#to even play music. to think. and she has to change her entire direction and how she does everything. but she still keeps going

[droodlebug]

soo many of my ocs.. and like All my beloved ones.. are people who just desperately want to live a quiet, peaceful life with their loved ones. but forces outside of their control keep making that impossible for them, and they aren't able to keep going through the situations against them without having to hurt and push themselves too far but still keep Choosing to be good and do good things because it is just what you should do

this says nothing in particular about me, i am sure.

[supernatural-hunter1]

“Hunter On The Crew” Part 1.

Summary: Saving people, hunting things, Family Business! Right?.... WRONG! You some how ended up on the thousand sunny, and meet a stranger pirate wearing a straw hat and joined his crew, But little did they know you are actually a hunter who hunts down the supernatural.

Strawhats will female reader, Fluff story🥰

Might turn this into a series?😅

It was a perfect sunny day no clowds in sight and the ocean water was calm. Luffy Usopp and Chopper We’re sitting on the railing on the side of the ship fishing as always, Zoro was doing his usual training routines in the crow’s nest, Nami is relaxing on a chair sitting under an umbrella to block out the sun while Robin was sitting next to her reading a book, and Brook was playing a calming tune on his violin sitting on the swing under the tree on the deck, and Jinbe is staring the ship. Sanji comes out of the kitchen with a tray and walk over to approach Nami and Robin.

“Here you go ladies.” He said, as he handed them their drink. “Thank you Sanji.” Robin said with light smile, Sanji goes all heart-eyes and goofy smiling. “Anything for you my darlings.” He goshed, before giving them a slight bow and rushing back to the kitchen. just then Nami noticed a slight change in the air? Even Brook senses a similar feeling and immediately stopped playing his music?

Suddenly something falls beside him on the grassy deck, and Brook jumps back with a frightened shriek which now got everyone’s attention, and everyone rushes over to get it out? “What’s going on up here, I heard Brook scream and came up to see what was wrong?” Franky said as he emerged out of his workshop.

“Whoa, what is that?” Luffy asked? Looking down he sees a black rounded duffel bag with silver handles as he picks it up off the ground, “Be careful we don’t what kind of dangerous things might be in that bag?” Usopp says nervously? Robin walks over and takes a closer look and noticed something, “look it even has a strange symbol on it?” She said. Pointing at the symbol of a sun with a star in the center of it, “I’ve never seen anything like that and it fell from the sky?” She added as she looked up?

Just then something else entirely catches their eyes, Usopp pulls out a telescope to see what it is? and to his surprise and horror it was you falling out of the sky he shouts to the others to warn them, "THERE IS SOMEONE FALLING FROM THE SKY!?" He shouted as he pointed to my direction.

Unfortunately, the worst was yet to come as a giant sea king jumped up from the water with its mouth wide open, luckily Sanji used his skywalked ability and caught me before i became a sea king snack. He glanced down at me his eyes widened he saw i was covered from head to toe with injuries and blood, and pieces of my clothing were torn up, he quickly rushed back to the ship.

A few hours go by, and i slowly start to wake up in the infirmary on the ship i groan, a little in pain, as i slowly set up. "Ow, man, what happened?" I muttered. "Oh, hey, glad you're finally awake." A voice said," i turn my head to see a guy wearing a straw hat? "How are you feeling? Be careful not to move too much." Another voice said i looked over. And saw a reindeer wearing a blue helmet with an 'x' on the center of it.

"I feel a little bit sore in some places, but I think I'll be all right." I said as i'd looked down, at my bandages. "Thank you, um..." i paused for a second. "My name is Chopper I'm the ship's doctor." He introduced himself, "thank you, doctor Chopper my name is Y/n." I'd look over. To the man on the other side of the room, "i'm sorry. I didn't quite get your name either?" You asked?

"The names Luffy the captain of the ship, and I'm going to be the future king of the pirates." He said, i let out a sigh of relief "nice to meet you Luffy." I smiled, he then started asking me questions, and i'd answered, telling him everything that i could remember. I shy away for a second. And asked him if he was looking for new members to join his crew and offered to join?

Luffy nodded with a big smile on his face after a few minute. He and chopper took me out of the infirmarie and onto the deck where everyone was waiting. "Everyone, great news, we have a new crew member!" He announced. I walk out of the infirmarie with a blanket wrapped around me. Like a cloak protecting myself from the cold air. "Everybody meet Y/n." He said, i nervously smiled and waved.

"Hi." I said nervously, Robin was the first to greet me then Usopp and Nami also introduced themselves after, Robin then handed me my bag. I thanked her happily. And she pointed me to the restroom to change out if my torn clothes, i left for a while and changed into new clothes slowly, but carefully so I didn't reopen any wounds, once i were done i made my way to the kitchen.

I slowly opened the door and poked my head through the door, Sanji was the first to notice "Well would you look who it is, come in and get something to eat." He said, as he hand out a plate of food, i walk in closing the door behind me before walking over to him.

"It smells really good, then again? I haven't eaten anything in 3 days, so anything would be pretty good right about now, thanks." I said, as i gently take the plate.

After getting my meal and sitting down in a chair between jinbai and Robin then we all started talked and laughing, at one point Brook asked if he could my panties? And I popped off with, "No, but I'm willing to throw you overboard, By the way. That's a pretty bold question coming from a dead guy with no eyeballs?" I'd said calm but firmly, the skeleton was a bit shocked when i referred to him as 'dead guy'.

And with that Zoro choked on his drink, while Nami covered her mouth to prevent herself from laughing, but luckily? Usopp, Chopper and Luffy we're the ones burst into laughing.

"Hey Y/n speaking of which there's something I've been meaning to ask you?" Robin asked, "sure thing what is it?" I said, "there was a strange symbol on your duffel bag, that I have never seen before mind I ask what that means?" She asked, and i'd nodded.

"It's called an anti possession mark, it's what the hunters wear to protect ourselves from being possessed, See." I answered,

I'd pull-down the front of my shirt showing them a tattoo on the side of my chest, it's a sun with a star on the center of it, Luffy's eyes sparkled with awe "THAT IS SO COOL!" He said excitedly, Usopp scratches the back of his head in confusion."What did you mean by 'hunters' and 'protecting yourselves' from what exactly?" He asked? "Do you know much about werewolfs and vampires?" I asked, and he and everyone else in the room nodded, "well, where I'm from, we are known for hunting down creatures of the supernatural, like werewolves and ghouls, and all that at." I added.

I began explaining to luffy and his crew more about it, i'd even told them a little bit about my childhood and growing up learning about creatures of the supernatural and learned about their weaknesses and strength. Sometime after dinner, i'd offered to help Sanji out with washing the dishes but also for the chance to get to know my new crewmate more too.

"Here, let me help you out with those?" I said, walking to the sink to clean my dish. Sanji swore that he could feel his heart skip a beat when i offered so sweetly, he shook his head and gave me a light smile. "No, it's alright y/n i can handle it from here, I appreciate the offer those but maybe next time." He said, he gently takes my dish and placed it in the sink. I nodded at his word Nami walked over and she dragged me out of the kitchen to show me around the ship.

Later in the night, i decided i'd wanted to sleep on the floor in a small corner of the girls' room with the pillow and a blanket, as everyone was asleep i'd lied there, awake looking up at the ceiling, thinking to myself maybe things wouldn't be so bad here after all? Before closing my eyes and start to drift off to sleep.

( I hope you guys like the story i think I might turn this into a series? I know my writing is not as good but I am trying my best😅)

[omgwhatchloe]

REASONS WHY HAVING SOME RDR2 CHARACTERS AS YOUR PASSENGER IN YOUR CAR SUCKS:

Charles: Only talks to points out every single animal he sees. Other than that, it’s just silence unless you start the conversation or you’re Arthur. Oh but trust me, he wants the AUX. He’s just not gunna ask.

John: Either demands the AUX cord or just connects it anyway, then proceeds to be musically inconsiderate with what he plays. You despise this song with every ounce of your being? Too bad. This song reminds you of your lowest point? Suck it up buttercup. This was playing in the car when you crashed and killed the person in the passenger seat? Womp womp.

Dutch: Seems to think it’s his car. In fact, he feels completely free to change the music, turns up the heat as much as he pleases, winds the windows up and down, moves his seat constantly etc etc.

Reverend Swanson and Mary-Beth: Car sick. So very car sick. Your two options when driving them anywhere is the sound of heavy breathing with the sounds of the highway being blasted in through the open window, or bags rustling with the sound of puking and groaning. Trust me, they’d rather have walked as well.

Javier: Awful navigator. It’s fine when you know where you’re going, but absolutely awful when you need navigation. Half the time, you look over and he’s gone off the navigation app and is playing subway surfers and texting. The other half of the time, he’s misreading the directions then yelling at YOU. Not to mention it’s completely unsurprising to wonder why you’ve been driving for so long then find he’s clicked on the entire wrong destination without a second thought.

Sean: Acts like he’s never eaten before in his life as soon as he gets into the car. Sees a Wendy’s? He’s suddenly starving. Burger King? He hasn’t eaten in three days. KFC? He’ll pay you back, he swears! In fact, the man has absolutely no problem being late for anything if you stop for food. You could be on the way to Davey’s funeral, already running late and suddenly pull into the Krispy Kreme carpark and you would not hear a single protest from him.

Micah: Yaps a whole lot of waffle about how he’s all this n all that to the point you don’t even know what he’s saying anymore and neither does he. Also enjoys flipping random people off and yelling shit out of the window. Expect to be chased by an angry driver for at least 12 miles.

Bill: Eats and then just throws his trash on the floor without a single second thought. If you ask him to pick it up, he will, but not without angrily grumbling and snatching it up. Is in a bad mood for about 2 minutes before he realises he wants to yap so does.

Karen, Uncle, Abigail and Sean: Distracts the driver. Whether it’s with yapping or loud videos or drinking or messing with the music volume, they somehow keep it up from the start of the drive right to the end.

Hosea: Puts his feet up and puts his seat back like he’s in bed. Just won’t sit normally. Will give you a ‘look’ when you ask him to put them down.

Lenny: Makes things awkward, because the first thing he does is comment on the dirtiness of your car then looks extremely shocked and uncomfortable at himself for saying that for about 7 seconds before pulling out his phone and facetiming Sean for the whole drive and giving you the same looks Hosea does when you try to speak to him. When not on the phone, he tends to respond with shrugs and “Okay then,” while folding him arms and staring out of the window. Seems to be in an awful mood until he’s out of the car. He hates car rides if it’s not with his favourite people.

Molly: Acts like you can’t drive. Struggling to see what’s right in front of you? Molly’s got your back! Seriously, she will yell at you to stop at the red light you had already seen 7 seconds ago and started to slow for. Old woman crossing (while you’re already stopped)? She will yell at you not to go so loud you debate kicking her out and making her get her own car, since she knows so much.

Tilly and Strauss: Tries to get you to speed. It’s like they’ve never heard of laws before, and will insist you ‘go faster’ even though your way is blocked by other cars. It’s painfully obvious they both can’t drive and have never had to pay for gas money.

Miss Grimshaw: Absolutely disgusted by your car and wants to make that very clear. It wouldn’t be surprising if halfway through, she started to clean it herself.

Jack: Really really really wants to press that horn. You’d find it cute at first, but so goddamn annoying when your car starts honking in the middle of a busy crossing. It’s like a constant slap-fight except you’re pushing his hands away every-time they come for the horn.

Arthur: Constantly asking to pull over. He’ll casually say “stop here” as if you’re a taxi, not to mention you’re in the middle of nowhere on the highway and you really don’t understand what a stranger mission means. Commonly, you have to explain things like how you’re already an hour late and you literally do not have the room to drive that family of five that’s broken down anywhere, nor can you stop at an empty warehouse and potentially get arrested for trespassing because he wants to explore.

Kieran: Terrified when you go slightly over the speed limit. He acts like he’s in an F1 race with no seatbelt being hung out of the window.

[tocomplainfriend]

Episode 4

TW: Rape, Sexual Assault and Abuse, Physical abuse.

So uh, I really did just guess "there is no way it's that bad, right?"...

OK, SO LET'S TALK. So again if you haven't seen the episode big Trigger Warning for its content! It's real heavy, explicit and on your face. I'm a Sexual abuse victim talking about this, just so you know.

I think the bigger problem I have with the episode, it's the context surrounding it and what happens later on, specially. Many people can have different views on the poison scene itself, for their own. But that scene, even if you as a victim relate, can only really work in a vacuum. Why? Let's see... hum.... The jokes of male SA in Helluva Boss? How it's written as funny to Moxxie to get assaulted? By the Succubus, Blitz, Chaz? Not seeing any problem in Stolitz, and victim blaming Blitz.

