#giving myself something to do while rehearsing my lines for a show lmao

[lab-trash]

So the goal is to eventually do all of these, and some of them I'm definitely doing for characters that I chose (ex. number 6 I'll be doing Kaz and Oliver, for obvious reasons)

But if you want, you can send in an ask or reblog with a number and pairing, or maybe even grouping.

These will take a while, most likely, so I'm sorry for that

[redemptionbaby]

The Altar is Calling

Pairing: Demon!Low Honor?Arthur/Noble!Reader

Summary: Practicing your vows for an arranged marriage, you’ve accidentally performed them atop an ancient ruined alter, and bound yourself to Arthur

Words: 1240 

Author’s note: This is probably kinda bad lmao I’m rusty and tired and Arthur is just whoever I want him to be at this point

The forest has always been a place of serenity, finding sacredness in its lack of change. There’s a spiritual connection to be found when stepping on stones carved long before even your grandparents were born, since eroded and reclaimed by nature. Their markings are faded in clarity and in the memories of generations, once meaningful but now unintelligible. 

You find yourself upon this hallowed ground not in search of spiritual clarity, or reflection, but memory. The truth isn’t simply that you’re a spoiled noble girl with nothing better to do than rehearse vows for an arranged marriage, though you look upon it with a sense of complacent dread. The truth is that you’re not allowed to do much of anything else.

“With this hand I will… I will…” Your forgetfulness beckoned you into your own wandering thoughts. Was this family crest little but a burden cast upon you at birth? To be free of the troubles of survival, and robbed of choice in recompense? You tried to continue despite not finishing the first line.

“Love and something something, I promise to be your… wife? No, that sounds stupid. Even for a wedding.” To be completely honest, you paid much more attention to the pleasant sound of your heels clacking against stones than to your recitation. And who wouldn’t? Everyone loves a good heel clack.

“Give me peace and retrospection. Maybe?” The woods echoed with the sounds of your indifference and melancholy. No birds, no rustling leaves. 

“And you will be my knight. That part, I know!” you cheered inwardly without much thought, and plopped down onto an area of mossy cobble, with an exasperated sigh escaping you. Did you truly have no talents? Charm, agency, not even memory? That couldn’t be. You were sure you could remember if you really tried. Rehearsal be damned, you had something to prove to yourself.

“With this hand, I will guide you through the darkness

With love and generosity, I promise to be your light

Give me peace and protection

And you will be my knight”

To say you were pleased with yourself was the understatement of the year. But if you were to refuse yourself such simple pleasures as that, you’d scarcely find any enjoyment in life. You were pulled from your contentment by a hand reaching around your waist. A big hand. The warmed, biggest hand you’d ever felt. Not that you were some sort of serial hand-toucher or anything.

Curiosity overpowered what little sense of self-preservation you had. With guidance from the aforementioned hand and the arm attached to it, presumably the rest of the body as well, you spun around to find yourself in the arms of someone you’d never seen before. Someone or something not of this world.

Normally you would not so hastily draw such conclusions, or course. You weren’t judgemental or anything. But the signs were there, in the form of one strikingly handsome man, tall and well built, sporting a pair of curled black horns, a matching black tail, and cloven feet. And yes, his legs were like, kinda hairy, but people sometimes said the same about you. Everything about him expressed his being able to snap you like a twig, but the way he held you somehow told you better. It was a snug and tender hold, not uncomfortable, but precisely the way someone very insecure and simultaneously excited holds something. You were broken away from your thoughts yet again, and like, talk about rude, by a voice. His voice. Low down, drawling, a touch of gruffness, but gentle beneath it all.

“Couldn’ta said it better myself, sweetheart.” The adoration behind his words and his eyes, which you’d now met, was overwhelming. The kiss he planted on your lips was just the same. Suffice to say, you were too dumbstruck with confusion to retaliate. You didn’t know where to start with all this.

“Who are you?” panic, though not evident in your voice, was starting to creep into your chest from your diaphragm like a worm through an apple. If worms actually did that, you’ve never actually seen it, but you’d always wanted to. He had the nerve to laugh in a non committal way.

“Yer husband, as of about two minutes ago.” And also a huge clown, he forgot to say.

“Rather, um, why?” He sighed a little, a mix of both dreamy and relenting, as he saw you clearly didn’t know a damned thing about what happened and you weren’t just gonna make it easy for him by rolling with the punches. But love ain’t supposed to be easy, he remembers.

“Y’said those vows on my altar, darlin’. Though ya might not have guessed it, from the state of things ‘round here.” He gestured to the floor of carved stones, runes just barely aglow with his presence. “Contract’s a contract. And you wouldn’t believe how long I been waitin’ to hear words like those, sweet pea. Never woulda believed they’d come from someone as cute as you. Never thought they’d sound quite that lovely, either.” His expression grows softer, and quite honestly, way harder to refuse as he speaks. With the thought of your former betrothed, whose face you can barely recall now, you can’t say you’re not warming up to the idea of being married to like, a goat-man-spirit or whatever. Just a little.

“You just married yourself a demon, pretty lady. But I promise you won’t regret it. I’ll make ya happy, protect you ‘n all the other stuff good husbands are ‘spposed to do. Arthur Morgan, at your service.” The last part sounds like an afterthought, but you can’t fight your polite upbringing and introduce yourself in turn while he smiles like an idiot, unbeknownst to him.

“That’s a fine name. Real pretty.”

------

Before you know it, for hours you’ve been sat on the stony ground chatting up your ‘husband’. Every so often he tried to inch a little closer to you, and half the time you indulge him, the other half you scoot away and tease him. And Arthur is surprised. You’ve got way more questions about matrimony than you do the whole demon thing. No askin’ about living in hell, or bearing the antichrist. Your most recent question was about if you had to take his last name.

“I don’t expect you to or nothin’, it ain’t exactly interesting, Morgan. Hell, I think I forget it sometimes. Demons don’t tend to care about that sorta thing anyhow.”

His more sadistic, “stereotypical demon” personality starts shining through when he talks about how a lot of demons brand their partners instead. You can see him delight in the apprehension and worry on your face.

“Don’t worry babygirl, I ain’t gonna subject you to anythin’ like that. Not yet, anyways.” Careful, Arthur. Your unmarriageable clown is showing.

A call through the forest interrupts your arguably pleasant chit-chat. Your name. It’s one of the servants. Dusk is fast approaching the horizon, and the scheduled time for your wedding rehearsal must be near.

“Got somewhere to be, little lady?”

“You could say that. There’s something you should know about me, Arthur. I’m betrothed.”

The momentary delight at hearing his own name from your lips is cut short with a simmering jealous annoyance. He quiets it down. You’re not ready to see him like that yet, but someday he’ll be able to bear his soul to you, he can feel it.

“Well. Nobody’s perfect.”

[couldnt-think-of-a-funny-name]

-Footloose Hellweek day 2!

- so, there’s this other girl who also helps the sound guy out and she just had like. a full break down. while we were getting mics on the kids

- like....it was A Lot kjdsfkjsdf so I was pretty much just doing that all by myself which made it go even slower than normal, I was trying to explain the mic list to the kids and get them to stop staring at her, and then after everyone was up we discovered she had put a lot of the batteries in backwards so I had to go track them all down...truly a mess my God

- I literally still can’t even figure out what the problem was like...she got upset because she didn’t realize we were mic-ing them up for act 2 but. at this point the only two kids we had done so far didn’t need to do any switches between the acts so it literally wasn’t even a situation??? help

- there’s this guy that works for the college that has been giving the director shit for over a year now (she described him as ‘the most unpleasant man I’ve ever met’ and from her that translates roughly to ‘a bitchass dick who’s mother couldn’t love him’ lmao) and Anyway apparently where the sound guy was storing some boxes Only For One Day And Not The Actual Show was a problem and she got in trouble for it. He also? unplugged all of our speakers and monitors? For no reason given? And it’s not only that but he yanked all the tape up and put the cables away excuse me what the fuck

- so I had to go and tape shit down Twice yesterday with two different rolls of tape and the second tape....literally took skin off my hands. holy shit.

- we had to take the uncle’s mic away from him in act 2 because he only has one line and we don’t have enough mics and like lmao he was fine with it but he said something like he thought he should get it back because he sings ensemble songs and God knows we need to hear at least one guy singing well (not those exact words but the Implication) and I was like. Sir I absolutely agree but legally all diva moments must be held in the dressing rooms and not the soundbooth lmao

- God the alternative music director was there and every song was happening So Slowly and he didn’t know any cues (during one run of lets hear it for the boy Rusty sang ‘and this is supposed to be faster anywaaaay’ instead of the actual line lmao). anyway this is the guy that kinda Ruined little mermaid so I’m like....you’ve had time to learn the music what is your issue. What is your continual issue??

- omg they just...didn’t build the bridge for ‘almost paradise’ they’re just standing on the same ladder the use for the train scene and it’s TRAGIC last time we did footloose they built a bridge and everyone in the cast got to write all over it and it looked ROMANTIC AS FUCK

- during the vote scene when they were trying to ask the uncle his vote one kid yelled ‘WES!!!’ like Nicole from nailed it and it was hilarious 

- the kid playing Willard has a promising future as an Elvis impersonator 

- during ‘let’s make believe we’re in love’ the girl soloist did a very peculiar riff and then cut herself off and said ‘I just wanna apologize to everyone who had to hear that’ kfsjddjsf

- lmao one girl asked me ‘so do you have to like take all the batteries out and replace them every day’ and I said yeah and she went ‘dear GOD I’m so sorry’ dsjfjdsf the kids seemed very happy to find out I get paid to be there lmao

- the actual show itself....again, it’s very messy and I can easily tell they’ve barely run some of it before, but I can also tell if they clean it up before Friday it’ll be a good show

- but also like....they just keep forgetting their lines oh my God like. They’ve had at least 12 weeks to learn their lines already. the directors husband just died like can we please not stress her out any more than strictly necessary?? it seems like every scene she’s threatening to cut lines because no one’s bothering to learn them omfg

- so like. I believe they Can pull everything together before Friday but like, Will they? remains to be seen

- fingers crossed for rehearsal 3 tonight

[jlf23tumble]

1D Day, Hour Two

The file I’m watching on YouTube is much shorter than an hour (44 minutes!!), but that’s because the poster kindly removed the “VT” (shudder) from random countries (it always boils down to [insert country’s name’s] fans wilding, and there’s only so much of that I can take).

Still, hour 2 is fucking ICONIC for many reasons, the biggest being Harry’s barely constrained rage. Yes, Louis’s “done with it all” demeanor on 1D Day is (justifiably) legendary, but Harry’s right there with him (twin flames, y’all). I can’t tell if he’s coked up, genuinely angry, or just passive-aggressively petty because someone told him he had to speak more quickly, much more loudly, and with some enthusiasm, for chrissakes. Oh, he delivers, all right, so much maniacal shouting. Deets under the cut.

Hour 2 is all Lirry, and I, for one, love Lirry, so it’s 44 minutes well spent. Liam tells us, “We’re kicking it off with VT from  France, give it up for France!” (“FRANCAIS!” Harry yells), and after the missing bit of French VT, we’re back to Lirry, with Harry vacillating between murdering the French language (“Mercy boo coo to France”) and shouting “I ATE SNAILS” as his contribution to what they did in France last time they were there (Liam played football with some guys near the Eiffel Tower, fwiw).

The first guest is Dynamo (or, “DYNAMO, EVERYBODY” if you’re Harry), and he’s here for card tricks and more (“OH, SNAP” is Harry’s response to Dynamo nearly twisting his own finger off, and god, it’s horrifying). Harry’s fairly manic through the entirety of the card tricks, but I love Liam because he’s me in every card trick (“I’m glad mine’s easy to remember because I’d probably forget,” which is true of any card you take, like, ever???):

“WHO LOVES MAGIC!” Harry shouts, and there’s a needlessly complicated special interactive trick that gets introduced here, with Dynamo saying that he wrote a prediction on a piece of paper and sealed it in a box at the beginning of the day, so he needs to Harry to keep the key safe. Points if you correctly assumed that Harry will stuff that key right in next to his dick as a joke.

Because nobody rehearsed or prepared for this epic full-day live event, there are all kinds of problems with the cameras, and if you want a fun drinking game to get you hammered within 45 minutes, take a shot every time you see a variation of this (Liam looking vaguely concerned while Harry aggressively points at the sky or the camera while shouting):

A horrifically bad segment that’s a poorly disguised advert for Google Hangouts (lmaoaoaoaooaoaoa) kicks off questions from all over the world (the audio is bad, none of the visuals syncs), but we get some iconic answers to deeply important questions, like, “If you were in the Hunger Games, who would  survive the longest?” Liam says he’d hide and then kill passersby (yikes), and Harry says he’s more of a lover than a fighter, so he’d hide in a tree until it all blew over. Liam: “Oh, yeah, you’re definitely more of a lover.” Harry: “Easy there, Piers Morgan.”

The next question is from a group of girls wearing Christmas sweaters, which annoys Harry because “it’s a whole month and two days early,” but I think his issues are bigger than jumping the gun on holidays (and honestly, the UK doesn’t have the twin buffers of T’day and H’ween, so you KNOW this is just part of his general rage). Anyway, they want to know what other careers these two would be involved with, sans the D, and because they’re five, Liam says spaceman and Harry says baker.

After a series of horrible glitches, the next question is about which superhero they’d be, and me as Harry, blowing a giant raspberry as he ponders this important question with the level of exhaustion he surely must feel, three years into this band/interview technique. Liam can read the room, so he picks this one up and says he’d be Kung-Fu Panda, which makes it easy for Harry to say Hong Kong Fuey (!!!) or Top Cat.

With that mess done, it’s time to “ROLL THE VT!” (according to Harry) for Switzerland, and because the producers here are nothing if not cliché lovers, that means tiny cowbells for Harry to play with when we come back. He quickly tires of this, throws the cowbells off stage, yells “WE NEED A CAMERA,” and walks straight into the call box with the overwhelmed girls from hour 1. These girls are still weeping, but Harry says, “Thank you for listening to the album, you’re getting kicked out, sorry,” in the flattest voice possible, so good cop Liam hurries over to ask the weeping girls which song they liked and usher in two new people.

“Happily” is debuted, but we don’t get to see it, boo, but we do get ushered over to a theater with some contest winners. Or as Harry says, “We’re here backstage to meet some fans who have won a chance to be here…SHUT UP…in our VIP cinema,” and then, “You’re crying…is that because I told you to shut up? I didn’t mean it.” Liam is there again to save the day, but there are lots of sound problems, so it’s hard to tell what’s happening, tbh.

Anyway, these fans get to ask some iconic questions, such as, “What would we find in your fridge?” which gives us this classic from Harry: “I DON’T LIVE ANYWHERE, SO NO FOOD,” as the audience says, “awwwwww” in the background.

