#something about how light the line is sung and how you can kinda hear a wistful smile behind it

[dittydipity]

listening to the full versions of color your night and full moon full life deadass got me tearing up persona 3 is so good man

[1moremilgram-enjoyer]

Amane T1 Cover - Positive Parade

Been a while, but we're back to covers! Time for the specialest girl ever, Amane and Positive Parade! I miss her sounding as happy as she does in this song, man. At least she seemed to be having fun in parts of Purge March too, but that was a different kinda fun. Anyways, let's go!

CW Cults and indoctrination, child abuse

Positive Parade is possibly the one covered song in Trial 1 with no explicit references to romance or sex, which in my eyes is a win for Amane, common best character w.

What also makes this song stand out is just how happy it is! It actually is an extremely optimistic and uplifting song, where the singer encourages someone else to follow their dreams and remain positive in the face of adversity.

Stuff your heart full with all your dearest dreams Go for broke on all the things you wanna do! “We can’t stop” Is this a good feeling? Or is it no good after all? On these never-ending nights, let's talk while dancing with the stars Even when times are tough, the light is always by our sides “We can’t stop” You’ll turn out okay! Because you'll find your smile fits you perfectly

(I'm using this translation because the translation in the Milgram wiki has very odd wording at times, so I think it kinda confuses the meaning a bit)

The 'never-ending nights' I believe represent the struggles of life, which at times feel endless. But the singer suggest to talk while 'dancing with the stars', while engaging with the light in the darkness. "Even when times are tough, the light [of the stars] is always by our sides." Optimism! Happiness!

There is the "is this a good feeling? or is it no good after all?" line which seems like it could imply some lurking horror, but there's a few ways to read that. I actually think the singer is asking if the person being sung to is happy with what they're doing, or if they should stop and move on to something else, which is similar to this line:

This isn’t enough, not yet I need to make sure I don’t mess up the words I want to say “I forbid you from pushing yourself too hard" "I’ll be right here” So you won't be discouraged by what comes tomorrow, if we could laugh together again... That's why you gotta stop those "what'll happen if"s!

The singer wants the other to make sure not to push themselves too hard, and reassures them they can rely on the singer.

The important part there is that the singer wants to be relied on. Not in like a dangerous way necessarily, just a "I'm your friend and I want to help you when you're down" kinda way. At least that's the vibe I get.

Heeeey, aren't you straight up bawling your eyes out? It's not normal for you to pretend that everything's fine. Even though you've got things you want to say Where's that sadness you've been shouldering? Come on, one day it'll just overflow "I'm sorry, I can't do it anymore, please help me" You don't want to imagine it, You don't want to hear it, do you? So before it comes to that, rely on me!

You know, I've seen people say that some people think this song is about toxic positivity, but to me it doesn't really look like it. The singer's literally telling the other that if they hide their pain, it's gonna overflow and that's bad. That's, like, the opposite of toxic positivity. And "you" don't want to hear yourself saying "I can't do it anymore, please help me", right? Just rely on the singer now before it gets too bad!

I guess you could say that sounds like a savior complex, which is definitely a way to read the song:

If someone tells you you're wrong, Even when you're not wrong at all I won't support anything that denies you You can take the opportunity to hold me close and you can share the burden of your worries with me You say it's embarrasing, but I'm embarrased too, you know! Don't laugh and say this isn't like me, It's my answer to meeting you. Rely on me, rely on me, please

Yeah, the "rely on me, rely on me, please" certainly feels a bit too desperate.

However, I still feel it can be read more charitably. Listen, this song was written as a theme song for a collaboration with a theme park named Yomiuri Land (Source, it's in Japanese but Google translate gives you the idea). There doesn't need to be a hidden horror here. While again, it's perfectly fine if you read it as a savior complex or something else, I personally see it as completely innocent positivity.

The line about both of them being embarrased by what's going on is very sweet. No big meaning there, I just like it.

So the singer either does or doesn't have a savior complex; at least they find quite a bit of happiness in helping others. If you're wondering about Miku shedding a tear in the artwork, it's probably a tear of joy from "dancing with the stars." In my personal opinion, there is no hidden horror in this song, it's just a really nice optimism anthem! The only way this would be horrifying at all is if it were being sung by, like, an abused cult victim or something.

... Oh.

Yeah this is where we acknowledge that, even though the original song may not be hiding anything too horrifying, it's being covered by Amane fucking Momose. And nothing this girl does ever fails to make us sad.

So, Amane here has the same "I want to make other people happy" attitude that we see in Magic.

[Magic] Only if, only if, only if I could be a good girl I hope, I hope everyone can be happy and smile Forever, forever together would be a dream

She's even called something akin to "Happiness Support Sister" in the credits. Amane wants everyone to be happy, that's ultimately her goal in everything she does. The thing is that the concept of "happiness" has been so horrendously twisted by her cult that a lot of the time it shows in a very... uh... concerning way.

Timeline 23/01/17 Amane: Happy birthday.Mahiru-san. How is your body feeling? Mahiru: ……ah, Amane-chan. Thank you. Yeah, I’m fine. Now I can move around if I use a wheelchair…… It’s all thanks to Shidou-san looking after me…… Amane: I’ll give you one warning. The two of you are dabbling in something tabooed. If you continue to go against the way of nature like this, you’ll just bring an early death upon yourself. Think hard about this. Mahiru: Amane-chan……? Are you really Amane-chan……?

Like, technically speaking, Amane is trying to make sure Mahiru stays happy. As in, not dead. She does something similar with Fuuta. Notably, she's only shown herself really hostile towards Shidou, who she dislikes for reasons even beyond the whole medicine thing. Long story.

But since this is Trial 1, she's likely not really speaking to anyone in the prison. So, who is Amane talking to? The most straightforward answer is that she's talking to her abusers, more specifically her mother probably. Because they are the "everyone" she's talking about in Magic; Amane thinks that if she can make them happy, she'll stop being punished and thus she'll be happy too.

Of course, this paints the entire song in a horribly grim light. Because now the singer's pleas to be relied on are Amane asking her abusers what she needs to do to make them happy.

You can take the opportunity to hold me close and you can share the burden of your worries with me You say it's embarrasing, but I'm embarrased too, you know!

The "burden" here may very well be the things Amane does """wrong""", so Amane might be asking what she needs to change.

Heeeey, aren't you straight up bawling your eyes out? It's not normal for you to pretend that everything's fine. Even though you've got things you want to say Where's that sadness you've been shouldering? Come on, one day it'll just overflow "I'm sorry, I can't do it anymore, please help me" You don't want to imagine it, You don't want to hear it, do you? So before it comes to that, rely on me!

Question: What do you think happens when "it overflows"? When Amane's abusers are frustrated at something? Not Amane, just anything in general. How do you think that goes? In a lot of cases, chid abusers will find any excuse to """justify""" hurting their child when they're frustrated by literally anything. That means it's very possible Amane now tries to make sure her abusers are happy all the time, because it's the only way she can think of to avoid being hurt.

This isn’t enough, not yet I need to make sure I don’t mess up the words I want to say “I forbid you from pushing yourself too hard" "I’ll be right here” So you won't be discouraged by what comes tomorrow, if we could laugh together again... That's why you gotta stop those "what'll happen if"s!

"I need to make sure I don't mess up the words I want to say" sure reads a lot more sinisterly when "messing up the words" could end up with Amane being seriously hurt.

Yeah like that.

If someone tells you you're wrong, Even when you're not wrong at all I won't support anything that denies you

And this definitely reads like something she'd say about the cult. She won't support anything that denies the cult or their doctrines, you don't have to worry about that! Please don't hurt her.

Stuff your heart full with all your dearest dreams Go for broke on all the things you wanna do! “We can’t stop” Is this a good feeling? Or is it no good after all? On these never-ending nights, let's talk while dancing with the stars Even when times are tough, the light is always by our sides “We can’t stop” You’ll turn out okay! Because you'll find your smile fits you perfectly

The chorus is a bit strange with this reading, since what the "dearest dreams" are is very debatable. It's possible it's just general positivity without referring to anything in particular, but if it is something specific, my best guess would be "following the cult's doctrines and going to [heaven or equivalent]". Apart from that, again, the other stuff is kinda sinister under this reading. "Yeah, focus on the good stuff! Don't worry about the sad things! Please don't get mad! Please please please don't get mad and hurt me!"

But the thing about "chasing the dream" being following the cult's beliefs makes the "we can't stop" line really mortifying. Originally that's just "we shouldn't let our doubts stop us in our dreams!" but now it's "we can't stop following the doctrines because horrible horribe things will happen if we do!"

[The Purge March] If you become a bad girl, monsters will come out This is the magic that stops that from happening

And wanna know a """fun""" little detail? I haven't been paying much attention to differences between the og songs and the covers, but Amane gets special treatment.

I invite you to listen to the "we can't stop" line from around 2:18 - 2:19 minutes into the song both in the original and in Amane's cover. In the Miku version, that's sung pretty much the same as every other time. However, in the Amane cover, it's sung in a noticeably different way. It's hard to describe, because it sounds a mix of exhausted, resigned, depressed, something like that. Think of it like this: if the rest of the song sounds like Amane is singing with her Trial 1 sprite, this one line is sung like her Trial 2 sprite. So:

Stuff your heart full with all your dearest dreams! Go for broke on all the things you wanna do! “We can’t stop” Is this a good feeling? Or is it no good after all?

Or translated for Amane:

"Follow your dreams of being a great follower and going to heaven!"

"Do all the things God tells you you should want to do!"

"We can't stop, can we? Even if it hurts, even if we are unhappy, we have to keep following that dream. Because horrible things will happen if we don't. And even if we try to change, then what was it all for? What did you hurt me for? There has to be a reason. Please tell me my suffering isn't meaningless. God will save us in the end if we keep doing this, right? That's the only thing I have left to hope for. We can't stop"

"Ehem- Doesn't it feel good?"

Or maybe I just like Amane angst a bit too much.

Anyways, that's the main takeaway from Positive Parade in my opinion. There is another way to read it, though, which I think is equally interesting. Mainly, that she might be singing it to herself, right before killing her mother. The "dreams" would be killing the mom, with the one more sinister "we can't stop" being there because it's a somewhat sinister dream. The "light in the dark" is a future without abuse I guess? The whole "rely on me" thing does come off as a bit weird, unless you go the "council of Amane" route and/or read it with the idea Amane has DID and then it just sounds like an alter, which would be something. "I won't support anything that denies you" and her mom did deny her... the issue there is that Amane also denies herself a lot of "vulgar" pleasures because Gozake ordainment. I don't think it works perfectly because of things like "I forbid you from pushing yourself too hard", but it's still a valid way to read the cover!

Anyways, hope you're not crying too hard! Take care!

[hrodvitnon]

Followup to the big Xenilla Arc submission from earlier about Abraxas:

The power would essentially have to combine their attunement to radio waves and their electricity. Indoctrination (at least in Mass Effect- not sure if there's any huge differences in Abraxasverse) is essentially a big electromagnetic field that generates brain impulses- like subtle whispers that eventually drive the victims insane and brainwash them into believing certain things. Abraxas is capable of generating both- but the actual mechanics of doing so are very precise and complicated- especially finnicky to a fighter like them who usually just blind rages with their power until everything's a collective puddle of red. This could be a subject of their fight with Gigan- he's a tricky fighter who knows how to manipulate their rage and cause them to make mistakes, which he punishes accordingly. Abraxas would have to slow down- focus- and be tactical here, find new ways to use their power to beat him. Once they've got the honed control down- they can start combining a subtle electrical field with psionic messages to imitate Indoctrination (weird comparison, but hear me out; it works kinda like San's Thundergasm in Abraxas- only much much more difficult to pull off as it's at a distance and you need to be precise down to the exact neuron or risk causing brain damage).

Reaper Indoctrination is insidious, dark, meant to make you question and doubt your own mind so you give in to the whispers. This is combined with their ships' architecture being meant to throw you off- meant to fuck with you- like a maze you get caught in with your mind telling you to go one way and the infernal noise in the back of your head telling you to go somewhere else. Abraxas's Indoctrination would be the opposite- meant to reassure, to comfort, to remind you to trust yourself, to remind of happier times. This could also be Vivienne's opportunity to mirror what San did for her within Jonah's captivity- being the voice to reassure her when she was so close to giving up. Now she has the power to whisper words of encouragement to her allies just like he did for her so long ago. This could be coupled with a soothing locale to reinforce peace- like somewhere natural.

One of the reasons I think it would be so powerful for Abraxas to have access to this is something specifically about Vivienne and her ancestry: Bone Singing. To amplify the ancient songs in this way would be an advancement of the technique- a true evolution that not even the most ancient of Titans knew was possible; and it would be powerful to hear. Like a song sung in the back of your mind- one that reminds you of the great old days- that calls back to a people long forgotten. Abraxas wouldn't just live up to the Bone Singer name, they'd surpass it; becoming something completely different but familiar. Imagine being a freaked out, mentally scarred Godzilla- or Rodan not knowing if he's going to survive infection or end up like Ozzy- and hearing a two-man chorus in the back of your head singing the songs that brought you joy and companionship so long ago, coupled with calming whispers from either San or Vivienne.

If anything, I think this should be what brings Ozzy back from the brink, and recontextualizing him as a suffering victim in the same light that Vivienne was back at the beginning of Abraxas would be pitch perfect character growth- giving her a chance to tell him the things she wish she told herself, connect with him on that level, essentially be to him what San or Mothra was to her when she was first going through it.

This power would also fall in line with the theme of- well, the name of Abraxas. Reaper Indoctrination was undoubtably one of the most evil inventions ever made- in a very similar light that Ghidorah's powers were. But just like those- the power now belongs to Abraxas. "You inherit it and that makes it YOURS now. No one else's. YOURS. Good, bad? Words. Power is a tool. You decide how to use it."

You know, I like this. Abraxas becoming more than just an Executioner Titan (though they absolutely will do violent bad things if need be, that's part of the name's territory) but will go out of their way to help.

"I have slain gods and demons. I have brought unimaginable horrors into existence and I have exorcised them. I bring no evil here. Have no fear. Be at peace. Here, you are safe. Here, you can dream of times long past. May they be sweet anodyne to your weary soul."

[mmelionsblog]

You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling || Pete “Maverick” Mitchell

warnings: slight insecurities, cheesy but cute, reader is mad at maverick for saying something for what he thinks is dumb but then realizes it means everything to reader, Mav then finally understands and realizes he’s an asshole and tries to win back your love

It had been three days, 5 hours, and 23 minutes since Pete has got a kiss from you at all. The fight the two of you had? Outrageous. It was something to not fight about even at all; you couldn’t control it. He was just pissed off that day and everything around him just made him even more mad.

He whined and placed his head down on the bar as he sees you catch up with Carole, who often looked his way sending daggers. Goose had noticed it, and started chuckling. “What did you do to her?” He had asked. “I- I may have not said something about her breathing problem.. it was the heat of the moment I swear. I know how insecure she gets with her asthma and everything.” He rambled out. Goose let out a inhale, “I know I shouldn’t be saying this but Carole tells me a lot bout (Y/n).” He starts off.

Maverick sits up straight to listen. “Yeah, you kinda crossed the line for that one bud. No wonder she’s mad, she says it’s a stupid reason to be insecure about but I get it, I get why she’s like that. I feel like sometimes whenever it’s so quiet everyone can hear me breathing and it puts me off guard.” Mav nodded and gulped, looking across the bar where (Y/n) herself was full on crying to Carole. He winced noticing that scene, as other females come to the two of you to ask what was wrong and when you did tell them, they glared daggers at Mav and a goose. “I didn’t mean it.” He whined softly.

“You know what she’s lost?” Goose smirked up a small smile with glittery eyes in him. Mav smiled back with just the same amount. “That loving feeling.” “Damn right!” Goose howled, making (Y/n) and Carole turn their necks towards to them. Carole shook her head at her husband.

