#reaching the stars

[writteninthesewalls28]

Romeo and Juliet

Summary: after three years of hard training, Dylan and Brynn are chosen as Romeo and Juliet for her ballet schools annual ballet performance.

for @bemyvalentinechallenge 2025: prompt 12 "Dancing"

Warnings: curse words

Disclaimer: I never have danced ballet and might not be one hundred percent accurate at describing ballet.

A/n: I´m sorry if this is a bit complicated to understand. This is a one shot to my book ´Reaching the stars´ that I am hoping to publish one day, which is why you might not know the dynamic in the friend group or understand who Cole is. But I really wanted to write this as a sort of Epilogue for my book.

It was like a déjà vu. I was standing in the small foyer of the ballet school, just like I did when I first came here three years ago and got assigned Dylan Winchester as my dance partner. Now, we are standing here, hand in hand, hoping to get the main roles we auditioned for. 

When Elina, the ballet teacher here in this small school in New York, announced that we were going to perform Romeo and Juliet as the annual performance in the New York City Theatre, me and Dylan spent every single minute of our free time in the dancing studio to do everything we could in order to get these roles. 

Our love story had been like Romeo and Juliet, just without the dying part.And it was my favorite ballet since I first had the wish of dancing ballet at only six years old. 

Because of my mom not letting me, I could only start at the late age of 15. Elina told me many times, I was a natural, but she made it very clear from the very beginning that I had no chance of ever dancing a principal role. 

I would prove her wrong.

The tension in the room was electric, I looked over to Angelina, a ballerina who already got a contract with Royal Swedish Ballet for next year and I knew she was way more likely to get the role than me. Dylan squeezed my hand and I looked over at him. The smile on his lips was a silent promise that we could do it. That we did everything we could, now it was no longer in our hands.

The crippled paper in Elinas hands that she now stared on concentratedly would decide if we made it. 

“Okay, I want everyone to know that you all did an amazing job. It had never been so hard of a decision for me to pick our principals.” She looked at each one of us and actually had a pleasant smile on her lips. What happened that our grumpy teacher was happy all of a sudden? “I will start with my choice for the romeo.”  

Dylan next to me took a deep breath and closed his eyes. I knew he was secretly preparing himself not to be too sad if George or Walker made it again instead of him. “Dylan, would you be our Romeo?” 

I grabbed his hand and jumped up and down. His eyes flew open and he looked at Elina in complete and utter shock. “Me?” he echoed. 

“Yeah, do you know a different Dylan who would be as perfect as you?” 

I stood on my tiptoes to whisper in his ear. “You did it.” 

He gave me a tiny smile, probably still not realising what this meant.

“Now, picking out a Juliet was significantly harder. Girls, you all were so full of emotions. I don´t know what else to say besides asking you to be proud of yourselves.” 

The pause Elina made before saying her choice made my hands get all shaky from all the nervosity hidden beneath me. 

“I chose Brynn.” 

My name? Did she just say my name? My dream came true. I would be standing on the stage as Juliet. Dylan's promise came true that he gave to me at my third ballet lesson that I would one day be the most amazing Juliet the theatre has ever seen. 

I made it. I fucking did.

“Congratulations to the both of you. You deserve it.” Elina told us before leaving the students behind. 

Everyone quickly grabbed their bags to get out of here, me and Dylan were the last to step out the door and step by step leaving the big, white building behind that made my dreams come true. 

“We did it, Brynn. Can you believe it?” he asked me, I´ve never seen him this excited before. 

“No,” I chuckled, “I am still in complete disbelief. I mean, we are going to dance Romeo and Juliet!” 

We crossed the street to get to Dylan's car. He picked me up from my house so I didn't have to pay for a taxi again. We sat in the car and he started the engine. 

“Would you want to go with me to Central Park? I´m meeting Tara and Cass, I bet Ethan is there too.” 

Just shortly after we started dating, our best friend Tara and Ethan were seen kissing while skating in Central Park. Now, this became our place to meet every once in a while and I was desperate to tell Tara about the big news. 

“Yeah, of course.” Dylan smiled at me and turned left to go to the biggest park in New York. 

Only five minutes later we found a parking spot and entered. The park with its narrow trees always had something relaxing to me. I took Dylan's hand and we walked a few meters to get to the spot where our friends always meet. The first thing I saw was Cassidy's red hair, reminding me of fire. Cass was a friend of ours who we grew closer with over the years after the drastic end of my friendship with Cole. He tried desperately to date me even though he knew there was something going on between me and Dylan he even went this far and told my mom about my secret ballet dancing. I realised I no longer want to be friends with someone like that and erased him out of my life. 

