#this is probably my most favourite video of last night (from the ones i took)

[moonchild-in-blue]

Missing Limbs - Espera, Vessel and the crowd 🥺🩷💙

The girls look so so beautiful here and LISTEN TO THEM. Vessel sobs HARD at the end 🥺💔

[sl-ut]

even more streamer!ellie hcs

part one | part two

ellie is not at all embarrassed to admit that a large portion of her own fame was largely due to her connection to y/n

like ofc she was already fairly popular on twitch but its not like the average person who didn't watch streams would recognize her

she ends up making a new priv instagram bc she gains like 50k new followers in a month

she only has like maybe 100 followers on the new one and basically just posts random photo dumps, family photos, and especially the literal cutest and/or horrendous photos of her gf

posts a LOT on her ig stories on both accounts

her main pfp is deffffff some screenshot that she took of their happy little sim family or like their little minecraft guys standing side by side lol

ik i said before that she loves playing like the sims w her gf on stream, but she also LOVES playing roblox together

starting drama in dress to impress, causing havoc in bloxburg, making friends and enemies galore in tdi

her avatar is definitely so dumb like its probably the hamster or squirrel or like the most basic ass starter avatar with a shirt that has her gfs face on it

and her username is def like "y/nstan420" or something

when she's streaming alone she's more focused and serious (but still her silly little self) but when she's with others, esppppp if her gf is on with her, she defffff gives weston koury vibes like im actually giggling at this so hard

they both make tiktoks of each other

y/n once did the "watch my gf for me" trend and she came back to find ellie holding the phone and ranting about something so random like she was probably explaining her favourite theory about how the dinosaurs went extinct or something about planets and space idek

ellie doesn't really follow trends as often, instead just posting videos of her scaring her gf or pranking her or maybe even like mukbangs or something

loves to post fit checks before they go out to do literally anything

also likes to lipsync to dirty audios

the video always ends as she's about to get smacked upside the head

idk if i ever actually gave much backstory???? but here we go anyways lol

i think we've established that y/n is an up-and-coming actress

they met through a friend of dina's, who was a costume designer on the set of y/n's first big film

dina visited her friend on set on the last day of filming and she ended up getting an invite to the cast/crew party that night

jesse was tooooo busy to hang out with his bombshell gf ig???? so ellie got to go with her

she already knew who y/n was since she was starting to gain popularity and was immediately adopted by lesbian twitter

she was so nervous when she clocked her on the other side of the room

spent the whole night shuffling around the room to gain the courage to go talk to her

also spent all of that time trying to come off like the coolest chillest most confident masc ever like she wasn't constantly wiping the sweat from her palms lmaoooo

she finally was forced to lay on the moves when y/n came over to join in on the convo with her castmates

ellie made her laugh and vice versa

she shocked herself when she offered to grab another drink from the kitchen "for the pretty lady"

she immediately considered throwing herself off of the impossibly high deck

was even more shocked when the girl only laughed and hopped up to join her, fingers curling into her bicep

she totally wasn't flexing the whole time

dina was wandering around looking for her, way too drunk to be there much later considering that it was almost 2 am and had to work a ten hour shift tmr :(((

she didn't have much luck bc she never thought to check the upstairs guest bathroom

ellie constantly be fighting them uhaul lesbian rumours

but she actually was ready to upheave her entire life to follow y/n around the world

reposts any and all posts of her gf on her story

adds little hearts and stars and little taglines that earn her a scolding

like that one time she wore a tight-fitting corset on the red carpet that had the girls lifted to the heavens

she captioned it "i <3 my gf('s boobs)"

fights with haters in her gf's comment section

wears her gf's merch

omg the way she SCRUMPT when she saw the paparazzi pic of her girl wearing ellie's merch out on a random thursday

they hadn't even made it official yet

flirts with her gf in random comment sections lol

like y/n comments on dina's selfie and ellie is instantly replying to her

"u come here often?"

they have def been caught in compromising positions soooo many times

like by their friends, cast and crew members on set, y/n's manager, even the paps

ellie felt so boss when tmz posted a pic of her pressing her gf against the wall outside of the club they'd gone to on ellie's bday

els had her tongue down her gfs throat and both of her hands jammed up the front of her top, very clearly grasping and squeezing her breasts

they got a stern talking to from y/n's pr team but ellie actually didn't care

she def has phantom dick disorder in literally all aspects of her life

lets not forget that this version of ellie does not have experience in fighting and has not lived through an apocalypse so she's contextually less tough than normal ellie

but that doesn't stop her from mouthing off to assholes three times her size

don't get me wrong, she can hold her own and still works out on occasion, but she fr looks like a chihuahua barking at pitbulls when she gets yapping

speaking of, stoned!ellie absolutely loves when her gf be yapping

i love the dynamic of ellie doing a chat stream w her gf where ellie's got her in her lap, leaning back with droopy eyes and a dopey smile, still giving her gf all of her attention while her gf ends up being more of a "alert and yappy" stoned and is rambling about strangely philosophical topics and answering questions in chat

ellie is just sitting there just giggling and when her gf turns to her she just goes "ur so smart baby" and "u look so pretty rn"

omg omg omg i luv this pairing im never gonna stop writing them like

bonus: this is the vibe of the ck campaign i mentioned in the last part

[laswells-ashtray]

It's me yet again. I need me some slightly tipsy Kate and John in a lighthearted sparring match while her wife and Nik stand off to the side and gossip about their respective partners. (Again, take your time. Don't burn yourself out )

Now, because I can't describe movement for shit. I'm an internal dialogue like the Green Goblin voice or a banter typa muppet this interaction will mostly be between Nik and Laswell's wife. and I'm using my interpretation of her whom I have called Sarah if only because typing out Laswell's wife so many times makes the words stop looking real

"I cannot see this going well in the long run." Sarah Laswell, very proud wife of a certain Kate Laswell. It's not often she sees Kate get tipsy in front of anyone who isn't her, she'll indulge in a drink or two but never to the extent of this. However, it'd be dumb to assume that combining Kate, John and alcohol that Nikolai, bless that man, was paying for would lead them anywhere else.

"And yet you make no move to stop it." Nikolai doesn't bother pretending that he isn't amused, it's deeply humorous to watch two of the most fierce people he knows spar each other.

"Neither do you, don't think I can't see you staring at his ass."

"You haven't stopped looking at your wife's chest since she took off her jacket."

Okay, they're both deviants.

John is in what are probably his nicest jeans, not very suitable to a lot of movement given that they must've been painted onto his arse.

Kate is wearing a dark blue tank top that Sarah bought her absentmindedly last week and for the briefest moment, she considers just dragging Kate to the nearest closet and hoping it's soundproof.

The two move in such fluid ways that it's clear they've sparred together before. Even with a few drinks in both of them, it's the most gracious violence she's ever seen.

When John narrowly avoids Kate's elbow to the face Nikolai does little more than chuckle, he clearly isn't worried about his partner and he enjoys the smug grin on the other man's face.

"Tempted to video this." Sarah mutters, watching them both in awe. Even if her main reason for watching was to shamelessly admire her wife in all her glory, she can't deny how impressive Kate is. She throws a hit with enough force that Sarah almost pities John and she takes an equal hit with such little care. God, if there was to be a walking advertisement for lesbianism it would be Kate Laswell.

"That would involve taking your eyes off of them."

"Nevermind."

Nikolai understands, he truly does. His three favourite Johns are fucked senseless John, John when he's asleep and purring against Nik's chest like a cat and John when he's fighting just for the fun of it. Watching his biceps flex, testing the tight stitching around the sleeve of his t-shirt is a damn near biblical fucking experience.

Maybe the greatest bit of their little sparring match is how happy the two look to be there, throwing hits at each other while simultaneously muttering their banter in a way that neither Nikolai nor Sarah can hear. Carefree for once in their lives, it's no secret that their jobs weigh down on the both of them and to see them in a position so laid back, it's endearing.

"Those the socks Kate bought him for his birthday last year?"

"Да."

"Thought so, I picked them out."

"I assumed so."

"What gave it away?"

"The word cock printed on the soles." Sue her, she thought it was funny and given the expression on Nikolai's face so did he.

She watches John swipe out Kate's legs from under her and feels pride settle in her chest when the other woman immediately pulls the Englishman down with her.

She spares Nikolai a knowing glance, it would appear the both of them are going to be enjoying their nights when they head home.

Kate moves so quickly that Sarah can't help but think of one of their cats back home as she pins John to the mat, their sparring might be lighthearted but she wouldn't make the mistake of thinking Kate would let herself move.

Her muscles are taut as she holds the struggling Englishman in place, her back arched and a downright gleeful smirk on her face. Strands of hair fall into her line of vision, fallen loose from her typical bun and they frame her face in a way that can only be described as angelic. If angels were the single most fuckable woman that Sarah has ever interacted with in her entire fucking life, Jesus Christ.

As much as John is losing, he does so proudly. Who better to lose to than Kate of all people. And Nikolai isn't complaining, John's t-shirt is riding up and he's offered the perfect view of the happy trail he has every intention of running his face over later.

Their little sparring match comes to an end, with both participants walking over to their respective partners before heading to grab their shoes and the jackets that had been dumped carelessly on the floor.

It's only when Nikolai catches the two sharing a look that he realises they've been played. Kate and John are both too smart to start a friendly spar for no reason. And it isn't a coincidence that both Sarah and he are desperate to drag their partners away for the night.

They were putting on a show. Sly bastards.

[meryldian]

hii PLEASE WRITE SOMETHING ABOUT A FIFTH MEMBER OF TOKIO HOTEL AND TOM

ps. YOURE AMAZING😭

✧˖°. Loving Tom Kaulitz as Tokio Hotel’s 5th member ˖°. ✧

AN: Love this request!! You didn’t specify if you wanted something in particular so I decided to develop on how you guys got together after years of conflicted feelings, it starts with headcanons and ends in a little drabble :) I hope you enjoy!!

⟡ As for general dating headcanons, I’ve been considering writing a post for each member following my little TH 5th member series, so you can imagine how it’d be to date your favourite guy (or all of them) ⟡

Warnings: none really, reader implied as bi but it’s very subtle.

~ Happy Reading

Alright Alright. First of all we need to set the record straight. No matter for how long you guys had known each other and had mutual crushes it would take a WHILE before you got together.

As the fifth member of Tokio Hotel, you guys probably met when you were young kids but you didn’t click instantly, your personalities clashed but there were two things that united you two; music and raising hell in your little village.

You would take your bikes and ride out into the mountains of Loitsche to drink and smoke a pack, maybe light a small fire because you were young and didn’t care about consequences.

Hanging with your friends at your hideout and subconsciously ending up coddled up on the couch for warmth when the night got cold.

Tom pretended to hate it when you wore his hats and it did genuinely annoy him from time to time, but what can he say, they looked good on you.

You took it upon yourself to burst his bubble whenever he got any crazy and unreasonable idea.

You would always bicker and tease one another.

You were that pair of kids that people said would end up together but you guys gagged and denied.

Me with him?? Not in a hundred years, I’d rather walk on lava.

Tom would always say you were ugly and not his type, while deep down he knew you were the most beautiful in town. He simply refused to admit it, and would continue calling you his ugly piglet.

On your side, you probably insisted that his don juan act was cringe and that he would never get a girlfriend.

As time went on and your band flew into stardom, Tom and you had to learn how to properly work together.

You learned how to be gentler to one another during those endless nights of rehearsing your new songs.

You never really cared about physical closeness with him, but one time when he came behind you and helped you with your guitar tabs you suddenly felt nervous around him for the first time. The way his arms wrapped around you and his hands guided your fingers.

You were left wondering after that.

As members of the hottest band in Germany, you inevitably were surrounded by people ready to tear their clothes off and worship you.

We know real well that Tom fell into temptation, but did you?

If you did, it wasn’t rare for you two to discuss your recent hook-ups whenever you got a moment to yourselves in the tour bus or during rehearsals.

You’d chat about how good the head you got last night was or how you somehow ended up in a threesome.

Something switched in Tom’s brain during that time, no matter how many girls he “fell in love with for a night�� no one could compare to how happy you made him.

Around you he could be himself. The Tom that’s scared of the future, the sweet boy that enjoys video games and laying around doing nothing, the Tom that craved physical touch but never knew how to ask, the boy that always had your back, who always kept a protective eye on you, even when you couldn’t see it.

As for you, your feelings were conflicting.

You knew Tom was not one for relationships and it was a bad idea to fall for him, but how could you not when he was the one that would always listen to your doubts and wishes, the one that never changed his attitude around you when you became famous, the boy that swore he was though but he needed your reassurance before going on stage.

Unlike he did for the girls that he took in his hotel rooms around the world, Tom never judged you only based off your looks. In fact, he never really cared before. He did find you beautiful (even though he called you his ugly piglet) but your person had always jumped right at him.

When he realized how much happier he was around you is that he started to note how beautifully your hair flew in the wind when you played on stage. How your hips moved to the rhythm of your songs. How your eyes lit up when you were served your favourite food or how you’d bite your lip when you concentrated.

It was all so new to him, he even despised the feeling of being so hooked on one person.

You guys probably took refuge in your occasional hook ups with groupies (that you would then flaunt to each other and the band) but it never felt as right. The physical pleasure didn’t fulfill that desire to know one another even better and break down your barriers.

Everyone around you could see it except you two.

Your staff probably put their bets on the table.

This constant pining went on for ages. Literally.

You were now far onto your third tour, 1000 Hotels around the world and Tom and you still seemed as oblivious to your fat crushes.

You began to show more physical affection. Such as Tom’s arm around your shoulders when you sat on the bus tour couch, occasionally tapping your thigh when he laughed, resting your arm on his shoulder when sitting next to each other or resting your head on him to drift off during long drives.

Nights when Tom would drop by your room with a bottle of vodka and chips to have your own little party because he couldn’t leave the hotel.

A certain morning you woke up tangled in Tom’s limbs and instantly freaked out checking if you still had clothes on.

Tom got way more possessive over you. His excuse was that the band grew and more people were all over you, but he just wanted you to himself.

This routine of pining but denying dragged on til one cold night you gathered the courage to try something new.

“Do I have your consent to try something I’ve been wanting to for a while now?” You asked looking down and fidgeting, picking at your cuticles to distract yourself from Tom’s gaze. “Should I be scared? Give me a reason to trust you” he said jokingly. You were sitting close for your thighs to rub yet far enough for you to have to shift in your place to reduce the gap between your faces. “Close your eyes” You didn’t know where you got the courage to say that but it did earn you a playful eyebrow raise from the boy you’d been hiding your feelings from for the past couple years. He knew where this was going, he was smart enough to read through your obvious lines yet he was still feeling that thrill. Your gentle hand grasped his cheek in a feather light touch, barely even there while you rested the other on his thigh. You had to take in another deep breath and cancel every thought that ran through your head at that very moment like it was a life or death situation. In a swift movement you locked your lips on his, not as smoothly as you would’ve wanted but good enough to satisfy your impulse. Panic set in when Tom remained still for the fraction of a second. Shit, what if you fucked it up. Few seconds more of stillness and you had to pull back reluctantly. You wanted to tell him he could open his eyes now, that it was okay and, that’d you’d leave but nerves got the best of you and you could only sit around looking at the carpeted floor nervously. Well fuck, you really messed it up this time. Idiot. An “I’m sorry” escaped your lips in a whisper, too focused on the matted carpet to see how Tom’s eyelids flustered open and his lips, that yours were previously on, formed into a small smile. “If you always kiss like that no wonder girls scurry away from you once they got what they want.” You didn’t know if a gasp or a scoff left your throat at that moment, was he being serious? “What, don’t act all shy after you just kissed me like that” You didn’t know what to say, it’s like your bones were suddenly paralyzed and you could only stare at his face. “I’m messing with you dumbass, cut the long face” On a move you weren’t awaiting Tom pulled you by your arm, getting you closer to his chest, and nearly losing balance, to lock your lips once more. This time differently. With hunger and eagerness. Sneaky hands rubbed up and down your back, coming to a rest on your hips as your lips moved firmly on each other. You did want more, but the surprise of his tongue grazing your lips had you pull back an instance. “Since when is the y/n so innocent, or are you playing good for me?” He tickled the soft skin of your hips, going up to your waist, who knew when his hands managed to sneak under your shirt. Your gaze lifted up and met his “This, us. What is it”. You didn’t know what was so funny to earn a chuckle from him. “Don’t know, but I don’t mind”

- AAaaAHHH this is not proof read yet I hope it’s not too terrible !!