Suddenly Viv wants to be like: "Male sexual assault and abuse it's so not talked about, I'm going to write about it". As if she didn't write all those HB jokes. All those jokes are only men getting assaulted too, by other men or woman. The SA and r-pe it's funny when it's done to men, why did this even happen?

Even if the entire episode 4 was good, why did the same person write all this jokes? Is the sexual harassment Angel does to husk, even going to be addressed later or...? The biggest problem, it's the bad execution. Something happens a lot with HB and HH, it's that scenes and concepts work In isolation, that way you imagine in infinite possibilities of the "what if this". But they give you is in it'self not that good. The series does expect you to be a fan, and have to watch the pilot. Because it doesn't really bother to introduce the characters or anything. So the emotional bits don't hit that hard if you didn't already care about the characters since or before the pilot.

Since the first episodes, Valentino has being changing between fucking idiot and horrifying monster. In episode 2 he is treated as a stupid dumbass. I feel like all the episodes until 4 were too much, on the comedy shit- to immediately jump into explicit abuse and SA is a lot. In the end of the episode they also shift back the tone, weirdly.

So we jump into Val and Angel's work, showing how shitty val is. Charlie jumps into interrupting the hole thing. AND VAL ASSAULTS HER TOO??? I didn't expect that. He grabs her kisses and lick up her arm, and gets too close to her in other scenes. Then Charlie accidentally ruins the set, and Val ends up physically abusing Angel. Living him with a black eye, and it's shown Angel did a deal with him. Leaving him fully trapped with him (not a legal contract, but a devil/sinner bound magic thing). Then it's poison music number.

Many people feel like it's too graphic. Other people will say it's okey, because it shows the problem straight on, and it's supposed to make you uncomfortable.

Explicit doesn't = good.

You can talk a lot of what does this level of graphic/explicit add to the conversation.

My main problem with it being so explicit comes from who is directing that hole part of the episode. I talked about it in the post above. The person in question:

(BLURRED CUT PICTURE)

Does this scene above seem familiar to you? This person put together with how the poison part of the episode is played out AND all the disgusting "SA is funny" jokes HB make this a fucking problem.

AND THEN THE FUCKING ENDING IS CRAZY BAD LIKE HELLO???? At the end, Angel is at a bar, and his drink gets spiked. Husk gets him out and fights against the guys that spiked the drink. Then they kindly have an argument... To get through the whole heavy ass episode- to then Husk hit with a song calling Angel a baby IS FUCKING CRAZY. I see what the point was supposed to be, but the execution absolutely kills it. The song tries to compare Husk and Angel, to say shit sucks but hey it's okay we are in this together, BUT HOLY SHIT. Why, comparing Angel Dust being sexually abused under a demonic contract (HE IS STILL UNDER)- to Husk having to work for Alastor. Yes, Husk fucked up his life in hell do to gambling- that's not comparable to Angel being in an abusive relationship where he gets taken advantaged of. Calling Angel dust a baby loser, "everyone got it difficult get over your self"- it's fucking crazy. The fact that the episode ends on everyone happy and laugh it off it awful! WHAT HAPPEN???????? Like Angel is still under Val's contract- his going to have to go back to work, or to any other place where his drink could be spiked. We are still in the same problem. I don't- I don't understand. The song wasn't even a "I'll help you", it felt more like "Hey shit sucks, get over it". How did you write that? I don't think the series has the time or good enough space to treat the subjects- and they are dealing in the worst way.

EDIT:

I cannot believe this woman made a cum joke, about the song that it's about being trapped with your abuser- that comes with really graphic scenes of assault and r-pe. Like the whole song it's about that???? It's not a "Hot sexy" song, it's literally all sexual assault and workplace abuse.

This scene is from a non canon comic from the same artist above, got immediately referenced in the scene after poison. That's crazy. Also, The artist is... uh......... Did you know that in episode 4. It got showed that Angel's real name is Anthony? They changed their name to Tony, make themselves look like Angel? Now does sex work like Angel. They choreographed the pole dancing in Addict?

AND Viv just reduced Angel's Sexual Harassment of Husk as:

Angel trows himself to Husk, grabs him, touches him, makes unwanted sexual comments. You, have never left the weird shipping of queer of mean that revolts around sexual harassment. It's like old ass garbage Wattpad yaoi, not acknowledging those problems. Why is there more attention to that than Charlie and Vaggie, who lacks so much personality and everything. WLW with no condiments and artificial as fuck MLM with microplastics.

[one-pissed-off-child]

vehicle headcanons bc im like. so bored

Lenore 100% rides a motorcycle, most likely a Harley or a Triumph. She enjoys a good street race, but only on remote roads that have been marked off and never spontaneously or on high ways. She used to do stunts with dirt bikes and atv's before her injury, but it plays hell with her hip now, so she just rides standard. She doesn't drive much, but if she had to get a car, it'd be a classic muscle car like a Firebird. She's an offensive driver insofar as she's more than willing to take a fender bender to prove a point and she will chase a bitch down if they run. Only if it's just her in the car, though. She mostly drives one-handed and rests her right hand on the console (or Annabel's thigh). She does enjoy cruising in a car but not as much as feeling Annabel hug her from behind on a bike

Annabel's ride would be Lenore a Cadillac, Porsche, and an Audi. She switches them out as the occasion calls for it. Her father bought all three. She trades them in for the lastest models every five years or earlier bc she couldn't be caught dead in a model that's gone out of style. People assume she likes being chauffeured around, but being in a vehicle she has no direct control of gives her hives, so 9 times out 10, she's going to be the one driving. The only people she trusts on the wheel are Prospero and Lenore. Very defensive driver bc she's always thinking 20 steps ahead and can smell bullshit from a mile away. She tells people she prefers convertibles for the visibility, but she really just likes watching Lenore hop over the door into the passenger seat.

Ada would sell her soul for a bright pink Porsche. Unfortunately, a brand new one is def out of her price range, and every time she buys a used one that she can afford, it craps out in like five months or so. She's forced to settle on a lightest burgundy Camry she can find at some point and she's bitching about it to everyone that can hear. She is the most godawful driver you will ever see. Road rage like no other. For years, she thought turn signals were a useless formality until a horrified Prospero told her otherwise. The fact that she has a license is the eighth wonder of the world (her tester was severely hungover). She keeps subtly asking to borrow Annabel's Porsche, but Anna just smiles and changes the subject.

Pluto has a crappy little Beetle that he stole from his dad, and to separate it from him would be to cut his heart out with a rusty butter knife. He's also a defensive driver but not in the same way Anna is. He's just very hyperaware of everything, which is great for snap reactions but can cause him to overreact sometimes. Does not play music or take his eyes off the road ever bc he's scared of getting distracted. Prefers taking mainroads bc high way speeds makes him nervous. He loves his car, but he'll typically just take the bus for short distances. The only time he's even marginally relaxed while driving is when his friends are with him, especially Eulalie.

Montessori has a Mustang, and he drives it like an asshole. I'm talking tailgating, cutting, muffler delete, zero turn signal whatsoever, always going at least twenty over, racing randoms on the highway etc etc. Rarely gets road rage, but causes it on a daily basis. One of his favorite plays is talking someone into a race, losing on purpose, betting money on a second race, and smoking their ass with his turbocharger. Yes, his car is kitted with every mod known to man, and yes, it does look like a douchebag owns it. He keeps trying to goad Lenore into a race, and she keeps rejecting him bc 1. She knows his schemes, and 2. She's not entirely convinced he won't try to run her over.

Eulalie prefers not to drive and doesn't own a car. It took forever to get her license bc she's so easily distracted that she's at risk of drifting into other lanes and/or hitting something. She did manage to get it eventually, but having to be constantly vigilant stresses her out, so she just bikes/skates (skateboarder Eulalie real) or uses public transit or grabs a ride from a friend. Despite everything, she's actually a very good and courteous driver when she's paying attention. She stops for pedestrians, bikers, ducks on the road, and so on. Her driving style is very smooth and steady in a way that could lull you to sleep. Until she has to slam the breaks to avoid sailing into oncoming traffic. She thinks it'd be really cool to own a Hearse with a black/purple color scheme, though. She shares a bus pass with Pluto

(Pt.2 cuz this got too long)

[beneathsilverstars]

Dunno if you're only interested in thinking about ISAT related sillies, but I've been thinking of Siffrin's love of plays and poetry mixed with my love of musicals! It's got a script and there's stage settings so people walk the same paths and say the same things every time, but it's still performance art! There's still a magic in every moment and potential for new meaning and change- and that's before you think of how the people times and places also inherently shape things. Do you have any thoughts about what the ISAT party + newly adopted Nille feel/think about traditional plays?

Mirabelle enjoys them as much as any other sort of media, I think! She's more concerned with genre and character than format. It's too bad you can't easily re-experience a play like you can a book, but! That just makes it all the more special to see one! She took an acting class once, and even though she was only a minor background character, being on stage made her so nervous that she messed up her only line. But! That just makes it all the more impressive how brave and talented professional actors are!!

Isabeau loves them as a visual medium. The costumes! The set! The blocking! In the past he would've just said the play was pretty, but these days he will come out of the theater gushing about the visual symbolism. Mira's like "What did you think of the plot though?" and he's like "Oh, the plot? Yeah it was great, it was really clever how they foreshadowed the fall of the prince by tearing his cloak directly through the royal insignia in act one, especially because the blow would have killed him if his servant hadn't intervened; it's just like how holding onto the throne would have led to his death, meaning his servant saved him once again by removing him from power!"

Odile's fine with them. She prefers the private experience of a book, but going out and doing something with friends is a different kind of nice! It's fun to tease everyone about their reactions afterwards. And if she cried at one too once no she didn't. :|

Bonnie likes the action! A story you can watch! Except sometimes Siffrin picks boring ones that are mostly people standing around and talking to themselves and Bonnie isn't even allowed to run around instead. So, hit or miss for them. Every couple of years the kids in Bambouche put on a play, and last time Bonnie got to be a pirate, and it was awesome even though they had to be so careful to not actually whack the other kid with their sword.

Nille likes them a lot! Plays are maybe her favorite way to be told a story; it's so direct and clear and multi-sensational, you really get to immerse yourself in it. She often does gestures and voices while telling stories herself, it just makes it easier to follow! She was so proud of Bonnie when they got to be a pirate and only actually whacked the other kid with their sword for real during practice a couple times.

Siffrin loved the escapism. Stories are so grand, and everything that happens in them is so meaningful. A play ends the same way each time you watch it, yet you're still on the edge of your seat, swept up in the world the actors have conjured! Plus, seeing a play was the best way to kill an evening, sitting somewhere safe and comfortable while getting a little more familiar with the local language and culture. They liked experiencing unique small plays! They liked seeing how a world-famous play would get translated and adapted for different countries! They liked attending the same production three nights in a row and seeing if they could catch any little differences!

Post-canon... He's definitely not going to watch the same one three nights in a row. And not any that he has basically memorized, either. And maybe not the entire thing yet, maybe he has to leave closer to the beginning than the intermission a couple times. But!! Siffrin loves plays, he remembers that about himself, and even after everything, he can't help but love the familiar. So. He's working towards being able to be himself again.

Loop would rather get crushed by the king again than step foot in a theatre~!

[agentofteamvaliant]

Musicals Aren't Supposed to Have Encores | Luke Dunphy x fem!reader

Based on season 4 episode 14 of Modern Family: "A Slight at the Opera."

Warnings: None? Two eighth-graders kiss a few times... does that need a warning?

Word count: 2,052

Summary: Luke and Y/n step up to new roles in "The Phantom of the Opera" performance their middle school is presenting. Cam doesn't know what to do when the audience calls for an encore at the end of the show.

A.N.: Notes vs notes became a very hard thing to keep track of while writing this. Because I had notes, as in musical notes that you sing or play. And notes, as in theatre notes, directions as to what to do, and ideas of what needs to change. The struggle of being both a music kid and a theatre kid is real.

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

"What do you mean Genevieve is sick?" Cam exclaimed to the girl's mother over the phone, "First our Phantom falls ill, and now our Christine? Does the world think our theater department is filled with actors?... No, of course, I'm sorry. I hope she feels better soon."

Theatre never goes exactly as planned. You're bound to have bumps along the way. Cam was prepared for that. He had backup props and backup lavaliers. What he hadn't prepared for was for both his Phantom and his Christine to get sick.

Having already found and lost hope in having Luke play the Phantom, Cam felt he was running low on ideas and patience. So, he turned to his assistant director/stage manager: Y/n.

