#Twice Told Tales Album

[ssivinee]

✧Original Visual✧

Irene x Aespa! 96’ liner! F reader:  In the industry, beautiful idols aren’t uncommon. Your beauty was on the next level, all the 4th gen knew. But what if a certain 3rd-generation original visual begins to notice you due to a V-live you did?

Word Count: 1.4k

Note: Simple fic since I may not be able to write much today🥲

Character Vision Board

Choi Y/n, the oldest member of Aespa, was known for many things. Her dance skills, rap skills, composing, and even music production. She’s even the older sister of TXT member Choi Yeonjun.

But if you were to ask the K-pop community and idol industry what she was known for, it was her visuals. Y/n had a powerful gaze, sharp jawline, plump lips, and currently, oxford blue hair that cascaded down her back, ending right above her hips.

One dull day, Karina and Y/n were in SM’s dance studio. It was their day off, and despite being happy about that, the two members didn’t know what to do with their day, so they just decided to go to the company building and chill there.

The two girls wore similar outfits: grey sweats, a basic cropped hoodie, and sneakers. They lay on the black couch, just staring at the ceiling.

"Unnie~, I’m bored~"

"Jimin-ah... so am I."

The two looked at each other as Karina laid her head on Y/n’s lap, trying to figure out how to make time go by faster.

“Wait, what if we do a live?” Karina jumps into action, going to get the company phone, “you finally came up with an idea after so long.”

“You could’ve thought of it yourself!” Y/n chuckles as the girl sticks her tongue out, returning with another phone.

They take a tripod phone stand, attach it, and begin the V-live. After waiting a few minutes for MY to join, they finally had about 5k viewers, so they decided to start.

“Hello, guys,” Y/n stares at the chat while her and Karina wave.

“AESPA’S VISUAL LINE?”

“What did we do to deserve your guy’s grace today?”

“Y/n and Karina’s duo is something I didn’t know I needed.”

“Clap twice if you wanna leave SM.”

Y/n laughed at the several comments she saw, especially the English ones. “You guys know how to make me laugh.”

“We were bored, so we just decided to go on V-live to talk to you guys,” the younger stated, and spam of hearts came from the chat. The two keep reading and begin to read some questions.

“What song are you guys obsessed with at the moment?”

“Spicy by Aespa,” Karina said, making Y/n look at her like she was crazy, “Okay, self-promo.”

“Unnie, that’s how it should be. We’re idols, man,” Y/n laughs at Karina’s statement, hitting her lightly as it was a habit when she found things funny. “Anyways, for me, it would probably have to be Unforgiven & Fire in the Belly by Le Sserafim. They killed it on their album.” Karina nods in agreement.

“Dance Unforgiven? Guys, I haven’t learned the choreography.”

“She’s lying~ She knows it from TikTok,” Karina exposes her in a tattle-tale tone. “Wha~, no way you outed me like that,” the younger shrugs, followed by a giggle. “Do it, unnie.”

“Fine,” Y/n gets up to go to the computer. She ensured everything was connected before playing a few seconds before the chorus. “You guys ready for unnie to slay?” Karina says, and Y/n begins to dance the chorus. Effortlessly, she jumps with a bunny-like hand, then turns her fingers into horns and repeats, doing the same steps.

Once she finishes, the leader goes, “See, I told you she’s a liar. She knew the dance.” Y/n sits back down next to her, slapping Karina’s shoulder, which causes the girl to act like it hurts.

The live went on for 3 hours, and a lot happened. The girls talked, danced, and even sang songs. Now fans had a compilation of them dancing to ‘Kick It’ by NCT 127, ‘Wannabe’ by ITZY, ‘Hype Boy’ by New Jeans, ‘Hey Mama’ by the SWF dance challenge, and more.

Nearing the end, they decided to take one final request, “Psycho by Red Velvet sunbaenim?” When Karina read the comment, Y/n rushed to the computer and played the instrumental version. “Wait, we’re singing to it as well?”

“Yes! I love this song way too much to not sing it.”

The two got in place, and once the song began, Karina focused on dancing while Y/n did the adlibs perfectly. Comments start to go wild over her voice.

“Y/n drank the SM water again.”

“Ain’t no way she hitting Wendy’s notes????”

“Sub-vocal of Aespa, everyone!”

Y/n joins in on the dance now, and the two begin switching lines back and forth, creating a live vocal performance of the song. The second verse begins to hit, Y/n gets hyped and raps, “Hey trouble 경��윈 없이 오는 너, I’m original visual, 우린 원래 이랬어 yeah.” Karina joins her in singing the iconic one-liner. Then the comments go crazy again.

“4TH GEN ORIGINAL VISUALS YUH.”

“Wha~ the rap suits her.”

“I need a collab with Aespa’s visual line and Irene.”

As the song ends, the two are out of breath and fall to the ground. The echoing dance studio now echoed with their heavy breathing, “Sorry guys, we went a bit overboard,” Y/n tells them as the two drink their waters.

“No, you didn’t. It was amazing!”

“I need a live stage version stat.”

“Joohyun-ssi would be proud.”

“I think that’s it for us, you guys. We’ll do a V-live soon with the other members,” Karina tells the chat, and as fans spammed bye, she ended the stream.

“I’m pooped, man.”

“Same.”

The two get up and prepare to head back to their dorms. Once in the van, Y/n stays on her phone while Karina takes a quick nap. She then gets a notification from Instagram, which she questions. That would only mean an idol was texting her, but it would mean they’re an idol she never spoke to before since they didn’t message her regularly.

Looking at her DMs, shocked was an understatement. The Bae Joohyun had texted her, and once she opened the chat, she wanted to throw her phone out of the car.

Irene texted, ‘Wow, Y/n-ssi, you're a beautiful dancer. Thank you for rapping my lines and doing justice to our song.’

...

BEAUTIFUL DANCER?!

Y/n and the Aespa members were reasonably close to certain SM idols, mainly female idols, due to Y/n, Karina, and Winter being in Got The Beat. One specific idol she never got the chance to interact with was the one who was texting her right now.

‘It’s an honor, sunbaenim. I’m glad it got your approval,’ Y/n sends. She was frantic, not knowing what to say, ‘An honor? Your sound so corny, c’mon.’ Before she could even unsend the message, texting bubbles began to pop up.

Oh dear, she saw it. ‘Y/n-ah. No need to be so formal. Just call me Joohyun-unnie.’

If you thought this couldn’t make it any worse for Y/n, it did. She freaks out and has to do breathing exercises to calm herself down.

‘Okay, unnie! May I ask how you knew about the cover?’

‘Ah, the clips circulated very fast, lol.’

Y/n smiled to herself. She was texting someone she thought was untouchable in the industry. The car stops, and she notices they’re in front of their dorm. “Jimin-ah, wake up, we’re here,” she wakes the younger in a delicate tone.

At another dorm, the older woman lay in bed watching the Psycho cover multiple times. “Unnie, do you have my sweater? The red one?” Irene heard Seulgi’s voice.

“Yeah, it’s in here on my chair!” She hears the dancer’s footsteps, and as Seulgi enters the room, she hears the Psycho clip, catching her attention as well.

“What are you watching?” The younger lay on her paid, peaking at her phone to see the familiar girls. “Y/n and Jimin did a cover of Psycho, even singing to it,” Irene shows her the phone, and Seulgi smiles at the two girls.

“I’m not surprised. They’ve always been excellent,” she stands up and takes her sweater. “That reminds me to text them soon.”

Irene says, “You think I can have Y/n’s number?” Seulgi looks at her leader with suspicious eyes.

“Sure,” Seulgi sends your number to Irene, but before she leaves, she asks the latter, “Can I ask why?”

“I just want to get to know her. Is that so bad?” Irene says as she adds your number to her contacts and in a sarcastic tone, “Right, that’s the reason, unnie.”

Irene rolled her eyes as Seulgi left. She wasn’t lying when she said she wanted to get to know you, but Seulgi knew her unnie too well to know that that wasn’t the only reason. Irene thought you were gorgeous, sexy, and very charismatic.

She’d never admit that to her members, though. Maybe she would after she and Y/n establish a bond.

[knightyoomyoui]

TWICE: Anthology of Horror One-Shots | STORY 3: "Sneaky Watcher" ft. MOMO

NOTE: This is my first ever original and own-made horror one-shot for this series featuring two legendary mysterious creatures from the tales of Japan. i just thought that the story possessing a concept / element from Japan fits for Momo since... well she's Japanese. Also, a quick trigger warning: the ending is depressing and tragic. Some of the parts might also bring disturbing imagery to the imaginations from some readers.

During the promotions for their new released extended play album titled “With YOU-th”, there was a changes applied on their current line-up of all the staffs working under TWICE’s management in Division 3. They had to unfortunately lose one beloved worker and a friend in their team when Momo’s manager Haseul had to file a permanent leave to the company. The reason is because the man is already married and he had fully decided to set his priorities now on the family he’s going to build with his wife.

Everybody respected his choice and they give him a beautiful goodbye despite being emotional, including Momo herself who already considered Haseul as one of her closest friends in the management. After they officially declared Haseul’s departure from the team, they have no choice but to do the next phase when a spot goes vacant. They have to look for a new replacement for Haseul. The search spent 5 days until the ones that were assigned to do it finally had somebody to offer. It was kind of an easy grab because they introduced this new person which actually has an experience already of managing idols. Momo then met her new manager named Sachiko Yamamoto, a woman in her 30’s and also was a former employee in JYPE’s headquarters in Japan. Momo was glad that her new manager does have some similarities as her, particularly due to the fact that both of them are pure Japanese who can speak fluent Korean too. That would be comfortable for Momo to communicate with her since they can somehow relate on other things regarding on their nationality and bilingual skills.Because of that, Momo felt so enthusiastic and anticipating to get to know her new manager. However, her first few days with Sachiko told a different narrative from her perspective. Everything she was expecting has rather went down spiral into failure. Her performance as a manager was way apart from her first impression she showed off when she introduced herself to Momo and to other staffs. One primary reason she could think of when she’s observing Sachiko is her demeanor that gives her quite uneasiness whenever she’ll come to approach her. She’ll act very sweet but when she sets herself distance from Sachiko, she usually catches her staring down at her with completely seriousness masked in her face. She smiles a lot but that;s only when it comes for her unlike the rest of the staffs, she just barely talks.

Although the odd speculations she have gotten from Sachiko’s antics, she just gave a guess of it that probably the young Japanese woman is just letting herself get used to her surroundings because its her first time here in South Korea, and it would make sense since the rest of the managers and most of her co-members are Koreans. Yet another one crossed her mind that if that’s the case, why she also acts different towards Mina and Sana who are also Japanese as her? People can be weird in their own ways, Momo concluded. She has so many things to pay more attention first, so she just sweep it off and let her manager do whatever she wants as long as it won’t bother her further.

That is until one day, her hopes went broken when Momo who just finished her beauty care after removing her makeup that she wore from visiting their pop-up museum for With YOU-th. She fixed her bed and set her alarm to 6AM in the morning because they still had somewhere to go for another schedule tomorrow. Momo immediately slept right after her body went contact with the softness and comfy texture of her bed’s cushion. Two hours while she’s deep in her slumber, she stirred in her position and the stretch it required for her body to do made her eyes to barely open, but was enough for her to notice something peculiar coming from her window.

Momo narrowed the slit of her eyes to obtain more focus on her sight to see. There was something disturbing lurking outside her window and it was a round shape until Momo got to visualize it when she opened her eyes and slowly sat up from her bed. Her eyes widened when just as she made a movement, the floating thing disappeared by going sideways that was blocked by the wall for her to follow. That one last glimpse had Momo scream in terror, especially when she speculated that the round thing that was floating in the window can be compared to like a head of a person. Momo pulled her sheet to the level of her chest and she gripped it tight while she sat on her bed, her back leaning on the wall as she breathe rapidly at what the hell did she just observed. That figure was bothering Momo’s mind even during their schedule which caused a bit of a trouble during the progress of their shooting. She was mostly out of her trance, still thinking about what she has caught last night. When she has something going on in her head, her former manager Haseul would be the one to volunteer to have Momo let it all out by listening to whatever story she has in store inside, but sadly her current manager has no qualities of that.

Instead, she wasn’t causing any help at all. She just adds to Momo’s creepy feeling she’s been having after not getting over still from what she seen that night.

While on their break, Momo who is still spacing out after looking at her phone, was confronted by her fellow member Jeongyeon who sat beside her. “You don’t look like you have a grip of yourself at the moment, Momoring.”, she said.  On many occasions, Jeongyeon would be the sole responsible for making fun of her but right now, she is acting as a true friend and a sister to her with her tone being so caring and serious.

“Care to share it with me?” “Are you guys angry at me for making us film many takes because of what i’m doing?” Momo asked with guilt. “I’m sorry if I’m being like this, I-” “We know, that’s why we can’t be mad at you.” Jeongyeon cuts off her words to share her understanding personality. “Everybody has something they had to fight on their own, but there’s nothing wrong with seeking help from others, right?”

“Yeah.” “Then what is it, what is something that is preventing you to act right today?” Jeongyeon patiently asked. Momo went silent for a second and Jeongyeon thought it must be tough for the latter to share. “You can’t force yourself if you can’t Momoring, okay?”

“N-no, I can it’s just that…” Momo lets out a deep breathe. “I don’t know if you would believe me when I say this.”

“Let me hear it first before I judge.” “O-okay…” Momo nodded. “I saw something on my room last night.”

“What is it? Something scary?” “Yeah… there was like… somebody’s watching me from the window, but what’s weird is because it doesn’t have any body, yet the head… is there.”

Jeongyeon furrowed her brows and looked at Momo in disbelief. “Wait are you trying to tell me that there’s probably a stalker in your room that is not headless but rather… only composed of head? Like literally a floating head?” “Exactly.” Momo agreed. “I still don’t know if what I saw was true but… it’s so scary that it ruined my sleep just imagining about it.” Jeongyeon saw how Momo look completely nervous and uncomfortable recalling that scenario, but she lowered her head apologetically. “I’m not actually into ghosts but Momoring… I may not know what exactly you seen out there but maybe it’s because you’re just tired these days. You are considered to be one of our most hardworking people here in our Division, so it’s not gonna be a problem if you… know, try atleast slowing it down and rest when needed?” Momo sighed. “Maybe you’re right. I was in the middle of my sleep when I woke up and saw that, maybe I was just dreaming still when it happened.” Jeongyeon shook her head and wrapped her arm around Momo as she rocked the dancer’s toned body. “You know what, I’ll just take you out for some iced coffee to keep your senses awake. Okay?”

“Sure, why not.” They both grinned at each other after. The chills may have left Momo but her curiosity isn’t done yet. It pushed her to plan something later that night to prove if that thing actually exists like what she encountered days ago. Before she slept, she placed her go-pro camera on her nightstand and sets it on record. While she’s sleeping, the floating head made its appearance once again, floating and swaying back and forth slowly through the window. It tried to open to window using its teeth by biting it and gently opened it as it slides off the pane. Just as when it opened, Momo who is actually pretending to sleep when she heard some strange noises that signifies its presence, Momo immediately sprung up from her bed and tried to charge at the creepy thing but it got away when Momo almost fell to the bottom of the building out to the window as she got pulled by the strength of the creature while she’s pulling it’s long hair to prevent from escaping.

Momo cried in fear as she has proven that it is indeed real. She even touched it by her own hands. Before that, there is one more thing to confirm such existence of this suspiciously dark creature she’s trying to chase for. Grabbing the go-pro camera, she stopped its recording and revisit every timestamps until it led her to this one clip that made her feel intense goosebumps. The creature was indeed a floating head, highly resembling a classic yokai creature based from the tales in her home country Japan, which had Momo in shock as she discovers that this thing called “nukekobi” actually exists in life. But that wasn’t the only part that terrified her a lot, because when she zoomed the paused video to identify its face, Momo almost dropped the camera in pure suspense. The next day, Momo hurriedly arranged a meet up with two of the lead managers in TWICE’s management team, named Sadness and Tendo to report such a frightening evidence. “Look, it’s literally Sachiko and she’s not normal as we all seems to believe about her! Have you guys seen somebody who can detach its head from its body?!” Momo complained while Sadness and Tendo were staring at the paused clip.

“Are you sure you didn’t edit this or something, because seriously what the fuck is this thing?” Tendo said while rubbing his arm, feeling the creeps thats making her hair all stand up. “This is so… I don’t know, my mind can’t process properly what we’re seeing right now, but whether Sachiko who is actually like… what did you say about her again earlier?” “A nukekobi.”

“Yeah that. Whatever she is, we are now certainly sure that she is unsafe and she causes uncomfortable atmosphere for everybody working hard just to assist TWICE in their schedule. This is getting concerning so… what do you say, Tendo? Would you want to do something about this?” “Yeah, definitely. I couldn’t let myself stand across near that woman again after seeing this. I don’t even like her that much, she’s naturally weird, I suppose.” “Okay, I’ll have the rest to investigate the effects of her behavior and once we come up with a decision, we’ll include her for the meeting. Is that good, Momo?” “Yes, thank you so much unnie and oppa.” Momo nodded and bowed gratefully at the two kind leaders.

With the help of Tendo and Sadness’ instant actions regarding of Momo’s complain about Sachiko’s true nature, they have come up with a unanimous decision to kick out Sachiko from the team after the rest also shared their approval and own criticism about the strange woman. After learning about her contract’s unfortunate demise just weeks after getting assigned to JYPE in Korea, Sachiko was upset and disappointed at their decision, and before she left, she expresses those summed up emotions towards one person, and that is the idol she thought she would idolize for her inspiring personality but instead ended up being one of her haters.

