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Tomorrow Maybe Love by Yamashita Machi - Twitter Extras Part 1

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Tomorrow Maybe Love by Yamashita Machi - Twitter Extras Part 2

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Tomorrow Maybe Love by Yamashita Machi - Twitter Extras Part 3

Sorpresa, Chihiro and Sousuke are different people. I only realized when I was already working on 4, so I had to redo everything lmao.

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BLCD Review: Zanzou Slow Motion

Title: Zanzou Slow Motion (残像スローモーション)

Author/Artist: Janome

Shop: CD + Manga

Release Date: 2021/05/28

Cast:

Furukawa Makoto x Nakazawa Masatomo

Eguchi Takuya

Satou Gen

Tadokoro Hinata

Yasuaki Takumi

Matsuoka Yoshitsugu

Ichikawa Aoi

Yanagi Kouhei

Karino Sho

Synopsis:

What happens when two rival directors who hate each other's guts are forced to share one roof? And what if one of them has a secret he's been harboring for years? Throw in a shared love of movies, BL manga, and an accidental kiss, and you've got the next heart-pumping love story in Midorigaoka High and the sequel to Twilight Out of Focus 1. Jin Kikuchihara, third-year director, main actor, and president of the film club, and second-year director Giichi Ichikawa see eye-to-eye on very little. Jin is flashy, flirty, and focused on keeping everyone happy, while Giichi expects the best from himself and others, and will compromise nothing to see his vision through. Constantly at each other's necks, the two can hardly stand to be in the same club. But what will happen when family trouble forces them to live in the same room? Will their shared interests bring them closer as friends, push them further apart as rivals, or something else entirely?

Review Proper

I love Tasogare Outfocus, but this is actually my favorite Janome.

The second installment curse strikes again!

UGHHHHHHH THIS WAS SO WHOLESOME. Don't get me wrong, Tasogare Outfocus is written pretty decently, but I really don't like how Janome just glossed over Hisashi's SA and grooming like that. It reminds me a lot of Etude vol. 1. I can still get over Etude vol. 1 'cause it's not that uncommon to see in sports and Ichi-san's deal with Futami was given some closure in 2, but given how short Tasogare Outfocus was, Hisashi felt like he just lmao byed his teacher. 😔Doesn't help that it kinda doesn't matter anymore in overlap even though it hasn't been long since it ended. Is my son Hisashi really okay now? 🥹

I'm old, so DK BL doesn't appeal to me that much anymore. It's also hard to find good DK rivalries nowadays that aren't just about fucking or delinquents. Zanzou Slow Motion, however, just checked all the right boxes for the category: simple, no drama, and no loose ends. That coupled with Janome's element of touch?

And can we talk about this monologue?

Ugh.

I will say Jin's suspenders, Ichikawa's snatched waist, and the ABO shout-out greatly influenced my decision too. Y'all should get suspended in high school, not wear suspenders!

Onto the technicalities...

I don't think I've heard these two co-star before (or I just don't remember), so I was a bit skeptical especially 'cause last I heard Makonyan in a DK was in, well... Given as BLCD!Ritsu. And where else did we hear Yuuma star in a DK too? Yuuma as Anime!Ritsu. We just had Given Anime!Ritsu in Tasogare Outfocus being somewhat friends with Ichikawa and now we have BLCD!Ritsu (thanks to ecargmura for catching this!) trying to romance him. They used very different tones for Ritsu, but the vibe was the same overall. THEY'RE THE SAME PERSON. Makonyan and Nakamo also played tops in the last works I heard of them (Makonyan as Takaba in Kurui Naku and Nakamo as Yakumo in Nu:carnival), so I was concerned about a lot of things. Thankfully, however, instead of Makonyan going for his Ritsu tone or his lighter Kimitte Yatsu for a more youthful vibe, he went all shounen in here lmaooo.

His bwakame was so funny it reminded me of this:

I love roasting Makonyan more than any other seiyuu out of fondness, but I'm really proud of how far he's gone. He's gotten so much better in his delivery, and it's obvious in his budding anime career, too.

