#no one is doing concerted activism about Twitter they are just complaining

[dorindameddler]

Musk blaming Twitter revenue drop on “activists” is so funny also really indicative of the way right wingers think. When random right wing people complain about shit they don’t like that’s free speech but when lefty people do it it’s automatically activism

[periodicreviews]

50 Cent: The Final Lap Tour

"It might be the final lap, but 50 is forever."

These were the final words from 50 Cent during his appearance in Tampa for "The Final Lap" tour.

In the world of concerts, final doesn't mean final. But it hints that maybe, possibly, it could be. And if it is, and you miss it, you'd miss it forever.

Whether or not this is his final tour, this show made me a believer in 50 Cent again (or whoever behind the scenes orchestrated this).

In my 5th post on this tumblr, I complained about a single event which caused me to lose all faith in 50 Cent. I unfollowed him on Twitter long ago and haven't sought out any information on him. Petty? Maybe. But I was still subscribed to his channel on youtube. When I saw the ad for his tour, I thought despite that tragic event 8 years ago that I should pay money again to see him.

Jeremih

After parking and making the 20 minute walk from the lot to the amphitheater, I arrived with just a few songs left in Jeremih's set. I never looked into his music so I wasn't really missing anything. From the time when he ended, if he started at 7, then he only played for 30 minutes. He seemed to perform only segments of his songs before the DJ would scratch the record to a halt. He also had one of his crew perform their own song. It was all ok, nothing bad but barely anyone was standing. The mixing of the sound seemed to be off as well because it was hard to hear his vocals.

Busta Rhymes

When I originally bought my ticket, I assumed that even if 50 Cent did a repeat of his 2015 performance, then at least I'd have the 2nd act, Busta Rhymes. Without knowing anything about his live show or really anything about him as a person, I just assumed that Busta Rhymes would bring his A game based on the level of technique he uses in songs like "Look at me now". I'm using that as an example because that and "Break ya neck" are really the only two Busta Rhymes songs that I know. I've probably heard some others but they didn't really come up in his set. I'm remembering now that I have a copy of "Come on" from Tiesto featuring Busta Rhymes, but that probably doesn't get performed live.

Anyway, Busta Rhymes's set time arrives. His hype man comes out, makes an introduction while an elaborate throne chair slowly turned to reveal Busta Rhymes sitting there in a relaxed position. There was quite a bit of cheering for him just turning around so he sat there and milked it for a bit.

He launched into his first song and it seemed like his voice was a lot deeper than he sounded on these 10-20 year old tracks that I was familiar with. Not sure if it's age, smoking, other health problems, or some combination of it all. After some quick DuckDuckGo searching, it seems he's definitely struggled with his weight, as well as having had surgery on his throat.

But the vocals don't really matter when you promptly stop the song after either verse 1 or chorus 1. Guy next to me said he had seen him recently and at that previous show it seemed like he was out of breath most of the time but since then he had lost some weight. It didn't seem like he was necessarily out of breath after 1 minute, but maybe this style of show was in recognition of that.

But even if he was only doing 1 verse+1 chorus, I wouldn't be as disappointed of what he was actually doing. Half of the time, he was making the audience sing the verse or chorus so the whole show had more of a sing along feel. Singing along with the show is something people do everywhere and a lot of bands at some point will actively encourage it for a portion of a song. But this was my first time at a show where I felt like I was getting so little from the original artist and too much from the audience.

The only song he sang a full verse+chorus on was his new single, though that's to be somewhat expected as most people in the crowd aren't going to know the words to it. The other piece he did in full was his verse on "Look at me now". At the time it seemed maybe a little slower than it was on the recording, but it still felt like 85% there which is a feat in itself.

The guy I thought was his hype man, Spliff Star, seemed more like his co-vocalist. Again, being unfamiliar with Busta Rhymes I wasn't sure if this was the usual performance that he gives or particular to this tour. But for me, the split dynamic didn't really work for me and I find hype men generally annoying to begin with.

Near the end of his set, Busta gave a bit of a speech talking about thing he thought were worth celebrating:

1. Waking up today

2. Cause we're blessed

3. 50 Cent

4. Each other

5. Tampa

6. 25 anniversary of one of his album

7. BET lifetime achievement award

8. 50 years of hip hop

I appreciated him taking the time to talk a bit about himself as a person, which made up a bit for the short performance style. But then the hour was up.

I was left wondering whether this would be the same thing that 50 Cent was going to do. Was all of this just a cash grab? Put "the final lap" branding on to entice people, come out and do 1 min of each song, not bother releasing any new songs, and call it a day.

In the intermission, it seemed like an excessively long time that we waited for. There were some technicians that gathered on stage, then looked at the massive LED screen setup and the lights. From the audience it was hard to see exactly what the problem was. And in the absence of seeing anything big, I was left wondering whether we really needed to delay the show for it. While the screens and the lights certainly elevate the performance, I'd have been content with just hearing 50 Cent perform.

50 Cent

The show finally started around 9:20. One of the 5 LED screens lit up with the image of 50 in silhouette as the crowd went wild. There was then a Nightcrawler teleportation effect where 50 disappeared in a wisp of smoke only to reappear on another one of the screens. After he teleported between all 5, a clear plastic enclosure on stage began to fill with smoke, and after filling completed, 50 popped out of it as he began the first song.

I didn't recognize the first song, but when he next went into "What Up Gangsta", I was sold by the end of the song.

Similar to Busta Rhymes, 50 Cent was not there 100% vocally. The guy next to me had also mentioned that it seemed like sound quality at the Mid Flordia Credit Union Amphitheatre had been in a downward spiral for awhile now. So maybe that was also at work here. He certainly wasn't yelling all the lyrics, which I had seen him do in previous concert videos. Looking at a recent interview, it definitely sounds like his voice wasn't what it used to be so I'm assuming that it's some combination of age and maybe not taking care of it during those earlier shows when he was shouting for the whole set.

He played a lot from "Get Rich or Die Tryin" which I appreciated, but also weaved in some of his newer stuff. But the big surprise aside from him actually performing was the reveal of the live band that was hidden inside of the large LED screens. The screens split apart in the middle to reveal them playing the drums, keyboard, bass, and guitar.

Earlier in the night, I asked the guy next to me whether he looked up setlists before going to see shows and he said he didn't. I've done it occasionally when I've needed to leave a show early but I generally like being surprised about what's going to come next. The live band surprise that would've been ruined with the setlist saying "guitar solo".

The stage production besides the LED screens and backing band was top notch. I can see now why the technicians might have wanted to delay the show a bit in order to troubleshoot an issue. There were quite a lot of different elements from fire and fireworks, to the smoke at the beginning, and 2 or 3 different sets of confetti. I'm not sure if they were separate elements or just flame jets with some kind of motor but there were typical vertical flames as well diagonal flames.

Another element to the production was the dance team. Maybe rap videos still feature lots of scantily clad women, I feel like I haven't watched a music video like this in a while but it also felt like a bit of a throwback to that era where I just remember so much controversy about rap music and videos being public enemy number one. The dancers served a dual role in keeping the energy going on stage in between the many outfit changes that 50 went through.

The only downside to the production was that a live band meant that the songs were not exactly the same as on the album. In general, this wasn't a problem except for "In Da Club". The steel drum sample was not the same and I just could not get over it. I'm not sure if they just didn't have access to it or if it was a conscious choice to do new arrangements of all the tracks.

There was only 1 minor hiccup during the show and that was when Jeremih was supposed to play a song on piano. They wheeled out a grand piano and when he sat down to play it, it was immediately clear that it wasn't making any sound. Without missing a beat, they cued up the backing track and he proceeded to skip that segment entirely. It's clear they spared no expense on not just the physical production but the team as well for them to be able to recover so quickly from that.

During the encore, 50 started to do shorter versions of some of his songs like Wanksta and Poor Lil' Rich. At this point, this was more than fine with me since we had already gotten so much.

The show ended without 50 saying much of anything. He kept the music and show moving and any long pause would've meant having to cut some of the songs. If this really is the last time he performs live, I would've liked a little more from him in terms of thanking the fans for coming out. Though when given the option between long bits of talking and focusing on the music, I’d take the latter most days.

In retrospect, my process for buying a ticket really didn’t make sense. If I really had no confidence in 50, I might have waited until after he had performed at least one show, then looked up a setlist and a review to see if it was real or not. But I guess I had some hope still since it was an arena show as opposed to something at a nightclub.

Overall, for the 39 dollars I paid for a seat (I could have sat on the lawn for 20), the value was incredible. I watched an interview he did for Men's Health to lookup how his speaking voice sounds like now. At the end he talks about being frustrated being told "No" when asking for pyrotechnics at his show and saying he'd rather be told what it takes to get it if he wants it. This would seem to indicate that he's the driving force behind the big production on this tour. If that really is the case, then I'll give him credit for putting the pieces in motion. Ultimately it takes a whole crew to put on the show and everyone played their part in making it a successful and memorable night for me.

[xtruss]

The Way Out of Burnout! A Psychoanalyst Explains Why For People Feeling “Burnt Out”, Simply Trying to Relax Doesn’t Always Work

— 1843 Magazine | August 12, 2023

Illustration Izhar Cohen

A patient of mine named Elliot recently took a week off from his demanding job as a gp. He felt burnt out and badly needed to rest. The plan was to sleep late, read a novel, take the odd leisurely walk, maybe catch up on “Game of Thrones”. But somehow he found himself instead packing his schedule with art museums, concerts, theatre, meetings with friends in hot new bars and restaurants. Then there were the visits to the gym, Spanish lessons, some flat-pack furniture assemblage.

During the first of his twice-weekly evening sessions, he wondered if he shouldn’t slow down. He felt as exhausted as ever. Facebook and Twitter friends were joking about how it all sounded like harder work than work. “I’m trying to figure out how I’ve managed to be doing so much when I didn’t want to be doing anything. Somehow not doing anything seems impossible. I mean, how can you just…do nothing?!”

When Elliot protests that he can’t just do nothing, he is seeing and judging himself from the perspective of a culture that looks with disdain at anything that smacks of inactivity. Under constant self-scrutiny as to whether he is being sufficiently productive, he feels ashamed when he judges himself to have come up short in this regard. But this leaves him at once too drained to work and unable to rest.

As I describe in my feature for the August/September issue of “1843”, this is the basic predicament of the burnout sufferer: a feeling of exhaustion accompanied by a nervy compulsion to go on regardless is a double bind that makes it very difficult to know how to cope. Burnout involves the loss of the capacity to relax, to “just do nothing”. It prevents an individual from embracing the ordinary pleasures – sleep, long baths, strolling, long lunches, meandering conversation – that induce calm and contentment. It can be counterproductive to recommend relaxing activities to someone who complains that the one thing they cannot do is relax.

So what does it take to recover the capacity to do nothing, or very little? I might be expected at this point to leap to psychoanalysis as an instant remedy. But psychoanalysis is emotionally demanding, time-consuming and often expensive. Nor does it work for everyone (a basic truth of all therapies, physical or mental).

In less severe cases of burnout, it is often the case that difficulties inducing nervous exhaustion are more external than internal. Time and energy may be drained by life events (bereavement, divorce, changes in financial status and so on) as well as the demands of work.

In such cases, it is worth turning in the first instance to more external solutions – cutting working hours as much as possible, carving out more time to relax or for contemplative practices such as yoga and meditation. This is as much a matter of discovering a remedy as the remedy itself. Merely listening and attending to the needs of the inner self as opposed to the demands of the outside world can have a transformative effect.

