#so this by no means is me encouraging people to buy more copies

[faithinlouisfuture]

can you please spread this information to your followers?

https://twitter.com/louiestream/status/1687521804464640013?s=46

this is definitely not the most reliable UA so I’d say everyone do their research themselves but here’s a screenshot of the tweet

also linking this tweet here in case anyone needs this info, and in case anyone wants to follow a more reliable UA/ promo account

[prettydykeboy]

does anyone know if the star wars rebel comics (specifically the magazine issues) are available to read anywhere online for free? Considering the comics seem to be pretty rare/people straight up don't know they exist I think I gotta explain what I'm actually talking about.

Officially titled "Star Wars Rebels Magazine" or the complete edition "Star wars Rebels (TBP)" is a magazine series published predominantly in Europe and later in the US. Whilst the magazine was aimed at kids, with art sections and coloring sections and whatever, the vast majority of the magazine issues also contained comics, usually at 10 pages long.

AND THE COMIC PORTIONS ARE ACTUALLY...GOOD (for the most part). see, the comics have actually been released separately (so without the magazine portion), you can either buy individual volumes (pictured below) or you can buy the complete edition (also pictured below).

(all images taken from Wookieepedia)

I think people who are SW Rebel fans would really enjoy the comics. since some comics give extra context to existing episodes, include new characters, and honestly just have interesting premises. I do actually own a physical copy of the comics but cannot find a place online to actually read the comics for free. no pirating websites I've checked have the comic so i was literally wondering if it even exists online to read. If it doesn't I was hoping this post could also encourage someone else who also owns a copy to provide scans (i would do it myself but i have no resources such as a local library or a scanner to actually scan the comics). I really enjoyed these comics and wanted more people to know about them !

i also hoped this post would maybe inform people who really like Rebels that these comics do exist and maybe convince them to read it !!!

also some other notes i just couldn't figure out where to put:

the entire collection is 500 pages long and contains 39 issues in total

the comic series has multiple artists, meaning the art style changes from issue to issue. however most of the artists are pretty recurring so there's only about 5 (estimate) artists but its interesting to see the art style changes if you're into that

there are also different writers, which also change from issue to issue but are also pretty recurring as well (there's like 4)

here are a collection of some random pictures to convince u to read it

(photos taken by me)

[jarchaeology]

i really appreciate your work archiving jensen’s run on days of our lives, i am having a blast watching sammi’s wedding lol

is days of our lives considered lost media in any capacity? it seems crazy that there is really no way to watch previous seasons on DVDs or streaming. you have preserved literal YEARS of television, are other eras of the show that are just gone?

yay i’m glad you’re watching it!! sorry this took so long for me to answer. it was a super interesting question, which means it sat in my drafts forever.

old episodes of days are really fucking hard to get a hold of, but they do exist. they aren't sold in dvd boxsets or on any streaming service, but generations of soap fans have managed to capture a huge chunk of them on vhs. they just aren't accessible to everyone.

when i started this blog, i couldn't find more than a handful of jensen's episodes. the playlists people used in the past were all nuked for copyright reasons, and most private sales were just straight up scams. i finally found a site that i trusted, but it wasn't cheap. once i was able to raise enough to buy the episodes, i was determined to make them STAY available. that's why the youtube playlist is private. and even if that gets taken down, i have everything on the drive and have encouraged people to download and make their own copies. nothing lasts forever, but my collection has lasted longer than most.

all that being said, there are chunks of days of our lives that might truly be lost media. take a look at the "complete" days collection from the site i used. 1984-2024 is all accounted for, but 1965-1983 is pretty sparse. fans might have copies of those "missing" episodes in their private collections, but that's a whole new research question when you consider the fact that most homes didn't have the ability to record tv until VHS came around in the late 70s.

also, i do think that the network has some, if not all, of this footage. that's kinda the case with most "lost media." we presume it's lost, while also acknowledging that these giant companies probably have scrooge mcduck levels of storage somewhere. there is a time limit on how long material can last in the format it's recorded on, so i hope those archives are at least being well-taken care of.

[drinkabletoxicdishsoap]

my idol jasmine au headcanons (if you even want to call it that) based on the idol jasmine au post I made earlier :3 sorry chat i love this au so much it’s now my baby

Idol Group AU:

This one is for all my jasazel fans out there (me) but I think that hazel and jasmine sing any romantic songs together

Whenever one of them(Jasmine, Hazel, Winn) gets stage fright before a performance, they all immediately come together in a big and huge group hug and encourage each other!!!

Whenever they finish a concert or performance, they all holds and bow while smiling at each other

They LOVE interacting with fans, especially kids :3 they hope people can look up to them

Jasmine is literally on cloud 9, like what do you mean I’m an idol, one of my biggest dreams, and i can get to do it with my friends ⁉️⁉️⁉️ no one is more happy than her

Hazel usually helps sign them up for any event or anything that lets them help out in their community

Winn is surprisingly amazing at writing lyrics, they’re the lyricist after all! They spend a lot of time writing lyrics

Jasmine is the composer! She spends a lot of time picking certain instruments and such that match the vibe that she wants her idol group to be! She sends what she makes to Hazel and winn for them to look over it

Hazel is the costume designer. She usually draws a lot of designs before she gets to the final draft. (If we’re doing Cosmo and Wanda in this au, I’d like to think she wishes to visit certain boutiques, museums, gardens, places, certain dates in the past, etc. to give a bunch of inspiration for designs!)

They don’t really plan choreography, they usually just go with the flow !!

Hazel and Winn design the merch for their group together

SO MANY GROUP HUGS AHHHHHH

Whenever they have concerts, the night before, they have sleepovers and hang out together! Play video games, do each others hair, and overall just have a lot of fun together <3

If we’re going the route of them doing 2D MVS like project sekai, Hazel is the one who draws the designs of the characters and all of the frames while Winn helps puts it together

Jasmine ends up getting anxious a lot of times and Hazel is always there to comfort her :D

Jasmine ends up overworking herself more times than not, and Hazel and winn always come together to pull her out of it :( they worry about her a lot when she ends up doing that

Solo Act Jasmine AU:

It took FOREVER for her to train her voice

At first she was so scared to post her songs and music videos she’s made, but winn and hazel kept encouraging her and she eventually did it

When Jasmine started popping off, getting famous, and companies asking her to join them, they had a week long sleepover, celebrating her!!

