#and also vastly entertained that i have yet again found another musical to obsess over!! shoutout also to my friend who saw bea and instant

[daesungindistress]

You do know artists “retire” all the time and come back whenever? You do know you’re still pushing a false narrative of seungri just because you personally feel so betrayed from believing false media? Can you stop twisting words/purposefully misinterpreting for one sec and see it’s obvious the other 4 still support him?Where do you get off? Honestly you suffer from narcissism(google it please) and should probably get it looked at.

Oh, someone’s feisty! Alright, let’s go. *cracks knuckles*

False narrative? Please tell me what’s false about Seungri publicly announcing his retirement “because the issues I caused a societal disturbance with are too great.” About YG terminating his contract. About BB continuing on and making their comeback as four starting with Coachella next month. About their official promo materials portraying four members for the first time in their history. Not just on the Coachella website, on the YG website too. What part of this is false to you? All of this is real, all of this is true. But you, unable to adapt to changing circumstances, have barricaded yourself inside a world of your own making in which nothing has changed, not really, and everything will soon go back to the way it was. Newsflash: everything has changed and nothing will ever be the same. He did not “retire”, in quotations like he didn’t mean it, he retired. Actually, genuinely retired. Seungri bailed on BB and the industry, that really happened, and BB are going on without him, that’s really happening. To anyone with their head on straight it’s quite clear that he’s gone and the members are moving on. But yours seems to be duct-taped on backwards. No wonder all you can see is what we’re leaving behind.

It’s funny. You act like Seungri isn’t a competent, grown man who can make his own decisions about his career – and has! He made the decision to end it. Choosing not to believe the finality of it, which you are doing, doesn’t make it any less real or any less permanent. What you need to understand is that he did more than say goodbye to BB, he took it a step further – a big step further – and quit the industry. If he had any thoughts or hopes of coming back he would not have announced his retirement from entertainment, he would have pulled a Hanbin and left the group and left it at that – although even then, let me remind you no one in kpop has ever returned to their group after leaving. I think it’s safe to say Hanbin’s heart is still in music and we’ll be seeing him again someday, even if it’s not as a member of iKON. Seungri though… that’s a hard no.

Of course, it’s difficult to make this comparison due to the severity of their scandals being vastly unequal, which directly correlates to their chances of a successful return. I know you OT5/Seungri fans are stuck inside your own asses where I’m sure it’s all very warm and cozy and your precious trash panda isn’t regarded as one of the worst criminals in the history of kpop, but fact is… he’s regarded as one of the worst criminals in the history of kpop. And as if that wasn’t enough, his involvement in that chat, though he isn’t facing charges for it, is enough on its own to put his music career six feet under, which it did. It’s no coincidence that he retired the day that chat log went public. It’s time to face the music: Seungri can’t come back and he knows it.

But you poor thing, you’ve convinced yourself he wasn’t being serious when he made such a serious announcement. You think – oh, I see now. You think he was bullshitting when he broke everyone’s hearts and said he was out. You want that to be the case. How on earth is that any better? Wait, does that mean you’re cool with lies and manipulation? You must be if you’re still a fan of Seungri. Sorry, can’t relate.

Let me explain something to you. If you truly believe Seungri will come crawling back to the group after the immense amount of damage he’s single-handedly responsible for, the shame he’s brought to all of BB, the distrust he’s instilled in fans and non-fans alike re: the remaining members, the complete and utter disregard he’s shown for his hyungs’ well-meaning warnings, and the appalling lack of moral character he demonstrated the moment the mask came off… you haven’t been paying attention. You are not only turning a blind eye to the shitstorm he was at the center of last year (and still hasn’t found his way out of, in case you weren’t aware), you are also disregarding everything the BB members have been making sure we knew about him since late 2015. Which is that they expected him to leave – and they’d come to terms with it. It may even be that they wanted him to. Seungri’s days as a singer have been coming to a close for years as his interest in business gradually eclipsed his waning interest in music and his reasons for staying with BB for as long as he did became a source of tension. He was moving in a new and separate direction, one that was taking him away from them. BB knew this and they weren’t quiet about it. They made sure we knew it too. But you weren’t listening, were you. Now all their warnings to him have come true and you’re still not listening. What to do?

