#i'm a theatre student i know how to do lighting

[ftdino]

dino + i love him 2/?

[anakinvoidwalker]

"...why can't I get anymore nice days"

{This is for the summer @morrotober event :D}

(I'M SORRY IM LATE I WASN'T IN THE COUNTRY)

pretty short lil fic, just a goofy lil idea

Summary: Morro getting ice cream with Wu and then being a theatre kid

Morro fiddled with the bandage wrapped around his left hand and arm, following barely a pace behind his Sensei as the two of them walked away from Mystake’s tea shop. Sensei Wu was the only one who had any evidence that they had been there at all as he held a brown paper bag in his left hand, the hand furthest away from Morro. He seemed to be holding the bag a bit tighter than necessary, Morro could see his knuckles going white along with the tension in his Sensei’s jaw.

The wind around Wu shifted as he sighed to himself before turning to look at Morro, whose head was down as continued to fiddle with the bandage, the wrapping threatening to come undone.

“You seem tense, Morro,” Sensei Wu observed as he strode forward, looking over his shoulder at his student. “Would you like to stop at Jamanakai for some ice cream as we walk home?”

Morro looked up at his Sensei with confusion, accompanied by his curiosity that would most likely get him killed later.

“I…” Hesitation was clear as Morro pondered what he was going to say and how his Sensei would react. “I do not know what ‘ice cream’ is, Sensei. Could you… please explain what it is?”

That caused Sensei Wu to pause, Morro almost walking into the back of him.

“Ice cream is a cold sweet that is usually white in colour-”  Wu had begun to walk again as he spoke, Morro no longer in toe, but instead walking along beside his Sensei- “flavoured with vanilla essence, the most common flavour. Ice cream is typically made from sweetened cream which is…”

Sensei Wu continued to explain what ice cream was to his youngest, and only, pupil as the two of them walked side-by-side to Jamanakai Village.

Upon reaching the mountains, with the thin sheets of snow adorning most roofs and less walked paths, Wu led Morro to the centre of the village. A little fountain stood in the middle of the village square, a small cart with a striped umbrella atop it.

As soon as Morro spotted the cart, he ran straight over to it, barely over to look over the bench, Wu chuckling lightly as he followed his son over to the ice cream cart.

The vendor wore a light blue shirt with a pastel pink apron over top, the colours perfectly matching the strips of the umbrella, with a little white dixie cup sitting firmly in his hair. The vendor cast a glance between the two who stood in front of his cart, before smiling happily at them. “What can I do for you two today?”

“Just two vanilla ice cream cones please.” Sensei Wu handed the vendor some money before the man put it in his bag and began making the ice creams.

Morro looked up at his Sensei before hugging him, muttering a quiet “thank you, Dad” before turning his head sideways to watch the vendor prepare the ice cream. 

As he watched, Wu patted him gently on the shoulder while smiling, knowing that Morro was not looking at him, not that it mattered, he loved his son.

Once the ice creams were reading, the man handed them both over to Sensei Wu, who smiled in return. “I hope you have a good day, young man.”

“Thank you, and I hope you and your son enjoy your ice creams,” the vendor replied with a little wave as Wu turned around and began walking away, Morro in hot pursuit.

The moment Morro caught up with his sensei, he was handed an ice cream, which he proceeded to bite immediately upon receiving.

After a few seconds, while Wu was studying his pupil’s reaction to the ice cream, Morro’s face contorted from one of sheer joy to one of pain as he pushed his free hand to his forehead. “Owwww… Sensei! You didn’t say it was going to hurt to eat the ‘I scream’,” he whined, rubbing his head as Wu laughed to himself, even though he tried to hide it from Morro. “Don’t laugh at me! You didn’t warn me!”

Sensei Wu continued to eat his ice cream as he laughed light-heartedly at his student before his face showed slight pain while he squinted his eyes shut, placing his own hand against his forehead.

It took Morro a moment to figure out what was going on, but once he did, both he and Wu broke out laughing. The two of them together wandered over to a bench at the edge of the village square, sitting down together, laughing and eating ice cream. The pain from the bee sting in Morro’s hand, long forgotten, the tea leaves discarded next to them, not to be worried about for a long while.

As the two finished off their ice creams, Wu moved to stand but paused when he felt a slight tug on the side of his gi. “Yes, Morro?” He turned to look at his son, who looked uncharacteristically… upset almost. “What is wrong?”

“I was wondering.. if…” Morro trailed off a little, he didn’t want to anger or disappoint his father. “If it would be possible to have ice cream again someday?”

Wu knelt in front of his pupil, who he looked in the eyes, before smiling softly at him. “Of course Morro, there will be lots of time for ice cream”

Morro’s face lit up immediately, a small grin adorning his face. “And other nice days like this?”

 “There will always be more nice days, all you have to do is want them.”

The two of them then began to walk, hand in hand, down the path back to the monastery as the wind around them picked up and dark clouds rolled in.

Slowly, the wind grew to a strong gale, the wooden pilings of the shaking, causing the houses atop the docks to wobble a little. Sensei Wu stood with the civilians, assisting them to get onto the ferry that would be escorting them to safety. As he was doing that, Nya, one of his new students, fought off the ghosts nearby while his other students were focusing on trying to stop the Cursed Realm herself closer to the centre of Stiix. As the dock got less and less crowded, Wu noticed one of the ghosts standing atop the roof of the ferry.

Morro watched as his pitiful Sensei tried to get all the people to safety, surely he knew it was in vain. A grin spread across his face as he watched Sensei Wu turn and notice him, visible pain, panic and grief overtaking his face as he looked up at his former student, whose grin only grew.

“Those nice days do not always come, do they Sensei? And now, I’ll make sure you don’t get them anymore either!”

[daceofs]

