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canonicallysoulmates · 2 years

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J2 Gold Panel Chicon 2022

My boys looking as handsome as always, really loving their outfits today ❤️

At the beginning of the panel Jared makes a joke about his accident which the crowd does not appreciate- it’s too soon Jared! But as he says, he’s joking about himself which is a valid point. Anyways, there’s a little exchange between the boys because Jensen jokingly says he was all ready to wheel Jared up the stage that morning and Jared replied Jensen carried him up the stairs. x

Asked why he didn’t sing in yesterday's concert, Jensen replies that he did sing. In his hotel room, he sang himself to sleep. To which Jared comments: I wish it was just yourself. Interesting comment there Jared 👀 After looking at Jared with an expression I can only describe as mischievous Jensen says it’s true that the whole hotel lobby was asking Jared to shut him up. x

Jared makes a second joke about his accident, and I wanna point out Jensen’s reaction when he does this; Jared jokes that he just didn’t want to go to the con so he came up with an idea to stay home aka his accident. Jensen did not like that joke, and you can tell because he goes from smiling to pursing his lips, slightly shaking his head, and then saying “next time just stay home”. And Jared got the message loud and clear because he turns serious and sort of mumbles ‘might have turned out better’. Jensen’s reaction was twofold. He not only let Jared know that he did not like the joke but - while I do not know and it is not my business to know Jared’s reasons for being in that car on that day I am willing to bet that Jensen and him had a very serious conversation about it, and that while Jared may joke he knows not only how bad it could have been but also how much it frightened Jensen. x

First, official question is: in what world do they imagine that Walker, and Jensen’s new character on Big Sky, Beau Arlen, meet? Jared says in all the worlds he imagines. Me too, buddy. And Jensen says that it’s the crossover that makes most sense since his character Beau is from Houston and has a law enforcement past there.

Jared also says that since around spn s4 he has wanted to work on a joint project with Jensen that’s separate from spn which I find kind of adorable because even when he was spending little to no time away from Jensen all he wanted was to spend more time with him and do other projects together. Says he wants to do a project where he and Jensen’s characters have a moment where they pass by each other and do a double take; which prompts Jensen to share that technically they did a moment like that when he directed Walker. After they filmed one of the concert scenes he walked on set and he and Jared looked at each other and it would have worked if it hadn't been for Odette Anabelle, who plays Geri, reacting. x

Do they have any short term or long term plans for what they want to do with their Baby's? Jared wants to keep it aesthetically the same but fix it so it’s workable because it works for filming but not so much for actually driving through town which he found out when he drove it home from Jensen’s brewery which is where the cars had been delivered to, so she's getting some work done; Jensen said the same, he doesn’t plan to change anything aesthetically but he has gotten some work done on her and at first he was planning to change the engine because it’s loud as hell but after thinking about he thinks he’s gonna keep it just for nostalgia sake and just get it tuned up.

When the show wrapped up, their props department gifted them “care packages” , which was basically a collection of little, random props. Some of the props Jared got was the Samulet, hotel keycards, some legos and GI Joe/army men from Swan Song and when he got them he went to the garage and put some of the legos around 😭

What was the inspiration for the City Grown Willow music video? They were bored and stuck in the mountains. Literally. It was filmed during the pandemic lockdown, Steve was there, it was snowing, him and Jensen had nothing better to do so they went and spend a couple hours filming the thing; originally it was gonna just be for them, something they did for fun but since it turned out so good they decided to post it. Steve is the one who came up with the idea for the song and it’s based off of a friend of his, she was a city girl and he was kind of a country guy and it was inspired by their relationship. Then Jared makes Jensen crack up by reminding him of an old SNL sketch. x

What inspired Jensen to start writing music? He’s always been surrounded by musician friends who encouraged him, and included him in their songwriting. And Jared once again shared the story of how when his brother went to visit back in s1 he told him that he had to hear Jensen’s singing. Proud hubby from day 1 this one 💕

Does Dean Jr. having the anti possession tattoo leave the door open for a sequel? Jared says that was not the intention, that for him the intention was that even though Dean was gone he was still there, but sure, maybe 🤷‍♀️

A fan askedJensen about how it was to film as Soldier Boy as opposed to filming as Dean. But before she can finish her question Jensen mentions seeing episode 1 of The Boys s3; I’m not gonna give spoilers and he doesn’t give spoilers either but he mentions how he saw the episode at the Paris premiere, in a movie theater, and it had been so long from filming and reading scripts that he had forgotten all about a specific scene involving a character named Termite. So he got to see that on a very, big screen, and when the scene happened what he heard was Kripke, who was sitting behind him, cackling maniacally 😂

Him and Jared flew to the convention together (💕), and Jensen being such a good husband, such a good friend he showed the episode/Termite scene to Jared on the plane 🤣🤣🤣

Before we continue just in case anybody who has not seen the episode and does not watch The Boys is curious and decides to look up the scene in question please be aware that the scene is extremely graphic, it contains nudity, a sexual situation and gore. Look it up at your own discretion.

To answer the question, Jensen says it was different all around. With spn that was his and Jared’s house, and they loved inviting people in and making them comfortable, but on The Boys he was the guest so he made sure to stay in his lane and be respectful. He says Antony Starr who plays Homelander on the show was reluctant to like him; he told Jensen that he didn’t want to like him but he does. When it comes to the character aspect, he had several conversations with Kripke and Phil Sagriccia to ensure he didn’t slip back into Dean. And says that Soldier Boy arrives on the scene in ep 4! I’m so excited, we got a bit of him in ep 3 and he’s just 😍

If they could cameo on any show that’s not related to spn or one of their current projects, what show would it be? Jared says Saved by the Bell or Home Improvement. Jensen goes with Yellowstone.

Jared, also says, that he wanted to be like Jonathan Taylor Thomas, and tells the story that years ago he was in LA driving down this thin street and there was an SUV heading his way but it wasn’t in its lane so he’s looking at the car like wtf! and as the car slowed down and came nearer he realized it was JTT, and when Jared noticed who it was he just went ‘oh it’s cool man!’ 😂

Final question! They are known for being menaces on set. Is that something that will continue on in their new sets? It’s difficult for Jared to do so because he doesn’t have a partner in crime on the Walker set due to being the EP. So for example he’ll start joking around and he’ll see Keegan go with the flow and tease him back until he remembers Jared’s the EP and then he’s like oh shit and Jared has to tell them that it’s okay to tease him. He loves his Walker crew but so far only two of the members are comfortable teasing and joking around with him. Jared has such golden retriever energy when he’s saying this; and Jensen mentions how on his first day of prep for the Walker ep he directed, he made a friendly joke about Jared thinking the crew would laugh and instead all he got was a bunch of wide eyeballs staring back at him like 😳

In Jensen’s case he did have a partner in crime on The Boys. Him and Karl Urban build a camaraderie and after a couple eps they started doing the silent communication thing where whenever someone said something that could be taken as innuendo or in a different way they would smirk at each other and that would lead to them messing with somebody but they had to be careful because there’s a lot of different personalities on that set and while some are okay with joking around others are very much not. x

J2 Gold Panel Chicon

#j2 tinhat #i'mma take a little break and then main panel time #and again i'll repeat in the tags if you look up the termite scene it's on you #mine

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sailorwritesstuff · 2 years

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even MORE Madrigal family headcanons

Because I want to take over this fandom 😏

also found out apparently??? Encanto takes place around the 50's??? that doesn't seem right at all??

no spoilers

When Pepa is mad she says "Ay! im so heated i can hear the clouds."

Dolores got her name from "Dolores" by Frank Sinatra (1941)

Bruno has really nice hand writing. Julieta... not so much...

Mirabel throws herself into playing multiple instruments to impress her Abuela at a young age. She can play six piano, guitar, accordion, the flute, bongos, and ocarina (and the tambourine if you count that as an instrument)

the guitar she learned how to play on was actually Bruno's He used to hide it in his room but before he left he put it in the nursery because he knew he wouldn't be able to play it in the walls.

Antonio kicks Camilo in the ankles sometimes and acts like its an accident. he gets pretty creative with those excuses.

Isabela doesn't want kids. she plans to have one (1) for the sake of the miracle.

Antonio grows up to be the tallest of his siblings and Camilo was heated.

Julieta can SING. She's got a very rich and soothing voice. Even though they're all grown up now the kids still ask her to sing to them when they can't sleep.

Felix has an old record player with all kinds of tunes.

Pepa can't sing for shit but somehow She can memorize notes just by hearing them once or twice.

Felix sometimes just likes to chill and listen to opera. very loudly. And he dances to it like it's just club music.

luisa listens to ballet tunes whenever she's stressed Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake is a favorite of hers

Antonio doesn't like house cats much. they frustrate him because they don't listen

Camilo and Dolores mock their parents. not in a mean way. its actually kinda cute. they've done sense Camilo could talk in full sentences.

Isabela sleeps in one of her dad's old Sleep shirts even tho she has lots of pretty pj sets. she literally hates pants.

Mirabel is a libra.

Agustin hates black coffee. it has to be FILLED with sugar.

The family calls Dolores, Dolly or Lolita a lot.

if you ask Isabela what her favorite color is she'll be very sarcastic because she makes it obvious. "brown" "really?" "no you fucking idiot its purple."

Camilo is 100% and astrology bitch who has everyone's birth chart memorized.

Abuela It's one of those parents who used to wake their kids up to loud music to clean the house. and it was never music they wanted to hear.

every Christmas Antonio ask Mirabel for a shirt. just a shirt. because he knows if he asks for something big she'll go over the top. so if he asks for something small. she'll be normal.

Abuela doesn't like Horses

Pepa wanted to name Camilo, Pedro but Alma wasn't ready yet and broke down crying when pepa asked. she didn't ask again for Antonio but Alma wished she had.

Isabela doesn't like eating meat.

Dolores has a strong distaste for loud music. it hurts her head. So she can never listen to a record player up close She always has to play it from a few rooms over.

Dolores is a big fan of her Tio Bruno's telenovelas

Abuelo Pedro wrote songs. several books full of them. and Alma kept all of the ones she could save. she sacrificed her favorite Dresses so they would fit even tho he said he didn't need them Because she knew he was lying and that they were important to him. She even almost left her wedding dress but she thought about how sad she would be if one of her two daughters didn't get to wear it one day. (spoiler: it was Julieta)

Bruno can also sing And he has this natural rasp to his voice. like a make your knees shake rasp.

Antonio prefers to listen to jungle noise tapes over music. even before he got his gift. now it just makes more sense.

Abuela (back when she was just mamá) would sing to her children the songs that her husband sang to her when they were young and dating

Antonio taught some bird and other creatures how to perform Abuela's favorite song for her birthday. (She didn't enjoy it but she thanked him and pretended anyway)

Mirabel sings silly songs to the kids in town when she sees they're having a bad day.

Mirabel can't take jello seriously. she snickers everytime she sees it move.

Camilo once wrote an entire one man musical that he forced his family to watch. (It was honestly surprisingly good??)

Agustin gets flustered whenever his wife sings to him.

Bruno can't dance

Camilo and Mirabel did highschool theater.

Isabela went to high school theater productions occasionally to throw flowers aggressively at Mirabel and Camilo through out the performance via magic.

Isabela hates showtunes

Isabela also was in school chorus and played the piano so...

Antonio said fuck once and Pepa lost her shit. It rained for a days every time she looked at Camilo who taught him the word.

Mirabel is an advent journaler of emotions (post canon) She goes through about a journal every month and a half. and she carries it everywhere.

Dolores sings like Cinderella. its very pretty. but very rare.

sometimes Bruno forgets he's not supposed to be in the house while he's in the walls and he'll say bless you when someone sneezes. He did it to Pepa once there was a hurricane for two days because she thought her dead brother was talking to her.

Camilo loves ice cream.

Mirabel tried to get Bruno, Isabella, and Camilo to start a band. (they said no)

#sailor says something dumb #disney encanto #encanto headcanons #tio bruno #encanto #luisa madrigal #bruno madrigal #mirabel madrigal #camilo madrigal #felix madrigal #pepa madrigal #julieta madrigal #abuela alma madrigal #abuelo pedro madrigal

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cto10121 · 2 years

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review of romeu e julieta (2012) at the globe. thanks to @ariel-seagull-wings for the tag!

so this was a performance by a brazilian troupe in london’s globe itself! i’m shocked that this was even a thing and had the devil of a time wondering if the audience could even understand (conclusion: they did, as they laughed at key lines. surtitles it is). what a treat. so i regret to say that this is one of the worst productions i’ve seen of r&j in awhile. yeah, it was bad. i’ll hugo montenegro-it some more

the good:

portuguese!!!!! tão lindo, always so nice to hear, and the translation of the shakespeare sounded consistently good. the deliveries were fine. this production decided to add in superfluous original lines by the chorus figure to explain the story better. might as well

um. juliet had some elegance? very swan lake-swan.

the friar playing the nino rota love theme from the ‘68 film. made me long to see that movie again

there was a speech in english by the chorus that sounded pretty good. well-written, actually.

that’s it

the bad:

no prologue, even though there was a freakin’ chorus they used substantially. at least in the other globe production there were three choruses—not ideal, but better than nothing

no fight scene (no, i don’t count whatever the hell that was in the beginning). tybalt’s role was so diminished it was painful

romeo on stilts half the time for no reason. at first i thought it was a ~metaphor for how he is so in-the-clouds in his false love over rosaline and how juliet’s love grounds him back to earth. but nope. that’s apparently giving this vacuous production too much credit. after meeting juliet he is back on those damn stilts.

the interpretations were bad. romeo looked mostly pained, juliet just would not stop smiling up until the second half, (she could not do drama, period) benvolio is just whatever about romeo’s pining for rosaline, the nurse insufferable, the friar is a goofy hipster, (?) and tybalt and mercutio nigh non-entities

the endless songs. part of a larger trend, i know (the english-language productions do as much), but in this production it was nigh insufferable. the production really had to use the chorus as the figurative glue because they cut out swaths of text and filled at least a quarter with songs. romeo consistently sang and it was awful. if i hear flor, minha flor one more goddamn time, i’m going to lose it. you want romeu e julieta the musical? do presgurvic in portuguese. or just hit up br0adwaybaby1, she has it in the bag.

yet another production that plays the first half as a comedy and the other half a tragedy. no, no, and no. for one thing, the comic bits weren’t even entertaining, but excruciating and cringey. thanks to this need to entertain or else wrap everything in ironic self-detachment, the black satire of the first half is entirely missed, the romance devoid of passion and therefore reason, and even the feud was not well-established at all.

the ugly:

the short length. i had a feeling this wouldn’t be a great production when i saw the runtime. good r&j productions are never under 2 hours. the globe did an abridged version that was barely adequate, but it also had problems with emotion. probably that filmed live theater version was the only okay abridged version.

the whole beginning sequence. i nearly hit the back arrow, but fortunately i am made of sterner stuff. i lived through weirder r&j stuff before and it has made me strong, you hear?

costumes, sets, the works. this was obviously a minimalist production, but the choices they made went way in the clown direction, literally. there was a car on stage and the nurse had sack boobs. enough saidq

apart from its ubiquity, the music was horrible. par de course for the globe, but still. there was one song r&j sang during their parting scene that wasn’t too bad. but i don’t especially remember it either

one of the most unbelievable r&js i’ve seen in awhile, probably even more so than the other globe production. no gravitas, no passion, not even sweetness. they got better towards the end, but it was way too late. the best i can say about these two is that they didn’t play r&j as caricatures of horny teens, nor did they clown their way through the balcony. small miracles

so i’m completely baffled if pleased that foreign-language productions are apparently a thing in london. but this ain’t it. in short, this version did nothing new with the material; if anything, it took all the worst ideas of most english-language productions (it’s a comedy and then a tragedy! no prologue! tons of music for no good reason! short runtime! excessive clownery!) and performed it in portuguese. this could have been an english-language production and no one would have batted an eye. the critics must have seen worse. i’ve been reading the reviews of some stage r&js in the guardian and even the worst-sounding of them have gotten positive reviews, the critics have gotten so craven.

you want r&j but done differently with contemporary resonance and tons of music? again, broken record here…do. gerard. presgurvic’s musical!!!!!! you fiends

#romeo and juliet #romeu e julieta #the globe theatre #cristina reviews #sorry if it sounds harsh #but there is only so much more of this that i can take #oh and the chorus figure is supposedly shakespeare #but well he didn’t act like shakespeare so #cristina watches

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shijiujun · 3 years

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NTTD is a masterpiece!!!! Spoilers below but combing through Casino Royale to No Time to Die

Q and Bond

Like we’ve all shipped 00q since Skyfall and for good reason - as Ben Whishaw said there’s affection even though between Q and 007 there’s irritation and annoyance, exasperation. And yes Q has a potential boyfriend in NTTD and ahhh still doesn’t stop me from shipping em both as an old 00q shipper.

