#We went to the planetarium and everything

[maeamian]

It rules when your friends have kids and you get to watch them grow up and show them cool stuff, just IMO.

[tsukii0002]

Finally he could sit down to read, but he didn't expect that when he opened his book a note would fall out “look for the green book in your room” somewhat intrigued he followed the instructions.

In his room there was a book with the color of his eyes that he had never seen, and when he opened it a message was projected in front of him “it is soft and perfect for sleeping in the attic you will find it”.

In the attic there was a pillow in the shape of a tricolor cat, with a smile he picked it up and saw embroidered on one of the ears “look in the fridge, better hurry”.

In the fridge he could see the cat head candy from a series he liked and with icing written on the plate it read “You're fast, but keep looking now in the bathroom mirror.”

In the lobby he could see a volume of the adventures of Detective Tama, but even though the cover was the same the title said something else “they say the stars shine brighter than gold, look in the planetarium.”

On the bathroom mirror was a message written in lipstick, a shade hhe wouldn't mind wearing, “your mission over is not, Tama-san waiting in the lobby is”.

In the planetarium there seemed to be nothing strange, until he looked at the projection of the stars, these formed a new message “you have almost arrived, in the library the last clue is waiting for you”.

Amused and intrigued he arrived at the library and there he saw on the floor, a strange book, he picked it up and his eyes opened wide. It was full of photos, tickets and small mementos of all the adventures of the last times, messages and a thousand other things and at the end, a new instruction “we are waiting for you, come to where it all began”.

Satan felt his head buzzing, only a person would do something so simple and fascinating at the same time. He felt a feeling that wasn't anger fill him as he ran and as he reached the student council room….

“Happy Birthday Satan!!!!”

Everyone was waiting for him with confetti and balloons, everything was decorated. Satan blinked as he looked at all his loved ones, even if it was hard for him to admit it, and he couldn't help but laugh out loud imagining his brothers doing that little silly treasure hunt. Mc went over and gave him a hug as the others came up to him to give him a gift.

Those moments were priceless, he didn't need parties, or gifts, or opulence, just those moments, just those moments with his family.

“Thank you.”

He had nothing more to say.

.

.

With Satan I get mushy 🥺, I can't help it, he deserves to be happy, and spend good times with his family, even if the cheesiness gets the better of me. So, happy birthday to you, little anger gremling 💚.

.

.

[bluecapsicum]

Cold winter skies illustrations for my daily meteorological fiction project, Reports From Unknown Places About Indescribable Events (Twitter, Instagram, Mastodon, archives on my website).

Keep reading for the companion texts.

December 31st: We report: sometimes, we think we know what to expect when it comes to the sky. We go a few days, maybe a couple of weeks without much happening, a rainbow perhaps, a contrail... We think we know the sky. It happens then, that the clouds twist and knit into impossibilities.

January 4th: We report: we went to the planetarium with our expert, once. We spent an hour watching as we got further, and further away from Earth, then the solar system, our galaxy, and then our galaxy group, until there was nowhere to go anymore. We got brought home, to our beating heart.

January 11th: We report: good morning, we would like to draw attention to a lovely and unexpected event occurring at this moment. Would you please look up to the clouds and notice how, though the sky is largely grey, the gulls flying overhead are tinted orange by the sunrise light? Thank you.

January 12th: We report: in the hollow of a valley, sleepy lightning bugs. There is grey little light dragging itself through the air like it does not want to be here, and we are cold with our hands in our pockets and our nose in our scarf and our ears exposed and bright red (nobody sees).

January 22nd: We report: we have missed a train today, but we can only hope that the train dearly missed us in return. We waited at the station for the next one for a long time, watched people get off and on different trains until it got too cold for us to wait outside. Wispy cirrus.

January 27th: We report on a winter morning: there was a robin and a few hares, blending in with the snowy grass. The snowflakes were heavy enough that we could hear them fall around us. We could smell the cold air until our nose started running. Grey sludge on the side of salted roads.

January 28th: We report: it is after nightfall, but there are still many sparrows chattering in the trees. The air is dank out here, and as we walk, we can feel condensation forming on our face, the white puffs of our breath dissolving into the night. Our expert walks a few steps behind us.

January 31st: We report sometime around sunrise (what sun, rising from where, one might ask on this cloudy morning). The light, weak and mournful, does not weigh enough to reach down the deep blue dark of the ocean. The sea, torn by the wind, is busy frothing and making everything capsize.

February 20th: We report: the barometer and the thermometer are both down. It rained a lot last night, and today, the waters are murky, agitated even through the advection fog. We cannot see the horizon. We picked up a nice, pearlescent seashell that glimmered in the sand amidst all the grey.

February 24th: We report: hares in the fields, then a partridge later. The mud is frozen, the clouds are thick. Not much wind. Some colza and daffodils blooming on the roadside. A little bit more of February, its low skies and its half-steps, the transitions in the light and the time.

[putschki1969]

すき / DREAMS COME TRUE covered by Hikaru

Hello, this is Hikaru. Thank you for watching! This is the 6th installment of my "Singing & Playing Challenge"🎹 I don't have the proper equipment, so I recorded it on my iPhone😅 The song is "Suki" by DREAMS COME TRUE, a single released in 1994. I fell in love with this song after discovering "DREAMS COME TRUE GREATEST HITS "THE SOUL"" released in 2000. I have a lot of favourite songs by Dreams Come True, but I remember being deeply moved by the words woven together on top of of such a simple melody. I'll read everyone's suggestions in the comment section and think about whether to release another part in the series!

Hikaru Wednesday Music Champ Broadcast

Following her short broadcast last Saturday, Hikaru went back to her regular Wednesday live streams. She had been made aware that lots of people missed the first half of that broadcast so she was kind enough to explain the situation one more time. She didn't really go into much detail, just repeated what she had already shared with us. With too many people involved in the project, things just didn't go according to plan and in their position as singers, they couldn't really do anything about it except accept the less than ideal circumstances. Hikaru then made sure to emphasise that everything she's currently talking about is her position only and it doesn't necessarily reflect Wakana's or Keiko's opinion on the matter. In fact, she says that even if she is able to talk about certain things, that doesn't mean that Wakana and Keiko have the same freedom. They are all operating under different conditions so they can't handle the situation in the same manner. We should also be aware that if there are things she doesn't mention it is not because she is purposefully leaving us in the dark about certain details. It is simply because she isn't able/allowed to talk about those things. She has shared as much with us as she is able to.

KEIKO LIVE in the DARK -Sagittarius- K021🏹 in Fukuoka

Keiko held another Planetarium Live today at the Fukuoka City Science Museum Dome Theater. She was once again accompanied by her guitarist Yas Nakajima to allow for a very simple arrangement highlighting Keiko’s singing and the beautiful starry sky.

Tweet by Keiko | Tweet by Yas Nakajima | Instagram post by Keiko

Title: 『KEIKO LIVE in the DARK -Sagittarius- K021』 Date: 2024/10/26; 19:30 Start (19:00 Open) Venue: Fukuoka City Science Museum Dome Theater Tickets (Ticket Board): Regular Seat: 8,000円 | Regular Seat B (obstructed view): 6,000円 KEIKO Official Fan Club Ticket Lottery: 24/8/21 ～ 24/8/26 General Ticket Sale: 2024/9/7~ Event Homepage: https://planetarium.konicaminolta.jp/livedark/keiko2024_fukuoka/

During one of the MCs, Keiko mentioned Wakana because of course, she can't perform in Fukuoka without talking about Wakana. The final MC must have been something very moving. From what I have seen, Keiko must have cried at some point. Naturally, everyone who attended the event was moved to tears. Unfortunately, they are not sharing any details other than the fact that Yuki must have told Keiko that she wanted her to continue singing in the steadfast manner we are all used to so with these words in mind, Keiko doesn't plan to stop singing any time soon. Setlist-wise, I'm just so shocked to see "Kimi ga Hikari ni Kaete Iku" on there. *sobs* Forever sad that I missed this. Damn it, sometimes I really hate that I live so far away.

Setlist (Source)

Alcohol 　MC 1

Yuuyami no Uta

KIMI GA NEMURU KARA

Close to you

Yoru no Uso to 　MC 2

Burn In The Wind

Te to Te to Me to Me

Mune no Yukue 　MC 3

Kaze no Machi e

Latte

Kimi ga Hikari ni Kaete Iku 　MC 4

YOUR

[hendersister]

hazy shade of winter

summary: after vecna opens the gates, you and steve decide to stay behind in hawkins to help clean up the mess.

pairing: steve harrington x henderson!sister reader

title 🎵: hazy shade of winter by the bangles

It’s been about a month since Vecna opened the gates to the Upside Down. A lot has changed since that fateful March night. Hawkins is almost unrecognizable now. 

As the gates opened, Hawkins was rocked with a 7.4 magnitude earthquake. People died, homes were destroyed. It was so bad that the government had to bring in the Army to help deal with the fall out. They believe what happened in Hawkins was a natural disaster of near-unprecedented scale, but you know the truth. There was nothing natural about it… 

Since the gates expanded throughout town, the Upside Down has been slowly seeping into the real world. It’s invading Hawkins. People are fleeing in droves and you don’t blame them. 

You’ve changed a lot too. Before Vecna, you were looking forward to leaving Hawkins and going off to college. Now that feels like a lifetime ago. You aren’t going anywhere anymore. Things are getting bad in Hawkins and you want to be close to your mom and your little brother, Dustin, during this time.

You and the rest of the party lost the battle against Vecna. You feel partially responsible and now you feel like it's your job to clean up the mess Vecna made. Vecna may have won the battle when he opened the gates, but the war has just begun. You are not leaving town until the gates are closed and threats from the Upside Down are gone for good. 

Your boyfriend, Steve, feels the same way. You and Steve had talked about getting out of Hawkins before everything happened. But now he’s just as committed as you to stay behind and help save Hawkins. You’re so grateful to have Steve by your side. He makes you feel safe. 

Even though the world is ending, the show must go on. Your life didn’t completely stop because of Vecna. You’re still moving forward and hitting big milestones, like graduating high school. Today was Graduation Day for Hawkins High. You’re happy and excited that school’s out, but with everything else going on, it didn’t feel like a big deal like it was supposed to. 