Enjoy your night/day pookies!!!

- Meryl <3

[seaofreverie]

They Might Be Giants at the Roundhouse, London, 17th November 2024

Happy 35th to Flood, hooray!!!! So here's this thing that I've put together just in time for this occasion, my written record... I mean, my very lengthy and detailed review of the first and so far only TMBG show I’ve attended, on November 17th 2024 in London, so, the last show of the so-called “30th anniversary” Flood tour.

And yeah, I mean it that this thing is lengthy and mostly my personal insights on stuff but still, I wanted to share it since this was an event that I’d been anticipating for many many months, and I tried my best here to capture all the feelings this day brough and the whole magic and all the amazement surrounding it.

I’m also going to put here all of the 7 videos I took during the show, ranging in length from 7 seconds to 7 minutes. And they were taken from the front row, so the view is pretty great and something worth sharing I think!

So yep. Hope you enjoy!!

Every once in a while a day comes along in your life that feels like it’s been taken straight out of a movie. It’s hard to tell how often that happens, but probably not too often, since I can’t remember the last time it did before this. And what I mean here is that the day of my first TMBG show was pretty much nothing but moments that somehow felt just RIGHT, like everything was coming together just PERFECTLY, so that I could have the best possible experience and the best imaginable time!! Starting with my biggest wishes and hopes, down to all the extra details that I didn’t even think about previously. But anyway…

Before the show…

You’d think that I would start officially #freakingout about one of my biggest dreams in life coming true (seeing my favourite band, who are also one of my biggest special interests, in REAL LIFE, and enjoying one of their amazing live shows IN PERSON) earlier than this, but that only actually started on the evening of the day before the show. And because of that the entire next morning and afternoon felt really weird and tense in a way that I can’t really describe. But I hope you get what I mean. It’s like wow, it’s finally happening, but noooo wait hold on, I’m not ready yet…

And so my travel companions and I spent most of the day walking around Camden Town where the show was taking place, but for me that whole time was this really weird mix of feeling like I’m walking on clouds and like I’m just entirely somewhere else and also awaiting the scariest most important exam of my whole life.

We arrived by the venue sometime around 1 PM and when I saw the poster plastered on the wall that listed “An Evening With They Might Be Giants” among other acts, that was the moment when it maybe finally hit me that THIS THING WAS REAL. And maybe this is a good time to mention that the only thing left on the long list of all the things that could possibly still go wrong at this point, was managing to get a spot as close to the stage as possible, so, in the first row. And there were already two people just standing there by the venue when we got there and I actually couldn’t tell if they were already queuing up because, well, it was still so early. But I’m about 100% sure now that, in fact, they were.

Another important thing to note is that I was hoping to meet my friend at the show, who also attended the previous night’s show in Bristol, and me impatiently awaiting any sort of updates on how all of that went definitely added to all the nervousness I was feeling that whole day. And also, when I decide on something, well, I’m stubborn as hell so it HAS to go the way I planned it or I will be pretty much devastated.

But it was still super early and we had to get dinner and all that stuff so we left for now. And after some time I eventually got a message from my friend saying that NO, 5:30 will be too late for the first row, probably, and I was uhhhh, very on edge at this point. But ok. Better wait too long in the queue than regret not getting there earlier forever.

It was probably a pretty unusual sight to my brother (who I dragged along with me to the show) when I practically RAN to the venue when we were close to arriving there sometime past 4 PM. I swear I remember imagining that I’m already seeing a huge queue of people in front of me somewhere in the distance until I get closer and am relieved that no, no such thing happening, thank god. I mean, well yes, I was REALLY not even remotely chill about this whole thing guys. And yeah, it’s important to mention that I did travel over 1500 kilometers or so just for this show and nothing else. The whole trip and all the sightseeing I did in London in the days leading up to this day and afterwards was just an added bonus.

But alright, we got there. And what we were met with instead were maybe 15 or so people who were mostly scattered in small groups around the entrance. And a guy playing an accordion. Just in case I needed that extra confirmation that, yes, the gig I’m going to will be HERE and not in some other place. Yet I still had this worry as I started talking to one group of fans that waitttt, maybe they’re actually talking about some other band and I’m making a fool of myself…

But well yeah anyway, we were there, it was time to just wait for the big event now, time to be brave and use this opportunity to chat with other fans even a bit… And so I did, and despite not really having any opportunities to actually TALK in English to other people most of the time, I think I did pretty well. One thing that stuck with me the most for some reason was how these two guys were talking about how one of them doesn’t like BOOK and how that’s scandalous according to the other guy pretty much, and the other guy's statement on Synopsis For Latecomers was that whatever your opinion might be on the song, it’s still definitely a THEY song (I love that and I think about that all the time now, like man, it really is just They in a nutshell in a way).

And then my friend and their bestie arrived!! Just after we (all the people who were waiting already) decided to form some sort of actual queue. We found ourselves at the end of it, at least for now… And the remaining 2 hours of waiting for the doors to open were before us. It dragged on a bit of course but not TOO terribly, since I could catch up on all sorts of stuff with my friend, because we haven’t actually seen each other in oh, well over a year!

We talked about the Bristol show too among many other things, and I learned some important things, such as how Lie Still, Little Bottle got played already the day before, soooo… probably not much of a chance of it returning this evening (this might be like the only real thing I wish was different about this day because, AAAAHHH, THE STIIIIIIIIICK!!!!!! how I’d have loved to see that… But never say never, maybe it just wasn’t meant to be just YET!). And also how today the queue was luckily much smaller so, no being stuck in the third row this time!

Also, it started raining eventually, as it does in the UK, right, (it actually wasn’t rainy at all for most of the week I stayed there, just that day pretty much… another one of very few somewhat unfortunate things about this day) and it rained for probably close to an hour, and by god, did it get freaking FREEZING very fast. I inevitably had a huge cold for several days afterwards because of this, but well, what even is this sort of sacrifice, when in exchange you get the best possible concert experience. Because yeah, it definitely paid off to get there early, the queue never got SUPER long but still, wouldn’t have ended up where we did if it weren’t for that long wait.

And maybe now I should say some more general things about the wait, which is that this whole time, when I wasn’t feeling impatient, I was really just, truly soaking it all in (and not just the rain, lol). And a crucial part of that whole wait was that the accordion guy was still playing his songs, many songs of TMBG and at least a couple of John Linnell’s State Songs. I realize now that I should have written them down right after the show, because now all I remember him playing are Erase, South Carolina and West Virginia.

One funny thing that happened was when some guy walked by our (by then) pretty long queue and seemed surprised that there were so many people waiting for something. So my friend told him that we were waiting for a show and that it was a They Might Be Giants show, but what did he actually hear??

The guy: …Michael Jackson? But he’s dead!

So I guess that English speakers will also get the band's name terribly wrong sometimes, not just every vinyl vendor I’ve ever talked to back at home, lol. But yeah, he eventually got the name right but still, it’s really funny to think about… There May Be Giants, Michael Jackson… it’s all the same thing.

But alright, the last few minutes were drawing near… And then, at long last, we were in! And I guess I was so caught up in the moment (and also the fact that the security guy had a bit of an issue with my metal pins that I put on my jacket without really thinking about this possibly being a problem, oops) that I almost screwed up big time in a way because hey, we’re in, you’re free to go now, get your spot by the stage as fast as possible!! And so I got myself together, followed the example of my friend, and did that.

And ok, all in all, this was absolutely surreal to me. Only the very first of the many biggest this CANNOT be real moments of the night. Realizing that wow, we’re actually here… Nothing went terribly wrong in the end, we travelled all this way just to get here and here we are. And we’re in the first row!! OH MY GOD!! The folks who were ahead of us in the queue lined up by the left side and the middle of the stage, so we ended up to the right of Linnell’s keyboard and right in front of Marty’s drumkit. So we still had a very good viewing point if you ask me!

And I could NOT believe how close we were, the stage and all the instruments were SO CLOSE!!! This was actually my first time being in the pit at a concert, I’ve only ever known the balcony view… Meanwhile here they were, the legendary Main Squeeze in the REAL WORLD, the jackalope thingy on the drum kit that says They Might Be Giants… The pre-show music was blaring, everyone else was getting excited and I was suddenly HIT by all of it and how unbelievable and amazing and perfect it was and I was so so close to just crying right there because of it all…

But well, I collected myself and faced the fact that there was still at least an hour of waiting ahead of us (turned out to be an hour and a half, because the doors opened earlier than originally scheduled, but the show didn’t start until the original 8 PM anyway). But at least we were inside now, so no more freezing! And we could actually even sit down for a while finally (not that anyone besides me or my two friends did that from what I could tell, for once I managed to not care about how I appear to others and do what’s considered “normal” and it’s so great and important and such a big part of why this was such a wonderful evening in the end).

I also need to say that wow, Flansburgh’s intermission playlist really is so good. Not gonna lie that I was really excited for this part of the show as well, and I even had some very satisfying moments of recognizing a song or two and telling my friends about it (Funkadelic’s Can You Get To That will have a very special association for me now because that’s what was playing when we first got there). Some other memorable moments include when crew members were milling around the stage, and I’m pretty sure that none other than Stan Harrison walked in for a moment too?? Because those moments also served as constant reminders that THE GUYS will be here too, so soon…

Show time!!!

Set 1

Alright, time for what we all actually came here for. Time for the show. The lights went down for a moment, there were moderate amounts of screaming that made me feel like I’m back on a school trip visiting a theatre with other kids, who start screaming the moment it gets dark right before the play starts. But this time I was (even if just mentally) screaming along.

The recording of the song They Might Be Giants started playing, we watched a short animation on that huge screen at the back of the stage, and then, the scariest and most unexpected thing happened. The whole band walked in and after a couple seconds launched right into Synopsis For Latecomers. And I’m saying this kind of as a joke but actually though, can we agree that the emotion that comes with the first time you see *your band* in the real world is just something else completely and kind of impossible to describe. Because in a way it’s also just so funny: you arrived here specifically with the intention of seeing these guys and then, when that actually happens, it feels like the most shocking event of your entire life. A little MIND ERROR moment, wait hold up kind of moment, or even… a Brain Problem Situation, if you will.

But ok, I also need to admit that it didn’t help when I got distracted over the fact that less than half a minute into the song, someone from the crew walked onto the stage to fix something about Danny’s guitar. And with all that stuff put together I was only half aware of what was even happening and being played most of the time, and like a second passed before we got to the horns part of the song, and the horns entered the stage (accompanied by cheering from everyone). And it was all just. Happening. Right in front of me. Like it’s nothing and no big deal at all.

But anyway. While I’m still on the topic of this song I need to say that out of all songs played this one still stuck with me probably the most in a sense. Because days after the show I could still hear it still playing in my mind aaaaaaaall. the. damn. time. So all in all, this was definitely a total BLAST of a first impression. This is an amazing live song, and a 10/10 show opener, which I think is also fully supported by my reaction to it, as documented here. And the horns!!! The horns, ladies and gentlemen!!!

After the first song we got greetings and an introduction from Flansburgh, who said that this was the last show of the run of Flood shows… and that they had to figure out a way to include all songs from Flood in the show. So what got played next was the obligatory Particle Man, something that I found myself being all sort of like “alright, of course…” about at first... I mean… it is funny and don’t get me wrong, this song is great live, and I loved the whole “Triangle Man, take off for the planet, for the planet VENUS!” bit of course (oh it was really really great and GRAND and loud), but I guess this also shows how very quickly I got into this whole spirit of a regular TMBG show goer of sorts, who already sort of resents one of the most played songs… even before actually hearing it.

Next up was Meet James Ensor and here’s another really funny thing: how surprisingly hard it can be to identify the song that’s being played during a show. You know them all and know all the lyrics, and yet you aren’t aware of what you’re actually singing??? *HOW* does that work!! Because the whole time I thought it was actually James K. Polk, later I couldn’t remember which of the two it was actually… And I only realized which song this actually was on the next day, when a random bit of conversation reminded me that yes, those were the lyrics of Ensor that I was singing yesterday.

However, you must forgive me for these follies, because it’s hard to think clearly when you have to catch up with the fact that without pause, the next thing played is The Famous Polka. It’s like oh my god it’s actually THE Famous Polka. The infamous Famous Polka stage collapse incident (so, the first thing that comes to mind concerning this song, to me) aside, another notable thing about this song is that it’s SUCH a blast of energy live. I want to say that around this point of the show I started really getting into it and singing along and stuff (well, not singing yet on THIS song) and I’ll add some more general thoughts of this nature at the end of the post but by god, is the pure energy and excitement of a TMBG show impossible to convey in any recording. I think you just really have to be there to really understand what it’s all about. And a song like this one might be one of the finest examples of that.

And now, for something completely different… Moonbeam Rays! Lovely song that mostly helped me get into the mood of how beautiful this whole moment was, you know… I might be wrong about when exactly that was, but I got seriously close to crying once more during the show, and it’d be probably a fair guess to say that it was sometime during this song. And afterwards, we got some more insights from Flansburgh.

JF: This is the last show of the Flood show thing. (audience makes a sad “oooooh” sound) Yeah, it’s a little bit sad… it’s a little bit *excellent!* (audience laughs)

And then the Johns started talking about how they “started doing this pre-pandemic…” And it delighted me SO MUCH that they pointed this out because I could never get over how the Flood anniversary tour started when the album turned 30, and at the time of the last show of the tour it was two months away from turning 35!!

JF: It’s taken more years to celebrate the anniversary of Flood than it took to *make* Flood.

But as Flansburgh said, it was time to move on to some other, less popular things… And also he shared with us that he walked through a beautiful part of London today, wondering how it would feel to have enough money to “belong there”. Linnell said that he was resting up for the big flight, and that he was actually resting up for it RIGHT NOW.

JF: There’s nothing John Linnell likes more than a *paid rehearsal*.

JL: It’s a sweet ride… When you get to be *this* age…

JF: Nothing matters at all.

JL: Every day above ground is beautiful.

If you ask me, that last sentence deserves to be immortalized as one of the most iconic stage banter moments, and in a way it already has, because it inspired this wonderful piece of art, and who knows what else.

The following songs were Letterbox (and a short break from singing from me, because that song is already impossible to follow with, and then you add all the excitement of the moment and it’s impossible impossible) and Twisting!!! This started a long series of songs where the moment it starts I get super excited because I KNOW this song is a huge deal and a favourite but it takes me at least a couple of seconds to get to WHY this is a huge moment… through remembering and recognizing the song. And AAHHHH this song was so amazing, the bridgeeee, and then also the extra outro with the guitar solo and all, the energy!!! God, it truly is incomparable. And I totally didn’t expect that outro so that made it all an even better time.