“What are those two doing now?” She asked to no one in particular, “I don’t care.” (Y/n) moped, chugging down her whiskey drink as she played with the lemon on the side. “Oh I think I know what they’re doing, you big studs!” Carole laughed out, clapping her hands as Goose put on a song you haven’t heard in a whole.

You groan and feel your face get heat up. “You never close your eyes anymore when I kiss your lips,” Mav started off, slowly walking towards you. Goose gave you a thumbs up, as he turns on his mic. Carole was in the back ground giggling like a maniac, “that boy loves you!” She shook you. “And there’s no tenderness like before, in your fingertips.” He sung loudly, as he got up right in front of you.

Biting your lip, you looked around to see most of the bar on the both of you. A stage light placed on-top. “You’re trying hard not to show it,” he knows this part gets to you so he knew before hand, to share the mic with you as Goose did the same with Carole. “But baby, baby, I know that you’ve lost that loving feeling,” the four of you sung. You smiled brightly as Mav got you up from your seat, twirling you around and gripping you tightly around your waist and pulling you close.

“Woah, that loving feeling. You’ve lost that loving feeling, now it’s gone…gone…gone, woah.” The boys sung out, serenading their girls. Carole shook her head as Goose said something to make her laugh. You smile at the two, before fixing your eyes to Mav. You knew he was sorry. You knew he didn’t mean it, but your thoughts got to your head first, they got their first then he did. “ now there’s no welcome look in your eyes when I reach for you,” he dangerously said near your lips, his eyelids fluttering almost shut. “And girl you’re starting to criticize little things I do..” his eyes look into yours, and you fell in love with him right again at that moment.

That line had struck you. It was true. The past three days, everything Maverick did put you off. You didn’t talk to him for that long, or you completely ignored him. And you definitely didn’t give him kisses either for the stupid fight the two of you had. “It makes me feel like crying,” he yelled out. “Cause baby, something beautiful is dying.” Goose grinned as he sees the plan working so far. “You’ve lost that loving feeling, woah that loving feeling. You’ve lost that loving feeling now it’s gone, gone, gone, woah…” the four of you song. You guys didn’t even know you four started a commotion, you jumped slightly when you heard the bar sing with you guys as well.

The song went on, and on up till it reached the end. Round of applause went to the four of you, and mostly to Maverick as well. Even you were clapping at your boyfriend. Maverick smiled brightly as the plan had worked, to make you forget about being angry with him. “I’m sorry,” you murmur. His eyes widen, “no no you shouldn’t be sorry I’m sorry.” He whispered, placing a hand on your cheek caringly. “I shouldn’t have talked bad about your breathing problems- you can’t help it. It- it was just the heat of the moment I swear, I never meant anything about it. I know the heat of the moment shouldn’t be an excuse but you got to believe me baby, I never meant to say that.” He ranted our.

“Okay.” You spoke, nodding your head. “Okay?” He questioned. “Don’t make me say it again, Mitchell.” You threat. He raised his hands up playfully. “Yes ma’am.” He said with a playful salute. You giggle in response, throwing your arms around his neck and snuggling close to Mav. “I told you it’d work.” Carole rolled her eyes. “I told you to tell Mav. Give me my credit,” she scoffed. “Carole? You were behind this?” You asked her, as Maverick laugh at Goose for what something he had said. “Yeah. Couldn’t see my best friend sad so I had to tell my dumb stud of a husband to tell his best friend something” she wailed her arms around.

You giggle as Goose clenches his heart. “You wound me baby,” he groaned out. “Oh whatever. Come on you big stud, let’s go get Bradley back home!” She yelled, getting off of her chair and tipping the bartender. You bid them a goodbye, then look over to Maverick. “Take me to bed or lose me forever, honey.” You whisper seductively, yet playfully. “You can count on it sweetheart.” He said with a wink, scooping you up bridal style as he made you squeal. The bar interrupts with cheers, seeing the two leave. “I love you,” you spoke. “I love you too.”

[hee4won]

en- reaction to you wanting to be sung to sleep

requested: by @anime-kpop-stan (tysm again for the request and being patient w me!! i hope u like it)

warnings: FLUFFY.. this is gonna be cheesy <3 (none.)

heeseung

at first when u ask he bursts out laughing

bc you asked with puppy eyes so he thinks you’re joking

then he melts when he realizes you’re serious

and starts giggling even harder

HES GONNA DO IT

But its so cute like. he knows he can sing but the fact that YOU like his singing makes him so happy

when you poke your lip out and say you’ll just sleep without it

he chases after you and makes sure you don’t fall asleep before he has the chance to sing to you

he’ll hold you close to make sure your back is against his chest

and hum so you can feel the vibrations

it’s very comforting

continue under cut!

jay

gets soooo shy

says he’s trying to hide his nervousness and tells you he’ll be in the bed once he’s done in the bathroom

“jay why arent you using the bathroom next to our bedroom?”

“...no reason! hurry get in the bed 😊”

little do you know

he went to go practice

he’s doing vocal exercises and everything as well as drinking something warm

since he thinks he has a history of embarrassing himself he wants to ensure that this is not gonna be one of those moments

and it’s not! it goes super well

you fall asleep in no time

and once he notices, he lets out a sigh of relief and knocks out himself

Wooo Jay!

jake

so tickled

like can not stop smiling

he does that thing where he tries holding back his smile by pulling down his cheeks

but he just can not help it

it’s still early but he wants to go to bed rn

he alr picked what song he’s gonna sing for you

and he rehearsed a bit before getting under the covers with you

when he starts he has to stop himself from laughing in between lines

he finishes successfully ❤️

and you had the best sleep of your life

sunghoon

ALSO GETS SO SHY

asks you why when you literally have spotify and earbuds/airpods (whatever)

but when you tell him “i love your voice 🥺 it’s pretty, just like you 🥺🥺”

gosh he starts cheesing

then regains his composure and agrees but makes sure he doesn’t look you in the eyes

tries singing to you without looking at your face in order to keep it together

but when he glances down at your tired face

he can’t help but to give you a soft kiss once he’s finished with the song

whispers a small “goodnight” despite the fact that you were long gone

sunoo

agrees to do it immediately

still a tiny bit nervous bc he wants you to like his singing

as if you don’t compliment him on it everyday

he wants to impress you with his range so he chooses a mellow song

and works hard to make sure it sounds stable enough while laying down

and WOW does he do it

you can’t fall asleep bc his voice is just too pretty to sleep on

“why aren’t you asleep yet? was it bad. . ?”

you have to reassure him that it was just so pretty it kinda stunned you

yea he was happy + super cocky the next day

jungwon

teasing you like crazy

you asked early in the morning so you’re hearing about it all day

he won’t give you a clear answer until you’re both in the bed

and he wraps his arms and legs around you and starts humming

he found it endearing the moment you asked

but he also couldn’t pass down the perfect playful teasing opportunity

so he played it cool for the whole day and decided to surprise you at night

he gets a bit clingier when it’s time for bed anyway

you fall asleep to his soothing voice and he falls asleep to your steady breathing

niki

you actually wake up after a bad dream and ask him to do it

he gets shy and a bit insecure but agrees to do it anyway

make you face away from him so you can’t see his anxious expression

not like you’d be able to anyway it’s like 12 am w no lights on

starts with some singing but realizes his voice is raspy from just waking up

so he changes it to humming and gently caresses your arms + plays with your fingers

he wants to comfort you no matter what

so he’ll do it the best way he knows how

you made sure to shower him in compliments the moment he awoke

[telli1206]

Anddddd Jaylos + 15. Total darkness, place unknown? 💖

Ok ok, I think I have a cute Auradon drabble in my head now...let's see what you think @hersilentlanguage 😉

-----

Carlos grips Jay's shoulder tightly as he tries to follow behind him. Jay's moving so fast, and Carlos has already stumbled over his feet a few times trying to keep up with the pace. The hallway is nearly pitch black, and as much as he tries to blink and adjust, he sees nothing but darkness.

"Jayyyy," he whines, and shifts to loop his arm through his boyfriend's. "Where are we going? Do you even know where we are?? I can't see shit."

"Don't worry C," Jay tuts, patting Carlos' hand reassuringly as he pulls him along. "I already scoped it out. And I found something I think you'll like."

Jay throws him a wink. At least, that's what Carlos thinks he sees.

"Fine, but let's not take too long, ok? We haven't even sung 'Happy Birthday' to Ben, yet. Evie and Mal will probably be looking for us in a few minutes."

"Yeah, yeah. This won't take long. Promise."

Jay drops Carlos' grip to wrap his arm around his shoulders instead, pulling him in close. Carlos sighs and cuddles in as they walk. Jay smells so fresh and clean, and his silky hair is soft against Carlos' cheek. It’s wonderfully distracting from the eeriness of the dark, abandoned hall.

"Wait-here! Right here, C."

Carlos startles and jumps back a little as Jay reaches in front of him to grab the nearest doorknob. He yanks it open quickly, flooding the hallway with a warm golden light. Carlos blinks furiously at the brightness as Jay drags him through the threshold.

"This is what I found," Jay adds with a nod. Carlos glances around the room, and it's...incredible.

It's a bedroom, that made clear by the massive canopy bed in front of them, just across from the gold-framed window. It's draped in ivory silks, the most detailed rose carvings trailing down the wooden posts. And the elegant bedspread is covered in sparkling embroidered gold linens. Everything in this room is more opulent than anything Carlos has ever seen in his life.

“Pretty cool, huh?”

Carlos barely hears Jay, too lost in his quiet ogling. But he does eventually manage to close his mouth and give a slight nod.

“It’s the most amazing room I’ve ever seen,” he sighs, his voice still breathy with awe. “It’s just...beautiful.”

Jay chuckles, letting his hand drop to Carlos’ waist. “Yeah, I thought you’d like it.”

Jay adds pressure to his grip, gently guiding Carlos backwards. Carlos perks a brow at him, confused, until he’s pressed against the wall and Jay leans in to kiss him softly.

“Kinda romantic, don’tcha think? A dark, quiet castle...you and me, alone in a big gorgeous bedroom. Does it give you any...ideas?”

Carlos shakes his head, chuckling quietly before he’s silenced by another kiss, this one more heated than the first. He pulls back a little, pressing a hand to Jay’s chest before he can go back in. “I guess it’s giving you a few. So this is why you were so eager to wander around the castle?”

Jay smirks proudly, curling over Carlos’ hand to kiss at his jaw. “Maybe. It’s not every day we get alone time in a fancy place like this, huh?”

Carlos has to agree. It’s definitely been a while since they’ve had any time to themselves, and especially not somewhere as nice as this. But the approval he wants to voice is quickly lost in the expanse of Jay’s throat, the dark-haired boy already kissing Carlos so deeply, so passionately that he’s forgotten what he was going to say. All his focus has turned to kissing Jay, his arms encircling Jay’s neck to pull him in even closer.

Minutes slip past, neither one even noticing how long they’ve stayed in this spot, with Carlos pinned under Jay, happily making out against the bedroom wall. Eventually Jay’s hands slide under Carlos’ shirt, teasing Carlos with light touches and coaxing giggles against his lips. Carlos retaliates with a firm tug on Jay’s hair, his fingers tangled near the roots and scraping against Jay’s scalp. The combined sensations elicit a pleased groan from Jay - a very, very loud groan, that has Carlos slapping a hand over Jay’s mouth.

“Jay!” he hisses, curling his hand tighter when Jay tries to shake it off. “Do you want to get in trouble?? We need to be quiet.”

Jay jerks his hand back, sliding out of Carlos’ grip to flash him a pointed grin. “Get in trouble? From who, C? The suit of armor in the hallway? Everyone’s back at the party.”

He grabs Carlos’ chin and tilts his face up, smiling sweetly at him and stroking his thumb along Carlos’ cheek.

“Baby. You can chill, ok? It’s just us.”

Carlos relaxes against the warmth of Jay’s body. “I guess you’re right,” he sighs, pecking at Jay’s lips. “It’s just...you know I hate this. I’m not a-a, delinquent.”

Jay chuckles, kissing Carlos firmly before pulling back again. “I know, C. Let’s be real, you were never really good at it, were you?” Jay grins as Carlos serves him a less-than-convincing angry glare. “Oh come on, I just meant the delinquency part’s always been my job. Your brains are what keeps us from getting caught.”

Jay puffs up his chest, smirking proudly, and Carlos just smiles and shakes his head. “Please. You’re just trying to butter me up so I’ll keep making out with you.”

Jay snakes an arm around Carlos’ waist, pushing him in so he’s flush against Jay’s chest. “Maybe. Did it work?” He quips, before sealing their lips again. Carlos hums his agreement, arching into the solidity of Jay’s muscled form as he melts further into the kiss.

"Um..guys?”

Carlos quickly shoves Jay and springs back at the sound of the familiar voice, wiping furiously at his mouth and refusing to meet Ben’s eyes. Jay however, stands tall, crossing his arms and perking a brow at the king, who’s looking shocked and confused from the doorway.

“When did...how...why, are you in here?”

“Sorry man, we were just, uh, looking for the bathroom. And got lost.” The lie spills so casually from Jay’s lips it’s almost hard not to believe it, so Carlos stays quiet next to him, chewing his lip and squeezing Jay’s hand tightly.

“Oh. Wow, you really got lost then.” Ben’s tone is dry as he looks around the room, then scans the hallway briefly. His eyes are wide and a little frantic. “Um, let me show you to the bathroom, ok? This is actually my parents’ room, so we really need to get out of here.”

Ben waves them on, and Jay and Carlos quickly stumble in line behind him out of the room. The king is shuffling down the hall so fast it’s hard for them to keep up, and his awkward gait from the speed has Jay almost snorting.

“Jay,” Carlos hisses, slapping him hard in the stomach. “Don’t make it worse! I can’t believe you took me to the former king Beast’s room. I think we almost gave Ben a heart attack.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Jay glances at Ben again, and his smile softens. “Ok, I feel a little bad about that. But,” he adds, his eyes alight, “I can’t wait to tell Mal we did it in Beasty’s room. She’s gonna be so fucking jealous!”

Settings To Imagine Your OTP Prompts

[amarimaryllis]

All The World Drops Dead (Oikawa x Reader)

Pairing: Oikawa/Reader, Slight!Iwaizumi/Reader (like very slight, microscopic kinda slight, almost as if it’s not there unless you read between the lines because it’s not explicitly stated kinda slight) Prompt/Summary: Loving Oikawa Tooru was a dream and maybe it was time to wake up. Alternatively, Oikawa leaves you behind to chase his dreams. Tags: Angst, Fluff Note: I used she/her pronouns for the reader, Bold Italicized sentences are excerpts from the poem “Mad Girl’s Love Song” by Sylvia Plath Warnings: Swearing, Crying (like, a lot), Kinda long (5.7k words),  Haikyuu Timeskip Spoilers

Part of A Sensitivity to Ephemera

Loving Oikawa Tooru was a dream. It was hard-earned. Years of pining and pursuing took place before he ever even saw you in a romantic light. Three years in junior high school and an additional two years in high school. It was hard, but in the end, it was all worth it.

On the journey to what seemingly looked like forever, the name L/N Y/N had been associated with many titles.

Dedicated.

Lovesick.

Brave.

And on occasion, heard in the hushed whispers that echoed through the halls of Aoba Johsai, desperate.

Some part of you gloated once you had proved them all wrong at the end of your second year. It was a quick confession filled with mumbled words and hasty movements. You couldn’t even look the setter straight in the eyes as you mumbled a small “I’ve been in love with you since junior high, and I just needed to get it off my chest since we’ve been friends for a long time, and I felt guilty keeping it a secret from you.”

Impressively, you were able to say all of that in a single breath.

“I know.”

A single breath taken away from you the moment Oikawa Tooru cupped your cheeks and pressed the softest of kisses against your lips.