But such solutions will seem unrealistic to some sufferers both practically and psychologically. Practically in the sense that many of us are employed in sectors that demand punishing hours and unstinting commitment; psychologically in the sense that reducing working hours, and so taking oneself out of the highest levels of the game, is likely to induce more rather than less anxiety in someone driven relentlessly to achieve more.

So while there are many means by which we can be helped to relax, the predicament of severe burnout is precisely that you cannot be helped to relax. Where burnout has psychological roots, psychoanalysis may be able to help.

One way is its “form”. The nervous exhaustion of burnout results from their enslavement to an endless to-do list packed with short- and long-range tasks. In a psychotherapy session, you sit or lie down and begin to talk with no particular agenda, letting yourself go wherever your minds takes you. For portions of a session you might be silent, discovering the value of simply being with someone, without having to justify or account for yourself, instilling an appreciation for what the American psychoanalyst Jonathan Lear calls “mental activity without a purpose.”

Another way is the “content” of psychoanalysis. Talking to a therapist can help us discover those elements in our own history and character that make us particularly vulnerable to specific difficulties such as burnout. In my feature for “1843”, I discuss how two patients came from early childhood to associate their worth and value with their levels of achievement. Under constant pressure from within to “be their best”, they were liable to feel empty and exhausted when, inevitably, they felt they’d failed to live up to this ideal self-image.

This was very much the case for Elliot, and goes some way to explaining why the idea of “just doing nothing” so scandalised him. Even today, as they approach old age, Elliot could never imagine his parents putting their feet up talking, reading or watching tv. He remembers family meals taken quickly, with one or both parents in a hurry to rush off to one commitment or another. His own life was heavily scheduled with homework and extra-curricular lessons, and he was never more forcefully admonished by either parent than when he was being “lazy”. “They were kind of compulsively active”, he said, “and made me feel it was shameful to waste time. You could imagine the seats of their chairs were rigged to administer a jolt of current if they sat on them for more than ten minutes.” Only now is he beginning to ask why they, and he in turn, are like this, and why being at rest for any length of time is equivalent in their minds to “wasting” it.

Insight like this can be helpful to challenge our unthinkingly internalised habits of working and our dogmas as to what constitutes a “productive” use of our time. It encourages us to think about what kind of life would be worth living, rather than simply living the life we assume we’re stuck with.

[neverforpickles]

that article was so hard to read, it’s so all over the place.

you have half of it about harry talking in his usual harry way that you have to read in between the lines for you to understand

there’s so much promotion of the film dwd

so much monologue from miss girlboss about male rage, and harry’s acting skills were looking like an animal, and all that

backhanded compliments and complains to larries and harry’s fans in 2022

barely anything about the album

some recap of his activities from last few years pre, during and post pandemic

how harry manages to be undetected in public which shows a massive contrast when they’re on a “date” with miss girlboss

your routine papwalk,

the push of the stunt at a so called wedding where for some unknown reasons paparazzi’s were allowed

harry talking about his lack of need to do film again for the moment and it’s unsatisfactory and waiting

talking about writing always, and staying in one place with his cowriters and staying for a while whilst dwd was filming and texting his “mate”

harry talking about his compartmentalisations between private and public life

he talks about how theres always some different versions of a narrative and he does not correct or redict them

he talks about him as a person being caring, stubbor, selfish, open and vulnerable and professional

harry explicitly saying he does not talk about his away from work life in public

some comments about twitter being a nasty corner of his fandom and imagining a scenario of a second date

harry talking about what type of dad he would be one day

harry talking about how mp is about love and wasted time and it’s supposed to be tender and sensible

harry acknowledging how people blur the lines between his public and private life for him

harry acknowledging that people who were alive during the years being gay was illegal being able to see the film

harry talking about his sexuality, and that just because he’s photograph with women and being in a relationship doesn’t mean he wants his relationship to be in public or whatever was that, in his exact words “Sometimes people say, ‘You’ve only publicly been with women,’ and I don’t think I’ve publicly been with anyone. If someone takes a picture of you with someone, it doesn’t mean you’re choosing to have a public relationship or something.”

harry thanking his friends and family and collaborators and partner for the album

some things about therapy and how he does it once a week

some one direction stuff and how he had tonsillitis on their wembley concert in 2014

some things about his routine and food that takes care of his voice

his love for architecture and plants that he uses instagram for and he does not have tiktok

harry talking about people who makes him feel flawless when he is flawed, messy and all that

Oh, just Harry once again coming out for the millionth time in front of everyone’s salads

whilst it gets burried and concealed behind miss girlboss name

and too much promotion by the journalists about miss girlboss.

tell me it’s organic

no you can’t tell me

how pathetic

but still nice to hear harry sharing pieces of himself though

proud of him

x

[thoughts-on-bangtan]

Hi, since you were discussing about some interactions being fanservice. Do you think the sheer amount of Jimin posts by Tae in weverse, and the many 'I love you..I miss you.. Taehyungie..' posts by Jimin in Twitter were fanservice as well? Same as in the past fancafe posts?

In June 2020 a Harvard paper was published about BH and BTS in which, among many other interesting pieces of information, we were told this:

What this tells us is that while their twitter is overseen by the agency, they have relative freedom when it comes to what they decide to post and write on their Weverse accounts. They can ask for advice, but they don’t have to and the agency itself won’t stick their nose into their decisions (as long as they remain reasonable with what they post I’d assume). 

Based on that I’d say that while their posts on twitter, like selcas and birthday posts, are basically (to a certain degree, meaning not always but oftentimes) a form of fan service, since they post those to stay connected with us, to thank us, or update us on things, their Weverse activity is different. Twitter is their most known social media presence accessible and known by most people (though media seems to occasionally struggle with distinguishing the twt account belonging to the members and the one controlled by staff) while Weverse is specifically just for BTS and ARMY, the way fan cafe used to be. So I’d actually group Weverse and fan cafe into one, though fan cafe offered the members more safety and “privacy” than Weverse does, seeing as you had to pass a rather hard process in order to access and use it, which isn’t the case with Weverse.

Therefore we can assume that whatever it is Tae decides to post on Weverse (just like both him and Jimin did in the past on fan cafe) isn’t fan service but simply whatever it is they want to say and their way of trying to communicate certain things. After all Tae had complained about there not being a video posting function on Wevsere and the second he realized it was finally implemented, he basically left Seokjin on read (who was on Weverse at the time as well) in order to post a video of Jimin with that yellow ball from the Chilsung Cider ad set with the caption “cute”.

We think, and this truly is just our theory so don’t take this as like fact or anything like it, his posts fulfill five criteria:

Tae himself said that he misses the contact and love he gets from ARMY during concerts, so the closest substitute to that is interacting with ARMY on Weverse, which is a bit “safer” and more “personal” than twitter is.

Everything Tae does is planned, as in he doesn’t do anything on sns without thinking about it and being certain that that is whatever it is he wants to do and some kind of thought went into it, especially when he decides to post pictures of Jimin or something about him. Like that time when, after Namjoon was happy that he got some kind of food from the staff that he really wanted, Tae posted pictures of the remaining members in one post yet decided to make a separate one to post a picture of Jimin (despite being able to fit all the pictures into one post) with a separate caption as well. That in a way reminds us of those times when vmin would hug each other before hugging the other members in group hugs at award shows when they won something. So, with that, it seems like he’s simply trying to communicate that Jimin is special to him, since he highlighted him separated instead of along with the other members. Usually, when he posts something more risky or that he didn’t think through completely, like his “revealing” selcas, he deleted them rather quickly, and yet the posts about Jimin are all still there.

When posting pictures of Jimin with captions like “cute” or “our/my Jiminie” or “good until the end” or a selca in bed with just two rather suggestive emoji as caption, it’s rather clear that he is showing affection toward Jimin and also trying to showcase their closeness, especially during times when people might assume they aren’t as close anymore because they don’t appear on screen as much together (since that seems to be the universally accepted “real” friendship-meter, for whatever stupid reason). And no one will tell me any ordinary friend would just go and posts pictures of his best bro with such captions or find a post by ARMY containing their selca and reply by saying “95z is love” if there aren’t more feelings involved. Let’s be real.

By posting such pictures and affection on social media about another person I think it carries a certain message/meaning, as in that you wouldn’t post such things about and pictures of another person if you knew they are in a relationship with someone else, since that would just cause an awkward uncomfortable situation and also make you seem like an as*, but also that you yourself are not in a relationship with someone else either, since that would just cause your partner to feel weird as well, right? And Tae doesn’t seem like the kind of person who’d want to cause any such awkwardness and hard feelings, so I think it’s safe to assume that Jimin doesn’t mind him posting these things, like knows about it, and that they are either (potentially) together or share some kind of higher level of shared affection wherein such posts are welcome and perhaps even encouraged.

We also know that Jimin isn’t on sns as often, he said himself he’ll try to continue staying away from it for the most part, so by sharing pictures of him Tae satisfies ARMY’s “demand” or wish for Jimin selcas that otherwise won’t get met (which of course is totally Jimin’s right and if he doesn’t want to post anything himself, that is totally fine and I hope he doesn’t feel any pressure to do something he doesn’t want to do, it’s not like twt has been kind to him in any way in recent months/years...).

So no, we don’t think Tae’s Weverse posts are fan service. When it comes to Jimin, his use of their sns is a little different from Tae. While Tae clearly favors Weverse, Jimin never used it much and rather stayed on twitter, so while some of his posts are more fan service-y, I’d still argue that some of his tweets directed at Tae, like the one where he proclaimed how much he loves and adores him along with a bunch of red and purple hearts, or when he told ARMY to be excited for Scenery, are genuine. Especially since Jimin is particular about his interactions and words about Tae, so for him to say these things and them just being fan service without actual feelings attached to them just doesn’t seem right. While yes, vmin engage in fan service together at times, just like all the other members, they are much more selective in what they are willing to show and share with us about their bond, so presenting such declarations and feelings in a non-serious manner doesn’t really seem like something they would do.

[purplesurveys]

1195

survey by n0b0dysp3rf3ct

—:: Who ::—

... was the last person you saw face to face? I passed by my brother last night when I had to go to the kitchen to fill up my tumbler.

... was the last person you texted or messaged online? Angela; I was just asking her for the difference among A4/A5/A6 since I’m now planning to buy a binder and sleeves for my rapidly increasing collection of photocards and postcards. It really frustrates me that A4 is the biggest one and A6 the smallest :((((

... was the last person who asked you for a favour? Kata, my manager. She filed a half-day leave last Friday to get herself and her family vaccinated in her town, so she had sent me over a very long to-do list of deliverables that she asked me to fulfill while she was out. Eventually she ended up filing a whole-day leave since she felt feverish after being under the sun all day, and also possibly from side effects of the vaccine, so I ended up carrying the entire workload for the day. I like Kata and she’s a very easy person and superior to work with, so I honestly couldn’t complain about it.

... was the last person you lent something to? Ooh, I don’t remember. I don’t really lend people things.

... was the last person who told you a secret/confided in you? Andi was just sharing to me their worries about taking the LAE (scheduled for today) and how they’ll be okay if they don’t pass.

... is the tallest person you know? Jo is like 5′7″ and we all look like beans when standing next to her. One of my uncles is also very tall; around 5′10″ or 5′11″ if I’m not mistaken.

... the shortest person you know? I think Aya? That’s just a smart guess, though; I haven’t seen most of my friends in more than a year.