“Hey everyone.” I greeted our friend sitting on one of the park benches, Taras and Ethans hands intertwined. 

“Hey, ballerina! How was dancing?” Tara asked once Dylan and I sat down too.

“You're talking to the new Romeo and Juliet.” I know Tara wasn't a huge fan of building tension, so I just said what happened. 

“No way!!!” she shouted and wrapped me in a warm hug. “I'm so proud of you. I knew you could do it.” Tara whispered behind my ear. When she let me go she looked at Dylan and said. “If you let her fall, I´ll kill you.” Tara and Dylan do get along, but it's nothing comparing Tara´s and mine bond or how close Dylan and Ethan are. Speaking of which, his best friend now walked over to him and hugged him as well. A lot shorter and less emotional. But it's a hug after all. 

“What are you both most excited to dance?” Cass asked us, not really knowing much about ballet in general. That makes it even more special that she asked in the first place though. 

“The balcony scene.” Dylan and I said in unison, making us and also the other three laugh. 

“Gotta watch that then.” Cassidy then said and made a note on her phone. “Oh, and when is the show?” she continued asking. 

“November 19th.” I told her, already panicking on how we should be able to do all that. But it´ll work out, I have Dylan by my side. With him I can do anything. 

“Good, reserve some tickets for us then.” 

I was so thankful for these guys. 

[starry-bi-sky]

I am loudly pushing the batdad agenda i am loudly pushing the— DPxDC Prompt

“Woah. You look like shit."

Granted, that’s probably not the first thing Danny should be saying to the guy that just bit the curb, but in his defense; he’s not running on 100% right now either.

The man -- tall, towering, and broader than Danny is tall -- whips around on his heel, black frayed cape flaring out impressively. Danny would've whistled in appreciation, but he takes the time instead to wipe the back of his hand across his mouth, smearing the blood running from his nose across his cheek.

"Sorry." He blinks widely, not even flinching as the man with the horns zeroes in on him. "That was rude of me. I have a really bad brain-to-mouth filter; Sam says its what always gets me into trouble."

And she's not wrong either, per say. His smart mouth is what landed him in this situation -- with blood blossom extract running through his veins and cannibalizing the ectoplasm in his bloodstream. Thanks Vlad.

The man grunts at him; a short, curt "hm" that shouldn't make Danny smile, but he does because he's somewhat delirious and probably concussed. The man keeps some kind of distance, sinking towards the shadows of Gotham's alleyway like he dares to melt right into it.

If it's supposed to scare Danny, it doesn't work. Danny's never been afraid of the dark; he's always been able to hide himself in it. He blinks slowly at the mass of shadows.

"You look hurt." The shadows says, blurring together around the edges. Danny squints, and licks his lips to get the blood dripping down his chin off. Ugh, he hates the taste of blood.

"I am." He says, "My godfather poisoned me. M'dying." The agony of the blood blossom eating him from the inside out looped back around to numbing a while ago, so all he feels is half-awake and dazed.

"Hey," Danny stumbles forward towards the man, a bloodied hand reaching out to him. "You-- you're a hero, right? You're not attacking me; which is more than I can say for most costumed people I've met." Maybe it's a poor bar to judge someone at, but he's already established that Danny's not in his right mind.

The man makes no change in expression, but Danny realizes blearily that it's hard to tell with the shadows on his face. He stays still long enough for Danny to latch onto the cape -- stretchy, but almost soft under his fingers.

He looks up blearily into the whites of the man's eyes. "Can you help me? I don't-- I don't wanna die." Again. He doesn't wanna die again. He blinks slow and lizard-like. "I mean- I'll probably get to see mom and dad again, but I told them I'd at least try and make it to adulthood."

There's a clatter down the street, and Danny's ghost sense chills up his spine and leaves a bitter, ashy taste in his mouth. He immediately knows who it belongs to even before the deceptively gentle; "Daniel?" echoes down the way.

"Daniel? Quit your games, badger, Gotham is dangerous for children."

Danny's mouth pulls back, and blood spills against his tongue. "Please." He rasps, and grabs onto the shadow's cape with both hands. "Please. He's going to kill me. Please--"

"Daniel? Is that you?"

His lips part, dragging in air to plead with the darkness again. He doesn't need to, the whites of his eyes narrow, and the cape whirls around him before Danny can blink. Soon swaddled in shadows, the Night lifts him up, and steals him away.

[aroacenezhaanddainsleif]

the kids share one braincell and its purpose is to help people

[n0ahsferatu]

haven’t watched the star treks in five million years but this is what happened in In The Pale Moonlight right

(credit to @/sweepswoop_ on twitter who drew the original Labru meme!)

