#he consistently performed well?? he and his team was placing first almost every stage?? he got more screen than ip

[chaeinedup]

Pretty please

You were tired. To be fair everyone was. A tour is a great achievement and it's super fun but it's also a lot of responsability, a lot of running around, some techinal difficulties that need to be fixed on the spot... It's just a LOT. And of course who knew that better than WEi themselves.

Excitment took over as soon as you knew you got to tag along, to be able to go to places you've never been before with some of your closest friends and your sweet boyfriend. Obviously you volunteered to help out in any way possible, you felt horrible just by the thought of becoming a dead weight. Sure this is leasure but you don't intend to push any boundaries it would be disrespectful to say the least.

But so far so good, putting aside all the stress of course, you couldn't have asked for better. Seeing them on stage was somehow very rewarding, even if you weren't apart of the official team, even if you don't work for them or with them, you've always admired how passionate and dedicated the guys were. And it translates on stage, it's crystal clear that they were born to be on stage.

Another day, another city, another killer show. Paired with amazing outfits, it's not like they're not always amazing but these are new ones. As in they will be wearing them to promote the b-side of their next album, but they decided to surprise RUi by performing it for them. Well them and you.

Daehyeon hadn't mentioned any of this to you, intentionally, because you're a RUi after all, but also his girlfriend. Your brain simply could not function once he stepped out of the changing room, the transparent mesh fabric was giving you a lot to think about. Everyone in the room could see your drooling, some laughed, some scoffed but you had completely blacked out.

After a good few seconds you came back to earth, realizing the man you so desired was looking at you with that smug face you so "hate". He didn't approach you, didn't talk to you, nothing. He was leaving you to suffer all alone, pretending he knows nothing. Typical Daehyeon.

One of the many perks of this tour is you had a room all to yourselves and that meant privacy for once. But with the shows Daehyeon was exhausted and when he wasn't he would decide to work on unfinished projects. There was always time for cuddling because he can't fall asleep without you in his arms, however that was it, which you're not complaining about but your body is. You crave him so bad and apart of you feels guilty about it, he's about to step on stage to finalize another successeful concert and you can't stop thinking about kissing him all over.

They went back up while you stood on the sidelines watching them give everything they got left. But someone looked renergized, like they hadn't just performed for a whole hour. He was enjoying your suffering while giving you the silence treatment and you know what that means. He only does this when he wants you to make the first move, he wants you to tell him you want him. That you need him.

Usually your dynamic consists of the "push and pull" which makes things very exciting and fun for the both of you, but given the fact you were completely blindsided there was no way you could win whatever was going on.

Ending ment came around which meant it was time to get things ready to leave, you made yourself busy trying to keep your mind distracted. As you were packing up their clothes someone pulled you out of the room, dragging you into the changing rooms.

"What are you doing?", your body was completely laid flat against the mirror, the cold surface making your skin tingle slightly.

"I don't know, what do you think I'm doing?" His words were smooth and seductive making you feel dizzy so much so you almost let out whimper. He noticed and decided to use it to his advantage.

"See, you can't lie to me, every part of you wants me as much as I want you."

"Daehyeon do you want to get caught??!!! Cause I don't!!"

"Then why are you pressing your thighs together, hmmm? Be a doll for me and turn around."

You didn't want to, merely for the sake of being a brat, but you couldn't deny you needed his touch. Arms around your waist, he was looking at you through the mirror, slowly making it's way to your hair placing it on your left side. He was so close to your ear you could hear him breath.

"Do you see that ?", his hands go down again to play with your nipples, "Do you want me?"

You let your head fall on his shoulder, making direct eye contact with him.

"Say pretty please."

[hawopro]

me watching old survival shows for han mubo knowing he'll get eliminated: 😌😌 it's fine i'll get hmb content nevertheless

me watching the elimination ep: 😭😭😭😭😭 take full damage when he got teary eyes and smiled through it /pain so much pain/ why did i do this to myself--

[twh-news]

Interview: Makeup Artist Douglas Noe on Loki’s Looks Through the Years & Creating Anew for ‘Loki’ [EXCLUSIVE]

Douglas Noe has been in Hollywood for three decades. An award-winning makeup artist, he’s worked on projects such as World War Z, Planet of the Apes, Spider-Man 3, I Saw the Light, and Birth of a Nation. On top of these impressive credits, he’s also been Tom Hiddleston’s personal makeup artist since joining the MCU in The Avengers, designing all of the looks for Loki’s subsequent appearances.

Noe has been nominated for three Emmys with one win, and five Makeup Artist and Hairstylist (MUAHS) Awards resulting in two MUAHS awards. His skills include creating making natural and period looks, prosthetics, hair, and tattoos.

Along with being the head of the makeup department for the most recent Disney+ series Loki, Noe is also creating looks for the new Netflix comedy series True Story starring Kevin Hart and Wesley Snipes.

We had a chance to chat with Douglas Noe about his work on Loki, The Avengers, the incomparable value of teamwork on set, and most importantly, Richard E. Grant.

Nerds and Beyond: So you started your Marvel journey with The Avengers, but what drew you to your field in the first place? And how did you get your start?

Douglas Noe: Star Wars was a huge influence to me as a young boy, both sketching and drawing, and a little bit of sculpting but not much. Cut to 1983, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” comes out and I find a magazine called Fangoria on the newsstands where I can order blood and wax and pencils and fake hair. So, I started playing with these things. I was also taken with the horror movie craze that was happening in the early 80s — Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th, and others, obviously.

In High School, in 1984, I joined choir thinking I would get an easy credit, but my voice had not changed. So the choral instructor had been waiting for a boy soprano to do a theatrical opera presentation. So with that I sang the lead, I quit choir after that, because my peers were merciless, but, I learned the world of theatrical makeup which I hadn’t been introduced to.

I did years of theater. I went to a performing arts high school — it’s called Fort Hayes School for the Performing Arts in Columbus, Ohio — graduated, went to beauty school, and continued working in Ohio doing industrial, commercial, theater, and opera [makeup]. Worked for Maybelline and Revlon, got restless, worked in Cincinnati on my first film in the summer of 1990, it was July so 31 years ago, A Rage in Harlem. And my boss said you come to Los Angeles, I’ll make sure you get on your feet.

Nerds and Beyond: So you mentioned that it’s been about 31 years since your career started, what’s changed over the course of those 30 years in your field?

Douglas: How much time do we have? I’d say the biggest, biggest change would probably be the way we make these things now. Although another large change, more specific, would be the materials that we use. There’s a constant evolution and reinvention of almost all aspects of the materials that a makeup artist uses. That said, I have to shine a light on the way we do things now with the onset of digital and digital cameras. Shooting on film now has almost completely fallen by the wayside. Film was very forgiving, quite frankly, and now it’s not so forgiving. And because of that, the bar has been raised. The wonderful thing about this journey is watching my peers just get better and better and better, my colleagues rising to meet the challenge of not having anything to hide from with this new way we make films.

Nerds and Beyond: So, sometimes you kind of throw prosthetics to the wayside in favor of a more traditional makeup. How do you make that decision on which one to go with?

Douglas: That’s an excellent question. The decision is based purely on what are we going to see. That’s where I start, what is the lighting? I have a conversation with the director of photography and I find out what is the dynamic. Obviously, I know from the script whether it’s an interior or exterior, or if we’re exterior but we’re going to be on a stage, if it’s day or night. These variables all play into my decision as to whether or not I should rely on my theatrical experience and ability to paint 2D to appear 3D, or go ahead and make small prosthetics and put them where I need to put them and use actual prosthetics in lieu of paint.

That has everything to do with lighting, locations, logistics, and because most of his [Loki’s] wounds appear on his arm and some on his face in the Void, it’s all very moody and very dark. And again, the theatrical quality of the paint is not going to be altered by the changing light, it’s just going to react the same way the rest of the face is going to react. It’s purple light, it’s going to make everything have a purple hue. There was no accounting for any correction that didn’t need to be done. There wasn’t anything wrong with that. It’s real.

Nerds and Beyond: So, you did make up for not only Tom on Loki, but you helped plan out the looks for everybody?

Douglas: Yes, what I do is I surround myself with strong talent. It’s all about team. I designed Wunmi Mosaku, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sophia DiMartino, and Tom [Hiddleston]. Regarding the rest of it, Neil Ellis, both Dennis Liddiard and I, added to the elements of his scars and wounds, which you would only see in close-ups.

The rest of it, the parameters are set — Blade Runner to Mad Men — and stay in those confines. And obviously, I choose color palettes for the women and there are parameters set for the men, but then it’s about team. I’m a big one on a team and not putting my thumbprints on other people’s work, but rather build other people up so they feel like they own what they’re doing.

My team consists of artists that also have stronger resumes and quite frankly, skills that exceed mine. It’s the mutual trust that allows us to keep a high level of artistic integrity in every aspect of the job. It also means I get the very best from my team, and it shows on the screen.

So, I didn’t have every look in my hand. Dennis Liddiard designed the Mobius character and I had Ned Neidhardt run with Gugu and turn up the volume on some of the elements that she already possesses that we can play with. Her eyes and lips, I think Ned turned the volume on both. And because we’re shooting in order, it’s a progression in the makeup you did.

Nerds and Beyond: When it came to Sylvie and Loki, when you when you’re doing those, did you try to kind of plan them both to have any similar things to give them a Loki look?

Douglas: It’s a fair question, but the answer is no. So again, I think the characteristics and traits that were going to be similar among them, aside from wardrobe and costume hints, were all character driven. And I did nothing with the makeup and hair to try to make them look or even closely resemble each other.

Nerds and Beyond: I want to kind of back up a little bit to Tom in the first Avengers film. That was by far one of his most standout looks. Can you tell me anything about what went into the creation of that absolutely tormented, haunted look that he had throughout that entire movie?

Douglas: Yeah, and that’s probably one of the elements that, because the character has evolved, we kind of left with Avengers because by the end of Avengers, and we carried it into Endgame, he does have a bit of an edgier look in Avengers, and not many people pick up on it. But the reality is he’s a little sculpted in Avengers.

I remember sculpting his cheekbones and temples, and doing a little play on his forehead for when he’s in the cell on the Helicarrier carrier with all that overhead lighting. I did like a little devil horn shadow, which is so subtle. The only person who’s going to notice is anybody who looks back at it and having read this and knows what to look for, but it is so nuanced and so subtle. And that’s the only place I think we did that. But the rest of him is very much chiseled and sculpted, but it’s a light touch.

And I think, again, as he evolved through the Marvel Universe and into the other movies that was something that was easy to leave behind, because I think that look played directly into his evil desire to rule over Earth. We rested that design element with that storyline.

Nerds and Beyond: It’s very clear too and I’ve always loved looking at that, because I’m a huge fan of the character. I’ve always loved kind of comparing how he looked in that movie to the rest of them.

Douglas: You’re on to me!

Nerds and Beyond: I’m not! I swear [laughs] So, what’s your best method for making the actors comfortable in the makeup chair? And with the final outcome?

Douglas: It’s dialogue; listening, talking to them, talking to their representation, whether it be an agent or a manager, and doing my homework and doing my due diligence to find out what’s going to make them comfortable the moment they walk through the door. I do my homework on them. It’s not just IMDb, it’s an internet search. So, I spend some time on the web and find out who these folks are, and if I find out, for example, they’re not one that likes to talk a lot, well, the writing’s on the wall, we’re not going to talk a lot, we’ll cut to the chase and get to the point. But also, it’s about building a rapport and building a relationship. Also, knowing that, I’ve said this in previous discussions, knowing it’s necessary to get out of the way.

Like if, for example, I’m not a proper fit for somebody, I have to be plugged in, I have to be aware enough to understand that it may not be working before somebody says to me, “Hey, this isn’t gonna work.” So it’s just about being open, especially as Tom’s personal on these projects and running the department, knowing that I don’t get to do everybody. I don’t get to put my thumbprint on other people’s work. Because not only is that disrespectful, it’s very often unnecessary, because I hire good people. I hire contemporaries and peers. Truly, you’re only as good as your weakest crew member. I surround myself with good people.

So, take Owen Wilson, for example, it would have been wonderful to do Owen’s makeup, but there were times when he was not going to be shooting with Tom and I was going to need to be ready for Tom or available to Tom, so it didn’t make sense. So I never touched Owen, I had Dennis Liddiard design that look and run with it. And then Ned Neidhardt took over that look when Dennis had to depart. That’s just one example of not trying to do everything.

Another one was the Classic Loki. I wanted to do Richard E. Grant’s [makeup] so bad, I can’t even tell you. I’ve been a huge fan since 1987. I wanted so badly to bring that full circle, didn’t make sense. It just didn’t make sense. So again, I never touched him. It wasn’t necessary. Ned was always there. And I think the same thing happened to me on Ragnarok reshoots, which I ran in Atlanta again with Dennis Liddiard. I wanted so badly to do Sir Anthony Hopkins makeup, but it didn’t make sense. So I was happy to hand it off to Bill Myer.

Nerds and Beyond: Oh man, I loved Richard E. Grant in this show so much.

Douglas: He’s amazing.

Nerds and Beyond: He’s so good!

Douglas: He really is. And he’s that good in person. He’s just so fun and interesting and alluring and attractive. He’s such a wonderful, wonderful person and, of course, a phenomenal actor.

Nerds and Beyond: I was watching little videos that he posted and he just seems like the warmest person.

Douglas: You know, just one last tidbit about Richard Grant is he’s got wonderful stories and as he’s telling them he’ll often stop and pause and just laugh. Just laugh, not for the sake of the stories or for anybody that he’s telling the story to, but because recounting the story brings him true joy. So he’ll stop and embrace that joy. Oh, it’s so wonderful.

Nerds and Beyond: That’s so amazing to hear. What is the most memorable job that you’ve done?

Douglas: The most memorable … That’s a tough one because I have so many fond memories of so many projects. The first Avengers film was memorable because there was a buzz, there was a vibration, a frequency, that was in the air when we were shooting that. We kind of knew we were making something big and something special. I don’t think any of us knew how big or how special it would be, but that certainly is one of the most memorable and most special projects.

I’m pretty good about focusing on the positive aspects of all these things, regardless of how difficult the project may be for whatever reason. The pros always, always heavily outweigh the cons, but I have a lot of wonderful, memorable experiences. Another one, it’s the polar opposite only because of the conditions in which we shot, but Birth of the Nation was one of the most memorable and exceptional experiences of my career. I was on the wrong side of 40, had 25 years of experience, and had still never worked so hard in my entire life. We did a 50-day shoot in 27 days. So proud of the work we did.

It was 100 degrees with 99 percent humidity, we shot it in the summer in Georgia, in Savannah, so it was hot, humid, and just getting the makeup necessary to be on individuals to stay put was its own challenge. And then the other challenges only added to that. But Nate Parker, the director, writer, producer, and lead actor, he is a special human being. And he was inspiring from start to finish. Usually, the first people in are the teamsters, transport department, and usually I’m second. He beat me in almost every single day. He’s in three hours before he needs to be. That was a very special experience.

Nerds and Beyond: Finally, are you excited about the news of Loki Season 2?

Douglas: I’m beyond thrilled! I invite being in the dark a little bit, I kind of like surprises and I like not knowing, so I suspected, but hearing the news confirmed, I was thrilled, naturally. What are they going to dream up? This is amazing. How do you top season 1 of Loki? That’s the burning question.

[dailyniallnews]

Niall Horan: Live at The Royal Albert Hall

While some may argue that too few artists have done their bit to raise awareness for the people of the music industry who since March 2020 have been forced to stop practicing their profession, one artist who has stepped up to the plate is singer-songwriter and former One Direction star, Niall Horan. Joining forces with the crew-led organisation, We Need Crew, on 7 November 2020, the singer welcomed fans from around the globe to bear witness to a one-off performance from the eerily empty Royal Albert Hall, with all profits going to his touring family and technical entertainment charity, Backup.

In the lead up to the livestream, Horan could be found on almost every television network, promoting the show and explaining why the performance required the attention of all music lovers. In his own words: “I’m putting on this gig to raise awareness of the immense value they bring to an industry enjoyed by so many and do something to help them and their families. I ask all my fans to support them with me and buy a ticket if you can, and I encourage all artists to do the same.”

With several weeks passing since both artist and crew took over the RAH, TPi caught up with the crew behind the project and to get their thoughts on this very special event.

PRODUCTION ORIGINS…

“I remember it was a Monday morning when I got the call from Karen [Ringland] and Alice [Martin], who explained the concept of We Need Crew,” reminisced Ant Carr, Head of Production for Modest! Management. Both founders of We Need Crew explained to Carr that the goal of We Need Crew is, in association with #WeMakeEvents, to raise money for touring professionals who have fallen on hard times due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“What really appealed about their organisation was that it was created by crew, for crew,” Carr said. “Around the same time, I was having conversations with Niall, who had already seen a few peers doing livestream performances, and we discussed the idea of performing in an iconic venue to raise awareness for the plight of the industry.”

With these two conversions in mind, Carr began to pull the pieces of would become Horan’s streamed performance together, as well as a big launch for the We Need Crew campaign. Carr and the rest of the Modest! team got to work reforming his touring family, whose album cycle had been stopped prematurely in March 2020.

“We were in LA when everything began shutting down,” stated Carr, who explained how he and the rest of the crew were in their last few weeks of promo before heading into rehearsals for Horan’s world tour. “We were finishing up a week on James Corden when the announcement came that the borders were due to be shut, so we all had to head back to the UK pretty quickly.”

After several months with no work, both Carr and the rest of the crew were all enthusiastic about getting back together to put on a very special performance. “In many ways, it was like we had never been away,” explained Production Manager, Andy Colby. “There was a part of me that thought it might have been a bit strange with it being so long since we worked together, but 30 minutes into the first rehearsal at SW19, it was like we had just got off the plane from LA.”

Colby was one of many familiar faces from Horan’s touring family who got the call to help with the livestream, alongside several technical suppliers including Wigwam and midnight:lights. KB Event provided a Megacube Artic for rehearsals in SW19 along with a Tech Kit for the show, oversaw by Lead Driver, Steve Crawley. Pulse Films and promoter, Driift were brought into the fold to make the event a reality.

In total, some 127,000 tickets for the performance were sold to 151 countries. “The response we had from fans was fantastic,” enthused Carr. “The funds raised are going to be able to help a good number of touring crew and their families and we kept this in the forefront of our mind in all aspects of the show.”

Carr was also quick to complement the attitude of the man in front of the camera. “Niall was very involved in every step of the process. He really gained a full grasp of the situation and during the promotion of the show, he really wanted to educate the public, and his fanbase, about what was going on in the sector.”

SETTING THE STAGE…

A few weeks from the broadcast date, a small group visited the Royal Albert Hall to make a start on planning how the show would come together. Lighting and Show Designer, Emma Bull and Director, Paul Dugdale led the creative vision. The livestream began with Horan performing a song on the piano on the venue’s stage, before walking down to the centre of the room to play the rest of the show in 360° in the centre of the hall. A top priority for the visual team was putting both Niall and the venue in the spotlight.

Bull elaborated: “Although several dance shows utilise the centre of the room, Paul’s Dugdale’s suggestion to do this for a music act felt fresh and was a strong starting point for the design,” she noted. “Having Niall and the band in the centre gave us a few options to really show off the building and take advantage of the fact the whole space was empty.”

One of her design ideas to make use of the space was to fill the empty boxes of the hall with lights. “It really ‘shined a light’ on the fact that there was nobody in the space,” she commented.

Aiding her in both the programming and running the show was Richard White of midnight:lights. “In total, we built 114 bespoke plinths for the audience boxes,” he stated. “On these sat a combination of Robe LED Beam 150s and Robe Spiiders.” The arrangement of these fixtures and boxes created a 360° backdrop of the central stage, with fixtures focussed into the room as well as back on themselves to flood the boxes.

The other key lighting elements included three Robe BMFL Robospots for keylight, which were placed in the venue’s gallery level. “We kept most of the control of these at the console with it being a 360° shoot,” stated White. “We were then able to shift the keylight/backlight across the fixtures as the camera tracked.” Around the central stage, the lighting team deployed SGM Q2s to provide some glowing footlights, along with Litepanel Gemini Softlights for Niall’s microphone position. “From the beginning, I knew I didn’t want there to be any rigging or trussing in the shot,” explained Bull. “We didn’t want anything to distract from the key elements of the shot – Niall and venue – to produce a clean look.” This is also why the visual department moved away from the idea of a backdrop and instead showed off the immensity of the famed venue.

Aiding both Bull and White in their endeavours was Lighting Programmer, Dan Young. In the lead up to the show, both Young and White spent several days in the previs suite at midnight:lights using Syncronorm Depence² to plan the show. “I have worked with both Dan and Richard several times and they have a great understanding of my aesthetic,” praised Bull. “I like things to be quite static in terms of colour palette with refined looks.” During the show, White oversaw the key lighting with Young programming all the moves. This gave Bull the freedom to act as a go-between between both the lighting and the stage to ensure the integrity of the design for the broadcast.

“The main challenge for this show was to provide consistent lighting over the different shooting styles,” mused White. “On one hand, we needed to have soft beauty lighting for close-up shots and steadycam work, but we also needed to make sure that the stage was physically as clear as possible for all the wide room shots and overhead wire-cam.” To add a level of accuracy, most of the live show was programmed to timecode because the visual team were situated outside of the room during the shoot.

LIGHTS, CAMERA, LIVESTREAM…

Jim Parsons was brought in by Pulse Films to assume the role of Producer. “By the time I got involved, the concept had already been fairly well developed by Emma Bull and Paul Dugdale,” Parsons began. “From my side, it was a case of getting all the video and visual elements and working out some of logistics of how we’d get the event to the finish line.”

Parsons has collaborated with Horan several times over the years. “The fact he came from the TV world means he has much more of a grasp than many of his peers of what goes into this style of performance and how to connect with fans through a camera,” he enthused.

Speaking a few weeks after the event took place, Parsons reflected on what he and the team achieved with the livestream. “We always knew we had an opportunity to do something different with this show,” he commented. “The end resulted was big and beautiful, but it was still ‘live’.  It had the feel of a real show and didn’t come across prescriptive or dull.”

Parsons went on to describe the collaboration between himself and Driift, having worked together several times during 2020 on shows for Kylie Minogue and Sleaford Mods. “Ric Salmon and the rest of the Driift team are the kind of broadcasters I really like collaborating with in that they just let you get on with your work,” stated Parsons plainly. “They were obviously interested in the initial conversations and in the creative, but once it was all in place, they left us to it.”

Driift CEO, Ric Salmon offered his two cents on the project. “The fact that Niall ended up selling 127,000 tickets for the event is such a huge achievement, made all the better as it was all for such an amazing cause,” he stated. Unsurprisingly, 2020 was a busy year for Driift as the company offered livestreaming solutions for several artists. “There are almost too many benefits with this format of show,” stated Salmons while discussing the progression of livestreaming solutions that have only expanded in the past few years. “As we move forward, I think you’ll find more people opting for this style of event over, say, music videos,”

Parsons described what it was like working in the RAH. “It’s a beautiful venue, but we have all seen it thousands of times and there’s no denying that making it look different is quite a challenge. So, hats have to go off to the visual team for making this livestream look so unique.”

A Luna Remote System Junior 5 Telescopic remote compact dolly on a circular track along with a Dactylcam Pro point-to-point wire camera system captured the magic of the livestream. The spanned the periphery of central stage to present virtual audiences with a 360° view.

Camera Supervisor and joint Owner of Luna Remote Systems, Dean Clish discussed what it meant to be involved in such a prestigious show. “It was an honour to be involved in Niall’s show,” he commented. “It was for such a great cause and it’s always good to be in the Royal Albert Hall – you can’t go wrong with such a beautiful location.”

He continued to discuss why the camera selection was ideal for this type of performance. “The Junior 5 and the Dactylcam Pro are perfect for this kind of shoot because of the need to socially distance and, of course, with this sort of intimate production, they are both really unobtrusive and discreet systems,” he explained. “We’ve rigged the Dactylcam in the Royal Albert Hall before. It’s a brilliant system to use in there as you can really capture the essence of the hall from a height, in flight, in a way that you can’t with static systems.”

SOUNDING OUT…

The production brought back the audio double act of FOH Engineer, Matthew Kettle and Monitor Engineer, Joe Campbell to oversee the mix for the livestream and the band on stage. Having started working with Horan on his first solo album cycle, Kettle gave an overview of his time with the artist. “I didn’t really know what to expect before I’d heard the debut record and, as I was more known for working with rock music, I wasn’t sure I’d be the right fit,” he commented. However, with Horan’s solo music citing influences including Fleetwood Mac and Bruce Springsteen, the Engineer explained how it had been a fruitful partnership over the past three years. “Niall is really quite involved with the audio production and often during rehearsals will listen to the mixes to get a feel of what is being produced.”

Having been put on a hiatus since the tour’s cancellation in March, Kettle described what it was like to pull the pieces back together for the tour. “It’s really quite a different process producing a mix for a livestream compared to a live show,” he mused. “I have always had massive respect for broadcast engineers as it is such a different craft. When you’re mixing live in a venue, if anything goes wrong, you can fix it for the next performance. However, with a broadcast, everything is under much more of a microscope and under a great deal of scrutiny. Not only that, but you only have one shot at a show.”

Kettle explained that once he and the team entered rehearsals, they soon found their rhythm. “The approach to mixing was not too dissimilar to what we had already been working on for the tour. Just like the visual department, we didn’t want the production to be too flashy, aiming to simply reflect the intimacy of the performance without too much embellishment,” he commented.

For this reason, both Kettle and Campbell virtually replicated their audio setups they had planned to use for the world tour, featuring two DiGiCo SD5 consoles for monitors and FOH, along with Shure Axient Handhelds with Sennheiser 2000 Series IEMs, d&b audiotechnik wedges and a V-Series for side fills.

The console setup was not significantly different from the touring configuration, with multiple inputs from various SD-Racks in different parts of the stage and performance areas going to the broadcast SD5, all connected by an Opticore loop and shared with Campbell’s SD5 in monitor world. “The SD5 is my favourite console in the world,” said Campbell. “I love it and, because DiGiCo products are well proven and rock solid reliable, we rarely have to include them directly in what we do.” Cambpell was initially concerned in the lead up to the show, having not touched a desk since March. “Thankfully, Wigwam had kept the desks in pristine condition – so much so that our show files were even still loaded on the desk from the tour. This saved a great deal of time in rehearsals and certainly made it easier to get back into the saddle.”

Campbell was keen to replicate the same stage setup for Niall and the band. “During the tour, although he uses IEMs, I still have a wedge and side fills just in case he wants to take out his ears to hear the crowd,” he explained. “Even though it was a livestream with no audience, I wanted the show to feel as familiar as possible for him and the band.”

Despite a relatively “meat and potatoes” band setup, Campbell had just under 100 inputs on his desk – the result of several reverb returns and an elaborate talkback system. “Each one of the band members have a talkback mic so throughout the performance they can talk to one another and me,” he noted.

Meanwhile, Kettle’s ‘FOH’ position was slightly further away, setting up in a corridor off from the main hall. “Wigwam prepared an acoustic treatment kit so I sat at the desk with several studio monitors to mix the show and then sent my audio feed to the Pulse team,” stated Kettle. “Before going into the RAH, I was concerned with how the room would react with no audience in there to dampen the sound, but from the first sound check it sounded fantastic.”

Discussing Wigwam’s involvement with the project, Tom Bush commented: “We were all extremely proud to be supplying Niall’s livestream, especially as it was addressing the We Need Crew and #WeMakeEvents funds and highlighting what goes into putting on a production with the unseen and behind-the-scenes rolls.”

Bush went on to explain the approach to this type of performance: “A slightly different thought process can be needed – the standard positions for mixing, for example. The package wasn’t too dissimilar to the one we had ready for the world tour, so we had a good starting point. A few additions and tweaks were needed to adhere to the show setup, but Matt and Joe’s attention to detail made sure the process was smooth. The need for trucks full of PA hasn’t been required yet, but soon hopefully. We currently have a few livestreams pencilled in that we’re all looking forward to.”

#WENEEDCREW…

Looking back at the slew of 2020 livestreamed performances, Niall Horan stands out among the crowd, not only for its aesthetic, but because of everything it represented – not to mention the sizeable pot of funds it raised for the live events industry.

As we enter a new year with the live events sector entrenched in the clutches of the COVID-19 pandemic, the hope is that more musicians will follow in Horan’s footsteps to shine the spotlight on hardworking crew members that are so often out of sight and mind to the average live music lover. In the meantime, more information regarding the We Need Crew initiative can be found on www.weneedcrew.co.uk

[kpopmalereader]

assume ; na jaemin

• summary: you’re on a dance team with jisung and chenle. jaemin was on the team the year before and comes back. you’re rehearsing by yourself one day and jisung and chenle catch jaemin watching you through a window. they (and a few others) notice jaemin can’t take his eyes off of you, but you brush it off, not wanting to make any assumptions about jaemin despite the constant glancing and interest in each other • pairing: na jaemin x male!reader • word count: 2469 • to do

Music blares through the room. It bounces off the walls, shaking the mirrors in front of you, and resonates in your bones. You’re dancing by yourself in the large room, but your fluid movements and the personality you put into even the smallest moves morphs the room smaller. You could be dancing in the largest cathedral all by yourself, and you would only let the world be as large as you want it to be before you pulled it back in. 

Jaemin’s eyes follow you. He’s engulfed by your every move. His bag is packed to the brim, and it feels heavy on his shoulder, almost painful, but all he cares about is the way you look. You’re beautiful, arms moving gracefully. You portray every emotion flawlessly. Jaemin realizes he’s openly staring at you but doesn’t care.

That is until Chenle and Jisung come up to him. They look him up and down before looking into the room. They can just see your ending pose, sweat dropping off your forehead. Your shoulders and chest move up and down as you breathe. The music is still booming through the room as you lean on your knees and attempt to catch your breath.

Jisung and Chenle move their eyes from you to Jaemin, then back to you. The gears moving in their heads are almost audible as they click everything into place. Chenle gasps and slaps Jisung’s shoulder as realization sets in.

“You like-!” Chenle’s yelling is cut off by Jaemin shoving him away from the door.

“I don’t! He’s a good dancer, and he’s grown a lot in the past year. That’s all I was looking at.”

Jaemin pushes the other two further and further away from the dance room as he talks. Neither of the two seem to believe him as they walk.

Jisung turns his head as his shoulder is hounded. “You’ve never looked at anyone dancing like that, no matter how good they are.”

Jaemin ignores his statement even though he knows it’s true. He continues to force both of them until they’re on the other end of the long hall. They can hear the music turn off, and not too long later, they notice you walk out of the room and out the side door. Chenle and Jisung are still looking at Jaemin like he’s oblivious, eyebrows raised and amused expressions. Chenle begins to smile at the thought of Jaemin having a crush on you and doesn’t bother hiding it.

“Don’t,” Jaemin warns.

“You two would look so cute together!” He cheers out. He sighs and places his hand over his heart. Jisung is pulled closer to him, clutching his shoulders and pretending to swoon. Wouldn’t they? Two dancers, they could do duets! They-”

“Are never going to together because neither of them like the other.” Jaemin finishes. “I was watching him dance. I haven’t been here in a year. I should scope out my competition.”

Jisung rolls his eyes, still being pulled down by Chenle. He argues against Jaemin’s statement, raising his voice as Jaemin begins to walk away. “We’re on the same team. There is no competition!”

*

The ground beneath you sways slightly as you stand. Your legs are far too tired to be still. You struggle to listen to the words the dance teacher is saying. Jaemin stands on the other side of the room with his arms crossed. His eyes sweep from the speaker to you, but when he realizes he hasn’t caught any of what she has said, he brings his attention back. 

Not soon after forcing himself to pay attention, his eyes go back to you. His eyes follow the curve of your cheeks down to your jawline. He watches you tilt your head back and forth, eyes seeming bored and disinterested with what the guest teacher says. You notice his stare a long time after the looks began. You glance up at him and make eye contact. You look away immediately, face turning light pink at his appreciative look.

He doesn’t look away from you. You can feel his eyes on you still but try not to pay attention to it. He absolutely devours the consistent darkening of your cheeks the longer he watches you. The other dancers around you notice Jaemin eyeing you up and start to draw conclusions about it. You’re still ignoring the look, somewhat certain he’s looking at everyone and not just you. 

Chenle and Jisung once again question Jaemin’s interested looks and big eyes as he watches you. He finally begins to relinquish some feelings but denies any reciprocation on your part.

*

Jaemin sits against the wall of mirrors, legs crossed and head leaning back ever-so-slightly. Over the few weeks that have passed since Jaemin came back, his looks and constant moving to get closer has gotten more and more exaggerated. It’s unable to be avoided, but you’ve tried your hardest to. You’ve given every excuse in the book as to why Jaemin is looking at you that is not any romantic interest. In the beginning, when his long looks and passing glances began, you cast them into a single box. 

It was a box of him being intimidated by how much attention you’ve gotten since he left and him thinking you weren’t talented enough to be given that attention.

Shortly after, the box was relabeled. It became more of a blossoming acquaintanceship. You categorized the looks to him deciding if he liked you or not.