They’re so consistent in every movie - I love Ben Whishaw’s Q and how they went from sitting in a museum looking at the painting of a sinking ship, of Q’s sassy and exasperated ‘Bond’s, and to the very last, panicked ‘James get out of there’. Although canon-wise we don’t get a lot of 00q moments but at the very least their friendship is profound and Q cares deeply for him. We don’t get to see it, going from Skyfall to Spectre to NTTD, but he must’ve been in Bond’s ears for years, and their very last hurrah together was fitting.

Q in Bond’s ears, the very last person to standing right at his back, yelling at him to get out of there, wanting to see him off the island safely and seeing probably his favorite and least favorite agent through on his last mission - that meant more to me throughout this entire franchise than anything else. Everything was just nice.

(Now time to go find all my fix-it fics and revisit some of my fave 00q ones)

Bond and Everyone Else

Wish we had more badass Moneypenny but glad she was there nonetheless - Mallory as always playing the in between white and black, and Tanner being the flustered, stressed out admin that needs a break. Nomi, who stood equally next to Bond and accompanied him on his very last mission. And perhaps it was also fitting that Felix Leiter went out with him, earlier than he, but since the start they stood shoulder to shoulder, a man Bond was glad to call his friend.

And these five movies gave Bond the dysfunctional family he never wanted but had to some extent - after Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace he truly was, even if he thought he was, never alone. Quite an anti-thesis to the suave, solo Bond that seems to we had until Skyfall. And contrary to the belief that he would die alone without anyone to remember him, he does. He truly does. And they are the ones who count.

Bond and Madeleine + Matilde

I thought I’d hate this token wife and kid and happy ending thing but I don’t. I really don’t. I love the different side we got to see for Madeleine, and Matilde was hilariously cute in several ways. It didn’t feel forced, like Casino Royale’s kind offff did. I love that they gave her characterization and that she was always generous with her emotions - of her longing for Bond on the train, of her anger, of how tough she was, and at the end.

Bond + The Villain + Safin

The only thing that kind of gets me is that Safin kind of came out of nowhere, doesn’t actually have much beef with Bond, and I can’t really tell what his obsession with Madeleine and Matilde is. I guess the moral of the story is that it’s always the same old story with villains right and that there’s always another one of Safin, but it’s almost hilarious how Safin doesn’t really have it coming for Bond. Blofeld’s antics were... just antics, and it’s almost like there was no true villain for this entire story, which is almost poetic.

Pacing + Other Things

We’ve come full circle from Casino Royal, Quantum of Solace to Skyfall (where I feel like Daniel Craig’s Bond really flourished) and then Spectre and No Time to Die - The storytelling is consistent throughout 15 years of run time and I’m glad we went from the cacophony of betrayal and trust issues, emo sadass i’m-gonna-die-alone vibes in every movie.

To be honest I thought it was going to be drawn out and cliched and it was to some extent but in all the nice ways - Daniel Craig really sang his swan song with NTTD and we had it all - the sort of happy ending he got with the love of his life and leaving behind a child, a part of him, with a strange professional but the closest thing to a family he ever had with Mallory and Tanner and Moneypenny, Q. He had the hero’s shot in the sunset at his very last moments, and not wanting to die but realizing at the moment that it was, to some degree, the end he was waiting for if he had no other choice.

He got to die as 007 - and it was never just a number to him, and I’m glad he got to die with it. He got to die after using up all his shiny gadgets from Q, after saying goodbye to the love of his life, after having at least one day and night as a normal, actual family with Madeleine and Matilde.

Did I think his death was necessary? I think it was fitting. I’d loved for him to get the happy ending truly, but this was a fitting way to go and as one review said “this eliminates any possibility of him having to come back and do a role he’s been wanting to drop since forever”. It was so fitting. His death was almost a quiet, peaceful and calm one, but at the same time he literally did go out with a bang as he probably thought he always would - he had both, and he had regrets but it truly was time and he was content with that.

Humour was on point too - softened Bond around the edges, made him seem not so emo and destructive (like he was at the beginning of Skyfall) anymore. A good mellowing out.

I also loved that they came back to the betrayal trope but didn’t go too much into it because we’ve had that for every single 007 movie so far. Loved that Ana de Armas came out as a hilariously anxious but also weirdly confident and exceptionally competent interjection to the whole movie - Bond gets to work with gorgeous women all the time and he’s almost slept with all so it’s so nice to see Paloma and Nomi like going ‘nopeeeeee gotta do ma job cool thanks’ - no standard Casino Royale situation.

(I’m still amused that he went to infiltrate the island with like a navy knit sweater and a thin white shirt damn man)

Plenty of regrets of course - if he didn’t let Madeleine go five years ago he would have gotten five more years of family time with her and Matilde but I suppose trouble would have come knocking sooner or later, and I’m glad he had some soft tender moments with the sunlight behind him - we didn’t get much or any of these in the first three movies.

NTTD was softer in all the right ways and every single loose end was tied up. I’d have loved for some mention of Judy Dench M or that pitbull figurine thing, but every box was checked, from Vesper to Felix to everyone else.

#nttd #nttd spoilers #00q #i sniffles #15 years of daniel craig's 007 #a little less than that of ben whishaw's q #this was a good full circle #no time to die

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akookminsupporter · 3 years

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Submission from @jenizme

Is this how you respond? 😂 I’m new to this so I’m not sure if this is the correct place to send this. Hopefully it is. It’s a little long so I had to do it this way.

Before I get into jikook, I just wanted to mentioned my BTS story. I first noticed them in 2018, around the time IDOL came out. I watched the music video and thought “man these guys can dance.” 😂 Anyway, over the next couple of years I’d hear small things about BTS, especially Jungkook because he was always trending. So much so that I actually muted his name on Twitter 🤦‍♀️ sorry, jk.

Now this is my first experience with jikook: the Dynamite music video. I saw it trending on twitter and since I watched bts in 2018 and left, I figured I’d give them another chance. I watched the music video with a smile on my face and just bopping along to the music. Then the jikook piggyback ride came up and I saw how happy they looked. I remember thinking “huh, it’s nice that they love each other.” Let me clarify that I thought of it more as brothers/bffs/bandmates at that point because I obviously didn’t know about jikook, bts, or other ships.

Fast forward a couple of days later, someone on twitter said something about gcf in Tokyo. I knew it was related to a member of bts but I didn’t know which one so I watched it out of curiosity. I still didn’t know bts well enough at this point to put names to faces and know whoever was on camera and controlling the camera. I just knew one of the men was a bts member. As I watched it, I thought “oh, so this is his boyfriend. Okay, great!” I was later proven wrong when I read the comments. I then reverted back. Okay then. Never mind. I didn’t know that these two guys were the piggyback guys, either.

I witnessed many jikook things over the later part of 2020 through YouTube, as well as some taekook and yoonmin videos that I was so confused on. I also watched bts interact with each other and I was surprised to see how close they were. Being an American and not having any exposure to k pop before bts, that shocked me. So I immediately thought that all of the members were lovely dovey with each other and that jikook’s stuff meant nothing. Moving on, I saw the mma black swan performance when it came out and I was in awe. Rosebowl was also an eyebrow raising moment for me but not enough to fully question it (odd, because it’s pretty darn big). I also saw their insane chemistry when they looked at each other and harmonized during songs, like the world travelers performance and stay gold’s performances.

However, the thing that made me truly question everything - and I rarely see people mention this - is that time on stage (I don’t remember which concert it was) when jimin asked jk his favorite song and then got all up in his business. Jk then sang serendipity and they did their “you are me, I am you” gesture. What got me was their smiles and looks at each other. I remember watching that clip, then literally sitting back and thinking “what the heck was that.”

The comments even mentioned things like “I don’t ship them, but that was romantic.” I was intrigued because jikook’s reactions seemed much more “in love” then “my best bro.” Also, the other members’ reactions are hilarious to me. They literally turned away from jikook. Almost as if they didn’t want to pry. And I don’t blame them. Watching that made me want to turn away because it seemed too intimate and personal to jikook.

I don’t want to say I “ship” them, but I’m definitely intrigued and curious about what they have. Whatever it is, I want it. 😂 Well, that was my story. It got long. Sorry about that.

——————————————————-

Rosie’s opinion: Thank you for sharing your journey I think it is appropriate to say. Ahhh the last 3 concerts in seoul. A lot happened during those 3 days. I don’t know exactly what day that moment happened but it’s sus, I thought for a while it was fanservice or at least the moment was planned but the way they looked at each other, Jungkook grabbing Jimin’s jacket and their smiles… god! Maybe the moment was planned but they definitely weren’t faking it.

#rosie ask #submission #jkkrs

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photolover82 · 3 years

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The Masked Singer Season 6 Episode 3: Time to meet Group B! (Commentary & Guesses)

Hello fellow humans! Welcome (or welcome back) to Ana’s Masked Singer recap, where I recap and talk about this show called The Masked Singer if you wanna stick around for that. So, this time around, we get to meet the other group, Group B, who we might not see again for 2 weeks, since we are going to see group A perform again this upcoming week with a new wildcard, Pepper. Anyways, let’s get started with the recap:

Group B was introduced and they consisted of Dalmatian 🐶, Queen of Hearts 🫀, Mallard 🦆, Cupcake 🧁, and Banana Split 🍌🍦. They performed, and one was eliminated unfortunately, let’s start with that…

So the contestant that was eliminated/revealed first in Group B was:

Dalmatian 🐶

Performance Commentary: ok, so I wasn’t super surprised by this elimination honestly, I expected it since he was the weakest vocally of this group. He sang Beautiful by Snoop Dogg ft Pharrell Williams and I gotta give him props for actually singing when most rappers just decide to only rap and not sing at all on this show. However, he did sound a bit like they put way too much of that auto tune stuff on his voice so it sounded like a robot him singing, which kinda made him the weakest link. However, his rapping was awesome (duh because that’s what he does professionally… and btw not spoiling who he is with that comment because when you hear the performance, you’ll know 100% it’s a rapper)

And he was revealed to be…

*DRUMROLL PLEASE*

Tyga

Omg I knew it!! Thank you Twitter for helping me out, y’all are the best. I thought at first it might have been Chance the Rapper but then people started saying Tyga and I was like hmmm lemme see the clues, yup makes sense, well great segue (segway) Ana because imma show you some of the clues you might have missed:

Scream Poster= he was in the Scream series

Cat Doll= play on words because his name is Tyga (like Tiger… man these producers are really into puns, it’s kinda clever tho)

Was discovered by a big player= in 2007, he started doing mixtapes and he was discovered by Travie McCoy who offered him a record deal

Now, that we have that out of the way, let’s get into our remaining contestants (big warning: this group has left me all types of confused when it comes to guesses so I apologize if my arguments aren’t perfect with some of these):

1. Cupcake 🧁

Performance: This performance is so confusing to me. Idk if this is a man or woman, sometimes I think woman with deep voice and other times I am like no that’s a man. So I don’t know about this one, it’s a very good performance of Heat Wave by Martha and the Vandellas but I need to hear more because I am confused. I am in between a specific man or a specific woman but I am not sure so unfortunately for this one I don’t have a guess

Sorry y’all no guess for this one :(… hopefully, next time they perform I will have a better idea*

*(I will say the guess I am leaning towards that a few people have said *just in case the cupcake leaves next* is Ruth Pointer from the Pointer Sisters because there were supposed to be multiple cupcakes and not just one, and in the PKG, cupcake said they were used to being in a group)

2. Banana Split 🍌🍦

Performance: They were 1000% my favorite performance of the night even though only Split/Ice Cream sang A Million Dreams from the Greatest Showman. She is amazing, I absolutely love her, she has that iconic Broadway sound that I absolutely adore. Just her singing this makes me so confident on who she is omg I’m stoked!

Having said that, I am so positive, like way too certain none of y’all will convince me otherwise like Todrick level confidence they are…

Katherine McPhee and David Foster

Ok, so you guys are probably like “Ana, how can you be so sure if the damn banana didn’t even sing a note, he just played the piano?!” Well, my friends, you have a point, but I know who she is and honestly I don’t even care if I am wrong ab him (I won’t know for sure until he sings a note) but HER I am absolutely positive….and they are a married couple and the banana has heart eyes so in my head it makes sense with the clues too, but before I go to the clues, I have a funny story on how I know who Ms. Katherine McPhee is… so like I was watching this performance and was like omg her voice Sound so familiar! Where have I heard her before?! This is driving me nuts… And then I saw people on YouTube saying that it’s them and I was like wait Katherine McPhee that name sounds so familiar. Then I looked her up and I found out that I knew who she was because I randomly watched a show on Netflix called Country Comfort (which side note: LeAnn Rimes or the Sun from Season 4 guest starred on that show and LeAnn’s husband stars in it… so connection there?), which to explain the show briefly it’s literally the Nanny but with country music and in Tennessee instead of NY. Anyways, she sang a lot on that show and it clicked, I was like BINGO OMG THAT IS HER IT CANNOT BE ANYONE ELSE (similar to how I felt about Todrick being the bull when I saw that damn sneak peak performance). Anyway ya, that was unnecessarily long, now onto the clues:

She left school to move to the city= she attended Boston Conservatory for 3 semesters and left to move to LA to try out for TV pilots

Thought she got her big break, but it wasn’t it= she got an MTV soap opera plot but it never made it to air

Collaborator who sticks with me through sweet and sour= they have known each other ever since she was on the 5th season of American Idol in 2006 and their collaboration is that he is a music producer and she sings (on American Idol, he would play the piano while she sang… does this sound familiar to you guys yet? Ringing any bells? If not, rewatch the performance Banana Split did)

3. Queen of Hearts 🫀

Performance: She sang Born This Way by Lady Gaga and I already knew she was going to be good, but this was like Black Swan all over again. This beginning song wasn’t the best for her voice, but she had fun and she did the damn thing. Closest Lady Gaga singing impression I’ve seen, but I am positive it ain’t Lady Gaga. Also, she slayed that ending.