But...

I didn't expect there would be improvements in his bedding techniques too...

What the fuck was that? HAHAHAHAHAHA. WAIT. No, y'all don't understand. I have most of this man's r-18 otome CDs and BLCDs, and I have never heard him this... this hot before???? Jin is such a smooth flirt, so I had some expectations on the delivery, but FURUKAWA MAKOTO HISSES. HE HISSES!!! SIR IS THIS APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOUR FOR A HIGH SCHOOL BOY??? THEY DON'T EVEN SHOW THEM DO THE DO FOR MORE THAN A MINUTE??? WHERE WAS THE NEED?!

PUTS THE GODDAMN FU IN FURUKAWA MAKOTO ALRIGHT!

First it was Ono Yuuki, now it's Makonyan. Is Nakamo's ass really that good that his tops go all in???

I admittedly don't have a lot to say about Nakamo because that man always slays. I was afraid that Makonyan would overpower him during their Netflix and chill, but as soon as I had that thought, Nakamo pushed back like??? THEM SHAKIRA HIPS DON'T LIE!

HOW DO I LEGALLY MARRY GINGER RECORDS???

I didn't read the scan or the official English release 'cause I actually had the raws, so I can't vouch for the translation. As for faithfulness to the manga, however, I need to stress that there were a lot of rearranged events and cut dialogue. One notable instance was Ichikawa's message for Jin. It was placed after their kiss in the last chapter, so I believe that these changes are quite significant. It is still possible to read the manga while listening to the BLCD, but I suggest reading the manga once first so you're aware of which pages you need to jump to.

Chil-chil Awards 2022 was a scam 'cause this wasn't nominated for ANYTHING! This might actually just be my favorite BLCD of 2021... and Makonyan was my favorite actor in this series so far. OKITSU AND MAKONYAN REALLY SWITCHED IN THIS LOG HAHAHAHA. Makonyan and Nakamo at least won in my heart. 😌 Definitely listen to this if you're a Makonyan fan or if you're a fan of the series in general. It's also perfect if you're looking for something light and sweet but immersive at the same time. Chesk gives this a 9/10! Only the third 9 after Sonna ni and KD!

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BLCD Review: Hinadori wa Shiokaze ni Madoromu

Title: Hinadori wa Shiokaze ni Madoromu (雛鳥は汐風にまどろむ)

Release Date: 2019/01/17

Author/Artist: Minaduki Yuu

Cast: Satou Takuya x Shirai Yuusuke

Synopsis: Tachibana Yuuichi, who lost both of his parents and sister in a traffic accident, took in his seven year old nephew, Ayumu. To create a new life, he moves them to the city where the sea can be seen, so they can focus only on themselves. They meet Kurebayashi Ryou who runs the local souzaiya. Even though he is the same age as Yuuichi, he is a popular person who has his own shop and is loved by the neighborhood. Taking things day by day, will these three be able to overcome the lingering fears from their pasts?

Review Proper

I’m not going into the plot much, because if y’all didn’t read this - GO READ IT NOW.

And so we’ll go straight to the technicalities,

Wow. I was actually quite doubtful about the casting. For starters, I have a lot of Shirai Yuusuke works, but none of those seem to have grabbed me that much AND y’all know what went down in Yuuwaku no Method when Satou Takuya voiced the seme. Shirai Yuusuke really outdid himself this time. 😌 I had a feeling that this was going to be his big break and it was! I cannot imagine another actor who could’ve been more perfect for Yuuichi ever since I heard him. 

Now, moving on to Satou Takuya,

Yo, yous don’t understand. There’s this part that I’ve always wanted to hear in the BLCD because it felt so shteamy to read in the manga. 

For reference:

When I heard that Satou Takuya was going to voice Ryou, there was a part of me that doubted that he’d pull it off (even after listening to a few tracks). But then when it was time…

YUUWAKU NO METHOD WHO????????