I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead;

In that moment, as you lose yourself in the kiss of a boy you had once considered a distant dream, the world stops and there is nothing left but the warmth of his hands against your skin.

I lift my lids and all is born again. 

Suddenly the world was back in motion as Oikawa pulled away from the kiss. Your eyes flutter open and before you, you see chocolate eyes and a charming smile.

“Hello? Earth to Y/N-chan?” 

You’re pulled from your thoughts at the sound of Oikawa’s voice. You were brought to the present. Oikawa hugging you from behind as you sit between his legs, an alien movie of sorts playing on your laptop placed on the bed (You didn’t bother checking the title since it was Oikawa’s turn to choose anyway).

“Have the aliens taken my adorable girlfriend and replaced her with a clone?” You can practically see the pout on his face from his tone alone as he wraps his arms tighter around your waist.

Your face warms but you don’t fold as you answer in your most deadpan tone. “I can only wish.”

“How mean.” Oikawa rolls his eyes, but amusement is clearly written on his face. “Iwa-chan is rubbing off on you.”

“Probably cause I’ve known him for as long as I’ve known you.” You answered casually. “Although I’ll admit it’s probably cause I’ve been seeing him more than I’ve been seeing you.”

You were not meant to say that.

You did not mean to say that (out loud, at least).

Especially not with that bitter undertone laced in your words.

“Oh?” You can practically hear the smirk in Oikawa’s voice as he digs his fingers lightly into your sides. “Replacing me with Iwa-chan already? How mean~”

One part of you was thankful that Oikawa chose not to unpack the issue of his recent absences since you weren’t really ready to lay your feelings out in the open yet. However, another part of you realizes that you just dug your own grave, and Oikawa Tooru was probably going to be a little shit about what you just said.

“Maybe you need me to remind you who your boyfriend is?” Oikawa’s lips brush against the shell of your ear and you could feel the tiniest of shivers diffuse throughout your body.

He presses a kiss behind your ear. Your face warms. He follows the previous action with a tender kiss on your neck. You nearly combust.

But of course, for the sake of what’s left of your dignity, you bite back. “Maybe I do.”

You can feel Oikawa grin against your neck, as if he expected nothing less. “Perfect.”

Oikawa turns you around so that you’re straddling him, legs thrown over on both sides as you sit on his lap. He grabs you by your wrists and leads you to wrap your arms around his neck before his hands eventually find purchase on your hips. 

I dreamed that you bewitched me into bed

And with that, he’s kissing you. It was almost as if he was trying to chase away any thoughts of Iwaizumi from your head with the way he was moving his lips against yours. Oikawa knew that he didn’t have to worry, but he can’t help it. He’d take any opportunity to kiss his girlfriend senseless.

And sung me moon-struck, kissed me quite insane.

Oikawa brings his hand to your nape, pulling you closer, deeper into the kiss, deeper into the dream created by the motion of his lips. There’s a desperation in his actions as if he was trying to make up for something.

And in that moment, you understood. This was his temporary apology. The way his hands trailed from your neck down your arms before it settled on your hips was his way of placating any possible hostility you may hold against him for his recent absence.

You didn’t really mind. You understood that he was busy, but you had the right to miss your boyfriend every now and then. The only thing you could do now was to take as much as you could of Oikawa Tooru before he’s once again pulled back to the whirlwind that is called his life.

Oikawa pulls away for a second before he’s back to pressing kisses on any expanse of skin that he can lay his lip upon without moving from the position you were both in. You were both so lost in your makeout-session--excuse the lack of a better term--that you weren’t able to hear the text notifications from Oikawa’s phone until someone was actually calling him.

“Babe, your phone’s ringing.” You managed to pull away from Oikawa to inform him, but he’s relentless, ignoring what you just said and the phone in favor of trailing kisses up and down your neck.

“Babe--” 

Oikawa pulls away for a second. “Ignore it, they’ll probably give up soon.”

You roll your eyes and go back to kissing your boyfriend. You guys were getting back to the groove of things until it was once again interrupted by the ringing of Oikawa’s phone.

A groan of frustration leaves Oikawa’s throat at the disturbance, and you attempt to hold in your amusement at the irritated look he had on his face as he reached to the side and answered the phone.

“What?” You nearly snorted at how frustrated Oikawa sounded.

However, as the other person answered, that look of frustration was replaced with a softer gaze which made you furrow your eyebrows in confusion. The stream of confusion only grew when Oikawa patted your thighs, an unspoken request for you to get off him.

“Oh Yuki-chan, what’s up?” A smile was on Oikawa’s face.

The stream of confusion had slowly turned into a murky ocean of several emotions that you had not encountered in a while.

Uncertainty.

Insecurity.

Fear.

You knew only one Yuki, and that was Fujimoto Yuki. The darling of the school, loved by all who meet her for her beauty and gentle nature. Oikawa’s friend.

Oikawa’s ex-girlfriend.

“Sure! Library on the second floor, and same time as always?” Oikawa talks animatedly for a second before freezing as if he was realizing where he was. When he speaks again, it’s softer, but there’s a hint of restraint in his tone as if he was trying not to show just how overjoyed he was.

Your heart sinks for a second before you mentally slap yourself. You felt guilty for feeling some dislike for the girl that Oikawa was talking to, but some part of you felt that you were justified in your dislike considering that this was your boyfriend’s ex. His ex who broke up with him because he was too invested in volleyball.

You felt sick.

A few moments pass and Oikawa ends the call. An awkward silence fills the room. Neither of you talk.

“I’ve been--”

“Was that--”

You both speak at the same time. You gesture for Oikawa to speak first and he does.

“I’ve been tutoring Yuki-chan recently.” Oikawa sounds uncertain.It was as if he was walking on eggshells with how cautious he was being. “If you’re wondering.”

“Fujimoto Yuki?” You sat against the wall that your bed was pressed to. “Your ex?”

“My friend.” Oikawa winces at the tone in your voice. 

You try to make sense of what’s going on, One part of you wanted to let out all the negative feelings that were bubbling in your chest, but the more logical part of you chose to tread carefully so that the conversation doesn’t end in an argument. “Is that why you haven’t been around these past few weeks?”

Oikawa’s breath hitches for a second. “Yeah.”

“Stop being so defensive then.” You mask the uncertainty that gripped at your chest with a teasing tone accompanied by a playful jab to Oikawa’s shoulder. “They’re just tutoring sessions, right?”

Oikawa takes the path of escape that you opened up for him as he gives you a small smile. “Yeah.”

For now, you were at ease. You crawled back into his arms and Oikawa doesn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around you before he presses a soft kiss onto your forehead.

“I love you.” You breathe out on his neck, heart racing with both love and fear racing through your veins.

Oikawa stills before he squeezes you tighter. “I know.”

 That moment in your bedroom was now a thing of the distant past. It was forgotten, buried under several layers of denial. Looking back, you realized that the turmoil you felt then was nothing compared to the pure, unadulterated agony that threatened to rip you open at the present.

“Argentina?” You mumbled to yourself, repeating it in hopes that you’ll be able to make sense of what Oikawa had just said. “You’re going to Argentina in a month, and you’re only telling me now?”

Oikawa reached out to you, regret painted all over his face. “Babe-“

“Don’t-“ You pushed his hand away, and you almost felt guilty as a glassy veil took over Oikawa’s eyes, “-touch me.”

“I’m sorry.” Oikawa looks down, clenching his fists so tightly that he almost broke through the skin. “I didn’t want to ruin the remaining time we had left.”

You frowned, extremely confused. “What do you mean remaining-“

Ah. A look of realization settles on your face, and suddenly the fight within you dies. I get it now.

“So you just planned on leaving me then?” For the first time since the start of this conversation, you look Oikawa dead in the eye. “Leave me behind, no closure or anything. I’ll be left wondering where I went wrong or why I wasn’t enough. Is that it?”

You could see the tear roll down Oikawa’s cheek before he hastily wipes it away. Your jaw clenched and your throat felt tight. He had no right to cry when you were the one being left behind.

“I didn’t want to hurt you-”

“And look where we are, Tooru.” You hissed venomously, the pain slowly transitioning into anger. “I would’ve understood you know? I’d be more than willing to make it work-“

The split-second widening of Oikawa’s eyes was enough of an answer to you.

“Oh.” Your mouth opens and closes, but no words leave your mouth. The next thing you know, you’re choking on your tears as you lean against the wall, sliding down to the floor as you gasp for air.

Oikawa’s eyes widen and he immediately rushes to kneel beside you. He pulls you into his arms, rubbing your back gently as he urges you to let it all out. “Fuck, Y/N. Just breathe, okay? Let it all out.”

An ugly sob wretches itself from your throat and you can only grip onto the sleeves of Tooru’s sweater to ground yourself to the world around you. Your head pounds, and a sharp pain repeatedly stabs at your chest as you hold onto Oikawa Tooru as if he was the only thing keeping you afloat in the ocean of your turmoil.

“I’m so sorry.” Oikawa murmurs against your hair, and it is followed by his tears as they drop onto your head. “God, I’m so sorry. I love you so much. I’m sorry.”

Oikawa’s sobs are beginning to match your own as he tightens his hold around you. 

All you can focus on is the fact that he said “I love you”.

It took a few minutes for both of you to calm down. Numerous tears had to be shed and endless sobs had to be released, and now, you both sit in the aftermath of your confrontation.

Oikawa still held you in his arms as he sat on the floor. His arms were still tight around your waist, and your arms were still locked around his neck. The perfect picture depicting two inseparable lovers if only one were willing to ignore tear-stained cheeks and the creases of sadness that seem to have etched itself onto their skin.

“I’m gonna come back.” Oikawa mumbles against your neck before he presses a soft kiss onto it. “I promise you. I will come back.”

“Go chase your dream, Tooru.” You mumble back as you bury your head deeper into his shoulder, lip trembling, fingers shaking. “I don’t want to be the one to stop you.”

“When I come back, I’ll win.” Oikawa tightens his hold as the tears threaten to fall from his eyes once more. “I’ll make you proud. I promise.”

You smile sadly, resignation settling into your veins. “I’ll be watching so you better win.”

Oikawa smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. He’s too guilty. Too conflicted. Too absorbed in his self-deprecation to fully smile. Regardless, he answers. “I promise.”

 A month passes by. You don’t send Oikawa off. Only his friends and family were there, and you were nowhere to be found. Some part of him died at your absence, but another part of him was thankful because he probably wouldn’t have mustered the courage to get on that plane if he had to watch you slowly slip away from his grasp

You had both agreed that you’d enjoy the last month together. Oikawa thought it was best that you broke it off when he left for Argentina. He said it would be easier for you. You wondered if he was right. You wondered if you should’ve agreed. Oikawa was smart on and off the court, but emotions weren’t volleyballs that he could just toss around. Relationships weren’t game plans.

But it’s all in the past. From here on, you could only move forward. So you took up all you had, and you moved to Tokyo after you were accepted to a university in the capital.

The only connection you had left from your high school days was Iwaizumi. On occasion you’d talk to Matsukawa and Hanamaki, but it was Iwaizumi who had a more prominent role in your life. You had a strange bond, which was partially strengthened by the fact that you two were the people closest to Oikawa Tooru, and you were both left behind. The only difference between the two of you was that Iwaizumi still had contact with the setter while you had completely cut off all ties.

Aside from one tie, at least. From time to time, you’d find yourself looking through Oikawa’s social media profile. Just checking to see how he was doing.

If he was doing as badly as you were or if he had moved on.

It was what you were doing right now as you sat in a cafe waiting for Iwaizumi to show up to your usual “friendly” dates. The dates he liked to call “get Y/N’s dumb ass to move on from the dumbass called Shittykawa”. You were just about to click on Oikawa’s profile before someone suddenly took your phone.

It was Iwaizumi.

“Damn, what’s your problem?” You raised a brow as the former Seijoh ace took a sip from your coffee as he scrolled through your account, sitting down on the chair across from you. In all honesty, calling it a sip was an understatement, the man practically drank half of the cup’s content. Your eyebrow twitched in irritation.

“It’s unhealthy.” Iwaizumi answered once he had set the cup of coffee down, still scrolling through your phone.

“How is social media unhealthy?” You rolled your eyes, grumbling as you sipped what’s left of your coffee. “I’m just scrolling.”

“Makes you less productive.” Iwaizumi shrugs as he leans back on his chair, pointing an accusatory glace towards you. “Especially when you’re checking your ex’s Instagram.”

“I was not--”

Iwaizumi snorted. “Yes you were.”

“Yes I was.�� You admitted, giving up since you knew that Iwaizumi was probably more stubborn than you.

“Y/N, you have to stop.” Iwaizumi tears his eyes from your phone for a second to emphasize his words. A look of concern along with something unreadable flashing through his eyes. “What’s the point of not communicating with him if you’re still gonna look at his profile every night.”

“Not every night.” You grumbled.

Iwaizumi scoffed and continued to scroll through your phone. Some part of him was also curious about Oikawa’s current life, and while he got updates from the setter through the calls, he hasn’t really seen his best friend’s profile in a while. “When’s the last time you checked—“

Iwaizumi stops himself as his eyes land on Oikawa’s most recent post and the caption attached to it.

‘Guess who I bumped into today’

When Oikawa Tooru left for Argentina, he had already accepted that it would be a fresh start. No one knew him there, and no one he knew was there. There were no expectations, and there was no image to uphold. And while that thought made him ecstatic beyond words, there’s always that melancholic undertone to the situation as he realizes that he’s completely alone. Sure, he had friends that he could play volleyball with, but Oikawa’s connection with them wasn’t as deep as the ones he formed in his own country. He chalked it up to his subpar Spanish-speaking skills. Perhaps the heavens knew that Oikawa Tooru, born with a silver-tongue and the face and body of a god, would be unstoppable if he knew how to speak Spanish fluently.

Which is why he was so shocked to see a familiar face holding a tray of food and asking if she could sit with him. The place was empty and the girl could literally sit anywhere, but Oikawa paid it no mind. All he knew was that before him was a reminder of home. Not home home, but Miyagi kind of home.

He never truly felt at home since her, but he didn’t want to dwell on that.

“So Yuki-chan,” Oikawa starts as he notes how the girl in front of him has changed since high school, “What brings you to Argentina?”

“School.” Yuki replies, an eager grin on her face as she looks at the man in front of her. “I needed a change of scenery.”

“Why Argentina?” Oikawa raises a brow. It was a harmless question on his end. He never really liked small talk, but he didn’t really have a choice. The woman across from him was practically a stranger. That’s what it felt like, at least.

Red floods Yuki’s cheeks and Oikawa realizes the implication.

His heart stops, and he wishes he had never asked. He didn’t need this. He didn’t want this. He genuinely hoped he was wrong, but the fidgety way Yuki moved and the way she bit down on her lip out of habit was enough to answer his question. Oikawa was familiar with that look. It was a look he had always put an effort to bring about when they were still together. 

Yuki smiles, practically wearing her heart on her sleeve as she answers the setter. “Because you’re here.”

He didn’t like the sound of that at all.

Oikawa Tooru’s life was in Argentina, and you decided that maybe it was time to start accepting that. He had the path all ready for him, and all he had to do was walk through it. He’s earning decent money, living in a decent apartment, doing what he loves most—probably in more ways than one, you thought bitterly as you remembered the post Iwaizumi had shown you earlier in the cafe—and it’s all just working out for him. 

So yes, maybe it was time to move on. It would be easy. If loving Oikawa Tooru was a dream, then so be it. Dreams were fleeting. Dreams were insignificant. All you needed to do was treat the memory of him the way you should be treating it. An unreachable reality. A product of the subconscious.

And with his absence, it has never been easier.

If only.

(I think I made you up inside my head.)

“Hajime.”

Iwaizumi cleared his throat to speak, mildly unsettled by your choice to call him by his name. You guys were walking down a dimly-lit alley, and he wouldn’t be surprised if that would be the last alley he ever sees considering the tone you used. “Yes?”