Hazel and Winn are THE FIRST to like whatever Jasmine posts! They’re her number 1 fans btw

They always buy her merch when it drops

They have meetups at the recording studio she goes to, to help write songs and such

Hazel and Winn help with costume design (same thing with the Cosmo and Wanda, if they’re in this au, same thing as above, wishing to go to certain places and dates in time for inspiration)

Hazel and winn are her biggest defenders online and offline

They get backstage passes and vip tickets to each of her concerts (it’s free dw)

She works very hard to become the best and biggest idol ever !! She’s always taking tips from her friends. It might be hard for her to accept criticism, but she does appreciate it <3

She does anything and everything to make sure she can meet with her fans and talk to them

Like I said from above, Jasmine ends up overworking herself more times than not, and Hazel and winn always come together to pull her out of it :( they worry about her a lot when she ends up doing that

Copying the sleepover concept from above to her, they definitely have sleepovers together the night before her concerts

She takes them on every single tour !! All included because she cares for her friends so much :D

anyways that’s all I can think of right now !! If I have more thoughts I’ll either edit, reblog, say something in the replies, or say it in my headcanon post about this au. But if you have any ideas, feel free to send them in my inbox :D

Thank you so much for coming to another yap session <3 I hope you have a great day/night wherever you are in the world

[voidedbattery]

Iron and Smoke II

@rvbrarepairweekdos

@joltning (i was encouraged after you reblogged that thing i posted today) (i also saw that you posted something for like 5 seconds so i'm going to check that out soon)

For other readers: Iron and Smoke I

welcome to my one hour of drawing experience

it's giving me motivation to draw a comic despite the fact that i never actually complete projects beyond the halfway mark 😂

MORE HEADCANONS:

Sometimes Dax gets curious and buys random flavo- I mean scents from hygiene stores

Mainly because he can't help but find out that one smell when some teenage girl gets on the bus and cracks open their wonderful hand sanitizer

Marcus can't unlock the social media limit on his phone, which is set to 30 minutes a week

On a vacation in Singapore, Dax walked by Marcus exactly two years before they met

Dax had to figure this out only after 6 years

Partly after he tried the same street food that he had on vacation

Dax had to learn the hard way (yet again) that he can only eat naturally-grown peppers if he wants spicy food.

Dax had to go to court for filling up the gas tank with hand sanitizer at 4 AM

He was actually fined $50 because a plane disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle at the exact same time the hand sanitizer was dispensed into the gas tank

The car doesn't work anymore, and the remaining money needed to fix it was the $50 that Dax was fined. He uses this as an excuse to get Marcus to walk with him to work (they live close to that big Charon building) each morning.

People follow Dax and Marcus during these mornings just because Marcus' pocket is so broken that a dime falls out of it every morning

Dax somehow published a three-page book. It is not stated where the copies are, nor if the book is a novel or anything else. Dax published it and talks about it occasionally.

He is more likely to do this after complaining at a restaurant.

The robot arm that replaces Dax's organic arm emits a noise even if it moves in the slightest

Don't sleep next to Dax after Charon's big building thing goes down.

I should mention that the big building was a hotel built by someone who spent their lottery money

Marcus met The Rookie exactly three times. He thinks that they were completely separate encounters with different ODSTs.

In fact, those three times were the only three conversations that Marcus had with an ODST outside of his platoon before forming Team Crimson with his two friends.

For a mission, Dax had to spend 5 days on a station orbiting Venus. Because he was so close to the sun, he had a time limit on how much time he could spend doing spacewalks. He forgot this time limit, assumed that he can spend 24 hours in space, then came home with a rare mutation that makes him allergic to EXACTLY 27.4134 mg of fructose when you add a singular crystal of salt. Anything else doesn't have a major effect.

When Dax was still in his truck-driving career before Charon Industries, you could tell Dax just drove your shared truck if you see exactly three sheets of graph paper on the passenger seat.

I read this in a fanfiction; Dax likes a meat-lovers' pizza.

Marcus is 6'3"

[aaronsrpgs]

A Worksheet Manifesto (Rough Draft)

The Worksheet Manifesto is an attempt to explain why I'm moving my game design toward something I can print for free at the public library and give away. It's not a scold or a call to action; I buy full-color zines and hardcover books, and I support people charging for their work. This is a personal manifesto—an exercise in self-exploration.

The first reason I pursue this is ACCESS. I want people to be able to find and play my games. (Accessibility is maybe a better word for this, but I don't want it confused with the process through which something is made easier to use for people with disabilities.)

Some of the main barriers I've seen are financial (someone can't afford my games), technological (lack of computers and/or printers makes it more complicated to read my games), and international (shipping to someone outside the U.S. is prohibitively expensive).

Combining these three elements, I realized I wanted my games to be cheap or free. The common "community copies" solution on itch.io is much touted, and for good reason, but as I tried explaining the process to friends who weren't familiar with the site (or who flat-out aren't tech savvy), many responses were confused or frustrated. So I've set most of my games to pay-what-you-want with a suggested price.

Going from computer tech to printer tech, my most recent games were laid out in black and white, without ink-sucking textures (although some still have large spots of black in the art--something I continue to consider). Many American libraries offer limited free printing, and I always hope people will "utilize" the printers at their jobs or schools. I want people to be able to easily print out my games and share them at the table or pass them to friends.

And more selfishly, I hate dealing with fulfillment and shipping. It's stressful for me, it requires money up front to print things, and I'm bad at it, which means shipments go out slow, or not at all if someone lives outside of the U.S. Creating a file that's easy to print hopefully encourages people to create their own copies.

These cheap print copies also hopefully contribute to a feeling of DISPOSABILITY. I grew up with comic books, magazines, newspapers, and mass market paperbacks, and I think these cheap, short slabs of culture helped them feel like someone could engage with them without having to be fancy or educated or in the know. (A lot of us gatekeep ourselves!)

Prices for RPGs, like so many nerd collectibles, have steadily risen at least since the start of the pandemic. Crowdfunders often capitalize on FOMO, encouraging people to go all in on deluxe hardcovers with fabric bookmarks or whatever. And if my experience working at a used game store is anything to go by, lots of those fancy editions go right onto the bookshelf, unread. Don't want to break the spine or get fingerprints on it!

And I guess I'm just against consumerism? If someone wants a nice thing, I hope they get it, but a culture of games as luxury items and status symbols is not something I'm interested in.

So if someone has a game of mine and they don't want it anymore, I hope they pass it on, put it in a little free library, or recycle it.

And those dirty little printouts of my games? I want people to touch them and write them. I want TACTILITY. This is partially a usability issue: 300-page hardcovers are hard to find information in, and they're heavy if you have to lug them to a friend's house.

So I try to design games where everything a player (including the GM) needs is on, at most, three sheets of paper. I want them to be able to spread a couple pages out and take in the shape of the game they're about to play. I want them to circle things and make notes in the margins. Moving a pencil around does wild things to your brain, the same way that picking at a guitar or molding clay does. It focuses attention in interesting ways.

And in the end, you hopefully have a personalized article of play. And if you spill beer on it, no one's worried about replacing that $50 hardcover.

Speaking of beer, I want my games to be available to and contribute to COMMUNITY. As the pandemic started, I retreated into lots of online spaces, and those were absolutely vital to my survival. But I lost touch with lots of my friends and acquaintances in my city. I want to reconnect with them.

