#starting a band is only the most recent example

[sabbathbloodysabbeth]

Ok so I know that I just did a poll for what to focus on but I really just need to get this Drabble out and then I’ll focus so hard on my Eddie Big Bang fic.

Anyway! I’ve been thinking about false positives and how that could correlate in presenting in the omegaverse. Like it’s rare but it can happen.

For example Steve Harrington has been forced to go to the doctors every month to take a hormone test to see if he’s going to present as an omega, beta or an Alpha. His parents desperately want an Alpha and are taking every opportunity they can to ensure Steve will be one. His father, an alpha, is purposely scenting Steve every morning before he goes to school. His mother had taken pills when she was pregnant with him and makes him lunches that have strong testosterone levels. It’s now getting to the point where he’s getting close to being able to predict what he’s going to be and it’s a very stressful time.

So when he goes to the doctor and the test finally comes back positive to him show casing alpha hormones he’s relieved. His parents throw a party to celebrate, and when they realize their efforts worked they return to disappearing on business trips. Leaving for weeks on end. Now, all they have to do it wait for Steve to present, but they already know Steve’s going to be an alpha so it wouldn’t be productive to be home when that happens.

Though their plans sort of back fire and Steve hasn’t presented on time. He’s extremely late while his peers all proudly announce their secondary genders. He’s a little disappointed but knows he doesn’t have long to wait. So he decides to throw a party for his friend Chrissy. Who just presented and is the first Alpha female in Hawkins ever. Even though that’s not what her mother wanted, who purposely did similar things to Chrissy as Steve’s parents did to him. They actually both bonded in the doctors room because of it.

So that’s how the both of them find themselves sitting across from Eddie Munson, who had also recently presented as an Alpha. They wanted to have pot there, Steve really enjoyed getting wasted and stoned at the same time. Chrissy just didn’t care, it was a huge party. So they offer to include Eddie in the celebration, as he just presented and hasn’t really thrown a party.

He declines.

Neither Chrissy or Steve see or talk to him until the party. Chrissy had been so busy that she didn’t notice Steve not feeling to hot. Or the way he stands next to Robin Buckley, an omega from band, and has the best conversation ever. Between feeling the most comfortable he has ever smelt under her smell, and feeling like he just met his long lost friend something shifts. His stomach cramps up, his chest grows sore and he feels over heated.

He has to step away from the party before anyone notices. Steve’s pretty much having a panic attack on the stump hidden in the woods when Eddie finds him. His scent smelt a lot stronger than it had at the picnic table. And now that Steve thinks about it he hasn’t been able to really smell anyone until he started to talk with Robin.

Steve doesn’t want to ruin Chrissy’s party, nearly going into distress about that. He knows she deserves this but his entire body hurts.

Eddie sits next to him and without thinking carefully rubs his shoulders. It’s best that everyone presents with only their family members, but Steve didn’t have anyone and he was scared. He’s lost in a haze and being wrapped in one of the best smells and being lead to a van. He doesn’t know what’s happening but Eddie seems a smidge freaked out as Steve’s body temp keeps raising higher and higher.

They somehow find themselves at the Henderson. Dustin’s mom was a nurse and would know what to do. Immediately Steve is taken care of. Eddie is forced to stay, just in case as he was the only alpha in the house and Claudia may need him.

Steve is pretty much stripped to his boxers, and both Eddie and Claudia think he’s about to present as an Alpha. He’s showing the signs of it up until the middle of the night and something in his body completely shifts. His scent changing from the hickory to a soft sunflower. He watches in real time as Claudia goes from being tensed up from the alpha smell to relaxing from the scent change. Her eyes are beginning to droop as she tries to take care of him.

“Dear I think you have the best scent I have ever smelt in my twenty years of being a nurse.” She admits. She’s changing the care routine, quickly grabbing scents that she things Steve would want. But is quick to realize Steve’s mumbling about two people he smelt at the party. One being Robin, who started all of this.

Claudia doesn’t waste a second and forces Eddie to go get her. An hour passes and Eddie comes back with Robin who is confused as to why she is needed. Unlike Steve she hadn’t smelt Steve and knew he had to be an important to her. But when she walks in the room and takes one small sniff she knows immediately and is quickly wrapped around Steve before Claudia can stop her.

It’s not uncommon for omegas to bond with each other, what is uncommon is for how hard Steve and Robin bond. Steve is quick to toss on a tank top, not wanting Robin to have to curl next to him shirtless. He’s already feeling himself calm down.

Then comes Eddie. Who pops his head in to say he might have it go. Before he can he gets a whiff of Steve and is quickly red in the face and stumbling over his words. He’s not allowed to stay, as he was an alpha. So instead he gives Steve his battle vest without a second thought and dips.

The presenting process goes a lot smoother after that. Steve is clearly an omega and has a lot to figure out. But for now, he’s happy with Robin, Claudia and even bonding with Dustin. Claudia’s son, who hasn’t had another omega in the household in a long time. Steve accidentally claims him as a pup in the process but Claudia doesn’t mind.

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - The Heat is Rising

Sorry this late, blah blah real life actual job blah blah.

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

June 2024 Week 3

Ongoing Series - Thai

Wandee Goodday (Sat YT) ep 8 of 12 - Why is it so good?! It’s unfair. Cause I know pain must be incoming. Also... Yak moved to the "rao" pronoun for his confession! SO ADORABLE!!!!! Can you see me kicking my feet and squealing with joy on this side of the screen? Well I am. 

Sunset X Vibes (Sat iQIYI) ep 2 of 12 - I think I'm finding this show a lot funnier than the show is trying to be. The pose in the doorway. The sparkle pants. The creaking of the leather. It’s all hilarious. The foot massage. So silly. Simultaniously, full of thirst. Yay! I like thirst. Not entirely sure why he’s dicking him around and not dicking him out but hey the tension is fun. Also the shot staging is very good. Very yaoi. Lin going to have so much power in this relationship once he starts trying on seduction for size. All just to say, it’s good and I’m enjoying it.

My Stand-In (Fri iQIYI) ep 9 of 12 - you know I'm enjoying it a lot, so a surprise to see a Star Hunter beat it out? It's just MosBank are SERVING classic BL and I am a sucker for that kinda smut. Back to Stand-In...

It’s sad and a little complicated and interesting. And I’m still enjoying it very much. But this episode was mostly a rehash of information we already had been given, it was slow. Although since the acting is so good in this particular show, I didn’t mind it as much as I might have in a pulp piece, for example. 

My Love Mix-Up Th (Fri YT) ep 3 of 12 - I’m very much enjoying this. Not quite as much as I initially enjoyed the JBL version. But I’m liking a lot. There’s something particularly high school teen YA angst about this IP. Even more so than something like Make it Right or Love Sick. It’s just the cringe reactions and the constant embarrassments and the roller coaster of emotions that each character goes through in every scene. I forgot how exhausting it is to be a teen.

We Are Cute (Weds iQIYI) ep 12 of 16 - We Are Cute continues to be very cute indeed. Honestly Phum doesn’t need to flirt with Peem, Peem is already in love. The learning about each other is fun, but the fact that Phum still constantly communicates via kissing is great. I love that we have a couple whose love language is smooches. TanFang endgame is my favorite, I fucking LOVE them. But... NO SINGING. Worst fake band ever? Place docked in BL standing this week for that alone.

Love Sea (Sun iQIYI) ep 2 of 10 - It's fine I guess? Trash watch here.

Knock Knock Boys (Thurs Gaga) ep 5 of 12 - It’s ridiculous and they're very cute and I kind of don’t know what’s going on. But the young one getting his first dildo and skipping with excitement was utterly adorable. And it is the first rep we’ve got for such a thing in this genre. So good on you little pulp!

Only Boo! (Sun YT) ep 11 of 12 - Everything felt a little rushed and oddly paced in this episode. Not entirely sure why K came back to him. Anyway, I hope it’s all explained in the finale.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

At 25:00 in Akasaka AKA 25 Ji Akasaka de (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 10fin - I’ve made no secret about the fact that I haven’t been wild about this show.

Here’s a few things I enjoyed about the final episode: Uke initiated the sex scene!! Lots of tenderness. Long takes plus the absence of (and then very gentle introduction of) music. Unexpectedly high heat. Condom rep! The gayest bedroom layout ever. What I didn’t like: The absolute pinnacle of frustration for P'ABL on the other side of the screen wanting to grab the leads and shake them until their teeth rattled and scream "FOR THE LOVE, just TALK to each other!"  Oh but they are so cute and SO POLITE when the finally do reconcile! 

In conclusion:

A BL about the making of a BL where the famous one has a crush on the obscure one. It’s already been done.  Recently. By Japan. I would be tempted to say "better" but I didn’t like the first version either. At least this was less stalkery? Look, this show was fine. Just, in a word: cool, unengaging, and frustrating. OK that was 3 words. But they’re apt. A lackluster offering with a great ending. How to rate that? I despaired but ended up on 7/10 - do better Japan, I know you can.

Blue Boys (Korea YouTube) - it got its part 2, thank the BL gods, rounding this one into an 8 ep series. Still short (those eps barely scrape 10 min at most) but a solid little offering.

Charming reunion romance full of class + coming out struggles and great chemistry all of which was let down by a curtailed length. Had it just been given some legs, it could have grown wings and taken flight, but in the end it is simply too short. Still enjoyable and certainly worth your time. Cause ya don't need much of it. 8/10 RECOMMENDED

It's airing but...

The Last Time (Thai Fri YT?) - Convoluted story of loss and possible reincarnation or something. Can't find it.

OMG Vampire (Thai Sun ???) 10 eps - I've put the search on hold for a bit and y'all can let me know if it's worth tracking down.

In case you missed it

I mean you were under a rock on Tues Jan 18th Thailand's senate passed the Marriage Equality Bill. As of typing this, the King still has to sign it into law, but he's unlikely to veto. So it's a matter of time before everything is official. Thailand follows Nepal (2024) and Taiwan (2019). Both of those were judicial, Thailand's is legislative.

Let's Eat Together Aki and Haru 2 AKA Aki wa Haru to Gohan wo Tabetai 2 Haime! (Japan movie) - Continued the (frankly) lackadaisical story from part 1 and was meant to drop yesterday. We thought maybe Gaga, but nothing so far.

The Time of Fever AKA Unintentional Love Story 2 (Korea movie) trailer released to Korean theaters 5/25. HoTae & DongHee, side couple from Unintentional Love Story are back! Same actors, same character names. I love them. Devastated this hasn't had international distribution.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

Last of the June Releases

6/26 The Rebound (Thai Weds Gaga) - MeenPing are back in their 3rd BL together, a basketball based romance (Meen was a national basketball player, so yay for that). I like this pair better than most (I still do miss Meen with Est but Est has a fantastic looking new BL coming from GMMTV so yeah...) Anyway I'm up for a sports romance starring a man who, yah know, actually played that sport so... I'm game (pun intended).

6/26 I Hear the Sunspot AKA Hidamari ga Kikoeru (Japan Weds Gaga) 10 eps - A new series adaptation of beloved yaoi I Hear the Sunspot (first adaptation was feature film Silhouette of Your Voice 2017).

