#total drama mirrored skates

[funkoso]

Mirrored Skates! First Chapter out now on ao3!

Alt photo: Guess who is writing over their yearbook photos 🧐🧐

[ravemorales]

─ 🎬 ( MAIA REFICCO, 28, CIS WOMAN, SHE/HER. ) Have you heard of  RAVEN MORALES yet? i believe they’ve been living in LA for SIX YEARS they’re currently working as an CAMERA OPERATOR in the movie. somethings that remind me of them are: DRINKING FAR TOO MUCH COFFEE TO BE HEALTHY, SWITCHING BETWEEN LANGUAGES WHEN SHE’S FRUSTRATED, REWATCHING HER COMFORT MOVIES TO THE POINT OF MEMORIZING LINES, QUICK SARCASM ON THE TIP OF HER TONGUE PAIRED WITH CHEEKY GRINS. before joining this project, i’ve heard they were known for being SELF CONFIDENT, OPTIMISTIC AND WITTY. however, on the down side, they’re also known to be RECKLESS, STUBBORN & SARCASTIC. because of this, they’re often labeled as THE ICARIAN. i just hope they come to set prepared. especially since I’ve heard those call times are going to be pretty early!

𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐒 …

𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄: raven adriana morales

𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄(𝐒): ray, rave, mora

𝐁𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐇 𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄: september 25th, 1996

𝐀𝐆𝐄: 28 years old

𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐂 𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍: panromantic

𝐒𝐄𝐗𝐔𝐀𝐋 𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍: demisexual

𝐀𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐒: making coffee or tea for the ceremony of it, wearing a necklace like an oath, laidback confidence, when her style switches between a donna sheridan summer or an unreleased episode of supernatural, unceremoniously blowing curly hair out of her eyes, haphazardly hanging from all manner of bannisters and railings to get the perfect shot

𝐁𝐈𝐎𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐇𝐘… (yo alexa, play the opening of mirrors by justin timberlake)

So ya want the report of one (checks scribble on hand), Raven Morales? Well you came to the wrong right place!

Born to a woman on the run, she didn’t want a child in the first place, and dumped Raven off in the first firehouse that she could find. So, she was a kid of the fine state of Massachusetts for the first few years before the Morales couple came around.

They were on the older side, and never able to have had kids of their own before then. So, they turned to adoption. They plucked 3 kids total out of the same agency on the same day, and thus the 5 fighting bunch were created.

They didn’t grow up rich per se, but the kids were never found wanting for anything. Their parents put food on the table, clothes on their backs, and most importantly? Gave them more love and support than they probably ever thought possible.

Raven had no real direction growing up. She was involved in everything, drama club, cheerleading, av club, even climbed the ranks of the local chess nerds. But all in all, the only things she really knew was that she loved the escape movies gave her, and felt a pull to the arts.

Flash forward to 21, she’s a fledgling in college and going for a degree in film and a minor in engineering (don’t ask her why, she won’t be able to tell you). As a fluke, she auditions for an off broadway production of Hadestown and lands the role of Eurydice. She’s over the moon and acts her absolute heart out throughout the run, but when her time’s through, it solidifies that she doesn’t want to be an actor.

She graduates and moves to LA, having met the right people during her time on Broadway to get an internship at Silver Studios. Thankfully for her, it turns into a full fledged job within a few months, and it morphs into what she’s doing now — being a camera operator for the films that she loves to watch.

Of course, she’d loved to direct movies someday, but for the time being, just working on them sates her creative hunger. She has a bookshelf full of ideas and notebook on her at all times so she can write down her random inspirations. She’ll make it someday, just you wait.

When she isn’t being an off screen menace, you can find her just about anywhere ( shooting darts or winning bets on pool at the local bar, getting her 5th cup of coffee at the cafe, shell collecting at the beach, roller skating everywhere, etc). So say hi, hit her up, and indulge her love for art and random movies, eh? Also if you play chess with her? She’ll love ya forever.

𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒

Friend & lowkey playful mentor vibes — Paige Stallworth

Roommate — Mariposa Walton

Boyfriend — WC to be filled

[not-souleaterpost]

The suprisingly bad plot of Bomb Rush Cyberfunk

So I played this little fun Jet Set Radio clone (don't worry, it ties into the iceberg, so I wasnt technically procrastinating with video games-)

And the thing that stuck out besides the expected and fun is how the story was bad. In a surprising way - not as "oh I didnt expect it to suck so much!!!" But nah, what I mean is that it failed in a interesting way.

So what do I mean?

Well lets start with the whole setup "Oh yeah, you get your head chopper of and are actually just a random scrap metal robot controling a should-be lifeless body."

This is weird enough, but the fact that there is that much head switching and body stitching is just strange, you wouldnt really expect that from a skating game - hell it makes the casual light-bulb eye-switching from Naruto look tame in comparison.

Still, one could guess that its just a quirky thing (or more disturbingly that some of the developers gets off from it, like not the weirdest thing that exist) - just some funny detail to get attention and stand out.

But not, this thing actually is the crux of the whole "theme" and "charachter arc"

And its weird that this kind of game trys that, like if mario struggled with alcholism as a framing decice for generic platformer #64. Cause why do something that is overly ambitious and will fail?

Like this game sadly failed - the whole search for "roots" just felt kinda unatural and as if the people were living in a different world from you (like ok I get it the society literally is that much weirder, but I mean in a sense of just procecing information and emotions differently than a standard human would)

Just the fact that the charachters feel empty and you dont really connect with them or their relationships makes everything hollow - yet its weird that they tried at all - cause yeah in the end in Jet Set Radio, nobody gives a shit about that stuff, we just wanna ride the line with carefull cartoon charicatures.

Yet still the story decided to introduce plot twist, thematic foils, villians with pseudo-arcs, drama etc.

But somehow it doesnt get how at the same time it just doesnt work on a basic level - like after its revealed that not only that Faux guy killed Felix for a petty reason but also is about to kill all other Graffiti pals, its kinda irellevant that his "big secret" was "Oh your dad kept you out of trouble"

Yet the game plays that up as some final all revealing shocker, and even gives Faux a death mirroring Felix initial fall.

Also the whole arc of Felix is both weird and at the same time something that seems to be trying to say something - from starting as some random smart hair-dryer, to it being revealed that he secretly was a legendary skater with amnesia, and the whole "you are both now"-

I get kinda that they tried to say "look he died partly because of his arrogance and not letting others be close may sparked Faux's psychopathy", but still at the end it just doesnt click, you know what Im saying - the first thing after coming to life with no memory is "Oh I wanna paint the city, yeah why not and find my original head even if its not really mine" and then "Oh I guess I learned the power of friendship, even if we interacted minimally and in the end only the final thematic attack showed the use of bonds"

Like yeah, it showed literally moments how without other people he would be dead but still it was so subdued that its weird to do a whole story like that.

Especially a story as whacky as it - with a evil skater head taking over the police and brainwashing everyone to do his biding while becoming a giant centipede monster.

But the weirdest part is that it even had the whole meta-commentary about how yeah it IS a rip-off and one cant escape that, but like, we are totally something new too guys!

But guess the only really clever writting was the set up of that weirdo with angel wings actually having a absurd but believable reason for overhearing everything lol.

Yet other things just go nowhere - the sniper kinda disapears from the story, there are obvious times where you are just sent in circles for padding, etc.

And that last thing is kinda what leads me to my attempt to reverse engineer the story -

I would guess they started with the wacky desing of the main guy and someone though "but why do he be having that crazy head thou?"

And from that it sparked the idea, well he lost the head - and that connected with the whole "identity" thing especially when they had to think if they were making something creative or just puppetering the corpse of a dead, head-team less corpse of a faux legendary franchise (I dunno why I said faux, I like JSR, but I had to tie in the names)

The details came later, hence why DJ Cybers Mask is supposedly Felix's, even though it doesnt fit the latter - cause yeah the charachter designs werent made like that originally.

And thats why there is some weird padding and moments - cause of budget reasons some things had to be stretched, or maybe some things had to be used in a way to maximise what one has done and to not throw away some cool concepts, even if they clash.

Also, Im not knocking this associative way of coming up with storys, just speculating if thats how it all came together.

Still, the fact that the story isnt just "Yeah we are rebels and here are police, lets fight!" without any of the before mentioned window dressing is surprising.

And, being non-generic is a positive surprise, no matter the execution - so see, this "essay" wasnt shitting on this game afterall.

(also contrast for a simmilar story that is unsurprisingly bad - Gravity Rush - but I'll save that for another time, man I wish that games creative direction was done by someone else, cause the gameplay itself has moments of being more fun than a lot of things...)

Oh also the proof that this all relates back to the Soul Eater iceberg - see what I found (sadly not first, cause I googled and some redditor noticed 2 months ago, alas if I played this game way back I would have had this eternal glory, not shame😔):

And if you say: That's it? I expected more!:

Yeah...Sorry

[moldisgoodforyou]

the one where they go rollerskating

summary: jj and charlie go rollerskating. charlie breaks her wrist 

warnings: broken bones, cursing (like always), drinking 

wordcount: 1.4k

"watch yourself, walker.” jj warned, watching as his girlfriend knocked back her third shot of the pregame. she rolled her eyes, pouring him a tequila shot and setting it in front of him. “I’m fine, j, I’m still sober. it’s just fireball.” he shook his head with a laugh. “just fireball? you scare me.” she grinned, ducking out from under him as he ruffled her hair affectionately. “don’t we have to go soon?” he asked, checking his phone. charlie leaned over to look. “oh shit, yeah, let’s go. wait, take your shot.” 

“no chaser?” he asked, lifting it to his lips. she grinned and grabbed a lime wedge, putting it between her lips. he laughed, taking the shot, then kissed her soundly, ending up with the lime in between his teeth. “see, that would be a lot more fun as a body shot,” jj reasoned, smirking. she blushed red. “maybe later, if you’re lucky.” 

the pregame was small at charlie’s house, before the kappa sk80s date party. jj was decked out in a windbreaker and short shorts (that he had to keep adjusting, much to charlie’s amusement), while charlie had on a leotard and neon tights. the date party at the rollerblading rink never ended well for charlie given her clumsiness, and for some reason she decided alcohol beforehand might make it better. 

they made it on the bus to the event without getting caught - not easily, as charlie’s tell while drunk was leaning on jj like it was her job. once they entered the rink, he got them both skates and they laced them up. charlie stood first, overconfident, and her feet immediately went opposite ways and she fell forward. jj caught her by her upper arms, steadily pushing her back up. “I take it you’re not good at skating, pretty girl?” he teased and stood with her. “I’m not the best?” she hedged, taking baby steps. 

he carefully pulled her to the rink then turned to skate backward, offering his hands. “here, I’ll pull you.” she took his hands, allowing him to pull her in a slow lap around the rink. “this isn’t fair, how are you so athletic at everything?” she complained. 

he grinned. “takes practice, walker. just gotta be smooth.” 

“you’re giving yourself too much credit.” 

he raised his eyebrows and released her hands, then took off in a fast lap around the rink until he came up on her from behind, grabbing her around the waist. she squealed, grabbing onto his forearms. “careful, careful!” he laughed and set her down, giving her a little push. “you wanna take that back?” she rolled her eyes. “fine, I guess you’re a little good at skating. I bet I could beat you in a race though.” he scoffed. “yeah, okay.” 

“I could!” she argued. he nodded, skeptical. “alright, go ahead. I’ll give you a headstart.” she skated away at a steady pace, but still slow. he let her get halfway around the rink before skating around quickly, catching up to her. he gave her a push as he skated past. “beat you!” he kept going, then glanced over his shoulder to see her sitting on the ground. jj skated back. “come on, drama queen.” she shook her head. “no, j, it hurts.” he rolled his eyes and reached down to grab her hand, pulling her up. 

when she let out a yelp of pain, he immediately dropped her hand and crouched down. “oh shit, charlie, how’d you fall?” his eyes were wide as he took her wrist to inspect it (carefully, this time). she winced at his touch. “I put out my hand to stop my fall, it really fucking hurts.” he frowned, concerned, and gently prodded it again. she sucked in a breath, tears springing to her eyes. “j, please!” 

he grimaced. “okay, charlie, I’m gonna help you up. we gotta get you out of these skates.” she shook her head. “no, I can’t.” 

“yes, you have to.” he stood and pulled her up by the waist, wrapping a tight arm around her shoulders. they made their way off the rink, charlie cradling her wrist, and he sat her down. “do you think it’s just bruised?” he asked as he untied her skates, then his. “I mean, you’ve never broken anything before, so maybe you’re exaggerating the pain?” charlie let out a hiss through her teeth, trying her hardest not to cry. “maybank, I love you, but fuck off.”

he coughed to disguise a small laugh. “right, I’m sorry. do you think you need to go to the hospital?” she stared off at something in the distance, unfocused and not paying attention. he waved his hand in front of her face. “charlie?” he questioned, grabbing their shoes and slipping his on. she tried standing - too quickly - and promptly passed out. 

she came to a moment later in jj’s arms, dizzy. “charlie? charlie?” jj panicked, holding her tight. “I don’t feel good.” charlie complained, leaning into him. he let out a sigh of relief upon hearing her and swept her up into a bridal carry. “I can see that. I called an uber for us to go to the hospital, ok? I got you.” he was extra-careful as he carried her out to the parking lot. “do you think you fell ‘cause you’re drunk?” she gaped at him. “you pushed me! this is your fault!” he shook his head quickly. “no, no, I didn’t push you that hard!” 

“you totally did! and I’m not drunk, I’m barely even tipsy! set me down.” he shook his head, tightening his grip on her. “no, I don’t want you to pass out again. that was fucking scary.” charlie rolled her eyes. “I’m not going to pass out. put me down.” 

