#eh as the French don’t say c’est la vie

[housederiva]

Lucanis girlies come here for a sec

[bordercollieholland]

Holland tilted his head at the mention of the gardens. He hadn't expected a place like this to have anything resembling beauty, but the thought of fresh air and space to stretch out in made his heart ache with longing. "Un ange," The shifter echoed, the word rolling off his tongue with a mix of wonder and subtle humor. He let out a soft, breathy chuckle, though it was tinged with weariness. "Ça explique l’aura," he murmured, a faint smile tugging at the corners of his lips as he tried to ease the tension. The humor was a thin veil, though, barely masking the discomfort that simmered just beneath the surface of his skin.

His eyes taking in the celestial’s gentle expression, the genuine concern etched in his features. It was disarming, this kindness from a stranger, and Holland found himself struggling to maintain the walls he usually kept so firmly in place over the years. "Oui, je suis plus à l’aise dans une autre forme," Holland finally admitted, his voice low and edged with a vulnerability he rarely allowed himself to show. "La vie n'a pas été tendre avec moi...." He hesitated, glancing away for a moment as if debating how much more to reveal. But there was something in the angel's presence that drew the truth out of him, like a balm for old wounds. "C’est… difficile, parfois. Le corps humain n’est pas toujours… adapté."

He searched the celestial’s face for any trace of judgment but finding only empathy. It made the next words easier to say, though they still came out with a touch of resignation. “I am pretty accustomed to the pain by now,” he admits quietly with a small, resigned smile, as if to say he’s made his peace with it, even if it’s not the easiest path. “J’ai quelques conditions génétiques malheureuses, et eh bien, ça ne peut vraiment pas être aidé. La magie peut réparer beaucoup de choses, mais on m’a dit qu’elle ne fait pas grand-chose pour… eh… la mauvaise génétique. Alors, je suppose que je suis juste coincé avec ça ?” His attempt at a nonchalant shrug was undermined by the strain in his voice, the effort it took to keep the pain at bay. The small smile he offered was more of a reflex than a genuine expression, a habit formed from years of masking his true feelings.

Holland chuckles softly when asked about his language preference. “I don’t have a particular preference,” he says, biting his lip gently in thought. “French comes naturally since it’s the language I was first taught—I’m from France, after all. But I also learned several other languages. The white coats spoke all sorts of languages, especially the vampires. Eh… I also understand some sign languages and hand gesture commands.” There was a wistfulness in his tone, a fleeting glimpse of a past that felt worlds away from the reality he now faced. "And no, I’m surprisingly not a rat or a mouse, if that was on your mind." He paused, the weight of the conversation settling over him, and then added in a softer, more sincere tone, “You are very kind...” His eyes, usually full of playful mischief, now reflect a deep appreciation. "My name is Holland. At least, that is the name they gave me."

For a moment, Adrasia worried he might have to repeat himself again, perhaps in another language -- had his French gone bad from lack of use? Or was it an instance of his knowledge of the language being out of date again? Then the young stranger spoke, shaky as it was, and Adrasia was immediately relieved, giving him a little nod. "The gardens throughout the castle," He explained, "They are... quite lovely, even here." The celestial could accuse Krovs of many things, but aesthetic ugliness he had to admit, was not one of them. "Fresh air, room to stretch your legs..." His wings, if he had been allowed them. Adrasia gave the new slave a sheepish smile, clasping his hand firmly as he helped him to his feet, "I will admit it is the favorite part of my day."

That sudden spasm in the other's grip didn't go unnoticed, certainly not by one who had spent years walking both the front lines of battlefields and the crowded tents of field hospitals. Adrasia could not quite sense his companion's pain the way he once would, but he could see it in his wince, feel it in the tight clench of his fingers. His eyes narrowed slightly in concern; the hunters were often unkind during transit, but he had thought they would at least have bothered to heal up the evidence of their mishandling before setting a slave loose to be rented. Some of what the younger said illuminated a bit for Adrasia though, the talk of forms immediately recalling his conversation with Hector and the shifter's aches and pains from trying to force a hare's movements on a human body.

"You are more accustomed to a different form?" Adrasia guessed gently, allowing for the other to divulge as little or as much as he wished, "Are you hurting?" Without the other man even needing to reply, his rushed query all but answered Adrasia's own and he had to suppress a surprised laugh, remembering again Hector's wild stare and the way he'd scented the celestial when first they met. "Je ne suis rien de tout cela, tu as raison," He wound his fingers together, still feeling somewhat strange to confess it still after all this time, though his species was hardly a secret when the masters and guards discussed them all so openly, "Il y a beaucoup de noms. Certains m'appelleraient un ange." It had been almost two centuries since Adrasia had used this language, but it crept back to him, his tongue again finding the shapes of its unique sound, "Tu préfères parler de cette façon?"

[n00dl3gal]

Like Old Times (Father-Son Bonding AU)

A direct sequel to the “Expiration Date” fic, which I’ll link in a reblog. I’ve also posted all my fics in this AU to AO3!! Thanks again to @thetriggeredhappy for their help and just generally being a cool dude, and the Scoutsune Discord server for indulging my brainrot

No warnings beyond family schmoop!

Less than an hour after the bread monster incident, the Administrator called for a ceasefire. “Only while your base is repaired,” she said over the TV screen. “BLU is quite disappointed in this negligence- as am I. Regardless, you may use these three days as you see fit. Go home, stay here- whatever you do, no more bread monsters.” The screen turned off with a click. 

Scout exhaled through his nose. He was thankful there was no mention of him or Miss Pauling’s woodchipper. 

Spy decloaked behind him. “Less time than I wanted, but c’est la vie.” Scout looked at him over his shoulder. “I’m meeting with an old contact during our break,” Spy said in Italian. “Would you like to come along? It’ll be like old times.” 

Scout’s brow furrowed, but he nodded. At least this way, he’d get out of helping Engie and Heavy with repairs. And possibly meeting Miss Pauling’s woodchipper. 

“Excellent. Our flight is at 7 AM tomorrow.” 

“We’re flying commercial?” Scout asked, also in (more hesitant) Italian. 

“Our destination is continental. We’ll leave the base by 5:30.” Scout groaned as Spy started to leave. But- wait, he hadn’t- 

“Oi, where are we going, anyway?” he called back in English. 

Spy paused to look at him and smile. “Boston.” 

“Why do we always get the ass-crack-of-dawn flights?” Jeremy asked groggily, reclining his seat.

“They are the ones with first-class seats available,” Raphael replied. He took a sip from his mimosa. 

“Yeah, cuz God forbid you fly coach for once.” Jeremy shifted, trying to get comfortable. “Hey. Have I ever been to Boston before?”

Raphael didn’t answer immediately. His lip sucked in, as if in thought. “Yes. When you were very, very young. You wouldn’t remember.” 

Jeremy nodded. He wanted to ask more, there was something Raphael wasn’t saying but… well, he was never a morning person. He fell asleep before the plane even took off. 

. . .

It was mid-afternoon by the time they landed in Boston. Jeremy was never fond of long flights; having his legs cramped like that for extended periods of time was murder. He was half tempted to take a jog around Logan International. Raphael, on the other hand, was ushering them both to the car rental. “Can’t even get a stretch in, huh?”

“Unfortunately, we are expected by 4, and I would hate to keep my contact waiting,” Raphael explained in French, accepting the keys from the girl at the counter. “She’s not a very patient woman, in some regards.” 

Jeremy huffed but didn’t argue. He just followed his father to the rental, tossing his suitcase in the backseat. “Y’know, the girl at the counter-” 

“We will not have time for you to go out on a date, Jeremy.” 

“No! No, it was- her accent’s kinda like mine, it’s weird,” Jeremy said. Raphael started the car. “Cuz I’ve only been here as a baby, and I got mine from TV and shit. It’s just… really strange, is all.” 

Raphael made a quiet noise of agreement. “Some of the shows you watched as a child were filmed here. It’s not as complex as you think it is.” 

“Yeah, probably not…” 

The pair lapsed into silence as Raphael drove. Storefronts and high rises morphed into houses. It had been a while since they were in a residential area. RED, for understandable reasons, kept away from civilians. 

Raphael took the roads with practiced experience. Sure, it had been implied he knew the area. If he had a contact here- one with a house, presumably- he must’ve spent time here. But this- this was far too familiar. A bit suspicious, actually. 

Eventually, Raphael slowed in front of a more rundown Brownstone. Still quite nice, just needed a little work. It felt… welcoming, in a way Jeremy couldn’t name.

“Lotta cars,” he observed as Raphael parallel parked. “Must be a party going on somewhere.” 

“Hmm, perhaps,” Raphael said, turning the car off. “Would you mind ringing the doorbell for me? I need to grab something from the trunk. Ask for Sara Jane.” 

OK, now Jeremy knew something was up. He was never the one to make the first contact, that was always Dad’s job. Jeremy might be a full-grown adult, but there were some things that didn’t change. This was one of them. 

Still, he nodded. He climbed up the front steps and ringed the doorbell. He heard- multiple voices from inside, predominantly male, but they quickly silenced themselves. A TV, perhaps? They really ought to get that flower box on the second story window fixed- 

The woman who opened the door was a bit shorter than him, though not by much. She was wearing a simple dress, hoop earrings, and flats. Her hair was dark, curved to her chin. But her nose and earlobes felt… achingly familiar. Like Jeremy saw them all the time. 

“Um, hi, I’m looking for Sara Jane? My name’s-” The rest of his speech was knocked out of him as the woman launched herself at him. Jeremy braced for an attack, but quickly realized she was… hugging him. 

She was hugging him, sobbing, and choked out the word “Jeremy.” 

Wait. He knew that voice. He had only heard it a few times in his life, few enough he could count them on one hand, but he knew it. “M-Ma?” he whispered. 

The woman- Sara Jane- Ma looked up at him, still crying. Her hands found his face as she observed him. “Y-yeah, sweetie, it’s me, it’s-it’s your ma,” she said. 

“Ma!” he laughed, tears of his own dancing down his cheeks. He hugged her back, practically lifting her off her feet. “Oh my God, Ma! I-I never thought I’d-” 

“Oh Jeremy, sweetie, look how tall you’ve gotten! Last I saw you, you fit in my arms! My baby, my handsome baby,” she spoke over him. She rubbed circles into his back as they embraced. It felt so, so right. 

Jeremy laughed even harder. “Are you kiddin’? I got it from you, you’re beautiful, Ma!” He stared at her, trying to commit every mole and wrinkle and perfect flaw to memory. “I can’t believe- oh my God, I’m actually meeting you!” 

“It was long overdue,” another voice said, as Raphael joined them on the front stoop. “I had put it off for safety reasons, but considering our current, ah, situation… I felt it was worth the risk.” 

Sara Jane squealed, pulling Raphael into the hug as well. “You’ve been taking good care of my boy, you promise me, Raphael?” 

“Don’t worry Ma, he’s the best dad I could ask for, considering,” Jeremy teased. 

“Oh, don’t I know it. Called me up last night and told me to get the whole motley crew together. Even managed to get Melvin to bring his twin daughters, bless his wife’s heart,” she explained. 

Jeremy blinked. “Uh- Melvin? Daughters?”

Sara Jane laughed. It sounded so much like Jeremy’s it practically hurt. This was his mother. Lord, he’s finally seeing her. “Melvin’s your older brother, sweetie. Eh, sixth oldest. Bobby’s the oldest.” 

“I have a brother?”

“Oh honey, you’re the youngest of eight,” Sara Jane said plainly. 

“...fuck,” Jeremy whispered. 

. . .

He didn’t just have seven brothers. He had seven brothers, four of which brought their wives, one who brought his boyfriend, and three who brought their kids. And the kids totaled to an additional six, counting the babies. 

It was… an admittedly tight squeeze in the living room. 

Sara Jane introduced Jeremy. Jeremy had been expecting to be treated like a stranger. He had vanished when he was a baby, after all, and his younger-older brothers probably wouldn’t remember him at all. 

And yet, it was like he knew them all his life. 

They teased him and punched him playfully and acted so friendly, so familial it nearly made Jeremy break down. He was still crying from meeting Ma, but being dogpiled with so much affection was suffocating. In a good way. He had seen on sitcoms the intrinsic bond between family, and while he felt it with Dad, they also risked their lives nearly daily. But it was real, it was here, and it was wrapping him in a warm blanket. 

Despite the chaos and the sheer number of people, Jeremy didn’t feel overwhelmed. He laughed and played along with their jokes, cracking some back when he could get a word in. Scott ragged on his dog tags, he countered by pointing out the hole in his pants. Michael told him he was still a shortass, he replied with “it takes one to know one.” Elliot and Ricky were the closest to actually getting hurt, and that was only because Jeremy elbowed them both so hard they nearly fell over. 

For the first time in 25 years, Jeremy understood what “home” meant. 

The kids were especially curious, eager to meet their uncle and step-grandfather. Within seconds, young Rebecca- only four years old- was challenging Jeremy to a race around the house. “I’m the fastest kid in the world,” she bragged, puffing out her chest. 

“Oh yeah?” Jeremy asked. “That a fact?”

“You wanna test me? I beat Johnny Three-Legs at running, and he’s got three legs!” Jeremy laughed and stood from the couch, letting her lead him outside. “On the count of three, OK?”

“You’re on, pipsqueak,” Jeremy teased.

“Onetwothree GO!” Rebecca yelled, taking off in a sprint. Jeremy knew that, by all accounts, he should beat her. His legs were longer, she didn’t have the proper running stance, and it was his job to be fast. That’s what he got paid to do. But some small voice was telling him to let her win, so he did. “Ha! I told ya!” 

“Ya sure did,” he replied, mock panting. “Look at you, a freaking blur on the green. You’re goin’ to the Olympics, kid.” 

Rebecca beamed and hugged his leg. “Promise, Uncle Jeremy?” He nodded because, after that display, there was no way he could speak without squeaking like a chew toy. 

Rebecca skipped back inside, past Raphael, who was watching on the stoop. “You’re a natural with children,” he observed. “I used to do the same thing when you were that age.” 

“Wait- wait, really? You sure fooled me,” Jeremy said. 

Raphael rolled his eyes. “What’s my job again, mon lapin?”

“Yeah, yeah…” Jeremy leaned against the railing, watching Raphael’s cigarette smoke in the wind. “Hey. Uh… thanks for arranging all of this. You really didn’t need to.”

“But I did. I meant it when I said this was overdue. I’ve been wanting to introduce you to the rest of the family for a while, but have been unable. Then that whole ordeal with the supposed tumors, and-” Raphael exhaled slowly. “It wouldn’t have been fair to you if you died without knowing them. I would’ve never forgiven myself.” 