What’s more, please don’t tell me you actually think he’s going to stick his neck out there again and claw his way back up from the very bottom against the raging fires of hatred and disapproval and distrust, not just from the public but from BB’s own fanbase, to fight tooth and nail for a career he’d lost his passion for long before Burning Sun became an issue. He said in an interview that he had no plans to make a solo album, he was essentially pressured into it by fans. And in case you’ve forgotten, though his solo tour went well at first, it began falling apart shortly before he was swept up in Burning Sun. Cracks were forming, he was stressed and venting his frustrations in ways he shouldn’t have been, inciting unrest, turning fans against his boss and sparking inflammatory headlines and just generally making waves in a bad way. He bit off more than he could chew with that tour, and still greedy fans like you pulled on him for more, more, more. Burning Sun followed by the prostitution chats followed by the molka chats collectively became the straw that broke the camel’s back. Everything he touched crumbled and turned to dust. What makes you think he wants to try again? If it was hard then, it would be impossible now.

And it doesn’t end there. After almost a year of investigations (and probably another year of court proceedings to come) you really think he’s going to thrust himself back into the public eye? Live life under the microscope? He’ll be hounded endlessly, his every move scrutinized like never before. He would have to be on his absolute best behavior, never stepping out of line again… which he won’t do. In all his interviews last year it was clear that all he wanted was out. Out of the tight spot he’d found himself in, off the hook. He isn’t interested in changing his ways or the company he keeps off the clock. After seeing how he conducted himself when his and his friends’ crimes came to light (shameless, self-absorbed, too busy shielding himself and his criminal friends to breathe even a word of sympathy to their victims), returning to life as a public figure means he’ll probably end up in trouble again. You think he’s willing to risk that? I don’t. Better for him to live the life he likes out of the public eye where he and his buddies can enjoy that “shit Korean law” they bragged about without the media breathing down their necks.

Let’s talk about BB. By some miracle they made it through 2019 in one piece. Well… four banged up pieces that are working together to make a new whole. You think Seungri is going to subject them to more of his personal hell? After he’s put them and their legacy through the wringer already? He may have a big head and an ego to match, but he has always struck me as someone who is sharply aware of his standing among the other four. Obsessively so. He screwed up big time and he must know the members won’t stand for it, won’t stand for him, not with what everyone knows now. Are you forgetting how harshly they censured him when he had his first sex scandal? That was peanuts compared to this, yet the members took it so seriously that they moved in with him and babysat him. Alive!Seungri might have tolerated that, but the (ex)CEO Lee of 2020 would never endure that kind of micromanaging. Not a second time. He is too proud, too headstrong, in too deep with friends who stroke his ego and call him Boss. He is going his own way now, and so are the members of BB. His time with them is well and truly over. If you still don’t see this then you are only fooling yourself and setting yourself up for years of waiting that will culminate in nothing. Your fave is gone. Do like the rest of us and move on.

As for the members, sorry to burst your bubble but nothing they’ve done suggests that they’re taking him back or that they support him in the way you’re hoping. Any perceived “support” you think you’ve seen is merely a product of your own imagination driven by desperation and a paralyzing inability to cope with loss. It’s led you to make false connections and read coded messages that don’t exist. I suffer from narcissism? That’s a funny way of saying I’m well-adjusted enough to accept what’s happened and embrace what we still have, which is four accomplished artists with tremendous potential for more slowly recovering and resuming their careers in music after being dealt a crippling blow by one of their own. You, however, seem to be suffering from delusions stemming from your extreme and unhealthy emotional ties to a man you’ve never met and can’t bring yourself to let go of at any cost – even to the detriment of the group he left behind.

Seungri said it himself: BIGBANG will be BIGBANG without him. Though he said it years ago, this statement indicates that he felt he wouldn’t be with them forever, and he was confident that in his absence they would carry on as four. You’ll see soon enough that he was right.

