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peterrrei · 2 years ago

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i've been listening to your charmuro playlist a lot (i follow you on twitter lol, idk if you posted it here) and i was wondering if you'd want to elaborate on any of your choices...all the sad young men is one that caught me off guard but also makes so much sense to me

hi there! sorry for the very late reply! but oh my god. thank you for sending me this ask because it gave me enough motivation to write down some notes about my playlist and order it a bit because — its a lot LOL

first of all i would like to mention that yes, it’s a charmuro playlist, but you cannot take lalah out of charmuro ♡ so i’ve added songs that somehow fit her point of view, or hint at her presence. i love lalah so much and it makes me sad when people take her out of char and amuro’s relationship or minimize the impact that she had on both of them. (but don’t ask me to define whatever those three had going on because i don’t know. it’s vague. vague is okay in my mind but i would love to make people see my vision. in a few years i will maybe find the words to describe it)

ANYWAY THE PLAYLIST! i’m sorting it in a kind of chronological way, but it gets vague and blurry sometimes because i also think it’s important for a playlist to flow well (and to have songs that i actually like listening to! and it vagueness works for gundam....)

some examples:

∙ 1979 by the smashing pumpkins this song is really great because it truly is an anthem of a new young generation, which is a focal point of gundam! the pain and angst and comfort of late teenagehood/early adulthood ♡

On a live wire right up off the street You and I should meet <-( a jolt of electricity is the kind of feeling i can imagine newtypes feel when they connect with each other) June bug skipping like a stone With the headlights pointed at the dawn We were sure we'd never see an end to it all <- buggy stuck in the mud scene my beloved ♡

∙ familiar feeling by moloko i wasn’t even looking for charmuro coded songs when i found this band! but my delusional heart can see charmuro where the normal person can’t <3 anyway this is definitely a zeta song. i have in illustration in mind for the charmuro zine i’m very slowly drawing/writing that is completely based off their reunion in zeta and this song.

Nothing can come close Nothing can come close Nothing can come close

I never doubted it What's for you will not pass you by I never questioned it It was decided before I asked why It's all there ever was And it's all there ever will be How could you have questioned us? It's yourself you deceive

Nothing can come close To this familiar feeling We say it all without Ever speaking

god this song is so so so perfect and really encapsulates the hings about gundam that i love: vagueness, intense human emotions, sharing these emotions, identity and masked identity, love. perfection

Hush now No need to say the words At first sight you perfectly heard Love in all its entirety Is no less than we deserve I saw, your face Some place I felt this feeling before Is it deja vu? Do I somehow know you? <- this this this! adrenaline still filling the air after battle, amuro sits on the mechanical hand of a Gundam. he hasn’t seen one in over eight years. he has called for him before even realizing he opened his mouth to speak. char. amuro. who are you? do i know you? what is this feeling? have i felt this before?

∙ all the sad young men by spector you said it caught you off guard but it makes sense and i agree! i had the same thought process. it’s a song ive listened to many many times but it occurred to me that it fits charmuro only recently! well-- maybe it’s more of a generic gundam feeling. i am also working on a “generic gundam feelings” playlist.. it’s still private though. it’s called anime ja nai :’)

And no, nothing ever really started with a kiss <- YEAH

I don't wanna make love I don't wanna make plans I don't want anyone to wanna hold my hand <- i don’t know if this makes me think more of char or amuro. and because of that it’s perfect

It begins in the places that we leave behind Every year that goes by a little less future on our minds These girls like to pretend they can't feel anything anymore (...........gundam women..........) Boys break like promises, but only behind closed doors (gundam men.......................)

∙ raise me up by hercules and love affair including an explanation of why i think this song is charmuro is difficult. it just is to me. just like truefalse/fakereal by the same band

My secret love Keeps me awake at night My secret love of the man My secret fight They put you down They pushed your face down They fucked you aver and around You kissed the ground You're the one I waited for your return I slept with rocks I slept with stones Stone was my home Energy Life danced right out of me When my father busted you free He also killed me <- kinda makes me think of zeon daikun dooming amuro ray to have an intense yaoi thing with his son. lol Oh raise me up To dance upon your head Oh raise me up To dance in the holes of your head <- !! Oh raise me up To dance in the cavities of Your eyes <- and this!!!!! i need more of this!!!!!!

∙ a beginner’s guide to destroying the moon by foster the people this song was suggested to me by my discover weekly and the lyrics instantly made me think of char and amuro. cca feelings

I can't blame you I can't save you But I will try for you and I For you and I, I won't find out All the dirty little things that you've done But I will try For you and I, I will breathe in All the truth I can stomach If it keeps you alive <-amuro (I would break you Before I let you fall into the blind For you and I) <- char We've changed the dreamers and the Preachers and the wise men on the hill To concrete stepping smilers terrified to lose their power and control We've been crying for a leader to speak like the old prophets The blood of the forgotten wasn't Spilled without a purpose, or was it? And now, I'm staring at the moon Wondering why the bottom fell out

and again:

To smash the wall of apathy Stop your self-importance And lift the weight off somebody else Yeah, you'll never be whole Yeah, you'll never be whole Until you lose control <- this is directed at both of them

∙ i might be wrong by radiohead major cca charmulalah feelings here...

I might be wrong I could have sworn I saw a light coming on I used to think There was no future left at all I used to think <- char (Open up, begin again Let's go down the waterfall Think about the good times and never look back Never look back) <- lalah What would I do? <- char What would I do? <- amuro If I did not have you? <- ooooooh yes! your lives were irreparably changed the day char stepped on side 7 in 0079 ∙ bleed by george clanton charmuro in its messiness, ugliness and intensity. i absolutely love the progression in the song. starting slow until it builds up to the explosion of kaleidoscopic sounds (that is not a proper way to describe a sound right? but i wouldn’t describe it any other way <3)

Someone else can make you happy Someone else can show you a good time A good time Someone else can say "I'm Sorry" Someone else can fight and tell you lies But not like I do Not like me Someone else can bite until you bleed Make you bleed Not like I do Not like me

∙ the man who sold the world (sung by midge ure. i just like that version better, sounds so ethereal. plus im a metal gear fan lmao) this song really evokes the change between masks char went through. amuro — there to see them all

Although I wasn't there He said I was his friend Which came as a surprise I spoke into his eyes I thought you died alone A long long time ago

Oh no, not me We never lost control You're face to face With the man who sold the world

(I gazed a gazely stare We walked a million hills I must have died alone A long, long time ago)

∙ day by bill callahan this is maybe one of the cheesiest songs in the playlist but i just love it so much. and. i mean. what is gundam without cheesiness? to me this songs feels a lot like a conversation between cca char and amuro. the kind of disdain towards the humanity that has reduced earth to such a wasteland planet vs the hope that humanity is indeed good and we must strive toward the light, even though it is so hard

Some people are a sickness on this land They're killing, they're taking They're stealing whatever they can Anything, anything, anything That is not bolted down Your life, your money, your heart, your faith, your bike

and then again:

Some would ask What are we to do With a world that crumbles to the touch? A world that spins and dies where it stands Like trying ain't enough?

but listen to me:

To family is all you can do And strive toward the light It's as dark as night Strive toward the light I know it's as dark as night I know it's as dark as night

It is day though

∙ la vita fa schifo by le feste antonacci umm haha italian moment. this playlist should have more italian moments and i am working on that. anyway the lyrics to this song is just life sucks life sucks life sucks life suckssss in various dramatic intonations. life did kinda suck for char and amuro right? lmao. i am the kinda person that says oh well la vita fa schifo over the smallest problems. i just thought it would be funny to think about char and amuro dying and both being like. well. la vita fa schifo. what the fuck was everyone’s problem.

∙ l’amour toujours by gigi d’agostino NOW HEAR ME OUT. this started as a meme between me and my partner. of putting this song over the credits of very dramatic movies. it’s because it was the credit song of uncut gems, it really stunned us the first time we finished that movie bc we joke about that song so much, it’s basically italy’s national anthem. so we joked about char’s counterattack ending and instead of beyond the time, l’amour toujours starts playing. po poporopo poporopo po poro po po poroporopo. but then also— you know what? the lyrics fits charmuro too. LMAO (delusional) I still believe in your eyes I just don't care what you have done in your life Baby, I'll always be here by your side Don't leave me waiting too long, Please come byI still believe in your eyes There is no choice, I belong to your life Because I will live to love you someday You'll be my baby and we'll fly away And I'll fly with you, I'll fly with you, I'll fly with you

basically the credits song of my playlist :')

um okay haha! i think i will stop for now bc this is a lot... thank you again for this ask!

#asks #i tried to color code some songs lines to make it more clear but tumblr editor suuuuuucks ass sorry OTL

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milogreer · 9 months ago

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HELLO here are my incoherent thoughts on these kick ass playlists 💖 this is even longer than part one because i'm soooo normal about blake, milo, and morgan specifically. obviously. have fun 😇

elliot

this side of paradise takes me out EVERY TIME. ENOUGH

okaayyyy fourth of july? closing this playlist now-

RIBS?? rubs temples

frame the halves and call them brothers….

RUN BOY RUN IS MAKING ME SICK

no fuckin way you put sufjan’s fourth of july on here too. HELLO?

blake

sorry in advance ‘cause i fear. i will be very insane about this one. 2 hours and 45 minutes??

okay so i already said in previous tags that ‘the red means i love you’ made me grind my teeth together but i’ll say it here too. cause it’s true.

“i can fit two people under my skin […] you crawled up in there and joined me within” LOVE this song grrrr

monet issues ……… okay i am listening. “spent too many years finding myself in the wreckage under rubble, i got myself in trouble” “blood doesn’t mean a thing when you cannot fucking breathe and you lose yourself completely” IM DONE LISTENING.

STALKER’S TANGOOO A CLASSIC. no notes.

“and i found jesus, what a liar, so i trade licks with muddy waters” COME ONNN

FUCKIN SLEEPWALK?? holy shit i haven’t heard this song in ages. fuck this one is so good

stoppp stop stop saint bernard??? this song makes me CRAZY

an unhealthy obsession ✔️ another classic yandere song. “you’ve got those eyes that drive me crazy and i’ve got eyes to watch you sleep” 💀

THE WAY MY JAW DROPPED ON IDLE WORSHIP

BACKSTABBER OMG. i legit haven’t heard this song since i was a teen. fuck yeah. bonus points for the basement line gdkjghfkl

“i hear voices, i see visions / these spirits are your prison” ‼️‼️‼️

of course we must have meant to be yours. what yandere character playlist is complete without it

cold cold cold YESSS. GENIUS. “as the darkness falls, it fills up both my eyes / my life before me like a flash in the night” YES

this is love is going to make me start throwing things for REAL. “everyone that tried to fix me knows that i can’t change a bit / i’ve got no shame, got no pride, only skeletons to hide” RRRGGGG

sitting with brutus for a long time. many thoughts. also “as i set to face it, i’m unsure / should i embrace it, should i run? what motivates me, hatred? is it love?” GOD

‘bad idea right?’ mhm mhm nodding sagely

MY WAY OF LIFE. YOU GET ME.

AND SUPER PSYCHO LOVE WOOO. i love yandere songs <3

this took almost my whole lunch break but it was so worth it. tysm for this i can’t wait to be even more mentally ill about blake than i already was by listening to this in full lmfao

sam/darlin

oh my fuckin god francesca.... "how could you think, darlin, i'd scare so easily?" "my life was a storm since i was born, how could i fear any hurricane?" STOP.

thank you for putting lil nas between two hozier songs bc i needed the reprieve honestly before de selby (part 2). this is sick

save a horse ride a cowboy my beloved <3

YOO FIRECRACKER. josh turner <33 ik sam is literally southern but it's still so fun to me when there's country songs on his playlists 'cause i feel like country songs are never on character playlists :') i love this

no but this is full of gems... tongues & teeth, we'll never have sex, arms tonight, the night we met, until i found you, i found ?? it just keeps going. NORTHERN ATTITUDE?? LITTLE LION MAN. CEILINGS. i have to get out of here actually

I'M DYING AT SHAKE IT FOR ME. how is this song from 2011 i feel SO OLD

sam

pleaaase please not family line again 🫠

bdg covered lay all your love on me??? this is sending me to the MOON

MMM ain't it fun is so so good. thinking

i think you had believe me in one of your other posts abt sam but mannn MAN. MAN I LOVE IT.

seeing jaymes young on playlists gives me ptsd like i KNOW whatever song it is is gonna hurt. and it did here too 😔

david

kind of really obsessed with this cover of make a man out of you

bahaha true love by p!nk 😭 sooo real. i love this song

[sees yellow by coldplay] HEY 🫵🏼 stop that!!

SAINT BERNARD AGAIN BRO. CMON

i don't know welcome home son by radical face but i know enough radical face to be afraid of that song LMAO

asher

hard times is such a banger for ash, like ... this energy with these lyrics >>>

wow i only know a handful of these actually 🫣 LOVE scrawny for him sm AND ELECTRIC LOVE<3

milo

MY MAIN MAN. RGHH. something so personal abt his cover having a cross necklace *_*

good old fashioned lover boy EXACTLY EXACTLY. i'm literally always saying this

listening to i can't handle change like this 😐🧍🏼‍♀️ why would you do this to me

hmm i wasn't sure abt sweater weather at first but actually yeah... yeah

oohh nothing is so sweet 🥺 like giving me a cavity sweet. i love it

wait i've been listening to this one as a real playlist and why did it take me halfway through everywhere i go to remember this wasn't just my liked songs LMFAO

rolling from would that i into bad idea right has me CACKLING. kind of a genius pick! really fun song from either POV honestly

WOMANIZER IS SO TRUE like sometimes i'm sorta picky abt referring to him as some kind of playboy but like . he's CHARMING. we all know this. he sure as shit knows it

oh fuck shut up and drive?? between this and animals on david's playlist i'm gonna act UP

hey speaking of nickelback LOL she keeps me up is such a fun song

HAHAHA VIOLET?? "looking through the peephole on the door of my apartment" STOP that's so funny 😭😭

hmmmm. slides habits onto my blake playlist.

us putting teeth on our milo playlists🤝 god this song rules

what the fuck did troye sivan put in this album?? "i feel like my mother might like you" 🥺🥺

jealousy jealousy !! "i think too much 'bout kids who don't know me" SHH. HUSH. finding out even milo gets self conscious was like a kick in the head

OH MAN CLASSIC IS SO GOOD.

vincent, vincent/lovely, & porter

speedrunning all them in one go cause i'm not super into these guys RIP

two birds is SICK it is sick and twisted on every playlist i've ever seen or put it on

extremely satisfied to see electric love on here LMAO opportunity knocked and you answered!

STOP WITH SUFJAN'S FOURTH OF JULYYY OW

strawberry wine ....... 🫠

oh my god and through me (the flood) wtf.

LITTLE TALKS. good god i was just shot back to my sophomore year of high school

oohhhh the busted wine bottle for porter's cover >>>

ok the first four songs on porter's KICK ASS. brutus in this context gives me goosebumps like crazy ("if you want i'll call you king, but why do i lie awake each night thinking instead of you, it should be me" GEEZ)

first time??? okay. i'm glad that's the end of this because that's so mean 😭

geordi

this luigi's mansion remix goes so hard

FUCK ABOUT IT >:0 my best friend sent me that for them a few weeks ago!! sick and twisted but so so tasty

songs i can't listen to is going to make me WEEP. AHHHH

literally the first line in i love you so gets me every single time for him 😐 and it's all downhill from there

vampire?? VAMPIRE? dog. you can't do this to me.

