#and having it lead into the fireworks is genius

[louisloulouie]

I have been crazy obsessed with the beautiful lighting during the Faith In The Future tour. Watching all the color almost melt away during Louis performing Written All Over Your Face feels like pure magic.

[heathenkings]

I FINALLY GOT TO SEE DUNE TWO and I have decided to write my thoughts on this little piece of paper and throw it into the west pasture hole

(( spoilers ))

- how are there not more Gurney fans. how is that beautiful comic-relief gritty grizzled musical guard dog boy not blowing up the Internet

- I really loved Feyd's Stellan voice, but he kind of gave me Jared Leto Joker vibes... the book Feyd is a charismatic diplomat meant to "save" Arrakis from Rabban and I would've liked to see that angle

- there are like four kisses in the film and one of them is on a boot and two of them involve an uncle and his nephew

- Christopher Walken sounded the most Christopher Walken-y I've ever literally heard and it made me giggle

- the SOUNDTRACK ?? fuck me man. Chani's theme? tears. The Atreides bagpipes when Gurney leads the charge on Rabban? chills. the fucking music when the Harkonnen get pushed back by the Fremen ?? Hans you genius bastard

- it's my headcanon that all of the Baron's big chunky rings are the signets of houses he's conquered

- apologies for my Gurney tunnel vision but I really would've loved his line as he killed Rabban to have included a Bheth shout-out...

- Paul donning a black hooded cloak after drinking the poison ?? it's giving succumbing-to-the-dark-side vibes ??? as heart breaking as it is I kinda stan scary Paul

- I came out of that theatre as a Paulleck truther but also Stilgar x Gurney ?? "I love him because he's an Atreides, regardless of the future" versus "I love him because he's Lisan al Gaib, regardless of the past"

- so... worm riding. once you're on one, how do you dismount? how do you get a bunch of passengers and their luggage and tents on it ??

- BLACK INK BLOT RORSCHACH FIREWORKS ?? WHAT THAT'S FUCKING SICK

[atlantis-archive]

Moliere Digs Dirt!

Written and lettered by: Michael Stewart Pencils by: Al Bigley Inks by: Jeff Albrecht Colors: John Green Published in: Disney Adventures Collector’s Issue! Atlantis: The Lost Empire Volume 11, Number 6 (pg.76-79). Publisher: Buena Vista Magazines Inc. Publication date: circa July 2001.

Text:

Page 1: Mole: [No1 Stay back!] [Why do you do this to Moliere?] [Why?] Vinny: [You've had this coming for a long time--] [--and now you're going to get it!] Audrey: [You can't escape from us this time, Mole!] Mole: [Not the bath! Anything but that!]

Page 2, Panel 1: Mole: [Please--I am a Digger!] [Dirt is my life!] Panel 2: Vinny: [Who's got him?] Audrey: [Grab him!] Cookie: [Lemme at him!] Sweet: [Watch out!] Helga: [Move in!] Mole: [Hah! Again I slip away from the mob!] Panel 3: Sweet: [Mmmph!] Audrey: [There he goes!] Helga: [-:sigh:- It's only a bath.]

Page 3, Panel 1: Milo: [Hey, what's all the excitement?] sfx: KRAK Vinny: [Oof!] Sweet: [Company halt!] Audrey: [That Milo is a genius--] [--at being in the wrong place at the wrong time!] Helga: [And to think--] [--we've accomplished dangerous missions all over the world...] Panel 2: Mole: [I will never was the dirt from my body!] [Some of it dates back to when I was but a small child!] [These are cherished memories!] Panel 3: Milo: [Er...sorry, Vinny.] Vinny: [Oooh. I always liked Fireworks--] [--just not going of inside my head...] Panel 4: Narrator: [On the bridge...] Rourke: [Any report on Operation Scrubadub, Mrs. Packard?] Packard: [Huh? Oh--Moliere's bath!] [Nah, they haven't caught the grungy little guy yet.] sailor: [Big problem up ahead, Commander Rourke!]

Page 4, Panel 1: Narrator: [Meanwhile...] Milo: [Hah ha ha! I have made another unclean getaway! Panel 2: sfx: CLICK Mole: [Sacre bleu!] Panel 3: Mole: [No! No! No! No!] Audrey: [Get ready for the scrubbing of a lifetime!] Helga: [Wait--listen!] [A message from the bridge!] Panel 4: siren: [RED ALERT! RED ALERT!] Mole: [Ack!] Audrey or Vinny: [Let's go, people!] Panel 5: Mole: [You see? Sometimes you can lead a mole to water, but you cannot make him use soap!] Narrator: [The end!] [Turn to page 80 to find out about the red alert!]

Notes:

This occurs after Audrey Let's Off Some Steam!, presumably while Milo is still looking for the sleeping quarters.

[himehikoshrine]

Sissia of the Central Nation Stage Script (EN) – Kisa Route

Last but certainly not least, Sissia's own route. This is the Univeil Performance Stage Script from the menu for Kisa's solo route.

As with all scripts that get adjusted during the route, this is the final version before the performance, but before any last minute changes or additions during the show. As with the rest, no ad libs are in the menu stage scripts.

Apologies if I accidently added any typos or minor punctuation changes, I did my best.

Also as before, I have kept in all the things that don't change across routes, so you can read any of them in full without having to cross reference. As you can imagine, there are some things that are changed for this version, it being a solo route. The actual summary of the Border Performance is quite different and worth paying attention to in this one.

There's a line (about two leads for the border performance) that makes no sense in this version that is still in the script. If you've played through this it happens on stage as well. It's not me forgetting to remove or change it. Similarly to Mitsuki's route, there are some artifacts in the stage directions not adjusted, that I've tried to [sic].

Other stage scripts can be found clicking on the tag or here:

Sissia of the Central Nation [route selection post] Oh Rama Havenna [x] Mary Jane [x]

This is the longest of the Sissia of the Central Nation scripts, and thus runs into tumblrs paragraph break limit, so I have adjusted the formatting on a few sections late in the script to keep it juuusst under the cap and thus able to be posted. Hopefully that's not too distracting. This happened with Mary Jane as well.

Without further ado...

Is everyone ready for some twisted fun?! Prepare to step into a wonderful dream!

Sissia of the Central Nation (Kisa Route)

By Neji Kokuto

(1) The Central Nation of Kielce

◆Along the Border

???:   Over there! Don’t let them get away!

???:   Hahh, Hahh…Ugh!

A shadow crosses over the border. 

The sound of hurried footsteps chasing after them.

Border Patrol A:   Damn it! A rat from the servant country crossed the border into the Arbine Nation!

Border Patrol B:   If word of this gets to the commander and the king of Arbine…

Border Patrol A:   We need to find them, fast!

Blackout

◆National Standing Theater

Restless murmurs

Sissia:   This dream is everything to me, so I’ll risk everything I have for it…!

◆National Standing Theater

(The scene goes from dark to lighter. As if lights have turned on.)

The dazzling show by Kielce begins.

Isaac:   Welcome, one and all to the theater of the Central Nation of Kielce! I am the goat-headed Isaac!

Isaac:   …What’s that? Why do i have such a head, you ask?

Isaac:   It’s a bit of a long story, but when my father visited a farm one day, he fell in love with a female goat, and…

Laughter from the crowd.

Isaac:   Ah! The local officers told me not to tell this story! They asked that I not disrupt the moral standards of Arbine.

Isaac:   Well, let’s put aside the idle chatter, all the kings and nobles, the living and the dead, the passing mugwort sellers…

Sound of fireworks.

Smoke comes pouring in and acrobats enter the scene with style.

Levi:   Let the Central Nation of Kielce’s show begin!!!

Chance:   Hah!

Audience A:   Ah, It’s Chance! His somersaults are the best! You wouldn’t expect any less of Kielce’s star!

Audience B:   What are you talking about? Everyone in Kielce is a star!

Adra:   You couldn’t be more right!

Adra appears on the stage, dancing brilliantly.

Audience A:   Adra! Oh, I can’t believe how beautifully he dances! He’s certainly Arbine’s treasure. 

Audience B:   He certainly is from a family of officials! The flower of Kielce!

Crowley catches Adra dancing across the stage.

Crowley:   Now, then. Allow me to lend you a hand, Adra!

Audience A:   Crowley just caught Adra! He’s the genius who creates these performances, and even joins them himself! 

Crowley:   Now’s the time to forget the time! Next, let’s all sway to a beautiful tune!

Someone singing can be heard, and Carlo appears.

Fan Carlo:   …!

Audience A:   Oh, how beautiful…!

Audience:   She really lives up to her reputation as the most beautiful voice in all the nation…!

Levi appears at the center of the stage.

Levi:   We are the Central Nation of Kielce! Is everyone ready for some twisted fun?!

The crowd cheers in response.

Sissia watches Kielce’s performance from the audience.

Sissia:   …

Sissia:   The Central Nation of Kielce… I’ve dreamed of them for so long!

Sissia:   Ah, I can’t believe this! I can’t believe I’m able to see them perform again!

Blackout

◆Kielce Base

Chance:   What did you think?! How were my somersaults?!

Fan Carlo:   They were full of energy. You’re like a monkey.

Chance:   Thanks… Hey wait, Carlo!

Isaac:   A monkey, huh? That’s not too bad. Want to switch places with my goat, then?

Chance:   I can’t give long monologues like you can, so I’ll pass…

Isaac:   That’s unfortunate. I’ll take my leave for now, then. 

Chance:   Hey, you going already, Isaac?!

Adra:   He’s always so calm after getting off stage, that Isaac.

Crowley:   Haha, that’s just fine for a comedian. Isn’t it, Levi?

Levi:   Yeah.

Crowley:   You’re not part of the comedy act, so you can stand to give it a little more energy!

Levi:   … There was something I noticed about the performance today.

Chance:   Something you noticed?

Adra:   …Ah, I see.

Crowley:   You’re right.

Chance:   Hey! Stop just agreeing with each other and tell me what you’re talking about!

Fan Carlo:   They’re talking about a problem the Central Nation of Kielce has in general.

Chance:   I’m telling you, be more specific! I wanna know, too!

Isaac appears among everyone chattering.

Isaac:   All right now, sorry to interrupt your conversation. As always, we have some prospectives hoping to join our troupe.

Chance:   Oh! Some future Kielcesters have come, eh? 

Chance:   Let’s see what they’ve got, then!

Fan Carlo:   I’m tired, so I’ll pass.

Crowley:   Don’t be like that, Carlo. They’ve come all this way to see us.

Adra:   There may be some among them with talents like Chance and Isaac.

Isaac:   That’s right. If Levi hadn’t found me back then, I might still be working at a factory. Wearing a goat head.

Chance:   …I kinda want to see that, too.

Levi:   Carlo, you seem to understand the problem with the Central Nation of Kielce we were talking about just a minute ago, so I’ll ask you to join. 

Chance:   Oh yeah! I forgot! So what IS our problem?

Isaac:   I’d like to know, too.

Crowley:   It’s that… we lack a ‘gear’.

Isaac:   A ‘gear’…

Isaac:   …Is what we lack?

Fan Carlo:   It means we aren’t well harmonized.

Adra:   You know how the Central Nation of Kielce’s performance style is just a showcase of our separate talents?

Crowley:   It’s been that way for a very long time, but it’s even more pronounced now that Carlo and Chance have joined. 

Crowley:   As we are now, we can’t put on the best performance ever!

Levi:   We definitely need it. A gear that unites our individual parts to move together as one whole.

Isaac:   I see…

Chance:   All the more reason to hold auditions, then! Come on, Carlo!

Fan Carlo:   Hahh, fine. I couldn’t handle it if someone as tone-deaf as you joined.

Chance:   Exactly! It’d be a disaster if TWO of us were tone-deaf and couldn’t harmonize or… Carlo!

Isaac:   I think you’ve gotten much better, though.

Chance:   Are you trying to cheer me up, Isaac? Gee, thanks a lot.

Crowley:   So how many are we going to let in through the audition, Levi? 

Levi:   Your eyes tell me one person.

Crowley:   That’s our ringleader for you! I do hope that one person shows up.

Adra:   All right, let’s go then. Can’t keep our future star waiting, can we?

Everyone:   Yeah!

Carlo says “Right”.

◆In front of the Kielce Base

Prospective members are gathered in a line.

The members of Kielce test their talents.

Candidate:   Listen to my song, Leviii!

Levi:   Next.

Candidate:   Only one person will pass, right?! I’m confident in my acting! Oh, God! Give me the kiss of death!

Crowley:   Neeext.

Candidate:   I’ve danced for 18 years with the national dance troupe!

Adra:   Who’s next?

Fan Carlo:   Hahh… Levi, I’m sure we’ll all die of boredom if we try and test everyone here. 

Crowley:   Wow, I think I’d be able to write a song with that as the theme!

Adra:   Carlo’s right. We’re making our prospectives wait, too… 

Mean Candidate:   Hey! Is it my turn yet or what?!

Mean Candidate:   I’ve run out of patience! Only one of us is going to pass anyway! Skills are all that matter in this world!

The prospective starts singing and dancing.

Chance:   Ah, he just started singing and dancing!

Isaac:   He’s like Chance.

Chance:   Hey!

Candidate A:   Hey what gives?!

Candidate B:   Wait your turn!

Mean Candidate:   Shut up! If you’re confident that you’re better than me, then why don’t you try singing?!

Candidate C:   I’ll show you what talent looks like!

People start singing in protest.

Crowley:   Now things are getting interesting!

Fan Carlo:   …Can I leave?

Sissia watches the commotion.

Sissia:   …

Candidate:   My singing is the best! Aaah…

Candidate:   Watch my dancing!

Mean Candidate:   Out of the way! I’m gonna be the one who joins the Central Nation of Kielce!

Adra:   What do we do, Levi? Want to cancel this for now?

Levi:   Yeah. It’s getting late. We can do this another day…

Sissia:   …!

Sissia:   Excuse me! I…

Mean Candidate:   Who are you? Get back!

Sissia:   …Urk!

Sissia:   Please… Please let me sing. 

Sissia comes out to the front.

Sissia begins a beautiful dance while singing in a clear and free voice.

★Song  “Departure”

Candidate:   …

Mean Candidate:   …Whoa.

Sissia:   Please… Listen…!

Chance:   That one’s super good!

Isaac:   You’re right about that… I can just imagine the scene they’re creating.

Fan Carlo:   …

Crowley:   Now that’s unusual, for even Carlo to sit silently and listen!

Adra:   What do we do, ringleader?

Levi:   …

Levi:   An applicant has been chosen. Anyone have any objections?

Sissia:   Huh? Who is it…?!

Candidate:   …

Mean Candidate:   …No! You all saw that too, right? Talent is everything in this world!

Mean Candidate:   Even if I can’t join the Central Nation of Kielce, I’ll keep singing and dancing! Do your best, got it?

Sissia:   Oh, r-right!

Candidate:   …It’s frustrating, but he’s right. I’m rooting for you!

Candidate:   I’ll come watch your show!

The prospective members start leaving.

Sounds of departing footsteps.

Sissia:   U-um…

Sissia:   M-My name is… Sissia…! Um…

Levi:   Sissia, huh? Congratulations on passing the auditions.

Sissia:   Really…?! Thank you so much…!

Crowley:   You’re going to be an apprentice for a while!

Adra:   If you are deemed worthy of being a member of Kielce, it’ll be official.

Sissia:   I’ll do my best!

Chance:   Congratulations, Sissia! Let’s get along together!

Fan Carlo:   I’m glad we didn’t get another tone-deaf member.

Isaac:   …Welcome.

