#Both dances convey the confidence that exists in them and that is why they are so similar to me that I adore them the same 💖😭🤧

[harmonysanreads]

Idée Fixe

yandere!lyney x reader

cw(s) : yandere, lyney

wc : 2.6k+

two dorks psychoanalyze each other. might kiss out of spite.

“For as many hearts as you steal, how many do you keep?”

The smooth texture from designed cards is felt across the tips of your fingers, your eyes capture the patterns printed on them through the filter of silvery moonlight and the sound of steps falling in sync with yours assure you of the verity of this encounter.

You don't even need to look up to picture the twinkling amethysts, the widening curve of lips that never convey anything concrete and a sudden bounce in the magician's steps ; the visage painted in your subconscious like the motifs on the cards your fingers fiddle with in intrigue.

The chilly night breeze are but twirls of playful edge,“You make it sound like something else,”

If you cared to look up, you would've noticed the subtle dance of his brows. Lyney begins to walk a step ahead of you in the midst of his short speech, through prolonged scrutiny that'd rival that of the most skilled jeweler's ; you've associated this change of pace to either be in preparation for his usual trickery — or, in the few sparse occasions that go as soon as they come, a casual introduction of another subject to eliminate the previous one. While one could accuse you of reading too much into things, you've long since learned that when it concerns the eccentric magician, the tell-tale details will reveal what he will not.

“Oh really? Perhaps it's your mind imagining insinuations that do not exist, you do have a creative brain.”

“Ouch, only you could insult and praise me in the same sentence.” Lyney places a hand over his heart to cradle it from the jab, though his choice of words should indicate offense, the delivery makes it clear he wouldn't have it any other way.

“Why, thank you, though you're gravely mistaken if you think that will change the subject.” with a swivel of his cape, Lyney spins to walk facing you, his strides (albeit backwards) unchanging in confidence and only when your lift your head to lock eyes, does his expression lighten.

“Well, to answer your question, the ones that are worth keeping, of course.”

The magician chuckles at your eye-roll, “Don't play coy, you know precisely how I meant that question.”

Lyney hums in pretend contemplation, gaze still fixated on your moonlit form, the beat of both of your steps grazing against the pavement and making it seem like a strange parade. Your question holds substance unknown to the rest of the world, but translucent to the magician.

It is both his frustration and delight that you're never bent by his charming words and theatrics. Your firm stare and insistence on the topic confirm his suspicions that you're searching for something particular, something uprooted from the very depths of his soul and he could bet his entire career that you won't stop until you've wrung it out. The answer you seek is nothing he can't give, it'd be simple as well, but precisely due to this knowledge the magician opts instead to test the limitations of your patience.

Truth be told, Lyney never likes it easy and neither do you.

For a miniscule lapse in the boundless confines of time, it's as though both of your world has separated from the existing one. For an amount that'd otherwise be uncomfortable, all exchange is made through your locked eyes. Like a secret shared between no other soul — despite your better judgement, the realization sends a jolt of thrill through your veins and you cannot help but wonder if the magician feels the same.

Seemingly out of thin air, Lyney twirls his magic wand in a wanton pattern, small sparks of light clash with the moon's glow before waltzing past your hair — you pause for not a second, knowing their goal lies in catching you off-guard. If Lyney was given the chance, he'd spend the rest of the night in determining whether you looking back to the cards in your hands was merely an expression of boredom or a brag of how accustomed you are to his theatrics.

Lyney dabbles between the lines of reality and illusion as a profession, blurring them without his audience's notice to make them believe a miracle. It's a simple trick he's succeeded in transforming into an art, so he was confident you'd be privy to the delusion as well. Whether it's due to you doing the same as him or the opposite entirely, Lyney's persistence in solving the puzzle piece named you only grows more tenacious day-by-day.

Sensing the magician's uncharacteristic quietude, you abandon the cards to his backwards marching form and the cheeky grin plastered on his face has you wishing you hadn't at all.

“Ah, but you see, the information you seek is confidential and I fear for prying ears. How about you come a little closer, and I'll tell you the amount?”

Lyney's face is a perfect replica of the grin-malkin cat he adores using as prop, a cloud obscures the moon's vision from seeing the act down earth and the shimmer of Lyney's eyes become pronounced in contrast to the shadow. In comparison, your visage that'd scream ‘preposterous!’ if it could looks nothing short of a circus.

Your steps come to a halt in unison, a breathy chuckle echoes throughout the dead of the night, “Aw, why that face? I don't bite~”

You blink in surprise and suddenly the magician's presence is way too closer than you recall ; he bows down to your ear and the heat of his breath almost makes a shiver run down your spine.

“... but, I might nibble.”

You catch his impish smirk from the corner of your eye and if Lyney notices how you choke in the formation of words, he could snag an award for acting like he didn't.

“Are you that fixated on creating a scandal? Must you always be so shameless?”

At that, Lyney leans away with a pout, hands folded behind his back and swaying back and forth on the heels of his shoes like a reprimanded child.

“Come on now, don't be such a killjoy. I went through all that trouble to whisk you from that boring party and this is how I'm thanked?”

The magician's words are a drawl, each one competing to be more irritating than the last. You have to take a deep breath and hold your tongue from reminding him that the escapade had been without your choice. The world places limitations on all sorts of things and you're not morbidly curious enough tonight to know the extent of the magician's good graces. A beat of tense silence passes, Lyney takes note of your averted gaze and it positively irks him.

Lack of eye-contact means a number of things ; nervousness, insecurity, hesitancy, guilt. For a performer like him whose pride resides in keeping his audience's eyes hooked on his every move, such a gesture is bitter tasting. But when it concerns you, it pricks and wounds his very soul. Lyney's sigh is one of weight and it inclines you to raise your head.

“By asking how many hearts I keep, you hope to know how many matters to me.”

The magician takes his hat off and moves forward to place it atop your head, his speech is not an assumption, nor an inquiry, but a statement. You straighten your posture when you notice the absence of a smile on his face, the sight so alien it has you on edge. While his gesture may be plain to an inexperienced eye, you know that he does it as an extension of his affection. For all the valued items he keeps dangling by the rim of that hat, he surrenders it all to you in a heartbeat.

But you still hold your breath and as expected, the solemn expression of his proves to be transient. Just before the hat grazes your locks, he tips it back, gives the vacancy of its inside an inspecting look and does an emptying gesture as if to prove its.. well, emptiness. There's a flicker in his eyes you're not given the time to catch as he brings his hat just above your head and does the same depleting motion again ; the scent of fresh roses engulf your senses as a thousand petals cascade down from the hat. As if on cue, the winds pick up and waltz them down upon your form.

Here's the thing ; while you may pride yourself in being experienced in discerning Lyney's tricks, it becomes a task to maintain a straight face as he never repeats his previous sleight of hand. What you can try to do instead is search for patterns, patterns reveal genres and genres reveal intentions. Lyney is a celebrated magician of the Court, his capabilities lie far from simple card tricks, so for him to resort to elementary jugglery instead of some grand spectacle, it can only mean he's trying to distract you yet again.

You feel the weight of his hat on your head at last, shifting all the cards on your left hand, you raise your right to adjust its position slightly.

Your encouragement for him to elaborate comes in the form of confirmation, “That'd be correct,”

The magician's lips curve up in fondness, a playful hum escapes him as you resume your walk, him returning to stride facing you again. It's a skill he's mastered in the duration of your acquaintance, for the purpose of stunts apparently. You have your suspicions — but then again, who doesn't when it concerns Lyney?

“Very well. You accuse me of being such a thief, yet, I think you are the guiltier one between us two.” the errant strands of the magician's hair sway, his eyes keep you captive.

He takes the inquisitive tilt of your head as incentive to conclude, “On the topic of hearts and all, I must ask first, when do you intend to return mine?”

The night winds pause, your brain processes Lyney's question until it blanks upon realization. Your eyes dart across his face that is void of all teasing cues, his eyes glazed over and you can tell he's holding his breath. Any consideration of his behavior aligning with trickery is eliminated just as quickly, because if anyone were to want to understand Lyney as intricately as you, they'd first need to learn to be able to distinguish his flirtation from fact.

“... Do I have to?”

You find yourself half concerned and half entertained as the magician narrowly avoids being hit by a pole, him having to maneuver to regain his footing. Both of your steps come to a halt as your laugh echoes throughout the dead of the night. Lyney sheepishly places a hand on the back of his neck but that sight is all too evanescent. The signature smirk of his returns with enthusiasm.

“Not at all,” he purrs, eyes flickering towards your restless ones that have settled on his magic cards again.

“In fact, mold it to your will, toss it to your whim and hold it captive as though it's a supplement of your own, if you may.”

Your ears hang onto each of Lyney's words but your eyes find no courage to look at the mirth that you're certain is plastered on his face, you take the moment to properly inspect the motifs on the cards with some distraction from the shadows of the night : the grin-malkin cat, a miniature Lyney sticking out his tongue, a tea cup, a penguin and—

You're left stupified as the card is abruptly snatched from your grasp, Lyney bounces back a few steps and confirms to be the culprit. You brisk walk to reach the magician and that turns out to be your biggest mistake.

The card is at first held between two of Lyney's fingers, him shaking it left and right in provocation and in the spur of the moment, you take a leap. You feel the wind of the card being propelled upward, the magician holding it out of your reach. Your desire to obtain the piece of paper exceeds your awareness of the sudden decrease in proximity between you both. You shift to your tiptoes and feel the surface of the card, one look through your peripheral at the magician's smile and you realize a little too late that you've fallen right into his trap.

“Now, let's see, the question that started this all : the number of hearts this magician holds dear is the answer to this riddle—”

You expected Lyney to make the card disappear or shift higher if possible, but instead his hand wraps around yours and you find yourself twirled a full circle. The motion catches you off-guard but the magician stabilizes you by placing a firm hand on your waist and pulling you to his eye-level. You find yourself out-of-breath and unable to look away as the moon shines its light on you two again.

“—Placed above, it makes greater things small. Placed beside, it makes small things greater. ” the magician tilts your chin up in his preferred angle with the card, the cool temperature of its margin contradicting the heat of your skin.

“In matters that count, it always comes first.”

The faint rustle of your garbs against his is resounding, your own reflection stares back through amethyst lenses.

Lyney's voice is but a whisper against your cheek as he concludes, “Where others increase, it keeps all things the same. What is it?”

Your frenzied mind momentarily dreads the scenario wherein someone catches you two in the midst of this rendezvous, from incipiency to this apparent climax ; it's built up to be nothing short of scandalous. But the magician has no care for that outcome, inching closer, closer and closer. As if sensing the new wave of worries that fill your mind, he halts but makes no attempt to lean back, his eyes regain their usual shine.

“Quite easy, don't you think? But, if you believe it to be so, you'll be mislead. After all, that is how the simplest magic bewilders the audience. Blink, and you might miss it.”

The magician dives in and your breath hitches. Your eyes are forced open when you feel yourself stumble forward. The first second is wasted with no action, the second one you register that you have the card in your hand — pressed to your lips, on the third you notice the absence of Lyney's presence and the forth brings down all the embarrassment crashing down on your poor heart.

You pull away the condemned card from your lips, heavens know what anyone would think if they saw you kissing a piece of paper in the middle of nowhere. Your face flushes in the lovely shades of pink, heart hammering against your ribcage.

I could've sworn that I felt...!

The magic card crumbles slightly by the edges because of your grip, the prickle of its corners remind you to take deep breaths and calm your raging thoughts. You shake your head with vigour, but you're unsure if it's to recollect the memory or to brush it off. You're left alone to ruminate the aftermath of the bizarre encounter in the cold winds of midnight and you almost want to drown yourself in the darkest depths of the sea as recollections of your reactions rapidly pass through your mind — you can practically hear Lyney's snickers in your head.

Your attention is then grabbed by the catalyst of your current predicament, you turn over the card and finally inspect the motif printed on the card ; two hearts, bounded by a shackle and a lock. You trace your thumb across the hearts and your mind retraces Lyney's cryptic words. If all interactions, encounters and memories you share with the eccentric magician of Fontaine would form a pinnacle for you to see the truth from ; you'd know that behind the veneer of charisma and humor, Lyney hides something far less innocent. And yet, regardless of the foreboding creeping up your spine, you find yourself unable to snap the tether of connection.

Because as it is, that which is mysterious, captivates us all.

may all lyney wanters be lyney havers<3

#enjoy the whimsy until i (probably) give him the venti treatment(⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠) #this is so self-indulgent and i'm not going to apologize for it #yandere #yandere genshin impact #genshin impact x reader #yandere genshin x reader #yandere genshin impact x reader #yandere lyney #yandere lyney x reader #lyney x reader #lyney x you #yandere genshin imagines #yandere genshin x you #yandere x reader imagine #male yandere #genshin impact #yandere genshin #genshin x reader #lyney fluff #lyney

[forbidding-souda]

hello hello!! i just randomly thought of this one while spaced out in class LMAO- could i have kaede, kazuichi and chiaki (separately) meeting someone who has the same talent as them? tysm, stay safe and have a great day!!

Kaede Akamatsu, Kazuichi Souda, and Chiaki Nanami falling for someone who has the same talent as them

I hope you have a good day too lovie

I'm writing this instead of working on my d&d campaign because I'm a procasinator and next session is going to be so mathematical I want to die

currently watching: Gen Z Childhood Trauma Iceberg THE COMPLETE SAGA

-Mod Souda

Kaede Akamatsu

✯ She is a tiny bit competitive. She's not used to people being on her level, or anywhere near it, as she's always blown the roof off. Initially, she doesn't know how to prove herself beyond trying to put emotional passion into her pieces and even writing a bunch of her own. When she first found out you existed, she spent a bunch of hours of her life researching you and watching your videos (you know what's even worse about you? You're hot. It's sick, makes her sick to her stomach, how could you be so perfect?).

✯ Once it came to her trying to pull you, she was so optimistic about it. Originally it was like keep your friends close and your enemies closer until boom, she wanted you to be closer to her than both her friends and her enemies. She knew that the two of you were like no one in the world so she immediately tried to convey her interest through pieces. She would chose romance-based ones. To a Wild Rose for small things like playing at restaurants while you two have a meal together (but isn't it a bit melancholic? She's pining, that song is what it feels like to her). She could play Chopin but that would only end in the two of you giggling together.

She breathed deeply, trying to steady herself. Why is she nervous? She does this sort of stuff all the time! Well, no, that's not true... competitions is not something she does that often. Her body trembled from a combination of anticipation and anxiety. Using her foot, she elongated notes as well as softening them. She played the music in which way the audience feels rather than in whatever way she felt. She needed to win - she needed to find something that can assure the world that even though you are out there, she is not going anywhere. Her confidence was unwavering. She was nervous because you are in the audience. In a more literal sense, you were her competitor. Did she want to impress you, or was she scared of losing to you? She let the melody stain the piano keys like rain to asphalt. She then put you, note by note, into the front of her mind until she discovered that it was your smile she was imagining - and it wasn't you smiling to the audience, but you smiling to her.

✯ Whose sheet music is whose? You guys don't know, you've only just now started to sign the top corner of them so you could keep track.

✯ She's used to being the one that soothes everybody but now gosh it's amazing to know that there's somebody out there who's capable of soothing her back.

✯ Throughout the day, she will grab your hand and dance with you and make you spin as if there is music playing.

.

Kazuichi Souda

✯ Mans awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. His self-confidence is going haywire at the notice of you. There's no way he can even consider himself one-of-a-kind anymore but when he actually meets you, he tries to play it off as if he is unbothered which is mainly because with all the stories he's heard about you, he didn't expect you to be as attractive as you are. That conversation had a lot of "uh, yeah"'s. After meeting you, he's going to be kicking his feet doodling in his diary about you.

Driving home, he was grumbling under his breath. He's driving a stupid car that works stupidly better than it did when he was stupidly working on it. He considers himself skilled at what he does but of course, he has his flaws. You always manage to size him up around his flaws (but he can do the same to you, so it's fair game, he's still sensitive though). Around him the city is dying down as the sun starts to drop, people shuffling into karaoke bars and ice cream places makes him hum. He thinks, we should do that together. His cheeks go pink. It still surprises him how much the little things remind him of you. After closing the front door he kicks off his shoes and shuffles out of his jacket to the sound of you filling the air with your joyous exclamation of his name [he can almost hear the xoxo in your voice].

✯ The thing that makes him want to scream and cry the most is how when somebody tosses a mechanical instrument at him most of the time he won't notice and just gets hit in the head... but when he tosses one at you you just catch it! How dare you - he can't stand it.

✯ He will be on the verge of making out with you whenever you come out from under a car and you got the mucky hands and the sweat around your body.

✯ He can just talk... naturally to you about stuff and not worry about you not knowing what he's talking about.

.

Chiaki Nanami

✯ You have the same interest as her? That's awesome. She is so excited to have somebody to talk to (especially about all the niche things she's into). You can impress her by knowing the shit she's talking about, and it's mainly because she's used to keeping a lot of this information in her head so she doesn't infodump on random people (and when she's talking to you, it's not infodumping but instead an two-sided conversation). Hanging out with you means that she can have a calming silence as she games with you by her side.

It is now that Chiaki takes her butt over to your house. She walked the way with her nose in her game, almost missing the train and then her stop too. The adventure gave her four wins (technically five if you count seeing you). You are surprised when she knocks and you are more surprised when she speaks before you can even say anything. "I didn't tell you that I was coming, huh?..." She trails off, her voice dreamy as she continues to game even on your doorstep. It makes you wonder why you even paused your game to answer the door when you could have just brought it with you. You laugh an airy laugh, "That's alright. I'm happy to see you." She smiles before slipping by you into your house. You look her up and down affectionately before welcoming her in. You have of course had her just walk in before, and you've also experienced her just being in your living room playing your games. She's so comfortable around you that she doesn't put much thought into social awareness (and she knows you'll continue liking her no matter how many times she walks through your front door while you're busy gaming upstairs).

✯ Ahh the two of you can have matching consoles, and since the two of you are so popular, the consoles will literally be made for you both.

✯ Omg and in game couples being based on you two. They'd have kissing animations

✯ She doesn't feel threatened by your presence at all - she is just so grateful you exist. She feels hearddddd like no tomorrow.

#kaede akamatsu x reader #kazuichi souda x reader #chiaki nanami x reader #danganronpa #x reader #danganronpa x reader

[sirensunrise]

Lay it on us 🙌

Sorry in advance my brain is absolute mush so i might repeat shit and be all over the place. Also this gets me heated. 

I have specific opinions on certain groups and also can 100% rate/rank stage presence for a specific group if anyone wants me to, bc I have things to say about specific groups/people as well but in general? Stage presence is typically a hit or miss.

This whole thing started with aespa tbh, and like no hate to the girls themselves but when i first saw them there was something about them that just turned me off of them. i had no idea what it was until the zoo video and holy shit. it's almost criminal to put winter next to taeyong. There is NOTHING on her face, it's completely blank. and again i really mean no hate (you'll see why just hold on) but every aespa stage i've seen since has been the same.

It happens all the time! There are so many idols who either consistently serve blank faces or, show up to work for however long they're in the center and then drop it the moment they aren't the one singing.

The reason this really bothers me is bc how the Fuck are you supposed to sell a song. you're PERFORMING?!?! singing and dancing both have a major acting component, rule number fucking one is DONT BREAK CHARACTER. now, i don't mind a few like shared smiles or smthn small and goofy during a stage, but you know wtf i mean right? It feels almost unprofessional, you step onstage, you're in character until the Moment you step offstage. that's how this fucking works, it's such a simple concept. and. AND! on top of that, it actively fucks with your dancing/singing. did you know that humans can hear smiles in voices? it sounds different when you add emotion into it. same goes with dancing, i mean look at the faces of professional dancers. They get INTO it, they embody a character, and it really affects a performance. It doesn’t matter what emotion you’re conveying, turn your fucking face on during a stage. 

Now. That was very harsh. yes. but, again. this is not hating on them, because i don’t think it’s entirely/always their fault. I didn’t really think abt this until i was discussing glitch mode w becca, and i noted that renjun had an entirely stone face. no expression no movement. and she pointed out that he had probably been trained not to smile bc he originally had fucked up teeth so staff/the company, told him to keep that shit in check. It’s not always laziness or lack of talent. I have a few theories as to why a company or idol might want to minimize their expressions. 

1) They’re there to look pretty. 

sometimes facial expressions are ugly. a lot of the time idols are almost treated like dolls, their neutral face being seen as when they’re the most attractive. marring their features with any sort of over the top emotion isn’t as pretty. they also probably think that it’s not as big of a deal if they’re acting less when they aren’t the center but.. fancams literally exist. always assume someone is watching you, even if you aren’t the focus. I hate it but I understand it. (sadly this also is probably the reason that it’s a bigger problem within girl groups, companies wanting them to look as pretty as possible all of the time at the expense of performance quality)

2) They’re afraid of overdoing it.

there’s this thing i fucking hate, just in general, outside of kpop too, where ppl act as though being earnest and trying is cringy. i hate this idea of being nonchalant and cool, it’s one of the reasons i like ateez, a lot of the time they really put their all into it. some of the shit they do is called cringy but i love that they put their fucking all into whatever they’re doing. they fucking commit. and i think people would rather pretend not to care or give nothing out of a fear of being made fun of. (the thing is, if you’re confident with it, a lot of the time it doesn’t come off as overdoing it.) granted. you Can overdo it sometimes, especially when it comes to small screen things, emotions are more subtle when you’re on camera but theyre PERFORMING they are ON A STAGE that’s when your emotions are supposed to be a bit bigger. fucking sell it!!!! it puts a bad taste in my mouth when someone makes fun of or cringes at idols especially when they’re fucking doing their goddamn job. 

as some of you may know, i have experience with performing, and was a part of a vocal studio for the better part of a decade. I have been on stage with a choir, with two other people, with three other people with goddamn ten other people, and a lot of experience performing on my own. sometimes my technique sucks, sometimes i fuck up a note but i know i have good stage presence. and when i look back at performances, the ones that i am the most proud of the ones that i got the most compliments for, are the ones with the best stage presence. there was this one thing that my vocal coach said that really stuck with me. She said that the whole reason we learn and practice music so much is so we can have it become muscle memory, so when you’re up onstage, you aren’t focusing on technique, you’re focusing on performing. when you get up on stage there’s a reason you aren’t fucking sight read or have your sheet music in front of you. 

ok. thats my beef. and ik this sounds harsh but it’s something that i feel very strongly about. especially because of my history and also bc, like i said before, i am confident in my stage presence, i’ve won awards within my studio for it. and its disappointing to watch someone who has all this training and all this support, phone it in on stage. i am a goddamn nobody and i’m better at it? its borderline disrespectful to the fans. and as an audience member/viewer, i would feel shafted tbh, it feels like they don’t care enough to try, and whether thats true or not, its certainly how it comes off. 

phew sorry and AGAIN i rlly am not trying to imply that all idols who lack stage presence, there could be a multitude of reasons as to why and i don’t know them. i mostly get disappointed at specific idols/companies rather than angry. i get angry in general but i really don’t mean any harm or hate towards specific people.  

if you want i can totally do some specific comparisons of stage presence, even within concepts, but for now i’ll leave you with these ones

This vs This 

and 

This vs This

#IM SO SORRY THIS IS SO LONG #i have things to say clearly #also like #it's ok to have middling stage performance sometimes #or to not be As good #its when theres nothing its just #yeah

[gotticalavera]

Headcanon for an AU Scholar:

Zuko is part of the Theater Club, and they have asked the Dance Club for their help with a play (original and written by the Theater Club) that they will do at the Summer Festival.