Mystic Falls High

Part 1

I honestly do not know what I am doing

~~~~~

"Paddd...muh...nee"

"Padhumanidhi Sundarrajan" I blurted stopping the counselor from making my ears bleed, "I am the new transfer student."

"Yeah that's what I said" she muttered, "You are signed up for...?"

I take a deep breath, "AP biology, Integrated Math, Racket Sports, Theatre, Drawing and Painting, AP World history, French and AP Literature."

I knew it by heart because each subject was hand picked. Ivy league here I come.

She flippantly gives me a form, "fill out your club applications."

I smiled. Tightly,

I look through it,  I need to pick a minimum of two and I know exactly what they are, I eagerly fill the applications for Photography and chess. I wanted to pick films, but previous experiences have thought me that film clubs in US are not fun at all.

Chess has Asians and Indians, whichever little population of them this back water town has.

I submit my forms and take my schedule with a smile. Inside I'm shaking.

I'm wearing a short red kurta and jeans, I have simple bracelet, two gold earrings, a small miniscule bottu and my hair is plaited into a single messy braid. I wore two until last year, but I'm 17 now, so I'll wear  a single braid. But that still gets me a few weird looks.

Thankfully, I have my earphones and my ipod, A birthday gift. Yeno Yeno from Aadhavan soothes my nerves as I scramble to my history class.

The teacher is late.

Apparently he's new too so he begins to introduce himself.

"ALARIC SALTZMAN"

The name on the board reads, then he begins to explain how to pronounce his name and honestly I wish I could do that.

But it would be of no use.

I sigh and gear up for a busy day.

~

A week later

I am at school, everyone is dressed up, I am wearing a hoodies and my hair is a bun. Everyone is going to the dance, I am going to the chess club. Because today is the last day to 'officiate' my membership by showing up. I didn't even have time until now and now it bit me in the ass.

It's not that I was missing the dance. My mum would have barely allowed, I would have been so out of place. It's just that.. I feel like a creepy stalker.

I navigate around the halls and rooms, trying my best to not be seen.

I just need to dump these books in my locker. Take my Ipod and go to the club. Someone had stayed behind today for me... because there was a dance, it was officially school hours. It was a rare chance and I should make use of it.

Determined I walk into the empty hallway.

And.. immediately regret it.

Two, decidedly hot but also kind of creepy guys are right at the end of hall standing at the entrance to the small eatery with the vending machine.

The guy who is good at history, Stefan... I remind myself and another guy. He's older and creepier.

And they....

are both looking at me.

Vary.

It lights up my nerves on fire.

"Padmuh" Stefan asks. Oh god he knows my name, that's how he butchered it so well. I'm going to die. This is so awkward.

"Yeah?" I answer fidgeting.

"This is like shady parts of a city right now, what are you doing here?" the man asking is smiling but I know that it's not an innocent question at all. I can sense it. I just don't know why.

"Uhhh" I mutter, my lip curling in confusion, "this is my locker." I point at it. What is happening?

"Padmuh" Stefan starts again, ugh, that is not my name, "Why didn't you go to the decade dance?"

Am I being interrogated?

"It's just everyone is there.." he elaborates.

"Oh I couldn't go... I have work" I explain.

He nods.

I walk to my locker. The other one is staring at me, Stefan smacks him and he stops and turns to look at him. I shove my books in the locker. I take my ipod and walk away from there like I'm running away from an animal.

The entire time I could feel someone's eyes on me.

The experience grates on me and I drag my tired body to the club. I just want some peace and quiet until I finish this.

I step in and there is music... blaring...

"Devudaaa..

(Oh god)

Naa mathi chedipoyenu poorthiga,

(My mind has completely gone to ruin)

Ayanaa..."

(Yet)

(Noppi noppi song from Pokiri 2006)

Well at least it's not some rock garbage, it's a good song. I step in to the club room. With a strained smile that says 'touch me and I'll kill you.'

There is a single boy in the classroom and... he is Indian.

"Baagundhi haay-"

(It feels good-)

He pauses the song listening to my steps and goes rigid. The strain leaves a little from my smile.  He looks up and relaxes. He stands up and awkwardly extends his hand, my smile is not strained anymore.

"Hey"

"Hey"

I shake his hand, "Padhumanidhi Sundarrajan! Call me Padhma"

"Venkat Ghattamaneni" he follows.

"A telugu guy huh?" I ask, he gives a 'yeah' with a smile and I follow with, "I'm a tamilian."

"You're the only one here?"  I ask as we both sit down by something that looks like a table. I take out my bottle and start drinking some water.

"There were two other members, one transferred and the other..."

"Left?"

"Died!"

I spit out the water I was drinking and coughed. He laughed dryly despite himself and gently patted on my head.

"I was not expecting that!" I said still sputtering.

He sighed, "It was an animal attack, I wasn't in town... I didn't even know her name."

"Hmm" I hummed in thought, "sorry though."

We had nothing better to do... so we talked.

He told me that he had started living in the town three months prior. But was out of town for a week. His father's friend/colleague's daughter's wedding.

He'd just got back.

I told him I moved here a week ago.

That I missed my country and I missed my elder sister. She'd gotten into Yale.

He told me had an elder sister, she got into IIM and was back home.

He missed her terribly.

We had history, theatre, racket sports, integrated math and French together.

"Wait you were going to stay at the Salvatore boarding house?" He asked surprised.

"Yeah" I said with a chuckle, "We didn't find a house yet, the motels weren't good at all. But it cost an arm and a leg and my mum got really bad vibes."

"I am even surprised that you got to talk to someone in the house" he chuckled, "The guy from history, Stefan, I assume you know him, he's really good. He lives there apparently and they don't get customers. Like at all!"

"Wow" I exclaimed, "Good thing my dad asked around before trying to check in."

"Yeah... Good thing" he agreed.

Soon the session ended, we absolutely did nothing.

Then my dad called, he'd come to pick me up. By this time the school was already empty.

He was waiting at the entrance with an umbrella.

He smiled as soon as he saw me and I smiled back. It was a mild drizzle but I still got under the umbrella.

"How was the session ma?" He asked holding me around my shoulders.

"Semma pa" I grinned, "I made a friend."

(It was great)

Venkat had come out too. He was wearing a rain coat over his jacket.

I showed him to my dad.

My dad waved.

"Vanakkam uncle" he waved back, "I'm Venkat."

(Hello)

I cocked my brows in shock.

"My mum is half Tamilian... So, I'm quarter Tamilian" he explains with a smirk.

I look to my dad and smile, "Avuna sare ayithe..."

(Oh okay then)

This time he is shocked.

"My atha married a Telugu guy when I was 7" I explain.

Then a car pulls up behind ours and he goes, "that's my father."

A man around my dad's age gets out of the car also wearing a rain coat.

My dad and him exchange a hello and something about the roads in the town.

~

Around two weeks later

Venkat's family had come over to ours for dinner. My mum and his mum connected as the only Indian aunties in the entire town.

We lived in the same street, a few houses apart.

So, we were neighbors and to be family friends.

"Ma... can me and Venkat go for a walk while you guys talk?" I plead.. no beg.

She gives me a stern smile, "Walk where?"

"Just out" I say in a small voice, trying to give her puppy eyes.

"Don't go out of town" She says.

I nod dutifully and then walk out with a smile to my dad and Venkat's parents.

Venkat does the same and follows me out.

We lived on the near edge of the town, so it was more like don't go out of the block.

"So, where should we go?" he askes me just as we're out of the house.

"You're the host" I answer, "to this walk.. you should decide"

"Remember that Salvatore boarding house?"

"Hmm hmm"

"It's right around the lane" he reveals, "we could walk until the property, look at what gave your mother bad vibes and come back."

"Sure" I chirp.

We start on the way, "So, how's the town?" he asks.

"It's okay" I answer.

"Okay as in I am getting used to it and it's gonna be great or I hate it but I have to get used to it" he asks with a mischievous smile.

I mirror it and answer, "One of those."

He laughs. I join him.

"It's just that it's so different from India, from home, this town doesn't even have a theatre" I whine, "it might have a prissy theatre but it's not gonna play any Indian movies."

"You like movies?" he asks. "A lot" I answer, "Especially Indian movies. You don't?"

"I looove them" he almost purrs.

"There's this new movie coming out" I say, enthusiasm filling me, "It's a Telugu movie. You probably know it."

"Which one?" he asks, curious and excited.

I think for it's telugu name, then it strikes me, "Magadheera" I announce.

"Ohh" he mirrors my excitement, "I am madly waiting for it."

"But how do we watch it" I dampen the mood, "it's not gonna play around here."

"It will play in Cincinnati" he points out, "it's a few hours  from here."

"My parents will never agree" I say rolling my eyes.

"Well neither will mine" he joins in, "but we could ask nicely. There's a train."

"One can try" I cave into his hope, "how do we do it?"

"Sudden perfect grades, chores.. what else?" He schemes.

"That should do it" I confirm, "We'll see if it works."

We're about to enter the property and we can see the boarding house from here.

"Ta da" he  says pointing at it.

"That" I mutter, "is definitely haunted."

"I know right" he chuckles.

Then we hear it. A strange rustle with a rush of air, it's not human.

Then it happens again, and..

"Jai hanuman gyan guna sagar, jai kapeesha tihun loka ujaagar

Rama dhoota athulitha baladhama, anjani putra pavana sutanamaa"

(Hanuman Chalisa)

(Hail hanuman who is an ocean of knowledge, who is from the kapi clan and who is known in all three worlds…

Rama’s messenger, strong beyond comprehension, the son of anjana and the heir of the god of wind.)

Venkat nearly screams, I look at him ready to laugh, but he is completely serious and gesturing at me to move. So,

"Mahaveera vikrama Bajrangi, Kumati Nivaara Sumati Ke Sangi

Kanchan varsna viraaja Subesaa, Kanan kundal kunchit kesa"

(Greatest of warriors, valiant as thunder, friend to the good and exterminator of the bad)

I sing with him as we kind of, no, definitely ran from there.

We're at  "Raghupati Kinhi Bahut Badaai, Tum Mama Priya Bharata Sama Bhaii" by the time we reach the road and then he stops, so I stop.

(Rama gave you the greatest praise, ‘you are as dear to me as my dear brother bharat’)

Then I start laughing while I am panting and he's just panting.

"Did you seriously just scream Hanuman Chalisa?" I ask him, incredulous and near hysteric.

"I did not scream it" he says, weakly.

I laugh some more.

"It worked didn't it" he points out.

"That it did!"

~

What on God's Green earth was that?

Damon has been alive for lot more than a century and this is the first time, he had seen such a reaction when he preys on someone.

He was so weirded out that he didn't even eat them.

"Only in mystic falls" he muttered as he vamped back to boarding house.

"Found anything" Stefan asked now changed from the shirt Frederick stabbed him in, but still wincing and favoring the side.

"This is exactly why I tell you to drink people blood"  he pointed out again.

Stefan gives him a bitch face. Well your loss baby brother, just don't bleed on my carpet again, just don't bleed again.

"No sign of any tomb vamps" he says, then pauses, considers.

"but?" Stefan asks, "There is a but, I feel that but."

"I saw that girl from the other day" I confess.

"Padmuh?" he asks.

"Yeah she was with an Indian boy" I continue.

"Whenkat?" He asks again.

"You know him?" I ask him back, I could do with information like that.

"How many 17 year old high school going Indian boys are there in this town?" He deadpans.

"Well something is weird about them" I brush him off, "I tried to scare them..."

"Damon" Stefam admonishes.

"They were on the property, right after two vampires tired to attack us unprovoked on a perfectly good evening" I droll the dangers into his dense head.

"They were on the property?" Stefan asks puzzled.

"Just outside" what does it matter duh! "The point is they're suspicious. The boy came into town with you and the girl came into town with Alaric. They might be working with Noah!"

