#cause i mean pop and country are pretty much the same

[lexamushexamus]

beginning to ask myself do i really hate country music? or do i just hate country men?

[allthelovehes]

Lost and Found*

Summary: Harry and Y/N have been best friends since they were little kids but they lost track of each other over time. When Harry is in town for his tour they finally reunite and their meeting is sweeter than ever.

Pairing: Famous!Harry x Reader

Word count: 3.5K

Warnings: Smut, fluff, cute.

Taglist: @justmystyles @bitchybabyharry @harrysslut7 @swiftmendeshoran @lucasandharold @harrysbabycherry @htaylor18 @rose-garden-dreamz @myalovesharry @mellamolayla Let me know if you want to be added to my taglist! 🤗

A/N: I had this idea on my list for a while so I figured why not write it?

It's been a very long time since you last saw your best friend. It has been years, which is a shame, but there were reasons. The biggest reason was that he is one of the most famous pop stars in the world, and that causes his schedule to be incredibly full. There is also the fact that, because he is touring the world, you are not even living in the same country for the longest time.

Harry always tries to keep in touch, even with the crazy life he leads. But that can mean only brief texts and the occasional phone call. Sometimes not even those. The last time you heard from him was six months ago when he called to ask how your family was doing. He sounded so tired but excited. You talked for an hour, and it was almost like the last years hadn't happened.

With his latest album out and him being back on the road, you decided to buy yourself a ticket to his next Wembley show. This is an amazing opportunity for you to see your best friend and for him to hopefully spot you among the thousands of fans.

The excitement about this day has been building up inside of you ever since you decided to do this. You know you can't expect much attention from Harry after the concert, but you're looking forward to seeing him and getting to see him perform. You haven't seen him in person since his first headlining tour.

You are now on your way home from work and still have a few hours to go before you have to head out for the concert. You take a shower and then put on the T-shirt and jeans that you have planned to wear to the concert. When you get into the kitchen, you realize that you are too nervous and excited to eat, so you settle for a banana. You check the time and are happy to notice that you still have some time left to spare, so you go into the living room and switch on the television.

There are no good shows on, so you switch to the music channels and find one that is showing a rerun of a Harry Styles interview. You smile as you watch him talk. Even after all these years, it's still the same Harry. He's still your Harry. You feel a pang in your heart when he smiles his cheeky grin at the interviewer, and you realize just how much you miss him.

As if reading your mind, your phone vibrates on the coffee table. You reach for it and see Harry's caller ID on the screen. You pick up and bring the phone to your ear.

"Harry?"

"Hi, love!" He sounds excited. "Did I call at a good time? Are you busy?"

"No, I'm not. I was just watching TV." She decides to not tell him that she is going to see him in a couple of hours.

"Oh, what are you watching?"

"Um, an interview. It's not important. What are you doing? Shouldn't you be in rehearsals?"

"I have a free half hour, and I'm hiding in my dressing room, so nobody can find me. I really needed to talk to you, and I couldn't wait anymore."

"Why did you need to talk to me? Is something wrong?"

"No, it's nothing like that. You're going to my concert tonight, aren't you?"

Your eyes grow wide and your stomach somersaults. How did he know? Did you give something away?

"How...how did you know?" you finally manage to say.

"I'm not stupid, Y/N. I know how you talk when you're nervous and when you're not. When I told you about the Wembley shows, your voice didn't sound like usual. You sounded nervous, and it was pretty obvious that you were going." He laughs on the phone.

"Wow, I'm not very subtle, am I?" You feel stupid.

"You really aren't." His voice sounds warm and inviting, and you feel a shiver running down your spine.

"So, why did you want to call me, if it wasn't to tell me not to come?"

"Oh, I would never tell you not to come. I really want to see you tonight."

"But...aren't there a thousand people coming? You probably won't even see me."

"Don't worry, love. I will definitely see you. If I don't, you should find the stage door and knock. My security team knows about you. They'll let you in."

"Really? Harry, you're crazy. You have a concert to prepare for. You shouldn't let random fans into your dressing room."

"But you're not a random fan. You're Y/N."

"I'm glad that you still think of me like that, even though we haven't seen each other in a while."

"What do you mean?" Harry sounds confused. "Of course, I still think of you as my best friend. Nothing can change that."

You feel a lump forming in your throat. You don't want to cry, not now. Harry means the world to you, and he will never know. You are not the kind of girl who confesses her love to pop stars, not even when they are her best friends.

"Y/N, are you still there?"

"Yeah, I'm still here. I was just thinking about something."

"Well, stop thinking. We're going to see each other in a couple of hours." He is smiling; you can hear it in his voice.

***

When you enter the venue, the excitement inside of you is unbearable. The atmosphere is incredible, and the crowd is so full of life and happiness. Everyone is happy to be here, and so are you.

You find your seat, which is very close to the stage, and sit down. As you wait for the concert to start, you keep looking at the stage, wondering what Harry is doing right now.

Suddenly, the lights go down, and the crowd goes wild. You join in and clap your hands, your heart racing with anticipation. The stage is still dark when Harry walks onto it, and the screams get even louder.

The opening song sounds through the speakers, and the crowd sings along with Harry. You sing along, too, and the feeling is indescribable. To hear his music live and to see the passion in his face, while he performs his songs, makes your heart melt. You can't take your eyes off him.

The next couple of songs are even more amazing, and the atmosphere is incredible. Harry seems to enjoy himself and interacts with the crowd a lot. After the fifth song, he walks to the front of the stage, looks around, and scans the crowd.

"It's great to see all your beautiful faces." He smiles his crooked smile. "There are a lot of you tonight."

You feel his eyes on you, but it's dark and the crowd is dense, so you're not sure if he really saw you. You decide not to get your hopes up, but your heart is beating faster.

"Now, this is the part of the show where I tell you a story." Harry says into the microphone, and the crowd starts screaming again. You hear a few people chant "I love you" and others calling his name.

"So, let's see. This story is about a friend of mine. A friend I haven't seen in a long time." Harry pauses and looks around again. "She is somewhere here tonight."

The crowd is silent for a moment, but then everyone is talking and pointing at each other. You feel a blush creeping into your cheeks and your pulse quickens. You can't believe that he is doing this, but you're happy about it.

"So, this friend. She is the reason why I'm here, on this stage. She has always supported me, always believed in me. Even when I didn't believe in myself." He pauses and takes a sip of water. "We went to school together. She helped me through everything. But when I became famous, I started to neglect her." The crowd interrupts him with a loud booing. "Yeah, I know. That was stupid of me. But she never gave up on me, and she is still my best friend. In fact, she's my favourite friend. I'm sorry, everyone." The crowd laughs and cheers.

You are amazed and speechless. He really did this for you. And the fact that he still considers you his best friend is the best thing that has happened in a while. You can't help it, but tears are falling down your cheeks, and your hands are shaking. Harry walks back to the middle of the stage, and the show continues.

After the concert is over, you stay in your seat. There is still a lot of time until the arena will be empty, and you're not sure what to do. Suddenly, your phone rings, and it's a number you don't recognize.

"Hello?"

"Hi, love." He sounds a little out of breath, and your stomach does a flip.

"Hey, Harry. That was an amazing show. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome. So, did you enjoy it?"

"I loved it."

"I'm so happy. Listen, are you still at the arena?"

"Yes, I am. Why?"

"Okay, so I will come to you. Wait for me, okay?"

"What do you mean, you're coming to me? Are you going to walk out into the arena, looking for me?"

"Exactly. So, wait for me."

"Harry, that's not possible. The arena is full of people. I'm not going to sit here and let you lose your way."

"Trust me, Y/N. I'll be fine. Just wait for me."

And then, he is gone.

You put your phone back into your bag and look around. The crowd has already thinned out a bit, and there are a few people around you. You get up and stand at the end of the row. People are walking past you and talking to each other.

Suddenly, someone grabs your wrist, and you turn around. Your eyes grow wide and your mouth falls open.

"H-Harry..."

"Hi, love. Sorry it took so long. I got a little lost."

You can't believe that he is standing in front of you, looking like a god in his black outfit. He has a beanie on his head, and his eyes are sparkling. Without thinking, you wrap your arms around his neck and bury your face in his shoulder. He hugs you back, and you can't help but inhale his scent.

"I missed you," you say.

"I missed you, too. Now, how about we get out of here?"

"Good idea. Where are we going?"

"Somewhere private."

"Sounds good to me."

He lets go of you and takes your hand. Together, you leave the arena and head for the stage door. Outside, there is a huge crowd waiting, but his security team has already cleared the way, and the fans are standing behind the barriers. He smiles at them and waves. They are screaming, and the paparazzi are taking pictures.

He guides you through the crowd and towards the car park. A black car is waiting, and he opens the door for you. You get in, and he slides in after you. The driver starts the engine, and the car pulls away from the curb.

"Where are we going?" you ask.

"My hotel. We're staying in London for two more nights. I have a suite with a view of the city."

"That's nice. I hope the view is nice, too."

"You're going to like it." He looks at you, and your heart skips a beat.

You reach the hotel, and the driver stops the car. Harry gets out first and holds the door open for you. You step out and look up at the huge building. The entrance is illuminated, and there are a lot of people coming and going.

He takes your hand and leads you into the lobby. Nobody pays attention to you, and it's a relief. You don't want people staring at you. He guides you towards the elevators and presses the button. A moment later, the doors slide open, and you step into the elevator. He presses the button for the top floor and then looks at you.

"I'm sorry it has been such a long time."

"It's okay, Harry. I know that you have a busy life. And I'm really proud of you."

"Thank you. It means a lot to me." He steps closer to you, and your breath hitches. He lifts his hand and brushes a strand of hair from your face. His touch sends shivers down your spine, and you feel yourself blushing.

The elevator doors open, and he leads you to his suite. He opens the door and lets you inside. You are amazed by the beautiful room. There is a huge bed, a seating area with a fireplace, and a balcony with a spectacular view.

"Wow, this is amazing."

"I knew you'd like it." He grins and takes your hand again. "Come on, let's sit down."

He guides you to the seating area on the balcony and sits down. You sit down next to him and take a deep breath.

"How long have we known each other?"

"Since we were ten."

"It's been twenty years, and we're still friends."

"Best friends," you correct him.

"Yes, best friends."

"Even when I neglected you."