6/30 The Trainee (Thailand Sun YouTube) 12 eps- office romance between a boss/employee featuring OffGun. Taking over Boo's spot for GMMTV.

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

Lip touch! So sexy. So rare from Korea. Blue Boys.

I do love a meta call out moment.

Tiny idiots (affectionate)

Love their kisses. Such a great side couple.

All Wandee.

(Last week)

QUICK NOTE: I'm flying international back next weekend and the damn thing is gonna take like 72 hours or whatever insanity. Needless to say, I may not get to this round-up for ages. So don't panic, I'm not dead just sleeping.

Streaming services are listed by how I (usually) watch, which is with a USA based IP, and often offset by a day because time zones are a pain.

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @sunflower-positiiivity @rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire @mestizashinrin @bl-bam-beyond @small-dark-and-delicious @saezurumurmurs

Sigh, Tumblr in it's infinite wisdom doesn't like too many tags.

There's these tricks, remember.

[captainmalewriter]

College Janitor

Alright, I'll be the first to admit that working as a janitor fucking sucks. Nobody has ever said "Wow! I wanna clean up other people's shit for a living!" and for good reason too. It's disgusting and more often than not it's completely thankless job. This shit fucking sucks, pun not intended.

So why did the hell did I willing decide to become a janitor when I hate it so much? Well, let me tell you. Even though there's a lot of cons to the job, there is one pro that singlehandedly makes it all worth it. I didn't just become a janitor at some random place, no, I became one at a college residence hall. This place is just teeming with young, horny bodies everywhere! And since college students are always coming and going every year, my catalog of bodies just keeps on growing! This place is perfect for a body hopper like me, especially since nobody ever suspects the nameless janitor...

Take my most recent body for example. This clueless freshman had no idea he would get possessed when he first moved into the dorms!

I just love the way a fresh body feels after I possess them! My personal favorites are all the skinny guys with no meat or hair on their bones. It's always so much fun seeing my beer belly of a gut squeeze into them as I possess and take over their bodies for myself. They get all bloated and fat while I squeeze my spiritual form down their throats. It always take me a couple of minutes to slither down into their bodies, but the effort is always worth it. The sound of them grunting and gagging while getting filled up by my essence is always so hot!

Their bodies inflate to the max and they stumble around due to all the extra weight they just took on with my soul. Then they get all surprised when their hands start moving on their own. They don't have a clue that it's actually me controlling them from the inside! I love forcing them to moan as I start exploring my new body, slowly but surely taking over control while I rub myself down. Then, once the possession is complete and I get total control, my new vessel adjusts itself to welcome me in as its new host. My new skin snaps into place like an elastic band as all the extra body weight disappears like it never existed. Their body is all mine now, and I just can't help but smile at a job well done.

I wonder how it feels to be skinny and to have a hairy, heavy bear like me possess my body. I bet it feels good to swallow up my long, curly beard as I force myself in. It must feel pretty warm to absorb a beefy, mature man like me. Like a bear hug, only on a much deeper level. Not that I would ever know, I'm the possessor, not the possessee. Just the way I like it! I just really can't believe this twink keeps shaving all this beautiful body hair! No razor is gonna touch this body while I'm in charge, let's see if he can grow a majestic beard and a pelt of chest hair like mine. I can tell this ass is already broken in. What a shame, this long dick isn't getting action. That's gonna change too, there's plenty of ass to fuck in college!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to enjoy my first month of college... Hope the new, temporary janitor knows how to get cum off the shower tiles!

[lnights]

Hey! As someone who's only kinda recently started getting into Blind Channel, can you "introduce" the band members to me/tell me any fun facts? 😊

It's okay if not, I just feel like it's so fun hearing it from other fans than trying to dig it out myself LOL

Welcome friend 🖤

You're about to get an essay 😂 anyone please add in, this isn't an all inclusive list of everything about them.

Let's start with Joel - vocals (and guitar depending on if you're going back to the first couple albums)

Joel is the oldest member of the band at 30, has ADHD, has dealt with insomnia, talked about being bullied in highschool, handles the band's social media, has a wine and has made a lot of references to dating his hand 😂

He is one half of the (t)error twins with Joonas, such named by the other members of the band for their chaos and having the same birthday, one year apart. He has said more than once that Joonas is his closest friend and they're found hanging out a lot outside of the band, they have been called an old married couple, always squabbling (but with a lot of obvious brotherly love)

Joonas - guitar

Second half of the (t)error twins, sings backing vocals, has been photographed with his dick out on more than once occasion, has a naked painting of himself, he's (sometimes questionably) a fashionista, and is known to have a rather sensitive digestive system.

Joel met Joonas in highschool after their own bands ended and became friends, eventually decided to form their own band, Joonas had already been in a band with Olli and their now tour manager Santeri, and previously in one with Tommi. Joonas, Olli, and Tommi are childhood friends prior to highschool.

Niko - vocals

Niko went to the same highschool as the other founding members, but hung out with a different crowd. Joonas, Olli, and (maybe) Tommi were at a house party, Linkin Park’s In The End came on, Niko rapped Mike's parts and Joonas invited him to join him for the band’s first practice the next day. Joel picked him up, even though they hadn't met.

He plays and teaches piano, writes most of the band's lyrics (though there is collaboration), has a kitty named Rommi, has a long term girlfriend, Joonas lived with them for a while. He has a large band symbol on his side with roses for each of the band members (minus Aleksi, but he does have a matching tattoo with him)

Tommi - drums

Papa bear himself! Lot of bear references with him, he has the nickname nalle (teddy bear in Finnish) from the band. He used to drive the band around when they were still in vans rather than tour buses and his job in the band is to “have final say”.

There's a single brain cell in this band, and most of the time it seems like Tommi has it, but every once in a while he's as dumb (affectionate) as the rest of them. He and Olli are the only two still in the band's hometown and as far as we know he is the only member of the band without tattoos. And he's a nurse!

Olli - bass

Called the most beautiful member of the band by his bandmates and known to eye-fuck any camera that happens to be focused on him.

Or if you happen to be watching them live 😳 it's intense.

He used to have gauges. There are several photos and videos of him and Joonas just holding hands 🖤 (lots of love in this band)

He can come off as a bit of an airhead, the biggest example of this is his poor bass Simba (rip) that he left on top of a van at a gas station, didn't realize until they had left and was far far down the road. He did eventually get it back but it was destroyed.

He designed their newest stage outfits and even sewed the patches on himself. He used to work at a hospital transporting patients.

Aleksi - DJ/percussion

Newest member of the band and only non-original member.

Had/has a solo DJ career and career as a producer as Alex Mattson, and accidentally ignored Joel in 2016 when he reached out to talk about a collab.

He ended up meeting Joel and Joonas at a Bring Me the Horizon concert in November of 2016 (where they also met Joonas (Johnny) Parkkonen) and they cleared up the accident and became friends.

He collaborated with them and help with song writing/production before he officially joined the band in 2020

Baby of the band and a menace. He got his first tattoo with a couple members there to hold his hand, I think it was Joel and Niko, Joonas went with him to get his band tattoo.

He grew up around the music scene (his dad is a booking agent) and was a drummer in a band as a kid. He has a little dachshund named Rilla

Joel, Joonas, Niko, and Aleksi all have the band's symbol tattooed on them. Joel's is in his arm, Joonas has it in his hand, Niko on his side, and Aleksi near his wrist.

[kanmom51]

I have always wondered why JM Stans hates JK. I have seen posts about how JK is being the Company's favorite and that Scooter is trying to use JK to out sell JM. I don't believe it but I do want your opinions on this. I know you will probably say that's a very stupid thing to ask for but I see it a lot and I wonder why they keep saying that JK and V are the companies favorites. And also do you think the company didn't actively promote JM? This Fandom has finally twisted things around. I just need to know your thoughts on this matter. Thanks

Hey love.

Ok, where do we start?

Maybe from the end.

It being that it does feel at times that JM gets the raw deal from the company. If it's intentional or just because he's too nice and doesn't speak up enough I don't know. But this has been going on for years. The way the promotions for Face were handled, the way his name or photo somehow seem to disappear at times from official sites. For example the official BTS US store had all the members apart from JM in the index.

The issue has been since fixed, but it took angry JM stans posting and sending messages and emails to the company to notice it and make it happen.

Or, another example is JM's Like crazy Korean and English version streams being counted separately by Spotify.

Little things that make you ask "why him?" or more so "why is it always happening with him?"

Now, it's not that Jin has been forgotten at times as well (being cropped out of group photos at times). Somehow it's always those two, but with JM it's way more frequent and feels off.

Saying that, I do feel that some JM solos tend to make JM out as a constant victim (perhaps part of allowing them to be his saviors). While doing that they are constantly making comparisons with the others and while doing so also try to tear the others down.

I think this is part of the issue with solos. Forgetting that these 7 men are part of one band. A band they ALL want to be part of. Something they have said multiple times in the past and recently as well. 7 men that love each other (not to mention the elephant - cough couple cough - in the room).

It's more than ok to have a preference. A member you feel you like more or feel more connected to. It's a different matter to call yourself a fan of a single member elevating him by tearing down the others and constantly calling for said member to ditch the others and go solo. Spewing hate at the other members in that person's name, supposedly for him. Obviously you are not a fan of BTS when you do that, but more so you are not a true fan of said member who loves the others you constantly attack and wants to stay with them as a group, as he constantly and repeatedly tells us all.

Like the whole comparison made between JM's promotions and JK's (two totally different stories, different artists' objectives, different markets). And let me be clear here. I am not saying it felt like JM's success, which was, I feel, unexpected, was downplayed or not properly formally and publicly recognized. At the time it certainly felt that way. What we don't know is what JM's feelings were on the matter. Did he want it that way or was it a company decision? I know how it looks, but at times we need to understand that there are so many undercurrents and we don't get to see most of what's under the water. We only see what's shared or not shared with us, by the powers at be's decision. For example: Later on, in his documentary we saw that JM did get a cake for the #1 billboard achievement. So was it his choice not to post a pic? At the same time we saw his success, again, kind of being downplayed in articles, in BPD's interview, so this is one of those things I am leaving with a big question mark. Was he given the well deserved acknowledgement (even if not publicly)? Was it downplayed from the start, even towards him? And if so, why?

That being said, attacking JK, writing hateful posts about him, his looks, his artistry, his character not only would not make a damn difference as to how JM is being treated by the company but goes against everything that JM is and everything that JM feels towards JK.

Same issue, btw, with all solos. JK solos and the hate towards JM, the person JK loves the most in this world.

Do you see what I mean?

That was a little long winded, lol.

So, I do take issue with the need to cut down at another members success only to lift JM's up (he don't need no lifting, he's bloody amazing). I can assure you that is something he personally would not want, being the beautiful soul that he is, he wants the others to succeed and is not in competition with them.

I also hated this need to cut down JK even before his music came out, during JK's promotions, when he was choosing to mirror JM, a clear friggin calculated choice with a clear friggin purpose, by calling him lazy and a copy cat.