The gazes are still in those boxes despite Jisung, Chenle, and anyone else who spends more than ten minutes with you or Jaemin telling you they’re endearing. 

Now, Jaemin studies your every move. He stifles the unplaced jealousy in his chest as another dancer leads you in a duet. You follow along, learning the actions on the fly as the other man has his hundredth practice. Even though the other dancer has learned and shaped the dance over a month and a half, you stomp all over his performance. Your moves are half-a-second behind his, but your performance is closer to perfect than his will ever be. You could dance circles around him and the choreography, but Jaemin doesn’t mention it quite yet.

The man’s hands brush along your back, and he touches your face gently. Jaemin’s nostrils flare. The look of appreciation and wonder he was given to you turn to glares and hate at the other dancer. The dance ends, and you roll your eyes at yourself. 

You pull at your hair, immediately stepping away from the other dancer. Jaemin’s heart swells at the disinterest, wondering if you would be so willing to move away from him if he was there with you. You walk over to the teacher and ask her to repeat the song, not feeling happy with your first dance of a song you’ve never learned. She shakes her head, and your shoulders fall forward. Jaemin can hear her telling you that you did great for just learning the dance, but you don’t believe her much. You find a seat next to your friends with a frown.

Before, Jaemin’s gaze could be considered merely concentrating on the dance. But now it’s obvious he’s only been viewing you. He watches the frown on your face and how you chew your lip. He can see the talking of everyone around you enter and leave your head in less than a second. The next duet steps up to center-stage. The music begins, and though it’s not at all similar to your song, you begin to practice the moves. Your movements are small, just marking the movements, but your eyes are pointed. You are wholly concentrated on remembering the moves for the next time you get in front of everyone.

Jaemin watches your eyes dart around the room. You try to make sure you’re not interrupting or distracting anyone, but that worry causes eye contact with Jaemin. He smiles and raises his eyebrow at you, lighting up even further when your hands halt and fall and your eyes go wide. Your face begins to flush, and you suddenly become very interested in the dance in front of you.

The practice ends shortly after. You start to rush out of the room but Jaemin sidelines you. He appears in front of you with a cocky smirk playing on his lips. Your breath hitches in your throat, and you smile at him. You begin to walk around him, and he steps to the side.

“Are you ignoring me?”

“No! No... no,.” You repeat the word, calmer each time. “I’ve been here for a while and want to get home.”

His left eyebrow lowers in a question. “Why don’t I believe that?”

You clear your throat and shrug your shoulders. Jaemin doesn’t quite understand or know where the small boost in confidence he gets comes from.

“You did well today,” He mentions. “It’s difficult performing a dance so soon after you learn it, and you were following along well.”

Your eyes are pointed at the ground. “Thanks. I need to practice it more.”

“Well,” He starts a sentence but cuts himself off with a hum. “Actually, never mind, you said you wanted to get out of here.”

Your curiosity gets the best of you. Your eyes slowly move up until you’re looking just to the right of Jaemin’s face. You don’t want to ask the question or share too much, but you breach the world. “What were you going to say?”

He sighs and shakes his head. “I was going to offer my help. You could practice some more, but if you want to get out of here, that’s fine.”

The beating in your chest quickens. A minute of silence and wide eyes pass before you finally speak again.

“I- I-” You breathe halfway out, the rest of it getting caught in your throat. “I can stay a little while. Do you remember any of the dance?”

You didn’t know he could get any more confident, but he does. He stands taller and nods his head. “I have a pretty good memory.”

The room is cleared out quickly. He drops his bag at the edge of the room and walks over to the speakers. You stand by the door, waiting for direction.

Jaemin hums as he moves around the room. “You seemed like you really wanted to go home.”

You don’t say anything back to him, following his movements.

“It almost seems like you want to spend time with me.”

He knows he’s teasing you. Even though his back is turned to you, he can feel your face turning darker as he speaks.

He begins the music and gestures for you to join him in the center of the room. You start to dance with each other. You’re exceedingly hesitant as you move until Jaemin starts leading you around. You get swept up quickly. You find it difficult to take your eyes off of him as he dances around. Jaemin can feel you shiver as he brings his hand down your back. You clear your throat as the music ends. Jaemin asks you a question, but you can’t quite understand it, overwhelmed with the thoughts running through your head. He can see the wide eyes you give him. He disregards the question he asked and turns the song on again.

You pay a bit more attention this time around, putting more effort into it. The song ends, and Jaemin holds you in place longer than needed. You gulp and look up at him. You don’t move away either until another piece begins to play. You jump back and clear your throat, walking swiftly to the speakers. Jaemin chews on his cheek to hide the smile he wants to show and waits for you to come back to him.

You walk back to him as the song begins. Jaemin grabs your waist and pulls you in. He begins to dance, not taking his eyes off of you as he does the choreo. You try to maintain eye contact but soon can’t stand it and look away. He smiles brightly as he dances, feeling energetic even after a days worth of dance practices. The song ends. Jaemin doesn’t move away. You stay with your arms around his neck even after the song ends. Jaemin looks down at you. His eyes are warm. You watch him for a few seconds before the weight of it becomes too much.

You take one step away from him, letting your hands fall to your sides. The next song begins to play, but you don’t move to turn it off. Your face seems conflicted as you stand there. Jaemin just watches you like he always does.

You begin speaking after moments of silence. You open your mouth, then close it again. You look flustered, and Jaemin is surprised he can’t see any red on your cheeks.“I didn’t want to assume anything about you.”

“Okay?” He raises his eyebrow and waits for you to continue.

“I didn’t want to assume anything, so I hadn’t said anything or pursued anything or listened when Jisung or Chenle said to.” You realize you’re beginning to ramble and shake your head. “I didn’t want to assume anything about you. I tried to tell myself that you were only staring because you didn’t know if you actually liked me or not or for some other made-up reason that seemed stupid even to me. So, I don’t want to assume anything, but I want to ask if you were staring at me and act like this because you have feelings for me?”

Jaemin smirks slightly as you talk, trying to control the overconfident feeling blooming inside of him. You look up after you ask the question. Everything you’ve feared coming to light since Jaemin rejoined the dance team is laid out on the floor. And, yes, he’s smiling, and it’s one of the most beautiful things you’ve ever seen, but he isn’t saying anything, and your nerves are running wild. Your mind begins to backtrack and regret even the small amount of things you’ve said. Your heart is pounding in your chest. Your head is telling you to run away and change your name. The panicked look on your face becomes too much for Jaemin, and his smile turns sweet. It is more than adoring as he steps forward. 

“Jisung and Chenle have been telling me to do more than stare for a while now, and I’ve never pursued it.” He chews on his lip and leans down. “Now, I wish I would have said something sooner.”

The blush he’s grown to love appears on your face. You hope he can’t hear your heart beating, and, for once, you’re able to keep your eyes locked on his longer than a few seconds.

[cafeinthemoon]

Tobirama with a s/o who’s scared of water - Part I 🌊

I’m still surprised that I’ve never seen this idea being explored in anywhere, at least in hcs (if you have a fic or something with this concept, please contact me 😜), but imagine how strange and mind blowing it would be for Tobirama to live with someone whose biggest fear lies on water, which is like a second nature of him. How would he deal with such situation?

Fandom: Naruto | Tobirama Senju

Warnings: mentions of trauma, painful memories and drowning; fear of deep waters

Symbols: 💗 | ◻ | ▶▶

Being the best Suiton user at his time, the idea of someone whose worst fear is water never crossed Tobirama’s mind, but here he is, living with you and loving you

Don’t get me wrong: he wouldn’t look down on you because of this, but you see, water feels like a second skin when he’s surrounded by it, it’s in his nature, so he would never consider this possibility spontaneously

So that in this case he took some time to connect the dots and start considering the possibility of this being aquaphobia (does it exist?, he might have thought)

As a regular ninja, you already knew how to walk upon water, but you would avoid it whenever you could (you didn’t even know how it was possible for you to learn that tbh)

But in situations when this wasn’t possible, you almost always were left behind, or he would have to carry you half the way

(It used to kill your pride, but since he never complained or questioned you, you never said a word about it)

And of course you never performed Suiton. Like, NEVER

This condition not only affected your work as a shinobi, but your daily activities as well

Whenever Tobirama invited you to go to the river with him, you never stood by the shore with him while he fished. Dangling your feet under water while sitting there? UNACCEPTABLE

Bathing houses were one of his favorite places, of course, and because of this from time to time you had to torture yourself inventing a different excuse for not going with him

There was an occasion when you had no choice but to go to the bathing house, and you were secretly glad to know that women and men had separated places there, so that you could hide in anywhere and then pretend you were on the water

Even entering a bathtub was a no for you: you always preferred the shower

During your missions together, whenever he started to prepare a Water Release you would go as far as possible from him and offered support from a safe distance, only returning to his side after all the water disappeared. At first, he supposed it was just a precaution, but when you openly refused to approach the water, he understood that there was something you weren't telling him

Sometimes he would observe you while you slept (he always came to sleep after you), and he noticed that you used to be restless after missions when that happened

However he didn’t start a conversation about that. You know him, he's not good at these things and preferred to let you speak when you feel prepared. He didn't want to invade your space

However, things changed after that particular mission

Your adversary was a skilled Suiton user, and they explored this at its limits while fighting against you

There was a moment when you saw yourself surrounded by rocks and other natural obstacles, and they used a jutsu that quickly filled the place with water, and you had no way out

You tried to do something, but your hands wouldn’t move to form a seal, and your feet were paralyzed. You thought you were going to die

Fortunately Tobirama came in time and saved you

In the end the mission was completed and the enemies were defeated, but once you packed to go back to the village you knew you were going to have a conversation about that moment

Though you have been living with him for a long time and thus you trust him as no one else, it was the scariest thing you've ever done

You explained that your problem started after an episode when you were a child

During a day of training as a 5 year old genin, you were practicing walking over water while your sensei was watching. He knew you couldn’t swim, still he didn’t provide you extra care just in case of an accident, stating that he couldn’t favor you over your team mates

Yes, you already talked to Tobirama about your sensei’s ruthless methods, but you never told him that things came to this point

It was when everything happened: for a second you lost control over your chakra and drowned when you were in the middle of the river you had to cross. You were lucky that your team mates were close to you and brought you to the shore

The experience gave you nightmares for several months after that, and even taking a bath was difficult for you. However, no one knew about it, not even your parents

You always believed that the idea of drowning and not getting any help was scarier than the water itself. Still, every time you approached the water, the sensations of that day came back

After that, you tortured yourself for years to master your chakra control, so that you would never be under the risk of drowning even not being able to swim. You always avoided missions in places like the Land of Waves when you could, but sometimes that wasn’t possible and you simply had to face your source of fear

Tobirama listened to your whole story without interrupting you. After you stopped speaking, he remained in silence for a long time

You knew what he was doing: he was trying to think of a practical way for you to manage your problem

It didn’t soothe your anxiety, though. You knew that managing in his vocabulary meant facing your fear until you overcome it. And being a master of Suiton, you knew he could provide the perfect management tools in this case

He explained to you exactly what he was planning and asked for you consent. You were scared, of course, but you trusted him as trusted no other person, so you said yes

In the next morning Tobirama took you to an isolated place around the village, where you both wouldn’t have restrictions in dealing with a huge amount of water

The first stage of your training consisted in you learning how to get used to be close to water. He wanted you to know how to differ when water could represent danger and when it was inoffensive

Since you already knew how to identify it as a sign of danger, he wanted to teach you to be comfortable around it. For this he stood close to you and slowly created a shallow pool around you two; it didn’t even cover you knees

You startled and held him tight, but then you stopped and tried to breath deep while he spoke to you, reminding you of everything you talked before start to training

“Remember what I told you about breathing, y/n. Concentrate in it. You are not under the water now. You are able to breathe. Focus your attention on it”

You were still clinging to him, but instead of pushing you away he held your hands as if he wanted to help you to cross a difficult path

“Do not stand still. Try to move your feet, your legs. Understand that you are able to walk on this amount of water. Then walk with me. Follow me”

You took one step, then another, and then a third one. It was strange to move your feet with the water restraining their movements

But after some time of attempts, walking on water started to feel natural

Still, when you stumbled on something on the submerged floor, you were frightened and grabbed Tobirama’s hands with all your strength

He pulled you closer and whispered some encouraging words

“This is just the first day, and you did a great job. I think that’s enough for now”

PART II IS COMING SOON 🌊

[dailytomlinson]

At the start of 2020, Louis Tomlinson had just kick started his solo career off proper – his debut album ‘Walls’ was released in January and he performed two dates of his world tour before the COVID-19 pandemic hit and every other date was either postponed until next year or cancelled. Fans of the former One Direction star were gutted (of course) but their happiness has been restored as Louis played his first virtual gig last night.

You might expect that a virtual concert consists of just a singer and their band sat in an empty venue, right? With no lights or affects, and in a way it looks ‘boring’? Well this was the complete opposite! The classic Louis red lighting and the strobe lighting almost made you believe that you were actually there in real life!

Louis walked out on stage with his new haircut – it’s a lot longer than what fans were used to seeing. Has he been spending too much time with Harry Styles, who knows? He kept things casual in a laidback £22 Reebok t shirt which is now sold out in every single size due to Tomlinson’s influence.

He then kicked the concert off (15 minutes late may I add – fans are convinced that he wanted to watch the football) with ‘Just Hold On’. This is a song he originally produced with Steve Aoki and is more of a dance record, a bit different to the indie sound he is now leaning towards. But, he adapted the four-year-old record to his new style and it was a great surprise for fans – especially to kick off the livestream.

He then continued to sing ‘We Made It’ and ‘Don’t Let It Break Your Heart’ – two new songs from his album ‘Walls’. He then followed these tracks into a classic One Direction song ‘Drag Me Down’. Fans from all around the world went crazy about this – nothing beats a One Direction member singing a One Direction song in their solo career (well maybe a reunion would beat this).

Later on in the show, he sent fans into a frenzy when he performed two more hits from his boyband days – ‘Through The Dark’ (arguably an extremely understated song) and ‘Little Black Dress’ – a song that Tomlinson has expressed is one of his favourites and as he has previously said: “And remember if it’s by One Direction and it’s a banger I probably wrote it”.

But of course, he did sing his solo songs. Hits such as ‘Habit’ echoed through the screen of thousands of fan’s laptops, phones and TV screens and you can almost guarantee that they were all screaming along to the iconic lyric “Come so far from princess park.” Louis also poured his heart out in the song ‘Two of Us’ – a song dedicated to his late mother Johannah.

He also performed a brand new song which shocked fans when he released the setlist earlier that day. In ‘Copy of a Copy of a Copy’ Louis sings “You won’t be the first or be the last to bleed, every broken heart as far as I can see is a copy of a copy of a copy” and fans are already demanding it is released as soon as possible. He also sang a cover of ‘Beautiful War’ by Kings of Leon and fans are hoping that it will be available to stream soon.

Fans are going crazy for the new song, Twitter user @Jailboyhamirah said: “Cause of death: Louis Tomlinson singing copy of a copy of a copy.” which just shows the light hearted banter the fandom has and it also shows how excited they truly are.

The rest of the songs performed were just as great as the others, you could hear the excitement and happiness in this voice as you could tell he was just so happy about being back on stage. You could just tell he was in his happy place doing what he does best.

In the final song ‘Kill My Mind’, the screen behind Louis showed some lucky fans singing and dancing along behind him. This was a great idea – it gave fans a chance to perform with their idol and it made it feel even more like an actual concert. It was also a great ending to the livestream and made saying goodbye a little bit easier.

We also need to thank his musicians – if it wasn’t for them the concert wouldn’t have been as good as it was and they were all so incredible. His band is made up of Michael Blackwell on the guitar, Steve Durham on the drums, Matt Dinnadge on bass, Isaac Anderson also on guitar whilst the keys are played by Zac Craner. We also need a moment of appreciation for the brilliant string players that accompanied some songs and of course, the brilliant crew that made all of this possible for us fans.

Like always, Tomlinson’s fans don’t do anything by halves. ‘LOUIS TOMLINSON’, ‘THANK YOU LOUIS’, ‘LITTLE BLACK DRESS’ and #LTLivestream was trending worldwide and when tickets were released, the site crashed almost immediately. This is also the biggest show that Veeps have ever streamed before.

The virtual concert has also raised funds for the touring industry along with four other charities that are close to Louis’ heart – FareShare, Crew Nation, Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice and Stagehand.

Louis shared a message on the screen after the concert that said: “Thank you to every single person who helped make this livestream possible.

“Without my band, my crew and team, live shows just wouldn’t happen.

“The money raised so far from this show will help some important causes, so a big thank you to everyone for tuning in.

“I can’t wait to see you all on tour soon!

“Stay safe, Louis x”

This concert allowed fans to see Louis performing – he was in his happy place and he was able to give fans a taste of what his future concerts will be like, all being well. It also gave a chance for fans to connect and watch a concert all together – no matter what corner of the world you’re from.

[hlupdate]

At the start of 2020, Louis Tomlinsonhad just kick started his solo career off proper – his debut album ‘Walls’ was released in January and he performed two dates of his world tour before the COVID-19 pandemic hit and every other date was either postponed until next year or cancelled. Fans of the former One Direction star were gutted (of course) but their happiness has been restored as Louis played his first virtual gig last night.

You might expect that a virtual concert consists of just a singer and their band sat in an empty venue, right? With no lights or affects, and in a way it looks ‘boring’? Well this was the complete opposite! The classic Louis red lighting and the strobe lighting almost made you believe that you were actually there in real life!

Louis walked out on stage with his new haircut – it’s a lot longer than what fans were used to seeing. Has he been spending too much time with Harry Styles, who knows? He kept things casual in a laidback £22 Reebok t shirt which is now sold out in every single size due to Tomlinson’s influence.

He then kicked the concert off (15 minutes late may I add – fans are convinced that he wanted to watch the football) with ‘Just Hold On’. This is a song he originally produced with Steve Aoki and is more of a dance record, a bit different to the indie sound he is now leaning towards. But, he adapted the four-year-old record to his new style and it was a great surprise for fans – especially to kick off the livestream.

He then continued to sing ‘We Made It’ and ‘Don’t Let It Break Your Heart’ – two new songs from his album ‘Walls’. He then followed these tracks into a classic One Direction song ‘Drag Me Down’. Fans from all around the world went crazy about this – nothing beats a One Direction member singing a One Direction song in their solo career (well maybe a reunion would beat this).

Later on in the show, he sent fans into a frenzy when he performed two more hits from his boyband days – ‘Through The Dark’ (arguably an extremely understated song) and ‘Little Black Dress’ – a song that Tomlinson has expressed is one of his favourites and as he has previously said: “And remember if it’s by One Direction and it’s a banger I probably wrote it”.

But of course, he did sing his solo songs. Hits such as ‘Habit’ echoed through the screen of thousands of fan’s laptops, phones and TV screens and you can almost guarantee that they were all screaming along to the iconic lyric “Come so far from princess park.” Louis also poured his heart out in the song ‘Two of Us’ – a song dedicated to his late mother Johannah.

He also performed a brand new song which shocked fans when he released the setlist earlier that day. In ‘Copy of a Copy of a Copy’ Louis sings “You won’t be the first or be the last to bleed, every broken heart as far as I can see is a copy of a copy of a copy” and fans are already demanding it is released as soon as possible. He also sang a cover of ‘Beautiful War’ by Kings of Leon and fans are hoping that it will be available to stream soon.

Fans are going crazy for the new song, Twitter user @Jailboyhamirah said: “Cause of death: Louis Tomlinson singing copy of a copy of a copy.” which just shows the light hearted banter the fandom has and it also shows how excited they truly are.

The rest of the songs performed were just as great as the others, you could hear the excitement and happiness in this voice as you could tell he was just so happy about being back on stage. You could just tell he was in his happy place doing what he does best.

In the final song ‘Kill My Mind’, the screen behind Louis showed some lucky fans singing and dancing along behind him. This was a great idea – it gave fans a chance to perform with their idol and it made it feel even more like an actual concert. It was also a great ending to the livestream and made saying goodbye a little bit easier.

We also need to thank his musicians – if it wasn’t for them the concert wouldn’t have been as good as it was and they were all so incredible. His band is made up of Michael Blackwell on the guitar, Steve Durham on the drums, Matt Dinnadge on bass, Isaac Anderson also on guitar whilst the keys are played by Zac Craner. We also need a moment of appreciation for the brilliant string players that accompanied some songs and of course, the brilliant crew that made all of this possible for us fans.

Like always, Tomlinson’s fans don’t do anything by halves. ‘LOUIS TOMLINSON’, ‘THANK YOU LOUIS’, ‘LITTLE BLACK DRESS’ and #LTLivestream was trending worldwide and when tickets were released, the site crashed almost immediately. This is also the biggest show that Veeps have ever streamed before.

The virtual concert has also raised funds for the touring industry along with four other charities that are close to Louis’ heart – FareShare, Crew Nation, Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice and Stagehand.

Louis shared a message on the screen after the concert that said: “Thank you to every single person who helped make this livestream possible.

“Without my band, my crew and team, live shows just wouldn’t happen.

“The money raised so far from this show will help some important causes, so a big thank you to everyone for tuning in.

“I can’t wait to see you all on tour soon!

“Stay safe, Louis x”

This concert allowed fans to see Louis performing – he was in his happy place and he was able to give fans a taste of what his future concerts will be like, all being well. It also gave a chance for fans to connect and watch a concert all together – no matter what corner of the world you’re from.

[walpurga-nacht-academy]

Magical School Joint Cultural Festival Headcanons

Despite being one of the most prestigious magic schools in Twisted Wonderland, Walpurga Nacht’s participation in this event has only been established 35 years ago due to the intervention of Headmistress Lyra Merrion who was said to enjoy this sort of “spirited interaction between young people.” She made it a point to insist that her school attend every year, even if just in a perfunctory fashion. This tradition was upheld by her successor, Headmistress Ursa Astoria as well.

However, even though Walpurga Nacht is present at the Joint Cultural Festival every year they have no booths and don’t participate in any of the student competitions, occupying the position of prestigious guests more than anything. The reason behind this is that the traditional school cultural event for Walpurga Nacht takes place between April 30 and May 1 and is exclusive to invited guests only. Thus, the witches prefer to be mere observers during these events since it suits their secretive nature better. 

The most popular attraction for them is of course the Voice & Dance Competition, to which they make sure to acquire their tickets well in advance. They enjoy this particular part of the festival the most since there is no equivalent of it during Samhain Night, and the novelty endeared them to it. Now, the sight of Walpurga Nacht girls in their white uniforms sitting in the audience has been quite familiar to students from other schools. 

Individual HCs

Staff

As every year, Headmistress Ursa Astoria had led the procession of witches and teachers on the grounds of Night Raven College, where they were informed that they should behave in a most exemplary manner as to not besmirch the reputation of the school. On her shoulder, Stryx puffed up his chest in order to ensure that Ursa’s appearance was as intimidating and stern as possible, though it merely caused the girls to be amused by his attempts. Once the students were dismissed and each Prefect was leading her group through the campus grounds, along with one of the few teachers accompanying them in some cases, Ursa began to make her rounds as well. What interested her most were the presentations that would be delivered by the fourth years. It was always important to see just where the current research methodology in magic was headed towards. She felt Stryx bristle beside her when a hand was placed on her shoulder and turned around only to see the Headmaster of Royal Sword Academy smiling at her. Returning it with one of her own, she also offered her hand which he took graciously, and lightly brushed his lips atop her knuckles as he bowed.  

Ursa: Ambrose. It’s good to see you again. Even though you gave Professor Stryx here quite a fright it seems.

Ambrose: Oh? Is that so? My apologies. I certainly didn’t mean to do that.

Ursa: Then perhaps you should not be looking so amused as you say such things, shouldn’t you?

Ambrose: Ohohohohoho, indeed.

Stryx’s feathers stood on edge as the Headmaster of RSA continued to laugh. Reaching out with her hand, Ursa began to scratch the top of his head until he completely calmed down. Chirping happily Stryx seemingly forgot the surge of anger that just awakened for the Headmaster of Royal Sword.

Ambrose: It’s quite a surprise to see you here today, Ursa. I was led to believe you would be too busy with preparations for Samhain Night to join us this year.

Ursa: It almost came to that, but Professor Yaga has graciously offered to take over for the following two days, so that I may attend.

Ambrose: I see! How kind of her indeed. In this case, perhaps you’ll do me the honour of letting me accompany you as you visit the booths set up by the students? You are interested in the 4th years’ work especially, are you not?

Chuckling lightly, Ursa accepted the arm that was offered to her.

Ursa: I would say it is almost impressive how well you know me, if not for the fact that I check the same booths every year.

Ambrose: Hm? Have you now? I most certainly haven’t noticed that.

Ursa: Of course you haven’t. Let’s see what your competition has to offer.

Ursa spent most of her day in Ambrose’s company, exchanging quips and teasing remarks, as old friends tend to do when they meet each other again. Stryx was quite displeased by this because he hoped he’d get to spend the day only in her company. Though his dissatisfaction was quelled somewhat by the moments of affection that Ursa bestowed upon him.

At some point, she had run into Trein as well, and as usual, the two exchanged greetings and inquired about each other’s well-being, while Stryx and Lucius openly glared at one another. It was always a tense meeting between the two, not that their owners ever let it come to blows.

Trein: Ursa, about the Witch Dances this year-

Ursa: Let us not get into that. It is what it is.  

After the two departed, Ursa eventually reunited with Ambrose who had been gone for a while to do some sightseeing of his own. He was in a good mood which pleased Ursa as well, and once again he offered his arm to her as they made their way through the crowd.

Ambrose: I believe we’ve managed to hit almost all the booths - at the very least, the ones you were keen on inspecting, haven’t we?

Ursa: It was quite a fruitful day, indeed.

Ambrose: Then perhaps we should head to the Purple Stage as well.

Ursa: The Purple Stage?

Ambrose: Where the Vocal & Dance Competition will be held, of course. Don’t tell me you plan to skip it this year as well.

Ursa: You know that I don’t care very much for this sort of thing.

Ambrose: What a shame. I was looking forward to showing you just how wonderfully talented our student representatives are this year.

Ursa: I’m sure it will be quite a sight. But…

Ambrose: But?

Ursa: Only a fool underestimates his rival before the fight has even started. I’m sure Night Raven will provide quite the opposition this year as well in response.

Ambrose: Ohohohoho! This is what I’m counting on!

Then what will you attend if not the VDC?

Ursa: I believe Young Shroud is set to give a speech this very same day as well. Young Dies has spoken very highly of his research and it has piqued my interest as a result. It’s quite ambitious.

Thus Ursa did not attend the VDC and rather stood in at Idia’s speech which she did find quite interesting, having expressed as much during the Q&A afterward. It was truly more advanced than she expected of a third year student, though given it was Vita who praised him, she expected a solid performance regardless. Stryx on the other hand kept nodding off throughout the entire speech, only waking up when Ursa began to speak, and then proceeded to loudly praise her question and commentary until she asked him to refrain.

She later met with Crowley as well, just after he departed from his conversation with Ambrose.

Ursa: Dire.

Crowley: Ah! Headmistress Astoria! I hope you’ve enjoyed our efforts to make this school festival as entertaining for our guests as possible. It’s always such a pleasure to have the witches from Walpurga Nacht attend, of course.

Ursa scoffed in amusement at his flattery, and without missing a beat, simply offered her hand to Crowley, which he by reflex took and kissed.

Ursa: You’ve become more proficient at flattery, Dire.

Crowley: It’s because you always nag- I mean! It’s simply because you’re always kind when it comes to criticizing my unruly behaviour.

Ursa: Hm, is that so? Then perhaps I should come by for tea more often then. I’m sure Professor Yaga will be rather glad to join us too.

Crowley: Th-That! Ahem! It’s truly such a shame she could not attend today… isn’t that right?

Ursa: Indeed, she has kindly offered to cover for me while I’m gone.

Crowley: Ah, truly magnificent of her. Of course, of course.

Ursa: She’ll be quite amused to hear that Royal Sword has secured victory this year once again.

Crowley: Guh! It was merely a one vote difference! It is practically a draw, Headmistress! And regardless, I’m sure we’ll be victorious at the Inter-school Magift Tournament this year!

Ursa: I wonder… Well, Walpurga Nacht will be prepared in any case to provide moral support to the teams as always.

Crowley: I look forward to hearing the powerful and motivational cheers of your students. It’s always such a sight - especially for the first years. It’s sure to raise their spirits! Ah, what a kind man I am for letting my students experience such a wonderful performance, aren’t I?

Ursa: And how humble. However, Dire…

Crowley: Hm? Yes, what is it?

Ursa: You look much thinner than when I last saw you. Have you been eating well? Your feathers look rather unwell too.

Crowley: A-Ah? Most certainly! There’s no need for you to express concern, Headmistress! It must simply be my lack of sleep…

Ursa: Lack of sleep?

Crowley: Ah! Well, you see I’ve been rather busy this past month and…

Ursa: That is hardly an excuse, Dire. I expected you to be aware of what a healthy lifestyle consists of, but if you’ve become so lax, perhaps you require a reminder. Come, I will gladly lecture you about it.

Crowley: Ah, that is-

Ursa: It is customary for a host to accompany their guests when they request it, you are aware of it, I hope.

Crowley: Well, that is-

Without waiting for a response, Ursa merely held onto Crowley’s arm and began to lead him through the festival street, where people were still milling about and enjoying themselves. Soon, she’ll have to gather her girls and return to their school, but until that time comes she’ll spend the rest of her trip catching up with her colleague.    

Rosalia Morgainne

Rosa was the one who looked forward to the Inter-school Cultural Festival the most out of all the Prefects. For the past month she’d wake up every morning energized at the thought that the festival was drawing nearer. It was quite a sight for the rest of her dorm mates, who made various snide comments towards her during that time, but she barely paid them any mind. The mere idea that she’ll get to see Vil perform on stage was uplifting enough to put her in a good mood during that entire time.

So when the day of the festival came, it was her priority to seek him out for a small reunion. She’d instructed her girls to be mindful of how they behave, but as always, the older ones just rolled their eyes and set out to do as they wanted without even acknowledging her instructions. The first and the second years at least had the decency to nod before they took off on their own, and when she was finally alone, Rosa set out to look for him. The only issue was that the place was huge, and crowded, and she had no idea where he might even be right now. Probably doing warm-up before the rehearsals, which meant he would most likely be at the venue site.

Rosa: Alright, then that must mean the Purple Stage!

Cater: Hm? Rosa-chan, isn’t that you?

Rosa: Guh! Cater? What are you doing here?

Cater: What do you mean? I’m a student here. Remember~?

Rosa: Ugh, that’s right… What bad luck running into you.

Cater: Hey, hey, isn’t that a little too harsh? Don’t look so glum. Let’s take a selfie to cheer you up~!

Rosa: Absolutely not! How many times do I have to tell you I don’t want to be associated with that image anymore? But I don’t have time to waste on you! I’m going so don’t follow me!

Cater: Eh? Rosa-chan? Wait-

Taking off, Rosa made sure to blend amongst the crowd on her way to the Purple Stage so even if Cater were to follow, he’d be sure to lose her. Navigating the main street proved to be easier than she expected as people were too busy enjoying themselves and looking at the booths to spare a second glance at her. She’d avoided being spotted as she made her way to her destination, but upon reaching it another problem occurred to her: there was simply no way she was going to be let in without a staff pass. Which she definitely did not have.

Crossing her arms, Rosa eyed the two cameramen who were unloading the equipment that would be used for broadcasting the VDC to all the households in Twisted Wonderland. They groaned and yelled instructions at each other as they made sure the camera they were carrying would not be dropped by accident on the ground and smashed. She watched as another man, wearing the backstage pass around his neck, opened the door for them and all three disappeared inside the building. When they were gone she made sure to hide somewhere away from the eyes of strangers.

Rosa: Ugh, this is definitely going to get me into trouble if I get found out, but… I promised myself I’d do things for my own sake too from now on. So I can’t just back down before I even try.

Alright. Here goes nothing- Heart’s Desire!

Going in there without a staff pass was impossible, but that only meant she had to acquire one. Brushing her now short, black hair behind her ear, she tried her best to appear as casual as possible as she made her way to the backstage door, opened the door and stepped inside. If she had been a short, pink haired teenage girl in a school uniform, Rosa might have attracted some attention, but as a woman in her late 20s, with a staff pass and uniform on she blended right in. Anyone barely paid her any mind, too busy making sure all the last minute preparations before the rehearsals were taken care of. It was surprisingly easy to venture in deeper while keeping an eye out for Vil.

Rosa: Ah! Vil!

Down the hallway she spotted him as he walked alongside Rook, both holding water bottles in their hands, and with towels on their shoulders. Vil turned around and Rosa was taken aback by his stern expression.

Vil: Yes? Is something wrong?

Rosa: Huh?

Even his tone was far more distant than she remembered. Was he troubled by something? She didn’t have time to ask because the very next second Rook intervened loudly.

Rook: Ah! Reine de la Passion! That is you wearing that disguise, isn’t it?

Vil’s face betrayed his surprise, and Rosa let out a shout of realization. No wonder he’d acted so formal with her! She didn’t even look like herself, after all, but rather some desperate fan trying to get his attention.