"Well, Y/n. What do you think?" Cam asked.

"About which?" she replied, "We've got a couple problems right now."

"Either. Any. All. I don't know," he was obviously at the end of his wits.

"I think that you should show Manny the video you have of Luke so that he can see what you want him to be doing," she offered.

"Alright," Cam agreed, calling Manny over to watch the recording, "And what about Christine? I hate to say it, but Genevieve was the only soprano we had who could--"

"Luke has to do it," Manny cut in, before rushing off to undo the damage he had done.

"Well, that solves that problem," Y/n said cheerfully.

"I doubt any of them even know all the words, let alone the right notes, the right timing..." Cam trailed off, "Luke could you run 'The Phantom of the Opera,' please?"

"The whole show?" Luke asked, surprised.

"No, the song," Cam clarified with an exasperated shake of his head that looked much more like Mitchell's mannerisms than his own.

"Uh, sure, yeah. I don't know my cue without Christine's part, though."

"Y/n, could you sing Christine's parts until I figure out a replacement?" Cam requested turning to her.

"Well, I don't normally... but I guess I could... I do know the words, and the notes, and the timing and blocking... Sure." She replied.

The two walked over to the piano to practice. Y/n hadn't gotten more than four lines in when the whole theater was staring at her. Cam realized that maybe his Christine had been hiding in plain sight just like his Phantom. Her vibrato was perfect. Her voice paired perfectly with Luke's. Y/n and Luke looked up shocked when the entire ensemble came in perfectly on cue to find that Cam was conducting them like a choir. Y/n smiled at Luke, as they turned so the entire cast was rehearsing together. When they got to the part where Christine climbs up in notes, everyone's jaws hung open. Y/n herself was a tad surprised at how cleanly the notes came from her chest. Sure she loved to sing. Sure she had practiced this entire musical what felt like a million times. But to hear it in a theater. To hear how creepy her friend Luke could sound, perfectly portraying the Phantom. To hear the song all around her. It felt unreal. Especially when she got to the E6. She knew that for Genevieve they had lowered it, but she also knew that she could hit it. So, she ditched the note Cam had given the original Christine and chose instead to follow the regular notes of the song.

"Y/n," Cam started once the song was over, "You need to play Christine. Your voice is perfect. You know all the directions I gave. You understand what I'm trying to do with this show. Please, we need you as Christine."

"Okay, okay," she replied quickly.

They were very lucky that the costumes, which had been brought in for different actors, fit Y/n and Luke almost perfectly. Everything after casting Y/n had been rushed chaos. She had called her mom to bring her a pair of white heels since the original shoes didn't fit. But she neglected to tell her mom why she needed the shoes, simply insisting that the show sounded amazing and her family just had to come. Standing backstage, Y/n and Luke were talking while she used safety pins to shorten his cape. They didn't exactly have a replacement stage manager after all and she had offered to continue with both roles.

"You look really pretty," Luke commented as she stood up and handed him his pinned cloak.

"Thank you," she replied, a slight blush creeping onto her cheeks, "you should wear suits more often, you look quite dashing. I'd lose the mask though, your face is too cute to be covered."

Now it was Luke's turn to blush. He knew that Y/n was good at flustering people, of course he did, they had been best friends for years and she was his long-time crush, but he had never found himself on the receiving end of her flattery.

"Hey!" She called out quietly to one of their castmates, "That's not where that prop goes. Go put it on the prop table where it belongs."

"You know we're supposed to kiss, right?" Luke asked when Y/n turned back to him.

"Yes," she answered, "Poor Genevieve and Marcus, do you think that's why they're both sick? They had to kiss so much in rehearsal."

"Oh yeah, poor things, they had to kiss someone over and over again," he said, sarcasm dripping off every word.

"Careful," Y/n chided, "I'll kiss you over and over again."

"Like that's a threat," Luke snarked, before remembering who he was talking to, the confidence leaving him at once, "--I mean, we should probably practice at least once. Just, so we're on the same page. Know what to expect."

"Hmm, probably," she said slowly, before grabbing his hand and pulling him toward her.

Y/n kissed him gently, sweetly. And then it was over, and Luke decided he would do whatever it took to be able to kiss her again.

"Alright," Cam called, all the actors gathering around, "Uh... Luke, Y/n if I could talk to you for a moment after we're done. Alright, everyone, this is going to be great, there's nothing more we can do at this point. I know we've had a few hiccups, but I think we've come out stronger. So, good luck. Just, don't think about the audience. Be loose, speak clearly and enunciate, and have fun. Break a leg!"

When he had dismissed everyone else, Y/n and Luke walked over to Cam.

"Ah, good," he began, "I just want you to know how proud I am of you. And I wanted to make sure you didn't have any questions. Last minute confusions?"

"Nope," Luke said.

"None," Y/n confirmed.

"Good, good. And the kiss, I know we didn't talk about it. You're both alright with it?"

"Yep."

"Yes. We made sure to go over that with each other. We're on the same page. We know what to expect," she clarified, smiling at Cam, before looking at Luke with what he swore was a smirk.

"Wonderful. Then I'll go introduce our show, and we will begin," Cam said before leaving with a flourish.

The show was going perfectly. The audience was already captivated and they were only five songs in. When the iconic opening notes to "The Phantom of the Opera" began to play Y/n could feel people shift in their seats. She felt the pressure to perform the song well but didn't find herself nervous. One glance at Luke told her he felt the same way. Hearing how their voices melded together perfectly, Y/n was filled with giddy happiness. She couldn't have really explained it, but it pushed her further. When she began her climbing notes they were even stronger than they had been earlier.

They had taken an intermission between the two acts, and Y/n was enjoying some lemon honey tea, while a speaker next to her played "Something to Believe In" from Newsies. Luke was sitting in a makeup chair, across from her with his own cup, fidgeting as prosthetics were being applied to his face. In between taking sips of tea, the two were softly singing along to their favorite musical number, causing the poor kid trying to do Luke's makeup to continuously snap at him for moving his head.

"And if I'm gone tomorrow"

"What was ours still will be"

"I have something to believe in"

"Now that I know you believed in me."

Out in the audience, Haley had arrived during intermission and was now entering the theater with everyone else.

"I left the house as soon as I got your text," Haley exclaimed to Alex, "I can't believe Luke is playing the lead!"

Backstage, Cam called quietly: "Curtain's up again in five! You're doing great, y'all!"

Finally, they were reaching the end of the play. Alex was clinging to Haley's arm, practically holding her breath. By that point she had all but forgotten that her brother was playing the Phantom, having become deeply invested in the story. Not until Christine was standing, turning the Phantom to face her, did Haley lean over to Alex to whisper: "Can you believe that's Luke?"

Then, Christine kissed him.

"Oh my gosh," Alex exclaimed lightly to her sister, "They like each other."

"Who?" Haley replayed, "The Phantom and what's-her-name?"

"No, Luke and Y/n."

"Oh, yeah, duh. They have for years."

Then, Christine was kissing him again.

The curtain came down and then raised again, leaving the cast to bow. They led the audience in applause to the sound crew, the lighting crew, the musicians, and then Cam who joined them on stage. The curtain went down again, but the audience's applause didn't die down with it, rather it picked up. A few parents in the audience called for an encore, and soon the entire theater joined in.

"We don't have an encore," Cam quickly whispered to the cast, "Musicals aren't supposed to have encores. But they seem to really want one, does anyone have anything?"

"We do," Luke said, looking at the girl next to him.

"We do?" Y/n questioned, her eyebrows raised.

"Sure, 'Something to Believe In,'" he told her, before turning to Cam, "From Newsies."

"Are you sure?"

"We know the whole thing by heart," Y/n assured him.

Cam walked out in front of the curtain.

"Well, ladies and gentlefolk. You asked for an encore, so an encore you will receive," as Cam spoke, Manny ran to tell the pianist what the encore would be.

Cam continued, "But first, I'd like to thank my terrific cast for getting over humongous hurdles, especially my incredible leads, who only stepped into their roles today, having previously not been a part of the cast, but the crew. And who, just now, pulled an extra song out of their hats, like theatre magicians,"

He looked at the pianist asking, "We're ready?"

The pianist confirmed he was, indeed, ready.

"This is 'Something to Believe In' from Newsies," Cam said with a smile, before walking off stage.

The curtain had risen again, revealing that the mobile set pieces had been removed. There stood Luke and Y/n, the former of which had changed slightly: he had ditched his suit jacket, rolled up his sleeves, messed up his hair, and was standing so the audience could only see the normal side of his face. Their plan was to run the scene from first line to exit, and that's exactly what they did.

Sitting in the audience, Alex and Haley quietly squealed to each other. For years, they had been having monthly movie nights, just Haley, Alex, Luke, and Y/n. And each month, they watched one of four movies. Newsies being one of those movies. They had often joked that Y/n was like Katherine, joining another family. And each time "Something to Believe In" would start, someone would say it must be one of the best love songs ever, and the rest of the kids would agree.

Boy, did the two actors have fun with it. The nudging, the kiss. The playful looks turned to silent flirting. Everything they wanted to do in their own lives, and the song required all of it. When the curtain lowered for the final time, the audience erupted in cheers. Backstage, Cam ran to Y/n and Luke, engulfing them in a hug only a proud director/uncle could give.

I don't own Modern Family or any of its characters/plots. I don't own The Phantom of the Opera or any of its characters/plots/songs. I don't own Newsies or any of its characters/plots/songs.

[doloresdisparue]

In some of your recent posts, you mentioned a Lolita musical? I didn't know there was a musical! Is there a place to listen to it/watch it??

- Someone who finds the book interesting, and deeply loves music

HELLO YOU HAVE COME TO THE RIGHT PLACE. If the Lolita musical has a million fans, then I am one of them. If the Lolita musical has ten fans, then I am one of them. If the Lolita musical has only one fan then that is me. If the Lolita musical has no fans, then that means I am no longer on earth. If the world is against the Lolita musical, then I am against the world etc etc. Here's my tag in case my elaboration makes you curious

It's called "Lolita, My Love" written by Alan Jay Lerner with music by John Barry. It premiered in 1971 and promptly flopped so hard that they canned it during tryouts before it even had a Broadway premiere though it has been critically praised since.

(Not since Carrie: forty years of Broadway musical flops by Ken Mandelbaum)

Lerner rewrote the script six times with significant changes in the different versions and you can look at most of them only through the LIbrary of Congress where his papers are preserved. In essence there are three versions. Philadelphia (very little information available), Boston (this version has a soundboard recording of the audio for the entire show on youtube from a preview show) and post-closing (this is where he cracked the code). The post-closing version was obviously never staged by Lerner BUT it was the main basis for the 2019 revival showing put on by the York Theatre and directed by Emily Maltby (one of the few women to direct an adaptation and while I don't think that is at all necessary for a good one she did a phenomenal job). It was a special event that only ran for a week and had no costume, no stage design and everyone with scripts in hand but it's the closest to a real production that has ever been done. Unlike the original 71 production it also did not cast any children and did not require them (or anyone) to be semi-nude. Dolores was played by an actress in her early 20s (Caitlin Cohn) who proved you could put on the show without endangering kids perfectly well.

The significant change between the Boston script and the Revival version (which takes small things from all scripts but is largely based on his final draft) is the (re-)addition of Dr. Ray as a framing device. To adapt the novel format to the stage Humbert is continuously telling his story to Dr. Ray who is interviewing him for his case. She (they cast a female black actress for the role in the revival) questions, interjects and overall holds the audiences hand a little when it comes to working out just how unreliable Humbert is. I like the Boston version where he talks directly to the audience but I fear we as a society have proven that we need a Lolita adaptation that holds peoples hands at least a little. Another delightful aspect is that, just like in the book, Humbert is actively using his medium against the reader/audience. Dr. Ray is always on stage as Humbert essentially directs the rest of the show to present his version of the story to her. At certain points light and music cues tell the audience that he is clearly making things up, Dolly starts moving like a marionette and talking as if she is hypnotised. Meanwhile he switches seamlessly between the interview and participating in the action, directing the ensemble, setting the scene so to speak

but sometimes the action freezes or the lights abruptly come on when she interrupts him, immediately jarring the audience to attention in case they got a little too carried away in his catchy songs.

It's also a production that has a profound love for Dolly and, to my knowledge, the only adaptation that made the conscious choice to let her survive. Erik Haagensen, who put together the script, talked about how her death was never in any of Lerner's drafts and he wouldnt have included it if it was because it was so important to him to spotlight that she was a survivor and she still had a life after her abuse and honor the pehmomenal strength it would have taken her to get to that place at all because she is NOT broken and her life ISN'T over and that was important to him. I do understand and respect Nabokov's choice to go full tragedy but it's another reason the musical is close to my heart. I also cannot talk about this show without noting its distinction of featuring perhaps the worst line in musical history ever sung by a human being (saying this affectionately since it does its job of making you scream):

I could talk forever about other choices and the individual songs but this has gotten long enough I think. But feel free to hit me up (and this goes for anyone else too) if you want to talk more about it!