The graduation ceremony was weird. A lot of people fled town before the school year ended so you only graduated with about half of your class. But at least you had Steve, Dustin and your mom in the stands cheering you on. There were memorials for Chrissy Cunningham, Jason Carver and Patrick McKinney. Sadly but not surprisingly, Eddie wasn’t even mentioned. He should’ve been walking across that stage with you and the rest of class of ‘86.

After Graduation, you went out for a celebratory meal with Steve, Dustin and your mom. Then you and Steve went off to do your own thing. 

You’re currently lying on the hood of Steve’s car, stargazing. It’s something that you and Steve used to do all the time. You fell in love under the stars. Unfortunately, you can’t really see the stars in Hawkins anymore. You’re mostly just watching spores of particles from the Upside Down falling from the sky. It reminds you of a hazy shade of winter.

“If things get any worse here, I think we should go to the planetarium next time we want to watch the stars,” you chuckle, trying to lighten the mood.

“Mhmmm,” Steve mumbles.

You look over to Steve, studying his face. You’re trying to get a read on him. You’ve noticed he’s been acting a bit off since dinner ended. He’s a lot more quiet than usual. Something is up with him.

“Steve, what’s wrong? Talk to me,” you try to get your boyfriend to open up.

Steve sighs. 

“It’s nothing…. It’s just…. My parents are leaving Hawkins and putting the house up for sale,” Steve reluctantly admits.

Your jaw drops.

“What?! That doesn’t sound like nothing!” you exclaim.

“My mom and dad are moving but I’m not going anywhere,” Steve assures you. 

You let out a sigh of relief. Your boyfriend continues venting.

“The worst part is that they won’t let me stay at home even though they will never be able to sell it. My asshole dad is just trying to teach me some stupid lesson…”

“When did you find out about this?” you question Steve.

“Last night,” your boyfriend answers.

“Last night!? Why didn’t you say anything earlier today?” you scrunch your forehead.

“It’s your day, Y/N. I didn’t want to make it about me,” Steve tells you.

Your heart melts a little bit. Steve is so sweet and selfless. Despite all the shit going on in his own life, he always puts you first. You snuggle up closer to your boyfriend, wrapping a protective arm across his chest.

“When are your parents leaving?” you ask with concern.

“They’re trying to leave as soon as possible so I need to find a new place like immediately,” Steve explains, “I don’t think it’s gonna be too hard. With everyone leaving town, I can probably rent a whole house for pretty cheap.”

Some people who fled Hawkins put their homes up for rent because they knew they could never sell it. Most of the renters are people whose homes were destroyed when the gate opened but are too poor to move out of Hawkins and completely start over.

“I don’t like the thought of you being all alone,” you say with a quiet seriousness in your voice. 

Steve takes a deep breath and nods, understanding. He can tell that you’re worried. He’s trying to figure out the right words to say, and then-

“I wouldn’t be alone if you moved in with me…”

You pull away from Steve and sit up. You’re in a bit of shock. You weren’t expecting that.

“Huh?”

“I think we should move in together,” Steve repeats with more confidence

Your eyes widen.

“Are you serious? Like we’d live in a house that we both live in?”

Steve nods.

“Yeah. I mean, I’m sneaking over to your place like every other night anyways. Moving in together will mean less sneaking around,” he tries to convince you.

“But I thought you liked sneaking around. You’re stealthy like a ninja, remember?” you tease.

“Just think about it, Y/N! We’ll get a little place in Hawkins and we’ll figure it out. We can be like real grown ups. It would be our house. No stress, no parents. A place just for us,” your boyfriend says.

Just for us. That sounds perfect.

“Okay, let’s do it,” you smile.

Steve’s face lights up.

“Really?”

“Really,” you nod before pulling your boyfriend into a kiss.

You and Steve are making out on the hood of his car when-

GROWL

You and Steve stop kissing immediately as soon as you hear the growls in the distance. You two exchange knowing looks. You have no idea if it's just an animal or a far more sinister creature from the Upside Down, but neither you or Steve want to stick around and find out.

“I think we should get out of here,” Steve tells you.

“Yeah,” you nod your head in agreement.

Steve jumps off the hood of the car and offers his hand. You take your boyfriend’s hand and he helps you off the hood. Steve opens the car door on the passenger’s side and you quickly get in. Steve closes your door and looks around, making sure that nothing is trying to sneak up on the two of you. Then he goes around to the driver’s side and gets in the car.

As Steve drives away, you can’t help but be a little bummed that your moment of bliss was interrupted by a terrible reminder that you’ve still got a lot of shit to deal with…

[cherrysurf]

“Aurora”

-HQ one shot: iwaizumi x f! reader

~this is based on the song sienna by the maria’s (based on her ex lover and hers future and future kid that they talked about) [your guys was aurora in this case hence the name]

The breakup felt like an icky flu, you weren’t completely broken about it per se you just didn’t want him to go but all good things have an ending. You guys ended on good terms since you had mutual friends and thought it was best, It was springtime that you and iwa had ended things.

So as you sit here now in you’re backyard drinking tea and staring off into the sunset healing yourself the best way you can, You find yourself remembering all the times you had with iwa, Your guys relationship truly felt like something out of a book it was so unique that it was stuck in your head like your name. Something you’ll always remember and can recite with no issue, As it comes to your surprise you hear a knock. You in your causal pjs get up from the lounge chair and go walk to the front door thinking it was oikawa coming to bug you, it was actually iwaizumi…

“hey can i come in? I know you might not wanna see me right now but i kinda just wanted to sit and silence with someone and you know shittykawa sucks at that” he chuckes lightly

You simply nod in agreement. It was true you and iwa loved to sit and silence it was a different type of company together but alone which was comforting to him and you , It was a common interest you two shared. As you guys make your way into the back yard with warm tea with honey in hand watching the sun go down feeling him with you like you did before when you guys were together, you break the silence.

“You know aurora would’ve been cute.” you laughed a bit, he turns his head to you shocked to even hear that named be mentioned since you two were dating.

That one night when he slept over, before you two went to bed you couldn’t sleep at started discussing baby names with iwa “i think if it’s a boy we should name it after you” you had told iwa and “i like that and if it’s a girl name it after you?” he replied, “no i think id prefer aurora to be honest” you said. “why aurora?” iwa said confused and questioning the name. “Because remember that one night we went to the planetarium and we saw the aurora lights in the showroom and you looked at me for the first time and said how much you loved me? that’s why.” you responded. He laughed amused and his heart warm that you wanted to name your daughter after that memory, “okay i love that i agree with you y/n” he said, “prefect it’s settled then aurora will be her name”

As the flash back in his head ended he responds with a small smile “yeah she would’ve looked just like you” “but with a temper like you, and run around like you” you responded giving him a non serious side eye. he says “she’d sing to all her pets in the way you did, be sensitive like you.” you both chuckle as you playfully shove his arm for the remark he made. It felt nice to be normal for once. To talk about your guys past like a joyful memory and not a painful one, your heart still yearned for iwa and in someway you knew his did too, but it just wasn’t the right time and as long as you had him in this way instead of no way you could live with it for now.

As you guys sit in silence once more and think of all the times you had. silently in each others heads enjoy the present moment feeling grateful about everything you’ve been through The sun finally sets and he disappears.

[rashomonss]

A HUMANS WRATH

Part XI

previous part

taglist: @miridiums-writing, @zerchila, @aeongiies, @xmoogx, @coffeeandtealol, @food-lover9000, @l0diluvs, @vichsy, @valeriele3, @entolomaeden, @acaribeau, @sillybeanzo, @jessiegerl, @capricorn-anon, @crescentworld, @g-l-1-t-c-h-3-r, @chumbinhoeba, @chaos-n-kindness, @strawberryfire17, @zenxvii, @misscaller06, @luminarysol @simpinginthecorner, @your-next-daydream, @bontensbabygirl, @crxwned-mxnarch

a/n: so this is totally unrelated to the story and obey me entirely but if any of you are bsd enjoyers did y’all read chapter 107?? y’all almost didn’t get a new chapter of this story bc of that damn chapter. it made me want to jump off the nearest 50ft building. I wanted to die after reading that fr, so bc asagri made me cry we’re getting double angst for this chapter. anyway I’m done with my rant now enjoy!

oh and p.s. I’m putting which perspective you’re reading as since some found it confusing last chapter. the original is og MC, and the wrathful human is wrath! MC just in case it’s confusing!

warnings: slightly longer chapter, lesson 16 spoilers, descriptions of dying, choking, mentions of blood, abuse of pacts (slightly)

a success for one side

The perspective of the original

“Lucifer was there really no other way we could have done that?” Levi asked, struggling to get up off the ground. His whole body ached and blood dripped from his mouth pooling onto the planetarium ground in heavy amounts.

“Levi close yer mouth, you're gonna lose more blood if ya keep it open” Mammon said, making his way over to his younger brother.

“Yeah there could have been a different way of doing this, we’re not all masochists, like you Lucifer” Satan spat. Blood then fell from his nose onto his shirt and he cursed in response.

“In my defense I never agreed to this” Asmo yelled. “My whole body is covered in bruises and blood Lucifer! I have a photoshoot on Monday!”

“Belphie’s out cold” Beel said, moving closer to his twin ignoring the blood falling from his face.

“That’s no surprise, Mc really did a number on him. I wouldn't be surprised if he was out for a few hours because of it.” Satan sighed.

“I’ll take him to your room, Beel.” Lucifer said, walking over to pick up the youngest.

“Lucifer ya look like you're gonna fall over” Mammon said watching the oldest slowly walk over to their younger brother.

“I’m fine,” He stated. “For now we should focus on cleaning ourselves up and heading after Mc”

“I doubt Mc wants to see us right now…” Levi sighed.

“Levi, close your mouth” Mammon yelled as blood began to fall on him.

“Ahh!” Levi screamed.

Mammon sighed and helped Levi and the rest of his brothers get up after Lucifer left with Belphie. If he’s being honest he doesn’t remember much of what happened due to blacking out halfway through your wrath episode. After you were done he and his brothers each woke up laying on the floor with pools of blood surrounding them.

He honestly didn’t like Lucifer’s plan of taunting you into a pact, but sacrifices had to be made if they wanted you to stay here.

