! honestly I'm surprised they haven't yet. maybe not merch for every episode, but they could have a line of permanent gose merch w a basic logo or something and then release limited time merch themed around some of the more popular episodes at various points during the year. I'm actually kind of obsessed with this idea now and for once I'm like hybe/pledis please capitalize off of this!! dhfkgjg

they never actually sold them, but for seventeens 3rd anniversary, pledis planned to sell replicas of seventeens rings. after it was announced carats were understandably upset since the boys worked so hard for those. luckily pledis heard carats concerns and put out an apology and didn't manufacture them in the end. I'm glad that at least they listened to carats even though it would have been better if they had never considered the idea in the first place :(

oh yeah listening parties are definitely just another marketing technique to boost streams. i think like with a lot of marketing techniques, it just depends on the execution. imo if they're done well it can be a good way for fans to connect while listening to an artists music, which is mutually beneficial for the company, but i can totally see a situation where companies get greedy and push it too hard. i don't know anything about what happened with them back in the day, but if you're curious why SVT had listening parties leading up to your choice, they were set up by UMG, the American distributor that SVT worked with for this cb. in this case the listening parties weren't just for boosting streams, but also likely for UMG to gauge interest. SVT isn't officially signed to a US label yet, but UMG's data from the listening parties could be used to show US labels whether or not there's enough interest for them to be signed. which if that happens we'd almost definitely see a more permanent US shop!

ahh yes, once you're ready I'm sure it would be great to have another bunny companion 🥺

yes! heavens cloud and gam3 bo1 are both such feel good songs! my sister actually added heavens cloud to their Spotify after i made them listen to the album in the car dhfkf it's now one of 6 kpop songs they have saved (4 of which are SVT... my influence 💅 DHFJFH) I'm certain we'll see some of the songs from your choice at caratland this year, hopefully it's all of them but I'd especially like to see heavens cloud and wave 👀 I'm also still crossing my fingers for an i wish live performance bc i can't believe my favorite SVT b-side is one of the TWO tracks they haven't performed live not including the new album (the other one being network love, which i would also like to see live!)