There’s a question from a lady on the screen, saying that she’s in front of the X Factor studios, and she wants to know what they would change their audition song to, if they could go back in time, and because Harry’s well aware of his various stalkers, he says, “I saw her the other day at the X Factor studios, 100 percent” (fwiw, Harry would do “Wrecking Ball” with props, and Liam would do “Mirrors”).

The last question is what they would change if they could go back in time, and Liam says probably his older haircuts, and Harry says that one day in April (and he mentions April again later in the hour, so someone investigate), he had a dodgy breakfast burrito, so he’d probably change that (he also had a dodgy batch of prawns one time, too, but that’s a different story, and god, he’s an underrated comedian). The sound is for shit, but Liam doubts this, prompting Harry to scream, “DON’T JUDGE ME, LIAM, I’M TRYING MY BEST,” and whyyyyyy is he so on fire (and why do I love it so much):

We get back to the studio with an inexplicably breathless Scott Mills (he says he ran…but from where, lmao) and do another spin to figure out who the official 1D account (????) will follow on twitter. Harry starts cheating before people start yelling at him to stop, which is a shame, really, just follow all of these poor bastards, honestly!

We don’t get to see the VT from Germany, but we do get to see Lirry bickering about camera problems and stolen lines, plus an exhaustive rundown of all the thrilling things to come, and I’m so thankful to the person who made this moment a Dua Lipa meme all those months ago:

One of my favorite segments has a really awkward setup, but tl/dr/dw, Harry brags, “I’m a bit of a chef myself, and if I’m honest, Liam, I’m pretty damned good at it,” so we get a “ROLL VT!” and an aggressive finger point, both from Harry, and a silly but charming cook off with the tour chef, who seems like a lovely lady (p.s. look at how glorious his hair was under all those tablecloths…also, he’s chewing gum in a gross way, but this whole bit is worth watching in full):

The cook off is genuinely funny and results in a beautiful pavlova from Sarah and a basic sandwich (with pickle and paprika) from Harry, judged by Mark Jarvis, Gemma Styles, and Lou Teasdale, all of whom Harry bribes. I’m more fascinated with this ring, and my head canon has it either saying ILY or JEN (both of which make me smile):

With that bit over, we move on to more rapping of random tweets, and it’s embarrassing, so I won’t get into that. But the VT of Liam surfing is something special, not only because he looks so obviously happy while he’s doing it, but also because he says some very profound things in the interview around it: “I get followed a lot, so it’s quite nice to get out in the sea where nobody can follow you […] it’s so nice and peaceful […] it doesn’t matter what you look like, you can just have a good time, it’s a bit of an escape,” and ouchhhhhh, that’s some real talk.

We head back to the studio for a fashion segment with Louise someone; a handful of lucky fans in Sweden won a t-shirt design contest, and Lirry are gonna do some modeling. Louise is happy that Harry knows where Sweden is (Harry:  “I got a B in geography…might have been a C, can’t remember”), and some poor shlub working on this trainwreck in the shadow gets dragged out on camera because he’s wearing green jeans, but he’s not there for long (Harry: “GET OUT” *shove*). Louise describes the fashion show to come, and Harry says that he’s quite good at walking in straight lines, but Liam reminds him that he tends to fall over a lot on stage and that the tiny catwalk is actually pretty shiny (god bless Liam for being so responsible).

Luckily for all of us, professional model Cindy Crawford is there to help with some tips (she’s introduced as “IT’S ONLY BLOODY CINDY CRAWFORD” by Harry, and I die with Cindy’s “Hello, boys,” and Harry’s “Hello, Mrs. Crawford”…followed swiftly by Cindy’s, “Please don’t call me Mrs. Crawford”). There’s some sexi modeling, and even though he only wears two shirts to Harry’s three (*and* Harry gets down on the ground to pose), Liam wins, according to the Swedes. He requests a model  off with Cindy as his prize, and he’s surprisingly good?

The last segment is with Dynamo, the magic man, and for some reason, Harry’s weirdly agro about his own shirt mic, like, unnecessarily so, ripping it off to speak with Dynamo before gently putting it back where it belongs. Maybe he’s just frustrated about how they have to use Google+ (lololololol) for a totally convoluted imaginary concert that ultimately doesn’t work (me as him, tbh). 

While Liam does tech support live on air (!!), Harry asks Dynamo to do some card tricks to stall for time after literally nobody says a word when he monotones, “We’re having a technical difficulty…does anybody know any jokes.” Harry pulls a card as directed, but then, for seemingly no reason, he suddenly starts yelling, “THIS ISN’T WORKING, SHALL WE SEE SOME HIGHLIGHTS? HIGHLIGHTS!!! ROLL HIGHLIGHTS [aggressive pointing]!!” and the highlights are truly awful, and I hope he’s enjoying his smoke break for hour 3, jfc.

[echoes-of-realities]

be my fire in the cold (and I'll be waiting by the mistletoe) - 1/25

* * *

[Fanfiction] // [ao3]

[Next Chapter]

Summary: When the production stage manager for George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, starring one Brittany S. Pierce, is fired seven shows into its run, Santana is hired and thrown into the production with barely any preparation.

Notes: So remember that little something for Christmas I mentioned back in November? Yeah, this is that. And by “little” I actually mean a 25 chapter fic I’ve been working on since October. This is why I haven’t posted anything for so long, because I’ve been working on this since then. I didn’t want to say anything until I knew for sure that I’d be able to finish it, but here it is! I’ll be posting one chapter a day until Christmas, hopefully around the same time everyday but I can’t guarantee that for sure lol.

If you have any questions about the technical terms in the theatre just ask and I’ll try my best to answer! Obviously not everything will be perfect since most of my theatre experience is from the pit band and what I’ve learned from Broadway videos, but artistic liberties and all that. I’ll also be adding links to each chapter for the ones before and after once I post them too! So hopefully it will be easy to navigate on tumblr, and if not just go to ao3 or fanfiction lmao.

All chapter titles are from “Smile at Snow” by dodie.

Chapter 1: how were we to know

///

“Simpatico, it’s Italian for ‘sympathetic.’ Hearts beating to the same pulse. That’s what music does for one, you know—I mean, for two. For more. It trains hearts to lean in the same direction. Sympathetically.” ― Gregory Maguire, Hiddensee: A Tale of the Once and Future Nutcracker

///

When Santana accepted the job offer as production stage manager for The Nutcracker, a prestigious and professional production, she didn’t really think that she was going to be thrown right in the deep end; she assumed that the old production stage manager was taking a leave of absence and she would be able to shadow him for a couple days, not that he had been unexpectedly fired on Friday morning and that she would be shadowing the assistant stage manager for two shows on Saturday and running her first one by the Sunday matinee.

And yet, here she is, dodging half dressed dancers and props bigger than she is, only two hours before the matinee, trailing after two blonde women who are frantically talking on their phones, occasionally exchanging them before resuming their frantic conversations. Usually Santana thrives on the organized chaos of a production, but she can do little more than duck under stretching limbs and just try to keep track of the flashes of blonde ahead of her.

It’s not that she’s overwhelmed, per se, she’s done other ballets and she’s done Broadway, she’s done community theatre and she’s done a short stint for an opera, she’s done touring companies and she’s done Off-Broadway, she’s even done a couple other productions of The Nutcracker itself; she’s been working as a stage manager for years, and she’s damn good at her job. It’s just, usually she has weeks or months of rehearsals before a show begins; at the very least, she usually gets to meet the rest of the stage management team before she’s thrown in the deep-end for the first show.

Holly and Quinn, the director and the assistant stage manager, eventually make it to the call desk, a tiny little alcove just off stage right, with monitors on the front of the stage and the pit. There’s a man in a wheelchair already squished in the tiny space, his glasses slipping down his nose, staring intently at the screen and muttering into his headset.

“Artie,” Quinn greets, and the man offers her a half-hearted salute. “Artie,” Quinn repeats, waiting until the man finally glances up before she gestures to Santana, “This is Santana Lopez, the new production stage manager.”

Artie blinks and offers her a grin, reaching over to shake Santana’s hand, almost running over Holly’s foot in the tiny space. “Nice to meet you,” he says, “Your resume is a mile long.”

Santana shrugs as she shakes his hand; it’s a little clammy and she wipes her hand on her black jeans as subtly as she can as leans back. “It kinda has to be to land this job.”

Artie laughs and nods as Holly finally hangs up the phone. “I forgot how frantic this place is outside of rehearsals,” she groans. She rummages around on the tiny desk, much to Artie’s poorly-concealed annoyance as she displaces knickknacks and rearranges papers, until she produces Santana’s new prompt book. She passes it to Santana, who’s fingers are already itching to crack the spine of the binder and start writing her own notes in; Artie hands her a spare pen with a knowing grin. “Today’s show is going to be a little insane,” Holly explains, “But you’ll do fine, sweet cheeks. You have a steep learning curve.” Santana’s not really sure how Holly could possibly know that, seeing as the last time they worked together Santana was still in college and barely an assistant to the assistant stage manager, but she nods anyways. “I’m going to get Quinn to give you the tour while I get ready for the matinee, and then we’ll hole up in the stage manager’s office and go through the show from the screens in there. For the evening show—” Holly’s phone phone rings and cuts her off, and she groans as she answers it, waving Quinn and Santana off towards the vague direction of the rest of the theatre, and they take their cue to leave just as Holly starts getting heated with whatever poor soul is on the other end of the line.

Santana flips through the book as she trails after Quinn, half-listening to her explanations and introductions; it’s second nature to dodge props and racks of costumes and stretching dancers by this point, even in the dimmed lights of backstage, so she keeps most of her attention focused on reading through the calls even though she’s never actually seen the blocking. She inwardly groans, the next couple shows really are going to be absolutely insane.

When Quinn takes a breath in her explanation of the Christmas tree prop and the mechanical issues they’ve been having lately, Santana finally glances up from the prompt book. “So why didn’t they just promote you?” she asks, “Seems like it would have been easier that way.”

Quinn’s head whips around to glare at her. “What’s that supposed to mean?” she snaps. Santana glances up at Quinn and frowns at the look on her face. “Wow, cool the fires there, Beelzebub. I meant why would they hire someone new when you obviously know the show already.”

“Oh,” Quinn says, and she has the grace to look a little sheepish, “This is only the second production I’ve worked on, and it’s my first big one too. They offered, since I’ve been working with the show since the very beginning, but I’m nowhere near ready to run a production myself, especially something as big as this.”

Santana nods and returns to flipping through the prompt book while Quinn returns to narrate what seems to be the entire history of the theatre. It’s not like Santana’s uninterested in learning about how old this production is, or how they use the original props, or what famous person happened to sneeze right where they’re standing, it’s just priorities; Santana’s supposed to be running this production by tomorrow and she hasn’t even skimmed through the second act in the prompt book. Holly warned her that it would be crazy during her interview, because Holly had to be across the country for a mandated meeting tomorrow morning and would be leaving Santana, who only knew the names of about five people in the entire building, to fend for herself.

It’s not that she doesn’t love a good challenge, it’s just frustrating when her pay-check and reputation hinges on said challenge.

She ducks under a large candy cane swinging towards her head and groans at the thought.

//

Quinn leads her to the principal hallway, squeezing between stray dancers wandering the tiny hallway. The walls are lined with racks of costumes and wigs, and Santana takes a moment to admire the care put into the costumes; Quinn said that this production has been reusing their costumes from the very first performance, all the way back in 1954, and despite the slightly musty smell clinging to the fabric, they’ve obviously been well cared for. Quinn knocks on a door halfway down the hallway, and Santana quickly snaps out of her admiration to catch up to her. The name on the door reads The Nutcracker/The Prince, and a man Santana already knows well opens the door.

“Santana!” he exclaims, “I didn’t realize you were actually starting already!” Quinn blinks and glances between them, her face a picture of confusion, as Mike pulls Santana into a tight hug.

“You two know each other?” she asks slowly.

Santana rolls her eyes and halfheartedly struggles to escape from Mike’s embrace. “Unfortunately he’s been dating my best friend since college,” she complains as Mike finally releases her, but not before giving her an obnoxious kiss on the crown of her head. Santana swats at him a little but he just continues to grin at her; dating my best friend is an understatement of their relationship, because Santana counts him as one of two people she truly trusts with everything and anything, but it’s not like she’s going to acknowledge that when he’s being irritatingly affectionate just to annoy her.

Quinn’s hazel eyes glow with amusement. “Oh, so you’re the infamous Santana that Tina’s always talking about.”

“All bad things, I promise,” Tina calls from the couch.

“Oh, shut up,” Santana snipes as she turns a withering glare on her. Tina just rolls her eyes, as unfazed by Santana’s snark as she was their first day of college, and continues reading her magazine, her feet propped up on the coffee table.

“Alright,” Quinn says slowly, “Uh, I guess we should go meet Brittany then.”

“She’s not in yet,” Mike says. “She had that appointment, remember?”

“She said she’d be here in time for half hour,” Tina adds.

“Right,” Quinn shrugs and glances at Santana, “I guess you’ll meet her between shows then.”

“I mean, I still don’t know half the stage management team,” Santana says dryly, “One more person won’t make a difference.”

Tina chuckles. “Brittany’s just lucky that she doesn’t have to see your annoying face for a couple hours yet.”

“Get me out of here before we have to send the understudy on,” Santana comments mildly, Quinn grins and leads them out the door.

“Love you, Santana,” Tina and Mike chorus.

“Yeah, whatever,” she grumbles as she pulls the door shut firmly so they don’t see her begrudgingly fond smile; of course, being her best friends, they don’t need to see it to know it’s there.

//

Quinn weaves through the theatre and points out people that Santana’s sure she’s going to forget about in roughly three seconds. Usually by this point Santana has all the company and crew members memorized, but she’s starting to realize that this entire experience is going to be one stumbling improvisation after another for the first little bit. She meets the conductor, Will Schuester, who Quinn introduces as Schue; Kurt Hummel is the head of costumes and he talks rapid fire as he explains some important quick changes while Santana scribbles down notes in her prompt book; Finn Hudson and Noah “Puck” Puckerman, who leers at her and Quinn while Santana resists the urge to make fun of his nickname, work in props and are running the department while the head, Emma Pillsbury, is out sick; Quinn rolls her eyes when she introduces her to the sound crew and its head, Blaine Anderson, and the sound his voice already sets Santana’s teeth on edge; Unique Adams explains some of the more complicated lighting calls from her booth and Santana adds some more notes into her prompt book; Quinn points out the head of the automaton department, Dave Karofsky, who is busy wrestling with some of the ropes on a fly; Lauren Zizes is the fourth and final member of the stage management team, and she gives Santana a wide smirk and a good luck before turning back to talking to Artie over her headset.

Quinn also introduces her to some of the corps dancers and kids, but she doesn’t pay much attention because she has more important people to memorize before the show starts, like the name of every department head that she’s pretty sure she’s already forgotten.

Quinn hands her a headset with an apologetic glance. “I know it’s pretty overwhelming—”

“I’m not overwhelmed,” Santana protests automatically. Quinn just keeps staring at her blankly. “I’m a little bit whelmed at the most,” Santana finally concedes, and Quinn snorts in amusement.

