#no really its mandatory to air guitar with them

[shara-dee]

if you stand up to have a dance party along with Chen siblings when Don't Matter is playng, DM me right now I want to be friends.

[thegamingmonk]

Encanto Headcanons #3

This family gives me so much brainrot, it's not even funny.

Dolores heard of ‘Ignorance is bliss’ and thought “Damn, must be nice-”.

All the triplets are one minor inconvenience away from snapping. Especially Julieta. Pepa and Bruno not so much since they let out their chaos more often than their sister.

Camilo gets his knife cat face from Pepa when she was younger.

Camilo is a full blown mommy's boy, born and raised. Nobody could hold him longer than 5 minutes unless it was Pepa when he was a baby.

Antonio more of a daddy's boy, Félix always helping his son adjust to his newly acquired gift. Dolores is close to both her parents; spoiled rotten by Félix and relating the most to Pepa.

Out of boredom and fun, Félix and Agustín would try playing cards (Go Fish) with each of the baby grandkids to see who would get the concept faster. Mirabel was the fastest to understand.

For personal reasons, Isabela is banned from playing uno, monopoly, and any other family-ruining games.

Pepa, Dolores, and Julieta can only play for so long until they become problems too.

To everyone's surprise, the Cool sister's competitive nature comes from Julieta. Agustín doesn't have a single competitive bone in his body. Meanwhile Julieta gets so invested in a game of Monopoly that it's slightly terrifying.

Nobody knew where Mirabel got her sassiness from until they encountered a very tired and almost-done-with-life Julieta.

The Cool sisters have moments where they inherited Agustín’s accident-prone nature. The amount of convincing Isabela has to do to get Mirabel and Luisa to not laugh about her tripping over her own plants.

Now that I think about it, all the Madrigals are clumsy in their own ways (we see from young Alma, Bruno, Camilo, Pepa, Mirabel, and of course, Agustín our accident prone king). It just runs in the family. Thanks Alma.

When Isabela started experimenting with creating four leaf clovers, best believe Bruno was on that market.

For the first couple of weeks that Bruno came back, Luisa became his Madrigal-assigned bodyguard to protect him from the weary/angry/jackass villagers reacting to his return. Really, she just wanted to be around her tio again and volunteered to do it.

Bruno didn't mind too much, but it does do something to your confidence when your sobrina ends up being your protection.

More or less, this led to a lot of uncle-niece bonding time consisting of the two helping around the village, sitting under trees, and relaxing during Luisa-mandatory breaks.

Luisa starts to really like rats. She finds them so cute and tiny with their weird tails.

Anytime Pepa snows, Camilo thinks its funny to just make her a mini snowman army in the snow piles she leaves. At first she didn't find it amusing to just turn around and see a bunch of snowmen but now actually turns out quite fond of them.

You know how when Elsa is sick, she makes snowgies? That but it's Pepa being sick and she makes "cloudbebes".

Dolores, Félix, and Antonio adores them. Camilo finds them annoying since they always zap him with static.

That's only if she has a small cold. Pepa with a fever probably sets up the movie "2012".

Mirabel, Félix, and Dolores could honestly be a band if they wanted to. Félix on guitar, Mirabel on accordion, and Dolores on piano. Abuela is considering Madrigal concerts with the three.

During a card game with Camilo, Mirabel, and Dolores, Alma decided to join it. Halfway through the session, it turned into Alma teaching the kids her skills on how she wins every game. You don't live this long and don't learn a thing or two.

Mirabel knows a few magic tricks from wanting to prove she can do magic as well in the family.

The trick where a card appears out of thin air always gets Camilo.

Dolores is still trying to figure out how in the world that peso got behind her ear without her hearing it.

Sometimes when everyone's schedule is just absolutely flooded, the adults trust Casita enough for babysitting duty (Casita the best babysitter).

Casita was the mvp of the whole movie.

Casita "Imma be Mirabel's main supporter through the entire movie" Madrigal.

Mariano instantly fit in as one of the grandchildren, nobody even questioned it.

He starts to hang around the Casita and stay for dinner more and more often. Abuela doesn't know if this is purely for Dolores or just because he's attached to this family.

Catch Mariano letting Antonio sit on his shoulders ever so casually at almost a constant basis.

A whole family discussion could be happening and Mariano is standing there with Antonio playing with his stuffed jaguar on the Guzman's shoulders.

Bruno is not one for confrontation but if anyone was to mess with any of his family, he's ready to whip up the most horrific prophecy to scare the life out of the person at hand.

One would think Bruno is not good with kids due to his social anxiety, but he's fantastic with them. He misses all the time he could've had with his nieces and nephews during his time in the walls.

Bruno regrets missing out on his sobrinas' quinces. He wishes to make up for that lost time and dances some day. (Unsure if males have a similar thing, but if so, he'd regret missing Camilo's as well) (also also let me know cause I'm genuinely curious and don't trust Google).

Everyone fears Bruno disappearing again, but one of the Madrigals who fear it the most is Antonio. He just got his tio, that he didn't even know was around, back and is firmly attached to the man. If Bruno can disappear once, he could again, and that's what scares Antonio the most. If he goes without seeing Bruno for a whole day, he starts to panic and worry. This often leads to a Bruno-Antonio sleepover in the youngest's room; rats invited!

If anyone tells me Casita is not a Madrigal family member, we fighting on sight. Anyhoos~

If anyone Colombian or Latino would like to let me know more about the culture, I would absolutely love that! Movies like Encanto gets me so interested into learning about other cultures (a reason why I want to travel the world one day). That's it for now!

[7spaceace7]

Secrets (A Donatello x Reader)

This is incredibly self-indulgent and was really just a fic for me to obsess over tesla coils, but my girlfriend convinced me to post it- so here it is! It got kind of long too, but I hope you enjoy! 

Word Count: 3236

Reader is given feminine terms in this one

Mild cursing (thank you Raph)

Absolute fluff attack, the sweetness will rot your teeth

Singing was your greatest passion. From a young age, you had been roped into music, the emotions it could represent with just a few notes and some relatable lyrics. It was happiness, it was sadness, it was anger and excitement, and it was everything you couldn’t express well enough with just words. Being a writer, sometimes that would get frustrating, but music helped you overcome the most challenging spots in a new piece or story. This is why you would constantly have earbuds in as you sang along to every song you’d memorized on your Spotify shuffle. 

And Donnie noticed this. Every time you would enter the turtles’ lair, he would see you unplug and pack-up your headphones. Hell, he was even able to detect your singing from the sounds of the sewer tunnels echoing with every step you took closer. He’d hear you talk about the music or soundtracks of your favorite games and movies, analyzing what every slight twinge or reprise would allude to. And he loved every part of it. He loved getting to see those moments where music was all you could focus on. Your heart rate rose exponentially in anticipation and excitement. Your eyes would screw shut while you broke into a grin. Your hands would mimic motions to the beat as you played on invisible drums, or strummed a nonexistent guitar. 

It was adorable to him, to say the least. But he never told you so. He never said a word, in case this might scare you off for coming across as “creepy” or weird. He knew most people probably didn’t pay this close attention to little things like that, but then again, he also knew that most people weren’t madly in love with you. 

Which Donatello was. 

He couldn’t tell you, because once he started rambling about you, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to stop. And if he didn’t stop, then he’d run the 89.07% chance risk of telling you how he’d been in love with you since the day they met you. That was way too high for him to be comfortable. No, he couldn’t tell you, no matter how badly he wanted you to know.

“Okay, so what if you just show ‘er you’re interested instead?” Raph asked, half paying attention to his brother’s predicament, half pounding the punching bag before him into the ground. Leo was in the dojo meditating, and Mikey was playing video games in the living room, which left the two middle brothers to their own devices. For Donnie, this was literally. His three-fingered hands fiddled with his latest electrical circuit. It was bound for sending the right amount of voltage into his inventions without needing four power strips and a generator all on their own. Unfortunately, he was too distracted to actually delve into its components, and settled for breaking and piecing it back together again.

“Show her? How would I do that?” Donnie’s voice trembled at the thought.

“I dunno, you’re the genius here,” Raph huffed, “There’s gotta be somethin’ in this place that you think she’d find cool. She loves music, right?”

“Yeah, like a lot, she even-”

“Rhetorical question, Don, heard the rant plenty,” His brother cut him off. Pausing his violent onslaught of the dummy, he turned to face him. “You’re nervous ‘cause you ain’t ever done somethin’ for a pretty girl before, I get it. So do somethin’ you know you’re good at. That’ll take the nerves off, your plan works, and then I won’ have to listen to you babbling about whatever new fuckin’ thing she did today. Win win.”

The younger turtle paused. “That was...actually pretty sound advice, thank you, Raph.”

“Anytime,” Raph nodded, a smug smile tugging at his lips from being able to help. Problem was, now he was invested. He’d listened to his brother’s rants and rambles and failed plans of possibly confessing for weeks now, what was gonna happen once he finally did it? Raph plopped onto one of Donnie’s bean bag chairs. He didn’t bother to pick up the training dummy. “So what ya gonna do, smart guy?”

Donnie blinked a few times, glasses twitching on his nose as he pushed them up. He didn’t know it, but you coined this his “brainstorming face”. He fiddled with the circuits once again.

“Uh...I’m not sure,” His tongue went dry. A million ideas fly through his brain each minute, and this decides to be the time that he can’t think of a single one good enough. Figures. “I could build her something? Maybe a new stereo, or upgrade the one she has.”

Raph made a noise of disapproval. “You can do better, any old fix-it guy could do that.”

“Fair. Maybe I could- ow!”

A short buzz of the air cut him off as his fiddling paid off. To the world’s great irony, a light bulb several inches away lit up.

“You good?”

“Yeah, I’m good, I…” Donnie trailed off. The purple-clad turtle’s eyes widened as he registered what happened. “I’m better than good, I just had an epiphany!”

“Epipha-what?”

“An epiphany, sudden realization, an idea!” Donnie flicked his goggles back down, enhancing his vision with the magnifier on it. Wires were tugged in and out, and a transmitter was displaced. With a snort of triumph, he raised it to the air for his brother to see. “This is the answer!” 

“A tiny board thing. Just what she’s always wanted,” Raph rolled his eyes, but Donnie was prepared for this.

“Not just a tiny board, a tiny board with this!-” With great haste, Donnie was next to Raph, holding the board out properly. “My side-side project, this little thing, look at the coil here, this is it! This is a tesla coil, capable of transmitting thousands and thousands of volts of energy surging through the air, powering anything within its radius, which is perfect and exactly why I needed to reconfigure it to power my lab and this one new machine I’m working on, but that’s not why this is the perfect idea!”

“Wow, please continue, professor, I’m dyin’ to know.”

“Glad you asked! Watch this!” One aux cord, T-Phone connection, and light-dimming later, the lab went dark in anticipation. And suddenly, with the press of a play button on Donnie’s shuffle, music started to fill the air. But it wasn’t coming from his phone. It was coming from the coils, surging and creating not only electric energy that was visible to the human eye as it sparked, but music. Sound. The beats and notes of the song playing sprouted out in the form of electricity.

Raph’s green eyes became transfixed on the sparks flying out. “Holy shit.”

“Holy shit is right!” Came the squeals of utter nerding out, “This is only a tabletop version of an SGTC circuit, my own type of it anyway based on Tesla’s original designs, but if I reworked it, made it bigger, made it lifelike and maybe four or five of them, I could create the most advanced musical performance this city has ever seen!”

“I’m gonna pretend I know everything you just said because clearly this is your nerd thing,” Raph started, utterly confused. Even still, a reassuring smile framed his features. “But this looks pretty damn cool. This right here? Exactly what ‘m sayin’, Don.  This is you.”

“Do you think she’ll like it...?” Donnie asked in a hopeful voice. He wasn’t just asking about the invention. 

“Course she will.”

~x~

A couple weeks had passed since that fateful conversation with Raph. He’d been in and out of the lab since then, but between patrols and the mandatory bathroom breaks, there was hardly a time he wasn’t working on his great new project. You weren’t even allowed to go into the lab, per his request, for all his time there.

However, he always made sure to make at least one movie whenever you’d come hang out at the lair from work.

Finally, one Friday night, the set up was complete. Pride swelled in Donnie’s chest as he looked at his creation: six symmetrically placed tesla coils sprung up from the ground and walls all around his lab space. The coilings wrapped around metal frames, spiraling into a beautiful arrangement of engineering, if he did say so himself. Mikey said it looked like the lasers out of a DC comic, which was also not a bad thing to be. He just hoped that you would like it. All of it was for you, of course, but over the weeks that he’d been preparing it, he found more beauty in the music of tesla coils than he ever had appreciated before. 

Donnie thought he might thank you for that, if he could get his nerves around it.

God, he was so nervous. Anxiety rushed through his body like the electric pulses he was perfecting. They were already done, but it was all he could do to distract himself while waiting for you to arrive. Maybe the frequencies weren’t in the right key. What if they sounded better this way? Or maybe the firing power wasn’t enough? Trajectory looked alright, maybe it just-

“Donnie?”

“Gh! Y/N, hey!” Stammered the surprised terrapin after knocking his head against the top of a coil. His goggles were on the setting of night-vision, but that didn’t account for night-spatial-awareness, it seemed.

“I got your text to come,” You tried to smile at him, but the dark laboratory proved to make that difficult. “How come it’s so dark in here?”

“Uh, well, that’s p-part of the surprise! Eheh. Gimme just a second-”

You waited patiently outside of his lab, vision still applicable, but grew concerned the more strange noises and clangs you heard coming from inside. This was definitely a whole new level of “Donnie Surprises” just by how nervous he seemed about it.

You yelped when his hand grabbed your arm and dragged you back inside the darkness.

“Okay, uh,” He started, before clapping his hands together for the lights to switch back on, “This is what I wanted to show you.”

Your gaze spun all around the lab. After adjusting to the light, you could clearly see giant mechanism after mechanism placed strategically around in a dome-like setup. Coils that protruded like round-edged spikes circled you both, and in the center was a metal cage. 

“Oh my god…” You almost whispered. A large grin broke out onto your face as you stared in quiet marvel at the scene. His plan was working, and Donnie lit up with an outstretched arm in presentation.

“These bad boys are called tesla coils-”

“Tesla coils!” You squealed in imperfect unison to what you assumed was the start of an explanation. “You made tesla coils, Donnie, holy shit!”

“You’ve heard of them?!” Donnie exclaimed, eyes widening behind his glasses.

“YES!” Your hands began to wave around excitedly, “Oh my god I used to be OBSESSED with these things! I heard about when I was a kid from that old movie, oh what was it, it was like the apprentice’s-”

“Sorcerer’s Apprentice!”

“THAT! Yes!” 

“I haven’t seen that movie in years!”

“Me neither! All I remember is that Hiccup���s voice actor totally nerded out and programmed his giant tesla coils to play music for the girl he wanted to impress, and it was the coolest thing because these giant machines were playing music, music out of nothing but sparks of electricity at different frequencies, which to be honest probably would have caused more of an energy problem than the movie suggested because goddamn do they take up a lot of power, but I was like six and didn’t care!” You laughed  in an energetic burst of word association, practically bouncing on the balls of your feet.

Donnie could have kissed you then and there for that alone. 

A grin crept onto his lips as he watched you ramble on about the movie, leaving all anxious thoughts to fall from his mind. For once, someone actually understood one of his passions. Better than that, she was explaining the process to him of all people! Sure, she was intuitive enough to know he didn’t need it, he literally had just built them after all. This was just out of pure excitement. Someone in his life was talking about science and technology like they were the most fascinating things on the planet, just as the purple-masked turtle believed it was. Well, second only to the ecstatic girl in front of him. 

“-And so, I randomly remembered it again not that long ago, so I looked it up and found so many videos on YouTube about it. I kid you not, I listened to tesla coils and tesla coils alone for a solid week.” 

You breathed heavily, a little winded after such an intense info-dump. God, he always loved when you got excited about something. 

“This is kind of surreal,” Donnie chuckled a bit, pushing up his glasses when they tumbled down his nose, “I had no idea you’d get what these were, much less have known so much about them.” Donnie’s eyes widened at his own panicked-fueled blabbering. “N-Not that I think you’re stupid! I just-- I mean it’s not-- common? It’s more of-”

“A niche interest, yeah. No worries,” You finished for him, signaling his stuttered words hadn’t fallen on offended ears. Donnie quietly sighed in relief. Time ticked by in seconds, but even that was much too fast for this martial artist to grasp. If he could have constructed a device to pause the fabrics of time, he would have long ago, simply to relish the moments with you that meant everything to him. It wasn’t your fault your eyes captivated him more than any element he’s worked with.

“So,” You began eagerly, startling him out of his thoughts, “Are we gonna listen to some zappy poles go brrr or what?”

Donnie snorted at your juvenile word choice. “Yeah, totally. Now, ah,” He walked over toward the large cage in the center, stepped inside, then poked his head out with a dorky grin. A large, green hand stood outstretched towards you. “I think you’d better step inside my cage.”

“If you keep quoting the damn movie like this, I am going to explode from excitement, and it will be your fault!” It was a wonder how you hadn’t caught onto his plan yet, honestly. You made no sense of hesitation before grabbing his offered hand (even though your hands were small enough that they hardly matched his palm’s size), and clambered into the cage in front of him. This was a great excuse for you to be close to him without it being weird. And now, with your back brushing up against his plastron, the butterflies in his chest told him it was totally a good call.

Donatello would take this secret to his grave, however.

“Put your hands on the rail here, yep just like that,” Donnie nodded after your hands found the safeguard rail. A couple buttons tapped into a laptop later, he settled his own hands next to yours. “Let the magic begin.”

Magic would have been the understatement of the year. A coil in front of you quickly shot out its first spark. Familiar music breached the sound barrier to your ears. The one behind you both caught it instantly. Spark after spark sent back and forth between the coils, soaring through the lab like the most incredible game of electric catch.

“Whoa!” You laughed when the sparks would bounce off the cage itself, pressing closer to the turtle behind you (much to his surprise every time). Your shining e/c eyes never left the electric bolts shooting out. “This is insane!”

“Heh, glad you like it!” Donnie watched you closely that entire time, more entranced by your excitement and wonderstruck self than anything he’d created. He could power up the tesla coils anytime of day, but this was a special moment he’d never be able to recreate in a controlled environment. This was no experiment, this was real and it was happening right now. 