[short-wooloo]

I feel like people miss the point of the "war is bad" message

What it's supposed to mean is that war is terrible, it's destructive, it ruins lives, it leaves scars, and you should only partake in it when there are no other options, because even if you win, even if you survive, you will not be the same, which is why the phrase used to be more commonly known as "war is hell"

But "war is bad" seems to have been construed by people in fandom into "any fighting is bad, if you fight you're morally terrible and impure, you should not fight at all, no matter what", this is annoying in fandom, as it often misses the point fiction is trying to make, but what's worrisome is when people apply this to real life, as I have seen people do regarding russia's invasion of Ukraine

And that's almost never the point of "War is Bad" works

Works like Lord of the Rings, Avatar The Last Airbender, Transformers, The Clone Wars, Halo (especially Reach), etc all have themes on how horrible war is, but they categorically do not say it is wrong to fight, what they say is usually along the lines of "war is terrible, and what makes it so terrible is that we have no choice but to fight, it would be ideal if we didn't have to fight at all, but we must fight, because not fighting is not an option, because not fighting, not opposing tyranny, conquest, and evil only allows those things to exist unimpeded"

[aquamarinebling]

party loops au where siffrin works for the king, and challenges the party in the death corridor every new loop.

[kalashnikovlobotomy]

i start the day lying and end with the truth, that i'm dying for the knife.

[phantom-of-the-501st]

I love how Echo went from "I read the reg manuals for fun and insist we do everything by the books" to "I'm going to sneak onto this heavily-guarded imperial ship by myself and hope that I can get you guys on here too before I'm taken to an unknown location where I'll probably die. Oh, and I'm gonna do it by going up the droid chute."

[brightgoldenstar]

Reference:

[andfangs]

oshamir + hands

[crafftypenguin]

[writteninthesewalls28]

Excerpt from the book I am writing at the moment: Forbidden love, richxpoor, ballet dancers

Das Pas de deux von Romeo und Julia auf dem Balkon lebt von den leidenschaftlichen, innigen Bewegungen der beiden Personen. Die Zuschauer müssen die innere Zerrissenheit und Wut darüber, dass sie ihr Leben nicht zusammen verbringen dürfen, spüren können.

Und wie ich es fühlte, als ich dabei zusehen durfte, wie George und Amelia, die beiden Hauptpersonen des Stücks „Reaching The Stars“, den Pas de deux probten. Die Geschichte hinter Reaching The Stars hatte Dylan mir in nur wenigen Worten erklärt, während die beiden sich ein letztes Mal vorbereiteten. „Ein Liebespaar ist durch eine Art Zeitkapsel dazu verdammt, die berühmtesten Liebesgeschichten selbst zu durchleben. Giselle, Romeo und Julia, La Bayadère und Schwanensee. Genau wie all die tragischen Liebespaare in diesen Stücken, sterben auch unsere Hauptpersonen am Ende in einem finalen, selbstchoreografierten Tanz.“

Wie gerne ich gefragt hätte, wer diesen Tanz choreografiert hat. Doch genau in dem Moment schaltete Elina die Musik des Stücks an und ich war zu gebannt von dem, was vor meinen Augen geschah, als dass ich auch nur eine einzige Frage stellen konnte.

George und Amelia bewegten sich auf eine Art miteinander, dass sich Zweifel auftaten, ob sie nicht doch im echten Leben ein Paar waren. Er führte sie elegant in einen Lift, schwang sie in die Luft, ohne seinen Blick von ihr zu lösen und ließ sie wieder runter, doch hielt sie weiterhin in seinen Armen. Amelia wechselte schwungvoll in 4 Pirouetten en dehors und entfernte sich dann ein Stück von George, bevor dieser sie wieder zu sich zog.

Es war ein ewiges Hin und Her. Dramatisch, atemberaubend. Ich wusste gar nicht, worauf ich zuerst schauen sollte, auf ihre Armbewegungen oder doch wie elegant ihre Füße in den Spitzenschuhen aussahen? Dylan musste meinen beinahe sehnsüchtigen Blick Richtung Amelia bemerkt haben, denn plötzlich hörte ich seine Stimme an meinem Ohr. „Sie ist wunderschön, nicht wahr?“

Ich nickte. „Ihre Bewegungen…“ Ich wusste nicht, wie ich den Satz beenden sollte.