Rosa: That’s right! It’s me! I’m sorry for the deception, but there wasn’t any way they’d let me in otherwise, so-

Vil: That’s fine. I’ve grasped the situation. So you used your Unique Magic to do something you’re not allowed to, just because you wanted to fulfill your desire, isn’t that right?

Rosa: Eh- Um, that’s… I mean… Still! Rook!

Rook: Hm?

Rosa: Th-The way you guessed it was me just from a glance! That’s really something else! Just how good is your sight?

Rook: Non, non. It’s merely that I’ve become rather accustomed to Reine de la Passion’s gait, so upon seeing the you in front of me it reminded me too much of that. I’ve merely been a good observer.

Rosa: Sti-Still, that’s impressive!

Rook: Hm, to be complimented by a budding rose grasping for light as she ascends. Oui! C’est tres bien!

Rosa: Eh? Ah, though I don’t really get it, you seem happy, so I guess that’s good.

In any case, I just wanted to say that I’ll be rooting for you guys! I can’t wait to see what kind of performance you prepared for today. Knowing you, Vil, it’s sure to be fantastic. I’m shaking with excitement at the mere thought!

Vil: Hmph, our hard work’s results are certain to leave an unforgettable mark upon the audience. However.

Rosa: However?

Vil: Even though you meant well, it does not erase the fact that you are currently trespassing.

Rosa: Guh!

Vil: … What’s with that displeased expression?

Rosa: N-No! It’s nothing, just… I came all this way to see you… Not to be scolded like this…

Vil: Are you saying that I should overlook this just because your intentions were good?

Rosa: Overlook? Well, not really, but… uh…

Vil: Not to mention that you most likely left your dorm members to wander around unsupervised?

Rosa: … It’s not like they even care…

Vil: And now you’re making excuses. You are a Prefect now, aren’t you? You must carry yourself with more dignity than that.

Rosa: Aaaah! I get it! If I’m such an eyesore then I’ll just leave!

Vil: That’s enou- That girl! She just took off while I was talking!

Rook: Aaah, Reine de la Passion is as wild and unrestrained as ever. Merveilleux!

By the time she reached the inside of the colosseum, Rosa had already calmed down considerably. But with that calm came a deep sense of shame. Stopping just out of sight of the students setting up the stage, she furiously wiped at the tears that threatened to leak out. It was humiliating to think of just how childish she’d acted back then. She knew Vil was completely right and that she’d been trespassing, but it’s not like she did it for any sinister purposes. Why did he have to go and make her feel bad for something that most people would have found touching? She just wanted to show him her support. He’d been awfully tense this past month. She’d noticed it even back at the Ball, and text conversations with him had completely stopped as well. She was worried for him and wanted to make sure he was doing alright. That’s what friends do, after all. But he had to go and scold her like she was a small child and make her feel awful for what was at best a minor offence.

Jack: Rosa-senpai. What are you doing here?

Rosa: Huh? Ah! Jack! No, I mean-

Wh-What are you talking about? Actually, who are you? I’m just an ordinary staff member passing through, so if you’ll excuse me-

Jack: It’s no use acting like that. You’ve already revealed yourself.

Rosa: Th-That’s true…

To think that you’d recognize me even like this...  

Jack: That’s natural, isn’t it? You have a very distinct smell after all.

Rosa: Distinct smell! I’ll have you know I wash myself every day!

Jack: Huh? Wha-

Rosa: And I use a really good shampoo and my body lotion smells nice too! So there’s no way I have a “distinct smell”! And furthermore, it’s very rude to just tell someone something like that, you know? Even if it’s true you should show more restraint and-

Jack: Huh? Why are you crying?

Rosa: Wha- I-I’m not crying! I’m not a kid anymore so why would I even need to cry, huh? You’re… You’re just imagining things!

Jack: …

Rosa: Seriously... I swear…    

Whipping at the tears that were beginning to fall, Rosa never felt more pathetic. Ever since quitting the show she’d sworn to herself that she’ll work hard at becoming a more mature person. And that included not crying at the drop of a hat just because she was frustrated. It wasn’t Vil’s fault that she built up expectations for today. He had his own things to worry about and that didn’t include her. She willed herself to stay stoic, to not act like Cherry would and just turn into a childish crybaby all over again, especially in front of Jack. But the more she told herself not to cry, the harder it was to abstain and before she knew it, her vision went blurry due to the amount of tears that had started to spill. Her breath hitched in her throat and she hid her face in her hands. It was the most humiliating experience of her life. So focused as she was on her current embarrassment, she was startled to feel a heavy hand at the top of her head. It rested there lightly for a few seconds, before it started moving up and down, almost as if it was petting her. She spread her fingers to peak between them, but wasn’t able to discern much behind the wall of tears. There was just Jack’s awkward face, looking down at her in concern. It dawned on Rosa that in his own tense way he was trying his best to comfort her through her small breakdown, even though he couldn’t understand what exactly it was.

Despite the tenseness in his stance, which was made obvious by his body language, his touch was as gentle as he could possibly get. Rosa waited for him to say something, anything, but he seemed to be deep in thought about just what the right words would be in this situation. It amused her slightly to see the overly determined but troubled expression on his usually frowning face. It was quite an adorable expression on him, and before she realized she was giggling while tears still streamed down her face. Jack’s ears twitched at this sudden shift, which only made Rosa laugh harder. Warmth spread throughout her chest and without even waiting for another second she burst out laughing as she stepped forward and buried her face in his chest. The action startled him and his arms were left hanging in the air, unsure of what he should do with them.

Rosa’s tears quickly dried, as she was overcome by a fit of giggles.

Rosa: I’m sorry - giggle - I just - giggle - I didn’t mean to - giggle -

Though confused by her sudden mood switch, he felt somewhat better to see the tears had stopped and that she seemed in a better mood. Though he asked her again what had happened and why she started crying, Rosa merely shook her head and told him that it didn’t matter anymore and it was silly in the first place. But she was happy that she ran into him of all people, even if he had to see her like this.

Jack: Haaa… I guess that’s good, but… seeing you like that had me wo-uh… Nevermind. But, could you not cling to me like this? It’s…

Rosa: Are you embarrassed?

Jack: !!!

After she calmed down, Rosa waited for Jack to finish with his duties and during the window of free time he had before the VDC started, they headed out to visit some of the booths. Neither really brought up the issue again, since Rosa seemed in much better spirits now and though she appeared a bit reluctant to return to the Purple Stage when it was time to go, she quickly picked up the pace. Regardless of what happened before, she still came here to see Vil perform and no feelings of awkwardness would stop her. They split up when they got to their destination - Rosa joining the rest of her girls, who barely paid any attention to her arrival, and Jack sitting with the seniors of his dorm. The performance of NRC was everything Rosa thought it would be and more. Watching Vil perform on stage was worth even the slight stiffness in her body as their conversation replayed in her mind after his group was done. Her behaviour was deplorable, but inspired by this surge of adrenaline she decided she would go apologize to Vil for it once their victory was declared. Neige’s performance, though cute, was far less impressive than Vil’s and Rosa felt certain that NRC would win this year based on the stark contrast they created.

Her surprise was immense when RSA was declared the winner by one vote difference. So much that she loudly complained about it all the way back to the meeting point as she criticized the clearly biased audience, missing completely the irony of her own statement. The talk with Vil had to wait until a later date, as that night Rosa sent him a message unprompted expressing her dissatisfaction with the result of the competition.      

Blanche Dion

The VDC had never been of much interest to Grimmaire students in general, and that was especially true when it came to Blanche. The quality level of crafts and art presented there were indeed that of a high schooler and as a result of almost no interest to her. She’d taken a look at the booths manned by the 4th year students, which showed more promise than anything else, but even those were rather few in number.

Grimmaire Girl A: Hm, there seems to be one a few meters ahead. It’s, hm, let me see...

Blanche heaved a sigh as she crossed her arms. The street was crowded and loud and all her senses were on edge due to the overwhelming level of noise. Massaging her temple she spared a look at the group of girls trailing behind her.

Blanche: If it’s this close then let us just walk in that direction and- Ugh!

Grimmaire Girl B: Pre-Prefect! Are you okay?

Trey: I’m sorry- Ah! Blanche!

Blanche: Trey. And… Riddle.

Riddle: Blanche. Are you alright? Here.

Holding out a hand to her, Riddle helped Blanche stand up from the ground where she was flung after she bumped into Trey. Usually she was far more aware of her surroundings than this, but the noise of the crowd threw her for a loop. It disoriented her enough that only when it was too late did she realize the impact was unavoidable. With her cheeks burning in embarrassment at being seen in such an undignified position, she dusted her skirt.

Trey: Sorry, Blanche. It’s my bad. I didn’t see you there and-

Blanche: No, it’s alright. I’m the one that should apologize. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was headed, you see. Still, thank you, Riddle.

Riddle: It’s nothing. But you should be more careful when walking around crowded places like this. Trey, you too. You should pay attention to your surroundings to avoid situations like this.

Trey: A-Ah, that’s true…

Blanche: Regardless, it’s fortunate we have bumped into you. You see…

Explaining the current issue to Riddle had him nod his head in understanding.

Riddle: I see, so you were hoping to reach that particular place, but the crowd made it difficult.

Blanche: Indeed. We do not experience this sort of thing normally at our school. Even during Samhain Night, there have never been so many people in one place at once. And I have hardly gotten accustomed to Night Raven’s… whimsical nature.

Riddle: Whimsical… I suppose you could call it that. In any case, let us accompany you there since we were heading in the same direction.

Blanche: Are you sure? We wouldn’t want to be an inconvenience to you. I remember you saying that you were the chairman of this year’s committee. I’m sure you must be extremely busy.

Riddle: I insist. You are our guests here and it would be in bad faith to ignore your distress. And in any case, we were headed in that direction as well.

Blanche: I see. Well, in that case please excuse our intrusion.

Bowing slightly in gratitude, Blanche motioned to her girls to follow as she was led by Riddle through the crowd. With a guide who was familiar with the surroundings, it made it much easier to wade through the people gathered there. True to his word, Riddle made sure to behave like a gentleman and went as far as to intercept one of the festival goers before she ended up bumping into Blanche. The girl, a young adult by the looks of it, looked flustered as she apologized to the two profusely.

Blanche: Thank you. I should have been able to foresee that, but…

Riddle: The noise is making it difficult for you to concentrate, I understand. Don’t worry, I will make sure to escort you to your destination safely. Still, it would have been better for people not to act so unruly…

Blanche: I suppose the excitement of participating at such an event is too much to bear.

Riddle: Perhaps. Are you enjoying yourself?

Blanche: Me? I suppose. I’ve never been the type to care about these sorts of things. But I guess that once in a while… they aren’t so bad.

More importantly, I heard that Ace and Deuce will be participating in the VDC this year.

Riddle: Hm, the Walpurga Nacht grapevine is something impressive. But yes, that is indeed so. I have warned them to do their best not to embarrass the school or our dorm. But if they’ll listen…

Blanche: Why wouldn’t they, especially since they might lose their heads over it otherwise?

Riddle: Th-That-

Blanche: I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be teasing you like this.

Blanche giggled softly, hiding her smile behind her hand. A small one appeared on Riddle’s face too as he watched her relaxed expression, the red in his cheeks dissipating slowly.

Blanche: I was not planning on attending this year either, but I feel like watching our underclassmen perform might be quite entertaining.

Riddle: Maybe so. But speaking of underclassmen - just where did yours disappear off to? And where is Trey?

Looking behind them, they were perplexed to notice that no sight of either could be found. Blanche sighed in frustration, while Riddle’s face was scrunched in irritation. They have somehow managed to lose them.

Meanwhile, a few paces behind a group of several girls were surrounding a tall, bespectacled boy and shrieking in excitement. When Riddle had motioned earlier for them to follow, Trey was just about to do that when several pairs of hands suddenly pulled on the back of his blazer and he found himself in the middle of a circle of Grimmaire girls.

Grimmaire Girl A: Wait just a second! Don’t you see what’s going on here?

The short girl looked at him with a slightly peeved expression, that was matched by that of her dorm mates. Scratching the back of his neck, Trey laughed cautiously as he looked from one girl to the other.

Trey: Hm? Sorry, I didn’t quite catch what you’re referring to.

The girls sighed in disappointment and it only increased his nervousness. Just what exactly did he do wrong?

Grimmaire Girl B: Can’t you see that this is the perfect set up for a romantic scene?

Trey: Romantic scene?

Grimmaire Girl C: Exactly! It’s the festival date from chapter 34 from volume sixteen in The Azure Witch series!

Trey: Huh? Wait, just what-

Grimmaire Girl A: That’s right! It’s the moving scene where Annalise, having recently realized that Frederick went off to pursue his calling of discovering the truth behind the appearance of the azure winged butterfly in his village 10 years ago without informing her, decides to attend the festival in order to dull the pain she felt in that moment.

Grimmaire Girl B: It was so heart wrenching! Especially because she goes there alone and unescorted and is then accosted by a boorish knight who wants revenge on her father for having foiled his plan of running off the Baron of the land from his castle!

Trey: Boorish? Isn’t that a bit too harsh-

Grimmaire Girl C: A most despicable man who knocks her to the ground and would have struck her if not for the interference of Baron Gribelin! Aaah, the moment where he helps off the ground and kneels before her to dust off the hem of her skirt was such a wonderful display of chivalry. Moreover, he makes sure to pick up her beloved purse and scold the rude knight for his behaviour!

Grimmaire Girl B: Yes, yes! My heart was pounding like crazy when I read that passage!

“How dare you display such uncouth behaviour towards a lady such as this. You are fortunate that I do not wish to incur shame upon her name, for else I would have cut your head off right here, right now! You wretch!”

Trey’s confusion only grew when the group let out a loud squeal at the end, and suddenly he felt like he was lost among a sea of unknown and incomprehensible creatures.

Grimmaire Girl A: To think that we’d witness such a romantic scene in real life as well is astounding!      

Grimmaire Girl B: Indeed! It was so touching! Prefect Dion is so fortunate!

Biting his tongue, Trey had to refrain from speaking out loud and correcting them as they gushed over the heart pounding scene that they all had apparently witnessed. Though he took offense at the implication of being a “boorish” man, he felt it would do little good to interfere then and there. They were clearly too caught up in their own discussion to care for his presence anymore, or so it seemed until they suddenly turned towards him.

Grimmaire Girl A: So, do you understand what we mean?

Trey: A-Ah, I guess so… Though I feel like we should not lose sight of them either-

Grimmaire Girl B: Didn’t you hear what we just said? This is a crucial part in the story!

Grimmaire Girl C: Yeah! It’s when Annalise realizes that even though she loved Frederick dearly, Baron Gribelin was truly the one she was in love with! It’s when she's able to properly witness his kindness and chivalrous behaviour that sets him apart from other nobles she has met until then! Do you get it now?

Trey: I-I guess… So this is like in that book series you all enjoy so much. The Blue Witch-

Grimmaire Girl A: The Azure Witch! Please do not make such mistakes!

Grimmaire Girl B: Sheesh, it’s like you haven’t… even… heard… of it…

Several pairs of eyes stared at him, and Trey felt like it had suddenly gotten very hot despite the chilly February weather. Their expressions were indescribable at first, until he saw the sparkle of excitement shine in their eyes. Suddenly, the silence was broken by a chorus of excited yelps and the clamor of voices rushing to explain to him every single detail regarding the series of 48 novels that had the entire Grimmaire dorm abuzz. It turned out to be a very long day for Trey in the end.

When Blanche and Riddle finally found them again, they were taken aback to see Trey’s exhausted expression. The girls stopped their chatter to salute the Prefects, but did not explain the reason behind Trey’s unusual behaviour.

(In the following months Riddle would find it quite usual to come across Trey reading a book that he took great pains not to show him the title of. Moreover his relationship with the Grimmaire seemed to have improved considerably too, much to Cater’s displeasure. Though he tried to approach them about the novel as well, they quickly saw through his insincere attitude and rejected his attempts.)

Blanche ended up attending the VDC and while it did prove to be everything she expected it to be - a music show that had girls like Rosa entirely invested - but not as obnoxious as it could have been. Except for RSA’s performance which she thought lacked direction and finesse. Seeing them win surprised her greatly, but didn’t mean much to her in the end. It only annoyed her because she had to hear Rosa complain about it for a month afterwards at every Prefect meeting.    

Marcia Pyroeis

If for most girls VDC was an opportunity to kick back and relax, enjoy the boys’ performance or even have fun at the booths, for Marcia it was an opportunity for business. Samhain Night was the time when Kriegskald would shine, of course - after all, nothing could beat restoration work or recreation of an old piece for current use. But she did not see why the Interschool Cultural Festival could not be used for such a venue either. Of course, WNA did not have a school-approved booth or even permission to promote themselves, but Marcia figured that as long as they did not attract the teacher’s attention, it would be fine. Opportunities like this did not happen everyday.

So, among the festival booths another one popped up unexpectedly. It was makeshift and did not match the style of the others nearby, but it was teeming with all sorts of devices and artifacts and odd trinkets that though clearly old, were in perfect shape otherwise. Gathered around, the Kriegskald students were showing off the items to all those who seemed interested in them while in the front, Marcia was busy talking up their ‘booth’ in the most entertaining fashion she could muster.

Marcia: Alright, alright, alright! C’mon folks! It’s a once-in-a-blue-moon type of opportunity! Not everyday you get to see 100% authentic, high quality, accurate reproductions like these! It’s the - chance - of - a - lifetime!

Energetic and friendly, Marcia managed to gather quite a few people’s attention, but even at a quick glance it was clear that none of them fit her profile. Attention was good, but what she needed was cash - and tons of it. And the only way to do that was to find people with lots of it and the willingness to spend it at a moment’s notice. The ones gathering around looked more akin to ordinary salarymen and people working hard to make a living for himself, and not the demographic she hoped for. But she wasn’t counting on them either way. Instead she kept her eyes peeled for a big prize, until she finally spotted one.

Marcia: Malleus Draconia! What a surprise!

He was hard to spot among the crowd, keeping to the margins and walking swiftly and with so much purpose that nobody dared to stop him. Nobody but Marcia at the very least, who with a great smile bounded over there at record speed. Not only was Malleus exactly the type of high-interest person she was looking for, but fortunately enough he was alone. That meant no screaming guard dog to keep her from striking a conversation with him and possibly even securing a sponsorship. But she shouldn't get ahead of herself. Malleus’ reception of her was less than welcome, as he took a few seconds to fully acknowledge her, perhaps not expecting anybody to approach him so boldly as she did.

Malleus: Hm. You are-

Marcia: Marcia Pyroeis! Kriegskald Prefect, broom racer prodigy in the making and at your service!

Malleus: Kriegskald. I see. You’re a Walpurga Nacht student then.

Marcia: That’s right~ You’re super sharp, Draconia! But that’s to be expected from geniuses like us.

Malleus: ….

Marcia: In any case - I heard you made quite the impression at the Inter-dorm Magift Tournament this year. Man, I wish I would have been there to see it in person.

Malleus: …

Marcia: You know, as fellow sports persons we really ought to build each other up and create a bond of solidarity! Camaraderie like this is hard to come by and it’s not good to throw it away. Sure, Magift and broom racing might look different on the surface but if you really look at it then-

Malleus: What is the purpose of this discussion? Or are you merely looking to ingrain yourself to me? Regardless, I don’t have time to waste on this if it’s not-

Marcia: Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! Don’t go like that!

Stepping in front of him, Marcia blocked his path the best way she could, though she was aware that if he so desired he could easily push past her. Still, Malleus stopped, awaiting to see her response. From the sidelines, the Kriegskald girls gave up looking after the prospective window-shoppers and took to observing the exchange between the two Prefects instead.  

Laughing, Marcia scratched the back of her head and offered an apologetic smile afterwards.

Marcia: Man, I got busted, so I guess I should come clean, right? Ya see, the thing is - I’ve been meaning to talk to you about your contribution to the field of athletics.

Malleus: My contribution?

Marcia: Well, your family’s rather high and mighty. You’re a prince so I guess you’re pretty loaded, right?

Malleus: …

Marcia: I know Kingscholar is, so I bet the same applies to you! Man, you rich people sure have it good and easy - just piles of money lying about, I bet. Hehe, how nice that must be…

Ah! I almost got distracted by my own fantasies! I can’t let this opportunity pass by, so I’ll just go ahead and say it now: How about being my sponsor, Draconia? Eh? Doesn’t that sound great?

Malleus: Sponsor… Whatever do you mean?

Marcia: Huh? What I mean by that? Well, you know… You give me money so I can take part in races and stuff! It’s to show appreciation!

Malleus: Appreciation… For what exactly?

Marcia: For the sport you love! And the people playing it! And to make sure they have something to put on their table at the end of the day!

Malleus: …

Marcia: It doesn’t have to start with a big one!  You could do something symbolical, like… How does 800,000 madol sound? Hm? I’m sure that’s little more than pocket change for a rich guy like you! So-

Eh? Are you mad? Your aura got super scary all of a sudden.

Malleus: Not at all. I’m merely considering your proposal.

Marcia: Hu-Huh? For real? Man, you’re a good guy, Dracon-

Malleus: Unfortunately, 800,000 is too little.

Marcia: Eh?

Malleus: As you said, it’s mere pocket change, but I do not carry any around with me.

Marcia: Ah, then 1,000,00 would work-

Malleus: Wouldn’t the symbolical aspect be lost in this case?

Marcia: Haha, Draconia, you sure are a funny guy! Let’s just forget that part!

Malleus: But then what is the meaning of making a first donation if there is no symbolism attached to it? Wouldn’t it just be the same to make a donation at a later date?

Marcia: Well- I mean- That’s- Uhhhhh…

Malleus: And there lies the answer. I’ll be off then.

Marcia: Off? No, wait-

Malleus: Indeed, I’ve lost enough time here already and I’m late.

Marcia: Draconia, just a- He disappeared! He was here a moment ago and now…

Staring at the spot where Malleus stood just moments ago, Marcia felt frustration grow inside her. He just slipped right through her fingers when she was so close to sealing the deal. Putting her head in her hands she let out a loud yell of irritation and fell to her knees. Behind her the Kriegskald girls watched apathetically and with a hint of amusement. Suddenly, one of the girls started shouting, voice imitating that of a sports announcer.

Kriegskald Girl A: And striiiiiiiiike ouuuuuut!

Kriegskald Girl B: After a mediocre performance Pyroeis gets served the slam dunk that costs her the game!

Kriegskald Girl A: You hate to see it, folks!

Marcia: Aaaaaah, will you stick to one sports analogy, please?!

Kriegskald Girl A: Looks like she is still in shock over the loss of her potential piggyba- I mean sponsor! Will she be able to recover from such severe humiliation? Stay tuned!

The rest of the festival was spent by Marcia in what could only be called a state of mourning. She lost all her energy and enthusiasm and simply slumped against the chair set by their makeshift table. Though the girls tried to cheer her up at first, it soon became obvious it wouldn’t be possible so they simply ignored her mood and continued to enjoy the festival, while carting an unresponsive Marcia around with them.

When the time for voting came, one of the Kriegskald girls simply took out Marcia’s phone and voted for her instead. They were quite disappointed by RSA’s victory since they preferred the performance put together by NRC, and had a spirited discussion on the topic as they made their way back to their school, Marcia dragged along with them, much as she was during the entirety of the festival.

The next day she started out fresh and energetic, and with renewed vigour swore that she’ll bump into Malleus again and this time, will convince him to sponsor her.        

June Himalia

The Inter-school Cultural Festival was not something June cared about at all. It was just fancy, posh kids showing off their fancy, posh crafts like they even mattered in the first place. She’d never really been good at “artistic expression” as her brother-in-law would call it, so it all just flew over her head most of the time. Coming here today was not something she actually planned on doing, but as head of the dorm it was her duty to oversee the girls who had bought tickets for the show that would take place later that day. A singing and dancing contest they held during every Cultural Festival which had students prancing around and belching out notes while June’s anger grew. It was all so pointless and stupid. Not the kind of stuff she’d ever participate in.

Reaching into the pouch tied to her belt, she brushes her fingers atop the thin piece of paper she’d received a while ago from Epel. The invitation baffled and irritated her at the time, and initially she just planned on declining it altogether, but after a few days spent considering it, she finally decided to just give it a shot after all. Even though the prospect of a bunch of posh kids dancing on stage wasn’t all that appealing to her.

Though Epel mentioned he was going to be part of the show as well, June didn’t expect that he would be busy rehearsing all day before the show itself. She was hoping to at least be able to retreat to a quieter place with somebody who did not completely infuriate her, and wait for the day to be over. Now, she was stuck walking around the festival grounds and trying to find something else to do. It occurred to her that even though Epel and Jamil would be busy with their show, Trey was not supposed to take part in any particular activities. With this realization in mind she took a look around her in hopes of spotting a NRC student. Luckily, it was not a hard task.  

The group of Pomefiore students milling about did not expect the presence of a tall girl towering above them and it showed in the way they jumped startled when June spoke.

June: Ya three.

Pomefiore Student A: Ah!

Pomefiore Student B: Th-The Amazon! How may we help you?

She was silent, staring at them with an unreadable expression, before her hand shot out and grabbed the middle one by the collar. Lifting him up slightly she leaned in as she hissed through her teeth.

June: The ‘ell that mean?

Pomefiore Student B: I-I’m sorry! I-I-I simply-

June: The ‘ell you called me? “Amazon’? What ‘hat supposed to mean?

Pomefiore Student A: I-It’s merely to show our admiration of you, Amazo- No, Prefect!

Pomefiore Student B: Th-That’s right! Like a flower blooming amidst the rocky cliffs who cares not for the harshness that she has to endure! The image of dignity and wildness combined in one - truly there are no better ways to- Ugh!

The student let out a loud grunt as June let go of him and he landed on the floor in a heap. Her head was abuzz with thoughts, trying to decipher just whether or not he was making fun of her. Though in the end, her frustration got the better of her and she realized that if she was to think on it any further, she’ll end up punching somebody out of reflex. The student seemed dismayed at the state of his uniform and tried his best to dust it off while June crossed her arms and watched.

June: Whatever. Where’s ‘hat Clover guy?

Pomefiore Student B: Clover… guy…?

June: Yeah. Are ya deaf or somethin’, huh?

Pomefiore Student A: N-No, it’s just… whoever could that be?

June: Haaaa? The ‘ell ya don’t know?

Pomefiore Student C: So-Sorry! The name isn’t familiar at all… So, um…

Che’nya: Hm~? If you’re looking for somebody, then I’m the one to ask~

For the second time that day, the Pomefiore students who had the misfortune of being in the wrong place, at the wrong time, let out a yelp. Out of nowhere the head of a beastman materialized as he grinned at them. June almost bit her tongue when she heard the voice behind her and did her best not to let her surprise be obvious. The sight of a bodiless, floating head was enough to send shivers down her spine. Turning around she held his gaze stubbornly, as the three Pomefiore students behind her were silently putting distance between them, most likely aware of the possible confrontation that would take place.

June: Yer a Royal Sword student.

Che’nya: I’m Alchemi Alchemivich Pinkaa. Everyone just calls me Che’nya though.

I’ve got kitty magic, but also human magic. I’m a sorta weird guy.

June gritted her teeth as her thoughts spiraled inside her head. Just what the hell was this guy anyway?

June: Yeah, I saw ‘hat. The ‘ell you want?

Che’nya: Hm~ I heard you were looking for that glasses guy, so I got curious, nya.

June: That glasses guy… Ya mean Clover? Ya know ‘here he is?

Che’nya: I guess ya could say that, or ya could not~

June: … Are ya messin’ with me?

Che’nya: Why don’t nya try guessing the answer?

June’s arm shot out suddenly as she tried to grab the top of Che’nya’s head, but she missed by an inch as he moved out of the way. Expression furious, she turned towards him once again and squared up.

June: … Ya want to die, or somethin’? ‘Hat it?

Che’nya: I can’t say I do, but I can’t say I don’t either~

June: Haaaaaaaaaa? Are ya dumb or somethin’? Can’t ya give a straight answer, huh?

Che’nya: Who knows~

But if it’s directions nya looking for, that I can give that.

June: Piss off.

Che’nya: Hm~?

June: Piss off ‘fore I hit ya. ‘Hat’s yer warnin’. Ya hear me?

Che’nya: Mm, it’s not good to be in a bad mood like this all the time, ya know~

Lighting fast, she aimed a punch at his face, but missed again. Enraged by this, she turned around to try again only to find him completely gone. Blinking, June stood in the middle of the street feeling embarrassment washing over her.

Che’nya: And now it’s time time to say bye-bye~

Tricked. That’s what happened. She let that weirdo completely fool her and now she looked ridiculous. Letting out a frustrated yell, that startled many of the people in the crowd, she charged forward, with the sole purpose of finding Che’nya and teaching him a lesson. Unfortunately, given the latter’s penchant for invisibility, that proved to be impossible. No matter how hard she looked, the beastman student had somehow vanished, and before she knew it she wasted all her time in pursuit of him that she failed to come across Trey in the end. Around the time VDC was supposed to start she got called away by some of her girls, so her search had to be suspended.

The VDC was as incomprehensible to June as it always was - just a bunch of people looking ridiculous as they danced and sang. She really couldn’t wrap her head around it. Though, at the very least, Epel seemed to have fun on stage. When the time came for the vote, June looked confused by the QR code flashing on the screen. Just what exactly was she supposed to do with that? She noticed her girls opening their phone and seemingly taking a picture of it, but when she did the same nothing happened. She repeated the process a few times, and when the same thing occurred over and over again, she got frustrated and shut it off. It was way too much trouble.

RSA’s victory was of no concern to her, and she sighed in relief when it was time to go back to their school. Over the following week June would have to listen to Rosa go on and on about how unfair the result was, until she couldn’t take anymore and almost threw a table at her head. After that Rosa didn’t bring it up anywhere near her.    

Diana Arrow

The lack of beasts and monsters on the Night Raven campus has always meant that to the Monarchia dorm, the whole affair was of no importance whatsoever. Or rather, just a very particular part of it interested them in any degree.

Monarchia Girl A: Big Sister Diana we have put together the list of booths to visit during this Inter-School Cultural Festival!

Monarchia Girl B: They are ranked in order of proximity, popularity, visitor influx and, of course, tastiness! We have taken everything into account!

Monarchia Girl C: We hope you’re pleased with the result, Big Sister!

The map that Diana received was indeed as complex as the girls explained, with several notes scribbled across the paper. All in all it was a marvelous product, which she let them know calmly.

Diana: Mm. It’s good work.

Though her voice was monotone as always, and accompanied only by a nod of the head, it nevertheless caused the group of girls to smile widely as their face flushed with pride.

Monarchia Girl A: Ah! To hear Big Sister praise us like this is the best feeling in the world!

Monarchia Girl B: Thank you so much, Big Sister!  

All: Thank you! We’re so glad you’re happy with our work!

Diana nodded in acknowledgement as she took another look at it. The food booths were spaced out evenly throughout the campus street so visiting them all would take quite a while if they weren’t careful with the planning. This was something the girls had taken into account as well seeing that a route was highlighted along with the necessary stops and wait times. It would take them through the entire festival grounds while still allowing them to make it in time for the VDC. At the end, Mostro Lounge was circled in red and underline twice. It pleased Diana to see just how considerate they were. They were good kids after all.

Every year Monarchia faced the same problem: no matter how much they tried, it was impossible to visit all the food booths and make it in time for the VDC. One or the other had to be sacrificed. And given their priorities, it was usually VDC that got the short end of the stick. The allure of cheap but good food was too much for the girls to turn down given that the sight of boys dancing did not excite much interest from them, who were more keen on wild and passionate movements that disturbed rather than entertained. Yet, this year Diana wanted to partake in it merely because she saw it as the proper way to behave in another’s territory. They were guests here, and thus should by extension try and integrate themselves to their hosts, such as animals who mimic the lifestyle of others. If the goal of Monarchia was adaptation then this little effort had to be expanded. Thus, the need for the map. Now they could easily finish their traditional tasks and still make it in time for the VDC. It was the perfect strategy.

Just as Diana was about to give them permission to proceed, she felt a sinister presence behind her and her left hand shot out to grab the hand that was coming from her right. The girls gave out a shout of surprise as she turned around partially to raise her leg for a kick to the head of whoever was attempting to sneak up on her. But upon making eye contact with that person she immediately slowed down her strike. She wouldn’t be able to stop it now, but knowing his speed she was sure he’d easily catch it. And indeed he did, his left hand grabbing hold of her ankle just about as her foot was going to make contact with his face.

Squeezing it, Floyd gave out a short chuckle as his grin widened.

Diana: Ah, Floyd, it’s you.

She replied calmly as she let go of his right hand, even though he continued to hold her ankle harshly. With a short exhale through her nose, she wretched the leg out from his grasp and rotated it slightly to make sure he hadn’t broken anything. When she was satisfied to see everything was fine, she looked up at him just as he stuffed his hands in his pockets.

Floyd: Eeeeh, saltwater crocodile-chan-senpai’s sharp as always.

Diana: Hm, not really...  

Floyd: Though you still figured out I was trying to grab you before I managed to do it. I’ve gotten closer this time too.