... your oldest (in years) friend? Mik is turning 28 this year. Sometimes I forget just how much older he is than me since we vibe really well together during the rare times we did get to hang out. I’m still bummed we never got that smoke break we wanted to have.

... is the oldest (in length of time) friend? Angela.

... is your youngest friend? Hannah was born in 2000. Peter was born in 2001 but we aren’t that close yet.

... is your newest friend? I haven’t made any new friends recently. Stan Twitter is lonelier than I thought it would be; everyone is already friends with everyone so it’s hard to break that space. Not to mention everyone is also grossly younger than I am – I keep seeing profiles with ‘2004′ on their bio :/ I should start making an effort to look for older ARMYs lol, I definitely feel like I’d have more fun that way.

... is your closest relative? My eldest cousin on my mom’s side, my Kuya.

... was your favourite teacher? My music teacher from high school. I neeeeeever liked music as a subject and it was never a priority of mine, but she always kept our classes something for me to look forward with her advice and the way she was always able to make lessons interesting.

... was your least favourite teacher? Those who made it clear they didn’t like me, even though I didn’t do anything to deserve such hostility.

... did you spend the most time with when growing up? My siblings and cousins since we all lived together at one point.

... knows you the best? My two best friends.

... always beats you in games or sports? Andi would probably be able to beat me in any game. They just let me win because they know I can be a sore loser.

... who is the most creative of the people you know? My family is pretty artistic and I have a lot of talented relatives - my sister and my cousin Maggie paint and draw; my mom can make any kind of craft she wants, with her hnds; and one of my grand-aunts regularly does paintings. I think all of them are amazingly creative in their own way.

... is the funniest person you know? Probably Andi. Hans makes me crack up too.

... is the most organised that you know? My mom.

... that you know has travelled the most? My dad. Both our fridge doors are filled from top to bottom with magnets from places he’s travelled in due to his line of work. He’s toned down quite a bit in the last few years and has taken to staying within Asia, but back then his traveling history was super expansive – Germany, Jamaica, Italy, Belize, Aruba, Italy, France, Monaco, Denmark, Norway, the UK, US, Estonia, Portugal, etc.

... has always been there for you? Angela never left my side.

... has given you the most personal gift? I can’t possibly pick, my friends are pretty good at giving me gifts...like Andi getting me a Petals For Armor CD and a Punk shirt that hasn’t been produced in a while, and Angela giving me a personalized Friends mug because she knows I like my coffee and she knows I like Friends.

... has an annoying laugh? I don’t think anyone I know has an annoying laugh.

... never forgets a birthday? That would be me.

... do you live with? My parents, my two siblings, and our two dogs.

...,do you have the most in common with? I’m not so sure about this one, actually. I share bits of my personality with a lot of people - like me and Jo liking BTS, me and Andi liking wrestling, Blanch and I having similar personalities, me and Laurice being super meticulous when it comes to our work, etc. - but I haven’t met anyone who’s virtually a duplicate of mine when it comes to my traits and interests.

...is the sportiest person you know? I’m also not sure. Most people I know are into watching a bunch of sports, but none of them actually play.

...was your last missed call? It was an unknown number that I kept ignoring because THEY WOULDN’T TEXT WHO THEY WERE. If you have enough load credits to call me multiple times, then surely you can text me and introduce yourself first, and maybe then I can pick up the phone.

...did you last open your door for? My sister knocked last Friday because someone wanted to talk to me via landline. It was weird since no one calls via the phone anymore, but I have a gut feeling it was that ^ same person who had been trying to call me through my phone but never texted me. Eventually I learned it was one of the bloggers I’m talking to for work who just wanted to ask a few questions about our ongoing engagement.

... has your heart? Kim Taehyung. Expect the same answer for this type of question moving forward.

... has your respect? I gotta hand it to Tina for consistently doing well in her studies and excelling in every subject while doing photo and video editing for two orgs, working on her thesis, and being a board member in our mutual org, all while living alone. She does so well I wish I can tell her to give herself the occasional break to avoid burnout.

...do you share a special song with? I don’t think I have that with anyone.

...do you miss right now? Literally allllllll my friends.

...last made you angry? It’s been a while since I’ve directed my anger towards another person. When I get pissed off these days it’s usually over a situation that goes awry or out of my control.

...did you last buy a gift for? So this was not technically meant to be a gift, but what happened was I accidentally secured two orders of the same poster set, which was a part of this new BTS photobook coming out later this month, from two different shops. One of the shops merely posted an ‘interest check’ for the poster set so I signed up for it thinking it was harmless, but when they got back to me they already attached an invoice :/ I ended up having to pay for it just so things won’t get complicated between myself and the shop anymore; and I told Angela she can just keep the extra set I bought and that she can consider it a gift.

...did you celebrate your last birthday with? My family and technically my workmates since I didn’t file a leave that day. I also had food delivered to their house so I guess that can count as my ‘celebration’ with them.

...have you gone to a concert with? I went with Angela for my first Paramore show.

...can make you laugh? Anyone can tbh. It’s not very hard to make me laugh.

...has taught you how to do something? Nina taught me how to embroider and do basic needle/thread skills back when I was still getting into the hobby.

...has lost something of yours? I am almost certain my ex never kept the handwritten letters I used to write her. She never seemed to remember or bring up the things I wrote.

...has broke your heart? Gabie but I’m over it.

...has stood you up? Hasn’t happened to me before.

:: What ::

Is your favourite colour? Pastel pink.

Can you do that most your friends can’t? Type fast, apparently.

Is your birthday? April 21.

Colour eyes do you have? Dark brown/black.

Form of transport do you take to work/school? I work from home. But under normal circumstances I would drive my car.

Music do you like to listen to in the car? I connect my Spotify to the car’s Bluetooth and listen to whatever artist or playlist I’m into at the moment. The music I put on could also depend on my current mood for the day.

Languages can you speak? Filipino and English. I’ve also been able to pick up looooots of Korean phrases and expressions because of the amount of content I watch. I’m nowhere near fluent, of course, but I’m increasingly able to pick up what people say based off a few Korean words I’ll hear in a sentence.

Was the last thing you drank? Continued from idk. I finished off my glass of water from dinner.

Was the last thing you ate? My mom made pasta.

Time did you wake up this morning? Depends on how late I slept the night before and how tired I was, but it usually ranges between 5:45–7:30 AM.

Colour are your bedroom walls? They’re white.

Drink do you usually order when eating out? I never order drinks unless I’m at La Creperie, in which case I always get their San Gines hot chocolate; for everywhere else that isn’t a bar, I just get water.

Food can you cook well? ...I can’t cook.

Animals have you had for a pet? Dogs, rabbit, lovebirds, goldfish, and technically a cat but she was mostly Nina’s.

Are your initials? RC.

Kind of activities do you like to do on the weekends? I’m still kind of stuck at home during the weekends :/ so I can’t do much, but I’m not complaining since I actually prefer staying in these days. Anyway, most recently I’ve taken to catching up on BTS content I’ve missed over the last 8 years, so I like watching shows they’ve done like Bon Voyage, Run BTS, etc.

Movie do you know line by line? Two for the Road, TITANIC, and probably most of White Chicks.

Band(s) have you seen in concert? Paramore, One Direction, a bunch of local bands.

Do you buy/get to treat yourself? It’s usually food - I like giving myself a feast every Friday night - but I’m putting that in the backseat for now as I’ve realigned my money to be spent on BTS merch. My big purchases are saved for the albums for now, but every now and then I’ll see a postcard or photocard I like and buy them. Once I complete the albums I’ll be moving on to the concert DVDs, then the special packages, then probably BT21 plushies. Needless to say I have a longggggg way to go haha.

Colours your phone cover? I have a clear case.

Part of the world would you love to visit? Another continent would be nice.

Question do you dislike being asked? Even though I know people mean well, I don’t like being asked “How are you?” but tbh it’s more of a me thing because I just never really know what to say.

Subject were you good at in school? History.

Careers do your parents have? They both work in the hospitality industry.

Brand of clothing do you buy most often? For clothes clothes I’m not really loyal to a particular brand; I buy from different brands and shops all the time. But for shoes, I like sticking to Nikes.

Chocolate bar is your favourite? Not a big fan of chocolate bars. I love Reese’s Cups, though.

TV show have you watched every series of? Friends, Perfect Strangers, Breaking Bad.

Radio station do you listen to the most? It’s a little hard to tell at this point considering I haven’t driven regularly in over a year. But back when I used to do it, I usually flipped among 93.1, 99.5, and 87.5.

Podcasts are you subscribed to? I’m not the biggest fan of podcasts. Find them a tad bit boring.

Is your favourite dessert? Macarons or cheesecake.

Can’t you do that most around you seem to? Ride a bike.

Are 5 qualities you value in a friend? Loyalty, thoughtfulness, honest, sensitive to my needs and those of others, and intelligent.

Are 5 qualities you value in a partner? ^ Pretty much the same thing.

Size pizza do you usually order? Family size usually.

Cuisine do you like to order or cook? I’ve been getting Japanese so many times recently. I rarely go outside sushi.

Colour(s) dominate your wardrobe? Black and white, and colors that were in at one point like mustard yellow and pastel pink.

Toothpaste brand do you use? Colgate.

Sounds can you hear right now? My insanely loud aircon.

Is the weather like today? Like hell. I believe we’re reaching a heat index of over 50ºC every day now, so...that’s fun. It gets absolutely difficult to work in the afternoon when the temperature is at its most brutal, and its times like this I wish I got to work in the office so that there’s aircon and I could at least work comfortably :/

Are your plans for tomorrow? Just work and have tons of meetings, the usual.

:: Where ::

Do you keep your phone when not using it? I keep my phone near me even when I’m not using it since I could always get an important notification.

Were you born? Manila.

Do you go to unwind? Most days it would be the rooftop, but under normal circumstances I like staying at a coffee shop somewhere to escape life and my responsibilities for a short while.

Is your best friend right now? I believe they’re both at home since they have no reason to be out anyway.

Can you go nearby to have a good time? Personally, I would just go to the Starbucks near our village lol. If I’m feeling a bit more adventurous I’d head to Katip, which is prrrretty close by but not quite.

Is the nearest restaurant? We have a McDonald’s literally right beside the village. Then besides that is a Shakey’s, and right across that is a Burger King, then the aforementioned neaby Starbucks. Just makes me realize how urbanized my town has gotten in the last few years.

Is the nearest beach? If I had to guess, the nearest beaches would be in Batangas which is 2-3 hours away, but it really depends on how fast you can drive lol. I’m not too good with long car rides so in both times I’ve driven there I had always taken 4 hours.

Did you meet your closest friend? I met Angela in grade school, and I met Andi at a local rally in my university.

Did you go for your last vacation? Tagaytay, though it was a staycation more than anything else.

Is the nearest mall or superstore? It’s like a 3-minute drive away from the village.

Did you last get an injury? I have loadsssssss of new scratches and gashes all around my wrists from playing with Cooper.

Is the most extravagant place you’ve stayed at? It’s a toss-up between Aids’ or Gian’s house. Gian would probably win since I never actually got to go inside Aids’ place, and his was the first house I’ve been to that was able to literally take my breath away. OH and Shaun’s house was pretty fucking swanky as well.

Do most the local kids play? I would have no idea since I’m neither a kid nor a parent.

Have you been with your family? This is a very vague question lol...what do you mean where have we been? We’ve been to different towns around the country and several countries together, if that’s what you’ve been asking.

Did you spend Christmas last year? We visited a couple of relatives, and we also spent it at home.

Did your parents grow up? My mom grew up within Metro Manila; my dad in a city a little outside of it.

