#update on the five song ep

[heymeowmao]

2023.02.09 - https://weibo.com/l/wblive/p/show/1022:2321324867349974221640

I’m here again~ Stream for a small, small while~~~

-- Fall in Love LYN: Hallo everybody, good evening. I am Modern Brothers Liu Yuning. Welcome~! LYN: It feels like it’s been a long time, huh? It feels like it’s been a long, long time. And... there was a lot more work than I thought today; I thought I would be able to wrap up early and come to stream but then we ended up finishing the day at 9p. I was thinking if I didn’t stream today, I wouldn’t have the time to later because the schedule will be getting tighter. So I’m still going to stream today. I apologize- I’m going to delay your sleep. But I’m sure the first people to come into my stream are my fans- the people who are more familiar with me. Or, there’s maybe a group of passerby who have a passing interest in me. I’m glad I am able to meet up with you tonight. If you’re sleepy, then go to sleep. If you’re not, then stay up a bit longer.

C: I’m not sleepy. LYN: You’re not? Then, let’s play. We’ll chat. You all know that nowadays they’re saying that young people have social anxiety. Your Ning-ge, me, is one of those people. Wait- why did I use the laughter? Anyway- I have social anxiety- I don’t much like mingling with people at social gatherings. I get shy. I don’t know what to say or do. I’m that type of person. But apparently my reputation online is that of someone who’s a good drinker- the type who chats with directors and producers and shoots back glass after glass of baijiu. I don’t even know who spread that rumor. But really, I have a fear of social situations and am afraid of the gatherings where there are lots of bosses and directors. When I go, I rarely talk at all- I just sit there silently and... eat. A lot of you here might also have social anxiety- lots of young folk have this problem. You don’t like making friends and rarely go out with the ones you have. Just know that at this moment there’s a young fellow called Modern Brothers Liu Yuning on the internet- he is your friend. In the late night, he will chat with you. He will help you pass every lonely night.  LYN: That’s right. You are all my friends, and I hope you think of me as your friend, too. We’re penpals- we may never have met in real life, but we have always communicated online. For example, I’m talking to you now and you’re writing back. That is a type of communication. We’re the very best of friends. LYN: Of course, my stream has a certain style. If I start streaming early then it will be more music-based. But right now it’s- let me take a look at my (invisible) watch- it’s nearing 10p. So now we enter into the Late Night Radio segment. We’ll chat and have a heart-to-heart, and play some quiet music. I’ll play some gentle music for you all, and we can have a nice night.

C: Ning-ge, aren’t we “family”? LYN: Erm... eh... ( stream skips :| ) I said earlier, that many of you are my fans and yet many of you are just passerby. They just see that LYN has some mental illness and started a stream in the middle of the night, so they came to take a look. Some are my antis, squatting in my stream to see if I say anything they can take to use as material to ridicule me. There are a lot of different types of people in my stream, but I treat you all as my friends. At the very least, we’re friends. LYN: As for “family”- let me think, how can I phrase this so that my fans can’t hold it against me- ! Let’s do this. Friends- you’re all young, though I know some of you are older in age. Right? In the future you’re going to face marriage and children, or have children of your own or nieces and nephews. Let me tell you- the best way to communicate with your niece is not to tell her “I’m your senior!” or “I’m your father/mother/grandma!” It doesn’t work that way. I think the best way is to communicate as you would with a friend. They’re your family, but you can treat them as a friend. This will allow them to be more open with you, and feel more comfortable communicating with you and asking for advice from you when they reach the age they start having concerns. We’re like that. Remember this, it really works. C: Ning-ge, then what you’re trying to say is that you are our niece? LYN: ?__? It’s the middle of the night and I’m not sleeping and I’ve even come to stream for you, and you’re taking advantage of me?? What are you doing. What do you want. C: Ning-ge, you’re my husband. LYN: ... You must be new. My old batch of fans- the ones who have been with me from the start- I’ve already weaned them off the notion of calling me their husband. I already told them not to make our idol-fan relationship so superficial. Let’s go deeper than that- we... connect on a spiritual level or at the level of family- slightly more intimate. Don’t call me your husband, that’s too cliche. Also, when streaming I usually kick out the people who call me their husband. But on weibo I don’t have a shortcut to kick you out, otherwise I’d have done it.

C: You Highness, Wei Shao. [Zhe Yao/Prisoner of Beauty] LYN: My name isn’t Wei Shao, it’s Wei Xun. When this drama was announced, so many people were saying, “Hello, Wei Xun.” “I’m looking forward to Wei Xun.” Right, I’m the second son of the Wei family, Wei Xun. My big brother is called Wei Daxun. XD // My big brother is Wei Da Xun, and I’m called Wei Er Xun. But that doesn’t sound nice, so people just call me Wei Xun. It’s like.. this person really likes to drink- they like the feeling of being tipsy (微醺 - wēi xūn). So he gave himself the name of Wei Xun.

LYN: A lot of you are concerned for my foot, you’re asking me how it is. It’s just about fine. I did go to get a check-up recently and the doctor advised that I should remove the supporting boot and start to walk on it, slowly. I shouldn’t run or jump but I can start to walk on it slowly. So I’ve taken off the boot- I can wear my normal shoes now. But the doctor also suggested that I wear high-topped shoes and walk around so that I can help my leg regain its muscle. Actually, I’m recovering relatively quickly. It’s only been about two months now. I broke my foot on 12/9, now it’s 2/9. Two months exactly! I can stop wearing the supports, now. I’ll raffle off all that stuff in the next stream, we’ll skip it for today’s stream. LYN: It still hurts a little when I walk, though. There will still be some pain. When I’m at home it’s not like I will wear the brace all the time, and I’m not wearing it to sleep. At home you’re inevitably going to walk around on it to get stuff, and it hurts a little when I do. I asked the doctor about it, too. What happens if it hurts? They explained it well, and told me that as long as it’s a pain I can tolerate, I can still try to walk on it. If I can’t stand the pain anymore, I should stop immediately. Right now, it’s a little pain that I can handle so I’m walking on it like I normally would. The drama crew has already accommodated me enough- making it so that the scenes I have to shoot early don’t require a lot of movement. At the most I’m walking, but for the rest of the time I am standing still or sitting. All of the scenes that require big movement and the fight scenes are scheduled for later. They’re taking good care of me. But I’m the type of person who... feels sorry to be an inconvenience, so I want to get my leg/foot better quickly so I don’t delay filming any more than I already have.

C: Can you see me typing? LYN: I can see all of your comments, but I can’t reply to each and every one. You just have to pretend that I’m talking to you one-on-one. I know that I’m the only one in my room, but you have to set-up your phone or computer or tv for yourself. Just pretend we’re talking one-on-one.

C: What are the other actors like? LYN: They’re all just average. I’m kidding. I’m relatively more familiar with the crew and actors. There’s Zu’er- we did The Truth and a couple variety shows together so we’re pretty close. Xueqin is also there- she was also on our show (The Truth). Anyway, all the actors are great. We’ve eaten a few meals together already. They’re all great people and the work environment is relatively relaxed. It’s a happy situation!

C: Is there an ancient tower on your head? [t/n: ??] LYN: Friends, even jokes have a limit. Let’s be a little more civilized in my stream, okay? This isn’t any broadcasted variety show or anything, but let’s still be civilized. You can’t just say anything. This is a hat. LYN: My foot’s better now. If you keep making offensive remarks, watch out because I’m going to aim a flying kick at your face. My legs are 113cm long. If I just kick my leg out, I’m sure you’ll fly at least 3m. Watch yourself. Be careful.

- /explains that he’s wearing the wig out of respect to the viewers, because his hair has been in the drama’s wig all day he didn’t have time to freshen up before his stream so it looks bad./

C: You’ve gotten thinner again. LYN: I haven’t. I look the same, I’m just maintaining the weight. I’ll look the same no matter how thin I get, and I can’t gain enough fat anyway. I won’t let myself get fat. But I haven’t really gotten any skinnier.

- /before he came to stream he asked his fan group if they were sleepy in the chat, to see if they were sleepy or not and if he should stream. they all said they weren’t sleepy, so here he is./ LYN: I thought I would come stream a little. I’m afraid you are missing me too much. Also, I boldly told the group that I would stream like normal, and a lot of you were saying “This isn’t like normal!”

C: Ning-ge, have you never caught COVID? LYN: I have never. You don’t need to worry about me.

C: Will there be a concert this year? LYN: You’re very concerned with this issue. The other day- wasn’t there news that I was out eating with Jia Shikai (Yuekai Entertainment)? It was even trending. I’m guessing a lot of people saw that and were thinking, “Look at that. LYN still knows how to do it. He must be signing with Yuekai!” It was nothing. I had a meal with him because he happened to be in Hengdian. A few of his actors are here and some of his artists are in my drama; he happened to invite me to dinner. Since I was there, I could talk to him about my concert. Many of you might not know about my collaboration with Yuekai. My second album is being made with them. My first concert and next concert will also be in collaboration with Yuekai. We were discussing some concert logistics, but we’ll see. There’s no definite. There was also a chubby male there- that’s our Director Deng Ke. He was with us, too. C: The short-haired brother. LYN: XD Our director is very good.

C: Lao-da, you’re trending. LYN: Really? I don’t believe you. Am I worthy enough to be trending?

C: Ning-ge, turn on your blur tool higher. LYN: WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!? Are you my fan?? Oh, you’re not? Then it’s fine. LYN: The blur is already on 100- it can’t get any higher! What do you mean “Turn on the beauty filter higher?” it’s already at 100. This is the max, there’s no getting better than this. If you still can’t take it- you’re watching my stream on your phone, right? Get another phone, turn on the BR1 or whatever it’s called- the beauty camera- and watch me through this secondary lens. Give me a double-filter. C: B621 [t/n: idk, it’s a type of camera??] LYN: Yes, I think that’s it. In any case, use it. /rolls his eyes/ LYN: Friends, I’ve just been cyber-bullied!

C: I came from the trending topic. LYN: Welcome. I welcome all of you who came because of the trending topic. I’m glad to be able to spend this late night with you.

--

C: Why won’t you sing? LYN: ... Do I OWE you? I stream just to sing for you, like it’s what you deserve? What do you mean, “Why won’t you sing?”? Why should I? Am I a live-streaming concert, right now? This is time for LYN’s Online Concert, is that it? But you didn’t buy a ticket. LYN: Ok, I’ll sing something. :) -- Be Earnest While You’re Young (意气趁年少) LYN: For that person who asked me why I won’t sing, I have now. This song is especially for you. Now that you’ve heard it you can go to sleep. Go. /makes shooing motions with his hands./ 

LYN: There was a new song released yesterday, too. It’s called 与子成说 (Yu Zi Cheng Shuo). This is the OST for The Starry Love (星落凝成糖). It’s my second time working with Sa DingDing-laoshi. Last time she made me a song, it was “When I Met You (当遇见你)” [Skate into Love OST]. Many friends also like that song. LYN: Actually, this is our third time working together. There’s another one that hasn’t been released yet. It was recorded more than a year ago, but it still hasn’t been released- because the drama hasn’t come out. But I got to work with her again, for which I am very happy. LYN: Also, the director for The Starry Love is Chu Yuibin. I’m sure all my fans are already familiar with him- I’ve already done two dramas with him! The first is my debut drama Hot-Blooded Youth, and the second is The Long Ballad. This is his most recent work, called The Starry Love. I hope you all can take a look when it’s out. Support it, alright? C: So it was Director Chu. LYN: Of course! LYN: There’ll probably be another song released tomorrow. It’s called 微世界 (Micro World). It’s also a drama OST- the drama called Under the Microscope. I think that’s what it’s called- if I remember correctly. It’s an iQIYI drama. That’ll come out tomorrow. The Starry Love, that I was talking about earlier will be out on Youku on 2/16. They’re on different platforms. I’m sure my fans are all wealthy enough to have subscriptions. On 2/14 there’ll be another song called “天光 (Sky Light)” for Chaoyue-meimei’s drama called (The Journey of) Chong Zi.  LYN: It’s soon. I might not have the time to announce it later, because I probably won’t stream then. There’ll be a song called 天光 out on 2/14. It’s another I really like. The opening theme for Chong Zi. This drama will be out on Tencent. Please check out these three dramas. They’re all very good. Thank you. I’m telling you now all three of these will be popular for sure. LYN: Support them all. There are so many good dramas lately, you can watch all of them together. Most of them only release two episodes a day, so when you finish these two, you can move on to those other two. Support them all.

C: Ning-ge, when are your dramas being released? LYN: I want to know, too. I hope they’re released soon and I can be over it. [t/n: over with people asking when they will air.] LYN: As far as I know, none of my dramas will air anytime soon. Watch other people’s dramas first. -- C: Ning-ge, is the hair not pricking your eyes? LYN: This type of 20RMB look is what I’m going for. It can prick my eyes a little, I can tolerate it. -- LYN: Anyway, don’t rush it. They’re all already filmed. It’s just a matter of time before they air. I’m sure it won’t be long now. They have to air, probably all within the year. We’ll just have to wait and see. Do I really have so many acting-fans? You just can’t wait for my works anymore? That makes me... happy. C: When will YNGS air? LYN: When I was talking to the producers they were saying at the end of the year. It’s already in editing now. After it’s finished they’ll make the music, do all the voice overs, and then it will air. I think it will air this year, at least. It’s a very good drama, we filmed a lot for it. C: What about Zi Chuan? LYN: I already told you, don’t ask about every single drama. I’m sure it’ll all air soon. “Soon” meaning in a month or two. I’m guessing after two months they could release at least SOME of it... 

C: What about Zhe Yao? Will you sing the OST for it? LYN: I’ll do my best. I actually did have some time these past few days to stream, but the problem is that I owe too many songs. I went to record one yesterday, and the day BEFORE the day before yesterday. I still owe a lot, so sometimes the reason I don’t stream is because I have other work to do. Tomorrow night I have a brand (L’oreal) livestream. So if you haven’t had enough of me tonight, go watch that stream tomorrow.

--

C: How is the ZY crew? What do you feel when you’re on set? LYN: Um... it’s just a B-level drama, what’s there to say about it? (XD) There’s nothing to say! Right, friends?? LYN: I saw online that people were saying Zhe Yao is a B-level project. There are a few points. First is that it’s B-level. Second is that the ZY drama group is really poor. That there are only 15 outfits for the drama total. Also, a lot of you may know- the producer is Director Deng Ke’s wife. So there are rumors his wife takes other producers around to other drama groups and goes asking if they could borrow scenery and wardrobe, but no one will let them so they came right back. “We’re begging you!” Oh- uh. This voice I’m making is not in imitation of our producer’s. “I’m begging. Could you let us borrow this scenery for a few days? ZY doesn’t have any.”  LYN: /sigh/ First of all, I want to set it straight. The “B-level” project... I find that a lot of people- meaning the people who say nonsense online- they will pretend as if they are an insider in the industry. They speak as if they’re so sure of what’s going on and with a clear understanding. They either pretend that they are an insider or that they are able to access inside information. But the thing is everything they say is just on the side of excessive. It’s like this: they say ZY is a B-level project. If it were from my perspective, as LYN, that’s reasonable. Because LYN isn’t worthy of any better project. I said that myself first, alright?! I’m not worthy. BUT! The Director is Deng Ke and the Screenwriter is Nan Zhen.  LYN: Deng Ke- let’s look at this from an objective standpoint. What projects has he been part of? My Heroic Husband. I’m sure even if you’ve never seen it, you’ve heard of it. From an objective standpoint, he is a director with representative works. And, if I did not hear incorrectly, I heard that MHH had the highest ratings out of any other drama on iQIYI- before it was even aired. And then... as for what he’s been a part of after that I don’t quite remember and I’m not clear on it. But the most recent drama he just wrapped up on is Yu Feng Xing (The Legend of Shen Li). The main leads for that drama are Zhao Liying and Li Gengxin. First off, he’s a director with known projects and secondly, just think about what projects he’s currently working on. Do you really think that dramas that he’s worked on could be considered B-level dramas? Do you really think so? I’m not pandering- this is from an objective standpoint. There’s no way. Directors and Actors are alike, in that if one of their projects gets popular their later projects will only get better and better. He’s just finished with an S-level project and you really think he’ll go back and start another B-level one? In this industry, there’s no way. LYN: Oh? How come it’s lagging. Hold on. My computer has been having issues lately. LYN: So from that perspective only, the second two rumors are completely false. But since I’ve got nothing to do anyway, I will use this as my content for today’s stream and tell you about the fun things of this industry. So that you can better understand it. My fans think of me as their friend. I am only a friend who happened to make it in entertainment, so if I encounter fun/interesting stories, I’ll tell you all about it.

LYN: Let’s see.. the second thing was that our drama was going around to other dramas and asking to borrow wardrobe, but they didn’t give us any. The fact that they were able to say this at all means that the person who created this rumor is not a part of this industry at all. AT ALL. Do you know why? /sigh/ Guzhuang dramas are not the same as modern dramas. All of the guzhuang clothes need to be fitted. Or course, modern clothes also need to be fitted to certain standards- theres the S/M/L/XL conventions. Guzhuang clothing isn’t like that. Fittings are dependent of each individual’s height and proportions, including shoulder, waist, etc. There are MANY measurements that need to be taken. Because guzhuang clothes need to fit closely to the body, in order to look neat in the camera. There are so many layers of clothing that if just one of them doesn’t fit correctly, it’s going to look lumpy and off in the camera. Other than the background actors, most of the main and even supporting cast all have fitted clothing. They’re all custom made. There is no guzhuang drama that will borrow clothes from a different drama, except for if you’re borrowing background actor’s clothing. If you ask if the capital for making the clothing is high, it’s not very. The design part is more expensive. So saying, there is no drama crew that will be lacking the money for one or two outfits. With guzhuang clothing, especially for the leads but even for supporting characters, there is no way of borrowing. Because all the clothes are custom-made to fit. You’ll know later. Oh no- you won’t know, because you’re not a part of this industry. It just doesn’t happen. It’s not as if this article of clothing is a size “XL” and it will fit on someone who is 185, 187, or 189. The shoulder width, sleeve length, circumference of the waist, leg length- all of these are measured in thorough detail. There’s no way to borrow clothes because everyone’s heights are different, so how could they?! If I get a borrowed outfit the sleeves are going to be short. I’m acting as a general after all, how would that look good?? - /Zhu Xudan has entered the chat./ LYN: So that’s why the concept of borrowing clothes is a little unreasonable. People will pretend to know how this industry works but actually they’re just saying nonsense. LYN: Isn’t that right, ZXD?? Have you ever heard of one drama borrowing clothes from another drama?? No, right? ZXD is also a seasoned actress. Right?

LYN: What else was there- that our crew was begging to borrow scenery? Saying, “When you’re done with this set, could you let us borrow it to film for a day? We’re begging you. ZY is poor. Could you-” LYN: Oh, she (ZXD) left? It doesn’t matter. LYN: “ZY doesn’t have funding. Could you let us borrow your sets to film on?” Of course, I’m only saying it like that because I imagine that when you’re begging for something you’re going to make yourself seem lowly. That sounded pitiable, right? LYN: Let me tell you about this, because what they’re referring to is that we asked the Xiang Si Ling (相思令/Everlasting Longing) drama if we could borrow scenery. As far as I know, XSL is a xianxia drama. I think it borders on the line of fantasy. For example, if I were in that drama chatting with Xiao Qiao, I’d say,”Let’s go to chat near the gates of the zenith!” “I see the weather near the Southern Heavenly Gate is not bad. Let’s go take a walk.” “Marquis Wei will take you around. This is zuixiantai- many immortals often jump from here.” /sigh/ Do you think that would work?? Does it make sense? The two dramas aren’t even of the same genre, how could we ask to borrow scenery? Not even genre, it’s not even of the same era.  LYN: “This place is called zuixiantai. I’ve seen many immortals jump from here. Let’s try as well. I hear that after you jump it will turn back time and return your youth. Let’s meet again in our second lives, ok? What do you say?” “Every time we feel ill and that we will separate, let’s jump. We will definitely be together in our next life.” This drama will be called “Three Lives, Three Worlds: Bending at the Waist for You”. LYN: So there’s no way we could borrow scenery. It’s not even the same material, so how could we. This is total nonsense. I don’t even know- who did ZY offend? I don’t know why we’re being targeted like this. It’s not easy. Honestly, we’re not a big project- we’re just a crew that wants to focus on our filming and make a good product. We’re being dedicated and putting our all into it- stop messing with us. At least wait for the drama to air, first.