“This is going to be interesting,” she says as the announcement booms throughout the theatre for half hour.

Santana settles the headset over her ears, and it eases her instantly; there’s a crackle of static as Quinn stands too close, but she quickly takes a couple steps away and then she grins at Santana, her teeth flashing eerie blue in the dim backstage lights. “I usually run stage right while Zizes does stage left, and Artie runs the call desk,” she explains. “I’m not sure where Holly is but—”

“In the stage manager’s office, sweet cheeks,” drawls through their headsets.

Quinn glances at Santana to point her in the right direction, but Santana is already heading that way.

//

Holly barely pauses in her near constant stream of phone calls to talk to her. It’s been years since Santana last worked with Holly as a director, back when Santana was just an overtired and overworked college student, but if she knows one thing about the older woman it’s that Holly’s practically a professional at improvising on the fly.

Which means she’s barely surprised when Holly explains that her flight got moved up and that Santana will have to learn the entire show from backstage with Quinn instead of from the comfort of the office where Holly could teach her the blocking over the screen pointed at centre stage. Santana’s done The Nutcracker three different times in three different cities, so she knows the show, which only marginally helps her out because every single production has its quirks, and she has absolutely no clue what to expect with this one.

But she tries not to think of that, and instead nods at Holly and adjusts her headset, clutching her prompt book like it’s a life preserver that’s going to keep her from drowning, which, she realizes, is actually fairly apt. She heads out of the hallway of theatre offices to find Quinn backstage, absently listening to her have an argument with that Blaine guy from sound over the headsets until Zizes interrupts with a particularly harsh quip regarding Blaine’s mother and where, exactly, he can stick it, and the argument dies pretty quickly after that. Quinn is pinching her nose when Santana arrives, only a couple minutes before the five minute call. She seems grateful that Santana’s there and pushes her headset off her ear for a brief moment, tugging the mic away from her mouth and waiting until Santana does the same. “The dance captain for the flower corps just called and she’s stuck on the subway in Brooklyn.”

Santana glances around. “Okay?” she says slowly.

“What do we do?”

Santana blinks at Quinn. “I barely know who the fuck any of these people are, what exactly do you expect me to do?”

Quinn rolls her eyes. “This is a you problem, you’re the production stage manager.”

“For like a three minutes,” Santana mutters but flips through the prompt book anyways. “The flower corps don’t come in until the end of the second act,” Santana says slowly, “If she’s not here by intermission we’ll deal with it then.”

Quinn nods and pushes her headset back into place so she can relay the order to Zizes and Artie. Dancers have already started to gather in the wings, doing last minute stretches, and the team of stagehands Santana still hasn’t met yet dart between them for last minute checks. She spots the two lumbering guys from props heading towards the Christmas tree before they’re hidden behind the fly being lowered to the floor, and then the lights are dimming and the announcement to put cellphones away is booming, and the curtain rises as the first strains of the orchestra fill the theatre.

Santana’s thankful that she already has some experience with the show, because otherwise she would be making even less sense of the chaos backstage than she currently is. Santana mostly ignores Quinn, instead focusing on the blocking and comparing it to her prompt book in the dim, but somehow still harsh blue light backstage. Santana finds herself slipping easily into her position, and soon enough she’s adding her own voice to Quinn’s on the headset. Santana’s always had an instinct for stage management from her very first experience in a theatre, for the mechanical, repetitive, and yet still unpredictable nature of the job, and the instinct has served her well over the years, and before she knows it, intermission is starting and Quinn is clapping her on the shoulder with a grin.

Despite the chaos around them and the too warm weight of Quinn’s hand, Santana has a feeling she’s going to really like the challenge of this production; it will keep her busy and distracted, at the very least, which is something she always needs during the month of December.

//

Santana’s always found the second act of The Nutcracker to be a little boring without the frantic energy of the party and then the battle in the first act, and she feels almost lazy as Quinn helps herd children into place in the wings; they may be tiny professionals, but it’s only the eighth show so far, and the chaos of backstage can be a little overwhelming, especially for the younger dancers. It’s not until Quinn nudges her and points out the Sugar Plum Fairy, giggling and whispering with some kids, that Santana finally notices the presence of third principal. The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy is always the most interesting to Santana in the second act because the energy of the audience always changes and perks up as soon as that first pluck of the string section drifts through the theatre. Santana creeps closer to the front of the stage as the Sugar Plum Fairy, Brittany, leaves the safe darkness of backstage and emerges into the harsh onstage lights.

The strings pluck the first chord as Brittany enters the stage en pointe, her limbs long and poised with an easy grace, her stiff classic tutu moving easily with her waist as she makes her way to centre stage. On the first note of the celesta, Santana can see the exhilarated smile on Brittany’s face for a split second before she blinks and falls into character even before the second note is ringing out. She moves with the music as if the conductor is pulling on her puppet strings and Santana forgets to concentrate on the blocking and the musical cues in favour of just watching Brittany.

She looks like something off of a ballerina music box, beautiful and delicate, but as she spins across the stage Santana can see the strength and power in her legs, the certain grace and ease in her movements, the concentration and glow in her eyes. Santana’s seen a lot of dancers through her years of stage managing, enough to recognize that spark that differentiates people who dance for a living and for those who live to dance, and Santana can’t help the wide smile spreading across her face as Brittany draws to a stop and the crowd bursts into applause; having that spark in one of the principals is rare, and more than Santana could ever hope for in any production.

//

She manages to survive both shows with only a little bit of nausea at the thought that she’s supposed to be in charge of the entire production tomorrow; Holly left during intermission of the first show, but Quinn, Zizes, and Artie already work well together, and Santana just needs to find a way to fit herself among them without causing too much friction.

She wanders down the principal hallway, on her way to meet up with Tina before leaving the theatre, when she hears a persistent, loud banging against the wall right beside her. Santana jumps but manages to bite down on her shriek and glances wildly at the wall. The banging pauses for a second before resuming and Santana makes her way to the closest door, poking her head in without knocking; it’s not like anyone would hear her knock over the banging anyways.

She finds the Sugar Plum Fairy, her blonde hair still pinned up but dressed in loose sweats and a baggy sweater, smacking her ballet shoes against the wall with a focus Santana’s rarely seen in anyone, least of all in someone banging their shoe against a wall. Santana clears her throat and Brittany starts a little and quickly glances up.

“Hi,” she grins, giving the shoe one more firm smack against the wall, “You must be Santana.”

Santana swallows the retort on the tip of her tongue when the bluest eyes she’s ever seen land on hers, somehow sparkling even in the poor lighting of the dressing room. She manages a nod as Brittany bends her shoe a little before tossing it onto the coffee table where another shoe, a tiny sewing kit, a hot glue gun, an x-acto knife, and a small pile of resin are scattered. Santana glances at the wall, littered with tiny smudges of pink from Brittany’s banging, and laughs a little, finally realizing why Brittany’s beating the wall with her shoes so violently. “Who knew the Sugar Plum Fairy bangs her own shoes,” she says.

Brittany’s face creases in a smile, thin lips curling up a little lopsided on one side, her cheeks scrunching her blue eyes until they’re catlike and sparkling, and Santana’s chest does this weird spasming, fluttering thing that she tries to ignore. “Well, the Land of Sweets is pretty low on funds,” she says easily.

Santana laughs a little before she steps forward, holding out her hand. “Santana Lopez,” she formally introduces, “Mostly confused, new production stage manager.”

Brittany takes her hand, her fingers sure and strong as they wrap around Santana’s. “Brittany S. Pierce,” she says, “Sugar Plum Fairy and professional shoe banger.” Brittany’s nose wrinkles adorably as she realizes what she just said. “Ew, not like that.”

Santana giggles and only briefly wonders at how easily Brittany coaxed that sound out of her; usually it’s only Tina and Mike that make her comfortable enough to giggle instead of smirk, and that’s mostly because she’s known them for far too long, but there’s something easy about Brittany’s smile that already makes her drop her guard a little bit. “That wouldn’t even be the weirdest thing I’ve seen someone in the company bang,” Santana whispers.

Brittany’s eyes widen comically and she leans forwards eagerly. “Seen?” she exclaims.

Santana shudders, suddenly regretting that she brought it up when the image burned into her memory starts replaying for her. “Unfortunately.”

Brittany giggles and clasps her hands together, rocking backwards on her heels. “Like a train wreck, right?” she asks knowingly.

Santana blinks out of the memory, focusing on the much more pleasing image of Brittany’s sparkling eyes. “Definitely.”

Brittany laughs a little, relaxing again, and there’s a small lull that would normally make Santana fidget with her hands, but Brittany just smiles softly at her and Santana finds herself smiling in return. “So, are you ready for the shows tomorrow?” Brittany finally asks, her voice quiet and warm.

Santana shrugs. “They’re going to be,” she pauses and glances up at the ceiling as she thinks of the right word, “interesting, to say the least.”

The fingers of Brittany’s right hand twitch towards her arm, but freeze a moment later and drop back to her side. Santana wonders what it would feel like to have those clever fingers grazing over her skin, but manages to snap out of her daydreaming with only a little bit of heat in her checks when Brittany speaks again. “I’m sure you’ll do great,” she says easily, “I was talking to Quinn after the show and she was saying that you were a quick study.”

Santana blinks. “Really?” she wonders. It’s not that she thought Quinn would hate her or anything, but, in Santana’s experience, shoving a new person into the production this late always ends up having issues; when sometimes she covers for other stage managers there’s almost always a little bit of tension as everyone tries to adjust to each other.

Brittany nods easily, a small smile curling her lips. “She said that you fit in really well.”

“Well, that’s a relief. I was so worried that everyone would hate me or something,” Santana says, before blinking in surprise. She hadn’t meant to admit that, she’s barely talked about her reservations regarding this job with Tina or Mike, yet somehow Brittany is on the receiving end of Santana’s sudden lack of a filter. “Um, you were amazing tonight, by the way,” she redirects quickly.

Pink blooms in splotches across the peak of Brittany’s cheeks despite the fact that Santana knows that this can’t be the first compliment that Brittany’s ever got. “Thanks,” she mumbles bashfully, and something in Santana’s chest twists when she realizes she really wants to see that blush again, and she’s about to go about doing just that when a voice interrupts them from the door.

“Santana?”

Brittany and Santana both turn to the door, finding Tina smirking from the doorway. Santana feels her face heat up for absolutely no reason as Tina’s eyes dart between her and Brittany. “I thought I heard you in here,” she explains, “I see you’ve finally met Brittany.”

Brittany brightens a little. “Your battle scene was great today,” she greets, “Sam said you actually nailed him in the eye.”

Tina laughs, her face opening and brightening at the compliment. “I threw it weird and didn’t even think I would hit him, but he slipped on his turn and instead of missing him I got him right in the face.”

Brittany grins. “Mike said it was glorious.”

Tina chuckles before glancing at Santana. “You coming? Mike’s already impatiently opened a bottle of wine at home to celebrate your first day.”

Santana hesitates. “There’s two shows tomorrow,” she protests weakly, “And I’ve gotta go through the prompt book a couple more times.”

“The matinee’s not until one,” Tina says easily, more than used to having to drag Santana away from her work.

Brittany glances back and forth between the two friends before settling her eyes on Santana, and the warmth in Brittany’s gaze makes that thing spasm in her chest again. “You only have one first day,” she says wisely.

Santana sighs and glances between the two. “Fine,” she mutters. Tina cheers from the doorway, but Brittany just gives her a quiet smile.

“Have fun,” Brittany says.

Santana sucks in a sharp breath through her nose before offering Brittany a small smile in return. “Thanks,” she murmurs, “See you tomorrow.”

Brittany waves her goodbyes to them as Tina drags her out of the dressing room, marching Santana to the stage manager’s office so they can collect Santana’s jacket and prompt book before she can change her mind and insist on going back to her apartment without celebratory drinks. Tina’s lucky enough to have a good parking space in the building’s parkade, being a principal and all, and they head to the elevators that will take them to the parking level in comfortable silence.

“So what do you think?” Tina says as she starts her car and backs out of her parking space. “How do you think it will go?”

“It’s going to be challenging,” Santana admits, “But, interesting, I think.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Santana bites her lip but once she realizes Tina is sufficiently distracted by watching traffic for her chance to pull out of the parkade her reluctance fades, “I have a good feeling about this show.”

Tina apparently wasn’t distracted as Santana thought she was and glances at Santana out of the corner of her eyes, her eyes curious and intrigued in the brightness of the streetlights and taillights around them. “Really? I haven’t heard you say that about a show in years,” she says carefully.

Blue eyes and a soft smile come unbidden to her mind, and Santana’s thankful for the darkness because it hides the blush she can feel creeping along her cheeks and the back of her neck. “Yeah,” she finally says, “I have a really good feeling about it.”

[arbs-high-quality-translations]

arb’s high quality live reflections: Aqours 3rd Live Tour Fukuoka Day 1

I had actually written one of these for Saitama, but I ended up not finishing it until after Osaka. Oops.

The venue

Since I have school Monday morning, I couldn’t fly and instead went to the notorious Shinjuku Piccadilly, former home of fights and ietaiga, for LV. Though, things seem to have calmed down quite a bit since the beginning of the year. And I mean quite a bit. The theater was honestly deader than NA DV for the first two hours or so. After a few surprises, the energy started rising, and by the end we were fine, but the first half or so of the live definitely could have used more energy.

Since it’s my first time LV instead of DV or venue, I expected my experience to be like a “lesser” version of what people actually at Fukuoka got. But that definitely wasn’t the case. Even without being there, just being the first to experience the events of a live, not knowing what’s about to happen next, makes things feel so much more real and special. I’m not just remembering things I saw on Twitter or Discord anymore; I’m experiencing things with my own two eyes.

As a funny side note, there was actually an earthquake in the region towards the end. Everyone suddenly reacted to it, but it was only a magnitude 3 so the show continued on. 

Segments of note

Opening MC

God this became an absolute circus. Arisha forgot to do her buubuu desuwa and everyone was confused, then Ainya forgot to do her Lock On. Arisha does the first diahooo but then doesn’t bother with the second one, and says that the buubuu is on her today. Then FKT forgets how to speak Japanese and starts doing calisthenics. Fun times were had by all.

MIRACLE WAVE

This was a really interesting one. The song starts off, and as always, Anchan is in the back. But rather than just nervousness on her face, like the last 4 times, she had an incredibly pained looked on her face. Like she was really worried about something. Of course, her flip goes well and the song ends as it should, but in the MC right after she just breaks down. She gives her rehearsed lines with tears in her eyes, almost bringing Rikyako to tears off on the side as well, and when Suwawa gives her the hug, she just holds her tight and cries. 

This wasn’t like Saitama Day 2 when you could just see the sadness on her face. It felt like she was finally letting go of something, and her emotions were let loose with it. A really powerful moment for me because she has so much pressure and tries so hard to be the best leader that she can, and often times puts up a strong front to lead the rest of the group from. But at the same time, she’s as human as everyone else. Seeing her let go like that honestly made me feel relieved.