DIAL DRUNK YOU CANTTT DO THIS 😭😭

okay my girlfriend is a witch is making me giggle so you're forgiven LMAO

never mind you put be nice to me on here. "there's very little left of me and it's never coming back" WE'RE SO OVER

morgan

^ me rn opening morgan's playlist knowing i'm to blame for it. i’ve had dinner between morgan and geordi so i have ENERGY.

i only know once in a lifetime from the meme but “letting the days go by, let the water hold me down” ✔️✔️✔️ same as it ever was‼️‼️

DEAD MAN’S PARTY YESSS THE VIBES!!!!

ooohhhh what’s the time where you are !! i rly liked this one when i first heard it on milo’s (i think) & it fits rly well here too :0

murder on the dancefloor ✍🏻✍🏻

I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU EXPECT STARING INTO THE TV SET 🎶🎶 FIGHTING FIRE WITH FIRE

argh i have GOT to listen to more of duo’s music ….

GIRLS ON FILM 👯‍♀️🎥

mad world??? “the dreams in which i’m dying at the best i’ve ever had” ??? this isn’t fun anymore 😐

you worry too much, you make yourself sad ‼️ you can’t change fate but don’t feel so bad‼️

OK OK I’M DONE. DOG THESE ARE SO AWESOME. the effort you’ve put into them is NUTS and they’re so gorgeous !! i had a blast listening and reacting to them hehe ty again for sharinggg and i am NOT sorry for inspiring the morgan playlist 😌💕

my redacted audio spotify playlists - pt one

alrighty gang, here we are! ive been teasing it for a while, but im finally making a post with the links to my redacted audio playlists.

the ones i have public are the only ones that will be included, i dont have my listener character ones public rn only because theyre based on my interpretations of the listeners and are very special to me.

anyways, lets get on to the fun part! btw, some of the songs on the ship playlists might skew a bit towards a gendered-ish feel. thats just based on my interpretation of the listener characters. the songs can still work in a gender neutral sense.

included in this; guy/honey, guy, the D.A.M.N. crew, gavin/freelancer, lasko/coworker, gavin, lasko, damien, huxley, elliott/sunshine

i will be reblogging this soon with the rest of the playlists, have no fear hjkfagfh

the playlists

━━━━━━

guy/honey

guy

the D.A.M.N. crew (mainly polyDAMN)

gavin/freelancer

lasko/coworker

gavin

lasko

damien

huxley

elliott/sunshine

#sweetheart.txt #playlists #elliott #blake #sam #darlin #davey #asher #milo #vincent #lovely #porter #morgan

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lotusar · 3 years ago

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𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗖𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗬, 𝗠𝗘!

ZHONGLI X READER, FLUFF TO ANGST

liyue and inazuma archon quest spoilers. in which you and zhongli catch up via letters for a time.

warnings ; implied death.

additional ; no this is not a song fic SOBS though i do plan on doing songfics at some point maybe?? depends on what you guys want <3

started at ; 9:50 AM (ROUGHLY) on MAY 23, 2022

dear rex lapis,

i miss you so much already. truthfully, we’ve only been separated by sea for a few centuries, but it has felt like an eternity.

eternity .. did you know that inazuma’s leaders follow the logic that nothing should change? if no one moves forward, how will a nation go on? no progress means no improvement.

not that i’m suggesting it surely won’t - in fact, i’d really prefer if it did improve no matter the circumstances. but, the inazuman’s know who their archon is - is that why no one is rebelling? they can’t match her power, i don’t think.

but enough about that, how have you been? surely, you’re well? if you ever need me, i’ll find a way to sail back to you in a heartbeat. feel free to send me letters whenever! you know i love speaking with you.

i love you so much, you know that, right? i’ll love you to the moon and back.

please write me back whenever you can! i love you, and hope to hear from you soon.

sincerely, y/n.

dearly beloved (y/n l/n),

i’m glad to see you are well, my dear. i miss you just as much as you do me, but i’m sure we will see each other soon. of course, if that’s what you want? you needn’t join me for a time if that’s not what you’d like to do.

ah, yes. i’ve heard about that. a nation that cannot strive forward .. it’s a bit of a stretch, if you ask me. though, i believe it is because of the loss of their original god. however, i cannot say for sure.

but, please stay safe while you are there. don’t do anything you may regret. i’d like to see and hear from you in one piece, after all.

i love you just as much, if not more. i miss your presence. the tea doesn’t quite taste the same without my lover by my side. in any case, i am more than willing to wait for you.

feel free to speak with me about your endeavors. i am happy to listen.

also, the people of liyue call me .. “zhongli” now. if you wouldn’t mind, in these letters, could you address me as such? of course, in person, any names are welcome. it is just so that the letters will be sent to me instead of thrown out.

sincerely, rex lapis.

dear zhongli,

i’m so sorry! it’s been such a long time since i’ve written to you .. i apologize for any and all worrying that you’ve done! it’s just .. recent events have really gotten to me.

the tenryou commission has started to seize visions. i had to get away from inazuma city, since that was where it was most prominent. i am now on watatsumi island, so that is why it may take longer to get to you.

i trust that you and liyue are well? i haven’t heard much about liyue recently .. but honestly, i haven’t heard much outside of the “mysterious blonde traveler” that has been roaming around mondstadt. their reputation precedes them.

besides that, i miss you and love you. please write back to me soon, love.

sincerely, y/n.

dearest y/n,

there’s no need to apologize. i am more or less aware of the situation there .. but i hope you’re able to stay safe. there’s also no need to worry about how long it will take to get here .. since i am happy to receive word from you whenever possible.

both me and liyue are well. though, i worry that .. perhaps my time leading liyue into the ages is over. i want to run some form of .. test. to see if liyue can strive on without their “god”. a nation that casts aside their god would be rather prosperous. the traveler from mondstadt has actually recently arrived. i believe all of the cards are aligned.

i love you too. please stay safe, and take care of yourself.

sincerely, zhongli.

dearest y/n,

greetings, it has been a while. you still have not written back to me from my last letter .. perhaps you did not receive it? in any case, i send this one in hopes of a response. of course, take your time.

how have you been? i hope you’re very safe and sound, and i hope to hear from you soon.

p.s , i adore you more than you will ever know.

sincerely, zhongli.

dearest y/n,

are you alright? you haven’t responded to my letters in a long time. of course, if you’re occupied, there’s no need to respond quickly - and by no means am i frustrated with you.

supposedly, the traveler and their friend, paimon, are making their way to inazuma with the crux fleet. perhaps, you will come across them? i’ve told both of them about you, and they said they will look for you when they get the chance.

please, get back to me soon. i love you.

sincerely, zhongli.

dearest y/n,

the traveler told me what happened. you won’t ever be able to see this because you are no longer in this world .. but, perhaps this should be my last letter to you. the letter to keep your memory pure. maybe, i’ll send more letters to your mailbox as the centuries go forward.

i wish i had been informed of your situation .. but of course, i doubt anyone could have told me anyway - at least, until now.

the traveler and their companion gave me a picture of where you are resting. i must say, sangonomiya kokomi and general gorou of the watatsumi island army have done well to honor your memory.

i miss you, but i will also love you eternally. wherever you may be, you will continue to shine like gold in my memories.

goodbye, my love. may you rest well.

sincerely, zhongli.

#lotusar #lotus’ fiction #genshin x reader #zhongli imagines #zhongli x reader #zhongli x y/n #zhongli x you #zhongli genshin x reader #zhongli genshin impact #genshin x reader angst #genshin reader insert

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searidings · 3 years ago

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hi, i just love you and your writing

can i suggest something - you are in love (taylor swift) and supercorp

i cannot listen to that song without going yeah, that's them

(also on ao3 if you prefer)

Five years from now, Kara is going to reach across the table at Noonan's and take her hand. She's going to look deep into Lena's eyes, biting her lip as her thumb rubs gentle circles into Lena's palm, and her voice will barely rise above a whisper when she asks, “When did you know?”

And when she does, five years from now, Lena will think back to this moment.

This moment, which is as close as Lena's come to happiness since she'd woken up ziptied to a chair in her brother's office. This moment which, despite the fuzzy feeling of her unbrushed teeth and the pungent aroma of burnt toast filling the air, is perfect.

Kara, bed-warm and sleep-heavy, is gazing beseechingly down at the charred remains of a slice of a bread as though if she only pouts hard enough, its edges will un-blacken and its corners will stop smoking.

“I'm so sorry,” she says as Lena rounds the screen separating Kara's bedroom from the rest of the apartment and perches herself on a barstool, tugging her borrowed sleep shorts a little lower down her thighs.

Kara's tone is mournful, her face so forlorn she looks to be one deep breath away from tears. “I wanted breakfast to be perfect, since it's your first time staying over and if it's terrible you might not want to stay again and I, I really want you to stay again, but I don't know why you would since you probably have a private chef waiting for you at home and I can’t even manage toast—”

“Kara,” Lena interrupts, biting at the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing as Kara's bottom lip trembles. “It's fine, really. I once set fire to my dorm kitchen trying to boil an egg. And besides,” she winks as blue eyes meet hers. “I like to give my personal chef the weekends off.”

Kara huffs out a relieved chuckle, her face brightening. “Oh, well, in that case,” she grins, a sparkle returning to her eyes. “I'd better feed you up before you go home. Never let it be said that I don't look after you.”

Lena can't help the smile that pulls at her as the warm bright feeling in her chest grows and grows. She tugs the sleeves of Kara's sweatshirt over her hands, fighting the urge to fidget as the blonde orders a frankly obscene amount of food from the brunch place on the corner.

She feels exposed like this, face bare and hair sleep-mussed, unshowered with unbrushed teeth, huddled inside borrowed clothes after the impromptu invitation to stay over when last night's movie marathon ran late. It's a far cry from the regimented composure she fights so hard every day to project, and something in her chest twists anxiously.

Kara is a reporter, after all, and National City really doesn't need any more reasons to hate Lena right now. The darkest corner of her mind – the one which has been waiting for the other shoe to drop, for everything to come crashing down ever since the whirlwind of Kara's too-good-to-be-true friendship had come blazing into her life – still worries that this may all be an elaborate ruse. A trap, a way to get close to her in order to assess her weaknesses, to bring her down with an inside scoop.

But in their six months of friendship, Kara's never given her any reason to believe she has any kind of ulterior motive. And despite the suspicions and anxieties hammered into her by a lifetime of hurt, Lena knows now that even if this is a trap, she'll take the bait willingly. Especially if it means Kara will keep looking at her like there might just be something in Lena that's worth her time.

"Hey,” the blonde says gently, leaning back against the counter opposite and pinning Lena with a searching look. “You okay? You kind of zoned out on me there.”

Lena jumps, blinking back into herself with a start. “Yes, sorry. I was miles away.”

The blonde only smiles, flicking on the coffee machine at her elbow. “You sleep okay?”

“Very well, thank you,” Lena answers, fighting to lessen the formality of her tone, to soften the edges her harsh childhood had sharpened into a fortress to keep the world at bay. “Your bed is surprisingly comfortable. I had a great night's sleep.”

"Perhaps the company had something to do with it,” Kara winks as she turns to pull two mugs down from the hooks at her shoulder. Lena thinks back to the smell of Kara's sheets and the soft pulls of her breathing, to the warmth of Kara's ankle against her calf and the strong fingers that had wrapped themselves in the sleeve of Lena's sweatshirt in sleep, anchoring them together. She blushes.

Kara only smirks, pouring their drinks and grabbing the milk from the fridge. “Well, the food's all ordered, it should be here soon,” she says over her shoulder, the waterfall of her golden ponytail mesmerising in the bright rays of morning light filtering in through the vaulted windows. “And you don't need to head off in a hurry, unless you have plans—?”

She glances back at Lena, who shakes her head. “Great!” she grins. “’Cause I was thinking, maybe we could check out the botanical gardens, since it's such a nice day? Oh, and there's a new bakery right across the street that I've been dying to try—”

Lena listens to the blonde's excited rambling with an endeared smile plastered to her face, feeling happy and warm and wanted with every fibre of her being. The feeling is new but so welcome she could cry, and Lena wonders – not for the first time – how she ever got so lucky.

Kara's presence in her life is like sugar in her coffee; meant only to sweeten that which has always been bitter.

Lena's always taken her coffee black. Softening the blow was never much her style.

But here, now, perched at Kara's breakfast bar with her hands wrapped around a steaming mug the blonde has brewed to perfection, sunlight streaming in and highlighting the angles and planes of Kara's face, the way she’s smiling at Lena like there's nowhere else in the world she'd rather be, she realises her reasoning is twofold.

Sugar isn't just appetising. It's addictive. And now that Lena's had a taste of sweetness, she's hooked.

In this moment, Lena knows. She's in love.

Four years from now, Kara is going to reach across the table at Noonan's and take her hand. She's going to look deep into Lena's eyes, biting her lip as her thumb rubs gentle circles into Lena's palm, and her voice will barely rise above a whisper when she asks, “When did you know?”

And when she does, four years from now, Lena will also think back to this moment.

This moment, which may well be one of the lowest of Lena's life. And she's had some doozies.

The two bottles of wine she'd managed to mainline between Sam leaving to orchestrate damage control at L-Corp and Kara arriving and attempting to confiscate her glass have well and truly caught up to her now. She sways heavily on her stool, the room spinning. Tears sting her vision and guilt scorches her throat as she presses a hand over her eyes so she won't have to look at Kara's face anymore.

“Please, just— just, stop believing in me, okay?” she slurs, heart full to shattering with the faces of lead-poisoned children. “I am not worth it.”

She hears Kara sigh, and the room falls silent for a long long time. Lena drops her head fully into her hands, fighting the nausea that's taken root in the pit of her stomach. It could be the booze that's causing it, of course, but it could also be the incessant headlines baying for her blood, the bullet James had taken for her that she'd fully deserved, the curse of her family finally fulfilling itself.

The guilt, the worry, the crushing disappointment of the knowledge that despite her very best efforts, she'll never be anything but a monster— it's too much to feel. It's too much to bear.

So, Lena drinks.

She drains her glass. She pours another. Kara watches, silent and disapproving, fingers twitching against the granite countertop between them.

Lena finishes her glass. Splashes the last dregs of the bottle into it, blood on ice. Still Kara watches, motionless and mute. It's only when Lena's swallowed the last of the red and is lurching unsteadily to her feet to source another that she moves, a hand reaching out to encircle her wrist.

Shame ignites beneath her skin and she pushes Kara away. Snaps at her to go home, to learn to recognise a lost cause when she sees one and just give up already. Kara refuses with a stoic shake of her head, and Lena sighs.

They repeat the same routine three times en route to Sam's wine rack, the blonde shadowing her every step. Each time, Lena wobbles, head fuzzy and room spinning. Each time, Kara steadies her, and Lena flinches from her touch like her palm is a brand, snarls at her to leave, to cut her losses, to just fuck off. Each time, Kara refuses.

She eventually retrieves the wine after a number of unsuccessful attempts but overbalances on her toes, bottle slipping from her grip as she sways dangerously. And then Kara is there, glass bottle caught a split second before it can shatter, a firm arm at her waist that will not be rebuffed.

Lena struggles, shoving and protesting, but this time Kara does not give in. “Enough,” she says quietly, firmly, blue eyes burning a mere inch from Lena's own. “Lena, enough.”

Lena's unsteady legs buckle further and Kara’s basically holding her up now, walking her slowly over to the couch and she shouldn't be this strong, surely, shouldn't be lifting Lena onto the cushions quite this easily. But it's such a minor concern when weighted against the fact that Lena is personally responsible for the hospitalisation of children that her mind brushes over it, forgets it immediately.

"Please go home,” she slurs as the blonde arranges her on the couch, as she stashes the unopened wine far out of reach and sets about finding blankets and pillows in various cupboards. “Please, just— leave me alone.”

“No,” Kara says, almost snaps, glancing back over her shoulder. Partially hidden in the linen cupboard, her face is cast deep in shadow, a splinter of half-concealed truth. “I made you a promise, I gave you my word. I'm your friend, and I will protect you. Always.”