First of all you could see, if only you had eyes and kept them open, how throughout ALL of his promotions JK was mirroring JM. It was with similar outfits (even using the same exact black leather pants). It was with wearing the top part of an outfit to which JM wore the bottom part in his promotions. It was with his hair style and colour choices and references to JM's album. Anyway, point being once again that attacking another member does nothing to help lift JM up.

I always find it funny that JM solos hate JK so much.

The person that JM loves more than anyone else, and who loves JM more than they could ever.

The person who knows JM more than they could ever.

The person that JM chose to spend the 18 months of his army service with together, 24/7!! This was not forced on either of them. This was their choice.

Could it be jealousy perhaps? You know, JK gets to get JM and they don't.

Or perhaps this need to be the savior - poor JM needs them to save him from the big bad JK and the big bad company.

p.s. - maybe, just maybe, if indeed JM is being targeted by someone in the company, that's the issue that someone has with him. The fact that he will always come first for JK. The fact that because of him they can't control JK. Well, JK is not someone easy to control, but a. with JM in the picture some of his priorities are different (like wanting to spend time with him, like wanting to go public with their relationship) or perhaps the effect JM has had on JK, being his catalyst (JK's words) and all; and b. Outright homophobia. JK is the golden goose and he is in a long term relationship with a man, a bandmate. It makes life much harder for those that would rather milk the badboy hetero fuckboy image to the limit when said person wants to be accepted for his true self...

Well, that was definitely me digressing from your questions. Oopsy.

Bottom line:

Something kind of feels off with how things seem to go with JM and official content at times over the years (that includes photos, sites, spotify etc.) including his solo promotions.

That said, the comparison with other members, in my opinion, is unjustifiable. Because first and utmost they wouldn't want their fans to be comparing them. They all put themselves out there for their fans and all heartedly supported each other on that journey. Every single one of them had a different kind of solo debut. This is about different music genres, collabs or not, writing their own music or not, promoting out side of Korea or not, even down to the language of the songs. And with this also comes the different kind of promotions. Music shows or live/recorded performances for army, in bigger or smaller venues or even a tour, like Yoongi did.

The comparison with JK is just unfair to both of them. Especially given the very special relationship those two have. Both being the other's biggest fan and supporter.

That aside, the two went on two very different journeys. JM went on a personal journey releasing his first album taking part fully in it's creation, it being a very personal story he was telling us. JK, on the other hand, for whatever reasons (some of which he told us some of which he most likely didn't) decided to go with songs written by others, choosing to challenge himself with singing in English, and new genres and vocals. The choice for an album in English could very much have been pushed by the powers of be, and I do not want to go into the discussion of just how much influence SB has or not, other than say that Bang PD, a very smart and savvy man, knows his way around the music industry and business worlds and has much more influence on JK than anyone else, and that JK is a grown ass man and has told us on more than one occasion that he tends to make decisions for himself, even if at times they might not be the right ones, he goes with his gut. JK also told us he wants to be a huge superstar and singing in English, what can you do, opens up the US and other markets for him in a way that singing in Korean wouldn't.

But even putting that aside people seem to forget that from the get go JK was always the Golden maknae, the one that not only the company saw as their golden goose, but also all other members put on a pedestal. Not saying that's right. Not saying that's fair. But it is what it is. The company is a money making business. And now that BH are under Hybe, although they have autonomy (mostly) on the music, the costs and promotions, they don't have free reign over. And if it's about money making and profits, at times these will be the guidelines as to into what and where the money goes as far as promoting an artist. Let me be clear here. I'm talking here about costs and profits as in how much hard cash was put into a member's promotion over another's. This here isn't about other shit that's happened, such as no public acknowledgement or counting streams of different versions of the same song together or separately. That is another issue. What I'm trying to say here is that the starting point was and never will be the same also due to financial decision making.

Ok, so I think that maybe I've made more of a mess here than anything else, lol.

My bottom line is that even if I feel that JM is being wronged by the company in one way or another (and this goes for any member that might be wronged as well), I would never turn on another member and blame them for it nor would I compare between them. You can like or dislike the music each and every one of them released. That's fair enough and makes sense too. But belittling a member just to try and lift up the other one, that is just wrong in my books.

[nightmaretour]

I hate to do this, and it's a long shot I know, but things are getting desperate and it seems like I'm going to be waiting WAY longer than I should be for something that's fairly urgent.

I'm a disabled trans man living in the UK. Recently I was found to have severe anemia, and came up with my FIT test (gastrointestinal cancer screening) a few months ago, and was referred for a colonoscopy to find out the cause, since it looks like I'm having a slow but constant bleed through my GI tract. However, my referral has been awaiting review for over three months now. I'm not even on the waiting list, I'm waiting for someone to decide if I need to be on the waiting list. Since then I've started having GI symptoms such as pain, intermittent loss of appetite, etc. as well as my anemia worsening significantly.

This is of course pretty urgent, but it looks like I'll be waiting months longer once I finally get on the waiting list too. I really have no choice but to get it done through a private hospital, because of the time sensitive nature of, you know, potentially having cancer. I managed to put some money away out of the backpay I got from PIP, but it's not enough.

[ID: A screenshot of an email that's says:

Dear Mr (name blocked out in red),

Thank you for your website inquiry. For your information, the cost of an initial consultation with one of our consultant gastroenterologists is £280."

It then lists the names of 3 doctors as links, all blocked out in red. The email continues,

"The guide price for a colonoscopy is £2,339. For further information, including appointment availability, please don't hesitate to contact the medical secretaries (followed by three names redacted in red) directly on (phone number redacted in red) or call the private patient team on (phone number redacted in red). End ID]

Currently I have around £1,400 stashed away from PIP backpay I got after they royally fucked things up (however I may need to dip into this at points if I find myself struggling). Together the consultation plus the colonoscopy will cost £2,619, which leaves me about £1220 behind. I know I'm most likely not going to get that much from this, but I honestly have no choice but to try my luck here. I really don't know what else I can do.

I really don't like asking for money from people for nothing, but I have a Ko-fi store where I sell handmade screen printed patches, and I'll be adding more designs to it over the coming weeks when I have the time and energy to make new screens. I'm also offering commissions for custom band patches! (Due to Kofi's TOS I can't officially offer patches for bands without their permission.). Below are a few examples of my work:

[ID: 5 images of patches printed in white on black fabric, all sewn onto a worn looking black denim jacket. All are sewn on roughly in red floss, aside from the last one. The first says "only dates I want are tour dates". The words "dates" and "tour dates" are larger than the other text. All of the letter As are replaced with spade symbols. The second is the logo of the band Cop/Out, which is the band name with rough, jagged edges. The third is the logo for The Prodigy, which is the band name in sharp. Zig-zagging letters. The fourth is the logo for the band Subhumans, a stylised skull shouting into a microphone. The fourth is the horizontal silhouette of a crutch. With the words "Talk shit" above it and "get hit" below it. Unlike the rest it is sewn on in black, and the edge of an embroidered back patch is visible just above it. End ID]

I know a lot of people aren't doing well financially right now, and that there are people in far, far more dire situations who probably need your help far more than I do, but I would appreciate any purchases of patches or help you can offer so, so much. Even just sharing the post would be enormously appreciated.

Current progress:

£115/£1220

And of course as pet tax, here's Cynder :)

[ID: A photo of a female wild type leopard gecko laying spread out on a smooth rounded rock in a glass fronted tank. Her head is sideways and raised, looking at the camera with one eye. She looks relaxed and curious. Behind her a large piece of thick tree bark and a plastic cave can be seen. End ID]

[jokeroutsubs]

[📝 ENG Translation] They enchanted Europe and released their third album - Joker Out about a dynamic year and a half: “Even creative blocks are part of the inspiration”

Original article written by Nina Katarina Bračko for mariborinfo.com, published on 14.12.2024. Photos by Nina Katarina Bračko. English translation and review by @kurooscoffee and @chaosofsmarty, proofread by @flowerlotus8.

Article below the cut. 👇

A few days ago, Joker Out returned from a successful tour of the wider region, where they played their third studio album, 'Souvenir Pop' for the first time. Before one of the concerts we had a quick chat with them about the dynamic year behind them.

Joker Out are definitely the hottest item on the Slovenian music scene. The explosion of popularity followed after the group presented themselves in Liverpool with the song 'Carpe Diem'. Although their 21st place at Eurovision left a bitter aftertaste, they've reached the hearts of listeners throughout all of Europe with their performance and charisma.

At the end of last year they sold out Stožice, then embarked on a successful European tour in 2024. Fans in 21 cities in 13 countries enthusiastically sang their hits - in Slovenian.

In the meantime, they 'escaped' their native Slovenia, moving to the British capital for a few months, where they worked hard on their new album.

Ph: Nina Katarina Bračko

The new album is like a collection of magnets that were collected throughout a year and a half long journey since the start of their Eurovision journey.

Bojan Cvjetićanin, Jure Maček, Kris Guštin, Jan Peteh and Nace Jordan merged impressions from all over Europe on the album 'Souvenir Pop'.

Like they've said, the album finds inspiration in places, people and memories of the past year and a half and takes listeners on an emotional journey showcasing the growth of the band. The songs on the album are like fridge magnets, they say, each representing a vivid image, but together they form a perfect whole.

The band's third album after Umazane misli (2021) and Demoni (2022) offers a daring, new sound, but keeps the signature recognisability of the music with which they enamoured fans around the globe.

Ph: Nina Katarina Bračko

The album is instrumentally diverse. During its creation they actually didn't stay loyal to their usual instruments, but they began to explore and experiment. For example, about half of the songs were recorded on keyboards, played by the 'guitarist'' Jan. They also included electronic drums.

Not only instrumentally, the album is also diverse in terms of different languages. The songs are in three languages - Slovenian, English and Serbian.

Even at the first two concerts in Cvetličarna, which were only a week after the album's release, the audience already knew the lyrics by heart. The album received amazing local and foreign reviews and has already been featured in some yearly album release overviews. For example, the Croatian music site, Muzika.hr awarded it second place in the list of best local and regional albums of 2024.

We caught the boys from the band before the concert in Maribor, which was the second to last stop of the Album Release Tour. As part of it, they sold out Cvetličarna twice, performed in Belgrade, Skopje, Zagreb, after Maribor they'll perform in Vienna.

The concert in Novi Sad, which was initially planned was postponed to next year due to the recent railroad tragedy. "The wounds are still fresh and we believe it's not the time for music" they wrote.

Before the Maribor concert we talked to Bojan and Nace about performing abroad, creative blocks after the Eurovision euphoria and the heartfelt people they work with. They also confided in us, which music they listened to most often in the past year.

Ph: Nina Katarina Bračko

As part of the tour, you've stopped by in Maribor and you chose Štuk as the venue, which isn't an unfamiliar location to you. You've already performed here, including presenting the second album. Was that the reason why you came back to Štuk again? Do some memories tie you to it?

Bojan: "Štuk is definitely an epicentre of performing to us in terms of Slovenia. It's such a cult club with which we have connected our musical story from the very beginning. We've been here many times before - both as a band and at parties. As far as Maribor is concerned, it's the major 'spot' for us."