You needed to stay here.

More often then he and his brothers would like to admit they really did miss their Mc. However they did love and enjoy your company just as much. Their only wish was that their Mc was just like you.

Interacting and having fun with you was always bittersweet in a sense since it reminded them of a time before the incident, a happier time before everything went downhill.

If only you could have forgiven them.

It didn’t matter how much they did miss their own Mc, because they were going to keep you here in their place. You reminded them of the personality they were used to, it was as if this other version of you currently with them had completely forgotten about the incident and moved on with their life.

Sure you had a breakdown or two about your feelings but they sincerely apologized about what happened and you forgave them, causing them to finally be able to move on as well.

They all believed everything was going great, after all you never complained or spoke about anything being wrong with them so they were blind to the truth. You went along with everything and anything they did which made them desire your attention and affection more. These demons were so touch starved for you to the point of it becoming a problem.

However they weren’t going to lie, seeing you that upset really did hurt them. Most of them disagreed with Lucifer’s first plan to make a pact with you, and the second plan made the brothers split in half. The third and last plan was the one they currently just carried out.

It was because Lucifer had the bright idea to upset you so much that you’d finally be willing to make a pact with him for your enjoyment. Belphie also making a pact with you was a bonus, after all the youngest finally got what he wanted, even if it did cost him.

As Mammon finally finished cleaning up Levi and a few more of his brothers he couldn’t help but wonder where you were heading off too. You mentioned you had something to do after you dealt with them, he just couldn’t remember what it was…

After leaving the House of Lamentation you stormed in the direction of the Demon Lord's Castle, with the intent of speaking to the prince and his butler. Nothing but pure rage filled your thoughts as you clenched your bloody fists. You were going to demand them to send you back to your timeline no matter what.

As you reached the door to the castle you prepared to knock, however before you even got the chance the door opened revealing a smiling Barbatos on the other side.

“Good evening Mc, what brings you here? If I’m not mistaken I don’t remember arranging for you to come over.”

“I need to speak with Diavolo.” You simply stated, right now you were not in the mood to make small talk with the butler.

“Ah well we should get you cleaned up first and foremost you appear to be bleeding” Barbatos said reaching for your hand.

Reluctantly you let him take it and examine the condition of your bloodied hands and arms. “Don’t worry about it, it's not my blood anyway.” You said pulling away.

Barbatos’ eyes widened just the slightest as he gave you a surprised look before trying to speak again, only to get cut off by the prince himself.

“Mc are you okay? You’re not hurt, are you?” Diavolo asked, slightly frantically as he made his way over to you pushing his butler aside in the process.

“Like I said previously I’m fine. I’m not the one you should be asking that question too anyway”

Diavolo looked confused then spoke. “What do you mean? Did you happen to get into a fight with some demons? Where are the brothers..?”

“At the House of Lamentation. Listen I didn’t come here to talk about them I came here to ask for help Dia”

“Of course Mc, but first I need to ask, what’s wrong? Are you in any danger of some sorts, if you are I assure you Barbatos and I can take care of it”

You sighed before speaking. How were you to go about telling the demon prince himself that you were from a different timeline? Your Barbatos told you not to mention that detail at all costs because it could somehow affect the future, however you didn’t know how much longer you could stay in a place like this. This timeline was beginning to bring out parts of yourself you tried so hard to keep hidden, who knows what else it could cause you to do if you stayed here any longer…

“I am not your Mc.” You stated.

Diavolo and Barbatos shared a confused glance at each other before you continued.

“I’m from a different timeline where different events have occurred, but somehow I got switched with your Mc from this timeline. I need your help to get back before I cause anymore damage here then I already have.”

It was silent for a few seconds, and the two who were standing in front of you stared at you with blank faces. Seconds soon turned into minutes and you began to get worried since neither of them showed any signs of responding.

Anxious now you prepared to defend your words until Diavolo smiled and walked towards you, with Barbatos soon following behind.

“Oh Mc, don’t worry I believe you, after all I could tell right away that you weren’t from here!” Diavolo laughed.

“Is that so…?” You said awkwardly.

“Of course! You’re much nicer and more understanding than our Mc. Your personality sticks out like a sore thumb in comparison. And it’s a bit suspicious when I get glares and eye rolls one day and a hug and nickname the next. No human I’ve met changes personalities that fast.”

“Ah I see…so then I take it you’ll help me get back?”

“Oh I think you misunderstand, I never said that.” Diavolo smiled.

“What?” You replied, taking a small step back.

“See, with you here the exchange program is producing wonderful results! Better than I expected actually. Well that and everyone here seems to enjoy your presence, including me. So you wouldn’t want to leave us so soon now, would you?” Diavolo said, invading your personal space. The demon prince was speaking with such a friendly tone it was as if you were having tea with him and joking around.

“I have to go home, I need to go home. Please believe me you all are wonderful but this isn’t where I belong. I feel suffocated here, and to be frank I don’t feel the same way I feel about my demons when I’m with you all.”

Diavolo frowned and sighed. “It’s okay, you’ll feel the same in due time, after all we’re all very alike right?”

Your eyebrows furrowed and you glared back at him. “No I won’t. I refuse to stay here because you don’t have a good relationship with your Mc. You need to figure out what the fuck you did wrong and fix it.”

“Don’t drag me here as a replacement to fix all your problems. Because if you do that then you are just like them. You have no concern for our feelings whatsoever.” You spat.

Barbatos then returned your glare and made his way towards you. “I understand you’re upset but I would appreciate it if you didn’t speak to the young master in such a manner. Don’t forget your place Mc.”

“That’s enough Barbatos.” Diavolo said, putting his hand up.

“If Mc won’t comply then we’ll just take them by force.”

“No you won-“

“Please don’t make this any more difficult than it has to be Mc.” Diavolo said, and that was the last thing you heard before blacking out.

_____

The perspective of a wrathful human

You were on top of Belphegor on the floor as he weakly tried to pry your hands from his throat. The demon in front of you was hanging onto what little conscience he had left as he watched your face morph into a smile.

“How does it feel to have your throat crushed by someone you so dearly placed your trust in?”

Belphegor let out a choked noise in response.

“Does it hurt? Finding it hard to breathe? I’m sure it must be very unpleasant” you said, then proceeded to lean down applying more pressure onto his throat.

Belphegor began to bleed from his mouth as you laughed. You kept spitting out nonsense about killing him as he tried to get you off, so in the process you proceeded to get his blood all over your arms.

This scene in general didn’t look too pleasant from afar, so you can believe the brothers utter shock when they busted through the planetarium doors frantic, at the sound of choking and laughing.

At first they feared the worst and thought it to be you choking and being killed again, however nothing could have prepared them upon seeing you bloodied and on top of the youngest brother.

Belphie looked utterly horrible. His complexion was paler than usual and the corners of his mouth began to turn purple and blue accompanied by red blood falling from the side.

When he heard his brothers enter the room his head instantly turned to face them and he unconsciously reached out for them.

After a second of silence due to trying to process the situation Lucifer and Beel were soon darting towards your direction faster than you had ever seen them. In seconds flat they were ripping you off of the youngest who was still out if it.

“Mc what in the Devildom is wrong with you?” Lucifer yelled, grabbing tightly onto one of your arms. He tried his best not to hurt you, but seeing his brother being strangled by you really set him off.

“Mc stop it now” Beel said, slightly raising his voice as he grabbed your other arm. He didn’t want to see you two fight, it broke his heart. The two people he cared about the most were going at it again, he couldn’t lose Belphie, but he didn’t want to let his temper get the best of him and end up hurting you too.

“Get off of me you damn demons” you screamed as they held you up.

“Mc calm down.” Lucifer said, grabbing your arm tighter than before.

“Shut up! I’m going to kill him, he deserves it”

“Mc stop!” Asmo yelled from afar.

“No, you don’t know what it's like, any of you!”

“What in the Devildom are you going on about Mc?” Lucifer said, at this point he was soon reaching a breaking point with you and this tantrum.

“You don’t know what it feels like to be killed do you?”

“To have your throat crushed. Or to feel as if your lungs are on fire from the lack of oxygen in your system. After that is the horrible headache and throbbing pain that consumes your head and your thinking. In a state of panic like that you then feel your limbs become limp as you try and free yourself. However due to the lack of strength you can’t do anything except deal with what fate has in store for you.”

“Dying is absolutely terrifying”

“However what makes everything even worse is the fact that afterwards I have to live in the same house with the same demon who put me through all of that and pretend everything is just fine. When in fact everything is just worse”

Lucifer and Beel’s grip on you had losend the slightest as they watched you squirm. Upon hearing your words they swallowed hard, trying to come up with some type of response, but before any of them could continue you began to speak again.

“If I kill him it will all be over.”

“What will killing Belphie accomplish, Mc.” Beel asked, then tightened his grip on your arm.

“Everything! All the nightmares will finally go away, all the panic attacks and breakdowns will stop. And maybe, just maybe I can have a normal conversation with other demons without my body being terrified for my life. Maybe I can be touched by a demon and not have my skin feel as if it will burn itself. Everything will be better once he’s gone” you screamed, trying your best to get free from the two brothers' hold.

The brothers stared at you in silence as they took in the severity of your words. Had you really suffered this much without them knowing? Had their Mc gone through this as well…? How long before their Mc got over it?

Did they ever get over it? How did their Mc feel about the whole situation, they never got to talk about it after all.

How many nights did they wake up in a cold sweat with tears streaming down their face, or how many nights did they stay up because they couldn’t sleep due to the nightmares?

You went through all this trauma by yourself without any of them being there to comfort you, no wonder you were upset.

However while the brothers were all thinking deeply about your words you were on an adrenaline high with no signs of coming down soon.

“Let go of me and stay out of the way. All six if you” you shouted.

The tone was that of a command, and no later than a second you were free and heading back to the youngest as fast as you could.

Lucifer cursed himself for letting his guard down, their whole purpose was to make sure you didn’t use the pacts but that plan failed.

As you jumped back onto Belphegor you punched him in the face causing blood to spill out the other side of his mouth.

“Mc stop please, don’t hurt Belphie” Beel yelled, trying his best to break free from the pact.

It was no use because his words fell on deaf ears. You were too busy beating the shit out of the demon you were on top of.