Aang is the president of the Dance Club, not only in charge of helping with the choreography, but also staying late to help Zuko with his dance because he plays an important character.

For some reason, in one of their rehearsals they end up dancing like this:

#Why did I put Utena and Himemiya? #That dance and the Dancing Dragon are fighting for the position 1 in my top of dances in animation #Both dances convey the confidence that exists in them and that is why they are so similar to me that I adore them the same 💖😭🤧 #Zuko is really nervous because it is the first play in which he participates and he is not behind the scenes #Aang is really fascinated by how Zuko changes from being on stage #This is the first time they meet #avatar the last airbender #avatar aang #fire lord zuko #aang atla #zuko atla #zukaang hc #zukaang #aanglove #aang love #zuko x aang #aang x zuko

[tiens-letters]

butterflies flutter even in the most bloodstained of battlefields

Xiao (angst)

....

It was one of those nights again.

Where all was serene, creatures alike basking in the tranquility of the world once the moon above floats over the existence of everything. To where wars stopped for rest and yet one soul amongst many had no time to do so.

"Alatus." what a familiar name he thinks as he floats around in the void, the darkness to which seemed not consume him just like before and then he wondered where he is right now is the place of all endings. It was pure nothingness and it seemed more comforting than the land he was supposed to protect, riddled with war and the ever evolving generations of humanity.

If this was the end then so be it, he wouldnt ask for more. He could finally rest his weary head and think and replay all the good days while awaiting reincarnation and he prayed. He hoped for a better rebirth and into a place of peace.

"Alatus." there was it again, the name he's forgot during the spoils of war. A name he thought he'd never hear again or even spoken by someone's lips.

"Wake up please." but his eyes were fully open, his body aware and yet he felt alienated, out of place. He realizes that his skin never felt a thing and only the harrowing reality that this place was a farce.

As if it were the clue to the puzzle, the darkness broke and fell apart into a field, marred with bodies piled atop each other, the red sun above blessing those under it the horrors of a never ending terror that scorched their skin and drove them towards the brink of madness. His polearm, sullied with grime and blood. It felt heavy, like the burden he carries upon his shoulders. A little bit more and he would have lost himself too. He stood above it all and looked at the vast battlefield before him, the very nightmare he's always experienced. Just he himself standing, alone and cold, the suffocating air heavy with the stench of tarnished blood.

There were no grassy fields with a clear sky nor the old and ancient land of liyue that he grew up in and fought for.

A lone butterfly dances in the midst of it all, his body weightless as he followed it. Wondering why it called out to him in a silent way yet its presence itself made him feel at ease.  Perhaps this was his salvation from being damned to this world, a small glowing butterfly. He wanted to touch it but he felt undeserving to for such an action, he might curse it as well. His eyes was set alone on its fluttering feat, not noticing the bodies he walked past nor the souls that called out to him.

And then it burst into a million, pieces of light, engulfing him in its warmth.

He welcomed it.

"Xiao!" he gasps, like his very first breath into existence and then he could feel everything there is and there was.

That's right, there was still you, beautiful eyes fully blown into worry, that face of your torn into agony at the thought of him never waking up next to you. Not feeling his skin upon your and his lips gracing your immortal soul.

You embraced him with relief, clutching his body that was filled with nightmare tremors.

"Thank you." he whispers against your neck, the sweat from his forehead sticking to you skin and you didnt care. Even if you both were covered in dirt or grime, even if both of you were tarnished by blood, nothing mattered except that you both are breathing and feeling.

"I thought Ive lost you in that wasteland, Alatus."

He kisses you with all he has, all the pent up emotions he could never say, all the love he feels for you was conveyed into actions, those hands that held a weapon of war now cupping your cheeks and all you could ever feel was his deeply rooted affection towards you. it was as if to remind him that you were still there, the sole reminder of a better world. a better life.

You who he's dedicated his heart to and not anyone else. the first of everything. sure it was a bumpy ride in the beginning as he was like a newborn babe to the emotions such as love and joy but as time took every step, the road seemed to smoothen by its grace and it became easier to approach these newfound feelings. you were glad to be blessed by the geo archon to have a long life so  that you can offer your all to the land you helped protect and build and now to the man before you. Your dearly torn Alatus. 

"Rest well my dear." 

...

It was truly the end of the line. 

Everywhere was in utter chaos, modern Liyue now fraught to ruin as an ancient God had been awakened, one you thought had been sealed away and the demons you guardians once kept away came bounding back tenfold and hungry for blood and destruction. The city that has been built from the ground crumbled , as you fought once again, just like all those years ago side by side with your comrades. People were dying as you strived to protect every single soul with your hands and just like before, several others dropped to your feet, lifeless and tossed apart like a rag doll.

You were tiring, sharp movements turned sluggish as you tore down anything evil that you came across, you prayed to whichever good god was still alive that the people had run to safety so that you could unleash your last card. A trick you've vowed to never use again as long as you are alive and the situation permits it so and yet you've run out of time. if you didnt do this now then everything would really turn to ash and nothing would bloom ever again. 

Standing in the middle of the onslaught of monsters that never seemed to end, gnashing teeth nipped at your barrier only to be repelled back by a force that seemed to lose its energy. You sighed, the last ever peace you'll get to feel as the karma pushed you over the edge. 

"Xiao." and as soon his name poured out your lips did he appear, an urgent look in his eyes as he slashed down any monster that came near. 

"Its time." his mouth hung open, unable to find the right words to counter you, how could he? when duty was above everything, especially in the relationship you both had that bloomed from the most ancient of days. Liyue came first above all else, that was what you swore as Morax blessed you on the day of your early death. You were thankful to him that he's allowed you to live even with the price of servitude. 

"Thirty  seconds." was all he could muster up to say from all the torrential words that swarmed his head. just thirty seconds of peace with you was all he wanted before you walk the remaining steps towards the end. 

"Alright." there was peace as you allowed it, nothing from outside was heard only the ragged breathes that came from both of your lungs. There were no monsters only two immortal beings that longed for peace, and in those weary eyes was hope for a tomorrow. 

"I love you." he whispers pulling you close, those thirty seconds slowed as he held you tightly, his skin engraving the memory of you deep within. "I love you. Dont forget that." 

"Even if I pass on, you will always be in my heart. Even if time goes on, your name remains on my lips. Even if everything crumbles, you in your own self will always be with me as I am with you. So my dear, my dear sweet Alatus, dont you ever cry when you wake up tomorrow to an empty bed, dont look for me when all Ive ever been is right beside you. Instead, rejoice for there is another day you get to experience for the both of us and if time allows us once again, which I am confident it will. I will  find you just as you've found me." 

this was your parting vow. 

your peaceful barrier broke and once again you were back in the cruel reality you faced and will face till your death. Your lips find his and for the last time in this life, you poured every ounce of you in it. Your eyes had no tears and only hope and acceptance as you broke away. 

"I love you." and then that was the end of your own book. 

Billions upon billions of butterflies burst from you, touching every dirty, disgusting thing, purging it off this world once and for all. Your duty was fulfilled, your contract has ended and now you are free. There was nothing to worry about except to wait for the right time to find you way back to him. 

Now, everything was at peace again. 

Xiao, the man you've left behind for the time being stood alone once again with a single butterfly perched atop his forehead. 

.....................................................................

i will get to the requests after a few days. Please bear with my low creativity juice and dwindling will to can.

#genshin impact #genshin impact angst #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact imagines #xiao #xiao genshin impact #xiao x reader #alatus #xiao angst #xiao imagine #xiao one shot

[stanzoeywade]

Tiptoe - Poppy x MC

Taglist: @somewillwin @uhh-the-green-thing @jmojellybae @simp-pony @made-me-deep-blue @uselesslesbianfr @it-lives-in-braidwood-manor @belvoiresqueenbee @alexlabhont @samanthadalton @crazzyplays @sparring-hyena @baexpoppy @cloakanddaggerthings

Summary: Poppy and MC meet in summer and they were dating but broke it off, not related to free falling dhaisja don't ask about ch3 idk either.

A/N: uhm hi I've been a ghost for like months lol but I heard from a little birdie that queen b is coming back in September and I'm so ready to clown for my wife Poppy again. Based on song below which is a bop. I also did not check my spelling or grammar I die like a dumbass. My one braincell would like to thank u all and Gabi for this fic 💗

There's hardly anything in this world that captivates you, until you see her. Her flawless skin, her blonde hair and those deep chocolate orbs that you just want to stare at and drown in forever. Who knew such a beauty existed? It boggles you to know that the Min-Sinclair heiress is perfect. One might say that you're jealous but deep down you know that's not the case. Jealousy? No, it's not jealousy, you're enthralled by her. It's not even because of how fucking gorgeous she looks, it runs deeper than that. There's just this weird sense of kinship that you feel when you look at her. She's more than the ranking, she's vulnerable and actually cares, something you saw when you went to the animal shelter.

The way her eyes sparkled when she saw the rescue animals, the way her mouth curved into that gentle smile. Who knew the queen bee of Belvoire had a heart? Her vulnerability is further shown when you realise that the golden girl of Belvoire has her own scars, her pride a by-product of the hurt caused by family and so called friends.

Having seen the forefront of it all, Belvoire is cutthroat. Everything matters, the clothes you wear, your family name. It's a free for all, no one cares who gets burned, low blows exchanged, it's all a big mind game and those who fall under pressure lose not just their reputation but everything they have worked for. But apart from all of that, she's still the first thing that makes you smile.

It's damning, the way your mind and heart races at the thought of Poppy. The way her eyes light up when she flashes that gentle smile, where one look is all it takes to make your knees weak and the blood rushing up your cheeks. You've never seen such a beauty, her smile is like a soft ray of sunshine, warming you up. However, she's also as mysterious as the moon, especially since she acts so sweet and the next minute she's as cold as ever. It's enough to give you whiplash.

Such gentle and delicate features, yet her personality is as fiery as the sun, I guess it's true what they say, the sun is beautiful yet staring at it can become painful.

It's confusing as to why Rosie's fallen so hard for Poppy, they've been rivals from the start, with each other's goal to come out on top. Things have definitely changed after the night they slept together, Poppy's words have no actual bite to them. If she were brave enough Rosie would've called Poppy out on it, but she's so confused on where they stand that she doesn't want to risk this newfound "friendship" if one can even call it that.

It suddenly hits Rosie like a brick. 'Wait, has Poppy been courting me in her own weird way or am I imagining shit?' She becomes more confused as Poppy seems to stare at her longer than she ever did, sometimes Rosie would meet eyes with Poppy who seems to have a longing stare as if she has so much to convey yet has no courage to do so. Sometimes it gets to the point where Poppy blushes after she realises that both of them have been staring at each other for too long. Both of them being a flustered and blushing mess, looking away as if they've been burned from getting too close to a fire.

Most people in Belvoire would argue that its not longing and wistful glances that the two are exchanging, they'd say that those were intense glares formed from the ongoing rivalry that the two have established in public, but anyone who personally knows Poppy and Rosie would say differently. There's also an ongoing bet between the students of the school. Some argue that Poppy and Rosie are secretly dating whilst the rest argue that they absolutely loathe each other and the ongoing stares are to intimidate each other to give in and leave Belvoire.

Zoey and Veronica are secretly in cahoots in which they bet that the two are definitely dating or in Veronica's words "those two are definitely fucking" which earns her a fond smile as well as a roll of the eyes from Zoey. Chloe suspects something between Poppy and Rosie, considering they genuinely don't seem to put energy behind the insults they throw at each other. She doesn't think that the two are lovers but she definitely thinks that they're secretly friends.

It's not until Veronica sees Rosie wink at Poppy when she thought nobody was looking, and she was certain that the blonde would glare at Rosie but imagine her surprise when Poppy flirts back by winking back. In which she's all too excited to text Zoey about. "Omfg bitch, you won't believe what I saw today, like holy fuck the two gays were flirting when they thought no one was looking." All she gets in response from Zoey was "show receipts pls."

Rosie can feel herself falling for Poppy, both of them know that things have changed. Neither seem too interested in fighting and when they do argue, it's all for show, after all no one knows that they're secretly pining after each other. She suddenly remembers how they met.

-Flashback-

Being relatively new to New York, Rosie was eager to meet new people and what better way to start off than hooking up with strangers from a random bar? After all, the city was big and it's been a while. As soon as she arrived someone immediately caught her attention. One Poppy Min-Sinclair, dressed to the nines, she was definitely Rosie's type. Not really expecting anything Rosie struts towards her, in hopes of beginning a conversation.

At first Poppy seemed uninterested, scoffing and she felt a presence near her. She didn't really want to deal with anyone considering they're usually just random guys who wanted to hook up in the bathrooms or worse they're drunk as fuck trying to flirt with her. However, imagine her surprise when she looks at the person that dared to sit by her. Poppy would be lying if she said that the girl in front of her wasn't her type. She seemed sweet, and had a gentle smile. It was also a bonus that the girl seemed to know how to dress herself.

When their eyes met, there was this lightning spark that just fit into place, the two had chemistry. It was undeniable, the two just knew how to push and pull. The banter was there, so was the attraction.

Poppy wasn't shy about showing her attraction, obviously checking Rosie out, which earns her a low chuckle from the other girl. "At least buy me dinner first before you undress me with you eyes?" said Rosie with mirth dancing around her eyes, whilst Poppy just laughs, soft and languidly slow. At which point Rosie knew she was screwed, the blonde in front of her looked like she just walked out of the runway, and her laugh was definitely something Rosie wanted to hear more of.

She's pulled out of her epiphany once Poppy speaks, voice sultry and pulling Rosie in like a siren. "My name is Poppy Min-Sinclair, and I do what I want sweetheart." The confidence she exudes is shown in her voices. It's addicting the way the blonde presents herself, every move calculated and poised. Every word that leaves her lips is deliberate and elegant in her own unique way. If she was in her right mind, Rosie would've been terrified by how enraptured she was by this girl in front of her.

Rosie wasn't one to back down from a challenge therefore she decides to tease the girl in front of her. "Is your name supposed to be important? I've never heard of it. Anyways, since you've introduced yourself so nicely, my name's Rosie." Poppy just raises an eyebrow at her semi-surprised that the other girl hasn't heard of her. "Sorry babe, the whole world doesn't revolve around you." said Rosie with a cheeky smile and wink and before Poppy can retort Rosie finishes off by saying "but it definitely should revolve around you, I mean look at you, you're mesmerising."

If it were any other person, Poppy would have definitely rolled her eyes and walked away, but Rosie seemed to mean it. The other girl definitely looked like she wore her heart on her sleeve, and it was just so damn endearing that Poppy, against her usual M.O., she decides to stay and talk to the other girl. 'She looks cute enough, but if she's gonna be annoying then I'll just ditch her later.' thought Poppy.

Both women were intrigued by each other, and one thing led to another. Before they knew it they were together in a hotel room. Neither of them cared about who made the move first, all they knew was that they had to have each other one way or the other.

Despite her pent up desire and lust, Poppy still cared about her reputation, after all even if she was on break it didn't mean she can be careless, plus she didn't exactly want to expose Rosie to Belvoire's dirty laundry, the girl seemed nice enough and Poppy wasn't about to mess with this girl. Sure she's a fucking bitch but that doesn't mean she wants people to suffer because of her unless they've wronged her or any of her friends in some way. She's petty but she's not that petty.

God knows Belvoire is a shithole.

They're definitely closer than what should be conceived as acceptable, considering Rosie is literally one step away from kissing Poppy. Not like either of then cared considering they were too focused on each other to pay attention to their surroundings. It's only when the bartender coughs that the two pull away from each other as if taken out of their seemingly lulled state.

Rosie's about to say goodbye, considering the blonde seems like she's torn between leaving or staying, but she's caught by surprise when Poppy yanks her arm back. "Where do you think you're going, little lamb? I didn't say I was done with you yet." The way it was said was enough to make Rosie shiver. The way the Min-Sinclair heiress said it so confidently, it didn't help that she looked to be the epitome of lust and desire at that moment, but from then on Rosie knew she was fucked, both literally and figuratively.

Before she knew it she was pulled into a car headed to the nearest luxury hotel, which just so happens to be a presidential suite at The Ritz. Rosie didn't show but she was shocked. She knew the girl was rich, I mean come on her clothes are fresh off the runway and the blonde exuded power and wealth. But this was like a bucket of ice water being dropped on Rosie's head, this was definitely something she wasn't expecting.

NSFW AHEAD

She's taken aback by the inside of the hotel suite, she expected it to be fancy, but nothing could prepare her for the plush king sized bed, as well as the overall layout of the room. It looks like something straight out of an IKEA magazine, Rosie can't help but think.

"Well, are you just going to stand there or are we actually going to fuck?" says Poppy. Rosie is taken aback from how bluntly Poppy put it. Speaking of which, the blonde girl is already half way through removing her clothes. She couldn't help the gasp that escapes her as she gawks at Poppy and the way her body looks so perfect, unblemished milky white skin that looks so soft, all Rosie could think of is leaving marks in her wake. She licks her lips in anticipation as Poppy gives her the come hither gesture, and Rosie is immediately lured in, like a moth drawn to a flame.

Her hands immediately raise up, helping Poppy out of her clothes, until all that remains is Poppy's underwear. Her eyes scan Poppy's body and out of the corner of her eye she can see Poppy's satisfied smile. Rosie is pulled in, her body pulled in flush against Poppy. Her eyes dart over to Poppy's lips as she leans in to kiss Poppy. A hand covers her mouth as she hears "Not yet Hughes, it's unfair if I'm the only one in my underwear."

Rosie's ears are definitely bright red at this point and she's pretty sure that her whole body is flushed, but she gives Poppy a show as she takes each article of clothing slowly, piece by piece as if testing Poppy's already short patience. As she takes her blouse off, Poppy's staring at her so intensely she can feel her legs wobble. The look conveying an unspoken promise. It's enough to make her a little self conscious, but her confidence is regained as soon as she sees how flushed Poppy is. It also helped that she saw Poppy gulp, looking at her like she's the only thing in the world. "See something you like, Min-Sinclair?" she can't help but tease and the blonde rolls her eyes.

"You were doing so well until you started speaking. Just get your ass over here. I'm not used to waiting for things I want." said Poppy. Rosie struts over to Poppy.

She's immediately back at Poppy's side, the Min-Sinclair heiress looking her up and down which makes Rosie nervous as the way Poppy stares is intense. Her doubts are quickly quelled as she's soon tugged harshly the collar. Poppy pulls her in roughly for a kiss, as their tongues dance and weave against each other, battling for dominance. They both step forwards towards the bed, and the noises that come out of Poppy is irresistible and music to her ears. She sounds incredible and Rosie can't get enough and with a flick of her tongue Poppy is putty in her hands.

They both fall towards the bed, Poppy ending up under Rosie. They pull away quickly to catch their breath, and Poppy's eyes are blown so much so, her pupils are dilated like a cat ready to catch its prey. Her lips parted and bruised, taking in oxygen as if all of her breath has been taken away. If Rosie thought she was in charge, she's got another thing coming. Their position is switched, as Poppy expertly flips them over, landing her on top of the other girl. Rosie ending up with her back against the bed as Poppy straddles her. "You're a good kisser, Hughes." she says and Rosie smiles mischievously "I try." she replies.

Poppy's quick to kiss Rosie again, as if she's her only lifeline teetering her to the world. Every kiss shared feels like sparks flying, the intensity and passion leaving them both breathless. It's not like Rosie's gonna give in and let Poppy top her, she quickly pull Poppy by the waist, bodies completely flushed against each other before rolling over so that their position is once again switched. This time Rosie comes out on top.

Before the other girl can complain, Rosie's quick to shut her up but trailing kisses from lips to her neck. Poppy smells like fresh cherries and vanilla, which for some reason is very fitting. After all cherries are sweet but the fruit itself can be dangerous, however there's a hint of danger. After all cherries do have cyanide in the seed. The whimpers and moans that come from Poppy's mouth are sensual and spurs Rosie on even more. She can't get enough of the blonde.

She can feel Poppy's nails taking across her back, and she's sure that those are definitely going to leave marks, not like she minds considering she's too far gone from the sound of Poppy's moans and whimpers.

Rosie looks at Poppy and she can't help but admire how beautiful Poppy looks under her, eyes half lidded and chest heaving. "You look better when you're quiet, Princess." said Rosie, but instead of reporting Poppy just pulls her back in and their lips are clashing against except this time its rough. Poppy pulling and tugging at her hair, while leaving small nibbles on her lips. Rosie knows that her lips are going to be all sorts of red and bruised the next morning.

Rosie's hand finds their way to the waistband of Poppy underwear, and she can feel the wet patch. She slides her hand inside and moves her fingers to find Poppy's clit, where she rubs small circles, and she feels the blonde jolt from the sudden contact and Rosie is about to apologise until she hears Poppy's breathy moans. "I swear to god, if you stop I'm going to fucking kill you." whimpered Poppy.

Rosie just smiles against Poppy's skin as she continues teasing Poppy until the other girl is a panting and whimpering mess. "I need your fingers inside me Hughes, stop fucking around and actually start fucking me." It's said so desperately Rosie finally grants the blonde her wish and starts pumping her fingers in and out until the blonde cums, back arched away from bed and a loud and filthy moan is all the can be heard. Rosie helps the other ride out her orgasm by cooing gentle words and leaving kisses that are definitely going to leave marks on the Poppy's unblemished skin.

-NSFW END-

-FLASHBACK END-

The casuak hook up turns into dates and outings, and both of them start to catch feelings for each other. As much as it surprises Poppy she genuinely enjoys the time that she spends with Rosie. The other girl always making sure to make Poppy smile. It doesn't help that Rosie had this weird way of knowing when Poppy was upset or stressed in which she'd always do something to help the blonde feel better. Rosie's become a constant, a home away from home in a sort. Always there even on Poppy's worse days, not giving in even when Poppy's relentlessly cruel and bitchy. If she weren't so fucking smitten Poppy would have thought that Rosie was a Saint considering how patient she is. However, she refuses to confess her feelings to the other girl first, after all she's a Min-Sinclair and they don't confess ever. People confess to her.

They're both stubborn, therefore they both refuse to even acknowledge their budding feelings for the other. Though there have been too many times where Poppy has gotten jealous when people stare too much at Rosie, though it's reserved and usually subtle. Poppy quietly stakes her claim by always having some sort of physical contact with Rosie. It could be something as simple as a hand on Rosie's forearm or wrist. But the real warning comes from her passive aggressiveness when others get too close to Rosie or the glares that are given if anyone is dumb enough to try and flirt with the other girl.