Did you buy the shoes you’re wearing? I’m barefoot at the moment and always am at home.

Would you like to go right now if you could? If life had still been normal I would probably be having after-work drinks at a bar near the office.

Do you miss the most from your childhood? I’m not sure how to answer this with where.

Is the best restaurant you know? I’m still searching for it.

Will you never go again as it was so bad? It’s not that it was bad, but I’d probably never dine at 8Cuts again because their burgers are not worth the hype and are very overpriced for their size.

:: When ::

...was your last vacation? My family’s last legit vacation was in August 2019; but we did have a quick escape to Tagaytay in January of this year.

...did you graduate? I officially ‘graduated’ from college in August, if you could even call it that.

...did you decide what career you wanted? Somewhere between my 2nd and 3rd year of college. That was when I decided I hated journalism and preferred PR, but since PR is under journalism’s umbrella there was no need for me to shift courses.

...did you have your first kiss? Continued. Like WHEN when or how old was I when? In any case, it was in January 2015 and I ws 16.

...did you learn how to swim? Idk, pretty early on. My parents liked taking us to water parks when we were younger, so we had a lot of exposure. I’m not sure if there was ever a time where something just clicked and I learned how to swim; I believe it had just come naturally.

...did you have your first relationship? By the end of 2014.

...did you meet your best friend? I met both of them in school, but at different points.

...do you feel the most at peace? Probably when I’m able to stay at the rooftop all alone.

...do you usually fall asleep? I’ve readjusted my body clock now (I used to want to be in bed by 9 or 10 PM, lmao) and I stay up until anywhere between 12-2 AM on weekdays.

...do you usually wake up? Ranges between 6-7:30 AM.

...did you last watch a movie? September.

...did you last go to a party? Around Februaryish, 2020.

...did you last cry? I can’t really recall. The last moment I can remember was crying over Life Goes On sometime last month, when I heard it for the first time. I’m just not sure if that’s accurate or when exactly in April that happened.

...did you laugh really hard? I always have a good laugh at least once a day.

...did you buy something pricey last? Idk what you would count as pricey but I bought the new BTS photobook set when it dropped back in April. Cost me around ₱3750. I wasn’t able to buy from the first press (it sold out in like 7 minutes lol) which included an exclusive poster set, so I had to look for a local shop that was already offering the poster set separately, and ended up shelling out another ₱2200 for it...which means all in all I spent around ₱5950 for it or roughly $125.

...did you have an argument last? Earlier this evening but I don’t want to get into it as it made me cry from sadness and frustration for the first time in months.

...did you last have a sick day? May last year.

...did you last recieve a hug? I have no idea. February, I think? when I hung out with my friends.

...when is your best friend’s birthday? July 22 or September 15, depends on which best friend.

...did you learn how to drive? I started getting lessons when I was 17, but I didn’t start feeling comfortable with it until I turned 18.

...did you last receive a surprise? Around a couple of weeks ago when my dad came home with Jollibee for us.

:: How ::

Many pets do you have? Two.

Many houses have you lived in? Three that I can remember, but I know my parents moved around a bit when I was a newborn.

Often do you shower? Every morning before my shift. I hate feeling sweaty and icky when I report for work.

Well can you cook? I can’t at all.

Many close friends do you have? I have two people I count as my absolute best friends, but I have a handful of close friends as well.

Many Brothers or sisters do you have? One of each.

Often do you go swimming? I don’t swim much at all, really...I haven’t done it since 2019, so that should say enough. As relaxing as it is, I feel like the clean-up afterwards can be such a challenge lol. Like if you swim in a pool you have to rigorously wash the chlorine off of you; and if you swim in the sea you have to also be thorough about making sure you’ve removed all the sand from your body.

Many times have you texted today? I don’t think I texted today but I did spend my whole day on chat platforms.

Do you like your toast (colour, topping)? I don’t have super particular preferences; I just like mine on the burnt side.

Do you like your tea and/or coffee? My coffee has to be sweet for me to enjoy it. I can take black coffee/Americano; I’ll just wince a lot with every sip. No tea for me thanks.

Do you like to celebrate your birthdays? With a lot of food.

Are you feeling today? A little frustrated because of an argument incident this evening. But I’m shaking it off and just focusing on the release of Butter tomorrow. My first BTS comeback!!!

Serious are you about your career goals? Very.

Many rooms are in your house? In total, 9.

Many bedrooms in your house? 4.

Did you do in your school exams? I was never consistent. I slacked off a looooooot in grade school; couldn’t give less of a shit about my classes then. I got a bit more hardworking in high school, but I still was a bit lax and I allowed myself to not put a lot of effort in subjects I didn’t care a lot for and that I know I would never have to use in real life, like chemistry or accounting, so there were exams I really excelled in and others that I would fail. It was only in college I started taking my studies incredibly seriously and I believe that showed in the grades I eventually got.

Close do you live to your parents? They’re like, five steps away.

Close do you live to your siblings? My sister’s literally in the room next to mine.

Sensitive to criticism are you? I know it’s something that can never be avoided, so I’m always open to hearing them, especially if it’s meant to help me. It doesn’t mean I enjoy it as it is being given.

Motivated to make changes are you? Depends on my mood and mindset. 

Creative are you (1-10): -0.5.

Hard working are you (1-10): Probably a 22 if I really put my head into a task.

Sporty are you (1-10): I dunno, maybe a 6? I do like playing table tennis, but I’m pretty meh at any other sport.

Musical are you (1-10): 0.

Do you prefer your eggs? Runny yolk; scrambled; or a really packed omelette.

Often do you go out to eat? Before the pandemic, I liked eating out 2-3 times a week.

Would your best friend describe you? Not sure, I never tried asking them this. I hope it’s all nice things, though.

Can someone cheer you up if you’re sad? Send me photos of V. Hahahaha

Often do you meet up with your friends? ...What do you think? D:

Important is religion to you? It is not a part of my life whatsoever.

Old were you when you first stayed overnight from home? 15 or 16, I can’t really remember.

Old were you when you got your first pet? I was maybe 6.

Tech savvy are you? I know enough to survive my own, but I obviously can’t hack into other computers or things like that.

Do you show you appreciate those you care for? Buying them food.

Often do you cut your hair? I only take a trip to the salon once a year.

Often do you paint your nails? Never.

Many countries have you visited? Six.

Boyfriends/girlfriends have you had? Just one.

:: Why ::

... did you choose your username? Because it was straightforward.

... did you take this survey? I like surveys made in categories, and this seemed interesting and varied enough.

... did you choose the career you did? I found that I enjoyed it MILES more than journalism.

...did you last leave the house? I had to go to a local LBC for a work errand.

...did you last give up on something? She wasn’t worth the effort anymore. She hadn’t been for a while, but it took me forever to realize.

...did you search the last thing you searched? I wanted to sing along to the song but it was in Japanese, so I had to look up its lyrics.

...would you give up on someone completely? Oof, I guess you can refer to one of the previous questions. ^

:: If...::

You could live in any country which would you choose? Canada.

You could choose any animal as a pet which one? I’m perfectly content with dogs.

You could be famous for something what would you like? Being known for a funny tweet would probably be enough lol. I have no desire to be famous.

You are sad, how do you combat it? I don’t really get sad anymore these days, so I can’t super remember the go-to tactics I depend on...I guess I like listening to sad songs and allowing myself to wallow in the sadness, because I know I have to accept and process my feelings first before I can be able to calm down.  

You can drive when did you learn? I learned shortly before I started college, when I was 18, because no one was going to be able to take me to university when the school year started.

You could have any job what would it be? Idk, I like the one I have now.

You could go anywhere for a vacation where would you go? Somewhere with a completely different feel and atmosphere, like Norway, Sweden, Finland...that part of Europe, basically.

You could eat anything right now what would it be? Samgak gimbap :/

You wrote a book what genre/topic would it be? It would be a book of essays or maybe a memoir.

You had a theme song what would it be? Idk I don’t really think about this.

You could meet any band/singer in person which one? Billie Eilish seems awesome and easy and fun to talk to.

You could act in any movie which would it be? No thanks.

You get married what venue would you like? Hotel.

If you have kids do you have names picked out? I have one name picked out for a girl but that’s it.

Could describe your dream home what would it be like? Brutalist and minimalist, with large windows, cove lights, and a lot of white space.

You could go back in time what would you change? Break up with Gab earlier.

Could use 3 words to describe your childhood which ones? Could’ve been better.

Could get the answer to any question which question would you choose? When I would die and how, just so I can have peace of mind.

You could have an endless supply of something what would it be? Money, because of course.

Meet anyone who no longer lives who’d you choose? My great-grandfather, mom’s side.

:: Can ::

... you ride a bike? No, never learned.

... you ski? I’ve never even seen snow, so no.

... you bake a cake? I can try but it will probably be very clumsily made as I don’t bake.

... you sing well? I wouldn’t say that. I like singing when I’m alone, but it doesn’t mean I’m any good.

... you do your own taxes? I’ve never tried haha so I guess not.

... you remain calm in a crisis? Depends on how serious it is.

... you do first aid? Let’s just say I wouldn’t volunteer if it comes down to it because I feel like I’d commit one fatal mistake that would make the situation graver. 

... remember your best friend’s family members’ names? Both of their families, yes.

... you fire a gun? I’ve never tried so I doubt it.

... your parents drive? Yep.

...your best friend dance well? They’re not ‘dancers’ per se but sure, they can bust out a move or two.

...you make people laugh easily? Not everyone, but sure.

...stand up for yourself? That’s what I’m trying to learn these days.

...you do a martial art? No.

:: Would ::

You like to learn a new language? That’s always a welcome opportunity.

Save the life of a stray animal? Absolutely.

Know what to do if there was a hurricane? We have several ones come in the country every year so yeah, I can definitely say we’ve long been well-prepared for them.

Try a new cuisine? I do this as often as I can.

Risk your life for anyone? Yes.

You like to get back in touch with someone? No, I’m good now.

You drive in the middle of the night to get a stuck friend? Ina heartbeat.

You Know how to perform CPR? In relation to the first aid question, I wouldn’t volunteer myself in case I make a wrong move.

You likely win in a game of chess? I don’t even know how it works, so no.

You stop talking for a day for $100? Easily.

[putschki1969]

hello! i hope you're doing well and i just wanted to say I love your blog!^^ I've just wanted to ask how you've personally been handling the Keiko drought? Seeing Wakana and Hikaru do so much recently and just nothing from Keiko (I am not super up to date but shes only been in the one ykl and then nothing since those ended right?) makes me wonder how she's doing or if she's planning her own solo career like W&H have been. Its just strange to me how silent she is now when she was by far the most

(cont.) charismatic and had the best stage presence and seemed like she enjoyed the spotlight and performing the most out of the 3 of them. maybe its just not the same to her without w and h being there? I just wonder how you’ve been taking it personally too (sorry if this is too direct) since you’ve been more used to following them and constant updates more than any of us over the years.  i hope she has plans for her own sollo career down the line!  

Hi there lovely anon!

I am doing good, thanks for asking.

Phew, that’s a big question, I hope I can do a good job writing a proper reply.

First of all I wanna say that it’s definitely been hard for me, harder than I might have let on. As you probably know already I am a hardcore Keiko fan, she has always been my favourite so I have missed her terribly in the time she has been gone. Going from almost daily blogposts in 2017 to literally nothing in 2018 and early 2019 was hell on earth for me. There were moments where I felt I had lost my purpose, where I just sat in my bed and cried, where I regretted all the times I did not make it to one of their lives or events. These times were tough, there is no denying that.