Sissia:   Thank you all for the support!

Adra:   …Levi, Crowley, we've found what we needed, don't you think?

Crowley:   The little 'gear' we were looking for to make the best performance ever!

Levi:   ..Yeah.

Levi:   Sissia, come with me. I'll show you around Kielce.

Sissia:   Right!

As everyone leads the way, Sissia stops a short distance away from them.

Sissia:   …

Sissia:   I can't believe I've really joined the Central Nation of Kielce...!

Sissia:   The dream I've had for so long has come true! My next dream is...

Sissia:   To stand on the stage!

(2) Path to the Stars

◆National Throne Room

Subordinates arrive in front of Major Azur

Aide:   Major, there’s something I think you should know…

Major Azur:   …What is your report

Aide:   Well…

Major Azur:   A fugitive?

Major Azur:   What’s border patrol even doing…? How insufferable!

Major Azur:   We’ll take care of this before the commander and king of the Arbine Nation finds out about this. 

Aide:   Yes, sir…!

Major Azur:   Don’t think you can return alive…horse of the slave country.

◆Kielce Base

Adra:   What’s the matter?! You tired already, newbie?! We can’t put on the best show with you like that!

Sissia:   …No, I can keep going!

Isaac:   …Adra’s more fired up than usual.

Fan Carlo:   That’s just how much Adra is hoping to get out of Sissia.

Chance:   But I’m catching the flack and forced to join their rigorous training, too!

Training ends

Adra:   All right, let’s take a break!

Sissia:   Hahh! Thank you so much, Mr. Adra!

Adra:   You don’t need to call me ‘Mister’. No need to be so polite with me.

Adra:   It’s about time you become a full member, too…

Sissia:   Huh?

Adra:   No, it’s nothing. Anyway, just address me casually.

Sissia:   …Okay, Adra.

Chance:   Great work Sissia! Wow, I can’t believe you can keep up with Adra!

Sissia:   Oh no, not at all… Oh, that’s right!

Chance:   Yeah, What’s up?

Sissia:   Chance, when you have some time, I’d like you to teach me how to do your somersaults.

Chance:   Hey, you’re not trying to steal all my acts, are you?

Isaac:   Well, I’m sure they’ll cut our singing parts. What do you think, Carlo?

Fan Carlo:   With Sissia with us, I’m sure they would. 

Chance:   Whoa! Crap! At this rate, Sissia’s going to take up all my acrobatics time out there…!

Sissia:   Ahaha, your time won’t get cut. no one can fly as high as you.

Levi arrives and everyone gathers around him.

Levi:   …Is everyone here?

Adra:   Oh, what’s up, ringleader?

Levi:   Crowley has something to discuss. Crowley?

Crowley:   Yes, all right! This is about our next performance!

Crowley:   We will have Sissia join our next production.

Sissia:   …!

Chance:   That means…!

Isaac:   We’re going to bring Sissia in as an official member of Kielce, right?!

Crowley:   Exactly!

Levi:   It’s your first performance. Make sure to polish up your act and give it your all.

Adra:   I’m looking forward to it. Let’s show everyone the fruits of your labor.

Sissia:   Right!

◆Kielce Base

Levi:   …All right, everyone go over your movements with each other

Adra:   And be sure not to forget about practicing your group dances.

Chance:   The new choreography’s got me so excited!

Fan Carlo:   …Not me.

Crowley:   Oh, my! Our singing princess is a bit cranky!

Isaac:   The Central Nation of Kielce is made up of everyone here. I’ll be rooting for you all!

Adra:   You’re performing too, Isaac.

Isaac:   Ah, ahaha…

Sissia:   …I can’t wait. I get to dance with everyone.

Sissia:   I’ve admired everyone for so long.

Chance:   Why did you want to join the Central Nation of Kielce, Sissia?

Sissia:   I… saw the Central Nation of Kielce’s performance held at the border.

Chance:   …I’m so jealous, Sissia! You got to see the ‘Border Performance’!

Fan Carlo:   The ‘Border Performance’… The production that takes place atop the border wall between the nameless slave country and the Arbine Nation.

Isaac:   I also saw it a long time ago.

Isaac:   …So, seeing that was what made you want to join?

Sissia:   Yeah, that’s right.

Sissia:   Everything was so bright and dazzling, and everyone was so full of hope.

Sissia:   I want to stand there someday, too… I want to sing and dance and act with everyone…!

Sissia:   ‘We are the Central Nation of Kielce! Is everyone ready for some twisted fun?!’

Sissia:   It’s that.

Sissia:   To me, the Central Nation of Kielce is my entire life.

Chance:   I see…

Chance:   I didn’t watch that performance, but I’ve heard rumors about it!

Adra:   You were impressed by the rumors and joined because of them, didn’t you Chance?

Crowley:   Sure takes me back, the ‘Border Performance’.

Levi:   …Yeah.

Chance:   Tell us more about what happened!

Chance:   I’m in Kielce now, but I’ve never really heard the story!

Adra:   We caused a bit of trouble, didn’t we? We were seen as a group with treasonous intentions.

Crowley:   Thanks to that, we’re still being watched by Arbine’s military officials like Adra’s father.

Levi:   …You know of the relationship between the Arbine Nation and Quatra,, right?

Chance:   Quatra… You mean the ‘nameless’ servant country?

Fan Carlo:   The Quatra Republic was the name of the country before it was taken away.

Levi:   The 77-year-long war between the Arbine Nation and the Quatra Republic ended with victory for Arbine 20 years ago.

Levi:   Ever since, Arbine has closed off the Quatra Republic within those walls and taken its name away, making it the nameless country.

Levi:   The citizens of the Republic became servants and have a tattoo called the ‘Quatral’ etched into them.

Crowley:   It’s proof of their subjugation. They’re made to work like horses for Arbine.

Sissia:   …

Chance:   I dunno…

Chance:   I’m not one to talk, not having studied much about history, or society…

Chance:   But being excited and happy are feelings we all have, so everyone should just share that with everyone else.

Levi:   …You’re exactly right.

Levi:   Singing, acting, and dancing… I feel those are things that anyone from any nation can enjoy.

Levi:   The only ones in Arbine who can show that is the Central Nation of Kielce.

Adra:   …Yeah

Sissia:   …

Sissia:   That anyone from any nation… can enjoy…

Blackout

Pause

Finishing rehearsals, Sissia takes a break in a private room.

Sissia washes her [sic] bare legs.

Pitch black. 

Sissia:   Hahh…

Sissia:   I need to soak my feet…

Sissia:   …

As Sissia washes a leg even further, makeup comes off, revealing a tattoo in the shape of a horse on Sissia’s left shin, the sign that this person is a Quatra, a servant citizen. 

Sissia:   My leg… This tattoo I hide with makeup… 

Sissia:   The Quatra… must bear the mark of servitude, the Quatral.

Sissia:   I want to appear in the Border Performance. For that…

(3) The Quatral of the Servant Nation

◆National Standing Theater

Sissia:   …Another morning begins for the Central Nation of Kielce!

Cheers.

A performance is held on a dazzling stage by the members of the Central Nation of Kielce. The audience is at full Capacity. 

Sissia is one of the members performing as well.

★Dance “Kielce the Nation at the Center”

Audience:   Wowww!

Audience:   Sissia! Sissiaaa!!! That was amazing!

Sissia:   Thank you…!

Sissia:   I’m so glad… Everyone enjoyed the performance today, too!

Levi:   Good day to you all!

◆Break Room

Adra:   Sissia, you’ve gotten pretty used to being onstage now. My spot as the star of Kielce might be in danger.

Sissia:   Oh, no! I’m still trying hard to catch up with everyone!

Crowley:   No, no you really ARE something!

Chance:   You’re completely in sync with me and my jumps!

Fan Carlo:   The songs… have much more depth to it now that you’re here, so that’s a big help.

Isaac:   It seems like you’re fitting in well with all the different moving parts. Really…

Levi:   Looks like the Central Nation of Kielce has finally found its ‘gear’.

Sissia:   Its… ‘gear’?

Adra:   Kielce is a bit fragmented.

Crowley:   Even if you have solid parts, a machine won’t run if you just place them next to each other, right?

Crowley:   You may be the very one who can connect those parts together!

Sissia:   Oh, no…That’s much too kind of you, but…

Sissia:   I’m so happy to hear it!

Chance:   Heh heh. Well, we’ve found our ‘gear’ now! How about we all celebrate with a meal? What do you say, Isaac?!

Isaac:   I’d like some steak from an Aibee cow.

Adra:   Do goats eat beef? In any case, I’m getting pretty hungry myself.

Fan Carlo:   I guess… it can be nice on occasion. 

Crowley:   I mean, we had a big audience today, right? How about it, ringleader?

Levi:   …Stomachs of the Central Nation of Kielce. Are you ready for dinner?

Everyone:   Yeah!!!

◆Market Street

The members are satisfied after their meal.

Chance:   I ate so much!!!

Sissia:   That was good… That was the first time I had meat like that!

Crowley:   It was such a generous portion broiled to perfection!

Fan Carlo:   Phew… I think I’d prefer not to see any animals with horns for a while.

Isaac:   Huh? Are you talking about me?

Adra:   We’ll bring everyone back here sometime. Okay?

Levi:   Yeah.

Chance:   All right! I wonder what I should get next time!

A loud bang is heard.

An old man is being beaten with batons in the middle of the street.

Other citizens crowd around and watch, murmuring to themselves.

Sissia:   …?!

Old Man:   A-Aaah…! Spare me…

Patrol Officer:   You, horse! Do you even know what you’ve done?!

The Quatral is the tattoo of a horse, with ‘horse’ used as slander to refer to a member of the servant country.

Sissia:   …!

Isaac:   That’s…

Chance:   Hey, what do you think you’re doing! Hey, you!

Adra:   Chance!

Patrol Officer:   What’s your problem!

Old Man:   Y-you’re…!

Chance:   I’m Chance Orlando of the Central Nation of Kielce! Why are you hurting this old man…?

Patrol Officer:   The Central Nation of Kielce? Hmph, that makes sense.

Patrol Officer:   I’ll show you the reason why he’s being beaten! …Look at this!

A tattoo of a horse drawn on the man’s left shin is shown.

Fan Carlo:   A tattoo of a horse on the shin of his left leg…

Crowley:   A Quatral… So he’s…

Levi:   …

Patrol Officer:   He’s a citizen who escaped from the nameless country into the Arbine Nation!

Patrol Officer:   Fleeing your country is a serious crime! We’ll deport you and sentence you to heavy labor, perhaps even death!

Sissia:   …

Chance:   Well, there’s no need to do THIS, is there?!

Crowley:   Right! What’ll happen if you kill him?

Crowley:   Isn’t it also a serious crime to kill anyone, regardless of where they’re from?

Patrol Officer:   …Urk! Shut it! I can arrest you for treason, you know?!

Crowley:   What did you say?! We have the son of one of your superiors here, you know?!

Crowley:   The son of the trusted confidant of the commander and king. The aristocrat, Major Azur Hybird!!

Adra:   …Crowley. Stop using my father’s name to get us out of trouble.

Adra:   …But, oh well. Would you mind treating him carefully?

Adra:   I’ll be sure to tell my father, Major Azur Hybird, that you were real nice to me.

Patrol Officer:   …

Fan Carlo:   It could be an opportunity to get promoted, underling.

Patrol Officer:   Urgh…!

Patrol Officer:   How merciful of the Central Nation of Kielce to pity him, after being the very ones who encouraged is crime in the first place!

Levi:   …What do you mean?

Patrol Officer:   He fled the servant country in order to see your performances!

Levi:   …!

Patrol Officer:   And the reason he did that was apparently because he saw your ridiculous Border Performance!

Crowley:   Our Border Performance…

Patrol Officer:   That’s right! Other members of the audience found them sneaking in to watch the play, and did their civic duty in reporting it to us! 

Patrol Officer:   How’s that?! How’s it feel to be an accomplice to his crime?!

Patrol Officer:   This ‘Border Performance’ of yours is pathetic! Singing and dancing on top of the wall is nothing short of rebellion!

Patrol Officer:   You all should have held your performances on a proper stage! Your little shows are nothing but boorish spectacles.

Sissia:   …Rrgh!

Patrol Officer:   Aagh!

Sound of the patrol officer being hit.

Sound of the patrol officer hitting the ground.

Patrol Officer:   …?!

Chance:   Sissia just…

Isaac:   Hit that patrol officer…?!

Patrol Officer:   Agck…

Patrol Officer:   Why, you…!

Sissia:   …

Sissia:   …Our shows aren’t boorish spectacles.

Sissia:   Don’t ridicule my dreams.

Citizen:   …

Patrol Officer:   Urgh…

Patrol Officer:   Wh-Why, you…! I’ll arrest all of you!!

Citizen:   That’s enough from you!

Sound of rocks being thrown.

Patrol Officer:   Ow…! Rocks?!

Sissia:   The people around us started throwing rocks…?!

Sound of rocks being thrown one after another.

Patrol Officer:   Wh-What do you think you’re doing?!

Citizen:   Shut up already! Listening to those guys from Kielce is way better than listening to you!

The citizens in the area come to protect Kielce and jeer at the patrol officer. 

Patrol Officer:   You little… Agh, stop throwing those rocks! Damn it!

The patrol officer runs away. 

Sound of footsteps running away.

Citizen:   Haha, that patrol officer ran away!

Citizen:   Take that!

Citizen:   He was always so arrogant. I never liked that guy!

Chance:   Everyone…!

Levi:   Heh, I didn’t expect them to come to our rescue. 

Sissia:   …Are you all right, sir?

Old Man:   Ah… Thank you so much.

Old Man:   I came from Quatra since I wanted to watch you all just one more time…!

Crowley:   Did you enjoy our performance, good sir?

Old Man:   Yes, absolutely…! It was a wonderful performance. Now I can pass on without any regret…

Adra:   Don’t say that, old man. You got a lot to live for…

Major Azur:   …So this is it. The place where some traitors have gathered to protect a fugitive. 

Cutting through the people, Major Azur Hybird approaches.

The father of Adra and a military aristocrat. 

Adra:   …!

Citizen:   It… It’s Major Azur…!

Citizen:   The closest confidant of the commander and king, the strategist of Arbine…

Adra:   Father…

Patrol Officer:   It’s those guys, Major…!

Major Azur:   Traitors who protected a fugitive… Did everyone here participate? 

Citizen:   …!

The citizens flee the scene in all directions.

Adra:   … 

Major Azur:   …To think I’d see you here, Adra.

Major Azur:   And the other clowns of Kielce.

Levi:   …

Crowley:   Oh, good day to you, Major!

Major Azur:   Levi, Crowley. Every time I see you, I’m reminded of the Border Performance.

Major Azur:   And of all the commotion you all caused atop the border wall between Arbine and the nameless country.

Major Azur:   Ever since that day, the commander and king has pushed to imprison everyone in the Central Nation of Kielce. 

Crowley:   Oh my… We must thank the commander and king of Arbine for such kind sentiments. 

Major Azur:   …Hmph. You too, Adra. Even my own flesh and blood won’t be spared in charges of treason.

Major Azur:   Soldiers. Take away the horse that escaped. 

Guard:   Yes, sir! Come on, you.

Old Man:   Augh.

The old man gets taken away.

Sissia:   Sir…!

Guard:   Get out of the way!

Sound of Sissia getting knocked back.

Sissia:   …Urk!

Sissia:   Rrgh…!

Sissia:   …

Chance:   …Hey, what the hell do you think you’re doing?!