„Bald wirst du auch dort stehen und die schönste Julia sein, die dieses Studio je gesehen hat.“ Hörte ich ihn sagen. Doch seine Worte kamen nicht wirklich bei mir an. Oder besser gesagt, ich konnte nicht glauben, dass er das gerade wirklich gesagt hat. Er glaubte an mich. Dylan glaubte, ich könnte eine Hauptrolle tanzen. Für kurze Zeit lebte ich in einer Parallelwelt, wo ich nicht dazu gezwungen war, meine Eltern jeden Montag zu belügen, sondern ihre volle Unterstützung genoss und wirklich auf der Bühne stehen könnte. Mit Dylan. Der Gedanke war so schnell gekommen, ich konnte ihn gar nicht aufhalten. Wenn ich die Julia in einem großartigen Paralleluniversum tanzen würde, dann nur mit Dylan als mein Romeo.

„Mit dir zusammen?“ fragte ich ihn deshalb. Er musste ja nicht wissen, das meine Fantasy gerade mit mir durchging und es in Wirklichkeit sowieso niemals passieren würde.

Ich hörte ihn leise nach Luft schnappen. Offenbar hatte ich ihn mit dieser Aussage genauso überrumpelt, wie er mich vor wenigen Sekunden mit seiner.

„Natürlich. Wir zeigen es ihnen.“ Antwortete er und als ich ihn von der Seite mit einem Lächeln im Gesicht musterte, glaubte ich zu sehen, dass er tatsächlich rot geworden war. Ich hatte Dylan Winchester erröten lassen. Wenn ich das Tara erzähle. Freunde, Brynn.

Wenig später waren wir selbst wieder mit tanzen dran, diesmal mit unseren Partnern. Die Stunde bestand, genau wie die vorherige nur daraus, dass Elina und Befehle an den Kopf warf und wir in Rekordzeit das gewünschte ausführen mussten. Dylan und ich fungierten dabei bereits nach den ersten Paar Minuten als Vorzeige-Paar und kassierten haufenweise Lob der strengen Tanzlehrerin, heute ganz in schwarz gekleidet.

Mit Dylan fühlte es sich einfach richtig an. Man hörte häufig solche Sätze wie: „Wie der Topf auf den Deckel.“ Oder „Gesucht und gefunden.“ Ich hatte die immer als Schwachsinn abgetan. Man kann sich nie hundertprozentig sicher sein, dass es mit einer Person ein Leben lang funktionieren wird. Das geht gar nicht.

Und auch wenn ich seit der ersten Sekunde, wo Dylan in der Ballettschule vor mir stand, versuche, mir zu sagen, dass wir nur Freunde sind, kam es mir falsch vor.

Wieso fühlte ich mich derart zu ihm hingezogen, wie es mir bei Cole noch nie passiert ist? Wie kann es sein, dass sich tanzen mit ihm anfühlt, als gäbe es nichts Wichtigeres im Leben? Das muss doch einen Grund haben!

Den Rest der Stunde erlebte ich wie im Rausch. Zu beschäftigt war ich mit meinen Gedanken gegenüber Dylan. Was war das mit uns? Oder schmiss ich meine ganzen Pläne nur unnötig über einen Haufen für einen Jungen, der in Wirklichkeit doch genauso ist, wie der Rest seiner St. Albert Clique? Alles, was er getan hat, war mich auf eine Houseparty einzuladen und mit mir durch den Central Park spazieren zu gehen. Könnte es sein, dass ich mir die Verbindung nur einredete, weil ich meine Zeit mit zu vielen Liebesromanen verbringe? Alles, was ich verlangte, waren Antworten und ein kurzer Blick in die Zukunft.

Ich war mir nicht sicher, ob meine Eltern einen anderen Jungen außer Cole an meine Seite akzeptieren würden. Zu oft hatten wir über unsere gemeinsame Zukunft gesprochen, da sein Vater eine riesige Immobilienfirma besaß, war es wie ein Sechser im Lotto für meine Eltern. Alle an der St. Albert hatten wohlhabende Eltern, auch Dylan. Selbst, wenn wir nie darüber gesprochen hatten, so musste es sein, keine andere Familie konnte sich das Geld für die Art von Privatschule leisten, wie es die St. Albert war. Wenn seine Eltern allerdings kein riesiges Imperium besaßen, würden sie ihn kaum akzeptieren.

Doch spielten meine Eltern eine Rolle, wenn meine Gefühle mir eindeutige Zeichen gaben? Gegen meine Eltern würde ich schon ankommen.

[prismsoup]

You have no more unread messages from Penglai.

[kata-kemi]

🔥Murisa - Eye of Fire - lvl 19 Monk I love my firebender monk (even she is more closer to a druid in The Plane of Fire) with supeority complex.

[ahhrenata]

baby boy

[cloned-eyes]