Ok, so I am not too sure about this guess but after a bit of research and voice matching, I think it might be…

Jewel (the singer, not an actual jewel)

Again I say, with a bit of research, I feel like she’s the closest guess I can give you guys especially matching the singing voices, but let’s look at the clues:

Grew up in a house that lacked warmth= she grew up in Alaska (born in Utah)

Tin man from Wizard of Oz= she played Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True in 1995

Hilary Swank photo= Swank has a dog named Jewel (when I read this I laughed, wow Masked Singer really?! 😂😂)

4. Mallard 🦆

Performance: This performance was not my cup of tea tbh, it was real deep country which is not my jam at all. The song title says it all: Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy) by Big & Rich. Like it was great no lie, but like I just don’t really enjoy that kinda music so it wasn’t for me.

Again, this one is a shot in the dark guess but I am gonna stick with it and it is the one I am leaning towards voice wise:

Willie Robinson (yes the guy from Duck Dynasty)

Ok, so again hear me out, this might sound stupid (and half of me thinks it is) but it kinda makes sense in a strange way especially looking at the clues:

Surrounded by dollar bills= Duck Dynasty merch raised a ton of bills

Photo of Chris Pratt= they worked together and became friends filming Jurassic World in 2014

Platinum Album= Has a certified platinum album “Duck the Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas” (I can’t believe this one, I was pretty surprised)

Anyways, that’s it! I can’t wait to see Group A next week.. again yeah but with Pepper this time so woohoo another Wildcard. I just hope we can see more of Group B too because it feels like too much of Group A is being seen. Anyways, see y’all next week with the recap for tomorrow’s episode! Bye guys! Remember to do all the social media things! Like, comment, follow me for more, all of that 👋🏼

#the masked singer #themaskedsinger #celebrities #music #hollywood #tv shows #the masked singer season 6 #tyga

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9hwa9joong · 3 years

Text

My Top Songs [2020]

Hi all!

As 2020 comes to an end (thank whatever higher power there is), I wanted to share a list of my favorite songs! (the following are songs RELEASED this year) (I’ve included a list of songs that I heard this year, but weren’t released in 2020, after it). These are mostly korean/chinese.

Alright, this is in NO particular order, just my favorites. I’ve mostly included one song from a group/solo act and added their other great releases in description. It is mostly music that I listened to, so if your favs are not here, feel free to rec me good music! ENJOY!

(the list ended up becoming quite long, so read under the cut)

Black swan(orchestral version) by BTS

BTS had a great year musically. 2 korean albums, 1 japanese and lots of solo stuff. My most played songs are Dynamite (listen, she did what she had to do), Stay Gold (if gold had a sound, this would be it), Black Swan, Blue and Grey (i live for melancholy), Life Goes On (spring day’s successor), Filter(park jimin is a threat), Friends (my feels!), Louder than bombs (TROYE SIVAN), UGH (murder music), 00:00, Moon (jin solos are beautiful always) and Your Eyes Tell (honestly, show me one bad japanese single, i dare you).

Ghosting by TXT

I got into TXT a lot more this year, as opposed to being a casual listener that I was last year. Many people say they have a no-skip discography and I believe it’s true. My most played songs were Blue Hour (i ADORE this song), We Lost the summer, Wishlist, Can’t you see me (the song that made me a stan), Fairy of Shampoo (ethereal), PUMA (choi yeonjun is a threat), Eternally (an ATTACKK!) and their f2020 cover.

Answer by ATEEZ

Ateez is another group i really got into this year, mesmerized by their performance abilities. My most played : Star 1117 (i’m very soft for this song), To the Beat (a true bop), Inception (holy jongho vocals), One day at a time and Good Lil Boy (does hongjoong ever have a bad rap verse?). Their Black Cat Nero cover also blew me away!! (i’m lowkey obsessed).

God’s menu by Stray Kids

I’ve been keeping an eye on Stray Kids ever since hellevator came out and this is my favourite song by them, so far (yes, i had a heart attack when i first saw Hyunjin). Most Played : Back Door (the beat drop gives me life, the choreo is probably my fav), All in, Easy (do they ever have a bad chorus?), GO LIVE (the beat??!! killer), Another Day (i am a slow jam hoe) and My Universe.

Pacman by eaJ

I didn’t think it was possible to love him more after day6 but Jae’s solo music has proved me wrong. Yes, i love Pillows (with Keshi) to bits but pacman is my first love. Most Played : It just is (Seori and their golden vocals), LA TRAINS (vocals!!!), Pinocchio (the mv is adorable, the beat is so fun), 50 proof (the vibes man, it's the VIBES) and TRUMAN.

Left & Right by Seventeen

Another group with amazing releases this year, I’m slowly getting into Seventeen more these days. Most Played : Fallin’ Flower (so beautiful, the vocals), 24H (the beat change?!!???), 17 (Joshua, DK and Pink Sweats) and HOME;RUN (this is a brand of fun that is entirely their own).

Not by the moon by GOT7

I am no stranger to GOT7, i’ve liked their music for years now but this is one of their more lyrical releases this year and i adore when GOT7 does this type of music. Most Played : Poison (jackson opens it and the vibes are immaculate), Last Piece (the way the vocals flow into the rap) and Thank You, Sorry.

So Beautiful by DPR IAN

This is literally the first song i’ve heard from this artist, please rec me more. I also adore No Blueberries with DPR LIVE and CL.

Eight by IU, Prod. SUGA

IU is an indisputable vocal queen, and her music always comforts me greatly so when i heard she was having a song produced by Yoongi, i promptly lost my shit. It was everything I expected and more and embodies sorrow and pain with great grace. Give you My Heart from the ‘Crash Landing on you OST’ was also a loved song this year.

Cry for me by TWICE

How do i talk about the queens? TWICE is the group i go to when I want fun music with good vibes but this song has such bad b*tch vibes that i am in love. Most played : More & More (a bop), Don’t call me again, I can’t stop me (i love the way it flows), Handle It (the vocals??? How pretty this song is???) and Say Something (seriously, eyes wide open is an amazing album).

Criminal by Teamin

Where do i start with Lee Taemin? I love almost all his solo stuff. He grabbed me by the neck ever since ‘Move’ and hasn't let go. Criminal is SO taemin that i don't think anyone else could have delivered the concept with such grace and grit. Most Played : 2 Kids (the chorus is so good), Clockwork, Idea (i love the vibe) and Pansy (i'm a ballad hoe).

Maria by Hwasa

Listen, i loved Twit when it came out but i love Maria as her sound so much more. Most Played : I’m bad too (feat. DPR LIVE) (i love the beat, the vibe and the flavor), LMM and Orbit from ‘The King: Eternal Monarch OST’ (as soon as her voice comes in, i loved the song).

Breath by DEAN, Rad Museum, Mokyo

I’m not aware of many DEAN releases this year, please feel free to rec me if I missed any.

Dear my friend by Agust D ft. Kim Jong Wan (NELL)

D-2 was everything expected from the second mixtape off Agust D and yet it brought a fresh wave of singing and melodies, once again proving the man’s production genius. This song is so reminiscent in it’s lyrics and still so real, its my favorite off the record.Other songs I loved : People, Deachwita and What do you think? (i DID love the complete mixtape though).

Given - Taken by Enhypen

Yes, I watched I-LAND. Given-Taken was a better debut then I expected at first. 10 months (the chorus and beat) and Flicker off their debut album were also played a lot.

I just want to stay with you by Zion.T

The King: Eternal Monarch was a much awaited drama for a lot of people and it’s OST is one of the best ones this year. Zion.T’s amazing vocals really did an amazing job of expressing the love in the story. Other songs I really liked from this album were Gravity by Kim Jong Wan and the Hydrangea Instrumental by Lee Geon Yeong.

The purge by Jay Park, pH-1, Woodie Gochild, Sik-K, and others.

H1GHER: RED TAPE is my hype album of the year. All artists involved did an amazing job. Seriously, get yourself some bomb ass beats, as a treat. Other loved tracks : Telefono Remix (Woodie Gochild is great at his flavour of delivery), Closed Case and The Arrival.

Soul by Lay (zhang yixing)

Yixing’s album LIT was his best project till date, no arguments. He’s really evolved into such a refined musician, especially with how well he merges traditional chinese instruments into Hip Hop/RnB beats and I adore the vibe of this album. Although the album is great entirely, Soul is my favourite for how softly and prettily it flows. Other loved tracks: Eagle (the BEAT), Fly, Boom (bops on bops on BOPS) and Call My Name.

100 ways by Jackson Wang

It is astounding how well Jackson has formed his own style of music ever since starting off with Papillon. He’s also sort of come into himself as an artist and it has birthed some great music. Other loved tracks : Pretty Please (i love the vibe of the song!) and Should’ve Let Go (ft. JJ Lin).

SUGA’s interlude by Halsey

Idk how else to explain it but Halsey and Yoongi have great music synergy. There’s something about their song/lyric writing that matches very well and needless to say, I adore the song. Blueberry eyes by MAX is also another great Yoongi collab.

In Your Time by Lee Suhyun

It’s Okay to not be Okay had an OST that was dreamy, gritty and very fairytale-esque, much like the drama itself. Among a bunch of great songs, this one is my favourite. Other loved songs: You’re Cold by Heize (always delivers!), Breath by Sam Kim (OST angel), Hallelujah by Kim Feel (chills!), In Silence by Janet Suhh (literally how angelic is her tone??), I’m your Psycho by Janet Suhh (it’s creepy in a dreamy way) and Brother | Her World | Through the dark Tunnel of time | Butterfly - all amazing instrumentals by Nam Hye Seung and Park Sang Hee (seriously, go listen to the album).

By my side by Junny

Another great discovery towards the end of the Year, Junny has vocals for DAYS and admirable delivery. Other loved songs: AURA ft. pH-1, edge (this is so hypnotising in it’s beauty) and I will. Please feel welcome to educate me more about this artist!!

Make a Wish by NCT

NCT always provides bops and NCT U is my favourite sub-unit, for their unique style of music, so when they came out with this song I was ready and they delivered! Most Played : 90’s Love (the old boy band theme was so well done), From Home (i’m a sucker for slow songs), Nectar (yes, i adore WayV’s music), MAD DOG by NCT 127 and Kick It by NCT 127 (this is the flavour of NCT i LOVE).

Zombie by Day6

Day6 has always been in my daily otations and as always, they put out good music after good music. I loved both the original Korean and the English versions of this song (they do rock well, what else is there to say?). Other loved songs : Tick Tock (oh the vocals, the way the beat moves!), Love me or Leave me, Day and Night... actually the whole Album is great, go listen to ‘The Book of us: The Demon’.

Fearless by Ma Di [other chinese songs]

Chinese songs have been a surprisingly pleasant addition to my daily rotation. Fearless from the “Go Ahead” OST takes the top stop because of how well it embodies the struggles of stepping into adulthood, the melody and MaDi’s amazing vocals. Other Chinese songs I loved: Praise for Red Plum Blossoms by Xiao Zhan (the perfect welcoming of spring paired with such expressive vocals), Remaining Years by Xiao Zhan (Joy of Life OST) and his OST for the Oath of Love.

____________________________________________

The following is the list of songs I heard in 2020, but were not released in 2020. Please let me know if you like them, or if you know other similar music! (I know, I know, I’m late to the game) Enjoy!

DEAN - Sometimes I hear Howlin' in my head

Zhang Jie/Zhang Bichen - Simple Wish

Li Ronghao - If I were Young

JJ Lin - What I Miss

Ateez - Mist | Twilight | Wonderland | Say my name | Thank you

Stray Kids - voices

Seventeen - Trauma

Loona - Hi High

Day6 - Shoot me

GOT7 - You calling my Name

RADWIMPS - Is There Still Anything That Love Can Do?

Baekhyun - UN Village

Taemin - Goodbye | want

Aquillo - Silhouette

Talos - To Each His Own

Cigarettes after sex (literally everything)

__________________________________________________

I know this was long, if you read it till the end, I hope you all enjoyed it still.

Have a smooth year in 2021,

-love, c.

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wolfpackimagines14 · 4 years

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Lizzie Swan - Chapter 1

Word Count - 1.8k

A/N: thanks for being so patient! Paul isn’t in this chapter (he probably won’t be in the next one either). Also I didn’t proof read this so be warned!

“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Bella, happy birthday to you,” Dad and I sang to Bella. I had woken up early this morning to make her pancakes for breakfast. Dad had insisted on the candles and the song, even though I tried to convince him that she would hate it.

“Guys,” Bella sighed. “I told you I didn’t want you to make a big deal out of my birthday.”

“Bella, you’re 18!” Dad replied to her dismayed attitude. “How can we not make a big deal out of it?”

“Ugh…” she groaned and pulled her covers up over her head.

“I tried to stop him,” I laughed, trying to pull the covers back.

“Not hard enough, apparently,” she playfully glared at me.

“Whatever, Bells,” I replied. “Just eat the damn pancakes I woke up 30 minutes early to make for you. You know how much I hate waking up early.”

“....thank you Lizzie,” she finally agreed to come out from under her blanket sanctuary to eat the pancakes I had made.

“You’re welcome!” I grinned at her. “Okay I’m gonna go get ready for school now!”

I left our dad to stumble his way awkwardly through giving Bella the presents that him and Renee had gotten her. Despite her living with us for nine months now, he was still just as awkward when he was forced to show that he cared.

We had definitely grown closer since Bella had moved to Forks to live with us. I wasn’t sure I had wanted her to move in at first, but having a full time sister had actually been really great. For the first 12 years of my life, Bella would come to Forks for one month during the summer. While I had enjoyed those visits for the most part, you could always tell that Bella hated it here. She’s always been easy to read and the disdain on her face when she would arrive in Forks was always apparent.

But starting in 2002, all of Bella’s complaining lead to our dad and her spending two weeks vacationing in California together instead. I had been invited, but I’d chosen not to go. Not because I didn’t want to, but because my mother was sick back in Forks.

When I was nine years old, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. She’d had to get a mastectomy, but even that combined with the chemotherapy hadn’t been enough to save her. Things turned for the worst in 2004 and mom was tired after fighting so hard for five years. She passed away that year and not even eight months later, Bella had moved to Forks full time.