“I guess I have to wake up now, huh?”

Iwaizumi is baffled. Confused. Discombobulated. Genuinely wondering what you meant because maybe the heartbreak finally drove you insane. “The fuck?”

“Damn I was trying to be poetic too.” You gave an exaggerated sigh, a small amused smile tugging at the corner of your lips. “Way to kill the mood.”

“Do I look like I care?” Iwaizumi’s eye twitched.

“You’ll never get girls to like you if you’re so harsh, Iwa-chan~” You teased, attempting to lighten the mood. “It’s a miracle that Fuyumi-chan still likes you.”

“Shut up.”

He didn’t need other girls to like him. He didn’t need Sato Fuyumi’s one-sided affection. This. This moment was enough.

Years pass and you find yourself in the locker room of Japan’s Olympic Volleyball Team, supporting their trainer the way bridesmaids support the bride on her wedding day. You knew how much the match meant to Iwaizumi, and you knew that win or lose, he’d still be happy with whatever happens. However, Iwaizumi still has a competitive streak, and you knew that hell would have to freeze over before Iwaizumi Hajime stopped chasing victory.

“You nervous?” You asked, eyes trailing after Iwaizumi’s pacing form. His eyebrows were pinched together, and his lips were pulled into a straight line. “The match is in 30 minutes.”

“Don’t remind me.” Iwaizumi groans as he plops down on the bench beside you. 

“They’ll be fine.” You smiled. “You’ve trained them well, and they’ve been giving their all.”

“What if we lose?” Iwaizumi asks, uncertainty lacing his voice.

You scoffed. “You’re probably used to it considering your old rivalry with Ushijima-san-“

Iwaizumi punches your arm.

“Hey that hurt!” You glared at the trainer while you attempted to soothe the point of impact.

“Good, it was meant to.” Iwaizumi smirks before it fades into a soft smile. A distant look glazes over his eyes before he continues speaking. “He’ll be there, you know.”

I fancied you’d return the way you said

“I know.” You shrugged. After so many years, the pain had become a dull ache. It may have been dull, but it was an ache nonetheless. “He did promise.”

Silence fills the room.

“Are you ready to face him?” Iwaizumi turns to look at you, attempting to gauge your reaction only to be met with a blank expression painted onto your face.

“Honestly,” You almost scoff as you start your lie with that word, “I think I’ll be better off not seeing him.”

Silence takes over.

You didn’t want to admit that you never truly moved on. You didn’t want to admit that all those years apart only made you better at hiding how devastated you were. While it’s true that the pain has dulled out, it seemed to be chronic. It’s manageable most of the time, but there are days where it flares up when you’re alone in your room and no one’s there to call you stupid for holding on. It always hits you as hard as it did in the past, sometimes it gets even worse. You were afraid that saying it out loud would solidify itself into your waking reality, not that it hasn’t, but you’d take whatever chance of denial you could get.

Loving Oikawa Tooru was no dream. It was a nightmare on repeat and you showed no signs of waking up.

The nightmare just got worse the moment he stepped onto the court and on your hopes of ever moving on. It grew out of control when he stepped off, victory smiling down on his figure, and his eyes were set on you. 

So you did what you deemed to be the best course of action.

You ran away.

Kind of stupid now that you think about it, considering that your were quite literally running away from an Olympic athlete.

But I grow old and I forget your name

“Oikawa-san.” You bowed slightly before straightening up. You didn’t have a choice other than to act civil considering that the athlete cornered you in the corner of an empty hallway. “Congratulations on your victory.”

When you look up at Oikawa, you’re shocked to see the pain written on his face. His lips were parted, eyebrows were furrowed, and there was a glassy sheen glazing over his eyes. “Oikawa-san?”

Hearing his voice almost made you want to burst into tears, but you didn’t fold, choosing to clench your fists and grit your teeth in hopes that you’ll be able to keep your composure. “That’s your name, isn’t it?”

Oikawa’s mouth falls open fully, and unlike you, he’s not putting any effort into masking any emotion. He looked like he didn’t know what to say. It seemed that he wasn’t expecting the situation before him. “I’m sorry.”

You could feel the tears pricking at your eyes. You avert your gaze from his, turning it to the floor and hoping that he wouldn’t be able to see the tears that began to form. For a second, it felt like you were reliving your third year in high school. “You kept your promise. You have nothing to be sorry for.” 

Oikawa reaches out towards you. “I’m sorry for leaving-”

“Don’t.” You hissed as you moved away, the last shreds of civility escaping your body. “If you didn’t leave you wouldn’t be here today, so don’t.”

“It was hard without you.” Oikawa sounds defeated as speaks. If he had a goal in mind when he cornered you, it seemed that the said goal was now out of reach. The flame in his eyes when he approached you was slowly dwindling. “Sometimes I wonder if I should’ve listened to you and made it work-”

You could feel your head starting to pound. “Oikawa, don’t-”

Oikawa continues speaking, fim, determined. “Sometimes I wonder what it would’ve been like if I still had you by my side even if you were halfway across the world-”

You could feel your throat constricting as the tears began to fall from your eyes.

“Sometimes I wonder what it would’ve been like if I had asked you to come with me-”

Yuki’s face flashes through your mind, and you break. “Can you just stop?!”

Oikawa looked like he expected that from you because he was unfazed at your tone. “I’ve been away from you for almost seven years, and every night was hell.”

“Every night was hell, as if.” You hissed through your tears, stepping away from Oikawa as you gave him the darkest glare you could muster. “You had Fujimoto at your side. You didn’t need me.”

For some reason, instead of the guilt that you were looking to find, you saw a rekindled flame slowly starting to blaze through his eyes. “I only met Fujimoto once.”

“I’m not your girlfriend. I don’t need your explanation.” You replied sharply as you turned your gaze to his shoes. 

You don’t pull away when Oikawa pulls you to his chest to surround you with his embrace. You allowed yourself to enjoy this moment, just this one moment before you decided that it was time to let go.

You grip at his shirt as you speak, lip trembling, fingers shaking. “Just… I’m trying to move on, and you’re just making it harder for me.”

“What if I don't want you to move on?” Oikawa tightens his grip as he feels you attempt to pull away. 

“Then you’re a selfish asshole.” You managed to hiss out, continuing to struggle in his hold. You knew that the longer you were in his arms, the less you would be willing to put up a fight.

“I love you.” Oikawa whispers, and all the fight within you dies. 

“Don’t.” You choke out as your vision turns blurry from tears. “You don’t mean that.”

“I mean it. God, if it means that I have to tell you everyday, every hour, every minute just to convince you I will.” Oikawa is firm as he pulls away and looks you straight in the eyes. “I love you. I didn’t say it enough back then. Looking back, I never really did enough to let you know just how much I loved you. I understand if you want nothing to do with me, but please--”

Oikawa stops to close his eyes, taking a deep breath as he attempts to calm his racing heart, hands trembling as he holds you by the curve of your biceps. “Please, give me another chance.”

Silence engulfs the two of you. 

You can feel the blood rushing to your head, throbbing, pulsing as you take in the words that had left Oikawa’s lips. Your throat goes dry, your limbs feel weightless, and for once in your life, you don’t know what to do. You didn’t have the guts to push Oikawa Tooru away. You loved him too much to ever truly get over him, and here he was presenting you a reason to not move on from his unyielding presence--even if he was physically absent--that had such a great influence over your life. On the other hand, you’ve had to endure years of heartbreak caused by his departure, and you weren’t sure if you could handle any more. It would be too difficult. 

But you didn’t really give a shit anymore.

Oikawa's eyes blow wide open as your lips meet his. In that moment, he felt everything and nothing all at once. The world around him fades, and all he can focus on is the warmth of your hands that bleeds into his cheeks, the movement of your lips against his, and the feeling of your skin underneath his fingers as he kisses you back desperately.

When you pull away to catch your breath, Oikawa gives you a second before he presses you to the wall, wraps one arm around your waist, and rests his weight on one palm beside your head. He kisses you once more, desperation, regret, apology, and the promise of a better future bleeding through his kisses as he pulls you closer to his body, chest to chest, with only bone, muscle, and cloth to separate the hearts that--in the beginning of days--may have once belonged to the same body.

The waves calm and Oikawa speaks. He doesn’t ask--no--he says it with his whole chest, unwavering as conviction settles itself into his dark eyes.

“Come to Argentina with me.”

I should have loved a thunderbird instead;

At least when spring comes back they roar again.

Iwaizumi is leaning against the wall, smiling sadly to himself as he begins to stand up straight, preparing to walk away, whether it was from the venue or from the reason there’s a slight pang in his chest, he didn’t know. 

His phone buzzes in his pocket, and a familiar name is shown along with a message that he deemed was the sender’s attempt to comfort him on his team’s loss.

Sato Fuyumi

I watched the game [5:31 PM]

You guys fought well so don’t be too down in the dumps, okay? [5:32 PM]

Iwaizumi smiles a little as he pockets the phone. Sato was right, they fought well, he fought well. Two years in middle school, three years in high school, and nearly seven years after, all he did was fight and hold on. 

I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead

For a second, Iwaizumi closes his eyes and through them he sees flashes of countless memories: locks of hair, teary eyes, and the saddest face that looked a little out of place for someone who gave him a reason to smile.

Iwaizumi almost didn’t want to open his eyes. Maybe if he shut them a little longer then the images of an impossible future would become the reality of his waking world, but he knew it would never play out like that. Deep in his mind, in the darker corners of his head that was covered by layers of denial, the distant memory of a dimly-lit alley plays in his head. Iwaizumi scoffs as he realizes that he wasn’t the only one who still had their eyes shut.

(I think I made you up inside my head)

A lifeless chuckle escapes Iwaizumi’s lips as he tries to shut his eyes tighter, pain and frustration pooling underneath his lids. The realization hits him, and he resists the urge to cry because he had seen this happening before it even did, but he was too stubborn to admit it, too caught up in a dream that he’d eventually be violently ripped awake from.

Oikawa Tooru defeated him twice that day. 

And the second loss was more painful.

A/N: I finally posted this one AHHHHH. I like to think that the writing style I used in this one was better than my previous ones in terms of imagery, but I don’t know, I’m still trying to find a solid writing style and PHEW it is difficult. Anyways, I hope you guys liked this one!

[septnautical]

High pitched laughter echoed down the hall and was accompanied by the loud clang of running feet on the steel tiles.

“Hurry Skye! Before they see!” A mischievous voice whispered in restrained glee. Another giggle followed as two small bodies rounded the corner then hid behind the coffee machine in the lounge area. The first voice shushed the other figure who stifled laughter and hid against their shoulder. Once it was quiet there was a beat of silence before another presence rushed in, gasping for breath. “K-Kids! C’mon this isn’t funny!” An older male with ebony hair that fell over his eye exclaimed anxiously, “Your mom doesn’t want you over here!” The hidden figures didn’t dare move or make a sound. The older boy sighed and pushed his hair out of his face, before fidgeting with his arm that seemed to glint in the light. “God, Stacy is gonna kill me…” He then hurries down the rest of the hall- trying to see if he can still catch sight of them. Once the coast is clear, two small heads pop out of their hiding space. The older one, a boy with brunette hair, grins from ear to ear then whoops victoriously.. “Yes! See I told you we could lose him!” He giggled as he pulled his little sister out of their hiding spot. She pushed her bright blonde hair out of her eyes then smiled excitedly at her brother. She clapped and then spun around in glee. The boy laughed then looked around the lounge with curiosity. “I dunno why mom and Sharper were so worried about us being over here! It looks the same as the other side… same boring lounges and machines-” Then, he pauses as another sound echoes down the hall in front of them. He cocks his head then turns to his sister. “Do you hear that?” She repeats his gesture and listens, then nods enthusiastically, her eyes sparkling. The boy grins then grabs her hand and leads her down the hall, “Let’s go see what it is! It sounds like singing!” They sneak down the hall carefully- trying not to give themselves away to their purser. But, to them it felt like an epic spy mission, and they loved every second of it. As they neared the mysterious sound, they realized they had ventured towards another large clearing- a hallway made completely out of glass so they could see the ocean outside. They marveled at the sight of the ocean going out as far as the eye could see. The creatures swimming in the distance and the plant life swaying in the currents. But, what truly caught their eye was the source of the sound. A man with a long blue tail speckled with bright blue spots was circling  the open ocean by the base, his long wing like fins trailing behind him gracefully. He was twirling and singing- his voice mesmerizing and melodic. And, singing alongside him were two rabbit rays, seemingly dancing around him. The kids come to the glass to watch, entranced by the performance. They had only seen the hybrids once- and they seemed so scary! But this one… he’s just singing and swimming. He looks like he could even be nice! After a while, the merman seems to sense something and turns around only to meet the eyes of the two curious little humans. His face flushes, embarrassed now that he knows he was being watched. The rabbit rays stop their dance and bump into the mer’s side, as if trying to get him to start up again. He shushes them and pets their heads before swimming up to the glass.

  He smiles awkwardly and tries to wave, “Uh- Hi there! I… didn’t know I had an audience…” “You sing really pretty!” The boy pipes up and the merman laughs, messing with his hair. “Oh! Thank you! I guess it’s… in my dna you know? These guys are the natural singers-” He pets the rabbit rays again who have come up to his side to observe the children as well. “Oh cool! I didn’t know rabbit rays could sing!” The boy exclaims, excitedly, “Or that you could pet them! Are they nice? What’s their names? And your name!” The rabbit ray mer blinks at the rapid fire questions then laughs, “Well- their cries sound kinda like singing so i just try to sing along! Rabbit rays tend to keep to themselves… but they’re very gentle. Other fish don’t bother them because their skin is poisonous-” He then blinks again and chuckles to himself. 

“Oh and- I’m Chase!” He then points to the rabbit ray on his side, who seems to favor one side as it swims, one of its fins seeming smaller. “And this is Bunny- and this is Grayson,” He points to the other rabbit ray who spins then lets out a cry like a sung greeting. Bunny seems to shy her way behind Chase’s back but peeks back out to look at the kids.

The girl laughs and jumps up at the rabbit rays, her eyes sparkling in amazement. The boy presses more up against the glass and then exclaims, “No way! My middle name is Grayson!” Chase cocks his head in confusion, “Middle… Name? Why do you have more than one name?” The boy makes a face as he thinks of this, “.... i don’t know why- but that’s what my mom calls me! Conner Grayson Brody- that’s me!” He then puts a hand on his sister’s head and messes with her hair. “And this is my little sister, Skye London Brody!” The girl grins through her messed up bangs and waves at Chase. Chase waves back and smiles, “Well then- Nice to meet you Conner Grayson Brody and Skye London Br-” “You don’t have to say our whole names!” Conner laughs, “Just Conner and Skye is good!” “Oh- okay! Nice to meet you- Conner and Skye.” The merman smiles then swims down to be more at their level, looking at them curiously. “...you two are quite small for whitesuits… are you still growing?” The two look at each other then giggle, “I guess so!” Conner replies, “We’re just kids- so it’s gonna be a while until we’re as big as the adults!” “I see…” Chase comments and then smiles at them fondly, “...You two remind me of my brothers when they were very small… when I first met them they were all so tiny… I was always the biggest- now they’re all as big as me!” He laughs, “Maybe one day you two will be big like us too!” Conner’s eyes grow big as he gasps and presses up against the glass, “Could we get cool tails like you too??” Chase balks at this then thinks, “I dunno- Maybe! I dunno if humans can grow tails like us… seems like it could be possible though!” The kids gasp and dance at this, excited. “We never get to swim! I wanna swim all day long and see all of the ocean!” Conner exclaims, zipping around the room with his arms outstretched. Skye jumps up and claps. Then, a female robotic sounding voice pipes up from where she is saying, “Me too! Me too!” Chase chuckles as he watches them, “Why can’t you go swimming now? Isn’t that what white suits are born to do?” The two kids stop and then look at each other. Conner messes with his suit under a big poofy sweater and looks down. “Mom says we can’t stay in the water long if we ever have to go- she says it's too dangerous. Even though- she goes out all the time…” He grumbles and kicks his foot- which seems to clang metalically against the steel tile below. 