And so we were well into the Flood songs segment, because next up was another of my top favourites from the album, Someone Keeps Moving My Chair! And another wonderful sing-along moment, but honestly, which of all these songs was not… (other than Letterbox, but that was just because of my lack of practice with that one). Chanting the title of this song, especially that one penultimate, elongated CHAAAAAAIIIIIIIR, kind of healed something in me I think.

After that was done, the Johns gave us some more insights into the performer’s life and all the things that they’ll never get used to, such as crowds that continue beyond your line of sight.

JF: …So you sort of think like: “I gotta get these people going, I gotta rock these people…” And then it’s like: (said in a silly, high-pitched voice) “But there’s no end!...”

Flansburgh remarked on the special challenge that they had come across this time, which was that we were all in a circular room, which is exciting, but means that people continue past where the stage is…

JF: I hope you guys got your tickets on Stubhub or something. I mean, can you even see us? I can barely see *you*. In a hockey match this would be unacceptable.

Another thing that Linnell would never get used to was when there’s a huge crowd of people, all of them happy and singing along, but then there’s one guy “who’s got this sort of Charles Manson expression”. This one really made ALL the people laugh. The Charles Manson guy included I hope.

JL: Never got used to that! For some reason.

JF: Tomorrow: Get. Linnell.

(JL pretends to be writing something down)

JL (addressing the audience): Not to put any ideas in your mind…

But moving on, as I said it was more Flood time indeed, with Whistling In The Dark. Me calling each single song amazing and a blast and so much fun is probably already getting a bit repetitive by now, so one special point of interest with this one and its live version is when near the end we get this little vocals only moment and then the horns come in again, then joined by everything else with such fanfare… simply triumphant.

Also, maybe this is a good moment to say that man, on one hand thinking about this show and how I’m going to hear THE ACCORDION was always a huge deal, but even then, I wasn’t prepared for how cool the accordion really is in person. It sounds kind of different from what I’m used to from recordings, and definitely makes a heck of a great impression all in all. One could wonder why it’s not more popular in rock music, because really, just how amazing is it?? And it can create all sorts of moods.. which is something I’m just about to get into properly too. Also, speaking of horns, Flansburgh gave a special shout out to the horns at this point, and began to introduce the next song.

JF: This next song is called The D-... uh, I forgot what it’s called, but… (JL laughs)

Even if it weren’t for this slip-up with the name, I already could tell from how Flansburgh went back to talk about how this was a song put together by Stan Harrison and introduced all the guys individually… That *IT* was in fact happening, one of my biggest hopes when it comes to songs I wanted to hear in person the most. The Darlings Of Lumberland - THE horns song to beat them all. And at this point I had to get my camera ready and start recording because well, this would definitely be one of the most preservation-worthy and outstanding moments of the show.

I was not mistaken of course, the way all the instruments complement each other here, most importantly the horns and the accordion, is something beautiful. This is one of the best examples of how the studio version just sounds so WEIRD to me now, even though it’s been my big favorite for a long time in that form as well. All in all a hypnotising moment, and coming back to my earlier question, maybe THIS was the only other song that you don’t really sing along to, because you have to just. Take it all in. Soooo much going on. And yes, no less important, THE CHOREOGRAPHY - *EVERYONE* did the hand thing!!! So you know, another good reason to have this one specifically caught on film.

Anyway, I was going to put my phone down for the time being but THEN... could it be, another of my top wished-for songs?? Cause yeah, without a pause we got the one and only screaming introduction to Let Me Tell You About My Operation from Flansburgh and oh boy, is this yet another song I could talk for many minutes about. First of all, I had very very high hopes for one of, what I think is often referred to as, Flansburgh showman moments. So, songs such as this one, Lie Still, Little Bottle, She’s Actual Size, and a couple others.

This song is a whole new story live, alright. Again, you have to be there to really get what it’s all about I think. JF’s energy is very infectious and awesome here to put it just mildly, and the horns add a whole lot, the whole song is just one big moment of old-timey big band-style musical bliss. And then there is also time to shine for all the other guys in the band, with awesome solos from Dan and Marty (ok, it appears that there was no special Danny time though?? Sad), AND the horns on the horns. Also Linnell doing this sort of thing on the keyboard where he plays all the notes quickly, sort of sliding down or up all the keys… Ok, I looked it up, I think that’s called glissando? So yeah, that also stuck in my head especially, because it was so fun. One of the top 5 moments of the show, without a doubt.

And now, alright, When Will You Die? is not a song that ever struck me as much of a favourite, besides being a very outstandingly hilarious and real song when it comes to lyrics of course, but I can’t lie and say that I wasn’t very happy to hear this one too. Singing these lyrics in a room full of hundreds of people who did the same was an incredibly grand moment, ok.

And then… then we were met with the haunting sounds of the intro of Road Movie To Berlin. A song that’s still, even after dozens of relistens, a whole experience each time I hear it when listening to Flood, and, as you might expect, it’s even more of an experience live. And I’m of course mostly talking about this whole sort of breakdown section near the end, but just the whole entire thing really hits anyway.

So when it started I definitely had a little moment of “oh shit, here we go, THE moment is here…”. Something akin to this happened over and over during the whole show obviously, but still, I feel like it was especially big here. Another thing is how later my friend laughed that they once again felt like they were the only person singing the secret third verse. Well, at least one more person did (me). Anyway, all in all it was just, magical, truly.

So, uh. Now, enjoy some top-notch banter that followed.

JL: So, uh, what’s going on here.

JF: We’re in London, John.

JL: We’re in London, we’re doing songs from Flood.

JF: We’re in yet another circular building.

JL: Right.

(a moment of silence)

JF: We’re doing songs from Flood. This is one of them.

(some people in the audience make clearly audible “wooo” noises)

JL: We get to woo.

(people laugh and woo even louder)

JL: There’s this thing in Britain where people get creative with the interactive thing. And it’s kind of good and it’s kind of, like… it worries us. The drunken part of it. It’s a problem.

(someone in the audience laughs in a very pronounced drunken manner)

Ok, Women And Men, that was the next song. Not much to say about this one to be honest, or like, anything at all really. And then more Flood, in the form of Your Racist Friend, which totally rocked, and we, I mean WE specifically, had the pleasure of standing where we could enjoy how Jordan Katz played his trumpet solo right in front of us. Honestly, this was kind of the only major downside of standing where we stood, that the horns were kind of hidden from our view for the most part… So this was a GRAND moment.

I have found that no matter how many times I watch recordings of it, the way Stellub gets introduced at these shows is always extremely funny to me, so here’s, like, almost all of how that went this time.

JF: Folks, we’ve got a very special treat for you right now. When we first embarked on doing these Flood shows, we thought: what can we do to make the show a little more challenging, a little more of… an endurance test. So we thought, we’ll take the time out to learn a song *sonically in reverse*...

(a long pause prompting audience laughter)

JF: …present it to the crowd… who might not enjoy that. (audience laughs) But then, we’re going to record it, on our very special fancy video recording machine, and we’re going to reverse the tape, and present it to you at the top of the second set, which will be… *pure entertainment*.

(audience laughs and woos. claps, also)

JF: …so think of the next two and a half minutes as a *musical investment in your future* (audience, well, laughs). If you brought friends here, we understand; they might be looking at you, going: “WHY?” (audience laughs some more) “Why this, why now? Life is complicated enough, why do bands *insist* on performing songs in reverse?”. But I can assure you, it’s a huge payoff. Especially if the machine works.

At this point I should give a shoutout to my uninitiated brother, who is not a fan of TMBG and whom I sort of dragged along with me here, although well, he did agree to this whole thing (besides the standing in the rain for two hours. He says that’s the part that he didn’t need to experience but well, what could *I* possibly do about that). Because he told me later that yes, the song in reverse thing was pretty cool. Well, I guess I could say as much anyway from how he definitely seemed very amused by Flansburgh’s introduction. But he also told me that if they didn’t say anything about this song being played in reverse, he wouldn’t even be able to tell, because it didn’t sound all that different from all the other songs. So I guess that answers my question of how newcomers may perceive TMBG’s lyrics, in a way. At least in the live show environment. It must be a lot to take in at once.

But anyway, the Johns joked about this whole thing some more (and how the screen was unusually huge for them and had this whole sort of 70s delay effect) and Linnell informed us that he would kick one of his shoes off at the end of the song and that we would also see THAT backwards.

JL: It’s just gonna be CRAZY! It’s gonna look… can’t even describe it.

JF (in silly gruff voice): Tonight! On video tape!

So, Sapphire Bullets Of Pure Love. You know, it’s just yet another of those things where I’ve been awaiting THIS MOMENT, IN REAL LIFE for so long. Very fun and at this point I sometimes even feel like I might be more familiar with the reversed sound of this song than the original… Like, it comes to mind more often. “stiiiiillub rah-fahs”, “stosh-nog, stosh-lut-sip” and similar phrases followed me around for days after the show. And I love how expressive the Johns are during this song, it’s just this whole theatricality of it that makes it very funny and awesome.

My favourite moment was when, in spirit of, well, all of this being performed in reverse, Marty also did the counting down to the start of the song with his drumsticks, but at the end. I read later that Linnell also used to sometimes instruct the audience to applaud before they start playing the song and damn, I wish he still did that because that's just hilarious.

And could this really be… the last song of the first set already - Brontosaurus. One thing about this song is that I used to not care about it much, until I saw a recording of their first live performance of it all the way back sometime around the end of 2022 / beginning of 2023, when I just about cried from the wonder of it all. This song is just a whole new thing live, in huge part thanks to the horns of course. Cathartic maybe is the right word for it. One of those songs that I could be pretty much 100% sure I would hear on this day but even despite that, when it actually came to it… Very very beautiful moment. Maybe this is when I almost cried again actually? Well, there were many contenders.

Set 2

So as you just read here, there was an abundance of stuff in the first set already that had me all like “this is the BEST!!!”, yet… We had this little moment of doubt with my friend, because: a) they were hoping to still hear at least a couple of songs that they didn’t already hear the previous night, b) I, having “analyzed” the setlists from this leg of the tour so far, in order to assess how likely I’d be to hear some of my favs, and if there’s any logic to how they change from night to night, decided that there’s two main setlist that the band alternates between. But based on the first half of the show so far it seemed to me like this was going to be a very similar set of songs to last night’s, and out of those two variants, the one I was hoping for less than the other… It was mostly them playing Darlings today once again that made me think this.

And all in all in my head it was like, well, I’ll probably get either the show with Darlings & Lie Still, Little Bottle (+the STICK!!!) OR the show with lots of miscellaneous songs that were very high on my wishlist. So, in either case I’d be happy, but maybe a bit more happy if we got the second option here…

Anyway. What I’m saying is that, keeping all of the above in mind, and how my expectations for the second set were shaped by that… I really can’t overstate how much of an UNREAL NO WAY YOU GOTTA BE JOKING THIS IS NOT ACTUALLY HAPPENING RIGHT??? time it turned out to be.

So let’s get right into why. And boy, there’s a lot. In a way this is when this show REALLY started for me, not that what was earlier wasn’t incredibly fun and amazing already but. This was just a whole different league. It’s like, I could say that earlier I felt at moments like I’m sometimes transported into some alternate dimension, and from here on it was all just, being transported into that joyous alternate dimension for the whole duration of the show. The TMBG dimension. I’ll get back to this, but being here was really just something like, a different type of existence, so different from the often bleak daily life that I’ve been way too familiar with until then.

One thing that sort of added once again to this whole “it’s all perfectly falling into place” feeling, even before the show started up again, was how I tried to pay attention to the intermission music again, and remembered from my days of watching many live show recordings in late 2022 how someone pointed out that when this one specific song plays, you can tell that the show will start in just a moment. And yeah, they were right. Girl Don’t Come started playing so I knew…

And so the second set started with the reversed recording of the Stellub performance of course (how many times have they performed it by that point? Over a hundred? But yeah, it was scarily accurate, as always), and the alternate version of Hearing Aid with this whole little animation thing, which was also a lot of fun to watch actually.

And so the band was back for the second round… with Memo To Human Resources! So I’d known for a while that this song has been a pretty oft played one recently, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen any recordings of it live? And to be honest my memory of this song is really blurry, so it’s still kind of an enigmatic moment to me now, all in all I’m sure though that it must have hit the same way Moonbeam Rays or Brontosaurus did, and that might explain this whole effect it presumably had on me, heh.

And now, ok. Man, It’s So Loud In Here will never ever feel the same way to me again. Because actually nothing could have prepared me for how amazing it was live. And I didn’t even particularly anticipate this one, but when we got to it… I knew already that it was going to be a blast.

I remember thinking that this is one of those moments that you simply can’t capture in any way, you’re just fully here in the moment and you live it there and remember it forever. I was also thinking about the meaning of the song, about this classic TMBG fashion of singing this song in this huge room full of people, a song about how it’s so loud in here. And I was wondering if that’d be another of those little confusing moments for people unfamiliar with TMBG because yes, I suppose it’s pretty silly… On top of being an incredible and actually moving experience. I’m shedding a tear just thinking about it all now.

So now, more Flood time! Minimum Wage, a song that, per Linnell’s words, they’ve been playing “for 40 years”...

JL: …And we just got to the point where we all end at exactly the same time. We had so much integrity for so long… And now we’re just sleek… robots up here.

JF: Yeah, that AI showbusiness stuff. Nobody likes it - you gotta do it, you know. It’s the way people DO IT!

JL: I’ve got six fingers…. (JL demonstrates how he has six fingers, apparently)

JF: Yeah, yeah… (with emphasis) *AI*.

(long pause prompting audience laughter)

JF: It makes its own punchline!

But um, what was next on the agenda (John)? More songs from the Flood album, oh yes! Let’s give the people some more of what they want!

JL: That feisty… that album by that bunch of maverick… young… rulebreakin’... (pause) But those days are gone.

JF: Well, the one thing that remains is the barricade putting eight feet between us and the front row. That’s the important thing. The distance.

JL: And you know, it’s not for *our* protection, it’s for *yours*.

Alright, so here’s another song. Here’s another song from Flood. And that song is We Want A Rock. What I remember the most about this one is, once again, the beauty of being able to sing these “ridiculous lyrics” when everyone else is doing the same thing, when we’re all singing about how everyone wants a rock to wind a string around and about how everyone wants prosthetic foreheads on their real heads but someone in this town is trying to burn the foreheads down. At some point I just couldn't help having a little laugh over the joy of it all. And also, *boom boom boom* “ooooOOOOOOH!!” *boom boom boom* “oooooOOOOOOH!!”

Then it was Marty time, starting with the drum intro and the BUZZER, for it’s time for Hot Cha! Which becomes even more of a blast with the HORNS of course, and at the very end, can you believe it, I forgot that they change the last line of the song to “please come home” live, so I was slightly taken aback by that. Yes, that’s important to mention here, somehow.

Flansburgh introduced the next song as a song from the Lincoln album and for some goddamned reason the only song I could think of at the moment that fit that criteria was Shoehorn With Teeth.

It was not Shoehorn With Teeth. It was the song that came back to live rotation earlier in 2024 during the spring US tour, but seemed to fall from it afterwards once again, which was a shame, because it’s like, probably my favourite TMBG song to be honest and its newest live rendition was absolutely breathtakingly amazing from what I’ve seen from recordings online. I’m not sure if I was aware by that point of how it miraculously returned as an encore at the show of the night before…

But still, this was like the biggest “this can’t be real actual and happening right now” moment of the night, and maybe. of my. entire life?? And it of course took me a couple of seconds to recognise the song STILL, besides the instant punch of that *feeling* that happened the second the song started. Yeah, Where Your Eyes Don’t Go, played live at my show just like I dreamed about, no big deal, everyday stuff, haha.