The only thing left to do was tell you how he felt. 

“Y/N, I have to tell you something,” He began, stepping away to give you a bit of space. His heart rate was increasing by the second. The way you turned to look at him wasn’t helping, either. 

“What is it?” You spoke softly, somehow able to be heard over the music. Donnie could hardly meet your eyes, so he took your hands in his instead.

“I...I don’t know how to say this exactly,” He started, “I’ve been trying to do it for months, going over every possible conjuncture of words, something that would be heartfelt and honest, poetic even? But the truth is, words aren’t my thing, th-they never have been. I’m a science guy, I take things apart and put them back together again, I figure out what makes them work, I see life as a million tiny parts to analyze.”

He paused his quickened speech to take a breath. Your hands squeezed his larger ones as an offer to continue.

“And so, I’m...bad at feelings. I see it all as chemicals and components used by the brain to create action and reaction. But now I’m not so sure if that’s all they are, and really the only thing I am sure about is that it’s because of you that I’m questioning everything I ever thought I knew. Maybe, maybe life is more than atoms and chemicals, and instead it’s about..moments. Moments like this. Moments that...that I..that I really want to keep forever and play over and over again.”

“Donnie…” You spoke. This time he squeezed your hands.

“I know I’m rambling and I should really get to the point, so what I’m trying to say is,” He took another breath, steady this time. His gaze met yours again. “I want to live these moments with you every day. You’re special to me. You’re part of our family, but this is more than that, this feeling is-”

“Love.” You finished for him. Both of your eyes widened as you realized the other felt how you each did.  

Donatello nodded slowly, hesitant to be so certain, but knowing it was true. There were no more words to be exchanged after that, only actions, only movements so soft and gentle that the large terrapin was certain he’d break if they could fit in his hands. Your hands left his and instead reached up to grab the long ends of his mask, and tugged gently for him to reach you. He leaned down without a thought. A three-fingered hand found your waist this time. 

You kissed. Soft, human lips connected to his slightly chapped reptilian ones. The turtle had waited for this moment since he realized the attraction he felt towards you was not just powerful chemical reactions, but true feelings. It wasn’t biology, it was chance and fate and one-in-a-million all at once. As the sparks continued to (literally) fly, Donnie let his eyes close. This was the present. He was here, he was holding a great new adventure in his hands, and there was a brilliant future just around the corner. 

The song may have finished, but this is what would last forever. 

[preciouspeterbparker]

i wish i were

inspired by conan gray’s “heather”

warnings: stepsibling incest (not yet but that’s the whole premise), underage masturbation, underage sex, angst. peter’s like 16 and a half, Tony’s almost 18

word count: 2.2k

summary: peter’s in love with his big brother. no biggie. (spoiler alert: it’s a big deal)

(A/N: okay this has been living in my head rent free for over a month. i've written more, but it's not fully fleshed out yet. 

i figured i would post this and see if anyone is interested in reading it before i put a bunch more effort in lmao. this is filth. most of the angst comes later lololol (and more filth).

i hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think / if you'd like to read more!

- bloo)

PART ONE

Peter stands at his locker, desperately trying to blend in and remain unseen as he switches out his English textbook for Physics. The school year is basically over, given that it’s the last week of May but he’s still not comfortable in the junior-senior hallway. He’s always been the youngest (and therefore smallest) kid in most of his classes, given that he’s been in the ‘gifted & talented’ track since middle school. (He’s on track to graduate next year, taking his last few mandatory classes and completing an internship for additional credit.) This year, Peter feels even smaller than usual; maybe because most of the seniors are already eighteen, while as a sophomore, he isn’t even seventeen. He doesn’t have many friends this year, because of it. Ned moved away last summer because his dad got a new job, and, well, he’d never really needed more than Ned before. 

“Hey Pete-squeak,” comes a voice from behind, making him jump. Rolling his eyes, Peter pivots slightly to face the newcomer. The infestation of butterflies that he's been harboring for the past few months begins to flutter immediately, tickling the walls of his stomach as his cheeks flush lightly.

The voice belongs to a tall (or, well, taller than Peter, anyway), ridiculously handsome boy with dark hair and dark eyes, walking towards Peter with his hands in his pockets. The cheeky smirk on his face is all but permanent, but the small, genuine smile it slips into is something that Peter holds close to his chest, something that is typically reserved for him.  

Tony, his older brother, is pretty much Peter's favorite person in the world. Technically, he’s Peter’s step brother. Maria, his mom, and Peter’s dad Richard got married when Peter was a year old and Tony was almost three. They’d essentially spent their whole lives together; neither of them could really remember anything before. They’ve always been close, but that’s changed a little bit this year.

“Hey Tony,” Peter chirps, reaching back into his locker to grab his physics binder. He tries to act natural, even though he feels anything but. His heart’s going a mile a minute inside his rib cage. He feels a little ridiculous, he has for the past few months. Swallowing, he manages to sound relatively calm. “You read the last 2 chapters of Beowulf, right? Mrs. Herrera gave us a pop quiz last period.” 

The older teen groans. Closing his eyes, he throws his head back, a metallic thunk sounding as it collides with the locker he’s leaning back on. “Fucking hell. The final paper is due in like four fucking days! Is that not enough?” It’s quiet for a moment as Tony pauses before he opens one eye, cutting it to look at Peter. “What were the answers?” 

Peter snorts in response, shutting his locker. “Not happening, T.”  He pulls his phone out of his pocket to check the time and lets the left side of his body rest against the cool metal. Three minutes til the bell rings, and Mr. Riley’s class is right across the hall. So he’s essentially got three minutes to indulge himself and the fuzzy warmth that’s running through his veins. He loves any time he gets to spend with Tony. “You’re lucky I told you at all, be grateful.” 

Tony wrinkles his nose at him. “Rude,” he scoffs in mock offense. “I know you can remember them,” comes his teasing accusation. (And he’s right. Peter can recall the entirety of the quiz, but he’s still not going to enable Tony.) Then he pauses and raises an eyebrow at his younger brother. “Is that my sweatshirt?” The garment in question is a worn and slightly faded black Led Zeppelin USA 1977 crewneck sweatshirt. Peter’s wearing it over a charcoal and white check button-up. The sweatshirt is one of Tony’s favorite pieces of clothing, he wears it all the time (hence why Peter...borrowed it...without asking).

Having mentally prepared himself to be questioned at some point, Peter’s reply is already on the tip of his tongue. “Yeah, it ended up in my laundry and once I put it on it was too cozy to take off. And it looks good with these jeans and the button-up. And my boots. Trying out a new look,” he finishes, smiling as he pushes his glasses further up his nose. Tony often teased him about the thick, clear-but-slightly-pink frames, but Peter hadn’t wanted glasses at all (he doesn’t need any more reasons to be teased, thank you), but he likes these. They make him look cute, more feminine. More like someone Tony could want. 

“You’re right,” Tony smiles. One of his hands comes up to playfully ruffle at Peter’s russet hair. “Looks great on you, kid.” There’s warm affection in his voice. 

Peter feels his cheeks go hot again, and he wills the flush to go away. He can’t take compliments from Tony, now- they make him ache and preen simultaneously. He knows that Tony doesn’t mean it the way he wants. Peter knows that Tony would never speak to him again if he knew what was really going on inside his little brother’s head. The thought makes him sick to his stomach. 

Speaking of stomachs. “Hey,” he starts as he fingers through the papers in his physics binder, attempting to find the problem set that’s due today. “Did you ever catch up on Hell’s Kitchen? I’ve been rewatching episodes trying to wait for you, but you’re taking too long. You saw the episode where Gordon-” Peter’s heart falls to his stomach and he abruptly stops speaking when he looks up to notice that Tony isn’t looking at him anymore, barely seems to be listening. 

It falls completely out of his ass when he sees just what, just who, has stolen his attention. 

“Sorry, Pete, gotta go,” Tony mutters once he realizes that Peter’s stopped talking, shooting him a hasty smile and shoving off the navy metal. He skirts past Peter, a slight skip in his step as he makes his way down the hallway. 

Peter's swallows and clenches his jaw as he watches his brother walk straight to her, the bane of his existence. The reason he and Tony don’t spend as much time together anymore. The object of Tony’s affections. Pepper. She's...everything Peter wishes he could be, honestly. Tall, somehow a perfect mix of skinny & curvy, bright blue eyes, long strawberry-blonde hair. She's perfect. And not only in looks; she's also ridiculously smart. If Tony wasn’t valedictorian, she surely would be. She even volunteers at the local soup kitchen every weekend, and Peter’s pretty sure she reads to dogs at the animal shelter once a month. He hates that Pepper is so nice; he hates that he can't hate her without hating himself for it. 

As if he didn't have enough self-loathing already.

***

Peter exits the bathroom that connects his bedroom with Tony’s after gently flicking the lock on his brother’s door to disengage it, the soft ‘snick’ ridiculously loud in the quiet of the house. He’s the only one home; Mom and Dad are at some sort of event for Dad’s law firm, and Tony went to a party at Rhodey’s house. (Tony had insisted that Peter was invited, but he had to know that the younger would never go- why would he want to be surrounded by drunk, horny, belligerent teenagers? The last thing he wanted to see was Tony and- )

There’s a dark gray towel loosely wrapped around his waist, so loose he has to clutch it in his hand to keep it from falling. He closes his own bathroom door behind him and drops the towel, digging through his underwear drawer to pull out a random pair of plaid boxers. 

After sliding them on, the brunette takes a deep breath and lays back against the pillows, arms behind his head. He tries to consciously relax his muscles, the tension of the day not having melted away during his shower like he had hoped. Time for Plan B. It’s never let him down before. Peter reaches for his phone and unlocks it before swiping through his apps to open Spotify. The sound of “Dazed and Confused” fills the air through his speakers, and he sets it to repeat on a loop. It’s a little fucked up, the way he’s conditioned himself to respond to this song, but- Peter knows the whole thing is fucked up; he’s fucked up. 

Closing his eyes, he does the only thing he’s been capable of for months: he thinks of his older brother. 

He’s growing fond of the new facial hair Tony’s trying out; he wonders how it would feel against his skin. Which areas would be the most sensitive to its touch? His thighs? His neck? Peter’s head tilts back and to the side as he imagines wet, warm lips and the scratch of stubble. Just the thought, the phantom sensation, makes a soft mewl leave his mouth. It’s a little ridiculous how easy he can get himself going, when he thinks of Tony’s touch, of his body. Of his love. In his boxers, his cock shifts against his thigh as it begins to fill out. 

The sensual, plucky bassline and wailing guitars of the song drag along, and so does Peter’s breathing as he brings a hand up to pinch at one of his nipples. He imagines the way Tony would tease him until he was whining, begging for release. He supposes it wouldn’t be dissimilar to his older brother’s typical manner of playfully taunting him. Maybe Tony would pin him down like he did when they were younger, climb on top of him and hold him there with the muscles he’s gained from boxing in the garage. The opportunities he’s had to see the older teen breathing heavy, shirtless and glistening with sweat, would be forever ingrained in his mind. The mental image sends more blood rushing south and his dick throbs as it quickly reaches full hardness, drawing a gasp from his mouth. 

Peter takes himself in hand, studying the details of his cock. He knows he’s not huge, but he’s at least on the larger side of average. It’s flushed a deep, mauve-y pink, and he traces the line of a vein on the side with the tip of his pinkie. A shiver shoots down his spine. He wonders how similar it is to Tony’s. Is he circumcised like Peter is? Is he bigger? Longer, thicker even? Sure, he’s seen him naked before, when they were younger changing or in the bath, but that stopped around the time Tony was seven or eight. 

(Tony and Peter had come home from school one day, and Peter’s head had been reeling over what he heard some older girls saying on the bus. He’d decided to ask Tony about it. His big brother knew everything. ...Mom & Dad caught them kissing in their bedroom. That was the end of bathing together, and Tony got his own room, too. Peter never forgot about the way his big brother’s lips felt against his own.) 

A bead of precum oozes out of his tip and Peter rubs his thumb over it, smearing the liquid over his cockhead. Robert Plant’s voice moans over the speaker and Peter echoes the sound as he slowly strokes himself with a loose grip, his hole tightening around nothing. Biting his lip, he hesitates before slipping his left pointer finger into his mouth, rolling his tongue around it sloppily. Once it’s wet, he reaches down and gently presses the pad of his finger against the tightly furled muscle between his cheeks. His breath hitches as the sensation; he’s only touched himself down here a couple of times before. 

The tip of his finger begins to breach his opening and a whine leaves Peter’s mouth. It stings a bit so he tries to relax, muscles fluttering, making a mental note to grab some lube next time he goes to the drugstore. He wants to be able to stretch himself out more, to imagine Tony’s fingers, Tony’s cock, splitting him open and stuffing him full. Fuck-

Tightening his grip on the base of his cock, Peter grits his teeth and grunts softly as he pulls his finger from his ass. He can’t cum yet- he’s not done. He reaches under his pillow, pulling out the balled-up t-shirt that’s taken up residence there. The black fabric has faded in some spots, and the Black Sabbath logo is cracked and worn; it’s one of Tony’s favorite shirts. Peter brings the soft cloth up to his nose, fumbling with it to find the area with the strongest smell. There are hints of Tony’s Old Spice deodorant mixed with a scent that’s distinctly Tony, a warm, masculine musk that has saliva pooling in Peter’s mouth. Delirious, fucking his hand to the beat, he wishes he had dug a little further in the hamper, pulled out a pair of Tony’s briefs. 

That’s the thought that does him in. Peter cums into his fist, gasping his brother’s name, the sound getting muddled in the maelstrom of guitar and drums. Thick ropes of jizz splatter on his stomach and chest, entire abdomen heaving with his breaths. 

He wipes the mess up with Tony’s t-shirt before tucking the fabric back under his pillow for safe keeping.

to be continued???

[edgypasta-headcanons]

What are the creepypasta good at?

[So I’m going to assume besides killing/eating people. Please keep the asks coming!]

Jeff The Killer: Card Games. It doesn’t matter what game it is as long he understands the rules, he’s shockingly really good at them. Everyone in the mansion thinks he’s cheating somehow but in reality, it’s all skill. 

Ben Drowned: Besides being the ultimate gamer, he’s EXTREMELY good at Stoichiometry. You know, that stressful math equation shit in Chemistry. To him, it’s like a puzzle and finds it kinda fun to do. He also loves terrorizing the others with it

Eyeless Jack: Playing the piano is a secret talent Jack always had. He remembers as a kid his mom signing him up for piano lessons in which he reluctantly went along with. Now he can play the piano with little to no issues. If he sees a piano, he has to hold everything back from playing with the keys. He honestly feels embarrassed about knowing how to play the piano and he doesn’t know why.

Masky: Baking. Masky stress bakes a lot and it has gotten him into some trouble (Ex. The Cheesecake incident). But when he bakes, its literal heaven on your tastebuds. Moist, gooey, foodgasm you’ll ever have.

Hoodie: Street Racing. Although he hasn’t done it in years, Hoodie still has a knick for the illegal sport. Never once he got caught and never once he got in a fatal car accident. 

Ticci Toby: Drop Ball Although he doesn’t seem like it, Toby is actually really good at Hide and Seek. Despite his ticking, he knows all the best places to hide and to stay quiet during that time. His record of not being found is 1 hour. Jeff gave up once he found Hoodie and spent 45 minutes looking for Toby who was hiding in the air vent in Jeff’s room. 

Jane The Killer: Baseball. When the Creepypastas have their field days on days off, Jane is extremely good at pitching the ball. Fastball, curveball, knuckleball, splitters, etc. she can do just almost all of them. They’re fast and hard pitches too. 

Clockwork: Tattoo artworks. Before she snapped, Clockwork always loved drawing and the more she drew, the better she got and was able to adapt to almost any art style. Her current art muse is tattoo art and inking. 

BONUS

Dr. Smiley: This man reads freakishly fast and able to obtain each bit of text given to him. He can read 20,000 words per minute and able to finish 15 books less than a month.

Jason The Toymaker: Jason is shockingly really good at doing hair. It's a natural talent that just kind of came to him besides his creations in his toys. A couple of times he’s cut, styled and conditioned Jeff’s and Candy Pop’s hair. He finds the talent quite calming and relaxing. 

The Puppeteer: The King of Guitar Hero. He doesn’t know how he gained the talent of being able to play guitar or how fast his fingers can move but he enjoys the music selection in each of the games. He had beaten Ben at the game quite a few times on Expert Mode. His favorite out of the games has to be Warriors of Rock.

Nina The Killer: Writing. This girl may write some cringy fanfiction, but this girl can write really good original stories. Detail, visionary text, and the perfect plot for anyone to read. Except, no one will give her a chance to read her stories because everyone assumes its cringy fanfiction of her and Jeff or her and Eyeless Jack. She writes some really good original stories, no one wants to give her a chance though. 

Ghost In The Trees (Misty): She doesn’t look like it, but she’s pretty good at dancing. She can’t tell if it was from the formal gatherings or to keep in shape that got her to like dancing. She can do almost everything from Ballroom dancing to pole dancing. But the pole dancing is just to keep in shape and flexible for missions. She and Jane do some workouts together. 

Her (Darkelle): Spellcasting and curses. For being a Child of The Night, it was kind of mandatory for her to learn how to do as such. But she’s really efficient at what she can do; Illusionary spells, voodoo curses, black magic, etc. She’s hoping to be good as the Goddess Hecate. 

Dracul (Satine): Parkour. Before the incident happened, Dracul is extremely good at parkour. It was a hobby she had that turned into a stuntman job that she loved. She still loves the hobby and often does it subconsciously without realizing it when out hunting. 

[thejosh1980]

Update #21 – 1 week at “The Ocean Shores Resort”

Update #21 – 1 week at “The Ocean Shores Resort”

A week ago we left quarantine in Adelaide!!!

It's been another week of mixed emotions, but I have to say, for the first time in months, they've been mostly on the positive side of things.

Last Tuesday, we left the hotel without too much hassle. They'd given us a basic breakfast the night before to have first thing and they called us down early; luckily we were ready and down the stairs we went. Before you know it, we were in the hotel reception taking our masks off!

Adelaide and South Australia are COVID free, so no masks, no problems.