Fan Carlo:   Chance! Not now… Not now… 

Chance:   …Urk!

Old Man:   All of you from Kielce…

Old Man:   I promise I will never forget the brilliance of your performance today, or your kindness…

Isaac:   Old man…

Guard:   Move, horse!

Old Man:   …

Old Man:   …Weee, aaare, the Central Nation of Kielce!

Guard:   …?!

Sissia:   …

Sissia:   Is…

Sissia:   Is everyone ready for some twisted fun?!

Old Man:   Hahaha…

Guard:   M-Move!

Sissia:   Old man…!

Major Azur:   …

Azur senses something from Sissia.

Though the tattoo on Sissia’s left shin is covered with makeup, he knows of cases in the past where Quatra have hidden their tattoos in the same way.

However, all he has now is a feeling.

Patrol Officer:   Heh… You’d better not disrespect the military anymore!

Chance:   Why, that little…

Major Azur:   Soldiers, arrest that patrol officer as well.

Patrol Officer:   …?!

Chance:   Huh…?

Major Azur:   Of course he’ll be arrested. He committed the serious crime of fleeing the scene with a fugitive in front of him. A serious punishment awaits.

Patrol Officer:   N-No…

Major Azur:   We’re heading back.

The troops leave.

Sounds of footsteps leaving.

Chance:   Damn it! They have no respect for the people…

Isaac:   Chance… it pains me to say it, but in this country, that’s the right way for an Arbine to be.

Chance:   But that’s just…!

Sissia:   …Can we still do the Border Performance?

Chance:   …Huh?

Isaac:   The Border Performance…

Fan Carlo:   You mean another show…?

Sissia:   …

Sissia:   It was my dream… to join Kielce and perform onstage with everyone.

Sissia:   I had such an amazing time… and this place has just been a dream come true…

Sissia:   But there’s more to this country than the fun and the beautiful.

Sissia:   Some people tyrannize others, and the scars of war remain even now…

Sissia:   I…

Sissia:   I believe in the strength of theater.

Sissia:   I believe in everyone’s strength.

Sissia:   It’s powerful enough to inspire a single person to get this far as a result.

Levi:   …

Adra:   …

Sissia:   So…

Sissia:   So…!

Chance:   I’ve changed, too.

Sissia:   …!

Chance:   I’m the same as you, Sissia. I’ve come all this way because I admired the Central Nation of Kielce. 

Chance:   No matter how much I’ve wrecked my body for this troupe… I kept practicing. 

Chance:   In fact, I might have done all that just for this moment. 

Chance:   I want to do it, too. The Border Performance.

Chance:   My fate lies with the Central Nation of Kielce!!!

Isaac:   Don’t leave me behind, Chance.

Isaac:   …I came here because I admired Kielce, too.

Isaac:   In the past, I watched the Border Performance with someone.

Sissia:   …!

Isaac:   That person… was someone dear to me.

Isaac:   We made a promise. That we would be in the Border Performance together in the Central Nation of Kielce one day.

Isaac:   I want to fulfill that promise.

Sissia:   Isaac…

Fan Carlo:   Hahh… Our newbies really are nothing but spirit.

Fan Carlo:   We can’t really put on a great show without our singing princess.

Fan Carlo:   You need my voice for the Border Performance, right?

Sissia:   Carlo…!

Adra:   Wow… You all, really…

Adra:   …Come up with the best ideas!

Sissia:   Adra…!

Adra:   Our newbies believe in the Central Nation of Kielce more than we do…

Adra:   …So, how about it? Levi, Crowley!!!

Crowley:   Sorry, I’m too busy planning the performance in my head already…!

Levi:   …It’s the duty of the ringleader to grant everyone’s wishes.

Sissia:   Levi… Crowley…

Levi:   …

Levi:   …The Central Nation of Kielce is a place that inspires others to dream.

Levi:   Let’s make everyone’s dreams come true.

Levi:   …Let’s do the Border Performance.

Sissia:   …!!!

Sissia:   Thank you… so much!!!

Sissia:   Thank you all…

Sissia:   …

Sissia:   …The next performance for the Central Nation of Kielce will be…

Sissia:  The Border Performance!

Everyone:   Yeaah!

(4) The Military Nation

◆Training Room

The Kielce members are all focused on working towards the Border Performance.

Crowley:   All right, and here’s the big fight! We need more dynamic movement!

Adra:   Don’t forget the details! Feel the movements all the way to your fingertips!

Sissia:   Our seniors really are amazing…!

Chance:   I can practically feel their enthusiasm radiating! 

Isaac:   It’s painfully clear how much they’re betting on this performance…

Fan Carlo:   We can’t let those efforts be in vain. I’ll be training you all hard for the singing, too.

Chance:   Aaugh, looks like I’m not getting any sleep tonight, either!

Levi arrives at the training grounds.

Levi:   Everyone, gather around.

Crowley:   A quick break! Are we talking about what I think we are, Levi?

Levi:   Yeah. I’d like there to be two lead roles for the Border Performance. [[this line is in this script too I didn’t just forget to change it]]

Crowley:   It’s a story about a fugitive, seeking asylum elsewhere! Here, the script!

Crowley:   A story of this person with broken wings who comes to a theater troupe in a country with closed borders.

Sissia:   Broken wings…? A theater troupe…

Levi:   The Winged One is chased by the officials of the country… The theater troupe gives them refuge.

Levi:   The Winged One is pure and beautiful, and loved by everyone in the troupe.

Adra:   However, the Winged One is captured by the officials. The members of the troupe risk their lives to bring them back. However….

Sissia:   In doing so, the troupe members are cornered, and in order to save them…

Sissia:   The Winged One exchanges their own life to open a path for escape…

Sissia:   The story is a tragedy…

Isaac:   But it’s as if this is…

Chance:   The story is based on Arbine and Quatra.

Crowley:   Heh heh, that’s right! That’s the idea behind the Border Performance!

Crowley:   On top of all that, there’s a giant bomb hidden in this performance. I’m sure you’ll all understand once we get into the singing rehearsals.

Chance:   A bomb?! I wonder what it is… Aagh, I’m so excited!

Sissia:   …Um, who will be playing the leads?

Levi:   …Who else but you?

Sissia:   …!!!

Adra:  The words you said to that Arbine soldier…

Adra:   That’s what lit the fire within all of us in Kielce.

Crowley:   The script is already written. Sissia, this is your story. 

Chance:   This is a performance where you’ll be at the center.

Fan Carlo:   I’ll lend you my voice as well.

Isaac:   We’ll all work together.

Levi:   …Can we ask this of you?

Sissia:   …

Sissa:   …Yes!!!

Blackout

◆National Standing Theater

Chance:   …Kielce sure has changed ever since you arrived, Sissia.

Sissia:   Huh? Really?

Chance:   Adra’s even more strict during practice.

Adra:   Sorry. But because of that, I think you all have gotten a lot better, including you, Chance.

Chance:   Fan Carlo’s talking with everyone much more often, too.

Fan Carlo:   …Really?

Fan Carlo:   Well, that’s just because there’s so much to teach all these newbies.

Chance:   And…

Chance:   I feel like Isaac’s always telling an extra joke or two these days.

Isaac:   Nothing wrong with that, is there?

Chance:   Nope, not at all!

Chance:   I feel the spirit of competition now that someone as experienced as I am is here!

Chance:   And Sissia’s got so much talent, too!

Crowley:   That’s why we were asking for prospective members in the first place, after all.

Levi:   Right. Even with the Central Nation of Kielce’s outstanding individual talents, we were just a box with toys scattered about inside.

Adra:   We wanted someone who could connect all of us together.

Adra:   You’re not only good at singing, Sissia, but you can dance and act…

Adra:   You approach all the members and guide them to better directions.

Crowley:   Right, just like a real ‘gear’.

Sissia:   That can’t be…

Levi:   Seeing those parts of you was the last push we needed to make this second showing of the Border Performance.

Levi:   I’m sure it’s a lot of pressure for a newbie to perform in a lead role, but…

Levi:   We’ll support you.

Levi:   So please, I ask that you support the Central Nation of Kielce in return.

Sissia:   …Yes.

Sissia:   It would be my honor.

Blackout

◆National Standing Theater

A sudden change in mood as an ominous aura envelopes Kielce.

Sounds of murmuring.

Levi:   …What is it?

Isaac:   …It’s the officials.

Major Azur:   …Levi, Crowley.

Crowley:   Well, we sure have been seeing a lot of each other lately.

Levi:   Did you need something?

Major Azur:   Don’t be so defensive. We’re only here for a simple questioning.

Adra:   …About what?

Major Azur:   I want to know the contents of your next performance.

Adra:   …!

Crowley:   Oh? Have you been bitten by the theater bug?

Major Azur:   No. I have not the least bit of interest, but it seems it’s drawn the attention of the citizens of the Arbine Nation.

Major Azur:   As a servant of our commander and king, I wish to know what sort of performance is being planned. 

Isaac:   We’ll be doing a really fun play.

Chance:   R-Right! Like with…puppets. That sort of thing!

Fan Carlo:   …Even a ‘puppet show’ is out of the question now.

Major Azur:   …

Major Azur:   Confiscate everything on the premises!

Sissia:   No…

Crowley:   How tragic! We won’t be able to hold our performance like this!

Crowley:   I trust you’ll be issuing refunds for all the tickets we already sold, Major?

Major Azur:   Not to worry. We have but one purpose.

Sissia:   What do you…?

Guard:   Major Azur! It’s here, the script!

Sissia:   …!!!

Major Azur:   …Hmph. Pretty provocative for a puppet show, don’t you think?

Major Azur:   I think we need to investigate further. We’ll be taking all the scripts here.

Chance:   Without our scripts, we can’t practice for the performance…! I haven’t even memorized all my lines yet!

Isaac:   Chance, I think it’s a bit late for that…

Levi:   …Crowley, what about the original?

Crowley:   No use. They swiped it right away. Should’ve expected as much from Adra’s father.

Adra:   Yeah, really unfair…!

Major Azur:   Really, I have no idea why our citizens wish to see such a clown show.

Sissia:   …

Sissia:   … I’d like to ask you something, Major!

Levi:   …!!!

Major Azur:   …What is it?

Sissia:   …Have you ever seen a performance by our troupe?!

Major Azur:   I have not.

Sissia:   Then…

Sissia:   We’ll show you one!

Sissia:   Watch! This is a special Kielce dance!

Sissia starts singing and dancing. Major Azur stands confused.

Major Azur:   …Hey, stop twirling around me!

Sissia:   La-la…

Major Azur:   Stop! Don’t sing! What are you doing?!

Sissia:   You just said you’ve never seen a performance before, so I wanted to give you a glimpse of how fun they are!

Sissia:   Right, everyone?!

Levi:   …Heh.

Levi:   Are you ready for some twisted fun, Major?!

Major Azur:   …?!

Chance:   H-Huh?!

Crowley:   Ah, that’s the way!

Isaac:   Sing, dance!

Adra:   …So that’s the idea.

Fan Carlo:   Are you serious…? I’m not responsible for whatever happens next!

Everyone bursts into song and dance.

Guard A:   W-Wha-! The members of Kielce started a show around us…!

Guard B:   B-But it’s amazing…

Sissia:   …Now’s my chance!

Major Azur:   …Enough! Stop this at once!

Major Azur:   That’s an order! Or you’re all under arrest!

Crowley:   All right, stop!

Chance:   Sir!

Isaac:   We were just getting started, too. 

Fan Carlo:   I had finally gotten warmed up.

Adra:   You done yet, Father?

Levi:   I hope you enjoyed yourselves. 

Major Azur:   Hardly! How ridiculous!

Within the confusion, one of the scripts was taken back by Kielce.

Major Azur:   We’ve confiscated all the scripts, right? Let’s go!

Sissia:   …

Sissia sighs with relief.

Major Azur:   Come to think of it…

Sissia:   Huh?

Major Azur:   You have an eastern accent.

Major Azur:   Where are you from?

Sissia:   I…

Major Azur:   Show me your leg.

Sissia:   …!

Sissia:   …Why would you want to see that? I’m sure it wouldn’t be very appealing. 

Major Azur:   …Don’t misunderstand. This is an inspection. Show me your left shin.

Sissia:   …

Sissia shows her [sic] leg as directed. Her skin shows no sign of a tattoo.

Chance:   There’s nothing there!

Major Azur:   …

Major Azur:   Let’s go.

Chance:   H-hey!

Levi:   …They’re gone.

Adra:   Jeez, they sure made a mess of things…

Chance:   …Ah wait, the scripts!

Sissia:   Here you go.

Isaac:   A script…!

Sissia pulls out a script from underneath her [sic] clothes.

Sissia:   …I only got one, though.

Adra:   You took advantage of the chaos and got it back.

Crowley:   My, that was some quick thinking. How very fun.

Levi:   As long as we have this, we can still hold the Border Performance.

Chance:   Man, I didn’t have any of the program memorized! I’m so glad the script is back!

Fan Carlo:   …The fact that you said that is even scarier. 

Chance:   And what was that last bit about? Having Sissia show him a leg!

Chance:   It’s like Sissia’s…

Sissia:   …

Levi:   …

Adra:   Right.

Fan Carlo:   …

Isaac:   But there’s no Quatral there.

Chance:   Y-Yeah. It’s no problem if you don’t have that ‘koala-troll’.

Sissia:   …!

Sissia:   I…!

Levi:   You are the Central Nation of Sissia. That’s all there is to it.

Sissia:   …!

Adra:   …Even if you come from a country far, far away, all that means is you’re a new flavor, right?

Fan Carlo:   …An accent just makes you interesting.

Crowley:   Yeah, it’s fine! We’ve all seen how much you’ve worked! 

Chance:   You don’t have to say anything!

Isaac:   All you need to do is get up on the stage. Right?

Sissia:   Everyone…

Sissia:   …Thank you.

Blackout

◆Town at Night

Aide:   …Major. About that Kielce member named Sissia…

Major Azur:   That was oil make up made out of dried fat of an Aibee cow. One would have to soak their leg in hot water to melt the cow fat or it won’t come off.

Major Azur:   At a glance, you won’t notice at all, but there’s a slight thickness to it. My eyes cannot be fooled. 

Major Azur:   That one is a fugitive. 

Aide:   Then, shouldn’t we have just arrested the fugitive on the spot?

Major Azur:   You’ve seen them in town, too. Year after year there are more servant citizens fleeing their country.

Major Azur:   Simple patrols are far too ineffective to take care of them. We’ll need to make an example of the Central Nation of Kielce and that fugitive.

Aide:   …What do you mean?

Major Azur:   What do you think of using a fugitive’s corpse to adorn the very wall the servant citizens climb over?

Major Azur:   We can certainly open fire on them once any of the members of Kielce climb the wall.

Aide:   Major, you’re so…

Aide:   If we do that, I’m sure this would alleviate another worry from our commander and king.

Major Azur:   That is our duty and purpose in being here.

Major Azur:   The wall will be the grandest tombstone for any servant citizens who cross the border.

Major Azur:   Hahahahaha…!

(5) The Central Nation of Sissia

Cheers

◆Border Proximity (Arbine Side)

Arbine Citizen:   Hey, what’s that?! Some people are climbing the wall!

Arbine Citizen:   It’s Kielce! It’s the Central Nation of Kielce!

Arbine Citizen:   You don’t know? They’re about to do their Border Performance!

◆Border Proximity (Quatra Side)

Quatran Child:    What’s the Border Performance?

Quatran Mother:   Your mother saw it long ago as a young girl… It was like being in a dream!