Štuk in Maribor is synonymous with college parties. My college life was also inseparably tied to Štuk. What was yours like, where did you go to parties?

Bojan: "I'd hardly be able to say it was inseparably tied to Štuk, because we're not from Maribor, but I've even worked at Štuk at a few college parties as an MC. So I've already experienced a college party here."

Kris: "With 'Ljubljana's Štuk' it was inseparable. You had found yourself in Cvetka many times."

Bojan: "That's true. I think Cvetličarna would be some sort of closest equivalent to Štuk."

Ph: Nina Katarina Bračko

In this post-Eurovision year, you also performed on many stages across Europe. Does concert culture differ from country to country?

Nace: "I mean, it definitely differs because not everyone speaks Slovenian. And every country has its own unique energy; you get a different kind of 'feedback' from them. It’s hard to define anywhere as being better than home. It’s just different."

Bojan: "The biggest difference for us was that we mostly played without the usual constraints on any day of the week. In Slovenia, we were used to always playing on Fridays or Saturdays, meaning the weekend. Meanwhile, abroad we performed literally from Monday to Sunday. Perhaps people abroad are somewhat more accustomed to musicians coming on tour, especially in larger cities, and that you go to a concert regardless of what day it is."

For your new album, you said it’s a collection of magnets, memories of everything that has happened to you in the past year and a half. Did all these experiences bring only a lot of inspiration, or sometimes also creative blocks?

Bojan: "A lot of creative blocks, but in the end, blocks are also a part of inspiration.It's been such a turbulent year for us, full of some major highs happening in a short time, and after the highs, the lows must come too.

When the levels of dopamine and energy in your blood drop a little, you need to find a healthy balance to carry things forward so it doesn’t end up in a total crash. So, we dealt with that a lot, faced many new situations, because we had never encountered something like this before. But I think we navigated it well."

Ph: Nina Katarina Bračko

As we’ve already mentioned, the past year has been quite busy, with many performances abroad. To make sure everything runs smoothly and stress-free, your team is also there for you. What would you say, what kind of people do you work with?

Bojan: "Basically, we work with people who joined us in a very natural way. For many of them, I’d have a hard time pinpointing when exactly they joined the team because they just kind of flowed into it, like a tributary flowing into a river.

We really work with very heartfelt people who are extremely dedicated to this story of ours and who fundamentally like this ‘music’ and the story behind it. I’d say we’re a kind of functional and dysfunctional family. We learn a lot together, and each person, with their own knowledge, has definitely contributed growth to this band."

Ph: Nina Katarina Bračko

Five songs on the album were already known, and five are new. How important do you find releasing singles? Do you feel that we listen to albums less in the traditional way—from start to finish?

Bojan: "The attention span has significantly shortened in people in general because we’ve really gotten used to fast information and content that can be switched between in an instant.

So, an album as a whole is perhaps quite a complex medium to listen to, at least for those who aren’t truly extreme 'fans.' That’s why I think that, overall, showcasing and communicating through these short 'singles,' which are essentially a sort of our 'Reels,' is a good decision."

We increasingly listen to music on streaming platforms rather than physical media. Recently, the much-anticipated Spotify Wrapped was released. Bojan and Nace, what do your statistics reveal?

Bojan: "Spotify Wrapped looked interesting. I think we had just under a million listeners this year, over 20 million streams in 168 countries, if I’m not mistaken. I think the number of years surprised us the most. This year, people listened to us for 118 years altogether."

Nace: "You probably meant how our personal Spotify Wrapped looked?"

Bojan: "Oh, our personal ones. My top three were Post Malone, Magnifico, and The Black Keys."

Nace: "My number one was Declan McKenna."

Bojan: "Again?"

Nace: "No, I haven’t had him before. My third was Wham!, I know that."

Bojan: "Did you listen with your mum?"

Nace: "That surprised me a bit."

Bojan: "Who was second?"

Nace: "I don’t remember. But I switched to Spotify midway through the year; otherwise, I mostly listened on Tidal. It’s not a totally accurate picture."

What are your plans after the tour? Are you planning a well-deserved rest?

Bojan: "We still have some plans, but a well-deserved rest is definitely a big part of those plans."

Ph: Nina Katarina Bračko

[thehollowwriter]

The Official (Remastered) Bio of Finn Clearcove

Basic Info:

Class: Class 2C

Dorm: Octavinelle

Club: Gargoyle Research Club

Birthday: 20th November

Age: 17

Height: 146cm

Dominant hand: He's ambidextrous

Unique Magic: Mirror Image. He can copy the voice of anyone he directly touches and their physical form if he pushes hard enough. If he wants, he can limit it to certain characteristics. (E.g: voice or eye colour). He can also copy their unique magic. However, it often comes out "wrong" (for example, King's Roar will result in a goopy black tar instead of sand), and if it results in a physical object like Riddle's collar, the object will look nonsensical and ai generated

Preferences:

Favourite subjects: Art, biology

Hobby: Painting

Likes: Butterflies, animals, reading, music, cooking, painting

Dislikes: Large crowds, loud people, showing his teeth, loud sounds, bright lights

Favourite food: Chocolate mousse, shrimp

Additional Info:

Homeland: The Coral Sea

Species: Cookie Cutter Shark Mer

Family: His father and later on Chrysos who belongs to @distant-velleity

Nickname: Blue Angel, courtesy of Floyd (thank you @azulashengrottospiano for the name!)

Relationships: Finn is polyamorous with the Octavinelle trio

Sexuality: Finn is gay and polyamorous

Appearance:

Finn has long, fluffy forest green hair that has a curly seaweed/kelp like shape that goes to just past his is shoulders. It is often tied in a tight bun. His eyes are a bright amethyst and his teeth look like they came straight from the mouth of an angler fish, twisted and horrific.

Finn is very chubby and most people think "soft" and "squishy" while looking at him. Until the dread sets in, that is. He's quite pale as well but has recently started to tan a bit. He is very very small and most of his clothes have to be taken to be adjusted so they actually fit him.

In his true form, Finn's tail and face are forest green in colour, just as is the rest of him. The palms of his hands are seafoam green. His tail is like that of a cookie cutter shark's. There is a large patch of scarring on his left shoulder and the middle of his tail. He has long black claws that are retractable and incredibly sharp.

Finn has a band of black scales around his neck, and from just below that all the way to his navel are photophores that glow in the dark, which helps him camouflage and can even make him look like a school of fish from below.

Personality:

Finn is quiet and mostly keeps to himself, barely speaking to most people unless absolutely necessary, and is usually polite. He lives be the rule "don't bother me and I won't bother you". His "default" expression, if you will, is usually just a blank or serious face.

Finn is intelligent and quick-witted. He often weeds information out of people for Azul, taking the role of the "therapist bartender" except most people get an uncanny valley feeling if they look at him for too long. Despite his politeness something about him always feels wrong to others. They get this sense of dread that make them want to leave as soon as possible.

Finn is quite sadistic and has a deep love for the twisted and macabre. This is often reflected in his paintings, many of which are disturbing in nature. He is very happy to extend his sadistic ways to other students if he deems it necessary. Only if he deems it necessary. (What he deems as necessary can vary)

Finn is, most of the time, immensely confident in himself and who and what he is. He is quiet but he is not, by any means, shy or timid. He does have his insecurities though, mainly about his teeth since they're often viewed as ugly. He covers his mouth whenever he laughs or smiles in public.

Some "Fun" Facts:

▪︎Finn is haunted by the ghosts of the siblings he devoured in the womb in true shark mer fashion, they aren't aggressive towards him but they are tethered to him and cause him nightmares and endless stress and fear (they are the cause of the sense of dread people get around Finn)

•Finn's voice is very soft and very nice to listen to. It's like a flowing river. He's difficult to hear at times.

▪︎Finn enjoys flying and is very good at it

▪︎His family comes from the deep of the midnight zone, so he is well versed in abyssal magic and the dangerous and powerful spells that come with it

•Finn likes to garden

Fic Masterlist

Art by @clovenoko

Art by @boopshoops

.....................................

A/N: Here's the boy! New and improved with an extra long personality section ooops

Tagging: @distant-velleity @krenenbaker @kitwasnothere @officialdaydreamer00 @jaylleoo14 @oya-oya-okay @cynthinesia @azulashengrottospiano @whspermy-name @minteasketches @the-banana-0verlord @adarkenedforest @whspermy-name @twisted-wonderland-but-gayer @ramshacklerumble @cyanide-latte @boopshoops @skrimpyskimpy @jovieinramshackle @quartztwst @amOnline @offorestsongs

@the-trinket-witch @ghostiidasponk @poisoned-pearls @natsukishinomiyaswife

[zeroaddzero]

Top 10 Horniest Bruce Springsteen songs, ranked

Yes there are more horny Bruce songs. Too many horny songs for one list. I don’t know if his game was good because he knew how to write horny songs, or if his game inspired him to write horny songs. Either way, we’ve been blessed musically with a lot of horny songs. Here’s the horny songs I managed to fit into a (very biased) list:

1.  I'm On Fire

THE horny Bruce song. A fever fantasy of a wet dream smushed into one moaning, sweaty mess. Before I was a fan, this (coupled with the below performance) was the song that made me go "OH. I get it now."

Spotify LINK

At night I wake up with the sheets soaking wet And a freight train running through the middle of my head Only you can cool my desire

2.  Pink Cadillac

About as subtle as Lady Gaga’s “Disco Stick.” Even better paired with the BITUSA tour intro (said intro got noticeably more sexual after Bruce got married in 1985).

Spotify LINK

They say Eve tempted Adam with an apple But man I an’t goin for that I know it was her pink Cadillac

3. Fire

Originally written for Elvis, the bass line alone for this #problematic 70s “don't play coy with me” number will make you reconsider feminism for 5 minutes. The 1986 performance is downright NSFW.

Spotify LINK

You had a hold on me right from the start A grip so tight I couldn't tear it apart

4. The Fever

Bruce is king of the “lying in bed thinking of how horny this person makes me” genre, and this is one of his finest examples. At almost 8 minutes, it’s the tantric equivalent to the more concentrated "I’m on Fire". Anybody noticing a “burning” theme here?

Spotify LINK

Well now the day grows longer The love just grows stronger, baby And the fever gets so bad at night I got the fever for the girl

5. Because The Night

Bruce never finished the lyrics, and this song arguably belongs to Patti Smith now. Bruce has even said as much. However, I am biased and enjoy this banger too much to let technicalities get in the way of horny. On the list it goes.

Spotify LINK

Because the night belongs to lovers Because the night belongs to lust Because the night belongs to lovers Because the night belongs to us

6. Red Headed Woman

I'm Going Down may seem raunchy until you realise it's about a bad breakup. For the other thing, we have this entry. Folks, this song is literally about eating pussy. Bruce even introduced it as such during his Ghost of Tom Joad tour. I’ve yet to recover from the whiplash of hearing him say the word “cunnilingus” while performing at his old Catholic high school.

Spotify LINK

Well listen up stud Your life's been wasted 'Til you've been down on your knees and tasted A red headed woman

7. She's The One

Speculated to have been written about the violinist who played on the album Born To Run, this tune shows our boy is down baaad. Best paired with the excellent "Mona" intro, which is included in the Houston '78 live performance below.