And though the changes had been tough, going to therapy had really helped. My dad had forced me to go and though it had helped, you don’t easily get over the death of a parent and the sad moments really do still hit me to this day.

But having Bella around more often really allowed us to get closer and I truly do love her. She was difficult to be around sometimes though. And she spent literally all her time with her boyfriend, Edward Cullen. Edward was nice enough, a little distant though.

“Lizzie?” I was interrupted from my thoughts when I heard Bella call my name from downstairs. “Are you ready? I’m leaving now and unless you want Charlie to drive you to school in the cruiser I suggest you move it along.”

“Just a second!” I called downstairs, now rushing to finish getting ready. Nothing was more embarrassing than driving around in dad’s police cruiser. I grabbed my sweatshirt and pulled it over my head before grabbing my backpack and rushing down the stairs and out the door.

The ride to school was quiet, but pleasant. I didn’t want to bother Bella with any more birthday talk and I had to review my notes for AP Chemistry in case of a pop quiz. It was only the second week of school and that class was already kicking my ass.

After parking her monstrous truck in the school parking lot, we were almost immediately bombarded by Alice Cullen.

“Happy birthday, Bella!” she exclaimed eagerly and I rolled my eyes at Bella when she shushed her. I found it amusing when Alice just ignored her and continued her assault. “Do you want to open your present now or later?”

“No presents,” Bella mumbled in response.

“Okay so later then!” Alice kept talking, not thrown off by Bella’s mood at all. “Did you like the scrapbook your mom sent you? And the camera from Charlie and Lizzie?”

Damn, how did she know about that already? Bella must’ve texted her about it I guess.

I looked down at my notes again as Edward approached us and greeted Bella.

“Lizzie,” Edward greeted me politely. “How are you?”

“Fine,” I answered, glancing up at him for a second. “You?”

“Fine,” he repeated my short, but pleasant answer. “Studying for Mrs. Cooper’s class?”

“Yeah,” I sighed. “There might be a pop quiz today and I just want to be prepared.”

“Always good to be prepared,” he nodded in agreement. “But between you and I, I overheard her talking about having the pop quiz on Thursday.”

“Really?” I asked. “Are you sure?”

“Positive,” he nodded at me.

“Oh thank god!” I exclaimed. “I was not prepared for that quiz.”

“So what time are you two coming over tonight?” Alice interrupted us.

“I didn’t know I was coming over tonight,” Bella replied, definitely as confused as I was.

“Oh come on, Bella!” she complained. “We’ve been planning this party for forever!”

“I didn’t even know about it!” Bella exclaimed.

“Well now you do! Lizzie, can you come?” Alice turned her attention to me.

“I can’t,” I sighed, genuinely bummed out. “I have to work tonight. Plus I have to study for that pop quiz on Thursday.”

I worked as a waitress at The Lodge, one of the only formal sit down restaurants in Forks. I made pretty decent money and I was saving up to buy a car for when I turned 16 next year.

“I should get to class,” I interrupted Alice before she could make any excuses for me not to go to work. I really needed the money. “Thank you for the invite though.”

I quickly made my way to my first period class. Even though I was only a sophomore, school was tough. Between all my classes, my job at The Lodge, and my soccer schedule starting up soon I was really stretch out thin. But luckily my best friend, Jenny, was in practically all of my classes.

The day went by fairly quickly. Edward was right, there wasn’t a pop quiz in AP Chem, but there was one in Spanish. We were playing badminton in gym and my team had gone undefeated all class. Soccer tryouts were this afternoon; Jenny and I were really hoping to make the varsity team, but the odds weren’t in our favor because we were only sophomores. And work was pretty busy for a Tuesday night, which was good for me because the busier it is, the more tips I make. Luckily Jenny had already turned 16 and she had her license so she could drive me from soccer to the restaurant.

I got home late and was heating myself up some dinner when Bella walked through the front door of the house, sporting a new bandage on her arm.

“What’d you do this time?” I teasingly asked her.

“I tripped,” she muttered before making her way through the living room and up the stairs, greeting Charlie on the way.

“She’s gotta be more careful,” I told Dad as I brought my plate into the living room to watch the rest of the game with him. He just grunted in response, too engrossed in the game to continue the conversation.

The next few days were weird. Edward wasn’t around as much and Alice no longer greeted us in the parking lot at school in the mornings. I didn’t mention anything to Bella, not wanting to upset her.

I had made the varsity soccer team, but Jenny hadn’t. She was happy for me, but she was still upset and I couldn’t blame her for that. Edward had been right and on Thursday I had a pop quiz in AP Chem. I wanted to thank him for the heads up, but he wasn’t even at school that day and when I asked Bella where he was, she said she didn’t know. Which was weird because Bella always knows where Edward is.

I got home from work on Friday and was immediately bombarded by my dad.

“Have you seen Bella at all?” he asked me frantically.

“Not since this morning when we drove to school,” I answered cautiously. “I had soccer practice after school and Jenny drove me to work after.”

“She hasn’t been home in hours and she’s not answering her phone,” he was definitely panicking now. I was starting to get worried too. It was almost 10:30pm and it was a long time for her to be out without contacting us. “She left a note that she was going for a walk with Edward in the woods.”

“Have you tried calling the Cullens?” I suggested.

“No answer,” he sighed. “I’m calling the guys and putting together a search party.”

In less than an hour, there were police officers and Dad’s friends from the reservation in our backyard. Even Jacob and Billy Black were here. It had been awhile since I’d seen them, but this wasn’t the way I wanted to reunite with them.

People were searching for hours and I was really getting worried. Where the hell was she? It was approaching 3 in the morning now.

“What if we don’t find her?” I teared up as I talked to Jacob.

“We’ll find her,” he reassured me, pulling me into a hug.

It was at that moment that I saw Sam Uley, one of the older guys from the reservation come out of the woods. He was shirtless and was carrying Bella in his arms. She looked like she was passed out in his arms.

“Oh my god!” I exclaimed, running across the yard with my dad right on my heels. “Is she okay?”

“She’s fine,” Sam reassured me. “Just a little shaken up.”

My dad insisted on carrying her the rest of the way to the house, despite his back having been bothering him lately.

“Thank you,” I told Sam sincerely before hugging him. Wow, he was really warm considering the cool weather right now. “Thank you for finding her.”

“No problem,” he replied gruffly before turning to go talk to Billy. I ran to catch up with my dad and helped him by opening the front door for him so he could carry Bella inside.

Tags:

@ravenmoore14

@k-n-e

#paul lahote #paul lahote imagine #paul lahote imagines #twilight #twilight imagines #twilight imagine #wolfpack #wolfpack imagine #wolfpack imagines #writing #fanfiction

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missblissy · 4 years

Text

Rebirth (Chapter 8)

Alastor X Human!Reader ((Reincarnation!AU))

Prologue || One || Two || Three || Four || Five || Six || Seven || Eight

((Here is the song that Alastor sings!!))

The book was just too heavy for Charlie’s arms. She heaved a heavy sigh and tried her best not to drop the ancient text. The hotel halls were fairly empty as of right now, but by sundown, she knew this place would be exploding with all kinds of life. The dark halls carried a soft echo within them. It sounded like… Music. It wasn’t any kind of music she was used to hearing this high up in the hotel. In fact, she normally didn’t hear anything from the 23rd floor because Alastor was the only one who lived up here and he was a rather quiet person.

Charlie could just barely make out the sad sing-song monologue that was coming from Alastor’s room. She got closer to his door and did her best to get her ear as close to the wood without touching it. The music sounded nothing like the songs Alastor normally sang or hummed. It didn’t even sound like a song from his time… which was very odd seeing as Alastor was so keen on staying in the past. Did he hear this song or was he singing his own thoughts out loud?

It was sad though. Because on the other side of the door, Alastor was peering into his Water Well, “Headspace….” He muttered quietly to the soft music escaping his frame. “I need a route of my headspace…‘Cause it’s a war in here and I need you to take…” He paused and leaned closer to the Water Well’s surface, “Take her out of my headspace,” His voice was soft as he watched your sleeping form rise and fall with every breath. Threw Buck’s eyes, Alastor watched you sleep peacefully in your bed. Buck sat on a dresser, staring at you intently as his tail flicked back and forth.

Alastor leaned a little closer to the Water Well as he felt an emotion in his chest that only upset him more, “Gonna drive, drive, drive this Cadillac, up the ocean road until it runs out of gas. 'Cause I’m hurt... I laugh and I joke but I’m hurt!” His emotions swelled in his chest and kept boiling bubbles into his throat, making his voice strained with stress, “I’m gonna sing, sing, sing my new swan song, so all the bright young sparks have got a tune they can hum. But it’ll hurt… I’ll dance if they ask but it’ll hurt!”

He moved away quickly from the Water Well and started to pace around his room. He frowned quietly while he came to terms with these feelings he felt. There was pain, sorrow, grief, and mourning all at once. His mouth was closed as his voice continued to sing. There was a grimace on his face as he walked towards the large french doors that led to a balcony off of his room. He opened the curtains slowly, looking towards the massive pentagram in the sky. He could see that little glimmer of clouds and stars in the distance in Heaven above.

Alastor dropped the curtains and moved away from the french doors. He mustered the strength to sing allowed to the song. He hated this song, but not because he didn’t like the way it sounded… He hated the way it made him feel. He hated it even more that he heard you singing it one day to yourself. He was spying on you in the shadows while you cleaned dishes. The song had been stuck in his head for hours. Now it just wouldn’t go away.

“Cause now I feel, feel, feel like a disco ball, from the 1970’s all dusty and worn! And it huuurts... I reflect the light, but it hurts!” He spun around on his heel dramatically and looked to the ceiling of his room, “I use to run, run, run until my knees gave way! I use to wrestle with bears and kiss poisonous snakes. I didn’t caaaaare….! They scratch and they bite I didn’t care, I didn’t care!!”

Slowly Alastor lowered his gaze and had a blank stair focused on the large portrait hanging above the fireplace in his room. It was of your past self and him. A painting of you sitting perfectly in a seat with Alastor behind you. Your hands were folded in your lap and his hand was on your shoulder, “Heeadspaaace,” He sang quietly while staring right into your perfectly painted eyes, “I need a route of my headspace, cause it’s a war in here and I need somebody to say, take her out of my headspaaace,” It pained him to look, but he couldn’t take his gaze away, “These 5.5 liters of blood have some sour taste for your sweet taste buds… You put a war zone inside me. Above and below the neck, above and below the neck…”

He hated this whole god damn situation. He hated that you were gone but still here. He hated that this stupid hotel actually worked. He wished he could go back home to the castle, but you wouldn’t be there and someone else was the new GateKeeper. From the corners of his room, a pair of empty eyes glimmered from the shadows. Eon watched, entertain to see Alastor in distress. Normally he wouldn’t allow for such signs of weakness.

It was interesting to watch Alastor’s thought process. His sadness warped into bitterness and he tore his eyes from your portrait and started to turn away, “Someone flick a light on, the dark just makes it worse. I’m running out of options and I’m lost for words!” He snapped his gaze towards the Water Well, “Little life wrecker, are you gonna let me know?” He smiled bitterly with furrowed brows, “Or keep showing me the compassion of a talk show host?” He watched you sleep away, “I’m not acting my age here and I’m growing up too fast! If these streets are paved with gold- I want my money back!” He was angry now and quickly dipped a finger into the glowing water within.

Buck quickly jumped from the dresser he was perched on and wandered away. The Water Well died down and the soft blue glow turned into a wicked green. As the ripples shifted in size, Alastor could slowly begin to pick out an image. He kept humming the tune to that song. He even muttered, “Heeeadspaace, mhmm hmmm,” Goddammit. He hated it.

His feelings were utterly complicated and unnecessary. He didn’t want to admit that you were dead and gone and replaced with this new version of yourself. He wanted to old you back, the classy sophisticated and mysterious lady that you were. Not this... innocent and clueless child. Well, young adult but compared to him you were still incredibly young. He knew however that he had to accept this change or lose you forever. He could not deny that there was indeed something there between the two of you. Your soul was like a warm and familiar hug that he wanted to hide in forever.

Alastor fought with his very being to not do what he wanted, and that was to simply taint your soul and drag you down to hell. However, he knew how selfish and idiotic that was. He needed to win you over, he needed to get to know the new you and make you fall in love with him. Alastor was incredibly bitter about it, but he was slowly letting go of those emotions as he talked himself down. At the end of the day, that was still your soul, and he still loved that part of you. And maybe, just maybe, your memories were locked in there too. If he could find a way to bring your memories back, then maybe... There was a chance he’d get the love of his life back. If not, Alastor had to get comfortable with the idea that she was gone and you replaced her. Regardless, Alastor wasn’t going to let your soul go. You were and always will be his soulmate no matter how many times you were reincarnated you’d always be his and he’d always be yours. He was willing to do whatever it took to bring your soul back home to him. He just wanted to get back to his eternal damnation with you. He wanted to go back to the castle, forget the hotel, and live his solitary life with you as the decades pass by.

Alastor peered into the swirling water of the well. The green glow started to fade away and into the soft sky blue it was only a few moments ago. The well showed him a window to a clean little white house. A crow sat on a branch staring into the window of someone’s home. It was Sage’s home, and Alastor was watching that stupid witch fold her clothes and put them away. He had summoned a familiar, similar to Buck, and used this creature as his ears and eyes on earth when he couldn’t be there himself.

Within seconds Sage started to look around, dammit, she could sense him. Alastor continued to watch Sage through the crow’s eyes. She wandered over to the window and looked around before locking her gaze with the crows. Sage quickly opened the window waved her pointer finger in the air with a quick flick of her hand. Pure magic zapped from her fingertip like lightening in a wave of blues and whites. As soon as it came in contact with the crow, the magical bird poofed into a cloud of smoke and Alastor couldn’t see anything in the Water Well anymore.

Music still softly played within his room, waving off his radio heart. As much as he didn’t want this, he couldn’t help it. Sometimes his radio heart would sing and play music against his will, exposing the emotions he’d been bottling up. He remembered a cloudy and lost memory as he walked away from the Water Well, it was from decades ago when he and you had only just started dating. He was walking around the courtyard of the castle, you had just plucked a dying flower from wilting bushes and as you stood up the wind blew your hair just right. He could smell the cherry blossoms and peaches wafting from your fluttering hair, the sun casting perfectly on your face and making your eyes sparkle. That sight alone caused Alastor to quickly fall in love with you, you were so beautiful and graceful and you flustered him so much that his radio heart started singing songs against his own will. He’d beat his fist against his chest and every time he whacked his ribs a new love song would start playing. He couldn’t get it to stop and you stared at him with a blush growing on your cheeks. The two of you were terribly awkward when you first met... Nothing like now. Nothing was the same.

Meanwhile, as a new song softly played, Charlie was still on the other side of his door. She felt… Awkward. She had heard everything and felt guilty for listening. She wasn’t sure what was going on in there but it sounded... Not natural of Alastor. She knew him as a chaotic entertainer, a happy sinner, and a killer. When in the world would he have ever heard that song and why….. Why the fuck was he singing it? Was he actually in as much pain as it sounded? She honestly couldn’t know.