Although Momo was regretting it a bit after feeling bad for Sachiko’s removal, she remained focus at the important matter that she’ll be free and safe again from that creature lurking and stalking her as deeper as her sleep she takes every night. It also somehow relief for the managers and the members who learned about the nature of Sachiko, hoping that it would be the last time they’ll get to experience that.

Not long enough, as 3 days later, the police informed Sadness, Tendo, and other TWICE members that they have found Momo’s lifeless body on the backseat of their car that crashed at the side of a road outside Seoul along with her driver who was also pronounced dead in arrival. The two both had their necks broken as their cause of deaths.

It wasn’t because of the impact of the crash though, as they have found out from the investigation that Momo’s neck has huge red marks that presumably came from something very thick and was applied enough force to tighten around Momo’s neck for it to snap in pieces. That resulted for the doctors to finalize that Momo’s cause of death was actually due to strangling, and the only suspect they can have is none other than the driver itself.

They were right, as the whole story they didn’t know behind this gruesome incident was because the driver is actually another Japanese yokai disguised as normal human called “rokurokubi” , a counterpart of Sachiko’s kind. If Sachiko can detach its head completely, the driver whose named is Hiroshi Yamamoto can extend its neck very long to detach itself to its body, and unknown to the police’s reports… it was the strategy he used to kill Momo to avenge his friend Sachiko who committed suicide after having her job in which he was the one who suggested his friend to the agents of Division 3 for the vacant manager spot, got stripped away from her. -----------------------------------END----------------------------------

[soisaidfine]

Ethel Cain: 'The American Dream is unachievable'

Barack Obama: 'Every restless kid in America was given a story: 'Born to Run.' And for decades, Bruce Springsteen has brought us all along on a journey consumed with the bargains between ambition and injustice, and pleasure and pain; the simple glories and scattered heartbreak of everyday life in America. There’s a place for everyone in Bruce Springsteen’s America.'

Ethel Cain: "American Teenager. It’s this all-American girl who crumbles under the weight of God and country. The American Dream is unachievable—being a perfect daughter, a perfect Christian, all of these weights that are put onto young American people are impossible. I like to think of this album as a cautionary tale of what would happen if you don’t free yourself from these imaginary chains, in terms of religion, family and expectation."

Photo: Ethel Cain for Heaven by Marc Jacobs Spring 2023

Barack Obama: "Bruce Springsteen is, quite simply, The Boss. Through stories about ordinary people, from Vietnam veterans to steel workers, his songs capture the pain and the promise of the American experience. With empathy and honesty, he holds up a mirror to who we are -- as Americans chasing our dreams, and as human beings trying to do the right thing. There’s a place for everyone in Bruce Springsteen’s America." "He was sprung from a cage out on Highway 9. A quiet kid from Jersey, just trying to make sense of the temples of dreams and mystery that dotted his hometown -- pool halls, bars, girls and cars, altars and assembly lines. And for decades, Bruce Springsteen has brought us all along on a journey consumed with the bargains between ambition and injustice, and pleasure and pain; the simple glories and scattered heartbreak of everyday life in America. To create one of his biggest hits, he once said, "I wanted to craft a record that sounded like the last record on Earth…the last one you'd ever need to hear. One glorious noise…then the apocalypse." Every restless kid in America was given a story: "Born to Run." He didn't stop there. Once he told us about himself, he told us about everybody else. The steelworker in "Youngstown." The Vietnam Vet in "Born in the USA." The sick and the marginalized on "The Streets of Philadelphia." The firefighter carrying the weight of a reeling but resilient nation on "The Rising." The young soldier reckoning with "Devils and Dust" in Iraq. The communities knocked down by recklessness and greed in the "Wrecking Ball." All of us, with all our faults and our failings, every color, and class, and creed, bound together by one defiant, restless train rolling toward "The Land of Hope and Dreams." These are all anthems of our America; the reality of who we are, and the reverie of who we want to be. "The hallmark of a rock and roll band," Bruce Springsteen once said, is that "the narrative you tell together is bigger than anyone could have told on your own." And for decades, alongside the Big Man, Little Steven, a Jersey girl named Patti, and all the men and women of the E Street Band, Bruce Springsteen has been carrying the rest of us on his journey, asking us all "what is the work for us to do in our short time here." I am the President. But he is The Boss. (Laughter.) And pushing 70, he's still laying down four-hour live sets -- if you have been at them, he is working. "Fire-breathing rock 'n' roll." So I thought twice about giving him a medal named for freedom because we hope he remains, in his words, a "prisoner of rock 'n' roll" for years to come."

Remarks by the President Barack Obama at Presentation of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, 2016

Bruce Springsteen / Ethel Cain: OUR STORY:

[indiaalphawhiskey]

OTB (louis song) and walls prove a larry breakup but people don't want to see that. i mean walls is his fave song (and the name of the album for gods sake!) and it's about a break up (nothing wakes you up like waking up ALONE and all that's left of us is a CUBOARD FULL OF CLOTHES (closet) the day you WALKED AWAY etc) and OTB is written in black and white. and it's at the END of the album for a reason. "pour mercy, mercy on me, set fire to history, i'm breakin' my own rules (to only write love songs/we made it etc etc), i'm cryin' like a fool, tall STORIES on the page (either our fanfictions/his other songs), short glories on the FADE, i been close enough to TOUCH, but i NEVER CARED for LOVE, it's a church of BURNT ROMANCES and i'm TOO FAR GONE to PRAY, it's a SOLO SONG and it's only for the BRAVE, if the truth tell, darling, YOU (meaning lesbians/larries) fell like there ain't enough DYING STARS (famous queer celebrities) in your sky, it's a tall TALE (fairytale), and it's only hello, hello, NO GOODBYE (goodbye) (bc we like to think they made it and they didn't), pour mercy, mercy on me, i'll fall upon my knees, and they'll say, "i told you so, come on, when you know, you know" (abt being gay obvs), all the LONELY shadow dances from the cradle to the grave (bc loads of lgbtq+ people are single, never meet our one bc we're only a tiny % of the population, so we live and die alone), it's a SOLO SONG and it's only for the brave" 😭 holding onto heartache is the same btw, also about the larry breakup "the nights, they change in seasons, become the strangest days, i called you twice but then regretted it, and changed my number, the questions that i'd ask you, "where did it all go wrong?", it's time to accept that larry has broken up, we haven't had any credible reciepts in a few years (2019 was the last one) so yeah sad but kinda inevitable, they held on as long as they could but yeah it's over 😩

SUUUUUUPER GLAD you feel that way, anon. You’re so decided and confident, and that’s super great, because it means there’s no reason for you to be on Larries’ tumblrs.

🚪🫲 please see yourself out. Enjoy your life! I am so happy for you! 🙂

[dumbasswithapen]

You're reblogging some fantastic stuff about The Mechs (coming from a tma fan) is there anything else you can tell me about it? I'm deadly curious and very interested in seeing more of Jon Sims' work

hello!!!! I am so normal about the mechanisms (lying) but am not good at describing things so if you want, like, The Intro Post To The Mechs than @x-ca1iber has it and that’s much more fine tuned but I shall try my best! This may be… a bit of an infodump, and not very concise.

base content warnings for mechs, not this post but the mechs as a band and their stories: violence, so much violence, lots of death, war, general tragedy, British people (ew)

okay. So. The basics! The Mechanisms were a 9 person folk cabaret band who told stories in their albums and songs that were based on mythology and stories (more on that later)

Outside of these stories they played individual characters, a space, steampunk pirate crew of immortals roaming the universe aboard a sentient starship named the Aurora and finding tragedies to tell through their albums. They're, as I mentioned, immortal, through a mechanism (not to be confused with The Mechanisms, the name of their crew lol. They weren’t very creative with that) A mechanism is a replacement for a part (or in some cases several parts) of one’s body made of metal and shit, that causes regeneration if you die. And this shit isn’t light, it is totally possible to regen from being, for instance… shoved into a sun for a century. so basically, crew of immortals making stories they witness into albums and playing the roles of people in those stories.

For a fan of tma, the most recognizable part of this is 4 people in the crew (though only 3 are major characters in tma) Jonny Sims, of course, plays Jon in tma and Jonny D’ville (he/him) in the mechanisms. (He is… perhaps not the most creative with naming his character) Jonny D’ville is the first mate (NOT captain. Though he would say he was) of the Aurora, and his mechanism is his heart. He was the first person in the crew, and the first to become immortal. He’s also the lead singer, and plays harmonica. Frank Voss plays Basira in tma, and in the mechs plays Ashes O’Reilly (they/them) an arsonist crime boss, ship’s quartermaster, whose mechanism is their lungs! Jessica Law plays Nikola Orsinov in tma, and in the mechs she plays The Toy Soldier (it/its) The Toy Soldier is… a bit of an outlier, in that it wasn’t ever mechanized, wasn’t ever “made” immortal. It is simply a sentient clockwork toy, with a voice box stolen from a human it had been in love with. (Somehow jess is typecast as an unsettling dollike entity twice in a thing created in part by Jonny sims) Its role in the crew is… really nobody knows. Occasionally it’s called mascot. It’s just kinda there and whenever it’s kicked out it finds its way back. It’s very charming, and simply happy to be involved! last, and kinda least in the context of being a tma fan, is Tim Ledsam, who plays the exterminator Jordan Kennedy in tma and Gunpowder Tim, (he/him) master-at-arms, in the mechanisms. His mechanism is his eyes.

others, who I’m not going to go into detail about, are Nastya Rasputina (she/her) engineer, Ivy Alexandria (she/her, actor uses he/him) archivist, Drumbot Brian (he/him) pilot, Marius Von Raum (he/him, actor uses they/them) and Raphaella la cognizi (she/her)

two, the albums! This is gonna be pretty quick because it’s just an overview, but there are 4 main story albums that tell self contained stories, 2 that are a collection of songs that tell single stories, and 1 EP thing that tells its own little ballad. Then there’s a live recorded version of their final show ever, death to the mechanisms. They’re all very tragic, and *very* queer stories.

first, once upon a time (in space) a story based on fairy tales, tells the story of a war through the stars. second, Ulysses dies at dawn, a film noir style telling of a dystopian world based on Greek myths. third, high noon over Camelot, a cowboy western ballad about Arthurian legend on a space station. fourth, the bifrost incident, a rock ballad about Norse myth, lovecraft eldritch horror, and one person being really fucking horny for a train (Dw about it) the other albums are a mix of myth and story retellings (Frankenstein, the story of Prometheus, a rhythm based video game called crypt of the necrodancer) and character backstory songs for the Mechanisms.

random ass fun facts because I’m out of base info and I think the mechs is really funny for something supposed to be tragedy

-one of the crew, Nastya, is in a loving romantic and sexual relationship with the starship

-there are creatures called octokittens that are half octopus half kitten. I love them.

-Jonny is Texan. Yeah. (Well technically New Texan, because he was born on a planet called New Texas, but whatever)

-I’m not going into this because it’s more complex lore but the person who “created” most of the mechanisms was a vampire named Doctor Carmilla and was a (very disfunctuonal) mother figure to at least most of the crew. They kicked her out

-Doctor Baron Marius Von Raum, one of the other crewmates, is neither a doctor nor a baron. His real name is Byron. He psychoanalizes people for fun.

-they’re all horrible people, the Mechanisms. They kill and burn and destroy and manipulate unrepentantly and take pride in breaking every law they can find (though we have explicit canon confirmation that Jonny flat out refuses to commit any sexual crimes) It makes them fun, though

-there are *so* many photos of the bandmates in character and a good part of fandom activity is just passing around those photos within the fandom like they’re Pokémon cards

-last, and very much not least, it’s quite important to note that Jonny Sims didn’t “create” the mechanisms, not like he did tma. It’s a collaboration between a bunch of great storytellers and musicians that started out as a uni band

here is a photo of the mechanisms as a whole group, because why not

Anyway I’m going to see so many glaring issues with this as soon as I post it but I hope it makes at least some sense! Check out x-ca1iber’s post for it if something doesn’t make sense… yeah. That’s it.

[sweetdreamsjeff]

Australie

Excerpts from the article in the Sydney Telegraph, Saturday 6th June, 1997, pp 38-39. It contained an interesting interview with John Pope, Jeff's Australian tour manager, and Donny Ienner, Head of Columbia Records. (thanks to Christine Warren)

THE LAST GOODBYE Music writer Dino Scatena examines an ironic finale.

The tragic details of Jeff Buckley's final few moments read like an overly dramatic draft for one of the artist's video clips. The imagery could have served as a perfect visual counterpart to his most famous song, Last Goodbye. A carefree Buckley, laughing and singing as he walks fully clothed into the Mississippi River, floating on his back until the water's swirling hidden life-force rises to hug his fragile frame and lead it into eternity. Les détails tragiques des derniers moments de Jeff Buckley sont comme un brouillon extrèmement dramatique d'un clip vidéo de l'artiste. L'image aurait pu servir de parfait équivalent visuel pour sa chanson la plus célèbre : Last Goodbye. Un Buckley insousciant, riant et chantant comme il va tout habillé dans le Mississipi, flottant sur le dos jusqu'au moment où la force vitale cachée dans l'eau tourbillonnante s'élève pour étreindre sa fragile charpente et la conduire dans l'éternité.

Buckley would have hated such a storyboard; too cliched, too grandiose.  The 30-year-old singer/songwriter always strived to make his work uncluttered, simple, its power left to be carried through the innate beauty of his poetry and pure angelic voice. Buckley aurait détesté un tel story board ; trop cliché, trop grandiose. Le chanteur/songwriter, âgé de 30 ans, s'est toujours efforcé de désencombrer son travail, simple, son pouvoir se laissait porter par la beauté innée de sa poésie et de sa voix pure et angélique.

The extraordinary circumstances surrounding the death of Jeff Buckley has once again sent a generation of rock fans around the world into deep mourning.  It's an all too familiar tale: an artist with a seemingly mystic gift, a tortured and tormented soul whose presence is whisked away from us before its full potential is realised. Les circonstances extraordianaires entourant la mort de Jeff Buckley a plongé à nouveau une génération de fans de rock du monde entier dans un deuil profond.

(...)

As it's turned out, Buckley was only on this world long enough to release a single album, Grace will remain one of the most astonishing and well-rounded debuts of the modern rock age. Vu la tournure des choses, Buckley a été dans ce monde seulement assez longtemps pour sortir un unique album, Grace restera un des premiers albums les plus étonnants et les mieux tournés du rock de l'âge moderne.

Of course, all the tragedy surrounding Buckley's passing is compounded by the fact that his father, Tim Buckley, met a similar premature end. Tim Buckley, who many still hail as the most original folk singer of his generation, died of a drug overdose in 1975 at the age of 28. Bien sûr, toute la tragédie entourant le décès de Buckley est constituée du fait que son père, Tim Buckley, eut également une fin prématurée.Tim Buckley, que beaucoup proclament encore comme le plus original chanteur folk de sa génération, est mort d'une overdose de drogue en 1975 à l'âge de 28 ans.

        I lost myself on a cool damp night         I gave myself in that misty light         Was hypnotised by a strange delight         Under a lilac tree         (Lilac Wine)

Jeff Buckley's two visits to Sydney left an enduring impression.  He came twice within six months, first in August of 1995 and then in February of last year.  That first brief trip came on the back of an extended European tour.  "I was getting tired of it in the last moments of playing in Europe, but it's entirely new here and I've had time to convalesce," he told a reporter on arrival. Les deux passages de Jeff Buckley à Sydney ont laissé une impression durable. Il est venu deux fois en 6 mois, d'abord en août 1995 puis en février de l'année dernière. Ce premier et bref voyage venait derrière une grande tournée européenne. "Je commençais à fatiguer les dernières fois où j'ai joué en Europe, mais c'est entièrement nouveau ici et j'ai eu le temps de me remettre", dit-il à un reporter à son arrivée.

Over the next few days, he gave two unforgettable performances: one at a small club called the Lounge in Melbourne and the other at Sydney's Metro nightclub.  To those present, the Metro show on August 28 rates as one of the greatest musical performances ever witnessed in this city. In a magical 90 minutes, Buckley and his three-piece band delivered a remarkable set of light and shade featuring much of the Grace album as well as the aggressive covers of MC5's Kick Out the Jams" and Big Star's "Kangaroo".  Buckley's pure, acrobatic voice sounded all the more extraordinary in the flesh.  "You could hear a pin drop," recalled tour manager John Pope.  "He held the audience in the palm of his hand.  He'd take you on the ride with him.  He'd lift you and take you down.  He paced his gigs with finesse.  When he walked on to a stage, he felt a responsibility, but it wasn't to the audience.  It was to something else. God knows what." Les neuf jours suivants, il donna deux performances inoubliables : une dans un petit club appelé "the Lounge in Melbourne" et l'autre au Sydney's Metro nightclub. A ceux qui étaient présents, le show du Metro en août demeure une des plus extraordinaires performances jamais vue dans cette ville. En 90 minutes magiques, Buckley et les trois autres membres du groupe offrèrent un remarquable set de lumères et d'ombres jouant la plupart des chansons de l'album "Grace" comme des reprises agressives de "Kick Out the Jams" des MC5 et de "Kangaroo" de Big Star. La voix pure et acrobatique de Buckley sonnait le plus extraordinairement possible dans la salle. "Vous pouviez entendre une mouche voler" rappelle le tour manager John Pope. "Il tenait le public dans la paume de sa main. Il vous emmenait faire le voyage avec lui. Il vous levait et vous reposait. Il dosait ses shows avec finesse. Quand il montait sur scène, il sentait une responsabilité, mais pas envers le public. C'était autre chose. Dieu sait quoi."