TL;DR: There is currently no way to watch "Lolita, My Love" as there is only an audio recording of a preview for the 1971 show, not a video and the archive recording of the revival (which exists!) is not publicly available (presumably for legal reasons). At least 2 songs are on Spotify re-recorded by commercial artists (Going, going, gone and In The Broken Promise Land of 15) as well as a purely instrumental version of the title theme (Lolita by John Barry) which i adore. The scripts are in the Library of Congress and potentially buried in other places but I have not found them anywhere online, though you can look at all the lyrics and small summaries of the action of each song in "The complete lyrics of Alan Jay Lerner" by Dominic McHugh and Amy Asch, which is widely available.

[avenin7]

Stupid mod au questions to answer at your convenience - road trip edition.

*Which characters can/will drive?

*Who chooses the music and what are they playing?

*Who inhales car snacks the whole jorney and who gets super car sick?

*Who is antisocial and wears their headphones the entire time and who talks nonstop and tries to get everyone to play games?

*Who has a steel bladder for like nine hours and who shamelessly pees in a bottle?

*Who takes the night shift driving?

*Who demands they stop at McDonald's and what is everyone getting?

*Who conks out and sleeps the whole jorney? Who takes gratuitous photos of them to upload to Instagram?

*Who gets unbearably cranky being in a small space with other people for too long and ends up in a fight?

*Finally; which song comes on the radio that causes them all to have to sing along?

Hii! Thank you for the ask! I wanted to do some art to go along with it it but I am burnt out haha. I've actually thought about this a lot actually!!

As much as Daruk would want everyone to carpool in his van, nobody trusts that shitbox to not explode within 60miles, so they take Link's subaru. Drivers would be all of them but location decided who's driving where. Revali, Urbosa, Mipha, Daruk can all navigate in cities pretty well (Daruk REQUIRES directions or else he will pick a direction and just drive endlessly). Link and Zelda do better with highway driving. They don't like last minute changes or not knowing where they're going, so being on the highway and cruising is preferable. (Link has really really good navigation, he just gets overwhelmed easily).

I would say they are probably listening to Urbosa's music the most. Second is probably Daruk. They both lean towards r&b music and pure chill vibes which is good for driving. (NOT Mipha's Rob Zombie or Link's Skrillex). They play that stuff when they're trying to stay awake at 2 am

Daruk & Link are the car snack demolishers but also surprisingly Revali as well. He mindlessly eats to keep himself engaged while driving (especially if nobody is actively talking to him). The rest of the group is eating junk but Revali & Urbosa are snacking on roasted cashews and spicy pickles like the freaks they are. And also speaking of food. When on road trips dietary restrictions kind of go out the window for sake of convenience. So nobody is really worried about "oh McDonald's is unhealthy" because theyre most just wanting easy calories for cheap. They usually just get a massive order of like 40 chicken nuggets and several large fries and plain burgers to share. If anyone wants anything specific they order it for themselves. (The amount of sauce packets lost in Link's car is unreal)

I think they'd all go in shifts of being antisocial and overstimulated. Having to take frequent breaks to stretch and get away from each other. But Link probably wears his ear defenders the most when he's not driving. Mostly cause even if everyone is quiet there's still going to be noise. So surprisingly he gets the most bickery and angry with people. Snappish. Revali or Mipha would probably try and get people to talk the most. Revali because he gets really bad highway hypnosis and so talking helps him. Mipha because she just loves making up games. Also she and Link are the ones to yell "cows!" every time they see them outside. (while Link reverently murmurs "horses" whenever he sees a horse)

Revali and Urbosa share nightshift driving duties. They both have the best eyesight and enjoy the quiet. Mipha also does too and her & Revali have had some really good heart-to-hearts while everyone has been asleep.

Link I think would want to conk out but can't, so Daruk does. He would be out and snoring the entire drive. 16 hours. He doesn't give a fuck. I think Zelda or Mipha would be the instagram photo girlies. Wanting to capture the moments (especially Mipha, she has a passion for photography). Revali only takes cringefail photos of everyone for blackmail xD

any song by Shania Twain or Lincoln Park is screamed at top volume. Also Eminem, 50 Cent, Sean Paul, Post Malone. Nobody is a Swiftie but if somebody had to be, it would be Revali 100%. (I have other songs and artist but I can't think of any right now TAT I do have a playlist of au music)

Don't Stop Believing by Journey is another song everyone screams and Bohemian Rhapsody. Pink Floyd is a particular favorite of Daruk, Link, Urbosa

Oh! I forgot! Link and Zelda can hold their bladders the longest. Daruk/Revali are both peeing in bottles without a care. Urbosa would but she doesn't have a device to help. Mipha thinks they're all gross and unhealthy in their bladder habits.

[cursed-man-prayers]

High Infidelity is about Miss Americana.

Notes before we begin: First, I can’t post screenshots from the doc bc Netflix, but I have pulled direct quotes and rewatched scenes over and over as I wrote this analysis. The more I watched, the more this theory made sense.

Second, while I obviously don’t know what Taylor Swift’s relationship with her dad is like, the clips in Miss American plus the song tolerate it are enough to convince me that he’s not/wouldn’t be accepting of Taylor being queer. There’s a reason she’s a mama’s girl. This is a Scott Swift hate account.

Let’s begin

Verse One

Lock broken,

A common interpretation of this lyric is the invasion of privacy that is someone reading your diary/journal. Having a locked diary is also something most common with young girls (only girls get privacy, sorry lads), and in Miss Americana, the first diary that Taylor shows in the first scene while she says the first words of the film is a diary that has a lock, and there’s also a closeup of another diary with a lock, as well as the words “bitch session.” There’s also the very common trope/reality of parents reading your diary. Speaking from personal experience, this can genuinely be traumatic, especially taking into consideration the next two words.

Slur Spoken

Seeing as Taylor is a white woman, I genuinely don’t know how else this can be interpreted besides a homophobic slur being spoken. $!u and b*!tch are derogatory, but that’s not the same thing as being a slur. Also, I’m not going to justify the “she’s talking about slurring words while drunk!!” interpretation bc that makes less sense than thinking the slur is “whore.” (I think the diary I mentioned that says “bitch session” is further proof that Taylor doesn’t consider ‘bitch’ to be a slur, even though she has called out the misogynistic way men use it in music.)

Wound open, game token

The person who is breaking this lock and speaking this slur and opening this wound is using Taylor’s pain as a means to get a prize. “You play stupid games you win stupid prizes” (MAATHBP), “You knew you won, so what’s the point of keeping score?” (hoax).

I didn't know you were keeping count

In the Man music video, during the tennis match, Scott Swift is playing the scorekeeper. This line is repeated multiple times in the song. The context of the repetition does change and develop throughout the song.

Rain soaking, blind hoping

I think this refers to the Lover era and how Taylor was not able to come out (specifically that video where she’s talking about ME! and looks sad as shit). I think it’s also a reference to Midnight Rain, rain being a metaphor for unexpected, unseen change, and also the isolation of staying hidden.

You said I was freeloading / I didn't know you were keeping count

As someone with a dad, I can confirm that this is very dad-coded. Like, I can’t think of a context in Taylor’s life where a romantic partner would’ve said this to her, especially considering how idk, rich and successful she’s been since she was a teenager? While I don’t think her dad would ever be justified in saying this to her either, it could be a reference to him throwing his role in her career in her face, the way we see in Miss Americana.

Chorus

This is where things come together in terms of being about Miss Americana.

High infidelity / Put on your records and regret me / I bent the truth too far tonight / I was dancing around, dancing around it

In order to produce a consumable product (the Lover journals) around her and her art, she had to dance around the full truth. The entries were meticulously chosen and most likely edited. In Miss Americana, the segment where she “comes out” as a democrat feels like it might’ve been a different kind of coming out story, especially when you factor in the creation of You Need To Calm Down. It comes across as extremely personal, and while there are multiple factors leading to the experience being emotionally charged for Taylor, I do think that her own queerness is one of those factors. The entire documentary feels like she’s dancing around a bent truth.

Put on your headphones and burn my city

Putting on headphones is shorthand for ignoring someone. “Burn my city” in the context of how Taylor equates her (former) lover with *a certain city* feels like an indication that the subject of the song did something to sabotage and burn down the relationship. I think this is a reference to how her career and the people controlling it (such as her father, but others as well) ruined the love she’s been singing about since reputation.

Your picket fence is sharp as knives

This also goes back to Midnight Rain (“my town was a wasteland, full of cages, full of fences”)

I was dancing around, dancing around it

Taylor has used dancing as a literary device throughout her discography. I believe it’s typically a metaphor for queerness.

Post Chorus

Do you really want to know where I was April 29th?

This goes back to the diaries from Miss Americana. This is Taylor being confronted about a journal entry from an April 29th where she wrote something gay. When *her dad* saw it, it led to a slur being spoken.

Do I really have to chart the constellations in his eyes?

This refers to the segment in Miss Americana that is allegedly all about Joe. Call It What You Want plays over a montage of videos filmed by an unseen lover. The only clip actually featuring Joe in the entire film is a single moment where Taylor and Joe look vaguely excited to see each other after one of the Rep shows. The way she wrote and sung this line makes it seem like charting constellations in some dude’s eyes is the last thing she wants to do.

Verse Two

Storm coming, good husband / Bad omen / Dragged my feet right down the aisle

This very much sounds like Taylor being forced to be romantically linked in a traditional, heterosexual way. The storm coming and bad omen are what led to her being pushed into this, likely the media storm that happened in 2016. It ties together the lines about pickets fences and how the rain referenced in the first verse is connected to Midnight Rain, because, as we learned with the very first track on Midnights, Taylor is not interested in 1950’s shit.

At the house lonely,

“To a house not a home all alone ‘cause nobody’s there,” Dear Reader

good money,

“the jokes weren’t funny, I took the money” from YOYOK is just one example of how the money comes at the cost of herself and who she is and her worth as a human being…

I'd pay if you'd just know me / Seemed like the right thing at the time

…but now she’s regretting paying that price, wishing that she could be truly known. It seemed like the right thing, but she’s realizing that it wasn’t. Alternatively, she regrets coming out to her and the price she now has to pay of knowing his love was conditional. She paid the price for being known. Also, during the clips that play during the segment allegedly about Joe, Taylor is singing Call It What You Want, specifically the lyric “At least I did one thing right” which is… devastating in this context. She also says:

But I wasn’t happy in the way that I was trained to be happy…It was happiness without anyone else’s input. It was just, we were happy.

Anyway she doesn’t seem happy anymore.

Pre Chorus

You know there's many different ways that you can kill the one you love / The slowest way is never loving them enough

This creates a strong connection to tolerate it. I feel like this lyric is the thesis of that song. Again, this is a very dad-coded lyric. It’s the slow realization that a parent’s love can be conditional. It’s like when a queer kid comes out and a parent says “I still love you, but…” There’s other contexts where that phrase could exist, but it’s an extremely common queer experience.

Do you really want to know where I was April 29th? / Do I really have to tell you how he brought me back to life?

I think this could refer to the narrative of Joe Alwyn being William Bowery (which is suspect at best and criminal at worst). She has to say that Joe helped her write devastating breakup songs like exile and champagne problems to keep up the narrative that they are in a VERY HAPPY relationship.

The next new lyric is in the third chorus and let’s just say I have thoughts about it.

Put on your records and regret meeting me

THIS LYRIC HAS BEEN DRIVING ME MAD FOR THREE MONTHS. In the other choruses she says “regret me,” but she changes it here to be “regret meeting me” in the last chorus. “Regret me” implies regretting the existence of Taylor Swift. It’s the people credited with kick-starting her career (such as her father!!!) putting on your records, a double-entendre for her albums + the awards and accolades she has earned for those albums. But! In this chorus! The lyric is! Regret meeting me! The promo for Midnights focused heavily on “meet me at midnight,” the concept that she would be showing who she really is with the album, so much so that people thought she might be coming out with this album. While I think this lyric is a reference to that narrative and the fear that her fans won’t get her or won’t like her after listening to Midnights, I also think it is about how her dad regrets learning who she really is, and how he therefore IGNORES IT by listening to the albums she wrote about me. This is the only lyric in the chorus that changes, and it’s seemingly such a small change, a single word added to the line, but that’s what makes it so massive. Because why would she change this lyric if not to completely change the meaning of the line? It’s drawing a distinction between regretting someone’s existence and regretting knowing the truth about them.