Maybe she could just drop the book off and walk away- Oh… OH! Shit! The book was starting to slip between her tired fingers then it quickly fell from her grasp. It thudded right onto the ground. Not even a millisecond later the music scratched like a record and stopped. Alastor’s door was opened and there he was. Glowing smile and flashing red eyes peering down at her with his sharp grin growing in size.

“Heellooo~?” Alastor drawled, “What brings you here, Charlie?”

“Uh!” She froze and felt a bead of sweat grow on her temple, “I brought the book!” Charlie chuckled quickly and lifted the damn thing from the ground, “My dad said to keep it actually!” Then she shook her head, “What the hell is this?”

Alastor quickly took the book from her and held it as if it weighed nothing, “Just an old book,” He quickly turned and wandered back into his room. He left the door open willingly and let Charlie wander inside. He needed a little cheering up, and messing with the princess’s head was always a good pick-me-up. He walked over to a small table in the middle of his room, right between his bed and fireplace. He set the book down and quickly opened it up.

Hesitant, Charlie made her way over, then looked up at the tall and overly sized portrait painting, “You hung it back up...” She started to smile weakly, “I never thought I’d see her up there again,” Charlie felt a ping of pain within her heart. Bittersweetly she missed you but was happy you had moved on. You were the first successful soul to be rehabilitated at the hotel. Honestly, Charlie didn’t know a damn thing about how or why it happened, whether it had something to do with her or the hotel, she didn’t know. But she still missed you, you were still a close friend and she smiled sadly at your portrait.

Alastor ignored the princess, his back was to her and he was focused on the task at hand. He didn’t say anything and let a small smile rest on his lips as he worked away. Charlie walked over with a wary step and peered over his shoulder.

She had never seen that book before, she didn’t even know her father had it... Well her mother actually had it but that didn’t mean anything. It was called the Libro Vitae. It was apparently a.... weapon. Angel weaponry to be exact. But how? It was just a book, wasn’t it? When she watched Alastor’s long claws trace the pages, she realized she couldn’t read any of the text, “What is this, Al?” The words were in a language she couldn’t read and had never seen before. They were cut up symbols and dots and dashes.

“The Book of Life. It’s a spellbook, my lady, nothing you’d be interested in. Old Angel Tech,” He paused and slowly flipped a few pages before pausing on a page with summoning circles on both open pages, “Can you be a doll and grab that bottle over there?” He didn’t look up once from the book, he just pointed in the general direction he wanted her to go in.

She looked over and saw a fancy bottle made of dark blue glass. It was on a shelf near the Water Well. Charlie had seen one before but had never used it. It honestly just looked like a glowing green birdbath. She took a quick peek into it’s rippling waters and saw nothing. Something told her to touch the water, Charlie looked over at Alastor to make sure he was still nose deep in the book, then she quickly dipped a finger into the well. It started to glow and suddenly she saw someone. It was Vaggie! She could see her girlfriend scolding Angel Dust down in the lobby of the Hotel.

“Are you serious!? You can’t be! It’s not even that much!” Angel had a frown embedded into his face and his teeth bared, “Do you know what I had to do to get my hands on that!?”

Vaggie was in the middle of tearing up some kind of printed paper, “No. Drugs. Allowed. LSD is on that list of drugs!”

A hand tightly gripped Charlie’s shoulder and when she snapped her gaze up, Alastor was grinning in her face, “Not what I asked you to do. Geeze, my lady, for a princess you sure don’t know how to take an order. I just can’t wait for the day you ascend to the throne!”

Charlie frowned at Alastor’s sarcasm, “I wasn’t doing anything- I just wanted to see what would happen! It just... did that,” Charlie waved a hand at the Water Well and ducked as Alastor reached over her and grabbed the blue bottle he had asked for, “My mother has a Water Well and this thing has to be broken. It’s nothing like hers. She uses it to talk to people, like a phone?”

Alastor chuckled and mocked Charlie’s lack of intelligence, “Silly little girl,” He cooed, “This isn’t just any Water Well, it’s mine. And this particular well shows what the heart desires the most at the time of your call,”

Stars began to form in Charlie’s eyes as she realized what he was saying. She looked back and almost died of happiness, she touched the water again and it stayed on Vaggie, “Aw,” It felt oddly nice to know that her heart was set on Vaggie. But what about Alastor? Charlie didn’t even know that Alastor had a heart to begin with... Well, he did at one time, sort of. She looked at him with large eyes, “What about you, Al?”

He didn’t say anything, he just let his grin die a little on his face as he dipped the very tip of his finger into the water. It splashed and rippled for a few moments then focused on someone just getting out of bed. It took Charlie a few seconds to realize what she was seeing, “Is-... Is that a human!?” Then she realized that this human was what Alastor’s heart desired most. She leaned closer to him while whisper yelling, “What do you want with a human?” Then her gaze grew concerned, “You’re not going to hurt her are you?”

Alastor chuckled, “Haha, no, my lady, I have no intentions of such things,” then proceeded to walk away from the Water Well. Charlie stayed there, however, staring down into the well, “I just want to bring her back home,” Alastor said as he went back to the large book. He twisted open the blue bottle and a small pink perfume of smoke sparkled out. It smelled like cherry blossoms and peaches, it was your favorite perfume before you had been reincarnated.

Charlie could smell it too, then it clicked in her head. She instantly thought of you when that sweet scent reached her nose, then she peered into the Water Well, “Oh my God,” Shock crawled onto Charlie’s face as she lifted a hand to her mouth, “It’s (Y/n)... isn’t it? I thought you said she went to Heaven?”

Thankfully Alastor’s back was towards Charlie, so she couldn’t see the slight flicker of disdain on his face. He was standing over the book as he dripped the smallest drop of perfume onto the pages with a second drop of blood from the tip of his finger, “I lied,” He said smoothly, “She was reincarnated and sent back to Earth. Don’t have a God damn clue as to why, or what was so special about her though, unfortunately,” The book sparkled and started to glow pink light from runes and summoning circles

Walking over with caution, Charlie stood beside Alastor. She had a sad and sorry look on her face as she placed a hand on his arm, “That sounds like it’s taking a toll on you. You must be dealing with a lot right now,” Her words were kind and comforting, “Do you want to talk about it?”

Not at all. He just gave her a kind smile and shook his head, “What’s there to talk about, my lady? I’m perfectly fine!” Alastor lied through his grin. Meanwhile, the book had calmed down and Alastor was just about to get to the spell he wanted to cast when something else sounded from behind him.

It was you, calling to him through the Water Well. You had woken up and already started your day. It was a Saturday and you didn’t have a single plan. You hadn’t seen Alastor since a few nights ago when he took you on the magical trip to New Orleans. You wanted to see him again, however, and you weren’t sure if you just had to wait around for him or maybe he was waiting for you to summon him.

You weren’t going to wait and find out, “Alastor...?” You called while sitting on the edge of your bed. Sleep was still caked into the corners of your eyes. You rubbed the knuckle of your finger into your eye and called again while yawning, “Aalaa- asstoorr? You ‘round?”

Back in his room, Alastor flicked his gaze between the Water Well and Charlie. He stared at her for a second longer, she had the biggest grin on her face, from ear to ear, and stars twisting in her eyes. She looked like she was about to explode with excitement and giddiness. He already knew what she wanted, and he couldn’t say no because this was truly an entertaining event to see. The Princess of Hell? Going to Earth for a day? Oh, Lucifer would just love that, wouldn’t he? And how well would Charlie react to humans? She was a pureblood demon after all... Alastor just had to see this.

With a quick wave of his hand, a portal opened and Alastor extended his arm for Charlie to take. She quickly locked her elbow with his and started to giggle and laugh with excitement. The two jumped gracefully through the portal and startled the ever-living shit out of you.

You watched as a portal opened and spit out two demons. Startled, you jumped backward onto your bed and lifted your arms to cover your face, “Jesus fuck!” You yelled, “Can’t you give me a little warning?!” You saw Alastor in his fully demonic form grinning wickedly as he tried to hold a very small and less intimidating girl. She looked like she was ready to scream. She bit her lip as he rosy-red cheeks puffed out and her eyes sparkled.

“U-uh...” You started, confused as to why Alastor had brought whoever that was... here, “Who’s that?”

“HELLO!” The girl quickly tore herself from Alastor’s grip and approached you with a huge smile. It wasn’t wicked or intimidating like Alastor’s, it was large and happy and filled with joy, “My name’s Charlie! I use to know you in Hell!” She held her hand out to you.

You hesitated then shook her hand, “Hi...?” Charlie didn’t really look like a demon that much. She definitely didn’t look human, but she could pass for a cosplayer or something like that.

“I didn’t know humans could be so colorful!” What was she talking about? “Hey Al? What is this?” She started to point her finger around you. You felt awkward and you just sat there, frozen and unsure how to react.

At first, Alastor ignored Charlie, and even pushed her aside as he approached you. He held his hand out for you, offering to help you up. You took your hand in his and couldn’t suppress the shiver and delight that raced down your spine. Instantly you felt that warm fuzzy static that sparked in your heart every time you touched him.

“I’m sorry to burden you like this, my darling,” Alastor pulled you to your feet smoothly and with grace, “I know you called, but I seemed to have brought along a friend, and I’m sure you didn’t expect that!” He smiled at you then gestured to Charlie, “This is Princess Charlotte Magne,” You saw Charlie give a small glare at Alastor, “She’s the heiress to the throne!” He then turned to Charlie and started to clap as little streamers and confetti ignited around her, manifested by Alastor.

It sunk in that Charlie just wasn’t any other demon. She was the demon. The Princess of Hell, “Shit... okay,” You said slowly.

“And that-” Alastor started to speak again, he waved his hand around your head and said, “Is and aura, and that-” He pointed to your chest, “Is a living human soul,” You had no idea what they were talking about and you couldn’t see a damn thing either. It must have been some kind of special demon vision.

“Ooh, okay!” Charlie made a little face of understanding, “Do all humans have these colors?”

“Indeed,” Alastor said quickly. He then grabbed Charlie by her arm and started to walk towards your bedroom door, “Come now, Charlie! Let’s give our friend some time to get dressed, yes?”

“Okay but! What about animals? Do they have- AH!” Charlie was pushed out of your room and Alastor quickly left while closing the door behind him. So this is how your day was going to start, huh? You thought you’d get a little personal time with Alastor to ask some questions about your past life. Nah, you were going to do whatever the hell was waiting for you outside your bedroom door. _______________

You had just gotten dressed, finally slipping on your last sock when you heard a loud bang from your living room. Suddenly there was a crash followed by yelling and shouting. What the hell...? Buck stayed hidden under your bed as you pulled open your door.

Things had gone from pretty okay to fucking shitty real fucking fast. You were met with not two, not three, but four fucking demons making a mess of your home. You had seen the very last seconds of a portal closing as two demons were picking themselves up off the floor.

“Charlie!” A girl yelled. She had one good eye and a large ‘X’ for the other one. Her hair was long and white and cast down the entire length of her back, “What has gotten into you? Do you even know where we are?” She got up and walked towards Charlie, concern, and fear on her face, “This is the surface. We can’t be here! Your father will lose his god damn mind!”

“It’s just for a couple hours Vaggie,” Charlie smiled softly. She quickly took Vaggie’s hands in hers, “You know I’ve always wanted to! Please! No one has to know,” There was a soft pleading in Charlie’s voice.

Whatever it was, it worked on Vaggie and she sighed, “Just for an hour,” She said sternly, “There are demon hunters here, Charlie, they can kill us.”

Suddenly the last demon was getting to his feet, “Kill us how?” His accent sounded local. He was much taller than the rest of them, he looked like a white spider and much more demonic than any of them. His eyes didn’t match and his hair swept in and out of his face, “I ain’t looking to die again, I’m not even sure why the hell I jump through that fucking portal anyways,”

“They’d kill us for good, Angel,” Vaggie explained, “We wouldn’t go back to hell, our souls would be destroyed and we’d cease to exist. I’d rather we’d just get out of here. The longer we stay the more we risk getting killed,”

“Demon hunters?” Charlie seemed confused. She looked over at Alastor for a second then back to Vaggie, searching for an answer in her face.

“They’re humans who kill any demon that dares to manifest on the surface,”

“Do they work for the church?” Angel butted in with his own question.

“No,” Vaggie said, “They have their own cult or something and a lot of them are witches and warlocks. They think if they kill enough demons they’ll go to heaven because their pagan blood damns them to hell from the day of their birth.”

How did Vaggie have all this knowledge on Demon Hunters? And not to forget Sage, your best fucking friend was a god damn demon hunter. It was also at this moment when everyone seemed to notice you standing awkwardly in your doorway. Everyone was staring at you, even Alastor. In fact, he started walking away from the rest of them as he quickly manifested some kind of microphone.

“Hello! Testing? Ah!” Alastor’s radio voice shifted in and out tune within the static filter, “Why you’re such a dashing darling doll, ain’t ya sweetheart?” Alastor stood beside you and spoke into the microphone as he smiled wide, “Please, my dear, introduce yourself to our lovely listeners! All of Hell awaits your words!”

Was this some kind of skit or was he actually broadcasting? You nervously laughed, “Ah-haha... I’m, (Y/n) (L/n)... Hello,” You smiled then gave a small wave of your hand at the others. Charlie smiled and waved back while Angel and Vaggie stared at you with eyes the size of dinner plates.

“Now! (Y/n),” Alastor brought the microphone back to his lips, he gave you this smug little smile while eyeing you up and down. You felt incredibly nervous and flustered under his gaze, “Are the rumors true? Are you, in fact, the reincarnated soul of our beloved Mistress (Y/n), The Crybaby Demon?”

He quickly twisted the microphone back to you, a large toothy smile on his face as his eyes grew large and a faint red glow manifested within them. You peered back towards the other three for a second then pulled a weak smile onto your face, “Yeeess...?” It was hard to answer that question with any confidence because you still weren’t sure if you were crazy or not.

“Well!” Alastor spoke into the microphone, “You heard it here, folks! Straight from this darling’s pretty little mouth! I simply just can not believe it! Damned souls really do have a chance at redemption, don’t they? Why! The Princess of Hell is even here as well! What say you, dear?”

In a quick puff of smoke, Alastor disappeared then manifested beside Charlie. He shoved the microphone into her face and edged her on to say something, “Um- Yes, yes they do Al! We’ve had many souls make it to heaven, b-but this is the first reincarnation! It just goes to show that there are second chances!”

“Excellent! Simply marvelous!” Alastor said happily, “Isn’t that sweet? How utterly disgustingly heartwarming that is, that despite being a murderer, a sinner, a thief, a liar, a backstabber, a trickster and my favorite of all, a victim of suicide... A soul as rotten as our beloved (Y/n) can be cleaned entirely of every ounce of sin and freed to the surface,” He had a smile on his face but his voice was strained and threatening, “We must tune in to see what happens next!” Alastor snapped his fingers and the microphone was gone. It didn’t end there, however, as he closed his eyes and smiled wide his form quickly changed in a misty wave of smoke. As he opened his eyes, he was in his human form with a pleasant grin on his face.