One of my favorite cartoonists, Mark Connery, is known for drawing little zines and just...leaving them all over. Coffee shops, art galleries, bathrooms. And when I think of him, I think of an artist responding directly to the places around him. Is it sad that some of this work is probably "lost" to all readers other than the person that happens across the zine? A little bit. But I think that comes from a bad part of my brain, the part that wants to own things.

I certainly don't want the entirety of my own work collected and widely distributed. Some of those things were specific responses to specific times that I've moved past. Some were bad! But I want to keep responding to my specific times and my specific place. I want to give things to friends (even if they just pass them on or recycle them). I want to give a game to someone at a zine fest and have them recognize my name from a zine they read in a coffee shop bathroom. And maybe they'll give me a zine in return.

My last hangup is MODULARITY. First, similar to tactility, I want to be able to give a player only the rules that matter to them. Character creation and basic rules? Here's a page. And once you're familiar with that and we've entered a downtime phase, here's a page with those options. You want to start a farm? Here's a page. I want it to feel like printing coloring pages for kids or ripping out my favorite magazine articles. These are the parts that matter. And if they stop mattering, you can get rid of them.

But I also want modularity on a system level. I want to add a subsystem to game as I think of it. I want to throw in an adventure pamphlet when it comes to me. I can keep them all in a little box, like a care package from my past self, and when it's time to run a game, I can dig around like a verminous animal and build my nest out of the best bits.

In CONCLUSION, I want to reiterate that this is a personal practice, and I'm not criticizing people who work differently. I used to work differently, and in the future, I'll probably work differently again.

This is simply the way I've identified what's important to me, set that up against the things that cause me to stumble, taken advantage of the privileges I have, and tried my best to bring that all together in a way that keeps me excited about my own work.

[ivysangel]

Sometimes I’ll see someone praising Colleen Hoover books on tiktok and it makes me pause and wonder if this is their first time reading since middle school. Cuz so many people have been saying that it’s like reading something done by a 13 year old. Tho I’ve seen some of those video essays on YouTube where some people read her books and share their thoughts, and say one where they think she should switch to horror instead of romance from the way she writes some of the things in 2 of her books called verity and layla I think?

I can’t fully remember which book this next but is in cuz I saw one girl’s video that was reviewing Hoover’s worst books so there was a few in there. But it’s like each thing that I learned was like getting hit by a truck. Like why was there 2 characters laughing about how big their son’s balls are before running off the road and into a lake, and leaving the baby to die cuz they apparently couldn’t get him out the car seat. Like damn I sure do love to think of our last moment with our son, laughing at his balls before drowning. Or a different book where the main chick is trying to manually eject the fetuses she’s carrying cuz she’s jealous that the main guy is already saying that he loves those babies. And that’s just one of the things that is just so ?? And that’s just been a small part from those strange books

i actually do think a lot of colleen hoover fans are people that are rediscovering reading and probably went a long time without doing it, or weren't really readers when they were younger. most people i knew who grew up reading or writing a lot developed a very strong sense of what's good writing and what's not because when you read enough, the line between good and bad writing becomes very, very clear. i was telling someone the other day about how when i was a kid i used to dnf books after the first paragraph because the writing was just so off from the get go. but i suppose, if you're getting into reading later in life and didn't pay attention to writing quality when you were younger, then yeah, you're gonna pick up some books that aren't the pinnacle of literature, and that's FINE.

i will always encourage and support people reading at any age...even if they choose to read colleen hoover. but that doesn't mean i can't criticize colleen's writing, which is trash. i have yet to read a line from one of her books that doesn't make me physically cringe. from the writing to the tropes to the characters, just awful. i recently read a twitter thread that had a bunch of pages of it ends with us, and i was just so baffled that she got a movie deal over that shit like there are so many better stories to adapt. and btw the shit show that was the it ends with us press tour...jesus christ.

anyway, i'm only familiar with her more popular books. i was actually gifted a copy of ugly love (the book about the baby with the big balls) for my 16th, and i just haven't been able to bring myself to read it. it's at the absolute bottom of my tbr list, and it gets moved further down every time i buy a new book. but all that to say, i was not aware of little miss "ejecting fetuses"? and against my better judgement, i will be looking into that.

[richea]

1, 7, 9 and 11 for tales asks! (Don't need to do them all❤️)

Tales asks

First Tales game & how you discovered it

My first game was Symphonia! This is gonna get a bit personal so I apologize. It's honestly a funny story; my older sister was really interested in Lloyd from a fangame she was playing, and she went to my grandmother who she knew owned a bunch of Tales games to see if she'd let her borrow her copy of Symphonia. Tales being my grandmother's favorite franchise of all time, she was elated and handed her a bunch of her games to try. I'm honestly not much of a gamer at all (prior to this I'd only ever beaten Pokemon games, and even now, that hasn't really changed) but I decided to join in as both of my sisters' player 3. Both of them lost steam around the Asgard Ranch, but I enjoyed the game so much that I just kept playing by myself. For someone who doesn't commit to playing video games much, the fact that I loved it so much that I actually beat it all by myself and never used a walkthrough really cemented my love for the series. It just immediately felt like home to me, and I'll always be grateful to my now late grandmother for her encouragement and for letting me borrow her games until I could buy my own.

7. Favorite main character

I'll take this to mean protagonist because I think everyone knows Hisui's my favorite party member haha. From the bottom of my heart, I think my favorite protagonist might be Luke. It's been a long time since I played Abyss so my feelings on him have cooled off quite a bit over the years if you remember my Luke phase on this account, you qualify for a veteran's discount... but his story just means so much to me. That said, prior to an Abyss revisit, I currently think it's Shing. I just adore him so so much, and he's a lot more unique than people give him credit for. The Creed reveal is one of my favorite cutscenes in anything ever, and I just love how much his character hinges on always prioritizing his love for the people around him first and foremost. I absolutely love him in the first half of the game; the story places importance on Hisui and Shing's grief in what happened to Kohaku, but Shing is also quietly mourning his grandfather in the background. I really recommend reading this anthology comic chapter to appreciate this more. I could talk all day about Shing... I just love him so much.

9. Favorite setting (world/town/etc.)

Hearts has my favorite setting for sure. The world is just absolutely gorgeous, I love all of the aesthetics that are poured into it from the naming conventions to the art to the actual locations in it. It's such a beautiful game, and the Spirmazes are some of my favorite locations in the franchise visually. It really does feel like a fairy tale world.

That said at risk of sounding biased, I also love Legendia's setting (the environments are just absolutely stunning and the worldbuilding is really really unique), and I have a lot of emotional attachment for Aselia as a world and its worldbuilding!

11. Favorite summon spirit iterations

I really like Rem (Eternia), both in design and the association with Keele!

[mistchievous]

you work in a library! you're living my dream! 💜 do you have a thoughts/opinions on what you would like people to know about libraries? (or top 5 fave authors if not)

Oh God. Please don't ask for my favorite anything. I'm terrible at making lists like that. 😂

But I love working in a library! It's such a chill space!