“no.” he insisted, gesturing as the uber pulled up. he carefully set her in the car then ran around to the other side and got in. he pulled her so she could lay her head across her lap. the driver glanced at them in the mirror. “hey man, she kinda needs her seatbelt on...” jj glared. “she just passed out and her wrist is the size of a softball, I think she’s fine.” charlie laughed quietly. “I can sit up, j.” he pressed on her shoulders, keeping her in place. “no, you’re fine, it’s close.” he ran a hand through his hair, his voice going up a little in pitch. “can you speed up, dude?” 

the driver glanced back again. “we’re at a red light?” jj let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding in. “right, sorry. keep up the good work.” he carded his fingers through charlie’s hair, anxious. “jj, I’m fine.” charlie emphasized. “no, you’re probably broken, and it’s because of me.” she paused, not wanting to make him feel bad - but enjoying it, a little bit. “just don’t freak out, I need you to be chill.” he nodded quickly. “right. chill. I’m totally chill. one hundo chill.” 

they pulled up to the ER entrance and he ran around, not letting her lift a finger. jj carefully assisted her into the ER and filled out most of the paperwork for her as they waited. “wait, what’s your middle name?” she yawned, leaning into his side. “don’t make fun of me. it’s after my grandma.” he paused, gently poking her with the butt of the pen. “why would I make fun of you?” she rolled her eyes. “it’s gertrude.” he grinned. “no fucking way.” she sighed. “I told you, don’t make fun of me.” 

“nah, it’s cute.” a pause. “gertie.” 

“jj!” she exclaimed, flicking his shoulder. he laughed. “it’s cute! I’m calling you that from now on.” she groaned. “fuck off, I’m broken.” he grinned and kissed the top of her head. “you’re not broken, sweetheart, I think it’s just a big bruise.” she flipped him off with her good hand. “it is broken, and it’s your fault, and I am never letting this go.” 

sure enough, the doctor confirmed a broken wrist and had her in a cast by midnight that evening. jj called a pledge to pick them up, doting over her like it was his job. the next six weeks, he didn’t leave her side once, save for class (she made him drive her, even though her legs worked perfectly fine). even after she got the cast off, she still held it over him, especially when trying to convince him into something he didn’t want to do. “hey j, remember when you broke my...” he always cut her off with a scowl. “yeah, yeah, we’ll do what you want.”  

[sossy69]

Skate into Love

Easily one of my favourite OTPs!

(Minor spoilers) Due to some childhood misunderstanding, he was a bit of an arse in first few episodes. He engages in some childish bullying, but nothing too extreme. Once he comes to a realisation that he’s been an arse, things get plenty better from there. 

I really like the OTP’s personalities, both individually and together, and their chemistry was good. ML, Li Yu Bing’s ice hockey scenes gave me some PRIDE flashbacks, and although he’s not as gruffy cool as Takuya’s Halu, he’s pretty decent. Zhang Xin Cheng, isn’t your straight up flower boy, but he grew on me. Love his smile! He did many of the ice hockey stunts himself, despite only learning how to skate one month before filming started - Respect!

Watching Wu Qian, I get the feeling her RL personality is just like her protagonist’s, Tang Xue. She’s grown much as an actress since My Amazing Boyfriend. Tang Xue is the BFF we all need. 

Although her return to speed skating was orchestrated by Yu Bing, she gets a spot on the national team through sheer determination and grit. When she falls during her first race after her comeback, mirroring the more serious accident that ended her initial participation in the sport, you can tell she is devastated even though she puts up a brave front. This bravado cracks only when Yu Bing envelopes her in a big comforting hug backstadium(?). He tells her: It’s OK, you’ve already done very well. And my heart swells.  When Yu Bing faces a similar setback of his own, Tang Xue is able to draw on her own experience to help him through it. She tells him she knows he’s scared: We’ve known each other since we were six. She wants to be there for him, be by his side and more than that, she was willing to put her dream on hold for him. I really enjoyed their love, mutual support and understanding of each other. I lurve them! 

Side stories were just OK though. Sidekick couple, Meng Huan and Zhen Yu, were very sweet but I thought their story was boring. 2ML, Yu Yan was also very sweet, but boy didn’t stand a chance against swoony Yu Bing. 3ML, Bian Cheng’s character was totally flat. Understood his initial motivations but wrote his character off, when he refused to let go. For all the things he did, his redemption was way too easy. Tang Xue’s cousin’s motivations were less clear. I get the jealousy and dislike but to plot with an outsider to get family in trouble?

Many familiar faces among the older cast including one of my favourite Chinese drama mums, Tian Miao, who played Tang Xue’s mother. Yu Bing’s supportive coach was another favourite character, and Yu Bing’s parents were a funny pair. 

Drama was 10 episodes too long, and my interest waned slightly in the middle. But overall, drama is an easy, sweet watch, peppered with unexpected swoony moments. Zhang Xin Cheng got himself a new ahjumma fan!

[cavesalamander]

My brief thoughts on this season of anime!

Just a quick review of the ones I’d recommend and/or keep watching. I managed to find all of the below on Funimation or Crunchyroll or Youtube!

Horymia: (Yes) This is looking to be a very funny romcom slice of life style anime, and seems to be a fairly good one! Had me laughing a lot. The Main couple are a nerdy quiet boy who’s actually dumb as a sack of bricks using his disheveled appearance to hide his tattoos and piercings, and a popular pretty girl who’s actually a total homebody. Their friends seem to have a lot of potential to be fleshed out as the series progresses and I look forward to seeing how it goes!

So I’m a Spider, So What?: (Yes) Whooo another isekai (excited)! This time a girl and her entire class!? Get isekai’d in a massive explosion. The main character reincarnates as a trash monster in a dungeon and must fight her way up the food chain just to survive. Meanwhile her friends who have mostly reincarnated as Cool Humans or the occasional elf or baby dragon, have mostly found each other, and want to figure out what happened/why and if they’re all okay. It’s genuinely pretty funny, though leans a little too hard sometimes on the gamey aspects of this new world. I think it may get darker as it goes along too.

Mushoku Tensei: (No) Whooo another isekai (derogatory). 34 yo old man gets reincarnated and uses his worldly experience to Learn Magic Fast and creep on his mom and prepubescent tutor. If you can stomach that stuff, it actually has a fair amount of potential? It did set itself up to touch on some interesting stuff down the road, but I’m kind of Over the horny toddler/young boy trope and it kinda just seems like the protagonist is Just Awesome At Everything but not in a remotely charming way.

Cells at Work Code Black: (Yes) If you liked Cells at Work, this is that but dingier, and is able to tackle some darker themes - like what stress, smoking, drinking, and probably eventually STDs can do to your body.

Kemono Jihen: (Yes) I don’t wanna explain TOO much about the plot of this one because it looks to be a mystery series, and the first episode sets it up the characters very very well. A man from the city is called to a rural town where animals are being mysteriously killed and found rotting. He’s tasked with finding and killing the perpetrator, assumed to be a monster of some kind. It does the horror very well, and even in the first episode manages some twistyness.

The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter: (No) Even for a blatant fan service anime this one is just......... stupid. It might have a scrap of joy to it if the protagonist were anything other than a boring sycophant. His harem just all seems to be random girls who’s singular personality traits are to be in love with him in various stereotypical ways, that he just uses to min max his Cool Stats. But like, it’s not even self aware enough to make that into an interesting premise.

Sk8: (Yes) It’s a racing anime that seems super stylish and fun and very well animated. The protagonists have some cool chemistry already, and it really leans into the Underground Illegal Racing part of the fun - all the various characters who battle in death defying races through this abandoned mine, all have seemingly ordinary day jobs. Definitely worth a shot if that sounds up your alley.

Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies moved to a starter town?: (Probably) Okay so the premise is just there in the title and is actually pretty fun. Think: a random NPC who is considered pretty weak where the monsters are lv 50 moving somewhere where the monsters are scary at lv 5, shenanigans ensue. The MC boy is hilariously oblivious to the fact that anyone with a shred of sense can see he’s insanely over leveled to the area, and just trying to be nice and polite to everyone ^u^. The tentative nature of my recommendation is that it is kind of leaning harder on the Girls are Obsessed With Him train than is ideal. How much it depends on that as opposed to utilizing the premise to its fullest extent will have an enormous bearing on how fun the show is to watch going forward.

Ex-Arm: (Absolutely not but yes) It’s a fucking train wreck.

Heavens Design Team: (Yes) God decided to outsource creating animals to a team of angels, and works as a client giving weird ass requests for the angels to fill. Hilarity ensues, and it is peak edutainment to boot. It’s so much fun learning weird shit about animals, or trying to guess the animal these seemingly random train of failed attempts leads to.

Dr. Ramune -Mysterious Disease Specialist-: (No) It has a promising premise and some good moments. The main characters are solving these weird “diseases” that people get by finding the actual emotional cause and using magic of some kind to monkey paw it into a resolution. This could be really fun and interesting, but something about the execution just... falls flat? Like maybe it picks up as the season goes on but for now it’s not rly worth it.

Vlad Love: (Yes) I was going through the list of anime this season and was like wtf is this and literally just now watched episode 1. It’s about a girl with a blood donation kink and her vampire girlfriend. Literally. It’s rly funny and over the top ridiculous but like, gay vampires.

Back Arrow: (No) It’s like... fine. It’s about these two warring kingdoms surrounded by a wall with a mountain range between. They worship the wall as god, and occasionally get gifts from beyond it, in the form of mech suits they use to fight each other in. One day a boy shows up from beyond the wall in one of those suits and no memories of anything and he wants to get back. Which... could be promising I guess? But something about the show just didn’t grab my attention.

Skate-Leading Stars: (No) It’s like Yuri on ice if it was less gay and less well written I guess...? The first episode set up the Drama competently enough, but I just... couldn’t give a shit.

Project Scard: (No) For some reason part of Tokyo has been turned into a post apocalyptic hellscape where people just murder each other. They also have super powered tattoos and use them to fight each other. Animation is very similar to Handshakers - which is an Aesthetic that may not appeal to some. The first episode didn’t rly do much for me but I could see it going somewhere if it tries.

Wave!!: (No) Might have been a tentative yes if I hadn’t gone on and watched the second episode. First ep went hard with the queerbaiting cause they want to be the new Free! but with surfing, but Ep 2 just forgot all about that entirely. Dialogue is mostly boring and there’s like 3 sets, which becomes painfully obvious very quickly by ep 2.

Idoly Pride: (No) Literally looks like they ripped off the waifus of a bunch of other more popular anime and made an idol anime with the most basic ass idol plot. Nothing exceptional here.

Gekidol: (undecided) It’s an idol anime... set after a mysterious apocalyptic event? It’s mostly so far seemed intriguing as hell but not my jam. Mysterious craters destroyed parts of Japan, and its rebuilding and the MCs wanna bring light to the world. Maybe aliens exist? Idk! I’m intrigued.

I*Chu: (No) Another idol anime but this time it’s cute boys! Idk maybe this is a decent idol anime but it rly didn’t grab me and idol stuff isn’t usually my jam. I couldn’t tell anything exceptionally unique about this one from just the first episode.

WIXOSS Diva: (No, but) I don’t normally watch spin-offs of series but I didn’t realize until halfway into this that it was one cause Crunchyroll didn’t attach it to the core line. It’s like... magical girl battle idols in VR! Which honestly if you’re a fan of that it might actually be worth checking out.(edited)

Idolls!: (No) Another idol anime! But this one uses mocap 3d models. Phoned in plot line delivered by a weird tiki statue that tells the girls what to do. Seems extraordinarily low budget, and more just a way to sell music. The whole episode happened in a single set and  was basically just... girls want to make it big as idols... oh no... gotta book a stage! Yay they got one! Now must get an audience! Like... ok

Hortensia Saga: (No but) Sword and sorcery fantasy setting that’s mostly sword, main character is a princess masquerading as a male knight alongside the son of her dead parents’s also dead bodyguard. The first episode is very lore heavy and felt kinda like the prologue to a video game. So it ended up feeling a little expository and trope laden, but it has potential. Seems a bit Game of Thronesy? Wasn’t like... bad or anything, so if it’s your thing you might enjoy it.

Otherside Picnic: (Yes) I think it’s gay first of all, two girls going exploring / treasure hunting / monster hunting in a bizarre mirror world to their own. Girls are cute, it’s very interesting premise and writing seems solid.

Wonder Egg Priority: (Yes) It deals with some HEAVY themes? But it’s... a bit of a psychological horror but in a way that feels very like it’s dealing with some of the real life issues. The main character girl comes across as neurodivergent, and it’s just... idk man the first episode was good and left me wanting more.

[tiffgeorgina]

alright trailer thoughts

watch it here slutties: https://twitter.com/SHOBlackMonday/status/1216778009044291585

1) HOLY FUCKING SHIT IT’S HERE THIS FEELS SURREAL

2) HOLYYY SHITTTT

3) but actually let’s get it. this song bangs showtime stays on their excellent editing.

4) trying to analyze showtime’s trailers is like trying to grab smoke so this is going to be extremely barebones for a while. 

5) somebody drives off with the busted up limbo, but we can’t tell who it is yet bc their face never comes into view. they’re wearing a gray suit tho, so it may become more obvious who it is once the episode itself is out.

6) mo is being dramatic asf which as of 1x10 is perfectly in character lmfao

7) bro what the FUCK did you do to your hair i gotta ask fuck the 80s. also there’s this character on IMDb tagged “Vanessa (hair like mo)” so that makes more sense now maybe?

8) establishing shots that almost make me think mo is hiding out in california. since we know his orphanage story is bullshit, maybe he’s visiting family? maybe this is where that marcus wainright iii character comes in? since i dont think he’s in the trailer?

9) keith is living. almost has out-of-the-closet energy. i bet that scene of him roller skating is either after a) he comes out to his wife and divorces her or b) he gets a call from mo and flies straight out to cali to meet up with him.

10) the editing is so good you guys holy shit they jsut never quit over there do they?