LYN: I’ve heard about the ZY novel or something, a long time ago. I heard that there would be this drama adaptation. It was a long time ago. But the problem is that.. I find this so mysterious. At the time there are always the rumors of who will be cast . At the time I... let me think... ok, I don’t have to make it about myself. At the time, it didn’t really seem like anyone CARED about this drama. Even though it’s a great drama, everyone was just sitting on the sidelines. No one wanted to be involved, and they were refuting the rumors of casting left and right.  LYN: It really is a good product, though. That’s why I chose it. I saw the script and I really liked it, so I accepted the role. When I was chatting with the director- before I had officially signed on- he had just introduced the character to me. I had never read the novel before, but as he was describing the role to me, I found myself really liking it. Then later when I received a copy of the script I thought to myself that I must accept it.

LYN: There’s something else- I saw the tabloid say that LYN wants to be the male lead of a certain drama and they didn’t want me. They decided to choose another outstanding actor. I don’t know if you saw that one? Uh.. I think it’s like this. It’s fine to mention me in association with a drama before it’s even started filming. That’s ok. It means you think highly of me. But there’s no need to mention me AFTER FILMING HAS STARTED, just to boost the drama’s publicity, don’t you think?? It’s like, “This drama’s casting has been settled already, and- just letting you know- LYN isn’t worthy.” /sigh/ LYN: It’s fine though. Because I really like the drama crew and its producers. They’re all familiar people and they treat me well. So it doesn’t really matter that I wasn’t chosen for the role. But the thing with these blogs is they like to string their own stories, putting it out there as if they have real insider information. There’s really no need to do this. It’s... forget it, I won’t comment. LYN: These blogs are making it out as if they’re insiders, which really makes me want to create my own blog. I’m not in it for the money. I just want people to know the truth behind the nonsense these tabloids are spouting. 

C: Ning-ge, you can. LYN: There’s no need. I have a drama to film, I’m not going to make a tabloid. LOL. Why is it that my life goal somehow changed into turning into a tabloid?? I’m not going to- there’s no need. People will always turn into the person they hate the most, is that it?

LYN: You know, there are also a lot of blogs that say “LYN is just internet famous, what right does he have to play a male lead?” There are a lot of those types, trying to create their own traffic. But the thing is... you’re just a little tabloid blog now, but later when you have enough fans, you’re also going to turn into an “internet famous” blog. Then we’ll be the same. So I just want to say... just don’t look down on yourself, later.

--

LYN: Oh? Why is it lagging again? What’s wrong with this?? Why is my computer glitching so much today. What’s happening... /checks that everything is working again/ Alright. - /fills the silence with laughter/ LYN: What- did the beauty filter drop for a second? It’s fine, it doesn’t matter. Is it okay now? But now MY screen is frozen.  C: The filter dropped. LYN: It’s okay! We’re all friends. You’ve already seen all my ugly photos online, that one second isn’t going to make a difference. LYN: What’s wrong with my computer today... C: It’s time for the computer to be raffled off. LYN: That’s not necessary. I guess it’s been too long since I streamed on it. This means that I should stream more often, is that it? “Ning-ge, it’s because you don’t stream regularly, so that’s why your computer is like this.” Alright. I’ll try my best. // I can do it. How about this. The next time I jump off of zuixiantai I’ll take my computer with me, in the hopes that it can be reborn.

LYN: But anyway, there are a lot of things on the internet that will try to sway your opinion.Don’t believe everything they say. It’s not like they know. I mean, how could a drama crew ask to borrow scenery... it’s weird, but whatever. For me as well, a lot of people say that I’m ugly, right? Okay, I admit I look just average. For me, my fans probably think that I’m handsome no matter what I do- you’ve got to understand them. It’s like if you have a baby- no matter how ugly they are, they’re still your baby. You’re going to think that your child looks the best. It’s that simple. My fans also think this way. But as for me, I don’t think I’ve ever gone around praising my own looks, have I? I’ve never said that I was handsome. I’ve never said that I was good-looking. Right? I haven’t said it! C: You’re very handsome! LYN: Thank you. It’s not important. What I wanted to say was that I know that I have faults. I know that in terms of appearances, I’m particularly outstanding. I guess “fault” is not the right word here- it’s not like I’m lacking anything. I have two eyes and a nose. But I have shortcomings when it comes to appearance and as an actor that’s one side. The other side is making the way for yourself, which is, to have a business mindset. I’m not good at that- because I’ve also never pushed for my own acting skills. But I do know that if I am lacking, then I have to put in that much more hard work to that my other merits can make up for where I lack. There’s not much more I can do to help my face, so I hope that I can improve my business mindset. I don’t want to say that I am hard working, only that I know what I should be doing. So it’s alright if people online are calling me ugly and whatnot- it’s nothing to get worked up over. Beauty is subjective. Ugly or not. Handsome or not. None of that matters. For actors... other factors are more important.

LYN: The thing I see most often is “LYN is too ugly. I can’t accept him playing in a gu-ou (guzhuang-idol) drama.” /laughs/ When I hear that, I just want to say: I’ve never acted in a gu-ou drama! Which one of my dramas has outright said that it was a gu-ou? When they gave me the script, they never told me. Like with YNGS- when I got that they told me it was guzhuang-fantasy. They didn’t tell me it was a gu-ou drama. ZY also- it’s just “a story adapted from a novel”. But why is it that after you find that I am a part of it you believe that it’s a gu-ou?? Why is that? LYN: YNGS, after experiencing it- I firmly believe it should be counted as a documentary. It documents the growth of a group of youngsters and records their encounters and relationships on their way to achieve a certain goal. That’s a documentary, it’s not a gu-ou. it’s a road film.   LYN: I don’t think any of the dramas I’ve signed with have outright labelled themselves as a guzhuang-idol drama. At least when I got the script, no one ever told me, “Yuning, the drama you’ll be coming to shoot is a guzhuang-idol drama.” They never said that. How about this- if a director, producer, or company comes to ask me about participating in a drama, as long as they mention the words “guzhuang-idol”, I promise you I won’t take part in that drama. I guarantee you. I’ll reject them on the spot. Alright? Because I’ve never said I was going to shoot a gu-ou, so why are you all saying that I have?? What I’ve filmed is a documentary! - /rants about it some more, because he’s been wrongly accused (for filming a gu-ou) AND insulted (called ugly)/ LYN: So the next time someone says, “LYN is so ugly, why is he playing in a gu-ou?” please ask them, “Which one of his dramas is a gu-ou?” Ask them for me. Then, if they reply, just baidu the name of the drama- each one has an introduction. Let’s see which one has “We are shooting a guzhuang-idol drama” in the description. None of them will. 

C: What about a modern-idol drama? LYN: ... I’ve never seen one. I haven’t seen one and I haven’t been a part of one. LYN: (bc the stream froze a little again) There’s something very wrong with this computer...  LYN: BYOL is a workplace drama; it talks about daily life things. But when I accepted the role in BYOL, no one told me it was a modern-idol drama. Those words never came out of the director or producers’ mouths. I’d like to guarantee to anyone who still can’t accept my look that if a director or producer comes to me with a drama and even slightly mentions the words “guzhuang, idol”, I will not accept that role. I will protect your eyes, alright. I’ll take care of your eyes and your emotions. If they mention it’s a “guzhuang-idol” drama I will reject them. I promise you. This is the last kindness LYN can give you. 

C: What about a youth-idol drama? LYN: That’s even harder. I’m not young anymore, friends. Didn’t I tell you that a drama came to look for me, asking me to act as a fresh college graduate and I hesitated? They wanted this old face to play a college graduate? It’s a little difficult. Even though in my heart I am childish enough to be a kindergartener, my face can’t hold up to a college graduate. LYN: Right now I can only play as a simple middle-aged man. But if you want me to play a real youth- I probably can’t participate.

C: Ning-ge you should get a facelift. LYN: /sigh/ The fact that you’re able to say such a thing means that you have a big sense of humor. You might THINK that you’re very funny. But because you said that- when I hear someone’s words I can infer certain details- the first thing I notice is that you must consider yourself to be funny. Secondly, you must not know very much about cosmetic surgery. If you still call it a “facelift” then that means that you still don’t understand how much cosmetic surgery has progressed. Nowadays it’s all about the Thermage. LYN: The other day I saw someone mention me in a comment, that they saw in one of their friend (who is a beauty blogger (?))’s videos that I was recommending people for the Thermage in my stream. I said, “I did not!” and they ended up sending me the video. I was chatting in my stream, saying I had done Thermage treatments- I was just sharing!- and apparently the people who offer these treatments have cut that part out of my video and are spreading it around to promote and find customers. It’s not as if Thermage has given me any payment for such a promotion, so how infuriating is that? I was speechless. But it’s fine. It... doesn’t really matter.

LYN: But anyway, if you see anyone ridiculing my looks or cursing at me, don’t get worked up. It doesn’t matter. It’s easy to curse at me, because I don’t have any representative works. I know that very clearly. Cursing at me is normal. They all say that I’m not worthy of doing this or doing that, and it’s all normal. In this industry, you need to have some representative project or work in order for people to acknowledge you. Or, when you want someone to acknowledge you, you have to have proof of your worth. But for me, as an actor, I don’t have such a thing. It’s not that I don’t have ANYTHING, it’s just that it’s not enough. Because I’ve never acted as the main lead before, so a lot of people don’t acknowledge me. That’s okay. LYN: Sometimes when people curse at me, I’m grateful. I’m going to explain this in a joking matter, to share with you. When people curse/yell at me I’m happy because there are a group of people who will stand up for me. They might not be my fans, but it’s possible that they’ve seen me act before. They will consider my acting in light of what they have seen of me in my dramas and comment, “Actually I’ve seen him act as OOO, and I think....” They will express their own opinions. The roles I’ve acted as can protect me and help those who want to stand up for me. The only problem is that these roles are all supporting roles. Hei Yanjing is a role many people like. Hao Du, as well, is a well-liked character and I’m thankful for them. Even Bai Choufei- there are people who like him, too. If you haven’t really grasped the character, it’s hard for people to defend you as an actor. I understand this, so I’m not in a hurry. I’m just going to silently film for my dramas and diligently do my own work. One day, I hope, I will gain the recognition from this group of people.

LYN: I’ve been very clear on my path from the start, so all of you can rest assured. I started off as a streamer on the side of the street, just singing. Everyone said I was just internet famous. I called myself a singer, and people refuted, “What type of singer are you? You’re just internet famous. You don’t share the same path as a singer does. There’s a barrier.” That’s what they told me, as if they knew the path well. I didn’t argue. It didn’t matter, because I had nothing to show for myself. I didn’t say anything, and just released song after song like crazy. I released OST after OST. Until now. Normally speaking, you won’t find anyone who says I am not a singer, now. You’ll rarely hear someone say that “LYN is not a singer”; and there are still those who say, “LYN? He’s not a singer, he’s just internet famous.” That’s okay. But the majority of people have acknowledged that I am a singer, by now. Why? Because I’ve sung too many drama OSTs, and I thank the drama for letting these OSTs be heard- so they KNOW I’m a singer. The only reason they acknowledge me as a singer is BECAUSE I have all these OSTs to prove it. LYN: When I first started off in this industry, people said “What? A singer? He sings so badly, he must be relying on his face.” XD “He can’t sing. He’s just an internet famous guy. There’s a barrier between the internet famous and singers. He must be here because of his face.” People really said that! I’m not giving myself a bias or calling myself handsome. That’s really what people were saying. They said my singing was no good and I got into this industry by relying on my face. Now I’ve started acting and they say my face is no good. It’s strange. But that’s not the important part. LYN: I’m a singer who’s jumped into another career path and have started acting. It’s normal that people won’t acknowledge me, but that’s not important. I’ve already had a successful experience. They said I was just internet famous so I released so many songs they had no choice but to acknowledge me as a singer. Now I’m a singer who wants to be an actor, so I should just keep acting until one day they’re forced to admit it. At this point, it’s enough for me to keep accepting roles and take each one of them seriously. I hope there will come a day people acknowledge me as an actor, too.

LYN: There are people who say “LYN, as a singer, why have you turned to acting? Just keep being a singer.” The people who say this are probably fans of actors. Their idols are probably actors, and they don’t want me- a singer- to enter the acting world and stir the waters. The problem is... aren’t there also a lot of actors SINGING at all these galas and events, too? Right? Everyone is the same. Actors sing at these events... which means they’re taking jobs away from singers. XD We’re all the same. It’s all the same industry. A lot of actors are turning into hosts, which mean that hosts are out of jobs, right? It’s the same. Don’t care too much. As long as someone likes the profession and has enough passion to take it seriously, I think that’s enough. LYN: I’m not saying that I’m so amazing; I still need to work hard. I just think it’s not necessary to differentiate in such a manner. If singers aren’t allowed to act, then why are actors allowed to sing? Why is that?? Also, aren’t a lot of actors and celebrities nowadays coming to try be internet famous? They’re all starting to stream and sell products, aren’t they? Isn’t it all the same?? If I were a Streamer, could I say, “What are all you celebrities up to, trying to steal our work? It took so much effort to be a famous streamer, so what are you celebrities doing just coming in as you please and taking over?? Can’t you just focus on your acting???” As a Streamer, that’s something I can say, right? That’s why, this (the hard lines people draw between professions) is nothing.

LYN: What people choose to do is their own choice, and whether you like to see it or not is your own problem. We’re actually all the same. // As long as you like something and are able to take it seriously, just do it. It’s just like going to college- you choose a major and then when you graduate, do you HAVE to go into a related profession? I believe that many of you are not currently working in a profession related to what you specifically studied in university. [//] It's your choice which path you take in order to make a living for yourself. As long as you can do it, it’s okay. Other people don’t have the necessity (right) to make a comment.

-- break #1

C: You can add the new video to your lineup. LYN: Yes, I saw that there was a new one. I just didn’t have the time to download it. Today’s stream was a little last-minute and I didn’t make any preparations or clean up my computer, so it’s acting up today. It’s fine. I’ll stream a lot more regularly later, because this drama is only 36 episodes so we probably won’t film too much. Unlike YNGS- where there was lots to shoot. There are less scenes for this drama. Also, there aren’t too many fight scenes. There are some, but not that many. YNGS had a lot of fight scenes, so the filming schedule was tight. This drama will be better on that front (less fight scenes).  LYN: It’s already late night, so if there’s anything you want to chat about we can chat. Let me sing you a song first, and then if you have anything you want to ask we can do a little interview. You can use this time to think about any questions you want to ask me, alright? / Let me sing a song. What should I sing... C: Micro World. LYN: It’s being released tomorrow. You want me to sing it live during my stream, so I leak the whole song? The platform hasn’t even released it yet, but I sing it first?? That’s strange. It’s like I go to monitor YNGS editing and secretly record a bit of it to post online. You want me to leak it?? C: Liu Yao. LYN: Oh, that song? Maybe next time. I don’t think I’m in the greatest condition to be able to pull off singing that song. Let me see if 笑红尘 is on here. I have the accompaniment, but not with me- I’ll have to get it on the usb. Looks like this doesn’t have it... - /hums a little without accompaniment/

C: I want to hear 危险派对 (Wei Xian Pai Dui - Dangerous Party). LYN: YOU’RE dangerous. How does this song go? /plays it/ Oh, it’s rap. I’m not very good at rap. // The only rap I know is (座右铭 - Motto)- “Laoban, are you there? Give me a glass of grape juice~ With ice.” - /starts in with (��在乎 - He Cares)/ “Hi- I’m God. For real, I’m not kidding. Your body’s already dead, sorry. ” LYN: I only know these types of rap. C: What the heck is that? LYN: Em.. it’s not important. If you haven’t heard it, that’s okay. 

LYN: Hm.. what should I sing? Oh! Let me see... -- 无问 (Don’t Ask) LYN: I heard this song a few days ago and thought it was nice. I’m not very familiar with it though, so I just hummed it for you. I put on these glasses so you all know this is a song from a familiar singer. (Mao Buyi)

C: How about a rap song? LYN: I’m really not any good at it. The type of music I like is more- /starts singing 爱如火/. C: Qilin (麒麟) LYN: I only know those few lines. Let’s try it, then. You all already know I only know those few lines, so. Let me wear some shades, to fit the look. /puts on some tinted shades/ How’s this? Do I look like a rapper? LYN: This is really suitable for sleeping. You can listen and go to sleep straight after. -- 麒麟 (Qilin) - /out of breath, his computer froze again and it’s bugging him/ C: It made me sleepy. LYN: Are all the songs you listen to before sleep so raucous? How much sleep are you lacking, that listening to this song would make you sleepy?

--

C: What time are you heading out tomorrow morning? LYN: I have a notice from the ZY crew, do you want to buy it from me? I also have reuters for LYN, do you want to buy them? If you’re willing to spend the money, then I’ll sell you a copy. If you need reuters, I’ll send you a selfie. It’ll even be a better picture than most leaked ones out there, too. As my fan, you don’t need to shop the pictures either. You don’t have to worry that I’ll send you an ugly picture- there’s no way I’d do that. How’s that sound? You still want to buy them? Add my WeChat later and we’ll talk. LYN: It’s just because people are worried that I’m staying up too late and I’ll be tired tomorrow. Tomorrow will be fine- we’re shooting a big scene. Not too many lines, I just need to be in a good condition. I already looked at tomorrow’s script.

LYN: Am I trending, friends? Really? /side-eye/ I don’t believe you. I don’t believe it, let me go take a look. // Oh, I am. I see it. #37. It’s my honor, to be able to be trending just for streaming. I’d like to thank everyone watching right now for flattering me. Of course, thank you to weibo as well. This is awesome. Normally, I’m not worthy of trending. I don’t deserve it!

C: Why am I not sleepy? Because it’s LYN! LYN: Just seeing me energizes you? :D

C: Sure enough, it’s all about the face. LYN: How strange. Don’t mention the word “face” to me. I’m seriously anxious about my looks. My name is Liu Jiao Lu. (焦虑)

LYN: I’m trying to find any comments with CONTENT.

C: I saw him today. He is still him. So happy. My upset feelings have once again been healed. Thank you, Liu Yuning. LYN: “upset feelings have once again been healed”...

C: I saw a bit of LYN’s stream. He’s too funny. I couldn’t even contain my teeth (?)- he has too many jokes. LYN: Hey- how’s my imitation of you? Is it similar?

C: I knew that LYN’s singing is very good, but is it only because of his appearance and height that I have good feelings for him? I saw so many full-body pictures of him before. That appearance and physique! Amazing~ LYN: Do I sound like you?

LYN: Let me find another one! :D Let me see if there are any that are more...

C: I always come to listen to the lullaby of Qilin late at night. This time it seems like he was able to follow along some more, so he’s improved. LYN: Does that sound like you??