I think the main thing I'd want people to know is that libraries are more than just books. Like, obviously books are important (and if your library doesn't have a book on hand, I pretty much guarantee they can get it for you via ILL), but they generally have so much more to offer. And I don't mean e-books, though those are a thing too! You should look into your local libraries' resources and even the resources of library systems around you and around your county/state/etc. Plenty of places have online resources and databases that you don't even have to live in the area to access.

And also, they're FREE community spaces. You can go there and just be without anyone expecting anything of you. You don't need to buy a coffee or justify your existence. Need wifi? Go to the library. Need to use a computer? Go to the library. Need a study room? Go to the library. Need to make copies or fax? Go to the library. Need a large meeting room for a performance or gathering or anything at all? Go the library. Does your library system have maker spaces? Go use sewing machines, 3D printers, and more. One of our branches even has a professional recording studio that you can book and use for free, and it provides recording equipment and premium software.

Wanna stream movies or tv shows without having to pay or pirate, check a site like www.justwatch.com which will tell you if library provided resources like Hoopla or Kanopy have them available allowing you access with just your library card number. (Or just go check out the DVD!) There are often expensive databases available for free as well. Like Westlaw which many people in law pay through the nose for. Or Freegal where you can download music for free. Or Tutor.com which allows you free live professional academic assistance. My system has well over a hundred different databases for all age groups. Kids, teens, young adults, adults, and seniors.

Not to mention, libraries offer community programming for all age groups as well. It's not just Book Club, though we have those too. We do story times for kids. Crafts, STEM programming, performances by local and national performers (especially in the summer), etc. We show movies using large projector screens, have video game and TTRPG programs, and offer prizes for programs such as our Summer Reading Program to encourage people to read. We also have a lot of cultural and historical local archives that house information and photographs and the like that can't be accessed anywhere else in the world.

This answer is getting long, and I've really only scratched the surface, y'all. Libraries are important spaces, and they're one of the few truly free and open community spaces still available. It's infuriating when you have people who think we're obsolete and can be replaced by paid services like Audible and Kindle Unlimited. It makes me want to scream.

Support your local libraries, okay? They matter.

[poisonheadcrabsalesman]

After-Action Reports

Merry Crisis - here's an attack a ficlet for @doom-dreaming inspired by The More the Merrier. This might be added to and posted on ao3 later sometime.

-

"So..."

She fixes him with a look before sharply glancing back at her coffee. It's their normal routine except about a couple hours later than usual. Coffee and shooting the shit before the day – when they can manage.

"Drinks went well?" Tom eases off the counter and walks over to sit across from her in the empty Officers' mess.

"You could say that." She sniffs. Her heart rate may speed up at the memory of last night – and this morning  – but Tom can't tell.

"I'm glad." He smiles, a genuine one where the lines of his face relax and crinkle. It annoys her because whenever Tom points that face at her she almost buys it.

"Spit it out."

"We can just have coffee." He says leaning back and making a show of putting his hands up. The grin remains.

"But you have questions."

"Come on, Sarah, you know me better than that." He steps on her boot beneath the table as she scoffs and gulps the too hot coffee."Only share if you want to." He says, voice layering the words with enough meaning that she quirks an eyebrow at him.

"Oh? Are we talking about sharing?" She sets her coffee down and leans, chin on her hand, eyes half lidded.

Tom mirrors her, his own coffee abandoned to meet her eyes. His shoe leaves her boot with a parting tap before he smothers a grin to ask,"Can you just tell me why Roland is jumping every time a Spartan comes on the bridge? We've had 3 shifts since you went for drinks and his avatar isn't as good as he thinks it is."

"Oh? He's nervous?"

"He's jumpy. And extra talkative." Tom frowns.

Sarah grins and grabs her drink. She takes a sip and smiles around the rim of her mug. It's all teeth.

"Say anything interesting?" She eyes the camera in the corner of the room.

"No." Tom follows her gaze, hand in chin, and they sit and stare at the camera. A comfortable silence follows, for them. It's a rare moment to sit in each other's company and not have something to do or intel to share. Lasky exhibiting the rare skill of delegation and leaving the bridge. Palmer enjoying the fact that a nosy little nuisance rescheduled her morning, earning her a brief reprieve from the armor and the persona. It gave them the time to enjoy their coffee and smirk knowingly at camera. Was it childish? Maybe. Was it deserved? Oh yes.

"How long til he cracks?"

"You mean how long will he be on his best behavior?"

"That's what I asked."

Tom snorts, it's a little huff of air out his nose before his eyes flicker to hers and he turns back to his coffee.

Don't get used to it. 

Message received. Enjoy it while you can. Sarah turns back to her coffee and eyes the camera.

-

Fred doesn't know what to do with himself.

Since being kicked out of Blue Team's room for the night – and trying not to think about his sisters and the Commander – he's done everything he can without copying Chief and starting to pick on weird IVs.

He did the last bit of reports, so paperwork's done. His paperwork. John can suffer under the mountain of things that built up while he was away. Fred lost sympathy after John encouraged whatever this was...and then promptly disappeared on him.

A lone II stuck out like a sore thumb among the IVs. He felt even more out of place than usual. Still, nowhere comfortable to bunk wasn't a problem. He just didn't want people asking questions or worse, talking about why 104 wasn’t with his team. He was not involved, he was not getting involved, and he did not want to know the details.

So Fred did his work, went to the range, stripped and cleaned all his weapons, sharpened his knives, and hit the gym. All before 0500. He did doze off in one of S-Deck's lounges. A rare chance at an empty room with a couch made to support a Spartan. He had almost let his guard down. Breakfast was with a datapad on the table as he scanned the War Games schedule and thought about running drills with some of the IVs' joint forces teams. Fireteam Forest had been swapped with Fireteam Hydra for some reason so he planned to go watch them.

He's halfway through his meal when John shows up with someone in tow. John sits down with a nodded greeting and digs into his food while the newcomer hovers behind him nervously. They're a IV, techsuit and all, but nervous and twitchy, with bags under their eyes. No defining features or identifying scars or tattoos, just one in the sea of 300 that still threatens to drown Fred’ senses. Spartans, but different. 

"Hey," Fred says to the both of them, because he's nicer than John and learned that being the strong silent type doesn't work in social situations. Unlike some people, Fred learned to be social. He had to do all the talking in recent years. It wasn’t like Linda wanted to, and he was more…diplomatic than Kelly. Fred nods to the empty spot next to Chief and goes back to his own meal.

"Thanks." The newcomer says, and that voice is familiar... The IV sits and looks between Fred and John, goes to say something, thinks better of it, and digs aggressively into his meal.

The atmosphere at the table is abysmal. John seems oblivious, but that's on purpose. Fred thinks he's trying to introduce them in the worst way possible or avoid any and all conversation about where he's been or the current location of other Blue Team members.