"Hey, don't do that. You didn't neglect me. You were just busy."

"Busy doesn't even cover it."

"Stop it. We're still friends. That's what matters."

"I know, but I was stupid. And I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Harry. Let's stop apologizing. I wanna enjoy being here with you." You say with a twinkle in your eyes. You lean back and look at the skyline. The city is lit up and looks beautiful. You can hear the traffic below, but it's a distant noise. The moment is magical, and you are enjoying every second of it. He puts his arm around you, and you lean against his shoulder. You sigh happily and close your eyes.

"Hey, are you tired?" he asks.

"No, just relaxed."

"Okay. Well, I have a question for you."

"Ask away."

"Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

"That you love me."

Your eyes fly open, and your heart stops. He is looking at you, and his expression is serious. You swallow hard and try to think of an answer. But your brain doesn't cooperate, and you can't speak.

"W-what are you talking about?" You stutter.

"I'm talking about the fact that you are in love with me."

"No, I'm not. Why would you think that?"

"Because it's obvious. I saw it tonight at the concert. When I talked about you."

"Oh."

"You looked shocked and then so happy. It's the same look I have when I'm thinking about you." You can't believe what he is saying. Does he really mean it? Or is he just playing with your emotions?

"Why didn't you ever tell me? Because of my job?"

"No, it's not that. I just...I didn't want to ruin our friendship. You're the most important person in my life, and I didn't want to lose you."

"Oh, love. You will never lose me."

"Promise?"

"Promise." He leans closer to you and places a soft kiss on your cheek. Your heart is racing, and the butterflies in your stomach are going crazy. He pulls away, and you can see the sparkle in his eyes. His gaze drops to your lips, and he smiles.

"Y/N, can I kiss you?"

"Yes," you whisper.

He cups your face with his hands and leans in. Your eyes flutter closed, and his lips touch yours. The kiss is slow and gentle. His lips are soft and taste like mint. You feel a tingle in your stomach, and you can't help but sigh. His tongue darts out and caresses your lips. You open your mouth, and he slips his tongue inside. Your tongues tangle together, and the kiss becomes more passionate. When you finally pull apart, you are breathing heavily. He smiles and strokes your cheek.

"That was amazing," you say.

"Yes, it was. And it's about time." He laughs.

"It's been a long time coming." You grin.

"Yes, it has."

He pulls you into his arms and kisses your temple. You lean against his chest and breathe in his scent. It feels so right to be here with him. After all these years, you finally feel like you belong.

"What are you thinking about?" he asks.

"About the fact that I don't wanna go home."

"Who said you have to?"

"What do you mean?"

"Stay with me tonight."

"Really?"

"Yes. Stay the night. I don't want you to leave."

"Okay."

"Great. Let's go inside."

He stands up and takes your hand. You follow him into the suite and sit down on the bed. He sits down next to you and strokes your cheek. You look into his eyes and see the same desire that you feel. You lean in and kiss him. His lips are warm and soft, and his tongue feels amazing. Your body is tingling, and you can't get enough. You wrap your arms around his neck and deepen the kiss. He pulls you closer and kisses you passionately. Your bodies are pressed together, and you can feel his arousal. You moan and rub your body against his. He breaks the kiss and looks at you. His eyes are dark with lust, and his pupils are dilated.

"Mhm, Y/N. You're driving me crazy." He pulls you into his lap and kisses you again. His hands roam your body, and you arch your back. He slips his hand under your shirt and cups your breast. You gasp and close your eyes. He squeezes your breast and rolls your nipple between his fingers.

"Oh God," you moan.

"Do you like that?"

"Yes. It feels so good."

He keeps massaging your breast while kissing your neck. You grind your hips against him, and he groans. You can feel his erection, and it turns you on even more. He moves his hand to your other breast and starts massaging it.

He pushes you onto the bed and gets on top of you. His hands move under your shirt, and he pulls it off. You arch your back and expose your breasts. He licks his lips and leans down to kiss your nipples. He sucks on one and flicks his tongue over the other. You moan and dig your nails into his back.

He moves his hand down to your pants and starts undoing the button. He pulls them down, along with your panties, and tosses them aside. He looks at your naked body and smiles.

"You're so beautiful."

He leans down and kisses you. His tongue darts out, and he runs it over your lips. You part your lips and let him inside. He explores your mouth and moans.

"Mhm, I want you."

"Then take me," you say.

He pulls his shirt off and throws it aside. He undoes his pants and pushes them down. He kneels between your legs and looks at you. You can see his erection through his boxers. You bite your lip and reach out. You run your hand over his bulge and feel the heat. He groans and closes his eyes.

"Y/N."

"Yes?"

"I want you so bad."

"Then take me."

He quickly pulls his boxers down before he grabs your hips and pushes you further onto the bed. He lies down on top of you and kisses you. His erection rubs against your core, making you gasp.

"God, you're so wet." He moves his hand between your legs and strokes your clit. You moan and buck your hips. He positions his cock at your entrance and pushes in. You gasp and close your eyes. His cock fills you up completely, and you feel complete.

He starts moving slowly, and you cling to him. He kisses you deeply and groans. He moves faster, and you cry out. You wrap your legs around his waist and arch your back.

"Yes, Harry. Right there. Please."

He pounds into you harder, and you feel yourself approaching the edge. Never had sex felt this right.

"I'm gonna come."

"Come for me, love."

You scream his name and climax. Your body trembles, and you shudder. He moans and buries his face in your neck. You feel his release, and he collapses on top of you.

"God, Y/N. That was amazing."

"It was."

He rolls off of you and pulls you into his arms. You snuggle against his chest, and he kisses your forehead.

"So, this is where we've been heading since day one, huh?" You chuckle.

"Well, yeah. I just didn't expect it to take twenty years."

"Yeah, me neither."

"And I also thought we'd be more cautious about it." Harry laughs realising he completely forgot to use a condom.

"I don't know, I just didn't care."

"Yeah, me neither."

You kiss his cheek and rest your head on his chest.

"Harry?"

"Hm?"

"Will we be able to make this work? I mean, with our lives and everything?"

"We'll figure it out. I'm not letting you go."

"Good."

You close your eyes and listen to his heartbeat. He is holding you tight, and you can't imagine being anywhere else. You kiss his chest and slowly drift off to sleep in his arms.

[borisbubbles]

Eurovision 2024: Last Place

37. ISRAEL Eden Golan - "Hurricane" 5th place

Decade Ranking: 150/153 [Above Noa Kirel, below Roxen]

Where do we start?

Let's begin, perhaps by stating the obvious. Israel's participation in this year ruined the contest. You encounter an entrant or two that completely warp the meta around them at every contest, but never to an extent this cataclysmic. Every sour note of this contest, and there were plenty, sprouted from the decision to allow Israel into the year. That was the tipping point. I believe that makes "Hurricane" the worst entry of all times in terms of the sheer negative impact its presence had on the edition it parttook in.

The ESC discourse -on asocial media- completely revolved around the conflict in Palestine either to denounce the war crimes perpetrated by the Israeli goverment and the subsequent silencing of critical voices calling it out, or to make a stand against the Poor Young Girl who was unfairly maligned by radicalized leftists for a conflict she had no hand in.

So was it any surprise that Israel won every Western televote? Be honest. I know that the Twitter manchildren claim Israel cheated, but they are in denial. The televote was genuine. The scalpel slices both ways, sadly. For every heckler booing Eden or protesting for Palestine or announcing a Eurovision boycot or lecturing the general public to not vote for Israel, a sympathy vote for her arises because "Aw She Doesn't Deserve So Much Negativity, Poor Thing". That she willingly chose to rep israel at THIS time with THAT song is blissfully ignored. Eden Golan is not a child. She's fully accountable for the effects that her participation caused, and is perfectly a-OK with it.

So, wake the fuck up. The sympathizing nutcases were OPENLY mobilizing to vote for Israel without even watching a second of the contest, to prove a point against you know, "insane leftist wokery" or whatever they call it. "You can't make me think what you want or do what you want, TAKE THAT". It's the same principle that led to Brexit and Trump beating Clinton. Similarly, they attempted to hijack the results like a particularly nasty species of asian hornet because their 'Freedom of Speech' is more important to them than fair results in an entertainment show, or a potential genocide. Or maybe they were just indoctrinated. A smaller sample size due to boycots + 20 votes per crazed zionist, it's honestly a miracle Croatia STILL beat them in the TV overall.

In other words, pretty much every opinion about Eden revolved around the politics that accompanied the flag she flew under.

And I'm sorry, but Eurovision is not supposed to be about Israel. Why should THAT country get more attention, or even preferential treatment in this otherwise excellent line-up? That's not what it should be about.

It is THEM who it should be about:

None of these artists asked to be a part of this shambolic display. So in that sense, let's do something many have FAILED. Let's do what we're supposed to dp: Discuss the SONG, outside of context.

Frankly, there's remarkably little to say. Even without the context, "Hurricane" would have been bottom of the barrel for me regardless? It's a mediocre sappy ballad aimed to Make People Cry. We see such ballads pop up all the time in NFs (most recently Krick in Luxembourg and Noble in Portugal), where -more often than not- their sucktitude catches up with them and manifests a loss.

I've seen people be outraged that Norway's jury gave it points but I mean, look at any recent scandi NF and tell me a Hurricane wouldn't fit within its ranks. It's Undo, What if, A Monster Like Me, all the tacky soulless ballads with poor narratives preying on the soft-hearted and the guillible with cheap emotional manip. "Hurricane"was cut from the same dementor-esque, sympathy-craving cloth. Call me old fashioned, but I was taught that sympathy requires a modicum of respect, which needs to be earned, not begged for like a dog's dinner. (I hope the Europapa fans are reading this because this also applies to him, and that ghastly outro). If your song was written with the idea in mind of pinkwashing the deaths of a few thousand children, then perhaps you may have not fully earned the benefit of the doubt, jussaying.~

In terms of performance, Eden was vocally good, at least. It's her voice that carries it although i don't find her particularly likeable as a lead. Then again, she is a Russian nepo brat whose family emigrated to Israel after the Ukrainian war so that her daddy to secure his financial assets and the Golans could continue their lavish, privileged lifestyle in a safer country. It was always a challenge, so to say, to consider Eden Golan a likeable individual.