Quatran Elder:   I never thought we’d have such entertainment in these days of forced labor…

◆On top of the Border Wall (About 50m high)

The members have just finished climbing.

Kielce Member:   Wow…

Kielce Member:   We’re finally here…

Adra:   … This sight sure takes me back.

Levi:   Yeah.

Crowley:   Hahaha! How have you been, little wall?! It’s like you’re a part of our origins!

Chance:   Whoa… It’s taller than I thought!

Isaac:   We’re really going to do it… here!

Sissia:   …Urk.

Sissia:   …This is the top of the border wall. 

Sissia:   The wall that separates Arbine and Quatra.

Sissia:   You can see both countries from end to end.

Sissia:   The town I grew up in…

Sissia:   Is that the Central Nation of Kielce’s standing theater?

Sissia:   …The wind feels nice.

Sissia:   And even further is… an ocean?

Sissia:   The mountains are over there…!

Sissia:   The sky is still so far…

Sissia:   I’m so… small.

Sissia:   I’m standing here now… in the place I dreamed about!

◆Observation Tower Some Distance Away

Aide:   Major, they look like they’re about to start.

Major Azur:   The sniper will need some more time to prepare. Let them start.

◆On top of the Border Wall

Crowley:   Now then… Are we all ready?!

Kielce Member:   Yeaaah!

Kielce Member:   Ready anytime!

Levi:   …Let’s begin, everyone.

Crowley:   Goat-headed Isaac! The prologue, if you will!

Isaac:   …

Isaac:   …Right!

The crowd stirs.

The crowd cheers at the appearance of Isaac wearing his goat head.

Isaac:   Welcome, one and all, to the theater of the Central Nation of Kielce! I am the goat-headed Isaac!

Isaac:   …What’s that? ‘Where is the theater?’ you ask? We are THE Central Nation of Kielce, you know!

Isaac:   Wherever we sing and dance, be it a shoddy castle, a lounge, or a chapel haunted by ghosts!

Isaac:   Even a place like Pontartia is our stage! Oh rama Kielce!

Laughs from the citizens.

Isaac:   Now, let’s start the show before the officials arrive! We will now present to you a tragedy between two nations!

Isaac:   The Winged One stripped of their feathers! The troupe that loves them dearly! And the tragic fate that awaits them all…!

Isaac:   We have high-flying, dazzling acrobats and enchanting dancers!

Isaac:   We have the most beautiful singing voice in all of Arbine… No, in all the world! And a magician who weaves his story as he stands upon the stage!

Isaac:   Our gorgeous ringleader who leads us all! Oh, and I, who issued from the loins of a goat…

Laughter from the crowd.

Isaac:   And with the beautiful ‘gear’ of the Central Nation of Kielce, we will take you all to a fantastic dream world.

Footsteps stopping.

The members of Kielce are all lined up together.

Crowley:   Now’s the time to forget the time.

Sound of fireworks.

Everyone:   We are the Central Nation of Kielce!

Sissia:   Is everyone ready for some twisted fun?!

Sissia:   Prepare to step into a wonderful dream!

The crowd cheers in response.

★Dance  “Quartz Anima”

The crowd continues to cheer.

Audience:   Central Nation of Kielce!

Audience:   That was amazing!

Isaac:   Everyone’s so happy…!

Chance:   Heh heh, they’re all excited, no matter which country they’re from…!

Fan Carlo:   I never knew singing could reach people like this…

Adra:   Haha, in your face… In your face!

Crowley:   Now then, it’s finally time for the climax!

Levi:   We’re counting on you. Sissia…!

◆Night Sky

Sissia:   …Quatra, the place where I was born and raised.

Sissia:   …Arbine, the place so precious to me, where the Central Nation of Kielce is.

Sissia:   It’s strange.

Sissia:   These two countries divided by a wall…

Sissia:   The people, burdened with sadness and anger…

Sissia:   To otherwise be so close to one another.

Sissia:   I’m sure its true…

Sissia:   That their people, their animals, their love and hatred, their men and women, their rich, their living, their dead…

Sissia:   To live out the entirety of their lives so close to each other.

Sissia:   And you can’t see that until you climb this high up…

Sissia:   …It’s obvious no one could see that.

Sissia:   But now that I’m here…

Sissia:   My voice can reach them if I only speak loud enough.

Sissia:   Both of these nations.

Sissia:   The feelings of the Central Nation of Kielce… My own dreams, as well as everyone else’s…

Sissia:   I…

Sissia:   …

Sissia:   Everyone…

Sissia:   Watch me…!!!

Sound of a gunshot.

A sniper bullet strikes Sissia.

Sound of Sissia falling to the ground.

◆Observation Tower Some Distance Away

Major Azur:   …Did you hit the target?

Sniper:   I’ve pierced a lung.

Sniper:   …I’m sure they’ll die soon enough.

◆Border Wall (Arbine Side)

Startled murmurs.

Spectator:   What’s wrong…? They stopped.

Spectator:   Show us the rest!

◆Border Wall (Quatra Side)

Spectator:   Did one of the lead actors die?

Spectator:   It’s part of the act, right? I’m… sure…

◆On the Border Wall

Crowley:   …

Isaac:   Sissia…?

Levi:   …

Levi:   …!!!

Levi starts to run forward.

Adra:   Levi!!!

Adra:   Don’t! You can’t just run out there…!

Levi:   Let me go!!!

Levi:   Let me…go! Adra…!!!

Adra:   Crowley, is there anything we can do?!

Crowley:   …Rgh…

Adra:   Anything at all?!

Chance:   …S-Sissia…?

Chance:   No… No it can’t be… Sissia… Sissia!!!

Chance:   Being in the Border Performance… That was your dream, right…?!

Chance:   Sissia!!!

Isaac:   …Rrgh.

Crowley:   …Everyone, stay here.

Isaac:   No!!!

Isaac:   If no one else will go, then I will!!!

Crowley:   No!!!

Isaac:   I said I’m not waiting here!!!

Crowley:   Sissia…!!!

Crowley:   So what happens… to what Sissia wants…?!

Isaac:   …!!!

Fan Carlo:   What Sissia… wants…

Fan Carlo:   Sissia…

Fan Carlo:   Sissia… wants to sing… Isaac.

Isaac:   …That’s just…

Isaac:   So unfair…

Fan Carlo:   …Yeah, it is…

Fan Carlo:   All of this is…

◆Night Sky

Sissia:   Hahh… Sissia:   Hah…Agh… Sissia:   Rrh… Urrrgh… Sissia:   Hahh… Hahh… Sissia:   …I was… shot… Sissia:   From there… Sissia:   …Urgh… Sissia:   Every…one… Sissia:   Don’t… come close… Sissia:   it’s not… over yet… Sissia:   Yeah… Sissia:   It’s still… Sissia:   …Still… Sissia:   …It’s still not over yet… Sissia:   Rrgh…!!! Sissia:   Aaaaaaaagh!!

◆Border Wall (Arbine Side)

Startled murmurs.

Spectator:   They stood up…! But… they look like they’re in pain…

Spectator:   …That sound earlier… Wait, were they shot…?!

◆Border Wall (Quatra Side)

Spectator:   But… they’re still moving forward…

Spectator:   …In that state…?

◆On Top of the Border Wall

Levi:   S-Sissia…

Adra:   Sissia really is something else…

Crowley:   …

Fan Carlo:   …Rgh.

Chance:   You… really are… just amazing…

Isaac:   Sissia…

Levi:   …

Levi:   …Sing, Sissia.

Adra:   …

Adra:   …Keep going.

Crowley:   You’re going to make your dream come true…

Fan Carlo:   …It’s up to you.

Chance:   Sissia, do it for us, too…

Isaac:   …Sissia…

◆Night Sky

Sissia:   Haah…! Hahh…!!! Sissia:   Hahh… Sissia:   …Rgh. Sissia:   …

Sissia greets the cheering crowd.

Sissia:   …

Sissia:   This dream… is everything to me.

Sissia:   For its sake…

Sissia:   My body… My heart… My soul…

Sissia:   I’ll give everything I have…!!!

Sissia:   Please…

Sissia:   …Let it reach them.

Sissia:   …

Sissia:   I will sing!!!

Sissia slowly stands back up.

There is no hesitation in Sissia’s eyes.

★ Song  “Over the Wall”

◆Border Wall (Arbine Side)

Cheering

Arbinian:   Yeah… Why are people talking about how two countries right next to each other are better or worse than the other?

Arbinian:   It’s true that the war lasted so many years, and we wished that another would never take its place.

Arbinian:   But… is this really what we wanted?

Arbinian:   These ideas about borders and nameless servant countries are absurd. At this rate, Arbine’s just a nation built and ruled by discrimination!

Candidates:   We’ve got tools!

Arbinian:   …!!!

Mean Candidate:   Let’s break through it! That blasted wall!!!

Arbinians:   Yeaahh! 

◆Border Wall (Quatra Side)

Loud thudding sounds that shake the wall.

Quatran:   The wall, it’s…

Quatran:   Shaking…?!

Quatran:   Wait… Are they trying to break through the border wall?!

Quatran:   The People of Arbine…? Why…?

Old Man Forced Into Heavy Labor:   …It was that performer’s song.

Quatran:   …!

Old man:   That performer’s song must have touched the hearts of the people of Arbine…!!!

Old Man:   Get anything you can! Bring any kind of tool you can find!!!

Old Man:   We’ll tear down this wall… alongside the people of Arbine!!!

Quatran:   Yeaahh!

◆Observation Tower

Loud thudding sounds that shake the wall.

Major Azur:   The wall…!!!

Major Azur:   Urk… What are the soldiers doing?! Capture the traitors!

Aide:   W-We can’t… Their numbers… They vastly outnumber all of Arbine’s troops!

Major Azur:   Urrgh…!!!

Major Azur:   Curse you, Central Nation of Kieeelce!!!

The observation tower collapses in a loud crash.

Blackout

◆On Top of the Border Wall

Levi:   …Sissia!!!

Crowley:   …You really are… unbelievable…

Adra:   You’re just, so…

Chance:   Sissia…!!!

Fan Carlo:   Sissia…

Isaac:   Sissia… Sissia…!!!

◆The Reddened Sky

Sissia:   Everyone from Kielce…

Sissia:   Thank you…

Sissia:   I… could finally sing…

Sissia:   …My dream… It came true…

Sissia:  …I wonder if… anyone heard…

Sissia:   I’m… sure of it…

Sissia:   We worked so hard…

Sissia:   …Aah, I…

Sissia:   I’m just… so happy…

Sissia:   The sky…

Sissia:   …It’s pretty.

Sissia:   …

Sissia:   …Everyone…

Sissia:   …Thank you…

Blackout

Monologue

Sissia:   After the destruction of the wall, the Arbine Nation collapsed from the combined efforts of the Quatrans and the Arbinians who supported them.

Sissia:   The Arbine commander and king was captured with his officials, stripped of their powers, and became normal citizens.

Sissia:   The nameless country’s 20-year servitude ended, and the former Nation of Arbine allied with the former Republic of Quatra.

Sissia:   And with the collapsed border between them, the two countries became one. 

Sissia:   Levi Caineman, ringleader of the Central Nation of Kielce, invited people into the troupe from Arbine and Quatra without discrimination, and grew Kielce into an even larger troupe. He also continued to shine as a performer himself.

Sissia:   Adra Hybird retired as a member of the Central Nation of Kielce and went out on a journey to wander the lands, learning the art of local dances in each place he visited. He returned to teach his former troupe members what he learned in order to help sharpen their skills.

Sissia:   Though he was the illegitimate child of the commander and king of Arbine, Crowley Arbine asserted himself to the throne in order to help the Arbine Nation rebuild itself after its collapse. With the superb eloquence he had polished while in the Central Nation of Kielce and his perfect writing abilities, he helped the nation rebuild into a new kingdom. He continued as a benevolent king, and throughout his life, would lend ear to the citizens, and at times feel the need for a good prank.

Sissia:   Fan Carlo Albus showed off her beautiful singing voice to its fullest as a songstress of the imperial court of the new nation, capturing the hearts of its people. Though reluctantly accepting her duties to teach singing to the nation’s new national choir, she contributed to the growth of the generations that followed her. Continuing to face the path of singing in earnest, even in her elder years her voice continues to stay as young as someone in their youth.

Sissia:   Chance Orlando began to spread the skills he polished in Kielce to the citizens of the newly formed nation. Giving joy to the hearts of the people through song and dance, he united the hopes and hearts of the nation as one. Upon the establishment of the new nation, he served as a counsel to the king, both giving him advice, and spouting nonsense at other times.

Sissia: Isaac Bazmaz continued activities in easing intercultural tensions even after the new nation was formed. Performing as a clown to bring people joy, he created spaces for people to come together like Kielce had done in the past. people say that on occasion, he continues to visit the remains of the border wall, which serves as a grave for an old friend.

Sissa:   In the collapse of the former nations and the rebuilding of a new one, the place that became the spiritual home of them all was named after the person whose sacrifice became the catalyst for a new beginning… And so, it was called the Central Nation of Sissia.

The End.

[thatslayer]

hawkins worst ; @freakarus

He's a mean little drunk, ain't he? She can't leave him here like this, because he's got boy brain and boy brain is clearly incapable of decisions that lead to survival ---- and she might drag him out, kicking and screaming, if he keeps acting like a damn kid.

The fuck is his problem, anyway? Men always have to get so damned emotional.

He pins it on her --- it was her idea. Hers. Faith's lip curls into a little sneer and she straightens up, having about what she's gonna take of his crap, "Uh, no, Genius. My idea was we come down here, have a few brews, get some chow then head out to the lake to set off fireworks and mess around. I got a whole lunchbox full of firecrackers from that pawn shop we went to. Now I get to spend my frickin' Saturday night making sure you don't end up on Unsolved Mysteries. Come one, Jackass. You owe me for this." How long has he known her, and he doesn't know she'll completely beat his ass in front of these bikers?

[andkisses]

♡ just a friend | hyuka ♡

first kisses are scary. that’s why you’ve decided your first kiss should be with your best friend.

♡ kai x gn!reader | wc. 842 ♡ genres/tropes: fluff, y’all are both oblivious to being in love lol ♡ mentions of/warnings: none ♡ a/n: this is a rewrite of a fic i wrote but can’t remember if i ever posted on my old blog, so here it is !

The idea is simple, elegant in design and concept. It strikes both of you at the same time, as if you’re both hit on the head by a bored cupid. You sit beside, shoulders touching, watching yet another cheesy romcom. The two leads on screen fumble their way into a kiss, too nervous and naive to actually enjoy it. The slow turn towards each other, a single eyebrow raised in question, tells you he’s on board already.

Let’s be each other’s first kiss.

Kai cocked his head, tilting it towards you. “What's the worst that could happen?” he asks. Even with this idea brewing, the space between you doesn’t feel awkward. Watching movies on the shag rug after you’d pushed away the coffee table for more room still felt like the most amazingly mundane Saturday night task. Kai winked languidly, making sure to seem as fake as possible. “We fall in love?”

You scoffed, faking a gag and rolling your eyes. “Yeah, right.”

You take a moment to ensure all your hair is out of your face, brushing fingertips against your skin and behind your ears. The whole point of this was to make it the least awkward as possible. After all، it wasn't like you got your very first kiss every day.

The summer between sophomore and junior year feels like it’s stretching on into infinity, and yet you'd never been kissed. Never gone on a date, even. You assumed it was because everyone thought you were dating Kai--which was plain weird because you and him were just friends. The best of friends. You'd been together (but not together-together) for what already felt like an eternity.

