kboogie2411-blog

[writhe]

RESTOCK! EAT EM UP PLEASE

if i am being completely honest these will probably not get to you in time for XMAS but hey, you know what, it's punk time and you get that. anyway there's a whole bunch o' shirts for you to snag including some red ones, stuff printed with coppery ink, and a restock of the DECADENCE NOW rat shirts, which i have not printed in a minute. etc!!!!!!!

THANKS FOR LOOKIN' XOXO

[akiraiscute]

Yandere!Steven Universe X Reader

Tw ; Yandere shit, idk what else help

Steven Universe Future! || NO SMUT U FLITHY ANIMALS.

A/N ; bro no one is writing for steven universe and i badly need smth😭

Steven was talking to garnet, on the couch while garnet was petting cat steven. It was 2AM, both of them were waiting for you, Steven sighed as he heard the door opening. Garnet was looking at you already, Steven turned around as he saw you… he looked shocked, You were in baggy jeans, a long sleeves and crop-top but you stole his jacket before you went out, which both of them were sleeping or gone.. You were slowly taking off your sneakers, getting the silent house uncomfortable really so you tried to distract yourself and kept into your head really until Steven spoke up.

“Soo.. Where were you?”

You looked at Steven confused before smiling.

“You know how sadie is Back into town for her tour with the sadie spects? They asked me to go shopping with them and of course i said yes!”

Garnet looked away from steven to look at you, smiling as she already knew that. She just wanted to make sure you were alright, Cat Steven jumped down from Garnet’s lap and ran to you. Quickly starting to purr and rub against your leg, you bent down and pet her gently as to pick her up as well.. Steven was still looking at you, slightly jealous that you spent all your night talking to them instead of him. Why didn’t they invite him though? That’s- weird, he was the one who introduced everyone to you when you first moved in which was probably when.. he still didn’t know his own powers, those times made him shiver sometimes.

“Were you safe?”

“Why wouldn’t I? We have nothing to fear anymore so I just have been relaxing. Why aren’t you in bed Steven? You planned to propose to connie to tomorrow or is it today since… it’s 2AM??”

“Well, i wanted to wait for-.. my best.. friend.”

“As you are already here (N/N) {Nickname}, I should get going as I have some stuff to do.”

You smiled and waved bye to garnet as you saw her disappear into her room. You turned to steven and walked over to him, gently putting cat Steven in his lap and watched cat steven purr softly and get comfortable on steven’s lap. You giggled as the thought of cat steven and human steven being alike, you walked back and walked to the hallway of the bathroom saying..

“Alright! You should prepare for bed Steven! Ima take a shower!”

Well sorta yelled that out, Steven watched you leave him with this cat steven… He sighed softly, fully forgetting that he told the gems and you that he liked connie, when he was mildly obsessed with you… well he wasn’t always, half way through his past he got obsessed. Can you guess how? Well, really. he got obsessed with you because you almost died by the hands of the diamonds. You're human.. not like him, not like the gems where you can poof but come back better and new, not like him where he can magically heal himself if he got hurt. but at that point, he didn't even realize it was obsessive, he just thought it was friendly love untillll….

He got rejected by Connie which was a few weeks ago, It was bad enough he had to deal with humiliation but she literally pointed out that she thought he liked you. That made him shocked, as you and him well before had nothing in common, he and you only saw each other as friends until Connie pointed out how he looked at you after everything with the diamonds, she pointed out how he looked at you with so much admiration, so much love in his eyes. Connie found it adoring, cute, sweet. She wasn’t even mad.. Which got Steven absolutely confused. If He saw connie being like- oh. He slowly started to realize that he does and did do that.. how dumb is he that he didn’t notice himself? It got awkward quick..

It was already morning as he got the sleep he needed and so did you. Steven was happily okay with you sleeping on the bed as you two got older, he didn’t find it weird that you guys had to share a bed when you two grew up, which until you told him if it was okay if you slept on the couch and not with him and not near him? That absolutely made him feel like shit, he didn’t know that at time either really. You slowly got up and looked at Steven, confused.

“Steven.. why do you have brea—”

Before you could finish your sentence the gems were already coming up, you sighed softly as you ate the breakfast sandwich Steven made as he talked with the gems. You were too tired to say anything so when you got up, you realized they were already downstairs. You softly shook your head as you started to get dress already, you went down to see them talking.. it was nice seeing it. You liked seeing them all talk, happily.. it felt refreshing, You walked to the bathroom and opened the door to start your routine. You walked out to see Steven get piled in snow, you giggled as you started to get something to drink.

“You know what we haven’t played in awhile..?”

Amethyst said as she looked at steven, before slowly getting up and then. Turning into young steven, which made you look shock as you started to laugh, hard.

“STEVEN TAG!”

Steven looked tired before looking at you, his eyes looked a bit shocked before they softened of all of his tiredness, suddenly gone just by hearing your pretty laugh. Before he knew it, he kept dodging Amethyst from tagging him. He kept complaining until he ran into the bathroom, quickly rolling a towel up and putting it in the gap of the door, he sat on it until he heard your far away laughter fading away and amethyst footsteps walking away. He slowly started to put the towel back and open the door, he walked out as garnet was looking around.

“Steven.”

“Yea Garnet?”

“Have you seen Cat Steven, I have been looking all over for her. Can you look for her in the cabinets?”

Steven nodded as he walked to the cabinets, about to ask this one before he dodged amethyst’s trying to tag him. He gasped a bit as he dodged it, looking at her going into garnet and tagging garnet instead but also making you fall down since garnet almost knocked you down. You laughed it off as it didnt even hurt, being trained witn Connie and pearl, you could deal with a lot of things whicn always made steven admire you from afar. Speaking of Steven, he looked shocked before running to you.

“Are you okay?!”

He said as he kneel down and checked you. You chuckled softly as your laughter died down, you nodded before steven dodged both of them and ran to the warpad. Running into pearl..

EEK!! Finished it myself, 6 more drafts to complete. Im dying slowly omg- i should write each other that im planning until Christmas broskis😊 TOMORROW IS TWO STORIES OKAY?? DW DW I’LL DO TWO BECAUSE I HAVE TOO SO IT’LL WORK. I promise it’ll work😭😭 anyways!! Enjoy this my pretties, i have been having mentall problems so im sorry for being gone for awhile of couple times.<3

— Akira!!<3… Akira!!<3 is.. iss… Logg- Logging off. Goodbye!

[saras-almanac]

BuckTommyWeekend Day 1: Alternate First Meeting

Title:  This seat taken?

Fandom:  911 (ABC)

Pairing:  Buck/Tommy

Summary:  Buck and Tommy meet at a restaurant for the first time. For the prompt: Alternate First Meeting for @bucktommyweek

Notes: There’s so many potential first meetings for these two both within canon and outside of it. I’m behind on writing for this weekend so just went with one that’s a bit quicker, but will probably expand on in the future before posting to AO3. (And/or might do more potential first meetings because there’s so many options and not all of them will lead to them actually being together at that specific moment in time, but it’d be fun…)

Buck sat at the bar, pretending to check his phone while he glanced over at where Josh and his date were sitting. Josh was seemingly having a good time, plus his date was pretty cute, so maybe this would be a win for him. Buck hoped so.

“This seat taken?”

Buck startled and looked over and saw a man—a very attractive man—stood next to him, inclining a hand toward the stool next to him.

Buck shook his head. “N-no. It’s all yours. I mean, if you want it.”

The man smiled and sat down. “Thanks. Just need to wait for my order.”

As he sat down, Buck noticed a logo on the side of this man’s jacket, one that looked incredibly familiar as it was on Buck’s own work clothes.

“Woah. Is that an LAFD jacket? Are you a firefighter?” Buck asked excitedly.

The man smiled. “Yeah. Work at Harbor station now though. Mostly flying planes and helicopters rather than running into any burning buildings.”

“That’s so cool. I’ve always thought being able to fly a plane, like pilot one, would feel like you have super powers,” Buck said. “Does it feel like that?”

“I suppose that’s a good way to look at it,” the man said. “I’m Tommy, by the way.”

“Evan Buckley,” Buck said, reaching out a hand. Tommy shook it, even at the awkward angle since they were sitting so close together. “So when did you learn to fly?”

“A while ago, back when I was in the Army,” Tommy said.

“Have you always been air support for LAFD?” Buck asked.

“No,” Tommy said. “I was on the ground or many years, but just felt like I was missing it. Transferred to Harbor five, six years ago now. I really missed flying so it was a good choice.”

“I bet,” Buck said. “If I could fly, I’d probably never want to be on the ground.”

“Well, I can give you a tour of the place if you’re interested,” Tommy offered kindly. “Show you some of the toys, how things work.”

“That would be awesome,” Buck said. “But I don’t want to trouble you. I mean, you’re just waiting for your food and I’m talking your ear off about work. I-I’m sure the last thing you want to do is talk about your job after just getting off a shift.”

“I wouldn’t offer if I didn’t mean it,” Tommy said. “And I could have always ignored you or told you I didn’t want to talk about work if I wanted.”

“I guess,” Buck said. “I forget sometimes that not everyone likes talking about their job.”

“So then I guess I have to ask, what do you do?”

“Oh, um,” Buck rubbed at the back of his neck. “I’m a firefighter.”

“No kidding,” Tommy said with a laugh. “Which station?”

“The 118,” Buck said proudly.

“Now you’re fucking with me,” Tommy said. “I transferred to Harbor from the 118.”

“That’s crazy! So you do you know Cap? Captain Bobby Nash?” Buck asked.

“Yeah,” Tommy said. “He was just getting settled there when I transferred.”

“What about Hen? You’ve got to know Chimney. I think he’s been there since it was built.”

Tommy smiled and his nose crinkled and Buck had never seen anything more adorable in his entire life. “Howie and I go way back, from before he was called Chimney. And Hen, she’s one of the best firefighters I’ve ever worked with.”

“They’re the best,” Buck said. “It’s so crazy that you know them too!”

Buck glanced over at Josh again. He’d be furious with himself if he got distracted by this god-like man sitting next to him when his friend needed him. Still seemed to be going well.

“I don’t mean to pry, but I do have to ask,” Tommy started, “You’re not stalking those men, are you?”

Buck whipped his head over to look at him. “What?”

“It’s just, I saw you watching them when I first got here. And now you’re looking over again. Just checking things are… all right,” Tommy said.

Buck felt himself blush a bit because he was the world’s worst undercover wingman. “Okay so one of those guys is my friend, Josh. He’s had some rough luck dating and he was feeling a bit nervous, so I offered to come and hang out at the bar while he was on his date. Just in case anything happened, he’d have back up or whatever he needed.”

Tommy blinked. “You’re giving up your night to sit alone at the bar just in case your friend’s date turned out to be an asshole?”

“Yeah. I guess,” Buck said.

Tommy smiled at him, shaking his head fondly. “That’s really sweet of you.”

“I’m just helping out a friend,” Buck said, feeling uncomfortable. “I’d do it for anyone.”  

Before they could talk any more, a waitress came out with Tommy’s food, stealing his attention. Their chat was less than 10 minutes but Buck felt like he could have spent hours talking with Tommy. He tried not to be annoyed that his food came and he was going to leave—the man had probably just gotten off a shift, probably a twelve or thirty-six hour shift, based on it being night. Tommy deserved to grab his food and then head home to eat and crash.

It didn’t mean that it didn’t suck though. But it’s fine. Buck would go back to checking his phone and keeping an eye out for Josh.

Tommy placed a hand on Buck’s shoulder. “Well, it was a delight to bump into you and I enjoyed our conversation. You made the end of a long thirty-six hours speed by as I waited for my food.”

“I’ve been told I do that,” Buck said, completely distracted by the weight of Tommy’s hand on his shoulder.  

Tommy laughed like Buck had told the funniest joke he’d ever heard. He removed his hand and smiled. “And I’m serious about giving you a tour if you want.”

“I’d like that,” Buck said. “Um, should I call the station?”

Tommy smiled again and shook his head. “It’ll be easier if you just let me know directly. I can make sure there’s time and be the one to give you the tour.”

Tommy reached down to grab the pen sitting on top of his receipt and then scribbled his number on a napkin. “Take care, Evan.”

Hearing Evan come out of Tommy’s mouth was surprising, but surprising in a good way—in a way that Buck wasn’t going to think much about right now. “Yeah. Yeah. Uh, you too, Tommy. I’ll—I’ll text you.”

“Sounds good.” Tommy grabbed his bag. “Oh, and good luck with the rest of your date.”

With that, Tommy laughed a little and then walked out, leaving Buck sitting there, carefully holding the napkin and wondering exactly what was happening with fate right now. Maybe his luck was turning around.

[subtle-as-an-earthquake]

So I know this post is pretty overdue and a bit superfluous by this point maybe, but since I am now back home and finally have time to sit down and write down my thoughts about the last few days, I thought I'd still do a recap post of my experience of the Dublin shows (and a bit about my trip to Dublin in general). Just for anyone who might be interested or even just for me to remember everything by!

Having said that though, I don’t actually know how to even begin putting into words what this trip meant to me 🥺 I’ve said this before, but after seeing them in June and thinking that was it for the foreseeable future, getting to see them again so soon, twice, and it being the very last two shows of the tour as well, felt like an incredible opportunity and huge gift and I could not be more grateful for it ❤️

Recap of Dublin shows 3 & 4 and some more pics below the cut!