Belphie accepted what you were doing with an occasional grunt here and there as you continued to punch his face. He did feel bad, he felt horrible honestly, but if this made you feel better then he was willing to let you get all your anger out. After all he deserved it, is what he believed.

As the youngest brothers face continued to get bloodied, some of his brothers looked away while others tried their best to speak to you, Beel was the only one who was struggling to break free so that he could save Belphegor.

“Mc…” you faintly heard from the demon in front of you.

“What do you want? Don’t tell me you’re giving up already, I’m not done with you yet.”

“Please hear me out really quick, i promise it’ll be fast” he spoke dryly.

You gave him another punch before stopping for a brief moment. “Well get on with it”

Belphegor cleared his throat and tried to sit up the best he could to look you in the eyes. Sighing he then spoke.

“I understand it’s very selfish of me to tell you something like this, but I really want you to hear me out.”

You raised your eyebrows and then he continued.

“Mc I’m so sorry. Truly I really am, I was wrong about humans, I was wrong about everything. After Lilith’s death I was filled with so much anger towards humans. However I realize now that I shouldn’t have taken it out on you because you were only trying to help.”

“I never apologized to you after because I was too scared of what you would say. I was too scared you’d never forgive me so I swept it under the rug and tried to pretend it never happened. I’m just a damn coward. Only now did I realize my brothers and I didn’t ask how you felt. We just went on with life leaving you to deal with all the trauma.”

“I apologize because you should have never had to go through an event as traumatic as dying. I didn’t realize all those things you dealt with were because of me so I want you to know I’ll try my best to fix them now, if you’ll let me. If not then I accept whatever punishment you have in mind. “

“I just want you to know from the bottom of my heart I really am truly sorry. I love you so much Mc and if you forgive me then great, however I don’t expect you to. It’s selfish of me to ask you to make that decision, so I promise to deal with whatever you want to do, if it’ll make you happy”

You felt tears fall from your eyes onto the floor making it a darker color than it previously was. However you couldn’t figure out why you were crying. How long has it been since you actually cried like this?

You hit Belphie again as tears continued to fall, but this time your hits were much lighter and softer so they didn’t actually hurt the seventh born.

“Mc, I-“

“Shut up!”

You screamed. You didn’t want to hear him right now, you didn’t want to face the fact that an apology such as that one actually was sincere and filled with emotion, unlike the halfhearted apologies your demons gave you.

You now had to come to terms with the fact that you had finally gotten an apology from the heart like you had wanted. To you it didn't matter if they were your demons or not, all that matters was that Belphegor had finally apologized.

Belphie opened his arms and smiled, waiting patiently for a hug. Your eyes went wide as you stared at him for a moment, and after what felt like forever you slowly inched closer to him,

Hesitantly you leaned forward slowly into the hug, and once you hit his chest he engulfed you with his arms. You freaked out for a second but he reassured you that he was happy you chose to hug him.

“Mc thank you for trusting me like this.” Belphie said.

You held your head low and sighed before speaking.

“Just because I let you touch me doesn’t mean everything is magically better, you demons are so naive.”

Next part

a/n: so how are we finding about this chapter? there are a few things I do want to ask if you did notice, and a couple questions I have for y’all, you can think about these or just answer in the comments! i just want to understand what y’all think is all!

- first off, what do you think og MC did to the brothers to leave them that beat up?

- can you find the lesson 16 dialogue in the second part of this chapter?

- did you notice how wrath! MC was just happy with heartfelt apology? It didn’t matter if it was from their demons or the ones in the og timeline, unlike the og MC who didn’t quite feel filled with the other brothers apology.

- and lastly would you personally, forgive Belphie after an apology like that?

thanks for reading! <3

[ecargmura]

Senpai Is An Otokonoko Episode 9 Review - The Most Depressing Christmas

You hear that? That’s the sound of my heart breaking into a million pieces the more I see Ryuji suffer. I knew that his relationship with Makoto wasn’t going to last long, but does he have to be treated like this? Why does the story hate him so much? What did he ever to do the author to make him have the most unfortunate circumstances? At this point, he needs to find his own self-happiness in order for him to truly move on from this. Being in an unrequited love sucks, but being in a relationship with someone you love but won’t love you back the same way hurts even more. I get that Ryuji still needs to sort himself out with his internalized homophobia and what not… I am both upset and livid over the piss poor treatment Ryuji gets. When will he ever get the happiness he deserves?

Heck, the story likes gutting either Ryuji or Saki at times and both got gutted hard in terms of angst in this episode. Saki spends Christmas Eve alone but after she leaves the planetarium alone and notices her mother in a taxi, she chases after it. However, after coincidentally running into Makoto after losing the taxi her mom was in, she finally breaks down. She always believed that she’d be her mom’s special person but realized that if she was, her mom wouldn’t have abandoned her for ten years. While Makoto hugging Saki was nice, it still sucked knowing that it took this long for her to break down.

Why do I get this feeling that the story is trying to paint Makoto in a bad light here? I get that he wants to be a pillar of support for Saki after everything she had down in the earlier episodes and that he doesn’t want to make Ryuji sad. However, the more he spends time with Saki, the less he thinks of Ryuji. In previous episodes, the more he spends time with Ryuji, the less he thinks about Saki. I think that he isn’t someone who can’t find the right balance between who to prioritize first. While it’s not a bad thing, it can get a little frustrating as Makoto wants to be someone who makes others happy. However, it’s safe to say that he is developing a crush on Saki and that sucks for the Ryuji fans.

I just don’t want their friendship to get ruined afterwards. I really liked the moment they went to the mountains to see the stars. I just hope they can stay good friends, even if it will get a little awkward at first. What’s going to happen for these next three episodes? Heck, we still haven’t resolved the matter with Makoto’s mom at that. I honestly wonder what will happen next week. How about you?

[666writingcafe]

The Prank

Belphegor

I should have known better. I really should have. I mean, it was weird that no one stopped me as I went to the planetarium, and it was outright bizarre that none of my brothers barged in the room as I sat down in my favorite chair and got comfortable.

But then Mammon ruined everything when he screamed,

"Which one of you fuckers took my jacket?!" Sighing, I got up and walked out of the room to see what was going on. If I didn't, I would have been dragged out anyway.

"I don't know, but someone took my limited edition Ruri-chan bracelet, and I will literally kill you if you sold it!" Levi yells back.

"What makes you think I took it?!" I wish I could just disappear into thin air. I want no part in this.

"Because you always take my shit!"

"I bet he took my choker, too!" Asmo hollers. Whatever squabbling the three of them were going to do gets cut short by Lucifer loudly demanding everyone to head to the living room this very instant. Groaning, I do what I am told. As much as I don't want to be lectured, I know that if I try to hide, he will find me and force me to listen to him for hours on end. Better to get it over with now.

۞۞۞

"One of you has taken my nice pair of gloves," Lucifer states once we are all gathered around in the living room. "The punishment will be less severe if the thief fesses up now."

"I bet it was Mammon!" Asmo exclaims.

"It wasn't even me!" Mammon nearly shrieks, making me feel like my eardrums are going to burst. "Besides, has it occurred to any of you that my jacket's missing, too?"

"You probably hid it somewhere after you took the gloves so that you could distract us," Levi spits. Before Mammon has the opportunity to lunge at Levi, Satan interjects,

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but Mammon's right."

"Thank you!" Either Mammon's missed the resignation in Satan's voice, or he's simply latching onto the compliment.

"You may be a fool, but you've never been that stupid. Someone else must have stolen the gloves, along with everything else." Asmo gasps.

"I bet it was you, Satan!" A new round of arguments starts, and I begin zoning out.

Suddenly, I catch movement in my upper periphery. Shifting my attention towards the source, I have to stop myself from making noise. Leaning against the door frame behind everyone is MC, smirking at the scene unfolding in front of them.

The first thing I notice is my stuffed cow. MC has it tucked under their arm. Then, everything else clicks into place. The gloves, the jacket, the choker, and the bracelet. Beel's sunglasses are on top of their head, which means the boots they're wearing must be Satan's.

I can't even be mad at MC for plunging the House into chaos. After all, who would suspect the innocent lamb of doing such a thing? It's genius.

But now comes the hard part: getting my brothers' attention. They're sucked into their screaming match, so trying to talk would be pointless. Normally, I would nudge Beel, but he's unusually invested this time. I quickly glance around the room, but there isn't anything that I can bang that wouldn't break upon impact.

My eyes catch MC's, who repositions the cow so that both they and it are looking at me. MC then brings a stuffed hoof to its mouth and rocks its head slightly. It takes me a second to understand what MC was suggesting, but once I do, I subtly nod my head.

Bringing my own fingers to my mouth, I take a deep breath and let out a loud whistle that pierces through everyone's arguing. My brothers gawk at me for interrupting them, silently demanding an explanation.

"Turn around, assholes," I tell them. Once they do, the energy of the room shifts real quickly. Tucking the cow back under their arm, MC wiggles their fingers in greeting. This causes Levi to scream,

“AAAAAH! Wha…wha…WHA?! Is this really…are you really really…REALLY?!” MC smiles.

"MC, it's you!" Asmo adds. "It's really you!" Before the others can get a word in, Lucifer holds up a hand to silence us.

"MC, what are you doing here?" he asks. "More importantly, why do you have our stuff?"

"Solomon dropped me off," MC answers. "I wanted to surprise you guys. As for why I have your stuff..." They pause. "I just thought it would be fun to pull a prank. I never got to take part in any of that the last time." Lucifer sighs, a resigned smile on his lips. He is such a sucker for them. I mean, we all are, but him especially.

"Well, I'm glad to see that you seem to be doing well. I do wish you could have let us know you were coming. We would have planned something for you."

"The whole thing was last-minute. Plus, the whole point of a surprise is that you're not supposed to know about it in advance."

"Good point."

"If I'd known you were coming, MC, I would've opted for a much more thorough shower routine this morning!" Asmo exclaims, beaming with excitement.

"Gross," I mutter.

"You look just as exquisite as ever, Asmo," MC replies.

"Besides, you took long enough in the bathroom this morning," Satan adds. "Why you insist on using the main one when you have your own, I will never know."