Fukuoka Special Intermission

Kanan is literally God. Nothing else needs to be said.

in this unstable world

This is my first time looking at the screen and not at Aikyan herself and damn I’m glad I went to at least one viewing. In terms of stage presence and dance ability she is second to none. It was already an amazing performance to begin with, and I was able to gain a new appreciation for it thanks to some excellent camera work and stage lighting.

Pianoforte Monologue

Everything started fine, but halfway through the mood changed. I think it just wasn’t Rikyako’s day. She wasn’t hitting her notes like she normally does for the song, and I think it started getting to her. She had this very clear dissatisfied and frustrated look on her face, and at times it seemed like she was going to cry. She recovered by the end of the song and ended well, but it was a rough performance to say the least. 

HAPPY PARTY TRAIN

When they first came on stage wearing the costumes, everyone in the venue was shouting but we still couldn’t see on camera. Once the lights came on, everyone went crazy. This is a personal favorite song of mine, as it has a lot of meaning to me, and the performance of it this time was actually excellent. MVP goes to Suwawa for actually hitting (most of) her notes. 2L was definitely rough but she’s gotten a lot better since then.

DROPOUT!?

I’ve wanted Saint Snow to do one of their own songs this tour, but after Saitama and Osaka I gave up on that. But at long last, my wish came true. The duo looked really nervous going into it, and even during it at times when the camera closed in on their faces, but they nailed the performance. After this, the theater definitely woke up and was hype as hell for the rest of the live. Hoping to see a different song tomorrow so I can get even more Saint Snow.

WATER BLUE NEW WORLD

This is one of the songs people kept saying was really good in LV, and I can see why. While getting the whole view of the venue is quite nice, this song definitely lends itself more to close camera work. It follows the anime performance much better, and in doing so it brings back a lot of the memories and emotions I had watching episode 12 as it aired. The only thing I missed from the venue is the part in the bridge where on each measure, a ball of light flashes in the center stage that corresponds to one of the girls’ character colors. That was a really nice touch that unfortunately can’t be focused on in LV because of the important of the dance during that segment.

Kiseki Hikaru

If you think the song by itself is good, you absolutely have to watch the performance of it. Because of the OST track that it draws its main melody from, and the context in which it was released, it might feel like a farewell song, but when performed live, that gets turned around completely. Rather than making me want to cry, it gave me hope for the future. For both the franchise and myself. 

As the song changes key and reaches its climax, the stage lights all turn on together and get so bright that they almost block your vision of the seiyuu in the center stage. Imagine seeing this image, but head on instead of from the side. It’s meant to resemble the sun rising, and it definitely was the highlight of the live for me.

Encore

They say white people have no rhythm, but that’s a god damn lie. It’s the Japanese that have none. We started doing the Aqours chants in the theater and a group of guys to the right of me start going completely off beat. They weren’t trying to ruin it either; they just had absolutely no sense of rhythm. For the next 5 minutes they keep starting and stopping to join back in but they cannot for the life of them figure it out. Only when the lights flash to the beat in the venue do they discover rhythm and start joining in with the rest of the theater.

Hop Step Wai!

I guess this marks the official retirement of Landing Action Yeah!!. I gave that song massive shit at first because I really didn’t like it, but over time it really grew on me, especially with how we sing it at so many events. Hop Step Wai! is already a pretty good song in my opinion, so I’m looking forward to hearing it again throughout the next year.

Yuuki wa Doko ni? Kimi no Mune ni!

Drama aside, this is probably my top Aqours song. It means so much to me, and being able to not only hear it live, but to sing along so many times over the past month has been an absolute privilege. The kicker, though, was the surprise in the bridge. The last 4 performances have just been the regular full version of the song, but this time, they added in the episode 11 version, too. I actually decided that I wanted to go to 3rd Live after I saw episode 11 and knew that I had to be there for that moment if they ever did it. I’m glad they did. It caught me by surprise, and my emotions just welled up. I had to hold myself back from crying for the rest of the song so I could sing properly.

As a side note, who the fuck does ietaiga to Yuukimi lmao. Grow up.

Closing MC

Another emotional moment. Furirin was in tears during her closing comments. She was crying like a baby, but still was able to walk up and thank every one of her fellow members personally. That meant a lot to me. I’ve always seen Furirin as one of the more detached members, as I never really knew if she was holding something back because she had to be “Ruby” rather than “Furihata Ai”. But this moment told me that just like everyone else, she’s really thankful to be a member of Aqours.

During Rikyako’s comments, she still had this sense of dissatisfaction in her words. At one point, she gave a big sigh. The others quickly joked it off, but I think she wasn’t quite pleased with how today went. As always with her, though, she’ll definitely rebound from this.

Final Thoughts

What a start to the final leg of the tour. It’s been a crazy few weeks for everyone involved, and this is definitely the best way to cap it all off. There were a few hiccups here and there, but overall, it was a great live, filled with both good performances and lots of emotion. Looking forward to tomorrow.

[shinythingsorpaperrings]

things about my playlist (super long cause i included lyrics whos surprised)

Right Here, Right Now Right here, Right now I'm looking at you and My Heart love the view Cause you mean everything  im always a sucker for a good hsm song but this moment in the movie just really strongly resonates with me, the desire to make the moment last even though everything is speeding around them

Today Was A Fairytale But can you feel this magic in the air? It must have been the way you kissed me Fell in love when I saw you standing there every day just feels like floating like it really is magic honestly

Hung Up I'm not usually the type of guy to call twice And leave a message every time i think ive only left multiple voicemails for my mum like once

Thunder I don't wanna ever love another You'll always be my thunder So bring on the rain something bout boys like girls just always resonates about us but especially this. i used to play it every day when i spent that summer away

Check Yes Juliet Run, baby, run Don't ever look back They'll tear us apart If you give them the chance we all know how shit romeo and juliet when badly idealised but something about this just made me feel really strongly that it was ok cause of all the issues w my folks but i could run from that and itd still be ok

Two Is Better Than One Cause everything you do and words you say You know that it all takes my breath away this song just brings me back to that first night up against the wall honestly

Mine You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter You are the best thing, that's ever been mine another one of those played everyday, not even just the summer, but literally everyday for a long while. this part was the part that clicked most, that you brought me out of my shell

Love Story And my daddy said "Stay away from Juliet" But you were everything to me, I was begging you, please, don't go  swift is kind of a running theme for my sweet summer tunes, but parts of this song reminded me of what my folks would be like, and the constant (poor) secret-keeping and the constant want to be free to be us

Marry You Is it the look in your eyes or is it this dancing juice Who cares baby, I think I wanna marry you i think its kinda self explanatory

Can I Have This Dance Take my hand, I'll take the lead And every turn will be safe with me Don't be afraid, afraid to fall You know I'll catch you through it all this will never stop being the cheesy fall back memory i have, its another soft moment but i love it so

2002 Now we're under the covers Fast forward to eighteen We are more than lovers Yeah, we are all we need When we're holding each other this song just invokes a lot of early memories, of the way we would belt every song out that would come on, the way that wed fix a playlist like no one else was there

Everything I Ask For Oh she makes me feel like shit (it's always something) But I can't get over it (she thinks it's nothing) 'Cause she's everything I ask for gotta agree with john, wearin red when youre feelin hot. its a good colour for you, yknow

Alone Together I don't know where I'm going But I don't think I'm coming home and I said I'll check in tomorrow if I don't wake up dead This is the road to ruin And we're starting at the end we started a mess, we ended a mess, were still a mess, and anything we do going forwards is a mess, but its ok

Still Into You I should be over all the butterflies but I'm into you, I'm into you And even baby our worst nights I'm into you, I'm into you Let 'em wonder how we got this far, 'Cause I don't really need to wonder at all Yeah after all this time I'm still into you  i remember when my dad sent me the video to this song just because of what was on haleys tshirt. i didnt think it would come to stick with me for so long and mean so much

Runaway (U & I) I wanna run away Anywhere out this place I wanna run away Just U and I wouldnt be my playlist if i didnt throw electronic into it. a general running (lmao) theme though isnt it? to want to run away, to find somewhere new to start

Ours Seems like there's always Someone who disapproves, They'll judge it like they know about me and you, And the verdict comes from those with nothing else to do, The jury's out, And my choice is you another summer jam. no matter what, this is ours. no one can take that away, nobody but us can change it. it will always be ours

Song 2 You I'll give you my song These words to you Sing you what I feel My soul is true. a little victorious doesnt hurt. its a soft song, mostly about a materialistic girl, but the feeling behind it resonates with me. i love how soft it is, i love the meaning behind it. but most of all i love that its still music thats being used to connect people

Stupid For You You're a symphony, I'm just a sour note I'll take what I can get The best is hard to grip when everybody wants you And everybody wants you basically about feeling just a little not good enough, but still chasin and makin it work. id say im pretty stupid for you though

Right Girl I've never been the best with my mouth Try to stay smart but the dumb comes out Maybe I'm shy, I drive an old car Maybe I'm amazed that I got this far you are the best thing to ever happen and i let my dumbass brain panic itself into doing the wrong thing to the right girl

Rock Bottom That you hate me now and I feel the same way You love me now and I feel the same way We scream and we shout And make up the same day everything culminated to this, to being rock bottom and tossing and turning and trying and maybe not trying enough. everythings still low it still feels like rock bottom while still feeling like theres more to fall. its hard to explain

Trigger Why can't we talk about it Why don't we try I think we can change our minds If we could just look at it through each other's eyes Instead of letting bullets fly i wish, at least for getting through this, we could be better at pushing emotions back to talk, that i could be better at pushing emotions back. i wish i was better at taking a step back and seeing it from another perspective before it got too late

I Really Like You Who gave you eyes like that, said you could keep them? I dunno how to act or if I should be leavin' I'm running outta time, going outta my mind i remember thinking how annoying this was when it came on, but it explains so well this state of limbo, this state of “what can i say, what cant i say”

Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic Every little thing she does is magic Everything she do just turns me on Even though my life before was tragic Now I know my love for her goes on my dad used to play this a lot when i was younger and i forgot it for a while, but something about you sparked me to remember it, to want to hear it on repeat, to belt it despite how quiet it is on spotify, to let it wash over me

How You Get The Girl And then you say I want you for worse or for better I would wait for ever and ever Broke your heart, I'll put it back together I would wait for ever and ever i remember how you used to say you didnt like this song but now it kinda feels like were living it, that someones going to show up on someones door step six months down the line in the pouring rain. or maybe someone wont. but it doesnt stop ever resonating with me so deep in my bones

Be There I'll be the warmth in your empty hotel I'll make it right when you're going through hell I'll be the call when there's no one to tell no matter the situation, ill still be there for you. doesnt matter when, how, what, why, ill be there

Anchor If you’re lost And feel like you’re alone I’ll be the one to guide you home You’ll never have far to go just to really drive the point home with a little tritonal, ill be your anchor, maybe not your rock, im not solid enough, or rooted myself. i sway with the tide but ill still be something you can hold on to

My Life Would Suck Without You Maybe I was stupid For telling you goodbye Maybe I was wrong For tryin' to pick a fight I know that I've got issues But you're pretty messed up too Either way I found out I'm nothing without you i dont care how rocky its been, i refuse to let myself be without you, whatever that entails

Dopamine What you do to me is no good But baby, you're good for me, so good for me We break up to build something new Chasing after what I have with you i think no matter what, it will always feel like what im doing is trying to get back what we had, but not the way it was, more the way we fit together, how we could sit together and be content, to fight and curse each other out but still somehow make it ok, thats what id be chasing after

I’m Yours So I won't hesitate no more, no more It cannot wait I'm sure There's no need to complicate Our time is short This is our fate, I'm yours my heart will always be yours, even if you dont want it, it doesnt plan on going anywhere any time soon. i could leave and it would still stay with you

I Want You Back Oh, baby, give me one more chance To show you that I love you Won't you please let me Back in your heart Oh, darling, I was blind to let you go Let you go baby Cause now since I see you it is all victoria justices voice makes it feel more relevant somehow, maybe its the female voice with the same lyrics, maybe its just the way she sings it, who knows, but this rings pretty fuckin true

Just Wanna Be With You I got a lot of things I have to do All these distractions Our futures coming soon We're being pulled a hundred different directions But whatever happens I know I've got you while comedic in the end of year musical, the rehearsal version really i think really captures the heart of the relationship, that everything is happening everywhere and theres nowhere to stop and breathe but theyre still there for each other, and i will be too

Black Butterflies and Deja Vu I lose my voice when I look at you Can't make a noise though I'm trying to Tell you all the right words Waiting on the right words one of my favourites off the album, i hadnt found one i connected with much off the american candy album, except for ‘miles away’ perhaps, but then LLL dropped with this as a single and it just clicked so much with me. i find it so hard to tell you all the things i want to, the right things to tell you, its hard to ask you to be patient for me to get out what i want to, and i always end up sticking my foot in it, but one day ill get it right

Marry Me Forever can never be long enough for me To feel like I've had long enough with you a soft way to end this playlist, a perfect way to end it i think

[shsl-shipper-gamer-fangirl]

More dangan thieves

“Toot! Toot! This is a HOLD UP!”

“Or maybe doot doot? Ibuki can’t choose which gun to use! Tu turuu~”

“Cease your movement, unruly shadows! Do not make me repeat myself.“

“Are you sure that’s aaaaall the money you have? Let’s open you up and check just to be sure!“

Ibuki Mioda Codename: Noise or Encore Arcana: Sun

Mask: Metal face mask from Mad Max except it extends up to her two oni horns hair [NOTE: unlike all the other masks, only Ibuki's doesn't cover her eyes but beware, her true power lies in her voice]

Ourfit: Looks like something picked out from Kingdom Hearts with all the unnecessary belts and zippers, honestly what style is she even going for? The color scheme is still the same except instead of the school uniform, she wears a lot of leather like a post-apocalyptic musician. Her gloves are mismatched: her right is pink and ends at her wrist while her left is striped pink and ends at her elbow.

Persona: Mousai [yes, she gets all 9 muses in 1 summon, she calls them her band]

*NOTE: Ibuki is that one character who actually tried to apply to become a Dangan Thief. In a convenient turn of events, she managed to eavesdrop on one of their meetings (who knew that doing dubious vocal training at suspicious corners would pay off!) and she was excited as hell! She thought they were cool and wanted to try it out. Through sheer confidence (much to the annoyance of the party), she was able to convince them to let her join (mostly to watch) on one of their field days. Things escalated but thankfully she awakened her persona in the moment of crisis.

Skillset: Strong nuclear skills, weak to psychokinesis; high critical rates but also low resistance to status ailments

Weapons: Guitar axe, sword flute, hammer drum, tuning dagger, trombone shotgun, trumpet pistol, harp crossbow, violin bow, french horn grenade launcher (where does Ibuki get all these weapons?!)