She crosses back to the couch, soft blankets and pillows held out in invitation. When Lena refuses the offering Kara sighs, draping a knitted throw over her anyway and perching on the cushions beside Lena's hip. “I'm not going to leave you, so you might as well stop asking,” she hums, softer now, a hand reaching toward her that Lena no longer possesses the strength or coordination to bat away.

Long fingers make contact with her cheek, with the mussed curls tangling in her eyelashes, and Kara sighs. “You are not your brother,” she murmurs, fingertips grazing Lena's cheekbone, sliding back to thread into the fine hair at her temple. “And you never will be. There's too much light in you to allow for that kind of darkness, so put that fear down, Lena. Let it go. Be free of it.”

Tears spring unbidden to her eyes. “I poisoned children.”

Kara tilts forward and Lena wonders if it's just that her vision has upped its spinning, but then warm lips are pressing against her forehead, soft and delicate as gossamer wings. Kara's mouth moves against her skin, breath damp and sweet and unmistakeably her. “You saved the world.”

Neither one of them moves. When Lena speaks again, the words hit the elegant hollow of Kara's throat. “I don't deserve your kindness. I don't deserve you.”

Kara's lips are still on her forehead. “I don't care.”

Lena feels as if her throat is splitting open, every last fear and hatred and worry and insecurity gushing out of her in an unstoppable stream. “I'm scared.”

“I know.” Kara's lips press once more, and then withdraw. They watch each other in the dim light from the kitchen. Lena's vision is beginning to blur at the edges. Kara's hand is still in her hair.

“You will get through this,” the blonde whispers, so earnest Lena almost manages to believe her. “We'll figure it out. Together.”

Heart in her mouth, tongue sticking behind her teeth, Lena's eyes slide closed.

The sweetness of Kara's words, her gentle touches, seep inside her like honey. She doesn't deserve it but God, she wants it. She wants to be worthy of Kara's faith in her more than she's ever wanted anything in her life. She wants Kara more than she's ever wanted anything in her life.

And it's telling, she knows, that she's just lost the trust of all of National City, that she has no way of easing those children's suffering and no way to prove that she isn't the cause of it, that she's finally living up to the Luthor name she's been running from ever since she'd learned what it truly meant and yet in this moment, with Kara's hand in her hair and the ghostly imprint of her lips on Lena's skin, none of it seems to matter.

In this moment, Lena knows. She's in love.

Three years from now, Kara is going to reach across the table at Noonan's and take her hand. She's going to look deep into Lena's eyes, biting her lip as her thumb rubs gentle circles into Lena's palm, and her voice will barely rise above a whisper when she asks, “When did you know?”

And when she does, three years from now, Lena will also think back to this moment.

This moment, which stands alone as an oasis of calm in the turbulent tumult of the past days, weeks, months of chaos. Lex's escape from custody, Eve Teschmacher's betrayal, James’ shooting, the Harun-El serum, the whole shitty totality of it all has been weighing Lena down like an nth metal chain around her neck.

And Kara, Kara hasn't been around. The one person who has always managed to ease Lena's suffering has deserted her when she needs her the most and it feels like she's been sliced open, cracked in two.

She tells her as much, when Kara at last comes to see her. Tells her she's missed her, tells her she needs her, all but begs her to stay. And what does Kara do? She leaves.

And when she leaves, Lena is gripped by a panic so intense she fears she may never breathe freely again. So terrified is she that Kara is gone for good, that she's forced away the best thing that's ever happened to her, that almost before she knows what's happening she finds herself at Catco with apologies dripping from her own tongue.

Anything to get Kara back. Anything to keep her.

Lena apologises. Kara apologises. Lena cries, and Kara holds her, and tells her that the decision to help her brother when he was dying of cancer doesn't make her the monster she now believes herself to be. And standing on her office balcony with Kara's fingers wrapped around her biceps, with her own tears spotting dark on Kara's blazer, Lena manages to believe her.

When she's collected herself, smoothed away the wetness coursing down her cheeks, she speaks. “I really want to help you with your investigation on Lex.”

Kara's face lights up; Lena's whole world along with it.

“I'd love that,” Kara says, voice quiet and still a little tentative in the wake of their new truce. “But first— would you, um. Would you like to have lunch with me?”

Lena blinks. “Don't you want to get started on the exposé?”

“I do. But—” Kara's face is still painted that earnest shade from earlier, when she'd smoothed her hands over Lena's shoulders and whispered you are a brilliant, kind-hearted, beautiful soul against the sensitive skin of her neck. Lena feels her cheeks heat up at the memory, at the intensity in the blue eyes still roving her face.

Kara shuffles her feet but her gaze is clear, unwavering. “But you were right. I've spent too much time recently prioritising the wrong things. So, I want to work on this exposé with you, and I want to bring your brother down. But first, I'd really just like to have lunch with my best friend.”

Lena's heart trips in her chest. “I'd like that too.”

So, that's what they do. Kara asks her to wait, which she does, idly tapping out a few emails on her phone. And then the blonde is back, far quicker than should have been possible, with her arms full of takeout bags from the café on the third floor and she's taking Lena by the hand and leading her to Cat Grant's private elevator. She presses the button for the roof and Lena's gaze jumps to her face but Kara only smiles, and squeezes her fingers. “Trust me, it'll be worth it,” she hums, her excitement infectious. “You'll be safe with me.”

And Lena believes her.

That's how she ends up sitting at the edge of Catco's roof on a clean sheet Kara had borrowed from the builders on the second floor, heels kicked off, Kara's red blazer draped around her shoulders. It is worth it, she'll admit; the view from this high is phenomenal. The sun burns bright in a cloudless sky, glinting off the glass-sided skyscrapers of the business district, the glittering waters of the bay beyond.

Kara had picked up Lena's favourite salad, some flatbreads and dips, and they drink kombucha and eat strawberries in the sunshine. They talk and they laugh and they catch up and there's no more fighting, no animosity, no megalomaniac brothers or backstabbing secretaries or worlds needing to be saved. There's only them, she and Kara, and it feels like all she will ever need.

The blonde's hands are braced behind her on the rooftop and she looks happy and carefree as she regales Lena with stories of her upstairs neighbour's antics, and Lena feels the tight knot of tension that had taken up residence in her chest begin to unfurl.

"Hey,” Kara hums, pushing up straighter as Lena licks strawberry juice from her fingertips. The motion brings them closer, their shoulders brushing. “Look up.”

Lena does. High above them, a huge murmuration of starlings whirls and swoops through the air. Thousands of birds move together as one, a vast wave cresting but never breaking against the blue canvass of sky.

“Wow,” Lena gasps, awed.

Against her side, Kara hums. “Yeah.”

They watch the birds for a long moment, captivated by the ceaseless swirling and diving. When Lena at last tears her gaze away from the sky, Kara's eyes rest intently on her face. "Here,” the blonde murmurs, reaching out. The pad of one finger makes feather-light contact with her cheek. Lena's breath catches in her chest.

Kara holds out her finger, proffering the stray eyelash she'd captured with a smile. "Make a wish,” she whispers, her fingertip an inch from Lena's mouth. Her eyes never leave Lena’s.

Lena looks from Kara's face to the eyelash, and back again. From somewhere deep inside her heart, the truth bubbles its way to the surface. “I don't need to.”

Kara smiles, a brilliant, beautiful smile, and Lena knows. The stresses and anxieties of their current crisis feel far away here, harmless as birdsong. She's meted out forgiveness, received it in return. For the first time in her adult life Lena has communicated an issue with a loved one and been heard, understood. She has admitted her own mistake without having it spell out the end of her relationship.

Lena smiles back. The weight of the world sublimates into nothing beneath the bliss of a simple picnic in the sun.

In this moment, Lena knows. She's in love.

Two years from now, Kara is going to reach across the table at Noonan's and take her hand. She's going to look deep into Lena's eyes, biting her lip as her thumb rubs gentle circles into Lena's palm, and her voice will barely rise above a whisper when she asks, “When did you know?”

And when she does, two years from now, Lena will think back to this moment.

This moment, which has sapped the both of them to the bone. Another fight, another screaming match, another quick-fire back and forth of accusations and recriminations. Another night of cursing and crying and choking on all the things they never said before this, on all the things they can't now that Kara's secret has detonated in the shrinking space between them like a nuclear bomb.

Another round of bloodshed, and for what?

Lena sags against the arm of the couch, exhausted. Her face is hot, scratchy with salt from the tears still drying on her skin. She's dehydrated, probably, and half hoarse from shouting, tongue blistered with the bitter sting of betrayal.

Across the no man's land of her living room, Kara slumps against the floor-length windows, drops her temple to the cool glass. She's breathing heavily, cheeks wet, posture battered and eyes dark-bruised beneath the force of Lena's wrath. As Lena watches, her eyes slide closed.

It's been three months since Lena found out. Three weeks since Kara found out that Lena had found out.

Every night since, they've done this. Every night, Kara has shown up on her balcony and begged, pleaded, apologised, cajoled, defended, rebuffed, and sobbed. Every night, Lena has unleashed the hollow agony of Kara's deception masquerading as anger in her chest, incinerating the both of them in the fires of her desolation.

She would have expected the wounds to have cauterised by now. To feel some kind of release, the relief of catharsis. Or at least, to have expended some of her fury after all this time.

She hasn't.

They've been at this for three hours already this evening, and gotten nowhere. Kara's skin is pale above that fucking supersuit, face drawn and complexion sallow.

Lena knows how she feels. The singular exhaustion that is her rift with Kara has sapped her in every way imaginable. She can't sleep. She barely eats. She's no longer interested in work, research, friends. There's nothing in her life that isn't tainted by the shadow of the lies her best friend told and kept telling, every day for four years. Lena doesn't know how any amount of screaming and crying is ever going to get them past that.

Across the room, Kara sighs. It might be the saddest sound Lena has ever heard.

“Should we keep doing this?” she asks after an interminable silence, voice rough with tears still building. Her eyes are still closed.

Lena manages, with exorbitant effort, to raise her drooping head. “What?”

“Is there a point to all this?” Kara asks quietly, hunched body sliding a little further down the glass. "The explanations, the fighting?”

Blue eyes blink open. The weight of the sadness in them is unbearable. Lena struggles to find it within herself to care.

“Lying to you about who I am is the single biggest mistake I have ever made, and if it will make even one single shred of difference I will apologise to you every day for as long as I live,” Kara says into the aching chasm between them. “But I can't keep doing this. Not if it won't change anything. I can't— I don't want to keep hurting you.”

An hour ago, Lena would have scoffed at a sentiment like that. Would have parried back with some piercingly dry comment about how the blonde should have thought about that before she decided to betray Lena's trust as soundly as she possibly could.

Now, though— now, she's just too tired.

“So, should we keep doing this?” Kara whispers, throat working. “Or— God, Lena. Should we just— should we give up?”

Green eyes meet blue, two shattered hearts haemorrhaging between them. “Is that what you want?”

“No.” Kara's voice is loud, fiercely determined in the face of Lena's hesitant whisper. “God, no. Never. I don't ever want to give up on you, Lena. I don't ever want to give you up.”

Kara straightens then, with a strength Lena cannot imagine mustering herself. Perks of being a superhero, she supposes. Perks of being Kryptonian. The thought stakes another shard of ice through her bleeding heart.

“But I know that I've spent four years calling the shots for both of us by keeping you in the dark,” Kara continues. “I've taken away your agency. I've taken away your choice. I won't do that again.”

She sucks in a deep breath, a little of Supergirl's regality seeping back into the defeated slump of her shoulders. “So, I'm doing what I should have done from the start. I'm being honest with you, and hoping that you'll be honest back. I'm asking what you want.”

Kara's fingers twist anxiously before her, bottom lip bleaching white beneath the nervous pressure of her teeth. “Do you think we should keep doing this? Or do you— fuck.” Her voice cracks, the tears brimming in her eyes once again breaking free. “Do you want to give up?”

Jesus Christ. Lena never knew that the prospect of doing the right thing could hurt so much.

“Fuck,” she mutters as she kneads her knuckles over her closed eyelids, digging in until white lights starburst across her vision. “Fuck, Kara.”

“I know,” the blonde whispers from across the room, brittle and broken. “I know. I'm sorry.”

Lena slows her assault on her own eyelids, pinching thumb and forefinger hard at the bridge of her nose instead. “I want to give up,” she mutters, and in the taut silence between them she hears the blonde gasp, watery and thick.

Lena blinks open her eyes to find Kara's face crumpling, every facet of her seeming to fold in on itself even as she visibly fights to keep herself upright.

Lena sighs, and hates Kara, and hates herself even more. “I want to, but— I can't.” She sucks in a ragged breath, hating the truth that's just fallen from her lips, hating the lies that had necessitated it. Hating everything and everyone and most of all, hating just how much she's hurting. “I can't give this up.”

The tiniest spark of hope flares to life in Kara's eyes. Lena hates that she notices, hates that she cares, hates that the sight eases the tight knot of devastation clawing at her ribcage just the tiniest bit.

She also knows that this was inevitable. She knows that, though she hates Kara, though she's nowhere close to forgiving her, though she has no idea how they can rebuild from here or even if she truly wants to try, a question like Kara's could only ever have one answer.

In this moment, Lena knows. She's in love.

One year from now, Kara is going to reach across the table at Noonan's and take her hand. She's going to look deep into Lena's eyes, biting her lip as her thumb rubs gentle circles into Lena's palm, and her voice will barely rise above a whisper when she asks, “When did you know?”

And when she does, one year from now, Lena will also think back to this moment.

This moment, which is barely even a moment at all. It's more like a dream, warm and faded and fogged in darkness, seconds stolen when sleep should have long since claimed them.

Kara's nightmare had woken them both. In the month since they'd pulled her out of the Phantom Zone, she hadn't slept alone once. Often, she stays with Alex, curling into her sister's side the way she would when they were just kids after one too many late-night horror movies. Once, she stays with Nia, tucked up snug in a borrowed pair of puppy print pyjamas.

Mostly, she stays with Lena. It's natural and unspoken and easy as breathing, the way Kara will show up at her place after a Supergirl save or Lena will let herself into the blonde's apartment after a late night in the lab. They cook dinner and watch Celebrity Masterchef and brush their teeth elbow to elbow at the bathroom sink and when Kara is inevitably tugged screaming and sobbing from her night terrors, the way she presses her face to Lena's neck and her hand over Lena's heart is natural and unspoken and easy as breathing, too.

Kara's racing pulse has calmed a little, her grip on Lena's body beneath her losing some of its urgent desperation. After a long moment of Lena's hand stroking her hair, of gentle reassurances and lips pressed to her temple the blonde pulls back, just enough to rest her head on the pillow facing her.

In the dim light filtering in through the bedroom window Kara's pupils are blown, her face solemn. There's something in her heavy gaze that Lena can't identify; something weighted and potent that prickles goosebumps up the length of her spine.

"Feeling better?” she whispers into the inch of warm air between them, reaching out to tuck a sweat-matted curl reverently behind the blonde's ear.

Kara catches her retreating hand and holds tight, twining their fingers together on the narrow swathe of pillow between them. If either of them were to move so much as a millimetre, their clasped hands would press against their lips.

The blonde nods and sure enough, the soft heat of her mouth brushes the back of Lena's knuckles. She shivers.

Kara is still watching her, the intensity of her gaze causing Lena's heart to thud hard in her throat. She squeezes lightly at the fingers threaded through her own. “What?”

A pause, heavy and sweet as overripe fruit. Kara blinks once, slow. “You're my best friend.”

Lena swallows down a sudden swell of emotion. The blonde nudges closer and when she speaks, the wet seam of her lips catches on the angle of Lena's bent knuckles, painting her skin with the words.