11) a shot of mo in some suburb. could be a family member or a friend’s house? which again leads me to think he’s in california.

12) there’s this TV show called “America’s Most Unsolved Crimes” that mo shows up on bc he’s being solely blamed for the crash. how dawn and blair managed to avoid any blame whatsoever is beyond me, but mo is an excellent scapegoat since he confessed on record. no idea who the guy sitting on the desk talking about him is tho, since he wasn’t announced as one of the new guest stars. probably just a one off. maybe this is where “reenactment dawn” comes in from the IMDb page?

13) mo is bringing back the 70s and i do not like it. when i said the 80s were cool bc nobody knew how to dress themselves This Is Not What I Meant.

14) he wouldn’t just casually play basketball with some random kids, these are probably either his cousins or his nephews or the kids of a friend. again leads me to believe he’s in california, possibly visiting marcus? it would make sense. either that or we finally get some real concrete background on mo that isn’t total bullshit.

15) keith is in contact with mo. it’s hard to tell if keith went to cali to see mo or if mo came to NY seeing as both are extremely suspicious. assuming mo is in cali that is. keith is definitely going to get mo back in the game. speaking of mo, this entire first 30 seconds is Mo-centric, so i bet mo’s arc is going to be plottier than blair or dawn’s in 1“A” (showtime doesn’t really have A and B arcs for this show bc there’s no midseason hiatus i just like the terminology)

16) throwback thursday lmfao

17) no idea who this guy shooting/probably fake shooting is?? like no idea. could be nothing of importance and just a transition filler/tone setting moment.

18) the heat is on motherfucker! let’s get this cat and mouse shit im ready for it!

19) here we go here’s dawn. back at the jammer group. back at DAWN AS THE PRESIDENT HIRING A BUNCH OF WOMEN???????? BIIIIIITTTTCCCCHHHH I LOVE TO SEE IT. INCLUDING DEANNA CHENG (she’s friends with casey which means she’s friends with half the cast we should’ve known she wasn’t going anywhere) AKA THE SALES CLERK WHO HARASSED DAWN IN 1X02????? YES BITHC

20) then wayne and yassir fucking it up (nice facial hair wayne it’s hideous kjsfkjdhg) and the women throwing paper at him??? LKJRHGKLJSERH????

21) blair and tiff dressed up??? guys. they’re going to some rich people gala thing. this is what i was talkinf about. im almost certain this is how blair and harris meet. their wives are gonna see each other after not having spoken in years bc of whatever but they used to be friends so they go to talk and the husbands and dragged along and *closet case to closet case communication sounds*

22) ok now BLAIR’S on the exercise craze? i thought that was just gonna be dawn like in s1 also how long is this exercise montage in the show bc there are some things a god fearing lesbian shouldn’t have to see. this weird mirror talking shit feels like voyeurism from this perspective i feel like i shouldn’t be seeing this.

23) she’s still topping him??? after all that??? aight yk it’s part of the dynamic

24) tiff is wearing the same dress in “you do, hunk” as she is in the bit where they get out of the limo and deal with the paparazzi so i presume that workout scene is immediately before that gala thing im establishing a #timeline

25) the skants reveal??? we call that PLOT DEVELOPMENT i love a good callback to the first season

26) the shocked gasp i can’t tell if it’s good or bad. also does this mean tiff’s starting her own company? since georgina is liquid?

27) larry telling dawn that mo’s on his way back for revenge? spliced with mo staring at the wall like he so frequently does while smoking? mayhaps this editing went off also i never thought i’d say this but the brotherfucker has a point mo is gonna pop off when he sees yall again

28) FBI wyd........ that’s a lot

29) that falling out last season bit: blair’s definitely talking about tiff’s parents, and im almost certain andrew flubbed right there and improvised over it by saying “autumn.” well im appreciative of that bc a) it’s funny and b) it indicates when this is going on a bit. it’s not like we’re two years in the future or anything. this is probably gonna start a couple of months after the crash and that’s it.

30) no idea who blair is talking to tho since i can’t see the woman’s face. could be one of tiff’s friends? idk. also nice hair tiff

31) that ball spinning around like a gumball in a machine? weird transition but aight. also immediately after, dawn is in the lehman office, again no idea why. probably the same scene as larry telling her that mo is plotting his revenge but idk why she’s there.

32) that shot of a plane coming into JFK? now im near certain that mo is in cali it would make so much sense please showtime just MAKE SENSE. 

33) confetti and mo’s entrance? you know what it’s what i should’ve expected tbh it’s all so delightfully in character EDIT: THE CONFETTI IS NOT BEFORE MO’S ENTRANCE. YOU CAN SEE DAWN’S CLOTHES CHANGE COLOR, IT WAS JUST AN EDITING TRICK.

34) mo’s just gonna pull up, zero fucks, in the middle of the day. much different than how i thought this scene would go, with a lot of betrayal and drama involved instead of this bitch just pulling up. now idek if dawn and mo are in contact before this, when before i was almost certain they would be.

35) what blair says here is definitely not the first thing he says when mo walks in, i can tell from the editing. also im near certain that blair doesn’t say “bro.” it sounds edited in/done in post (his voice pitches up a lot there when that’s usually a beat when your voice would fall), so i wouldn’t be surprised if blair curses a lot there and they just had to edit it to stay in the green band. 

36) ol polluted waterfall lookin ass jshgkjfdhg mo quit lying that hairstyle is not popular fuck off

37) im loving this tagging order tbh. paul scheer getting tagged in the trailer is just. what he deserves. do we consider keith a protagonist now? he’s in all the promo material by name and face now.

38) regina and andrew look so good god yes also the editing is so GOOD fuck

39) keith (hand holding emoji) blair

        getting hit by random vehicles

40) NO THE LIMBO FUCK SHIT THESE CARS WERE NOT MEANT TO LAST almost looks deliberate :eyes emoji:

41) what’s keith doing with this barbershop quartet wtf

42) almost certain that’s tiff singing? based on 1x09 this oughta be good lmao

43) THE HEEL CLICKING IS TAKING ME OUT HGKJDHFGKJFD. could this be mo and marcus? who knows?

44) look at all the cash wtf what’s all that cash for? ah shit here we go again

45) tiff entering another dimension followed by dawn doing what is certainly a mountain of coke? kind of poetic cinema ok

46) ok dawn’s wearing that green suit again from my icon so??? what does it mean what does it all mean

47) who is mo squaring up with tf? is this marcus? i can’t tell in this lighting maybe it’s fake shooting guy idk also where the fuck are they? some party? but not a rich ppl thing just a thing? idk

48) guys. we have it. the fucking airdate. i have been stanning since the first fucking episode almost a year ago today and finally we have an airdate. respect to the new stans but yall dont know what seven and a half months of network radio silence in regards to your current obsession feels like. @hatimbinaba msged me and said we had a date and the shot of adrenaline i felt was like nothing else. serotonin is currently stored in the black monday and now the serotonin is stored in the ME. Sunday, March 15, 2020, 10 pm motherfuckers. put that shit on the calendar. also looks like we have a slightly earlier timeslot which is nice.

49) and to top (ahah) it all off we have blair just straight up gay panicking at the end. that’s definitely tuc and june and if yall have been following yall would know that tuc is playing blair’s love interest and june is playing tuc’s wife so this is all very jghsrkjghs im rly excited for this scene. no way of knowing if this is before or after blair and harris get together but it’s still kshgkdjhgdkj. rich people golfing? more like rich people existing lmao. also where’s that onion video i need to find the onion video fuck this is just like the onion said would happen. i will post it and make memes later. 

50) then blair just gets hit??? by the golfcart?? and there’s this scream that is definitely not the scream of andrew, tuc or june so??? whose scream was that??? did they add that shit in post??? tf???? also tuc and june barely flinching is really decapitating me kjshkrjdg

51) there’s no way of knowing if tiff is also at the golf course, but if she isn’t? then it’s just blair and his canon love interest and canon love interest’s wife???? which is so funny “hey come play golf with me” “oh is anyone else coming?” “ya my wife” “you’re so stupid i have to question how you’re even still alive”

52) WHEEWWWW AND THAT’S IT YALL!!! BUT A COUPLE MORE THINGS. some distinct absences: no known shot of marcus (which is wack yall would think they would want to plug the hell out of dulé hill) and very few shots of harris and corky. why. promote your newcomers some more tf.

anyways that’s all on this long ass post. @ mutuals expect more freakouts xx love yall this is unedited just raw emotion

[scuttleboat]

510 reactions

INDRA IS THE BEST OMG lol I love her so much. If she had a morning alarm app it would be "Rise and face the day. You will die, but proudly, and that is good." *beep*

Gaia was an fun surprise this episode and I loved pretty much every scene she had with Indra. The fight was great.

I loved the assassination attempt and I loved Octavia's reaction to it? That was the one really unpredictable moment in the episode for me and I thought the suspense > to > diffusion of tension by throwing back the spear was just... wonderful. In an episode with some great dialogue and some painfully creaky dialogue, that little screenwriting moment was a delight. It was the most #powermove thing that Bloodreina could do in that moment and that speaks in interesting ways to how she's become so sensitive to politics and drama while becoming so desensitized to the people around her.

The Blake stuff was all the drama I could ever want and I think Bob and Marie showed off their wonderful screen chemistry. But I admit I'm a little unsure what this means for Bellamy's character? This feels like it should have been a turning point for him. His insistence not to fight felt genuine up to the moment, and then he did fight, like I was expecting. I guess I wanted more out of that moment? Like, that should feel like a huge thing--his choice to survive over waiting for Octavia to save him--but somehow, it didn't? Nor did it feel like a switch that really indicates him in person conflict over his near- pacifism stuff. I think it was the fact that Monty arrived and saved the day, there preventing Bellamy from actually having to hurt someone he considers an ally in order to survive. So he skates by on being Soft Bellamy still, in the episode where I was hoping he'd be a little bit more of Rough Bellamy. I've been thinking that he has a building up of internal conflict this season wrt "can I be the new me or the old me?" and I was hoping we'd see that reach a major point this episode. Now I'm not quite sure if that's what they're doing with him. I'll have to wait to see. If Bellamy's major conflict really is just about his sibling and his childhood this season, that would feel like a missed opportunity. I want some meaty self-examination!

The other sibling got a solid WHOLE EPISODE of self-examination, lol. Marie was splendid. It veered between powerful and heavily melodramatic. The whole mirror thing was WAY over the top cliche. Come on, t100. Come on, HIC. You can be a little better than that! And "You can't save someone who's already dead." Really? Okay then. I guess it's not t100 if there aren't at least two lines per episode that make me roll my eyes. Even the good episodes! Which this was, to be fair. For about 90% of it I was quite entertained, although I think it's too dark to have a fun rewatch factor. Snarkiness aside though, I did enjoy seeing the dark workings of the soul of a female character being given such deliberation on screen. Octavia Blake genuinely is a unique character in television, and is allowed to go places female characters rarely are. I feel like my read on Octavia this season has been dead on correct: to her, Bloodreina = Wonkru and Wonkru = Bloodreina. Octavia doesn't see herself as a person anymore, just as the figurehead of this system. She is also terrified of everything and Bloodreina is her only way of facing world she created so that her people could survive. She can't give up being Bloodreina, therefore she can't give Wonkru to someone else because if Wonkru and Bloodreina can exist separately, that flies in the face of "all of me for all of us", which is the only thing that kept her and everyone else sane (mostly) in the bunker. If that's structure falls apart or if Octavia loses it, then all she has is the memories of the terrible things she did. And even if she did it to save them all, to lead them to the next day and the next, without Wonkru she would have to bear those memories alone, and she cannot.

Hmm what else? 

The flashbacks to their childhood on the Ark was very moving. I liked getting more details of their life. I liked the balance between the weight & pain Bellamy endured to protect Octavia and the weight & terror Octavia endured being raised as the source of fear for her family. It was clear that the trauma of the Ark was terrible for them both, infecting even happy the memories.

Monty telling Octavia no was a classic Monty moment. I liked his scene a lot, but tbh I was hoping for something a little more creative or complex in how they used him? One of the drawbacks of this episode's slower, more character-based tone is that it seemed fairly predictable what was going to happen from scene to scene. That's why I like the moment when she threw back the spear, because I genuinely didn't know how that scene was going to go. Monty saving the day with flowers though was not exactly shocking when it came around. I feel like a reaction video to this episode will just be a consecutive sequence of "hmmm" and "HMMMM" and "ooh nice" and "okay then if you must", none of it rising above conversational tone.

I liked the bunker departure scene because we got to see everyone in the open sunlight. That was nice. Octavia's blood makeup was so ~artistic walking out of that bunker, you know she had to apply it and wash it and re-apply it 2 times at least. I've been there, girl.

The farm burning means the bunker society idea is torched and I'm sighing a little over that. Do we REALLY need to write out EVERY possible solution with salt-the-earth finality? Where is this series gonna end, with 11 people on a life raft floating out to sea? If there is a sea, still. This show is so bonkers.

The stuff with the chip is still firmly in my zone of "but really DO WE HAVE TO BE DOING THIS?" but it could have been worse. I was confused at one moment when Madi said "I just put it back in." Maybe I need to re-watch it, but I honestly don't understand that line. Was that the A.I. talking through Madi, claiming her as a host? Or was that Madi saying she'd taken it out and in again?

The Lexa stuff was just.. can we not. Give the child. Memories of her mom's dead lover. That's so skeevy on so many levels, and that's skeevy BEFORE even getting into the 'lover' part of Clarke's past with Lexa.