I flew in from Amsterdam on Tuesday morning with a Dutch friend, and we met up with another friend of mine who flew in from London at the same time (my London friend went with me to Tuesday's gig, and my Amsterdam friend to Thursday's gig)

London friend and I then headed to the 3Arena to queue up outside and it was fucking freezing lmao. But we played ‘guess the Arctic Monkeys song from the intro’ and had a chance to catch up so all in all it wasn’t too bad, and it’s always so much fun being surrounded by fellow arctic monkeys fans who love them enough to queue up for hours in the cold <3

Once we were inside, we legged it to the stage and then spent another two hours trying to defend our (pretty good, very central) spots and trying not to think about the fact that we had to pee, as you do. We happened to be standing next to a group of Dutch speaking girls, and it turned out one of them had also met Miles in Amsterdam recently, at the same signing I’d been at! Such a small world. But they were really lovely so the two hours flew past, and then it was Miles time!!!!! 🥰

And my god, he literally blew everyone away, he was just insanely good as always. My friend was not really a Miles fan before the gig, and then while he was playing, she kept going “holy shit minnie he’s so good??” and I was like “TOLD YOU”, so now she’s a big fan as well, which is honestly very satisfying 😌 There were so many amazing moments during his set, but the one that stayed with me most I’ve already talked about in this post. It was honestly just…. very intense and really hard to explain in a non-shippy way? Even my non-shipper friend was like… hmm ok yes, that seems very significant 🤔

But anyway, Miles rocked the house, and then it was only a short wait until the main show. And while most of it is a blur because I just lose my mind when I see my boys play, I did make sure to really absorb some special moments and things I really wanted to remember. Being able to clearly see Alex’s intense, goofy and beautiful facial expressions, his HANDS, the cute little interactions he had with the rest of the band (giggles with Matt and smiley asides with Jamie and Nick), the moment where Alex made grabby hands at the plushie and then laughed some more when he couldn’t have it, Jamie being an absolute rockstar as always, Nick looking like a total snack (my friend has a giant crush on Nick, understandably so), Matt being a literal drum god (I love seeing him play SO much). Just... incredible 🙌🏻💘

I really wasn’t expecting Miles to join them during that show, so when Alex gave him a shoutout I knew it was just that, but my friend didn’t, so she started hitting me like “he’s coming back!” and I was like “no he’s not”, and he wasn’t unfortunately lmao. The Dutch and Belgian girls next to me were extremely disappointed (they were Milex shippers as well, of course), but I know at least one of them was there on Thursday as well so I love that for her. Other memorable moments were Alex singing the “remember when you used to be a rascal” line followed by “do you remember? I remember” after which I yelled at my friend “Miles used to be a rascal!!!” and then later I found out Miles was actually on that side of the stage 😭😭 Even though I didn’t find out about that until later, I definitely noticed that Alex kept gesturing towards that side of the stage (the Star Treatment intermezzo was wild, I was like, “WHO is he pointing at for the dolls like you and me thing??” And then it turned out to be Miles 🫠

Another thing I noticed was that the average age of the crowd was way lower than I’m used to it being, which my friend explained may have something to do with tiktok? Lmao idk, hut the the standing crowd did mostly consist of younger, shorter girls for some reason lol, so there wasn’t as much jumping as I’d have liked there to be. My friend and I just went for it regardless, even if we were some of the only people going crazy. But you just have to, you know what I mean? Anyway, it was such an incredible show and after it ended, we were just on cloud nine, singing Fluorescent Adolescent with everyone on the Luas going back to town, which is always just such a blast. And then we ended up in Temple Bar where there was more live music as well as about 500 other Arctic Monkeys fans, so that was great fun too 💫

The next day, the three of us went to a tattoo shop where I’d booked an appointment and I got my tattoo which I am EXTREMELY happy with. The tattoo artist was a girl from Brazil and when she asked me about the meaning of my tattoo (I’ll post a pic later) I told her it was an Arctic Monkeys song and the just yelled across the shop to a few other artists and it turned out they’d been at the concert too, so we all geeked out about them while I got my tattoo done lmao, so much fun 😂

Then my London friend unfortunately had to fly back home later that day, so my Amsterdam friend and I ended up in the pub again because that’s what we do. It was just a very average pub with two very average men playing amazing folk music, and when we walked in, I was like “huh that guy looks like Zackery Michael, that’s funny.” And then later I was stood next to him at the bar and heard he was American, so I was like hmmm, and decided to just ask him if he was in fact Zackery Michael. He was like “that is me!” lol (thank god, would’ve been embarrassing if it hadn’t been) so we had a little chat about the fact that we were both in town for Arctic Monkeys but in slightly different capacities lol, and he was just super nice and was happy to take a photo with me, and then I let him get back to his conversation with the three extremely pretty girls he was with 😅

Anyways, so then on Thursday after breakfast we bought some souvenirs and I bought some great Arctic Monkeys mini posters and some other stuff at this lovely little comic book/record store which was playing Humbug, the owner of which told us he also went to see Arctic Monkeys on Tuesday and loved them, so that was another amazing chance meeting 💜 And then it was after 12pm so it was time for whiskey, and then the meeting with the fellow TLSP/Arctic Monkeys/Miles Kane fan bartender happened which I posted about here, which was so lovely and also secretly made me want to believe it was a sign for the show that night 🙈

But I still couldn’t let myself hope or believe TOO much, so I just kept telling my friend “they’re not going to do it and that’s okay” and she was like “sure, whatever you say” 😂 We had seated tickets for this gig, so we were unfortunately much further away than I had been on Tuesday. And also I just don’t like being seated at concerts, let alone an Arctic Monkeys one, but to be honest, the seats were pretty good. Miles once again gave his absolute all and converted not just my Dutch friend as well, but also a lot of the people around us who we overheard saying things like “did you know he was this good??” and checking Miles’s Wikipedia page, which was great to see. And from up on the balcony we could clearly see that the people in the crowd were really singing along and having an amazing time during Miles’s set (COTT was extremely emotional, all the lights were so lovely ✨️) and I just felt so proud of him and happy for him that it was such a roaring success 🥹💖

The roaring success continued for Arctic Monkeys of course, although it was really weird to see so many people go mental for Snap Out Of It and Arabella etc. 😅 But yeah, the people do love AM it seems, which is why the first part of the setlist was pretty much the same as it had been on Tuesday. Hello You was amazing though!! And then after There’d Better Be a Mirrorball, I knew that it was 505 time, and Alex did say ‘Let’s hear it for Miles Kane’. But because it was the same thing he’d said before, I was still convinced Miles wouldn’t come on. AND THEN HE DID 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 I absolutely lost my shit, not even kidding. I just started screaming and threw my phone at my poor friend being like “FILM IT” which she did, bless her heart, and uhhh, yeah then I cried throughout the whole performance 😭 And then at the end, the lights went out and I saw their shadows (our shadow puppets <3) coming together so I was like did they hug??? And then I only found out later that evening when I checked tumblr that they in fact did hug and then my night was just completely made (lol, I say my night but I mean my life, obviously)

Do I Wanna Know was a total blur after that of course, but I was back for Body Paint which was absolutely incredible as always. And then they did Big Ideas as the encore and uuhhh yeah I sobbed 🙃 It was SO beautiful, and so special hearing it live with the strings, and SO fucking sad. And then once RU Mine? finished and the lights stayed off, I was like aaahhh we’re getting one more!! And then OF COURSE it was Perfect Sense because Alex is a dramatic bastard, and of course I cried some more. It was stunning and extremely emotional 💔

So then my friend and I went to drown my sorrows (and elation about the Milex reunion) in the pub and we actually had a great time with some fellow AM fans and live music again. I swear it was like all of Dublin was just there for Arctic Monkeys. Unfortunately, we were not in the pub where the boys apparently went ugh, but still, it was fun. And yesterday morning I woke up with a killer hangover so I swore I would not drink anymore, but it was raining so much, so we did end up in the pub again where we got talking to some really cool Irish guys who (surprise) also loved Arctic Monkeys, and they insisted on buying us drinks so obviously I couldn’t decline. So we just sat and drank with them until we had to catch our flight, and of course by that time I was tipsy and maudlin and the weather wasn’t helping so I cried all the way to the airport (especially since we passed the arena again) and then I cried some more in the airport like the drama queen I am 🥲

It’s just that I’m so sad it’s over, and so scared and worried about the future of the band, with how much this felt like a goodbye 😔 But I’m just going to assume that it’s just goodbye for now, and that they’ll take a well-deserved break, maybe do their own things for a while, and that in a few years’ time they’ll get back to making music together again. I really do think they have so much fun doing what they do together, and they’re basically like family, and Alex wouldn’t know what to do with himself if he couldn’t make music, so surely they’ll be back eventually. But please, just don’t be too long boys 🥺🙏🏻❤️

All in all, though, what has stayed with me most from this trip is a sense of gratefulness that I was lucky enough to experience all this, my 8th and 9th Arctic Monkeys gigs to date, the last dates of the tour, the Milex reunion (!!!!!!!) and to get to share it with two of my best friends in the world, a whole bunch of arctic monkeys loving strangers who I randomly met, and all of you guys I’ve met on here these past few months. The sense of connection and community I’ve found through this band means so much to me, more than I can say, actually, and I’m so grateful to them for that, in addition to the music they’ve given us. And although the tour is over, I am honestly looking forward to sharing the love we have for them with you all for a long time to come and for now, I am so excited about getting back to writing my silly little Milex stories (and insanely happy they finally gave us that little reunion we hope for, so that I’m still excited and hopeful about their relationship rather than heartbroken and resigned, which is what I probably would’ve been if they hadn’t performed together. So thank you for that, boys 💘)

So yes. Very, VERY long story short: Arctic Monkeys is and always will be my favourite band in the world, they ended the tour on an absolute high (and with Miles!) and this was an experience I will never, ever forget ❤️

[tomorrowxtogether]

SOOBIN: “It’s always been my goal for the other members to be happy”

TOMORROW X TOGETHER The Name Chapter: FREEFALL comeback interview

2023.10.23

SOOBIN, as always, speaks in a calm voice throughout. Whether he’s talking about the happiness that surrounds him, the challenges he faces, the pleasures of everyday life, or the major goals that guide the group, his voice is resolute but relaxed—spirited, but soft.

You kept talking about how you want to watch the new movie Concrete Utopia.

SOOBIN: I never ended up seeing it. It left theaters. (laughs) If someone in my friends’ group chat says, “There’s a movie I want to see,” then someone else asks who can go, and then anyone who can goes to see it. I’m really thankful to have friends who will come with me to see the movies I want to watch.

You took a trip with them recently, isn’t that right?

SOOBIN: I took an overnight trip with them to Gapyeong not that long ago. We had a cooking competition, then they asked me to teach them the dance for “Sugar Rush Ride.” So I showed them and then they spontaneously held a competition and asked me to be the judge. It was really fun and super cute. (laughs)

It sounds like your friends are very important to you.

SOOBIN: It’s fair to say they know me really well. They really love me and look out for me. Usually when they say something like, “Choi Soobin’s eating only this much? Something wrong?”—there really is something wrong. These days they’re so good at seeing through me. It’s almost annoying. (laughs) And if any of us goes too far, we apologize on the spot. And after we take a trip, we even say, I had such a great time thanks to you guys. You really made me happy. It’s always like that. I get carried away in that kind of environment which lets me say embarrassing things, and even though we bicker sometimes, it leads to self-improvement. I guess you could say I’ve become a kinder person overall and I’m capable of being a lot more open now. I really learned how to express myself.

I imagine that you get a lot of energy out of that whole process.

SOOBIN: I started going out way more this year. I was having a lot of personal doubts and feeling confused last year, so it wasn’t an easy time. So I went around looking for help, talked a lot to more experienced artists, and got some advice. I ended up getting really close to a lot of people. After that, I had more reasons to go out. It’s a refreshing change of pace from the same routine every day, so I really need that time these days.

How did you feel during the world tour? Judging by your vlogs from that time, it looks like you established your own little routine for after each concert.

SOOBIN: You hear from a lot of different artists that they sometimes feel empty when they get in after a concert. But not me. (laughs) After seeing all those people in big crowds, coming back, and having some alone time, it’s—I mean, that’s a really full day. I think it’s important to have time to be alone and reflect, and to enjoy your hobbies. I don’t really feel like I need to follow up something as special as a concert with something else exciting. I actually feel more comfortable just spending each day the way I’m used to spending it.

I’m surprised you cherish what’s already comfortable to you so much when you also want to try so many new activities.

SOOBIN: I guess you could say I have a personality like a flame. There’s so many things I want to do, but I also get tired of them pretty quickly. For a while I was learning swimming and boxing, then I had an interest in baking and thought about buying an oven, but I was over it quickly. I also bought a camera and then, after a month, never touched it again. (laughs) Anyway, I’m the kind of person who pretty much goes ahead and does things as soon as I want to do them. I never hesitate to start something and I’ll even skip sleep when I want to try something. I can’t stand when I don’t have a hobby to do. It’s tough for me if I can’t have a good time and break out of my routine with something new. I guess that explains my personality where I have to do whatever I want. I’m the kind of person who tries to enjoy what he wants when I want to because I never know when I might lose interest.

But you have far more endurance doing what you do than other people.

SOOBIN: I don’t think I could’ve put this much into any job other than this one. I can already see myself living a lazy life when I’m much older and retired (laughs) so I want to do everything I can while I can. There’s a lot of people who work to make us shine, especially in a line of work like this, so there’s no way I could just phone it in when they’re putting their all into it.

You must have devoted a lot of time and effort toward getting ready for this comeback. You mentioned several times on Weverse Live how excited you are for the new album.

SOOBIN: It’s about embracing and pushing your way through the pain and the hard times you come up against in the real world, so I felt like it’s something I can comprehend and express well. I was actually worried about the last album because I was nervous I wouldn’t be able to pull off the concept of the album, and that’s why I didn’t feel very confident. But the songs are a little bit more of an “easy listening” songs this time and the choreography’s fun, so I’m more confident this time. At first I thought the single “Chasing That Feeling” was basic, but after listening to it four or five times, I realized how catchy it was and started humming it to myself. It felt like the kind of song you’d never skip over in a playlist and one you can keep listening to over and over.

You also mentioned that the dance moves for “Chasing That Feeling” are more physically demanding than those for “Back for More” (TXT Ver.).

SOOBIN: Everyone would assume that “Back for More (TXT Ver.)” is more tough when you see it, but for me, “Chasing That Feeling” is actually more physically demanding. But I still love the choreography. I had so much fun with it when first learning it and I was full of excitement while dancing, but the dance coaches told me, “SOOBIN, you have to do this one with more tenderness. You’re too hyper right now. You need to tone down your emotions.” (laughs) We stretch our arms out really, really wide in the intro and do moves we’ve never done before, but it was a really good match for me and I had a lot of fun. I think the dance really captures that idea of following your passions and always pressing forward even when it’s sort of painful. I got to like the song more while practicing the choreography.

You said on Weverse Live that you have a favorite track off this album. Can you tell us which it is?