"There was high anticipation which was rewarded 10-fold when he played, added Jen Brennan, manager of teh night's local support act Crow.  "He just moved a lot of people.  It was quite extraordinary.  It's not often that you get a crowd at the Metro that's so silent and still.  It was serene and very powerful." "Il y avait une grande anticipation qui avait été 10 fois récompensée quand il a joué", ajoute Jen Brennan, manager du Crow."Il a touché un grand nombre de personnes. C'était vraiment extraordinaire.Ce n'est pas souvent qu'on voit une foule au Metro qui soit si silencieuse et si calme. C'était serein et très puissant."

Indeed a couple of nights later at the Lounge show in Melbourne, the venue's management found it necessary to turn off the cash registers because their collective clanging messed with the ambience. De fait, deux nuits plus tard au Lounge show de Melbourne, le management trouva nécessaire de fermer les caisses enregistreuses parce que leur bruit collectif cassait l'ambiance.

That first visit was meant to be a simply a quick promotional trip to push Grace, but such was the impact of the Metro show that Buckley was persuaded to return to Sydney and play two extra gigs at the Phoenician Club to quench the city's sudden fascination with him. Cette première visite était censée être simplement un rapide voyage voyage promotionnel pour pousser Grace, mais l'impact au Metro show a été tel qu'on a convaincu Buckley de revenir à Sydney et de jouer deux nouveaux shows au Phoenician club étancher la soudaine fascination de la ville envers lui.

Within a few days of arriving, Buckley was gone. But he'd loved his time here and promised to return as soon as he could.  Buckley kept his word and was back in February for a full-scale national tour. Peu de temps après son arrivée, Buckley était parti. Mais il avait adoré le temps passé ici et avait promis de revenir aussi vite que possible. Buckley tint parole et était de retour en février pour une tournée nationale.

It was now two years since the release of Grace and the pressures of life on the road as a high-profile recording artist were starting to show.  "The whole Grace period has just been madness," he told the Daily Telegraph at the time.  "I had no idea how completely crazy in the head I was until I came back and touched ground.  I lost a lot of blood out there, meaning some things fell apart, some things got stronger.  I think maybe  I sensed my life would be altered forever, but not in any of the shapes it has.  It's just like having a child.  You can plan on it for years and years and think about it and daydream about it but when it actually happens, the ripple it causes in your life is really transforming." Cela faisait maintenant deux ans que Grace était sorti et les pressions de la vie en tournée d'un artiste de studio commençaient à se faire sentir. "Toute la période Grace a été de la folie", disait-il au Daily Telegraph à ce moment. "Je ne me rendais pas compte que j'étais complètement fou dans ma tête jusqu'à ce que je revienne et que je touche le sol. J'ai perdu beaucoup de sang là-bas, je veux dire que des choses ont disparu, certaines choses sont plus fortes. Je crois peut-être que je sentais que ma vie serait altérée pour toujours, mais pas du tout dans le sens où elle l'a été. C'est juste comme d'avoir un enfant. Vous pouvez le planifier sur des années et des années et penser à ça et rêver à ça mais en fait quand cela arrive, l'onde de choc que ça cause dans votre vie et vraiment "transformante"."

Although that second tour may have been a bit flat on stage, Buckley was still in good spirits, the same free-wheeling reckless self.  He had his girlfriend with him this time, a violinist named Joan from a band called the Dambuilders.  There was a screaming match back at the band's hotel one night when one of Buckley's bandmates came back to his room to find the singer and his girlfriend had trashed the room and had sex in both beds.  Another night when Joan's band was playing a show at the Annandale hotel, Buckley went down and took care of the light show. When the Dambuilders started trashing their own instruments at the end of the show, Buckley abandoned his lighting duites and ran up on stage and helped them do it right. Même si cette seconde tournée peut avoir été un peu plate sur scène, Buckley était toujours dans de bons esprits, le même personnage imprudent en roue libre. Il avait sa copine avec lui cette fois, une violoniste nommée Joan dun groupe appelé the Dambuilders. Il y eut une effrayante baguarre à l'hôtel du groupe une nuit quand une des roadies de Buckley revint dans sa chambre pour s'apercevoir que le chanteur et sa copine avaient dégueulassé la chambre et fait l'amour dans les deux lits. Une autre nuit quand le groupe de Joan jouait un show à l'hôtel Annandale, Buckley descendit et s'occupa des lumières. Quand les Dambuilders commencèrent à détruire leurs propres instruments à la fin du show, Buckley abandonna la lumière et couru sur la scène pour les aider à bien faire.

Friends all describe Buckley as a warm, loving, open soul but the singer was often apprehensive when first approached by strangers.  John Pope, who as tour manager for both visits spent virtually every day with Buckley while he was in  Australia, described how the artist might appear cold as ice at first and then suddenly swing to the other extreme.  "Someone on the street might say:'Are you Jeff Buckley?'" Pope explained. "And one day he night say: 'No he's over there, I saw him just go around the corner.' Or sometimes he might go, 'Yeah, I'm him' or 'Leave me alone'.  Then they might say something funny and he'd open straight up to them and talk to them like they're long lost friends.  It went that way in personal life, business life and with people he'd never met before." Ses amis décrivent tous Buckley comme une âme chaude, amoureuse et ouverte mais le chanteur appréhendait souvent ses premières approches avec des étrangers. John Pope, qui en tant que Tour Manager pour les deux passages passa virtuellement chaque jour avec Buckley pendant qu'il était en Australie, décrit comment l'artiste pouvait apparaître froid comme de la glace au début puis soudainement aller vers l'autre extrème. "Quelqu'un dans la rue pouvait dire "êtes-vous Jeff Buckley ?"", explique Pope. "Et un jour il pouvait répondre : "Non, c'est par là, je l'ai vu juste tourner au coin." Ou parfois ça pouvait être "ouais, c'est moi" ou "Laissez-moi tranquille". Puis ils pouvaient dire quelque chose de drôle alors il s'ouvrait directement à eux comme s'ils étaient de vieux amis perdus de vus. C'était comme ça dans sa vie personnelle, professionnelle et avec des gens qu'il n'avait jamais vus avant."

Pope's fondest personal memory of Buckley came during the first trip. The singer was furious when he found out that his tour manager hadn't told him that it was his birthday.  Buckley promptly organised a penis-shaped cake and presented it to Pope on stage in Melbourne before shoving his face in the gift.  Pope holds dear a photo of the pait on stage together, Buckley covered in cake and smiling broadly. Le premier souvenir personnel de Pope concernant Buckley date du premier voyage. Le chanteur était furieux quand il découvrit que son Tour Manager ne lui avait pas dit que c'était son anniversaire. Buckley organisa sur-le-champ un gâteau en forme de penis et le présenta à Pope sur scène à Melbourne avant de pousser son visage dans son cadeau. Pope montre tendrement une photo de l'événement sur scène ensemble, Buckley couvert de gateau et souriant vaguement.

"I can imagine him doing exactly what he did," Pope offered in reference to the circumstances of Buckley's disappearance, recalling the time he tried to talk the singer out of going for a night swim at Coolangatta Beach.  "From when I knew him, you'd say: 'You shouldn't do that Jeff.'  And he'd go:'Nah, it'll be all right.  Don't worry about it.'  And off he'd go.  He was carefree and easy-going like that about life.  "There was an edge to him that comes with creative people.  He was definitely touched.  He'd have those moments of of madness like any artisitc person does.  But there was no self-destructiveness in it at all." "Je peux l'imaginer en train de faire exactement ce qu'il a fait", Pope fait référence aux circonstances de la disparition de Buckley, rappelant le temps où il essayait de convaincre le chanteur de ne pas aller nager à Coolangatta Beach. "Tel que je le connais, vous auriez dit : "Tu ne devrais pas faire ça Jeff". Et il aurait répondu : "Bah, ça va aller. Ne t'inquiète pas de ça". Et il aurait été. Il était imprudent et insousciant comme ça avec la vie. "Il y avait un côté chez lui qui est lié aux gens créatifs. Il était définitivement atteint. Il avait ces moments de folie comme tout artiste en a. Mais il n'y avait pas d'auto-destruction là-dedans du tout."  

        They're waiting for you         Like I waited for mine         And nobody ever came.         (Dream Brother)  

Jeff Buckley only ever met his famous father once.  He spent a week with Tim, who left his mother Mary Guibert only a week after she gave birth to their only child, in April of 1975 when he was eight.  Two months later, his father was dead.  The weight his father's shadow cast on his life was the primary reason it took Jeff so long to take the leap into the limelight. "I knew there would be [comparisons] from the time I was a small child," Jeff once revealed.  "From the time that his manager started calling my house when I was six or seven.  I found my grandmother's guitar and [the manager] started calling the house:'Has he written songs yet?'  So I've been waiting and doing the maths in my head about the inevitable comparisons all my life. But I don't care." Jeff a seulement rencontra son célèbre père seulement une fois. Il passa une semaine avec Tim, qui quitta sa mère Mary Guibert seulement une semaine après qu'elle ait donné naissance à son unique enfant, en avril 1975 quand il avait 8 ans. Deux mois plus tard, son père était mort. Le poids de l'ombre de la personnalité son père sur sa vie fut la principale raison pour laquelle cela prit si longtemps à Jeff de sortir de l'ombre. "Je savais qu'il y aurait des comparaisons depuis que je suis enfant," révéla Jeff un jour. "A partir du moment où son manager a commencé à appeler chez moi quand j'avais 6 ou 7 ans. J'ai trouvé la guitare de ma grand-mère et le manager a commencé à appeler à la maison : "A-t-il déjà écrit des chansons ?" Alors j'ai attendu et fait le calcul dans ma tête à propos de l'inévitable comparaison toute ma vie. Mais je m'en fiche."

Buckley was never comfortable discussing his father, deeply resented the fact that he wasn't invited to the funeral.  But in 1991, he made an unannounced appearance at a Tim Buckley tribute concert in Brooklyn and performed a moving solo version of his father's I Never Asked to be Your Mountain.  "I both admired and hated it," the young Buckley said afterwards on the song written about his parents' relationship.  "That's why I did it.  It was something really private to me. I figured that if I went to the tribute and sang and paid my respects, I could be done with it." Buckley ne se sentait jamais à l'aise pour parler de son père, ressentant profondément le fait qu'il ne fut pas invité aux funérailles. Mais en 1991, il fit une apparition surprise à un concert hommage à Tim Buckley à Brooklyn et joua une version solo "bougeante" de la chanson de son père "I Never Asked to Be your Mountain". "Je l'admirais et la haïssais à la fois," disait le jeune Buckley après-coup de la chanson écrite sur la relation de ses parents. "C'est pour ça que je l'ai fait. C'était quelque chose de vraiment très privé pour moi. Je m'imaginais que si je venais à l'hommage et chantais et payais mes respects, je pouvais en être quitte".

        It's night time coming         I'm not afraid to die ...         My love, now the rain is falling         I believe my time has come         It reminds me of the pain I might leave behind.         (Grace)

Jeff Buckley signed to Columbia records home to the likes of Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, in 1993 and soon after released the EP Live At The Sin(e). Jeff Buckley signa avec Columbia Records en 1993 à l'instar de Bob Dylan et Bruce Springsteen et peu après sortit le EP "Live at Sin-é".

In an exclusive interview with the Daily Telegraph yesterday, an emotional Donny Ienner -- head of Columbia Records and the man directly responsible for signing Buckley -- shared his reminiscences aof that early period.  "I remember the first time I went down to see Jeff after a few people had told me about his performances at SINE, I was so taken that night by the depth of his artist.  Of all the artists that I've ever personally signed, Jeff made the most immediate impact on my life. I felt that his reverence for the past, not to mention obviously the opportunites for the future, was incredible.  He knew every record of Miles Davis and Edith Piaf and opera records and classical records and Led Zeppelin records.  He was just such a great teacher of diverse music.  He defies any sort of characterisation or trend.  He had that at a very, very early age and the impact that he made on the world with just an EP and an album is going to be felt for decades to come.  Jeff never worried about rock stardom, never worried about money, and never worried about the things that a lot of young artists worry about today. He was really worried about making sure his integrity was intact at all times.  He was just an incredible thing." Dans une interview exclusive avec le Daily Telegraph hier, un Donny Ienner ému - patron de Columbia Records et l'homme directement responsable du contrat de Buckley - partageait ses souvenirs de cette récente période. "Je me souviens de la première fois que je suis venu voir Jeff après que quelques personnes m'aient parlé de ses performances au Sin-é, j'ai été si frappé cette nuit-là par la profondeur de cet artiste. De tous les artistes que j'ai personnellement signés, Jeff a eu l'imapct le plus immédiat dans ma vie. Je sentais que sa révérence pour le passé, pour ne pas mentionner d'ailleurs les opportunités pour le futur, était incroyable. Il connaissait chaque disque de Miles Davis et Edith Piaf et des disques d'opéra et des disques classiques et les disques de Led Zeppelin. C'était un super professeur de diverses musiques. Il défie toutes sortes de caractérisation ou de tendance. Il a eu ça très très jeune et l'impact qu'il a eu sur le monde avec seulement un EP et un album s'estimera dans les décennies à venir. Jeff ne s'est jamais inquiété de la célébrité rock, ne s'est jamais inquiété de l'argent, ne s'est jamais inquiété des choses qui inquiètent beaucoup de jeunes artistes aujourd'hui. Il s'inquiétait vraiment d'être assuré de garder tout le temps intacte son intégrité. Il était juste une chose incroyable."

Ienner also took the opportunity to reject widespread rumours that Buckley had been depressed in the weeks leading up to his disappearance because of problems with his record comapny over the shape his follow up to Grace should take.  "I think he was in a good place in terms of making his second record," Ienner said.  "The thing that I personally promised him when he signed to Columbia records was that he could take all the time he needed in between his records and we would not interfere on any level.  He had over 100 songs and he was ready to go in at the end of June to make his record.  He was in wonderful spirits, he was having an amazingly good time spiritually, emotionally and professionally down in Memphis (where Buckley had been since February)". Ienner a également saisi l'opportunité de rejeter les rumeurs très répandues sur une déprime de Buckley dans les semaines précédant sa disparition à cause de problèmes avec sa maison de disque, au sujet de la forme que devait prendre l'album succédant à Grace. "Je pense qu'il était bien placé en vue de faire son second album," a dit Ienner. "La chose que je lui ai personnellement promise quand il a signé à Colombia Records était qu'il pourrait prendre tout le temps dont il avait besoin entre ses albums et que nous n'interférerions pas à aucun niveau. Il avait plus de 100 chansons et il était prêt à aller au bout à la fin du mois de juin pour faire son disque. Il était dans un état d'esprit merveilleux, il passait un étonnemment bon moment spirituellement, émotionnellement et professionnellement à Memphis (où Buckley était depuis février)".

Ienner confirmed that late last year, Buckley completed seven new songs during sessions in New York with producer and former Television lynch-pin, Tom Verlaine.  "We have no plans to release anything right now.  From what I understand from the people he's been working with, there are in excess of 50 or 60 songs that he was working on.  So there's a wonderful legacy that he's left behind." Ienner a confirmé que, à la fin de l'année dernière, Buckley a terminé 7 nouvelles chansons pendant les sessions à New York avec le producteur et le fondateur de Television Tom Verlaine. "Nous n'avons pas prévu de le sortir pour le moment.D'après ce que j'ai compris des gens avec qui il travaillait, il y a en plus 50 ou 60 chansons sur lesquelles il travaillait. C'est donc un legs merveilleux qu'il laisse derrière lui."

        Looking out the door         I see the rain fall upon the funeral mourners         Parading in a wake of sad relations as their shoes fill up with water         Maybe I'm too young to keep good love from going wrong         But tonight you're on my mind so you'll never know         (Lover, You Should've Come Over)

Jeff Buckley is gone but, like all the other great artists who were cut down in their prime, his music will long outlive his tragically short life. Jeff Buckley est parti mais, comme tous les autres grands artistes fauchés dans leur force de l'âge, sa musique survivra longtemps à sa vie tragiquement courte.

(Translation: Jeff Buckley is gone but, like all other great artists cut down in their prime, his music will long outlast his tragically short life.)

[x--daughters-of-darkness--x]

20 WOMEN VOCALISTS IN METAL WHO ARE A DRIVING FORCE FOR THE GENRE

Lzzy Hale

If you haven’t heard of the colossal Halestorm and their show-stealing frontlady Lzzy Hale by now, how’s it been living under that rock? Out here in the real world, both rock and metal have been battling to claim Halestorm and Hale’s presence since the band’s first EP, (Don’t Mess With The) Time Man, in 1999. From the vitriolic masochism of “I Miss The Misery” to the heart-wrenching “Here’s To Us,” Hale’s vocal range reaches each extreme of moving emotion and devastating attitude. We couldn’t pay tribute to Hale without also recognizing her guitar talents. Check the sassy leading line from “Love Bites (So Do I)” as an example of this phenomenal lady’s ability to step beyond musical expression and into aural artistry.

SKYND

True crime has never been more compelling than at the hands of Australian electronic-metal sensation SKYND and their mystifying frontwoman of the same name. Tackling a new real-life mystery with each track, covering the disappearance and mysterious death of “Elisa Lam” and the doomed cult following of “Jim Jones,” SKYND’s haunting vocals tell each tale as if they were acting out in front of you. SKYND’s dedication to her theatrical persona (plus the ability to keep her real identity a secret), her iconic look and the creation of lore around her exposition of real-life crimes is a mystery the metal world may never solve, but perhaps it never should.

