#sale on February 14

[fytko-mobile-specs]

OnePlus Launches its First 5G Flagship: The OnePlus 11

OnePlus, a leading smartphone brand has launched its first 5G flagship smartphone in India, the OnePlus 11 5G. The device boasts impressive specifications and features, including a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset with up to 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The phone runs on the latest Android 13 operating system, with the OxygenOS 13 interface for a smooth and seamless user experience.

One of the key features of the OnePlus 11 5G is its 6.7-inch LTPO 3.0 AMOLED screen with a dynamic refresh rate of 0-120Hz and Corning Gorilla Glass Victus protection. The phone also packs a powerful 5,000mAh battery with 100W SuperVOOC fast charging.

In terms of pricing and availability, the OnePlus 11 5G will be available in two storage variants, starting at Rs. 56,999 for 8GB + 128GB and going up to Rs. 61,999 for 12GB + 256GB. The device will be sold in Eternal Green and Titan Black color options, with preorders starting today and sales set to begin on February 14th.

 Additionally, users who purchase the phone will receive a Google One subscription with 100GB of storage for six months.

Overall, the OnePlus 11 5G offers an impressive array of features and specifications, making it a strong competitor in the 5G smartphone market. With preorders now available, consumers can look forward to experiencing the latest and greatest from OnePlus.

[jjungkookislife]

Be My Valentine

❥ pairing: hfth!jungkook x f. reader

❥ genre: established relationship, college au, [18+]

❥ summary: You've got something special planned for your first Valentine's Day with your boyfriend

❥ wc: 1.3k

❥ warnings: food mention, lots of fluff, lots of kisses, Build-A-Bear date

❥ date: February 14, 2024

read part one here ♡

Jungkook couldn’t contain the smile that lit up his face when he saw you walking toward him. He was sitting beside Jimin at the cafe at your favorite table, right by the glass wall so you could people-watch. 

The weather was chilly for mid-February, the last dregs of winter hanging on. Snow flurries fell from the sky, melting before they hit the ground. 

Jimin was waiting for Taehyung to get out of class so the two could meet the rest of your friends at the bar near campus. 

“You’re the only one of us who has a date for Valentine’s Day. What are you guys doing?” Jimin asks, wiggling his brows suggestively. 

Jungkook shoved him playfully. “Shut up.”

Jimin laughs as he raises his coffee to his lips and takes a sip. 

Jungkook knows he has a minute or so before you arrive so he tells Jimin his plans for tonight. 

“I’m making her favorite dinner tonight. We’re decorating heart-shaped cakes for dessert, and I got her a locket with a photo Grandmother Jeon took of us when I asked darling to be my girl.” 

“Ooh, romantic,” Jimin sighs happily. “I’m sure she’ll love it all.”

Jungkook rises as you walk through the door. A smile appears on your face the moment you spot your boyfriend as he meets you halfway. 

He hugs you tight, kissing your lips as he takes your backpack off your shoulder. 

“I got you a hot chocolate,” he informs you as he pulls out a chair for you. 

Jimin waves when you sit down. “Hey.”

“Hey,” you greet as he hands you a brownie. “Thanks!”

“It’s the least I could do after you baked cookies for us,” Jimin grins. “They were delicious.”

“They were,” Jungkook agrees as he shows you his phone. 

A photo of the heart-shaped cookie that says ‘Be Mine’ is on the screen. 

“I assumed this one was mine,” he giggles as he leans in to kiss your cheek. 

“Of course not,” Jimin giggles. “It was for me.”

Jungkook rolls his eyes as his girlfriend laughs and shakes her head. “Sure, Min.”

“Knew it,” Jimin smirks as he grabs his belongings. “Well, I’ll leave you two alone. Have a nice evening and save me any candy or baked goods for tomorrow. We’ll hit the candy sales in the early morning.”

“Of course!” You nod enthusiastically. Jimin blows you a kiss and cackles when Jungkook intercepts it as he leaves. 

“Ready?” Jungkook asks once you finish your drink and brownie. You nod as you wipe your mouth with a napkin and clean up. 

Jungkook takes your hand in his, smiling when you shiver from the chilly air. 

The drive to Jungkook’s apartment is short. You get comfy as Jungkook takes out the ingredients for dinner. 

The two of you work effortlessly side by side to make dinner, sharing bites of food in between. 

After dessert, Jungkook hands you a small gift box with a pretty purple bow. He grins as he watches you tug on the ribbon, setting it aside before you lift the lid of the box.

“It’s beautiful!” You gasp when you see the locket nestled safely inside on a bed of velvet. 

“Open it,” Jungkook grins, too excited to contain himself. 

You open the locket and see the photo of you two kissing in the snow. You smile, wiping the few stray tears that roll down your cheeks. 

Jungkook helps put the locket on you. Your fingers trace the beautiful pattern as your heart flutters. 

Slowly, you turn to face Jungkook. His doe eyes sparkle when you smile at him, his lips capturing yours in a kiss that makes your toes curl. 

Three special words sit on your tongue heavily. You’ve wanted to say them for a few weeks now but the worry of rushing head first made you uneasy. Deep in your heart, you knew Jungkook was it for you. You’d never want anyone else. 

Jungkook cups your face, kissing your nose, your lips, your jaw, and finally where the locket rests on your skin. 

His touch is gentle, his kisses sultry as he restrains himself from saying what he wants to. Hell, he wanted you to move in with him the first night back home but you’d already spent money on your dorm for the semester and he didn’t want to rush anything. However, you would have gladly packed up and moved in if he had asked. 

You spend most of your nights in his bed anyway. 

Jungkook giggles when you boop his nose. He scrunches it when you do it again and by the third time, he’s gently nibbling on your fingertip. 

He should tell you.

He knows he should but fear wraps around him like tentacles ready to drag him into the dark abyss. Perhaps it’s not the right time but when is the right time to tell someone you love them?

Today? Tomorrow? Three months from now?

Jungkook shakes his head, pushing his thoughts away. 

“I scheduled us for Build-A-Bear tonight,” you surprised Jungkook, showing him the certificate. 

Jungkook’s face lights up, nearly running to the front door in his excitement. You giggle as you put your shoes on and your coat, kissing Jungkook’s cheek as he grabs his scarf and wraps it around himself. He grabs a matching one for you, kissing your nose when he’s done putting it on you. 

By the time you arrive at the store, Jungkook’s excitement has doubled. 

You head inside with him with his hand in yours. The two of you take your time picking out your stuffed animals. You head over to the machine to record a message. 

“You go over there and I’ll go over here,” you instruct as you take Jungkook’s voice box with you. 

Jungkook chuckles as he does as he’s told. He holds the voice box in his hand and clearly says, “I love you, darling.”

He’s nervous as he meets you at the stuffing center. You’re smiling brightly as you wait for your turn. Jungkook pulls you to him, careful not to jostle the bear in your arms. 

“I’m glad we’re here,” Jungkook whispers, kissing your cheek after. 

“I wanted you to have a special bear from me,” you smile, as you lean into him. 

Your turn comes and you’re handed a red heart and asked to make a wish before they take your bear and the heart to stuff it. 

Jungkook waits for his bear beside you before you head over to pick out matching outfits. 

Once you’re back at his place, Jungkook takes his bear out of his box while you do the same. 

“What did you record for me?” You ask with a smile as you hold your bear in your lap. 

Jungkook is nervous again, he can feel heat rush to his cheeks as he holds his bear to his chest. He’s about to speak when he accidentally squeezes his bear’s paw and your voice clearly says, “I love you, Jungkook.”

You squeal, covering your face. 

“You weren’t supposed to hear that yet!” You giggle, embarrassment evident in your tone. 

Jungkook chuckles, pressing the paw once more to hear the words again. His heart sings as he looks at you, setting his bear on the side. 

Slowly, Jungkook takes your hands off your face. He takes one of your hands in his and moves it to your bear’s paw. He makes you squeeze the paw, his cheeks rosy pink as his recorded voice says, “I love you, darling.”

Giddiness washes over you as you cup his face, leaning forward to capture his lips with yours. Jungkook melts into the kiss, butterflies swirling in his belly as you climb on top of him to straddle his hips. 

Your forehead pressed against his, a coy smile on your lips. “I love you.”

Jungkook doesn’t think there’s a better feeling than this. To love and be loved. 

“I love you, baby,” Jungkook whispers as he kisses you again, his hands on your hips as he drinks you in. 

“You’re everything I’ve ever wanted and so much more, my love.”

© jjungkookislife - I do not allow reposts or translations of my work on any platforms, this includes Youtube. 

[urrockstar-xe]

forgotten valentines - p.parker x gn!reader

posted feb 1st, 2024 8:14 am.

heres the first day of my countdown to valentines day! whether ur single or just love these silly characters, i hope u enjoy :)

summary: upon the couple stumbling home from working late, reader and peter both realize they've forgotten all about the heart shaped holiday. Not proofread, may have use of Y/n.

masterlist

wordcount: 1.5k

It was nearing 10 pm when you finally made it home, wanting nothing more than to sit down and use your boyfriend as a human-weighted blanket, but just as you opened the front door you heard shuffling down the hall of your apartment complex, turning to look who was coming and seeing the boyfriend in question, Peter sighed heavily once you both made eye contact, earning a chuckle from you as you entered your apartment, Peter following not too far behind. 

“That wasn’t planned?” you joked quietly, turning on a few lights so it didn’t feel so late that you’d have to whisper. Peter’s quiet laugh filled your ears as he headed for the fridge, opening it up with a sluggish movement. “No, fate just keeps on tugging us towards each other” He teased back, pulling out two sodas before shutting the door with his elbow. 

You pulled off your coat, abandoning it by the door and making yourself comfortable on the couch. Peter soon joined you after taking off his own coat and shoes, he handed you one of the cans, already opened. You leaned into Peter’s side, causing him to throw his arm around your shoulders happily. The clock read 10:12 PM as you flipped through the channels trying to find something to watch. 

“There is a lot of 50 Shades of Grey going on,” Peter said upon realizing how many channels had the 50 Shades movies playing along with every other channel playing romcoms and old romantic dramas. “Yeah, what’s this all about?” you wondered out loud, then the realization hit.

“Oh my god, Peter it’s Valentine's Day!” You sat up, looking at Peter with wide eyes as he checked his phone and his jaw fell, matching your expression now as the date confirmed it. 

“I didn’t even realize it was February” Peter whispered, thinking out loud as you stood up, his eyes following your movements. “Okay, well, we’ve got 2 hours left,” You said, watching him nod in response. 

“It’s too late to grab flowers and chocolate” Peter’s voice was laced with a guilty tone as he spoke, remorse-filled puppy eyes staring up at you. You smiled down at him, hands coming to rest on either side of his face, “That’s okay, it’ll all be on sale by tomorrow morning” Your reassurance and soft touch brought a smile to Peter’s face, “besides, you’re here and not out there” you motioned towards the window, exposing the city of queens who didn’t get the privilege of Spider-man tonight. 