"Are you going to be staying for a while?" I ask MC in an attempt to steer the conversation away from Asmo and his bathroom habits. They nod their head.

"Diavolo has requested my presence to help him with the next stage of the exchange program."

"Just you?" This has everyone's attention.

"The others are here as well." Seeing a few sets of eyes narrow, MC quickly adds,

"In the Devildom, I mean, not here in the House. They have Purgatory Hall, remember?" That seems to calm everyone down.

"So, MC, what do you want for dinner?" Beel asks.

[fanthirtheen]

I saw the pilot for Helluva Boss when it first came out, because I already knew about/was excited about Hazbin Hotel pilot, and I didn't care that much. It was OK. I typically struggle to care about stories that center around different characters in the same universe as those I'm already invested in. I didn't care for Korra, Castlevania Nocturne only got interesting when Alucard came back, etc..

But in prep for Hazbin's release on Amazon, we banged all the Helluva Boss episodes that were out. At this point, I'd been in the room when the first episode was on once, but I didn't pay that much attention.

It took to the very next episode for my obsession to spark. The INSTANT Stolas picked his daughter up and sang gently to her, like a good dad, with all of the space shit going on, it was fucking over. I felt the new obsession unlocking in my brain. I could feel the attachment forging within me. I cannot express how deeply personal it felt, considering my history with space, astronomy, etc.. I used to LIVE for astronomy. I ran the campus planetarium. I had all 88 constellations memorized. I could identify all the ones visible from 48.5°N, whether northern or seasonal. I knew their stories origin. I knew a handful of other cultural constellations not recognized by the AU. I went to college for Earth/space science and physics (because astronomy isn't a major). Some of this knowledge has faded, but astronomy is so incredibly deeply personal and important to me.

So I watched the rest of the episodes that had Ben out at the time with this starry-eyed enthusiasm that was not disappointed. I fell so deeply in love with the autistic space owl that doesn't understand social cues or how to be in a relationship so fucking hard, and the same goes for Blitz. Blitz is shitty on purpose and I understood him immediately, I understood how he was pushing people away to make them hate him on his terms before they could hate him in a way he can't control, I clocked that shit because I could read his character and I really can't say what the "Oh shit" moment for loving him so much was, but everything he's done in episodes since that binge watch has not been a surprise to me. It's all been so in-character for him, to me, that I am genuinely shocked how some people seem to think his character is inconsistent or doesn't make sense or whatever.

Not really intending to make a point with this, I just wanted to write about how I got into HB. I guess, as I was writing this, I started thinking about antis again so you can call this the moral of the post:

antis who complain about fans being "biased" toward Stolad or whatever need to shut the fuck up and let us enjoy things. I'm biased toward Stolas because he clicked in my brain in a way no other character ever has for me, though other autistic-coded characters have come close. Other people are biased toward him because they think he's hot. Who cares? We like our favorite characters for our own reasons and none of them are any less valid than any other reason.

And the narrative likes Stolas. And I like the narrative. It's fun. I'm watching the show because it's fun and I like how it's being told so it is 100% reasonable to appreciate the story and its characters how the storytellers want us to appreciate it.

[plotsjotsandespressoshot]

This thing that tickle your brain will never be frivolous. 

When we were little, we did the things that our parents wanted us to do.  The activities that they deemed appropriate for our age, gender, social interaction and growth.  They may not have been the things that we wanted to do though. 

You may have sat there and thought the common refrain “When I grow up I’m going to-“

Learn about space, learn to draw, read this kind of book, try that sport, play that instrument, have that pet, learn about that religion, become a writer, play that video game, watch that movie, go to that place. 

Of course you did.  We all wanted to learn and be astronauts and fire people. We were so filled with wonder and we didn't censor that. Because when we are young were inherently know that everything is wonderous.

But then we got older, then we went to school, and we picked a major and had to focus all of our attention on it.  We got a job and threw ourselves completely into it with everything that we had and those dreams of space, of books, of far-off places, of learning those new and completely unrelated things were shoved to the back burner. 

We labeled them as frivolous this time.  We didn’t that that class or that workshop to learn how to forage for herbs or learn how to work metal because there was yard work that we thought needed to be done or the pans under the sink needed a deep cleaning. 

But all the while, as we lay in bed, we were secretly checking the planetariums schedule under the covers with that 10-year-old that just wanted to go. 

Why haven’t you done that thing that you’re interested in?  Why haven’t you taken that one hour a week for the thing that tickles your brain and soul so delightfully?  Why did we get this far just to be the one telling us that we shouldn’t actually indulge ourselves. 

This is our one beautiful and unique life.  This is our one chance!  Don’t ignore that.  Don’t be the one instead of your parent telling you that the thing that keeps up thinking, the thing that interests you isn’t ‘useful’.  Who cares if it’s useful or not?  Who cares if you aren’t going to become an astronaut!? 

If it brings you wonder, do it!   The things that interest you, that tickle your brain will never be frivolous. 

[obey-me-disaster]

Memories of falling stars

Synonpsis: Lucifer, as he falls from grace, starts to remember and look back at his life in the Celestial Realm, as the always sunny sky behind him turns into a dark one full of stars.

A/N: This is another piece for another Lucifer collab ^-^. Lowkey the reason I haven't worked on anything else besides exams coming up

As old as the universe and nearly undying, stars are there to watch as everything unfolds. Humans, demons and even angels, have their lives seen by them, especially the Morningstar himself.

???? Years Before The Fall

"Do you see it, Lucifer? The stars, the constellations, everything the night sky has to offer!" The archangel was looking at him, eyes full of excitement.

"It would be hard not to, when you have been dragging me down to the human world to note down constellations for your planetarium." Pinching the bridge of his nose, Lucifer was trying to ignore his upcoming headache caused by the angel sitting right next to him.

For the past week, Michael has been dragging him down to the human in hopes of getting an image, as clear as possible, for the planetarium that he wanted to build in the Celestial Realm. The Celestial Realm had no nights or starry skies.

"You know, Luci, I am kind of jealous of your trips to Devildom in a way. That place has a constant sky full of stars that remain unbothered by the lights of the kingdom, unlike the human world." The archangel was gesturing vaguely around the empty hills. They were far from any human civilization. As far as the eye could see, there were only hills and forests.

"What did I say about that nickname?" Lucifer tried to give him an annoyed look but it went unnoticed by the other angel. "Also, if you're so jealous of my trips down to Devildom, maybe you shouldn't have pushed that responsibility on me."

Michael only hummed in response, too focused on looking up at the sky to pay any attention to Lucifer. "Such a shame that Orion, the hunter, is not visible in this period. Or, should I say, in this part of the human world."

He finally decided to turn his attention to Lucifer. "It wouldn't hurt to pay more attention to the sky in the Devildom on your next trip. Who knows, maybe I will also do a Devildom inspired planetarium." Lucifer just shook his head at the other angel's antics. "Maybe we should bring Raphael with us next time with us. We could go to the northern hemisphere to see Orion!" Michael said excitedly.

"I don't know how much will he appreciate getting dragged there to watch stars..." Lucifer pointed out what should be obvious.

"Perhaps, but even he can appreciate the story behind constellations. In particular the story of Canis Minor and Canis Major. They did make good hunting dogs for Orion, after all, and Orion never missed his target." Despite the smile on his face, Michael was surrounded by a dangerous aura, which put Lucifer off.

"Whether he agrees to it or not, we should probably head back to the Celestial Realm." Lucifer said, trying to put an end to whatever the archangel was doing. Whatever that feeling was, it sure was an untold warning for something in the future.

174 Years Before The Fall

Coming down to the human world was not something Lucifer had in mind, but he had to when all of his family kept on running away from their responsibilities.

"Look, I am telling ya, that's clearly Perseus! We have to look in that direction if we wanna see the meteor shower!" Mammon kept pointing out in the direction of the constellation, trying to prove his point.

"Could you be any louder? I know we are far from human civilization, but that's no excuse for yelling." Belphie argued back to his brothers. None of them could tell that Lucifer was just a few meters behind them and he didn't intend on revealing himself just yet.

"Besides, you're wrong. What you’re pointing at is the Andromeda constellation!! At least you got the direction of the Perseids close enough..." Belphie continued to argue.

"Now, now, guys, no need to keep on arguing, we came here to have a good time and watch the Perseids. So let's just sit back and enjoy ourselves" Lilith intervened, trying to calm her brothers down.

"Guys, I am starting to feel bad about leaving Lucifer behind. It doesn't feel right for all of us to be here while he’s still back in the Celestial Realm.." Beel looked in the direction of where they came down to Earth. If only he looked a little bit lower, he would be able to see Lucifer.

"I mean, it can't be helped. We ditched our responsibilities to come down here." Levi mumbled. "Even if he allowed us to put our chores for later, he’s still a seraphim! He’s way too busy to just come down to relax with us-"

"If all of you wanted to see the meteor shower so badly, you could’ve just told me from the start. I would’ve figured out something, so that all of us could’ve spent some time together." Lucifer interrupted Levi, finally deciding to come out of the shadows. It honestly hurt him a bit to hear how his younger brother talked about him. That he was far too busy to spend time with his younger siblings. Of course, he didn't express his feelings to any of them, especially when they were still screaming from being scared by his sudden appearance.

"How long have you been standing there?" They exclaimed, but he didn't really pay any mind to this question. Especially when he saw a Perseid from the corner of his eyes.

"For long enough. But now it's not the time to discuss all of this. The meteor shower is about to start." He sat down next to them on the grass, and pointed towards the Perseids that started to show up across the starry night.

All conversations ceased for the time being. They’ll have enough time to discuss things after the meteor shower had finished.

1 Day Before The Fall

I t was rare for rain to come down in the Celestial Realm, let alone one with lighting and thunder. And even if it did, it only happened in places outside of the grand palace. The storm caught everyone by surprise; angels were running left and right trying not to get their wings wet. They were all feeling rather uneasy with this sudden weather change. Everyone felt that something big was about to happen, but no one knew exactly when would this be or what would it be.

There were whispers and rumors about an angel that broke the rules, and was about to be severely punished, but everyone still felt like there was more to come.

Amidst the sea of angels that were seeking shelter from the rain or running to dry off their wings, it was all too easy to slip away from everyone without being noticed. Such was the case of Belphegor, who decided to sneak into the planetarium.