Taylor Momsen

Gossip Girl? We don’t know her—we know Taylor Momsen as the sultry tones commanding metal’s sassiest frontrunners the Pretty Reckless. With her gravelly vocals offset by her signature blacked-out eyes and suspenders, Momsen is an all-around powerhouse frontlady who bends all of your stereotypical expectations of a female vocalist. Take the hissing attitude of “Make Me Wanna Die,” the iconic summer anthem through “Messed Up World (F’d Up World),” the doomed “Going To Hell” and the gloriously filthy “My Medicine”—she’s not here for your entertainment, simply to make music in her own inimitable devil-may-care way.

Sharon den Adel

Where symphonic-metal outfits go through vocalists like water, Within Temptation’s Sharon den Adel has held on to her throne at the very beating heart of the genre since 1996. The band that introduced you to the dark side in high school has come a long way from “Angels” and “Our Farewell” to their most recent sensation “The Purge,” but the enduring talents of the angelic den Adel at the helm remain as moving as ever. Whether your heart breaks or races along with the captivating stories told through her cherubic vocals, den Adel’s talents have kept this legendary band alive and relevant for 25 years. We’re hanging on the edge of our seats for a new album.

Amy Lee

Most millennials were introduced to the world of metal through Evanescence’s invasion of radio airtime in the early 2000s, making vocalist Amy Lee an initial encounter in female presence in a heavily male realm. With an unforgettably haunting vocal range that can reach into your chest and pull out your heart with a single note, Lee’s trademark sound has lived in our minds since 2003’s Fallen and has no intention of letting go. From the iconic “Bring Me To Life” to her solo career’s “Speak To Me” and most notably the captivating “My Immortal,” Lee’s inimitable voice of an angel showed metal how to truly capture the mainstream.

Melissa Bonny

You’ve never seen symphonic metal quite like Switzerland’s Ad Infinitum and, consequently, you’ve never seen a frontwoman quite like Melissa Bonny. With her compelling vocals at the helm, each track tells a story steeped in historic struggles and triumphs as the band members each adopt a story of survival during the time of the Black Death in Europe. Every member appears in a plague doctor’s mask except Bonny, commanding the narrative as her show-stopping range transitions from heavenly cleans to venomous screams with ease. Ad Infinitum and Bonny’s towering talents begin an epic quest through the ranks of metal, and nothing will stand in their way.

Simone Simons

Symphonic-metal outfits face a constant challenge to stay relevant and move forward with the scene around them, more so than any other subgenre. However, the dreamy contributions of Simone Simons have kept Epica at the forefront of their genre since 2002. The band that once created “Storm The Sorrow” have matured to the lofty heights of “The Skeleton Key” with Simons’ operatic tones at the helm, bringing her angelic range to the band’s cinematic instrumentals and occasional death-metal infusions.

Maria Brink

Since their inception in 2005, In This Moment have redefined performance art and metal all at the same time, thanks to the command of iconic vocalist Maria Brink. Challenging religious imagery alongside feminine stereotypes, Brink’s presence both on and offstage has decimated the white male dominance of the metal genre. It takes a certain conviction and attitude to pull off the likes of “Whore” and “Blood” without trivializing their core moral messages, but Brink has rewritten the book on expectations of women in the heavy music industry. Long may she reign.

Larissa Stupar

Vicious, teeth-baring uncleans are the domain of Venom Prison’s Larissa Stupar, death metal’s brightest rising star. Whoever said women had to be the saccharine, angelic feminine contribution to metal clearly never met Stupar, who belts savage growls as if delivered from the gates of hell itself. The likes of “Uterine Industrialisation” and “Slayer Of Holofernes” prove devastating both live and in the studio when this unrelenting powerhouse gets her chops around them.

Alissa White-Gluz

Arch Enemy’s screamer-in-chief makes belting superhuman notes look easy. Alissa White-Gluz’s cord-shredding talents are the result of a career that started when she formed the Agonist at the age of 19. Joining Arch Enemy in 2014 gave White-Gluz a platform to showcase her range and also gave us her contagious live presence on a bigger stage. Providing her distinctive tones to regular collaborations with Kamelot and Delain, the voice behind Arch Enemy’s “War Eternal” and “You Will Know My Name” is no stranger to framing racing riffs with her guttural chops and showing off her heavenly cleans when the instrumentals allow.

Cristina Scabbia

The dual vocal onslaught we know and love from Lacuna Coil compels and fascinates, thanks to the storming presence of Cristina Scabbia. Dominating the metal scene since the ’90s, the enduring Italian crew pour richly gothic melodies over devastating riffs. Scabbia’s heavenly clean vocal is the cherry on top. From unforgettable classics such as “Our Truth” to their latest show-stopping “Save Me,” her dream-like range has been an invaluable gift to metal for over two decades and hopefully many, many more.

Tarja Turunen

The thought of losing founding Nightwish vocalist Tarja Turunen to the abyss of former symphonic singers when she left the outfit in 2005 was too much to bear. Luckily for us, Turunen kick-started her solo career the following year, and she’s been a mainstay of the metal scene ever since. The heavenly operatics that once heralded classics such as “Wish I Had An Angel” and “Nemo” now belts “Innocence” and “Tears In Rain” with the most celestial, earthbound vocals the genre has seen to date.

Suzuka Nakamoto

Easily the youngest member of our ranking, Suzuka Nakamoto, known as Su-metal, is the founding member of Japanese sensations BABYMETAL. With all the maturity of an artist twice her age, this 23-year-old puts us all to shame with her consistent energetic vocals and seemingly endless energy supplies while performing impeccable dance routines onstage. Between the iconic “Gimme Chocolate!!” and BABYMETAL’s latest “Kingslayer” collaboration with Bring Me The Horizon, there’s no denying she has a long and prolific career ahead of her.

Amalie Bruun

Myrkur has become a relentless hot topic in metal since its inception in 2014, and we have only recently discovered the identity of the haunting vocals at its heart. Now we can credit multi-instrumental composer Amalie Bruun with the rise of this mysterious Danish project, led into the wilderness by her raw screams bursting through cherubic cleans just when you least expect it. Often singing in Norwegian as an authentic twist on her own style of black metal, the theatrical “Ulvinde” and “Juniper”’s lingering atmospherics merely scratch the surface of Bruun’s compelling storytelling talents.

Elize Ryd

Amaranthe’s triple-threat vocals fetch their lighter tones from Elize Ryd, the Swedish outfit’s not-so-secret weapon who brings cherubic notes to their modern take on organized metallic chaos. Also known for her additions to Kamelot, both live and in the studio, Ryd’s heavenly cords and quirky songwriting add a bucketload of atmosphere and depth to the likes of “Amaranthine” and “Maximize,” making Amaranthe’s unique versatility one that continually sets trends for years to come.

Cammie Gilbert

Houston doom-metal upstarts Oceans Of Slumber have found themselves on a near-vertical trajectory over the last few years, a movement fronted by the tireless energy and boundless talents of their powerhouse vocalist Cammie Gilbert. Upon joining the band in 2014, Gilbert’s towering range came to the surface as her vocals neatly expand the lulling melancholy of “Winter” and the desperate cries of “A Return To The Earth Below,” as if her vocals project both fragility and strength at the same moment.

Heidi Shepherd and Carla Harvey

We couldn’t separate the two ladies commanding Butcher Babies, so this slot goes out to both Heidi Shepherd and Carla Harvey as the double-trouble onslaught who have brought us “Monsters Ball” and “Magnolia Blvd.” If you’re looking for a nonstop, indulgent party with the possibility of a snapped neck or two, look no further than L.A.’s dirtiest metal export that have become a staple on everybody’s festival bucket list. This versatile pair have made thrash their own ever since their 2013 debut, Goliath, showed the metal scene what it had been so desperately lacking—two relentless ladies who know exactly how to have a good time.

Chelsea Wolfe

Surprisingly the only strictly solo appearance on this list, Chelsea Wolfe has made metal her very own since her arrival in 2010, draping a veil of folk-y atmosphere and gothic depth over seductive doom-metal undertones. Combining her boundary-smashing approach with a sadistically dark visual style, Chelsea Wolfe somewhat ironically injects life into doom by refusing to conform to the genre’s ’90s stereotypes. She wraps her smooth vocal swathes around the compelling melancholy of “Feral Love” and “16 Psyche,” as if redressing the world around her in her own image.

Tatiana Shmayluk

You’d be forgiven for thinking Ukrainian outfit Jinjer tell their lyrical tales through the voice of three separate individuals covering melodic cleans, ear-splitting screams and guttural snarls and somewhat effortlessly slipping between them. The single towering voice behind this band’s meteoric rise belongs to Tatiana Shmayluk, flexing her multi-talented chops on “Perennial” and “Sit Stay Roll Over” just to increase your vocal envy. We’re still not sure how she pulls off such smooth transitions between the polar opposite personas onstage, but we can’t seem to look away.

Floor Jansen

Taking on the mammoth task of fronting the pioneering outfit Nightwish in 2013, Floor Jansen donned her new role as if she was born for it. Jansen’s inimitable honeyed tones ushered in a new age for the symphonic-metal icons, weaving her slick melodic range through the band’s trademark cinematic instrumentals. The theatrical atmospheres tracked on “Élan” and “Noise” give Jansen the room to flex her operatic range while she narrates the vibrant, tall tales we know and love from Nightwish.

[natromanxoff]

Queen live at Forest National in Brussels, Belgium - August 24, 1984

Some parts of the Hammer To Fall promo video were filmed during this show - the camera was filming the audience reactions during TYMD, Radio Ga Ga and Hammer To Fall. On the next day 20 fans from the Dutch fan club were invited to come again to the filming of the promo video.

At the gig, the band asked the audience to return the following day for the shoot. However, most likely assuming it was all a joke, the vast majority stayed away; in fact only a dozen fans turned up. Undeterred, the shoot went ahead anyway, with the band's performance that day interspersed with footage shot the previous night.

(x)

This is the first show of The Works tour.

According to the July '89 issue of Record Collector, Queen ran through about 40 songs during rehearsals. This list of songs rehearsed that didn't end up in the setlist comes from someone who worked on the tour:

Great King Rat (longer version), Brighton Rock (full song), I'm In Love With My Car, Sweet Lady, White Man, We Will Rock You (fast), Play The Game, Need Your Loving Tonight, Put Out The Fire, Las Palabras de Amor, Life Is Real (both Freddie solo piano and Freddie/Brian acoustic duet versions)

The keyboardist for this tour (and also the '86 Magic tour) is session musician Spike Edney. He would also lend some vocals to many songs and play rhythm guitar in Hammer To Fall. He and Roger Taylor would form a band called "The Cross" in 1987 which spawned three albums, and he would return to Queen in the 21st century to play on the tours with Paul Rodgers and Adam Lambert.

Spike was recruited in a very informal way by a Queen associate. He went to Munich for their first rehearsal in early August, wound up partying for most of the first night, and missed the first day's rehearsal. It later transpired that everyone else had. He recalls, "The next day, we all managed to get to it eventually, to the first rehearsal, and all the gear was set up. The stage was huge, and I thought "Oh well, here we go then" and we got to the first song , and what I'd forgotten was that they hadn't actually played together for two years. So they said, OK, let's try one of the new songs, I think it was Radio Ga Ga, and we started playing it, and course, I knew it, I'd been studying it for weeks. You know, 1,2,3,4 and we start and we get about a minute into the song and the whole thing collapses. And they all look at each other, you know, very sheepishly, and they say, "Anyone know how it goes?" and I say "well, actually, I know. I know how it goes" and they said "Ah". And so I started showing them the chords and everything and Fred looked at me and said "You don't know the words, do you?" and "Well, yeah I do actually" so then they all came round the piano and we spent the whole day just going through songs, and I thought, "I'm gonna be all right here, this'll be OK"!"

The show started very late, as the band were still doing soundcheck when they were supposed to go on. Apparently over the previous week there were few occasions when all four band members actually showed up for rehearsal. Many songs (likely those listed above) never made the setlist, and soundcheck was an extensive cramming session, particularly for the older material that they hadn't played in years.

Roger Taylor later reflected that this European tour was one of his favourites, and many fans cite the early Works setlist as their favourite ever played by the band. Three medleys are now played, two of which have revived many old songs: Killer Queen, Seven Seas Of Rhye, Keep Yourself Alive, Liar, Stone Cold Crazy and Great King Rat. Staying Power from Hot Space returns to the set, as does Sheer Heart Attack from News Of The World. Only half of Staying Power is played, and it runs into Dragon Attack, followed by an improvisation running into a more compact version of Now I'm Here compared to previous tours.

Many people who attended shows on this tour recall Queen having a very heavy sound, especially on songs like Liar and Stone Cold Crazy. By 1984 they had gained a reputation as being one of the best live rock acts in the business.

Six songs from The Works are performed each night, and the introduction tape is from the album track "Machines". After the heavy G chords are heard on the tape twice, the band walk on stage in the darkness to play the chords the third time, which leads into the brand new "Tear It Up". This is yet another effective opening to a Queen show, something they would perfect time and time again.

I Want To Break Free is performed each night in 1984-85 as the first encore, with Freddie coming on stage sporting a pair of huge plastic breasts under a pink shirt. Part way through the song, he would remove the breasts and twirl them around for a while before finally throwing them into the audience. Some souvenir! As a result of this gag, Another One Bites The Dust has been moved from the encore to be earlier in the set.

This tour showcases an incredible lighting rig and an overall setup mimics the movie Metropolis, from which scenes were used for the promo video of Radio Ga Ga last year. The huge wheels behind the stage (modelled after the ones on The Works album cover) rotate at mostly random times - usually because they are turned manually by various crew members such as Roger's tech Chris "Crystal" Taylor whenever they have a free moment (Freddie Mercury's assistant Peter Freestone told the tale in 2021):

“Yeah, I mean Rio was… amazing. The feeling from that crowd… you know, something like 350,000 people. Oh, you can’t beat that. And when you’re flying in a helicopter over that crowd, it was stunning. But the thing is, I know this sounds really, really stupid but [laughs]… one thing I will always, always remember from that tour was, remember, in the back of the stage you had these wheels that turned every now and then, not constantly but just every now and then. That was because there was… the guy looking after Roger’s drums and me who actually turned those wheels. And there was no set cue or anything that, “Oh, it has to start on this bar, on this song.” No, it was when he wasn’t doing anything and I wasn’t doing anything, we’d say “Ok, let’s go and do it.” And we turned the wheels for a couple of minutes and then left them alone. He had then to do something for Roger and I would just sit there like I always did. And then you’d go back and you’d turn the wheels, like a hamster. We were like hamsters…”

However, a crew member who worked on the tour recalls otherwise: "I do know local crew members were used on the UK shows and certainly (a number of) European gigs. The other thing is that Radio Ga Ga had a set piece with the cogs and lighting, using low ambient lighting and strobes to emphasise mechanical motion of the cogs during the instrumental break. Would Roger Taylor be happy with no one covering him/his kit during a show? Possibly Peter Freestone is remembering production rehearsals when any spare bodies might have been asked to operate the cogs?"

During vocal improvisations on this tour, Freddie would often include bits of "Foolin' Around" and "Living On My Own" from his pending first solo album, which he had been working on during this period.

Freddie now plays a Telecaster for Crazy Little Thing Called Love. It would remain like this through the Magic tour.

The band no longer bring a gong with them on the road. Roger now does a cymbal roll at the end of Bohemian Rhapsody.

A fan recalls hearing the band running through Tear It Up whilst queuing up to enter the venue.

Freddie's voice is in superb shape for this show, but it will quickly weaken as the tour progresses. As incredible as Freddie Mercury was, he certainly did not take care of his voice at times, especially in the mid-80s. After a couple years of heavy smoking, Freddie's voice now sounds a lot deeper and raspier overall.

Before It's A Hard Life, Freddie says, "I think tonight we're gonna do songs from just about every album that we've ever made. You heard some very early stuff from the first album. Right now I think we're gonna do something very new, and we'll see what you think of it."

Freddie does a vocal exchange with the audience before Staying Power, singing "Get Down Make Love" and "Gimme Some Lovin" a few times. The band would improvise bits of the latter a couple times in 1986.

This is the only show on the entire Works tour where Roger plays regular acoustic drums on Another One Bites The Dust (before which Freddie teases the audience with a bit of Mustapha). For the rest of the tour, he'd play electronic drums. He'd also integrate the electronic drum kit into a few other songs, like at the beginning of Hammer To Fall, where one might argue that his sounds don't appropriately complement the guitar to create the intense, heavy sound.

The band sound very tight on this opening night of the tour, with the only exception being the rough transition from Stone Cold Crazy to Great King Rat. The keyboard and guitar solos are integrated together for the first few shows of the tour, during which Brian plays a few bits from Machines. Spike Edney uses his vocoder (a Roland VP-330) for the "machines" and "back to humans" lines heard throughout the tour during this spot (he would use his vocoder for the "radio" lines in Radio Ga Ga as well). After this segment, Brian then gets a few minutes to play on his own as usual.

Parts of the promo video for Hammer To Fall were filmed during this show. Claims from some (even official) sources state that Freddie invited the audience back for (what would actually be "additional") filming the following day aren't true. Here is all that Freddie had to say before the song: "This next song we're gonna use in our next video. So everybody just go mad and maybe later you'll see one of you guys inside the video one day. Oh, just go crazy, take your clothes off. It's called Hammer To Fall." After the song, he simply says, "Good night, you guys!" as that was the last song of the set.

Here is a fan's recollection: "On the night of the gig, there was a camera mounted on an arm that would swing over the front rows of the audience during a few songs. These audience shots were taken during Tie Your Mother Down, Radio Ga Ga, and Hammer To Fall itself. I guess they also had a camera up in the box at the back of the hall [as there are a few shots of both the audience and the band]. I don't remember any cameras onstage during the gig - just the one mounted on the arm."