“You're the most important person in the world to me,” Kara whispers, breaths skating fire-flashes across Lena's fingers, voice muffling out past the mouth pressed to her skin. “You know that, right?”

Lena's voice deserts her in the wake of the quiet words. She leans forward instead, presses her lips to Kara's fingertips where they rest against the back of her own hand. It's answer enough.

She hears Kara's breath catch, feels the disruption mirrored in her own chest. Both their mouths are pressed to the joined hands clasped between them. If they were to move their fingers down even just a fraction, there would be nothing separating their lips but a promise, a prayer.

Kara's eyelashes flutter in the semi-darkness. The tip of her nose brushes Lena's own. Neither one of them moves their hands.

They only gaze at one another a long moment, and Lena wonders if the blonde is memorising the planes of her face the way she's memorising Kara's. She could look at her forever, be happy here with her forever, and in this moment, Lena knows. She's in love.

For the first time, she wonders if she might not be the only one.

Right now, Kara is reaching across the table at Noonan's and taking Lena's hand.

It's been three weeks since they'd taken down Lex for the last time. Three weeks since Kara had stormed into the Tower's med bay to cup Lena's bloody, bruised face in her hands; since she'd brushed her thumbs feather-light over Lena's split eyebrow and purpling jaw and growled don't you ever scare me like that again. Three weeks since she'd leaned in and pressed her lips to Lena's.

It's been two weeks and six days since Lena, confined to a gurney but utterly uncaring thanks to the warm Kryptonian curled against her side, had pressed her aching face to Kara's shoulder and first whispered that she loved her. Two weeks and six days since Kara had first said it back.

It's been two weeks and five and a half days since Nia had walked in on Lena in Kara's arms, lips pressed to her neck and hands wandering beneath her sweatshirt, and promptly shrieked the place down. Since their friends had exchanged pointed glances and relieved sighs and congratulated them on finally making it official, their expressions ranging from overjoyed to exasperated to plain exhausted.

It's been two weeks and four days of she and Kara dating; of morning kisses and shared showers and the perfect partner at game night and all of Lena's wildest dreams coming true.

It's been less than a minute since Kara had admitted, hushed and wondering, that she'd known she was in love with Lena ever since she'd found herself suddenly prepared to poison National City's entire water supply rather than let Lena fall. That she hadn't been able to fully it admit it to herself until she'd found herself suddenly prepared to alter the course of all of history in order to get Lena back.

And right now, Kara is reaching across the table at Noonan's and taking her hand. She's looking deep into Lena's eyes, biting her lip as her thumb rubs gentle circles into Lena's palm, and her voice barely rises above a whisper when she asks, “When did you know?”

And now that she has, Lena is sure of her answer.

The highlight reel of her relationship with Kara lays itself at Lena's feet, each precious memory between them stretching out like a roadmap of her growing affection, with every hard-won step leading her right to this moment.

And in this moment, Lena knows. She's in love with Kara. Really, she always has been.

#sorry this took approximately 8932018207402 thousand years to materialise #if you've ever sent me a prompt and thought well fuck she's taking so long with this she's clearly forgotten about it i'm just here to say:#nope!#still here #unsure how inspired by the song this actually was in the end #it's either way too close to the lyrics or not close enough #who can say #but anyway yeah. supercorp song #thank your for the prompt and the lovely message! hope you like it #asks #anonymous #ridings writes #supercorp #supercorp fanfic #supergirl #lena luthor #kara danvers

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equestrianwritingsstuff · 4 years ago

Note

Fire on Fire by Sam Smith for the plot?

In Love With the Flames

I had a few ideas for that one, but I decided on this. It is not edited, as I don't have the patience to edit something this long. But who knows, maybe someday it will get done. Anyway, I hope you like it and I will be adding this song to my workout playlist.

I also apologize for the lenght. I cannot to the "Continue Reading" or something like that on a phone. So I also apologize for clogging up your dashboard if you aren't interested.

Warnings: character deaths, enjoyment of people in pain/dying, alcohol use, bar setting, two characters in-love (nothing inappropriate, just hugs, kissing, and "flirty" behavior), fantasy politics (with government of my own making), public shaming, assault and magical attacking/whump

Supervillain let out another blast of burning fire, allowing it to make contact with the glass building without any remorse in their veins. Actually, it made them happy, listening to all the screams and hollers of the civilians down below.

"That is an unfortunate mess," a voice spoke behind Supervillain. Supervillain whirled around, hands up and ready, only to be met with the fascinating face of Villain. Villain, the most gorgeous being with deep emerald eyes that illuminated even the darkest souls, also had their hands raised. Their own fire lapped on their fingers, waiting to meet its mark.

But the fact that Villain was a threat did not register in Supervillain's thoughts. No, they could not take their own hazel eyes away from the pure beauty that was encased in the said threat's face. The way their soft brown hair bounced as they sauntered over to the supervillain and the way their pink lips added to the tanned tone of their skin. It was a sight, but also a distraction from Villain's intent.

"What do you want Villain?" Supervillain asked, hoping their voice was quivering from the fact that Villain was so close.

"That was a movie theater," Villain replied, their lips turning up as their nose crunched. Supervillain felt theit heart flutter and their breath catch in their throat. No one ever mentioned that Villain was also so adorable.

Supervillain shook their head and linked their fingers behind their back, gazing at Villain for a split second before saying, "If you want to see a movie so bad... My house nine o'clock. Tonight."

"I worked there. Now I'm out of a job."

Ohhh, crap. Supervillain inwardly swore at themselves and took of a fighting stance. There was no way that Villain came here just to plan their future date.

Villain attacked first, sending a fireball directly at Supervillain's head. Supervillain dodged, heart racing. Villain was aiming to kill.

Supervillain shot out their own fire, barely missing Villain's mane. Gosh... that hair. Supervillain froze, it was eye catching. It was-

A fierce fireball smacked Supervillain in the chest.

The supervillain went down, hitting the cold ground with a thud as their skin and clothes melted away. Black spots danced along Supervillain's vision as they felt themselves sinking further into the ground.

"Oh my gosh!" Came a short squeal and the next thing that Supervillain saw was Villain's face. Smug, but mildly concerned. Supervillain, anticipating an attack, arched their back weakly, straining to push away, but Villain placed a hand on their least damaged shoulder and shoved them back down.

"Where does it hurt?" Villain asked, their voice taut with care.

"No where, but cold," Supervillain slurred, dipping their head to the side. Their eyelids dropped and any thoughts of their situation disappeared into thin air.

"Stay with me, okay?" Villain brushed some snowflakes off of Supervillain's face. They didn't realize that it has begun to snow. Before Villain scooped up the supervillain, they murmured, "I will take care of you. Deal?"

And that was the last thing Supervillain heard before they succumbed to sleep.

Six months later...

"The heroes have infiltrated the Villain Agency. I believe- Uhh Supervillain, this is kinda important..."

"What was that?" Supervillain pushed Villain slightly away and looked at their henchman. "Cleary nothing important."

"Boss. The heroes are taking over. We need to do something, not-," Henchman looked between the two giggling lovebirds. "Not flirting with your significant other in a bar."

Villain looked up, then Supervillain. Both with a childish look on their face that Henchman only hoped was due to the alcohol.

"If," Supervillain brought their glass to their lips and took a long sip. "If this was so important, dear Henchman. Then why did we meet in a downtown bar?"

"Because you told me to meet here."

"Oh."

"Yeah, now let's talk about this before the situation gets worse. Sending troops out will possibly-"

"We'll handle it Henchman. Okay?" Supervillain stood up and lifted Villain to their feet. "Dance?" They asked Villain and led them to the center of the bar where a crappy band was stringing its guitar and beating on their drums.

Henchman sighed and collected their papers and left the couple to do who knows what.

"I love you, Supervillain," Villain murmured the next day as they approached the Hero's Base. They were holding hands, the fire lapping greedily at their fingertips as it intertwined with each other. Two killers, one fire... it all equaled terror. Pure villainous terror.

"I love you too," Supervillain reached over and landed a kiss in Villain's brown hair.

Both then looked at the Hero's Base. The whole building seemed to be made of glass- a warm sense of deja vu- but everyone knew that the walls were made of the strongest iron injected with power reflectors. It was practically a bunker, made to withstand bombardments.

"Ready?" Villain looked up with their daunting emerald eyes and half-smirk. Supervillain's confident demeanor faltered. They couldn't lose Villain, yet they also couldn't defeat the heroes without them.

"Promise me you'll live and then I am ready."

Villain smiled even wider, "Of course. I'm more worried about you." And with that light-hearted warning, Villain broke the hold on Supervillain's hand, stepped back, and began to blow up the Base.

Supervillain did the same thing, adjusting the aim of the fire to hit Villain's stream. It added strength and power to the blow, causing the outer glass to shatter.

Supervillain and Villain won that fight and won the national headlines.

Villain ran down the stairs the next morning to see Supervillain making breakfast and coffee. They triumphantly held a newspaper.

"The nation's greatest supervillain and their counterpart, Villain, blows up the Hero's Base," Villain read eagerly. "Reports say that the duo attacked in the morning a week after the heroes took over the Villain Agency. These killer's locations are unknown, so please watch yourselves as they could be lurking."

"Give me that," Supervillain snatched the paper, their tongue running over their lips like a snake. After reading it, they started to pace. "We could use this."

"Use this?" Villain scoffed, but their green eyes betrayed their excitement. They always loved their partner's ideas. "How?"

"How does campaigning sound?" Supervillain asked with a flashy smile.

"Campaigning?" Doubt tugged at Villain's voice.

"If you read further, you little naive idiot," the term was used teasingly, so Villain made a playful face. "Our lovely nemesis, Hero, survived the onslaught and is currently running for mayor."

"Mhm. I read that, but didn't deem it important. After all, Hero is basically in charge of the city without the title."

"But we aren't. We have ten thousand men and women underneath our feet, Villain, but Hero has fifty thousand with backup. But we could change those odds, my dear," Supervillain stepped towards Villain. "With a little campaigning, delving into the art of blackmail, and a well-planned assualt to the face of city... Honey, would you like to be mayor?"

"That," Villain wrapped their arms around Supervillain and brought them into a hug. "would be amazing."

"Just amazing?"

"Perfect, my mistake."

"Greetings citizens of the city," Supervillain's voice boomed through the auditorium. Thousands of civilians gathered below Supervillain's feet listening to the villain speak. But none of them knew that the charismatic speaker was Supervillain.

"This city," Supervillain glanced at their glowering foe, Hero, who was sitting with their hands neatly folded in front of them. "is on the brink of downfall. Crime rampages though the streets like rats. Murders, robberies... All under Hero's administration. The city is not safe when both petty and large crimes are not dealed with. For example, only a few weeks ago, the Base was completely demolished and yet the culprits have not been taken into custody. Do you realize the danger of that situation-" Supervillain coughed to hide a chuckle. "The pure impudence of it. We allow v-villains-" another cough. "to, uh, hmf sorry, must have a small cold brewing. Uh, let's see where was I? Ah yes, we allow villains to control us. Manipulate us. They take advantage of Hero's weakness and mold it into a weapon of choice and disaster. We are not safe. I repeat we are not safe."

Supervillain's gaze drifted to the figure, who was quite literally shimmering with rage, next to them. Actually, quite literally, the hero's hands were encassed in a golden wispy glow.

"That it why I introduce to you-" Supervillain tapped some buttons into the electric table they were sitting at. "The City Improvement Plan!" Cheers rang throughout the crowd, centering on a cluster of well-known punk Villains. Supervillain froze. They knew. Those villains must've recognized Supervillain's voice and- Supervillain snuck a peek at Hero. The hero's face was not only glistened in sweaty rage, but also had a smug look of realization on it.

"Okay, so, uh..." Supervillain couldn't concentrate. Not with the tall body of Hero standing up and speaking into a walkie-talkie. They readjusted their mask self-consciously. Was it weird to be wearing a mask? Supervillain looked back at Hero who wss now conversing with a couple guards. They were wearing a mask as well...

Gosh, they were staring for too long. The crowd was watching them, waiting for their next statement.

"The City Improvement Plan will remove unqualified people from office-" Supervillain started breathing deeply as two tasers caught their gaze. "And replace them with well-trained officer trained specially by my own partner, Civilian." Villain's fake name rolled off Supervillain tongue like sour milk.

"Civilian has been trained for high combat situations and has even fought many villains on a day to day basis."

Hero started stalking up to them, the tasers following them. Supervillain gulped, their fingers brushes against the botton on their collar. The only way to reach Villain.

They pressed, feeling the familiar vibration against their collarbone. Within seconds, the villain landed right next to Supervillain. The crowd gasped.

"Hello!" Villain leaned over, crossing their legs behind them as they spoke into the microphone. "My name is Villain. I happen to be Supervillain's boyfriend/girlfriend. Today, we have a fabulous show for you." Villain swung around, wrapping their arms around Supervillain's neck and whispered into their ear, "After today, we will also be called sinners." Supervillain furrowed their brow and hugged Villain back, confused.

Villain pushed away, and swung their arm. A wall of fire lit up on the stadge. No one could get in or out.

Hero rushed forward, their water power in hand, and tried to douse Villain with a good wave, but they dodged and hooked Hero with their leg. Within five seconds, Hero was on the ground with a wire threatening to break off all airflow.

While Villain was occupied with taking Hero down, Supervillain faced the two guards. Each had a taser ready to stike at them at any given chance. So, seeing the immediate danger, Supervillain blasted the tasers out of there hands. The guards instantly ran at them with the intention to strangle.

Supervillain was knocked to the ground pretty easily with the weight of the two burly- yet, insanely muscular- guys pressing against their shoulders.

Villain glanced over to see their partner struggling. Quickly, they punched Hero in the face. Once... twice... a third blow did it, leaving Hero completely motionless on the ground.

Villain then took the liberty to yank one of the guys off of Supervillain and threw him through the raging fire. The screams did not end.

Supervillain pushed the other guy away, flipping onto their feet and gave him a good burn across his chest- similar to one that Villain gave them a half year before. With a contented grunt, Supervillain landed him next to his writhing buddy.

Both Villains turned to Hero, narrowing their gaze. The hero had just began to stir. Not wasting anymore time, Supervillain rushed over and finished Hero off with a swift cut in their throat.

They flew away right before the fire wall burned out- not even waiting to hear the horrified gasps.

The couple worked like that. Rampaging through cities and killing, burning, and maiming.

"They don't follow any rules."

"Out of control."

"Ruthless, merciless..."

Rumors spread like wildfire, hitting all the nation's broadcasts and newspapers. There was a nationwide curfew as well- no one knew when the villains would pop up and strike.

They were slowly taking control of the world, just like Supervillain promised, through fear and domination. Schools started to host army troops to protect the children. Men and women alike started to get drafted and began to train- focusing any powers they held on fight and enchancing strength in those not blessed with magic. The world was in chaos, orbiting around the sun that was Villain and Supervillain's fireball.

Yet, even as the world slowly sunk to its knees, the villainous couple was having the time of their lives.

Planning for their future.

Supervillain and Villain were taking a romantic walk in a rose garden one evening. The sunset was a pallette of pastel colors- pink, green, orange, you name it. They circled around a tranquil pond with growing waterlilies and ducks happily quaking to their young.

Suddenly, Supervillain spun Villain around. Once again, hazel eyes met emerald, but this time it was of love, not hate.

Supervillain bent down onto one knee and revealed an diamond ring. Any pedestrians wouldn't even guess that the proposing couple was the world's greatest murderers. No one.

"Will you marry me, Villain?"

"Yes," Villain squealed and dragged Supervillain to their feet.

"You are supposed to let me put the ring on your finger..." Supervillain's voice trailed off as Villain kissed their new fiancé.