All-Out Attack Card: "Face the music" blasting from speakers (think Coma Doof of Mad Max Fury Road) with her weapon on fire she shouts, "This girl is on fiyaaaaaah!"

Awakening Scene: Mousai: All this shouting reminds us of a song, does it not? A pitiful song. Look at them, walking all over you, drumming to a rhythm that silences yours. Are you just going to let this miserable song go on? Where is your voice? Why aren't you singing louder than these fools who think they can!

Ibuki: This is the part where Ibuki proves you wrong mysterious voice inside Ibuki's head! Clearly you're new to my concert 'cause you would know that I was just warming up! Ibuki didn't become a rockstar by being quiet, Ibuki ROARED! I'll show you just how loud I can be at FULL VOLUME!

Mousai: And here we thought you couldn't get any louder. Your song has finally reached us. As you already know, all great musicians had to sign a contract. I art thou... thou art I...

Ibuki: ROCK AND ROCK AND ROCK AND ROCK AND ROCKROCKROCKROCKROCK AND ROLL, MOUSAI!

Quotes: "Onwards to the next concert, Ace Detective!" "Too fast! I didn't even get to do a solo!" "I leveled up! And I have song to celebrate with!" “Oooooh! A new skill! I can totally rock this!” "That sparkle! That shine! That shining shimmering splendid! It's a treasure chest! Let's go for it!" "A safe room you say? Let's take five and rehearse." “Nothing exciting like wandering in someone's world inside their head.” "Hehehe... I'm just warming up. Bring on the show!" “Can I get an encore? Do you want more?” "Wheeeeeew, boy am I pooped! Let's stop the tour here please." "Look, a shadow! We should go say hi!" “A rabbid fan saw us! Run run run RUN!” "It's like an amateur facing off with a pro... boring and unfair." “Mmmmmhhhhh, I feel like that one would explode with just one note.” "Huh?! You want to fight that? Okay but this is a death flag just saying." “Watch out! This feels like one of those important showdowns! Gotta get your cool lines ready beforehand.” “All my friends, we're glorious! Tonight we are victorious!”

*BATON PASS!* "LET'S MAKE SOME NOISE!" *PROTECT* "Move, bitch! Get out the way!" *ENDURE* "Ugh... My last one standing game is strong!" *PERSONA!* "Burn the stage down, Mousai!" *Follow Up* "Need a second voice for that solo?" *Cover Fire* "Please oh please let me do the chorus." *Harisen Recovery* "Wake up, get up, GET OUT THERE!" *low on health* "I can see it... my ending! AAAAAAAAHHHHH!" *healing someone* "Don't die on me for plot device!" *getting healed* "Aaaaaaah! Feeling alive is so much better than feeling dead." *giving buffs* "Power ups for more power!" *physical attacks* "How do you like the sound of that?" *attacking* "GET REKT!" *attack misses* “Oh no! My hidden ditzy character is showing!" *couldn't finish off enemy* "Can't believe it didn't die, so rude!" *fainting* "It's weird... I can't seem to hear anything... so sad." *getting resurrected* “An encore? Well don't mind if I do!"

[lmao these are all song lyrics] *status ailment* "I, I shake it off! I shake it off!" Burn: "It's fire burning! Fire burning on the dance floor!" Freeze: “Yo, VIP, Let's kick it!!!! Ice! Ice! Baby!” Shock: "Girl, I'm all charged up! Cutie! Electro-cutie!" Forget: "See you driving 'round town with the girl I love and I'm like. Forget you! Ooh, ooh, ooh~" Charm: "We found love in a hopeless place~" Rage: "Let the bodies hit the floor! Let the bodies hit the floor! Let the bodies hit the... FLOOOOOOOOOR!" or “ORAORAORAORAORAORAORA!” Despair: "Please don't take... my sunshine away..." Hunger: "Ah ya ya ya ya I! Keep on hoping we'll eat cake by the ocean!" Dizzy: "You spin my head right round, right round. When you go down, when you go down down." Sleep: “In the jungle... the mighty jungle... the lion sleeps tonight... A weema-weh, wimoweh, wimba way, awimbawe..." Silence: *#@$%&?! or (somebody stole my car radio and now I just sit in silence) Mouse: *to the tune of hickory dickory dock* "Squeaksqueaksqueak squeaksqueaksqueak squeak~"

Mementos Chats: "The acoustics here are amazing! I bet I can yell and it would ECHOOOOOOOO!" "Uuuuuuuggggggghhhhh. Why does Silence even exist? It just makes me want to be LOUDER!" "I tried singing to them shadows, like legit singin not attacking-singing. And they just exploded? Rude!" "Shadows haven't developed the advanced hearing we people persons have. Otherwise they would have been enjoying my concerts." "Hey, maybe I should write my next song about Dangan Thieves. 'You stole my heart so I'm stealing your distorted desires'"

Ibuki: Maybe I should try bringing more instruments next time. I want to try pulling off a concert with my new band! Hajime: For the last time, your persona is not a band. Please only limit summoning them for thieving purposes.

Hajime: I knew you always had a dangerous taste in music but this is just taking it to the next level. Ibuki: What are you talking about, SpaceAce? This is just my usual.

Chiaki: This is so exciting, I think. I've always liked those characters who literally use music to attack. Ibuki: Awwww, that's so sweet of you, Bonbon. I'm gonna dedicate my next song to you!

Nagito: You are lively as always, ahahaha. Nothing can keep your hope quiet, how wonderful! Ibuki: Damn right! Noise is here to turn up the volume!

Fuyuhiko: Where the fuck do you get all these crazy shit weapons? Ibuki: They're Noise Originals obviously! Made them myself to use during concerts but my bandmates never let me.

Peko: The way you wield your instruments... it is quite intriguing. It looks reckless but under trained eyes, it actually holds perfect form. You make it look so easy. Ibuki: Hrrrrr, I don't really get what you say. I just play like how I would, ya know?

Mahiru: Please tell me you don't actually use your weapons in real life. Ibuki: Definitely nadah! Noise is against fighting. Oh, but I do use them to play some sweet notes sometimes.

Ibuki: If I can summon nine people, that's eight more than normal! Oh, no! Does that mean Noise has multiple personalities! Impostor: No, that's not it. I can assure you that's not your case and there's no need for you to worry.

Impostor: Ibuki:

Tsumiki: U-Um, please not so loud when near other people. Hiiii! I'm so s-sorry! It's just, um... it could cause hearing problems so... sorry! Ibuki: It's cool, dokidoki! I just gotta be loud far far away, got it.

Sonia: You have quite the unique persona. To think that your other self looks like a group of nine persons, how interesting! Ibuki: I knooooow! It's like my fantasy band! Me, myself, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and Loud I.

------

Gundam Tanaka Codename: (Evil Overlord) Lich Arcana: Strength

Mask: Aku Shogun of Sorrow Mask by EpicLeather

Ourfit: Typical evil overlord getup (think castlevania dracula). Old fashion, dark and edgy, with a cape (black on the outside, violet on the inside), and his purple long scarf still wrapped around his neck. His left sleeve is rolled up until his elbow but instead of bandages, there's a gauntlent made of bones. His gloves have a skeletal design.

*IMPORTANT NOTE: Even though none of his hamsters have awakened, Gundam still insists on bringing the Four Dark Devas of Destruction with him, even going so far as making them all tiny  individual masks, and redubbing them as the Four Dangan Devas of Thieving. Their codenames are as follows:

"Supernova Silver Fox" San-D: Inari "Mirage Golden Hawk" Jum-P: Horus "Crimson Steel Elephant": Ganesha "Invading Black Dragon" Cham-P: Ao Shun

Persona: Kaminari-sama, god of lightning, thunder, storms Note: unlike popular depictions, Gundam's persona looks more adorable than threatening, it's cute AF, takes a form similar to the momonga, japanese dwarf flying squirrel, but with sparks

Skillset: Strong zio skills but weak to garu Weapons: Pair of sai and revolver or flintlock

All-Out Attack Card: “INFINITY UNLIMITED FLAME” written in a summon circle with dark flames scorching in the background and he says, "Ha! You weak creatures make me laugh!"

Awakening Scene: Kaminari-sama: How many times more will you let people make a mockery of your power? You are a Lord of Darkness, are you not? And yet rather than respect, they throw ridicule and insults at you, call you a false god. A powerless god. I ask you this, are you truly that powerless?

Gundam: For a demon born from the abyss of my heart, you should already know the answer. I've been ridiculed enough by others so do not dare join their mockery! A powerless god you say, ha! They spout insults AND lies! My power is no joke. And they would regret every word they said that assumed otherwise!

Kaminari-sama: Spoken like a true Dark Lord. As long as you understand your rights then let us proceed with the contract. I art thou... thou art I... The power you've longed for is already within your grasp. You are no benevolent god. You are an Evil Overlord who destroys all obstacles and punishes all those who oppose you!

Gundam: That's right! Bwahaha! At last! The seal on my dark powers has finally been broken! From this day forth, I have been born anew, only to lay waste to those before me! Strike them down, Kaminari-sama!

Codename: Gundam: Hahaha! At last! The time to unleash my wrath upon the world has come! Tremble before the destructive force before you!

Chiaki: Congratulations on unlocking your persona, Gundam. New party member acquired!

Nagito: It was quite the sight to behold, your awakening, truly I am lucky to witness such hope. Ah, and now you've decided to join us as well. Hmmm, I suppose it's time to address the next issue. So what should his codename be?

Gundam: Ha! I've been waiting for this moment! From here on out you shall address me by my true name! For I am Evil Overlo—

Mahiru: Overruled.

Gundam: W-What's this blasphemy? I haven't even finished yet!

Fuyuhiko: Yeah, you don't need to finish that for us to know it was going to be a long ass name. Newsflash edgelord, we're only shooting for two syllables at most.

Gundam: How preposterous! That is simply not enough to seal my abyssmal power in words. Do you not understand the consequences should my strength remain unrestrained? This pathetic world shall be torn asunder!

Peko: Perhaps we should hear him out first. There must be at least something short for a codename in what he was proposing. Let's try to focus on the main component of his name and then debate on the honorifics later. Is that acceptable enough?

Gundam: Hmph, as long as you do not forget then I shall agree to those terms for now.

Tsumiki: Then um... What would you l-like your codename to be?

Gundam: Evil Overlord of the Underworld

Mahiru: Too long! And I still can't pick any of those for a codename! Take this seriously, will you?

Gundam: You dare question my name? It would seem mortals still lack the skill to comprehend true power before their eyes.

Impostor: It's actually more of a technicality. We can't call you Overlord or Lord because it'll simply get confused with mine, King. Evil and Underworld are out of the question. Is there no other name you wish to go by?

Gundam: Ah... I see. Someone else has claimed a similar name. Even a dark lord such as myself knows to honor rights. I did not foresee such an event.

Chiaki: In other words, you didn't have any backup aliases... I think.

Sonia: Hold your head high, my dark overlord! For I shall crown you with a name worthy of your esteem!

Gundam: What? What is this name that you speak of, Dark Queen?

Sonia: *whispers to herself* Actually, I go by Enchantress here but I don't mind being called your Dark Queen... *clears throat* There is a name spoken with fear in my country. I believe only you can hold it with the same tenacity. Lich, a being of the dark arts. It suits you, does it not, Evil Overlord Lich?

Gundam: Evil Overlord Lich... Fuhuhu... Yes! I can feel the dark arts resonating with it! COWER BEFORE THE MIGHT OF EVIL OVERLORD LICH! Bwahahaha!

Chiaki: Good for you, Evil Overlord Lich.

Hajime: No. No way. We are NOT going to call him that all the time.

Gundam: Traitor! You had promised me freedom in choosing my name! Are you saying that you had no honor to uphold those words from the very beginning!

Nagito: Oh, my. It seems you've upset him. It would be a lengthy discussion if we decide to change his codename at this point. How about we settle for a compromise instead?

Hajime: Fine. We'll call you Evil Overlord Lich whenever but in battles we are redacting that to Lich. Is that compromise enough?

Gundam: I suppose those are agreeable terms. The contract is sealed. You now have my blood in your hands, do your best to not fall prey to its insanity.

Hajime: Yeah, sure whatever. Good to know that you're finally happy. Now let's go.

Gundam: Do not dare to leave just yet. There is another important matter that needs your immediate attention. Be grateful that I had warned you or else you would have suffered a horrible death.

Fuyuhiko: Oh, c'mon! We've already spent like ten minutes here. What else do you want to talk about? Your fucking madeup backstory?

Gundam: You should tread carefully with your words, mere mortal. But no, this urgent business does not address me. It is a decision regarding beings higher than myself.

Mahiru: We get it. Higher powers. Fancy words. Just get to the point and let's be done with this.

Gundam: Now that my power has been sealed by name, I request your assistance in performing more seals... specifically four.

Quotes: "I have spells that last longer than that fight. Let us set off!" "Muwahahaha... I can feel it! Power surges through my veins!" “My repertoir increases yet again!” "A treasure chest? What dangers does this one hold within?" "We've arrived at a safe room. Do not waste this moment's reprieve." “This journey pales in comparison to the trek I did to reach the Underworld where my brethren live.” "An Evil Overlord is a being void of humanity. Worry not for I need no rest." “My mortal vessel is proving to be cumbersome. Even so, I will not let it hold me back.” "Do not mistake this exhaustion for weakness. Contain such great power puts a toll on any mortal body and my vessel has reached its limits." "Fiends run amok. Shall we cleanse the area?" “Ack! We've been sighted? They must have felt the disturbance in the air." “I take pity on these unworthy opponents.” "They are no threat to us. Quickly decide on their fates." "Tread carefully! Even from this distance, I can sense the oppressiveness of their powers." “We must prepare ourselves for this one or our lives shall be forfeit.” “Another victory to add to my inordinate saga!”

*BATON PASS!* "Face the wrath of The Evil Overlord Lich!" *PROTECT* "Fool! Defend yourself!" *ENDURE* "You fiend... Did you think that was enough to best me?" *PERSONA!* "Rise forth, Kaminari-sama!" or "Strike them down, Kaminari-sama!" *Follow Up* "Call upon my wrath!" *Cover Fire* "Let my thunderstorm rain upon them!" *Harisen Recovery* "Do not disappoint me!" *low on health* "Hmph... Did you truly think that dying would strike fear into my heart?" *healing someone* "It's far too early for you to join me in the Underworld." *getting healed* "I shall remember your generosity." *giving buffs* "By the dark arts, I imbue you with strength!" *physical attacks* "Lightning strikes! Twice!" *attacking* "Your end is nigh!" *attack misses* “Preposterous! You avoided your fate?" *couldn't finish off enemy* "Delaying the inevitable will only bring you greater suffering." *fainting* "Fallen I have... but my life was one lived to the fullest." *getting resurrected* “A second chance? If you truly miss me then I will gladly return at your call.”