The Dutch fan club invited only about twenty of its members to attend the video shoot the next day. They were instructed by a roadie to sit quietly on a chair and not to move or approach the band members. After a few hours, Brian came over and had a chat with them, checking to see if they were enjoying themselves and if they were hungry. He then promptly ordered them some take-out!

A minute of Tie Your Mother Down from this show was later broadcast on the Belgian TV station "RTBF" (x) (x). An audience-shot video allegedly exists as well, containing five songs.

After years of speculation, the existence of more footage from this show was proven when bits of it were included in the promo video for Let Me In Your Heart Again in 2014. About 30 seconds of Somebody To Love (largely crowd shots) were seen. There is, however, no accompanying audio. (x)

The first photo is from the autumn 1984 Queen fan club magazine. Brian is seen with a watchful eye over the proceedings. Tour manager Gerry Stickells and his wife are also in the shot.

Pics 2 through 6 were submitted by Alessio Rizzitelli, and the seventh pic was taken by Dave Matkin.

(x)

[damselofblueroses]

The Name of the Rose

Summary: Your study-buddy Doh Kyungsoo comes with you for a long-awaited trip to Tokyo, Japan. There is a tension between you, however both of you decided to build a friendship instead of a relationship.

Content: Unestablished relationship, AU, Hurt/Comfort, Anger, Slight Violence, Emotional Complications and Healing.

Warnings: Well, the story contains NSFW/Smut, please minors do not continue.

Note: This story was inspired by D.O.’s album, Empathy, the album of 2021 in my opinion. It is an ongoing mini project, I planned to write it as a one-shot when I started, however I realized there are a lot to say about Empathy Era and I cannot stop shut my mouth, or prevent myself from writing… So, here we go.

Second chapter, the Hunter and the Goddess is out :)

Word Count: 3.6k

Chapter 1: The Hunter and the Gazelle

Stat rosa pristina nomine, nomina nuda tenemus.

You were excited.

No, it was not the correct word to be used. You were hyperactive, more than your usual self, and God knows that everyone could testify on how hectic your personality was. According to your family and very close friends, you were a walking catastrophe, funny but a fucking tease and potentially dangerous for environment.

And now, as you had been waiting for your flight, you could not manage to even stay still. Your hands were everywhere, you proved yourself again by dismantling your tote bag as poor thing was on your lap and you were playing with it unconsciously.

“Enough.” you heard your companion’s baritone voice tone. “If you will continue like this, you have to buy your belongings again in Japan. Do you have that much money?”

He reached to you and took the bag from your lap. For a second, his fingers brushed your thighs, and you lost your concentration during that fucking second.

Focus! you told yourself.

“I can always lend some money from you.” you cocked one of your eyebrows. “What? Will you bare me from some bucks?”

“Yes.” he was always plain and simple. On the contrary of you. “Unless if it is not a necessary. I am not a guy of sharing.”

What type of guy you are, can you give me a demonstration?

Your trip to Japan made you very excited, but you had to confess at least to yourself in the depts of your mind. What made you frenzied was the presence of your companion.

Doh Kyungsoo.

Your long-term study-buddy. Actually, he was more than a study-buddy, he was a kind of your comfort zone, even though you never express your opinions about him. You have known each other for almost 7 years since the last year of bachelor. Both of you continued your ways in academic world and you were currently being Ph.D. candidates.

To be honest, he never lose his impacts on you. You had a sweet spot for him since almost the beginning of your friendship which made him more than a study-buddy. It did not mean that you were restraining yourself from having dates time to time, but all of them were ended up with the same result.

They were clever and handsome guys, but they were not Doh Kyungsoo.

Sometimes you could not help but wonder, how it would be if you did not meet him as a friend? Could you two manage having a relationship as your best friend, Baekhyun, supported like a bloody zealot? Or one of you would give up as your brother, Jongdae, always believed?

“Hey!” you heard Kyungsoo’s voice and jumped off from the bench. “Come back to your senses or we are going to miss the plane.”

“And you are going to take its money from me.” your murmured inside of your mouth but obliged to what he said by starting to walk. He was generally quiet during flights, but you knew his mouth will not be shut when you will visit the restaurants he wanted to try.

He does not come for Tokyo, he comes for fucking eels, octopuses, or crabs. Kyungsoo and his appetite.

“Naturally.” he approved your words on money, but there was a ghost of smile on his lips. “Since you are the one who became a sleeping beauty.”

Do you think I am beautiful?

This was another problem you had. With Kyungsoo, you were so relaxed, and you felt extremely safe, so you did not need to control yourself as you generally did. Of course, it was a good omen for your friendship, as much as you were sure Kyungsoo never lied to you, it was also a disadvantage on your part, because sometimes you wanted to ask some questions that should be remained in silence.

“If we would be fairy tales,” you smirked. “I would be Belle while you are the Beast.”

“Fine by me.” he shrugged his shoulder. “He is a very good guy. I am happy for Belle; she understands the assignment. You would not most probably.”

“Sweetheart, you are slow to catch the signs.” you playfully smacked his shoulder when you reached to the control point. You thought he would be annoyed, but he stopped and seriously gazed at you. You shivered and wondered why he was looking at you like he wanted to say something.

“What?” you inhaled.

“Since when I am slow to catch the signs?” he pressed on every word of his sentence, and to your dismay he used that voice tone, almost a whisper but goddamn strong. “Give me an example.”

You shuttered down, and this was the last problem you had with Kyungsoo, he was the only one who could make your brain stop working especially in times when the occasion calls for full-speed devilish progress. You just stared at him and shrugged your shoulder.

“Eh Soo,” you murmured. “You missed a lot of beautiful girls, right?”

Your response was so weak even to your ears. If Chanyeol, number two best friend of you, could hear your words, he would burst into laughs by hitting everyone beside him. You could imagine Junmyeon’s disgusted face as a plus.

“I did not miss anyone, my dear.” he chuckled. “Let me rephrase, anyone I want just one exception, but exceptions do not ruin the calculation in your famous mindset.”

When he chuckles, you can feel your blood tension rocks your body. His heart shaped lips does something to you, and you do not want to name it.

“Exceptions run the world, Doh.” you tried to push him to elaborate his words a little bit more. “Who is that lucky girl who run away from you?”

“That’s my secret.” he smirked and put his hand onto your waist in order to led you the controller lady. “Show your passport, I do not want to wait here forever.”

Who was the girl he mentioned? You could not help but started to feel anxious, how much you tried to press your instincts and feelings, whenever he mentioned a girl, there would be a dire need of crying in the pit of your stomach. You took a deep breathe and followed his instruction. While you were walking into the inside of plane, you struggled with the sudden sadness. You wanted to tear that off yourself, so you reminded yourself the splendid trip ahead you. You found your place and processed to sit down.

“May I help?” Kyungsoo asked you but he already fetched your belongings and placed them correctly. You smiled to him and sat down.

How could you meet someone like him? He was a little bit grumpy sometimes, a person who could give unexpected reactions, but he was reliable, kind, lovely and always thoughtful of his environment. You did not want to lose him. You never want to lose him, on the contrary, you want to keep him in your life until the very end. You could not think a life without Kyungsoo, you always desire him to stay your side.

You were pretty sad, you had to admit, and there was regret. You were regretful on your decision to not go further with him, you wished you could be braver and tell him about your feelings for him. How much you were confused because of him, how many days and nights you spent sleepless because of him. To make the things more complicated, you had zero idea about how he would be responded your confession if you pull yourself together and manage to do. For once, you heard his cousin Minseok talked about you by saying you were very important for Kyungsoo, however you did not know in which extent you were important for him.

You two were always closed to each other, you spent almost 3 or 4 days together, you were living in the same campus, your departments were close to each other. He was a huge part of your life, that’s one of the reasons why you were hopelessly trying to conceal your inappropriate feelings for Kyungsoo. The idea of losing his extremely valuable presence was the only scenario could make you sob.

“Am I the only one who is very uncomfortable?” he whispered to your ear and made your stomach twisted. You could kill him for this, but he was not aware of how he affected you. “You are deadly silent.”

“No, I am just thinking.” you run away from him like an Olympic athlete. “About the trip. I am very excited.”

“If you are,” he flinched your forehead. “You have to talk non-stop. You are silent when something bothers you, what are you hiding from me?”

“Nothing, Soo.” you found a smile from somewhere and presented to him. “You know I never find the chance of visiting Japan; I am really overwhelmed.”

“So, speak to me.” he grunted. “Do not act like I am not here.”

“Okey, okey.” you raised your hands to air. “Sorry for that.”

“I start to feel like I am disturbing you.” he turned his head to the Name of the Rosethat he was reading. Umberto Eco, he had a taste for everything of course. “I asked you twice if you are okey with going to Japan with me.”

You could laugh if you were not so tense since he mentioned girls.

“And I told you this is okey, Soo.” you pinched his upper arm. “You are a good companion for trips.”

“Only for trips?” he asked. What the fuck was wrong with Kyungsoo today? He was behaving weird, and his questions made you more baffled. “I thought I am good companion for everything.”

You bit your lips in order to send back the sudden answer you wanted to give. Instead of declaring your ignorance about his performance on everything, you refined your words.

“You are a good friend, Soo and sorry for making you feel unwanted. I am happy you are coming with me.”

“Hm.” he hummed but he did not look like he was satisfied with your answer. You decided to not think about what the heck he wanted to hear, you also turned to your book that you were supposed to read since the departure. At least Pavese helped you to collect your mind till the plane landed in Narita Airport. He helped you while you two took a cab for the way, he was acting like his usual self, so you accused yourself because of searching hidden messages in his questions. You were such an idiot.

“I will be seeing you at dinner.” he waved his hand when you finished the registration process of the hotel you would be staying for the week. You were in front of the elevator. Both of you already decided to take a nap before dinner when you were planning the trip, so you approved his words and took your keys.

“See you.” you smiled and walked to your room. When you opened the door, your smile widened, the room is so light and minimalistic as you really liked. There was no crowded furniture, crazy designs, or unnecessary modifications. The walls were light blue, the furniture was white, and all looked very harmonious. There were plants and flowers, you immediately run to the flowers as you loved them more than anything else. The hotel staff managed to place even Sakura blossoms into the room that made your heart flattered and smoothed your nerves.

And there was only one blue rose, which was your favourite flower in the world. Just one, between a bouquet of daisies and it looked magnificent. You leaned to smell it while smiling as a little freak. You did not have to see your face; you knew how you looked like. Chanyeol always said that when you see a blue rose, you lost your shit. Another creature made you drunk in happiness was white butterflies. You had a sweet spot for blue roses and white butterflies.

And for Kyungsoo.

You grunted to yourself in your mind, and you headed to the bathroom by tapping your feet to the ground harshly. You were done with your obsession with Kyungsoo, it became something out of control, and you were tired of yourself at this point.

You had to live your goddamn life, you had to stop fucking fantasizing about your study-buddy.

You stripped out from your clothes and jumped into the shower. Cold water helped you to take the control of yourself, both as physical and emotional. You were okey, you were in bloody Japan as you always wanted, and you were going to fucking enjoy it. After shower, you threw yourself into the bed, tucked yourself inside the blanket and set the alarm for one hour later.

After one hour, you were swearing at yourself with your very glorious vocabulary because the only thing you did was fantasizing about Doh Kyungsoo.

“Did you rest?” he asked to you while you were leaving the hotel. You held your growl inside. “Did you take a nap?”

“I did not sleep but I leaned down for a while, so it was good. You?”

“I slept like a baby. It was very interesting when you think I am more like an insomniac.”

“I guess, your insomnia is rubbing on me.” you grumbled. “Where are we going now?”

“Eh, at least something about me can rub on you.” he rolled his eyes, your chin was dropped due to his response. “There is a tiny noodle restaurant in Ebisu, but they are very famous. We are going to there.”

“Okey.” you nod and walked beside of him.

“You look very pretty.” he turned to you. “That dress looked very good on you.”

You instantly took a look on your navy, long dress. It was very comfortable, but also elegant and your fashion freak cousin persuaded you the colour and style gave you a

“Thank you.” you replied. “Sehun chose this for me, you know he is the chef kiss when it comes to fashion.”

“He did well.” he smiled. “How is Sehun by the way, I did not see him since ages. Did he come back from France?”

“No.” you pouted. You really missed your noisy cousin. “He just came to visit for a week, then came back to school. I am not sure if he will come back to be honest, he got some important invitations from European universities.”

“Very good.” Kyungsoo’s face was lit up. He was proud of Sehun. “I know you miss him, but he has a bright career ahead of him.”

“Yes, I know.” you also smiled. Thinking about your successful but extremely playful cousin made you happy. “I just worry about him.”

“Stop babying him.” Kyungsoo punched your arm as half serious half joke. “How old is he, 27?”

“Yeah.” you laughed. “I know I baby him very much, but we all do, Kyungsoo.”

“You are just one year older than Sehun.” he smirked. “Who is going to baby you?”

“Chanyeol.” you exhaled. Kyungsoo looked at you for a second, then both of you burst into laughs because it was well known that you also took care of Chanyeol and Baekhyun as well as Sehun. “Jokes aside, I am a strong and big girl, Kyungsoo, I do not need someone babying me.”

“Maybe you can start looking for a sugar daddy to baby you?” he cocked his eyebrows to you. “Before it is going to be too late?”

“Actually, I had some candidates in my pocket.” you devilishly beamed to him. “You have no idea.”

“Beg your pardon?” his face suddenly transformed from joy to deadpanned seriousness, and his smile was disappeared immediately. “I was joking.”

“I was not.” you blinked your eye. “Some people really proposed to me.”

“For being your sugar daddy?”

“I know I am very little in your eyes, Kyungsoo” you took a deep breathe before continuing. “But here the breaking news: some people could find me attractive.”

“We are not talk about usual dates or men.” he held your arm and turned you to himself. “If you receive this kind of proposes, you have to tell me.”

“Next time, I will report you so we can decide who is going to be my sugar daddy.” you poked his ribs while he burrowed his eyebrows and radiated a strong sense of discontent. “Come on Kyungsoo, I am not going to say yes to this type of proposes, what do you think about me?”

“We are always joking about this issue,” he looked like he was cursing beneath his breath. “But when it comes to you and Baekhyun, I always suspect if you are serious or not.”

“Sugar daddy is a joke.” you hissed. “Of course, it is a joke, I have no interest in having a sugar daddy.”

“What about the proposes? Are they real?”

“Well, they are.” you murmured. Suddenly, you felt like the table was turned and you just played your ace card too early. You felt like Kyungsoo’s eyes investigated your soul to the bits.

“How many?”

“Three.” you gave up. “One from faculty, two from outside.”

“Unethical son of bitches.” he lowly cursed and caught you off guard because he generally preferred to use more polite words, even if he was cursing. “Keep them away from yourself.”

“Oh really?” you teased him by hoping to break the strange tension between you and managed to put a little smile on his face.

“Stop mocking me.” he warned you but now he was smiling widely. His mouth became a heart again, this time you averted your eyes from his face.

“Who I am to dare mocking you?” you squeaked but it was fake.

“Oh, you mock me more than even that walking noisy machine Baekhyun.” he flicked his hand. “We have to stop at this station, Ebisu Garden Place is on the way.”

He put his hand onto your waist again, and you felt like electrocuted again. Every time he touched you, and unfortunately, he sporadically did, you felt like you are dying for more. More what? You were not sure what you really wanted from Kyungsoo, but you were certain on you were desperate for more of him.

More of him.

The bus was crowded, Kyungsoo led you to a little corner, and stayed in front of you. He could be a little bit protective when it came to crowded places since you were clumsy, he generally insisted to keep you close to himself in order to catch you, if you would lose your balance, so you did not surprise when he held your wrist.

What made your heart to do a perfect all kill type of somersault was his next move, his fingers did not stop on your wrist, on the contrary they moved into your palm and grasped your hand tightly. You raised your eyes to him, he never hold your hand, never ever.

“I want to be sure.” he whispered by catching your question before you ask. “Since both of us do not know the way, and the bus is full of passengers, this is more secure.”

“Ah.” This was the best of you at the moment. You quickly realized what the heck you said but Kyungsoo sometimes can be quicker than you.

“Why? Are you unsatisfied with the reason?” His dark brown eyes were shining, his perfume smelled fucking good and the proximity between your faces did not help you.

“Why should I be?” you had to be back to play as soon as possible. “I grant you the chance of holding my hand, that’s count as charity.”

He looked at your hand for a moment, and you saw a smile formed on his lips and instead of a sarcastic reply as you expected, his eyes shaped like a crescent and shined as the fucking moon itself during a cloudless, navy night.

“Thank you, your highness.” he genuinely smiled. “May I continue to hold your hand?”

“Why?” the tone of your question was full of surprise, sounded exceptionally strange.

“Because I want to feel you.” he simply answered, and he squeezed your hand a little bit more. “For once let me feel you by my side.”

You knew that your eyes blown up, your mind was playing some tricky and dangerous games with you, you lost your shit, and you were sure about you finally made yourself mad because of your platonic interest in Kyungsoo, but even if God himself would appear in the bus in order to stop you, that would be a fruitless attempt.

You held Kyungsoo’s hand.

If he wanted to feel you by his side, you could not refuse.

You never refuse Kyungsoo.

How could you?

He was the protagonist of your secret dreams, fantasies and your goddam powerful imagination.

He was your gazelle and you were chasing him since the first day you met.

[snowe-zolynn-rogers]

Pairings: None

Word Count: 1,912 Words

Summary: The Todoroki family drama yet again.