"I don't care," Villain teased and rested their head against Supervillain's shoulder.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

#villain whumper #supervillain whumper #hero whumpee #tw death #character death #evil supervillain #evil villain #heros and villains #supervillain in love #plot #writing #music whump #magic whump #fire on fire #sam smith #villain x supervillain

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jaimehwatson · 3 years ago

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Snowpiercer (TV) fans of tumblr, I bring you my Wilford/Audrey playlist

I put a lot of effort into selecting 20 ideal songs about villainous capitalists, unhealthy relationships, and trains, and yes three of them are by Taylor Swift, because the mental image of Wilford plotting his revenge while listening to Reputation on vinyl sprung unbidden into my mind one day and has never left. It’s vaguely arranged into a rough narrative arc starting with how I imagine the earlier days of their relationship might have been before progressing into canon events, but also don’t take that too seriously because on a secondary level it’s just some songs I like in an order that I think sounds good. Enjoy, and read more for some especially relevant lyrics and other commentary. (Also content warning for implied abuse and self-harm in some of the canon events I’m alluding to I guess.)

1. “Ballad of a Politician” by Regina Spektor

A man inside a room is shaking hands with other men This is how it happens Our carefully laid plans

Shake it, shake it baby Shake your ass out in that street You're gonna make us scream someday You're gonna make it big

This song overall draws a comparison between the jobs of politicians and sex workers. Wilford might not be exactly a politician, but a lot of the descriptions in the song could just as easily describe someone like a CEO negotiating with investors. I imagine it scoring their first meeting earlier in life, as she attempts to find some success in her career and he makes plans for the future of his trains.

2. “Blank Space” by Taylor Swift

'Cause we're young and we're reckless We'll take this way too far It'll leave you breathless Or with a nasty scar

It’s a silly song, but I love it, and it’s too perfect. I just couldn’t leave it out.

3. “Money Power Glory” by Lana Del Rey

You talk lots about God Freedom comes from the call But that's not what this bitch wants No what I want at all I want money, power and glory

Probably pretty self-explanatory! I see this as applying not only most obviously to Wilford, but also to Audrey possibly being seduced into a relationship with him by the promise of wealth and luxury.

4. “Knife Thrower” by Charming Disaster

I know sometimes the blades Will gently brush your side The audience will gasp And their eyes go wide Without this touch I know I cannot survive This kiss from me to you And the air's electrified

Just a song I love about a carnival performance and a tumultuous relationship. I think it fits them really well.

5. “you should see me in a crown” by Billie Eilish

Bite my tongue, bide my time Wearing a warning sign Wait 'til the world is mine Visions I vandalize Cold in my kingdom size Fell for these ocean eyes You should see me in a crown

Another absolute jam about pursuit of power!

6. “Cruel Summer” by Taylor Swift

So cut the headlights, summer's a knife I'm always waiting for you just to cut to the bone Devils roll the dice, angels roll their eyes And if I bleed, you'll be the last to know

More catchy pop tunes about bad relationships from my girl Taylor! At this point in the vague narrative arc of the playlist, I imagine that Wilford and Audrey’s relationship—which seemed good at first—is now starting to deteriorate at the same time as a growing climate emergency sets the stage for the launch of Snowpiercer.

7. “Incredible Love” by Ingrid Michaelson

I'll say goodbye again tonight The third time's the charmer they say Your words are inked on my skin The marks of incredible love

I’ve always liked how this is sort of a slow, relaxing song that you might initially think was just about uncomplicated romance from how often it repeats the words “incredible love,” but the more you pay attention to the lyrics the more you realize there seem to be unhealthy elements to the relationship as well. It fits with the same themes as the previous song on the playlist.

8. “Born To Die” by Lana Del Rey

Choose your last words, this is the last time 'Cause you and I, we were born to die

In the song itself, the words “born to die” seem to refer to a relationship that’s doomed to fail, and/or to people whose self-destructive actions risk leading to an early death. When applied to Wilford and Audrey, it could also fit as a reference to them ending up among the last surviving people on Earth!

9. “A World Alone” by Lorde

I know we're not everlasting We're a train wreck waiting to happen One day the blood won't flow so gladly One day we'll all get still

I heard those lyrics and added it to this playlist immediately.

10. “Dilaudid” by The Mountain Goats

If we live to see the other side of this I will remember your kiss So do it with your mouth open And take your foot off of the brake For Christ’s sake

From this point on, I imagine some of the lyrics starting to apply more to their life on the train(s), either during their seven year separation or around the time they’re reunited again. I feel like this one would be absolutely perfect for one of the scenes of Wilford dealing with engineering emergencies!

11. “Secretary” by Charming Disaster

The shouting on the phone has gotten frequent Hands are shaky and you need a shave Secretary steps out for a minute Hands you whiskey, razors, aspirin And the order for your wife's bouquet

This one might be the least directly relevant on the playlist, since it tells a specific little story that doesn’t have as many clear parallels to Wilford and Audrey as the others, but the general vibe and imagery feel very fitting to me. It’s also just a great song!

12. “The Wondersmith and His Sons” by Astronautalis

The tragic flaw of charming men Is exactly as it seems: Too much grease Can break down a machine

This song also has its own specific narrative, but it reminds me of a lot of Wilford in its description of a manipulative man betraying his former partners in crime. Shout-out to @sybilius, who makes a lot of great playlists, for introducing me to this one.

13. “Look What You Made Me Do” by Taylor Swift

I don't like your kingdom keys They once belonged to me You asked me for a place to sleep Locked me out and threw a feast

Is this song pretty stupid? Yes. Irritating, even? Also yes. But can you look me in the eye and try to tell me Wilford wouldn’t dramatically sing along with it in secret on his train? I don’t think you can.

14. “Bite Hard” by Franz Ferdinand

No, I'd never resort to kissing your photo Honest I just had to see How the chemicals taste there, honey

This song has some vague references to some kind of break-up, other lines that mention engines, and also some totally bizarre lyrics I don’t know how to interpret at all, but it’s great so I threw it on here. I think it works.

15. “Black Sheep” by Metric

Hello again, friend of a friend, I knew you when Our common goal was waiting for the world to end Now that the truth is just a rule that you can bend You crack the whip, shape-shift and trick the past again

Now this one, on the other hand, is one of the first songs that I knew had to be on the playlist. Those opening lines are just such a perfect description of Audrey meeting Wilford again on Snowpiercer!

16. “The Black Roses” by Codeine Velvet Club

Someday soon when the black roses wither You'll remember her And everything you didn't give her And I'll be the one you see When you can't turn back

Another one that’s more included based on general vibe and my personal enjoyment of the song, but I feel like it’s also fitting for Wilford’s attempts to get Audrey back.

17. “Striptease” by Hawksley Workman

As if I never said the words I want, I want you first Only thing that can quench my thirst I want you first, I want you first

What can I say, this one just kind of reminds me of the mango scene.

18. “Oceanographer’s Choice” by The Mountain Goats

But then you came in And we locked eyes You kicked the ashtray over as we came toward each other Stubbed my cigarette out against the west wall Quickly lit another Look at that Would you look at that We're throwing off sparks What will I do when I don't have you To hold onto in the dark?

Another one that’s been on the list since the beginning! I’ve referenced it a couple times in what I’ve written about Wilford and Audrey, because I feel like it really captures a similar relationship dynamic. If I could put several more songs from this album on the playlist without messing up the delicate Mountain-Goats-to-other-bands ratio, I would.

19. “The Trapper and the Furrier” by Regina Spektor

The owner and the manager went walking through paradise And all their charts showed so much promise and progress No sick days, no snow days, no unions, no taxes And they wandered towards home, kings of their castles

This one is obviously pretty fitting for Wilford, and I felt like its creepy and ominous atmosphere made it a good choice for close to the end of the playlist, with the vague narrative arc leading us toward things going very wrong for him at the end of season 2!

20. “Swan Song” by Lana Del Rey

And I will never sing again And you won't work another day I will never sing again With just one wave it goes away It will be our swan song

Finally, I imagine this one encapsulating sort of a fantasy of how Wilford and Audrey’s relationship could have been different in another world. Maybe it’s what he dreams about after losing control of Snowpiercer for a second time.

And that’s the playlist! Thanks so much if you read all these notes, and I hope you enjoy listening to it!

#snowpiercer #snowpiercer tv #mr. wilford #miss audrey #wilford/audrey #music

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aenariasbookshelf · 4 years ago

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WandaVision, episode 7

Guess who’s got terrible anxiety-related insomnia lately that means she was awake at 4 am to watch the latest episode of WandaVision right away?

This gal.

So...spoilers ahoy.

This is your warning - here be spoilers for the episode.

This post will be tagged appropriately, so if you have spoilers anywhere in your blacklist it should snag this post.

Is that enough warning for spoilers?

Okay, here we go.

**********

In which we get a lot of (unsurprising) answers, and are now winding up for the climax of the entire show.

Are we at all surprised that SWORD gets turned into a circus? I’m not, because that whole agency is a freakin’ clown car at this point, and Hayward is the chief clown. And we have confirmation now that Hayward is all about getting Vision back and weaponizing him. Which, yeah, we figured, but confirmation. Hayward’s a dick, but not the ultimate bad guy.

That’s the theme of this episode: Confirmation.

Mah baby Darcy Lewis is still awesome, shaking off her chains and giving that transformed SWORD agent the punch he so rightly deserves. *chef’s kiss* Aside from that, she’s a little bit Miss Exposition in this episode and not much else, so I’m hoping we’ll see some more goodness from her in the next two episodes. She’s still in the Hex, and I have to think she’s going to have more of a role to play yet.

Vision: brain scrambled, yet still trying to figure out what the hell’s going on. Just about done with everyone’s shit and wants his wife back. I’m thinking this will also come in handy in the next episode too.

Monica freakin’ Rambeau. I LOVE YOU. Smart and stubborn and taking all of those good qualities from the people who raised you and turning you into something even more amazing than you were before. All this to say that YES, we are getting Photon, or Spectrum, or whatever name you’re going by in this show and I cannot wait to see you really light it up. Also, nice touch with the undersuit from the SWORD space suit - it bears a strong, strong resemblance to her superhero gear from the comics. I admit, I squeed.

Also, and this may be a little selfish of me, I’m kind of glad that Monica’s contacts were just rogue SWORD agents and not a member of the Fantastic Four being introduced early. While it would have been fantastic (pardon the pun) it’ll let Marvel give them the epic entrance that they deserve. Also, and this is totally a me thing, I have some issues with the popular actors being tossed around to play Reed Richards, so I’m glad I could put that disappointment off for a little longer.

Wanda, listen to Monica. You’re not the villain here, despite what Hayward wants you to think. I do like that she’s kind of suffering from an almost magic hangover here - the expansion of the Hex in the last episode really knocked it out of her, and I’m glad we’re seeing the results of that. Both in Wanda’s tiredness reflected in the 2000s style sitcom (I was totally reminded of The Office here, was anyone else?) and the fact that her grip on the Hex is slipping and going back and forth in time.

Huh, okay, we’ve spotted Dottie and the Mailman again. *makes notes* Still not sure of their importance, but they were definitely focused on during that scene between Monica and Wanda, so I’m watching them.

And, finally, in the least surprising revelation this episode had for us, Agnes is indeed Agatha Harkness and has had a hand in manipulating this entire thing. Given that this twist has been predicted since before the show was even airing, the switch to Agatha having her own theme song at the end of the episode (because this is her show now, you know) was more amusing than anything else. That said, it was a great way to do a quick recap of all of the episodes and give us flashes of what manipulative fuckery she was doing behind the scenes without wasting time on an exposition dump that could just drag on. Fake!Pietro? Totally on her. I’m guessing that messed up Stork is also (...maybe the stork is really a transformed Senor Scratchy? Idk, the coffee hasn’t kicked in yet so this theory isn’t fully fleshed out). And, given that she made Billy and Tommy disappear into parts that we haven’t discovered yet, I’d be surprised if this whole thing isn’t to use those boys to her own ends (or Mephisto’s, supposedly. I’m not sure if Agnes is the big bad here, or if she’s reporting to someone else).

Wanda, my darling, your rage and your grief is powerful, but so is your love for what’s yours. Remember that, because that’s what’s going to help you out of this mess.

Finally - ooooh, post (mid) credits scene! We’ve hit the right time in the television timeline for this to make sense too. :D

Is it next Friday yet?

#wandavision #wandavision spoilers #wandavision episode 7 #wanda maximoff #vision #monica rambeau #Darcy Lewis #agatha harkness #long post

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iwillhaveamoonbase · 4 years ago

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Are You Receiving Me Clear?

Post-TTM Callum finds a Startouch elf to help him learn where Rayla is.

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

Callum stared at the Startouch elf before him. The woman was ageless and looked at him with eyes that held such wisdom but also a sense of playfulness. Were all Startouch elves like this, he wondered. Lujanne had sent him to Najma to start his quest to find Rayla after he had gone after her. Callum still didn’t understand why she had left him behind, but he couldn’t leave her on her own when there were still people loyal to Viren’s cause out there.

“Are you Najma?” he finally asked. She had gestured him to come in when she had opened her door but they had yet to exchange a word as they had sized each other up.

The woman smiled again, moving her hand to tuck back her white hair that lay under a loose veil. “Yes.” Even her voice portrayed a sense of being far older than even the castle back in Katolis but also as young as a teenager experiencing their first love. “How can I help you, Prince Callum?”

“You…you know who I am?”

“Yes. Word has travelled fast and far of a human prince who can use the Sky arcanum without a primal stone. There has been no one like you in a very, very long time.”

That gave him pause. “Wait, there were others like me? I thought-”

“A handful of select humans were capable of figuring it out before you. I could probably count the number on my hand and I never met them myself.”

“Oh.”

“But that’s not why you are here.” Raising a glass to her lips, she watched him with warm eyes. Callum shifted in the chair she had gestured for him to sit in when he had knocked on her door. “I rarely get visitors, you know. Who sent you?”

“Lujanne.”

“Ah. We met twice. Once when she was starting her mage training and was getting in all kinds of trouble. The second time…well, Lujanne had failed one too many times and was being sentenced to guard the Moon Nexus.”

“I thought,” Callum furrowed his brows and licked his lips, “I thought that it was an honor for talented mages to go guard the Moon Nexus.”

“That’s what they say, but it’s a punishment. There are no other elves around and the Cursed Caldera, until recently, had to be guarded with visions, so little interaction with humans. Also, the only real source of sustenance is grubs.” Putting her chin on her closed fist, Najma observed him for a few moments. “You know how Moonshadow elves put such value on pride, but there’s also a strong element of secrecy and tradition in their culture.”

“Isn’t all of Xadia like that?”

Humming, she nodded her head back and forth. “Yes and no. There’s degrees of it depending on the culture. Tidebounds are more secretive than Sunfires but not as secretive as Moonshadow elves. At least, not intentionally. Startouch elves are more about observing the celestial bodies, science, mathematics, applying it to art and the world around us. Startouch mages have to learn for many years how the universe bends and twists and how to do so to our bidding without breaking the rules of the arcanum. And then there’s time, which doesn’t flow quite as straight as people think it does. It goes backwards and forwards and twists and turns. We cannot control time, but we have to understand it’s place in the universe in order to properly understand the stars.”

Captivated by her words, Callum leaned forward in his chair. “Do you think it’s possible for me to learn?”

“I don’t know. Of the few human mages before you, to my knowledge, they never got star magic. It takes work and theory and it’s a far more applied science than moon magic is, for example.”

“Would you teach me?”

“Is that why you are here?” There was humor in her voice, but also distrust.

“No. My girlfriend, Rayla, is a Moonshadow elf and she left in the middle of the night. We entered the space between life and the other side and she didn’t see people there she thinks were supposed to be. So, she left and only told me she was getting answers. I want to find her.”