Diana: That’s true.

The noise of the crowd and the scents floating around made it much harder to single out distinct entities. It was very much a haze for her, so even somebody with a strong presence like Floyd was lost among a sea of indistinct shapes and sounds. He was probably aware of this too.

Monarchia Girl A: Oi, Floyd.

Behind her the pack of girls were glaring directly at him, without even trying to hide their annoyance. They had watched the whole exchange happen before their very eyes and gradually their shock transformed into confusion then admiration and finally rage towards the one who dared to treat their ‘big sister’ with such familiarity.

Floyd: Hm~? What now?

Monarchia Girl B: You sure got guts. Talking to Big Sister like that.

Monarchia Girl C: Yeah! How dare you try and attack her!

Monarchia Girl D: And you keep calling her by that nickname too! Don’t just add ‘-chan’ casually as you see fit! You and Big Sister aren’t cut from the same cloth so don’t presume that level of friendship!

Floyd’s smile held a tinge of mockery to it as he turned his attention to the furious girls in front of him.

Floyd: Eeeeh, why are you hissing like that when you’re just some hatchlings that still follow their mother around? Do you wanna get squeezed or something?

Monarchia Girl A: There it is! That same rudeness as always! Seriously! Just what kind of person talks like that to others, huh?

Monarchia Girl B: And hatchlings? What’s with that name?

Floyd: Hm~ You just snap and float around saltwater crocodile-chan-senpai like little babies.

Monarchia Girl C: You bastard-

Floyd: Haaaa, you’re so annoying when you shout. Can’t you just shut up?

Floyd let out a laugh as the sneer on the girl’s face deepened. Squaring up in front of the group, his frame towered over them all. The tension was palpable in the air.

Monarchia Girl A:... The hell you think you’re doing squaring up like this, huh? Are you looking for a fight or something?

Floyd: If you wanna get crushed just say so~

Diana: Enough.

The word was spoken with just enough force to startle the girls out of their tense and aggressive stances, and Floyd shifted his gaze over to her as well. Crossing her arms she continued.

Diana: We’re a pack in another’s territory. We can’t just bare our fangs as we will.

Though the Monarchia girls had averted their eyes to the ground as they realized her displeasure with their behaviour, Floyd continued to look as unperturbed as ever. Not that she expected anything else from him. The girls shifted in place and bowed their heads deeply before her.

Monarchia Girl A: Sorry, Big Sister! We didn’t mean to cause you problems!

All: Sorry, Big Sister!

Suddenly standing straight, the first girl turned towards Floyd and barked at him:

Monarchia Girl A: And you! Second-year! Don’t you have something to say too?

Floyd: Nope~

Monarchia Girl A: Guh. As expected of a delinquent like you.

Floyd: Hey, hey~ Little hatchling, do you wanna piss me off that badly?

Monarchia Girl A: As if I care what you think. I’m telling you to apologize to Big Sister properly! Even though you’re not part of our dorm you still presume that level of familiarity with her. It’s unforgivable.

Floyd seemed to think on this for a few moments, until he came to a sensible conclusion. Turning towards Diana he looked nonchalant as he gave his own apology, which was entirely affected and dishonest.

Floyd: Sorry~.... Sis~

Monarchia Girl A: You bastard!

Diana exhaled softly through her nose. The girls had at first seemed placated by at least the effort he put, even though they immediately recognized it as fake, but were angered again when they heard the second word that came out of his mouth. He most likely did it on purpose as he seemed a bit too happy to see them riled up at his provocation. As they growled up at him, he leaned forward slightly to try and goad them into starting a fight.

Diana: Floyd.

Floyd: Hm?

Diana: All of you.

Monarchia Girls: Ye-Yes?

Diana: Stop.

It was the second time she had to intervene and her girls knew that there should not be a third time. Even though they were still annoyed by Floyd’s behaviour they ignored him the best they could so they wouldn’t upset Diana anymore. Though he did not seem to be aware of this.

Casting a look around, she noticed that he was alone with neither his twin or Prefect around.

Diana: Floyd, where is Azul?

Floyd: Dunno~ He said something about club activities.

Diana: Ah.

Thinking it over for a few seconds, she realized that all the talking wasn’t doing much except waste precious time. She promised her girls a fun time at the Inter-School Cultural Festival and she had to deliver. Diana turned on her feet and signalled for her girls to follow. She attempted to cast a look back at Floyd too, but she could already feel him wrap his arm around her neck and squeeze slightly. She craned her head to have a better look at his grinning face.

Floyd: Hey~ Saltwater crocodile-chan-senpai-sis~ Where are you going?

His grip tightened and Diana could feel her body being forcibly bent forward. It bore a tinge of familiarity to it, since her brothers were quite the rambunctious bunch.

Diana: We’re going to check the booths together. Then I’ll find Azul.

Floyd: That sounds boring. Won’t you have more fun if you show me how to do that jumping trick you did during your Dance? I wanna try it out too~ It looked fun.

Diana: Hm, that? Later maybe. Now, let go.

Sighing in irritation, Floyd let go of her neck and immediately draped his arms over her shoulders. His body leaned forward and Diana could feel the entirety of his weight pushed onto her. It was a last ditch attempt to get her to entertain him instead of doing things he deemed as boring.

Diana: Should I carry you?

Floyd: Eh, saltwater crocodile-chan-senpai's gotta be strong if she wants to try that. Can you do it?

Diana: It’s no different than carrying my little brothers.

Floyd: So did your wound heal?

Diana: Mostly.

Floyd: Show me~ I wanna see the scar~ It really looked like it hurt when that talon pierced you. Me and Jade thought you were a goner, and Azul was as white as a sheet. It was funny to see him make that expression~

Diana: That won’t happen.

Floyd: Ha? Why not?

Diana: It would upset Azul.

Floyd: That again? Ugh, fine~

He sighed aloud this time, much noisier than necessary and let go of her entirely. Looking rather irritated he went to turn around, probably going to look for Jade or somebody else to harass, until Diana stopped him.

Diana: Floyd.

Floyd: What?

Diana: Come along.

Monarchia Girls: Huh? What? Big Sister, but why?

Diana wasn’t sure either, but she suspected that Floyd’s behaviour brought a certain feeling of homesickness. It didn’t dawn on her how different it was to be surrounded by girls when she grew up in a house where she and her mother were in the minority. There was a difference between the familial bonds experienced within the dorm and those at home, and being deprived of the latter did make her somewhat melancholic at times. She could for the most part ignore it, but spending time with someone like Floyd did bring out a certain tenderness in her. Having him tag along would ease a little that feeling of missing her little brothers. Though he proved quite stubborn.

Floyd: Don’t wanna.

Diana: Floyd.

Floyd: …

Diana: …

Floyd: …………

Diana: ……….

Floyd: ……………………… Ugh, fine. Saltwater crocodile-chan-senpai sometimes gets that look in her eyes that reminds me of my dad. It’s kinda creepy.

Diana: Hm. Is that so?

Floyd: Yeah~ It’s that top predator boss aura he’s got too~

Like a switch had been turned on, Floyd’s sour mood was immediately replaced by a more agreeable one. He hung around Diana during the entire time, much to the girls’ consternation and continued to provoke them into retaliating for his sheer amusement. But given that they were scolded for almost starting a fight they did their best to ignore him. They were somewhat comforted by the food that the booths were selling and with almost inhuman glee made sure to try all the recipes that had mushrooms in them when they realized Floyd’s disgust at the sight of such dishes.

The selection was quite large so they spent quite some time walking around, yet as they came close to the end Floyd suddenly took off in another direction without warning. The girls breathed a sigh of relief to see him gone, but were immediately alarmed when they saw Diana go after him. She signalled for them not to worry. Looking back Floyd frowned, but didn’t do much else when she finally caught up to him.

Floyd: You’re following me.

Diana: Mm. You’re going to Jade, aren’t you?

Floyd: Yeah. So?

Diana: I’m going to see Azul too.

Floyd: Haaa? Jade and Azul aren’t in the same club, y’know? So they won’t be in the same booth.

Diana: Mm. But they’re both cultural clubs, right? So most likely they’ll be in the same area given the way the festival grounds are set up.

Diana’s gait was steadfast, even as Floyd stopped walking. He was irritated by the unexpected turn of events and how he unwittingly played right in her hands. Diana looked behind her and took out a small, sealed bag containing some takoyaki. She tossed it to him and nodded.

Diana: Thanks. I’ll be on my way.

Even if he wouldn’t show her the rest of the way, she had figured out the general direction by that point. The crowd had thinned by that point so it was much easier to think now that she wasn’t accosted by a variety of sounds and smells. Silently, Floyd had followed her lead munching on the snack she gifted him.

Floyd: You’re really crafty, saltwater crocodile-chan-senpai.

Diana: You’re a good kid too.

Floyd: Eh~ I wonder what’s wrong with your head to say stuff like this?

Diana: Hm.

Walking side by side now, they finally reached the main hallway and split off to their respective destinations. The Board Game Club was easier to find now that she could track scents and soon enough she managed to find the exact room she was looking for.

Azul’s face betrayed his surprise at seeing the door open only to reveal her.

Azul: Ah, Diana?

Diana: Mm.

Azul: This is quite surprising. I didn’t expect to see you here today.

Diana: I came because I wanted to see you.

As always her complete adherence to honesty left him flustered. He tried to maintain his cool and look as detached as possible.

Azul: I see. Unfortunately, today I’m rather busy with my duties as a club member so I won’t be able to entertain you it seems.

Diana: That’s alright. I mostly came to drop off this.

Setting down the plastic bag she got from the booths, she turned to him again.

Diana: I was worried you’d be unable to get to eat since you were busy, so I got you this.

Azul:... That’s not necessary.

Diana: Consider it payment for making use of Floyd.

Azul: Making use of Floyd?

Diana: Mm. I might have tricked him into showing me where your booth is. Sorry for that.

Azul: Tricked… ? No. Nevermind that. I suppose that if it’s payment I’m obligated to accept it.

Diana: I would be happy if you did.

Azul: … Please don’t say such brazen things out loud.

Diana: Mm. Understood.

Ortho: Ah! Hello! Welcome to the Board Game Club’s booth!

Diana: You… The little one that hangs around the Ignihyde boss.

Ortho: Hm? You mean Big Brother? Do you know him? Even though I haven’t seen you around our dorm before...

Diana: No, it’s Vita.

Ortho: Ah? You’re Vita Dies’ friend?

Diana: … I wonder about that.

Ortho: I don’t think I understand.

Azul: Nevermind that, Ortho. Diana, as you can see we’re rather preoccupied here at the moment. And I’m afraid this might be quite boring for you.

Diana: It’s not a problem to me. But if you’re uncomfortable-

Azul: I did not say that. It’s of no concern to me if you stay.

Diana: I see.

Dragging out a chair towards the table she sat down and leaned back slightly. It would be a while until the VDC started, though she did not intend to wait for that long. Her main objective was merely to see Azul and share a meal with him, as they usually did whenever she was on campus. It was tradition at this point and he also seemed to be aware of it, as he simply pushed his glasses up and took a seat next to her.

Azul: There are many deep-fried foods in here.

Diana: It’s what they usually sell at this kind of festival.

Azul: Indeed.

Diana: It’s important to experience normal things too.

Azul: … I see.

Though Azul had mostly focused on the healthier options, Diana had seen him sneak in a few of the deep-fried when she started taking more of his stuff. He’d cast her a glance when he realised what she was doing, but didn’t say anything in return. When they were done, she stashed the containers away in the plastic bag and stood up dusting off her skirt. Azul raised an eyebrow as he watched her.

Diana: I’ll be off then.

Azul: Oh?

Diana: I’d like to stay more with you, but you said you were busy.

At her sudden confession, his face gained a pink tint. He frowned slightly to hide his embarrassment and crossed his arms.

Azul: As I said, it’s not an issue to me for you to be here. I was merely concerned that you would find it unpleasantly dull.

Diana: Mm. But I never dislike spending time with you.

Azul: Th-that! Diana, I have to ask you to cease such… such…

Diana: Mm. I understand. I will see you later.

Azul’s face was cold and composed as he watched her leave the room, though she could still see how the tips of his ears were red even now. When Ortho asked him if he was alright, since he was staring at the door for a few moments after it closed, he required a few moments to regain his cool. Diana’s promise was still ringing in his ears, but he refused to admit that it stirred any kind of emotion in him. It was after all just a regular meeting between them as it always was. No need to overreact to it or anything.

Ortho silently wondered if he should tell Azul that he’d been cleaning the lens of his glasses for at least 2.56 minutes by now, when the door opened again and somebody else stepped inside.

When Diana reunited with her girls, who had wandered around campus checking up on the animal nests that were scattered around, she let them know that she was done making her rounds and they could proceed to the VDC.

Diana remembered the two previous years where she was absent from the contest. None of the girls in the years above had cared for it at all, so it was only natural to skip it. It was Diana’s first instinct as well, but as she thought it over she decided it would be a good opportunity to learn a few more tricks and tips on how to be appealing towards the larger public. Samhain Night was coming up and she wanted her dorm to make a good impression not only for the sake of the girls who would then have the chance to be scouted by companies or organizations, but also for the beasts living there who still retained a bad reputation among the masses.

Unfortunately, as the show went on she quickly realized why the previous Prefects had mostly written off the show. It was exceedingly manufactured and artificial. All traces of wilderness or savagery were absent, and the sight of Rook on stage made her quite irritated. Though she tried her best to pay attention, Diana steadily felt herself slip away into unconsciousness. Later, when her girls had woken her up she realized that she fell asleep halfway through RSA’s performance and missed the entire show. According to her girls it was much of the same thing, so she did not have to regret anything.

The news of RSA’s victory merely had her nod in acknowledgement, and with the venue becoming slowly deserted due to crowd leaving, they made their way out too. Once outside Diana told them she’d like to stop by Mostro Lounge before going back to their own school which the girls accepted graciously. Though as they made their way through the campus, she spotted Azul and the twins in the distance as they gathered up their equipment and profits. Swiftly she changed course, her mood improving slightly when she saw Azul’s flustered face as they made eye contact. She wasn’t sure why he looked surprised, since after all she promised to meet with him afterwards anyway. She wanted to end her day on a good note.          

Cassandra Delphinne

As someone with a deep appreciation for music and dancing, Cass had looked forward to the VDC every year. It was really pleasant to see the groups from other schools compete between themselves and perform on stage their songs and choreography. Coming from a small village as she did, she never got to see this sort of thing before coming to WNA so for the foreseeable future she wanted to enjoy every chance she had of attending such events. This year as Prefect she took charge and made sure that everything was set in place so they would all be able to attend it peacefully and with little trouble. The tickets were bought ahead of time, she got a map that showed the entire campus and each important location and even managed to get everybody in line with minimal effort. All in all, it was a good start. Unfortunately, given that this was Oraluna, something was bound to go wrong. And it did.

Oraluna Girl A: Hahahahahaha, to think I would lose my ticket just so easily!

Oraluna Girl B: And to think that me helping you find your ticket would result in mine being stolen by a squirrel!

Oraluna Girl C: Indeed! The fact that mine was ripped by the tree branches as I was climbing to retrieve yours must surely be a sign of fate!

All: Hahahahahahahahahahaha!

Cass: Everybody… please don’t laugh about this…

She gave out a deep sigh as she heard the girls let out another rambunctious laugh. The other ticket buyers cast a glance in their direction and noticing just whose school their uniform belonged to, quickly began whispering among themselves. Their furtive glances and curious expressions made Cass fidget on the stop. She knew that Walpurga Nacht had quite the reputation among the masses so people were bound to stare and gossip. Still, to be the center of such attention was not a thing she really relished in. Especially after what happened during her Witch Dance this year. The girls did not seem to share her concerns as they continued their light banter. She was rather shocked when an hour after the Headmistress had dismissed everybody and they had taken to walking around the school grounds, the three approached her all of a sudden and proudly stated their issues. As if they somehow managed to achieve something important there, even though the situation was quite annoying to deal with. But she was a Prefect now and it was her duty to deal with such problems. So with just a frustrated sigh as means of showing her dissatisfaction, Cass joined them in the queue where people who hadn’t already purchased their tickets could still do so.

It was much, much longer than she expected it to be. Daring another glance at the people before them she wondered briefly if they’ll really be so lucky to actually get some last minute tickets.

Silver: Cassandra?

The startled scream she let out attracted quite a bit of attention and even Silver seemed a bit perturbed by the intensity of it.

Cass: Si-Si-Silver! Sorry! You just scared me and, um, you see… No, I don’t mean scared! You just surprised me, uh…

Silver: It’s alright. I just didn’t expect that kind of reaction from you either.

Cass: Um… Sorry...

Silver: What are you doing here though? Didn’t you have tickets for VDC already?

Cass: Eh? Oh! Y-Yes! I mean, I do! But my girls…

As she set out to explain the situation to him, she felt her face get more and more flustered. Even to her, who was already aware of the nature of Oraluna students, it sounded ridiculous. When she finished her short monologue she expected Silver to laugh or worse tell them they were idiots for behaving this way. But he merely nodded with the same stoic expression as always.

Silver: I see. That must be quite troublesome. So you’re standing in line to get new tickets.

Cass: Ye-Yeah… We were all looking forward to getting to watch it this year so this is a bit of a problem…

Silver: And you are staying with them in line to look after them?

Cass: It’s my duty as their Prefect to do this much… Um, but what are you doing here?

Silver: Ah, Riddle asked me to help keep everybody in line. That’s why…

Cass: O-Oh! I see! That makes sense… I-I mean! It makes sense because you’re very dependable and such! So, um, what I meant to say is…

Talking to Silver like this had for some reason started to prove extremely difficult a few months ago. She wasn’t exactly sure why, since nothing between them really changed, but she nevertheless felt a strange sort of sensation intervening between them. An awkwardness that wasn’t really there before suddenly took hold. She became much more careful about the way she presented herself to him, and it was now very important for her to know that he had a good impression of her. Stumbling over her words like that had become much more embarrassing.

From the corner of her eye, she spotted the three Oraluna students giving them an appreciative look.

Oraluna Girl A: Ohohohoho, what an unexpected twist!

Oraluna Girl B: A possible pairing in the making? Souls converging together for the bloom of passion?

Her face exploded, turning completely red as she motioned for them to be silent. The couple standing behind them coughed loudly and Cass realized it was time for them to move forward. Glancing over at Silver she hesitantly opened her mouth to say goodbye, when one of her girls suddenly thrust her arm forward in a stopping motion.

Oraluna Girl A: Worry not, Prefect! For the forces beyond this world have convened to inform you of your situation.

Oraluna Girl B: Indeed! We are to be witnesses to a most egregious event and we are loath to interrupt!

Oraluna Girl C: Go forth and have no fear, for we shall resolve to redeem ourselves in your eyes! Farewell!

The speech, as grandiose as it was and probably truly good-natured, did not excite much contentment from her. Rather it simply led to her covering her burning face with her hands. This however proved to be a bad idea since the sudden movement of the crowd led a few people to bump into her as they pushed their way forward. With no way to ascertain her surroundings and no way to stop her lack of balance, Cass would have tumbled to the ground if it hadn’t been for Silver quick reflexes. He caught her right before she hit the ground and helped her steady herself. Cass couldn’t help but be reminded of a fairytale princess being rescued by a knight in shining armour at that moment. Even as he ordered the crowd to be careful Cass realized that his hand was still on her shoulder, almost like he was making sure she would not fall over again. With his body between her and the crowd, she truly felt like had taken on a heroic image. It was really charming. So much that her heart was pounding in her chest.

Silver: Sorry for this. Are you ok?

Cass: E-Eh?

Silver: Cassandra?

Cass: Ye-Yes! I-I-I-I-I’m alright! You don’t have to worry, um…

Noticing the hand he kept on her, he calmly retracted it.

Silver: I’m sorry.

Cass: N-No! It’s alright! I-I-I-I don’t mind!

Silver: I see. The crowd is getting more erratic the closer we get to the VDC…

Cass: Um, isn’t it because everybody is looking forward to wonderful performances?

Silver: You think so?

Cass: Yes! At least I am, um… I’ve been looking forward to this since the start of the school year! It’s always such a nice event and I enjoy how everybody is so energetic and talented! I really like seeing them on stage! Th-This year Miss Morgainne said that Mister Schoenheit will most certainly win the contest!

Silver: Ah, that’s right. Lilia-senpai did say that this year the Light Music Club will be performing without Kalim…

Cass: Eh?! Mister Vanrouge is performing today too? I-I-I-I didn’t know! Um, I’ll be sure to be present there as well! Will it be the Red Stage, or the Blue or the Purple? Oh no! Do I need tickets for this too? Um, but what if they’re already all sold out-

Silver: Cassandra, wait a minute. You’re rambling.

Cass: Am I? I-I-I’m sorry! Um, that wasn’t my intention at all and um-

Silver: It’s alright. You don’t need to be so tense. You didn’t do anything wrong.

Cass: That’s true…

Silver: As for hearing him perform… I’m not sure it’s the kind of music you’d like…

Cass: Eh? Um, even if it’s something very complicated, I’ll try my best! I’m sure Mister Vanrouge’s music is beyond my capacity to understand, but it would be an insult to him if I didn’t at least try! I have much to learn from an esteemed person such as him!

Silver: … I see. But regarding his musical taste, I don’t think you have to worry too much.

Cass: Huh? What do you mean-

Sebek: CASSANDRA!

If she were to be honest, Cass would admit that she surprised even herself with the intensity of the scream that tore out from her as Sebek’s own loud voice was suddenly heard behind her. He tore through the crowd with alarming speeding and made a sharp stop right in front of her, startling her even further.

Cass: Mi-Mi-Mi-Mister Zigvolt! Um, i-i-i-is there a problem?

Sebek: CASSANDRA! FIND THE YOUNG MASTER IMMEDIATELY!

Cass: Hu-Huh?

Silver: Sebek. Stop shouting. You’re causing trouble for Cassandra.

Sebek: What?! Don’t lecture me, Silver! This is an emergency! The Young Master is in danger due to one of these witches!

Silver: What? What are you talking about?

Sebek: That unpleasant witch who always tries to bother him is here today too!

Silver: Unpleasant witch…

Cass: ...who always bothers him? Um, are you talking about Miss Pyroeis by any chance?

Sebek: EXACTLY!

Cass: Wah!

Silver: Sebek.

Sebek: That witch is smarter than she looks! She purposefully picked today to accost him since she knew we would be busy with other duties! And now the Young Master is left unprotected before her pestering!

Silver: … No, aren’t you making up ludicrous scenarios rather?

Sebek: So you’d let him fall prey to her wiles?!

Silver: I doubt there’s any danger of that. You’re too overprotective. It’s bothersome for Lord Malleus to have you hover like that all the time.

Sebek: HUH? WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY?

Nervously glancing between them, Cass felt dread wash over her. The constant barrage of noise, the glances of people who were bothered by this loud exchange and Sebek’s angry tone were stirring up memories that she’d rather never recall.

Cass: Um, I-I-I’m sorry but people are starting to stare… Um…

Her voice was faint and trembling, but Silver heard it nevertheless. When he turned to look at her, Sebek was also suddenly reminded of her presence.

Sebek: CASSANDRA! YOU MUST DIVINE THE YOUNG MASTER’S LOCATION AT ONCE!

Cass: Hu-Huh?!

Sebek’s hands landed heavily on her shoulders as she jumped in fear at the sudden action. She knew that he had no intention of actually hurting her, but it made the exchange all the more tense. In the back of her mind, the voice of a woman echoed distantly.

Cass: Um, I’m sorry, but I don’t think divination is really capable of doing something like this… The future is very broad and it would take quite a lot of time to narrow down just one scenario in this case, so, um…

Sebek: Then use your Unique Magic. You are capable of that, aren’t you?

Cass: My… Unique Magic… Wh-what…

She froze at the request, eyes wide and throat dry. The weight on her shoulders felt monumental all of a sudden as her vision went hazy. Sebek’s face seemed to disappear, morph into something both familiar and foreign at the same time. It was there and it wasn’t.

Sebek: I heard that your Unique Magic allows you to predict the future with 100% accuracy! Use that to reveal the location of the Young Master quickly!

Cass: N-No… I… I don’t think… I won’t be able to… Please…

Silver’s hand grabbed Sebek by the shoulder and pulled. Her ears were ringing, she couldn't hear anything anymore, but in the distance, as if they were hundreds of miles away from her, there were fragments of their argument. Sebek’s head was turned sideways and he was yelling at Silver who bore a strange expression on his face. Cass realized she’d never seen him look like this before. It was odd. And terrifying.

Then all of a sudden, she lost track of them. They didn’t disappear. She knew this because Sebek’s hands were still firmly grasping her shoulders. It was like a fog had descended upon her and the world was filtered through white haze. She had instead gone somewhere else: in a small room, with a dark wooden table and a woman with a desperate expression on her face. The smell of incense is heavy in the air, and it hurts her throat. The woman is holding her shoulders too, nails digging in her skin and leaving behind red, angry marks. She tried to break free, but the woman won’t let her, screaming and shaking her as if she was a ragdoll. Cass can’t hear her voice, it’s all a loud roaring, but she can feel the hatred and the anger leaking out. Her whole body is trembling. She’s so afraid she can’t even scream. Then the woman lets go of one shoulder as she raises her hand. She knows what comes next.

Cass: I’m sorry!

Her voice was filled with anguish as she wretched herself free from his hold. The intensity of her outburst was so great that Sebek let go of her shoulder almost immediately, his face betraying his shock with Silver’s being a perfect mirror. Neither had expected such a reaction. Nor did she, or the people around who had begun whispering among themselves. Stumbling backwards, Cass fell on the ground with a thud, her whole body trembling and breath coming out in short bursts. She felt dizzy, and hung her head in shame and embarrassment when she realized what just happened. With everyone’s stare trained on her, tears were already gathering in her eyes.

Her intertwined hands were pressed to her chest. Though her voice was barely above a whisper she continued to murmur apologies until she felt somebody’s presence next to her.

Silver: Cassandra. Are you alright?

Glancing over at him, Cass flinched at his proximity, but could do nothing but stare. His usual stoic expression was replaced by one of unease. Or so she thought. It made her feel guilty to see him worry like this about her, but in her panic she just wanted to get away from everybody. With shaking legs she tried to stand up and run, but merely tripped over herself and landed in a heap on the ground. Face pressed against the pavement she could barely breath from the influx of adrenaline, and when she felt a hand pat her back she let out a choked sound. Glancing up she saw Silver hovering over her. Gently he offered her his hand, which after a few moments of hesitation she accepted and let herself be pulled up. Her feet were still unsteady so she clung onto him until she found her balance. Next to them Sebek was silent as he stared in bewilderment.

Her head was reeling, and she wanted nothing more than to run away even as Silver’s soft voice tried to reach her. So when she heard the voices of her girls she finally let go of his arm and tried to resume a sliver of dignity.

Cass: Um.... I’m… I’m sorry…. Please excuse me… I’ll have to leave now… since…

She forcibly shut her mouth as she heard the first signs of hiccuping making their way through. She couldn’t fall apart now. Not in front of Silver or Sebek. It would only worry them more, and she’d already done enough to make them uncomfortable today. Without waiting for a reply she quickly bowed and made her way back to them just as they finally exited the line.

Oraluna Girl A: Prefect! Fate smiled down on us! We managed to procure the tickets- Eh? What’s wrong?

Oraluna Girl B: You don’t look well at all. Did the flowers of passion not bloom after all?

Oraluna Girl C: How disappointing!

Cass tried to offer them an encouraging smile and assure them she was fine, but it was too stiff and her voice wouldn’t come out. The girls shared a glance between them, before with great aplomb and cheerful attitudes they began to guide Cass through the crowd.

Oraluna Girl A: Don’t shed tears, Prefect! It’s such a wonderful day right now!

Oraluna Girl B: Indeed! Let us enjoy ourselves a bit at this cafe that’s open in the botanical garden!

Cass: But-

Oraluna Girl C: Ooooooh, I wonder if they have cakes!

Cass: Um-

Oraluna Girl B: Don’t be ridiculous! You only have biscuits with tea! Everyone knows that!

Cass: You three-

Oraluna Girl A: Now, now. There’s sense in what she says. Cakes are just as appropriate at teatime as cakes!

Cass: Wait-

Oraluna Girl B: Poppycock! That’s just slander!

As hard as she might have tried, it was impossible to get a hold of them so she ended up dragged to the little cafe. It was surprisingly quaint and they did have cakes much to their approval and despair. Surrounded by nature and the peaceful atmosphere, she gradually felt herself calm down. The girls didn’t press for any details and for that Cass was thankful. She didn’t feel like talking about her recent encounter, and would rather just focus on enjoying the festivities.

They made it to the Purple Stage in time, Cass having forgotten about the performance Lilia was supposed to take part in, and took their seats. NRC was first to present and while she found the whole performance beautiful and impressive, the harsh rhythm and musical tone only added to her anxiety. By the end of the song she was feeling restless and caged, and wanted nothing more than to leave. But she figured it would be rude, since the rest of the Prefects were standing there and her outburst could cost the school as well when it came to their reputation. So she stayed put and gripped the programme tighter in her hands and she tried to distract herself. When RSA’s turn came up she was shocked to hear a familiar tune resonate throughout the venue. It was the same song her grandmother used to sing to her as a child, a nursery rhyme that was quite popular in the Land of Pyroxene. She couldn’t believe she would hear it performed on a stage as big as the VDC.

Oraluna Girl A: Ohohohoho, this song is rather nostalgic!

Oraluna Girl B: Aaaah, I’m drowning in this feeling of comfort.

Watching Neige and his friends perform on stage, Cass couldn’t help but agree with them. There was something wonderfully reassuring in listening to an old familiar song being played when one was away from home. She thought back to all the times her grandmother would hold her in her arms and put her to sleep with it, and the comfort those memories brought her was so great that unshed tears began trickling down her cheeks. No sound made its way past her mouth, but when the song ended and they all bowed she felt like a huge burden was lifted off her shoulders. All the misfortunes today were forgotten, and all the fears and anxieties dissipated. She felt at peace again. Thus nobody was that surprised when Cass cast her vote for RSA or faulted her for being happy at their victory. Her girls were just glad she finally went back to her usual self.

On the way out of the venue, she bumped into an unexpected person. Or rather, bumped was not the appropriate word, since it was more akin to being startled by the sudden appearance of Lilia hanging upside down and right into her path.

Lilia: Cassandra.

The shock of seeing him almost made her scream, but she covered her mouth with her hands just in time to avoid such a thing. Out of all the people here today, Lilia was one of the two she didn’t want to embarrass herself in front of under any circumstances.

Cass: Mi-Mi-Mi-Mi-Mister Vanrouge! What- What are you doing here, um…

I-I-Is about me missing your performance today? I’m so very sorry! I had planned on attending it but certain circumstances intervened and then it slipped my mind and, um… A-Ah, but I’m making excuses and um… I really should have made that effort. Please accept my apologies!

Lilia: Kufufufufu, to be young and energetic…

Cass: Um…?

Lilia: Don’t worry about that, it’s no issue. Rather, I’ve come to talk to you about something else. I heard Sebek had given you some trouble earlier this day.

Cass: Um… that… It was really my fault… So…

Lilia: Hm? How curious.

Cass: Eh?

Lilia: Silver said that it was all Sebek’s fault for acting uncouth. It’s truly unfitting for a guard of the future heir of the Valley of Thorns to behave as such. I have no choice but to punish him.

Cass: Pu-Punish him?!

Lilia: Indeed. It will be quite excruciating. He may perhaps never be able to use his hand again after this.

Cass: Ne-Never?! Mister Vanrouge!

Lilia: Hm?

Cass: Um, Mister Zigvolt… Um, he’s just really protective of Lord Draconia… and he was worried one of our students might bother him… I-I understand it a bit… Because I really admire Lord Draconia too… A-And it’s not like Mister Zigvolt meant to cause me trouble - No-Not that he did! But, please, could you at the very least lighten his punishment? I don’t think he deserves to lose his hand over something like this!

Lilia: Hm? Who said anything about losing his hand?

Cass: Eh?

Lilia: I am merely worried that all the letter writing he will have to do will leave his hand in quite an unfortunate state. Cramps are truly dangerous once you reach a certain age, you know?

Cass: Letters… But why…?

Lilia: Fufufufufu. I have ordered Sebek to write a hundred letters of apology by tonight and deliver them to you as his punishment. Silver is currently keeping watch over him to ensure that he does so. Did you think I meant something more gruesome? My, my, today’s youth does have quite the imagination.

Will this suffice?

Cass: Suffice…? For what exactly?

Lilia gave her an indulgent smile as he stood upside down.

Lilia: Silver has told me that you have a tendency to be anxious about others’ well being rather than your own. But behaviour like this must not be tolerated. Fae are said to be a proud and haughty kind, even among ourselves, and to be insulted like this would be a slight punishable by death in certain circles. It’s good to have a kind and forgiving heart, but one must not endure injury just to spare others’ feelings.

Do you understand?

Cass stared at him in deep contemplation for a while before bowing her head slightly. A smile was present on her face, and her eyes had gone a little teary, but she nodded eagerly and gave him a shy but determined grin.