So... Becca was burned alive as a witch by Cadogan? Or whoever. That seems really weird to me. Like, super out of place for the show. I don't understand how that fits into t100 at all, since the people burning her were like, people from future-modern New England and shit. Even if I started living in a Mad Max Society tomorrow, I don't think 4 years of apocalypse would be enough to convert me to the idea that "Yeah, you know what humanity's real problem is? SPACE WITCHERY. Let's just BURN HER." How does that even come up? I totally get it if they blamed her for killing the world, and if the mob executed her for it. I also get it if they distrust the A.I. she brought down. But come on, they'd just shoot her! That's what you do with rich people when the end comes and everybody's backs are against the wall. They wouldn't waste firewood for a witch burning; that's ridiculous.

I have a feeling like they're gonna leave the chip in Madi. I hope not. My best case scenario for this unnecessary plot they forced us into is that by experiencing the memories, Madi retrieves some vital piece of new information that will help save everyone. Maybe she finds out what is going on with the other Elegius mission, since Becca worked on that stuff. Hopefully then Madi can take it out? But honestly, the fact that it seems like the show is going to decide "well we'll leave it in if she says she wants it" is really uncomfortable for me. If she couldn't consent to getting it last episode, she can't consent to keeping it this episode. The same problems with the situation exist regardless of whether Madi thinks she's getting something valuable out of it, or if it makes her feel powerful in a world where she is otherwise powerless. Letting a child use dangerous mind altering substances to help them feel more powerful and safe is NOT the same thing as actually keeping that child safe or empowered. It's the opposite of that. Of course, Clarke can't really do much about that right now without re-traumatizing Madi on top for the trauma she's already experiencing. But the longer they leave it in, the harder it will be to remove without psychological damage if Madi's developing brain becomes dependant on it. Because, you know, SHE'S ELEVEN. Maybe twelve? But her brain is literally growing, as children's brains do, and right this second it's growing with a cyber-parasite shaping it. That seems profoundly wrong and gross to me. ...Ideally they give it to Gaia or Indra. Just let them have it.

Oh that's a bit of a down note to end on? I am not sure where this takes us, but I think the episode was good. I'm not sure it was actually the episode they needed it to be though. It seemed to accomplish several things, but I'm not sure the particular things that it accomplished were the best choices. Vinson finally eating people was lulzy. I just wish the stuff that Abby was doing in that scene wasn't filmed and directed in such an amateur looking way. But finally, SOME CANNIBALISM! Now we wait til next week to see what else comes out.

[funkoso]

Mk is experiencing her first wlw breakup

(This is for my au that I’m working on, Mirrored Skates!) ((Used to be Arabesque but changed it))

[just-folie-a-deux-it]

Hello again c: This blog gives me so much happiness and it's making my day better that I am sending another request. Could you write something about Ryan and Brendon both being ice skaters and, at first, they HATE each other, cause they're both like "I am the best one", but later they end up fucking in dressing room?

I am so glad you like my blog! It always makes me so happy that people like what I write omg

This totally also makes me think of Blades of Glory (if you haven’t seen that movie you totally should bc it’s hilarious) but like I love the idea of them in really pretty sparkly outfits and each is sort of different like Ryan keeps it sort of lowkey and intricate but Brendon’s is just like BAM IN YOUR FACE GLITTER AND SHINE BITCH and they both hate each other bc Ryan thinks that Brendon is way too about appearance and like, drama instead of the technicality and actually skating well, and Brendon thinks Ryan has a huge stick up his ass. Ofc during one competition they don’t have different dressing rooms and instead have to share, which leads to an assload (no pun intended) of sexual tension and that just turns into bruising kisses and filthy dirty talk and biting and Brendon getting fucked against a wall and also a broken mirror, though no glass gets in any of their skin or anything. 

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

13 Brazilian Films Feature in Berlin’s Main Sections

Competition “All the Dead Ones” Caetano Godardo, Marco Dutra Following up on their Locarno-prized “Good Manners,” genre auteur Dutra and Gotardo deliver a lushly turned-out family drama that converts ghostliness into political metaphor, conflating 1899 Sao Paulo with its high-rise present, asking if the uneasy relationship between Brazil’s white elite and black majority has essentially changed. Sales: Indie Sales

Encounters “Los Conductos” Camilo Restrepo Pinky, on the run from a sect, takes to squatting, making T-shirts for a living, taking drugs and spinning images of the Apocalypse, damnation, revenge. A spectral, crazed allegory of Colombian post-civil conflict reinsertion that won Mar del Plata’s 2019 Works in Progress. Sales: Best Friend Forever

Panorama “A Common Crime” Francisco Márquez Set in class-riven Argentina and packing, reportedly, a great finale and commanding performance from lead Elisa Carricajo as an Argentine university teacher who fails to help her maid’s son, with literally haunting consequences. Sales: Cercamon

“Dry Wind” Daniel Nolasco A seemingly straight-arrow, stylish and candid LGBTQ erotic drama set in Brazil’s sticks discovers hidden depths and finally a good-humored humanism as a stolid, bottled-up loner develops a sexual obsession for a statuesque factory co-worker. “Brazilian queer cinema has a sense of urgency, which ‘Dry Wind’ captures,” says Panorama head Michael Stütz. Sales: The Open Reel

“Shine Your Eyes” Matías Mariani “A big surprise,” says Carlos Chatrian, artistic director of the Berlin Film Festival, a dreamlike psychological thriller, tracking Amidi searching for older brother Ikenna in Sao Paulo’s African community in a world of fluid identity, nostalgia for ancestral culture, labyrinthine architecture and moments of happiness. Sales: MPM Premium

Panorama Dokumente “Amazon Mirror” Federico Segtowick A documentary that peels away layers of corruption, media manipulation, ecological and human disaster behind the construction of the Amazon’s Tupurí hydroelectric plant under military dictatorship. “Urgent, very contemporary and beautifully shot in black-and-white with very high contrast,” says Stütz. Sales: ELO Co.

“Nardjes A.” Karim Aïnouz The latest from Aïnouz, following 2019 Cannes Critics’ Week winner “Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmão,” this is a documentary shot on the fly capturing the empowerment, exhilaration and illusions of Algeria’s Revolution of Smiles. Sales: MPM Premium

Forum “Divinely Evil” Gustavo Vinagre From a lavish, salmon-colored sitting room adorned with Victorian furniture and leather-clad mannequins, Wilma Azevedo, 74, Brazil’s “queen of sadomasochistic literature” tells her vibrant, sprawling life story.

“Light in the Tropics” Paula Gaitán “Brazilian films exceed traditional notions of self-reflective auteurs, talking from personal viewpoints about big questions for society,” says Chatrian. One case in point, and “totally unexpected,” he adds, is “Light in the Tropics,” merging ethnographic documentary and fiction to rediscover Brazil’s indigenous communities in a 255-minute triptych feature.

“Window Boy Wants to Have a Submarine” Alex Piperno A singular title for a singular film from Uruguay’s Piperno, a low-fi sci-fi relationship drama with social and ecological overtones as a deckhand on a Patagonia cruise ship discovers a portal to a lonely young woman’s apartment in Montevideo. Sales: Square Eyes

Generation 14plus “Alice Junior” Gil Baroni Chatrian calls it a breath of fresh air. The world of a transgender teenage YouTuber is flipped upside down when she moves to a conservative rural town with her always-supportive single father. Sales: Moro Filmes

“My Name Is Baghdad” Caru Alves de Souza Seventeen-year-old female skater Baghdad lives in a São Paulo working-class neighborhood, skates with male friends until she happens upon a group of female skaters who change everything. Sales: Reel Suspects

“Sisters in the End of the World” Vinícius Lopes, Luciana Mazeto Their mother is dying, father’s never cared, but Ana and Ju find solidarity in one other, even as the world around them collapses.

Source.

[theherondaels]

Oh No (A Soy Luna Next Gen Fanfic)

Hi! Finally an update. I hope y'all survive this hell of a 7K chapter :D Toppy is all Maro's btw! Have fun reading!

5. Free Show

Stella almost had to drag herself through the front door. Her school day had been a nightmare. She had ignored all of her friend's messages about her and Andrés during the weekend but she hadn't been able to escape their pestering during the lesson breaks. Stella had never been so grateful for her double maths period. You just didn't talk during Mr Zima's class (unless you had a very strong desire for detention). Thankfully, her afternoon class had been cancelled. Stella doubted that she would have survived the 45 minute long lunch break otherwise.

She took her shoes off and made her way to her room. Once she had changed into her normal clothes, Stella felt a lot better. She observed herself in the mirror. She had put on dark blue jeans and her favorite longsleeve with camouflage print. That would have to do, Stella thought. She then eyed her school uniform on the bed and sighed. Wearing the same boring uniform five days a week was truly an imposition. The bland navy blue colour wasn't her thing either.

After one last look into the mirror, Stella went downstairs again.

Her father was setting the table while Luca was lying on the couch, still in his uniform. It didn't vary much from the one her male classmates had to wear, despite them not going to the same school. The only big difference was that the colour scheme was red instead of green. She kinda missed that uniform. Not that she didn't like green - she did! - but red was her favourite colour. And with the blue she had always sported the colours of her favourite - Argentine, mind you – football club.

"Principessa! What are you doing here already?" Matteo greeted his daughter, confusion evident on his face as he checked the clock above the TV.

Even though it was only a ten minute walk from school she normally let her parents know if she would be home earlier. Stella hadn't done that today because she had been too busy with getting out of class as soon has the bell had rang. And then she had more or less sprinted out of the building. She really hadn't been in the mood for yet another round of "You and Andrés, eh?"

Stella shrugged, "English got omitted." Her father nodded in acknowledgement. "So how was your school day?" Luca asked gleefully, sitting up.

Stella groaned while she sat down next to him. "You mean the interrogation? Just splendid," she answered sarcastically. Matteo chuckled lightly, "That bad, huh?" Stella put her head in her hands, "They just wouldn't stop asking questions!" When she looked up again she noticed that the magazine, which contained the article that had ruined her life, was lying on the small glass table before her. Stella still had to read the article... Her friends had almost fainted when she had mentioned that. She figured that she should though.

"What's for lunch?" Stella changed the subject, not wanting to talk or think about that horrendous school day anymore. "Pizza," her father answered, "We thought you could probably use a little cheering up." Stella's mood changed immediately. "Pizza is love, pizza is life," she sang happily. Seriously, if pizza couldn't make something better, nothing would! "Hey, I wanted pizza too," Luca chimed in. "It's a win-win situation then," Matteo laughed.

"Pizza's ready in about five minutes. Luca, please change before we eat," her mother called from the kitchen. "Ok, Mom!" her brother yelled back. Wise decision. Tomato sauce on white wasn't a good look.

It took all of Stella's will power to not gab the magazine the second Luca got off the couch. When he had left for his room, she eagerly snatched the magazine from the table.

She never really read anything the media wrote. If it was not made up there still was a whole lot of exaggeration. Stuff like that made Stella angry so she usually avoided it. But not today! She flipped to page 17.

To be honest, looking at the pictures, Stella didn't get what the huge fuss was about. They weren't even holding hands! But had they really been this close? She had been too busy with trying to recognize Andrés and not going off on the paparazzi than to keep track of their distance.

Stella sighed and began to read the article...

How epic would it be if Stella Balsano and Andrés Arias dated? Well, the possibility of that happening just skyrocket! The fans wanted this for years so it was no surprise that #andella was trending all over twitter the second these pictures made their way online. The two teenagers were on their way to the Jam&Roller and a little birdie told us that they are skating partners, but are they just that or is there already something more going on?

Oh dear God. Stella debated whether she should burn the magazine or not. In the end she just flung it across the room, almost hitting the TV in the process, causing her mother to check on her. Luna looked from the magazine to daughter's angry face, "Is everything alright?" Stella cursed herself. She should have burned that damn thing! "Yes, absolutely. The whole world is already theorizing if we're together or not," she replied, voice full of bitterness.

"If you'll excuse me I have to bleach my brain." Stella had totally forgotten that her dad was still in the room. He went to the kitchen and closed the door. "Drama queen," her mother mouthed. Stella laughed, the stupid article long forgotten.

She shifted a little when a certain question crossed her mind again. "Hey, Mom, do you um remember when you well, you know, knew you had like feelings for Dad?" Stella stammered, fidgeting with her hands. A soft smile was displayed on Luna's lips, "Any special reason you want to know that?" Instead of answering Stella played with the hem of her longsleeve. "Just curious," she muttered. "So this isn't about you and Andrés?" her mother asked carefully. Stella sighed. This was 13th time she had heard her and Andrés names in a sentence together. Someone save her! "Mom," she whined annoyed. Luna started to grin, "I knew it!"

"I came here for motherly advice and this is what I get," Stella deadpanned.

Her mother sighed in defeat, "I was in denial for a long time." Denial? That word didn't exist in Stella's vocabulary. According to Gastón her father had this denial problem too. Maybe their denial's had cancelled each other out. Or everything went to Luca.

"So it wasn't love at first sight when you two crashed into each other?" Stella teased. Her mother couldn't refrain a chuckle, "Despite what Matteo likes to tell people, no." Stella's brows knitted. It just seemed so surreal that her parents, who were still  very much in love after 18 years of marriage (it could be really embarrassing sometimes), weren't fools for each other since the beginning. "It was annoyance at first sight at best," Luna chuckled again.

Stella liked to hear the story of her parents first meeting. It was always very entertaining when they started to argue who really skated into who, but knowing her parents it had been very likely both their faults. Her mother had probably been too distracted by the surroundings and her father had been super concentrated on getting that trick right. It was a nice first meeting story though.

Escaping paparazzi would be a good one too.

Alright, Stella, stop right there, she warned herself.

And it hadn't been their first meeting anyways. She had been a few weeks old and he close to turning two. Probably. It was not like she could remember it.

"The realization came gradually," her mother continued, "But when he sang Siento to me I wanted the song to be about me." Thank God it was. Who knew if Stella would be here otherwise.

"I'll better look how your father's doing," Luna sighed eventually, knowing that it wasn't easy for Matteo to see his little girl grow up.

