#but not a single marginalized person was clapping in my audience

[so-i-did-this-thing]

Moving update:

With all luck to a completed closing finally happening next week, @crowtoed and I should be starting our drive out of Florida on November 7th. We celebrated pre-emptively with a goodbye to EPCOT, which included a truly befuddling pickle milkshake at the Food & Wine festival.

Thanks to everyone who has reached out offering a place to crash along our route north -- we have called ahead and found some cat-friendly hotels, and as much as I'd love to squish some of y'all's faces IRL, it'll be less stressful for the cats to have a large room where we're the only people.

We're not out of the woods just yet, but it's feeling more and more likely every day.

[funknrolll]

Michael Jackson's They Don't Care About Us: The relevancy of the unmatched protest-masterpiece still actual today.

They Don't Care About Us, was perhaps the most monumental and relevant form of audiovisual protest, which force was specifically to draw the attention to social and political issues such as hate, racism, prejudice, police brutality. The form of art is cultivating an ideological allegiance with the greater social plight for minorities. With his art, Michael became the voice of the voiceless, of the oppressed, of the neglected, of the abused. Yes, Michael Jackson was THE voice.

Hi music lovers, today's topic is Michael Jackson's They Don't Care About Us the song and the music video.

It was from September 1994 to March 1995 that Michael recorded and released HIStory, his 5th studio album. The work was one of the artist's most personal artistic outputs, where music turned into a mirror reflecting Michael's deepest sorrows, fears, anger, and frustrations. It was then when Michael let his music speak louder, providing a perfect clap back to all those who questioned and speculated. The album was a double-disc of greatest hits, HIStory Begins, and new material HIStory Continues.

Speaking of They Don't Care About Us, it is the second track on HIStory Continues, following Scream and precedent to Stranger In Moscow. The song is a straightforward response to the ruthless and ubiquitous injustices perpetrated upon him and more in general upon black people by the racist forces of the white cultural hegemony. Extremely compelling is the aura of pure rage and frustration articulated in They Don't Care About Us, both in the record and in the two poignant and groundbreaking music videos (The Prison version and the clip shot in Brazil), released to accompany the track as a single.

Personally, when I began to approach Michael's music, I did not quite understand the real deep meaning and message the song was delivering. However, as I grew up, I developed interest and curiosity regarding the significance of this timeless masterpiece. Particularly the visual interpretation caught my attention. Hence, this article will entail the information I found through my research. The two videoclips released, were, and still are, wildly exhaustive pieces of art, expressly crafted to challenge our very seldom corrupt societies, people's beliefs and mindsets.

Moreover, in these short movies, the artist did not miss the chance to channel his frustrations and rage through his distinct blueprint that turned everything he did into pure gold. There is a broad range of aspects that compose the audiovisual endeavors that are worth discussing. These elements comprehend the lyrics, the human rights violation, racism, and social injustices; all these perspectives are the fulcrum of the whole work. The acute and fierce language contributed to making the artistic output more impactful.

It is now interesting to also analyze They Don't Care About Us from a Post-Colonialism theoretical standpoint. Firstly, for those not familiar with the Post-Colonialism theories, it is a study of all the effects colonialism had on cultures and societies, concerning both European countries, that brutally conquered other nations, and how the lands and populations won responded and most importantly resisted those invasions and trespasses. Furthermore, the study of Post-Colonialism as a body of theory has and is still going through three major stages. The initial one entails the first phase of awareness of the social, psychological, and cultural unjust condition of inequality and exploitation, enforced by being in a colonized state. Secondly, a struggle for ethnic, cultural, political, and economic autonomy begins. As a consequence, there will be a growing awareness of cultural overlap. Eventually, I would say that some of the post-Colonial elements are quite evident in the two music videos.

The song and the two music videos are eloquent protests against racism. Michael speaking in the first person gives a platform to all the voiceless minorities, offering an accurate and poignant depiction of their conditions of merciless oppression, that stripped minorities of their humanity, pride, and most importantly their rights. Related to the concept of racism, with a simple yet efficacious line, Michael addresses the still hugely relevant and actual issue of police abuse and brutality, which is the central theme of the Prison Version short movie. The artistic output was magistrally filmed by the genius Spike Lee, in a real prison in Queens, New York. The opening sequence shows black schoolchildren standing behind a wire fence in the snow, chanting the chorus of the song, providing a visual accompaniment to the introduction we hear on the record. As the beat kicks in, the scene displayed is quite impressive and provocative, because it employs a poignant and immaculate montage of explicit documentary footage.

The clips complementing the short film are retrieved from the footage of the Rodney King beating and subsequent LA riots and the brutal police beatings of African American people. We then witness the swell of an atomic mushroom cloud, followed swiftly by footage of a Japanese child sitting alone and crying amid a devastated Hiroshima. Alongside, we see a close-up image of an African boy face swarming with flies, then the assassination attempt on George Wallace. Subsequently, come on the screen, some pictures of the student rebellion on Tiananmen Square in China, and finally some footage from the Vietnam War. All these footages contribute to making the video so harsh to the point of getting the audience uncomfortable. In the scenes taken in the cell, Michael appears to be haunted by the ghosts of beaten people.

his film stands out for its immediacy and accuracy, yet these clips do not incite destruction nor hatred, but rather the opposite. Indeed, those footages are stressing compassion, a peaceful reaction to a hurtful and horrible situation, and political reunification. Thus, this is another reason why there is not even a trace of violence or sign incitement to hatred or aggressive reactions. Those were not merely television images, but real-life pictures of a horrid reality of human humiliation, abuse, and suffering that sadly surround us everywhere, that break into our everyday lives through television, social media and computer screens. In the video, the tension is palpable yet, the revolt is peaceful and not suppressed by the guards. However, Michael openly expresses his anger with demonstrative insolence. For instance, he sweeps tableware off, hits a guard's baton right in front of his face. Interestingly, the artist is the only prisoner who moves freely and around the dining room, demonstrating against the disregard for human rights and laws by authorities. During the whole short film, Michael tries to convince people to fight for their rights, raising the spirit of protest against oppression and humiliation.

However, in reality, prison riots never end with prisoners slamming fists against the tables or dancing on top of them and, Michael was very well aware of it. The last scene of the video shows the artist free and running up the stairs, glancing back, running away from the penitentiary in a Brazilian favela (might this be the red thread that connects the first short movie with the second video?) while his scream still lingers in the air … Leaving eventually an open question which is asked through ASL American Sign Language: "I don't know what lies ahead… Where will this spirit of struggle lead me, where will it further manifest?" This part honestly gave me chills!

The second version of They Don't Care About Us was shot in Brazil in February 1997, precisely some parts were filmed in the central district of Salvador de Bahia. The footage where Michael is wearing the iconic Olodum t-shirt and dances with Brazilian people was taken in a favela in Rio. However, for the artist, it was quite a struggle to manage to shoot the short movie in Brazil because the local authorities intended to prohibit the filming, expressing their dislike for the project, given that it would have shown the country in an unfavorable light. Yet other authorities approved the project because it would have been an influential means to draw the world's attention to the condition of poverty. Thus, the region might have benefitted from having such a big platform offered by one of the most prominent artists on earth. However, after the Brazilian government allowed to film the video for 20 days, it changed its mind abruptly and reduced, vastly, the filming period to 5 days only. The Brazilian version opens with a girl speaking in Portuguese saying: “Michael, eles nao ligam pra gente.” which means “they don’t care about us.”, then showing the whole favela with an aerial shot. Eventually, Michael gets out of a door and starts performing.

Although this version is still impactful and manages to deliver the message impeccably, I would say that it presents some fundamental differences from the so-called prison version. Indeed, even though some policemen who look stern and indifferent are part of the short movie, in the Brazilian clip, the atmosphere is quite different from the previous one. As a matter of fact, the festive whirlwind of colors, rhythms, and dances are what reminds the audience of the social meaning of the song.

Furthermore, the vivacious and colorful performance is backed by members of the local cultural and musical group: Olodum. The organization was and still is of particular importance as one of its primary purposes was to combat racism and help cultivate a sense of self-pride and affirmed identity among the Afro-Brazilian community in the region. The organization as well provides a springboard for the promotion of civil rights on behalf of all marginalized groups. Hence, it was not a mystery the reason why Michael was aligned with Olodum, to the point that he supported the organization by wearing their merchandise in his short movie. The display of solidarity was reciprocated, through the act of the collective performance of the group’s musicians who contributed with an additional layer of live percussions and vocals, over Michael’s original studio recording.

Moreover, the language as well plays a fundamental role in this creative output. Indeed, the lyrics and the whole message delivered with this piece were not exuding revenge or aggressiveness, which were typically used to fuel accusations and rage. Au contraire, the song is the manifestation of the indignation and the energy of resistance, empowering self-control and fortitude against repressions. Hence, I would say that the song does not contain a single trace of aggressiveness, and its content and energy stay perfectly within boundaries. The language and expressions employed to address the issues are particularly relevant to explain the horrid effects colonialism and post-colonialism have had on the populations affected and thus to protest against the neglect of fundamental human rights.

Furthermore, it is interesting to point out that the element of the language expresses the manifestation of spiritual endurance and disobedience against the oppressors and lying accusers immaculately and, therefore, the dualism between the artist singing in the first person and the "Us" contained in the title and refrain of the song. Although TDCAU is addressing some social and political injustices, it may as well be true that Michael has attempted to convey his frustrations and anger in this piece, turning them into a timeless audiovisual work of art. Arguably, this could as well be the reason why the artist decided to release two variants of the short movie, the prison video featuring a crude and powerful documentary and the flamboyant, colorful Brazilian clip.

Furthermore, another element related to the Post-Colonialism discourse is how the artist and more in general black people and minorities are very seldom victims of unjust and appalling stereotypes that are addressed in the line “Don’t You Black Or White Me". This brief but straightforward segment of the song could be subjected to double interpretation. On the one hand, there is Michael Jackson, a man, a human being, a son, a brother, a father, a friend, who from the day he was born was put under the magnifying lenses of the whole world, his audience and tabloids. Most of the times he was judged, wrongly, bullied I would say, to the point that he could not even enjoy his life anymore without the anxiety of being abused, ridiculed and humiliated by people who did not take a second of their lives to do their research on his works, life, and what he stood for. Therefore, this line, specifically, is how the artist expressed his frustration towards those utterly racist reactions towards him. On the other hand, Michael decided to extend this statement to a broader scale, becoming the brave advocate who gave voice to all the voiceless people who were victims of racism, prejudice, ignorance in all their nuances and degrees.

Moreover, as Michael responded to the critiques received for the straightforward and sharp lyrics during a press release for the New York Times in 1996 " The song, in fact, is about the pain of prejudice and hate and is a way to draw attention to social and political problems. I am the voice of the accused and the attacked. I am the voice of everyone. I am the skinhead, I am the Jew, I am the black man, I am the white man. I am not the one who was attacking. It is about the injustices to young people and how the system can wrongfully accuse them. I am angry and outraged that I could be so misinterpreted." He was the voice of the angry and outraged voiceless.

To conclude, They Don’t Care About Us with its first-person narration, the refrain, and the two iconic music videos, the socially and politically challenging lyrics and message, relates to the problems minorities face every day. They don’t really care about us means they, the society, privileged white people, the governments, do not care about the minorities, about the voiceless who have been abused, oppressed, robbed of their rights. They don’t really care about the people. The challenging lyrics and footages in the prison version offer us a chance to reflect on the importance of these topics. Not to mention the actuality of the song, which is remarkably accurate and relatable to the modern world and times we are living in. This artistic output is the greatest, most compelling and influential statement against every injustice perpetrated against all human mankind, and will forever be part of Michael's and the world's legacy. Therefore, the questions my reflection generated are: is this the world we want to live in? Are these the world and the society we want our children to grow up into? Is this the world without prejudice, ignorance, abuse, oppression, no equality, and equity we want for ourselves? And for the white folks like me: are we using our privilege wisely, to uplift, amplify the voices, the needs and wants of our brothers and sisters who are part of minorities and are facing some serious major struggles and discomforts? As Michael asked at the end of the short movie: “ I don’t know what lies ahead… Where will this spirit of struggle further manifest?”

Reflect deeply.

Thank you for your attention💜 Peace. G✨

[anothersievefistedfind]

Live photo taken on 4/6/2001 by anonymous

Fugazi, Ogden Theater, Denver, CO USA 4/5/2001 (FLS #0982) & 4/6/2001 (FLS #0983)

Between April 5 and April 21, 2001, Fugazi embarked on their “Four Corners” tour of the United States to kick off the 2001 tour itinerary with 15 shows in as many as 10 states (Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Missouri, Indiana and Pennsylvania), their longest string of shows in 2001 and about half of their total amount of gigs that year (32 shows).

The Ogden Theater in Denver, Colorado turned out to be the first stop of the tour and hosted two shows on consecutive nights. According to an article titled “Ten of Our Favorite Concerts From the Ogden’s 100-Year History” by the Westword Staff (“The independent voice of Denver since 1977”),

“The Ogden was built in 1917, and it was opened as a theater in 1919 by John Thompson, who also ran what is now called the Bluebird Theater. Originally home to organ recitals, lectures and vaudeville acts, including Harry Houdini, the space became a movie theater in 1937. In the early ’90s, Doug Kauffman of Nobody in Particular Presents turned the Ogden back into a music venue. In 2006, NIPP leased the venue to AEG Live, and the Ogden has continued to be one of Denver’s most vibrant concert halls, with everyone leaving a mark on its stage, from just-breaking-big bands to fan-favorite nostalgia acts and singular one-offs from musical icons.”

Being back in Denver sparks memories for the band, as Guy reminisces, “it’s been a very long time since we’ve been to Denver, does anybody remember, not the last time when we played the Fillmore [formerly the Mammoth Events Center] but a few times back when we played here and we had this idea that we were gonna have a can drive, a food drive, remember that, I think it was like four or five bucks and then a can of food and then we were gonna distribute the food to people, but then it turned into this big riot and all the kids in the street started throwing the cans at windows, do you remember this, it was seriously fucking nuts, just a pleasant memory from the scrapbook for you all.”

I spent some time with the recordings of both Fugazi gigs at the Ogden Theater these last couple of weeks, and enjoy these a whole damn lot. The band hadn’t performed live since concluding their Scandinavian run some 6 months earlier, on October 10, 2000 and while both performances surely include a handful of shaky transitions and the occasional missed chord or hiccup, the band’s musicianship, work ethic and ardor come out on top. As such, both recordings essentially portray a band that found its bearings rapidly, came out swinging and had the welcoming audience eating out of its hand.

The recording of the first night includes a total of 28 songs, taken off of The Argument (6) (at the time not yet released), Furniture EP (1) (at the time not yet released), End Hits (5), Red Medicine (2), In on the Kill Taker (6), Steady Diet of Nothing (2), Repeater (3), Margin Walker EP (1) and 7 Songs EP (2). This includes some rare live renderings for 2001 such as Full Disclosure, Give Me The Cure or Cassavetes.

Some of my highlights here are Sieve-Fisted Find, Cashout (considering Ian very often introduced this one, it is clear he takes the subject to heart, “we came into Denver yesterday and as we drove around we saw one million housing projects like people building condominiums, condominiums, condominiums, town houses, town houses, town houses, and, you know in Washington D.C. it’s the same thing, it’s like everywhere you look there’s houses being built, houses being built, prices are going up so this is a song about where exactly people are supposed to live at this fucking point”), the live debut of The Kill (Guy’s eerie guitar play sounds fantastic while Joe is still coming into his own on this one, “we’re trying something new, I haven’t got it down totally, give me a break”), Last Chance For a Slow Dance, Arpeggiator (with Jerry Busher on second drums), Blueprint, another dubby version of Promises (reverb on the snare, distortion on the vocals and a thunderous thump on the kick drum) or Sweet and Low (the reverb on the guitars is just mesmerizing).

The recording of the second night showcases another 27 songs, taken off of The Argument (4) (unreleased at the time), Furniture EP (1) (unreleased at the time), End Hits (6), Red Medicine (4), In on the Kill Taker (4), Steady Diet of Nothing (1), Repeater (2), 3 Songs 7” (1), Margin Walker EP (1) and 7 Songs EP (3). This includes a bunch of rare live performances for that year, such as Turnover, Stacks, Suggestion (the band has to start over after Ian singles out and addresses a couple of guys for fighting), Break-In, Bad Mouth, Instrument, Walken’s Syndrome or Forensic Scene.

Overall, this one has the better flow and more exceptional set list in my opinion. Still, some personal highlights include the fast-paced, flawless opening string of songs up until the first interlude, Turnover, Burning (with additional percussion by Jerry Busher), Argument into Blueprint into Instrument closing out the main set, Strangelight, a dub-injected version of Target (which has the audience participating in some double time hand-clapping) or Forensic Scene.

There is some fun banter by Guy as well, leading into Oh, “while we were driving out, we drove straight to Denver from D.C., it’s the first place we’re playing, on the way out, these guys were listening to the radio in the van, and there’s this show on NPR called ‘Money Talk’, are you familiar with this show, they started using a fragment of one of the songs we played a while back [plays the ‘Morse’ intro notes to Facet Squared], that’s like the theme song to ‘Money Talk’ now, and ever since they’ve been using this without our permission, the economy has been in a tailspin, the show about the markets uses a Fugazi song, the economy crumbles, let’s hope they play a few more of our songs on the radio.”

Footage of the second night at the Ogden Theater, shot up-close from the audience, is available through YouTube.

The sound quality of both recordings is easily really good and highly enjoyable, the vocals and instruments clear and well balanced in the mix, the guitars laid out nicely in stereo, even though the volume levels are slightly wavering occasionally, particularly during the louder parts. There are some marginal cuts between tracks on both nights, but nothing disruptive.