The checkout was quick (the big bill comes in a few weeks!!), the staff were awesome and the police informative. They all understand that quarantine is not easy on anyone, and they were patient with our questions and worries. We had won the jackpot of quarantine hotels: Pullman Adelaide and the staff helped make our stay tolerable.

Jumped in a taxi (with masks on cause we really weren't sure yet how to behave in the outside world) and off to the airport. We had to leave the hotel by 07:30, because another bus of incoming “Covicts” were coming in that morning. Our flight was at 11:50 up to Brisbane, so it was yet another waiting game to check in and fly. But first... coffee! (we actually bought a coffee from a coffee shop! Amazing!! It's the small things...).

The flight was about about 2/3's full, no masks.

Landing in Brisbane we had to do a border check, show our papers, explain where we had been and all that. The check was there to stop anyone who may have COVID from coming in without quarantining. Each State has slightly different rules, and they do change from time to time, depending on hotspots and COVID numbers. Because the flight was from Adelaide and we left the hotel directly to the airport, we made sure we had no problems entering Brisbane (Queensland). We definitely didn't want any chance of another 14 day hotel stay!!!

Our original plan was to fly into the Gold Coast airport, which is only about 35 minutes from Mum, but there were no flights on our leaving day, so we had to fly into Brisbane (which is 2 hours from Mum's). My cousin picked us up (bloody legend!). We were hungry, and we went directly to Yatala pies. This was the moment I started to realize we were almost home. The taste of home! (Yatala Pies is a well known bakery south of Brisbane, a regular stop for many).

My cousin could drive us as far as the QLD/NSW border. Once there, we walked across the border and Dave picked us up on the other side. A little complicated, but sure enough, the plan worked.

The whole experience felt like something out of the movies. Not that it was all “Hollywood”. It was more like: I can't believe this is finally happening. I wasn't really in the moment. Yet.

As we were getting close to “The Ocean Shores Resort” (which is the name we have for my Mum's house) I still didn't feel calm...

Anyhow, we arrived, and if you've seen our IG or FB Story on the day, you'd know that when I knocked on the front door, we had actually surprised Mum (a little early), and she couldn't find the front door key to let us in!! So our reunion started off with a scream and eventually a laugh!!

Mum did cry, but we all expected her to cry more... ;) Honestly, I think we both had cried too much the past 2 months, it was no longer needed. It was all about joy and happiness.

After meeting and hugging Alex (some more tears) we entered the house to find Mum had a “welcome home” sign and our picture up on the walls (lots of me and Alex, can't go wrong with that!!).

It was surreal.

A quick house tour for Alex and we settled down. Lots of chatting and catching up to do, and a roast dinner!

We'd made it.

The next morning (Wednesday), a son's work is never done and I was up early to take Mum to school. She's part of the support unit inside the primary school, working with kids with Autism.

Even though her eyesight is deteriorating, Mum can still work. Driving a car; that's out of the question. Reading the “use by date” on a packet of chips is almost impossible. Keeping an eye on children in the playground, developing their social skills or helping them with their school work (considering the text is usually quite large and the pictures bold) Mum can still do really well.

I've learnt she has figured out ways to cope with her eyes. She has a great memory, so once she's told something, she can remember it really well (like recipes for cooking etc). She's still a keen bargain hunter when it comes to shopping. I enjoy learning that she's kept her life as close to “normal” as possible, making small changes to the bigger things to keep her independence.

But it's those small things that are hard to do alone, which is why I'm here...

After dropping Mum off, Alex and I spent the morning of our first full day in Brunswick Heads. This is the town I lived in from the mid 80's until late 90's. I went to primary school here, learned to surf here, and know the old names of the shops (the hair dressers is now a surf shop, the butcher's is a cafe, the ice cream shop is a real estate agent and the bank has recently closed). Lots of changes for me, lots of new things for Alex.

We also went down to the beach, the south wall of the Brunswick River, where the river meets the ocean. We watched some waves. Taking in the salt air (I don't think I ever realized how salty the air is here until now).

It was a relaxing day.

But I still wasn't quite “here” in my head and heart. Leaving Dresden back in July, only to be delayed for 7 weeks, then another 2 weeks in quarantine, was going to take sometime to overcome.

Time to pick up Mum from school... Home... Unpack a little, dinner, chatting and a little TV.

Thursday morning, it was time for another radio interview. To finish off the 3 part story with ABC North Coast Radio I did another live interview with Joanne Shoebridge. I'm always nervous doing these kinds of things, even though in the music world, I've had to do interviews, they were never quite as personal as this.

After we dropped Mum off at school Thursday morning, we drove up to the Cape Byron Lighthouse and luckily got a park up close to the top.

I wanted to introduce Alex to the area as much as I could, without overwhelming her. Brunswick Heads, Ocean Shores, Mullumbimby and Byron Bay all played a big part of my childhood, and I wanted her to at least know these villages a little bit as early as possible. We'd covered Brunswick Heads and Ocean Shores a little, so now it was time for Byron Bay.

Bring on the whale watching!!

Within minutes of leaving the car, we could see whales jumping out and swimming around the cape. It was a wonderful morning. I'm so glad Alex got to see them (in fact I can't remember the last time I saw whales so close to the shore). They migrate each year around September/October, so it was perfect timing.

It was a special day for Alex...

The sun was shining, the whales were in plain sight and the tourists were kind enough to stay away from Byron Bay. COVID does have its benefits. Fewer people in these tourist spots isn't always bad (although I am quite aware the economy is suffering. The borders are opening up next week and it'll be very busy then).

Back into Ocean Shores, picked up Mum from school. Home... Dinner.. Chatting... Some TV...

Friday was the first day we had to do “stuff” in regards to living here permanently, and that was banking. So after dropping mum off at work, we drove into Mullumbimby “The Biggest Little Town In Australia”. I went to high school here.

Basically Brunswick Heads and Mullumbimby are like Neustadt in Dresden. You can't walk down the street without seeing someone you know, stopping and chatting. It happened in Brunz the other day, I literally parked my car, and lo and behold an old high school friend came out of the video store to say hi... Or in Mullum, as we arrive at the bank I see an old friend who used to teach me rock n roll dancing (yeah, I can still cut a rug)... and even inside the bank, I said hi to a fella from my high school year, we hadn't seen each other since 1997.

It's a small world...

The banking took a bit longer than expected, after much back and forward we settled on our new bank accounts and how to arrange things going forward. While I've had an account here since I was very very young, I cancelled most of my stuff when I left in 2002, so now it was time to set up shop again, especially since I had my wife with me and we have a future to work towards...

We walked the street of Mullum, grabbed a coffee and we let the country hippy vibe soak in. Alex commented on how many folks don't wear shoes here and she can't believe how many new coffee shops there are for her to try (there's a lot more than when I was a kid).

Picked up Mum from school... School holidays for 2 weeks! Yippeee!!

Home... Dinner... Chatting... some TV...

Over the weekend we sorted out things around the house. Set up better internet Wifi around the house, the pool is in good condition after the winter sleep, cupboards got cleaned out and we unpacked and the car was washed (first time I've hand washed a car in over a decade!).

Sunday I watched Mark's live stream (from his front porch in upstate New York) and I felt inspired (he does that to me). So I am considering live streaming next week. I have a guitar and good internet, so why not? I just have to find time to practice ;) I'm thinking net Sunday evening here, which would be Sunday lunch time in Germany. If I don't get to it this Sunday, then maybe next Sunday... I'll keep you posted.

Overall the weather has been warm, often over 20 degrees. But the mornings are still quite chilly, with frosty dew on the golf course out back. It's not bad for coming out of winter...

Today, Monday, we went “up the coast”, to Tweed Heads.

First thing we tried to exchange my German license for a mandatory NSW (State) license, unfortunately I gotta wait for some back checks, no idea what I did 19 years ago in Melbourne, but they wanna check it out. So onwards to shopping...

Yes!!! We bought a coffee machine! Finally we can wake and with a press of a button get ourselves a cup of joe. It's the small things....

Helped mum with the grocery shopping. She knows her stuff. She knows where everything is in every shop, but sometimes she just needs me to reassure her what is actually written on the box or package!!!

So that's basically our first week...

We are settling in well. Alex and Mum get on like a house on fire. I often can't get a word in edgewise and I'm always outvoted!

I still miss Germany and I still miss Europe... (I always will). I miss a lot of the “past life”, but that's just cause Australia has moved on without me these past 18 years. Each day here I get a little closer to that homey feeling I used to have as a teenager (when I didn't know better).

In hindsight, the past 3 months wasn't too bad... We survived... But that's easy to say now...

When we were in the middle of it, it was really tough.

It was really hard packing up our lives into boxes. It was emotionally draining saying goodbye after goodbye to our wonderful friends. Playing my goodbye show was one of the musical highlights of my life, even if it was one of the saddest.

Then we were ready to leave...

As you all know, that didn't go according to plan.

That's when the really bad feelings crept in. You know it's one thing to know you gotta pack up and say goodbye to leave (you are prepared for that)... It's another when you're ready and the world says “nope, not yet”... and again and again that build up and let down was happening, and until the last 2 weeks in Germany, we had no idea why!

As some of you know, I'm not really good at spontaneity. I'm not good when the plan changes... It was tough... But...

When we took control of the situation and booked new flights, it helped a lot. We were back in control.

Quarantine was a difficult time, it got a little dark there. It brought with it, it's own set of challenges and a steep learning curve. I, for one, learnt a lot about pressure. I put too much pressure on myself. Since we arrived here, I have tried my best to relax more, in my own way at least. My to do lists are shorter...

Alex and I had already figured out how to survive the German lockdown, the packing up of our lives and clearing out the apartment. Then we had 2 months at her parents stuck in “limbo” and then 2 weeks stuck in a room together. Our marriage is really new, and we survived that without any damage to our relationship. Sure, we both have a few personal scars, but nothing a little love and tenderness wont fix. I'm proud of her, Alex has a lot of patience for me!

I'm really happy I am here to help Mum each day. Those small things will slowly become bigger things, but for now, it's great to be able to do “stuff” with her. That was always the plan, to be here in time, before things got really bad.

We've been posting often on our IG and FB stories, so I hope folks have seen the day to day happenings. I'm sure we'll continue with that, keeping you up to date visually.

I think I'll end these FB journals here, and switch over to Tumblr full time. The idea being that if you'd like to continue to read these long “new life” chronicles, I'll still post a link here when I do update there... Confused? Me too! ;)

Thanks everyone for your messages of support and love. We are very lucky, we have the best friends.... You guys rock! You're awesome! We love you.

Love

Josh and @dauntlesscoffee

[zen3to5]

J/H 3-10: Fez Gets The Girl

Well, the re-tread's done - now here we go in earnest!

Following along with the production order rather than the air dates, we now come to "Fez Gets The Girl." I've left the "A" story with Red and Eric untouched, and the "B" story with Fez and Caroline has only minor adjustments. I've kept everything, however, to provide context and to try and simulate a proper 22-minute episode. Now, as for the stuff that I did re-write...well, read on, my friends.

FF.Net AO3

---

SHOW TITLE   EXT. FORMAN DRIVEWAY - DAY   The boys are gathered around the Vista Cruiser. ERIC leans inside from the open driver’s seat window, working on the speakers.   HYDE: Where’s the tunes, Forman?   ERIC: Hang on, you guys. Just one more wire here.   FEZ: I learned how to speak English faster than this.   KELSO: Fez, it’s not real English if you speak it with a foreign accent. Geez.   Eric finishes his adjustments. ROCK MUSIC plays loudly from the car. The boys all smile and start to head bang.   ERIC: Aren’t these the coolest?   FEZ: I can’t hear you.   ERIC: I know! They’re the greatest speakers ever!   Eric jumps onto the hood of the car, slides down to the end, and starts playing air guitar.   RED, dressed for work, steps out from the kitchen. He stares at his son and rolls his eyes.   RED: Eric!   Eric, not hearing, continues to jam. The other boys retreat through the garage. Red crosses to the car and shuts off the radio. Eric, finally noticing his father, sits upright on the hood of the car.   ERIC: Oh, hey, Dad. Sorry. Didn’t see you there.   RED: Well, I guess ‘cause you were too busy making an ass of yourself.   ERIC: Actually, I was trying out my new speakers. What do you think?   RED: New speakers? What was wrong with the old ones? Those were genuine GM parts!   ERIC: (beat) Uh... these are louder.   RED: Yeah, well – just keep your monkey music turned down. And go grab your smock. We gotta go to work.   Eric hops off the car and heads inside.   BOB (v.o.): Hey, Red! Is that you?   RED: Oh, cripes.   Red leans into the car and turns the speakers back on, at full volume, just as BOB enters. He smiles and leans on the passenger’s side door.   BOB: (to Red)  Hiya, neighbor!   RED: Can’t hear you, Bob. I’m testing out Eric’s new speakers.   Bob looks confused and wanders off the way he came. Once he leaves the driveway, Red turns the radio off and smiles.   RED: (indicates the speakers) Not bad.