You never thought of what it would be like to hold his hand in public, running your thumb across the back of his knuckles. What it would be like to confirm people’s suspicions and have them gush over how cute and compatible you are together. What it would be like to call Kai yours, to never have to worry about him being with anyone else, who obviously wouldn’t have his best interest at heart.

You never let yourself think of any of it, keeping it locked behind a door in your brain that you tried day in and day out to forget even existed.

It–this–is enough. Any more would just feel too odd. 

Which, you decide, is why this plan is so genius. No feelings, just pure discovery. You watch Kai take a quick sip of his eyes water while you wet your lips. Why suffer through a first kiss with someone who will eventually break your heart when you can do it with someone you trust?

No words were exchanged, you'd watched enough movies to know what’s supposed to happen. The two potential lovers–which, ew, you totally aren’t, but you let mind enter the role, just for right now–lean in close, catching their breaths, then lightly press their lips against each other. Sparks fly. Fireworks go off. You expected neither of these things, because duh, he’s your best friend.

You also didn’t expect his lips to taste like green tea, and yet here you were. They’re soft, and enticing, and so very Kai you don’t quite know what to do. One hand went to the couch so you wouldn't topple over on to him—this was to avoid awkwardness after all. You can't recall where the other landed, perhaps they dug into the shag carpet.

The kiss is over too fast, at least you felt like. Suddenly, all the movies made another layer of sense. There weren't any fireworks booming inside your head, jumbling around your thoughts. No incessant urge to pop one leg up like a cliche princess movie. But, an incessant urge for more.

Which is weird, because you kissed Kai out of science, a theory. A way to learn about kissing so when you actually had to do it on someone for real, you didn’t have to think.

Maybe, that’s what it is.

And there is a sparkler of sorts going off inside you, golden light everywhere. Your head buzzes with the excitement of newness. Your fingertips tingle with a want of something more, craving a sensation you can’t quite explain. You couldn’t wait to find someone to kiss like this all the time. You couldn't wait for Kai to find someone to kiss like this all the time.

You finally lean apart, back to your original spots on the rug. Kai opens his mouth to say something, focus drawing a triangle between your eyes and lips, when his attention dashes from you to the TV. Credits scrolled up the screen at an abysmal pace. “We forgot to pause the movie!” 

You lunge for the remote, ready to skip it back to the scene you were at pre-kiss. There’s a rush, a tingle up your arm when your hand brushes his. You decide it’s best not to look at him right now, as your heart races and your lips long for more. Kai is, after all, just a friend.

Your best friend.

[i-did-not-mean-to]

A crash of drums, a flash of light

First request of this week goes to @wandererindreams who's asked for Fëanor x shy reader.

Thank you so much for this request! It was a really good one to start this week off with and get back into the flow :D

Words: 990

Characters: Fëanor x reader

Prompt: Fireworks

Warnings: None

"Where are we going?"

You clenched your hands into tight fists, creasing the fabric of your rich garments reprehensibly, to keep yourself focused on the radiant apparition walking before you so purposefully.

Fëanáro's voice ebbed and flowed like a river as he gave you an account of his experiments that was both too fast and too detailed for you to understand.

All you could gather from his excited explanation was that he had managed something quite extraordinary.

"Even the Maiar will attend," he now declared, pride ringing in his voice like a golden bell.

Despite your deep and paralysing confusion, you felt a smile tugging at the corners of your lips.

In these rare moments of intimacy—in dark corridors and smoky ateliers—he was no longer the crown prince, the firstborn son of Finwë of the Noldor, but a free, incandescent spirit ready and able to push beyond the superficial perfection of this Blessed Realm.

"You were saying?" he then asked as if he had only now fully realised that you had spoken.

Almost tripping over your own feet in your haste to assuage the flicker of doubt and impatience flitting over his handsome face, you lifted your hands in a soothing gesture.

As Fëanáro turned around at exactly that moment, your cool palms landed on his broad chest. Unable to move, you had to endure his amused smile as he stepped back slowly.

"My apologies," you squeaked. The way your voice wavered and petered out like a candle in the wind made you flinch with shame.

For as long as you could remember, people had relentlessly admonished you to speak up and state your thoughts in a calm, collected, and coherent manner.

Despite all your assiduous practice and your stubborn resolutions, you had unfortunately not yet mastered the art of overcoming your natural reluctance to draw more attention to your person than was strictly necessary though.

Your mother usually called you "shy" in that indulgently exasperated tone of one who wished for things to be different but refused to inflict harm and hurt upon their own child willingly.

"I.." you tried again, battling the urge to gnaw on your lower lip in discomfort. "I merely asked where it was you were leading me?"

Truth be told, you would have followed Fëanáro anywhere—your trust in both his genius and his inherent goodness was not shaken by his fiery temper and his famed impatience.

Even though you could not deny that his words and actions sometimes could frighten you, you were convinced that you were not indeed scared of him.

"Come," he barked, "I want you to see this."

His hands were warm and strong as they curled around your upper arms resolutely and pushed you down onto a strange contraption that seemed to consist solely of a complex construction of interlaced rods and interwoven bands of silken fabric.

"How do you find my portable chair?" he asked cheerily. "It's made of many mobile parts that can be torn asunder without destroying their integrity. The cloth bands hold the bars together and thus, the whole chair can be transported easily."

"Ingenious," you breathed, awe-struck yet again by his brilliance.

"Now," he declared and pointed to the sky, "sit and watch."

A muted sigh of disappointment escaped you as you watched him scamper from view.

A moment later, though, he returned—he was out of breath and beaming brightly.

"The sky," he reminded you, clasping your frail chin in his imperious fingers and tilting your head up gently.

Fire bloomed across a field of inky darkness and your hands flew up to shield your face.

"No," he insisted. "You're safe with me, I promise."

Streaks of colour exploded with a sound akin to a thousand horses thundering through the darkened sky.

"It's...beautiful," you whispered, shaken by this unprecedented cunning and daring.

From somewhere in the distance came the awed murmurs of other onlookers, but Fëanáro seemed to have forgotten about everybody outside of the small clearing over which you were presiding so regally.

"Give me your words, oh quiet one," he urged, falling to his knees before you. "Long have I known that we are not alike in mind and manner. Where I say too much—to the point of enervating others—you keep your own council and your dignified peace. Let it not be so now, I beg you!"

As ever when you were asked to speak, a dense fog of anxious unease settled stiflingly upon your every confused thought.

For Fëanáro though—who was gracious, generous, and grandiose—you had to at least try to overcome that deplorable flaw of yours.

"I have never even imagined anything as marvellous as this," you confessed. "It seems that you've managed to harness light, strength, and colour to paint in between and beyond Laurelin and Telperion."

Satisfaction and pride made his eyes gleam—you could see still the reflection of his mesmerising invention in that hypnotising gaze and an exhilarating excitement surged within your core.

"Do you want more?" he asked, his voice deep and thrumming.

By this time, you were no longer sure that you were still talking about the blazing flowers he had planted into thin air, but you found yourself nodding obediently, nonetheless.

You opened your lips as if to speak, but you found that you could not. What words would do justice to his radiance, pulling you under like a wave of embers cresting into foaming light?

Blindly, you groped for his hand and brought it to your still aimlessly moving lips.

Gratitude. Wonder. Love unspoken, love unknown.

Demure, quiet, and soft-spoken as you were known to be, you understood in that very moment that this extraordinary creature staring at you with the intensity of a thousand hallowed trees might well be able to kindle a savage inferno within you as much as within the placid, cool air of an otherwise uneventful moment under Telperion's clement shimmer.

@fellowshipofthefics here's the first for this week.

Thank you so much and lots of love!

[schneegloeckchen]

I absolutely love the Mood Photo for Blooming Version of Jimin's second album MUSE that dropped today. Just one picture and I already can't contain my excitement. So I came here to add my 2 cents.

First, our flower boy is back. He loves a backdrop of blooming vegetation and it's 100% on point for a Version called Blooming. Expected nothing less of him. The blue flowers are Smeraldos, telling us where we are. The white ones reminded me of Jimin's birth flower - Spirea or bridal-wreath.

And Blooming being the Version focusing on the ME of MusE...genius. I wouldn't be surprised if it's a nod to his birth flower, especially after the Weverse Post mentioned 951013 poems. It makes sense for the concept of MusE Blooming version to have more direct links to Jimin. The first track is literally called Rebirth, might as well remind us all when that birthday actually is. We know it's important to him.

Now, with all the Smeraldos blooming around him, we're clearly in the Garden already. Hello, connection to TTU and that whole tragic backstory. So, we're in the garden of that ugly guy who wanted to confess his love for the girl that stole his flowers by/after breeding Smeraldos for her to sell. Or something. In the story, after he successfully grew the Smeraldos, the girl never showed up again, and he later found out she died. So he missed his chance to ever confess to her, thus making it The Truth Untold. Tragic romance. Not sure how much of that setting is gonna be relevant for MUSE, but he made it a point to feature the garden that whole story is taking place in by making a Marching Band for it. Alright. Makes me really curious what Smeraldo Garden Marching Band is going to be about. I know we have connections to Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. His styling in the Mood Photo also made me think of Black Parade by My Chemical Romance (but that might just be my emo teenage nostalgia talking).

I'm 100% here for his styling. Sadly, just a tie, no choker... But man, that belt? That crop-top? The black tips in his hair? His tattoos?! Please, I'm so here for it. Leader of the Smeraldo Garden Marching Band - Park Jimin is coming and I really can't wait for the Concept Photo and Clip tomorrow!

With the description of the album, SGMB is giving Set me free pt. 2 × ON vibes. Hell yeah! Can we appreciate the absolute genius of Jimin and his team for coming up with the story for both albums, since they were clearly created together and it seems like the FACE was only part 1 of the story he wanted to tell. The more raw, personal part maybe, about his struggles and how he finally overcame them. But baby, we ended with Jimin finally setting himself free, and the ride has only just begun.

How genius is it to start FACE with a tired, dieing Marching Band in Face Off, to then describe his struggles, finally setting himself free at the end, to continue the next album with Rebirth -> Showtime~☆ -> NEW MARCHING BAND!!!! I mean, just his song titles already tell a clear story. If SMF pt.2 was a phoenix rising from the ashes, that lead-up from MUSE looks like he's catching fire, taking flight and lighting up the sky! And I'm so here to watch the fireworks!

[mondaymelon]

try and beat that! (an shiraishi x gn!reader)

warnings! competitive an, fluff, use of petnames

(a/n) thank you @mccnstruck for requesting! hope you enjoy ♡

˚*ੈ✩‧₊˚*ੈ✩‧₊˚*ੈ✩‧₊˚˚*ੈ✩‧₊˚*ੈ✩‧₊˚*ੈ✩‧₊˚˚*ੈ✩‧₊˚*ੈ✩‧₊˚*ੈ✩‧₊˚

An Shiraishi. The leader of Vivid Bad Squad, your classmate, and your best friend.  The two of you had known each other for a long time, so just why was she always trying to prove that she was the better one of the two?

“I bet you can’t run faster than me!” An ran past you, playfully nudging your shoulder as she did so. A lopsided grin spread across her face as she glanced back at you, slowing down your pace. “Or do you admit defeat?”

Getting up from where you were sitting on the park bench, you shook your head. “Bring it on!”

“Was that supposed to be a joke?” An giggled, jogging back over to you. 

“...What?”

“Because we sing the song Bring it On- You know what- nevermind.” An laughed sheepishly, before glancing at you with sparkling amber eyes. “You ready?”

“Always have been.”

“Ready, set, go!” As soon as the girl said the word, the two of you started off running down the lined track. Your feet landed hard on the concrete ground, An gaining a lead on you from behind. As the end neared in sight, An put on a burst of speed, overpassing you and running through the finish line.

“shiiiiiiiiiittt” you wheezed to yourself, sweat dripping down your face.

“Haha!” An giggled, sticking her tongue out. “Looks like I win, again.”

“Unfair.” You pouted, crossing your arms. Sure, you had lost, but that didn’t stop you from complaining otherwise. “Everyone knows that you're the faster runner.”

“Psshhh.” An waved her hand dismissively, rolling her eyes playfully. “Stop being a sore loser.”

“Ugh… fine…” Still frowning, you huffed before saying, “But I bet I got a better grade on you on the last Science test.”

“Ohoh?” An grinned, eyebrows raised. “You dare challenge me?”

“I got an 82- try to beat that, An!” You put your hands on your hips proudly as you beamed at the girl in front of you.

“Ah… unfortunately for you, I…” An laughed dramatically. “I got a whole 83 points!”

Gasping, you fell back, mouth opened wide in shock. “NO WAY-”

“Beat that!”

"Th-That can't be...!" Face pale and hands clammy, you fell back onto the bench, trembling. "How is this possible??"

The black-haired girl shrugged. "Well, I just so happen to be a genius!"

Deadpanning, you puffed out your cheeks. "But last time you got a 56 and failed the test and so the professor had to contact your parents and-"

Something cut you off, and it was the sensation of An's soft lips against yours. Her gentle hand held your chin and guided your face upwards. You could feel her smile as she met with you, fireworks of warmth exploding all over your body.

By the time she pulled away, your face was already burning, flushed a deep red.

An grinned, winking at you playfully. "Try and beat that, sweetheart!"

[isfjmel-phleg]

In Impulse #65, as Thad reflects on how flawlessly he has pulled off his mission so far, he congratulates himself on fooling all of Bart's family and friends. This is only mostly correct. Carol Bucklen has been suspicious of him since very early into the deception.

Which makes sense. Carol is one of Bart's oldest friends. She's the only one of his classmates who has figured out that he's Impulse, and she's one of the few friends with whom he has shared all the details of his past. She's observant, intelligent, and very close to Bart, so she of course is going to be a difficult person to fool.

Thad has studied Bart and every detail of his everyday life extensively. He knows about Carol; he's watched her on a screen along with everyone else. He ought to know how significant she specifically is as Bart's best (civilian) friend. Instead, he hardly takes her into account at all--just lumps her in with the rest of the "immature and [...] insufferable 'friends.'"

From his way of seeing things, it makes sense. She has no powers. How could she possibly outwit a genius like him? He will have nothing to fear from her. But he not only underestimates Carol; he doesn't even bother to try to replicate how Bart normally interacts with her.

For instance, in Impulse #52, we see Bart happily greet Carol by name when he sees her at the fair, eagerly make plans with her to meet up later for fireworks, and finish the interaction with a high five. This is typical for him; he's friendly with and comfortable around her.

But when Thad-as-Bart interacts with "his" friends, he tends to physically distance himself from Carol and address the group as a whole or just the boys.

(Impulse #63, 65)

This might be a strategy of concentrating on those whom it might be easier to fool. This might even be Thad feeling uncomfortable about interacting with a girl; he's had little or no experience with anyone female before undertaking this mission. Whatever the case, it's not a convincing portrayal of how Bart is with Carol, and she knows it.

And when she finally gets him in a position where they have to talk one-on-one, he's not really even trying to stay in character. He makes it clear that he doesn't want her there, refuses to open up about "his" feelings even when encouraged to (although he willingly gave an Oscar-worthy performance of sadness for the friend group earlier), and ends by giving her the cold shoulder. This is not how the conversation would have gone if she had really been talking to Bart; this is all aloof, irritable Thad.

(Impulse #63)

An unwise choice on his part. Carol even points out that she has noticed that he's "been acting funny." This would have been the time to circumvent that suspicion by playing up the role. Inventing some plausible-sounding excuse for his not telling her about Max's illness. Saying something suitably friend-like.