The song really IS freaking amazing live though. Where would we be without THE HORNS!!! And honestly I could say a bit more about this “fav song” situation, because not only is it of course among my most beloved ever songs at this moment and has been for over two years, I also remember distinctly that it was the FIRST TMBG song that I loved and couldn’t get enough of and replayed over and over, and it’s a big reason behind why I became a fan in the first place. So, the extra beauty of the significance of it all, it just blows my mind completely.

So, Lucky Ball And Chain was a short little break for collecting myself again, because obviously we were far from done with all the biggest wonders of the night still. And I’m not saying that the song wasn’t a good time, it of course was just like everything else here, so it’s safe to just assume that without me specifying each time. Lol.

But, as I said, the break was short. I would have put seeing Spy live somewhere at the top of my general life goals / bucket list thing, if I had one, that is. I had been very vocal about wanting to see THAT song in particular in discussions with my friend, so the excited glance we exchanged the moment this song started was absolutely priceless and a thing of pure wonder.

Anyway, we all know Spy. We all know that it’s one of the most often played live songs of theirs, and that the reason behind its live durability is the several minutes long improvised jam band section at the end. And I might be one of those maybe rare kinds of people who wouldn’t mind hearing it a hundred times more. It IS improvised after all, so… different each time, ha! It was also very vital to me that I get to take part in the audience participation segment of it… and this is also what was granted to me on this magical evening by whatever godlike forces exist above.

So yeah, this was yet another among the top 5 show moments of course… The biggest highlights here were when Linnell did this sort of old-timey speech (“THIS! Is the *sound* of the thirties. The sound of the SWING ERA!”) that’s probably a reference to something that I’m completely unfamiliar with so that only makes it funnier, and the whole audience conducting part from Flansburgh at the end, because man, he was having a total BLAST with this, it was such a joy to see. And we were all also having a great time, by doing our part and screaming as if we’re in hell. All I’m trying to say here is. I love hellish noise, I love cacophony. This is my perfect kind of show experience, I won’t be hearing any arguments about this.

Ok, so what was the next thing that the Johns prepared with the intent of dealing the biggest emotional damage imaginable to us? Well, remember how Last Wave had never been played live until earlier this year and then they never played it again. Guess what happened now. Well, that’s yet another of the huge and one of the earliest personal favourites of mine returning onto the setlist on the previous evening actually.

This song is. Augh. I just love how it has this sort of elegant, but emotional sound that kind of sets it apart. It’s a completely singular song to me in every sense and I always wondered why they never played it live, but now I’m just glad they finally started playing it. Gotta love yet another AMAZING trumpet solo from Jordan Katz and the Johns’ overdramatized delivery of the lyrics, it’s so much fun. And this song also provided us with some more epic Marty moments, especially the solo and the ending, both just like on the studio recording technically… So maybe that’s why they were so great to see recreated in real time too?

JF: I think we were all a little stunned by the majesty of the ending of that song.

Two days before the show I went to the Natural History Museum here in London, and that's actually very relevant here because when I saw the exhibit that was entitled “Mammals” in that museum, that was when the SONG Mammal started following me around in my mind, for like, most of the remaining time of that day. And I had the amazing realization that oh, it’s not impossible that I could hear this song this next Sunday, played live, so awesome!!

So yeah of course, they played Mammal next. And honestly I’m not even that attached to this song, I do still love it though and it’s one of those situations where I see myself become excited over songs that I feel like are big fan favourites and something that other people are probably very happy about hearing, heh. But maybe even more important yet is that this meant APOLLO 18 representation!! So special to me.

Now I’ll just say that it’s worth it avoiding spoilers sometimes. Like, show spoilers, because I guess I didn’t actually watch that much recent footage and so I had no idea about what other awesome fun stuff was just about to happen.

JF: Folks, folks… we’ve been informed by the people who work here that every single person in the audience tonight is carrying a silly little phone with them. And we'd like to take full advantage of that right now…

We were instructed by Flansburgh to get our phones and open our camera and set it to selfie mode! And then Turn Around, Turn Around, (there’s a thing there that can be found)…

JF: We can see you now and I can tell that nobody is doing what I’m talking about.

You know, so this is when you get to live that wonder of actually BEING THERE once more. And enjoy the way that specifically TMBG shows are, because I’ll be real, I can’t think of any other concert where I could see something like this happening.

JF: Everybody, spin around for just a little bit, get a selfie and we’re gonna photobomb your selfie.

JL: Which we tried to do last night and nobody was getting it!

JF (interrupting): That’s not true! On social media you’re gonna see some very good evidence that some people got together over the course of the twenty minutes we dedicated to this portion of the show.

So yeah, now I can even keep on living my life knowing that I technically have a photo with my favourite musicians in the world. Definitely not something I expected to gain after this day.

JF: We’re gonna take a lot of time doing this. This is possibly the least important thing we’ll be working on…

So that was awesome!!! BUT WAIT THERE WAS MORE!!!!!!

JF: Ok folks, this the second part of the test: see if you can find the flashlight portion of your phone - the more traditional rock portion.

That “more traditional rock portion” part must have been lost on me then, because this was still a singular moment to me (I haven’t been to many live shows before this anyway), and I could only really think of one other thing that this immediately reminded me of. I like yearning for all sorts of things, including those that are in the past now and that I never even could have had a real chance of participating in. Such as the Hollywood Bowl show in 2023, where TMBG opened for Sparks, and during the Sparks show and the song All That everyone in the audience took out their phones and there was this whole sea of lights, people swaying with their phone torches to that song. So, yes, I was NOT expecting either that I’d get to experience THIS as well. After all.

At first I wasn’t even aware that all the stage lights had been turned off for the next song, because with all those torches facing the stage it was so bright in here!! And the song that got this special treatment was Dead - very fitting I must say. The large procession waved their torches AND sang, and I can hear it on the recording of this song especially that the audience was really into the singing part. Loud and beautiful and touching to be there.

And then it was time to thank the band, since the end of the show was actually drawing closer and closer, as absurd as it may have seemed to think about… (not that there was really time to stop and think about that anyway). And I think the Johns did some sort of jab at Elektra Entertainment here, but I unfortunately couldn’t catch what they were saying, rip. Anyway, it must have been very funny I’m sure.

So what songs could possibly still be left and ahead of us now? Two more songs from Flood, here we go.

Why is the world in love again? Because it's time to be marching hand in hand and singing Theme From Flood! And once again being reminded of how WE'RE ALL HERE TOGETHER. All in all, the moment of this song, and it going right into Birdhouse In Your Soul, yes, that was just as ethereal and unreal as I imagined it would be. Even now, as I'm thinking back to it, I start to feel overwhelmed with the excitement, how I was just sort of going “YES YES YES!!!” in my head, after the “I'm your only friend” bit, when it gets kind of quiet for a second and it starts up again we're all jumping and cheering. I could only try to picture an approximation of this scene in my mind months earlier, so thinking about how this actually happened is still absolutely surreal to me. There's just nothing else like Birdhouse.

…

Damn it, I still have a bit more of the show to write about, it’s not the time for tears, brother.

I didn’t want the song to end and it almost seemed like the band didn’t either, because Linnell kept singing the “soul” at the end for several more seconds and also making it goofier still.

Encores time

End of show? No, two encores now. The encore waiting and clapping time until the band comes back on stage felt much much shorter than it always did when I watched recordings of shows. Shouldn't be surprising but everything here felt like it took 10% of the time it actually lasted.

So it was time for the most wondrous thing, a John and John only performance as a duo! This wasn't a total surprise to me, because I knew they switched up the way they play this particular song once again, on some nights at least, but I couldn't be sure that I'd be blessed enough to witness it myself too… And here it was, about to happen!!!

People were screaming Istanbul a lot. I could’ve been easily more annoyed by that, but you know what, I think this is necessary too. How could this be a REAL concert experience without a bunch of presumably drunk people shouting out the titles of songs and being annoying. Maybe if one of those people was standing close to us I'd be talking differently, but… It's part of the charm, sorry.

It was in fact Istanbul (Not Constantinople) time. I’ll be honest, if it weren’t for the duo format I would have not cared for this song any more than I did for Particle Man. But it turned out to be one of my favourite things on this show, yeah, this evening subverted so many expectations in every sense, alright.

You could argue about the significance of the duo format here because OMG, it’s just like in the old days!!!! The good old days or whatever. But no, it’s also just… I don’t know. Even to me, who obviously hasn’t known TMBG for that long, it was another of those kind of touching moments. And what made it all even better was when soon after this show, I happened to watch a video of a Flood show… from 1990. Like wow, this really is kind of just like the 1990 duo days. EXCEPT it’s much cooler now actually.

I didn’t record this song but definitely would have if our view for it was better. Well, thankfully someone else took care of that anyway. And I think that instead of me trying to describe it here, everyone should just do themselves a favour and watch it. I can't get over how beautifully unserious and funny this performance was, watching that must have been the most fun I've had in a looooong time. Again, top 5 moments of the night, maybe top 3 even.

Now, what were the funniest bits. “Peoplejustpeoplejustpeoplejust…” and the Get In The Car bit. And the “yeeeeeees”. And the “noooooo”. And the “istanbuuuuuuul…. ouuuuu…. oouuuuuu…”. You get it, right.

Can’t Keep Johnny Down was the second song of the encore and this performance is the only reason why this song suddenly became like, a literal favorite. The power of live shows! Now whenever I hear it I'm just like. OOOOOH Johnny. Save me Johnny, save me.

Linnell told us “thanks so much, you guys are great!” before they all left the stage :) And of course there was still one more song that I had to hear today. So after more clapping and cheering they were back on stage again.

JL: Yes! Thanks a million. No! Two million! (in a bit of a jokey voice) …I’ve never thanked that much before.

And you know what, I choose to believe that he meant it.

The last song of the night was Doctor Worm. I don’t know what else I can say about this song now, just that upon relistening to this whole show again I’m realizing that I could just. call this song kind of a perfect live song. Maybe I associate it with live shows more than anything else since it's not featured on any studio album and I've definitely heard it wayyyy more times in the form of live recordings than the studio version. And also maybe I lied that Synopsis haunted me the most after the show, Doctor Worm must have been even more insistent in that sense, and I had no issue with that honestly.

And so, with the last one “They call me Dooctooor WOOOOOORM!!” and a finishing BWAAAAA from the horns, the show was over.

After the show

Don’t worry, there’s much less to talk about now in terms of the after show stuff compared to before the show. Just this one important thing that, yet again, as if this wasn’t ENOUGH ALREADY…!!! We had to hang out by the stage for a bit longer still, because there’s a chance of ending up with a SETLIST. Or a drumstick. But I guess the setlist was more important.

And Marty walked over to us. And handed us the setlist. I mean, it was my friend who grabbed the setlist, but to me that was just like we all were chosen, it really didn't matter to me who actually had it. So it was a win! I really couldn’t ask for anything else by that point. I got it all.

Then we had to wait for a bit by the merch stand because lots of folks gathered there and thankfully, there was still lots of stuff to choose from! I would have loved to go a bit more crazy with this maybe, but since I still had to keep in mind having to travel back with all this stuff, flying, customs and all that… I settled for a tour shirt, because yeah, a shirt with the dates of the tour I ATTENDED printed on it? I needed that, that would do as the only physical souvenir even, no need for anything more (well, I actually did get a bit more, because the very next day I went by a random record store here in Camden Town in hopes of finding THE album somewhere in London still. and guess what I found….., but that’s a whole different story so let me just limit myself to only the day of the show in this post). The shirt is a total slay by the way, I love the burgundy color.

After we left the venue we still managed to bump into more folks going back from the concert. And like 3 different people in total who asked us about the setlist and where we arrived from, said that woooow, you deserve to have it then. Thank you people for also appreciating all the hard work that went into this.

My brother & I had a very short way back to our hotel now, so in the end it really felt like we just returned from a quick little fun event just down the street. Even though we travelled pretty far to get here, you know. So it didn't even feel like some huge endeavour or anything all that unusual, and I mean that in the best way possible.

So my day ended with my head full of thoughts and images and fragments of songs looped ad nauseam. And also with an aching back and no energy left in me to stand for even one more minute. The tiredness was very real but I must say that tired-happy might be one of the best emotions / states one could have to deal with. I hope I can do all of this again someday, because I’m actually so serious that I wouldn’t mind going to a TMBG show every other evening if I could. That’s the dream actually.

Miscellaneous T(houghts) time

Ok, I swear I’m almost done. Just a couple general / finishing observations about the show as a whole now.

● First of all, I want to come back for a bit to that TMBG dimension thing. Because this whole thing really was sort of like entering some sort of different mode of existing. The Johns are very funny guys and the whole band’s energy is extremely infectious, but I also think it’s a very special thing how their stage presence creates this whole atmosphere that’s just completely laid-back and fun in the purest form of fun. Even when there’s a big crowd and we’re in an “important” venue. Because you sort of really feel at home, like you’re exactly where you belong. And earlier I could imagine it being more like, oh the stakes are so high, because this is THE EVENT, finally. And in reality this was the most relaxed I’ve felt in a very long time. And I was almost painfully aware of how I was watching it all with sparkly eyes, hoping that it’s maybe not too obvious because waaaah, embarrassing, it’s not like I’m having the best time ever right now or anything, please.

● However, all of the above definitely had a lot to do with how the audience was at the show, and I was just really surprised by how very awesome the audience's energy was. Like I could imagine it being maybe less enthusiastic after all because uh well, maybe a lot of people actually could be here more for Flood and Birdhouse and all that rather than the actual band… Shouldn’t have underestimated this fanbase, because the audience was so responsive to everything and just made it feel even more like the explosion of joy it really was. And I really felt like I was with *my* people, and, especially when it’s a huge group like this.. that’s very rare and special to me.

● I’ve discovered that in TMBG dimension time isn’t real because I swear, when the first set was coming to a close, I felt like maybe only 20 minutes passed and we’ve only heard maybe 6 songs so far, instead of the actual. 17 songs. 17?? damn, that's a lot of songs. I actually haven’t counted them until now. And it was 33 songs in total, 36 if you add the intros and reversed Stellub, huh!

● You people weren’t lying about the Linnell stare. Actually, related to this, another worry I sort of had before this was that should I end up close to the stage, I might feel too awkward about being possibly perceived by the band in any way to truly enjoy myself. But that actually wasn’t the case at all, not counting like a couple of moments only where I’d make maybe-imaginary, maybe-real eye contact with someone from the band and have to look way fast because noooo, don’t perceive me actually, lol.

● And again, you people weren’t lying either that these guys have unbelievable amounts of energy that make you feel like an old man who can barely stand for a couple hours in comparison. This is coming from a 23-year-old, maybe not the most athletic person in the world, but still. Also, Marty really is the guy of all time, loved watching his antics. And one more special shoutout to the Tricerachops Horns, because yes, these songs I’ve loved for a while already CAN get even better and simply epic and beautiful.

All in all, best show ever! Honestly, I don’t know if any other show could possibly top this. I would be very happy to be proven wrong of course, especially if that were to happen because of another TMBG show. Thank you Johns and everyone else for this evening, it was a dream come true and I’ll never forget how out of this world and amazing it was!!

[oceaneyesinla]

Reciprocal

I enjoyed writing this so much, and I desperately want a Giyuu of my own.