Warnings: Cursing, Caps, Food Mention, Abuse Mention, Teen Pregnancy Mention, Arranged Marriage Mention, Forced Marriage Mention, Forced Pregnancy Mention, Blood Mention, Near Death Mention, Death Mention, Pregnancy Mention, Secret Pregnancy Mention, let me know if I should tag anything else.

Usernames: Area 51   Aoyama: bonjour je suis Dora, Ashido: aggressive chicken dance, Asui: wut, Iida: Human Porche, Uraraka: Fuck Gravity, Ojiro: ceouolo, Kaminari: pikachoo, Kirishima: ordained, Koda: the muffin man?, Sato: dammit kevin, Shoji: pIaNoMaN, Jirou: neko neko kneecaps, Sero: wine and cheerios, Tokoyami: brb drowning, Todoroki: daddy issues, Hagakure: oreosandpussy, Bakugo: mother i crave violence, Midoriya: mistakes were made Mineta: Mineta, Shinsou: its a mental breakdown, Yaoyorozu: single braincell

Usernames: Emo Sanctuary  Jirou: tell tale heart, Tokoyami: eldritch peep, Todoroki: i love you 3000, Bakugou: knife tag, Midoriya: bitchasaurus, Shinsou: unhappy meal, Kuroiro: meth and deadamine, Shigaraki: depresso extra shot, Dabi: *sad kazoo*

Usernames: I Hate This Family  Shigaraki: I'm A Duck Now, Dabi: Unidentified Flaming Object, Toga: Mothman's Descendant, Twice: Car's Extended Warrantee, Compress: Communist Propaganda, Magne: Sir This Is A Wendy's, Spinner: I Taste Like Chicken

Usernames: Endeavor Hate Chat  Fuyumi: coconut cake, Natsuo: lemon cake, Shoto: red velvet cake, Haruhi/Dabi/Touya: chocolate cake, Bakugou: carrot cake, Shinsou: strawberry cake

Into The Group Chat We Go: Chapter 5

12:35 PM

Area 51

daddy issues: He looks like my oldest brother, Touya. he disappeared after I was born. But he looks just like him from the picture albums, but, you know, taller...and happy?

mother i crave violence: Ask him.

daddy issues: He looks so happy with Shinsou. Maybe I should just leave it. He doesn't need to be burdened with the family he left behind.

mother i crave violence: I'll fight you. Get downstairs, we need to make lunch for ourselves anyway and I won't have you trying to cook in your room.

Aizawa: No fighting, you two. But no cooking in your room either, Todoroki, that's dangerous.

daddy issues: Fuck both of you. I just won't eat then.

Aizawa: I hate children.

daddy issues: And I hate you, so we're even.

Aizawa: You can't push away every father figure in your life, kid. It won't work on the stubborn ones like me.

daddy issues: If this is your way of saying you want to steal me from my father and keep me as your own son, I won't object.

Aizawa: Alright, that too. Now come eat. You don't even need to talk to him.

daddy issues: I hate this fucking family.

daddy issues: Fine.

12:45 PM

I Hate This Family

Unidentified Flaming Object: I think we miscalculated. Don't address it, this is my problem, @I'm A Duck Now.

Mothman's Descendant: What happened?

Unidentified Flaming Object: I forgot a family member of mine goes to UA and he might knows what I look like since I look like I used to before the accident and my family might still have some pictures of me around for him to recognize me.

Sir This Is A Wendy's: YOU'RE BLOWING OUR COVER!?

Unidentified Flaming Object: He doesn't know I became a villain. To him, I'm just a "sibling" he never met. Unfortunately, I'm actually his mother.

Communist Propaganda: Do you think he knows by now?

Car's Extended Warrantee: Oh shit, man. You gonna be okay over there?

Unidentified Flaming Object: He probably doesn't know. The old man never even told Fuyumi that I was Shoto's mother. He probably didn't even tell him he had a different legal name on his first birth certificate.

I'm A Duck Now: Maybe call him by the name you named him?

12:55 PM

Area 51

oreosandpussy: Haruhi asked if someone named Akimitsu wants any plum kitkats.

fuck gravity: Isn't that your favorite candy, Todoroki?

daddy issues is now offline

wut: I feel like that's a bad sign.

oreosandpussy: They both just stared at each other and left the room!

its a mental breakdown: sibling bond telepathy.

wine and cheerios: No because none of my siblings and I can do that. That's not fair.

ceouolo: you have siblings?

wine and cheerios: yeah, I have nine siblings, man.

ceouolo: Sero wins that bet. He has the most siblings. I thought Hagakure would win with five sisters.

oreosandpussy: We're getting away from the point here. Haruhi and Shoto just disappeared after Haruhi said the name of someone who isn't here.

fuck gravity: Todoroki is probably back-alley dealing him use of Endeavor's credit card for the kitkats knowing him.

2:25 PM

I Hate This Family

Unidentified Flaming Object: So I told my kid that I'm his mother. He took it better than I thought and he wants to call me Dad now and I think I'm going to cry tonight.

Mothman's Descendant: Good job, Touya!

2:25 PM

Area 51

daddy issues: I'd like to announce I have a shiny new father who doesn't come with abusive tendencies and is actually my biological parent.

its a mental breakdown: I'm so proud of you!

daddy issues: I just realized I got a two for one. I just got a real dad and an adopted brother all in one.

its a mental breakdown: still supportive but what? please explain.

daddy issues: Haruhi's legal name is Touya and he's my biological mother. Enji forced him into a very young arranged quirk marriage at 12 for more spawn to train because Rei became infertile after Natsuo due to the emergency hysterectomy they performed on her to save her life because she was hemorrhaging. I was the sole result of that marriage before Haruhi ran away but wasn't able to take me with him since Endeavor passed me off as his own child with Rei after paying the doctors that did her hysterectomy not to talk.

fuck gravity: Sho, Haruhi's a guy.

daddy issues: Yes, he's transgender. So he's my biological mother but he's my Dad.

oreosandpussy: Does this have something to do with the 'Akimitsu' thing?

daddy issues: Actually, my birth name was Akimitsu. He named me and Natsuo used to call me that when Enji wasn't home because he'd heard Haruhi call me that once before he ran away. Endewhore and Rei renamed me almost immediately on a second birth certificate they'd had made as if I was Rei's son.

mother i crave violence: Technically, you got two adopted brothers. Me and Shinsou.

daddy issues: And you two got another brother too.

aggressive chicken dance: dumbass trio.

mother i crave violence: I'm oldest, I automatically win.

its a mental breakdown: Ask Haruhi what kind of quirk your sperm donor had.

daddy issues: He says it was a mental block quirk. Oh my god, the dude had blue hair. Hitoshi, blue fucking hair with Haruhi's red hair.

its a mental breakdown: Are we sure he's not my real parent?

mother i crave violence: Toshi, your birthday is in July. He couldn't have had you five months after he had Shoto.

daddy issues: Well, actually, that's technically possible, in a longshot kind of way since he was about seven months when he had me.

its a mental breakdown: Regardless, I say we claim we're triplets and Haruhi had the two of us after he ran away.

daddy issues: He says that's a funny idea and he's absolutely going with it.

daddy issues: I'm also adding all three of you to our family's group chat once I can go Endeavor's home and grab my legal documents and the rest of my things tonight. So that'll be fun.

Aizawa: I and Present Mic will go with you.

pikachoo has changed Aizawa's name to Mom

pikachoo: Because you're basically our mom.

Mom: You may live because I'm busy.

8:00 PM

Endeavor Hate Chat

red velvet cake: I'm heading home tonight to grab things with my two friends, two teachers, and someone else. Is Enji there?

coconut cake: No, he's out patrolling and all.

red velvet cake: Good. Would you like to help me move all my stuff out, including my legal documents?

coconut cake: Wait, what!? Why!?

red velvet cake: I would like you to remain calm, alright? Enji isn't my father and you aren't my sister, nor Natsuo my brother. I'm not the child of Todoroki Enji and Himura Rei.

coconut cake: Shoto, I know you hate being part of the family but you can't disown us! I love you! I'll change, I promise! I'll finally cut Enji off, just please keep me in your life!

red velvet cake: That's not it, Fuyumi. I'm saying these things because Rei is not my mother, she's my grandmother. Enji is my grandfather, You and Natsuo are my aunt and uncle. I know about Touya now and I know what happened now.

lemon cake: Akimitsu?

red velvet cake: Yes, I know about the Akimitsu situation. Probably more than you do, actually.

lemon cake: What else is there?

red velvet cake: One minute. Let me just.

red velvet cake has added Haruhi, Hitoshi, and Katsuki to Endeavor Hate Chat

coconut cake: Who are they?

red velvet cake: Hitoshi and Katsuki are my brothers. Haruhi is my Dad. You two probably know him better by the name Touya.

lemon cake: You're fucking with me. Stop it, Shoto.

coconut cake: Shoto, this prank or whatever isn't funny!

red velvet has started a video chat

Dad, say hi to Fuyumi and Natsuo. -red velvet cake

Hey, there guys. Long time no see? -Haruhi

Oh my god, you're really here. I thought you were dead, Touya. Can I still call you that? -lemon cake

I go by either Touya or Haruhi, I don't mind which. -Haruhi

We're visiting the house with my teachers, Eraserhead and Present Mic, to move the rest of my things out of Enji's home and into my dorm room. -red velvet cake

That sounds like a plan. I'll be over in about ten minutes to help them, Fuyu. -lemon cake

Oh yeah, and what are you guy's favorite cake flavors? Which one do you like the most? -coconut cake

Chocolate. -Haruhi

Carrot. -Katsuki

Ew, Kats. Strawberry. -Hitoshi

Yours are both gross. But I'll bear it because you're my sons. -Haruhi

Oh my god. -red velvet cake

red velvet cake has ended the video chat

coconut cake has changed Haruhi's name to chocolate cake

coconut cake has changed Katsuki's name to carrot cake

coconut cake has changed Hitoshi's name to strawberry cake

10:50 PM

Area 51

daddy issues: I am now 100% moved out of Endeavor's house and I found my original birth certificate listing my birth parents.

daddy issues: I also found some hidden documents and medical records. Turns out me and Shinsou really are brothers and Haruhi had no fucking idea because he didn't even know he was still pregnant when he had him.

brb drowning: What the fuck?

neko neko kneecaps: How would he not know!?

daddy issues: He went to the hospital and the doctors took Hitoshi away from Haruhi because they found out he was a homeless kid so they sedated him, must have cut Toshi out, and left Toshi on an orphanage's doorstep.

daddy issues: But they tested Hito and still sent Enji his birth certificate, so I don't know why they lied to Dad.

its a mental breakdown: So I guess you could say I was a secret during the pregnancy even from my own mother?

fuck gravity: But he had you in January, Shoto? And then he had Shinsou in July five months later?

Human Porche: Hold on, Shinsou is 14 by that math.

its a mental breakdown: Actually, the nuns who raised me lied about my birthday to only me so I've been mistakenly putting my birthday down as July 1st on school forms for the last ten years. They did it just so I wouldn't find my mother. Which, again, doesn't make sense. Maybe someone wrote it wrong? But I was actually born on January 12th. Technically me and Sho are fraternal twins with different birthdays.

mother i crave violence: So I'm Haruhi's only not biological son.

is a mental breakdown: We love you, Katsuki.

daddy issues: We love you, Kats.

neko neko kneecaps: They're twins, your honor.

pikachoo: You two are cute being twins.

mother i crave violence: This is creepy. The twins are creepy.

mistakes were made: Next we'll find out Kirishima and Tetsutetsu are twins or something.

ordained: We are. Mom got me, Dad got him. Our Mom has Diamond Skin and Dad has Dermal Armor. We're twins, I'm about an hour older than him and our parents separated and remarried before our quirks even came in.

mistakes were made: Oh my god.

daddy issues: I'm adding that to my conspiracy board and nobody will stop me or they will get pinned to the conspiracy board.

Taglist: @lgbtforeverything @rin-tanaka @everythingisstardust @paint-in-flames @t4t-ummiurk

[comfy-whumpee]

Father, Husband, Slave

Sequel to @ashintheairlikesnow​‘s piece, which has now been published. Savvie is her monster and is used with permission.

TW: abuse, implied child abuse/neglect, whumpee forced to have children with whumper, romantic whumper.

Taglist: @lonesome--hunter, @iaminamoodymoodtoday, @wildfaewhump, @ishouldblogmore, @lektricwhump, @that-one-thespian, @raigash, @burtlederp, @rosesareviolentlyread, @whumptywhumpdump

She makes him listen to her album for the entire drive. It’s an hour and twenty minutes to the airport, time enough for him to hear every track twice. She’s been all about Bella recently, the album she titled after the daughter whose name she does not truly know. But today, on their supposedly romantic getaway, she returns – as she always does – to Firecracker. The album she wrote for him.

 Except he hates it. It’s not for him. It’s for her image of him, the story she has composed around them both, the fairy tale curse he can’t break. While the children are locked away, and their Cinderella does her best to keep them safe, Jax is the boy with a shard digging against his heart, and Savvie is the Snow Queen that takes him away to her castle and refuses to let him go.

Firecracker is full of sweeping, gallant tunes that speak of classical romance, according to the reviews she had him read to her in the lounge on sunny afternoons. In Jax’s opinion, Firecracker is the assassination of his selfhood, dressed in pretty pictures to cover the obsession underneath. Nobody but his father knows that the album is about him, and that’s only if his dad found out about it, and recognises the childhood nickname he’d persuaded Savvie to use.

 Jax hates it. It’s the grand, heavy expectation of her so-called love, blasting out through the shitty car speaker on repeat while Savvie reminisces about each track and each moment of his captivity that inspired it, stories that he’s heard a thousand times before, and lived besides that.

 “I like h-hearing you talk about your music,” he tells her, between shudders of the shocks she laid on him, when they were back at home and he tried to persuade her to wait before dragging him out the door. He tells her this so that she’ll keep talking, and he barely has to reply.

 He didn’t know about the trip until ten minutes before they left. He’d known that she was up to something, and that she’d been moody recently, complaining about losing his audience for her practise time so that he could put the kids down for their naps. She’d been snappy at Izzy at breakfast, telling her not to look so miserable, not recognising the conciliatory smile as a performance his little girl had inherited straight from her father. He’d known the signs and hadn’t seen what was coming.

 He should have known. This is what he thinks about, as she drives him to the airport to take him to another country with his forged passport, for a holiday he doesn’t want, away from a home he hates and a family he loves. He should have known this was coming. Now, Izzy and Jamie are going to wake up without their father, and Hannah will only be able to say that he’s gone. She won’t be able to tell them that he’s coming back.

 He doesn’t know if he is.

 She’s always talked about moving them away. To Russia, she says, where classical musicians are respected and the language is as alien to Jax as hieroglyphics, and any law enforcement trying to reach him will be entangled hopelessly in red tape.

 He doesn’t know where they’re going. It’s a surprise, she says.

 He just hopes, once he’s at the airport, that the destination isn’t Moscow.

 Savvie lapses into silence as the album finishes. There’s a brief pause of silence before it repeats again, fading into a single sustained note.

 “This is good,” she sighs happily. “Time for just us two. You’ve been so preoccupied recently.”

 He was trying to teach Izzy to read.

 “You’re my husband, after all,” she reminds him, her eyes moving to him, chips of ice in a snow-white face. “I should be your priority.”

 “You are, Miss Savvie,” he tells her, rote and instant, words barren of feelings she won’t allow. Then, because he has to cover for those empty spaces, he adds, “I love you.”

 She melts whenever he says it first, but only on the surface. She’s frozen all the way down. “Oh, honey, I love you too. See, you’re doing so much better already.”

 His relationship to her is a performance on which he is graded. His reviews come daily, in words, or in actions, or in small cruelties towards his two helpless children, conceived only to expand her arsenal of weapons over him.

 He looks away from her eyes, when she glances over again. Izzy’s eyes are his hazel-brown, earth and warmth and golden light.

 Jamie’s too.

 But he can’t be a father right now. He’s her husband, Savannah Marcoset’s perfect, pliant man. The Snow Queen takes the winter with her wherever she goes.

 The fire that once defined him is a hearth, now. The only things left to be warmed by it are his children. When Savvie gets him alone, makes him alone, builds walls and drives wedges between himself and the children he was not supposed to love more than her, he allows the embers to hide under white ash, indistinguishable from snow.

 He tried. He tried not to love them. They told him not to. But it had come, hard and burning, a comet through Savvie’s cold winter sky. A falling star.

 What is it that happens in the story? Does love melt the boy’s frozen heart, or is it tears?

 He can’t remember. Maybe Savvie changed the channel before they reached the end.

 Firecracker ends for the second time. The airport is in sight. He still doesn’t know where he’s going, or if he’s coming back.

 She pulls up. He gives her the smile that Izzy learned, and she beams back, eyes lit with joy at separating him from everything else, again.

 He braves the question. “Where are we going, Miss Savvie?”

 She sparkles. White, distant stars in a cold black sky. “Russia.”

[malereader-inserts]

broken crown | i.

Your mother tried to keep you disciplined. But, it was hard to control a kid who was using magic as if it didn’t take time and skill - in which, to you it was. By the time you were seven, the funny old man told you that your family was Merlin.

Word Count:  1,727

A/n: HERE WE GOOO, REMUS SON SERIES IS OUT Yes, this is like the majority of characters live AU. Think we’re going with movies and there will be a lot of hindsight and flashbacks - The title was inspired by the song Broken Crown by Mumford and Sons. Anyone wanting to be on the tag list, message me! Scheduled for every Friday; 12:15am (BST).  Also, feedback is appreciated!