It's not like Rosie is any better. Whilst Poppy is subtle with her jealousy, Rosie is not. She's always quick hold Poppy's hand as if to signify that the blonde is hers and it's even worse if anyone ignores that. She becomes more physically affectionate. She hugs Poppy as if her life depends on it. There's also been a few times where if Rosie's patience was tested she'd get really jealous and the next time they're intimate she always leaves marks where no one but her or Poppy knows. It's also when she becomes quite dominant in the bedroom and it genuinely entertains Poppy so much so it's become her second favourite past time. The first definitely being their intimate moments.

It gets to the point where both of then get so frustrated they confess how they feel that the same time, which becomes one of their inside jokes considering they both felt like idiots for not confessing their feelings sooner.

However, it's not like summer lasts forever and both of them end up breaking it off, since Poppy actually likes Rosie and she refuses to put her through the shit that goes on in Belvoire. "It was fun while it lasted, Hughes, but I'm sorry. I have to go back and I'm not sure I'll ever see you again." said Poppy, voice cold as ice as if the whole thing didn't matter. Poppy would be lying if she said that it meant nothing, considering she's never been happier. The other girl definitely had a special place in her heart but as they say if you really live someone you have to let them go. She might be cruel but she's not about to fuck Rosie's life up by involving her in the stupidity of Belvoire, she deserves better. Maybe after unibersity she can find Rosie and they can try again.

Rosie's quite sure that she's never going to find anyone that makes her feel the way Poppy does, but she's not one to make things more complicated. "I'm glad I met you Poppy Min-Sinclair, it's been fun while it lasted. Maybe someday we can meet each other again."

Imagine her surprise when it turns out that Poppy attends Belvoire, both of them shocked to see each other again. The only difference being that Poppy seems much colder than the one she met before. Her eyes didn't have that shine or hint of mischief. It looked too detached. "What are you staring at?" said one of the girls following Poppy. Her eyes widened in surprise as the person her roommate Zoey warned her about was Poppy. She's barely acknowledged by Poppy as she just walks away without a word.

Things start to get more complicated as both of them are put against each other, as they compete for the top spot. It's not like Rosie really cared about the fucking thing, in all honesty she didn't even want to compete with Poppy but it's not like she had a choice considering no one cared that she didn't want to compete with Poppy. It gets to the point Rosie avoids Poppy altogether, not really wanting the unsolicited drama with the other girl.

It becomes even worse when rumours start that th reason why the two girls avoided each other like the plague was because Carter was cheating on Poppy with Rosie, and this gets blown out of proportion during the football game in which the screen shows a poorly photoshopped photo of Rosie and Carter kissing.

The way Poppy looked at Rosie broke her heart. Poppy looked tired and upset. She looked like she was betrayed and worse of all the look was directed at her. It's made even worse when Poppy wordlessly looks away, tears on her eyes as she runs to get away from the stadium.

Things change when Rosie chases after Poppy. It's the first time she sees Poppy cry, and it breaks her heart because how can she be so foolish. This was the person she fell for, and it sucked because she was the reason why Poppy was upset.

She approaches Poppy carefully, and as soon as she's noticed. Poppy's eyes narrow into a glare. "What do you want Hughes? Haven't you done enough already?" she yells, her voice full of venom. The words sting, but Rosie marches on, as she apologises. "I know I'm the last person you want to see, but I wanted to say I'm sorry. You didn't deserve all of that." She reaches out to try and comfort Poppy but she stops as remembers that she's the reason Poppy was crying in the first place. They both stand there in a tense silence, both not wanting to speak until they both say something at the same time. "Why didn't you tell me that you go to Belvoire?" they both say in sync.

Rosie lets Poppy speak first. "If you said that you were going to be attending Belvoire, maybe things would have been different." she says and this catches Rosie's attention. "Different how?" she asks and Poppy looks at her eyes softening as she says "I would have admitted that I was falling for you."

That's how they got back together.

#choices queen b #queen b #qb #queen b playchoices #playchoices #pixelberrychoices #pixelberry #poppy min sinclair x mc #poppy x mc #poppy fic #poppy min sinclair #playchoices poppy min sinclair #my wife #my writing #choices fic #simpisalive #im alive shout ⭐gay⭐ if u read tags #love yall #i promise ill have more content soon once we get our queen back #uwu #love u all #i hope u have a great and blessed day 💗

[burninglilys]

You are driven by your desires — the shaman had gravely told Phupha, as he held onto his palm tightly — you are confident but may become unempathetic on a gloomy day.

"You see this line?" the shaman had asked, shaking his head, pointing at a line on the center of his palm. "You see how straight it is? There are no rigid categories of right and wrong. Be sure to look at the grey areas in life, my boy. Not everything is black and white for you."

Nam had scoffed a little too loudly then, muttering something like see, I told you!

The shaman had touched the area where his thumb had ended, pressed down and said — you have no emotional connection to romance. Not yet anyway — in a blatant dismissal.

Phupha's eyes had found Torfun's eyes, then, who in turn had only smiled in return, her eyes dancing with something akin to amusement.

"You're just going to have to be careful," the shaman had said.

"Careful about what?"

The shaman had looked unimpressed, had pressed his lips in a thin line, and muttered quite seriously, "Someone is going to enter your life in bouts of hurricane. Nothing is going to be the same for you — you will thank them for that. You will love them for that. You will love them for showing you how to live. You will love them for everything that they are."

Phupha had been amused by this. "I will?"

"They will come and you will want them gone. They will stay and you will love them all the same. They will leave and you will find your heart leaving with them."

Phupha's amusement had died down then. He had never been the one for idle fantasies construed around words that were elicited by a mere touch of someone's palm on his. But this had seemed different.

"It will?" Phupha had asked in a moment of weakness.

"When you fall in love," he'd continued, oblivious to the turmoil in Phupha's heart, "you're going to fall deeper than what you imagine now. Do not allow yourself to be fearful of how ardently you'll want to be loved back. Do not hide from them. Your relationships have a potential to be restless, you see?" The shaman had tapped the starting of his heart line, underneath his middle finger. "Your relationship will last for a long time, though," he'd said, tracing his finger over his heart line.

"What then?" Phupha had asked, as though his future really did hold for him someone he is willing to give his heart for.

The shaman had looked disappointed then, had trailed a finger on his heart line pressed where it trailed off.

"It will depend on them," the shaman had said. "If you love them, you will want what is best for them. They will get to decide if they want to stay or leave. Not you — never you."

Phupha had nodded, entranced by the sincerity of the shaman's words, as though he could really be so consumed by love for someone, as though he could truly have that — have someone to return to, have someone to call his home.

All idle fantasies, Phupha told himself. Just because his palm showed the shaman things does not mean that they were true. There was no point in believing in those senseless dreams based on hopeless wishes he'd still had before. There was no point in hoping for someone who would love him just the same.

Then, he met Tian.

There was no point in hoping for love until a year later when his life revealed a cob-webbed space behind the camouflaged curtains that he'd thought of as previously non-existent — a space that Tian seemed to fit into, effortlessly, a space that had been Tian's ever since he lay his eyes on him.

Tian carried with him the winds of change, his presence cognate with all forces of nature, and Phupha felt his heart crawl out of his chest and sit atop of Tian, until all of him became consumed with Tian. Tian. Tian. Tian.

His heart screamed Tian's name when Phupha lay beside him, their little fingers touching. His heart screamed Tian's name when Phupha realised that all songs will, in fact, remind him of Tian. His heart screamed Tian's name every time Tian so much as looked, smiled in his direction. His heart whispered Tian's name — as continuous as the beat of a drum — when he found out. His heart thrummed Tian's name as he lay on the cold ground, blood oozing out of his shoulder.

Right now, when the room — their room, Phupha will maintain, even though Tian's leaving, even though he's staying here after Phupha had been cruel to him only to indulge Phupha — was enveloped by the hush of darkness, the distance between them an arm's length apart, Phupha is reminded of the words by the shaman, yet again. They will get to decide if they want to stay or leave. Not you — never you.

"Do you want to stay or leave?"

Phupha hears Tian's shuddering intake of breath, then the rustle of his clothes as he shifts to dangle his hand off of the bed. "Isn't it a little too late to ask that, chief? After you've asked me to leave only if I return the feelings you have for me?"

Phupha shifts closer to where Tian's hand is; he wants to twine their fingers together, wants to plant a kiss on the back of his palm all the way to his shoulder. He wants, wants, wants, to make Tian feel, even for a moment, just how consumed he feels.

Instead, he looks at the Tian — not that he can see any discernible features, barely a silhouette — and asks. "Would you want to stay here if it weren't for me?"

Tian is quiet, then.

"You must know," Phupha says, "all I want for you is to discover the life you want to live. For your sake. Not for mine, not for Torfun. Would you stay here if it weren't for me?"

"You must know," Tian counters. "I would follow you to the end of the world."

Phupha catches hold of Tian's hand then, weaving their fingers together. "What do you want for yourself, Tian?"

Tian's answer is brutal, honest. "You."

Phupha tries not to let his anxieties creep up on him, then — what if he were to not return home one day, would Tian have ruined his stable life in the city for nothing? — but this isn't about him. It's about Tian and what he wants.

"What life do you want to live then, Tian? Here, at the village, regardless of my presence, at the city or someplace entirely new?"

Tian is silent for a moment, then his answer — open, honest. "I don't know."

"It's okay," Phupha assures, shifting so he is almost at the edge of his mattress. "You don't have to know, now. You have time to figure out what you want. The village won't go anywhere. It will always be here for you."

"Will you?"

"Will I?"

"Will you go anywhere? Will you be here, then?"

In a bout of courage, Phupha presses a kiss on the tips of his fingers, hoping it conveys, I will be waiting for you till you figure out everything you need to. Even if it takes forever. Even if you decide that a life at the village is not what you want. Even if you decide that you could never come here, even to visit.

Tian sifts his palm so that his fingers are now splayed across Phupha's cheek, tracing shapes. Phupha plants a kiss to the centre of his palm, then at his heart line, all the while hoping that it translates to, do you know why the hornbill waits for its mate in the same place? Because it believes its mate is just lost, that it will come home when it finds its way back. I love you, Tian, do you know? I will be waiting like a hornbill waiting for its mate, even if you decide to never come back.

The repetitive shapes that Tian traces on his cheek don't cease to continue and Phupha finds his eyes grow heavy. His last thought before falling asleep is — I love you, Tian. Did you know? I love you. I would count a thousand stars and wish for only your happiness and safety. I love you.

("If you love them, you will want what is best for them. They will get to decide if they want to stay or leave. Not you — never you," the shaman had said.

"What if they leave?" Phupha had asked — he hadn't known where the questions were coming from; he barely believed in fortune foretellings. But there was something about the certainty in which the shaman carried himself, something that made Phupha was to unravel everything there was to know. What if they leave and I am the one waiting for them the way my mother waited for my father? What if they leave and I am left behind, only their memories keeping me alive?

The shaman had only looked pitifully in his direction, tapping the back of his palm to move to another one of his lines.)

The day is frigid and soaked in misery, when Tian leaves. Phupha can only look at the car in the distance, carrying his heart and soul, leaving him behind.

(The shaman, after reading everyone's palms, had found Phupha again. He had made Phupha splay his palm out, and had said, in a tone of gentle assurance, "They will find their way back home. One way or another.")

The day is warm, the sunlight golden and honey-hued the day Tian finds his way back home. Phupha can only hold Tian in his arms, then — can only shout I love you from the summit in his heart, can only whisper, "Welcome home," in his ears for it to also mean I love you.

"I am glad to find my way back home," Tian replies, and Phupha hears I love you too, interlaced with every word.

Phupha will say it out loud later, when they've both finished eating together — the first meal that they've shared in over three months. He will say it because stifling those words is no longer a possibility, he has been bursting at the seams. He will say it because even if it were, he will want Tian to know the enormity of his feelings. He will say it, and Tian will lean forward to capture their hands together. Tian will say, I love you too. I love you, so much.

For now, they entwine their fingers and make their way to the village that welcomes them as its own.

#an obligatory 'atots is ending tomorrow so i had to write them something fic' #a tale of thousand stars #1000 stars #phutian #phupha x tian #yes lets for a second imagine that phupha actaully asks tian what he wants #may — you ask — isnt it a good idea to sleep if you're tired and can barely articukate your thoughts? #no — i answer — i must write this fic #brought to you by a very basic minimal knowledge of palmistry #im just a lil obsessed with the shaman from that epsiode #atots #atots fic #may.writes

[theresnosafeharbor4myships]

TITLE: Out of the Grave - Chapter 1: The Void

A/N: An alt ending/fix-it fic. Because we and they deserved better--so I made it happen.

83 hours and 37 minutes. Not that he'd kept a count exactly. Just that his eidetic mind knew the exact moment Abbie had left this world, taking his heart with her and leaving him hollow, and his quick thoughts often calculated the duration he'd kept breathing without her. He'd spent the first 6 hours and 24 minutes working with Miss Jenny and Master Mills—and ultimately, ironically, his old pal the Horseman—to try to defeat Pandora and force her to release his Lieutenant, only to learn she'd actually expired. The dreams he'd had, sweet and aching moments with Abbie reflecting on their meet cute, time in the Archives, relaxing on their front porch where she'd tried to explain why he should let her go, would never suffice. He hadn't said the things he'd wanted—needed—to, hadn't explained how she'd helped save him: from roaming lost in this world, from imprisonment and institutionalization, from his son and the myriad monsters they'd encountered, from a wife who'd never truly been honest with him. And yes more important matters: from going mad, drowning in loneliness, feeling isolated, floating adrift in a world that still confounded him sometimes. And at times even saving him from himself. No, he hadn't said any of those things. And now he never could. Which is why he'd spent the next 49 hours and 52 minutes drowning his sorrows, his hollowed out chest, and his overactive mind in rivers of alcohol. He hadn't gotten smashed or wallowed in oblivion. No, he'd needed it to last, so he'd drunk just enough as the hours passed to keep the clawing ache in his empty ribcage from swallowing him whole. Miss Jenny had come by sometime around hour 32, banging on the door so hard he thought the roof would cave in. If he'd cared at all, he might feel concerned about her waking the neighbors in the dead of night, but he couldn't muster enough decency to. He'd ignored her at first, thinking she'd take a hint, or at least think him not home, but her insistent knocking continued. "I know you're in there, Crane." More banging. "Let me in there, or get out of my sister's house." It was a low blow, but one he deserved, for Miss Jenny had lost just as much as he had. If anyone had earned the right to drown her demons with liquor right next to him, it was her.

He'd stumbled to the door—okay, maybe he had gotten smashed, for he felt her knocking vibrate through his brain—bottle in hand, and unlocked it, turning the knob and walking away before he'd even seen her face. The slam of the door rattled the house but not him, and he shuffled back to his couch cushion, dropping down onto it, sipping from the bottle, and staring into the fireplace embers. Jenny said not a word, simply restarted the fire and plopped down on the other end of the couch, gazing at the vibrant blaze as it danced shadows around the room. After a few minutes, he threw out his arm towards her, bottle in hand, and she took it from him, downing a few gulps to try to silence the ache. She tried to return it to him, but he waved her off, waiting another 30 minutes before slowly rising—why did simply existing hurt so much?—and  retrieving a few more bottles, which he'd purchased on his way home from that graveyard, from the stash in the kitchen. He placed them on the cushion between them, an open bar for them to sink into. Another few hours dragged by, and he felt more than heard Jenny crying at some point, the room changing from desperation, anger, and pain to grief and mourning, and he joined her, tears cascading down his face unabashedly. Their silence made their shared sorrow all the more palpable, exchanging emotions they couldn't speak aloud, the shroud around them sucking the whimpering breaths out of them as easily as it'd done to their partners. How could he have kept silent all this time, holding in and swallowing down the words that'd desperately begged for release? He'd tried to ignore them, the burgeoning affection, passion—now that it mattered no longer, he could admit it, cowardly fiend that he was—and love he'd harbored for Abbie since long before proprietary permitted it. He'd killed his wife for her, for Heaven's sake! And while he pretended mere friendship, ignored everything that screamed at him to make his feelings known, he hadn't hidden a damn thing. Miss Corinth, Betsy, even Pandora had seen his love for her. What an abominable fool he'd been. And now the one person who needed to know, who should've heard it from his own lips a thousand times over, never would. He let the tears burn down his face, though they washed none of his self-recriminations away. He deserved every horrid thought he had about himself. They ripped through his mind, scathing him, leaving him more raw and aching than he could ever remember feeling before. His entire body ached, joints, marrow, muscles, head, chest. And still he sipped on, needing the numb, refusing the full onslaught of trauma a clear mind would force him to face. He'd lost before, lost battles and comrades and his dignity. Lost loves and his homeland and best friend and life. His world and his wife and his son and the dreams he'd had and held and hoped for. Hell, he'd even lost Abbie a few times. But never where he couldn't get her back. Never where he couldn't find a way to follow, to find, to free her. And Master Corbin too. To lose both within hours of each other...they could shrivel into oblivion right now and it'd feel better than this. Master Joe had become his compatriot, his comrade in arms against the monsters and the daily dose of estrogen floating around the Archives—not that he'd trade the Mills sister or Agent Foster for ten regiments of men—not to mention a brother and friend. And Abbie...the ache in his chest seized him anew, and his shoulders hunched in against the black hole of despair threatening his breath. He couldn't begin to enumerate all the things she'd become to him. Partner, secret-keeper, fellow Witness, best friend, confidant, companion, roommate, voice of reason, inspiration, keeper of his heart. He thought he'd been in love once, had been in fact, but losing her had felt nothing like this. He'd sat in pain, suffered with the guilt that he'd not devoted enough to her, hadn't held tightly enough to a union that hadn't been what he'd agreed to, despaired that she'd died by his own hand in an effort to save Abbie. He'd had to—it hadn't even been a choice by then. Now, though, without Abbie...he didn't know how to keep breathing, wasn't sure he wanted to. Couldn't see beyond the bottom of the bottle. How could he walk through the world, the Archives, the town, this house, with memories of her around every corner, breathing down his neck, invading his mind, shredding the broken pieces of his heart into shavings? How could he solve the mysteries of the supernatural without her intellect, expertise, and help? What was one Witness to do without his other half, the best part of him, his anchor to this era? He couldn't sit still with himself and his maudlin ruminations another second. Without thinking, Ichabod hefted himself off the couch and shuffled down the hallway, making a pit stop before grabbing a box of tissues from the hall closet. He set them down on the cushion between them and took his seat again. Jenny had stayed until the sun was well into the sky, barely any words spoken but sharing the pain of their losses just the same. She'd stretched her hand out towards him, bridging the empty spaces around them with a simple reach of her arm across the cushion. He looked at her hand, open and alone in the expanse between them, and he slid his hand into hers, both of them holding on and squeezing tightly, attempting to convey all the things they couldn't speak with words. A moment later, she slipped quietly out of the house, the finality of the door clicking closed somehow louder than the slam she'd entered it with, sealing him into a solitude he'd never comprehend. More hours passed as he'd slept off the nasty hangover he wouldn't admit he had, as he sat in the bathtub letting the hot water steam over him until it cooled off and had him shivering, as he roamed aimlessly from room to room, gazing longingly at all the remnants of Agent Lieutenant Grace Abigail Mills: her hairbrush, those heeled boots that still left her a foot shorter than him, the cappuccino she'd just started drinking again at his behest, her pea coat with the faux-fur hood that made her look adoringly like a diminutive Eskimo. Now, just over 84 hours had passed, and he still didn't have a sweet clue as to how to get through the next one, still sat in this one corner of the couch, only this time without a drink in his hand. Without so many things... Without a case to work, without his partner in crime and, he'd begun to hope, in life from here until the end, without a purpose, he might as well lay back down in that cave he'd emerged from and sleep for a few more centuries. "Crane." Her voice, soft and lilting and perfect, floated to him, a haunting sound he both craved and feared. He'd thought he might have imagined her during his indulgent consumption of alcohol, but no...it was here in his lucid moments that he'd conjured the sound of her, the voice he'd long to hear until the day he drew his last breath. "Crane." She sounded hesitantly happy, guardedly optimistic, a smile coming through her tone. Exactly how he heard her in his mind, same as he'd done when she'd been lost in the catacombs. He shook his head slightly to escape from her, not ready for conversations with her yet, everything about him still too raw to face all of the things he needed to apologize for, all of the things he'd never had the audacity to tell her when she'd stood by him, encouraged him, spurred him on. "Ichabod." She accompanied her insistent tone and the rare use of his first name with a hand on his shoulder, and he nearly jumped out of his skin, scrambling up from the couch to face whatever ghoul had come to destroy his feeble, battered mind. And his jaw dropped. There she stood...Abbie. In one piece, small in stature but large in presence, beautiful and strong and...breathing. How could this be? "Abbie...?" His whispered question sounded more like a squeak, but he didn't dare try again, wasn't sure what devilry was at work here, arriving to destroy him when he was at his lowest, his most vulnerable. She looked at him, her expression a mixture of sadness and apology, a small smile of hesitation and hope playing on her face. "Hi."

#ichabbie #ichabbie fanfiction #ichabbie fanfic #ichabbie fan fiction #ichabbie fan fic #abbie x ichabod #abbie x crane #crane x abbie #ichabod x abbie #sleepy hollow #shady hollow #sh #sleepy hollow fanfiction #sleepy hollow fanfic #sleepy hollow fan fic #sleepy hollow fan fiction #ichabbie fix #ichabbie fix it #my ichabbie writing #my writing #personal

[aurora-daily]

AURORA’s Reddit Q&A (July 13th 2021)

Kmilalv: Hello aurora we love you, I'm @ aurora.s_love on instagram ✨✨🥰🥰🧚‍♀️🧚‍♀️ Aurora: oh hellooo!!!! Exportmusic: Meep Aurora: meep < 3 Lisxnne: WELL HELLO AND THANKS FOR YOUR NEW SONG! 🙏🌟💕 Aurora: HELLO!! and thank you for being open to it 24681357900: Thank u for making music Aurora: thank you for inviting it into your heart Emergency-Club-7529: This is have some upper case , it's the real Aurora Aurora: yes!!! Helloooooo brunamombach: hello ✨🃏🧚🏻‍♂️🤘🍇🍄🧚🏻‍♀️ when are you coming do Brazil? so glad to see you here!!! Aurora: I think I will be coming to Brazil next year  I love being in Brazil because I feel like it awakens my heart and soul to be there !! Brunamombach: if you were going to an souless island, what book would you bring with you? 🧚🏻‍♂️🍇🍄🧚🏻‍♀️🤘🃏 kisses from Brazil Aurora: I would either take: "The name of the wind" and "a Wise mans fear" or the LOTR trilogy. Or the "Mistborn" trilogy. or "warbreaker" or "the good omens" or "the ocean at the end of the lane" or "Anne of Green gables" or "The alchemist" or just all the books in the world oh no I cant decide

all DanParis: Hey have some karma you cool bean 🤌🏼 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Aurora: thank you < 3 Ok-Estimate8468: Tell us something you can tell us about the second track on the Cure For Me vinyl, “Potion For Love”. I'm very curious...