He would lie if he were to say that he couldn't sleep simply from the rain, but it's not like he could explain his feelings either. Lilith's judgment was about to come, and everyone hoped for the best.

Father surely wouldn’t harm her, right? Michael surely wouldn’t dare to lay a finger on her. Raphael wouldn't point his spear towards her… or maybe he would — he attacked angels for less. Every time he started to worry, he kept thinking about how Lucifer would not let anyone harm their younger sister. As long as their older brother was there to protect them and resolve this incident, nothing bad will happen… right?

He fell asleep at the thought of everything getting resolved, with the image of Lucifer talking some sense into everyone's heads. There was no need to worry, the Morning Star himself surely knows what to do. He couldn't wait until everything was over and everyone could go back to how things used to be.

Despite falling deeper and deeper into unconsciousness, he could still feel the presence of a certain angel, and how his 12 wings would drag on the floor as he put a blanket over him. The last thing he could remember was a hand brushing his hair away from his face. And so, two angels rested in the planetarium.

If both of them were to look at the planetarium’s ceiling right now, they would see Pavo, the peacock constellation. With the way the planetarium was moving, it shouldn't have been there, but from the moment Lucifer stepped into the room, and up until the moment he left, the constellation never left its place, up on the top of the planetarium’s ceiling.

The Fall

His wings were useless, all of them. What good was it to have six sets of wings, when at that moment they couldn't stop his fall. They couldn't carry on in his fight for his family, for his sister.

Since the moment he heard about Lilith's punishment, there was only noise. From the pleading of his younger brothers, to his screaming at his Father and the declaration of war, there was only noise. Weapons clashing, screaming and yelling about betrayals. He didn't even realize how much noise there was until everything went silent but somehow, that was still louder.

The only thing that he could feel was the pain all over his body, but it still didn't match his fury and his fear. Pure and genuine anger towards his Father, and fear for his brothers. He couldn't hear them and he couldn't see them. They were nowhere to be found.

The only thing that he could see was the vast sky changing its color. No longer was the bright blue sky with clouds as white as an angel's father surrounding him, but a dark sky full of shining stars. Stars that he recognized all to easy from his trips to the Devildom. Constellations such as Cruetum Sagitta, the bloody arrow, and Lapsus Bellator, the fallen warrior, were adorning the sky.

Bittersweet memories of helping Michael with his planetarium, star gazing with his brothers and spending time with his brother Belphegor under the starry night were flashing before his eyes. In that moment, he wished he didn’t know anything about the sky. It felt as if even the stars themselves were laughing at his and his family's fate.

He turned his attention back to searching for his siblings, even a glimpse of them was more than good, anything to know that they were at least alive. His wings were broken, and if it were up to him, he would rip them apart mid fall, but his eyes were still good, as along as he was still going he would continue to search for them. No reason to focus on things that were unnecessary at the moment.

At least, that's what he kept telling himself. He couldn't help but notice the way seven new stars appeared on the night sky. Each star for one of the angels that fell from grace that day. When did he even got so preoccupied with astronomy? He really spent too much time with Michael before the war.

[avdaciter]

(   ji chang wook  .  cis male  .  he/him  )       —       blasting  the line  by  twenty one pilots  down  main  street  we’ve  spotted  LINUS RYEO  sporting  their  survivor's guilt weighing down on exhausted shoulders.  the  thirty-six  year  old  WEREWOLF  who’s  been  in  town  for  around four years  often  can  be  seen  going to the planetarium with his son, wiping traces of his revenge as the full moon sets, hitting the boxing ring to work on his anger  or  working  as  a CIVIL ENGINEER at the CITY ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT at CITY HALL.  people say they display  resourceful  and  withdrawn  traits,  but  we  rather  trust  their  vibes:  smoke rings being blown in the air, paint sprinkles on his clothes, knowing the lyrics to children's songs, bloody teeth under the full moon, forcing a smile for his son's sake.  also,  we’ve  heard  they  love  BLUEY !   aren’t  they  fascinating ? 

       —       possible connections: people who knew him from nyc, friends (he's a grump and mostly quiet with a soft heart), neighbors who don't get along with him, neighbors who get along with him, leo's (his son) teachers or fellow parents, running buddies, drinking buddies, anything and everything.

tl;dr — triggers of mentions of murder, prejudice & massacre

Linus was born Jinwoo Kim, son of the Beta wolf in a highly famous, strict and traditional pack in New York City. If the streets of Brooklyn and Manhattan remained safe from wolf attacks, was because Jinwoo's parents and the Alpha were strict with the rules and it was how the pack thrived. When Jinwoo was barely three years old, his parents were killed by hunters and he was taken under the Alpha's wings and raised as his own son. He knew from the get-go he was different from the family who raised him, and from the start, he did everything in his power to make his father proud. Jinwoo was the golden boy, who did everything right and everyone wanted to either be him or be with him. He went to Columbia, he studied Engineering and focused on City Engineering & Urbanism, he married his long-time girlfriend (and that marriage solidified the pack even more, by joining two strong packs of the NY community), he was obedient, strong and a natural-born leader; the perfect son any parent would want. When the time came to choose the next Alpha, tension grew within the pack because, despite being the obvious best choice to lead them, Jinwoo wasn't the Alpha's biological son. Still, he was appointed as the Alpha, which led to plans of a coup coming from older pack members, led by the Alpha's son. A war broke within the pack. Jinwoo's wife was the first of many casualties. A message that things would not be peaceful, and, on the next following weeks, a massacre began. Jinwoo took his months-old son and left his old life behind. The pack, his so-called friends, New York... finding Portum's magical borders open to them. He changed his name to Linus Ryeo, his late wife's last name, in hopes to leave that life behind him, however, his heart didn't want that. On most full moons, he leaves Portum to torture and kill everyone responsible for all of the death and pain in his life, but he fears he might be becoming a monster in his grief.

[putschki1969]

KEIKO Planetarium Live〜Starry Night〜 & Chocolate meating#3〜Starry Night edition〜 Live Report

I experienced so many amazing things during my recent Japan trip but for some reason, this special planetarium event left the most lasting impression so that's why I wanted it to be the topic of my first live report. Below you'll find an abundance of fangirling and mindless blabbering so please brace yourselves! The post will be divided into the following sections to make it easier for you to get through.

General Info

Preface

Merchandise

Venue

Performance

Fan Club Exclusive Part

General Info

Instagram post by Keiko | Tweet by Keiko | Tweet by Yuriko

『KEIKO Planetarium Live ~Starry Night~』 [Date] Sunday, December 17, 2023 [Time] Open 14:30 / Start 15:00 [Ticket fee] 8,000 yen (tax included) [Venue] Konica Minolta Planetaria TOKYO DOME1

FC Exclusive 『Chocolate meating #3 ～Starry Night edition～』 [Date] Sunday, December 17, 2023 [Time] Open 17:00 / Start 17:30 [Ticket fee] 8,500 yen (tax included) ※FC exclusive benefit included [Venue] Konica Minolta Planetaria TOKYO DOME1

Preface

When this was first announced I was devastated because at that time, my trip to Japan was scheduled to end on Dec 14th. But with both Wakana and Keiko announcing solo performances after that day, I was determined to find a way to extend my stay. Initially, I was hesitant because I knew there was no way to change my return flight. I would ultimately lose a significant amount of money and on top of that, I would have to book a new one-way return ticket for a later date which would cost me a fortune as well. After considering all my pros and cons, I ultimately decided to go through with the whole thing because I knew I would probably hate myself forever if I didn't use that opportunity. Of course it also hinged upon whether or not I would manage to get a ticket for the fan club performance in the evening. I knew my chances were super slim due to the tiny venue (~100 people) but luckily, I won a ticket. At that point I knew that I had no excuses not to go XD This is by far one of he craziest and most irrational things I've ever done so for some time I was afraid that I would end up with horrible regrets but I am happy to report that it was worth every penny for me. Not only was Wakana's concert amazing, these two Keiko performances absolutely blew me away with their intimate nature and unique atmosphere. Can you believe that this was actually the first time for me to attend a Keiko solo event? I had purchased streaming tickets for all of her online lives of course but I had never been to an on-site event. And for a while now, I have been asking myself if I would even enjoy a one-man live like that since - as we all know - I am not particularly fond of a lot of her solo releases but, lo and behold, my love for Keiko and her music was 100% reaffirmed. I am so glad that I took the plunge, I couldn't be more grateful to have been able to be there for this amazing experience. On this note, I wanna give a big shout-out to my friend Pae who encouraged me from the get-go to come to the event and who got our tickets for the day performance. It was a general sale on a first come-first serve basis and she really knocked it out of the park with her professional ticket purchasing skills. I definitely could never have done it that quickly so kudos to her. Here's a picture of little old me, Pae and her friend from Thailand.

Merchandise

I wanna take a few moments to talk about the live goods because I am utterly smitten with everything. The acrylic stands and the block are particularly pretty but I am also obsessed with the polaroids. I almost couldn't contain myself and since they didn't have any limits as to how many pieces one person could buy, I naturally went all out. Don't worry, I didn't buy that much since I was still reeling from how expensive it was to extend my trip. Also, I was one of the first few people in line so it would have been rude to buy an excessive amount, there were a ton of other fans around after all, they obviously also wanted to buy a lot of merch. While they prepared plenty of the random polaroid magnets, they unfortunately didn't really bring enough of the acrylic stuff. By the end of the day performance, the acrylic stands were already completely sold out and after the evening performance, the acrylic block was gone too. I guess that means that even if we get an online sale at one point, they will only sell the tote bag and the magnets...or maybe they'll produce another batch of all the acrylic items...We'll have to wait and see...I could see myself buying some more polaroids if they become available online. I only got two pieces with a handwritten message by Keiko so it would be nice to have more. But they are not exactly cheap so I'll have to think about it.