She could hear her bother walking down the stairs. "Yeah, he's probably trying to drown himself in the sink right now," Stella said loudly and she heard a giggle from the staircase. Luca returned a few seconds later, he was wearing a yellow shirt now.

Just when her mother was about to grab the doorknob, the door opened again. Luna jumped out of the way. "You couldn't have said anything?" she looked at her husband accusingly.

"What can I say? I like the element of surprise, luce dei miei occhi," her father said and placed the pizza on the table. Her mother rolled her eyes, still her lips formed into a fond smile.

Stella and Luca shared a look as they both sat down on their respective chairs. Jesus, this was more cheesy than the pizza. Her dad had literally called Luna "Light of my eyes".

"So how was your school day, fratello?" she repeated his earlier question, letting an Italian word slip into it. Her parents had made sure that she and Luca had grown up bilingual but with Stella's brain it was more a curse than a blessing. The two languages were too similar for it. She would often write the Spanish word the Italian way. Or wondered for five minutes to which language a word belonged. And don't get her started on all these false friends.

That's why she liked English so much. It was completely different from the two Romance languages.

Sometimes though Stella would speak her mother tongue on purpose, just to annoy people. Or to get things her way. She had noticed that if she would ask her father for something in Italian it increased her chance of getting what she wanted.

"Very good, I got my maths test back. It's a B," he chirped. "Yeah, just rub it in my face!" Stella pressed her lips together, not liking the fact that her little brother was better at something than her. "I would never," Luca tried to assure her, but his grin said it all.

"The pizza's getting cold. Who wants this slice?" Matteo asked, thus ending the conversation between his children.

A little later

Stella walked to the lockers while listening to bubbly pop songs. She didn't really pay attention to her surroundings and of course, of course - as if her day hadn't been shitty enough already! - she bumped into someone. She let her phone fall, the earphones being ripped out of her ears. Stella opened her mouth, ready to give the person a piece of her mind, but when she looked up she was being silenced by green eyes.

"You," was all she could come up with. "Me," Andrés said amused, picking up her phone, seeing the artist. "You and boybands. Who would have thought?" he chuckled. Stella glared at him. She didn't need the whole Roller to know that. "At least my music taste has some variety, Mr-I-only-listen-to-emo-bands!" Ha, take that!

Andrés snorted, "Bold words from someone who has the same name as an All Time Low song." She scrunched her nose up in confusion, "What?"

"Stella, would you take me home?" he sang. He had such a nice voice. It wasn't fair and yes, she would. And then she would lock him in her room. Forever.

When she didn't reply, still a little dazed by his question, he finally gave Stella her phone back. Luckily, it was still in the same condition as it had been before the fall. She mumbled a quick "Thanks" and shoved her phone into her right jeans pocket.

Andrés tilted his head to the side, "So what are you doing here? There's no training today." A grin spread across his face, "Miss me?"

Stella snorted, despite having hoped all day that she would at least catch a glimpse of him, "As if. I'm meeting up with Aitana and Isa." She and the two girls had clicked instantly and Stella was really glad that she had already found friends at the Jam&Roller.

"Why do you want to know anyway? It's not like you own the place," Stella added. His laugh was bitter, "Most people would actually disagree with you." She knew she had hit a nerve. Andrés was more or less the king here. Surprisingly, he didn't really seem to enjoy his position at the Jam&Roller. She questioned him about it.

"It isn't my merit. The first day I came here they gave me that title. I could have been a terrible skater for all they knew," he sneered. "And besides," he looked at her, the infamous smirk in place again, "What's a king without a queen?"

She wished she hadn't asked that. "There isn't one already?" Stella wondered. All the girls here skated really good. Not as good as her though. "No. I only had temporary skating partners and they all have this weird idea here that king and queen have to skate together," he said, eyes searching hers, "I'm actually surprised that they haven't declared you queen yet." Stella grimaced. Aitana and Isa had hinted at it a few times. It kinda rubbed her the wrong way that they thought that she only deserved the title because of who she skated with.

His brows drew together. "You don't want to be queen?" Andrés asked in disbelief. "I want to. Without any help from you," she snarled. A corner of his mouth lifted, "The words you chose make me believe me that you don't want to be my queen." He was so wrong with that. So wrong.

Andrés misunderstood her silence, his expression hardening, "I'm sure Tamara will assign you to a new skating partner in no time if you ask for it."

"I never said that," she clarified, "And just for the record, you're stuck with me." He flashed her a genuine smile, dimples on full display and all Stella wanted to do was to take a picture of this glorious moment and hang it above her bed.

Andrés changed the topic, the smile still on his face, "The next Open is soon. Have you thought of participating?"

"How do you know that I can sing?" Stella questioned him. "My exceptional intuition tells me that," he answered, a smug grin forming on his face, "Or am I mistaken?" Oh, how she would have loved to tell him that he was indeed wrong. But Stella was never fond of lying. "Don't worry, I can warble a tune or two," she assured Andrés.

"Just imagine it then: You, me and my guitar" He could play the guitar? Okay, that new gained knowledge made him ten times hotter. Stella didn't know if she should thank or curse Pedro and Delfi for their son.

Stella smirked, turning around, "Depends. If I like the theme and school allows it, maybe."

"I'll leave it to you then," he said and walked away from her. Stella swore she had seen a little disappointment in his eyes at her answer. He hadn't tried to ask her out, had he?

Once she had ordered something to drink and had found herself a seat Stella's eyes never left the main entrance. However, after a few minutes, she was already fed up and sighed annoyed as she put her now empty drink down. Aitana and Isa should have shown up three minutes ago!

Stella looked at her drumming fingers. Her head shot up when she heard a deep baritone voice speaking, "Already bored, Miss Impatient?"

"How can you ask that? I'm obviously having the time of my life here!" she exclaimed while Andrés leaned against the table, his arm brushing hers on accident. Stella tried her best to ignore the butterflies in her stomach. It was easier said than done because they were doing some serious flips.

"I'm on my way to the rink," he said, "Want to join me?" She glanced back to the entrance. Andrés noticed her unsureness, "Don't worry, Aitana and Isa are never really on time. Besides, they'll look on the rink first if they can't find you." That won her over. "Okay, let's go," Stella agreed.

They went to the lockers, Stella putting her bag and jacket into her locker while Andrés got his black (no surprise there) roller skates. After they both had laced up their roller skates, they decided to practice the step sequence Tamara had showed them during their last training.

"You mixed up the last two elements," Andrés let her know. Stella cursed herself for that stupid mistake. Concentrate better, she thought. "First spin, then hands. It's not that hard," he added. Stella pursed her lips, "You don't think I can memorize a step sequence?"

"Why did you make that mistake then?" It was his fault, really. His white t-shit was still visible despite the black hoodie and created a really nice contrast with the black skinny jeans. It was messing with her brain. Stella shook her head, trying to get over his outfit, "Well, watch me."

A small smile graced his features when she had ended the step sequence perfectly, "Not bad." Stella put her hand on her hips, "Not bad? Not bad?" Andrés just grinned as he skated closer to her, crossing his arms, "What do you want me to say? That you were outstanding or even exceptional?" Stella smiled. She really liked the idea of that.

"I want you to say all those things."

He chuckled, shaking his head, "Well, aren't you something else." Stella avoided him with her gaze in hopes of not turning tomato red. It didn't quite work. The older, attractive raven-haired boy had more or less given her a compliment and she didn't really know how to handle that.

"I think we practiced enough, what about freestyle?" Stella offered eventually. Andrés nodded, "Good idea. Do you have any particular trick in mind?"

"Not really," she admitted. Andrés started to talk again, "Well, there's always the fire snake." Stella's eyes lit up. "You really can do that trick?" she asked awestruck. Her parents had used this trick a few times in their performances and it was really complicated. But her parents had always been able to make it look so effortlessly that Stella had begged them to teach the trick to her several times. It was one of the few tricks they still refused to teach her, always saying that a professional trainer should supervise this, which she thought was really hypocritical since both her parents had learned it from the Underwheels, and they were in no way professional skating trainers.

"I wouldn't have suggested it otherwise," he made clear and held his hand out, "You're in?" Stella hesitated, she didn't really want to go behind her parents backs, "I don't know... My parents wouldn't-" She didn't continue talking when he lowered his hand, a sly smirk crossing his features.

"Do you always do what your parents say?" Andrés taunted.

"Who knew! A boy has a rebellious streak." He glared at the mention of his nickname, but said nothing about it. His lips curled into a smirk again, "Look, princess, I totally understand if you don't trust yourself with that yet."

Stella crossed her arms, not liking his mocking tone. Determination was burning in her eyes now. Rebel princess he wanted? Rebel queen he was going to get!

"Show me," she demanded. He raised an eyebrow teasingly, "Now?" Stella rolled her eyes, "No, in two hours... Yes, now!"

He explained the trick before demonstrating it. "Your turn," he grinned after he had ended his performance. When Stella got it right after the third time Andrés whistled. First the guitar, now the whistling. Did God want her dead? And maybe she was a little jealous of if whistling abilities because she couldn't whistle to save her life. "What can I say? I'm a fast learner," Stella grinned, really proud of herself.

"I'm impressed really. I only got it right after the seventh try. Even Alicia needed one more try than you."

Stella's grin faltered. Had he learned the trick with her? Her curiosity got the better of her and she asked Andrés about it. He nodded, "I didn't want to at first but she blackmailed me into it." Yeah, that sounded like Alicia. Don't let that Californian Beach Girl look fool you. That girl could be ruthless if she wanted to.

His answer didn't sit well with Stella. It's because you're jealous, her inner voice sang. Stella snickered. If there was anything she was jealous of it was Alicia's height. Stella could be wearing heels and still not be as tall as the Argentine girl.  

"I wonder," Andrés began, "If we could do the trick together." Yes, sign her up! Without much thinking she took his hand, "C'mon, let's show them what we've got." He smirked as they skated towards the edge of the skating rink, a mischievous glint in his eye.

Everything had been fine until they had done their spins, the distance too close, causing them to crash into each other's arms. They clung to each other, desperately trying not to loose their balance. Not a piece of paper could fit between them now. Andrés tried to shift his weight, leaning towards her while Stella looked up and suddenly their faces were were just inches apart. Both their eyes were glued the other's lip's. Stella couldn't help but wonder how his lips would feel on hers. Her heart was beating so fast she could her the drumming sound in her ears. Stella asked herself if this was it. If this would be her first kiss.

It hadn't, as Aitana and Isa had the worst timing ever. And that should mean something coming from her! "Stella! There you are," Aitana yelled excited, dragging Isa behind her. The two of them let go of each other immediately. Andrés hand went to the back of his head in frustration, casting an annoyed look in the girls' direction. "Did we interrupt something important?" Isa asked, squinting her eyes behind the frame of her black glasses. Aitana's eyebrows were raised high in expectation, "Yeah, did we?"

"Nothing important at all," Andrés assured them.

But his smirk told her everything and Stella smiled back.

A month later

Stella was already at the Jam&Roller decorating. It was the day before the reunion party and she really wanted to get this thing done fast. She wasn't alone though. Andrés had offered to help her and as much as she had hated to admit it, she really needed any help she could get.

Tamara had allowed them to throw the party on the skating rink. They had carried a few tables and chairs from the café area on the rink, which had closed earlier today.

They were busy attaching balloons on the railing. "Can you pass me the sellotape?" Andrés asked. "Sure thing, A boy!" Andrés let out an exaseperated sigh. "Again with that nickname? Seriously, stop calling me that," he demanded. "I won't," Stella said, a smirk forming on her lips, "It's way too much fun."

You'd think that an almost kiss had made things awkward between them. This wasn't the case at all. It only had made their conversations more flirty. Aitana and Isa had once said that they should just get a room. And Andrés had winked at her and Stella honestly still didn't know how she had survived that.

"Well, then I think it would be only fair if I had a nickname for you too." She shook her head and crossed her arms, "No, no, that won't be necessary."

"I think it is. I have something in mind. In fact, you already heard it," Andrés grinned. Stella should know by now that he wouldn't back down. It was truly half the fun. "Don't you dare," she glared at him. "No can do, little star," he said with a smirk.

"Really, Aarón?" His glare matched hers now, "Second name, that's a bit harsh. Don't you think, Liliana?"

"Wow. Fabián wasn't exaggerating," she heard a familiar voice say. Stella turned around to see three teenagers. She wasn't surprised with seeing Alicia and Rafael, Andrés had mentioned that they would stop by and help them earlier, but she hadn't expected the last person at all.

Lola threw her hands into the air, grinning widely, "Hey there Juliet." Stella sighed. That damn play had ruined her life. Rafael laughed, "That's a good one."

"I thought of it on the train," Lola said proudly. "Seriously? You do know I wasn't born in Verona, right?" Stella questioned the brunette. Lola just grinned, "I know but it's Romeo and Juliet!" Why did she had to be born in Italy's capital again?

After they had exchanged their hello's - and in Stella's and Lola's case a bone-crushing hug - they sat down in the middle of the skating rink, distributing the different tasks.

When Rafael got assigned to a task he really didn't want to do he questioned the other's why Fabián wasn't here. Stella wondered that too. "Date night!" Alicia answered, not looking up from her phone. "He texted you that?" Rafael asked impressed. "No, Eloísa did," she made clear.

"I think it's cute that they're together." Lola said, giving Stella a look. Why the hell was that supposed mean now? "I mean, they've known each other since they were kids like c'mon this is the stuff dreams are made of," she explained, eyes darting between her and Andrés.

Stella gnashed with her teeth, "Just because you've known each other for years doesn't mean you end up dating."

"Yeah, take you and Luis for example." Andrés' mouth set in a hard line at her best friend's words. "Alright, let's get started. Rafael and I have to head home in an hour because one of us still has to walk Topaz," Alicia said quickly.

Stella was glad that they hadn't brought the Maltese dog with them. She was more of a cat person. Even her first word had been cat. In Italian. Her godfather Gastón still insisted to this day that she had tried to say his name.