"Damon" Stefan whines, "they both have families. They are perfectly normal. They-"

"How are they in school?" I cut him off.

Stefan rolls his eyes. Rude, "Well they're polite, nice. They're very studious and have strict parents. They mostly keep to themselves though."

"We saw her right after the dance being all sketchy. They weren't at the dance. They weren't at the desirable bachelor thing."

"Because it was for people in mid 20s like you... there were rarely any kids present" he counters again.

"Well then explain this brother... the day I didn't get Katherine out of tomb... every stupid child in the town was at Dull or Duke or whatever's party. Except for them" Damon presents fool proof evidence.

"Strict parents Damon"  Stefan drawls.

"I still think they're fishy... they don't act like regular students" I emphasise.

"They're not regular students" Stefan points out, "both are emigrants and exchange students."

Yeah sure Sherlock

~

Hindsight is such a bitch.

Stefan is now an anti therapeutic punching bag and he needs Van Helsing ripoff and little miss Katniss to get him out.

He manages to goad the hunter/teacher into helping them. He shows them stuff he had specifically brought  to kill Damon and oh goodie how useful.

They each stock themselves and come up with a fool proof contingency plan.

Well it's not fool proof but he doesn't have the time for it.

I exit the room, Alaric and Elena on my heels and there she is.

The suspicious girl from other night.

She doesn't look like a hermit this time but she shouldn't even be here.

When he's making a plan to get his vampnapped brother out.

I give a smile which is actually a sneer and she clutches the books in her hands tight as if they could offer any protection.

Alaric jumps in, unnecessarily, "Padmuh... what are you doing here? It's not a school day.."

"Mr Saltzman" she greets him, then continues, "Ms Jones asked me if to help her with a project for extra credit."

She looks at Elena and fidgets.

I roll my eyes with a sigh. Have we learned nothing?

"Were you eavesdropping on us? Answer truthfully" I compel her.

"Damon" I hear Elena... Gee Elena, it's not like we have the clock ticking to a rescue and cannot risk any failures.

"Chiii" the girl exclaims, uhm, then she continues, "why would I ever do that?"

(Ewww)

"Well then I want you to forget this conversation" I compel again.

"I want that too, I'll try" she replies with barely hidden disdain.

You'll what...

"I'm sorry, we were just doing some founder's business" Elena covers immediately. Ooh clever.

Except she's on Vervain Elena.

"Yeah no problem" she says in a rush and sidesteps me.

Before I can act, "We need to go" Elena drags me ahead.

"She's on Vervain" I hiss.

"We can worry about that later"  she hisses back.

"Paagal Saale" I hear a murmur. Is she hexing us?

(Lunatic bitch)

But I feel nothing and I don't have time for this now. So, I comply.

~

Founders day rolls around and hell breaks loose.

Damon is still greedily gulping his blood bag. He reeks of ash and smoke and hates it with every fibre of being.

He feels Stefan's eyes on him and that grates him even more.

"What were you doing down there?" he manages to ask. He knew Stefan wasn't down there, he'd checked, it was the first thing he did.

"Saving your ass" comes the answer.

"Why?" he wants to know.

"You're my brother... Go Figure" Nonchalance huh brother it doesn't suit you.

He doesn't even say it out loud. Just gives a listless smile.

"That went so well" someone squeals and they both become alert.

'Went well?' what kind of diabolical-

"We should do that again" some else says and they're bloody chuckling and he wants to snap their neck.

"Who was that?" he grates, "Someone from council?"

"Has to be" Stefan says, the tomb vampires are all dead after all.

"We should plan it better though" he can hear it better now and he knows it's a girl and he's heard her before.

"Yeah it got quite late" the other one's a boy and he's heard him too.

"Yeah well..." the rest turns into garble as a taxi stops by them.

"Padmuh" Stefan realises, "and Whenkat!"

They're too weak and slow to follow them now, "We've got to deal with them."

"Damon" Stefan chides.

"You heard them" Damon hisses, "they had a plan, it went well... who knows what they did!"

~

"So... we watched Magadheera" Padhma squeals into her phone, "Akka it was so good."

(Big sister)

"Wow" Maitreyi, her sister replies equally enthusiastic, "You sound like you enjoyed it a lot. How was Cincinnati?"

"It was okay" she answered, "better than this backwater town."

"I wish we could have watched it together" Maitreyi says with a small whine.

"Next time come to Cincinnati" she suggests.

"Or I'll take you all to New York" Maitreyi counters.

"Brilliant" she chirps.

They chat for a few more minutes before hanging up, she comes down to the living hall.

Her parents are talking about something seriously.

"Ma" she asks tentatively, "everything okay? How was the celebration?"

"It was great kanna" her mother answers, "but there was an accident. The mayor died."

(Sweetheart)

"Oh" her eyes widen in shock, "that's so sad."

"Yeah" her father sighs, patting her shoulder, "We're all going to the memorial tomorrow."

"Should we take anything?" her mother ponders.

"Lasagna, apparently" Her father answers.

"That is so weird" her mom says and they all chuckle.

How very morbid!

~

"Hey there's Tyler" Venkat says taking a sip of water, everything else is alcoholic here and their parents would kill us if they as much as drank a glass. They're at the memorial, the entire town is.

Their parents are talking to other adults and after the formalities, here they are, in the garden.

"Oh yeah" Padhma ponders, "should we go say hi?"

"We don't even know the guy" He points out.

"It's a minimum curtesy" She counters.

Their argument comes to moot when he walks inside the house, away from the crowd with a guy who just arrived, must be a relative.

"Well" he smirks. She shakes her head. The she smiles.

"Oh hey there's coffee" she chirps. He perks up, "Now you don't have to worry about feeding only water to your manly body."

"I never said that" he says abashed.

"No?" she teases. She picks up a cup of it, with a straw in the lid and hands it to him. He takes it with a tip of an absent hat.

He sips it and immediately spits it out.

Padhma looks at him startled, then looks around embarrassed. He collects himself and stops sputtering. They both look around before he puts the cup aside.

She clicks her tongue and rolls her eyes, "Wow!"

He raises his finger to point in his defense, "It was hot and there was no milk. Why are they serving espressos at a funeral?"

"Would you prefer they served Iced caramel lattes?" she asks with a huff.

"As a matter of fact" he answers, "yes!"

~

"No" This idiot. We watched it all happen, they're frolicking chatting something we can't catch and he's still in denial.

"Stefan, listen" Damon implores despite himself, "he took a sip of coffee and spit it out. The coffee has vervain in it. That's exhibit 1, Exhibit 2... the other day I couldn't compel her. Exhibit 3, she was being shady in an empty hallway. You were right there, Exhibit 4-"

"Damon" Stefan sighs, "you're spiraling. The other day you were convinced that they were in the council. Now you're convinced he's a vampire and she's a witch. This isn't fanfiction Damon."

"No little brother" Damon drawls, "This is our very real messed up life which is why there are no coincidences. Especially because Katherine is here."

"Fine" Stefan relents, finally, "there's a high school carnival tonight..."

"We'll take care of them there" Damon finishes.

"No" Ugh, Stefan, "We'll investigate."

"Fine" Damon relents, "how do we know they'll show up, given everything they've... skipped?"

"I'll invite them" Stefan answers.

Well...

~

They're, embarrassingly, chuckling like teenagers when Venkat sees Stefan approach them.

"Oh shit" he mutters.

She follows his sight and her eyes widen, she hits him lightly and mumbles, "I told you this wasn't appropriate behavior."

She turns to Stefan who is now standing just a couple feet before them, "We're sorry. We know this is disrespectful."

Surprisingly, he chuckles, "Oh no.. I know funerals can be boring, especially when you know no one."

"Yeah" Venkat nods with a guilty smile, "but we're still sorry."

"Don't worry about it" Stefan says, "I'm not policing you guys."

She gives him a strained smile, he continues, "I was just wondering why you guys didn't show up to the Founder's day celebrations..."

"Oh yeah" she drawls, they skipped it, "We were out of station. Our parents went, initially we were supposed to come too but well our schedules clashed."

"Your schedules clashed?" He asked confused, "What happened?"

"Well" Venkat answered, "We went to Cincinnati to watch a movie."

Stefan looks baffled, "you went to Cincinnati.. to.. watch a movie?"

At the expense of not sounding crazy, Padhma continues, "It's an Indian movie. It doesn't play around here."

"Oh" he almost sighs, "I see. You guys like movies huh?"

Venkat shrugs and Padhma chuckles. "I like them too" he continues.

"Really?" Venkat asks and Padhma follows, "are you in the film club here?"

"No" Stefan says with a dry laugh, "listen there's a school Carnival tonight. I'm sure you know.. are you planning to come?"

"Uhm" she mumbles not knowing what to say.

"You should come" he implores.

"We will come" Venkat answers, "thanks for the invite Stefan."

He nods with a smile, they smile back and he leaves.

"You think they'll agree?" Padhma turns to Venkat.

"Sure they will" Venkat answers, "It's a high school event and we've been on our best behaviour."

~

"Well played Fincher" Damon teases him as soon as he comes back, "smooth."

"We have to find out who the 'they' they were referring to is." Stefan says not playing that game.

"We will" Damon smirks.

~

"This is the worst high school carnival of my life" Damon says phantom dusting his pants.

"This is the only high school carnival of your life" Stefan points out standing beside him.

"Har har Stefan" Damon bites. Stefan smirks.

"So... we've got problems 1,2,3 covered... moving on to problem 4... where are the brown love birds?" Damon quips.

"I did spot them earlier, they were playing some games" Stefan answers, "They should be around."

"Let's go find them" Damon smirks all evil debauchery in glory.

Finding two shifty possibly humans or maybe vampires should be easy for two fine vampires such as the Salvatores.

Except they've combed the entire ground and haven't found a whiff of trace.

"Where are they?" Damon almost shouts, annoyed.

"They'll be here.. they'll be here.." Stefan placates.

"Who are you searching for?" Elena asks them having seen the fuss.

"Have you seen Padmuh and Whenkat?" Stefan asks her, in a 'this is important but don't worry' tone.

"Padmuh and Whenkat?" She asked.

"Yes" Damon hissed, "the Indians."

"They left" she stated.

"They left?" Stefan asked, incredulous.

"Yeah.." she said confused, "something about a curfew."

Stefan looks at Damon, completely exasperated.

"Curfew?!" Damon bites, borderline hysterical, "IT'S 9:30!!"

To be continued

Part 2 https://www.tumblr.com/daceofs/767922715345764352/so-we-start-from-season-2-episode-3-season

[siena-sevenwits]

Goodness of the Day

Very quiet office hours - I had time to really wake up.

I was very stressed out today, but i was so grateful for how supportive my mom was, encouraging me, hearing me out, hugging me, praying with me, challenging me.

I made it through the anxiety and accomplished the tasks I needed to, including a phone call which by all rights was not that big a deal, but which had made me lose sleep and given me bad dreams in the lead-up, and twisted my stomach in knots while it was happening. All is relatively well now, and I'm grateful for your prayers, people. I know God used them.

@praise-the-lord-im-dead finished an illustration I commissioned from her, and it turned out incredibly! I can't tell you how excited I was by it! It's meant to accompany a chapter excerpt from The Brilliant Hour, so I hope to share it once I'm happy enough with that chapter to let the light of day see it. This will speed me along, because I'm so eager to show you what she did with it. Go commission her - she's awesome.

Broke up the work overwhelm with readings from An Illusion of Wings, Wind and Truth, and Rory Thorne.

Listened to a bit of an audio drama with Sebastian.

Encouraging conversations with friends.

Pulled a bunch more costumes from my theatre storage to send to my sister for consideration. I have a million Victorian and Edwardian style hats ready for just such a time as this.

Another student entered the poster contest.