But Thad doesn't do that. For one thing, he apparently doesn't consider her worth worrying about. But there's also the fact that he doesn't have a reference base for intimate conversations with a best friend. This is something he's never had to do before. Carol is expressing concern and empathy and expecting connection and emotional honesty in return--all completely foreign concepts for Thad, and perhaps distracting enough for him to slip out of character as he struggles to process.

"I'm your friend," she says, but she's not really his friend.

"I know what it's like to lose a parent," she says, but he's never had a parent to lose, and it's painful to be reminded of that, and that's when he shuts down the conversation.

But he also inadvertently shuts down the likelihood of ever convincing her that nothing about Bart has changed, and her figuring out the deception leads to the failure of his mission. Fortunate for everyone, of course, but his impairment in human connections is another reminder of the tragedy of his upbringing.

[iangallagherisadeadman]

I made a post another day about how I can't comprehend those imagines people write about Lip cause they're just describing a totally different character, Lip has never treated none of his romantical partners that way so I just do not understand where that comes from, and therefore I said I can't understand how people are attracted to him.

I do stand by what I said but it kept me thinking, cause I received some answers and now I do see what the appeal is: Lip is a malandro.

I don't know if there's an equivalent translation for the term cause I believe it is essentially a Brazilian thing but a malandro would be this man who always has the upper hand since he's streetwise and has some brains which leads to the ability to take the best of every situation. Like a rascal? A scoundrel?

A malandro lives life kind of freely, lightly; he fits the space he is put in, he is a natural. He would avoid the complicated and to compromise, wants to live an easy life, and his motivations can be perceived as laziness. The term is associated to young criminal men usually — no good thing could come of someone like this —, and there's this appeal of this boyish man, a bad person but not necessarily a bad boy, who knows how to have a good time and is always breaking rules, the men no father desire to their daughter, the way he's a promise of a good time for any women, that leads to his attractiveness.

A malandro also has the gift of the gab (which I love cause in portuguese we say "ser bom de lábia" or "ter lábia" which directly translates to "have a lip" in the meaning of having its ways with words, knowing how to speak and convince and even fool someone easily).

Just from this description, Lip fits it better than any other shameless character.

there's how he made money easily: often scammed people like the northwest guys to work for free, later to visit Fiona's club, then when he was a trainee stealing money and taking their tablets and all, also selling weed and fireworks, selling homework and school projects and then the SAT thing — he never really gets a conventional job or source of income, and when he had aka s5 construction he left it to travel to Miami.

then his dating: he first got with Karen with the whole dirty tutoring and even madly in love with her he never really wanted her as a girlfriend; Mandy was flirting and having sex at his little sister's sleepover, and then she kind of made herself his girlfriend and he let her cause it was comfortable for him; Amanda's parents hated him and later she did too cause he gets sick of her and kind of ghosted her; he was smartfunny and had a quick mouth and got into his professor Helene's pants; i don't really remember Sierra but he was the cute boss younger brother etc.; and Tami was the easy fuck. The point is, he doesn't compromise, he's the promise of easy good sex, he cheats and lies.

and other stuff like he was not only a genius but smart, making good connections with older and powerful people like his professors; the way he never really looked forward to college or any other accomplishments really and he hated the pressure and expectations people had with him; how he was always committing delicts by breaking things, getting expelled from school, stealing, working with JimmySteve, underage drinking, etc.

[emblemxeno]

Thinking of making a “FE lords competency” tier list, putting Sigurd in the “reckless and idiotic simp that never gets a single relevant W anywhere in his game and whose biggest contribution to the story is creating Seliph and leaving him to fix all his fuck-ups for him, along with jobbing to Arvis” and Edelgard in the “racist imperialist warmonger who, despite vastly outnumbering her enemies, having the element of surprise on her side and receiving help from the secret rulers of the world, is stuck on a stalemate because she's too depressed over the death of some random teacher (who she knew for a few months at most) to properly lead her army, ending with her either losing her war and dying due to her childish obsession with Byleth or winning, but only due to stumbling across Byleth again by accident and having the setting's equivalent of Jesus win her war for her” tiers, posting it to the main FE subreddit, and watching the fireworks.

Just for spiciness's sake, i might also hypeman CQ! Corrin by putting them at the top of the list with “strategic genius who conquers Hoshido by soloing all of it's royalty and it's main strategist, all of whom were in well-defended positions where they always had the upper hand against Corrin, doing most of the heavy lifting for Nohr despite receiving next to no support from it's military and relying on a tiny group to win grueling battles, who then proceeds to ALSO stomp the majority of the Nohrian army with their superior strength and intellect because they didn't like how it was treating Hoshidan citizens and P.O.Ws, and ends the game by killing a Takumi who was being given most of Anankos' power, along with beating back Valla's best soldiers despite being ambushed, outnumbered and fatigued from the back-to-back fighting they've done; only protag in FE with the distinction of beating three extremely well-trained countries, along with the vessel of a god, with next to no outside help, also being one of the smartest by default”.

Now that's going to lead to some fun reactions, i tell ya.

I wish you luck for the shitstorm that'll inevitably follow that kind of list lol

[knightotoc]

Musician Heroes

I'm such a sucker for them! Society largely ignores musicians and treats them like shit even though they are the coolest people, so it's always fantastic when we at least throw a bone to a fictional one.

Orpheus of Greek mythology, okay musical Hadestown, and dozens of sentimental Tumblr posts

I like the idea that music on its own is this otherworldly force that can do anything, but music is never on its own, and human nature will always bring us back to reality. Though usually the flaw in human nature is more like "the musician was an antisemite" or "the executives of spotify only pay musicians $0.006," not "the musician loved his wife a lot."

Link of the big medievalist video game franchise for kids

I've seen a bunch of nerds lament that the current Link is no longer left-handed, but I think the far bigger shame is that he is no longer a musician. In past incarnations, he was perhaps the most famous and important fictional musician of them all, not least because you get to push the buttons yourself. In Link's reality, music is the source of magic; in our reality, it's the hard work of genius Koji Kondo; in both realities, it's the bedrock of community and understanding, bonds that make the world worth fighting for. David Collins has an excellent 4-part podcast on Ocarina, and this comment on a video of Majora's Astral Observatory track blew my mind:

The Close Encounters aliens and their influence

The aliens in Spielberg's weird adultery masterpiece "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" initiate first contact with a bizarre but ultimately harmless (?) plan that involves addicting subliminal imagery and a flashy John Williams concert. It's a beautiful and even logical idea that music will be the thing that brings life from other planets together.

There are a ton of direct homages in subsequent works of science fiction, such as the live-action He-Man movie, which inspired this post. "The universe is made of music," Gwildor says to a young Tom Paris actor, and the Earthling teenager is able to use his perfect pitch and melody recall to calibrate the transporter-thingy and build a bridge between Earth and Eternia. The biggest fight takes place in a music store where a ton of instruments gets smashed to pieces with enthrallingly reckless abandon.

A more recent Close Encounters homage is the misunderstood villains of Discovery season 4, species 10-C; but because we can't have any fun anymore, the first-contact-light-show corresponds to hydrocarbons or primary numbers or something, not music.

NOT Cal Kestis of Jedi: Fallen Order

Speaking of musician fake-outs, I was so amped when JFO seemed to actually include music-making. For a franchise so reliant on non-diegetic music, the only musician characters we've ever really gotten have been the turtlenecked Biths in A New Hope's cantina. But Cal is yet another lonely teenage boy who leads a big-budget Star Wars project and doesn't even know how to play the guitar. In this picture, he is using psychometry, a Jedi power that lets you access memories embedded within objects, to play a song that someone else played on it before. That's so cool! But it means he's not technically playing it. It's also a microcosm of JFO's whole story, which is Cal filling in for Cere Junda, confronting people from her past, while you wonder why Cere isn't the main character herself.

Fancy Movies: "Carnival of Souls" and "Boy and the World"

These are two of the best movies about musicians who are really up against it: the nameless busker of "Boy" vs the horrors of economic exploitation, and church organist Mary Henry of "Carnival" vs the horrors of Utah. Great movies to watch while the avoiding the 4th of July fireworks.

Stupid Movies: "Cloud Atlas" and "Dungeons and Dragons"

I have beef with these movies, but that's unrelated to these put-upon, lovable musician characters. Still, Robert Frobisher is better in the book, and Edgin Darvis is better in the version of this movie in my head where death has consequences.

Sad TV Guys

Learning an instrument takes time, and Picard has more than enough of that in famously tragic TNG episode "The Inner Light." He lives an entire life through the mind-altering technology in this alien flute to become the last living memory of a dead civilization. The most musically significant thing about this episode, besides the fact that a real musician is holding the instrument to Patrick Stewart's face, is that they replaced TNG's bombastic credits music with a wistful woodwind.

Another musician who really takes the punch out of being a hero is Ishida Yamato, the bad boy of Digimon. While Yagami Taichi leads the group recklessly through the dangerous digital world, Yamato is most interested in keeping everyone safe, especially his little brother. He manifests the emotional side of their adventure by playing sad songs on his harmonica like a pint-sized cowboy.

Perhaps all this angst is exactly why there are so few Musician Heroes, and quite a few:

Musician Villains!

Tolkein's Melkor/Morgoth and Asimov's The Mule bring discord into their old-timey SFF novels; the sheer force of their free will disrupts the carefully laid plans of wiser, better men, and this free will is represented by their music. Hypnotic and miserable, they are the most interesting people in their universes, and for that the normie heroes must bring them down. Anybody else think the Devil won that fiddle contest?

Webber's Phantom and George Harvey Bone of "Hangover Square" are iconic evil incels detached from reality, exploited and despised by everyone around them, driven to murder by weird and sinister forces. As buildings go up in flames around them, they are left alone with only their music, a fate for only the most committed, and therefore most evil, of musicians.

[bouwrites]

Show Your Fangs: Chapter 6

End of the Line

First, Previous, Next.

Ao3.

Story under read-more.

“I-I’m sorry,” Michael says. “Tiger did what?”

Hermione, tapping her foot, fuming, glaring at Harry, snaps, “He set off a bunch of Fred and George’s prototype pranks! And stole from us!”

Michael bites his lip. He turns sternly to Harry. “What did he steal?”

Hermione huffs as if the what shouldn’t matter so long as she says he steals something, but she does admit, “One of my bookmarks and- and… some scrap parchment.”

Harry smiles to himself. His tail wags. Hermione can’t say why the Marauder’s Map is important, obviously, so it’s just any old parchment to Michael. Unless she wants to start trusting him, which everyone knows is never going to happen.

Michael blinks. “A bookmark,” he repeats, “and some scrap parchment.”

Hermione’s cheeks color, realizing how silly that sounds. “Well… y-yes. But it doesn’t much matter what he took, does it? Your cat stole from us, and I demand it back!”

“A bookmark,” says Michael. “And scrap parchment.”

“Yes, we’ve already said,” snaps Hermione impatiently. “Now are you going to return them or not?”

Michael’s shoulders start trembling. “A… a bookmark,” he repeats yet again. “And scrap- pfft- scrap- bahaha!- scra-hap parchment! Ahahahahahahahahahaha!”

“Michael Corner! This is not funny!”

“A bookmark! Pahaha! Haha! Ha!”

“Michael!”

“And scrap-” He’s wheezing so hard at this point that Harry legitimately worries he might not be able to breathe. “Scrap parch- hahahaha!”

Hermione, thoroughly red, stamps her foot. “He destroyed the Gryffindor Common Room!”

“Haaa- haa- oh, I can’t breat- haaaaaa- Oh, Merlin’s pants! Hahahaha haha haha!”

“Michael!” Hermione shrieks. “He set our common room on fire with unsafe, untested prank fireworks!”

“Like the Menagerie! Hahaha! Awesome, Tiger!”

“And then he destroyed everything that wasn’t damaged by the burns with a portable swamp!”

“Bahahahaha! A swamp! Genius! For a bookmark and scrap- pahaha!”

Hermione growls somewhere deep in her chest. Harry doesn’t know she can make that sound. “You’re just lucky that Professor McGonagall doesn’t hold you responsible!”

“I wish! All I did was give Tiger a stink pellet. The rest is all him! You’re a genius, Tiger!”

Harry looks up at Hermione with the smuggest expression a cat can make.

“Look,” Hermione hisses. “Just get yourself together and give me back what your cat took, and I’ll overlook this. This time.”

Michael, still wheezing, wiping the tears streaming down his face, struggles to get himself back under control. “Right- right… hehe- right.” He coughs. “Right, okay, sure. Yeah, I know where Tiger’s stash is. We’ll get your- pfft- your- bookma- pffthahahaha!”

It takes several more minutes for Michael to calm down enough to walk straight, which only makes Hermione even more unhappy, but he does eventually manage to lead her back to the storage room where Harry’s tub stash is.

“Alright,” he says. “Tiger carries his goodies up into the top tub. Give me a second.” He casts the sticking charm again to make sure the tubs don’t topple under his weight and then climbs up to look inside. Spotting the bookmark quickly, he snags it. “Is this what you’re looking for?”

Hermione snatches it out of his hand and pockets it, obviously not at all concerned about the bookmark. “Yes, now the parchment?”

“Chill out, Granger, it’s just parchment. Tiger likes it for some reason. I swear I saw him eating it once, but he had a stack in here already when I found it. Hold on…” With obviously no way to know which parchment is Hermione’s, not that it matters in Michael’s eyes, he just gathers the lot of it up into a stack and hands it down to her. “There, that’s everything he’s got so you’re actually leaving with more parchment than you lost.”

It… leaves Harry’s stash feeling pretty barren, actually. He doesn’t like it. He’s going to have to steal more soon. To fill in his tub again.

“Oh, cheer up, Tiger.” He feels Michael’s hand on his head fondling his ears. “You can always steal more parchment.”

Hermione, with a thick stack of parchment in her hands that she can’t actually check for the map until she’s out of sight of Michael, finally cools down. She sighs and shakes her head. “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. Just… keep him out of Gryffindor from now on, okay?”

Well… he sincerely doubts Ginny will be willing to take Tiger back into the common room after this, so, “Sure,” he promises. “I’ll do my best.”

Hermione leaves the room.

Michael turns his amused gaze back to the stash. “Hey, is that my sock?”

-----

Hermione ends up going back to Michael after checking and finding that the Marauder’s Map isn’t among the parchment he gives to her. Michael is left mostly confused and frustrated because firstly, how does she even know that her bit of scrap parchment isn’t among the whole stack he hands to her, and secondly, why in the world does she care? It’s parchment.

Hermione is obviously left pissed because the map is missing, but Michael really has no other answer for her but that he gives her all the parchment that Tiger gathers, so there’s nothing he can do to help her if she’s not happy with that.

Not long after that, Michael is cornered in the hall by two older Gryffindors. Two identical older Gryffindors.

“Hello, Tiger,” says Fred.

“Michael,” says George. Both lean imposingly into Michael’s space, pushing him back against the wall.

“Fred, George,” Michael says pleasantly. “Hey. What can I do for you?”

There’s a dangerous gleam in their eyes. Harry resists the urge to hiss.

“Well, you see,” says Fred. “We just got done with detention.”

“Apparently, some of our pranks were used in the Gryffindor Common Room,” says George. “Only we don’t remember setting them.”

“And someone went through my trunk while I was studying in the library like a good little student,” says Fred.

The stare down continues for exactly five more seconds. Then, all three humans break out into enormous cheshire grins.

“How did you train him to do that?” Fred asks, holding his hand out for Harry to sniff.

“And can we borrow him?” asks George.