“I can do that for you. As for teaching you Startouch magic, I don’t know. We can certainly try, but you will need to study quite a bit before we even attempt star magic.”

“How will you help me find her?”

“I cannot give you an exact location, but I can give you a projection of her by calling on the stars. If your connection is strong enough, as long as you focus on her, you should be able to see her and get a rough idea of where she is. If she is connected to you, she might be able to see you.”

“So, it’s like my body is moving towards her?”

“No, a projection of you. Your body and your spirit will not be moving anywhere.”

“OK. What do we do?”

“Just focus on her. Let me do the rest. Come with me.” Callum followed Najma to a round, empty room. “Focus, Prince Callum.”

“You can just call me Callum. Please.”

She smiled, the twinkle that was ever present became stronger. “Alright. Callum. Focus on Rayla, on your relationship, the good and the bad. Also, don’t be too shocked by what you see.” Callum emptied his mind of everything except Rayla; her smile, her laughter, how crazy she drove him, but also how much he loved her.

He heard Draconic coming from Najma, eyes growing wide as the center of the room grew a bright dot before expanding out. Suddenly, what looked like dust was moving around before swirling and forming spheres of light and colors he would never have guessed were in the sky above him. He heard music, something that sounded like an old instrument he couldn’t place and another he had never even heard before, but in a rhythm he both recognized and knew he had never heard before.

Najma was doing nothing but holding out her hands and watching him. Callum tried to keep his mind focused on Rayla, but the longer time passed, the more he realized he was watching the birth of the universe occur in front of his eyes. The spheres moved and expanded all over the room. Finally, a small blue and green sphere was in front of him. An image about as large as a mirror came forward, cloudy with wavy edges.

There was a forest before zooming forward and he saw her: Rayla. She was leaning on a tree with her arms crossed, glaring at the ground. A hand was on her shoulder, attached to a muscular arm, and what looked like a masculine shape. Callum bit his lip, but stamped down the jealousy welling in his stomach. There were other figures present, off to the side, and Callum could not deny that there was comfort in knowing Rayla wasn’t alone. If she had help with whatever she was trying to find, maybe it would help guarantee she would come back to him.

He felt a breeze ruffle his hair and his lips parted, holding his hand out as he whispered Rayla’s name. To his shock, she looked up. Those lavender eyes he loved so much went wide and he knew she saw him even though no one else in her group seemed to notice. He could see her mouth his name and her hand slowly lifting up to him, as if to grasp his own. Before she could, the image faded and Callum was left with the universe in miniature around him. The projection continued to expand before he saw the spheres exploding and eventually, everything went dim. “That was…incredible,” he whispered.

“I’m assuming you know what that was.”

“The life of the universe.”

“Very good. As I said, Startouch mages can bend and twist the space and magic that the stars give us, but we also have to understand time and space. All things are made up of star stuff, so we can give you visions of the here and now, but we cannot teleport you to someone’s side or even show you visions of the futre. There are limitations. Do you know where she is?”

“Xadia, for sure. I think she’s in Earthblood territory.”

“Will you go after her?”

Callum paused, looking at Najma before looking at his hands. He could have a chance to at least learn about the star arcanum even if he never was able to use star magic and he now knew Rayla was safe. Ezran and Soren had promised him that if they needed him back home, they would contact Lujanne and she would find a way to contact him. “I…I want to be with Rayla, but if she really thinks she needs to do this without me, at least I know she isn’t alone now. I want to learn from you, Najma. Please, teach me about the star arcanum.”

“What if you can’t use star magic?”

“At least I’ll have learned more about magic and the universe we live in.”

“Hmm.” She regarded him for a few moments before finally nodding her head. “I’ll give you a trial period of two weeks. If I don’t like how you act or if you don’t listen to me, I’m kicking you out.”

“Deal.”

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

Rayla ignored Liam as he continued trying to flirt with her, focusing on her internal crisis. She had seen a vision of Callum and she knew it had not been her mind playing tricks on her or any of her compatriots. They didn’t know what Callum looked like and none of them were Moonshadow elves. She had come across a band of two Skywing elves and three Sunfire elves a few weeks ago and had joined them on their quest after they promised to help her find Viren. They didn’t know she was the Moonshadow elf that was now famously engaged in courtship with a human prince or that she had been at the Spire. They didn’t ask questions as long as she didn’t ask any either.

‘I promise, I will find a way back to you,’ she whispered in her mind to Callum, wherever he was. ‘Just give me time. I have to do this, for me, for my family, for us. I love you, My Heart, and I am sorry I left you. Please, be safe.’

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

If you can guess the song the title is a reference to, I would be amazed. When that particular lyric is used, that's roughly what I think Callum was hearing in the projection.

This fic also has my personal theories on why Lujanne is solo in guarding the Moon Nexus and how Startouch magic works. I believe that Startouch elves are based on the Moors from the Iberian Peninsula who advanced math and astronomy and their magic involves understanding science and how stars work.

#rayllum #the dragon prince #moonbase fics #post-through the moon #through the moon #callum #rayla

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visionsofus · 4 years ago

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Hi! Just wanted to say that i'm living for you scarlet vision fanfic right now, they give me so much happiness and relief and they are so well-written that i'm re-reading them daily. I just wanted to ask if it's possible to have maybe If You Ever Come Back by The Script. I think that this will fit very well with our favourite synthezoid and witch.

Thank you again and please continue writing about them! Cheers and stay safe

hello! thank you so much for reading and reaching out with this song - it was perfect! I really hope you continue reading and enjoying this series ❤️ I hope you have a lovely morning/evening and are staying safe

| read on AO3 here | mixtape playlist | send me an ask with your song/prompt request |

track #9: If You Ever Come Back by The Script

synopsis: Wanda and Vision recall an argument that forced them to go their separate ways in the early days of their relationship post-CW. Upon finding out Wanda is near the Compound Vision can't help himself and seeks her out to apologise. (Happy resolution)

Wanda had only meant to draw one circle around New Jersey but in her distraction had kept the ballpoint moving in continuous circles so that it was now an unrecognisable big blue scribble.

“Wanda, present please,” Natasha said waving her hand in front of Wanda’s distant eyes.

“Sorry,” she murmured, instead starting to flip the pen nimbly about her fingers.

“As I was saying,” Steve said from where he was braced above the map of the US they had spread out. “We can’t afford any more international travel for a bit, not after Sam was spotted in Venice last week.”

Sam Wilson raised his hands in defence. “Hey, I was actually being very careful, it’s not my fault my fan club spans nations.”

“Regardless, no more international travel,” Steve said looking at them sternly in turn, “Wanda that means you too, no European rendezvous with Vision for the next two months.”

The ballpoint clattered onto the table before them, and Wanda watched it role miserably away. Natasha cleared her throat awkwardly and she could only imagine the looks that she was giving Steve. The pair seemed to be able to communicate most things through very specific glares. Right now, Wanda guessed Nat was giving him a look that said something along the lines of ‘shut up why are you bringing her ex into the conversation?’.

“Uhm,” Steve said slowly, “right yes, no international stuff so all in the US right now. That means we’re going to be moving around a little more frequently to keep out of any states with large security presences.”

“So for now,” Natasha continued on, “that means New Jersey, big things happening in California with old Chitauri tech so we’re staying as far away as possible.”

“We could help,” Wanda spoke up. “That stuff is right up our alley.”

“We can’t help if we’re imprisoned and I doubt they’ll let us out as easily a second time,” Sam pointed out and Steve nodded in agreement.

“I know you want to help,” Nat said putting an assuring hand on Wanda’s arm, “but the most we can do right now is stay far away. We’d be putting the others at risk by being there.”

The Others, code for those ex-teammates they didn’t like to mention despite the fact that they were all still on contact. Nat with Tony, Steve with T’Challa and well, up until a month ago, Wanda with Vision.

“Safe houses have been arranged for all of us, separately, so we don’t draw attention.”

Wanda sighed audibly, she hated the separate placements, hated the loneliness.

“It’ll only be for a few weeks,” Nat assured them as Steve handed out envelopes with their assigned houses, addresses, keys, the lot.

Standing up to get her things ready and make to leave the current safe house, Wanda was stopped by Natasha when she tried to leave the room.

“Wanda,” Nat said, her eyes concerned.

“I already know what you are going to say, and yes I am fine.”

“I don’t believe you though,” Nat said crossing her arms and raising her eyebrows.

“Well, it’s not really my job to convince you,” Wanda said making to sidestep her.

“I’ve seen how you’ve been for the last month, you’re going to burn out at this pace. It couldn’t hurt to slow down and actually think about what happened between you two.”

Wanda shook her head wordlessly.

“I know it’s difficult but there’s no way you can move on if you don’t address it.”

“What if I don’t want to move on?” Wanda asked, frustrated at herself for how easily her accent burst forth.

Nat looked at her sadly, but not with pity, Wanda knew that there was genuine worry behind that gaze. Still, it didn’t make her feel any less crappy. “Look, thinking about it, thinking about him still hurts so I’d just rather not talk about it.”

“You still don’t want me to pass your whereabouts onto him?”

Wanda shook her head and finally succeeded in getting past Nat and into the corridor, where she sped walked to her room and set about gathering her things before she could be coaxed into another ‘let’s all talk about our feelings’ session.

Admittedly there was a part of her that wished Natasha would pass on her location to Vision, even if it was only just to see whether he would actually show up. But Wanda had made Nat promise not to reveal where she was staying in the past month, at least not until Wanda was ready for that. Vision was an addiction she needed to kick, and constantly reminding herself of him or thinking about the chance of a reunion certainly wasn’t going to help.

“Vision I need you on and concentrating ok? Not away with the fairies,” Tony Stark said from where he stood at the front of the board meeting table.

“Apologies, I am present and involved,” Vision said shaking his head slightly to clear his mind, a mannerism he had picked up recently.

“As I was saying, two days from now we’re heading over West to deal with the Chitauri tech that is now a burning pile of shit thanks to—”

Vision didn’t mean to zone out again, but it was so easy to take a backseat in such conversations when he had the assurance that his brain would keep track of anything important Tony said. Lately he had been wishing that his brain was human, or at the very least that it wouldn’t move so fast so that he might be able to get a bit of peace and quiet.

His thoughts were always on her, Vision just couldn’t help it. At home he was always scouring the internet, dreading the moment he might see her name pop up on news feeds as it had with Sam’s the previous week. When he was away for work there was always a small part of his brain filtering through local security cameras, half hopeful that he would catch a glimpse of her somewhere nearby. She was a constant distraction, and it was becoming one of the many things making him seriously doubt the decision he had made those long weeks earlier. Which was strange because that decision had been a logical, rational answer to their problem, it had been a preventative measure for heartbreak. So why was his heart still hurting?

It had been six months since the events in Germany had divided the team he had come to know as friends. The absence of those who had brought such life to the compound had been noticed immediately. But it was Wanda whose absence he struggled with most, both while she was imprisoned and after Captain Rogers had broken her out.

Vision had gotten by on snippets of information fed to him through Natasha, to Tony and then finally to him. He had a suspicion that Stark had known exactly what he was doing in given that information to him. Sometimes it was mentioning which city their old teammates had been in the previous week, other times it was switching off the old school radio in his office just in time for Vision to hear Natasha’s voice crackling from it. Eventually, Vision had gathered enough pieces of the puzzle that he was able to track which radio frequencies they had been using to communicate with each other. He’d listened long enough to discover where Wanda was going to be next and showed up unannounced, despite the danger, despite the bridges burnt between them and the different paths they were on. But Wanda had welcomed him into her arms without hesitation and it had become clear that their connection was still there, as strong as ever. One thing had led to another and before he knew it, he was making time to travel and see her every few weeks. She usually chose Europe, and he was happy to see the world, if it was with her.

Their last trip hadn’t gone so well. They’d nearly gotten caught because Vision had slipped up on his way out of their rental property one morning, forgetting to glamour himself and letting someone get a photo of him. It had been circulating the internet and local media before Vision could stop the spread. Thankfully, Tony had a press release ready to go for this exact situation and made it clear that Vision was acting strictly within the limits of the Accords. It could have gone a lot worse, but it had also made several things clear to him. Their argument after the incident had been bad, to say the least.

“Isn’t it better we stop now before it hurts us both?” Vision cried after half an hour spent arguing over who ought to leave the apartment first. The damage was done on his side so if Vision was seen again it wouldn’t matter, but if Wanda was seen in the same city, he could kiss his currently peaceful relationship with the UN goodbye. On the other hand, if anyone decided to look too closely at his whereabouts of the last few days, Wanda would be discovered, and he didn’t know what he would do. The idea of her getting caught and imprisoned again was sickening.

The argument had got them nowhere. Each was too concerned about the other. He wanted her to leave, regardless of the risk this posed to himself, meanwhile Wanda wanted him to leave before he got caught with her and a target was placed on his back as well.

In the end the decision had to be made.

“It already hurts,” she’d yelled back at him, her eyes telling Vision all he needed to know.

“I cannot keep putting you at risk like this.”

“I am not asking you to!” She’d turned her head skyward in frustration. “This is worth it for me. You don’t get to make this decision for both of us!”

“I am making this decision,” Vision said his voice thick with emotion, walking backwards to the door, “and I am deciding to leave, before neither of us can.”

He’d hovered at the door, coat in hand but she’d already turned away to look out the window, watching rain drizzle dismally outside.

“Then go.”

He’d checked hundreds of radio frequencies in the weeks since, but had never caught them again, figuring that the four must have changed communication tactics since. It didn’t stop him from using the burner number that Tony had given him to reach Natasha. He was sure his messages were getting through, but there was never a reply. He supposed he was not really owed anything considering he was the one who had walked out. It didn’t matter that he’d regretted his decision ever since. Wanda didn’t know that he’d missed two trains all because he couldn’t bring himself to take the next, more final step away from her and everything they had been together.

Back in reality Tony had come to the end of his debrief and had ended the call they’d been on with various other officials related to managing the presence of super-humans in the country.

“When are we leaving on Thursday?” Vision asked, a hopeless attempt at pretending he’d been listening properly.

“Iam leaving on Thursday afternoon; you are staying here.”

Vision was stumped. “Why?”

“Because you are in no state to be heading out on a potentially sensitive mission right now, you could barely pull yourself together for a meeting, Vision.”

Tony sighed with such disappointment that Vision regretted being so absent the last few weeks. He’d been sure to be there as much as he could after the team had disbanded, allowing Tony to delegate to him when needed. But this last month he’d let things slide more than he’d realised, Tony looked tired.

“I’d like to disagree with your decision,” Vision began, standing as Tony made to leave the room, “but I cannot help but think you’re right. If I could just have the weekend to reassess my priorities, I would be back to regular working capacity by Monday.”

“And I want to say I believe you,” Tony said leading the way back through the compound. “But you don’t have a good track record with this particular type of distraction.”

Vision hovered by the front door with his head hung in shame. He heard the beeping of Tony unlocking his car and the soft hiss of air as the door opened automatically.

“She’s in New Jersey this week.”

Vision paused on his closing of the front door.

“I thought you should know,” Tony said rubbing at his chin as he paused by the car, “Address is 22 Steel street, don’t get caught.”

Wanda hated how much America reminded her of Vision now. That was why she was thinking about him so much – it was definitely New Jersey’s fault. It was the proximity to the upstate Compound that had her thinking of him so often. It had to be.

They were done, Vision had made that so very clear the last time she had seen him. But it hadn’t stopped her staying another few days at the house they had rented together in some desperate attempt to come to terms with yet another person leaving her life. At least he was still out there, living a life just not with her.