I am going to be so tired at school tomorrow, but I am just so excited to be with the kids instead of in an online classroom or doing report cards. Time in person with my students is one of the great joys of my life.

[cuteniarose]

A conversation I had with my sister this evening, transcribed from memory:

Vi: So Giovanni doesn't feel too strongly about gay people either way EXCEPT when it comes to either Jessie, James and Meowth, or his son, then he quickly becomes homophobic

Me: ...His son?

Vi: Silver?

Me: Who?

Vi: Silver? The Gen 2 rival?

Me: First time I'm hearing of him. All I know about Giovanni's family is that silly theory that he's Ash's father

Vi: HOW do you NOT KNOW Silver??

Me: Do you really think I'm so well versed in Pokemon lore that I'm aware of ANYTHING going on in Gen 2???

Vi: I infodump about Pokemon all the time to you!!

Me: Yeah, but NEVER about Gen 2!!! And come on, cut me some slack, it's not like you know anything about stuff I'm obsessed with

Vi: You mean the mess you made of LoK canon? I know enough about that!!

Me: Like what?

Vi: ......Is Ming-Hua still a swampbender in your AU or did that get retconned?

Me: She is

Vi: Okay good, so that, and uhhhhhhh..... Suiren and Midori are sisters and Mingzan's kids, Suiren has a thing with Kuvira, and......

Me, after some silence: Is that it?

Vi: Well it's not like there's a wiki detailing all the intricacies of your multiverse!!

Me: I did make a masterpost on tumblr about it

Vi: Seriously?

Me: Yeah, because Sydney was interested

Vi: ...Who's Sydney? I know that's not the name of your doctor friend

Me: And what's the name of my doctor friend?

Vi: Kat

Me: Oh, you actually remember

Vi: So she didn't have some kind of realization and decide to change her name?

Me: No, Sydney and I met not too long ago, she's obsessed with Wan, Raava and Vaatu–

Vi: Why do you always find friends with the nichest interests imaginable??

Me: It's a gift. Anyway, she was interested in my multiverse and I got invested in the modern AU she returned to recently after like, ten years. She even let me insert a few OCs into it!

Vi: .....Are Raava and Vaatu still giant spirit kites in the modern AU, or are they human?

Me: They're human

Vi: OH THANK GOD I was scared there'd be some kind of Lovecraftian eldritch horror thing involved. I'm struggling to imagine them as humans though

Me: Well, Raava is a perfect student and piano prodigy who started rebelling in her teens, and Vaatu is her childhood frenemy who's an overdramatic theatre kid Light Yagami kinnie. And all of them smoke weed

Vi, with a half confused, half outraged stare: ....what?

Me: An american thing, apparently? Sydney's from Ohio, they told me that pretty much everyone they know has smoked weed and done at least one other kind of drug before. They even offered to help out if I ever need to write characters using drugs or whatever

Vi, looking absolutely flabbergasted at this point: Ooooo...kayyyy, then..... and here I thought the spirit kites smoke weed because then you can make a pun that they're high as a kite

Me: ...That's dumb

Vi: And everyone smoking weed isn't?

Me: Not everyone! Suiren doesn't smoke weed!!

Vi: Whatever. And now I'm picturing them smoking in their kite forms. They can stick the blunt into that rhombic shape with the dot they have on their fronts

Me: THOSE ARE THEIR EYES

Vi: WELL HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT? And I'm pretty sure that's something you lot made up and not canon. Besides, I just finished reading The Kite Runner for school, I definitely know more about kites than you do

Me: Can we drop the high kites topic now?

Vi: K, sure. So, you have a new friend who used an unspecified number of drugs in the past. Great company you're keeping

Me: ....She also showed me her tits once

Vi, going all red in the face: SHE WHAT?????

Me: NOT LIKE THAT. SHE'S A PHOTOGRAPHER AND IT WAS ARTISTIC NUDITY

Vi: You know what? None of my business. Go indulge in your weird modern AU where the spirit kites are human and everyone smokes weed except for Suiren– hey, how does Suiren fit into this?

Me: You know how I said Vaatu is a Light Yagami kinnie? He's convinced that Wan is the L to his Light, his arch nemesis, all that. He quotes Light's monologues all the time and Suiren is his Ryuk. She watches him behaving like a freak, munches on some snack in the corner and enables him because it's fun

Vi: Ah, so she's the kind of friend who's only a friend on the surface and will bail as soon as shit starts going down? I mean, Light asked Ryuk for help exactly once and Ryuk straight up killed him

Me: No, she's actually a pretty good friend, at least when it came to letting Vaatu borrow a skirt and lipstick when he realises he's transfem

Vi: ...YOU MADE THE EVIL CHAOS SPIRIT KITE TRANSFEM???

Me: IT WASN'T MY IDEA I'm just going along with it. Turns out he never wanted to date Raava, he wanted to BE Raava. Why, is that a problem?

Vi: No, just... do you realise how nuts that sounds out of context? LoK's Book 2 antagonist has a gender crisis and realises she's transfem and the one who helps her feel gender euphoria is the daughter of LoK's Book 3 antagonists. Does that not sound INSANE to you?

Me: No?

Vi, after a long suffering sigh: And here I thought what you did to LoK couldn't get any worse... [in reference to the modern AU in general, NOT transfem Vaatu]

TL;DR: @rokurookajima somehow became the topic of conversation between my sister and me for a good 10 minutes :P

[https-hunter]

I saw the wicked national tour today and I have Thoughts

Bear in mind that I did see it on broadway eight years ago. That being said, my memory of it is a little fuzzy because I was 12 and didn't know the story going in.

The costume & set design?? oh my god. The costumes were so funky and very very Oz. And the sets were amazing!! Since it's an official tour of the show, it was very similar to the one on broadway, but still. It's been 20 years and wicked stays having amazing design.

I cried. At the very beginning. Little thing about me, I cry at the opening numbers of live theatre. I was fighting off tears for the entirety of no one mourns the wicked, but the second Elphaba showed up on stage, the tears came DOWN. I love her so much

Glinda and Elphaba, and the whole cast, really, were amazing!! Elphaba was played by Olivia Valli, Frankie Valli's granddaughter, and she was incredible! And Celia Hottenstein had amazing vocals (and was honestly quite hilarious) as Glinda! She had me laughing out loud. Just a really phenomenal cast

Boq was so silly in act 1. His actor, Kyle McArthur, just had this energy to him and I was always looking at him when he was onstage during the shiz scenes

This is kinda unrelated, but during the shiz scenes, I couldn’t stop thinking of a ride the cyclone production where the choir is dressed like shiz students. It would be fun I think

My crush, or whatever it is, on Fiyero is going on eight years strong. I don't know, I'm aroace, and I know I'm not INTO him, but oh do I love that idiot. It's not romantic or sexual attraction, but a secret third thing. My feelings for Fiyero Tigelaar and Han Solo do keep me on my toes as an aroace

I literally shook my mom's arm when Fiyero came onstage for the first time.

I spoke about the sets, but the Emerald City was gorgeous. The bright, green lights made my jaw drop. The wizard mask...thingy...was pretty unnerving, but I think that was what they were going for. Just. Emerald City appreciation post

I almost cried again, this time during defying gravity. Honestly, I had goosebumps for the majority of the show

My heart was fluttering during as long as your mine. I am and always will be a fiyeraba girly

During curtain call, Elphaba and Fiyero made a funny face at each other. I don't know how to describe it but they were like 😗 except their backs were almost facing each other, so they were facing in opposite directions, but still making that face at each other. I may have to draw this out one day

I loved this show so so much. It was amazing and I’m so grateful that my mom was able to come out to where I go to college and take me 💕

[the-space-jesus]

♪ Rehearsal 8 & 9 ♪

The rest of the cast totally knows that I'm doing this (well, the two people that are on Tumblr XD) and definitely don't find it creepy that I post about our experiences on here.../j

Grouping these two rehearsals together because damn, it's been a while. I don't remember all that's happened because rehearsal 8 was TWO WEEKS AGO, and rehearsal 9 was a week ago. Well, if it isn't the passage of time.

Rehearsal 8

In the drama room once again, starting off with repeating the choreo for WTWN! Personally, I think we've perfected it. Now we just have to learn how to sing it...yaaaaayyyy...(before joining this musical I was always a theatre WITHOUT songs person so my singing isn't the best). The drama teacher was in the room like a good 90% of the rehearsal and I can now say, with pride, that our musical and choreo is Drama Teacher Approved™! He even gave us some tips about directing our energy to the audience and about the dancing. He was just messing around with the lights and stuff like 90% of our rehearsal, or reading his little documents. We also practiced the scene after Noel's Lament, where apparently I have to hold an accordion :'). Noel couldn't make it to this rehearsal so we used a chair in his place, problem solved! And every time that he had to say something one of us just said it.

Rehearsal 9

This rehearsal was also in the drama room, very fun. This time, I had brought my CRRRRRUUUUTCHES!! In our production, Ricky's crutches are called Captain Kirk and Yoda, to make more sense to our current audience. One problem though. I had nowhere to leave them the entire day! So guess what I did? I pretended that I genuinely needed crutches and had a broken leg. Of course, when somebody asked me if I had genuinely broken something I said "No, it's for theatre.", but I had multiple times where teachers and students would hold the door open for me! I didn't have the heart to tell them that I'm not actually injured hahaha...So, how did I go up the endless flights of stairs in our school? Simple. I lift my crutches or carry them in my hand and receive MULTIPLE side-eyes of different people.

When it was finally time for the rehearsal, I went with Ocean to her locker, because she got us all donuts!! Thank you Ocean. Then we had to go up some stairs to get to the main hall and the drama room, and per usual I lifted my crutches up so that I can walk up the stairs without falling to my demise, and a group of boys who just so happen to also be on said stairs start yelling like 'HEY!' and "FAKER!" and I was like 'They're not real, they're for our theatre play!' Keep in mind that I have never spoken these boys in my life. And they were like 'Yeah, sure.' in a really sarcastic tone, like genuinely why tf would I fake having crutches what advantages does this give me. But honestly I just thought this was really funny, a bunch of classmates were also like 'Why don't you just leave them somewhere' and I had to answer multiple times with a simple 'Because I felt like it!'.

Realization that this is becoming mostly focused on my crutches...but the rehearsal wasn't that interesting. We did the choreo for Fall Fair Suite again, this time with crutches. We also learned some new choreo for Noel's Lament, which I'm super excited to do, we haven't really got a hang of the choreo yet but I think it'll look awesome when we do. Fun fact that I don't think I've ever mentioned, we do not copy the choreo of any other production, we make our own! Of course it's loosely based on other people's choreo, but it is still unique. And badass.

That's all! I also have an extra long rehearsal today and tomorrow, so yay. (Wish me luck I did NOT study my lines for today or my choreo...)

-Ricky Potts🖖

[the-hollyday]

The Bitch is Back

Admittedly this is a wild title for someone who had absolutely zero presence or following on this website in the past, despite spending unending hours reblogging pictures of old cameras and cigarettes when I was a teenager and early university student. But I'm back.

Everything feels quite different, I'm finding myself having to search directory items for functions that I could do with my eyes closed when I was 16; "where are my drafts", "are likes default public or private". Other questions you can't google as easily. Is it uncool to use a free blog theme? How are you viewed in the microcosm culture of the website for using a picture of your real face instead of a character or avatar?

The main drive to get back in to tumblr was to escape from twitter, which I was starting to feel like was making me stupider. There are two accounts I'll miss: my friend Autumn who posts photos of her beautiful sewing and quilting projects (she tufted a chair the other day??? She's so cool.) and that menswear guy who's always dunking on people wearing bad suits.