Warnings: Both Giyuu and Reader are implied to have mental health problems, and this does deal with bad mental health days. Take care of yourselves, everyone <3

Divider by @cafekitsune

It felt like you hadn’t seen your boyfriend in forever - the last week or two, you had communicated almost exclusively by text or call. The school year was drawing to a close, and tensions were running high with both students and teachers. Giyuu could be firm, and occasionally a little uptight about the school rules, but you knew he cared. You saw evidence of it every day - from watching him work into the night to plan lessons that would suit every student and their abilities, to accompanying him to stock up the little stash of sanitary products he kept on hand for anyone who might need them.

The end of the school year was a completely reasonable explanation for why you hadn’t seen Giyuu, but something about the tone of his voice and the look in his eyes when you video called him made you think something bigger was going on.

You had tried to check in with him as much as you could, but you couldn’t force the information out of him if he wasn’t willing to share. Giyuu always did play his cards close to his chest, never confessing how he felt, even if it was eating him alive.

So you did the next best thing - you reached out to the people he loved the most. Tsutako answered your call with a fond greeting, and filled you in on her business trip - the one you knew she was supposed to have returned from a week ago. It had been extended due to a new opportunity for the shop, she explained - and a few pieces began to fall into place.

Your next call was to Urokodaki-san, the man who had tutored you and Giyuu as children, and still took care of you to this day. Both of you made an effort to keep in touch with the old man, but he informed you that other than at work, he had barely heard from Giyuu recently. You finished the call with a promise to visit soon, once Giyuu was less occupied.

The final call was to Kanae - Giyuu’s favourite colleague, and your best friend. You could hear the worry in her voice as she told you about Giyuu’s recent retreat into himself - eating alone at lunch, avoiding his coworkers during breaks. She was apologetic as she admitted that he and Sanemi had been butting heads; petty arguments and snippy comments. You hung up the call, finally feeling like you understood where his head was at.

Your poor Giyuu. Missing his sister, whom he met up with at least once a week and texted every day. The stress of year end probably wasn’t helping, and he always ended up arguing with Sanemi when he got like this, because Giyuu never communicated well and Sanemi didn’t understand why he sometimes spiralled into self-hatred. It explained why he was isolating himself - he was overwhelmed, and didn’t feel like he deserved to seek the comfort he was likely desperate for.

You couldn’t make everything better with a snap of your fingers, as much as you wished you could. What you could do, though, was remind him that you would always be there for him to rely on, even when he felt like he didn’t deserve it.

You made the short journey to his apartment as soon as you left work, picking up the essential supplies at the konbini down the street. His front door key had adorned your keyring since he moved in, alongside the little fox mask charm he bought you back when you were still just kids with crushes. Even before you stopped pretending you weren’t head over heels for each other, you were attached at the hip.

Letting yourself in, you had a plan. First - organise all the ingredients you had bought. It was a possibility that you had gone a little overboard, and probably bought things Giyuu already had in his cupboards, but you didn’t care. You were determined to give him the most relaxing night possible, and that meant you needed to prepare his favourite meal. The ice cream was tucked away safely in the freezer for later

You quickly fell into the familiar motions of making salmon daikon. It was something you cooked on a semi-regular basis, because you were weak and the little smile it put on Giyuu’s face when he ate it was worth more than any masterpiece on Earth. His eyes would sparkle like sapphires and more than once, you caught him swinging his legs like a little child as he tucked in. You had your own fond memories of the recipe; standing next to Tsutako on a step stool so you could reach the counter, all the focus your little mind could manage on the process of making your best friend’s favourite food.

Once the cooking was done and the kitchen returned to its usual state, you moved onto your next task - setting up the couch. You had plenty of experience with looking after Giyuu when he fell into a bad spot, and you knew just what would help - so you pulled out every blanket he owned, including a couple you were sure he must have stolen from your collection when he helped you move out from Urokodaki-san’s place. Those two were both draped over his bed, and it warmed your heart as much as it broke it. Never mind. You had already decided - your boyfriend would have more than fabric to hold through the night; for the next few days at the very least.

The blankets were all tossed on the couch, and you pushed the little side table closer so you would be able to reach your drinks and snacks without having to move too much. You intended to wrap your boyfriend in blankets and cuddle him until he felt better, and you wanted as little as possible to get in the way of that.

You were just standing back to admire your handiwork when you heard a little click and the gentle swish of the front door opening. Your lips pulled up into an excited grin as you bounced down the hall, coming to a halt at the edge of the entryway and watching as your boyfriend slipped his shoes off, freezing in place as he went to tuck them away only to find a smaller pair already in situ.

“Welcome home, baby.” Ocean eyes shot up to meet yours, and widened in surprise as he bolted upright. He just stared at you, and your bright grin began to fade away the longer he stood there, unmoving and silent.

Was this a bad idea? Should you have asked him before barging into his home? Maybe he just wanted to relax alone, or maybe he didn’t feel up to putting up with you. Your hands clasped together and your fingers started playing with a little patch of dry skin as you mumbled out explanations and apologies, “I’m sorry, I should have warned you I was coming. I just wanted to do something for you, and I was missing you anyway, and I spoke to -”

Your rambling was interrupted as Giyuu suddenly jumped into action, crossing the distance and slamming into you, arms wrapping around you as he clutched you against him. His face was buried into the skin of your neck so his words were muffled, but you still made out his little, “Don’t apologise.”

Your smile came back, softer and sweeter as you stroked a gentle hand through his hair, wrapping your other arm around him just as tight as he was holding you. If you felt a couple of little drops of wetness leak onto your skin, you didn’t mention it.

You could feel him relaxing into your hold, and you turned your head to press a kiss against his temple. He released a big breath, pulling away just enough that he could see your face; still keeping you locked in his hold. The intensity in his gaze was unexpected, and before you could say anything, he blurted out, “Move in with me.”

You blinked up at him, wide smile growing on your face as you processed his words. At your nod, his lips curled up into that little smile you adored so much; the one he always wore when he was truly happy. He pulled you back in close, cradling you against his chest and rocking you a little.

A little sniff above you made you laugh, especially once you looked up and saw the little hopeful gleam in his eye, “Is that salmon daikon?”

“Of course. You deserve some comfort, baby.” He deserved the world, and he deserved to never feel like he wasn’t worth the love you freely gave him, but baby steps. You would remind him of that tomorrow, when he woke up to your loving kisses and gentle touches.

“I love you.” He leaned down to press a kiss against your lips, tears welling on his lash line, and you felt every ounce of the love he just proclaimed to you. You murmured the words in return and there was that smile again, lighting up his face and chasing away some of that lingering, bone deep sadness you knew was sitting beneath the surface.

He still looked tired, and you knew it would take more than one good night to get him through this rough patch, but as you watched him chomp on his daikon, eyes bright and legs swinging, you knew he would be okay. He was strong, and you would always be there, right by his side.

*********************

To say that work was hell would be an understatement, and an insult to Satan and his probably quite lovely home. It had to be better than your current workplace - constantly understaffed, and constantly watched over by the worst manager you had ever had the ‘pleasure’ of working under. She was always quick to catch even the most minor mistake, and had even made some of your colleagues cry. Just her presence in the office was enough to set everyone on edge, like looking up at a black cloud sky and waiting for the thunderstorm to hit, never knowing what the fallout would be.

Her attitude lately had somehow been even worse than usual, and you were her new target. Tears still threatened to spill over as you left the building, waiting to join the others drying on your cheeks. In front of everyone, she had berated you for a minor mistake in your paperwork - nothing, in comparison to what could go wrong in your job, but still unforgivable in her eyes. When rationality prevailed, you knew this - you knew what she was like, you knew how insignificant this mistake was. However, the anxiety that swirled around in your brain, haunting your every action, meant that this tiny incident had your mind working overtime. What else had you potentially missed? Could this be just the beginning, and it would turn out that you had made some other slip up, something far worse? Something that could hurt someone?

When you finally stood in front of the door to the apartment you shared with your boyfriend, you couldn’t remember how you got there. The journey was nothing but a blur. You pulled out your keys and let yourself in, wishing Giyuu was home. You knew he wouldn’t be - he called you earlier, the only bright spot in an otherwise awful day. The little smile you could hear in his voice encouraged one of your own, and he excitedly told you he was going out with his sister straight after he finished at the school.

You were almost glad he wouldn’t have to see you like this, but you selfishly wanted his comfort. You wanted strong arms wrapped around you, holding you tight against his firm chest so you could press your face into the crook of his neck and breathe in the scent of him - a mix of the sea salt soap he preferred to use and the laundry detergent you now shared; the smell of home.

Just thinking of him was making you emotional all over again, and you shook your head to try and clear it before slipping off your shoes and making your way to the kitchen. You needed to eat something, but even turning the oven on felt like too much effort. Your anxiety had faded a little, but it always left you in a weird state of disconnect - mind exhausted but your body unable to rest. 

You never made it to the kitchen, because the little table you kept in the entryway caught your eye. There was the bowl you kept your keys in, a couple of loose hair ties, the cactus Kanae gave you for your birthday (that you and Giyuu doted on like it was your firstborn). All completely normal, and not what caught your attention. There was something new, placed in the middle of the table, with a note tucked underneath the base.

It was a beautiful glass butterfly; the body was a deep blue that reminded you of the depths of Giyuu’s eyes and the open ocean on your last trip to Okinawa. On the wings, the colour blossomed outwards, fading from that deep blue to a lighter shade. It was like looking at the ocean from above, and watching the colour change as your eye wandered from the mysterious reaches of the open water to the sparkling shallows of the shoreline.

Your hands were trembling ever so slightly as you carefully extricated the handwritten note from underneath the glasswork. As you read it, those tears you worked so hard to hold in began to slip down your cheeks, but this time, they were caused by love so strong it felt like your heart was overflowing.

Saw this at the market and thought of you

Forever yours, Giyuu

He signed off every note he left you exactly like that, no matter whether it was a heartfelt confession or the weekly shopping list. The effortless sentimentality he gave to those he loved was the reason you became fast friends as children, and it was the reason you fell a little more in love with him every single day.

The gifted trinket was just another facet of his love - your shelves were littered with little offerings; gacha toys, wooden carvings, even shells collected from the sands of the beach you visited every year. Every so often, he would arrive home and place a little wrapped item in your hands, pressing a kiss to your head as his eyes greedily took in your joy. Or, like today, you would come home to a piece of paper bearing handwriting you would know anywhere, and a new bauble placed on top.

This was a regular occurrence, but something about the familiar action today was tearing you apart. You clutched the note against your chest as sobs began to escape you. You wanted Giyuu home. You wanted him home and here and wrapped around you and -

The click of the door lock made you jump, and you looked up to find your Giyuu right there in front of you, as if summoned by your desperate wish for his presence. Ocean eyes were wide as he took in what was probably a fairly troubling sight to come home to - his girlfriend, sobbing in the hallway, cheeks flush with emotion and eyes red ringed.

“Love, what’s wrong? What happened?” He practically teleported to your side, cradling your cheek with his hand and brushing away a few tears with a featherlight touch.

You tried to force out an explanation, but the way you were tripping over your words and choking on your sobs made it sound incomprehensible even to you. Giyuu was unfazed, though; just bringing up his other hand so your face was cradled in his gentle hold and your eyes had to meet his.

“Breathe with me, okay?” His voice was low and steady, and his hands were warm against your skin as you followed his directions. Deep breath in, hold, deep breath out - a pattern you were intimately familiar with, and one Giyuu had talked you through more times than you could remember. His fingertips were making soothing tracks along your hairline and slowly but surely, you began to feel calmer, your tears coming to a halt and the nauseating feeling of anxiety fading away.

Giyuu’s lips brushed over your forehead as he murmured out praises, “Good girl. Can you tell me why you’re so upset? What can I do?”

Always so eager to support you, and always oblivious to how much he did for you just by existing in your orbit. You leaned forward, resting your head against his chest and laying your hand against his ribcage, stroking over the fabric of his t-shirt and smiling to yourself at his shiver, “I love you so much.”

You could practically feel his confusion, his hand faltering in its slow sweeps up and down your back, and you pulled back to meet his gaze, smiling at the slight furrow of his brow, “You bought me a butterfly. I had an awful day, and you bought me a butterfly.”

You could see he still didn’t quite see the connection, “I saw it on the way home from the school earlier. You love butterflies; of course I bought it.”

You could feel tears building up again - all of your emotions still on high alert, “When did you even have time? I thought you were meeting up with Tsutako after work?”

“I did.” His hands had come to rest on your hips, thumbs rubbing gentle circles into the plush there, “The school closed early today. I came home to change, and drop off your butterfly before I met up with her. I wanted you to have a surprise to come home to.”

Your sweet Giyuu. Truly, you weren't sure what you had done to deserve him, but you thanked whatever stars aligned to bring the two of you together every day.

“Want to talk about your day?” You immediately shook your head at his question. You couldn't bring yourself to think back on it; not now. It still felt too fresh, and your mind still felt too overwhelmed. At your vehement reaction, he just nodded, leaning in to press his lips to yours in a soft kiss, “Okay. Go and shower; I'll cook dinner.”

Easy directions, one step at a time. On nights like these, you needed that gentle guidance, and your boyfriend was all too happy to oblige. As you followed his instructions, pulling out one of his t-shirts and a pair of shorts, you could hear him clattering pots and pans. You took a deep breath, letting the sounds of your life together calm you down. 

After your shower, you padded out to the kitchen, towelling off your hair as you leaned against the doorframe to watch Giyuu work. He must have felt your gaze on his back, or heard your soft footsteps against the wood, because he looked over his shoulder, satisfied smile blooming on his face as his eyes trailed over the shirt you wore.

“Feel a little better, love?” His voice was warm and infinitely loving, and you moved forward to wrap your arms around his middle, nuzzling against his back. You did feel a little better, and between the warmth radiating from him and the smell of food all around you, you were beginning to feel sleepy and relaxed.

You yawned against him and he let out a little chuckle, patting at your hands, “Come on. Eat, then we can go cuddle in bed. There’s a new episode of that anime we’ve been watching tonight.”

That perked you up - somehow, you forgot about that. You pulled away from Giyuu, tiredness pushed to one side as you began to babble about everything you were looking forward to in the episode. When you looked back up at Giyuu, you found him watching you with a lovesick smile and warm eyes. Heat pooled in your cheeks under his loving gaze but you held his eye, meeting him with a smile of your own. The day had been horrible, but at least you would end it in Giyuu’s arms. Tomorrow, you would tell him all about your shitty manager and he would listen intently, and he would validate every irrational worried thought in your mind, and it would be okay. It always would be, as long as you had him in your corner when the world felt too scary and too overwhelming to manage alone.

[pineapplefulfillseveryneed]

The Revenge Of Two Hands One Mouth - O2 Academy Bristol (November 27, 2013) by Adam Gasson

After 11 years of not finding a single photo from this show, I found these yesterday! I can not begin to express what this means to me, I nearly cried and I couldn't sleep last night. I was still a rather new fan and this was my first time going to a show in the UK, the first show I went to see with a friend, and my first time meeting that friend, too. And these above photos are SO GOOD! Not much was preserved from this show at all, there was no recording allowed (no charcoal drawings either), and to my knowledge not even the full setlist for this specific show was preserved anywhere. So better late than never, but here's what I remember (with some help from these photos!) and the things I've puzzled back together:

If there was opening music or an opening act, i don't recall, but Russell entered the stage alone. It was dramatic and impactful, and it went quiet as he gave an intense stare into the audience and did a drawn out "ahhh" into the microphone. After a little moment of quiet, it turned out the microphone had been connected to a sequencer which now started repeating "ah ah ah ah ah ah". Suspense, excitement. Russell added: "Hold, hold, hold, hold". (...I was definitely freaking out.) While that started looping on top of the ah ah ah sequence, he made stop signs with his hand as we all listened. A few repeats passed. "I'm getting mixed signals, mixed signals - mixed, mixed, mixed signals".