Jeremy punched his shoulder lightly. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, pops. It all worked out, we’re still kicking, and that roast chicken Ma’s making smells incredible. Everything’s perfect.” 

Raphael finished his cigarette and smiled. “Oui. It is.” 

. . .

While Sara Jane had been able to get the rest of the family here, it was a school night. Kids needed to be tucked in by 9:30, so most of Jeremy’s brothers were gone by 8. Elliot was staying overnight, as was his boyfriend. Otherwise, the house quickly went from bustling to barren. 

It gave Jeremy a chance to explore his would-be childhood home.

He made his way upstairs, pushing open one of the doors. It led- to little surprise- to a bedroom. It was set up like a nursery, with a crib in one corner and a toddler bed in the other. Toys were scattered about across the floor. 

He heard Sara Jane sigh behind him. “This was your room, you know.” Jeremy turned to look at her as she flipped the light switch. “That crib… I had put you to bed the night your father planned to fake his death. I was in on the whole plan, naturally. He wanted to hold you one last time, so I said OK. When I woke up the next morning… you were both gone.” She exhaled slowly, grabbing onto his shoulder. “I wrote both of you off as dead, but I knew what had happened. Honestly, should’ve figured it out before then. You hadn’t woken me up crying,” she joked. Her eyes were watering. 

Jeremy hugged her, pulling her close. “You never took the crib down?” 

“By the time I was ready, Bobby’s wife was pregnant, so I kept it up for my grandbabies. I knew- I knew you were out there, sweetie. Both of you.” She kissed his cheek, squeezing him.

“I-I never got to be a normal kid, really,” he confessed. “I mean, Dad did his best, gave me comic books and board games and stuff, but-but I never went to school or made friends or anything like that. I-I didn’t even know I had a family. It took me forever to even realize I had a Ma. An-and everything I did-” The tears were flowing again, more freely than earlier. “Ya missed me losing my first tooth, and potty trainin’, and all that stuff parents should know about. I-I’m sorry,” he whispered. 

Sara Jane wiped his cheek dry. “Don’t apologize for what your father did, Jeremy. And definitely don’t apologize for me not potty training another kid. Besides… hold on, I’ll be right back.” She made her way down the hallway. Jeremy didn’t follow, instead deciding to examine the crib. This was where he grew up. It was a simple crib, obviously well-used. Not worn-down, mind, just… used. It had a history. A history that Jeremy wanted to decode, but unlike his dad’s ciphers, he didn’t have the key. 

“Took me a second to find it,” Sara Jane said. She handed him what appeared to be a scrapbook. “Raphael- he wrote when he can. Taught me some basic codes, would send out letters whenever you’d leave a town. Never left a return address, but…” Jeremy flipped through the pages, moving to sit on the small bed. The letters were all coded but appeared to be about how much Raphael missed Sara Jane. Updates on Jeremy’s growth. Letters from a father to his lover and son’s mother. 

One page jumped out to him, though. “I remember this,” he said, running his fingers against the paper. It was a simple drawing of a young boy, holding a catcher’s mitt, and a taller man next to him. “I drew this after Dad took me to my first baseball game, for my eighth birthday. I thought I lost the drawing after we skipped town, but- he sent them to you?”

Sara Jane nodded. “And I kept them all. Oh, honey, the day I first heard your voice on the phone- Mikey can tell you, I damn near fell over. You sounded so happy, and even if I couldn’t see you, that’s all a mother wants.” Jeremy leaned against her and she shut the book. “That’s all a mother wants, sweetie. To see her kids be safe and happy.” 

“I am, Ma,” he assured her. “I promise.” 

They sat like that for a while, with Sara Jane commenting on various letters and drawings in the scrapbook. Apparently, Raphael sent her money when he could- more frequently now that Mann Co. paid so well. She also had a rough idea of their current occupations. “I figure, if you and your father are working for the same company- with his skills, there’s gotta be a whole lot of nonsense going on out in that desert.” Jeremy laughed at that because she wasn’t wrong. “But I also figure since he raised you right, he’ll keep the both of you safe.” 

“I keep him safe too, don’t worry,” Jeremy added. “Uh- listen, it’s touching and all you kept the crib, but I don’t have to sleep in it, right?” 

They both had a good chuckle over that. Their laughs were in perfect harmony. 

. . .

The next two days were a mix of learning the family history and exploring Boston. It was the offseason, so there weren’t any games going on at Fenway, but Jeremy still got a picture in front of the park. Sara Jane took the pair to a restaurant that served “the best damn clam chowder in the contiguous United States.” Which, incidentally, led them to discover Jeremy was allergic to clams. Thankfully they didn’t have to go to the hospital- he just sort of immediately got sick before it passed- but it did suck.

It was damn good chowder, though. 

They went down to the harbor where the Boston Tea Party happened. It was crowded with people, resulting in them not staying long. Jeremy was a bit better with crowds than Raphael, but neither was great with them. Came with the job. Getting overpriced memorabilia from a nearby gift shop, though, went over much more smoothly. 

When not out on the town, Sara Jane dug out more scrapbooks and photo albums, catching Raphael up on what his stepsons had been up to. She showed Jeremy pictures from Ricky’s first school play to Scott opening up his butcher shop. Graduation pictures, wedding pictures, baby pictures- it was all there, and Jeremy devoured it. He wanted to know these people. He wanted to know his family. And he did. He learned about Michael’s stint in the Navy, Melvin meeting his wife, how Bobby’s son could dribble a basketball for twenty minutes straight. He learned about how his parents met. How Raphael loved each of Sara Jane’s children, even if they weren’t biologically his. How Jeremy wasn’t planned- few of the kids were - but they were both so, so happy to realize he was coming. 

He also learned that, while diner food would remain the undisputed king, homemade meatloaf came pretty close. 

. . .

The only problem came when it was time to leave. It wasn’t that Jeremy didn’t want to return to work, or leave his Ma behind. Sara Jane wasn’t even torn up over losing her son and lover again. It just felt like there was so much left to say, to do. There was uncertainty as to when they’d be able to return. “We get time off for Smissmas, I know that’s months away but I’ll be here, I promise,” Jeremy swore, hugging Sara Jane for the eighth time. 

“You better,” she said, squeezing him tightly. “You have 25 years worth of gifts to catch up on, not to mention birthday gifts-”

“Ma, you don’t have to go that far,” he whined. He was touched, sure, but the thought of that much luggage was truly frightening. Oh God, he was going to have to get gifts for everybody, wasn’t he? What do kids even want for Smissmas? 

“Hush, let me spoil my baby,” Sara Jane told him, kissing his cheek. “Oh, Jeremy…” 

Jeremy nodded. “I know, but I’ll call. I’ll write, too. Send pictures if I can.” 

“I’ll make sure he does,” Raphael assured her. Sara Jane stood to kiss his lips, with Jeremy looking away pointedly. “You have my word, ma petite chou-fleur.” 

“Alright, alright- now get going, I don’t want you two missing your flight. That boss of yours sounds like she’ll tear you both a new one if you’re late,” Sara Jane said, shooing them away. “Love you boys!” 

“I love you too, Ma!” Jeremy shouted back, for the very first time. 

The drive back to the airport was quiet. Jeremy stared out the window, watching his hometown- he had a hometown- pass by. “Hey, dad?” he asked, still looking outside. Raphael grunted to acknowledge he was listening. “One of these days, our contracts with Mann Co. are gonna expire. We’re gonna have to find new jobs.” 

“Yes, that’s correct,” Raphael said. He tapped a rhythm against the steering wheel. 

“And-and I was thinking when that time comes… maybe we could come back to Boston. Find some gigs out here,” Jeremy suggested. 

Raphael sighed. “Unfortunately, being a spy means that you don’t have the option of retiring, Jeremy. Not until you’re unable to complete your job. At that point, though, you’ve probably died a dozen times over,” he explained. “Even if I could retire, settling down somewhere so close to people I care about- I would still have enemies.” 

“Right. ‘Course,” Jeremy said. “It’s OK.” 

“That being said,” Raphael continued, “you have the luxury of youth and not being tied down to such a career. If you want to find a job in Boston after we finish with RED, there’s nothing stopping you.” 

“But people will still be after me, since I’m your son. And you wouldn’t be around.”

“Every child leaves their parents someday. And you’re strong, Jeremy. You can protect yourself and your family.” Raphael smiled. “I don’t believe Sara Jane needs much protecting, but I do worry.” 

Jeremy laughed. “I mean, did ya see the muscles on Scott and Michael? Guys can probably bench press a tractor!” 

They both chuckled before settling into quietude. Eventually, though, Jeremy had to break the silence. His voice was barely above a whisper. “I love you.” 

“I love you too, mon lapin.”

“...so your nickname for Ma is fucking ‘little cauliflower?’ What the hell, Dad?” 

[hinatsu23]

List of songs from PotO 1990

I have just watched the PotO TV miniseries adaptation of 1990 !

It was very lovely and I really liked all the traditional french songs incorporated inside !! (also cherik ahah)

Sadly the songs are quite hard to find back or even to identify,, So I decided to try to regroup them and type them if possible in that post so maybe it can help some people fr some phan creations or even just sing them along the movie huhu ~ (also that way i can escape the stress of my oral in few hours,,)

Moreover, while I searched for the songs, I noticed the movie tended to modify/altern the lyrics most of the time, so I wrote the one sung in the movie by preference and the original is quoted so you can search for the original lyrics by yourself.

Sadly as I’m only French, I tried my best for the Italian operas’ ones but it’s very difficult for me to tell if some lyrics were added/removed bc of sound quality so sorry for the mistakes ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

There's a song or two sadly i couldn't identify so if you have any clues about them let me know ! ✨ (also very sorry on word its very clean but on tumblr somethings went berserk and the look isn’t changeable im so sorry it looks sometimes yurk like ;;)

Finally if you want english translation for the French songs I can provide some just ask me even tho it won't be perfect as English isn’t my native language tho (for Italians ones well too bad I don’t speak it but they’re easy to find online!)

(The songs are in order of apparition)

  Song of Christine Daaé in the Attic w/ all the objects (inspired by "Auprès de ma Blonde")

“Elles viennent de chez mon père

Les lauriers sont fleuris

Tous les oiseaux du monde

S'en vont y faire leurs nids

Auprès de ma blonde

Qu'il fait bon, bon bon, bon bon

Di lala di li, La lilili la

Elle chante pour les filles

Qui n'ont point de mari

Ne chante pas pour moi

Car j'en ai un joli

Auprès de ma blonde

Qu'il fait bon, Lala ladi

Auprès de ma blonde,

La da dilili hon hon hon

Auprès de ma blonde

Qu'il fait bon dormir !”

 Song of Christine Daaé wondering around the theater - first time Cherik sees her (Inspired by Laissez-moi planter le mai, only few lyrics)

“ -does some Aah/Lala/Dululu-

En riant, tout en riant

Laissez-moi- (dululu ..)

Moi qui suis gentil galant

Bergère il faut aimer

En riant, tout en riant

Laissez-moi planter le mai

Moi qui suis gentil galant ”

 Faust by Charles Goudot : Act I - End of 1st scene, start of 2nd  - Rehearsal of Faust (Récitatif & Duo)

“ (Faust)

Maudite sois-tu, patience!

A moi, Satan! à moi!

 (Méphistopheles)

Me voici ! – D'où vient ta surprise ?

Ne suis-je pas mis à ta guise ?

L'épée au côté, la plume au chapeau,

L'escarcelle pleine, un riche manteau

Sur l'épaule ; – en somme

Un vrai gentilhomme!

("A moi!" echoing a bit until the scene is over)”

  Norma by Vincenzo Bellini : Sediziose voci di guerra – 1rst Carlotta disaster (Italian)

“ (Norma)

Sediziose voci, voci di guerra

Avvi chi alzarsi attenta

Presso all'ara del Dio?

V'ha chi presume

Dettar responsi alla veggente

Norma, E di Roma affrettar il fato arcano?

Ei non dipende, no, non dipende

Da potere umano.”

 Sonnambula by Vincenzo Bellini – Lesson w/ Cherik (Italian) I have heard it was this song but I really don’t know which one is it from the opera sorry

 La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi : Libiamo nè lieti calici (Brindisi) – 2nd Carlotta’s disaster (Italian)

“(Alfredo)

Che suscita l'amore, Poiché quell'occhio al core Onnipotente va. Libiamo, amore, amor fra i calici Più caldi baci avrà. (Everyone) Libiamo, amor fra i calici Più caldi baci avrà. (Violetta) Tra voi, tra voi, saprò dividere Il tempo mio giocondo; Tutto è follia, follia nel mondo Ciò che non è piacer. Godiam, fugace e rapido È il gaudio dell'amore; È un fior che nasce e muore, Né più si può goder. Godiam c'invita, c’invita un fervido Accento lusinghier. (Everyone) Godiam la tazza, la tazza e il cantico La notte abbella e il riso; In questo paradiso Ne scopra il nuovo dì. ”

 Le Fiacre by Jean Sablon – First song sang in the bistrot by a woman

“ Un fiacre allait, trottinant, Cahin, caha, Hu, dia, hop là ! Un fiacre allait, trottinant, Jaune, avec un cocher blanc.

Derrièr' les stores baissés, Cahin, caha, Hu, dia, hop là ! Derrièr' les stores baissés On entendait des bai-baisers.

Puis un' voix disant : " Léon ! Cahin, caha, Hu, dia, hop là ! Puis un' voix disant : " Léon ! Pour ... causer, ôt' ton lorgnon !"

Un vieux monsieur qui passait, Cahin, caha, Hu, dia, hop là ! ”

 (There’s a song while Philippe is talking but I have no clue what it could be)

Also there’s another song right after Cherik saying “I’ve never seen such perfection” I have nooooo idea what it could be but I was able to catch some lyrics (only the start bc the rest is inaudible w/ the charas voices on top of it)

“ Et que le diable emporte

Si je n’ai jamais su comment !

(S’il n’a jamais su comment !)

La deuxième et la première

Ainsi que la quatrième,

Elles pleurent

(Elles pleurent)

Je les pleure également !

Au-delà de la septième plaie(?)”