But then I realised there was no point in sulking and pitying myself. I tried focusing on the positive aspects (which is something I always try to do when it comes to Kalafina). The most important thing for me was to be grateful for the past ten years and to cherish everything they had done for us in that time.

Taking all the past and present interviews/statements into account I came to the conclusion that Kalafina’s “disbandment” was the most logical (and probably best) option for them (in some ways it was almost a natural progression). It gave them all a chance to take a break and Wakana and Hikaru were finally able to pursue their solo careers (something they had always wanted). Following their solo activities has kept me busy and it is making me incredibly happy. It’s so amazing to see them live their dreams.

When Keiko had her official comeback this spring, it was a huge relief, it felt great to finally see her again, to hear her talking, to hear her singing. All the YK live concerts, Keiko’s pamphlet interview, being able to attend the live in Taiwan, hearing about the Taiwan fan club event, the different pictures posted by Hikaru, Kaori and the others, the pictures uploaded by Keiko’s hair and nail salon, everything felt and still feels like a blessing. On the one hand we got spoiled with a ton of Keiko content but on the other hand it feels like I can never get enough of her. I was sad that no one posted a proper picture with her during the Princess Principal Lives and it seems like she is not really going to the hair salon anymore (or at least she doesn’t have her picture taken when she is there). So yeah, it’s been getting quiet around her again. We know she is going to attend the FictionJunction Station event in March 2020 but it’s stlil quite a while till then. Hopefully Hikaru will post some pictures with Keiko until then (I am pretty sure she will).

I think Keiko still enjoys the spotlight quite a bit, she is a natural performer and singing Yuki’s music gives her immense joy. She was practically glowing when I saw her in Taiwan. She seemed really carefree and happy. However, in her pamphlet interview it didn’t sound like she had any plans for a solo career. She doesn’t have the same aspirations as Wakana and Hikaru (writing their own music and such) so becoming a solo artist would be rather pointless for Keiko. She doesn’t just want to do anything, she wants to do something she can be proud of. Bringing Yuki’s world to life makes her proud so it’s great she can continue doing that. Yuki better write some songs for her though, that would be amazing!!

As for Keiko being so “silent”, she obviously doesn’t want to deal with social media at the moment. Just like Hikaru she could have launched her own twitter account or any other SNS account ages ago but she didn’t. That tells me that she has currently no interest whatsoever in sharing parts of her life with us. I can respect that, I am sure she has her reasons. It pains me of course but I am not gonna sit here all day complaining about the lack of Keiko content when I know it’s Keiko’s very own choice to lay low and fly under the radar. I am content with whatever content she chooses to share with us, I really don’t wanna be greedy or demanding. As I keep preaching, fans are NOT OWED ANYTHING. Yes, we want updates, yes, we want pictures, yes, we want solo releases but we have NO right to any of it. If it happens it’s great but if Keiko doesn’t wanna provide any of that then that’s it, we need to deal with it...Period.

[vnshkk]

Let's talk about Kyo's media blackout.

It is with a slight reluctance that I post this. It's not wise to mention Tanuki online nor share what they talk about within the overseas fandom for a multiple of reasons. 

1. I don't want them to get angry at me

2. I don't want the overseas fandom to flip out and judge the Japanese fandom

3. I just want everyone to be chill and happy and flowers

But I've seen a lot of people freaking out, a lot of random theories floating around and people worrying so I wanted to post this theory and open it for discussion. 

Of course this isn't fact. It's pure speculation. But given the timeframe, PERSONALLY I feel like this may have had something to do with Kyo decision. 

So I post this with two DISCLAIMERs. 

1. As mentioned this is not in any way fact. There is no proof that Kyo does or doesn't look at Tank. I simply find it interesting the sequence of events, the timing of the media blackout and I am only translating this for those who are interested. I hope this doesn't cause any huge arguments or any bad blood. It's simple here to discuss and consider.

2. Please do not judge the whole fandom based on Tank. Just like any forum, any comment section on the world wide web; there will be people who leave negative feed back. It is a tiny portion of people and not a reflection of the Japanese fandom as a whole. Judging them based on what they said would be like someone looking at negative comments or sarcastic jokes on Tumblr and judging the English speaking fandom. That's not to say what they post is okay, but it's just dumb shit posting and shouldn't be taken to heart. 

you get me fam?

Okay, so I contemplated posting screenshots and translating what happened immediately after Kyo changed his profile picture up to when he deleted everything but as I said I don't want to be taken out by angry tank users so I'm just gonna translate a selection of posts. 

These posts are taken from the Meg thread (remember the girl linking arms with him at a concert? That's Meg.) which to be honest is a shit show. It was a thread born from those notorious pics and for over a year now has remained a place where people post rumours, shit talk, complain and just make shit up a lot of the time. So please, AGAIN, bare that in mind. It is a place of negativity born from a scandal that shocked a lot of the fandom. Aint nothing nice ever gonna be said there. Periodt. In reality a lot of the people who post there are still fans of Kyo. I think they're just still a little hurt by the way it came to light about Meg. 

After Kyo posted his new picture I checked tank before going to bed because I was curious about what their reactions would be and everyone had exploded. During the 7 hours I was asleep Kyo deleted everything and left the internet forever so tbh given the fact he was probably bored in a hotel in Fukuoka, just did a radio show, probs wanted to see peoples reaction, etc I personally, believe he was on Tank. This is a running theme in the thread itself and people often say he actively browses it (this is not a major thing, a lot of guys in bands browse tank same as celebs browse twitter. Why Kyo would look at the meg thread in particular? idk. ) 

SO TLDR 

Yesterday around 7pm the thread suddenly changed to mixed reactions after Kyo changed his Twitter pic. 

"His new twitter icon had me shook lol" 

"I hope he changes his instagram one too" 

"Idk I don't like how quickly he's become some kind of social media old fogey" 

"Kyo's turned into a social media monster too" (*edit; my bad Yuchi is beer monster, Shinya is social media monster lol)

"It's kinda cheap" 

"I get you, it's like he's lost his values" (probably because Kyo has always made big deal about how much of himself he shares) 

 It continued like that for a while with people more or less saying the same thing until he posts about leaving social media.

"He just suddenly said he's not gonna do social media anymore" 

"lol after he went to all the effort of changing his profile picture" 

"I'm shook" 

"annoying 40 year old nut job" 

"Bet you he came on here"  

"Do you normally change you icon then quit" 

"Join Kyo online" 

"idg why even though Kyo's had so many haters since he first started twitter he's suddenly affected by it??" 

"I still think he's cute even when he's sulking like this lol" 

"I knew he was looking at Tanuki"

"I don't get why he's suddenly deleting it after all this time?? It's like what is this old man on about?" 

"It's lame how he's making such a big deal of out saying he's quitting" 

(lots of people agreed with this post saying that he's acting childish)

"I wonder what happened? Like everything seemed fine recently. I mean we'll never know but like I'm sure he has a lot going on.." 

"I can't believe he basically wiped his instagram clean but left all the pics of cake and omurice lmao" 

"If only he'd go to sleep earlier and eat a banana the serotonin would fix everything" 

The random comments and mixed reactions continued for all of Friday.  One of the main points that stuck out after the initial reactions was how people began to become suspicious that this was merely a tactic to get people to join Kyo online with people claiming this was typical of business man kyo,  that it was about that time of year where they usually begin to advertise and promote in order to get new members. 

So, allow me to play devils advocate for a second. As someone who is a member of Kyo online I have to admit since he started posting more and more online (compared to hardly ever on Kyo online), the membership has become more or less invalid. In the past it was worth the money for the videos and pictures that as fans we rarely saw. But if he's going to post them online then it raises the question (tickets to concerts aside) is there any point in being a member if you can just get the content for free?  I'd imagine that this plays some kind of role in why the reactions are often negative. Members of Kyo online have suddenly gone from having something exclusive that was only for them, to simply being a part of something anyone can access. 

Another point someone brought up is that whilst it's acceptable for Kyo to be upset. It is very, very childish and the timing is selfish.  Sukekiyo literally made their instagram days ago and suddenly Kyo states how he isn't going to post online anymore. This act instantly casts a negative feel on Sukekiyo's insta. It almost gives a vibe that any picture Kyo is in might be "against his will". Kyo is not new to criticism. He's been in this game for 20 plus years. Everyone who is in the Indies scene knows about Tank. Every fan, every bandmen, knows it's a bad place filled with mostly shit posting and rumours and doesn't represent fans a whole. 

The meg thread is simply fans flogging a dead horse, posting any poor Japanese girl with a straight fringe and some tattoos, anyone who looks even a little like Meg and saying she MUST be a groupie of Kyo. Which begs the question why would Kyo go there? Why would he look at that? Why would he want to subject himself to that kind of thing and then punish the majority for some dumb comments a few bored fans made? What was he expecting by going there?

Of course there is no proof Kyo lurks. But the reality is he probably does, I mean he's only human, he' s bound to be curious about fans reactions for Madara, etc and where else to get honestly reactions than an anonymous forum? Personally, as someone who has lurked tank for a few years now, I think he reads it. There have been times in the past where he's mentioned certain things, done certain things and I've thought "hmmm that's weird tank was literally talking about that". But once again there's no proof. It's just one of those vibes you get sometimes. (one major one I can think of is during the interview for mode of gauze where he said everyone massively complained about it. I know people can submit questionnaires after lives but I feel that a lot of Japanese people are more brutally honest when they can hide behind anonymity. ) 

Considering the "staff" posted a pic of his feet on the sukekiyo instagram today, I feel like this is just Kyo being (sorry to say) butthurt and it might just blow over.  A lot of the comments mention his age, mention how he's clearly trying and failing to copy 20 year olds by using insta, that he's lame or cringe and that's gonna hurt anyones pride. But I honestly think Kyo should be looking at the billions of comments on instagram of people who love him rather than a few trolls online. 

So with that being said I hope this was an interesting read and gave a little insight into why Kyo is often private. It was a big deal that he was posting so much and actively using instagra. I for one was very happy. I believe that in this day and age it is something that is required in order to engage with your audience and keep a good relationship. Hazuki and Ruki are good examples of this and Ive been saying for the longest time I wish Kyo would get more on board with it. So it's a shame he's left at the first hurdle. 

Oh well. This is why we can't have anything nice isn't it. 

[topweeklyupdate]

TØP Weekly Update #81: Ned’s Declassified Trench Survival Guide (1/25/19)

Wowza! After a quiet past month, we got flooded with a huge deluge of content so substantial that it requires the Weekly Update to revert to its old long-form format. That required a few extra sleepless hours from me this week, but I literally cannot complain when my favorite band is keeping me so well fed. We’ve got a lot to sort through, but I believe we can do it together.

This Week’s TØPics:

Meet Ned: “Chlorine” Music Video Released

Clancy Returns to Mess Up Our Lives

TØP to Headline Lollapalooza Paris

Sirius XM Radio Town Hall and Hosting Gig

ALTer Ego Saves the Best for First

Upcoming: Bandito Europe Kicks Off This Week

And MORE!

Major News, Releases, and Announcements:

The biggest news of the week (as you know, otherwise why would you be here?) was undoubtedly the release of the music video for “Chlorine”. Not set in the world of Dema (unless Trench has been developed into an Australian suburb in the last few months), the video features Tyler and Josh filling up a swimming pool for an adorable little goat/cat/Furby critter named “Ned”. The fine Clique folks on Twitter and Reddit have been very active speculating just what in the heck this all means and if it has anything at all to do with the rest of the band’s current narrative. My theory: Tyler read some early fan speculation about the reversed “We are Banditos” clip in “Nico and the Niners”, which sounds like “So keep Ned by you,” and Tyler found that so funny that he thought up of the most ridiculous idea for who “Ned” could be and put it into the first music video they filmed after the fans had their hands on the whole album.