^ the only seconds of this show I recorded as I didn't yet know it wasn't allowed - security signed at me and I put the camera away. It was fine. (Here's a recording of it made during the US tour later that year - recording seemed to be less frowned upon at that point.)

I don't recall when Ron entered the stage at this show, whether it was during the song or after, but what a way to open! And what an amazing song choice!

The performance that left the biggest impression on me at this show though was Nicotina. It was a choice I didn't see coming, but also the way Russell sang it! Falsetto heaven. (Sadly not a single video is to be found of Nicotina from this tour. But for your falsetto heaven needs, I hope you can find a video of Here In Heaven that they also performed on this tour, because that will also kill you.)

As everyone here probably knows I am quite big on Bergman, which at the time was heavily promoted during the tours, and, the excerpts they played on this tour were different from what they played during Two Hands One Mouth! They played "I Am Ingmar Bergman", The Studio Commissary (my favourite song on Bergman), Limo Driver (but sang by Russell, and HOW!) and "Oh My God". (Here's a video of it from one of the American shows. It's extremely good. People who've been around for a while have seen me lose it over this video many times.)

The most unexpected song choice was probably Katherine Hepburn. Me and my friend had been joking for absolute months that we were going to see Sparks and they'd play Katherine Hepburn (as if that would ever happen, we were obsessed with that song though!). And here we were, and they were playing Katherine Hepburn right in front of our eyes. (What is reality.)

Falling In Love With Myself Again had me losing it over the organ sounds, always a fan of Ron on organ, and I LOVE that song. Russell sang a line in my direction (I died), and he managed to throw another line at me during Those Mysteries ...I died a few times that night. As you might expect. That was kind of the whole THOM/TROTHOM experience anyway. Lots of dying. But the variety of dying where you end up in heaven. (You're at a Sparks show after all.)

They wrote a song especially for this tour, which was not released but only ever played live: Revenge Of Two Hands One Mouth. What a thing to experience! A very dark song, but wonderful. (REVENGE! REVENGE REVENGE!)

At the end of the show Ron took a photo of Russell with the audience. I don't really remember that happening, but the photo exists and it really was not a thing they did often back then. We had been a good audience :)

Here's all the songs that were probably played that night in random order:

Your Call's Very Important To Us. Please Hold., B.C., Good Morning, Here In Heaven, Academy Award Performance, Those Mysteries, Falling In Love With Myself Again, Big Boy, Nicotina, Popularity, This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us, excerpts from The Seduction Of Ingmar Bergman, Tryouts For The Human Race, Katherine Hepburn, Revenge Of Two Hands One Mouth. They likely also played The Number One Song in Heaven, When Do I Get To Sing 'My Way' and Suburban Homeboy. (I see mentions of How Are You Getting Home? and How Do I Get To Carnegie Hall? in setlists for this tour as well, which they very well might have played but I very sadly have zero memory of ever hearing those songs live.)

This tour had a real air of mystery, possibly even more so than Two Hands One Mouth, as the lack of existing footage definitely adds to it. But luckily some of it *is* out there, and I am so grateful for these photos :) On top of the songs I especially mentioned above, I would also advise people to look for recordings of Tryouts For The Human Race and Popularity from this tour, because the arrangements are probably not going to be the way you expect them to be. And as you might expect: B.C. is stunning live. (I could start a whole rant about Good Morning and Suburban Homeboy live but I think I sufficiently screamed about both in my personal notes on THOM the year prior.) Final note: I know Russell had some sort of dance move for Big Boy because me and another friend couldn't stop talking about it for months. I don't remember what he did, but both THOM and TROTHOM were wonderful for Russell dances <3

[savannahthefangirl]

MY BUNDLE HAS ARRIVED EARLIER THIS WEEK

Oh boy, am I glad to announce that after SIX AND A HALF YEARS OF WAITING, I finally got my hands on some DA Merch, that being the lovely Rotom Royal Flush Bundle

WARNING: A COUPLE OF IMAGES BELOW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE COMIC, SO FOR THOSE STILL WAITING ON THEIR BUNDLES WHO DON’T WANNA BE SPOILED, I RECOMMEND SCROLLING PAST THIS POST!

So for starters, we have everything that was in the package

Now for each independent item, starting off with the comic book, as well as a few of my favourite panels in it along with the front and the back pages, which the latter is completely blank, so if anyone is going to any conventions that have either Will, the development team, and/or the VAs going there, I recommend that you take that as an opportunity to get your comic books autographed (The lovely illustrations being done by @aspennightray, who I recommend you checking out if you haven’t already)

Next we have the cards, which were designed by Aeroartwork (I don’t know about their socials, so if anyone who does know can reply with them, let me know cause I really wanna follow them), starting off with the DACrew and their guests (My favourites from them being Will, Chrissy, Chris and the card shared by SaltyDKDan and Chi-Chi)

And now we’re at the cards that feature the Rotom Family, where it’s REALLY hard for me to pick favourites, as all their cards look amazing, tho I will admit that the first card I took a picture of (as in the moment I opened the box on Tuesday night) was Bolvadeer, given that he’s my favourite out of all of them

And last, but not least for the cards, we have the Rotom Corp. logo as the ace card. Nothing more to say on this one

Like the comic book, there are a few blank cards at the end of the deck for unknown reason, so once again, I encourage any con-goers to use these to gain signatures from anyone involved in the making of Solitude.

And lastly, in terms of items that are part of the bundle, and probably the most hyped part of it as far as I’m aware, we have the Xavier Rotom figure, who just looks very polite, tho my mom said, her words, not mine, “I don’t know, he looks pretty scary to me, but you just seem to love him.” The one thing that looks a bit off to me is the angle he’s positioned in, which I could only guess is due to them using the same pose in the first ever 2D render of him that came out back in 2021 (Second image by TheAbbeyRoadie on Twitter)

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

When the bundle was delivered to me, as well as many other people who ordered it, it came along with either two plushies or a DAGames enamel pin, tho it was mostly the former people were getting. Now as of me posting this, there isn’t a concrete reason as to why these were being shipped with the bundles if aren’t part of it in the first place, with some speculations being

Option A) An apology gift on the side for how long the shipping process has been for everyone

Option B) A way for Ownaj to clear up storage, as a lot of these plushies are repetitively seen

Option C) A method to have the box that the Xavier figure was in kept in place

Option D) All of the above

Regardless, everyone was humble enough to keep these little trinkets as their own, so I’ll post pictures of the ones I’ve gotten as well

So yeah, if there’s one good thing to come out of this year, it’s that I’ve finally made my longtime dream come true. Don’t know how my mom’s gonna feel about me when Christmas rolls around tho, as she’s spent a hundred and ten Canadian dollars for this bundle ^^’ But yeah, I might make a video going into better detail of the bundle, as well as Solitude in general 🖤❤️🩵💜💛

[firephoenix23]

Hi, thank you for your posts being one of the reasons why I'm into Slugterra recently. They are positive, perceptive, and are addicting to look at and read. 💗 In light of this, I have a question if you are willing to answer it: Do you personally have any cute, fluffy, or funny headcanons for the members of the Shane Gang? Or even anything about your favourite friendship dynamics or ships? Even just thoughts, ramblings, and theories about them are ok. 😉

Oh my god, this is actually the sweetest comment. Thank you so much! 🤗🥰 As for headcanons and theories, I definitely have had so many, so better sit tight and get comfy. Sorry that it took me so long to respond. I was so busy with work. Also sorry if this is hella chaotic and hella long 😅

Eli

I think forever and always Eli will be a short king. Like I know he's 15 in the show and like he could grow more but I've always thought he'd be short forever. I think it works for him because I always thought he was the fastest and most agile of the Shane gang so

Eli is always seen sleeping or napping around the hideout, so I always assume he's a terrible night sleeper. I'm so convinced that kid has insomnia or something and makes it up with naps throughout the day

Definitely has ADHD, no one can convince me otherwise. Like he said one line in an episode that went something like I'm kinda new at this whole planning thing. Tell me you have ADHD without telling me 😂

I actually think in an alternate universe where Slugterra never existed and he stayed on the surface I think he would be a vet or like some environmentalist hippy when he gets older. I mean, the whole show I feel like is literally about him helping slugs and fighting a man corrupting them so i think it makes sense

Okay so like i always kinda theorized that he would like men. Like I know I know I'm sorry to the Eli x Trixie but in my mind for some reason I just like can't see him with a girl. Or maybe he has more of a preference for men something like that

I feel like this is one goes with the one above, but I'm gonna say it anyway, I've seen people theorize Eli as a trans man and honestly, I don't if i necessarily headcanon it but I think it’s kinda slay. And I doesn't make sense chronologically in the show but whatever trans rights 🏳️‍⚧️ ✊

Well, this one is kinda shown in the show, but I think Eli's an awful singer, like ungodly bad. They have him hum in the Eastern Cavern Christmas episode, and it is the worst thing I have ever heard in my life 😂

I also think that Eli is probably mixed or multiracial. I definitely think he's Mexican and then Irish (for the whitest last name that has ever graced my eyes) Chinese (check Junjie section for that one 😂) Middle Eastern (Lebanese, Egyptian, etc) I feel like if he's Canadian probably got some Native in him too. I have like no reasoning for some of these it's just what I feel. I know he's probably just a white boy, but let me have my fun

Eli is not the biggest fan of crying in front of people or crying in general. He's got that surface toxic masculinity ofc, but being in Slugterra has made him open up more to his friends

If he's not sleeping or fighting bad guys, he's training or working out or brain rotting by watching videos on the slugnet

I also think that Eli would probably be kinda awkward to meet if you went up to him. Like if he's not there for Shane business, he doesn't really know what to do with himself. I mean he went from being a nobody on the surface to being 🌟THE SHANE🌟 and everyone wants to talk to him. If i was 15 and I became that famous, I would be awkward too

He's also the youngest in the Shane gang

🗣️Eli is Canadian 🗣️

Trixie

So this isn't necessarily my headcanon, but I saw this a Long, LONG time ago, there was one theory that Trixie was Dr. Blakk's daughter. I'm not sure how they came up with this theory but I think it's so interesting and crazy. It would ask more questions than answer them, like why was Tad on the surface but Trixie raised in slugterra and how Dr. Blakk could have two kids he didn't know or we assume for Tad but it would just be such a crazy concept

I feel like Trixie doesn't have the greatest relationship with her mom. She definitely has very fond memories of her, but it doesn't seem like she visits her mom that much. I feel like they get into a lot of disagreements.

As for age, I think Trixie is about 16 or 17 years old

Trixie is definitely the most direct of the Shane gang. She will tell it like it is and will not sugarcoat it. Like if she doesn't like you or like something, she'll be the first to say something

AU, if Slugeterra didn't exist, she would 100 percent be like a big Twitch streamer or a YouTuber. I mean, she's got a love of filming and gaming so it makes sense to me

It's kinda implied in the show but I think she's really big into animals not just slugs. I feel like her and Eli would sit around her computer or tv watching slugterra animal documentaries or something 😂

Also, going back to the filming, this isn't really a headcanon for Trixie, but the slugisodes that they put on YouTube are all the videos she made. Again it's implied, but I thought I would mention it

For sexuality, I don't know, maybe bi. She's giving me bi energy

Kord

I think Kord is the best cook out of the gang (with Pronto at the bottom) but because he's always updating the mechas or fixing blasters or whatever, he never really gets the chance to cook oh but when he does 👌😩

I would say Kord is about 19 or 20 years old

Once again going on the theme of Shane gang family issues but I think Kord's family was not the happiest knowing he was gonna leave the pretty safe career of being an engineer for the dangerous and low pay career of a slugslinger

Going off of that I feel like a lot of the non-human groups of Slugterra have a lot of negative stereotypes around them, and Kord becoming a slugslinger was his way of breaking the stereotype that cave trolls are only engineers

For slugterraless AU Kord would probably be like an aerospace engineer or a completely different route and be a therapist maybe he would try for both

He's definitely the unofficial therapist of the group. He's a good listener and will sit and nod along as the other person just rants rambles, or sobs

Probably got that sleep apnea with the way he sores in the show

Almost NEVER showers, but surprisingly not stinky

He will spend all day working on a project and sometimes forgets to eat so the gang will have to come into the garage and give him food

Not gonna lie he's been a bit jealous of Eli and how quick he was to figure things out in slugterra with slugslinging and especially at such a young age but he's mostly gotten over it... mostly

I mean we know he likes women what with Druilla but I don't think Kord would be opposed to guys. So bi prob with more a preference for men

Pronto

Once again, it's not my theory, but I saw something a long time ago that the King of the Molelinoids?? was chosen by who is the greatest tracker out of all the moles, and that happened to be Pronto. I honestly think this makes the most sense

Okay, so for age, I always got the sense that he was a lot older than the rest of the Shane gang, like in his early 30s, just because there are slugisodes about young Pronto, so...

I think that's why they feel the need to have him cook because he's the technically adult in the house but I mean like look at him 😂

Also considering he was king I assume he never cooked (b/c he was too busy cleaning out toilets 😅) Meaning that he's probably the worst cook but not by much since Eli's 15 and can't even boil pasta without the water spilling over

Now my theory for why Pronto was in the Shane hideout was b/c I do think he was stealing some Shane shit that he could sell for that gold and new purse ofc🪙👛that's why he looked so shocked and nervous when Eli arrived he really thought Eli was gonna arrest him or something

He is definitely the loudest and most extroverted of the Shane gang. Like my man, he has never heard of a quiet button, and it drives the others nuts. He'll just go up and talk to anyone it's so hard to take him places sometimes 😅

Pronto has a twin named Pinto, it's not a headcanon it's stated in ROTE but I thought I would mention it

He's definitely the messiest of the Shane

He also is the most active on social media (even more than the official shane gang channel on the slugnet) and those the most interviews for tv (which my other theory would be that Eli is hella glad Pronto wants to do them despite him only talking about himself)

For slugterraless AU Iiterally have no idea what Pronto would do like no thoughts 😂 he could be anything and everything

For sexuality I feel like Pronto would actually be ace don't know why I just feel like it fits him

Junjie

I feel like Junjie's headcanons are gonna mostly be sad, but I'll start with less depressing ones, first everyone pronounces his name wrong but at this point he's too nice to current anyone so he just lets it

As for his backstory I think he came from humble parents maybe they couldn't take care of him but Master Lian decided to raise him as her own and train him to be the Easter Champion since she was the current one

Now for the fun one, I think Junije and Eli are very very distantly related. I like to think that Eli is related to Yang in some way. I also like to think if there were ever going to be any other caverns like a northern or southern champion, they would all be connected to the OG champion of the underground world. I don't know who that person is but I just like to think it would be cool 😅

Unfortunately, he suffers from pretty severe PTSD. He doesn't remember everything that the goon did to him, but every once in a while he'll get a flashback almost like he's regaining his memories and it's not a pretty sight for him

I do think he would be pretty heavily scarred as well from being under the control of the goon for so long

For his age, I think Junjie is 15, like Eli. Yes I know he's actually 35 but he doesn't look like he aged and I think Junjie would really try to ignore the fact that he spent 20 years of his life destroying his home. So yeah maybe he's 35 but in his heart he's still 15

He and Eli suffer from nightmares from time to time from the goon so when Junjie lived in the Shane hideout they would both just stay up talking and hanging out

While Trixie will verbally judge you for your stupid actions *cough* Eli *cough* Pronto, Junjie will just silently judge you, which is almost just as bad

Junije is actually very expressive, even if he doesn't have a lot to say you can tell what he is thinking through his expressions

I feel like in a slugterraless AU he would probably own like Kung Fu Dojo or something like that

Okay, wow, that was a lot, but now I kinda want to talk about shipping. I'm just gonna talk about a few of the more popular ones please don't kill me 😅

Eli x Trixie

So I, like, I know why people ship Eli and Trixie; it's because they're like really close, and it would be cool to see them grow up and realize that they've always had feelings for each other, and then they get married and have kids or whatever. Like, I get it...... the thing is, I just don't really care for it 😅😅

There are just so many shows that have the boy protagonist with the girl protagonist, and I swear sometimes they just have the girl character just there to be a love interest of the main boy character, and that's literally all they do, and it sucks. And Slugterra literally fits that bill like Trixie is the only human girl and Eli is the main character. So it should have happened, but it didn't, which I feel is RARE for an early 2010s show

It's kinda cool that they don't get together like there isn't even any romance at all, which is, again, super rare. I really can't think of another show that didn't have some indication of romance even when it wasn't the focus, but Slugterra doesn't have it at all. Sometimes, when I watch it, it throws me off guard because I feel like it should, but Slugterra had too much on its plate to do that stuff. And I see Eli and Trixie having more of a sibling relationship than anything else,

I think I'm just not that into it because I remember there being a lot of really annoying shippers in the early fandom days who would claim that every interaction that Eli and Trixie did was like signs of THEM FALLING IN LOVE, but really, they were just standing there. But if you want to ship it, that's totally cool!