Oh, there's many different ways that you can kill the one you love

And it's never enough, it's never enough

I think the phrasing here implies that Taylor feels like she can never be good enough to earn the love she needs and deserves. This ties it, again, to the intro of Miss Americana where she’s going through her diaries and talks about how her main goal in life was to be a good girl.

Outro

The entire first chorus is repeated, and we have a new perspective.

You said I was freeloading

When it comes to this line specifically, I think it refers to the conversation about Taylor’s desire to speak publicly about politics, in which her dad throws in her face how he hired armored cars, essentially saying that she owes him something. It’s just phrased in an odd way and it makes everyone uncomfy.

I didn't know you were keeping count / But oh, you were keeping count

The repetition of the first chorus at the end of the song implies that this song is cyclical. It’s a loop that she’s trapped in. (If you put this song on repeat and turn up the crossfade, you can listen on a seamless loop). Tolerate It does the same thing. Repetition also draws attention to the lyrics while recontextualizing them. The last lyric (“but oh, you were keeping count”) is this acknowledgment that her relationship with this person was/is transactional.

What about the name of the song?

Okay, I’m convinced the only reason anyone would ever think this is a song about cheating is because of the title. Obviously, the primary definition of the word infidelity is cheating on a romantic or sexual partner. Nothing else in the song indicated cheating. SO. OBVIOUSLY. I GOOGLED. THE DEFINITION. TO SEE. WHAT. AN ALTERNATIVE. MIGHT. BE

unbelief in a particular religion, especially Christianity.

Jesus Fucking CHrist. Taylor Swift has called herself a Christian, and she has also written songs with overt religious themes, typically borrowing from Christianity specifically (Don’t Blame Me; False God; Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve; Soon You’ll Get Better). While I know that you can be queer and Christian, it is not unreasonable to conclude that coming out as queer to a conservative Christian (parent) would be considered a lack of belief in Christianity. Infidelity literally means “unfaithful.” To many people, Christianity and queerness are unreconcilable, to the point that they believe accepting yourself as queer can lead to you going to hell. While they won’t say this outloud, many Christians put “homosexuality” into a higher category of sin, meaning that being queer is HIGHLY UNCHRISTIAN, HIGHLY UNFAITHFUL, HIGH INFIDELITY.

One last thing. Miss Americana was released at midnight PST. Which is 3am EST. High Infidelity is a 3am track. So, yeah.

tl;dr

High Infidelity is about being considered unfaithful for being who you are. It’s about dying slowly because you are not loved (enough) for who you are. It’s about how the lies you’ve been forced to tell have forced you to be unfaithful to yourself. It’s about Miss Americana.

[ghostflowerhotpotch]

what's your favourite moment from the movie and why?

Shoot, that's such a difficult question; I really love this movie a lot so choosing is hard.

The answer may end up changing at some point, but the beginning of the movie (aka before the starting credits appear,) is my favorite.

I know this is a kind of a cop-out answer, especially because the reason I call this my favorite, is not so much because of what happens in the beginning (even though I still love the scenes for what they are,) but because the beginning of this movie is when I fell in love with it.

I wasn't going to give a long response but let's face it I can't.

The rest of this response would be part anecdotical, part praising the hell about this movie, and probably, some incomprehensible squealing because I love this movie so much is hard to find the right words.

Let's start with the anecdotical part.

I am not a movie person in the slightest, before last month I wasn't even a big fan of going to the movies; honestly, for most of my life the big screen, the sound, and such weren't enough to make it better that watch it in the comfort of my home.

This movie changed that for me. I had no way to run the numbers but I wouldn't be surprised if I had gone to the theatre this past month more times than I had gotten the past 10 years. I am going to be certain that's going to be the case by the time this movie stops showing up in theatres.

I decided to go and see this movie when it came out because I have Fridays free, and while I really liked ITSV, it wasn't my favorite movie, just one a enjoyed a lot but wasn't able to tick all the boxes for me to get up there.

Why go to see it when it came out? Because I didn't trust the internet wouldn't spoil me and even if the first film wasn't in my top 3, and while I wasn't sure the movie could live up to the bar the first set (Especially since the trailer didn't convince me.) One way or another, I want to see it for myself with as little information as I could so I would judge the movies for merit alone.

Because of the type of movie it was, the regular seating had already run out, so I ended up getting an extra expensive viewing. I remember seating in the theatre with my also overpriced food (Since I didn't go to see movies often may as well,) wondering if this was going to be worth all this money.

Let's than 20 minutes in, the movie proves to me it's worth that and much more.

This, this was the shot that I saw when I thought "Oh it was worth it."

Is hard to describe how hard this movie hits and let me remind you, this shot is before it hits the 15-minute mark. I had never liked something this much this quickly.

I remember being glued to my seat, absolutely baffled how in so little time this movie was able to make me adore it.

The beautiful art direction, oh I wish I understood art better because I know there is so much more going on that I don't have the vocabulary for it.

I caught on other little details, like for me it was obvious how the fact that Gwen's apartment had warm colors except for her room was a representation of how much she is isolating herself, how she herself is blue by drowning in her isolation, and how she only became warm by hugging her father, the only bond he has left with someone who is active in her life.

Seeing Gwen switch between her civilian self and costume, thinking to myself to what degree she is stuck to her costume that she feels the responsibility of the mantle in her bones even when there is nothing going on.

I have 0 music knowledge really, but Self-love is my favorite song in the entire movie, and part of it is hearing the lyrics resonate with what's going on the screen.

It's funny how I went from really not caring too much about something that happened to a character, to "The first four times I watched this movie I was crying at this part."

Granted, I know exactly why. Execution, time, and tone play heavily into this, after wall, we went from the moment being said in passing to having the flashback of how it plays it out, and is of course, a lot worse.

It reminds me of Encanto in a way, where Alma talking about the death of her husband doesn't come with a twist, in fact none of what she told us is really new information. However because we are seeing things from her true perspective rather that just being told a sanitized version of it, it hits all the harder.

Which is exactly what happens here.

(I didn't include the scenes of Gwen with Peter because the ATSV makes me teary eyed and I already talked a lot about it in other posts, and the one in ITSV is funny because is deadass Peter B model. That also plays a part.)

And this brings us to another reason why this sequence made me fall in love with this movie: Gwen.

For this, I need to talk about my opinion of Gwen in ITSV: I liked her, and that's it.

I thought her design was cool, I adored the way she move in combat as if she was dancing. I liked that she was a good fighter and so put together. If this movie would have come out a few years earlier, I know my teenage self would have had a massive crush on her.

Yet that was as much as I could say about her, the movie didn't give us as much time to get to know her, and while the cool, badass persona is fun, I need more than that to like a character.

Then this movie comes, and has me crying for Gwen at the beginning of the movie.

I came from barely having any attachment to this character aside from liking the aesthetics, to wanting to hug and tell her everything was going to be okay. As far as I am concerned she is my daughter.

(Let's ignore the fact I am not even 10 years older than her and in no way, shape or form ready to be a parent.)

I don't really have an analysis to make this, this is just a good joke that I like.

It does however kind of illustrate my point now, doesn't it?

This part is moving, is emotional, is an artistical marvel and this post doesn't even mention Vulture (a lot of people had talked about that already, including people who know enough about animation that can truly appreciate it; so I will just say my jaw was on the floor by that point.) All while being entertaining as heck.

Movies tend to be too long for me, in fact, I saw the new Indiana Jones recently and I was grasping for my phone around the 50 minute mark. Not to say the movie is bad (not really my taste but that's on me,) but to illustrate that this isn't my type of thing.

The new Indiana movie is only 10 minutes longer than ATSV, yet ATSV is the movie I had watched MULTIPLE TIMES already, and still sit through without being the least bit bored. It doesn't matter the number of times I had said this already because I still can't believe it.

And is at the beginning of this movie that it encapsulates the essence as to why it works so well, this is the part that reminds me why I had gotten to watch this on the big screen the number of times I had, is the reason why this movie has basically become my comfort watch, the thing I see when I am stressed out and I want to immerse myself in something I love.

I said at the beginning is a cop-out answer, and this is why; the beginning has all the part that reminds me why I adore the movie to the degree I had done, and while I love so many scenes, this is the part that comes to mind when I think of favorite.

[hatchetburiied]

MUSIC AS REBELLION

Noah's music, in short, is her way of making sure history isn't obscured or changed by those who would twist the story and place the blame on innocents, her act of rebellion against Yhwach. In most places like the Wandenreich who are ruled by someone like Yhwach, music is indeed seen as a way to make the common man think. It can tap into your emotions in ways no one knows, it can make you think...it can open your eyes.

Music plays a decisive role in dictatorships. Like no other art, it appeals to people’s emotions without detours via the intellect, which totalitarian regimes like to undermine. Music, as everyone knows, can overwhelm, and ruling powers have exploited this potential at all times. In dictatorships, this usually happened in a planned manner and on a large scale. Music policy in almost all regimes shows certain similarities. One of its basic features is that it distinguishes between desired music (music that benefits the regime) and undesired music (music that does not benefit or even harms the regime) and acts in two directions: Desirable music and its composers are strongly promoted, while undesirable music and its composers are marginalized, suppressed or made to conform. (X)

Noah's music is no different seeing as how her & the troupe's songs are well known throughout quincy history- try as the wandenreich may but these songs will never die. Noah's been writing songs since she was a CHILD, her most popular one (A message about what happened 1000 years ago to her home) is seen as a POWERFUL rebellion anthem- it makes people think, it's not a sob story. The words used, the way it's sung- the way it can be used to rally those together no matter the side against an enemy...

It's such a powerful weapon that no one can silence it, even if she somehow lost the ability to speak, they'd still live on. It's a slap to the face for the quincy empire hiding in the shadows of their enemy, and Noah knows it. Her music while an act of rebellion is also a suicide act once she's within those walls, it could get her killed but it doesn't stop her from continuing what she loves and believes in. Besides it has to be a fragile empire of one group can gift hope through their art to those who wish to see the freedom of their people and incite rebellion.

Music is still a powerful weapon in it's own right as it is, but to have it reach not just the people you know as a species, but an entirely different race alone and have it spark hope for them as well.

[liskantope]

I don't know if there's a name for this trope, but lately I've been thinking of a character that pops up from time to time in literature, which can be described as someone with quirky magical abilities used to promote the deserving and punish the wicked, playing a crucial role in the plot by doing this, but who on a more personal level has an amoral streak, or isn't particularly nice or kind, and whose methods are ethically suspect.

Willy Wonka from the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory book, and to some extent also the Gene Wilder rendition of that character, exemplifies this for me. I saw the Wonka movie that came out around last December and found it fun and entertaining but on a fundamental level was bothered by how perfect, idealistic, and saintly they wrote the young Wonka to be (without acknowledging any dissonance between that version of him and the Wonka we already knew from the original book and movie, or indicating that some change in his character would arrive along the way).

It's hard for me to come up with other examples that direct, especially ones that aren't somewhat obscure, but maybe Yay in Questionable Content in their earlier appearances (eventually, as with most QC characters, Yay drifted towards the central gentle-hearted-with-some-quirks default), or, more questionably, the Ellimist in the Animorphs series.

(EDITED TO ADD: Two days after originally writing this post, I'm delighted to see a direct comparison between Willy Wonka and the Ellimist appear on my dash.)

In the Disney and Broadway musical version of Beauty and the Beast, I have to interpret the enchantress (basically never seen, only showing up in the prologue, but crucially setting up the entire backstory) as exactly this type of character. I'm not sure that punishing a selfish person by turning him physically into a beast and only allowing him to un-transform if he managed to form a genuine romantic relationship with someone, when he didn't understand the concept of genuine relationships in the first place, was really the best approach. But even accepting for the sake of argument that it was, I was bothered for years by the fact that she enchanted the other occupants of his castle as well, turning them into household objects so that they were essentially imprisoned along with their already unpleasant and now bitter and rage-prone master. For a long time I viewed this as a plot hole, and apparently so did a lot of other people because an awkward line or two was added to the musical version to "explain" it and a bunch of lines with an even more tortured explanation were added to the (IMO rather bad) recent Emma Watson movie adaptation. I now think this shouldn't have been treated as a plot hole, and the enchantress' decision to punish everyone along with the prince should have been left alone with no explanation added. The enchantress (really maybe better called "witch") character can simply be interpreted as falling under the "Wonka mold": she knows profound selfishness from genuine capacity to care for others but likes to punish people for the former in a way that itself doesn't have to conform to the highest standard of ethics. (Note the irony that the clumsy explanations offered, which if I remember right boil down to "the people around the Prince didn't do enough to stop him from turning into a bad person", make the witch if anything look arguably rather victim-blamey and worse and an even less perfectly just agent than before attention was called to her decision to enchant everyone.)