MAIN CREDITS   BUMPER   INT. FORMAN KITCHEN - EVENING   Red and Eric sit at the dining table, eating their dinners. KITTY crosses from the counter to the table as Red talks.   RED: Boy, quite a day at Price Mart, Kitty. First, the price of light bulbs dropped two cents, then Eric was made employee of the month, and to top it off, they added Cheez-Its to the vending machine.   Eric looks up from his plate.   ERIC: Are you serious?   RED: Yep. Tiny little squares with the cheese flavor baked right in.   ERIC: Am I really Price Mart employee of the month?   RED: You sure are.    Kitty applauds wildly.   KITTY: Yay!   RED: (to Eric) And they even decided to throw in an extra 25 cents an hour.   ERIC: Oh, yes!   RED: I gotta admit, Eric. I had my doubts, but hell, you’ve hardly embarrassed me.   ERIC: (beat) Thanks, Dad. Oh, this is great. Whoo! Price Mart rocks!   LAURIE enters from the living room and joins the family at the table.   KITTY: Oh, Laurie, tell everyone your good news.   LAURIE: I just finished my first two weeks of cosmetology school!   KITTY: And she didn’t flunk out! Isn’t that great?   RED: (to Laurie) That is great, honey. Nice job.   Red leans over and gives Laurie a kiss on the cheek.   LAURIE: Thanks, Daddy. But I’m a little worried. We’re not allowed to practice on dummies anymore and I can’t find anyone who’ll let me style their hair for my next exam.   KITTY: Oh, honey, you’ll do fine. We’re all here to support you.   LAURIE: Great. So, you don’t mind being my model?   KITTY: (quickly) Oh, honey, no, no. I go to the beauty parlor. Maybe Eric can help out.   ERIC: Oh, sure. Laurie, first of all – always run with scissors.   Laurie makes a face at him.   KITTY: (to Eric) Boy, I never get tired of your sarcasm.   ERIC: Really?   Red clears his throat.   ERIC (cont’d): Sorry.   KITTY: Red, would you like to be a hair model?   RED: Kitty, I would like to have hair. Period. But I don’t. So, no.   Red pats Laurie on the back, then stands and heads for the counter.   LAURIE: It’s fine, Mom. I’ll just get Kelso to do it. He shorted out my hair dryer last week when we were all done -   She looks over at Red, who glares back.   LAURIE (cont’d): ... “talking,” so he owes me one.   KITTY: (beat) Well, that’s very nice.   RED: Sure it is, kitten. And hey, you’ll be practicing on a dummy after all.   He and Eric both laugh.   ERIC: All right, Dad!   He points to Red, who salutes with a beer can. They keep laughing while Laurie scowls and Kitty goes back to her dinner.   CUT TO:   INT. THE HUB - NIGHT   A quiet night at the Hub. The gang have two small tables pulled together. Eric, KELSO, and FEZ sit around one, with Eric backwards in his chair as Kelso and Fez both sip at their sodas. HYDE and JACKIE sit on opposite sides of the other table, bent over a beat-up chess board and set.   The chess game is clearly in Hyde’s favor. Jackie hesitantly reaches for one of the white bishops and pushes it forward.   HYDE:  Can’t move that way.   Jackie pouts. She sets the bishop back and picks up a white knight.   HYDE (cont’d): No.   Jackie’s pout deepens. She tries to pull a rook diagonally.   HYDE (cont’d): No.   With more force than necessary, Jackie slams the rook back on the board, picks up a white pawn, and takes a black pawn.   HYDE (cont’d): There you go.   He moves a black bishop to take the square Jackie’s pawn was just on.   HYDE (cont’d): Checkmate.   He laughs and Jackie groans.   JACKIE: Steven, this game is so stupid!   HYDE: Nah, man. It’s the game of kings.   JACKIE: Oh yeah? (lifts her king) Then why can’t the king do anything? The queen – (holds up her queen) Has all the power, does all the work, and – (looks at the queen) Deserves a way prettier crown.   She sets the pieces back down and crosses her arms. Hyde shrugs and turns toward the guys.   ERIC: So, guys, not only are they gonna hang my picture in front of the store, but I also get to represent our entire district in the national Price Mart Olympics.   Everyone gives disinterested nods. Jackie starts resetting the chess pieces.   FEZ: That’s nice. (beat) Do you think I would choke to death if I swallowed my straw?   KELSO: No, it’s got a breathing hole.   Fez takes his straw from his soda cup and puts it in his mouth.   ERIC/HYDE/JACKIE: Fez, no.   Reluctantly, Fez puts his straw back in his cup.   From the table behind the gang, an ATTRACTIVE BLONDE stands and crosses to the juke box, sparing a look Fez’s way as she passes him. Fez sits up straight as she leans on the juke box.   FEZ:  Oh, my God. There she is.   JACKIE: Who is that?   FEZ: The new girl, Caroline. She transferred here from Sacred Heart. Or Heaven, I’m not sure which. We have gym together. She barely sweats. Some day, I will make her my bride.   HYDE: Yep, no one likes a sweaty bride.   The guys all mutter in agreement, while Jackie rolls her eyes.   HYDE (con’d): Hey, why don’t you go talk to her, man?   FEZ: Oh, I...   He trails off into nervous mumbling. Pop music begins to play.   CUT TO:   FANTASY SEQUENCE. The Hub is dark, save for two spotlights, one on CAROLINE and the other on Fez. He rises, crosses to Caroline, and spins her around to face him.   FEZ: You’re the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.   CAROLINE: Thank you. Your cocoa-brown skin makes me hot.   FEZ: I know. I am irresistible. Would you like to dance?   Caroline nods. They begin to dance, the spotlights following their steps. After a twirl, they separate, Caroline returning to the juke box and Fez to his seat.   CUT TO:   Back in the real world. Fez sucks nervously on his soda.   HYDE: Hey. Why don’t you go talk to her, man?   FEZ: Oh, I don’t know, Hyde. I can’t. I don’t understand this. Usually, I am... I am suave, I am silky.   The gang stares.   FEZ (cont’d): But this girl makes me... I have to go to the bathroom.   Fez quickly stands and moves to the bathroom, taking his soda with him.   ERIC: Anyway, getting back to Price Mart –   HYDE/KELSO/JACKIE: Shut up!   ERIC: Yeah.   DONNA enters through the Hub door. She hurries over to the gang and takes Fez’s empty chair.   DONNA: Oh, my God. You guys are never gonna believe this.   ERIC: Wait, no – me first.   DONNA: Okay, go.   ERIC: Okay. I, Eric Forman – your boyfriend – am Price Mart’s newest employee of the month.   DONNA: (beat) Eric, that’s great. Are you done?   ERIC: Oh, yeah. Top that, cupcake.   DONNA: Okay. Kat Peterson’s parents are out of town this Saturday, and she’s throwing a huge party. Two bucks a head, anyone’s in, and – seven minutes in heaven. But instead of a closet, it’s in the guest bedroom.   KELSO: All right!   He stands and hollers. Jackie and Hyde both nod and smile. Eric slowly stands, mouth open.   DONNA: (to Eric) You and me – we’re going.   ERIC: Oh, my God, no. Did you say Saturday? I... I can’t go Saturday. It’s inventory night. It’s mandatory.   DONNA: Skip it, Eric. We both need this party. Call in sick. Tell them your grandma died. (snaps fingers) Burn down the store.   ERIC: You’re right. You know what? I’m going.   Donna snaps her fingers again and grins.   ERIC (cont’d): Ah, I can’t go.   He slumps back down in his chair. Slowly, so does Kelso.   KELSO: Man, Saturday night? I’m out too. That’s the night Laurie’s doing my hair.   Everyone turns to stare at Kelso. He looks around at all of them, pouting.   KELSO: It’s for her beauty school classes. Education is important, people!   ERIC: (stands) No, I am going! (sits) Ah, I can’t go.   DONNA: Are you sure?   ERIC: Yeah, I can’t. You know, everyone has to work. No exceptions. Plus, Red and I – we’re both kind of supervising.   HYDE: Corporate America claims another victim.   DONNA: Eric, it’s okay. You’re a really responsible guy. I love and hate that about you.   KELSO: Okay, you know what? I’m not embarrassed that Laurie’s doing my hair. Yeah, ‘cause everybody goes to get their hair cut anyway, and if I have my girlfriend do it – well, then, that just saves money. And it gets expensive, staying this pretty.   He points to his head as he shakes it, tossing his bangs to and fro.   Jackie tugs on Hyde’s arm and points to the reset chess board.   JACKIE: Okay, Steven. Try to beat me now.   She confidently moves a pawn forward. Hyde calmly moves one of his forward. Jackie advances another pawn. Hyde, having freed his queen, moves it into the Fool’s Mate.   HYDE: Checkmate.   He grins as Jackie gasps, covers her mouth, and looks back and forth from Hyde to the chess board.   BUMPER   INT. FORMAN KITCHEN - DAY   The next morning. Laurie is rifling through a large bag full of beauty products on the table. All around her are hot rollers, styling wands, brushes, applicators, scissors, and hairspray cans, all immaculately clean.   Kitty enters from the living room, sees Laurie, and chuckles.   KITTY: Well, now. This is nice. Look at you, getting all your things nice and ready for your big exam.   LAURIE: Oh, no, Mom. This is all mine.   Kitty glances, disbelievingly, at the mess on her table.   LAURIE (cont’d): Yeah... I should probably find something to use on Kelso, huh?   Kitty shakes her head and returns to the living room. Laurie shrugs and goes back to rifling through her things.   CUT TO:   INT. SMILEY’S – DAY   Early afternoon at a small local diner. Red and Eric sit at a small table, their meals finished. Eric stares off into space, a look of pride on his face, as Red chews on a toothpick.   Eric turns to his dad and lifts up a KEYCHAIN.   ERIC: Oh, hey, did you see this? They gave me a Price Mart keychain. It’s got a knife and everything. Yeah, I keep it in my pocket. Some of the other guys get jealous.   Red takes the toothpick from his mouth.   RED: Look, Eric. I know you’re very excited about your raise and everything, but I don’t want you to get too caught up in this.   ERIC: Don’t worry, Dad. I’m not about to alienate my fellow employees with my award-winning work ethic. I read the signs in the breakroom. There’s no “I” in teamwork.   Red shakes his head. THE WAITRESS comes and presents him with the check.   WAITRESS: Here’s your check, sir, and thank you for eating at Smiley’s.   Eric reaches for the check. Red slaps his hand down on it.   RED: (laughs) Very funny.   ERIC: You know what, Dad? I got this.   RED: (beat) Take your hand off the check.   Eric stares at Red, refusing to let go. Red stares back and tugs at the check.   WAITRESS: I’ll come back.   She walks off, as Eric and Red continue to stare each other down.   CUT TO:   INT. THE HUB – DAY   Early afternoon, with steady business. Jackie and Hyde sit at a table against the wall, with Jackie in the booth seat. The chess board is between them again.   HYDE: Okay, let’s review. The bishop – (lifts one) Moves on the diagonal, the rook – (lifts one) Horizontal and vertical, and the knight – (lifts one) Can jump with a two-and-one L move.   JACKIE: (lifts her knight) Why is this only a horse’s head? How is he supposed to gallop to the queen’s rescue? And where are the prince and princess pieces?   Hyde sighs and takes the knight from Jackie, placing it back on the board.   Donna and Fez stand at the food counter waiting for their order. In front of them sits Caroline, studying. Donna notices, and points her out to Fez.   DONNA: Fez, is that her?   FEZ: Yes. I wish I could go talk to her, but I get so nervous.   DONNA: Fez, you shouldn’t be nervous. You’re awesome. What girl wouldn’t wanna be with you?   FEZ: Well, there is Jackie, Laurie, this girl from gym, another girl from chemistry, Country-Western star Tanya Tucker, who does not answer her letters, and, uh –   DONNA: Okay, stop. Whatever happened to suave, silky Fez?   FEZ: You’re right. I forgot about him. He’s hot.   DONNA: Exactly. So, go get her, Fez.   Donna pats Fez on the back and crosses to their table to join Jackie on the booth seat. Fez clears his throat and walks over to Caroline.   FEZ:  Caroline, it is Fez. May I sit?   Caroline looks up and nods eagerly. Fez pulls the free chair out and goes to sit down, but knocks Caroline’s food on the floor and misses the seat of the chair, falling to the ground. He immediately stands up, not meeting Caroline’s eyes.   FEZ: Okay, thank you.   Fez crosses to the bathroom door, pauses to glare at Donna.   FEZ: Great idea, Donna!   He disappears into the bathroom as Jackie, Hyde, and Donna choke down laughter. Jackie pats Donna on the shoulder.   FADE TO BLACK   COMMERCIAL   BUMPER   INT. FORMAN KITCHEN - DAY   Later in the afternoon. Kitty scrubs the counter. Eric and Red enter from the patio door, mid-argument.   ERIC: Well, excuse me for trying to buy a co-worker lunch.   He shrugs his coat off.   RED: I am not your co-worker. You’re a high school kid with a part-time job. You’re temporary!   KITTY: Uh-oh! You know what ends fights? Pudding. Just give me seven minutes.   She moves to get the ingredients from the cupboard. Eric and Red cross past the counter.   RED: Eric, you’ve gotta stop acting like a big shot. You’re not the king of the world, you know.   ERIC: I’m employee of the month. I don’t have to take this.   He exits into the living room. Kitty, with milk and pudding mix, moves to the island.   RED: This is no good, Kitty.   KITTY: Well, what are you gonna do, Red? He’s growing up. There are worse things he could be than a little too proud of his first real job.   RED: Oh, yeah? Like what?   Kelso enters from the patio door and pats Red on the shoulder.   KELSO: Hey, Red. Is Laurie home?   Red and Kitty both slowly turn to look at Kelso. Red’s eyes dart from Kelso’s face to his hand on Red’s shoulder. Kelso withdraws his hand and hurries out of the kitchen into the living room.   BUMPER   INT. LAURIE’S ROOM - DAY   Kelso sits in a chair at the vanity. He bounces in his seat, a big smile on his face, as Laurie cleans a hairbrush.   Kelso looks up, sees Laurie is busy. With a sneaky expression, he slowly reaches for a pair of scissors on the vanity. He picks them up and starts to snip happily at the air.   Laurie, hearing the sound, smacks Kelso in the back of the head and takes the scissors from him.   LAURIE: I said, don’t touch anything!   She goes back to her brush as Kelso sinks lower into the chair.   CUT TO:   INT. THE HUB - DAY   Jackie and Donna are still at the wall table. Donna has taken Hyde’s place in the chess game. She moves a white piece, and Jackie moves a black piece into check.   JACKIE: Oh, my God! That’s check, right? I did it, Donna! I did it! Check, check, check!   She claps and wiggles in her chair. Donna laughs and moves out of check.   DONNA: Jackie, since when do you play chess?   JACKIE: Oh, Steven started teaching me a few days ago. Yeah, I wanted to play Mystery Date, but Steven said that if I so much as opened that game within ten feet of him, all the dates but the dud would never be seen or heard from again.   Donna laughs again, stands, and heads into the bathroom. Hyde, returning from the counter, takes her place.   JACKIE: So, Steven – I checked your king. Yeah, that’s right. I’m coming atcha. Let’s see you win now.   Hyde studies the board for a moment. He reaches out, his hand hesitating. Jackie grins. Hyde looks up at her, grins back, and moves his king, freeing his rook to form checkmate.   JACKIE (cont’d): Oh, come on!   CUT TO:   INT. HUB BATHROOM - DAY   Donna adjusts her hair. Caroline enters and comes up behind Donna, who sees her in the mirror.   DONNA: Hi.   CAROLINE: Hi. You’re Donna, right?   DONNA: Yeah, yeah.   CAROLINE: I’m Caroline. I think we have Spanish together.   DONNA: Oh, yeah. Hi.   CAROLINE: Hola. Um... you know that foreign guy you’re always hanging out with?   DONNA: Fez?   CAROLINE: Yeah, Fez. Um, is he... does he...   DONNA: Oh, my God. You like Fez? Oh, my God! Come on, I’ll introduce you to him.   CAROLINE: Oh, no, no. That’s okay. I just wanted to... I gotta go. Use the bano.   Caroline rushes into the stall. There is a banging sound on the walls.   CAROLINE (v.o.): Stupid, stupid, stupid!   Donna looks to the stall, then outward in thought.   CUT TO:   INT. LAURIE’S ROOM – NIGHT   Saturday night. Kelso’s styling is in progress. He is once again sitting at the vanity, a barber’s cape around him. His hair is wet and combed back. Laurie balances a pair of scissors and a comb in one hand and takes up a section of hair with the other, complicated by Kelso moving around. Just as she gets a section and moves to cut it, Kelso pulls away, smiling.   KELSO: Man, I love getting my hair done. Really makes you feel good, you know?   Laurie gives him a curt smile and nod, moves to take a section of hair. Kelso pulls away again.   KELSO (cont’d): Yeah, I’ve loved it ever since I was a kid. Going to the barber shop, getting all trimmed and cleaned up... plus, they had this lady barber with huge boobs. I used to check ‘em out in the mirror while she cut my hair.   He chuckles at the memory. Laurie grabs his head hard to steady him and takes a section of hair. She is just about to trim it when Kelso starts rocking back and forth in the chair.   KELSO (cont’d): Oh, and the best part? At the end of every haircut, they’d give me a lollipop.   He turns around to look at Laurie expectantly.   KELSO (cont’d): Do you have lollipops?   LAURIE: SHUT UP!   She grabs his head with both hands, yanks it forward, and locks it in place as well as she can with her elbows as she starts to trim a section of his hair.   Kelso’s eyes dart around the mirror of the vanity, and he starts to laugh.   KELSO: You know, the lady barber used to wear the same kind of sweaters in the winter. But that didn’t stop me.   Laurie slaps him on the back of the head with her comb, then goes back to work.   CUT TO:   INT. FORMAN LIVING ROOM – NIGHT   Red, dressed for work, is asleep in his chair, a magazine in his lap. Slow zoom in as we cut to:   INT. PRICE MART – DAY   DREAM SEQUENCE. A badly-aged Red, now a janitor in a smock, has his ear to the break room door. He goes back to mopping as it opens. A grayed, pale Eric steps out, in a Price Mart manager’s suit.   ERIC: Hey, Dad. Good news. Just got another raise.   RED: Well, good for you. (aside) You dumb bastard.   ERIC: Yeah, I tell ya. If they keep throwing money at me like this, I might be able to get my own apartment soon.   Red rolls his eyes.   RED: For God’s sake, you’re 57 years old!   ERIC: Oh...   Red takes Eric’s shoulder and shakes it gently.   RED: Eric, why didn’t you listen to me? If you’d gone to college, you could’ve really been something.   ERIC: Been something? Whoa. You’re talking to the interim assistant weekend manager of housewares here, okay? Yeah. Show some respect.   RED: Well, aren’t you just the president of Turd Town?   CUT TO:   INT. FORMAN LIVING ROOM - NIGHT   Red jerks awake. He shakes his head, stands, and starts to pace.   Eric, also dressed for work, enters from the kitchen.   ERIC: Dad, I’ve been thinking about why you went so crazy and yelled at me, and I’ve come to the conclusion that you’re crazy and you like to yell at me.   Red puts a hand on Eric’s shoulder.   RED: There’s something you gotta know. You’re... well... you’re an idiot.   ERIC: (beat) Oh, great. A pep talk.   RED: Sit down.   They both sit on the couch.   RED (cont’d): When I was your age, I thought I had it all, too. Great job at the plants, nice steady paycheck. Just enough to, you know, string me along for 30 years or so, and for what? So they could toss me out on my ass when things got tough.   ERIC: Dad, I’m not gonna -   RED: Look. Don’t get me wrong. I admire your work ethic, but you deserve better than Price Mart. You’re a smart guy. And I’m... I’m proud of you.   He stands, and Eric follows.   ERIC: Whoa! Really? You... you think I’m smart? You’re proud of me?   RED: Oh, jeez. What, you gonna ruin this now by talking?   ERIC: Listen, Dad... if I’m still working at Price Mart when I’m your – older – please, kill me.   RED: You don’t have to ask twice, Son.   Eric laughs.   ERIC: Ah, yes. That’s my dad.   They both laugh as Red pats Eric’s shoulder again.   A scream sounds, and they both look to the stairs.   KELSO (v.o.): Laurie, no! A cut and a style is one thing, but that is where I draw the line!   LAURIE (v.o.): It’s part of the exam, you idiot! Now, sit down!   KELSO (v.o.): NO! Get away!   Kelso, still wearing the barber’s cape, his hair wet and slicked back, races down the stairs, tripping at the bottom. He struggles to disentangle himself from the cape. Laurie starts down the stairs after him, an applicator in her hand. Kelso tears the cape off, throws it at her, races through the living room, and disappears into the kitchen. Laurie runs to the middle of the living room and stomps her foot.   LAURIE: (after Kelso) Get back here!   She stomps her foot again, sighs, and looks over at Red.   LAURIE (cont’d): (to Red) Daddy – would you like to be a blonde?   Eric chuckles as Red puts a hand over his face and sinks down into the couch.   CUT TO:   INT. PETERSON HOUSE - NIGHT   A rocking party is underway. Rock music plays in the background, teens dance where they stand, and a large keg is set up in the hallway.   Donna and Fez, both with beer cups in hand, move down the hall. Donna guides Fez to an unassuming door.   FEZ: Oh, Donna, I don’t know about this.   DONNA: Fez, relax. You’ll love this. Trust me.   FEZ: Okay. I trust you. But there is no penalty in this game if I can’t do it for all the seven minutes, right?   Donna laughs and pats Fez on the back. She opens the door and gives Fez a nudge inside.   CUT TO:   INT. GUEST BEDROOM – NIGHT   The guest bed is neatly made, and the room is lit with many candles on the dressers and nightstands. Caroline is pacing up and down the room. She stops as Fez enters. They smile at one another, and both move to sit on the bed, a few inches apart. They both look straight ahead.   FADE TO:   Some moments later. They both still look straight ahead, but Caroline’s head is resting on Fez’s shoulder. Fez reaches out with his hand to take Caroline’s. They look at each other and smile.   FADE TO BLACK   CREDITS   INT. FORMAN BASEMENT - NIGHT   Hyde is in his chair, and Jackie is on the couch. A chess board rests on the table between them. Hyde is down to his king, while Jackie has her king, queen, and both knights. She titters with excitement.   JACKIE: Well, did I do it? Huh?   HYDE: (beat) Queen and knight checkmate.   Jackie screams and throw her hands in the air. Hyde topples his king over and nods.   HYDE (cont’d): You’re getting the hang of it, man.   JACKIE: Yeah, so, what really helped me was to think of the queen (picks queen up) as me, the castles (picks rook up) as tough back-up like Donna, the horses (picks knight up) as unicorns, and your pieces (indicates Hyde’s king) as a bunch of dirty little Michaels.   She claps and bends over the game, while Hyde sits back in his chair.   END.

[hyojinrk-archived]

cr. onlyonlyhyo

backdated to 06.08.19, uos’s summer s(e)oul festival

featured songs! twice tooice fancilicious & ed sheeran thinking out loud

at this point, only sheer willpower and an iced americano from around an hour ago is keeping his hand upright and writing, because he has to get this done as soon as possible. even when he’s resorted to switching from his laptop to hand just for the sake of keeping him aware, his mind is slowly starting to become more and more fixated on sleeping and the lovely feeling of his cheek against the soft pillows of his bed. 

even with everything piling up onto his shoulders until he couldn’t take it anymore, the texts still put a smile on hyojin’s face, lighting up his eyes despite the bags that were starting to form under them. his eyelids are heavy under his circle-rimmed glasses, the summer heat blasting in through the slightly ajar window of his bedroom making it harder and harder to stay awake due to the drowsiness it’s carried with it.

with all that’s been going on, he’s almost forgotten about the festival. 