LYN: /scrolling/ I’ll be done in a sec... /giggles/

C: Liu Yuning. It’s been five years and you are still you. You haven’t lost yourself, and that’s so nice. Our promise is still there. We sent you into this complicated entertainment industry, so we will be responsible for you until the end. We’ll always be here. We’ll always love you. Let’s fight together to make the things other people told us we weren’t capable of a reality!

LYN: This one. This sounds a little more elegant so I’ll pair it with some bgm. C: I love that LYN streams like this. Sing a song. Chat a little. We can ask him mundane questions, and LYN will share with us some happiness from the entertainment industry that we know little about. It’s just that simply. We can pass the time happily. Watching the time pass with LYN is a kind of happiness.

C: From refuting his rumors about himself at the start to telling us all about his experiences in getting to where he is today. In a moment I was reminded of Bai Choufei, who sat on the roof and proclaimed that he wanted to reach the sky. LYN, you’ll be popular for sure! LYN: Wait- why are you laughing? How could you laugh at my fans? Only I can do that! Only I am in control of everything and can laugh at my own fans. Who allowed you to laugh?? // Only I can laugh at my own fans. LYN: I didn’t read this comment because I wanted to make fun of it. I just wanted to say... I’m jealous of you. For being able to experience so many things while watching my stream. I feel like I’m Bai Choufei, standing on that roof. LYN: Hold on, I’m going to look up his lines. Let me see if I can find them. // There aren’t any (online). - /comments filled with BCF’s lines, because the fans remember/

--

LYN: Thank you for spending another new year with me. At this time I’d like to wish you healthy and happiness. Happy New Year!

C: Ning-ge, you’ll be hot this year for sure! LYN: Actually it’s not important if I’m hot or not. // Wait- I’ll be “hot this year for sure”... that means I’m not hot now, is that it? I’ll admit it. LYN: I don’t particularly mind if I’m popular or not. What’s more important is that I have work to do and am able say I did something with my life later on.

- /updates about the progress of his foot again, for those who’ve come in late. (he can start walking on it without the support in order to regain the muscle/function back.)/ LYN: Through this experience I’ve found out- you know how a lot of people say they wish their legs were thinner? Let me tell you, if you don’t walk and just lie on your bed all day your legs are definitely going to get thinner. Because all the muscles will have wasted away. So these days I have to wear more sensible/stable shoes and slowly walk. 

C: What about the interview? It hasn’t happened yet. LYN: Alright, let’s interview. I’ll chat with you a little longer before I sign off. I said earlier that there would be an interview segment, so if you have any questions that you want to ask me you can type them into the comments. We’ll move into the ~Late Night Live-stream Radio~.

LYN: Friends, I welcome you to the Modern Brothers Liu Yuning Radio. On this beautiful night you have me here to keep you company. --bgm: 都是夜归人 (Living by Night)

C: Ning-ge, have you settled on your next variety show? LYN: I have to set my varieties, too? "You’re just a singer, so just sing your songs. Why do you have to be on variety shows?” Right? // No. I haven’t decided on any, because I don’t actually have any resources on the variety show front. LYN: My makeup’s coming off.  LYN: But anyway, no variety has come to look for me. Probably because they haven’t started up just yet. When they do, I expect a couple will inquire. The other thing is in the previous years there have been quite a lot of variety shows that invited me to take part. Not because I’m popular, but it was out of politeness. They’re thinking “LYN is pretty sad, let’s give him some work to do.” Some have invited me, but I didn’t go because I was shooting the drama and I didn’t have time. There’s a limit to how many variety shows I can accept in a year. I’ve set it so that I can accept only one. This year I’m saving that spot for The Truth, the caveat being if there even will be a second season or not. If I have enough time, I will also save a spot for a music-variety show. C: Is there a second season of The Truth? LYN: I don’t know. I hope there will be. That is... it’s better if there is, isn’t it?

C: Do you have venues for your concert? - /sets it up so he’s interviewing himself./ LYN: Yes, I have been in talks about my concert. If I am able to hold on this year, there would be about 10 stops. LYN: (about the “interview” design) /laughs/ This is going to tire me to death. XD Forget it. LYN: /continues normally/ IF the album goes smoothly, I will probably hold a concert. Let’s not rush it. I do just want to say though, to all my fans. Please don’t create any false conceptions. All of you are typing in the comments, “When is LYN holding his concert???” You’re making it seem as if my tickets would even sell out. If you create this misconception and then later I’m not able to sell any tickets at all, I’ll be very sad. Please don’t do this to me. Just let things happen naturally. C: No way! We’re afraid we won’t even be able to GET a ticket. LYN: Normally I would hold my concert in a venue that can hold 10,000 people. But there’s no way to fill all the seats, right? So I’ll sell 7k-8k tickets. How can you not get a ticket? I’m not that popular. I have self-awareness, alright? There’s no way I can sell out all those tickets so you don’t have to worry. You’re making it seem like my concert is so hard to get tickets for. Please don’t create this misconception. LYN: Also, it’s not like I’ll only have one show, right? Because it costs a lot to rent a venue and using it only once seems like a waste. So... you can figure it out.

C: Ning-ge, when your dramas finish airing the tickets will be even harder to attain. LYN: What do you mean? That since I’m an actor and after a few dramas more people will get to know of me? They saw me in one of my acting roles and have accidentally started to like me, so then they will want to come to my concert and therefore tickets will be hard to buy? Stop trying to trick me. LYN: But each concert is held for a couple of rounds. The last time was six rounds. That’s around 60k seats- how could you not get one? Don’t make it seem like I am very welcome. Don’t give me that misconception. I’m going to start drifting. The only reason Ning-ge is able to keep afloat in this industry is because I am aware of my own limitations. Otherwise I would have entered this industry, shot my first two dramas and then started accepting male lead roles. But I didn’t. I did several supporting roles before I even tried. I have self-awareness.

C: Student-fans can’t come, LYN: You mean to my concert? It’s okay. You can come after you graduate. Wait until you’ve graduated and have a job and are making money. It’s alright if the student-fans can’t come. Later in life you’ll grow up to be an even better person and have a steady income. At that time you can come to see my concert. Because going to a concert isn’t cheap- honestly. I understand. First of all- buying the ticket itself is an expense. And then, if you’re working, you have to ask for a day off and that means you’re losing out on your pay for that day. Then whether you’re taking the bus, train, or plane here- it’s all ground expenses. And it’s not like when you come to the concert you’re coming in for the day and leaving that night- no, you’re going to have to live in a hotel or something. Those are all expenses; watching a concert costs a lot. Some people might think it’s only a matter of buying a ticket, but it’s not like that. People coming in from out of the area have travel, lodging, and meal expenses. That’s all money. So, if you can’t come it’s alright. Wait until school is over- I mean, until you graduate.

C: I’ve saved up enough money. Now I’m just waiting for you to hold it. LYN: That’s alright for you, but a lot of others haven’t saved up yet. So why doesn’t everyone go online tomorrow and buy a piggy bank. Start saving up now. Then when the time comes for ticket sales, you can just break the bank and you’ll have the money. C: Raffle and win a piggy bank. LYN: That’s not necessary. C: Do I have enough time if I start saving now? LYN: Yeah. I’m going to be shooting this drama for at least four months; it’s only just started. It’s enough time. Save up slowly. C: I have money. LYN: I told my friends that I was going to hold a concert and to start saving up money. Get a piggy bank to start saving up so that you’ll have the money to come see me after. And someone said, “I have money.” What did you say that for?? Are you trying to show off your wealth? If you’re going to be like that, then the next time you watch my stream should watch with your phone in one hand and your house deed, car license... and rv license (your assets) held tightly in the other. If you’re married you can watch my stream while wearing your dowry. Hold you phone in your left and and wear all your bracelets and gold from your grandmother’s house on your right. Golden necklace, gold bracelets and rings. You’ll have money. Really impressive.

C: Ning-ge, is there a discount for students? LYN: You think you’re amusing? Is there a discount for students... um I don’t think we have that business model. There’s nothing that says if your height isn’t over 1m that you get a ticket for half-price, either. There’s no such thing here.

C: Ning-ge, is the 5RMB coupon for your concert that you gave earlier still effective? LYN: Yeah. If you have that coupon and you want to go buy my concert ticket, you’ll all get a 5RMB discount. But you can’t stack them- you can only use one per transaction. But this coupon probably won’t be effective on the ticket sales website, so bring it with you to the concert. Then later you can pick up 5RMB on your way out, in cash. Alright? How does that sound? You’ll buy the ticket at original price first  and then after you’ve finished watching the concert we’ll reimburse you 5RMB. C: I don’t have one. LYN: If you don’t have one then sorry, you’re going to have to spend an extra 5RMB to watch my concert.

C: Can you come to Shandong? LYN: No problem. LYN: Last time did I have a stop in Shandong, in Qingdao? I don’t remember. I forgot where I went the last time. If I have enough stops I’ll probably definitely make it to Qingdao, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Beijing. Maybe Chengdu or Chongqing. The cities where there denser populations. We;ll see. Xi’an will probably have one. But we’ll have to see. The topic of the concert has come to a head, let’s chat about something different now. If you keep asking me about the concert, later if there’s a very good project that comes to find me do you want me to accept it or not? There were people earlier who kept asking me if I had accepted any future projects yet or not. I’m not doing that well. I’m not strong enough to be working on one project and having the next one already lined up. Do you think I am- other people?

LYN: I really take picking dramas seriously, and I have a lot of other people help me look over the script and character. We’re picking through them thoroughly, and the ones I end up choosing are- in my opinion- the good ones. It’s hard to find a good one that’s also suitable for me. If I wanted to keep filming (continuously), I can. I’m able to do that, but my choices are... I’m pretty picky, I guess. It’s not that I can be picky because I think I’m amazing, but because I want to be respectful of the acting. I don’t want to exhaust myself or do anything that I don’t like or that doesn’t suit me. When choosing the script, role, and the group I’ll be working with I always take time to think about it. I don’t just take whatever comes. It’s not as if I’m in it for the money. This is the advantage of not being signed to a company- I can make my own choices. You can trust me- every role and drama I accept has gone through some deep thinking. I’m not just picking blind. LYN: I can also choose my own ranking, which is an advantage of having my own studio. I can make a lot of my own decisions.

LYN: I saw something... I always say that ranking doesn’t matter TO ME, and I’ve seen a lot of other people say “Don’t listen to LYN’s bs. He’s really something else, always acting shady I’d like to see if he REALLY doesn’t care about ranking or not.” Then ZY came out, right? And not to be full of myself, but even I thought I was amazing- second rank. [t/n: meaning they list SZE’s name first, then LYN, then.. etc. etc.] Then another group of people came out, “Alright. LYN’s a man, after all. He said he didn’t care about rankings and he’s shown it. Fine. He says he doesn’t care about rankings, so in the future let him always keep the second place. If there comes a day he’s listed first, then let’s curse at him.” This is... I said before that I really don’t think that ranking is important. It’s not important to me, in that it doesn’t change whether I choose to participate in a drama or not. It’s not something I consider when taking on a project. I only respect who I work with. Whatever they give me is what I get- it’s their opinion of me. If there really comes a day, say twenty years later, and some production company wants to give me first rank, do you think I’ll tell them I don’t want it? That’s not necessary, either. I just respect the drama’s decision. I’m okay with whatever they arrange. LYN: I’ve told my friends- it doesn’t matter if I’m acting as the lead role now. If there comes a good supporting role in the future, I will still accept it. All you have to do it watch. This isn’t a big deal. I used to not understand but lately I’ve come to understand it.

C: I support your every decision. LYN: You can. Trust me. I’m very clear on what I want and I’ve never hidden it. When I was little I always told people that my dream was to become a celebrity. That’s not shameful, is it? If you think it is then I won’t tell you. I’ve always wanted to be a celebrity. Now I’ve gotten to be an artist and am on my way to being a celebrity. XD In my heart, I will never put money first. I know if I say that, to a lot of you it sounds fake. But if you have a eyes and a brain and a working sense of critical thinking you will see that I never do things just to put money first. I still have dreams and goals, but it’s not convenient for me to share with you exactly what those goals are. My way of thinking and my actions might be vastly different from others, but that’s okay. I’m sure that one day all of my hard work and effort will pay off and you will be there to witness it with me.  LYN: I used to walk on the street and see the posters of celebrities and be so jealous. I’d think, “Wow, these people are so amazing. Look! Their photos are all over the street.” Also when I opened up my apps- you know how when you open it, it shows you an ad? I used to think the artists on those ads were so good-looking and cool, and I wondered when my time would come. Those were my thoughts, from before I became an artist.

LYN: My very first time participating in an event, I went to sing on the stage for the first time. I had only just debuted. When I saw other celebrities I was also excited, friends. There’s no use hiding it and it’s not shameful to say. I was starstruck, too. I also foolishly went up to take selfies with them. I went up to them and said, “Hello! Can I take a picture with you?” XD We’re all the same, I have also done this. A lot of you look down upon people who chase stars, but there’s nothing wrong with it. If you like someone, then let them know. I remember that event very clearly. That was where I saw DZW for the first time. I was so excited! Think about it- how long ago did he debut, and here I was only just debuting. Honestly a lot of us have listened to DZW’s songs growing up, haven’t we? When we go to the KTV, we all sing these people’s songs, right? So the first time I saw DZW I was SO excited. Since I was also one of the performers, and usually the program will book the same hotel, coincidentally I had finished my performance and was heading back to the hotel and so was he. He got off of the car in front of me, and I saw him from the back and I was thinking, “Wow, that’s DZW. Oh my goodness. Should I go up to him and ask to take a picture?” And my inner voice acted up and said, “What if he rejects you?” If he rejects me that would be embarrassing, right? Because I was also one of the performers of the day. So did I go up to him or decide to forget it?? In the end my excitement won over my logic and I ran up to him. When I ran up his assistant- because they’re usually the ones who are observing all sides- his assistant turned their head and saw me. I said, “Hello. I was also one of the performers today. Is it alright if I ask  DZW-laoshi for a picture?” I even introduced myself, like “I too sang at the event tonight. I’m not a stalker fan who followed you back to your hotel for a picture. That’s not what I mean. I’m also one of the performers, so could I get a picture with him?” Then DZW turned to look at me and said it was okay. So I grabbed my phone out and took a picture- it’s still saved on my phone. And then-- LYN: I remember I was able to get two selfies that day. One was at the hotel where I ran into DZW and the other- the other was with Mao Buyi. When I first debuted he was already very popular. Right? I went on “Singer” and I sang his song, even. How much do you think I admired Mao Buyi, this thing. I mean, not “this thing”! I meant, think about the fact that I liked MBY so much, and so when I saw him I was also very excited. I asked him if I could take a picture with him,l and explained that I was also one of the performers of the day. Because I couldn’t be sure if he knew who I was! Of course I knew who he was, as a big celebrity. But he said okay, no problem. So I was able to get a picture with him. I went to that event and came out of it with pictures with two celebs.

LYN: I have a very normal mindset. Even now, I still get excited when I see celebrities. It’s just like how I’m shooting a drama with SZE, now. Whenever I get to set I go, “Wow. A big celebrity.” It makes me happy. It makes you want to ask them for a picture, you know? But you don’t want to be an inconvenience, because.. that’s no good. C: Does Zu’er know? LYN: Of course she doesn’t. I don’t want to inconvenience her (by fan-boying over her). Maybe later, in another month? I can go up to her and say, “Hello, Song Zu’er-laoshi. I have also participated in this drama. We’re performing on the same stage. Do you think I could get a picture with you?” You have to tell her, right? Because it’s a given that I know her, but she might not necessarily know me. We’ll see in another month. I’ll let you know how it goes. LYN: Because it’s not like I can go straight up to her from the start. Because she’s a celebrity, after all. What would happen if I were stopped by her assistant and then escorted off the premises by the crew? Let’s wait until we’re more familiar with each other. I’ll introduce myself, “Nice to meet you. I am the male lead of this drama.” So now we’ve met. “Do you think I can get a picture with you? So I can save it as a souvenir.” I’ll share how it goes in a month. Then later I’ll ask her to sign it for me. “To: Liu Yuning”. We’re all just chasing stars.

C: Lao-da, I want a picture with you. LYN: Sure, no problem. Have we performed on the same stage before? LYN: I’m the same as all of you. If I see a celebrity I will also get excited. Don’t look at my old age, I debuted late. When I was a singer, I only debuted in 2018. Before that, whose songs were I listening to? Xue Zhiqian. Da Zhangwei. Mao Buyi. I was listening to their songs. But now I’m an artist and a singer and we’re technically part of the same industry- it’s a weird feeling. But when you meet them, you will still feel the excitement and you will still have that respect for them.  C: Wang Sulong. LYN: Right. The first time I met WSL I was so nervous. Because he was already popular all over the internet. He was an extremely popular singer. At that time I was still just singing for wedding celebrations on the streets- singing his songs, even. I don’t even know how many hundreds of dollars I made by singing WSL’s songs. At the time, when I was singing for people on the side of the street I could make 50RMB in a day. His songs made me a lot of money. XD Every time I see him I express my thanks. For giving me songs to sing while I was just a street singer.  C: Then you should share the copyright fees with him. LYN: That’s not necessary. They gave me 50RMB for the whole day, but I sang 6-7 different people’s songs. XZQ included. How do you think I should split it? There’s no way. Also, it’s not like the 3-5RMB would make a difference. There’s no need.

C: Ning-ge, how about you sing at my wedding? LYN: I said I used to sing wedding songs for people and this friend is like, “Ning-ge, don’t worry. Don’t be afraid that you’ll be out of work. I’m about to get married. Come sing for me and I can feed you 50RMB.” Is that what you mean? Erm. Sorry. I don’t accept outside business. LYN: Alright, it’s about time. I should get ready and wash up, look over the script and then get to sleep. I’m off to work tomorrow. I hope you had a relaxing, wonderful, and happy night. It was great to have you. I hope you had fun. C: “Feed” 50 RMB?? // Ning-ge, I’ll give you 5000RMB. Come sing at my wedding. LYN: ... LYN: Um... *w*! Friends, look at this. They’re throwing money at me. The meaning here is that, “You used to make 50RMB. Here, I’ll give you 5000RMB. 100x more. You’re not going to do it? You’re drifting?” I already said I don’t accept outside business. I won’t go. I wish you a happy marriage.

LYN: Okay. I hope you had a relaxing, wonderful, and happy night. It was great to have you. I hope you had fun. Let’s meet in the next stream. Goodnight, everyone. LYN: But I really want to wait until the viewers hits 30million before I sleep. But I think I might have to wait until 1am before that happens, and that’s not feasible... LYN: Alright, I’ll wait. I’ll chat with you a little longer. The sign-off failed, sorry. I have a strong sense of will. When I set my sights on something I don’t want to give up on it easily. LYN: Let’s continue talking about the wedding thing! XD. No, I’ll share more experiences of meeting celebrities with you. There’s not much more, though. It’s just that in the beginning you’ll still feel that excitement. I remember the first time I went to act- no, forget it.

C: Ning-ge, I’m in India participating in your stream. LYN: Look at this. They’re away from home and still have the mind to think of me. The second thing is, they used the word “participate”. They don’t just consider themselves a viewer, but a participant. It’s been hard on you. Thank you for your support, for tuning in when you’re in India. C: I’m on Earth. LYN: /sigh/ LYN: The friend earlier, though, has the right to take a picture with me. Because we are participating in this stream together. C: Ning-ge, I’m also participating! Could I get a picture with you? LYN: Uhm... no. 