Also what is UP with the choreography? Why do the dancers look like they are loading air rifles? A Choice, to say the least.

So all in all, a pretty weak entry that always would have been in my bottom 3 for any country, but that probably had a ceiling of lower top 10 in a normal, generic year of ESC.

However, this was NOT a generic ESC. There's NO imagining "Hurricane" without its context which makes it so, SO much worse. It was specifically written in support of the Israeli victims in the war (why go through that trouble and not simply withdraw and spend the participation fee on providing for the families of the hostages? Isn't that more effective charity? But hey, what do I know.) There is no "depoliticizing", no matter how often you retcon the lyrics into gibberish. Hurricane's intentions are present in its rhythm, its instrumentation, the keys in which it is sung. The notion that you can separate it from its context is absurd.

And yet, that is precisely what the EBU were hoping for when they allowed it in, and it exploded into their face like a firework. I can't say they didn't deserve it. Ultimately, the full blame for all of this rests with them. If a certain entity threatens the integrity of your being, you get rid of the threat. You don't passively sit back crossing your fingers they leave at their own volition. The Israeli's would understand the reasons for exclusion, surely, as they've been applying the exact same principles to the Gaza Strip since mid October.

The EBU allowed them in, officially to prove Eurovision wasn't political and United By Music (in reality because they're cowards and didn't want to be the first organization to ban Israel from an international event, and be branded antisemites as a result). The result was the most politically charged and divisive contest of all time, rife with incidents that were as avoidable as they were outrageous. It couldn't have been further away from "apolitical unity" if it tried.

Hurricane was NEVER worth the price of admission. All the controversy, the security risks, the boycots, the antisemitism and xenophobia, the censorship, the harrassment of other delegations (which the Israeli delegation EAGERLY participated in) and of course the Israeli embassies in participating countries OPENLY advocating to vote for Israel as "a signal". Even the tensions that led to Joost's dubious DQ which I doubt would have happened at any other contest. This could all have been foreseen and avoided by excluding the country that clearly would have brought the contest into disrepute. Eurovision is now on life support. Congratulations EBU. You KILLED your own contest.

It briefly looked like Israel could win (leave to RAI to be woefully incompetent and blasé), which would have been the final nail in Eurovision's coffin but then they magically lost the televote (thank you SO much Eastern Europe, you are SO real for this) and stranded themselves in 5th place. Instead of being the Worst Winner of All Time, Israel are merely a mediocre also-ran, which I can live with. It makes "Hurricane"' marginally less appalling than "Unicorn" and "I.M" for me. Let their fifth place serve as a grim reminder for future editions that Hatred Breeds Hatred, and also, thankfully, that Love Can indeed Prevail.

THE RANKING

[jujumin-translates]

★ Main Story | Act 13 - Budding Spring | Chapter 15 - Ketchuped To Hell

Company Employee A: I’m so sorry to bother you.

Company Employee A: We’ve been able to handle English-speaking and Asian countries just fine, but this region is a little more difficult for us and there aren’t many people in the company who would be able to help…

Company Employee A: I’ve been considering outsourcing, but I haven’t gotten approval yet. Please, can you at least make sure there aren’t any parts that could be misunderstood in the machine translation?

Chikage: That I can do easily.

Chikage: …

*Typing*

Chikage: (So this is the final document.)

Chikage: --.

Chikage: (...Same last name and everything. I still hate myself for reacting to it out of reflex.)

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Tsumugi: It’s been quite a while since the voting period for the final selection started, and yet the notices of debut performances aren’t showing any signs of stopping.

Kazunari: And there are still just as many new troupe and troupe member recruitment notices too~.

Kumon: That reminds me, there was a kid in one of my classes that said they were thinking about starting to do theater.

Tsumugi: It seems like the more people are exposed to the opportunity, the more people become interested in it.

Tenma: And because of the SNS Votes, more and more theater companies are shifting their focus to streaming.

Omi: While working on a photoshoot the other day, I met someone who works in the film industry and they said they’ve suddenly been really busy lately.

Yuki: A lot of people’s impressions from overseas are starting to pop up online.

Tasuku: The new Fleur Award really is helping to bring life to the world of theater, just like they said at the first press conference.

Azuma: It’s especially amazing considering things have only just begun.

Sakyo: Yukio-san is the type of guy to be in the eye of the storm when it comes to theater.

Guy: With the increased attention on it, he and Kamikizaka must be very busy doing various interviews.

Sakyo: Well, I’m sure Reni-san’s handling it just fine.

Yuki: The number of reviews on the theater forums has gone through the roof, but a good chunk of them are pretty scathing.

Yuki: Even performances done by famous theater companies and playwrights are getting stuff like, “I couldn’t understand the dialogue because they talked too fast, but the costumes were cute, I guess.”

Yuki: And “It suddenly turned into a contemporary dance thing and I had no clue what it was supposed to mean, but overall it was interesting.”

Azami: Honest but harsh, I guess.

Sakyo: They probably didn’t understand the stylistic beauty of that troupe, so it’s likely just them being candid on their first time seeing them perform.

Tsuzuru: They’re interesting to read, but I fear the day they come after us.

Sakuya: I wonder what they’re gonna say about us…

Izumi: Let’s not overthink things and start catastrophizing. We’ll be fine as long as we be ourselves.

Itaru: Right. If we worry about it too much and disappoint our existing fans, we’ll become the harbingers of our own doom.

Yuki: Well, it’s probably best that we all limit ourselves when it comes to reading reviews.

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

*Door opens*

Yuzo: Mornin’.

Tsuzuru: Good morning.

Sakuya: Good morning! We’ll do our best today!

Izumi: Sorry to do this when you’re busy preparing things for your own troupe, Yuzo-san.

Yuzo: It ain’t a problem.

Itaru: Have you figured your attack plan for the Fleur Award on your end, Yuzo-san?

Yuzo: We’re just gonna do what we always do. That said, we got our asses kicked durin’ the pre-votin’.

Izumi: MANKAI Company placed 70th.

Yuzo: We were 103rd.

Sakuya: Furinkazan was!?

Tsuzuru: Even though you’re so popular your tickets sell out every show and you have a pretty solid fan base…

Yuzo: That’s ‘cause most of our fans are older.

Yuzo: So most of ‘em didn’t even know the pre-votin’ existed or if they did know, they didn’t know how to do it.

Yuzo: It’s gonna be a tough battle, but we’ve gotta fight in it in our own way.

Yuzo: Well, this ain’t the end of things, so we’re gonna take it at our own pace and not try to rush it.

Yuzo: But that’s just Yukio-san throwin’ us curveballs in the same way he always does. The things that guy comes up with never fails to amaze me.

Izumi: Haha… that’s him, alright.

Yuzo: Well then, if you’re all ready, then let’s get things started.

Sakuya: Okay! We’ll do our best!

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Yuzo: …

Izumi: What do you think…?

Izumi: (I haven’t felt this kind of nervousness in a long while…)

Yuzo: Haaah… You’re as stiff as ever.

Yuzo: Given it’s a sequel to your debut performance, there ain’t any problems with the way you’re interpretin’ the roles, but overall, you’re fightin’ spirit just ain’t there.

Yuzo: Tsuzuru, you’re still havin’ your doubts about the script, and that’s why you’re not fully focused on the play, ain’t it?

Tsuzuru: …Yes.

Yuzo: And the rest of ya are too focused on wantin’ to put on a good performance to get the results ya need for the rankings.

Yuzo: ‘Course, puttin’ on a good performance does matter, but you guys should damn well know that by now.

Yuzo: Above all, you should think about what ya wanna convey and accomplish with this performance again.

Yuzo: Do ya wanna earn your spot in the rankings or do you wanna show off your growth…

Sakuya: --.

Yuzo: ‘Course, there’s nothin’ wrong with wantin’ recognition. But if that’s all you’re doin’ it for, then you’re just earnin’ points.

Yuzo: You’ll end up bein’ consumed by thoughts like, “If we do this, we’ll be more popular and get more points” or “If we do that, we can get some extra points”-- But what we’re doin’ is theater. It ain’t a competition.

Yuzo: What is a Spring Troupe play to you guys? What are you doin’ this for? Who’re you doin’ this for?

Yuzo: You’re doin’ a sequel of your debut play. What did that play mean to all of you back then?

Yuzo: If you’re gonna do a sequel to your debut performance, maybe it’s best ya go back to those origins and give ‘em a look over again.

Yuzo: …But do it with some caution, yeah?

Izumi: (I wonder if Yuzo-san is also pretty worried about the new Fleur Award.)

Izumi: (No, I’m sure companies other than Yuzo-san’s are worried too… We’re not alone in this.)

Izumi: (What place does our troupe have in the rapidly changing world of theater…)

Izumi: (Maybe we need to rethink the path we’re going to take.)

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Citron: It has been a long time since we have been ketchuped to hell like that~.

Masumi: Criticized to hell?

Itaru: His kindness stat has been upped since back then, though.

Chikage: Isn’t that because of how much he approves of us?

Masumi: But that just makes fixing the parts he doesn’t approve of that much harder.

Sakuya: There… really is no easy answer, huh? Our Spring Troupe’s acting… our origin…

Tsuzuru: Who would’ve thought it’d be so hard just to be ourselves?

Chikage: Because sometimes you’re not the one to understand yourself the best.

Izumi: We decided to do this sequel in order to go back to our roots and remember where we started…

Izumi: So, what do you all think was the best part about Spring Troupe back during the first RomiJuli?

Sakuya: To be entirely honest with myself, my acting skills were horrible. All I had back then was my desire to act.

Tsuzuru: But you’ve still got that desire even now.

Sakuya: Yeah! If anything, I love and cherish theater even more than I did back then.

Masumi: So I wonder what we’re “lacking” now.

Itaru: I mean, I’m pretty sure I’m way more absorbed into theater than I was back then, at least.

Chikage: Our bonds as Spring Troupe have deepened and we’ve all improved too.

Citron: I do not feel like we are lacking anything~…

Masumi: But I get what Yuzo was saying.

Tsuzuru: Same here… He was right about me not being able to shake my hesitation about the script, too.

Chikage: Differences from our debut performance, huh…? For better or worse, this is no longer our “first time” on stage.

Itaru: You mean like our freshness is gone, or something? Well, there is a certain something about an author’s debut work, I guess.