Cass: Thank you, Mister Vanrouge!

Lilia: However if you’re feeling spiteful, it is traditional among our kind to put a bucket over one’s head and bang on it as harshly as possible to punish one who wronged you.

Cass: E-Eh? I-Is that so? I would rather not put a bucket over Mister Zigvolt’s head though…

Lilia: Kufufufufufu.

Just as Lilia said, a few hours later, as the girls were about to depart, she heard Sebek call her name loudly as he ran through the campus. When he spotted her, he charged forward and Cass was worried he was going to knock her down, but he stopped at the last moment and presented her with a satchel full of neatly written letters that were each about five pages long. She paled at the sight of them and worriedly asked him if his hand was already. He assured her that this was nothing he couldn’t handle, and that he was dutifully fulfilling his role as a loyal, but well-mannered guard. Without even meaning to, Cass found herself giggling at his earnest nature which also earned her a flustered and confused face from Sebek.

She brought the letters back to her dorm room, and dutifully spent that weekend composing a letter of forgiveness in response. At the end, in small writing she invited the four of them to Oraluna for tea next time they were on campus, and the thought of being so bold both excited and terrified her. Yet, it was only proper to show that there was to be no bad blood between them.            

Agatha Voisin

The Inter-School Cultural Festival had always been a headache Agatha was not looking forward to ever since she became a high school student. All that it amounted to was a lot of noise, people bumping into each other or staring at her as she tried to make her way through the crowd. Certainly not the type of activity she wanted to take part in. Especially since a large portion of those on-lookers thought it would be wise to make comments on her appearance.

Girl A: Hey. Did you see that girl?

Girl B: Hm? Woah! What’s with that creepy smile?

Girl C: This isn’t Halloween…

Girl A: Oh, but look at her uniform. Isn’t she from that prestigious school?

Girl B: You mean Walpurga Nacht? The one that had those Dances this year?

Girl A: Yeah. I watched them on TV!

Girl C: Me too! That first girl, um, I can’t remember her name-

Girl A: You mean Cherry? She was so cool!

Girl B: I know right?! It kinda made me want to transfer there, hehe.

Girl C: Ha? There’s no way you can do that. You gotta take the entrance exam.

Girl A: Oh yeah. They say it’s absolute hell and only a very small number of girls pass it.

Girl B: Still! How cool would it be to go to school with Cherry! Even with the recent scandals…

Agatha was at a fair distance from their group, so the girls were pretty sure that she couldn’t overhear them gossip, but she caught it all. The first comment made her angry and the conversation afterwards only irritated her further, which was quite an impressive feat given that she started out the day quite displeased. She charged directly at them, and the sudden presence behind them startled them so much the three girls ended up screaming. Pinning them down with a stare, Agatha was silent.

Girl B: U-Um, can… can we help you…?

Agatha: ……..

Girl B: …..

Agatha: ………………………………….

Girl B: ……………………………. Um…….

Agatha: I… was… cute…

Girl B: Hu-Huh? I-I’m sorry?

Agatha: During… the… Dance… I… was… cute… too… Cuter… than… the… stupid… amoeba…

Girl B: Amoeba? Wh-What? I-I don’t follow…

Agatha: ………………..

They huddled close together, waiting for her to reply, but when nothing but silence could be heard they began retreating slowly. They turned their back to her slightly, making their way through the crowd as Agatha followed them with her gaze. Even when they disappeared from sight, she continued to stare while contemplating just what exactly was the point of coming here today.

The school festival was always an annoyance, indeed, but at the very least she could spend it together with her Big Sis scouting the booths or with her Big Bro hiding in his shop. So, as soon as the Headmistress gave them the green light that was exactly what she tried to do: find her Big Sis and start touring. She left her group without a word, but the Eliksia girls were used to this sort of behaviour already, so it didn’t phase them much. Finding Vita was not a particularly difficult task since the girl tended to attract quite a lot of attention, especially when together with her dorm mates. But when she asked her where they should start off this year, Vita told her:

Vita: My apologies, my dear Agatha. My husband is to hold forth a discourse upon the subject of his research. ‘Tis my duty as his wife to ensure he does not engage in any navel-gazing before the due time. I am afraid I will not be able to escort you today.

That was disappointing, but she simply nodded in understanding. It was unfortunate though. Her Big Sis’ husband always struck Agatha as too much of a spineless coward, so that she would need to be there to encourage him was not all that surprising. She wasn’t angry at her, but at him rather, but since nothing could be done, she set forth to find her Big Bro. Reaching Sam’s shop was a bit difficult since due to her small size people would tend to bump into her by accident and she almost found herself on the ground a couple of times during the trip. When they turned to apologize she simply ignored them and went on her way. She didn’t care for their words in any case. Unfortunately, her luck took a turn for the worse, as once she was in front of the Mystery Shop she realized that a long line had formed outside. The festival was always a busy time of the year for him, but she hoped that she could at least try to sneak in and hide in her usual place. That did not happen, for as soon as she tried to cut in line she got yelled by some of the patrons and pushed aside. Unsteady on her feet as always, she fell down backwards with a thud.

Boy A: What the hell is your problem, huh? You can’t just cut in as you like!

Boy B: Ugh, dude, what’s with her mouth? It’s creepy…

Boy C: He-Hey… She can hear you, you know…

Boy A: Whatever. Listen, ugly, get back to the end of the line like everybody else. Seriously…

Agatha stared at them for a long while. So long that the boy who spoke first, and seemed to be the leader, began to look slightly disturbed as he returned her gaze. Eventually he scowled and looked away, trying to ignore her. She was still on the ground, not having moved an inch, and reached into her belt pouch to look for something. The other two boys watched her with light trepidation and confusion as they heard the sound of glass clicking. When she finally found what she was looking for, she let out a short laugh and pulled out a small vial. The substance inside was black and thick as it sloshed around, and the boys’ faces palled considerably.

Boy B: He-Hey, is that a joke?

Boy C: There’s no way you’re using that here, are you?! That’s a-

Toby: Oh! Where is this?

Just as Agatha was about to open the small bottle, a sudden shout stopped her. Looking over to her right she spotted the familiar sight of a RSA uniform and the even more familiar one of a young second year student. Toby’s big, doe eyes were scanning the surroundings carefully and with intense curiosity, until they finally landed on her. Then, as if a switch was flipped he seemed to remember just what was going on.

Toby: It’s you! Hello, hello~ How are you?

He approached her in his typical spacey but cheerful manner. Agatha merely continued to stare.

Toby: Are you here for… Hm? What is this place again?

Agatha: ………………….

Toby: Hm~ Hm~ Guess I got lost again, hehe!

Agatha: …………………..

Toby: This place is really big~ But I can’t remember what it's called at all.

Agatha: …………………

Toby: Oh? What’s in that bottle?

Even though she gave no acknowledgement that she heard or cared about what he had to say, Toby continued to prattle on and on without any signs of stopping. He asked about the black liquid inside, about why she was sitting on the ground, about why there was a line - any little thing that attracted his attention quickly came under scrutiny. It was far more than she could handle at the moment, Agatha realized soon enough, and promptly stood up. She stashed the little bottle of vial away and started making her way back to the main festival area. Which is how she ended up in another annoying situation.

Standing still, she wondered if it perhaps wasn’t easier to just crawl in some hidden place and wait for the day to come to an end. That would reduce the number of stupid people saying stupid things around her. However just as she was to turn around and head off after that disastrous situation, she was stopped by a very familiar and horribly cute voice.

Toby: What are you doing here, hm~? Did you get lost too?

Glancing down she realized that she had been followed. Looking up at her with his big doe eyes, there was Toby. She thought she lost him when the crowd seemed to swallow her, but seems like he was better at tailing her than she expected. He did have the most unusual talent of keeping track of her.

Agatha: …………………………………

Toby: ………………………………….

Agatha: ………………………………..

Toby: Hm~? What are we doing here again?

It was no use. Even if she spent her entire day glaring at him, he simply would be unable to recognize her irritation. But running away from him with her slow gait was not particularly possible. Neither was spending any amount of time with him. No matter how she looked at it, she was stuck in an unfavorable position.

Hop: Toby~ There you are~!

Just as she was contemplating whether she could use a potion to get out of this mess, another loud voice found its way onto the scene. Looking away from Toby, she stopped three more students about his height making their way towards them. Not only that, but they wore the exact same uniform as him, so it wasn’t much of an effort to figure out they were his classmates.

Agatha: ……………………. They’ve… multiplied….

Toby: Hm~?

Hop: Toby~ We looked everywhere for you~

Hm? Who’s that?

Suddenly Agatha realized that she was partially surrounded by the little dwarf students of RSA who looked at her with a variety of curious expressions. The blonde who was yelling seemed most at ease, and friendly, while the blue haired one was hiding partially while keeping the green haired, laid back boy in the front. The amount of cuteness that radiated from them was making her very irritated.

Toby: This is my friend~ Hm… what was your name again?

Hop: Eh? You have a friend without a name? That’s so weird, hahahaha!

Timmy: Um… Ma-Maybe we can… um… ask her....?

Toby: Hm~ But what if she doesn’t remember it either?

Hop: Hahahahahaha! There’s no way people don’t remember their own name!

Toby: Oh~ I guess you’re right!

Agatha: ………………………………………

Hop: Hello, hello~ What’s your name? I’m Hop! Yay~ Nice to meet you!

Timmy: I’m… I’m… Timmy… um…

Shelpy: …………………. Oh… Hm.... I’m Shelpy…

Toby: Hehe, and I’m- Hm~? Who was I again?

Hop: You’re Toby, hahahahahaha!

Toby: Oh~ That’s true! I guess I am! Hehehehe!

Agatha: …………………………………….

Toby: ……………………………………

Agatha: ……………………………………………..

Hop: ………………………………………….

Agatha: …………………………………………….

Timmy & Shelpy: ………………………………………

Today was simply not a day she could have any hope of enjoying. Even though she refused to tell them her name, and very pointedly began to walk away from them, this did not seem to dampen their enthusiasm at all. They stuck to her like glue, and no matter how hard she tried she simply couldn’t shake them off. Moreover, they did all kinds of weird things like ask her to play games with them, or eat some of the sweets they bought for themselves, take a picture together and many other such inane requests were slung her way until her mind was hazy with confusion. Why couldn’t they just let her be already? They were too shiny and cheerful for her taste, and the amount of attention they gathered with their loud voices was too much.

Hop: Hey~ Hey~ Let’s catch goldfish!

Toby: Hm~ They sell candy floss right over there~

Timmy: I-It looks tasty. Maybe we should get some, um…

Hop: Good idea~ Toby’s friend, do you like candy floss too? Let’s all get some!

She eventually was able to break from them, when three others showed up and one of the silver haired ones began to scold the other four for leaving without telling anybody. Too distracted by the commotion none of them noticed when she disappeared though Toby was on the verge of following after out of sheer reflex, and had to be stopped by Dominic who reminded him that they have to rehearse before they went on stage.

Now alone, Agatha began to wander through the festival grounds, trying to think of what she could do to pass the time. Looking into her belt pouch she spotted the VDC ticket Vita got for her a few weeks ago. It was surprisingly thin and she often worried that the thing would tear right off if she wasn’t careful enough. The thought was daunting - after all, her Big Sis didn’t have to buy her a ticket, but still did. For that Agatha was very grateful. But she would be lying if she didn’t admit that having somebody to watch it with, would have been far more entertaining. Kicking at the ground in irritation, she suddenly found the idea of her sister’s husband existing quite an annoying prospect.

Agatha: ……… Ugh….. stupid….. chowder….

Stuffing her ticket further into her pouch she set off to walk around the school grounds and waste her time until the show started. People continued to whisper and stare at her, but she was too downtrodden to really care about it anymore.

During the show, Agatha was rather surprised to see Toby and his friends performing as well. Not that she particularly cared about it or anything, but it did lead to her irritation increasing due to having to see the little dwarf students from RSA be adored for their cuteness by the whole world. That Neige Revanche kid was already too much, with his stupid hair, and stupid sparkling eyes, and stupid pretty smile - Agatha could go on for hours about the many things she found stupid about Neige, but in the end it all boiled down to the same issue: Neige was publicly recognized as cute. Much like the stupid amoeba that went to her school.

But there wasn’t much she could say about NRC’s team either, since with their shiny looks and energetic dance performances they didn’t make much of an impression on her. It was all the same. Just a bunch of popular kids showing off. It irritated her too much to even pay attention, so when it came to voting she simply refused to do it. She watched the girls of her dorm cast their votes, and the rest of the students and the audience, but she kept her arms crossed and expression sour. But it wasn’t like anybody was going to ask her about it anyway. RSA’s win meant nothing to her, and instead she was just glad that they could finally go back to their school. As everybody exited the venue and she found herself in the outside street she looked around wondering just what she was supposed to do before they left.

Finding her Big Sis would be nice, unless she was with the annoying chowder again. Agatha loved her dearly, but couldn’t wrap her head around why she insisted on spending time with that mollusk of a man. She laughed to herself at that thought. He really did seem like a mollusk now that she thought about it. From behind a pair of hands rested on her shoulders, and her sister’s long, white hair came into sight.

Vita: How fortunate to find you, my dear Agatha.

Agatha: Big…. Sis….

Vita: Hm? What be this? Are you perhaps displeased?

Agatha: …………………………

Vita: I see. My apologies, my dear Agatha. I have rather failed to keep to our tradition, have I not?

Agatha: ………………………..

Vita: It does not suit you to look so despondent, my dear.

Agatha: ……………………….

Reaching over into the belt pouch she carried around, Agatha produced a small bag of brightly coloured candy that she presented to Vita.

Vita: Hm? What might be now?

Agatha: Mint…. candy…

Vita: Oh?

Agatha: It’s…. Big… Sis…. punishment…. for….. running….. off….. with…. the…. chowder….

Vita: ‘Tis so?

There was an amused smile on her lips as she took the small bag, and opened it. Fishing out one of the pieces she laughed softly before putting it in her mind.  

Agatha: ……… Big…… Sis…. has…. to….. finish…… off…. the….. bag…… I….. have….. been…. through….. a…….. lot…… today…….. because…….. of….. Big……. Sis’…….. absence……….

Vita: My, my, how unfortunate. Very well then. I suppose I shall dutifully undertake my penance. Now, tell, just what had occurred while I had been away, my dear.

As Agatha set out to tell Vita about what happened away, she felt her irritation melt away slowly. Bantering like this with her Big Sis always put her in a good mood, and all her encounters today at the very least made for an entertaining story just like Vita liked it. True to her word, she did end up finishing the entire bag of mint candy that Agatha had bought for her. She didn’t show any indication that she found the experience unpleasant or disgusting, which is pretty much just what Agatha expected from her. It wasn’t like Vita to show her true emotions on her face anyway, but the thought that she might be mildly inconvenienced was enough for her to forgive her Big Sis.

They walked through the festival grounds, and had a look at a few of the booths Agatha had visited earlier. The boys who had made fun of her earlier had crossed paths with them again, but Vita’s mere presence had quickly taken out the fight out of them. Her Big Sis was a strong magician after all, and Agatha loved and admired that about her. She and Big Bro were accomplished and powerful, and thus her goal was to become just as amazing as the people she looked up to the most in the world.

But if Agatha had to be honest, she would have to admit that there were times when she simply couldn’t understand what went on in her Big Sis’ mind. There were some things that Vita never talked about and some reactions Agatha had never gotten from her. Her Big Sis was always smiling, sometimes she would be displeased, and there was always that tinge of superiority to it. But now, just for a split second, as they were lost among the crowds she could have sworn she sensed something new, something unusual and scary. For a brief moment Agatha felt a wave of rage emanating from her, like she’d never felt before. The intensity of it was so high that not even the big, dumb chowder that ran Galdtrea could replicate it in her worst moments. It was pure and unadulterated, and it sent a shiver down her spine.

But when she looked over at her, Vita was smiling serenely as always and with no trace of fury in her countenance.

Vita: Is there something that displeases you, my dear Agatha?

The younger girl stared for a while, before slowly shaking her head. Vita let out a small laugh again, and they continued their journey through the festival grounds. The odd sensation did not appear again all evening, and by the end of it Agatha had convinced herself it was merely a trick of the mind. It was for the better. After all, for all the love her sister bore her, revealing such things was out of the question.      

Vita Dies

Stretching her arms above her head, the girl to Vita’s right let out a loud yawn that was not in the slightest dignified or refined. She coughed slightly, and watched as her dorm mate reluctantly, but obediently, covered her mouth with her hand. Walking among the festival crowds was not exactly the sort of thing Noctasis students found all that exciting under normal circumstances, but when it was the festival grounds of another school, things could always take an unexpected turn. Not that they have until now, but they could still hope.

Noctasis Girl A: This is shit.

Noctasis Girl B: Hear, hear.

Noctasis Girl C: Thirded.

Their voice was devoid of any emotion - no trance of annoyance or even boredom. It was merely an indifferent remark upon the current state they found themselves in. Though they complained about having to be here, Vita was certain that if she proposed they should go they would start grumbling about that as well. At this point they were merely venting out their frustrations regarding the apparent lack of entertainment at this festivity.  

Noctasis Girl B: Hey, so you got your ticket for that VDC thing?

Noctasis Girl C: Yup. You?

Noctasis Girl A: Ugh, that’s gonna be shitty too.

Noctasis Girl B: Isn’t that what we’re counting on though?

Noctasis Girl A: Ha, that’s true. This year NRC’s got that Schoenheit dude, and RSA’s got the Revanche kiddo.

Noctasis Girl D: Who’s that?

Noctasis Girl A: Hell if I know. But Schoenheit is a Prefect here, you moron.

Noctasis Girl D: Oh yeah, that guy.

Noctasis Girl A: You have no idea who I’m talking about, are you?

Noctasis Girl D: It’s just some dude, what does it even matter?

Noctasis Girl A: Then why the hell did you even ask?

Noctasis Girl D: Screw you.

Noctasis Girl A: Oh, trust-

Vita: Hm? How peculiar.

Noctasis Girl A: What?

Vita: I have not realized I had taken clucking chickens for companionship today.

Noctasis Girl B: Huh? What are you on about now?

Vita: If I were to know this would be the case, I would have gladly just taken such a pet with me. It would certainly have had more dignity.

Noctasis Girl B: …

Noctasis Girl A: .... You know, Prefect. Sometimes I wonder just how you still got to keep your tongue from all that backtalk you’re giving. There ought to be somebody with scissors around.

The group let out a loud laugh at this, and Vita gave them a smirk as well.

Vita: Hm, I suppose that would not be so bad for you. After all, your barking is barely an inconvenience. Cutting your tongue would be as cutting at air.

Noctasis Girl A: ….. Screw you.

Another chorus of laughter was heard, and as they walked through the campus heads would turn and people would glance at them. They rarely stared however, since by just their uniforms alone they could already figure out what school they went to. The reputation of Walpurga Nacht was one that far exceeded just the academic sphere, so to see regular people take an interest in them was quite common. Though few ever really had the courage of striking a conversation with them. WNA girls just radiated an unapproachable aura that was apparent from both the way they behaved themselves and the general image of the school in public consciousness. This was doubly the case for the Noctasis dorm, whose sharp decline in members had led to many rumours and speculations circulating among many.

To Vita, it was not something new in the least. She’d grown accustomed over the years to the nosy stares and unabashed comments and being on the receiving end here at NRC was less than a sting. Besides it was not them that she came to the school to see, but rather a certain Prefect of Ignihyde who seemed to be hiding away from her at the moment.

The Inter-School Cultural Festival was not a thing Vita ever concerned herself much with. At best it was simply a distraction from her research, at worst a day wasted on inane matters. When Idia finally got admitted into NRC she began to pay more attention to it, whereas before she had skipped it on principle. But then again, during her first year she didn’t have Agatha either, which would have made things more bearable. She was sure to take the younger girl with her every year and together they’d explore the ground of the host school and indulge in some light mockery of whatever struck their fancy. This year it was supposed to be the same, and Agatha was quite looking forward to it as well, but that was before Vita found out that Idia was meant to give a speech at the festival.

He did not want to inform her of it at first, of course, so it was Ortho who had let her know instead. Though she’d made sure to contact her husband almost immediately afterwards and the shriek he let out when she revealed that she would most certainly be attending his speech was much more endearing than she could have imagined. Vita had been in a good mood for the rest of the week after that happened, and made preparations so she could comfortably attend his speech despite his protests. Her husband was much too modest. And much too naive to think that anything he said could change her mind. Her only regret was that she would have to leave Agatha to her own devices as the younger girl did not want to spend any time around the Ignihyde Prefect. It was unfortunate, but she couldn’t force her to do something she did not want. At the very least she ensured that Agatha would be occupied for a portion of the day, and if she managed to find Sam she would most likely not be as upset by this turn of events.

Noctasis Girl A: Hey. Where ya going, Prefect?

She had taken a sharp turn just as they were nearing the main street that led to the Coliseum, and the sudden shift made them stop in their tracks. Vita offered merely a wave in return, never once looking back and soon got lost among the crowd. The girls shared a look between them, but didn’t question it further. After all, they were used to this sort of behaviour from their Prefect. Going in the opposite direction from where she was heading to, they found their way back to the festival grounds and had another look around.

Vita was never a fan of human contact, especially when it came to strangers, so making her way through was far more unpleasant than she expected. Having to bump shoulders with people who did not seem to understand that they ought to get out of her way was rather grating, more so when two somehow managed to lose their footing and fall to the ground like fools. They called after her but she merely looked forward, unbothered. Ortho had been kind enough to let her know where the booth for the Boardgame Club would be located so it took her far less time than it would otherwise. NRC was a larger campus than WNA’s so walking around was always very much a chore for the witches that would visit.

She wished she could have taken Larna with her. The hellhound’s presence would have made this more bearable, but the familiar did not take well to large and noisy crowds. Especially those that presumed they were allowed to even touch her beloved companion. She herself did not mind breaking a few bones here and there, or slapping wandering hands away, but she was certain that it would have made Larna quite upset, so with a heavy heart she had to leave the hound behind and visit her husband by herself today. It would most likely make him disappointed, but there was no other choice.

When she finally reached the door to the room Ortho had guided her too, she threw it open with a willful carelessness and caused at least one of the occupants to scream in surprise. With wide eyes and a slightly panicked expression, her husband stared at her as she set foot inside. She was within three feet of him when he recovered and blinked away his shock.

Idia: Wh-Why the hell did you do that? It was way too showy. No normal person enters a room like that, you know?

Vita: Hm~ I suppose ‘tis be so. I merely wished to make my presence known to you, husband.

Idia grimaced at her explanation, expression clearly distrusting and exasperated.

Idia: Huh? What’s that even- actually, no. I shouldn’t even be asking you that. You’re bound to come up with some weirdo answer like usual.

Vita: Husband…

Idia: Hu-Huh? What’s with that expression on your face? It’s giving me the creeps…

Vita: I had simply not imagined that I have become such a prominent figure in your mind~.

Idia: Ha? What are you on about?  

Vita: My heart is aflutter. I must confess that I have spent many hours thinking about you too. ‘Tis a very pleasurable experience~

Idia sighed heavily as he watched the grin on her face expand. She was teasing him for sure now.

Idia: Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say.

Vita: Do you doubt me, dear husband?

Idia: Doubt… I guess you can call it that too. In any case, if you’re only here to amuse yourself then go play with somebody else. I’m busy.

Vita: Hm? Whatever might you be doing now before your presentation, husband?

Idia: I’m doing the sound check again and… just making sure everything is in order… uh…

Vita: Have you not done this already for at least five times?

Idia: Eh? How did you know that…

Vita chuckled at his taken aback expression, and leaned forward slightly, so she could brush a few errant hair strands away from his face.

Vita: I would like to believe that I have a firm grasp on your psychology, my dear husband. After all, what kind of wife is that which cannot tell her beloved’s eccentricities?

Idia’s face turned pink, the closeness between them taking him by surprise. He leaned away as Vita tried to close the distance and almost fell backwards had she not pulled away at the very last minute. Letting out another chuckle she cleared out some of the papers thrown across the desk in front of him and sat on it. Once he noticed what she was doing, he immediately gathered them in one pile and away from her.

Vita: ‘Tis be your speech, husband?

Idia: Yeah, they’re the notes on my research up to now. Haa, can’t I just send these by e-mail and avoid the whole presentation?

Vita: Do not be ridiculous, husband. Any researcher must defend their labour from the ignorant masses that are certain to misunderstand it. I would be loath to see your hard work be dragged through the mud.

Idia: You’re the only one who cares about this whole thing.

Vita: Oh, are you not to be intimidated by the imbeciles then?

Idia: Aaah, don’t remind me. Just thinking about going on that stage to hold this speech… I can already hear everybody whispering about it.

“Hey is that guy’s hair on fire?”

“You think he’s from that Shroud family?”

“Ugh, he looks super creepy doesn’t he?”

It’s always the same, really.

Vita: Husband.

Idia: Hm?                  

Leaning over, Vita took some of the pages he was holding and began to arrange them properly. He watched her as he sat down in the chair next to the desk, and leaned back slightly, expression unreadable. As she was looking through the papers, Vita began to talk again.

Vita: ‘Tis truly remarkable, husband.

Idia: Huh? What is?

Vita: Your mind. I am to be left once more in awe of your genius.

Idia scoffed and reached over to take them away from her.

Vita: Hm? Is this your reaction?

Idia: Haaa, not that a wrapped woman like you would even understand the kind of worries that I have.

Vita: Oh? Is that so?

Idia: High spec characters like you have enough Charisma points not to worry about stuff like that. You’re the sort of antagonist character that gives out a noblewoman’s laugh when she steps on people’s heads and forces them into the mud.

Vita chuckled in amusement and smiled over at him.

Vita: My~ That is a rather flattering image you have of me, husband. I am touched. Would you desire to receive that sort of treatment, hm?

Idia: This is exactly what I’m talking about. Your thinking is too messed up. Haaa, seriously, introverts like me just don’t have any luck…

Vita: Then I shall strive to become more acquiantanced with some hexes that increase good luck. Would that not sound good?

Idia: Don’t ever get tired of that?

Vita: Whatever could you mean?

Idia: Of mocking others.

Vita laughed as she crossed one leg over the other.

Vita: Husband, you must have realised by now that my jests are merely meant to tease. And I shall never get tired of playing with you. You make the most adorable expression when you frown like that~

Idia exhaled loudly, face betraying both an exhausted kind of frustration as well as embarrassment. The tips of his ears turned red, and his hair flared up a little, the blue gaining a little crimson streak at the bottom. Vita’s grin grew bigger at the sight and she leaned in closer as she took in the sight. He did not turn away this time, but the pink that coated his face was unmistakable. They held each other’s gaze for a while, until Idia finally broke eye contact to glance around.

Vita: Our dear Larna could not come today, husband.

Idia: Ah.

His face fell slightly. His disappointment was more visible than Vita expected.

Vita: These mobs make him rather uncomfortable as you know.

Idia: Yeah… He’s really docile for a hellhound.

Vita: ‘Tis quite charming. Nevertheless, he was despondent when he was told that he may not come today. He misses you terribly.

Idia: Heh, I could say the same. But…

She watched with a certain degree of curiosity as he fiddled with the notes a little, looking quite bashful all of a sudden.

Idia: Ah, maybe next weekend when you’re supposed to visit… He could come along?

Vita: Hm, I wonder about that.

Idia: Huh?      

She avoided his befuddled gaze as she inspected her nails. In her pouch the letter she received a few days ago felt rather heavy all of a sudden. Idia waited for a response, or even a reaction from her, but when it became clear that she would not offer one he opened his mouth to ask for one. Unfortunately, before he could even utter a sound, Ortho came bounding and cheerfully called out to his sister-in-law.

Ortho: Vita Dies! Welcome! I am glad to see that you didn’t have any problems following the instructions I left for you!

Vita: Of course. They were rather detailed, after all.

Ortho: Mm! I wanted to make sure you found your way here quickly! Big Brother is also very happy to see you’re here at last!

Idia: O-Ortho…!

Ortho: Hm? Is there something you’re upset about, Big Brother?

Vita: I would not have missed his presentation for anything in the world.

Ortho: Hehehe!

Vita: Oh? Was that so amusing, little Ortho?

Ortho: Oh no! I was merely thinking how you’re always so supportive of Big Brother. It makes me really happy that you get along so well! I’ve never even seen you two fight before!

There was a certain drop in temperature all of a sudden as Ortho finished speaking. Vita’s smile got a little tighter, but nothing in her body posture or voice betrayed anything as she spoke. Beside her Idia tensed and stayed silent.

Vita: ‘Tis the duty of a wife to ensure her husband is never without aid when he most needs it. And her pleasure to bask in his success~

Ortho: Hehe, I guess that’s true.

She shifted slightly, as she switched legs. Idia set down the notes he was holding and stood up. Vita and Ortho’s eyes followed him as he moved.

Vita: There still be an hour until your presentation, husband.

Idia: I know, but I can’t concentrate with you here.

Vita: To think I was such distracting figure even in my uniform~

Idia: Th-That’s not what I meant! Ugh, you’re impossible…

Vita: On the contrary, husband. But I understand your desire quite well. I shall make myself scarce and let you return to your preparations. Ah, but before I depart…

Idia raised an eyebrow as she watched her slide off the table and come closer to him. His face turning red again, and hair flaring up slightly, he held his breath as she stood merely inches away from him. Seeing her without her usual amount of makeup was always a disquieting experience, but he could not deny that even so she was beautiful. She was so close that he could feel her body heat emanating from her and wondered just exactly she was planning. It couldn’t be what he was thinking, surely.

Vita: Husband.

Idia: Ye-Yeah?

Vita: Would you like a good luck kiss?

He blinked owlishly at her, and when he finally processed her question he turned away face completely red.

Idia: Haaaaaa! I knew you shouldn’t have come here today!

Vita merely giggled at his reaction and tried to step even closer, but out of embarrassment Idia continued to move away from her. Watching them confused, Ortho cocked his head to the side and quietly began a quick health scan.

Idia: Ah! If you have time to play, go play with Ortho!

Ortho: I am free if you need company, Vita Dies!

Vita: How kind of you.

Ortho: We could play board games, or if you’d like, you can try out the VR Magical Dice Game that Big Brother developed!

Vita: Oh?

Idia: Ah, it’s nothing to get excited about…

Vita: Modesty does not befit you, husband.

Idia: It’s not that. Any monkey could make something like this.

His mouth pulled into a vicious smirk as he peered at her.

Idia: Even you, I bet.

Vita: You are too kind husband~

Ortho: Would you like to try it, Vita Dies?

Vita: Perhaps.

Idia: I doubt you would like it. It’s got no support class.

Vita: Hm, indeed. That does sound rather discouraging.

Idia: You should diversify your skills, you know. Look into some DPS, maybe even a mage. Tank… Nah, that doesn’t suit you.

Vita: I must decline, husband. I am rather happy with my current class.

Idia: You just heal and buff. Couldn’t hurt to do some damage too.

Vita: Perhaps, yet I find it far more pleasurable to remain in the shadows and exercise control over the enemy monsters. Are you displeased by my performance?

Idia scoffed. His smirk turned into one of amusement.

Idia: Nah, the opposite. It’s scary how good you are at that stuff.

Vita: ‘Tis your praise that allows me to play so skillfully~

Idia: There you go saying creepy things again… Hehehehe, but the reaction I got when I cut down that guy’s PC thanks to your binding spell keeping him in one place… Hehehehehehe, that was really hilarious.

Vita: ‘Twas a most beguiling victory, indeed.

Idia: That reminds me. We’re going on that raid next month.

Vita: Ah, that be so indeed.

Idia: Yeah, so make sure you’re stocked up. You should level up too. They got some new features for your class, you know? I had a look through and some would really help optimize your build. Here, let me show you.

Ortho’s gaze switched from one to the other as he listened to them talk. Lost in their own world, they continued to debate over stats and builds and all sorts of other things related to matters of gaming and such that Ortho wasn’t entirely sure he could understand. But even so he could notice the sudden softness that appeared between them as they chatted. Though his Big Brother would never admit it, he always seemed to become more relaxed in Vita’s presence whenever she was with them. They traded barbs quite often, but there was rarely any true venom to them. It was almost as if they found pleasure in such a practice. He couldn’t exactly wrap his head around it, but as long as his Big Brother was happy, Ortho was content with the situation.

He and Vita continued like this for quite a while, until Idia was reminded about his speech and promptly sent her to play with Ortho while he made the final preparation. He expected her to object at least a little, but she was surprisingly obedient.

Vita: Hm? Do you consider me such an argumentative woman? I will merely delight in your calm disposition as you amaze those fools, husband.

He didn’t really get what she was saying, but it didn’t matter right now. He had a speech to give. Though, strangely enough he felt he was far less anxious about it than before. It could be that her endless pestering had alleviated some of his tension, but he didn’t dwell on it.

Vita spent the rest of the time talking to Ortho, with Azul occasionally interjecting when he seized the opportunity. Though they were not on the best of terms, he would have been a fool not to try and get some information out of her. Not that she was too eager to offer it, but Azul would not have let that stop him.