*status ailment* "Curse this mortal body!" Burn: "This fire holds no flame against my Infinity Unlimited Flame!" Freeze: “This frostbite is all bark and no bite!” Shock: "Betrayed...? By my own element?" Forget: "My name... has been sealed again?" Charm: “The call of darkness beckons me!” Rage: “Face the wrath of my fury!” Despair: "All these struggles... are they even worth it?" Hunger: "The beast within howls! I recquire sustenance immediately!" Dizzy: "What's this? I can't sense their aura as sharply!" Sleep: “Snore... Tremblewithfear... Zzz...” Silence: !!! Mouse: "SQUEAK!"

Mementos Chats: "Be grateful, foolish mortals, for I am a generous Dark Lord who spares his time for your thievery." "Some of the shadows look more animalistic than fiendish... what is this inner turmoil?" "The storm surges on outside in the real world. Now is the time to strike terror into the shadows!" "I can feel it... My Evil Eye tells me that there is great malice within the walls of Mementos." "I shall conquer the real world and the cognitive world as well!" "An Evil Overlord serving as a Dangan Thief... Of course, evil is known to wear many masks."

Chiaki: Our personas should reflect our own psyches, right? Hajime: I guess. I mean they aren't called our "other selves" for no reason. Chiaki: Hmmm, I see. I wonder what that says about Lich. Nagito: Ah, I now understand why you brought this up. He does posess an... interesting persona. Fuyuhiko: Just call it as it is. It's fucking adorable that's what. Mahiru: For a guy who's edgier than a knife, he's actually a huge softie on the inside. Ibuki: Oyaoya? Could this be what they call "gap moe"? Tsumiki: B-But it's still dangerous! It h-hurt a lot when he got brainwashed and used it on me, hiiii! Impostor: True, we must not underestimate it for its appearance. His persona is terrifying... no matter how cute it seems. Peko: That may be so... I wonder if it's fur is as soft as it looks... Maybe since it's a persona, I can actually get to pet it. Sonia: It would seem that everyone has taken a liking to your persona, oh Dark One. It's very cute indeed. Gundam: Cute is not befitting for a god! It's merely a disguise for you to let your guard down- cease your shallow appraisal on its appearance!

Gundam: I thought we agreed that you would address me by my full title outside of battles. Hajime: Lich can you not.

Hajime: I can't believe you really did bring your hamsters with you... Wait, are those masks? You even made them their own masks? By hand? Gundam: How else do you suppose would they acquire garments fitting of gods?

Chiaki: Whenever Lich talks, it's like I'm playing an old fantasy RPG. Recruiting an Evil Overlord as a party member is amazing, I think. Gundam: Even for someone as aloof as yourself, you say the wisest things. No need to thank my generosity, you're welcome.

Nagito: It's actually quite thoughtful of you to make masks for your hamsters. These are very well made even. As expected of someone filled with so much hope! Gundam: Fufufu... Your praise will not earn you any favors but it is acceptable enough.

Fuyuhiko: You could tone it down with your fancy shit. Seriously just yell zio like any person with common sense would, no need for a five minute incantation full of crap. Gundam: You lack the power to understand the full potential of my spells. My incantations fuel the strength of my skills so do not underestimate their value.

Peko: Even in the Metaverse, the animal-based shadows fear me... Gundam: Do not despair over such a loss. Come now, let my Four Dangan Devas of Thieving comfort you.

Mahiru: Your outfit is impractical as always. Isn't that cape too long? You're going to step on it one day. Gundam: A small price to pay for the physical manifestation of my power. There is nothing to fear for I, Evil Overlord Lich, shall die by

Tsumiki: Um... Is it really alright for those four to join us? These battles can get life-threatening...   Gundam: Fret not, nurse of the heart. These four devas are more trained than I. Should the need arise, they are capable of defending themselves.

Impostor: So we have a King and an Overlord, and yet our leader is called Ace. Gundam: The Chosen One must humble themselves to serve a position of such high authority. Although this does bring attention to an issue. Perhaps we should discuss with him a change of title.

Ibuki: Yahooo! Now that Lychee has real powers, does that make him OOC when he talks about his fake real powers? Noise is confused. Gundam: It's Lich, Noisy One. And I don't need to understand your outdated language to know that you've thrown ridicule at me. I've always had this power. It's just that only now with the seal is broken can you bear witness to its wrath.

Sonia: Oh, how lovely! You brought the four devas with you today as well. May I? Gundam: ...They would not be so opposed.

Sonia: As expected of you! Your outfit is as handsome as your usual! Gundam: *hides under scarf* I... could say the same to you. Yours suit you quite well.

Gundam: It is... new to me to have a creature bound to me and yet have no obligation to care for it regularly. Sonia: Oh, you're talking about your persona, aren't you? I see, I didn't think it would bother you this much. That just shows how much dedicated you are, it's quite admirable.

Gundam: That was a formidable move you used back there. Your fire for chaos burns ever so fervently. Sonia: Thank you, that's one of my favorite fires actually.

-----

Hiyoko Saionji Codename: Ibis Arcana: Tower

Mask: Red bird shaped mask with a long black beak

Ourfit: Traditional shrine maiden attire (red hakama or pleated skirt tied with a bow, white haori, some ribbons) The sleeves look like feathers to further resemble the Japanese crested ibis.

Persona: Karura, divine creature with human torso and birdlike head

*NOTE: Hiyoko is recruited after getting Mahiru, she is introduced during one of Mahiru's confidant events. If you use Mahiru enough times in the active party then this will trigger an extra quest wherein Hiyoko eventually joins the team. She only joins because of Mahiru obviously.

Skillset: Strong garu skills and weak to zio. Good at inflicting status ailments and debuffs, and nullifying party debuffs. Weapons: Tessen (japanese war fan) and fukiya (japanese blow gun)

All-Out Attack Card: "Dance on someone's grave" painted on the backdrop of a traditional stage and she says, "Squish! Squish! Ahahaha! You're all WEAK!"

Awakening Scene: Karura: What is your next step? Will you just cry over it like some child? Have you not grown up at all? For all the elegance and maturity that your dance brings, your steps falter outside that of a stage. How pitiful. Perhaps crying suits you more than dancing given how spoiled you've become.

Hiyoko: How dare you! I'm not a kid! I haven't been a kid ever since I wore my first kimono! Why are you so mean to me? Aren't you supposed on my side? Everyone keeps ganging up on me. I hate you all! Cry? Don't make me laugh. The only ones who'll be crying are my enemies as I crush them under my heels!

Karura: Yes, that is the attitude most befitting on you. The dance is always most exciting at its climax. I art thou... thou art I... Abandon your childlike innocence, you have no need for that where we are heading. The merciless spirit of a warrior suits you more, as it should. Do not shed tears but rather strive for your enemy's bloodshed.

Hiyoko: Hmph! You don't need to tell me twice. I'm gonna have soooo much fun playing with them! And CRUSHING them to pieces. Once I enter the stage, only I leave in one piece. Dance, Karura!

Quotes: "Too easy. Hey, what are you standing there for? Let's go, bowtie." "Yaaaay! I leveled up!" “New skill! Yay! I wonder how painful this one would be!” "Look! A treasure chest! It's all sparkly and shouting to be opened!" "Finally, a safe room! My feet huuuuuurt!" “Why isn't there just a shortcut to the treasure?” "I got a good sleep which means I can play more today!" “As long as I get to kill some shadows then I guess I can go along just a bit more.” "Ehhh? We're still going? I don't wannaaaaaaa." "Look, a bug! Let's crush it." "We were spotted? This is all your fault!" “They're so weak that at least insects leave a mark after.” "Huh? Are you sure? They look pretty scary to me." “They're obviously big bad meanies. Don't get us killed over your stupidity.” “Victory! Yay! Who knew killing shadows could be so fun!”

*BATON PASS!* "Ibis elegantly flying in!" *PROTECT* "Hey, pushover!" *ENDURE* "*sniffles* I don't want to die!" *PERSONA!* "Slaughter them, Karura!" or "Soar, Karura!" *Follow Up* "Let's kill them while we're at it." *Cover Fire* "I'll help if you ask niiiiicely." *Harisen Recovery* "Don't be such a baby!" *low on health* "A little help here?!" *healing someone* "You owe me for this." *getting healed* "*mumbles* Thanks..." *giving buffs* "Now you don't have any excuse." *physical attacks* "Oh this? Don't mind the sharp edges." *attacking* "Ahahaha! You're going to get sliced like fish!" *attack misses* "Huuuh? You have a lot of nerve to dodge that!" *couldn't finish off enemy* "Seriously? Just die already!" *fainting* "*crying* Why... Why are you all so mean?" *getting resurrected* "*sniffles* Thanks. Now I can finally get my revenge."

*status ailment* "I don't feel so good... *sniffle*" Burn: "Too hot! I want some ice cream!" Freeze: “Are you trying to freeze me to death? Get me a kotatsu!” Shock: "Tch! I'm going to kill you twice for this!" Forget: "Huh? What was the next step again?" Charm: “Well who could blame me? If I'm fighting then I'm fighting with the winning team.” Rage: “I'll break you... piece by broken piece!” Despair: "Waaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Why is this so hard!" Hunger: "Sweets! Hand me gummies right now! No yellow!" Dizzy: "Euugh... I think I'm going to be sick..." Sleep: “Zzz… CRUSH” Silence: ...! Mouse: "Squeak!"

Mementos Chats: "Killing shadows is sooooo much fun! Yay!" "You know what else is fun? Having the shadows beg for mercy as we extort more money from them. "I was raised in a traditional household and traditionally, we always get what we want." "All this fighting makes me crave for some sweets." "If I knew how much fun it is to kill shadows without consequence then I would have signed up for Dangan Thieves sooner!"

Hiyoko: Ehh? You're the leader? Well aren't you just disappointing. Hajime: I'm really starting to think we shouldn't accept everyone who joins.

Hajime: Why am I actually not surprised at how sadistically good you are at this? Hiyoko: Ew! I'm not interested so don't bother complimenting me.

Chiaki: Amazing! I've only seen it in videogames but you can actually fight using fans! Hiyoko: I can do so much more than just fight. There's slice and kill too.

Nagito: I was wondering how you would adapt here but clearly I've underestimated your hope. You're more than capable in battle, I'm pleasantly surprised by this development. Hiyoko: Why is this creep here? Are you going to kick him out or do I have to?

Fuyuhiko: Don't get all cocky just because you've got a few tricks up your sleeve. Hiyoko: Oh look, the Baby Gangster knows how to talk.

Peko: So that makes two of us with bird motifs... Hiyoko: It's frustrating that I wasn't the first one but I guess we have no choice but to share.

Tsumiki: I-I'm so happy that you're with us too! Hiyoko: Shut it! No one asked for your opinion, pig barf! But for the record, someone has to look after you so you don't screw up like you always do.

Ibuki: Ibissy~ Look at you! Killing shadows! Stealing treasures! Wow, you sure grow up fast! Hiyoko: It literally only took me one minute to get a persona and "grow up".

Impostor: Is something the matter? You've been staring. Hiyoko: Wow, I knew pork feet was rich but I didn't think you'd have the balls to wear rich.

Sonia: It's amazing watching you do battle. Your dances are just as captivating as they are deadly! Hiyoko: Not all of us can be this good so I step it up.

Gundam: Since you are new at this, I am generous enough to guide you. Should you have any questions, know that I know more than you. Hiyoko: You guys really don't discriminate when recruiting, huh.

Hiyoko: Waaaaaaaaah! I'm so happy I get to be with you more, Big Sis! Mahiru: Now, now. No need to cry. I'm happy too.

Mahiru: It's a good thing that you joined us. Your skills are unique and valuable. Debuffs can really take a toll. Hiyoko: Not as useful as yours, Big Sis! I'm so happy that there's at least one reliable person here!

Mahiru: I'm kind of jealous that everyone has such elaborate personas and mine is just... this. Hiyoko: Why are you getting sad over that? Yours is waaaay better than what the rest of these losers have.

Hiyoko: Yay! Killing shadows is way more fun than squishing bugs! Mahiru: Hearing you say that with such a carefree face makes me worry a bit... Just don't get too carried away.

[seungppa]

boyfriend!inseong

ok well first of all inseong would be just a ball of sunshine

he’s your ball of sunshine :-)

still doesnt stop him from being a piece of shit tho lmao

he never misses the chance to tease you

one of his favorite jokes to tease you with would be about how much shorter you are than him

he loves reminding you of this fact, but that’s just bc he thinks it’s adorable

literally thinks you’re the cutest person ever

and always reminds you of it

ok so the first time you guys ever met was at his favorite meat restaurant 

you just got hired for your summer job as the waitress

when inseong comes in with his friends, his eyes land on you immediately 

at first just because you were an unfamiliar face in his favorite restaurant; he visited so often that he was on good terms with all the employees

when you turn to look at him and his friends, he kind of just freezes

cliche as it sounds, it was as if the world slowed to a stop

because wow you were cute. good looking. attractive. so attractive that his heart picks up the pace with each step that you take towards him

you sit him and his friends down at a table and continue doing your job

while inseong cant take his eyes off of you

he doesnt even realize he was staring until jihun nudges his shoulder, “you good bro?”

when he does realize, however, he blushes a deep red and forces himself to keep his eyes on his food

after that day, he visits the restaurant every other day

so often that even the regular employees question him “what’s gotten into you?”

and even his members notice

“can you even afford eating meat almost everyday?”

each time he visits the restaurant he tells himself that he’ll finally ask for your number

he likes to hype himself up in the dorm bathroom before going

“you can do this” “today is your day” “all you have to do is say hi, flash your killer smile, and ask”

however his confidence dies as soon as he walks through the doors

he melts at the sight of you

especially when you smile at him

“here again?” you ask, smiling

its as if someone shoots a love arrow through his heart

she remembers me !!!!! he thinks

one day he brings jihun along

and as soon as jihun sees inseong staring off after you like a puppy in love, he finally knows the reason why inseong’s been blowing his cash at this place

jihun basically pressures inseong to finally ask you for your number

or as he likes to put it “hype him up”

so jihun leaves to go to the bathroom and inseong waves you over to ask for the check

and as you’re handing him his check he clears his throat and looks up at you nervously

and little does he know you’re just as nervous as him

because??? the cute regular customer was staring right at you??

and you freeze because omg?? did you do something wrong?? why is he clearing his throat?? is there something on your face???

so the two of you are staring at each other nervously and neither of you guys are saying anything

all of his rehearsal lines run through his head but he suddenly can’t think of which one to say

and then suddenly he blurts

“can i get your number?”

and he blushes such a bright red bc oh god that was way too direct

he breaks eye contact to look at anything but you, and blabbers on, “i mean- i just thought you were really cute and i was just thinking - hoping that you’d maybe want to grab a drink or something? or anything that’s fine with you, i dont mind, or if you want to at all, im sorry-”

he doesnt stop until you cut him off with a giggle

the cutest giggle he’s ever heard, mind you

he looks up questioningly

and you smile

“sorry i just thought that was really cute” you say and his heart nearly bursts out of his chest

you leave to give him his change, and come back with your number written on the back of the receipt

you two go on a date to a dessert place

and hit it off immediately 

and he wonders why he didn’t ask for your number sooner

you were so easy to talk to, and you actually laughed at his jokes

you even took his joking lightly

you guys start dating after your fourth date

he shows up to your front door unannounced

with a bouquet of roses

“will you be my girlfriend?”

he has cringe worthy nicknames for you

“honey bunch, can pass me some napkins?”