The set lists:

April 5, 2001:

1. Intro 2. Ex-Spectator 3. Sieve-Fisted Find 4. Reclamation 5. Interlude 1 6. Full Disclosure 7. Long Division 8. Rend It 9. Interlude 2 10. Cashout 11. Smallpox Champion 12. Merchandise 13. Interlude 3 14. The Kill 15. Last Chance For a Slow Dance 16. Closed Captioned 17. Arpeggiator 18. Nightshop 19. Bed For The Scraping 20. Give Me The Cure 21. Waiting Room 22. Public Witness Program 23. Argument 24. Blueprint 25. Encore 1 26. Break 27. Number 5 28. Oh 29. Promises 30. Encore 2 31. Target 32. Five Corporations 33. Cassavetes 34. Sweet and Low 35. Outro

April 6, 2001:

1. Intro 2. Break 3. Place Position 4. Facet Squared 5. Do You Like Me 6. And The Same 7. Interlude 1 8. Oh 9. Cashout 10. Interlude 2 11. Turnover 12. Interlude 3 13. Stacks 14. Recap Modotti 15. Burning 16. Suggestion 17. Break-In 18. Bad Mouth 19. FD 20. Argument 21. Blueprint 22. Instrument 23. Encore 1 24. Strangelight 25. Interlude 4 26. Epic Problem 27. Arpeggiator 28. Walken’s Syndrome 29. Great Cop 30. Encore 2 31. Target 32. Furniture 33. By You 34. Forensic Scene 35. Outro

[uwua3]

hi hello yes i love your blog sm !! your writing makes me feel so soft 😔💞💞💞💞 sometimes i even reread my favorites~ (like your tenma and tsumu hcs, so cute i love💘) may i please request friends to lovers hcs of sakuya with someone that loves acting as much as him? thank you so much for giving us top tier content and don’t stop being adorable!!!!💕💕

thank you so much TT you’re sooo cute 💗💘💖💞💕💓💝 i’m so happy you have favorites of mine :O + i love saku so much 🥺🥺🥺 this request makes me super duper happy!!! thank you :D you’re so adorable, anon~ ♡

summary: acting was rebirth for you, and sakuya remained the same despite living hundreds of lives

warnings: abandonment issues, giving up on your dreams

author’s note: the trope for this is moreso past friends > lovers! i adjusted the prompt so that the reader was someone who struggled with their dream of acting and was being held back, similar to izumi/tsumugi! please enjoy this, and know it is okay to give up—it takes strength to do so.

growing up, i feared failure to the point where i gave up on every single one of my passions. now, i don’t have any strong passions, so this type of reader truly healed a part of childhood me. for those who also quit and now have nothing, you’re not late. you’re perfectly on time, this is your life and it’s your decision to find what you love. you don’t need a dream now, you aren’t less than because you don’t have passion. as long as you’re happy, why should a dream matter?

word count: 4,741

music: fallin’ flower – seventeen (the instrumental of this song is what it’d feel like for sakuya in the last scene!), together – seventeen

bloom together (rebirth).

🌸🌷 sakuma sakuya

every actor’s first rebirth is on stage

it’s when the spotlight belongs to you, where all eyes are on you but you’re someone else tonight. you can be anyone you want, the same face but a new name that gives you life

you are reborn again and again as multiple versions extended as an actor, until the clapping takes you back to the stage and you’re taking a bow as yourself

it’s reincarnation, it’s becoming a new person just for a hour for the audience but training months behind the scenes. you’re reborn

yet, you’ve always been you. ever the same, unchanging, just... you

it was closing night of romeo & julius that you wanted to become someone else, just for a moment

a buzzer sounded but the start of the highly anticipated play was a creak. the main lead stepped onto stage and the wooden floorboard creaked, and it was the start of what you thought was the best performance of his life

romeo was living his dream, you could see that even towards the back row. you hung onto every carefully practiced line that he managed to convey naturally, every subtle and grand gesture that aligned with his period–accurate costume, every shift in the actor—no, romeo’s expression upon facing other protagonists and villains alike

it was the blooming of one of the most passionate actors ever to grace the mankai stage

you become one with the standing ovation, tears running down your face as a part of you regrets your own fear. that could’ve been you on stage, performing for hundreds as you take in the applause with a smile. but, you gave up—you never tried to begin with

when romeo bowed, you wished you were beside him. if only you didn’t give up, if only you were as determined as he was

you walked home slowly, as if your own steps wanted to trace back their path to the theatre. you wanted it—the sleepless nights memorizing a well–written script and scribbling notes in the margins, the adrenaline rushing in your veins right before the curtain parted, costume fittings and seeing them come alive in the mirror because it was made for you and you alone

but, did you deserve it after all these years?

your face was stained by the remanence of crying towards the climax of romeo & julius. you were on the edge of your seat the entire time, flinching during the sword fight and mourning alongside the heavy emotions weighing down the atmostphere of the theatre

yet, you felt like that wasn’t the only reason you tried muffling your cries as you roughly wiped the onslaught of tears away, letting out a tired, pitiful mock laugh at your own state. how pathetic, you were crying just like back then

before you left him—oh, you were back at mankai theatre

you blinked at the sign above the double doors, knowing the show was long done now. the poster advertisements were still tacked and framed onto the brick wall. he was the center of it all, swinging his weapon with the precision of a trained knight. the letters of the actor’s name blurred in your vision when you read it

of course, it was him. you knew romeo very well

you don’t know why, but you pushed open the doors and discovered it wasn’t locked. the low quiet excitement that made the air feel like electricity was gone, and all that was left was nothing but the stage. the staff must’ve been gone, most likely celebrating their first closing night for many years to come

you stood at the edge of the entrance, and the stage at the end of the aisle. for some reason, it was as if you knew this theatre like the back of your hand, you reached out to flip a switch on without looking. the circular side floor lights illuminated the pathway, as if you were meant to follow it

who were you to argue with fate? you walked down the aisle, split center between once filled rows. there wasn’t a single opening in sight before, but now, it was empty. you took your time running your hand over the top edges of the seats, feeling the red lush velvet beneath your fingertips

you stopped by the stairs at the bottom of the stage, leading up to place you longed to be ever since you met him. tilting your head back, you released a shaky breath; hesitant, nervous, undeserving

could you let yourself do this, even if it was just once?

when you carefully made your way up, the stage creaked underneath your foot as you stepped on. center stage and all that stood was you, pretending the heat of the spotlight shined upon your frame and an audience was witness to your rebirth

you remembered it, your monologue you had wrote many years ago. you straightened your back, about to deliver the only performance of your life before you heard a voice that spoke just mere hours before

your eyes snapped open, turning your head down towards the direction of the voice and stopped. it was romeo—no, sakuya, at the base of the stage out of costume with his lips forming the shape of your name. he remembered? of course he did, it was so like him to do that

silence passed, as if he was speechless by your presence. sakuya stumbled back when you attempted to say his name, his immediate reaction was to run away. but then, he shook his head, standing his ground as he looked up at you with confusion and disbelief, like you weren’t really there

“why are you here?” sakuya trailed off, unable to form coherent thoughts as you sighed, moving to sit at the edge of the stage. sakuya took a few steps back, staring at you wide–eyed before rubbing his eyes and looking again

“i saw your play, romeo.” you simply said, swinging your legs back and forth with a nonchalant look at nothing in particular despite how nervous you were. it was strange, you never felt this way before around him

it had been years since you last saw sakuya, and he looked grown up now. much older, and more confident in who he was. any other time, he probably would’ve been gone by now. now, it looked like he wasn’t leaving without answers with determination in his eyes

“you’re still the best actor i know.” you admitted honestly, knowing you could never lie around sakuya no matter how hard you tried. there was something about sakuya that made you want to reveal your heart to him

“thank you, that really means a lot to me!” sakuya smiled, lighting up the whole room before he paused, as if he realized you weren’t supposed to be here

“but, when did you come back?” he asked, subconsciously inching closer as you shrugged, refusing to look him in the eye. you knew if you did, you’d come back to the stage all over again

“a while ago.” a moment of hesitation was apparent in sakuya’s halted steps, before he pushed himself up to sit next to you. he was taller now, too (you were always the taller of the two back then)

“you... you should’ve contacted me! i would’ve helped you,” sakuya cleared his throat, adjusting his hoodie collar with a blush as he looked away. “you know, with moving and settling in.”

you knew what he meant, though. you knew that he desperately wanted to ask why you stopped being friends and contacting with him in the first place. you couldn’t bring yourself to answer him, even if he deserved to know why

because you’re living my dream, and i’m too sorry to step into the spotlight with you

you nodded, about to make up another excuse before his hand fell upon yours. his hands were even bigger, with callouses around the base of his fingers and small marks upon his palm. sword practice, he’d laugh about later

“you should’ve talked to me.” sakuya repeated, his head turned towards you as you stare back at him with nervousness. when did he get so close? your legs were practically touching at this point, the warmth from his hand was burning you like he was the sun. sakuya was too bright, you might go blind

“i’m...” pride caught your tongue, making you swallow the long overdue apology you knew sakuya deserved. sorry for never trying to pursue theatre, sorry for making baseless promises of being there for him, sorry for giving up on every passion you’ve ever had because you were too afraid of the possibility of failure. you had too much to be sorry for

you just shook your head and landed on your feet with a thud, about to take your leave and never intending to return again. it was a mistake to pretend like the stage was yours, even for a moment. you promised yourself you’d never talk to sakuya again, but you had a habit of breaking your promises

“wait!” sakuya followed your lead and caught you by the wrist. he was quicker now, too, with a firm, but not unkind, edge to his voice. it was clear; he wasn’t letting you go, but he still respected you as a person after all these years apart. in a way, you were proud of how far he had come even if meant you had to deal with the confrontation

silence, again. you could only hear the slightly audible pant of his breath from how nervous he was. could he feel the beat of your heart from where he was? his hold loosened, but his fingers still kept you close as you looked over your shoulder at him. you couldn’t believe it, you had to look up to fully see his smiling face

sakuya opened his mouth, about to say something before he just pulled you in close for a hug. you nearly tripped into his arms as he rested his chin on your head, giving you a hug just like before. but this time, for some reason, it felt intimate

his arms were wrapped around your waist, moving to rest his cheek on the top of your head as sakuya sighed, like he always wanted to be here again

“i missed you.” sakuya whispered, afraid to break the moment when you tensed up. slowly. you reached up to hug him back as you let your head fall onto his chest. his heartbeat matched the pace of yours, he was just as scared to be here

you gripped onto his hoodie and nodded, not willing yourself to disturb the comfortable silence. any other day, you would’ve told him you did, too, but it felt too personal now to say

sakuya pulled away first before dropping into a low bow with his hand over his heart. his eyes were closed and his voice was loud and clear in the empty auditorium

“so please! don’t leave again, i’ll work hard to give you a reason to stay!” sakuya proclaimed, his truth being presented in front of you as you watched him with wide eyes before settling on a small smile, forcing him to stand back up with a hand on his shoulder

(it wasn’t his fault you had given up on theatre, you didn’t quit because of him, but you didn’t say anything)

“you’ve always done your best, i’m proud of you.” you honestly said and sakuya’s smile lit up the whole room. you knew he was born for the stage the moment he smiled at you

before you two left, you turned to glance at the stage one more time before leaving. maybe, one day, you’d gain the strength sakuya has to be there again

(sakuya returned to the party with an awkward lie no one bothered questioning, claiming he just had to go see a friend after checking to see if the theatre was locked. “it definitely was!”)

(were you guys friends? could he call you a friend after you left? sakuya tossed and turned in bed, before huffing and staring up at the ceiling with his arms crossed over his chest)

(sakuya always saw you as a friend no matter what, but it felt different this time)

you were sakuya’s classmate throughout his childhood. yet, you were always out of reach, in the better upperclassmen classes and had grown up, cool friends. it wasn’t until you two saw the pirate play together and the fire alarm was pulled that he became friends with you

your paths crossed that day and would continue overlapping until you disappeared like the spring sakura, like all the years together were just two weeks before never coming back. sakuya didn’t know what happened, all he saw was an empty school desk before his start at hanasaki academy

(“do you promise to be friends forever?” sakuya asked and you immediately looped your pinky around his, both young and under the falling cherry blossoms with no worries for the future. “i promise to be your friend and your co–star!”)

for the first time in a while, sakuya dreamt of that fateful spring afternoon at recess and woke up wanting to see you again

you found yourself back at the mankai theatre, but this time, with an invitation. it looked different during the daytime. the sun illuminated the old, chipped edges of the building’s sign and age had worn down the place. yet, you still loved it, standing in front of the doors with a fragment of your past dream

you could see it now. standing upon the stage with your name in lights outside for veludo way to see. the costume perfectly fitting your measurements and becoming one with your intent, the rapt attention of the audience upon you as you become another person and deliver your lines with raw emotion, the instant shock to plot twists and the genuine reactions to crucial turning points. you wanted it—

you heard your name again. you turned to see sakuya was sprinting down the sidewalk, slowing down to a reasonable pace as he tried to maintain his breathing in front of you. he skidded to a stop, in his usual pink flannel and spring hoodie, with his bright grin directed at you

but this time, with two drinks in hand?

“i’m so sorry i’m late! i got caught up choosing between some vending machine options, but here you go!” sakuya cheerfully passed you a carton as he let out a hesitant laugh, carefully observing your blank reaction to the sudden gift

“um... do you not like it? i just thought, it was still your favorite...” sakuya coughed, rubbing the back of his neck and wincing at the sheen of sweat already. you didn’t respond for a moment, before glancing at his drink of choice

“you still like that? you really haven’t changed.” you offhandedly commented, ruffling his hair in the process and smiling back. sakuya took in the way you praised him and smiled even bigger. he pressed the bottle to his forehead as a way to cool down absentmindedly as you stuck your straw in the carton

“i’m surprised you didn’t forget, it’s been a while since i had one of these.” you mentioned as sakuya spluttered in disbelief, like that was the biggest joke you ever told

“of course i didn’t! you were my—” sakuya started but abruptly cut himself off, instead uncapping his vending machine drink and taking a swig. you didn’t press the matter further, just tilted your head for a moment before nodding slowly

“you know, i would’ve waited, sakuya. you didn’t have to run.” you reprimanded, your natural older sibling instinct to take care of him coming through. you waited for him to continue but he said nothing

you looked towards him and sakuya was staring at the ground beneath his shoes. he fidgeted with his bottle, a habit he had when he was unsure, before he very quietly said something. you would’ve missed it if you weren’t listening, his words were carried by the spring wind

“i... i was afraid if i was late, you’d leave me again.”

silence. you suddenly understood why sakuya put all his time and effort just to get your favorite childhood drink at the rundown vending machine across town. why he forced himself to run past his limits just to barely make it on time with the same smile as always

sakuya was scared you’d abandon him once again, just like everyone else he loved

you took a moment to take a deep breath in, before stepping towards him and stopping a foot away. when sakuya looked for you nervously, he met your kind eyes and gentle smile as you held your pinky out

“i promised i’d see you again today, right?”

(you promised you wouldn’t leave either, sakuya bitterly thought before shaking his head. there was no reason to think like that anymore)

sakuya nodded as if to convince himself before shaking your pinky again, just like the good old days

you both knew there were conversations that still needed to be discussed but for now, as sakuya unlocked the door and led you towards the stage, they were better left unsaid

from then on, you and sakuya’s friendship bloomed again on the mankai stage

you became a part of sakuya’s life again, like before you left your hometown and moved to a neighborhood far away

you didn’t dream of the stage lights and sold out shows you fantasized about with sakuya in veludo way, you stopped reciting lines to your mirror with a creased script clutched tightly in your hand, you refused to even let yourself think about costume design sketches and unfinished docs left open on your computer

but now, here you were, doing all the things you promised yourself you wouldn’t do again. you became somewhat apart of stage crew, learning how to handle the lights and how to adjust them to the moving actors after pretending not to be interested. you helped sakuya with his lines during every practice by being his counterpart and working together to form the foundation of his best performance every time. you picked fabrics that fit the costumes the best and helped the fashion gang set up. you even helped mankai’s local playwright brainstorm at ungodly hours

you had grown up with a love for theatre ever since the pirate play fire alarm fiasco with sakuya and ever since then, you desperately wished to be on stage. yet, fear held you back. you couldn’t be in front of everyone without shaking and running off. you flubbed your rehearsals no matter how hard you tried and you couldn’t deal with the competition

it was like every inherent part of your own self was holding you back from your true dream to be on stage

so back in middle school, when you realized sakuya truly was serious about devoting the rest of his life to his one true passion with no consideration of the high probability of failure, you knew you had to leave before you told him you couldn’t do it anymore

you left him and sakuya lost his best friend

but, he wasn’t angry with you. sakuya didn’t react in hasty frustration and blame you, it encouraged him to work even harder to be the best actor he could be. he wanted to take over every stage, be every role, just so he could perform for you one day and win you back

he wanted to prove to you that the dream you both shared was still worth living

you became involved with the backstage behind the scenes operations of the theatre industry alongside the director, your passion for acting coming back after endless encouragement and support from sakuya

(when you first met spring troupe, they had heard about you and were wary of how you left sakuya. he had never said anything bad about you, but they all knew enough to piece together what happened)

(it wasn’t until sakuya was doing a short improv scene. he stuttered and smiled fondly when he made eye contact with you, not caring about his obvious mistake, just wanting to see if you were happy. that’s when they realized how much he liked you and accepted you back into his life)

years of suppressed dreams came back as you attended hanasaki with sakuya, spending every waking moment discussing theatre and helping each other with homework. you balanced acting with school alongside your best friend again, but there was still a part of you that was unsatisfied

would you truly never let yourself be on stage with your best friend ever again?

although everything was better than back to normal, it was still different. sakuya was older, taller than you now, and wasn’t the little brother you protected. now, it was like he was your knight in shining armor, doing everything to make sure you were safe like a true hero

you ignored the butterflies in your stomach and the heat of the blush on your face, blaming it on the spring season and the flower pollen. it couldn’t be—of course, optimistic and cheerful sakuya grew up to be the same, just physically more mature than his kid self

maybe that’s what was distracting you backstage, when you became lost in his performance and missed your cues for props. he wasn’t a kid in your eyes anymore, and you knew that

returning to sakuya’s life meant becoming apart of theatre, your love for acting even stronger. but also, your love for sakuya growing day by day

it was a normal day, where you two were walking home from a long day of school. sakuya was rambling about something like a leader’s meeting at 9, but you couldn’t focus. you were very aware of how your fingers kept brushing his

(you wanted to reach out yourself and hold his hand, but what if you were always his older sibling in his head?)

suddenly, you nearly bumped into sakuya when he stood in front of you, leaning down so he was eye–level with you. his concerned eyes were observing your red face, resting his hand against your forehead with a frown

“are you sick? you’ve been overworking yourself at mankai, lately. i hope you’re okay! let’s go—” sakuya comforted, about to pull away before you gripped the collar of his uniform, not letting him go any further

“i like you.”

murmurs spread across veludo way. a small crowd gathered as they caught sight of the pair, whispering about how it must’ve been a street act

you suddenly knew what you had to. you were you, you were in love with your best friend, this was it

“i like you so much, that i want to see you acting on stage everytime. i don’t care if i’m backstage every show, i want to watch you bloom.” you confessed, holding on tighter to his dress shirt as he revealed a hint of surprise in his face. like a professional actor, sakuya shifted to an effortlessly impressive smile as he lowered his palm to yours, running his thumb over your hand

“i like you, too.” sakuya replied cooly, leaning down to give you a kiss on the forehead as you froze. was he serious? did he truly like you back as well? this couldn’t be real—

the crowd applauded at the short but heartfelt performance as sakuya moved to stand up straight, bowing slightly with a thanks towards the audience. you were motionless, fingers ghosting over your forehead with a blank stare

it was all, an act?

sakuya turned towards you, his usual grin back as he ruffled your hair this time. he looked shocked, but not thrown off when he laughed at your surprised expression

“i knew you were such a good actor after all this time! i almost believed it!” sakuya said, walking ahead of you as he continued openly praising you

when he looked over his shoulder, he smiled and you noticed the way the cherry blossoms fluttered around him. he was so radiant that the sun beamed at his presence

sakuya thought your confession was a street act, of course he wouldn’t see you as anything else except his best friend

when sakuya came back to the dorms with a brief description of why he was late for practice, the whole company wasn’t shocked, but disappointed

(“they actually like you! why would they do a street act if they’re not an actor?!”)

