#do you like when songs use little clips of recording of just everyday life and people they know in conversation in their songs

[clumsyclifford]

Legally I am asleep but can you make me a plyalist pretty por favor. Oh my god can it be called legally I am asleep yoooooooo

not overthinking just throwing songs on a playlist rearranging it so there are no insane vibe checks and giving it to you on a silver pillow platter. go to sleep i love you

#why yes i AM worried youll hate some of these songs #damn talk about a vibe check #the way it goes from boys of fall to billy joel that was really bold of me #i stand by it but i acknowledge its a bold choice #OH my GOD it is FUKCING TWO FIFTEEN #bro legally i am ALSO asleep the FUCK #GOODNIGHT?@?!?! #ask #anonymous #adri #cringeycal #playlist game #i thought about putting firebird alt version on here #but the og is more upbeat so i think the vibe sorta worked more? #but for the record i LOVE firebird alt version #you should listen to it #do you like when songs use little clips of recording of just everyday life and people they know in conversation in their songs?? #cos if so. firebird alt version #all the alt versions on that album use those and i LOVE IT it's so good i love when songs do that

[defdaily]

KNIGHT Magazine March 2021 Issue featuring JAY B

Translated by defdaily

JAY B: Back to the starting point, to set off again

At first sight, Jay B does not seem to have the looks of a popular “Flower Boy”; he has single eyelids typical in Korean boys, and the corners of his eyes crescent up with warmth and pureness as he smiles, drawing people close to him. “Sexy”, “Steady”, “Introverted”，“Warm”，“Sharp” and “Domineering” are all words fans use to describe him. These seemingly unrelated characteristics come together in Jay B and sparks a charisma that is unique to him.

9 years on since debut, he is an all-rounder who sings, dances and composes and his vibrant abilities are obvious to all. However, the entertainment industry is a place that is never short of talent and worthy competitors. Being GOT7’s leader and facing the responsibilities and stress, he did not go down an easy path. Through the endurance, he figured out his own direction of growth and pace - one that is neither nervous or rushed but instead calm and steady. The start of 2021 ushered in the end of his artistic contract and signing new companies, but that did not affect his pace; he made a comeback with his members, writing songs and preparing for his solo album, continuing to do what he is good at, facing the odds calmly and confidently, “2021 to me is a brand new start; I will return to the starting point and start anew.”

Embracing the essence, upholding greatness

Looking through Jay B’s portfolio, he went through many profile changes in the early years. From being an aspiring B-boy, to debuting as an actor, as a boy group duo JJ Project, and 2 years later debuting as GOT7 leader. At every stage, he did his best in whatever he wanted to do. Grabbing every opportunity and going forward earnestly. For dance, he once gave up on his studies and joined a professional dance group very early on. After debuting as a leader, in order to shoulder the responsibilities, he reigned in on his youthful flippance and impetuousness and learned to be tolerant. Through several details, he is managing well. When appearing on variety shows as a group, he made efforts to ensure that every member had the chance to showcase their talents. Before showcases, he is obviously nervous himself but would never forget to remind the others to drink up. He even prioritized group activities over his own, concertedly rejecting solo activities arranged by the company. Till date, he is still the one with the least solo activities. “Instead of myself, it would be better for the other members to begin their solo activities first.”

He is clear-cut and is never trapped between choosing one thing over the other. As a trainee, he also experienced a rebellious phase where he wanted to give up. When he did not know what he wanted, he would follow his heart. He once wrote on SNS “Do whatever you want. If you really love something, then follow your heart and do it.” His motivation sets him on a simple path; start off with love, and put in all his effort into it, working hard to hand in his best submission. He assigned the name Def. to his solo writing, which holds the meaning of “the best, the greatest of all”. Years ago, he had said in a variety show, “When I grow a little older, I must become a truly cool celebrity, and a multi-talented artist.” At that time, when faced with many fresh opportunities, he eagerly leapt forward to try them out, to bloom from all corners. Later, interviewers asked him what his future plans are for the next 5 years, and he said, “Definitely to continue my music-related work, and if my body allows me to, I will continue dancing.” And now, his dreams have more definitively settled on the area of creative music composing, hence, when asked whether he would consider moving into acting again, he said, “Now I can’t fully embody and express a character, but I think I should learn and understand deeply before going into acting. Learning to have restraint and storing one’s potential will help with a better start.

I will open up my heart

Some say the creative must embrace change at all times and maintain a keenness for observation; similarly, Jay B’s awareness of the world is astute and meticulous. He observes life through film lenses, and reflects upon his own feelings in the process. “Through the photos I take, I discovered that my photos are people-centric, and I often am curious about what they are thinking, how they are feeling at that very moment.” The happiness and sorrows of people often differ from one another, but they always leave marks. He likes to record down his surroundings, the people around him and the banalities of everyday life, and incorporate them into his creative works. For example, when writing the song “Rainy”, he laid out photos that he took on a rainy day on the floor of his studio, began arranging and rearranging them, and pondering over the sequences. Thus led to the birth of a rainy love story.

Whether it is on stage or composing music, the ever-changing styles he expresses are undoubtedly based on thoughts and experiences in life. In addition to photography, reading books, watching movies and having conversations with people who have experienced life are all some ways in which he draws inspiration from. “In the future I would like to ponder over everything that I experience genuinely in my life, and describe my true thoughts and feelings. It may not necessarily have to be positive; sometimes it can also be a form of relief by expressing the negativity in a straightforward manner.”

Having been in the spotlight of the entertainment industry for many years, he is no stranger to receiving criticisms, yet he always digests it quietly. His warm, honest aura, along with his sensitivity and sympathetic nature, creates a juxtaposition in his personality. On the performing stage, he is cool and powerful, as if he has an unlimited source energy waiting to be released. In everyday life, the same Jay B he stores that energy and softens up, creating an entirely different image. He is used to treating others with kindness, and knows how to live as himself: “Instead of paying attention to the criticism and living like someone else, I would rather be myself and accept the criticism.” He loves life, and likes to play with his three cats. He remembers a funny incident, “One of my cats likes to lick the carpet, so there was one time I accidentally stepped on the carpet and almost fell.” Like many young folks, during his leisure time, he reads and sleeps to relieve stress. When his schedule is packed, he would take a stroll at the working site, sometimes taking photos and videos and sharing them along the way. He has his own world, but it is not locked up at all; it is wide open and welcome for everyone to visit. There was once where he read a word in a book that reminded him of b-boying, so he simply left the house and b-boyed along the streets, posting a clip of it on SNS. He thinks that the name that Chinese fans call themselves sounds nice, but he also likes calling everyone “best friend”. Realizing he might sound impolite, he carefully added that it does not mean he does not like the former, just like an old friend with no filter who says what they want but never fails to consider your feelings.

Tackling the unknown is full of delight

“Unknown challenges, to me, are very interesting. I find tackling new things to be a really great thing.” In this new year, with a new company and new plans, Lim Jaebeom has started on his journey of transformation. Taking on a path that he has to take alone, even though he may still be adapting to this new identity and role, “I am really alone now, it feels fascinating yet a little awkward.” He understands to cherish, and wishes to continue making even greater music for the group. He also looks forward dearly for his music to find a place of its own in the music sphere. Being faced with the challenges that await him, he is eager to create a world of his own. At a certain program where he was asked by his members, “Are you happy?”, he hesitated and replied: “I don’t know.” In fact, he is just like the music that he writes - it does not shock or excite but you will never get bored of it after repeated listens; the kind of music he pursues is not one with intricate formal design or various showy techniques, but one that expresses of real and honest emotions triggered by real and honest events.

As he faces the ebb and flow of the tide calmly and inches closer to his dreams with each step, he is still the young boy he was before, fiery passion in his gaze, sincerely embracing change, maturing and growing through it. Perhaps he might not know when his personal happiness will arrive, but he has never stopped looking for it. For his era is imminent.

[shemakesmusic-uk]

Texan-born, Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter and TikTok personality Allison Ponthier makes a splash with 'Cowboy' – it's the enthralling first taste of her upcoming EP. Finding a path away from her conservative upbringing, queer singer-songwriter Allison Ponthier is another artist making country music her own. Taking references from Kacey Musgraves and Orville Peck, Ponthier's take on the genre is high camp and features a kaleidoscopic visual world too. Growing a huge following on TikTok, 'Cowboy' marks the start of a whole new chapter for Ponthier with her debut release with Interscope and Polydor. The track itself references her move from the bible belt to New York City and her journey accepting her sexuality. Warm and inviting 'Cowboy' is cinematic pop with some real heart-on-sleeve confessional songwriting. Complete with a masterful music video that runs like a mini-movie complete with impressive special effects, on reflection, cinematic is an understatement. The video itself is a striking and exciting introduction to this new artist, “I probably watch movies more than I listen to music,” Ponthier says of the video. The clip, directed by Jordan Bahat (Christine and the Queens) adds a whole new cosmic energy to the track and aims to amplify the lyrics' detailed storytelling. As she unveils more of her forthcoming debut EP, Ponthier explains what we can expect from her; “a lot of my songs are about being uncomfortable in your own skin but getting to know yourself better, figuring out who you really are.” [via the Line Of Best Fit]

Miley Cyrus has shared the full video for 'Angels Like You'. The pop rebel returned in 2020 with her excellent album Plastic Hearts, a series of superb empowerment anthems. Album highlight 'Angels Like You' has received the video treatment, shot at the Superbowl in front of an audience of fully vaccinated healthcare workers. Miley has also provided a note for the video describing her feelings of gratitude to these workers. [via Clash]

LA punk four-piece The Paranoyds have dropped a new video for track 'Egg Salad', taken from their album Carnage Bargain which is out now on Suicide Squeeze. The video's director Nicole Stunwyck comments "The video presents the glitzy & glamorous world of a teenage girl who, after accidentally catching a beauty pageant on TV, dreams of her rise to stardom & subsequent downfall... It’s not a commentary on anything but an experimental depiction of my own personal fascination for young tragic starlets alà Valley of The Dolls."

Noga Erez and collaborative partner ROUSSO have shared a fifth compelling new single from forthcoming album KIDS which is set for release on March 26 via City Slang. 'Story' is a snappy, addictive song about how couples relationships are always a relationship between two people’s past and present. "Everyone brings their past experiences to the relationship even if things are great" Erez comments. "Sometimes past situations come in and take over." As with the album's previous singles 'Story' is brought to life with a captivating video, starring Erez and ROUSSO, who also provides vocals on the track. "ROUSSO is my partner in music as well as my partner in life" she explains. "This is the first time we tell a story about our relationship in a song and video. It’s a song about a couple fighting and how, in that situation, sometimes what you hear the other person say is not what they actually said. The making of this video was a 10-day couples therapy session for us. As we rehearsed the pretend fighting and martial arts moves we knew that, at times, one of us would get punched just a little too hard. It was so intense and interesting to live in this world, where our relationship comes alive in the most physical way."

After announcing Detritus with lead outing 'Stories' last month, Sarah Neufeld has unveiled the album's second single 'With Love and Blindness'. Neufeld says of the song and Jason Last-directed video, "The video for 'With Love and Blindness' came together through a long-time collaboration between myself and videographer Jason Last. I knew that Jason and I would work together again on some visual aspect for my third solo release, and it so happened that before I even began recording the album, we were presented with the opportunity to do a mini residence on Corsica with Providenza; an amazing collective with a farm, cultural laboratory, festival and residency program." She continues, "I was doing a short solo tour in Europe in the summer of 2019 in order to re-work some of the pieces from the dance collaboration to begin to find a shape for the album that was to be recorded in the Fall. In the middle of that tour, Jason and I travelled to Corsica for several days (graced once again with a suitcase containing Esteban Cortazar’s unique and beautiful creations). Besides performing in Providenza’s outdoor amphitheater, we were immersed in nature, literally staying in a treehouse perched on the side of a mountain, overlooking the dramatic coastline." Neufeld adds, "I found that the pulse of the landscape resonated with the essence of the music, especially "With Love and Blindness"; a sense of rawness, of sensuality, of a strange gravity intensified by the hypnotic summer heat and the general otherworldliness of the place." [via the Line Of Best Fit]

Molly Burman was brought up around music. At every family event, every party, the soundtrack would resonate with her, providing an education in itself. Both parents were gigging musicians, and she always wanted to follow in their footsteps, to use performance as a means of self-expression. Lockdown brought the time and space to bring these ideas into focus, and she's working to unveil a series of one off singles. Her debut single proper 'Fool Me With Flattery' is out now, a blissfully melodic piece of indie pop with some whip-smart lyricism. There's a tongue in cheek element to her sound that is fantastically endearing, matched by the subtle lo-fi elements of her bedroom pop confection. She comments: "I wrote the song after a long day of feeling overlooked and ignored by some of the guys in my life. I was fed up, angry and used the stereotype of a mansplaining misogynist to let it all out. This song is for anyone who feels belittled and like they’re being made to shrink themselves; be as big as you possibly can, and don’t let anyone fool you with flattery." The video is a hilarious showcase for Molly's offbeat sense of humour. [via Clash]

Punk provocateurs Pussy Riot have unveiled their latest song 'Panic Attack', as well as a music video that features a hologram of singer Nadya Tolokonnikova. This is the final release from Pussy Riot’s new Panic Attack EP, a collection of three linked songs that, for now, can only be streamed as separate singles. The title track features punk guitars underneath a tinkling music box melody, as Tolokonnikova turns anxiety into a sports cheer. “Gimme an A,” she says, “Gimme a T/ Gimme a T/ Gimme an A/ Gimme a C/ Gimme a K/ Okay? Okay.” While upbeat and seemingly cheerful, the synth-punk song comes out of the trauma she experienced in a Russian prison camp. As she explained in a statement, “After serving 2 years in a labor camp, I’m still struggling with mental health issues. Trauma, fear and insecurity never fully go away, causing depression episodes and deep anxiety. ‘PANIC ATTACK’ was born as the result of me staring at the wall for 24 hours in the middle of the pandemic, feeling 100% helpless. I was trying to write something uplifting to encourage people to get through the tough times. But I was just failing and failing. Magically, at the second I allowed myself to be honest and write about despair I was experiencing, I wrote the track in like a half an hour. Depression is a plague of the 21st century, and it tells me that there’s something broken in the way we treat each other. The video ‘PANIC ATTACK’ reflects on objectification of human beings, loneliness, disconnection from the environment that causes us to feel small and powerless. And it’s us who caused it with our own hands – that’s why in the end of the video I’m fighting with my own clone.” The music video for 'Panic Attack' was directed by  Asad J. Malik. He used 106 cameras to capture all angles of Tolokonnikova, then converted that information into a photoreal hologram. Afterwards, Tokyo-based creative technologist Ruben Fro built out landscapes reminiscent of video games through which the virtual Tolokonnikova could frolic. But as the visuals progress, those idyllic settings give way to a hellscape, and the singer faces off against a clone of herself. [via Consequence of Sound]

The wait is finally over. BLACKPINK’s Rosé shines like the star she is with her official solo debut. On Friday, she released two solo songs on her debut single album titled R, 'On the Ground' and 'Gone.' With its deep lyrics, angelic bridge, and Rosé’s high note at the end, 'On the Ground' is an exemplary song for her solo debut. Add the fact that Rosé is credited as a writer for the song, and one can really tell how much time she spent perfecting it for release. The accompanying music video, meanwhile, expands the story of life and growth. Rosé starts off looking lost and trying to find herself amidst all the wildness of life; she eventually encounters past and present versions of herself while searching for answers and purpose. By the end, she finds herself and her path forward, and one can’t help but smile as she sings an explosive outro. [via Teen Vogue]

On Ellise's latest alt-pop concoction the rising pop star gets gothic as 'Feeling Something Bad...' transforms a crush into an obsession. An expert at catastrophising everyday experiences, the LA-based artist has arrived fully formed with not only a consistent and cohesive sound but a striking visual identity too. That's even more clear when you press play on the accompanying video for her latest infectiously catchy track. With the clip directed by Joakim Carlsson we get to see Ellise in her absolute element as she brings "Feeling Something Bad..." to life in a macabre world of its own. “I just love dramatising little everyday feelings in life, so this is my big dramatic ‘I have a crush on you’ song,” Ellise explains – it's a song she wrote about a boy she barely knew. [via the Line Of Best Fit]

With President Biden determined to get the majority of American adults vaccinated by summer, bands are earnestly beginning to look forward to the return of live music. Purity Ring are the latest to announce 2021 tour dates, which they’ve shared alongside the video for their track 'sinew'. The song comes from WOMB, the synth-pop duo’s first album in five years that was released just before the pandemic struck. Directed by Toby Stretch, the clip brings back the abstract graphics and costumes that featured in the 'stardew' music video, continuing the enigmatic story of the domed bicyclist and their sun-headed sidecar companion. [via Consequence of Sound]

Australian Pop Princess, Peach PRC releases the official music video for her debut single 'Josh'. Peach PRC comments on the official 'Josh' visuals, “The music video was inspired by growing up watching the same five infomercials, morning news channels and old movies on my little pink box tv when I was a kid and couldn’t sleep on a school night. The idea was to have “josh” feel just as harassed the more he tries to call. Every creative step along the way was entirely my vision, from writing the music video script, to the lyrics and everything in between. I’m so happy and hope all the girls, gays and theys who dated “josh” will sing along.”

#videos of the week #allison ponthier #miley cyrus #the paranoyds #noga erez #sarah neufeld #molly burman #pussy riot #rose #ellise #purity ring #peach prc

[itsuki-minamy]

“K - THE FIRST STORY” (Novel)

CHAPTER 2: FLAMES (Complete)

*PROLOGUE: SIDE: THE BOY

CHAPTER 1: THE BOY NAMED ISANA YASHIRO

Translation: Naru-kun Raws: Ridia

December 7th. That day was the day before the important girl's birthday.

Tatara Totsuka, who is not the only one from "Homura", has been preparing for a few days with his friends for the eleventh birthday of Anna Kushina, the girl who is everyone's princess.

She is an important girl to Totsuka.

She is like a sister, a good friend and a comrade.

Totsuka thought that she had the ability to get closer to the "King" than anyone else in Homura.

When Totsuka looked up, his Supreme "King" Suoh had just descended from the second floor.

A man whose red hair is slightly raised like a lion and looks like a gangster boss, but today, he loosened his poor eyesight a bit and looked around the bar.

The first floor is the HOMRA bar, which is also the base of "Homura", and the second floor is a residence where Suoh and Anna live.

From inside the counter, Izumo Kusanagi, the bar master, speaks lightly.

"Mikoto. Anna fell asleep?"

"Yes."

Although the preparation for the birthday party is directed to Anna, who is the protagonist, at the moment, it is a secret, but Anna is a very intelligent girl with sensitive abilities. Of course, she will know that Homura members are restless to celebrate her birthday, and she may even be careful to look away. However, Totsuka thinks this kind of thing is very important.

Totsuka gave Suoh a red rose to give to Anna tomorrow.

"So, King. Yes. Give it to Anna tomorrow and congratulate her."

Anna has a color vision deficiency and can only recognize colors in red. Perhaps that is why Anna is deeply concerned with the color "red". Tomorrow, he plans for Anna's arms to hold the bright red roses given by each of the members.

For a few seconds, Suoh looked at the red flower Totsuka offered him and received it.

"Oh, what honesty."

Kusanagi lightly mocks the king who obediently holds the flower without complaining.

"Keep Anna upstairs until noon tomorrow. In the meantime, I will prepare for the party.”

Totsuka laughs at Suoh and asks Kusanagi, who works at the counter, "Do you have anything to help?"

Misaki Yata, a boy who cuts Homura's bark, broke in and said, "I will do some work for you." (Yata is nineteen, but because he has a baby face and is always skating in clothes with his knuckles on his knees, he looks more like a boy than a young man.)

Glancing at Yata, whom Kusanagi told his to do a chore, Totsuka raised his favorite camera.

Totsuka has an old camera. Because he likes the taste of digital movies that are different from the ones he takes with the PDA, Totsuka has a hobby of using this camera to take photos of Homura's everyday life. Totsuka has many hobbies but this is the hobby that continues the longest.

"Then, I should go home after a while."

"Totsuka, do you have something to do?"

Totsuka laughed and said that he had something to record to show Anna tomorrow, on her birthday.

He wanted to show her the scene where Anna, who can only see the color red, would surely think it would be great, using the camera that always records his friends.

Hearing Totsuka's story, Kusanagi and Yata laughed as if convinced. Suoh didn't say anything, but snorted a bit with a softer look than usual.

Totsuka, wearing a coat and holding a camera, laughed at his friends, "See you tomorrow!" And left the HOMRA Bar.

There is an application called "Candle". It's that kind of app that when you turn it on, a red candle-shaped light comes on the screen. There is no usage conference, etc.

But everyone who puts it on their PDA, is using the app for a purpose.

It was an urban legend.

When you direct a "candle" light at the airship, the airship lifts you off the ground.

Such rumors have sincerely been told. Actually, he has heard stories that they've been on the airship, but generally think of the common phrase in urban legend that says "friend of friend."

The airship flying over Tokyo is rumored to carry a globally wealthy person, but the actual situation is shrouded in mystery, there are various theories like alien theory and living god theory, and some of it is the object of faith.

The general public recognizes that a strange rich man who continues to fly on the airship, but his mystery, believe it or not, attracted many.

Totsuka and the "people related to the Slate" know his identity. He is just a "King" similar to Suoh. Adolf K. Weissmann, the first king, the "Silver King". The King, who has been flying in the sky for more than half a century and does not interfere with the ground, must be an old man as much as the "Golden King", but he has an immutable attribute and is still young. Apparently. He only knows what information appears to be, but Totsuka has never met another "King", and has no particular interest.