She pressed her palms into the kitchen bench and took a deep breath. She was halfway through washing up the dishes from the day, but she’d already slipped and broken one glass by accident and was on the verge of giving up. It was frustrating. Wanda could control other people’s minds with ease. She hadn’t had reason to in a while but that didn’t mean she couldn’t feel that dormant aspect of her power waiting to be used. So how come she couldn’t manage her own mind? Why was she grieving the loss of someone still alive?

Wanda knew that Steve and Nat had struggled to understand what she had with Vision, and it didn’t help that she herself struggled to put it into words. They hadn’t labelled themselves in the months since they started stealing moments together, it had all been to see if there was something more there. Something worth pursuing. And well, Wanda had thought they were on the same page but evidently, she’d been wrong. She just couldn’t bring herself to believe that those feelings weren’t real. Hope was a pain in the ass.

And she supposed her alertness these past few days could be owed to him as well. Of course, there was the general haze of fear to consider, the fear that one of these days a SWAT team would arrive at her door to take her back to prison. But on the other side of that coin, she knew there was a fraction of her that was listening out for him. It was painful, knowing he was so close. It didn’t stop her listening out for him, for his soft footsteps, his steady breathing, for the comforting presence of him and the way their minds called out to each other. Even before they’d started meeting like this, he had always been the first one she looked for in a fight, the first person her eyes fell on when she walked in a room, the one person she always wanted to have in her corner.

She paused the absentminded drying of a plate and realised that the imagined footsteps outside weren’t in her head. There was most definitely someone walking up and down the creaky floorboards of the run-down townhouse she’d been assigned to for the two weeks. She’d picked the floorboards out as her first warning if any unwanted guests stopped by the property, probably followed by the breaking of the two locks in the front door.

The closer she listened the more she could hear weight shifting and creaking wood.

Wanda crept through the still unfamiliar house, out of the kitchen and down the dim hallway to the door. As she approached the pacing paused and she distinctly heard a fist rapping on the wooden door three times.

She rose on her toes to peer through the peep hole. A familiar figure was standing on the porch with a head of neat, sandy hair and a carefully pressed blue shirt. Her hand flew to her mouth to hide the exclamation of surprise threatening to come forth. She dropped her hand quickly and stepped back, subconsciously reaching out and letting her magic unlock the door, sending it swinging open.

Wanda didn’t really know what to say as Vision turned around at the sound of the door creaking open. She simply stood there looking at him, fearful that she was imagining things and that he wasn’t really here. She tilted her head in question.

“Mr Stark told me you were here,” Vision said quietly, glancing over his shoulder as though worried someone might be watching them, but the street at his back was deserted. “I’m sorry for just showing up out of the blue.”

Wanda folded her arms, wrapping her cardigan further around herself against the night chill from outside. A deeper cold was spreading through her at the unnatural tension between them, even as she fought the urge to step forward and embrace him. “And why are you here?” She asked instead.

“I made a mistake, and I’d like to fix it.”

“How?”

“I’d like to start by talking, if you wouldn’t mind me coming in?”

Wanda bit her lip hesitantly but knew she couldn’t keep him waiting out on the doorstep. She stepped to the side and nodded for him to come in.

Wanda led him to the kitchen and settled herself opposite the table, so she could lean with the comforting pressure of the kitchen bench at her back.

She watched his eyes flicker about as he entered the space, taking in the washing in the sink, the bread open on the counter and the remains of her supper littered here and there. She suddenly wished she’d finished cleaning quicker. Wanda saw a lot in his gaze, knowing from months of meeting up as a fugitive that he was concerned about how well she was eating on the run. His gaze turned to her next, taking in her clothes, her face, the distinct bags under her eyes and Wanda couldn’t help but soften her stance, unfolding her arms but maintaining the distance she needed.

Vision had dropped his human glamour as soon as he entered the house and she watched as he now stood before her, hardly believing it was real.

“I will not attempt to make excuses, I owe you more than that,” Vision said after a beat seemingly to collect himself. She was unnerved by his unwavering eye contact but met him head on.

“I was wrong. I thought that putting space between us was the right thing to do but I regretted that as soon as I left you standing there. I have regretted it every day since. I know that I was afraid, afraid of what we might become if I didn’t stop things where they were.” He paused for breath. “It wasn’t until I sat on the train that I realised the idea of living a life without you hurt more than I could bear. Perhaps that makes me selfish, wanting to keep meeting up and putting you at risk. But it is the truth. And if I could change things, if I could go back, I would behave differently.”

Wanda felt her breath loose out over her lips, a quiet sigh of relief.

“I would have told you all this the day after I left if I knew how I might reach you. I’m sorry.”

Wanda swallowed, taking a breath to think about what he had said. There was little to think about, she had forgiven Vision the moment she realised it was him standing on her porch. Learning now that he had tried to reach out for her in the past few weeks, something she hadn’t dared hope, and that she had stubbornly not let him in hurt more than she’d expected it to. They’d both made mistakes.

“As much as I hated being left like that, I understand why you did,” Wanda said earnestly.

“I was a fool,” Vision said shaking his head shamefully.

“That makes two of us.” Wanda smiled softly at him.

“I never could have stayed away,” he admitted, gesturing restlessly with his hands.

“I should have let you in sooner.”

Vision wasn’t often hesitant, but he paused before his next words. “Can you forgive me?” He stepped forward as he spoke.

This movement was all the invitation Wanda needed and she pulled away from the bench as he drew closer. They met each other in the middle, his arms coming around her waist, her hands sliding over his shoulders in a hug. They swayed for a moment, relishing the closeness.

“Forgiven,” she murmured to him, though she was sure the hug said it clearer. “No going back,” she added, considering making a joke about cold feet.

“I can’t help but think this was inevitable,” he said quietly from where his chin was pressed to her shoulder, his breath ruffling her hair. “That no matter the bridges we burnt, or how our paths changed, you were always going to be my future.” She hugged him tighter.

“But we need rules from now on,” Wanda said drawing back a little so she could see his face clearly, “like not getting photographed by tourists.”

“I will never live that down, will I?” Vision groaned but smiled nonetheless.

“Never,” she whispered, scrunching her nose at him affectionately, then growing more serious, “please don’t leave me again.”

“Never,” he promised pressing his forehead to hers in understanding.

#wandavision #Wandavision fanfiction #scarletvision #wanda maximoff #scarlet witch #visionsofusfics #break up make up fic #soft scarletvision

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dragonrajafanfiction · 3 years ago

Text

Dragon Song

The 3E exam was Toyama’s most difficult day. Afterwards, he always had to do a difficult counseling and comfort session with all the students about their visions. And for some who didn’t make the cut, his sessions would include brainwashing and memory wiping to make them forget everything about Cassell so they could go home and continue their lives, ignorant of everything they experienced here.

He made his way back to his office and sat behind the desk.

He sighed and cleaned his glasses while he waited. No one ever knew what was going on in there. Only those who were monitoring with the cameras namely EVA. Whatever happened, the medical team was ready to take care of it.

But he felt the muscles in his neck were tense and his heart was beating faster than normal. His analytical brain told him he was worried about Tigre. Even though he told himself it was pointless to worry about him, that his fate was with the College now, he couldn’t stop.

So he spoke to himself in casual calm language. “I think its time to admit, that your care for that boy has gone beyond what is professional.” He slid the glasses onto his nose.

“You could barely leave him there properly without tears coming right? That’s why you left so abruptly. Right now the test is starting and his dragonblood is waking up. He might attack the students inside once he realizes what he is. And then he has no future. You tried. You did all you could. But it’s possible he was doomed from the start.”

“But the heart will do what it will do. Heh... you’re not immune, Toyoma-kun.” He chuckled to himself. “But you cannot drink. Your students will need you now more than ever. You can go drink later.”

The phone, a traditional rotary, rang loudly in the silence. He picked up. “Toyama speaking.”

The raspy inhale told him who was speaking. Schneider’s voice came over the earpiece, “I can patch you into the feed. I would like you to watch.”

“Watch the boy turn into a monster? I don’t think so...”

“That’s not what’s happening. I’ll send the link to your cell.”

Toyama’s cellphone let up and he cradled the landline against his ear while he clicked the link provided.

The video feed showed the classroom.

Normally the 3 E was absolute mayhem as each of the students’ minds were lost in the sound, like listening to a favorite song, the mind wandered and the body followed and they were compelled to write down their visionary inscriptions on the paper or on whatever other surface they could find. But what Toyama saw made his jaw drop in shock.

Tigre was singing.

He wasn’t just singing, he was singing with a smile of rapturous joy, tears pouring down his face. He wasn’t writing down his answers, he was singing them, speaking each dragon word in turn. As the dragon verses shifted, he would listen briefly and his eyes closed and he would hold in hands to his chest, his face beaming with joy before belting out a full throated perfect rendition of that Yanling.

Toyama felt his eyes burn and quickly blinked away tears for a moment. Relief washed over him like a flood and his smile started to echo Tigre’s. He felt proud that Tigre was succeeding. He wasn’t just performing well on the test, but he wasn't being violent. Quite the opposite. He was joyous, happier than Toyama had ever seen him.

But then in the next moment Toyama’s blood ran cold.

Dragon language wasn’t just words. They were commands. They could impose a rule upon an area to control the elements. They could command a forest to burn. They could command a storm, a drought, a flood, an earthquake, or lightning. Some abilities were so strong, they would destroy the user. If it wasn’t for the restriction placed on the use of this sacred speech by the College’s alchemical array, Tigre would have joyfully sang out and destroyed the entire college and possibly all of Chicago.

“Dear... God...” Toyama whispered. “Is he a Dragon King?”

“No. If he was, we would have erased him and shoved his body in the Ice Cellar. But he is a hybrid of Dragon King level resonance. He’s different from the other hybrids in other ways too. We’ve run other tests. Nothing about this man is natural... and yet everything is.”

“Is this why you have brought him here? Why you were interested?”

“I’m afraid that’s all I can tell you. We’re still studying. In the meantime, you should probably go out to meet him. He doesn’t have anyone else to talk to.”

Schneider hung up the phone. Toyama was brought back to reality. Yes he did feel fond of Tigre... but he was still a doctor and Tigre was his patient. He would have to carefully maintain his mind so he didn’t go berserk and bring ruin to the college. He stood up and made his way back to the library. When he came back outside, the thunderstorm had intensified. Lightning cut across the sky and thunder roared, as thought the sky itself were cracking apart. The trees swayed heavy in the wind.

----

When Tigre came out of his trance, his throat hurt, his jaw hurt and his face was sticky with tears. He was shaking and exhausted. He wasn’t at his desk any more but standing in the middle of the room. He wanted to see Toyama and tell him that he wasn’t mad at him for leaving him alone. So when he found him waiting outside, he ran up to him and hugged him, babbling uncontrollably all sorts of silly things while Toyama told him to get some rest while stroking his hair.

He suddenly realized after that that other students were filing out. All the other students looked exhausted and limp. He turned to them with a joyous face, but they all just flinched away from him, looking at him with tear streaked faces. Even Porsche, who seemed vibrant and sassy before, hugged her two sisters while crying uncontrollably. Celeste glared at him accusingly and Tigre flinched away.

“Don’t mind them. Most people don’t experience joy like yours.” Toyama pulled him away from the other students. “I will have to go help them with their feelings.”

Tigre was confused. Why would anyone be sad about what he’d just heard? “Toyama-san, I saw something amazing. You knew right? You knew what I was!”

“I had no idea exactly what you were.” Toyama said patiently. “No one did. Your vision is one that’s personal to you, something deep in your heart.”

Tigre reached up and touched his chest. “But... I don’t have anything there.”

“Maybe that’s...” Toyama wanted to say ‘for the best’ but he didn’t finish his sentence. “I have to go. You’re a student now, so you’re free to roam about as you like. Stay out of trouble. Okay?”

“Okay...” Tigre said meekly and watched Toyama walk towards the three sisters. Only Celeste wasn’t crying, she only looked extremely angry.

No one was happy, except for him.

He walked out to stare at the pouring rain in the entrance. He looked up at the sky that also seemed to be sad. But why? Those voices in his head were still ringing. He could recite every single word. But he whispered them, staying quiet. He continued to whisper those sacred words into the grey. They were still beautiful in his ears.

“Do you not have an umbrella?”

His dampened mood rose again! “Chu Zihang!”

Without thinking he hugged the flinching man who just tolerated it.

Tigre released him quickly. “Oh... I’m sorry.”

“It’s normal to be emotional after this. I’m happy you made it. The results will take a few hours to process, but Schneider sent me to congratulate you. He’s my mentor.” Chu Zihang’s eyes were dark and not the yellow he remembered.

“You wear contacts too.” Tigre realized.

“Yes. Toyama explained?” Chu Zihang raised his umbrella. It was large enough for both of them as they walked. He was calm like a granite stone. Tigre was a raw nerve of emotion.

“Yes. I remembered looking into your eyes and feeling something through them like what I heard today. No wonder I recognized you! You really are my brother! But for the other students, they were very sad. I don’t... understand why...” He looked back at the Library that was shrouded in the rain.

“You’d have to ask them personally. I can’t speak for them. When my dragonblood awoke, I saw a very disturbing image myself. And then something tragic happened. So that memory is sad for me too.”

“Is that why its raining?” Tigre mumbled.

Zihang tilted his head. “I don’t think emotions can effect the weather. Though many people associate rain with sadness. In truth a tropical wave has been pushed up from the gulf by the jet stream.”

“Oh.” Was all Tigre should say, understanding nothing.

“You’re still shaken up. Let me get you something to eat. You’ll be hungry.”

"Ah! You’re right! My stomach is growling a lot!” Tigre said in shock.

“You must have resonated very strongly. You were just standing there in the entrance to the library staring into space and now you didn’t realize you were hungry...”

“It was wonderful.” He breathed. “I wish I could listen to it again. I’ll listen to it forever.”

Chu Zihang glanced down at him and didn’t comment.

“Have you been out of the hospital long? Why didn’t you visit me?” Tigre bounced along deliberately splashing in the puddles.

“I was recovering still and then after that, Schneider kept me updated on your progress. I couldn’t visit you because visits were not permitted while you adjusted to life outside of prison.”

“Oh... we’re going to your dorm?” He asked recognizing the residential building.

“Yes. I want to introduce you to a few of my friends. One of them, Lu Mingfei is also looking forward to seeing you.”

“Oh Okay... neat.”

Chu Zihang opened the door to the dorm and there were many people there! It was like a party! When he saw all these people. He was moved to tears again! He covered his eyes with his arm. “Sorry!”

One of them, a dark haired Chinese boy chuckled. “Don’t worry. Everyone cried at my 3E. You’re fine.”

Chu Zihang introduced him. “This is Lu Mingfei. He’s the president of the Student Union...”

“Kinda sorta... really I just kinda hang out here while other people do things for me.” He said bashfully.

A tall muscular blond grinned. “I’m Finger Von Frings.”

“And I’m Susie. Congratulations. Sounds like you passed.” She was a petite Chinese girl, making her the third Chinese in the group.

“I’m Zero. Pleasure.” Said a soft spoken blond girl with a Russian accent, who looked bored to be there.

“This is for you.” Chu Zihang handed him a small box covered in paper and a ribbon, like one of those Christmas gifts he’d seen in pictures.

“Thank you... can I open it?”

“If you want.” Chu Zihang mumbled.

Tigre pulled the ribbon and then opened the box after carefully shredding the paper. Inside was a brand new tablet computer. “It will be useful for studying.”

“Wow... thank you!” He laughed. Then he paused. “What is it?”

#Dragon Raja

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kyotakumrau · 4 years ago

Text

2020.09.27 Rolling Stone Japan - interview with SUGIZO - translation (selection)

SUGIZO talkes about how he met his friends and why was it important to him now to release a live album

Original text: Joe Yokomizo

Photos by Keiko Tanabe

Translation: kyotaku

SUGIZO is releasing the first live album in his solo career, 'LIVE IN TOKYO', on September 30th. This work delivers the two day birthday performance 'SUGIZO 聖誕半世紀祭～HALF CENTURY ANNIVERSARY FES.～' that was held last year on July 7th and August 2nd at Nakano Sunplaza, giving you a chance to not only enjoy the live atmosphere but also the magnificent collaboration with his sworn musician friends.