Because you did.

“Will you be my valentine?” Peter asked with a goofy grin on his face, that only grew when you laughed, giving him the exact reaction he had wanted. You nodded, “I’d be happy to be your Valentine, Peter” He smiled at you in return, standing up and causing you both to be nearly chest to chest with the action. 

“C’mon, then, we’ve got a date to prepare for” Peter whispered, planting a kiss on your forehead before leaving the soft moment, walking back to the kitchen. You smiled, abandoning the two barely touched soda cans as you switched off the TV and went to look for a Vinyl to play on your old record player. 

Neither of you had the sharpest memory but that never stopped you from being a damn good team, and times like these always did so well at reminding you both of this sweet fact.

The soft and not-too-loud music filled your small apartment once you finally made your decision. You made your way into the small kitchen as Peter rustled around the pantry looking for something to cook, “we could do pasta!” he exclaimed, too excited about finding something to make, before closing the pantry door and setting the bowtie noodles on the counter, turning to look for ingredients for the sauce. “What kind are we making?” you asked with an amused look on your face, hopping up onto the counter as you watched Peter move around the room. 

“Whichever kind we have the ingredients for,” Peter said, laughing with you as you slid off the counter despite having just barely sat down. “I’ll boil the noodles” Peter hummed in acknowledgment of your announcement, the sound of him clumsily moving behind you filled your ears and blended perfectly with the music, this was perfect. 

“Spaghetti it is!” Peter mumbled to himself before turning around, standing directly behind you as he went to turn on the burner beside the one you were using to boil water. You couldn’t have missed his hand resting on your side if you tried, even if he didn’t squeeze lightly every few seconds. Peter stood there longer than he needed, watching the flame on the left burner while you poured noodles into the pot on the right burner. 

“Just makin’ sure you’re doin’ it right, doll,” Peter explained with a small smirk on his face as if he was reading your thoughts. You scoffed, smiling, “Why don’t you start the sauce so we can have dinner before midnight, yeah?” You asked in a similar teasing tone, not even attempting to hide your heart eyes as you glanced at him. Peter laughed in response, nodding and turning to continue his job for dinner, leaving the spot where his hand sat on your side feeling cold and empty despite your hoodie covering it. 

You both stood wordlessly as you worked, eventually stopping the right burner and allowing Peter to help you drain the water with a strainer before mixing the noodles in with the sauce, “10:57, I think we’re doin’ pretty good on time, what do you think?” Peter smiled at you as you pulled out two bowls, “I think you’re gonna burn our only food option if you don’t turn off the stove” you teased, before smiling back. “We just make a good team” Your second response was more genuine, earning a nod as Peter looked away to turn off the left burner, his smile softening. “Yeah, a great team.”

Together you both set up the table, giggling when Peter ran off to get the candle before setting it down in the middle. “There’s just something missing,” Peter mumbled, watching you sit down at the small table just enough for two people, which is all you needed. 

“I’ll be right back” Before you could argue Peter had run off again, this time to your shared bedroom before stumbling out a few moments later tugging on his suit. “Peter, what are you-” “Don’t start eating yet!” he pointed at you, pulling on his mask with one hand, ignoring the sound of your laughter as he struggled. You watched with an amused expression as he left out the window, the clock now reading 11:09, it’s still early enough to wait so you took it upon yourself to get up and light the candle, along with getting out anything you had to make the rocky road ice cream in the freezer more fun and setting it on the counter.

The sound of the window closing caught your attention, “Look! Ice cream bar!” You said, smiling proudly at your presentation before turning back to your boyfriend just as he pulled off the mask, out of breath and a proud smile settled on his lips too. 

“Look!” he imitated your tone, pulling flowers from behind his back, a little droopy and absolutely taken from your upstairs neighbor, Mrs. Baker’s windowsill, but still perfect. “Flowers!” he finished, both of you laughing before you pulled out a mason jar, filling it with water, and setting it beside the candle. Peter put the 4 dainty white daisies in, smiling at you as he pulled your chair out for you. 

“I love the ice cream bar,” He praised your work, sitting across from you while immediately reaching for your hand, and you happily gave it to him. “I love the flowers,” You responded, honey dripping off the words with how sweet you spoke, blissfully happy in this moment.

“This is perfect! Who needs plans for Valentine’s Day when we’re as great as we are!” Peter said, almost moaning as he finally took a bite of his food. You laughed at his reaction before trying your own. “Last minute dates are our thing, so.” You teased, earning an unserious glare from your guilty boyfriend. 

“I love them though” You reassured, squeezing his hand. 

Peter squeezed back and leaned forward as if to tell you a secret as he softly spoke, “I love you” His gaze was as loving as ever and it was all yours, it was as if he was telling you with his eyes that it always would be. 

“I love you more”

“Impossible”

His immediate response was too cute to argue no matter how badly you wanted to, but instead, you leaned forward just enough to plant a soft kiss on his lips. Peter sighed at the sweetness of it all, closing his eyes and shaking his head as you sat back down. 

“Happy Valentine’s Day, sweetheart”

[desertpups]

I’m very happy to announce the news that 14 new shows have been added to the #UnrealUnearth tour! I can’t wait to see you there.

Tickets for the newly added dates will go on sale on Friday, February 2nd at 12pm local time 🖤

[mcx7demonbros]

Devildom Public Holidays

Summary: headcanons of a list of public holidays celebrated in the Devildom.

C/W. Suggestive in Asmo’s birthday part.

First, Devildom didn’t use the word “holiday” for their public celebrations and days off until very recently. The reason was because “holiday” came from the word “Holy Day”, which means Christian religious celebration days such as Christmas, Easter, Whitsun, etc.

However, the exchange program changed that. The Devildom now uses the term “holiday” but with much secularized meaning only. The same is applied to any holiday they adopted from the Human World.

Fixed holidays

January

January 1 - New Year Day

Two-day celebration: New Year Eve & New Year Day

The Devildom adopted this holiday from the Human World one year after the first year of the exchange program ended, per the request and desire of MC.

Celebrations are not different from the Human World. There are fireworks, parades, singing & greeting each other “Happy New Year”, etc.

February

Sadly, no day off, except weekend 😔

March

March 11 - Birthday of Lord Beelzebub, Avatar of Gluttony and Lord Belphegor, Avatar of Sloth

Three-day celebration: March 10 - March 12

Demons of Gluttony are allowed to eat more food while demons of Sloth don’t do any manual work during the celebration.

Demons usually hang the sign of Gemini ♊️ on the door(s) of their houses during the celebration.

Twin demons born during the past year are given a special demonic blessing by ministers of Three-Legged Crow god.

April

April 9 - Birthday of Lord Leviathan, Avatar of Envy

Three-day celebration: April 8 - April 10

Demons of Envy and otakus participate in demonic services in honor of Ruri-chan and other anime/manga girls.

A three-day game tournament is held in honor of Levi.

Navy parades on Devildom rivers and seas. Salutes by cannon are also performed on large ships during these occasions.

For the Navy, the celebration lasts until April 11, one more day than normal demons.

May

May 15 - Birthday of Lord Asmodeus, Avatar of Lust

Three-day celebration: May 14 - May 16

This day is dubbed by many demons of Lust as “Fuck Day” and they don’t just say, they do the deed. However, traditionally, this day is associated with freedom to express oneself and the positivity of carnal desires.

Beauty brands usually gives out discount and sale off during the celebration.

June

June 6- Devil’s Day and Birthday of Lord Lucifer, Avatar of Pride

Seven-day celebration: June 1 - June 7

Devil’s Day is considered one of the most important celebration in Devildom. It’s like a new year to its citizen.

Carnivals, fireworks, parades, cannon salutes are held many times during the celebration.

Devildom’s Classical Music Association holds a yearly musical performance and opera in honor of Lucifer on June 5, the day before his birthday.

Devildom’s Painter Association even has its members to paint a peacock and put the works in a contest to see who can paint the most beautiful peacock of the year.

Walking on the streets of Devildom, you may occasionally see demon children dressing up as chess pieces. Weird, huh.

July

Sadly, no day off, except weekend 😔

August

August 22 - Butler’s Day. Birthday of Lord Barbatos, the Royal Steward

Three-day celebration: August 21 - August 23

It’s decreed that demon nobles and others with servants allow those who serve them to take three celebration days off. The reason is because butlers, maids and others have served their masters throughout the year, without taking a day off as servants still serve their masters on other holidays.

September

September 10 - Birthday of Lord Mammon, Avatar of Greed

Three-day celebration: September 9 - 11

On this day, demons of Greed usually choose to show their generosity by buying Grimm chocolate and candy and give them to demon children.

Money lenders reduce the money their debtors have to pay a little bit today.

Many demons of Greed have the habit of keeping the first Grimm coin they made as a keepsake to remember the first time they got their hands on hard-earned money. Many of them also have the “devotion” to kiss the gold coin once a year on Mammon’s birthday, believing the act would bring them more money in the future.

In honor of Mammon, demons also don’t shoo crows away and even feeding them.

October

October 20 - Birthday of Lord Satan, Avatar of Wrath

Three-day celebration: October 19 - 21

Book discounts and sale off are frequent during the celebration.

Devildom citizens feed and play with cat, believing they will help them avoid many annoying hassles.

Demons of Wrath even let cats put their paws on their heads, believing in its soothing effect. I mean, it works on their Avatar, right?

October 31 - Birthday of Lord Diavolo, Crown Prince and future King of all Demons

Four-day celebration: October 30 - November 2

Many public celebrations with parades, fireworks, gun & cannon salutes, etc.

Demon nobles and high officials hold small balls or parties at their residences to honor Diavolo. The reason why the balls or parties are small is because most demons can’t attend too many of them during the celebration period and they must be inferior compared to the main large ball held at the Demon Lord’s Castle on Diavolo’s birthday.

November

November 1 & 2 as a part of Diavolo’s birthday celebration period as said above.

December

December 9 - Cursed Day

One day celebration

The day Solomon was born. Most demons believe Solomon to be a wicked human and the ultimate villain and/or an agent of Celestial Realm. So they take this day off to curse and insult him. Diavolo never approves this day to begin with but monarchs have to let their people have their way.

Many revenues build Solomon’s statues for this day just so demon citizens can slap, hit, punch, kick, put a curse on or spat on them. The statues are fixed by the local government in early December every year to prepare for this day again.

Diavolo had prohibited this celebration before the exchange program started because it would be offensive to Solomon in particular and repulsive to other exchange students in general. But the decree only works in the capital and surrounding areas. Many demons persist in having their way in many places.

December 25 - Christmas Day

Nine-day celebration: December 24 - January 1

The day Christ was born. But Devildom adopted the holiday without its special religious meaning.