However, for those who did not know the existence of the heavenly royalty of the "King", Totsuka was interested in those who wanted salvation in a mysterious "something" full of mystery.

Everyone who points the "sail" towards the airship has something to do with this land, dreaming of another world, not here. The red light shining on the PDA seemed like a lot of colors in their lives.

When he stands on the roof of a building at night, he can often see the red light of a "candle" shining everywhere. He believes that the red light of the "candles" can be seen in the city at night, as if the entire city were a large cake with lit candles. He wants to show Anna that on her birthday tomorrow. Totsuka was heading to the building, which is a hidden place where the night view looks particularly beautiful, camera in hand.

Will Anna say that the red light on the candle is clear or will Anna, who has the ability to respond, feel the emotions of the people in the candle and feel the pain? However, Totsuka thinks the scene is beautiful, including the fact that each red light is full of people's thoughts.

Totsuka reached the target building and went up to the rooftop.

There was an unexpected customer on the rooftop.

From behind, he can see that he is a little boy like a high school student.

Did he come to see the night view? Or he may be trying to aim the sail at the airship. His body seems to sway a bit, but it's suspicious behavior, but he can hear him sing a song of joy with a buzz, and he doesn't think he's reached the rooftop to commit suicide.

Totsuka sometimes met a person who lit a "candle" when he came to record the night view.

At those moments, Totsuka decides to speak. People who light the "candles" often have some kind of worry and dissatisfaction, and when he listens to them, they can glimpse their lives and they can spit out a lot of regrets, and often cry.

Between the clear night sky with the stars and the lights of the city with human activity, Totsuka walked towards the boy's back while pointing the camera at him.

"Hello, it's a nice night."

A cold winter breeze blows high, stroking his cheeks. An illuminated night. It is a nice night, with the beautiful starlight, the city lights and the red lit candles.

"I came to film the night view, what are you doing in such a place?"

There is no response from the boy. He doesn’t even look back.

"I am Tatara Totsuka. What about you?"

The boy suddenly turned around. He could see something black glittering in his hand.

Soon after what he thought, a shot rang out.

++++++++++

The news of the death of Totsuka Tatara, the executive of "Homura", reached "Scepter 4" at midnight near dawn.

The first report was brought to Seri Awashima, Lieutenant of "Scepter 4", by Izumo Kusanagi, the executive staff of "Homura".

Awashima heard Kusanagi's voice so cold for the first time. Kusanagi was calm and not bothered at all. However, the calm he usually shows in front of Awashima is not so fragile, and he simply announced the minimum deeds and will necessary.

The fact that the executive, Tatara Totsuka, was shot dead by a person claiming to be the "Colorless King." Since this case is a problem between clans and the police intervention does not make sense, they did not denounce it and they report that those who took the body was "Homura". The report states that "Homura" will use all of his strength to pursue him after all. She knows that "Scepter 4" cannot be used in places where it is useless, but "Homura" goes after the criminal on his own and does not require any cooperation from "Scepter 4".

Kusanagi said it terribly clerical and one-sided. He barely answered Awashima's words. Kusanagi reaction remained the same whether he called as "Kusanagi Izumo" deputy director of "Homura" to "Scepter 4", or as "Kusanagi-kun" and her acquaintance to Awashima Seri.

When he hung up the phone, Awashima immediately manipulated the PDA, took off her garment and put on her underwear while calling out to the "King" and "Head of Scepter 4".

Despite arriving late at night, Reisi Munakata, the head of the office, responded with a single call.

"What's happen?"

"There was a report from Izumo Kusanagi, the executive member of 'Homura'. Tatara Totsuka, an executive of 'Homura', was assassinated by someone claiming to be the 'Colorless King'."

Awashima made a simple statement, inserting a jacket between her shoulder and face and pulling the sleeves into her uniform.

Munakata replied, "I understand."

"We will call members on an emergency call. Please meet at the base immediately."

"Yes!"

When the call ended, Awashima was already well dressed in her uniform. To finish, she quickly tied her tousled hair in front of the mirror, fixed it with a hair clip, put on her boots, and left the room.

As she hurries down the hall, Awashima feels the rush of blood close to her heart.

A member of the clan dies. That's sad. She also experienced it in "Scepter 4". However, if the criminal becomes another "King", a clan war is inevitable. Furthermore, Tatara Totsuka is surely the oldest member of the clan with Suoh and Izumo Kusanagi.

Remembering Kusanagi's voice on the phone, when she entered the captain's office of “Scepter 4”, which was adjacent to the bedroom, she was led into the twister due to the commotion that might occur. Munakata and the members of the special affairs team were already prepared.

Awashima bowed to Munakata, who was sitting in the office, and looked briefly at the faces of the hurried members. After thinking that Fushimi was missing, the door opened at the same time with a loud bang.

Saruhiko Fushimi, who has entered the office, said with a sulky look that the "Homura" executive was killed.

The eyes with black rimmed glasses and slightly long bangs carry a somber light. She has never seen Fushimi in a good mood, but today he seemed more frustrating than ever.

Fushimi is a young man with a unique past who has changed from "Homura" to "Scepter 4."

He lacks coordination, but he has a lot of power to make up for it, and although he is still 19 years old, he is at number 3 on "Scepter 4."

"Scepter 4", which plays the role of a police force against the Strains, and "Homura", which started from a street gang, are conflicting organizations that collide frequently. What happened to Fushimi's turn, Awashima doesn't know the detailed circumstances and never felt the need to know in particular.

However, she was deeply impressed by how he received the news that the "Homura" executive with whom he had been involved was assassinated.

Munakata bypassed the members and began to explain the current situation.

Shortly after receiving the news from Awashima, Munakata had contacted the police and made the minimum necessary adjustments.

Police had already launched an initial investigation after receiving a report from the general public that heard the shot, and had also obtained sightings of men carrying what appeared to be the body. However, Munakata received notice that the right of investigation was moved to "Scepter 4" and that the police would only deal with the backup because it was a "male case" involving a person with special abilities. Police investigations have stopped.

Fushimi irritated his hair in front of Munakata, who insisted that they conduct an investigation.

"Isn't this dangerous? If it goes wrong..."

"Yes, we cannot do bad things. We will catch the criminal."

Fushimi's words were accepted and Munakata said in a rejecting tone.

"We cannot let criminals who get out of order and commit crimes go unchecked, and we cannot afford to ignore a private sentence that could involve hundreds of thousands of unrelated people."

Awashima took a breath in the current crisis that was clearly declared by Munakata.

Suoh wants to kill the "Colorless King". It was a possible future, where Awashima tried not to look ahead, feeling what would happen if he killed the King due to the instability of Suoh's Weissmann deviation.

Awashima reconsidered Munakata. The orderly "Blue King" did not disturb his calm and graceful face, his eyes beyond his glasses were calm, but his feeling was not always the same.

"Let's find the criminal. In our cause, without cloudiness."

They all corrected their attitude and welcomed Munakata's statement.

Awashima casually stopped next to Fushimi and walked side by side as they moved to their respective posts.

"Totsuka Tatara, who was killed, what kind of person was he in "Homura"?"

She asks Fushimi in a calm tone. She thought that he wouldn't reply deeply if he was astonished, but Fushimi looked at Awashima, and replied without emotion.

“He was a non-combatant. He mainly played the role of turning situations well, such as taking care of the education of newcomers or dealing with problems from his colleagues. Usually, Izumo Kusanagi was in charge of negotiations with the outside, but there were times when Totsuka was good at correctly engulfing the opponent in smoke and deceiving them."

Does it have a purpose to respond only with the performance without touching the personality? Awashima looked at Fushimi's profile. After all, his emotions don't show up there, but she felt that his always pale cheeks were paler than usual, probably because he woke up at dawn or because of the content of the news.

"Suoh Mikoto is…"

Awashima muttered as she recalled the "current crisis" she told Munakata.

"Even if he knew he would repeat the tragedy of 13 years ago, would he kill the 'Colorless King'?"

Nobody knows Suoh like Awashima. Awashima, the first member of the Munakata clan, was alongside Munakata when he first collided with Suoh. At that moment, Suoh laughed at Munakata's persuasion and concessions and removed his fangs. Facing Awashima, Munakata, who was always calm, disturbed his feelings at the situation of the fire beast or the disaster of the human form.

She believes that he is a terrifying man who has a violent orientation and destructive power. Awashima couldn't qualify that man, that even Munakata couldn't understand, he was immeasurable.

“The role of Tatara Totsuka. I think there was also an aspect like Suoh's security device."

Fushimi said bluntly. In the end it was a completely self-talking tone.

Before Awashima answered anything, Fushimi suddenly left Awashima.

++++++++++

A shot sounds.

The sound he doesn't know how many times, Kusanagi heard at the bar. The images taken by the old camera of Totsuka are converted into data and now played back on a personal computer. The video data was sent to the PDA of all the members of Homura to report the face of the criminal.

Seeing the images of his friend being killed over and over again gave him the feeling of falling asleep in his chest, but when anger and sadness find a place in his heart, those emotions are felt. No more irrational fuss. It may be okay to say that you are used to it.

Hearing the criminal boy make a name for himself, Kusanagi paused the video and spread the boy's hands. He intended to identify the type of weapon and follow the weapons acquisition route.

Kusanagi's PDA by his side, receives reports from "Homura" members one after another. Now they are gathering information about sightings around the building where Totsuka was killed and they go to the information store and the people behind the scenes to ask, but the results have yet to be achieved. There are many reports that members with blood on their heads were rude and had trouble, or had a fight with a member of “Scepter 4” who rushed in.

In particular, Yata, who is the leader of “Homura's” vanguard, was prone to ruin now because he was prone to getting caught in a direct path. He uses Kamamoto as an immobilizer to keep his balance, because otherwise he could hit some average person and hurt him. He was still a teenager and often played the role as his brother. Above all, it was Yata who saw Totsuka take his last breath, it can be said that it is reasonable.

As Kusanagi worked diligently, he heard footsteps descending from the second floor. Kusanagi removed his sunglasses and narrowed his eyes slightly, where the loud noise of stepping on the stairs and the soft noises of light weight, overlapping each other, made noise. "It's about time.", he mutters under his breath. Soon the other members will join as well.

Suoh and Anna appear at the bar. Anna's hand that was clinging to Suoh's back to hide in the middle, had a red flower. Anna held her in her hands, holding her to her chest.

The flowers were planned for everyone to give as a gift one by one on Anna's birthday. It seems that the rose that Totsuka gave to Suoh to give to Anna last night, was correctly given to Anna by Suoh. Kusanagi couldn't do it. The rose that could not be delivered or thrown away remains alive in a glass vase in Kusanagi's room.

Totsuka was supposed to give it to Anna when she brought that ribbon. He felt sad when he thought about the gift Totsuka prepared, but when he saw Anna holding the rose in her hand in an important way, he also thought that it was the best gift that could be given to Anna.

"Well, everything is ready."

Kusanagi stands up off to a good start.

"Anna, wait here. Mikoto..."

At the call, Suoh follows Kusanagi without answering.

As he climbed the stairs, Kusanagi looked back and saw Suoh behind him. A simple ring-shaped earring was on the cartilage part of Suoh's left ear, which follows Kusanagi after slightly dropping his line of sight. Sometimes it glowed red when it received light. Kusanagi turns forward, looking at the earring he's not used to in his ear.

"Do you think the boy who killed Totsuka is the 'Colorless King'?"

"Perhaps."

"Do you understand that between "Kings"?"

"No. It's just intuition."

Kusanagi sighed. It was a small sigh, but the exhaled emotions were heavy. The opponent is a "King". Kusanagi understood the meaning well.

"The previous seventh king, the 'Colorless King' Miwa, died in late September. After that, I don't know the story of the birth of the new 'Colorless King'. He was born in secret. We also don't know why he murdered Totsuka."

"Never mind."

It was an audible voice that he couldn't hear.

Suoh doesn't care who he is or why he did it.

Just find him and kill him. He's probably thinking that's enough.

Kusanagi said nothing more and approached Totsuka's body that was lying in Suoh's room on the second floor of the bar.

He closed his eyes and smelled the blood from Totsuka's cold body. There is not the piercing that he always wears in his left ear, just a small hole in the cartilage.

Behind Kusanagi, Suoh made a noise that lit a cigarette and the familiar smell of smoke wafted through. The smell of the cigarette slowly replaced the smell of blood.

Kusanagi looks at his friend's white eyelids, which no longer open.

The graceful face whose auditory hair casts a shadow on the blood-boiled cheek looked like a doll, and was like a stranger.

"Even though I'm always calm, I'm dying to face it."

From now on, he will be cremated with the flame of Suoh.

It was also the smoke from Homura's battle of retribution.

The body was burned near the sea.

Kusanagi and his friends, who were cheerful, spoke well and laughed at all times, lay silently and without expression in front of the coffin.

They couldn't erase Kusanagi's mood as if he was dying, his expression was so calm that he suddenly stood up and said, "Is it just a surprise?" And serious. Totsuka didn't wake up and closed his eyes with a disgusting look. The contrast between Anna's soft reddish color next to Totsuka and the pure white color of his skin, which is no longer bloody, stays strangely in the eyes.

The moment Totsuka was cremated it felt strangely quiet and calm. Only this time, everyone was filled with sadness and regret rather than anger, and Suoh seemed to be as clear as usual from the edge.

Suoh's flame of extraordinary power instantly burned the coffin that contained Totsuka, leaving nothing behind.

No Blood! No Bone! No Ash!

It was the last moment that he embodied the words of "Homura", but like the remains of Totsuka in this world, the earring that Totsuka wore shone on Suoh's left ear.

After three days.

It seems that the quiet moment of Totsuka's funeral was a dream, time was running out and it was too difficult.

"Homura" did his best to search for the criminal boy, and even the members who had little relation to Totsuka were burning with the spirit of battle and revenge.

When it's normal, there are a lot of nice people who get together and make stupid noises, and that's why they get excited like children to celebrate a girl's birthday, but once they get angry and have a fighting spirit, they burn like a flame and they don't fit in until the other part is burned.

Kusanagi usually sprinkles water on those people as needed to control them, but this time, Kusanagi lets them burn as well.

Using all kinds of information networks and some rough means, he was able to find out how the killer got the gun, although the whereabouts were unknown.

Kusanagi, who got the information at midnight, hurriedly returned to the HOMRA bar and made his way to the second floor room where Suoh was the first to live.

"Mikoto."

Suoh was lying on the couch in the room, lazy with a cigarette in hand. When he turned to Kusanagi, the long ash that had accumulated on the end of the cigarette fell to the ground.

"What happened?"

“I discovered the origin of the weapon that killed Totsuka. A multinational mob that wins a large business. Recently, it seems to have focused particularly on arms trafficking."

"I see."

"I need to ask the 'customer' who sold the weapon if he knows him or has a relationship with him. Muko-san doesn't speak so easily, but the time and effort of using the hands to fry is pitiful. I think I'll just take the elite around Yata and Kamamoto to the question."

"No."

Suoh with a low voice, carelessly interrupted him.

"I'm going too."

Kusanagi stared at Suoh's apparition, who said that while still in a lying limbs position, and blinked several times.

"When you go, it will be important."

"Yes."

"Even for the last few days, 'Scepter 4' has been keeping an eye on us. If you move there, maybe those guys will be out there big."

Suoh smiled.

He grabs the cigarette that has been too short, squeezes it in his fingers and extinguishes it with his own flame.

"Let me be."

In a word, Kusanagi somehow sensed Suoh's heart and sighed with a bitter smile.

“Goodbye to the plan, right? It's weird, but if you call, you can gather members right now."

“No, tomorrow is fine. You should take Anna with you to see if he's lying."

"I agree."

When he tested the calculations for tomorrow in his head and solved the difficulty, there was a voice from behind calling him, "Kusanagi."

When he turned around, Suoh had a mocking smile and cheered at Kusanagi lightly.

"Go to sleep."

Kusanagi slightly opened his eyes, squeezed his face for about two seconds, then bent down and shook his face.

"Yes, thanks."

"You can't sleep well all the time."

"I will return that word exactly as it is."

On the contrary, it seems that there are few humans who sleep properly after the incident among the members of "Homura".

But surely, he should have slept well. From now on the situation of having to move the head and body continues. He need sleep.

The same thing happened with Suoh, but Suoh shrugged slightly at Kusanagi's words.

"If you do it now, you will be asleep."

Guessing the meaning of the word, Kusanagi frowned.

From before, Suoh was sometimes "sleeping". While sleeping, control of the power is removed and the flame escapes accidentally, burning the walls of the room. It is usually when Suoh has a nightmare. He hasn’t asked in detail about his dream, but he can imagine.

Although it is true. He thinks now it's even better.

"No matter how much you sleep; you will not sleep."

Suoh chuckled slightly when he said that he had no words to say to the ground, neither poison nor medicine.

Probably tomorrow, he will meet "Scepter 4". If Suoh moves, so will the "Blue King" Munakata.

Kusanagi thought silently, looking at Suoh's expression, thinking that that might be a good thing.

++++++++++

That day was a very cold day.

However, if she walks alongside Suoh, the cold recedes.

Anna looked at the back of Suoh, who is walking at the beginning of "Homura". In the sight of Anna, the color of his power is visible from Suoh's body.

The most beautiful red than anyone.

Suoh, who was visible to Anna, always wore a clean red. Red has a terrifying power, but it is very beautiful and warm.

Even now, Suoh's red is transmitted to Anna from the hand that holds his jacket and warms Anna.

"Ok, let's go ask."

"Sorry, Shohei! Open the door first!"

"Ok, San-chan. I've worked part-time at a pizza parlor, so I can go naturally. I'll pretend to deliver pizza, and when the other door opens, they'll attack!"

"Yata-chan, run after the signal. Don't run ahead."

"Yes."

Behind Suoh and Anna, Kusanagi and his friends make the final confirmation.

From now on, "Homura" will attack a multinational mafia office.

According to a Kusanagi survey, the weapon that killed Totsuka appears to be a modified pistol sold by the mob. The criminal boy is unlikely to be a member of the mob, but it would be a great clue if there was a firearms trade between the mob and the boy.

Anna had a reason to accompany this storm. Anna has the ability to see through everything. Even if the other person is reluctant to give out information, Anna can reveal the lies and secrets.

Suoh's hand was clutching the lid of the lighter he had, playing with a clicking sound. In this way, Suoh's strong emotions do not flow towards Anna even when he is close to her. Suoh's emotions sank deep into Suoh, and the surface even seemed to calm down.

Suoh flips the lighter with the lid open and places it near the cigarette still in his mouth. There was a little noise.

Suoh turned around and looked at Kusanagi. Kusanagi cleared his eyes, followed by Suoh from behind and slightly raised his hand to greet him.

"Good, go ahead. Mikoto, come as slow as possible."

When Kusanagi said that, he passed Suoh's side and advanced, Yata and his colleagues bowed slightly to Suoh and continued.

Suoh and Anna became the only two to part with Homura's people, who were moving fast.

Anna takes a red marble out of her pocket.

She often uses this marble as a vehicle when using her sensitive abilities.

Anna looks at the monochrome world through red marbles. Suddenly, she saw small snowflakes fluttering from the sky.

Anna looks up at the sky. It was starting to snow. Small snowflakes fall in the wind as they dance. No wonder it's cold. It's cold today, like that night Totsuka died.

"Mikoto."

When Anna called softly, Suoh looked at Anna. Suoh's left ear glows red with the earring.

"Are you going to kill him?"

In response to Anna's question, Suoh makes a selfish smile.

"It's not that good."

Anna pursed her lips tightly and concentrated on her hand that was holding Suoh's jacket.

"Just do what you want to do."

Suoh's steps remain the same, slowly, but in a straight line without hesitation.

++++++++++

Sitting next to a mob member who was shaking after being beaten by Yata and his friends, Kusanagi was smoking slowly.

On the floor of the spacious mafia office, who had been drunk, there were men rolling on the floor after “Homura's” attack.

Sitting next to Kusanagi, a member of the mob staring with his swollen eyes, at his comrades sprawled on the ground. Kusanagi brings the image projected on the PDA closer to his eyes.

"So, this is the guy we are looking for…”

Speaking to a foreign mobster in English, he points out the image of a boy claiming to be the "Colorless King" who killed Totsuka.

"Look the gun he has. It's from your place. Don't you know anything about it?"

The mob executives just flinch and don't respond. The weapons they brought to this country, modified and distributed, killed Totsuka. They needed to be remembered carefully.

Kusanagi put his arm around the back of the couch where the mob member was sitting, and he spoke so low and close that his breath was very close to his face.

"Relax and take your time to remember."

At that moment, a roar was heard. Dust enters through the entrance that Kamamoto broke during the attack. It seems that more tough customers have arrived.

Kusanagi smirked. He wanted to shake it some more, but the King had already arrived.

A heavy step was heard from the dust. Suoh stands in a relaxed look, hidden behind him, a pretty girl looks uncomfortable in this place.

"King!" Yata, Kamamoto and other members of "Homura" bowed at the same time.

"It's early, Mikoto."

Kusanagi says that, the lower part of his eyebrows are lowered. Suoh paused for a moment as if he had come to the neighborhood for a walk.

Anna stepped out from behind Suoh's waist, and when she noticed the shaking member next to Kusanagi, she hurried to run.

A mafia man with a swollen face and a nosebleed looked scared at a doll-like girl. Perhaps another kind of fear was felt in the appearance of the girl who appeared in the middle of such a disaster.