C: Is it fun working with Zu’er? LYN: It’s pretty fun, because we’re familiar. We knew each other before this drama. She’s a fun person. I’ve been happy to work on each one of my dramas. Honestly. Because- because- I’ve been happy on each drama, because you’re together with this group of people for at least four months. If you’re not happy, then how do you expect to continue working? You have to be happy. It’s all very happy, very fun. There’s nothing to be unhappy about. Everything’s happy. If you’re unhappy then you can resolve it yourself. I’m an adult. I can take care of my own unhappiness. But there’s nothing to be unhappy about! Everything’s happy. Really. I’m not lying. This is the truth. - [t/n: he said (un-)happy about 16 times while trying to explain this. :p]

C: How’s the five song EP going? LYN: I found a music company to work with and they’re going to come over in the next few days to discuss things with my group. I really am working on the five song EP, and we’ll see how we can work together. As for the five artists, I’ve already got them in mind. I’ve decided on four already. I had this thought out of the blue and started thinking of which friends were around me. I thought about my friends- I only have so many. There are also the friends who are singers, but I wanted to find the ones who aren’t necessarily professional singers. I wanted to find the ones who are actors, but might have a singing ability. It’s just for fun. I don’t anticipate these songs being popular at all. I just want this EP to be meaningful to me when it’s done. I think that would be nice. I’ve set it for five songs, but if in the end I can only find four people then four songs is also okay.  C: HZT should be included. LYN: That’s a given. I already spoke with him about it and he’s agreed. I’ll just have to find a song and send it to him and we’ll be settled. LYN: I’ll try to release five songs. But it’ll be long time before you even hear them. Songs are so hard to find!

C: ZXD-laoshi is here. LYN: She was here earlier. Is she still here? No, right?

C: Ning-ge, then who pays for the songs? LYN: Now you’re asking the right questions. It’s also something I’ve been contemplating. It’s a headache... who will pay the money?? Well, not WHO WILL PAY, I think it’s alright to pay to create a song. But for example, if I wanted to release a song, I would first need to buy the resources. Like a three or five year copyright. Lyrics are an expense. Composition is an expense. Arrangement and production are expenses. Now the song is about finished and you have it in hand. There’s already one half of the cost- it’s no small amount. But the biggest expense comes from inviting an artist. I am the starter, so I should go out and find an artist to sing. First of all, I don’t need to pay myself. It’s not like I would ask myself for money. But as for my friend... honestly, I told them about the front part but haven’t discussed this second part with them.  LYN: I haven’t thought of how to bring it up. Many of them have agencies. It’s not like I can say, “Let’s work on a song together and I’ll feed you 50RMB.” “I’ll transfer you 50RMB. Let’s sing a song together.” XD Because the friends I have chosen all have pretty big rankings. If it really comes down to it there’s a possibility the song won’t be able to be released. We’ll have to see how it goes. But I don’t think it would be a problem with these particular friends. LYN: How about I pay for the song and production and then if there’s any revenue we’ll split 50/50. Does that sound acceptable, friends? I’ll pay for all the production costs and then later if there’s any revenue to be made we can split the profits evenly. Do you think if I present it to them that way, they would accept? I think that’s agreeable. C: It doesn’t matter what we think. LYN: But I’m just sharing with you, so you can give me an opinion! Aren’t we family? What do you say, friends? C: Ning-ge, I’ll sing with you. I can do it for free. // Your friends probably wouldn’t ask money from you. LYN: Of course, none of them would be in it to make a little money off of me. There’s no way. How could that be anyone’s starting point? For example, I went to find them and ask them if they want to work on a song together. Who would say, “Sure. How much money can I make from it?” There’s no way!! They’re doing it because of me, because I’m their friend. But as LYN, it’s not as if I could just take that at face value! That’s just being a decent human being. I can’t just drag them along with me to create a song just because they agreed to it- they’re not going to say anything out of politeness. But not giving someone a clear explanation is no way to be a person. LYN: When I found them to begin with none of them wanted all the details of how we would work together. It was just a matter of agreeing or not, and when I had the song I would just send it to them. They’re in it for the fun of it. But as LYN, I can’t just go into it blind. So this is what I’ve been thinking about for the past few days. They want to work with me not because they want to make any money off of me. The fact that I was able to make friends with them in the first place and that I am able to just ask them and have them agree means that we’re close enough friends (that money isn’t an issue). LYN: You all.. how could you think like that? Do you really think I would only transfer then 50RMB? At the least it would be 100RMB.

LYN: Alright. I hope you had a relaxing, wonderful, and happy night. It was great to have you. I hope you had fun. Excuse me, I’ve made you all stay up with me. It’s almost 1am. I hope anyone going to work tomorrow with have a smooth day at work. Any students going to school tomorrow will elevate their learning. Let’s meet in the next stream. If you haven’t subscribed to my weibo, please do so. I am Modern Brothers Liu Yuning. See you next time, friends. Goodnight!

[gatheredfates]

FIVE SONGS I'M INTO RIGHT NOW ✧˖°.

I got tagged by @hylfystt to list five songs I'm into right now! As I wanted to wait until I listened to the new Bad Omens album (because I knew the songs would rotate rent free in my head) I can update accordingly. ✨

ANYTHING > HUMAN - Bad Omens & Erra

This life was all it had to be. Designed, but not for you an me. I never needed you to be anything more than human.

IT'S GOOD. IT'S SEXY. BEST SONG OF THE ALBUM. It's sooo industrial and I love it.

celestina [hushed] - Crywolf & Emalyn.

Hold my life until the beating of your precious heart decides to kill. I'll bleed for you, love.

I used this song for my Alaice edit! I love how soft/ethereal this version is. (There is also a new Crywolf album next week and I... am not ready.)

notre dame - Paris Paloma

I rarely go down there, the view's just so beautiful from here and I can see everybody at their worst points. At their worst points.

I had this song pretty much on repeat for the entirety of last week; it has no right to be this longing and this pretty.

And So My Heart Became a Void - Ursine Vulpine & Annaca

Now we're standing in the sunlight and I can't bear the sight of you. Oh, my lover, what's on your mind? You're caught between two ways of life, a way for you to find the light. One day we will reconcile but that will have to wait this time.

The whole Solace EP gives me huge Azem/Emet vibes (or, really, Azem/Any Ancient) but this song in particular just HITS right. It's love, loss and longing in a way that feels so grandiose and otherworldly, but you can still relate to the intent behind it even if it feels beyond you. I love it.

The End - Halsey

When I met you, I said I would never die. But the joke was always mine 'cause I'm racing against time. And I know it's not the end of the world, but could you pick me up at eight? 'Cause my treatment starts today.

I've been a Halsey fan for years and, as someone who has cared for people with chronic illnesses (mental & physical), as well as battling with my own... yeah. It hits a certain way. If you're going through the same, it feels very cathartic.

Tagging: @mist-touched, @clouds-of-reveries, @redmoonwanderer, @ser-corviknight, @abalathia,

@hazelkjt, @candycryptids, @riftdancing, @clockchimesthirteen, @atupda & you!

If you'd like a chance of being tagged, you can like my permanent interaction call here!

[lonelywhalien22]

pretty lies - part nine (finale)

pairing: vernon x reader

rating/genre: enemies to lovers, slow burn, ANGSTY fluff, band au

summary: supporting your friend mingyu becomes way more than you ever could have bargained for when you become involved with one of his bandmates

warnings: cussing, vernon has issues in this story but please remember this is a work of fiction, mingyu stans don’t hate me but mingyu and reader are just friends

*credit: the lyrics referenced in this chapter are not mine, they are from the actual song black eye by vernon. and if you really wanna nerd out with me, listen to the band live session version he released, as that is what i imagined specifically while writing this part - trust me, it hits different.*

word count: 6.4k

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~One year later~

“Ok, I think that’s enough for today,” you said to yourself, wiping the back of your hand across your brow as you stood up from your crouched position. You glanced around your apartment, trying to find your glass of water as you caught your breath.

Your living room was full of cardboard boxes, some of them taped shut with short descriptions scribbled hastily on the outside while others were still open, various items thrown inside haphazardly. It was spring once again, but instead of the seasonal cleaning you loved to indulge in at the first sign of sunny skies and warmer temperatures, you were moving out.

When you’d first been contacted about a competitive job offer a few months ago, you had immediately dismissed the idea. Though the hiring manager had been highly impressed with your skillset, the work would be notably different from what you were used to doing at your old job, and you doubted whether you could handle the requirements of the role. Your hesitation only became stronger when you were informed that you’d also have to relocate to take on the position.

What about my family? Mingyu and the rest of my friends? The life I have here? You’d spent weeks pondering the possible scenarios and all the things that would change if you took the offer, and you’d almost talked yourself into declining it. That was until you realized how much had already changed. 

It had been nine months since the guys had left to go work on their recording with Woozi. You still remembered the final hugs you’d given to Jay and Mingyu at the airport before they’d gone through security, a certain third person having not yet arrived. You still wondered to this day if he’d purposely chosen to show up as late as possible or if it was you who had come extra early to avoid having to interact. Perhaps it was both.

You and Mingyu had facetimed pretty regularly for the first month that they were gone. Sometimes you’d even see Jay in the background during your video chats as well, the two of you exchanging greetings and asking how the other was doing. By the time the second month had come around however, the distance made it hard to always remember to keep in touch. Eventually you all became busier and busier, your lives naturally moving in different directions. No matter how much time passed though, Mingyu always made sure to at the very least share the bigger updates with you:

~

“Why’s it taking so long to finish recording? I thought you guys would have been back by now,” you asked during one of your monthly catch ups. It had been four months at this point since they’d left. 

“Yeah me too. Woozi wanted it out sooner but his team advised against it. They thought it’d be best to let some time pass between the competition and the release so there would be less of a chance of his image getting tarnished with all the drama from the fight.” Mingyu skirted over that last part quickly, knowing that it was still a sore subject for you. “But in a weird way it works out well - with the extra time, we’re gonna be able to write some more stuff and put together a whole EP.”

“What is that? Like five or six songs? That’s so amazing, I can’t wait to hear them!” 

“You know, you could always get a sneak peak if you flew out here for a few days,” Mingyu offered once again. He’d been trying to get you to come for weeks now. “Nikki’s already seen me twice since we left!”

“She’s your girlfriend, of course she has. And you know I don’t have the time anyways - my boss would never let me take off for that long.” It was true that your job was a pain in the ass, but you and Mingyu both knew you had other reasons for not coming to visit in person.

“Just promise you’ll come see us perform when the EP is released.”

“Of course. I’ll be there.”

~

Now in the present, when you really thought about it, you realized that there wasn’t much tying you to the place in which you currently resided. Watching Mingyu and the guys for so long had given you a taste of all the possibilities life had to offer, and you were tired of limiting yourself to what you currently knew when it wasn’t really doing you any favors anyways. The job offer had just been the final push you needed, and at last you felt ready and excited to pursue your own little sort of adventure. Even if it wasn’t as glamorous as flying across the country to work with world-renowned producers, it was yours and yours alone.

You pushed the boxes you’d been working on packing up to a corner of the room, ready to call it a day, when you heard your phone ring from somewhere in your apartment. Taking a few moments to find it amongst all the disarray, you managed to answer right before it went to voicemail.

“Hey, what time did you say your flight was landing?” It was Mingyu. You could hear lots of commotion in the background wherever he was, voices and instruments faintly reaching your ears.

“Should be around eleven in the morning.” With the career change you had several weeks of cherished personal time before you began your new job. Besides the time you’d need to relocate, you were finally able to take a few days to visit Mingyu and see what the band had been working on for yourself.

“Shit, I don’t think I’m gonna be able to meet you at the airport. We’re putting the final touches on some stuff and won’t be done until around one.” You could hear the regret in his voice, but all you could do was chuckle in response.

“I’m gonna get there Thursday and I’ll be staying all the way through the weekend. Trust me, you’re not missing much. Airports suck anyways.”

“I know, but still. We’re all looking forward to seeing you. It’s been way too long.”

You couldn’t help but wonder who was included in that “we,” but there was no way you were gonna ask.

“Well, that’ll all be fixed very soon,” you said instead, glancing over at your half packed suitcase.

“I’ll see if Nikki can meet you at the airport instead since she’s also visiting,” Mingyu offered. You squealed in excitement. Since the guys had left, you and Mingyu’s girlfriend had become pretty close, unsurprisingly. What had at first seemed like an obligatory relationship born out of a common bond had over time blossomed into a true friendship. She was definitely going to be someone you missed hanging out with when you moved.

“You should have started with that option,” you joked as you tried to figure out how many pairs of socks you needed to pack and where on earth you’d put them. “Tell her I need someone to show me around when I get there.”

“She’ll be glad to hear that,” Mingyu said happily before he was interrupted by someone on his end. “Y/n, I gotta go. But we’ll see you soon, ok?” he finished quickly.

“See you soon.”

—————

When your flight landed, it only took you a handful of minutes to find Nikki, the brunette jumping up and down excitedly as soon as she caught sight of you in baggage claim.

“Hey -” you greeted, letting out a slight “oof” as she gave you a big hug before immediately taking the bags you’d been carrying out of your hands.

“I’m so excited you’re here! How was the flight?”

“Good, just glad there weren’t any delays,” you said as you took a deep breath. You couldn’t believe you were really here, about to see the guys in person again after nearly a year.

“I know you’re probably hungry, but do you think you’d be good with just some snacks for now?” Nikki asked. “I tried talking him out of it but Mingyu’s insisting on everyone meeting up for lunch after they finish for today.”

“That’s fine,” you said as you began looking around for some place where you could buy some fruit or a salad, craving something fresh after being forced to eat airplane food. Nikki noticed the look in your eye, the way in which you immediately distracted yourself at the mention of the lunch. It was something that only she could have picked up on besides Mingyu, the two of them knowing the most about your past with a certain someone.

“In case you were wondering, he will be there,” she said softly, following behind you as you picked out a snack from a nearby stall and found your wallet to pay. “I just thought you’d wanna know.”

You let out a sigh. 

“I appreciate that, but I’m fine. It’s been months,” you said simply.

Nikki only stared back at you, her brow raised slightly as she tried to keep herself from calling you out on your bullshit.

“Really. I am,” you insisted. “Is it gonna be awkward at first? Yeah, probably. But this was bound to happen at some point. Let’s hope he doesn’t hate me and everything should be fine,” you said jokingly at the end, hoping she’d believe you then.

“Ok…” Nikki said. She piped up again after a few beats. “You know y/n, he’s changed - since being out here.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s not the same person he was the night of the Battle of the Bands competition.”

“Nikki,” you said with a warning tone, not liking where this was going.

“I’m not telling you to get back with him or anything,” her hands raised themselves innocently into the air. “I just don’t want you to let the way things ended between you two a year ago get in the way of you having a good time while you’re here,” she said gently.

“Thank you for that, but for the last time, I promise I am fine. Now - no more guy talk. Wasn’t there some thrift store you wanted to show me?” You brought up her weakness for clothes in an effort to change the subject once and for all.

“Say less,” Nikki said eagerly as she ushered you out of the airport and the two of you caught a ride to the hotel.

—————

“Y/n!”

Mingyu immediately pulled you into a hug that was even stronger than Nikki’s from earlier when he saw you. You couldn’t help the toothy smile that emerged on your face.

“Hey Mingyu,” you said simply. You really had missed your friend so much.

“Let her breathe,” Nikki chided playfully.

“Yeah, leave some hugs for the rest of us,” Jay said, arms open wide as you gave him a hug next.

“It’s so great to see you guys. I missed everyone so much.”

It was a little after one, and you and Nikki had finally met up with the guys to have a late lunch at a spot near the studio where they were recording. It was a bright and sunny day so you all had elected to eat at the patio seating out front. There was just one person missing though.

“Vernon’s running a little late but he’ll be here,” Mingyu said, seeing the question in your eyes. “He just had to finish going over some edits.”

Some things never change, you thought before you could stop yourself. You wondered if they were just covering for him with empty promises - if he’d somehow manage to avoid you for this entire trip.

You all finally sat down at a circular table outside. Mingyu and Nikki were to your right and Jay was to your left, leaving one last spot for Vernon just across from you.

“So what’s this I hear about you moving? And a new job? Congrats!” Jay started once a waitress had brought you all drinks. The four of you immediately began to catch up, most of the focus on you.

“I still can’t believe you’re gonna be gone,” Mingyu whined.

“I’m not dying, just moving. And now you know how I felt when you guys left,” you said playfully. “Who could have predicted we’d be spread all over the place like this?” 

As you continued to chat, you couldn’t help but reminisce about where you all had been just a year ago - struggling to get by and constantly putting in overtime to make things work with the band, your day jobs, and your personal lives. And now look at you all, on your way to better things. It made you feel so proud when you really thought about it.

“I’m really sorry I’m late you guys.”

You all looked up at the interruption, seeing Vernon approach the table in a bit of disarray. He was clad in a simple white tee and light wash denim jeans, an unbuttoned light blue collared shirt layered over his tee. As he sat down, his hand came up to brush some hair out of his face, but a few stray strands fell onto his forehead anyways.

“Was it the sound engineer guy again?” Mingyu asked him knowingly with a smirk. Vernon laughed in response.

“Yeah - he went on a rant about compression techniques this time.”

“I told you to stop asking him questions,” Jay threw in, “you’re too curious for your own good sometimes man.”

“I know, I can’t help it, but anyways - ”

He looked over at you, a polite smile on his face as he scooted up his chair.

“Hi y/n.”

“Hi Vernon,” you said curtly with a tight-lipped smile. You looked down at the menu in your hands, eyes skimming over the entrees again even though you already knew what you wanted to order.

“So,” Nikki started, clearing her throat in the lingering silence. “What did you all work on today?”

“Just rehearsing the songs from the EP in preparation for the showcase,” Mingyu responded, the two of them tag-teaming on moving the conversation along.

“Vern’s been instrumental in helping us craft some amazing songs,” Jay propped the man up with a pat to his back.

“It’s all thanks to Woozi really,” Vernon brushed off shyly, but Mingyu shook his head adamantly.

“Don’t sell yourself short bro, you’ve done some great work on this.”

“I can’t wait to hear it,” Nikki piled on another compliment.

“Thanks guys.” Vernon let out a cheeky smile, looking down at his lap for a moment before fiddling with the menu on the table to distract himself, his cheeks burning.

You hadn’t really taken Nikki seriously at first when she’d said so earlier, but she was right - something was different about Vernon. He seemed lighter somehow. And it was quickly becoming apparent to you that the guys had grown much closer after working on music together for the last nine months. You could see it immediately in the way they interacted with each other, the three of them trading jokes and stories easily as you all waited for the waitress to come back.

“What’s that you mentioned about a showcase?” you asked.

“We’re putting on a performance the day after the EP is released,” Jay explained. “Woozi and Seventeen are gonna make an appearance as well, so we’ll likely be performing in front of thousands.”

“That’s incredible,” you said with a stunned expression.

“It’s part of the reason I wanted you to come this weekend specifically,” Mingyu said. “I’m not sure the timing would have lined up so nicely if you didn’t already happen to be moving -”

Nikki nudged Mingyu, cutting him off with a stern look, but it was too late.

“Wait, you’re moving?”

You looked back over at Vernon, his brow furrowing as he looked at you with a crestfallen expression. No one had told him?

“Yeah,” you said nervously, glancing over at him for a second before looking away again. You reached for your glass of lemonade, taking a sip so you didn’t have to say anything else, another awkward silence filling the table.

“So, what can I get you all,” the waitress finally appeared, ready to take your orders.

You’d never felt more thankful for a distraction.