Christmas trees, presents, Santa Claus, etc.

The reason the celebration is so long is because it coincides with end-of-the-year break.

Movable holidays

Your birthday 🎉

Your own birthday

The Seven Lords and the Royals take the day off to celebrate with you. And since all the government officials don’t work on this day, I guess it’s as good as a day off. Yay.

Other days I guess are probably off in Devildom but I currently have no headcanon or info.

King’s Day - The Demon King’s birthday

Festival of the Three-Legged Crow God

Founding Day - Commemorating the Founding of Devildom

And pretty much any other human holidays, depend on your background.

[rynfiles]

happy valentines day !

✎��� — how your faves would act during v-day season ᡣ𐭩

★ — genre + warnings: fluff + no warnings

★ — a/n: something to celebrate love being in the air <3

another version of christmas — this holiday is as sacred as the birth of their first child. well, not as sacred but this holiday is just another christmas to them. nothing brings them more joy than spoiling their partners on this holiday full of joy, love, embrace, and gifts, loads of gifts to give to one another. these folks are planning to celebrate february 14th months ahead, may I say a little bit before christmas. they’re making reservations, ordering gifts (even better if they’re on sale), having the flower preparations planned out, and I mean the whole nine yards. nothing is ruining this day for them and even if it does, still won’t stop the grandest celebration they could think of (they might rip their hair out)

GOJO, midoriya, connie, yuji, SANJI, bokuto, oikawa, BACHIRA, kaiser, REO, onyonkanpon, kise, akashi (knb), todo

publicly hates it, secretly loves it — full on v-day haters, and I mean wanting to plan arson whenever they see february 14 being right around the corner. they wanna run over every teddy bear, light the v-day section on fire whenever they go grocery shopping, make diss tracks towards this beloved day, the whole nine yards. why do they do this you may ask? cause deep down, they don’t wanna show that v-day is one of the best days to exist. their hearts go soft when they see couples celebrating with beautiful roses on the floor or a dinner on a rooftop restaurant. a lil bit of jealousy, since they don’t have their valentine, but they can’t help but love this day of love. it’s refreshing to see it but they refuse to ever show that they care

jean (influenced by connie), zoro, TOJI, rin, sae, bakugo, eren, shidou, aomine

wait, you’re asking me? — poor babies, they must’ve went half/all their life without a valentine. some of them genuinely don’t care to have a valentine while others do feel a bit down when their friends receive gifts from others on v-day while they have just the phrase to say. however, the way their eyes have widened and they let out the most confused (and adorable) “huh” after asking them to be your valentine, will never not be a hilarious yet adorable thing to witness. the way some of their eyes lit up and sparkle, how some get flustered on the question, or even how they are dumbfounded at the question, it’s all such a delightful sight to see

yuji, luffy, ARMIN, isagi, kunigami, kaminari, YUTA, nanami, choso, usopp, kirishima, mikasa, kagami, kuroko

if you like it, i love it /srs — they don’t “hate” v-day, per se, but it’s not something grand to them like a birthday. now depending on their partner (you), they could either make the holiday bigger than they think it is or take it as another day to love their partner. If you’re not big on v-day, expect something simple, very cute, but a simple way of saying, “happy valentine’s day, I love you”. but, if you’re someone who loves love and quite enjoy the special day on february 14, then expect something out of a romcom, but in their way

nagi, megumi, nobara, maki, shota, geto, ace, chigiri, levi, sasha, oliver, PORCO, pieck, murasakibara, midorima

𖥻 HAPPY VALENTINES DAY 🫶🏽 even though I didn’t have a valentine, imma pretend gojo surprised me with a vacation to bali and bought out a restaurant for me 😙 (yes I’m delusional)

𖥻 these were a bit challenging but I hope you guys enjoyed <3

𖥻 bye babes, drink your water and I love you MWAH 💕

𝐕𝐎𝐓𝐏 💗: 1 Corinthians 13

© 𝟤𝟢𝟤𝟥 𝗋𝗒𝗇𝖿𝗂𝗅𝖾𝗌. 𝖺𝗅𝗅 𝗋𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍𝗌 𝗋𝖾𝗌𝖾𝗋𝗏𝖾𝖽

[skylermadness]

Cosmic Adoration (Ophion TF/PMC)

(Original Date of Upload: February 14, 2024)

Hey look, I'm uploading something in the same day it gets uploaded on my other accounts. Woah.

Original Description:

Happy Valentine's Day! I've sort of become infrequent when it comes to holiday-themed TFs, but this was actually a story I've wanted to write out for a long time! Quite literally since I started writing it back in January of last year before getting burnt out and never finishing it... until now, anyway. Now I have it done and I can upload it publicly for all to see! I'm quite proud of how this turned out. I typically don't deal in PMC but I feel like that would have been the best route to take this story, and full MC would have tarnished what little themes I was trying to convey with this.  I don't think I have much commentary besides all of that though. I guess I could mention there was going to be a reality change segment in the furthest end of the post-TF, but with how I led that segment of the story along I couldn't really fit it in without it feeling needless and awkward.

   Valentine's Day.

   Initially the very concept of the holiday had eluded Hugo for a good chunk of his life. This had mainly been because he had trouble discerning the purpose of the holiday. Why did such a holiday need to exist to celebrate love? Especially when such a thing could be celebrated on any day of the year. To him, at least originally, it was just a way for stores to boost sales. The most he'd usually acknowledge is the price drops of confectionaries after and that was it. So as far as he cared the holiday was nigh-nonexistent…

   That pattern of thought lasted for about twenty-five years. Then he met… Jace…

   Dating had always been outside of Hugo’s range of social skills. He had originally thought himself as never really feeling the desire for it. He was content with being single, or at least he tried to tell himself that as to avoid confronting any weird feelings he might have. This thought pattern had quickly changed over the past ten months however, and it was all thanks to the introduction of his boyfriend into his life.

   It was… strange, really. Having first fallen in love all that time ago. Was it love at first sight, or was it gradual…? Hugo had originally just been sitting in a coffee shop waiting for his order before going to work, but had encountered Jace after they seemed to recognize him as someone whom he shared a few high school classes with so many years ago. He'd be lying if he said he knew what the guy was talking about, but the thought of being recognized so randomly was quite pleasant.

   Their encounters at that shop became frequent, almost weekly. Casual talks about life between the two, sharing their interests and enjoyments to one another. Admittedly Hugo had been the more reserved one of the two, but he always enjoyed listening to Jace talk about their own life. He loved hearing his voice, he loved hearing him speak so passionately about things, he loved… him…

   It was definitely a little awkward whispering those very words beneath a breath while in mid-conversation. And even more so when they decided to take things outside and less public so they could talk it out. That awkwardness had quickly faded though, their conversation shifting more into the hypotheticals of dating each other. It was silly and lifted Hugo's spirits up a bit after what he felt like was one big act of making a fool of himself.

   Then Jace said he would like to date.

   Hugo was surprised, stuttering and sweating and being filled with complete and utter confusion. Jace then gave him a small kiss on the cheek, the man's mustache ticking the skin and making Hugo feel even more flustered. 

   That was enough to settle everything though. They were officially getting together… but now Hugo had a new problem.

   It's been ten months of them dating now and he felt… inadequate? He always felt like his way of expressing love was lackluster in comparison to Jace's. Jace was the more expressive and outgoing one of the two, meanwhile Hugo always had trouble trying to properly express his own emotions in a way that didn't sound like he was forcing it out of himself. He just always had trouble trying to say things properly. Trying to determine what to say, what to do. Was he romantic enough? Was he receiving without giving back in a perfectly equal amount? Of course Jace had been left unaware of these concerns. Hugo had chosen not to tell these fears to them, which in truth might not be a good idea…

   He shook his head, then whispered to himself. "Why am I such a mess…"

   Realizing he had his head down in thought the whole time, Hugo raised it and looked forward. He was currently walking down the sidewalk of the city's shopping district. It was currently February 13th, the eve of Valentine's Day, and Hugo had decided that with the day of celebrating love fast approaching he should do something for it. It wouldn't necessarily be something grand, but he at least wanted to give his boyfriend something that would commemorate his own love for them.

   That's easier said than done though. Fortunately Hugo had a plan! He was on this particular street for a reason, to visit an antique's store and locate something of value there that would be enough to encapsulate his passion. Unfortunately, that was also easier said than done. He wasn't even sure he'd find something there, especially considering how… odd the wares seemed to be, at least just by a casual glance at the store's website.

   Still, it was an adequate starting point. His steps began to slow as his peripherals caught onto the deep brown wood of a building. Hugo turned, gazing into the windows and finding shelves lined with various peculiar objects. Too many to discern properly. He lifted his head for one final check, staring up at the letting that spelled out the store's name.

   Maurice's Audacious Antiques. The very place he was looking for. Perfect…

   A bell above the door silently rang as the young man walked in and the wooden floorboards softly creaked beneath the new weight introduced upon them. The place had an odd and comfy feel to it. Hugo would describe it as cabin in the woods-type vibes. And considering the rusting of the shelves to his left, this place definitely has age to it.

   His eyes then caught a singular person here. To the right, behind a counter was a rotund man with a balding head and a thick, tied up beard. His head constantly went back and forth between two objects, a laptop and a notebook with poorly scrawled wording in it, while mumbling random things that Hugo couldn't discern. Hugo took a few steps forward before he was in front of the counter, the younger man noting that the older one hadn't seemed to notice him yet.

   "Uh, hi…?"

   The burly bear of a man raised upwards with his eyes wide, sharply inhaling. "Got damn, ya' startled me!"

   Hugo rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Sorry about that… sir?"

   The man's face suddenly shifted from startled to smiling. "No need fer formal'ties! Jus' call me Maurice!"

   "Er, right. I just uh, came here to…" Hugo started to trail off. Should he say the reason why he's even here? Will it even help?

   Maurice raised a brow. "Ya' alright, son?"

   Hugo blinked a few times, then swallowed the forming lump in his throat. "I-I'm fine! I just uh, wanted to find a… gift for someone close to me."

   The older man nodded, stroking his beard in thought. Silence filled the space between the two for a few seconds before one of them spoke again. 

   "Don' think I've gott'n a reques' like that before. Ya might be able to find somethin' in one a' the furth'r shelves though. They have all kindsa trinkets 'n knick-knacks." Maurice advised. He then repositioned his hand to lean his head on its palm. "With our recent batch a' stuff, ya' should find somethin' you like!"

   Hugo nodded in response. "Th-thank you… Maurice-"

   He turned around and went to the area he was advised to go to. The store's amount of stock was unimpressive with only a single row of five shelves filed one after another, but he had settled on checking the fourth one for anything interesting. It looked like it had small stuff in it after all. Although he was a little curious about the store owner's usage of should and would. It felt like they didn't know their own stock. They tried to ignore that though. They had to focus on finding a gift for Jace.