“Why does she get to and you can’t?” Chase asks. “I know it’s cuz of my stupid leg-” Conner grunts- then lifts up his suit leg a bit more so Chase can see. He didn’t know why he didn’t notice it earlier. Conner’s lower leg is all silver and made of metal. There’s a small ball joint at the end of his calf that attaches to a foot shaped metal piece. “Mom says I can’t swim well with this… and i can’t swim with only one leg either.” He sighs then points to his sister. “And Skye is too little… and Mama says her brain doesn’t work very well so that’d make it hard to swim. Or call for help if we need it- since Skye has to use her PDA.” The merman tilts his head like a confused animal, “Use her PDA? To talk?” Skye jumps up then pulls her PDA out of her jacket. She quickly pokes around on the surface then looks up at Chase with a bright smile as her PDA speaks with a robotic female voice. “Hi- I am Skye!” She giggles then types out, “I like your blue. You sing good!” Chase seems amazed and he swims to be closer to Skye, smiling from ear to ear. “T-That’s- that’s amazing! Oh Skye, you need to meet my brother Jamie! He can’t talk well either- maybe you can teach him how to do that!” The kids look at each other in wonder then back at Chase with excitement. “Really? Your brother is like my sister??” Conner breathes. “Well- he had an accident when he was little- I dunno if his… brain doesn’t work like you said- which seems weird to me! Skye seems just fine- just like my brother!” Conner scratches his head, “Mmmm mama calls it something else too- she uses lots of fancy words cuz she’s a doctor. I think… it’s called.. A...au-tis-m? But yeah Skye seems just fine to me too! She just likes things a certain way and doesn’t like loud noises and needs help to speak!” Skye nods and then spins around as if to say, ‘See I’m all good!’ Chase smiles warmly and nods along, “Yeah.. I know all my brothers need help here and there… so it doesn’t seem bad to me~.” He looks at the horizon line then back to the kids, ‘It’s still light out, if you two wanted I could take you to go see Jameson!” “Really?” Conner gasps excitedly. “Yeah! I could also teach you some cool tricks to swim better- I taught Bunny to swim even with her wing.” The rabbit ray in question seems to recognize her name and she swims in front of the kids and lifts up her damaged wing to show her swimming just fine. The kids exchange a look then grin and nod, taking off their outer clothes to get to their wet suits underneath. “Mom shouldn’t mind if we have a grown up with us who can swim!” Conner exclaims, looking super giddy. Skye straps her pda to her hip then jumps up and down. Chase giggles at their excitement then swims to where a hatch to the outside is. “Here! We can be super quick-” “HEY! STOP RIGHT THERE!” A shrill female voice suddenly rings from the hall. And before the kids can blink they’re being scooped up and/or dragged away from the door by a panting frazzled looking blonde woman. The black haired boy from earlier is hiding behind the doorway, watching with worried eyes. “W-what the hell were you two thinking?!” The lady screeches, adjusting her hold on them and looking at them sternly. “You cannot go out into the ocean alone!” “But Mama! We weren’t going alone! Mr. Chase was gonna take us!” Conner whined as he pointed outside towards the merman. The mother turned to the window and glared burning hot daggers at Chase. There’s a moment of confusion lingering in her gaze, like she might be trying to place him… like she’s seen him before. But, the anger comes back tenfold soon enough. “You-!” She spat, charging towards the window and pointing at the merman threateningly, “Just what were you trying to do?! Were you trying to drown my children?!”

“What? N-No I would never-!” Chase tried to argue. “Well then are you stupid? Are you blind?! My son has a metal leg! He can’t swim! And my daughter is only six! They were just in a ship crash!” The mother seethes, holding Skye’s head against her neck. The girl is shaking slightly and cupping her hands over her ears. “I- I…!” The rabbit ray mer tries to explain himself but the mother hears nothing of it. “You- you hybrids need to stay away from us! If i see you talking to my children again, I’ll be forced to do something drastic! Understood?” Chase backs away from the glass and shrinks in on himself. He nods timidly. The mother glares at him one last time before snorting and starting to walk away, one hand stroking and trying to comfort Skye, the other dragging a distressed Conner behind her. The boy turns to look at Chase with tearful eyes. It breaks Chase’s heart. He presses back up against the window and tries to smile at him, waving goodbye. Conner chokes on a sob but tries to smile and wave back. Skye peeks her head up and waves tiny little fingers at Chase. Then, the hall falls silent again. Chase sighs and lets himself sink into the sand below. Grayson and Bunny come up and nuzzle up against him, breathing bubbles into his hair and singing soft sad melodies. Chase looks up towards the base and tries not to cry. He has a good feeling though… those humans were nothing like the white suits he’s known before. And he has the feeling they’ll definitely meet again.

[serialkillerinthemaking]

below the cut is my insanely long analysis of sa and its metaphors its bad but i did in an hour with a headache so it is what it is

analyzing sa even though it's been said so much it's redundant I just need a place to collect it all ya know

note: none of this is chronological to the story and its probably just going to be the song lyrics

there are many run-on sentences and grammar problems sorry. I'm writing this off the idea that everyone has a decent understanding of sa and its plot.

obviously, mama who bore is about Wendla’s mom not telling her about sex. mwbmr is the same thing except it shows none of the girl's mom tells them about sex.

all that's known starts with the boys robotically repeating Virgil's Aeneid before Melchior breaks out and starts singing. He explains that science and facts are pushed aside in favor of religion and his parents wanting him to fall in line and not question what is taught. that's the general theme of the song. he is determined not to become part of the hivemind and question what is taught. he wants to find and see and experience more than what they know of and are teaching in terms of the world and he himself.

He mentions the stars and them being sort of all-knowing. stars are brought up again in those you've known sort of being a metaphor for society and the children of his generation and the ones to come. In those youve known, he vows to read Moritz and Wendla's dreams to the stars because they are dead and can really communicate with him and therefore rely on him to spread the word of their thoughts and ideas and stories. this being a cautionary tale, those stories must be told.

he mentions the repression of free thought. children are naturally curious of the world around them but as they grow up the adults push them not to be and only to accept what we know now. he doesn't want to lose this and stop eternally searching for more. this is sort of put into the term "purple summer". meaning the story, the cause, the prevention, and the tragic beauty of the story. we'll come back to the meaning of purple summer itself.

he says one day all will know generally meaning what is happening beneath the surface and societies refusal to talk about it and explore it. in purple summer this comes back more concrete. instead of one day, more like a distant hope, he says all shall know. they will know now, soon, not one day in the distant future. In the end, his journey is complete and it goes from one day all will know to all shall know. 

tbol and my junk are pretty straight forward you guys don't need me for those.

touch me is basically about the yearning for sex and to know what is. there are some metaphors but they are pretty self-contained within the song itself and don't really have enough grasp on them to go too deep. either that or they're really not actually that deep lol.

woyb is basically about Melchior and Wendla wanting to be with each other and trying to resist the temptation because of oppression

The dark I know well is about the rape and sexual assault of Martha and Ilse at the hands of her father and artist friends, respectively. Again the song uses one central self-contained metaphor that is never brought up again in the context of the show and is pretty easy to understand. 

and then there were none has frau Gabor intermittently reading a letter she wrote in response to Moritz asking for money to escape. Moritz jumps in and sings his thoughts as he reads the letter and basically watches his last hope fall through. he feels she tries to sugarcoat the point of the letter. he is mad for saying things in an attempt to make him feel better and to try her best to help, such as writing a letter to his parents. she tells him she still cares for him but can't help him. he feels he has no other option left after failing his tests. you all know the plot you don't need me to explain it.

mirror blue night Melchior is horny blah blah blah I hate this song moving on

I believe while they disobey the church and its a church song irony yeah

(it's so late I'm sorry)

don't do sadness blue wind ohoho lets goooo

Moritz wishes to be a butterfly, no longer having to deal with life, and happily flying. he says he doesn't do sadness because he just can't handle it anymore. the failing the test hurt him and frau Gabor refusing to help was the straw that broke the camel's back. he can't take it anymore. Ilse comes in and sees he's sad. it's cold and dark outside symbolizing his current mood so she sings about the happiness of spring and summer to cheer him up. fall and winter are analogies for sadness and pessimism, spring and summer are happiness and optimism, hence spring awakening, the happiness coming back after the sad times. purple summer also references that but that's for later. she talks about when they were kids happily playing in the sun. wind, a cold sad month thing always comes back but it always goes away. happiness will always come and sadness will always go just like the seasons. Moritz is only living in fall and autumn, not seeing the spring and summer ahead. Ilse gets through her life through optimism relying on the blue wind never taking when it creeps up and always going away once again. and then it just kinda repeats you get the rest.

left behind. he never got to grow up and be an adult and its his parent's (mostly his dad's) fault. metaphor once again fully in the song not really brought up again.

you guys got the rest (more than sufficient critical conjecture on woybr) until WHISPERING whooo

she hears the ghosts because throughout she alive and dead. sort of. everyone is sad. she describes her family's grief at her funeral. the preacher uses her as a cautionary tale and warns others of her fate. they say she did bad things and this how she ended up. such a shame, such a sin. she feels powerless, like she didn't have a voice and only could do what was told of her. she didn't know any better despite her best efforts. she mentions summer longing in the wind. happiness being swept up by sadness was pretty much her whole "relationship" with Melchior.

👏those👏you've👏known

there is so much I'm just gonna analyze it line by line (i consider this the pinnacle of metaphors in theatre considering the buildup)

MORITZ

Those you’ve known

And lost, still walk behind you

All alone

They linger till they find you

self explanatory pretty much

Without them

The world grows dark around you

And nothing is the same until you know that they have found you

Melchior's world has crumbled, he feels like it never going to be the same without them, but he found them.

WENDLA

Those you’ve pained

May carry that still with them

All the same

They whisper: “All forgiven.”

He hurt her, and she's still hurting but she forgives him because there is love in heaven, all will be forgiven.

Still your heart says

The shadows bring the starlight

And everything you’ve ever been is still there in the dark night

everything she was was left behind, but she still finds it here.

WENDLA

When the northern wind blows

The sorrows your heart holds

There are those who still know –

They’re still home

We’re still home

he's still hurting, they're still there.

MORITZ (Sung In Counterpart)

Though you know

You’ve left them far behind

You walk on by yourself, and not with them –

Still you know

They will fill your heart and mind

When they say there’s a way through this

he's living and must continue without them but they are still there in his heart.

MELCHIOR, MORITZ AND WENDLA

Those you’ve known

And lost, still walk behind you

All alone

Their song still seems to find you

They call you

As if you knew their longing –

They whistle through the lonely wind, the long blue shadows falling

they are still there! 

MELCHIOR

All alone

But still I hear their yearning

Through the dark, the moon, alone there, burning

The stars too

They tell of spring returning –

And summer with another wind that no one yet has known

The stars are back! they are all knowing and tell of the sadness passing, the happiness returning, with something new.

(MORITZ and WENDLA Join with Counterparts)

They call me –

Through all things –

Night’s falling

But somehow I go on

You watch me

Just watch me –

I’m calling

From longing

a call back to all thats known

WENDLA (Sung in Counterpart)

When the northern wind blows

The sorrows your heart’s known –

I believe…

she still believes in forgiveness.

MORITZ (Sung in Counterpart)

Still you known

There’s so much more to find –

Another dream, another love you’ll hold

he doesn't have to be stuck on them and they are giving him permission to move on and find happiness again.

Still you know

To trust your own true mind

On your way – you are not alone

There are those who still know

a call back to all that's known, 

MELCHIOR (Sung Alone)

Now they’ll walk on my arm through the distant night

And I won’t let them stray from my heart

Through the wind, through the dark, through the winter light

I will read all their dreams to the stars

i dissected this line back in all thats known but STARS! they back

I'll walk now with them

I’ll call on their names

I’ll see their thoughts are known

they know now! all will know he knows and know they know! their story will be told!

WENDLA

Not gone –

Not gone –

they are still there!

MELCHIOR

They walk with my heart –

And I'll never let them go

they are still there!

I’ll never let them go

I’ll never let them go

You watch me

Just watch me

I’m calling

I’m calling –

And one day all will know

ALL👏WILL👏KNOW👏

P U R P L E  S U M M E R

purple has historically represented freedom, the kids now have freedom and summer here means happiness. so now they have both. purple summer is just yeah knowledge and freedom of oppression and the hivemind because this Germany 1890 bad (its a john Mulaney reference I'm so sorry im losing my mind)

And all shall know the wonder

I will sing the song of purple summer

All thats known, all will know all shall know. They will know because we will tell them.

And still, I wait

The swallow brings

A song of what's to follow -

The glory of the spring

The happiness! The knowledge! The freedom! Its coming! It waking it up! SPRING IS AWAKENING! ahhhhhhhhhh

[tooyoungngolden]

Prompt:

Imagine person A lightly tracing “I love you” over and over again on person B’s back, assuming that person B is asleep. When person A is lying on the back, getting ready to sleep, person B moves closer and wraps their arms around person A, whispering softly “I love you too,”.

Bonus if it’s the first time that person A has ever declared their love for person B.

Nearly 3.4K words!

—————

Being best friends with some one like Harry Styles means that there are some things that you don’t do as a person. Constantly being around Harry Styles means there are definitely some things you don’t do. Ever.

There are little things, like make a fool out of him in public, play fighting where you’d leave marks- which half the time they do- posting things online, going out when they shouldn’t, pretty much anything. Then there are the slightly larger things which were clearly outline for Y/N when she and Harry had first became friends. Big things like, no holding is hand, or kissing. They weren’t aloud to mess around with each other or get together as a couple. One thing that Harry’s management team had made very clear to her was that she wasn’t aloud to fall in love with him. She didn’t have a clue if they gave the same warning to Harry.

That clearly didn’t work for her.

Harry and Y/N had known each other from when they were teenagers. They’d met a little while after Harry had auditioned for the X-Factor. She’d done the same thing, but had gotten through where as Harry had to be brought back with the other boys. They’d met, an instant connection had occurred and they were best friends. They grew together for the period of time that they were together, getting to know each other as well as Harry’s other band members. She loved ever single one of them. When she was eliminated from the competition she stayed, of course she was upset. She wanted to win, wanted the opportunity to work with record labels and actually go somewhere with her music career- and she did, she was signed not long after she left- but she hadn’t one. But she stayed. She stayed for Harry and the other boys, watching them as they very quickly climbed to the top and won over every person in the audience.

When they hadn’t won it broke Y/N’s heart, they were the best. They were the group of people that she though deserved to win. She wanted them to win. And in a sense they did win, they got the ‘deal’ of a lifetime, they’d produce and write and sing as much as they wanted. They got to tour the world and do something that they loved. Y/N was doing the same thing of course, she just wasn’t as famous as the boy band that the world came to know and love as One Direction. She was there though, writing her own music, producing and releasing things that she and her fans loved. She got what she wanted, and she also got the friendship of a lifetime to go along with it.

With One Direction touring all over the world Y/N didn’t get to see her best friend as much as she wanted to. And whenever they had a small period of time where they weren’t busy, Y/N was. Their timelines never seemed to match, they were touring or writing, they’d get a break and then Y/N was touring or writing and then she’d get a break and the boys were already back to working again. They’d see each other though, even if it was for small periods of time, they always, always made time for each other. As much as they possibly could.

And then 2015 happened. Zayn left the band and everything went to absolute shit. Harry was a little less Harry. He was still her Harry but he wasn’t as happy as he once was. So she took a break, she stopped writing and working all the time. She stopped spending so much time away from him. She finished her tour and took time off. She went to see Harry, she stayed with him. All of the time. She toured with the rest boys while they were still working, helping where she could, making things a little better than it was.