—————

The rest of lunch had gone as smoothly as it could have considering the circumstances, with everyone mainly focused on their food. Mingyu, Jay and Nikki did most of the talking, sharing more stories from their time away from home as you politely listened along, soaking up just how much you had missed and throwing in a question or two from time to time. You tried your best to keep from looking at Vernon, which wasn’t really all that hard considering he stayed quiet for the rest of the meal. When his name came up in the conversation he’d always give a smile or a nod, laughing along at Mingyu’s ridiculous exaggerations, but besides that he gave no input.

“Well this was fun,” you said as you all walked out of the restaurant. “I guess we can hang out more tomorrow when you guys are finished with work again?”

“Actually…we were wondering if you’d come with us to the studio,” Mingyu suggested. “We wanna show you what we’ve been working on.”

“Really? Now?” you said in surprise. “Are you sure?” You’d assumed you wouldn’t be able to hear any of the actual songs until the official release of the EP.

Jay nodded before adding on, “As of today, the mastering is done so the songs are officially finished.” You noticed how he looked over at Vernon briefly, the man’s face a little red with eyes averted and hands tucked in his pockets quietly, before he continued. “We all agreed awhile ago that we wanted you to be the first outside of the production team to listen to it, as a thank you for all of your support.”

You felt honored, nearly tearing up at their words. It was such a kind gesture that you didn’t bother worrying too much about the fact that you’d have to spend even more time around Vernon. Like Nikki had said earlier, you didn’t want your history with him to stop you from sharing in such a precious moment.

“You guys…this is really sweet…”

“We know. Now come on,” Mingyu ushered you towards him eagerly.

You looked back at Nikki in confusion as she kept her place on the sidewalk.

“Go on,” she said with a smile. “The guys insisted you had to hear it first. Alone.” She said that last part with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. “I’ll be waiting for you back at the hotel.”

—————

“Wow,” was the first word that left your mouth when you and the guys arrived at the studio.

The main area was bigger than the living room of your old apartment, a bunch of fancy recording equipment with hundreds of knobs and dials against one wall to your right. Comfy couches and chairs adorned the wall that was directly across, with plush carpets and decorative little knickknacks accenting the space. The recording booth was its own room, separated from everything else by a shiny sleek glass. When you peeked inside you saw a plethora of instruments and mic stands, and you even recognized Vernon’s guitar sitting in one corner.

“Crazy, right?” Mingyu urged you on with an elbow to your arm before he plopped himself into one of the chairs near the control booth. Vernon and Jay had already seated themselves. 

“Sit down!” Mingyu said, patting the last empty chair, which was beside him but also just so happened to be next to Vernon. You knew it was just by chance and that Mingyu would never set you up like that purposely, but that didn’t stop the nervousness that bubbled in your stomach.

“No way am I sitting that close to the controls,” you tried joking as an excuse. “I’m scared I’ll break something.” 

You backed up towards the couch against the opposite wall, planning to sit there instead, but the devastated look on Mingyu’s face made you stop in your tracks. Unable to take anymore of his expression, you glanced over at Vernon on instinct and your heart fell even more when you saw the way he immediately looked down at his lap, scratching the back of his head despondently.

Fuck. Was I that obvious? you thought, immediately feeling stupid for making things awkward.

“I can switch with Jay if - ” Vernon started, but you quickly cut him off.  

“No! No it’s fine,” you said, shaking your head before taking a step forward. “I’ll just - ” you didn’t bother finishing that sentence because what were you supposed to say exactly? No, it’s fine, I’ll just sit down next to my ex instead of making you all switch chairs because I still feel weird about breaking up with him? That would have been even more embarrassing. Maybe Nikki was right - you weren’t as over your past with Vernon as you’d thought.

You finished making your way to the final seat at the booth and promptly sat down, folding your hands in your lap as you tried to muster up some semblance of poise.

“Show me what you guys have been working on.” 

Mingyu looked at you seriously for a moment, making sure you were really ok first. Once you gave him a genuine smile and elbowed him playfully, he released a breath, the anticipation growing on his face again.

“Jay, can you play the first track?” he asked.

“Sure thing man.” The bassist clicked away on a nearby monitor before sitting back, sound beginning to flow from the speakers.

For the next half hour or so, you listened to several of the songs the guys had spent months crafting, worries quickly melting away as you couldn’t help but absorb yourself completely into the music. At the end of each one you immediately gushed over the melody, production elements, or other details, Mingyu and Jay eagerly offering in-depth input on more of the behind-the-scenes process. Vernon also chimed in from time to time, slowly becoming more comfortable as he gave insight on lyrical choices or even helped to elaborate upon your comments when you struggled to articulate in technical terms what it was you’d noticed in each song - “We added some more reverb here in the bridge,” “Woozi had them redo the mixing so many times on this song so they could capture Jay’s pedaling,” “That bit you’re hearing is a layer of syncopation over the main melody.” It was hard not to notice the passion in his voice. It exuded from him every time he spoke - an unbridled joy you had never seen before. You found it endearing, a smile slowly growing on your face the more you watched him.

The fourth track was the official recording of Visions. The four of you stayed completely quiet throughout the entirety of this song, fully absorbing Vernon’s raw vocals and the way they glided over the rich instrumental. Goosebumps covered your skin by the end.

“Vernon…that was beautiful.”

You were the first to interrupt the silence that filled the space afterwards, unable to stop yourself from looking directly at him. Despite everything that had happened, Visions would always make you feel something that was hard to put into words. You two didn’t have to still be together for you to regard that song with incredible care and awe.

“Thank you…that means a lot,” Vernon said, holding your gaze timidly for a moment before looking down, rubbing his hands across his jeans. He hoped you couldn’t see in his eyes how much your words still meant to him, after all this time.

“Thank you for trusting us with it,” Jay added in, Mingyu nodding along. 

No more words had to be said, the group of you sitting comfortably in the silence for a little longer before Mingyu quietly spoke up again.

“There’s just one more song left,” he said, eyebrows beginning to wiggle mischievously.

“There is?” you asked, curiosity peaked at the thought of even more music to listen to. But Vernon’s head jerked back up in panic at Mingyu’s words.

“N-No. There’s not,” he said abruptly, eyes wide as he quickly shook his head in denial. He looked legitimately scared.

“We discussed this already and you said you’d do it. I really think it’s best you stick to your word,” Mingyu said to Vernon, getting up from his chair and patting him on the back before walking towards the door. “Y/n. You good?”

“Yes…?” you said, appreciating his checking in before he seemingly left you alone with your ex.

“No - Mingyu wait -” Vernon said.

“You got this bro.”

“Rarely do I say it, but for once I’d have to agree with Mingyu here,” Jay said as he also got up and retreated towards the studio door. “Plus he stole my guitar pics and won’t give them back unless I agree to this plan so…”

The two bandmates exited the room, the door closing with a sort of finality as you and Vernon were left alone together in the studio.

What is happening right now? Why the hell would I tell Mingyu I was ok with this? Your mind went into overdrive as you fully processed the situation you’d so easily gotten yourself into, and yet, there was another part of you with so many questions that you found yourself glued to your seat.

If it was any consolation, Vernon looked just as unnerved as you.

“I’m sorry. I swear I had no idea they were gonna do this, I promise,” he said as he glanced over at you, immediately feeling the need to explain. 

This wasn’t how he’d imagined sharing this last song with you. If he was being honest, he’d never been able to figure out how to go about it, or if he should even try at all. So now that you were right here, sitting beside him again after a whole year had passed, he felt himself panicking. When all he heard was your silence in response, he continued to ramble on nervously.

“You can totally leave if you want. I won’t stop you.” It may have sounded like a cruel suggestion, but to Vernon it would actually have been so much easier if you did - if you left him again just like you had at that bench by the river a year ago. That way he wouldn’t have to reopen an old wound - wouldn’t have to rub salt in something he wasn’t entirely sure had healed. He could just continue to live in denial, never again having to confront the pain that had been so much of his existence or the hurt from his past with you.

“Why did you decide to record Visions? After everything that happened?” Vernon finally heard you ask instead. 

It was something that had tormented you nearly every day since your breakup, the question coming to you randomly late at night or when, against your better judgement, you’d listen to certain songs you knew would make you think of him. If you’d been in his shoes you didn’t think you could have done it, and so in this moment you found yourself desperate for an answer.

“I almost didn’t,” Vernon admitted, the confession spilling from his lips rather effortlessly once he’d recovered from his surprise. “But every time I tried to convince myself not to, I would think about the times I’d gotten to perform it on stage…” He looked forward, focusing on the recording booth before continuing. “I didn’t have the words for it then, but now I realize that it was healing - getting to share that song with others. And I think deep down there was a part of me that was tired of hurting myself as a way to cope with the things that had happened to me. So when you still asked me to record it, even after the way things ended, I couldn’t ignore that.” He looked over at you again, repeating your words from a year ago: “It’s like you said, I was tired of hiding in silence. So thank you - for encouraging me. I know that couldn’t have been easy.”

You weren’t sure what you thought you’d hear, but you certainly hadn’t expected something so…introspective.

“I’m glad. That it was healing for you.” 

His words were their own kind of salve, freeing you from a self-inflicted purgatory you hadn’t realized you were in until that very moment. 

“Sometimes I worried that maybe you hated me for it,” you acknowledged the last bit of fear you’d been holding in your heart.

“I can’t deny that I wasn’t upset at times, but I’ve never once hated you,” Vernon said earnestly. “Not even the first night we met - and not after you told me goodbye either.” He desperately needed you to know that.

You let his words seep into your heart, the look in his eyes telling you that he truly meant it, before you finally moved on. Once and for all.

“So,” you said with a deep exhale, suddenly finding it hard to hold his gaze. “What’s this last song? The one the guys want you to play for me?”

“Right. The song…” Vernon began with an anxious gulp - he’d almost forgotten why the two of you were in this situation to begin with. He mulled it over in his head for a second, trying to find the right words to explain what the song meant and why he’d written it, but eventually he realized that defeated the purpose. The song existed for this precisely - because he had always struggled to adequately articulate his feelings in any other way. So instead of stumbling over his words for any longer, he leaned over the control booth and pressed play:

Running 'round the whole city for someone

To look me in my eyes and tell me pretty lies

Teardrops keep blurring up my sight

And right now I'm driving in my car

Going so fast, baby, so fast, baby

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

Don't leave me in the dark

You said you won't be far

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

I can't stand the quiet

Is anyone out there?

Is anyone out there?

I'm on my worst behavior

Don't stop me now

I fucking hate this world

So show me a way out

Wake me up from this nightmare, please

I can't stand this reality

I'm on my worst behavior

How you like me now?

Put a muzzle on me

I'll spit in your mouth

Wake me up from this nightmarе, please

I'm scarred and bruisеd with a black eyed face

Woke up on the highway

I didn't go home last night

What you know 'bout me?

I ain't got nothing

So why you keep coming to me?

With your innocent eyes, you smile so bright

Stop wasting your sunshine on me

'Cause I can't tell if it's real or a lie

Solitude

I got a couple friends

Just me, myself, and I

We play with fireworks all night

I'm okay

I'll just let it burn everything around me

'Cause you can't save me from my sadness

No, don't save me

I'm on my worst behavior

Don't stop me now

I fucking hate this world

So show me a way out

Wake me up from this nightmare, please

I can't stand this reality

I'm on my worst behavior

How you like me now?

Put a muzzle on me

I'll spit in your mouth

Wake me up from this nightmare, please

I'm scarred and bruised with a black eyed face

Turn on the radio all the way up

'Til your eardrums explode

Let's dance all night long

But if you come too close

I might just burn you whole

Turn my back and shut the door

Knock, knock

Is there anybody out there?

You couldn’t bring yourself to look at Vernon as the song filled the studio, body frozen in your seat even after it was finished. So many lyrics had stood out to you:

pretty lies

tears blurring up my sight

don’t leave me in the dark

you said you won’t be far

I can’t stand the quiet

on my worst behavior

didn't go home last night

what you know 'bout me?

your innocent eyes, you smile so bright

stop wasting your sunshine on me

can't tell if it's real or a lie

just let it burn everything around me

you can't save me from my sadness

black eyed face

“Y/n? Are you ok?” Vernon asked, turning his chair to face you fully as he saw your expression. He was terrified of what your reaction would be.

“I’m not sure…” you said honestly, finally looking over at him. “Are you ok?”

“I am, I promise. This is something I started writing around the time I joined the band. Right before I met you,” he tried to explain.

“But clearly that’s not when you wrote all of it - black eyed face? ” The more you went over the bits of lyrics you could remember, the more you saw parts of your relationship and his time with the band sprinkled all over it. You didn’t really know how to feel.

“You're right - I added different parts at different times until it all came together. It was my way of coping with what I was going through at the time…and eventually that included pieces of you too - pieces of us.”

“Pretty lies? Wasting my sunshine on you? Is that really all you remember when you think of our relationship? The painful parts?” you asked quietly, a little afraid to hear his answer.

“No, of course not,” Vernon looked at you gently. He wished he could hold your hand in that moment but he held himself back.

“Then I don’t understand. Why write this -”

“Because I love you,” Vernon said finally, his stomach dropping at the confession. He couldn’t bear the thought of you misinterpreting his words any longer. “I love you and I’m sorry for how things ended. For what I put you through. This song was my way of acknowledging that - not by attacking our relationship, but by putting myself back in that negative headspace and being open for once about the fact that I still had things to work through. When it was too late to be better for you or for the guys, I had to find a reason to be better for myself. And so I wrote this song as a reminder.”

You heard everything he said, but you could only focus on one thing.

“You love me?” you couldn’t help but ask, feeling strangely emotional for someone who had supposedly moved on.

“I mean…yeah. I’m not sure the feeling will ever go away,” Vernon’s face turned red as he decided to be completely honest with you.

“I…”

“You don’t have to say anything. I’m not asking you to take me back - it’s just something I want you to know.”

Just then you heard a noise on the other side of the door, the two of you looking over just in time to see Mingyu peek his head into the room.

“Sooo…the song’s good isn’t it???” the man blurted out, brows once again wiggling. “I was thinking we could call it Pretty Lies.”

You rolled your eyes playfully, ready to tell him to knock it off, but someone else beat you to it.

“Leave them alone!” you heard Nikki say, dragging him back by the collar of his shirt. You thought she was at the hotel, but apparently even she couldn’t stay away for long.

“What? I just wanna -” but the door promptly shut, blocking out Mingyu’s antics. 

The two of them really were made for each other, you thought with a bit of admiration. You and Vernon couldn’t help but begin to laugh.

“I guess that means it’s time to wrap it up,” you started, standing as you gathered your belongings. Vernon followed suit, still facing you.

“Just so you know - the label doesn’t know about this song,” Vernon said. “And regardless of what Mingyu wants, I’m not sharing it unless you’re comfortable. The EP is great as is.”

“You’re right that it’s great,” you started, “but it’d be even better with this song. It’s really, really, good Vernon,” you said honestly. You couldn’t deny that, even if it had been a little surreal to listen to in the beginning.

“You sure?”

“I’m sure,” you said, walking towards him and reaching out for a hug. He was the only person you hadn’t given one to since arriving, though this one felt notably different from the others, the familiarity of his touch sparking something in you. 

Vernon held on to you tightly, his head instinctively tucking into that familiar spot on the side of your neck while you rubbed his back softly, neither of you letting go.

“We’re gonna miss you. I’m gonna miss you,” he admitted once you two had lessened your hold enough to look at each other, the thought finally dawning on him that whenever he did finally return home, you wouldn’t be there waiting for him.

“I know. I will too,” you said wistfully. “But this doesn’t have to be goodbye forever, you know?”

You stood up on your tip toes then and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips. It wasn’t one of fiery passion, nor was it one loaded with secrecy or shame or hurt. And to Vernon, it was his absolute favorite of any of the kisses you two had ever shared. When you looked up at him, you could barely hold in your laughter, his face morphing into the perfect mixture of bliss and confusion.

“But how? You’re moving,” Vernon couldn’t help but ask despite the happiness he felt.

“Slowly. We can visit each other. With my new job I’ve got more flexibility, and you’re all gonna be famous soon anyways,” you only half-joked. “Even when you guys finally do come home, I have a feeling you won’t be there for long…”

He looked down bashfully at that but you placed a hand to his face, angling it back towards you as you looked at him seriously again.

“Vernon. I want us to explore this - the way we are now. If you want to.”

“I do,” Vernon said confidently.

“Then we’ll figure it out,” you said assuredly. “I trust this. I trust us. Ok?”

“Ok.”

—————

When you and Vernon finally left the studio, you found Mingyu, Jay, and Nikki all waiting for you out in the lobby with bated breath. Nikki let out a near shriek when she saw that the two of you were holding hands.

“You guys have my blessing to include the final song,” you said immediately, deciding not to keep them in suspense for any longer.

“Oh thank god,” Mingyu immediately blurted out. “If I’m being honest it’s my favorite and I really wanna make it the single -” Nikki smacked Mingyu’s arm. 

“Ow! What was that for?” 

“‘Gyu would you please think before you speak???”

“What are you talking about??? You screamed before I said anything and have been gushing about double dates for the last five minutes.” 

The two of them continued bickering playfully.

“What they’re trying to say is - we’re really thankful we get to share the song,” Jay translated. “And we’re happy for you guys.”

“I am too,” you chuckled lightly. “Although now that I think about it, I have one request - can you call it Black Eye instead of Pretty Lies?”

The guys all looked at each other for less than a second before speaking in unison.

“Deal!”

—————

It was the day of the showcase. You stood in the crowd once again, just a speck in a sea of thousands of fans as you watched the guys perform. It brought you back to the best parts of old times, sitting around on Jay’s beaten up couch when all they could have hoped for were a hundred people to show up if they were lucky. But now you got to see them on their biggest stage yet, Mingyu happily tapping away at the drums, his head of hair moving all over the place as he kept the beat going. Jay was his usual chill self, just vibing out on the bass contentedly. And then there was Vernon, looking a little shy as the opening chords of Black Eye began to ring out from the strings of his guitar for the first time live. It reminded you of when you’d seen him take the mic at the first gig the guys had ever performed at together, except that now there was a distinct sense of determination in his eyes despite the trepidation that you couldn’t help but admire - the sight awakening a long lost feeling of butterflies in your stomach. He caught you looking at him, gazing at you fondly for one last time before leaning into the mic and beginning to sing.

prev. chapt. | series masterlist

a/n: if you made it all the way here to the end, I just wanted to say thank you to each and every one of you who took the time to read this story! if you've got feels, feel free to share them with me here or reblog the ml if you're so inclined. please take care <3

taglist: @twogyuu @yourfavoritefreakyhan

[whenreadingiscool]

Stardew Valley Sims 4 Generations Challenge

Original challenge by @chellplays, some revisions by @lybeuh

This is a twelve-generation challenge for all of the marriage candidates from concernedape’s Stardew Valley. This challenge is completely base game compatible with optional challenges for dlc. (Updated to at least High School Years EP)

Usual rules apply, meaning no cheats that give you an unfair advantage. Your sims do not have to look or be named after the characters in each generation. Do whatever you like!

Generation 1: Abigail

    You were raised with humble upbringings. Your dad ran a general store, while your mom was best at complaining about your “alternative lifestyle.” You left home looking to start a life free of rules and parents, and with 20 000 simoleons in your pocket, you settled down in a new city.

Traits: music lover, loves outdoors, geek (alternatively, cats & dogs dlc: cat lover; snowy escape dlc: adventurous).

Aspiration: the curator.

Career: entertainer (musician branch) or tech guru (esport gamer branch).