   It was now that Hugo truly saw how strange the objects on these shelves seemed to be though.

   Some seemed pretty normal. A few intricately designed rings, sets of jeweled earrings, and weird looking necklaces with a design-scheme that felt expensive to look at. However, oddities seemed to pop up left and right. A red, glass-looking orb; sitting beside it was a blue orb with gold metal zigzagging across the middle. Some weird sharp pen-looking thing, a golden chalice of some kind, and… was that a marble pauldron???

   "This is so weird…" Hugo whispered to himself. 

   Finding a gift was already hard enough, but the pure absurdity here made things feel more challenging than they needed to be. At least finding something perfect was a non-issue. He casually picked up one of the many spheres, one that looked like it contained an entire galaxy inside, and stared at it in utter confusion. 

   He whispered again, "What is your purpose??" while pushing his face close to the object. He then set it down again, suddenly worried that he might break it.

   "This isn't going to work…" he sighed, slowly stepping closer to the shelf's end and the window beside it. He sounded off more objects in his head as he continued forward. Weird blue crystal, a pair of sunglasses, a censor thing, some kind of… cap??

   For an antiques store all of this felt absurd-

   His confusion was momentarily broken as the peripheral of his eye caught onto something glistening. He turned his head to look and found… another necklace? A fairly simple one at that. It was a single golden string with a white elliptoid object on it. For some reason he felt compelled to pick it up, gently cupping the elliptoid and putting it in his hand.

   "What is this…" he asked himself, lifting his hand towards his face a little. The elliptoid looked almost like an egg. Its shell was adorned with beautifully designed spirals, rigid enough that rubbing a thumb over it allowed him to feel them out a little. It felt nice. Nice and warm. He wasn't sure why it was warm, probably because of the sunlight, but it was oddly calming to him.

   "It does look pretty neat," he said with a smile. His mind was wracking over all the possible representations this single object could hold. The warmth he feels around Jace, the way they have slowly have made him try to come out of his shell, the newness he felt upon realizing his love for them. A small laugh escaped his throat. All of those sound so cheesy, damn. But… they're the truth, are they not? 

   It feels so embarrassing though. His smile falters, his emotions dimming. What if it's too cheesy though? What if it comes out horribly and he makes a fool of himself in front of Jace? Damn it, damn it, damn it, he felt so fucking stupid!!

   He sighs. "I-I'm overthinking this, I have to… I have to calm down. I just…" he looked out the window, sighing. "I just wish I could better show my feelings…"

   Right as these words left his mouth the egg on the necklace began to glow. Bright gold shone from the unknown material, the object slowly shaking as it seemed to move closer to him. Hugo had felt the object moving in his hands and looked towards it, but barely got any time to process it as the object practically flung out of his hand and around his neck.

   "Wh-what the hell-" he exclaimed, feeling a tickling around his neck as the string tied around it. He reached up both hands to try and grasp the mysterious egg-like object and pull it off. However, the moment his palm made contact with it he felt an intense warmth run throughout his entire body. He took a few steps back, bumping into the shelf behind him, as an intense golden glow entered his irises.

   "What is… hhhaaa…."

   A hand opened, fingers unfurling away from the elliptoid as they began to twitch. A strange energy was filling his body, coursing through it painlessly and warming it to a strangely comforting degree. All the while strange changes was beginning to form into his form.

   His hands were the part of his body that first made contact with the necklace, which meant they were the first to have begun their transformation. As Hugo's fingers twitched his nails began to lengthen. They grew longer, the tips getting sharper and curling as if they were becoming claws. Their translucency was lost as they gained a golden tone as well. The skin on his hands started to lighten, a cream color entering them as the softness hardened. A leathery texture had steadily etched into them while their composition became less fleshy and more scaly.

   As the cream-colored scales started to form across his hands, their size was beginning to increase as well. Both hands had stretched out to become larger and thicker. His fingers were getting plumper and meatier. As his hands got larger in size he gripped both of them into fists, his knuckles proceeding to ache for a moment before short, sharp golden spikes erupted from beneath the scales.

   The scales quickly started to move upwards to his wrists and forearms. The area increased in size to match the proportions of his hands. However, this new enlargement had also been due to a gain in muscle mass. Comforting heat surging into his forearm muscles as they began to gain bulk. At the same time the coloration of his scales had steadily shifted, hue changing from its soft cream to a brilliant gold. All the while more short golden spikes erupted from the back of his forearms at evenly spaced intervals before seemingly ending at his elbow.

   His elbows got larger, the scales rapidly transitioning to his upper arm and running beneath the short sleeves of his polo shirt. The sleeves proceeded to constrict, his muscles now bloating beneath the lustrous scurf he was gaining. His biceps bulged beneath the fabric to a quickly noticeable degree. His triceps mirrored those changes as well, Hugo's once skinny arms now having been mostly consumed by his newfound musculature. Rips started to form within the fabric of his sleeves as his delts ballooned, his shoulders widening drastically as everything soon began to flow into his body proper.

   Hugo leaned on a shelf, breathing deeply as he stared down at a hand. His mind was feeling… conflicted, to say the least. A fraction of him wanted to be afraid, wanted to attempt to pry off this necklace from his neck. His other arm was slowly raising itself up to fulfill that desire. But his fingers that were slowly curling around the elliptoid never closed the gaps between them.

   There was still another fraction of his mind. Curiosity as to what was going on, as to what this object was doing to him. A strange desire to let that curiosity flourish and let these changes progress. What was happening to him, why was it happening?

   His breathing slowed just slightly. "What does this necklace want to do to me!?"

   It had to be the necklace's will after all. Such a thought felt so absurd, but in the back of his head he felt it was correct to assume to.

   A sharp exhale exited his mouth as he felt a sharp heat enter his torso for a second. His shirt began constricting even more as he felt his own collar bone widen, his entire frame being made more wide and broad. The one button of his polo he had fastened started straining as a result, his frame clearly getting larger than his shirt had been accustomed too. Shortly after that the comforting warmth entered his torso as well. The light of the necklace's egg glowed brighter for a moment, Hugo beginning to feel a strange feeling well up inside him as it did so.

   As the scales started to converge on his chest their color lightened back to its previous cream tone. Meanwhile, his chest began to swell in size. His pectorals got larger and rounder, packing on mass at a steady rate as his polo filled out more and more. It wasn't long until their thickening pressed up against his shirt, steadily testing its limits each passing second as his cleavage got deeper and more visible within the fabric. The new roundness of his pectorals were quite visible in general. The one fastened button of his shirt would suddenly pop off, unable to hold itself against the slabs of meat that were now his pecs.

   Meanwhile the changes were running down his back as well. The back of his shirt was tightening as his trapezius muscles broadened and enlarged. A sudden surge zipped down his spine, the vertebrae decompressing and getting thicker steadily forcing his height to increase by a few inches over the course of the next few minutes. But the strongest feeling was in two points of his upper back, a massive pressure slowly mounting into them. Two bumps slowly rising from the skin-turning-scales, hard spikes emerging from those bumps and beginning to poke holes in the fabric of his shirt. This pressure only seemed to increase as time went on, Hugo stumbling forward a bit and hunching. He gripped his abdomen with his left arm while he grasped onto a shelf with his right, the sound of metal crunching piercing the air thanks to the strength of his grip and sharpness of his claws. 

   Hugo practically growled at the mix of senses he was enduring right now. "F-fucking hell-" his voice cracks slightly, sounding slightly deeper as it crackles. "W-where'd that comfort go…"

   The warmth he was looking for still remained, albeit now drowned out by the insurmountable pressure in his back.

   His abdomen started to churn, the region rippling as his entire lower half was consumed by scales. Hardened slabs of muscles arose from the area, abs pushing forward row by row. His shirt was riding up his belly during the process, his new muscles being granted increasingly better visible. It wasn't long until a solid eight-pack of abs formed. An even stranger addition occurred in his abdominal as well, golden gemstones formed on the perpendicular folds of his muscles: a massive diamond-shaped one at the bottom of his pectoral cleavage, a smaller one at the base of his first row of abs, and the smallest at the base of the second row. 

   Beneath a hand he felt his side getting indented as well, the muscles in his obliques shifting and gaining in muscularity, strengthening as his chest was barrelling out. All these changes tightened his polo shirt to an even stronger degree, the threads on his sides unstitching due his much larger body size. The size of his newly formed muscles had resulted in the crevices his muscles had produced being visible from indents in the fabric. Due to his increasing height the hem of his shirt continued to rise even more as well.

   By this point, the holes in the back of his shirt has been stretched even larger by the formulating spikes. Although at this point the spikes had grown larger enough to prove themselves as the pointed ends of an external bone growth. This growth had continued to extend and expand, a pair of large triangular bulges swelling up at his back. Pressure just continued to build up as these bulges got larger and larger. More and more of the back of his shirt continued to tear, and the bulges gained more and more definition in their shape to point that they were proven to be more than just bulging scaley growths. But after a few more seconds of pressure building, everything came to one big feeling of relief.

   “GGRRRAAAAGHHHH!!!” Hugo roared, the sound of splitting fabric piercing the air as his back was finally granted escape from its discomfort. What had emerged from the region was a pair of magnificent wings. They were draconic in appearance with the flesh and membranes possessing the same golden scales that the rest of his body had formed. Furthermore his newly developed wingspan was noticeably large, and as the new appendages curled into themselves it became evident that the fingers of his wings were long enough to descend down to the ground. 

   The young man could feel the heat of his blood pumping through the newly emerged wings. Strange tingles and sensations coursed through his nervous system as his brain was forced to get accustomed to them, and in truth he could feel his muscle memory rapidly getting used to having them there. Once all the pressure and tightness had subsided, Hugo shakily straightened his back and looked behind him.

   “These… things…” he stated, his voice continuing to deepen in tone as he spoke. Like the feel of something commanding was seeping into it. “Why does… having them feel so… nice…?”

   Finally unhanding the shelf in front of him, he moves a hand over to give his new wings a gentle caress. That desire to be afraid had been dispelled now, the man filled with a feel of familiarity at the sight instead. These wings were his, and this body…

   This body is yours, a stray thought pierces his brain. The Celestial Egg is granting what you desire…

   Hugo blinked a few times at the thought, and the pupils of his eyes seemed to get thinner which each blink. He then stops caressing the wing and pulls his hand over to rub a thumb on the egg that adorned the necklace.

   “The Celestial Egg…” he whispered, the meekness of his earlier tone of voice almost completely replaced by an almost deific level of deepness. Meanwhile his mind dwells on the object and thinks about what it's done, what it's doing to him, and as he does so he feels a tinge of pressure at the base of his spine. 