Fred finishes his meal and stands to clear his tray, datapad tucked under his arm. He nods to them and lets his brother know his plans, since he's nice like that. "I'm going to go watch Forest and Majestic, if you want to join me."

He says it to Chief, but the other Spartan freezes and a bite of food falls off his fork. "Forest and Majestic aren't scheduled til later."

"No..." Fred drawls, "Schedule change. Hydra got pushed back so they took the open slot. They're on in 5."

"Shit!" Mystery Spartan hisses under his breath and jumps to his feet, barely avoiding overturning his tray."Uh sorry, I need to go. Oh he would pull something like this. Esposito could have warned me. Dammit."

The remaining members of Blue Team watch him storm off, not towards War Games but the assemblage bay and Brokkr machines, muttering to himself before he takes off in a jog.

"Was that...the mission handler from our last sortie?" Fred asks, rounding on his brother who has begun eating the other Spartan's meal.

"Yes." John says between bites.

"Why were you hanging out with Michaels?"

"Miller."

"Miller."

"He's anxious."

"And what? You're going to help?"

John fixes him with a look. "He just needs encouragement."

"You're going to give him complexes." Fred scoffs. "I guess I should be glad you're socializing."

John wisely chooses not to respond.

Their sisters choose then to materialize out of thin air with their own trays. Kelly is practically beaming with her lips drawn in a tight line and the corner of her mouth tilted a fraction of a millimeter. Linda has a too pleased air about her and her eyes are bright even as she scans the room and then sits across from John, in Fred’s former seat. 

“Morning.” Kelly bounces up to the table and nabs one of Miller’s eggs out from under John’s fork.

“And I’m leaving.” Fred announces and turns on his heel.

“We don’t kiss and tell.” Kelly says to his turned back as he stalks away.

“I can’t hear you.” Fred grouses and speeds off.

John angles his tray away from Kelly and continues eating. 

[noonaishere]

Music of the Heart [J.YH] - nineteen | it is still apples

The rest of recording Jongho’s album went swimmingly over the next few days.

“I think we should add an ‘ooh’.” Maddox said.

“An ‘ooh’?” Hongjoong asked. “Where do you want to add an ‘ooh’?”

He played the song and when the moment came, Maddox sang ‘ooooh’ in a descending tone, harmonizing with the bass.

Hongjoong nodded. “I like that. We’ll give it an ‘ooh’. One ‘ooh’ coming right up.”

“I like the vibe of the ‘ooh’.” You said.

Hongjoong nodded as he set up the track to record. “Good vibe. Good vibe on that ‘ooh’.” He turned to Jongho, “Can you go into the booth and give us an ‘ooh’?”

“It’ll be the best ‘ooh’ that ever ‘ooh’-ed, hyung.”

You all chuckled as he went into the booth, recorded the ‘ooh’, and walked back out to join you all again.

Hongjoong played it back and looked at Maddox for confirmation.

Maddox nodded. “Good ‘ooh’. I like it.”

“I think we’ve successfully solved world peace with that ‘ooh’.” You said with a nod.

Maddox shoved your chair, making you spin a little as you laughed.

Jongho, Yunho, and Maddox took a break to grab some snacks while you and Hongjoong worked on the track a little more. Both of you sat in your chairs, Hongjoong with his knees pulled up to his chest.

“Is that really comfortable?” You asked as you gestured to how he was sitting.

“Huh? --Oh. Yeah. I mean, I guess it helps me think.”

You nodded, slipped off your shoes so you wouldn’t make the chair dirty, and pulled your knees to your chest.

Hongjoong chuckled.

You sat for a moment. You guessed it was comfortable; sort of like the fetal position but more acceptable in public.

“Are you comfortable like this?”

He nodded.

“I guess I’ll find out if I’m comfortable or not.”

“How?” “If my legs fall asleep.”

He laughed. “Okay, let’s play this again.”

You nodded and he started the track.

The two of you sat for a few moments and listened as it played, like two copies of the same statue with your faraway gazes that focused on nothing as you listened to the notes play and how all the elements of the song interacted with each other.

“You know what would be nice to flesh out the middleground of the song?” You asked.

“What?”

“A mandolin.”

Hongjoong thought for a second. “A mandolin? Really?”

You nodded. “It would give it kind of a romantic, folksy vibe. I think it would sound nice.”

He thought for a second. “That could be good. You said you play it, right?”

“Mhm. I can bring it in.”

“Oh, that reminds me: pick out a bass and the company will buy it for you.”

“A-- what?”

“For here. A work instrument, so you don’t have to bring yours from home every day.”

“Oh… they’ll really buy me one?”

“Yeah. Maddox has a few guitars he keeps here and the company bought most of them.”

You nodded. “It would be nice to not have to watch out for hitting people on the subway with it. Or worry about it getting knocked out of tune from being jostled so much and then having to retune it every time I get here and get home.”

He nodded. “Send me a link or something with whatever specs you want and I’ll have the Purchasing Department order it for you.”

“Oh, cool. Thanks.”

He nodded again. “But yeah, bring your mandolin in, I’d like to hear what the track sounds like with it.”

Maddox walked in. “Did you say ‘pangolin’?”

“Mandolin.”

“Oh, I was about to ask how you owned an exotic animal in the city.”

You chuckled.

“She’s opening up an indoor zoo. Don’t stomp on her dreams, Maddox.”

Maddox narrowed his eyes at him.

“I can’t believe you’d naysay her dreams of a completely legal - completely safe - indoor zoo. I didn’t think you could be like this.”

You suppressed a laugh.

“What about the children, Maddox? Have you ever thought about them and their needs? They need to see animals to know what’s in the world.”

“We’ll have sheep at my zoo too. Then they’ll know about lanolin.”

“Don’t encourage him.” Maddox said.

“They can go to the monkey house and see a capuchin.” Hongjoong countered.

“And go to the fish area and see a capelin.”

Hongjoong pointed at you. “And then we’ll sell shirts we’ll display on our mannequin.”

Maddox sighed. “I hate the both of you.”

Hongjoong doubled over at his own joke, and Jongho and Yunho walked back in with confused faces.

“What’s going on?” Jongho asked.

“Kim Hongjoong, secret fifty-year-old and father of seven.” Maddox said flatly as he sat in his chair.

“That’s way too many kids.” You countered.

“All boys.”

“Even worse.”

Maddox laughed and turned to Jongho and Yunho. “Where’d you guys go? I didn’t see you in the cafeteria.”

“I went out to get something for t/n,” Jongho said as he handed his crutches to Yunho and sat, shoving his hand into the grocery bag he had for whatever it was.

“For me?” You asked, confused. Surely you didn’t know him long enough for presents--

“Ta da~” he sang, holding up an apple.

Of course. You laughed. “You’re going to break it?”

Yunho took three more apples out of the bag and lined them up on the table.

“Everyone’s getting one.” Jongho added.

“Are they wet?” Hongjoong asked as he peered at them.