[persicipen-archive]

Tbh i feel genshin has been watering down some quests mainly because the cast had been increasing. There are too many characters atp.

But regarding each nation, we do get liyue content every year with the lantern rite and event mondstadt has some smaller events. They keep having itto festivals idk whyy, and literally a rock n roll festival without xinyan was absolutely illegal.

Sumeru was anyways overdue for the sabzeruz festival, and it'd be stupid for them to not do it. Sumeru feels like home mostly because of the way the characters interact with each other. As a south asian myself i might be a bit biased here, but i feel in the other nations, some of the characters are still like strangers to each other (inazuma bec of the war, fontain because of the work they do but ig that's been changing after the archon quests).

Now with natlan the abyss is become the centre stage again. We saw them bring back the traveller's purification abilities, and some abyss related lore in kinich's tribe quest. So i guess we're finally gonna be back on track with our main objective! So let's hope they play it out well 👾

hii, i love whenever i see you in my inbox ready to discuss things <3 and sorry for taking a few days to reply, but i’ve been busy and couldn’t gather my thoughts properly! beware of long yapping below the cut ₊ ˙ ⊹ .

i’m not south asian, but sumeru does feel like home. i must say that some earlier mondstadt events had the same vibes because they used to feature most of the cast interacting with each other, but it’s been a long while since a proper mondstadt event.

so, with natlan i’m really torn. the quests are overall well done, but at the same time not meeting my expectations. but that’s a topic i already wrote essays about when talking with my friends. in short, i don’t think natlan is a good representation of the nation of war. i’m not talking here about cultural aspects, but just the premises genshin itself promised to deliver. and i think they failed. inazuma is still leagues above when it comes to that grim and heavy atmosphere of war — in terms of world quests and exploration, not in archon quest and character interactions, though. i entered natlan feeling like i’m walking through a summer map, dancing, singing, sunbathing, without an ounce of fear that the abyss may suddenly attack.

but yes, the cast for now has quite solid interactions among each other and they feel very human, albeit more serious than just being friends — they are warriors fighting for the same cause. i can’t wait to hear them talk more and do stuff together!

the watering down quests issue is disproportional, kinda — i wouldn’t expect the same amount of personality exploration from, for example, xinyan, who’s just a girl trying to get her local neighbourhood to listen to new music, and mona, who can literally peek into someone’s fate and is affiliated with the hexenzirkel witches. but yes, music festival without xinyan was criminal. so many young and mortal characters have to fight for screentime with centuries old characters that know teyvat’s most guarded secrets.

we had multiple events focused on itto, who’s basically just a neet with an interesting oni legacy going on in his past (that wasn’t even brought up besides his story quest, a pity), but barely any focus on pretty much any other inazuma character. there’s also candace, who’s a direct descendant of king deshret and doesn’t even have a hangout yet — we got a few meaningful scenes with her only now, during sabzeruz festival. fischl and rosaria are from early genshin patches and don’t have their hangouts, too, although fischl had an amazing arc during the second summer event (no longer accessible for most players, a pity, again).

the beginning of fontaine quests was more like navia’s story quest than her actual story quest, and she’s present throughout the entire fontaine chapter despite being “just” a mortal — she’s in top characters with most voicelines, and it’s been barely a year since her introduction. good for her! but other mortal characters in just as influential positions (if not more) are so easily forgotten — keqing, ayato, jean, kokomi, and such. sara is the right hand of the shogun herself, and she doesn’t have a hangout, either. her appearances in events turned her into raiden simp and that’s all lmao

i do have some gripes because hoyo should rethink releasing fodder characters if all they plan to do with them later is to abandon them because they’re just… a guy LOL unfortunate to be the fan of these characters </3

[holdonunreal]

Chapter 11: 🎄 Christmas Special: Christmas Party 🎉

Summary:

Unaware that the college has organized a big Christmas party, you reluctantly let Karasu drag you along. To you, it doesn't feel like a real party or a real Christmas. But you soon realize that this was all part of Karasu's plan. After all, the organizer of the entire event is none other than your Crush DogDay.

"A college Christmas party?"

The words leave your mouth, half in disbelief, half reluctantly. As soon as you say them, you feel an unpleasant tug in your stomach - the familiar nervousness that always comes over you when it comes to crowds or social engagements.

You're sitting on your warm, soft bed, wrapped up in your blanket while your headphones play soft music. It's one of those moments when just getting up and doing anything seems like an insurmountable task. The darkness of your room, the muffled sounds of the music - everything feels like a cocoon that you are reluctant to leave.

Karasu's message appears on your phone again. "So? Are you coming with me? Christmas party, Dude!" He's already texted you five times, and each time you've briefly considered just putting the phone on silent and ignoring him. He usually asks Boxy things like that, and it usually ends in a curt "lick my balls" that settles it for both of you.

But this time it's different. Karasu seems to mean business. You can almost see his annoying grin in front of you as he continues to print on your screen with a mixture of tenacity and persuasion.

What could possibly go wrong?

After a lot of thinking back and forth - and because you know he won't stop otherwise - you finally give in to your curiosity. You slowly type out an answer, even though you're already struggling with the decision inside.

'When do you want to show up there? It's already dark outside.

You send him the message and not a second later the blue ticks appear. Of course he reads them immediately - Karasu is quicker than you would like. As you return to the music, select a new song and ponder, lost in thought, who will all be at this party, your phone vibrates again in your hand.

'Be with you in eight minutes, stop wanking and get ready.

You stare at the message before letting the phone drop with a soft sigh. Typical Karasu. The nervousness in your stomach grows, but somehow his directness forces you to slowly get out of bed.

Eight minutes. That's great.

You slowly get up from your bed, the feeling of heaviness running through your whole body. It's almost like a typical morning of getting ready for college - the warm blanket you reluctantly leave behind and that thought in the back of your mind that you're about to go into a situation you don't feel like going into.

But this time it's not for lectures or seminars, but for a party. A bloody Christmas party.

With little motivation, you start to get ready. You reach for your standard hoodie and the long trousers you almost always wear. Practical, comfortable, inconspicuous - just your style. You don't have time to think about other options anyway. Seven minutes to go and Karasu will be at the door.

Besides, who are you dressing up for? It's not like you're really getting into conversation with anyone. You're not a social butterfly, and that's not in your nature. Your role is to stand in the background, listen and somehow get through the night without attracting attention.

You take a quick look in the mirror. No special changes, no styling - just you, as always.

That will have to do.

But before you leave the bathroom, you stop for a moment. Your gaze wanders around the room, almost absent-mindedly, until it lingers on one thing: the toothbrush.

She's still lying where you left her last night - on the edge of the sink, half-slid over the edge as if she'd given up on herself. You sigh softly and reach out your hand. But before you reach it, you pause.

I almost forgot.

You're not like everyone else. You have something that no one else on this planet has: superpowers.

You breathe in slowly and then breathe out again. A tingling sensation starts in the palm of your hand and spreads down your arm, like a gentle electric wave that you can barely feel, but is there nonetheless. Your gaze fixes on the toothbrush lying so inconspicuously in front of you.

Nothing happens at first, but then, with a barely noticeable movement of your finger, it lifts slightly off the edge of the pool.

The movements in the air are completely under your mental control. The toothbrush floats slowly upwards, turning slightly on its own axis as if it were weightless. The light from the bathroom catches in the drops still clinging to it, making it almost shimmer for a moment.

You concentrate, trying to ignore the gentle pressure in your head that always accompanies the use of your powers. With a calm, flowing movement, you let the toothbrush float to the cabinet hanging slightly open above the sink.

The toothbrush glides through the air and when it reaches the edge of the cupboard, you turn it carefully so that it falls perfectly into the cup. No noise, no unnecessary movement - it sits exactly in place as if it had never been anywhere else.

You lower your hand and exhale, spared the familiar feeling of exhaustion this time. You stop for a moment and stare at the cupboard. It's nothing big, nothing earth-shattering, but still - it's yours.

You stand in front of the cupboard for a moment, your gaze fixed on the toothbrush, which is now sitting calmly and perfectly tucked away in its cup. The thought of how effortlessly you have just done this slowly creeps into your head. Superpowers. It sounds like something out of a movie, something that anyone else would see as a gift. But for you?

For you, they feel more like a curse.

As you look at the room, thoughts that you so often try to suppress emerge. Who would put up with someone like you if they knew what you can do? Even now, you often feel like an outsider who doesn't really belong. But if people knew that you... that you can make things float, that you can manipulate the world around you with your thoughts - how would they react?

Fear. Skepticism. Perhaps even disgust.

You feel the familiar weight on your shoulders getting heavier. Telekinesis was supposed to make you special, to give you something that would make you stand out from the crowd. But all it has done so far is drive you even further away from the others. To make you even more isolated.

You swallow hard and rub your temples. Why me? You keep asking yourself this question, but it remains unanswered.

For a moment, you think about what it would be like if Karasu, Boxy or Boogie knew about this. Would they still look at you as if you were normal? Or would you then finally be the "freak" who is even further out than you are now?

Not now. Just don't think about it Y/N.

The ringing of the phone finally pulls you out of your thoughts, and with a soft sigh you make your way into the living room. As soon as you enter the room, you see Karasu heading for the door before you can even react.

"I've already got it!" he shouts, almost too forcefully, and opens the door before you even have a chance to stop him.

Did he really just use the key from outside?

There he stands - with his trademark wide grin that immediately makes him look like an intruder, even if he feels completely justified. "Well, I thought you needed help with your outfit choice, Dude." he says as he pushes past you with a brazen matter-of-factness.

"Karasu..." you start, but he ignores you completely.

"Oh, what a cozy setup," he murmurs with feigned interest as he flops down on the couch, spreads his arms and really spreads out. "Ya' really do live like retired folks, ya' know that?"

You roll your eyes, cross your arms and wait for him to get to his point - if he has one at all. But instead, he starts filling the room with his usual commentary style.

"Nice and tidy here... kind of creepy. You're sure there's not a secret messy cupboard in here somewhere? Just a thought."

Before you can answer, he sits up straighter, taps his hand on the couch and grins: "There you go. I've got it all figured out! A nice outfit for DogDay!"

You are about to interrupt him when he continues directly: "Although..." He leans back with a theatrical expression on his face. "It won't do you much good if you take each other's clothes off after the party and -"

WHAT?!

You turn away hastily, the sound of his words hitting you like a blow. Your thoughts stop and you feel the blush shoot up your face, hot and burning.

Nevertheless, you can't prevent exactly what he has hinted at from suddenly popping into your head like a glaring image. DogDay, the party, you - and the rest, which you shouldn't allow yourself to imagine any further.

"Shut up!" you shout back, perhaps a little too loudly, hoping that it will be enough to shut him up. But you know that this is exactly what Karasu wanted to achieve: to upset you.

"I get it, Dude." His voice is calm, almost too calm, which is rare for him. "But that aside, we need to get going now! You don't want to be late for the Christmas party your girlfriend is throwing."

The word "girlfriend" sticks in your head, but you decide to simply ignore it. Instead, you think about the rest of his statement and suddenly the realization hits you.

DogDay hosts college Christmas party?

"Wait, wait, wait." You look directly at him, your eyes searching his face for any sign that he might be pulling your leg. But all you find is his usual impudent grin. "DogDay's organizing the Christmas party? For the whole college?"

"Who else but the year representative?" he replies casually, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

And with that, you set off.

At first glance, the college looks the same as always - the same imposing, huge buildings that stretch endlessly across the grounds. But there is one difference, one big, very big point that changes everything: It's Christmas.

The various buildings, normally cold and sober, are suddenly bathed in a sea of decorations. Strings of lights hang everywhere in a warm, golden glow, chasing away the cold of the night. Windows are painted with snowflakes, and in the courtyards there are huge, magnificently decorated Christmas trees whose stars seem to reach up into the sky.

The streets that run between the buildings are lined with lanterns glowing in red and green. Groups of schoolchildren walk around laughing and chatting, wrapped up thickly in coats and scarves, while the snow crunches under their feet. The whole atmosphere is so different - lively, warm, almost magical.

You feel the cold of the night on your cheeks as you walk along the main street with Karasu. His steps are energetic, almost like a march, and you struggle to keep up with him. But your thoughts are elsewhere.

The decorations are impressive, but they don't manage to displace the nervousness rumbling in your stomach.