[ msg: pd-nimmie ]

✉ hyo hyung ur performing this yr 2 rightㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ ✉ ppl have been asking ✉ we’re also trying 2 break last yr’s record w ticket money raised ✉ so we really need youㅠ

he’s fairly sure that there’s some kind of saying that the thing that fuels your passion when you’re young will never burn out no matter how much distance you put between yourself and it, but it can’t quite come to mind. instead, he basks in the content feeling of singing with a purpose, even if he’s just on stage for fun and to help others enjoy. he’s even seen some idols once or twice performing at his school for these kinds of festivals, but there was always a special one held towards the end of every semester before summer break; this one, created by the student government, was meant to be more of a pr event for raising money to donate to charities, and thus only featured performances from students in the school.

the focus rotates from every year depending on the urgency of current events, as well as particularly high demand areas of help across all kinds of demographics, so even without the incentive of being able to have the stage to himself, hyojin found himself gravitating towards signups in his freshman year. he’s fortunate to have slowly gotten to know the event runners over the years, the current head of which was a beloved dongsaeng and fan of his. that, along with his presumed popularity for performing rearrangements of popular songs and doing them well, gained him a reputation across campus for having honey-like vocals, a title which his friends take pleasure in teasing him to death about. 

it’s all in good fun, however; he doesn’t quite mind the attention -- he likes it, actually, because it reminds him of home, how everyone back then had known him for something similar, anyang’s sweet vocal prince, always spotted with some kind of instrument, singing some kind of song.

he quickly decides on a song to perform the moment the confirmation comes through and he’s placed on the roster, a classic that wasn’t too difficult to practice or prepare for, and one that suited the vibes of a cool, summer night well. from his experience, most of the acts were spent hyping up the crowd and keeping their energy high for the acts deeper into the night, meaning that there was plentiful opportunity for him to provide a well-needed break from all of the bright, poppy songs. some nice, comfortable acoustic, accompanied by the sweet melody of the ed sheeran song, would certainly be an enjoyable choice. 

❀

perhaps that’s what dug this hole for him in the end, though, because hyojin can barely believe his eyes when he gets another text from the event head, this time with an announcement he’s not sure how to register.

[ msg: pd-nimmie; to ‘summer s(e)oul PERFORMERS’ gc ]

✉ ATTENTION PERFORMERS: this yr we’ll be having a special mandatory theme! [ pd-nimmie pinned this message to the chat ] ✉ by popular request, we have decided to do the theme POP CHARM! ✉ with that being said, we formed two separate teams to perform special dance stages based around the hottest pop songs! ✉ here is the lineup: ✉ team I LOVE IT : shin dawon, cho daeun, kim hana, hwang yuna, moon sihyeon ✉ team FANCILICIOUS :  kim seunghwan, ji jonghyun, moon jihun, han hyunjin, kim hyojin

“ah, what should i do...?” setting down his phone in disbelief, he rubs his forehead in frustration, sighing loudly to offset the slowly growing blush painting his cheeks. 

he’s never been one to back out of things like this, whether it’s because he’s weak at heart or simply because he doesn’t mind that much -- at the same time, though, he’s mildly terrified as to what was to come. the names were familiar enough, and considering the fact that he knew the rest of the members apart from him were part of the same dance team under the school, hyojin wonders if the real reason why he’s there, too, is more of a personal conflict of interest than random selection. 

regardless, he shakes his head, imagining yonghwa’s excited grin while sending the text, undoubtedly awaiting his confirmation eagerly. looks like he was in it for real this time.

❀

the screams are loud, so loud that they make his ears ring, even though they’re already burning up quite enough. self-consciously, he tugs the newsboy cap on his head down to try and cover his ears, the accessory bringing an unfamiliar weight onto his hair from before. the singing solo had gone well, still fresh in his mind from around half an hour ago.

it was nervewracking performing in front of so many people, especially with such a minimal backing except for his voice, his guitar and some guiding vocals, but if he was being honest, there was nothing better than the soothing silence of the crowd as they swayed along to the song, turning the lights on their phones to lift them in the air and wave them, a crowd of white stars listening to his performance. he’s completed the stage with no worries, a warmth filling every corner of his heart at the cheers, even some screams of his name. it’s only once in a blue moon that things like this get to happen, meaning that both the audience and the performers can feel the excitement. it’s a mix of that and seeing someone you know and see on a daily basis get to perform in a way you’ve never seen them do before.

his heart only starts picking up and thrashing around when he has to do the special stage. it had been mortifying the first few days of practice; hyojin had felt like he had walked into the dance studio in the middle of an advanced learners’ class after getting lost as a novice. they were friendly enough, though -- they guided him warmly and well, even despite the fact that he was around their age or older. 

it takes a numerous amount of awkward movements and well timed advice for him to finally get down the dance, another tiring week or two to finally have fun with it. his moves aren’t the most accurate or clean in comparison, but he blends in well enough to not stand out poorly. at the same time, though, he’s sure it really doesn’t matter, because at the end of the day, it was about knowing the dance and seeing them do it, not necessarily execute it well. 

he finds that this is especially true when they finally get on the stage, bowing and doing an entire introduction to mimic an idol group, going down the line and performing a quick aegyo set ( much to hyojin’s initial chagrin, but he’s learned to accept it ). as the music starts and his nerves reach their peak, he decides to just let go and have fun, feeling the grin reach from one cheek to another at how loud the cheers and screams were, almost as loud as the girls’ psy stage. admittedly, the tooice song probably had something to do with it -- they were always hot nowadays, especially with their latest song being so upbeat and fitting of summer. 

as the two minutes of their performance reaches its end, hyojin finds himself laughing, eyes wrinkling and forming pretty crescents. at the very least, once they hold their ending poses and then get off the stage, he thinks that this was probably his favorite iteration of the festival.

now that he thought about it, actually, he’d be willing to do something like this again. he hopes he can do it again. but, of course, that was just another silly daydream.

( perhaps not, though. fate, as capricious as it is, can be equally favorable to you. )

[sorasunao]

the GazettE ~ Reita about World Tour’13 ~

Today let's talk with you about the Gazette World Tour'13 in full.

Reita: Well, since we have such a topic, here! *shows a T-shirt on him* I put on a T-shirt I bought in Germany (laughs).

Great idea! So, you have enough free time during the tour?

Reita: There were days when we were completely free. In Mexico and in Cologne [*the first city in Germany] we had one free day, so we decided to take a walk (laughs). We divided into two teams: "shopping" and "pyramids."

And how were the forces distributed in these teams?

Reita: Ruki, Aoi and I went shopping, and Uruha and Kai went to the pyramids (laughs). There were reasons for that. Kai specially brought a camera with him and began to say: "Finally we went abroad, I want to take pictures of pyramids or something!" All the others wanted to go shopping, and, having heard that the road to the pyramids will take about 3 hours, flatly refused to go with him. "It turns out that art loses with a score of 1 to 4, and we began to resolve the dispute with the help of "stone-scissors-paper". Uruha lost, and Kai took him to see the sights (laughs). As a result, the roads were empty, they reached the pyramids for 40 minutes and, it seems, had a good time. Well, it's good if that's so (laughs).

Are you sorry that you didn’t go to the pyramids?  

Reita: Not really, I'm actually not very much occupied with such things. 6 years ago we went to the Louvre, and then it seemed to me not very interesting. In fact, it seems to me that our members wouldn’t be surprised at anything (laughs). I suspect that they just pretend to be interested in such things (laughs).

It can not be (laughs). And what kind of harvest did the team of shopping get?

Reita: Well, what a harvest (laughs). I went for pajamas, because I forgot mine, and for home slippers, because the hotel didn’t have, but I feel uncomfortable without them. I didn't need nothing specially to go shopping in Mexico, so I bought only essential goods (laughs). This is how our world tour began (laughs). Arriving at the airport, we were shocked, seeing how many local fans came to meet us, we generally barely understood what was happening. Especially in Mexico, as it was the first visited country, we could not even figure out how many people came. The security was too slow, and near the passport control we were surrounded by fans, so much so that we could not move at all. There was also a positive moment in this situation -  wherever we go, I everywhere went with a mask and sunglasses, so I remained a suspicious person (laughs). 

It's because they've waited for you so long.

Reita: Yes, we felt their fervor. Especially in Mexico and throughout South America, because we arrived there for the first time, and the fans were especially on the platoon. In Europe, we were six years ago, but still there was a feeling that you came here for the second time. Even at concerts, I felt these moods, which were in the air. In South America, not only at concerts, but also at airports, as in Mexico, there was incredible enthusiasm (laughs). All of them were happy that the Gazette arrived. In Europe, it was the feeling that the fans enjoyed the spectacle more carefully. Therefore, I am very curious about how we will be met in Central and South America for the second time. In truth, at first we thought of visiting only Europe, because we thought that fans from Central and South America never took us into account. So, we were very surprised that they, it turns out, were so tired of waiting. I am very glad that we went there. In Brazil, encouraging exclamations didn't abate for a minute. And at the airport, the guards had to put their hands together to protect us, but the crowd poured so much from behind, that the trolley with the luggage couldn't pass and stuck motionless. It was just a frenzied pressure.

How long did you rehearse before the tour?    

Reita: Two days, probably. It makes no sense to rehearse, if you don't rehearse on the equipment that you take with you. Since we had to send the equipment in advance, we were forced to rehearse for 3 weeks before departure. In fact, before the performance, there was almost a month of free time, and rehearsing was useless, so we switched to self-preparation.

By what criteria did you select the set-list?

Reita: The settings of the instruments for the songs of the Gazette vary greatly, if one chooses from the full spectrum, will have to transport a mountain of equipment. Therefore, we discussed the settings, and based on this, selected songs. We talked over: "I would like to play this song, but for the sake of this it's necessary to increase the amount of equipment." Having considered this matter, we singled out two songs with a line-up in “B flat major”, mandatory for playing - Filth In The Beauty и VORTEX. And songs like Akai Onepiece and similar to it, with the standard line-up, this time we didn't include.

By the way, recently you have songs with a standard line-up?

Reita: Recently, no. So, we thought hard, before deciding for the sake of one song to take another guitar. Following the latest trends, it seems to me that the set-list this time was formed around lines-up of A major and B flat major. However, in this case LINDA didn’t fit in the set. Therefore, it was decided to take another guitar for the D-major line. Well, for this case, we also added SHIVER. Total came out a set-list for three variations of the settings, for this I took 4 guitars, guitarists - 5 or 6. As for the time, it went out for an hour and a half -  the main part consisted of 13 songs, and 3 more remained on the encore. For comparison, in Japan only in the main part we play 18 songs, so the set-list might seem short, but, I hope, we showed "what is the live of the Gazette" as far as we could.

And from the very first day did you give the best concerts?

Reita: Not really, in Mexico the psychological mood is a bit disappointing. There was a feeling that we were at a festival. Of course, we approached the concert seriously, but I think it was because of the loud, overwhelming voices of the audience. They were like football fans. The area was also opened two hours before the start, and the people gathered in the hall very exclusively expressed their anticipation, so it was audible even in the dressing room. And the stupor was that we had to play live in such conditions. There were minor problems with accuracy of transmission in the columns, and I didn’t hear a sound at all.Since I don’t use headphones-monitors, because of the terribly loud voices, I didn’t hear anything at all.

And how did you get out of the situation?!    

Reita: I tried (laughs). And looked desperately at Kai's playing. And what could I do (laughs). Because in the instrumental interlude of Filth In The Beauty, which begins with the parties of acoustic guitar and bass, I did not hear absolutely anything. In Mexico, it was the worst. At the moment when it was over, I realized that there were some shortcomings in this live I regretted about,  and, starting from this, I began to correct myself. In addition, to withstand the impact of the local environment, you need to play the concert as best as possible. You can not blame everything on the situation in the hall. It's not good to give fans that have been waiting for us so much, a concert by which we ourselves will remain unsatisfied.

Is there a concert on this tour, the feedback of the audience on which you would have noted especially?    

Reita: Perhaps this is our second stop in the first part of the tour - Chile. The structure of the hall also played a role, it looked like Budokan. At this concert we got incredible feedback. Taking into account the shortcomings of the first performance, we could soberly look at ourselves and correct our mistakes. Argentina also left a strong impression. Because of the tilt of the stage, it was very difficult to play on it. During the live I had to strain to firmly stand on my feet, and the next day my muscles ached terribly (laughs). This, too, was terrible in its own way ... different problems (laughs). Causing this conversation, there were many places where the situation on the stage was deplorable. There were such venues where the design of the stage was hollow, and low frequencies resonated and echoed there, because of this during the concert, I had a constant feeling that my feet were numb. If we were in Japan, I would say: "It is impossible to perform at such place!" But here we had no choice but to put up with it. But as for the whole series of concerts, they passed even in a better atmosphere than we expected. And the local staff worked perfectly.

You have an incredibly valuable experience. 

Reita: I think so too. Whatever conditions we are met, no matter what happens, we will not be we, if even with all this we can not give a performance. We were really hardened as a band.Groups whose activities have already exceeded a dozen, almost no chance to get experience, in which they could return to the origins and shuffle themselves from scratch. Reita: Truly so. Not that we rely solely on our present state, and before going abroad we had a lot of things behind our shoulders. And despite the fact that we have already developed an atmosphere for ourselves, where our sound would be the best, I still believe that we still need to know life. In this sense, the last tour was a wonderful life experience.

Here's how. By the way, after the concert in Brazil you returned to Japan on September 17, and then on September 19 went to France.

Reita: Yes. On the night of the 17th we arrived in Japan, on the 18th we had one day to rest, and on the 19th at 5 am we left home again. Although flying from Brazil to France, it seems very close, but for some reason we returned to Japan for one day (laughs). Nothing has happened to us, why then we returned (laughs). Well, between the air temperatures in South America and Europe there was a significant difference, we needed to change clothes and, I'm glad I could refresh myself a bit. In addition, while we were traveling around South and Central America, an update for Monster Hunter came out, and before the trip to Europe we so successfully refilled with the new software (laughs).

Ahaha! A matter of special importance (laughs). 

Reita: Yes, yes, increased importance! (laughing) All but Ruki purchased a new software and only after that, with a calm soul, went to Europe (laughs). Thanks to this, I was able to spend pleasantly 10 hours of road from Paris to Toulouse and 16 hours from Toulouse to Cologne. It seems that I was not mistaken in my assumption (laughs). And the main lives passed with a bang. The mood of the audience in Europe is close to Japanese, probably because we are not here for the first time or because the local public is more likely to watch our videos on YouTube or somewhere else. But even for this circumstance, German stands were very hot (literally). There were also a few problems related to the architecture of the hall, but I am very glad that the audience even in such heat and stuffiness had fun in full. Also in Germany we had one more day off, so I bought there this T-shirt and belt. "I snatched some of the catch" (laughs).

Congratulations (laughs). And finally: when you came back from abroad, were you keen on anything?

Reita: Well, there was something that I did all day long after returning - I ate like starved! Still, in Japan, any food is delicious. Even the dragee per 100 yen is very tasty. And since then, every day I enjoy the taste of native food (laughs). Missing Japanese food, in Brazil I went to Sukiya. The rice was not bad, but the suspicious smell of meat made me wary. Then I felt all the charm of Japanese food, it is the best. Also, probably, I got carried away by spoken English.

Have you started practicing in English?!    

Reita: I still doubt if it's worth starting (laughs). And so every time we go to foreign countries. The trip becomes much more fun, if you can speak English. Since we again want to go on a world tour, I think that I need spoken English, but I am very heavy to start something. Therefore, we can say that my last hobby -  it is an internal struggle between desire and unwillingness to practice English (laughs).

translation from japanese to russian by haruurara-kazan on tumblr

translated from russian to english by me

as always thx for reading and sorry for mistakes ^^  

[cartoonfangirl1218]

King Raul headcanons

Raul Enrico Reyes-Castillo was the firstborn son of Enrique Reyes and Isabel Castillo and crown prince of Avalor.

Enrique Reyes had been king before him and was part of a very conservative era where a royal’s duty is always to one’s kingdom and there was a heavy practice of self-discipline and self-sacrificing for others since being king meant that you had the world upon your shoulders. He learned this early on when his youthful love with a local marquess was cut short by his parents marrying him off to a princess from a neighboring kingdom for the sake of keeping that kingdom as part of Avalor’s allies. But Enrique accepted it as it was he was expected to do his whole life.

Princess Isabel Veta of Avila was incredibly angry about their forced nuptials. She had known she was to be married to a prince but the rushed reception and deliberate timing so that their union could symbolize their kingdom’s defense against Paraiso was just insulting. She felt like she had been traded off like a bag of flour.

That was where Enrique and Isabel bonded. They both felt bound by duty and appearances and had spent their lives making their parents and kingdom happy but not themselves. It took several years for them to fall truly in love and care for each other’s strengths and flaws etc. When the former king retired and Enrique was crowned king, one of the first things that Enrique sought to do was to learn what his people really wanted in order to be happy.

He had been trained to do just what protacle said but he felt protocols focused too much on etiquette in dealing with other countries and not with his own subjects. He implemented a grand council made up of a variety of citizens as well as monthly Meeting Day. Meeting Day was when ordinary citizens could come to the castle to address the king with grievances and opinions.

Isabel was the one to come up with the idea to have more festivals among others to honor their land’s traditions and promote nationalism. She had long wanted to be a historian rather than a princess and this project of researching Maruvian history and legends enlivened her more than any royal function.

The kingdom was becoming known as a progressive kingdom that treated its citizens with care and had a happy atmosphere which becoming positively electric when the first son was born, Raul.

Raul was a happy baby but also very observant and intelligent his parents noted because he rarely cried but just looked at them and watched their every move. As he grew, he was a great lover of books and researching how to do things on his own before partaking in activities.

His mother spread her love of Avaloran culture and history to him but while Raul found the holidays to be fun, he was far more interested in the magical aspects. But that fascination had to be laid to rest by his parents who told him magic was not really well-researched and stumbling upon it or messing with it would be too dangerous. Raul didn’t care, he ended up befriending several wizard apprentices when he went about town and would eagerly sit in their workshops to learn.