(sakuya stopped and widened his eyes. he slapped his hands over his mouth before running to his bedroom in embarrassment. did you actually like him?!)

(sakuya came out half a hour later with new determination in his eyes as he declared he had a plan and needed everyone’s help)

next day, you came into the theatre to set up for dress rehearsal before you realized it was oddly quiet backstage. the hoards of people in the back were gone and it was like the whole place was abandoned. you checked the time, you were early, maybe that’s why

when you peeked behind the curtain, no one was on stage either. you walked out without a second thought, looking to see if there was a notice of some kind

then, you felt it. the heat of the spotlight upon your frame. it belonged to you, you felt a set of eyes upon you as a creak of a floorboard alerted you to the other wing of the stage

sakuya—no, romeo, was standing there with his sword put in his hilt with a swift movement. it had been nearly a year or so since his closing night as romeo, the costume was tighter the more he grew. but, he was just as youthful and valiant as ever as he stepped towards you

before you could ask him what was going on, romeo dropped into a bow with his arm across his chest. in his other hand, was a rose

“i, romeo montague, have fallen in love with you!” romeo declared boldly, even if his hand was slightly shaking around the flower. you stood silent, watching him before romeo stood back up, placing his hand over his heart with the most sincerity you’ve ever seen from him

“when you left, you left as a friend but you return as the love of my life.” sakuya recited, clearly rewriting the lines the night before as he became flustered over his own sentiment. you could hear a set of strings being played in the background as the lighting focused on you two, everything else unimportant to the scene

“i want to be on stage with you! i want to bloom with you, i want to be with you forever as long as you’ll have me.” romeo confessed, the truth spilling from his heart as he got down on one knee. his hand was over his rapidly beating heart, and one hand outstretched still with the rose

“i like you, i love you. please, accept this rose if you feel the same.” sakuya let his guard down, becoming less of romeo but more of him as he looked at you with a bright smile. that was your best friend of many years, just older now

had you always liked him? was this love?

then, you realized: you loved sakuya the way you loved theatre. your love for him may have been pushed aside when you left, but eventually, it came back because it was meant to be. your dream wasn’t just to act with him, it was to love him until your last breath. you love sakuya the way he loves acting

you took the rose, the tears brimming at your eyes from the confession, and smiled. you were your favorite character: yourself, because sakuya liked you

“i like you, too.”

like the first night you met him again on the same stage, sakuya pulled you into a hug as he embraced you. his cheek upon your head and arms around your waist, he leaned back and almost came in for the closing kiss...

before a bunch of overexcited, teasing troupe members busted in from backstage and surrounded the new, happy couple with congratulations and more hugs!

on that stage, you found a new dream: to love sakuya behind the stage, where you were happy

you were reborn, happier and chasing your dreams with the love of your life

[iwaswritingmywayout]

BTMH: Chapter 26: Free Skate Debut

“The Chugoku, Shikoku, and Kyushu Figure Skating Championships co-ed singles free skate is about to begin. All eyes are on skater Katsuki Y/N and her coach, Seonghwa Nikiforov,” Morooka said.

Seonghwa stood next to Y/N as she tied her skates. Seonghwa waved at the camera. Y/N’s hair was a little different for this skate. She decided to do a half up half down look. She had her hair curled and hair-sprayed in place to prevent any possible fly-aways.

“Hello!” Seonghwa said, his signature smile present on his face.

“Katsuki ended yesterday’s short program in first place by a large margin. She scored a personal best of 94.36. In her free skate, she will attempt three quads,” Morooka said.

‘Seonghwa and I decided to lower the difficulty and only do one quad, but…’ YN thought. She didn’t truly agree with that decision because she thought she needed multiple quads to win.

“I’m gonna try a quad too!” Wooyoung said.

“Seriously? You’ve never landed one, not even in practice! I’ll try one, too!” One competitor said.

“Okay, I’ll try too!” Another said.

‘Shit, if I only do one quad and they are doing one as well how am I supposed to stand up against them? Only one quad will not be enough anymore. I will have to change that,’ Y/N thought.

Soon enough, it came time for the senior co-ed singles free skate event to become. Y/N was nervous. It was the first time she’d be debuting Y/N on Ice and she was hoping all of her hard work would pay off. Her routine was about her own skating career, so she should be able to portray enough emotion to tell the story since it is her own story, but she was still a little worried. She didn’t even care about the dating part anymore. She just wanted to win that gold medal so she could get onto the path of redemption at the Grand Prix Final. Her not caring about dating doesn’t mean she doesn’t want to date, though. She just realized that the soon to start redemption arc was her main source of encouragement.

Y/N realized she had yet to take off her skate guards, so she took them off and handed them to Seonghwa. Wooyoung watched the two from a little ways away. Once Y/N looked over at him, Wooyoung pumped his fist in the air, determination clear on his face. Y/N looked away, wondering why Wooyoung kept looking at her. Y/N noticed Seonghwa’s mouth opened slightly. One look at Wooyoung could show that the young skaters bubble had been burst. Seonghwa put his hand on his chin as he thought. It was the signature pose he would go into when he thought. Y/N guessed that was how he came up with his best ideas, but she wasn’t sure.

Y/N shrugged before skating onto the ice to start her warmup. She did the various moves she had in her routine, but she stayed away from the jumps. She knew if she missed a jump in warmup it would mess up her whole mindset. She at least was certain about that much.

‘No, no. I have to focus on myself!’ Y/N thought. She did a few more warmups before returning to Seonghwa who was leaning on the rink boards. He did not look pleased. What could she have possibly done this time? The man could never be satisfied.

“Y/N…” Seonghwa said. The tone in his voice made it obvious that he meant business.

Y/N looked at him, a look of confusion evident on her face.

“How can someone who can’t motivate others motivate herself?” Seonghwa said, before slapping her skate guards on the rink boards. “I’m disappointed in you.” He walked away after that.

Y/N’s eyes were wide and she trembled where she stood. ‘What about my own motivation that he just destroyed?’ Y/N thought.

“Representing Hakata Skate Club, please welcome Wooyoung Kenjiro!” The announcer said.

Y/N stepped off the ice and just stood awkwardly against the wall. She didn’t think Seonghwa wanted to be around her then so she decided to just stand alone even though she stood out like a sore thumb.

“Hey, are you listening to me? You’re nervous aren’t you?” Wooyoung’s coach asked.

“Good luck, Wooyoung!” His fans yelled.

Y/N turned around and started to walk in the opposite direction. She suddenly turned around and cupped her hands over her mouth. “Good luck, Wooyoung!”

Wooyoung and his fans looked at Y/N.

“Good luck!” She said again, a smile on her face.

Wooyoung’s eyes started to fill up with tears of happiness. Seonghwa listened from the bench he was sitting on and tilted his head.

Wooyoung’s performance started. He snapped his fingers with the music and the audience clapped along.

‘Wooyoung’s firing up the crowd right off. I guess he’s popular,’ Y/N thought. Y/N knew that younger skaters tended to have an easier time getting the crowd excited. It was partly because they would be over the top due to feeling like they had a lot to prove, but also because crowds tend to get more excited when they see younger skaters and like to encourage them so they continue to skate. From what Y/N saw of Wooyoung’s program, it was very good.

Wooyoung’s first jump was a triple axel. It was executed perfectly. Wooyoung also had a perfect landing. Y/N could tell he’d do even better on his next jump. His next jump was a quadruple toe loop. He landed that one perfectly as well.

‘Wow, Is he on a roll?’ Y/N thought.

Wooyoung didn’t land the next jump he did. The crowd and other competitors watched with their mouths wide open.

‘Man, the way he’s so inconsistent… He reminds me of the skater I used to be. I can’t take my eyes off him,’ Y/N thought. She continued to watch as he came out of his sit spin. ‘He already has the necessary skill set to compete in figure skating.’

Y/N walked away from the rink as Wooyoung continued to entertain the crowd with his routine. Y/N put her headphones in and walked out of the rink to the parking lot. She had her roam roller and yoga mat with her.

‘I can tell by the cheers alone that you’re a star on the stage,’ Y/N thought.

Y/N was no longer able to here what was going on back in the rink. She decided to just focus on her stretching and warm up and hear what she messed during her stretches when she talked to Seonghwa before her free skate.

She finished her stretching and returned to the ice rink. She walked back inside. As she walked past Wooyoung, she felt him looking at her. She paused in her place and turned around to give him a light slap on the back. Wooyoung trembled as his eyes filled with tears of happiness. Y/N continued her walk over to Seonghwa.

“Wooyoung earned a score of 152.14, which made his total score 214.97. He’s in first place right now,” Seonghwa said.

Y/N nodded. She took her jacket off and handed it to Seonghwa. Wooyoung’s mouth dropped when he saw the costume. It looked amazing. It was dazzling. It had several sparkles and rhinestones on it. Y/N thought it was the perfect amount of flashy.

“Yeah, this costume’s great. You look beautiful in it,” Seonghwa said.

Y/N smiled and adjusted the sleeve on one of her arms. When she looked up from fixing it, Seonghwa put a hand on her cheek. Y/N heard the flash of cameras and groaned internally. ‘The tabloids are going to have so much material to use,’ Y/N thought.

“Your lips are chapped,” Seonghwa said. He unscrewed the top off a lip balm container before gingerly dipping his finger in and collecting some on the tip of his finger. He rubbed it onto Y/N’s lips as the skaters around them stared with their mouths wide open. Seonghwa wrapped his arms around Y/N, pulling her in close, hugging her tightly. He rubbed her back reassuringly, since he could tell she was nervous. She kept her arms wrapped around him until he released her. She smiled at him one last time before turning around to walk towards the ice.

Minako and Takeshi sat in the audience near one another. They had been scrolling on their phones until it was time for Y/N to start her routine. They put their phones away and looked up.

“I heard she’s only doing one quad at the beginning this time, but…” Minako said.

“She hates making compromises, yeah,” Takeshi said.

“She’s not going to stick to the one quad. This is Y/N we’re talking about. She saw Wooyoung land the quad. She doesn’t think she can win with just one quad now,” Minako said.

Takeshi nodded, knowing that Minako was right.

At the sidelines, Wooyoung, Jungkook, and Taehyung were watching Y/N. Wooyoung was clearly the most excited to see the routine.

“Good luck, Y/N!” Wooyoung shouted.

“Representing Ice Castle Hasetsu, please welcome Katsuki Y/N!” The announcer said.

“For this first public performance of his free program, the music is an original composition expressing Katsuki’s skating career, titled “Y/N on Ice”. The program was choreographed by her coach, Seonghwa Nikiforov,” Morooka said.

Y/N skated to the center of the ice before getting into her starting pose. She had her head tilted down as the audience’s applause slowly died down. Soon after, the first notes of the piano started and Y/N slowly lifted her hands up, doing the same with her head.

‘The beginning of the program represented the Y/N from back when she felt like she was fighting alone. The first jump is a quad-triple combination. She had been landing it just fine during practice, so I’m not worried about her not landing it,’ Seonghwa thought.

Y/N completed the jump but turned the triple into a double. It was still a good jump, though.

“A quad-double! She nailed it!” Wooyoung gushed.

“It was great!” Jungkook said. Taehyung simply nodded in agreement.

Seonghwa’s eyes widened. ‘She changed the triple to a double. She’s changing the jump elements. Is she going to add a triple in the second half? Or is she going back to having three quads? Do you remember how I told you to focus more on refining the program than being distracted by jumps? You look too stiff! This is the part that expresses when I showed up as your coach, right?’ Seonghwa thought. He thought back to how he told Y/N he would be her coach in the hot springs. ‘You look like you didn’t like it at all!’

Y/N did a spin and the audience cheered. Y/N continued to skate, as she prepared for her next jump. It was supposed to be a triple salchow, but Y/N wanted to do more.

‘A triple salchow?’ Seonghwa thought. He watched Y/N step out of the landing a bit, which caused her to fall. She put her hand down to keep her up, though. ‘No, a quadruple! She stepped out of the landing. Seonghwa put the Makkachin tissue box in front of his face.’ He watched Y/N continue to skate, playing off the mistake. ‘So, she did revert the program to having three quads. Shake it off…good.’

Even with Y/N’s mistakes, all eyes were on her. Even the judges couldn’t look away. It was impossible to stop watching her. She was mesmerizing.

‘A triple loop,’ Seonghwa thought. Y/N landed it perfectly. She spread her arms out, her head tilted back.

‘Now, Y/N’s realized something like love. This takes place when I confessed to her, when we were both sober, on the beach with the seagulls flying overhead. She’s expressing the emotion she was feeling very well. You can feel the love radiating from her,’ Seonghwa thought. ‘But, the second half is coming up and she already looks tired. You’re almost to the end, Y/N! You can do this! Keep the energy up! An outside spread eagle, then an Ina Bauer…Skate like you’re the most beautiful person on the ice right now, since you are!’

Y/N landed her triple axel, her fatigue barely evident on her face. She was able to hide the pain she was in pretty well, too.

“Y/N doesn’t seem to be in any pain today,” Minako said.

“Hmm, I wonder why,” Takeshi said.

‘A triple axel!’ Seonghwa thought. He raised his fist with a loud, ‘yes’. ‘Good, she hung in there. Next up, a triple flip!’ Seonghwa lifted the tissue box in front of his face again. ‘Even though she’s not nailing her jumps, the audience is getting fired up... It’s because she’s skating in time with the music.’

Y/N went into the combination jumps. She landed the first jump well but ended up touching down on the second one.

Seonghwa raised both fists this time. “So close!” Seonghwa exclaimed. ‘Y/N’s being too impatient today, but that’s also why you can’t look away!’ He thought.

Y/N started her next combination jump. She landed both parts perfectly! It was a great jump! She did the step sequence next. It went just as well. The audience was focused on her, there eyes never leaving her form on the ice. Y/N attempts a quad as her last jump, but it doesn’t go as planned. She falls during the landing and her face collided with the rink boards. She could feel the blood drip from her nose. Wooyoung, Jungkook, and Taehyung watched in shock as the event took place. Seonghwa closed his eyes, resting his hand on his face.

‘I told you to make the last jump a triple for the points,’ Seonghwa chuckled. ‘I wonder who she takes after to be so rebellious toward his coach.’

Y/N finished, getting into the final pose with one arm stretched out towards Seonghwa. She was breathing heavily, her shoulders rising and falling with each breath she took. She eventually lowered her hands, placing one under her nose because she didn’t want to get blood on her costume.

‘Oh…it’s me!’ Seonghwa said, realizing that she was taking after him.

The audience cheered loudly. Everyone was so impressed with her routine. She made a very good comeback.

‘If I were Yakov, it’d be an instant lecture. And I’ve done that, too, but…” Seonghwa said, before looking over at Wooyoung

Wooyoung was crying where he stood. He was clapping very loudly. “Y/N!” He cheered.

“Y/N showed her pride as Japan’s top skater!” Morooka said.

Minako stood up in her seat, tears rolling down her face. “Y/N!” She shouted as she held up a banner with Y/N’s name on it.

Before Y/N was able to get off the ice, one of the helpers skated over and brought her some tissues so she could clean herself up. She wiped her face and then shoved a tissue up each nose to make sure it wouldn’t start bleeding again. Once she had that issue handled, she waved to the audience before turning around and smiling sheepishly at Seonghwa. You could see a few scratched on her forehead from where Y/N collided with the boards. Seonghwa stood with his arms crossed as he looked at her. Y/N couldn’t really tell how he was feeling. She put a hand on the back of her head as she stood around awkwardly. Seonghwa facepalmed and then pushed his hair back, before throwing his arms out for Y/N. Y/N’s eyes widened and start to well up with tears.