Goals:

Have one “quirky” trait, appearance-wise (e.g., Unnatural hair color).

Obtain at least five points in the videogame skill.

max out the rock-climbing skill.

reach at least level 5 in any musical instrument.

Complete the frog collection.

Snowy Escape dlc: climb the top of the mountain in Mt. Komorebi

Have two best friends and marry one of them.

Befriend a ghost. Alternatively, with the vampires dlc, befriend a vampire.

Cats & dogs dlc: own a cat named David Jr., my first pet stuff dlc: have a rat, hamster, etc. named David.

Have at least two children.

Generation 2: Emily 

    You’re just working at the bar to make ends meet… but your real passion is tailoring. You make your clothes from scratch.

Traits: cheerful, music lover, good (alternatively, get together dlc: dance machine; city living dlc: vegetarian).

Aspiration: freelance botanist.

Career: culinary (mixologist branch) or barista.

Must live in the same house as your sibling.

Make a best friend with a sim who lives in another city/world.

Nifty Knitting dlc: max out the knitting skill.

Nifty Knitting dlc: complete the knitted clothes collection.

Grow your own garden. You like your meals organic.

Decorate your house with clothing racks. You love fashion.

Complete the elements or crystal collection.

Develop max affinity with another sim in both the green and pink bars, have two or more children with them, then “ask just to be friends.” 

Never marry.

Generation 3: Sam

    You are an outgoing, friendly sim who is brimming with youthful energy. You play guitar and drums and want to start a band as soon as you have enough songs together. However, you do have a habit of starting ambitious projects and not finishing them.

Traits: music lover, outgoing, ambitious.

Aspiration: musical genius.

Career: entertainer (musician branch).

Must not be the youngest child. Live with your younger sibling(s) until they are old enough to move out and have a good relationship with them.

Have a strained relationship with your father (if not applicable, with any one parent).

Have a job as a part-time retail employee as a teen.

Max out the guitar skill.

Obtain at least five points in the videogame skill.

Reach the job of the entertainer career.

Become best friends with two other entertainers.

Be married twice and have one child with each spouse.

Generation 4: Sebastian

    You are a rebellious loner who lives in your parents’ basement. You tend to get deeply absorbed in computer games, comic books, and sci-fi novels, and will sometimes spend great lengths of time pursuing these hobbies alone in your room. You can be a bit unfriendly to people you don’t know.

Traits: loner, geek, bookworm (alternatively, high school years dlc: socially awkward).

Aspiration: computer whiz.

Career: tech guru (either branch) or freelance programmer.

Have a negative relationship with your half-sibling and stepparent.

Live in the basement of your parents’ house.

Reach at least level 5 of the videogaming skill.

Reach at least level 5 of the piano skill.

Reach at least level 5 of your career before marriage.

Reach the top of your career.

Only have one child, with whom you have a strained relationship.

Eventually let your relationship with your spouse deteriorate and subsequently get a divorce. 

Generation 5: Penny

    You live with your mom in a little trailer. While your mom is out carousing at the bar, you quietly tend to your chores in the dim, stuffy room you are forced to call home. You are shy and modest, without any grand ambitions for life other than settling in and starting a family. You like to cook (although your skills are questionable) and read books from the local library.

Traits: family-oriented, bookworm, neat.

Aspiration: big happy family (alternatively, parenthood dlc: super parent).

Career: none.

Live with your mother (if not applicable, any one parent), with whom you have a negative relationship.

Both you and your parent may not have jobs.

You must cook for your parent and clean the house every day.

Live in a trailer-esque house. You are by no means wealthy.

Reach at least level 5 of the cooking skill.

Marry the first person you fall in love with.

Your spouse is the only one who may bring in any income, while you are a stay-at-home parent. Earning money from writing, etc. is optional.

Own a luxury pool at some point in your life.

Generation 6: Harvey

    You’re a little old for a bachelor, but you have a kind heart and a respected position in the community. You live in a small apartment but spend most of your time working. There’s a sense of sadness about you.

Traits: genius, foodie, good (alternative, get together dlc: dance machine).

Aspiration: successful lineage.

Career: astronaut (space ranger track) or get to work dlc: doctor.

Never date throughout your teens or young adulthood. Focus on your career instead. Get married only as an adult.

Reach the top level of your career.

Own a coffee machine. Drink coffee as much as possible.

Go jogging at least three times a week.

Set up a reading garden in your backyard.

City living dlc: live in an apartment.

Seasons dlc: be a scout.

Have at least two children. Having spent most of your life single, you want to have a comfortably sized family asap. 

Generation 7: Haley

    Being wealthy and popular throughout high school has made you a little conceited and self-centered. You tend to judge people for superficial reasons. But is it too late for you to discover a deeper meaning to life? Is there a fun, open-minded young person hidden within that shell?

Traits: materialistic, snob, outgoing (alternatively, high school years dlc: self-absorbed).

Aspiration: fabulously wealthy (alternatively, city living dlc: city native).

Career: none until after you’re married.

Become enemies with your sibling(s) as a teenager.

Max out the photography skill.

You may only get a career after you are married, and you must follow the same career path as your spouse. They opened your mind and inspired you to have interests beyond shopping.

Earn at least three points in charisma, so you may donate to online charities after you are married.

Bake a cake for every birthday that comes around.

Grow a flower garden.

Become friends with your sibling(s) again after you are married.

High School Years dlc: be a cheerleader as a teen.

Generation 8: Elliot

   You live alone in a cabin. You are a writer who dreams of one day writing a magnificent novel. You are a sentimental “romantic” with a tendency to go off onto flowery, poetic tangents. When you can afford it, you enjoy a strong beverage at the bar.

Traits: romantic, bookworm, loner.

Aspiration: bestselling author.

Career: writer (author branch).

Live in a cabin-esque house.

Reach the top level of your career.

Max the writing skill.

Reach at least level 5 in the piano skill.

Reach at least level 5 of the cooking skill.

Own a small garden.

Specialize in romance books and poetry. Later, you may also specialize in sci fi or mystery novels.

Write love emails to your love interest at least once a week.

Go to a bar at least once a week.

Generation 9: Leah

    You love to spend time outside, foraging for a wild meal or simply enjoying the gifts of the season. You’re a talented artist with a large portfolio of work… yet you’re too nervous to display it to the public.

Traits: art lover, loves outdoors, foodie.

Aspiration: painter extraordinaire.

Career: none (painter later on).

Reach maximum painting skill, and paint at least 5 masterpieces.

Date only one person in your young adulthood and have a child with them, but never marry. Your partner is unsupportive of your artistic lifestyle and encourages you to “get a real job.” Whether you choose to get a traditional career, that is not as a painter, is up to you.

Eventually marry the love of your life as an adult: someone who is supportive of your art. If you did choose a career, quit, and take up a career as a painter.

Have at least one child with your new spouse.

Harvest wild fruits, vegetables, etc. On weekends.

Grow an excellent apple tree.

City living dlc: attend a flea market and sell your art.

Generation 10: Maru

    You acquired a passion for creating gadgets at a young age. When you aren’t in your room, fiddling with tools and machinery, you sometime do odd jobs at the local hospital.

Traits: ambitious, outgoing, geek.

Aspiration: nerd brain.

Career: astronaut (space ranger branch), or get to work dlc: doctor or scientist, or discover university dlc: engineer (either branch).

Have a negative relationship with your half-sibling.

Reach the top level of your career.

Max out the handiness skill.

Max out the logic skill.

Upgrade at least five objects.

Own a rocket ship.

Your sim’s partner must be friends with your father (if not applicable, with either parent) before you can become engaged.

Eventually, your relationship with your spouse becomes strained and you break up. You die as soon as your eldest child is a young adult.

Get to work dlc: get abducted by aliens.

Generation 11: Alex 

     You love sports. You are quite arrogant and brag to everyone that you are going to be a professional athlete. Is your cockiness just a facade to mask your crushing self-doubt? Are you using your sports dream to fill the void left by the disappearance of your parents? 

Traits: bro, active, mean, self-assured, (alternatively, cats & dogs dlc: dog lover), (alternatively, high school years dlc: self-absorbed. 

Aspiration: bodybuilder.

Career: athlete (professional athlete branch).

Goals: 

Become enemies with your father but have had a very close relationship with your mother. 

Begin dating in your teens and go on at least three dates with three different people.

High School Years dlc: join the football team as a teen.

Max out the athletic skill.

Reach the top level of your career.

Do not marry until you are in the later stages of young adulthood. You’re marrying your soulmate, someone who stuck with you despite your arrogance.

Have at least two children with your spouse.

Cats & dogs dlc: own a dog named dusty.

Generation 12: Shane

     You are often rude, unhappy, and suffer from depression and alcohol dependence. However, your attitude starts to change towards your spouse. After work you frequently spend your evenings at the bar. If you could reset your life maybe you’d start a chicken farm. Only free-range eggs of course.

Traits: lazy, gloomy, mean. 

Aspiration: master mixologist, (alternatively, cats & dogs dlc: friend of the animals).

Career: retail worker until after marriage.

Live with your aunt or uncle until you’re married, have a good relationship with said aunt or uncle.

Have a career as a retail worker as a teen.

Go to the bar after work every day.

Get pizza delivered at least once a week.

Only get married as an adult. 

After marriage, quit your job and choose a different career path. You’ve been encouraged by your spouse to give up alcohol.

After marriage, start a garden. 

Have a maximum of two children.

Cats & dogs dlc: adopt a cat and a dog, train the dog in all possible tricks.

Cats & dogs dlc: max out the pet training skill.

Cottage Living dlc: buy a chicken coop, raise chickens, and name one of them Charlie.

[artists-ally]

{Sleep Token}

Here is every link for all parts of my deep dive into Sleep Token lore and theories (and all the questions I would ask Vessel if he just gave me five minutes) These will be updated as I create them!

{Intro To The Band}

includes standard information about the band, member identification, initial lore, common themes to pay attention for, links to sources/videos, brief overview of albums

{Masks}

A breakdown of all their masks, new AND old. Possibilities of what they mean and other interesting facts

{One}

Their first EP may only be three tacks, but it is imperative these be included in the story/journey we are about to go on

{Two}

Once again, with three tracks, this EP explores topics and themes from One that foreshadow things to come in the later albums

{Sundowning}

A complete song by song breakdown of their debut album, Sundowning. Equipped with title definitions, links to references, all the easter eggs I could find, lore and how the story starts/where it leaves us for the next album.

{The Place Will Become Your Tomb}

A complete song by song breakdown of their sophomore album, This Place Will Become Your Tomb. A continuation from Sundowning, we will pickup where the previous album left off. Again, lore, connections to other songs, definitions.

{Take Me Back To Eden}

You guessed it, a song by song breakdown of their junior album, Take Me Back To Eden. With the most intricate lore I've ever seen, this album takes us to new heights for what we thought possible for this band.

[sylveaugust]

SPOILER ALERT FOR Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint Ep 7. Landlord and a teeny part of This Savage Song

I have like seventeen memos of brainstorming a crossover between Monsters of Verity and Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint that I wrote last year and now that I look at them they're just... uhm.

I was thinking that since August is technically a monster, I could probably insert him somewhere during the third scenario where those monsters get summoned through some portal... to be more exact the precise moment at the start of Landlord (6)(webtoon-wise; in the webnovel it's a little after the start of Landlord (5)) which is a little after KDJ turns into a ghost. And then it would be because some entity from above(which is me, as the writer; this was serious fourth wall stuff ngl) meddled with the fabric of reality for fun asdfwoeuriowejfilsj

I ended up postponing that idea for after I finished the actual ORV novel(and those side stories that are keeping on updating these days), but now that I read it it's like brainrot. I'm gonna put one single excerpt here in case you're curious. I have this first scene in like five different memos probably now... I'll rewrite it someday probably idk

Yoo Joonghyuk stared at the place where Kim Dokja had just been in disbelief. He couldn't have been that foolhardy. He wouldn't have dared. But Kim Dokja was now a ghost indeed. In his arms, Gilyoung screamed two words over and over.

"Hyung! Dokja Hyung!"

Of course, the kid didn't know exactly what happened, but Yoo Joonghyuk decided it was useless to try and explain. Yet.

But there was something else that caught his eye. Among the flurry of monsters coming from the portal, there seemed to be a figure of... a boy. He was certainly outside the green zone, simply standing there, but the monsters weren't attacking him, which was odd. And after most of the monsters passed the tunnel into Chungmu Station, Yoo Joonghyuk could see the boy clearly. The boy looked like a teenager, but he didn't look Korean. Although his face was extraordinarily smooth, Joonghyuk could clearly read confusion in the boy's dark grey eyes. Which soon met his. And narrowed.

A flurry of questions rose in Joonghyuk's mind. Who was he? Why hadn't the monsters attacked him? Would he come in handy? Was he a threat? Was he... a monster?

The last question was because Joonghyuk had seen monsters that looked human, more than once. It was also the best answer he could think of, since the boy most likely came from the same portal as the other monsters. But he didn't remember such a boy appearing in the tunnel in his previous times here, so anything was likely... Joonghyuk would have to read the boy's answers carefully.

Gilyoung noticed the newcomer as well. "Hyung?" he called. It was probably the first logical answer that came to him. He wouldn't have known what happened to Dokja, and this boy appeared right after Dokja vanished. But Gilyoung soon noticed the lack of recognition in the stranger's eyes. "You're not Dokja-hyung..."

The boy raised an eyebrow. "Who's Dokja-hyung?" he asked.

Before Yoo Joonghyuk could ask who the boy was, Gilyoung answered the boy's question. "He saved my life in the subway. He was protecting me until he gave me to this ahjussi," he pointed to Yoo Joonghyuk, who made a mental note to tell Gilyoung not to call him ahjussi, "and he got surrounded by monsters. Then he disappeared. Have you seen him?"

"No," said the boy. His brow had subtly twitched at the word "monsters"...

[This statement is true.]

Before the boy could say anything else, Yoo Joonghyuk asked his question.

"Who are you?"

The boy hesitated for a second, then answered. "Frederick Gallagher. You can call me Freddie."

[This statement is partly true.] Hmm...

"You don't look very much like a Freddie. An alias?"

The boy looked at him strangely. "...How did you know?" he asked.

"I have a skill," said Yoo Joonghyuk before he could stop himself. Dammit. He should have said something else.

"What skill?"

"Lie detection," he blurted once again, and silently hoped that Not-Freddie would think he was joking. The boy didn't seem to know anything about the skills of this world, which, depending on how he thought about it, made either total sense or no sense at all. "I don't suppose you'll be telling me your real name anytime soon?"

"Not yet." Of course not. Yoo Joonghyuk would have to use his Sage's Eye again.

[Sage's Eye is activated.]

[This information is currently inaccessible by the Sage's Eye.]

'Who are you?' he thought. Was this boy like Kim Dokja?

[thegeminisage]

oh boy IT'S tng update time. last night* we watched "imaginary friend" and "i, borg."

*tonight. it's 1am. whatever. it's posting tomorrow when i'll be awake but busy. anyway im gonna have to start splitting these up so tumblr will stop FUCKING me re my character count

imaginary friend:

what i like about this episode and indeed tng as a whole is that the little girl was fucking adorable. tng fans, your show has at least one point of validity. whenever there was a child on tos i wanted to throw them out of the airlock because they acted possessed. all the children on tng inspire within me motherly concern.

HOWEVER. THERE SHOULD NOT BE. CHILDREN ON A STARSHIP.

we've gone over this at length. we don't need to do it again. i am sick to death of hearing myself talk about it. i want to stop. and yet. every. and i mean EVERY. SINGLE. PROBLEM. in this episode. happened because there were children on a starship.

problem #1: child is making up a fake imaginary friend instead of making real ones = it's because her dad hops from starship to starship

problem #2 her imaginary friend is real now and wants to drown her in the pool like in that one episode of s*pernatural = this is because an alien, from space, read her mind, which it could not have done if she wasn't in space on a starship

problem #3: the alien HATES the grownups and thinks they should die = because she is seeing the ship from a child's pov, because there are children on this starship

and on and on and on.

aside from this huge and ongoing point of contention it was solidly watchable. i liked the little girl. i like guinan. i like worf being a big old softie when he found them out of bounds. i like people not undermining deanna's counseling work. i liked the horrifically unsettling imaginary friend with laser eyes who definitely absolutely inspired 2.11 playthings.

can anyone tell me if the other star trek shows just let them have kids on the ships? ds9 i get because that's a space station but are there kids on the ship in enterprise? voyager? discovery? genuinely please write in i can't take living like this

i, borg:

ooooooh. ooh i am twirling my hair and kicking my feet and giggling about it. OHHH finally we get a good tng episode. and not just a good episode a GREAT episode. the liz community has forgiven tng. oh baby where do i even begin

okay, firstly, beverly. she so instantly sees someone injured and HAS to help, i mean HAS to, it's so good. it's very bonescore in a way that doesn't feel like they're trying to make her a cheap bones knockoff but rather a spiritual successor. he would have also helped his enemy rather than watching him die. hell, he DID do that and got quite literally mind-raped for his trouble, and he'd probably do it again. i was really really lukewarm on poor bev at first but she's come into her own so well and i'm proud of her

the borg himself - third of five, aw, just like seven of nine - but no, hugh - the name is dumb but whatever i'm glad he has one - was well-cast. it would have been easy to make him uncanny and an unpleasant presence onscreen (this was my biggest issue with data's daughter even though the ep DID make me cry, deeply sorry to data whomst i love the most). his "you will be assimilated resistance is futile" song and dance was actually really funny when played off of geordi's wry indifference. "ok, but before we get assimilated, can we please finish x test?" so true king

geordi's a natural choice to pair with this guy because when he's not being the creepiest person on earth to holodeck girls he's sociable, outgoing, and patient. PLUS he has experience befriending machines because of data. hugh actually reminded me of data in some ways because of his general lack of understanding re: humanity but - and this is critical to me - HE IS HUMAN

like, i feel like the episode didn't quite nail the point home hard enough possibly because they were afraid of the implications but the cold hard truth of the matter is that each and every person on the borg cube IS A PERSON. they have been assimilated, but we've twice now seen that it's possible to unassimilate them with only a few days of effort. picard (and guinan!) consider the entire collective their enemy but the collective is comprised of brainwashed prisoners. those fucked up little borg babies they found in the cube were assimilated as INFANTS - i assume they weren't born on the cube bc if the borg could reproduce on its own it wouldn't need to assimilate - but even if they were born on the cube, they had no choice but to be this. you know.

which is whyyyy it's so fucked picard was like yeah give hugh some digital poison let him carry it back to his cube and we'll kill them like ants <3 like, oh my god his lingering borg trauma or whatever. MWAH. when he told deanna he didn't wanna talk. when he and guinan had to trauma-bond while fencing. when he told geordi that he needed to unattach himself because it was nothing more than animal experimentation. STONE FUCKING COLD BY THE WAY. he is fighting in the war on animal experimentation on the side of animal experimentation. he was going to let his cre heal and feed that kid and then send him back laced with poison. diabolical <3

and, of course, when he didn't want to speak or associate that borg kid at all because that's who he used to be AND WHO HE STILL IS in some corner of his brain (!!!)