Spotify LINK

With her killer graces and her secret places That no boy can fill with her hands on her hips Oh and that smile on her lips Because she knows that it kills me

8. Part Man, Part Monkey

My Tunnel of Love tour knowledge is woefully lacking despite the tour being his most explicit, and the accompanying album being in my top 3. In the eyes of the public, Bruce was still with his first wife when this video was shot in 1988. Only the band knew he was recently separated, so imagine watching a presumably married man on stage eye-fucking his backup singer. The gossip mill must have been insane after each show.

Spotify LINK

Well the night is dark, the moon is full The flowers of romance exert their pull We talk awhile, my fingers slip I'm hard and crackling like a whip

9. Crush On You

Another genre this Jersey dude excels at is “horny to the point of funny.” Bruce himself has called it "the worst song we ever put on a record" but hey, what does he know.

Spotify LINK

For one kiss, darling I swear everything I would give 'Cause she's a walking talking reason to live

10. Cover Me

I just realised this is only one of four songs on this list included on an official Springsteen album (if you don't count the outtake compilations.) And how fitting it is to start and end this list with Paris '85 concert footage!

Spotify LINK

Now promise me baby you won't let them find us Hold me in your arms, let's let our love blind us Cover me, shut the door and cover me I'm looking for a lover who will come on in and cover me

Honourable mentions (song/album):

Rosalita / The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle Candy's Room / Darkness on the Edge of Town Ramrod / The River Cindy / The River (outtakes) Ain’t got you / Tunnel of Love The Fuse / The Rising

Let me know if you think I missed any! I won't change the list, but more horny song discourse is always good.

[doodle-do-wop]

Rayni (open discussion post)

as some of you may have heard/seen I am Rayni Aria's biggest goddamn hater

I can't stand her ass

I recently read/listened through Stellarlune for the first time and I hated her the moment I met her. Yes I know the ending of Legacy, I know how it all flows

But I Still can't stand her

Why? Because she is a literal blob of nothingness on the page

Spoilers for Stellarlune

Rayni Aria is a character who was once the Neverseen member Glimmer (dumbass name btw) who, allegedly was involved with none of the Neverseen's major plots so far; The Kidnapping of Sophie and Dex, their torture, jumping Sophie, Keefe, and Silveny in Exile, Mt Everest, the gnomes etc etc etc

Allegedly she's had zero part in any of that because they just stick her in a corner and even when Gisela was overthrown she still didn't do diddly squat, she just read medical books. Sure. Okay

Her life previous to joining terrorists willingly was she was just a normal girl with a normal life until people started to whisper speculations about her parents' relationship not being all of what it says on the tin. Her parents are found guilty of messing with the match system to be together and avoid a Bad Match status and are made an example of by banishment But Rayni isn't banished with them as instead her parents leave her with a note and are never heard from again Rayni drops out of Foxfire and lives in a rented room in Mysterium until Gisela finds her and tell her to quit her unemployment and join her emo band Cool, alright. Mid and extremely questionable loyalties. So you'll just go with whoever reaches out their hand first. Good to know

Beyond her frankly uninteresting backstory Rayni's personality is the exact same cookie cutter cardboard cutout mean girl leave no coughed insults unspoke persona that is so old and over used I think Shannon might've actually managed to resuscitate this dead horse. Rayni whines and bitches about how 'no one will trust her' but does absolutely nothing to win herself any favors. Instead she seems more than chipper to keep digging at her own grave so why dont we just drop this whole pointless scene and let her keep on going at it She's boring. She's bland. She's lame. And don't get me started on the weird cat lamp thing I don't know if Shannon was going for 'oh look she likes cats' or 'boo hoo she's so broken and jaded an this lamp is the one thing that lights up her dark dark soul'.

Rayni is weird, her vibes are just so off and so lack luster. Her depth is so shallow I couldn't even soak up a puddle of it with a napkin.

What's the point of bring in a bad guy now good guy/anti hero if all they do is snark in the corner, pet a cat statue, watch the protagonist do jack diddly squat and be like "oh yeah, you're a leader now" girl what??? That entire scene where Rayni unmasks herself was so boring if I cut out the only other emotion I felt while listening which was annoyance. I listened and live reacted to it on discord with some friends as my witness and what even was that scene? Tam is supposedly the one holding the talking stick in the group I guess just because he and Rayni are just such good buds so obviously he should take point (cause no one thinks he's brainwashed) and the entire time Rayni bicthes and moans about how no one trusts her (girl you're wearing a stinky, smelly, raggedy terrorist hood. You couldn't ask to trade it for a less stinky less terrorist embroidered one?) and while yeah people poke holes at her and take small jabs Rayni really seems gung ho with tossing playground responses with 14-16 year olds at her grown ass age. She's one year younger than Wyile and while young adults in their 19/20s arent mature at all it is CRAZY to me that she bitches about no one trusting her and then turns and calls Fitz Sophie's "telepath back-up" I believe the correct quote is "You're basically Sophie's telepath backup" and this is said to Fitz and that was just the most absurd thing I've ever fucking heard spoken by Gisela's fucking lapdog. Fitz is done so dirty in this book and Rayni basically calls Fitz a "backup" like he's a damn battery or some waterboy Sophie only needs to use like an object. The worst part isn't that its the bad guy's lapdog with questionable loyalties that says this. Its the fact that no one stood up for Fitz. No one said anything. And Sophie fucking laughed. She laughed at that. And Fitz is the only one to blame for their fucked up cognate bond, sure. (Biana, FITZ'S FUCKING SISTER also says and does nothing because Biana is just a little poster Shannon sticks on the wall this whole book)

And not to mention that whole bit with Rayni constantly comparing her and Stina as if they're different faces on the same coin. Like you can't sit there in your terrorist onesie and look someone in the face and be like "Yeah your life is gonna be just like mine. Just you wait. It's coming for you. And then, yeah, you'll be just like me. Huff Huff" and then get mad when she doesn't like you in the slightest. Like yeah, I just love sitting in the same room as someone who tells me my life has a timer on my happy days because we're totes twinsies. Shannon should've let Stina punch Rayni because if this snarky little bug really wanted some damn allies wouldn't she want Stina on her side? You know, the most outspoken nay sayer in all of the Lost Cities? If you're gonna bring up your little Gisela Mini-Me act get good Circus-Circus.

If I wanna like Rayni I need more depth than Miss Hardknock Life over here who gets her kicks out of throwing tantrums when people dont trust her while she wears a terrorist hood and gets her kicks out of replying to every petty response.

If I could, I'd rewrite that whole scene because I genuinely love big groups in books and it would be fun to see a diverse group personality wise instead of the same 'bad bitch' boring outline. I can't believe Rayni's 'tough' personality is a facade because she's not just tough to trust. She's tough to want in any way shape or form She's not Heather Chandler, She's not even Heather Duke, she could never even dream of being Regina Georgie. She's so 2D she flies away with a tiny sigh. The whole book could've honestly been the exact same without Rayni around. Erase her and simply have Trix reach out on his own or something and you still have the Esilyum plot intact. Rayni was just there to make a page count for nothing of any great importance.

That's just what I think of Rayni. She annoys, bores, and pisses me off. She's like the physical embodiment of an Instagram comment section. If yall want, please tell me what you think about her because I genuinely want to know what makes her even the slightest bit interesting to any of you. I like headcanons and I can be convince to take a lot of them. Will my opinion on canon Rayni change? Who knows man

[sailorsenshishitposter]

Megumi Fushiguro x Reader

Spoilers for chapter 212

Megumi Fushiguro:

You're angsty, you likely listen to mid 2000's bands like Linkin Park/Three Days Grace/My Chemical Romance etc. or you have major daddy issues.

First Date:

You had recently transferred to Jujutsu High. It was your first day and to be honest, you had kind of gotten lost due to how large campus was. "Crap. How am I going to find my dorm?" You then saw a pair of dogs. "Oooo cute!" You reached out and gave them head pats and nose boops. Suddenly the dogs started barking. "What's going on?" You then noticed a boy walking towards you. "Are you ####?"

"Yes." The boy then took his phone out and started texting someone. "It's good that I found you. Gojo was wondering where you were and asked me to find you. I can't believe he's too lazy to do it himself... Anyway, I'm Fushiguro. It looks like we'll be attending the same class. Now let's hurry before he starts blowing up my phone like he's some sort of concerned father."

You later met Itadori and Kugisaki and the four of you soon became best friends. It was two months later and you were having a girls night with Nobara. "All right, truth or dare?"

"How do you feel about Itadori?" Kugisaki started to gag and then pretended to vomit. "Trust me, I definitely don't feel that way about him. What about you?" You blushed. "Oh. No, I don't have a crush on him."

"But you do like someone right? I mean your face is giving it away. I bet it's Fushiguro!" You then slammed your hand over her mouth. "Quiet! Do you want someone to hear you!?" She then began to laugh hysterically. "I knew it!  Alright, my lips are sealed. In exchange for my silence, you have to ask him out!" You felt like you were going to faint. "K-Kugisaki..."

"I don't know what you see in that guy anyway. He looks like he's the type to set oil slicked seagulls on fire.." You stood up. "That isn't true! He's kind, compassionate... He loves animals! You should see how he treats his gyokuken!" Nobara wasn't impressed. "Of course he treats them well. They're apart of his ten shadows technique. Have you ever played haunting ground? That's a good example of why treating animals well is nesecary for survival."

"...Did you know that he writes poetry in his spare time?" You had done it now. Kugisaki was crying so hard from her laughter. "NO FUCKING WAY! I HAVE TO TEXT ITADORI ABOUT THIS!" You sighed. This conversation clearly hadn't gone the way you had thought it would. Oh well. You now had to worry about how you would confess to your crush.

It was the next day and you had called Megumi and asked to meet him alone. "####, I'm here. Is everything okay?" You smiled. How sweet. He was worried about you. "Fushiguro... I'd like you to have this!" You pressed an envelope towards him. "What is this ####?"

"It's... a love letter..." Megumi then opened the note. Inside was one of the most heartfelt confessions that he had ever seen. Now it was his turn. "####, you didn't really think this would work out, did you?" You started crying. "What?"

"I guess it's not you fault. I mean who wouldn't want this body? ####, I could never go out with you because you're not even on my level. To be frank, you're weak. Now let's put this humiliating display behind us and move on." You were shocked. Was this really the same boy that you had fallen for? "Al-alright... Sorry to have wasted your time..." You then walked away so he wouldn't see your tears.

"That was easy. Man, she was worse than Yorozu! Well, time to go find Uraume and start that cooking show we always dreamed of!" You didn't know it but yesterday Sukuna had managed to force feed Megumi some of his fingers while saying "give your regards to the chef!" If only you had confessed a day earlier.