The other main reason was that I want to write. And I want to write about me. I'm trying to develop some more language and attention-span improving habits; my partner Jethro sat down on the couch with me the other day and told me that he was starting to feel worried about the amount of time I'm spending just aimlessly scrolling before getting up to start my day in the mornings. I agree with him, and it's not even like the habit makes me feel good. It's just void stuffing. We'll start with a migration to a new website where I can write longform. But, you know, wherever you go, there you are.

That's right, Poorly Translated Mod Caroline.

It's felt like a much busier summer than it actually has been, but pockets of very high activity have left me feeling exhausted frequently. My brother in law Fionn came to stay with us from Toronto for a couple days so we took him out to experience some true Vancouver culture: shooting pool and drinking two pitchers of beer at the Ivanhoe.

We also stuffed him full of good pasta and bread at my favourite Italian place before putting him on the plane back home.

I love dive bar graffiti.

I also completed annual summer maintenance at my theatre. We usually put on movies while we clean lights and this year the request was for 1954 Godzilla. This was a really interesting watch (that I'm not prepared to fully tackle in this post) but suffice to say I did not expect to cry while watching a movie I believed to be primarily about a giant lizard. Or how hard it would be to try and read subtitles while you're trying to clean lights.

The last big summer 2024 adventure is quickly on the horizon, Jethro and I fly to Japan a week from today for my first trip off continent. I'm very excited, and also a little scared. I'm a worrier by nature so it's been a productive exercise in preventing worry by action rather than succumbing to procrastination, but also the letting go of things that just aren't that important. And I'm sure I'll find new things to worry about once I'm there.

[phanfictioncatalogue]

Classroom Setting Masterlist

Bad Boys Don’t Smile��(wattpad) - phanci

Summary: Phil Lester is sweet and cute; known for his kindness and enthusiasm. Dan Howell is a tough, cold outsider; known as the school’s stereotypical ‘bad boy’. But if he’s so bad, then why on earth did he rescue Phil Lester and give him a smile which would melt anyone’s heart?

Don’t Touch Me - awesomesockes

Summary: Dan has developed PTSD after being kidnapped two years ago. Phil knows how to deal with him tries to help him whenever he’s feeling bad.

Exposed - multifandomfanfics

Summary: Ridgewell High School is known for its fast spreading rumours. So when someone starts a blog dedicated to outing people’s secrets, everyone becomes paranoid that theirs will be next.

Grey Areas and Expectations (ao3) - celestialfics (orphan_account), danthrusts

Summary: When Mr. Howell and Mr. Lester both start their first years of teaching in America at the same time, the students notice their mutual British accents and immediately get to work snooping, observing, and theorizing. The curiosity of the students added to the constant "threat" of fellow teacher Ms. Christensen equals nothing short of a chaotic school year full of memes, plants, and maybe a little bit of needed privacy in the teachers’ lounge closet.

Heard It’s Good Luck - DontForgetToPanic

Summary: “Is it for luck,” Phil asks, “or does this constitute bribery?” Where Dan’s a uni student, Phil’s his TA from last semester, their old lecture hall is conveniently empty, and this is all just gratuitous PWP

Houseplants, Fairy Lights and You (ao3) - thatsthephan

Summary: Dan's a bored Sociology professor. His life gets a lot more interesting when a new Botany professor moves into the classroom next door. Plus, it's Valentine's Day, and the students sense love in the air.

I Wanna Sleep Next To You (but that's all i want to do right now) (ao3) - unshipping

Summary: There is nothing more in the entire world that Dan loves more than he loves Phil’s laugh. He adores hearing it echoing through the hallways of the high school they both work in, and he can’t help but smile every time he catches a whisper of it through their shared classroom wall. Even muffled, it radiates pure joy and energy. Phil is a ball of sunshine, and everyone who works with him, is taught by him, or interacts with him for more than a millisecond is acutely aware of that fact.

Life is Just a Classroom (ao3) - Emejig16

Summary: Phil is bad at math and Dan is more than a pastel color wearing genius, he just needs the right person to see that.

Promises (ao3) - pasteldanhowells

Summary: Phil Lester is in a relationship with his high school teacher and he finds out that he’s pregnant while he’s still in school. Dan and Phil have to figure out how to be together and raise the baby while still hiding their relationship from the public, but it’s not as easy as it used to be.

Risky Situations - jilliancares

Summary: Dan Howell and Phil Lester don’t like each other, but Dan had too much pride to turn down Phil’s dare, even if it was to masturbate during class.

Safe And Sound (ao3) - pasteldanhowells

Summary: Dan gets bullied in school for being gay and gets beat up constantly by Chris Kendall’s ‘gang’. It wasn’t until one day when Dan escapes from the boys and finds himself in the English classroom, and he’s surprised when he finds help from Mr. Lester, the English teacher.

That Bullet Won’t Hit You (fanfiction.net) - flamboyant-lester

Summary: (Phan) (Oneshot) Dan and Phil aren't together anymore. But when an a man with a gun breaks into their school and engages in open fire throughout the classroom. Phil finds that his only instinct is to protect Dan. Warnings: profanity, high school au, angst, violence, depression, slight fluff? i'm american?, what? oh yeah and bad boy Phil holla

Theatre Class (ao3) - Star4545

Summary: Dan Howell is the new drama teacher with a classroom the size of a jail cell, students who won’t stop singing Hamilton, and the English teacher who won’t stop giving him bedroom eyes.

The Partner Project - fakecouple

Summary: The AU in which Phil is the nerd, and Dan is the rebellious bad boy with witty quips.

[illegally-blind-and-deaf]

For the disability pride asks: 8 and 11?

8. Does your disability affect any part of your identity?

Not my identity specifically (though I would say it is an integral part of me,) but it's definitely impacted my hobbies and passions. I wanted to do musical theatre as a career for a little while, but I realized that wouldn't work well if you can't see the edge of the stage, so....

BUT

In saying that, I still do musical theatre at school as a hobby. Althoufh I have a hearing loss, I have a minor principal role (with a big singing bit) and I'm also head of the vocal ensembles, so I help everyone learn their parts. I also do music and choirs and school (I help run the choirs lol), I lead my church congregation in the hymns, I love to play piano and sing, I love to dance and i love to write. These are all things that other people would tell any other deaf person "you can't do that", but I like to say "go pull your head out of the ground" and do it anyway. It doesn't matter if you're fabulous at it or not. I went and did laser tag with a bunch of church friends. I can't see in the dark. I can't hear in loud environments. I came last.

But let me tell you I would do it again in a heartbeat. It was SO FUN and I loved it so much. Do what you enjoy, as long as you don't hurt yourself and/or others.

11. How would you label your support needs?

Niche and very weird. My biggest problem is that my disabilities are practically invisible, even though they're sensory disabilities. A lot of people can't immediantly see my vision problems (until I'm wearing sunnies inside, or they see that my worksheets are on a pale cream paper, or how big my font size is,) and my hearing aids probably get mistaken by younger generations as airpods or Bluetooth earbuds. The other thing is that I "function normally" for lack of a better phrase. I prefer to listen rather than sign, I have pretty much perfect pitch, I can pick up accents, I talk clearly and at first glance, I don't show any signs of a hearing loss. This is frustrating because people in places such as fast food places or or shops or piblic transport will get irritated when I don't understand an instruction or mishear them, or even when I get too nervous to say what I want immediantly and then tentatively pipe up later. (Has happened: got scolded by a subway lady because I didn't understand how subway worked and it was in a massive food court in a shopping centre, so I couldn't hear what I was supposed to do. I felt horrible for a good hour after that.) It's also really awkward going up to the counter so I can read the menu while I squint at it like an old lady, or fumbling through a crowd and bumping into people because I can't see properly.

My needs are not so much physical support and actions but more of understanding and recognising when I'm struggling in situations. Whether that's at school, at the shops, in crowds or in the dark, it's so much easier when I have people to back me up. It also helps to have a visual aid so people know "okay she can't hear" or "she can't see." That's one of the reasons why I want a guide cane because then it's a visual cue as well as a mobility aid. Basically what I'm saying is that people need to be more patient because you never know if the seemingly perfectly functional chick in vintage clothes reading a book is actually deafblind. You've been warned.

However, there are some physical needs that I do require. Hearing aids and glasses are the obvious ones, but I also have sepia-tinted sunglasses for any kind of bright environment, whether that's sun or the smartboard in the classroom. I also have worksheets printed on a sort of cream-coloured paper and printed a little larger so I can read it. The stairwells at school are notoriously dark, so the student support teacher and i have been ensuring that the edge of the stairs are painted a bright, almost neon yellow and that lights are out in (we're working on the lights.) I also get extra time for homework and exams because 1. Hearing and listening fatigue and 2. The amount of brain power I use to listen, concentrate, read, etc at school is ridiculous and I have practically no brain power when I get home. That's always helpful. (I also get rest breaks in exams.) For my singing performance for music, my teacher let's me use foldback headphones, where both the backing track and my voice are sent to my ears directly. We're also working on getting me someone to speak the listening sections for my French exams so I can lip-read as well. The school also put Braille signs in the change rooms in the sports centre, which is really cool, but also because they get outside groups using the centre.

I have very niche and personalised needs, and they will change as my vision worsens overtime, but I hope that made some sense. :)

[okodnol]

Answering Hazbin Hotel Questionnaire in Great Details

from nayla (@misfirerules) on twitter

☆ who’s your favorite character?

Alastor and Vaggie (one was instant and the other slowly grew on me and now i legit can't choose)

Alastor is a trickster with standards, he punches up, confronts bullies, but honestly he's just so cute i automatically forgive him any crimes. Bonus points for helping me realize being affectionate with friends doesn't ruin your bad boy persona, it shows you're secure in it. Don't redeem him it's demon cruelty!

Vaggie is a tragic reformed soldier who desperately tries to repent for her war crimes; the juxtaposition of regular tough attitude and complete guard dropping for Charlie endeared me to her a lot. 'Whatever it takes' came up and i was like oooowww~

Also this scene before the final battle where she tells other hotel residents to save themselves cause "We.. I can't protect you anymore". She CARES

The funny thing is that Vaggie and Alastor share that strong preference to only socialize with women (me too! i feel so seen!) but CAN'T STAND each other

☆ what’s your favorite song from the soundtrack?

Stayed Gone and Hell's Greatest Dad, obviously. I also composed the complete tier list (i feel SO BAD for placing It Starts with Sorry this low):

Stayed gone | Dad beats dad

You didn't know | Ready for this | Finale (big musical theatre ones)

Poison

Respectless | Out for love

Happy day in hell | Loser baby

Hell is forever | Whatever it takes

It starts with sorry

More than anything

Welcome to heaven

🎶 it will take time to cover your vast multitude of sins 🎶

If i were to take into account visuals, first place would be either Loser Baby or Poison