“Of course. I washed them. I wouldn’t give you dirty food.”

“I’ll get the paper towels,” Maddox said and went to the supply cabinet for them. He dried the apples off all the way and wiped the table dry .

Jongho sang a song from the Drama, Hospital Playlist Season 2, It Is Still Beautiful. He only had the four apples, so he only sang the chorus before handing the apples to all of you. Hongjoong and Maddox clapped in the way someone does when they’ve seen something a hundred times before: encouraging but not surprised. Yunho was a bit more dazzled than the two of them, maybe he hadn’t seen it before or hadn’t seen it in a while. You clapped, stunned, your face looking like the Surprised Pikachu meme.

“Wow… that’s crazy!” You said.

Jongho bowed as best he could sitting down. “Thank you.”

“How do you do that? You have to be crazy strong.”

He chuckled. “It’s just grip strength.”

“Ohh… I was wondering if maybe you could like, move a car and sing as well. Something like that.”

He laughed.

“But anyway, cover song when?”

He laughed again. “Maybe I should ask the company if I can do it for my youtube channel?”

“You absolutely should.”

He smiled and bit into the other half of the apple he had given you.

“Between this and the Night Queen’s Aria, all you know how to do is flex, huh?”

Maddox laughed. “She’s got you there.”

Jongho looked surprised for a moment. “You knew it was the Night Queen’s Aria?”

“Sure. Doesn’t everyone know the Magic Flute? It’s Mozart’s most popular opera and probably one of the most popular operas.”

“Hmm…”

“Gotta be top ten,” you bit another large chunk of the apple and chewed.

“Do you know a lot about opera?”

“Um, I wouldn’t say I know a lot, but I know a fair amount. I like a lot of genres of music.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Always have. There’s just so much out there, it’s almost stupid not to try and listen to it all.”

“Then why do you play bass instead of something like piano or violin?”

Behind Jongho, Yunho had been quietly eating his apple, looking towards the floor. At the question, he picked his head up and looked right at you. Your eyes met for a moment and you looked at him briefly with the same level of interest of someone who happened to see a leaf in the wind out of the edge of their vision before looking back at Jongho.

“Wouldn’t a classical instrument make more sense?” Jongho asked.

“Mmm…” you didn’t really like lying but you weren’t about to explain it all to someone you had only just met.

And you certainly weren’t going to explain it with your ex-best friend in the room.

“I heard a song that had slap bass in it when I was a teenager and I became enamored with the sound and the instrument.”

“But - and I’m sorry if this is just my misunderstanding - but don’t bassists… generally not have a lot to do in a song?”

You chuckled. “I’ll admit that a lot of times with band music, the bass will get mixed out, but it’s not always treated like that. There are plenty of songs with great basslines that aren’t just the same note played over and over like it’s meant to keep more rhythm than a drum.”

“Ohh,” Jongho nodded.

“I think it’s mostly an underrated instrument. Like… if you think of it like, it’s ‘normal’ to like summer, the beach, a blue sky, but it’s ‘weird’ to like winter, the mountains, a thunderstorm; winter, mountains, and thunderstorms aren’t bad, they’re just not valued the same way for whatever reason. In a four-piece band the singer and guitarist would be summer, and the bassist and drummer would be winter. They’re not bad, they’re just not valued the same way by most people. But,” you took a bite of your apple, “you still need all of them.”

Hongjoong and Maddox were both looking at you, eyebrows raised.

“Was that weird?” You asked.

“No,” Hongjoong said. “It was very thoughtful.”

“Makes sense to me.” Maddox added with a nod.

“Hmm…” Jongho mused while he chewed his bite of apple. “I’d never thought of it that way.”

You smiled. “That’s because you’re summer.”

He laughed. “I guess that would be why.”

Yunho, who had gone back to looking at the floor as he ate his apple, cracked a smile.

  previous | main cast | masterlist | next

Send an ask or leave a comment if you want to be added to the tag list! 🎵

luvvvx • iamthehotdemon • 

[notesfrompanihida]

What's your ideal lover? Do you seek certain qualities in someone? Do you have any preferences for personalities or appearances?

ill add a few images below in terms of my physical preferences

body type has to be fit and lean. long hair for anyone who identifies as a man is mandatory, the longer the better. tattoos!!!!! loads of them!! i have a lot of other things i enjoy in terms of fashion, but the images would be the baseline for daily wear (corpse paint every day would be cool but not even i can pull that off due to sensory issues). they must enjoy wearing suits and being in one for me. if theyre not getting off to me drooling over them i dont want it

im bisexual so i dont care for gender, however i do have a slight preference for cis men solely for the fact that their dick is attached to them and they can use it on me wherever and whenever. THIS IS A PREFERENCE, NOT A MUST

ideally, my partner must have the same disorders i do, doesnt need to be all of them. sounds horrible but im not new to dating and it seems like people who are not mentally ill in the same way as cluster bs will never truly understand someone with bpd or npd due to the drastic differences in how our brains work. think back to your math classes, if you put two mentally ill people together the mental illness should cancel out. me and my cluster b partner could still have fights and arguments, but at least both of us will know exactly why the other is reacting the way they are. there wont be the same kind of judgement from the other person as there would be from someone who doesnt suffer with personality disorders

on the topic of disordered, my partner must have the same or very similiar kinks/fetishes that i do, for obvious reasons. im not vanilla and will never be. if someone cant handle that aspect of me, were not for each other

everything else is pretty standard, i.e they must have the same moral/political standing as me, etc. i want us to have similiar enough interests (music, hobbies, love languages, ideal way to spend the day, etc) but i do not want them to be a carbon copy of me. this person also has to be able to drive. i want my partner to be very obsessed with me. i suppress these tendencies in myself because i do not yet have a person who will be fully comfortable with them, but if i choose you to be my partner i fully expect you to be okay with my obsessive love and even encourage it. ill obviously want the same back. there will be some basic boundaries in terms of that but nothing crazy ;¬)

i come from a culture where courting is the norm, so regardless of gender, i would expect my partner to do that for me before we become official. unfortunately, ive never experienced such things towards myself and always ended up on the giving end of it. i wouldnt have an issue with that as i enjoy spoiling my subjects of interests for a variety of reasons, but eventually you start to wish you got similiar treatment back. im someone who will try and learn everything about you in one go so i can use that information when i enter that courting stage. i love buying gifts, food, and flowers for my interests, which is the same stuff i expect back. everything i do i expect back, from planning lavish dates and paying for everything to spontaneous bouquets here and there. treat me like i mean everything to you and you will receive the same, if not more, back

in terms of personality, its all fairly standard. loyal, caring, attentive, patient, kind, loving, etc. the mental disorders will give them the rest of the traits i want (worships me)

some minor things that id enjoy but arent mandatory: brunette (highly preferred im sick of blondes ruining my life), plays an instrument, does ballet, has a motorcycle, is bilingual, rides horses, ice skates better than me so that they can teach me how to skate backwards and do tricks, has either a cat or a wolf like dog that i can pet, plays in a band so i can get backstage privileges (and after the show they can enter my backstage hahahaha sorry)

sending this off with the prayer that my ideal person will see this and instantly know im the one

[linesonscreens]

Let's Read Peanuts (Yes, all of it) - February 1953

There are lots of great strips I just don't have room to comment on. I strongly encourage everybody to read the full month at the official GoComics page. Today's month starts HERE.