Raul was like his father in believing that he must hear from the people themselves but he also relied on the experience of experts who actually knew what they were doing and not guided by feelings alone. So the royal lessons he completed was in his unique method of following his instincts and what he felt was the right thing to do. Thanks to empathetic and knowledge-seeking nature, his gut was more right than wrong but he did suffer the fatal flaw of hubris as well stubbornness and taking some failures too personally.

I believe Raul did have a brother (based on the picture in Song of the Sireneas, the man who is Cristobal’s father has a lot of facial similarities to Raul so I’m going to say they’re brothers), Alamar. The two were close in family loyalty and didn’t really argue but they didn’t hang out a lot simply because they didn’t have things in common. Alamar was into sports while Raul preferred to read. Alamar liked to party with all the people while Raul prefered one on one conversations and so on and so forth. BUt there wasn’t any bitterness when it came to Raul becoming the future king because Alamar wanted a more simple family life (by simple I mean he didn’t want to rule but he wanted all the luxuries).

Just like his parents, Raul was arranged to be married but his parents were much lenient about it and were giving him a choice out of all the pre-approved respectable potential wives. By inviting all the young ladies of noble rank within Avalor and royals from neighboring kingdoms. (A bit like Princesses on Parade from the Swan Princess)

It was almost a two-week long Bachelor style affair where Raul and his brother talked with various ladies trying to distinguish who would be the best fit and who would actually want to spend time with the added stress that she had to be able to be a good queen and not to offend them too much in his rejections.

Lady Lucia Flores had attended the ball simply because it was required to do so. She didn’t particularly want to marry the prince or rule. If anything, the ball was a nice way to converse with people she never met before and enjoy all the food. She didn’t believe in arranged marriages because she wanted to love the man she was going to spend her life with. When it came her turn to talk, Lucia didn’t try to impress him or show off but simply was herself.

To her surprise, they both had a lot to talk about. While Raul was generally more cautious he was very open to new experiences which suited Lucia’s bold nature. They both wanted to ride on a jaquin someday and both wanted to explore things out of their comfort zones if only if they had someone beside them that would encourage the other to go through with it. Not only that but Lucia loved how sincere Raul was and how he hanged on to her every word because he cared about what she was saying and Raul adored her slight temper when standing for what she believed to be right.

The clincher would have to be on one of the last days of the Princess Parade Ball was listening to Lucia played on her guitar, an obscure song about new beginnings and love (now widely known in Avalor as the Sunflower Festival song- This New Day) where Raul promptly joined her in a duet as if they had be in synch their whole lives.

Upon being crowned king, Raul set out to continue his father’s work to banish the differences that separated Avaloran citizens rather than unite them. He abolished class ranking which had banned many middle and lower class citizens from receiving educations, high profiled jobs among other things because only the upper class had the money and titles to do that. Now, education was mandatory in the cities at least and job criteria was based on the skill of the worker, not his family title.

This included more opportunities for women which was further strengthened by Lucia’s presence at Raul’s side. She was one of the first queens to take part in advising the king on what to do and helping him with his policies as well as suggesting her own. She also showed off her own hobbies like in fencing and following her mother’s example, personally helping servants to decorate the city for holidays.

Raul pursuing his personal fascination with magic in Avaloran/Maruvian history invited more seers and wizards to the kingdom to freely practice their craft and to educate other citizens on magic. This was how he chose Alacazar to be the first royal wizard after listening to his numerous lectures on spellcraft and personal one on one conversations that led him to believe that Alacazar’s enthusiasm for knowledge, modesty and caring heart would make him a good fit as the kingdom’s chief magical protector.

The birth of his daughters, Elena Guillermina Castillo-Flores and Isabel Josefa Castillo-Flores was one of the happiest days of Raul’s life and he aspired to be let go of his more unseemly habits such as pride in order to be the best example for them, but at the same time he was very understanding of when they fell prey to their weaknesses by always telling them that “no one is perfect.”

Raul was excellent in giving advice and being a cool head. Despite being busy as king of Avalor, he always tried to make time for his wife and his children. Because through his tired haze, his girls always managed to cheer him and revive his energy. This was especially true when he was with Lucia whom with he put down his kingly air and be cheesy and romantic with her.

His love for his family stayed with him until his final moments when Shuriki struck. He saw Elena behind the witch and prayed for her safety while he gripped Lucia’s hand tightly as they braced what was to come.

[stormbrvkers-archived]

got tagged by the lovely @thorodlnsons (thank youuuu! also im LOVE your icon! it's so colorful), and i’m tagging... @showmethestxrs, @bethepenny, @heathledgcrs, @girlgaeng, aaand @blackpanthfr. not mandatory so feel free to ignore C: name - cari star sign - libra height - 4'11" put your library on shuffle; what are the first 4 songs that came up?  i. numb / encore - linkin park and jay-z  ii. timebomb - beck  iii. the only - welshly arms  iv. havana - camilla cabello grab the book nearest you and turn to pg 23, what's on Line 17? its a Sudoku book soooo there is no line 17? welp ever had a poem or song written about you? nah. when was the last time you played Air Guitar? ehmmm a while back? idfk who is your celebrity crush? ughh i've got a few (even if my navi page says otherwise..) but atm it's chris hemsworth. what are 1) a sound you hate, and 2) a sound you love? 1) nails scraping on a chalkboard 2) rain i guess? i would say silence but it gnaws at me after a while do you believe in ghosts? yeah but not obsessively how about aliens? yeah i guess? i think that there's things out there, either here on earth or out in the cosmos, that we haven't discovered yet and idk if we're ever meant to? do you drive? not exactly.. i have my permit but i don't have a license if so, have you ever crashed? n/a what was the last book you read? 'milk and honey' by rupi kaur (poetry books count, right?) do you like the smell of gasoline? sort of...? idk my nose is weird what was the last movie you watched? antman and the wasp! it was like a belated birthday thing for my dad (whose bday was in may.. welp) what's the worst injury you've ever had? i slept awkwardly, i think, on my left side one night.. and the same side of my neck was killing me for the next couple of days. not fun. do you have any obsessions rn? lemme save you the trouble of telling you about /all/ of them and just say mcu. do you tend to hold grudges against people who’ve done you wrong? not really? in a relationship? nope, unless you count fictional characters.

[yeeunite]

RULES: tag ten followers you want to know better!

Tagged by: @daphneblakess

TAGGING: 😏 you

STAR SIGN: Pisces sun, Capricorn moon, Aries rising

HEIGHT: 5′2”

PUT YOUR ITUNES/SPOTIFY ON SHUFFLE. WHAT ARE THE FIRST 5 SONGS THAT POPPED UP?

1. Give It To Me - Sistar

2. Sweet & Easy - Wonder Girls

3. Something - Girl’s Day

4. Decalcomanie - Mamamoo

5. DDD - EXID

GRAB THE BOOK NEAREST YOU AND TURN TO PAGE 23. WHAT’S LINE 17? I’m a HEATHEN and there are no books in my vicinity

EVER HAD A POEM OR SONG WRITTEN ABOUT YOU? god I hope not

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU PLAYED AIR GUITAR? I’m more of a air singer. i like pretending i rlly can sing its hilarious

WHO IS YOUR CELEBRITY CRUSH? Park Yeeun and Jackson Wang

WHAT’S A SOUND YOU HATE + SOUND YOU LOVE?

I hate the sound balloons make when u rub them. I love the sounds of barking dogs.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN GHOSTS? Nope

HOW ABOUT ALIENS? I believe they exist but they haven’t been to Earth.

DO YOU DRIVE? nope

IF SO, HAVE YOU EVER CRASHED?

WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? probably something mandatory in high school 7+ years ago

DO YOU LIKE THE SMELL OF GASOLINE? fuck no

WHAT WAS THE LAST MOVIE YOU SAW? Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I think it was when I went to see Civil War in theaters It was actually a Korean thriller called The Silenced.

WHAT’S THE WORST INJURY YOU’VE EVER HAD? i havent had any serious physical injuries but my mental health has been so deteriorated that I was planning how I was gonna off myself and when

DO YOU HAVE ANY OBSESSIONS RIGHT NOW? FFFFALLOUT 4. im building a vault....

DO YOU TEND TO HOLD GRUDGES AGAINST PEOPLE WHO HAVE DONE YOU WRONG? depends really

IN A RELATIONSHIP? nope and probably wont ever want one

[dat-town]

A love forgotten

Characters: Chanyeol & You

Setting: delirium au

Genre: angst

Summary: Living in a world in which love is prohibited, you are lucky enough if you get along well with your assigned spouse but falling in love with them? That’s the biggest mistake of all.

Words: 2.1k

For @lily-blue. I know you requested it a long time ago so sorry for the wait but I hope you like it!

Pain in the chest, throat, or stomach

Difficulty swallowing and breathing

Erratic behaviour

Violent thoughts and fantasies

Hallucinations and delusions

 These are the severe symptoms during the third phase of amor deliria nervosa, a deathly disease hunting for you from the moment you reach the verge of adulthood. You have been taught both in school and at home how to diagnose it and that you absolutely, without exception have to report it to authorities if you see anything suspicious that might be caused by this absolutely horrendous disease.

You saw the way it changed people, totally turned them inside out, you saw the damage it did on families and the society itself. Yet, you know nobody can feel themselves falling ill until it’s too late because of this delirious feeling heavy on their chest. It’s like cancer, spreading fast but rather than infecting your health, it’s affecting your brain and sanity. Once it gets you, you can’t think straight. That’s the only sensible reason for not caring about being sick, for thinking that being in love is a majestic and blissful emotion instead of begging for the cure. When you catch cold, you take vitamins and drink tea then why don’t you now? Why are you questioning the society and the core idea of its system?

Love is wrong. That's what they said and you believed it wholeheartedly, without doubt. You heard the stories and you were so afraid that it would cause your downfall, too. But now, with a three-pronged needle against your neck, you can't find it in you to deny this feeling. This mistrust against your own government, their methods and their lies.

Love is wrong, they told you but now, you know better.

 Just a month before getting the Cure, the mandatory brain surgery after you turn eighteen, you were notified who will be your future husband based on the evaluations of your government. The white envelope containing all kind of data of your future someone makes your throat close up in nervousness as you open is hastily. You take a big breath before pulling out the printed paper about your result, his results and the proof of your compatibility. Most of your approved matches ranked with 8 points out of 10 just like you did during your evolutions so obviously, you thought that the "winner" would one of those guys. However, your heart skips a beat when you see the name of the 7 points guy. Park Chanyeol.

The name itself is familiar; you don’t even have to check on his picture to know who he is. You know him from Chemistry class. He’s tall, smart, looking a bit nerdy with his thick framed glasses but utterly cute when his ears redden in embarrassment. He’s a nice guy, he will probably get a good job and you two can buy a pretty house in a nice neighbourhood. The perfect husband. Not like you had any say in it but you were okay with your chosen one and you hoped he feels the same.

Little did you know that Chanyeol had been sick ever since you helped him pick up a few dropped books in the corridors and looked into his eyes with your mouth curved into a shy smile...

 Boys and girls are segregated from birth in everyday life. The government doesn't like taking risks so they try to minimize every possible interaction between the opposite genders. However, your town, being pretty small, only has one high school and one Chemistry teacher so an all-boy and all-girl class is hardly an economically reasonable thing to do. It doesn't really matter anyway. The surveillance system keeps an eye on the students and the principle basically knows everything you do so it isn't possible to even talk with guys outside of the class without teachers accompanying you to the head teacher's office.

So meeting and actually talking with Chanyeol outside of class was a first when your parents set up a date for you after the announcement of your match. Since both of you were scheduled to go to university based on your points, your wedding’s date was set after your bachelor degree graduation. It seemed like a long time but you were glad that you would have time to adjust to a life with him before actually marrying him. Not that you had any other choice. There was no such thing as breaking up or divorcing in a world like yours. Those scary words only existed in rumours because all of these worthless, painful feelings were washed away by one single stink of a needle. No more sweaty palms and erratic heartbeat waiting for a boy to arrive and sit down with you over a nice dinner.

Real salvation.

You wore your prettiest dress with a purple ribbon around it but ended up being so embarrassed about putting so much effort into this that you left your hair messy just to compensate. However, Chanyeol arrived in a suit and with a bouquet of flowers and he was being a blabbering, blushing mess as he couldn’t find the words to compliment your outfit. "Thanks," you smile at him shyly, saving him from further suffering. Both of you were so nervous, however, while Chanyeol could barely utter a sentence to order food, you couldn’t shut up. You went on and on about childhood memories, future plans, favourite activities and interests and finding out that you did actually have a lot in common was kind of nice.  He started to open up when you talked about music and you enjoyed breaking down his shell. Going on a few dates with him before being officially paired up by some authority was maybe your parents’ best idea ever. By the time, you asked for the bill, you were far from being awkward strangers.

"Can... When can I see you again?" Chanyeol asked and even though he towered over you in height, it didn't feel belittling at all. The way he looked down at you, the stars glittering in his orbs made you want to stand up to your toes and… And what? The thought itself was ridiculous.

"Tomorrow. At Chemistry," you smiled cheekily, nibbling on your lower lip and the boy laughed light-heartedly but genuine. He had a really nice laugh, you mused with your heart pounding. "You know what I mean," he pouted and you giggled. Of course, you knew.

So for the next date, Chanyeol brought a guitar and he took you to the park to have a picnic. It was perfect and for the time being, you had the name of your evaluators in your prayers because you were really grateful. The pair of you two really fit. Still, you didn't talk about marriage and other ‘important’ stuff but both of you enjoyed each other’s company. Even your acquaintances said you are a match made in heaven. So why did the compliment taste bitter for you?

The answer didn't come easy but eventually you had to accept the truth: that you didn't want your relationship being fabricated by laws and regulations. You wanted spontaneity, real feelings and ah, the fantasies of a young adult. You were being selfish for wanting all that.

But you were not the only one selfish…

“Do you think everybody feels like this?” you dared to ask The Question out loud while leaning onto Chnyeols frame during a movie. You could feel his bony body going rigid under yours and your breath hitched as his was trembling.

“Like what?” he wanted to know the details, asking carefully not to scare you but the big question marks in the air were already doing their job. You mind ran overdrive: What if he will report you for acting strangely, for talking about feelings, for getting intimate and holding his hand during the family dinner last time? But the scariest question of them all: what if he doesn't feel the same?

Maybe it was really the sickness, this panicky feeling choking you and suddenly, you couldn’t breathe. Tears pricking your eyes you had to stand up, detaching your body from Chanyeol’s and you wanted to run very far away.

But just before you could get away from him, Chanyeol grabbed you by the elbow and gently tugged back to face him. You looked down bashfully, not being able to meet his eyes, not until you felt his breath fanning over your cheek.

“You meant this fever every time we touch? Or the flowers that bloom in my heart just by seeing you smile? Or maybe the dreams about you and missing you even if I just saw you?” he whispered against your hot skin and you couldn't help but shiver. Your heart was screaming yes, yes, yes eagerly but you felt like fainting because your brain knew you shouldn't have felt this way. Something unexplainable took over you and pressing closer, you brushed your lips against his feeling the touch of a kiss (something only Cured people are allowed to do) and ah, breaking the rules has never tasted so sweet.

 You were in love, you didn’t even wanted to deny it but the society wouldn’t ever accept that. So you planned to run away with Chanyeol, living outside of the walls, in the land of Invalids and Uncureds. You were supposed to act like you were nothing more but an assigned couple until the day of your surgery came. The Cure that would taken your feelings away. Once it seemed like salvation, now it was a nightmare. You didn’t want to lose this, whatever it was you and Chanyeol had.

Your escape plan was perfect: meeting up for a dinner the day before your big day, because it was nothing surprising by now and then, just before curfew you would take a walk around the neighbourhood. When the clock hit ten, you both would have grabbed your stuff and made a run for it. Together for a now life.

No matter how careful you were, somebody was bound to notice the changes, you just didn't expect your own sister betraying you like this. Calling the guards on you just before your date.

“No, please, I swear I’m not sick,” you shrieked at the guards grabbing and tossing you towards the door. Ugly sobs shook your whole body.

“How could you?” you yelled at you sibling standing in the corridor holding the backpack you prepared for running away in her hands.

“It’s for your good. You are sick, they will cure you. Everything will be fine,” she tried to soothe you, eyes sad and disappointed, but it only mad you want to throw up.

“No! You might just kill me with this,” you were mumbling as they took you away to force the procedure on you.

 The hospital is ugly and smells weird. The room’s wall are white where you are and tied to a chair you sit still while doctors and guards are gathering around you. It's almost funny, six adult men making sure that you don't do anything stupid with your 154cm. You have no idea what they are waiting for, not until the door burst open and they bring Chanyeol in, too.

“No,” you scream helplessly watching as they tie the drugged boy to the chair next to you just like they did with you. You can barely move but you manage to grab his hands and that makes him turn towards you. You see your own emotions mirrored in his grieving dark eyes as you try to fight back but it’s in vain. You are outnumbered by the guards holding you down firmly, not letting you go as the doctors work.

“I love you,” Chanyeol confesses suddenly, but with his cracked voice it sounds more like a goodbye.

“I love you, too,” you turn your head towards him, tears already rolling down your face.

You are holding hands, as tightly as you can while the surgeons inject the serum into both of your skin, just under your right ears. Your heart is beating like a drum, panicked, excited, sad and in love. Yet, they just call you lovesick and want to cure you. What cure, you laugh dryly as you let your hand fall and welcome the darkness.

 Next time you open your eyes, the void of feelings greets you, the absolute emptiness and looking at the boy still asleep next to you feels like meeting a stranger. With hazy memories you glance around the hospital room, hand itchy and when you look down on it you see one single scribbled sentence written with ink on your palm.

Please, fall in love with him again.

Huh, what a stupid, dangerous thing to write, you think to yourself and hurry to wash it down before anybody sees. Too bad you can’t erase it from your mind whenever you look into your fiancé’s emotionless eyes.

[teacherintransition]

The Facebook Dilemma

... not just for the transitioning teacher, but for all of us...

...like most well intentioned possibilities on the internet, it can take a wrong turn.