And then a year later the boys took a break, a ‘small hiatus’ they called it. 18 months of doing nothing. She got her best friend back for 18 months and it was absolutely heaven. They spent so much time together, at his house, at hers. They spent weeks doing nothing. And then days where’s they went in road trips, they had fun. They went on holiday and spent 3 weeks in Spain where they both worked on their solo work, Y/N had never been as proud as Harry as she was in those movements.

And then the boys decided that they didn’t want to come back, they decided that they wanted to stay apart for a little while longer. They were all working on their own music and were enjoy it way to much to stop. So they stayed apart, the other boys doing what they wanted to do and Harry do what he wanted, each of them being signed to different labels and getting new management. He finished writing his first album, he’s first solo album. His. That he’d written by himself, it was all his music. And he couldn’t believe it.

So he released his first album. He finally let the world hear the music that he’d been working on for the better part of a year- and they loved it as much as he did. Pretty soon after he released his first album he was back to touring, going places that he hadn’t visited in a long time, revisiting memories that included both the boys and his Y/N.

They went back to seeing each other on their breaks, they’d get time off and they’d spend it with each other. Harry was touring the world and Y/N was working on her second album, always making sure that Harry was the first person that heard any of her music, and he did the exact same.

Harry’s first solo world tour was finished, he been and don’t everything he needed to. He’d done the interviews and the shows, done all of the extras and finalised all of the recording that he needed to. And he was off again. Not working for him was sometimes something he loved, he loved not having to work, racking his brain for things to do however was less fun. Harry had pretty much started working on his second album as soon as he had finished the first one. As soon as the words on the pages were finished and the songs were recorded he was writing again, getting more words down in pages that he could make into something more.

When Harry had told Y/N about his ideas for the second album, her heart swelled. She’s never thought that she would get to where she is now. Never thought that she would have the kind of fame that she did now. She would have never had thought that she would get to share that with someone, someone that actually understood where she was coming from. Someone like Harry.

She’d never been as proud of the both of them in that moment when he told her about the songs, the names. Everything. She’d never been filled with so much love in her whole life.

Lights up was the first thing he released from the album. The second first thing he’d done by himself. It was the first thing that the world saw of Fine Line. It was the first thing that Y/N had seen of the album as well. Harry had shown her the songs, they always did that with each other. But she never heard the notes, never heard the lyrics sung. Until she did. And she fell in love with him a little bit more every time she listened to the song.

Song after song was released after that. The world quickly falling in love with the album as much as she did. The whole thing was released in December, and it was kinda like the Christmas present she never knew she wanted.

Fast forward a few months and here they are. Harry was doing interviews and going to meetings and loving every second of it. His second album was loved by everyone. He’d never been filled with so much pride. And neither had Y/N for him. They were spending more time together before they both had to leave for their tours and it was weeks before they saw each other again.

—————���

“Come on, Harry!” Y/N groans, moving so that she was laying back on his bed. She honestly didn’t want to move anymore than was absolutely necessary. She lifted her head slightly, looking over at where Harry was standing by the unit on the other side of the room, moving something around.

“I just wanna go to bed,” she whined, trying to get Harry to join her where she was wrapped in his duvet. They’d been out all day and her body ached. All she wanted was a cuddle off her best friend as she drifted off into what could quite possibly be the best sleeps of her life. But Harry was getting in the damn bed.

“I’m nearly done,” he mumbles back, still facing the counter not bothering to face Y/N. He wanted to climb in next to her, wanted to wrap his arms around her and honest never let go. But that was illogical. She didn’t want him that way and he’s been doing a pretty good job of actually hiding how he felt for as long as he could remember. Harry sighs, finally finished on the laptop he closes it down, pushing it back so it wasn’t near the edge, he turns to face the bed. Watching Y/N as she stared at the ceiling.

“I can feel you staring at me H,” she smirked, lifting her head back up to look him in the eyes. A quick and not so subtle flush rushes across his cheeks. He looks down, shuffling over to the bed, he reaches out. Pulling the duvet up so that he could slide in next to her. It wasn’t the first time that they’d shared a bed, it probably wouldn’t be the last if he was being honest.

“Stop…” he groaned back. Moving down the bed he lifted his arm so that Y/N could slide across the bed and snuggle down into his side, her head resting gently on his chest.

Harry sighs, body finally relaxing as he lies next to Y/N. He’s always relaxed when he’s around her. Always confident and happy. She’s everything to him. Even if she wasn’t aware.

Y/N settles down, moving so that her head was pressed against Harry chest. Her ear pressed right up against his skin, she’s fully able to hear his heart beat, loud and clear. Even through the T-shirt she listens, loving the warm body and the sound of life beneath her.

Harry had comes to rest against her back, gently running his fingers along the skin her body shivers in response to the caress.

“Sorry love,” he whispers, moving his head down to rest his chin on top of her head. Y/N shakes her head back to him, pulling his fingers away in responce to her body.

“Don’t stop,” her body shivers again as Harry pulls his fingers away, “feels good,”

Harry laughs, his body gently shaking as the sound works it way past his lips. The laugh causes his chest to vibrate, Y/N’s head moving alongside the movements- her own laugh slips past her lips, it developing into a small sigh had Harry starts running his fingers back across her back.

Harry starts tracing small patterns on her skin. He starts with small shapes, a circle, square, some random squiggles before he moves into actually tracing words. He starts with lyrics from his favourite songs, and then some from hers. Once he’s pretty sure that she seconds away from falling asleep he starts tracing the words ‘I love you’ into her skin. He’s definitely not brave enough to do that when she’s aware of what he’s doing.

She however, is fully aware, she’s sleepy. She’ll admit that, openly admit the fact that she’s tired. But she didn’t want to miss what Harry was doing. Didn’t want to miss the shivers that danced along her spine whenever Harry’s fingers brushed a particularly sensitive spot. Didn’t want to miss the flush that filled her whole body.

She’s aware when Harry stops making shapes, she can feel when he stops making random marks and goes onto making specific letters. She doesn’t quite get it when he’s writing out the lyrics, he moves a little too fast for her to figure out the shapes. She definitely gets it when he moves into writing out ‘I love you’. It takes her a minute, she tires to guess the letters that he’s writing out before she traces his fingers in her mind, her heart begins racing as soon as she figures out what he’s writing.

She doesn’t move. She waits, wanting to see what Harry will do. She wants him to say something to her, she needs him to say something to her. Going by the small sigh that works it way out of Harry she doubts that he’s going to be confessing any time soon. She feels him gently stop the movements on her back, his hand just resting there.

Her minds as mess, her thoughts completely racing. She wants to say something to him. She wants Harry to know more than anything in the whole entire world that she loves him too. She wants everything that he could possibly offer her, she wants him. Just him.

Harry sighs again, he’s chest rising and falling with the noise. Y/N makes her mind up in that moment. Knows that she wants him, knows that she wants him to know she wants him.

Y/N moves her body, turning so that she can face Harry, his arms tense around her and his whole body tenses under where she’s laying.

She looks up at him, his eyes are closed, clenched shut as he brings his bottom lip into his mouth and bites down on the skin. She knows he’s awake, she knows that he knows, she knows what he was doing. Knows that she can tell what he was writing.

She moves further up the bed, pulling out of Harry’s arms so that the could wrap her arms around him. Bringing one hand up to his face she pulls his bottom lip out from between his teeth, running her thumb across the skin to soothe the ache that she’s pretty sure he’s feeling.

She looks at him, his eyes are now open. Staring at her as she gazes at his face. She doesn’t know how she’s supposed to tell him, doesn’t know how to work those three little words into a casual sentence. So she doesn’t go for casual, she goes outright.

“I love you too,” she confesses, moving her eyes up so that she’s looking Harry in the face instead of looking down at his lips.

Harry’s eyes widen slightly, his mouth opening slightly as he listens to the words that have just spilled out of his best friends mouth. That have just fallen from the mouth of the woman that he’s been in love with.

“I love you,” Y/N repeats, her voice absolutely not trembling as she says the words for a second time. Harry doesn’t say anything back to her, his hands are at the back of her back, clenched in the top that she’s wearing.

She looks at Harry, her nerves becoming a little more noticeable as Harry doesn’t respond to her. Y/N doesn’t have a clue what to do? She doesn’t know how to make him say anything back.

“Harry?” She questions, her voice shaking.

He nods, looking at her. Still not saying anything.

“Are you going to say something?” She tries again.

She gets another nod. Slower this time, Harry opens his mouth, trying to actually get words to come and and talk and reply back to the love of his life.

“You don’t have to say it back,” Y/N starts, trying to take the words back now that Harry hadn’t said anything back to her, tears prick at her eyes as she continues, “I just thought that because you were tracing it on my back, it doesn’t matter. I didn’t mean anything, I’ll just…”

“I love you,” Harry cuts into the middle of her rant, stopping her from continuing on with what she was saying, stopping her for taking back words he’s waiting so long to hear come out of her mouth.

Harry grins, it’s not the first time that they’ve said I love you to each other. They’ve been best friends for over 10 years, they’ve seen each other at the worsts and at their bests. This however, is the first time they’ve confessed it in a situation like this. Cuddled together in bed, body heavy with sleep as Harry traces the words into the skin of her back. That part was new.

Y/N looks at him, her eyes still filling with tears- this time for a completely different reason that the first time they pricked at her eyes.

Harry sees that her eyes were getting watery and tenses, he hates when she’s upset, hates it even more when he’s the one that made her feel that way.

“Oh no. No, no, no, no,” Harry repeats, moving to sit up in the bed, pulling Y/N with him so that she was straddling his lap, her arms moving up that they’re wrapped around his shoulders,

“Please don’t cry love. I didn’t mean to upset you, I really didn’t,” he starts, it’s Y/N’s turn to into cut Harry off before he can finish his sentence,

“Didn’t,” she starts, moving her head back from where it was resting in the crook of Harry’s neck, out into space where Harry can clearly see her face. Her eyes red and a smile stretched across her lips, “I’m jus’ so happy right now H,” she lifts her hand up, moving to rest it against Harry’s cheek.

Harry smiles back at her, stretching up so that his forehead was resting against Y/N’s, he looks down at her. Her eyes already connecting with his as soon as he moves his head.

“Can I kiss you?” He questions, eyes not leaving hers.

Y/N nods back at him, moving her head back so that she’s move comfortable. Harry moves his head down, eyes locking with Y/N’s as his lips connect with her. Their eyes slip closed as compete and utter bliss fills both of the minds and bodies. Harry deepens the kiss, bringing his own hands up so that they grip and Y/N cheeks, keeping her in place and he pours everything into their first kiss.

Y/N pulls away first, panting she grins at him. Her mind and heart are racing a million miles a minute and she cannot for the life of her string together a full sentence. So she sets for grinning at him, bringing her moth back down so that their lips connect again. Her initiating their second kiss.

Her heart flutters in her chest as they pull away again, both of their cheeks are flushed and their eyes are completely glazed, pupils blown wide as they stare down at each other. Harry’s the one that speaks up first, repeating the words that got them to where they are now.

“I love you,” he whispers to her, pecking her lips gently as they look at each other.

Y/N smiles, her heart as full as it could possibly be in this moment.

“I love you too,” she kisses him back, mumbling a quite “more than you’ll ever know,” against his lips.

Harry grins at her. His own heart seconds away from bursting out of his chest.

This is everything that he’s ever wanted. Everything that he’d been dreaming about for years.

And they were finally getting it. They were finally getting each other. Forever. Or as long as they wanted each other. And for both of them- that was forever.

———————

Another fluffy one!! I love writing these ones, they make my heart a little happier each time I write something like this!

Let me know what you think! I love hearing from you guys and support and feedback is always appreciated and wanted! I love it when you guys answer!

Request something! I need some new things to write and really want you guys to ask! My requests are always open to pretty much anything that you want!

Be nice and treat people with kindness!

Love, Dari🌻

Ps. Pls pls pls request something. I need new ideas

[hyunsracha]

for your entertainment — han jisung

word count: 2.3k

summary: jisung panics when he sees cute people. he also stares at them.

so you work at an entertainment store right

where ppl can buy like uhhh movies and albums n merch n stuff!!

u like ur job.. it’s one of the least popular stores in the mall so u spend most of ur time organizing and reorganizing with one earbud in listening to music

u have to wear a boring grey t-shirt as uniform so u spice things up by making the rest of u look good

everyone else does the same thing i mean … ur manager lia wears purple eyeshadow ok

ur other manager chris doesn’t even try to look good! and it’s so fucking annoying u wanna knock his fuck 24/7

random girl: hehe<3 can i have ur number?

chris: only if u sign up for our rewards program<3

u, angry bc u haven’t sold any rewards programs in a week: >:(

ur other two co-workers are hyunjin and jeongin.

hyunjin has a pretty popular youtube dancer cover channel, but for Copyright Reasons it’s not paying the bills

and jeongin is a senior in high school and this is his first job and u just wanna pinch his little cheeks every time u work together

“y/n i swear to god i’m gonna punch u and get fired rn stop POKING MY CHEEKS-”

“he’s just a little baby…*to passing customer* LOOK AT THE BABY!”

“>:(((“

so it’s a tuesday night.

tuesday nights are the fucking best (worst if u love talking to ppl) bc u’ll get like … 2 customers in 4 hours?

it’s 8pm and the mall closes at 9

usually u start vacuuming at 8:30 but at like 7:50 chris was like “GET THE FUCKING VACUUM WE’RE CLOSING RN !!”

jeongin: u do it.

u: no u do it bitch.

jeongin: *sticks out his fist*

u sigh and do rock paper scissors like the baby wants.

and u lose

u fucking lose

and jeongin just cackles, sitting down on the stool behind the registers

so u trudge to the back room and the vacuum, grumbling about how ur older so jeongin should be doing this!!

but it’s fine!

so you’re vacuuming right.

and in storms Han Jisung

yes han jisung is the kinda dude to come to the mall right before closing and go on a shopping spree

he’s got his best friend lee minho in tow, who does Not look happy to be here.

“come on minho!! i need to get season 4 of naruto to finish my collection!!” jisung whines, pulling on his friend’s arm as he stands on his tiptoes to look for the anime section.

“can you keep your voice down?? i have an image, yanno.”

“minho you’re literally here to buy a kelly clarkson album.”

minho grumbles and waddles off towards the cds, where you are...vacuuming...loudly

and minho’s like -____- why are u so fucking loud

like u don’t MEAN to be loud?? but it’s a VACUUM??

so minho’s looking for his beloved kelly clarkson album right,

and jisung comes around the corner, season 4 of naruto in tow.

and he sees you

and nearly drops it

jisung gets crushes very easily okay..

he can’t help it! the boy loves to love (◕‿◕)♡

and u look so cute in ur lil t-shirt!! like a little retail angel!!

so he grabs minho’s arm and DRAGS HIM TO where the movies are

and he panics!

“THEY’RE SO CUTE AAH I WANNA GIVE THEM A BIG FAT HUG-”

“do you mean the person vacuuming -__- loud as hell”

“minho it’s a vacuum.”

so you stop vacuuming and return the vacuum to the back room (and wash ur hands in the bathroom bc the soap smells like lemons and sunshine) and come back to the floor

u have a ton of time until closing so u just. sit.. and start reorganizing the heavy metal albums.

after a while u feel … weird … like ur being watched

so u turn around and. there they are. staring like (・_・)

and ur like “HELLO?!?!” but u don’t say anything

u just give them a Customer Service Smile and a, “can i help you with anything?”

jisung just giggles and shakes his head and minho keeps fuckign staring

mr lee i will knock ur fuck is that what u want

so u shrug and go back to ur sorting, keeping an eye on the CREEPS in ur store.

at 8:55 chris is like “jeongin go close the gate.” n jeongin’s like “FUCK YEAH” bc he gets to hold a big stick

so he’s walking towards the front of the store with his Big Stick when he sees jisung and minho

“what da hell are y’all doing?” is what he thinks but he says, “(: hi! the store closes in five minutes and i’m about to close the front gate. i’m so sorry, but you have to leave now! :)”

so jisung pouts and minho rolls his eyes, dragging his friend out of the store.

jeongin uses his Big Stick to pull the gate down and he locks it at about mid calf level so y’all can get out.

so that night, u go home and do some homework, but ur still thinking about those weirdos.

but! u’ll probably never see them again!

right?