WHAT THE HELL, MAN??? Where did that come from??? JUDAAAA MAMA DAATH IS DOING BAD THINGS!!!

Yo, I didn’t know if I should cry, laugh, or nut ‘cause motherfucker, that DID ME IN. 👏👏👏 Goddamn. Satou Takuya’s been having a good streak as seme and uke (I’ve already listened to Remnant before this posting) and I’m just so proud that he managed to salvage himself from his Yuuwaku no Method hiccup. 😂 I really love his execution of Ryou because he sounded so needy and desperate that I swear, it just sounded real. His and Shirai Yuusuke’s matress mambos were 🔥🔥🔥. The chemistry was THERE. And I’m not talking about just the main cast’s chemistry, it was all of the characters - even Ayumu.

Which takes us to our next topic, Ayumu. I mean, can you even believe it??? His voice was so different and much more compelling as a child! A child! He sounds like a legit kid, man! The way he cried with Yuuichi, I can’t-

Oh, I forgot to mention that his voice actor is the Horie Shun.

Yeah, that guy.

It’s already surprising that Ayumu was voiced by a grown man so you’d have to gauge how shocked I was when Horie Shun managed to pull that off without his voice breaking. It was constant. It was great. 👏👏👏

So we’ve got great voice acting, chemistry, and plot execution. All’s that’s left is the truthfulness to the original content. Hmm. There were a lot of additional dialogue in the CD so if you’re reading the manga along, please take note of this. There weren’t any major addends (except for that little bit in the last sheets samba which was trey cute and I almost cried) so you’ll be fine. OH AND THE SEX SCENES ARE WAY LONGER AAAHHH. I have to say, though. I haven’t read the raws so I was a bit confused when this scene came up:

I thought that what Ryou meant by those last two bubbles was that he wanted Yuuichi to let him further in his heart. Now, in the CD, Satou Takuya says:“Kono saki made, iresasete.” which, for me, translates as “let me in further in yo ass”. 🤷 Who knows what he really meant. 😂 I leave you to draw your own conclusions.

This was a really great adaptation. I think it’s Minaduki Yuu’s best actually (if they don’t make an adaptation of Love Nest ‘cause that would hands down be the best). If you’re a fan of the manga, I highly, highly encourage you to listen to this. There’s a lot of little extras here and there so I think you’d appreciate it. 

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[ENG SUB] Umibe no Étranger

Title: Umibe no Etranger Also known as: Stranger by the Beach, L'étranger de la Plage This is a animated movie adaptation of Umibe no Etranger by Kii Kanna ​ Manga plot: “There’s nothing wrong with liking another guy.” To be in the arms of the person I love… I thought that was an unattainable dream… On an island off the coast of Okinawa, two young men meet on a beach. Shun Hashimoto is gay and aspires to be a novelist. He is interested in Mio Chibana, a somber high school student, and starts to flirt with him. Day by day, the two of them grow closer, but then, suddenly, Mio decides to leave the island. Three years later, Mio returns and approaches Shun with the words, “I’ve thought about it for the past three years. I like you, Shun, even if you’re a guy.” However, when faced with the prospect of finally becoming lovers with Mio, Shun cannot take the first step towards commitment. This is a tantalizing love story about a gay novelist and a younger part-time worker. (From: MyAnimeList) In collaboration with aarinfantasy~ Thank you!

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Stream links:

aarinfantasy || Dailymotion || Vimeo || OK.RU

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Download links:

Mediafire || Google Drive || MEGA

//promo from rae: STAN SHINEE!!!!!!!!//

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An ode to Given

A few days ago the internet collectively freaked out - myself included - when it was announced that the next chapter of Given would be the final chapter, ending its 10-year run. I'm honestly still in shock and while I'm trying to stay optimistic that maybe the big announcement that's coming with the final chapter will involve some kind of sequel, a second season of the anime seems more likely. It's difficult coming to terms with the fact that I may have to say goodbye to a series that I love so much, and with an ending that I most likely will not find satisfying. Regardless, Given has taken up a huge space in my heart for the past two years and I just wanted to write about how I found it, my experience with it, and what it means to me.