Feb 5, 1953

Today: “Last night on the internet I read an AI-generated Sonic The Hedgehog erotic fanfic with ten million views”

Feb 6, 1953

I know that those are supposed to be weird thought balloons but it looks like Snoopy just talks now.

Feb 11, 1953

Bah, what's this nonsense? Schroeder never complained!

Feb 14, 1953

First Valentine comic? Maybe?? I really should have made a list of things to look out for when I started. -_-'

Feb 17, 1953

OK, so apparently “Ivanhoe” was a novel written in 1819 by Walter Scott. It's been adapted several times in various formats including an early 1940's comic book and a 1952 live action film.

Film trailer here.

I'd link to the comic but ~for some reason~ nobody bothered to scan and upload a 80+ year old comic nobody's ever hear of onto the internet. Rude!

Feb 21, 1953

Paperboy comics continue to be good.

Feb 27, 1953

Time is a flat circle.

Thoughts:

Apparently the only way to read that Ivanhoe comic (that I've been able to find) is to buy a physical copy off of eBay somewhere and consume it the old-fashioned way. Which is kind of a shame, right? I mean, would it have been especially good or noteworthy? Probably not, but reading a few issues would have been a fun way to get a peek into Schulz's mind and get a feel for the comics he was influenced by.

This kind of thing actually bothers me quite a bit and it's a topic that's been on my mind a lot lately. Think about it like this. Ctrl+Alt+Del is not a particularly good webcomic, but think about how many loss.jpg references have been made in various forms of media over the last couple decades that would simply stop making sense if the original comic were to become inaccessible.

All media is connected. Artists are constantly drawing inspiration from and commenting on works that came before and understanding these influences is a key part of decoding any given work. This is true not only for popular media that everybody agrees is good but also for the absolute garbage that may have been your favorite creator's guilty pleasure. It ALL matters, and it should ALL be available for anybody who's interested. Which is why it makes me irrationally angry when I'm reminded that access to older media can be such a huge crapshoot.

Anyways, I guess my call to action is to... upload more old comics? Sure let's go with that. Maybe support some of the groups archiving old stuff while you're at it. Art is cool, and we should be doing more to let people actually see it.

[blu3-ast3ri4]

First of all, my heart goes out to everyone at risk due to trumps upcoming presidency. I’m in the UK and will not be directly impacted by any of his policies in the near future but I understand how devastating this will be to many. The people who voted for him have failed you, but you need to stay alive and you need to stay strong because surrendering is exactly what he wants. I would say more, but there’s honestly too much to say so overall: please keep fighting. Not only for yourselves, but for everyone around you, for everyone who fought for you to be here. Please stay safe.

(Stuff about censorship and preservation below)

Firstly (and the less important point but I need to get this out of the way), due to trumps censorship, AO3 is likely to be banned. If and when this happens, there will be no place for me to upload my writing because platforms with similar content will most likely be banned too. If I figure out a way to keep uploading, I’ll post it here to this blog.

Secondly, start archiving all the media you can get your hands on. Literally any media you like or care for needs to be archived. There are many ways to do this I’ll list a couple off the top of my head here:

—

CD’s + DVD’s

-digitise all cd’s and dvd’s to any device (preferably laptop/computer) and back these files up to a hard drive (you should do this anyway because of things like disc rot)

-if you can, burn your cd’s and dvd’s to a backup disc

-store your discs properly

Books

-find and download pdfs of books you already own, both ebooks and physical copies, also do this with books you don’t own but you want to read or feel like need preserving

-if you’re insane enough like me, physically type out word for word the books you own on to files on your laptop/computer, not google docs or Microsoft word

-store your books properly

-buy backup copies of your books

-download audiobooks

Fanfic

-download your fav fanfics to your device (you should already be doing this if you’re scared of them being deleted by the author)

-if you have the means to, print them out and put the pages in a cheap ring binder

-alternatively, print them out and bind them as a book (very expensive but it is an option!!)

-encourage the author to post their work to multiple sites/post your own work to multiple sites, especially to smaller fanfic archives (I’m working on it ok😓😓), this is also good for more interaction

—

If there’s anything I missed here please tell me and I’ll add it!! In this age of the internet you need to preserve and archive literally everything you even slightly care for.

Please also consider contributing to archiving efforts for specific genres of media, especially queer media. A lot of it has already been lost but please preserve what you can. It’s pretty easy to find second hand copies of books and movies and music on sites like eBay for dirt cheap too. Don’t give up and ensure the longevity of the things you love🫶

I hope you’re all doing well despite the state of the world❤️ there will always be tomorrow

[wheels-of-despair]

Getting to Know Your Eddie Prompt Game

(get a clean copy here to make your own)

prompts by myosotisa and deathbecomesthem and jo-harrington

What story is he from? What kind of story is it?

Evil Woman, Don't You Play Your Games with Me started as a fix-it fic, and since I thwarted the events of S4 in 400 words, I had to give him other things to do. 🥰

What inspired you to write this Eddie?

I just... loved him. I wanted him to be happy, and since thinking about him being happy made me happy, I started writing about it and never stopped.

I'd never written fanfiction before Eddie broke my brain. I didn't even know the "You" fics were a thing until The Summer of Eddie. But my tumblr wife @eddiemunsonsmum listened to me ramble and encouraged me to write, and now I write for so many characters with the same face, it'd be alarming to anyone outside the fandom. 😂

What are your favorite headcanons about him/share something you never shared in your story?

Eddie is very sensitive about his hair. Have a fic about it that I've been holding back because it's a sad one. But if somebody just walked up to him and touched it, he'd flip out. Evil Woman has earned the right to play with it, and has located the spot on his scalp that knocks him right out. She, of course, uses this knowledge for evil.

What does he wear on a casual day? On a dressier day? What does he wear to bed?

Eddie's a jeans and a t-shirt guy. On a dressier day, he'll wear jeans with no holes in them and a button-up over his band shirt. In the summertime, he'll sleep in boxers. When it's cooler, plaid pajama pants and a t-shirt. In the dead of winter, maybe he'll add some socks and a hoodie. Unless it's like, really cold, then he thinks you should both strip and get under the covers. For body heat. 'Cause science.

Favorite foods?

Eddie's adventurous when it comes to food. He'll try anything once. (Okay, vegetables may take a little prodding.) But it's hard to go wrong with a bacon cheeseburger and fries.