   Instead of sitting around waiting for what he knew was about to explode from his body, he decided to just move his other arm behind him so he could push down the back of his pants a bit. It was a little hard considering his legwear was already at the point that it could barely fit around his waist, but he managed to push the top of his jeans just enough that he could let whatever pressure in his rear relieved itself without having to fight against his pants.

   The act had unveiled a small, pointed growth at the base of his spine. Its size wouldn't remain diminutive however as pressure continued to build up within it, that pressure causing it to quickly extend downwards. At first it started out being rather thin and small, like an unimpressive snake slithering out from above the waistline of his pants. However after a few inches it became noticeable that the lengthening appendage was beginning to get segmented, and each segment was slightly larger in diameter than the last. Come ten segments long and it was undeniable that Hugo was gaining a tail, and it was only getting longer. Twelve segments, fifteen, eighteen, twenty two; all with a sequential increase in diameter by almost an inch. Come the mid-twenties and the tail would be about a ruler in thickness. A few more seconds and the segment count reaches the thirties, in which the rate of growth begins to slow down. Thirty two, thirty three, thirty four… then it comes to a halt at about thirty five segments. By then the tail’s width was about a ruler and a half, and the length itself could only be about four times that long. It also formed with the tail’s aforementioned pointed tip, a series of spikes running across the top of certain segments, and a shine from the golden scales adorning it.

   Concurrent with the growth of his new appendage were the swath of changes entering into the lower half of his body. The sea of scales cascaded down all sides of his body, flowing down his waist and hardening the skin of his legs to match the nigh-reptilian nature the rest of his body was garnering. Beneath the shifting scales on his thighs were his muscles which, just like in his arms, were in the process of bulking up and discarding their once skinny appearance. His quads and hamstrings grew in conjunction with each other, absolutely bulging in strength as the denims of his jeans were forced to strain against his rapidly developing musculature. At the back of his legs were his gluteus muscles, them too in the process of swelling up to the point his rear was rounding out a fair bit.

   Pressure surged throughout the bones in his legs, and the bottoms of each pant leg rose up the crus of his own limbs indicating that more height was being added to his body. All the while a low heat burned in his calves, those muscles also ballooning out of the back of the lower half of his legs. By this point all the crevices that divided his muscles were indenting into the material of his pants, splits and tears forming in the sides of his jeans and revealing the shining gold his body had attained. It was like the changes had finely sculpted his form to a body type akin to the Grecian marble statues, except looking like he himself was worth billions.

   The final change in his body’s lower half came to his feet. By now they had already undergone a process to have grown in order to fit his new bodily proportions, larger and wider and thicker. His chunkier toes were pushing up against the fronts of his shoes to such a degree that the footwear themselves was bulging in its attempt to contain them. The heels of his own feet dug into the back of his shoes, and the sides pressed up against their sides. Even a few rips could be heard as the strings began to snap against the bridge of his feet.

   And then came the sea of scales…

   Once beyond his ankles the hardening of his flesh went from the pristiness of the rest of his form to getting mixed with a shade of vermillion around his feet. As his soles were covered in scales an almost reddish-orange hue formed in the area. Meanwhile the top of his feet seemed to practically harden as a scute-like segmenting broke apart the skin, perfectly dividing itself to align with the ligaments of his toes. And by the time this plating extended to the ends of his toes, an almost bronze shade of brown dispelled the translucency in his toenails as they gradually restructured and sharpened. Rips could be heard from the cloth of his shoes as a quintet of pointed claws emerged from the front, curved and pointed and almost bestial.

   Yet none of the sounds of his clothing shattering or the feeling of his form practically improving on itself were as much a distraction for Hugo as they could have been. All during that segment of the transformation his mind was instead focused on his own thoughts. Because the longer the changes are pressed on, the more his body becomes less human, the more information his brain seems to attain. The more the Egg puts into his mind to make his mentality compatible. And he knows it's the Egg that was doing this. His mind registers it as his unique Sacred Artifact.

   “Holding all that is and ever was in the very palm of my hand…” the changing man speaks cryptically, a low and deep chuckle escaping his throat after he makes the comment. He could practically feel the power of his own voice resonating through the walls of his throat. Although that could also be from the scales rising up his neck.

   A grin then forms on his face, any emotion he was feeling earlier cast away as a feeling of pure confidence had overtaken him. “…and out of everyone within you you're making me one of the most powerful there is? I should feel honored considering just who I used to be~”

   He could only grin wider as he felt pressure wracking his very skull. He lets out a laugh of triumphant glee and exclaims, “Yes! Give me that visage and make this Ophion complete!” For a moment the Celestial Egg around his neck glows brighter as if in response to him, then Ophion (who has at this point cast out the name Hugo) continued to grin as his face finally began to push out with his entire skull structure shifting alongside it.

   The way his skull was restructuring was a complicated series of events to say the least. The lower half of his face was being pushed forward, and his lower jaw seemed to be extending and growing to be a bit wider in size in comparison to the upper portion. That portion of his face would only continue to push out more and more into a muzzle, the very features of his face being reconstructed to fit this new development. His nose melted into the muzzle’s tip as the nostrils became holes at the furthest end, meanwhile his lips quivered as small portions of them reshaped into points and hardened as they did so. By this point his new snout was looking to be one that belonged to someone draconic in nature, much like how the rest of his body had. This was further proven by how the dome of his head was being reshaped, humanity rapidly being lost under a deluge of shifts that made his entire skull structure that of an entirely different species. 

   The shape of his skull wasn't the only thing changing either. As the scales washed across his head, rushing past his neck and circling the base of his muzzle, bony protrusions began painlessly erupting from certain areas of his face. On each side of his head a triad of bone spikes would emerge. The series of spikes just barely obscured his ears, which themselves were in the process of repositioning themselves to protrude at the sides of his head while also gaining an almost elfine pointedness to their structure. His eyebrows were quick to fade beneath the scales, quickly replaced by juttings of golden spikes that layered over yet another set of bone spike triplets that would rise from his browline. Even right in between his eyes a very small spike would emerge. And although these weren't spikes, a pair of short and pointed protrusions would extend out of both ends of his chin.

   All while these changes had occurred, Hugo’s somewhat lengthy hair was being steadily sloughed off. With each inch of his scalp the sea of gold claimed clumps of hair would slip off his head. It's once luscious fullness thinned out, each follicle being shoved out at the root by his magnificent scales. As more of his hair continued falling off it would also reveal one last set of growths on his head. The first of which was rising from the middle of his head’s apex, a series of short brown spikes that would soon run down the middle back of his head. The second of these changes however was significantly more substantial. Two brown points erupted from a portion of the upper region at his head’s back, and those points were quick to grow outwards and upwards. Unlike the rest of his face’s pointed protrusions, these ones were noticeably less bony despite possessing an appearance of hardness to them. And as the duo of brown growths continued to rise out from his skull, diameter getting a little larger as they got longer, it was evident that he was gaining a pair of horns.

   Perhaps the last major change came to Ophion’s teeth. The omnivorous nature of his humanity was quickly shifted, incisors and molars quickly sharpening to fit his new species well. The most drastic change would come to his lower canines though as the reasoning for his lower jaw’s protrusion finally came into tangibility. Much like the horns atop his head the left canine of the two lower teeth would extend upwards a fair bit while sharpening itself and, after a few seconds, shift into being more like a prominent fang. The rightward canine didn't get that luxury however as instead it seemed to practically atomize and leave the gum to harden and scar in mere seconds.

   The pressure that had enveloped the anthropomorphic dragon’s head finally began to subside. A glint of red overtook Ophion’s irises as the pupils finally properly slit like a reptile’s. “This feels so… good,” he muttered to himself as he raised up a hand and gently caressed his own face. “Makes me wish I had a mirror to see just how divine I look now!”

   Because at this point that's just how he felt: absolutely divine! His brain can register memories of a world beyond this one, a life beyond this one, all of which has been meshed and mixed with his own thoughts of his previous humanity. The Egg had taken his desire and, inevitably, went a bit overboard in fulfilling it. But Ophion hadn't cared, the personality overhaul he had garnered was absolutely wonderful! No more pitiful fears about how he acts, no more staggeringly low amounts of self-confidence, no more worries about… about how he can show his love to…

   “Jace…” he whispered beneath a breath. The very name carried the same familiarity that it had when he was a human. And thinking about it… about him made Ophion’s brain register the same emotion the dragon had towards him: an intense feeling of love. But now that intensity practically burned inside him, he felt a devotion that not even those atop the System of Olympus could fell. It was an unquantifiable feeling and was something he just couldn't hold himself from expressing!

   “I can finally do what I've wanted for so long~” Ophion proclaimed. He turns and takes a step forward, but is stopped in his tracks almost immediately as he feels a knee of his pants split over his own. It was at this point that the dragon had finally taken full notice of his extremely ill-fitting clothing. His polo was somehow still hanging on for dear life, meanwhile his jeans were a few stitches away from ripping apart at the sides.

   “I'm going to need something better than this if I'm going to look more presentable…” he sneered.

   The Celestial Egg sparkled a bit and glowed for a few seconds, prompting his clothing to sparkle themselves as a bright light enveloped them. A few seconds later and his clothes would begin to grow, expanding over his form so they could all cover him properly. The hem of his shirt was quick to descend over his abdominal region as the entirety of it enlarged enough that his muscle mass wouldn't indent so intricately into the fabric. But then a different change occured, a deep brown beginning to overtake the coloration of the shirt at a rapid pace. As it did so the small placket of the polo began to extend down the middle, golden buttons lining it but not even bothering to fasten themselves. The once small collar would also lengthen, popping itself upwards as it raised higher and higher. And as the shirt’s split finished its full formation the entirety of the shirt would open to now fully reveal his muscled torso. Meanwhile the back of his shirt was seemingly being restitched, the giant hole formed by his wings altering to become more intentional rather than a byproduct of the appendages tearing through it.

   The sleeves of the shirt weren't left unscathed as any rips were fixed almost instantly. The constricted feeling was alleviated, changed to a more snug feel as they more comfortably outlined his upper arm muscles. By the time the sleeves were enveloped by the brown coloration they would also bulge as if they were simultaneously extending in length while still trying to contain themselves to their shortness. This would eventually manifest in the form of his shirt sleeves now taking a rolled up appearance.

   A similar discoloration had entered his enlarging pants, although this time it was more beige in tone that was enough to shift the denim into a different and finer material. The shifts within his legwear were a little less intense as they would also only enlarge enough to allow movement yet still be tight enough to outline his muscles, all while fixing themselves of the damage his unexpected growth in muscle had incurred. The button that held the jeans closed gained a golden tone, as did the zipper, both of which being left completely open despite the fact his pants fit him now. And with no belt the only thing that held the jeans on his body was a pair of suspenders that snaked from over his shoulders and down his torso before promptly buckling on his legwear.