PS. I promised I would make another OT4 edit for every OT5 ask I received, and I intend to keep that promise, so here you go, this is for you:

[galacticlee]

The Entertainment Conflicts

 These prompts made me cry they're amazing holy quiznack

For some reason, Tumblr decided to delete this ask, but here are your shidge ficlets, @rebelgirlmatrix1213

1)Soft!Shidge + music = my heart attack waiting to happen

And for 2) I got into Stranger Things only a few weeks ago, and I know for a fact they would love it. Besides, couples fighting over TV shows is the best, so why not.

Prompt from this post (x)

1)

It was all started when Pidge snooped through his playlist one night before dinner.

Music was a welcomed privilege to have, and the Paladins hadn't realized the quietness of the void of space until it had departed them. Thus, once the five returned to their home planet, melodies were blasted through out their cars, homes, and whatever hang-outs they attended, the unmistakable urge to jump up and wildly dance as if no one was watching stronger than ever. Each earthling had their genre of tunes that they preferred; Keith loved old rock music, Hunk a fan of classical, and etcetera. The tunes that would exhale from the local stations were a blend of 'southern' and whatever their parents would listen to, the satellite edition blasting heavy-beated pop that would threaten to break a car's speakers or Broadway show tunes that no one in the universe could ever get quite right. It took him a while, but the Black Paladin finally found his comfort songs.

Shiro rocked out to whatever his tiny girlfriend would, thus the songs that would echo throughout the walls of their home vastly consisted of indie rock and whatever slow, electronic beats she felt fit the pair's collective emotion. The genre grew on him, creating a soft spot in his mind for anything that reminded him of Pidge. His now vast collection of memories with her included the pair with ear buds stretched between them, whether it be in bed, walking across busy city sidewalks, or huddled together on a crowded tram. Dancing together in their kitchen, or bedroom, or shower was a common event, socks or bare feet sliding and squirming across the tile or wood floor with ladles or hairbrushes or hands used as would-be microphones. Music was the warmth of her figure next to him in the early gold morning, the cooling touch of her fingers trailing across the back of his neck amidst steaming water, and the soft melody of her voice dancing from her lab as she worked on some intergalactic project. Anything that reminded him of her, especially a band or artist, helped his day go by.

Thus, as he explored her playlist, he began to grow a love for Lindsey Stirling.

He expected to be made fun of, as was the norm when either of the couple found a new, freaking-out-about thing to get behind. The teasing was always loose, always comfortable, but he couldn't quite put his metallic finger on why he kept the artist tucked in his pocket. Yet, he did, humming the tunes of the songs he could remember and sneaking his favorites into her phone.

But he could never hide anything from the intelligent Holt.

"Soooooo," She started, leaning over the kitchen counter with her feet kicking in the air, thumbs pressing against his phone's screen. Her smile was audible through her words, though he couldn't decipher if it was coy, sympathetic, or incredulous. "I see you have a favorite electric violinist."

He near dropped the spatula he was holding, mouth drawing together into a thin line and hand around a saucepan tightening whilst his face began to sting. Shiro stirred its contents faster, a tad bit nervously. "Hmm, what about it?"

He braced himself for the incoming roll of the honey-shaded eyes, or the awful violin impression, but they never seemed to arrive. Shiro glanced up from the pan, throwing his eyes over his shoulder and toward her. She wiggled in place, smile wide as she swung her legs back and forth against the cabinet and phone pressed in her lap. She fiddled with the sink's taps, choosing her next words with a pursed lip.

"Master of Tides or Crystalize?"

"What?"

"Master of Tides, then."

 He narrowed his eyes, blinking as he ceased the stirring and reprocessed the statement. Pidge's freckled features were glowing, intelligent grin shining at her partner as she squirmed off the marble slab and neared him. Fingers pressed against the screen of his phone, her steps became bouncy, shoulders moving back and forth as a rhythm began to exit its speakers. He instantly recognized the noise, the thump of a beat fading out of the device and into his ears.

"No teasing?" He questioned, dropping the hand from the dish as she snatched onto it and twirled it around her.

Pidge shrugged, stuffing the phone in her pocket after transferring it to the speakers hidden around the home. "I may or may not have an obsession with her as well," She admitted, caramel freckles flushed as Katie unrolled his arm. "And I might know most of them by heart."