I've enjoyed manga and anime ever since I was in middle school, but toward the end of college I got too busy to keep up. Fast forward to years later in 2020, I was stuck at home during the pandemic and decided to dive back in. After rewatching a BL anime that I really liked in high school, Given came up as a suggested series. A quick Google search told me that it was a great romance story between boys in a band, cool.

The first episode starts with Mafuyu's melancholy monologue about the dream he keeps on having and I see right off the bat that I've signed up for a bit more than a cute love story with music. Then the opening song Kizuato hits and I'm totally captivated. It's probably one of my favorite opening sequences and truly captures the feel of the series with its hard-hitting instrumentals, Cenmilli's emotional vocals, and the moody art.

The series pace is on the slower side but there was enough drama and intrigue to keep pulling me in, and it's full of comedic gold. And then... episode 9, A Winter Story. It shook me to my core, everything about it was absolutely amazing. Ue's talk with Mafuyu before the show where he admits that even he doesn't know what he is doing or how to express himself, all he knows is that he loves Mafuyu's sound. The song itself, interspersed with flashbacks of Mafuyu and Yuki's relationship and Mafuyu's monologue (his "I'm lonely" is truly devastating, major props to Yano Shogo). THE KISS. A genuine surprise, so quick and so gentle from inexperienced Ue. I had to watch the episode twice because it left me in complete awe and I needed to experience it again. Then episodes 10-11 were the perfect wind-down with a lot of cute and legendary moments, aka Ue experiencing increasing levels of gay panic. The series became an instant favorite and I rewatched it immediately. I can't find the words to properly express what it did to me but it just made me feel so many things, things I don't think I've felt for a long time. I couldn't shake it.

After that, I was still hungry for more Given so I read the manga, which is a totally different and wonderful experience. The art is beautiful, and the way Kizu-sensei portrays emotions through the characters' facial expressions is unparalleled. Soon after that, the movie came to Crunchyroll, and I've been keeping up with the series in every form since. I read the chapters as they come out bi-monthly. I watched the drama adaptation (not great but not the worst I've seen). I watched the OVA many times (my favorite, all the precious RitsuMafu moments I was missing from the movie). I splurged on a second-hand DVD set of the stage play (really well done). I even watched the anime dub (tolerable), and I hate dubs. Rereading and rewatching the series are routine. Safe to say, it's consumed me for two years and the flame has not died down one bit.

Lots of fans joke about referring to Given as our comfort series when it actually hits on a lot of heavy topics and has eviscerated our emotions on more than one occasion. But it truly is my comfort place. Just as I had finished watching the anime for the first time, I lost a very close friend to illness. This friend was a fellow anime/manga enthusiast and was probably the one who introduced me to the world of BL. Although she didn't watch Given, I like to think that it could have been something we would have enjoyed together if we had the time. And although the circumstances are different, I could relate to Mafuyu prematurely losing an important person in his life. Because the story is equal parts pain and healing, Given kind of provided me with a space where I could dump all of the emotions I was experiencing, whether they were happy or sad. It taught me about loss, grief, and above all, the way music and love can heal the wounds that these things have left behind.

I also have to speak separately about the music of Given, it's just so well done, with so much care and attention to detail. You can tell that Cenmilli worked closely with Kizu-sensei or really dived into the source material when working on the music. Every song created for the series relates very clearly to an event or element of the story. I could write praises upon praises for all of them, but some of my favorites include:

Fuyu no Hanashi, for obvious reasons. Yano Shogo's raw vocals are haunting and the guitar riffs are insanely cool. The way the lyrics change from Mafuyu being stuck and unable to say goodbye in the first chorus, to finally moving forward despite that in the last chorus, show that he's getting the closure he needed.

Kizuato - The lyrics perfectly express the series' tagline "can't say goodbye, I'm still drifting with your echoes." And the pre-chorus is so, so good.