Next >

You were in bed, early morning with the sun beaming down upon you. You lay there still, it was the day that you were moving Harry from his home to the burrow. You could hear your dad clatter about in the kitchen whilst your step mum fiddled with the radio, hopefully finding suitable music to relax to. You got up to look out your window, sighing as you got up from the bed. Taking a quick shower and dressing for the day. 

Just like Hermione had told you to, you had packed a back for the group, promising to join them in the hunt for Horcruxes. You cleaned your room, the night before. Remus could hear a lot of shuffling in your room, he thought better to leave you alone. You put your bag on your neatly made bed with your wand next to it. You hadn’t told your dad you were joining, but you think he knows by now as you descend down the stairs.

“You’re up earlier than usual,” Remus says, surprised as he cooks up breakfast whilst Tonks smirks at you, “Are you alright? Having a fever?”

You rolled your eyes, you wished, but the truth is nerves were setting. Allowing for little sleep for you to get. You shake your head as you sit at the table, whilst Tonks ruffles your hair. Breakfast was almost silent, you didn’t say much as you finished your food. 

“Got something on your mind?” Remus asked, finally, as Tonks does the cleaning up - waving her wand as Remus rolls his eyes at his wife.

You smiled softly, thinking you’re going to miss mornings like that, and mornings when it is loud with your parents, you look at your dad, “No.”

Remus narrows his eyes, he knows you and can see right through your lies, but leaves you be, “Alright, we’ll be leaving soon. You’ll see Sirius again!”

You smiled to yourself, you like Sirius, he teased you relentlessly during the summer before the fifth year - he did live up to being family, he was your father’s best friend after all. You also get to see your friends again, after a month of no to little contact, missing Ron and Hermione dearly. You went back upstairs, slowly this time, taking time to process your surroundings.

Your father kept a lot of pictures of you growing up. You stayed with your mother life before Hogwarts. In fact, you were Harry’s first friend, and your barely ever saw him when you were a child. Your mother sent pictures to your dad, stills and moving. Your dad kept a photo album of your growing, despite not being in your life as much as he liked. 

Your mum always sent him a batch of pictures at the end of the month. Little drawings you made for your dad, creations and such. As said before, you were friends with Harry. But, you promised to your mother that you wouldn’t say anything. Harry would see you once or twice a month, your mother played it off like you were a sickly child that couldn’t leave the house and you knew of Harry’s situation. 

From a young age, you had excelled in magic at a young age. Which is why you were frequently visited by Dumbledore as you grew up. At the age of seven that is when you found out your true meaning, your true purpose. A lot of responsibility for a child.

You and your mother were descendants of Merlin, and rumours had spiralled that someone just as powerful as Merlin would lead the way, to make an example of the wizardry world. Your mother was as average as one could be, as did your uncles, aunts, cousins from that side as well. But, the moment you were born, with the eyes of your father, you had shown ability surpassing your age. 

Dumbledore would observe you when you were five, often coming around, you named him a funny old man as you played tea with him. Filling the cups up with chocolate milk without a wand and it was no accident, with the twinkle in your eye - Dumbledore knew you were something different. 

Your mother tried to keep you disciplined. But, it was hard to control a kid who was using magic as if it didn’t take time and skill - in which, to you it was. By the time you were seven, the funny old man told you that your family was Merlin. 

You knew of Merlin, your mother told tales of him before you went to sleep. The funny old man told you that you would do so many great things in life. At the age of seven, you just wanted to be a kid, and they let you. But, when you turn nine, it seemed like you were always indoors to read, to learn. You figured out you were dyslexic, and yet, you were the only one who was able to read the book of Merlin, he had written centuries ago.

His work, his spells he had created for himself, all passed down with unknown translation, and you found yourself understanding it. Whilst you sometimes struggle with English, you had excelled in runes, both Merlin’s and ancient, and Latin. Your mother died in the summer just before your first year, you were distraught. 

Death Eaters had invaded your home, you hid in the chest where Merlin’s work was kept. You came out of the chest to see Dumbledore, saying you’ll be living with your father. You never wanted to leave Harry, but there was a comforting feeling that you would see him on the Hogwarts train. 

So, here you were in your small room. Your single bed that was positioned under the window, it was cleared and neatly done up. Your wardrobe, chest of drawers and desk was cleared. Your bookshelves neatly presenting your books, your notebooks that you had been filling out since you were nine of your own spells, your own creations, following in the footsteps of Merlin. 

Notebooks you wrote in the unknown runes as well, drawings of diagrams. Notebooks you had written about the years in Hogwarts, neatly in order of what year. How you had unlocked all Merlin’s cursed vaults, also, your adventures with Harry and the other two. Some of your notebooks kept clean, others were battered. You sighed, looking in the mirror one last time, a picture of you and your father taped onto it. 

“(Y/n)!” Remus called you from downstairs, “We have to go!”

You pulled on your jacket, grabbing your bag and wand. Headed downstairs, closing your bedroom door for the very last time in a long while, to see your dad and step-mum with a small bag. You smiled tightly at them, taking a deep breath and apparating to the Burrow.

You had kept your stuff in Ron’s room, the night was slowly setting in, so everyone was going to get ready to meet at Harry’s home. You stood outside, Hermione gripping your hand.

“Ready for one last adventure?” You asked your two best friends.

Remus, Tonks, Sirius, Mad-Eye, Hagrid and Kingsley also exit the house and wait outside with you and your two best friends. They looked at you, giving you a tight smile. You found comfort within them, they had your back like you had Harry’s back with them. Arthur, the twins, Bill and Fleur all came out last.

Mad-Eye looked at the group, counting everyone, before saying everyone was present in the movement of Harry Potter. There were going to meet more aurors at Harry’s, to accompany them in the great flight. You had given Mad-Eye your broom as you looked at the people surrounding you.

After, in a hypothetical good situation, Harry defeats Voldemort. The country, perhaps the world would have to turn to look up at you. A young adult, still finding his way. You looked at the faces, faces you won’t see for many months. You often wonder if that’s what Ron and Hermione were thinking. You looked at Sirius, still the joker he ever was. He gives you a tight smile, his eyes glimmering.

Then you looked at Tonks, your step-mum. You weren’t bothered at the age gap between you and her, many were surprised at the fact. Some were not, after all, if you weren’t prioritising Gryffindor traits, your friends would vouch for you for Hufflepuff before you could even find yourself in Slytherin like Merlin. You welcomed Tonks with open arms, she even lets you call her Dora. Despite the age difference, she does hope one day you can call her mum - even if yours had passed many years before.

Then, you turn to look at your dad. The kind and gentle soul he’ll always be. And yet, he is full of rage as well. Your father was loving, he had wanted to spend your childhood with you. But, your father could not let your mother provide for him and he wanted to keep you safe from the monster he was, though you never had seen him as a monster. He was your father, and that’s all you’ll ever see him as. You’ll miss him when you leave, you won’t be able to write him letters or such. You see him look at you.

There’s pride in his eyes.

You hate it because you see a lot of pride in many people’s eyes. Whilst his pride is that you are his miracle boy, his son, the man he has raised you to be. The other look of pride had scorn you, often at times, the pride in their eyes was because you were following some powerful wizard that they expected you to act and be like.

You want to make a name for yourself, but it’s hard when no one knows that you have a name to follow. 

Responsibilities, why must they tear down the youth of some child, some teenager?

Perhaps, that’s why you and Harry had fallen in love. 

“Everyone knows the plan?” Mad-Eye asked, once more for confirmation, as many answers back with a murmur.

The plan, who didn’t know the plan? It was frustrating as all hell with all the reruns of the damn plan. You sighed as you watched everyone apparated away, you looked at your father with a smile - see you on the other side. 

[tundrainafrica]

Title: Christmas Eve

Summary: Toru goes out at midnight in the dead of winter to experience her first white Christmas and Kyo gets a little worried. 

Part one of my present to @hizashi-yamadas for the Animanga Secret Santa 2020

Link to cross-postings: AO3

Other One Shots:

December 25: Christmas Day (Haru x Rin)

December 26: The Day after Christmas (Arisa x Kureno)

Note: Merry Christmas Elisha and I hope you enjoy! Keep your eyes out for the next installment :D

"You didn't have to stay in, you know."

Toru jumped, once again becoming aware of her surroundings. She had to look back at the clock by the mantle to see how long she had been staring out the window.

"No, I'm happy to stay in!" Toru hoped that saying it out loud would be enough to quell that knot of disappointment in her stomach which only tightened as she looked back at Kyo who was curled up under the kotatsu.

She looked down at Kyo right next to her who was looking more like a cat as he was curled up into a ball under two blankets of the kotatsu. Toru only had to hover her hand lightly over his forehead to feel warmth radiating from it. What alarmed Toru more though was how indifferent he was to her touch.

"Maybe we should see a doctor."

"It's just… really cold…" Kyo answered in between shivers.

Of course it's cold. They were in the northernmost region of Japan in the middle of winter.

It was Momiji who had suggested they spend Christmas in Hokkaido. He first gushed about it one lunch time in late fall and how he hadn't seen one since the last time he'd been to Germany for winter almost a decade ago. When the young blond pitched the plan when he visited their house a week after, Shigure was quick to approve.

Christmases in Tokyo are cold. The trees are bare. The sky is almost always dark, the atmosphere grim. The only things which made the scenery any better were the giant Christmas trees in malls and the Christmas lights that lined the streets.

Tokyo was too near the ocean though to get any snow so early in winter. Having spent every single Christmas in Tokyo, Toru had never experienced a white Christmas in her life. Snow usually came in January or February in Tokyo if they ever got any. They rarely piled up enough though to classify as a white landscape, similar to those she had seen in the figurines at Christmas shops.

Hokkaido was different. The snow piled up by the foot. They were like added decoration, complementing the Christmas lights which shine much brighter against the pure white landscape.

While she kept Kyo company, she entertained herself by watching the colors dance on the roofs, shining for a split second longer than what her eyes had gotten used to watching the Christmas lights on the streets of Tokyo as a child.

Yellow. Green. Red. Blue.

It alternated between the four colors. By the third time, she should have known what to expect. The contrast of the bright lights against the white landscape and the dark night, had only made the colors stand out more. The flashes were brighter and at times, Toru could pick out the small moments where the flashes of red would mix with those of green that had yet to fade.

"I'm sorry for doing something stupid like that, getting sick…" Kyo held the blanket tighter over his mouth. “And now you’re stuck here with me.

Toru noticed a slight blush and wondered if it was from embarrassment at losing to Yuki or the fever that followed being buried in the snow after their fight.

"No! I don't have to be outside every Christmas. Besides it's warm here and if we watch some Christmas specials, we could still get into the atmosphere of Christmas." Toru turned on the television.

“We are now at Odori Park for the Christmas market!”

That’s where Yuki and the others went. Toru thought to herself. She entertained herself by turning her watching TV into a game, challenging herself to maybe find Yuki, Momiji, Shigure or Hatori among the crowd. Do I get bonus points if I find them? Toru thought to herself playfully.

“Looks like a lot of people visiting are couples! Christmas is a time for couples to spread the love after all!” The host walked deeper into the crowd. “Excuse me, may I ask a few questions?”

“Sure!” A girl who looked to be college age answered. Next to her, was a slightly taller, college aged boy.

“Are you locals?”

The girl shook her head. “No, we’re from Chiba.”

“Wow that’s cool! What brings you to Hokkaido?”

The girl looked at the boy next to her and blushed. “It was a surprise actually.”

“It’s our five year anniversary.” The boy chimed in. “And Yuka has never experienced a white christmas.”

“How’s your first white Christmas then?” The reporter turned to Yuka.

“It’s a dream come true.”

The girl’s cheeks turned a little redder, maybe from the biting cold or the questions. As her eyes glimmered when she spoke, Toru guessed it was the latter.

It’s a dream come true. The wonder in her eyes and the words that followed only reminded Toru of herself and another dream she had had decades ago.   

                                   Christmas Eve                                                      

Along Hibiya park, there was an old man who sold figurine parts of a Christmas town, all displayed on a table for everyone to see. Every year since before she could even comprehend the commute to the center of Tokyo, Toru had always rushed to that small shop on the corner of the market with a frazzled Kyoko trailing behind.

At the start of the morning, it was saturated — or rather to Toru, it was complete. A complete replica of the bustling Christmas market in her daydreams and the fairy tales her mother told her about.

The frozen lake with people gliding on top, the children engaging in snowball fights with snow forts twice their size and to the right of it a miniature version of the Christmas market, a more rustic version at least and a snowier version.

It was only a few years after she started to visit the small shop did she start to go back multiple times a day. First, the shoe shop disappeared, then the bakery then the rink.  For a six year old, it was oddly depressing to see the town dwindle into just a few figurines of people walking through. Toru would find herself crying on the way home that night.

Frosty the snowman is gone!

There are no more children playing in the sleds.

How will Santa give the gifts!

It must have been just unintelligible babble to her mother then. On their way home though from the market, as they stepped out of the train and out into the dark streets of their small suburban neighborhood, her mother hugged her tight.

Frosty is fine.

Santa is fine.

Children will still be playing on the sled next year.

Somehow, the conversation had evolved into a little planning. “Let’s go see a Christmas Market like that together Toru! With the frozen like and the snow forts and the sleds.”

They would go through pictures and videos of the towns in Finland, Germany, France, and even in nearby Hokkaido.

“I’ll make sure to save some funds. Maybe we can try for Hokkaido next year?”

Next year never came. There was always something more important than a winter vacation to spend on — electricity, textbooks, hospital bills, house repairs. As Toru grew older she had to forget that dream herself as the reality dawned on her that a single mother and high school dropout was in no position to ever dream of a profound of an experience as travel.

That same dream Toru had forgotten so many years ago made itself known again, manifesting as an ache in her chest and a small tear as she looked out the window the eve of December 24th.

I’ve never had a White Christmas myself. Her mother had mentioned then, as they looked through albums of winter landscapes and Christmas Markets.

Even for just a second. I have to do it. When would she be able to do it again? Life had disappointed her multiple times already. At that moment, it was right in front of her already and Toru was determined to make it come true then.

“Kyo, I’m going to go out for a while if that’s okay?” She went for her coat. “I just need to see something for my mother.”

“Your mother?” Kyo shifted his gaze from the television to her.

“I wanna experience a White Christmas for her.”

“Hey, I’ll come with you.” Kyo offered as he pushed himself out of his comfortable position under the kotatsu.

“You don’t have a coat though,” Toru said looking pointedly at the coat that was still hanging next to the heater to dry. Kyo had soiled his only coat, having been buried in the snow after his fight with Toru.  

“Yeah...” Kyo grimaced

Toru took a peek at her phone while she readied her boots

11:00

“I’ll be back in an hour.” She assured Kyo. Just one white christmas. The next few words were for herself.

Momiji had picked a strategic place to rent a house in Sapporo. The Christmas Market was only a ten minute walk away.

Koibito Park. Lover’s Park. Toru had made sure to google the place before going there. It had a bustling market, not as busy as Odori but enough for Toru to be able to appreciate the festive mood.

As she took in the snow lined roofs, the Christmas lights and the crowds of people bundled up in their own coats, Toru was starting to feel like one of the figurines walking through the Christmas Market in that winter wonderland she’d play with as a kid. Just like what she had imagined, there was a skating rink to the side, a bakery stall,  a cart selling chestnuts and a small German stall selling sausages and spiced wine.

Toru did not need to buy anything, completely satisfied already by the variety of scents — a mixture of cinnamon, apples and bread — wafting through the air. She had closed her eyes for a second as she focused all her senses on that small yet comforting sign that Christmas was nearing.

People were starting to talk about it too. As Toru made her way through the crowds she could hear conversations of Christmas wishes.

What’s your Christmas wish?

Kiss me under the mistletoe? A joke referencing a familiar song Kyoko had sung to her before.

I love you.

Somehow that was what made Toru freeze on the spot. Koibito Park, Lovers Park. Toru found herself looking at the crowd around her.

I’m used to this. I’ve spent new years alone already. This shouldn’t be a big thing. It could have been from instinct but Toru ended up navigating more quickly out of the crowds and into a less saturated part of the market. And to the corner was a little market with a few tiny figurines, all arranged in a little Christmas market.

The six year old in Toru was crying again.

It had been more than a decade since then but Toru found herself walking away farther and farther and into the almost empty back entrance of the market. She quickly wiped away the tears that she had formed and mustered up the biggest smile.

Why am I crying? The atmosphere around the Christmas town is not something you see everyday! You have to enjoy it! Toru scolded herself. As she peeked back around the corner and back at the park, she could not help but put a hand over her stomach, placating the knot that had built up there. Most of the couples were still walking around, some families were carrying sleeping children on their backs --- a sign that it was pretty late already.  

She had spent the past few Christmases in the Soma household over home cooked dinners she had prepared. Years before that, she had spent it with her mother over take out from the nearest fast food chain and Christmas specials.

That was the first time she was counting down alone. She had her white Christmas and she was alone.

From Toru's position behind the park, she could still see some of the Christmas decorations bright across the white landscape. The houses that lined the street had roofs decorated with actual snow.

Just like in the Christmas market figurines she and her mother would admire. Just like in the fairytales her mother would share. Just like in the pictures she and her would look through.  

"Merry Christmas mom," Toru whispered to herself. Admiring the view at least, she remembered why she had decided to make that journey in the first place. "It's a White Christmas."

Toru found herself smiling like she always did, overcompensating for that little something that was missing. Like how the Christmas market wouldn't have even the Christmas market without the people, the view in front of her was not a view without someone to share it with.

Toru looked back at her phone. Ten minutes until midnight. So it wasn't even Christmas yet. Toru made sure to circle around the outskirts of the Christmas market on the way back. She had told herself it was so she wouldn't have a bother to anyone. Deep inside her though, she knew that walking through there would probably make her feel lonelier than she would have been walking along an almost empty street.