Venue

The venue was...not what I had expected XD. The pictures online of Konica Minolta Planetaria are a bit misleading but I guess that's because they only ever feature Dome 2 and not Dome 1 which is significantly smaller and doesn't have any of the fancy seats. Our seats were little more than reclining beach chairs with a little table but oh well, I didn't come there to be seated comfortably so it didn't bother me too much. At the end of the day, it was a good thing that the dome was so tiny because it made everything feel so much more intimate. And let me tell you, when I say intimate, I mean intimate. I've never ever been this close to Keiko (and I've had my fair share of close encounters with her). There were no assigned seats for the performances, everyone just had a number on their ticket and we were allowed to enter the dome in order of that number. As mentioned earlier, Pae was super fast getting our tickets so we ended up with the numbers 5 to 7, meaning that for the day performance I got a seat right at the front with a clear view of Keiko. There was no stage or anything, just a bit of basic equipment, some microphones and two stools. This meant that there was barely any space between the front row and the artist area (1 metre maybe). Needless to say, I spent the entire time looking at Keiko XD. I almost felt a bit bad because I was missing out on the lovely projections but to be fair, it was actually quite hard to get a good view of them this close to the front so the best option for me was to just stare at Keiko. During the break I bought myself a yummy galaxy donut which was almost too pretty to eat but at that point I was starving so I literally devoured it. For the FC exclusive evening performance I wasn't nearly as lucky when it came to my number. I got #71 so I ended up in one of the last rows unfortunately. From the first performance I knew that Keiko would be entering from the back door on the left side and walk through the audience so I at least made sure to take a seat close to the door so she would walk right past me (which she did so YAY but more on that later). On another positive note, the seat in the back made it possible for me to get fully immersed in the projections without being too distracted by Keiko. It was truly breathtaking to see all these space-themed vivid images across the ceiling.

Performance

It feels like I have already talked so much about the whole thing but I haven't mentioned a single thing about the actual performances so let me rectify that. I've already alluded to it in the beginning of this post, Keiko was absolutely stunning and I am obviously not just talking about her looks. Her vocals were out of this world, every single song of the setlist flattered her so much, there was not a single misplaced note as far as I could tell. Due to the nature of the event, it was of course a very understated performance, there was no wild movement or crazy choreography, it was just Keiko standing/sitting there being illuminated by the tiniest of lights, just enough to still see her but never enough to distract from the visuals. After all, the main focus were supposed to be the projected images and for the most part, that was the case. Only occasionally they would shine some more light on Keiko (mostly during MCs). As you can see below, the setlist was full of ballads and OMG, I couldn't have been happier about that. She sang almost all my faves so I was pretty much in heaven for the first half of the live. Almost started crying during 通り雨 because it was painstakingly beautiful. キミガネムルカラ and 夕顔 were also true gems to experience live, so haunting and mystic. She brought out her brand new guitar for songs #4 to #6 and while I have never been the biggest fan of acoustic guitars, Keiko really managed to make me fall in love with the sound. Both her and her guitarist did a fantastic job arranging and performing these tracks. Also, I was quite surprised to hear Yas Nakajima provide backup vocals for Keiko during Burn In The Wind, their voices match perfectly.

The cover section was admittedly a bit of a let-down for me since the chosen songs are not exactly among my favourites. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy myself or that Keiko didn't deliver the songs flawlessly, it's just that I don't really care all that much for the songs themselves. There were some really gorgeous high notes though so I really can't complain. Speaking of covers, I was super hyped when Keiko announced that she would be singing 風の街へ, a self-cover of her first FictionJunction KEIKO work. I had a feeling she would maybe sing it (since it's obviously a perfect fit for this sort of atmosphere) but Pae kept telling me that it probably wouldn't be happening. Glad I was right about that. During the MC, Keiko was talking about her upcoming single 夕闇のうた so for a while I was sure she would just sing that but she ultimately did not perform it. We got to hear the full version a few days earlier at Kaji Fes. so I wasn't too disappointed that it didn't make it onto the setlist of the planetarium live (also, if I am being honest, the song hasn't really grown on me yet so it's not like I'm dying to hear it again and again). Instead, she chose the song that marked the very beginning of Keiko's journey together with Yuki Kajiura and really, I can never get enough of it. It's one of my very favourite YK x Keiko collaborations and it's always such a pleasure to hear it live. It was only my second time so I couldn't have been more grateful. The final three songs were a nice change of pace with more involvement from the audience and more focus on Keiko rather than the projections. I certainly didn't expect ラテ to make an appearance but with the pretty lights, it worked surprisingly well. The whole thing had a very futuristic feel to it if you know what I mean. ユア has slowly been growing on me and it's just such a feel-good song that I cannot stop vibing with it (similar to Wakana's Happy Hello Day actually). The ending was beyond epic, エンドロール is such a cool song. I just wish I had known the lyrics so I would have been able to sing along properly (I have zero skills when it comes to memorising lyrics) . Keiko tried to prepare us with a few test-runs but I kept mixing up some lines T_T Oh well, I had a blast so that's all that counts! The one thing I felt kinda sad about was the fact that we didn't get an encore but I guess they had to keep the performance short...?

M-1キミガネムルカラ M-2夕顔 M-3通り雨 M-4夜の嘘と M-5Lost M-6Burn In The Wind M-7駅 by 竹内まりや (Cover) M-8ルビーの指環 by 寺尾聰 (Cover) M-9秋桜 by 山口百恵 (Cover) M-10風の街へ (Self-Cover) M-11ラテ M-12ユア M-13エンドロール

Fan Club Exclusive Part

When I entered the dome for the fan club exclusive evening performance, I was given a large envelope by a staff member containing a message card by Keiko. The scan above features the picture which makes up one half of the card. So pretty! (Please keep in mind that this is fan club exclusive!) As mentioned earlier, I had a seat pretty far in the back during this performance, I was still close enough to have a good view of Keiko but I decided to focus on the projections this time around since Keiko jokingly mentioned a couple of times that she felt so many eyes on her and that we should try to enjoy the gorgeous view above as well. With the way she said it, I could tell that she wasn't annoyed or angry about it but she genuinely just wanted us the get the most out of the experience. And yeah, I have to admit, it was amazing to just lean back and watch the gorgeous space visuals while being gently wrapped by Keiko's vocals. Also, for some weird reason, the seats in the back were much more comfortable than the ones in the front row so that made it a lot easier to just relax. The setlist was the exact same and Keiko's performance was just as good. There were some technical issues with the projections at one point so the staff asked Keiko to take a little break and entertain the audience for a while so they could fix the problem. Keiko was really cute during this section because she struggled to come up with something to talk about. All her other MCs had been rather short and straight-to-the-point so there wasn't really anything to talk about. She even admitted that it was quite hard for her to just talk to an audience without having anyone on stage with her to create a sort of a back and forth. Unfortunately, her guitarist was pretty useless in that regard since he didn't feel comfortable at all talking XD Keiko ended up blabbering on and on about the most random stuff and eventually talked a bit about the guitar arrangement for 秋桜 which she found quite impressive. After they had fixed the issue, we went back to the regular program for a couple of songs until Keiko announced that it was time for some special games since this was a fan club event after all. First, we played a few rounds of a Maru-Batsu-Quiz (True-or-False-Quiz). They had prepared some Keiko-trivia questions. Everyone was asked to stand up and with every question people either answered with "true" (fist) or "false" (open hand). Those who answered incorrectly had to sit down so fewer and fewer people remained standing as time went by. Some of the questions were a bit tricky so all you could do was guess. Unfortunately, I wasn't one of the lucky winners at the end. Although I will say that these games are mostly based on trust since you can always pretend to have made the correct gesture or change your gesture in the right moment (it's hard to verify stuff like that). There were a handful of guys who won the first two rounds, they got to walk towards the front and Keiko gave them a little present (some snack souvenirs from the most recent Asia tour-leg, nothing too exciting). Then we were all surprised because for one round the last person standing happened to be none other than Yuriko Kaida. Turns out she had been sitting right behind me all this time (her seat was the closest one to the back door in the very last row). I did not expect her to actually collect her prize (especially since Keiko mentioned that Yuriko had gotten the exact same souvenir in Taiwan) but she did. It was a treat seeing them interact like that. They are so funny together and it was during those moments that you could immediately tell that Keiko became so much more relaxed and talkative once she had someone on-stage with her who she felt comfortable with. As a final game, we did one round of rock-paper-scissors which once again, I wasn't lucky enough to win but I guess it just wasn't meant to be T_T

When the show was over, Keiko walked through the audience towards the door in the back and that's when my seat choice really paid off. She got super close to the people who had an aisle seat, she made eye contact, waved at us and even did little high fives with the one or the other female fan who dared to initiate a gesture like that (of course I didn't because I am too chicken-shit for that). Once Keiko was gone, Yuriko was also ushered outside. Some of us were still hopeful that we would get an encore, especially since they had closed the exit again but alas we didn't get one. However, we were all in for a special treat when it was time to finally get up and leave. When they started playing the usual after-live announcement it was obvious that there wouldn't be an encore so I took my stuff and headed towards the back door which a staff member was just about to open. That's when I realised that Keiko was standing right outside the door, waiting for the audience members to give each one of us a private send-off. This is a common occurrence with fan club events in Japan but I've never had it happen with Keiko before so this was super special. Also, during and even long after the pandemic, situations with close encounters like that were strictly avoided so I didn't really expect them to do a send-off. Seems like we have finally moved past those restrictions! BANZAI! Anyway, I literally froze in place when I saw Keiko standing there because I was scared to be the first one to be greeted by her. I waited a few seconds so a handful of people could walk out before me. This way I was able to observe what other fans were saying to her and how much time the staff allowed each person with Keiko. I know, it probably sounds ridiculous to you but this sort of stuff stresses me out immensely, I prefer to be at least a tiny bit prepared. I was probably the fifth person to walk outside and most people inside the dome were still putting on their clothes or picking up their stuff so there was not really a line behind me or any type of rush. When I got in front of Keiko, we both did the crazy waving thing again while I thanked her for everything. Then I told her that I am always supporting her from Vienna and she was like, "wow, Vienna, so cool!" At that point it would have probably been my turn to step away since I could tell that the staff member next to Keiko was getting antsy and already preparing to ask me to continue walking. But I wanted to use the opportunity to briefly mention my undying love for the beret I had won during a previous fan club event. As you probably all know, this is my most-prized possession. It's a hat previously owned and frequently worn by Keiko herself, she signed it and even wrote my name on it before shipping it out to me. Being as obsessed with Kalafina fashion as I am, I really couldn't have asked for a better gift. Squeezing all those emotions into a single sentence or two was very hard but I tried my best. I had forgotten how to breathe at that point and my voice was getting super weird. I pointed at my hat and hoped that she would even remember that she had given it away. Then I all but squeaked out how grateful I was to win it and that I would treasure it all my life. She also pointed at it with clear recognition on her face (thank God or it would have been embarrassing XD) and told me with the brightest of smiles, "ah yes, yes, I know, that's amazing, I am so happy for you!" Needless to say, that almost killed me 💀I definitely ascended to another plane of existence that day. I didn't wanna push my luck any further so with a final wave I kept walking towards the reception area and thus ended my Keiko Planetarium experience. Even hours after the event, I was still reeling from everything that had happened.