In 2009, I was 43 and was intrigued by this new “product...service” you could find online called Facebook. There was a lot of buzz about it among friends I knew and my interest was piqued. For a Gen X’er, I had stayed more than just current on computer and internet advancements as I had written a curriculum and taught a course on “How to do Academic Research using the Internet.” A couple of college campuses had approached our school with a dilemma: many high graduates weren’t able to transfer what they knew about hard copy, old school, going through the stacks research to using online resources. I’d taught the class since 2003 and had already been exposed to the burgeoning world of “social media” from my students. Six Degrees, Are You (Hot of Not), Friendster, Xanga, MySpace and several others and all to a 40 something... they seemed too cheesy, too much for the teens and not comfortable for my generation. Then in 2009, I came across this new site called Facebook, silly me... it had loaded its platform and had been online since 2004. It seemed a bit more toned down than the others and I’d discovered that some of my high school classmates were already using it. “What the hell,” let’s give it a shot and I set up my Facebook account ... it seemed harmless.

At first, FB was a blast, I reconnected with friends I hadn’t seen in years, the groups on music and Art were addictive, there were fun games to play... it was an honest online, social media blast and it was user friendly, checking it became part of the daily routine. Like the ancient adage goes, “nothing good can last forever.” Soon, politics, biased news, divisive debate, spying, cheeky algorithms turned what had been a fun pastime into another area for the uniquely American “culture wars.” The same reconnected friendships became casualties on the battlefield, “gotcha” videos were everywhere, Fact-checking was a needed weapon... and it just wasn’t fun. Wishing Happy Birthday or sending sympathy for losses became a cold, mechanical process void of genuine feeling. A friend of ours had said while we were all having dinner that our generation was going to be the experiment subject for this. Generation X was the last one that grew up without wide spread computer usage or without the internet, but had adapted to it much, much better than Boomers. Millennials got exposed to internet and cell phones at the beginning of their teen years and the new guys, “Gen Z” are born with an IP address and a cellular plan. To all too many people I know, social media is more designed to develop angina than friendships.

Social media and a retiring “teacher in transition,” how does it fit during the daily routine of retirement? Well, like most things it’s as varied as the individual in question. My friend who astutely remarked that we were the experiment subjects of this trend had no doubt arrived at a conclusion for those of us who grew up tech free but quickly adopted for work and leisure... I know I have. Using Occam’s Razor in scientific evaluation, I’ve come to the conclusion that life, in general, was better without the pervasive use of technology in our lives. Life lacks a genuine quality and sense of independence during this age of internet everything. I’d rather call a person and wish them happy birthday that use an app; I’d rather spend my time just thinking to myself than have my thinking provided to me via algorithms, I’d rather be more self reliant than have to rely on Siri or Alexa telling when to turn left. C’est la vie... it is what it is, but I am able to put all of this to work for me in specialized ways since I’ve retired. Being able to easily share and post my writing allows me access to an audience that wouldn’t have existed before. These media platforms also grant me a web venue to share and market my Art to a vast online audience which would have been impossible to achieve in previous eras. The internet age also provides a magnificent way to satisfy my travel urges between trips, by being able to virtually visits cities and countries I long to visit and revisit in the interim. We human beings tend to jump into trends whole hog and then after the fact revisit the wise advice of “everything in moderation.” True, true, truer words were ne’er spoken. All this being said, O’ wise teacher in transition, how doth we interact with yon social media upon retirement?

As stated early in this column, this would be the ramblings of a mid fifty retiree finding his way through the challenges of adapting to a new way of living. Some of my “pearls of wisdom” some might find helpful; others, not so much. These observations are mine and not mandatory. I do hope some might find these helpful. Sigh... in regards to Facebook or internet usage in general for the newly retired, I’d suggest limiting it to the smallest degree possible. I envision legions of readers hearing my declaration standing up and crying, “huzzah, huzzah, huzzah” followed by cellphones and iPads being cast in to raging flames followed by the chanting of my name! Ahh, the blessings of a vivid imagination. I suggest this for several reasons, mind you I didn’t suggest total withdrawal, but a moderate to strong decrease in usage. One of the criticisms of Gen Z is their sedentary lifestyle while focusing on texting, gaming, trolling etc etc .... in other words, these young people spend so much time on line they are getting overweight instead of getting out and active IRL ( hipster, techie acronym for In Real Life). If it not a good idea for kids from the ages of 10-25 to sit on their asses all day, it certainly isn’t a good idea for those of us experiencing a mature quality of life (you like that huh? sounds a whole lot better than saying “getting old”). While being online... time can get lost ... and a day waisted and a waistline enlarged. Might I suggest limiting yourself to a few specific times where you check your email, peruse social media, play games ... what have you. I’ve remarked often that a structured day during retirement is a great way to chase your dreams and goals. That doesn’t usually happen sitting on a padded desk chair all day staring at a screen.

I strongly advise that you carefully research the most reliable news organizations based on accuracy and lack of bias and review them periodically during the day. The 24 hour news cycle, breaking reports, obscene bias in news reporting has become a scourge to all areas of society for the last twenty years. It has divided our nation to an unhealthy point amongst all demographics in our country. Inappropriate visuals, doctored photos, deep fake videos and out right deception can really shake up a peaceful mindset. I’m not suggesting abandoning online news at all, but be more discriminating of the sources that don’t sensationalize stories. You’re at a point in life to relax and enjoy peace of mind... make sure you do. Fill your time with what’s in front of you IRL .... not on a screen. Whether we are fifteen to 50 to 80, our time in this world is limited, don’t obsess over things you can’t control; “joie de vie” “la dolce vita” not doom and gloom.

In my mind, try to limit your online time to interests and hobbies that are personally yours. Give your time online a purpose: are you learning the guitar?...then pick some sites that develop that interest. While on Facebook limit your group memberships to interests that enrich you as a person with diverse pursuits. Goof off time is essential to having a peaceful retirement.... but to maintain an active lifestyle, make certain that most of your time has a purpose. No ... not like “working” but determined by the passions of your heart. While there are many ill advised sites on the internet, it was originally intended to enrich us and extend our knowledge. Do it!

“If there is nothing good about Facebook or social media, why do you still use it ...huh?” I’m not implying that it is totally without merit. AsI hoped I tried to state, moderation, the most un American of words is essential to anything we do. I’ll draw this examination to a close by sharing what I think is the most valuable aspect that I derive from Facebook: photographs and the memories option. The daily memories page offered is something I look forward to every morning. It’s is a personal journey through what was on my mind and of interest to me over the years. It takes me back to a moment in time to what I was thinking, feeling and gives me a chance to see how my life has changed over the years. You are afforded the opportunity to see if you’ve grown as a person and what events had enough of an impact for you to post it. It can make joys and sorrows live again momentarily and appreciate the life you have lived. Just remember... living online is not really living. Use these amazing advancements to enhance your life .... not be the direction of it. Just some random thoughts from a teacher in transition.

http://labibliotecacoffee.com/

Facebook Photo; https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/7761-facebook-business-guide.html; 2021

[schwermetallisch]

Ah the luck of the Irish... Tonight I write about a band named DEATH THE LEVELLER and their glorious first full length output ‘II’. This four-piece was formed in 2016 in Dublin and is named after a poem by James Shirley (1596 - 1666). The label’s press text says: “Ireland’s DEATH THE LEVELLER ‘II’ combines dark, impenetrable Doom with the sweeping arrangements of Epic Metal! There is an air of unassailable melancholy in Irish music. Its ballads, poetry, traditional music and folk traditions all carry the weight of loss of the men and women who experienced hardship and fought so vigorously for their country. Passed down through generations, it’s only natural for young musicians to have melancholy embedded in their DNA. What they do with it, however, is entirely up to them. For DEATH THE LEVELLER, music is the outlet and the common bond between its four members. Therefore, it is no surprise their first full-length album ‘II’ is the perfect union between dark, sweeping Epic Metal and Doom.” Well, Cruz Del Sur Music brought us last year’s return of legendary Doom band ORODRUIN, so my eternal gratitude is obviously theirs and wrong they are not! This is a damn fine piece of music: well executed, fusing soundscapes where guitar and bass are no mandatory directory for Dowling’s melancholic and pain fuelled vocals. ‘The Crossing’ feels like a wall of sound unstoppably moving forward brick by brick, a depression drenched juggernaut of a song. ‘The Hunt Eternal’ really grips you with its lurking riffs crouching forward, hiding in the darkness, waiting for you and then burst into painful vocals, soothing, dripping with sadness. The authenticity of the compositions is disarming, rendering one helpless leaving you unable to resist the experience.Most of the time I write and speak about well-made music, good instrumentalists and so on. Most artists I listen to while working are good, skilled at what they do but not everyone feels like the real deal... these guys do. People do whatever you have to do to keep them around making more of this. #schwermetallisch #reviews #picoftheday #doom #reviewoftheday #heavymetal #metal #rock #music #metalhead #hardrock #guitar https://www.instagram.com/p/B8TqC0_CSdM/?igshid=iev0ejbsn6mu

[terrifyingrenegadelibrary]

New Story

Hi! So, the main reason for the existence of this blog is so I have somewhere to post a story I’ve been working on for a couple years now.

That story is called This Show Sponsored by Death! (exclamation point mandatory), and it’s about a girl named Morgan.

Because I’m that sort of person, this story has only ever been written in script format, so that’s probably a fair thing to be aware of before going in.

The other primary thing to be aware of is that, while hopefully reasonably humorous, this story has the trigger warnings you might expect from a story with “death” as one of the words in its title. That being...you know. Death, death-adjacent, violence, etc. No sex though.

Anyway, without further ado, the first chapter of This Show Sponsored by Death! (exclamation point included here both because it’s mandatory and because I’m excited)

Draw Aside the Veil

-a band’s playing-

-bass thumping-

-electric guitars strumming-

-singers singing-

-and flames arcing through the air around them-

Morgan (off): There but for pretty much everything go we.

-the band is only a scene on a phone screen, being watched by four people. The one who just spoke, a tall, pale girl with dark curly hair, is Morgan. Next to her is a much shorter, dark-skinned girl with short curls-

Quinn: And a brutal strike by Morgan to Allen’s self-esteem. But wait, there’s more…

-the two turn to Allen, a tall, dark-skinned boy with close-cropped hair. He sighs-

Allen: We’re never going to be as big as the Firestarters if that’s your attitude. Where’s your team spirit?

Quinn: Here it comes…

Morgan: I think my team spirit gave up the ghost when we spent an entire practice session just watching other people perform.

Quinn: And there it is. Pack it in, everyone, Allen’s dead. This is a murder scene, nothing to see here, just move along…

Allen: Quinn…

Quinn: Time of death, 3:41 PM, September 16, 2089…

Allen: Come on.

Quinn: Cause of death, Morgan Stein.

Allen: Quinn, this isn’t funny.

Morgan: …It’s a little funny.

-she and Quinn high-five-

Allen: Jacob, back me up!

-the three turn to Jacob, a heavyset, pale, and very, very pretty boy. Who is also fast asleep-

Allen: …Maybe you’re right.

Quinn: Yeah, what’s a band without its triangle guy?

Allen: Morgan’s the one who said he should play the triangle.

Morgan: You wanted him in the band. Not my fault you made it my job to find him an instrument he’d play.

Allen: But the triangle?

Morgan: What can I say? I’m a problem-solver.

-Allen laughs, despite himself-

Allen: Okay, okay, go away. Shoo. You’re obviously not taking this seriously, so practice over.

Quinn: I’m beginning to pick up a sense that we’re not wanted, Morgan.

Morgan: Such a shame. See you at school, Allen. Bring Jacob if he ever wakes up.

Quinn: Boom. Roasted. Back me up, Morgan.

-Morgan snaps her fingers, and a small firework explodes-

Quinn: And we’re out.

-and off they go with Morgan’s drums, laughing-

-cut to the two walking-

Morgan: Do you think Allen is ever going to realize that the only thing we’ll ever have in common with the Firestarters is an attractive lead singer?

-Quinn turns a vague red. Morgan doesn’t appear to notice-

Quinn: Oh, he’s pretty hopeless.

Morgan: Poor guy.

-she fiddles with a fireball, making it detonate playfully-

Quinn: It doesn’t bother you at all that you don’t know why you can do that?

Morgan: It doesn’t bother me that we don’t know why electrons do the thing, right?

Quinn: …Do the thing?

Morgan: Magic’s like that, I think. It just sort of is. I turned 13, I relit the candles on my birthday cake because I was mad at Holly for blowing them out first, and now I can do magic. That’s how it is.

Quinn: I think people do know how electrons work…

Morgan: ….Quarks?

Quinn: …I wouldn’t know.

Morgan: I rest my case.

-Quinn sweatdrops-

Quinn: As long as you’re happy.

-Morgan makes the fireball detonate-

Morgan: Everyone needs a little mystery in life.

-Quinn smiles as the two reach a house-

Morgan: I’ll see you tomorrow?

Quinn: Yeah.

-she pauses-

Quinn: I—

Morgan: Huh?

Quinn: Nothing. I’ll see you.

-Quinn smiles again and walks off as Morgan goes home. Morgan seems to see something in the bushes, but she shrugs and goes inside anyway. Inside, there’s a girl who looks almost exactly like Morgan, but with a different haircut and dressed in purple instead of black, sitting on a couch using a tablet to do something-

Holly: Practice go well?

Morgan: Allen mostly just wanted to show us inspirational videos of better musicians.

Holly: Somehow I had a feeling.

Morgan: Hence why you didn’t show up?

Holly: Some of us have homework on Sundays, Morgan.

Morgan: Well, uh…you’re a nerd.

Holly: You’re not wrong.

Morgan: I’m going to get some fresh air, nerd.

Holly: You haven’t gotten enough?

Morgan: Some of us like more than an hour or two a day of it, Holly.

Holly: I’ve never been partial.

Morgan: And that’s because you’re a nerd. Bye, nerd!

Holly: Mmm-hmm.

-Morgan deposits her drum, and goes back outside-

-cut to her in a graveyard, where she’s standing in front of an angel statue-

Morgan: Dear Creepy Angel Statue in the Cemetery…

Today was a pretty good day. Practice was…uh, impractical, but I think Allen’s maybe starting to get that we’re never going to be that good. Hopefully the next step is where he stops taking Gazillion Degrees so seriously and just lets us have fun?

The world can only hope.

-Morgan giggles, and then pauses as she seems to see something move-

Morgan: Did you…

-she sighs-

Morgan: Probably nothing.

-she turns to the statue-

Morgan: You think spending time talking to statues is making me see things?

-cut back to Morgan at home, Holly still on the couch.-

Morgan: You’re right where I left you.

Holly: A little consistency in life is important.

Morgan: Whatever you say.

-she goes further into the house, and then sticks her head back out-

Morgan: Nerd!

Holly: Good night, Morgan.

-Morgan ruffles Holly’s hair before retreating-

-In Morgan’s room, she looks out of the window, frowning as she examines the darkening street-

Morgan: …Just a shadow.

-and she goes online-

-until she sees it again. There’s a dark shape in the bushes outside Quinn’s house-

Morgan: …Okay then.

-cut to her leaving the house-

Holly: Are you going somewhere?

Morgan: Yep.

Holly: Again?

Morgan: (sharply) Yep!

-and she goes out the door, sprinting towards the shape in the bushes as flames flicker from her hands-

Morgan: Hey! Get away from my friend’s house!

-the shape moves to see Morgan, and then flickers away, taking off down the street-

Morgan: …Okay, I know I said get away, but actually stay right there so I can kick your ass!

-and she’s off after it-

-it flees through the town, Morgan pursuing it and passing a number of interested-looking people along the way. Despite the figure’s speed, Morgan manages to keep up with it, pulling some reasonably impressive parkour moves-

-until she loses it at the graveyard-

Morgan: What, you think this creeps me out? I practically live here, asshole.

-fire still sparking from her hands, she makes her way into the graveyard-

-she slowly moves by tombstones-

-and suddenly the figure is in her face. It’s what appears to be a black cloak, but there’s nothing underneath it but an inky darkness-

Morgan: Ah!

-She jumps back. The cloak regards her in almost a quizzical way, and she quickly recovers her composure-

Morgan: What the hell are you doing, stalking my friend?

-no response. Morgan holds up a crackling fireball-

Morgan: Well?

-the cloak lets out a hissing noise and pulls back. In a shower of black sparks, a wickedly sharp knife appears in its hand, and it lunges at Morgan, who jumps out of the way-

Morgan: Got it. No clue what you are, but I’m going to make you burn.

-Morgan sends a fireball flying at the cloak, which dodges easily-

Morgan: Okay, you’re fast. I can deal with that.

-she launches more fireballs, but the cloak zips around them and strikes with the knife. This time, it manages to cut Morgan’s shoulder-

Morgan: Aaah!

-she clutches her shoulder, but oddly, while it’s clearly causing pain, there doesn’t seem to be any damage-

Morgan: Was that…was that magic?

-the cloak gives no answer, instead continuing to slash at her, but this time she’s more careful to keep out of the way-

-at least until it tackles her to the ground-

Morgan: Ack!

-she grabs up a handful of dirt from the ground, and jams it into the cloak, but there’s no reaction. The cloak summons another knife and brings it down, but Morgan catches it by the handle-

-the knife starts to glow black, and Morgan winces in pain-

Morgan: Come on…what kind of magic even is this?

-little flickers build up around her hands-

-the cloak, meanwhile, summons a second knife and brings it down, Morgan only just moving her head out of the way. More knives appear, spreading out to different angles-

Morgan: No…

-and then something clicks-

Morgan: No!

-a spiral of fireworks burst from Morgan’s palm, throwing the cloak away. She leaps to her feet, flames whirling around her-

Morgan: I don’t have the slightest clue what’s going on here, fine! But let me tell you something, tall, dark, and silent! Nobody creeps on my friend and gets away with it!

-the cloak hisses, dozens of knives appearing, and lunges at Morgan-

-and a column of fire bursts from her palms, swirling around the cloak and knives-

-Morgan stares at the fire, eventually clenching her fists to cut it off-

-she’s left in an empty graveyard, staring at where a cloak used to be-

Morgan: …What just happened?

-suddenly, a pulse of black energy lights up behind her neck. She screams-

-pan around to the cut on her shoulder, which is glowing with black energy and appears to have become necrotic very rapidly. Morgan topples to the ground as her vision starts to fade-

Morgan: This…sucks…

-cut to a boy and girl standing over her-

Boy: She really killed it in one hit? That’s fairly impressive.