Alastor quickly summoned a fancy little cane then gave a firm whack on to each of the other’s heads. As he smacked Charlie’s head with the other end of the cane she was overtaken in a wave of sparkles and stars that transformed her into a human disguise. The same happened as he hit Vaggie and Angel. Without a second of hesitation, Alastor walked back to you and took your arm in his.

He smiled down at you, “Isn’t this fun?” He asked a little too firmly, “Our friends are here to spend an hour with us! What do humans do for fun these days, my darling?”

That was more of a question for someone with a social life. Sure, you had friends, but you weren’t the kind to go out and party until you couldn’t see straight. Fuck... you were a goodie goodie weren’t you? You had a better idea, “Well, what do you guys do for fun?”

“Drugs,” Angel answered quickly, “Oh, and fucking. Lots of drugs and fucking and both, and maybe a little tiny bit little baby ounce of killing if a bitch needs to die,”

“Don’t listen to him,” Charlie smiled after giving Angel a pointed look, while she spoke, Angel wandered off to your window, “We do a lot, singing. Dancing, helping others and helping ourselves! I like musicals and movies!”

“I like rock shows,” Vaggie said quietly, she seemed nervous to talk about herself, “Raves are cool too. I use to like the groupie life, going to underground clubs and concerts,”

“Wait a sec- W-where are we?” Angel quickly cut in, “Is... is this New York?” He was still looking out the windows, he pulled the curtains back and saw the city life around you, “I can’t believe! Fuck! I- I gotta see what’s happened to this place! I want to go to Manhatten!” No one argued with him.

So that's how you ended up going to Manhatten, specifically Central Park. Apparently, this was one of Angel’s favorite places to escape to when he was alive. Alastor worked his magic and within seconds you jumped through a portal and you landed among some trees. The fresh air was nice, it was cool and warm and perfect out.

“I use to come here all the time,” Angel sighed, “It still smells the same,” There was a smile on his face, his cheeks were covered with freckles and a faint pink tint. He seemed like he was in heaven, or he was thinking of a simpler time when he was alive.

“I’ve never seen him like that,” You could hear Charlie whisper to Vaggie, “Maybe this could help his redemption?” Vaggie only shrugged as you all started to walk along the paved paths.

Angel walked ahead, he seemed like he wanted to enjoy this alone. Like a teacher ringing in their toddler students, Alastor kept an eye on everyone. Vaggie and Charlie walked a few paces ahead of you and Alastor. He had apologized again for bringing them along, giving you the impression that he didn’t want them here.

“It’s okay,” You told Alastor, “They use to know me, right?” He nodded his head with a smile, “Then I want to get to know them again. Just like I am with you,” For some reason, you saw Alastor’s eyebrow twitch despite the smile growing on his face, it didn’t reach his eyes.

Jealousy boiled behind Alastor’s mask, he didn’t want to share you with them. He didn’t want to share you with anybody, for that matter. Simply because he knew your heart could be easily swayed because you were a human. He didn’t want anyone to steal you away, and everyone was competition at this point. Whether it be for your love, your attention, your desires, and your dreams, it didn’t matter. He wanted it all. He spoke in a calm tone, “That’s very nice of you, my dear,” He said as he fixed his gaze on Charlie.

She was acting like a child in a toy store. Vaggie had to hold her hand and walk her along because she kept introducing herself to people, saying she was just a normal human that wanted to make some new friends. It was kind of funny honestly, watching her scare people with her overly aggressive friendliness. You also noticed that Angel had slipped away, you couldn’t see him and you were about to say something when Alastor stopped walking entirely.

You looked up at him and watched as he started looking around. His eyes flashed back and forth behind his circular glasses, “Hm,” He hummed quietly. You began to notice that Vaggie and Charlie were wandering off, everyone was splitting up, “My dear,” Alastor said slowly. You gaze up at him and saw him close his eyes and smile, “I really do hate your cunt of a friend,” Then suddenly like a flash of lightening you felt time and space warp around you just as your heared the sound of the wind rushing up behind you.

Everything moved too fast and you couldn’t focus on anything until time stopped. You realized Alastor had grabbed you and turned the both of you into a cloud smoke while escaping the park. You reformed into solid mass in an alleyway a few blocks over. It was dark and empty as pigeons were startled away.

You felt like vomiting, your body couldn’t handle that kind of magic and your mind was spinning. It was so hard to process what had just happened. You almost fell to your knees but Alastor caught you under your arm and held you up, “What just happened?” You asked weakly, “What was that?”

You asked way too many questions, too many to for your own good, “I saved us, if only for a few seconds,” Alastor said, “I warped us away from your friend before she could attack,” He then sighed with a shrug of his shoulders, “I hope she doesn’t go after the others, I didn’t think she’d be here that quick to be quite honest with you,”

“My friend?” You were confused, who was he talking about? Suddenly you heard a deep whomping sound that mimicked thunder in the sky, except it was quiet and close.

You saw before your very eyes as someone fazed in from several feet up in the air as the warped from the park. As soon as her feet slammed onto the ground, you felt your heart race then stop cold, Sage slowly lifted herself up from the ground as a gust of wind burst through the alleyway.

It was enough the tangle your hair behind you and send cold chills along your skin, “I knew it,” Sage said, you could barely see the disappointment on her face as it mixed with a darker emotion you couldn’t figure out, “I didn’t want to believe it, and you even brought more here?”

You already knew where this was going, “Sage, wait!” You step forward, leaving Alastor's side so you could approach your friend, but the wind picked up so fast that it prevented you from getting any closer, “Please! You don’t have to do this!”If only you could get her to listen. She had such a dark and evil look on her face like she was possessed by something greater than what you could understand. She quickly gave a wave of her hand and the wind pushed you away from Alastor and to the side of the alleyway. You were pinned to the brick wall and you couldn’t move, “He’s not even hurting anyone!” You yelled. All the while Alastor stood there, still, silent, a smile on his face and eyes growing larger as his grin turned more and more demonic.

“Listen to your friend, witch!” Alastor said, “I really don’t want to waste my time fighting you! Let’s both move on, shall we-”

“No!” Sage cut him off as the wind died down, you were still held back against the brick wall as if you were held back behind invisible bars, “I won’t let you get away this time!” This Time?

You looked back to Alastor and saw Eon grow to life from his shadow. He walked out of the dark, smoke flowing from every one of his steps. His body was still made of smoke and you could see the transparency of his misty figure. He walked beyond Alastor, standing evenly between him and Sage.

His voice was low and demented, wicked and evil, “You have no idea how long I’ve waited to see you again, little one,” Empty holes for eyes grew in size and hunger as he stared Sage down.

“I’m not so little anymore,” She didn’t miss a single beat, “You will die here, today,” She suddenly swung her hand out and in a fit of crystals and sparks her rapier was summoned from thin air, “You should have killed me when you had the chance,”

Eon held his arms open as he smiled, “But I still managed to kill your father,” His words struck a nerve within Sage. She quickly caught the sword in her hands, holding it out as an extension of her arm, “Your father wasn’t strong enough to harness the power of that sword, child! What makes you think you can? Just hand it over, Lucifer wants it more than you need it!”

She took a deep breath in, proving Eon that he had spoken too soon. Suddenly a loud and terrifying crack of lightning exploded from the sword. The sheer power of it was enough the blow away Eon’s misty form and cause Alastor’s knees to wobble underneath him. As the smoke cleared away from Sage, you could see her in a fighting stance, the rapier glowing wildly with lighting and magic flowing through every inch of its blade. Electricity coursed through the rapier and continued to venture down Sage’s arm and into her body. A summoning circle formed under her feet, growing and glowing in size as she took one step forward to leap and thrust her blade towards Alastor.

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tootickie · 4 years

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my new calling is watching all 36 barbie movies in chronological order and rating and reviewing them. i will add to this as i keep watching.

nutcracker (2001): 8.5/10 - funny, and i liked that barbie was smart enough to guess that the nutcracker was the prince instead of being surprised. he also made sure she got credit for saving them, in a feminist gesture instead of just taking credit when offered. he also said he would only be the prince if people wanted him to, so the nutcracker is honestly so woke. only thing i didn’t like was the ending, because she definitely shouldve stayed in nutcracker land. also like, was the nutcracker reincarnated as the guy who gets introduced in the end? like i just didn’t get it.

rapunzel (2002): 10/10 - literally the painting scenes in this movie are so beautiful, the rabbit is hilarious, the penelope and her father storyline is genuinely heartwarming, and rapunzel causes world peace. i was also wondering if this is an east and west berlin allegory because people seem to have german names in both cities and a lot of the families being torn apart rhetoric seemed similar but also i’ve been studying the cold war a lot for class so that could just be me. but honestly this deserves 10/10 for the scene where she paints dresses on herself alone. ALSO the sorceress is called gothel and rapunzel loves to paint and is a lost princess, which is interesting bc none of this is in the original fairytale, and thus i have come to the conclusion that disney plagiarized barbie, proving that barbie is the superior movie studio.

swan lake (2003): 10/10 - let me start by saying the scene where they walk across the log by the waterfall is so cool i re-enacted it so much as a kid and also the spunky purple unicorn has my name so this is a very biased 10/10. i also thought it was interesting that even though odette is a good person, her motivation for breaking the spell was a selfish one at first and this added some complexity to her character and gave her an arc of personal growth of compassion winning over fear by the end, which is more relatable and inspiring imo. the dress in this film is so pretty also, and the dancing is so fun to watch! and to round it out, prince daniel said himbo rights when he kept trying to shoot arrows at the evil sorcerer who we established early on can melt arrows.

princess and the pauper (2004): 10/10 - annalise and julian are such a cute romantic pair they’re the first ones that have real chemistry i feel like. also he’s the first love interest with a brain and initiative . preminger is also such a spicy villain, the songs slap, the humor is good...we all remember why this movie is good i don’t need to go over it.

fairytopia (2005): 6/10 - i think the aesthetic of this movie is what really saved it; i thought the character design and settings were really nice, but i found the story to be pretty boring. elina didn’t really speak to me that much as a character, i just feel like there wasn’t as much development of her character as the previous protagonists. definitely some potential there, so i’m excited for the sequels. also i hate how cute i found bibble lol.

magic of pegasus (2005): 9.5/10 - this was mad good actually, my only con was that i did find annika’s voice was more annoying than other barbie characters, so i was just wondering what the deal was with that. annika’s positivity of hearing ‘the wand of light is made of these impossible items’ and going ‘it’s only three things!’ was inspiring, to say the least. the banter between the annika and aidan was so cute too. also literally the fact that he was a gambling addict who ran away from home with a whole redemption arc….iconic. anyway i really enjoyed this actually, i wish i’d actually seen it as a child. also all the ice skating scenes were fun. and uhh brietta and the cloud queen are def in love and you can’t convince me otherwise

mermaidia (2006): 8/10 - definitely better than the first fairytopia! to start with, the subversiveness of needing to rescue a prince is fun! said mermaid prince is cute and watching him interact with his captors is a joy, but why does he have a mullet :-/ i do appreciate elina’s commitment to female solidarity with regard to nori (who, as a side note, is hot), and their burgeoning friendship was a fun part of the plot and omfg the shot with the two of them jumping down the waterfall...nice. nori and nalu are a really cute pair also and i thought it was cool that elina wasn’t the one to get the guy. i also thought it was cool when bibble sang opera. and elina’s last sacrifice at the end redeemed her to me after being kind of bored of her. however, what i really don’t understand is why nalu even asked for elina’s help in the first place?? ( like, because they’re friends? he clearly has other friends, and while we’re on that subject, did their friendship develop offscreen or are we meant to believe they are close friends from the 30 second almost silent montage from the last movie?), so that kind of puts a damper on the whole movie for me.

the barbie diaries (2006): 7/10 - what on EARTH is this animation style. who okayed this??? im literally seasick watching it. this is like a regular teen movie, which is interesting for the barbie genre. the banter between the friend group is really cute and this movie is actually quite funny and profound and i really enjoyed it. but it’s really best if you just close your eyes and imagine what is going on bc whatever you imagine cannot be worse than what you will see on the screen. it feel really off brand for barbie movies plotwise, like it seemed much more like a disney channel movie. so the verdict is, i enjoyed it—the plot is fun, if a little predictable, but there was simply too much to be confused about.

#lila talks

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laws-yellow-submarine · 4 years

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The Rubber Band

So uhhh…that Rock Band AU thing that I kept coming up with headcanons for? Yeah…I ran with it lmao though I’m establishing now that this in no way is meant to be GOOD and is instead meant to be SILLY and ENJOYABLE and FUN! I had fun writing it, even if it only took me like 2 hours haha

Credit goes to @ohpineapples for the initial idea (also 2 OCs make a very brief cameo in this, though I only own one, but for the sake of this AU they exist in the same universe and are best friends, if for no other reason than because Skylar definitely would take one look at Sophie and say “We’re best friends now”. She’s the extrovert I wish I was lmao)

Also featured: slight Frobin, because I can’t leave well enough alone lol

Word Count: 1674, will include a read more but they hardly ever work on mobile so RIP sorry in advance lol

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the silliness! (all lyrics are taken straight from the One Piece wiki so if anything’s incorrect I apologize!)

Battle of the Bands: Sabaody Park City! Prizes awarded to the Top 3 bands! 1st Place awarded title of “Best Band Ever”.

…

Zoro was by far the easiest to recruit.

When Luffy had strolled into the music shop, old-as-shit hand-me-down guitar strung across his shoulders, the green-haired percussionist hadn’t had much thought beyond “drumsticks”. This is, of course, because he hadn’t even noticed the other boy come in, an amazing feat considering the volume he exuded; but when Zoro was focused on something, it took a lot to break that focus. In this case, that focus lay on a set of 5B, dark oak, drumsticks. Zoro fumbled with the almost-matching stick in his pocket, older now but no less powerful, similar build though lighter in color. These would go perfectly with it.

And so it didn’t take much to convince Zoro to join; especially after Luffy helped him “borrow” the set.

…

They tried to recruit a band manager next, eager to get the show on the road, but the orange-haired prospect they’d met at the local carnival practically laughed in their faces.

“You call this a band? There’s two of you! That guitar’s strings are tied in place! I’m not throwing my weight behind a couple of idiots who don’t even know how to maintain their instruments! Do you even know how to write songs?” “Why write them? It’ll come to us when we play!” Nami threw her hand over her face. “See, this is why we need you!” The boy smiled at her, brighter than the sun, and she sighed.

“What do you even call this ‘band’?”

“The Rubber Band!”

She walked away.

…

They’d returned to her days later, a long-nosed, bass-playing, songwriter and a curly-browed keyboardist in tow, guitar strings neatly replaced. She sized them up, weighing the pros and cons, and crunching the numbers, in her head. Finally, she spoke up, dollar signs in her eyes.

“My rate is 70% of everything you make, plus a fee of $500 for every event I land you.”