Sakuya: You can only have one “first time”, so it’s not something you can do again, huh…

Tsuzuru: So, does that mean that, in a way, we’ll never be able to surpass our debut performance…?

Itaru: Sad, but true.

Masumi: Something that can’t be surpassed despite our improvement, huh…

Itaru: The impact of a first time and a blissfully unaware, reckless drive do have a certain power to them.

Sakuya: Hmm…

Izumi: …

Izumi: (Everyone seems gloomy now.)

Izumi: Let’s let this problem sit for a bit and each think about it more individually. We’ll have another meeting about it some other day.

Tsuzuru: Gotcha.

Itaru: …Yeah.

*Phone buzzes*

Sakuya: Ah--.

Izumi: The meeting’s over, so you’re okay to go and take that.

Sakuya: Sorry, excuse me, then.

*Footsteps*

Sakuya: --Hello, Sakuma speaking. I appreciate your call.

Sakuya: Um, I’m so sorry. About that…

*Door closes*

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Iv: maintenance’s been extended

shiki: I have more exams tomorrow, so I probably won’t be able to play much today.

Iv: our’s start on thurs

Kar: Good luck

Iv: don’t you got em too?

Kar: Started the day before yesterday

Iv: oh, so you’ve already started

shiki: Cool about it as ever.

momo has entered the chat.

Kar: Yo

shiki: You’re late today.

Iv: you got exams too, momo?

momo: Ran away from home

Kar: Way to change the mood lmao

[ ⇠ Previous Part ] • [ Next Part ⇢ ]

[hibischush]

What kind of music, or song that instantly comes in your mind each FoM bachelors and bachelorettes would listen to?

God this is going to reveal so much about me y'all better not judge my odd musical escapades 😤🌺

Seriously though, I love character playlists so if any of y'all make one please share!

Bachelors;

Balor

Okay...I dunno why but

Fall Out Boy

Balor just seems like the type of guy to like the content sung in their songs and I think he definitely enjoys pop-punk

Like I immediately thought of "Sugar, We're Goin Down" from Fall Out Boy

Literally any other emo-rock/punk band too

Think MCR

March

Anything from The Offspring tbh

I was listening to "Want You Bad" and I was like. Yep that's him

Same goes for "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid"

For music that he listens to, I also think he would be a rock enjoyer

NOT BECAUSE HE'S A BLACKSMITH. OK?

But more specifically older rock (think Bon Jovi, Journey, The Rolling Stones)

Hayden

Yes I know he looks like he listens to country

But its more folk-country than the pop-country that's super popular these days

I thought of "Southern Nights" by Glen Campbell

Also pretty much anything from Johnny Cash

Specifically "Ring of Fire"

Ryis

I think he would like some country artists similar to Hayden, but I thought of Jimi Hendrix honestly

Like Hendrix's "Purple Haze"

Soft rock basically

"Drive," "Just What I Needed," and "You Might Think" all by The Cars

Eiland

This man definitely listens to classical/orchestral music I mean look at him

I can't really point out any artists for that

But like... if video games/movies existed in Mistria

He'd listen to video game OSTs too

Like you'd be catching him listening to Indiana Jones' OST while digging up artifacts 😭

Bachelorettes;

Celine

I think Celine would listen to pop or pop-punk for sure

Like she's listening to Billie Eilish idc

Esp Billie's HIT ME HARD AND SOFT album

I think she'd listen to Kali Uchi too (her "Moonlight" song came to mind)

But I think she'd also like R&B too (Specifically Ravyn Lenae)

Juniper

She'd get down with rap and R&B man

"Paint the Town Red" and "Agora Hills" by Doja Cat

"Dang!" by Mac Miller ft. Anderson .Paak

She likes the soft beat packed with words or hype music I suppose

makes her feel powerful

Reina

Reina is another R&B enjoyer-- but specifically a huge SZA fan

I thought of "Snooze" by SZA

But Reina seems like the type to enjoy any type of music honestly

Her family really encourages music as a past time with her mom singer and her father playing stringed instruments

Valen

Only piano music

Literally she's the type to dislike music that hypes her up/makes her feel strong emotions like anger

She likes music that calms her and piano music does just that

Adeline

Adeline is similar to her brother in that she enjoys classical music

She enjoys ball room dancing, and often "classic" or orchestral or waltz music plays

But I also see her enjoying Brazilian Bossa Nova music as well

"Brazil" (Aka Aquarela do Brasil) by Antonio Carlos Jor

"So Danco Samba" by Stan Getz & Luiz Bonfa

I think she likes bossa nova because the rhythm is so different from more western music

It challenges to adapt to the beat while dancing and she likes it

Bonus; Caldarus

For Caldarus, it has been a long time since they have heard music

When they hear it from your nearby farmhouse, they find it very pleasing

If they ever get outta statue form then I think they are very eager to seek out all types of music

Whelp hopefully none of these are musical hot takes.🥲 Whenever I mention certain artists just know that I primarily mean the vibes/style of the artists, cause you wouldn't find Doja Cat in Mistria lmao

[thatdeadaquarius]

OP your addtion about the Harbinger's reaction? Sent me wheezing to the moon 🤣🤣💀

I dont have any additions to Teyvat language yet (other anons have a more in depth explanations while mine is just shitposts wheEZE--) but I did have an idea for a Genshin AU.

I'm pretty sure everybody has heard about the blue alien people Avatar. Tribal people from another planet. (Also I just stumbled upon the forests of Sumeru while going through Chasm quests. The one that has giant mushrooms).

Imagine Genshin in the Avatar Au. Sumeru can be based on the first movie (It fits cause from what I can explore of Sumeru reminds me of the time I watched Avatar of the first time. Pure awe and wonder..) While the Water nation can be based on the 2nd movie, Hoyoverse hasnt released the name of the Water Country yet so we're just waiting. Mondstadt can be based on the upcoming 3rd (4th or 5th? Idk they had it lined up) movie that involves being high above the clouds. Kind of like the Jade palace or the Floating Abode in the serenitea pot.

Its all I could base for now since the other movies dont have that much info yet to be paired with Genshin's countries.

Bonus idea that randomnly popped into my head:

Still going with this Au but its sagau themed. Creator!Reader arrives to Teyvat and is considered as Eywa

NOW THIS

THIS IS AN ✨️IDEA✨️

I just want u to know i feel b l e s s e d that u put this in MY ask box , when this coulda been a whole post of ur own 💖💖🙏🙏

WARNING: So i havent seen the new movie, just the og Avatar one, and i totally loved that concept about Eywa and how their world works so ill refresh myself but if theres any new lore from the 2nd movie i aint got it yet 💁 srry babs

🎵 FROM THE DAY WE ARRIVED ON THE PLANEETTT

AND STEPPED OUT BLINKING INTO THE SUN

AND THE SUN ROSE HIGH IN A SAPPHIRE SKY

ITS THE CIRRRRCCCLLLEEE OF LIFFFFEEEE 🎵

^ except ur like the life itself bc ur god now

Thats why i put that there

This AU radiates that energy

♤

BRO I TOTALLY FORGOT ABT U MENTIONIMG THE COOL CHASM STUFF AND PICKED THAT GIF ALL ON MY OWN

BC I THOUGHT IF ANYTHING LOOKS LIKE EYWA TREE IN GENSHIN ITS THAT BEAUTIFUL MUSHROOM GOD

ANYWAYS-

So I accidentally posted this too early so keep refreshing or coming back bc if theres no "♡the beloveds♡" im still updating this then LMAO

SRRY GUYS

So anon's a genius and i could listen to u talk about this all day

I fucking love combining world building or lore together

Esp like making one the AU or just the setting like u said with Avatar worlds as settings and same characters-

EEEEEE U ARE EYWA- YESSSSS YESSSSSS I AM YOUR GOD BITCHES!!! SUCK ON MY BIG FAT MAN TIDDIES BITCHES RAHHHHH /REF

♧

So they deffo use "Eywa" as a term for you instead of your name

Honestly, before when u were a mysterious af planet creature thing (lets say u get isekaied there i mean)

Nobody rlly knew if u even could take a mortal form or even thought of that as a concept

I feel like the younger generations immortals and Teyvat's current countries kinda think of you Eywa as more of a passive entity life force thing

Rather than the older immortals and creatures that had seen thru eons or over the course of a couple thousand years

That u were very aware and intelligent

Not that ur energy or aura didnt tell them that alone

◇

So a little deeper into the Teyvat lore here but i dont see anybody else talking about it so I will

Originally, it was the Seven Sovriegns and you, and eventually Phanes and their Four Shades,

And they literally all quickly came to realize u literally made this planet and began to start the first traditions of worshipping you!

Like putting gifts or hand made goods at the base

(Ppl have also gotten a tradition from Morax/Rex Lapis and Guizhong and other adepti to leave birthday letters to offer you, which ties into what i say below⬇️)

Ya know,

Eywa the tree could even be a sort of source to the eyes of Teyvat of what you look like while u were playing the game

Like how Eywa's little jellyfish reach ppl in the forest and shit? I think?

So like i would imagine that whatever u make certain vessels or acolytes do most often, is what they think they should offer u :0

◇

Claymore users give u gemstones and ores

Bow users give u hunted game like fowl, or the treasure from puzzles that required arrows (like those bursting blue balloons?)

Catalysts and Polearms give u all kinda of crazy shit lmao

Bc they can be used for a vareity of things

◇

Bc of ur player status and abilities, people of Teyvat attribute a gain in power or talents or whatnot to you, Eywa

So say u actually physically there now, and u just wake up under the coolest sickest tree youve ever seen in ur life

Omg could u imagine????

Seeing Teyvat irl? But AVATAR WORLD IRL???!!!

You would stand there lookin around like a drunk fuck for like 20 minutes, maybe longer lmao

Its just so ✨️pretty✨️ here

Also the tree itself just feels like, the equivalent to ur bedroom basically but like specifically if it was hella comfy and like just the way u want it (all the decor is up, the floor is clean, u got like hot choco on ur desk, theres a candle burning, etc.)

♤

Oh so since ur like weirdly connected to the land, like u know how theres a voice line abt walking in that glowing aranara part of Sumeru and ur steps light up?