Aurora: its the song I decided for the B-side of the vinyl, and I will probably release it digitally one day too. Its the sister song to "exist for love" but from the other perspective. where love does not fill you up, but love has left a big hole within you < / 3 Ok-Estimate8468: Did you get a lot of unfollows and hate from bad people due to Cure For Me? Aurora: I got a little hate from homophobes, and also abelist, and racist comments from people claiming there was nothing wrong with their mindset. BUT it does not bother me. and I will never stop speaking up about the things I find important. because.. what else would our meaning on this earth be? if that makes sense. Some people have attacked me personally, but sadly mostly its people defending their own hateful ways of being. I cant even imagine how it really is to be a victim of racism or violent homophobia, so I feel like the least I can do is to try the best I can to show support. and speak up. and be an ally.

So a bit more short - yes, and I really dont mind!!!! unfollow me if you find speaking about equality and the right to live, and love and be loved unsettling <3 thank you for this question! Ok-Estimate8468: How was the process of creating the studio version of Cure For Me? I heard your first acoustic performance and saw that it's much smoother than the studio, so I was curious to see how you managed to create another even more amazing version. Aurora: Me and Magnus just played around, and we really tried to go with our emotions, and to be playful and to not think too much about what was "AURORA" or what was even...pretty! we just laughed! and danced! and did what felt lovely to us.

I think this is why the making of this song is one of my favourite memories, and also I think that is why it sounds so playful! because it is!! it was like playing a game. and I did also play alot around with symbolics in both the lyrics and the way this song is produced. it all has a meaning you see... but of course I will let you figure that out yourself!!

Pingouiin_: What's your favourite mountain around bergen ? Aurora: mine is Løvstakken!! and Magnus loves Ullrikken!! but important to NEVER stop a Norwegian person walking on the mountain. just say. a quick hello and wander off your own mind. become at one with nature Whoamiandallthat: Thank you for existing, I love your art and you inspire me so much 💙 You are one of my favorite artists 😊 And just the other day I found out that you are just two years older than me, and so successful... I'm wondering how it was for you to become so popular, did you feel like people thought you needed a cure? I'm also in the sphere of arts - filmmaking; but I feel like my films are not good enough... I have a YouTube channel with some videos - if you ever see this comment I would like for you to check it out 😊 Aurora: Ive felt through my life like something was a little off, ive never resonated that much with the people or the "system" around me! it didn't bother me so much even though I. was teased a lot for it ( so again I was very lucky) but I never felt like I understood the world and my place in it. or how I. could fit in, in this worlds society and with other people ! and becoming "famous" which I dont really feel that I am, but I guess that I am a little "known" (meep) was very strange, and very hard to handle at first. as impressions affect me a lot, and noises and people etc. but with time I got better at handling all these impressions, and avoid getting a.. sensory overload! and I am so happy now, that I can look directly at strangers and actually listen to them, and understand them, and even love them I guess what I am trying to say, that ive now understood that this is the very thing that connected me to all of you. and now I see my place here on this earth. and I see all of you, and you give my life so much meaning!! Lets_Fight_Dragons: Firstly I wanted to say I recently discovered your music and I love everything about it. I have two questions, I hope that’s ok 1. How do you start writing songs because I’m trying to get into songwriting and I’m not sure how you write such amazing songs 2. What’s your favourite song you’ve released? Aurora: 1. well I dont really know. ( I am sorry!!) but I feel like it started really natural for me.. I. kind of just sat down with my piano.. and then I started playing around with the Keyes, and I figured out I could make an endless amount of melodies by simply pressing the keys in a different order!! remember finding this extremely magical (I was around 6 years old then) and after a while I started adding lyrics, and I just spent time looking into myself, trying to figure out. - what do I want to say? what do. I need to hear in a song? what do the world need to hear in a song? and etc. I always think about songwriting as storytelling. and I always start out by figuring out what story I want to tell, what matter I want to dress, or what pleases me, or annoys me with the world, or what emotion I need help dealing with!! and then I write a song!!! and if you feel like its difficult to come up with melodies, I would recommend finding a song you like, and learn the chords of it (or find an instrumental version. online) and then you make your own melodies on top of that! many of the songs of the world share the same chords, and often the melodies on top is the thing separating them. music belongs to all of us, and its clear that every song in the world comes from the same magical source. 2. I think its the seed. or couples creatures!! or infections of a different kind!! tiffnoir: Our dear AURORA, your b-side A Potion For Love is helping me a lot (broken heart since a few days ago). I wanted to ask (if I can haha) if would it be included at the upcoming album, or maybe a relaxing, vintage video for it? Thanks for helping all of us with your music ^_^ Aurora: thank you som much for letting this song into your heart  after writing exist for love, I figured that I should also make a sister-song that could belong for the ones with a broken heart as well  it will not be on the album, but for you I will try to put it on the deluxe version FedahpWithThisWurld: Hello, Aurora! I'm a neurodivergent person and I have always felt a lot of shame over being the way I am, like I'm not good enough. Your music makes me feel better and it makes me feel that being me is okay. Thank you for that.  I want to know how you manage to be so confident? Do you ever get nervous before a show? Aurora: hello!!!! I have had a lot of similar experiences with myself in this world too.. so I am very sad to hear you've lived your life with this feeling I think after a while I understood what makes me different also makes me special. and special is good. and if you think about it, special isn't even that different, because in one way or another we are all... unique. but of course, some people have had to fight their. way through life more than others.. making it less easy to learn how to love yourself. and accept yourself. I guess, now I've surrounded myself with good people who understand my quirks and sensitivities, people who give me time. and space to be me. I have also been lucky, because I have a family that have always encouraged me to be myself. and to love myself. and I guess that is why I am trying to convey to all of you now, because now we are like al little family. where being who you are - is cool. and you're cool. and were all cool. and I get nervous all the time, of all sorts of things! but I just accept that feeling as a part of being human. its uncomfortable yes, but I know at least it won't kill me! 3charmplease: What was it like recording for Frozen? Aurora: it was magical  and also slightly scary. but it felt safe and good calling at the mountains. and I feel warm thinking about it. especially now. cause my father just walked over to me with five little strawberries in his hand. he gave them all to me. and they were so small, and sweet. im currently sitting in my childhood home, right next to the very piano where I wrote "runaway" and so many other songs. Tiny-Sink-2397: Boom shake shake shake the room Aurora: that was actually during the recording process of Cure For Me! Tiny-Sink-2397: I thought it was!! Seemed like an epic party Aurora: YES Joelynxyzs: what's your favorite movie ? Aurora: Practical magic BUT ALSO THESE: The LOTR triology ALL GHIBLI MOVIES avatar once upon a time in Hollywood Hannah the perfume fantastic MR. fox Star Wars: a new hope rouge one isle of dogs the hunchback of Notre dame! the arrival stypop: If you were to get the chance to work on a sequel to another Disney movie, which one would you want it to be? Aurora: since Disney owns Lucas films I would love to be a part of the Star Wars universe  or to play either a magical fairy, witch mermaid, forest nymph, or a scary beast!! WE WO brisot: The masks in CFM remind me of theater plays, do you ever watch any and how much of an influence for you is the art of acting? Aurora: this era of my life is very influenced by the ancient times where theatre was all they had. no CGI or special effects etc. and I really wanted all these videos to feel very authentic, and down to earth! The shell in "exist for love" was handmade by someone, and I painted all the masks in "cure for me" myself! so I like it when it feels... human Clear-Champion-1833: i love you Aurora:

<3

Jicuhrabbitkim: How do you like your fried eggs cook!! I like it when its very crispy!! Aurora: as long as its from a local farm that has free healthy chickens that walk about freely and eat good food I like my eggs crispy too. GhostReaper3: Hi I have a question as well: How do you keep positive? Many people including myself find this difficult sometimes so it would be good to hear your technique or way of keeping upbeat and positive! Also, thank you for sharing your music with us! Aurora: I know what you mean, i've struggled with it myself at times. but I guess I tried separating in my mind what I can do something about, and what I cant? if that makes sense?? we are all just here on this planet. and though we all seem to be going though the same things we still feel so alone, in our thoughts and in our minds. And I've been very aware that with music, and with this fandom we can all finally connect, and see each other, and know that we are not alone! and if there is one thing I love, it is to dance a little after I've cried. I think its important to. shake these emotions out of our body. like animals do! and then I made CURE FOR ME. because I thought about all the warriors out there feeling. a little crazy... after isolation! or after being depressed! and being l rocked in with their families that might not accept them for who they are.. and I thought I needed to make a song for us all, that felt a little uplifting. and uniting. just so we know where not alone, and just so we know that we are worthy.. of everything! and that we are worthy of celebrating ourselves!! ALWAYS! aniri003: Were the dancers freestyling in the last part of the video Aurora: YES! I told them to put their freak game on. And they were amazing. L_pls_use_revive: Hei Aurora! Apart from inspiring me with your music for emotional people, I also dicovered my love for Norway and the Norwegian language through you - now studying it in my second year at university. Tusen, tusen takk! I want to visit soon when traveling is safe - So which place should I not miss out on? Have a great life! Aurora: I think the whole of Norway is worth visiting! there are so many beautiful places. and beautiful people! I would ofc. recommend Bergen! (haha!) but also places like Tromsø, Trondheim, Stavanger, lofted and The Geirangerfjord and the Northwest!!! HAHA KakSetoKaiba: How's the progress of the album that you've been preparing which will be released after your death? Aurora: its going well, I take one song for every chapter and I put it on my death album instead of the album I'm making  its going well. and im excited about it! maria_fernandez_: This is not a question but I just wanted to tell you that discovering you and your music has been the best thing that ever happened to me. What your music makes me feel cannot be described in words. I love you so much. Greetings from Spain!! Aurora: thank you!!! applepieaurora: Whats your favorite pie? 🐉 Aurora: apple pie  and blueberry pie!! Ok-Potato7244: Thanks for sharing your time ... a warrior here to welcome you...Have some tea...And i don't need a cure for disliking keeping animals in cages...Especially birds...💚... Aurora: thank you pekaraseva: what do you feel when you perform Ioadk or Adkoh for people? Aurora: I feel so full of emotion and love and despair I could almost explode  and its wonderful. I also feel insanely connected to the audience when I sing these songs.. I. think. its because they are such important pieces of my soul targaryenblood02: omg what do you think cure for me would smell like? 🐛 Aurora: like something Brazilian! like Asai! or caipirinha! or Brigadeiro!

sproutingephemeral: Hello Aurora, Thanks for your new song, I've gotten quite addicted to it😊 I have a question that might be a bit difficult to answer. I am a Warrior from the U.S. currently without a clue of where I should be and what I should be doing. I'm done with school, and in the process of moving to a new town with my parents. I'm applying for jobs, but I feel like I can't find my reason for being in a smaller area with not many people my age. I feel like my parents are trying to mold me into a certain person, which doesn't feel authentic to me. I probably should be making more of my own decisions at my age, but I'm a bit scared and confused, if what I think is deemed too unrealistic or out of line with their expectations for me (like a childhood dream?). I tried talking to them about it, to little success. Is there something inherently wrong with me? Or am I just being spoiled or lazy? I read about how you were initially opposed to starting your career until your mother convinced you to change your mind. How do you know whether or not to trust in your parents' plans for you? On a lighter note, do you prefer cookies that are more soft (chewy) or hard (crumbly)? I don't need a cure for...my autism, and tendency to talk regularly to my deceased cat at his grave (??)😿👼 Looking forward to seeing you in New York! Take care❤❤ Aurora: you should ALWAYS. only do what feels right for you. this world is very absurd, and people tend to think they know what is meaningful and what is important. but we all know, money and success isn't important beyond what you need to simply survive. this one life is yours. and you should be just who you want. and do what feels right for you. because its yours. its only yours. drink tea. work hard. be lazy. dance. be shy. laugh, cry. drink wine and eat good bread. be good. fight for something you care about. and either live for your work, or work a little and then just... live. get a garden, grow tomatoes, get a cat. or a dog. or a parrot. life can be so random, and it can be both so little, and so large at the same time. some days were meant to TAKE chances, and live. and sometimes were just meant to exist. and do nothing. you should never feel guilty for not "being enough" because you are enough. just who you are. just how you are. is enough. good luck on your strange journey my warrior, maybe our paths crosses and maybe they dont. but know, when you walk out of your door, that anything can happen! and the whole world is yours. Hippolyte_gray: is the name of the next album hidden in your previous songs ? Aurora: mayyyyyybeeeeeeeee rashadalt: what do you think about your fans who are racist/homophobic etc.? Aurora: I feel sorry for them. because I know I cant be easy l living a life so full of hate. and even spending your precious. time on this world bringing other people down. and I know how easy it is for people to be driven by fear, and how difficult. it can be to have an original meaning and stand up for what you really mean. so I dont judge them, or hate them,

but I do feel sorry for them. and I am also very disappointed in them. because its such a. waste of human potential to live your life in the paths of hatred.

but as long as we face hate with love, we will eventually win. when we show them. we are not the enemy, just people trying to make a better world, I think, and I hope that eventually we can all agree that being able to live, and being able to love is a human right. Brivera726: I noticed you said you would bring LOTR trilogy with you to an island- I’m reading them for the fourth time right now  I feel like if Galadriel sing songs it would sound like you! Anyway I really like your art so yah just keep doing u- love from PFC Rivera, USMC Aurora: this is then est thing ive ever read thank you Aurora: I am. sorry people, but my time here (for tonight) is up </3 but I will probably be back looking at your questions and thoughts because I did really. enjoy this. and I. love you all so. much.

[link]

#aurora #aurora aksnes #q&a #interviews #potion for love #cure for me #into the unknown #collaborations #recommendations #ioadk song #adkoh #new album #future album #magnus

[tema-makes-art-sometimes]

002 | germano?

HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE

002 | send me a ship and I will tell you:

when I started shipping it.

No idea but it was a long ass fuck time ago. Liked it for years but didn’t really start enjoying it until I started writing Romano myself.

my thoughts:

This ship makes me so genuinely happy man. I know GerCanMano is my flag ship but I love Germano just as much and I at least have a few crumbs of content for them instead of the other which has none. Germano just like-- Seeing Romano in a healthy relationship and seeing Germany happy makes me happy.

What makes me happy about them:

I’m not one for slow burns all the time but Germano to me is one of those slow burn romances I really enjoy. Romano is a sassy and salty flirtatious gentleman who keeps measuring himself up to the big broad and awkward-but-gold-at-heart class president who doesn't understand why the guy gets so upset around him and tries his best to remedy the smaller man’s anger.

The two just slowly developing, starting as rivals with Romano wanting the attention from his brother that Germany gets (and possibly the smallest bit of envy about measuring himself up to ger in macho-ness) and Germany just wanting to understand Romano and just like- how he ticks. Them slowly bonding over the simple things, realizing they both love mechanics and gardening and cooking. Romano being impressed at Germany’s baking (bonus points if say Vene has been bringing home baked goods for ages and he thought they were just from a bakery Vene liked but it was just Ger trying to get rid of the food hes stress baking) and Romano getting to show off his cooking skills. Romano feeling a bit of pride when he makes Germany laugh at some shitty joke or snarky comeback, he just hears that little wheeze or chuckle under Germany’s breath and knows he did that.

Romano having a whole I wont say I'm in love crisis when he realizes hes falling for Germany because sure hes cute and all but like what no. My Romano is very flirtatious but emotionally withdrawn he loves to flirt around but he doesn't actually think about long term relations cause he never expects people to care about him that way so falling for Ger throws him for a loop. But he knows he has to make some decision on it because he can’t get Germany out of his mind but the thought of Germany saying no scares him more than anything else ever has and the thought of breaking Germany's heart makes him more angry than he thought he’d ever feel

Meanwhile Germany is a mess because he has no idea what hes doing all he knows is that Romano’s smile makes him melt and every time he thinks of the future he thinks about the two of them passing tools to each other over the hood of a car and kneading foccacia together and hes doing all of the research he can to try and perfectly convey how he feels and it only works when he for once throws out his plan and just speaks from his heart and stops over thinking everything. And its wholesome and personal and cute and Romano starts crying halfway through which freaks Germany out cause he doesn't want to force anything and oh god did i make you uncomfortable but before he can apologize and backpedal Romano just grabs him by the shirt and pulls him down into a smooch and for once in his life Roma doesn't instinctively jump and when someone reaches out to hug him.

What makes me sad about them:

That they get sidelined for other ships and that people cannot have Germany or Romano exist in a narrative without Veneziano having something to do with it.

Things done in fanfic that annoys me:

People assuming Germany and Romano would be abusive with one another because Romano acts snappy and dismissive around him when in reality he does the same exact behavior to literally everyone else; America, Spain etc. But Germany is the one that’s abusive, and not the others. Germany’s never been shown to hate Romano, confused and rolling his eyes at his insults sure but never hatred.

A lot of people take this in the direction that they hate or abuse each other or worse, like Germany would cheat and use both brothers. Which is just not true, let alone Romano is too much of a blunt mother fucker to let it happen. He wouldn’t take that. Being used or measured second to his brother is so common to him you think he would just lay down and let that happen? No. And Germany isn’t the sleep around without a care or being in a relationship with two people because he can’t decide which he likes more type the guys a romance moron he doesn’t know how to date one man let alone commit adultery.

Which sucks because things like the chauffeur strips show that Romano and Germany are on at least amicable if not friendly terms, Romano is just being Romano, he does the same pissy but nice energy that he does to Spain and America to Germany. And there’s so much there that could be played with, of Romano being reassured by Germany that he’s not this evil bad boy in fact his brother can be worse than he is, and Germany would know Vene has been attached to his side for ages he would know Vene at his worse. Romano showing off to Germany, impressing him that yes Romano can in fact work hard when he wants to and feels inclined to. Which would gain him respect from Germany because he’s so used to doing it himself it’s always a pleasant surprise when people help him or don’t leave him to do everything.

But often in fics this is squandered for the whole ‘Germany’s married to Vene but he’s in love with Romano oh no conflict drama’ and they never make him choose. Or worse he has him two time one and then the other which just isn’t even fucking in character. 90% of the fics I’ve found on AO3 have the under current of how does their relationship effect Vene, how does Vene feel about it or how is he involved and it’s so stupid. It’s only ever done with Romano, never to Vene, Romano is always treated like an extra or an asset to Veneziano and its never the other way around. People don’t write Gerita fics and have the whole story about how Romano feels about it.

Germany’s feelings toward Vene can easily be stated in that ‘he’s just my friend’ it’s so simple but instead often its paragraphs on paragraphs of Germany grappling with his feelings for both and I’m just not interested. If I wanted to read about Germany’s feelings toward Italy, I’d read a Gerita fanfiction. Also you can’t tell me that if Vene found out about the two being interested or even one of them being interested in the other he wouldn’t start playing matchmaker he absolutely would. Hell if you want that “conflict” have Vene be jealous he’s petty enough to do that!

I’m willing to take the L on this and admit I just have higher standards, but I just want a fic that has them in a relationship from the start or they build up to it but not have the fic end the moment they get together or have their first date. One that doesn’t focus on a side plot about Vene and Germany’s feelings toward Vene. Where they just get to be wholesome together, piece their feelings apart together, and develop their love for each other together.

TLDR: I’m very salty about Germano getting the short end of the stick and want to see more sweet domestic germano.

Things I look for in fanfic:

For it to exist and for it not to be a vector to talk about Veneziano’s opinions on their relationship. I just want wholesome content of Germany and Romano building a relationship or a life together, AU or Canonverse wise. The cute dates, working on cars together, gardening, baking and cooking-- Germany playing piano or flute while Romano sings. Them dancing together. Romano taking Germany out to tour and sight see. Romano forcing Germany to cuddle with him in front of the fireplace if they go up during winter to his place cause he hates the cold and his block of a boyfriend is very warm.

My happily ever after for them:

I don’t really think about happily ever afters for them cause as nations their lives move on, they can’t really have kids but they can live together, work together, love together and honestly that’s enough for me.

My kinks:

These will be below the cut, because of ns//fw mentions.

(general sex discussion, bd//m discussion, toys and other such ns//fw things.)

Romano is a bottom little pillow princess but despite that he has the most control in the bedroom. Germany doesn’t lack interest but when it comes to instigation it’s fewer and far between, Romano has more of a sex drive than him. Germany’s more into kinks than Romano, but he has trouble being confident enough to do it so Romano is often baiting him into it. He’s a brat who wants to be tamed and Germany doesn’t mind Romano being rough with him and vice versa.

Romano’s more used to rough and tumble, so when Germany is very slow soft and sincere he gets flustered really fast and can fall apart a lot quicker. He also will cry when Germany compliments him too much early in the relationship. They have a lot of safe words at Germany’s request so if either of them get too overwhelmed they have a safe out and will just vibe and cuddle until the other feels better enough to continue.

Romano will give Germany is rope bunny fantasies every once and a while and tie him up, he’s not into much more than handcuffs and collars but Germany enjoys it so he doesn’t mind. He loves when he can convince Germany into roleplay and let Germany get into a more confident ‘character’. His favorite things are bites and blowjobs. Leaving Germany covered in red marks and scratches is his favorite and he loves the rare sight of Germany squirming under him.

Germany loves to body worship Romano, and messages all of the messages. Romano doesn’t like Germany dragging it out but sometimes he can’t help himself cause he just loves how pretty Romano his and he wants to just touch him all over. He loves when Romano plays with his hair (at least in the bedroom), and since Romano is way more vocal than he is he loves coaxing little sounds out of him through different touches and kisses.

#germano #hws #hws germany #hws romano

[snapshotsfromhell]

Please For The Love of God Fall Asleep On Top of Me Again I Haven’t Slept That Well Since I Was Five

Belphie x Reader *NOT MC. MC is referred to in the story as Emsie. Gender neutral pronouns for both Emsie and reader. Mentions of Beel. Yandere tendencies. This is pretty much just fluff. Word Count: 5.3k

“If you were to all refer to the diagram on page 66, you’ll see that the devil-plant cell has a rather large vacuole that makes up a large portion of the volume within the cell-” The teacher at the front of the classroom droned as you clutched your cheeks into your hand, fingers digging into your skin just to stay awake.

You have always been a light sleeper, and joining the Devildom exchange program hasn't done anything to help that. If anything, you went from an acceptable 6 hours a night to 4 and a half, mostly due to the overwhelming anxiety of being away from home and the fear that you will eventually be eaten alive while you took so much as a blissful nap. You didn’t understand how the first humans to go through with the program survived.

At least, you didn’t until you actually met them.

Solomon was a rare breed in and of himself, with overwhelming confidence and an air of superiority. Anyone having that many pacts must have an insane amount of charisma and motivation. He was definitely intimidating to a normal human like yourself.

Emsie, however, was a little different. They seemed like an average human, until someone delightfully informed you that they were descended from an angel. More specifically, an angel that was related to the seven demon brothers that they now stayed with, which made you a little wary when you noticed how… touchy the brothers were with them.

It wasn’t the best situation -  who in their right mind would want to stay in Hell of all places? Plus you really seemed to be the only human human here. But it wasn’t any worse than it would have been up home. Honestly, you were doing this for the free tuition and scholarship, but you would never say that out loud. You really couldn’t complain outright, though, since you did live in a beautifully large, ornate house with the demon brothers who were certainly great specimens. Lucifer was God’s favorite and damn did it show.

“Y/N?” You snap to attention as the teacher calls on you. “Can you tell the class how the devil-plant gets CO2 from the environment?”