☆ who are your otps?

I don't have a strong preference, but Charlie and Vaggie check too many of my personal boxes:

working on a project together

back-to-back fighting scene

picking a woman from a garbage dump

and nursing her back to health

DRAMA of one being another's lifeline

and never using it as leverage ever

fierce protectiveness goes both ways

casual pda

Wanted to do a full diagram and it turned out i'm so much more invested in friendship dynamics i need a separate chart for them

(what will be friendship categories? mentor/student, making each other better/worse, bonding over unique exp; we as a society should develop this concept)

As you can see i was kin assigned Lucifer and took it to heart lol

☆ who’s your least favorite character?

I don't care that much about Adam and Lute, actually

☆ are there any ships you hate?

I have an irrational personal vendetta against Alastor x Lucifer; i enjoy a good fan work, but the concept itself pisses me off; like, there's a painful power disbalance and zero positive interactions in canon

Adam does not deserve to be shipped with neither Lucifer nor Lilith. Lute kinda deserves him, but i prefer them as comrades

☆ least favorite song?

I don't feel much for Welcome to Heaven

☆ what made you watch hazbin hotel?

I think it was impossible not to watch it at the time, and of course i did, i adore this classic DeviantArt edgy lanky angular over-the-top style

☆ what made you love the show?

aesthetic really clicked with me

groundbreaking animation

lots of musical numbers

lovable characters

mlm & wlw representation

deconstruction of religion

you can tell VA's and artists had fun working on it

it's an inspiring indi-project success story

If we're talking about the animation specifically:

the character and camera movements are full of energy and satisfying to watch

characterization through body language

complex emotions

exciting action

interesting shots

you also can rewatch scenes multiple times cause characters on the background are doing stuff too

creative coloring and lighting

everyone is SO PRETTY

upturned eyes, sharp features and teeth they seemingly had to invent a new lip-sync technic for

☆ how long have you been a fan of hazbin hotel?

After i watched the pilot it took me a while to start Helluva Boss, but we binged it with a friend few years ago and i was really invested in this universe since then

☆ what’s your overall opinion on the show?

Innovative industry-changing trendsetting project we do not appreciate enough yet as a society. As a person who loves musicals, animated music videos, action, fighting and dancing, i was finally fed~

It's a crime it wasn't given more episodes; it's so tightly packed that even if i have some issues with pacing and priorities, i can't imagine HOW it can be rearranged without loosing important elements that are there already. I also firmly believe that fast story is better than less story so i'm against "just cut stuff out" approach

☆ if you could remove anything or someone from hazbin, what would it be?

This one scene where sir Pentious got dragged into a sex room as a joke 😑

☆ do you have any theories? If so what is it?

— The reason you end up in Heaven or Hell is that deep inside you're sure you deserve to go to Heaven or Hell (stole this idea from tumblr). That's how Adam ended up where he did. And sir Pentious unlocked a new mechanic cause he was exposed to the idea of redemption by Charlie (my 5 cents)

— There're more former exorcists in Hell besides Vaggie, and Carmilla saw them

— Rosie will teach Charlie how she made Cannibal town that nice of a place

— Alastor killed the most cruel and ruthless overlords, that's why the more decent ones, like Zestial / Carmilla / Rosie accepted him into the club (fandom commonplace)

— Alastor didn't kill Husk but kept his soul cause Husk wasn't that bad of a person in his overlord days and Alastor actually likes having him around

— Alastor doesn't own Nifty's soul

— Nifty is actually crazy powerful, she just wasn't properly motivated to unleash it on anyone yet

— Angel sold his sould to Valentino not out of desperation but cause he was manipulated into thinking that was a good idea somehow (he put a heart in his contract signature, also not my theory)

— both Angel and Husk will get their souls back one way or another

☆ opinions on the Vees?

Velvette is the coolest V. Vox is very relatable cause he's so done and just wants to do his job in peace and he still can't cyberbully to save his life. Valentino is a great reminder that your life can be ruined by an IDIOT which adds an insult to injury

I was dead sure Vox and Valentino are married. I hate the fact that i enjoy Valentino's dynamic with other Vees that much

I know and love Vox and Velvette's VAs from their Broadway performances as Marvin from Falsettos, Helene from Great Comet and Persephone from Hadestown

☆ thoughts on adam?

Adam can die in a fire, the genocidal maniac. He's much MUCH worse than Valentino, there's even no comparison, but i feel like fandom thinks the other way and it's wild. He was an extremely entertaining antagonist, but please don't return him in season 2

☆ if you could be best friends with any of the characters, who would it be?

I feel nerd kinship with sir Pentious but i don't think we'll be like Best Friends; i could see myself forming something like that with Vaggie if i happen to fall on her good side

☆ which scene from hazbin has permanently stuck to you?

~ hey! sssoo.. i see, the club has a sEx room! ..so i was thinking, maybeEe, you'd want to.. aa.. doo aa sExss with me 🕶️

Also the amount of serotonins Rosie and Alastor's duet gave me..

☆ who’s a character you want to see/see more in the upcoming seasons?

I need to know what happened to Eve and i need sir Pentious to be present and plot-relevant

Would be nice to meet Angel's sibling(s) and Lilith

Vaggie needs friends and support network outside of Charlie; hope Carmilla will keep mentoring her and Rosie keeps mentoring Charlie

Really excited for more Vox and Velvette

☆ what are your hazbin hotel hot takes?

The hatedom for this show is wildly disproportionate and uncalled for and it's genuinely breaks my heart cause i fear it may discourage other animators with personal projects. Hazbin deserved MUCH more praise and recognition

A good chunk of the critique can be boiled down to:

don't vibe with aesthetics so it's bad

story is not what i expected so it's bad

bad faith reading

evaluating animated show by static character sheets and random in-between screencaps

petty neatpicks

PLOT RELEVANT HOT ΤΑKES:

Sinners don't need redemptions, they need to be left alone by Heaven and work on making Hell a better place

Sir Pentious did not get a good ending, he lost all the friends he just made (it may turn out for the better but right now i'm sad)

Charlie did her best in Masquerade and as an untrained group therapist at the Hotel, cut the girl some slack, she does learn from mistakes

It's possible for Alastor to simultaneously like and help Hotel residents when he can and pursue his own agenda when he must

I think Mimzy is cute, sue me (we need more pathetic women representation, hope we'll get it in season 2)

Fandom plz stop with the infantilization of Nifty; people realized it's a problem with Velvette, which is cool, but Nifty still suffers from it too often

☆ any headcanons?

— Alastor plans on actually befriending Charlie to have a powerful willing ally like Rosie who can help him get off the leash

— Alastor decided to fight Adam to show off his powers and publicly defeat the First Man, but miscalculated catastrophically (stole this one from my sister)

— Nifty will be forced to choose between Alastor and the Hotel residents at some point in season 2

— Charlie subconsciously treats Hotel guests the way she was treated by her parents as a kid cause it's her only point of reference

— Vaggie and Angel will grow closer cause they're very similar in their protective nature, realistic worldview and self-neglect (season 2 i'm begging you)

— both Charlie and Vaggie visited Rosie and Carmilla, respectively, after the final battle to tell them how it went

— Carmilla will introduce Vaggie to her daughters and they will start hanging out sometimes

— Charlie will introduce Vaggie to Rosie

— Vaggie had good relationship with other exterminators during her Heaven era, even with Lute at some point, and she always hated Adam

— i like the idea of Husk winning back either Angel's soul from Valentino or his own from Alastor in a game of cards (it's like poetry; irl don't play if you're an addict though) or any other seemingly inoffensive game

— after he looses Angel's soul (and get his own beaten out of him preferably) Valentino will reevaluate his life and start dating Vox officially

— Cherry and Husk will become unlikely pals through Angel

— the apple tower is more likely Charlie's office, not Lucifer's, but he will be involved with running the Hotel

— considering Lucifer is actually a sincere, nice and caring person, it will be HARD for Alastor to win back the spotlight after he returns to the Hotel

================================================

wow you got that far here let me share some sketches i did:

[xthelastknownsurvivorx]

oooooh noteworthy au for rwrb 👀👀👀

but also orange au? 👀

I already talked about noteworthy au here but here's a bit more that I can give you on character profiles (note that I don't actually have a lot of musical experience, just school chorus up through middle school so be kind if I've gotten anything wrong):

a capella group alex joins, name tbd: 5 members*

alex: goes by gabriel from middle name gabriella?; tenor, musical theatre major

henry: third generation legacy member, face of the group/the hot one; baritone, music major

philip: third generation legacy member, musical director and president; baritone, music major

pez: he and alex get into trouble together, event planner/treasurer; tenor, dance major

liam: also from texas like alex so they bond over that, same year as alex; bass, visual arts major

*originally the a capella group in noteworthy has 8 members but I don't feel like coming up with 3 more male ocs with unique personalities (as hunter and spencer are part of a rival a capella group) so we're leaving it at 5 for now

reading this back, I'm actually now tempted to switch henry and pez in terms of their vocal registers because I think it would be very cool and gender of pez to have a deeper voice while caring fuck all about the gender binary, but I'm also a little attached to alex-pez tenors and all the mischief they get up to

--

as for orange au, this one is based on the manga/anime orange by ichigo takano and is for omniscient reader's viewpoint. I'm not sure how much you (or most of my other followers) know about orv, there are some very light orv spoilers, and orange is a story that deals with some heavy topics, so it's all going below the cut (including the content warnings)

cw: suicide, depression

first, here's a link to a very good overview of orv in terms of what it is, a summary of the plot, why it's special, about the characters/their relationships, and some caveats. it's a little long so feel free to read only as much as you want for context

what you need to know for its relevance to this au idea is that through reading orv you slowly find out that its main character kim dokja is a self-sacrificial piece of shit (affectionate) who is also very much allergic to emotional intimacy due to some childhood trauma. in the world of orv (fantastical, apocalyptic), he often will make his own plans to sacrifice himself in exchange for saving his friends' lives despite their repeated instance that they don't want him to do this and they'd rather figure out alternative plans

so it's very easy to map this tendency to the plot of orange, which is about a high school student who is trying to prevent the death of a friend after receiving letters from her future self in a parallel universe where she (and her larger friend group) lost this friend to suicide. the letters suggest ideas on how to make this friend feel less alone and less suicidal by making different decisions at critical points, as her future self (and the other friends' future selves) is very regretful that she didn't try harder to be there for him because no one realized he was struggling so badly

obviously this story isn't super realistic for a number of reasons, including the fact that the most any of us can take on is trying to be supportive of friends/family/etc who are struggling, not actually be responsible for keeping them alive. that is not a reasonable responsibility to take on and would be far too heavy for the person/people carrying it. also responsible adults and professionals should absolutely be consulted in this type of scenario, which is never brought up in the context of the story. insert many more caveats here that i cannot currently think of