I saw that too in the OG avatar movie

So i feel like u would have a map with ALLLLL the peoples on it and little icons

U can focus on just vision users or bosses or big nature things like Dragonspine

◇

Oh so Eywa can control all animals and whatnot and so u as a mortal person can too

So anytime theres a threat u can deadass just become a pokemon trainer LMAO

Ok but think how badass it would be to just like,

Get the Primo Geovishap or Giant Bird Jadeplume Terror thingy to just leave their territory and wipeout some mfs

(coughunknowngodasomodaycough)

It would be fucking amazing

♧

Unrelated to above bc im just spitting out ideas srry guys

but like

I feel like if u were a lifeforce sort of ancient eldritch god for the entire goddamn continent of Teyvat let alone the whole planet-

You would have to maintain said continent/planet

Like, make sure the Irminsul is growing okay, protect from mfs like Dottore,

Stop diasters if ur Eywa too, esp bc u can hear prayers now, and would hear ppl crying out to help them geez

while the prayers of the many kinda just glob together to form the major "feeling" of the prayer for most creatures,

Vision users, gods, ancient creatures u can get their exact sentences

Basically more magic = better heard to connect with u

◇

Oh u know, i could even see it being even more manual or personal labor bc ur not like a tree connected to ur roots thruout the world technically

Like if volcanoes erupt in Natlan, the archon and gods there help and u r also wanted/needed in person for it to work

U would still be powerful, but yeah like say the tree was u just playing genshin before,

The game automatically regulated diasters and stuff other than what was supposed to happen in game

◇

So kinda bouncing off that I read smwhere that the Na'vi dont actually view Eywa as like omnipotent or omniscient

(like the God™️ from the Christian bible for a example of what your not)

And also! Dont blame/attribute natural diasters, plagues, or other bad stuff on Eywa

So good for you whew 💦

Ur actually supposed to kinda just be the collective lifeforce or Teyvat/world and nature, and a defender and guide of life :0

Which kinda fits with the whole "upgrading characters" thing actually

◇

Okay but I saw somewhere in SAGAU tag someone did another name instead of Creator to spice it up and its "All-Mother"

And interestingly, Eywa in Avatar is also called that and "Great Mother"!!

How fun :0

Also, the reason Eywa still got people with free-will is bc they kinda described the relationship to Eywa being something like a mother or parent

Maybe where name/titles came from ig?

Either way, ppl be calling u all types of nicknames u aint heard before lmao

I mean ur sacred, they dont just say ur name,

Nobody knows ur real name or what u call yourself

Just what they call u

Bc they couldnt communicate with u super well before, (the bday letters were the closest they got verbally, and even then they had to be addressed somewhat to ur first vessel the traveler to get thru/be seen)

Otherwise yeah u operating them lets say before on Earth you rlly felt like an eldritch nature deity 💀

Cause u guide them in battles, strengthen their talents and skills and bodies, and feed them food

If they were in battle like needing healing food, u help them heal by consuming it for them so they dont have to take a snack break in battle and

Let me tell u, these denizens of Teyvat who have to constantly deal with magic and monsters and abyss stuff, so a stroll outside ur house gets u in a fight...

...They are very grateful for that needless to say.

Plus i like to think u make fighting easier on them bc ur "guiding" their bodies

◇

Anyway thats a long winded way to say, help me think of all the names Teyvat's given you lmao:

Eywa

All-Mother / Great Mother

All-Father / Great Father

All-Parent? / Great Parent

Creator

Their Grace

Great Puppeteer

The Puppeteer

Soul of Teyvat

Greatest Soul

☆

She aint long bc im not that creative and this idea has sm potential too😔

I would love to be Eywa sounds fun and powerful af and i dont get expected to be Jesus and they know i dont cause the natural diasters, like that sounds nice

Aight im no genius and this writing feels like im just rambling like a drunk guy sittin on the sidewalk mumbling to myself, i had to stop writing 💀

Like that energy specifically-

So lmk if yall got any other cool titles or names :0

I couldn't think of anymore :/

Also srry about the updating this post and making u check back in if u already read this before i put the taglist

(Me putting the taglist means im done editing/writing this dw if u seein this)

Cheers,

���🌧🌊Aquarius♒️🌌🌘

♡my beloveds♡

@karmawonders / @0rah-s / @randomnatics / @glxssynarvi / @nexylaza / @genshin-impacts-me / @wholesomey-artist

[hyllatavorianaldan]

ARCANE SPOILERS BELOW

Unhinged plot developments aside, I'd really like to talk about my favorite parts of the music in act one since I haven't seen anyone else do it in much detail yet.

In s1 I definitely think a lot of the songs were very Zaun-leaning in terms of their lyrics, sound/instrumentation, themes, etc.: the majority of them draw a lot from genres like rap, rock, indie/electro-pop, and the slower songs like "Goodbye", "Our Love", and "What Could Have Been" rely more on the lyrics to convey the struggles and emotions of Jinx and Vi--the show's main Zaunite characters. But at the same time there don't really seem to be any songs that represent Piltover's more classical sound or have lyrics that center around some of its central Piltovan characters like Caitlyn, Jayce, or Mel.

Season two's soundtrack so far definitely fills that void, but not in the way I was expecting it to. I'm going to focus on three songs from act one that I believe best encompass the Piltover/Zaun duality and convey character progression really well: "I Can't Hear It Now", "Sucker", and "Hellfire".

"I Can't Hear It Now" does an amazing job filling the void of Piltover-centric character songs by starting off with one about Caitlyn and her feelings of grief in regards to her mother's death. The song is slow and the instruments used are just piano and violin (?) as far as I can tell, which is about as Piltovan as you can get in terms of musical vibes. The lyrics are also very soft-spoken in the way they're sung, and the lyrics themselves reflect the tone of the song as well--

There is an ocean so dark down below the waves Where you watch while these dreams gently float away And there is a silence so soft it's only memory Like the way your voice always sounds when you sing to me

This verse does the best job of encompassing the song's overall vibes, I think--drowning in particular is always shown to be pretty gentle/peaceful in the show, with even characters like Silco ignoring how painful of a death drowning actually is.

By contrast, "Sucker" is a very Zaunite-leaning song--and understandably so, since it shifts to focus on Jinx's grief instead. It has distinct rock and country influences (from what I can tell), and is a slow song just like "I Can't Hear It Now".

TW mentions of metaphorical suicide

Get the fuck outta my head, so long, sucker I don't wanna see you, I hate this life, ooh-oh-oh-oh Get your fingers out of my hair, you're gone, sucker Good luck killing me 'cause I'm already Already dead inside

However, the lyrics are darker and more visceral, and talk about Jinx's struggle with both her grief and her inner demons in greater detail than "I Can't Hear It Now" does with Caitlyn's grief, even calling back the way Jinx metaphorically "killed herself" in s1 when she chose to become Jinx instead of reverting back to Powder. While "I Can't Hear It Now" can almost be called sanitized in the way it handles Caitlyn's grief, only ever really talking about it through metaphors that almost feel like they're disconnecting Caitlyn from her grief, "Sucker" is more than happy to get into the nitty-gritty of Jinx's self-loathing and suicidal ideation, because unlike the people living in Piltover, Zaunites are more than familiar with watching their loved ones die for no real reason.

"Hellfire" is my favorite song in s2's soundtrack so far because it shows such a dramatic shift in Caitlyn's character from "I Can't Hear It Now", from the genre to the tone to even the lyrical content of the song.

Can I do the right thing for the wrong reason? Is it bad that I'm making friends with my demons, and Living by a couple deadly sins Just to make sure I finish what you began And I ain't afraid to lose a life or ten If it means that I get to win in the end (Woo) So I'ma do this on my own, step into the danger zone Pull the pin and watch it blow I would rather die alone

Despite being about a character from Piltover, "Hellfire" sits right in the hard rock genre--which is what you'd expect from a song about one of the Zaunite characters, but certainly not Caitlyn. But just like with "Sucker", the lyrics in "Hellfire" are very plain about the unhealthy way she's coping with her grief, disconnecting herself from it altogether in favor of focusing on capturing Jinx at any cost and "finishing what she began"--even if that means misusing the ventilation system designed by her mother to unleash the Grey on innocent civilians.

Anyway yeah, that's just my take on s2's soundtrack so far. Fucking love "Hellfire".

[localgardenweed]

Okay I did @vyo96’s HWS Japan map thingy and this is a perfect time to roughly explain my characterization of my baby girl

Now look imma admit he fucks, he can fuck and will fuck but thats a story for another day, preferably December 20th 2024 but we’ll get there when we get there. In short just give him his viagra hes still got it in him

Anyway i like to say he’s a little fucked up in the head and just so done with everything around him that he can only put on a plain face and keep trudging through till he kicks the bucket. The curse of immortality has left him a little fucked up, wondering when it’ll all be over, sometimes wishing he was just plain mortal and not stuck waiting for his country to fall apart. He loves his people but sometimes wishes he didn’t have to be a personified country and just a normal human along side them cause he feels lile he can do more for them as human since him and all the other countries are under the thumb of their governments half the time

I want to say that he wants people to think he’s more in up in the “just a little fella” section cause like he doesn’t want people to know he’s popping his pills, that’s embarrassing!! He just buries his feelings deep down so no one can see them until his friends pull up and hold him down and operate the feelings out of him.

His personality isnt that much different from his canon version but i like to think he is definitely more expressive and idk but emotional??? When he’s by himself like, in the comfort of his own home he’ll let out a big loud laugh over a meme but in public he’ll just smile and say “that was funny”. He thinks way too much about how he looks he looks in public its a problem. He actually has some wit and really sarcastic when he wants to be. He can also be really scary but he doesn’t like showing that side too much so he just kinda keeps it in the back burner.

He’s definitely very self sufficient i mean he’s had like 2000ish years to live and grow bro practically picked up everything as a hobby at least once. He’s made a schedule which he has been keeping pretty much the same throughout the years, only really changes if big like advancements are made like he used to go to the store once a month to rent VHS and had planned days to go return them all but now he just either streams it or has bought all the VHS and DVD he wanted and plays them at home.

He can be very affectionate if he wants to but feels cringe when he does it in public so mostly keeps it all in. But if he had his way he would smother his s/o in gifts and kisses and loving pets and be at their knees wondering if they need anything. Thats mostly at home though in public he just holds pinkies. With his close friends (mostly just Italy, Germany and Prussia) he opens up more a little baby bit, he actually shows some emotion and lets out more of his personality!! Oh my god!!!! He actually…shares his actual opinion/concern?!? He feels more comfortable with letting them see his real feelings and they like seeing it too cause they were getting concerned that he just nodded along to almost everything when it was smth they definitely should not have been doing.