SOOBIN: It’s “Skipping Stones.” Singer-songwriter HANRORO wrote it, and I’m a big fan of her music. The song she gave us is so characteristic of her sound that it feels like a song she would’ve written for herself. I fell in love with it the very first time I heard it. It was fun getting to record a song of a style I listen to and sing all the time, which made the process laid-back. I like HANRORO’s music and voice, but I think it’s her all-Korean lyrics that are really beautiful. “The water that swallowed the scars will become calm someday / And it will have a wide embrace.” Time heals all wounds and I was so amazed how she managed to tie that in with the idea of skipping stones. It made me respect her even more.

You wrapped up your second world tour a little bit before the album came out. Did you enjoy yourself on tour? It seemed like you had a lot on your mind while trying to enjoy yourself on stage before that.

SOOBIN: I started to feel less nervous doing the world tour. Now I’m not even scared or nervous before a concert—I’m just excited. I think I’m more comfortable with it because I feel relaxed now. I’m still not totally loosened up, obviously (laughs) but I can’t force myself to be comfortable with everything. I’ll probably have to wait a little longer for that.

During the world tour, you also put on performances at major venues like Lollapalooza in Chicago and the MTV Video Music Awards.

SOOBIN: I was nervous for the VMAs for sure but it was still fun because there were a lot of people who have been superstars to me ever since I was young and it was amazing to see people with MOA light sticks even though it was an overseas awards show. It was so fun that I felt like I was dreaming. It was like, Am I even supposed to be here? I was extremely fortunate to be able to meet people like Bebe Rexha who were a major motivator for me. Moments like those feel like rewards for all the hard work I’ve put in and they’re a huge motivation. I’m very thankful and lucky.

It’s like you take that motivation and work hard to pay it forward to MOA.

SOOBIN: It’s even hard for me to grasp, for someone who used to be a fan myself. To me, it even feels like what fans are giving is just “pure love.” I was so amazed that they’re willing to come such a long distance for our concerts and you can see fans giving things to each other just because they all share a common interest. It’s not like the love between friends or between a couple—it’s something completely special that can’t ever be explained. I’ve been a fan before, too, but speaking as a singer, “the existence of fans is just pure love.” It’s amazing how unconditional their love can be.

It’s clear how much you love the fans when you talk to them on Weverse Live about somewhat sensitive subjects in a firm but kind manner.

SOOBIN: This is how I feel: Let’s all be gentle and share the love. That way, I can be closer with them and no one will be crossing any boundaries of what is acceptable. The reason I say that is, I’m trying to make it so that MOA and I can love each other more and without having to hold anything back. Sometimes I can ignore the uncomfortable stuff and just move on, but the reason I brought that up is because I wanted to make sure we don’t make each other feel uncomfortable and there’s no hard feelings. My point was to say, Let’s make sure we all feel comfortable, and let’s look out for one another and have nothing but love for each other. I try to be as gentle as possible when I say these things, of course.

You also referred to the other group members as “companions” last year in the video TXT Share House.

SOOBIN: We all went through a rough patch at one point last year together. I felt our companionship was particularly strong while we practiced for the year-end awards shows. We were having a lot of honest conversations about our innermost feelings. We weren’t in Korea that much at the time, so I think we relied on each other a lot.

I was surprised when I found out you get a bigger room during world tours because other members come see you. I thought you would want to have your own space.

SOOBIN: I’m not really bothered by them coming in. We each have our own rooms, but I’m actually thankful and feel good that they come to my room to talk to me because it makes me feel like they trust me and rely on me. And I get more excited and talkative than they do when they come in. (laughs) I’m happy when they come in and I always hope they do.

What do you tend to talk about in that situation?

SOOBIN: They mostly come to me when they’re facing some kind of difficulty, whether it’s personal or something related to the group, or when they just want to talk. And I’m usually the one who goes to the label as our representative when we want to propose an idea to them. But there were a lot of times on the most recent world tour where they came to me saying they wanted to hear what I had to say. “How are you feeling about the tour? No problems?” Stuff like that. I actually tend to keep any baggage to myself if sharing it isn’t going to solve anything. Sometimes the other members feel hurt by that though. (laughs) But I still usually unload when it’s something that can be solved together, of course. It’s not like I don’t like to talk. (laughs)

When YEONJUN and TAEHYUN were on SUCHWITA, they said that all the members agreed on one big goal for the group. Was it those conversations that led you to be able to agree on that goal?

SOOBIN: I’m not someone with any big goals—I just want to enjoy the small things in life. But we talked a lot last year about our members’ dreams, what makes us happy, and what our goals are. Not all five of us shared the same goals, but we got to talking about how some of us want to make it to the top of our field. So I thought, If that’s what makes you happy, and that’s your goal, then I’ll try my best for it, too—because it’s always been my goal for the other members to be happy. I figured, if that’s what will make them happiest, then I’ll work toward the same goal with them.

Why does the other members being happy make you happy?

SOOBIN: It’s not just them—my family, my friends, the staff … Nothing makes me happier than seeing them all happy. That’s why I hope our fans are happy, too. I think the people I care about being happy makes me really happy and is as important to me as my own happiness. At least for me.

Has your attitude toward work changed as the goals you’re focused on have shifted?

SOOBIN: I’m making a bigger, tangible effort. I feel like I’ve always done my best, right from when we debuted, but now it’s like I’m trying to be even better than my best. (laughs) I’m practicing harder, working harder when shooting—everything. I’ll work harder this year than last, and next year I’ll work even harder still.

But there will always be bumps along the road when working toward your goals. How do you keep yourself moving forward?

SOOBIN: It might not be the case for everyone in this field, but I think this work makes me really happy, way more than it brings me pain. I'm not the type to dwell on something painful for too long in the first place. It's not simple to get this much love and support, and the happiness it brings is too important for me to let go just because things get tough. It brings me so much joy that it's worth sticking with, no matter what I have to go through.

[islesnucks]

SOCIAL MEDIA AU

Mat Barzal x Singer!Reader - Pt1 - Pt2 - Pt3

enews

13,529 likes

enews Singer Y/N Y/L/N and hockey player May Barzal seen hanging out last night, it seems after she finished her tour last week she went straight to New York where he plays. The pair haven’t made it official yet but they seemed pretty cozy with each other. What do we think? Couple or just friends?

View all 3,249 comments

y/nmyqueen the way she looks at him, honestly same

islesterritory we didn't even had to do the anna kendrick thing this time

y/ndaily guess we'll have to learn about hockey now

y/nnation

302,945 likes

y/nnation Y/N was a surprice guest at Harry Style's conert last night. She played an acustic version of her song State of Grace, sounded beautifully. After it she said a "friend" had helped her learn it on the guitar, many speculate she's talking about Mat Barzal since they've been hanging out a lot and he plays guitar.

By the way she was smiling the whole song 🥰

Swipe left to see the videos some fans took.

View all 61,002 comments

_y/l/n_ i was there!! she was so into the song really felt every lyric it was magical 💕💕💕

lovelyy/n if shes happy we're happy and she looks really happy

barzal97

Liked by ny_islanders, yourusername and 209,582 others

Apparently im a good teacher

View all 53,497 comments

laurenrodycheberle showed this to J, he said 'the student has become the master' ... he said more things but they are not instagram appropiet

barzal97 oh i bet he did

titobeavu91 guess we’re not that close of friends because ive never gotten a guitar lesson

rpulock me neither al_rom26 me neither n_dobson me neither zeekerr me neither owahstrom97 me neither mattymarts17 me neither pagertrain me neither josty17 me neither barzal97 im blocking all of you

barzyy/n he's in a music studio?

y/nmyqueen yes!! and im almost sure thats the studio y/n records when shes in ny

y/ndaily

Liked by yourusername and 203,471 liked

y/ndaily Y/N was seen leaving the studio yesterday. She just finished her tour 3 months ago, but could it be new music already?

View all 65,090 comments

y/n382 OMG SHE LIKED ITS SO HAPPENING

sparksfly its gonna be full of balands I can feel it

stateofy/n pun on the detective hats guys is that the studio the hockey player was in??

y/nmyqueen it is!!!!! i knew it looked familiar

yourusername

Liked by barzal97, harrystyles and 4,002,185 other

Something’s cooking

View all 330,285 comments

zendaya already my favorite album

owahlstrom97 need backing vocals?

n_dobson i can play a mean triangle yourusername ill keep you boys in mind

tmz_tv

190,875 likes

After months of rumors, secret outings and hints on their social medias Y/N and Mat have been caught smooching at the singers sound check before her appearance at tonight’s VMAs. Head to the link in our bio to read the full timeline of their love story.

View all 49,067 comments

y/nn1fan this is a huge invasion of their privacy tho

spacestar true but also they look so cute

islanders27 way to go barzy!!!!!

nhlwags official wag now

-

that's it for now, sorry it took so long!! already working on pt3, hope you liked it <3

[tearfallpixie]

Trust and Love - Chapter 5: Tease

Tags: @nerdraging4point0 @thesazzb @synthetic-wasp-570 @circle-with-me @beaker1636 @itsjustemily @witchyweeb34 @agravemisstake @cookiesupplier @cncohshit @faceless-mirror @nonamessblog @yournecessaryevil @black-damask1999

@lyschko666 @vinyardmauro @skulliecadaver-blog @some-daniela @latenightmusiclover @rye14-blog1 @somewhere-diamond @Shilohrosechicken @abiomens @awkwardalex @miss570

“Hey, have you seen Vinny? I wanted to ask him where his dye kit was.” Justin asked one morning. Chis looked up from his phone at the bassist.

“Have you checked in Ricky and Olives room?” The singer offered. “He’s been in there a lot at night lately.” Justin went back to their door and knocked on the door. When he received no answer he opened it up to see the drummer he was asking for curled up with the two other mentioned names. Justin snapped a quick picture of the adorable trio and closed the door silently. “Did you find them?”

“Yeah. They are all asleep. I didn’t want to bug them.” He texted the photo to Ricky and Vinny in a group chat and closed his phone.

~

Rickys phone dinged waking me from my slumber and making me slowly blink open my eyes. I groaned and stretched, feeling a body shift behind me. I turned to see Vinny sleepily rubbing his eyes.

“Morning.” He murmured. I rolled around and curled onto his chest as he reached behind him for his phone.

“Thank you for staying.” I hummed.

“Sunshine, I spend most of my nights in here. You don’t have to thank me every time.” He teased me. He clicked open his phone to see a text from Justin so he opened it. My cheeks instantly went red when I saw the picture of all three of us curled together. “That’s cute.” He mused with a sleepy grin on his face.

“Can you send it to me?” I asked shyly. He saved the photo and clicked my name in his texts.

“Done.” He went back to his home screen and changed it to the picture of us. “And done. I think that looks better.” Ricky groaned behind the two and tightened his arms around my waist.

“Baby girl. It’s too early.” Ricky complained.

“Dude its 10:30.” Vinny laughed. “In fact, I need to get up. I promised Justin I would help dye his hair today.” I whined and clung to him tighter. “I know baby. I’m sorry.” He had never given me a pet name before, besides sunshine which still felt like it fell under the friends nicknames so that shocked me. I pulled back and sat up as he started walking out.

“You liked him calling you that, didn’t you?” Ricky asked.

“It just shocked me I guess.” I reached down to grab my bag, but he pulled me back.

“You wouldn’t get turned on if he were to watch me fuck you?” He asked darkly, making me gasp. “That’s what I thought. Imagine him sitting in the corner, you sprawled out on display on the bed.” He slipped his cold fingers under the waistband of my sleep shorts and ran them along my panty line. “Mmm. You’re wet just thinking about the idea.” He teased me. “I can stop whenever love.” I shook my head and felt him grin against my neck. He hoisted me up and pulled me back onto his lap, finally letting his fingers slip under my lingerie.

“Please, Ricky.” I whispered.

“Please what?” He growled, barely brushing my folds with his finger.

“Please. I need more.”

“You need Vinny?” I started to shake my head but he growled. “Don’t lie to me. I’ve seen the way you watch him perform on stage. I’ve seen the looks you give him on the bus. You want him.” I let out a soft whine and nodded. “There’s my good girl.” He pressed two fingers inside of me and curled them to scrape deliciously against my walls. “We’re in a hotel tonight. Maybe we can make this a reality.” I felt the coil of heat in my belly and whimpered.

“Please Ricky. I- I’m so close.” I cried softly.

“Come for me baby girl. You’ve been so good on this tour. You’ve been so good for me.” I crashed into my climax hard enough that I see stars for a moment. When I raised my head I saw Ricky had laid me down and was laying next to me. “You enjoyed that quite a lot.” He teased me, tracing patterns on my side.

“I can’t deny that it’s a hot prospect.” I giggled softly. “We should probably get up.” I stripped and got a fresh pair of lingerie and slipped it on.

