#people want them to change out the dice now that they've played all the songs

[kindahoping4forever]

English Love Affair (Live Debut) @ The 5SOS Show Tour Boston Night 2 - 13 August 2023

[dlstmxkakwldrlarchive]

(article) SHINee's ONEW hopes to make people happy with his songs

Singer Onew of popular K-pop group SHINee has been deeply thinking about happiness, a theme that heavily influenced his latest release."I think it's wonderful to be someone who can have a positive impact on others and make them happy," he said during an interview Thursday with a group of reporters.

"It's a great merit that I can lift someone's mood. When people tell me they've been comforted by my songs, it feels like I'm truly living," he said.

This introspection led to the creation of his third individual EP, "Flow," a departure from his previous albums -- his first solo album, "Voice" (2018), second EP titled "Dice" (2022) and first full-length solo album, "Circle," (2023) -- which centered primarily on his distinctive voice and emotional expression.

Instead, "Flow," due out Tuesday at 6 p.m., is designed to resonate more broadly with the public, featuring songs that are easy to follow and enjoy together.The album is led by "Beat Drum," an upbeat pop track characterized by "kitsch" vocals in the chorus and a synth melody, according to promotional material from his label, Griffin Entertainment. The lyrics compare the feeling of a racing heart to the rhythm of a drum beat.

Also included are five B-side tracks, all of which maintain a bright and cheerful tone.

"I wanted to become closer to the public, so I put a lot of effort into making songs that are easy to follow," the 34-year-old explained. He also tailored the choreography to be accessible, allowing more people to catch on after just one viewing. "I hope even those who don't know me can feel a bit of positive energy," he added.

Onew stressed that while his unique voice and emotional depth will continue to be central to his music, his current focus is on expanding his positive influence.

The vocalist also has a goal of creating his own performance brand.

"I think a concert becomes richer and more enjoyable when many people can immerse themselves in it and have fun together. I want to create an atmosphere where it's not just a performance by me, but an experience where everyone can play together," he shared.

After taking a hiatus of over 10 months due to health issues, Onew returned to the stage in May.

During the break, the vocalist had the opportunity to attend a Coldplay concert in the United States.

"I loved the excitement and anticipation that I felt while waiting for the show," he said, expressing hope that audiences would experience the same thrill at his concerts.

Performing in front of fans and reuniting with his bandmates were what he missed the most as he recovered from neck surgery. He lost so much weight after the surgery, making his fans feel concerned and worried about his health.

"Now, I'm in great shape. In fact, I'm so well that it's almost a problem," he said with a laugh.

He spent a lot of time traveling to places like the U.S., Japan, and Austria during the break, giving himself the space to think deeply on his own.

"While traveling, I learned how to fail. There was a time when I tried to catch a train during a typhoon and ended up sitting on the platform for six hours. Sometimes, things just don't work out. But I realized that you can always try again later. That was the biggest lesson I learned."

After this realization, Onew changed his attitude about performing. He used to believe he couldn't go on stage unless he was 100 percent perfect, but now he's more open to taking risks.

This new attitude led him to boldly take on producing for the first time while working on this album.

"I challenged myself by getting involved in producing, selecting demo tracks, trying out different ideas, and communicating with writers to incorporate my thoughts into the songs. It was a big challenge, but it was a fun experience," he recalled.

Onew also tried his hand at rapping for the first time.

"I was debating whether to use more melody or try rapping," he said.

He thought rapping might work, so he gave it a shot, and fortunately, it turned out well.

"This new challenge has become a great motivation for me," he said.

He has also started taking guitar lessons recently because he wants to play during his concerts.

"I read somewhere that singer Lee Hyori said she started learning something new and that in 10 years, she could become an expert. So I thought, 'It's not too late. If I start now, I could be playing in 10 years too.'"

[convexicalcrow]

So I know I've mentioned the Lost Prince AU is part of a larger world I've been working on for like a decade or more, and I wanted to talk a bit more about that and explain some of the backstory and the other novels that are set in that universe. Some of this is going to change though, because I think I can actually salvage the two novels and complete them if I do a bunch of cutting and editing and redrafting. And if I cut out the third novel in the series that was just overcomplicating things too much bc modern setting and wibbly wobbly timey wimey shit that I couldn't figure out how to resolve. So that's gone now and it's made things so much easier. Those 200k words of novels won't go to waste after all! :D

Alright kids, buckle up, this is gonna get loooooooooooong. :D

This universe started life as thinly veiled RPF on 750words.com, little short pieces I was writing just to get the brain working and nothing more than that. It eventually came to be a series I referred to as astrological dystopia, which turned into an original novel titled Pasithea's City.

The setting was a Greek city in the middle of the Libyan desert, Neos Apollonia, an oracle city, where your fate was proclaimed when you were 7 years old, and then the city did everything in its power to make that a self-fulfilling prophecy. bc humans and oracles and wealth and whatnot etc. So the hubris is strong here and the worship of the gods is not. I bet you can guess how Apollon feels about this state of affairs.