You stared for a moment, hoping your brain unconsciously latched onto some information while you were spaced out. “The stomata in the leaves?” You hope?

The teacher’s lips pulled back to reveal his sharp, jagged teeth in what you assumed was supposed to be a smile. “Yes, good job!”

You understand that some cruelty is typical in the world, but by God you hated it here. You’re too nice for this, dammit! You cried watching a video of lost puppies being rehabilitated! How were you expected to think this was normal?

When you have to participate in dance battles so that your opponents don’t eat you, you know something isn’t right.

When the bell rang, you stood with a rush of vertigo and started gathering your stuff to go to your next class. One more, then lunch, then two more, then home. Well, dorm. Well, house/mansion/hall… honestly, you didn’t have a clue what to even call it.

You shared a room in the House of Lamentation with Emsie, which was both a blessing and a curse. For one, you didn’t show any emotion around them, so the brothers don’t necessarily hate you for stealing their dear Emsie away. But, you did still share a room with them, which made the brothers automatically disinterested in you. Especially the youngest brother, Belphegor, who had made many negative comments about your existence. Outloud. While you were there. Yeah.

It could’ve been worse, you guessed. They could have killed you.

Emsie explained to you once that he was still hurt by the loss of his sister, and how he spent years hating humanity as a whole until they moved into the house. Which only made you massively uncomfortable. And it only worsened when they informed you that he once strangled them in another timeline in front of them in this timeline. But that was before he knew they were a descendent of his sister! So it was fine, right?? A total accident really, he was different now!

(You were not convinced.)

You did have a few moments of solace with Belphegor, though, and you found yourself reminiscing with them on occasion. Okay, often. Okay, maybe more than often... But who cares? You were just evaluating your interactions to make sure he didn’t have some underlying intention to throw you off the roof in the middle of the night. Yeah, that was it.

As you placed your clothing into your respective dresser (adorned with a glorious added padlock to deter a certain avatar of greed), you glanced into the mirror on the wall and jumped at the figure behind you. You turned to them, and came face to face with a demon.  A very pissed off and disgruntled demon.

The look on his face only grew in distaste as you held each other’s gaze. Even your breathing seemed to piss him off. And his words… conveyed the same message.

“Are you lost?” He asked, and his tone was just as cold as his eyes.

“Uh, excuse me?”

His upper lip twitched in a snarl. “I asked you if you were lost. This is Emsie’s room, not your’s.” His purple eyes bore tiny holes into your skull as you shifted nervously.

Grabbing the information packet Barbatos had prepared you guys with, you pulled out the room assignment form and held it out for him. From the safe distance of five feet away, of course. “Uh, I don’t know what you mean, but- here. This is my room assignment packet I had to sign when I got here.” He gave it a glance over and then turned his nose up at it, so you set it back down on the table. “I just got here today so- so I can understand the confusion. Um, especially since I didn’t see you at orientation.” God, why did you have to stutter?

You watched as he scrunched his nose into a look of muted disgust at this revelation, but he didn’t say anything. You both stood awkwardly in a tense silence long enough for you to know he wasn’t planning on leaving any time soon.

You cleared your throat, and flinched when he locked eyes with you again. “Uh, if you don’t mind me asking, how did you get in here?” You asked, tucking your hair behind your ear in a nervous habit.

“I was asleep on the bed.”

You could only tilt your head in confusion at first. “You what?” You asked, but when he only offered a raised eyebrow as a response your shoulders tensed and your face went red. “The whole time?!” You sputtered.

He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall behind him. “Yeah? I was taking a nap until you rudely interrupted me,” He cast a look at you with the deepest irritation that you had ever seen on a person’s face. Well- demon’s face. Actually, maybe it wasn’t so surprising...

“I didn’t know that you were- I mean you were really quiet and- how was I supposed to know-” You cut yourself off and wished to silently stop existing.

The demon ignored you as he moved to Emsie’s bed and began pulling the pillow and blanket off, slowly, while maintaining eye contact with you, and- oh okay yeah that’s- that’s terrifying.

He dragged the blanket along behind him as he headed for the door. You really needed to turn this around. “Uh, hey wait! My names Y/N.”

He stopped before the door, unlocking it as he evaluated you from head to toe over his shoulder, and then left, jerking the door open and slamming it closed.

You later learned his name was Belphegor.

Unfortunately, your next class happened to be english (Devildom english. Which apparently is Australian.) with Belphegor and his twin, Beelzebub, who was actually quite sweet as long as you continually gave him food. Which you did, out of fear for your own life.

Belphegor called it ‘manipulation’, you called it ‘innovation’. Feed the gluttony demon, don’t get eaten.

You politely greeted them as you sat in your seat and handed a grateful Beel a Kitkat bar that you ordered on Akuzon a few days ago when you couldn’t sleep. Belphegor shot you a look as you did, so you pulled out another one and held it out to him. Belphagor rolled his eyes and turned his head towards the front of the class. You could see the smallest hint of a smile on his lips out of the corner of your eye.

You handed another candy bar to Beel, who excitedly thanked you again and ate the entire thing whole. Right in front of you. With the wrapper still on it.

You really needed a nap.

Entering the room you shared with Emsie was always a comforting experience. The both of you shared similar interests and decor, so it reminded you a lot of your room back home.

Emsie really was a sweet person, but you did not understand how they could deal with the demon brothers all day by themself. You liked to imagine that the rational part of their brain jumped ship sometime during their stay the year before and aided them in becoming comfortable in Devildom.

You flopped onto your bed face first, groaning as you wiggled your arm out from underneath you to check the time on your phone. Typically, the brothers and Emsie were busy with student counsel business until 5 and it was only 3 now, which gave you time to relax and, hopefully, take a nap, because you hadn’t been sleeping well and you were exhausted.

That was the plan, until the door opened and Belphegor entered with his infamous blanket and pillow.

You flop to your side as you look at him incredulously. “Can I help you?”

“Sure,” he said, “be quiet.” He threw his pillow onto Emsie’s bed and unceremoniously kicked his shoes off while climbing under the covers.

You huffed and sat up, scowling at the lump of blankets on the other side of the room. “I was trying to sleep, you know.”

The blanket moved a bit to show his face, “Well, so am I.”

“You- you can’t just sleep in here!”

“Emsie said I could.”

You rubbed your eyes with the balls of your hand as you groaned, “They said that last year. When they didn’t have a roommate.”

The cocoon sat up, Belphegor’s very much pissed off face glaring at you. If you weren’t in a spat with him and he weren’t a raging, murderous meaniehead, you might consider him to be quite handsome. Alas, everyone has their limits to how awful a person could be to them. And Belphegor had crossed that line for you a while ago.

You pinched the bridge of your nose. “Look, man, I just want one nap.”

“Then sleep. I won’t bother you,” he said, lying his head on his pillow. Then, his eyes sharpened as his brows furrowed and his mouth was pulled into a frown. “Or, do you not trust me?” He questioned, but it was more like a statement.

Did it look like you ever trusted him? Or any of them, for that matter! How were you supposed to relax and get some sleep knowing you were constantly surrounded by demons who could end you in less than a second. Regardless- “That’s not the point. I just have trouble sleeping in the same room as people.”

“People? Or bloodthirsty demons?” He sneered.

You rolled your eyes and scoffed. “You know what? Fine. Do what you want.”  You fell back on the bed and pulled the covers up over your head.

The springs of Emsie’s bed shifted as he laid back down. “I will.”

Belphegor fell asleep quickly, but you ended up staying awake until everyone else got back, and when Emsie came in they weren’t shocked in the slightest that they had a surprise visitor. You excused yourself at their entrance, saying you needed to use the restroom.

As you passed them, you caught eyes with Belphegor, and noticed a distinctive glint of smugness in their purple hue.

Dick.

The next day, Belphegor joined you again during your prime nap time. And then the next day, too. And the next. After a couple days you figured out that he was doing it to mess with you. And drive you insane. Which was working.

After class, you had been stopped to discuss a project. You weren’t sure the suggestions you made were coherent or usable. Eventually, they let you go, and you ambled back to the House of Lamentation. You were really looking forward to getting some sleep, because you hadn’t slept more than four hours in the last five days and it was really starting to get to you.

When you walked into your room to find Belphegor splayed on your own bed, however, you knew that probably wasn’t going to happen, and you were more than a little disgruntled at his presence.

“Excuse me? Can you kindly remove yourself?” You approached your side of the room and stared down at him, one hip cocked with your hand on it.

He hummed, his eyes closed as he lifted his hand to his chin to ponder your question. “No,” he said finally.

Tomorrow, you were going to ask Luke how to kill a demon. “Really? You can’t?”

Belphegor lazily opened his eyes to survey your demeanor. “Yeah, I think I’ve lost the ability to move.”

“Do you need any help with that?” You asked, but upon hearing your own words you blushed red, hoping he didn’t take that suggestively the way it sounded.

Belphegor huffed a laugh as he turned over in your bed, pulling your pillow over his head to block out the light and yourself. “No, I think I’m good for now.”

Your eye twitched. “Ahha-ha. Great.”

You watched as he slowly drifted off to sleep, jealous that he even had the ability to do so after rest had alluded you for almost a week straight. Walking over to the dresser, you snatched a pair of pjs out of the drawer and hastily changed.

Now dressed comfortably, you returned to your spot standing over him, crossing your arms over your chest.

“Belphegor.”

No response.

“Belphegor,” you said a bit louder, with a bit more force. He hummed. “Move over.”

“Mnnnnnnn, no.”

Throwing your arms down, you snarled out a particularly vicious “fine,” and climbed onto the bed over top of him, moving towards the wall side, which appeared to have the most room. He removed the pillow from his head to glare at your disturbance. “If you’re not gonna move then you’re just gonna have to deal with me,” you snapped.

The two of you were sandwiched particularly close as you were only given a twin bed and you unabashedly owned 6 pillows. But it was too late to move now. Surely, he would give up eventually and leave.

Instead, you felt him turn onto his side and prop himself up to look at you. “This is how you wanna play it?”

Your mother didn’t raise a coward. “Yeah.”

Belphegor ran his hand through his black and white hair as he let out a breathy laugh. “Fine then.”

Before you could protest, he moved above you and wrapped his arms around your waist, sliding them up your back until they were against your shoulder blades. He then pushed his head into your chest and underneath your chin, his body situating itself between your legs. Then promptly falling asleep. On top of you.

Maybe this wasn’t an exchange program. Maybe you somehow died and tricked yourself into thinking you were attending school because this was your punishment.

“I’m not your pillow?”

“Y/N.” He grumbled against your collarbone, his mouth tickling you as it moved.

You brought one hand up to rest on his back. “Uh, yeah?”

“Go to sleep.”

By the time that Emsie came back to the room, you had long since fallen asleep. Which was truly unfortunate, since neither of you could stop them from taking a picture and posting it to the House of Lamentation chat.

The next day, you got to your room before him and curled yourself into your pillows, hugging one to discourage Belphegor from making the same advances that he did yesterday. You hadn’t slept last night at all after your nap with him and you were not conscious enough to deal with him before a couple hours of shut eye. You heard the door creak open and burrowed further into your covers.

Only to be pelted in the back of the head by his pillow.

“Hey-!” You turned to get up, but you were immediately hindered by his arms wrapping around your waist once more as he haphazardly dragged you back into him. “Oh no, you are NOT spooning me.”

Belphegor shoved his face into the back of your head, “Too late, you’re really soft.”

“I did not sign up for this.”  

“Mmhmm.”

“I’ll get Lucifer.”

“Sure you will.”

You relaxed into the bed even as you continued to protest. “I mean it,” you said, attempting to sound menacing.

“Mmmkay,” He pulled his legs forward and tangled them with yours. “Good night.”

“It’s 2:48 in the afternoon.”

But he was already asleep. Your attempted struggles were useless, too, and you eventually joined him in dreamland after scrolling Devilgram for half an hour.

Spookle, How to express to someone the extent that their presence irritates and soothes you? Seriously, asking for a friend.

For the past two weeks you and Belphegor had been, for lack of a better description, napping and cuddling together.

And, while the two of you still bicker, especially when you go to scroll demontok, you had grown to rely on his presence in order to sleep. You went from a crazed, caffeine dependent loon to just caffeine dependent.

“Hey, Belphegor, do you remember the name of the article that Azazel wanted us to read?” You sat crisscross on the edge of the bed with your laptop balanced on your legs, while a reluctant Belphegor sat at the head lazily scrolling through his phone.

“Wasn’t that an optional reading?” He raised an eyebrow at you.

“Well, yeah, but normally when teachers suggest something they do it ‘cause it’s gonna be on the exam.” You brought your hand up and fiddled with your earlobe, scrolling your school's website for the link. “Besides, I think that the influence of demons on the Australian language is really cool.”

He snorted. “You would.”

You whipped a pillow at him, your cheeks flushing. “Shut up.”

Belphegor caught it with ease and pulled it to his chest. “Do you have to do homework now?”

“Well, no, but I feel like I should. Besides, that means I can sleep more later,” You fumbled for your backpack and went to grab out your calculator.

He was quiet for a bit before he muttered, “Later?”

Looking at him quizzically, you nodded your head, “Yeah?”

The two of you stared at each other for a bit and you couldn’t help but feel like you had offended him in some way. You two platonically cuddled, right? There’s no way that he’d see you sleeping alone to be an act of betrayal, right? It’s not like he was getting upset over you blowing off naptime.

Right?

He broke eye contact with you as he grabbed his pillow and got off the bed. “Whatever, I just remembered I had to be at that stupid student counsel meeting.”

“Belphegor, weren’t you supposed to be at the meetings for the past few weeks?” You shut your laptop as you stood up and got in his face. “Lol, it’s a little late now. Lucifer’s been actively complaining to you every night during dinner.”

Belphegor went to step around you before you caught his wrist. He spoke in a low tone as he looked at you, his hair falling in his face and you had to stop yourself from adjusting it for him. “What is it, Y/N?” He frowned.

Yeah, what was it? Why were you so panicked to see him leave? “I, uh, don’t you want to do homework with me? I mean, I can help you out?”

“No, I think you can do it yourself. I’ll just get Beel to help me.” And with that, he pulled his arm from your grasp, marching towards the door and pausing in the doorway. “Besides,” he started, “I wouldn't want to spook you, with me being a demon and all.”

He noticed?

“Don’t look so shocked. You avoid all of us like the plague. The only two places you could ever be found is here and the academy.” He looked over his shoulder at you, and you could feel the burning sensation from his gaze start in your stomach, blood rushing to your head as you felt your eyes begin to water.

Shaking your head, you felt the tears begin to leak down your cheeks, and you watch his expression turn from nonchalance, to shock, to… something you couldn’t place in your growing rage. “What about you, huh? Don’t you hate humans? I know what you did to this timeline’s Emsie. That’s not exactly saint-like.”

You watched as the color in his eyes began to darken, and for the first time in weeks you began to fear for your well-being. You caught your bottom lip between your teeth as you began to feel the panic welling up inside you, and your eyes must have conveyed it clearly, as Belphegor slammed the door open and left you there, on the verge of sobbing.

Really. What a dick.

God, why can’t you sleep?

You’ve tried to, genuinely. You even acquired melatonin, Nyquil, Sleepy Time tea- hell, you went exercising with a somewhat angry Beel the other day! His rage at you over your… disagreement with his brother could not be quelled by any amount of chocolate and he certainly worked you well into the throes of death.

The worst part is that you are fairly certain that Belphegor knows. Each time you see him in class, you could swear that he has some smirk on his face, seemingly satisfied with the bags under your eyes and your disheveled appearance. His relaxed posture almost screams at you ‘haha, so you do need me to sleep, don’t you?’

During lunch you tended to sit with the other exchange student in the cafeteria hall and today was no different as you slammed your coffee onto the table and glared at your fellow humans for the nervous looks they gave you.

“Um, Y/N, we’ve been meaning to ask this, but- uh- are you ok?”

“Oh, I am just peachy thank you for asking,” You answered, grabbing your travel mug and taking a large gulp. Your hands shook with the sheer amount of caffeine you had consumed in the past twenty-four hours in order for you to keep yourself awake. “Why are you wondering?”

“Well, it’s just… you don’t look like you’ve slept for a bit.”

You glared at them with dark eyes. “Astute observation.”

The group looked between themselves, sharing concerned expressions. “Uh...do you want to talk about it?”

With that, you felt the same numbness as when you tried to fall asleep alone, your heart becoming heavier in your chest as you comprehended the question. Did you want to talk about it? What were you feeling? How could you properly convey your emotions? How you felt about Belphegor?

How did you feel about Belphegor?

You blankly stared at the mug in your hands for a solid minute and you’re sure that your friends probably thought you were crazy. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

They all stared at you, sharing glances with each other at your outburst. “Um-what?”

Before they could question you further, you put a hand up to stop them and shushed them when they tried to speak more. “Shhh, no. Shush.” You put your hand down. “I am going to the nurse’s office, where I am kindly going to asphyxiate myself into the sweet release of death.”

“Um, maybe you shouldn’t go by yourself, I can go with you-”

“No,” you cut them off before they could continue, “I need to be alone for a bit.”

You stood up, grabbed your coffee, took one step, and promptly passed out.

On the bright side, you didn’t have to walk all the way to the nurse’s office. Heck, if you look at it in a certain light, it’s almost like you fast traveled there.

Just don’t think about the fact that someone definitely carried you there. Yup, don’t think about it! You slam your pillow on your face in an attempt to smother your shame, but someone quickly pulls it away from you.

“Y/N, please, don’t do that.”

“Oh! Hey, Emsie! How are you doing?” You sat up in the bed and made a poor attempt at fixing your appearance.

“I’m good… how are you?” They peer into your eyes, a temporary bond forming between the two of you, conveying concern that you really didn’t want to see.

You looked away and chose to focus on the content of your surroundings over the context. “Just wondering which unfortunate soul had to do the honor of carrying my lifeless body here.”

“That would be Mammon and Levi,” Emsie snickered into their hand. “You should’ve seen it, it was quite the spectacle.”

You laughed heartily, “Please tell me someone got a video.”

They glanced awkwardly to the side. “Well, Asmo tried to, but, ah, was somewhat hindered.”

“Oh? Lucifer?” You put a hand over your eyes. “How embarrassing.”

There was a moment of silence as Emsie shifted on their feet. “Y/N, are you and Belphegor-”

You sat up and flung the blanket off of yourself. Nope! Nope, not doing that today. “Thanks, Emsie, for watching over me while I was here, it was really sweet of you. But you see I just remembered that I have to complete my essay on Dante’s Inferno for Azazel or he will probably kick me out of class tomorrow ahaha okay nice to see you bye!”

You snatch up your things and turn to them waving nervously as you try to make your escape, only for them to grab your hand and hold it to their chest. “Y/N, you know Belphegor no longer hates humans, right?”

You could feel your throat closing as you tried to look anywhere but their eyes. Maybe he didn’t hate humans anymore, but he did hate you. You really messed up.

You missed him.  “Oh, Emsie, you really are the descendent of an angel.”

It’s not that you were afraid of him. You had actually become somewhat reliant on his presence as a whole. But the idea of admitting that you were wrong about him? That you had judged him based off of gossip? That’s what stopped you from apologizing.

Pacing outside of the twins’ room, you considered the possible outcomes.

1. You confess you’re an idiot and he hates you.

2. You confess you’re an idiot and he mocks you.

3. You stand there petrified for a long time and start crying.

4. You leap out the window.

You’re beginning to think that the last option is the best.

Slapping your cheeks with both of your hands, you force yourself to admit to any sense of defeat and knock before you could rethink it. However, it wasn’t Belphegor who answered.

“Beel? Um, would Belphegor happen to be there?” You glanced anxiously at the demon’s face, twiddling with your fingers as you shifted back and forth.

“Belphie isn’t here right now,” he responded gruffly.

You took a deep breath. “Could you maybe... tell me where he is?”

For what seemed like an eternity, Beel stared into your face, surveying your demeanor and eventually coming to the conclusion that you were worthy. Or something. It seemed cool regardless. “He’s up in the attic.”

Your breath caught as you finally realized how close to confessing you were. Butterflies fluttered in your stomach. “How would I get to the attic?” You have never heard of the attic.

“The stairway is over there.” He gestured with his chin. “Y/N?”

You sucked in a breath. “Yeah?”

He had fire in his eyes when you looked at him. “Don’t mess this up.” Was all he said. Then he closed the door and left you standing there, wondering just what in the world he meant by that.

Brushing off Beel’s words, you tentatively stepped away from the door and made your way to the stairway that Beel had indicated. Steeling yourself, you made your slow and steady ascent to the attic, eventually pushing open the door and crossing the threshold into the surprisingly small room. It was cozy.

To the right of the room, you could see Belphegor asleep on a pile of pillows. Strange, you thought, that a demon could look so angelic while asleep. You hesitantly sat next to him, but when he failed to respond, threw caution to the wind and pulled the same move on him that he had on you so long ago.

Straddling his thighs, you burrowed yourself into his chest, letting yourself become lax as you held him. You tensed when you felt his arms come around you, and he hummed as he was roused from sleep.

“I was wondering how long it would take for you to cave,” he said, pulling his head up from the pile of pillows and those violet eyes connected with yours for the first time in weeks.

You felt the corners of your lips pull down as tears built up in your eyes and you blinked them back roughly. “I’m sorry for-”

“Not trusting me?” He finished for you, hands beginning to play with the hem of your shirt at the bottom of your back.

You looked away as the first tear fell down your cheek. “Yeah.”

“I knew.” Belphegor pulled you closer, moving his mouth to your ear as you comprehended his words.

“If you knew that I was... uncomfortable with you, why would you-”

He quickly cut you off, “At first, to tease you. Then,” he smiled, and you thought your heart was going to beat out of your chest as he shyly looked away. “I did like our naps,” he finished. He pulled his head back from yours. “Especially when it lets me see your sleeping face.”

You could feel that same fear as when you two had first argued welling up within the confines of your stomach, creating a massive ball of tension. “Excuse me?”

“Y/N. I really don’t like it when you show others yourself when you are defenseless.” His arms moved from their locked position around you so that his hands could hold your face gently. “It’s something that belongs only to me.”

For a second, you didn’t live in a world where you attended school with demons. “Belphegor-”

“I’d like it if you called me Belphie.”

You blushed heavily, “Um, Belphie, are you not mad at me?”

He shook his head.

You furrowed your brow as the dark circles beneath your eyes made themselves known.

“Then, why did you ignore me for so long?”

He hummed for a bit. “Because I wanted you to realize you loved me.”

Heat grew from your stomach into your chest and you felt your breath stop as he brought his lips to yours. It was chaste, quick and barely there but it made your face heat up and your heart constrict painfully in your chest.

The tears in your eyes fell freely.

“I guess I really do love you, you jerk.”

Belphie grinned and kissed your forehead. “I know you do.”

#belphegor x reader #belphegor obey me #yandere belphegor #yandere #obey me

[cockasinthebird]

"My bounty is as boundless as the sea, my love as deep; the more I give to thee the more I have, for both are infinite.” -William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act 2 Scene 2

He had brought Laurie, Amy, Becky here. Never Nancy. Robin several times, at first with certain intentions, but it quickly became their place to watch the sweaty, athletic bodies of cheerleaders and football players, all the while sharing what shitty weed they could come across in such a puny town.