“Make sure to wear the purple bralette. Vinny will like it.” Ricky smirked as I gapped at him. He winked before stepping out of the room. I grabbed the suggested article of clothing and put it on, getting dressed quickly after. I went to the kitchen to get coffee and felt gentle hands take my waist. I knew instantly it was Ricky and leaned into him. He nosed at the collar of my shirt, managing to move it back enough. “Mm. Good girl listening to instructions. I wouldn’t have to punish you for wearing something else.”

~~~~

“What is this?” I asked that night. We had just entered our hotel room to see that there were two beds in the room. We usually got a room to ourselves.

“Remember what I said this morning?” He murmured, stepping up behind me. I thought back to this morning and my eyes widened. I spun to look at him when I saw the drummer standing in the doorway, looking at me through his curtain of hair. I looked back at Ricky who was giving me a soft smile. “This is up to you. We can include Vin, or we can all just chill and hang out tonight. You call the shots.”

“Please.” I whispered. Vinny stepped into the room and closed and locked the door behind him, dropping his bag to the floor.

“Vin. Over to the chair and sit down. If she’s a good girl for us, then you might get a chance to play with her.” My heart caught in my throat. We had discussed him watching me but not touching me bt even more so I was shocked at how unbothered I was by it. Vinny dropped into the chair and unbuttoned the top few buttons of his shirt. “Strip for Vinny baby. Let him get a good view of that pretty lingerie you’re wearing.” I blushed bright red as Ricky shoved me towards Vinny. I slowly pulled the shirt over my head revealing the purple bralette and then moved my hands towards the buttons on my jeans. I saw Vins fingers twitch. “Do you want to undress her Vinny?” Vin gave a slight nod and moved to drop to his knees. His hands brushed my waist and I shuddered.

“You are so beautiful.” He whispered. His fingers expertly popped the button on my jeans and slipped under the hem. He pulled them down slowly, revealing the matching lingerie. “Fuck.” He hissed, kissing right below my belly button and digging his nails into my hips. “Rick, you are one lucky man.” He tore himself away from me and sat back in the chair. I felt arms loop around my waist and pull me into Rickys shirtless body. I melted into his heat and dropped my head to his shoulder.

“Lay on the bed for me baby girl.” I dropped onto the bed and he grabbed my legs, spinning me around and spreading my legs. He drug my lingerie down my legs and placed gentle kisses on my inner thigh. He started nipping little bruises into my thigh before licking them to soothe the sting. “Can I taste you pretty girl?”

“Yes.” I whispered. I felt his hot breath ghost over my entrance before I felt his tongue lick a stripe up my walls. I shuddered at the sensation and clawed my fingers into the bedsheets to give me some sense of stability. My eyes flicked to where Vinny was sitting and saw that he was watching with such intense focus. I could tell his eyes were dilated to their full extent in the dim lighting, watching me like a hawk. I let out a whine when Ricky finally pressed his tongue past my ring of muscles but immediately retracted it.

“You are so wet for us baby girl. I didn’t know you’d find this so hot.” He slid his tongue between my folds again and caressed my inner walls. As he was assaulting me with his tongue I could feel the coil building in my lower belly. I toppled over the edge when he sucked on my clit while quickly inserting two fingers alongside his tongue. I must have zoned out for a moment because when I came too Ricky was sitting next to me with an amused look on his face. I glanced over at Vinny who looked concerned and I but back a giggle.

“I’m fine. Better than, actually.” I promised them.

“Promise?” Ricky asked softly.

“Pinky.” He nodded and brushed a piece of hair from my face. “Please Ricky. I need you.” I begged.

“Are you ready for me?” I nodded. “Words baby girl.”

“Ricky. Please. Baby, I am so ready for you.” I begged. He stood and removed his jeans and boxers before climbing between my legs. He gave himself a few pumps before lining himself up and pressing into me. I gasped at the stretch and wrapped my arms around his neck to cling to him. When he was flush against me, I noticed movement from where Vinny was sitting. He moved over to us as if he was in a trance and knelt on the end of the bed as Ricky hovered over me with his dick deep inside of me.

“Touch her.” Ricky ordered him. Vin brought his hands to my shoulders and slid them down to cup my breasts. “She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” Ricky lifted me up and Vinny moved closer, pressing himself up against my back. His hands slid down to my hips and his right one continued until it met my clit where Ricky was sliding in and out of me. He put a little pressure against my entrance where Ricky was moving and wiggled his finger alongside his member. I whined and dropped my head onto Vinny’s shoulder at the newfound stretch as he and Ricky worked in tandem to ease me to and through my second orgasm. Ricky followed quickly after, spilling his seed into my core.

“Such a good girl for us.” Vinny huffed. “So pretty.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine, making me gasp. I kissed back for a minute before he pulled away. My cheeks must have been red because Ricky chuckled as he pulled me into him.

“You were so perfect baby girl. Did you enjoy that? Vinny joining us?” I nodded shyly. “Good. Lets get a shower and then we should all go to bed. We have an early morning.” We all showered quickly and when I returned to the room both Vin and Rick were sitting on Vinny’s bed. “Hey, our bed is a little… messy. Are you ok sharing a bed with Vin?”

“Yeah that’s fine.” I blushed for the millionth time that night. It wasn’t as if we hadn’t shared a bed before. They crawled into the bed and held out their arms. I grinned and settled between the two of them, instantly melting into an exhausted sleep.

[harlowtales]

Reader is Jack’s personal assistant and things turn into more but they have to hide it.

***18+ smut/light romance****

“Good morning Jack” you whispered kissing his arm around you and caressing his smooth skin.

“Huh?” Jack said confused as he was just waking up and was still inside you from the side. He hadn’t completely pulled out yet from last-night. All of a sudden he shot up and pulled out of you abruptly. “I gotta get back to the couch! My parents can’t find me in here like this!” He started hurriedly putting on his clothes. First frantically trying to find his underwear and jumping into his sweatpants. He had his tshirt halfway over his head with his curls popping out as he ran out and closed the door as quietly as he could.

“What a goofball.” You thought fondly. Last night was incredible. Jack snuck into your room as you were visiting his parents with him for the weekend. His penthouse was being renovated so he was staying with his parents for a bit. You had got the job as his personal assistant just 6months ago. Neelam was burnt out so she needed some help with all of Jack’s more personal needs like managing his schedule and making sure he ate properly, worked out, got rest and his surroundings were generally healthy for him. You managed his home and generally keep things good in his world. But feelings developed.

Jack wound up in the hospital with a serious virus he caught on tour in Asia and came back very sick. You were the one that called the doctor as he was writing it off as a mild cold. You dropped everything and tended to him, even canceling a vacation you had planned. That’s when he knew it was more than work for him.

He always thought you were cute, kinda brainy and that turned him on….a lot. Neelam felt you were the best for the job and she knew Jack would like you as well, but she could never guess it would turn into this. As you laid in bed your mind went back to the first time you got the feeling something was up... “Jack I honestly don’t see it, you said fully bent over with your ass up and your face looking under the kitchen cabinet to find his earring that he said fell out of his ear and rolled under.

“Ah look I found it!” He said laughing “How da fuk did it get in my pocket?” He just wanted a good view of your ass so he could fantasize about having you in that position on the kitchen floor. The look he gave you afterwards gave you a weird feeling. He was always playing games like that, but lately it was different. It’s like he was trying to communicate something without saying it.

“Ok Mr.!” You said in that school principal way that got him hot. “No more games for you, you have a Zoom interview in 30mins!” You said pointing at the lunch you just made him. Neelam and his trainer EJ said everything had to be healthy. “And no sneaking snacks!” Jack shot you a look as he ate his plain salad with an unhappy look on his face. Just then you heard a notification on the computer, his interview was about to start. “Ok, finish up, they’re messaging me.” You said. “I’ll get on with them first and let them know to sit tight for a bit, ok?” You said warmly. Damn he was cute. There was no getting around that and you were very professional not letting your fandom get in the way of doing a good job. That’s why Neelam chose you. “Yes hi, I am his assistant.” You said to the interviewer on the Zoom in your most business-like tone trying to gather yourself after Jack’s shenanigans. You made sure everything in the background was just right as the house got pretty messy during the week with all of his friends coming around. Jack marvelled at how you took care of everything around him and grew to have a great affection for you that he didn’t want to make it awkward and tell you. “So I’m just making sure this is how long? Because he has another thing to get to.” He didn’t, but you wanted him to rest up for the gala later that night.

Jack was secretly observing you buzz around and make sure he was at his best. That every little thing in his day went right. That you cared so much, not about your job, but him. He could feel it. The way you spoke to him with care or even scolded him was making him see you in another way. He couldn’t imagine how he had made it without you before. Since you joined the team he was so much more at ease. He even stopped needing so many therapy sessions. He especially loved the conversations you’d have in the evening when he was in town on a break and was not even leaving the house much. He came to crave those times. You just had a knack for making his life normal. He loved your cooking, the way you kept the house tidy, and didn’t stress him out when he came home. If something bothered you, you said so but didn’t invent drama. You were in fact what he was looking for in a wife.

“Do you have any children?” He asked you one day randomly as he was watching soccer on the couch with his feet propped up and you were beside him on your laptop organizing him for the next day. “Huh?” You looked up distractedly. Your hair slightly disheveled from running around behind him all day. It made him think of how you would look after having you on your back and being inside of you. Increasingly he had sex dreams about you and acting completely normal was getting more and more difficult. With you next to him on the couch he had to conceal that he was becoming aroused.

“Um no silly” you said playing punching him in the arm. “Your my kid” you laughed.

“Oh really? I’m no kid trust me. This is all 100% grown ass man right here.” He said “All grown.” He repeated wistfully as he moved a lock of your hair that had fallen into your face.

“Jack…what are you doing?” You said half-hopeful that he was doing what you knew he was doing. “I…I need to finish your schedule” You weakly protested as you swallowed nervously

“Then finish my schedule.” He said nestling his nose in your neck and gently just touching your skin with his full lips. “Don’t let me distract you.” He said as he now started fondling your breast through your shirt. “You never once thought about this?” He said as his hands started to travel all over your body and he pressed closer to you. “Why don’t you close this?” He said as he closed the laptop you we’re hoping would protect you. “Get that off your lap and get on mine.” He commanded

“I am fuking dreaming right now!” You said in your head, but you said to him “Jack.. Neelam would freak out. I’ll lose my job” You said leaning back for it to happen more.

“Don’t worry about Neelam we just act like it’s all good when she’s around.” He said. “I really like you. All the girls in my world are fake. You’re the real deal. I couldn’t get along without you, and I never want to be without you.” He said going in more seriously on your body. He now had his hand travelling up your dress. “And who told you to wear a sundress around the house. Hmmmm?” He asked you furrowing his brow and biting his lip that made you crazy. He started working to get your panties off and feel if you were as excited as him. “So much for not wanting to lose your job. look at all this” he said holding up perfectly manicured fingers to reveal your cum dripping down them. “Hmmm? What’s all this missy?” He said as he made you suck his fingers with your juices on them. You sucked on them so good he went crazy “Oh shit” he said softly “This pussy has to be good.” You were fully in his lap like he demanded and he pulled off his underwear as you kissed him and stuck it straight inside you giving your ass a hard slap. “Ride me.” He said holding your ass to feel it go up and down as he moaned in pleasure he nonchalantly put his hands behind his head watching you ride hard. His sexy laid back attitude and slight grin made you insane. Within minutes you reached a screaming climax and collapsed onto him, breathing heavy in his ear. “Holy shit.” He said “You’re a freak.” Delighted at his new discovery.

You got off him and slithered down his body until you got between his legs. You opened your mouth wide and took all of him into your mouth. His rock hard cock hitting the back of your throat. “Geezus Christ.” He moaned loudly. After some time swirling your lips around the tip to sliding down it as far back as it would go Jack couldn’t contain himself anymore and held your head down as he throbbed and released all he had to give. Cum dripped down your mouth as you swallowed most of it. You rested your head on his inner thigh out of breath and looked up at him. “When do you want to get married?” He joked gently smoothing out your hair, but he was definitely getting those feelings. You snapped out of reminiscing as you heard Maggie call upstairs for you.

You crept down the stairs to the kitchen to find Jack’s mom Maggie busy in the kitchen. Jack was sitting at the table devouring some eggs. “Ah, good morning!”His mom said happy to see you. “Sit sit! Breakfast is hot!” She said pointing to a huge plate of eggs, bacon, sausage, and toast.

“Mom for Fuck sakes! She can’t eat all that.” Jack said laughing.

“Watch your mouth.” His dad said sternly from the livingroom

“It’s ok Jack.” You said admiring his messy bed head. “I love eggs, it’s nice to not have to make them!”

“So you cook for Jack too?” Maggie asked wide eyed. “What do you not do for my little bozo.” She said looking at her son affectionately and ruffling his messy hair. “Hunny wear your bonnet your hair is dry and tangled” she chided

Jack moved his head so his mom would stop with her comments. You enjoyed watching him interact with his family. He was just a regular guy and they treated him as such. In fact, everyone in Louisville did. “Oh trust me mom. She takes care of me.” He said shooting a look at you with a side smile. “She gets the job done and there’s nothing she doesn’t do.”

You blushed looking down at your plate pretending to be intensely interested in your eggs. Maggie had no idea what Jack was really saying or what happened in her house last night.

@heavyhitterheaux @itsyagirljaz @jacks-daycare @jackmans-poison @jackharloww @killatravtramp @angelbae05 @comehomeimissyou @hotsforharlow @hoodharlow @harlowsbby @harlowgifs

[blingblong55]

Baby Honey- Johnny "Soap" MacTavish

F!Reader, rockstar!Soap, mentions of drug consumption, rockstar au

Here's the thing: he still writes songs about me. My friends really like his voice but his tunes the most, they pretend they don’t like it at all because of me. One thing is for sure I know he isn’t over me. He always calls me drunk, usually late at night. But after so many tries and many more errors, I gave up and that's when  I started dating Simon a while back. He is a wealthy guy, he is really good to me, and he has taught me patience and most of all to never underestimate myself. Now don’t get me wrong, I’d never use Simon for his money, he is too good of a man and he’s very smart, besides he knows money isn't my thing.

“Now I'm getting older R/N, am I getting over you?” I can hear his smooth but deep chuckle through the phone.

“I guess we’ll never know darling” I answer and soon hang up. “You know, I can fix this problem right?” Simon says as he wraps his arms around me. He is always so caring and understanding, and so comfortable. To be completely honest I still want him in my life. I miss that part of my life. The rockstar's girl. The late nights. The bars. The drunk sex. The drunk makeout sessions. They drunk everything. The guy I was in love with. The way his blue eyes would soften when his eyes and mine met. His smile and voice.  All of it.