"It's Toppy," Rafael said disapprovingly. Alicia crossed her arms, "Hey, you and Mom can call her what you want but I'm appreciating the fact that she's the one that got stuck with a gemstone name."

"I couldn't handle being an Esmeralda or a Margarita," Alicia added while shuddering, "They all sound like old lady names. I could have been a passenger on the Titanic with a name like that!"

Stella grimaced upon hearing the ship's name. Lola saw that and crossed her arms, "C'mon, it wasn't that bad."

"That movie was like three hours long and there was only half an hour of action. It was torture. I was so relieved when the iceberg finally showed up," she remembered, gesticulation all over the place. Lola gasped, "Stella, you can't just say that." She just shrugged, "I already did."

"It's a classic," Lola tried to change her mind. "A boring classic," Stella said, not letting go of her opinion, "And why didn't she pull him up to her? That was so selfish? What happened to her love for him?"

"Well, aren't you a sunshine," Rafael commented. "You've got something wrong there. My mom's the sun," Stella said, voice laced with sarcasm. Lola and the Álvarez siblings broke out in laughter. Stella's eyes wandered to Andrés who didn't seem amused at all. She only realized now that he hadn't taken part in the conversation since Lola had mention the Luis thing. Was Stella imaging things or was he clenching his jaw?

Lola put her head into her hands dramatically, "My best friend still trash talked my favorite movie. I need a minute." Alicia laughed and patted her shoulder, "There, there" Lola looked up and smiled at her.

Stella's forehead creased. She knew that Ofelia and Alicia were very good friends, being the oldest girls of all her parent's friends. But Alicia and Lola had never seemed that close. Until now. It was weird. Stella decided to keep a close eye on them.

"We should get started," Andrés finally spoke again. Everyone agreed with him and once all had stood up, they went of to their respective tasks.

The hour flew by rapidly and after Alicia and Rafael had said their goodbyes, Lola decided that she should go too. "It's late and the train takes awhile," Lola reasoned and said goodbye as well. She meant two hours with that! Stella would call it eternity.

The almost fifteen-year-old mostly did things because she didn't think them through and always winged them somehow, but with Lola she had a very strong suspicion that her best friend believed that everything would work out in the end and did the thing despite all the warnings.

It was starting to get dark when her and Andrés decided that the Jam&Roller looked festive enough. They went to their lockers, getting their belongings and putting on their jackets. They had walked to the café section when Andrés grabbed her hand out of nowhere and pulled her towards the counter, "Duck!"

"What's going on?" Stella sputtered, having no clue as to why they were suddenly kneeling behind the counter. "Paparazzi," was all he said. Still, it was enough to let her blood ran cold.

"We have to take the back entrance," Andrés concluded. Stella nodded in approval. There was no way anyone would get her to walk out of the main entrance now.

They scurried to the back entrance. Andrés opened the door, revealing two other paparazzi a few meters away. This had to be some kind of sick joke, Stella thought. They couldn't be encircled by paparazzi!

"Are you kidding me?" she heard Andrés mutter.

"I have an idea," Stella said, after she got over her shock. "Really? What-" Andrés didn't finish his sentence, he was too taken aback that she had started to run without any warning whatsoever. "Just follow me!" Stella yelled over her shoulder. She heard him curse but when she looked again, she saw that Andrés was running right behind her.

Unfortunately, the two paparazzi had seen them and were now shouting for the other ones to follow them.

Stella and Andrés ran along the main street. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see how people curiously turned their heads towards them. It must have looked strange, Stella imagined. Two teenagers being chased by at least five paparazzi.

They turned into a side street. And then into another one, each step bringing them closer to the heart of Buenos Aires.

After awhile Stella no longer knew how many turns they had taken, she just hoped it had been enough to get rid of the paparazzi. They stopped eventually as both had to catch their breath. Stella's lungs felt as if they would collapse any second. Andrés didn't far better either. He leaned against a wall, unable to hide the fact that their sprint through the city had strained him as well. "I think we shook them off," Stella gasped, her lungs were still giving her a hard time.

Andrés didn't look convinced and pushed himself away from the wall. "We should go somewhere inside," he said. Upon seeing Stella's confused expression he explained, "This hasn't been my first run from the paparazzi. You think you've escaped them but then they suddenly show up again!"

Stella looked around, taking in their surroundings. Across them was a little café and next to them was a flower shop. There was a sign a few meters away which informed them that roses were cheaper today.

Stella gazed back to Andrés and it was only now that she realized how absurd this whole situation really was. She started laughing hysterically, "Oh my God. That was the weirdest experience of my life."

"Be quiet," he hissed, "Or do you want them find us?"

"Live a little," she said, still laughing. He crossed his arms, "I just ran through half Buenos Aires. I did enough crazy things for today!" The laughter died in her throat. Stella scoffed loudly, feeling a little offended, "Really now?"

"What did I say about being quiet?" he asked annoyed. Stella lifted her chin, "Make me!"

Andrés smirked as he stepped closer. She really wanted to wipe that stupid smirk off his face. With her lips. "You shouldn't say things you don't mean," he warned. "Oh, but I mean it," Stella said with sweet smile and turned around. While she was walking away a huge grin spread across her face.

Her happiness didn't last long though. Stella's face fell when she saw the paparazzi. The two of them wouldn't survive another chase through the city.

She gritted her teeth and glared at the paparazzi, who frantically looked in every direction, trying to find her and Andrés. Stella wanted to scream at them about how neither of their parents were with them and that they should just get lost.

Her anger won the upper hand and Stella reacted without thinking, "They want press from us? Well, they can have that!" She marched back to Andrés, he was leaning against the wall again, eyes narrowing.

Before he could say anything back in response, her hands reached for his shoulders. She squeezed her eyes shut and stood on her tiptoes.

Their lips met.

If Andrés had been surprised by her move, he hid it very well. Stella could feel him smirk against her lips and she relaxed, relieved that he hadn't pulled away from her.      

His hands had found their way to her lower back and rested there. Andrés' tongue began to trace her bottom lip and Stella's lips parted. His tongue was on hers now and like in most of their conversations, there was a fight for dominance. Stella could taste the cherry flavor of her chapstick on his lips.

Next thing she knew was that her back was against a wall.

The wall against her back was really cold, still she felt like someone had lit her on fire. Stella couldn't stand on her tiptoes anymore, so she wrapped her arms around Andrés' neck and dragged him down to her. The kiss became more frantic with each passing second. They were kissing like crazy, as if the morning depended on it.

Stella had imagined kissing him countless of times before, but this right now surpassed every fantasy.  She never wanted this kiss to end.

Sadly, they had barely come up for air this entire time and were in great need of fresh oxygen. Stella fell back against the wall, panting. Her heart was beating so rapidly that she could only take little sips of breath.

Andrés still managed to smirk while gathering some much needed oxygen and Stella thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to make her earlier thought reality.

But before she could ponder about it further, Stella felt a hot breath on her neck, making her skin tingle. His lips burned as they made contact with her flesh. Andrés trailed kisses down her neck and she thought her heart would jump out of her chest any second. Her fingers roamed through his soft hair as the kisses became harder and more urgent. Stella tilted her neck, giving him more access.

Just right before reaching the nape of her neck, he stopped abruptly. Stella wanted to cry. She heard him take a deep breath and his lips found her neck again mere seconds later. She yelped in surprise when he started to suck on her skin. When he added teeth, Stella was done for. She gripped his hair tighter and he hissed at the sudden pressure. The biting increased and a small moan escaped her lips. "You just can't keep quiet, can you?" he chuckled lowly.

Her eyes fluttered open and the view she got made her heart race even more.

Andrés was smiling down at her in a self-complacent manner. His hair was very disheveled (Stella really liked that look on him), lips swollen and his pupils were dilated. Stella was sure that she didn't look representable either. The spot on her neck was probably bruising right now as it throbbed wildly. It would surely leave a mark and Stella was strangely okay with that. A small grin crept upon her face when she realized that Andrés current appearance had been all her doing.

A hand slid around her waist and drew her closer to his mint scented body. Andrés lowered his head slightly. "Maybe I should do something about that," he murmured. Their faces were so close that if one of them would lean forward just a little bit their lips would touch again. "You should," Stella whispered. She didn't have to say that twice. Andrés closed the gap between them immediately.

The way his lips connected with hers still made her knees weak. His tongue brushed gently against her upper lip this time and Stella kissed him back just as tenderly. Their second kiss resembled their skating style more, tongues dancing in synchronization.

Stella heard photoflashes, but she didn't care. At all. Neither seemed Andrés as he made no attempt to separate himself from her. They were too lost in the moment. Only when someone laughed he reluctantly broke their kiss off. Stella's cheeks burned, as did her lips and the spot on her neck. Andrés stroked her hair and his green eyes looked at her with a strange glow. Just when she thought that she would sink in his eyes, he turned away and Stella perceived a smile she had never seen before. It was cunning and arrogant, almost sardonic. His arm was around her shoulder and the look he gave the paparazzi let goose bumps over her back.

"We apologize for this incident."

Stella stared at him. Was he being serious? The looks of the paparazzi, who had paused to take pictures, were just as puzzled. Andrés lowered his head and whispered to her, "Let's go before they realize that we were friendly to them." He took her hand once again. That shook her awake.

She followed him but still couldn't resist saying something. "Arrivederci!" she yelled mockingly, earning a laugh from Andrés.

"They don't follow us," he said as she glanced over her shoulder. The amused tone in Andrés' voice couldn't be overheard, "They're too shocked because we offered them a free show and then just turned around the corner."

Stella didn't answer him. It was a miracle that she managed to nod, seeing has her brain had went into overdrive at his words, as she had realized what she - or rather they - had just done and that the paparazzi had pictures of it. That's why they didn't chase them anymore, they had gotten what they wanted!

Her father would have a heart attack.

Stella seriously considered writing her last will. It was unlikely that she would survive tomorrow. She would either die at breakfast, in school or at the reunion party... Was it possible to die three times in one day?

Once they had made it out of the jungle of side streets, they were on the main street again. They reached a crossing with traffic lights. Andrés stopped walking and she  was only realizing now that they were still holding hands. He looked at her, then at their intertwined hands, "Well, I have to get to the other side," the corners of his mouth turned up slightly, "See you tomorrow, reina."

Stella just stood there, her brain processing his words as she watched him crossing the street. One word in particular had evoked a question in her mind she couldn't shake away, no matter how hard she tried. What were they?

Get a grip, Stella thought. She started to walk faster and after a few minutes she stood before her home. She opened the door as quietly as possible, despite her parents not being home yet. Thank God for that. Stella didn't really know why they weren't home but she really didn't care because it worked in her favor. After she had switched the floor light on, Stella quickly walked up the stairs. She noticed with relief that Luca was still over at his best friend's house and went straight to the bathroom, checking her neck. Her cheeks gained colour again upon seeing the purple-ish mark. Stella doubted that concealer would hide the spot near the nape of her neck. She furrowed her brows, fingers tracing the hickey. How could she get away with wearing a scarf in mid-April? She had just stopped wearing them! Stella smirked when she had the life-saving idea. She would just tell everyone that she felt a cold coming up. There, problem solved!

After she was done in the bathroom, Stella switched into her pajamas and crawled into her bed. She had had a hell of a day and all she wanted to do now was sleep. But sleep didn't want to come.

Stella tossed around again, her brain giving her no peace. She sighed in defeat, knowing that her curiosity would get the better of her and grabbed her phone. She typed her name into Google Search and then tapped the news section. There were already five articles. Stella opened the first one in a new tab and tried to prepare herself mentally. She switched tabs, scrolled down and began to read...

It has been a few weeks since photos of Stella Balsano and Andrés Arias first started to circulate. Ever since then, fans of both their parents have been infatuated with the idea of them becoming a couple. Needless to say, Twitter completely exploded last night when these kissing pictures surfaced on TMZ. We can't get enough of them! Stella and Andrés also seem like they can't get enough of each other either! Just look at their appearance! We seriously feel like we have been robbed of a steamy kiss photo! The last photo made it up for it though. The way Andrés looks at Stella has our hearts melting. While neither of them confirmed anything on the spot they really don't have to, these photos say it all! Even Stella's godfather tweeted the infamous flower video again, yes, the one where he proclaimed that the two of them would end up dating in the future. Said godfather also added the caption "I'll only accept cash!". Well, it looks like the Jam&Roller has found its new king and queen...

A smile spread over Stella's face. She really loved the sound of that. But she had to ask her mother about that flower video. Why hadn't she heard about it until now? She quickly neglected the thought and put her phone on the nightstand again. Stella fell asleep soon after, the smile still visible on her face.

[sintrovert]

Pirouettes and Personal Bests

Summary: Victor’s wearing the most expensive-looking ballet shoes Yuuri has ever seen, obviously brand new judging by the lack of any smudging. And… they’re gold. Gold slippers? Seems about right, Yuuri thinks, then takes a deep breath and lifts his head.

Word Count: 4514

Chapter: 2/?

Read on Ao3

    As Yuuri stares at the strange man standing in front of him, silver hair flopping over one eye and lips formed into a cheery heart-shaped smile as he bounces impatiently in front of him, he can’t help thinking to himself, This is Victor Nikiforov? Five-time figure skating gold medalist? The most eligible bachelor in the world? Yuuri almost laughs out loud. He’s like a puppy!

    Victor’s gaze turns solemn, and Yuuri realizes he hasn’t actually said anything in reply.

    “Are you, uh, sure you’re looking for me? I don’t think--” Yuuri starts.

    “You’re Yuuri Katsuki, yes?” Victor interrupts, eyes wide with hope.

    “Er, yeah, I mean--”

    “And you’re with the Tokyo Ballet?”

    “I mean, yes, obviously--”

    “And you played the Nutcracker at Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg this past Christmas?”