 And then I don’t hear anything oops

 Chevaliers de la Table Ronde – Last song before the Epic Opera Battle (I could catch only a line and the final one bc voices again but it seems that before the final line, the lyrics aren’t the same as what’s written online)

“(Man)

Allons soyons humble,

Chacun et portais-je

Ma vie prendre mes deux poussières ( ?? it makes no sense but i hear half of what theyre saying)

 (…)

  Sur ma tombe, je veux qu’on inscrive

« Ici-gît le roi des buveurs »

 (Everyone)

Sur ma tombe, je veux qu’on inscrive

« Ici-gît le roi des buveurs »

 (Man)

« Ici-gît ! »

 (Everyone)

« Ici-gît ! »

 (Man)

« Ici-gît ! »

 (Everyone)

Dans la tombe !

 (Man)

« Ici-gît le roi des buveurs 

Ici-gît ! »

 (Everyone)

« Ici-gît ! »

 (Man)

« Ici-gît ! »

 (Everyone)

Dans la tombe !

 (Man)

« Ici-gît le roi des buveurs »

 La fille du régiment by Gaetano Donizetti : Par le rang et l’opulence… Salut à la France – Christine vs Carlotta song

“Sous les bijoux et la dentelle, ah je cache un chagrin sans espoir

Sans espoir, sans espoir, sans espoir, sans espoir… A quoi me sert d'être si belle,

Lui seul, il ne doit pas me voir. (Carlotta then Christine)

Lui seul, il ne doit pas me voir.

Oh toi qui je fis ravir, Dont j’ai partagé le destin… Je donnerais toute ma vie

Pour pouvoir vous serrer la main ! Je donnerais

Je donnerais toute ma vie

Pour pouvoir vous serrer la main !

(Carlotta leaves)

Je donnerais toute ma vie

Ah, pour pouvoir vous serrer la…

Pour pouvoir vous serrer

La main…”

 Laissez-moi planter le mai – Flashback of Christine and Philippe’s childhood

“Hier matin je m’y levais

Laissez-moi planter le mai

Vers le bois je m’en allais

En riant, tout en riant

Laissez-moi planter le mai

Moi qui suis gentil galant

Hier matin.. ”

 Faust by Charles Gounod : Act II Scene 5 (Ainsi que la brise légère) – Christine’s disaster

“(Everyone) Ainsi que la brise légère Soulève en épais tourbillons La poussière de les sillons,

La poussière de les sillons, Que la valse nous entraîne ! Faites retentir la plaine                                                                                    De l'éclat de vos chansons ! De l'éclat de vos chansons !

(Faust) La voici ! ... C'est elle ! ...

(Méphistophélès) Eh bien, aborde-la !

(Siebel) Marguerite !

(Méphistophélès) Plaît-il ?

(Siebel) Maudit homme ! encor là ! ...

(Méphistophélès) Eh quoi, mon ami ! vous voilà ! ... Ah ah ! Vraiment ! mon ami ! vous voilà !

(Faust) Ne permettrez-vous pas, ma belle demoiselle, Qu'on vous offre le bras pour faire le chemin ?

(Marguerite) Non, monsieur ! je ne suis demoiselle, ni belle- !”

 Faust by Charles Gounod : Act V scenes – Final song w/ Cherik interfering (Mix of several scenes)

“ (Act I Scene 2)

(Méphistophélès)

Je puis contenter ton caprice.

Je puis contenter ton caprice.

 (Faust)

Et que te donnerai-je en retour ?

(Méphistophélès) Presque rien ! Presque rien ! Ici, je suis à ton service, Mais là-bas, tu seras au mien !

(Faust) Là-bas ? ...

(Méphistophélès) Là-bas... Allons, signe ! Eh quoi ! ta main tremble ! Que faut-il pour te décider ? La jeunesse t'appelle ; ose la regarder !

(From Act I Scene 2 to Act III Scene 4)

(Marguerite)

Ah ! je ris de me voir, Si belle en ce miroir ! Est-ce toi, Marguerite ? Est-ce toi ?                                                                                                       Réponds-moi, réponds, réponds, réponds vite ! Non ! non ! – ce n'est plus toi ! Non ! non ! – ce n'est plus ton visage ! C'est la fille d'un roi, C'est la fille d'un roi,                                                                                         C'est la fille d'un roi,                                                                                         Qu'on salue au passage ! – Ah, s'il était ici ! ... S'il me voyait ainsi ! Comme une demoiselle, Il me trouverait belle.

Comme une demoiselle, Il me trouverait belle.

Comme une demoiselle, Il me trouverait belle. Achevons la métamorphose ! Il me tarde encor d'essayer Le bracelet et le collier ! Dieu ! c'est comme une main qui sur mon bras se pose !

Ah, ce n'est plus ton visage, Non ! c'est la fille d'un roi, Qu'on salue au passage.

(From Act III Scene 3 to Act V Scene 4)

(Méphistophélès)

(Le geôlier) dort, – voici les clefs, il faut Que ta main d'homme la délivre !

(Faust) Laissez-nous !

(Méphistophélès) Hâte-toi ! – Moi, je veille au dehors !

(From Act V Scene 4 to 5)

(Faust) Mon cœur est pénétré d'épouvante !

O torture ! O source de regrets et d'éternels remords ! C'est elle ! La voici, la douce créature, Marguerite ! Marguerite !

 (Marguerite) Ah c'est la voix du bien aimé ! A son amour mon cœur s'est ranimé.

(Faust) Marguerite !

(Marguerite) Au milieu de vos éclats de rire, Démons qui m'entourez, j'ai reconnu sa voix !

(Faust) Marguerite !

(Marguerite) Sa main, sa douce main m'attire ! Je suis libre, il est là, je suis libre,

Il est là, je l'entends, je le vois !

Oui, c'est toi ! je t'aime ! Oui, c'est toi ! je t'aime ! Les fers, la mort même Ne me font plus peur, Tu m'as retrouvée, Tu m'as retrouvée,

Me voilà sauvée ! C'est toi bien, je suis sûre !

(Faust) Cherik

Oui, c'est moi, je t'aime !

Oui, c'est moi, je t'aime ! Malgré l'effort même Du démon moqueur, Je t'ai retrouvée !

Je t'ai retrouvée ! Te voilà sauvée

Te voilà sauvée

C’est moi, Viens, viens sur mon cœur !

(From Act V Scene 5 to 6)

(Méphistophélès)

Alerte ! alerte ! ou vous êtes perdus ! Si vous tardez encor je ne m'en mêle plus !

(Marguerite) Mon Dieu, protégez-moi !

(Faust) Both Viens !

(Marguerite) Mon Dieu, je vous implore !

(Faust) Both Fuyons ! Peut-être il en est temps encore !

(Marguerite)

Anges pure, anges radieux, Portez mon âme au sein des cieux ! Dieu juste, à toi je m’abandonne ! Dieu bon, je suis à toi, pardonne !

Anges pure, anges radieux, Portez mon âme au sein des cieux !

(Faust) Cherik

Viens, suis-moi, je le veux !

(Marguerite)

Anges pure, anges radieux, Portez mon âme au sein des cieux !

 (Méphistophélès)

Hâtons-nous !

(Marguerite)

Dieu juste, à toi je m’abandonne !

(Faust) Both but Cherik is clearly dominant

Viens, suis-moi !

(Marguerite)

Dieu juste, à toi je m’abandonne !

(Faust) ^^^

Viens, suis-moi, suis-moi !

(Marguerite)

Dieu bon, je suis à toi, pardonne !

(Faust) ^^^

Viens, je le veux !

*(Marguerite) Anges pure, anges radieux,

(Faust) ^^^

Viens, viens, quittons ces lieux !

(Marguerite) Portez mon âme au sein des cieux !

(Faust) ^^^

Déjà le jour envahit les cieux !

(Marguerite)

Anges pure, anges radieux, Portez mon âme au sein des cieux !*

*(Marguerite)

Dieu juste, à toi je m’abandonne !

(Faust)

Viens ! Viens !

Viens, c’est moi, c’est moi qui te l’ordonne !

(Marguerite) Dieu bon, je suis à toi, pardonne !

Anges pure, anges radieux,

(Faust)

Viens, viens, quittons ces lieux !

(Marguerite)

Portez mon âme au sein le ciel !

(Faust) Both but clearly Cherik at the end

Déjà le jour envahit les cieux !* ”

(* = They sing it almost at same time so I tried to write it in the order they sing it but yeah as well a nightmare to follow as to type it down while listening to their wonderful voices at least ten times)

I hope it will be helpful or will serve anybody !

[septic-dr-schneep]

sooo maybe some good ol angst with chase and the hs au please? like maybe if one of the other egos found him in the middle of a depressive episode or something?

“Chase?” It was Jackie’s voice. For a brief moment he wondered how his friend had gotten in before brushing it away. He didn’t care. “JJ said he didn’t see you in class. Marvin’s been texting you. Why weren’t you at school?”

“Guess I overslept,” he mumbled without lifting his head from his pillow. Jackie loomed in his field of vision regardless, looking skeptical.

“You overslept the entire day?”

“Well, Mom and Dad weren’t here to lovingly wake me up by screaming at me and my alarm decided to drop dead this morning. C’est la vie.” He snorted derisively. “See? I still know French after one skipped day. Do I get an A+?”

“You don’t have to get all snippy, I was just asking.” When Chase didn’t answer, Jackie shuffled to sit on the edge of the bed. “Have you eaten anything?”

“Eh.”

“You can’t say ‘eh’ to a yes-or-no question.” Another silence. Stuffing a hand into his hoodie pocket, Jackie pulled out a slightly mashed cereal bar. “Here. It’s apple. Are you hungry?”

Chase accepted, considered for a second or two and then tossed it at the nightstand. He wasn’t. He wasn’t...anything.

[ngame989]

“Été” - TGG SVTFOE Fanfic Collection Ch. 2

Writing: @ngame989​​

Art: @toxicpsychox​​ (make sure to follow him for bonus pics from the story!)

Editing: @bmc-nightfury​​, @seddm​​

Alternate fic links - FFnet, AO3

Summary: Summer is ending soon, and with the end of summer comes change, leaving Jackie Lynn Thomas feeling left behind. Can a certain pair of friends help her figure it out?

Comic Page

Masterpost

See below for the text, hope you enjoy!

“‘Mewni Welcome Soiree’, huh? The Echo Creek I know could never be this fancy, the fusion must already be rubbing off on it. It’s still no Paris, but c’est la vie.” Jackie grinned as her fingers traced the flier, one of many stapled haphazardly over the park, if not the whole town itself. All sorts of events and musical guests were outlined in shiny bold letters and pictures to get the message across as clearly as possible. The sweet laughter behind her was its own kind of music to Jackie’s ears.

Chlóe hopped over the back of the bench they had been sitting on to join her girlfriend’s perusal. “Surely it can’t be that bad?” she cautiously inquired, the French accent making itself especially pronounced when her voice lilted higher. “I’ve had a wonderful time in your city! And even if I don’t count you as part of that, it’s still been pretty fun.” Chlóe leaned into her as the two exchanged cheeky grins before Chlóe picked one of the fliers off the wall of the pavilion for herself. “Don’t be so down, there are some interesting-looking things here. Where else would I get to see The World’s Fattest Opossum on display?”

“Touché. It might be cool. What else have you got for us, Echo Creek?" The girls looked over their fliers, trying to find anything to peak their interest. Chlóe spotted a peculiar name under the "Bands" list.

"Looks like there's a concert, too. Mysterious Sonograms?"

Jackie's mind flew to the mediocre artists of said band. "It's the two guys from the taco stand and an otter… I think. Surprisingly less awful than you'd imagine, but that's a low bar."

"What about Infatuation Incarceration?"

"Oh yeah, that's the spin off band Love Sentence's head backup dancer started after their final breakup. They're… not really worth checking out though, to be honest. All their songs are just the dude angstily crying about how he's better off without them anyway."

Chlóe spotted the last name on the list. "The last act is a performance of… is this spelled correctly?"

Jackie scanned her own flier where Chlóe was looking. "'Faiurly Local'... someone typo’d it, but it's a good tune. Never heard of the cover band though, so I think I'll pass. Why don’t we head downtown instead? We can go scope out some new parkour spots!”

Chlóe stood up straight and softly grabbed Jackie’s shoulder, meeting her eyes with a concerned expression. “Tu vas bien?”

“Je ne sais pas.” Jackie leaned her elbows onto the back of the bench, finding it more comfortable to focus on the orange-purple evening sky than her girlfriend. “I’m just worried, y’know? About me, about us. I’m super glad you were able to get a flight home despite all this crazy stuff going on, don’t get me wrong, but it’s gonna suck without you here. The whole Earthni thing is cool and all, too - well, except for the name - but I’m just not up to celebrating it.” It was a wound that had been eating away at her, at both of them, for the last few days. Where would they go from here? Neither was really sure, and they’d avoided talking about it at all. Heck, it’s not like either didn’t know that it had to happen eventually anyway, Chlóe was only here for summer vacation, but it still crept up on them far too quickly to process.

The park fell silent as bittersweet memories washed over her, amplifying her anxieties. Skate camp, before 9th grade - that guy left early for a family road trip before she ever got a chance to get his name, compliment his nollie technique, and see where it went from there. When Marco had so obviously left half of his heart in a different dimension, it sucked then too, but she knew they’d both be happier apart. And now Chlóe was hopping on a plane and going an entire world away. Jackie had always considered herself pretty adaptable, able to just roll with whatever life tossed at her, so why was this particular situation affecting her so much more?

She were interrupted by a soft, fleeting kiss on her cheek and a soothing chestnut gaze as Chlóe took her hand. “Let’s at least get some food first. I heard there’s a stand with hot sauce so spicy that they pay you for it. Vaut le voyage, non?” Jackie shrunk into herself a bit and nodded in what she hoped was a convincing affirmation before strapping on her skateboard helmet, and the pair took off through the park.

Earthni was pretty cool, Jackie had to admit. It was as if some guiding hand lovingly melded them together like clay, taking care to keep all the essential functionality. All the moons were placed in the sky in such a way that the net effect on the tides had remained unchanged in the week since the event, cities and towns and even individual buildings still retained their infrastructure, and the sky had a radiant beauty at all hours of the day and night. Come to think of it, from what she’d gathered secondhand, Mewni did seem eerily similar to Earth in a lot of ways; it was as if there was some special connection that allowed them to flow so harmoniously into one another.

Her muted awe was finally morphed into a much more visceral shock, however, by a more metaphorical union of the dimensions that caught her eye as they skated past the concert. She motioned for Chlóe to stop as she dismounted without looking away from the sight in front of them: Star Butterfly and Marco Diaz just dancing their hearts out to some mediocre pop cover like it was a chart topper sweeping the nation - OK, maybe it technically was one since all the monsters and Mewmans were absolutely enraptured by it. To any other observer, there wasn’t even necessarily anything special about what she was seeing - Chlóe’s perplexity was proof of that - but Jackie knew. Maybe what she had with Marco was never the most serious thing in the world, but she knew him well enough to understand the way he looked at Star as they twirled each other and grooved to the beat. Even Star accidentally tripping him and toppling the pair into a heap on the ground didn’t curb their abundant joy. Jackie quickly pulled out her phone and snapped a picture after they’d gotten back on their feet; she couldn’t help but capture the scene.