I swear I’m not thinking about you, but it feels good to think of you.

“Let’s go to bed beautiful” I nod and walk to bed. 

~2015~

“I think I’m in love!” his words slurred. “Me too! I love you!” I said, but before I went for another drink I realized that he didn’t mean he loved me, he was talking about the drug he was about to consume. That's when I walked away, his sober friends looked at me, with apologetic eyes. There was one guy who understood me, a dark-haired, man with a cute accent. “Take care of yourself.” He knew that, that was my last straw, and that I would definitely not come back this time. “Thank you for everything,” I responded.

My arms made their way to his body, “Don’t come back, you deserve better R/N.” was all he told me. “I won’t,” I whispered and once I broke the hug and made my way to the door, I took a last glance. This isn’t what I deserve. I left and will not look back. 

His POV

I never saw her after that night, or maybe that morning. Honestly, I was so fucked up at the time that my last memory with her is still a mystery to me. The guys blame me for it. Our drummer König almost quit the day she left. Actually, the four of them did, I had to go to rehab if I wanted the band back together. I did and it's the reason I’m only allowed to drink 5 beers per month now. That's usually the day I call her, and tell her everything.

“Oi, who's ready for another gig this weekend.”

“Price, you know what day the gig falls on, right?” I heard their not-so-secretive conversation. Price shakes his head. “It's the day R/N left,” Gaz spoke. “All right lads, let's get going," Krueger said. They always made me remember her just so I could learn my lesson. A few hours back when me and the guys were shopping for our upcoming tour I saw her. She was with this tatted fella. He was much larger than me, he was more built and to make matters worse, when she looked up at him she smiled. Like really smiled. When her eyes met him I could already tell she loved him, true love. At some point, I heard her laugh and it was him who was making her laugh. She hugged him and in that moment I could tell she felt comfortable. He held the door for her, something I never did. He listened to her, and would just stare and smile. And when she got excited he would too. Something I apparently never did. I was never good to her. But no one will ever know her sweet spots like me. “I love you sunshine,” he told her, I hope he knows she hates nicknames like that. “I love you most handsome,” she held his hand. “I love it when you call me that.” She smiled and I could hear her smile widen. Maybe after all she loved the nicknames. I wonder why she never told me. And why does he call her sunshine?

Her POV-

~The night she met him.~

“Hey gorgeous” the tall blue-eyed man spoke. “Leave me alone.” I hated nicknames from men who wanted nothing more but an adventure. If I was going to go all soft for a man it had to be with the right one. 

His POV

~Present day~

“Mate it's been years, c’mon Gaz found the perfect suitcase for you.” He pulled me in the opposite direction. Once I met with the rest, they handed me a beer. “For the trouble aye.”

“Thanks, lads,” I opened the bottle and started drinking. Once we had made it back to the studio, I started playing with my guitar. “Oh, I know he’s got the money baby honey does he make your night? Is it true he doesn’t touch you in the place the way I know you like? And I swear I’m not thinking about you all the time-”

fuck

“C’mon, you got this” Gaz said. “Just today, yesterday, every day and tomorrow night” I finished.

She took over me like it was nothing. Just the thought of seeing her with him hurt. She looks so happy when I’m not with her. Like that night in New York with Gaz. They had gone to that library because it was on her bucket list. I was too fucked up to care at the time. I followed them around. Saw that they were reading a book, her smile was so bright, that he looked over at her and smiled. They laughed. When they stepped outside I hid.

“Thank you for doing this with me.” She embraced him and kissed his cheek. Part of me wanted to come out of my hiding and punch him, but when I saw her and how happy she was I knew I couldn’t ruin a night like that for her. Neither of them knew I was there. “Why the nickname baby honey?” König asked. I stared at the wall.

“Her eyes in the sun looked like honey. And when she cried her eyes would get big like a baby and well that’s how my secret nickname for her became that.” Gaz made his way over to me. “She was the best.” He hugged me and made his way out. “I fucked a friendship for him huh,” I looked at Zain and then at Price. “Big time.”

“I also fucked up my love life.”

I finished.

We finished.

She continued with life, moved to a place that fit her best and for me, well, I stayed in the same place, in hopes she came back. I still wait for her. So much so that I leave my door unlocked, maybe she forgot her keys, and that way she can come in. I left her pillowcase the same. What if she missed it. And her favourite dress still hangs in my closet. The same dress she wore the night we met. Maybe then she remembered our moments and she’d leave that guy. Maybe just maybe my baby honey, with her gorgeous, pure and breathtaking mind would come back. 

A/N: wrote the name Simon in 2019, but changed the rest(to fit the story)...crazy to think years ago I was just a cod player and not a writer..for them.

[secrets-of-everwich]

13-1 Callie’s Final Statement, and Final Thoughts

[Click]

[Electronic hum underlies recording]

{Callie}

Hello, and welcome to this – final – secret of Everwich. Just like every other episode, my name is Callie Hewitt, recording on the 27th October 2021. This will be the last official episode, though I may do a reading of Charles’ journal. I’ve been through all the other statements, and I think I’ve managed to gather a semi-conclusive map of the last month or so.

Let’s begin.

As you know, I began this podcast on the 27th September. Unintentionally, exactly a month ago. However, my personal interest in Everwich began years ago, when I was small. I’ve already said I live in Everwich Manor, where all this weird stuff started. My parents decided to turn it into a tourist attraction to bring in some money, so I grew up helping out with the tours. I found it fascinating. But my fascination for the Florences, and therefore the secrets that Everwich holds began when I found a secret compartment in my bookshelves.

I think I mentioned before that I live in the same room that Charles Florence lived in. Some of the furniture is the same, in surprisingly good condition, the bookshelf being one of them. I was clearing out the old books to put some of my own in, and I found a loose board. I was only about 10, so I tried to pull it out. It was a bit like a puzzle box, I had to press in the correct area to get it to come out. But what I found was another book.

‘The Arachnid: A Philosophical Study by Charles Florence’

I’m a big spider fan – they’re so cute! – So I decided to have a read. I would have then gone on to find more information about it, but I got ill pretty soon after. However, the ‘study’ ended up not just being a journal of information, it ended up being a journal of Charles’ feelings. I know, it probably wasn’t good to read someone else’s private journal, but it did help me feel less alone. Like, even though 200 years separated us, we were friends… He was going through the same feelings I was, so…

It's probably stupid, though. Anyway, when I got a bit better, I started looking for all the information I could. Eventually, in September, I found a tape recorder, and thought it would be fun to talk through my discoveries. Essays are very hard to hand write for me, so I thought if I talked through everything, I could type it up later.

And that brings us up to now… I promise, I didn’t know everything. I really didn’t know there were caves under the house, or that something was wrong with Emilia. But… I thought that if I revealed that I had the journal, something bad might happen… And I guess I was right, because Xavier- Or something made Xavier steal Adam’s journal. I don’t want that to happen to Charles’. It’s a really special find.

So, onto the last month. Me starting the podcast seemed to happen at around the same time as Xavier getting- possessed? Is that the right word? By that spider. Xavier found the key, and went down into the basement, only to have a spider crawl on it, and get possessed by the parasite. Meanwhile, I was locking myself up in my room, talking into this.

On the 1st October, Emilia also got possessed, because a spider made its way into her house. This begs the question, how far do the spiders go? But I have a theory. The spiders seem to call the basement of Everwich Manor their home, and I presume they travel through the caves. I checked the photos I took, there were little holes in the ceiling. Big enough for the spiders. I think the caves were their burrow, where they got into people’s houses. I also checked the map. Assuming Jill Harris and ‘Harvey’ live on Lilacs Lane, where Jill got attacked, then all 4 of these people who we know for definite have been possessed by the parasite live on top of the cave tunnels – Xavier in Everwich Manor, right on top of their home, Jill and Harvey on Lilacs Lane, and Emilia on North Street. I’ll get back to the caves later.

A day or so later, Rin, Ash, X and Emilia all went to Everwich Manor, and X showed Ash the spiders. I think… I think whatever was using X’s body at the time was trying to possess Ash too. Don’t worry, I double-checked, Ash is A-okay in terms of spidery-ness. Considering they had the most accurate statement in terms of the spiders being present, and tried to stop everyone being possessed, I think he’s good anyway. Whatever it was, it didn’t work, probably because Ash ended up having an argument with X, and stormed off. It's lucky, really… I think if Ash had been possessed too, none of them would have survived this last month…

Throughout the following week, Emilia was working on some kind of experiment, something she has no idea about. As you know if you listened to the last episode, Emilia doesn’t remember anything, and she seemed really genuine about being sorry about that. I genuinely don’t know what that was about, there’s nothing in Adam or Charles’ journals that say about someone making some kind of chemical formula. This is new. So, I guess I’ll move onto the next major event.

We’ve heard a lot about the events of 11th October, when Rin, Ash and X discovered Emilia was possessed, and tried to get her to no longer be possessed. Somehow, though, the spider escaped, and went straight back to her when she was asleep. She says there might have been a person. There’s a tall figure that keeps coming up, but everyone is insistent that it’s not Xavier. I’d say it was the Everwich Ghost, but the Everwich Ghost is a short, 12 year old boy, so… I’m really confused about that, to be honest. But it’s weird… If it were just Asher spotting a random figure that could be explained by Ash thinking someone was the Everwich Ghost when they’re just a normal person, but considering Emilia saw a figure that didn’t sound like ‘anyone she knows’, X saw a ‘tall figure’…

OH, how could I forget?! I’ve seen a tall figure too! When I was in the graveyard. It’s weird… I’m not going to go looking for them, though. That’d be an easy way to get killed, disappear, or get possessed. I’m dropping this investigation. Genuinely.

The next few weeks are a few sightings of this figure, and me getting obsessed with the caves. I worked it out, I was in there for nearly 24 hours. It… It didn’t feel like 24 hours… And nobody noticed… But that was partially because Emilia and Xavier were very much possessed, and so Ash and Rin were distracted… And I’m sure – almost positive – the caves changed layout when I was in there. I walked around the same corridor at least 10 times. It’s a maze on the map, but not that much. But that night, while I was in the caves, Emilia became lucid and tried to kill the spider, injuring herself in the process. She’s okay now, as we have confirmed. I’m not sure what changed, to be honest. But something did, and I’m glad it did.

From there onwards, I’ve got a lot of conclusive statements about what happened.

So… I guess that concludes the Secrets of Everwich. I’m really not going to make another episode, with the exception of an episode reading out Charles’ journal. I think you, dear listener, whoever you are, deserve it.

Goodbye, and  thank you for listening to these Secrets of Everwich. I hope you enjoyed.

[Click]

[Click]

[Radio static]

{Voice}

I’m- -orry… G-dby-.

[Click]

[bradsbabe]

For You | Brad Simpson pt 2.

Summary | You and Brad have been together for almost a year, you both are happy together. You are even going on tour with Brad and the other boys and you couldn't be more happy, but ever since you got those hate messages from some "fans" you try your hardest to stay happy and not ruin the tour for Brad and the boys.

Words | 1.52k

pairings | brad simpson x fem reader

warning | kissing, mature themes, arguing

***

“Why do you want to leave?” He asked.

“I feel like I made you mad and yeah I know I should have told you about the messages, but I thought if I ignored them and blocked them then they would leave me alone. So I think the best thing to do is go back home.” I said.

Brad sits on the bed quietly, his hands run through his curly hair and I can tell he is still irritated. 

“I'm not mad at you, just upset that you didn't come to me when all of this was happening, I told you I can put a stop to it, but you don't want me to. Why's that?

“Because I don't need you to fight my battles for me.” I blurted out. 

Brad gets up and walks to the door.

“B, I didn't mean it that way.” I said.

“Maybe, we should take a break from each other.” He said walking out of the hotel room.

Tears started to fall down my cheeks and I ran to the bathroom and locked myself in there, at this point I missed my flight, and I don't know what to do now.

***

“Hey, is everything okay?” Kirstie asked Brad.

“We kind of had a disagreement, and we are on a break.” Brad said in front of everyone.

Kirstie went to see if y/n was okay, but once she went into the hotel room she noticed that y/n was gone, but her suitcases and everything was still in the room, even her phone. James came into the room to check on y/n as well.

“Where is she?” James asked.

“I don't know, all of her stuff is still here, maybe she went to get fresh air.” Kirstie said.

***

I needed fresh air, away from everyone, to think things through. I didn't want it to end up like this Brad breaking up with me, all because I didn't tell him about his fans hating me, for what, I don't know exactly what for. Maybe dating a celebrity was a wrong thing, but I don't see Brad as a celebrity, I see him as a normal, fun, outgoing, down to earth guy, who loves to spend time with family and friends and do normal things. I saw a couple of fans still waiting at the place where the boys are performing at, I guess they have another meet and greet. A few of them noticed me and came walking up to me.

“Aren't you dating Brad?” One of the girls said. I just nod my head.

“We noticed there are a couple of fan pages that have been hating on you, but we just want you to know we love you, and we are sorry people are mean and cruel, and if it's okay can we take a picture with you?” Another girl said.

“Thank you, and of course.” I said.

I talked to them for a few more minutes. I wasn't going in the building, I decided to explore France, which I was supposed to be doing with Brad, but things changed. I saw a cute little café, I went in and ordered a coffee and just sat there enjoying the view.

***

Brad's trying to enjoy the meet and greet, but with everything going on he seems more irritated and even some of the fans have noticed. The same group of girls that met with y/n was next in line and they started to talk about y/n, and Brad overheard them talking about the drama between y/n and those fan pages. Brad decided to walk out of the meet and greet, he tried calling y/n, but it went straight to voice-mail. Brad walks back to the hotel hoping that you're still there so he can apologize for what happened. Once he gets in he sees you watching tv.

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean what I said, I was mad at myself for not noticing what was happening, I don't want a break at all, I tried calling you, but I guess you don't want to talk to me. I wouldn't blame you. Brad said.

“I just came back in and my phone is dead, don't be mad at yourself, you didn't know, and I'm sorry for not telling you I just wanted you to have a fun tour, not have to worry about anything. I got you something. I saw this and thought of you.” I said grabbing a small box and handing it to Brad.

He opens it and inside is a small red heart necklace that I thought was cute for Brad. He immediately puts it on and hugs me.

“Thank you, I love it and I love you so fucking much.” Brad said.

He grabs my face gently and kisses me. He pushes me on the bed and gets on top of me. 

“I want you so bad, I need you now.” Brad said in between kisses.

“What are you waiting for then?” I said tugging on his shirt hinting him to take it off.