“Man, you can really see everything from here, huh?”

And now he has brought Billy here. It's only been three days since he caught him red-handed, slipping a loving note into his locker.

-

“I love you with so much of my heart that none is left to protest.”

Billy had stood frozen in place, utterly paralyzed by the perfected fear of facing something you had not prepared for. Never intended to prepare for, as he explained to Steve that he was content with just wishing from afar, green with envy and yellow with melancholy.

But Steve had refused him that, to let this die before it has even had a chance to bloom under the sun or moon, as he just wants to feel the truth behind the letters, and encouraged him to continue.

-

Although restless through the night till Friday, he felt relief most unimaginable, as he opened his locker and found more of the same handwriting.

“For where thou art, there is the world itself, and where thou art not, desolation.”

And Robin had explained, “It simply means that life only exists around you. That with love everything is beautiful, and without it everything is dead.” She then looked to Steve with an inquisitive gaze. “Do you know who it is?”

He didn't speak, but nodded still.

-

In a few short hours, the sun will set to color the sky in beautiful hues of red, and Steve is happy, but sickeningly nervous.

On Friday before Billy got to drive home, Steve had found him and asked to meet under the bleachers on Saturday- today.

“Yeah,” he finally says and scratches the hairs on the back of his head, but carefully so as to not disturb the well kempt style. “I come here with... a friend, to smoke and watch the football team practice.”

Billy turns to look at him and grins, knowingly yet with reservation. “Oh? You wanna join the football team?” His gaze travels up and down with a teasing glint in his perfect blues. “I don't think you have the physique for it.”

And Steve laughs at that, arms crossed high up his chest in a hesitant stance. “No, I...” he braces himself before attempting to be bold, “I'm just enjoying the view.”

Yet Billy proves bolder, his grin twisting into something more suggestive, and takes a few all too confident steps closer. “See anything you like, then?”

Bright pink paints across Steve's pale skin, and his lips twitch as he parts them to whisper, faintly, “Yes.”

Gently so, Billy reaches out to touch Steve's arms and pulls them apart, to tangle their fingers together in a frighteningly perfect fit, calloused on soft. A first touch of skin that is not mean or cruel. And hopefully not the last.

Both in agreeance of such dear notions, they move closer till the toes of their shoes meet, a foot or so apart, never having been this close without bloody intentions. It is a bewildering thrill, that forces both hearts to beat with reverence.

Steve watches lips closely, as Billy speaks with a lull, “Love goes toward love, as school-boys from their books, but love from love, toward school with heavy looks.”

And they both laugh at the comparison that seems all too apt. For once a quote that even Steve, a fool, can understand without Robin to act as his royal translator.

“But how do you know it's love?” Steve then asks and he meets heaven in Billy's eyes.

“Who ever loved that loved not at first sight?” his voice that of an angel, at home behind those well-cushioned lips and beneath that canopy of a mustache.

“In English?” Steve chuckles out with the warmth of his aching heart, and squeezes Billy's hands tighter in a frail attempt to show his appreciation for such fanciful words.

“It means that love at first sight is true, that from the moment our eyes met, my heart was yours.”

Words that brings forth something so deep in Steve, a feeling that has suffered the painful silence of lying dormant, that now upon awakening, he cannot resist its vivid urging for him to lean in through the air heavy with emotion between them, lips parted.

But even then, with all too daring a gesture from the brunette, Billy doesn't do his part justice, till he asks, “Can I kiss you?”

And Steve's mouth spreads soft like butter on warm bread, as he gives a light and affable laugh, “God yes.”

The joyous sounds they both harmonize in becomes muffled when they embrace one another so fondly, that all the agony and misfortune they've caused each other in the past simply melts away by the heat of their yearning.

Billy raises up his hand to gingerly hold Steve's chin between his fingers, to keep him still so that Billy alone can angle his head to the side and find himself an explorer on Steve's skin, along the shoreline that is his jaw, across the moles on his skin like precious landmarks, to fall along the slope of his exposed neck from wherein hums echo, till his journey is obstructed by the border of his brightly colored tee.

“How do you know Shakespeare?” Steve asks, and pleads with loving hands for the return of those clear eyes.

The amiable smile that Billy carries so well goes crooked, and Steve is quick to dread the witty response that comes out as, “By reading.”

“Intelligent, handsome, and funny,” Steve laughs near mockingly, but with only playful intentions that becomes clear once his expression grows fond once more. And by the peeking of Billy's tongue, he understands that the tone of it all was apparent. “I mean why do you know so much Shakespeare?”

Billy lets out a complacent sigh, brushes Steve's hair behind his ears, as he thinks of a proper way to convey his internal monologue, ever the lustrous garden that it is. At the very least he can start with the undeniable truth,

“My mom was into plays, as in a lot. She often talked about going on Broadway some day.” His gaze travels aside to somewhere farther off than possible, as if in a dreaming state to lovingly relive the memory of her. “She would read me his stories and sonnets, and when she...” Then blue eyes falls to the green beneath, a shade darker with a dreary shadow over his mind. “When she left us, my dad and me, all I had of hers is this necklace and a dear love for Shakespeare.”

Steve's fingers a feather across the golden pendant nestled between clean pecs, the dolefulness palpable in his faint expression. When warm fingers wraps around his own, just to then be lifted up to meet Billy's lips, plush against each digit.

“I've been... very angry for a very long time, Steve,” the honesty to his tone jarring.

And Steve's name sounds more precious than buried gold when carried along by that dulcet voice. His heart throbs at it, ready and willing to stop dancing forever, if that would mean this to be his last memory of too short a life.

“I've been a real shithead to you.”

A confession that makes Steve burst out with unexpected laughter. “Oh have you now? Even with both of my hands and yours I can't count all the times you've hit me in the last year or so.”

“I know!” Billy doesn't mean to smile the way he does, but Steve's own stretch of perfect lips infects him. “But I hope you can forgive me for it, although I don't deserve it. I just want you to know how sorry I am that I took out all of my frustrations on you. It has taken me all my life to find out what's wrong with me, and then found that it comes down to two things only. My fucked up dad, and...”

He hesitates now more than ever, does not meet the eyes of kindness that bestows their grace upon him, and instead he plays around with Steve's fingers between his, watching as winter skin meets sun-kissed.

Steve remains a quiet statue of patience, knows exactly what endeavor Billy is about to step through. One that he has not been brave enough to face himself, but understands all too well the danger of it, viewed from a window of presumed privilege till he only short ago discovered a crack in the glass.

But perchance the road wont be as treacherous with another near his.

Silence drags on, however, and Steve observes how the bravery of spilling guts in such candor falls sourly into the pits of despair, and in a show of solace for such pain, Steve is now the one to bring their hands up to kiss them with such tenderness that would make anyone believe love to be the truest of human emotion.

“You don't have to finish that sentence,” Steve whispers benevolently, then guides warm palms to cup his grateful expression, hoping that this gesture will prove to Billy everything he knows.

“Yeah?” he requests for reassurance never the less, but who among any one person can resist such clear form of validation and not to be tempted by the belief of such words to be lies.

“Yeah,” Steve coos out and leans into that touch as was it the one of a lover's already.

And this time Billy does not find cause to ask for acquiescence, as he too leans towards the touch of infatuation, to taste the mirth of youthfulness on Steve's soft existence.

#My Writing #Harringrove #Steve Harrington #Billy Hargrove #Poet Billy? Poet Billy. #Shakespeare #fluffy fluff fluff #People seemingly wanted more so here #this is too much fun #to just throw out flowery words

[unscharf-an-den-raendern]

Translation:

Kraftwerk: We’re a radio station

Photo caption: Kraftwerk, dressed up for rich uncle Alois’ birthday; in the middle Florian Schneider-Esleben (above) and Ralf Hütter.

For almost two years, Kraftwerk didn’t go on stage in this country and you had to go abroad to see them live. On October 10th they played in the well-visited Roundhouse in London where some people even started dancing and enthusiastically singing along to the German lyrics. It was their last concert on a five week European tour through Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, France and England. Asked for a summary of the trip, Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider, who always give interviews together, answer with a short “correct”.

Ralf: It was our first European tour, last year we only played in America for three months. Now it’s Europe’s turn because our new album will be “Transeuropa Express”. And this tour was so to speak a mental stimulus for the LP.

ME: What did you find most striking in America?

Florian: It made us realize where we actually come from, who we are and why we affect people so strongly. We noticed a strong effect, a big astonishment.

Ralf: This incredible distance, flying over the transatlantic literally gave us confidence. Suddenly you see yourself standing on stage like an observer.

ME: Did that make you more free?

Ralf: A bit. It was always incredibly hard for us here. While we were accepted, our things didn’t catch on. They always called us weirdos, tinker freaks. While the people in America immediately accepted us, just like we accepted ourselves.

Florian: Even though they were a hard audience to some extent. Rockers...

Ralf: ...they were really into it, started dancing... That brought us further. In Germany, we might have isolated ourselves even longer, would have become paranoid. There we could come out of our shell and now we go even further.

Florian: Our breath became longer, we can blow more into it.

Ralf: We also had a lot of colored people in the audience. In Germany, a lot of people still think our music is just culture. Some people there called it space boogie or techno boogie.

Florian: One guy spontaneously said that one of our songs was like a boogie from a typewriter and a vacuum cleaner gone wild. I agree with some of it, there are real comics going on, the machine plays itself.

ME: You have a lot of new machines, what’s on stage actually?

Ralf: I have a laser light organ. It’s made in America and better than a Mellotron. You have optical records that produce the sound and are scanned by laser light pressure.

Florian: Of course, that system has existed since the film era.

Ralf: I also have a sequencer, an automatic music machine that plays the repeating melodies.

ME: That sounds a bit like a fortepiano?

Ralf: Yes, diddle-dee diddle-dee...and then our two small synthesizers.

ME: Unlike before, one hears a lot of voices and vocals in your songs now.

Ralf: I’m particularly interested in the human voice. We worked with it a lot in the last two years because we sometimes develop certain motives out of the human voice. I only use human vocals on the optical records, sometimes violins...not just instrumental music like before but pre-recorded human voices, speech, words, poetry and that speaking typewriter.

ME: Is that the monster voice announcing you?

Ralf: Yes, that’s a completely artificial voice, a talking machine.

Florian: A speech computer. When you press “a” it says “a”. The keyboard is extended so you can not only enter letters but also diphthongs, brighter, deeper, etc.

Ralf: We also have those two electric drum kits and the light barrier drum kit.

Florian: So, when the light barrier is broken it triggers the contact. It drums. And we also built something ourselves, an electronic flute, a magic flute.

Ralf: All instruments we developed with our engineers are patented. We want to mass-produce them so other people can play on the as well.

Florian: Then you can play eletric drums at home. You can just connect them to your stereo system.

Ralf: These electric instruments are a lot easier to play because you can translate a sound idea much more directly. You can’t reproduce a car on a piano that easily.

Florian: It’s electronic home music, a lot of people are writing to us, saying they’re interested it in.

ME: How are your songs created?

Ralf: In the studio through fumbling around, coincidences or by playing around; through mental drafts, so work on the drawing board, or just sound finds on the instruments. Or at concerts, sometimes we play a song on and on and then a new song grows out of it like a tree branch.

Florian: We’re in state where we could play basically anything. Of course we need some distance between idea and realisation sometimes. But the path has become very short by now.

ME: Would you find it derogatory if I referred to your music as naive electronic?

Ralf: Hard to say, some call it intellectual, some call it naive...

Florian:..simple

Ralf: I think it’s everything at once.

ME: I think that Electronic is particularly transparent and comprehensible in your band.

Ralf: Yes, transparent, that’s better. We also want everyone to be able to recognize what we’re playing right away. We don’t want to convey something else with these means, something behind the stage, but only what’s up front. That’s also why we have the neon lights standing behind us so we’re transparent.

ME: A lot of your songs have environmental sounds as a topic?

Ralf: We’re interested in acoustic phenomena all over the world and that’s something we can convey now. It would be best if the people who walk out after our concerts and no longer consider the sounds around them as noise (of course only those that aren’t damaging to hearing) but consider them to be normal environmental sounds. The world of sounds is music.

ME: Do you always have a specific concept for your albums?

Ralf: We don’t write twelve songs, one about love, the next one about pants, the third one about football. Even when the things are different, cut-ups, there’s always a red line running behind it. It’s always there, latent.

ME: Even when you’re playing tapes?

Ralf: Yes, we also play tapes and cassettes. Then someone presses the button and leaves the stage. We show exactly what we do.

ME: Why tapes anyway?

Ralf: A tape is an instrument too, an acoustic machine.

ME: You have a very differentiated and unusual stage show now. Slides, the metal cage where a head danced up and down in black UV light, the signal play with the hands which trigger the impulses at the light barrier drums at the same time. Are you planning even more?

Ralf: The man in the UV cage is the prototype, we did that for the first time on this tour. But we want to show even more clearly that this is some kind of man-machine, a kind of ballet - dancing and making music at the same time through movement, so making music while dancing.

ME: You are remarkably concerned with Radio. I’m not just thinking about the last LP.

Florian: It’s a homage to the radio, the first electronic studio that existed. Back then, people like Stockhausen always made music directly on the radio.

Ralf: We always listened to it in the past. It was called Nachtmusik (night music). That’s our background too, that’s why we had the idea to form a completely electronic band. In America the people always asked for the reason and we only realized it when we remembered how this Nachtmusik fascinated us. When it was completely dark and we had to go to bed and could listen to the transistor radio from under the sheets. We’re interested in the radio awareness/ consciousness (translator’s note: “Bewusstsein” can mean both of these things, I don’t know which one Ralf meant).

Florian: And everyone can try these things out themself. When you tune in on a station on the radio and hear the pre-formed information, how it’s meant to be, you just have to tune out a bit, for example at night on short wave and you hear the craziest sounds, morse codes, pure sounds, it’s insane. Radio Cairo and so on...This idea, album as radio...

Ralf: That fascinated us immensely. We always wanted an own...we saw ourselves, Kraftwerk, in the Kling Klang Studio as a radio station. But it’s not legally possible in Germany. In America we met guys from our generation with their own radio stations, somewhere out of town in an old mansion. And they broadcast into the night from there, just like they want to, right off the bat...

Florian: They have their own radio programmes.

Ralf: ...and just send their very own thoughts into the ether...and we see ourselves as a private radio station.

#kraftwerk #this was a bit hard to translate #they speak very eloquently

[thesunnyshow]

Name: Luna

Nationality: Spanish

Languages: Spanish, English, Catalan

Writing Blog URL(s): @moonlightjeno​

What fandom(s) do you write for? NCT Dream (ot7) and I want to start writing for Ateez. Though you may find a couple of BTS and NCT 127/WayV pieces but those tend to be spontaneous as I don’t feel as comfortable writing for them.

Star Sign: Leo

MBTI: INFP - T

Favorite color: Sunset

Favorite food: Pizza

Favorite movie: Avatar! Yes, the one with blue people.

Favorite ice cream flavor: Cookies n cream.

Favorite animal: Wolf and red tailed hawks.

Coffee or tea? What are you ordering? Neither.

Dream job: Vet for wildlife and endangered species at an animal sanctuary. 

Go-to karaoke song: Have never been to a karaoke so not really sure.

If you could have one superpower, what would you choose? Shapeshifting so I could fly but also be able to breath underwater.

If you could visit a historical era, which would you choose? Definitely the Cretaceous, I just love dinosaurs.

If you could restart your life, knowing what you do now, would you? Most definitely not, I believe that everything one does is meant and we just gotta adjust. So anything I might regret I learn from and everything I’ve experienced has shaped me in some way or form. 

Would you rather fight 100 chicken-sized horses or one horse-sized chicken? As someone who works with chickens (they’re devils) I think a 100 chicken-sized horses because I love horses and they’re a lot more chill if given care. Chickens are crazy dude. 

If you were a trope in a teen high school movie, what would you have been? I guess either the nerd or jock? I’m a mix of both.

Do you believe in aliens/supernatural creatures? Most definitely! If we exist why can’t there be others?

You just won a ticket for a free vacation! Where are you going and why? Africa! In specific Kenya and Zimbabwe as they have some of the largest animal sanctuaries and I would love to both learn more about the culture and see all the animals to help as much as possible. 

Fun fact about yourself that not everyone would know? When I’m writing a new fic I tend to have a playlist in the background and the mood of the fic tends to go in the direction of the music. And a couple of spontaneous dance sessions occur. 

When did you post your first piece? Damn. I think the first official piece that made me want to start writing again was a Yuta timestamp? I wrote for a friend originally and then posted on May 12.

Who is your favorite person to write about? Lee Jeno. I’m definitely biased (as my masterlist can prove) but he’s just easy to write. I love writing other members but Jeno is always a sort of enigma that I can change but still apply the qualities that I just love about. Though I love writing about Cael (an oc from my novel).

Do you write fluff/angst/crack/general/smut, combo, etc? Why?  I tend to write a mix of fluff and angst (sometimes crack but im horrible at humour *sigh*). I’m someone who reads for character development, so i always feel like angst is a way to develop a character especially in longer fics and helps it just make it more poetic. One of my favorite things to write is the description of emotions so angst is always a great way to convey that but then fluff to show the change in the characters. 

Do you write OCs, X Readers, Ships...etc? I write member x reader, and try to make it as gender neutral as possible but at times it is easier to make it female x member as that’s just what I know best. 

Why did you start writing on Tumblr? I’m not exactly sure. I’ve always loved writing and creating stories, I had been on a slump from my novel and wanted to do something more lighthearted (which my novel is not) so when my friend liked the little timestamp I wrote for her about yuta it gave me confidence to post it online. And now here we are. 

What inspires you to write? Music! Honestly I could hear a song and think of a plot on the spot, music is one of the most beautiful and inspiring sources I think one can have. But also daily life experiences and dreams!!

What genres/AUs do you enjoy writing the most? Idol verse is something I always love and adore! But also creating my own world is something that I’ve always found interesting as it allows me more creative direction!

What tropes do you love, and what tropes can’t you stand? Honestly I’m a sucker for the classics, any best friends to lovers or E2L trope I will love. I wouldn’t say I can’t stand any tropes but either werewolf tropes (bc they tend to just focus on the smut or possessiveness without any character development) or like ceo/boss tropes I just don’t really care for.

What do you do when you hit a rough spot creatively? Music music music! There might be a pattern there. But if it’s a specific piece that I was already working on (like the current mark envy fic) I give it a couple of days and see if I can think of a way around whatever is blocking me. I also like to talk it out with my moots (bless them I love y’all) and read different fanfics/books because sometimes it’s just I’m not sure how to express the feeling correctly.

What is your favorite work and why? Your most successful? My favorite work has got to be the Jeno 10 things + then some. I’d had the idea of writing something based off one of my favorite rom-coms 10 things I hate about you for a while and it was supposed to originally be a video edit. But I wasn’t sure how to go with that, and when I looked at the poem (after watching the movie again) it seemed as if my brain just clicked. I knew Jeno would have to be Patrick. It was just clear in my mind, and he was my ult so it was easiest to write. Thankfully everyone seemed to like it and it became my most successful fic too! After almost a month of writing and editing I was very happy with the result and the feedback blew me away.

What do you think makes a good story? When you feel something move. When you finish the story no matter who’s in it (whether bias or not in terms of fanfic) or an original character and you are now attached to the character. I think as long as the story is able to make you feel something, then it’s good. It’s done its purpose. Though seeing how characters change and develop are always a plus it isn’t always possible such as in short drabbles or timestamps.

What is your writing process like? Very very chaotic. Honestly my ideas tend to spring out of nowhere and be really clear or just be very hazy. I tend to have a bunch of ideas in my mind which I’ll write down (the general plot of) but I tend to only work on one draft at a time so I don’t mix the characters.

Do you think there’s a difference between writing fanfiction vs. completely original prose? I think there is some sort of difference, as fanfiction is the expanding of a persons personality. We grab what we think we know and what the celebrity or character has displayed and expand upon it in either our own universe or the world we already know. While original prose is more of a start from scratch on the characters flaws and qualities.

Would you ever repurpose a fic into a completely original story? Most definitely especially the series I am currently working on based of the seven deadly sins. Because I’m creating a completely new world I feel like I would be able to make into an own story but I would have to think about that in the future. I’m happy where i am right now 

How much would you say audience feedback/engagement means to you? Everything! I can’t stress this enough but getting reviews/feedback/constructive criticism is always so great and encouraging. It means that the reader felt something when reading the piece.

What has been one of the biggest factors of your success (of any size)? I honestly couldn’t quite say. I guess the first that pops into my mind are my moots. They tend to always be there to reblog or hype up a new fic which I couldn’t be more thankful for, so a lot of it I owe to them as they had a larger fanbase than I did when I started.

Do you ever feel like people have misunderstood you or your writing at times? I can’t say I can, yet I am pretty new. If this is the case I would do my best to clear up the misunderstanding, especially because I feel writing (like many art forms) is interpreted differently by different people.

Do your offline friends/loved ones know you write for Tumblr? Most definitely not. A lot of them know I write and that I enjoy writing but none of them know about the account.

What is one thing you wish you could tell your followers? Thank you all sincerely from the bottom of my heart for supporting me, whether it’s a simple ask, or you screaming in the tags or us talking to each other. Any interaction and just support makes my day, and I hope I can continue to be able to make you happy with my work. As always, never doubt yourself, you are beautiful and more than enough.

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers who might be too scared to put themselves out there? I'm sure this has been said before but honestly just do it. *cue nike ad* jokes aside if you like what you write, if you are proud or just want to express how you feel and share your craft then by all means I am 100% sure that someone else will enjoy it too. So don’t be afraid.   

Are there any times when you regret joining Tumblr? Hmmm, not really. So far the community has been supportive at times it’s a little bit stressful but it’s good.

What do you hope your readers take away from your work? I don’t think my stories have a message message behind them, so that they get the feeling of the story. If I intended the story to move the reader someway or the other I hope that it can reach them in that way. But most importantly I write so that people can read and if it’s just for a minute that they can get away from the world and just live through the story.   

Do you have any mutuals who have been particularly formative/supportive in your Tumblr journey? Most definitely. I love every single one of my moots, and the more people I talk to on here and become friends with, the more I am grateful but there are two people in particular who have been there from the start. Mylin (@starlit-jeno​) she was my first moot on here and honestly the best introduction to the community I could have had. I absolutely adore her to bits and she’s always ready to help me with any idea I may be stuck on, and one of the just the chillest people. There’s not a day that goes by that I am not thankful for her friendship and everything she has done (esp the mutual freaking out about jeno and contemplating weird life questions such as 119 deserved a grammy at random times of the day). The second moot, honestly I’m surprised she hasn’t kicked me out because I love her so much is @mango-texts (my soulmate bro). She was the first to ever give me feedback on a piece and then answered a random post about me freaking about Jeno (it’s a daily occurrence). Like Mylin there isn’t a day where I am not grateful and just in awe for her friendship. She’s always there, no matter what it is she’ll be there and will never fail to make me smile. Her excitement at times is the reason why I am motivated to finish fics, and she gives great advice and ideas (her mind y’all). A lot of fics on my masterlist I feel like wouldn’t have been published if it weren’t for the two amazing individuals so I am forever thankful and just love em. Also @smolchenle​ who is always there too proofread and give feedback you are the sweetest thank you for dealing with my horrible grammar and chaotic ideas. 