The story is about a boy called Andreas, who ended up with a bad fate and was exiled from the city. He's a petty thief, close to Hermes, who has a strong distrust in Apollon and the Oracles for good reason. He's taken in by a couple of women from the desert tribes, who also ran away from their tribe for various reasons of their own.

The catalyst in this story is the Oracle proclaiming an Actual Oracle on the new year's day rituals, proclaiming the destruction of the city bc Apollon is Pissed and will bury them all under the sand bc why the fuck not. The city was actually originally much closer to Kyrini, but the physical drift into the desert matches the internal drift away from the gods. Ruins are left behind as the city moves, and it's where the exiles live, because there's nowhere else to survive out there.

Hermes manages to save Andreas, his mothers, the Oracle and his companion, after playing dice with Apollon, and spares them from the sandstorm that otherwise buries the rest of the city under the sands.

Hermes becomes their guide through the sands, taking them away from the old city and takes them north. Through this, they end up back at the tribe where Andreas' mothers came from, bc healing conflicts and old wounds and making new friends etc. And after a while, Andreas, his new bondmate Meri, the Oracle and his companion, head further north to Kyrini with Hermes bc exploration and seeing the city.

This is big on found family, given the tribe they end up with is build from refugees, outcasts, anyone who doesn't have a home, and who needs one. They're a group of misfits and outsiders who are highly protective of their own, and they've made their own way in spite of everything. They don't always get on with the other tribes in the area as they can be a little too close-minded or unwilling to meet ppl halfway.

But yeah, that's the gist of that novel. There's a lot I've left out of that, but that's the general plot I'm working on.

The second novel, The Black Priest, should really come first, narratively speaking. It documents the priests of Dja fleeing from the country with their gods and the last priests they have left, and heading west into the desert. It's at the end of the invasion of Egypt by a group I'm calling the Sea Peoples, for lack of a better identification and also bc it doesn't really matter who they are bc this is about the aftermath.

It was inspired by this music video by Sparkadia, bc ofc it was lol. I was Obsessed with this song (and this band tbh) back in the day. Most of the characters all had their start in this music video, but they've evolved so far beyond that now. I made them my own.

The big theme in this novel is unification. The Priests of Dja come from Lower Egypt, around the Delta, and the tribe where Andreas' mothers come from have their origin story in Upper Egypt millions of years ago. There are also themes here about religion in diaspora and how gods evolve to be what people need them to be.

So we have the priests of Dja being called back to their ancestral lands with the tribes, to unify the Two Lands. There's a lot to learn from each other, and how to do religion without a King/Kingdom, since much of ancient Egyptian religion relied on their being a King to send the priests into the shrines and temples.

(Yes, this is my way of processing my own Kemetic practice and how to work it in the modern world, with so much information that has either not been found, or has been destroyed, and there are no big temples to worship in, no communities irl to support that religion, etc, no Kings to rely on, etc.)

The timeline being what it is, and yes i have a gigantic spreadsheet with FOUR DIFFERENT CALENDARS in it that I've synced up so I can keep the plot organised, the priests of Dja actually make it to Neos Apollonia some time before it's buried, and honestly bc of that I do think this needs to be the first novel bc of that. There's a ton of world-building that I bring up in that journey that is never relevant to Pasithea's City, and I think it makes more narrative sense for this one to go first. Like, there's a moment where Andreas is found injured in a ruined temple a couple of my priestesses are searching for, and they care for him and heal him up. But that's never really mentioned or alluded to properly in Pasithea's City. Hence, they both need a lot of revision and editing and reworking but they'll be much better for it.

So, how does the Lost Prince AU fit into this? Well. It's set ten years after The Black Priest, more or less. Cub and Scar are in their mid-late 20s, having fled as teenagers. Their names are pseudonyms, but also not, and they've spent the time away from Egypt on the run, as they never really found anywhere to settle, and it felt too uncomfortable to settle in Kyrini as Libyans. Plus, well. Being hunted for [redacted].

They did meet up with the priests of Dja maybe a year after they settled with the tribes, as they sought shelter for a while, but they didn't stay, and moved on quickly. They've basically been nomads for a decade because it just felt safer. And then the gods started calling them back to Egypt, and with great reluctance that's what they're trying to do. There's a lot more to the plot that's coming, but I don't wanna spoil anything so. >_>

Also the identification of some of the nomes with Empires folk is broadly just flavour and not necessarily saying The Oasis Is Actually Pearl's Empire. It IS hers, but it's not Gilded Helianthia. It's Djesdjes, it's Bahariya Oasis, it's something else.

I do have a map of the region up at an old wordpress blog I set up six years ago, but it doesn't have the Copper King's mines on it for obvious it-wasn't-part-of-the-world-yet reasons back then. It also has some location notes there, and some cast lists for both Pasithea's City and The Black Priest.

So yeah. That's the basic gist of the world the Lost Prince AU is working in. If you have any further questions, please ask! I will happily ramble about this AU for hours if you ask nicely. <3