Before we got any further, there was a knock at the door.

“Just ignore it.” I said as I  unbuttoned his pants.

“Brad, open up.” James yelled.

Brad groans and gets up and button his pants. I fix myself and sit up from the bed. Brad opens the door and James and Kirstie come walking in.

“We were worried about you both, is everything okay.” James asked.

“Yes, we were actually in the middle of a TV show.” Brad lied. 

James looked at the tv and laughed, but before he got to say something Kirstie grabbed him and walked out of the room.

“We'll see you both in the morning.” She said pushing James out and closing the door. 

“Now where were we?” He asked, pushing me against the wall.

I started to unbutton his pants again, he was only in his boxers this time.

“It's your turn.” He said, pulling my shirt off of me.

"Make me yours.", I breathe out and his hands caress the length of my legs, pulling my pants down. He looks me in the eyes as his hands go back to my thighs. He grabs my thong, taking it off.

"You'll be mine after tonight". Brad says as he caresses my legs, pulling them apart gently, he drops to his knees, positioning his head between my legs. My cheeks burn and I gulp when his mouth starts kissing on my inner thighs, All of a sudden he stands up.

“Come on no teasing.” I whined. He picks me up and lightly throws me on the bed.

“There won't be any teasing.” He whispers.

“Wait, do you have a condom?” 

“No, but we should be fine without.” He said.

 He guides himself inside me, little by little like it was our first time. We both moan when it slides all the way in. He slowly slides in and out of me. He moves, as he's hovering over me, his arms on both sides of my head, and he buries his face into my neck, kissing and biting at my sweet spots. 

We end the night together in a relaxing warm bath.

“How about you and I go explore France together tomorrow.” 

“I'd love that.” I said snuggling into him.

Brad's phone rings and he gets up from the tub and wraps a towel around his waist and grabs his phone and answers it. The look on his face tells me it's bad news, I get out and wrap a towel around me and wait until he's done talking to whoever it is.

“What's wrong?” I asked.

“Nothing, just Joe telling me to be on my best behavior tomorrow night.” He said.

“That reminds me, I have to go tell the boys about one of the songs I added in.” He said.

***

Brad is walking to Joe's room, and knocks on the door waiting for him to let him in. Once he get in he pace back and forth.

“Could we possibly take it down?” Brad asked.

“Yeah, but it'll take some time to, don't worry we'll take it down, hopefully tomorrow y/n will not see it.” Joe said.

Brad's walking back to the room, once he walks in he sees y/n sound asleep. He covers her and kisses her forehead. Brad walks to Jame's room.

“Is everything okay?” James asked.

“Do you remember that night in Italy at the club?” Brad asked.

“Yeah, why.”

“Well someone sent out the video of me and tris and a group of girls, I don't remember it at all and well to me it looks bad like I cheated on y/n, and if she sees it, she'll break up with me. Joe's trying to take it down before y/n sees it.” Brad said.

“You did nothing wrong, I know it may look like that but y/n will not believe any of it. Trust me she loves you man, and we all know nothing happened during that time.” James said.

“I just hope y/n doesn't see it.” Brad said.

Author: Thank you for all the love on the first part! And I hope you all like this one as well!

[iantimony]

it's tuesday!

last weekend someone taught me how to catch crayfish when wading and this weekend i successfully grabbed one!! proof at the end of the post.

listening: guess (charli xcx, billie eilish): old roommate put this on for me and helloooooo. it's so. yeah. (link is the official music video, warning for flashing) it led me to this playlist cunty trashy slutty skanky which, first of all, excellent playlist name; second of all, what a fucking combination of songs?? something about the juxtaposition of nirvana -> kesha -> korn, etc is. insane in a good way.

last week was bandcamp friday! i last-minute got a few things: finally got sammy rae's "good life" and "let's throw a party", and preordered their newest album "something for everybody". i still need to buy my ticket for their concert near to me this fall. then i got sad snack's full discography for like $5 (the no children ska cover lol), the altogether's "when we were kids" which has been a go-to comfort album for me for a bit, shakey graves "deadstock" anthology, and finally the dear hunter "antimai".

i've been back on the podcast grind, just casually keeping up with stuff like mbmbam sawbones lpotl etc as they come out. most recent mbmbam (episode....730?? jesus christ) has some REALLY funny bits, notably towards the beginning where the cincinnati tornado sirens were being tested and griffin made a comment about the air raid sirens going off again and travis was like ?? dude i'm not in the fucking blitz??? it was very good. there was something else towards the end of the episode that also made me laugh out loud -- oh yes i just went and relistened to the last minute and it's the wish at the end, "i wish my cat would know what it means when i flip him off". so fucking true griffin. i was considering going to one of their tour dates but unfortunately they will be in the nearest city to me when i'm out of town for my second wedding of the fall. ah well

reading: most fallow. lots of little articles for my research.

watching: shane dawson and the art of the constant rebrand - jimmy robins: little retrospective about a guy who i never really liked and haven't thought about in years. i guess he's still around ??? okay. not gonna embed it so you don't get jumpscared by his face.

playing: this is a partial share with watching but last weekend my old roommate and i hung out with one of our friends with the intention of having dinner and crafting. however. we were so tired from kayaking earlier that day that we just ended up watching friend play stray and not crafting at all. it's really cute! i did get Very emotional at the beginning when the cat fell! i was like no!!!

my friend mostly played it but i did do a little bit, it was lots of fun. there was a very funny bit where friend, getting really in the mindset of Being Cat, pulled out a battery pack from a fan and was like "hehe i'm gonna drop it off the roof!" and did it before we could stop her, we were like wait we might need that to solve a puzzle -- but the answer was no it was fine, which is good, because it ended up dropped on a completely inaccessible rooftop ledge below, oopsie.

making: !!! ALL REDACTED !!! i will be able to post some of it next week. i do not know if beloved mutual celestialtourguide reads these regularly but just to be safe. allegedly the glaze kiln WILL be done by wednesday so i will finally know how fucked my guys are. if they're very fucked it'll be like. well, okay, i guess my gift is just money now,

other redacted item is embroidery related!

eating: mostly leftovers from last week, i think im gonna make crisped chickpeas with herbs and garlic yogurt from deb smittenkitchen to use up a zucchini that i have languishing in the fridge. it'll be a nice light lunch.

misc: THE PRELIMINARY EXAM DOCUMENT EXISTS. rejoice. however this comes with the caveat that i don't have a date set yet because i am in the trenches of trying to solve a Very specific problem with my software. the solution is a complete unknown to me as of now. it is in the stage of "putting key words in quotation marks in google scholar and going down the list emailing all the authors like heyyyy help please", which is scary. at least one other person has done something semi-similar - in fact they have my advisor in their acknowledgements thanking them for her editing help lol - so i'm hoping i'm nearly there. because once that is resolved i can FINALLY set a date, which, assuming i pass, also sets the earliest point at which i can give my thesis defense! scary!!

anyway. crayfish proof. it looks like im squishing him way worse than i actually was, he got released and swam away safely do not worry

[theflyingfeeling]

well said, Niko 👏

so I went to exit my emotions in Germany last weekend, details below:

we went to the shows in Berlin & Leipzig, with a VIP experience for the latter

and guyyyyyyyyssss let me tell you, BC really did not lie when they said we were there to Exit our Emotions 😩 the shows went straight to the very top of my personal BC shows list, the energy was amazing and all the new songs sounded incredible live, even the ones that weren't necessarily my #1 favourites, like Where's the Exit and Wolves in California. Especially the former sounds sooooooooooooooo good live 💖

and because I was there mainly to enjoy myself and to exit the fuck out of my stupid useless emotions, I barely took any videos or pictures (I never take pictures anyway, how do y'all manage to take such amazing shots at shows?!) despite having relatively good spots to do so. I kinda wish I had more so I could think back to the shows afterwards, but on the other hand I felt like I got way more out of the show when I put my undivided focus on it, and besides indoor shows are always challenging on that regard due to the flashing lights etc. and I felt like every time I was going to film the lighting was not appropriate so in the end I just couldn't bother 😅

I don't really have much else to report from Berlin other than that the venue was great, I had an excellent view and had the best time ever 🥰

not least because I met so many BC tumblr friends!! it was so nice seeing everyone, please come to the Nokia Arena show y'all, we'll be your host it's hocus pocus 🥺

and then there was Leipzig 🥴

I mean, this is my initial reaction immediately after it (written in my drafts):

🙈🙈🙈🙈🙈🙈🙈

but yeah, as you can see from this post, @exitemotions and I had bought some silly little gifts to give the guys (rock hand glass markers not pictured), and we were so incredibly chill about the whole thing, like, NO ONE has ever been as chill as we were in advance of the VIP experience, I'm tellin' ya 💅

(we were so chill in fact that when we came back to the hotel room afterwards, we noticed we had forgotten the ceiling light on. you know, because that's how chill and zen and calm we had been upon leaving for the venue 💅💅💅💅💅)

the acoustic set was fucking cute, almost like a little campfire hangout 🥺

about giving the gifts and having our pictures taken: I feel like I was working on some kind of autopilot and can barely remember much anything 🙃 which I'm kinda mad at myself about lol, but I guess the guys liked the gifts (Olli said the glass markers were important, as my foreword for them was that they'd no longer have to fight about which glass/cup was whose, and I remember Tommi saying that socks are always useful. the others are owners of feet as well, so I suppose they agree 🧦)

we had made all sorts of grand plans for our individual pictures with the band but ended up with having "regular" ones after all, because while there was no feeling of rush per se at the m&g, everything was still happening relatively fast and sort of in their own course, and if we had wanted to do any funny poses or whatever, we should've been faster and in a little...sharper mental state to ask for them 😂😭

but we were chill though, I promise 💅

(I'm just cringing at myself so hard because I look like a fucking teacher standing for a class photograph 😂💀 it's funnier if you know I'm actually a teacher lol)

during the show we were on 2-3 row because we kinda missed our cue to run and reserve our spots before the acoustic set. personally I blame Santeri the tour manager for this (and also the fact that there were so many people there who had already been to VIP on this tour before, so they knew what to do 🤷‍♀️ meanwhile we were just left standing like "...wat 🧍‍♂️")

the show was just as great as the Berlin one, I honestly can't put them in order because they were both amazing and really made me forget about my sad little life 🖤

Rock Band From Hell was also alright. the one with no shirt on was hot

Ghost Kid was cool too. the one with no shirt on was hot

...so hot in fact that I already fell in love with him at the Berlin gig, and so when we were on our way to the merch booth after the Leipzig show, we ran into him and I flirted chatted with him a bit and had my picture taken with him 🥰 he was soooooo sweet and funny and I hope he'll stay true to his promise and keep the thing I said to him ('the drummer of BC could never [swirl the drumstick in his fingers in between every beat like you do]') "just between you and me" 🤭

from the merch booth I bought the XOXO longsleeve which looks super nice (sadly the quality isn't as super though dfgdgdsdh)

the next day it was time to return home, and as @kraeuterhexchen was seeing me to my platform at the railway station, I broke into tears in the middle of an escalator and didn't stop crying until boarding my plane lol

it's just that I was really nervous about travelling back to the airport from Leipzig because I had two changes of trains and the horror stories I've heard of Deutsche Bahn always being late were only adding to it, and that stress somehow triggered some sort of emotional meltdown in me and I realised the trip that I had been waiting for 6 MONTHS was now ending?? there had been so much talk about how we'd "do this and that when we go to Berlin/Leipzig and see BC" and now it's all done and gone and ?????? how does one move on after that 😭

but mostly I've been crying about the gift I gave to Olli 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

some of you have already heard about this, but I had made Olli this pin cushion ring:

...because I wanted to "support his sewing hobby", as I told him then sdhfhdfhfhfh

he seemed to really appreciate it, and as I demonstrated how handy it was (because you can wear it and easily put the pins there while sewing instead of having to reach to a pin cushion further away on the table), he told me he only had this huge pin cushion ("a brick" he called it, the one you can see on this video), and aaaahhhhh I'M SO ANGRY AT MYSELF for not remembering much else or barely daring to even look at him to see his reaction 😭 I do remember he got very excited when he heard he was getting a sewing-related gift though ("yessss" he said, if my memory doesn't fail me too bad) 🥺🥺🥺😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

and I'm so sad I didn't even get a picture of him with it, because Joona the photographer was in the possession of my phone at that moment 😔 and I also forgot to tell him I had made it myself, though I believe it's self-evident. but, you know. still 😭

and the reason why I've been so emotional about it is because I had made the ring weeks ago already, shortly after the album release event, and since then I have admired it every day (because hellooooo is it not the cutest?!) and I had imagined all the scenarios in which I'd give it to him, what I'd say about it and how he'd react to it (I wondered if he'd even know what it was, but of course he immediately recognized it as a pin cushion when I showed it to him 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭), and yesterday it just suddenly hit me that when I'd be back home, the ring would no longer be there on my table for me to admire and hold in my hands, because Olli has it now? it's OLLI'S now, as intented, and yeah idk why but even now, two days later, I'm still literally crying about it as I'm writing this because I had grown strangely attached to that silly trinket and now I'll probably never see it again 🥺😭 (I guess I should just make one for myself too lol, my old one that I made almost 17 years ago is a wee bit shabby)

anyway, if anyone sees him, can you please tell him to take good care of it 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

the world's biggest thanks to everyone who I hung out with on this trip, but especially to @kraeuterhexchen whose stunning art I can now admire in calendar form on my kitchen wall every month of the year (yes I shall keep you updated):

...and to @another-sun the organizer extraordinaire, as well as to my travelling companion @exitemotions (thanks for all the laughs with a touch of chaos in between <3)

here's me with BC again, the only other picture that's not blurry af lol

in conclusion, 🎵 never again, never again 🎵

...until next time 👀

[duhragonball]

Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return! (2008)

2008 marked the fortieth anniversary of the manga anthology Weekly Shonen Jump.  To commemorate the occasion, Toei produced two anime shorts, which would be presented during the Jump Super Anime Tour.  One of these was One Piece: Romance Dawn Story, and the other was Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return.

With respect to One Piece, I think the Dragon Ball special was a much bigger deal, as this was the first new anime from the franchise since Dragon Ball GT signed off in 1997.  Today, it’s kind of easy to overlook, because we have four new movies, 131 episodes of Dragon Ball Super, and however many chapters of the DBS manga.  But in 2008, it was pretty much understood that Dragon Ball had ended and would not return.  So even a one-off special like this was pretty historic. 