Michael laughs. “I didn’t train him to do anything,” he says. “Tiger stole my filibuster fireworks out of my pocket and set them off in the middle of the Magical Menagerie. That’s how we met. He’s been pranking long before I came into the picture, as I understand it.”

Both twins eyes fill with interest. “Oh? And about the common room?”

Michael snickers. “I thought he was just upset because I was.” He winces. “Because, er… Ginny has been… sort of distant. I knew he knew how frustrated I am about it, and he was acting funny last time we hung out, all clinging to Ginny even though he never likes strangers like that, so I knew he was up to something.

“I swear, all I knew was that he wanted Ginny to take him back to your common room and I gave him a stink pellet to use. I thought he wanted to prank her for upsetting me. That’s it. The rest is all him.”

Fred and George share a look. “Sorry about Ginny, mate,” Fred says. “With You-Know-Who back and everything, Mum’s being a bit paranoid. Didn’t really like us sending letters at all last summer.”

“Read through them, too, to make sure we didn’t say anything she thought might endanger us,” adds George.

“Oh.” Michael blinks. Harry flattens his ears. “Oh, that… actually makes sense.”

Does it? It rings of the truth, yes. Harry gets that much from Ron and Hermione over the summer, too. But it doesn’t change the fact that they all get together and leave him out. It doesn’t change that none of them trust him enough to just pick him up and talk to him in person. It’s not enough for Harry.

But it seems like it’s enough for Michael. He visibly relaxes, like a great weight is lifted off his shoulders, and he sighs, although he still mutters under his breath, “Then why didn’t she just tell me that?” He shakes his head sharply. “Thanks for telling me,” he says, louder. “Like I said, it was bothering me.”

George throws an arm around Michael’s shoulders. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure you and Ginny can work it out.”

Harry secretly hopes not. He knows perfectly well why Ginny does what she does. It’s still inexcusable to treat her boyfriend that way, Harry thinks. Michael deserves better. (Harry deserves better than how Ron and Hermione treat him. But it’s easier to be mad about someone else being treated that way than himself.)

The last thing Harry wishes on Michael is heartbreak, but… he really does believe that he should find someone better than Ginny.

Fred and George swiftly return the discussion to Harry and the many, many pranks they have planned, but Harry is mostly just disquieted at the thought of Michael forgiving Ginny for what she does.

Maybe… Maybe it’s just because he’s not ready to forgive them. But maybe he should? He doesn’t want to, though. He wants to be angry and bitter and spiteful. He wants to hate them.

He really, really wants to hate them.

-----

Harry dreams of a corridor. Slick black stone walls leading to a door. He tries to open it, tries to reach it, but he wakes up before he can. Every time.

Weeks pass. As the weather turns, Harry hears disquiet in the school. Professor Umbridge, the Defense teacher and subject of many complaints in the common room, is given more and more power by the Ministry and wastes no time exercising that power.

As Harry isn’t a student anymore, it doesn’t affect him much. But Michael is frustrated by it. He comes back to the dorm ranting and raving, pissed to the heavens, about Umbridge and the things she preaches. About not learning any practical defense, about how she continues to attack Harry even though he’s missing and what kind of heartless shrew talks that way about a missing kid?

Apparently, the Ministry assumes that Harry skips town to become some kind of dark lord in his own right, committing the acts Dumbledore continues to point to as proof that Voldemort is back. Umbridge says they’re working together to sow chaos in the wizarding world. No word on a motivation, though, except for him being mad, egotistical, et cetera, et cetera.

Truthfully, it doesn’t even bother Harry much. He’s upset because it upsets Michael, Anthony, and Terry, but he doesn’t take it personally. The Ministry’s opinions stop mattering to him when they try to snap his wand for defending himself and his helpless cousin from dementors, frankly. But he also doesn’t have to deal with Umbridge directly, so that probably also plays a part.

What does bother Harry is that Michael and Ginny actually do manage to recover their relationship. She makes it known in no uncertain terms that Harry is not ever welcome in the Gryffindor Common Room again, but past that the two get on again with the awkwardness a thing of the past. Michael moves on from the hurt, accepting Fred and George’s explanation, and Ginny is happy to not have to talk about it, so they’re back to how they are before the end of last year, and seem every day very much in love.

It makes Harry’s stomach turn. He tries to get between them for a little while, sitting between them so there’s space, even sometimes hissing at Ginny when she gets too close. He certainly doesn’t put up with her touching him like he does that first day to trick her into taking him back, which of course only makes it obvious that he does it to trick her in the first place, which means Ginny doesn’t much like him anymore, either.

Harry becomes the one thing that they consistently argue about. And Harry is so disgustingly satisfied with that that the moment he sees the heartbroken look on Michael’s face, eyes going back and forth between Harry and Ginny’s back as she storms off, he decides that he just can’t do it anymore.

He can’t sit there and watch the two get close. He just can’t forgive Ginny or the others, and he thinks Michael is making a mistake staying with her. But he also doesn’t want to hurt Michael by being the reason he breaks up with his girlfriend. That’s just unfair to him. So, whenever Michael goes out with Ginny, Harry just finds something else to do. Most of the time he hangs out with Terry or goes wandering the castle to pick up goodies for his tub stash. Just anything but sitting there between Michael and Ginny.

It's with this extra time that Harry also finds himself more often in the Ravenclaw Common Room. Luna is a delight whenever she’s around, and Anthony is always willing to let him doze nearby while he reads if he feels like quiet company.

The only problem is… Cho. She still makes his gut go all fluttery, but she at least learns that he doesn’t want her to pet him, so she thankfully mostly leaves him alone.

He still finds himself watching her whenever she’s in, though. She’s just so pretty… and is dealing with a lot. Harry feels terrible for her. She… spends a lot of time crying. It’s actually really sad. At the start of the year, she’s surrounded by girl friends. One of the most popular girls in Ravenclaw. Now, though… it’s basically just Marietta still by her side.

She’s still grieving Cedric. Harry can’t blame her – he’s still grieving Cedric. But her emotions are all over the place and she breaks down seemingly at random and she really needs support, but all her friends ditch her because they don’t want to deal with it.

It pisses Harry off.

The final straw, though, is when Harry is in the common room late at night and spots red-haired Felicity Eastchurch coming up the girls’ staircase with Luna’s shoes.

He never does find out until just then how Luna loses her shoes at the beginning of the year. He gets the sense from the vibe of the common room that Luna isn’t popular. The other Ravenclaws think she’s weird and they talk about her behind her back. But that’s all… fine. That’s stupid teenage stuff that Harry deals with all the time when he’s a student. It sucks, but it is what it is.

But the bag in Felicity’s hands? The shoes? The coat, robe, and butterbeer cork necklace that Latisha Randle next to her is carrying?

That’s unforgivable.

And Harry is just angry enough – at those girls, at Ginny, at Umbridge – that he can’t take it lying down anymore.

So, the next chance he has, he drags Michael to where the older girls hide Luna’s things. Michael, horrified, gathers it all back up and takes it back to the common room, and together they stake out the place. Every time a student passes by, Michael gives Harry a purposeful look, and Harry patiently stares down the girls’ staircase.

When Felicity and Latisha come up the stairs, giggling like they aren’t bullying a student two years younger than them, Harry’s claws flex. Michael hisses as they dig into his leg, but he doesn’t say anything else. He just narrows his eyes at the faces involved.

“Those used to be Cho’s friends,” he murmurs. Harry remembers. The first time he meets Cho in the common room, Felicity Eastchurch is the girl on the other side of her, opposite Marietta. He sees Cho and Latisha laughing together often. Or did, before both abandon Cho for being moody because her boyfriend is murdered not even a year ago.

They need to pay.

-----

Harry dreams of a corridor. Slick black stone walls leading to a door. He tries to open it, tries to reach it, but he wakes up before he can. Every time.

It’s really starting to bother him now, that dream. He has it too often, too regularly. It has to mean something. But what door is that? What does it lead to?

But Harry has retribution to plan, and so tries to put it out of his mind. Harry prompts Michael to bring up Luna’s situation with Fred and George – because Felicity and Latisha deserve a lot worse than a dungbomb or anything else in Michael’s prank stash – and the four of them start planning.

Michael also takes to watching out for Luna, though it doesn’t do much good. Anthony and Terry help, but Padma is the only one with any real authority in the girls’ dormitories, so it’s basically just her against all of the older girls. Including Marietta, Harry learns. Not including Cho, though he can’t tell if that’s because Cho is too busy crying over Cedric to bother bullying Luna, or because she’s actually against it. The angry part of him says it’s the former – she allows it up until this point after all – though his heart yearns for the latter.

Or… he thinks it does. Honestly… he pities Cho more than anything else, at this point. He’s not sure he’s actually attracted to her anymore.

(He kind of worries that spending so long as a cat is making him… lose that attraction? Will he ever be interested in anyone again? Will he start getting interested in cats? Ew.)

But he definitely feels for her. He gets it. The emotions are easier to deal with like this, as a cat, but he really wants to just curl up and cry sometimes, too. Sometimes, everything just gets so overwhelming and the only thing that helps is having Michael hold him to his chest and whisper safe things in his ear.

And while Harry dreams about that corridor and plans retribution against Luna’s bullies and tries to comfort Michael against Umbridge’s everything, he thinks – hopes – that the first quidditch game will be a bright spot in a rapidly-darkening year.

Only the game is Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. Harry goes with Michael because he likes quidditch, wants to see the game, and because he’s curious who replaces him as Gryffindor seeker.

He should really expect that it’s Ginny.

The game is great, really. It’s an exciting match. The Gryffindor chasers are better, and Harry is legitimately ecstatic to see Ron as keeper, though he kind of fumbles it a bit while the Slytherins shout a mean chant about him.

Because Ron is off his game with the Slytherins’ jeers, the Ravenclaw keeper plays better. That said, the Gryffindor chasers are unmatched and will be until Angelina and Alicia graduate and they have to find a new lineup. Fred and George are the superior beaters, though the Ravenclaw ones are strong. And Harry knows Ginny is no slouch as a seeker, even if she prefers chaser.

Sadly, Ron is the obvious weak link, and the longer the game goes on, the truer the Slytherins’ jeers ring, the more they get to Ron, and the worse he plays as a result. It’s a bit of a mess.

It’s only the chasers and Fred and George playing so well that keep Gryffindor even on the scoreboard, but it’s a high-point game. Either team stands a decent chance of pulling ahead far enough to overcome the snitch points and win regardless of which seeker catches it.

In the end, though, it’s Ginny who gets the snitch, earning Gryffindor the victory. Ravenclaw all lets out their collective disappointment, including Harry, who feels more a Ravenclaw than a Gryffindor some days. Harry is still proud of his team, though.

So, it kind of is that bright spot Harry hopes for, even if Ravenclaw does lose. Which these days of course means it can’t go untainted.

The day after the match, Michael finds Ginny. Harry is getting ready to leave like he always does, not wanting to witness them be all coupley together, but things devolve so rapidly to pegasus dung that Harry doesn’t even have time to walk away.

He wishes he listens to what exactly Michael says. But he doesn’t. He tunes it out after just, “Hey, Ginny!” and leaves it at that, fully intending to go swipe something Felicity Eastchurch will miss.

He wishes he listens, though, because he does hear Ginny’s reply, and he can’t imagine what on earth Michael can possibly say to justify it.

“Merlin, you are such a bad loser, Michael!” Ginny says. Harry immediately whips around to look at her. “You aren’t even on the quidditch team. Don’t sulk. And can’t you be glad for your girlfriend who caught the snitch?”

Michael stands there, gawping. Harry knows perfectly well that he is happy for her, and will gladly say as much if he’s not so taken aback that he can’t say anything at all.

“You know what?” Ginny snaps. “I’m done. We’re through. I don’t want to put up with this anymore.”

Michael squeaks. “What? What do you mean we’re through? What did I do?”

“I’m sick of you pouting just because you don’t get your way! Honestly, even Tiger realized that it wasn’t worth the trouble, but you just sulk and sulk because things don’t work out perfectly for you and I’m not entertaining it anymore. We’re through. Goodbye, Michael.”

She turns and walks away. Harry has a terrible urge to throw a dungbomb after her, but he doesn’t have one right now, unfortunately.

Michael just stands there, completely lost.

And Harry has much more important things to focus on. Retribution can wait. Michael is more important.

He purrs and rubs up against Michael’s legs until Michael mechanically bends down to pick him up. Then, he pushes his head into Michael’s chin, rubbing against him. He licks Michael’s nose. Anything to get him to come back.

Slowly, Michael does. It takes a while, but everything catches up with him. His eyes water and he ducks his head. He says nothing as he marches back to the Ravenclaw dorm.

It’s only inside the safety of his quietened bed curtains and after several minutes of cuddling that Michael speaks. “…I’m sorry, Tiger,” he murmurs. His voice cracks. Harry feels tears sear his fur and his breast fills with flame.

“You even tried to help,” Michael whispers, “even though you never liked her. But I messed it up, anyway.”

Harry would like to say it’s better this way, but… nothing that hurts Michael like this has any good in it. Nothing.

“…Am I really a bad loser? I mean… I joked about Ravenclaw losing, but…” He shakes his head. “No, that’s not what it’s really about. She’s been looking for an excuse since the summer. I thought it’d be over you. I guess… maybe part of me just wanted to give her the opportunity I knew she was looking for.

“I missed you, you know. Every time you’d leave when I was with her. I know you did it to stop us arguing over you, but… I always miss you when you’re gone. That’s what she was really talking about. About me sulking. …Maybe I do, when you’re not there.”

He sniffs. Harry climbs up him, the closest thing he has to a hug. Michael says, “But you know… I’m always going to choose you. If it’s between some girl or you… you win hands down.” Michael holds Harry desperately tight. “I’m so glad you’re here, Tiger. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

He gently separates from Harry, making sure that Harry is safe before he turns, takes a deep breath, and punches the wooden arch frame. “I hate this,” he growls. He drops his head against the frame, already just sounding tired. “I wish…” This time, he sighs. “There’s so much fear,” he murmurs. “Everywhere. The Ministry is terrified of Dumbledore and of Harry, everyone is afraid of You-Know-Who, and even when we try- when we try to have those little good things that teenagers are supposed to be able to have… fear ruins that, too.”

His eyes are dull and dead as he stares at the wooden frame. “…You know why Ginny really broke up with me?” A sniff. “It’s because I wanted her to.” A bitter laugh. “After summer, I was so scared of her, scared of her coming back and telling me that she didn’t want me anymore. So, I just tried to appease her.” He shakes his head, but it looks more like his whole body shakes instead. “It was never going to work.

“She was never interested in actually talking about the problem. She was too scared to face it, and I was too eager to brush past it because I was scared of what that confrontation would bring. But I knew- I knew it wasn’t sustainable. Honestly… I was done, too. A while ago. I just had so many other things to be scared of… I didn’t want to face that, too.”

Harry shoves into the hollow of Michael’s body, nuzzling in and purring to bring whatever small comfort he can. It’s not enough. Not nearly enough. But it’s all he has.

“I was even scared of you, you know,” Michael admits, quietly.

And Harry does know. He burns with shame imagining the fear he puts Michael through, and what he will inevitably have to put him through in the future.

“I was so scared that you would just leave and never come back. You were always trying to escape… I thought that if you managed it… that’d be it. And it was probably very selfish of me to try so hard to make sure you didn’t, but… but then- then when you- on that first day, when I saw you here after the feast… you didn’t run.

“And I was terrified, but I trusted you, and when I went to class the first time, I couldn’t even do my classwork because I kept thinking, ‘Where’s Tiger? Where’s Tiger? Is he going to come back?’ And I was sure you wouldn’t because you always tried so hard to get away, but… you did.