When the time came for the presentation to start, Vita accompanied Idia and Ortho to the venue and found a seat near to the front where she had a great view of the stage. She took out a pen and notebook and carefully noted down the information Idia offered. It was petty, but she felt herself swell with pride at the appreciative and admiring looks he received from the company representatives present there. They all murmured among themselves and nodded, their attention trained entirely on him. Glancing at him, Vita could see his tense posture - as well as the way his hands moved quickly across the keyboard. It seems that he decided to use a voice synthesizer after all, which she did not consider all that acceptable, but on this occasion she would hold her tongue. It was surprising enough that he would show up in person, so scolding him over it would not be a good idea at all.

The Q&A session went exceedingly well too, with many seizing the opportunity to ask about the details and mechanics of his research. Questions which Idia all answered proficiently and competently. Even the Headmistress of her academy had been present and from merely glancing at her expression, Vita could tell she was pleased. Indeed, it seemed that Idia had made quite the impression with his work. People were talking among themselves at the end of the session, and Vita couldn’t help but overhear their chatter and praises aimed at her husband. She joined a few of the conversations, aristocratic upbringing being rather helpful in such situations as she laughed and smiled and offered witty remarks and good points when it was appropriate and stood in silence at other times, letting these influential people praise the accomplishments of the Shroud heir. Who was of course nowhere to be seen.

Vita observed the room carefully and when she deduced that indeed Idia had disappeared without a word she calmly excused herself and left the venue as well. She had expected this much from him, if she were to be honest, so it did not bother her so much to make this change in plans. She was anything but inflexible when it came to him, after all. Walking through the NRC campus she headed towards a quite familiar location. It was in fact the one place she knew almost as well as the back of her hand mainly because it was where she spent most of her time when visiting the school. She was quite thankful for the transportation mirrors that acted as gateways to the dorms simply because using them was quite easier than the system in place at WNA. Though it also meant that it would be quite easy for anybody to sneak in, without much of a fuss.

The door to Idia’s room was closed, just as she thought, though with a mere flick of the wrist and a little spell it flew open to make a grand entrance. Her husband jumped in his chair as he turned around to look at her smiling face. Grimacing slightly he turned back to his computer and resumed typing what seemed to be some commands for a code Vita could not recognize.

Vita: You left quite swiftly, husband.

Idia: You know I don’t care for this crap anyway…

Vita: Hm, indeed. Yet I had hoped we could take a walk around campus.

Idia: Huh? What for?

Vita: ‘Tis romantic, husband. Lovers in the night, cloaked by the treacherous dark, always one step away from death and reminded of their mortality… Ah, I shiver at the mere notion of it~

Idia watched almost in amazement as her body did indeed shiver at that moment, and a wide smirk covered her face. She leaned against the desk he was working on and Idia was flustered by the sudden proximity.

Idia: NRC isn’t that kind of place, you know…

Vita: Yes, quite unfortunate.

Idia: Only you would say that.

Vita: Then shall we?

Idia: Shall we what?

Vita: Join together in eternity~

Idia: Haaa, not today, I’m pretty busy.

Vita: How cruel~

He sighed again, but his expression was amused. It set Vita at ease to see him in a slightly better mood. Her husband’s penchant for melancholy was quite worrisome at times so she desires if nothing else that he should at least be comfortable enough in her presence to relax. She watched him fondly as he resumed typing away, still somewhat distracted by how close her body was to him.

Vita: You were wonderful today.

Idia: Hehehehe, this sort of stuff is child’s play since I’m a genius.

Vita: I am supremely proud of you, husband.

His hands froze above the keyboard and he slowly turned pink. Glancing away in embarrassment, he grimaced and rubbed the back of his neck.

Idia: Haaa, you’re on that again?

Vita: Should I not be? Does my husband not deserve praise for all his effort? Perhaps even a kiss as a reward, hm?

Idia: How can you even say stuff like that with a straight face? SSR characters sure are something else…

Vita: ‘Tis merely how I feel~

She looked around the messy room, clothes and books thrown all around, half-filled bottles of water and empty cans of energy drinks placed in random spots and bed unmade - it was as pitiful as she always remembered it, but something was missing.

Vita: Husband.

Idia gave a distracted hum eyes still glued to the screen.

Vita: I cannot catch a single glimpse of little Ortho. Has he not returned with you?

Idia: Ah, that… He went to check out the booths.

Vita: And you did not accompany him?

Idia scoffed at this.

Idia: And waste my time with whatever some high schoolers have cropped up?

Vita: Or rather spend some time with the child.

There was a tense silence between them, neither daring to remark on her word choice though it was quite obvious what she was getting at.

Idia: Ah, I doubt he would have had much fun if I came along anyway.

Vita: Hm? Did you perhaps have a fight?

Idia: So you figured it out?

Vita: I know you quite well, husband.

She picked up one of the coffee cans sitting on the desk behind her and chucked it away in the trash with a flick of her wrist.

Idia: It wasn’t that big a deal anyway. Just ‘cause some big corps sent me a few offers, suddenly I need to reschedule my entire life... It’s too much of a hassle.

Vita: So you plan not to take them? Are you this much of a fool?

Idia withered slightly under her harsh, cool gaze. She was still not facing him directly, but even so he could sense the disapproving sentiment she was projecting. It always managed to intimidate and annoy him ever since they were children.

Idia: There’s no point in doing that, since it’s not like I can even go anywhere…

He mumbled the last part, but her ears still caught it. Turning to him fully, she crossed her arms and for the first time a slightly irritated expression came on her face.

Vita: So you plan to run away with your tail between your legs like a coward?

Idia: …

Vita: Is there no pride lurking inside you at all? Are you a mollusk with no will of your own?

Idia: …

Vita: You cannot possibly think of not taking at least one of those offers. That would be madness, husband.

Idia: …

Vita: Do you plan on saying anything? Or are you to stay silent until some boldness springs in you at last?

Idia: …

Vita: ‘Tis truly a shame you cannot call upon the same impulsive foolhardiness as you did that time-

Idia stood up with such ferocity that his chair toppled backwards, a snarl on his face and hair turning crimson. He towered over her slightly, but Vita did not move a single inch as her face betrayed no fear or surprise.

Idia: That’s rich coming from someone like you!

Vita: … What are you implying, my dear husband?

Idia: Tsk. You’re acting like you’re above all this, but you’re just as much of a mollusk too, aren’t you? That’s why you get pissed every time I tell you I’d rather not get involved in stuff like that, because you’re projecting your issues on me. Using other people to correct your own negligence… Please spare me of all that crap.

Vita: Hmph. To think you only get this fired up when it comes to such things.

Idia: And there it is! That “I’m better than everybody else and you’re all just worms beneath my feet” attitude of yours! Do you even know how much you sound like a brat when you talk like that? Aaah, it’s really frightening how oblivious you are to it, and yet go around happily criticizing others. Don’t you think it’s time you grew up too, huh?

Vita: Your agitation is pointless, husband. You must realize that I am indeed right in this matter.

Idia: Uuuuugh, there it is again! Talking with you is so frustrating at times like this! Why are you even asking me stuff if you will just do what you want?

Vita: If you are to make such disastrous choices, I wish to understand why. Or is that not allowed anymore?

Idia: You’ve got a funny way of asking for explanations!

Vita: You have yet to offer any, husband.

Idia let out a frustrated yell. His hair flared up higher than before, a deep, brilliant red that emanated a wave of heat around them. He grit his teeth, but did not say anything, and just turned around, picked up the fallen chair and set it in front of the desk. He exhaled harshly through his nose and tried counting to ten to calm down for a bit. When he got to four he heard Vita scoff, and suddenly all his rage returned tenfold.

Idia: … What the hell was that?

Vita: Hm, and here I thought you did not desire for me to criticize you any longer.

Idia: ...You’re impossible.

Vita: I am merely concerned for you-

Idia: Then why would you show it like this?!

Vita: Coddling you will only do you a disservice.

Idia: Haaaaa? Since when did I ask for that? Don’t just go assuming things on your own!

Vita: …

Idia: And since when was being understanding towards somebody coddling?!

Vita: Hmph, you say this as if I am not aware of your tendency to lose yourself in your games and cheap entertainment.

Idia: And you’re not the same with your research?!  

Vita: Those are different matters, as you are aware of, husband.  

Idia: Stop presuming things already! It’s getting on my nerves!

Vita: Then tell me, my dear husband.

Idia: Tell you what? Don’t you already know everything there is to know?

Vita: Do not be petulant. It does not suit you.

Idia scoffed and turned towards the desk. Throwing himself in his chair, he put on his headphones and resumed typing on the code. Vita watched him for a while, before reaching over and pulling them off.

Vita: Husband.

Idia: If you just want to nag me again, save your breath. Unlike you, I have a lot of work to do.

Vita: Hm, is that so?

Idia: Yeah.

Vita: And I am to be gallivanting around then?

Idia: Do whatever you want. You always do just that.

She was silent for a while, watching him with an expression he couldn’t truly make out entirely, but which unnerved him all the same. Then she spoke again.

Vita: Husband.

Idia: What?

Vita: Tell me this: Are you cowering away in your room from fear of others? Is that not what prevents you from joining that child tonight?

Idia: Stop calling him that!

Vita: Is that not what he is? Regardless, is that not what is happening? Is that not what is preventing you from accepting those offers?

Idia: You’re still on about those things?

Vita: I am loath to watch you waste away your genius like that, husband, when I know you can be greater than those maggots.

Idia: You’re projecting again.

Vita: … Is that so?

Idia: Just because your research isn’t going well, doesn’t mean you have to hound me about mine. If you’re unhappy with it just switch to something easier.

Vita: You know well that is not possible.

Idia: Haaaaaaa?!

The unplaceable tone in her voice sent him into a frenzy as he struggled not to grit his teeth.

Idia: It’s a subject you knew damn well had no finite prospects, and would bear little significance afterwards too! Nobody was asking you to do it! You picked it out on your own, didn’t you? So what’s that “it’s not possible” crap, huh?!

Vita: …

Idia: It’s just about your pride, isn’t it?! So don’t act so high and mighty! And don’t go lecturing people about being cowards or running away when you are doing nothing but chasing relics of a cult that’s well past any semblance of historical interest or even academic integrity just because you-

Vita: Enough.

Silence overtook the room in the next moment. The force with which Vita spoke surprised Idia to the point that his throat suddenly felt very dry. He wasn’t sure for long they had been arguing, or even what he said during it all, but he realized as he watched Vita’s hard and distant gaze that he went too far. He came too close to something far too intimate for either of their comfort and now Pandora's box was open. He waited to see how she’ll react, if she would get angry, or even scream at him - but deep down he knew none of that would happen. Vita exercised such control over herself that her face never betrayed anything she did not want to show. Though he had caught a glance of it before - the quiet rage that simmered inside her sometimes. He wondered, anxiously, if that was what was preventing her from speaking further.

After what seemed years, she opened her mouth.

Vita: I will be returning to the Dies manor for a while.

Of all the things he thought she might say, this was certainly the one he did not expect.

Idia: Huh? What?

Vita: Mother has called for me.

Idia: … And you’re just gonna go back there?

Vita: Indeed.

He stood up and reached out for her, but she pulled away.

Idia: Vit-

Vita: I merely sought to inform you. ‘Tis be all.

Idia: Wait-    

Vita: As you know quite well, the signal there is rather weak, so we will not be able to communicate too well.

Idia: That’s-

Vita: And as always, Mother heavily discourages visits.

Idia: Vita! About our fight just now, it is because-

Vita: Husband.

She was heading towards the door, expression blank and sure-footed, while he stood rooted to the spot. Turning around she looked over at him with neither mirth or amusement.

Vita: I have merely come here to inform you of this. I did not mean to disturb you.

Idia: Yo-You didn’t… uh, listen… about all this-

Vita: I have overstepped my boundaries. For that I must apologize. And I have had enough of this situation.

He froze. She had enough of this situation? The fight? But that was over already, wasn’t it? Then what could she mean? What was she done with? He gulped as another set of questions suddenly sprung to mind. Was it him? Was she done with him?

Vita: ‘Tis become bothersome, so I will ask you not to bring it up any further this evening.

He nodded dumbly, as he watched her reach out for the door handle. He wasn’t sure what he should be feeling at that moment, but he was not even able to utter a single word as he watched her open the door, and throw him a last glance backwards.

Vita: ‘Tis not necessary for you to accompany me. I am familiar with the way. Farewell.

And just like that, she left him alone in the room, with a million thoughts rushing through his head as he felt a certain feeling of dread slowly creep upon him. Thinking about what just happened was too much to handle - Was it over? Were they really done? Just like that? - so instead Idia merely turned back to his desk and almost roboticaly sat down in his chair. On the screen before him a series of numbers appeared and with slightly shaking fingers he closed the window, and reached out for his console nearby. Leaning back he threw himself in his game, concentrating on the images on screen and trying desperately to push away the events from before out of his mind. The soundtrack playing in the background was the only thing that could be heard in the room.

When she finally reached the Mirror Chamber again, Vita took a glance in the reflective surface and frowned. A strand of hair was out of place and her ribbon was slightly undone. That would not stand. She straightened her back, slightly combed her hair and adjusted her ribbon so that all looked perfect again. When she was satisfied with her grooming she smiled. She was once again in perfect control of herself and that’s all that mattered. She couldn’t allow herself to be seen as anything less after all, since she was still the esteemed heiress of the Dies family.

Fragments of her argument with Idia threatened to play again in her mind, but she simply pushed them away. She did not have time to worry about such matters now. She’d deal with them later. The letter in her pouch weighed heavy and she thought over the contents again as she made her way through the festival grounds, looking for Agatha, who she promised to meet up with afterwards.

The letter from her mother arrived, as it always did, on the third day of the last week of the month. It was short and succinct and it let her know that her grandfather had fallen ill to bed quite recently and prospects of his recovery did not look good. Though she felt herself grow antsy with anxiety as she went through it, not a shred of that showed on her face as the Kriegsklad Prefect, Marcia, who worked part-time for the school Post Office had been still there trying to make light conversation with her. She was in the middle of her usual sponsorship spiel when Vita declined her with a smile and turned away, walking off with a light step. Back in her room she went over the contents of it later again, with Larna laying across her legs, as it slowly dawned on her what the purpose of the letter was. The news of her grandfather’s health was grave indeed, but Vita recognized in her mother’s writing style a certain feeling of urgency and fatality - there were high chances he was not going to make it. This in itself did not bother Vita overly much - to any proper Dies, death was merely a part of existence, not a notion one ought to concern itself with all that often. But it was the issue of what would happen afterwards that mattered. Vita was perfectly aware that if her grandfather was to pass on, her mother would forgo the traditional Dies funeral in favour of a simple cremation. The notion filled her with dread. Her grandfather was the last practitioner of their family arts besides her. To be given anything but their proper death rites would cause him more grief than anything else in the world. Vita was aware of this. And so was her mother, but she didn’t care much for that.

Taking all this into account, Vita realized that the letter was sending one single message in fact: If her grandfather is to die and Vita is not around to take care of the family rites, he’ll be cremated as the rest of them. Just like her father. It was clear that her presence home was required immediately, so she set off to prepare for that. She had decided to inform Idia of her absence as well, since as her husband he had a right to know of such things, but she held off telling him the reason behind it all. It was not a matter he had to concern himself with after all. Vita alone was enough to handle it all, without burdening him with it at all. This fight they had was regrettable, but she would have to overlook it for the time being. Things will go back to normal when she returns home. She was certain of that.

Nevertheless, as she made her way through the grounds and met up with Agatha, she felt a certain shadow of rage slip in and out as they toured the place. The guilt of their fight, and the anger towards her mother were mixing together in a chaotic assemblage of emotions that threatened to spill out at any moment. But she held herself together, as always, and entertained her beloved little sister, collected her unruly girls and fulfilled her duty as a Prefect just as always. On the way back Agatha asked her if they could spend the next day together at the festival and Vita felt quite wretched to turn her down, but she would have to leave tonight since there was little time to spare.

Having gone back to the dorm, she collected her things, informed the domovoy of her absence, took Larna with her - whose excitement was boundless as he continued to ask about Father endlessly on the way to the Dies mansion and gotten rather downtrodden when Vita would not reveal all that much, so he just curled up on her lap, sensing perhaps her mood - and by the time clock struck twelve she was already on the threshold of her childhood home, where her mother waited for her with the same strict and unrelenting expression that Vita had grown accustomed to. They exchanged greetings, formally and coldly, and the ghouls working about took her bags from her and carried them upstairs.

Stepping further inside, Vita could hear as her mother closed the door behind her with a sharp thud.

[fyexo]

200924 20 Questions With SuperM: The K-Pop Supergroup On Their New Album & Becoming ‘Like Family’ With Each Other

Last year, SuperM notched a huge win when their self-titled “mini album” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The K-pop supergroup -- which consists of members of EXO, SHINee, NCT 127 and WayV -- had generated a huge amount of buzz before releasing a single track thanks to its star-studded lineup, and with the No. 1 bow, SuperM was off to an explosive start.

With Super One, the group’s first full-length out Friday (Sept. 25), SuperM continues its positive momentum. The hopeful, hook-stuffed album allows all seven members of SuperM to shine, while also expanding the group’s pop aesthetic and finding the right balance between singing and rapping. Songs like “Wish You Were Here,” “Better Days” and lead single “100” demonstrate SuperM’s dexterity -- and even though it’s still uncertain when their global fans will be able to see the songs performed live, the collective sounds prepared to put on an eclectic, wide-ranging show with these tracks.

Ahead of their new album’s release, the members of SuperM answered 20 questions about their musical backgrounds, leaning on each other during the pandemic, the highlights of Super One and more:

1. What’s the first piece of music that you bought for yourself, and what was the medium?

BAEKHYUN: An Avril Lavigne CD. I really liked her music when I was young so I remember going to a CD store with my brother to buy her album.

2. What was the first concert you saw?

KAI: I remember I went to my first concert when I was 16 years old. This was Usher’s concert when he came to Korea. Seeing him perform onstage inspired me to work harder towards my dream to become an artist like him. I still can’t forget the energy and the vibe of people around me and remember wanting to perform on a big stage like that.

3. Who made you realize you could be an artist full-time?

TAEMIN: My mom was the first person actually. When I was very young, she saw how much I enjoyed singing and dancing and encouraged me to audition. Since then, I started moving towards my dream to become an artist and performer. She helped me discover my passion at an early age and encouraged me to do what I love, and for that, I’m forever grateful.

4. What’s at the top of your professional bucket list?

TAEYONG: I just want everyone I work with to be happy, and work together for a long time. This includes not just SuperM members, but also the rest of the staff and the team behind the scenes that make it all happen!

5. How did your hometown/city shape who you are?

MARK: I think everyone is influenced by their hometown and where they come from. It’s really special to be a K-pop artist and perform in front of fans in Canada, where I’m from. When we performed in my hometown during the world tour earlier this year, it was such a significant “homecoming” moment for me. Canada always has a special place in my heart.

6. What’s the last song you listened to?

LUCAS: The last song I listened to is Justin Bieber’s new song, “Holy.” It’s a great song to listen to when you are feeling tired. I listen to it on repeat when I’m on the move during the day and it puts me in a good mood.

7. If you could see any artist in concert, dead or alive, who would it be?

TEN: I would choose Michael Jackson, because I always regret that I didn’t get to see him perform onstage live. I look up to him as an artist, and I’d love to see him sing and dance live at one of his concerts.

8. What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen happen in the crowd of one of your shows?

MARK: Well, one thing that happens at every show is how emotional I get seeing the venue packed with our fans. Before going onstage, I always take a peek at the audience from behind the curtain, and it’s hard to describe the exact feeling in words but it feels surreal — too good to be true, almost. Especially for a standing audience, it’s not easy standing for hours straight in a tight space, but their energy never goes down. I never feel tired onstage because of them. It’s still pretty crazy to me to see and feel their energy every time. I miss them!

9. How has the pandemic affected the way you’ve created music in 2020?

BAEKHYUN: The process of creating music, writing and recording songs, was pretty much the same. However, planning the album promotion during pandemic was a little different, since everything had to be done online. We had to think of fun and unique ways to interact with our fans, from creating our own reality show to holding livestream, AR tech-based concerts. We have a lot more creative content in store for our fans, so stay tuned!

10. What was your reaction to SuperM’s mini album topping the Billboard 200 chart last year?

KAI: Everyone was super happy. We put our heart and soul into the album and worked really hard on it, so in a way, we were looking forward to the results. When we saw that the EP hit number one on the chart, it was one of the happiest moments of our career.

11. What’s the biggest difference, creatively speaking, between last year’s mini album and Super One?

TEN: The mini album was more about introducing SuperM and our SMP-style performances, whereas for Super One, it shows more of our different musical styles and really brings out the dynamic qualities that we possess as a group. So, to put it simply, Super One is the completed version/look of SuperM. Also, what was important for us when creating this album was to include a message of hope and deliver that positivity and strength to listeners. Music can really lift your spirits when you’re feeling down, so I hope people find healing and happiness while listening to our music. That would make us very happy.

12. Why did “100” make the most sense as a lead single?

TAEYONG: “100” is all about speed and energy, so it’s the perfect single to showcase SuperM’s power as the opening act of Super One. It also helps convey the message that we are always moving forward at full-speed, giving our 100% in all we do.

13. What’s one song on the album that you suspect will be a big fan favorite?

LUCAS: I think fans will like “Better Days.” It’s a nice ballad song for a great start to your day. It also contains a message of comfort and empathy to help get through these difficult times. We hope our fans can feel the warmth of this messaging through our vocals and fluid rapping.

14. How has the group bonded during what’s been a wild 2020?

TAEMIN: We’ve been through a lot and have always been there for each other through thick and thin so naturally, we’ve gotten very close. They’re like family now. We didn’t have to “try” to become close, it just naturally happened -- as if we were destined to be in the same group.

15. SuperM has been part of a massive year for the global expansion of K-pop. How does it feel to see so many K-pop songs, albums and artists setting records?

MARK: This makes me really proud. I remember growing up in Canada, a lot of people at my school didn’t know K-pop. It was mainly just popular among Koreans. Now, so many people all over the world know about it and K-pop is getting so much attention. I feel honored and proud to be a part of this movement. Bringing the two cultures closer together and building that bridge through music is such a historic moment, and I can’t wait to contribute more to it and create great music for listeners worldwide.

16. What’s your go-to song that you’ve been singing along to lately?

BAEKHYUN: These days, I have Eric Benet’s “Still with You” on repeat, so I’ve been singing this a lot lately. This was one of my favorite songs in high school, and ever since I started spending more time at home, I’ve been revisiting some of my old favorite playlists. They bring me back to that moment when I was in school, aspiring to become an artist.

17. What movie, or song, always makes you cry?

TEN: This always changes, but when I can empathize with the characters in a movie or connect with the emotions in a song, it makes me cry. I recently cried watching the animated film, Grave of the Fireflies. I watched this for the first time when I was young, but re-watching it as an adult touched me in a different way.

18. If you were not a musician, what would you be?

LUCAS: If not a musician, I’d probably be a firefighter – a job that saves other people’s lives is truly inspiring to me. But if not a firefighter, I’d definitely choose a career that make people happy, just like what I try to do now through music and performing.

19. What’s one piece of advice you would give to your younger self?

KAI: I would tell my younger self to take care of yourself and stay healthy, because health is so important! I would also tell him not to be so hard on himself and enjoy the ride as a young teenager. This is the time for having fun and trying different things! Back then, I was so focused on my career and working towards my dreams that I didn’t spend a lot of time doing “regular teenager experiences,” which I wish I did more of!

20. What’s your message to fans who have been supporting SuperM -- and waiting for this album to arrive?

TAEMIN: It’s been almost a year now since our debut, and we are incredibly grateful to have so many fans cheer us on. We put our heart and soul into the album knowing that our fans have been waiting for a long time. While we’re sad that that we can’t meet them in person, we hope they can feel the positive energy through our songs and performances.

Jason Lipshutz @ Billboard

[syntheticpoetry]

The Ghosts That We Knew

See my original post on the origins of this story here!

Summary: Blaine Anderson is no stranger to hospitals and has been volunteering on the pediatric unit of Lima General Hospital for years when Kurt Hummel comes along.  After Blaine is attacked at his school's Sadie Hawkins Dance, he has his best friend Kurt to help him deal with the aftermath. And when Kurt becomes the target of the McKinley football team's bullying campaign, he can count on Blaine to have his back.

AU where Blaine transfers to McKinley instead of Dalton. Set during season 1.A story of two best friends finding courage to face their bullies and discovering love along the way.

Author’s Note: Blaine has a reason he has been in an out of the hospital since childhood that will be revealed, but if you are overly cautious of the level of angst surrounding it I can assure you it's nothing heartbreaking/super serious. It's actually quite common.  I cannot thank @esperantoauthor​ enough for beta reading this for me and really helping me whip it into shape!

AO3 Link || FFN Link

Chapter 1: Of Viral Videos and Disney Princes

The last time that Kurt Hummel remembers being in a hospital, he told his mother that he loved her for the last time.  

That was six years ago.  

As he walks through the lobby, towards the directory by the elevators, he keeps his gaze fixed forward, careful not to spare a glance at the waiting area to his right.  He spent so many months in that waiting room.  Entire seasons, multiple holidays spent watching people receive good news and bad news, with his father stoic and silent beside him as his mother underwent procedure after procedure.  Until it was their turn to be the family that received bad news.  The doctor sounded sincere as he said a lot of big words Kurt could not quite understand at the time, but he understood the look on his father’s face.  He took to studying the ugly designs on the carpet to distract from the tight clench in his father’s jaw, the way he kept himself so still and barely blinked through the entire explanation— Kurt knew, even at eight years old, what it was like to use up all of your willpower to hold yourself together for the sake of someone else.  To this day, he cannot look at paisley print without thinking back to that awful day.

Kurt scans the directory before punching the up button to call the elevator and folds his arms across his chest, tapping his foot as he awaits its arrival.  When he first heard about the volunteer program on the pediatric unit he was naturally hesitant to return to the place that held some of his worst memories.  He had been on the fence about it all summer, torn between the desire to give back to the hospital staff that had gone above and beyond in their attempts to cure his mother’s cancer and wanting to put as much distance as possible between himself and the place where they finally had to say goodbye to each other.

Until he saw that YouTube video.  

A curly-haired boy with big doe eyes and an unwavering grin, guitar in hand, leading a Disney themed sing-along with a group of elementary school age kids.  The warmth that spread through Kurt’s chest was almost overwhelming as he watched the boy march around the room performing Hakuna Matata with the parade of children trailing behind, mimicking him raucously and off-key.  It was the first time Kurt had really smiled in a long time.

So he had decided to look into the program.  Mostly because witnessing the boundless energy of pure joy from each child singing along in that video elicited memories of countless nights of living room performances with his own father, both of them puffy-eyed and exhausted but still managing to find the stamina to sing at the top of their lungs, using the furniture as stage props.  They were two lost souls attempting to cling to each other through tidal waves of insurmountable grief, and those nights together— well, those nights wereeverything to Kurt.  He had never felt closer to his father than when they were both breathless and laughing their way through the most eclectic collection of songs imaginable, hugging each other tightly at the end of each performance.  

And if Kurt happened to run into the boy from the video along the way, well, that would certainly just be an added bonus. Kurt did have eyes after all.  And there was no denying the boy’s natural charm or the air of confidence with which he carried himself.  

Truth be told, entering yet another school year with no friends was beginning to take its toll on Kurt and the possibility of finding camaraderie with a cute boy who seemingly shared similar interests was certainly enticing.

Ding!

The doors slide open before him revealing an empty elevator.  Kurt steps in and presses the button for the fourth floor.  He thinks about that video and jumping on armchairs and couches in his living room with his father for the entire ride up.

***

He has to be buzzed in to enter the unit, which he thinks is strange.  But the woman who greets him, a young nurse with bright green eyes and deep auburn hair pulled back into a messy ponytail, explains it is the protocol for all pediatric units in order to prevent children from wandering away or being kidnapped.  There are security bracelets around each patient’s ankle that trigger an alarm if they are taken past a bright yellow line painted on the floor.

“Who would kidnap sick kids from a hospital?” Kurt asks, looking absolutely horrified.

“You would be surprised at how common it is.  Parents fighting over custody, usually.”

He nods and guesses that makes sense, but the thought is still deeply unsettling.

The hallways are empty as she leads him to a room behind the nurse’s station.  The unit is certainly much different from the one his mother had been on.  The walls are covered in murals of different cartoon characters and scenes from popular storybooks.  While the nurse punches in a code, Kurt studies a painting of Rapunzel in a high stone tower, golden plaited hair strung over the edge of the window for a handsome prince at the bottom. The door buzzes and she holds it open for him.  “I’ll let my supervisor know you’re here.”

Kurt thanks her and takes a seat at one of the tables to wait.  On the far wall he spots a bulletin board covered in an overabundance of overlapping photos, hand-drawn pictures and a variety of cards both homemade and store-bought.  He casts a quick glance towards the door before crossing the room to investigate.  He cannot help but smile as he scans over the collection of memories, reminiscing back to his own pile of hand drawn cards for the staff on the oncology unit.  

Then something catches his eye.  

It’s the curly haired boy from the video.  He’s standing, guitar in hand with the strap over his shoulder, in the center of a group photo, surrounded by children of varying ages and the unit staff.  His outfit is different from the one in the video though.  He’s wearing baggy sweatpants and a printed T-shirt, only the edges of the otherwise obscured design visible from behind the guitar over his torso.  In the video he had certainly seemed more, well, put together, to say the least.  He had worn light grey slacks and a navy polo shirt accented with a white bow tie, which Kurt could not help but notice because he could count on one hand the amount of teenage boys he had ever seen wearing bow ties in the state of Ohio, himself included.  

Kurt wonders how often he comes by to visit and volunteer.  Maybe there is a chance they will be able to meet after all.

The faint beeping of the key code and jiggling of the door handle to his left draws his attention and he turns in time to see an older woman with ashy blonde hair and huge round glasses that take up half of her face walk in.  Her scrub top is printed with different Winnie the Pooh characters.  She smiles and approaches him, extending her hand.  “Hi, you must be Kurt.  I’m Jeannie; we spoke on the phone last week.”

“Oh! Yes,” Kurt shakes her hand.  “Nice to meet you.”

“Shall we?” She gestures to a table and Kurt takes a seat opposite her.  “So we just have to get some paperwork in order and then we can take a little tour around the unit so you can meet the kids.”

“Okay.”

“This is your first time volunteering, right?” She opens a Manila folder and begins rifling through a large stack of papers.

“Yes.”

“What drew you to it?”

Kurt steals a glance towards the bulletin board, lips curling up into a half-smile.  “I heard about it through my school a few months back, but honestly? I spent a lot of time visiting my mom in this hospital when I was a kid and when me and my dad would get home he would always try to cheer me up.  We put on a lot of concerts for my stuffed animals in our living room.  And I mean… like a lot .”  

Her eyes are soft as she listens, a piece of paper held loosely between both hands just inches off of the table, almost forgotten, and gives him an empathetic smile.

“I saw that video of the Disney sing-along online and I just really wanted to be a part of it, helping kids, especially with music, because it’s really helped me through some tough times.”

“Well,” She straightens up and slides the paper across the table towards him, “I think the kids will really love having you around.  Do you play any instruments?”

“Never missed a piano lesson,” Kurt says, grinning.  “But mostly, I love to sing.”

The paperwork consists of a lot of signatures.  Kurt is not to discuss any of the patients or their health conditions with others in order to maintain privacy regulations, not to post anything to social media without permission, and just a lot of general information about the hospital’s protocols such as what to do in the event of emergency scenarios (of which there are many ).  By the end of it, Kurt has a pretty sizable stack of papers to take home with him and a dull cramp in his wrist.  

“I know it seems like a lot of information, but nothing you have to memorise.  You’ll always be with other staff members who will guide you through every step of the way.”

Kurt releases a nervous laugh, “Okay, good.  I can save my highlighters for school work then.”

***

Jeannie leads the way to the playroom which, she explains, is a safe space for all the children on the unit that remains open every day until 7 p.m.  No medications or treatments are allowed to be administered to a child in the playroom, they must be brought out first.  There are about ten kids inside, ranging from toddlers to older teens, all of whom have seemingly gravitated towards splitting into their own little cliques based on ages.  As soon as they enter the room two of the younger kids, a boy and girl no older than three or four, look up from a mountain of blocks and start crying.  Kurt casts an alarmed glance at Jeannie.

“It’s okay, you can keep playing.” Jeannie kneels down and stacks a loose block onto their small tower.  “Everyone, this is Kurt, he’s going to be coming by to help out and spend some time with all of you.” She stands up and backs away from the two toddlers with the blocks to stand beside Kurt again.  

“It’s the uniform,” she says quietly to him.  “Some get scared when they see us come into a room cause it usually means it’s time for medicine or treatments.”

“Hi, Kurt!” A small girl with bronze skin, a round face, and long thick black hair comes over and takes his hand.  “I’m Melanie! You wanna come draw with me?”