however, at the same time, i also think that the story does a really good job of exploring themes of inevitability, regret, and choice which is why it's stuck with me for 7.5 years now. plus i think it just works really well with the characters of orv which is why I want to make an au of it

ask me about my wips

[robby-bobby-tommy]

Okay, I really want to share this.

It is a bit unusual for me, since I like to post only about my hyperfixations, but I want to share my love of musicals.

I love musicals sm. I enjoy songs, stories and especially symbolism, that can be put in. Not only in characters designs or lyrics, but in music.

I know it's the whole point, but finding connections between characters and instruments is so rewarding.

Recently I stumbled upon Death Note the musical. I knew of it since 2020,cuz of "They're only human", but now I've listened to half of the English concept album. There are no words in any language to express how good this musical is. The songs are total bangers. And they all have something in common. Light (the main character) and L (the antagonist. FYI the antagonist≠the villain) have their assigned instruments, that usually pop up when the character starts singing: electric/bass guitar and piano respectively. I'll explain why it's such a good symbolism.

For people who don't know Death Note, Light Yagami is a high school student, who stumbled upon a note book (aka Death Note) that allows him to kill people, whose name he wrote in a book. He starts to kill criminals, in the name of his own justice, which interests the police. L is a detective who has a great detective abilities. He starts to chase Light, whose criminal name is Kira. Ofc there are more to the plot, but in short this is the plot. They are each other's antagonist.

So why do their instruments matter? Basically, it all comes down to how they work and what they represent.

At first electric/bass guitar and piano are in no way similar. Piano is a classical instrument, which is present in many different musical styles, but is mostly associated with opera, classical musicals ect. This places L on the motal high ground and differentiates them as good and bad. But honestly, it all comes to details. To play a guitar you need to strum the strings, and to play piano you need to press the keys. Still very distant, aren't they? Yet when a person presses the key, a small hammer punches the string in the instrument, thus making the sound. This little detail makes so much sense plot wise. Despite all the differences, L and Light are very similar. They both are loners, incredibly clever, and sometimes use the same methods. Both Kira and detective are no strangers to gamble on other's lives (killing innocent for getting in the way/being close to find out his personality and using an inmate as a bait to roughly locate the killer). I'm in no way, shape or form a musician. I don't play any instrument, but I find this stuff amusing. Through only instruments the directors both opposed and compared. I love theatre...

[vatt-world]

hi

Title: Harmony House

INT. ANITA'S APARTMENT - DAY

(Introduction: Establishing Anita's Character and Frustration)

(Anita is surrounded by notes and scripts. She crumples up a piece of paper and tosses it aside, frustrated.)

ANITA (To herself) Why can’t I get this chorus right?

(She pauses, thinking, then shifts her gaze to a vision board on her wall. Among sketches of music notes and theatre scenes, there are scattered pictures of coffee cups and cozy interiors, but they are not prominently featured yet.)

ANITA (Muttering to herself) Maybe it’s not just about the music...

(She reaches for her phone and dials a friend. Her voice is tentative but distracted.)

FRIEND How’s the musical going?

ANITA Honestly? I’m stuck. I’ve been at it forever and can’t seem to move forward.

FRIEND Maybe you need a break, try something else for a bit?

ANITA Yeah… maybe.

(She glances at the scattered pictures of café interiors but says nothing about them.)

(This subtle setup hints at her growing frustration and desire for change without directly mentioning her café idea.)

EXT. UNIVERSITY PARK - DAY

(Inciting Incident: First Meeting with Bill)

(Anita, lost in thought, rushes through the park with bags and coffee. She bumps into Bill, an aspiring filmmaker, who is also distracted.)

(Her student ID falls to the ground. Bill picks it up and hands it to her.)

BILL Hey, you dropped this.

(Anita, flustered, takes the ID.)

ANITA Oh, thanks. I’m a bit all over the place today. Too much on my mind.

BILL Like what?

ANITA (Laughs, evasive) Oh, just… the usual. Too many creative projects.

BILL I get that. It’s tough to stay focused.

ANITA Yeah, exactly.

BILL Hey, do you know where Jane's Carousel is? I wanted to get some pictures but I'm lost.

ANITA Sure, it's not far. Head down this path, take a left at the fountain, and follow the river. You'll see it by the waterfront.

BILL Got any plans for later?

ANITA Yeah, grabbing dinner with some friends.

BILL Nice! Where to?

ANITA A fusion place downtown. We’re going to check it out.

BILL Cool. What’s your favorite food?

ANITA Not telling you.

BILL Why not? It’s just food!

ANITA Because you’ll think it’s weird.

BILL I promise, no judgment.

(Anita hesitates, then gives in.)

ANITA Fine… pineapple pizza. It’s sweet and salty.

BILL (Laughing) Pineapple on pizza? Really?

ANITA (Defensively) Yes! It’s delicious. You should try it.

BILL (Smiling) You know, maybe I will.

ANITA We should hang out sometime outside of auditions.

BILL Sure, but I’ve got to run.

(They smile, intrigued by each other. Anita does not yet mention her café idea.)

(Transition: They start walking together, continuing their conversation.)

EXT. BRIDGE - DAY

(Rising Action: Developing Relationship and Shared Dreams)

(Anita notices something in Bill's hair.)

ANITA Hey, look! You’ve got a ladybug on your shoulder!

(Bill glances down, surprised.)

BILL Really? Aren’t they supposed to be good luck?

ANITA Yeah! Make a wish, then let it fly away.

(Bill gently picks up the ladybug, closes his eyes, and holds it for a moment before letting it crawl off his hand and fly away with a smile.)

ANITA So, what did you wish for?

BILL If I told you, it wouldn’t come true.

ANITA Come on, just a little hint?

BILL Alright, I wished for the funding to come through for a project I’m working on.

ANITA Oh, that sounds exciting. What’s it about?

BILL It’s about...

BILL Okay, my turn to ask—tell me a secret. Something you’ve never told anyone.

ANITA (Smiling, intrigued) A secret? Hmm…

(She thinks for a moment, then decides to share.)

ANITA Well, I’ve got this crazy idea of opening a café—a place where people come together for good vibes, coffee, and music.

BILL That sounds great!

(They sit on a bench, relaxed. The mood is light.)

EXT. NYC PARK - DAY

(Playing a Game and Building Connection)

(Anita and Bill are walking through a park, taking a break from their café discussions. They come across a small group of people playing a casual baseball game. Bill notices a bat lying nearby and picks it up, handing it to Anita with a playful grin.)

BILL (Handing her the bat) Ready to show off those new skills?

ANITA (Grinning) You bet. I’ve been practicing.

(Bill laughs, clearly amused by her enthusiasm. Anita steps up to the plate, adjusting her stance as Bill offers some advice.)

BILL (Encouraging) Just keep your eye on the ball, and don’t be afraid to swing for the fences.

(CUT TO: Bill watches the game intently, his passion for the sport evident in his voice.)

BILL (CONT'D) This is where all the magic happens! It's more than just a game. It's a way of life.

(Anita takes a deep breath, focuses, and swings hard, connecting with the ball. She sends it flying, surprising herself and Bill.)

ANITA (Laughing, surprised) Did you see that? I actually hit it!

BILL (Clapping, impressed) You did! Nice swing!

(They continue playing, laughing and joking around, enjoying the break from their intense discussions. At one point, Bill tries to show off a fancy move, but he misses the ball and stumbles, making Anita burst into laughter.)

ANITA (Teasing) Looks like you need some practice too!

BILL (Laughing) Alright, alright, I’ll admit it—I’m rusty. But you’re a natural!

(They continue playing for a while, bonding over their playful competitiveness. The energy between them is light and fun, filled with genuine smiles and shared moments.)

(CUT TO: They take a seat on a bench, catching their breath.)

ANITA (Breathless, smiling) That was fun. We should do this more often.

BILL (Nodding, still catching his breath) Absolutely. It’s good to take a break and just enjoy the moment.

(They sit quietly for a moment, enjoying the comfortable silence, their connection deepened through the shared experience.)

(Transition: They look at each other and, almost at the same time, shift back into discussing their café plans with renewed energy and excitement.)

EXT. NYC DAY - EVENING

(Decision to Collaborate on the Café Revealed)

(Anita and Bill meet at a café, their laptops open in front of them. They are brainstorming together.)

BILL So, what do you want to create? What’s the big dream?

(Anita hesitates, then finally decides to share her real dream.)

ANITA Alright… I’ve been thinking. What if I opened a café? A place where people could relax, have coffee, listen to live music… a real community spot.

(Bill looks surprised but excited.)

BILL Now that sounds interesting! Why didn’t you mention this before?

ANITA (Smiling) I wasn’t sure if it was just a fantasy… but the more I think about it, the more it feels right.

BILL Well, if you’re serious, I’d love to help. I’m good at creating experiences.

(Anita looks relieved, seeing potential in Bill as a partner. The revelation feels more organic and impactful.)

(Transition: They discuss next steps for their business plan, clearly moving forward.)

EXT. NYC PARK - DAY

(Exploring Possible Locations for the Café)

(Anita and Bill walk through various parts of the city, scouting potential locations for the café. They pass by different storefronts, some vibrant and bustling, others quiet and tucked away.)

BILL What do you think of this spot? Corner space, lots of foot traffic...

ANITA (Considering) It's nice, but it feels too commercial. I want it to have a bit more character, you know?

(They continue walking, looking for the perfect place.)

(This scene shows their collaboration in action, highlighting their differing perspectives but also their shared commitment to finding the right spot.)

INT. ANITA'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

(Reflecting on Choices)

(Anita is on a video call with her friend again, visibly excited but also nervous.)

FRIEND So, how’s it going with the café plans?

ANITA It’s exciting, but… also terrifying. I mean, this is real. What if it doesn’t work out?

FRIEND That’s the risk you take for something you love. Just make sure it’s what you truly want.

(Anita nods, reflecting on the advice, and looking more determined than before.)

(This scene adds depth to Anita's internal conflict, showing her wrestling with her fears and determination.)

INT. DANCE STUDIO - DAY

(Conflict: Tension Begins to Build)

(Anita is distracted during her dance class, glancing at her phone. A student, Jessica, notices.)

JESSICA You okay? You seem a little distracted today.

ANITA Yeah, just thinking about this café idea… it’s taking over my thoughts.

JESSICA Sounds like you really want it. You should go for it.

(Anita nods, clearly thinking more seriously about making the café a reality.)

(Transition: She checks her phone again and sees a text from Bill about the café, showing their ongoing connection.)

INT. ANITA'S APARTMENT - DAY

(Conflict Intensifies: Planning the Café)

(Bill and Anita are sitting at a small table, surrounded by papers, notebooks, and a laptop. The table is cluttered with sketches, lists, and ideas for their café. Bill looks frustrated.)

BILL This is important; it’s the music café business plan. Where’s Section 3? The pages marked in red should go in the "Urgent" folder, and the blue ones in "Follow-up."

ANITA (Frustrated) Sorry about the mess. It’s been a bit chaotic.

BILL (Trying to stay calm) I know. I just like to keep things organized. It helps keep everything on track.

ANITA (Raising an eyebrow) So, you think I’m the one making it messy?

BILL (Defensive) No, I’m not saying that. I’m just saying if we put things in the right folders from the start, we wouldn’t have to waste time searching for them.

ANITA (Annoyed) Oh, so now I’m supposed to be your personal filing assistant?

BILL (Sighs, softening) No, that’s not what I meant. Look, I’m sorry. I know we’re both juggling a lot right now.