“Seonghwa!” She said.

Y/N skated towards Seonghwa. Once she got close enough, she jumped into the air straight into Seonghwa’s arms. Seonghwa stumbled a bit when he caught her, but he didn’t fall. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. He smiled as he did so.

“That was the best run, yet,” Seonghwa said as he let her get back onto the ground. She smiled and grabbed the blade guards then put them on her skates.

“Let’s head to the kiss-and-cry now, Y/N,” Seonghwa said, smiling at her. One glance at him would show how much he cared about her. You could almost see the affection radiating from him.

“Uh, why is Seonghwa looking at Y/N like that,” Minako asked.

“Like what?” Takeshi asked.

“Like he wants to kiss her,” Minako said.

“I’m guessing it’s because he wants to kiss her,” Takeshi said.

[turtlepated]

The Handbook for the Recently Married (to the Deceased)

Chapter 3 - 

[TW: brief, loose description of a panic attack. Just tread lightly! Don’t wanna upset anybody!]

Tag list: @sapphic-florals , @beetlejuicebeadoll , @do-ya-hear-that-sound , @imtherain , @imsuchahobbit , @pastelnacht , @tialanderrol , @sammyskip

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At my pronouncement Beetlejuice whipped around to face me so quickly that his head actually spun on his shoulders like a top for a moment before he stopped it by clapping both palms to either side. There was also an audible record scratch followed by complete silence. “I’m sorry, what was that?” he asked, jamming a finger into his ear and wiggling it vigorously as though a blockage may have caused him to mishear me. “I said I’ll marry you. If you want, that is.” He blinked slowly a few times, his mouth opening and then shutting again. His brow furrowed deeply, his eyes narrowing as he fixed me with a doubtful look. “This is a trick, but I’m not sure how.” Despite the complete absurdity of the situation, or maybe because of it, I laughed through my nose at the blunt certainty in his statement. ��No trick, you have my word.” Beetlejuice scoffed incredulously and I recoiled from the spray of saliva, wiping the wetness off my cheek. “Nice try, dollface,” he sneered, pacing around me so that I had to turn to keep him in sight. “I’m not fallin’ for that one.”

“But I really mean it,” I insisted. “You said you wanted life, right?” Eyes still narrowed, Beetlejuice gave a jerky affirmative nod. “Yeah…?” “And the only way for you to… become alive is to marry a living person?” He turned his head, fixing me with a mistrustful side eye. “Yeah…?.” I nodded along, shrugging one shoulder as though it were the most casual suggestion possible. “So then, why not marry me?” 

I could practically hear the wheels in his head turning, his expression softening from skepticism into slack-jawed surprise and back again as he debated internally. I watched, amazed and curious, as shoots of different colors flared in his hair like a neon sign: purple and red and blue and yellow. After taking a long moment to think it over, he looked back at me with eyes wide and round.

“Why?” he asked, his raspy voice so quiet it came out like a croak. My throat tightened and I had to swallow hard to force the feeling back down. No one had ever looked at me with that kind of vulnerability, no one had ever spoken to me with such bald openness, and I wondered if he was even aware of just how transparent he was in this moment.

I flashed him a lopsided smile, relieved when my lips didn’t tremble and the burning in my eyes subsided. “You said you were tired of being alone,” I explained, taking a deep breath and mustering my courage. It was my turn to be open. “I am, too. So… let’s get married.” His brows knitted together, his eyes darting back and forth as he thought, his tongue darting out to wet his parted lips. “You’re… you’re serious?” I nodded firmly. “That way, neither of us has to be alone anymore.” From above and behind us, someone cleared their throat. Beetlejuice turned to look and I leaned sideways, peering over his shoulder at the man on the platform. He was still sweating bullets and pale as milk, but he was trying to smile in a friendly way that ended up more of a grimace.

“It just so happens, I’m ordained,” he announced. “I could marry you right now!” At the podiums, Delia let out a sharp cry of alarm. “Otho!” she chastised, aghast. “What are you doing?!” “Oh, shut up, Delia!” Otho nearly shrieked, his voice ratcheting about an octave higher. “I can’t die in Connecticut! Mr. Ghost Demon, sir, if you’ll let me down I’ll gladly perform a civil ceremony!” Beetlejuice beamed, his previously serious and rather melancholy demeanor wiped away as easily dry erase marker off a board. With a snap of his fingers and a tremendous puff of brilliantly green smoke, the scaffold and gallows disappeared and left Otho standing on solid ground, his hands patting himself down all over as if to make sure it was still in one piece.

“Anything can happen in a live show, folks!” Beetlejuice said into his mic, turning once again as if addressing an audience. “We’ll be right back with the wedding of the century! Eat your hearts out, Will and Kate!” Tossing the mic carelessly over his shoulder (it landed somewhere with a shrill scream of electronic feedback) Beetlejuice reached up and began fussing with his bow tie, smoothing the ruffles down the front of his green polyester button-down shirt. “Let’s get this show on the road, Skippy! What’s first?” he asked, practically bouncing over to Otho and slinging an arm around his shoulders like they were old school friends. Jumping and uttering a tiny frightened sound, Otho cleared his throat and took a moment to compose himself before turning on a winning, charismatic smile of perfectly white teeth. While they worked out the particulars, Delia and the Maitlands converged on me like a flock of extremely concerned birds.

They all began speaking at the same time. “You don’t have to do this!” Adam insisted, whispering vehemently so Beetlejuice wouldn’t overhear. “He’s right, we can figure something out together!” Barbara agreed. “We can’t let you go through with this!” Delia tittered anxiously. “He’s a demon!” “He’s dangerous!” “His vibes are atrocious!” I raised my hands in a supplicant gesture, trying to get them to calm down when I felt a cold, clammy hand take me by the elbow. “Shake a leg, babes! It’s showtime!” Beetlejuice tugged me resolutely after him to where Otho stood with his hands clasped loosely in front of him like a very posh reverend. The specter had undergone another wardrobe change, now wearing a somewhat shabby and extraordinarily garish tuxedo of red crushed velvet, his verdant hair slicked back flat against his head. It took a very long moment for me to realize that since pulling me away from the three distraught sympathizers, Beetlejuice had been talking animatedly.

I had thought that I was making, if not a rational decision, then the only logical choice I could make. Now that the moment was upon me, I found that I wasn’t quite as at peace with the whole arrangement as I’d thought I was. Beetlejuice’s words, which were still issuing from his mouth at a startling rate, did not penetrate the cottony fluff that seemed stuffed in my ears as he steered me forward. Was this what getting cold feet felt like? I wasn’t sure, I’d never been engaged before, I’d never been anything before. What had I gotten myself into?

Beetlejuice pulled me up short beside him, turning and glancing me up and down. “Hmm,” he murmured thoughtfully to himself. “Just a sec, doll. Needs a little…” He trailed off, snapping his fingers and enveloping me in a puff of red smoke. It cleared a moment later and I looked down at myself to see that I was now clothed in a long-sleeved dressed of frilled layers with a high, lacey collar. It was also bright red to match his tux. At my right side, Beetlejuice grinned toothily and took my hand, tucking it into the crook of his left elbow and turning us both to face Otho. “All right, sunshine,” he said, grinning ear to ear and bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet. “Do your stuff!”

Otho’s eyes darted from Beetlejuice’s to mine, his mouth pulling into a thin line and his eyebrows rising marginally as if to say, “Sorry”, and then he cleared his throat and began to speak. “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today before these witnesses to join this… erm…man and this woman in wedded bliss!” Behind us I heard scrambling footsteps, craning back over my shoulder to see Delia and the Maitlands rushing forward as if to put a stop to the proceedings. Without turning, Beetlejuice made a sharp, dismissive gesture with his free hand and the three of them stopped suddenly as if they’d collided with an invisible wall. “Can we just, uh, skip to the important parts?” he asked/instructed the reluctant officiant. Flustered and put on the spot, Otho’s mouth opened and closed like a fish a few times but he did as he was asked.

“If you’ll both just sign your full names to this marriage certificate,” he said, withdrawing a flat leather pouch from an interior pocket of his jacket. He opened it, rifled through for a moment, and pulled out a single slip. “Got a pen, pal?” Beetlejuice asked, plucking it deftly from Otho’s fingers as he dove into another pocket in search of a pen. When Otho produced a pen, Beetlejuice gestured for him to turn around and pressed the certificate to the man’s back, signing his name on a line at the bottom of the document before presenting the pen to me with a flourish. “M’dear,” he said with an enormous rakish grin. I watched my hand reach mechanically forward and take it from him but it wasn’t acting on any conscious input from me. I raised the pen to the paper and wrote my name on the dotted line. Otho spun back around, Beetlejuice insistently stuffing the paper back into his hands. He read the document carefully, shot one last sorrowful look at me, and added his own signature to the final line before shoving the pen back into his pocket without replacing its cap. “Very well then. Lawrence Betelgeuse Shoggoth; do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, and forsaking all others for as long as you both shall live?” Beetlejuice was beaming at me, his hair such a vibrant shade of green it was practically glowing. “I do!”

I blinked dumbly, momentarily thrown by the unexpected normalcy of at least part of his full name as Otho turned at last to me. “And do you… yada yada yada, so long as you both shall live?” he asked, cutting an anxious glance to Beetlejuice who was making an impatient “hurry it up!” gesture. I opened my mouth but couldn’t make a sound, my mind going totally blank. I could hear muffled thumps and voices behind us, as if Barbara, Adam and Delia were trying to get through whatever invisible barrier Beetlejuice had erected between them and us. My eyes turned to the expectant face of the man beside me. Beetlejuice’s eyes were fixed on me, his grin slipping slightly as I kept my silence. I heard myself say the words in my head before they made it to my lips: “I do.”

Exhaling quietly, Otho concluded, “Then by the power vested in me by the state of whatever, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.” Without further adieu, Beetlejuice slipped one arm around my waist, grasped the back of my head with the other hand and crushed his mouth against mine as he spun me dizzyingly around, dipping me so severely I gasped against his lips, sure that I was about to hit the floor. But he held me up with apparent ease, cantilevered at a steep angle to the floor, and took my gasp as an opportunity to slip his chilly tongue into my mouth. The scent and taste of him flooded my senses; damp soil and stagnant, mildewy water, dead leaves and the sickly-sweet odor of long-wilted flowers. It was wet and melodramatic, slightly musty and interspersed with an almost painful press of teeth. He was also making no attempt to be quiet about it, moaning lewdly against my mouth.

How much longer was he planning this to go on, I wondered? Laughing softly through my nose, I figured I might as well play along and raised my hands to his face, cupping his jaw. His bristly scruff was rough against my thumbs as I ran them up and over his cheeks, my fingers coming to rest in the short, thick hair at the base of his skull. A jolt passed through him as he sucked in a sharp breath through his nose and his eyes snapped wide open. Just as quickly and easily as I’d gone down he swung me upright, separating from me with a sound like a plunger being pulled from a sink. We looked at one another in silence for a beat, my eyes rising to the top of his head where I could swear strands of his hair were turning a soft cotton candy pink. Clearing his throat and averting his gaze, Beetlejuice lifted his hands up to his face. He spread and wiggled his fingers, rotating them at the wrist to scrutinize the front and back of his palms. “Huh,” he grunted, underwhelmed. “That seems pretty anticlimactic.” “Was something supposed to happen?” I asked. He gave a noncommittal, one-shouldered shrug. “I mean, I thought so, but maybe-”  

Beetlejuice cut himself off with a sharp cry, doubling over, his face crinkling as if in pain and his hands pressed flat against his chest. All of us jumped back, alarmed, unsure what to do as he let out a strangled gasp, curling further in on himself, staggering unsteadily and grunting, his eyes pinched tightly shut and his teeth bared. After a moment he relaxed, head hanging down, trembling arms braced against his thighs as his back rose and fell in deep, shuddering breaths. “Wow,” he said, somehow even raspier than before. “That was a thing.” Blowing out one last hard exhale he righted himself, hands on his hips. “So! When do we eat the cake – oh….” Beetlejuice froze in place, his mouth a tiny o, his eyes the size of saucers. “What was…? There it is again!” He dashed the few feet over to me, so fast I thought he might bowl me right over, seizing one of my hands in both of his and mashing my palm firmly against his chest. “Do you feel that?!”

I stiffened at the unexpected closeness and contact, but I tried to figure out what he was talking about. Truthfully, I didn’t feel anything at all at first, but when I concentrated I did indeed distinguish a rhythmic thump. “Your… your heartbeat?” I asked. A harsh gasp tore from him, his face going totally slack in shock. “I have a heartbeat?” he repeated numbly. “I’m… alive?” He let out a bark of laughter, then another, then launched into a full-on bout of hysterics ranging from deep belly laughter to high, tittering giggles as he flung both arms around my waist, lifted me up and spun me around, so overcome by his elation. “I’m alive! I’m aliiiiive! Thank you! Thankyouthankyouthankyou! I’ve never been so happy!” With another loud gasp he stopped again, the skirt of my dress swinging around us as he plopped me unceremoniously back on my feet. “I’m happy!” he said, the word coming out as a reedy squeak.

His joy was so contagious I couldn’t help smiling myself. Even the others, glancing uncertainly to me and one another, were looking at the very least hopeful that maybe it was smooth sailing from here on out.

It was not.

“Oh God, what if it doesn’t last?” he whined, twisting his hands together anxiously. “Oh God, it’s gone! The happiness is gone! What if it never comes back?! Now I feel bad! Ugh, why does it feel like I swallowed a bowling ball? And like somebody melon-balled out my heart?! That’s not fair, those feelings don’t even go together! Now I’m mad!” We all stood stupefied by the intensity and speed of his emotional 180. He rounded on us in a fury, charging towards no one in particular and raving about how society failed to teach men how to properly process their anger. The others clustered loosely together, safety in numbers after all, and I stepped toward him, laying a hand lightly on his arm and making a soft shushing motion with the other. He stopped when I touched him, chest heaving, jaw clenched, eying me hard. “Just take a deep breath,” I urged, taking care to keep my voice as calm as possible, demonstrating for him the long slow inhale through the nose, the long slow exhale through the mouth. “Try it,” I said when he looked doubtful, still practically panting but at my insistence he begrudgingly copied me, sucking in a huge lungful of air and puffing his cheeks out. We exhaled at the same time and repeated the exercise and I was relieved to note the tension draining out of the set of his shoulders and the forearm which I still had my hand curled loosely around.

“Better?” I asked. He grumbled something under his breath. All eyes turned in the same direction then as a door opened in the wall, emitting drifting mist that glowed faintly green. Lydia emerged from the murk, followed closely by the tall man who had run through after her, presumably her father. Both of them stopped dead, faces freezing into nearly identical masks of confusion as they took in the scene before them: Delia and the Maitlands huddled, Otho hiding behind them, while Beetlejuice and I stood together in ostentatious red wedding apparel. “What the hell?” said Lydia, her father too befuddled to reprimand her for the swear. The door swung silently closed of its own accord behind them, awkward silence filling the room until I cleared my throat. “Are you Charles Deetz?” I asked. Charles Deetz nodded mutely. I raised my hand in a half-hearted wave. “Hi. I’m your neighbor. I brought your mail.”

Delia raced forward then to Charles and Lydia, flinging her arms around them while the Maitlands kept their distance for the time being, turning their attention to myself. “What’re you gonna do now?” Barbara asked, trying not to make it obvious that she was talking about the now no-longer-dead demon standing next to me. I raised my eyebrows. I hadn’t even stopped long enough yet to think about what would happen now. “I… have absolutely no idea,” I admitted, turning to see that Lydia had pried herself free from Delia and had marched over to Beetlejuice. She stopped right in front of him, glaring defiantly, arms crossed over her chest. “That was a crappy stunt you pulled,” she said matter of factly. Beetlejuice, unimpressed by her demeanor, held his ground. “Don’t gimme that, half pint. You started it!” he growled back. Lydia’s glower faltered, replaced with total incomprehension. “What? What are you talking about?” Beetlejuice pointed triumphantly, nearly poking her in the face as he said, “See! There you go again!” She batted his hand away and considering his shaky handle on the whole emotions thing, I thought it best to intervene before things got out of control. I looped my arm through Beetlejuice’s and steered him purposefully away from the irate teen and towards the door. “Come on, honey, we don’t want to overstay our welcome.” Charles and Delia, who’d been cooing and fussing at one another, seemed to remember their unexpected guest at that point and called after me. “Wait!” Charles began, bringing himself up short, unsure of what to say. “Will you… be all right?” He shot a quick glance at Beetlejuice as if to add “with him?” I felt Beetlejuice tensing again next to me, leaning into him and laying my other hand against his bicep. “We’ll be just fine. It was, er… very nice to meet you all!”

With that, I opened the front door and walked out with a husband in tow. As we descended the steps, from inside I heard someone, it sounded like Delia, shout, “Congratulations!”

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Ah, weddings. Tears, emotions, full blown meltdowns and threats of physical violence... 

Thanks for reading! Up next, domestic bliss with the Juice man! PFT!

If you’d like to be tagged, gimme a shout!

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 4

[noona-clock]

Which One? Joo Hyuk - Part 8, Final Chapter

Genre: Coffee Shop!AU

Pairing: Joo Hyuk x You

Warnings: Mild cursing

Prologue, Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, Epilogue | Words: 2,664

You were fairly sure your heart had just stopped.

Like, literally stopped. It was no longer beating because you had died of embarrassment.

“Oh my god,” you muttered after you realized it was actually you and Joo Hyuk on the Kiss Cam.

ON THE KISS CAM!

“Oh, wow,” Joo Hyuk said with a nervous chuckle.

You slumped down in your chair and hid your face with your hand, but you could see Joo Hyuk putting his own hands up and waving them slightly in front of him as if to tell the cameraman ‘nope, not today.’