“Hey isn’t that-”

“Of course, Nami-swan!~ Whatever you want dear! Nothing is too unreasonable for you, my love!~” The blond, Sanji, twirled around her, hearts in his eyes as he continued asking if he could make her anything to eat. She could get used to that.

Luffy agreed as well, not seeing a problem with it, as of course they’d make plenty of money as they journeyed to become the Best Band Ever. Usopp was the only one to voice any concerns, saying that “clearly as the true leader of this band”, they should negotiate for a lower price. Nami’s glare quickly silenced any further complaint.

…

They played a few local venues, and along the way picked up a curious reindeer with an affinity for the tambourine. Growth was, unfortunately, scarce though, as Nami brought up one day after receiving a call for a gig in the big city.

“Well we’re not getting anywhere without transportation.” She was right. Usopp’s beaten up car had finally quit on them only the week before, and they’d yet to find something up to the task. They sat around a table at the bar they’d just performed at, munching on snacks that Sanji had snuck in. Usopp was working on some new material, as well as their logo (a pirate’s jolly roger with a straw hat, for personality, and to dissuade those who thought Chopper was their mascot), and Zoro placed his freshly polished drumsticks pristinely in their case. Their attention was diverted when a woman approached them, smiling in a way that set them both at ease and on edge at the same time.

“Hello, I just wanted to congratulate you on your set. You played very well, especially you young man,” She said, particularly speaking to Chopper, the inexplicable reindeer.

“I don’t need your compliments, you dummy,” The boy gushed, blushing at the woman’s words. For her part she didn’t appear offended, and even chuckled slightly at his antics.

“My name is Robin. I overheard you need a way to get around?” Nami eyed her warily.

“Yes…we do, but there’s not enough in the budget to purchase a whole new vehicle.”

“Oh, my husband owns a tour bus. He used to travel with his own group before we met. If it’s no trouble for you, we’d be happy to help.” As she spoke, a large, bright blue headed man walked up, startling the group with his rather eccentric look.

“It would be SUPER no big deal! We’ve been wanting to travel for a while ourselves!”

Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, the band quickly said yes, and so finally began their trip to Sabaody Park City for the Battle of the Bands tournament.

…

They’d made only one stop for fuel on the way to the city, inadvertently picking up a probably homeless man named Brook, who was hoping to meet a friend in the city. Though most of the group had warned Luffy against it, there was no convincing the boy otherwise, and so far it had actually proved a fruitful venture. The man, thin as a skeleton, was proficient in music as well, and assisted Usopp with writing songs for the next show.

When they’d finally made it, their first real stop was the venue Nami had booked, in hopes of making some quick cash to prepare for the tournament. Robin had assisted with setting up the stage, helping to fight off Franky from installing pyrotechnics (“We can’t afford to pay for fire damages!” Nami had screamed), and despite Luffy’s insistence she stayed well away from the stage while they played. Along the way, they’d discovered she had a rather lovely voice, and seeing as how Luffy’s voice tended to sound like two whales fighting during a car wreck in the middle of a bagpipe festival, they’d tried to convince her to become the official lead singer. So far she’d shrugged them off, saying she wasn’t one for the spotlight.

For the next week, Nami continued booking gigs, somehow extorting extra money out of each new venue owner, until finally the day of the tournament had arrived. They’d walked in as a group, filing past dozens of other bands. They shuffled up to the signin, Luffy writing in big, bold letters “THE RUBBER BAND” across the paper, taking up at least five slots. They ignored the event coordinators’ griping in favor of finding a seat, as they waited for the event to start.

One by one, bands began to play; the audience determining who would move on and who was knocked out. The Rubber Band managed to make it through the first few rounds, fumbling slightly in the round before the finals. Until this point, they’d mostly gotten by through Luffy shredding on his beat-up guitar. His energy was infectious, and if he missed a note or played a weird chord, most didn’t notice; but now it was the big leagues, and the competition was fierce.

It was down to three bands, and they watched as a man with red hair screamed into the mic while a masked blond man played the drums. When they finished, the apparent leader taunted the next performer: a tattooed guitarist with a curly blond drummer and a silver-haired singer (and was that a polar bear playing the triangle?). Overall, the semi-finals passed in a blur, as it became apparent just what they were up against.

Luffy wasn’t discouraged at all, however, and merely used this as fuel to further insist Robin join them on stage. In his mind, if she sang for them they were sure to win! His pleas remained unanswered, until it was once again their turn to take the stage, and the dark haired woman followed them up to the mic. She smiled at Luffy’s excitement, and they all ignored the cries from an earlier band about the “new member”, instead settling into a quick, upbeat rhythm. As the crowd started to get into it, Robin launched into the lyrics.

“Arittake no yume o kaki atsume, Sagashi-mono o sagashi ni yuku no sa, ONE PIECE!”

It was a song she’d memorized after helping the others work so hard to write it, and learn it, specifically for the Battle of the Bands. Robin was nervous, having never purposely put herself in the spotlight like this, especially so literally. But as the crowd grew more enthused, dancing along with their music, she found herself feeling more and more confident, even beginning to sway with the music in her own sort of dance, smile growing wide on her face.

“Arittake no yume o kaki atsume, Sagashi-mono o sagashi ni yuku no sa, poketto no koin, soreto you wanna be my friend? We are, we are on the cruise! WE ARE!”

Before the group knew it they were finished, sweating and panting beneath the stage lights, the crowd roaring in their ears as they yelled “encore! encore!” Luffy raised his arms above his head, the biggest smile stretched across his face as he started cheering along with them. The tournament coordinator’s voice came over the loudspeaker, straining to be heard over the loud cheers.

“Well, I think we have a pretty clear winner, folks! Give it up for The Rubber Band!” The crowd’s screams grew deafening, and in the confusion Luffy had somehow snaked his way through the crowd to drag Nami, Franky, and Brook onto the stage with the others.

“Come on, guys! We did it!”

“Luffy, why did you drag me up here…”

“Shishishi, come on! They want an encore!” He said, ignoring the groans of his exasperated manager. The song started up again, spurred forth by Sanji and Zoro (who seemed to be competing over who could play louder), and those without instruments joined Robin at the front, singing along with the lyrics that, at this point, they all knew by heart.

And with the crowd screaming along, it was pretty clear…

They truly were the Best Band Ever.

#the end lmao #one piece #one piece scenario #one shot #AU #One Piece AU #of course I had to use that song like...I gotta lmao #AUs are fun lol #probably won't post this on ff.net or ao3? but we'll see how I feel in the morning lol #also I learned about different kinds of drumsticks today so that's neat!#also posted this on the correct blog this time cause what's the point of having a writing blog if I post my writing to my main blog?#Again: I don't expect this to be perceived as good but tbh fanfic doesn't have to be good and I had fun lmfao so I hope you did too!#alright Leyna's out goodnight folks

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beyondthetemples-ooc · 4 years

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Oh, great HEAVENS and HELLS and All the Skies ABOVE!

I sang my heart out. And I actually really LIKED the way my voice is sounding! I’ve been teaching myself to sing with More Emphasis on Where Notes Change (cleaning up my pitch especially), but ALSO a lot on EXPRESSION. Bright and happy, warm crescendos for a Happy Moment, and the longer, smoother lullaby sort of legato for the sadder, dismal songs. Sweeter note swings for adoration and mournful keening in a song of loss. I’m learning how to stay not only On Key, but how to Adjust my Tones within that pitch to express more emotion!

And I’m learning, mind you I’m using technical training I received in choir and show choir and senior choir and music theory classes, I’m learning the difference between Purely Scientific Breath Support, and a PASSIONATE all-in huff of the diaphragm!! Theoretically I knew how to RECOGNIZE it, but actually capturing that Feeling was something I always struggled with.

I’ve done a lot of work in the past few years to Unlock my Emotions. I’m getting better at letting them out into the world verbally, and I’m getting better at doing that vocally as well.

Something magical happened. Long story short? Someone enthusiastically, sincerely, 100% honestly COMPLIMENTED my singing!

Last week, Wednesday I think?, I had gone out for a walk. I intended it to take 45 minutes, maybe an hour. Just, enough to get some exercise. But as I was walking, I was singing. And I found something in myself, I can’t quite put a name to it. But that fear of others hearing me? It just.... wasn’t there, as anything more than the faintest shadow faded by the bright light of... some kind of CONFIDENCE!

Now, mind you, I was singing along to songs from Tarja’s Into the Raw album, which I only half-know. (I’m learning them quickly, but I don’t listen to music as much as I used to... hmm. I think I’m in the midst of changing that, actually.) But my point is, I haven’t listened to it many times (Serene aside), and I have sung it even fewer. I wasn’t entirely certain where all of the notes fall, the keys change. But I was singing along as best I could. Not quite a full-on belt, but a sweet lullaby sort of singing to myself, really.

I introduced her to Ghost Love Score. Which she wound up ENJOYING! Hahaaaa, score one for the symphonic metal group.

So between her and the other neighbor listening with her, I found out that I have to look into Electric Light Orchestra and Mannheim Steamroller, both of which are names I’ve seen, but not musicians I’ve heard. (I still have to give them a listen, whoops. Tomorrow, maybe...)

Anyways, singing came up, turns out she’s quite a trained singer, and I said I could sing this song, if she liked. So I started singing along a bit. Conversation drifted and it petered out; I wasn’t positioned so they could hear me very well over the speakers, anyways. But she did say I have a nice voice.

At some point she decided to sing a karaoke song. No, sing isn’t right-- she PERFORMED it!

I forget exactly what I said; she performed it so WELL, and I gushed With Specific Things I Loved (as I tend to do because it’s good to let people know Exactly What You Noticed), and she said something like “You know something about music!” And we started talking about our choir experiences, the music in our lives. And at one point, she decided she had to play something for me to sing.

So I requested the song I’d been working on, Serene. And she played it. And I sang.

I sang my HEART out! Despite being a bit out of breath from walking uphill (and a few of my notes slipping Too High), and missing a couple lines, I had the capacity to PUSH for those soprano notes, and softened for the bridge, I was swaying, my head dancing a bit, and I was SMILING so, so much! I sang with PASSION, with DELIGHT, and my voice came out so WELL! It sounded like ME, not Tarja or Simone or Floor or Dianne, but ME! Fully ME.

Her response? “I have to get a mic behind you.” She said she loved that my voice had that opera quality, and though I know I’m no classically-trained opera singer, it was just so REFRESHING and RELIEVING and ENERGIZING to hear someone that actually APPRECIATES that!

I’ve spent so many years living with a family that called my music “that crap”, that told me not to sing, that made fun of me for singing with the opera-influenced style that I think brings out the best in my voice. The one year I was with my mother, she was never home, so I was often singing to myself... Sure, in the time I’ve been back with them, both of my younger siblings have complimented my voice. My little brother said he could sing as well as me, and my little sister has told me she likes hearing my voice when I’m singing. But it’s hard to let two little positive comments . After she called Within Temptation “crap”, and got angry that I played it while cleaning, I started wearing headphones, but I still sang along. At least, I did until she berated me for using headphones while I was doing the dishes, because “The whole point of headphones is to not hear the music”. When I would be on the long drive to visit my mother with my siblings, my oldest younger sister would often snap at me to stop singing along with whatever I was listening to. When you’re young and self-conscious, little things like, peppered constantly over your life, that destroy your confidence.

But especially through working with my mother and my organization, I’ve been getting that confidence back, and finding my voice. Quite literally, I’ve used my actual speaking voice more in the past three years than I probably have my entire LIFE. Talking with my siblings, talking with my mentors, voice-chatting with friends... Just, gaining strength in my actual vocal muscles that I never had before. My speaking voice has changed DRAMATICALLY; it used to be higher, further forward, and a whole lot less steady. Certainly less expressive of anything but an underlying sense of worry or tension or questioning or dead cynicism.

So what I’m trying to say is, hearing someone so DELIGHTED by my singing, actually WANT to magnify my voice, just to hear me “free my soul”, which she said exactly because I was a touch hesitant, telling her I wasn’t really warmed up so it might not sound “as good”, but she was adamant that I so it. And I’m so, so glad she was so determined. So reassuring. So delighted!

Employing gloves I’ve been carrying and a separate microphone, she pulled up a karaoke version of Whisper for me to sing. I didn’t perform that one quite as well as Serene, for some reason? Though I NAILED a few of the notes, and I absolutely KILLED the soaring vocalizations after Certain Choruses (the one right before the guitar solo, and the ones in the final verses of the song that I added Some Personal Flair to because I just FELT it). It took me awhile to find My Voice in that song; I think it’s the key, I don’t do nearly as well with alto notes.

Although I seem to have found my “chest voice” with SOME kind of strength tonight, whew! That’s another thing I’ve been working on; I sing quite well in the s2 range, and I can go quite high and still sound refined, but once we start sinking into the alto ranges, I start having trouble with pitch and projection.

But anyways, we talked quite a bit after that, I wound up making a friend, and my confidence in my voice is now shining brighter than ever. I can’t express how much of a gift it is to have someone who’s far more educated in music than me (in a musical profession!) say that she LOVED my VOICE, even though the operatic style isn’t exactly “in style”, you know? It was AMAZING. She said I was welcome to karaoke party with her any time, and she walked me home.

So tonight, even though it was 1 and 2 and 3 a.m, I sang to the fullest extent of my abilities. The first song I sang was Ghost Love Score, and at first I was timidly shying away from Going All Out because Wow Some of Those Notes are High and require a LOUD and POWERFUL voice to prettify! But by 3 songs in, I was like “FUCK it, it’s my BIRTHDAY, this is my treat to myself, and if they’re awake to hear it, that’s their problem.”

So I sang the FUCK out of Phantom of the Opera, Sancta Terra, Sound of Silence, Over the Hills and Far Away, Bless the Child, Supremacy, Paradise (What About Us), and Serene, just to round off another triumphant session of singing.~

Difficult ranges and notes that swan-dive and slides and staccato exhalations I struggled most with, but for the most part? Oh my stars. I was SO PROUD of my voice! (The first few videos I was watching were vocal coaches reacting to my singing idols, and some of the things she said? Even if I don’t know exactly where the larynx is, the stuff about the soft palate and note slides and starting high notes strongly... I’ve got some of it down! And it’s quite a glowy feeling when a professional singer compliments a sound that you just made Very Successfully.

I can’t claim I sounded as good as Tarja or Simone; of course not! There were plenty of places I added my own style. My notes aren’t as clean or QUITE so strong in some places. But there were also places I absolutely SHINED, and I would actually be flattered to find out someone heard me tomorrow, because that means I’m really getting good at projecting a strong, solid sound!!

#rhs music #digital mirrorbooking #rhs personal posts

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berlinaura · 5 years

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Last spring in Finland I attended a course “German for those who are going to have an exchange year”. They told us about the stages which one usually goes through during an exchange. As far as I remember, the stages were roughly somewhat like this: firstly one views everything and everyone better than in their home country and everything is super interesting and fun. This basically means that the everyday life hasn’t kicked in yet. The next one is getting annoyed at everything and everybody. Comparing the country to your home country and maybe even feeling like it would have been a better idea to just stay home. After this comes the stage of adaptation where one gets used to customs and stops comparing everything to one’s home country. Last phase is coming back to home country and seeing it in a new way. And of course telling stories of the exchange year to friends and family until they are bored to death.