"Might?" The food was now forgotten, utensil set on an unoccupied burner as she grabbed his other hand, the melody that bled through the hidden speakers she installed for God knows why picking up its pace. The tune was familiar to him and appeared to be with her as they slinked across the kitchen floor, feet turning and hands clenched around each other's. She rose on her tip-toes, moving an arm to position on his broad shoulders.

"Oh, so we're really dancing now?"

"You call this dancing?"

He grinned as they moved, raising his metallic limb as she twirled underneath it, giving a snort and a roll of her energetic eyes in response. The song was faster, livelier as the pair's pace increased, knee and ankle-high socks sliding across frigid tile and arms dropped when dancing became more of a flail-your-arms-to-the-tune-and-feel-good sort of feat. They spun and waved and tossed and turned, grins breaking into uncontrollable laughter as the pace of the song hurried and slowed, on and on again. By the end of the song, both were wheezing from chuckling, Pidge's hands pressed to Shiro's cheeks and his upon her wrists as the electric instruments washed away, leaving an out-of-breath couple and a steady beat that was soon to past.

He was glad she snooped through his phone.

2)

"Jancy will never top Mileven, Shiro, how dare you!" She shouted, pointing a finger toward him as she stretched away from him, digging her feet into the sofa's cushion. Shiro's face furrowed back at her as he leaned over, near spilling the contents of the bowl that lay in his lap.

"Jonathon and Nancy will always be the best paring in the show, Pidge." Shiro's voice was firm, and his steel grey eyes burned in the back of her head, but she stuck to her argument as she climbed back and thrust her fist into the sweetened kettle corn, stuffing her face full of it and resting her feet on his arm while awaiting him to continue. "Even the insane conspiracy theorist said that they belong together, and even Steve and the jocks though they were dating in Season One. So the Jancy plot is stronger than the Mileven."

She waited until he made a move for the corn to retaliate with her . "Sure, but think about it. Eleven and Mike are part of the main five or six that are the core of the series. Name a more iconic duo than them."

Shiro raised an eyebrow. "Alright. Batman and Robin. Spiderman and Deadpool. Coran and his moustache is also-"

She pursed her lips. "Coran is not an acceptable answer-"

"Should we even get on the Jopper subje-"

The two were interrupted by the screen in front of them thundering aggressively, the pair's heads swiveling to catch a glimpse of their collctive favorite show, Stranger Things. Pidge had come across the hit series while preparing to dive into the depths of Netflix one day, watched the first season, and promptly demanded her partner watch it alongside her. It was an instant hint, and both absorbed the irony of the government-hiding-secrets trope that they knew all too well about. And, as was the trouble of being a fan (or in this case, stan) and having your significant other be the same, it offered either pure happiness when you completely agree, or heated arguments in any other alternative.

For these two, it was indefinitely the latter.

Pidge squirmed closer to Shiro, tucking into his side as his arm fell instinctively over her shoulder. They sat in a few minuets of silence, watching as a group of kids biked down a road, only then speaking after the credits rolled and the 'Play next episode' button appeared. She turned her head to the side, strands of hair that fell out of her incredibly messy bun tickling the back of her neck as she spoke her following words with childish determination.

"We need to give Keith the Steve Harrington hair-cut."

Shiro exhaled a breathy laugh, shaking his head. "Do you think he would really allow us to style his hair, much less give him a style from the 80's?"

The brunette rolled her eyes as she reached for the kettle corn, nudging the collar of her (Shiro's. It was Shiro's, but it as hers) shirt back over her bare, pale shoulder. "He's had a mullet for, like, seven years at least, and a mullet is one of the things that defined the eighties! We might as well have the damn thing piled taller than his Lion," Pidge reasoned, throwing a hand out to emphasize her statement as the other reached for the snack-bowl. Her only response was another shake of the head and a gesture to play the next episode in addition to Shiro's head slowly dipping to the side and resting on her covered shoulder. The opening minuets finished, theme starting up with it's scarlet-outlined letters floating across the screen when Pidge grabbed his flesh hand, turning her head to whisper in his ear.

"Hey, Shiro."

"Hmm?"