Do you think art can be a medium for change? In every way possible. As someone who isn’t the best with words (slightly ironic but oh well) when it comes advocating for anything art is such a powerful medium because it doesn't just reach one base. It can expand across all not only countries but also cultures. Art can be interpreted in so many different forms, but still when you listen to a song no matter if you speak the language or not you’ll get the *vibe* or message in ways the language of the world. It connects us and expands messages, I find that very powerful.

Ending thoughts: “It is in our youth that our heart’s are touched by fire, but it when we stop loving that the flame flickers out.”

BONUS: K-POP CONFIDENTIAL

Interested in your very own episode of The Sunny Show? Find out how to apply here.

#@moonlightjeno #thesunnyshow #featuredauthor #episode 3 #nct #wayv #bts

[runenc03]

HH - Kaycee’s fifth year (part 6)

Writing date: January 2020

Genre: fluff. And an approaching war

Warnings: maybe some harassment? It all ends up being okay and nothing terrible happens

Word count: 6.3k

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Summer

"Have you ever heard about horcruxes?"

Kaycee was sitting in Professor Dumbledore's office, her stomach slightly squeasy because of the nerves she felt all throughout her body. She shook her head, unsure of herself, before looking to her side to see if her sister knew anything about it. Hermione's brows were furrowed, but her head was slightly tilted, two signs Kaycee had learned to recognise through years of being with her sister.  It indicated Hermione didn't know something yet, but was inquisitive to learn more about it.

Dumbledore cleared his throat, looking at them with a kind smile, but a serious expression in his eyes.

"Horcruxes are very, very rare objects. They're also a very dark form of magic, which is why most people have never heard of it before. A horcrux is an object in which a piece of someone's soul is placed. The process is not something I'd recommend, though. In order to make a horcrux, one has to splinch their own soul. I've obviously never experienced it myself, but it's said to be one of the worst kinds of pain to exist."

The heavy silence Kaycee thought would follow was immediately killed by Hermione's voice full of disbelief.

"But why would someone do that? That sounds gruesome!"

The headmaster nodded understandingly at her.

"That's the clue, Miss Granger. You can't kill someone who has put a part of his soul in another object. Horcruxes always make it possible to return from death."

Kaycee heard Hermione gasp, and she knew her sister had connected the dots. She, however, still had difficulty comprehending where this conversation was heading, until her sister started whispering the answer to the questions that were swirling inside of her head.

"Voldemort has put a part of his soul in a horcrux."

"I'm afraid it's not just one horcrux, Miss Granger. Voldemort has indeed used this technique to be able to reclaim his life, but he has splinched his soul not once, but at least 3 times."

This time, it was Kaycee who gasped. She just couldn't imagine wanting to splinch your own soul. She promptly started shivering at the idea, for once hating how much empathy she possessed. Her shock didn't make her forget her confusion, however, so she asked her headmaster the question that had been burning on her tongue throughout the entire visit.

"But, Professor, what does that have to do with me, and my strange feeling?"

The old man's eyes went from serious to grave, as if he were about to convey some very bad news, and Kaycee suddenly went from sweating to being very, very cold. She wanted this to be over with, so she could crawl in her blankets, the familiar prison for once protecting her from the outside world, instead of the other way around.

"Miss Granger, that's where it gets very interesting. First of all, I want you to know that nothing like this has ever happened in the entire history of Magic, or at least as far as we can read back. That being said, I do have a suspicion I am pretty confident about. You undoubtedly remember your first year, and the diary you wrote in."

Dumbledore's voice got lower, his guilt about not being able to prevent all of that from happening evident in the way he spoke, and Kaycee nodded, half to indicate that she was still following, half to let him know that she was well now, and didn't hold any grudge.

"The diary was a horcrux. When Mr. Potter destroyed it with the basilisk fang, a piece of Voldemort got destroyed along with the object. Since you had been taking the diary with you for such a long time by then, the influence of the horcrux had kind of put itself inside of you, Miss Granger. I know that sounds very concerning, but I want you to know that you were not a horcrux, the influence of the horcrux had merely started residing inside of you, if I can put it like that. Of course that influence got destroyed at the same time that the source of it, the horcrux, got dismantled, but the place it had stayed at, didn't immediately get occupied again. Not that your mind misses anything, it's quite the opposite, really. If anything, your mind got stretched with that influence, and since that space didn't exist before your first year, it was empty after Mr Potter's battle with the basilisk."

"So, my mind is basically larger than average?"

Dumbledore nodded.

"It is, Miss Granger, but that's not all there is to it. After doing some research, I found out that such 'mindgaps' have existed before yours, although they were made in other circumstances. Losing a mind twin, for example, is an unfortunate event in which the mind twin experiences a void in their mind, but fortunately, that's not the case for you, Miss Granger. In fact, your mind has magically filled itself again, with what I expect to be exactly the feeling you have described. See it as an extra gut feeling, an extra internal compass, if you would. Miss Granger, I know that this must come as a surprise, and if it was possible, I wouldn't let you dwell on it any further, instead opting to let you enjoy your teenage years to their full extent, but I'm afraid that in times of war, we must use everything we can, and that includes the extra capacity of your mind."

Kaycee was fast to nod, agreeing completely with what her headmaster was saying. Unlike what Professor Dumbledore had expected, Kaycee didn't feel all that shocked or overwhelmed anymore. True, this was not what she expected, but she finally had an answer now, finally knew for sure that the feeling was not something she made up, or exaggerated. It was useful, she was finally useful in this journey to the light - as she liked to call the war going on around them.

"What's the plan, professor? I'm up to whatever you see fit."

The headmaster smiled at that, his eyes twinkling with pride.

"I would like you to come to my office every 2 weeks, for an extra class outside of your normal classes. I will teach you how to understand your power, how to use it, and, if necessary, how to suppress it. Are you okay with that?"

"Yes, Professor. I look forward to it."

And she did. For so many years, she had been struggling with the memories of her first year, the nightmares, the guilt of holding onto that diary for so long.

It was time for her to step up, do her part, help her loved ones.

She was ready.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Autumn

Sean breathed out a sigh of relief when he finally found her. The sight of her sitting there with crossed legs, looking up at the sky through the massive window, her hair cascading down her back, made him feel so many things at once. It was breathtaking, really, and he could've stood there all night, up there in the astronomy tower, without moving an inch. He knew that wasn't an option though.

"So there you are."

She didn't move, didn't say anything at first, but Sean knew he was allowed to come closer. He vaguely registered how the wooden floor creaked as he moved, but his focus was on Kaycee. He was still hesitant to do anything. She was the one who ran away so suddenly, after all.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left like that. It was not your fault, I promise."

She said it with a quiet, hoarse voice, and he knew right then and there that she had been able to think while looking at all those constellations above them. It had made her calm. Another wave of relief crashed over him.

She wasn't going to run from him.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?"

She finally looked at him, a million stars seemingly reflected in her eyes at that moment. She nodded, stretching out her arm to him, beckoning him to sit down, but - to Sean's disappointment - letting go of that arm as soon as he was sitting beside her. For a few seconds, she said nothing, and he didn't push her. He knew that she would start when she had found the right words.

"Look, we both know that I like you as more than a friend, right?"

Sean tried his best to hide his surprise that she didn't beat around the bush. For some reason, the dark blue colour of the sky combined with the bright spots scattered across it had made him think their conversation would be a meaningful one, one to start gradually but last forever in his memory.

"Did I say too much...?..."

Her voice, a lot softer than normal, brought him out of his thoughts, and he started to speak immediately, not wanting her to be insecure because she decided to be brave enough to finally address their dynamic.

"No, no you definitely didn't Kayc! I just....didn't expect you to be so open about it so suddenly."

She smiled at that, still a bit shy, but at least more comfortable now.

"Sean, when Ron asked me to come smell his Amortentia, I just, I don't know....for some reason I really didn't think it would be that much of a big deal, but then I smelled it and I just...panicked, I guess."

Those last few words made Sean panic in her place. Had he actually been mistaken about her signs and did she not feel anything for him? Had he really been that arrogant? A cold spot formed itself in his chest, and the longer Kaycee waited with continuing her story, the more it spread out towards the rest of his body.

"So....what did you smell then?"

He tried to be casual about it, he really did, but the cold spot had reached his throat and made it hard to speak. Kaycee finally turned her head, now looking at him instead of at the constellations, a small smile on her face.

"Come on Shamu, like it's not embarrassingly obvious already. I smelled...well, this is probably pretty unique for Amortentia, but I smelled sweaty dance rooms, and parchment, and freshly cooked meals. Sean, I already knew I liked you. I mean, I guess I made it pretty obvious. Smelling you in Amortentia though...it brings everything on a much higher level. And I...I guess I underestimated how serious my feelings for you were, but we both know Amortentia never lies, now does it?"

And he knew as well that Amortentia never masked anything. Whatever you smelled while hanging above a cauldron of the lovely liquid was what your deepest desire was in terms of love, and that wouldn't go away after your crush stayed uninterested or your teenage years passed.

No, what you smelled in Amortentia, counted for the rest of your life.

"Sunflowers, hairspray and just a hint of sweat, but the good, 'I gave my all and created something magical' kind, not the disgusting one."

"What?"

He almost laughed at the clueless expression on her face, but then he didn't, suddenly realising that this could very well become the moment he could officially ask her to be his girlfriend.

"It's what I smelled in my Amortentia, Kaycee. I think we both know who smells like that, don't we?"

"Well, I hope I don't smell like sweat all the time."

She said it while laughing, but Sean could hear the relief she was trying to cover up. Had she been so insecure about his feelings for her? He thought he'd always made it pretty obvious she was it for him.

"No, you don't. You smell like sunflowers most of the time, but if I talk or think about you, I always picture you dancing, so I guess that's where the smell of hairspray and sweat comes from."

And then, when he saw the doubt on her face:

"Kaycee, it's you. And I don't know what that does to you, I hope it makes you happy, although it can also cost me my friendship with you if it makes you panic, but it has to be said. I am completely in love with you, and I've known it for far longer than my Amortentia class, or than going to the Yule Ball with you, even. And there's nothing I can do about it. I can only hope you feel the same, really, because there is no way to get over what I feel for you."

He didn't know why he said all of that. It was true, in fact there was nothing more honest he had ever said, but even he realised that this was probably a bit much to take in all at once. He should've said those things all separately, at the right time, but then again, he had been walking around for almost 3 years now, his head repeating these words like a mantra, over and over again.

All the while, Kaycee's face stayed unreadable.

"Sean....wow. I wish I could say something as meaningful, but you're the one with the right words, aren't you?"

Her tone was so controlled, almost restrained, that his first thought was that she was angry with him. He should've known better.

"It's one of the many reasons I'm in love with you as well. You want to hear some other ones?"

Sean could only nod, overcome with a second, huge wave of relief, gratitude, and slight disbelief. When talking about this moment to others later on, he would always contemplate telling them about how Kaycee's skin seemed to bask in the light those millions of stars emitted. He never did. It was something only he would ever know, and he knew he would always remember it.

"Your friendship with Hermione is something that makes my heart warm. Or the way you don't try to overpower me when we dance, but rather dance with me, next to me. I love how you can engulf me in your arms, how you offer me comfort, but also see me as my own person. And then we haven't talked about all the sweet gestures. Like, I love it when you take my hand, or lay yours on the small of my back. Or when we duelled in the DA last year, you never held back, you duelled against me to win, which made me feel that much more accomplished when I managed to win. You saw me as your equal opponent, not as a little, fragile sister or a too-naïve Hufflepuff. You saw and continue to see me as the deepest, rawest, most true version of myself. And that, Sean, is something I'll always be grateful for.

He couldn't help himself anymore, needed to diminish the distance between them, so he opened his arms, ready to wrap them around her.

"Come here, Kayc."

And she did, with a surprising amount of eagerness. She shuffled closer, and then, when Sean expected her to come to a halt propped next to him, she moved again, this time lifting herself up and sitting down again on his lap, leaning backwards and laying her head on his shoulder, looking at the stars again.

They were silent once again, but Sean wasn't one to stop talking because a moment was beautiful. He believed words had a great power, and if used in the right way, they could make that beautiful moment even better.

"Kaycee, does this mean..."

He still couldn't outright say it. Was it because of all the years he had stayed silent before this, or because of the intoxicating smell of her hair currently tickling the right side of his neck, he didn't know. He wanted to kick himself for ruining this moment with his words, when Kaycee's next ones made him smile again.

"Do you want it to?"

Something in her tone was open enough to finally give him the courage to go through with it. He took her hand, interlacing her fingers with his, letting them rest on her lap.

"Kaycee Caitlin Rice, do you, at last, after everything we've been through, want to be my girlfriend?"

She said nothing at first, only raising the hand that was holding hers and kissing the back of it. Sean could feel the outline of her smile on his skin. His heart was soaring, burning, even, and he loved every second of it.

"I would love to be your girlfriend, Sean Charles Lew. Very much so."

And that was it. He gave her a kiss on her hair, and put his arm around her middle, pulling her just a smidge closer to his chest. He needed to feel her, to assure himself that this had actually just happened. For some reason, he'd always thought getting together with Kaycee would be something grand, something with music, flowers, lengthy speeches, tears. It hadn't been anything like that, this was probably the most silent get together in the history of Hogwarts.

Still, he looked up at the stars again, wanting to cherish this moment, no matter how silent it had been. What followed could be his imagination, but he swore he saw one of the stars wink. It was all that was needed to tell him that the roaring of his heart was loud enough, and, judging by the way Kaycee's thumb kept rubbing over his arm, he knew it sounded like music to her, too.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Winter

"Mione! Look, quickly!"

She couldn't keep the excitement out of her voice, already having to remind herself that she had to stay silent. This was a library, after all.

Her sister shuffled closer to her after putting away her wand, trying to watch their friends sitting at an old wooden table through the same small gap in between 2 seemingly endless rows of books.

"Oh, there's mistletoe above us, Neville!"

Neville promptly looked up at Luna's wondering tone of voice, and Kaycee squeezed Sean's hand, smiling when he immediately squeezed back, as well as putting his chin on top of her head.

"I wonder how it started blooming here so suddenly...the living conditions in a library aren't exactly ideal for a plant like misletoe..."

Kaycee could almost feel the identical grins that were on both Hermione's and Sean's face now. She herself, couldn't help but grin as well. They should have known Neville would start thinking about the misletoe's traits, rather than its meaning.

"Well Neville, in a place like Hogwarts, I believe everything is possible. You do know what this means, right? I've already checked, there aren't any nargles in it, which means it's real mistletoe, and not giving me a kiss would mean lots of things, starting with being bothered by hinkypunks for the rest of your life. Now of course I understand if you do not wish to kiss me, but -"

"I do!"

Neville had cut Luna off, and everyone, including Neville himself, only realised a few seconds later what he had actually said. Kaycee smiled, hidden from Neville and Luna by that massive wall of books. She hadn't expected their plan to go so easily.

"I mean, I do want to kiss you, Luna. Especially under a misletoe. It's tradition, after all."

Neville's voice was a lot softer now, and Kaycee silently thanked him for it, afraid for a second that Madam Pinch would check on the pair and their moment would be completely ruined.

"Well then, what are you waiting for?"

Luna sounded even brighter than usual, although Kaycee's fangirl heart could also be playing tricks on her. Either way, she was excited beyond words for what was about to unfold right in front of her.

And then, it happened.

After Neville had taken one last deep breath, he lowered his head, hesitating for only a second before finally letting his lips touch Luna's. For just a second, nothing happened, they just stayed like that, quiet, in peace, and Kaycee was about to swallow her 'awwww' when something changed.

Luna had shuffled closer to Neville, wrapping her arms around his neck. His reaction was a bright smile, not even hidden behind Luna's lips. His arm was next, Neville wrapping it around Luna's waist, squeezing her side when his hand ended up laying there. Kaycee thought her jaw would actually drop, the whole thing looked so fluent. It took her brain a second to realise just how right this had to feel for both of them in that moment, and her heart melted a little more. They deserved it so much.

By now, Luna had moved her arms, one laying on Neville's chest, the other on his left sideburn, tilting his head so she could reach it. Then, they separated, but as soon as they looked into each other's eyes, they diminished the distance between them again, Neville taking the lead now, following her example of laying a hand on his cheek, moving his thumb across her jawline.

They pulled away slowly, both of them seemingly not wanting this to end. It was only now that Neville started to blush. He pulled her even closer, Luna responding to that by putting her legs over his lap and once again wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Do you think he's going to confess?"

Kaycee whispered her words in Sean's ear, afraid the faintest sound would ruin the cozy bubble Neville and Luna were in right now. He made a face, telling his girlfriend wordlessly that he didn't know, but hoped it would finally happen. Kaycee could feel his arm coming to hold her waist, and in this moment she could only think about how much she wanted Luna to be able to feel the same thing, not just now, but always.

On the other side of the wall of books, Luna placed her forehead against Neville's, her eyes closed.

"Did you know that when you're in love, there are little elves in your belly? Everyone always thinks those are butterflies, but that's not true."

"Is that so? Well...it's good to know what's going on in my stomach, then."

Okay, Kaycee had to admit that one was smooth.

"Yeah, when I first felt them, I wanted to know what caused the feeling, so I started searching for an explanation and eventually, I found an article about it in an old edition of the Quibbler."

Kaycee noticed that while Luna's eyes were still closed, Neville's were wide open, looking at the girl in front of him. Kaycee didn't think she'd ever seen so much adoration in someone gaze.

"When do you feel them, Luna?"

Luna's smile got even broader, her whole body actually emitting a warm glow.

"They always crawl around when we sit in the greenhouses. Or when I help you with your homework. Or when you accidentally touch me and apologise while you really don't need to. Also when you just smile at me."

Neville answered with a kiss on Luna's forehead, and Kaycee knew that this was the start of something extraordinarily beautiful.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey, babe!"

As soon as Kaycee heard those words, she turned around warily. This was definitely not Sean. He had nicknames for her, yes, like darling, or love, or baby, when he was in a particularly clingy mood, but never babe.

Upon seeing the guy who had clearly called out on her as there were no other people in the corridor she was currently standing, she put on an unimpressed face, trying to seem unaffected, but wrapping her thin coat tighter around her body. The past week had been remarkably warm for this time of the year, and Kaycee had secretly started hoping Spring would come early this year, but apparently, thin coats didn't protect you against creepy dudes. Not that thick coats did, really.

"Hey, I was talking to you there!"

This time, Kaycee couldn't ignore him anymore. She took a closer look at the guy. He was striding forward urgently, black hair sleeked back, a dangerous glint in his dark eyes. She didn't trust him one bit.

"What do you want?"

She was snapping at him, Kaycee could hear it herself. She could only hope he didn't hear the panic sleeping through her tone. She just couldn't help it, the guy was so much taller than her, actually towering over her small form. There was a threatening glow around him that automatically made her want to get as far away from him as possible.

"Oh, well, you see, Kaycee Granger, I've heard some things about you. All good things, don't worry. You're a dancer, aren't you?"

Kaycee nodded, still unsure of where the creepy guy was going. She just wanted Luna to show up so they could go feed the thestrals, which was the reason she was standing here in the first place. Suddenly, his face came closer to hers, and Kaycee had to suppress the urge to lean backwards. She didn't though, because she had finally recognised that dangerous gleam in the boy's eyes. It was a look of pure hunger.

"Do you also like to dance in more...suggestive ways? What do you think about dancing for me? I'd quite like you to give me a lap dance...would you like that, Kaycee?"

This was actually disgusting. She didn't know where this guy got his information from, but it made her sick to her stomach to realise that people immediately linked dancing with sexual things. Even then, she really had nothing against more suggestive dances, but the fact that this guy thought every dancer would automatically want to dance for everyone in that way just went beyond what she thought possible.

"I...stay..away from me."

But even she heard how soft it sounded, vulnerable even, and she could kick herself for being scared of this guy. He didn't deserve that satisfaction.

"Are you sure, sweetheart? I'll surely reward you well..."

And then, there was another voice, not hard at all, but icy, his words echoing through the corridor.

"Do as she says. Stay away from her. For your information, she keeps those kind of dances exclusively for her boyfriend, who is, in this case, only a few feet away from you. If I were you, I'd listen to her."

Both Kaycee and the scary guy looked at the owner of the voice, and if Kaycee had had any way to run to the guy by escaping her threatener, she would have, but he was standing too close, leaving her little more than a few inches of free space on both her sides, her back already against the stone wall.

"Sean Lew."

It was a statement, the teasing undertone completely wiped from his voice, now sounding hollow, empty.

"Geoffrey Zagan."

She had never heard of the guy before, never even seen him. It was only when her eyes fell on his scarf that she realised how the two knew each other. Geoffrey was a Ravenclaw as well.

Sean started walking closer now, his face still void of any emotion. Kaycee could see it though, the cold, threatening glare in his eyes. For the first time in her life, she wasn't completely sure Sean wouldn't physically fight with someone. His steps were deliberate, almost demonstrative, but Kaycee knew he was not playing games. This was a serious matter for her boyfriend.

When the distance between the guys had diminished to 2 feet, Sean came to a halt, right across from Zagan, who had now turned to the other Ravenclaw. That's where the 2 boys stayed for a while, just looking each other in the eye, the silence around them somehow sounding even louder than the words they had spoken a few moments ago.

"Right. I'll go then. Enjoy your girlfriend, Lew."

And with that, he was gone, his steps brisk, with each one he took loosening the iron hold on Kaycee's lungs a little more.

As soon as Geoffrey Zagan had turned around the corner, Sean started talking, his voice harsher than Kaycee had expected it to be.

"I cannot believe this just happened. Honestly Kaycee, how long has this been going on?"

"Sean, stop overreacting. This was the first time this happened, and he didn't have any time to do something to me, now did he? You were fast enough to show him I'm all yours"

She didn't know whether reminding him was a good choice or not, but it was the only thing the could think of.

She saw that her boyfriend finally relaxed at her words, smiling now, and then she smiled too, relieved he wasn't angry anymore. He wrapped an arm around her and rested his hand on her hip, pulling her closer to him, a grin spreading over his face while looking into her eyes.

"That, you absolutely are, my darling. All mine to love."

Her arms wrapped themselves around his neck automatically, as if it was second nature. She stood on her tiptoes, her balance perfect because of all the technique classes she had taken throughout the holiday, and angled her face to kiss him. As a thank you, or as an I love you, or maybe both. Sean immediately kissed back, smiling in the kiss, the arm that was still wrapped around her waist pulling her closer to him, his other hand weaving through her curly hair, angling her face so he could reach her better.

Kaycee pulled back from his lips now, but only slightly.

"I love you Shamu. I truly couldn't help it, what he did...but I'm sorry you had to rescue me."

They were whispering against each other's lips now, the moment feeling delicate, vulnerable, and in Kaycee's eyes, easy to escalate in the wrong way. Sean's angry tone had scared her, even though she wouldn't admit it. That wasn't necessary, however, because Sean could see it in her eyes, she knew she couldn't hide it, and his face was immediately filled with guilt.