She does not wait for an answer before she starts tugging on his hand and walking back towards a small rectangular table covered with construction paper and crayons.  She climbs into one of two plastic blue chairs which are far too tiny for Kurt to fit in, so he sits on the floor beside the table, crossing his legs.  Melanie slides a piece of yellow construction paper towards him and pushes a pile of crayons into the middle for them to share.

“Did you draw all of these?” Kurt picks up a red crayon and starts sketching.

“Yes! My daddy brought my big brother to visit and we draw together,” she says, shading in what looks like a sunflower with a purple crayon.

“They’re very beautiful; I like that one a lot.” Kurt taps the one she is currently working on.  “I’ve never seen a purple sunflower before.”

“I’m gonna invent them one day,” she says matter-of-factly.  Kurt smiles and returns to his sketch of a new outfit design that has been floating around his mind for the past week.  

“Woah!”

Kurt begins to lift his head up to locate where the voice has come from when he spots movement beside his left elbow.  To say the boy is small would be an understatement.  He is tiny .  A pale, skinny little thing dressed in Batman pajamas that look two sizes too big on him.  He has wide, bright blue eyes and is wearing a charcoal grey beanie.  Clutched between his toothpick arms is a stuffed rabbit with drooping ears the size of its entire body.  

“Hello,” Kurt says as the boy leans forward to peer at his drawing.

“You can draw,” the boy says, clutching his rabbit closer.  

“Would you like to draw with us?”

“Can’t draw,” he says.

“Oh, I bet that’s not true,” Kurt says and holds out the crayon to him.  “Everyone can draw.”

The boy looks at the crayon then up to Kurt and shakes his head shyly before raising the bunny up to his chin, hugging it tightly.

“What’s your name?” Kurt asks.

“Jason,” he says quietly.

“Well, would you like to watch me and Melanie draw?”

“I’m really good.” Melanie looks up at him.  “You can sit next to me, I’ll show you.”

Kurt spends the next hour drawing with Melanie while Jason continues to peek curiously between them.  The other kids begin to trickle out of the room, some led by nurses, some by visiting family members.  Pretty soon, only the three of them are left until Jason’s mother comes in to collect him.  Before he leaves, Kurt holds out a piece of paper to him.

“Something tells me you like Batman,” Kurt says as Jason’s eyes widen at the image of a child-sized Batman with bright blue eyes.  “How about next time you can draw me?”

“Okay.” Jason grins, slipping the picture between his stuffed bunny and his chest to hold it there safely.  “But you’re gonna look like a potato.  I really can’t draw.”

It is the most Kurt has heard him speak all afternoon.  Something about the way he talks contradicts the way he looks. Kurt wonders how old he actually is; the boy looks smaller than most five year olds he’s seen but definitely talks like an older child.  Kurt makes a mental note to find out next time.  “Deal.  I can’t wait to see it.”

Jason’s mom gives Kurt a parting smile before she shepherds her son away.  Soon after, Melanie’s nurse comes to collect her as well, leaving only Kurt and Jeannie in the empty playroom.

“That went well,” she says.  “You’re a natural with them.”

Kurt beams back at her, a sense of pride swelling in his chest.  

After his dad comes to pick him up, Kurt spends the entire car ride home filling him in on the events of the day, excluding Jason and Melanie’s names.  He goes to bed that night with his mind already buzzing with activities for the next visit.

***

Kurt starts volunteering two days a week after school and over the course of the next month, he becomes very familiar with some of the regular kids on the unit.  Jason, he discovers, is actually nine years old, has leukemia and is in his final round of chemotherapy by the first week in October.  Melanie has sickle cell anemia and had been hospitalized for something called ‘sickle cell crisis’— she had gone home two weeks after they first met, but Kurt learns that she usually returns frequently for the same problem.  There’s a teenage boy not much older than Kurt is, but taller and skinnier with jet black hair and sad eyes, named Julian who has cystic fibrosis— he usually keeps to himself, oftentimes choosing to sit in the back corner of the playroom and silently watch everyone else.  

The rest have been a whirlwind of faces and names with a variety of issues such as pneumonia, appendicitis, broken bones and asthma attacks.  There have also been quite a few cases of children who have come in with injuries as a result of abuse at home, more so than Kurt would have imagined actually occurred.  He finds trying to interact and engage with those kids to be the most heartbreaking.

Some of the kids are not as keen to warm up to him as others, keeping to themselves or staying with their families while Kurt leads sing-alongs, painting lessons, hosts movie nights, and reads aloud during story time.  He has developed a steady routine in the five weeks since he began volunteering.  So on the Tuesday during the second week of October he waves hello to the security personnel by the front entrance like he usually does.  He rides up the same elevator and is buzzed into the unit by Rosie, the first nurse he met with the auburn hair.  And with his usual wide smile in place, he strolls into the playroom with a new four-pack of Disney themed puzzles under his arm.  

But when he walks in, the kids are already sitting in a circle, staring up at a boy with loosely gelled curls coiffed into a fluffy side part, bright hazel eyes, and a sapphire acoustic guitar perched on his lap. Kurt is caught completely off guard as he realises, Oh god, it’s him! It’s the guy from the video!

He looks shorter in person than Kurt assumed.  In both the photo on the bulletin board and the video his hair was ungelled and wild.  Kurt vividly remembers his dark curls bouncing as he bopped his head along to the music while impersonating Timon and Pumba for the younger kids.  He’s dressed in another carefully selected outfit though— bright red pants, a black polo and a white bow tie with black polka dots on it.  

“Kurt!” A few of them yell excitedly.    

“Ah, so you’re the famous Kurt I’ve been hearing so much about,” The boy with the guitar says, that same unwavering grin already in place.  “Nice to finally meet you, I’m Blaine.”

[kinogane]

Essence of Combat, Part 2: Heat Action

(incidental Yakuza spoilers below)

(previously)

The second aspect of Yakuza action combat that stands out are Heat Actions. You build Heat, press the Heavy Attack button when you see the prompt, and

definitely commit not murder.

Yup.

They’ll be fine, folks.

Heat Actions are consistently the visual highlight of Yakuza action combat, with the cinematography and choreography focused in for a few seconds on your protagonist inflicting some unspeakable pain on some daft sap who thought that picking a fight was a good idea. The cartoonish hyperviolence of some Heat Actions are consistently cathartic, and watching an enormous chunk of enemy health vanish doesn’t hurt, either. And the series knows they’re highlights, as well. Not only do some games make performing Heat Actions a completion metric, there’s an entire Revelation mechanic in 3, 4, and 5 devoted to seeing wild situations and adapting them into new, creative Heat Actions you can use to definitely not permanently debilitate your foes.

In short, Heat Actions are a big deal. A big enough deal that it wouldn’t quite be a Yakuza game without them, and indeed, the first thing I was curious about when I learned that Like a Dragon would switch to turn-based combat was “How are they gonna do Heat Actions?”

The answer is Like a Dragon’s very own version of Heat Actions, Kiwami Actions.

And they're quite the successor.

A few hours into the game, Ichiban comes across a baseball bat stuck in the concrete, and upon pulling it out like a sword of legend, his overactive imagination takes center stage and starts coloring just about every conflict from that point on. Enemies transform into fanciful archetypes and caricatures, and the Kiwami Actions you start gradually getting access to are...

Well, just look at some of them.

Certainly, you can’t fault RGG Studio for seeing an opportunity to go unabashedly over the top and taking it. Like a Dragon is, after all, the game that took the aforementioned Yakuza eccentricities and pushed them to their furthest yet.

So really, this isn’t much more than the natural continuation of the trademark Yakuza bombast, applied toward Heat Actions with Ichiban’s particularly grandiose imagination. There really isn’t anything like them in Yakuza games past.

So why am I ultimately rather ambivalent toward Kiwami Actions?

Mechanically, Kiwami Actions take on a very different role in combat flow than Heat Actions, as a logical consequence of the combat system switch. For starters, Heat Actions tend to be spontaneous in nature. After building up Heat, you have a brief window to identify that a certain Heat Action is possible and then execute. Depending on the Heat Action, these windows can be quite short, so they can create on-the-fly decision making. I just knocked a whole group of idiots down with a throw and they’re going to get back up soon. Do I go for a Heat Action? Does their remaining health justify using that Heat? Or should I instead simply stomp for some quick damage and look for a weapon nearby?

Once you perform a Heat Action, your Heat will probably drain to the point where you can’t perform another one. Additionally, many Yakuza games offer benefits to retaining Heat while in combat and/or provide other ways to expend Heat for benefits like healing or better quickstepping, which means that there are situations where saving your Heat is a better call.

Another important wrinkle is that most games punish performing the same Heat Action by lowering the damage of subsequent repeats, which means that in longer fights against bosses, you have a strong incentive to look for and set up situations that let you hit a wide array of Heat Moves to drain the boss’s health quicker. So at the highest level, the core of Yakuza action combat is about alternating building and spending Heat in ways that will benefit you in a fight the most.

Kiwami Actions, meanwhile, are 1. uniformly almost always accessible when it’s your turn, 2. simply gated behind higher-than-average MP costs, and 3. do not have deteriorating repeated damage. Once you reach lategame, it does become feasible (and outright optimal) to spam Kiwami Actions (or one Kiwami Action) over and over again to deal as much damage per turn against enemies of higher caliber.

These are all trappings of turn-based combat and JRPGs especially, so they’re very much expected, but as replacements to Heat Actions, it’s a bit of a letdown? It’s just not possible in Like a Dragon to replicate the scramble of figuring out how to hit as many different Heat Actions as possible while trying to avoid getting hit. Instead, you just... pick it in a skill menu and it happens. Again, I recognize that’s just how it is with this kind of combat. I don’t think they should try to replicate that scramble, especially given how I feel about some of the positional battle mechanics in Like a Dragon, and I fully accept that I’m just not going to get that in future turn-based Yakuza games. But it’s an omission I felt during the entirety of my time with Like a Dragon.

Furthermore, on a more aesthetic level, Kiwami Actions weirdly lack the oomph of Heat Actions. Sure, they’re more bombastic and showy, but I find that the flair is often more detrimental than not.

For starters, every single Kiwami Action transports the attacker and the target to an alternate dimension where the attack plays out, then switches back onto the active battlefield. This is a practical necessity of not being able to guarantee that all battles take place in arenas where all Kiwami Actions can be depicted. In fact, if you pay close attention to Heat Actions in previous Yakuza games, they do the exact same thing, only instead of an entirely alternate dimension, the environment and actors are rearranged a bit as needed.

This pragmatic reality, alongside the simple fact that the increased flair and grandiosity means that the average Kiwami Action is considerably longer than the average Heat Action, means that Kiwami Actions are bigger interruptions of flow than Heat Actions. It’s a bit difficult for Kiwami Actions to have comparable impact when they’re very clearly situated away from battle and must have a longer build-up, climax, and follow-through, as opposed to Heat Actions which more easily appear to happen in the moment and are relatively quick peaks of action.

Also, if you look at the Kiwami Actions as a whole, they’re also sort of... all over the place and inconsistent in terms of showiness?

Like, take a look at Adachi’s moveset. The Kiwami Action he learns for reaching Detective Rank 28, Essence of Body Stacking, involves Adachi hitting two enemies on top of each other, then hitting them both down at once. It’s downright mundane. It could pass for a weapon Heat Action.

Meanwhile, the Kiwami Action he learns at Level 45, Essence of Hell’s Wheel, involves, uh,

You should really see it for yourself, if you haven’t.

If this was just one instance, it’d be a weird curiosity. Hell, you could even write this off as a higher level means a more outlandish Kiwami Action. That would be fine, but that’s just... not true? Contrast the above two with Han, whose Hitman Rank 28 Kiwami Action, Essence of Trick Shots, involves some Gun Kata-ass choreography,

while his Level 50 Kiwami Action, Essence of Assassin Dive, is...

a bunch of kicks.

What’s more, just about every Tag Team Kiwami Action is very low-key. In fact, besides Nanba’s and Zhao’s Tag Team Kiwami Actions, all of them could pass for Tag Team Heat Actions, which is completely fine and not a problem, were it not for these category of Kiwami Actions being a weird blind spot of mundanity in comparison to colossal pigeon swarms and spontaneous concerts. (They involve two people! Two people, both potentially able to do some wild shit! Am I to believe that Ichiban is just unable to come up with something suitably imaginitive?)

This isn’t to suggest that Heat Actions don’t have this spread, either. For every Heat Action where Kiryu or Saejima pick a dude up, jump five feet in the air, and drive the schmuck’s poor head straight into the concrete, there’s another where they just... kick a dude really hard. But I don’t have this problem with Heat Actions, so why the double standard?

Certainly, the mundane Heat Actions usually being faster helps a lot. It also helps when after you simply punch a dude on the ground he looks like, well,

yikes.

But two reasons in particularly really stand out to me. The first is that the gap between the most fantastic and most mundane Heat Actions isn’t all that large. Again, grabbing someone, leaping into the air, planting the top of their cranium right into the ground, and not killing them is very fantastical, but it’s just cartoonish and superhuman enough to be within the bounds of what you would expect of a Yakuza protagonist, so it’s not all that weird to see them do something as simple as slam someone against a wall headfirst. With Kiwami Actions, meanwhile, the gap between using your bat like nunchaku and spinning like an hypercharged Beyblade is considerably larger. The disparity becomes a lot stranger to think about.

The second is that even the more mundane Heat Actions can invoke a visceral reaction that the more mundane Kiwami Actions aren’t capable of. I’ve seen multiple people react to the Essence of Pliers Heat Actions, and the sheer discomfort they feel, every time, is extremely funny to me, every time.

Besides maybe Han’s Tag Team: Terrorizing Trample, none of the more simplistic Kiwami Actions come even remotely close to anything like Essence of Pliers.

And at the end of the day... I don’t think they even try to, or maybe even should.

I recognize that I’ve just spent a ludicrous number of words explaining in excruciating detail why I prefer Heat Actions over Kiwami Actions. And yes, absolutely, it’s ridiculous to compare seven games worth of Heat Actions to one game’s worth of Kiwami Actions. And yes, the tl;dr is that I prefer the moment-to-moment of the action combat over the moment-to-moment of the turn-based combat. It’s really that simple. Therefore, I prefer Heat Actions because they complement the action combat very well, more than I think the Kiwami Actions complement the turn-based combat. They’re just fundamentally different, and that’s... the point. It’s totally fine.

Believe it or not, I honestly didn’t spend almost any time wishing that Like a Dragon had action combat. Having achieved 100% completion for Like a Dragon, I’ve seen just about everything its turn-based combat has to offer, and I like it quite a bit. The stats are fun to raise, the weapons are fun to upgrade, and the skills are fun to use. Having to Perfect Guard attacks I’ve seen thrown my way for the whole game to have a chance at surviving in the True Final Millennium Tower is a satisfying postgame test of mastery. And for as much as I might seem down on them, yeah, the Kiwami Actions are fun to watch. You can pull out a human-sized grater and just go to town shredding some putz’s face, I’m not going to sit here and pretend that isn’t good stuff.

So why did I bother writing all of this, besides out of sheer boredom?

Well, I did say I didn’t spend almost any time wishing for action combat.

(continued)

[zi-i-think]

1 | Just Chill Out

Pairing: Zuko x Ama (OC)

Word Count: 5400+

.☽☼☾.

          Ama was the kinda girl that fought hard. Her persistence is what made her a great waterbender. She and Katara were both very competitive and dueled together for practice. And while it was often a close tie, it didn't change the fact that Ama was older by two years and usually won.

         Usually, Ama styled her hair with a half ponytail and the hair by her ears was tied. Her kimono-like tunic was a light blue and sleeveless. Her loose pants were a darker shade of blue, ending at her shin to make room for her dark brown warm shoes. Lastly, her forearms and her palms were wrapped with white cloth.

         Through their adventures with the Avatar, the Water Tribe siblings learned and grew both together and individually. Sokka and Ama were more similar in their humor, taking it from their dad. Katara and Ama were similar in many ways, but not when it came to who was more stubborn. Katara held the most grudges. It was why it was harder to accept her mother's death.

         So when Zuko arrived, Ama was quick to try to give him another chance after the night in Ba Sing Se. He was the only person that was actually her age and the two were quick to get along. Especially after he helped Ama and Sokka rescue their dad from the Boiling Rock Prison. So after Katara and Zuko went on their little field trip to avenge their mother and came back actually tolerating each other, Ama felt more at ease.

         The 16 year old girl didn't acknowledge her little crush on the firebender. She ignored the butterflies in her stomach when he sat next to her and the way they would touch while they were sparring with each other. After all, the last time she had a crush on someone, it ended in a less than ideal way.

         "He's just a friend." She would tell herself while they rested after sparing.

         This leads to the present. Team Avatar stayed at one of Fire Lord Ozai's houses on Ember Island. Aang and Zuko practiced their firebending in the courtyard. Toph laid on the ground while Katara and Ama watched the boys. Ama would never admit it, but she couldn't take her eyes off the fire prince. And him being shirtless didn't help.

         Considering they were in the Fire Nation, Ama's clothes consisted of a red, sleeveless crop top and loose pants that ended at the calf of her leg. Her shoes were simple black flats that she had to tie round her ankle with a string. The only difference in her hair was that her half ponytail was a half bun and her hair wasn't tied at the front.

         "Doesn't it seem kinda weird that we're hiding from the Fire Lord in his own house?" Katara wondered, looking around the courtyard as the boy's finished their bending.

         "I told you, my father hasn't come here since our family was actually happy." Zuko responded by the fountain and wiped his hair with a yellow towel. "And that was a long time ago. This is the last place anyone would think to look for us."

         "You guys are not going to believe this." Sokka announced, jogging towards them with Suki following behind. "There's a play about us."

         "We were just in town and we found this poster." Suki said and Sokka unrolled the poster in his hand. The poster showed Aang in the middle with Sokka, Katara and Ama behind him. In the background there was a close up of Zuko's eyes, except his scar was on the wrong side. Then there was the information written and playwright.

         "What? How is that possible?" Katara asked, everyone crowded around to look at the poster.

         "Listen to this." Sokka began to read the poster. "The Boy in the Iceberg is a new production from acclaimed playwright Pu On Tim who scoured the globe gathering information on the Avatar from the icy South Pole to the heart of Ba Sing Se. His sources including singing nomads, pirates, prisoners of war and a surprisingly knowledgeable merchant of cabbage."

         "Brought to you by the critically acclaimed Ember Island Players." Suki finished.

         "Ugh." Zuko had a disgusted look on his face, already opposing to the idea. "My Mother used to take us to see them. They butchered "Love Amongst The Dragons" every year."

v"Sokka, do you really think it's a good idea for us to attend a play about ourselves?" Katara already considered how bad the idea was.

         "Come on, a day at the theatre? This is the kind of wacky time wasting nonsense I've been missing." Begged Sokka with a huge grin.

         "I'd actually like to see it." Ama took the scroll from her brother's hand and examined the actress playing her. It wasn't that accurate. The actress was too pale and had too much makeup on. Plus the clothing was a more sexualized, the tunic being a little too low cut. "Might be fun to see how we're portrayed."

.☽☼☾.

         That night, the Gaang headed to the theatre. They sat in a private viewing box on the second floor facing the stage. Toph and Katara and Ama took their seats in the first row while Zuko walked in the opposite direction wearing a hooded cloak and sat in the empty spot between Ama and Katara as Aang confidently tried to sit next to Katara. Aang stood up and rubbed his neck.

         "Hey, uh... I wanted to sit there." Aang sheepishly pointed at the seat.

         "Just sit next to Sokka, what's the big deal?" Zuko said a bit aggressively and he took off his hood.

         "I was just... I wanted to..." Aang couldn't get a sentence in before giving in and going to the second row. "Okay."

         "Why are we sitting in the nosebleed section? My feet can't see a thing from up here." Toph complained as the lights dimmed.

         "Don't worry, I'll tell your feet what's happening." Katara assured her.

         The curtain was drawn up to reveal a prop of a canoe surrounded by moving set decorations of water and the backdrop was a crude painting of icebergs. The Water Tribe sibling actors rowed the fake canoe with their oars.

         Ama felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked back seeing her brother point to her and back to himself rapidly. Ama chucked at his reaction to the play and then looked back at the stage.

         Katara's actress was similar to Ama's in that they both had more revealing clothes and had too much blusher on their cheeks. Actress Katara sighed deeply. "My dear siblings. We constantly roam these icy South Pole seas and yet never do we find anything fulfilling."

         "Katara, must you always be so dramatic?" Actor Ama spoke, almost lazily paddling the fake canoe. "Just chill out a bit. Like the ice around us." She made a pun so that the audience would get a laugh.

         Actor Sokka was buck-toothed and thinner than the actual Sokka and his wolf-tail ponytail was way too large. "All I want is a full feeling in my stomach, I'm starving!" The audience laughed loudly at the low-quality joke.

         The real Water Tribe siblings looked at each other in disbelief. Katara and Sokka seemed very disappointed, but Ama was making a mental note to use that pun for the future.

         "Is food the only thing on your mind?" Actress Katara asked.

         "Well, I'm trying to get it out of my mind and into my mouth. I'm starving." Actor Sokka made the same joke twice.

         "This is pathetic" Sokka whispered to Ama and Katara. "My jokes are way funnier than this."

         "I think he's got you pegged." Toph laughed.

         "Everyday, the World awaits a beacon to guide us, yet none appears." Actress Katara melodramatically spoke as Actor Sokka paddled the canoe. "Still, we cannot give up hope. For hope is all we have and we must never relinquish it. Even," She sniffed. "even to our dying breath." She pretended to cry loudly.

         "Well, that's just silly." Katara commented while Sokka and Suki snickered. "I don't sound like that."

         "Oh man, this writer's a genius." Toph giggled and clenched her stomach.

         On stage, a white-blue light illuminated and actresses Katara and Ama looked up at it in a dainty way. The iceberg prop slowly moved to the centre of the stage with a cut out of Aang swaying from side to side on a stick inside the iceberg.

         "It appears to be someone frozen in ice. Perhaps for a hundred years." Actress Katara gaped with hands on her cheeks for dramatic effect.

         "But who? Who is the boy in the iceberg?" Actor Sokka asked.

         Aang grabbed the railings in anticipation with an excited look. Zuko looks bored, resting his cheek on his hand.

         Actress Ama climbed to the top of the iceberg prop while the other two actors were still climbing up. "Waterbend, hai-ya!" Actress Ama yelled and performed a chopping motion and a crack appeared on the iceberg. It opened with the interior smoking where a lady dressed as Aang jumped out, winked and posed.

         Aang was repulsed.

         "Who are you, frozen boy?" Actress Katara asked.

         "I'm the Avatar, silly. Here to spread joy and fun." Actress Aang grinned from ear to ear.

         "Wait, is that a woman playing me?" Aang wondered with a distraught tone.

         A shaggy, white Chinese lion get-up meant to portray Appa popped out from the remnants of the iceberg and moved from side to side before it circled round the iceberg and made a gruff animal noise.

         "An airbender." Actress Katara gasped. "My heart is so full of hope that it's making me tearbend." She fell to her knees and hugged actress Aang's leg as she cried loudly.

         "My stomach is so empty that it's making me tearbend." Actor Sokka dropped to his knees and grabbed actress Aang's other leg and sobbed with Actress Katara. "I need meat."

         "But wait is that a platter of meaty dumplings?" Actress Aang pointed up.

         "Ooh. Where? Where?" Actor Sokka looked around desperately.

         "Did I mention that I'm an incurable prankster?" Actress Aang giggled uncontrollably.

         "I don't do that." Aang got irritated. The others turned around to look at him while he glared at the stage. "That's not what I'm like! And... I'm not a woman!"

         Toph thought otherwise and laughed loudly. "Oh, they nailed you, Twinkle Toes."

         Then on stage, Zuko's ship entered with actor Zuko poised near the front of the ship, looking through a telescope.

         "Prince Zuko, you must try this cake." Actor Iroh offered.

         Actor Zuko wore his Fire Nation armor with a long, exaggerated ponytail. His scar most definitely on the wrong side. "I don't have time to stuff my face. I must capture the Avatar to regain my honor!"

         "Well, while you do that, maybe I'll capture another slice." Actor Iroh stuffed his face in the cake prop.

         "You sicken me." Actor Zuko said with his raspy voice and then looked back in the telescope.

         "They make me totally stiff and humorless." Zuko crossed his arms and critiqued.

         "Maybe that's because you are stiff and humorless." Ama crossed her arms and sent him a smirk. "So, I'd say it's pretty spot on."

         "How could you say that!" Zuko got offended, but Ama just chuckled at him.

         "Let's forget about the Avatar and get massages." Actor Iroh suggested happily.

         "How could you say that?!" Actor Zuko shouted.

         Real Zuko looked defeated and slouched in his seat as Ama started to laugh at the irony of the moment. And while her eyes were closed and she wiped her tears of laughter, Zuko looked at her with a slight smile.

         The scenes were all incredibly over exaggerated. Katara hated the melodramatic portrayal of her, Sokka hated the jokes, and Ama hated how overly sympathetic but competitive they made her.

         In one scene with a pirate ship in the backdrop. The leading characters slid out from underneath a pirate's skirt as the six pirates fought and slowly moved offstage. Actress Ama clenched a large scroll.

         "Why did you have to steal that waterbending scroll?" Actor Sokka complained.

         "Because, all I want is to help with waterbending." Actress Ama responded defensively. "And I must be better than Aang." The actress sent a glare at Actress Aang and stomped off.

         Real Ama was unamused and rolled her eyes. "I'd say it's pretty stop on." Zuko whispered to her. The waterbender gaped offendedly at him, but also was amused at how he threw her comment from earlier back at her.

         In one scene, Actress Aang was tied on stage while Actor Zuko stood proudly. "The Avatar is mine!" Actor Zuko shouted then pointed to the side. "Wait, who's coming?"

         An actor wearing a large tiki Blue Spirit mask that covers his whole body stepped out with duel swords. "I am the Blue Spirit. The scourge of the Fire Nation here to save the Avatar." The actor "fought" off the Fire Nation actors.

         "My hero." Actress Aang jumped off the platform and sits on top of the tiki mask and the Blue Spirit walked offstage.

         Zuko and Aang who looked at each other with slight "sweatdrop" expressions.

         The next scene showed the Freedom Fighter's. Actress Ama and Actor Jet with a rose in his mouth and a heavily exaggerated anime-like hair were lowered into screen on a platform.

         "Oh, Jet." Actress Ama dramatically and slightly seductively said. "I know my sister likes you as well, but I'm just so much better than her."

         "I know that, baby." Actor Jet pulled the actress close to him. "And to show my love, Jet will wipe out that nasty town for you." A blue sheet of cloth representing water came across the stage and covered the village backdrop. The platform holding actress Ama and actor Jet raised to get them off the stage.

         "Oh Jet, you're so bad." Actress Ama leaned on him and had a flirtatious tone.

         Toph and Katara giggled while Ama held her head in embarrassment. Wondering when the torture would end.

         The first act of the play ended with Actress Aang in an ocean spirit costume destroying Fire Nation ships. Portraying the battle in the North Pole. The crowd cheered and hooted while the Gaang has an opposite reaction and groaned.

.☽☼☾.

         For the intermission they went outside the theatre and on a flight of red steps on a balcony. They were away from the rest of the crowd in order to speak freely.

         "So far, this intermission is the best part of the play." Zuko rightfully complained. He leaned on the stair railing beside where Ama sat.

         "Apparently, the playwright thinks I'm an idiot who tells bad jokes about meat all the time." Sokka criticized. Ironically, he was holding a bag of meat.

         "Yeah, you tell bad jokes about plenty of other topics." Suki quipped with a knowing smirk.

         "I know!" Sokka agreed, taking large bites from his strips of meat.

         "At least this Sokka actor kinda looks like you. That woman playing the Avatar doesn't resemble me at all." Aang's tone was distressed while he buried his head in his hands.

         "I don't know, you are more in touch with your feminine side than most guys." Toph teased him for a reaction from him. And Aang did growl angrily.

         "Relax, Aang." Katara spoke up. "They're not accurate portrayals. It's not like I'm a preachy crybaby who can't resist giving over emotional speeches about hope all the time." Everyone looked at her skeptically. "What?"

         "Yeah. That's not you at all." Aang said sarcastically.

         "Listen, friends. It's obvious that the playwright did his research." Toph spoke. "I know it must hurt but what you're seeing up there on that stage is the truth."

         "The scene with Jet is definitely not the truth." Ama said defensively, pointing to the inside.

         "You're right there." Sokka shrugged. "Cause you definitely can't flirt with guys." He chuckled knowingly and Suki elbowed him, making him stop. Ama's face turned red and avoided looking at Zuko, who indeed looked a little curious.

.☽☼☾.

         Back in the theatre for the next act, the four characters stood in the Earth Kingdom set. "Well, here we are in the Earth Kingdom." Actress Katara announced.

         "I better have a look around to see if I can find an earthbending teacher." A rope pulled Actress Aang off the ground to fly and around the theater.

         "This is it! This must be where I come in." Toph whispered excitedly.

         Actress Aang landed back on the ground. "I flew all over town but I couldn't find a single earthbending master."

         "Here it comes." Toph clenched her fist while there was a drumroll.

         On the stage as a rock prop was lifted by a well built man wearing Toph's outfit who appeared from a trap door under the prop. "You can't find an earthbending master in the sky, you have to look underground." He threw the prop rock to the side.

         The Gaang broke into laughter and Zuko drops his parchment in shock.

         "Who are you?" Actress Aang pointed at the buff actor.

         "My name is Toph because it sounds like tough." He flexed his muscles. "And that's just what I am."

         "Wait a minute," The real Toph used her pinkie to clear her ear. "I sound like... a guy. A really buff guy."

         "Well Toph, what you hear up there is the truth. It hurts, doesn't it?" Katara leaned on the earthbender with a smug look.

         "Are you kidding me?" Toph grinned from ear to ear and giggled. "I wouldn't have cast it any other way. At least it's not a flying bald lady."

         "So, you're blind?" Actress Aang waved her hand in front of Actor Toph's face.

         "I can see you doing that." The actor laughed. "I see everything that you see except that I don't see like you do. I release a sonic wave from my mouth."

         He turned towards the leading characters and screamed. Cut to actor Toph's face. The audience cringed and covered their ears. The Gaang were also cringing but Toph couldn't be happier.

         "There. I got a pretty good look at you." The actor said one he finished.

         The next scene showed actor Zuko and actor Iroh. "Zuko, it's time we had a talk." Actor Iroh pointed. "About your hair. It's gone too far." Actor Zuko's hair was very long and no longer in a ponytail.

         "Maybe it's best if we... split up." Actor Zuko dramatically turned his head and walked away. The long hair flowing behind him.

         A few scenes later, the actors stood around Actress Azula caught in a corner. "Azula! My sister. What are you doing here?" Actor Zuko pointed at the actress in heavy makeup and pink clothing.

         "You caught me. Wait. What's that?" Actress Azula pointed at the ceiling. "I think it's your honor."

         "Where?" Actor Zuko question. All seven actors turned around while Actress Azula used a secret door to escape.

         Real Ama giggled and Zuko looked over at her. Ama caught him looking and covered her left eye. "Honor." She said seriously and with a deep voice before going right back to giggling. The firebender frowned at leaned back in his seat.

         "She escaped. But how?" Actress Katara wondered when they realized she escaped.

         A few scenes later Actor Jet slashed his hook sword arm prop, wearing a pair of crazy eye glasses as the tiny black beads representing his pupils swirl around, portraying that he's insane.

         "No, Jet!" Actress Aang said. "What did they do to you?"

         "Must. Serve. Earth King!" He swung his arms chaotically. "Must... Destroy!"

         Actor Jet made various agonizing noises and acted as if he were having a fit. The rock prop slowly floated into the stage and onto the actor

         "Did Jet just... die?" Real Zuko was really confused.

         "You know, it was really unclear." Sokka responded, only half caring.

         It got to the scene where Ama and Zuko were in the cave in Ba Sing Se together. Where Azula had tricked them both.

         "I have to admit, Prince Zuko. I really find you attractive." Actress Ama spoke.

         "You don't have to make fun of me." Actor Zuko grumbled.

         "But I mean it." Actress Ama got a bit more seductive and sat next to him. "I had eyes for you since the day you first captured me."

         Real Ama and Zuko glanced at each other and blushed a deep red, sinking into their seats. Ama could hear Sokka and Aang snickering from behind them and looked back at them. The two were definitely pointing at the blushing teens.

         "I must admit." The Zuko actor spoke loudly. "I have also had eyes for you!"

         Actress Ama dramatically put her hand on her head. "Oh, but if the others would find out!"

         "They won't!" Actor Zuko pulled the actress into him. "This will be our secret." Ama sighed in relief that they didn't kiss, but just embraced each other.

         "Well, my brother. What's it going to be?" The Azula actress asked in the next scene. "Your nation or a life of treachery?"

         "Choose treachery, it's more fun." Actor Iroh drank a cup of tea and threw a thumbs up.

         "No way!" Actress Azula called when Actor Zuko walked next to the old actor.

         But then Actor Zuko shoved Actor Iroh to the floor and walked next to Azula. "I hate you, Uncle. You smell and I hate you for all time."

         Ama looked next to Zuko, who leaned on the railing. "You didn't really say that, did you?"