Girl: Is that really the immediate concern?

Boy: Whatever.

-The boy reaches down and says something that Morgan can’t make out, and suddenly the pulse goes away-

Boy: See? I saved her life. Are you happy now?

Girl: You don’t think that was sort of the least we could have done for her?

Boy: Ugh. Tell me if she lives or dies.

Girl: Yeah…

-he wanders off as Morgan blacks out-

-Morgan awakens, still in the graveyard, a little while later. She sees someone leaving, but can’t make out who-

-she looks around, seeing no evidence of the fight from earlier-

Morgan: …Did I really just fall asleep in the graveyard? And it was such a weird dream, too…

-she makes her way back home, ignoring the long, thin scar now present on her shoulder-

-when she gets there, she’s greeted by Holly-

Holly: Where were you?

Morgan: Uh.

Holly: I called your phone, and you didn’t answer. Was something wrong?

Morgan: Oh, no. I…uh…I fell asleep in the graveyard.

Holly: What?

Morgan: I’m as surprised as you.

Holly: I don’t think that’s possible.

Morgan: Well, I thought I saw someone outside Quinn’s house, so I chased them away, and somehow I ended up at the graveyard again--

Holly: As per usual—

Morgan: And then I was really tired so I guess I took a nap. Had the weirdest dream.

Holly: Your dreams aren’t really my priority here.

Morgan: Anyway, I’m home now.

Holly: …You should go to bed.

Morgan: Probably.

-Morgan walks past Holly-

Holly: Hey, Morgan?

Morgan: Huh?

Holly: Where’d you get that scar?

Morgan: Scar?

Holly: On your shoulder. Look.

-Morgan looks. Where she was sliced by the Reaper, there is a thin line that looks marked with a small burn-

Morgan: …Huh. Looks like a glue gun accident to me.

Holly: Really?

-she sighs-

Holly: Honestly, what you’d do without me…

-another timeskip. Morgan is in school, looking largely uninterested as she stares uncomfortably out the window. Quinn is more attentive. Allen is deeply focused on something else. Jacob is asleep-

-the day ends, and everyone mills out of the classroom, Quinn and Morgan going together-

Quinn: I think that’s probably an all-time low for attention.

Morgan: Uh…yeah.

Quinn: Including right now. Something on your mind?

Morgan: …Nah. Start-of-year doldrums.

Quinn: As opposed to your usual end-of-year apathy, and the middle-of-the-year exhaustion, I guess?

Morgan: Uh, right!

Quinn: Well, consistency’s important.

Morgan: You sound like my sister.

Quinn: Yikes. Walk you home?

Morgan: You say this like we don’t live next to each other.

-even so, she follows along-

-cut to the house. Morgan and Quinn are walking along, Morgan playing with a fireball again-

Quinn: So, uh, Morgan.

Morgan: Yeah?

Quinn: We’ve been friends for a while, yeah?

Morgan: Sure. What’s going on?

Quinn: Well, I was thinking...

Morgan: I’m not gonna kill Jacob for you, no matter how much you beg.

Quinn: No, Morgan, that’s not it. I—

Morgan: Quinn, have you been a ghost the whole time? Or wait. Are you a magician? I could use another magician friend. There’s like one other person in town, and he’s weird.

Quinn: Morgan! This is important!

Morgan: -laughing- Sorry, sorry. I’ll be serious. –swipes hand across face- See? Serious Morgan. What’s on your mind?

Quinn: Morgan, I think I-

-Morgan’s phone rings-

Morgan: Um, sorry, is it okay if I get this?

Quinn: Uh, yeah, fine.

-Morgan checks her phone-

Quinn: Sooooo? What is it?

Morgan: …Holly got hit by a car.

SCENE FADE

-Quinn and Morgan are in the hospital. They’re looking at Holly, who’s unconscious in a hospital bed-

Quinn: Is…is she going to be okay?

Morgan: (quietly) The doctors don’t think so.

Quinn: Morgan…I’m sorry.

-she puts a hand on Morgan’s shoulder. Morgan subtly shrugs it off-

Morgan: …I need some fresh air.

Quinn: Oh, I’ll come—

Morgan: Empty air. Thanks.

-She’s gone before Quinn can protest. She walks through the town, passing by people. A number of people recur periodically-

-suddenly, a boy appears out of nowhere. He’s about Morgan’s height, with light skin, soft features, and rather long hair-

Boy: Excuse me, I—

-she brushes past him-

-the camera pans to her perspective, showing the angel statue, and she begins to speak-

Morgan: So look. I don’t know who to talk to right now, but you and I? We get along. I don’t know if you’re supposed to be a real angel, but just in case anyone’s listening, maybe pay me back for the years of conversation?

-she stares hard at the statue, looking it in the eyes-

Morgan: Please, just…give me my sister back.

-Silence-

???: And if I do? What do I get in return?

-Morgan looks around-

Morgan: Who said that? This isn’t funny.

???: It is not funny at all. I can offer you your sister back, in exchange for your service.

Morgan: -pops a fireball- If you’re some ventriloquist with a sick sense of humor, I’m gonna roast you. But if you can really save Holly…you’ve got whatever you want.

???: Then the Contract is made.

Morgan: What?

???: Under normal circumstances, I might demand a task of you as a token of your service, but you have already assisted me once.

Morgan: I have?

???: The creature from earlier. It was a threat to the town, and I had been tracking it for some time, but you destroyed it for me. So thank you.

Morgan: Wait, what was it?

???: It was a Spirit of Death, a Reaper. A creature made of pure magic given physical form. Nominally a servant, but as demonstrated here…occasionally dangerous.

Morgan: Wait, but—I killed it. How did I do that? Since when can magic be a weapon?

???: Magic has always been a weapon. It is in your genes. You simply needed the proper impetus to tap into it. Now, I believe I owe you a favor.

-Morgan’s phone buzzes-

Phone: Holly’s up and fine

Morgan: Wait, what?

Phone: Total miracle. Someone’s looking out for us.

-Morgan stares at her phone, and then looks up at the statue-

Morgan: …Did you do this?

???: I certainly did.

Morgan: …

-she drops to her knees-

Morgan: Thank you.

???: Think nothing of it. Welcome to my service.

Morgan: Who are you?

???: I am Zaresi. Goddess of Death.

-Morgan blinks-

Zaresi: I will be in touch.

-the presence fades from the area. Morgan slowly rises to her feet-

???: Uh, welcome to the team.

-Morgan leaps to her feet, reaching for magic-

-energy pulses from her hands, but unlike before, it’s black, and instead of fireworks, it twists into the shape of a scythe-

-or begins to, but is destroyed by a sphere of black light. Standing behind the sphere is a girl about Morgan’s age, with brown skin, straight black hair, and at the moment, a look of shock-

Girl: Dios mio, we’re on the—

-she sees Morgan’s face, and pauses. She coughs. Morgan stares at her for a long time as well, before eventually speaking-

Morgan: We’re on the?

Girl: …Uh. We’re on the same side, is what I was going to say. I’m—

Morgan: Wait, so what happened to my magic?

Girl: Well, you work for a goddess of Death now, so you use Death magic, not Fire magic. Anyway, I’m—

Morgan: Wait, what?

Girl: Uh, look, this isn’t the best time for me to be explaining this. I’m—

Morgan: So what just happened?

-the girl sighs-

Girl: Si pararia de hablar por un segundo…long story short, the Reaper used to work for us, but it went nuts, so when you killed it, we wanted to hire you.

Morgan: …Right. I’m going to write this off as a hallucination and go see my sister.

-she walks off-

Girl: Hey, w-wait!

Morgan: What?

Girl: I’m Laura! It’s nice to meet you!

-she gives a weak grin-

Morgan: …Yeah. Bye.

-as Morgan leaves the graveyard, she nearly runs into a boy about her height, with long hair and soft features. As Morgan attempts to step past him, he coughs politely-

Boy: Ah, hello there. Again.

Morgan: Hi. Look, I’m trying to get home, so I’m not really in the mood to talk with people. Can you—

Boy: So, I heard you swore in with Zaresi. Shame. I heard the news, and I was hoping this might be an opportunity to make an overture, but I guess it’s too late now.

Morgan: …Who are you?

Boy: An enemy, at least for the time being. See you around!

-he strolls off lazily. Morgan stares after him uncomfortably-

Morgan: …Whatever. Too many weird things for one day.

-and she continues walking-

-Morgan arrives home, to see Holly, who is standing up, and immediately runs to hug her-

Holly: Hello to you too, Morgan.

Morgan: You’re… okay!

Holly: I certainly am. I can’t say I understand how, though.

Morgan: Yeah, been hearing that a lot lately…

Holly: Huh?

Morgan: Nothing.

Holly: Well, it’s good to be up and about again.

Morgan: Hey, Holly?

Holly: What’s up?

Morgan: You know I love you, right?

Holly: Of course I know that. You’re my sister.

Morgan: Just thought you should know. Get some sleep, okay?

Holly: Don’t act like you’re older than I am.

Morgan: Last time I checked, I was.

Holly: By eight minutes!

Morgan: Just go to bed. Love you, nerd.

Holly: Good night, Morgan.

-cut to class the next day-

Quinn: --She just woke up! It was the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen.

Morgan: It was lucky. I don’t know what I would’ve done otherwise.

-Quinn hugs her-

Quinn: She in school today? We should go bug her.

Morgan: She’s still at home, despite her best efforts. I thought it was better if she stayed home to rest up, and my parents agreed.

Quinn: Can’t hurt.

Morgan: Unless you’re a perfectionist like Holly, of course.

Quinn: Still can’t hurt to live life like the rest of us people who are occasionally sick.

Morgan: Or just playing hooky.

Quinn: Or just playing hooky.

-she laughs-

Quinn: So, Morgan, do you have some time? I was kind of hoping to talk to y—

-the window shatters, and a massive tendril of darkness rushes in, knocking Quinn into a wall. She doesn’t get back up. Morgan steps in front of her, hands flickering. The tendril expands outwards, surrounding Morgan in darkness-

Morgan: What.

-the cloud continues swirling around her, before looming in on Quinn-

Morgan: Hey, don’t touch her!

-the flickers grow stronger-

-the cloud doesn’t pay any attention, and tendrils begin growing out of it, wrapping around Quinn-

Morgan: I said…

-the flickers form a cohesive shape-

Morgan: Don’t touch her!

-and she lashes out, the flickers solidifying into the shape of a wickedly curved scythe. It slashes through the tendrils, which withdraw. Morgan stares at the scythe-

Morgan: What…

-and then her face hardens, as the tendrils start regrowing, and she slashes at them again-

Morgan: Hey! Maybe I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m pretty sure that attacking my friends isn’t part of the water cycle!

???: I’ll give it a 5 out of 10. That’s not a cloud.

-a boy slips around the fog, strolling over to Morgan. He’s white, with bright green eyes and buzzed brown hair, and while he’s shorter than Morgan he’s still of reasonably average height-

Morgan: I don’t know who you are, but I think I hate you.

Boy: Evan. Zaresi’s right-hand magician. Pleasure. You’re the new girl, right? Laura mentioned you. I’m on your side.

Morgan: That’s great for you. Mind helping out?

Evan: What, with this?

Morgan: Yeah. It’s another Reaper, right?

Evan: Obviously not. Reapers are Spirits. This is just a Fae; it causes trouble from time to time. You seem to have things well in hand.

Morgan: I do?

Evan: Of course not. You’re hopeless. Now distract it while I do something that works.

Morgan: Aren’t you a ray of sunshine?

-nonetheless, she moves to the side as much as she can while still slashing away-

Morgan: Uh…distraction!

-Evan takes her spot, removing a small mat from his backpack and unrolling it. It’s covered with runes and a pentagram-

Evan: Not the most creative, but I suppose it’ll do.

-he steps onto the pentagram-

Evan: Fae, understand that your actions here today are in violation of the Divine Convocation. While it is indeed perfectly plausible that you are not necessarily self-aware in a way humans would understand, ignorance of the law is no excuse. Larus.

-the runes glow as Evan steps onto the carpet. A tendril of shadow reaches for him, but is burnt away by a sudden burst of black light-

Evan: Now for some real magic. Argentatus.

-a beam of darkness blasts out from the runes, piercing through the cloud of shadow. It recoils, and retreats back out of the window, coiling away into the sky and dissipating-

Morgan: …Handy. Don’t suppose I could get my hands on one?

Evan: If you’re nice, I’ll teach you how.

Morgan: So, situation dealt with, right?

Evan: It’s not dead, so it could definitely be more dealt with. But I guess that’s not bad for your first fight.

Morgan: Second fight.

Evan: Definitely bad then.

Morgan: Great. So, I’m going to go out on a limb and assume—or, perhaps, pray—that we have some masquerade to keep up, and I can pretend I don’t know you when we’re not working together to kill angry thunderclouds.

Evan: Nah, that won’t be necessary.

Morgan: Damn it.

Evan: Watch and learn.

-he saunters over to Quinn, who is still out cold, and pulls a pouch from his backpack, taking a pinch of clay out of it and making a small circle on her forehead-

Morgan: Hey, what are you doing?

Evan: Nothing dangerous. Buteo.

-the clay fizzes and vanishes, and Quinn’s eyes snap open-

Quinn: What happened? Who are you?

Evan: There was a little storm, and a tree branch went through a window and conked you on the head. Don’t worry, I saved you.

Quinn: …That’s nice?

Evan: Yes, yes it was. Anyway, I’m borrowing Morgan.

Morgan: You are?

Evan: Yes. Aren’t you excited?

-Morgan and Evan are now outside-

Morgan: What did you do to her?

Evan: Memory spell. Pretty simple, really. We use them all the time when people see things they shouldn’t.

Morgan: …That can’t be ethical.

Evan: Oh, don’t worry. You get good at making things up after your first few days on the job.

-Evan shrugs and continues walking. Morgan stares after him for a moment, her face hardening, but she follows-

Morgan: What about the rest of the school? Didn’t they see the Fae too?

Evan: Of course not. Only Magicians see magic. And only Magicians who are contracted to a proper god can see everything.

Morgan: But…when I cast for the band, everyone sees the fire.

Evan: Sure, because that’s a side effect. But only you can see the magic keeping it all in shape. The only people we need to wipe are the ones who were actually in the middle of the whole mess, like your friend back there. Everyone else, they’ll just assume there really was a little freak storm.

-there’s a pause, and Evan snickers-

Evan: Did you really think the gods could keep themselves secret if John Q. Public could see them walking down the street?

Morgan: This is the third time in the past two days someone’s mentioned gods. What are you talking about?

Evan: …Didn’t Laura explain anything to you?

Morgan: I think she might have tried to.

-Evan gives a sigh of disgust-

Evan: Look, a thousand years ago or so magic was a big deal, and it was apportioned out by real gods, not whatever crappy two-bit Spirit was managing you.

Morgan: Hey!

Evan: But then there were a ton of wars over territory and magic and whatnot, they held the Divine Convocation, the gods all agreed to go into hiding, and magic turned into a cheap joke. Nobody knows how it works, and everyone thinks all it’s good for is bands.

Morgan: The voice in the graveyard, uh, the goddess of Death…Zaresi?

Evan: That’s the one.

Morgan: She said magic was always meant as a weapon, and that I knew how to use it like that. And she was right.

Evan: Well, of course.

Morgan: And my magic is different now.

Evan: Obviously.

-Morgan glares-

Morgan: So people do know how magic works?

Evan: You thought it was all a big mystery? Nah. A lot of work goes into keeping that true, but the people who matter? They know what’s up.

Morgan: I don’t know if I agree with your assessment of who matters or not.

Evan: Fortunately, I don’t care what you think.

Morgan: I don’t like you.

Evan: See previous comment.

-Morgan sighs-

Morgan: Okay, but if the gods all hid, what’s going on now?

Evan: Well, nothing stays hidden forever, obviously. After a while, gods started resurging, just a whole lot more secretively. Now we’re here, and I’m standing in front of you explaining what a blinkered moron you and everyone else in the world is. Any more questions?

Morgan: …Can I talk to Laura instead?

Evan: Nah, she takes online classes. Point is, Zaresi has the two of us and a few odd Spirits, and that’s just one god. Maybe there aren't so many Magicians in this town, but believe me, there’s plenty of mind-wiping to go around. The Fae could have killed half the people in the school, and after five minutes, the survivors would be going along with their day.

Morgan: And you’ve done this before?

Evan: Pretty frequently.

Morgan: To me? Or my sister?

Evan: -shrugs- Probably. You people all just blur together after a while, honestly.

Morgan: …You’re sure I can’t talk to Laura? I think I liked her better.

Evan: Funny, she said the same thing. But no, you’re stuck with me. Exciting, isn’t it?

Morgan: In a Russian Roulette-y sort of way, sure.

Evan: I’ll take it.

-he starts to walk off-

Morgan: Evan!

Evan: Morgan.

Morgan: You can wipe minds, right? Can’t you just…wipe mine? Make me forget I saw this, and let me go back to a normal life where magic’s just a cool thing some people can do and nobody really cares about it past the icebreakers?

Evan: I could.

Morgan: Great.

Evan: Seems a bit cowardly, though. You’ve already had two encounters with the magical side of the world, the Reaper in the graveyard and the Fae here.

Morgan: So what’s a Fae?

-Evan waves a hand dismissively-

Evan: I’ll explain it later. There’s all sorts of supernatural mischief going on, even in a small town like this one. It’s our job to keep people safe from it.

Morgan: I can’t picture you being into that line of work.

Evan: I’m insulted.

Morgan: Look. I only fought the Reaper to keep my friend safe, and I only agreed to work for Zaresi to save my sister. Zaresi did something for me, I did something for her, so why can’t I just be done?

Evan: The agreement you made was your service for your sister’s life. By backing out now, you’d be reneging on your Contract.

Morgan: What?

Evan: If you aren’t willing to hold up your end of the deal…

Morgan: You wouldn’t.

Evan: Of course I wouldn’t. Just making a point. You’re kind of a limited resource, and we’re fairly invested in you sticking around.

-Morgan glares. A spark plays around her hand-

Evan: So, Morgan. Are you in, or are you out?

-he walks off without a backwards glance-

-Morgan stares after him for a while, until her gaze hardens, and she follows-