A few seconds later, he murmured, “Okay, it’s gone.”

Your eyes flicked up to the screen just to be sure, and indeed, you saw another couple who had no qualms kissing each other.

“Wow, that --”

The camera cut from that couple, though, and you and Joo Hyuk came back on the screen yet again.

Cheers erupted from the audience, and you heard a group of guys in your section cry out, “Come on! Kiss!”

Traitors!

Okay, they didn’t know you and Joo Hyuk were barely dating. They didn’t know you and Joo Hyuk at all. But still. They were traitors.

You shifted uncomfortably in your seat, averting your gaze and hoping you looked as embarrassed as you felt. If the cameraman felt bad for you, maybe he would cut away quickly and move on to someone else.

Joo Hyuk, again, waved a hand and this time actually said out loud, “No, no.”

You figured your self-conscious face was no longer on the screen when you heard the crowd begin to boo. They were obviously disappointed the two of you hadn’t kissed after being shown twice now, but oh well. They could deal with it.

“All right, it’s over,” Joo Hyuk told you, though he wasn’t looking at you.

“Good grief, I don’t think I’ve ever been so embarr---”

The crowd suddenly erupted into cheers again, and they began chanting KISS KISS KISS KISS!

Oh, come on.

It couldn’t be.

But one look up at the Jumbotron confirmed your fears.

You and Joo Hyuk were up there for a third time.

“Oh, my god!” you whined in disbelief, practically doubling over as you buried your face in your hands.

You waited for Joo Hyuk to make another dispute, but instead of hearing him say anything related to the word No, you heard him mutter. “All right, come here.”

You sat up, and before you knew it, Joo Hyuk’s hands were on either side of your face.

He was leaning toward you.

And then his lips were on yours.

Unsurprisingly, the stadium filled with approving cheers, claps, and whistles. Even though probably half of the spectators were out of their seats buying food and drinks, it still felt like every single person there was watching you, applauding your kiss with Joo Hyuk.

Your first kiss with Joo Hyuk.

Hopefully not your last but definitely your first. There was no margin of error on that one.

...Oh, great. Your first kiss was in front of thousands of people. On the Kiss Cam at a sporting event.

Joo Hyuk pulled away after only a couple of seconds, but he stayed close to your face, his hands still cradling your cheeks.

“Sorry,” he whispered.

You managed to shake your head the tiniest bit, not wanting in the least to force him to take his hands away. You very much liked the warmth of his skin against your cheeks. “No, it--it’s okay,” you whispered back. “We... didn’t have much choice, it seems.”

“No, not really,” he chuckled, his breath fanning over your lips and reminding you of that ever so brief kiss.

Joo Hyuk slowly let his hands drop from your face, his fingers sliding off practically one-by-one. He leaned away from you, and a soft, nervous laugh bubbled up from your throat.

Now that the kiss was over and you were each back in your own personal spaces...

Well, you could hardly stand to look at him because you were so embarrassed.

So, after about a minute or two of just sitting there, avoiding each other’s gazes and drinking the last of your beers, you cleared your throat.

“I, uh -- I’m going to use the restroom,” you told him, barely waiting for his response before standing and heading over to the stairs.

You took this time to compose yourself and, of course, call your best friend.

“Hey, you!” Jane greeted cheerfully. “How’s it going?!”

“Well, we were on the Kiss Cam,” you told her immediately, not doing anything to hide your slight panic.

“WHAT?!”

“We didn’t do it at first, but then they came back to us -- twice. So we kissed. And now it’s really awkward.”

“Please listen to me, Y/N,” Jane pleaded. “Just tell him you feel awkward. Get it out in the open. Once you do, you can move past it or you can just both feel awkward together.”

Obviously, you didn’t want to tell him. But Jane was more experienced than you; she knew what she was talking about! And she cared about you. She would never steer you in the wrong direction willingly.

“Okay,” you breathed. “I’m going to head back, the game should be starting again soon. I’ll just tell him.”

“Good for you!”

You nodded to yourself, hoping it would help boost your confidence, and then you a murmured a ‘good-bye’ to Jane before hanging up.

The players were coming back onto the field as you jogged down the stairs to get back to your seat, and you let out a soft sigh as you plopped back down on the hard, plastic chair.

“Just in time,” Joo Hyuk grinned.

“Yep,” you replied. “Sorry, I just -- it was a little awkward after that -- you know.”

Joo Hyuk’s smile turned shy, but he nodded in agreement. “Yeah, it was. But now we can focus on the game.”

“Right, exactly!” you chuckled.

The two of you stood as the players formed their line-up on the field, and when the whistle blew to start the second half, you almost let out a very long, deep sigh of relief.

Well. You’d gotten that over with. And it had been pretty painless, too!

Thanks, Jane!

The rest of the game was uneventful comparatively. The Tigers scored two more times, so you and Joo Hyuk double-high fived two more times, and there were some pretty rough fouls, but nothing even close to the Kiss Cam Incident happened.

So, that was good!

When the final whistle blew and the horns blared to celebrate the Tigers’ win, you and Joo Hyuk cheered and clapped and were far happier and way less awkward than you had been about an hour ago.

As it is with most crowded events, pretty much everyone started leaving at the same time. You and Joo Hyuk filed out of your row and headed up the stairs with everyone else in your section, Joo Hyuk following behind you.

When you reached the main level of the stadium, the crowd got even larger, a huge mass of people moving toward the exit at the same time. You felt Joo Hyuk’s hand on your shoulder, obviously not wanting to lose you. You were extremely tempted to reach up and just take his hand...

So, you did.

You lifted your arm and put your hand over his, grasping his fingers and moving his hand from your shoulder so you could lead him back to your car.

Of course, your heart was pounding.

But he didn’t let go.

In fact, you continued to hold hands once the crowd dispersed in the parking lot. But then Joo Hyuk murmured that he was going to take off his jacket, so that was the end of it.

You almost wondered if he’d done that on purpose because holding hands had made him too uncomfortable...

Once the two of you were in the car, waiting to back out of your parking space, Joo Hyuk requested you simply take him back to The Mug.

“Ji Soo is still there, so I should probably help finish closing up,” he told you, looking at his phone screen, presumably a text message from Ji Soo.

“Oh, yeah, closing by yourself is no fun,” you remarked. You’d worked enough retail jobs to know this very well.

You managed to inch your way out of the parking lot, your conversation with Joo Hyuk shifting from the game to The Mug. You’d been wondering for a while about the origins of their cute little shop, so you finally decided to ask.

“Well,” Joo Hyuk began with a sigh. “We both grew up here, but we went to college a ways away from here, so we were there for quite a few years. We decided to open up a coffee shop because that’s just what we wanted to do. We both like coffee, I have the business brain, Ji Soo has the customer service brain -- we figured it would be perfect. We tried finding places to rent where we used to live, but there just wasn’t anything. So we both thought ‘why don’t we move back home?’. We found this space, and here we are.”

Ha! So they were new in town.

Kind of.

The point was, you’d been right about not seeing them around before. Two guys as attractive as them and a single girl like you? You would’ve known who they were, so you felt mightily vindicated to hear they had just recently moved.

“Well, I’d say you guys made the right decision. It seems like you’re doing really well,” you said, glancing over at him.

“Yeah, I think we are. We’re about to look for a part-timer, so that’s a good sign. And we’re going to pay you back for helping with our Instagram, too, don’t worry,” he assured you.

“No! Joo Hyuk, I’m serious, you don’t have to. The free drinks are more than enough. I would’ve done it for nothing.”

“Would you really have done it for nothing? Or are you just saying that to be polite?” he asked with a smirk.

“I really would have. I know stuff like that is my job, and I’m glad I do get paid, but it’s my job because it’s what I love to do.” You took a gulp before continuing on, mentally thanking Jane again for being your cheerleader. “And I like you guys. I like your shop. Any excuse to go there, I’ll take it.”

Okay, sure. It wasn’t a confession or anything, but...

“That’s good to hear,” Joo Hyuk mumbled, his grin very apparent in his voice. “You’re welcome any time.”

You pulled into The Mug’s parking lot just as you were starting to feel completely comfortable and hardly awkward at all -- of course. You and Joo Hyuk had been talking more about starting the shop, and it had turned into him telling you all these funny and embarrassing stories about being friends with Ji Soo.

It was wild how similar he was to Jane! You were pretty certain you could become really good friends with Ji Soo, especially if you and Joo Hyuk actually started dating.

“Well, here we are,” you said with a sigh as you pulled into the spot closest to the entrance. “Thanks for coming. And say ‘thank you’ to Ji Soo for covering for you.”

“I will,” Joo Hyuk chuckled. “Thanks for inviting me, I had a really good time.”

“Me, too,” you grinned.

You watched as he unbuckled his seatbelt, your heart suddenly racing because you wondered if he would lean over and kiss you.

Not only were you wondering it... you were hoping. You wanted him to.

You knew that meant you should just go ahead and do it.

But before you could say or do anything, Joo Hyuk was opening the car door and sliding out of his seat.

“Thanks again,” he said, lifting his hand in a wave as he closed the door.

You simply waved back, hoping your disappointment wasn’t showing on your face. But Joo Hyuk had already turned to head inside, so it wouldn’t even matter if it was.

You let out a sigh, and as you moved to put your car in reverse, something caught your eye.

Joo Hyuk had taken off his jacket when the two of you had been walking through the parking lot, and once he’d sat down in your car, he had put it down on the floor.

Well, he’d forgotten it.

You quickly bent to grab it, unbuckling your seatbelt and turning off your car so you could run in and give it back to him.

But as soon as you set foot outside, he was there.

He wasn’t in the shop or even on his way to the shop.

He was standing practically right in front of you.

“Oh!” you gasped, startled by his sudden appearance. “Oh, my gosh. Sorry, you -- you forgot your jacket.”

The expression on his face was quite serious, his brow furrowed earnestly as he took a few steps toward you.

“I couldn’t go inside -- I had to come back because I have to tell you something,” he said.

“...What is it?” you asked softly, your voice almost trembling.

“I like you. I’m sorry I haven’t had the nerve to say it before now, but I like you. I’ve liked you since I spilled that drink on you.”

Your heart had leaped into your throat at his words, but you still managed to smile at him and say, “I like you, too.”

This prompted Joo Hyuk to take another step toward you, and he reached out to take your hand.

“So, this was a date, right?” he asked, running his fingers over your knuckles.

You nodded.

“So... can we have a re-do on that kiss?”

“Oh, yes, definitely,” you replied with a breathy chuckle. And without missing a beat, you stood on your toes and pressed your lips to his.

Joo Hyuk let go of your hand but only so he could slide his arms around your waist, pulling you close to him. You smiled into the kiss, managing to wrap your own arms around his neck while still holding his jacket.

Speaking of...

You pulled away just slightly, letting your nose brush over his. “So, you didn’t take off your jacket as an excuse to stop holding my hand?” you whispered, smirking.

“No,” he chuckled. “I had wanted to take it off even before then because the crowd of people got too hot.”

“So you were suffering silently.”

“Yes. But no because I was holding your hand.”

A very soft laugh escaped through your lips, and you were just about to lean in for another kiss when you remembered --

“Also, I lied to you earlier,” you admitted.

“You did?” he asked, squeezing your waist. “What about?”

“Ji Soo did bug me to ask you out. And I didn’t actually have an extra ticket. I just made that up to make it easier for me to ask you.”

Joo Hyuk’s lips pulled into a grin, and he shook his head slightly. “I’m not surprised. He’s been on my case since the beginning. I knew it was only a matter of time before he moved on to you.”

“Since the beginning? What do you mean?”

“When I came back from taking you home that night, he slapped me in the back of the head for not offering to pick you up again the next morning. He’s been scolding me to be more obvious ever since,” he chuckled.

“Well, I think it’s pretty obvious now,” you replied.

“Yeah, I think so,” Joo Hyuk whispered before capturing your lips in another kiss.

Not even ten seconds later, you heard the squeak of the front door. Before you could pull away, you heard a very loud and cheerful whoop.

“Hell yeah!” Ji Soo cried, punctuating his glee with some applause. “It’s about time!”

Epilogue

[borisbubbles]

ESC 2019 Preshow #09

09. ITALY Mahmood - “Soldi” Autoqualifier

👏SOL 👏 DI 👏 SOL👏 DI 👏

ENTRY ANALYSIS

Much like Jonida, Mahmood sort of slipped for me when I grew more attached to other songs, but that does not mean he’s not fucking amazing! I, too, fell in love with “Soldi” on first listen when I noticed the lyrics rhymed “Ramadan” with “Jackie Chan”. 😍 😍 😍 😍. 

Other amazing things about “Soldi” include: the 👏 use 👏 of 👏 clapping 👏 as 👏 punctuation 👏, the ~Iconic~ lines in Arabic during the middle eight and the wonderful message. It was the FIRST SONG IN THIS YEAR WHICH MADE ME SHED A TEAR!!!  😭😭😭 I don’t know how or why, but I listened to the song with translated lyrics and it just *clicked* for me. I WAS LYING SICK IN BED WITH THE FLU, OKAY. Forgive me my momentary weakness!!!

So is it any wonder “Soldi” was greeted with near-unanimous critical acclaim and support? No, of course not. It’s a fantastic song and 100% deserved to win San Remo!

...

okay, so San Remo...  I did *NOT* watch it but I’m aware of Irama, Loredana and Simone, so consider those the reps if I had bothered with an NF corner. Ideal Husband Material, Blue-haired Rocker Hag and Random Dude Who Reads Poetry (not sings. reads.) respectively <3

Slated to win San Remo this year was Ultimo, who entered San Remo with some pretentious piano ballad called “I tuoi particulari” which as the name implies was particularly boring. God what a yawnfest. However, it as also the audience favourite somehow? Him?

So, the juries marked it down just enough so ‘Soldi’ won instead because again, BORING don’t work. Ultimo, instead of being like “well I lost, but oh well, I wasn’t going to Eurovision anyway*”, showed his true Salvador colours by throwing a temper tantrum on social media and spent the entire press conference uglysobbing about how quality was denied (his own words! He refered to *himself* as quality!).

(*he said he would never do Eurovision because he believes it is Eurovision is beneath him 😬)  Oh and some right-wing Forza politicians chimed with their usual drivel that Mahmood was unfit to represent Italy because Mahmood is gay & half-arabic while Italy is a vafanculo blob of fragile masculinity which can only be properly represented by drug-riggen, ugly-tattoo’d brats. Guess what? WE 👏 DON’T👏 CARE. 👏 FOR YOUR 👏 MODERN TIME 👏 PREACHIN’  👏 FORTUNATELY, Mahmood agreed to do ESC (after a week long thinking period lol) and all was well in this world . 👏 ANOTHER VICTORY FOR QUALITY  👏

Edit note: it has become apparent that my brash and snarky assesment was largely malinformed, but user @wingednerdydude​  provided a pretty detailed summation of the situation. 

It’s a quite long explanation I’ll put a tl;dr to appease the fans:  Ultimo did indeed not take the loss well, but the media also took an off-hand comment he made about Mahmood out of context and he retaliated, which led a lot of a unnecessary drama and mutual poo-slinging. It’s not just the ESC fans that overdramatize shit, who knew. 

For those who want to read it:

Ultimo never insulted Mahmood or said one single bad thing about him or that his song was better than Soldi, let's make this clear from the start. It's also true that he never even said anything complimenting him or his song. Mahmood actually said he never spoke to him nor heard from him in any way. The only thing Ultimo ever said is that he is happy for Mahmood and his success, that's it. If Ultimo really did compliment him then I never read or watched such interview

The mess during Sanremo's press conference blew up right when Ultimo said he was happy for (I'm quoting) "the other ragazzo, Mahmood". Ragazzo is a really neutral term in Italian, it just means young man, I wouldn't know how to traslate it. The journalists found it "insulting" for some weird reason (Mahmood actually said he thinks it's a totally okay term) and said Ultimo was disrespecting him. More context: Ultimo clearly was disappointed about his 2nd place

The press knew it and since the moment he entered the press room they literally started rubbing his missed victory in his face and kept asking him "yeah, but don't you think you should have won?". Ultimo eventually got pissed like mad and rightfully so. They were literally trying to make him lose his temper because they knew he had a bad character and was disappointed. They wanted a scoop and they got it.

Ultimo told the journalists that they were just trying to get an article out of it and that any thing he would say, they would turn it into something else. Then he said (quoting) "I'm fucking done with you". Boom, all of the press room went crazy and started throwing insults at him (sore loser, shit, bastard, ungrateful etc...). At some point Mahmood entered the room and the situation got chill again. By the way, look at the Il Volo guys while he speaks. They agreed.

Which takes us to the next step: why did Ultimo explode like that? I'll get ther: the day after there was a tv program the contestants were supposed to take part in. Ultimo didn't show up. It was full of journalists who obviously insulted him, they showed the clip of Ultimo insulting the press. One of the journalists though, she gave no fucks and just said the things as they were: and that is, the press insulted him. Not only after Ultimo's insults, but also earlier.

Ultimo wasn't the only artist who got insulted: the guys from Il Volo were too, during their performance and while the results were being announced (everyone cheered cause they hadn't won). The journalist says there were clips of it. Ups, looks like they "couldn't show them". Funny how they found Ultimo insulting journalists, but not the opposite. And those videos exist. In particular, there was a video of Ultimo being insulted by press, days before

There were a lot of talks, clickbaity articles written etc... Ultimo tried speaking in a video he posted and told his point of view. Now, mind you, I don't agree with some of the stuff he said. He said that he was sad about the whole thing and that it had been blown out of proportion, his words twisted to show him like the bad guy. And this is true if you read what I wrote. About the results: he was pissed because he had won the televote by a very large margin but lost.