Much more shocking than the music video (which we’ve known was coming for a few weeks) was the revival of dmaorg.info for the first time since well before the release of the album. Three big takeaways from this new letter: First, from a narrative standpoint, Clancy is back in Dema, brought back by the kindly old bishop Keons. He is still uncomfortable there, but he also was never fully comfortable out in Trench either, and now feels torn about where he belongs. Second, the file name is the atomic number and mass of chlorine, because Tyler Joseph is a monster. Third, the hidden message on this one, coded in letters that are double printed, is “SODEEPNEDBYYOU”, which I’d say pretty much confirms the theory about ol’ Ned’s origins.

Finally, we got another new show announcement, as Twenty One Pilots will be headlining Lollapalooza Paris this July in their first of five European summer festivals. If you’re a French/European fan who hasn’t been able to get to a show from the upcoming tour, now’s your chance! 

Performances and Other Shenanigans:

As fun as it was to join with the Clique in losing our minds speculating over "Chlorine”-related nonsense this week, the most special piece of Twenty One Pilots content from this past week was Tyler’s acoustic piano set for Sirius XM’s Town Hall, which was released in full on Monday. I could write half a book on this performance, which Tyler designed to chronologically trace the arc of his career and the evolution of his creative process. It wasn’t just Tyler sitting down to play some songs; he clearly put a lot of thought into the performance, as he introduced each song with a meaningful story and even inserted a recurring bit with Josh calling in from his travels through New York. Highlights include a gorgeous stripped-down rendition of “Taxi Cab”, Tyler describing the importance of an actual sustain pedal for composing songs on piano, and, of course, the first ever performance of “Cut My Lip” with percussion provided by Tyler’s wedding ring striking the piano. That said, the most impactful part of the whole show for me was Tyler’s revealing introduction to an almost spoken-word rendition of “Holding On To You”, which was enough to make me listen to a song I’ve heard a thousand times these last six years in a completely new way. The entire set is a must-listen for any fan.

That element only scratches the surface of the band’s surprisingly extensive collaboration with Sirius over the weekend. In addition to a fun and engaged fan Q&A at the tail-end of the Town Hall (in which they confirmed new songs will be joining the setlist this year), Tyler and Josh did a game job hosting the weekend Top 45 countdown for the Hits 1 station, talking about other artists, pop culture, and other inane nonsense with the goofy and dry humor of two guys who know each other very well. Here’s a collection of some of their best dialogue from the weekend; completionists will have to go to Sirius’s On-Demand website and go on that complete archive binge.

With all that’s happened in the past seven days, one can almost forget that the week started off with the band’s first performance of 2019 (well, technically the Town Hall was recorded first, but it’s the first one the general public saw and the first full concert production with both Tyler and Josh and... look, you get it). Tyler and Josh expectedly killed their contribution to iHeart’s ALTer Ego festival, opening the show with the night’s longest set. (Tyler quipped that they “saved the best for first”; River Cuomo later joked that Weezer “saved the best for the middle”.) The stream of the show has been mostly taken down by our corporate overlords, but I’m sure ya’ll can find the relevant clips if you scour the Interwebs long enough. Also, Josh paid back this radio sponsorship by answering some fan questions that’s worth a watch for a few laughs.

It was refreshing to see Twenty One Pilots back in the competitive environment of a festival where not everyone knows them and their songs, considering they’ve been away from that setting since they headlined Firefly nearly two years ago. I’m looking forward to how general festival audiences receive Trench when they start headlining later this year.

One last thing to note: chart performance for “My Blood” and “Chlorine” are stable. Haven’t budged much at all. We’ll see how that changes when the music video’s impact hits.

Upcoming Shows:

Let’s wrap up this week by looking ahead to the future! Next Wednesday, Tyler and Josh will literally return to Dema when they kick off the Bandito Tour in Kiev, Ukraine, the home of the university where most of the Dema scenes were shot in the “Nico and the Niners” music video. It will be the band’s first show in the country, giving 10,000 Ukrainian fans the chance to see their band in person at their city’s Palace of Sports for the first full show of the year. With the recent release of the “Chlorine” video and the performance of “Cut My Lip”, I feel pretty secure in guessing that those songs will finally make the setlist. Everything else is up in the air: Will other songs from Trench make their way on? Will any old favorites return? New covers? What songs will have to be cut? Who is the support act? Will Ned be there? These and more important questions will be answered by this time next week.

Power to the local dreamer.

|-/

[eutaerpe]

A life update no one asked but I felt compelled to write nonetheless because I Am Having Feels: I am currently taking part of a writing bootcamp of sorts (it’s actually a podcast which gives you daily writing exercises aimed, in the long run, to make you feel better about your writing/feeling empowered/give you motivation) and yesterday I came up with sO many prompts and plots that I can’t wait to write!! (even though what stops me the most is the language barrier, because I feel like my style is boring and redundant and it’s not like I can’t express myself, but more like i can’t do it as well as I would with my mother tongue. sometimes I just don’t know how to find words that fit, or how to articulate a thought without encapsulating it in the same formula... lol sorry for the rant)

point two of this ridiculous life update: I might not always reblog stuff about bangtan’s concerts because I see the videos and photos on both twitter and Instagram and just know what happened, how well they performed et cetera but!!!! seeing them once again here on tumblr and having to tag them is sO SAD!!!! I can’t even put into words the sadness I am feeling each time I stumble upon concert related stuff. I am so so glad the boys and the fans are having the time of their lives but it sucks so much knowing I will never ever ever be a part of that (that mutual happiness, that engagement, the whole concert experience). I’ll never attend their concerts. seeing my con-nationals attend both the love yourself and speak yourself tour in multiple dates like it’s nothing (in terms of time management and money, because of course, no tour dates in here ;)) is amazing because I feel like they’re representing my country?? but at the same time is so discouraging and bittersweet. on Twitter I bumped into so many con-national fans that take these experiences for granted and it’s so unnerving? they complain about not having the best seats/not taking many pics and videos/the most random and futile things and I KNOW, I KNOW my behavior is childish but. I can’t shake off this sadness.

so I don’t know how active I’ll be once they’re here in Europe. lol so sorry for this negativity, I just had to put my thoughts somewhere that is not my head lol

[charitabledirection]

September 17th, 2018: September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month which brings attention to the problem of childhood cancer, the challenges of treating cancer in children, the underfunded research in childhood cancer, and all the issues associated with a child battling this disease, including grief and bereavement.

A Sibling’s Wish is a UK based charity that was founded after the loss of a child to childhood cancer. The charity was founded in August of 2016 by Sarah, the mom of Harvey Hext a young boy who passed away on November 29th, 2015, following a long battle with stage 4 high-risk neuroblastoma.

Harvey became well known not only in the UK but around the world for his friendship with One Direction Louis Tomlinson and his mom Johannah Deakin. Johannah was the first to meet Harvey and his family at a Believe in Magic event in 2014. Harvey had been diagnosed with stage 4 high-risk neuroblastoma at the age of 3 in 2010. His parents had noticed that the previously active 3 years old had started having problems walking, was complaining of a tummy ache, and had diarrhea. Following a doctor’s visit, Harvey was referred to a specialist in Bristol who gave the family the devastating news after blood tests, CT scans, and biopsy of a tumor. The Hext family also found out that Harvey was an extremely rare case because there are very few children in the world with Down Syndrome that are diagnosed with neuroblastoma. Following the diagnosis, Harvey underwent surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation and was declared in remission. Unfortunately, in October 2014, cancer returned and Harvey had to undergo another surgery to remove a tumor in his chest. Other tumors found in his abdomen though were deemed too dangerous to operate on.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

When Johannah Deakin met Harvey and his family at the Believe in Magic event, she was so moved by his story that she immediately told Louis. After hearing about Harvey, Louis decided to do as much as he could to support Harvey and his family and to give them precious memories to hold on to. Louis sponsored a vacation to Disney World in Paris, VIP treatment at a One Direction concert, and numerous personal gifts to Harvey and his family. When in August 2015 Johannah and Louis organized and sponsored the Believe in Magic Cinderella Ball for sick children, they treated Harvey and his entire family to VIP treatment. During the many months that Harvey’s and Louis’ families were in touch, they developed true friendships. When Harvey passed away, Louis posted the tweet “Fly high buddy” showing a picture of Harvey with his huge smile.

During Harvey’s battle with neuroblastoma, the family had set up the Harvey Hext Appeal, a fund that through donations, helped pay for the costly cancer treatments for Harvey. The remaining of the funds that the family did not use, were donated to Solving Kids Cancer, after the passing of Harvey (read our article here).

After the passing of her beloved Harvey, Sarah had the idea of setting up A Sibling’s Wish to provide comfort and support to siblings of children that pass away. The idea came to Sarah from personal experience. The Hext indeed have other two children, Spenser who is Harvey’s twin brother, and older Olivia. Sarah realized early on that bereaved siblings have indeed very little support. Parents spend so much of their energy attending the sick child and dealing with their own loss after they pass away that they have little time and energy to dedicate to their other children. Hospitals and end of life care teams agree that there is definitively a huge void when it comes to supporting children experiencing the loss of a sibling.

The idea behind A Sibling’s Wish is simple: create beautiful and personalized memory boxes where the bereaved child can store photographs, notes, and other memories of their lost sibling. The memory box can help challenge some of the feelings of loss and can be cherished for years to come. Sarah adds to the donation also a stuffed bear named Harvey which has a hidden pouch where the bereaved child can store the most precious memory of their sibling.

From its inception, A Sibling’s Wish has made huge strides and it has become so active recently that it has needed to move its activities from the Hext’s family home to an office space. Louis Tomlinson has continued to support the charity from behind the scenes including donating a brand new laptop in the early days of the charity.

Some of the achievements of A Sibling’s Wish and its founder Sarah Hext over the last two years are:

In 2016, soon after becoming officially registered as a charity,  A Sibling’s Wish became an official partner charity of #UKCharityWeek. #UKCharityWeek is a week during which donations and fundraising are encouraged to help UK charities. This week usually falls within the first two weeks of December, when people are more willing to donate since the holidays are just around the corner.

 Also in 2016, A Sibling’s Wish became affiliated with Together for Short Lives, a UK based charity which speaks out for children and young people who are expected to have a short life.

In 2017, A Sibling’s Wish became Peace and Coffee’s charity of the year. Peace and Coffee, a company that distributes organic coffee and tea, selects a handful of charities each year to be voted the charity of the year.  As the 2017 winner, A Sibling’s Wish received all proceeds donated between 04 August 2017 and 03 August 2018.

In October 2017, Sarah Hext attended the Women of the Year Lunch. This is an event that celebrates and awards women that would not be otherwise recognized for their work. In attendance was also Camilla Duchess of Cornwall.

A few days ago A Sibling’s Wish celebrated its 300th memory box. In only 2 years from the day they became a registered charity A Sibling’s Wish has distributed these many memory boxes all over the UK. Indeed Children’s Hospice Southwest, one of the first entities to express interest in the memory boxes, estimated that they would need approximately 60 boxes per year.