Wrong.

u see them the next day!

they’re still watching u, but they’re closer

and minho looks more irritated.

towards the end of the night, ur Upset and Confused so u go over to them like o_o. What do u want.

and jisung goes JISJSJHTIE

and minho goes, “jisung thinks you’re cute.”

u start to blush, but jisung squeaks, “NO ahah- uh- he likes to talk in third person! he’s jisung ahaha.”

“my name is not jisung i would Hate to be named jisung.”

“WH- why? there’s a soccer player named jisung. and an idol! multiple idols!”

“yeah the guy in nct is 2 years younger than you and has the same name. and what have You done successfully? Quickly-”

“HEY-”

the two boys in front of u bicker while u start zoning out at the wall behind them.

you knew that the boy with blue hair was jisung, but you didn’t know the one with brown hair. and you assumed that they were friends, judging by the .. bonding activity that is staring at an employee.

and jisung wasn’t …. ugly

like he was really … really cute

but staring at people is fucking weird, jisung!!

when u finally snap out of it, u huff, “okay losers. we are closing soon. so you have to leave. but you’re welcome to come back tomorrow if you’re going to actually talk to me and not just stand in the corner! okay?”

the boys nod, grinning at each other before dashing out of the store.

so, like u said, they’re back the next day!

and this time they actually talk to u! Wow!

you’re sitting on the floor in the back of the store, organizing the funko pops for the 70th time when you feel A Presence.

two, actually.

it’s the two boys, sitting on either side of u.

“hi,” jisung says, playing with his fingers in his lap.

“you’re jisung, right? the cute one..” u reply absentmindedly

u hear a choking sound and then Silence

miss jisung ? miss JISUNG ?

he’s alive, but jfc BARELY

u just called him the CUTE ONE?!?!?

paying no mind, u turn to the boy on ur right, “and you are?”

“lee minho. don’t worry, you won’t forget it.”

“was that supposed to be a pick-up line?”

“did it work?”

“no.”

“HAH!” and jisung’s alive again.

u spend the rest of ur shift talking to the boys, telling them all about ur life while they told u about theirs

u learned that minho was a dancer just like hyunjin! but he went to the nearby university to study.

and that’s where he met jisung, who’s a music composition major

...and a soundcloud rapper…

u could help the laugh that pushed past ur lips at his words

“WHY ARE U LAUGHING.”

“a SoundCloud rapper. really, sung?”

“IT’S COOL ヾ(`ヘ´)ﾉﾞ”

u couldn’t imagine him as a ‘cool’ rapper dude

he just looked so fluffy :(

at 8:55, the boys got kicked out by jeongin again, but they stood outside the gate, waiting for u

“What do y’all want.”

“i wanna walk u to ur car:(“

“i don’t.”

“ok minho then Leave.”

“NO DON’T he’s my ride don’t say that to him.”

it’s dark outside, and a warm wind blows through ur hair.

it’s late spring, with summer (and finals) fast approaching.

“walking me to my car...what a gentleman…”

“yeah that’s why you should totally go on a date with me haha.”

“what?”

“what?”

“you said-”

“i didn’t say anything.”

minho sighs from behind u, not understanding why his best friend has to be so damn stupid all the time

u lean on ur driver’s side door, not making eye contact with the boy

u didn’t know how to say bye..no one’s ever walked u to ur car before??

“so…” jisung speaks for u, “can i … have your number? so i don’t show up at the store when you’re not working.” he holds his phone out for u to take, a sheepish smile barely visible due to the lights in the parking lot.

“oh! totally.” you take the phone from him, jolting when ur fingers graze his. u set ur contact as ‘the person sungie likes to stare at~” before giving it back to him.

he chuckles at the name, and u feel something inside of u go DOKIDOKI

when he says goodnight and walks away, minho giving u a quick nod, u lock urself in ur car so u can PANIC

u barely know this boy. he’s a weirdo. why is ur heart going dokidoki

heart STOP IT!!

it only gets worse when u hear the text notification sound from ur phone:

[ unknown ]: do u work tmrw? (^_−)☆ i already miss u

…. frick …. he texts cute

dammit jisung why couldn’t u send the laughing emoji

[ y/n ]: i do ! ^.^ i’ll see u then?

[ creeper ]: wouldn’t miss it~ (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ goodnight!

u nearly slam ur head on the steering wheel.

true to his word, jisung was back the next day

and the day after that

and the day after that

the day after That, u were off, so u didn’t see him

but u guys texted nearly all day!

jisung was just … really easy to talk to :/

and really funny :/

and every time he giggled u just wanted to cry a little bit :/

and u feel like a CLOWN bc u have a CRUSH on this dude that hangs out with u at WORK

one day, ur at work, and jisung isn't there:((

u feel a little dumb being upset about it, but u were starting to get used to the little guy

“somebody looks like a sad clown.”

“hyunjin~” u whine.

“oh no. that’s the boy problems whine. uhhh suddenly i’m on break!” he tries to stand and walk away, but u pull him back down next to u.

see, u and hyunjin were pretty close.

u two are the same age and watch the same dramas.

and ur both super dramatic

which is WHY when u got ur heart broken by lee donghyuck a few months after u started working there, he was ur shoulder to cry - and complain - on.

“stop :( there was this boy who came in every day and talked to me and he’s super cute but he’s not here today and i miss him :(“

hyunjin just …. stared at u like …. wtf are u talking about

“do you have his number?”

“yes.”

“have you texted him to ask why he’s not here today?”

“...no…”

“(；￣Д￣) Y/N U FUCKIN FOOL!!! U ABSOLUTE IMBECILE!!!”

“STOP YELLING AT ME HWANG HYUNJIN I’LL DESTROY EVERYTHING YOU LOVE!”

a customer standing in front of the register, trying to buy some headphones: uh.. should i go?

u make hyunjin deal with the customer while u sneak out ur phone to text jisung

[ y/n ]: where are u . no one is here 2 annoy me today (except hyunjin but he doesn’t count)

u wait 5 minutes … no reply

10 minutes … no reply

an hour … no reply

“WAAAAA ｡･ﾟﾟ*(>д<)*ﾟﾟ･｡ HYUNJIN ｡･ﾟﾟ*(>д<)*ﾟﾟ･｡”

hyunjin, handing a poor lady her receipt: jesus fucking christ

ur sulking as u leave the store that night

u still feel dumb, but now ur too Sad to feel dumb

u press the lock button on ur car keys so the lights would come on and the horn would sound, telling u where ur car was

“OH FUCK- jesus...stupid car…”

….that’s not what ur car horn sounds like.

u slowly approach, holding ur keys in between ur fingers

ur not afraid to stab a bitch with ur mail key and that’s on wolverine.

u breathe a sigh of Relief when u see it’s just jisung leaning against ur door

wait

jisung

“jisung?” u voice ur thoughts

his hand comes up to rub the back of his neck, “yeah..hi..sorry i didn’t text you back. i nearly backed out of doing this and i didn’t wanna look stupid.”

“you look stupid all the time.”

“jeez, thanks.”

u cross ur arms, stepping closer to the boy, “back out of what?”

“well i uh- do you remember how minho said i think you’re cute on the first day we talked?”

you nod.

“well...that hasn’t changed. i think you’re cute...really cute, actually.”

you blush again, just like the first time, “what does me being cute have to do with you standing in front of my car?”

“well, i don’t have a car, so i’m hoping...you can drive when we go on our first date?”

your heart nearly stops, but you start to smile.

“han jisung, are you asking me out?”

“are you saying yes?”

“yes.”

“then yeah. i am.”

your smile only gets wider as you close the gap between you two, wrapping your arms around his middle. he pats your head, a chuckle vibrating under your ear.

“also i need a ride home. minho dropped me off.”

“*sigh* jisung…”

[you-turn-it-into-light]

Keiko - dew (2021) Music Videos Thoughts

Here's that other post on dew's music videos that I sort of promised. There's not a lot to review here, so I'll note my thoughts in dot-point form.

Big thank you to @putschki1969 for providing these videos!

Nobody Knows You

The outfit's cool. Keiko in leather is always a win.

I wish there were more shots of Keiko in the city, the landscape is really pretty. I feel like shots of Keiko including other people also drives the general message of 'nobody knows you and nobody knows me' a bit more. The background is also a lot more interesting than what they chose which is really drab.

I wish they'd kept the ponytail as well.

The camera movements (or lack thereof) are really boring for a more energetic song. I feel like this is going to become a running theme. The spinning shots are rare, most of the shots are static or with very little music.

Filming at night is a great choice for the tone of the song, so why is most of it filmed in the day? I don't get it.

Tooriame (通り雨)

When I watched the preview I thought 'this is pretty, but I hope they don't use these same three shots for the entire music video?' But alas.

The wide shot isn't as saturated as the other two. If you compare the wide shot with the silhouette shot, you can see the silhouette shot is a bit more blue.

The aesthetic of the video is pretty, but watching the shadows move really just makes me imagine someone in the background moving the lights frantically lol.

Keiko isn't very good at lip-synching. This is also a running theme. I think she sung quietly on set, but it looks like she's straight up lip-synching. Her mouth movements match when she sings quietly, but when she you can hear her opening her mouth so the sound is more resonant, her mouth movements visually remain the same. It's jarring.

Latte (ラテ)

Cute. The first outfit is cute and comfy, the hairstyle is really flattering on Keiko. The second outfit... not so much.

I'm not sure what the two Keiko's are supposed to represent, but it's interesting I guess?

Seeing the autofocus kick in sometimes whenever Keiko moves her hand in front of her frame is nice, it gives an authentic and candid quality to the video.

Hachigatsu no Sora (八月の空)

Some of these directing choices confuse me. If the song is supposed to be about or reflecting summer, then why is the sky so dark and cloudy, why is Keiko indoors in this cosy winter house, and why is she wearing something so warm? I get that it was probably cold while this was being made, but there are sunny autumn days to film in you know.

The first line of the song is 'the sky is beautiful', but like it's not??? It's dark and cloudy???

Why a plane??

If there's anything I like, it's the musicality of the editing. It's cute and understated

Genjitsu no Metaphor (現実のメタファー)

For such an energetic song, Keiko sure looks like she's about to fall asleep. I'm not a fan of LiSA, but Keiko should take at least a couple points from her book when it comes to acting in music videos.

Really, this music video is so boring that the only thing I have to say about it is how boring it is.

Kimi ga Nemuru Kara (キミガネムルカラ)

I like the contrast of having Keiko sit on a soft bed surrounded by a creepy warehouse. It fits the vibe of the song in my opinion. Except when she just lies on a piece of fabric on the ground oops

I also like the colour design. It's really pleasing to the eyes but not too overbearing.

Keiko's hairstyle is super cute.

The cinematography(?) is mediocre but at this point I'll take what I can get.

Revolution

The outside setting is gorgeous. I feel like it fits with the 'wide feeling of love' or whatever message this song is giving

Just realised one of the background lines is 'power of love'. Awesome

Despite how much I don't like this song (can you tell?), it's nice to see Keiko being more emotive and expressive.

I kinda like the outfit too, Keiko pulls of leopard print

Lost

What in the world is happening with the autofocus? It keeps just flickering, not enough to get the shot of focus but enough to be noticeable.

I like the way Keiko is framed in each of the shots, it makes her stand out next to the flowers.

I really wish the lighting (other than the scene next to the window) was a bit more dramatic. It's mostly really flat.

I like the different hairstyles, it made me think as if they were different stages of a relationship. But that's just me making things up. Keiko in plaits is cute.

Burn In The Wind

I was yawning by the long unnecessary take until the second outfit appeared and I was like YEEEAH. It's so cute - dunno why that one part of the shirt is tucked in though.

The rest of the music video is business as usual. I like the scenery and I'm glad they decided not to shoot it indoors.

The shots with Keiko I think in the back of a car moving and watching the scenery go by are really nice. It captures the inspirational feeling of the song in my opinion.

Overall:

Most of these music videos are boring. The cinematography is boring. The way Keiko acts is boring. The videos all seem to blend together. I feel like instead of splitting the budget of the album up into making all these boring videos, they should have put it together and made a decent video for one of the songs. Probably for Nobody Knows You, because it's kind of the lead single.

Nevertheless, it was nice to see Keiko in all these cute outfits and I appreciate the work the staff went through to make all these videos.

[un-beel-lievable]

Obey Me characters as Billie Eilish songs

Why did I do this. Idk some of them are great and some of them are okay (in terms of how well they fit the characters. Don’t come for me I was bored and this seemed like a good idea ten minutes ago. Also SPOILER WARNING.

Lucifer - “All The Good Girls Go To Hell”

I believe I am required by law to choose this song for him bc she legitimately sings his name in the lyrics lmao 

It’s kinda self explanatory in my book. She sings about the pearly gates being more like a picket fence, meaning they’re more like a prison.

Also the MV for the song is literally an angel falling out of the sky and becoming a demon so

Mammon- “Hostage”

This is a song about someone who wants to keep someone’s attention all for themselves. Sound familiar? They seem desperate to keep the person

I mean this is a more extreme case of that but you can see the yandere potential lmao

Plus she makes a lot of references to gold in the second verse and ya boy loves gold

Leviathan- “When I Was Older”

So this isn’t SUPER relevant to him as a character and I’ll be the first to admit that

BUT there are several lines speaking about water and the sea, something Leviathan (the actual creature and our boy) are connected to

Idk she says best of friends in the lyrics and I couldn’t help but think of all the times Levi’s referenced MC being his Henry a.k.a his best friend

Satan- “Come Out And Play” AND “Bury A Friend”

Okay so he has two bc I was having trouble deciding between soft and scary?

The way that I interpret the song Come Out And Play is someone who is coaxing someone else to come out of their shell and show their emotions which I feel is a big part of Satan’s character

But on the other hand you have Bury A Friend which I could see as Satan’s wrath and him questioning why MC isn’t afraid of him when he is literally SATAN

Asmodeus- “Bitches Broken Hearts”

So this was a bit more challenging (terms of finding a good song) bc Billie isn’t really known for having songs about being a hoe lmao

But this song has this sensual lo-fi sound that I really vibe with

And I kinda see the song from the perspective of Asmodeus who fell in love with someone (MC?) and had his heart broken? I mean you could probably make it vice versa but who knows I’m a moron moving on

Beelzebub- “Ilomilo”

I can’t express how much I love this song and especially how much I love this song for Beel specifically.

Now at face value this song may seem ill-fitting for him but she sings about not wanting to be lonely, and hoping someone she loves will come home and wanting to protect them

Idk it seems nice for him. Plus I think it’s kind of a funny juxtaposition how light and pretty the song sounds when Beel is such a LORGE

Belphegor- “Lovely” AND “Six Feet Under”

Okay so to me the main song of the two that works best is Lovely

Lovely has lines that say “I hope some day I’ll make it out of here” (and I’m connecting that to him being locked up duh) But it also talks about someone who is lonely and who’s heart has become cold

Six feet under isn’t THAT great for him but it’s like SUPER emo and I feel like it would be a good song for Belphie x MC or sumn idk

Lillith- “Listen Before I Go”

Look if you have ever even heard this song one time you should know why I picked it

It’s sung from the perspective of someone who is dying in someone else’s arms like,,, and saying she wants to be taken to the rooftop so she can see the world one last time

Super sad, super good 10/10 this was one of the easiest ones for me to do

Diavolo-”You Should See Me In A Crown”

Okay so i feel like I should preface that the undateables is where the crack jumped out. That is to say, I didn’t have as strong of an argument for why these songs should go with these characters

Anyway this song is a bit more on the obvious side. Diavolo is the prince and will one day become the king of the Devildom sooo check him in that crown u know what I’m sayin

Barbatos- “Goodbye”

Is it a cop out to give him a song that’s this short?? Idk I was having trouble with him, mostly because we don’t know much about him, unfortunately

But I gave this to him bc Goodbye is the last song on the album “When We All Fall Asleep Where Do We Go” and basically (in reverse order) goes back through and references all the songs on the album and idk that made me think time travel??? Who the hell knows at this point 

Solomon- “My Boy”

So I had the same issue with Solomon as Barbatos? But at least I was able to make a couple of connections lyrics-wise? 