Hetakuso - A simple but insanely sweet song that is definitely Mafuyu's response to Ue's admission that he is bad at expressing himself. I squealed when I saw the lyrics mention "covered by the heat of summer" and "not being afraid of the next winter" in reference to the two of them.

Bokura dake no Shudaika - As I read the lyrics, I can't tell if the song is referencing Akihiko and Ugetsu's relationship or Akihiko and Haruki's (maybe it's both), but I actually like that ambiguity. I also love how it beautifully incorporates the violin as a salute to Aki and Ugetsu.

Uragawa no Sonzai - I know Mafuyu is singing the song but I like to think of it from Ue's perspective. He is aware that there is a side to Mafuyu that he doesn't know, his past, a time when he cried, a person he cried over. But he embraces this "existence on the other side" as a precious part of the person he loves and vows that he will fill up for what the other is lacking, and vice versa. I'm crying.

Now that the series is coming to an end, I don't know what I'll do with myself. If it's truly ending for good, I do have my complaints, but I'll save that for another time. No matter what though, Given is solidified as one of my top anime/manga series of all time, and I'm sure I'll keep revisiting it over the years even after it's finished. It's given me so much - joy (RitsuMafu soft moments are my serotonin), sorrow (Strawberry Swing, anyone?), laughs (too many to count), and some of my favorite music - and for that, I'm incredibly thankful.

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My favorite quote from Uenoyama (Given manga), and my favorite quote ever (also followed by an analysis/rant that no one will ever read). ⭐️ Near the very end theres another quote from uenoyama that has the same ideas as the one below here

“Hearts are like guitar strings. They won’t play sound if they’re too loose. You have to wind them up until they’re about to break, and that’s when they become a wave the hit your eardrums."

As a musician, this hit HARD. To me I see it as how confidence or passion or love is. Your heart won’t have courage/passion/love unlesss you have the will for it to. The winding is the will to let these things happen, you forcing these things to happen so you can feel them.

Loose strings could be a metaphor for holding back, as when tuning a guitar, it holds back from the sound. It could also represent the fear of not holding back, as when you wind up strings really tight, they can break.

Breaking strings on a guitar hurts, especially if your quite close to them and the catch on to you (unfortunately I know this from experience). Knowing they Uenoyama plays electric guitar, this only makes the pain of that worse, and makes this a stronger point (again, experience, -1000/10 would not recommend, really hurts). Breaking your heart/having it broken hurts, and the strings getting caught only make it worse as the scrape and puncture you and make you feel more hurt. This goes into the loose strings, if you play it safe you won’t get hurt, but the sound won’t be the same. The feeling won’t be the same. The emotion won’t be the same.

When a guitar string feels like it’s about to break, you unwind it, or distance from it if it’s too late to unwind as you’re scared you will get hurt. This is especially true if you’ve been through the pain of a broken string before. When your heart is about to reach its breaking point, people often unwind the progress of how it got there, or they distance themselves from their heart to try and keep it from reaching that point.

To me, this quote can also demonstrate the line between intense emotion and a crash from them, as it says ‘wind them up until they’re about to break’. It shows that when you push yourself too much you will break, so you have to be aware of where before the break will be so you can stop yourself from doing too much.

The wave hitting your eardrums can be a metaphor for the feeling of being whole as you didn’t hold back and didn’t over do it. The perfect amount of risk and holding back is what creates the wave, creates a feeling that makes you feel whole and fulfilled.

“I think the heart is similar to these strings. When the pain is too much to bear and you can’t breathe, it hurts, like the strings laid across your chest are about to snap. It’s just like when you keep strumming and picking at the strings at their very limit, and sometimes they snap. Sometimes you feel like they can’t ever be replaced. But if there were someone to replace your strings for you, like this… I feel like your wounds may heal just a little.”

This quote is also from Uenoyama, and compares the strings to intense emotion, love, heartbreak, grief.

I found that It goes with the other quote and my explanation of the first one in general, so I added it.

Sorry about the lengthiness, I just wanted to let at least someone take away a deeper meaning from these quotes, and to rant because I love these quotes so much.