Here I think he was really wrong, cause those are the rules, jury and televote results add up to the final result, it's maths. It may be disappointing, but that's how it is. Still, he was sad that people had to PAY to vote and their votes didn't matter in the end to choose the actual winner. Debatable. But he did make a good point about one thing: the jury votes are made of the votes of some experts (they're like 10 and actually often are people with no music knowledge)

 And the rest of the jury votes are journalists. Now, wait a second: the same journalists who threw personal insults at him and Il Volo for no reason if not a personal anthipathy were the ones deciding if they could win or not. Now this is interesting, cause the jury is supposed to be unbiased. His complaining about this is just right in my opinion, something should have been done about it (journalists faced no consequences for their insults to contestants).

This is where the whole thing ended. Ultimo just asked not to speak about it again, Sanremo's week has now well passed and everyone moved on, so that's literally all. I hope I was of some help to better understand the situation. And please guys, no fighting, let's just enjoy Mahmood's song.

 AND LET US NEVER SPEAK OF HIM EVER AGAIN!!!!!! ~moving on~

Autoqualifier Odds: very good

The most important thing one has to take away from “Soldi” is that it’s a fucking excellent song. There’s a reason it received near-universal critical acclaim from all sources.  

But, as the saying goes, it’s not the song but what you do with it. Mahmood is making great ~live performance progress~ as more pre-parties are showing his growing expertise, but at the same time I feel like everyone has sort of forgotten about him as a potential winner? Actually my friends posited the idea that Mahmood might be a Jamala-esque winner (by finishing second in both jury AND televote) and I think that is an intriguing possibility we should consider! If Duncan somehow doesn’t come through (and he won’t because Expected Winner’s Curse), it will be Mahmood who shall pick up the pieces and win instead. (unless the audience wants to go for the novelty act again, in which case Hatari or Bilal will win) I recognize that Mahmood could go down the usual Italy trajectory and be sandbagged by juries into a mid top 10 placement, I guess. I don’t want to get my hopes up and overrate his odds like I did with Gabbani. Even under the worst circumstance, Mahmood is definitely finishing somewhere in the top 10 though, as all Italian men (fragile or not) do. 

Projected placement: 1st-8th in the Grand Final.

Link to the masterpost

[rajiuldipto38]

FROM EID, WITH FICTIONS

Every year, EID comes into Bengali life to celebrate three pleasures of life. Family, Food and Fiction. When I mean fiction, I am actually meaning Television fictions. This EID, I have seen few fictions. My this article is about reviewing them. All are my own personal opinions. No offense.

Bikal Belar Pakhi (বিকাল বেলার পাখি) : Have not you ever seen your father is shouting on you? Or, he is bit depressed about your study or he is punishing your elder sister because she is late at home. If you are from a middle class family, you better know this. Bikal Belar Pakhi, a story about the head of a middle class family. His activities, struggle of the family and the only son of the family, this is all the gestures. Fazlur Rahman Babu is a fantastic actor, and he has proved it through out his carrer. From films to fictions. His screen presence will surely take you to his place, his chemistry with his family members is very much related with our everyday life. It is a story, of our own. You better cry then. This is where, director Adnan Al Rajeeb has shown his talent. The screenplay is so good that, audience will never go out of the sit. Music and cinematography is up to the mark. I am very pleased. If you have missed, then do not miss this one now. One of the best from the ‘Chabial Re-Union’

Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆☆

March Mashe Shooting (মার্চ মাসে শুটিং) : I was traveling from my hometown to Dhaka. It was a night time and I was getting bored. Suddenly, I remembered that I was very keen to watch ‘March Mashe Shooting’ from Aynabaji Original Series. The best part, this fiction was released in the night. So, I opened Youtube and watched. Not just my Youtube was opened, but also my mouth. This is another master work by director Amitabh Reza Chowdhury, which will be remembered for long time. Where should I put my eyes? From direction to acting to cinematography to screenplay to everywhere. Story starts with a movie star and ends up to a freedom fighter. I would not spoil the story. But, will surely talk about the screenplay. Every sequences will force you to think about the next sequence. This is a unique style to write a story. Also, is an example for new screenplay writers. Cinematography is pretty good with some classic shots. Well, here you can not criticize Mr.Amitabh Reza. Every single person has acted up to the mark. Apurbo is fantastic, so Nabila and Gazi Rakayat is. A big thanks to the team.

Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆☆

26 Din Matro (২৬ দিন মাত্র) : Legends are always legends. Amjad Hossain and Dilara Zaman has again proved that in this fiction. Really, the acting beyond the imagination. My salute to them. Big thanks to director Mohammad Mostafa Kamal Raz. Thanks for working in this screenplay and for choosing this fantastic cast. The story will drive you to an illus ional reality. I will never release the story. I just want to say, do not forget to watch it. The cinematography, the black and white gesture is fantastic. I did not realize when the time passed away. I cried. This is one of the best works of the EID. Must watch.

Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆1/2

Mr.Jony (মি.জনি) : Director Redoan Rony has always proved himself with his different works. Even this time, no mistake is actually done. First in few sequences, I kept on finding the identity of Jony. Rony is very clever in the screenplay part. When I found out that Jony is nothing but a dog, the level of my interest to finish this fiction increased highly. Relationship of a dog and his owner has been shown in not a different but unique way. Everyone, even those who do not have a pet can relate this story. Rony has written some metaphorical dialogues. Something like, ‘আপনিকি মানুষ’ or ‘পিপাসা মিটলোনা’ is very metaphoric. Everyone has done justice with their works. Cinematography is good with the classic colour. Rony has kept himself out of the bopx with a message or story that we can relate with. The best work is done my Mr.Jony himself. Loved it.

Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆1/2

Hotath Nirar Jonno (হঠাৎ নীরার জন্য) : A pure romantic fiction adopted from Sunil Gangopadhyay’s poem is a worth watching. Whenever, I witness a drama or movie adopted from a literary piece I try to find out that either that work has done the justice with the original one or not. This time, director Mabrur Rashid Bannah has not disappointed me. He has used the poem with the pure margin. Cinematography is very good. Very unique and colourful. In the place of cast, Irfan Sajjad and Mehazabien Chowdhury has done a great job. They have again proved that they are talented. In the script and screenplay part, Mabrur Rashid Bannah is the one man. Nicely made. Do watch.

Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆1/2

Award Night : Last night, I watched Award Night. One of my favorite directors Shafayat Mansoor Rana, is back with the team including Jon Kabir and Aparna. This is what, I was waiting for. Before the promo I was expecting something like thriller. Again, Shafayat Mansoor has surprised me and other audiences as well. A perfect satire to criticize the present condition of a part of the media. Well, the story keeps on going by adopting the pre situation of a award show. Very clever. Not all the starts or performers do this but few of them do. From begging for a single award to being done extra unnecessary things (Eating mud) is a real fact. A perfect criticism with humor., Thanks to the screenplay writers for not let the audience get bored. Jon Kabir, Aparna, Hillol, Nazmus Sakib to director Shafayat Mansoor himself and all of the actor performers has given their best work. Cinematography and colour grading is pretty good. Though, the humor of Shafayat and Jon could have been increased a bit in the script part at the show hosting. Overall, a must watch.

Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆1/2

Dondo Somash (দ্বন্দ সমাস) : Another one from the Aynabaji Original Series. Dondo Somash, story of the look a likes from different religions where they got in trap of ther typical village politics or mentality. Director Ashfaque Nipun’s best work of this EID. Cinematography is not so much tight. A big space for the audience like me to thinkl. Screenplay will surely keep the audiences in the sit. Rawnak Hasan has played double role. I have mostly loved his look. Abul Hayat and other actors are fantastic at their places. Cinematography is not bad. I have loved few drone shots and some huge landscapes. Nice work.

Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆1/2

Putuler Ghor (পুতুলের ঘর) : The very first shot will make you think that you are watching a movie. Talking about, feeling like movie I do not know why I have got the gesture of it. From cinematography to direction to screenplay. I would not talk much about the story because it a context what you need to see. No doubt, best work of Tisha and Shatabdi Wadud in this EID. Few sequences are bit ling for me. I think, those could have been shorted. But, I have to clap for director Mr.Ashutosh Sujan. The team has given the best work, which you will realize by seeing it in the screen.

Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆

Porinoti (পরিণতি) : This EID, I have got to know another promising director who is Imraul Rafat. To be very honest, I did not see any other works of him before. This time, I am amazed after watching ‘Porinoti’. Tahsan-Mehazabein, one of my favorite couples in the screen. I have no ability to judge their acting. In the screenplay part, few sequences could have been shorted. The love part is not so bad. But, the story is the king. Cinematography is very typical. The thing which has kept me in the sofa is the nice arrangement of all sequences. Nice work.

Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆

Jackson Billal (জ্যাকশন বিল্লাল) : Firstly, truly hats off to Siam Ahmed. Micheal Jackson is someone, I have always followed. This is the part for what I have seen the whole fiction. Siam has tried his best to dance like Jackson. I will just say, well done. Director Shihab Saheen is a very experience director. His way of making a screenplay interesting has always amazed me. This time, no mistake. Urmila, one of my favorite actresses has worked very good. Cinematography is not bad. An entertaining one from Shihab Saheen.

Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆

Cheleta Kintu Valo Chilo (ছেলেটা কিন্তু ভালো ছিলো) : Another one from ‘Aynabaji Original Series’ and another nice work by director Ashfaque Nipun. Story of girl, who wants to play football. So, she run away from her wedding and joined the team. Tisha, as the footballer girl is fantastic. She has put a nice mark and I will clap for the director because he has chosen the right cast. Mishu Sabbir as the friend is very funny. Specially, in the sequence where police caught them. Gazi Rakayat is fantastic as the coach. This story could have been a movie story. Very nicely written screenplay. Must watch.

Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆

Se Somiye Tumi Ami (সে সময়ে তুমি আমি) : Another best work of director Mabrur Rashid Bannah. He has delivered his siganture mark once again. Two lead characters are done by two talents of the country, Tahsan Khan & Bidya Sinha Saha Mim. Perfect casting. Firstly, Tahsan appears in new avater of a student leader. I have loved it, when he delivered his speech. One the other hand, Mim has done justice to her role. Cinematography is pretty good. The scenario of Old Dhaka is fantastic. Eye soothing. Musfiq R. Farhan as the brother of Mim has done good job. The role of the mother is very short but nice. Siam Nasir as the right hand of Tahsan is good again. I am not revealing the whole story. Romance in every frame. Must watch.

Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆

Sada Kagoje Sajano Onuvuti (সাদা কাগজে সাজানো (অনুভূতি) : Nisho and Irfan Sajjad, two of my favorites actors are in the same fiction. What do I need more? Director Kajal Arefin Ome, has put this two talented actors in their eligible role. Tasnuva Elvin has supported there two very nicely. It felt so good to see her in a role like this. The story is unique itself. Screenplay is the hero, as I mentioned before. Cinematography is very eye soothing. If you want me to pick any one among Nisho and Irfan then I will pick Nisho. Because, the portrayal of his character by the director is much more close to me. Well done, the team.

Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆

Abaro (আবারো) : Abaro, means again. Tahsan Khan is at his best again. Salha Khanam Nadia is just so good with him. No doubt. The credit actually goes to the captain of the ship, director Mahmudur Rahman Hime. He has arranged the whole set-up very nicely. The screenplay will never make you feel bore. The cinematography is good but common. There is a say as an audience. In few sequences, I expected them longer. In some other ones, I wanted them to be shorter. This is the only part, I did not like. Overall, good.

Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆

Chikon Piner Charger (চিকন পিনের চার্জার) : A story which kept me in an illusion for the first 30 minutes. Till then, I felt sorry for the character of  Whomayun Sadhu. The director himself has always proved his ability and talent in acting. This time, got the flavor agai. A man is in an unknown city, searching for his lover desperately. I am not going to reveal the whole story. The ending was fantastic, but an known fact. Some of the viewers claimed that this is an old wine in a new bottle fact. For me, I have loved it the way screenplay is written. Yes, probably we have seen this kind of ending before. But, this time Mr.Sadhu has proved his tricks. Nice cinematography. I loved the scene most, where the lover is waiting for his lover to come. Well done. Chabial Re-Union, nice step.

Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆

Jatona (যাতনা) : Probably, I had seen few works of director Abu Hayat Mahmud before. This time, I wanted to see something interesting. I must thank him for ‘Jatona’. Chanchal Chowdhury has made it. He has proved himself once again. This man is getting better day by day. I loved the acting. Urmila Srabanti Kar is in the opposite role has done the best work. Loved her to see in the screen, specially her pretty smile. Screenplay is very good. Cinematography is pretty well. Overall, nice work by the production.

Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆

Alokon (আলোকন) : Directror Topu Khan was in the News for his latest web series ‘Admission Test’. But, I loved ‘Alokon’ more than that one. Two of the most talented actors in the industry, Apurba and Saba were in the cast. So, I thought that the screenplay will be interesting. Director Topu Khan actually did not make me upset. Very genuine screenplay with a fine story has really made it worth watching. Cinematography is very good. Background score actually goes with the scene. Liked the whole arrangement. Woirth watching.

Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆

Se Ak Pream (সে এক প্রেম) : Thanks to director Mahmud Didar, because he has portrayed Tisha in a different character. Really, big salute to Tisha for breaking herself in this type of character. She is the core of the story. Director has worked very hard to make it different. Well, it could have been better. But, again well done. Emon and Mamunur Rashid has done justice with their role. Cinematography could have been interesting. Surely, a worth watching.

Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆

Onusiddhanto (অনুসিদ্ধান্ত) : Director Tanim Parvez is a promising director in my eyes. I will say, ‘Onusiddhanto’ will be some of his works which we may remember for a long time. He knows to force the actors to give the best shot. Everyone has done justice to their very own characters. Cinematography could have been better. I think, director Tanim Parvez could have made the screenplay more detailing. But, a nice work.

Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆

Mukhoser Arale (মুখোশের আড়ালে) : Another adaptation by director Mabrur Rashid Bannah. Another justice by him. This fiction is adopted from Samaresh Majumdar’s novel Gorvodharini. I have read that novel. I can not say, it is totally an adoptation but the concept is taken from the literary piece. Few critics from the social media was complaining that, Bannah has failed to adopt or has put some gesture from a fiction of Netflix. But, I found nothing like this. Nicely written script by Maruf Rehman. Sequences are well arranged. Marzuk Russel, Sayed Zaman Shawon, Tamim Mridha, Samim Hasan Sarkar and others are very good in their own characters. Different work by Bannah. Thriller fiction, and he did not fail to make. Well done.

Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆

Two fictions, Otopor Amra (অত:পর আমরা) and Pream Potro (প্রেম পত্র) are written by me. These two fictions have been telecasted on EID day 3. I am not including these fictions in my review list. Only the audience have the right to judge. Quality of fictions are actually rising. I am definitly hopeful.

Rajiul Huda Dipto

06/07/2017

[lezwatchtv]

As a big TV fan (I know you’re shocked), when I heard that One Day At A Time was added to the Paley Live schedule for 2017, I had to go. On May 4th my wife and I went to the Paley Center in Beverly Hills to see “An Evening with One Day At A Time.”

We’d been up there before, a few years ago for the CSI finale, which was a hectic and crazy affair with lines wrapping around the block. This was curiously less crazy and yet more family. Which I suppose is the point of the show.

The evening started with us watching an episode, the “Quinces” which was the season finale. I’ve obviously seen it before, but there is a magic that happens when you all watch something together. Suddenly the laughs become bigger, the tears fall faster, and you all share the message and the meaning in a simple sitcom. After that, the cast walked out on stage.

The Panel

The moderator, who was perfectly lovely, started by accidentally reading Isabella’s last name (Gomez) when introducing Marcel (Ruiz), and that set off a series of jokes that didn’t stop until the end. Everyone was free with the quips, including Norman Lear who sat on the end looking like he was napping.

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Schnieder’s actor (Todd) was on his honeymoon and sent a funny video instead. Next the prepped questions started.

Why Now?

Norman Lear was asked why a Latino version of the show and why now, but he deferred to Brent Miller, saying “Brent asked me how about a Latino version of One Day At A Time?” Brent started to explain why, and Rita Moreno cut in asking him to tell us about the study.

Apparently there was a study done by Coca-Cola, where they were trying to figure out who to market to next. The fastest growing audience was single Latina mothers with two children. From there, everything fell into place. There was very little representation of authentic Hispanic families on TV. I believe they came up with three shows, one of which being Jane the Virgin), and none took place in Los Angeles.

Even the writers’ room is half Hispanic and half “human people” said executive producer (EP) Gloria Calderon Kellett. She and Mike Royce (whom Rita Moreno teased as being “not Hispanic”) as the EPs were the driving forces for a lot of things.

On Being On the Show

Rita Moreno explained she’d always been a fan of Norman’s work, and when she met him, they became instant friends. Norman immediately made a joke Rita was now pregnant.

Isabella Gomez, our darling Elena, said that she met and started working with Rita and Norman before she really understood them as the legends they are. And that was good, because she would have been a nervous wreck otherwise. Instead, she demanded Rita become her mentor, and loved Justina Machado like a mother.

Marcel Ruiz was nervous, but Rita treats him like her grandson. That prompted Isabella to joke that Marcel was Rita’s favorite. Rita replied “I love little boys!” and brought down the house.

Justina Machado talked about how she and Rita had worked together before, which Rita claimed not to remember. Then Rita explained that for a group of people who had never worked together before, they had amazing chemistry and it had only gotten deeper. Justina went on to say that Rita broke down doors and everyone loved her. Rita attempted to say something nice about Justina, but Justina kept interrupting, prompting Rita to say “I’m trying to say something nice about you, you little shit!”

Justina listens like no one I’ve worked with. She knocks me out. It’s so organic. I love her. But she is a little shit sometimes.

— Rita Moreno

Keep it Clean

Norman was the cause for the ‘no swearing’ rule for the show. That did not hold true for the panel, as Rita Moreno proceeded to say “Shit” as many times as possible. Rita was the one cast member who had a dirty word in the script, and it was removed. Rita pointed out she based Lydia on her own mother who would say “Change the shits” (sheets…).