"Do you think I could make us have Eleven's powers?" Her golden eyes glittered, mouth forming into a curious smirk as she watched all of the ideas of consequence fire off in Shiro's synapses. The bowl of kettle corn was trashed as both moved quickly, Pidge aiming to leap away but was pinned down to the sofa by her much bigger, much stronger boyfriend. She gave a slight pout, forcing herself to restrain her laughter in her throat. His eyes were narrowed, the white patch of hair falling in between their eyes as he shook his head.

"Bad Idea. Bad, bad idea." He answered, tapping his fingers against her wrists which he held to the sofa's arm rest. Her response was an exaggerated sigh and a roll of her eyes, though her grin broke though her poorly cobbled-together pout while her freckled cheeks folded up.

"We just watched an eleven year-old girl flip a van, though," She reasoned, wrapping her legs around his torso as she flung a hand out to the screen, lips pressed together as she attempted to illustrate the failing point. The episode they had watched seemingly hundreds of times was becoming white noise, conversation no longer about Pidge running off to her lab but about keeping each other's focus. As Shiro listened on, he realized what he would say in the next few seconds could very well get him kissed, or get him killed. "That could help us defend the universe!"

"Only the kind of person who puts Mileven at top priority would say that."

"Don't you start-"

[mykatesingh-blog]

    Times are tight right now with a small income and tiny grocery budget. But life has never been so good! I’ve never been happier. How could that be? I did a vlog on YouTube recently titled “Can being broke improve the quality of your life?”.

The key to being broke and thriving is your mindset. If I turn it into a game, a big, fun challenge, I enjoy life. I become industrious and creative, I turn within and learn a lot about what I’m capable of doing with very little. I also learn to just be present and self-entertain on a large scale. I learn from others, which can be very interesting.

To make it with our little funds I put us on a zero spend season. I reduced our grocery budget down to what the government would give a family of four with a person working. I wanted to see if I could feed us delicious and nutritious food and stay within the limit. We also had to reduce our bill to $350 in order to rebuild a saving that is almost none existent. We have always had large savings and taken great comfort in it. It’s stressful to not have that emergency fund, especially when you’ve recently been informed a root canal is in your near future.

Each month we improve our budgeting skills vastly but are still not perfect. This month I spent $60 on nine cases of canning jars I found on craigslist. I’ve already gone over the grocery budget by $50 and we still have two more weeks.

It’s a process of learning, failing, improving. On the upside, I have learned to make homemade pasta by hand and spent last weekend canning up a storm. I have learned that double coupon days at Sprouts doesn’t save any money when talking canning and that Davis farms in Sacramento still does a You Pick for .30 cents a pound. I will be doing that or finding farms where I can glean the end of a harvest.  I have learned that Winco is the only place I can shop right now to make the grocery envelope happy.

As for entertainment, I have taken up crocheting again, making scarves for my sons when it gets cold, and one little purple scarf for our neighbors’ little girl as a birthday gift.

I’m gardening like crazy to offset grocery cost, but it seems the local squirrel has taken to shopping in my lettuce patch. I did learn how to freeze corn without blanching. Canning was very fun and successful. I now have dilly beans, triple berry jam, and spaghetti sauce. I have learned that making homemade pasta with eggs gets pricey and now I’m trying it with flour and semolina like the Pasta Grannies on YouTube.

I have found a few new channels that I enjoy and are helping me with my cost effective strategies. One being Jan Creson with her Dollar Tree meals that are very creative, delicious looking, but something that one may want to keep to once a month meal for health reasons. With this grocery budget, it intrigues me. I never thought of cooking meals comprised of Dollar Tree items. Olivia’s Romantic House is a tour through a real live dollhouse. She has children and a tiny home that she decorates on a budget with so much creativity and gratitude. I have collected some ideas for the future. Our One Acre Homestead is a new one for me that covers everything from quilting to farming. I love anything to do with saving money, decorating on a penny, and homesteading. And then there is a trip to another country with Pasta Grannies.

In the mornings I have a big mug of creamy coffee and thumb through my Complete Tightwad Gazette to keep inspired then set about my days. I would love to travel to the coast or see friends in Marin but that isn’t a necessity, thus not supported by the zero spend rules we set in place. To keep myself busy and satisfied I do things that I can really look forward to or makes my life easier.