The thought is stuck in your head, while you can hardly be distracted by the festive atmosphere around you. It's as if every string of lights, every decorated tree and every laugh from the other students reminds you of the distance between the two of you.

You. The little, antisocial loser that nobody really knows.

And DogDay.

The most beautiful girl in the whole college. The class president who organizes everything, has everything under control and is also the heart of the Smiling Critters - the most famous, lively and popular group at college. She is someone who is admired by everyone, someone who always has a smile on her face that lights up every room she enters.

You swallow hard and this thought slowly creeps back to the surface: it doesn't feel right to like her. At least not justifiably.

But the more you think about it, the harder the question becomes in your mind:

Does someone like me really have the right to like someone like her?

It's not just insecurity - it's a kind of guilt. Part of you believes it's wrong. Wrong to admire someone so unattainable, someone who brings so much light into the world, while you often feel like a shadow.

Karasu's voice snaps you out of your thoughts. "Hey, come on, don't look so serious! We're going to a party, not a funeral!" He pats you on the shoulder, his grin unconcerned as ever.

But it doesn't feel right.

As he continues to push his way through the crowd in front of you, you feel your body boiling with inner tension. The cold of the night, which feels like tiny needles on your skin, should actually help to calm you down. Instead, it seems to trap you even more in your own thoughts.

Maybe you should have put on a scarf. Or a hat. Something that would at least keep you a little physically warm. But as usual, you just put on your hoodie - a half-hearted attempt to hide from the world that could just as easily backfire.

The hood is tight, pressing against your head, and it feels as if it's just gripping your thoughts even tighter. They make it hard for you to see clearly, hard to concentrate. Everything about you is tense, every movement feels mechanical, as if you have to fight against the weight in your head.

You take a deep breath, see your breath rising in the cold air and try to calm yourself down. But it doesn't really work. Instead, the doubts, the insecurities and the question of why you're going at all pull you deeper into your own mental carousel.

Maybe I should just not go

The thought flickers briefly, but you shake it off immediately. Karasu wouldn't stop bugging you. Besides - you're already on your way. Going back would be cowardly, and you know it.

"Hey!" Karasu's voice echoes back to you as he turns briefly to your left. "Bet you're the first one at the party who needs a drink."

You snort softly, but don't really give an answer. Your thoughts are already one step ahead - or rather, your eyes are.

The building rises up in front of you and the sight gives you pause for a moment. The large Playtime Co logo is emblazoned above the entrance, framed by countless fairy lights that shimmer in a warm gold. The windows, huge and continuous like walls of glass, are also decorated, and through them you can already see the party inside.

Hundreds of people move around the room, their silhouettes dancing to the rhythm of the muted music outside. The play of light inside is vibrant, a mixture of red, green and blue that flickers through the room, adding to the festive atmosphere. It seems almost surreal, like a scene from a movie, and yet you are certain: this is real.

You stop for a moment, your feet feel heavy, as if they don't want to take the next step. The weight of the crowd you see behind the windows presses down on your chest. So many people. So much noise.

"Hurry up!" Karasu calls back without slowing down. "You don't want me to take your place with the ladies, do you?"

A soft sigh escapes you and you force yourself to keep walking, even though everything inside you is resisting. With every step, the building gets closer and the sounds of laughter and music get louder. You know that there's no turning back now - even if you secretly wish you could do just that.

I could still go...

The thought flickers in your mind, pushes itself to the fore and becomes heavier with every step you take.

Just turn around and walk home.  No one would notice me, and even if they did, what difference would it make?

You continue to look ahead, trying to concentrate on the huge building with the glowing windows. But your thoughts pull you in a different direction. Karasu, who is walking a few steps ahead of you, suddenly slows his pace. He half turns and his eyes meet yours.

This look challenges you, almost provocatively. Karasu knows exactly what kind of person you are. He knows that you're struggling with yourself right now, with the urge to just turn around and disappear. And that's exactly why he's waiting - not because he wants to rush you, but because he won't give you an excuse to pull yourself out of the situation.

I could listen to music on the way home.

The thought is tempting. Just put your headphones in, block out the world and walk, no matter how long it takes. The cold of the night would soothe you, and the darkness would envelop you like a cocoon, away from everything. It sounds so much easier than walking through the doors of that building and throwing yourself into a crowd that won't even notice you.

Karasu raises his eyebrows as if to say, "Well, what is it? Show me you're not as predictable as you think you are."

You take a deep breath, feel your shoulders rise and then fall again.

I should just go...

But your feet remain still. Your gaze remains on Karasu, on his challenging grin, which simultaneously annoys you and somehow draws you onwards.

Just a few more steps, you finally think and hesitantly put one foot in front of the other.

You walk on, this time next to Karasu, who finally looks like someone who is proud of you - or at least pretends to be. As he takes out his phone and apparently texts someone inside, your gaze remains fixed on the glass door in front of you. Just a few more meters and you'll be there.

Suddenly, the large glass door opens and two people step out - a boy and a girl.

The boy has blond hair that falls somewhat chaotically into his forehead. His green eyes glow faintly in the light of the decorations and his pale skin shows red spots from the cold. He is wearing a thick winter jacket that looks almost oversized, as if he had deliberately chosen it one or two sizes larger.

The girl next to him is almost the complete opposite. She has long, brown hair that falls perfectly around her shoulders and wears a bright white coat that looks almost too clean for the slush on the paths. Her hazel eyes barely stand out, but her smile and the way she tilts her head slightly to the side make up for it.

Your eyes linger on the two of them.

The boy bends down a little towards her, his movements slow, almost hesitant, as he ties her scarf tighter around her neck. It is a small, intimate gesture, so casual that it almost seems routine. Both of them have red cheeks, probably from the cold - or maybe not just from it.

You feel something tightening in your stomach. Not necessarily jealousy, but a strange feeling somewhere between envy and insecurity. Part of you wishes you were in a situation like this - to be so close to someone, so effortlessly, so naturally. But instead you're standing here, one step away from a party that feels just as unattainable as this snapshot in front of you.

"Don't look like that, Dude." Karasu's voice snaps you out of your thoughts as he grins and waves his phone slightly. "Your time will come."

You don't answer, just pull your hood down slightly and look at the door that opens in front of you.

As you enter the huge cafeteria, you are momentarily overwhelmed. The room is almost unrecognizable - a sea of decorations stretches across the entire hall. The high windows that let in the light during the day are adorned with sparkling fairy lights that glow in warm gold and make you forget the darkness of the night outside.

The tables, which otherwise appear sober and functional, are covered with red and green tablecloths with small, shiny snow globes and candles on them. Garlands of fir branches decorated with shiny baubles and bows hang on the walls. In the middle of the room stands a huge Christmas tree, the top of which almost touches the ceiling. Its branches are covered with ornaments, twinkling stars and glittering tinsel, and it shines so brightly that it almost seems like the heart of the celebration.

It smells of Christmas - of cinnamon, roasted almonds and fresh pine greenery, mixed with the sweetness of cookies and the hint of hot cocoa steaming from a table at the edge of the room.

There are people everywhere. Hundreds, maybe even thousands. They are sitting at the tables, laughing, talking, and some are standing together in groups, holding glasses in their hands and casting glowing glances at each other. The background noise is overwhelming - a jumble of voices, laughter and the muffled music coming from the loudspeakers.

Karasu stops for a moment and turns slowly around his own axis, his gaze gliding over the crowd. "I think Boxy's back there..." he finally mumbles, before scanning the heads again. "And Boogie's already here too!"

You follow his gaze, trying to find your way through the crowd, but the sheer number of faces makes it difficult. Karasu seems to have a clear plan, however, and pulls you further into the room as you still try to comprehend the size and energy of this moment. It's almost too much, and yet you feel a tiny spark of curiosity stirring underneath all the nervousness.

Just before you reach the table where Boxy and Boogie are already sitting, you feel the nervousness in your stomach grow stronger again. Your steps feel heavy, almost mechanical, as you run after Karasu, who seems unconcerned.

But just when you think you've made it, Karasu is suddenly recognized.

"Well, look who's here," a confident voice echoes from the right.

Your body stiffens instantly, and you take a quick glance in the direction the voice came from. The moment couldn't get any more awkward... but of course it can.

It says Kickin.

His blonde hair sits perfectly, as if he had just straightened it in the mirror. The typical cool-boy look is in his eyes, accompanied by that imperturbable grin that somehow always strikes just the right balance between self-confidence and arrogance. His attitude radiates as if he not only owns this room, but the whole party.

He leans casually against one of the tables, one hand in his pants pocket as he sets his sights on Karasu and you. "What are you doing here, Crow-boy?" he asks with a mocking smile, clearly intent on getting the upper hand in the conversation.

Karasu stops, turns with exaggerated slowness in Kickin's direction and puts on a grin that is just as confident. "Kickin. Well, you can be seen anywhere that smells of attention."

The tension between the two fills the room like an invisible net. You stop a few steps behind Karasu, unsure whether you should interfere or just be invisible.

Kickin. Naturally.

His name is enough to make you feel even smaller inside. You haven't met him often, but every time you do, it's impossible not to feel like an extra in his personal movie. The way he takes over every room makes you seem even more inconspicuous than you already are.

"It's cool that you made it to a party, Dude," Kickin says with a mixture of mockery and nonchalance as he eyes Karasu. Then his gaze shifts to you and his grin widens. "And who's that little shadow behind you?"

You feel your shoulders automatically tense up. His gaze, so penetrating and dismissive, makes you feel even more uncomfortable than you already do.

But before you can even begin to say anything, Karasu jumps in. "It doesn't matter," he says, his voice sounding almost annoyed, as if he doesn't even want to get into the subject. "How many people are actually here? Well, you know... girls and stuff."

There is silence for a moment. Kickin looks at Karasu, then runs a hand through his perfectly styled hair. His grin widens, and you notice how it takes on a dirtier, more self-satisfied note.

Your disgust for him increases immeasurably.

"Depends on how many you want to fuck..." Kickin finally replies in a tone that makes you shudder. "You know, a few have boyfriends."

His manner of speaking hits you like a ton of bricks, and you can hardly believe that someone can speak so cavalierly. It's disgusting, but what bothers you even more is the thought that this guy is one of DogDay's best friends.

How?

How can someone like her be friends with someone like him? This discrepancy, this abyss between his disrespectful manner and her warm, sincere demeanor - it just doesn't fit together. It's as if part of your image of her has suddenly cracked and you don't know how to deal with it.

Karasu, on the other hand, seems unimpressed. "Yes, great, Kickin. Thanks for the wisdom." He rolls his eyes and pulls you further towards the table where Boxy and Boogie are sitting.

You walk right along, keeping your eyes forward and not turning back to Kickin. Part of you hopes he'll just ignore you and not stare at your back as you keep walking.

Once at the table, you sit down immediately, as if the chair offers some kind of protection. Karasu, on the other hand, remains standing, his eyes wandering around the room as if he were looking for something - or someone.

Boogie is already sitting at the table, his posture relaxed as usual as he scrolls through TikTok on his phone. An occasional soft snort shows that he is fully focused on the videos.

Boxy, on the other hand, has his head bent over his phone, his fingers racing across the screen. The sound of Clash Royale - attacks and small cheering noises - mixes with the loud background noise of the party.

And you? You just sit there. Your hands rest on your knees, your eyes wander restlessly around the room before they land back on your friends.

What an atmosphere.

It's almost ironic. Here you are, in the middle of one of the college's biggest and liveliest Christmas parties, and yet it feels like you're in a bubble, isolated from all the energy around you. Your thoughts are loud, the voices in the room even louder, and yet you're sure that no one here is really talking to you or even noticing you.

Karasu gives you a quick glance, raises an eyebrow and seems to briefly consider whether he should say something. But he turns away again and continues to scan the crowd.

You follow his example, albeit more slowly and shyly. Your gaze wanders through the huge room, lingering on the various stalls that are set up everywhere. Roasted almonds, candied apples, cookies and all sorts of other treats - everything you could possibly want, and all for free.

Your stomach growls softly, barely audible, but it's enough to make your face flush. It's almost as if your own body is betraying you, and you feel uncomfortably exposed for a moment, even if no one is paying attention.

"Do any of you want anything? I'm planning on getting something anyway," Karasu says suddenly, his voice breaking through the silence in your head. You look up at him and immediately realize that he's not really asking it for himself - he's asking for you.

"R-Roasted almonds..." you stutter, the words stumbling out of your mouth before you can form them properly. You hear your own voice and immediately wish you could take it back. It sounds strange, almost foreign, and in the presence of your friends you are only more aware of it. "Please."