[temporalarts]

Hello there, I have noticed you’re a well of knowledge when it comes to iDKHOW lore. I’m struggling to find good sources of information and I’d like to learn everything there is to know; do you know how I can do this? Anything I can read/watch? I did a surface-level lore dive a year or two back but I don’t fully remember everything and I’m seeing some stuff around Tumblr I never knew about. Call me Sally Mae because I intend on uncovering everything I can about this band’s lore ;)

hi there! sorry for the late answer, have had tumblr deleted for a while.

important information about idkhow lore first:

it is NOT required to know anything about the lore of idkhow to listen or enjoy idkhow. idkhow's lore is meant to be additional story to the band and is meant for fans to explore only if they are interested. idkhow's songs/lyrics by themselves do not have story meanings. it is hugely important to recognize that idkhow as music and idkhow as a story are separate entities.

idkhow's lore is a metaphorical story for dallon's experience within the music industry and celebrity la/hollywood culture. everything in the lore is symbolic for something in real life (for example, TELLEXX is a metaphor representation of the music industry). i implore anyone getting into the lore of idkhow to treat the lore with gently and respectfully because of that reason.

idkhow's lore has mostly been uncontinued since 2020/2021 since the release of razzmatazz. SRCHPRTY (main character of the lore) has been an abandoned account since june of 2021. this is for a multitude of reasons, including dallon not wanting to have a story line with each album, lack of label support, and lack of time for the lore. because of this, a lot of information about the lore has been lost to time and is no longer available to the public. gloom division (idkhow's most recent album) does have a lore behind it, but has not had a story run like razzmatazz had yet (it could in the future, but gloom division didn't have the time or budget to at this moment). lots of amazing archivists in the community are trying to preserve the lost content over the years (ill link one available one below), but please keep that in mind while looking into the lore.

you may see mentions of ryan seaman (also referred to as subject B) mentioned in the lore and some resources. ryan seaman was the previous drummer of idkhow and is no longer in or involved with idkhow since september 16th, 2023 (due to various reasons i wont go into here, but if you dont know look up the information to why online). idkhow is now and currently a solo project of dallon weekes, but if you see any reference of idkhow being a duo or see him in resources that is why.

that out of the way, here is all the resources I could come up with!

introductory idkhow lore carrd, made by my good friend @fadeyouout! very good start to everything in the lore!

full timeline of all events from current idkhow lore, made by me!

very good place to start with the lore is the srchprty conspiracy video. introductory video to srchprty's research, basic backstory for srchprty, and the main 3 questions in the story.

ALL srchrpty diaries: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6! watch these chronologically as they build off one another.

if you haven't already, look through srchprty's twitter and instagram accounts. look through tweet replies/instagram comments. srchprty regularly interacted with fans while he was active and a lot of story building with TELLEXX comes from those interactions.

physical copy only extras in razzmatazz, lyrics for indoctrination and tomorrow people. razzmatazz physical versions came with two exclusive spoken word tracks, indoctrination and tomorrow people, both directly from TELLEXX.

TELLEXX documents, found in physical copy only extras in razzmatazz lyric book. includes a internal TELLEXX letter and volunteer subject consent forms.

archive of all of idkhow's instagram posts (2017-2022) made by abstracttheart on twitter. most of idkhow posts on instagram has been deleted over the years, so this is a great resource to see those deleted posts. you can most lore related posts from 2020-2021.

the mysterious world of i dont know how but they found me, dork magazine interview with dallon on the razzmatazz lore and its metaphorical meanings to him. VERY important read in my own opinion!

instagram highlights from idkhowindo: part 1, 2, 2.5, 3. their account has since been abandoned, but the archived stories are from the time of srchprty's activity and has a lot of good information in them.

questions i have answered about some idkhow lore topics in detail: what happened to srchprty, what is TELLEXX, and who is subject a. if you have any questions about the lore that you need answers to feel free to shoot me an ask in my inbox! idkhow lore is my special interest and i love answering any questions new fans have.

idkhow.com from 2020-2022 (recommend scrolling through archives of the website from wayback machine from august 2020-december 2020). the idkhow.com website during razzmatazz lore was ran by srchprty and was being recovered during the razzmatazz lore after a previous shutdown by TELLEXX in 1996.

TELLEXX stress evaluation test: may see this referenced around different lore resources, this is the official website for the test. as well as a article from the coder on how the website works to give results which is a very interesting read.

qwerty translator: TELLEXX/srchprty uses a code called QWERTY code throughout the lore, which is a letter substitution code substituting the alphabet for the QWERTY keyboard (ex: A=Q, B=W, etc). very helpful for decoding those codes!

most "niche" idkhow lore information comes from video/text interviews with dallon from 2020/2021! hard to find every single interview he does talk about the lore, but any dive into interviews from 2020 and you can find moments where he talks about razzmatazz lore. some instagram interviews from 2020 have been archived on idkhows youtube for watch.

indie pop, deep lore, and fan theories: how idkhow give there fans more than just music, tone deaf article on lore

i will update whenever i can with whatever i can find, but that is all the available resources for the lore of idkhow currently. if you (or anyone) have any questions about specific things within the lore, feel free to shoot me a question in my inbox and i will try my best to answer! enjoy!

[thebreakfastgenie]

I got a little ranking request for you: What are your Top 5 best and Top 5 worst Billy Joel music videos?

Omg okay. This is so hard!!!

Top 5 best:

Turn the Lights Back On

This is the one that makes me the most emotional. It's not even the AI younger versions of him, although those are great, but the old footage they put in at the end. Oh my god. It gets me every time. And when he turns the page from Famous Last Words at the beginning.... it gets me every single time. It's really beautifully made and I'm so glad we have it.

2. The Longest Time

This is a nice simple concept and I really love it. The old age makeup is a little goofy but it's worth it to me. I love seeing the band singing together in this one! The lyrics are romantic but the video is about the group of friends and it's nice.

3. You're Only Human

Billy Joel called this video terrible but he's just mean. It's cheesy but it makes it work. I think the cliche of homaging It's a Wonderful Life actually helps, because it doesn't take itself totally seriously. I like the narrative videos, which he would hate, but too bad. This is the only song of his that I enjoy significantly more with the video. He's great in it! He gets to ham it up and be silly and then he does the scene where he takes the kid to see the cops informing his parents that he's dead and he gets that look on his face. My heart. Playing the Piano Man riff on the harmonica is such a perfect touch. It really personalizes it and takes it from being a straight It's a Wonderful Life scenario to being a message from Billy Joel himself.

4. Pressure

This one is a really great example of surreal music videos that raise more questions than they answer. I think it's just really well-done and the effects are cool. It has some funny little easter eggs too, like "William Joel, age 29, occupation computer software."

5. A Matter of Trust

This is more of a performance video, but it has just enough narrative setting to it to make me interested. I like the rehearsal concept, even if seeing him play a guitar is weird. The comedy beat with the lady yelling at them to shut up is fun. Everyone in the street stopping to listen is predictable but it works. And the cameo from Christie and Alexa is adorable. "Okay girls, A Matter of Trust!" my heart!!

Honorable mentions that I adore but didn't make this list because I think these 5 are better: Keeping the Faith, She's Right On Time, Uptown Girl, We Didn't Start the Fire, Tell Her About It.

Top 5 worst:

Zanzibar

I don't even know what's going on here. He's released two other animated videos in recent years and those are both pretty good. This one is just weird.

2. Piano Man (1985)

I don't think either Piano Man video should exist, but between the two of them this one is worse. I hate how literally it interprets every line, I hate how brightly colored it is. I don't know if it's supposed to be comedic or it's just 80stastic but it's not dark and gritty like the song is in my head. This video represents everything he's ever said is bad about videos. I have my own extremely clear vision of the piano bar in my head from the song and this is getting in the way. Among the reasons this one is worse, it's very obvious when you look at him that it was filmed in the 80s, not the early 70s. His hair is completely wrong.

3. To Make You Feel My Love

There's no point to this, they just needed a video because they put this out as a single with Greatest Hits Volume 3. It works slightly better for Hey Girl.

4. And So It Goes

I have nothing against this it's just completely pointless. It doesn't add anything to the song. The only good part is the shot of his hands playing.

5. The Downeaster "Alexa"

I just don't like how it's edited and I really want this song to have a better video.

The only ones on the worst list I really feel strongly about are the first two though!

And then there's Sometimes a Fantasy which is both the worst and the best.

There's a video limit but I can link it.

I honestly think it's pretty well made and I really enjoy it but it's weird and it makes me feel a little gross. It just... is.

Thanks for the ask!

[upismediacenter]

More than “Just A Girl”: Exploring female empowerment outside of internet trends

Illustration by Michi Sugawara

In recent years, there has been an insurmountable rise in conversations regarding “girlhood”. While womanhood as a demographic hasn’t been new in the industrialized world, the emergence of girlhood as a conduit of recent internet trends on women’s experiences has sparked various discourses due to how these trends glamorize gender-based stereotypes and self-perceived female incompetence and anti-intellectualism. Almost everywhere on the internet you will encounter the word “girl” attached to something, such as “girl math” or “girl logic”, typically making fun of one’s shortcomings attributed to them.

The prime variation of this phenomenon is the “I’m Just A Girl” trend.

virgobaby 🎀. [@mybvirgo]. (2023, August 13). i’m just a girl. [Instagram Post]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/mybvirgo/p/Cv2csPyOysT/ 

clare. [@sadderlizards]. (2024, January 18). i’m just a girl with an unemployable skill set and no sense of purpose or direction in life. [Tweet]. X (formerly Twitter). 

 “I’m Just a Girl” is a trend that has been ongoing since 2023. Taken from the song, “Just a Girl” which was released in 1995 by the band “No Doubt”, the trend/phrase has spread around social media, specifically TikTok. The trending audio only uses the lines, "I'm just a girl / I'm just a girl in the world" remarkingly leaving out the following line, “That's all you'll let me be”. Originally capturing the satirical message of the song, the trend began as a humorous take on female gender stereotypes and norms—it has since transformed into infantilization, belittlement, and the notion that women lack basic life skills and knowledge, according to Ajiya Stanford (2024). To that end, these trends are closely related to “Bimbo feminism”, which is a strand of feminism that embraces the “Bimbo” stereotype. 

The “Bimbo” is a patriarchal stereotype that refers to conventionally attractive women with low intelligence. “Bimbos” are typically frivolous and shallow, and most often this stereotype makes fun of the contrast between a Bimbo’s beauty and lack of intelligence (Sunder, 2021). “Bimboism” or “Bimbo feminism” are used interchangeably, however, both of them operate as a subversion of the “Bimbo” stereotype and attempt to make it empowering to women by countering the low expectations assigned to it. Elle Woods from the film Legally Blonde, for example, is a popular character looked up to by those who closely follow “Bimboism” (Gauder, 2022). In the film, Elle Woods continuously grapples with being treated and stereotyped as a “dumb blonde”. In one of the beginning scenes of the movie, Elle and her friends were shopping in a boutique, and a sales lady tried (and failed) to sell her a dress that was from last season at full price—commenting that, “There’s nothing that I love more than a dumb blonde with daddy’s plastic.” Another particular scene is when Elle’s boyfriend broke up with her, reasoning that due to his acceptance at Harvard Law, he “needs to marry a Jackie not a Marilyn”. Her boyfriend, by calling her “a Marilyn [Monroe]”, stereotypes Elle as a dumb blonde or a “bimbo” due to the famous actress Marilyn Monroe being known and labeled as those archetypes. However, in the end, Elle broke from this stereotype—through excelling in Harvard Law and successfully defending a case for a client. Elle Woods’ version of female empowerment—that a woman can still be in touch with her feminine side while being successful and accomplished—is admired by many women who can be seen online attempting to replicate her journey and motivations. One such woman is Texas attorney, Kathleen Martinez, who started her own law firm after receiving sexist treatment  from her previous male bosses. Martinez is also called “The Real Life Elle Woods”, for also being unafraid to express her femininity while being in a male-dominated field (Herbst, 2022).