Anna took a red marble out of her pocket and hung it in front of her left eye.

She is a Strain with unique abilities before she was a member of the Red Clan. Her eyes communicate with various things like the past and the future, distant places and human hearts, and "see" by her total feeling. There is no such thing as looking at the thought of a scared man. If it's still hard to see, just push a little harder and try to uncover the hidden stuff.

However, Anna, looking into the mafia man's eyes through the marbles, simply lowered her arm.

"He does not know it."

Anna's words spread an air of disappointment among the members of "Homura". There are no leads on the criminal. Although some sighs ended, Suoh seemed not to care and said in a low voice.

"Let's go."

Suoh turned his back on him slightly and started walking.

Unfortunately, the members of "Homura" chase after him, and Kusanagi also offers a sincere apology by raising a hand towards the crushed mob and continues.

Suoh did not use the regular entrance and exit, and hit the wall protruding from his body slightly on the nearest wall and made a large hole, and got out of there. It's exciting.

"Mikoto-san, Kusanagi-san."

Fujishima and Eric, who are the "Homura" members who were watching, run down the hall.

"The boys in blue are coming. It seems that riot police are also deployed on the first and second floors of the building."

Behind Fujishima's report, Eric also says with a strange face. "The "Blue King" is also coming out. It only hits the mafia, it's an overdone team."

"I'm sorry. Right now, the Blues should want to stop us, even if we push a bit. Normally we wouldn't squeeze as much as we did a bit of force to ask at the yakuza shop, but this time we want to catch ourselves the hard way. The harm to the general public by people with powers is a great cause for the Blues due to the violation of accord 120."

"Agreement?" Yata greatly distorted her youthful face.

"The damage to the general public was just the wall that flew off, right? If the Blues get in the way, let's attack!"

Kusanagi shrugged, with Yata's breath at his side, and put his hand on Anna's shoulder, which was attached to Suoh's back, and gently pushed her towards Fujishima and his friends.

"Anna, evacuate with Fujishima and Eric. It's going to be difficult."

Anna gently approached Fujishima and others, but looked at Suoh with concerned eyes. Suoh doesn't look at Anna, but starts walking again.

Kusanagi smiles and looks at his back, and puts his hand gently on Anna's head and follows Suoh.

A red flame arises again from Suoh's body and deflects. The flame breaks the wall of Suoh's hand slightly like chocolat and opens a path. Apparently, it seems that the structure of the building is completely ignored and a hole is drilled in the desired location.

Maybe he has settled on a horizontal route, or maybe he just wants to spit out the flames swirling around his body.

When he went down to the second floor, Suoh burned the wall again. A red, tsunami-like flame penetrates the wall easily and the heat melts nearby metal. The flames in Suoh still burned so that he couldn't calm down, a loud sparkling noise crackled under Suoh's feet, who stomped on the ground.

Behind the hole in the wall that Suoh opened was an entrance hall. As Fujishima said, riot police stationed with gear and a duralumin shield attached. However, they show clear confusion in the face of Suoh's flame and heat.

In the entrance to the first floor, there were people dressed in blue uniforms and hanging their swords at their waists. Unlike the riot police, they stand their ground against Suoh's flames.

"The Blues!"

Yata, who recognized their existence, released a scathing voice. Kusanagi smiled slightly to make it seem intimidating at best.

"Scepter 4" has arrived. What will you do, Mikoto?"

Suoh looked at "Scepter 4" from the second floor of the colonnade and laughed slightly.

A special task force, an elite group of "Scepter 4", is side by side, and Seri Awashima, the Lieutenant who is familiar with Kusanagi, is in charge of that.

And they are followed by Reisi Munakata, the fourth "King", the "Blue King".

Munakata watches silently, looking at Suoh from the other side of the lens of his glasses.

Suoh also silently looked at Munakata and said in a low voice.

"Burn them."

Yata thrusts his fist at the command of his "King". Led by Yata, who inspires with "Let's do it!", Kamamoto, Akagi, Bando, etc., responded like members of "Homura", raising their fists and raising their voices.

"No Blood! No Bone! No Ash!"

At the same time that he heard the voice of the “Homura” members, Suoh gently jumped over the railing with his hand in his pocket and jumped into the entrance hall on the first floor.

The intense red light bleeds and overflows from Suoh's body, who lands and stands up. It rages like a beast unleashed, swirling and swelling throughout the lobby.

The flame burns the wall, breaks the window glass and goes out.

The flame ran across the ceiling and the high heat caused the lights to fall to the floor and melt like butter.

Facing the raging flame, Reisi Munakata, the "Blue King," did not waver. A harsh blue light also overflows from Munakata's body, forming a dome-shaped wall of light that blocks Suoh's flames and protects himself and his men.

Suoh also smiled deeply at Kusanagi behind him.

Suoh's strength relaxes even more and the pressure exerted by Suoh increases.

Kusanagi looked up. There is a skylight over the entrance hall of the colonnade, and sunlight shines on it. The sky, which had been flashing with snow, was regaining blue sky now, but a red light was shining through the blue sky.

The red light that explodes in the sky swells as it distorts space, and a huge sword appears in the center.

It is a sword of Damocles.

A symbol of that person's royal authority and power status.

Suoh's sword of Damocles was huge, but it was cracked and crumbling.

"Ok."

Munakata pulled up his glasses and said.

"Control the sword with the sword. There are no clouds in our cause."

"Everyone, draw your swords!"

Awashima orders her subordinates in response to Munakata's cheerful comments.

The members of the Blue Clan, members of "Scepter 4," dressed in blue uniforms, lined up in a row, drawing their swords fluidly along with their names.

"Akiyama, Batto!"

"Benzai, Batto!"

"Kamo, Batto!"

"Domyoji, Batto!"

"Enomoto, Batto!"

"Fuse, Batto!"

"Goto, Batto!"

"Hidaka, Batto!"

Munakata, standing vertically and facing a forest of white swords, also placed his left hand on his sword sheath.

"Munakata, Batto!"

With that voice like a key, the saber opened and Munakata drew his sword in a beautiful manner. A sword white glossy leaf appears and looks up at the sky.

At the same time, the space next to Suoh's red sword of Damocles distorted and the blue sword of Damocles appeared.

Munakata unleashes his power. The barrier, "Sanctum", emitted by the "King" unfolds, and the blue light escaping from Munakata and his clansmen attacks Suoh. Suoh played the blue power with his own Sanctum without making a slight move.

Kusanagi jumps onto the railing, follows Suoh, and jumps to the first floor of the entrance hall. Followed by Yata and Kamamoto, the Red Clansmen who were behind Suoh.

Suoh and Munakata's centrally emitted red and blue powers collide and conquer.

It was Suoh with a slight smile who broke that balance.

Suoh spins the flame around his body with his hands in his pocket and slams it towards Munakata and "Scepter 4".

Munakata took off Suoh with sharp eyes, strengthened the exit of the blue barrier and reached for the fierce flame. Munakata's hair flutters in the hot air.

"Fu!"

With a little spirit of encouragement, Munakata waved the saber sideways. The flames that Munakata accepted and repelled are pushed towards Suoh and "Homura".

Kusanagi and others flew back slightly to avoid it, and Suoh was exposed to his own flames as if he was exposed to the breeze.

Suoh's flame gently melts around the body, turning into hot air.

Suoh leaned down and jumped like a beast. Break the barriers of blue power, attack Munakata and wield a fist with fire.

Munakata's sword flashes, hits Suoh's fist and plays with them. The sword and the fist that possess the power of the "King" are equivalent weapons.

Suoh laughs. The flame flutters over Munakata, and Munakata rejects Suoh's attack as if he is fighting with a sword.

Thinking it was a brilliant bullfight, Kusanagi smiled brightly, wondering if he could call his “King” bull.

"Mikoto-san! We too...!"

Yata, who was excited about the blood, showed that he had jumped before the battle between Suoh and Munakata, but Kusanagi raised his hand slightly and stopped him.

"But don't move. Don't let go."

Awashima, the member of the blue clan holds the barrier with her sword raised. Even if a clan member plunges into the battle between the kings, they will be annihilated.

Further…

(In any case, this is a sham.)

Kusanagi, with a complicated feeling, continued looking at the "King" who was fighting.

Munakata repels the flames emitted from Suoh's body with his blue sword.

"Suoh Mikoto. I understand the feeling for the death of a member of the clan. But we cannot forgive an audience so upset that it could harm people, much less retaliation that could involve unrelated citizens.''

"I don't even want anyone to forgive me!"

Suoh says that laughing and kicking. Munakata brought his sword upright and linked his left hand to the peak of the blade to catch the kick. The flame protrudes from the kicking foot and tries to swallow Munakata.

Munakata's graceful face was slightly distorted, and he could see a small amount of irritation mixed with calm.

"Do you know the state of your sword?"

The end of Munakata's words turned harsh, and the eyes on the back of the glasses sharpened to lift Suoh off. As if angry at Suoh who raised the tip of his mouth, Munakata thrust his saber with force and flew away from Suoh.

The powers of red and blue collide violently for a moment and spark.

Suoh bounced and was thrown through the air, and when he made a revolution in the air, he landed in front of Kusanagi and the others.

Munakata also slid across the ground in reaction and came down in front of Awashima and his friends. A trace from the sole of Munakata's shoe rubbed against the ground, kicking up friction heat smoke.

Munakata, who had been irritated for a moment when he rebuilt himself, returned to his cool and calm expression, and when he repositioned his position, he put the sword in its sheath.

Looking at Munakata, who was holding the sword in front of the enemy, Suoh shrugged slightly, but did not provoke further and held back the flame he carried.

Munakata approached while stomping on the ground in his military shoes, and stopped in front of Suoh.

"I'll detain you under Settlement 120. Do you have any objections?"

Munakata asks a question.

Alongside Kusanagi, Yata is taking off against Munakata in a hostile manner. Kusanagi casually appeared in front of Yata to prevent him from attacking.

Suoh laughed, her voice slightly leaking.

"But that's not true. Well, take care of me."

Suoh presented Munakata with both fists, just as a sinner would admit his sin and surrender.

Kusanagi closed his eyes for a moment, then immediately opened them and ordered in a low voice to the impressive and disappointed Yata.

"Homura", retired."

Suoh was held back by "Scepter 4." If it was Suoh's choice, then with such a "King" in place, they followed the choice of Kusanagi, who is Suoh's second in command.

++++++++++

An attack on a multinational mafia office by "Homura" and a collision between "Scepter 4" and "Homura" in the building where the office was located. After reporting the damage and further processing caused by him, Fushimi lowered the tablet displaying the report and looked at Munakata sitting on a chair in his office with messy eyes.

"Still, it was a bag that carried a lot of problems."

Munakata smiled in response to Fushimi's displeasure.

"Uncomfortable luggage is uncomfortable to put anywhere. It should at least be stored in a place that has the ability to handle it."

Munakata naturally understands that Suoh was restrained by "Scepter 4" without resistance and the members who were in the underground prison of "Scepter 4" were scared by him.

Fushimi frowned.

“Only the Captain will have the ability to handle it. As long as you have Suoh held in the basement, you won't be able to take care of him all the time."

"Yes, but I can't leave he on the streets."

Fushimi returned his gaze with a complicated expression. He was originally a member of "Homura". Both the "Red King" and the old friends have something to think about.

“If Suoh Mikoto gets out of control when I'm away, please prioritize the safety of the members over repression. Awashima-kun is too responsible, so I entrust it to you, Fushimi-kun."

Fushimi said reluctantly: "...I understand." Munakata thinks it's cute that he shows his emotions.

"Then, while still paying attention to "Homura's" movement, look for the assassin who is known as the "Colorless King"."

Munakata gets up and walks to the door.

"Where are you going, Captain?"

"I'm going to see the problem luggage."

After smiling at Fushimi and leaving the office, Munakata erased his expression and headed for the underground warehouse of the barracks.

The “Scepter 4” underground depot is a place to temporarily detain those who commit a crime.

The power possessed by a Strain, which appears spontaneously without being empowered by a "King", has various powers, including its strength, and this underground reservoir is made quite strict to maintain them.

As Munakata walks in the cold underground and approaches the entrance to the detention center, the sensor reads Munakata's iris and the lock is released. Passing through several automatic lattice doors and walk to the desired cell.

All doors have multiple electronic locks and are equipped with a Strain control device, and it is basically impossible to break them with powers. Also, in case of an emergency, there are escape prevention measures, in which the blinds also have the effect of suppressing powers in multiple layers, but all of them will be like paper boats if the King gets serious. It's an order of magnitude less powerful than the King's power, and it's an S-type that's great for anyone.

So that power comes with great responsibility. Nevertheless…

Munakata was left alone on his chest and stopped in front of a single cell.

In that dark cell, a red-haired man was lying on his bed with his back to him.

Munakata opens the cell door and enters.

A red-haired man, Suoh, a "dangerous baggage" that "Scepter 4" brought to his headquarters, was sleeping comfortably. Sleep peacefully, despite the inconvenience of having humiliating handcuffs on his hand that stifles his power.

Munakata was a man who had little emotional influence from the beginning, but only before Suoh. When he faced this guy, he got mad.

Munakata grabbed Suoh's sleeping head with one hand, lifted it, and slammed it against the wall.

A dull sound echoed through the cell, and Suoh opened his eyes, "Hm?" He doesn't look good.

"Oh, it's you."

With a face that looks like a yawn, Suoh looks at Munakata with only his eyes, his body slammed against a concrete wall.

"Suoh Mikoto. I'll get straight to the point."

Munakata sank his emotions and silently cut the matter off.

“Your Weissmann deviation is already close to the limit. If the sword of Damocles falls, it will be the reincarnation of the crater of Kanto. If you want to get more out of the Dresden Slate, I must kill you."

Only the facts are listed.

The Weissmann deviation shows the stability of the King's power. Abuse of power, lack of balance of spirit and interference of power with other kings, in particular, having a "King" kill another "King". It endangers the Weissmann deviation, which ultimately leads to the fall of Damocles, where the sword of Damocles, the symbol of the "King" falls.

The consequences of that are explained 13 years ago, when the southern region of Kanto disappeared and left a huge crater.

However, Suoh leaned against the wall, and said, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Suppressing the urge to hit him, Munakata put his hand on the side of Suoh's face and looked down at him.

"I am telling you to renounce the throne."

Originally, Suoh's Weissmann deviation was dangerous. The power was great, but it had instability as if it had an excess of power, perhaps because it was not used for a definite purpose.

Originally an unsuitable man to be "King". No, maybe he's a man who can't handle the power of the "Red King". Like the predecessor "Red King", Kagutsu Genji, who died by destroying the sword of Damocles, causing destruction, ruin, and the death of seventy thousand people.

Suoh has been in the last minute so far. But now, with the death of a clan member, Suoh seems to have somehow abandoned his stability. It's like he's blaming himself, but he seems to be running straight to ruin. The fall of Damocles is inevitable if he kills a "King" in this state.

For Suoh to stay alive without causing harm, there is no choice but to stop wielding the King's power and live a quiet life.

However, Munakata himself understood that Suoh could not choose that path.

Suoh smiled a bit embarrassed, as if to be surprised.

"What you say is still not interesting, Munakata."

"Then you have to figure out how to stop for the rest of your life."

Suoh smiled slightly. Looking at Munakata with a provocative look.

"There is only one. One way to keep me locked up all the time... and that is if you, Munakata, the "Blue King", take care of me directly. In this room for twenty-four hours. If I start to wreak havoc, you will use all your power to hold me down."

Suoh's eyes glow dark red, and a red aura rises from Suoh's body like a haze of heat.

Only a "King" can control another "King". That was what Fushimi had pointed out earlier. Including that Munakata, who has the power, couldn't stay in the same place all the time.

“The fact of having to breathe the same air as you makes me sick. And unfortunately I am too busy. I can't just get involved only with you."

Munakata returns to his posture and turns his back to Suoh.

"Sorry, Munakata."

Suoh says it in a voice that can't get serious or play. Munakata comes out of the cell and looks back.

Suoh was rolling in bed again and starting to sleep. His shoulders wrapped in a white t-shirt move slightly every time he breathes.

"Me too, Suoh."

Munakata's true intention spilled out and he didn't reach Suoh, and the cell door closed to separate the two.

++++++++++

Akagi Shouhei sat on the counter seat in front of the cafe's large window and vaguely looked at the crossroads in front of Shizume-cho station.

He couldn't drink the iced coffee he bought, starts sweating on the surface of the plastic cup.

Akagi has been a member of “Homura” for about two years and is relatively new among the main members who often come and go to the “HOMRA” bar. However, two years, which is shorter than life in high school, was enough time for Akagi to decide on "Homura" as his place and to connect with his friends.

Totsuka Tatara who was killed also had the role of caring for a newcomer, so when he arrived at “Homura”, Akagi was cared for in various ways. He was a strange person with a smile and a fluffy atmosphere all the time, but he thinks “Homura” was always filled with a happy atmosphere.

Akagi will never forgive anyone who has killed a friend. Since that incident, Akagi runs every day looking for clues about the criminal. However, the result has not yet been achieved.

The other day, they went to visit the mafia office that sold the gun to the murderer, but in the end they couldn't get a powerful clue, on the contrary, Suoh and the others collided with "Scepter 4" who arrived at the scene.

"Ah, now!"

Akagi was alone and scratched his head on his cap.

Suoh was captured by Munakata, the "Blue King". Although he had even dropped the sword of Damocles, Suoh did not fight seriously for some reason, but he held out both hands to Munakata, who claimed he was breaking the agreement, and was arrested.

That caused a great commotion in "Homura".

Suoh is in the heart of "Homura". What happens? That shook "Homura".  Of course, Kusanagi, who is number two, is in charge of carrying out his own activities, and it was thought that Suoh had been arrested, but...

Akagi, who was in a bad mood, sighed once more and looked out the window.

Although it is a weekday, the front of the station is crowded with people.

Looking at the people waiting for the signal at the crossing, Akagi stared wide-eyed.

He hastily pulled his PDA out of his pocket and pointed it at the person waiting for the signal. Repeat enlarging the person who appears small, until the face is clearly visible.

"Yes."

That boy.

The boy who pointed a gun at Totsuka Tatara and pulled the trigger to take his life. Unlike the ghastly expression at the time, he looks like a harmless person and looks harmless, but this is definitely a characteristic.

The criminal who they have not been able to find a clue of so far, proudly walks down the main street of Shizume-cho, which is the territory of "Homura".

Well, Akagi bit his teeth, quickly moved his finger and sent a photo of the boy and his current position to his partner Saburota.

Akagi hurried to follow the boy's figure out the window so as not to lose sight of him.

When he left the store, just as the traffic light changed, the killer boy crossed the crosswalk. He had a red Japanese umbrella on his shoulder and a kitten on the other shoulder.

Akagi only sees the boy's rear view and follows his back as he hits a person.

The boy walked through the crowd without seeming to care about the killer and finally entered the "Kadamaya" fireworks store.

Akagi hides in the shadows and waits for the boy to come out.

When he made the concession, a motorcycle came up behind him and stopped next to Akagi.

"Kamamoto-san."

Rikio Kamamoto, a handsome man with a lot of fat accumulated around his belly, saw Akagi. He gives him a helmet and a bat.

“Get in behind. Yata-san will come here immediately. Hit it in the middle."

Akagi clenched his expression, pulled on his helmet and held his weapon tightly.

++++++++++

Kusanagi leaned against the dirty wall in the back alley and lit a cigarette.

With the torch in one hand, he instructs the members of "Homura" to lay siege to the criminal.

Smoke deeply and exhale slowly and long.

A mysterious boy who has killed Totsuka Tatara and claims to be the Seventh King, the "Colorless King". Kusanagi has no idea what he's thinking. However, no matter what the speculation is, "Homura" will see to it that he receives the damage he deserves.

When he was standing while smoking, he hears an angry familiar voice and some footsteps from the alley. They have been deployed so that he does not escape where he runs, but the boy seems to have chosen this alley with Kusanagi.

The boy who jumped out of the alley had a slender and cute appearance that looked like a girl. The appearance of rushing and running can only be seen by a good citizen who is chased by a bully, but Kusanagi, who has seen that terrifying video over and over, knows how terrifying his face can be.

"Sorry, get out of the way!"

The boy noticed that Kusanagi was on the way and made a panicky voice.

Kusanagi slowly inhales another puff of smoke and focuses his attention on the smoke coming out of his mouth. The power of the Red Clan member received from Suoh in his body is linked to the small fire at the tip of the cigarette, and Kusanagi's flame is reflected there.

At the moment, he doesn’t control the killing intent that silently erupted.

Kusanagi touches a cigarette with his thumb and tosses it into the air. The cigarette spun, and a small tip of the fire bulged out enormously in accordance with Kusanagi's will, turning into a ball of fire and splitting, flying towards the boy like a bullet.

The child stiffens and stops.

If he were the "Colorless King", he would avoid this kind of attack. When Kusanagi thought that he should throw away his innocent boy mask, a young man dressed in a black coat leapt from the sky and landed between Kusanagi's fireball and the boy.

The black clothed youth deflected all the fireballs with the palm of his right hand holding a transparent power. Furthermore, Yata, who was chasing the boy, is drawn into his hand in an instant with the power of his right hand, and silenced is knocked down with a single elbow strike.

A power like a transparent hand that compresses space and grasps distant objects, a Japanese sword worn at the waist, about 20 years old, a long black mane attached like a dog's tail. Kusanagi knew a person with these characteristics.