“what are you doing later tonight, sugar plum?”

the rest of knk wants to yack every time they accidentally overhear him say this

lots of fun!!!!!! dates

like to the arcade or amusement park

is lowkey scared of the rides but if you wanted to ride one he’d suck it up and get on with you

totally wouldn’t let you know he was scared

“inseong are you ok? you’re shaking???”

“its just cold, dont worry about it”

“....its 90 degrees tho???”

loves saying cheesy stuff!!!!!1

like if you guys are out on a date at night

and its kind of chilly

and you’d ask him “hey aren’t you cold?”

he’d cheekily say “nah, the thought of you keeps me warm inside” and wink

an actual softie

whenever you’re sad he’d listen to what was wrong first

trying to help you solve it 

he’s a really good listener and i think he’d try his best to be there for you in any way that he can

gets you to laugh if you’re feeling down

he has tons of funny and embarrassing stories about the members that he can tell you to get your mind off things

king of making spontaneous dates

“the sky’s nice out, want to go for a walk?”

“hey, come outside” “???? you’re outside???” “yeah hehehe”

if you guys ever happen to argue

i feel like he’s the type to want to cool off first before talking to you about it

like he’d want some alone time with his thoughts

and really think about what he feels abt the situation and what to say to you

because he doesn’t want to say anything he doesn’t mean, or say anything he might regret out of anger

so when you guys do talk about it, he’s calm and anger isn’t clouding his thoughts

and when anger isn’t clouding his thoughts, he’s also able to understand your side more

after arguments he holds you tight against his chest

running his hand over your back

mumbling about how much he loves you

!!!!!the first time he says he loves you is when you guys are chilling

it kind of just slipped out of his mouth

like you said something funny, and he laughs, looking over at you

“hahaha this is why i love you”

you both kind of freeze when he said it

before he turns kind of serious as he turns around to face you

“i love you” he says again, this time with each syllable filled with all his emotions for you

lots of cuddles!!!

ngl, he loves it when you’re lying right on top of his chest

or when you sit between his legs, with your back against his chest

loves it when you fall asleep in his arms

it makes him feel as if he’s your safe haven

which he is

also!!!! he loves PDA

always wants some type of contact with you

constantly wants to hold hands

or has his arm slung around your shoulders

whenever he whispers something to you, he likes to get close enough that he’s almost snuggling against you

loves !!!!!! to kiss you

sometimes he cant resist the urge

like when youre talking about something you really love, and your eyes are practically glowing with enthusiasm, he thinks thats the cutest thing hes ever seen

he kisses you in the middle of you saying something

“sorry, i couldnt stop myself”

generally he’s a giant cuddly love bug that loves teasing u!!!!

[jineatthis]

This is an absolute mess of just emotional garbage, and it switches from first to second person bc some of the scenarios?? I couldnt imagine myself in and reverted to default just imagine this is you guys okay lmao.

i was tagged by beautiful @bbyjoonbug​ sorry it took me so long bub

Would you rather:

build a snowman with Taehyung OR have a snowball fight with Hoseok

      I wanna do both, we’re already out in the snow. I can start with the snowman with T** looking so adorable all rugged up in layers of coats and scarves and giving me a big boxy grin and getting distracted by his breath puffing out in clouds. Giving me his scarf when I put mine on the snow man and pulling it up around my chin, cute cute cute. And then everything changed when Hoseok attacked. It’ll be so much fun, with lots of yelling and cursing and he’ll probably accidentally destroy the snowman which is sad, the fight will only last like 5 mins before we’re over it and laying in the snow while I try and catch my breath and he’s laughing at me, then we’ll go get hot chocolate and sit under an old blanket by the fire all snuggled up together and warm and cosy. Anyway, super cute I wanna spend a white Christmas with BTS

get coffee with Yoongi OR get ice cream with Yoongi

Sitting at the back of a coffee shop in a secluded corner with yoongi?? Holding hands under the table or having his hand resting lightly on my thigh, feeding him the cream off the top of my iced coffee and wrinkling my nose at his americano. Quietly enjoying our drinks and each others company, content to just watch the other people in the coffee shop or flip through a magazine while he might do some work on his laptop.

go to the cinema with Jimin OR the amusement park with Jungkook

  Movies with jimin would be so cute and I do love going to the cinemas but listen, I LOVE THEMEPARKS, and Jungkook. Being able to share the adrenaline rush of a terrifying rollercoaster with him, and then just grinning at each other, eyes shining and racing back into line to do it again. Complaining about the expensive food but not wanting to eat the sandwiches we had packed bc ‘a hotdog sounds so good right now’. Spending most of the day waiting in lines and talking and leaning against each other when we’re tired and making conversation with the people behind us. Super cute I’m so emo.

do a dance cover with Hoseok OR sing a duet with Jin

 A bitch (me) can’t dance, damn. I’d probably nut being that close to hoseok listen I’m rlly in a hobi mood. I can’t sing either but Jin???? That’s my whole entire husband?? A romantic duet with Jin, I would die??? Looking into my eyes and singing something emotional and heartfelt in his gorgeous voice and skimming his hands down my arms when he’s close enough??? Kill me. Sharing a mic with him??? The planning and writing process before we even sing?? Nights sitting on a couch together leaning over a coffee table covered in papers, bouncing ideas off each other and laughing hysterically at everything and anything bc we’re sleep deprived??? Having him nap on my lap and just play with his hair and enjoy the moment. 

 kiss Namjoon OR cuddle Yoongi

 I can’t answer this fdhdtntrn its too hard I wanna die. Peppering Nams smiling face with little kisses, his eyelids his forehead his nose his chin his dimples his temples and jaw just tiny kisses everywhere, slow kisses in the morning tangled in the sheets?? Casual comfortable kisses over a table when we’re out to dinner, teary sweet goodbye kisses, heavy wet kisses straddling him in a chair in the studio, ‘baby baby baby’? Anyway, that’s enough of that mess. Cuddles with Yoongi??? Lazy days spent on the couch with a bunch of throw pillows and blankets and old comfortable trackies and stained sweaters, watching the fast-furious series or a sitcom, feeding each other chips and teasing each other when we get emotional over a certain scene. Crawling into bed with him after a tough day and snuggling up against his back and he murmurs in his sleep and leans back into me?? Super cute. Walking up and cuddling him for no reason and he just slings his arms around my waist and continues with his conversation and lets me just press my face into his chest and breath him in??? WOW SHE’S REALLY EMO TODAY.  

babysit with Jimin OR dogsit with Taehyung

 I’m so anxious around children I think somethings going wrong 24/7, also if the kid isn’t related to me…they annoying. Dog sitting with T**?? Super cute. (I’m not saying T**hyungs name ever again, he making me unfaithful to my man...I wouldn’t pass up dog sitting duties with him though...) Going to a dog park and watching them play fetch while I sit on a bench, reading a book and wondering who the real puppy is? Playing scissors paper rock to see who must clean up after the dog, watching him be Damatique ™ pulling the most adorable faces. T** passing out on the couch with the dog on his stomach and taking heaps of photos and making it my new lock screen. Accidentally letting the dog off the lead and it bolts and the two of us screaming after it, spending hours looking around town panicking and coming home to it curled up on the ‘Welcome’ mat at the front door, tail thumping lazily.  

film a commercial with Hoseok OR film a sketch with Taehyung

 A silly sketch with T** would be so much fun and that’s all I’m saying abt it bc thinking abt rehearsing our lines sitting on the floor of the practice room and laughing over the stupidity of it and getting excited when we think of something new to add is too much.

hug Jimin OR hold hands with Jungkook

 fjgnsthtrh, IM EMOTIONAL. Jk has such nice hands I’m really such a soft bitch for him and everything about him, walking together and feeling his knuckles brush against the back of my hand and looking up and he’s staring forward and chewing on the inside of his cheek, reaching out and entwining our fingers and looking back and he’s looking away and covering his mouth with his free hand and his ears are red? Loosely holding hands in the backseat of a car, both dozing off and leaning into one another? Jk laughing at something while out to dinner and reaching out across the table to grasp my hand and give it a squeeze and his eyes are shining and I’m back to being an emo bitch.

go to Paris with Jin OR to London with Yoongi

 Yes yes yes yes. Cute tourist photos with Jin, watching him go ‘WAAH’ whenever he sees something new, pointing excitedly out across the balcony of the hotel room and yelling about the view. Sharing a crepe and wiping the mess of cream off his chin with your thumb and he leans down to lick Nutella off the corner of ur mouth. Walking hand and hand through the louvre while he makes silly jokes about you being the true work of art, and jumping away from you and reminding you that you’re ‘not allowed to touch the masterpieces’ and you roll yours eyes and smack his chest bc he’s such an idiot but sososo cute.

film a drama with Jin OR do a photo shoot with Namjoon

 don’t get me started

attend an award show with Namjoon OR wear couple t-shirts at the airport with Jungkook

I’m squealing. This is so cute esp if It was something ridiculously gaudy and appalling and embarrassing and one of us wants to die and the other is beaming. 

spend a lazy day with Yoongi OR explore a city with Hoseok

 I CAN’T DECIDE THESE ARE SO GOOD. Lazy day with Yoongi, lounging about watching tv, getting up and going to the kitchen and asking if he wants a drink while ur up and looking over and he's scratching his chest under his shirt all stretched out on the couch and watching you with sleepy eyes and the door to the balcony’s open and the breeze is ruffling the sheer curtain softly and it's all tranquil and serene and warm.

Or being dragged through streets with hobi, him holding a map with one hand and clutching at yours with the other. A lane filled with street food and you stop at each stall and feed each other samples. Struggling to read the map and talking to strangers on the street and getting lost but ending up in cute backstreet cafes and busy parks. Spotting a pretty building on the horizon and deciding that that absolutely must be your next destination. Impulsively jumping onto a passing tram and wondering where it’ll take you.

fall asleep next to Jimin OR wake up next to Jungkook 

 Don’t look at me I’m about to write some real gross shit. But waking up to him placing soft kisses across ur shoulders and brushing the hair off your face and laughing softly and apologising for waking you? Waking up to him crawling into bed heavily and collapsing into the sheets beside you before grumbling something about a tough practice and pulling an all-nighter and slinging an arm across your hips and immediately passing out. Waking up and feeling his breath fan against the back of ur neck and his knees digging into your thighs and his arm under your body isn’t the most comfortable but it’s perfect anyway. Taking a nap on the couch and waking up to him sitting on the armchair across from you, watching tv and looking so relaxed and at home.

have a fun picnic with Hoseok OR a fancy date with Jin

 I can’t believe I’m openly cheating on my man like this but?? I’ll always choose a picnic over a fancy dinner I worked in fine dining for too long it’s lost the appeal. Cute though laying on a blanket by the beach or in a park wearing big floppy hats and sunglasses and loose flowing clothes. Feeding him fruit from the palm of your hand and his lips and chin are shiny with the juice and his kisses are sweet.  People watching and making small comments abt peoples fashion sense until it turns into full on judging and giving everyone a wild backstory and you both end up in hysterics. And he sings softly under his breath and you’re fine to lay in silence and cloud gaze, murmuring occasionally about some shape you see

have Jungkook serenade you OR have Taehyung sing you to sleep

I couldn’t handle being serenaded I would combust. But t**hyungs deep voice softly filling the room as he cards his fingers through my hair and his breath is fanning across the back of my neck and shoulders lightly and the lyrics don’t make any sense anymore he’s just singing about his day and how much he loves me and his hopes for the future and he pauses to press his lips to my shoulder and hums against my skin and I’d feel so warm and safe and loved is that too much for a girl to ask damn.

go camping with Jimin and Tae OR go to the beach with Namjoon and Yoongi

I live by the beach the beach is overrated. Camping in the forest with the boys?? A dream, sharing a big bed and waking up tangled in limbs and t**hyung took his socks of in the middle of the night so me and jimin are dying but it’s too cold outside to evacuate. Roasting marshmallows and having a few drinks around the fire and playing truth or dare and telling ghost stories that aren’t even that scary but still has everyone jumping at the smallest of sounds. Exploring the forest and taking pictures of everything. Jimin and t** getting into a mock fight and ending up sliding down an embankment, ending up covered in mud and chasing me around trying to give me a mud hug. Jimin swimming in the lagoon and flipping his wet hair out of his face like a fucking supermodel and me and t** are shook. Me and t** struggling to start the fire but we watched a YouTube video abt it before we left and we’re like 100% sure we’ve got this, jimin running out of patience and throwing a few firelighters into the pit and pulling out a box of matches.

have a sleepover with the hyung line OR a birthday party with the maknae line

 ???? nams in a flannel pj set?? Everyone barefaced and sleepy, sharing one massive bed, sandwiched between hoseok and jin? Being able to see Yoongi curled up and adorable? Nams stretching out and taking all the room and being just straight up adorable? Circling back to being sandwiched between hoseok and jin? Snuggling with jin? Coddled by jin?

celebrate Halloween with Jungkook, Yoongi, Tae, and Hoseok OR Christmas with Namjoon, Jimin and Jin

 once again I choose the one without jin but listen Halloween is just so much better also t**hyung and hoseok really got me feeling a way lately and Jungkook is everyone’s bias wrecker. Plus, we’re all adults and adults drink in Australia on Halloween and do stupid shit, so yeah. Going clubbing with the boys all dressed up, getting mortal, staying till close or till someone gets kicked out and then stumbling home? A dream. The boys drunkenly singing bst and t** trying to get into the DJ’s booth to rap cypher lmao, Jungkook and hoseok dancing like absolute hos, slut dropping and even twerking unironically what a mess what a great time. Yoongi just nodding and raising his drink that never seems to empty bc he’s just smashing them down and getting refills, looking like an absolute snack all in black. Getting the uber driver to take us through maccas on the way home and ordering four family boxes. Most of it ends up on the car floor and spilled in the driveway and we get a 1-star rating. All falling asleep with our costume sand makeup still on in the loungeroom. 

GOD IM SORRY ITS SO LOOONG okay anyway what a mess ill tag @sugaas​ @hxtape​ @forestcottage​ @killv​ @jho-seok​ @softseoks @fhawn @hobsbf @silkguk @okimtae @joonsamor  @gothicsuga @girlsheart @hxxtape @hobih

[evenifyoudontfic]

Even If You Don’t: Chapter 18

Previous chapter

Calum’s POV; The next morning

I woke up to the sound of a camera shutter, bringing an arm up to rub my eyes. I opened them to find Vanessa kneeling on the floor by the coffee table across from the couch, her eyes widening at her phone screen when she realized someone was awake.

“Hello,” she smiled innocently, “Sleep well?”