In the fall of 2008, Shonen Jump put the special on their website, and I remember having to install a special browser to watch it.  I thought I had downloaded the episode as well, but this afternoon I went looking through my files and apparently I only got the browser.  I guess that might still work after all this time, except they took down the OAV in 2009. The only official release was in 2013, when it was included as a bonus feature of a limited edition of the Battle of Gods DVD.  So it’s on track to become another “lost movie”, like “Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans”. 

You can track down Return on YouTube, but I couldn’t find a very good upload of the video.  A lot of fans tried to dub it themselves, probably  because there was never a proper English localization.  The only version I found with English subtitles was a “remastered” version, and from what I can tell, they just slapped their shitty watermark in the corner and did a horizontal flip of the footage to avoid a copyright strike.   So when I started this liveblog, I assumed this OAV was already in my collection, but it turned out to be the hardest one to arrange. 

There was also a 2009 manga adaptation of this anime, so maybe that version is easier to find than this special, but I sure hope they just put all this stuff out there where people can buy it.  Anyway, let’s take a look at what we’ve got.

So, in case you’re not familiar with this OAV, this is the one with Tarble, Vegeta’s brother.  I’m pretty sure he hasn’t appeared anywhere else since, unless you count his inclusion in the roster of Raging Blast 2, and some other video games.  He was also mentioned during Battle of Gods and the recent Broly film, but mostly this was done just to remind the audience that they didn’t forget about him.  In Battle of Gods, Vegeta says that he has no idea how to find or contact Tarble, and I suspect this means that we may never see him again.  Then again, I never expected Dragon Ball to return before 2008, and here we are.

This OAV also set the stage for a lot of what was done with the characters in Super.  Goku’s got the same farmer’s outfit here that we see him wear in Super, and he mentions that Mr. Satan recently gave him some money, which is depiced in DBS Episode 1. 

Continuity-wise, this takes place two years after the defeat of Kid Buu.  As I recall, Battle of Gods was supposed to be set four years after the defeat of Kid Buu, to give you an idea. 

So during that two-year peacetime, Chi-Chi has gotten Goku to start a radish farm, while Mr. Satan has built a new hotel.  The grand opening will take place soon, but he wants to hold a private party there the day before, and invite everyone from the Buu Saga to celebrate their victory. 

This greatly embarrasses Videl, so she calls Gohan to tell him about it.  Mr. Satan got all the credit for defeating Buu, but that isn’t true at all.  So she thinks his ego has gotten out of control. 

Also, there’s this cute sequence in the background as Satan and Buu give their dog a bath.  First they shove him down the hall, then Buu carries him back the other way, with suds all over him. 

That night, Gohan tells the rest of the family that they’ve been invited.  Goku and Chi-Chi aren’t interested, but Gohan casually brings up how it’s all-you-can-eat, and suddenly Goku’s on board.  The weird thing is that Gohan seems extremely relieved about this, and even thinks “Now Videl won’t yell at me.”  I don’t understand where he would have gotten that idea.  Videl just seemed frustrated about her dad’s extravagance.  I never got the sense that she wanted or needed Goku to come to this party, or that she would have been upset with Gohan if he couldn’t convince his dad to attend. 

Anyway, I just really like this shot of the four of them sitting at the table.  We never got to see this sort of thing in DBZ, but now we can.  It’s nice.

The next day, Videl arrives to pick them up, and Roshi immediately gawks at Chi-Chi’s boobs, so she hits him in the face with a frying pan. 

They get to the hotel, and Goku greets Buu’s pet dog.  He’s called “Bay” in the subtitles, and the name “Bee” seems to be official, as it gets used throughout the dub, but the weird thing I discovered in 2019 was that the dog never gets named throughout the entire Japanese script for the anime.  So I’m not sure when the name was finally introduced.  Maybe it was in the manga, but if that’s the case, you’d think it would have been used in the anime as well.  Or maybe it was one of those things they put in the guidebooks or whatever.

I just always liked this interaction with the two of them, where Goku greets Bee like a fellow veteran of the Kid Buu Saga, even though Bee was just a frightened puppy on the Sacred World of the Kais.  But he fought as hard as the others.  He borked and borked and then Kid Buu finally dropped dead, so I call that a win.

So one really weird thing about this special is how Mr. Satan somehow got Kibitoshin and the Elder Supreme Kai to show up for this.  Also King Kai, Bubbles, and Gregory are in attendance, they’re all dead.  I’m pretty sure this is the first and only time we ever see King Kai in the mortal plane.  Maybe this was why Gohan thought it was so important to get Goku to come to this thing.  Goku’s the only one who could get in touch with some of these characters, so without his help, Mr. Satan’s party would have been a very small affair.

Then the press shows up, despite Mr. Satan’s best efforts to keep this private.  They just want to know the name of the hotel, and it soon gets revealed as “The Mr. Satan World-Saving Defeat of Majin Buu Super Gorgeous Hotel.”  Try saying that three times fast. 

Satan seems mortified to have the name revealed, like he’s ashamed of it or something, but they were going to reveal this tomorrow anyway, so I don’t understand his reaction.  Then the media seem really pleased with the name, and he embraces it.  I don’t understand this whole plotline.

So, first of all, no one in the general public should even remember the name “Majin Buu”.  That’s because Goku used the Dragon Balls to wipe their memories of Majin Buu, so that Fat Buu could live among them without causing a panic.  They remember the Buu crisis, and that a terrible monster killed them all, but they don’t remember what the monster’s name was, or that it looked exactly like the big pink dude Mr. Satan hangs out with all the time. 

So I get Videl’s embarrassment, because it resembles her feelings in DBZ Episode 289.  As she put it, everyone believes her father saved the world from something, but no one knows what it was.   Also, it was during the Buu Saga that she learned her dad never beat Cell either, so I think she’s still coping with the fact that her dad’s business empire is all based on lies. 

However, Dragon Team takes the whole thing in stride, because they’ve known the truth all along, and they never resented Satan about it before.  Now, they like the guy, because he really did help them out with Majin Buu.  And now that he knows the truth about them, he’s been extremely humble around them, albeit privately.  I mean, the fact that he’s throwing this party in their honor kind of sums it up, doesn’t it?  He’s opening a hotel that commemorates “his” victory over Buu, but the day before, he invites the gang over to celebrate the true heroes of that struggle. 

And it’s kind of an awkward balance for Mr. Satan, made even more awkward when the press unexpectedly show up and he has to play both roles at once, but I don’t get how the hotel is an example of Satan’s ego getting out of control. 

Also, why a hotel?  This sounds like a museum or a monument would make more sense, but maybe hotels have a different significance in Japanese culture?  It’s also kind of weird how this is like Mr. Satan’s project.  You’d think that someone else would build the hotel and he would simply get royalties for attaching his name and likeness to it. 

Anyway, just before the gang can start eating, a pair of Saiyan Attack Balls land on Earth, and everyone senses a powerful ki.  It’s someone new, and that someone heads straight for the party, and Vegeta recognizes him as Tarble, his younger brother. 

Why have we never heard of this guy before?  Because Tarble had the same origin story as Goku.  During the rule of the Vegeta dynasty, Saiyan babies were tested for battle potential, and those determined to be unfit were launched into space to defenseless planets, where they could grow up and conquer in relative safety.  And say what you will about King Vegeta III, but he was no hypocrite, as he followed that policy with his own son, sending Tarble to some other planet because his test scores weren’t up to snuff. 

And this always illustrated the nonsense behind the Saiyans’ attempts to breed better warriors.  The whole idea was to remove the weakest specimens from their own population, and devote the best training and resources to the strongest, so that they could produce even stronger generations in the future.   Except Goku had extremely low test scores, and yet he wound up becoming the Legendary Super Saiyan.  Meanwhile, Vegeta and Tarble are brothers, yet one of them tested well and the other one didn’t, which sort of exposes the notion of Saiyan power is hereditary.

Anyway, Tarble grew up on some remote world, and apparently he became its defender instead of conquering it.  Then some new threat appeared, and it was too much for him.  So he went looking for help, and a Namekian once told him that Vegeta went to Earth after Frieza’s downfall.  So he’s here to ask Vegeta to save his adopted world. 

Vegeta finds it unseemly for Tarble to ask others to handle his problems, but he’s in the mood for a fight, so he’s down to clown.  But several other guests at the party want to fight, and Goku points out that they can’t all just gang up on the enemy, so he proposes a lottery.   They all teleport back to his house, where they can pull radishes out of his farm.  The one with the longest radish gets to fight.

Goten seems to have the game won, but then Trunks’ radish turns out to be like 100 feet long, so he gets the nod.

At this point, Tarble’s companion wishes Trunks good luck, and Vegeta finally asks who that is.  Turns out, it’s Tarble’s wife, Gure. 

Roshi makes some dumb remark about Saiyans always choosing strange wives, so Chi-Chi and Bulma beat the shit out of him with cookware. 

So they go back to the hotel just in time to meet Tarble’s enemies, who have followed him here.  Vegeta recognizes them as Frieza’s men, Abo and Cado, who were once on par with the Ginyu Force.  Tarble says they were away during Frieza’s downfall, and since that time they have gone into business for themselves, and they’ve become as powerful as Frieza himself. 

So you have to assume that Tarble must be pretty strong himself by now, if these guys came to his planet and he managed to put up any sort of resistance, right?  I mean, he didn’t know about Super Saiyans, but if Abo and Cado are as strong as Frieza, then Tarble must be at least as strong as Vegeta was on Namek, right? 

Anyway, since there are two bad guys, Goku finagles Goten into this contest to even things up. 

Also, Oolong is dressed up like a sexy maid, and serving coffee and sandwiches to the spectators.  That seems like a long way to go for a bit, but Oolong’s a shapeshifter, so maybe he can just will himself to have different outfits on. 

Oh, I didn’t notice Puar’s doing the same bit.  So why wouldn’t they both use their shape shifting powers to look like actual maids?  I mean, if that’s what they’re going for, right?

The four combatants fight evenly at first, but we know Trunks and Goten aren’t even trying that hard because they’re still in base form.  This is just the beginning.  And see, this all makes sense, because none of the main cast is sweating Abo and Cado for a second.  Tarble is afraid of these guys, but everyone else knows they’re just jobbers, fit only for a little practice with the boys. 

Then Abo and Cado use some sort of multiform technique to turn the tables.  Goten and Trunks are stymied...

... until Gohan offers to coach them.   He tells Trunks which way to hit, and tells Gohan to use his ki senses to figure out which one of the multiforms is real.

Wait... I just figured that out.  It seemed strange to me that Gohan would give each one different advice, but maybe that’s the idea.  So it looks like Abo and Cado are doing the multiform technique just like Krillin and Piccolo did against Nappa back in the day.  However, that technique produces three copies of a fighter’s body.  There is no “real” one because they’re all real. 

However, the advice about closing your eyes and using ki senses sounds very reasonable for countering the Afterimage technique which produces illusions.  So what if Abo and Cado are actually using both tricks at the same time, switching back and forth to confuse their opponents?  Pretty tricky.  Well, not really, since Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, and Piccolo all seem to see through it very easily, but it’s tricky enough to confuse Goten and Trunks.

Then Abo and Cado combine into a single, purple alien.  This form is known as “Abocado” although Goten and Trunks are the only ones who call him that, so maybe they made it up on the spot.  I think we all know what’s coming next...

Fusion!  Wait, they fucked it up.  Well, they haven’t had to do this in a while.

There we go.  I think this OAV is the first indication that characters can de-fuse and re-fuse quickly like this.  In the Buu Saga, Gotenks didn’t know how to separate, other than just waiting for the thirty-minute time limit to expire.  But maybe Goku showed him how.  And maybe it’s possible for Goten and Trunks to re-fuse without the rest period.  Originally, there was a cooldown period for the Fusion Dance, but that seems to have gone out the window in later works, such as this one.

So Gotenks uses the Wolf Fang Fist on Abocado, then follows up with the Volleyball Fist, which was Tien’s signature move in the 22nd Budokai.  This is kind of special, because Tien’s not even in this OAV.  His voice actor, Hirotaka Suzoki, had died of lung cancer in 2006, and so Tien wasn’t included in this production, to honor his memory.  And so the Volleyball Fist is kind of the only reference to Tien we get in this thing. 

And then Gotenks turns Super Saiyan to finish with the Dynamite Rolling Thunder Punch, which is one from his own personal moveset.  See, he started as base Goten and Trunks, then they fused, then Super Saiyan.   The fight escalated as it went on, and the different forms followed that progression.  That alone makes this little side-story better than every episode of GT.

But Abocado doesn’t go down so easily, and he starts shooting his big finishing blast.  Gotenks blocks it, but it wrecks the hotel, and the other Z-Fighters have to bust out their own signature moves to protect the civilians.  Goku and Vegeta finally step in, but Goku distracts Vegeta and teleports ahead...

Where he delivers a Kamehameha and big punch to put Abocado down for the count.  Not sure why he’s blue here. 

When it’s over, Vegeta complains about Goku distracting him in order to steal the win.  Goku’s like “Yeah, that was kind of inconsiderate of me, Vegeta.  Remember that time you broke every bone in my body and beat up my son?”

So the battle’s over, but Mr. Satan’s new hotel is destroyed.  Videl tells him he should take this as a lesson in humility, which seems to sink in, until Goku suggests that he use the Dragon Balls to ask Shenron to restore the place.  Videl scolds him again and that seem to talk him out of it. 

Also, Launch has been here the whole time, but she never says or does anything.  Just stating that for the record.

So they go back to eating, because I guess the food wasn’t damaged in the battle.  Gure is shocked-- shocked I say-- to see Saiyans eating lots of food.  Does Tarble just never eat in front of her?  That seems kind of like a strange way to live. 

Maybe Gure is finally realizing that this was what happened to her prize racehorse, Marmalade Thunder.  She didn’t escape from the stable that night after all.  It was Tarble.   It was Tarble all along. 

“This is a good spread, Kakarot, but you know what would make it even better?”

“I dunno, a racehorse?”

“Hell yeah.”

Also Abo and Cado have turned good and are joining the party.  I guess they just love radishes so they’re gonna eat all of those. 

Then Goku eats Vegeta’s sushi, and he takes some of Goku’s pork in retaliation, so they both turn Super Saiyan and look like they’re about to throw down.  But that’ll have to wait for some other anniversary special, I guess.

This special is about “an evil menace that failed to register in public memory.”  As the narrator points out, Abo and Cado might have been a big honkin’ deal, if they had shown up years earlier.   But they didn’t, and so they turned out to be a one-shot affair. 

And that’s it.  I’ll close out by noting that the opening credits for this OAV feature all new animation with Goten and Trunks worked into the classic DBZ opening. 

And the end credits feature a new song, “Orange Hero”, which features scenes of various characters just chilling out.  I like this one of the Son Family with Satan and Videl. 

So that’s it.  The special wasn’t too big a deal in terms of its plot.  The whole point was to introduce a threat that would only be dangerous enough to justify a lot of fun callbacks. Still, it added some new lore to the franchise, and it set the tone for everything that came after. 