A young man dressed in black holds the criminal boy and quickly walks away from Kusanagi and his friends.

Kusanagi and the others, who had their prey abducted in front of them, looked in the direction in which they were disappearing.

"Damn! Who is that guy?"

Yata squeezed his elbow-struck belly and stood up, furious.

“He's the 'Black Dog', Kuro Yatogami. It has been troublesome again."

Kusanagi said, picking up his PDA.

"Well, we'll have to use the next move."

++++++++++

"Hi, it's a good night. I came to photograph the night view, what are you doing in such a place? I am Totsuka Tatara, and you?"

The sound of gunfire rang out and the cameraman, Totsuka Tatara, fell. Then the camera that fell to the ground moves and faces the person who shot. The person was still a teenager.

"I am the Seventh King, the 'Colorless King'. Waiting for people here. It's a good night. Oh, sure it's a good night!"

Awashima was watching the image on the monitor in the "Scepter 4" briefing room.

Among the members who are upset by unexpected situations, Fushimi says without changing his sullen expression.

"The urban network in Tokyo is hijacked."

"Specify the font!"

"I'm doing it now."

Fushimi's euphoric attitude isn't a compliment, but he's probably already working on it.

In Tokyo, mainly in city chains, electronic devices ranging from visions of street lamps, televisions and even personal PDAs were temporarily stolen and video of the murder was released.

The one who did it was "Homura". There is no doubt that it will be considered as a strategy of that clever person, Izumo Kusanagi.

"To catch the criminal, does he expose the death of his friend?"

Awashima was alone with a small, low voice that no other human could hear.

This is the first time that "Scepter 4" has obtained this image because "Homura" refused to investigate the case with "Scepter 4" and did not pass any information.

While it will be a great lead to proceed with the investigation, matters related to sovereignty should be kept secret only from those with powers, and that form of informing the general public is overlooked. Cannot be. It was a headache when she thought about canceling the videos that had flown and stopping the release to the media. Either way, they will soon have to ask the "Golden King" for help.

Above all, Awashima was terribly frightened by "Homura's" unwillingness to try to pursue the criminal, even after revealing the vision of how his ally was killed.

Domyouji, a young middle-aged staff member in the Information Room, looked at the screen stopped by the criminal with a pistol and said, "He is saying 'Colorless King', but he is a child like a high school student!" He is horrified.

Awashima once again looked at the face of the mystery boy who claims to be the "Colorless King".

No matter what, they have to find and catch him before "Homura".

Before the raging flame becomes irreversible.

#k #k project #k the first story

[citoyenneangele]

Les Mis in Bernese (Swiss Les Mis part 3)

The most interesting finding I had during my research at the library was a script of Les Mis in Bernese German (Bärndütsch), a Swiss German dialect, my native language kind of.

I found this extremely fascinating, to read a story that means so much to me, in particular a version of it that is very close to the original in many quotes, in my local language. It was without a doubt a very particular experience for me, enriching in many ways.

This script was written by Ueli Bichsel in the occasion of a open air theatre production in the Bernese old town in 2011.

Sadly it was pretty hard to find actual footage of the show after 9 years, since many of the things are no longer available on the internet after such a long time. This sadly also includes the photos that the theatre company uploaded.

Here is a partly reconstructed version of the website, that does include some aspects of it, like the introduction to the play and the cast, but sadly no photos :(

Here is one of the few pictures I found on the internet a few months ago, featuring probably Javert and Gavroche

here is a little exctact of the play featuring Valjean’s dispair, a fair in Montreuil, the Thenardiers, Cosette and the other 2 kids, possibly Fantine...

The way this video is arranged makes me suspect there would be a whole recording, to which I sadly don’t have access, but this video just focuses on the woman who plays the accordeon.

Besides that the only file I have access too is a a few scenes that were featured in a christian tv show which you can find here. It is a portrait of the woman who did the co-direction of the production. The portrait starts at about 5mins in. It features besides the portait of Nathalie Trachsel also some behind the scenes clips from the rehearsals, also some scenes from the actual play: Javert upon Valjean’s release, Valjean and the Bishop, Fantine dying, Javert confronting; then after a break The Amis shouting “to the barricades!” (in particular Combeferre, Feuilly, and Enjolras (the guy with the red cravat), them building the barricade, the first attack, Gavroche shooting the sergeant and Gavroche dying, Valjean releasing Javert.

Now let me tell you about the particularities of this play and its adaptional choices:

The language: as I already said, this is the first time I hear and read Les Mis in my native dialect. It is a very poetic form of it using many specific Bernese terms of vocabulary, that I would probably not use on everyday basis.

The script is specifically designed for the square in the old town where it was realised in 2011. Multiple references concerning the nearby streets are being made. Also the actual cathedral of Bern, giving the square its name, is being integrated, as the seat of the Bishop of Digne. I think they invested also some part of the introduction to the play by stating that all of this could also have happened right here, in these streets, which is a pretty powerful message.

The play includes multiple dreamlike sequences, that also explain multiple cast of Valjean. The first dream is kind of a nightmare that Valjean has during his first night after prison where he sleeps on the stone bench which resumes the ordeal he experienced since his conviction for stealing bread (featuring various Valjean-actors at different stages of his life). The next one is the one where everyone surrounds Fantine and wants money from her after her dismissal. Another dreamscene is the internal debate that Valjean experiences after learing about the “trial of the applethief”, where multiple actors represent the different voices in Valjean’s head (Madeleine’s self who doesn’t want to give up his freedom and doesn’t want to give his town up and do good there instead, even if this means breaking with the past, Fantine who insists that he has to save her daughter and thus can’t go in prison, the apple thief who doesn’t want to go to prison for life in his place, the Bishop who wants him to stay with the truth...). The last dreamscene is the near-death experience Marius has after the barricade which is very similar to the finale of the 2012 film which it predates, except that they are actually not singing the finale but the regular Do You Hear The People Sing in (standard) German.

Another particularity is the insert of Javert as some sort of narrator that comments basically the entire story from his point of view. This is particularly interesting because this Javert seems to me more omniscient than I expect actual Hugolian Javert to be. And since there is no story without a narrator, this play ends with Javert’s suicide.

Generally the book seems to have been an important source of information, many of the dialogues are directly taken from Hugo

The influence of the musical is there and reaches also to the point of the already anticipated inclusion of a song into the play. But there are some part of influences that also make me think of other versions, in particular some dialogue seems to be directly taken from 2000 Les Mis (conversation about the cause from Marius and Enjolras)

Marius is a Republican (and sadly partially rude to Gavroche)

Javert tries to hire Gavroche to spy on the Musain, and the latter takes the money, but later uses this against Javert

Gavroche kills the artillery sergeant and not Enjolras, and gets killed while rejoicing his success

preparation for the barricade is featured

In general I have to say that I enjoyed reading this very much as it was really a well done adaptation from how I can tell this. Very detailed.

I am gonna keep a copy of this script. So if you have questions or would have to see something more in detail, just ask ;)

Click on read more to see the detailed summary.

Before the actual script several interesting documents are included

So the very first page is a letter that the director wrote to one of the actors in the play (he plays Le Noir, a elderly revolutionary, who gets a few lines of one of the unnamed workers of the Faubourg that Hugo quotes). He makes an excuse that it took so long, but they had to edit some things because there were not enough male actors for all the roles, so they had to change a few male roles into female roles, and they are also considering where someone may take over multiple roles.

Then we have a list of all the roles with the respective actors who played them. Some roles are still open, and marked with a question mark, as this list was made before the rehearsals actually took place

Next up we have a plan of the rehearsals, with days and hours and everything... interestingly enough they took place at a location that I personally know, so that is very meaningful for me.

Then follows the actual script. The title is Les Misérables - fate, death and love. The translation is by Ueli Bichel, last edited by Marlise Oberli-Schoch, in 2010.

Prologue

Valjean enters from one of the side streads, is poorly clothed, unshaved, lies on a stone bench and sleeps.

Valjean has a nightmare. so there is a scene within the scene. Which explains the quantity of Valjeans that are employed. Like the Madeleine's self, they appear to the actual Valjean actor in the dreams. In this particular dream sequence Valjean is sentenced to 5 years galleys. While both Valjean and his sister Jeanne beg for mercy (because he tried to work but that was not enough to feed all 8 of them, and parents are dead and so on...)  the judge has none of this because the LAW.

Valjean2 is sentenced to more prison and other... corrective measures

Valjean 3 and 4 are sentenced to more prison and other unhuman treatment. Javert appears and lets the prisoners to be chained together. They go away

Javert has a monologue about Valjean. Basically he knows that we will say that this sentence is inhuman and that arresting people like JVJ causes more misery since he is the breadwinner of his family etc. But the law is clear and shall not be questioned. He is not in the position to judge the law, and he is also not responsible for the existence of criminals. His duty is it to find out about crimes and to fight them and to deliver criminals to their rightful punishment. He also gives Valjean his passport and tells him what he has to do and what happens if he breaks is parole...and then Javert speaks to the public and talks about how Valjean cried after his first conviction, and how he now doesn't show any feelings anymore. Wonders what happened to his soul.

A woman called Delacroix wakes Valjean up and asks him what he is doing here, why he sleeps on a stone bench and why he is not going to a inn. He says he was rejected everywhere. She gives him a tip and indicates... the actual cathedral that is on that square in Bern where the theatre takes place.

Image/Act 1

Valjean knocks at the cathedral door. First Magloire with Baptistine, then the Bishop come out. While the women are scared the Bishop approaches Valjean without fear  and calmly. greets him with a blessing. Valjean tells him who he is and that he has nowhere to stay, that they didn't let him in even in the prison and so on.... Bishop invites him. JVJ continues to talk about his yellow passport. and is surprised that he wants to take him in ... more conversation of this kind. Bishop says it is not his home, it is the home of jesus, that the door ask not how the one is called who comes in, that is asks if one has hunger or thirst.... Says Valjean come sfrom a place where lots of sad things exists, a place full of hatred and anger against the peple, you have the right to mercy. When you go from here with a benevolence, and thoughts of freedom, a penitent sinner and a peaceful man, then you are worth more than anyone of us. Lets him sleep there.[

Magloire has a panic attack because the silver is missing and what else terrible could have happened. The gendarmes bring the arrested Valjean back.The entire conversation about how the bishop exonerates Valjean, by saying he gave him the silver and why didn't he take the candlesticks... And tells him to become a honest man, that he no longer belongs to evil...Javert as narrator again comments the whole scenery and does not believe that Valjean can become a good person in such a short time. Because once a prisoner, always a  prisoner.

almost to prove Javert's judgement  the next scene is Petit Gervais, but with a girl called Odette, Valjean tears his ticket

Image/Act 2

there is some kind of fair with music and dancing and market, and all kinds of shows. Javert is there, Thenardier is in his inn, Mme T. is there too... Thenardier boasts about how he, sergeant Thenardier, saved a General in Waterloo with lots of overdramatic details People in the audience have mixed feelings about his narration. While someone is totally impressed, someone else has heard other things about this "ghoul". The Thenardiers have first names (Justin and Rose) They have a discussion about their newest visitor and how they can rip him off the best. Make some remarks about his job as a innkeeper that remind me distantly of Master of the house in the musical. Javert has a conversation with Mme T. about Cosette. Then a conversation about Javert, who is new in town. and once they know where he wants to go (the police prefecture) they suddenly ask lower prizes.

So apparently the Thenardiers are in the same place here as Javert, and thus probably also Fantine and Valjean..

Javert arrives at the police. there is a captain Bovet, who is currently ridiculously eating a sandwich and is not bothered by Javert's arrival until he says who he is, i.e. the new police inspector, and he keep telling him that he is not behaving the way he is supposed to according to the official instructions. He wants to see the mayor immediately. On the way, Javert has a conversation with Bovet about how much more clean it is here and how much less crimes there will be here than in Paris. Bovet says that is due to the glass manufacture that the life in Montreuil has never been better. He asks him if he wants to see it. He says, first the mayor. Whom does the factory belong to? To the mayor. He first worked as worker, but after the bankruptcy of the former owner he bought the entire factory six years ago. Javert thinks then it is even better if they first go and see the mayor, when he seems to be the driving force in this town. Bovet says, yes, but also that he is kinda extraordinary, eccentric, well very shy. He lives like an eremit, retired and alone. He even did not want to be elected, he had rejected to be mayor at first. The people think he is abit crazy, but Bovet thinks he is sympathetic and yet he has a bit of pity for him because he is so lonely. A very short, very formal visit at Madeleine's house, where for some reason a soldier is watching, and asking the mayor to come. The scene concludes with Javert-narrator wondering from where he knows this man, finds it weird that this man does not show any interest in the prefect of police (excuse me what are you now, Javert, prefect, inspector, officer? I have lost the overview in this play), wonders if he has something to hide, himself, his face, his voice, a movement, his language....

a woman called Ducret approaches Madeleine, and tells her about one of the girls at the factory, that she has not spoken to ehr yet, but everything indicates that she has a child. Madeleine asks if she is a whore. He only does not want that his workers are captured by moral disintegration. Ducret then suggests to dismiss her. Madeleine trust upon her judgement, and says in this case she shall give her 50 francs and send her away. Ducret has a conversation with Fantine which starts with innocent smalltalk and ends with her being dismissed. 

basically Fantine is in a state of powerlessness and everyone wants money from her and threatens her.  (The Thenardiers, the landlord the renter of furniture, the letter writer...) Fantine breaks down.

a woman called Françoise who offers haircuts, wigs and teeth, buys Fantine's hair. 

Whores in front of the Thenardier's inn and apparently Mme T. is there too, singing (apparently not being a whore). and Javert and Bovet are there too, about how they are being more and more... Two guys called Rambone and Savioni are harassing Fantine who looks worse than the other whores, and Fantine defends herself  tries to kick one of them in the eggs ^^ When Javert comes the men disappear... 

Javert arrests Fantine and as a narrator he makes a comment in which he says very clearly what he thinks about her (I am not gonna repeat that here though), but basically she is very criminal and is treating good and honorful citizens of this town badly and this can not be tolerated. She breaks down and asks him for mercy because Cosette, you know, but of course Javert doesn't care. So she breaks down and coughs even more...

 Madeleine intervenes, Fantine attacks Madeleine, who only wants Javert to release her, but Fantine thinks Madeleine is responsable for all her misery and spits at him. Madeleine says he know what happened, the men are at fault and should be punished, not she. But she insulted the mayor. But the mayor says that this is his business and not the justice's. The whole Javert-Valjean argument about Law and who has what competences Fantine is free. Madeleine wants to pay her debts and bring her daughter back and make that she can live a worthy life again. Fantine faints, and Valjean says to the soldiers to bring her to the hospital

Fauchelevent's incident with the cart. Involves various inhabitants of the town called Toutou, Zidane, Josephine, Fabienne, and Rahel Javert is there too, and in the end of the chapter he is sure that Madeleine has to be 24601

Fantine is deadly ill, Madeleine wants to bring Cosette before she dies 

Javert demands to be dismissed, featuring detailed description by Javert on the points where he thought to have recognized Valjean (and reading this script in its entirety makes me realise mistakes that they didn't. For instance here he still stole from a boy (i.e. Petit Gervais and not Odette). Equally detailed description of the apple thief, and who recognized him as Valjean. Mention about the trial the next day. Madeleine says he can leave. Javert insists to be dismissed. Madeleine says, rather than dismissed he'd need to be promoted, he appreciates him as the dutifuly man of honor that he is. Javert has another monologue that how each time when he arrested someone and mercilessly judged him, he told himself "help me god that you will never stumble", And now he stumbled and needs to accuse himelf. It is about justice, the law asks for an example. Valjean just says we'll see. 

dreamlike sequence. Features different actors that represent the different voices in Valjean's head.

Bishop: tells him to go his way. And stand to his identity, to lie would be very wrong, he promised to do no wrong anymore.

Apple thief: blames him for making him his substitute, the one who needs to suffer in his place

Madeleine's self: is relieved that Javert is no longer going after him. Valjean no longer exists. This was god's will. God wants me to do more good here, to be an example for others, everything else is destiny. And for that I need to stay the mayor who gives food to the ppor and makes that the orphans get good education. He shall break the candlesticks as he shall break with the past. He shall forget about the bishop. And also this apple thief is a criminal, he shall be in prison.

Fantine: asks when she will finally see Cosette, he owes her a lot for all the injustice she has suffered because of him. She doesn't think the apple thief wil be a better person but he will be an example for her child. He shall save Cosette who is suffering because she is mistreated by the Thenardiers

Valjean wakes up and tells Arnaud to leave for Arras.

Image/Act 3

again no trial scene, just a summary of a very angry Javert who wants to go after Valjean NOW, as he humiliated him

Fantine dying. Javert confronting Valjean and making respectless remarks to both Valjean and Fantine. Valjean in turn accuses Javert of having killed Fantine. Valjean attacks Javert with a chair so that he can pay his last respect to the dead Fantine. Then says to Javert that now he is at his command. Javert makes another extremely unnecessary stupid comment. Valjean approaches Javert and stretches out his hands, as Javert wands to bond them, he knocks Javert down and escapes 

Valjean sees Cosette and wants to help her carry the bucket of water home to ther mother. Cosette says she has no mother, thinks she never had one, that she brought her and never picked her up again. Valjean asks if she lives alone. She says, almost, Monsieur and Madame are only beating her. Realizes she is Cosette, says he wants to stay in the inn for the night, she shall show her the way. They talk about the two other children, Popine and Zelma, who never have to work and have beautiful dolls, and always are allowed to play, while she has to work all day and is not allowed to play as the two other kids don't let her. Only sometimes she is allowed to play, when she is done. But she has nothing to play with. She once played with one of the dolls but then Madam beat her. But she has a small sabre of tin with which she dissects leaves and rainworms

Usual Thenardier-inn conversations, in particular the one about the missing bread, the lost money, that Valjean miraculously finds, Valjean buying the work she'd have to do,  (socks), he buys her a doll in a nearby shop, the whole negotiation about Cosette, including Thenardier insisting to see a passport. Valjean saying he doesn't have any, it is not required here. If he takes Cosette with him they won't know his name or his address, they will break down all the bridges behind them . However he has the letter of Fantine. They leave quickly.

Here the Thenardiers don't go after him, they just regret that they didn't make more money

another Javert-narrator monologue, about the dangerous criminal that escaped him and that now also has an innocent girl in his hands. He searched with 36 men and 6 dogs but he is like disappeared from this world. He felt so bad wehn he told the police minister about this development. But the latter did not seem to be that interested, talked about social misery, about shortcomings in the health system. Told him about the beggars, the neglected, from the small criminals who kill another man for bread, about big criminals who in hordes rob reputable citizens, he shall not chase a phantom. But our dear Javert is obsessed with said phantom and doesn't want him to escape. He wants to follow his trace until he has him on (no, not under) the guillotine. He is coming to Paris, not for the miserables, for whom he does not care that much, but for Valjean!

Image/Act 4

Gavroche singing a song about Paris in the time text, yet missing

a coin falls on the square (no idea from where), an entire bunch of poor children and teenagers fight upon it. Gavroche, the most streetwise/smart/crafty of them takes it, and escapes, the other children behind him, he gets caught by Javert, the other children disappear Javert treats him badly and takes the money away from him. When he asks Gavroche for his name, he asks Javert back, but he doesn't seem to be interested in reavealing his identity.  But then Gavroche tells him his name, because he told him that there are many like him. And he insists that he, gavroche is unique. So basically Javert recruits Gavroche to spy on the Café Musain "because there are things happening that are of big significance for the state and the city", and Gavroche says yes, because he gave him money. Javert wants to know who is there, what they speak about and what they intend to do.

The students and workers in the Café Musain discuss the situation and Javert spies on them. The people is agitated, one fears that there will be a revolution, a uprising of the miserables Grantaire (who is absent in an older version of the script) declares that he only wants to drink and forget about life, a stupid invention without purpose. Bahorel and Joly have a conversation about Bahorel's lover Feuilly talks about Roman Gods (apparently we now have a Jehan Feuilly or is that a Feuilly Prouvaire or whatever?) Grantaire has a monologue about what they consume in different cities, and harrasses the waitress. Courfeyrac doesn't want any kings anymore and does not like the charter, thinks she belongs to the fire. Enjolras comes in with Marius, presents the latter as a friend of his who want to join them. Marius is a republican and declares that he wants to fight for the republic with all his force, however he hopes it won't get that far that he'll need to give is life. But he prefers to do so rather than life under a tyran (suspicously similar to 2000 dialogue if you ask me) They sing the Marseillaise until Louison tells them to stop, because she does not want the police to shut down her pub. Yes, apparently she now is an innkeeper too.

Outside the café: chaingang. Valjean with Cosette watching. The conversation between the two that ends with Cosette saying "If one of them would cross my way, I think I would die... Dad, what are galleys?" Valjean wants to leave. Marius sees her and wants to follow her, but loses her in the crowd. Goes after Gavroche instead and handles him pretty rudely  (Sorry Marius, but this is not how you do it). Basically he tells him to find an angel. Gavroche then is just like "but does this angel have white wings?" Marius instead gives him a detailed description of Cosette and her goldbrown hair and white dress, and how velvet her look is and how silky smooth her lips ar and everything... 