I remember thinking two things when we were taught about this. Firstly, who the hell would go through a phase of hating the country they go to? It seemed so irrational. The second thing was “Now that I’ve heard about this stuff, I can rise above it and use my brain and self-knowledge to avoid it. Yeah... As you might guess, it did not happen. I admit, during last few weeks I have spend a huge amount of my time wallowing in “WHY DO YOU DO THIS LIKE THIS” “Why can’t you do it in the right way” “What the hell is wrong with Germans!”. Mostly my frustrations have been related to my university. The mornings I am usually in a good mood. I drink my coffee, get ready (I have started to care more about what I wear and how I look like now that I am in Berlin hahaha) and go to school. All in all it takes me around 45 minutes to get from my home to university which includes walking, tram and S-Bahn. The way there and back are usually my favorite bits of the day. I enjoy watching people, traveling through Berlin in S-Bahn and listening to music. On the way back from university the people in public transport are usually going to pubs or parties so it’s nice to see happy and lively faces. I try not to overwhelm myself with school even though I feel like I need to be constantly studying to keep up. The thing is, even though the courses seem a bit challenging, partly because I am not used to academic English and partly because I am studying in a new study field, I find all of them interesting and genuinely think they are useful. I think I will shortly find a balance because now I feel super drained after every day and still feel like I have the “responsibility” to do fun things and go to places whenever I am not studying. It’s like a freshman year all over again.

So, what has happened after the last post? Quite a lot. I was on a Wanderlust trip to Dresden in October. We also visited a famous bridge (Bastei) in Saxony. The views and the scenery were incredible! Dresden was also very cozy and historical city. It was a lot smaller than I expected. We only had a few hours to browse through the city but we could easily reach the most important sights by just walking. On the bus we opened bottles of wines we got from Lidl and played some car games with the people who sat around me. I suggested searching “questions to get to know each other” so on the few hour way back we just simply shared our biggest secrets and fears as if we had been knowing for a long time. The french boy sitting in front of me got interested as I mentioned we are throwing a sitting here, so he wanted to help. We formed a committee of 5 people for a sittning, planned it in a cafe and contacted international office. Their response was rather dry and due to International office organizing a similar event in December, we decided to postpone the sittning and start planning it again in January.

Wanderlust trip was good because everything was already planned and sorted out for us. We just had to be on time to catch the bus. I already booked another wanderlust trip to Magdeburg in December. They have a Christmas market there. I also want to see the city that was my other option to have an exchange year in. By the way, I am super glad I ended up choosing Berlin over Magdeburg.

The next day me, the Austrian girl who sat next to me on the bus and her friend went to see a light show in the city centre. There is this light festival held in Berlin where they project things onto famous buildings and monuments. The one projected on Brandenburg gate left me speechless. They projected things like collapsing of the wall, JFK’s speech and techno culture of today’s Berlin.

One Friday evening my friend, my roommate and her friends decided to go to a burlesque show. The bar was super fancy as was the show. I just couldn’t get my eyes of the woman who performed. She danced to a remix of Britney Spears’ Toxic so naturally I had to ask her after the show if she liked Britney Spears. She said they only picked it because they needed something that people would recognize but at the same time something that isn’t the actual song. :( She was amazing tho.

In October I also went to see Prinz Pi live at Columbiahalle. I’ve never been to this venue before and it was so cozy! Man the concert just got better and better and I just had goosebumps for like half of the show. At the encore Prinz Pi said something in the lines of “You know.. The next place I go to.. You don’t want me to tell the audience that the audience of Berlin was dull? Go crazy then!” and I have never seen an audience getting so hyped during a song (”Gib dem Affen Zucker”). I got inspired of this so I already booked a ticket for Sido’s Christmas show in Columbiahalle. Actually I tried to go to his normal tour’s concert which is actually today, but I thought too long and it got sold out. People were asking 200€ per ticket (the original was around 45€) so I gave up. Then I decided to go to his christmas show but AGAIN thought too long because they are held in 20.-22.12. and I needed to sort out my flights to Finland first. But one day I decided to go to eventim’s page to see if someone was selling their ticket (they were, but overprized again) and I saw that there was one original ticket on sale even though it was sold out before. Someone had cancelled their ticket and some forces of the universe told me to refresh that page at a right moment. So now I have my ticket and just can not wait for it!

In the beginning of November I went to Prague to see my friend. The train ride was only 19 euros and I could easily do my homework and watch Kotikatu there. Priorities were sorted out! I navigated to Revnice where we went to a local brewery and shared things about our lives. The beer was the best beer I have ever had in my life which is sad because I literally can’t get it anywhere else than from there. Damn brewery! The next day we played board games, ate well and went swimming. My friend introduced me to a new thing: putting honey in a coffee. At first I doomed the though: ew, who the hell does that? Honey belongs to tea, not coffee. Then I tasted it and... it was delicious. It is yet to discover if it because of the honey or their super fancy coffee maker. Then we went to the brewery again and played a Czech card game called “bang”. I think I got the gist of it and even won the game once. On our last day we were just sightseeing and went to a concert together. The songs were translated to me and for a moment I felt super ambitious to learn Czech. I don’t want to miss out on funny songs just because I don’t know the language!

Last weekend there was a celebration in Berlin due to it being 30 years from the fall of Berlin wall. It was a bit similar to the light festival. We were out with friends two nights in a row and found a super cute place in Prenzlauer berg: Houdini. They have Indian food and cheap cocktails. We continued the evening to this living room looking place that was connected to a Späti. The Späti-drinking culture is something that is missing from Finland. Here Spätis are these small shops that mostly sell drinks (beer, soda, water, cider and so on) and candy.They are open late which is actually where the name Späti (Spätkauf = late shopping) comes from. There are often benches and tables where people can enjoy their drinks which are cheaper than in normal pubs of course. The Späti man asks if the beer is to be enjoyed in the living room and adds a small fee if it is. And there’s a bottle opener on the counter. Everything is sorted out so in my opinion Späti-drinking is a good way to go out and get drunk with small budget.

Yesterday we had an excursion with my German class. We went to Berlinische Galerie which is a museum of contemporary art. They had an exhibition of Bauhaus, the art/design/architecture Academy in pre-WWII Germany that affected modern design and architecture. We were walking around and filling up a worksheet the teacher gave us. I enjoyed it so much and everything seemed so pleasing to the eye.

Afterwards we went to a open stage event which was basically a talent show. There were 10 acts of which everyone had 10 minutes to convince the audience who voted for a winner. We also had beer and wine counter there naturally. My favorite was this one dude in tight ballet outfit who preformed a circus act which was funny and impressive at he same time. His background music was swan lake but the dude sang along in a terrible way which made it less serious. Then he juggled with 6 balls and every time he messed up, he cried out in a dramatic way. Then at the end of the show he turned his back to the audience and we could see he was digging something from his crotch and then he turned around and swiped of sweat from his face with a pile of tissues he had as a crotch-filler the whole time. The tipsy audience laughed so much that the winner was pretty much clear at that point. The dude who went after him performed a horrible keyboard improvisation and his face screamed “ I am sorry to be here, I just want to flee!” hahahahah. The act that came second was funny as well, they performed “Let it go” but with a German translation, the google translate type of translation. Conclusion is: the audience wants to laugh at talent shows, not see real talent.

On top of all the events I have also been attending the hiphop dance class I think I told about. The teacher is super funny (and hot :D) and the dancing is so intensive and so much fun! I look terrible, though but it’s not the main point here. I might continue this hobby when I get back to Finland.

Now I have to start packing my things because I am going to Szczechin (Poland). I heard it is a city where Berliners go to shop because it is cheaper there. I feel like this trip can be either a massive success or a terrible flop. Time shows...

#erasmus #exchange year #berlin

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cromulentbookreview · 5 years

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Have Mercy, Mr. Crow!

...is what viewers yelled at their screens when Russel Crowe sang during the 2012 adaptation of Les Misérables.

I’ll be here all week, ladies and gentlemen.

And by that I mean: The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen!

In the Kingdom of Sabor, all Soborian society is structured on a bird-based caste system, with Phoenixes on top, and Crows on the bottom, which seems super unfair considering that crows are really super smart. Ravens and crows are among the smartest birds out there, you guys. Anyway, all the other bird-castes are known for having a birthright, or a particular type of magic about them (you can read all about them here). The Crow caste is the lowest caste because they don’t precisely have their own birthright - their magic is that they can steal magic from other castes, using the bones of the dead. Particularly the teeth.

Though I imagine the whole “teeth as magic” thing might not always work well:

Moving on: the Crow caste is looked down upon by basically everyone in Sabor, and they’re treated like shit all the time. No place will accept them so they’re always on the move. Except for one thing: Crows are immune to a horrible disease known as the “Sinner’s Plague”, a disease that may or may not be smallpox, I’m not certain. It sounds awful, though. The Sinner’s Plague spreads like wildfire, and since the crows can’t catch it, they get to travel all around Sabor answering plague beacons. Whenever someone in a town catches the plague, the Crows come and deliver “mercy” in the form of cutting the throats of the afflicted and then burning their bodies after. This stops the plague from decimating a whole town or village, but sounds terrible for doctors attempting to study the disease or anyone attempting to find a cure or a treatment for it. Or, perhaps, for someone surviving the plague. You don’t get a chance to survive the plague, though, sorry. It’s Crow mercy for you!

No worries, you’ll be stone dead in a moment.

Fie’s father is the chief of his own Crow band and Fie has been on the road with them her whole life. As a Crow witch, she’s destined to be the chief of her own band someday. When her Crow band answers a plague beacon in Sabor’s capitol city, it turns out the two plague victims to whom they’re meant to give mercy are the crown prince, Jasimir, and his bodyguard, Tavin. Fie doesn’t see her dad give the two boys mercy - the rest of the Crows wait outside while the chief does the job. However, once the crows are well-shot of town, Jasimir and Tavin jump out of their shrouds, very much alive, scaring the hell out of Fie, who promptly punches Tavin in the face. Like so:

This is why you don’t surprise people like that. It always ends with a punch to the face.

Turns out the Evil Queen, Jasimir’s new stepmom Rhusana has been attempting a takeover of Sabor and she’s been trying to kill off Jasimir for months. Jasimir and Tavin concocted a scheme to fake their deaths so they can escape and flee to their allies, namely, Jasimir’s aunt, Master General Draga. With Draga’s help, Jasimir and Tavin are certain they can stop Rhusana. Getting to her, though, is a problem. Jasimir, a Phoenix and Tavin, a Hawk, are both certain that the Crows will help them, no question because they’re on the superior end of the social scale - plus, Jasimir is the prince. They gotta listen to the prince. The Crows, however, aren’t having it - they’re tired of being treated like shit everywhere they go, and tired of being routinely hunted down and murdered by Sabor’s equivalent of the Klu Klux Klan, the Oleander Gentry. So Fie convinces her dad to swear Jasimir to a magically unbreakable oath: the Crows will help Jasimir get to his allies, and, as King, Jasimir will protect the Crows. Jasimir reluctantly agrees, and he and Tavin are forced to pose as Crows, getting a lovely taste of just how terrible things are for the lowest caste.

Like that, but all the time.

Unfortunately, when the Crows attempt to deliver Jasimir and Tavin to one of Jasimir’s supposed allies, they’re double-crossed - The Crow band, Fie’s kin are captured, but Jasimir, Tavin and Fie manage to escape. The three of them make an odd Crow band, but they have to stick together, answer plague beacons avoid the Oleander Gentry AND Queen Rhusana’s most ruthless trackers if they’re going to make it to Master General Draga alive. Fie just wants to rescue her family - but now she’s stuck with a snobby prince and his handsome bodyguard who will just NOT stop flirting with her. Doesn’t he realize Hawks and Crows don’t go together??

The Merciful Crow is a fun read - once you make sense of the caste system and the tooth-based magic, the story moves quickly. The plot is a familiar one - the exasperated member of an oppressed, impoverished group putting up with clueless rich people who have spent their lives in a bubble - the clueless rich people learning that hey, life isn’t great for everyone and maybe everyone should be treated a little bit better, etc. etc. You’ve probably read it before, but this one comes with some pretty neat worldbuilding. And tooth magic! I wish my teeth could do magic. Alas, they cannot, or else they would’ve straightened themselves out for free, instead of making me pay three thousand dollars for braces...grumble grumble grumble...

Character-wise, Fie is a bit exasperating at first - she’s very high-and-mighty in her attitude towards Jasimir and Tavin, though, to be fair, they’re a couple of rich douchebags with no idea what it’s like to be at the bottom of the ladder. There is going to be some tension, especially since Jasimir is focused on his own problems, rather than those of the Crows. Tavin is stuck in the middle, acting as mediator - keeping his prince alive and their Crow allies happy, all while developing feelings for a certain Crow witch.

Honestly, my biggest complains concerning The Merciful Crow are all bird-related. Mostly, it has to do with the caste level of certain birds. In Saborian society, Doves are considered a superior caste, while pigeons are lower on the social scale. This is odd when you consider that doves and pigeons are literally the same bird. The EXACT SAME bird! Doves are just all-white pigeons. Except pigeons are considered rats with wings, while doves are beautiful symbols of peace. We need to face facts here, people: we’re all bird racists. In German the word for pigeon and dove is the same: die Taube. Because they’re the same goddamn bird.

See this? This is a dove.

This is a pigeon.

Now, remember: THEY’RE THE SAME BIRD.

A pigeon is a dove and a dove is a pigeon. I mean, yeah, that Prince song wouldn’t work as well if it were called “When Pigeons Cry” and that Henry James novel would be a little weird if it were called The Wings of the Pigeon...but for some reason in the English language we feel we must differentiate between white birds and grey birds, gee I wonder why...

*cough* bird racism *cough*

Damn it, English, you’re already weird as hell, now you have to add bird racism to the equation...

RECOMMENDED FOR: Fans of YA, bored ornithologists, anyone who has ever wished that their teeth could be magic, fans of birds-based caste systems, fans of fun YA adventure/romances with magic. Also, birds.

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR: Serious ornithologists, actual crows, pigeons, doves, non YA fans, people not fond of a writer having fun with a familiar plot line, hawks, swans, or any birds, really. I’m just going to come out and say it: birds shouldn’t be reading YA, it’s too advanced for them, they should stick with picture books and juvenile fiction.

RATING: 4/5

RELEASE DATE: July 30, 2019 (yeah, it was last week, but I promise cromulent reviews, not reviews that are on time).

CROW RATING:

SELECTED GIFS FROM THE SIMPSONS, S13E16, WEEKEND AT BURNSIES:

#the merciful crow #margaret owen #young adult fantasy #ya fantasy #book review #crows #bird racism #pigeons #doves #pigeons vs doves #crows are smart #fie #tavin #jasimir #sabor #teeth magic #birds #the simpsons #weekend at burnsies

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