No sooner had she lowered the phone than Star dipped Marco down and gave him a quick peck on the lips; what phased Jackie far more was that Marco took it entirely in stride. During their time dating, they could barely even hold hands without him becoming a flustered mess. Heck, even just a few weeks ago he was a nervous wreck over their history. It was already obvious what - or who - had enacted such a change, but Jackie still wanted a closer look.

She signaled Chlóe to stay put and dove into the fairly sizable crowd to find a stealthy route to them. Ducking and weaving through the mingling humans and monsters, she found an open space only a few feet from them. Almost… almost… now! Jackie pounced forward, hoping to catch them off-guard, but mistimed it and collided with Marco right as Star spun him out of her embrace. He squealed at the impact and virtually launched himself backwards, sending Star to the ground in a fit of uproarious laughter. “Oh, Jackie, it’s you!” he said, eyes still wide from the shock.

“Jackie? Hi!” Star jumped up and forward to hug her, unconsciously lifting her in the air; that girl really didn’t know her own strength, did she? “How’s it going?”

“I’d rather ask you two that question,” she replied expectantly as she was set back on the ground. Star and Marco grinned and intertwined their fingers with far less hesitation than she would have expected. Well, there was the direct confirmation she sought. “Let me guess, you two had something to do with the whole Cleaving thing.”

Marco rubbed the back of his neck and glanced down at the ground sheepishly. “It’s a bit of a long story, but, uh, yeah, after-” His attention quickly snapped back to Jackie in a panic. “Oh man, your skateboard! And helmet! I’m so sorry Jackie, I just left it at the portal and then Star was there and I didn’t even think to grab it-”

“Dude, it’s fine, my uncle works for the company, remember? I care way more about hearing this story of yours, but that can wait. I should probably, uh, get back to my girlfriend and let you get back to yours.” As soon as the words left her mouth, the previous anxiety crept back in. She tried to shove it away with a casual wink, but her momentary wince didn’t go unnoticed. As she was walking away, she glanced back over her shoulder. “Well, I’m off to get food, see you guys later,” she said with an uneasy cheeriness..

Marco and Star exchanged a quick glance before they hustled over, the boy putting a hand on Jackie’s shoulder. “Hey, is everything OK? I think I’ve seen you not be totally chill, like, one time ever…”

“Eh, could be better.” A brief moment of silence ensued as she centered herself; of the things she’d taken away from her relationship with Marco, being able to admit that stuck with her most. “Chlóe’s heading back home soon and I’m just pretty bummed, you know?”

He took a moment before responding carefully. “Do you two want to join us? We were going to eat soon, too. I’m pretty sure I brought more than enough nachos for four people,” he nodded in the direction of a picnic basket behind him and chuckled. “It’s kind of our first date, or, um, our first ‘official’ one, anyway. I might have gone a bit overboard.”

“Classic Diaz,” Jackie sniggered. Star rolled her eyes affectionately while nestling into his side and wrapping herself around his arm.

“Don’t worry about it, guys, seriously. I don’t want to intrude, you two have probably dealt with enough heavy stuff lately.”

“Pfft, don’t worry about that We’d love to hang out with you guys! It could be, like, a casual double date or something!” Star chimed in while Marco casually leaned his head against hers.

“If you’re up for it,” Marco hastily added on.

Maybe this was what she needed. She’d spent enough time inside her own head lately that she wasn’t sure she’d be able to enjoy time with Chlóe unless something dragged the fun right out of her, and there wasn’t anyone better at that than these two. “Sounds like fun, I’ll go ask her. Given the legends I’ve heard about Marco’s nachos, I don’t think she’ll need too much convincing, though.”

***

“OK, wait, dude, back up a second. Janna hypnotized you to make you hate nachos? I don’t know if I can associate with someone who’d deprive someone else the joy of Mexican cuisine,” Jackie mock-sternly asked between bites. An assortment of dips and toppings in insulated containers were spread between the four teenagers as she reached over to restock her plate. Chlóe sat beside her with her legs out to the side, enjoying the dinner more than anyone. Echo Creek’s Mexican restaurants clearly didn’t stack up to this, and Jackie’s heart warmed at the sight as much as her queso heated her throat.

“Yeah, but she undid it just a few days ago. Did I mention that she called me her friend?”

“Are you guys sure she’s OK?”

“That’s what I said, Jackie!” Star mumbled out between cheeks comically overstuffed with chips.

“We just saw her yesterday, she’s fine. Well, whatever ‘fine’ is for Janna, anyway. She was happy we were together because it meant, and I quote, ‘so many more ways to blackmail’,” Marco groaned and plopped backwards onto the grass, rubbing his temple in frustration.

Star efficiently scooped up the last of the salsa on her plate with one last chip. “Anyway, I guess that’s the whole story. Weird how this feels normal in comparison.” She motioned down to the rest of the town from their vantage point on top of the hill, where they could see a monster family - easily a few stories tall - having a picnic of their own at least a mile away. Humans were lined up for blocks trying out some Mewni corn stalls that had sprung up around town, and Mewmans for their part had been putting almost every Earth shop at maximum capacity nonstop trying to experience their new world’s culture as well.

“Thank you for dinner, Marco and Star. It’s different having Mexican food that isn’t spicy pain, but I love the flavors, c'était magnifique.”

Jackie leaned back on her hands, thoroughly satisfied from the meal. “Yeah, Diaz, these lived up to the hype. Star’s a lucky girl.”

Star giggled as she helped a blushing Marco upright. The pair began to put away the empty containers into the basket when Star peeked inside with a quizzical expression. “Marco, what the heck is this thing?” She shoved one arm inside, clearly trying to grip something large. Her tongue hung out as she shook the whole basket until a large red disk came out.

“Star, dude, do you not know what a frisbee is?”

She immediately recoiled and flung the disk to the ground, but Marco quickly snagged it before it could roll away. “Sorry, thought you said freezbee. Their stings give you hypothermia. I wonder if they made it to Earthni…” All four teens collectively shuddered at the thought.

“Nah, it’s a disk you can throw at people. Back at skate camp, we had this game where everyone would be in the bowl and you’d have to throw and catch it while in the air. Bonus points for any fancy tricks you pulled off, it was totally sweet. But it’s still fun without the boards, wanna try?” Star nodded at Marco, who flicked the disk to her with a bit of a wobble in its flight. She planted her feet with a burning resolve, her tongue hanging out a bit in concentration. When the disk finally drew near, she jumped and plucked it from the air, whipping it in a frenzied overhead toss aimed directly at Chlóe, who gasped and nimbly pivoted to the side to avoid it, their eyes all bugging out of their heads when they noticed the massive dent in the earth left in the frisbee’s wake.

“I win at frisbee!”

The sun continued its trek towards the horizon as the four tossed the disk around, chatting and laughing and occasionally wiping out on the grass. Marco had shaken off the rust and Star was getting the hang of it once it was properly explained to her, but Jackie still found herself able to go into autopilot and still keep pace. She was going to miss moments like this, just casually enjoying the company of her girlfriend, after over half a year of being together almost all the time. Was this how Marco had felt that summer? She’d already known as much at the time, but feeling some inkling of it stirring inside her gave her a fresh sense of what it really meant, and it just downright sucked. But still, she was glad they were able to enjoy this time together and do something different.

Jackie finally realized that she hadn’t been tossed the frisbee for a few minutes, snapping her out of her rumination. Momentarily disoriented, she looked around until her eyes settled on Marco trying to help Star with her throwing technique. He stood behind her, hands gripping her wrists as he took them through the motions. After a few tries, though, it was pretty obvious that Star was just enjoying being held, and Marco seemed to be in no hurry to finish the lesson himself.

“OK, Marco, all this technique stuff is cool, but check this move out!” Jackie turned towards Star shouting the last few words as she tightened her arms in preparation for a throw. “Spinning Sonic Hug Throw!” She let out a grunt as she whipped the disk as hard as she could, letting her entire body spin on her toes a few times before stopping herself by latching onto Marco in a fierce embrace that almost knocked him off his feet. Marco giggled and returned the affection as Jackie and Chlóe cooed at the adorableness in front of them.

When the hug ended, the two gazed into each other’s eyes until Marco suddenly blinked and looked around. “Uh, Star? Where’s the frisbee?” A soft gasp came from Chlóe a moment later, and everyone followed her line of sight only to find the frisbee stuck in the upper branches of a massive red tree.

“For corn’s sake…” Star facepalmed. “Why do boxing elders have to be here? Like, I know everything from Mewni is here, but why here here, really...” her grumbles trailed off. Wait, did she mean box eld- right, never mind, everything on Mewni is some flavor of weird. Jackie shrugged off the disbelief and took a closer look: the red specks weren’t leaves, they were… boxing gloves? Of course they were.

“I want to climb it.” The voice of her girlfriend shocked her out of her disbelieving stare. She’d been introduced to the wild world of Star Butterfly mere days ago and she was already charging headlong into it?

“Uh, are you sure that’s a good idea, Chló? I don’t know that much about Mewni but if I had to guess, it probably can actually punch you.”

“They have mean left hooks,” Star affirmed nonchalantly.

“It’s covered in those things, dude, how can it have a left- wait, where’s Chlóe?” Jackie looked and saw her girlfriend running over towards the tree with determination etched into her visage.

“OK, my dad has fought enough of them that he’s basically an honorary tree at this point so I’ll go help Chlóe,” Star said before scrambling after her.

Jackie and Marco were the last to jog over towards the base of the tree, stopping a bit short of the base and watching their girlfriends navigate it. Chlóe deftly leapt from branch to branch, dodging all the flailing comically oversized gloves, while Star just kind of clambered up the trunk like a koala batting away all obstacles. Honestly, Jackie knew she should have expected it; Chlóe was fiercely competitive with her parkour, scoffing at the idea of a challenge left uncompleted. Her effortless maneuvering around all the physical hurdles of the Mewnian tree reignited some of her anxiety from earlier in the day.

“Hey, Marco, can I ask you something serious?” Jackie sat down on the grass, hugging her knees to her chest unconsciously, her eyes never leaving the action in front of her, although not out of fear: she was fully confident they could handle themselves.

He joined her on the ground. “Yeah, what’s up?”

“I know this sounds weird, since I was, like, there for all of it, but how did you deal with Star leaving?”

“I, uh, don’t really think I did. Remember that cape? Turns out it was just Star’s dad’s meat blanket the whole time. I don’t even know if he’d washed it first…”

“So that explains why you smelled like a sketchy diner that whole summer!” She finally looked over at him and jabbed his side with her elbow with a smile. “But how did you and Star figure everything out, or whatever? What’s gone through the ole’ Diaz noggin? We were always pretty terrible at the mind reader game, y’know.”

Marco leaned back on his hands and kept his gaze steadily focused on the tree with a loving grin; Star had, seemingly, tamed one of the thicker branches and was valiantly riding it into battle against the others while Chlóe watched incredulously from a safe spot near the top, frisbee in hand. “Honestly? I don’t really know. I- I don’t even think we do have everything figured out. But I guess I felt like… whatever life was going to be, I wanted Star in it more than anything, and just went from there.”

All at once, the truth about why this time was different hit her. She couldn’t say how serious it was, or exactly how she felt. She liked Chlóe a lot, and knew she’d be sad without her there, of course. But she was sure right now that she wanted to put in that effort to make things work, in whatever form that would have to take.

Star’s rapid-fire dialogue quickly became audible as she reapproached with Chlóe in tow, huffing deep breaths between each excited line. “Seriously, Chlóe, how did you even get up there so fast? You would’ve been so famous on Mewni! I guess you still could be now, heh.”

“It’s just parkour, it’s not that amazing.”

“Thanks. This helped, a lot. You’re a pretty good friend, Diaz,” she spoke quietly so only he could hear as the other two drew nearer.

Jackie stood up and shook out the numbness in her legs when the four reunited. The sun was starting to descend behind the horizon when Chlóe leaned her elbow onto Jackie’s shoulder. “Do you think we should leave soon?”

“Actually… I think the concert is still going on. Wanna go check it out, for real this time?”

Marco’s eyes lit up mischievously as he turned to Star, offering her his hand. “May I have one last dance tonight, milady?”

“Just because you’re cute when you say it doesn’t give you a pass, Marco,” Star fumed, still taking his hand anyway. Her face went a bit red when she remembered their friends were still there. “So, anyway, um…”

“Don’t wait up, we’ll be a bit still,” Jackie said, ignoring the suspicious look Chlóe was giving her. “We’ll definitely have to hang out more. Stay amazing, you two.” Jackie gave them each a hug before they turned to walk away.

“Bye Jackie! Bye Chlóe!” Star exuberantly waved at them as she and Marco departed hand-in-hand.

“Au revoir!” As soon as they were out of earshot, Chlóe stepped back and folded her arms, staring Jackie down with a sympathetic expression. “Are you sure you’re fine? You’ve been off all day.” Jackie’s vision roamed their surroundings, avoiding the soft yet piercing orbs trained on her from under her furrowed brow. Finally she found a crude stone bench near the edge of the hilltop, no doubt not from her own dimension. She cautiously took Chlóe’s hand and led them over to it, sitting down and looking over the wonder of the town in the sunset. Jackie lost herself in the splendor, finally feeling able to wholeheartedly enjoy the view, still keeping their fingers laced together.

“About earlier… it’s gonna suck being so far apart. I don’t think anything’s going to change that, really.” Chlóe slowly nodded, letting the words sink in as they both were finally coming to terms with the inevitable. Her eyes sunk to the ground before shutting entirely. “But I think that’s OK. I was all, like, worried that everything would go wrong just because of that, but… I don’t think that’s true, or at least I don’t want it to be.” She nervously laughed, brushing aside a stray hair from her face and finally met Chlóe’s eyes that had not wavered from her during the speech. “It’s not like I was ever thinking about breaking up or whatever, don’t get me wrong, Chló. Just took a while to figure out what I really needed to say, I guess.”

Chlóe put her free arm around Jackie’s shoulder. “Life goes on, you know? But I understand, I’ve been feeling the same way. We can make it work. You’ll have to come out to France sometime, I’m sure there’s all kinds of weird new things we can explore there, too.”