The path less taken turned out to be the better choice.

As she made a turn towards the entrance of the park, she made eye contact with those orange eyes she had come to know so well.

"Kyo!"

Kyo was bundled up in a scarf, a beanie and a buttoned down coat that Toru was sure he did not own.

"Merry christmas."

Kyo's scarf was covering much of his lower face. Toru could see though with the way his cheeks rose, the pink in them becoming a little more distinct that he could possibly be smiling.

Either way, she was committed to return his smile with one ten times wider. "Merry Christmas.

As if by magic, the melancholic atmosphere of a while ago dissipated. Toru was finally able to realize the festive mood she had been willing herself to enjoy the past hour.

"Let's go through the market?"

"You're sick though?" Toru put her hand to his forehead.

"It's a cold. I've had worse." Kyo took her hand from its place on his forehead and pulled her into the park. "Besides, it's not everyday you get a white Christmas."

Somehow, the Christmas market started to have a little more color. The lights were a little brighter and being guided through the crowds of people was more exciting than perplexing.

"You want anything to eat?" Kyo asked as soon as they had arrived towards the end of the main path.

Toru's mind was elsewhere. The corner with the stall which sold christmas figurines was almost empty. A few stalls, a few stores and the only human figurines left were a couple on a bench.

Oddly enough, Toru was not fighting back tears. She wasn't lonely. She wasn't empathizing with figurines in an empty Christmas village.

They aren't alone.

"Last one left," The stall owner said.

It was only then did Toru realize she had brought her hand out to touch the figurine. As she looked closer she realized that the boy and the girl were one figurine, molded together and onto the bench below it. "This is so cute!" Toru chimed excitedly, as she ran her hand through the simple yet well placed patterns that made up the lovers on the bench.

"Good thing I prepared a lot of these. It's popular with couples. Christmas is your favorite time after all."

"Our favorite time?" Toru repeated.

"Yeah, I guess it is." Kyo answered the question.

The stall owner grinned. "I hope you're able to have a fun one then. Christmas is a day for lovers."

It had dawned on Toru then, the implications of his statement. She could feel the blood rush to her face, she looked away, completely torn between hiding the truth, consequently lying and correcting him, risking embarrassing him in the process.

"Hey let's go."

Toru realized then that she had spent more than a few minutes pondering that thought a few feet away from the stall.

Kyo guided her back out of the park and as she looked back, she could see the stall owner grinning and waving goodbye.

"Merry Christmas." Kyo pressed the handle of a Christmas bag on her open hand as they made their way out of the park.

Toru peeked inside to see the last remaining Christmas figurine from the stall inside. "This is for me?"

"Who else?"

“You didn’t have to… Really…” Toru tapped at her coat pockets, trying to remember where she had placed her wallet. She started to scramble after a while, her movements a little more chaotic. She dug towards one of the jacket pockets only for it to fall out as she pulled out her hand.

Kyo bent down to get it even before she could move from her spot. “You didn’t have to stay behind either but you did.” He pressed the wallet on her palm. “Besides, you had this goofy smile when you were staring at it. I’d feel bad if I didn’t.”

“I don’t even have a gift yet.” Toru looked away in embarrassment. In fact, she did have the gifts, she had just completely forgotten to take it with her when they were preparing for their trip.

“Just take care of it.” Kyo pulled the scarf further up his face and dug his hands into the coat pocket. “Let’s get back home.” Kyo started to walk a little faster.

Toru found herself trailing behind him. The coat Kyo was wearing started to become a little more recognizable as they reached a part of the streets dotted with more street lights. A blue buttoned down coat that fell too neatly towards the ground, uncharacteristic of Kyo. Toru was aware as well that only one person among them packed an extra winter coat for a two night trip.

“Are you wearing Yuki’s extra coat?”

Kyo didn't look back. “It was the only one I could find at short notice.”

[captainknell]

✨ Ask Game ✨

rules: answer 9 questions and tag 9 people you want to know better

Relationship Status: married 💍

Favorite color: green 💚

Three favorite foods: sweet and sour chicken, Reuben pizza, and desserts!

Song stuck in my head: nothing for once, thank goodness! If there was something it would probably be Man Eater by Hall and Oates AGAIN though *cries*

Last thing I listened to: Avenged Sevenfold's Nightmare Album while driving home in a thunderstorm ⛈️

Last thing I Googled: how many days til my son's birthday (he asked and I was too lazy to count that far)

Time: for bed I hope! 😴

Dream trip: Paris for a bunch of Napoleon sites! 🇫🇷

Anything I really want: I have some goals for my Napoleon collection...

Tagging: I don't like tagging people so consider yourself tagged!

Thanks to @twice-told-tales for doing the same!

[dk-wren]

ALW’s Cinderella Musical Review

DISCLAIMER: I have not seen the actual show, this is only about/covers the album released on July 9, 2021. These are my opinions-you don’t have to agree with them, and that is completely okay.

The first thing I want to mention is how I am genuinely impressed with how different in style and genre Cinderella is compared to some of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s previous works, such as Evita or most notably, Phantom of the Opera. That being said, while I definitely enjoyed listening to Cinderella, I don’t know how much I’ll continue listening to it in the future as a whole. What exactly I mean by “as a whole” is that I do not feel this cast recording is one I would listen to from beginning to end on repeat like I can with other musicals.

There are definitely some stand out numbers that I have been listening to on repeat, most notably “Bad Cinderella” and “Beauty Has A Price,” which from my understanding the latter is the Act 1 finale. Since I knew this musical was going to release a cast recording pretty quickly or close to its targeted opening date, I tried to hold off from listening to song previews or early releases. However, “Bad Cinderella” seems to be the main marketing song and, at least for me, it was hard to avoid (in a good way though). Several times before I listened to the song in full, I kept hearing the same little snippet from the beginning of the chorus, and I could already tell that that song was going to be a bop. And in my opinion, it totally is. I love just cranking my volume up and jamming out to this song when it starts playing.

As for “Beauty Has A Price,” I can’t say why exactly I like this song as much as I do. It could be potentially because of how this song reveals the difference between the Fairy Godmother from say the Disney animated film or even Rodger and Hammerstein’s musical to the Fairy Godmother in this adaptation. Or maybe I’m just a cynic and I like the whole meaning/message behind this song as summed up by its title. Either way, this song in particular is one I would love to see performed live and I think ends in a very fitting way for it to serve as the Act 1 finale.

My first impression of this musical (a.k.a. when it was originally announced) was kinda disinterested since I didn’t feel like another adaptation of Cinderella was necessary. But after listening to the cast recording and hearing more about the plot, I love how this musical is not just another straight adaptation of Cinderella, more or less. Yes it follows similar beats to the classic fairy tale so many people are familiar with, yet at the same time it feels like a new story and not just another version with new music or set in modern times or the real world. If I had to quickly describe the plot of this musical to somebody, I would say it’s like if the entire plot of Cinderella happened twice and this musical focuses on the second time the story is being told, but with a few twists. These include (SPOILERS!!! Skip down to next paragraph if you want to avoid) the new prince or love interest, the townspeople’s attitude towards Cinderella, and from what I could gather, the complete omission of what I call the shoe hunt (in other words, when, in other adaptations, every women who attended the ball has the chance to try on the slipper left behind at the palace to prove she’s the mysterious girl Prince Charming was smitten by and will marry).

Every now and then when I was listening to the cast recording on YouTube I would scroll through the comments, and I was happy to see several people seeming to really enjoy the song/album. I have no idea if they were like me and only knew the show by listening to it online or actually had the chance to see this show live. Regardless, as one of the first musical cast recordings to be released simultaneously with its show opening in well over a year, it sure was a treat to get to listen to a musical that was only just starting its journey, and a nice change from listening to musicals that have been closed for some time as I had been doing for the past several months. Like I said in the beginning, while I don't know how much I will continue to listen to this musical in its entirety in the future, I sure do hope it is a success in the West End and will hopefully make it over to Broadway. Who knows, this may be a musical I’ll come to love after some time passes or I get the chance to see this performed live!

- DK W

[dwellordream]

“Middle-class girls who no longer spent their days as their mothers’ apprentices in domestic maintenance and manufacture were not left to their own devices. Just as their mothers’ responsibilities reoriented from home industries to the rearing of children, girls’ own primary goals shifted from the manufacture of cloth and the preserving of foodstuffs to the culturing of themselves. Self-culture was a broad-based project in the nineteenth century which was central to the emergence of a middle class. 

In the increasingly fluid and unpredictable climate that accompanied the emergence of a market economy, young men and women were urged to form regular habits of restraint and self-control as their best protection against future disasters. A self-regulating man could chart an even course for his family; a self-cultured and refined woman could safeguard her family’s standing whatever economic circumstances should befall her. Self-culture was especially critical for girls for whom freedom from domestic labor left a good bit of free time during their impressionable years. 

The advice writer William Thayer, who at midcentury had worried that for some girls the result might be ‘‘a study in how to kill time,’’ offered an alternative: ‘‘What an opportunity for mental culture and religious improvement!’’ Thayer’s proposed means to these ends was significant. He proposed that girls accomplish their goals through reading, ideally a hundred pages a day. The elevation of reading to a central and defining aspect of bourgeois girls’ lives helped to define a specifically Victorian adolescence. 

Many girls followed Thayer’s advice and read for several hours a day, often supplementing their reading with the writing of letters or the keeping of a journal and diary. Reading and writing, the twin activities of literacy, became the vehicles to self-culture and the central activities of many privileged Victorian girls’ lives. They reinforced each other abundantly, as girls read and then wrote about what they read—time profitably filled twice over. 

Although Victorians came to debate the influence of various kinds of sensational reading material and the health of the practice of writing gushing prose, the activities of literacy had much to recommend them to adults over other occupations. As pastimes which took place in the imagination, they had a provisional quality which allowed for the displacement of desires for drama. In the best of circumstances, the cautionary tales of Victorian moralists and even the passionate dramas of romance would be processed through a girl’s writing and help her to grow into an understanding woman of character, restraint, and refinement. 

Many middle-class girls read voraciously—their reading often limited only by supply. The diaries and journals they left contain lists of books read over the course of a year and descriptions of time spent in reading over the course of a day. The advice writer Heloise Hersey estimated in 1901 that in the years between age twelve and twenty-one, ‘‘the average young gentlewoman reads a novel more than an hour a day. Thus she gives one and one-third years of solid working days to this occupation.’’ 

It was common for reading, scattered through the day, often accompanied by writing, to be the single most time-consuming activity mentioned in girls’ diaries. One girl reported reading in four different books through the course of a day, and sometimes reading straight through (over the course of several days) such massive volumes as George Eliot’s Daniel Deronda, and Dickens’s Oliver Twist. Another noted that on July 14, 1864, ‘‘I believe that I have not read a bit today—such a singular thing that I must record it.’’

Girls read by the window, in the hammock, on the horsecars, as well as in the parlor. Not all of girls’ reading was for the same purpose, of course. Some of it was dutiful and dull; some of it was romantic and dangerous; some of it was inspirational. But it is clear that in comparison both with the eighteenth and the late twentieth centuries, nineteenth-century Victorian girls of a certain class came to spend much of their lives—and perhaps also do much of their living—on and through the written word. 

The dominance of the Victorian culture of reading and writing was sufficient that even girls who had other substantial chores often used their curtailed discretionary time engaged in literacy. Thus Hannah Davis, who at the age of twelve in 1851 appeared to be living out as ‘‘help’’ in Ohio, reported one day’s activity: ‘‘I got up eat my breakfast washed the dishes and read till noon then washed the dishes after dinner and read till supper eat supper washed the dishes and went to read a while then Milton Elvira Sarah and me told some tales and went to bed.’’ 

Of course, we know about these reading regimens only because they were accompanied by writing regimens. Like reading, writing was a plastic medium which filled various needs and purposes. As witnessed by numerous late Victorian portraits, girls frequently spent hours at desks, composing poetry, writing letters, pasting scrapbooks, keeping diaries or journals. The youth magazine St. Nicholas received a poem from one girl not yet ten and cautioned her, ‘‘Don’t write verses yet, cleverly as you do them for one of your age. There is time enough for that’’—time which would come when she reached her teens. 

This time came not only for girls in the city, who could not ‘‘frolic’’ in the open air, as the little poet was advised to, but for rural girls as well. Like Mark Twain’s Emmeline Grangerford, who lived on the banks of the Mississippi and wrote mournful poetry that she kept in a scrapbook, actual girls from the hinterlands, too, kept diaries and wrote poetry, and intermingled their descriptions of household chores with locks of hair, autograph albums, and florid poetry. 

Writing was sometimes a solitary act, as we envision it today, but it often had an important social component. Girls formed clubs to write stories together, wrote poetry for each other, and often described writing their diaries together. Writing was not simply an activity for moments of solitude and silence, but one which compelled attention even among friends and in company. This ‘‘crescendo of verbal activity’’—a fascination with both the power and the possibilities of literacy—played a variety of roles for girls in the process of becoming women.

In particular, girls’ writing was an arena of contest between parents and daughters. Girls came to use their writing, especially their writing of diaries, not as an escape from the Victorian family, but as a way of discovering self within it. Girls wrote in a variety of genres and hands, often composing notes and letters to friends within the same city. They were particularly encouraged to occupy themselves by keeping accounts of their lives in the form of diaries. Diaries filled a variety of functions for the girl diarist. 

Arising from an empiricist desire to record events accurately, diaries served to store a range of information, from financial accounts to observations about the wind and the weather. Private writing had religious roots as well, in the spiritual autobiography or conversion narrative of earlier days. Parents encouraged diary writing for their daughters as a means of spiritual reflection and to promote good character and virtue. Parents had always encouraged virtuous conduct among their offspring, of course, but in eighteenth-century New England, sustained good behavior was secondary to a conversion experience as the mark of a good Christian. 

Unlike tales of conversion, however, which recounted the one-time odyssey of the soul to God, the nineteenth-century diary made religious virtue a daily affair to be demonstrated through repeated good deeds and regular habits. With the disestablishment of the church and the dislocations occasioned by urbanization and industrialization, internalized character and steady habits assumed new importance. This function of the diary is captured by the term used by the modern theorist Michel Foucault to describe the ritual practice of the Catholic confessional: parents hoped that girls’ diaries would be ‘‘disciplines of the self,’’ which would encourage them in their pursuit of a reliable and steady goodness.

Parents and advice givers suggested journals for girls and boys, but the conventional wisdom was that girls took to writing and diary keeping more naturally. Agnes Repplier, who wrote a piece on ‘‘The Deathless Diary’’ for an 1897 issue of the Atlantic Monthly, repeated this common assumption: ‘‘Even little girls, as we have seen, have taken kindly enough to the daily task of translating themselves into pages of pen and ink; but little boys have been wont to consider this a lamentable waste of time. . . . As a rule, a lad commits himself to a diary, as to any other piece of work, only because it has been forced upon him by the voice of authority.’’ 

Repplier had good reason to know about the affinity between girlhood and writing. As a convent schoolgirl in the 1860s, she was one of a band of friends who were ‘‘addicted’’ to poetry and spent long hours copying it into blank books. There were structural reasons for the popularity of diary keeping among girls, as we have seen. The affluence of middle-class urban families marginalized daughters’ work within the household, yet the constraints of propriety at midcentury discouraged outside employment. Advisers encouraged girls to devote themselves to the development of order in all features of their lives. 

Once one’s room was cleaned, there was one’s own life to systematize. In 1878, when the children’s magazine St. Nicholas published a piece on keeping a journal, it gave as the first reason that it taught habits of order and regularity. Because the purpose of a journal was to train a girl in orderliness, clearly the entries themselves ought to be orderly and reflect an ordered life. Ideally, therefore, a diarist wrote daily, and often drafted her entries first before copying them into her diary. The diary was to be a credit to a girl’s accomplishments, and those included her penmanship. 

The diary entry, like the constitutional walk, was usually a ritualized part of the day; often the girl wrote it in the bedroom immediately before retiring. It was considered less stressful than schoolwork by both parents and their daughters. The St. Nicholas adviser, W. S. Jerome, suggested a routine recording of the weather, letters received or written, money paid or received, the day of beginning or leaving school, visits, books read, all set down in the correct order of time. The end result would be a useful family history. As he wrote, ‘‘Perhaps, some evening when the family are sitting and talking together, some one will ask, ‘What kind of weather did we have last winter?’ or ‘When was the picnic you were speaking of?’ and the journal is referred to.’’

Clearly, the journals Jerome had in mind were semipublic family records rather than personal confessions. They were also designed for self-grooming along prescribed lines rather than experimentation. Of course there was another, romantic use of the diary more familiar to modern Americans. Jean-Jacques Rousseau borrowed from Catholic ritual the title of his revolutionary Confessions, which were designed less to appease an angry God than to explore an individual life history. As such they represented less a ‘‘discipline of the self ’’ than a ‘‘technique of the self,’’ in Foucault’s terminology. 

Rousseau’s romantic exercise in self-construction provided one model for the nineteenth-century diary, but it was not one that most parents had in mind for their daughters. Although they often encouraged their daughters to use diaries for self-exploration, they remained ambivalent about girls’ rights to a self separate from family duties and responsibilities. The advice literature describing the practice of diary keeping rushed to close off romantic possibilities. It was better for a girl to have no diary at all than to have one which encouraged fantasy and ambition and distracted a girl from her domestic priorities.”

- Jane H. Hunter, “Writing and Self-Culture: The Contest Over the Meaning of Literacy.” in How Young Ladies Became Girls: The Victorian Origins of American Girlhood