Tell Us About His Family/Friends

Uncle Wayne is the reason Eddie is the Eddie we all love. In the Evil Woman-verse, Eddie comes to live with Wayne when he's 8. His mom died when he was 7, and his dad was... awful. But Uncle Wayne took him in and took care of him - and taught him how to take care of himself, and others. Wayne is the reason Eddie looks out for the little guy, because once upon a time, Eddie was the little guy.

I don't write about Eddie's friends a lot, because I feel like people's eyes kinda start to glaze over when the story strays from Eddie/EW. But just know that Corroded Coffin practices frequently, and Hellfire has been known to hang out as a group outside of school. You're just getting mostly the ahhh-we're-finally-alone stories.

Yeah Yeah, he's a Metalhead. Tell Us MORE About His Taste in Music in your story

Owns every record Ronnie James Dio has appeared on. Has figured out when the nearby record stores do markdowns, and visits on those days to buy whatever he can afford, even if he's never heard it before. If it looks metal, it's coming home with him. Gets super excited when he finds an awesome new band, and can't wait to make you listen to it share it with you. Will be an asshole about having to listen to music he doesn't like.

What are his views on romance? On sex?

Eddie finds romance in the everyday - you zipping his jacket up or reaching out to grab him and keep him from running into a pole or him stopping to tie your shoe. He also enjoys embarrassing his loved ones with grand romantic gestures. Insert eyeroll here.

Eddie was a virgin when Evil Woman acquired him, so he is going to live and die a one-woman man. UNDER PAIN OF DEATH. But that also means that all his exploring will be done with someone he trusts.

Is he optimistic or pessimistic?

Both? I feel like Eddie and Evil Woman are the switchiest of switches in every sense. They eventually even each other out in everything. When he's down, she'll Pollyanna him. When she's not feeling it, he'll be her cheerleader. Teamwork!

Where or with whom is he most comfortable?

Uncle Wayne's. It's been home since he was 8, and was the first place he ever felt truly safe. And when he gets to bring Evil Woman there? To sleep in his bed? In his favorite place in the world? The Ultimate! Also his van, he likes his van.

What are his views of his future? What are his hopes/dreams?

I think Eddie's a realist. Sure, it's fun to dream about going off and being a rockstar and touring the world. But I think he'll settle for playing the occasional gig a few towns over and letting some college kids fawn over him and buy him beer. Ultimately, he just wants to survive. If he could be happy about it too, that'd be great.

What do you imagine his future looks like?

I have a plan for them, but it's not set in stone yet. I'm seeing cohabitation and eternal devotion and staying close enough so that they can do holidays with Wayne and EW's mom every year.

Anything else you'd like us to know about your Eddie/your story?

I don't think Eddie and Evil Woman will have kids. I think they'll occasionally run out of condoms and be like 'well, whatever, if it's meant to be, it'll be' and it just doesn't happen for them. They don't try to find out why. They're okay with it. All they need is each other.

Treat this like an ask game and have people ask or just fill it out as you'd like to.

This is not done in a spirit of "right and wrong" but more to give your readers, mutuals, friends a chance to get to know the mindset that you approach your/ANY Eddie Munson in. And if you want to write this for Steve or Robin or whoever and not Eddie, go right ahead. Copy paste post.

[dojae-huh]

I just saw the announcement about the vinyl too and I'm so frustrated that it sold out this quickly. I've been cratedigging and record-collecting for a decade, so I was heartbroken, lol. Luckily I was able to find a Korean reseller on eBay. I suspect you're correct, though. I highly doubt most of them even have record players. They'll likely view this release as a novelty and nothing more. Which is the biggest shame because sitting down for an hour or so and devoting your full attention to a record, disgesting all of the little intricacies that you can't hear on streaming platforms (because the quality is trash), is such a rewarding action. It allows you to slow down and experience music in an entirely different way that I don't think many young people in general are used to because:

1) They didn't grow up with mp3 players as their only means of listening to portable music (mp3 players forced you to experience music in the same way I described above because mp3 files are high quality with little data loss, and there was nothing to distract you from the music because it was directly inside of your ears)

2) Spotify encourages listeners to treat music as background noise and not something that should be properly engaged with

Jaehyun is all too familiar with this process because he's also a record-collector, and I'm sure he views this release as a gift to fans in that way -- one that will unfortunately mostly fall on deaf ears

On one hand, I'm glad LPs sold out quickly. This way SM will know there is a demand and might print more.

On the other hand, it's a pity that many of the fans who will really appreaciate the format couldn't get themselves a copy, while re-sellers and merch collectors - could.

I saw news that in US LPs sell as much as CDs. Hopefully, LP-recorders will kick off in SK. And if Jae or other SM artists continue to release vinyls, fans will buy themselves LP players.

About mp3s. Is it really the format quality fault? I regularly see articles that say Spotify and i-tunes offer good quality, and those who say the sound is bad imagine things. (Not to mention, Korean physical albums are sold with CDs containing mp3s).

I'd think the bigger problem is earphones (as most listen to music from a smartphone with cheap earbuds) and producers evening out the volume of songs and trying to make each second of a track attention grabbing.

To be honest, your comment about mp3 forcing to sit down and listen surprised me. Nothings has changed for me. I was listening to CDs the same way I listen to music on streaming platforms. Mostly on a computer or during travel hours, mostly as a background music, heh. A musical centre with columns on different sides of the room what really made the difference, I think. *sighs* still don't have one to myself...

By the way, just yesterday learnt that SMmini's sound quality is better and you can switch off the voices and listen to instrumentals of any b-side. So there is actually an additional value to those weird breloques, heh.

I'm of an opinion that the consumer is not at fault when it comes to music taste. Music producers and educators are. The way a person needs to learn how to read and comprehend a long text, the same way he/she needs to learn how to process audial information. If a child listens to jazz and is taken to classical concerts by the parent, he/she will grow up knowing how to appreciate it. And the quality of music on itself. Take Raye. She sings about break ups, drugs and hangovers, however, the "lowly" theme is put on top of good instrumentals and paired with her strong vocal delivery. And she went viral, in this age and time. Thanks to streaming platforms, as far as I know.

Same with SM and Jaehyunie. His "J" is in the old r'n'b style. And his fans eat it up. SM Classics uses the popularity of its k-pop singles, like Supernova or Boom Boom Bass, to lure young people to listen to jazz or classical renditions.

A commoner will eat both a cheap cake and a high quality one, there is sugar inside both of them to trigger the brain. It's up to the cook whether he is a true artisian and uses real vanilla and cacao butter or a money hungry fraud who puts in artificial ingridients.

Anyway! Back to LPs. Considering CDs exist, the modern day attraction of the vinyl is the tactile sense and mood setting experience. Like a paper book vs e-reader difference. Taking out an LP out of the cover, carefully setting it on the recorder, cleaning dust off the needle, that rustle sound of the empty space before the needle hits the track, turning the record - the effort and the whole procedure that makes one slow down and concentrate on the music. And the sound is warmer, of course.