In defense of these trends and movements, they aim or attempt to reclaim the pejorative stereotypes the patriarchy has made against women. Given that, however, rather than making use of subverting these stereotypes to promote gender equality, these trends only seem to normalize outdated gender-based ideologies.

Bimbo Feminism, the “Girlboss”, and Gender-essentialist Female Empowerment

The “I’m Just a Girl” trend and Bimbo feminism are part of a larger cultural phenomenon in which women are reclaiming traits and stereotypes the patriarchy has assigned to women (Zaeem, 2023). Bimbo feminism in particular is the subversion of the patriarchal feminine stereotype—which characterizes women as hyper-feminine, air-headed, and superficial. The female empowerment Bimbo feminism perpetuates is derived from not having to prove oneself as intelligent to be respected and valued (Chavan, 2023). However, this belies the trope that women are intellectually inferior to men, contrary to the movement being labeled as “feminist” (Elliott, 2022). 

Concerning this, the “Girlboss” was part of the corporate “Lean in” feminist movement before 2016. A “Girlboss” describes a woman who is accomplished and successful in an otherwise male-dominated workforce, and in the present is seen within the popular phrase, “Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss”. While “Lean In” refers to the thesis of the movement’s corporate female empowerment. “Lean in” feminism was pioneered by Sheryl Sandberg, former COO of Facebook, through her book Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead. Sandberg posited in Lean in that women should assert themselves in the workplace, and that only hard work and dedication would make any determined woman succeed. Sandberg and her book have been met with countless criticisms, mainly because it predicated that in order for women to be granted positions of power, they must replicate or take positions traditionally assigned to men. Famous author and social critic bell hooks (stylized in lowercase) had written an article concerning Sandberg’s biography, “Dig Deep: Beyond Lean In” criticizing the book’s message, and calling it “faux feminism”. hooks argued that Lean In ignored "the concrete systemic obstacles most women face inside the workforce." and that the gender equality Sanderberg only served to maintain the status quo since it pandered to wealthy white men—who wield the most power in our society (hooks, 2013).

“Girlboss” and ”Lean in” feminism relied on succeeding within the corporate and patriarchal framework. Both did nothing to empower women, even though they sought to within this movement, women are still unvalued within these spaces. The main reason is that the “Girlboss” relied too much on pursuing the idea of women dominating the workplace no matter what that it ignored that to do so, requires privilege. The “Girlboss” was insensitive to class struggle; as a result, many women were disillusioned with the movement’s promises (Senin, 2022). 

 According to Elliot (2022), “Bimboism” is the direct antithesis of the “Girlboss”; it rejects the careerism and hustle culture the “Girlboss” promoted. Due to this, many women had turned to “Bimboism” or “Bimbo feminism” to empower themselves as they couldn’t when they capitulated to the standards of the “Girlboss”. An example of women withdrawing from the expectations of being a “Girlboss” and transitioning to “Bimboism” is TikTok creator @rizzzabella's viral video on the platform. At the beginning of the video, there is a screen caption that says, “me at age 15-19 in an unquenchable thirst for truth and knowledge which only led to despair and depression” while she can be seen working hard on a computer in the background, and in the second half the screen caption changes to “me at 24 fully bimbofied only concerned with being, feeling good and pretty, just mindfully existing” and she can be seen exercising at the gym.

MEMBARAT STUDIO. [@rizzzabella]. (2023, January 8). hey google, reverse knowing 🙈. [Video]. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@rizzzabella/video/7186070473678114090?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7412453421586023953 

While the “Girlboss” resurges now and then, as of the present, “Bimboism”, and closely related, the “I’m Just A Girl” trend, are the mainstream. At their core, these trends rely on choice feminism, which is the belief that every individual choice a woman makes is inherently feminist. This particular strand of feminism is problematic, mainly because it is impossible to make a free choice due to the patriarchy assuming all parts of our society, and because it cultivates complacency within women (Patel, 2023). By believing that every choice a woman makes is inherently empowering, we promote the idea that women cannot do bad or harmful things, which is untrue; and leads to women not growing and learning from their poor decisions and actions.

“Boys will be boys” is an overused idiom used to excuse or dismiss rowdy, sexist, and sometimes harmful behaviors of men. There is a clear parallel between “I’m Just a Girl” and “Boys will be boys” as both share the same sentiment of lack of agency and therefore personal responsibility brought by their respective genders (Mesquita, 2024). Both these phrases fall under gender essentialism, which is the belief that the traits of men and women are dictated by their biological sex. Despite this similarity, we can see the stark difference on how gender essentialism serves each gender, while “Boys Will Be Boys” excuses men’s misbehaviors, “I’m Just A Girl” undermines women and their competence. It is also important to note that no similar trend attempts to minimize men’s intelligence and capabilities.

Again, these trends started as a light-hearted way to satirize patriarchal stereotypes of women. However, rather than reclaiming these negative stereotypes, it serves to normalize a gender-essentialist view of the capabilities and value of women in society. Nothing is empowering about playing into these stereotypes. 

Are we content with being “Just A Girl”?

It is hard to ignore the exhaustion behind the “I’m Just a Girl”. Ever since the dawn of time, women have had to continuously prove themselves. After decades of being historically oppressed and undervalued, it is understandable that the majority of women jump on these trends to feel a sense of relief from the pressures and demands that come with existing as a woman. With that in mind, the problem with this approach is that it never progresses further. While it is an impossible standard to expect every action of a woman to be revolutionary or feminist, being a woman is inherently political. Therefore, while these jokes may seem harmless at first, perpetuating these ideas will have material consequences. Women have fought for decades for their rights, and if we continue to promote the outdated gender norms they have worked hard to counter, we risk being subjugated again by these misogynistic roles.

It is important to keep in mind that teenagers and young women are often unaware of the satirical nature of these trends that they come across on social media. They may internalize these ideas without a second thought; and as more and more younger generations have participated in feminism or identified as feminists, instead of approaching feminism as a radical liberatory movement, it has subsequently transformed into a commodity lacking any meaningful direction (Jickling, 2024). 

The harm with commodifying socio-political movements is that it always leads to over-simplification and over-exertion of their goals and motivations. Not to mention, it gives way for businesses to capitalize on these movements, further misrepresenting them (Bank, 2024). With this in mind, these trends may lead the youth—regardless of gender—to have a misguided conception of feminism.

In the Philippines, there is a common phrase used in feminist movements and female empowerment that directly parallels “I’m Just a Girl”, which is “Babae ka, hindi babae lang” (“You’re a woman, not just a woman”). It resists the patriarchal confines of what women are expected to be capable of—and rather than viewing being a woman as limiting or a hindrance, it instead embraces one’s identity and uniqueness being a woman as inherently empowering. 

Bearing this in mind, modern feminism must be taught and included in school curriculums. We should push for more discussions about modern feminism in classrooms that challenge us to engage with mainstream or popular culture critically, more specifically those that are aligned with socio-political issues. We should encourage educators to include more comprehensive and modern feminist literature and lessons to help young people or students recognize and think critically about the harm these trends pose, especially those attached to social movements, as they may regress and reduce their importance and value.

We as women can be empowered without belittling or infantilizing ourselves. Being a feminist first and foremost requires self-responsibility to liberate ourselves and other women from the structures oppressing us. When we say, “I’m Just A Girl”, we shirk from said responsibility. Women's empowerment cannot be boxed into a trend—it advocates societal and systemic change and challenges these regressive narratives and norms.

You are a woman, not just a woman. You are capable. You are intelligent. So stop telling yourself you are not.

//by Xia Mentes

References

(Warning: Some of the references contain content that may be sensitive to viewers.)

Bank, L. (2024, April 20). The Coquette Eevolution: The Commodification of Feminism. The Communicator. https://chscommunicator.com/90457/opinion/2024/04/the-coquette-revolution-the-commodification-of-feminism/

Chavan, D. (2023, August 7). Bimbo feminism: Counterintuitive or brilliant?. Medium. https://medium.com/leveled-legislation/bimbo-feminism-counterintuitive-or-brilliant-bb1d2c114f8a

coco. [@cocosaur]. (2023, September 22). (this whole thing was in fact not a skit jackie and i filmed this to avoid doing our homework) #girllogic #girldinner #girlmath #womeninstemcheck. [Video]. https://www.tiktok.com/@cocotsaur/video/7281335211747544366?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

Daanoy, S. (2024, March 8). “Babae Ka, Hindi Babae Lang”: Topnotcher ignites passion for female criminologists. Manila Bulletin. https://mb.com.ph/2024/3/8/babae-ka-hindi-babae-lang-topnotcher-ignites-passion-for-female-criminologists

Elliott, S. (2022, August 5). Feminism after the girlboss: Anxiety of the bimbo. Harbingers’ Magazine. https://harbingersmagazine.com/articles/feminism-after-the-girlboss-anxiety-of-the-bimbo/

Herbst, D. (2022, September 27). Texas Attorney, a Real-Life Elle Woods, Started Her Own All-Pink Law Firm After Being Fired by Male Boss. People. https://people.com/human-interest/texas-attorney-real-life-elle-woods-started-her-own-law-firm-after-being-fired-by-male-boss/

Hoffer, S. (2024, May 7). OPINION: The commodification of girlhood. Technician. https://www.technicianonline.com/opinion/opinion-the-commodification-of-girlhood/article_4f3de39c-dbe5-11ee-bade-87bec521f6fd.html

hooks, bell (October 28, 2013). "Dig Deep: Beyond Lean In". The Feminist Wire. http://thefeministwire.com/2013/10/17973/

JAZZY ❤️‍🔥🇮🇩. [@jazzybaby99]. (2023, August 10). GIRL MATH 🤝🏻 CONSUMERISM ✨ (why the system works for us 🤪) Stimulating the economy, one girl math at a time #fyp #shopping #capitalism #financebro #financetips #girlssupportgirls #womenempowerment. [Video]. https://www.tiktok.com/@jazzybaby99/video/7265539608945921286?is_from_webapp=1

Jickling, S. (2024, January 17). What is “Bimbo feminism” and why is it harmful?. Women Empowering Women (WEW). https://w4w.ca/what-is-bimbo-feminism-and-why-is-it-harmful/

Lavenia, A. (2024, January 24). Girlboss, Gaslight, Gatekeep: How Girlboss Became a Meme. CXO Media. https://www.cxomedia.id/general-knowledge/20220114101745-55-173134/girlboss-gaslight-gatekeep-how-girlboss-became-a-meme#:~:text=Gaslighting%20is%20a%20form%20of,complementary%20to%20being%20a%20girlboss