They are back to the Musain Combeferre says all the workers have to swear that they go to the streets at the first alarm and fight Feuilly says he can be sure, they fight. But the students have to pave the way. We workers fight, and even if there are as many enemies, we'll fight Feuilly says they are 300 already (oukei, now I am really impressed) Bahorel is convinced that in 14 days they will be as strong as the government i.e. 25000 Bossuet declares he doesn't go to bed, he makes cartridges. Feuilly wants to fight. now. Enjolras says first they need to have weapons Courfeyrac insists that the soldiers do have weapons. Le Noir has the "either for the people or against the people speech" that is more or less an exact translation of the speech that one of the revolutionaries in the Faubourg has in the preparations chapter. Gavroche comes, announces Lamarque's death Combeferre: what? Lamarque? The courageous freedomfighter, our advocate? Now we have resist on our own! Away with the government! Feuilly: we overturn the government! To the barricades! Enjolras: it is about us! now its about everything! at his funeral - to the barricade!

Valjean and Cosette in the garden. They are considering to move again. Cosette: we are changing houses like we are changing names. Valjean is like "I know that must be weird for you, but one day you will understand". Valjean goes inside. Marius is with Cosette (Gavroche led him here, for money), lots of poetic blablabla, and <3<3<3, and you know, Marius shows her handkerchief and ask if it is hers, she says yes. In the end Valjean calls her. Says he keeps the handkerchief as a pledge 

The "Thenardier Gang" (yes that is how they are called nowadays) sets out to rob Valjean's house. Eponine tries everything that they don't. In the end she succeeds.. Claquesous blames not only her but also the sight of 2 fighting sparrows and a black cat during the day. Cosette tells Marius they are leaving for England and probably won't come back. Cosette says Marius he should follow them, but Marius says he has no money. He says e won't come tomorrow, only the day after, and also he dies if she leaves. Marius says they have to renounce on each other for 1 day, but maybe they'll win life. Marius tells her the address. or more precisely he graves it into the wall, says he lives with Courfeyrac. when he is gone, Valjean decides they need to leave immediately, he has seen people that don't please him and Paris is bubbling, they have no choice...

Image/Act 5 (named the revolution)

So basically Lamarque's funeral has already happened. And many of the poor have paid him their last respects. Then the subversive slogans suddenly caused the troops of the king to attack people. People are kinda angry and meet up in front of the Musain. Courfeyrac finds a group of workers who come from the funeral, but luckily have not been among those who were attacked by the dragoons (ah, they are not called dragons, good to know :)), but are very angry, Courfeyrac tells them to go inside they can use people like them. Bossuet speaks with a worker from another group, who has a grazing shot in the arm, but doesn't care, they discuss about their weapons Feuilly asks a working woman what she wants. She says: to fight. Show them up there that they push back against that. Feuilly approves. Another worker has no weapon but would fight if he had one. Bossuet tells him he should provide himself one. Worker sets out to pillage a armorer. Everyone in the crowd shares rumors about what happened, and the Thenardier and Claquesous are awaiting happy times. And Babet also. Extraordinary mention to Combeferre declaring this is the best day of his life. They start building a barricade and undercover Javert has made his appearance.

Eponine tells Marius Cosette has left, apparently without leaving a sign. Marius is heartbroken and wants to die on the barricade at any cost. Which again upsets Eponine because she loves him 

Inside Musain. Enjolras wants to know what is happening. Courfeyrac says the rumors are very contradictory and it is hard to tell what is truth and what is a lie. Lots of army, people is building barricades everywhere. Barricade is growing and more people are there. Gavroche comes over the barricade. Asks a worker who has the command. One who's called Enjolras. He wants to know if he is a general. Worker says no, the generals are on the other side. We are only brothers. Gavroche says Enjolras he wants to volunteer. Wants to send him to the ambulance. But Gavroche wants a gun. But Enjolras wants to arm first the men, then the women and only then the children. Gavroche leaves and comes back. Tells Courfeyrac and Enjolras there is a problem and draws their attention on Javert, and tells them how he offered him money to spy on them. For some reason he now knows his name. They arrest Javert  and by binding him on the post at the entrance they want to show a warning to anyone who dares to betray them 

they are awaiting the 1st attack Combeferre sees someone approaching. Enjolras says don't shoot, we know who it is. Bossuet says it's Gavroche. Gavroche wants his gun. who's there- french revolution. The whole Mabeuf thing except that they really present him as an ancient assemblyman who was "at the convent" (which is here not meant the place where nuns are, but the convention, which is apparently called convent in german for some reason). Javert gets another weird narrator-monologue where he denounces the stupidity of the students who throw their lives away and those of the workers because they always think you can change the world all of a sudden. And how they don't have a chance as badly equipped as they are against so many more well trained soldiers. That has to end badly. Either they die in the hail of bullets or "they are beheaded on the guillotine" (ok apparently this Javert has a guillotine obsession but doesn't know how such a thing works ) Javert goes back into the scenery where Joly reminds him that he will be next... The whole first attack plus Marius wants to blow the barricade up, and thus saves it, and asks for the leader, and Enjolras says its Marius. But all Marius wants is to be alone for a moment

Eponine dies and Marius discovers that Cosette still is in Paris 

they sing and women bring food, they reprepare the weapons, basically drink with me mode I guess... Marius writes his letter to Cosette and asks Gavroche to bring it. Gavroche doesn't want to miss the next attack and thinks he shall wait... Marius insists that he has to leave now, that they won't attack until tomorrow. And then it will be too late to go because all the streets are closed. Gavroche goes. 

It is night and they are trying to rest. One starts to sing the "Song of the Revolution (Musical)" and then the others join in. Combeferre and Gavroche come back. Gavroche has a bag of cartridges with him. Gavroche asks what is going on with them. Here no one sleeps anymore. The whole army of Paris is around etc. (basically what Enjolras says in the book divided between Gavroche and Combeferre) The whole we'll stay and build the barricade higher, conversation, and the uniform conversation, except it is reduced to the essential and Combeferre doesn't get to say anything, it is all Enjolras, in between Marius asks Gavroche who told him to come back. He says he delivered the letter "to the gatekeeper" Valjean comes with the 5th uniform, the 5 leave. Enjolras cares for Javert. Javert recognizes Valjean and says he's gonna have it easy now. Gavroche announces their arrival. A cannon is being heard, like it being rolled there. Cannon attack. 2 people die. Enjolras says this was a grapeshot, and that they needs to stop this cannon, i.e. that it needs to be "fireworker"'s turn. Gavroche says he takes that over. Before anyone can prevent him from doing so, he is up on the barricade and shooting. he hit his target, and is all excited and rejoicing about how he "blew out his lamp", that he evidently forgot that he is standying on a freaking barricade. This causes him to be also shot, of course, and he falls down dead right into the arms of Combeferre.

Enjolras says to all that the last one alive shall shoot the spy. Valjean asks Enjolras if he can crush this man's skull with his own hands, and since no one has objectsions he lets him. Final attack is announced by both Marius and horns. (yes another Hernani flashback for Autumn  ) . Everyone goes to the barricade Valjean and Javert alone. Valjean frees Javert with the mention of the promise he made to the bishop of Digne to never do anything unjust. And killing him because he did his duty as a policman here today, or because he followed him his entire life would be wrong. And if he against the expectance should make it out of here alive he can find him in Rue de l'homme armé. Javert says he hates this kind of games, he shall rather kill him. Valjean tells him to leave. He shoots in the air and goes back to the others where he says he is done. Heavy shooting happens. One after the other the defendants of the barricade die. Valjean does stay at the background and doesn't shoot on the soldiers, yet he supports the defendants of the barricade. he realizes that Marius was hit and falls from the barricade. Valjean goes to him. And whereever he looks there are just dying or dead "revoluzzers" (yes, this is the word he uses in the script, not revolutionaries or something like that). During the very last attack on the barricade he carries Marius away from the barricade and can escape with him  to the sewers. The soldiers pull the flags of the revolution out and plant the flag of the monarchy (whatever "the flag of the monarchy" may be)

Image/Act 6

We are in the sewers now. Barely conscious Valjean falls down on a sleeping Thenardier at the gate that leads out of the sewers who thinks he has made the great gain. and of course wants to steal from them. and comments this in a monologue this is observed by Javert. And of course now Thenardier is all about helping these people, if they aren't dead yet etc. Javert says him just to back off, calling him by his name. Thenardier insists to help, but he says he shall just leave. Valjean gets back his conscience and checks if Marius is still alive, wants to lift him up again, then sees Javert and lets him down again. But Javert just asked him if he needs help. Valjean says to Javert he hasn't given him the address , so that je can escape. Javert wants to know who that man is. And reminds Valjean what happened to those who were on the barricade. Valjean says he survives if he gets help quickly. He is a daredevil, an idealist, but a good person and he can do many good things yet for our country. Please let for once in your life reign mercy before law. Javert insists that he is dead Valjean says not yet. Insists that he needs to save Marius and then he says he'll come back They arrange a meeting at the same place at the same hour the next day.

Marius lies in the middle of the open square between Barricade and inn scenery. There is only the bed and Toussaint that cares ffor him and Cosette that is looking over him. Marius has a fever dream and is near death when they sees all the friends including Gavroche and eponing with the revolutionary flags and singing "The song of the barricade" climbing on the barricades. It is the german DYHTPS (Lied des Volkes), arranged kinda like the finale in the movie that came out notabene after this thing here. Basically Marius is convinced that they came to lead him to heaven, but in the end they get fainter again and in the end of the scene Marius is alive and awake  and with cosette.

Javert derailed made by Javert-narrator which linguistically resembles the confusion of Javert Valjean comes in in the middle of that and says "here I am" Javert halfway awakens from his trance, makes a step towards Valjean, holds his pistol agains Valjean for 2 seconds, then he turns around makes two steps back and holds it against his head. Light goes out. Shot. 

THE END.

#Swiss Les Mis #Les Mis uf Bärndütsch #Bärndütsch #Swiss theatre #les mis #les mis play #les mis script

[wild-battlebond]

Appmon Ep36 Liveblog

It’s time for the Appliyama Elections! Voting! Results! Stolen personal data! Suspicious boats! Extremely good episode directing! And much, much more!

opening the episode with Eri starting her day instead of just going straight to the venue like at the end of the last episode was a really good idea. it’s a moment of quiet before the storm, yet still has the underlying anxiety of “what will the results be?”. and then she gets a nice note from her mom :) even though her mom is busy all the time she still keeps tabs on what important things are happening in Eri’s life

everyone’s huddled around the tablet again to watch the election! except Yujin, who runs late for the entire episode. wonder what was up with that? i don’t think he explains why he was late.

i imagine that being a part of this event is both a terrible bore and stressful. like you either sit there for like five minutes and get called up really quickly or you sit there for several hours and get more and more tense as you wonder just how high you’ll get

“they either took all this personal information for targeted advertising... or they’re using it for something malicious” that sure is how it is these days...

it’s only once the number gets low that Eri even dares let herself hope that she might reach rank 9 or above...

GAH even if you already know the results this part is still really tense! it’s the heavy use of silence combined with shots that emphasize the venue’s emptiness that sells it. this is a really good episode.

the thing that breaks the silence is a shout from her own buddy... and then when the silence is over, it’s nothing but deafening cheers from the crowds and her own song playing! and instead of shots of the empty area where the idols sit, it!s nothing but shots of the smiling crowd! the stadium is actually jam-packed with people! it’s really good payoff for all that tension!

i never figured out how to take screen recordings (all the tutorials i find say that i should have a button but there isn’t one on my tablet??) but i wish i had because screenshots would not do this part justice. she slowly walks up to the podium with clips of her previous focus episodes playing in the background... but they’re overlayed semi-transparently so that you can still see the crowd. i took a screencap anyways cause it’s such a good scene so I went with the flashback that has her at her first audition since there’s such a huge difference between her in the flashback and her now

and then her standing up on the chair is in tune with her song saying “smile for me”...

everyone’s so happy for her!

and then she’s in a quiet hallway, a real 180 after the roar of the crowd, but when compared to the venue it’s dyed in a very warm color that makes it seem more welcoming.

and her mom calls to congratulate her! it’s nice that her work held a little viewing party (though if they keep her working late almost everyday, it’s the least they could do)

her mom is also in a quiet yet warm place, standing aways from the crowd... even though they’re talking on the phone, standing alone like this almost makes them seem very close together.

only just now at the eyecatch. this is a good episode.

and now Unryuji Knight is here to invite her to a boat party. to the audience this seems very bad, but to Eri she just knows that the guy is the CEO of L-Corp and wants her to come to an important party — for her, this is just a sign that getting voted rank 10 is already offering new opportunities

why is Unryuji’s computer in a giant white room. also this screencap looks like Rei is watchin Hackmon play minecraft or something.

“i’ll still need your abilities if i’m going to save Hajime” yeah, like that’s the only reason you risked yourself to save Hackmon. Hackmon looks genuinely surprised that Rei did that.

everyone’s trying to set up a nice party and then Rei rudely gets thrown into the midst of things with vital information. it’s interesting how every escape always winds up taking them to the book store basement (i know it’s because the place is connected to Minerva, but it’s still interesting)

now everyone BUT Eri knows that she’s walking into eminent danger

now she knows she’s in danger. of course Unryuji starts out by complimenting her and making her feel special before going into the evil plan... no wonder he becomes almost buddy-like with Charismon.

and then the way the sun sets while Unryuji is talking to make things darker as his words get darker and to dye the logos on the buildings behind Eri a deep red color...

EDIT: thought about this after finishing the episode again, lol. i keep doing that. Anyways, upon further thought, I realized that the outfit that Unryuji gives to Eri is also full of symbolism. Not only does the outfit no longer contain her theme color (blue), and is much frillier than Eri’s normal clothes, but it also resembles the outfit that Izumi usually wears. It consists of a white shirt with deep pink (so almost red, like Izumi’s clothes) accents. This reflects how Unryuji was trying to scout Eri to make her an idol that was artificially popular and directly served Leviathan — he gave her (she didn’t earn) clothes that resembled the ones of already-popular Izumi. And when Eri refuses, she throws away the outfit from Unryuji and switches back to her normal clothes — she’ll become popular in her own way and with her own power, not by artificial means or by mimicking Izumi or anyone else.

still wish Ai was an App Driver. like, in this particular instance, it comes off as odd that she didn’t accompany the others to the ocean since she was also worried about Eri. sure, she can’t fight without an App Drive, but it seems like there could’ve been some kind of support role she could’ve filled. at the same time, it is cool to see Rei act more like a member of the group.

please leave her personal space

jumping off the boat like that was chou noreru.

Eri and Dokamon were in the ocean... but then the ocean is made of stone in the AR field. so were they stuck in the ground before that beam tore the ground up...?

Out of the frying pan and into the fire... Eri did well at the elections, but now there’s a bunch of scary Appmon to fight?!

#fiftytenlive #digimon #appmon #APM36 #this liveblog is extremely long and extremely good :)

[liam-93-productions]

Alesso and Liam Payne are on the phone, but before we can start talking about their new single, we need to determine what day of the week it is.

"Does anyone know what day it is? Is it Tuesday or Wednesday? Or Sunday?" Payne asks, only half-joking about the all-too-relatable query so many of us have asked while spending all our time at home.

"These days feel like between Christmas and New Year's Eve," Alesso agrees. "You don't know which day it is and you're just waiting for something."

For fans of the British singer and the superstar DJ, the wait for their hotly anticipated collaboration, "Midnight," was the one gnawing at them. After several days of teases and snippets, the track arrived on Wednesday (April 8), marking the perfect marriage of Payne's confident vocal flow and Alesso's buoyant dance production. On it, Payne begs a partner to "stay till the morning, stay for a while." "I just wanna lay here, fall into midnight / And fall right into you," he belts, before the beat drops and Alesso's lush synths swoop in.

"The song has this really positive message of overcoming things in a relationship. It's actually funny that it fits so well with the time right now — we're all overcoming something bigger together," Payne told MTV News. "This song's about that kind of adversity in a relationship and going that step further. You never thought you were going to get as far as you did, and here you are. It's very uplifting."

Impressively, Payne and Alesso even managed to make a music video for "Midnight" while self-quarantining at home. Last month, they filmed their parts from their respective home bases: Payne on the rooftop terrace of his apartment in London, and Alesso in his recording studio in Los Angeles. It's an intimate look at the artists in their element, and the clip beautifully blends the two scenes to show how they're standing together in isolation.

"Alesso was saying to me yesterday about the way the video feels really organic because we're just doing what we do. It was nice not having a huge crew around because people are always telling you how to perform and all," Payne admitted. "We both just got to put ourselves into it, which you don't get the opportunity to do very much. I quite enjoyed it."

Making the song, both artists contended, was an equally smooth and intimate process. Rather than simply emailing his vocals in, Payne flew to Alesso's native Sweden to record the song, and Alesso said he was immediately sold after hearing the first cut.

"There's something so great when you are in the studio and it just turns out the way you want it. It's those moments that you'll remember forever. He completely took the record to another level," Alesso said of his collaborator. "Just his vocal performance... This song was perfect for him. It's a strong chord that you have to carry through the whole song and he completely nailed it."

"When I first heard the song and I heard the chorus, I was like, 'Oh my God, my throat's going to drop off.' It's so high," Payne chimed in. "I don't ever seem to pick the easy songs; that's my biggest problem in life at the moment."

Now that "Midnight" and its accompanying video are out, Alesso and Payne's next responsibility is to choose a winner for the track's official fan remix. In March, Alesso put the call out for fans to send in recordings of themselves singing a portion of the chorus, and one of them will be handpicked for a remix that will blend their vocals and Payne's.

"It's definitely going to be a tough choice," Alesso said. "You really, really see how there's so many talented people out there. I think we've already collected our favorites, but they keep coming in everyday. It's actually beautiful to see how creative people become during these times. We'll pick someone who makes it their own version and gives you a new feeling to the song."

In the meantime, both artists are focused on channeling their own creativity at home by experimenting and getting outside of their comfort zones.

"I feel like I'm working more creatively than ever before, actually," Payne said. "I've been painting and sketching, and it's been quite fun to mess around with things I wouldn't usually get the chance to. And I've got so many beats coming through for different things and trying to write melodies. It's a good way to get out of your own head for a little bit, and an outlet to put your feelings down."

"The same for me," Alesso said. "Mostly music of course, but I've also been practicing playing drums and I'm YouTubing every day. "I've never been home this much, and I noticed there's a lot of things that I wanted to explore creatively and now I have time to do that."

Until we hear all that music Alesso's making and all the artwork Payne is whipping up, see their video for "Midnight" — which made its broadcast premiere on MTV Live, mtvU, and MTV International — above.

#liam payne #alesso #midnight #liam's interviews #mtv news #08.04.2020

[sunsetspidey]

a little too much ⎮s.m.

pairing: reader x shawn mendes

summary: the release of the señorita music video was all it took for her insecurities to become too much

warnings: a few bad words, some angst, insecurities, mention of anxiety 

a/n: this is based off a request from @skarsgard-bill-sstuff! i hope you like it and that i did your request justice. p.s. i’m sorry for taking ages to write it

disclaimer: i do not have anything against camila or shawmila or whatever. just putting that out there. i just want my smol bean to be happy. ok that’s all.

Y/N wasn’t sure when the insecurities started, but they were there and they were real. So, so real and she couldn’t find the switch to turn them off. When they first forced their way into her head, she pushed them away, telling herself that she had absolutely no reason to feel this way. Shawn could have anyone he wanted (he practically had girls throwing themselves at him everywhere he went) and he had chosen her. He didn’t hold back on his affection and compliments either, only enforcing the fact that her doubts were unnecessary.

Maybe that was why they had started - when his affection grew less and less frequent, and his compliments turned into complaints. When he had called her a bitch because she had asked him if he could clean up his clothes in their bedroom, she told herself that he was stressed about the upcoming tour. He had apologized the same night, wrapping his arm around her waist and whispering sweet nothings into her ear, so she hadn’t thought much about it. It happened again a few weeks later and it didn’t take long before outbursts and namecalling became common in their conversations. 

Y/N wasn’t completely innocent, either, and she was fully aware. Instead of trying to reason with him when he started acting like that, she would return his hurtful words and only fuel his anger farther. It was sort of a vicious cycle that either of them seemed to know how to stop. She desperately needed it to, though, because she didn’t know how much more of the arguing she could handle. The more they argued, the more the insecurities and what-ifs were gnawing at the back of her mind. Some days, they were the first thing she thought of in the morning and the last thing she thought of before succumbing to sleep. They plagued her everyday life and she hated it. 

The release of the music video for Señorita was all it took to push her over the edge. When Shawn told her about his collaboration with his long-term best friend, you had been nothing but supportive. She even offered an opinion or two on the lyrics when the two of them had been stuck. Shawn had told her all about the concept for the music video during a FaceTime call while on tour in Europe, but neglecting to mention that he and Camila were the ones starring in it. Y/N had joined Shawn’s livestream on Instagram the day he was premiering it on YouTube, joining the fans in teasing him as he couldn’t figure it out. For the first time in a while, she had watched the video simultaneously with his fans and while they were freaking out about how good it was, she had been freaking out about something else entirely. 

She was meeting him in Los Angeles two weeks after the release and those two weeks had been horrible. There were reminders everywhere; online, her text messages, the TV. The song was breaking records, which made it worthy of the news and that also meant she would photos and short clips whether she wanted to or not. A few of her friends had texted her, attempting to subtly ask if she was okay with Shawn being all over Camila like that. She wasn’t, but she wouldn’t tell them that, playing it off like it was no big deal. He was hers and she trusted him - at least that was what she tried telling herself. 