By the way, if you want to feel like you were there, just read this recap filled with interjections from your sassy aunt, Rita Moreno, and implied dirty jokes by your grandfather, Norman Lear.

As Different as the Two Schniders

Norman said that the shows weren’t the same at all. They had the same name, they were about a single mother and her family, and that was it. Unlike the original show, the remake planned out the season in advance. They crafted the storylines to flow. Since they knew everyone was going to binge the show, they didn’t have the advantage of making specific episodes topical. And yet they totally were.

And then. Finally. It was time for the audience.

The Q&A

The questions started with a wonderful woman from Puerto Rico who was effusive in her thanks for the show. She saw her own family reflected.

Someone else asked about guest stars, and Rita Moreno went on record saying she hoped the show wouldn’t have a lot of guest stars. The heart of the show was family, not the big name of the week. Norman Lear mentioned that the only guest he really ever had was Sammy Davis Jr., and that was because Sammy wouldn’t stop bugging Norman about a gig! Justina Machado wanted the guests to be unknowns. “I’d like to be the show that helps discover great Latino talent.”

Another audience member asked if they worried about using too much Spanish. Gloria Kellett replied that if she said something in Spanish and the non-Spanish speaking writers laughed, it stayed in. After all, if she could look up “Bar Mitzvah,” they could Google. Mike Royce explained that comedy has a rhythm. “When a character speaks Spanish, you know when it feels right.”

A young man from Cuba said he learned about America from Lear’s shows, and we all cheered.

Our Time Was Up

At this point, our time was technically up. The timer went off and the cast looked sad and the moderator looked sad, and I, who had raised my hand a few times, was sad.

And then a miracle occurred. Norman and Mike said to keep going and everyone would pick one more person to hear talk. So I raised my hand and Mike Royce pointed at me.

I stood up with the mic and started by mentioning that forty years ago, there was an episode of All In The Family about Cousin Liz. I could see Norman Lear startle a little, and the producers nodded. They knew where I was going. That was, I said, one of the first times many people heard about lesbians. And now, here, forty years later we have a show that is something I could have used as a kid. Where a family dealt with the change with love, where they struggled, but still they loved.

I thanked them for doing that here and now, when we need it more than ever. Because I run a website (this one) with my friend, and we track all the queer females on television. And there aren’t as many as you’d think, and few have happy endings. Many die. And knowing that wasn’t going to happen on this show gave us all hope. I did try to joke “She’s not dying, right?”

A Few More Questions…

I admit the next ten minutes were a bit of a blur. Someone asked Marcel about the fame, and he said by the time he got back to school, all his friends had watched the show and wanted to know about season two. Another woman started to talk in halting English, until we all encouraged her to just use her native Spanish; she wanted to thank the writers. Rita joked that for those of the audience who didn’t understand Spanish, the woman had said wonderful things about Rita, while Norman asked for it to be repeated in Yiddish.

The cast was asked about how hard a job it was and had they every thought about not doing a multi-camera show. Gloria Kellett said no. The show was hard, yes, and the cast had to learn a new play every week and perform it for a live audience. But, as Rita pointed out, there’s a magic of working in front of a live audience.

The cast was also asked about their inspirations. Gloria explained that hers was her own life. That Cuban Americans in LA and San Diego don’t sound like those in Miami because of the multiple different kinds of Latinos in the area. They’re a melange. Even so, Justina Machado and Gloria Kellett’s 23 & Me’s were nearly identical! Next season they plan to talk about race a little more; as Gloria said, “I didn’t know I was brown until we moved to California.”

Socializing

The lights came up and we went down to try and meet the cast and crew. I immediately (accidentally!) bumped into Norman Lear so I shook his hand and said thank you. But we’d run so far over it was no more than five minutes before the cast was swept away. I didn’t get to say thank you to Isabella or Rita or Justina. But instead, I found myself thanked by many audience members. Some told them I’d made them cry a little. Others thanked me for saying what was in their hearts as well.

This includes Executive Producer Mike Royce! He stayed behind to talk to some of the audience, and took the time to thank me for saying that. That it helped them to hear they’d helped somehow.

Besides Mike, I talked to a few crew members. They too wanted to thank me, and we talked about how representation matters in so many ways. Seeing yourself on the television helps. A lot. This is true of queers but also single parents and Latinos and veterans and more. They talked about PTSD and being poor without being broke and on and on. It touched all of us in different ways.

Afterwords

One of the reasons I like this show so much is that we’re not the joke. While it films in some of the same, traditional, manners as popular shows like The Big Bang Theory, the main difference is the love. It was clear from the second they stepped on stage that everyone on that show likes each other. Rita Moreno was their brilliant, bawdy, hilarious aunt, teasing everyone (she called Justina Machado a “little shit” at least four times).

But with all the laughing and all the jokes, being gay isn’t the joke.

That’s been my biggest issue with The Big Bang Theory and other modern comedies. The joke is Sheldon and Raj and how they’re ‘weird’ or different. They make jokes that’s funny to like comics as an adult (it’s not), or that liking science makes you strange (it doesn’t). The joke is the fact that the main characters are weird.

There wasn’t a single joke that was about Elena being gay. There were jokes about everyone else, but the punchline wasn’t “Hur hur lesbian!” The joke was Lupe gave the wrong sex talk to the wrong kid twice. The joke was Elena watching Twilight for Kristen Stewart becuase “It sure wasn’t the plot.”

What a Sitcom Should Be

I used to say that I didn’t think One Day At A Time was a sitcom. I’d say it was a comedy, but it’s not about situations, it’s about family. The more I think about it, the more I think it’s a sitcom in the truest form. The joke is the situation, not the people. And the people are in on the joke.

Maybe that’s why I can laugh at this show freely.

One Night With One Day At A Time As a big TV fan (I know you're shocked), when I heard that One Day At A Time…

[jordanhawk21]

*Miss Congeniality*

In this entry, I will examine the critical questions: What gender norm is constructed or undone in this artifact? How is it rhetorically done? How does it promote a dominant ideology over a marginalized group or push back against the ideology or gender norms? And is it ethical or unethical?

To analyze these critical questions, I analyzed the movie Miss Congeniality, written by Marc Lawrence, Katie Ford, and Caryn Lucas, as my rhetorical artifact. This artifact constructs multiple gender norms aligning with the female population. It’s shown through the physical appearance and actions of the main character, Gracie Hart. The artifact promotes a dominant ideology that females can only be mainly masculine or mainly feminine and that there is very little in between. The artifact is ethical as it was created purely for entertainment purposes instead of being used as a form of propaganda.

The artifact, Miss Congeniality, was released in 2000 starring Sandra Bullock. Sandra plays the main character of the movie, Gracie Hart, who is a very masculine FBI field agent. At the beginning of the movie, Gracie is undercover with other field agents, however she disobeys direct orders from her superior and almost lets the suspect get away. Her actions put her on her superior's bad side which sets her up for the rest of the movie. She is told to infiltrate the Miss United States pageant as a contestant undercover. However, Gracie’s appearance and actions are very masculine according to modern society and is forced to have a complete makeover into a pretty, girly, and feminine pageant girl. This leads Gracie to meeting the other pageant girls and learning how to act like one of them to not blow her cover and spoil the operation. The movie actively depicts women as either only feminine or only masculine by their appearances and actions with little room in between that women can possess both masculine and feminine qualities.

The course concept most relevant to this entry is gender construction. In the intro of Undoing Gender, by J. Butler, he aids in helping explain what gender norms are when he says, “life is constrained in order to open up the possibility of different modes of living” (Butler 4). This means that in social society, there are metaphorically physical and emotional norms that are constructed to constrain people of certain groups to look and act a certain way based on the past. For instance, the terms masculine and femine are associated each with the male and female population respectively. Masculinity can be socially defined as traits and qualities associated with mainly the male population. One who is masculine tends to show less caring and sad emotions and while looking more tough and closed off. On the other hand, one who is femine will tend to show more caring and motherly emotions while dressing more girly with bright colors, dresses, or tighter clothes to show their predominantly feminine and female traits.

As stated previously, this artifact constructs a gender norm that females can mainly be either masculine or feminine. Gracie shows the masculine quality mainly in the beginning of the movie with her choice of work, appearance, and bodily actions. As said before, Gracie is a FBI field agent working with all males. It’s clear that she feels the need to prove herself as a woman in her line of work by becoming one of the guys. She adapted to many physical appearance masculine qualities such as dressing in close toed and bulky black gym shoes, baggy pants, and untouched and undone hair. Gracie also shows more masculine qualities in her actions since she burps in public settings, snorts when she laughs, slouches, expresses more aggressive emotions such as anger, and has a strong firm tone when speaking. The artifact is constructing a gender norm that women cannot be in Gracie’s line of work, be successful, and respected, without displaying masculine qualities.

On the other side of the spectrum, this artifact also constructs the gender norm that women can only be feminine. Before going undercover as Miss New Jersey in the Miss United States pageant, Gracie was forced to have a complete makeover to take away her physical masculine traits along with etiquette training to acquire more feminine qualities. For her makeover, Gracie had a complete manicure and pedicure, her eyebrows threaded, all bodily hair waxed, and hair and makeup professionally done in order to display socially known physical feminine qualities of beauty and grace. During her training on proper feminine etiquette, Gracie was taught to walk and sit without slouching, to eat cleanly and slowly, expressing proper manners in social settings such as not burping or snorting when laughing, and how to speak less aggressively and more lady-like when having a conversation with other people. The artifact is constructing another gender norm that women are supposed to look beautiful and act with grace at all times.

This artifact promotes a dominant ideology of females that one is either masculine or feminine. The movie shows the extremes of each and the actions and reactions of surrounding people when presented with both sides by a single individual over time. The artifact pushes back against current gender norms that females can possess both masculine and feminine qualities by showing Gracie as a woman who was mainly masculine, but not fully happy with her life, and trying to convince her that in order to be happier and more successful, she would have to acquire more feminine qualities.

In the scholarly article, Norms and Gender in Simultaneous Interpreting: A Study of Connective Markers, it explores socially constructed gender norms associated with males and females that are relevant to the rhetorical artifact being analyzed. This article begins with stating that the research being conducted is based on interpretations of the public eye. This is saying that gender norms are constructed solely based on what people see and what they’ve learned from the past. The article continues to talk about how these norms are always changing, however the norms changing are the smaller and less prominent ones compared to a more prominent and widely accepted gender norm such as being girly and motherly as qualities associated with femininity. “Consistent gender patterns in various emotional processes argue that the differences in expressing emotions is influenced by the need to fulfill gender roles” (Defranq & Magnifico 5). This quote explains that gender norms associated with expressing emotions are constructed based upon the setting, in which someone was raised or where someone’s current place is, masculine or feminine. This interpretation of fulfilling gender roles through emotion is seen within the rhetorical artifact multiple times. One of the most important scenes for this is when Gracie is participating in the interview portion of the Miss United States pageant. During this scene, the host, Stan, asks Gracie, “what is the one most important thing our society needs?” Gracie initially responded masculinely with, “that would be harsher punishment for parole violators, Stan.” Once she answered the question with that response, it was clear through the audiences and Stan’s reaction that it was not socially acceptable for Gracie to respond with her answer. Their reactions were all speechless and were unsure on what to say after since it was unexpected for a Miss United States contestant to answer more firmly and masculinely. Realizing the silence she caused, Gracie responds again saying, “and world peace.” It was widely accepted by the audience that this was a more feminine answer since it involved emotions resembling care and compassion for others. The audience and Stan responded with an exciting “AHHHHH” along with clapping and other cheers. This scene aligns with what the article was saying by showing that someone’s gender norm associated with expressing emotion is determined based on where someone is in their current setting. The pageant for example displays females most feminine qualities, and in order to fulfill the feminine gender norms, that person has to cater to the audience’s interpretation of what they want to hear from beautiful and feminine pageant contestants.

The rhetorical artifact, Miss Congeniality, is ethically productive for society. It can be seen as ethical because the movie was created for public entertainment. There weren’t any instances where certain marginalized groups could have felt attacked and publicly made fun of. Some may see instances where the artifact could be unethical to society by portraying certain gender norms that may not be applicable to everyone within that gender, however it is not done in an aggressive way since the scenes are usually accompanied with comedy and pure entertainment.

Butler, J. “Introduction: acting in concert.” Undoing gender, 2004, pp. 1-4.

Defrancq, B., Magnifico, C. “Norms and gender in simultaneous interpreting: a study of connective markers.” Translation & Interpreting, vol. 12, no. 1, 2020, pp. 1-17.

Petrie, Donald, director. Miss Congeniality. Warner Bros. Pictures, 2000.

[outsourceimageediting-blog]

Outsource Image Editing Services

The Instagram service is just a societal media of the photos. Therefore each outsource image editing only should own a merchant account, to signify there that their short and purposeful photographer Instagram biodegradable and also to accomplish various articles. 

They say grandmothers came up using Instagram to learn precisely what their inheritance eat it's not too.  Instagram was devised to and quickly share photos.  It had been photographed that for years would be the very significant part Instagram (today the texts are not as crucial ).  And who're the photos?  That is correct, and they could discuss their secrets since they also create the head-shot retouching and shoot images.  For that reason, is scores of those photographers to check out Instagram for people even for many others is your hobby, and this is just actually a profession.  But some have merely 100 of individuals, many of these have heaps of tens of thousands of readers.  Why?  Let us attempt to find out it, but for a handful of tips in this informative article is "The Way To Your Instagram Game."

The Instagram service is just a societal media of the photos. Therefore each photographer only should own a merchant account, to signify there that their short and purposeful outsource image editing Instagram biodegradable and also to accomplish various articles.  Instagram-users like pictures that are amazing and even the photographers understand how exactly to earn photos.  That is a perfect stage for self-promotion, as things stand the demand & supply agree. Generally speaking, the preparing that a fantastic cadre takes an extended time to get until and after re-touch. However, Instagram provides you the opportunity to whet desire and immediately put the backstage shots, such as.  In addition to the advertisements from the Instagram works effective and fast: it's habitual to label an acquaintance or friends and recommend them.

Instagram for photographers is instead the One Thing 

Each shooter is a single brand new.  People (clients ) need to devote some time with all the shot on the photo semester, and also to feel rested, to picture attractively, and even less in a single passport.  It's from this backdrop it to know which photographer is not the worker, but as someone.  It's possible for you to understand that in touch, or you can look at his accounts.  That's the reason why the photographer should look after the image, many exciting things you can reach know in that informative short article"Finest hashtag photography for the own portfolio," to entice clients not merely with work, but also together with personality. 

That the photographers to check out along with Instagram, you can make do surfing?  One of these.  Food photographers (professionally picture food), marriage or kids' photographers (mention, for instance, you will find shooters who focus on filming teenagers ), fashion shooters and several more. Additionally, on occasion the shots from the Instagram user-profile are so intense that the outsource image editing border between photographers and also non-photographers is very erased; it is maybe perhaps not known would you so professionally and carries images for the money, and that only requires a moving picture for the spirit along with his Instagram audiences. Techniques for encouraging photographers on Instagram Nevertheless artistic you're, on the planet with an enormous rivalry, this is not insufficient.  And to get clap eyes, it isn't enough to learn just how exactly to create art.  Besides, you must accomplish something different that these photos estimated and are seen. Instagram includes its distinctive attributes and design.  If you scroll through trending reports of almost any subject that style can be known: a makeup that was calibrated a notion and paired filters.  This informs a woman from the movie"HOW I EDIT MY Instagram PHOTOS + Preserve a Style!  20-16!". The critical benefit with the Instagram style is your accounts can be seen by the Instagram programmers plus so they can earn an email about you into their multi-million buck profile.  Is it a fantasy?

The assistance of the very finest photographers around Instagram is hugely in demand -- all us wants trendy photos (of class, it's desirable they additionally taken at no cost ).  And in Instagram, it's no problem to locate favorite bloggers, actors, magazines and more that continue to be valuable.  You can form teams together with these individuals.  You provide them a chance they give PR to you. Conventional Procedures of marketing.  All types of this advertisement (including official), mass following outsource image editing and labels benefit reports out of any world, for its photographers too.  However,  an upsurge of the number of readers and also to dictate the promotion within a thousand people.  For folks, it's crucial that this content that you offer them will likely probably soon be idiosyncratic and notable.

The advertising itself also plays a significant part.  It isn't enough to select a fantastic photo and write"Subscribe "  You've got to accelerate interest surprise, from the advertisements statement, participate. Therefore people on advertisements is going to be moved into your accounts.  Incidentally we have to not confine ourselves into the promotion of the services just at Instagram, in addition, there are societal support systems which are additionally utilized as trading platforms, however you'll find rules for creating balances"The way to make an eye-catching custom Facebook cover photo", that'll allow one to drive additional enterprise.

Ten tips for articles to get on among their top photographers on Instagram Inch.  Cases of functions print the photos that are processed.  Attempt to pick pictures in 1 motif maneuver your accounts of this Instagram can look you may do work with outsource image editing of a Portrait re-touch that is different, however, the kind of calculating ought to be similar.  Put also enjoys Folks today donate to trendy profiles.  The more and better enjoys Even though it sometimes happens that the more complicated and more diverse your accounts.

The most effective photographers around Instagram and the fans in this business show the equipment and technique; they take and explain why Nikon is cooler compared to Canon (or vice-versa ). Give information on models: not and The way to spare your self-appear to be a robot onto the photo. Make a set of what to choose into the photo session. Explain to your followers what, where you'll be shooting at the future who. Raise topics: merely that ordinary men and women know the subject of this dispute.

By way of instance, renting an hour or so of effort a studio, an arrangement having a makeup artist, also ten photos from various post generation services. Comments from customers.  Don't hesitate and capture calls right.  Then a customer is likely to be fulfilled if that which is smoothly along with also his comment will stay favorable. Answer the readers' questions.  It concerns the specific charges of photo and shooting editing rates.  Be frank. Here are some Tips on utilizing Instagram for photographers There's not 1 case if fair photographers (or every further expert) are favorite with of several other facets. However, it isn't simple to induce an individual to love a thing which doesn't provoke real attention and empathy.  A beautiful and exciting feed to your shooter is just outsource image editing a task that is main; he could be forgiven not enough stability and by shots.