    “Well, yes, but--”

    “Then you’re exactly who I’m looking for!” Victor says triumphantly, thrusting the roses into Yuuri’s arms. Yuuri scrambles to keep them from dropping, glancing back in case anyone else is exiting the studio. “Here, take them, please! It’s the least I can do to thank you.”

    Yuuri looks down at the flowers, then back up at Victor, face drawn in confusion. “Thank...me?” he says slowly. “Thank me for what?”

    Victor spreads his arms wide, then holds them out towards Yuuri. “For inspiring me, of course!” he says, shooting forward and pulling Yuuri into a hug. Yuuri feels his face flare up with embarrassment, wiggling out of Victor’s tight grip to take a step back.

    “I’m sorry, I’m a little confused,” he says, eyebrows furrowing. “I inspired you?” Victor doesn’t seem upset, smile stuck on his face and holding his arms out again.

    “When I saw you in St. Petersburg, I was mesmerized with the way you move to the music,” Victor says, arms waving in some semblance of a ballet routine. “It’s like...the music isn’t playing around you, but coming from inside you. The way you move in time with it, hitting every count with such ease and grace, dancing like you’re floating across the stage…It’s breathtaking.” At some point during his musings, Victor had taken a few steps closer to Yuuri, now almost chest to chest with him.

    Yuuri tilts his head slightly back to look up at the other man, heart pounding in his chest as he notices Victor’s half-lidded eyes. One of Victor’s hands reaches out to gingerly take Yuuri’s free hand, and Yuuri watches in slow-motion as Victor lifts it to his lips, placing a gentle kiss against his knuckles.

    “I…” Yuuri says, not sure how to continue.

    Then, Victor brightens up, eyes wide and smile beaming as he says, “So I’d like you to teach me to move in the same way!”

    Yuuri releases a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding, taking his hand back gently.

    “I-I...Well, I-I’m flattered, Victor, but I don’t know if I could be a teacher...I-I know next to nothing about figure skating,” Yuuri stammers, turning his head in a vain attempt to hide his blush as he takes another step back.

   “And I know nothing about ballet!” Victor laughs, a joyous sound. “We’ll make a great pair!”

    Yuuri laughs nervously, at a loss. Then he sighs. “Victor, I’m really sorry, but--”

    “Please? At least one lesson!” Victor interrupts, lower lip sticking out in a pout. “If you don’t want to after that, I’ll leave and never come back.” Then, Victor suddenly collapses to his knees, head down to the ground in a perfect dogeza as he pleads, “Just one lesson!”

    Yuuri jumps in surprise, squatting down to help Victor up. He flashes an apologetic smile to the few bystanders wandering around on the street, thinking to himself, Great, he’s a drama queen. Once Victor is standing again, Yuuri sighs and, because he just desperately wants to shower, nods.

    “Okay,” he says, running a hand through his hair. “ Meet me here in front of the studio at nine tomorrow morning. We’ll see what happens, I guess.”

    Victor’s eyes go wide, and Yuuri braces when he sees the man launch himself forward. “THANK YOU!!!” he shouts, arms wrapped tight around Yuuri in a hug. Yuuri again smiles apologetically as a fellow dancer exits the studio, a confused look on her face. Victor releases Yuuri, his face beaming. “I promise, you won’t regret this.”

    Let’s hope not, Yuuri thinks absently.

    “I’ll see you tomorrow!” Victor says finally, turning on his heel and heading toward the main intersection. Yuuri remains standing in front of the studio, one arm carrying his practice bag and the other cradling a slightly crushed bouquet of roses.

    Oh god, what had he just agreed to?

    Yuuri unlocks the door to his apartment and drops his bag unceremoniously on the floor as soon as he steps inside. He kicks off his shoes and heads straight for the bathroom, undressing as he goes. He runs a bath, stretching in front of his mirror as the tub fills, wincing as his muscles burn, overused and weary. Yuuri then climbs in, sighing as the scalding water immediately soothes his aching body.

    Almost like the onsen back home, he thinks fondly.

    He sinks beneath the water, humming as his eyelids fall shut. He lets his mind go blank, slipping further down into the cocoon of warm water and deeply inhaling the fruit aroma of the soaps Mari had sent him for his birthday.

    His serenity is broken by the sudden appearance of Victor Nikiforov, his face popping up in Yuuri’s head. He jerks, wincing as he remembers how happy Victor had been when Yuuri had agreed to the lesson. He sits up further in the water, bringing his hands up to his eyes and rubbing at them.

    What the hell have I gotten myself into? he thinks to himself, groaning as he pushes his hair back from his face. Despite having done ballet for as long as he had, Yuuri had never had to teach someone before. Especially not a complete newcomer. He’d helped Minako with instruction in the novice classes from time to time, but even then, he was horrendously awkward and shy. He could barely muster up the courage to ask a waiter to fix a botched order at a restaurant without his face flushing--how the hell was he going to teach someone like Victor Nikiforov?

    Yuuri begrudgingly climbs out of the tub once the water grows tepid, padding over to grab his towel and dry himself off. He drapes the towel over his head, walking back into his room, slipping on a pair of sweatpants, and flopping onto his bed. He grabs his phone off his side table, unlocking it to dozens of notifications--some about new followers on Twitter, some simply direct messages, some text messages, and many, many missed calls.

    Uh oh.

    Yuuri skims over the notifications, eyes slowly widening as he begins to piece together what has happened.

    Every single notification is about Victor Nikiforov.

    When he reaches the end of the list of notifications, Yuuri sees that Minako’s called him ten times and texted him twenty. Yuuri bites his lip as he dials in her number and holds his phone up to his ear.

    He promptly wrenches it away when his speakers explode with the sound of Minako shrieking.

    “Yuuri! Have you been on Twitter?! Everyone is talking about it! Is it true?! Is it true Victor Nikiforov wants you to teach him ballet?” Minako screams, though it’s garbled, and Yuuri thinks she may be crying. Or drunk.

    “What?” Yuuri says, bringing the phone back to his ear. “Minako-sensei, I can barely understand you through your crying.”

    “Did Victor Nikiforov ask you to teach him ballet?” Minako says, her voice clearer, but still high-pitched with excitement.

    “Um. Yeah, he came to the studio today and practically begged that I give him a lesson, so I said yes,” he says, preemptively holding his phone far away from him when Minako screams again. He can imagine her in her house, bottle of sake in front of her, crying like she does after every one of Yuuri’s shows. He tries not to laugh at the image. “God, what’s the big deal?”

    “What’s the big deal?!” Minako screeches, somehow even louder than before. “Do you even know who he is? Five-time gold medalist at the Grand Prix Final, World Championships, and European Championships, not to mention the Russian Nationals--”

    “You know I know nothing about ice skating, Minako-sensei,” Yuuri interrupts. “But yeah, I know who he is. And yes, I’m going to be...teaching him.” It still feels strange to say out loud, and Yuuri rolls over onto his side. “He says he came to The Nutcracker performance in St. Petersburg and that I ‘inspired’ him, or something.” Yuuri shrugs, even though Minako can’t see it. “So now I’m gonna be giving him a ballet lesson.”

    “You inspired him?” Minako asks, her tone incredulous. Then she makes a high-pitched squealing noise. “Oh my god, he’s totally in love with you!”

    Yuuri can feel his face heat up, sitting up suddenly. “Wha--No! N-No, this is just ballet, he wants me to help--”

    “Oh my god, you like him.”

    Yuuri’s the one who shrieks this time. “N-No, I don’t! Why...Why would you even say that?”

    “You liiiike him!” Minako says in a sing-songy voice, laughing when Yuuri practically screeches, “I DO NOT.”

    Yuuri huffs indignantly, crossing his legs beneath him and picking at a loose string from his duvet. “I only just met the guy,” he says, his voice shaking from embarrassment. “A-And this is only supposed to be a one-time thing. He’s coming by for a lesson at the studio in the morning.”

    “You’ll have to bring him home to Hasetsu! He’d love the onsen!” Minako exclaims, seeming to have ignored what Yuuri had just said. “You two can come to my studio, bring me some business!” Yuuri can hear the smugness in her voice.

    Yuuri sighs. “I haven’t even decided if I’m actually going to coach him yet.”

    “Yes, you have. And yes, you will,” Minako says with a tone of finality.

    Yuuri shakes his head. “Minako-sensei--”

    “Yuuri, I know you have trouble with doubting yourself whenever opportunities like this arise, but I am telling you, be Victor’s teacher,” she says, her voice devoid of any sobbing or drunkenness. “Forgetting that you’re practically family to me, and that I only want what’s best for you--as your old teacher, I think teaching him would be the exact thing you need to reignite your love for ballet. You were saying you’d started feeling a bit bored, didn’t you?”

    Yuuri doesn’t respond, biting his lip. She’s right that he’d mentioned he’d begun to feel bored with ballet, having reached his penultimate goal of becoming principal danseur, and was searching for something to get his love back. But...teaching someone else? A figure skater like Victor Nikiforov, at that?

    “We’ll see how things go after the lesson tomorrow,” Yuuri says, exhaling when Minako squeals in response. “Anyway, how are things in Hasetsu?” He closes his eyes and lets Minako’s rambling about her studio, his family, and Victor Nikiforov lull him to sleep.

    Victor arrives at the studio at nine o’clock sharp, already overflowing with energy and cheer, in clear contrast to Yuuri’s hunched shoulders and the giant mug of coffee he’s nursing.

    “Good morning, Yuuri!” he says, beaming happily as Yuuri passes him to enter the studio. Yuuri mumbles something back in response, wiping at the corner of one eye so as to not disturb his contacts. He doesn’t know why he decided to have the lesson so early, especially when his own rehearsal wouldn’t start until at least noon.

    He yawns, pushing open the door to the largest studio with Victor trailing behind him, perhaps a little too close.

    Yuuri points to the row of the dressing room doors, then says, “You can, uh, change in one of the dressing rooms over there, if you need to that is. They should be open.” He nods, then turns on his heels, heading toward the barre and mirror to drop his bag and coat on the ground. As he squats down to slip on his shoes--which are extremely well-worn and in desperate need of replacement--Yuuri happens to look up to see the reflection of Victor’s naked back and ass in the mirror. He’s struggling into a pair of black leggings, and Yuuri quickly flicks his eyes back down, hustling his lace tying.

    “Why are you changing here?!” Yuuri asks, cursing the shake in his voice.

    “Huh?” comes Victor’s voice, laced with confusion.

    “T-The dressing rooms are over there,” he stammers. He points blindly towards the dressing rooms, keeping his eyes down on his shoes instead of braving a look up. “You’re s-supposed to change in the dressing rooms!”

    “Oh,” Victor says. Then he laughs. “I just figured I’d change here, since I only really need to change into these leggings.” Yuuri--stupidly--looks up to see Victor facing forward towards the mirror now, leggings pulled only partially up his thighs and flashing everything. Yuuri yelps, quickly looking back down as Victor says, “Besides, it’s just the two of us right now.”

    “Still,” Yuuri says, busying himself with untying and retying his laces. “From now on, change in the dressing rooms. Please.” Victor makes a noise like a soft hum, and when Yuuri glances back up to the mirror, he’s facing away again, leggings pulled all the way up as he slips a white t-shirt over his head.

    Yuuri stands, turning around, then exhales sharply at the sight of Victor. He’s wearing the absolute tightest white t-shirt Yuuri’s has ever seen, so much so it’s practically see through, and black leggings. Every curve of his body visible, muscles tensing as he stretches his arms above him, looking very relaxed and in his element. He strolls casually forward, Yuuri’s eyes catching on the movement of his leg muscles through black spandex, stopping once he’s about a foot away from Yuuri and smiling that beaming smile. Yuuri gulps, then mentally scolds himself for ogling his student, averting his gaze to the floor. Victor’s wearing the most expensive-looking ballet shoes Yuuri has ever seen, obviously brand new judging by the lack of any smudging. And… they’re gold. Gold slippers? Seems about right, Yuuri thinks, then takes a deep breath and lifts his head.

    “Alright,” Yuuri starts, wincing as his voice cracks at the end. Victor raises an eyebrow amusedly, causing Yuuri’s face to flush with embarrassment. Yuuri clears his throat to regain his composure.“So...S-Since you have no previous ballet experience, we’ll start on the barre.”

    Victor grins, like he knows he’s made Yuuri flustered, and practically skips over to the barre. “So. Yuuri,” he says, drawing out Yuuri’s name lazily, “What’s first? Jumps? Spins?” Victor leans against the barre, one hand resting lightly on top.

    Yuuri laughs. “No, that’s a long way from now. Today we’re doing the five basic positions.”

    Yuuri demonstrates each position and Victor follows along. He’s a fast learner, though he has trouble keeping his arms in the right place, and Yuuri keeps having to lift them or fix his wrist placement, and he’s too close, he can smell Victor’s shampoo and something else distinctly him, and oh, his eyes are so blue... He drops his hands quickly and takes a giant step backward, and Victor looks after him in confusion. “Am I that bad?” he asks, stepping out of position. His eyes are large like he’s about to cry, and Yuuri rushes to shake his head.

    “No, no! You’re looking fine! I mean, great! Y-You’re looking great!” Yuuri squeaks, hoping his face would catch on fire with the rest of his body and he could just burn to a crisp right here right now. “I just, uh...think it’s time for a break!”

    With that, Yuuri hurries out of the room and into the bathroom, where he splashes a generous amount of water on his face. He stares into his face, willing the red across his cheeks to fade. Minako had just gotten into his head, that’s all. He barely knew this guy, and it was extremely inappropriate for a teacher to….Oh god. He so likes him.

    Victor’s lounging on the floor when Yuuri comes back about five minutes later, absentmindedly scrolling through his Instagram feed, and Yuuri takes a minute to just look at him before breaking the silence.

    “Okay, so now I think we should--” Yuuri starts.