The worst part was the comments and her Twitter mentions got the worst of it. Fans were mentioning her every minute of every day, asking about her opinions of the video. It seemed Shawn’s fans were divided, which she appreciated. While a majority were talking about how he should break up with her and date Camila instead, the minority was on her side. They would send her supportive messages and tag her in edits of her and Shawn. She saw all of it and the edits reminded her of how long it had been since the two of them had been out in public. The photos used were almost four months old and she couldn’t ignore how it tugged on her heartstrings. 

Y/N watched Shawn from the side of the stage as he soundchecked, leaning against the concrete wall, her arms across her chest. She had arrived late the previous night and she was positive she hadn’t been able to hide her disappointment when Brian came to pick her up from the airport. To avoid his concerned stares, she had mumbled an excuse about being exhausted and pretended to fall asleep on the ride back to the hotel. Shawn had been asleep when she let herself into the hotel room, barely acknowledging her as she climbed into bed. It had taken her hours to fall asleep, her heart aching as he listened to his steady breathing. She had felt out of place sleeping next to him suddenly and it pained her massively. When she woke up the next morning, Shawn hadn’t been anywhere in sight, a simple text letting her know that he had gone to the gym.

Needless to say, she hadn’t gotten much sleep. She had barely seen Shawn, the two of them yet to exchange any words, and it seemed that his crew was beginning to notice. Brian had made his mission to keep her occupied, it appeared, barely letting her out of his sight. He had taken her to breakfast in the morning, sharing a Lyft with her to the arena, and declined Connor’s invitation of exploring the city. She had been able to sneak away when Alessia struck up a conversation with him and she had sent the Canadian singer a grateful smile as she exited the green room. Y/N was convinced Alessia knew about the chaos inside her head, but she was too heartbroken to ask about it. 

As the familiar tune of Fallin’ All In You filled the empty arena, she swallowed the lump in her throat, furiously blinking away the glossiness in her eyes. She distracted herself with her phone, avoiding Twitter, scrolling through her feed on Instagram instead. Eventually, her boyfriend’s angelic singing fades out and as applause entered her ears, she slipped her phone into the back pocket of her boyfriend jeans. Pushing herself off the wall, she straightened her spine, determined to steal back some of his attention. He stumbled down the stairs, almost knocking her over in the process. A look she wasn’t able to fully interpret crossed his face as he realized who she was. 

“Babe!” he exclaimed, his lips stretching into a smile. She didn’t have time to respond before he pulled her into a hug, her breath momentarily disappearing as she collided with his chest. “What d’you think?” 

“You sound great,” she admitted, reluctantly pulling away. It felt like it had been an eternity since he held like her that and she had almost forgotten his scent. “like always. The voice of an angel.” 

His cheeks were already rosy, but she knew him and could easily spot the blush turning a shade darker. He chuckled, running a hand through his mop of curls and she wished her fingers could replace his. His laughter - easily one of her favorite sounds in the world - would normally send a warm tingle throughout her body, but this time around it caused her nothing but misery. She missed being able to make him laugh without even trying. 

“’m sorry I wasn’t there when you woke up,” he apologized, his thumb caressing the crease of her wrist. “Connor and I went to the gym and you were gone when I got back.”

She noticed the exaggerated pout of his lips, but ignored it. “Brian treated me to breakfast.” 

Shawn nodded. “He told me. Heard you ate three whole waffles.” 

There was a teasing smirk dancing on his lips and normally she would either elbow him or swat his chest to which he would pull her close and tickle her sides. Not even his playful banter could lift the blanket of mixed emotions she seemed to be tangled in. She was sad; sad because she felt like she didn’t know her boyfriend anymore, sad because he didn’t seem to notice them growing apart, sad because she knew he could do so much better than her. Her sadness was accompanied by anger and frustration for all the same reasons. She was upset with Shawn for acting the way he had been acting, for not telling her about the music video and pretending like it wasn’t a big deal. She was upset with herself because, in reality, she felt pathetic for feeling this way. 

“Do you love me?” 

Her question-like accusation was abrupt. So abrupt that it momentarily felt like everybody in the arena had stopped their actions to listen to their conversation. She was certain that if she dropped a pin, you’d be able to hear it come in contact with the grey concrete floors. Shawn’s playful exterior faltered immediately, his brows furrowing as if trying to figure out if she had said what he heard. His hand fell from hers in surprise and she missed his warm touch instantly. 

“After everything we’ve been through, you still think I don’t love you?” Shawn uttered, disbelief dripping from his words. 

“I don’t know, okay? I can’t tell. I-I don’t know who you are anymore, Shawn.”

His name felt foreign on her tongue and by the way his eyes widened, he wasn’t expecting to hear his first name fall from her lips either. For the two, almost three years, their respective pet names were all they had exchanged as a means of referring to one another. Shawn had expanded his nickname vocabulary as they grew more serious and she wasn’t complaining; some of his favorites being honey and baby. Y/N had her fair share of pet names for him, too, but the most favorable one was rockstar. It always tugged at the corner of his lips and more often than not, it elicited a smile from her favorite person in the whole world. 

“What do you mean?”

“You haven’t noticed? Shawn, we can barely get through a conversation without coming for each other’s throats. I feel like I haven’t seen you in months. Even when you’re home, you spend all your time with your friends and when you’re here, you’re with Camila,” she informed, the words spilling out before she could really consider them.

“That’s not—”

“It’s true, so please don’t try to make any excuses. And next time you decide to practically hump her in a music video, how about a heads up first, hm?” 

Shawn’s wide eyes glanced around quickly and although she could tell his anxiety was getting to him, she couldn’t stop herself. She was on a roll and she needed to get the words off her chest. Over the past couple of months, she had been bottling these feelings up, too afraid that if she spoke of them aloud, Shawn would agree with the haunting voice in her head. She knew it hadn’t been the same between them lately, but she also knew that she didn’t want to be with anyone else. Shawn was the one who could make her laugh on her darkest days and she wanted - needed - him in her life. 

Maybe that was the reason her eyes watered as hers met his. She recognized the guilt within them immediately, but it was gone almost as soon as it disappeared. The flicker of remorse was replaced with anger and she knew then that he wasn’t about to just stand there and listen to her, he would put up a fight. She dug her nails into the palm of her hand, determined to at least appear stronger than she was. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of crying. 

“I told you about the music video weeks before we filmed it!”

“Yeah, but you never told me you were the one doing all those things with Camila. If I had known, I wouldn’t be as supportive as I was.” 

Shawn scoffs, his eyebrows quirking. “Supportive? If you were supportive you wouldn’t be out here complaining about me being gone when it’s my job. You knew what it would be like when we started dating.”

He was right and they both knew it. It had been a frequent discussion amongst the two of them as their relationship grew more serious. Shawn made sure to let her know that with his second album nearing its release, there would be even more touring and more interviews, but she had already fallen head over heels for him and was certain they could withstand every obstacle thrown their way. She was proven right as he left for his second world tour, their relationship blooming like a flower in spring. It seemed as though the two of them were invincible and she missed that feeling more than she could express. 

She still wanted them to be. There was not an ounce of doubt within her that she wanted to be with him. The two of them were often mentioned in magazines despite their relationship being fairly private. Headlines like ‘Hollywood power couple Shawn and Y/N’ and ‘Long-term couple Mendes and Y/L/N’ were more frequent than she would like to admit. It was flattering, she couldn’t deny it, but it was also scary. She knew that if the two of them were to split, the press would be all over them in a heartbeat, like vultures attacking their prey. She had been with him for so long that she couldn’t imagine a future without him, but the dark thoughts filling her head were telling her that would be impossible.  

“I’m not complaining,” she muttered, the tears threatening to spill once again. “I’m just saying that you’ve been spending a lot of time with Camila and other friends instead of me. You don’t even invite me along.”

“I do spend time with you, Y/N,” she tried her best not to shudder as her name fell from his lips. It sounded like poison and by the brief look of shock in his eyes, she assumed it tasted like it, too. “Camila’s one of my best friends. I’ve known her longer than I’ve known you.” 

His words were like thorns pricking her skin. It felt like her skin was on fire. Her insecurities were right at the front of her mind instantaneously and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t push them away. She was well-aware that Camila had known him longer and while a part of her hated it, she knew how much she and their friendship meant to Shawn. Camila was sweet and Y/N considered her a friend, so she had never really been insecure until recently. She trusted Shawn and she trusted Camila, but her own thoughts were getting the best of her. 

“Yeah, I know, your fans remind me every day. I don’t know if you notice, but they tag me in photos and tweets all the time and ninety percent of the time it’s to tell me that you should be dating her and not me. Sometimes, I feel like you want it to happen as much as them.” 

She wasn’t sure what she noticed first; the way his expression softened or the salty tear coming in contact with her bottom lip. Inwardly cursing herself for not being able to hold her tears at bay, she brought her hand to her face, frustratingly using the back of her hand to wipe away the escaped tears. She hated not being able to control her tears, it was increasingly difficult when she couldn’t even control her emotions. She was angry and terrified and hurt and sad. It was a cocktail she didn’t like the taste of. 

“What d’you mean? Of course, I don’t! We’re just friends.” 

“Yeah,” she sighed, a scoff escaping her. “And friends don’t know the way you taste, right? Your fans were the ones who pointed it out, actually, but you do seem to have a lot of songs about unrequited love, so it makes you wonder who—”

“Don’t use my lyrics against me,” Shawn mumbled, taking a hesitant step forward as if to test the boundaries. She didn’t have the energy to move and remained in her spot. “I love Camila, but the love I have for her is completely different from the one I have for you. Baby, I love you so much it hurts. Those songs are either based off old feelings or story ideas I make up in my head. You know that.” 

“I-I just,” she sighed and before she could wipe away her continuous tears, Shawn beats her to it. His thumb moves gingerly across her cheek, taking the signs of her weakness with it. “She’s so gorgeous and the whole world practically wants the two of you to date and I... I just feel like I’m not enough.”

“You are,” Shawn proclaimed immediately, his large hand resting against your damp cheek. “You are more than enough. I don’t care what the world thinks or what my fans are saying. I want you. I’m sorry I’ve been so distant. There’s been a lot going on with the tour and traveling and planning the- it’s been hectic and you deserve better and I’m sorry.”

“I’m stupid. I’m sorry. I-I just get insecure and social media makes it worse sometimes.”

Shawn shook his head, using his thumb to lift your chin gently. “Hey, you’re not stupid. We all have our insecurities and yours are as real as anyone else’s. I’m really sorry about the music video, but please know that I was thinking of you the whole time and it was fucking awkward. I have the day off tomorrow. Let’s hang out, just the two of us, yeah? No phones. No friends. Sound good?”

She nodded and that was all it took for him to pull her back into his arms. She could feel his nose in her hair and she smiled against his chest. Her insecurities wouldn’t disappear just like that, they both knew that, but the fact that he understood where she was coming from was all she needed. She could hear his small inhale and she knew he was smelling her hair to see if she smelled like home, making her smile even wider. Interlacing her hands behind his back, she hugged him tighter, determined to never let him go. She could only hope that he was in it for the long-run too and his next words were really all the reassurance she needed.

“About fucking time,” Brian exclaimed, startling the two of you apart. “I was about to take Y/N and let you have Camila, man.” 

“Fuck off. No one’s taking her. She’s mine and she always will be.”  

should i create a tag list? also, come talk to me about this! i love hearing your opinions 🧡

#shawn mendes #shawn mendes angst #shawn mendes fluff #shawn mendes oneshot #shawn mendes one shot #shawn mendes one-shot #shawn mendes imagines #shawn mendes x reader #reader x shawn mendes #reader x shawn #shawn x reader #shawn mendes x y/n #y/n x shawn mendes

[rainydawgradioblog]

a covidsation with mary claire

For the first Covidsation for autumn quarter, here is an interview I did back in May with Mary Claire, my dear friend and one of my favorite local artists. Mary Claire is a singer-songwriter based here in Seattle who makes “sad girl rock” (see: Mitski, Angel Olsen, etc.). I first met them through the DIY scene and was lucky enough to book them at the finale Red Room show, a house venue I used to live at and help run. As evidenced by the picture below taken that very night, seeing Mary Claire play live is a magical, mesmerizing, captivating experience. Often accompanied with minimal, but tonally-rich instrumentals, their powerful and hauntingly stunning voice paired with visceral, poetic lyrics transport you into another realm. I *highly* recommend listening to their album Phantom Limb, which you can find on your streaming platform of choice or you can snag a physical copy at Everyday Music on the Hill like I did! Last month, they also just released an incredible stop-motion music video for their song off PL called “I Don’t Like Drinking”, directed, edited, and animated by Barb Hoffman, which you can find here! Thank you Mary Claire for these thoughtful responses and for creating such vulnerable, beautiful art <3

Lola Gil: Tell me about your project. How has it evolved? Which artists are you most inspired by? How would you describe your sound?

Mary Claire: Hi hi I’m Mary Claire. I was never someone who was playing music since they were a little kiddo, it was something I picked up my senior year of high school. But pretty much everyone in my family has some amazing and weirdly specific aptitude for music, so I think being surrounded by that kind of allowed me to gather an eclectic, personal understanding, appreciation, and internalized feeling for music, so I never really took lessons or anything like that. I enjoyed and still enjoy that from the start, I was okay with the fact that I didn’t know “academic” theory and I just played with what feels and sounds right. And I still do that. So I played around with all those youthful punk feelings and had an angsty band in high school that was not bad for small town Sacramento. I think I learned so much from that and it gave me a flood of unhindered and unhinged confidence for recording, performing, maneuvering stage mechanics and technicalities, etc. Also it introduced me into the world of songwriting that I did for that band and for myself that just immediately poured out of me, which led me to what I’m doing now. I am extremely lyrically-focused and write mostly about lived personal experience that I surrender to and make extremely overly-wordy. I went from a solo act, to a bigger full piece crunchier band, to me and a piano player, back to a solo set, so I’m really just kind of evolving with my resources, the songs I’m currently living in and playing, and with what would bring everything to life most fully. 

I’m inspired by everyone, even if I don’t necessarily sound like them or listen to them all the time. Like, my adoration for incredibly angry punk music is what got me started in the creation of my own music, so that foundation will never leave me. Even though I won’t sound like IDLES or Shame or Pissed Jeans, their point of view and their devotion to cramming so many words into one breath is a place I also come from. We execute similar feelings in different ways. And though I currently am not anything like Yves Tumor, King Krule, or FKA Twigs, the layers in their stuff sends me so far. But I think lyrically and melodically, I pull inspiration from and sink most into Mitski, Sasami, Angel Olsen, Palehound, Big Thief, Bella Porter, Darci Phenix, Fiona Apple, Sufjan Stevens, Izumi, and Weyes Blood. 

Someone once said my tunes are “sad girl rock” and I think that sticks in a fun, quick way, so that’s what I tell people. But more recently, the stuff on my upcoming album I think is like a sad, fucked up, incredibly fast-paced nursery rhyme book (lol). I’m really excited for this album I wrote, more than anything ever. Also my good friend and twin flame Francis is helping me record it and is giving me a lot of knowledge and challenges and affirmations and inspiration. I owe a lot of this second album’s production and complexity him. There are a lot more people involved in the recording of this one, so it’s a lot fuller in a new and exciting and scary way.

LG: As an artist, how have you been affected by the pandemic? I saw most of your tour you had booked was unfortunately cancelled-- are you planning on rescheduling?

MC: Rescheduling feels so completely beyond me right now, so I am just considering it to be cancelled until things in the world really start to settle down to some degree of safety and responsibility. However, the silver lining in all of this ‘rona stuff is that it has given me a ton of time to recenter myself with my music and devote my own energy into recording and feeling the core of my upcoming album. I think when the world is moving so fast, it’s easy for me to feel like I’m behind, like other people are getting shit done faster and in a more “impressive way”, in a way that matters more or has more inherent value. So when we are all forced to stay at home with ourselves, not only does it remind me that all of those insecurities are completely not real and are in fact a delusion borne from a capitalistic-productivity-equals-artistic-worth-framework, but I also get time to actually enjoy and fine tune what I otherwise might have just thrown out into the ether desperately and prematurely in hopes to be current and up to date and ~with it~.

LG: Have you been working on writing any new tunes? Have you been involved in any other creative projects recently?

MC: When I was recording Phantom Limb, I wrote the majority of my next upcoming album, so while those songs don’t feel incredibly new, there is a ton of stuff I have yet to share and that I am so eager to scream to the world. It feels like some of the stuff I am most proud of making in my entire life. 

But since I left for Berlin to study abroad last fall to when I came back to Seattle this January, I really hadn’t written anything new. I think I had been going through a lot of personal and immense change and hard growth that wasn’t particularly inspiring, it just sucked and was intense and necessary, but sometimes all that bad stuff is not something you can just make art out of. Plus I had to just do something totally different and invest and surrender to techno and being a gross city Eurotrash gremlin and let that out cathartically. But recently, I wrote my first super new song in what feels like ages, and I’m so happy. I was afraid maybe I’d forgotten how to do it, but it’s pouring out of me again and I feel like me again. I have also been working a bit back and forth with a friend from the project World Peace. We just keep sending clips back and forth and weaving our separate projects together a bit, which is something I’ve never done and I’m having a ton of fun, especially because our music is so different. Besides that, I have some plans to work with another good friend Izumi after having adored them the moment I moved here. 

LG: How have you personally been dealing with the pandemic and the craziness that is 2020? What has your quarantine experience been like so far?

MC: I went home to Sacramento for a month and watched more TV than I had probably in my entire life. It was really good to see my family and siblings who I miss so much. But I came back to Seattle in April and since then have just been spending my days in a limbo of online school weirdness. But I’m so fortunate that I live with so many people who are all so unique, all of whom I feel are my best friends. So I definitely don’t get too bored:)

LG: What music have you been listening to during quarantine? What has been your go-to isolation album?

MC: Okay to be honest, when I begin to think of my next album and what it feels like inside of me, I make one single playlist with like hours and hours of songs on it and it’s the only thing I listen to for like a year. So I’m prone to listening to the same stuff perpetually forever and always, but I think I’ve always sort of been like that. It makes the feeling familiar. But since I’ve felt close to the sounds of my upcoming album for a long while now, I’ve actually pretty much been listening to what is my ~album 3~ inspo playlist, because I already feel that beast growing inside of me. I’m a planner. 

Most of the artists on those playlists are the ones I listed above in regards to who I feel are my biggest inspirations. But right when quarantine started though I would pretty much only play Man Alive!, I would just go through the whole thing and then restart immediately. When I was in Sacramento, my family had a rule I could only play it with headphones because it was literally nonstop, that’s just how I consume things; I take a bath in them until I feel every single part of what was made. But other than that, I’ve been bumping Peter Campanelli’s Pesto Baby and crying a lot about it, Darci Phenix’s (my best bud from Sac) Juniper Street which is some of the best songwriting literally ever, and Francis Farmer’s Bruised Fruit which is SO expertly recorded and thought out, I am so lucky he is my friend and wants to record my upcoming album with me.

LG: Arethere any spring shows that you were particularly looking forward to attending that got cancelled?

MC: Pretty much all of them imaginable. 

LG: How do you think the Seattle music scene is going to be like post-COVID?

MC: Hopefully, this can recenter us and remind us we’re all really really and truly in this together. It’s up to us to lift each other up and get each other on bills and spread the word and create community for those who need it most and for those whose lives rely on this art. Seattle seems like it is really good at that on a small scale, but once it gets to a little bit larger stage, it’s easy for people to forget where they came from, who supported them, and what should be at the forefront of our radars. I think shedding this cool guy persona and getting back to why this shit is so important and listening to/PROMOTING smaller artists who are making The Best stuff is something everyone could be reminded to do. 

LG: In this funky era of social distancing, how do you think artists can support each other during these weird and difficult times? How do you think social media is facilitating and/or inhibiting connection within Seattle’s overall creative community?

MC: I think people’s ability to make what seemed like such an immediate switch to social media music promotion and shows was really amazing. However, it makes me feel a bit hopeless and dystopian and sci-fi in a weird way. That being said, trying to resist the change has only proven to be detrimental to me and kind has come back to kick me in the ass. Like, I should not be turning down opportunities just because livestreams kind of freak me out in how foreign and disconnected they can appear to be. I’m no better than them, and it’s important I think to accept things where they’re at instead of pretending they’re not happening. 

That being said, I think everyone has been maneuvering with such grace and empathy and compassion for others in a way that I can really feel, and I hope that sticks around forever. 

- Lola Gil

[anagentinwriting]

Subscribe - Part 9

Summary: (Modern AU) Peter was your college sweetheart until a certain event led to your break up. Seven years later another event brings you two back together, but this time a little girl is in the picture. Will listening to your podcasts be the reason you two get back together or be another reason to keep you apart?

Pairing: Peter Quill x Reader

Word Count: 2287

Warnings: Swearing, Fluff

Subscribe Masterlist / Main Masterlist

AN: Flashbacks in italics  ________

Returning to work felt like a breath of fresh air. It was the start of a new work week, and you couldn’t be more excited. As you got to work figuring out topics for next week’s podcast episode, you couldn’t get the image of Peter and Mer together out of your head.

You were busy preparing lunch when there was a knock at the front door. “Mer could you get the door. My hands are a little tied up at the moment,” you called from the kitchen.

“Coming,” she shouted from upstairs in her bedroom. You knew who was at the door, but you wanted to see Meredith's reaction.

You wiped your hands on a towel as you walked into the doorway of the kitchen and entryway. She pulled open the door, and Peter was kneeling to her level. “Hey Twig, I heard you missed me,” Peter winked at the little girl. 

“Daddy,” she shouted, running into his arms. Peter lifted her off the ground, holding her tight. You grinned at them, and when Peter set her down, he nodded at you. “How long are you staying?”