Eli x Junjie

So I don't ship Eli and Junjie, but then again, I do think it's super cute and makes sense. The history of the ship is so interesting, but people were shipping Eli with the dark slinger long before he was known as Junije, and when he became a part of the team, people were so excited.

But then they dropped that BOMB that Junjie was controlled by the goon for 20 years, and everyone was like, yikes, this is a little awkward, and like, to this day, I don't know why the writers did that. Like, even a year or two under the goon would have been a lot, but no, they had to do like 20 years. I just wish I was in the writers' room when they made that decision. I would have been like hello, explain why it has to be so long

Obviously, it makes the shipping complicated, and I never saw anything crazy when it came to people fighting about who you can ship with. When it comes to ages and shit I was in the Voltron fandom I saw it all. And not like writers need to know about shipping, but it's still like, why. Why did you make one of your characters 35 or however old Junjie is? They never explain if he aged or not. They're like, yup, 20 years passed, like HUH???

Anyway, this ship section literally just became about Junjie, but in conclusion, ship what you want to ship life is so short, who gives a shit

And finally........

Eli x Twist

Okay, so like....... I do ship Eli and Twist. What can I say, I'm a sucker for rivals, friends to lovers. But rivals to friends to lovers is like my bread and butter. I'm literally obsessed with staticradio with Hazbin and shit it's so embarrassing But, Twist and Eli started it all for me. They are like the OG rival to friends to lovers to me. I emphasize rivals TO friends TO lovers, but I like the in-between of friendship before they discover they have feelings for each other or whatever.

I know it could be complicated, and I know, in theory, rivals to lovers could never work in real life, but I think there was potential in the show. Not with Eli and Twist as a romance, but I feel like they were going for a redemption arc for Twist, and then they just like forgot about him and then brought in TAD 😒

Like, come on, he's literally just Twist, but they had to add that connection to Dr. Blakk like Twist already had that. So if there was no romance, then there should have been a redemption. I have this whole other theory that I think Dr. Blakk kinda prepped Twist to hate Will Shane more than he actually did just to get someone Eli's age to fight him to see if that would work

Because, like, Twist-hating Eli makes literally no sense. Eli didn't do anything wrong; he's literally just there. He's just the new Shane, and he constantly is like you wanna be like Blakk, you know you're doing the wrong thing, and blah blah

Like, it sucks that Will killed his Dad, but I don't get what Twist's Dad's plan was. Why was he jumping off a cliff? Was his plan to kill both of them, like kill his own child?? And I just have this other theory that Twist's dad was illegally selling slugs or had a shady business. He clearly didn't have the best morals if he was going to take his son to the GRAVE with him

I should make a separate post about this since this one is getting so long, and I have so many thoughts about the Eli and Twist redemption arc or whatever you want to call it.

[daffi-990]

Hi Daffi!!!

Tell me about your Fantasy AU!!!

Ahhh Fantasy AU .. my beloved .. that I really need to spend more time on 🥲

The summary for it is:

23 yr old Buck lives with his adoptive father, Bobby, in Los Angeles. One day his life is turned upside down when he’s attacked in the street by what he can only describe as a monster. He’s saved by an attractive stranger named Eddie, who apparently knows Bobby and claims they’re in danger.

He also claims Buck is a powerful mage from another world, and is prophesied to save it from an evil that has plagued it for the last 30 years.

I’ve written small bits and pieces of it, most of it spoilery haha

BUT!!

Your ask actually encouraged me to write the beginning of it! So here is something I whipped up this afternoon in the notes app of my phone ☺️

Buck has lived in LA his whole life and still isn’t used to how suffocating the city can feel. Most of the time he’s okay, happy to explore the city and partake of its nightlife now that he’s old enough to do so, but sometimes the city feels like a cage that he’s trapped in, far away from home. Which is ridiculous because LA is home. Except lately it doesn’t feel like it. The only place Buck is able to find some semblance of peace is out on the trails. When he’s out here away from the hustle and bustle of city life, he feels like he can breathe. The kind of breath that’s deep and expands your lungs to their full capacity. He feels alive out here among the tress, the soft sounds of nature a gentle melody that has the restlessness in his bones quieting down to a dull thrum. It’s why he tries to get out here as often as he can.

Bobby likes to come out here too, in fact the two of them used to come out here together every weekend and camp. They’d eat s’mores and gaze at the stars and spar with the swords Bobby owns. Buck still has no idea where he got them, but they’re the real deal. It took Buck a while to build up the strength to wield one, but once he did he adapted to its weight pretty quickly, favouring the heavy weapon over his foil and sabre.

Bobby had gotten him into fencing at a young age and Buck had instantly loved it. It was a positive outlet for him to work off his excess energy, plus it made him feel like Aragorn from Lord of the Rings. Along with fencing, Buck also learnt hand to hand combat through a mixed variety of martial arts, boxing and MMA being his favourite.

Bobby liked to test his skills on their camping trips, and despite being much older than Buck, the man could hold his own. It’s only been the last few years that Buck’s been able to beat him, and that’s probably because of the extra MMA lessons he’s been able to get with his staff discount at the gym.

Buck misses those weekends. They haven’t had one in a couple months now due to Buck’s new job. He has this weekend off though so maybe they can come out here again.

Buck checks his watch for the time. It’s almost 4pm which means he needs to start heading home to get ready for his shift at 6pm. He likes working the night shift at the gym, it’s usually pretty quiet with only the regulars coming in so Buck has a lot of free time to workout himself or just relax after he’s done all his usual jobs. Most of the time he just chills out behind the front desk and watches YouTube videos which almost always results in a YouTube spiral that sees him five videos deep into the subject of how to make your own cheese or something.

Thank you for the ask and the unintentional inspiration haha 😘

wip tag game list

[heybaetae]

tag game catch-up :)

i've been tagged by @jkvjimin, @btsiu, and @kimtaegis in some fun tag games the past few days, but haven't had the time to participate until now, so i'm gonna consolidate them all into one post!

7 questions to get to know me better

last song: backseat serenade by all time low

favourite colour: neon green

last film/show: barry on HBO

sweet/savoury/spicy: savoury

last thing i googled: i googled the HFPA randomly at 3am last night lol

relationship status: single for life probably

current obsessions: dan and phil's sim series (i'm rewatching it all in reverse....idk why), videos about cool kitchen gadgets, and jeopardy

fave k-pop group tag

who is your favourite k-pop group? ↳ bts

which member sparked your interest first? ↳ j-hope! he captured my attention the first time i watched them in an interview, so i gravitated towards him the most in the beginning.

who was your first bias? ↳ naturally, it was hobi :)

who is your current bias? ↳ taehyung (ult), jimin, and jungkook

what makes them your current bias(es)? ↳ mostly everything stemmed from their individual stage presence first, then the more i got to know them as people, it solidified things. so in addition to hobi in the very beginning, jimin and jungkook also caught my eye when boy with luv came out. i tweeted a screenshot from their SNL performance and said "these specific three right here..." and my friend, who was a more seasoned army at the time, replied and told me they were the dance line! so that made sense why they stood out to me in that choreo. when dynamite came out the following year, taehyung (who had admittedly been under my radar somehow) completely knocked me off my feet and kinda knocked hobi down from my ult spot in the process, though i still consider hobi the entire reason i ever gave bts a real chance following my "casual fan" era. jimin and jungkook remained in my top 3 even though i didn't immediately realize i had emotionally locked in on the "maknae line" because i didn't learn more about their ages and "lines" until a little later. it just played out that way gradually. vmin(hope!!!)kook, my beloved.

who is your bias wrecker? ↳ jungkook and yoongi

which members are you currently obsessing over that aren't your bias/bias wrecker? ↳ jin because he's coming home so soon and it's getting me sooo excited.

when did you first discover this group? ↳ i discovered them properly in 2018 when they were on the tonight show for the first time, but i'd heard of them as early as 2017 when they broke out in the U.S.

have you ever been to one of their concerts? ↳ yes, 4 ptd shows + 1 d-day show.

what are some of your favorite songs by the group? ↳ mikrokosmos, lights, friends, anpanman, best of me, and dis-ease!

february receiptify

i don't think i listened to spotify much this month, but i spent all day yesterday listening to greyson chance, niall horan, and harry styles music that i hadn't listened to in a long time so it naturally took over the algorithm lol

consider yourself tagged if you see this and wanna do it!

[edwinspaynes]

"send me ask about thomastair or matthew"

12 days of Christmas, Qs about our beloveds!

what are all three of them watching during the holiday season?

What would a skincare / make up routine (if he wears it) be for our Matthew on an average morning?

if each of them were on social media, what would be their go-to social media app and why?

who would you consider the most street smart, book smart and the most emotionally smart and why?

what would be each of their fav holiday traditions this time of year?

One can allege that both characters are super alike but extremely different in a lot of ways. so how do you think Matthew and Magnus in personality overlap and where do they differ?

what are some questions you HATE receiving in your ask about these three characters and why?

Between Thomas and Alastair, who is assigned what choir and why in the maintanance of their flat at Cornwall Gardens?

Who is more prone to bouts of sadness between thomas and alastair and what does the other do to help them feel better or take them out of their funk?

What are some of their favourite dishes they make for each other? They give me the vibe of being massive loving home bodies so i'm curious to know your take on what they make for food and what are their go to dishes!

What are in each of their stockings and who gave what to contribute to stuffing their stalkings (for all three of them! Matthew and Thomastair)

Last day of christmas question :) - What are YOUR predictions/wishes of who/what the scene each of them will be, in the better in black novella? :))

Ily! I hope you liked this! it took me over half an hour to think up q for what i was trying to do hahaha

Nice I'm so glad that I saved this for when I was high.

I think that they're watching various shows and Christmas movies. But I also think that they're watching their usual things.

This is actually so interesting : https://www.beautifulwithbrains.com/beauty-history-cosmetics-in-the-edwardian-era/. So he had Concoctions and creams with Cocoa Butter, Coconut Oil, Almond Oil, Lanolin, Petrolatum, Witch Hazel and Glycerin.

Matthew is a Tumblrina and you can pry that from my cold dead hands. But also probably TikTok and Instagram, because he can't stay away from the travel videos for long. He has a whole IG page to his travels (@/wilde-wanderer, of course). And he has tons of followers who love the aesthetic landscapes and dog pictures. Thomas is a Duolingo boy - languages? Owls? Definitely, and that's most of what he does on his phone. But he does have a Twitter account to share his scores to, and he competes with Alastair to try to get ahead of the other one in their target languages. Thomas also uses his Twitter to follow accounts in Spain and language learning accounts. Alastair hits it big on YouTube because Thomas encourages him to showcase his piano. So he has many followers. It's really amazing for him, and he posts new things frequently. Kind of like VSQ, but solo piano.

Street smart is Matthew because he has all walks of life experience. Like this dude woke up wrapped in the Union Jack one night when he was drunk (Waterstones edition bonus letter). He could get by in back alley deals and make his way thrugh the world. Book smart is Alastair because he grows up lonely and reads a lot, and also he has a natural curiousity for life and the world around him. Thomas is emotionally smart, he sees minute details in people and can tell what they need so they can feel better.

Thomas likes to make cinnamon bread. Alastair likes to sing and play carols. Matthew likes to decorate and make beautiful.

MATTHEW AND MAGNUS okay. I will make a venn diagram:

Idk dude

ALASTAIR CHORES: cleaning the counters, cleaning the floors (he is a very cleanly man and just does these things), cooking dinner for both THOMAS CHORES: laundry, organizing (can reach tall cabinets), cooking breakfast for both. both characters do dishes

I think both are equally prone to bouts of sadness. I think Thomas will be more prone then Alastair to bouts sadness for a while, first, because of terrible grief over his family members. Alastair will still be in that "thank God I can breathe" phase but not in te "oh god how can I breathe i have to learn" phase, which will come in time and be the worst bit. But I think that Alastair has a shitmine of trauma to process and it will be incredibly emotional journey for probably the rest of his life, so he will be the most prone in the long run. Both of them are of course there for each other, I think that they hold each other and they talk about what the grief is and they comfort each other and they feel acceptance and support for one of the first times ever. I love them.

Thomas and Alastair, right? Yeah lol I wrote in my fic they spent a long time together alone and then they had their friends over and they wanted to get rid of everyone and be alone together again. I think they're, like, each other's favourite person. I think they are like being in a partnership. in all things. Like , if Alastair does something wrong, Thomas still has his back. And if Thomas does something recless, Alastair is not mad with him but he is worried for his safety. Anyway, I'm higher than I want to be. This is not the question. I think that thomas makes Alastair a lot of Persian food when he wants to, but he is kind of not a naturally amazing cook so he has to be taught by Alastair. Alastair shows him though and it is fun and romantic and bonding experience. I think Alastair makes for Thomas handmade trifle. It is his favorite dessert. Also salads without a hint of celery.

I will draw an image

I jsut want them to be IN the short stories! It's important to me. My mutual posted a post about how Cassie said something promising. Also when I asked SoS team they sent me a ;).

[jackredfieldwasmyjacob]

OT 2023 - GALA 4

Here's gala 3 :)

For this gala I couldn't really watch much cause of stuff that was going on so I went with zero expectations and it was so very good!!! so good indeed that it was very hard to pick my top 3, I changed it three times in the past hour lol.

I would now add the link to the drive folder with the full performances but.... it seems prime video has taken measures to screen recording cause it just shows a black screen when I play what I recorded 😩 If anyone knows how to fix this please let me know !

Update 28/01. I've updated all links to the full performances in the gala.

En fin... let's go with the honorable mentions:

Salvaje - Naiara & Ruslana: NO YOU DON'T UNDESTAND I AM OBSESSED WITH THE ORIGINAL SONG YOU NEED TO LISTEN TO IT. Of course they slayed it at the gala, and I have already listened to the studio version too much maybe.