With music and coffee, I become enthusiastic about rearranging furniture, decluttering at surprising levels and decorating with what I have, even pulling from the garage or patio to make a room come together. It is a weekly ritual. Along with that, I have become more invested in my housework than ever before with deep cleaning rituals that have even incorporated scrub brushes and the cleaning of areas never ventured before, and yet I still have not found my two pairs of eyeglasses! Dang it, I could really use them about now with my old pair so scratched up I keep wiping them thinking it’s dirty smudges.

I’m trying desperately to get back into my writing of fiction and read stacks of books, among them Stephen King’s On Writing. I’ve joined the Nanowrimo group and even wrote a whole novel in less than a month. Only to delete it along with 5 other books in this year. I have obsessively created and recreated a space for myself with a desk because Stephen King said that to write one must have a room to go into, close the door and focus. The living room was a bad idea for obvious reasons. The dining room was just as bad…and then the cheap fold-out table I was using as a desk began to fall apart. I wound up with a small table from the patio shoved in a corner between the pantry and dogs feeding area. Bali made me a fancy desk chair from a crate in the garage. Office furniture compliments of our yard.

I have to say, despite the pathetic appearance, this space is more conducive to writing and work than any other in all of the house. Stephen King suggests facing the wall when working. I thought that was an awful idea, I wanted to face the garden for inspiration, but now I have to admit that the wall is working wonders. Instead of staring out at the apple trees and morning doves, I write! Go figure.

I keep writing and continue looking to the future when my imagination kicks in again. How I miss thee.

I have found that when it becomes a struggle to work with the budget one must become industrious. I have been fortunate enough to start babysitting my neighbor’s daughter once a week. My YouTube channel has taken off recently after some studying the art and changing the way I make vlogs. I even hired (pro bono work of course) my husband to record me to make my vlogs more enjoyable and precise. It worked and with a surge in subscribers, I was able to monetize the Channel. I’m thrilled with these small victories.

I think the biggest way to enjoy financially challenging times is to know that they are temporary. I have visions for the future and dreams. This may sound cuckoo, but I do feel I somehow manifested this period of tiny funds. For me, it is a field study. It is an experience I called in to learn some simple things about life and to help others in this position. What I am learning are the realities of working with limited resources and what it takes to Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome. This is a Marine motto handed to me by an ex-boyfriend and former Marine. It has been invaluable and I apply it to any situation that requires work.

Improvise: we do this when we have no money. We cut cost, change phone companies, find ways to do things in free or far less expensive ways. For example; I need to shop for groceries, but my health food store is too pricey so I now go to Winco and spend 1/4th of the cost. I use old furniture from the garage to make a writing space. I use what I have when it comes to decorating or cooking. I make gifts instead of buying them.

Adapt: It takes time to slow and eventually stop the spending train. It takes time to go from spending $1,000 on groceries down to $350. It takes time to relearn the art of self-entertainment and staycations. It takes time to find inner contentment and peace in just being. And with no money, that is what you do a lot of…just being. Just being home, just being satisfied with another rice and bean dinner, just spending the weekend cleaning and repairing what you have. Just being grateful for what you do have.

Overcome: At some point you stop whining and longing and feeling sorry for yourself and family. You find hidden gems in the weekend at home painting the bathroom and repairing your dining room chairs. You find such accomplishment in canning for the first time and having 100% success. You find a beloved ritual in scrubbing and reorganizing your home with a mug of coffee in hand and a good radio station filling the rooms. You find bliss while watering your garden in the morning and seeing the young shoots of greens that will fill your soup pots and save you hundreds of dollars in organics. You find true pleasure in rolling out pasta and watching vlogs of women in Italy teaching you this ancient art. Your family finds a new pride in their mother when she presents them with homebaked bread and homemade jam on Sunday mornings.

Do I want to be this broke forever? No, but there is no such thing as forever and I have created a dream board, a dream box, and I’m working on first finding joy in life as it is and then being expectant of the abundance that is already coming to us.

But as our life prospers, I will look back on this time with fondness and nostalgia and we will never stray too far from this way of life that we have learned through challenging times. This simple life is the richest.

Living on a food stamp budget. Times are tight right now with a small income and tiny grocery budget. But life has never been so good!