The info material of Instagram for photographers might be just PROFESSIONAL or PERSONAL   it disagrees by natural affection and also the level of openness.  The promotion from dint of this person is a motif that is international. However, it's more agreeable for visitors to utilize people who find themselves sympathetic for them and not by works.  The questions to unwillingness or your willingness to convey from the opinions, ask questions, have a peek from this audience's view and also discuss subjects that are universal and every day.

The Writer of one's STYLISTICS at the manner of work as well as at Instagram running will allow one to gather the prospective audience, more put to become your visitors.  If you're a newcomer for the particular business, then consider folks who create p

hotos or varieties of musicians and know from them to postdigital art. Consistently"attempting to sell" herself that a photographer can alienate your crowd, however it is perhaps maybe not worth keeping quiet on your professional actions and hunting for customers in the event that you move in to overdrive to accomplish it in the front of the crowd that trying to find an alternative, you then push outsource image editing people off.  Do not make yelling phrases and headlines.  Let your readers within a decent frame, although get all set for the simple fact you are marginally PROMOTING your self.  This balance isn't just an idea, everybody else has a unique, and it is necessary to believe it.

BEING in-demand is crucial; it's a debate in your favor when picking one by the set of additional top photographers to check out along with Instagram.  Thus don't hide endeavors reveal that you work.  Notably, see what happens from the spectacle of this task is strange.

A photographer needs to comprehend the gap between only subscribers and possible customers.  Both can make a significant colossal change.  Therefore, a photographer's purchase cost is higher, but '' he could be more admired. However, an individual called at a group won't be left without a job.  It is very crucial to see what it is it is that you are currently gambling on.  Where you need to go in hunt of one's crowd, it is dependent about this.  It saves money and time.

It's crucial to speak with coworkers from the business.  Perhaps not fundamentally together with competitions, preferably, along with people with whom you and other collaborate or the photographers to check out Instagram.  This will permit one to"swap crowds" by telling them about each other in Instagram accounts.  Come initiate and provide articles in books that are center, convey, and also create friends have to pleasure and consider Instagram. Working together with POPULAR USERS on Instagram as models may let their audience learn concerning you.  The same identifies involvement. Remember about the TAGS: don't utilize a hundred bits, choose only the top and appropriate ones where people really can uncover exciting things concerning you.  It might be labels of outsource image editing events that you attend, what brands that you used throughout the procedure or that which deed was recorded from different activities and your camera.  Place your geo-tags possible.

The policy of one's tasks about Instagram somewhere beyond your website (on internet websites, blogs) provides a more compact conversion compared to dealing together with your site itself because people usually do not necessarily often go through the links to start looking for you.  They don't read articles, and it is not suitable for them since we mentioned above, however, additionally it is not worth mentioning up chances since Instagram must become your advertising approach. 

Examine the incoming REQUESTS FOR INTERVIEWS AND of use

PUBLICATIONS: quantify the labor costs with the mark press outreach with the crowd of this book.  Perhaps some color-correction services will provide their services to you.  You want to understand blogs and the key and industry websites some are currently looking at suggestions for novel, advertisements collaboration is potential.  ANALYSIS OF the marketplace has to be occasionally replicated since it alters, fresh players appear regularly onto it, and also you also finally"grow" regarding the outsource image editing degree of work for books that you won't ever want. Assessing the photographer Instagram bio from the competition, improving your processing abilities or new kinds of filming (iPhonegraphy, etc.), you can professionally analyze the photos of the users that are subscribed for you.  The images of whose would you enjoy most?  Scroll the webpage and think about. 

 What especially did you like?

Distinct PROMOTIONS and CONTESTS will help out with bringing your viewer, but attempt to be sure mass involvement in your activities doesn't irritate users, because nobody enjoys 100 same photos within their feed.  Make an effort to think up something and don't talk a blue streak!  It's desired to get started using 300-500 followers nobody will encourage your initiative and also the outcome will soon undoubtedly probably fiasco. Incidentally, never get real and fast, and followers are the very first from the evaluations among their best musicians to follow Instagram.  Everyone notices it compels many.

Would you wish to unveil the ultimate secret of the popular Instagram page?  This can be the preparation.  Bloggers upload them for every week, then take several photos in 1 way, the principal issue is to understand just how to create art at the moment onto outsource image editing Instagram.  It will help not only to keep up a reliable site (which brings users). However, it is going to even be convenient in case you don't have any opportunity to shoot new images.

As a way to always give a familiar appearance for your brand, it's better to make utilize of the same filter to your pictures or maybe perhaps not to use filters in any way.  If you employ a single screen yet another on the flip side, in 1 photo that won't help to maintain one decorative.  About the usage of photo processing software such as Instagram, you may observe here"photo-editing programs for Instagram."

And above All COMMUNICATE!  In life and at Instagram itself.  Instagram for photographers would be a two-way street, and most want to get discovered, be characters on your profile, and perhaps not you should participate in communicating!  Prove your self, and you'll acquire sight of individuals.

[rajiuldipto-blog]

From EID, with Fictions Rajiul Huda Dipto Every years, EID comes into Bengali life to celebrate three pleasures of life. Family, Food and Fiction. When I mean fiction, I am actually meaning Television fictions. This EID, I have seen few fictions. My this article is all about reviewing them. All are my own personal opinions. No offense. 1. Bikal Belar Pakhi (বিকাল বেলার পাখি) : Have not you ever seen your father is shouting on you? Or, he is bit depressed about your study or he is punishing your elder sister because she is late at home. If you are from a middle class family, you better know this. Bikal Belar Pakhi, a story about the head of a middle class family. His activities, struggle of the family and the only son of the family, this is all the gestures. Fazlur Rahman Babu is a fantastic actor, and he has proved it through out his carrer. From films to fictions. His screen presence will surely take you to his place, his chemistry with his family members is very much related with our everyday life. It is a story, of our own. You better cry then. This is where, director Adnan Al Rajeeb has shown his talent. The screenplay is so good that, audience will never go out of the sit. Music and cinematography is up to the mark. I am very pleased. If you have missed, then do not miss this one now. One of the best from the ‘Chabial Re-Union’ Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆☆ 2. March Mashe Shooting (মার্চ মাসে শুটিং) : I was traveling from my hometown to Dhaka. It was a night time and I was getting bored. Suddenly, I remembered that I was very keen to watch ‘March Mashe Shooting’ from Aynabaji Original Series. The best part, this fiction was released in the night. So, I opened Youtube and watched. Not just my Youtube was opened, but also my mouth. This is another master work by director Amitabh Reza Chowdhury, which will be remembered for long time. Where should I put my eyes? From direction to acting to cinematography to screenplay to everywhere. Story starts with a movie star and ends up to a freedom fighter. I would not spoil the story. But, will surely talk about the screenplay. Every sequences will force you to think about the next sequence. This is a unique style to write a story. Also, is an example for new screenplay writers. Cinematography is pretty good with some classic shots. Well, here you can not criticize Mr.Amitabh Reza. Every single person has acted up to the mark. Apurbo is fantastic, so Nabila and Gazi Rakayat is. A big thanks to the team. Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆☆ 3. 26 Din Matro (২৬ দিন মাত্র) : Legends are always legends. Amjad Hossain and Dilara Zaman has again proved that in this fiction. Really, the acting beyond the imagination. My salute to them. Big thanks to director Mohammad Mostafa Kamal Raz. Thanks for working in this screenplay and for choosing this fantastic cast. The story will drive you to an illus ional reality. I will never release the story. I just want to say, do not forget to watch it. The cinematography, the black and white gesture is fantastic. I did not realize when the time passed away. I cried. This is one of the best works of the EID. Must watch. Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆1/2 4. Mr.Jony (মি.জনি) : Director Redoan Rony has always proved himself with his different works. Even this time, no mistake is actually done. First in few sequences, I kept on finding the identity of Jony. Rony is very clever in the screenplay part. When I found out that Jony is nothing but a dog, the level of my interest to finish this fiction increased highly. Relationship of a dog and his owner has been shown in not a different but unique way. Everyone, even those who do not have a pet can relate this story. Rony has written some metaphorical dialogues. Something like, 'আপনিকি মানুষ' or 'পিপাসা মিটলোনা' is very metaphoric. Everyone has done justice with their works. Cinematography is good with the classic colour. Rony has kept himself out of the bopx with a message or story that we can relate with. The best work is done my Mr.Jony himself. Loved it. Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆1/2 5. Hotath Nirar Jonno (হঠাৎ নীরার জন্য) : A pure romantic fiction adopted from Sunil Gangopadhyay's poem is a worth watching. Whenever, I witness a drama or movie adopted from a literary piece I try to find out that either that work has done the justice with the original one or not. This time, director Mabrur Rashid Bannah has not disappointed me. He has used the poem with the pure margin. Cinematography is very good. Very unique and colourful. In the place of cast, Irfan Sajjad and Mehazabien Chowdhury has done a great job. They have again proved that they are talented. In the script and screenplay part, Mabrur Rashid Bannah is the one man. Nicely made. Do watch. Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆1/2 6. Award Night : Last night, I watched Award Night. One of my favorite directors Shafayat Mansoor Rana, is back with the team including Jon Kabir and Aparna. This is what, I was waiting for. Before the promo I was expecting something like thriller. Again, Shafayat Mansoor has surprised me and other audiences as well. A perfect satire to criticize the present condition of a part of the media. Well, the story keeps on going by adopting the pre situation of a award show. Very clever. Not all the starts or performers do this but few of them do. From begging for a single award to being done extra unnecessary things (Eating mud) is a real fact. A perfect criticism with humor., Thanks to the screenplay writers for not let the audience get bored. Jon Kabir, Aparna, Hillol, Nazmus Sakib to director Shafayat Mansoor himself and all of the actor performers has given their best work. Cinematography and colour grading is pretty good. Though, the humor of Shafayat and Jon could have been increased a bit in the script part at the show hosting. Overall, a must watch. Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆1/2 7. Dondo Somash (দ্বন্দ সমাস) : Another one from the Aynabaji Original Series. Dondo Somash, story of the look a likes from different religions where they got in trap of ther typical village politics or mentality. Director Ashfaque Nipun’s best work of this EID. Cinematography is not so much tight. A big space for the audience like me to thinkl. Screenplay will surely keep the audiences in the sit. Rawnak Hasan has played double role. I have mostly loved his look. Abul Hayat and other actors are fantastic at their places. Cinematography is not bad. I have loved few drone shots and some huge landscapes. Nice work. Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆1/2 8. Putuler Ghor (পুতুলের ঘর) : The very first shot will make you think that you are watching a movie. Talking about, feeling like movie I do not know why I have got the gesture of it. From cinematography to direction to screenplay. I would not talk much about the story because it a context what you need to see. No doubt, best work of Tisha and Shatabdi Wadud in this EID. Few sequences are bit ling for me. I think, those could have been shorted. But, I have to clap for director Mr.Ashutosh Sujan. The team has given the best work, which you will realize by seeing it in the screen. Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆ 9. Porinoti (পরিণতি) : This EID, I have got to know another promising director who is Imraul Rafat. To be very honest, I did not see any other works of him before. This time, I am amazed after watching ‘Porinoti’. Tahsan-Mehazabein, one of my favorite couples in the screen. I have no ability to judge their acting. In the screenplay part, few sequences could have been shorted. The love part is not so bad. But, the story is the king. Cinematography is very typical. The thing which has kept me in the sofa is the nice arrangement of all sequences. Nice work. Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆ 10. Jackson Billal (জ্যাকশন বিল্লাল) : Firstly, truly hats off to Siam Ahmed. Micheal Jackson is someone, I have always followed. This is the part for what I have seen the whole fiction. Siam has tried his best to dance like Jackson. I will just say, well done. Director Shihab Saheen is a very experience director. His way of making a screenplay interesting has always amazed me. This time, no mistake. Urmila, one of my favorite actresses has worked very good. Cinematography is not bad. An entertaining one from Shihab Saheen. Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆ 11. Cheleta Kintu Valo Chilo (ছেলেটা কিন্তু ভালো ছিলো) : Another one from ‘Aynabaji Original Series’ and another nice work by director Ashfaque Nipun. Story of girl, who wants to play football. So, she run away from her wedding and joined the team. Tisha, as the footballer girl is fantastic. She has put a nice mark and I will clap for the director because he has chosen the right cast. Mishu Sabbir as the friend is very funny. Specially, in the sequence where police caught them. Gazi Rakayat is fantastic as the coach. This story could have been a movie story. Very nicely written screenplay. Must watch. Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆ 12. Se Somiye Tumi Ami (সে সময়ে তুমি আমি) : Another best work of director Mabrur Rashid Bannah. He has delivered his siganture mark once again. Two lead characters are done by two talents of the country, Tahsan Khan & Bidya Sinha Saha Mim. Perfect casting. Firstly, Tahsan appears in new avater of a student leader. I have loved it, when he delivered his speech. One the other hand, Mim has done justice to her role. Cinematography is pretty good. The scenario of Old Dhaka is fantastic. Eye soothing. Musfiq R. Farhan as the brother of Mim has done good job. The role of the mother is very short but nice. Siam Nasir as the right hand of Tahsan is good again. I am not revealing the whole story. Romance in every frame. Must watch. Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆ 13. Sada Kagoje Sajano Onuvuti (সাদা কাগজে সাজানো অনুভূতি) : Nisho and Irfan Sajjad, two of my favorites actors are in the same fiction. What do I need more? Director Kajal Arefin Ome, has put this two talented actors in their eligible role. Tasnuva Elvin has supported there two very nicely. It felt so good to see her in a role like this. The story is unique itself. Screenplay is the hero, as I mentioned before. Cinematography is very eye soothing. If you want me to pick any one among Nisho and Irfan then I will pick Nisho. Because, the portrayal of his character by the director is much more close to me. Well done, the team. Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆ 14. Abaro (আবারো) : Abaro, means again. Tahsan Khan is at his best again. Salha Khanam Nadia is just so good with him. No doubt. The credit actually goes to the captain of the ship, director Mahmudur Rahman Hime. He has arranged the whole set-up very nicely. The screenplay will never make you feel bore. The cinematography is good but common. There is a say as an audience. In few sequences, I expected them longer. In some other ones, I wanted them to be shorter. This is the only part, I did not like. Overall, good. Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆ 15. Chikon Piner Charger (চিকন পিনের চার্জার) : A story which kept me in an illusion for the first 30 minutes. Till then, I felt sorry for the character of Whomayun Sadhu. The director himself has always proved his ability and talent in acting. This time, got the flavor again. A man is in an unknown city, searching for his lover desperately. I am not going to reveal the whole story. The ending was fantastic, but an known fact. Some of the viewers claimed that this is an old wine in a new bottle fact. For me, I have loved it the way screenplay is written. Yes, probably we have seen this kind of ending before. But, this time Mr.Sadhu has proved his tricks. Nice cinematography. I loved the scene most, where the lover is waiting for his lover to come. Well done. Chabial Re-Union, nice step. Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆ 16. Jatona (যাতনা) : Probably, I had seen few works of director Abu Hayat Mahmud before. This time, I wanted to see something interesting. I must thank him for ‘Jatona’. Chanchal Chowdhury has made it. He has proved himself once again. This man is getting better day by day. I loved the acting. Urmila Srabanti Kar is in the opposite role has done the best work. Loved her to see in the screen, specially her pretty smile. Screenplay is very good. Cinematography is pretty well. Overall, nice work by the production. Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆ 17. Alokon (আলোকন) : Directror Topu Khan was in the News for his latest web series ‘Admission Test’. But, I loved ‘Alokon’ more than that one. Two of the most talented actors in the industry, Apurba and Saba were in the cast. So, I thought that the screenplay will be interesting. Director Topu Khan actually did not make me upset. Very genuine screenplay with a fine story has really made it worth watching. Cinematography is very good. Background score actually goes with the scene. Liked the whole arrangement. Woirth watching. Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆ 18. Se Ak Pream (সে এক প্রেম) : Thanks to director Mahmud Didar, because he has portrayed Tisha in a different character. Really, big salute to Tisha for breaking herself in this type of character. She is the core of the story. Director has worked very hard to make it different. Well, it could have been better. But, again well done. Emon and Mamunur Rashid has done justice with their role. Cinematography could have been interesting. Surely, a worth watching. Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆ 19. Onusiddhanto (অনুসিদ্ধান্ত) : Director Tanim Parvez is a promising director in my eyes. I will say, ‘Onusiddhanto’ will be some of his works which we may remember for a long time. He knows to force the actors to give the best shot. Everyone has done justice to their very own characters. Cinematography could have been better. I think, director Tanim Parvez could have made the screenplay more detailing. But, a nice work. Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆ 20. Mukhoser Arale (মুখোশের আড়ালে) : Another adaptation by director Mabrur Rashid Bannah. Another justice by him. This fiction is adopted from Samaresh Majumdar's novel Gorvodharini. I have read that novel. I can not say, it is totally an adoptation but the concept is taken from the literary piece. Few critics from the social media was complaining that, Bannah has failed to adopt or has put some gesture from a fiction of Netflix. But, I found nothing like this. Nicely written script by Maruf Rehman. Sequences are well arranged. Marzuk Russel, Sayed Zaman Shawon, Tamim Mridha, Samim Hasan Sarkar and others are very good in their own characters. Different work by Bannah. Thriller fiction, and he did not fail to make. Well done. Personal Rating : ☆☆☆☆ Two fictions, Otopor Amra (অত:পর আমরা) and Pream Potro (প্রেম পত্র) are written by me. These two fictions have been telecasted on EID day 3. I am not including these fictions in my review list. Only the audience have the right to judge. Quality of fictions are actually rising. I am definitly hopeful.