My plane was supposed to leave bright and early the following morning so I did not stick around longer than necessary. I said my goodbyes to a couple of fellow fans and then took off. Some of them wanted to invite me to a small after-dinner-party but I just wouldn't have been able to deal with the stress on the eve of my departure.

All right, that's it, hopefully I didn't forget anything and I didn't bore you to death. Kudos to anyone who managed to make it to the end.

PS: I just wanna say that Keiko is the prettiest human being ever. Every time I see her up-close I'm reminded of her other-worldly beauty. Standing right next to her, it doesn't even feel like she is a real person because everything about her looks so smooth and polished, like someone put a filter on top of her XD

[therosielord]

If you are planning on fleeing a red state, here is my pitch for moving to Chicago

I am a lesbian and a lifelong Chicagoan and I fuckin love it here. I grew up here, went to college here, and now live here as an adult, and I have no plans to leave. Despite being the 3rd biggest city in America, Chicago gets weirdly overlooked a lot and many people have never even been here.

If you are fleeing a red state because you're LGBTQ+, a woman, or an immigrant, here are the reasons I think you should move to Chicago:

We're a super queer-friendly city with several historically queer neighborhoods (that are actually affordable enough to live in).

Illinois has literally never voted red in my entire lifetime. That's the entire 21st century so far, btw.

We have a looooong history of fighting for abortion rights, even helping women get care before it was legal (google the Jane Collective).

Although there are red counties in the more rural part of the states, the blue influence of Chicago spreads far beyond the city's official borders. Chicago has such a large network of sprawling towns around it that still feel like a part of the city that we have a name for it: Chicagoland! So even if you're not a city person, you can find lots of more rural spaces within Chicagoland.

If you can't stand the idea of living too far from nature, never fear: there are tons of gorgeous nature preserves around Chicago! I grew up in a suburb where both the city border AND a forest preserve were a bike ride away.

Illinois has a great governor, J. B. Pritzker, whose response after the recent election was "To anyone who intends to come take away the freedom, opportunity, and dignity of Illinoisans, I would remind you that a happy warrior is still a warrior. You come for my people – you come through me."

We're a very diverse city with a large immigrant population. (Fun fact: the only city with a larger population of Polish people is Warsaw.) We have many localized ethnic neighborhoods all over the city. Which ties into my next point...

We have amazing food! Seriously, Chicago is super overlooked as one of the best eating cities in the country. I can find literally any cuisine from any country somewhere in Chicagoland, and we have everything from 3 Michelin star restaurants to hidden gem counter service spots with the best tacos al pastor you've ever had.

We have very strict gun control laws. Unfortunately, people get around these laws by going to Indiana to buy guns (thanks a LOT, Indiana), but the extra hassle means that there are actually fewer guns here than in red states and no one can open carry.

Chicago has a $15 citywide minimum wage and has plans to phase out tipping in restaurants (replaced with higher salaries).

We have really amazing museums like the Art Institute of Chicago (widely considered to be one of the best museums IN THE WORLD), the Field Museum (home to the most complete T-Rex ever, our beautiful mascot Sue), as well as a great aquarium, modern art museum, planetarium, and so many more I can't list them all. And they all have free days for Illinois residents!

We have great public transit. I don't own a car, most of my friends don't own a car, and we can get around just fine.

We never have hurricanes because we're a LAKE city, baby. We do have tornados but they rarely hit the actual city, they tend to stay out where there's more open space.

Cost of living is lower than other major blue cities like San Francisco and NYC

We have two baseball teams so that's double the baseball

Broadway shows frequently do a premier in Chicago before they open in NYC so we get a lot of huge musicals here. I've gotten free tickets to shows that later went on to tour the country.

Unlike SOME other large blue cities I could mention, we know how to put our trash in DUMPSTERS instead of IN THE STREET.

Giant bean

Your life will change after you've had a juicy Italian beef sandwich with hot giardiniera.

And finally, to address all the stories about Chicago being a crime-ridden warzone, here's the deal: they are simply not true. Where do those stories come from? It's simple: Chicago has a historically large black population and we're a liberal city. Racist republicans have convinced themselves that this means we must be a haven for crime. We have the same amount of crime as any large city, which is to say: far less crime per capita than in rural red areas. Seriously, look it up.

Not only is Chicago not the most dangerous city in America, we don't even make the list of the top 25.

But the thing is, those lies about Chicago actually kind of work in our favor, because it means that Republicans are too scared to come here. My own grandparents haven't visited in 10 years because they're convinced that if they do they'll get shot or something.

Anyway, move to Chicago, it's great here. And it'll probably be one of the safest strongholds for whatever comes in the next 4 years. If you're also from Chicago and have any other points I missed, please add them!

[bookofbolden]

TIMING: January 26, 2019 LOCATION: New York City PARTIES: Lily & Eleanor SUMMARY: During a belated birthday celebration Eleanor meets Lily for the first time. WARNINGS: None!

New York City winters were unforgiving and Eleanor was more excited about the fact that she and her friends had found a nice warm building to revive her hands and stop shivering than the fact that they had chosen to visit the bar in a sort of belated birthday celebration for her. She'd refused to allow anyone to acknowledge her actual birthday but after nearly a week of whining from her roommate she'd decided that she would put on a brave face and endure one night out with everyone, even a few fellow Columbia students that she didn't know. However, despite the weather, everyone was overly excited to be out and about in the city and it had caused her to suffer from a headache - she tried her best to smile and laugh at the right moments but the swirl of emotions around her made it difficult to focus on anything for too long. Eventually she closed her eyes and began to rub at her temples in an attempt to ease the pain.

"They say that you're a writer, is it true?"

When she looked up she noticed that a stranger had decided to take the seat to her right. She was a friend of Taylor, Eleanor's roommate, whose name was unknown but she was beautiful. She'd immediately caught Eleanor's eye but she hadn't been brave enough to strike up a conversation.

"Well, sort of."

"Do you write?"

"Yes."

"Then you're a writer." The stranger smiled kindly. "Happy birthday by the way, I hope it's okay that Taylor invited us."

Eleanor shrugged. "The more people who come, the more people who can keep her entertained. Thank you."

They shared a laugh and a comfortable silence fell over the pair as Eleanor observed the stranger from the corner of her eye.

"I just realized that I came to a birthday party and I don't even know the name of the person we're celebrating."

Eleanor smiled again. "Eleanor."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Lily." She held out her hand.

Forever awkward, Eleanor blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "What're you studying?" She shook the other woman's hand but took a moment to let go. When she realized that she'd held onto her hand for too long she blushed and quickly looked away.

"Astrophysics. It's incredibly nerdy, I know."

"No, that's actually extremely impressive. It makes my English degree sound like child's play. How do you not pull your hair out from the stress? I can't imagine."

Lily laughed again. "I do pull my hair out, I've just gotten really good at hiding it. Don't downsize your own accomplishments though, I can hardly string together two sentences for my essays without wanting to give up, I would never be able to write an entire book. What's the name of your book?"

"You know I've published one?"

"Taylor told us everything except your name, the most important detail."

"That sounds like her. It's called 'A Season of Secrets', it started as a concept back in high school and slowly developed into a book." Eleanor refrained herself from going into too much detail, she didn't want to bore someone she'd just met.

"I'll give it a read and will report back to you with a detailed review of what I thought about it. Maybe over dinner."

The offer went right over Eleanor's head but she smiled and nodded all the same. "Okay, yeah. But remember that it's my first publication so please go easy on me." She clasped her hands in her lap to keep them from shaking with excitement over the fact that someone seemed interested in her work. "Tell me about astrophysics."

"You know, I'd rather not bore you to death. How about I tell you about literally anything else?"

"Sure."

"Okay... My name is Lily Murphy, isn't that an awful name? Anyway, Lily Murphy, born and raised in Detroit. I actually used to be super bad at anything that involved school but then in middle school we went on a field trip to the planetarium and I knew that I wanted to know more about space. Unfortunately, that meant that I had to actually get my head out of my ass and put some work toward my education, but I did it and now I'm the first in my family to attend college. I have a cat named Mister Jingles who lives with my family back home, I'm a huge fan of horror movies, and I'm terrified of the ocean." Lily nodded as she finished. "How was that?"

"Too short, I want to hear more." Without realizing it Eleanor had rested her chin in the palm of her hand and leaned closer to Lily in an attempt to hear every word she uttered.

"It's your turn to tell me something about you. I'm interested in how a college student was able to get a book published while studying without driving herself crazy."

Eleanor shook her head. "My life is boring, you'd think astrophysics was more exciting." She joked.

"Got a pen?" Lily reached over and grabbed a napkin from the bar and waited for Eleanor to dig a pen from her purse. "I have to read your book, remember? How about you take me up on my offer for dinner and I'll talk with you about the book and more about myself?"

"Does that mean I'll have to talk about me?" Eleanor watched as Lily wrote down her name and number.

"Absolutely." Lily handed the pen and napkin to Eleanor. "Maybe you can start with why you didn't want to celebrate your birthday."

It was strange to Eleanor that someone would actually be interested in her backstory, she had come to peace with the fact that most people ignored her. She didn't know if she liked being placed in the spotlight.

"I don't think you'll find anything I have to say very interesting."

"And I want to prove you wrong." Lily shrugged. "Now, in this situation I may be wrong, but from what Taylor's told me I think that you and I could become really good friends."

Eleanor could always use more friends, especially ones that obviously didn't seem to mind her rattling on about her projects.

"Yeah." She nodded in agreement. "I think we'll be great friends."