Anyway best character deserves more respect he is the light of my life and i hold him very dear to me. I wish i could like talk about him more but trying to write this was hard as hell cause i cant always express my feelings with words im better at talking than writing. I tried to get some of my like speaking and form of talking into this but some areas could use work.

If any other hetalia japan lovers wanna speak their truth speak it and we can come together and have a meeting and talk about him

[jiminsass-istant]

https://www.tumblr.com/jiminsass-istant/738939466569416704/this-reactor-creating-a-nice-little-space-in-his

Few days back i was watching reaction video's for jm (i do that once in a while when i miss him nd want to coo over him with other ppl so i watch reaction videos) and this person popped up and it was a taekook reaction video so out of curiosity (I'm stupid) i went to check the comments section and there were comments as how this man has reacted on many kpop ships but think that taekook is far different than others and blah blah (idt i need to tell u what kind of cmnts tkkrs do on these videos) and i said the same thing that nice way to bring views.

You know I'm Indian so i see tens of reaction videos of ppl reacting to Indian stuff like songs, movies, food, culture etc and i know for a fact that those ppl are nowhere genuine or curious about my country but rather use ppl for views (as India has highest population). You can tell the difference who's being genuine and who's just clickbaiting.

If this man had watched other ships in k-pop then there's no way he gonna think tk is different cause those kpop ships has some another level of skinship (which tk don't even have much) and these reactors only gag over skinship. There's hardly anything tae and jk had said about e/o that will make one to think they're dating (like i know this gonna sound mean but there's literally nothing tk had done for e/o or with e/o that could be ship worthy or to think there's something between them). BTS has done not even half the shit those other k-pop ships do so this man saying tk is different tells u that he's just taking views. Like ask him some 2-3 things about jk and tae and I'm sure he won't be able to tell shit about them cause if someone sits on a chair to do just shipping reaction videos then you're just there for views and not beacuse you're curious about knowing them beyond that.

One of the reasons i also don't watch any shipping reaction videos (including jkk) even if they say jkk is different is because i know most of them are just saying it for views.

I hate it when these people bring jm into their ship cause we all know 99% of them hates his guts.

Thank you for putting this here maybe other jkkrs will see it and tell the man to be in his limit. He's giving Tkkrs space to degrade jm same thing one of the youtubers did. His name is something like dj dino or just dino but something like that so this guy once said that jm's promise song is pretty simple nd there's nothing in there blah blah or shit and since then his comment section is filled with jjks (i think he loves jk or praises him alot) which gave space to those jjks to hate on jm (other members too ig) and when he gave review on like crazy nd gave it some 97/100 score all his followers started hating on him to the point he had to acknowledge it and talk about the hate. This is what happens when these ppl give space to hating on memebrs and then it comes back to bite them in the ass. I pray this bites this shipper in the ass too.

A request to jkkrs who sees it to go and tell the guy about the shit his followers be doing. and ask him to stop involving jm in any ships especially tkk cause he ain't anyone's captain nor a baby sitter.

For context, this anon is referencing my deleted post about Ben Kim, the YTube reactor. Reacts to Taekook and gives space for Tkkers to hate on Jimin.

Just putting this ask here so people can go and report his @ss.

Also, this reactor even reacted to Jungkook smoking video and even used it as a thumbnail for that video. The title was something like "jk doesn't give a fu¢k". Idk.

Frankly, reactors like this should be bullied into deleting their videos. Where are the army bullies when we need them? Too busy looking at humanlouvre art maybe, lol.

Seriously though, how does that art account have 350k + followers? The art is so bad. So cringe. The fetishization is off the charts. The military related art? Yikes.

[thilsworld]

[Nov 2nd 2024]

Today I went on a 6km walk for a fundraiser event for Kim Hongjoong's birthday! 🎉

Well, the goal was 6km, but in the end according to my phone it was 7km, and according to my mom's fitbit watch it was 7.8km. Guess overachieving is just the norm for me nowadays.

I never really go on walks, it's not my thing. Either you're in a park and there's people and I am bad at basic social cues meaning I hate small talk (even saying hi as you pass someone I'll overthink). Or you're near traffic, and that's overwhelming in terms of sounds, lights, and fast moving objects in my peripheral all the time.

BUT, I joined a sponsor event!!

Basically for the birthday of singer Kim Hongjoong of the band Ateez, he was partnering with Global6kWorldVision to raise funds for water supplies for a more rural area in Africa. So to support my favorite singer and his goals to help out the world, I decided to participate in the event! 🧡

After donating the entry fee of €8, everyone was sent a file of a participation number. Like those you'd also get when running a marathon with a number on your chest. You'd print these, take a picture with it, walk or run 6km, and post a screenshot of your tracking app as proof of participation.

With the autumn weather it was definitely a bit cold for such a long walk, but the beautiful scenery made up for it.

I was a bit dumb though, cause I own hiking shoes. However, my dumbass put on my scensory safe sneakers which have velcro straps to close them. Which is good for short distances, but because the velcro doesn't close the shoes as tightly as hiking shoes would, I now have blisters 🥲

However I also got to see some pretty parks, and also walked past this small farm with 2 donkeys, a bunch of chickens, and some bunnies! 🐇

Lowkey my hair looks so nice in that picture with the donkeys!? It never looks that wavy but I love it 🤭

I didn't use my headphones for the majority of my walk, but the last 1km was on the sidewalk next to busy roads, meaning I was getting overwhelmed by the traffic noises FAST!

Luckily Hongjoong had also prepped a playlist for everyone participating, so I got to listen to some songs by him and his group, some old classics from artists like David Bowie and Michael Jackson, and some more pop-rock-esque songs from my own teen years since he is the same age range as me and grew up on similar music, such as Twenty One Pilots, Paramore and Panic! At The Disco. My personal favorite song from the playlist and thus my song recommendation of the day: Runaway Baby by Bruno Mars 💛

Since it's also just 2 days after Halloween, some people still had decorations up, which was nice to see since our country doesn't even really celebrate Halloween. But this one neighbour was fully decked out with amazing decorations and there were trick or treat tables by front doors and stuff, so I'm guessing that specific neighbourhood had decided to celebrate together for the kids there, which was so cute 🎃

So yeah, while I don't really like going on walks due to sensory overwhelm, and the muscle pain and blisters afterwards are telling me to never do it again, I did have a lot of fun doing this, and I'm glad I could participate in this fundraiser event.

The rest of the day I just sat in my comfy chair watching Netflix btw. I deserved to recharge after that walk 😂

To end of this blog entry, 3 positive things of today I'm grateful for:

After I got home from the long walk I made soup and my mom made French toast, so I had a nice warm lunch after exploring the cold outside world 🍂

I am proud of myself for going out of my comfort zone and going on this walk while trying out some new coping strategies I learned in therapy for my autistic sensory overwhelm 🩷

When I got home my cat Storm fell asleep in my lap and on top of my arm. It was a bit impractical to have 1 arm be trapped under his weight, but he was too cute to move him. I'll put a picture of him here 🥹

Thank you for reading!

Much love,

- Thil ✨

[ideas-on-paper]

Since this year is the first time I'm experiencing Pride Month as part of the LGBTQIA+ community, I decided to rewatch Pride in celebration.

This movie certainly has a lot of things going for it, from the incredibly entertaining humor, the real bangers of 80s pop and rock songs featured throughout (by artists such as King, Bronski Beat, and Dead or Alive to only name a few) as well as an amazingly talented cast. (Jessica Gunning and Menna Trussler were probably my secret highlights; the fact that Andrew Scott is in it - a wonderful actor whom I've already had the honor of meeting personally - also makes this movie really special to me.)

The story itself has a real-life background, being based on the unique event of an organization of lesbian and gay people teaming up with the National Union of Mineworkers to fight for each other's rights. Back in 1984, homosexuality was still commonly viewed as "unnatural" and "perverse", with hostile sentiments specifically towards gay men increasing due to the emergence of AIDS in the early 80s. 1984 also saw the United Kingdom's miners' strike, during which British miners protested against the closing of coal pits that had been deemed "uneconomic", leading to them being antagonized by the British government, the press and the police. To support the miners and their families, openly gay activist Mark Ashton founded the group Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners to raise donation funds; in return, members of the South Wales mining lodges joined LGSM during the London Pride demonstration of 1985.

Adding yet another layer to ostracized groups supporting each other is the fact that these miners were Welsh. Historically, Wales - like pretty much all other Celtic countries - had to fight against the oppression of its unique culture, upholding its identity despite the English attempts to "civilize" it, and it's only recently that the culture of Celtic nations is receiving more and more attention and appreciation.

This contributes to what is probably the most important takeaway from the movie: At one point of the movie, Mark Ashton says that he thinks it's nonsensical to fight for the rights of gay and lesbian people, but not for the rights of workers or women. Granted, Mark Ashton was a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain and the Young Communist League (a fact that doesn't get mentioned in the movie), so supporting the workers was, in fact, in his interest, but that doesn't diminish the value of the message: There is no doubt that the issues of LGBTQIA+ people and working-class people are not the same, which in turn are not identical to the issues women are facing. However, no matter what group you belong to, one thing that connects all of us - workers, women, LGBTQIA+ people, people of color, autistic people, disabled people, and all other people who have previously experienced marginalization - is knowing what it's like to be discriminated against, ridiculed or outright excluded from society. And the first step to an inclusive society is to acknowledge the problems of others, to say "your problems may not be my problems, but they are just as valid, and I will support your interests as I would support mine". As David "Dai" Donovan from the National Union of Mineworkers said:

"You have worn our badge, ‘Coal not Dole’, and you know what harassment means, as we do. Now we will pin your badge on us; we will support you. It won’t change overnight, but now 140,000 miners know that there are other causes and other problems. We know about blacks, and gays and nuclear disarmament, and will never be the same."

[old-danmei-fan]

Just finished volume 3 of Heaven Official's Blessing and even though the first half was a little hard to read for me, I Ioved it. There's such a great mix of humor, trauma, fighting, and love.