“As long as you’ll have me,” he smiled down at her. 

“Then you are joining us for lunch. Come on!” She grabbed his hand and pulled him inside. “Mommy is making my favorite, spaghetti, and meatballs. You are going to love it.”

“Can’t wait to try it,” he grinned a playful smile at her as she continued to pull him along. Peter made eye contact with you and mouthed, “so much energy!”

“I know,” you mouthed back with a warm smile.

You couldn't help but smile at the memory. Peter and Meredith's exchanges were too cute to forget. There were times they would talk about a certain subject they both loved, and it could go on for hours. You didn't want to be the one to interrupt, so you sat back and listened to their rambles. Meredith’s smile seemed to shine a bit brighter, and Peter was to thank for that. There was also this twinkle in her eye, almost like she was planning something, but you couldn’t figure out what it was. It was important for Meredith to have her dad in her life, but you didn't realize maybe Peter needed his daughter in his life, too. 

When you got your head on straight and refocused on work. You opened up your email and the podcast Instagram seeing many unanswered messages. Most of them were from fans sending you get well soon messages. You loved your fans because they were so supportive of what you, Wanda, and Pepper were trying to create. You sent each of them a personal thank you and informed them when the next episode would be available. You owe everything to the fans because without them Everyday's a Monday wouldn’t have become as successful as it has. As the end of the day approached, you and Wanda snapped a quick picture together and posted it with the caption: ‘Reunited and it feels so good.'

The following day, everything was moving along smoothly, and the schedule you made with Peter couldn’t have worked better. When you went to pick up Mer from the studio the other day, you could tell she was having a great time with not only Peter but his friend Bucky, too. 

You walked into the studio for the first time and it was something else. It had posters of their latest bands becoming a success and a small newspaper clipping of Peter and Bucky buying the building. You chuckled to yourself as you walked up to the receptionist desk.

“Hello, I am Mantis, what can I do for you today?” She asked with a forced smile.

“I’m here to pick up Meredith.”

“Oh, you're Meredith’s mommy. She is so cute. She makes me want to die.” Mantis's smile widened no longer looking forced. “They’re in the recording studio to the right and straight back.”

“Thanks, Mantis. It was nice meeting you.” 

You walked to the back room hearing a female’s voice singing over the speakers. She sounded good, like really good. You stood towards the back of the room and listened. Bucky and Mer sat at the soundboard with Peter standing between them. No one was singing in the booth so you figured they were listening to a demo to see how they could improve it. They were having mumbled conversations with each other while adjusting marks on the board. They added in more bass, got rid of the unnecessary background noise, and added in backup vocals. Bucky leaned back in their chairs, seeming satisfied but you hated it.

“What do you think about the girl from Queens, Mer?” Bucky asked, glancing at her.  

“Um...” She thought it over listening to the song once more. “It doesn’t sound good.”

“You’re right, it sounds like shit.”

“Bucky, what the heck man? Sensitive ears in the room,” Peter replied, covering his hands over Mer’s ears. He shook his head at Bucky, making Mer laugh and take his hands off her ears.

“What do you think we should do Mer?”

“Leave it as it was,” Mer stated. "Get rid of all that mumbo jumbo stuff you added in."

“So, what you’re saying, is this young lady has the perfect voice and doesn’t need any help from us?” Bucky questioned, staring at the little girl. 

“Yes.”

“Wow.” Bucky nodded, tossing his pencil on the soundboard. He put his hands behind his head and leaned back in his seat. “You hurt my feelings a little bit, Mer.” 

“I’m sorry, but not everyone’s voice needs fixing. I mean there are some areas where she wasn’t perfect, but sometimes flaws help people stand out, Uncle Bucky.”

“Oooh, she just called you Uncle Bucky,” Peter commented, readjusting the soundboard.

“Dang kid, I don’t think I could ever stay mad at you,” he grinned at her. “And you’re right. She has a great voice, and her flaws will make her unique. What do you think we should do next?”

“Listen to her in person?” Meredith questioned, unsure of herself.

“Dang Quill, you have one smart daughter.”

“She gets it from her mother.”

“Yeah, she does,” you agreed, making yourself known as all three of them turn around. 

“How long have you been standing there?” Bucky asked, crossing his arms.

“Long enough to know you swore in front of my daughter,” you smirked, forcing Bucky’s smirk to shift into a tight line. “Who french braided your hair, Mer? It looks so good!”

“Daddy did,” she squeaked out, shooting you a toothy grin.

“Your dad was always good with his hands,” you blurted out, feeling heat rush to your face. Your eyes widened, watching Bucky shaking in his chair to keep his laugh hidden while Peter smirked at the floor, raising his eyebrows. You cleared your throat, “ready to go, Mer?” 

“Yes. Goodbye, Daddy.” She reached over to hug Peter. “Bye, Uncle Bucky,” she said, turning around and hugging him, too.

“See you guys tomorrow,” you waved, walking back to the entrance.

You sat at your desk researching some new product ideas, and information about different sippy cups. It was going to be the topic for the coming episode. There were tons of them, and you tried to remember the brand you used with Mer, but it was escaping your mind. 

“YN, we have a problem,” Pepper announced, rushing into your office with Wanda in tow.

“What’s the problem?”

“I'm not going to be able to go to New York this week.”

“What, why? What could be more important than expanding Potts of Honey? Everything's scheduled and ready to go. It’s a quick three-day trip.” Pepper nodded along as you continue to talk. “We have been planning this for weeks. The estate agents, developers, and toy companies are excited to meet with you.”

“I know, it’s just Morgan is getting her tonsils out, and Tony will be in Massachusetts giving a speech to the MIT students. Tony has had this planned for months, and he doesn’t want to back out on those kids. I want someone to be there with Morgan. I don’t want her going through all this by herself, and if I have to back out of this trip then so be it.”

“I understand more than anyone, but where do we go from here? These properties might get sold to the next highest bidder, and these places took us months to find.”

“I came to the same conclusion. How are we going to do this?” Pepper asked, pacing back and forth. “Well, I could…”

“No, no. You’re going to be there for Morgan,” you interrupted her, making her crack a smile. Pepper has always loved how you put family before the company, and it’s one of the reasons why she picked you for this job so many years ago. “How about this, me and Wanda go.”

“I can’t ask you to do that with everything you've been through these last couple weeks. Wanda's life is busy enough with the twins. I can’t make you two do this.”

“You’re not, I’m volunteering.”

“Me too,” Wanda agreed.

“Besides, this is our best chance at finally expanding this company into another facility. We found some of the best locations after months of research and now is the best time for this to happen. Plus, it would bring jobs into this new community and help out moms in need like we did here in Malibu. And we could snatch up more listeners with our podcasts.”

“How do you plan on doing that?”

“I know of one dedicated listener in the New York City area, who has been with us since the beginning, and I know she would make the perfect guest for our next episode. She’s a stay at home mom with three kids, and her husband travels for his job. We could do the episode while we’re in New York.”

“I don’t know. It’s a three-day trip. I can’t ask you to leave Meredith and Wanda with her twins.”

“So what! It will be good for Vis to watch the kids by himself for a few days, and I am sure YN could find someone to watch Meredith.” She wiggled her eyebrows at you.

“You sure about this?” Pepper asked as you both nodded. “YN, you know what I’m looking for with this new facility, and if you have any questions don’t hesitate to call.”

“I know, I’ve been with you since the beginning. You like what I like,” you said.

“This is true.” She nodded. “Okay, good, everything's good to go. I’ll owe you two big time for this.” She added before walking out of the room. 

“Yes, we get to go to New York,” Wanda cheered, making you roll your eyes. “I am going to call Vis, and you should call your man. I bet he would love to watch Meredith for you,” she smiled, leaving the room.

Wanda wasn’t wrong. You knew Gamora would be too busy, and it would be asking a lot with everything she did for you while you were in the hospital. Could ask Nebula, but she is still out of town, and you didn’t want to drag her back home for a three-day trip. This left Peter. 

You weren't sure if Peter was ready to experience how taking care of a little girl for three straight days can wear a person out.  This would be over a weekend, so he would have to keep her entertained. And you still had to get in touch with Laura to make sure she was okay with being on the podcast. You leave in two days, so here’s hoping you could get it all sorted out by then.

It was a little past two, and you were able to get ahold of Laura, and she was more than happy to do an episode on her farm. She was pretty excited about it, and you were ready to hear her story. Pepper convinced Tony to let us take his second private jet, which was convenient and exciting. Now all you had left to do was call Peter. You clicked on his name in your phone and listened to the line ring. You thought it would go to voicemail, but then he picked up.

“Hello, YN. Hello, are you there?” Peter answered with noise blaring in the background.

“Hey, Peter.”

“Can you hang on for a second? I need to get to a quieter room.” You hummed in response, and soon, the noise faded away. “So, what’s up? Everything okay?”

“Yeah. Never better. Listen, I have a favor to ask you.”

“Ask away.”

“This is short notice, but I have to go to New York for work on Thursday, and I won’t be back until Sunday. Any chance you would be available to watch Mer those days?” You didn’t hear anything on the other line, so you continued. “I’ll understand if you can’t because it's last minute. My boss, Pepper, her daughter needs to get surgery, and…”

“I’ll do it.” 

“Wait, you will,” you replied, shocking yourself with his words. 

“Of course. I'll have to move some things around, but it shouldn't be a problem. Besides, I know how important this job is to you.”

“Thank you. You have no idea how much I appreciate this.”

“You’re welcome. I think you deserve a little vacation time anyways even if it is for work.”

You smirked at his words. “I have to get back to work, but I'll let you know what is happening when I pick up Mer tonight.”

“Perfect. I’ll see you then, YN.”

“Bye, Peter. Thank you again.” You hung up, unable to keep the smile off your face.

_______

AN: Their relationship seems to be going well so far, but will it last? Do you think Peter be able to survive three whole days with Meredith or do you think he will need some help? You all got to learn a bit more about Potts of Honey and what they do as a company. Let me tell yeah, it took forever to come up with that name..haha! Anyways, thanks for reading!

#peter quill #peter quill au #peter quill x reader #peter quill reader insert #peter quill image #Star-Lord #star lord x reader #star-lord au #marvel #marvel fanfic #Marvel AU #GotG #Guardians of the Galaxy #guardians of the galaxy vol 2 #Chris Pratt

[braveskyered]

Knights (Part 11)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10

I got the harder times behind us…

Part 11: Hope Trouble Never Finds Us

- - - - - - -

Fingers moved across the keyboard, typing words and looking through various searches while working on some documents.

Thought back to the time before everything went sour. Knew something was wrong, but didn’t do anything to stop it. Filled with shame ever since it was realized just how much impact that person left them. Mother made it very clear how disappointed she is when it was discovered what actually happened.

A sigh. Decided to take a moment to look though something unrelated to work. Checked through articles that long distance friends had posted, browsing through them mindlessly until one post caught attention.

It can’t be… could it?

A hand trembled as it hovered above the keys.

“Ma-… Ma… kuh…!”

- - - - - - -

Arthur could hardly contain his grin as he waited for the children to come home.

The twins managed to graduate out of high school early, and best of all, they got accepted as students at the Cantabile Institute of Technology thanks to the prosthetic arm they made. An arm that could allow the wearer to feel things without it being to heavy on the body. The fact that two young kids had successfully made such an invention with feedback from Arthur was astonishing enough for a newspaper article to be made, which Elaine clipped out and framed.

The first model of the arm had been given to Arthur to test the functions, and both he and Elaine were ecstatic when he actually felt things through his left hand again. Granted, it wasn’t the same back when he still had his real arm, but it was feeling nonetheless. The tears of joy he shed was no doubt something his family will never forget, especially after Elaine recorded his reaction. He tried to get her to delete it, but Elaine refused.

“Nope~! It’s not everyday I see the star of my life be so happy!”

Best of all, it’s October 13th, the children’s birthday! Gwen and Percy will turn fourteen today, and Vivian be three. Oh, how time flies! Not only will Arthur get to celebrate his older children getting accepted into a place where their skills will be pushed to the limit and then some, but also celebrate another year of being with his family.

As always, he repeated the same mantra whenever his children reach a milestone.

You are okay, Arthur. This is your life now. Live for Gwen and Percy. Live for Vivian. Defy those who wanted your life to end, and live on. You matter to someone, and they need you. You are okay.

Taking a breath to steady himself, Arthur went back to his beloved’s side.

While Caelia is keeping the kids in the dark by taking them out clothes shopping, Arthur and Elaine worked hard to put up the birthday decorations in a guest room in Niniane’s mansion. The old woman wanted to make it a milestone birthday, both for the twins to get into a university, and for Vivian to reach the age of three as a rite of passage based on what her father had done for her back when he was alive. Arthur isn’t really sure what she meant, but he shrugged it off and decided to ask her later.

Eleanor came by later with her two daughters Phoebe and Rhetta, bringing in multiple presents wrapped and labeled and ready to be ripped open. Morgan’s husband Miles soon came by and brought the four cakes that will be used to celebrate the birthday, while Eleanor’s husband Nicholas arrived some time later with bottles of soft drinks and some more presents.

Vivienne, whose age started to get the better of her, finally arrived with Morgan. Shortly before Vivian was born, Vivienne had to start using a wheelchair, which Arthur took the time to carefully build and customize just for her at the time. Thankfully, her mind is still intact, and thus she is able to continue being the matriarch of the Knights family.

(Caelia once mentioned that the title of matriarch will be passed down to her eventually, even though she feels Morgan deserves the role more. Morgan in turn would retort that Caelia deserves the title, since despite being the older sister, she doesn’t have a monster form, and made Caelia drop the subject.)

Because all three of his children share the same birthday, combined with the fact that Vivian is still a toddler, it was decided that they make individual cakes for them. Gwen and Percy would share one cake (they insisted), while Vivian would have a smaller one made specially for her. The other two cakes were primarily extra for the rest of the family to eat. After all, you can’t truly celebrate a birthday without having at least one slice of cake!

Elaine got a text from Caelia saying that she and the kids are on their way home. Upon hearing this, Arthur and everyone else started getting ready for the surprise. The many presents are set in a pile, and the cakes are in place. Elaine then got a text from Caelia saying that she’ll enter the door first as planned, then have the kids come in right after.

“You have the poppers ready?”

“I do. You got the streamers?”

“Yep. Who’s got the hats?”

“Get ready, guys. Mom’s coming first, then the kids.”

Right on cue, Caelia came in through the door, gave Arthur and Elaine a nod, then gestured to the three outside.

“SURPRISE!”

“Waugh!”

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY, YOU THREE!”

“Mom, not cool!” Gwen was scrambling her arms to get the streamers out of her hair, yet she’s smiling.

“Aw, man, you guys scared Vivian!” Percy looked down, showing more concern for his little sister than the surprise party itself.

Speaking of which, Vivian is curled on the floor, her hands over her head, looking like she’s about to cry. Arthur couldn’t help but chuckle as he kneeled down to comfort her, the little girl clinging to his shirt in response before observing her surroundings.

“Happy Third Birthday, Vivian,” Arthur smiled as he slid a party hat on his daughter’s head while minding her long hair, “It’s a special day for you, and your big brother and sister.”

Vivian looked up at him, still looking a little scared, but upon seeing the many birthday decorations and all her relatives, she started to perk up and turned to Elaine, “Thir…?”

“That’s right, Vivian. Third,” Elaine giggled and held up three fingers, “You’re three now, three years old. You’re becoming a biiiig girl. Happy Birthday!”

The surprise birthday party, despite the rough start, has been a huge success. Photos of the birthday kids were being taken with family members, the birthday song has been sung, and the three were tearing through the presents like there’s no tomorrow.

Arthur wasn’t sure what to get for Gwen and Percy at first, but eventually settled for the newest game system and a handful of games he managed to pick up at a discount as the first set. Well, he’d be lying if he said he didn’t want to play some of the games himself. The most recent Super Smash Bros. came out just a few months ago, after all. The second set of presents for the twins were some advanced parts for their recent projects. While Arthur and Elaine weren’t exactly sure what the twins will do with them, but Arthur knew that each part will have their uses since they experiment so much.

There were many other presents, that ranged from clothes to tools and from toys to games. While Gwen and Percy were admiring the various parts and tools they received, Vivian constantly snuggled her new plush toy modeled after a white fox sitting on its hind legs. …or was it a dog? Arthur couldn’t really tell, since Niniane is the one who brought it, but at least Vivian is happy with it. Arthur then recalled the two stuffed animals the twins keep in their rooms, Gwen’s gray turtle and Percy’s orange alpaca. Has it really been eleven years since he gave those toys to the twins on their third birthday? Time sure does fly quickly.

Speaking of quickly…

“They’re tearing through the presents fast,” Arthur turned to Elaine, “We better get the rest of them.”

“I’m on it, my knight,” Elaine kissed his cheek, “Keep an eye on Vivian?”

He nodded and chuckled softly. Her kisses are always so sweet…

After Elaine left the room, Arthur knelt down next to Vivian to watch her admire her new toy. The three-year-old poked at the ears and tail the fox (dog?) has, gave them light tugs, squeezed the legs with her small hands, then went back to hugging it. Seeing his youngest child examining the toy like that made him smile, happy that she is curious.

…Happy that he is able to celebrate her birthday with her.

“Dad-dee.”

“You took what should have been mine.”

…No. He can’t think about it. He doesn’t want to think about it.

“Dad-dee?” Vivian looked up before reaching an arm out to him, her face showing a beaming smile, “Dad-dee.”

Smiling a little, Arthur wrapped his arms around Vivian. Even now, he finds it hard to believe that he is responsible for her existence, for Gwen and Percy’s existence. The fact that he is married to a woman who loves him dearly, that he is a father to three amazing children who also love him dearly.

That he is happy. Happy and safe.

Granted, the nightmares of the wraith, kitsune, and demon still come and go, but all he has to do is wake up and he would find Elaine beside him. Even now, he still wondered what he did to deserve her, but then her words would echo in his mind. Words that she made sure to repeat at least once every day.

“I love you, my star.”

Come to think of it, Elaine is taking a while. Concerned, he stood up while keeping Vivian in his hold. As Vivian started to babble about something, Arthur walked to the doorway and called out to his beloved, “Elaine?”

“I’m coming!”

Within seconds, Elaine came out from the room where the other presents were kept while holding three of the presents, two large and one small, in her arms. Arthur noticed that her fingers were a little tense, her right arm skeletal with a spectral glow like she does when she fights monsters.

“Sorry about that, my knight. There was a little… uninvited guest that tried to crash the party,” Elaine shrugged with an assuring smile, “I know you don’t like having them around, so I made sure it went bye bye.”

Arthur felt unnerved upon hearing that. A ghost? Shouldn’t Niniane’s home be full of protections that prevent exactly that from happening? Elaine didn’t seem too concerned, and she has done this before in their house, so he didn’t have a reason to doubt her, but…

“Pre-sanssss?” Vivian babbled before dropping her stuffed animal. She looked down and whined, trying to reach for it.

Right, birthday first, ask questions later. Arthur repeated that thought in his head as he knelt down to pick up the toy to give back to his daughter. This isn’t the time to have doubts, and he promised himself that this would be an ideal birthday for the kids. He owed them that much. The nightmare from last night isn’t real.

- - - - - - -

Arthur felt the wraith dragging him away by clenching his throat with a burning hand. He has trouble breathing, the pain in his neck indescribable.

His whole being hurt, his energy sapped away. The cuts and bruises spread all over from being slammed against a wall multiple time before being dragged to another place he couldn’t identify. His head pounded furiously, yet the blood that rushed into his head had been lost, allowing him to think more clearly slightly, yet unable to fully register the pain since he felt so numb. He has trouble seeing. The blood coming down from his forehead and the tears in his eyes didn’t make it any easier.

It’s what he deserved, though. Because sorry isn’t good enough. He shouldn’t have ran away from the past. He couldn’t run away from the wraith’s desires. Not after what he did.

“Where are they.”

Arthur didn’t answer. He couldn’t even if he wanted to. The wounds on his neck made it too painful to speak, let alone breathe. Even if he could talk, there is no way Arthur will allow the wraith to take his children as its own playthings.

“Where are they?!”

The wraith slammed him against the ground upon demanding. Arthur barely felt what seemed to be plush carpet on the fingertips of his right hand, but his head felt like it was slammed against a hard surface. His vision began to darken and blur. He barely curled his lips into a smirk for a split second, as if attempting to talk.

Well, all that monstrous wraith did was make it harder for Arthur to give it the answer it sought. Then again, the children aren’t anywhere nearby. He knew they were hidden and safe.

The wraith slashed at him, shredding his left arm into tiny unsalvageable little pieces with some blood mixed in. Arthur didn’t have the energy to scream in pain anymore, not when the left side of his face had also been clawed at, blinding his left eye.

“You took what should’ve been mine.”

He’s aware. Painfully.

Heh.

The clawed hands were about to swipe at him again, but all of a sudden, the sound of roaring waves crashed through the silence.

The fangs of a kitsune clamped down against his neck, and he saw red with splotches of blackened green.

- - - - - - -

If Vivian hadn’t climbed into his side of the bed back last night and woke him for attention, Arthur felt that he would never be able escape from that hellish dream. She is only three years old, and yet…

“…knight? My knight?”

“Uncle Arthur?”

Arthur snapped out of his stupor as he saw a hand waving in front of him. He thought it was Elaine at first, but then he realizes the title he was just called. Looking up to see who it is, he sees a tall and lean girl with short dark brown hair held up with an orange headband that barely reaches his height beside Elaine.

“Are you all right? Do you need to rest?”