“I think… Tiger… you’re like, the only thing I’m not afraid of, anymore. And I need you so bad, because I’m so tired of being afraid and you- and you make me- you make me feel… brave. You make me feel like I don’t have to be scared, because even though things suck major balls right now… being brave gave me something good. It gave me you. I want to be braver everywhere else, too.”

A hard glint takes his eye. “I’m sick of it, Tiger. I’m sick of keeping my head down, of doing nothing. I’m sick of the Ministry who think they can walk all over this school. I’m even sick of You-Know-Who. But mostly… I’m just so sick of being scared.”

-----

It’s with that steely edge to his eye that Michael leaves the common room the next morning, and it’s with an even darker edge that he comes back. He bundles Harry into his arms and shuts his curtains, shuts Terry and Anthony and everyone else out.

“I got detention with Umbridge,” Michael admits quietly, just between him and Harry. Michael doesn’t look proud of it, exactly, but he does look satisfied with himself. Like he proves something to himself. “She made a comment in class… said Harry is a threat to the wizarding world. Well, I told her the only threat I saw was the threat she posed to our O.W.L. scores teaching us that garbage. That already pissed her right off, then I had to mouth off and say in front of everyone that Harry is right, actually, and I’d really appreciate learning actual defensive magic instead of racist, hippie theory so that You-Know-Who doesn’t kill me quite so fast.”

He lets out a huffing laugh. “So, yeah. Detention. Felt good, though. Felt good to do something. To stand up to her. I know I don’t have any real power and I’m only going to cause myself trouble but… man, it felt good.” He laughs again, a little more genuine. “You should have seen the look on everyone’s faces. Ha! More than worth detention.”

That does sound satisfying. Harry probably would have gotten detention on day one. And that’s not even counting how Umbridge would definitely have it out for him. No, he would actually earn it. Umbridge sounds awful.

“Tiger…” Michael whispers. “The students who defy her… well… they don’t, anymore. I don’t know what she does in her detentions, but… even though I’m scared… I won’t let her make me that person again. The one who rolls over and lets her walk over them. She can expel me if she wants, but I’m not going to let her break me. Never.”

Harry licks Michael’s hand. Please be safe, he begs, hoping that Michael will somehow understand his thoughts.

“Don’t worry.” Michael puts his hand on Harry’s head and grins. “I mean, it’s detention. How bad can it be?”

As it turns out… it can be very, very, very bad.

Michael returns from his detention pale and grim. He doesn’t look at or acknowledge anyone between the defense office and his bed. But a storm rages underneath his skin. Harry knows immediately that the swirling rebellion in him has only been stoked further.

Michael summons his trunk before he shuts the curtains of his bed. Harry paces erratically, looking Michael over desperately for some sign of what happens, of what Umbridge does to him that silences everyone he says speaks out until now.

Michael digs through his trunk, sorts through potion supplies and small vials of potion he makes over the summer (he doesn’t like potions, but he’s surprisingly good at them) and pulls one. He grabs a clean shirt to use as a cloth and clenches it tight in his hand.

Then, when he puts the sealed potion vial down and lowers his hand so that he can tie the shirt tightly around the back of it, Harry sees the angry red cuts, still oozing blood. They read, I must not tell lies.

Michael ties the shirt around the wound and slowly trickles the potion onto it, letting it soak into the cloth, which holds it tight against the wound, and he hisses just slightly, then sighs with relief.

But Harry boils.

A teacher does this. A teacher. And Harry might not have the greatest record of teachers not trying to maim or kill him, but that’s him. This isn’t supposed to happen to Michael.

Worse, this is the teacher the Ministry places at Hogwarts. Harry knows they’re willing to attack, potentially kill, and definitely ruin the lives of the children of Hogwarts, but torture?

Harry has to do something. He has to do… anything.

Michael’s good hand falls on Harry’s head. His smile is warm, but his eyes are made of winter and the fingers in Harry’s fur are cold.

Michael whispers, just a secret between a boy and his cat. “Don’t worry, Tiger. She’s going to regret this.”

-----

Harry and Michael find themselves suddenly very busy. They’re still planning retribution for Luna, but now Michael is also taking time to hide and sit over a cauldron, plotting something dastardly for Umbridge as well.

The twins try to make some excuse for Ginny, but Michael doesn’t want to hear it. He doesn’t talk to them anymore. He barely talks to anyone anymore. All his free time is spent over his joke products and especially the ones Fred and George give him (okay, give Tiger) for the “masterful display” in the Gryffindor Common Room, not debating which to use, but dismantling them, figuring out how they work.

And he gets more detentions because he refuses to give Umbridge the satisfaction of shutting him up, even if he knows he’ll win in the end. He comes back, night after night, almost ritualistic. Pale, bloodied, crying, but harder, sharper than ever before. Like Umbridge is merely a whetstone upon which his blade is prepared.

Meanwhile, Harry dreams. He dreams of a corridor. Slick black stone walls leading to a door. He tries to open it, tries to reach it, but he wakes up before he can. Every time.

His body feels smooth, powerful and flexible. He glides between shining metal bars, across that dark stone. At first glance, the corridor is empty… but no… a man sits on the floor ahead, his chin drooping onto his chest, his outline gleaming in the dark, alive but drowsy. Sitting there on the floor in front of the door at the end of the corridor.

Harry wants to bite the man, only just masters the impulse. He has other work to do… But then the man stirs. A silver cloak falls from his legs as he jumps to his feet. He withdraws his wand from his belt… No choice, then. He rears high up from the floor and strikes once, twice, thrice, plunges his fangs deeply into the man’s flesh, feels his ribs splinter beneath his jaws, feels the warm gush of blood… finally.

The man yells in pain, then falls silent. He slumps backwards against the wall, blood splatters on the floor.

His head hurts… an aching pressure like it’s fit to burst…

“Tiger! Tiger!”

Harry opens his eyes. His body feels icy cold and his lungs refuse to breathe. He trembles fiercely; it feels as though a white-hot poker sticks in his skull.

“Tiger!”

Michael kneels over him looking terrified. Harry slaps a paw over his face trying to block out the world, then all at once lurches to the side to vomit on Michael’s bedsheets.

Michael doesn’t care about that, though. He doesn’t even look twice at it.  “You’re ill…” he mutters, whining worriedly. “Would Madam Pomfrey know how to help a cat? Hagrid can’t do magic…”

Harry has to tell Ron. It’s very important that he tell him… Taking great gulps of air, Harry forces himself to stand, willing himself not to throw up again, the pain half blinding him.

But Ron isn’t here. The only one who is, is Michael, and no one knows that Tiger is Harry, and Harry can’t afford to let that secret out.

…Even if it means no one finds Mr. Weasley?

For a brief, horrible, disgusting moment, Harry considers it. He wants to protect himself at the cost of even his best friend’s father’s life. Who’s to say that informing someone right now means he’ll be reached in time, anyway? Harry could be throwing away his safety only for Mr. Weasley to die, regardless.

“Alright, I’m getting help,” Michael mutters, turning to open his curtains.

Harry lunges. He doesn’t think – his decision is made by his body before his mind. He changes back into his human form, grabs Michael by the waist, pulls him back into the bed, and sits on him so he can’t move.

“Wha-?”

And claps a hand over Michael’s mouth to muffle the screaming.

“We’ll talk about me later!” Harry hisses. Michael’s eyes somehow widen even further. “Ginny’s dad! Mister Weasley- he’s been attacked!” Harry pulls his hand back to tug at his own hair. “Bitten. It’s serious, there was blood everywhere…”

“Harry- Harry- Ugh, Tiger!”

Harry’s mouth snaps shut.

“You had a bad dream…” Michael says, trying to soothe him.

“No.” says Harry furiously. He has to make Michael understand. “It wasn’t a dream- not an ordinary one. I was there, I saw it, I did it…”

Michael’s brow is pinched, clearly worried even though Harry isn’t actually a cat. “Harry…” he tries again. It looks like he wants to say Harry is sick again, and he wouldn’t be wrong. Pale and shaking and clammy and slick with sweat, Harry definitely looks the part. But Michael’s lips turn down as he meets Harry’s eye and he drops the protest. “What do you need?”

“There was a gigantic snake.” Harry shudders. “Mister Weasley was asleep on the floor… it attacked- so much blood, he collapsed… Michael, we have to find out where he is. Someone has to find him!”

“Harry- Harry, focus. I believe you.” Michael grabs Harry’s face to make him look at him. “You don’t know where he was?”

“N-no.”

“What can you tell me about it? Where did this happen? Anything that could give us a clue?”

“Er… black stone walls, metal bars… a door at the end of a corridor…” He recalls something despite his state, one more detail he never quite makes out until tonight. “M.”

“The Ministry,” Michael says. “Stay here – actually, change back into Tiger. Anthony’s dad works at the Ministry. He can get in. I’ll wake him up and we’ll figure out how to contact him quick, then he can go find Mister Weasley.”

Harry numbly rolls off of Michael, allowing him to rise once more. Michael pauses just before disturbing his curtains, looks back at Harry. “…Are you okay?”

“I don’t know,” Harry admits. “Just please save Mister Weasley. I’ll be fine until then, at least.”

Michael nods solemnly. He lifts a hand, reaching out to Harry as if to pet him, but he pulls it back with a grimace and jumps out of bed to the ground, and the bunk, below.

For some reason, Harry kind of wishes Michael would pet him. It would feel a lot less like breaking.

[thewritermuses]

UnReal

UnReal - Marti Noxon & Sarah Gertrude Shapiro

Season One & Three & Four Season One 9/10 This show is a scripted drama that follows the production crew of a reality TV show.I want you just to take a moment to consider what the last sentence truly means. This is a genius idea - I love it.So it's behind the scenes but not really because it's scripted.Take this a step further - they are also showing us scenes of the reality show: Everlasting. So because UnReal is scripted is the reality show. But it has to be scripted so that it appears not to be. Fabulous stuff to watch.The two shows mirror each other so well and have important things that cross over making you care about what is happening in both of them.The lead is one of the producers on the show and she is brilliantly manipulative. Coupled with that is the fact you can see she cares about what is happening to the contestants - she doesn't want to do the things that she is doing to these people. But she does because it's her job.The psychological drama at play here is fantastic to watch unfold.The female executive producer is also fantastic. Great at her job and realistic about what she has sacrificed to get where she has gotten. She wields her power unflinchingly - love it.

All the male characters are jerks. They all suck. Season Three

The madness and lengths that these characters will go to to protect their interests return. They all start with a blood pact which Rachael almost immediately breaks.Rachael's arc this season goes from Essential Honesty back to her normal self.As she goes down this path she frees herself from her mother - but we have seen this all before. What is interesting this time is that she tries to extricate her father as well.In doing so it costs her the dream cabin but all for a good cause - until she learns that he had checked himself out of rehab to return home.The back stabbing between her and Quinn is sad and we know it isn't going to last long - it never does. When they unite against Gary it is great.The change this season to have all male suitors after a female is an interesting change. It's refreshing but doesn't really get used as much as it could have been.There are some truly great moments with Rachael this season. The super bitch of her Essential Honesty return is just spectacular to see.

Overall this season is a bit of a letdown. There isn't anything new here. They are still hitting the same great beats of the first season but they feel a bit worn and expected now. Season Four

We all thought we knew crazy Rachael. We were wrong. She goes full psycho in this series.We are back at Everlasting for an All-Stars season. The reason All-Star seasons are good is because we all know the character's backstory.Because we joined Everlasting in season ten or something like that there are only so many characters we could know. They did well having August come back along with Roger who raped Maya in the first season of Unreal.So we were set for fireworks from the word go, but instead of being Everlasting's normal state of affairs, they brought on a Game's Master.I can't remember what Quinn Says when she finds out. Something along the lines of the most boring form of entertainment - she isn't wrong.

The Roger and Maya setup is truly horrible to watch as is watching Rachael manipulating the backstage fallout following it. This alone would have been enough for me to give the series the flick. But the previous seasons kept me going.

The Game's Master Tommy, almost immediately becomes a full-on fanboy of Rachael. Happy to enable her most horrible whims.Rachael is at her best when she is in opposition to someone, generally herself. By having no opposition after Quinn leaves there is no story anymore.The main issue with this season is that we hate Rachael. While we never agreed with what she did in the past we were entertained and some sort of motivation justified the manipulation acts. Now it is just evil.Quinn is right to cut her free. The whole baby arc takes a very dark turn at the end when we learn that she may have terminated the pregnancy without a reason and then lied to Chet about it.Overall, it was a disappointing end to what started as a great series because they forgot how to write the lead character.

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[ladyelainehilfur]

Randomly saw your thoughts on Ateez's new album hope you don't mind me chiming in... but damn I agree so much! I know we're not completely alone in this but we're definitely in the minority I just can't help but feel very underwhelmed by their recent releases :( they used to be my number 1 group for a few years but now I don't even have them high on my wrapped because the whole the world series doesn't hit. I'd say movement was my fave even though I didn't completely love it. I feel like I have different ears because everyone's praising them left and right, the fandom keeps growing and good for Ateez ofc but I completely lost interest unfortunately :( I don't know what it is but their two recent albums have no replay value for me. I used to adore the variety in their music and while I like the instrumentals for the world series, the autotune, the repetitiveness, the songs' structure is so mehhh. Nothing is surprising to me anymore

And hard agree on Hwa's rap he's my fav and I didn't mind his rap previously but he doesn't sound good on Matz I'm sorry to say that, everyone's losing their minds and I'm like??? Anyways sorry for rambling I'm just a bit sad once again. And yeah, maybe next comeback... but I'm kinda losing hope if I'm being honest. I just wish I could enjoy the group as I used to and it sucks to be the odd one out who's just disappointed

Yeah. Yeah, they haven't been at their musically best lately. I'm thrilled about their continued growth as the top non-big 4 boy group, but I always find myself baffled when people say they became fans after listening to Fireworks, or Dune, or any of their other recent songs.

Edenary know how to make a well-produced album. By well-produced, I mean that you can tell they're experts at music production who don't rely on samples or lite-EDM to do the heavy lifting. Their intros and outros are proof of that. However, good sound production doesn't mean a lot to me if the song doesn't have a good center.

I'm always looking for a hooky prechorus, leading into a satisfying chorus with something that makes it stand out from your standard kpop fare. Bouncy did that, but Crazy Form didn't. That's the main problem: all of their songs are well-produced, but only a few of them have solid centers.

And look, not every song has to be anthemic like Treasure, or Wave, or Eternal Sunshine. Wonderland was not really anthemic, but it was still good because it achieved a sense of purpose: they're marching into battle. It was essentially a sea shanty, which was genius!

ATEEZ's recent material just feels like Edenary are flexing that they can do hiphop-style music without realizing that ATEEZ are not a group that are wholly talented at hip-hop. They're just not. They're pirates. They rough up and energize everything they touch, and Edenary are mirroring that by producing "powerful" music instead of letting them channel their energy into material that inspires or entertains, even if that's entirely subjective.

The new songs don't have heart like Answer, and they're not clever like Bouncy. They rely on the strength of ATEEZ's performance style alone and it's not hitting like it should. I don't mind autotune, but even I thought they went too far with Fireworks. You'd have to pay me to listen to that song outside of a concert. They deserve stuff that doesn't feel borderline braggadocios in its production.

However, I'm not an ATEEZ doomsdayist and they've bounced back more times than I can count + this album has a few really good songs. I don't expect ATEEZ to always make music I like, I just want them to make music that has heart and purpose again.