She sings about how her boy is being shady and sus lmao that’s pretty much it. Give it a listen and see what you think 

Simeon- “Ocean Eyes”

So AGAIN, not much info on him. But what I DO know about him is that he is an angel with beautiful blue eyes lmao

So obviously she sings about ocean colored eyes but she also sings the line ‘I’ve never fallen from quite this high.’ and idk high up? Fall? Heaven? Just kill me

Luke- “Xanny”

LMAO LET ME EXPLAIN

This is one of her few songs that isn’t about relationships and it’s about condemning drug and alcohol abuse and how people at parties always smoke and drink and that is also 10000% something Luke is against so here ya go leave me alone

MC- “I Love You” AND “No Time To Die” AND “Everything I Wanted”

Okay so I was listening to Billie’s songs and SO many of them were good for MC (and it’s especially hard bc MC is a different character for everyone)

In the case of “I Love You”, the song is about someone who confessed their feelings to the singer and the singer seems to not feel the same way (or at least they wish they weren’t being confessed to in that moment) and I kept getting this vision of one of the brothers (that MC is NOT in love with) confessing. Or it’s because they love more than one brother and they don’t know what to do. That or it’s when they confess and she knows she has to leave the next day. She says “I love you, and I don’t want to” BIG sad

For “No Time To Die” I kept seeing it as MC when she saw herself killed by Belphie. I mean tbh the lyrics are perfect for that specific scenario (’was I stupid to love you? Was I reckless to help?’...’fool me once, fool me twice, are you death or paradise?’) but not really any other which is why I didn’t really want it to be the ONLY song MC had

“Everything I Wanted” has to be the least related of the three but this is my list damn it so here we go. She sings things like “Everybody wants something from me now and I don’t wanna let ‘em down.’ Eh, give it a listen and see if you can hear a connection

(So anyway this was a trainwreck of a post but it is an UNGODLY hour in the A.M. so just roll with me)

[staydays]

day6 / stray kids cover recs

seungmin - stay as you are (sandeul) - he's almost whispering in the verses, then pretty suddenly goes into a belt for the prechorus which is gud - idk why but when he sings the word happy in the second verse i feel something in my heart - timing is on point, i'm saying that bc it seems difficult in this song

seungmin & han - congratulations (day6) - mini wonpil and young k - fr though a lot of the comments are abt how similar they are to wonpil and young k - trying to see if it's them doing the background vocals or if it's from the original track - i think it's from the original track - seungmin's high note near the end wow did you hear that - these are pretty challenging vocals (duh cause day6) so serious props to them

i.n - if it is you (jung seung hwan) - i'd like to see him experimenting more with his own singing style rather than following how the original singer sings it - he has a honey-like voice, which makes the cover more lighthearted - contrast between the verses, prechorus, chorus, and bridge is super good, also right after the bridge

young k & lee minhyuk - solar system (sung si kyung) - sounds like a lullaby so listen to it when you go to bed - he (both of them ig) keeps his voice light and kinda thin in this one to suit the very minimal instrumental - harmonies >

young k - fly me to the moon (bart howard, frank sinatra) - props to the guitarist for playing that bass line on the guitar - he's enunciating the words a lot which adds to the effect - MOUTH TRUMPET - he's improvising towards the end and it sounds heavenly - the ending note is so different from how he sings the rest of it

young k - winter child (lee jong yong) - how many instruments does he play jeez - it's really nice to see him singing something so pure and raw - uploaded on his bday bc it's a bday song, he's singing hbd to himself

wonpil - lullaby (iu) - he changed the song in the chorus to make it sweeter, like a lullaby - if you look through the comments you can see what the song is about; it's pretty bittersweet and he sings it/acts it out so well - i really want more wonpil covers

you should listen to all of them

[crepuscularqueens]

am i going to make another playlist breakdown that no one asked for... yes :) for samsteve :)

now - paramore (boy i could talk about this one forever it’s so on the nose of the whole them of it all! their energy is truly captured here!) feels like i'm waking from the dead and everyone's been waiting on me, least now i'll never have to wonder what it's like to sleep a year away / instead, i'd have some memories for the days i don't feel anything, at the least they will remind me not to make the same mistakes again / there's a time and a place to die and this ain't it

glory - bastille (oh god oh GOD. these two could have really had it all couldn’t they?? every single line could make me go bonkers from it) as we fell and hit our heads upon the curb, you make me laugh until i die, can you think of any better way to choke? / not everything had gone to plan but we made the best of what we had, you know? / and then you put your hand in mine and pulled me back from things divine, stop looking up for heaven waiting to be buried

homemade dynamite - lorde (you may know my thoughts on this one already! ah! but when they first meet and they both kinda lose it a bit for each other! steve needing to pass sam like 3 times then go and make his point again! sam harboring steve as a known fugitive when he just met the guy! wow okay!) a couple rebel top gun pilots flying with nowhere to be, don't know you super well but i think that you might be the same as me, behave abnormally / know i think you're awesome, right?

kindred - rationale (what can i say i have a giant weak spot for the bittersweet!)  we are kindred, tugging on the tether, like we'll live forever but one day we'll have to leave. i give thanks for each day of solid ground beneath our feet, but there are no promises for tomorrow for you and me / baby we risk it all just to fall like dominoes, baby all we have is good intentions, fine line in your memories, you’re not alone and you’ll never be, remember that we're both in this together

under the table - fiona apple (okay this pick is somewhat tongue in cheek because they are both insufferable smartasses who sometimes say things they shouldn’t. im thinking... “so you like cats” “sam.” “what?!?!?!?!”. like, this is just for fun) you know i don't go for those ones that you bother about, so when they say something that makes me start to simmer, that fancy wine won't put this fire out, oh kick me under the table all you want i won't shut up, i won't shut up

sudden desire - hayley williams (for the... well... you know) take the elephant by the hand and hold it, it's cruel to tame a thing that don't know its strength. but better to walk beside it than underneath. my kind companion, softened stone, my gentle giant, painful reminder

black moon rising - black pumas (we have to introduce a little heartbreak eventually. i know i did but yeah. we unfortunately know how this ends!) shoot me down and break my heart, it's the black moon rising. you brave the sight, i paint the picture of the black moon rising

lose my mind - kaye (okay but “i might just burn up my whole life”??? yeah that’s them alright. that’s them.) you're trouble, aren't you? i can see it, know you're gonna leave me bleeding, but you set alive every inch of my spine / i might just burn up my whole life, we don't have to be civilized / forget your loyalties to float in my gaze, we look good in destruction, couldn't we trust it? (all of that just SCREAMS them!)

fly me to the moon - frank sinatra (okay, so maybe i added this to my playlist for them immediately after watching ep 1 of tfatws. you have no proof.) you are all i long for, all I worship and adore. in other words, please be true. in other words, in other words, i love you

black sun - death cab for cutie (sometimes we just get very very bitter towards endgame steve. i don’t know that man.) how could something so fair be so cruel, when this black sun revolved around you? / there is a role of a lifetime, and there's a song yet to be sung, and there's a dumpster in the driveway of all the plans that came undone

demons - the national (you know how it is with me and the national. image of me violently shoving this song at steve rogers and glaring at him.) when i think of you in the city, the sight of you among the sights, i get the sudden sinking feeling of a man about to fly / can i stay here? i can sleep on the floor, paint the blood and hang the palms on the door, i do not think i'm going places anymore, i wanna see the sun come up above new york / i do not know what's wrong with me, the sour is in the cut. when i walk into a room, i do not light it up, fuck

the living - san fermin (trying to put into words why this song is so perfect for them is... hm. life’s for the living, you know?) i hear it coming, it’s coming this way, it’s digging me up, the dead have been raised / and it’s hard to quite describe it, like we're part of, part of something bigger

drive desperate - cold war kids (asking someone to follow you... desperately needing their approval) follow me will you? follow me will you? follow me down until, i will admire, oh i need someone who will / to find the words that lift me high i’d tear a hole up in the sky, i’d beg for your approval just to know i’m on the right course

estate sale sign - the mountain goats (okay! bitterly remembering when you shared a path with someone! when everything you had gone through and everyone you lost along the way meant everything in the world and then you feel so all alone in all those memories because they made their choice to give it all up!) some guy in an impala shakes his head when he rides by, but i remember when we shared a vision, you and i / the sacrificial stains all spreading out and soaking through, but i remember when we kept it pretty, me and you / try to see if secrets burn when you hold them up into the light, i remember when we loved each other day and night / every martyr in this jungle is gonna get his wish

end of the earth - marina (i got in my damn feelings for this one boys) love can never be what you want it to be, but i'd still follow you down / if we're torn apart, then i won't let go, cause wherever we are, it feels like home

heat waves - glass animals (furiously shaking endg*me by the shoulders screaming “make it make sense”) usually i put somethin' on tv so we never think about you and me, but today i see our reflections clearly in hollywood, layin on the screen. you just need a better life than this, you need somethin i can never give / i just wish that i could give you that, that look that's perfectly un-sad

deliverance - rationale (im aware this is getting repetitive) you sold me a dream, now i'm hanging on for my life, out of sight, out of mind / it's hard to believe that i don't mean nothing to you and i'll never back in your favor and back in your arms

emergence exit - freelance whales you would've been better alone without my love, you would've been safe from storms

[belladonnasatenaeum]

'Dernière Danse': The Underlying Message

There's a French song you likely might have heard on TikTok, used more often than not in Gothic TikToks or even some Academia TikToks. One TikTok I recall seeing it in was a vampire aesthetic based TikTok, with someone lipsyncing to the chorus of the song. Sometimes, you find out later what the song is actually called, and my goodness, the quick 15 second videos on TikTok do not do any justice to the song. The song is called 'Dernière Danse' by the singer Indila, the title roughly translating to 'Last/Final Dance'.

When you first listen to the song, you would naturally think of balls within a dark manor, candles flickering and lighting the space within its warm amber glow. The unique element of orchestra and pop elements creates a song quite like nothing you've ever heard, and something I've yet to hear other musicians do. However, if you think this is a song of love, you would be sorely mistaken.

You see, Indila isn't just some pasty white woman. Sure, she is kinda pale, but that doesn't take away from her heritage. You see, she has ancestory from Algeria, India, Egypt and Cambodia - so much so that she calls herself "a child of the world." And it seems, 'Dernière Danse' does have a lot of emotion to it, but not of a romantic kind. It is one of deep, immense pain and sorrow. The song tells the story of a young immigrant woman who must endure racism throughout the day as she desperately wishes to escape the torment and comfort herself from the harsh judgement of the people around her.

There is some incredibly interesting wordplay in the lyrics for the song, one only those who speak French can spot and breakdown for those who can't. But once they have, it forever sticks out in your mind. If you want to understand what is being sung, then please follow this link here: https://www.frenchlyricstranslations.com/derniere-danse-lyrics-translation-indila/

The word play comes in the line "Ô ma douce souffrance" (Translation: "Oh my sweet suffering"). This is our indication of what is causing this young woman her pain and misery. It's right in front of you, and yet it takes a keen eye to spot it. This wordplay actually indicates that France itself is the cause of this woman's pain. And let's be real for a second, France is just as guilty as Britain, Spain, Germany and The Netherlands when it comes to colonialism, and thus the rampant spread of racism and all other horrific things that come with colonial rule. And after the terrorist attacks in 2015, 2 years after the release of "Dernière Danse", racism has been sadly seeding it's way into French way of life such as with France's ban on face coverings which could impact specific cultures and religions such as Muslims, which, more often than not, many immigrants making their way to France are. While the bill does try to bring about good - by essentially making it illegal to FORCE someone to wear a face covering veil if they don't want to (especially in the case of children, where I personally believe that religion should be kept away from children until they are old enough to understand it), it could also become a slippery slope to what a certain President Orange-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named attempted in the US, and in some degrees succeeded.

Which leads me to think, while it is a brilliant song and many can relate to it with its feelings of sorrow, how do I feel about seeing white people - like myself - lipsyncing to it? I've not heard any complaints, and as I mentioned, the song is very relatable, and it can be applied to things outwith racism - grief, loss, bereavement, breakups, stress, mental illness and so on, but is it really a song for white people to cling to? The song contextually is about an immigrant, so how come most of the TikToks I've seen with this song are everyone but immigrants and BIPOC people? The ones I've seen get shared on YouTube in compilation videos usually are skinny, white women/AFAB people. When BIPOC creators have made TikToks with this song. In fact, here's a TikTok made by a Black creator also following a vampire theme: https://www.tiktok.com/@tatendaluna/video/6939523674877758722?lang=en&is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1

And yet it seems, as I am scrolling through TikTok, the vast majority of the videos are by white people. Sure, white people emigrate, but we will never truly understand the pain of the immigrant who arrived in France to hatred and disgust, getting abused day in and day out. Now, there could be a logical explanation; maybe more white people just happen to know about the song? Given when I first heard it, I only had the melody to go off of, and Googling "da da da da da-da da da da" isn't going to get me anywhere. But even having that as a factor, there is a known history of TikTok promoting more white people's TikToks over the creations and hard work of BIPOC people.

So, do I think white people should lipsync to the song? I mean, if it's all in harmless fun, then sure. It's a song - we all love to sing and lipsync, it's not gonna harm anyone, even if you sing like a cat just got scared down a dark alleyway. However, I think it is also incredibly important that we understand and recognise the context of the song - it's not a song for vampire lovers to sing, it's not a song for witches to sing during a ritual, it's not even an Academia or aesthetic song; the song is a harsh reality for many immigrants fleeing war and persecution, and wherever they land they are immediately slammed with hatred.

'Dernière Danse' is one of my favourite songs to listen to. It is a beautiful blend of orchestra and pop that never get tiring, and for the people who do like vampires and witches and academia I can see why this song would stick out. For crying out loud, I'm one to talk - I'm a Goth Pagan from Scotland! And with this 'essay', I do not wish to shame people from creating TikToks with this song. On the contrary, actually. This song is brilliant and as an artist myself, the amount of ideas this song brings to me is wondrous. However, I think it is high time that people understand that 'Dernière Danse' is, and will forever be, a song for the immigrants. It is their song to express frustration and pain; and I implore you to look out for your immigrant neighbours. Recently, the city of Glasgow stopped the deportation of some Indian men, which when I caught wind of it made me incredibly proud to be a Scot. Sadly, though, the fight is far from done. It is our duty to fight for those seeking security and safety. If I recall correctly, that's exactly what Odin asks us to do in Stanzas 2-4 of the Havamal, correct? To be hospitable to those who come to our doorstep. Now, I may question Odin's logic from time to time, but on this I think his words are sound wisdom. If even the All-Father tells you to be hospitable to immigrants, then you best take his advice.

At the very least, I hope that either you got the chance to discover this song, or you found a new way to view the song, from my little 'essay'. As mentioned, I do not intend to shame anyone who likes the song. Indila is a brilliant artist and I heavily enjoy her works. I merely hope this highlights the underlying message that I think often gets overlooked. I hope you found some enjoyment in this. If I am incorrect about anything, please do feel free to correct me. I am always open to learning. Until next times, yours

~ Belladonna