Jackie squeezed her girlfriend’s hand, reciprocating the comforting affection. “Heck yeah, we can. So, wanna go check out that concert?”

“Maybe not anymore. That tree climb was much tougher than I thought it would be, I’m exhausted.” They strapped on their helmets and grabbed their boards again, beginning their slow cruise through the park.

“Dude, you made it seem so easy, you just zoomed up to the top. You’re way too good, I still don’t know how you do it.”

“Merci, merci. But I’m still jealous of all the fancy tricks you can do on that board, so I guess we’ve even. Your friend Star, though, she’s special. I got to see someone tame a punching tree! Nothing in France could beat that,” she laughed in that squeaky way of hers that Jackie always found adorable.

“Marco, too. They’re both something else.”

As they neared the periphery of the park, they passed the concert one last time. The crowd had thinned out, leaving only a handful of the Mewmans and monsters behind. The schmaltzy ballad that the singer was warbling honestly offended her ears a little bit, but the crowd seemed to be mostly ignoring it except the two people she’d been looking for. Star and Marco were far enough from the main stage that Jackie was almost certain they could barely hear the music. If they’d been employing any sort of formal slow dancing technique, they’d long since abandoned it. Marco held Star’s signature horns in his hand, his chin resting on her head buried in his chest as they casually swayed. Jackie thought about waving goodbye, but they wouldn’t have noticed it from their own little world. And if they could still find that happiness together, despite everything, then maybe she didn’t need to worry that much; it would all be worth the trip.

[chibi-jing]

FFXV in French - Translations for Ardyn (Ep.Ignis - Altissia)

Hi everyone!

Since Ignis DLC is out with new scenes for Ardyn, I’m gonna post here the French text with literal English translations so you can compare the differences!

First you have all the French text, followed by the English translation and videos (FR no subtitles).

Stop here if you don’t want spoilers ^^

(check below for all the text)

Français

Autel

Français Gladiolus (Ardyn) «Ignis !» Ignis «Ah ! Gladio !» «T’es tout seul ?! Où est Prompto ?!» Gladiolus (Ardyn) [looking at Ravus] «Attends une petite minute… Parfait.» Ravus «Ardyn !» Gladiolus (Ardyn) «Bravo… Quelle clairvoyance !» Ardyn «Tu auras fait tout ton possible.» [noir]

«Dis-moi... Qu’est-ce que ça te fait de voir ton seigneur dans un tel état ?» Ignis «Ngh... Qu’est-ce que tu veux ?!» Ardyn «Avoue-le... Tu dois être quand même un petit peu déçu ?» «Tu espérais qu’il deviendrait un grand roi. Tu as même risqué ta vie plusieurs fois pour lui...» Ignis «Le touche pas !» Ardyn «C’est pareil pour moi.» «Franchement, c’est désespérant... Terminés, le petit voyage et l’avenir radieux.» Ignis «Hrrr... Ngh ! Tu es complètement fou !» «Ah...! Noctis ! Noooooon !» [Ravus jette son poignard] Ardyn «Eh bien ! Vous vous êtes très bien entendus, on dirait.» «J’ai une petite proposition... Je vous tue maintenant, tous... Ou alors... Je les laisse et tu me suis bien sagement. Qu’est-ce que tu choisiiis ?»

[Affronter Ardyn] Ardyn «Hmm... Tu préfères donc souffrir ?» Ignis «Haaa... Haaa... Il n’y a aucune alternative... J’en ai fait le serment : quoi qu’il arrive... je protégerai Noctis jusqu’au bout !» Ardyn «Tu t’imagines que tu vas maîtriser son pouvoir, peut-être ?» Ignis «Aaargh... Tout comme cette Lame royale... si je dois offrir ma vie... pour emprunter le pouvoir de l’anneau... je le ferai ! Aidez-moi...! Rois du Lucis...!» Ardyn «Tiens... Voilà qui est intéressant.»

[combat] «Si tu veux sauver ton petit roi, il va d’abord falloir que tu arrives à me battre.» «Tu ne devrais pas trop traîner, tu sais. Tu pourrais te consumer avant de me tuer... Quand même, ce serait ballot !» «Noctis a de la chance d’être entouré de sujets si compétents. Mais vous ne devriez pas être aussi laxistes. Ce n’est pas comme ça qu’il va se prendre en mains.» «De toute façon, tu vas mourir. Et ton petit roi aussi. Tes espoirs vont s’envoler. Pouf !» Ignis «Je t’arrêterai... Coûte que coûte !» [fin combat] «Ouuuh là là ! Il s’en est fallu de peu ! Arrêtons là... pour aujourd’hui !»

[Suivre Ardyn] ==> Histoire parallèle

English Literal Translation

Altar

Gladiolus (Ardyn)

«Ignis!»

Ignis

«Oh! Gladio!»

«You’re alone?! Where is Prompto?!»

Gladiolus (Ardyn) [looking at Ravus]

«Wait a minute... Perfect.»

Ravus

«Ardyn!»

Gladiolus (Ardyn)

«Bravo… What clairvoyance!»

Ardyn

«You’ve done everything possible.»

[black]

 Ardyn

«Tell me... What does it feel to see your lord in such a position?»

Ignis

«Ngh... What do you want?!»

Ardyn

«Admit it ... You must be a little disappointed, no?»

«You hoped he would become a great king. You even risked your life several times for him...»

Ignis

«Don’t touch him!»

Ardyn

«It’s the same for me.»

«Frankly, it’s hopeless... The little trip and the bright future are over.»

Ignis

«Hrrr... Ngh! You’re totally mad!»

«Ah...! Noctis! Noooooo!»

[Ravus throws his knife]

Ardyn

«Well! It seems you two got along very well.»

«I’ve got a little proposition... I kill you all, now... Or... I leave them and you follow me with no fuss. What do you chooose?»

[Face Ardyn]

Ardyn

«Hmm... So you would rather suffer?»

Ignis

«Haaa... Haaa... There is no alternative ... I took the oath: whatever happens ... I will protect Noctis until the end!»

Ardyn

«Do you really figure you're going to control its power?»

Ignis

«Aaargh... Just like this Kingsglaive... if I have to offer my life... to borrow the power of the Ring... I'll do it! Help me...! Kings of Lucis...!»

Ardyn

«Here ... that's interesting.»

[fight]

«If you want to save your little king, you’ll have to fight me first.»

«You should not hang out too much, you know. You risk to consume yourself before killing me... It would be wacky, though!»

«Noctis is lucky to be surrounded by such competent vassals. But you should not be so lax. That is not how he’s going to take himself in hand.»

«Anyway, you're going to die. And your little king too. Your hopes will fly away. Whoosh!»

Ignis

«I'll stop you ... Whatever it costs!»

[fight ends]

«Wow wow! It was a close call! Let's stop there... for today!»

[Follow Ardyn] ==> Parallel story

[bucketpage]

With the BBC broadcasting its lies to every household in the UK including children, I see it as a more direct threat as the BBC are actively trying change and form the nation’s views in every programme from Attenborough’s climate lies right down to indoctrination on CBeebies.   Deforestation and child abuse etc are important but have their own charities and activists like Greenpeace and Childline. I have a work colleague and friend who loves the BBC and says he cannot see any left wing , Brexit or climate bias at all.    He could not see it as he is a Corbynite, a Remainer and a ‘no borders’ globalist who also hates his own flag , so everything he watches on the BBC he agrees with. What we are looking at with the BBC is the embodiment of the political divide in the nation and the BBC are heavily on one side. They are the  side that champions the EU, mass migration, man made climate change, globalism, identity politics and cultural Marxism. By doing this the BBC, our state broadcaster, paid for by us  is in breach of its remit and this insidious indoctrination needs to be highlighted and revealed to as many people as possible. Will the BBC live to see its hundredth birthday in 2022? As Director-General Tony Hall steps down, the corporation’s reputation for impartiality is in tatters. It faces huge compensation payments to women broadcasters after illegally underpaying them while foolishly overpaying the likes of Gary Lineker, who is not in the same league as his sublime predecessor Des Lynam. It has welshed on its deal for viewers over the age of 75, who actually watch the telly, as it desperately pursues young people who don’t. It must deal with a landslide Conservative government, which is likely to be in power until the BBC Charter comes up for renewal in 2027. Unfortunately, of its 22,401 staff, only one is believed to have voted for Boris – Brian, who works in Archives in Perivale, but he’s coming up for retirement.The BBC has a metropolitan, globalist point of view which prevents it from tuning into the national mood. In December, a YouGov poll found that less than half (44 per cent) of Britons trusted BBC journalists to tell the truth, a fall of seven percentage points since October. Most dangerously of all, it has a Prime Minister who wonders aloud why, with so many excellent subscription channels, the British people should go on paying a compulsory tax for a public-service broadcaster which doesn’t seem to much like the public or their views.Twenty years ago, when I was employed as a TV critic, there was very little criticism of the BBC. In fact, there was widespread affection for Auntie, and rightly so. Documentaries (of which there were plenty) were generally of a high standard, and drama series did not exist to ram a multicultural agenda down the audience’s throat. For instance, it was not mandatory for every police detective to have an ethnic-minority spouse regardless of how accurately that reflected the real world.The BBC of 2020 is obsessed with promoting what Lord Hall calls “our values”. The fact that those values so seldom coincide with the values of the majority of people who pay their wages seems to be a matter of supreme unconcern. The BBC is only able to show such disdain for its customers because they have paid their money before entering the shop.That complacency may well prove fatal. Now that they have a choice, customers are choosing to go into another store. (I am surprised how many friends say they now listen to LBC instead of Radio 4, but then I switched recently to ITN’s News at Ten.) The number of people giving up their TV licences has soared, with more than 860,000 licences cancelled in 2017-18 compared to 798,000 a year earlier. Admittedly, that’s a small proportion of the 25.8 million licences currently held, but it’s still 2,300 cancellations a day. Coverage of Brexit alone must have seen hundreds of thousands of viewers switch off. BBC bias was embarrassingly evident with panels of six people featuring only one Leaver, studio audiences packed with choleric Corbynists and editors drip-feeding viewers a daily diet of Project Fear.One morning, a Telegraph colleague found herself waiting in a BBC newsroom before she went into the studio where Anna Soubry was screeching one of her mad, Lucia de Lammermoor anti-Brexit arias. When Soubry finished, staff broke into applause, my astonished colleague reported. I wonder, do you think they will get Huw Edwards to wear a black tie on Brexit Day? Nothing would surprise us anymore.Nowadays, if I start watching a BBC period drama I am always braced for the ahistorical nonsense with which producers chastise the past for being insufficiently politically correct. (The kids say Doctor Who has become unwatchable, that sprightly intergalactic voyager now weighed down by the lentil-bake concerns of a vegan cafe in Tufnell Park.) I adore the defiantly truthful and gutsily Northern Happy Valley, but otherwise prefer sophisticated US and French dramas which don’t insult the viewer as BBC productions do with their childish diversity-by-numbers. There is certainly diversity in Spiral, my favourite French detective series, but it occurs perfectly naturally and no one gives a damn if the villains turn out to be immigrants. C’est la vie, eh?Will a new Director-General be able to restore public trust in the BBC? There’s a chance if they choose someone from outside the metropolitan bubble who wants to reflect the nation back to itself, not lecture it. Oh, and commissioning one comedy show that doesn’t use the word “Tory” as an expletive might be nice.My fear is that institutional smuggery runs too deep at Broadcasting House to admit that change is urgently needed. Old Tories like Wogan and Brucie are gone, and in their place are the Guardianistas who have just been roundly rejected by the country. If you look at an electoral map of Britain, amid a vast sea of Tory blue, there are a few small islets of Labour red. Those islets are where BBC staff live and from which they draw their ideas.Once, not that long ago, it would have been impossible to imagine a Britain without the BBC. It’s still hard. We have so much shared history, Auntie and I, all the way back to Andy Pandy (I cried every time they shut him and Teddy in that wicker basket). But the Beeb can no longer count on public affection in the way it used to. Viewers are irritated, angry even. Many would welcome the Government decriminalising the licence fee, which would be the beginning of the end. To justify demanding a TV tax from every household, you have to truly speak for the nation, not an elite corner of London. The new DG would do well to ponder what was said about Charles Dickens, our most successful and beloved national entertainer. “Dickens didn’t just give the people what they wanted. He wanted what the people wanted.”

[henisadventures]

Psalmodie.

It started back in august, when I randomly came down from my room to show Sophie a song, I believe it was Pieces by Amanda Lindsey Cook. She told me she really liked it, and that if I like these kind of songs, one of here college friends is singing in a choir, in Lausanne. "Wait, I am gonna show you videos, we even have a CD! Do you want to sing in this choir? " —she asked.

At that point, I had no idea of what I am gonna get myself into. I never in a million years thought that this choir is going to give me friends, social life, unforgettable memories but most importantly it is going to evolve my love for the Lord. I said yes. I said why not, as Emily Wilson thought me.

Yeah, so we were watching the videos, and she told me to decide quickly if I would like to join or not because the first repetition is right around the corner. Also, even though I had like 0 language skills in French,I was like why not.

The first repetition day comes, I was SO nervous, you cannot imagine. I changed outfits at least 3 times, I was barely able to eat, but I had to, cause we were to leave after luch to meet Anouk.

Anouk is now my Psalmodie mommy, I love her to pieces. She’s been the helping hand I always needed, the reassurance that it is gonna be okay, and that „no, no problem if you dont know all the songs” that I replayed in my head every single time I had a doubt in the project or in myself.

Yeah, so we are there, going to Lausanne, I am about to meet 60 new people, there goes the social life hiatus, I am about to make friends there! Aha, yes. But it needed a bit more time, that I expected.

I enjoyed every single minute of every repetition. We started with the warmups, and the „I am so happy, Jesus is my salvation!”, was the first one that I understood. The other one, however I still have no idea about, honestly, what is the lyrics of the do, mi, so, do, do, so, mi, do thing?

Moooving on. We started to sing a new song, Christ est tout pour moi. When I tell you, this song is THE song for me. It was the first one, when I actually felt like I am in a movie. It was the best feeling ever, and we were just practicing. I felt like above the clouds closer to God every single time.

Okay, I have a confession, whenever JD or Marc was talking I didn’t understand 90% of them. Even during the concert, exept, when Marc was speaking in English which was the weirdest thing ever cause I got used to not be able to understand him.

Yeah so we were preparing for the CD recording. I had like 3 weeks to learn seven songs in French and luckily none of them was Garde ma bouche. Who am I joking though, I love that song now.

So, the recording days. I kind of knew a few people, but I was just guessing some names or faces. Oh gosh, it was a very hard but very precious two days.