Thank you for reading! <3

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Yashahime’s episode 33, or “How to show a mastery of visual storytelling in 20 minutes or less”

When a main story can give itself the luxury of slowing down its pace, take a breather, and presents you with a small self-contained story  that even when it takes you to rest a bit from the main plot, it also advances it by subtle means, it is  a pretty remarkable feat in this time and day as a way of producing narratives.  It’s not only  because  these stories are usually just an analogy  for your main story, and although they do serve in that sense, when these small stories are rendered with such care and love, giving them their own simple, yet detailed settings and characters full of implicit meanings for the audience to pick up on their own and emotionally connect with  them, you know the writer is actually a crafty storyteller and not only a script writer.

This is what I felt watching Yashahime’s episode 33 a few weeks ago. Although I’m pretty late to the gushing of feels by now and had no chance to fangirl when the episode aired, I still wanted to do it because I think there are little details worth sharing and that most people maybe didn’t catch and I feel the imperative need of highlighting Sumisawa’s craftmanship.  Plus, the extra time gave me the opportunity to think thoroughly my appreciations of Mayonaka’s little story after watching the episode at least some 10 times. I call dibs on Mahiruma sama btw, he’s my kind of character.

To start, I think I will need to give you a bit more context that it’s there in the story but that can’t be understood without some historic, etymological and cultural pointers. 

Mahiruma was a Tochigami 土地神 or a land god. It was translated as a “local god”, but that’s not quite it. Mahiruma was a god with agricultural ties, a god of the fields. His name  真昼間 means “broad daylight”, or you could also say “a genuine middle of the day”, “the pureness of noon time”, which in the past episode was foreshadowed with the observation of the ever bright sun over the shrine at the center of the village while the rest of the area and mountains were cloudy and snowy.

Keep reading

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Art by Official Animator Hisako Sato

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from this we can confirm that jaken is actually right 😂 being in love does things to him 🥺😭💜

i can talk about this man's hypocrisy character development for hours 😂

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Whenever Sesshomaru and Rin finally reunite, if we get a sweet reunion scene like this I might actually implode.

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she is his queen and he always would be there beside her <3

A WALK TO REMEMBER (2002) dir. Adam Shankman

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Blessing all of you with Neil and Todd making heart eyes to each other

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This scene :*

This scene makes me feral

The glances and the focus on their faces which was obviously intentional

She Walks In Beauty in the background

Todd looking away but looking at Neil again almost inmediatly

Neil letting out his breath

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Dead Poets Society Thoughts

(maybe I'm just delulu but 🧍🏻‍♀️)

I'm really convinced that the argument of Neil and his father was just not about his acting business but more like also about coming out of the closet cause if you think about it why tf would his father decide to send him to a military school after seeing his son play a big role in a queer coded play. Yes, Neil loved acting but him playing a fairy role in a Shakespeare play can also be a subtle way of him coming out as gay. During the argument where his father asked:

"Tell me what you feel"

he momentarily glanced at his mom as if his mom knew something before looking back at his father and saying the word "nothing" (I mean it could also mean that he just wanted his mom to take his side but still...)

You also cannot tell me that nothing is going on between him and Todd. There's a lot of gay subtexts in the film and don't even get me started with the deleted scenes. Esp in the snow scene. Charlie and the others knew Neil longer than Todd and yet at that scene Todd broke down the most. The other dead poets comforted him while sharing a knowing look as if they knew what was up. The way Todd mourned Neil's death like how a lover would─no platonic sht could ever explain that. There's just a lot of possible hints in the movie and it's really hard to shrug off esp that it's literally right in front of us.

(I'm honestly tired of bawling my eyes out over these but they are too loud at the back of my head)

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Tod Anderson because ive watched dps again after 11 years and it has become my obsession for the past 3 days 🕺

i was way too young when i watched the movie for the first time and i probably slept through like half of it because there is no WAY i missed such a gem??

anyways, i loved it, Neil's next ‼️