         "I might as well have." Zuko responded regrettably and turned away.

.☽☼☾.

         Soon the second act ended with Actress Azula "killing" actress Aang. Team Avatar hung out inside the theatre this time. Zuko kept his hood over his head, sitting on the floor and leaning on the wall. Ama made sure that Toph was between the two before sitting on the floor, still feeling embarrassed by the scene from earlier.

         "It seems like every time there's a big battle you guys barely make it out alive. I mean, you guys lose a lot." Suki commented.

         "You're one to talk, Suki. Didn't Azula take you captive? That's right, she did." Sokka shot back.

         Suki frowned and acted serious. "Are you trying to get on my bad side?"

         "I'm just saying." Sokka said matter-of-factly.

         "Does anyone know where Aang is?" Katara wondered, walking up to the small group.

         "He left to get me fire gummies like, 10 minutes ago. And I'm still waiting." Sokka said impatiently.

         "I'm going to check outside." Katara announced and walked away from them.

         "Wheeee." A little boy in an Aang costume zoomed past the five teens.

         "Suki, what are the chances you can get me backstage? I got some jokes I want to give to the actor me." Sokka asked his girlfriend.

         "I'm an elite warrior who's trained for many years in the art of stealth." Suki said seriously then gave Sokka a large grin. "I think I can get you backstage."

         "Jeez. Everyone's getting so upset about their characters." Toph commented as the couple walked away. "Even you seem more down than usual and that's saying something."

         "You don't get it. It's different for you. You get a muscle-y version of yourself taking down 10 bad guys at once and making sassy remarks." Zuko responded.

         "Yeah, that's pretty great." Toph agreed.

         "But for me, it takes all the mistakes I've made in my life and shoves them back in my face." Zuko felt ashamed of himself and turned away a bit. "My Uncle. He's always been on my side even when things were bad. He was there for me. He taught me so much and how do I repay him? With a knife in his back. It's my greatest regret and I may never get to redeem myself."

         "You have redeemed yourself to your Uncle." Toph sunk onto the floor. "You don't realize it but you already have."

         "How do you know?" Zuko asked her.

         "Because I once had a long conversation with the guy and all he would talk about was you."

         The fire prince smiled and put down his hood. "Really?"

         "Yeah, and it was kind of annoying." Toph said.

         "Oh, sorry." Zuko apologized.

         "But it was also very sweet." The young girl told him. "All your Uncle wanted was for you to find your own path and see the light. Now you're here with us. He'd be proud." Zuko smiled until Toph punched his arm

         "Ow." He rubbed his arm in pain and Ama burst out laughing. "What was that for?"

         "That's how I show affection." Toph smiled.

         "Haha, oh Toph. I love you so much." Ama leaned on the girl for some support while cracking up. Then blind girl punched her too. "Ow." It was Toph and Zuko's turn to laugh while Ama rubbed her arm.

         The little boy from earlier came running back around the corner and stopped in front of Zuko. "Your Zuko costume is pretty good but your scar's on the wrong side." He pointed at the scar and then ran off. Zuko's mouth dropped in shock and Ama burst out laughing.

         "The scar is not on the wrong side!" Zuko shouted angrily, pulling his hood over his head again.

         Ama chuckled at him. "You're adorable." She mumbled, not realizing she said it out loud.

         "Thanks, you too." Zuko mumbled back. Both teens froze completely and Toph failed at hiding her giggle. No one spoke after that. But Ama's thoughts began to race.

         Did I hear that wrong? Are my feelings not as one sided as I thought? How do I respond to that? Damn it, where's Sokka's bad jokes when I need them?

.☽☼☾.

         Spoiler. The play was terrible. Ending with actress Aang's death and Fire Lord Ozai winning the war, everyone realized that the entire show was bad all around. Once the theatre lights came on, they walked back to the house glad it was over.

         "That... wasn't a good play." Zuko broke the silence. Everyone vocally agreed with him.

         "But the effects were decent." Was the only good comment coming from Sokka.

         Before they entered the house, Ama stopped and stepped aside so the others could enter. "I think I'm gonna go on a quick walk." The waterbender pointed towards the forest with her thumb.

         "Are you sure? It's kinda late." Katara said with a worried tone.

         "Yeah, I kinda need to clear my mind and forget that terrible play." She chuckled and rubbed the back of her neck.

         "Alright, stay safe." Katara shrugged and went inside.

         Zuko stayed back, watching Ama walk down the steps and heading to the thicket of trees. He considered walking with her. He also needed to clear his head. But also wanted to talk to the water tribe girl. He took a quick glance at the inside of the house, then Ama before running after her. "Hey! Wait up!"

         The brunette stopped walking and looked back at the boy running towards her. "Uh. Can I help you?" She wondered and he stood next to her.

         "I just thought, you might like some company." Zuko responded, nervously rubbing the back of his neck while they started walking down the path again.

         "It's not what I necessarily had in mind, but I'd like that." A light smile tugged on her lips as she looked at the floor anxiously.

         The walk was pretty quiet at first. Neither of the two knew what to say. Ama looked around. Her eye's had adjusted fine to the dark path and the moon lit everything also. So she could get a good look at the flora of Ember Island.

         "Look." The girl gasped excitedly, pointing at an area that strayed a few feet from the path. She jogged over to the patch of flowers that caught her eye and Zuko followed behind curiously. "Fire lilies." He watched as she admired the patch, her fingers delicately running across the petals. "They're so pretty."

         This is my chance. Zuko thought. Gathering up his courage and ignoring the teenage boy tendency of being awkward and silent, the boy took his shot. "Almost as pretty at you." Still, he could only muster a whisper. Ama watched as he took a seat next to her and reached to snap a flower off the stem and moved to place it behind the waterbender's ear, moving some of her hair to the side.

         "Thank you." She couldn't hide her blush or the smile. Her heart was racing. The girl wondered what she should do or say in response. After all, the only "experience" with boys she had was with Jet. But even then, it was more like they just talked and he turned out to be insane.

         Then a spark of confidence was lit inside her. The girl reached for another flower. Snapping it off the stem and placing it behind Zuko's ear, just as he did to her. "You look beautiful, Prince Zuko." She grinned while he just chuckled.

         "Look, Ama. I think it's time we talked about," Zuko started. His tone was a bit timid, which was pretty out of character for him. "Well, us."

         "What about us." Ama asked, a smirk playing on her lips.

         "Look, I always thought you were really pretty. Even during those months where I was chasing you all." He rubbed the back of his neck and looked at the flowers. "And during that time in the Ba Sing Se caves, you showed genuine kindness and actually cared about me. I realized that you're probably the prettiest girl I've even met."

         "Not even just that, but you're so strong and independent and smart." He started to ramble a bit and Ama chuckled. "And being with you all after leaving my father and the Fire Nation, you still believed in me. Even after all those horrible things I've done. I think... I think I really like you, Ama."

         "I think I really like you too." Ama responded, fiddling with her nails. "You're one of the bravest people I know. Leaving behind your entire life. Realizing and admitting your wrong doings. I admire you so much for that. Just getting to know you more made me like you more." Ama chuckled nervously. "Just seeing you gave me butterflies."

         "Is that why you always watched Aang and I practice?" Zuko lightly laughed.

         "Well it didn't help that you're attractive." Ama laughed back.

         "So you think I'm attractive." Zuko smirked.

         "Eh, only a little." Ama shrugged and giggled at his playful glare. Then it got quiet. But it wasn't an uncomfortable silence like earlier. It was more content and peaceful.

         "Can..." Zuko started to ask and Ama looked back at him after staring at the moon. "Can I kiss you?" Ama blushed, but nodded. Zuko leaned in most of the way until Ama leaded up as well. It was short and sweet. Barely lasting a second. Ama and Zuko stared into each other's eyes for a moment before leaning in again for another, still sweet but more wistful kiss.

         One of Ama's hands wound up in Zuko's dark hair and the other on his cheek. Zuko grabbed onto her waist, to pull her closer to him. Considering that the two were still sitting on the ground, the teens looked a little awkward. But the waterbender moved, not breaking the kiss to straddle him.

         Pulling away, the two smiled and stared at each other again. The girl's blue eyes seemed to sparkle in the moonlight as Zuko looked into them. Her blue eyes were like an ocean. And the prince didn't mind drowning in them. Meanwhile, Ama felt drawn to his fiery gold eyes. And she didn't mind being burned by them.

         "So, uh." Ama bit her bottom lip. Her hands moved from his hair down to his chest. "Does this mean we're together?"

         "You mean does this make me your boyfriend and you my girlfriend." Zuko clarified and Ama nodded. "I don't know if I see you that way." He said teasingly, earning a light punch on the arm. "I'm kidding. I'd like that. A lot."

         "Me too."

.☽☼☾.

Cool. I just posted the first chapter. My writing does better in first person so just hang in there. Or if you want to wait for chapter eight where there is a plot and better writing (in my opinion) that would be fine. I don’t believe you’d miss much. This is mainly to set a baseline for Ama’s placement in the Avatar Universe. 

I hope you all enjoy. Hang loose, amigos! 🤙🏼

[unadulterated-strawberryniall]

Normal People, Abnormal Jobs. [Chapter 1.]

Normal People, Abnormal Jobs. Relationships in the entertainment industry are never easy. Scheduling is nearly impossible, paparazzi hound you down every date, and everyone seems to weigh in their opinion. Is it possible to have a soulmate with such a demanding career?

Loosely inspired by the 2020 Hulu drama, Normal People, this story explores the possibility of finding true love in a world motivated by reputation, scandal, and money. Touching on themes of love, mental health, and adulthood, Normal People, Abnormal Jobs navigates how two musicians from opposing worlds maneuver a destiny that consistently pulls them together. It’s challenging, yes, but if it’s true love, it’s worth it.

“7 minutes until call time!” The gruff, assertive voice of my manager, Shane, rang through my ear-piece, bringing me back to reality. I opened my eyes, tilting my head forward to stare at myself in the brightly lit vanity. My heart began to feel heavy as the familiar sense of anxiety settled in my stomach.

“Are you on your way to the stage? It’s time to move!” The voice rang through again. Shane knew me too well. He’d predicted I would wait until the last minute, that I would stare at myself in the mirror and thoughts of doubt and uncertainty would cloud my mind. Clutching my water bottle tightly in my hand, I nimbly stood up, and headed to the door of my trailer.

The warm, New York sunshine greeted me. Although I could feel summer approaching in the humid air, the sun was still gentle on my skin. And thank god it was, I thought, I couldn’t last a full 45 minute set in 93 degree weather.

Normally, I’d be escorted to the stage by a team catering to my every desire. They would be the ones carrying my guitar, my water bottle, my microphone, while I mentally prepared myself to face the crowd of thousands. But this time, my first appearance back on stage after so long, I’d asked to simply be left alone. After a worldwide pandemic and a bout of classic millennial anxiety, I’d become quite used to moments of solitude and forcing myself to toughen up through the nerves. I’d already memorized the route to the stage, and my mind began to wander as my feet took the twists and turns through the parking lot involuntarily.

What if you fuck up?

You’ll be fine.

What if they hate you?

You’ll be fine.

What if you lose all your fans? What if you’re not relevant anymore? What if you fall off the stage?

You’ll be fine.

The game of table tennis my mind was playing was beginning to feel exhausting, but I didn’t have much time to process it as suddenly, a giant ball of hard plastic and synthetic leather whacked against my shin.

“Ow! What the fuck!” I shut my eyes, where hot tears immediately pricked, and grabbed my shin, which was now burning.

“Oh no…” I heard footsteps running towards me. “Are you okay?” A warm hand placed on the small of my back, while another ran over my shin.

“I’ll be fine… Fuck.” I mumbled, my eyes still shut tight.

“‘m so sorry. It was an accident, I swear, love.”

The pain was beginning to dull, allowing me to be brought back to the present, and I was able to pick up an accent coming from the mysterious figure holding onto me. When I felt the tears in my eyes dissipate, I slowly opened them to bring my attention to the unidentified male. A pair of crystalline blue eyes stared unwaveringly into mine, and I felt my heart leap into my throat. Sun kissed and glistening with a faint layer of sweat, a figure with quaffed brown hair stared at me with parted lips and bated breath.

“‘m an idiot, didn’t see ya walkin’ dere.” His hand was still grazing the small of my back as I lowered my leg to the ground.

“It’s alright, accidents happen.” I couldn’t control the timbre of my voice, which had now gone soft. “You might want to be careful where you play soccer next time, though. Everyone’s walking through here.”

He chuckled. “You mean football, petal.” He removed his hands from my body, stuffing them into the pockets of his athletic shorts. “I’m goin’ on stage after de next performer, figured I’d hang around ‘ere until it’s my turn.”

I nodded. “Well you won’t be waiting for much longer…”

His eyebrows arched and his mouth went ajar. “Are you the next one? Dat’s great! Good luck!” He bared his teeth to be in what should have been an award-winning smile. “I’m so sorry again, about the…” He motioned to my shin before running his hand through his hair awkwardly. “I’m Niall.”

“I’m Mina.”

“Mina, where are you? You’re about to go on!” My ear-piece buzzed.

“Oh shit! I have to run.” Without hesitation, I bolted towards the stage, where I could hear an announcer amplifying the crowd.

“Alright Gov Ball! Are you guys ready?” 

More screaming, growing louder and louder.

See? They’re excited for you. They want this. You’re going to crush this.

“Welcome to the Big Apple Stage, Mina Peace!”

I made it to the stage in the nick of time, and barely had a moment to take it all in as a guitar was thrown into my hands and I instinctively began to play the opening riff to my newly released single, Gravity.

“Mina, you’re so lucky you made it.” My ears buzzed once again. I turned to my left, noticing Shane standing at the side of the stage, shaking his head at me disapprovingly. I smiled at him, knowing that he couldn’t stay mad at me for long.

Everything seemed to fade around me, and it was just me and the music. I wasn’t focused on the crowd anymore. I wasn’t focused on my anxieties. I closed my eyes, reciting the lyrics that had once been so intimate to me, but now shared with the world. Had the adrenaline not been pumping through my veins, I could’ve broken down and cried. The catharsis of songwriting had been my means through the pandemic. Nearly 2 years shut away in my Los Angeles home, a sudden halt to the success I had been building up for several months. I had released an album just a week before the pandemic began, and this was my first chance to perform it.

45 minutes flew by in the blink of an eye. I wanted to beg the show’s organizers to give me just a few more moments on stage. The crowd seemed to want it to, as I felt encompassed by screams, cheers, and applause while I took my bow. “Thank you, New York. I love you. I’ll be back soon!” I choked into the microphone, feeling my throat become tight.

I could feel tears pooling in my eyes as I ran off the stage.

“Mina, holy fuck! That was incredible!”

“That may have just changed your career!”

“I didn’t know you were capable of that!”

My vision went blurry as various members of my team engulfed me with embrace.

“W-where’s Shane?” I sputtered out. I looked up to see Shane, right in front of me, the biggest smile I’d ever seen plastered on his face.

“You did it, kid.” He said simply, opening his arms to me.

I threw myself into his arms, sobbing so hard I could barely breathe. While the people around me gawked in confusion, all asking if I was okay and why I was crying, Shane said nothing and held me tight. He ran his hands up and down my back, calming me down. After several minutes, I was finally able to regain composure, and I let him go. The crowd around me had dispersed, and I was able to catch my breath.

Shane had returned to the stage crew, handling the equipment that was being transported around, and I took a stabilizing breath while I felt a presence approach behind me. I turned around to see Niall, arms crossed but a pleased smile on his face. He’d put a fresh shirt and jeans on now, and it was almost hard to believe this was the same person I had seen playing soccer in the parking lot less than an hour ago.

“That was brilliant. Legend. Seriously.” He put a hand on my shoulder and gave it a squeeze. I looked at his hand, feeling a warm spread from the area that was not due even remotely to the spring heat, and looked back at him.

“Thanks…”

“Will I see ya at de after party?”

I nodded without thought. I wasn’t planning to go to the after party. That is, until now. I had some early morning radio show appearances for tomorrow, and I’d taken my career so seriously that I would never go out the night before any press interviews. But my heart spoke faster than my mind could react, and there was no going back now.

“Great. I’ll look fer ya den.” He grinned at me, turning around to prepare for his performance.

I watched Niall walk off, a strange sense washing over me. I felt both calm and uneasy simultaneously. How was that possible? 

If I had my way, I would’ve stayed to watch Niall’s performance, but Shane grabbed me, and immediately began to discuss how news outlets were already buzzing about my performance, and he had set up a space for some interviewers to chat to me near my trailer. As Shane hurried me off to my trailer, I peered back to see Niall, guitar in hand, heading out to greet the crowd. I caught the blue of his eyes glance at me one last time before he turned his attention to his performance. Guitars began to blast and I could hear a piano play a familiar riff, but the sound faded away as I made my way away from the area. I could barely focus on the interviews as I began to wonder what would happen at tonight's after party.

[vantaestummy]

it’s been a really awful summer friend-wise for me but your work always cheers me up, perhaps when you have the time or if you don’t mind the prompt, could you write a little bit of minjoon for me? jiminnie comes home from a rough day, overworked himself to the point of illness & tears. joon does his best to comfort him, doing whatever he may need. emeto only , please. you rock!!

the A/N: same bby. i had a friend straight up kiss my crush that i’ve had for like three years. it’s all good. i hope this helps.

TW///emeto & descriptions of panic and stress

————————————

Jimin’s part time job consists of teaching ballet to little kids at a dance academy, one that is not too far from him and Namjoon’s apartment.

Jimin loves his job with all his heart. He loves working with children and helping them to enhance their dance skills. He only wishes that he himself, had gotten such an early start. Maybe then, his technique would be impeccable.

Let Namjoon tell it, his dancing is impeccable. Jimin couldn’t have asked for a more supportive boyfriend. Namjoon always makes sure to film his performances, cheer for him the loudes in the crowdt, and is the first at the stage door with Jimin’s favorite chocolates and a bouquet of flowers just to drive the point home. Jimin couldn’t be more lucky, but today, the dancer doesn’t think that the comfort of his boyfriend is enough to get him through.

One of the parents had complained that their daughter wasn’t getting enough out of the class. Apparently, Jimin’s teaching style was not worth the money she was paying, and asked for his immediate removal, rather than questioning the motives of her child. In reality, the girl is a brat, always picking on the other students and never taking the exercises seriously. Jimin always made sure to create a positive and friendly environment for his students, but this girl takes advantage of Jimin’s kindness. He doesn’t blame her, really. She is clearly spoiled and acting out because dancing is not what she wants to do. And that’s okay. It is her mother who is forcing her into an activity that she hates, and on top of that, giving her everything that she wants regardless of whether or not she is deserving. 

When Jimin gets called into the boss’s office, he knows that this is the end. He knows that he is going to be let go. The mere thought of it brings tears to his eyes. Thankfully, his boss Hoseok is one of the kindnest, most understanding people in the world. 

Unfortunately, his hands might be tied. 

“Jimin-ah, you’re amazing, you are, and even though I believe you, we have to figure something out. I’m not firing you, but if she goes above my head and contacts my boss, I don’t think there will be much that I can do. Just, don’t stress, okay? We’ll figure this out.” 

And as kind as Hoseok was, Jimin didn’t heed his advice. 

On the bus ride home, Jimin is a puddle of tears, blood pulsing through his veins, making him ridiculously dizzy and worst of all, nauseous. Jimin wasn’t necessarily prone to motion sickness, but with the swaying of the bus, as well as all of his pent up anxiety from the fear of losing his job, he couldn’t take it. 

As soon as the bus stops, Jimin is off and running, his feet pounding against the pavement as runs to where his boyfriend is. Tears pour down his red cheeks, making it nearly impossible to see from how blurry they are. 

Jimin snatches his keys from his back pocket, his hands trembling from all the nerves. He can see the key that will open his front door, but his hands shake so much that picking it from the ring is incredibly difficult. 

The door opens, Namjoon having heard all of the ruckus Jimin had caused. 

“Baby? Jimin-ah what’s wrong? Baby.” Namjoon cups at Jimin’s cheek, the younger of the two still trying to find the right key. 

“J-Joonie, Joonie-hyung―” Jimin weeps, falling into Namjoon’s front side as he collapses. Namjoon pulls him inside, hoisting the fragile dancer into his arms as he kicks the door closed. “Baby, baby talk to me, please, what’s wrong?” 

Jimin sobs, his chest heaving as he tries to regain control of his breathing. 

“I-I c-can’t breathe hyungie―” 

“Look at me, baby it’s okay, I’m right here. You’re okay.” 

As Jimin’s sobs become more forceful, they start to morph into something more grotesque, his stomach leaping into his throat. 

Jimin starts to gag.

“’M, ‘m gonna throw up.” He weeps. 

Namjoon nods, trying desperately to calm his raging heart. 

“Okay, okay baby. Let’s go to the bathroom, okay?” 

Jimin’s voice cracks as he inhales with a wheeze. “O-Okay.” 

Namjoon carries a frail Jimin down the hall and into the bathroom, the younger man choking and sputtering beneath the palm of his hand. He tries to swallow down the bile in his throat, but it only makes his stomach feel sicker. 

Jimin nearly breaks his knee bones as he collapses in front of the toilet, gagging fruitlessly over the toilet, spit flying from his lips. He coughs, a small splash of the salad that he ate for lunch, trickling into the toilet. 

Namjoon whimpers, the hurt that he feels for his boyfriend, more than evident. 

“My Jimin, my poor Jimin-ah, what made you sick like this baby?” 

Jimin croaks, choking out a surprising torrent of vomit. His heaves echo within the porcelain, grated and broken. His retches are crackled and frayed with anguish, so loud that Namjoon can hear the damage that Jimin is causing to his throat. He heaves, his head almost hitting the toilet lid as his body jolts forward from the force of his sound. Jimin squeaks as another forceful round of vomit pours from his lips. He raises a shaking hand to flush but the effort takes far too much energy than his body is willing to give. 

“Baby, you have to calm down. You’ll only make yourself feel worse. I need you to take deep breaths with me. I’ll do it with you, here, feel.” Namjoon takes Jimin’s weak hand into his own, placing it against his chest as he exaggerates every breath. “Just like this, breath with me. In, and out, in, and out, yes, Jimin-ah, like that.” 

Jimin shivers, his breaths stuttered as he tries to follow the melody of Namjoon’s voice. Jimin has always loved Namjoon’s voice, so deep and tranquil. 

Jimin breathes out on a deep exhale, his voice still withered, raspy, from the vomiting. Namjoon pets at his hair. “Jimin, do you think you can stand? Let me take care of you.” 

Jimin mewls, shriveling up against the toilet. “I ‘on’t know... My stomach... it hurts...” 

“Do you still feel nauseous?” 

Jimin ponders the question for a moment. He shakes his head. 

“No, just, achey.” 

“Well let’s get you up. You need to rest. You’ve been working too hard.” 

Jimin winces as Namjoon cradles him, pulling him to his feet and flushing the toilet with his foot. 

Jimin giggles bitterly, tears sprinkling to life in his eyes. “Look at me, I’m so―”

“Don’t you dare. This is your body’s way of telling you that you need a break. Not only have you been going to school, but working with the dance team as well as teaching the kids? Baby, you pulling yourself too thin.” 

Did Jimin mention that Namjoon is a nurse in training? It’s a plus, but sometimes, his boyfriend’s knowledge can work against him. 

“I like working Joon-ah. I like to feel like I’m doing something.” Jimin mumbles with a pout. He is curled up on the couch, his hands tucked into tiny fists against his chest. Namjoon gets the tea going before draping a cover over Jimin’s small body. 

“You’re always doing something Jimin. When was the last time you had anything to eat besides take-home salads and protein shakes? When was the last time you slept more than five hours? You never come to bed with me anymore. I sometimes get up to check on you and you’ll still be practicing till three in the morning. Maybe that wouldn’t be so bad if you didn’t have to get up at six in the morning to get ready to teach a class, not to mention that you have your own classes right after that. You’re tearing yourself apart and I’m not going to stand for this any longer. Tomorrow, you’re taking the day off.” 

Jimin gasps, a giggle spilling from his lips. He can’t really believe Namjoon’s audacity, but, it is also incredibly endearing. 

“Joon-ah, I can’t just―” 

“You are. You’re taking the day off tomorrow and so will I. I’m going to cook for you, erh, I’ll order in, and we can watch movies like we used to and... spend time together. I know this sounds selfish but, as much as I want you to rest for you, I want you to rest for me. I love you Jimin.” 

The tiny dancer laughs uncontrollably, his voice still tinged with pain from being sick, but he can’t help it. 

His boyfriend is so good to him. 

“I love you more, Joonie.” 

“Impossible. I love you most.” 

Jimin titters, pulling Namjoon in for a hug. “Come, rest with me.” 

Namjoon kisses his forehead. “After I finish your tea. When you feel better, do you think you’ll be able to tell me what made you feel so bad? You really scared me baby.” 

Jimin sighs, grazing Namjoon’s cheek with his thumb. 

“A mom at the studio. She says her kid isn’t learning anything in the class when really, her daughter is the one causing so much trouble. I don’t know what else to do. Hoseok-hyung said that he wouldn’t fire me but, if this mom complains again, it might be out of his hands.”

Namjoon frowns. “Have you had a talk with this mom? Has Hoseok?” 

Jimin shakes his head. “No but, she’s one of the studio’s best clients. Her whole family has trained there. This girl though... she doesn’t want to dance. I can tell Namjoon. She hates it there and so, she acts out. Now her mom is blaming me.” 

Namjoon nods his head. This is a tricky situation, and with Jimin’s job on the line, it’s no wonder that he suffered such a massive panic attack. 

“Why don’t we have a talk with this mom, and if push comes to shove, we’ll find you someplace else to work. You need to give yourself more credit. You are one of the most talented dancers I know Jimin-ah. Any studio would be honored to have you as a teacher.” 

Jimin groans, leaning against the pillows of the couch. “What did I do to deserve you...”

Namjoon smiles. “I should be asking you the same thing.” 

Suddenly, the smoke alarm goes off. 

“Shit.” Namjoon jumps to his feet to turn off the tea kettle. Jimin laughs, the joyous sound bringing a dimpled smile to his face. 

“This is why we are ordering in tomorrow.” He calls out, melting into the couch cushions as his body succumbs to sleep. 

Namjoon is right, he needs a break. 

[lethesomething]

An otome lover’s guide to A3

So. A3.

Not an actual otome, but the actor management game and anime from Cybird (of Ikemen All the Things fame) has a bunch of boys. Ok, so a Lot of Boys. All the Boys, in fact. And men. Some of them are like thirty. Which is refreshing.

Where do you even begin telling them apart? Here is an Attempt, based on the first season of the game.

Spring troupe: The Vanilla boys

Bright, youthful, mostly kinda normal. This troupe stands out  for its overall lack of experience and its anime protag willingness to overcome hurdles. Most resembles the main team in a sports anime.

Sakuya Is baby. This boy is a golden retriever puppy that has yet to realize he's ended up in human form. Orphan street urchin with a heart of gold. He's kinda useless as an actor but he will ganba all the way until he makes it. Protect him. Mostly from himself.

Masumi A Giant Friggin Red Flag. Weirdly obsessed with MC. His personality apart from stalker syndrome is what I like to call 'the Kageyama Tobio': genius at one thing and uninterested or terrible at everything else. He is seemingly incapable of social interactions and at best uninterested in any of them apart from MC. Also really harsh on people who don't perform to his standards, which is almost everyone.

Tzuzuru The Self Sacrificing One. Look, this dude gave up most of his dreams to look after his siblings, and he literally joined you because otherwise he'd be sleeping in a cardboard box (Why are all these dudes street urchins?) Wants to be a playwright so he foregoes any semblance of sleep to finish scripts. Has the spinal cord of a jellyfish unless in Very Specific Cases. Cute when he pouts. Pouts a lot. Someone save him.

Itaru Jekyll and XxHydexX. Super cordial professional by day, game addict that will murder you for messing up his kill streak by night. He's So Friggin Pretty why is he a dick?? Doesn't really know if he's even into this theatre thing. You know he is. Of course he is. Calms down tremendously over the course of the arc, just don't, you know, get between him and his gamer score I guess.

Citron What the Foreigner. Mysterious foreign prince possibly on the run from his parents/the cops. Your theatre is a convenient hiding place for him, because obviously getting into showbiz is what you do when you want to remain anonymous. Speaks Japanese in a weird way. In fact, he sounds Exactly Like Utapri's Cecil despite having a different VA.  Quirky to a fault. Has potentially been trained as some kind of covert operative but is surprisingly cheerful about everything.

Summer Troupe: The Diva's

A group of highly talented dudes with varying degrees of social issues. Most resembles the cast of a smaller indie otome game.

Tenma The Arrogant One. A child actor from tv wanting to learn stage work. Has zero social skills. He's brash, completely full of himself and extremely critical of everyone else. Needs to learn the Power of Friendship which, spoiler, he obviously does, albeit in a very tsun kindof way. Can't let them know you care, ever.

Yuki Salt Personified. This kid is friggin 14 years old and wears dresses but he will rip you to shreds with his words. Winner of the most deadpan delivery of burns. He's in middle school ffs. Really into fashion. Resident costume designer. Potentially serves as a representation on gender roles in theatre, but the whole thing is fairly lowkey. The team, bless them, just accept him for who he is, sharp tongue and all.

Muku The Soft One. Another middle schooler, this one is way less sharp with his words. Into shoujou manga. Has severe insecurities and a propensity to start sentences with 'um'. Shaking leaf, what is he doing on a friggin stage. He actually has pink hair, could he BE any more squishy. Protecc.

Misumi The Weird One. I realize several characters fit that description, but Misumi is obsessed with triangles and lives in a  liminal space between realities so I don't know what to tell you. Also he's like… spiderman. Inhuman amount of acrobatics. Another homeless street urchin (Tokyo - is it Tokyo??? - appears to have an issue, guys). Sweet dude though. Chill and positive about everything, as long as it is triangular.

Kazunari The Influencer. Resident designer and bigshot on social media. He's down with Literally Everything. Likes everyone, is cool about every instance. Unerringly positive to an unhealthy degree. Really, Really conflict averse, even. You could call him painfully insecure, but that's like most of the cast. Wearer of hats in a non-ironic way.

Autumn Troupe: The Delinquents

This troupe consists almost entirely out of (ex) violent delinquents and (ex) criminals. The tough guys, no one here is totally innocent. Most resembles the cast of a beat-em-up.

Banri The Number One. Hotshot teenager who's never tasted defeat in his life. Good at anything without trying, so he never tries. Obsessed with outperforming Juza because he's like the one dude Banri can't beat at fisticuffs. Honestly kinda insufferable for most of their arc.

Juza The Lone Wolf. Cursed with a resting bitch face and an inability to perform in social settings. Considered a delinquent and constantly challenged to fights. Is actually sweet lamb, just with lots of muscles. Cripplingly low self esteem. Wants to act to be someone else. Protect at all costs.

Omi The Responsible one. Wait, that was an option?? Big brother type. Perfect son in law. A keeper. This guy is mature and he cooks and it makes me wonder what's wrong with him. There's probably a dark secret (narrator voice: there was a dark secret).

Taichi The Sunshine Child. Really into yoyo's. Like the toy, not the male subspecies. Has the hair colour and the vocal volume of a shonen jump protag. Bouncy and very loud. Feels way younger than the middle schoolers, though he's in high school.

Sakyo The Debt Collector. Actual yakuza agent. The one the theatre owes a lot of money too. Secretly really loves the performing arts, because of course he does. Massive tsun. I wasn't looking at you, baka. Should have been an accounting professor in another life. Wordy.

Winter troupe:The Drama Team.

No really, most of them have drama and angst written all over them. Only team that consists entirely out of actual adults. Angsty adults, but still. Most resemble the cast of a daytime soap opera.

Tasuku The Defector. The top actor from the rival gang troupe that joined Mankai instead. Fitness buff. Pretty clear about his boundaries for right and wrong. Sweet bean, really. Has a lot of emotions about his childhood friend Tsumugi. Seems to have a lot of feelings in general. Red oni type.

Tsumugi The Subdued one. Talks like a wallflower, looks like he got his fashion choices out of a high end french magazine from the eighties. One of the boring ones. Cinnamon roll. Blue oni. Massive self esteem issues due to past trauma. Weird relationship with his childhood friend Tasuku. They'll work it out, you know they will.

Hisoka The Narcoleptic. Literally washed up and adopted by the  theatre group that found him. Weirdly good at acting. Sleeps about 80 percent of the day. Needs to be poked and cajoled with treats. Might actually be a cat. Has no recollection of his life before he was picked off the street by a desperate director.

Homare The 'Extra AF'. A poet who dresses in loud costumes and has really stupid hair. Loud, overtly confident in his bad poetry and just generally confusing to watch. A Gentleman. Flamboyant. Kinda gay coded. Hisoka's crutch and the only reason that man is able to perform like a human being.

Azuma The Flirty One. A Cuddling Professional, because this is a teen rated game and we can't put in an actual prostitute or host. Unnaturally pretty. Indeterminate age. Sensitive. At least one of these dudes has empathetic abilities, may as well be the cute one. Extremely flirty and Experienced (tm) at life.