LIKE. WHEN HE WAS FINALLY CONVINCED TO INTERROGATE THIS KID. and IMMEDIATELY broke out the locutus voice. he still remembered all the protocol! the way of speaking! everything! i was so shocked and thrilled.

i love also how everyone who spoke to hugh came away extremely unsettled but also totally convinced of his humanity. even guinan, which was so fun, because she was even more anti-borg than picard at first and they were bonding over trauma and fantasy racism. that bit where hugh, who had only known about the concept of loneliness for like an hour, immediately pegged her as lonely after like three lines of dialogue. oh my GOD???

i was decently satisfied with the ending - obviously they couldn't send him back with poison nor could they protect him from the borg, but i wish they had informed him of the inevitable memory wipe before he made his choice. (a selfless choice! he loves geordi!!) still i think he mostly walked into it with eyes open. very sad but very proud of him.

my one tiny nitpick with this episode is that for all beverly's genuine and justified concern about hugh, i don't think theyre ever gonna address the fact that she shot and possibly killed some of the borg in the episode where picard got assimilated. i feel like after realizing they are all people, like hugh, she should also realize she's broken the hippocratic oath, and have a little crisis about it. i have no idea why we had the DOCTOR shooting and killing anybody but let alone if we aren't gonna get into that. i don't think anyone cares/cared except me though.

but tbh, for me this is one of the main draws of the borg. they're ALL brainwashed cyber-assassins and they're ALL prisoners and in theory ALL of them could be saved if only they would stop attacking first. sure, yeah, in fights you gotta do what you gotta do because your own life has gotta come first, but the unique scifi horror aspect of all of those guys being perfectly innocent people fucks and they should utilize it a little more!!!

NEXT TIME: "the next phase" and "the inner light."

[randomvarious]

1990s IDM Playlist

Alright! Now we’re finally getting somewhere with this 1990s IDM playlist! Not so much on the Spotify end of things, because their IDM selection isn’t very good at all, but with YouTube, I was able to add a handful of some really great and extremely slept-on songs.

But first, Spotify: with this update, I added one song, and it comes courtesy of a guy from Manchester, UK called Jega, who made his debut in 1996 with an EP called Phlax. And that release’s title track, which also appeared on a 1997 compilation from Skam Records that was simply called Skampler, is fantastic. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles and bleeps and bloops that IDM tracks typically have, but it’s this piece of sci-fi-futuristic electro-intensity that comes with warped and reverberating layers of strings and a sharp and crisp drumbeat. It’s one of Jega’s most popular songs too, having netted over 108K plays on Spotify.

Jega - “Phlax”

And now, YouTube: I ended up adding seven different songs to this thing, all of which aren’t on Spotify at all, and five of them are made by who I consider to be quite possibly the most underrated IDM producer of all time, London’s Simon Pyke, better known as Freeform, but also known as Nudge. Pyke’s released a bunch of stuff on different stalwart IDM labels throughout his career, including Warp, Skam, Quatermass, Sub Rosa, Worm Interface, and Sprawl Imprint, but he’s also contributed a bunch of complete stunners to compilations as well. And the YouTube play counts for the ones I added today happen to be appallingly low, with “Dice” being the highest at 55 plays, and “Duplo” being the lowest at just 10 plays. It’s hard to pick an absolute favorite out of all of these Pyke adds too, but “Duplo” just might be the one. He really has a tendency to make some of the wildest, most innovative, densest, and uniquely breathtaking IDM that you’ll ever hear in your life. I swear on it. Bear witness to this absolute genius 🤯.

The other two YouTube adds come from a pair of other IDM entities: The Black Dog, who remix German duo Alter Ego’s “Tanks Ahead”—a hypnotically enthralling song with just a little over 4,600 plays that first appeared on Frankfurt label Harthouse’s Dark Hearts - Volume 1 compilation in 1995—and nebulous Autechre side project Gescom’s “Keynell 1,″ which has a number of uploads on YouTube, but only one as it appears exactly on that aforementioned Skampler album.

Alter Ego - “Tanks Ahead (Black Dog Mix)” Gescom - “Keynell 1″ Freeform - “Dice” Freeform - “Fyonk” Freeform - “Flumps” Nudge - “Skewer (You’re So Human)” Nudge - “Duplo”

This playlist is also on YouTube Music.

So, while I understand people’s preference for Spotify, because it’s a way more convenient platform for streaming music, know that if you choose that one, you really will be missing out on some of the greatest IDM that’s ever been made, because I don’t have a single Freeform or Nudge track on it. They’re all over on YouTube. The Spotify playlist is at 14 songs and 75 minutes, but the YouTube one is at 34 songs and 3 and a half hours! That’s more than double!

Enjoy!

More to come, eventually. Stay tuned!

Like what you hear? Follow me on Spotify and YouTube for more cool playlists and uploads!  

[crisp-sweet-pink-lady]

A Mermaid Magic Music Mystery?

Well, more like questionable music release decisions. You see, as I suspected, an EP of the songs in Mermaid Magic went up after the series release, with 3 songs, including the two that were released earlier this month. So far, so good.

In the credits for the show the transformation song is called Shine & Glow, which is what it's called on the EP, but the previously released single called it Pearl Power. And here's where the mystery comes in. The single version of Pearl Power was removed from Spotify, even though the single of Making Waves wasn't, but I could still access its information in my history and saw that there was a time discrepancy between the two versions. The EP is only 5 seconds shorter, but that was enough to make me curious. Which is how I learned the youtube video of the single had also been removed, but it was still available on itunes, so I was able to compare the two versions.

The main difference between them is that Pearl Power has an extra instrumental break near the end. Which is all well and good, except the instrumental is about 15 seconds long! It turns out Shine & Glow has a couple extra seconds of intro, but also a full ten seconds of silence at the end of the track. It should be noted that the EP version of Making Waves is 5 seconds longer than the single, entirely due to extra silence at the end, but five seconds is a more reasonable buffer than ten.

One last wrinkle to this mystery: even though the singles are on itunes, the EP is not. This might just be an oversight and it will be there later, but we will have to wait and see. Update: as of 8/24, Pearl Power is removed from itunes, though Making Waves is still up, and the EP still is not.

[be-events]

congrats on surviving episode four of next gen! updated rankings can be found here.

for appearing in the fourth episode of NEXT GEN, all wannabes who submitted their participation may collect points as outlined on this spreadsheet. points were awarded based on the writing requirements submitted and the optional extra threads. no verification is required; you may link back to this post on your spreadsheets.

for the final episode of NEXT GEN, participants were once gain split into three teams to perform original songs in wannabe canon. just like last year, members were voted into each team by the audience in-character. the finale will be a live event broadcasted on television in real time while a live audience enjoys the performances at a small to medium-sized concert hall.

the live audience will vote on their favorite performances once the final group has finished. a combination of the judges’ evaluation and the audience votes will determine the final winners of the competition. the top three finalists will be offered a ‘universal’ contract and the option to sign to any of the three companies that they desire. runner-ups will be offered contracts from one company, depending on the judges’ discretion and if there are contestants that they feel will suit their company’s training program and future plans well.

once again, coaches are not to inform the creative process but to leave those decisions up to the contestants they’re advising. instead, they should act as mentors and answer questions and provide guidance in shaping the contestants’ visions. coaches will NOT be performing alongside the contestants.

the teams and performances for episode five are as follows:

STARRY DREAM line distribution

coaches: lee seojun and yeom sarang

stevie park

asakura touma

han jueun

jang hyunki

choi hangyeol

ANTI-HERO line distribution

coaches: park dohyun and lee chaerin

han yuwol

kim ara

song jiayi

hwang yejun

BANG! line distribution

coaches: zhou renyi and lee nayoung

ito seira

song jaeyoung

ryu inho

ryu siwoo

ryeo jihyun

NOTE: line distributions have been added!

TASK:

this event is for next gen participants and coaches only. part 5 will run until may 25 at 11:59pm. any solos posted after the deadline will not be considered. please send in your submission before this deadline. the final episode will be shared on june 2, at around 9PM EST.

please use the hashtag #BE:NGS2P5 for all posts relating to this part of the event.

please write at least one 4-post thread with another participant or coach in your team preparing for the mission. NOTE: this task may be completed multiple times.

please write a 300+ word solo about your muse’s performance in front of the three judges and the live audience

OPTIONAL: please write a 200+ word solo about your muse reflecting on their preparation and their performance in front of the judges, as well as the entire season of the show. this should be treated as a verbal interview. what was the greatest challenge during this mission? how do they feel about their participation in next gen? are they hoping to be signed alongside another hopeful? etc. 

NOTE THAT THE WRITING TASKS FOR THIS EVENT ARE NOT OPTIONAL UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED. POINTS WILL BE AWARDED IN THE NEXT UPDATE.

please keep in mind that all threads and solos should be written with the assumption that cameras are on the participants at all times.

when you’ve completed these tasks, please send the following form to our events blog:

SUBMISSION TITLE: MUSE NAME - NEXT GEN S2 EP 5

preparation: link to thread *may be completed multiple times; please include multiple links if so

performance: link to solo 

reflection: link to solo *optional

[spinef0ryou]

Interview with Ville Valo in Metal Hammer magazine, words by Alexander Milas. Transcript under the cut

It’s a gloomy November evening in London and inside the crystalline bowels of the Universal Music tower there are dark goings-on under a winter moon. An arcane gathering of power-brokers, decision makers, and tastemakers, has convened to hear the first, dulcet tones of a new record in its entirety - a lyrical and melodious exsanguination called Neon Noir. Less an album, the subject of tonight’s attention is more like a swan song played in reverse or a departed loved one’s voice playing in the wind. We’ll get to that.

There are no robes here, such vestigial ornaments long since done away with to provide anonymity on public transportation, but the importance of these proceedings is in no way diminished. This is how the music industry in all its mysterious dealings determines where and when its various powers are to be invoked - an Illuminati-like network of aligned hands is this rogues' gallery of journalists, label managers and festival promoters. Even the helmswoman of the gazette you hold in your verv hands can be seen lurking in the shadows.

At the centre of the dim chamber stands a lone, flat-capped figure, his chiselled visage peculiarly, vampirically unchanged by the many years since he first graced the cover of an international publication such as this, and let it be said that he was never a stranger to these folios.

If anything can be said of Ville Valo's appearance it's that he could teach anyone half his age a thing or two about self-presentation - and, for the record, they'd be 23 at time of publication. Svelte, casually besuited and elegantly understated in his attire - all different hues of black, obviously - he's been affably chatting with the gathered conclave with such fluidity and confidence that anyone would think it's something he does every day, and anyone who knows his incongruous penchant for reclusiveness when off the stage would suspect that maybe he's changed since we saw him last.

For the record, he does not, and he has not. Ten long years have passed since His Infernal Majesty's final release, the career summation that was 2013's Tears On Tape, and it has been five years since Him played their final note on the second of two sold-out nights at the London Roundhouse in December of 2017. Their concluding song was the aptly chosen, syrupy dirge of When Love And Death Embrace, and the mortuary pallor of its refrains couldn't have been better matched to the forlorn mood of that distinctly funereal moment.

For many, it was a farewell to one of life's few constants: Him were less like a band and more like a comforting gothic world to those who fell prey to its blackened enchantments, and as if further affirmation is needed, no one in the field of music has since emerged to even remotely fill the heartagram-shaped hole left in Ville's wake. As the lights in the venue went up to reveal no shortage of streaked mascara, it would have been impossible to surmise whether we'd ever hear from Ville again - such was the finality of that tour and the deathly vibe of that night.

More desolate still was the long silence that ensued after the 26-year adventure he spearheaded under an iconic banner designed by his own hand. Eight records, ten million sales and countless fans getting heartagram tattoos of variable quality were the tallies of Ville's musical ledger.It was over. Him was dead. Their founder was gone. And then, quietly, headless blooms began to flank his headstone.

First came the news that he was blowing off the cobwebs to undertake a tour of Finland to record and perform songs by the late, beloved Finnish singer-songwriter Rauli 'Badding' Somerjoki, with Somerjoki's old band, Agents. The project smashed the charts in Finland before they eventually disbanded.

More silence followed until March 2020, when an unheralded EP was released under a new banner, VV complete with an updated reimagining of the famed heartagram. A portent of what was to come, Gothica Fennica Vol. 1 was far from alien to anyone familiar with Him's long-established sound, but it also bore the hallmarks of a songwriter unbound by the restraints of collaboration or co-writing. As the world smouldered, it was a hopeful omen that perhaps not everything had been lost to the pandemic.

We retreat from the listening session to a quieter room to shine to shine a neon light on the story of the rebirth and toil that followed, a res-erection-

Ville shoots a look as if to say, 'You're not gonna write that, are you?' Well…

“‘Promo tours are like Bullet-point for my Valentine.”

Ville has sunk into his armchair, a body deflated. We've just been talking about the sometimes less-than-rock'n'roll demands of album promotion, and how while just 10 years have passed since Him's final release, a lifetime of change in the industry's inner workings has followed. It's Thursday and Ville's already done the rounds in Berlin this week, plus a big photo session, too - rumour has it that a smoke machine for a cover shoot triggered a confrontation with security here yesterday. Whoever the photographer was that bolted the door shut so the shoot could continue remains a mystery at the time of going to press.

But despite Ville's tiredness after two days of media-based pokes and prods and his first international flight in five years, he's still exhibiting a remarkably playful way with words: the product of voracious reading and self-confessed Anglophilia that can make it easy to forget this is his second language, although as we'll soon discover there are some words that resist translation.

We're reflecting on how many times he's appeared in the pages of Metal Hammer. I produce a photo from many years gone by, taken by Mick Hutson. It's Ville, looking like a goth deer caught in headlights, sitting in the back of a limo between the late Dimebag Darrell and Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx on his way to the Metal Hammer Golden God awards. He smirks.

"It was a playground, wasn't it?" he says of the Ville of yore. "Oh my god, that was a weird one. I remember Dimebag - he'd been up all night, and there's me stuck in the middle. I gave my Golden God award to Zakk Wylde's daughter. He told me she was a huge fan and I'd had a sip too many, so…”

And let it be said that by the time Him went stratospheric - a runway stretching between 2000's Razorblade Romance and 2003's definitive Love Metal - there were few publications that weren't peppering their pages with images of Ville. photogenic but, more importantly, hilarious, his wry and dismissive self-regard tempered the styled polish of his many covershoots. In a time when emo was king, Ville brought something current but gleefully out of step with fashion, musical and otherwise, but he persevered because, arguably, beyond the music he possessed that rare quality that escapes so many whose trade is on the road and in music studios. He was interesting, and Him and their legion of fans were their own movement. For a time, if you ever stood at the back of one of their sold-out shows, it looked something like Beatlemania directed by Tim Burton.

“What would you say to yourself back then?” He smiles and takes a moment before replying.

“It isn't a horror movie thing, but my oldest self has whispered to my younger self many times. You know, I could have done stuff way wiser in the sense of trying to become more successful in terms of money, listening to record companies or whatnot, because people had a damn hard time trying to figure out what we were all about. I wouldn't do anything differently because then I wouldn't be here - that's the beauty of it."

And, tracing the course of what Ville did, what he's doing now, there's little to suggest that anything has changed in terms of his resistance to the common methods of self-promotion. In a time of compulsive micro-blogging and algorithm-feeding content, the official 'Heartagram' Instagram account posts at roughly the same rate as the Vatican. Be it about the preservation of mystery or a refusal to play the game, let it never be said that he didn't do it his way.

“I’m a slow learner. I only learned about the eggplant emoji yesterday! But as for those whispers, it's something to do with the nonlinearity of time," he continues. "I had some foresight to the pandemic, though, and found myself a house with a photography studio which I turned into a music studio. It's one big room that enabled me to spread around all the weird pieces of kit from all eras - sort of my creative central. During the pandemic, that's all I did. There was no rhyme or reason, I just thought it was time to move on and do something different. It could have been my older self whispering to my younger self in the middle of the night, like, 'Now's a good time. You'll understand it better in a few years.' So yeah, it could be one of those things."

We notice a white wall in the corridor is covered in dozens of Sharpie signatures from fellow artists who’ve passed through. Some are small, while pop groups Bastille and Westlife have gone big with huge cubital letters. Unimpressed, Ville reaches for a glow-in-the-dark V sticker from his breast pocket and wryly sticks it up at the top. Always a rebel.

Was it hard to decide which direction to go in after Him?

“Musically, I'm a pair of bell-bottoms," he says. "If you want to follow hits, you're always going to be too late. Music and art is essential for my wellbeing, it's the air that I breathe - it's natural for me, but at times I've felt like a human among the lizard people, an infiltrator from another galaxy. The only thing I can do is the thing I can do."

Of course, it raises the question of how VV and indeed Neon Noir came about. That Ville has always presided over every detail of his music is no secret - there's never been a doubt as to whose vision it all was, and the ending of Him is just as important as the beginning we're here to discuss. As anyone who's seen the end of a relationship will know, the signs of impending demise can appear long before the cracks emerge, and the conclusion of Him was no different. To paraphrase a singer named BB on the prologue to VV, the thrill was gone...

"Expiration is funny when it comes to bands," he says matter-of-factly. Whatever wounds may have been inflicted, they have long since closed, and he's at ease when prompted on what went down.

"It didn't happen overnight - we'd started having trouble after Tears On Tape. Gas (Lipstick] had left the band and we found a new drummer, which was fantastic for a time, but we just couldn't find it in ourselves - a new album. We started working on ideas, but they didn't sound very good. The adult way to approach things is that if it's something you really do love, you have to love them enough to let them go when the right moment comes. The spark was no longer there, so timing-wise, it was good - I wouldn't have minded it to happen a little earlier because now I see the end of my own career in the distance. I never wanted it to feel like a job. You'll see bands touring where it quite clearly is. Something so central needs to be full of passion and laughter and joy and tears - dramatic, like a pint of milk."

Dairy funny. Have you been in touch with the guys since then, we ask?

"I haven't been in touch with Gas in more than 10 years," comes the reply. "And Linde [Mikko 'Linde' Lindström, guitarist] is quite a solitary fellow who's not a big talker anyway. But Mige [Mikko 'Mige' Paananen, bassist] was a bit of a Rick Rubin on the album. He was like this weird guru that came by every three months and gave me a stamp of approval, like, 'Yeah, this is fine.' He's one of my earliest childhood friends and one of my best mates still, so we keep in touch - that's rare. It's been 35 years or something..."

It was that relationship that provided something of the lifeline that Ville needed. He describes the feeling after Him's final show as something akin to phantom limb syndrome, where amputees report sensation in appendages that are no longer there.

"I felt like an outsider, an outcast," he says. "[I felt like] I didn't understand myself, and that the world doesn't understand me or that I didn't belong. It's a profound feeling, you know, to existentially feel that you don't understand the world or your place in it. Funnily enough, how I got through that was writing. The pandemic really painted everyone into a corner. I wasn't suicidal, but there was a tinge of depression as well, not seeing tomorrow or the worth of the day after tomorrow. People reacted in different ways. I forced myself back to music, and music gave me the gift of song once again. I was able to pull off a couple of Sabbath rip-offs, so that made me feel better. That was a big deal."

Ville will go on to animatedly recount how the loss of purpose and trajectory coupled with the worldwide shutdown was in some sense the perfect reset post-Him, and while he hit a very low ebb, it was precisely the kind of downtime he needed and hadn't had since Him's formation when he was just a teen.

"There was no scheduling, nobody to communicate with about what I was working on, so it was very unfiltered intuition, straight to tape or whatever recording medium, and I found myself having goosebumps like I'd never had before. Well..." his eyes impishly go to the ceiling, "musically, at least. I'm scared of stuff being really repetitive - it's nice to enjoy a binge watch on Netflix, but you're never gonna get the time back. That doesn't mean, 'Don't do it! But enjoy the now, take advantage of the time. That's what we'll be doing when we go on tour with the band next year, challenging myself to do lots of things and not step into a sort of zombified existence. People are so distracted…”

At the beginning of the Divine Comedy, the main character - Dante Alighieri's Pilgrim - wrote of finding himself in a dark wood halfway through the walk of life; the straight path, lost. It was a roundabout way of describing the confusion that can come with middle age, but in his mid-4os and with the deep shadows and brilliant highlights of an illustrious career in the rear-view mirror, I wonder aloud if the same could be said of the current predicament.