   The last piece of his attire that remained were his shoes which after being enveloped by the Egg’s magical light… straight up dematerialized into motes of light and leaving his feet bare. The motes of light didn't disappear however, instead floating upwards and behind the dragon before seemingly rematerializing into something else entirely. Fine silken material layering onto his back, amorphousness quickly dispelling as it gained a menagerie of whites and browns, all with trims of gold lining. It was hard to fully realize at first but it would seem that some kind of suit jacket had manifested behind him, being worn casually as it was just clinging onto his shoulders.

   With that the Egg’s glow finally dimmed, Ophion now sporting a look that could only be described as both distinguished and casual. With a smile he held the Artifact with two claws and brought it to his face. “Really abiding by all my wants today, hm?”

   For once the Egg didn't shine in response. The dragon wasn't expecting any though, so he unhanded the object and let it drift back to hang over his chest. He then sauntered forward, making his way out of the aisle… and into the eyeline of a very awestruck Maurice who was still behind the counter.

   “Was wonderin’ if I needed to check on ya’...” Maurice commented as he made eye contact with the anthropomorphic dragon.

   “Does this not happen often?” Ophion inquired as he stepped forward towards the counter. “I can practically smell the stench of anomalous magic from this place now…”

   “Err…” Maurice looked away.

   Ophion chuckled. “Do not think I give much of a care with what you do here. Although I do give thanks for your wares allowing me to attain such a brilliant form~ I don't think I've felt this great in ages!”

   “Uhuh…” Maurice nodded, face still in a mix of awe and surprise. “Well, that’ll be-”

   “I'll be deciding the price here…” the dragon practically demanded. He fished around a back pocket for a bit and pulled out a wallet, although upon opening it he was greeted with his former self’s image in the ID photo window. “…and I have a feeling I won't be here for much longer.”

   Ophion then placed the wallet onto the counter, then turned to make his leave. “Thank you for your help, Maurice! Your actions shall be etched into my memory for as long as time flows!”

   Maurice is just left dumbfounded as he watches Ophion leave the store and, after a good few seconds, jet into the air as one would expect a dragon to do.

   “...still not quite sure how to process that,” the storeowner muttered as his gaze drifted to the wallet the dragon had left behind as payment.

----------------------------------------------------------

   The sound of a blender pierced the air of the apartment, Jace idly watching as the fruit within the object was shredded into a fine paste. He was never quite sure how to spend days off from work whenever he was left alone. Especially since he had his hopes on spending the day with Hugo, but it was almost 5PM and Hugo hadn't gotten back from his mysterious shopping trip yet.

   The apartment falls into silence and Jace eyes his phone. Not even an indicator that his last text was read. “What could he be doing…?” the man muttered in concern.

   Then the melancholy serenity of the room was broken in an instant by the sound of a thump from the apartment balcony. A giant shadow being cast through the glass, easily visible from the kitchen’s adjacency to the balcony door.

   “Uhhhh…” Jace backed up a bit, eyeing the shadow with a slowly building fear in his chest. He couldn't make out what it was, it was just large and… monstrous?

   He then hears the balcony door slide open. A sound that prompted him to turn around and scramble for a knife or something to-

   “Jace…” a deep voice called out, interrupting his actions. Jace promptly squeaked in response, heart rate skyrocketing. He very slowly turns around to see the form of a golden-scaled musclebound dragon anthro staring straight at him.

   “Wh-what are you?!?”

   The dragon tilted its head, a spiky brow raised. “How undignified, I probably should've…” he shoved a hand in a pant pocket and pulled out a phone. “Please give me a moment.”

   Jace just stood there in fearful silence as he watched the dragon futz around with their phone, the sound of claws tapping on glass being the only thing fully heard in the apartment. Then after a few moments a look of satisfaction formed on the dragon’s face.

   “Here,” the dragon held the phone out, its wallpaper fully visible to Jace. The man’s eyes widened as he saw the image: a picture of himself and Hugo. This was Hugo’s phone.

   With a shaky step forward Jace began to verbally panic. “Where did you- what did you-”

   A look of realization then formed on the dragon's face. “Jace, my love, it's me. Hugo.”

   “Your love???” Jace exclaimed, eyeing up the golden dragon with some level of fury in his eyes. “I don't- you can't be! For one, Hugo’s a human!”

   “Was, I was a human,” the dragon corrected. “It would be hard to explain it all fully but,” he raised up a hand and tapped what looked to be an egg that was hanging around his neck. “This? This changed me into this glorious form.”

   Jace was far from convinced though. “Please, people don't just suddenly transform into dragons! You- you have to have done something to him-”

   “Our anniversary is in two months, the receipts for the bracelet you bought me for it are in the dresser next to our bed, and you’re still trying to reserve a date for that one restaurant with the shrimp,” the dragon listed out in rapid succession. He then stepped forward with his arms outstretched. “Now do you believe me, my love? Or must I go into your personal confessions?”

   Jace swallowed a lump in his throat. All those things the reptilian spoke of were correct, and there's no way he could've garnered that information unless he was somehow spying on the two of them. “I-I was hoping you wouldn't have noticed any of that!”

   “We live in an apartment, love,” the dragon, Hugo apparently, stated as he leaned over the kitchen’s island. “It's almost impossible to hide such sensitive information.”

   Jace just nods as he stared into Hugo’s eyes, and just looked at his draconic visage in general. He appeared so nonchalant, so calm, and his face seemed to look more tender the longer he looked at Jace. 

   “I'm… still trying to process this,” Jace began leaning onto the counter behind him. “How the heck did you get that… thing that transformed you into this, Hugo…?”

   “I'd like to start by saying I go by Ophion now. In truth I was trying to find an adequate gift for this coming Valentine's Day,” Ophion began to recount. “I found an interesting antique's store a few days back and decided to pay a visit today. Although in truth it seems that place is some kind of front for magical artifact vending but well…” a somber look formed on his face as he took hold of the necklace’s egg and held it into view. “Truthfully I've always felt like an inadequate lover to you. I was hoping to get you something that'd prove myself, and perhaps make up for my lackluster approach to our relationship. Once I picked up the Celestial Egg it resonated with my desires and made me into this. Transformed me physically, mentally…”

   The dragon leaned a little closer, a fervorous look in his eyes. “Perhaps it even deepened my love for you…”

   Jace let out a sharp exhale, then stepped forward to gently caress Ophion’s face. “Hu- Ophion. You don't have to give me some trinket to prove your love to me. And truthfully for me, I never found you lackluster at all! Perhaps a little neurotic but, you were always still a wonderful person…”

   He then gave the dragon a kiss on the snout.

   “...but I should really ask if you feel better about yourself?”

   “I do,” the dragon confessed. Ophion lifted his head out of Jace’s grasp and straightened himself up. His form from the waist up was visible from behind the kitchen island: strong muscles, glistening scales, those weird crystals embedded in his body. Jace couldn't even help but give a glance at Ophion’s wings, the man wincing at the thought of having to suddenly grow those. Nonetheless, the golden reptilian had a certain confident aura that Hugo seemed to always have trouble mustering.

   “I can't say I'm the same person I was as a human,” Ophion admitted. “The way this Egg works, it put so much into me to make me fit an identity I desired. But I will also admit a fraction of that was because I wanted to be able to better show how much I love you, my love~”

   “I don't think you had to change yourself into a literal dragon to show how much you love me,” Jace said with a laugh. “I'm glad you're happy though. I will admit I'm getting used to being called your love, it's so dignified!”

   He then paused. “Now how will we explain to the landlord that my boyfriend has become a real life scalie…”

   Ophion let out a hearty laugh. “We don't need to deal with that now…” he then walked around the counter to properly stand near Jace. “It's just me and you, today~”

   Ophion then brought Jace into a warm embrace. This mostly meant Jace was being pressed up into the dragon's meaty pecs as he was put into a hug. It made the man blush a bit…

   “Now then…” Ophion’s voice lowers to a whisper, and Jace could feel himself being lifted. “How about I show you how a universe can be made…?”

   Jace raised a brow. “What's that supposed to mean?”

   Ophion just chuckled, and Jace turned his head and found himself being moved out of the kitchen. It took a few more seconds for him to fully register what was about to happen as he realized they were moving into a hallway, and everything finally clicked.

   They were heading to the bedroom…

[eirian]

🌟FEBRUARY COMMISSION SALE! 🌟

i'm having a 20% off sale for EVERYTHING for the entire month of february! on top of that, i've started doing a weekly special discount on one menu item each week, which adds another 25% discount, totalling to 45% off select items!! this week's menu item is chibis, so you can get a chibi for as low as $14 depending on the type!

come check out my menu if you'd like! ❤️

[yurimother]

Autobiographical Lesbian Manga 'The Girl that Can't Get a Girlfriend' Released

On Tuesday, February 14, Viz Media released The Girl that Can't Get a Girlfriend (Kanojo ga Denai Onna) digitally and in paperback. It is a semi-autobiographical story by Mieri Hiranishi, a self-described butch woman attracted to other butch women and her fruitless quest to fall in love. The manga is published under the Viz Originals label.

Viz Media describes The Girl That Can't Get a Girlfriend:

Mieri is an awkward, nerdy college student with no dating experience, and her previous crushes on fellow butch women have all ended in disaster. That all changes when she meets Ash and has her feelings returned for the first time. But when first love turns to first heartbreak, Mieri will do everything possible to win Ash back. Based on true events, this is a hilarious and heart-wrenching story about love, loneliness, and the true meaning of finding one’s own happy ending.

The series was initially released independently in Japanese on Pixiv and in English on Webtoon and Tapas. A chapter from the story, “The Moment I Realized I Wasn’t Straight” went viral on Twitter during this time, after which the author announced that she would stop releasing chapters online in the hopes of getting the series professional published.

Hiranishi also uploads videos of her process and behind the scenes on her YouTube channel. The most recent video at the time of writing, "Japanese Manga Artist Workplace Tour" was posted on the same day as The Girl That Can't Get a Girlfriend's release.

You can check out The Girl That Can't Get a Girlfriend today digitally and in paperback: https://amzn.to/3Scobes.

Reading official releases helps support creators and publishers. YuriMother makes a small affiliate commissions from sales to help fund future coverage.

[palestinegenocide]

Key Developments 

NGO’s sue Denmark to stop arms sales to Israel

U.S. senators urge Biden to condition weapons sales to Israel

Israeli forces shoot dead 13-Palestinian child in occupied East Jerusalem

UNRWA: More children killed in four months of war on Gaza than in four years of global war

Six Palestinians killed in occupied West Bank over 24 hours, including three children.

14 Palestine Red Crescent staff remain in Israeli detention, says organization

US military ships, 100 soldiers depart for Gaza pier construction.

Netanyahu: Israel “will finish the job in Rafah”, reaffirming a ground operation.

US intelligence report: Captive release deal most practical way to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza.

WFP: Food for 25,000 people delivered to Gaza City in first successful delivery to northern Gaza since February 20.