I'm going to post my notes/ all the random shit that popped into my head as I read from volume 3 below the cut so don't read below if you don't want spoilers.

Also, before my notes, I know who Jun Wu is and more or less his roll in XL's journey so I make references to him in my notes when I shouldn't know what's going on with him at this point.

I would try to block out the whole your country dying and literally nothing you do helps thing too XL

Xianle state preceptor really got to the point with the whole you "ascended too soon because all your people are still alive" bit. I get it where he's coming from, but damn that was a lil harsh.

I love that XL is of the mind set of "what the fuck is the point of being a god if I don't help my people?" I was kinda wondering the same thing my dude.

This is the first series where I am having to put the book down and walk away after every 10 pages. Poor XL is making every possible bad decision he can even with everyone screaming at him not to.

JFC the land of tenders was NOT what I was expecting 😬

I understand why HC is such a snarky prick to FX and MQ lol they were always such assholes to the poor lil guy. He just wanted to make heart eye and protect his crown prince.

Ok so Lang Ying is obviously working with white no face (jun wu), but he's obviously gotta be someone in present day right? I feel like he's too prominent at the moment to not come back in the present.

I'm fucking stupid lol Lang Ying -> Lang Qingqiu. Lang Ying is obviously going to be the first king of Yong'an

Lil soldier kinda disappeared?

Man body horror is gonna be an ongoing theme throughout this huh?

XL is really too pure for this world.

Damnit Qi rong. You and your big mouth

FX - "that brat will definitely grow up to be a good man" bro aren't you the one that kicked him out of the army lol

Oh it's because he's just happy not everyone hates XL 🤣

Hoo boy. 1st half of volume 3 is a doozy. Everyone is getting a big ol helping of trauma and suffering. Hong'er/ Lil soldier breaks my heart when he's telling XL he won't forget him.

Lmfao XL threatening QR with siccing HC on him

I do not like Shi Wudu 😡

Lmfao HC being so extra for his man at the festival he wrote a play and sent up 3k lanterns. Pei ming being all I told you guys HC didn't take XL to be mean 😏

Pei Ming is like that himbo that everyone doesn't like cause he's fucks around, but then you talk to him and he's kinda funny.

Hahahahahaha HC and XLs "first kiss" is killing me. XL pretty much saying he'd stab anyone who did that to him but HC and he's confused about why. Hmm I wonder why XL?

Oh this poor boy lol getting so flustered he's trying to run away only to be caught because he's bleeding from his foot. Poor guy is panicking over his cursed shackle on his ankle isn't he 🥺

I'm so glad the second half of volume 3 is not quite as traumatic as the first.

Dying at everyone thinking that ghost baby is Pei Ming's

I don't like Jun Wu's sword. That's icky

☹️

And then on the flip side, Rouye and E-Ming fighting for XLs attention is adorable lol

Poor Qi Rong being subjected to the torture of watching XL and HC flirt. Maybe if they laid it on a little thicker they could get him to leave the body he's in.

[aceoflights]

non us ask game :))

5, 10, 11, 15

love you<<3

Thank you for the ask :))

And love you too. Very much <<3

5. favourite song in your native language?

I'm gonna go with from Austria here as well, even though technically any German song could count.

Right now I think it's Griechischer Wein by Udo Jürgens.

10. most enjoyable swear word in your native language?

Hmm. Do insults count? Cause I really like Wappler. It's Vienna dialect, and it essentially calls someone an incompetent idiot.

If I have to choose from my own dialect (Carinthian) there's also Nupla. Which means pretty much the same thing.

Also love deppert (and it's noun form Depp), which can mean stupid,but also insane. And it's so versatile. You can say "do you think I'm deppert?" When someone suggests you doing a crazy thing. You can say "are du deppert?" In a kinda baffled tone as a reaction to pretty much any kind of extreme(ish) story. Like "damn" but pretty much only for bad stuff. And obviously just the regular uses of calling someone that in a derogatory way.

God, I could talk about dialect and language forever.

11. favourite native writer/poet?

Oh, that's a really hard one. I actually don't really read a lot of Austrian literature. I think the only ones I've read were in school. And I don't really count that. So, sadly, I think I'll have to say none, so far. But I'd be very open to recommendations if anyone has any.

15. a saying, joke, or hermetic meme that only people from your country will get?

Hmm. There's probably a lot, but I can't think of many right now. But one that I think is funny is, I guess, the video clip where someone says "spielen Sie candy crush Herr Bundeskanzler?" (Are you playing candy crush Mr. Chancellor?) It just occasionally pops into my brain, because it's kinda funny and also our government is a joke.

Most other memes or meme-esque things I can think of are also known by Germans, I think.

I know there is some dialect jokes out there. But I really can't think of any right now :(.

[pastafossa]

i’m curious and idk if you’ve answered something like this before but what type of music do you think matt and jane like, both individually or maybe what they’re introduced each other too etc etc

ok so I've been thinking about this since it came in but haven't had time until now BUT

Matt first! Matt mentions in S2 at the gala that he likes to listen to 90s Top 40. This includes a shit ton of good stuff - you've got everyone from Whitney Houston and Elton John to Nirvana and Green Day (no way teenage Matt didn't have a Green Day period). On top of that, in the comics iirc he mentions enjoying Jazz, and I know Charlie's been asked the same question and said he imagined Matt would like listening to classical (if I was building on that last one along with Matt's stated fondness for 90s top 40, I'd say he'd especially enjoy, say, an artist like David Garrett who frequently does rock covers with his violin). I could pick just one of those to lean into as to what Matt likes, but I don't think I need to. I think it's far more likely that Matt's a blend of musical tastes, because with his heightened senses, there'd be different things to appreciate with each. And while I do think there are songs and sounds he finds unpleasant, I think he can swing around pretty easily between genres. I see him listening to a fair amount of 90s/2000s rock (tends to drown the world out, and the rebellious streak in him probably takes some pleasure in enjoying what he might have been told was 'worldly listening' by nuns). But I also see him as enjoying a fair amount of softer classical songs or pop and folk (easier on his ears, or nice for dates as we know), as well as jazz (relaxing). This is great for Jane, because it means Matt would have an excellent talent for pulling out old hits she only vaguely remembers listening to but really enjoyed, and also for following her on whatever musical journey she takes - he'd also be a little more up to date on music than her, so he'd probably introduce her to some new(ish) alt artists, softer sounds usually - Jaymes Young, some of Hozier's newer stuff, songs he thinks she'll connect to.

Sweet moment: somewhere lost in the mountain of asks in my box I vaguely remember someone saying they could see Matt liking to play Jane love songs to see if he could get her to sing them later, like she was singing to him. And I love this and agree with it. Especially on bad and broken, self-loathing days, cause he needs love on those days, wants to hear Jane hum or quietly sing the words, because then it's like she's singing all that love to him. And once she figures out that's what he's doing, she makes a point of doing it more often, even putting on the songs herself and mumbling them quietly as he lays with his head on her chest, her fingers in his hair.

Jane next. I had to think about this for a while (and as always, as musical preferences are VERY personal, ya'll are free to disregard this). I can tell you that while she's ok with classical now and can even enjoy it sometimes (first date), she had to work at that one with Ciro since there was a lot of classical played 'for brain development' while she was at White Coat's facility. Outside that though, she wasn't sure what she liked when she first came out. She tried a lot of things with Ciro and Eli and Sophia, much like she did with food, hunting for what she enjoyed. I think, at least initially, a lot of the music she heard - classical, pop, jazz, country, ballads, Disney even - was too... gentle. Cause this poor kid? She was angry. She felt awkward, out of place. She still felt trapped by nightmares and PTSD, and wanted to feel free, to shout, to revel in something that wasn't slow and measured and soft, something that seemed to acknowledge the pain of what she'd went through. But you know what channeled those feelings really well? Fucking punk rock. And if we assume she's close to Matt's age, then at 16 she was freed at the right time to roll right into Green Day, Paramore, Fall Out Boy, and My Chemical Romance. I think she vibed hard with that genre during those few years with Ciro before going on the run again, and it's something she'll always have a fondness for even if she's now expanded her tastes - because ultimately I think, with where she's at now, she's become a bit of a racoon. She'd delight in listening to artists across multiple genres based solely on some random quirk or line or chorus that stuck in her head, just because she can. Which means Matt's just as likely to come home to Jane howling along to a nostalgic punk rock song as he is to her blasting some random Broadway tune she heard in a cab (no one is immune to Lin Manuel) or a Taylor Swift song on loop because this sounds like us, Matt, what the fuck, have you heard this?

Funny moment: needless to say she is not prepared for Dance Dance to be her song of the evening as Matt walks through the door one night - she freezes, wondering if this is going to be an Ow My Ears song.

At least until he throws out, 'I'm two quarters and a heart down' and tosses his cane as her eyes light up and he grins-

-then the chorus hits and they both fucking rock.

They both wind up collapsed on the floor giggling. And that's when she is reminded that, yet again, Matt is the perfect man to go with her wherever her music journey takes her.

[petruchio]

i was on a plane but since i know everyone on here was obviously intensely and deeply curious about my thoughts on speak now tv i live blogged in my notes app and now i’ll simply paste my takes here:

Overall tv ranking to me is fearless = sn > red

Fearless improved on several tracks and gave us bye bye baby official (best vault track by a mile) but i still can’t listen to the new YBWM. Red tv massacred every pop track AND lost the raw emotion, so for me not a single song on red tv comes close to the originals. SN doesn’t make any of the songs actively worse (so overall it’s better than red), it’s just missing some of the rawness of the original and the vault tracks are all boring.

Best tracks (ones I would replay on purpose): speak now the song, the story of us (imo both of the songs that she seems to struggle with vocally on the og recordings so the melodies sound cleaner on the tvs)

There’s a really weird clip in the vocals in the original mine at 2:52 (I’ll/never leave you alone) that finally got fixed which scratches my brain. But the rhythm of the chorus sounds off in the re recording, like the emphasis is more on the off beat or something. She says like reMEMber instead of REmemeber. Not a big deal just noticeable to me. Mine is such a good song though like it’s crazy.

Speak now the song is legitimately superior to the original — it was always pitched a little high for her voice and she does the “hold” in the bridge like in the live recording and which I have always loved. (Aka she actually pronounced the H and the word sounds fuller) Always thought she sounded pitchy on the original recording anyway but the tour version is so good, so this is a good middle ground for me.