He smiled, “I’ll be fine, Phoebe. I do appreciate you watching out for me.”

He has a hard time believing that Phoebe, who turned nineteen just a few months back, has grown so much since the last major family reunion the year before. She looked concerned, as she usually is, and often worried for his well being in the few times they see each other. As she is the oldest in her generation, Phoebe was told of Arthur’s past abuse from her mother, Eleanor. While Arthur felt fortunate in that Phoebe never pressed for details, he knew that she only meant well whenever she asked about his health, if maybe a little too often. As expected of a child in this family.

“Phoebe, how’s Rhetta doing?” Elaine asked to switch the topic, “I wasn’t able to ask her, since she’s never interested in talking to me.”

“Oh, she’s all right. She’s at that phase where it’s said that speaking to adults is considered ‘uncool’ at her school,” Phoebe sighed with a mix of annoyance and concern while tugging at the collar of her shirt, “I swear, peer pressure is not a fun thing. I’m having a hard time getting through to her, and I’m her sister.”

Arthur knew that term all too well. Back when he used to live in Tempo, Vivi and Lew–

“Dad-dee?” Arthur looked down and realized that he forgot that he’s still holding Vivian. How that’s possible, he isn’t really sure, but…

These memories won’t stop haunting me even though it’s been so long now?

“My knight,” he looked up and saw Elaine smile lovingly at him, her arm already turned back to normal, “Let’s get back to the party. Okay?”

He nodded, and after taking a moment to adjust his hold on Vivian, went back into the party room.

To Arthur, the rest of the events that happen is all a blur. As soon as he released Vivian from his hold, the toddler ran up to Gwen and Percy to tear open the presents, even the ones that weren’t for her to the twins’ chagrin. More toys, machine parts, books, and games were added, and soon, it was decided that it was time to eat the cake.

The twins shared slices from one cake while Vivian sat between them to eat her own. Because Vivian is just a small toddler, Arthur convinced Elaine to have a smaller cake with less sugar in it to be made for her, so it wouldn’t make her as hyper, which she agreed wholeheartedly to. Vivian seems to like it, because she started to dig in to her cake with a spoon before the twins could even start to eat their slices.

“Heh heh! Vivian! You’ve got cake all over your face!” Gwen quickly cleaned the crumbs off around Vivian’s plate.

“It’s cake, Gwen. Of course she’s gonna go all over it,” Percy snickered.

Arthur heard the sound of a camera shutter and noticed Elaine has the camera on hand, taking photos of the twins laughing at Vivian being a mess. Gwen held up a napkin and started wiping some crumbs off Vivian’s face while Percy watched with a wide grin.

He isn’t sure why, but Arthur felt a weight lift itself from his shoulders. He felt lighter than usual as he watched his three children just being themselves.

Happy Birthday, you three. Know that I love you all.

- - - - - - -

A week later, it started snowing.

Granted, getting snow at this section of Tennessee isn’t unusual, since Cantabile is a city within the mountains. Since many of these mountains have outskirts with wide open fields, it gave Gwen and Percy the time of their lives to transform into their yokai forms and let loose, while Vivian tried to follow by her newly discovered ability to fly.

It’s funny in Arthur’s mind, really. To think that he used to be so afraid of various things amongst the paranormal, but upon living and interacting with it on a daily basis ever since he married into the Knights family, some of it wasn’t so bad anymore.

Maybe it’s just because his children helped him find it fun somewhat.

“Come on, Vivian!” Percy dashed past Arthur and Elaine as a kitsune, bounding around the snow in wide circles, “Try to keep up!”

“You’re still it!” Gwen, still in her human form with her hands and feet covered with an icy aura, ran over the snow with ease without leaving any footprints.

While Vivian flew around to chase her siblings in their impromptu game of tag, Arthur watched them with a smile on his face as he tried to keep up with them. Elaine had taken a job by herself and left with Eleanor this time for the weekend, since she felt that it was too dangerous for Arthur and the kids to come along. With that in mind, Arthur decided to spend some quality time with the kids, which led to their unique game in the mountains.

Although he doesn’t have any powers to brag about other than his knowledge of robotics and machines, Arthur still has the ability to run fast for a long period of time even though he is in his late thirties. Running away from the paranormal and just wanting to escape from the horrors back in the old days, Arthur knew that he doesn’t need to run away from his children with paranormal abilities, but to run alongside them.

He always did ever since they were born.

They were on a wide open hill within the mountains, broken only by a handful of trees at the top. Percy still ran as a kitsune, and Gwen took the opportunity to change into her wolf form to let loose. As the two raced downward, Vivian flew after them, trying her hardest to tag one of her siblings. Arthur ran after them from behind in a straight path, but soon he lost his footing and fell. Before he knew it, he kept rolling down the snowy hill.

He isn’t sure how he did it, but soon he managed to recover his footing for a brief moment, only to fall to his back and slid down the snow even further, laughing once he heard the kids do the same thing.

It never snowed in Tempo, which is a desert town. He quickly shoved the thought aside.

Soon, Arthur managed to stop himself from rolling. A good thing, because once the adrenaline began to wear off, he started to feel tired and sore all over as his head felt like it was spinning a little. The area on his left arm where flesh meets metal began to feel cold, too. The sound of snow being crushed by footsteps caught his attention, and he turned and saw a golden fox’s leg.

“Dad, are you okay?” Percy leaned against him.

He reached up to embrace his hold around his son’s neck and buried his face against the fur. Is a kitsune’s fur always this warm?

“Daddy, you’re cold!” Gwen nudged her head against his back.

He looked up from Percy’s fur and saw Vivian floating nearby, her cheeks looking rosy from the cold. He remembered helping her bundle up against the cold, but he guessed it can only do so much against windchill. Holding out his good arm, he beckoned Vivian to come to him, which she obeyed. As soon as Vivian came into his cold, he felt that even she is shivering.

“Dad-dee… C-cold,” Vivian muttered as she wrapped her arms around him for warmth.

“M-m-might be a g-good time to h-head home, then,” Arthur gave a low chuckle as he started to stand up, but Percy knelt down in front of him.

“Get on my back, Dad,” he said, “It’ll be faster this way. The sooner we get you home, the sooner we can get you and Vivian warmed up.”

Arthur didn’t argue. Under normal circumstances, Arthur wouldn’t dream on riding on either of them while they were in their monster forms. For starters, it felt awkward to him, and the two were often rambunctious whenever they romp around. Second, as their father, he never wanted to exploit his children for anything other than loving them as his family.

The fact that Percy is insisting on helping him put that feeling aside. Arthur knew he needed to get home, if to get Vivian warmed up at the very least. It wouldn’t do anyone any favors if she catches a cold. Arthur knew that he can handle it, but Vivian might be miserable.

The ride back to their home wasn’t the smoothest, but Percy being so careful when running the trek back home made up for it.

Once they reached home, Arthur made sure to give Vivian a warm bath.

- - - - - - -

The following Monday, Arthur is back at the university grading some worksheets the students did over the Fall Break. Normally, his boss Mr. Cromwell would be grading them, but the man had to go to a meeting with his fellow deans, so Arthur volunteered for the task until he came back. As a teaching assistant with his own office, it was the least he could do.

He still works at Four of a Kind Queens from time to time, mostly on the weekends. Elaine still works at the family shop, but she encourages Arthur fully when he works at the university, since the twins have been having a fantastic time learning new tip and tricks in the fields the university teaches with their father nearby. Well that, and the paycheck from the university is pretty good, too.

On Vivian’s end, because her powers are so unpredictable combined with her young age, and that her hair is still unnaturally long, it was decided that she is to be home schooled for the time being. Elaine gave a reason to the education board that Vivian has some “special needs,” which is somewhat true.

“I don’t want to get a school destroyed for the third time,” Elaine sighed as if reliving a bad memory, “This is for everyone’s sake.”

Arthur whipped his head at her direction, “Wait, do what a third time?”

“Oh, nothing, just thinking about my school days. I had to be home schooled after I turned ten, so… yeah.”

After he finished with the grading on paper, he had to put the grades themselves on to the online reports. A little annoying to do, since the online grading board is a bit finicky, but Arthur could tolerate it. Upon reaching the halfway point of inserting the grades, the phone rang, which he quickly answered.

“Cantabile Institute of the Robotics Division.”

“Are you… Arthur… Knights?”

“That would be me, how can I help you?” He opened up a window that showed an online planner.

The man on the other line was silent.

“…Sir?”

“Ah, sorry, I, uh… got distracted. Let’s see… I have some questions about the robotics program that my grandson was thinking of applying for next year. I would like to know what qualifications he would need and what classes he needs to take.”

Arthur rose a brow, “Well, that should be on the school website under the Programs tab. Were you and your grandson able to find that, Mister…?”

“Ah…! Er, I-I’m… Snowfield. Joe Snowfield.”

Rather nervous guy with a minor accent. Not that I’m any better on the nervous part. Arthur shrugged, “Mr. Snowfield, got it. Did you find that tab I mentioned before you called?”

“I did, but I… have some questions and I was hoping I could meet with you… personally.”

“I’m actually just a teaching assistant, sir. While I can discuss how to properly register for the classes in which semester and graduate in four years, if you want the finer details for the university’s robotics program while getting the official approvals for registration, you should talk to either Mr. Robert Cromwell, the dean, or to the actual instructors Ryan Kusey or Keith Matthews. They can give you more accurate answers than I can.”

Arthur could’ve sworn he heard Snowfield curse, but it’s probably because of nerves. It’s not unusual for grandparents to have a hard time, but…

“Does your grandson also have the surname Snowfield?”

“Er… Yes, he does.”

“I’ll give you the contact info for Keith Matthews since your surname is among the alphabet of students he handles. Could I have your contact info so I can pass it to him?”

“T-that won’t be necessary! I-I can see his contact info here, so I will make sure to schedule an appointment with him. Do you know if Mr. Matthews will be here on Thursday?”

“He’s here all five days of the week, so I doubt you’ll have any issues reaching him if you email him and if you’re flexible with time.”

“I-I will do that. Thank you, Ar– Mr. Knights.”

“You’re very welcome, sir. Have a good day.”

“Bye.”

Arthur hung up, shaking his head. It’s not the first time he’s had this kind of phone call, but that old gentleman had to take the cake. The man on the other line spoke as if he was overwhelmed by something, or had something else in his mind like he wasn’t completely there. Arthur didn’t think he or the university is that intimidating… right?

When he went back to his computer screen to add more grades in the online grade book, he glanced at the newspaper article he had framed, the article that had Gwen and Percy make that arm that contained a picture of the two standing proudly before their creation. A part of him did wish that he was among them when their achievement was acknowledged, but…

He shifted his focus back on the computer screen.

I can’t have them find me. I can’t have them take me back. If they do…

His fingers faltered.

Who knows they’ll do to the kids.

Gwen. Percy. Vivian.

I…

I’m so sorry you had to be born to a cowardly father like me.

His cell phone rang this time, and he answered it, “Hello?”

“Hello, my knight,” he recognized that wistful voice anywhere.

Letting out a breath with a silent exasperated laugh, Arthur shook his head.

How is it that she always has such good timing?

“My light,” he smiled, “What’s up?”

“I thought I’d just call and say hello. A good thing I did, since you only call me your light whenever you’re anxious. Did something happen?”

“No,” he shook his head, “I was just thinking about whether I should use it more.”

“I wouldn’t say no to that, my star.”

As Arthur filled out the remaining grades, Elaine kept talking about every day things over the phone. She talked about Vivian missing her daddy, talked about how much she misses him, talked about how much she loved him.

“I love you, my star.”

“I love you, too… my light.”

Even to this day, Arthur doesn’t really know what he did to deserve an amazing woman as his spouse.

- - - - - - -

Three days later, Arthur is in his office again, and crossed off the former day on the calendar to show that it’s Thursday today. Mr. Cromwell has to attend yet another meeting regarding the school board, but Arthur’s not complaining. He opened the calendar on his computer to check for any appointments any students have signed up for, but so far, he only saw one. That Snowfield gentleman he spoke two earlier this week had booked an appointment with Keith Matthews like he suggested, so at least he won’t have to worry about that.

“Let’s see,” Arthur muttered to himself as he picked up the binder containing the assignments, “Yesterday was Robotics III, so today is Robotics II, so this means that the assignment that’s due today is—”

Someone knocked on his door.

“Come in,” he turned to see the instructor he just thought about, noticing a cell phone in the man’s hand..

“Hey, Arthur. Do you remember answering a call from a Joe Snowfield on Monday?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, I just got a call from my insurance agent regarding my wife’s surgery, and I really need to take it. All Mr. Snowfield needs is a summary of the program and a list of the required tools. Could you help him on that while I get this taken care of? I already have the papers laid out to him out front, I just need you to explain the classes in a bit more detail.”

“Yeah, sure,” Arthur stood up from his desk and proceeded to walk out the door.

After his coworker left with a rather hasty thanks, Arthur rose a brow at the odd behavior before shrugging it off. Grabbing a small notepad, he left his office to greet the guest that his coworker left behind.

“Mr. Snowfield? I was told you need to know more about the program?”

“U…! Uso… It… It can’t be…”

Arthur took a moment to look at the man’s face and went still, as did the man in blue standing before him. The man’s arms went slack as he looked at Arthur with a stunned expression.

“It… It’s really you,” the man, allegedly said to be Joe Snowfield, whispered out loud, the shock never leaving his face.

“Arthur.”

It’s Mr. Yukino.

Vivi’s father.

- - - - - - -

…

…

…

What? What was… What was I doing?

It doesn’t look like anything’s happened, but…

Hey… are you okay?

…

…

…

Even now, I couldn’t do anything to stop it.

We’ve already hurt him enough as is.

It… It may be time to let him go.

…

…

…

Why?! How could you do this?!

None of us wanted this to happen!

I will never forgive you!

…

…

…

How can I…?!

After all what you’ve…!

I…! I…!

…

…

…

If you’re…

If you’re not happy here…

THEN JUST LEAVE!

 * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

I’m not freaking out.

But it feels like time is running out.

How did this shit come about?

I’m not freaking out.

Part 12: But…!

#mystery skulls animated #msa fanfic #fanfic #fanfiction #msa arthur #arthur kingsmen #msa #elaine knights #gwen knights #percy knights #vivian knights #雪野 信寛 #msa knights

[fy-winner]

[allure] Winner on Winner: The K-Pop Group's Members Describe One Another's Style

During the New York City stop of their Everywhere Tour, Allure's Devon Abelman posed a fun challenge to the members.

Before sitting down with the members of Winner backstage at Madison Square Garden, I didn't anticipate having to assure Mino that it's OK if Yoon thinks he dresses like grandpa. It's definitely not an insult — to me, at least.

I had just prompted the Korean boy group to describe the personal style of the member sitting to their right in one word. Yoon, Winner's lead member, goes first. "Grandpa," he declares, looking at Mino.

The 25-year-old rapper Mino is dressed in a greige tweed suit with chocolate trimmings — a look befitting of a 76-year-old haberdasher who's lived in the same Upper West Side apartment since 1953. And yet, he rejects this description of his personal aesthetic. The only aspects of his look that truly separate him from a grandpa are his shimmery champagne eye shadow and the silver barbell through the center of his lower lip. Unlike many K-pop stars who have been clipping on fake lip rings lately, Mino's labret piercing is real.

"What the fu-? What the fu- did you say?" Mino grumbles after Yoon repeats "grandpa," this time in Korean. That's when I step in.

"My friends say I dress like a grandma all the time," I offer. However, the puffy sleeves and retro-printed pieces I typically wear have an aesthetic that categorizes more as "middle school art teacher who just retired in Boca Raton with her ferret" than Mino's "sophisticated grandpa who's cool enough to still have a lip ring."

After everyone stops laughing, Yoon elaborates on his original point. "[Mino's] style is so classic and his hairstyle," he explains, now speaking English.

Mind you, earlier in the interview, Mino mentioned his favorite beauty moment from the Everywhere Tour in North America was a wavy platinum hairstyle that almost looked electrified. Fans have been calling him a mad scientist. Yoon called him Einstein.

"He really likes colorful clothes," Yoon continues. "So I think he looks a little bit like a grandpa." Still, Mino is confused. For him, classic and colorful just don't add up to "grandpa."

Mino on Jinu

Mino lets Yoon's response settle in for a second before pondering how to portray Jinu's personal style. "He's..." Mino pauses to hum to himself before continuing, "pretty."

Yoon interjects to say Jinu is like a prince. Mino agrees, tacking "casual" and "boyfriend" on as additional descriptors for Winner's oldest member, who is 27. (Unlike Mino, Jinu doesn't have any objections to this characterization.)

From what I can tell, Mino's answer is on point. During the small amount of time I spent with the group, I could tell Jinu was the most minimalist member. All four wore a myriad of silver rings. However, at one point, I notice Jinu's suddenly in a pile on the table between us. Clean, crisp lines are often the focus of his outfits, too. And his favorite beauty moment on tour was the most low-key of the whole quartet: blue colored contacts.

When it comes to skin care, Jinu is the savviest on the subject. In fact, Yoon calls upon him after I ask how their routines change on tour. "Going on many tours, we have attained know-how for taking care of our skin," Jinu tells me. His acquired skin-care expertise that is included but not limited to a top-secret method for clearing breakouts and lots of sheet masking.

Jinu on Hoony

Next up is Hoony. Jinu looks to Winner's main dancer, who is sitting next to him on a large black leather couch, and thinks of the one word to illustrate Hoony's style. In Korean, Jinu explains that 27-year-old Hoony is innocent and child-like.

Before this little game, Hoony mentioned their solo performance looks on tour reflect their personal style best. For his fun rendition of Taeyang's "Ringa Linga," Hoony slipped on a black leather jacket with flame-like tassels over a KISS shirt with the sleeves cut off and ripped black skinny jeans. His chocolate-mauve hair was also spiked up. In fact, the color and style changed up for the tour. "I colored my hair a lot back in Korea, so when coming to the U.S., I cut it really short," he explains. "It’s really easy to wash my hair now." My interview with Winner took place before the last show of the North American tour, so the rocker look was unexpected based on Jinu's description.

Hoony on Yoon

Hoony proceeds to call Yoon, who was sitting on the other side of the room in an armchair, "pocket boy." Yoon could probably see the confusion on my face because he clarifies, "I have so many pockets in my clothes or in my bag." At one point during the concert, I wasn't sure where exactly Yoon's hand was. Upon closer inspection, it was tucked away in one of the many pockets of his shirt. Suddenly, Hoony's description of him made complete sense.

My pre-show interview with Winner also made me more aware of their eye makeup, too. Yoon tells me the pinkish eye shadow he wore for the tour was his favorite beauty moment. When Winner made their grand appearance on stage via a moving platform illuminated by bright white lights, Yoon's dusty rose shadow was the first thing I noticed. Mino, on the other hand, had a rose gold hue swept all over his lids. A wash of coral on Jinu's was hidden under his long bangs, which were styled to have a wet look. Hoony seemed to have on a similar shade, too.

Winner on Winner

Before my interview with the members of Winner, I planned to prove a hair color-based theory. You see, when I think of their latest single "Millions," magenta immediately comes to mind. It has less to do with synesthesia and more to do with dye jobs. If you watch the incredibly colorful music video for it, you'll notice that Hoony's hair is the bright pink shade. With this in mind, I wondered if Jinu, Yoon, Mino, and Hoony associated some of their most beloved songs with the bright dye jobs they had at the time.

Only Yoon plays along with my supposition. "Everyday" is dark blue, he decides. What color was his hair when the song was released in April 2018? A stunning teal-toned sapphire.

Then, Mino exclaims "yellow" when "Really Really" comes up, and Yoon agrees. Although the music video for this song is in black and white, it's easy to tell that Yoon bleached his hair platinum blonde. Through my many interviews with idols, I've learned that many call blonde hair yellow, so my theory is checking out so far.

Things go south when it comes to "Millions," though. Unfortunately, none of the Winner guys associate the song with any shade of pink. Mino declares "Millions" is mint; Jinu calls it sky blue. (For the record, neither of them had green nor blue hair for the music video.) When Hoony doesn't say anything, I own up to my ulterior motive.

After hearing about my hair color theory, Yoon and Mino ooh and ahhh. "Wow, wow," Yoon states like his mind has just been blown. "That shocked me a little bit." He goes on to admit that he wears deep blue every day, so that might be why he said that. To that, Mino calls him selfish. But I'm the most selfish one in this situation, let's be real.

With nearly five years under their belts, Winner has firmly established its style and presence in the K-pop world. But I wondered how they identified themselves as a group, overall. Mino describes Winner's style as a boyfriend, fun, and easygoing vibe. It has a broad, instantly loveable appeal to it. "It’s quite different from our personal styles because our individual personalities are very clear and distinctive," he explains. "They're a little different from what people would think of Winner, in general."

"We want to go with the flow with a young, youthful type of thing. We're all young, so we just want to go with the same lines of who we are right now."

In the past, Yoon says the group focused on a heavier, refined aesthetic — one portrayed in "Really Really" and "Love Me Love Me." But with the December 2018 release of "Millions," Winner began leaning towards a lighter, happier style filled with good vibes. "Back in the days of our debut [in 2014], we wanted to look mature," Yoon recalls. "Nowadays, we want to go with the flow with a young, youthful type of thing. We are all young, so we just want to go with the same lines of who we are right now, whether it be music or style."

So, while Mino may emulate a grandpa in his day-to-day life, he embraces being the 25-year-old he truly is onstage with his Winner members.

© allure

#yg winner #winner #t:interview #t:article