“Ness, what are you doing?” I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Nothing that Instagram isn’t about to see,” she snickered. I rolled my eyes as she went on. “You might wanna wake her up,” she motioned to the girl on top of me, “I’m pretty sure Michael is awake and will be up here any minute.” She then walked out of the room, leaving me sighing.

Michael was never a morning person but when he did wake up before other people, he wasn’t exactly quiet. Mari hated being woken up by loud noises, so we always just made sure one of us was the one who woke her up.

“Mari,” I murmured, slipping my hands under her shirt to rub her back. She started grumbling softly, letting me know that she wasn’t fully awake but that she could hear me. “Gotta wake up now, princess,” I told her, kissing the side of her head. She responded by burying her face in my neck, making me smile. “Michael’s awake,” I informed her, “And you know how much you hate when Michael is the one who wakes you up.” She still refused to budge. “Maybe if we get up before Michael, we can sneak out and get breakfast – just the two of us,” I offered.

“Stop bribing me, Hood,” Mari finally spoke, making me chuckle again.

“Would you rather go to breakfast with everyone?” I countered. I felt her let out a deep sigh before her forearm was lifting her up so she could look at me.

“Hate you,” she mumbled, rubbing her eyes with her other hand. I simply grinned, leaning up until my lips met hers.

“Hate you too, baby girl,” I whispered into her mouth, causing her to giggle softly before she pulled away and climbed off of me so we could quickly get dressed and out of the house before Michael came upstairs.

~

Later that day

We’d been at the venue we were playing that night for almost two hours now, and I finally got a chance to go outside and meet some fans who were already in line. Kenzie and Vanessa came along while the other boys were with Mari soundchecking Waste The Night for the show later – but more importantly, they were giving the girls and I cover.

“Alright, guys,” I said as Kenzie and Vanessa helped pass out papers and Sharpies, “I need you all to listen so you can tell everyone else that arrives after we have to go back inside, okay?” The small group nodded furiously, excited to know what they were about to be a part of. “You know how this is Mari’s hometown show, right? Well, she’s planning on singing lead on Fight Song tonight and I had this idea that maybe, people who were fans of the girls’ band could hold up signs after the bridge about how they’ve helped you guys or lyrics from the song that mean a lot to you.”

“I wish my boyfriend was that sweet,” one of the girls mumbled, making everyone around her laugh.

“Yeah, Cal, we can do that! But what’s in it for us?” another grinned, obviously joking.

“I won’t have you thrown out of the show if word about this gets back to Mari?” I replied, trying not to smile but I knew I wasn’t doing a very good job. The girls simply snickered while the same fan laughed.

“I was kind of hoping for selfies and autographs, but I would very much appreciate not being thrown out a lot more,” she told me. I simply chuckled again, happily signing everything they asked me to as well taking multiple photos with all of them, before Kenzie, Vanessa, and I headed back inside.

~

Mari’s POV

“This song is drilled into my brain already, Luke!” I groaned, throwing my head back, “We don’t need to rehearse it anymore! Come on! I’m hungry!”

“It needs to be perfect, Mari!” he exclaimed, “We wouldn’t need to rehearse for so long if you’d just cooperate!”

“I am cooperating!” I shouted defensively, “You’re the one insisting that I’m doing something wrong even though you know I’m not!”

“Yes, you are! I keep telling you to wait four extra measures to come in, but you keep coming in too early!”

“I don’t know where you learned to read music, Hemmings, but I am waiting four measures from the point where the chorus ends,” I spat back, “If you want me to wait longer than four, then you need to tack on a couple extra measures instead of acting like I can read your fucking mind.”

“Guys,” Ashton finally intervened, “There’s no need for arguing.”

“Ash is right,” Michael nodded, “Let’s just take a break and cool off, okay?”

“I don’t need to cool off,” Luke grumbled, not taking his narrowed eyes off of me, “Mari’s the one who needs to stop screwing up.”

“Well, I’m so sorry for not being a perfect little angel like you, Luke,” I laughed bitterly, “I had no idea I would need to be classically trained in music and a goddamn mind-reader just to avoid listening to you bitch and moan all the time.” I shoved my microphone back into its spot on the stand where Calum would be. “Maybe you should ask Kenzie or Vanessa or Kaylynn to sing the song with you tonight since I’m sure they’re a whole hell of a lot smarter than I am,” I told him, pushing past him and walking off the stage.

“Mari!” I heard Michael call after me, but I didn’t stop – I just kept walking until I was outside.

Michael’s POV

“Really, man?” Ashton rolled his eyes while he and I just stared at Luke in shock. We knew he was having an off day from the moment he woke up, but we didn’t think he’d take it out on anyone – especially not Mari.

“She was messing up,” he mumbled, earning another eye roll from both of us.

“Then you should have told her to wait five measures instead of four!” I exclaimed, throwing my arms up.

“I told her to wait four measures from the point where Ashton stopped playing the chorus; It’s not that difficult to figure out.”

“Maybe not for you,” Ashton reminded him, “But Mari isn’t inside your head – she doesn’t know what you want until you tell her.”

I don’t know what was said after that because I left to go find Mari. I was sure she was upset – not that I’d blame her – and I just had to make sure she was okay. I looked around the entire inside of the venue before asking Bryan to drive me back to Mari’s house, not having found her anywhere and hoping she’d just gone home to calm herself down.

When he dropped me off, I told him I’d call him when I was ready to which he nodded and drove away after I shut the door. I jogged up to the front door and went to grab the knob, surprised to find Lori already pulling the door before I’d even turned it.

“Oh, Michael,” she laughed, placing her free hand over her heart, “You scared me.”

“Sorry,” I smiled apologetically, “Hey, uh… You wouldn’t happen to know if Mari came back here, would you?”

“No, she didn’t,” she shook her head, “I was actually just about to go meet her… Is everything okay? I know she was only texting me, but she seemed really upset about something – said she needed someone to talk to.”

“Would you mind if I was the one who talked to her instead?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I sighed, “She and Luke just got into it a little during soundcheck and I just want to make sure she’s okay.”

“Well, sure,” Lori nodded, “She said she’s at Bru. I’ll just drive you there myself – it’s too far of a walk.”

“Are you sure?” I asked, to which she nodded. “What about Asher?”

“My mom is watching him,” she told me, coming out of the house and leading me to her car, “He’s only taking his nap though, so they’ll be fine.”

Upon arriving to Bru – which was a burger place, I found out – we immediately noticed Mari sitting outside, drinking a milkshake. I smiled sadly at the sight of her frown.

“Thanks for the ride, Lori,” I said.

“No problem, Mike,” she smiled, “Don’t let her buy another milkshake.” I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Will do,” I affirmed before getting out of the car, listening to her drive away as I approached Mari. “Hey, kitten,” I said, making her head snap up, “You okay?”

“M’fine,” she mumbled, looking back down at the drink in front of her.

“That lack of a smile is telling me otherwise,” I sighed dramatically, sitting myself down in the seat across from her. The comment didn’t make her smile though, so I let out a smaller, more defeated sigh instead. “He’s just having a bad day, Mar,” I told her, “He didn’t mean anything.”

“That’s not my problem,” she fired back, “Just because he’s in a shitty mood doesn’t mean he gets to take it out on me.”

“Well, until we go back to the venue, how about we just not think about it and eat some lunch?” I suggested. Mari let out a soft breath, but I knew she was agreeing. “We can stay here and eat if you want,” I told her, “Is the food here any good?”

“Any good?” she scoffed, “These are the best burgers in the world as far as I’m concerned.”

“Well, I’ve been more places around the world than you, so I’ll be the judge of that,” I smirked, getting up from my seat.

Mari grabbed her milkshake so she didn’t have to leave it outside while we waited for our food, coming around the table. I opened the door for her, earning myself a slap to the back of the head as she passed me.

“Mari!” I laughed, following her toward the cash register. She obviously wasn’t facing me, but I could tell she finally smiled.

wow what was going on here lmao i don’t even know

Next chapter

[lab-trash]

Does anyone else have any ideas? Please don't be shy, I really want ideas. It doesn't have to be in order.

Against my better judgment, I have my anons on still. Or you can reblog with your idea. Pleaseeee

So the goal is to eventually do all of these, and some of them I'm definitely doing for characters that I chose (ex. number 6 I'll be doing Kaz and Oliver, for obvious reasons)

But if you want, you can send in an ask or reblog with a number and pairing, or maybe even grouping.

These will take a while, most likely, so I'm sorry for that

[couldnt-think-of-a-funny-name]

-this bitch.....empty

- G o d okay so we all know I'm an absolutely useless person when it matters, right? that’s common knowledge. that’s public record. 

- When I got there tonight I tried to help out with wires and lights and shit and I am just so,,,,,,,,,beyond inept oh my God I felt so bad

- Couldn’t tape properly....couldn’t find the right wires TWICE so Tom ended up having to come find them himself anyway when he asked me to do it solely so he wouldn’t have to run back and forth......couldn’t set the lights properly.....couldn’t remember where to plug shit into even though I was told moments before.....hit the wrong buttons causing people to think the lights were broken for a solid fifteen minutes.....somehow ended up completely covered in saw dust.....like I’m truly such a hindrance omfg

- it was???? 900 degrees in the theater???? For no reason???? I had the fucking chills yesterday so I dressed in a sweatshirt this wasn’t fair

- They didn’t get through act one...the world is shocked

- The director tried to move 1 (one) set piece and then said ‘I hate doing stage crew, I don’t wanna do stage crew anymore’ and Tom, in a whisper of barely-concealed rage, was like ‘I don’t want to do stage crew and set design and lights and sounds and projections and-’ and I cant even finish this list bc I cant remember every thing he does but I was just dying honestly this poor guy needs to escape omfg

- The opening scene for ‘Magic To Do’ and shit. okay. listen. It opens on a black screen with whitehanded gloves coming out and then Tom’s putting a black light on them, and THAT looks awesome. But....moving the screen and the screen itself look like garbage oh my God

- The kid she cast as Pippin. listen. He’s funny and I like him. If you’ll refer back to my in the heights posts, he was Sonny

- ...remember how I also said the kid playing Sonny was very talented but seemingly untrained and thus the weakest link in the main cast

- O H M Y G O D

- Listen, he’s good, but the kid that understudied for Pippin yesterday was a much better singer, and he literally didn’t even know any of the songs he was singing...I just have QUESTIONS, you know?

- Steven, who’s playing Charlemagne...his mic just decided it Didn’t Feel Like It today

- Oh my God so the two Leading Player’s right. Okay, the one kid, I’ve known him since he was like, ficking 9 or something and he was practically born on a stage. Amazing projection. His mic died halfway through the rehearsal and we literally didn’t even notice. He’s solid. But the GIRL. I love her but she’s so INCONSISTENT. First she’ll sing too quietly, so we’ll turn her mic up....and then she’ll decide to be loud, so we have to turn it down....over....and over....and over...oh my God. And considering her scene partner is SO LOUD like it’s just. Messy. 

- “It’s not even six’o’clock and I already don’t wanna be here“

- A lot of the dances have potential to be good but it just seems like no one in the cast,,,,,knows them

- So much high school musical and bye bye birdie and rent was sung???? But the most unholy moment was when Tom suddenly remembered we were in 13 together a million years ago and fucking went “We alllllll haaaaave....a little more MAAAAGIC TO DO” I almost screamed the worst mashup I could imagine and now its STUCK IN MY HEAD

- There were so many moments where Tom would be like ‘they need to _____’ and it fell on death ears and then less than five minutes later someone else would suggest that idea and he’d be like “OH. OH DO YOU THINK THATS A PLAN???” lmao

- asdfgh they got in their places for ‘War is a Science’ and Tom was like ‘lol they way they’re set up reminds me of La Vie Boheme’ but then they....started doing the dance and we were like WHAT THE SHIT bc it was TOO CLOSE to our La Vie Boehme lmaoooo

- I’m so hung up on the decapitated head that talks to Pippin like I really don’t remember that ever happening and no one will tell me why it’s happening omfg

- The directors baby grandson is Always Here but I got to ‘talk’ to him tonight and like....words cannot truly express but this is literally the most adorable child on the planet??? He deadass has anime eyes, guys, wtf

- We’re trying to get Charlemagne a laser pointer wish us luck 

- “Just give him one and see how long it takes the director to fucking notice. It’ll be the last show I promise” 

- We had an actual discussion on why purple was a ‘royal’ color 

- I swear apart from like the two or three kids I knew for a long time and was like in other shows with,,,,,,these kids hate me or sm like TEENAGERS, man, omfg

- “Ahhh, yes....the company’s official old lady wig”

- “Oh my God. Oh my God it looks like a fucking TED talk”

- “I...okay, kid, I GUESS that was technically a falsetto-” 

- Tom: “If she moves my fucking speaker, I swear to God. Don’t-”

   The director: *all but kicks his speaker out of the way*

   Tom: “JUDITH ESTELLE-”

- I had to explain who Matthew McConaughey is 

- Tom decided today, after 8? 9? years of knowing me, to suddenly start calling me “Moll” but when he’s across the room no one can fucking tell if he’s saying “Moll” or “Mom” so we were confused half the night

- “How do you not know who the Visigoths are?” “Listen I went to Catholic school we just kinda lightly touched on the Crusades okay”

- I got physically ill from how hungry I was

- “Drowsy Chaperone is much better at being a meta musical” “It’s newer, it learned from Pippin’s mistakes”

- There’s been so much staple gun drama for some reason and my mother literally ran into the directors husband at Lowes because of it

- “Imagine going to your Grandma’s house hoping for a fun and meaningful visit but then she just sings for like five minutes then has a group of men carry her away”

- Oh my God,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,the scene where Pippin’s like banging everyone in the country

- So what’s SUPPOSED to happen: He has a dance with a bunch of girls, some guys come out and join the mix, the dancers pair off and get into ~~~suggestive~~~ poses until Pippin becomes tired and disgusted and decides Sex Isn’t The Only Reason For Living

- What’s ACTUALLY happening: He’s got this weird dance with like twenty girls, right...And then six boys come out...and line up and they do this lean thing while Pippin’s on his knees (”he’s EXPERIMENTING”) and then the girls have another dance break but it’s just like. random dance moves. Like, I’m NOT game for having a bunch of teenage girls pantomime the fucking kama sutra out here but the dance makes no sense and with the fact there’s only six ensemble boys who do Barely Anything it just reads less as ‘Pippin tires of sex’ and more as ‘Pippin gets chased away by a bunch of lesbians who were sending a lot of mixed signals’ asdfghjk

- All the body parts were thrown onto and taken off the stage by the tiny little kid playing Theo and it shouldn’t have been so funny but it WAS omg

- This cast is NEVER CENTERED onstage and it’s driving me INSANE like there’s always a few stranglers on stage right and it looks so sloppy but my complaints are falling on death ears rip

- The foam sun....took like 20 minutes to hang up

- it’s there for O N E  S C E N E

- I can’t type anymore I'm tired and literally still have saw dust on me but anyway: still not considering throwing myself into a fire pit