[umichenginabroad]

Stockholm Week 7: Travel Week 1

Hej igen! 

I had a bipolar week: the beginning of the week was full of presentations but the end of the week was full of laughter :) 

Let’s begin! 

2/28 Wed

It has been a while since I had two study trips in a day. I learned about the New Slussen Project, which is the reason for all the construction around Slussen. The planning behind the project was astoundingly complex and comprehensive, considering all social, environmental, and economic factors. 

Model of the new Slussen project design

The next study trip was a real guided tour based on the Swedish crime fiction novel, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. We walked around Monteliusvägen to Michael Blomkist’s apartment, the cafe where the movie was filmed, and viewpoints that showed the city at a glance. 

A picture of a gallery I peeked into before the field trip

The view was gorgeous. It's not too far from my apartment too!

When the tours were over, I stopped at the Coffee House and yapped with my friend for a bit before going home.

2/29 Thu 

Today was the big D-day: a 10-minute presentation on the case study done in my core course. I booked a room in DIS to practice until class. I ate my packed lunch and finished up my last touches. 

My messy hair ;-; The sun was out and I needed a break

Turns out the presentation was informal but I guess that was for the better. 

At home, I couldn’t rest as I had to prepare for my other presentation for Swedish and read half of a book for Crime Fiction class tomorrow. I made the mistake of reading in my bed and fell asleep eventually. 

3/1 Fri 

My team successfully finished the presentation and ate the pepparkakor that our teacher prepared for us. It is a thinner version of ginger cookies with a taste of Sweden. 

As a little treat after school, I ordered TooGoodToGo at an island I’ve never been to. It was such a smoggy and windy day (especially because the bridge I had to pass was near a huge lake) but I managed to arrive at the bakery in one piece. 

The bakery had so many cute chocolate pieces < 3

I caught up on my sleep for the rest of the day. 4 hours of nap before sleeping for real at night ;) 

3/2 Sat 

Finally, travel week 1 break began! My family came to visit Stockholm while I was here. We had no specific plans in mind, so we spontaneously decided on places to go. We left Airbnb at 5:30 pm when the sun was all set (...) but we still had a good time walking around T-Centralen and Gamla Stan. 

It was nice seeing my family again < 3

3/3 Sun 

We had a slow morning but made it out of our house by 1 pm. 

Our first stop was Gamla Stan since we could not see anything in the dark yesterday. I took them to the main photo spots first. 

Happy happy happy '◡ '

If you remember this place from my prior posts, you're a real one < 3

My dad then led the way to Stockholm’s narrowest street, Mårten Trotzigs gränd. It is only 90 cm (~35 in) wide. 

I took some great snapshots for my brother 

From far away, we saw a commuter ferry departing and abruptly decided to take it. We ran and ran and ran to make it in the departure time. We found out where we were headed once the ferry steered toward the temporarily closed amusement park on Djurgården Island. I felt like I hadn’t been on impromptu journeys for ages, so this kind of random traveling brought me so much joy! The island was bigger than we thought, and it was then that my dad discovered something from the map. The island we were on was the island with the Vasa museum! On the subway to Gamla Stan earlier on, we had made a plan to go to visit the Vasa museum later today. Without a clue, the ferry took us to the right place at the right time. We were so amazed and couldn’t stop talking about it for a good hour (and now I’m writing it on my blog post). 

Since we were there already, we went to the Vasa museum. It is a popular museum with a restored ship that sank back in the 1600s and recovered after 333 years, in the 1900s. I was impressed by the grand size of the ship and the salvage operation.

I still can't believe this magnificent yet delicate ship sunk 10 minutes after its departure

We took a thorough scan of the six floors and finally left when we were satisfied. A beautiful sunset was awaiting us outside. 

Swan couple < 3

This time, we took a tram to go back to Gamla Stan for fika. Fika and Wine was our first destination. We ordered Swedish meatballs and shrimp salad as our main dishes, as well as delicious desserts with coffee. 

Can’t describe the deliciousness in words < 3

For the rest of the evening, we enjoyed Gamla Stan with street lights on, going into souvenir shops one after another like real tourists. 

I loved the owls in this store but my wallet said no to all of them :(

The past few days have been relaxing, and I can’t wait to spend more time with my family :)  They are wonderful photographers (as you can see from the pictures in this post) so I'll have tons of more photos to share in the following days. Good pictures always brighten my day <3

I will let you know all about the rest of my break next week! 

Tack, 

Jiwoo Kim 

Chemical Engineering

DIS Study Abroad in Stockholm, Sweden

[blueberry-beanie]

Bastille at Stadtpark Open Air in Hamburg | 01.08.2023

A little story about my trip to see Bastille and a very rainy time in Hamburg and my former home city. The text is divided into sections to make skipping to the concert easier.

The Journey

The last time I was at a concert at the Stadtpark Open Air in Hamburg it was really hot and sunny. We were baking in the queue for hours and I was lucky not to come home completely sunburned. This time, however, it was pouring. Buckets. Almost the entire time.

I have to admit that my enthusiasm to pack my bags and board the 8:30am train to Hamburg was kept within reasonable limits. The journey was actually pleasant though. I passed time by listening to Max Uthoff's CD Gegendarstellung as well as some interviews with him and Claus. The one hour break in Berlin due to a delayed train was actually good because I could buy a much needed rain cape and had lunch at the Vapiano there.

When I finally reached Hamburg it felt like I've come home. Everything is so familiar. The U3 I had to take to the hostel is also the line I used to take twice a week to get to Hamburg Media School for classes. I discovered that the hostel was nearby Knust and Uebel & Gefährlich (that huge grey concrete bunker) where I've seen Inhaler and White Lies last year in spring.

The hostel itself was small and nice enough, except for having sockets only on top of the wardrobe and next to the trash bin and no hooks on the wall at all. Happens when you're broke and get the cheapest accommodations, I guess. My roommates were a permanently absent party guy (who would come in at night saying "oh fuck" and then fall into bed and snore) and two Danish friends from Copenhagen. They were nice enough, although a bit loud and messy.

I gathered my stuff and made my way back to the U3 to get to the venue. As I discovered, that was my mistake because I accidentally got out at the station on the opposite side of the park. While walking I met two local girls who didn't seem too keen to make another concert acquaintance, so we eventually parted ways and I went through the rose garden to the left side entrance.

Queueing and Support Act

It was shortly before 5pm and there were already more than 100 people. Bastille started sound checking and we heard Overjoyed and Good Grief. Then they separated the lines and I got sorted into the "cloak room" queue because of my umbrella. That was my luck because this line was much shorter.

However it started pouring shortly before 6pm just when we had to hand over our umbrellas. I ran - no, carefully walked - through the muddy field to the left side of the stage and got to the front row, although on the very edge of it. No time to ponder though, I frantically put on my rain cape to not get entirely soaked and offered my spare to the girl to my right who only had a jeans jacket.

I was really far from the center and the stage this time and honestly didn't expect to have a great view. The stage in this venue is very odd. It has a small catwalk in the center and the front row is a double-curved line with a weird grassy breaker in the middle. An envelope was passed around, containing many little fanmade booklets with the lyrics to These Streets. It is very cute and sadly it has a few spots from the rain now. The support act, anaïs, was quite awkward and I honestly did not like her that much. She had a whispery voice and tried hard to engage the crowd, although most people did not seem to feel it. She premiered a new song for us and that was the best of the bunch. I was happy when it was over though. Then it was already time for the roadies to come back and get the stage ready for Bastille. The sun came out and it actually stayed dry from now on, which was a blessing given the rainy weather.

The Concert

Then shortly before 8pm it was finally time for Bastille. They started an intro with something on the screen I couldn't really see. These were snippets from their tours and funny stories. They would be played regularly as interludes, but I can't really comment on them because I couldn't see the screen. And then the band walked onstage, with Dan being the last one to appear. He actually wore funny sun glasses and as it appears he had an endless stash of jackets to change into as well.

They proceeded to play the entirety of Bad Blood in full, divided by these video interludes and Dan talking to us a little bit. At some point he commented on the extraordinary location. "I feel like I'm kind of in Hobbiton. Or in someone's garden. This is the first time we've ever played a tea party. It feels like a tea party, apart from you guys. We've never had a hedge in the crowd before," he said, referring to the high hedge fencing off the venue from the rest of the park.

I really enjoyed hearing all these songs I knew since I was 15 and remembered how half of our class went crazy for bastille and the girls gathered to go to their concert together. I didn't go, my parents wouldn't have allowed it. But I did borrow my friend's Bad Blood CD and have kept these songs ever since. The band sounded amazing live and I was surprised how good Dan's live vocals are! Very close to the recording, he is a great singer.

They had a huge platform onstage that was made to look rusty. It didn't only have space for the drum kit but also for the two background vocalists, two Black women whose names I sadly didn't quite catch. But they were amazing as hell and sometimes came to the front to engage with us. One of them sang together with Dan on the catwalk. Truly awesome singers. Dan sometimes disappeared on top of that platform to sing or to walk on some sort of treadmill that was installed there.

Their drummer Woody on the first glance reminded me a bit of EE's Pete, but that is probably because of the long hair. He came to us later during a song called "The Draw" to get us all to show our hands and make the Bastille triangle shape. He also threw some drumsticks to fans and everyone seems to really love that guy! Their guitarist sometimes went absolutely wild with it to the crowd's delight. I did not see quite as much of Will, the bassist, but he also did a great job and for one song came to the catwalk to show off and be overall awesome.

Dan was crazy enough to go straight into the crowd at two occasions, apologising to us because it was so slippery. He did not come close to us though and explained he didn't want to be directly in front of the speakers to avoid possible feedback. At some point he took a fans phone and they had a sign explaining something about a friend who couldn't be there. So Dan recorded a short video with greetings for him.

They actually did play a lot of songs I don't know after finishing with the album, but that didn't mean I did not enjoy them. They were cool and just made for jumping and dancing. The two girls behind me, Jacky and Corinna, were jumping together with me and we had an overall great time singing and dancing.

Overall just an amazing band it seems, I would definitely want to see them again and at a venue with a better view so I can see more of what is going on! Looking at the photos my camera with its super zoom surely saw more than me! Once again I was the crazy person with a handbag full of prisms. I was trying to take good shots from an angle no photographer would ever go to because it is so shitty. At this point a big shoutout to @flamingplay for providing me with a new wonderful triangular prism after I broke the last one at the Foals concert in Amsterdam. It is wonderful for the daytime and I could use it to reflect the famed hedge right onto the stage to Dan.

The concert ended somewhat abruptly with them just waving and leaving. We stood confused for a minute until the roadies arrived and started disassembling everything. Jacky, Corinna and me took a few photos and then decided to head to the overcrowded merch stand on the opposite entrance. I thought they might have a few CDs or posters but there were only t-shirts which were too expensive for me. We parted outside with them going to the S-Bahn and me going to get my umbrella.

On my way I realised there was a small crowd waiting at the tour bus and decided to join them later. The park was pitch dark and I called N to tell her about the concert. I waited a little while at the bus, watching the roadies loading in the trucks, but we only saw Woody once and nobody came to say hi to the fans. Some fans were clever enough to manage to order food right to where they were waiting? The marvels of modern day food delivery... It was getting late by now, so I decided to join two girls, Luisa and Christina, who were also catching the U3 in the Direction of St. Pauli. We had some nice conversations about concerts and about the crazy Coldplay ticket sale. Then we parted and I went back to my hostel.

A Visit to My Home Town

After a rather short night I got my aching grandma self out of the hostel at 10am, just early enough to catch the train to my old home tome I used to live in for five years.. Although I've been in my new town for almost an entire year now, it still feels like coming home every time. Everything in me relaxes and it seems like I could just get my keys out and go back to my old flat to eat some warm bread from my favourite bakery and fresh cucumbers from the market. Everything sounds, looks and smells familiar. Maybe one day I can come back. I love this town very much.

I met up shortly after 12 with Vamsi, my former flat mate. We went to the market to get some cucumbers and a tray of raspberries and then walked to his new flat (he was made to leave our previous one because they wanted to renovate it, presumably to rent it out for the double price after). His new flat is gorgeous, with a beautiful kitchen and a large balcony looking over the town and with the church tower in view. Once we arrived it started raining ceaselessly. We made an Indian dish, drank some lemonade and played a game.

In the evening we decided it is time to go out despite of the rain. Afterall I wanted to see some of my beloved town. We ended up finding a present for my now-flatmate and friend Maja's birthday: A little travel journal for her upcoming semester abroad in Manchester. Then we kept wandering around until it was time for me to catch a train back to Hamburg. Deutsche Bahn decided it is not necessary to announce that a train is 10 minutes late and to tell us to which platform it would arrive... Vamsi and I hugged and parted ways. Back in Hamburg I got out my old grandma personality again and stayed at the hostel on a call with N while the others were out partying. Honestly, how do they do it... after two days I was already so so tired.

Last Day in Hamburg and Travelling Home

On the last day Hamburg decided to show me some mercy and it rained a little less. I packed my heavy bags and headed to the Speicherstadt, which I somehow have never been to before. It is right where the famous Elbphilharmonie is situated, but I did not go there. Instead I visited the tiny little Speicherstadtmuseum which deals with the history of the ware house district, how and why it was built, the people that worked there and the goods that were stored in here. It was very interesting and kept me dry from one of the frequent rain showers.

After that I briefly thought about visiting the nearby Zollmuseum, but then I came by the entrance of a spice museum with a spice shop. I didn't want to pay the entrance fee to the museum so I wandered through the extensive spice shop. Vamsi inspired me to get some (mild) curry powder and I got a vegetable roast mixture as well as some greek herbs.

Then it was already time to walk into the direction of the Hauptbahnhof as my train would depart half past two already. A quick stop at a shop and some cheap Asian noodles later I was already in the train home. This time the journey went as planned and I arrived back half past eight in the evening to a surprisingly warm and dry weather, thank the lord...

Dear Hamburg, it has been a wonderful time back home. Just a tiny suggestion: Don't pour a month worth of rain on me in the matter of three days please. Anyways... would definitely do it again.