A Sibling’s Wish is doing important work to fill a void in the support of families that experience the loss of children to childhood cancer and other diseases or accidents. We expect them to continue their amazing work and we hope they will expand even more with their work to reach all the families in need in the UK.

We have talked about Harvey and Sarah numerous other times. To learn more about them and the work that A Sibling’s Wish does, check out our articles dated 10/27/17, 7/30/17,  11/30/16, 9/8/16, 7/19/16, and 5/30/16. Visit also their official website to learn more about how you can help.

Pictures are credited to A Sibling’s Wish website, FaceBook page, and Twitter account.

The charity A Sibling's Wish: turning grief into support for bereaved siblings @asiblingswish September 17th, 2018: September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month which brings attention to the problem of childhood cancer, the challenges of treating cancer in children, the underfunded research in childhood cancer, and all the issues associated with a child battling this disease, including grief and bereavement.

[cinnaaxirl]

Western Validation & BTS

✦

Contents

･ .           .                 ✦

➳ intro

.                 .            .           .       .             ✦

➳ what is "western validation"?

✦       ･           .                 •      .     •

➳ how it's viewed by kpop fans

•    .             .               ✦

➳ my opinion

✦                 ✦

. ˚

GIFs by Lyhim

          ╭──────⊹⊱✫⊰⊹──────

          │Hello everyone, I'm here again to

          │express my opinion on a topic that

          │doesn't really matter.

          │              sit tight and enjoy the show

          ╰──────⊹⊱✫⊰⊹──────

Disclaimer :

this is my opinion

my opinion ≠ facts

(that's an not equal sign btw)

I'm not speaking as an ARMY or EXO-L or Carat or whatever. I'm speaking as me, these are my opinions.

【 intro 】

imagine: you're scrolling through Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, or you're still one of those people who use Facebook, and that's when you see it. You see the words "at least my faves don't need western validation unlike Floptan Boys" (or something similar).

"Western validation" is often a phrase used to put down BTS.

It's not really just BTS anymore, recently SM put out a statement that said Red Velvet will be releasing an English version of Bad Boy on their new album -- what did people claim ?

Ah yes, western validation.

【 what does western validation mean exactly? 】

There is no official Google term for this, as it's something made up by kpop fans.

From how I see it, western validation means someone (a kpop group) is seeking the approval or wanting to become popular in the west (but really just America).

This term, like how BTS started being considered overrated, only came about AFTER BTS started getting popular in America. If we want, we could say this term was made to be used on BTS. Though, as I mentioned before, it was used on Red Velvet, so it's not a BTS exclusive term, but I think we all know it started out that way.

【 so, how do kpop fans view western validation? 】

how about instead of telling you I share screen shots?

I like how ignorant and stereotypical the last screenshot was.

"no more ugly 1d stans" and then the tags say white people = 1D stans.....

I won't finish what I was going to say

As you can see western validation = bad

【 my opinion 】

here comes the part where I get judged based on my opinion.

You're either going to agree with me or not,

I think the term "western validation" is kind of pointless. People who say "my faves don't need western validation" probably just mean their faves don't need to do interviews in America. However, I believe that the "western validation" is very helpful to some of us. For example, if companies don't see that their group is popular or gaining significant attention in certain areas of the world, they're not going to send their groups to tour there.

That's why a lot of the time, when groups do a "world tour" it's mostly just America, extra parts of Asia and MAYBE South America. Like, EXO is pretty popular in India, so it would make A LOT of sense if EXO did concerts in India (unless if SM doesn't give two craps).

Let's take some other groups for example -- Vixx is doing pretty well in Korea, they've been a group for 6 years now. However, they don't have international success like Seventeen or GOT7, and they've only been to the US three times and have only done 4 shows (in small venues) in three cities, they've also never had an official "world tour".

Seventeen has had one world tour and Got7 has had two and this is because they're popular international -- but where internationally? That's right, in the west.

Monsta X, GOT7, and NCT all have had interviews by billboard and other western media. In a way, groups coming to KCON is western validation.

In a way, catering to fans outside of Korea is looking for validation.

what is even being validated though?

Do they really need to be validated by award shows if they already know they great bop music and have killer choreo? Awards don't tell them they're great at what they do, it's the fans.

BTS got popular internationally before they got popular in Korea. So, they were already validated in the west (by fans) before they were in Korea (by award shows + fans).

Why is it BTS that gets people complaining about them needing western validation to be famous?

I honestly think this constant battle between BTS/ARMYs vs the kpop community is ridiculous. However, both sides constantly feed into it, that's a rant for another day though.

Thanks for coming to my ted talk.

Edit 1:

Also, I just realized that Monsta X, NCT, Super Junior, EXID and BTS were all on Buzzfeed Celeb so if doing activities in America count as western validation all these groups would be looking/seeking it out. Everyone turns their cheek when it doesn't come to BTS.

[violixs]

ahh sorry for not being active on the weekend but i did see the unveil track !! SKZ IS JUST SO &,!;!:&/&/‘ do i need to even explain with words they all look so good and the chan and jeongin scene THEIR SO COOL WAHH but with everything skz does antis will complain about it like twitter was full of people complaining about the budget but anyways there is different in this comeback and i’m so exited for it i know i’m gonna love it ! the world tours got announced and i’m so exited but the nearest location is 5 hours away and i’m coming up with reasons to put on a slideshow why someone should take me to the concert if we even get tickets which will just be expensive i know that 😕 but i’m so exited to see all the clips !! also i loved your hyunjin fic !!! heh so cute esp the end i could imagine hyunjin blushing but also confused <3

WORLD TOUR WOOHOOOOO i literally almost cried when they announced it but they haven’t done any european dates yet ☹️☹️ if they do the closest one in the uk will be london and that is four hours away but !!! i am willing to go for the kids in just praying they can come here especially since lix said they’re not going australia (i feel so bad for him and chan they must miss home so much😞) but! i hope you’re able to get them even if it’s far it’ll be a fun roadtrip!

THE UNVEIL OH LORDDDD I WAS GONE IT WAS SO INSANE????? the music the video the KIDS my heart exploded actually but i’m so excited ahhhh and i did see the ppl complaining abt the budget and they had the most stupidest reasons as well but! it’s close to cb so i’m trying to engage as little as possible w all of that :/ i’m glad u liked the hyune fic <3 i honestly didn’t expect it to get much traction rlly but ppl seemed to like smth that was just a little theraputic write so… i’m happy ><

[wallpaperpainting]

What Will Hawaiian Beach Paintings Be Like In The Next 19 Years? | Hawaiian Beach Paintings

We were counting bottomward the canicule to our bounce breach in Kauai. We had appointed the absolute Poipu condo, planned to backpack Waimea Canyon and eat our anatomy weight in ahi poke. Then, you apperceive …

Not complaining, of course, but it’s about summer and we’re still sad about missing what we envisioned as the ultimate ancestors bank vacation. Instead of arresting too abundant barber ice and activity the beach amid our toes at Ke’e Beach, we’ll be spending our anniversary off baking aliment and perpetually disinfecting the house.

Then, it occurred to us: In these canicule of sheltering-in-place, conceivably accepting in the aloha spirit is still a possibility. National parks and museums accept basic tours. Online island bent is free. And we can adjustment takeout or accomplish our own bowls. The best part? You can come, too.

We eased into our Hawaiian e-adventure the best way we apperceive how: with booze and music.

After work, we aerated up Mai Tais and munched on Auntie Viv’s salty-sweet Furikake Snack Mix (psst, you can adjustment it online), while allure to “Kōkua Anniversary 2020 — Live from Home.” Jack Johnson’s anniversary music festival, which supports ecology education, usually takes abode at Waikiki’s Shell concert area in Honolulu. But this year, world-famous Diamond Head was not the backdrop.

Instead,

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[what-does-one-affects-the-other]

What's your opinion on this robot harry?For me it's so annoying he can't even pretend to be excited for his own tour, his social media presence is such a turn off

Well I’m sort of digging myself a grave with this one, but since I haven’t seen a post I can fully agree with, here we go. Disclaimer, I actually study this at uni. I was the Social Media Manager for the planning and putting together of a fashion show, on all platforms. I just handed in last month a 6-months marketing plan that was based around social media promo. So I do have a bit of knowledge in this area. I am by no means an expert, but this is my future field of choice, so I like to think I’m at least educated.

The situation isn’t as black and white as people have put it so far. All I’ve seen is “he’s horrible at engaging with fans” and “he doesn’t own you shit so stop complaining”. The answer is a very big grey area in which Harry’s actual social media presence fits perfectly in my opinion. First of all, there’s two main templates we studied for marketing purposes this year, Gaynor Lea Greenwood’s promotion suggestions (2009) and Burcher (2013)’s Paid, Owned and Earned media concept. Long story short, the first one is your traditional marketing campaign and the second one relies more on social media and advertising on it. Now, I think Harry’s team went for the more traditional approach, and let me explain why.

Harry started distancing himself more and more from twitter and Instagram ever since the hiatus started.Even before, during OTRA and MITAM promo, most of his tweets were promo stuff, lyrics I’m not sure we fully understand even now, charity work, promoting friends or tweeting about holidays/important days or events. His fan interaction has been low for quite a while, and I’m honestly baffled people are acting like this is news. Looking through his Twitter in 2015, there are some tweets to fans, yes, but they’re very sparse.I counted about 12 in 5 months, most of them in September, when Perfect came out, and around the release of MITAM.His tweets were mostly thanks to fans for various awards and nominalisation, promoting the songs/album, some lyrics and, without fail, after every concert he tweeted a thank you for coming.

It felt more personal than what we have now (tho in all honesty, his tour hasn’t started yet and if we eliminate the OTRA tweets it’s already a different story), but Robot Harry has been a thing then, and people were riding along with it instead of condemning it to the extent they do now.But, the thing is, Harry didn’t have the entire burden of engaging with the fanbase like he has now.Louis, Niall and Liam always took turns in taking the lead in replying to fans and interacting with them, which allowed Harry to do his part and everyone was mostly happy.

And yet, I personally don’t feel this frustration many people feel. I think it’s quite interesting actually. A bold move that wouldn’t work for other artist whose career relies on people who live and breathe social media (maybe Beyonce or Adele, but they are in another league). I was very intrigued by Harry’s statement in the Behind the album video, in which he said that there was a time in his life when people knew everything about him, and he didn’t like it.He has been overexposed since 2012, his personal life splashed across tabloids, fake relationship or not.And now he disappeared for a year (and has been retreating into himself for at least 2) and he wrote this mysterious™ album, trying to see if people can listen and understand it without knowing much about the current him. In this context, having an album that surrounds itself in mystery and then doing 4 Q&As on twitter and 3 livestreams sends…extremely contradictory messages. I can, and will fault his team for presenting a dual image of Harry that sometimes makes 0 sense, for handling a lot of things so poorly, and for the entire Carolina mess, but I will say that his social media fits this old school mysterious rockstar image they’re showing of him. I also think his actual reason is very personal and very real, and I respect the fact that he didn’t compromise this choice he made for promo purposes.

His promo relied on more traditional channels. TV and radio appearances, print magazines, and most importantly, the secret gigs. Now, I’m sorry, but I felt entirely more connected to Harry running across London at 8AM in my pyjamas than by any twitter spree he’ll ever do. I never did this before. This reminded me of the stories my dad told me, of queuing up for days in front of the box office so he’d get the tickets when they went on sale. It was very old school and it worked for me. It was a phenomenal experience, something I will never forget. And he did this for us. All profits went to charity, he didn’t do this for money. And while I know this was for a few selected cities and a handful of lucky fans, it was intimate and it was special and I think everyone, regardless if they were there, or vicariously living through pics and videos, felt a connection to Harry. We got emotional on his behalf when he sang with his idol on stage 2 weeks later, you don’t do that for someone you have no connection to.