Sweet Caroline - OT 2023: HOW DO GROUP SONGS KEEP GETTING BETTER. This one is for sure their best one, it's just so so very good. I am at a loss for words.

I Drove All Night - Álvaro & Cris: This one was in my top 3 for the longest time until a last minute change so. You can tell I liked this one. I didn't even remember which song they were singing this week and i was blown away by their performance they were impecable !!!! 10/10 from both of them, incredible.

Dragón - Denna: She went out strong! This was her last song in the contest, and her best one, I think she can be quite satisfied with her ending song, pretty great.

Onto the top 3 !!!

3. ES POR TI - VIOLETA

Here is the original, by Juanes !

I love the risks she took with the synth and the slow and almost empty version... and she was flawless with it I would say! You can tell she chose great this song, that this is her style and that what she does best! I can't wait to hear her stuff once OT ends cause they will probably be as incredible as this

2. PECES DE CIUDAD - BEA

Here's the original version, by Joaquín Sabina <3

THIS SONG... Peces de Ciudad is quite possibly one of my favourite songs ever, it really is one of the most songs ever and it makes me feel so much. I love both Sabina's and Ana Belén's version (which Bea is covering here), as well as the Pablo López and Pablo Alborán one; I have all three saved and listen to them regularly. And, of course, Bea's version just joined that club. I understand why she was nominated (at some points she wasn't vocalizing much), but still it was one of my favourite performances of the night and she was spectacular. Also she played the piano and sung at the same time !!!! How difficult is that !!!

1. GOD ONLY KNOWS - JUANJO & MARTIN

Here is the original version, by the Beach Boys :)

Look. I'm a simple guy sorry. If I see two people hoplessly in love I am going to love them no matter what. And they did that and were incredible in the gala and I hope only the best to both of them <3

And that's it!!! I just saw the songs they'll sing this week and I'm excited for a few ones, let's see how it all goes! Also... salvar Salma !!!!!

[zanarkandfayth]

15 Questions

I was tagged by @ivorydice, thanks!

Tagging just... whoever. I don’t feel well and I don’t wanna think lmao

1. Are you named after anyone?

Well, I took "fayth" from Final Fantasy X because I adore the fayth so much and to me it's a gender neutral name. It started out combined with zanarkandfayth as a username idek when, late 2000s, and then just gradually evolved into me calling myself fayth. My legal name, no. My first name was apparently just easy for my dad to spell and my middle name is french because my mom likes the language. I hate both names and they can fuck off lol.

2. When was the last time you cried?

Uhhh... I have a hard time crying these days even though I want to. Almost did last night because surgery recovery has been a bitch, does that count?

3. Do you have kids?

Nope. Don't want them. I'm not even capable of taking care of myself, why would I want to be responsible for another human being? And I did not win the gene lottery and the world sucks, I'm not inflicting this miserable existence on someone else.

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

Yes, though less than I used to because even sarcasm is effort and I'm tired.

5. What sports do you/have you played?

I liked basketball as a kid, and baseball, though I wasn't any good at either. I used to like to run. Uuuh I also did taekwondo as a kid for a couple years? idk if a martial art counts as a sport though.

6. What's the first thing you notice about other people?

Hair... idk it's usually the most noticeable thing to me. Except that guy who came through my line at DT once who was about seven feet tall, I definitely noticed his height first.

7. Eye colour?

Mine? Boring brown. Will forever hate it.

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

Happy endings. I used to like/not mind scary movies when I was younger, but now I need the feel good chemicals. Also I don't watch movies anymore. Legit could not name the last movie I've watched at this point.

9. Any special talents?

Making my readers cry lmao. No, idk. What's considered special? What's considered a talent? I don't want to stand out.

10. Where were you born?

Southern US, the same miserable state I exist in now, good ole Tennessee, though I'm now at the opposite end of it from where I was born/grew up. It's worse on this end for sure.

11. What are your hobbies?

Writing, video games, cooking... I'd say reading but I don't do that as much as I used to. The guilt of not having the energy to comment on fics gets to me and so I just don't read at all instead :/

12. Do you have any pets?

A shithead named Max. He's a flamepoint siamese cat that an old neighbour rescued from where he'd been abandoned on the side of the road and me and my ex ended up taking him in. My ex named him (after mad max apparently and I hate his name lol) but he attached himself to me so when I kicked the ex out a couple years later for being an abusive cheating narcissistic asshole, Max stayed with me. He turned ten this May but he still zooms around the house like a kitten. I love him but my health problems have made it increasingly hard to take care of him so he's going to be my last cat.

13. How tall are you?

5'2, forever sobbing

14. Favourite subject in school?

English was the only one I really enjoyed just because it was so easy. When I did university for the third time (the one I actually graduated from lmao), I also really liked most of my sociology classes, enough to make it a second degree, and I liked my scottish history class. If I could afford a third degree it'd probably be in history.

15. Dream job?

At this point? Nothing. Being a stay at home husband (with no kids, yes), or being an eternal university student just taking classes and getting degrees for the heck of it would be my ideal. I would also like to try my hand at making my own video game, but a) I can't art for shit, and b) chronic fatigue makes even starting on learning coding too daunting. I don't even have the energy I want for my current hobbies.

[spicydemonfox]

I wanted to keep it brief but lol, that didn’t happen. Time to get sappy, folks.

This isn’t the first one someone from a band I loved died. Nor is it the first time someone who used to be my favourite died under suspicious circumstances. But that doesn’t make it any easier to accept it.

One Direction was one of the most important things in my life at a certain point. I had little hope for their reunion, and I always knew we would never be able to recapture the magic that were those years between Up All Night and Midnight Memories. I always thought I had said goodbye to One Direction already, way before they broke up, even before Zayn left. But I never imagined I would be making a post like this, or even thinking about this, this early in our lives.

Liam used to be my favourite back in the day. He seemed sweet, mature, and genuine and that’s what I liked about him. He grew up into a different person, as we all do, and growing up in front of the whole world, under a microscope, clearly took a massive toll on him. It’s devastating to think how the system has failed him; how many people failed him, how many times he failed himself and others. These things weren’t supposed to be ‘solved’ like this. He should’ve faced repercussions for his actions. He should’ve gotten real help. He wasn’t supposed to go this way. But I don’t want to point fingers, blame people who aren’t to blame, focus on all the shitty things. I want to focus on the positive things I experienced because of One Direction, and hence because of Liam.

Me and my friend filmed this video twelve years ago in Köln, Germany. We went traveled Prague to Manheim the day before so we could get up at 1am to get the last train to Köln, get there in the morning and spend the day waiting to maybe have a chance to talk to One Direction. By some absolute miracle, we were among the couple hundred people (out of many more hundreds) who got those magical wristbands, and lo and behold, we were in front of them, the chance we never dared to seriously think about right in front of us. Out of sheer shock, we only talked to each other. We didn’t say a single word to them (beside “what?” “yes” and maybe “thanks”). But Liam pointed to a rubber duck on the table and said “It’s a duck in a car” to us. It’s audible in the video. But then, as if in a dream, it was over. A couple of high fives, handshakes and smiles, and off we went with our signed booklet of Up All Night. We spent the entire night after in Köln, by ourselves, on the streets, scared out of our wits, because we didn’t have a place to stay. It was an absolutely stupid idea, but it was an incredible trip, such a thrill, and something I will never forget in my life, not only because of 1D, but because the trip perfectly sums up our friendship.

One Direction helped me in one of the most loneliest times of my teenage years in ways I never expected. It wasn’t my kind of music, it wasn’t what I usually liked. I probably would have never listened to them if I was alone in it. But I wasn’t alone; I was in a train with my friend, and a dog who looked coked up, and that afternoon it all started. What One Direction gave me, gave us, was a connection. They gave us something to talk about, think about. They gave us sunny afternoons in the middle of a field, in the middle of nowhere, singing, talking, listening. They gave us endless source of laughter, warmth, and ideas.

Sometimes we paid little tributes to 1D without others knowing. Clothes, accessories, hairstyles. Sometimes, we expressed our love for them obnoxiously, loudly. Often, we roped other people in to – our friends, our families, or even our unsuspecting classmates (we made them replicate the Talk Dirty to Me dance at our prom, without them knowing what it was referring to). We were two menaces obsessed with a boyband, and we weren’t ashamed of it, not one bit.

But sometimes, some ideas were just ours. And we took them and ran with them and wrote all of them down. We spent months, probably over a year, writing together. As shitty as it was, and as embarrassing as it is now, what we created will always be something I’ll love, not because of the content or the ideas, but because of the process. One or two chapters a week, or four chapters in a day, it was a stream of energy that kept me going. Waiting for someone to finish their chapter just so you could write some more. Sharing your thoughts with another person, no matter how stupid and cringy the ideas are. Giving someone else the control of where the story goes. Having something only we had, and others couldn’t get to. It was a form of intimacy we didn’t understand then, but I think I appreciate it a lot more now. It was magical, and I will always cherish it. 

We have millions of stories, memories, anecdotes, and jokes from that time. We have embarrassing photos, videos, (insane) memorabilia. We have something that makes up two books. We have something to laugh about, smile about, or even think about from time to time to make the days a little lighter. We have something to look back to when we need a pick me up. That time has shaped us a lot, whether we like it or not. We carry a part of it inside of us, always.

As we grew up, One Direction weren’t the alfa and omega of our lives, our paths separated and my friend and I drifted apart. It’s a natural part of life. I thought of it as such too, and I was content with it. But then something tragic happened and for a day or two, I thought she would be gone forever. I never told her this because her tragedy and grief was (and is) so much greater, unimaginable. But I was terrified for those two days. I hadn’t lost anyone important to me yet at that point, and the idea of it being my friend was not something I could approach in any way. I was in shock. I was devastated, scared and full of regret. Regret for being judgemental, for the complicated, shitty things that went on between us before, for losing touch, for letting my ego stand in the way. Despite not talking properly for a long time, or even qualifying for the term friends, I didn’t want to lose her. The bond we made when we were teens, the connection we had because of One Direction, was more than some petty, immature conflicts. I realized that in those two days and swore to myself that I would put it all aside if I my friend pulled through. She did. We got ‘a duck in a car’ matching tattoos later that year to commemorate everything One Direction represented and continues to represent to us. Connection.

The morning the news of Liam’s passing reached everyone, I was teaching a seminar. One of the students always comes early, and that morning, she asked me if I had heard. I had, I said. Now, I don’t tend to share much about myself with the students, but I saw she needed to talk to someone about it, so I told her that I used to like 1D, too. What followed was us exchanging stories about the times we were obsessed with them, the concerts we went to, photos, and all. I was really, really grateful to the student for bringing it up, and sharing what they meant to her with me. We’re a different generation and nationality, but that didn’t matter at the moment. That’s what One Direction keeps giving us. Connection.

I can’t imagine what Liam’s family and loved ones are going through. I can’t imagine what the boys must be feeling right now. I just hope they, and Liam, know what they made possible for a lot of people, and are aware of all the good they made in the world by connecting people.

My heart goes out to everyone affected.

[suckitsurveys]

What was the longest time you’ve liked someone? I’ve liked Mark going on 14 years now.

Who was the last girl in your room? My friend Rachel.

What are you excited for? Going to the Dells next week, my niece’s birthday, SNL returning.

Who was the last person you took a picture with? Rachel at Vampire Weekend last weekend.

Anything happen to you in the past month that made you really mad? Uh huh.

Do you have any bruises on you? Probably.

Are you ticklish? Yeah.

Did you reject or accept your last friend request? Accepted. It was my friend Lolly’s roommate.

Are you a morning person, or a night person? I’m just not a person actually.

Where was your last hug? The kitchen.

Were you smiling in the last picture taken of you? Yes.

Did you have a good childhood? Sure.

What pets did you have when you were growing up? Birds, kitties, hamsters, mice, fish.

Would you ever date someone who had issues with substance abuse? I don’t think I’d get into a relationship with someone with an active addiction.

Have you ever been on a vacation that ended up being ruined? What happened? Not completely ruined, no.

Do you know anyone who has had a miscarriage? I do.

What’s your last ex’s opinion of you? I have no idea, ask them.

Are there any major drama queens in your family? My fucking brother in law.

Do you like Stephen King novels? I’ve never read any.

What is one adventurous thing you’d be willing to do? (ex: skydive) Scuba dive.

How many email accounts do you have? Two..

Have you ever fallen asleep on public transport? (including planes) Probably as a kid.

Do you pay rent for the place you live? How often? Yes, every month.

Where was the last place you went on vacation/holiday to? Who’d you go with? I went to New Orleans with my dad in June.

Does the place you work have music playing? What sort? Not usually. Every once in a while we put some on.

What’s your favourite type of donut? Jelly filled.

Would you ever want to go on vacation with just one of your parents? I’ve done that. Just this past June actually, as I mentioned above

Has someone ever tried to start an argument with you over Facebook? What happened? Uh huh.

When you’re at home, do you spend most of your time in your room? No, I hang out in the living room.

Do you have a hard time admitting you’re wrong? No.

Are you listening to music right now? Nope.

When were you the saddest in your life? I’m pretty fucking depressed right now.

Who in your family has been married the longest? (and how long?) Not sure. I think if my mom was still alive it would be my parents.

Do you take your shoes off when you come inside? Yes.

What was the first social media site you ever used? Xanga.

Do you have any exes you really regret dating? Nah.

Have you ever been catcalled? Yeah.

Have you ever cut your own hair? No.

Are you a fan of video games? Eh.

What’s your favorite color combination? Blues and purples.

Has anyone besides your family seen you naked? If so, who? Yes.

Did your parents sign you up for anything you hated as a child? Nope.

Do you know how to use Photoshop? I’d say I’m pretty okay with it.

Who is the best artist you’ve seen live? I’ve seen a lot of good artists live but I’ll always love Lana the best.

Do more people call you by a nickname or your first name? Hannah doesn’t really lend itself to a nickname. A couple of my coworkers have taken to calling me by my middle name which started as a joke but I kinda like it now.

Do you have the right time set on your microwave? No because we have to unplug it after we use it because there’s only one outlet in the fucking kitchen aside from the one the stove and fridge are plugged into.

Do you have a radar detector for your car? No.

Have you ever been arrested? For what? Yes, trespassing.

Where did you go today? Work.

Do you like to go fishing? No.

Where is your favorite person? He’s at home.

What mode of transport did you take to high school? My mom drove me in the mornings but I’d take the bus home.

Name a personality trait of yours that you like. I’m funny.

Name something about your physical attraction that you dislike. Everything.

Have you ever made an item of clothing? Yeah.

Who was the last person you had an intelligent debate with? I don’t know. I tend to stay away from debates.

Who was the last person who cooked something for you? Mark.

Who was the last person who you heard singing? My coworker.

Who was the last person you were upset with? Myself.

Who was the last person you danced with? Rachel.

Who was the last person you had a crush on? My husband.

Who was the last person you got drunk with? Rachel.

Who was the last person who touched your hair? Mark.

What was the last birthday party you attended? My sister’s birthday celebration last week.

What was the last thing you said to your mother? I don’t remember exactly, but I was annoyed with her. And then she died the next morning. So that’s been fun to carry with me for the last 11 years.

What was the last song you listened to? Pink Pony Club by Chappell Roan.

What was the last vegetable you ate? I had a salad for lunch.

What was the last thing you had to drink? Water.

What was the last fast food place you ate at? Culver’s.

When was the last time you had a sleepover? Rachel slept over last weekend.

Where did you last go to celebrate your own birthday? We got take out at my dad’s house.

Where does the last person you hung out with live? In our apartment.