It's a masterpiece I'd love many people to listen to, but it might be surprising to people who only know SUGIZO from LUNA SEA and X JAPAN and not his solo work.

In this interview we will get to the bottom of it, discussing the live album, the foundations of SUGIZO's solo work and his music, and the history with the artists who joined the project.

ー It's the first time in your career you're releasing a live album, which is very unusual now that the video releases are so common. You were that happy with how those 2 days turned out?

I was planning to release a live album from before. I heard from my staff they wanted to release the material from this half century celebration, but because I've released live video works so many times I thought it's time to change my approach.

I feel that young people nowadays are not really familiar with live albums. These times we can easily watch live videos everywhere including YouTube. But back in our childhood the live album from the artist we were indulging in was a real prize. For me it was YMO, JAPAN and PiL. Miles Davids or Frank Zappa also had quite a few live releases. And, Deep Purple or Peter Framptom also had famous live albums, even as I wasn't influenced by them. With such artists, live albums in 70s and 80s were treated as extremely valuable. I have a lot of admiration for those times, so I was hoping to eventually be able do it myself.

－ I see. Before we talk about the content, I wanted to ask you when did you encounter the so called psychodelic trance music that is the foundation of your solo music?

In the mid 90s. First, I was really into hardcore techno or minimal techno in early 90s, speaking of the ambient world like The Orb or 808 STATE, I really love the scene of that time. And few years later, at the same time when I started my solo activity, European drum n bass or abstract hip hop were very popular, I was quite influenced by the club culture and music around then, and then naturally I gave myself to trance.

The first rave I went to see was Vision Quest in 2001, and from then I got even more into it. The feeling of life in the perfectly linked music and the flow of universe, like dancing with the rising sun and chilling in the afternoon, my instincts were telling me that people had a connection with this kind of music from the ancient times. Not the music from the cities, the music with roots in nature. Kind of primitive music. I found great value for music there.

◆Then they discuss JUNO REACTOR, learning what kind of rhythm feels good, how working with a South African percussion team Amampondo helped them grow spiritually, especially thanks to the drummer Mabi, SUGIZO's chase of the 'black groove' to finally understand East has its own good points; he can be proud as Japanese and SUGIZO's solo activity reflects everything he's learnt.

Next, Joe asks SUGIZO for a primer of his solo work, SUGIZO lists 'Misogi', 'FATIMA', 'DO-FUNK DANCE' and 'Lux Aeterna'◆

meeting Kyo（DIR EN GREY/sukekiyo)

－ Remarkably for each of two days you invited guest vocalists. All of them are musicians you're very familiar with, could you tell us first about how you got to know Kyo (from DIR EN GREY/sukekiyo)?

From the start I was close with some people they know and their staff members. So I went to see their show and we were introduced. It was surprisingly recently, like around 2005 or 2006.

－ What was your impression when you saw DIR EN GREY for the first time?

It was the first time I felt threatened by a younger band. I'm sorry for saying this, but I haven't felt threatened or impacted by any of the younger artists, within this genre. That's why I was quite surprised with how great they are. What they're expressing, their worldview are incredible. At that time I could feel that their performance or sound are not there yet, but I could already feel the intensity of what was pouring out of them, the endless possibilities.

I was especially looking at Kyo thinking 'he's a genius'. There's no theory or detailed reasoning with him. He's just doing things by instinct. But he's good with words, good at drawing, as an artist he can express himself in so many different ways. Then, when I met him in person he was just so pure and innocent, doesn't it seem like he's not greedy at all? So it was a shock of 'a genius like this exists?'.

－ It was Kyo who wrote the lyrics for your collaboration song 'Zessai', was it a request from you?

Yes. Thinking to sing the best it'd be better if that person writes the lyrics, and when I asked [Kyo] he happily did. When I sent him a 2nd stage Mix demo asking 'it will be like this, what do you think?', he already had the singing (melody) put in. And the lyrics have been done too, when I asked 'woah, that's the actual thing?', he replied 'yup, I've done them'. It's the same with DIR. Thus, he's a genius. When an image comes to his mind he cannot wait. It all felt so fast. He's really a phenomenal creator.

－ How was the performance at the Half Century Anniversary?

I felt he definitely is someone who follows his instincts. When you stand on the stage and things get serious it totally doesn't matter if you're younger or older (as in how long you've been working in a music business). Of course there was no stage fright, I felt as a performer he's just huge, and at the same time it felt like there was mutual respect. It felt like it would be a waste to let it just finish like that. That's why I'm very happy that we can release the collaboration from the stage [on the live album].

◆Next, they talk about TERU and TAKURO (from GLAY), followed by Kiyoharu (I'm skipping here a lot)◆

－Kiyoharu said 'I've performed on various stages so I can't imagine myself losing, but when playing together with SUGIZO the pressure is very different'. Often when two different performers stand on stage together sparks will fly.

The same thing can be said about RYUICHI and SUGIZO, the spark/heat of the collision of a guitarist and a vocalist is often very attractive. In a way there's also the aesthetics of traditional rock, that the combination of Kiyoharu and SUGIZO might be able to embody this spark's attractiveness. That's why the collision on the stage makes me shudder, but also it's possible to blend together. With [the combination of] Kyo and SUGIZO there's no blending together, it feels different. And with TAKURO・TERU we're different type of people. When Kiyoharu is on stage I feel he's the same species as me.

－ It's interesting that the character of all those three groups of musicians is totally different.

That's true. I think it's amazing I could have a line-up like that, it's really by chance that they are my good friends coming from the same genre.

◆they finish the interview talking about the sound and working with Dub Master X, sound mixing for the album, SUGIZO wants the live sound to have intimate, close feeling◆

一 So how was it to complete a live album without compromising on anything?

It's a live album, but it it makes me feel like I was able to create a 'SUGIZO's Best Album'. 2 years I go I released what was meant to be my biggest compilation, but obviously the sound from the studio and from the concert have totally different types of energy. As someone who's been performing on the stage for a very long time, I'm really glad to able to pack that energy for the first time officially on an album. Of course live performance has less precision than the studio album, but performance has way more energy.

Another thing is that as you know it is difficult now to perform due to the pandemic. I haven't played live for half a year, when thinking about it, it's the first time in my music career to not play any shows for this long. That's why I'm really yearning for the stage performance, the live show. When I was still doing them it was something obvious, but now that I can't, making this album made me keenly aware how important concerts are in my life and how much I need them; and to tell the truth working on this live album was like saving myself in a way. Obviously a live album can't rival the real thing. Not even a live dvd nor a live stream can match the excitement of being there [at the show], but I worked on this album hoping to let you feel at least some percent of that feeling. At any rate, I'm really grateful to be able to create a work like a live album that inspired me so much as a child.

Btw 絶彩 feat. 京 [LIVE IN TOKYO] available here

#sukekiyo #kyo #京 #sugizo #interview #translation #kinda #絶彩 #dir en grey #sugizo half century anniversary fes

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number5theboy · 4 years ago

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Favorite song montages/music scenes?

Oooohhhhh, love this. Because I’m on a roll, I made this another list, a top ten one, just so I don’t go overboard. I really looked at this as the scenes as a whole, rather than me liking the song or the scene individually. There are songs from the soundtrack that I love way more than some on this list, but didn’t think that they worked as well with the scene they’re in as the ones that did make the list. Without further ado:

10. I’m a Man (S2E2) - Diego & Reginald Fight

I just like how the aesthetics of this fight and the vibes of the song play perfectly together. It’s a more laid-back song than most fight scenes we get, and the line ‘I’m a man, yes I am, and I can’t help but love you so’ played over Reginald, who is demonstrably not a man and definitely doesn’t love Diego gives it such an almost sarcastic tone, like Reginald is toying with Diego.

9. Exit Music (For a Film) (S1E7) / All Die Young (S1E9) / Hello (S2E5) - Group Montages of Sadness and Change

I couldn’t decide between these three, because they all basically fulfill the same function in the narrative, showcasing different characters at low or turning points, and the mood of each song just hits perfectly. The way ‘Exit Music’ ramps up to Vanya’s guilt over killing and the confirmation that Leonard is Harold Jenkins. How ‘All Die Young’ is upbeat yet melancholic as nobody but Vanya truly is at their lowest at that moment, but you feel the arrow being drawn to the inevitable conclusion to this whole mess. And ‘Hello’ hit so much harder than it had any right to, it have the Swedes some dimension, but also the interplay of music with the funeral and the siblings’ big decisions, Vanya trying to confess to Sissy, Klaus going back to his cult, Allison telling Ray the truth, Diego and Luther burying the hatchet. It’s the perfect mood for it all, and the idea to use a Swedish cover is absolutely brilliant by the music department.

8. Soul Kitchen (S1E6) - Klaus & Dave in Vietnam

The Doors and Vietnam of course perfectly fits, but using the Doors to soundtrack a gay Vietnam romance??? Awesome. I’m usually someone with an ear for lyrics rather than the music, because I just know more about it, so I like it when the lyrics match up, but in this case, I don’t know any of the lyrics. I just like the mood the music creates. It’s a club in Vietnam and they’re not dancing to a club song. I like the rift between image and sound, and the sound still creates such a charged yet comfortable atmosphere.

7. In the Heat of the Moment (S1E5) - Five’s life in the apocalypse through the years

The fact that Noel Gallagher’s snooty singing and borderline meaningless lyrics fit this scene so perfectly is a minor miracle, but they do. The na na na nas coming in with the image after the counting in before the song quiets down just to soar again over Five’s struggles. And it’s also not a song that sounds strong, that is technically perfect, it never quite reaches grandeur, and I don’t know why the atmosphere it creates goes so hand in hand with decades in an apocalyptic wasteland. And the irony of a song about having someone by your side over excruciating loneliness. Also the lyric ‘you better learn to fly ‘cause they’re gonna point you up at sky’ objectively goes harder than Noel Gallagher lyrics should.

6. Stormy Weather (S1E8) - Allison drives through the rain to find Vanya, haunted by her past actions and flashes back to when she rumoured her daughter

It’s just the perfect soundtrack to Allison’s backstory with her powers, and the fact that it’s sung by Emmy Raver-Lampman herself adds a dimension to it. The entire scene is centered around her voice, you hear her past rumours, you see her tell a story to Claire, then rumour her, and she is singing in the background. It intertwines scene and soundtrack on another level, and I love it. The combination of the sad lyrics but the more upbeat instrumentation, and how they carry into her memory........so good.

5. Shingaling (S1E4) / Pepper (S2E8) - Drug Trip Scenes

TUA has two scenes where people are tripping on drugs, and I cannot choose which one I like more. The mood for weed chocolate vs the consciousness-warping FBI drugs is so drastically different but the song choices are so perfect for both. Hazel and Cha-Cha dancing high off their asses to Shingaling, which is a chill but fun song as they commit arson, coupled with that green colouring and fun shot set-ups. Truly exquisite. Vanya getting nightmare visions in the FBI building, with the weird, disconcerting energy and lyrics of Pepper blasting, and the second-best use of scene switch at the drop that this show has pulled off this far. Stupendous.

4. Run Boy Run (S1E2) / Never Tear Us Apart (S1E2) - Five pushes his powers and lands himself in the apocalypse, where he finds his siblings’ bodies

These scenes are SO good. So good, and it’s because the music is the driving force of the emotion in that moment. Run Boy Run has exuberant energy to underline Five’s excitement as he’s testing out his powers, but it’s also somber and dark and swells at the chorus, which leads to the best scene-switch at a song’s drop in the show. The moment where Five lands in the apocalypse as the chorus becomes grand and he looks around, panicked, and when he runs frantically back to the Academy with the claps and percussion in the background? I get chills every time, and the lyrics make it, I think, the definite Five song as it pertains to his character, his characterisation, his arc, as running, in many different interpretations, is one of the key themes to Five for the entire show. The relatively short scenes really hammers in the tragedy of Five being ripped from his home at such a young age, and it gets underlined with Never Tear Us Apart. I put it with Run Boy Run because they fit together, but Never Tear Us Apart is heart-wrenching in itself. Just the imagine of Five searching through the rubble for his siblings, his small frame stumbling through the ruins, with Paloma Faith giving it her all in the soundtrack, and this heavy bass really banging us over the head with the heaviness of the situation. It’s great and sad and both scenes are carried as much by the soundtrack as they are though Aidan Gallagher’s acting.

3. The Phantom of the Opera Medley (S1E1) / I Think We’re Alone Now (S1E1) / Sister of Pearl (S2E7) - Character-establishing Montages

I am a sucker for this trope, of characters being characterised through a song playing, and TUA pulls it off so well. Phantom of the Opera shows you what the siblings do and where they are at in their lives perfectly, telling you so much with so little. It’s a great introduction and using the Phantom of the Opera, with the idea of Vanya being the phantom, the mysterious musician constantly belittled and underestimated (this is generalised, very much so, but it fits) that lashes out at some point because of the abuse they suffered, is genius also because it combines different themes that you can set the Hargreeves to. I Think We’re Alone Now is about personalities, of who these siblings are if nobody’s watching. I don’t think I need to sing its praises, the scene has become iconic for a reason, it’s memorable and creative. And the music choice, a pop song that they could have listened in their youth, with lyrics that are eerily prophetic, is so good. And Sister of Pearl is the long-awaited addition that introduces Ben’s character, and the music is sweet and fun and him messing around in the world, all giddy and a little goofy, fits with the whole theme of dancing like no one is watching. All three are so amazing at characterising the different Hargreeves.

2. Istanbul (Not Constantinople) (S1E1) - Five fights the Commission agents at Griddy’s

Okay, but what is better than a musical sequence that characterises a sibling? A musical sequence that characterises a sibling that’s also a fight scene! I’m not going to be long about this one, because I wrote 500 words on why I think Istanbul (Not Constantinople) is a brilliant scene just yesterday, you can find it here if you scroll for a bit. It hits so many sweet spots. It re-contextualises Five and adds several dimensions to him. The fight scene is brutal but the music is happy and fun. The song is thematically relevant to the scene and the character and what this scene is trying to accomplish, namely making clear that this kid, who looks like he did at age 13, is not the same as he was, and never will be. Again, go to that other post, I couldn’t stop gushing about how excellent this sequence is, because I really love it, but Season 2 brought along another that I love even more.

1. The Order of Death (S2E6) - Five arrives at the address Reginald sent them, and watches on as his siblings slowly join him one after one

I genuinely don’t know why this one resonated with me so much. I just like the cold but melodic 80s synth together with the cinematography. Every single shot is so good, Five looking up at the looming skyscraper, him climbing the stairs, pushing the button with the use of negative space to show his loneliness, until he gets into the elevator where his siblings come to him. And the music is so fitting, for the scene, but also for Five as a character, it’s a song that works well for him. The rhythmic thumping of ‘this is what you want, this is what you get, this is what you want, this is what you get’ is so dark at second viewing, because this is what Five wants: to talk to Reginald, with the support of his siblings. And what is it he gets? What is the consequence of his actions? His existence gets wiped from history. The music is tense, in anticipation of what comes next, and fits perfectly over these wide establishing shots and their harsh lighting. I can’t pinpoint why I like The Order of Death more than any other musical sequence in the show, but I do. It is such a small, yet perfectly executed scene, and it hits some emotion within me, even though I can’t really articulate which one it is. Intrigue, probably, mixed with dread and a hint of sadness because now I know how this enterprise ends, and it’s not well.

#Replies #jeyfeather1234 #a less extensive monstrosity this time

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