    “Actually, Yuuri,” Victor interrupts, straightening up, “I was wondering if you would dance for me?” He smiles, eyebrows raised in question.

    “Ah, you--You want me...What?” Yuuri stammers.

    “I’d like for you to dance for me,” Victor says simply.

    Yuuri opens his mouth to respond, then closes it, unsure how to respond. Sure, his entire life consists of performance after performance, but dancing here, just him and Victor, felt much more...intimate than if he were in front of thousands of people. He rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. “D-Do you have a dance in mind?”

    Victor puts a finger to his chin in thought. “Ah! The one you did as your first performance for the Tokyo Ballet! That’s my favorite.” Victor smiles warmly. “It reminded me of how I felt when I first started skating.”

    His favorite? Christ, how many performances of mine has he seen?

    “Let me see if I still have the music on my phone,” Yuuri says, moving to grab his phone from his bag. He scrolls through his list of music, stopping on the song when he’s found it. He then moves to plug his phone into the speakers. He then presses play, assuming his starting position. Victor looks on, and if Yuuri didn’t know any better, he’d say Victor looked starstruck.

    The music begins and Yuuri feels the familiar tug in his stomach, and he relinquishes himself to the music, his body moving on its own accord, mind blissfully blank as he glides across the floor. He can feel a smile blossoming on his face, that unbridled joy bubbling up from inside him, heart thumping in his chest to the beat of the track. Before he knows it, he’s spinning, his last pirouette morphing into his final pose, arm outstretched, index finger pointed straight at Victor. He’s breathing heavily, and as soon as the music stops, he can feel his limbs get heavy, and he slumps forward, trying to quell the intense emotion that threatens to spill out of him. He’s not going to cry in front of Victor. He’s already embarrassed himself enough.

    Yuuri’s surprised when a pair of strong arms suddenly wrap around him, and he flicks his gaze upward, meeting Victor’s piercing gaze, and he gets goosebumps. How does he do that with just a look?

    “Yuuri, what you just did right there...that’s what makes you my inspiration,” Victor says, his voice gone soft. He goes to move away but for some reason Yuuri stops him, his arms reaching up to hug Victor back, melting into the embrace. Victor tenses in surprise but then chuckles, and Yuuri can feel his laughter vibrating through his chest where he’s pressed up against him.

    “Thank you,” Yuuri mumbles into Victor’s chest, and Victor hums, giving Yuuri a final squeeze before Yuuri disentangles himself from him. “I’ve just...No one’s ever called me their inspiration before,” he murmurs abashedly, eyes dropping to the floor.

    “Really?” Victor says, sounding truly incredulous. “I find that hard to believe. Who wouldn’t feel inspired after seeing a performance like that?” Yuuri smiles, turning his head away to hide his blush. He busies himself with taking a much needed sip of water, while Victor moves to the center of the room.

    “What is it called, when you stand on the one foot and lift the other up?” Victor asks, readjusting his shoes. Yuuri’s surprised he’s still wearing them; breaking in new shoes isn’t easy, and ballet dancers aren’t known for having pretty feet. Then again, breaking in skates is probably very similar.

    “A passé,” Yuuri responds, replacing the cap on his water bottle. “Or a retiré. They’re basically the same thing.”

    Victor nods. “Show me?”

    Yuuri turns one foot frontward, and the other out, then in one swift movement, brings his right foot up to where it’s formed a triangle shape, arms stretched upward in fifth position. He steps out of it, and watches Victor mimic his foot placement.

    Victor pops his leg up, wobbling for a second...before immediately falling on his ass.

    Yuuri can’t help the giggle that escapes him before he clamps a hand over his mouth.

    Victor glares over at him, his lip jutted out in a pout. “What? Something funny?” he demands, crossing his arms over his chest like a petulant child.

    Yuuri walks over to kneel in front of Victor. “It’s okay. Balance is something that takes a long time to master. Your center of balance on the ice is different than here, so you just have to readjust.” Yuuri straightens back up, and reaches out a hand to help Victor up.

    “Owww,” Victor whines, rubbing his lower back, his pride hurt more than anything else. Yuuri is still smiling as Victor stands, rubbing at his backside like a wounded animal. Before he realizes what he’s doing and can stop himself, he says, “You know if you continued taking lessons, I think you could learn that move easily.”

    Victor’s head snaps up, eyes wide and mouth slightly open. “Taking lessons…” he says, voice slightly quiet. He then smiles fondly, and Yuuri feels like melting. “As in...you’ll teach me?”

    Yuuri realizes the mistake in his words too late, inhaling sharply as his face flushes bright red. “O-Or, you know, from s-some other instructor!” Yuuri rushes to say. “I-I’m sure there are plenty of instructors w-willing to, er...t-to teach--”

    “I don’t want anyone else to teach me,” Victor says plainly, eyebrows drawn. “I want to learn from you.”

    Yuuri bites his lip, then sighs. “Listen, Victor,” he says. “I don’t know if I can be the kind of teacher you’re looking for. I mean, yeah, I can teach you, like, the basics of ballet, but...actual teaching is kind of out of my element.” Victor is silent for a moment, watching Yuuri with a calculated look behind his blue eyes. Then, he smiles again, a warm smile that Yuuri is sure could melt any person’s heart, and takes a step forward, arms raised as if offering a hug.

    “How about a trade?” he says. “You teach me everything you know about ballet, regardless of how good of a teacher you think you are, and I’ll teach you everything I know about figure skating.” He shrugs, his smile morphing into a sort of boyishly cute half-smile. “It’s not much, but I figured we could equally enjoy each other’s terrible teaching.” Yuuri can’t help laughing at that, taking an unconscious step closer to Victor.

    In any other situation, Yuuri would have for sure still said no. But something about the almost desperate look in Victor’s eyes, the outstretched arms, the offer of teaching him to figure skate is enough to make him nod his head.

    “Alright,” he says, surprised by the lack of quiver in his voice. “Alright, I’ll teach you ballet.” Despite having only spent less than a day with him, Yuuri is completely unsurprised when Victor springs forward, arms wrapping tight around Yuuri and practically spinning him around in a circle.

    “Yuuri!” Victor squeals, grabbing his shoulders and hold him back to smile directly at him. “You won’t regret this, I promise!” Yuuri smiles back, slightly dazed and dizzy from the spinning and sudden proximity to Victor. As he does, his eyes catch sight of the clock on the back wall. His eyes shoot open in surprise, and he curses under his breath. Victor’s eyebrows draw together in confusion. “What is it?”

    “I...lost track of time,” Yuuri says, rushing over to where his bag is on the ground. He grabs it quickly, dropping to the ground to begin untying his shoes. “My regular practice starts in ten minutes in a different studio, plus I think this studio is supposed to be used by a class.” He shoves his shoes in his bag, shouldering it once he has his regular tennis shoes back on. He turns to Victor, who’s still standing watching Yuuri with a look of confusion on his face. “Uh, I don’t think that class is supposed to start for at least fifteen minutes, so you can, er--”

    “It’s fine, Yuuri,” Victor says, his face relaxing into another smile. “My hostel isn’t too far from here, so I can just let myself out.” Victor turns and heads for his things, and Yuuri definitely isn’t staring at his ass in those leggings.

    Yuuri’s hand grips his bag strap tightly. “H-Hostel?” he calls after Victor, voice unsure.

    Victor is sitting on the ground now, unlacing and easing his feet out of his shoes. He looks up at Yuuri’s voice, flipping back his bangs. “Yeah,” he says. “I couldn’t stay in any of the hotels nearby, so I chose to stay in the hostel.”

    “Y-You could stay with me,” Yuuri says without realizing. Victor looks just as surprised as Yuuri feels, and it’s with some stuttering that Yuuri manages to say, “I-I have a spare guest room in my apartment. I r-rarely use it, so it’s kind of empty right--”

    “Really?!” Victor says, immediately jumping to his feet. He pads over to Yuuri, looking ready to jump Yuuri with another hug. Yuuri takes a step back in anticipation and Victor stops, a knowing smile on his face. “You’d let me stay with you?”

    Yuuri swallows. “Why not?” he says, smiling sheepishly. Victor doesn’t attack him with another hug, though Yuuri can tell that he wants to, but still beams. Yuuri’s eyes flick up to the clock, and he curses again, quickly scribbling down his address on a crumpled up gum wrapper he finds in the bottom of his bag.

    “There’s a key under the front mat.” He says, running to the door. “I’ll be back around seven.” He turns away before he thinks better of it, and before Victor crushes him in another hug.

    “Amazing!” Victor exclaims, from behind him. “I’ll just have to go get Makkachin, and I’ll make dinner!”

    Yuuri turns around now, eyebrow raised. “Makka-whaa?”

    “My dog!” Victor beams, as if it’s perfectly normal to bring a dog on an international adventure. Yuuri has a sneaking suspicion Victor was never planning on leaving so soon.

    “Oh-okay.” Yuuri stammers, because he really doesn’t have time to digest this right now.

    “Turn the lights off when you leave, please!” He says, and with that, he’s out the door and sprinting through the building.

    He arrives at his rehearsal studio a minute past noon, and though he knows his director is about to give him a tongue-lashing, he can’t help the small smile that passes over his face.

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Special thanks to @toosigoosi for co-authoring!

[winterolympicssports2018-blog]

(Olympics) Short tracker captures 1st gold in dominant fashion; figure skater sets more personal best scores

Click here for More Olympics Updates https://www.winterolympian.com/olympics-short-tracker-captures-1st-gold-in-dominant-fashion-figure-skater-sets-more-personal-best-scores/

(Olympics) Short tracker captures 1st gold in dominant fashion; figure skater sets more personal best scores

By Special Reporting Team

GANGNEUNG, South Korea, Feb. 17 (Yonhap) — It was a day of firsts for South Korea on Saturday at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

In short track speed skating, Choi Min-jeong captured her first Olympic gold, blowing away the field to win the women’s 1,500 meter at Gangneung Ice Arena.

Moments later, in a race filled with more drama, Seo Yi-ra won bronze for his first Olympic medal in the men’s 1,000m.

South Korean short track speed skater Choi Min-jeong waves to the crowd after winning the gold medal in the women’s 1,500 meters of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics at Gangneung Ice Arena in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, on Feb. 17, 2018. (Yonhap)

Choi got her personal redemption on Saturday as she lost what would have been a silver medal in the 500m final due to an impeding penalty on Tuesday. Choi vowed then she’d bounce back in later races and lived up to her words with a dominant performance in the 1,500m.

She charged out from the middle of the pack with four laps remaining, and by the home stretch, no one was in the rearview mirror of the South Korean.

In the men’s 1,000m final, Seo and teammate Lim Hyo-jun both competed, and both fell late in the race. Only Seo got up in time to finish in third place, while Lim was a distant fourth.

Lim, the 1,500m champion from a week ago, was in pursuit of his second gold here.

Through Saturday, South Korea has three gold medals and two bronze medals — with two golds and one bronze coming from short track.

Earlier on Saturday, Gangneung Ice Arena served as the stage for men’s singles figure skating, where South Korean teenager Cha Jun-hwan set new personal best in both free skate and overall scores.

Cha ranked 15th overall after earning 160.13 points in free skate for a total of 242.45 points.

The 16-year-old also set his new personal high with 83.43 points in the short program on Friday.

Cha’s 15th-place finish is the highest position by a South Korean male figure skater at the Olympics.

South Korean figure skater Cha Jun-hwan performs his free program during the men’s singles event of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics at Gangneung Ice Arena in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, on Feb. 17, 2018. (Yonhap)

Also on Saturday, the men’s hockey team suffered a humiliating 8-0 loss against Switzerland at Gangneung Hockey Centre. Coming off an encouraging performance against the Czech Republic — losing 2-1 in a tight game — South Korea fell apart in the third period against the Swiss and gave up five goals over the final 20 minutes.

With two straight losses, South Korea will not get to advance directly to the quarterfinals, either as the top seed in Group A or the best second-seed for the entire tournament. It will fall to the qualification playoffs with eight other teams, with the four winners advancing to the quarterfinals.

South Korea will next face Canada at 9:10 p.m. Sunday. Canada was stunned by the Czech Republic 3-2 in the shootout on Saturday and must beat South Korea to have a chance of getting the top seed.

At Gangneung Curling Centre, South Korea’s male curling team scored its first victory by beating Britain 11-5 in the round robin session. The men are now 1-4 in the Olympics so far.

The women’s team also defeated Britain by 7-4, and improved to 3-1 in the round robin .

On snow, freestyle skier Lee Mee-hyun came up just shy of qualifying for the final in the women’s slopestyle at Phoenix Snow Park in PyeongChang.

After two qualifying runs, the better score counted for the skiers. Lee had 72.80 points in her second run, only 0.2 point back of Maggie Voisin of the United States, who held down the 12th and last spot for the finals.

South Korean freestyle skier Lee Mee-hyun competes in the qualification round for the women’s slopestyle of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics at Phoenix Snow Park in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, on Feb. 17, 2018. (Yonhap)

Elsewhere on Saturday, veteran ski jumper Choi Se-ou, in his sixth Winter Olympics, failed to reach the final round in the men’s individual large hill event.

He was 45th among 50 ski jumpers, needing to be inside the top 30 to move on.

In the women’s skeleton, Jeong Sophia ended in 15th place with a combined time of 3 minutes, 29.89 seconds after four runs. Jeong is the first South Korean woman to compete in skeleton at the Olympic Games.

jeeho@yna.co.kr

(END)

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[funkoso]

MKAMIEN BESTFRIENDS IN MY EYEEEES, anyways sort of a silly mirrored skates post

(Bottoms movie reference..)

[funkoso]

Announcing this on here too, my two total drama aus (hylophobia and mirrored skates) are on a hiatus at the moment! To keep it short, I’ve bee struggling to write bc I feel like I’ve been getting sloppy? Anyways I put a little thread on my twt if yall want a slightly in depth explanation