When we were singing Vase d’argile, that feeling is something I will save into a bottle. It was the best thing ever. The whole two days were a blessing even though I was like extra extra sick a day before. It was a wild ride, but every single minute was worth it.

I am gonna be on a CD!!!!! I still get very happy about it whenever it comes to my mind.

Yeah so back to the repetition phase, we were finally singing Christ est tout pour moi again. I was missing it truly :( Then all the other songs I didn’t know about, AND that was the time I realized we are gonna do CHOREOGRAPHIES. Just imagine. I am concentrating on the lyrics, the melody, the correct time to sing, hand gestures (clap or snap) and then my feet. I was like ok ☺ No worries. Hahahhha, I was very worried.

Shout out to everybody who supported me during the preparation of the concert. Honestly, without you guys (and the Creator) , I wouldn't be able to survive.

Yeah, so the concerts were last weekend, a week ago Nathalie came over to help me with the songs, because 3 days before there were 2 songs that I had no idea about. Eh, lol. c’est la vie.

Thank you Nathalie again!!!

So the weekend comes. What a weekend.

I was barely able to eat. Literally I ate like 3 spoons of lunch after I was suffering with Rigo Jancsi in the kitchen for 2 hours. It was worth it though, everybody loved it.

Then Anouk and Samuel came to pick me up and we were on the way for the concert. My hand was shaking so much, I was either near of these three: crying, stroke or passing out. Only one of them happened, and it was not the stroke or the passing out. I was wearing the scarf and honestly I felt like a Bella. A Psalmodie Bella. I literally went to Giulia and shouted to her that ARE WE THE PSALMODIE BELLAS YES OR NO??

So I was trying to ignore the fact that I don’t know all the songs as much as I was able to, and I am not gonna lie, at some point I was able to. Because the atmosphère of the concert was sooooo so so so magical.

Let us see those concert songs, shall we?

✨Car toi seul est Dieu✨ The intro song, so amazing, I loved it very much. Little backstory, I was listening to this song every time I was cooking on Monday nights. I found a version on Spotify, I knew the alto and there was the perfect music for cooking. Alas! What was the thing I absolutely forgot? The 2nd verse. Haha. I knew the song perfectly exept for the second verse. I realized it exactly where you guessed: during the concert.

✨Bien compter nos jours✨ Ehhh. The song, that I had no full picture in my had until the Wednesday before the concert. Long, long song. I was genuinely frustrated but I acted like I knew all the words and the ending is very epic, 10/10.

✨Oui je crois (Le Crédo)✨ Another epic song, the standing up is just soooooooooo cool, I loved it but I absolutely forgot about the hand-moving part at the 2nd verse, lol. I thought I knew this song, but I had to realize that I was wrong…during the concert.

✨Christ est tout pour moi✨ This song could be my anthem for real. This song is a little more special than the others because it was the first song that I rehearsed really and honestly I felt like above the clouds. Still do, whenever I think about it. Tears of joy, feeling the touch of Heaven.

✨Vase d’argile✨ Oh wow, this song is just wow. When we were doing the recordings, I will never forget that 3 seconds of silence after we finished. This song is also everything we evern need to know. I love it so much. Now I see.

✨Jour de jugement✨ The third very very epic song. I didn’t know all the verses, but as before, I acted like I did. Very deep, very well built up. „la malédiction”… was just…wow.

✨Joie promise dès l’origine✨ This contrast was kind of weird for me, we had the 3 songs before, all very deep, all very epic and dramatic, and then, there comes this bundle of joy with 6 different instruments, all happy, after we were singing about Jugement day. We just casuallytold the people that „hey, actually, no worries, because there is somebody who was promised to save us the scary things!!!!”. Honestly I don’t know if it was intentional, but in my opinion it was brilliant like this.

✨Plus grand que tout autre nom✨Oh well, this song was the „I wish I was just over it song” for me because I was so freaking scared of this, honestly. Lyrics, feet, snap, when to stop, when to snap, when to change snap to clap and just in general sing correctly, etc, etc. It was the most stressful song for me but I loved it, it is a very nice song, and the improvisation on the 2nd concert was a very precious moment.

✨Le saint nom de Jésus✨I knew the refrain, that’s all. Very thankful that JD was singing with us because as I learend in my past 12 with the Gyermekkórus in Szeged, if you just look at the mouth of the leader, it is gonna be fine. Köszönöm szépen Nagyi!!!

✨Un Pére pour l’orphelin✨You repair the broken hearts and make dreams reborn. Thank you Nathalie for this because I had an extra smile on while singing this. I didn’t knew I like this song but is just such a nice and fun song, I realized cannot not like it.

✨Jamais loin de moi✨This was a very special song, because this is the eldest kid’s favourite. When we are walking home from school, or even just randomly playing we just randomly start to sing it. He loves it so much and I am so proud of him.

✨Ta bonté✨ This song was stuck in my head whenever I saw the sunrays through the clouds. It is just so beautiful, with all the instruments and just in general the meaning of the song. It is about the endless love of God. My favourite part in the lyrics was the ooooohhhhhhh

✨Garde ma bouche✨ The Goliat to my David. Guys. If I could learn the 75% of this song, than literally anybody on this planet is able to. There is no impossible. I will never forget, when on one of the repetitions, Marc was telling something like „Yes I know it is fast…” and at least 5 people looked at me with either laugh or pity… I was like „hahhahhahah yeah i know hahahahahha”. It was the time of true hopelessness. But. I aint no quitter, so I learned it. Second by second, word by word. And it became one of my favourite songs.

✨Bénis Dieu✨I have really ten thousand reasons to say this. One of them is Psalmodie.

✨Ne crains rien✨The baby-guitar song. That’s how I call the ukulele because it just looks like a ba-by-gu-i-tar. Okay so I didn’t know the lyrics, but luckily there were some oooooooh-s and the other parts – I gave them to the Lord.

✨Abondance de joie✨This song is just again a bundle of joy. And also epic. I loved SO MUCH when during the repetition before the concert we just kept on singing it without Marc. That was very funny.

✨Yahwe✨ I went to the concert of Collectif Cieux Ouvert and I heard it once. That was all I knew about this song, and because has been singing it since ages and everybody knows it by heart, we didnt rehears it so I was like, ok, I am just gonna follow the chef. It was amazing though.

✨Alleluia de Noël✨The last song. And also a very special cause the middle child has been singing it at home for so long. She loves this song so much. So do I. This song is the soul of Christmas. Here is the Saviour, he is born. And the way we were singing when we came down the stairs. I am forever thankful that we have a video of that because that moment is too beautiful to be only saved in our memories. Whenever I watch that video, my heart is filled with joy.

I cannot be thankful enough for this choir and these people who I am lucky enough to call my friends. I learned so much from them in this past few months, it is crazy. I love every single one of them. I didn’t know I needed Psalmodie until I found it.

Here comes the cheesy part:

Shout out to Lea for being my crazy friend, to Giulia for being the nicest Bella ever, to Nathalie for being there when needed, to Aurelie for the helping words and the notes, to Sebastien for not talking to me haha, to Anouk for being my Psalmo mama, to Lauraine for always smiling and talking, to JD & Marc for being awesome awesome leaders, to Theo for the magic tricks, to Marc for the cow-jokes, to Estelle for being the first person I ever talked in Psalmodie, to Vanessa for the unforgettable car-rides and honestly for every single person who is talking to me in English because I know it is hard just look at me struggling with French. This is an unforgettable experience. I love every second of serving the Lord this way.

I could go on for hours but that is all for today, if you read all that, you can come to collect your friendship award, I appreciate it very much, thank you for your time. 💛

Bénis Dieu oh mon âme !!

Á toute,

Heni

[anjielangue]

300 French Words

First Verbs

be -  être

there is - il y a

have - avoir

do - faire

go - aller

want - vouloir

can - pouvoir

need - avoir besoin de

think - penser

know - savoir

say - dire

like - aimer

speak - parler

learn - apprendre

understand - comprendre

Conjunctions

that (as in “I think that…” or “the woman that…”) - que

and - et

or - ou

but - mais

because - parce que

though - bien que / quequoi

so (meaning “therefore”; e.g. “I wanted it, so I bought it”) -  de façon à ce que (in order that) /  donc / par conséquent / alors

if - si

Prepositions

of - de

to - pour (indicates aim of the action) /  à, vers (indicates where sb or sth is going)

from -  de, à partir de (indicates where sb or sth starts OR indicates origin of sb or sth) / de, de la parte de (given or provided by sb) / de, à partir de (indicates a starting time)

in - dans

at (a place) -  à

at (a time) -  à

with - avec

about - sur / de

like (meaning “similar to”) - comme

for (warning, this one has several meanings that you need to take care of) - pour

before (also as a conjunction) - avant

after (also as a conjunction) - après

during - au cours de or it is usually omitted

Question Words

who - qui

what - quel (determiner) / qu’est ce qui (subject) / qu’est ce que (object) / quoi (after preposition) 

where -  où

when - quand

why - pourquoi

how - comment

how much - combien

which - quel

Adverbs

a lot - beaucoup

a little - un peu

well - bien 

badly - mal

only - seulement, ne ... que

also - aussi

very -  très

too (as in “too tall”) - trop

too much - trop

so (as in “so tall”) - si / aussi / tellement

so much - tellement

more (know how to say “more … than …”) - plus ... que ...

less (know how to say “less … than …”) - moins ... que ...

as … as … (e.g. “as tall as”) - aussi ... que ...

most - le plus

least - le moins

better - meilleur

best - meilleur 

worse - pire / plus mal

worst - le/la pire

now - maintenant

then -   alors, à cette époque (at a time in the past or the future) / puis, ensuite (indicates what happens next) / donc, en ce cas ( indicates what you assume to be true because of sth that has been said) / si ... alors (if ... then) / bon, alors (okay, then)

here - ici 

there - y / là / voilà

maybe -  peut-être

always - toujours

usually - d’habitude

often - souvent

sometimes - parfois

never - jamais

today - aujourd’hui

yesterday - hier 

tomorrow - demain

soon -  bientôt / peu après

almost - presque

already - déjà

still - encore / toujours

even - encore

enough - assez / suffisamment

Adjectives

the, a (technically articles) - le, un

this - ce

that - ce

good - bon

bad - mauvais

all - tout

some - du, de la (indicates an unspecified amount ) / des (indicates an unspecified number) / quelques, certains (indicates part of a number or amount of people or things, not all of them)

no - non

any - aucun, quelque (in questions and negative sentences) / n’importe quel (no matter which one)

many - beaucoup de

few - peu de / quelques

most - le plus (greatest quantity of) / la plupart (majority of something)

other - autre

same - même

different - différent

enough - assez

one - un

two - deux

a few - quelques

first - premier

next = prochain

last (meaning “past”, e.g. “last Friday”) - dernier

last (meaning “final”) - dernier

easy - facile

hard - difficile

early -  tôt

late - tard

important - important

interesting -  intéressant

fun -  drôle / amusant

boring - ennuyeux 

beautiful - beau

big - grand 

small - petit

happy - heureux / content

sad - triste

busy -  occupé

excited -  excité/emballé

tired -  fatigué

ready - prêt

favorite -  favori/-ite, préféré/-ée

new - nouveau

right (meaning “correct”) - exact, juste (correct according to facts) / bon (right according to a particular situation)

wrong - faux, maivause (not correct) / pas le bon (not right, appropriate, or wrong correctly)

true - vrai (factual/correct) / véritable, réel (real/genuine)

Pronouns

Know them in the subject (“I”), direct object (“me”), indirect object (“to me”), and possessive (“my”) forms.

I - je / moi / me / mon

you - tu / toi / te / ton

she - elle / elle / se / sa

he - il / lui / se / son

it - il / ça / ça / son

we - nous / nous / nous / notre

you (plural) - vous / vous / vous / votre

they - ils, elles / se / eux, elles / leur

Nouns

If your language has grammatical gender, then learn each noun as “the [noun]” with “the” in the correct gender. (e.g. in Spanish, instead of learning language = “idioma”, learn language = “el idioma”.) This will help you remember the gender.

everything - tout

something - quelque chose

nothing - rien

everyone - chacun / tout le monde

someone - quelqu’un

no one - personne

(name of the language you’re studying) - le français

English - l’anglais

thing - le chose

person - la personne

place - le lieu

time (as in “a long time”) - le longtemps

time (as in “I did it 3 times”) - la fois

friend - l’ami (masculine) / l’amie (feminine)

woman - la femme

man - l’homme (masculine)

money - l’argent (masculine)

country - le pays

(name of your home country) - des Philippines

city - la ville

language - la langue

word - le mot

food - la nouritture

house - la maison

store - le magasin

office - le bureau

company - la compagnie

manager - le directeur, la directrice / le manager / le gérant, la gérante

coworker - le/la collègue

job - le travail

work (as in “I have a lot of work to do”) - travail

problem - le problème

question - le question

idea - l’idée (feminine)

life - la vie

world - le monde

day - le jour

year - l’an (masculine) / l’annee (feminine)

week - la semaine

month - le mois

hour - l’heure (feminine) 

mother, father, parent -  mère, père, parent

daughter, son, child - fille / fils / enfant

wife, husband - femme / mari

girlfriend, boyfriend - petite amie / petit ami

More Verbs

work (as in a person working) - travailler

work (meaning “to function”, e.g. “the TV works”) - marcher

see - voir

use - utiliser

should - devrais / devrait / devrions / devriez / devraient

believe - croir

practice -  s’entraîner

seem - sembler

come - venir

leave - partir

return - revenir / retourner

give - donner

take - prendre

bring - apporter

look for - chercher

find - trouver

get (meaning “obtain”) - avoir / trouver / acheter

receive - recevoir

buy - acheter

try - essayer

start -  commencer /  débuter / se mettre à

stop (doing something) -  arrêter / cesser

finish - finir

continue - continuer / se poursuivre

wake up - se reveiller

get up - se lever

eat- manger

eat breakfast (in several languages, this is a verb) - manger le petit déjeuner

eat lunch - manger déjeuner

eat dinner - manger dîner

happen - arriver / se passer

feel - senter

create (aka “make”) - faire / fabriquer

cause (aka “make”) - faire / rendre

meet (meeting someone for the first time) - rencontre / se recontre

meet (meaning “to bump into”) - renctontre

meet (an arranged meeting) - se rejoindre

ask (a question) - poser

ask for (aka “request”) - demander

wonder - se demander

reply - répondre

mean - signifier (to have a particular meaning OR to result in) / vouloir dire (intending to say or mean sth) / avoir l’intention de (to intend sth you do to have a particular effect) 

read - lire

write - écrire

listen - écouter

hear - entendre

remember - se rappeler / se souvenir de

forget - oublier

choose - choisir

decide - decider 

be born - naître

die - mourir

kill - tuer

live - vivre

stay - rester

change - changer

help - aider

send - envoyer

study -  étudier

improve - améliorer

hope - espérer

care -  s’intéresser à / se soucier de

Phrases

hello - bonjour

goodbye - au revoir

thank you - merci 

you’re welcome - de rien

excuse me (to get someone’s attention) - excuse-moi / excusez-moi

sorry - désolé

it’s fine (response to an apology) - c’est bon

please - s’il te plaît / s’il vous plaît

yes - oui

no - non

okay - d’accord

My name is - Je m’appelle

What’s your name? - Quel est votre nom ? / Quel est ton nom ?