EU foreign policy chief: Israel using starvation as ‘weapon of war’

Israel reportedly bombs UNRWA warehouse, dedicated to distributing aid in central Rafah

[pancakesprince]

Gather your party and venture forth♥

I have a Lunar New Year sale shopwide on my Etsy items! Ends on 14 February :3 (if you do purchase off Etsy please leave a review? I have 0 at the moment as I'm just starting!)

Etsy || Ko-fi

[black-arcana]

DELAIN Announces 2025 North American Tour With XANDRIA

Melodic synth-metal greats DELAIN continue to grace stages around the world in support of their latest opus, "Dark Waters", out now via Napalm Records. The band is thrilled to announce their return to North American shores with a newly announced headline tour, set to take place in early 2025. The run will also feature support from special guests, symphonic metal patriots and Napalm labelmates XANDRIA, who are touring in support of their latest album, "The Wonders Still Awaiting".

Fans should expect to hear DELAIN and XANDRIA fan favorites, the latest hits, as well as brand new material from both bands during this tour, so don't miss out. Kicking off on March 7 in Phoenix, Arizona, the tour will visit several major cities across North America, ending in Austin, Texas on March 29. Tickets are on sale now. Visit www.delain.nl and get yours before they are gone.

DELAIN's Martijn Westerholt says: "After such a warm welcome and meeting so many amazing fans, performing new music and introducing our new members to the metal masses of North America last year, we are absolutely stoked to return to the United States and Canada to meet again. This time, we're thrilled to share this experience with our special guests and good friends XANDRIA. Each night will be stunning for all. Don't miss this one!"

XANDRIA's Marco Heubaum adds: "We are delighted to come back to the USA and Canada, and even better, with our good friends DELAIN! We are super excited to bring this package to the North American fans! This is going to be amazing!"

DELAIN with support from XANDRIA:

March 07 - Phoenix, AZ @ The Nile March 08 - Los Angeles, CA @ Whisky A Go Go March 09 - Sacramento, CA @ Goldfield Trading Post March 10 - Portland, OR @ The Bossanova Ballroom March 11 - Seattle, WA @ El Corazon March 13 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Music Hall March 14 - Denver, CO @ The Oriental Theater March 16 - Joliet, IL @ The Forge March 17 - Detroit, MI @ The Token Lounge March 19 - Columbus, OH @ The King of Clubs March 20 - Toronto, ON @ Axis March 21 - Montreal, QC @ Fairmount Theatre March 22 - Cambridge, MA @ Middle East March 23 - New York, NY @ The Gramercy Theatre March 24 - Baltimore, MD @ Soundstage March 25 - Jacksonville, NC @ Hooligans March 26 - Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade (Hell) March 28 - Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater March 29 - Austin, TX @ Come and Take It Live

In a recent interview with FaceCulture, DELAIN founder, songwriter and keyboardist Martijn Westerholt spoke about the differences in the singing approach of the band's new frontwoman Diana Leah and that of her predecessor, Charlotte Wessels. He said: "Well, first of all, [Diana's] voice. I like her character. [She has] so much control, so much control… It's also a very friendly voice. And [when I first heard her singing], I could imagine that on DELAIN music. And then I got back the material later, and I was actually astonished and surprised how much it fitted. [Someone said] she has a very similar voice to Charlotte, and partially I totally agree with that; there are some characteristics that are similar. But I also think that people didn't… We have released three singles [with Diana so far], and [people] have not heard her complete capacity in singing. She's very good with soft versus power, [the] contrast [between the two]."

Elaborating on what sets the two vocalists apart, Martijn said: "Charlotte is more rough, which gives Charlotte a lot of character. It's a more rough voice, and that's not a negative thing; no, on the contrary, that gives it a certain quality and character. Diana is more refined. And that makes it different. So I'm totally not saying that, 'Oh, this one is better' or 'That one is better' — no — but it is different. And, of course, indeed, there are also similarities."

DELAIN's first album with Leah, "Dark Waters", arrived in February 2023 via Napalm Records.

In addition to Westerholt and Leah, the band's current lineup includes original guitarist Ronald Landa and drummer Sander Zoer, along with bassist Ludovico Cioffi.

The new DELAIN lineup made its official live debut in August 2022 at the Riverside festival in Aarburg, Switzerland.

Regarding how she joined the long-running Dutch metal act, Leah previously said: "It's really simple, actually. I knew they were looking for a singer so I just left a comment on their Instagram page. So a couple of days later I received an e-mail from Martijn, and we talked a bit about how I could audition and he sent me some material that I could sing on. And the rest is history."

Asked how she decided to sing in a metal band, the 33-year-old Diana said: "Well, I've always wanted to sing in a metal band. It was really my desire to do it. In fact, I did sing in a couple of rock bands, but it wasn't really heavy music, which I loved at the time. It was really hard to find the right people to form a band with and also to get along together and all that. But I've always wanted to be in a metal band. Always."

Leah also talked a bit about her background, saying: "I was born in Romania, in a city called Alba Iulia. It's in the middle of Transylvania. And then I moved to Italy when I was 15, and I lived in Italy for, I think, 10 years or something. And then I moved to Canada, in Ottawa, and I lived there for five years. And then I came back to Italy. And now I currently live in Italy, near Torino, so up north."

In February 2021, Westerholt announced the dissolution of DELAIN's previous lineup. At the time, he explained: "For the last year or so, the collaboration within the band ceased to work as well as it once had. Some of us were no longer happy with the current roles in the band. We all tried very hard to find a solution for over a year, but sadly we were unable to find one. As a result, we will all be going our own ways and pursuing our own endeavors."

Photo credit: Tim Tronckoe

[cherrylng]

MUSE Trivia and More [INROCK (December 2018)]

Three all the way The three members - Matthew Bellamy (vo./keys./g.), Chris Wolstenholme (b.) and Dominic (Dom) Howard (dr.) - have remained the same since the band formed in the early '90s.

Discography Muse have produced eight albums to date. The eighth is their latest, 'Simulation Theory', due for release on 9th November 2018.

● Debut album 'Showbiz' (1999) Released in '99, it reached a top ranking of 29 in the UK charts and sold 700,000 copies. It did not chart in the USA.

● Second album 'Origin of Symmetry' (2001) Number 3 in the UK, 1.5 million copies sold so far. Top 10 in seven European countries. Not released in the USA until four years later in 2005. This delay was caused by the band's then-owned label in the US, Maverick Records, deciding that Matthew's falsetto was not suitable for radio, and the band parted ways with the label as a result of the discussions at the time. It did not chart on Billboard (#161) until February 2010, another five years after its release in the USA.

● Third album 'Absolution' (2003) Number one in the UK and France. Top 10 in 10 European countries. Has sold 3.5 million copies worldwide to date.

● Fourth album 'Black Holes and Revelations' (2006) Number one in the UK, Australia, Ireland and Switzerland. It was the best-selling album of the year in Europe. It was the band's first ever Top 10 album in the USA. It sold nearly 4.5 million copies worldwide.

● Fifth album 'The Resistance' (2009) First album produced by the band themselves. It reached No. 1 in 14 countries, including the US Billboard Alternative Chart. It also sold around 4.5 million copies worldwide.

● Sixth album 'The 2nd Law' (2012) Sales fell to 2.5 million copies, but it reached number one in more than 10 countries. The stadium tour that accompanied the album recorded the largest attendance in the band's history, generating revenues of $103 million (approx. ¥11.551 billion) from 79 shows. The show at Rome's Stadio Olimpico, which attracted more than 60,000 spectators, was later released as the live album 'Live at Rome Olympic Stadium'.

● Seventh album 'Drones' (2015) The band reached number one in 15 countries and number one in the USA for the first time. The footage from the Drones tour was turned into a film, which was screened for one night only around the world on 12th July this year (note: there was also an encore screening in Japan). No DVD release date has yet been announced.

Funny memories Dom cites the Zepp DiverCity Tokyo show on 13th August 2013 as his funniest memory ever. During the last four songs, a group of people wearing headgear (presumably roadies and friends) stormed onto the stage. The footage was filmed, but the full story has not yet been released. [T/N: It has since been released on Muse's YouTube channel on April 2020. It was for Panic Station, Supermassive Black Hole, Can't Take My Eyes Off of You, and Starlight. You're welcome.]

Father George Bellamy Matthew's father, George Bellamy, is a rhythm guitarist best known for his '60s band The Tornados. He still plays in local Devon bands.

Metallica are also fans of Muse! The band played at the Big Day Out rock festival in Australia and New Zealand in 2004. At the time, there were no rehearsal trucks available, so the main act Metallica set up a rehearsal tent right next to the main stage. As Muse exited the stage after their turn, Metallica were often heard warming up with 'New Born', a song from their second album Origin of Symmetry.

Rise to prominence When they played Glastonbury Festival for the first time on 25th June 2000 [T/N: Technically, this is their second time performing in Glastonbury. Their first time was actually on 25th June 1999], they were ninth out of 11 on the Other Stage. They parked an old Volkswagen van in the guest/artist campsite, pitched a tent next to it and cooked breakfast outside. Four years later, in 2004, they became the headlining artist on the Pyramid Stage. They no longer needed to camp in tents.

Temporary bedroom The songwriting for third album 'Absolution' was done in a warehouse in East London. Chris therefore set up and slept in an air-inflated bed there, which he bought from IKEA.

Where are the first performance recordings!? They are still very embarrassed about their demo tapes 'This is a Muse Demo' ('95) and 'Newton Abbot Demo' ('97) and their first performance as a band when they tried out for the Battle of the Bands contest ('94). Whenever a copy of "This is a Muse Demo'' was put on an auction site, someone would sell it for an unbelievable amount of money. The "someone" is thought by fans to be the band members themselves.

Poker face!? The three of them like to play poker. When they played with Robert Smith (The Cure, vo./g), they won a lot of money. At one point, they played almost every day on tour, and as a result Matthew owed his crew and band members thousands of dollars. He likes to go to the Bellagio Casino in Las Vegas to play poker with betting limits, because it's not so easy with restrictions. He still plays on the tour bus, but there is also alcohol involved, so at the end of the day it's all about throwing chips at each other.

Jetpack For their show at Wembley Stadium in June 2007, the band planned to appear on stage with jet packs, which would allow them to fly using the jets on their backs. However, the stadium's health and safety team refused permission. Matthew's guitar was allowed to be carried onto the stage by a remote-controlled robot. Incidentally, Matthew actually bought and owns the jet pack for £10,000. He was addicted to such gadgets for a while, but woke up one day when he lost his mobile phone and realised he could still live without it.

Avoiding the 9/11 attacks On 10 September 2001, Muse were due to play a showcase gig at the Mercury Lounge in New York. But when that was cancelled, they flew early to their next destination, Boston. If they had stayed another night at a hotel on New York's Lower East Side as planned, they might have been caught up in the attacks on the World Trade Centre.