"I'm sorry love, I just....I got so enraged seeing him so close to you. Not even because I was jealous, I wasn't, but because of the look on your face. I promise I won't put my frustration on you anymore Kayc."

She nodded, caressing his cheek, and he smiled again, his dimples showing. She couldn't help but poke them, they were so adorable, resulting in the 2 of them falling into a fit of laughter, desperately clinging to each other while trying to get at least a little bit of oxygen.

Their laughter eventually calmed down, however, and a thought suddenly struck Kaycee, promptly removing all happiness from her mind.

"Sean...you lied to him."

Sean looked confused, and didn't know what to say to that, unsure of what she actually meant. She could see it in his eyes, he was already going over all the previous events, trying to pinpoint what he had done wrong. Quickly, she put her hands on his chest, putting her weight forward instead of backwards, showing him she wasn't, and would never be, afraid of him.

"You didn't do anything wrong, in fact I'm incredibly grateful you did this for me in the way you did. Saving me-"

"I didn't save you, I helped you. You would've been able to fight him on your own, I'm not your knight in shining armor, even though I'd like to be sometimes."

Kaycee just continued what she was going to say, but couldn't fight the small grin that was returning on her face.

"Be that as it may, my point is that you made me feel taken care of, but you did so by lying, and I didn't even realise it. You said I dance for you in that way Sean. And we both know I don't. We only do cute and sweet things, never the more...spicy ones. And...I just...I guess I only realise now that you maybe want that and I've been so insensitive about your wants and needs, never even asking if you wanted me to do something like that while you've given me everything I want and more and I-"

"Hey hey, calm down darling, breathe. Please tell me this is just the shock from meeting Zagan, and you don't really think this."

The silence following his words answered him, and she could see that it wasn't the answer he had been hoping for.

"Sean...I just, he made me think, okay? I would understand if you wanted me to do certain things. Why hasn't that happened yet? I mean, we've been together for almost 5 months now, and you're a healthy teenage boy, I would truly understand Sean."

He was shaking his head, and she was afraid he hadn't even heard her, hadn't even wanted to know what she was saying, but to her, this wasn't something unreasonable. She would really understand, she wasn't just saying it to make him happy.

"Kaycee, you're so wrong this time. This doesn't have anything to do with my needs or wants in terms of sexy things, at least not only mine. I know this is going to sound so cliché but I swear I'm telling you the truth. Your wellbeing will always be my number 1 priority. I really don't care whether we do those things now, or in a few weeks, months, years. The thing is, Kaycee, that it'll only be fun for me of I'm 100% convinced you are enjoying yourself too, and until then, I'm happy to wait. Really, I am. Darling, say something please, I want you to understand."

And she finally did. What Sean had said was true for her too, things were only fun or nice whenever the person you were doing it with was happy as well. Kaycee realised then, that the beauty of everything, but most of all these romantic steps, was the knowledge that you were sharing that beauty, sharing the memories, the feelings, not just the activity itself. It all made sense now. And she could only hug Sean, this wonderful young man in front of her, not only for reassuring her he wanted to wait with things, but for convincing her that he was 100% okay with it.

In time, they would make their own, unique, precious, and beautiful memories in that department, but until then, she was going to show this extraordinary human in front of her all the other ways in which her heart longed for him.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spring

This could very well be the worst day of Sean Lew's life.

Not even when he had had to save Kaycee in his second year did he feel as sad as he did now. Back then, he had been able to do something. Right now, it was all out of his hands, irreversible.

Albus Dumbledore was dead, and he would be gone forever.

It was the only thought that was able to sink through the thick fog pervading his brain, the only thing he could hear, over and over again, his inner voice echoeing within his head. He could only sit there, outside, alone on one of the wooden benches after the Headmaster's funeral. Of course Kaycee and his friends had been there during the service, but afterwards, they had all known Sean needed some time alone, and he was grateful that they let him gather his thoughts in solitude.

Until now.

"Hey there Sean Lew. Do you mind if I sit here with you? You look like you could use another perspective on all this."

Sean turned his head, smiling slightly when he heard Luna's voice. His fellow Ravenclaw had a way with words, with saying them, and he realised that it would probably be wise to listen to what she wanted to tell him. He was no fool, having someone like Luna in your life was a true blessing, like a breath of fresh air, time and time again, and he had figured out a long time ago that he should never take her presence for granted.

"You know Sean, when my mother died, my father and I didn't do anything extremely special. We didn't remove her pictures inside the house, but we also didn't put any more on the walls. Her grave was very simple as well, no special bouquets or incredibly long letters. No intricate service, not at all. We said goodbye to her and that was about it."

Her tone was so light when she told about her mum, Sean noted, and he could only be impressed. She didn't sound sad at all, and he wanted to know how that was possible.

"Luna....why are you telling me this now?"

She smiled at that, not looking him in the eye, but rather at the field of grass in front of her.

"Because, Sean, you look too much at the earthly things, the tangible things, the facts. Services, flowers, gravestones....they're not important, or at least not in my opinion. If we follow biological rules, there's no denying that dead people are, and will always be, dead. They won't come back. But what people often tend to forget is that there is one way to keep those loved ones alive, regardless of your religious or scientific beliefs."

A brief silence fell over them, and for the first time since she approached him, Luna turned her head, making eye contact with him.

"You keep them alive in your heart."

And there was something about the way she said it that made him believe her. The fog in his head disappeared, and the sun that had been shining all along, reached Sean now as well.

And deep within his heart, a home for Professor Dumbledore started to bloom.

#hogwarts #hogwartshighlights #hp #harrypotter #seanlew #Kaycee rice #seaycee #dance #nuna #lunalovegood #neville longbottom #fanfiction

[fly-pow-bye]

DuckTales 2017 - “The Rumble for Ragnarok!”

Story by: Francisco Angones, Madison Bateman, Colleen Evanson, Christian Magalhaes, Ben Siemon, Bob Snow

Written by: Bob Snow

Storyboard by: Vince Aparo, Kristen Gish, Victoria Harris

Directed by: Tanner Johnson

The Fly says...

In Norse mythology, there’s this cosmically giant snake named Jörmungandr that encircles the Earth, constantly eating its own tail. It is told that Jörmungandr releasing its tail from its maw would begin a series of events known as Ragnarok. To make a long story short, it's the end of the world, though someone does insert a coin to try it again.

In the world of DuckTales 2017, this tail releasing happens every ten years, according to one of Scrooge’s epic speeches, and it's an epic speech he is well qualified for, as it's because of his ability to defeat Jörmungandr that the world hasn't ended yet. Huey has many science-based questions about this, because the kids wouldn’t get that the joke is that this mythological beast doesn’t exactly follow the rules of physics if he didn’t say “science-based.” Huey is going to be our designated plot hole revealer of the episode.

This story is being told to Huey, Dewey, Louie, and Webby, as even he knows that he would eventually have to pass the torch. Who it could be: could it be Webby, Huey, or Louie? Dewey asks if him getting left out means Scrooge is saving the best for last, and Scrooge just says yes in a manner that doesn't exactly convey confidence. Huey, the aforementioned plot hole revealer, asks why Donald or his mom couldn't have that torch.

Scrooge: I don't trust Donald and Della to cooperate on a jigsaw puzzle, much less the fate of the universe.

Yeah, because the boys have never fought against each other, ever. The real excuse is that they'd rather have a plot with these relatable youths. It's a shame; I would have loved to see Donald or Della do their trademark fighting styles against these mythological beasts. Yes, these kids would be far more likely to learn a lesson in the end, especially our designated lesson learner Dewey, but maybe Donald and Della could learn to cooperate, too. Alas, they never appear.

They fly to Valhalla, courtesy of Launchpad flying into a rainbow. Valhalla: so majestic, even Launchpad couldn’t crash in it as he makes a decent landing right in front of the building. I almost didn't notice that oddity.

Scrooge is ready to fight that giant snake, currently the size of the entire planet, as even the other kids have their jaws agape that Scrooge could remotely tickle him, never mind harm him. But don't worry, Huey’s question on how that could happen is explained: when Jörmungandr unleashes his tail from his mighty maw, he transforms into a duck-sized snake man-beast. Now it makes perfect sense, or at least that’s what Huey sarcastically says.

Passing by people wearing "Scrooge vs. Jörmungandr" t-shirts, they open the door to reveal the arena this fight is going to take place in, with pyrotechnics, a roped ring, and a bunch of fans rhythmically chanting. Huey finds this kind of arena quite familiar, and Launchpad is so giddy about what this will entail, he just has to say what this is.

Launchpad: Whoa! It's wrestling!

Audience: This is awe-some!

Launchpad: This is awe-some!

With Launchpad and the audience referencing the famous "this is awesome" chant, this episode reveals itself to be an episode about professional wrestling, which apparently ripped off these Valhalla battles according to Scrooge.

From the amount of pro wrestling I watched, there's one thing I know for sure: fowls and pro wrestling probably shouldn't mix. Whether it be the Red Rooster and his "fanbase" of "Rooster Boosters", or the Gobbledy Gooker that popped out of an egg and spent quite a few minutes during a pay-per-view doing the Chicken Dance with the late Mean Gene. If there's anything that can heal the relationship between these kinds of animals and pro wrestling, it's a well-liked reboot of a classic Disney cartoon about ducks.

As Dewey gets excited by the chance of having all of his bones broken and have people love him for it, the giant ouroboros in the sky transmogrifies into The Rattlesnake himself.

Well, okay, he's not a rattlesnake, and I'm sure most of Stone Cold Steve Austin's gimmick wouldn't fly on TV Y7 programming as he seems to be more like The Rock, but anyone could get the idea. It's Jörmungandr, the People's Champion and Chairman of the VWE. He's also said to be the beloved underdog, which does make sense considering the world hasn't ended in at least a millenium.

He begins this with a promo about how grateful he is to be in his arena, being cheered on by all the fallen warriors who died gloriously in battle, and he assures them that the rest of Earth will join them. The Rumble for Ragnarok 100: Maybe The 100th Times The Charm! They don't really say that subtitle. They do introduce his opponent, who, outside of this ring, is the beloved billionaire who has saved the world countless times.

But nobody would ever cheer a billionaire babyface, as Scrooge's gimmick is the heel Millionaire Miser, a cross between The Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster. Wrestling terms are used throughout the episode, and Launchpad does explain to the kids at home what "heel" and "babyface" means.

One term that doesn't come up is "kayfabe", the idea that these characters and their actions in the ring are portrayed as real, and that term could tie into one of the major plot points of this episode: that Dewey is completely offended that, in the ring, his uncle is seen as a bad guy. Granted, that term is more used to point out that pro wrestling is scripted, and this rumble is portrayed as completely legitimate. There's certainly no tired jokes about wrestling being fake.

After a botch involving a giant money bag taking out the intended color commentator for this PPV, who was clearly the late Gorilla Monsoon as a penguin, the replacement. Huey Duck is a veteran sports commentator, having earned his Junior Woodchuck badge in it, though his experience as a pro wrestling color commentator seems to be slim to none. In contrast, Launchpad's knowledge of sports entertainment even manages to give him the foreknowledge of what's going to happen, as Huey points out as the plot hole revealer.

There's a lot of humor with Huey not knowing what is happening on stage and trying the best he could, while misnaming wrestling moves and generally getting everything wrong in the process. There was a particularly disastrous wrestling PPV called Heroes of Wrestling which had a similar problem with one of its commentators. Ugh, I don't want to be reminded of that one.

Launchpad announces that there will be three matches, all of them the heroes of Valhalla vs. the dreaded Millionaire Miser.

Our first match is Strongbeard vs. The Millionaire Miser. As Strongbeard enters the ring, he decides to give one of the audience members one of his beard hairs, which has the ability to bestow his amazing strength. He's practically telling his opponent what he should do to defeat him. Wrestlers usually wait until they get in the ring before they do that.

As the audience chants his catchphrase, "fear the beard", and booes the Miser, Dewey tells his Uncle Scrooge that he shouldn't put up with this. Scrooge assures Dewey that he's just acting as the heel because it's the right thing to do, right before mocking the audience for not being the richest duck in the world like he is.

Much like in an actual battle, the Millionaire Miser has to use his smarts, as muscle is something he doesn't exactly have. The Miser tries to take down Strongbeard with his trademark Unbreakable Penny Pincher Hold, or, as Huey calls it, a sedative neck massage, only to be punched by a Beard Fake-Out. Dewey protests this use of what he thinks is a bad guy tactic, only to have food thrown at him.

He may or may not have gotten that gigantic hint from before, as he reveals that he stole one of the hairs on Strongbeard's chinny-chin-chin, giving him the strength to pin Strongbeard clean, scoring a point for Team Earth pretty quickly. This loss happened almost as fast as when fan-favorite-and-also-bearded Daniel Bryan got pinned in 18 seconds by Sheamus at WrestleMania XXVIII, and it's revealed to be just as well liked as that match as the audience showers the arena with boos and empty popcorn tins.

Dewey is not going to stand for this, and tries to convince the audience to stop cheering for a giant dragon man who wants to destroy the Earth, and start cheering for the billionaire that has prevented the destruction of the Earth multiple times. It's well established that this audience wants the Earth to be destroyed, as this event is literally for the Ragnarok, but his ignorance is a Dewey thing to do.

That ignorance angers one audience member so much that he decides to throw a wooden chair at him, a reference to the classic chair shot done many, many times in pro wrestling. The Millionaire Miser does manage to save him from an unintentional injury, as much as the fans really wanted that to happen. Unfortunately, this causes a different injury: this breaks Scrooge's back, forcing him to see what his next generation can do. It is heartbreaking to see Scrooge actually having to use his cane in ways other than hopping on enemy's heads, that's for sure.

Thankfully, Jörmungandr, as the babyface of the company, decides to rebook the second match as a tag-team match and not instantly declare victory over the Earth. Even Webby claims this makes Jörmungandr such a good guy, though Dewey disagrees. Scrooge does come to the obvious conclusion that Webby should be one of the team members, but he knows that he couldn't choose Huey because he doesn't know anything about wrestling. As for Louie...

He's too busy selling merchandise to the fans, somehow printing T-shirts of things that just happened. This is reminding me of another disaster, though not one related to wrestling, where a green person was selling T-shirts throughout the episode. Ugh, I don't want to be reminded of that one, either.

Scrooge suggests to himself that maybe Webby could tag-team with herself, but Dewey claims that he should fight. Scrooge tells him he's not ready, and Dewey ends up agreeing with that, giving up on the idea that Dewey Duck could be a champ...

...but Champ Popular can be a champ! Using a gimmick not too far off from the persona in his own 90's school sitcom dreams, he knows he can win the fans over by offering them lollipops. Even the music goes silent after that suggestion, as if it was a movie trailer. He decides to let him go through with this anyway, cheering him on, but telling Webby to do the fighting. In Dewey's mind, he knows this gimmick will turn the boos into woos. He doesn't look anything like Ric Flair!

Unfortunately, his plans for popularity doesn't work, as the lollipops are interpreted to mean that he thinks the audience are suckers. Webby shows up...and she's just Webby. I get that the joke is that Webby is just being her cute usual self, but it's kind of disappointing considering a lot of this plot hinges on embracing a character. It's not that the plot isn't there, as she gets booed slightly less, but it doesn't get to her as much as it gets to Dewey. Pretty much all the focus is on Dewey, and I think anyone can guess what's going to happen with this match even if the opponent wasn't going to be the ruler of the underworld.

Sure enough, Champ "Un" Popular and Webby has to fight Hecka, who is based on the Norse ruler of the underworld whose name is too similar to a word one couldn't say on Disney XD. What do you know, a reboot actually manages to do some research on Norse mythology besides "big dumb vikings". Hecka is joined by her pet wolf in both the myths and here, Fenrir, or "Fenny" as he's referred to on his dog bowl. This won't be the only "dog/wolf" joke in the episode.

She's also clearly The Undertaker, even referencing his trademark get up spot after a failed attempt to knock him out with a elbow drop. With the Undertaker, that happens after his opponent knocks him down, but Dewey can't even get that far because all of that booing. Scrooge is on the sidelines trying to get him to "embrace the boos", but Dewey just can't seem to shake off his lack of popularity in the ring. Dewey is all about his popularity, something that was shown with the "Dewey Dew-Night" shorts and pretty much everywhere else, so it's easy to understand why that alone would cause him to shiver.

He tags in Webby, who ends up doing a far better job at embracing her inner heel by comparing her opponents unfavorably to the Greek mythological warriors. She even manages to pin Hecka before good ol' Fenny interrupts the pin. Dewey tries to get a "cheater" chant going, but that's completely legal even in a non-Valhalla-rules tag-team match. Surprised that doesn't come up at all in this episode, especially with what happens later.

Webby does see Fenrir, and she tries to offer a belly rub. Get it, because while he's a mythological wolf, he's a still a dog! At first, it seems like that works, until Fenrir reveals that was just an act, and he throws her out of the ring.

As Webby slowly wakes up and tries to get back into the ring before this match ends in a countout, which is only implied, Dewey knows how to win. Unfortunately for Scrooge, he meant "win them over", as he tries to use his trusted lollipops to feed the puppy. Hey, it probably would have worked on Burger Beagle if he was still the glutton character he was in the original! Unfortunately, Fenrir is a non-walking and talking dog, and the audience calls him out for trying to feed candy to a dog. In those words; why would the Valhallans call him a dog?

Webby does show up to pin Fenrir and knocks out Hecka in the process, giving Champ Popular ample time to give Team Earth 2-0 and end this episode far earlier than expected. Of course, that doesn't work, and Fenrir gets out of Webby's pin to pin Champ Popular for the win, making the score 1-1.

But wait, Dewey was never tagged back in, and Fenrir wasn't tagged in at all, so this isn't a legal pin either way. It's possible that Webby was also getting pinned by Hecka at the same time, and there's nothing that disproves this. However, it seems that DuckTales 2017 is unwilling to have Webby show any kind of weakness even if it's all Dewey's fault. Launchpad reassures the audience that the world isn't coming to an end...

Jörmungandr: ...YET! (air guitars)

Deciding that Team Earth's lackluster performance is probably making his PPV not nearly as good as it should be, Jörmungandr rebooks the final match as well to be a battle royale, with just himself against all of the mortals of Team Earth. The rules are changed, too: people are eliminated if they fall outside of the ring, but one pinfall can also end the match for either team. This looks to be the third episode in a row that just turns into another giant fight scene with all of the beloved Disney Ducks, but it is separated a little.

While Webby distracts Jörmungandr with her own heel promo, Scrooge tries to give Dewey the pep talk. This unfortunately only ends with him implying that he's just not cut out for this, which only makes him feel worse. Gotta say, that's really Millionaire Miser of him, even if he's not wrong.

Back to the heel promo, Jörmungandr tells her he's not scared of Webby, and she adds that she isn't the one to be scared of.

It's the Millionaire Miser's Maid, the Shield Maiden, and she's a stunt granny! Sorry, I had to reference that one obscure TV special when I had the chance. I even see that she put on a costume similar to Thor's, who was the one that fought Jörmungandr in the original myths! This is also a reference to an original episode, "Maid of the Myth", which also references Norse mythology. Probably not a coincidence.

I have no idea how she could even be here, nor is it really even brought up. Almost all the other plot holes were pointed out, why not this one? Well, there may be a slight explanation to that one, as our designated plot hole revealer decided to leave the announcer's table because of his failures.

It's up to Louie this time to do his pep talk to both Dewey and Huey this time, and he's way more successful than Scrooge. He pretty much just gives up that t-shirt joke at this point in the episode just so he can fill this role. I guess they had to find someone, as everyone else was too busy either moping or fighting. Whatever, this comes just in time, as Jörmungandr's curb stomping of almost everyone around him is causing Valhalla to shake. Wait, I thought it was the Earth getting destroyed, not Valhalla!

Back in the ring, we see that I was slightly wrong: they can show Webby getting defeated on screen alongside her granny! The Millionaire Miser shows up too, alongside an unexpected swerve: the competent announcer was actually Captain Crash, and he's here to fight Jörmungandr!

Launchpad didn't realize nobody liked this when Michael Cole did the same thing for far too long, and he gets taken out rather easily...alongside the Millionaire Miser. I was thinking Scrooge had a no jobbing clause even outside of the ring, but here we are. Who could possibly save us now? John Cena? ... actually, they don’t seem to make a reference to John Cena as far as I can tell.

Well, we get the closest thing to John Cena even if he's way more like Bret Hart: Champ Popular, and this time it doesn’t matter if people boo him. In fact, he's knows he's so good, he shows it off in the most evil way possible: a bad joke followed by a high-five to signal that it was supposed to be funny! I do approve of the indirect bashing of the "fistbump in place of laugh track" trope!

So yes, it looks like Dewey has finally embraced his inner heel, and I'm sure Scrooge would be proud.

Unfortunately, it's here where the episode loses me. The whole episode was building up to a lesson about that it okay to do the right thing even if it would lead to a lack of popularity. However...the crowd starts to see Jörmungandr as a heel all of a sudden? It seems like he’s not fighting with honor, but now people are starting to boo him in a snap!

It doesn't make sense; they were cheering for the end of the Earth, and they were totally fine when his fellow Team Valhalla members were beating up kids before. He was a jerk before this scene and people still loved him. Maybe he's more of a jerk now, or maybe they noticed Valhalla was also getting destroyed by the coming Ragnarok, but the ending just seems like a tacked on way to make Dewey look like the good guy even when he was supposed to be the bad guy.

To make a long story short, the babyface and heel roles swap right in the middle of the match to the point where Dewey was able to borrow some of Strongbeard's impossible strength-giving beard. Why didn't Scrooge use that little hair he had in his part of this fight, which would have helped even if he had a broken back? Because Dewey wouldn't be able to learn his lesson that it's okay to do the right thing when people love you for it.

After the referee does what is clearly a fast count, as it seems like even he knows this episode has to be over in about a minute, Dewey is declared the champion, and he even gets awarded Jörmungandr's belt.

But, in a shocking swerve, the Millionaire Miser takes the gold away from him, and Dewey and Scrooge get ready for an extra main event. Broken back be damned: Scrooge knows he can beat up a little kid! ...wait.

The episode ends like Rocky III, complete with a cheesy 80's song playing in this scene and in the credits. Why is a wrestling episode referencing a boxing movie? Well, Rocky III had that one scene where Rocky had to fight a wrestler named Thunderlips, played by Hulk Hogan, for charity, so I guess it's fitting?

How does it stack up?

There are some neat references to pro wrestling throughout the entire episode, and I do like the story's idea. The second match could have been directed better, the ending feels really tacked on, and leaving Donald Duck and Della Duck out of this felt like a cop out. I couldn't get into this one as much as some of the previous episodes.

While I wouldn't say this episode is bad, I'd say this is slightly less quality than Challenge of the Senior Woodchucks. This would make it the least best episode of Season 3 so far. If anything, that's a testament to how good this season has been so far, but that means this only gets a 3.

Next, we have no idea, because the show's on hiatus again. However, I do have something for next week. In one week, I looked at the shorts. Next week, I look at some DuckTales 2017 commercials!

← Astro B.O.Y.D.! 🦆 The Commercials (Part 1?) →

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