Nice to meet you. - Enchanté.

How are you? - Comment ça va ?

I’m doing well, how about you? - Je vais bien, et toi ?

Sorry? / What? (if you didn’t hear something) - Pardon ?

How do you say ______? - Comment est-ce que tu dis ____ ?

What does ______ mean? - Qui signifie le/la ____ ?

I don’t understand. - Je ne comprends pas.

Could you repeat that? - Pourries-tu répéter ça ? / Pourriez-vous répéter ça ?

Could you speak more slowly, please? - Pourriez-vous parler plus lentement, s’il vous plait ? / Pourries-tu parler plus lentement, s’il te plait ?

Well (as in “well, I think…”) - Eh bien / Enfin

Really? - Vraiment ?

I guess that - Je suppose que

It’s hot. (talking about the weather) - Il fait chaud.

It’s cold. (talking about the weather) - Il fait froid.

—

[ggeorgetteh]

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT

By Grace Halliday

PROLOGUE

EXT- tree lined street, Paris, pigeons and people walking, considerably quiet/ no crowds.

 JULES

(voiceover)

“Quand j’avais huit ans vieux que mon père a moi et mon frère à tout, comme ce parc comme vingt minutes de notre maison et c’était une journée très ensoleillée et le parc était si belle et verte. Voir comme à Paris, son vraiment sale, comme vous voyez tous ces pigeons et les rats, mais ce parc était vraiment sympa, oui”

(When I was eight years old my dad took me and my brother to just, like this park like twenty minutes away from our house and it was a really sunny day and the park was so beautiful and green. See like in Paris, its really dirty, like you see all these pigeons and rats, but this park was really nice, yeah)

 INTERVIEWER

(voiceover)

“And what did you do at the park?”

 JULES

(voiceover)

“Oh, oui, Désolé, euh, alors nous sommes allés à ce parc et mon père m’a mis sur ses épaules et nous marchait dans le flux. Puis mon frère et moi étions en cours d’exécution et en cours d’exécution, et il y avait des papillons... Papa courait derrière nous. Puis nous sommes arrivés à la porte, à l’extrémité du parc, il a été verrouillé, et tout ce vous avez pu voir au loin était grands roseaux, si grand. Et j’ai vu le paradis. Comme, oh mon Dieu (en riant) ne dites pas n’importe qui d’autre cela ! J’ai l’air aussi stupide, mais j’ai vu des lions et oiseaux arc-en-ciel et tout était brillant. Et c’est le moment le plus heureux de ma vie. Je m’ennuie de mon père.”

(Oh, yeah, sorry, um, so we went to this park and my dad put me on his shoulders and we walked down the by the stream. Then me and my brother were running, and running and there were butterflies… Dad was running behind us. Then we came to the gate at the end of the park, it was locked, and all you could see in the distance was tall reeds, so tall. And I saw paradise. Like, oh my god (laughing) don’t tell anyone else this! I sound so silly, but I saw lions and rainbow birds and everything was sparkling. And that was the happiest moment of my life. I miss my dad.)

 INTERVIEWER

(voiceover)

“Do you like ballet?”

 JULES

(voiceover)

“Tu te moques de moi ! Non !”

(Are you kidding me! No!)

   TITLE SCENE

Black screen with blood-red text- ‘Leader of the Pack by the Shangri-las’ playing in the background

 Title- The Kids are Alright

 Screenplay by Grace Halliday

 Directed by Grace Halliday

 Music by-

The Shangri-las

Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky

The Beatles

Robert Schumann

T.Rex

Chuck Berry

Alex Turner

 Starring-

Actor as Jules Durand

Actor as Alexandre

Actor as Raphael

Actress as Madame

Actor as Piano man

    SCENE 1

EXT. A French cottage in a hilly mountainous area by the sea. There is smoke coming from the top of the chimney. Madame is making coffee, warming her hands by the fire. There are pictures of herself and her brother on the mantelpiece.

 MADAME

(voiceover)

“L'ENFANCE… est si… décisif. C'est notre terrain d'essai, mais personne ne nous a dit cela. Certains garçons pauvres mis en place à l'échec. Ils sont tous mes garçons ; tout le monde. Vous pointez sur un petit garçon dans cette école et il n'y ! Je sais que son nom, son nom est important pour moi. Je sais qu'ils ont tous des anges à l'intérieur d'eux, et je vois ces anges, quand ils dansent. Mon frère et j'ai utilisé à la danse à travers cette plage, juste en bas du chemin, vous auriez vu en marche. Comme les fées sur le sable nous étions. C'est comme voler, la danse, c'est ce que l'on ressent. Je dis à mes garçons. Je crois que secrètement ils veulent savoir le secret de voler. Mais seulement je sais ! Ils vont découvrir quand ils sont prêts. Lorsque mon oiseau-garçons sont prêt à voler”

(childhood… is so… decisive. It’s our testing ground, but no one ever told us that. Some poor boys set up to fail. They are all my boys; everyone. You point to one boy in this school and there! I know his name, his name is important to me. I know they all have angels inside of them, and I see these angels when they dance. My brother and I used to dance across this beach, just down the path, you would have seen it walking in. Like fairies on the sand we were. It’s just like flying, dancing, that is what it feels like. I tell my boys this. I think secretly they want to know the secret to flying. But only I know! They will find out when they are ready. When my bird-boys are ready to fly)

 Jules walks in to the cottage- wrapped in scarfs, jackets, and wearing mittens. He sends snow flying through the wooden door.

 MADAME

��Vous venez à l'intérieur rapidement silly boy ! Vos muscles se geler !”

(Quickly come inside you silly boy! Your muscles will freeze!)

 Jules wipes feet on the mat and takes off jackets and scarves. He walks to into the kitchen space and looks in her cupboard for food.

 JULES

“Détendez-vous ! Détendez-vous ! Il faudrait quand même me faire de toute façon danse”

(Relax! Relax! You would still make me dance anyway)

 MADAME

“Vous êtes magnifique quand on danse… est-ce que vous avez dit Alexandre il voit sa mère jeudi ?"

(You look beautiful when you dance… did you tell Alexandre he is seeing his mother on Thursday?)

 JULES

“Oui”.

(yes)

 MADAME

“Bon. Son père sera bientôt fini sa phrase... Je pense qu'ils discutent de déménagement en Belgique”

(Good. His father will be finished his sentence soon... I think they are discussing moving to Belgium)

 Jules picks up a chocolate cherry tart and bites into it.

 MADAME

“Vous naughty boy ! Oh, et je suppose qu'on vous a dit qu'elle Maxine a trouvé deux cigarettes dans votre crayon cas hier ? Comment voulez-vous propulsez-vous dans l'air avec un corps fatigué… malade… hein ?"

(You naughty boy! Oh, and I suppose you Maxine told you that she found two cigarettes in your pencil case yesterday? How do you expect to propel yourself into the air with a… sick… tired body huh?)

 JULES

(giggling)

“Oh je ne veux pas laisser à Alexandre ! Il allait me présenter à cette fille qu'il a rencontrés à l'angle shop”

(Oh I don’t want Alexandre to leave! He was going to introduce me to this girl he met at the shop)

 MADAME

“Ouais ? Eh bien bonne chance à son”

(yeah? Well good luck to her)

 Jules laughs.

 Madame Smiles.

 INT. Jules joins Madame on her couch, with his head on a pillow in her lap, Madame stroking his hair. Madame looks out worryingly.

     SCENE 2

INT. the following is a surreal type scene set in a theatre. Schumann’s Waldscenen.9 Clavierstücke, Op.82:7 Vogel als Prophet plays.

Madame and Jules are on a wooden dinghy boat on a dark icy sea. They approach the shore, to find a white beach with ballerina in flowing white dresses dancing across the sand. They watch together, Jules head resting on Madame’s lap. Madame leaves the boat and joins the girls. She motions for Jules to come and join them, but he nods his head and stays on the boat. He looks tired and sea-sick.

 Snowy house.

Black and white theatre/ Charlie chaplin type. Woman motioning.

School windows.

     SCENE 3

INT. Shots of the staircases and quiet corridors of Madame’s ballet school. You notice the beautiful Parisian architecture and spirally staircases, the sun streaming through the art-deco windows.

 MADAME

(in her office, siting proudly in her fur throne-like chair)

“Je sais ce que les gens disent au sujet de cette école. Mais je ne m'inquiète pas. Si ils ont vu les luttes quotidiennes de ces enfants qu'ils s'inclineraient à moi et pleurer, que moi, une femme normale s'avère sauver les jeunes enfants. Nous prenons les enfants de douze à dix-huit ans, ceux qui sont à risque. Je sais ce qui se passe dans ces rues et j'ai toujours dit frère : "regardez-moi ! Je n'aime pas la personne que vous êtes en train de devenir !" (rires) J'ai mes mains sur mes hanches avec un peu d'aire de froufrous sur debout sur un tabouret, en remuant le dîner au-dessus de la cuisinière. J'avais onze ans. "Maintenant, écoutez-moi ! Je suis votre soeur et vous m'aimez tellement que vous devez rester ici, avec moi !" mais que pouvais-je faire pour lui ? Comment puis-je le garder occupé dans notre petit appartement ? C'est ce que ces garçons ont besoin, ils ont besoin de quelque chose pour les occuper, et à construire et pas seulement la force physique, mais la force mentale. Peut-être que je vois mon frère dans l'ensemble de leurs visages tristes et veulent faire tout mieux- peut-être que c'est mon expiation”

(I know what people say about this school. But I don’t care. If they saw the everyday struggles of these kids they would bow to me and weep, that I, a normal woman is saving young children. We take children from twelve to eighteen years of age, those who are at risk. I know what happens on those streets and I always told me brother: “look at me! I do not like the person you are becoming!” (laughs) I would have my hands on my hips with a little frilly apron on standing on a stool, stirring dinner over the stove. I was eleven. “Now listen to me! I am your sister and you love me so you have to stay here, with me!” But what could I do for him? How would I keep him occupied in our little flat? That is what these boys need, they need something to keep them occupied, and to build not only physical strength, but mental strength. Maybe I see my brother in all of their sad faces and want to make everything better- maybe this is my atonement.)

 INTERVIEWER

“But, you were only eleven years old… am I correct?”

MADAME

“Oui”

(Yes)

 INTERVIEWER

“Then, how would you have been able to protect him from the world, from your father… at eleven years old”

 MADAME

“Je… Je ne sais pas… parfois, les garçons vont entrer dans un combat, commençons à poinçons. Ils sont envoyés à mon bureau à 9 h le soir et je suis tellement marre. J'ai réveillé à 2:00 le matin avec cris d'un insomniaque de 13 ans… et parfois je me demande pourquoi j'ai dû passer par ce., pourquoi j'étais celui qui avait pour abriter les garçons perdus de Paris. Je suppose que la protection est une façon de montrer l'amour, il n'est pas la meilleure façon… mais c'est la façon dont j'exprime mon amour : pour mes élèves et mon frère. Cela signifie que j'aime.”

( I… I don’t know… sometimes the boys will get into a fight, start throwing punches. They get sent to my office at 9:00 at night and I get so fed up. I get woken up at 2:00 in the morning with yelling from a thirteen year old insomniac… and sometimes I question why I had to go through this., why I was the one who had to shelter the lost boys of Paris.  I guess protection is a way of showing love, it isn’t the best way… but it’s how I express my love: to my students and my brother. It means I love.)

     SCENE 4

EXT. Montage. Francois Hardy’s Il est tout pour moi plays.

Jules and his two friends, Alexandre and Raphael run out of the school on their break. They jump and yell in the air “Liberté, Equalité, Fraternité!” (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity).

They go into public bathroom and put on thick layers eyeliner and dark eye shadow, leaning over each other to see themselves in the tiny chipped mirror. Then they go into a boutique store- eating chocolates. They sit with chocolate all over their faces, dazed and warm.

They go back to the school on a bus. All three sit on a small seat, heads resting on one another. Alexandre looks out the window, and Raphael and Jules, on either side of him, have their heads on his shoulders. Cuts to a new shot of Jules, Alexandre and Raphael at the back of the bus singing Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles.

 JULES, ALEXANDRE AND RAPHAEL

(singing merrily)

Here Comes the Sun, Here Comes the Sun,

et je dis que c'est bien

 Little Darling, c'est été un long hiver froid seul

petit chéri, c'est que depuis des années il a été ici

 Here Comes the Sun, Here Comes the Sun

et je dis que c'est bien

 Little Darling, le sourire revenant aux faces

petit chéri, il me semble que depuis des années il a été ici

 Here Comes the Sun, Here Comes the Sun

et je dis que c'est bien

 sun, sun, sun, ici il s'agit

sun, sun, sun, ici il s'agit

sun, sun, sun, ici il s'agit

sun, sun, sun, ici il s'agit

sun, sun, sun, ici il s'agit

 petit chéri, je crois que la glace fond lentement

petit chéri, Il semble que depuis des années c'est clair

 sous le soleil, sous le soleil,

et je dis que c'est bon

c'est bon

         SCENE 5

INT. Jules dorm room that he shares with another boy from the school aged 12.Jules opens the door and presents his room to the interviewer.

 JULES

“C'est elle”

(This is it)

 The camera pans around room. There are two beds, all neat and made. The bed sheets are red. There are football posters. Jules side features large posters of Nick Cave. One wall is covered in family photos. A bass guitar sits by the bed. Pillared candles are lit.

 Jules looks around his room.

 JULES

“J'aime Nick Cave. Il est si fantastique. Regardez-le ! Cheveux hérissés, noir comme les corbeaux, les corneilles. Il est comme une créature d'une autre planète. Vous le savez, il n'a jamais lavé ses cheveux, il serait dye il noir, feuilletez-le, puis dowse dans hairspray. Il est cool.”