A row with Celine Dion In 2002, there was a row with Celine Dion. She revealed her plans to name her long-running Las Vegas show Muse. Matthew commented, "I don't want people to think we're Celine Dion's backing band." Celine insisted on the title Muse and proposed an offer to pay them £32,000 (approximately JPY 4.7 million), which Muse refused. Celine's management then pushed to go ahead with the plan anyway, and Muse considered filing a lawsuit. In the end, Céline relented and the title changed to 'A New Day'… and began its extended run the following year in 2003.

Matthew, you're about to get killed! Matthew likes scuba diving, but thinks he was nearly killed by an instructor once. The instructor liked Matthew's girlfriend at the time and tried to kill him by putting only half the oxygen in his oxygen tank when she got in the way. As well as scuba diving, Matthew has also tried squash, but he always ends up crashing into the wall and getting hurt.

Personal life ● Matthew Matthew was engaged to Italian psychologist Gaia Polloni until December 2009 and lived in a mansion in the village of Mortolazio on the western shore of Lake Como in Italy until 2010. The mansion was put on the market last year for just under USD 2 million (approximately JPY 224 million). It is approximately 250 square metres in size. It was built in the late 1820s, when the Italian composer Vincenzo Bellini lived there and Winston Churchill was invited to visit and paint. Neighbours include George Clooney and Sir Richard Branson. Matthew made the album 'The Resistance' here. After his breakup with Gaia, he started dating actress Kate Hudson in the spring of 2010 and got engaged the following year. Their son, Bing, was born in July of the same year. He and Kate ended their engagement in December 2014. He started dating model Elle Evans in 2015 and they became engaged in December 2017. Matthew now lives in the USA and owns at least three mansions in the Los Angeles area. Two of them are in Malibu. One was purchased from radio personality Adam Carolla in late 2014 for $3.6 million. The other house was purchased in 2016 for $2.6 million (JPY 291 million). The third house was bought last year for $7.25 million (approximately JPY 813 million) on a green lot in Brentwood, between Westwood and Santa Monica, from former tennis player Pete Sampras. In addition to this, he also owns mansions in his hometown of Devon and in London. In addition, in Malibu, he is neighbours with Chris Martin (Coldplay, vo./g. / piano), with whom he occasionally exchanges dirty-talking emails. In jest, of course.

● Chris Chris has six children with his wife Kelly, whom he married in 2003. His alcoholism deteriorated to the point of vomiting blood at one point, yet his bass playing skills remained undiminished and those around him were slow to realise the gravity of the situation. However, during the making of The Resistance, he finally entered rehab and underwent treatment. He has been sober ever since.

● Dom There is no mention of Dom getting married. Last autumn, he adopted a dog named Floyd, who appears to be a Boston terrier.

Guitars smashed Matthew entered the Guinness World Records in 2010 for smashing 140 guitars on tour in 2004. But he didn't actually break that many, and the guitars he smashed on stage usually just split the body and neck in half. Even if they look broken, they are actually repaired and returned. He has only broken about four guitars before he really broke them again, and one of them was a Gibson Les Paul that he didn't break on stage, but smashed into a cupboard. Counting his entire career, he has destroyed and replaced roughly 20 necks. But it's not just the guitars that suffer from Matthew's act. Dom is also a good nuisance. He has been injured three times so far because of the guitars Matthew has thrown around.

China tour When the 'Drones' tour visited Beijing on 9th September 2015 and Shanghai on 21st September 2015, 'Uprising' and 'Revolt' were removed from the set list. This was because they were deemed excessively political by the Chinese government.

'Twilight' series of romantic films Stephenie Meyer, author of the popular Twilight novels, is a big fan of Muse. Therefore, the soundtracks of the film trilogy 'Twilight' (2008), 'New Moon/Twilight Saga' (2009) and 'Eclipse/Twilight Saga' (2010) contain the songs 'Supermassive Black Hole', 'I Belong To You (+Mon Coeur S'Ouvre A Ta Voix)' and 'Neutron Star Collision (Love is Forever)', respectively. Neutron Star Collision was written specifically for Eclipse.

Impressions of Kanye West Matthew likes rap music and is a big fan of Kanye West. He describes Kanye's music as "It's already thoroughly me, me, me." However, one time Kanye came to say hello to Muse backstage, and instead of being "me", he just talked about T-shirts and left. Matthew found it so funny that he later named his cats Kanye and Kim (Kanye's wife Kim Kardashian).

Translator's Note: Okay, so I already knew a good majority of these trivia information as a long time fan, but I do acknowledge that some are new to me. Mostly, given that all of this information was up until late 2018, some of the information written in there can be considered as outdated.

[fingertipsfingertipsfingertiiips]

Working as a grocery store pick-up shopper during the height of the pandemic was.... I'm still not recovered, I think. I would like to rant a wee bit here. It's my tumblr and I'll do as I wish with it.

I worked for Kroger at the time, and if you know anything about it, at the time Kroger was the last grocery company to add Covid pay and the first to take it away. For (I think) two months, I had an extra dollar added to my $10.50/hr paycheck. Then they started cutting hours so they wouldn't have to pay for our insurance. All the while, I had people aggressively coughing on me because I was wearing a mask. I had a grown man throw a can of yams at my head because we were out of the name brand yams he wanted. A man raised his fist to threaten me over cans of Pepsi, we didn't have any because of an aluminum shortage. Someone's grandmother slapped me because of toilet paper. One of my coworkers got in a fight with a customer because of jalapeños.

When coworkers started dropping from Covid, the rest of us had to pick up the slack. At one point, 14 out of our 18 person department were out for weeks. I worked 16 hour shifts for some of the rudest and most ungrateful customers I've ever seen in 12+ years of retail experience.

In the summer of 2020, they shut off the water fountains. My direct manager got us a big pack of water and put it in the back of the order fridge for us. Some of us were running orders out to cars in 100F+ heat, so we put some of the bottles in the freezers, too. Upper management saw these waters as some kind personal insult and threw them away, threatening us all with writeups and even firings if we were caught with personal water bottles on the sales floor. OSHA was called and they put a stop to that bullshit, but not before one of my elderly coworkers collapsed from heat and dehydration.

At one point, my cool manager got promoted to store manager, and our department got an outside hire to replace her. This woman is easily one of the worst people I have ever worked with. She was rude, she would micromanage, she would bully the differently abled. She would fat shame, was racist and homophobic, and generally aggressive to other women. One time, I was helping a coworker prep an order to go out. We were chatting about death in the Victorian era, a special interest of mine. I got excited and maybe I started rambling when my bitch manager yelled at me to "shut the fuck up, you're being annoying." I told her to fuck off, and we were pulled into a meeting about it, but ultimately nothing happened to her. I refused to sign the writeup that came to me later.

Due to this manager's negligence, I fell and chipped a tailbone in February 2021. She was supposed to salt the walkway that leads from our department to the customer pick-up area. At 5:30 that morning, as she was yelling at her staff (myself included), she didn't notice that I was sprawled out in the parking lot, having slipped on black ice. I would have hit my head as well, had I not been wearing my hair in a low bun. The bun acted as an airbag. I landed pretty hard, and I think it scared the customer. He got out of his truck and shuffled over to me to help me up. He even tipped me $10, which was super nice. I limped back in, and before I could say anything, bitch manager yelled at me for taking to long, shoved an order cart at me and barked at me to do the next one. I told her I fell, probably too quietly because I was hurting. She ignored me so I yelled it. She stopped to look at me, registered what I said, and then it dawned on her to ask if I was OK. I filled out an IR and a worker's comp claim. I did the drug screening, later that day I had an xray. I chipped a tailbone. They gave me 2 weeks off, I think it was paid but it's hard to remember because the doctor gave me codeine. One morning I'm laying on the floor on a yoga mat and bitch manager calls me. She doesn't ask me how I'm doing, she wants to know if I can cover a shift. I tell her no, hang up and then send her a picture of my black and blue ass crack. I should have sued Kroger. Sometimes I wonder if I still could. I still have back pain. I still struggle with some yoga poses or sitting on certain chairs.

The final straw seems so small in retrospect. I had endured so much while working for kroger for 8 years. Bitch manager was causing me such anxiety that I had to change my meds to deal with her. I was getting the produce for an order. The system timed you, the goal was to take less than 20 seconds for each item scanned in to the cart. I had grabbed some tomatoes and was weighing them up, counting the seconds out loud to myself to keep time (a time blindness coping skill I've had since childhood) when she walked past me. I heard her say "retard" under her breath. This wasn't the first time I've been called that in my life, but the first time I've ever heard it from a grown woman. She had been bitching at me about something earlier that day, and my deodorant failed from the stress. She walked past me again and stopped to look at me. She nearly shouted, making sure everyone around would hear, "You stink. Did you shower today?" And then smirked. I didn't reply. I didn't hit her, or yell, or throw tomatoes at her. I thought about doing all of it. I thought about knocking her to the ground and ripping her tacky extensions out of her scalp. I thought about all the nasty mean things I could say to her. Instead, I put down my handheld and told her I would be right back. I went to the back room, hung up my apron, grabbed my purse, and walked out. I didn't clock out, I let them figure out what time I left. I made sure I was paid for my time. She called me an hour later, and I didn't answer. She called 6 more times. My previous manager, the cool one later told me that the store manager was stoked about my leaving. "Out with the old, in with the new."

There was a mass exodus, nine people left after I did. Four of them followed me to my new job. We all got forklift certified in the same week for a company that offered profit sharing and $4 extra per hour for covid pay, plus $3 extra per hour on weekends. It's not the greatest place to work. Sometimes it's terrible, it's still retail after all. But it's better. Kroger is not a great company, and my store was one of the worst places. I know I'm not the only person with horror stories about it. I still hear, "we're all in this together" in my nightmares. I can't spend more than 20 minutes in a grocery store at a time. I have many more from before the pandemic hit, the pandemic was just the worst of it.

That's my rant. If anyone read this, thank you. If you want to add your own stories, please do! "Essential worker" feels more like "disposable worker".

[bekkathyst]

New Crystal Sale (February 9th, ‘24) Item #17

$14 each (originally $28 each) - Free EU & US shipping on orders over $60

Approx. 0.7” silver rutilated quartz spheres

One piece be randomly selected for you.

*Only 10 pieces available*

To claim items and order, please read and follow the system I have set up. You can read the rules here!

[uldahstreetrat]

a little personal announcement, not xiv related aha, but I've reopened my etsy store! I have a small variety of crystals available for purchase at the moment and a few tarot reading slots open as well! I also have a 5% sale going until the end of February with the code REOPENING if you'd like to grab something

a few people have purchased tarot readings from me on ko-fi in the past but I believe I will be listing them here on etsy going forward <3