(Anita starts gathering the papers, clearly irritated.)

BILL (Quickly shifts gears, trying to lighten the mood) I’ve got some ideas for the café! Props, LED screens—we can make it stand out!

ANITA (Shaking her head) Bill, the café should be real and intimate, not flashy.

BILL (Frustrated) I’m just trying to make it unique! You’re too focused on keeping it simple.

ANITA (Firmly) It’s not about that! It’s about the music and creating a relaxing space.

BILL (Pushing back) I’m putting everything into this. Maybe you should be open to my ideas.

ANITA (Sharply) This café is personal to me, and it feels like you just want a big break.

BILL (Raising his voice) Maybe I do! I want it bold and noticed. Maybe we’re not on the same page.

ANITA (Coldly) Maybe we’re not.

BILL (Firmly) Fine. Maybe we should just end it here.

(They part ways, the tension between them unresolved.)

EXT. NYC BANK - DAY

(Loan Rejection: New Conflict and Decision)

(Anita and Bill sit outside the bank, a letter in Anita’s hand. The air is tense.)

BILL Our loan application got rejected. I don't think we can go ahead with the music café.

(Anita leans back, arms crossed, frustration evident.)

ANITA We put everything into that plan.

BILL Maybe we aimed too high.

(Anita shakes her head, determined.)

ANITA We have to aim high. We’re trying to create something unique.

BILL But without the loan, we can't afford the place.

(Anita glances at the rejection letter, looking conflicted.)

ANITA (Sighs) I wanted to tell you... I applied for a job, and I got an offer to work on a business plan for a music café in Chicago.

BILL (Unsure) That’s... great!

ANITA Is it?

BILL Why? What’s the catch?

ANITA They need me there in a couple of weeks.

BILL (Shrugs, trying to be positive) We can make long-distance work. It'll be fine.

ANITA (Sighs deeply) I don’t want to go.

(Tension lingers as they look at each other, unsure of what comes next.)

INT. ANITA'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

(Resolution: Reconciliation and Moving Forward)

(Anita sits with her café sketches, looking torn. She decides to leave a voice message for Bill.)

ANITA (Voice Message) Hey, Bill… I’m sorry about earlier. This café means a lot to me, and I just need to know we’re on the same team.

(Later, Bill arrives at her door with a revised business plan.)

BILL I’ve been thinking… no LED screens, no props. Just good vibes, great music, and a place people can feel at home.

ANITA (Touched) You mean it?

BILL Absolutely. Let’s do this, together.

(Anita smiles, and they hug, signaling a renewed partnership.)

(Transition: They begin discussing the next steps, filled with excitement and clarity.)

INT. ANITA'S APARTMENT - DAY

(Decision: Moving to Chicago)

(A few days later, Anita is packing a suitcase. Bill enters, watching her silently for a moment.)

BILL You’re really going?

ANITA I think it’s the right move. It’s an opportunity I can't ignore.

BILL I understand. But does it mean the end of "Harmony House"?

ANITA No. Maybe it’s just the beginning... from a different place.

(Bill nods, though it's clear he is conflicted.)

BILL I'll be here if you change your mind.

ANITA (Smiling softly) And I’ll always be grateful for your support.

(They hug one last time, then Anita exits, leaving Bill standing there, deep in thought.)

EXT. NYC DAY

(Ending: New Beginnings and Uncertain Futures)

(Bill stands outside Anita’s building, watching her cab drive away. He takes out his phone and looks at a message from Anita: "Thank you for believing in Harmony House. See you soon?" He smiles, hopeful.)

BILL (To himself) See you soon.

(He walks away, determined, as the camera pulls back, showing the vast city around him.)

(FADE OUT.)

[betweenthetimeandsound]

OC Interview III (tag game)

Thanks @basalamander-corner for tagging me! Sorry it took a while to do so, but here it is! This time, here's Queen Aleria Semaine of Carina and its Territories!

Are you named after anyone?

I think my parents were trying to give me something auspicious, something worthy of a princess of my stature. The Aleris are all about fighting for the light, and that radiated down to myself.

When was the last time you cried?

I don't know when, but a few weeks earlier, I thought of my sister Ekaterina and cried. I don't know how we became royals of opposite realms; I thought she would always be my side.

Do you have kids?

I have a sweet daughter, named Teranesia Manevie. She's twenty-two and is looking to be a worthy heir to the throne. She's good in how she listens to her fellow students at university and has a nice run in her test reign.

I also had a son, but...he was not long for this world.

Do you use sarcasm a lot?

I'm not sure what you mean by that, do you?

What's the first thing you notice about people?

Their intents and how they compose themselves in the room. If I could read out what they want before they say anything, it's to my advantage. Unfortunately, only those who control the mind could master that skill.

What's your eye colour?

An emerald green--fitting for somebody within my line. In the right light, you could see the sun in them.

Scary movies or happy endings?

What is a movie? (somebody goes to her ear and tries to explain)

I don't watch them very often, but I do enjoy a good theatre. And I need it it end well, otherwise I cannot have my rest.

Any special talents?

I have control over the air; I found out about my powers when I was fifteen years old. While I think my diplomatic achievements are important to me, I think my abilities to control the weather and to speed through the forests are also a nice achievement, and could make me a legend. (laughs)

Where were you born?

I was born in Kornye, the capital of my realm! Apparently, before I was born, somebody accidentially launched a firework at the palace, and all the grounds had to go on lockdown. My late mother, Clarisse, jolted and hid in the catacombs when her water broke. It took a while for them to give birth to me.

Do you have any pets?

I keep an assortment of birds in the Birdia; a special place in Kornye where they are allowed to fly freely. I don't manage them because of my current affairs, but I still cherish them as they were my own. Hopefully, the next generation of Carinians will be able to enjoy them.

What sort of sports do you play?

Does running count? Because I could beat you in that anytime.

How tall are you?

Around average for women...would that be 1.65 meters in your world? 1.7 meters?

What was your favorite subject in school?

Carinian philosophy and literature--not only because I enjoy a good book, but also to understand my country's psyche a little bit more. Recently, I've read a poem by an anonymous soldier, who though the sea would make him better, but the sirens to took him away instead. They might not sing as well as in your world, but they have great powers.

I always enjoyed learning about the extent of my powers, though struggling to prevent a storm front before a coronation was quite intense.

What is your dream job?

Who could say that they don't want to be queen? (laughs)

That being said, if I had to give up my throne, I would retreat myself back into the universities and be a scholar. What would I study, I'm not sure, but I could be sure that it's something worthwhile. Or I could teach others calligraphy--people have really tried to copy my signature these days.

@charlies-storybook, @forever-and-almost-always, what about you?

[survey--s]

662.

What colour is the photo frame closest to you? Pale wood.

Are your pets asleep right now, if you have any? The cats are all asleep but the dog is awake and waiting for Mike to get home - I think the clock change has confused him as it's dark and Mike is normally home before dark lol.

Would you have any idea what your parents are doing right now? I assume they're at home - probably watching TV?

How many windows (roughly) does your house have? Eight.

Do you have a good relationship with your cousins? No. They all live overseas so we barely speak to each other.

What was the last kids movie you saw? Alice in Wonderland.

Do you know anyone who was born in Africa? My mum was born in East Africa. Well, on an island there.

Have you ever been to an internet cafe? Ha yes. I remember when finding an internet cafe was like, the highlight of my holidays LOL.

Are there any upcoming events for you to look forward to? Yeah, the weekend, my birthday and Christmas break.

Has the year gone quickly for you so far? This year has FLOWN by. I can't believe it's Halloween already.

How many siblings does your significant other have? Four. Three sisters and a brother.

Are you one of those people who can drink vodka straight? I can but it's not pleasant.

Have you ever done three or more shots in a row? Yes.

Do you share a middle name with any of your friends? I'm sure I do as it's a pretty common one.

What was the last movie you saw in theatres? Cats ha. I haven't been to the movies since before COVID.

Are you interested in international politics? I wouldn't say I was interested but I do keep up to date on it.

How many pairs of jeans do you own? About ten or so.

When was the last time you showered? About three and a half hours ago when I got in from work.

Do you know the name of the pharmacist at your local drug store? No.

What was the first cellphone you had and how old were you when you got it? It was a Sagem something or other and I was about thirteen. According to Google it was a my X-6.

Do you use public transport in your town or city? No. It's unreliable and generally doesn't go where you need to get to.

Have your parents ever worked in a factory? I think my dad did when he was a student.

Do you have several best friends? No.

How many lights are in the room you’re in? Three sets of fairy lights and two overhead lights.

Is there a Hard Rock Cafe in your town or city? No. I haven't been to one of those in about a decade lol.

Do you eat fast food more than once a week? No.

What flavour is your toothpaste? Mint.

Have you ever shared a shower or bath with someone as an adult? Yeah, with my husband.

When was the last time you had a bubble bath? About a month ago.

Are you sleepy right now? A little bit. Not enough to actually sleep though.

How big is your backyard? Big enough for a small terraced house.

Do you know anyone with Tourette’s Syndrome? No.

What time does your alarm wake you up in the morning? On work days, 7.30am.

What was the last zoo you visited? Our local one, which is pretty shit really.

Do you like crime films and tv shows? I have to be in the right mood for them, but yeah.

When you shop, do you take a basket or a cart (trolley)? Depends on how much I plan on buying.

Have you ever tasted milk straight from the cow? Yeah, a few times. It's GOOD.

What’s your favourite sleeping position? On my right side, curled up.

What colour is the bra you’re wearing? Black.

Have you ever seen A Clockwork Orange? No. I've read the book though.

Are you bitter about anything? Nah.

Do you like to make games out of chores to make them more enjoyable? No, it just takes even longer lol.

How many letters are in your best friend’s surname? Six, the same as mine.

Is there anything in your possession that probably shouldn’t be? Nope.

What is your favourite flavour of yoghurt? Raspberry or blackcurrant.

What was the first online account you remember having? Probably a Hotmail account or something.

Do you listen to music to fall asleep? No, I like silence to sleep.

Where did you go last time you left your town or city? Uh, the vets I think.

Do you use emojis? Sometimes.

Have you ever wanted to be a lawyer? Yeah, when I was younger.

What percentage of battery does your phone currently have? 25%.

What was the last type of soda you drank? Pepsi Max.

How far away from your house is your favourite place to shop for clothes? About an hours' drive.

Do you have supplies handy right now to draw something if I told you to? Yes.

Have you ever been married? I've been married for just over five years.

What does your deodorant smell like? Berries.

Is your bedroom more messy or clean at the moment? My side is clean, Mike's is messy.

Do you use Twitter? No.

Are you any good at baking cakes and cookies from scratch? I'm not bad at it, I just don't enjoy it.

Is there a floor lamp in your bedroom? No.

What does most of your weekly or fortnightly income go towards? Savings/long-term investments.

Have you ever been to another continent? Yeah, Asia, Australasia and North America. I live in Europe.

Do you have any hidden piercings? (this includes bellybuttons) Yeah, but I don't wear any jewellery in it.

What month is your birthday? December.

What can you hear right now? The Simpsons. I'm watching all the Treehouse of Horror episodes.