Dante's come up because, as is often the case with Ville, the subjects of language and literature are never far away. I ask him to elaborate on that tinge of depression he's mentioned, and he says one thing. and lets it hang in the air: "Kaiho."

Sorry?

"Kai-ho," he says again, slowly. It's a Finnish word, he explains, that defies direct translation but describes the twist of emotions he was detangling in the wake of a lifetime on the road and in the limelight. "It isn't a negative feeling. It's a bittersweet reverie. I think Finnish people find it profoundly positive as well, because it also means that you have lived, you have loved and that you experience things that actually make a difference, at least to you personally, hopefully, for the people around you."

Did you struggle?

"I had a month where I didn't get out of bed," he states.

"Around that long, at least. I was pretty worried about it. I forced myself up and back to music through conversations with mates, you know, getting my spirits up a bit, but it was a weird feeling. It's not like you can't get up. You just don't want to get up. You don't want to do anything and you can't really do anything: just super-tired, some form of post-traumatic stress after all the years. It could be that it took a while for it to hit, and it coincided with a pandemic. I wasn't able to do anything, so my body and my mind told me to get the sleep I missed back in the day. Thankfully I slept it off, but life doesn't get any easier. It's getting more complicated, more bittersweet - a tough combo. A pint half full, half empty…”

Of course, the wrought-iron melody of Neon Noir's various paeans to love and loss wouldn't seem correct if they came from a place of emotional buoyancy, but if the slump Ville describes really was just making up for lost sleep-time, he's making no bones about his desire to get back to work.

"I'm not thinking about the end, but what I do realise is that, thinking in logical terms, it's going to be really weird if I'm 60 and still in it, which means that I have less than that in terms of album cycles. It starts to get a bit scary because I've done music all my life, but then again, thinking like that makes me smile."

So how does a 46-year-old's vision of love change from, say, a 20-year-old's?

"Well, maybe we haven't had that 'one true love' in the traditional sense in Shakespearean drama: the overwhelming one that takes over everything. You can't compare relationships and you shouldn't - different times, different people, different chemistry, different reasons. Music is still at its best when it's a soundtrack to important events."

So how does Neon Noir reflect your own life?

"It's very sincere - it encapsulates things. The indecisiveness on whether I belong to the camp of Black Sabbath or Depeche Mode, the constant struggle with good and evil. Run Away From The Sun is the first song I wrote and I didn't know if I had a song in me at all, but I had to start from somewhere. I had all these ideas. I started to do it and follow my intuition. I wasn't in a rush, I had no deadlines - I didn't even know if I was going to continue, and that was the most fruitful ground, because it felt real and unadulterated by pressure…”

As new as it all is for Ville, there are some things that have remained unchanged, or perhaps present is a better word. The heartagram was, after all, the gothic bat-signal of the early 00’s onward...

"It was everything Him stood for," he says. "I just wiggled that one line and realised it has my initials, and that was the reason I called the project VV, and I liked that it had a 'V for Victory' kinda vibe to it, and visually it had the traditional aspect to it, a current iteration of the same idea. It's symbolic, because I didn't want to force myself to take a completely different route musically. I'm not an actor, and Him all happened very organically. I was finding my voice, or whatever you want to call it, through Type O and Black Sabbath back then, and I still am."

From the mood in the room it's a welcome return indeed. It seems that for the first time in a lifetime he's found his path -with the help of a little neon to hold back the darkness.

LIGHTS OUT

Ville Valo reveals the dark secrets behind new album Neon Noir

01: ECHOLOCATE YOUR LOVE

"I was enjoying a documentary on the navigational skills of bats and imagined their nocturnal courting calls bouncing eerily between the walls of the abyss in a gothic ping pong-fashion. To make sure I was communicating this musical vision clearly, I included a cowbell in the middle eight, just because whenever one can, one should."

02: RUN AWAY FROM THE SUN

"The light at the end of the tunnel can sometimes shine so bright it’s scary, and my running-away skills have been highly developed over the years by sweeping most of my issues under the carpet. There are also a few church bell samples ringing among all the 80s-inspired synth sequences, only to make sure the ever-fickle balance between good and evil doesn't err on the side of Skywalker."

03: NEON NOIR

“ A cheerful memento mori if there ever was one, and my first guitar solo on record. The working title was 'Vangelis Halen' and I think I managed to get fairly close in marrying the claustrophobic beauty of Blade Runner with the reckless abandon of VH, in a sort of funeral-car-crash-in-slow-motion-type setting.”

04: LOVELETTING

“ An ode to the setting sun and a tale of dancing on the razor's edge between holding on and letting go. A moribundle of joy in a patchouli garden, with handclaps."

05: THE FOREVERLOST

"The Finnish tourism board should definitely include ‘Nyctophile Shangri-La' as a tagline promoting Finland from now on instead of the worn-out Santanic slogans of yore. A menace-à-trois between Andrew Eldritch, Jaz Coleman and Peter Hook.”

06: BABY LACRIMARIUM

“Quite a traditional love song written by someone who takes the Poe in poetry a wee bit too seriously. A study on blocked tear ducts and The Cure."

07: SALUTE THE SANGUINE

"None of the ways out are easy, so taking the road less travelled is always the preferred method. 'If I could only say the same about the music,’ mutters the little Devil on my shoulder."

08: IN TRENODIA

"A world-building exercise at its bleakest, 'Trenodia' representing a highly modified utopia lit by every shade of blue, with a suitably melancholy soundtrack played at the wrong speed."

09: HEARTFUL OF GHOSTS

"Heartful Of Ghosts is essentially a heart-wrenching tale of paranormal love and supernatural betrayal. Sonically, this lies somewhere between a lava lamp and acupuncture... with fangs.”

10: SATURNINE SATURNÁLIA

"Saturnine Saturnalia is romantic doom and gloom at its very finest, and probably the most Sabbathian moment there is on the album. I dug out my Excalibur - the deranged fuzz pedal and vintage army flask-combo that Mige of Him built me many a moon ago - and tended to my tinnitus with gusto.”

11: ZENER SOLITAIRE

"Imagine if this was Phil Spector's ghost reinterpreting Goblin's soundtrack for Dario Argento's movie Suspiria in glorious lo-fi."

12: VERTIGO EYES

"When you meet someone whose eyes are as hypnotic as watching the Vertigo logo spinning on your turntable, you're either in love or your drink has been spiked. This is a nod to the ghosts of the past, present and future, and a suitably hallucinatory way to end the record."

[tomorrowxtogether]

We Go Together‘Oh My God!’ TXT and Jonas Brothers Release Collab ‘Do It Like That’: July 2023 Comeback Details

TXT is back — and they brought the Jonas Brothers with them! The It-boys of K-pop returned with the single “Do It Like That” featuring the JoBros themselves — yeah, you heard that right! Keep reading for details on the single.

Are TXT and the Jonas Brothers Collaborating?

On June 16, TXT rolled out a “Coming Soon” teaser image announcing that they will be releasing a digital single in July. A few days later, the group confirmed they would be collaborating with the Jonas Brothers on a single titled “Do It Like That”!

“Do It Like That” was released on July 7, 2023, along with a music video. The track is produced by Jonas Bros frequent collaborator and producer, Ryan Tedder.

Collab rumors between TXT and the Jonas Brothers first sparked after Ryan, the producer and OneRepublic frontman, shared a video of himself in the studio with TOMORROW X TOGETHER in June 2023.

Following the update, fans started theorizing that their upcoming collab could be with the Jonas Brothers, as Ryan also recently worked with the former Disney stars on their May 2023 album titled The Album.

Additionally, the members of TXT might have even given us another hint after posting a photo on Twitter of the members lying in front of a pool, which looks to be a direct reference to the Jonas Brothers cover art for their 2019 album Happiness Begins.

TXT’s Twitter caption was “We go Together,” which is the opening line of the Jonas Brothers’ song “Sucker.” We should’ve known!

Who Are TXT?

ICYMI, TXT first debuted in 2019 with “Crown,” and was the first group to come out of the music company HYBE since mega-famous group BTS‘ debut in 2013. The band is comprised of five members including Soobin, Yeonjun, Beomgyu, Taehyun and Huening Kai.

TXT’s upcoming July comeback will be the first music release that TXT has released since The Name Chapter: Temptation, which dropped in January 2023.

“Musically, we wanted this EP to reflect all that we can do because I feel that we’re really finding ourselves as a band,” Soobin told Dazed in February 2023 of The Name Chapter: Temptation. “We always knew what we wanted in terms of our career, but the picture is definitely becoming clearer and clearer.”

Beomgyu explained that the boys usually work on music “non-stop,” but in terms of their most recent EP, “it was in the works from early May last year.”

[barananduen-blog]

🎐"Bell Ringing" short drama now online! 🎐 - [Trailer #1 source]

Modern/ancient pastoral fantasy romance ⭐: Li Daikun (his voice, too, lol), Song Fangyuan 🔢: 12 eps (free, 20-29min each); + 3 extras (PPV, ~3min ea) 📺: MangoTV - website, app, and YouTube (good subtitles!) 📺: CCTV and Hunan Satellite TV 📅: MGTV: Feb 22-Mar 3 (end date for VIPs); 4x/week (Thurs-Sun) 📅: CCTV-6 & Hunan TV: Mar 5-Mar 10; 2eps/night, every night

Update Mar 5, 2024: The drama did so well online that it's now on CCTV and satellite TV!🎉🎊

Under the cut: Plot & drama info, more promo images, Trailer #2 with translation, teaser video, shirtless pics (CW: fake wound)

"Tulips mean... I like you!" 🌷🌷

🌷INFO POST #1

Plot, filming, boot and wrap ceremonies, pics:

🌷NEWER PROMOTIONAL IMAGES AND POSTERS

🚨 SPOILER WARNING! 🚨

In true c-drama fashion, the following trailer and teaser video and (especially) their translations are spoilerfic. Basically, you'd know the whole story after watching/reading. The promo images below this point also include spoilers. If you don't want spoilers, stop scrolling now!

🌷TRAILER AND TEASER VIDEO

🌼Trailer #2

Trailer #2 via [LDK_Korea on Twitter]

Machine translation: I don't understand Mandarin. Used Google and Yandex image translators + my edits to try to make it make more sense.

Shen Qi: Is your name Chi Ye? Have we met before? [The bonds of past and present lives] SQ: My name is Shen Qi; Nice to meet you Chi Ye: I've been waiting for you [Waiting for 500 years just to meet again at this place] He who obtains immortality, If he comes in contact with a loved one, The more emotionally invested he becomes, The more his heart will be in pain. [We meet again but I can't fall in love] SQ: Why do I feel like he is avoiding me? (seeing someone in the distance) … It must be him! CY: Do you absolutely need an answer? SQ: Yes, because I like you SQ: You always say you don't like me, but, secretly, do all kinds of things that confuse me. What should I do about you? CY: Can you feel the pain here? SQ: I just feel … an excited heartbeat SQ: Chi Ye, what's wrong with you? Chi Ye! Every time the island guardian touches you, he will be in more and more pain. CY: Xiao Qi… Is there no way you can accept me without physical contact? SQ: I can't. I want to fully be with my other half… to hold hands without restraint, to kiss, to hug! CY: I can give you more. Your words hurt 10,000 times more than the pain in my heart. CY: Xiao Qi… I will never let those regrets from 500 years ago happen again

🌼Teaser Video:

Teaser video via [LDK_Korea on Twitter]

Machine translation: I don't understand Mandarin. Used Google and Yandex image translators + my edits to try to make it make more sense. (Disclaimer bears repeating.)

There are 10,000 ways for the person who loves you to return to your world. A girl on an isolated island falls in love with a man who steals the island's secrets. Shen Qi: Please, don't hurt my people! A girl died under a man's sword to protect her tribe. Five hundred years later, the two meet again. SQ: Is your name Chi Ye? A man saves a girl and they develop a crush on each other. Man confesses to girl Chi Ye: I like you The two get along sweetly. Then, the girl discovers information about her past in a hidden room, and inquires about the man's name. SQ: Then what's your name? Thinking about dying by the man's sword. SQ: Did I die? Unless she makes him fall in love with her. [Note: unsure about this line] Girl remembers her mission from her last life. When his sword points at your people, you must die by his sword. Ridden with guilt, the man melts the island's magical bell and reforges it into a nail to drive it into his own chest. When the wind blows but the bells hanging from the island's bell tree stop ringing, his beloved will wake up again. He waits for her for 500 years... SQ: At what cost? The two of them will never be able to love each other again. Regardless of the spell's prophesy, the two fall in love again in this life. But they can no longer hold each other's hand… Can't help the other up if one falls… They kiss with a pane of glass between them… But that's not all of the punishment. If someone breaks the terms of the contract of fate, lives that were originally spared will be lost. Could people really be such fools? SQ: I have … experienced it myself.

🌷MORE PICS

CW: Big a$$ fake wound

[blackmarket-playlists]

PART FIVE with forgotten treasures of the shoegaze/dreampop genre and closely related styles (influenced by the time in which they were released) Less than 100 monthly listeners on Spotify, despite excellent songs.

All songs can be found in one playlist! (Playlist – link in the comment - will be updated in the coming weeks with further posts… so stay tuned!)

🔥Playlistcover: Old Magic Pellas (Brazil) – just remastered their brilliant album „Pull My Daisy“ from 1995.

Bands 1 to 4: Nothing found from them on the web....If you know anything, please comment!

Artist name: The Becketts Country: West Country, UK Highlight song: The Most Beautiful Girl In Town (1989) Info: Taken from the compilation C89 (2018)

Artist name: Drop Country: UK Highlight song: Within and Beyond (1991) Info: Taken from the compilation „Cherry Stars Collide – Dreampop, Shoegaze 1986-1995“

Artist name: Pory Lucsin Country: Argentina Latest release (Spotify): Singles (2009) Highlight song: Stars Can Frighten (2008)

Artist name: Hypergálicticos Country: ??? Latest release (Spotify): EP (2011) Highlight song: Atardeceres Violentos (2011)

Artist name: Black Mustangs feat. Sapphira Singgih Country: Jakarta, Indonesia Latest release (Spotify): Black Mustangs (2014) Highlight song: Black Heavens of Hell (2014)

Artist name: Linoleum Country: London, UK Latest release (Spotify): The Race From The Burning Building (2000) Highlight song: Black Dress (2000) Info: Band feat. Paul Jones, later Elastica, then head of A&R at Rough Trade Records

Artist name: The Werefrogs Country: New York, US Latest release (Spotify): Swing (1993) Highlight song: Don’t Slip Away (1992)

Artist name: Sweet Jesus Country: UK Latest release (Spotify): 3-piece single (1992) Highlight song: Albino Ballerina (1992) Info: The song was chosen by radio DJ and music journalist Mark Radcliffe as the Single of the Year for his 1992 NME end-of-year roundup

Artist name: Vaportrail Country: San Francisco, US Latest release (Spotify): The Angel Has Landed (2001) Highlight song: Eta Carina (2001) Info: Formed in 1996

[purpleandsilver]

shuffle your favorite playlist and post the first five songs that come up. then copy/paste this ask to your favorite mutuals <3

💛☺

Okay so here's the thing:

I don't technically have a favorites playlist. I use YouTube Music and tend to just take the time every morning to queue songs for the day. I'm really into metalcore. Last month my queue looked like this:

Take Me Back To Eden by Sleep Token (album)

DEATH OF THE PEACE OF MIND by Bad Omens (album)

This Place Will Become Your Tomb by Sleep Token

[Music by an indie rock or metal band I found on Tiktok]

[Ascensionism by Sleep Token on repeat for about 5 hours]

[Hozier]

[The ADHD fixate is strong, I'm listening to Ascensionism again]

But since you're asking for favorites, I'll shuffle my music library for you and list five songs from it. I have checks library over 400 songs digitally. I really need to take the time to clean it out, and update it with more of what I'm actually interested in listening. Right now, I'm gone full metalhead and have been kicking around bands like Dragonforce, Dethklok, Nekrogoblikon, and a new band called Avralize. So I know I have a ton of "new" (new to me) stuff in my library. Let me just listen to Ascensionism again.

Everything is below the cut. Woof, this is a long post.

Five Tracks From My Music Library

Lucky by AURORA

And feel the light for the very first time. Not anybody knows that I am lucky to be alive.

Okay wow. This was the first song to come up. It was written when the singer was younger and every time I listen to it I want to know who hurt her because I have a good shovel and garden that needs fertilizing.

Which Witch by Florence + The Machine

Whose a heretic now? Can you make it stick now?

I discovered this song about a year ago I believe? It's interesting, because "witchy rebel banger" was not what I'd say about a song but no, that describes it perfectly.

The Rapture (But It's Pink) by Scene Queen ft. Mothica

Made it to hell, where's the band at? The devil said he'll give you your soul back.

Song goes hard. The message behind why Scene Queen wrote is unfortunate. Like, how hard is it for a rock/metal band to not do shit to underage girls? Apparently impossible?!?!

Alkaline by Sleep Token

If anything she's an undiscovered element; either born in hell or heaven sent.

Sleep Token was gonna make it here, because my music library has all their singles, both EPs, and all three albums. Alkaline is one my favorites from This Place Will Become Your Tomb.

Good Luck Kid by Opal In Sky

You can bite the hand that feeds it'll just be toxic. As if it'd ever reach down to you

This is the band that got me into the heavier sounds of metals. They only got one EP and a handful of singles, but their music goes hard. I can't wait to see how they grow.

[thfirekeeper]

https://youtu.be/WyMC1onJCcw?si=K82n9aZ6gcC6FECi

JulsOnLankin aka Th Fire Keeper is a North American musician and multi-instrumentalist of Canadian and Indigenous American heritage, which is where the alias Th Fire Keeper.

His influences include Naughty By Nature, Outkast, Jay-Z, E-40, Eminem, Biggie, Too $hort, Timbaland, and Kanye West.

The Artist began recording, producing and engineering his own music in early 2005 prior to Katrina hitting New Orleans upon expulsion from his latter semester in middle school. From then on, he’s assumed a myriad of pseudonyms which inherently became the symbol you see on the merchandise.

JulsOnLankin is predominantly a Hip Hop artist but dabbles in Reggae, R&B, Reggaeton, up to and including Blues. You could say he’s pretty versatile when it comes to music composition and songwriting.

JulsOnLankin has released 30 songs since the beginning of June 2023 and this five song EP entitled Cartharsis was amongst them.

Catharsis is 100% acoustic encompassing a warm inviting ambience & a gentle soothing delivery. A dynamic contrast in comparison to earlier releases he's added to his catelogue.

Catharsis is a collaboration project between he and Thank You Erik a producer from Philidelphia, PA. His slick elegant guitar strumming inspired Juls from the very first listen. Juls then created 4 songs back to back that day & he felt extremely compelled to share it with the world.

The majority of the songs he released are a combination of Gangsta Rap, Trap Music & what could be considered Traditional Hip Hop using witty word-play, cunning double & triple entendres with a generous amount of multi-syllabic rhyming patterns.

If you would like to support him on his journey, we would like to encourage you to Join the Movement!

Upon joining the movement and you’ll be amongst the select few to hear the new music first, get merch drop notifs, as well as be invited to watch live studio sessions.

Every year there will be a giveaway to three select members of the movement. So, stay tuned for updates and thank you for your continued support.