Karasu raises his hand as if to say something, but then he stops abruptly. His eyes widen and he looks over at the stalls before a slight, almost mischievous smile appears on his face. He directs that smile straight at you, and there's something about it that reminds you of a cat playing with its prey.

"You'd better get it yourself!" he finally says, the tone in his voice full of innuendo.

Huh

You don't understand what he means. Your gaze wanders back and forth between him and the stalls, but you can't see anything that would explain his reaction. Unsure, but also a little curious, you get up and slowly make your way.

Fortunately, the stalls are self-service, which means you don't have to talk to anyone - a small consolation. You reach for a small bag and fill it with the roasted almonds that smell of cinnamon. The warm, sweet smell immediately hits your nose and for a brief moment, everything else around you is forgotten.

You stop for a moment, the bag in your hand, and the smell awakens a memory in you - of the time when you went to the Christmas market with your parents. They always bought you those almonds back then, and for a few minutes, everything in the world seemed simple and right.

A small, almost unnoticed smile spreads across your face. It's rare, almost unusual, but at this moment it feels... right.

"Having fun?"

If you weren't so lost in thought, you would probably have been startled or even cried out loud. But instead you just wince slightly, your hand clutching the bag of roasted almonds a little tighter.

Slowly you turn to the right - and there she is. Right next to you.

DogDay.

Her smile is light, almost playful, but it has that unmistakable warmth that makes her so unique. She wears white ear warmers that fit perfectly around her head and highlight her blonde hair, which falls loosely over her shoulders. The tips of her hair ruffle slightly, as if the humidity of the night has touched them, but it looks as if it was intentional.

Her coat is a bright white winter dream that reaches just above her knees and emphasizes her slim figure. The buttons shine discreetly in the light of the Christmas decorations, and there is a delicate fur trim at the ends of the sleeves that frames her hands, which are wrapped in light gray gloves. A scarf made of soft knitted fabric, also in light gray, is loosely wrapped around her neck and blends in perfectly with her outfit.

On her feet, she wears simple but stylish winter boots in a warm shade of brown, standing firmly and confidently on the floor of the cafeteria. Her whole appearance looks effortless, as if she didn't need a second to look this perfect - a sight to take your breath away.

"DogDay..." You say her name almost automatically before you even realize that your voice is shaking. Your heart beats faster and you don't know whether it's surprise, nervousness or just the fact that she's standing next to you.

"I didn't expect to see you here, you know?" says DogDay with a smile so friendly and radiant that it almost leaves you speechless. She leans slightly to the side, her hands loosely playing with her scarf. "But I'm guessing Karasu dragged you along, right?"

You swallow hard, feeling your cheeks grow even hotter with nervousness. Her closeness, her voice - everything about it makes you incredibly nervous and you desperately search for the right words.

"Y-yes... he... he said I should go out," you finally stutter, your voice quiet and shaky. Your eyes wander briefly to the bag of almonds in your hand, as if it could somehow give you support, before you lift them back to it.

FUCK! What are you saying?! You fucking idiot!

DogDay laughs softly, a bright, melodic sound that simultaneously warms and tightens your chest. "That sounds just like Karasu," she says as she eyes you with a look that shows no mockery, only genuine curiosity. "He's really persistent when he sets his mind to something."

Her voice is so beautiful.

You nod hastily, almost too vigorously, feeling like you're only digging yourself deeper into your nervousness. "Yeah, t-that's him," you mumble, your voice barely more than a whisper.

DogDay takes a small step closer, not threateningly, but rather as if she is unconsciously closing the distance between you. "So, are you enjoying the party so far?" she asks, raising her shoulders a little so that the ear warmers shake briefly.

You search feverishly for an answer, feeling the words getting stuck in your throat. "I, uh... I mean, it's... quite nice," you finally say, and your cheeks feel like they're glowing. "T-the decorations are really... impressive."

Her smile widens a little more, her eyes literally light up. "Thank you! I helped plan everything. It was a lot of work, but it makes me happy to see people having fun."

She looks at you so honestly that you almost lose yourself in her gaze. You want to say something, anything that sounds clever or charming, but all you can get out is: "Y-you really... nicely."

She pauses for a moment, as if she hadn't expected such a comment. Then she smiles gently, her cheeks taking on a slight rosy glow - whether from the cold or your answer, you can't tell. "That means a lot to me, thank you."

The silence that follows doesn't feel uncomfortable, but strangely peaceful. But your heart is still beating like crazy and you don't know if you can stand near her any longer without completely losing your composure.

And whether you can believe it or not - you are unconsciously checking each other out.

Your gaze lingers on her face, so beautiful and almost snow-colored that it reminds you of the weather and the stillness of the snowy world. Her eyes seem to sparkle in the light of the Christmas decorations and her smile has something innocent yet overwhelming about it that makes your heart beat even faster. Her outfit, so perfectly coordinated and elegant, burns itself into your mind as if to tell you that you will never forget this moment.

At the same time, you feel her gaze settling on you. It's not a judgmental or condescending look, but it still makes you cringe inside. Suddenly you're even more aware of yourself - your simple hoodie, the old long pants and the fact that you look like a total outsider next to her. You really should have listened to Karasu when he told you to try a little harder. What good would it have done? Still, you feel like you're standing next to a goddess, and the contrast is impossible to ignore.

"I'm going back to my friends..." she finally says, her voice warm but with a hint of regret. She points in the direction of a table where a large group is sitting: the Smiling Critters.

"It was nice talking to you," she adds, before slowly turning and disappearing into the crowd, her coat flapping slightly in the wind.

You stand rooted to the spot for a moment, still overwhelmed by the encounter. Your heart is beating wildly and your thoughts are racing, but before you can take even a second to think, another voice pulls you out of your head.

"Do you have a hard-on, or why are you still standing here?"

Karasu.

His words hit you like a bolt from the blue and you actually jump slightly in shock, almost spilling the roasted almonds in your hand. He's standing behind you, arms crossed, with that smirk on his face that always suggests he knows exactly how to upset you.

"Dude, you have zero chill," he mumbles, shaking his head and stepping closer. "You talked to her and you're still alive? Respect, dude. But you're really lucky I covered your wingman break."

You try to say something, but your thoughts are whirling and all you can manage is a quiet, almost pleading "Leave me alone."

Karasu just grins wider, but says nothing more. Instead, he turns away and you make your way back to the table in silence.

You sit down with the others and, surprisingly, the evening actually passes in peace - at least on the surface.

Boxy is sitting at his phone as usual, deeply engrossed in a game and barely reacting to what's going on around him. Boogie occasionally talks about some computer-related topic, but nobody really seems to listen to him, except perhaps Karasu, who occasionally throws in a few sarcastic comments.

But the real problem is Karasu himself.

He keeps giving you sidelong glances, accompanied by that grinning expression that you are all too familiar with. In between, he makes hints that no one at the table really understands - except you.

"Hey, Dude, you know who really has a knack for decorating?" he suddenly says, intentionally putting a meaning into the sentence that you immediately realize.

You don't answer, just stare at the table in front of you and hope he'll stop. But he doesn't give up.

"I mean, that's impressive, isn't it? Organizing an event like that and then finding time to chat to people?" He emphasizes the last word and winks at you.

Boogie raises an eyebrow, looks back and forth between you, but says nothing. Boxy remains completely uninvolved, focused on his game.

You feel your cheeks getting hot again and try desperately to ignore Karasu's teasing.

Why can't he just stop?

The evening continues quietly, at least relatively quietly. The hum of conversation, the clinking of glasses and the soft music in the background fill the huge room as the crowd gradually relaxes.

Later, an announcement is made, a moment in which the conversations slowly fall silent and attention turns to the front. A small stage, which previously stood rather inconspicuously in the corner, suddenly comes into focus.

Its DogDay.

Her presence is effortless. She's still wearing her perfect winter outfit, the ear warmers are off and her hair falls freely over her shoulders. Microphone in hand, she looks like someone who knows exactly how to command a room.

"I would like to thank everyone who has come today," she begins, her voice clear and warm. The room is silent, everyone is listening to her. "And of course a huge thank you to everyone who helped make this celebration possible. Without you, none of this would have happened."

A round of applause breaks out, loud and hearty, and you feel your gaze turn almost magnetically towards them. It is impossible to look away. Her words are simple, but they carry an honesty that makes them so special.

"I hope you enjoy the evening and the last few weeks of this year. Celebrate, have fun and don't forget to relax - you deserve it."

Another smile from her, one that literally lights up the room, and a final round of applause accompanies her as she puts the microphone aside and leaves the stage.

Karasu leans over to you and whispers with a wink: "Your girlfriend really put on a show."

You don't answer, too busy ignoring the quiet fluttering in your chest as you try to inconspicuously avert your gaze from DogDay.

Later, as the party slowly draws to a close and the crowd thins out, Karasu tries to urge you to make one last move. "Come on, Dude," he says with a grin that won't let you talk your way out of it. "It's now or never. Talk to her."

Reluctantly, you get up, gather all your courage and search the hall for DogDay. But before you even have a chance to say anything, you realize that she's already gone. The place where the Smiling Critters used to sit is empty, their voices and laughter just an echo in the distance.

The evening ends quietly for you. The smells of cinnamon, cookies and the sweet warmth of the Christmas party are still with you as you make your way home alone. Every step through the cold night takes you deeper into your thoughts, into fake scenarios in which things are different - in which you would have said more, done more.

And so the college Christmas party ends for you. Not as a glamorous night full of memories, but as another quiet moment in your life - the life of an introverted teenager with superpowers that still take him a little further away from the world he would so much like to belong in.

Notes:

So that's it again, what a great Christmas special that didn't go anywhere. Actually, this special was supposed to take place at a Christmas market, you know, with different booths and hot chocolate and stuff like that. But then I decided to do it this way, after all, the next chapter in the Canon story is at a fun fair, and I don't want to double everything. I am happy about everyone who leaves love on this chapter, maybe also his opinion or something else. Merry Christmas to everyone.

[hoziersrealhusband]

my top five albums of the year

im writing an article for my radio station for my top 10s of the year (songs, albums, tv and movies) but i want to post this first. so get excited for that article! here are those albums though, im only going to give you five for now and some hints for 6-10 so you go read my article soon!!!!

also idgaf about my grammar in this im not back in class yet!

eternal sunshine by ariana grande

to anyone who knows me, this is probably a huge surprise considering an album that'll be at #3. ariana grande though has released some music that i will forever hold near and deep to my heart. this album is insanely massive growth for her lyrically and vocally. when she released sweetener in 2018, i saw that as her peak album; it had changed my entire life, and came when i needed it most. i really do see sweetener, thank u, next and eternal sunshine as sisters. eternal sunshine immediately topped her discography for me and made me love arianas music more than i already do.

2. cosmic by red velvet

this was my most anticipated album of the entire year. you could literally go to my twitter and look up "red velvet summer comeback" and i had been tweeting about it since summer 2023. cosmic is the perfect k-pop track to me and red velvet's best title track. the music video is beautiful and the b-sides on the album are just absolutely magical. the album celebrates the group's ten year anniversary and the groups love for their fans, and they couldn't have done it any better.

3. brat by charli xcx

going back to what i said under ariana's section. its probably going to be a surprise to MANY that this isn't #1 for me. im honestly surprised that it's not going at #1. BUT, to actually talk about the album. brat was a cultural phenomenon. the brat wall, the brat shade of green that was everywhere, the ROLLOUT. this album was perfect and launched charli into her much deserved mainstream fame. this is an album that i hope sweeps awards because the work and love charli put into this album is incredible and very much shows.

4. lana by sza

yes, we only got this deluxe version of the album not even a month ago. but thats how good it is! even though it is a deluxe for SOS, im gonna look at it as its own album. it is such a perfect reflection to her previous album. my favorite songs from this bmf, scorsese baby dady, crybaby and saturn are absolutely gonna be songs i play on REPEAT when thinking of and talking to/about [REDACTED]. i also love the sample in the interlude. GREAT ALBUM!

5. i did by yves

it would absolutely not be my top five if someone from loona wasnt here. out of all of the solo/group work from the loona members, im the most shocked by yves. even though i knew that the style of music she does is something she really likes from the artists she listens to, i am so happy with the direction her artistry is going! her music is so catchy and the production is amazing. although, the way loona abruptly had to take a break from promoting as a group was very heartbreaking, it has been so amazing seeing the work all the members have been able to do in the past two years. every single member of loona has shown sides of themselves artistically that we may have never been able to see under [REDACTED BAD TERRIBLE AWFUL COMPANY. cough. bbc. cough.] im very excited to see whats next from yves.

thanks for reading! now take a look at whos going to be in 6-10, its out of order so try and guess whos gonna be where