She sounds bored in some tracks. Like Dear John doesn’t have the same energy. (She’s probably embarrassed to sing “i loved you so” because in retrospect it’s like… yikes. But the og will always win for the intensity)

None of the vault tracks are knockouts and it’s pretty obvious why they were cut, bc like, they’re worse. Fearless tv still wins for best vault track (bye bye baby) and red for overall quality of the vault, this vault was such a let down tbh. Holding onto hope that the debut vault will give us good country taylor back, bc this vault just … didn’t do it for me. Sorry

I miss nathan chapmans backing vocals, no shade to the guy she has doing the tv backing vocals but he was very present on speak now and his absence is notable imo

Production seems more subdued. Like i miss the LOUD guitars on the original dear John. Vocals are more forward in the mix in almost all the songs which sounds cleaner but just not as messy/raw (backing vocals on mean are quieter in the end for example)

“Pathetic” does not hit the same on the new mean.

Idc about the better than revenge lyric change, and especially because it’s about a real person (vs misery business which is just like, a song) (I always say btr was her attempt at her own version of misery business, the problem is that it’s about a real person that was very easy to pin it to) but i wonder if it kind of Streisand effect-s the original song. But overall I think changing it is a net positive, esp bc the original line was so insanely out of pocket for the situation.

That said the vintage dresses line doesn’t sound as sassy. Also “cause you’re so much better” is one of the funniest lines she ever wrote and in tv she just doesn’t sound as mad, which makes sense, but the original will always be funnier because of the anger she uses in her bitchy interpolation of a Jonas brothers song — nothing will ever be so iconic.

Better than revenge -> innocent on the track list is completely insane 13 years on. Like there’s so much venom aimed at a relatively random girl and such a sweet song for … Kanye west. Like huh. Innocent remains a great song though if you can divorce it from the muse.

Why did we have to do haunted like that… turn the echo down HAHA Might be the first time I’ve ever heard the “terribly wrong” line instead of “totally wrong” which I heard wrong since the first time I listened to the song.

We also got the tour vocals on the last “i just know” in haunted call that a WIN.

Last kiss suffers like dear John, just missing the emotion of the original.

Final chorus of long live just doesn’t build the same, but overall the recording is good. But the drums just don’t sound as strong so it doesn’t feel as exciting.

I guess i should’ve expected the vault to be mediocre bc speak now always did have the worst bonus tracks (superman still ranks as one of my least favorite songs… it just never needed to be released in any official capacity)

Overall I feel more positively toward the album itself than I do to red tv, im just disappointed the vault isn’t better. Im not one of those people who is obsessed with let’s go battle (it’s kind of juvenile lyrically but the melody is good) but like why leave that one unreleased if these were the other options lol. Anyway I like foolish one but the rest of the vault is either clunky or boring i said what i said!!

Fearless tv you will always be famous! Speak now tv you win for the best photo shoot and for not having anything as offensively bad as WANEGBT TV.

[canofspooks]

Phantom Goes Cross-Country (Chapter 3)

Chapter Summary: The gang finds themselves in another ghost town… literally. Turns out Amity isn't alone in its problems with the supernatural.

Words: 1550

AO3 Link

Sam woke up not long after Tucker had finally given in to his badgering and gone to sleep. Or, at least pretended to. That left Danny to answer all of Sam's burning questions, like "how far is the nearest rest stop?" and "who taught you to drive?"

He condensed the last several hours into a few minutes pretty easily. It was mostly staring blankly at the road, listening to pop songs on the radio with the occasional interruption of smalltalk.

"We're doing Phantom bullshit… why, exactly?" Sam asked, after he explained his and Tucker's plan.

"'Cause it'll be fun."

"I thought this whole trip was about you quitting the Phantom schtick for a couple weeks."

"- Nope." He didn't wait for the question to fester. "This trip means I don't have to flip burgers for a couple weeks. Phantom is way more fun."

In the rearview mirror, he did not miss Sam's incredulous stare. He waited for her to protest, but she only shrugged. "If you say so. But, if it gets too much, you always have the chance to back out."

"Thanks. Now where do we want to crash for the night- or… morning?"

While he and Sam scoped the area out for a motel, Danny felt a little silly for expecting any culture shock from a single day of driving. They'd crossed state lines and escaped the ectoplasmic mist that surrounded Amity Park, but spooky ghost towns seemed to be a dime a dozen. This one just traded Amity's deceptive suburban charm for trailer homes and boarded-up shops.

If the dozens of stores creatively named things like "Platwoods Automotive" and "Platwoods General" were anything to go by, Danny would hazard a guess that the town was named Platwoods. If he was wrong, then the ghost of the town's founder could fight him in a McDonald's parking lot while they were here. Like any good dying town in the rust belt, it seemed like the only building that had been constructed since the 1800s.

The night, or what remained of it, went about as smoothly as it could've. They got a motel room, realized the lock could be easily broken, came to terms with the idea of being killed in their sleep, and woke up the next morning surprisingly not dead. Not even a full day back on the job, and Team Phantom was already winning.

First stop that morning? Food. The only place open on the quiet Saturday morning was a small diner nearby, which Danny would've almost mistaken for someone's house if not for the "OPEN" sign taped to the window. The inside of the diner was much the same, looking like someone had knocked down the walls of a standard 2-bedroom home and filled it with a few tables and chairs to make the front rooms into a seating area. Despite its small size, the place wasn't particularly cozy. It was partially their fault for wandering in at the crack of dawn when there were no other customers to give the place a warm, welcoming vibe, but Danny wasn't sure the presence of a few more people would've offset the flickering light fixtures and excessive amount of rooster statues and paintings.

Still, Danny was hungry, and no amount of red flags would've stopped him from at least ordering a cup of coffee to keep him going for a few more hours. Tucker and Sam were more adventurous, ordering actual food and forcing him to get something as well. Rosie, the waitress and the only other person they'd seen that morning, seemed to find their nagging amusing.

She came back with a decanter full of coffee, a smile on her face despite the early morning.

"So, what brings you three to Platwoods? I haven't seen your faces around here before," Rosie asked. Danny couldn't place her age if there was a gun to his head. She had that "old, but probably has better knees than you" look that came with people who are always on their feet, so… anywhere from 50 to 100.

He let Sam and Tucker do the talking, busying himself with pouring out coffee for the table. He was too distracted by the chill seeping into his chest to do much else. Bit early in the morning for ghosts, but at least it meant he wouldn't have to wait.

Tucker got that look on his face that he was all too familiar with - time to lay on the Tucker charm. Or, try. "We heard there might be a ghost problem in the area. Do you know anything about that?"

Danny was so used to Tucker's "charisma" being laughable at best, he wasn't expecting actual charm. But against all odds, there it was: the bright smile, the warm voice, the hands placed carefully like any small change would have ruined the entire facade. If he didn't know better, he would've thought Tucker had gone into politics, not cybersecurity.

"I s'pose we do have ghosts, sure. Not that I'd call them a problem." Rosie's cheerful tone wavered a bit. "You're not one of those California kids, are you? Hollerin' around in the dead of night, tryin' to wake the dead-"

"- No ma'am, we're just researching the history-"

"- for our short film," Sam added. "It's about the history and culture of the towns in the area. The ghost stuff is just a small part. Do you know anyone we could interview about their life growing up here?"

"Eddie Scott runs a little museum downtown. Once you get him started, you're gonna have a hard time shuttin' him up. Food should be ready, I'll be right back."

Rosie went into the back through two saloon-style doors. As she left, he finally let out the breath he'd been holding. It came out cold, and visible enough that Tucker and Sam didn't even miss a beat when he muttered under his breath,

"She's possessed."

Tucker relaxed. "Ghost problem indeed."

"So how do we want to handle this?" Sam warmed her hands around her coffee mug. "God, I forgot how cold it gets when you're in the zone."

"Sorry. Not used to doing this with other people around anymore."

He exhaled, pushing all the cold that radiated from his core into his breath. For a brief moment, it looked like he'd just stumbled out of a freezer. Then everything settled, and Danny was pretty confident he had a semi-normal temperature again.

"Better?"

Sam nodded. "Much better."

He looked over to Tucker to find that his friend was giving a nasty look to something over his shoulder. Danny turned and saw in the window a white truck with a familiar marking on the side driving slowly through the street. It was pristine, as expected from the G.I.W., and so out of place among the rusted bumpers and faded paint of the cars parked on the side of the street.

"Danny, quit it," Sam whispered, nudging his foot. It was only then that he realized he was hissing under his breath. Damn it. He'd never been good at separating Fenton from Phantom as a kid. Never got better over time, really. The people of Amity Park just learned to accept the eccentricities of his family, and Danny as just another product of whatever curse had befallen the Fenton bloodline. He got away with a lot: hissing at Dash, forgetting to blink as often as he should, wandering the town in the dead of night. It was all just another quirk that could be brushed off.

Now he'd actually have to try to act normal. He cleared his throat to cut off another fresh bout of hissing. "What the hell are they doing here?"

"You know 'em too?" Rosie appeared suddenly at their table, a tray in hand. Danny nearly jumped out of his skin - literally. That would've been a disaster. She passed out the plates and set the tray on a nearby table, curiosity gleaming in her eyes.

Tucker didn't have the time to ease into a more charismatic facade, his voice cracking about halfway through. "Y-yeah, they came to our hometown… must've been eight years ago? Danny, are they still around?"

"Yep." He didn't bother disguising the bite in his tone.

"Damn, I was hoping you'd know how the hell to get rid of 'em. Folks are gettin' antsy. I figure it's only a matter of time before something bad happens."

"Do you know why they came here in the first place?" Sam asked.

"Some detective went missing, couple weeks ago. Suddenly you can't go nowhere in town without seeing some bigshot in a white suit. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out."

Danny wasn't a fan of the G.I.W., and this ghost could tear them a new one for all he cared, but he really didn't want to watch another town dragged into a turf war between the undead and the federal government.

"While you're in town, I'd steer clear of them if I were you," Rosie muttered under her breath, looking between the window, then at Danny. "They don't like folks like us."

A sleepy town, a missing detective, a ghost problem, and the G.I.W. They might have been hundreds of miles from Amity Park, but it felt just like home.