Now, the actual reason I’m happy with what we’ve got is that it is genuine from my POV. Liam is the perfect candidate for a comparison, since he also took a bit of a break from social media (not as heavy as Harry’s, but he definitely wasn’t as active as Louis or Niall) and his promo is as textbook as it gets. He slowly, but surely increased his activity since January, a few more tweets, a few more pics on Instagram.A big turning point was April when he posted 13 pics on Instagram, compared to 8 in March, 4 in February and 3 in January. His Twitter went through a similar process.Now, the moment he started posting more, I knew his music was gonna be out soon. It’s pure marketing. You start your campaign weeks before the actual launch, it’s only natural. Unless you want to drop it as a surprise, but that’s another discussion. Actually Harry did it too, with the TV ad, but that was ruined by the info getting leaked beforehand and everyone getting pissed off by that so whatevs. Now, Liam is going for the approachable celeb route. Streams, Instagram stories, snapchat, tweeting fans, loads of pics, videos with popular Youtubers. It’s nice and about as well handled as it gets (apart from that weird video release earlier than it should have been and Liam just generally being a bit…odd?off?idk how to explain it, but a lot of people feel the same way from what I’ve seen). It fits with the image Liam is going for, it aims at the right target audience. He’s not trying to enter a new market like Harry is. He’s consolidating his place in the current market from what I’ve seen (and I’ll admit I haven’t followed his promo as closely as Harry’s). Trying to imagine Harry doing this sort of promo doesn’t really work for me.

Niall has been present on and off social media ever since he came back from his trip last year. Literally, if I pull up the calendars people have been making each month, he doesn’t get more than a handful of days without doing something, so it’s unfair to compare him to the others, since he’s always around and posting and doing stuff.

Louis deserves a better team and I won’t have anyone uttering anything else in my presence, and yet somehow, despite Niall’s constant presence and Liam’s textbook engagement, I’ll never feel as connected to them as I feel to Louis. Louis’ tweets are the perfect mixture of absolutely adorable fan service (“our year” 😭😭) and some of the things he’s passionate about (tv shows, fashion, footie/sports). His promo for JHO was….I have no words for it and I’m gonna have a rage fit if I start thinking about it, but his overall persona is charming and endearing when he’s posting things himself. He created a real communication channel between us and him and he knows how to use it when he needs to send a message (warning selfies anyone?Only you?). There’s an actual analysis of Instagram stats that shows he’s the number 1 male account in engagement and overall likes and that doesn’t surprise me one bit. Louis is a smart businessman, he has a loyal fanbase who is here for him through thick and thin.

And on top of everything I said so far, none of them owe us anything outside the promo bubble. Apart from shoots, songs/albums/tours info and official announcements, they do not owe us anything. If they chose to share a picture from their home, that’s their personal space, and while it’s good for PR, amazingly good in a society that thrives from the feeling of knowing everything about everyone (like what’s your fave’s breakfast and how’s their cat is doing), it’s still a part they can choose to keep private and no one should be entitled to ask for more.

Have you seen Adele’s Instagram? It gives you this illusion of closeness to her, with make up free selfies, funny poses and landscape shots. Too bad literally everything is from touring and other official appearances right? There’s one picture of her home, and that’s to celebrate the end of the tour. Harry sort of did the same with the booklet pictures. He allowed you into his personal space in a controlled manner, just like Adele did. Only he did it in a different way. His promo is just different and you have to think a bit outside the box to see that he actually did a lot of things other artists do. Just a bit differently. Was it perfect?Fuck, no. Was it as bad as many people make it look like?Personally, I don’t think so. It was just different and people are entirely justified to see it as a good or a bad thing. I see it mostly as a good thing. Mostly.

[toasty-coconut]

Well, after a very long two weeks I am finally ready to give you all an update post on my life and my family’s current situation.

For those of you who are unaware, on June 12th, 2017, my 15-year-old cousin, Reid, unexpectedly lost his life while on a Boy Scout hiking trip. I don’t want to get too far into the details of the situation for personal reasons, but he suffered heat stroke a few hours into the trip up the mountain and collapsed. Paramedics were unable to reach him in time with a chopper due to electrical storms on the mountain. When the EMT (a truly wonderful woman) finally reached him by horseback, she and the other scouts who he was with performed CPR on him for an hour and a half before he passed.

My family received the news of his passing a few hours later, and it broke each and every one of us. My cousin was an amazingly wonderful boy with so much love in his heart. He hated no one, and accepted everyone of all races, sexual orientations, gender identities, and personalities. He loved music and being a part of the Boy Scouts. The trip he was on was going to be his final merit badge that he needed in order to become an Eagle Scout. He performed in the men’s choir and show choir at his school and loved every second of it. He was an immensely talented and kind-hearted boy with so much to offer to the world. Losing him took a toll on every single one of us, in part because he was so young, but more so because of what an amazing and loving person he was. None of us could understand why it had to be him (and we still can’t).

22 members of my family (including myself) flew out to Texas last Sunday in order to be with my aunt, uncle, and cousin (his older sister) for Reid’s wake and funeral. Going out there and seeing the total anguish that my aunt and uncle were feeling, along with seeing my cousin’s body at the wake and saying goodbye to him at his funeral, were probably the hardest things I have ever needed to do in my life. Things like this should never happen—especially not to a child who did not want to die and who still had so much to offer to the world. That is what has been hardest for all us of to wrap our heads around. But being surrounded by my family gave me strength through that very difficult time. We were all able to cry together and lean on each other when we needed it. My family was already very close-knit to begin with (I have 14 cousins on my mother’s side and we are all relatively close in age—we basically grew up together), but through this we’ve ultimately all grown even closer, I think.

Reid’s wake and funeral were both very lovely memorial of his life—as hard as they were to be a part of. The Boy Scouts did a wonderful tribute to him at both services, and Somewhere Over the Rainbow was sung at his funeral, as it was his favorite song. To boot, everyone wore orange since it was his favorite color. His life may have been short, but it was clear how many people he impacted in that time. The church and funeral home were packed with friends and family, all of whom were shedding tears for him. His life may be over now, but he will certainly never be forgotten.

From all of this, I think the most important thing that I’ve taken away is to cherish every moment that you have with the people you love, because you can lose them at any second. I wish I had gotten to know Reid better. I wish he and I had watched The Lion King together like he wanted to while he was here for Thanksgiving. I wish I had talked to him more on the phone whenever my aunt and uncle called my house. I wish I had talked to him more about Pokemon since I know that was one of our shared interests. These are all things that I’ll never be able to get back. Even if I know that Reid is still with me in spirit, it’s still difficult to wrap my head around the fact that I’ll never see him again in this life. I’ll never get to see his graduation pictures or enjoy his funny personality at Thanksgiving or see him at a family wedding. So just cherish all of those small moments that you have with the people you care about—because it doesn’t matter how old or healthy they are, they can still disappear from your life in a second.

To go with that, I’m also learning not to sweat the small stuff so much and let petty arguments and dumb things get in the way of relationships. My aunt, uncle, and I have always had some level of tension between us as they are fairly conservative and I am fairly liberal. But at the end of the day I was hugging them both in tears and telling them how much I loved them. I wish this had never happened to them. Never again do I want to have a petty Facebook fight with them or anyone else for that matter. Don’t waste time being pointlessly angry when you can be loving someone instead. Reid always hated hate, so I want to live by his example and have a bigger heart and let go of the things that bother me. It’s what he would have wanted.

With all of that being said, I would also like to mention that through this all my friends have been so amazingly supportive of me. Carly, Dimitri, Cait, and Audrey (I apologize for not using their Tumblr names in this post, but this post is so personal to me that I want to address them personally) came to visit Kelly and I during the time that this happened. Actually, I received the news that Reid had passed only an hour after we picked up Carly from the airport. I was supposed to be spending ten days with them, but unfortunately my time with them was cut short since I needed to go to Texas for almost five of those days. They were very understanding of me and let me talk or cry or get angry or depressed. They distracted me when I needed it and made me laugh when I needed it. Carly even went as far as to rebook tickets that we had purchased to go and see the musical Wicked in Boston, covering all the charges herself. And Audrey purchased me some really wonderful Love Live gifts even though she definitely did not need to. There’s so much that my friends did for me that I can’t even begin to explain it all.

I knew it before, but all of this made me realize that I truly have the greatest friends in the entire world. I know I complain about Tumblr a lot, but if it hadn’t been for this website than I would have never met any of them. I’m grateful for that, because they’ve become such a huge and essential part of my life now. In just two weeks they’ve done more for me than most people ever have. Someday I really want to pay it forward and do the same for all of them. I know you guys are probably reading this now, so seriously, thank you. You all saved me in a time where I needed it more than ever. I thought it was just bad timing that Reid passing happened right as you were all visiting, but maybe it was meant to happen that way because of how incredible you all were for me and my family. I promise you all from here on out I’m going to be the best friend I can be for you all. I love you all so, so much.

As for where I’m going from here, well, I have a long road ahead of me. Reid’s death has taken an enormous toll on me emotionally—so much so that I saw my psychiatrist again for the first time in years. I’ve needed to discuss my problems with depression and anxiety for a long time, and now I’m finally taking the steps to do that. I’m on the medications that I need to be on in order to assure that I start to walk down the road of recovery, but I know that it’s going to be a long one. But I’m hoping that the help I’m getting, combined with the support of my friends and family, will guide me into living a better and happier life. I want to be able to write more, I want to have fun on this blog again, I want to work on my characters again, I want to talk to my friends more. All of these things are things that will come with my depression getting more manageable, I hope. So please keep me in your thoughts and bear with me as I face this new path ahead.

That being said, I’m actually going to be leaving with Kelly to go to LA on Tuesday morning in order to visit our friend Emily. We’re going to be going to Anime Expo and seeing Aqours in concert together, along with doing some sight-seeing and general hanging out. I’ve never been to the American west coast before, so I’m really excited for it. This is going to be a much needed vacation after a very long two weeks (and an even longer six months if you include other things that have been happening in my life that have contributed to this final mental breakdown). Please pray for our safe travels and a safe trip.

All of that pretty much concludes this very long post. I’m sure I’m forgetting things, but I just wanted to get this all out there to give you an update on my life. I’m sorry for being so absent lately—a large factor of it has been my depression. But I’m serious when I say this time that I want to start using this blog more and interacting with all of you again. I miss Tumblr as a creative platform, because it really is a wonderful one. I’ve mentioned it before, but I am fairly social on Twitter. If any of you wish to interact with me, I suggest following me there as well.

Please continue to keep my family in your thoughts and prayers as we struggle to cope with the loss of a very precious family member. I’ve also mentioned this before, but if you still wish to donate to Reid’s memorial fund, the link is here. All proceeds will benefit Reid’s Boy Scout troop 336 and the Voices of Central Show Choir. Reid loved both of these activities very much, and there are many children who would love to participate in them, but do not have the money to do so. The money earned here will allow for them to do that. It’s what Reid would have wanted, as he was such a giving boy. If you wish to learn more about Reid’s story, please consider viewing the wonderful story done on him by NBC Dallas Fort Worth. It captures who Reid was beautifully, and I wish for more people to know about what an amazing person he was.

As a final note, always remember: Be safe, don’t sweat the small things, and tell the ones you care about that you love them.