Matthew, E. (2023, March 21). The Failures of Lean-In Feminism. Law & Liberty. https://lawliberty.org/the-failures-of-lean-in-feminism/

MEMBARAT STUDIO. [@rizzzabella]. (2023, January 8). hey google, reverse knowing 🙈. [Video]. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@rizzzabella/video/7186070473678114090?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7412453421586023953

Mesquita, L. (2024, April 30). Insight: I’m “just a girl.”. The State Press. https://www.statepress.com/article/2024/04/spmagazine-just-a-girl-trend

Patel, V. (2023, January 29). Opinion: “choice feminism” ignores institutional issues, prevents change. The Daily Illini. https://dailyillini.com/opinions-stories/2023/01/29/opinion-choice-feminism-ignores-institutional-issues-prevents-change/

Siebritz, G. (2023, August 22). Clueless and Legally Blonde Redefined Bimbo-Core. Medium. https://medium.com/@gabyonearth/clueless-and-legally-blonde-redefined-bimbo-core-e52a406bc152

Stanford, A. (2024, February 15). Are you really ‘Just A Girl’?. The Daily Free Press. https://dailyfreepress.com/2024/02/15/are-you-really-just-a-girl/

UNIQLO Singapore. [@uniqulosg]. Not us girl mathing our way through life 💁‍♀️💅 Offers end on 2 Nov! #girlmathexplained #girlmath #limitedoffer. [Video]. https://www.tiktok.com/@uniqlosg/video/7294611805169552642?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

Zaeem, S. (2023, November 15). Bimbo-feminism is not feminist. Rabble. https://rabble.ca/feminism/bimbo-feminism-is-not-feminist/

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 30/04/2024

guess what​?​?​?​?​?​?​?​?

Season 2 Featured on: Haltmann's Highest Quality Video Game Rips

Ripped by alden wolf

Requested by eg_9371! (Request Form)

It's Gonna Be May!

Saying that SiIvaGunner has in-jokes is perhaps the most obvious statement of all time - it is an in-joke upon which the entire channel is built upon. Yet there's obviously always different LAYERS to each joke, how obvious each of them are - and even today, there are many running gags on the channel that fly over people's heads despite having followed along for so long. Indeed, such is the case today with guess what​?​?​?​?​?​?​?​?, as requestee eg_9371 made me aware of a channel in-joke that's been running quietly in the background for the better part of seven years as of today. All of it built on one simple truth - tomorrow, it's gonna be may.

To reiterate - beyond the funny ha-ha memes we all know like Mr. Grand Dad and more, the SiIvaGunner channel is filled with little nods and gags that oft go overlooked. I of course covered 5 Nights of Snop Dog recently which is a great example of one, there's how rips like Kill & Learn (Recut Ver​.​) reference a running joke by long-time mashup artist Triple-Q about how Sonic Adventure 2 and Kill la Kill have an immeasurable amount of similarities, rips like Kermit in the Ocean being spiritual successors to very specific years-old rips on the channel - you get the jist. Some of these gags eventually get special attention on the channel through specific channel events, but such has not yet been the case with guess what​?​?​?​?​?​?​?​?'s joke - it's a gag that's stayed in the background since its very beginnings, and is only being kept running by a select few rippers. If you're listening to the rip now and it still hasn't landed yet, you may need to be enlightened to the ways of hit boy band *NSYNC. Or, well, really the band itself matters very little compared to the song of choice - It's Gonna Be Me.

Boy band music has a pretty interesting track record on SiIva in general, honestly. One Direction, Backstreet Boys, Boyzone, *NSYNC - to me the typical audience that obsesses over these kinds of bands feels at odds with my image of the average SiIvaGunner fan, and yet whenever they're prominently pushed I get reminded of just how good their music can be when wielded by good rippers. We've had two explosively quality events focusing on two bands in particular, the Big Time Rush takeover of Season 5 with Famous Surprise and the One Direction day of Season 7 with Beautiful Dreamer. *NSYNC hasn't had the same explosion of notoriety, but It's Gonna Be Me in particular has stealthily appeared on the channel every year since 2017 on April 30th. The joke is originally an ancient Tumblr meme from 2012, based on the way singer Justin Timberlake (yes!) pronounces the titular line in the song as "It's gonna be May" - the joke writes itself, and so Tumblr users have annually celebrated the day-before-May in Timberlake's honor.

eg_9371 writes in his request for this post that he's actually one of the most active rippers in keeping this joke going on SiIva for all these years, which I find extremely commendable, and it all started in Season 2, with guess what​?​?​?​?​?​?​?​?. It's a rearrangement of the song in the style of Donkey Kong Country 2's Mining Melancholy, a track most notable for its rhythmic percussion of steel drums sounding like steadily-working pickaxes deep in the mines. Its a fantastic track on its own, yet that percussion especially is a shockingly natural fit for the harpsichord(?) backing prominent throughout It's Gonna Be Me. Mining Melancholy's usual percussion and other parts of its melody stick around for large parts of the rip, making it more of a melody swap/mashup of the two than a full rearrangement a la Sog-Gee Ambiance - but it only serves to enhance the two tracks used, giving It's Gonna Be Me a more melancholic sound and Mining Melancholy a more self-assured feel in return, a super interesting blend of moods. I don't think the It's gonna be May bit would have worked nearly as well if the rip it was paired with wasn't of high quality, and guess what​?​?​?​?​?​?​?​? clears that threshold effortlessly - its a great rip that's made me appreciate the quality in both songs used.

*NSYNC rips have, again, continued to show up in all the years since, always on the dot, often even deliberately placed as the LAST rip of April 30th to drive the joke home. I think it's really sweet that the joke has stuck with eg_9371 in particular, likely in part due to alden wolf's initial contribution to the bit - he's even made It's Gonna Be Me rips on dates completely unrelated to the beginning of May, just because its a genuinely fun song to listen to. There's tons of these "secret" gags left to find on the channel, reoccurring dates or rips that reference jokes from other rips that are years-old by now - and really, a huge part of the fun in running this blog is getting to discover so many turning gears of the channel that I'd never been made aware of. Keep an eye out for these gags yourself - and keep an eye out on SiIvaGunner channel itself later today, to see if It's Gonna Be May for yet one more year.

[singto-prachaya]

Did I make a banner specifically for this post? Yes I did. This is a post to introduce you to Offroad Kantapon and Daou Pittaya who are currently starring in the BL Love In Translation. Get to know these two and their close soulmates bond through this post.

Let's start first with a short history lesson: Both participated in the survival show Lazicon (started airing October 9, 2021) and it was the first time they met each other. They became close in a short amount of time and you would often see them holding insta lives together. For a compilation of how they acted with each other during those lives as well as some Lazicon clips I made a fanvideo a while back. I never published it because it was just something I wanted to make for myself and one other person.

Now since the post will be long you can find the rest under the read more link.

One thing Offroad wanted during Lazicon was to perform in the final with Daou and some of his close friends from Insight Entertainment. This would have happened if Daou was fully recovered from having covid but he wasn't. So the performance was without him. Daou however was present through a video call. During a performance were all Lazicon contestants sung together Offroad looked at the screen, saw Daou and started crying. A timestamped video were you can see Offroad getting emotional.

Not in front of my salad! Straight to this point. If you watched my fanvideo or at least a part of it skinship between those two is pretty normal. However if you are contantly all over each other it can cause people to want you to get a room! Especially their band members. There is this behind the scenes clip of Rak Diao in which they made an appearance and check out the timestamped part. Watch for about 20 sec.

Close friends! Daou has some close friends. A couple were from Insight and they had no problem with spilling some tea sometimes. Frank who is now DVI said during a live with the boys and some other contestants "It looks like they are flirting". Daou is also close with Joong Archen and he also had some things to say. "What everyone sees is just a little bit. Joong saw a lot more than that". And he mentioned once how Daou has never taken care of someone like this before not even his close friends. Also during a live with Joong and Daou, Daou got called. Joong then was like "Who is calling? Is that handsome boy. The blond haired one".

The part with Joong starts at 1:45

Jealousy what's that? Anyone who has been in the fandom long enough knows how they talk to each other on twitter and IG. One thing is pretty clear, Daou doesn't like it when Offroad shows to much skin. And he will let it know pretty clearly. Ban hammer gifs, talking about how he has the full sized picture, trying to pull Offroad's shorts, you name it. When the trailer of Our Days was released Offroad appeared half naked in it a couple times and fans then took screenshots and put shirts on Offroad to cover him up. Atime26 even released an edited trailer with those shirts on twitter. The inpact! Most recently Offroad wore a shirt with tiny holes in it and Daou called it see through. And during a recent twitch stream of Daou a fan asked if they could buy a see through shirt for Offroad. They could, but fans can only look. Another recent jealousy example here!

Talking about each other! They talk a lot about each other. Good things but sometimes things can also get sad. I will start here around the time Daou posted that he had to go into the army (he had to enlist 1 November 2022). Offroad commented and said "Eat well. I wish you luck, no suffering, no call, no disease. ���❤️ Send your heart to me. I love you so much. I will do my best here. Let's go". The last day before Daou's enlistment a podcast was posted by The Modernist with the Laz1 boys. There was also a written version and let me copy a part. One question that was asked was "Choose one person and tell him your innermost feelings".

Offroad: But if I want to talk to another person who is very special, that is, I want to talk about P'Wu. Because he was the only person in the group who saw me from the beginning. I want to say that my place is like this. What I want to say is that I want him to see that I'm getting better. (Crying so much that he couldn't breathe) I wanted to tell him that. I have been with him for a long time and he is another person who has fulfilled me to be here as well.

Offroad has said a couple times before that he felt like he was a burden to Daou because he felt like he wasn't good enough.

During the last day they also had last fanmeet. And when Daou grabbed the microphone to talk he put his arm around Offroad's shoulder. And then when he started talking Offroad broke down (video linked there).

And here someone made a tiktok about the enlistment.

They had to work in pairs after the first round in Lazicon and Daou picked Offroad.

Special person talk during EMF fandom live today.

Couple rings! Daou lied to Offroad and said his fanclub wanted to buy a ring so they needed Offroad's ring size. Turned out Daou wanted to buy couple rings. A fan found out it were Cartier rings worth 1500 euro's each. And Daou isn't even rich. During EMF fandom live today there was more couple rings talk.

This was for an interview with Mint Magazine. Full trans for the interview here. As a long term fan I was confused by their answer because for me it's always been a 10. Not sure how it could have gotten more.

Daou talking about how in BL series the characters at least have to love each other but that they don't have to force themselves since they already have a close relationship. Full interview here and you can use google trans on the webpage.

Couple song! Last part. Daou and Offroad's fandom name is Nubdao and they have a song called Nubdao which was written by them and which is about each other. Nubdao means counting the stars.

Translation of this song in a comment here

Edit: Since we have new people joining the fandom and not so nice comments have been made let me throw in a part of a interview they did for MayaTV this year as well some older statements made.

More than just a 'Ship'

Credit: yourstar_94