(I love Nick Cave. He is so fantastic. Look at him! Black spiky hair, like ravens; crows. He is like a creature from another planet. You know, he never washed his hair, he would dye it black, flick it down, then dowse it in hairspray. He’s cool.)

 INTERVIWER

“Who are the other people, in these pictures over here?”

 JULES

“Oh, c'est ma famille”

(oh, that’s my family”)

 JULES

(Jules takes one photo off the wall and points at each person)

"C'est la mère, Ophelia, père, Axel, et ma petite soeur Adrienne. Elle est mignonne n'est-ce pas ?"

(This is mother, Ophelia, father, Axel, and my little sister Adrienne. She’s cute isn’t she?)

JULES

(Jules looks into the photograph, as if lost in a memory)

" De toute façon, suffisamment de trucs gnangnan que"

(Anyway, enough of that soppy stuff)

 (Jules laughs to himself. The other boy in the room laughs with Jules)

 OTHER BOY

(laughing)

“URGGGH ! Ne pense pas à eux, il vous apporte la misère !"

(URGGGH! Don’t think about them, it brings you misery!)

 JULES

"J'aimerais être dix ans de plus"

(I wish I could be ten years old again)

 INTERVIEWER

“Why is that?”

 JULES

“Qu'en est-il avec les adultes et leurs questions stupides ? Pourquoi ne voulez-vous pas être dix encore ? Tout est parfait. Et chaud. Vous n'avez pas de sentiments. Le pas des sentiments troublants de toute façon”

(What is it with adults and their stupid questions? Why wouldn’t you want to be ten again? Everything is perfect. And warm. You don’t have feelings. Not the deep unsettling feelings anyway)

 The other boy nods in agreeance.

 The camera pans the matches on the floor and the football posters on the walls.

 JULES

“Peut-être c'est pourquoi j'ai fait ce que j'ai fait. Je perds feeing. Je n'en ressent que l'loin les choses... comme des fantômes”

(Maybe that’s why I did what I did. I loose feeing. I only feel the far away things... like ghosts)

 Jules sits on the floor with his legs splayed out.

 INTERVIEWER

(voiceover)

“What are you doing”

 JULES

(voiceover)

“S'ÉTEND ! Toute la journée, tous les jours. Vous ne croire à quel point ils s'attendent à ce que nous kick nos jambs”

(Stretches! All day, every-day. You wouldn’t believe how high they expect us to kick our legs)

     SCENE 6

EXT. exterior shot of the grand building. It is 10:30pm

 INT. outside Madame’s office- boys bleary eyed and sleepy. The boys look very sad and there are some holding each other and crying. Some wait by Madame’s office door- emitting a faint glow. They listen to the shouting inside the door. You can hear mumbling, coughs and sniffles.

 JULES

(voiceover)

“Maman l'a dit ! Elle l'a dit ! S'il vous plaît ! Je veux rentrer chez moi, s'il vous plaît… Laissez-moi sortir !”

(Mum said so! She said so! Please! I want to go home, please… LET ME OUT!)

 Int. Madame’s office

 MADAME

“Nous avons des critères stricts. S'ils ne sont pas prêts alors qu'ils ne vont pas. Je sais que Jules mère. Elle est faible ; elle ne sait pas comment traiter avec lui. C'est pourquoi il apprend le ballet. C'est une discipline en soi. J'ai parlé à sa mère et elle n'est pas prêt de l'avoir non plus. Sa fille, Adrienne, Jules petite soeur a de la difficulté à l'école. Le tempérament de son père n'a pas refroidi”

(We have strict criteria. If they are not ready then they are not going. I know Jules mother. She is weak; she doesn’t know how to deal with him. That’s why he learns ballet. It is a discipline in itself. I have spoken to his mother and she isn’t ready to have him back either. Her daughter, Adrienne, Jules little sister is having a hard time at school. His father’s temper hasn’t cooled)

    SCENE 7

INT. Jules dorm room. A weak sunlight streams through the curtains. Clothes litter the floor. Alex Turner’s Stuck on the Puzzle plays.

 MADAME

“Obtenez jusqu... Obtenez jusqu!”

(Get up… Get up!)

 Madame prods Jules wrapped in his covers in his bed. He ignores her.

 MADAME

“Vous avez manqué votre jogging matinal et s'étirer. J'ai eu deux professeurs vous rapport manquant"

(You’ve missed your morning run and stretch. I’ve had two teachers report you missing)

 JULES

“Piss off”

 MADAME

“Jeune homme tu n'as pas intérêt à me parler de cette façon.”

(Young man don’t you dare talk to me that way)

 Madame smacks the mound underneath the covers.

 MADAME

“Trois semaines jusqu'à la performance. Vous aurez l'air comme une oie”

(Three weeks till the performance. You’ll look like a goose out there)

JULES

“"Je ne m'inquiète pas".

(I don’t care)

 MADAME

“"Est-ce que je vais devoir trouver quelqu'un pour vous sortir du lit ? Les filles sont ici, vous serez humilié"

(Am I going to have to get someone to get you out of bed? The girls are here, you will be humiliated)

 Madame briskly walks out of the room.

 INT. ballet practice studio. Girls from a nearby ballet school stand at the bar.

 Jules does the steps and rolls his eyes. He keeps on pinching one of the girls on the bum and blowing air onto her neck, teasing her.

 Jules, in his dress rehearsal makeup and leotard is in the kitchens eating eclairs.

 Jules, crying on his bed- hysterical, yet quiet.

 MADAME

“D'accord, vous avez eu votre jour de congé. Tout est démêlé ?”

(okay, you’ve had your day off. Everything sorted out?)

 JULES

“Oui”

(yes)

Madame walks over to Jules, who is covered in sweat, and gives him an awkward hug and pat on the back.

 EXT. Jules rides his bike in the blue afternoon around the school. The sky is a magnificent painting of blue, purple and pink clouds.

      SCENE 8

INT. the following is a surreal type scene set in a theatre. Miolin’s 3 Gymnopedies plays.

Jules sits in his wooden dinghy by the white beach when he hears yelling behind him. He looks back and sees his two friends, Raphael and Alexandre, and his sister and mother on a beautiful pirate ship filled with candles and a lion at the stern, keeping watch. They sail next to his boat. Jules is about to jump on when Madame grabs his arm, looks at him sadly, and tries to get him back on to the little dinghy. Grumpy, he sits back down in the boat, while Madame frets over him, trying again the interest him in the dancers on the beach.

      SCENE 9

INT. Luhrmann the pianist plays a ballet piece, cigarette dangling from his lips, with a bored expression. He is fat and pretentious. The class stands around the room, catching their breath. Some boys practice steps in the corner. Some hold onto their aching feet.

 LUHRMANN

(Voiceover- in a drawl voice)

“Madame leur a appris eh bien, je vais lui donner cette"

(Madame has taught them well, I’ll give her that)

 In the background Madame is bossing Luhrmann around.

 MADAME

“Changer la clé ! Plus vite… plus vite !”

(Change the key! Faster… faster!)

 LUHRMANN

“Ils ne s'inquiètent qu'ils reçoivent peut-être les plus recherchés après une formation de ballet dans le monde. Savez-vous combien cela leur coûterait si ils n'ont pas mis sur cette façade de la "Oh regardez-moi je suis tellement cassée ! Je veux tuer des gens !" Non, je ne voudrais pas vous dire, vous ne pourriez pas même comprendre combien il est”

(They don’t care that they are receiving possibly the most sought after ballet training in the world. Do you know how much it would cost them if they didn’t put on this façade of ‘Oh look at me im so broken! I want to kill people!” No, I wouldn’t tell you, you wouldn’t even understand how much it is)

 Luhrmann looks the interviewer up and down in distaste.

 LUHRMANN

(voiceover)

“Et maintenant je suis coincé avec ces natures mortes. L'esclave de ce piano dynamité. J'ai été à l'Opéra !”

(And now I am stuck with these low lifes. A slave to that blasted piano. I should have been in the Opera House!)

 A montage of the boys running away with his sheet music, sending him evil eyes during lunch, and begging him to play rude songs on the piano.

 LUHRMANN

“Je n'ai jamais agi comme eux quand j'avais leur âge. J'étais parfaitement normale, stable, enfant de la provinces. Parfois, je me demande pourquoi elle me dérange. Ils sont tellement capricieux”

(I never behaved like them when I was their age. I was a perfectly, normal, stable child from the provinces. Sometimes I wonder why she bothers. They are so temperamental)

 Luhrmann walking to the dance studios, his body heavy from side to side because he is so fat.

 LUHRMANN

“Si il y a une chose que je peux offrir les fripouilles, c'est la puissance expressive, transformatrice de la musique. Je veux qu'à la métamorphose dans le délicat papillons des vallées. Pour les rendre cultivé, à apprendre de l'Art Ancien”

(If there is one thing I can offer the scoundrels, it is the transformative, expressive power of music. I want them to metamorphosis into the dainty butterflies of the valleys. To make them cultured, to learn from the Old Masters)

 INTERVIEWER

“So you want to save them? Is that it?”

 LUHRMANN

“Je suppose que, même si, ils sont joli beaucoup trop loin partis maintenant ne sont-elles pas”

(I guess, although, they are pretty much too far gone now aren’t they)

 Luhrmann laughs wickedly

           SCENE 10

INT. Shots of the quiet corridors- juxtaposed against the crowded and loud dining hall. Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker No.14 Pas de deux- Intrada.

It is 4:00am and everyone is having breakfast in the dining hall- boys run from tables to table, bleary eyed but incredibly excited. You can see Madame in the corner checking off things on a large, bulky clipboard. It is the day before the performance, the final dress rehearsal.

 In the change rooms, Madame makes final adjustments and fittings to a boys striking bird costume. He does fur perfect turns.

 BALLET STUDENT

“-Mademoiselle, je… Je ne trouve pas mes collants"

(Miss, I… I can’t find my tights)

 MADAME

“Quoi ?"

(What!)

 BALLET STUDENT

“"Je pense que je les ai laissé dans la boutique l'autre jour lorsque j'ai été acheter les appartements"

(I think I left them in the shop the other day when I was buying the flats)

 MADAME

“Savez-vous combien j'ai à faire aujourd'hui ! Je ne peux pas courir autour de Paris juste pour une paire de collants ! Trouver une autre paire, rendez-vous sur les cuisines et les teindre"

(Do you know how much I have to do today! I can’t run around Paris just for a pair of tights! Find another pair, go to the kitchens and dye them)

 BALLET STUDENT

“"Qu'est-ce que je les teindre avec ?"

(What do I dye them with?)

 MADAME

“"Je ne sais pas, essayez une betterave ou quelque chose"

(I don’t know, try a beetroot or something)

 Ballet student looks at camera strangely.

 Luhrmann runs down the hall, dropping piano music as he goes, puffing laboriously.

 In the theatre, boys leap elegantly across the stage.

 The halls are lined with boys stretching in tracksuits and baggy jumpers, makeup half done.

 Jules, Alexandre and Raphael run down the hall laughing.

 On the stage Madame walks around with a ruler, slapping anyone who isn’t doing the right steps.

 In the makeup rooms there is hairspray everywhere, a faint glow coming from the mirrors. All the boys have different bird makeup on. Jules uses hairspray in his hair to complete his black swan look.

 Jules and Raphael add wear wigs and dresses, acting drag to Chuck Berry’s Never Can Tell. They dance provocatively.

 The music changes back to the Nutcracker.

 Behind the curtain boys are shaking with nerves and doing jumps to calm themselves down. Jules and Raphael wait for their queue behind the curtain.

 JULES

“Qui vient vous voir ?”

(Who’s coming to see you?)

 RAPHAEL

“Papa et maman et sa petite sœur. Peut-être même grand-mère. Vous ?”

(Mum and dad and little sister. Maybe even grandma. You?)

 JULES

“"Maman est venue. Elle vous demande si madame elle peut recevoir une copie de l'interprétation ou exécution sur CD"

(Mum is coming. She’s asking Madame if she can have a copy of the performance on CD)

 The boys dance across the stage.

 MADAME

“Jules ! Et les cygnes noirs !”

(Jules! And the black swans!)

 Jules walks onto the stage looking incredibly proud and happy, upmost concentration on his face. Luhrmann rolls his eyes. All the boys watch from the wings.

  SCENE 11

INT. the following is a surreal type scene set in a theatre. Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake Op.20 Scene plays.

The boat hits the shore of the white beach, the home of the beautiful young dancers. Madame tries to get out, tumbling into the water. The pianist pulls of his shirt and pants, his fat body only left in his shorts and singlet, and dives into the water to the shore. They are both on the shore with the dancers. They are so caught up in what they are doing that they forget about Jules and go and explore the island. Jules gets out of the boat, as if he was a baby again, and these were his first steps. The beach is silent. The girls don’t stop dancing though. They introduce Jules into the dance, and he dances with them as an ordinary boy who is having fun.

        EPILOGUE

EXT. set on a real white sandy beach, with the waves crashing in the distance. The boys from the school look out and walk across the rocks. Some splash water. T.Rex cosmic dancer plays.

 JULES

(Voiceover)

"Je pense que je sais que je ne serai pas quitter ici pendant un moment… c'est juste ennuyeux… comme penser de ma ma et Adrienne. Mais j'ai réalisé que je ne suis pas sûre, et ni eux, quand je suis autour. Mais j'ai fini par accepter. Comme c'est ma chambre et ce sont mes frères et Madame est ma mère. Mais ce n'est pas comme si je suis une créature fragile qui doit être à l'abri et tout. Je me sens plus d'espoir ici, comme je peux changer et que vous souhaitez modifier. Je pense qu'ici je vois que ce que je fais est mal- entendu les spiels ces gars trouver quand nous venons dans un jour fatigué ou stressé. Il y a une centaine de reflets de moi dans ce bâtiment. Et tous les gars de tous les jours étaient juste, qui, ont fait de mauvaises décisions. Nous ne sommes pas encore allé aussi loin que cela, sommes-nous ?"

(I think I know that I won’t be leaving here for a while… it’s just annoying… like thinking of my ma and Adrienne. But I have come to realise that I am not safe there, and neither they, when I’m around. But I’ve come to accept that. Like this is my bedroom and these are my brothers and Madame is my mother. But it’s not like I’m some fragile creature that must be sheltered and everything. I feel more hopeful here, like I can change and want to change. I think here I see that what I am doing is bad- hearing the spiels these guys come up with when we come in tired or stressed one day. There are a hundred reflections of me in this building. And were all just everyday guys, who, have made the wrong decisions. We aren’t that far gone yet, are we?)

 Jules laughs to himself.