Diva's Don't Write Love Songs 🎶🎵🎶🎵

carefreemonk​:

It’s the kind of energy Azama thrives on. There’s no way the spark between the two would-be leads escapes the monk’s notice, and his smile but widens.

There’s some kind of history there. There has to be.

And he would loooove to gobble it all up, yes he would!

But how to go about it?

As he taps at this ‘Kiwi Phone’ they’ve all been given, he ponders, he wonders, he schemes, he dreams… It’s gotta be something juicy. Has to be.

‘Professor.’

The appellation jars Azama straight from his thoughts. Hee hee. Him, a professor. What were they thinking? It still hasn’t gotten old. Maybe it never will. 

“About as busy as the rest of us, I presume, trying to wrap our pretty little heads around this strange new world of bright lights and loud noises and funny little devices…”

He chortles, slipping said ‘funny little device’ into his suit pocket. Gods. He loves this suit. He’ll have to get one like it when they get back home. Maybe in green. Or pink? Decisions, decisions… Maybe he’d flip a coin, let fate’s whims decide.

“You know what, I think you’re onto something!”

Azama grins. “Oh yes. I would be extremely delighted to tag along with you. Let’s not dally now! Lead the way!”

Soften ol’ Julesy up for me, will ya?

Professor Azama reacts to Merric’s idea with enthusiasm that the Mage both expected and didn’t, and though it does catch him ever so slightly by surprise, he nevertheless remains smiling, nodding to his words. “Thank you. Yeah, let’s go.”

The way to Julian’s room is short - he shares the building with them, after all. Merric wonders what he thinks of it. It’s a step up from a tent in the middle of a battlefield, that’s for sure, but also a step down from a bedroom in Altea Castle or even his room in Khadein. He thinks of it as fine. It is not as though he is a particularly demanding person.

Not that Julian has this kind of comparison, obviously. In his thoughts, Merric chuckles to himself - he almost expects he would, what with the young man sharing name with a certain ally of his.

He wonders just what this Julian is actually accustomed most to.

But that’s a thought for another time. They bump into him along the way, and Merric raises his hand in a short wave to grab his attention.

“Hey, Julian. How’s it going? If you have a moment, we wanted to ask you about something, if it’s okay.” He shoots Azama a brief glance, before continuing.

“I was wondering… about Delancey. Did you meet her somewhere before we arrived here?”

He rubs the back of his neck, scowling a little more. “I hate to admit it, but she really does live rent-free in my head. I’ll feel a million times better once I eliminate her from the competition. Why are you asking, anyways? If you’re interested in her, I’d say shoot your shot and be prepared to get eviscerated by her To-witter stans. None of my business...” And yet... it does feel like his business. The idea of Delancey with another guy twists at him unpleasantly, and he glares at Merric with newfound scrutiny. “Did you catch feelings for her?” Julian presses. 

amitieos​:

For a moment, Elincia can only blink slowly, looking like a deer in the headlights. Ah, was it strange in this world? There’s so much about this realm she is unsure of and she feels a flood of icy fear in her veins when she considers the consequences of her ineptitude. What would happen to her if the characters of this story realise she doesn’t belong here? What would happen to her friends? Her mind races, grasping for anything to weave together in explanation.

“Aha well… I am a little bit older than the others.” Fingers tug at the collar of her shirt, floundering for an excuse. For any reason to switch the topic away from herself.

Edelgard, who possess both strength and compassion in equal measure comes to her rescue. Elincia’s features visibly relax as she let’s out a shaky laugh that belies the anxieties she tried to keep hidden.

The tips of her ears are definitely burning, too. Edelgard does not mince her words or waste them. Does not offer false compliments, ever. 

“Thank you, Edelgard. You really are very kind. I’m sure your skill and resolve will carry you wherever you want to go in life,” not that women in their position tended to have much choice. The crown was a heavy burden but one she felt sure Edelgard would carry with grace, leading her empire to prosperity. But that was an entire world away right now. “I’m sure the same applies to you, Delancey. You clearly want this with all your heart. No matter what happens, don’t ever stop chasing your dreams.”

“If I’m truly honest with myself, I’m here because I want to follow in my mother’s footsteps. She was a talented musician of quite some repute before she married my father. I miss them both everyday and this competition… I feel closer to them than I have in years.”

Goodness, her eyes are damp and prickly with unshed tears. She hadn’t meant to get so emotional but it had been her own choice to keep her story somewhat truthful. A choice made in the hopes it would be easier to tell without tripping all over. Elincia wasn’t a practiced liar and it didn’t exactly come naturally too her either. Telling the whole truth was clearly out of the question though, if she declared herself to be a literal queen, Delancey might think she’d lost her mind under the pressure. So she feeds the girl half-truths, keeping her at arm’s length as a result.

Shaking her head, she hopes that the aspiring star does not comment on her sorrowful gaze.

“Anyway, enough about me! What about you Delancey?” Elincia asks, bouncing on the balls of her feet. Her smile doesn’t quite reach her eyes but she wants to show her brightest, best self. “What brought you here? Uh and if it’s okay for me to ask, do you and Julian have some history? Things seem particularly tense between the two of you.”

@toa-diva​ & @hresvelged​

As she listens to Elincia’s story, Edelgard feels a twinge of sympathy. The princess sheds no tears these days, but she does respect a good storyteller when she hears one. It is no easy feat to craft a tale and speak so fluently on the spot like this. She knows what it is like to be put on so suddenly, forced to talk when one might not even know where to begin.

The smile she has been wearing tucks itself away, for this is a prime opportunity for questioning. As they inch closer towards their performance, the atmosphere is bound to get busier. The more she knows, the better off she will be. “Yes. Elaborate. Elincia took the time to enlighten you of her reasoning for being here, after all. It’s only fair if you offer the same.” Ignoring the fact that her own sentences and purpose have been kept hidden, she sees no need to diverge the topic onto herself. There are other more pressing matters.

“Guarding your dynamic with Julian from us will only prove you untrustworthy in the end. I can only infer how unwell that would fare with our audience. Should you want to earn success, honesty is important.” As she speaks, her head nods towards a corner in the room. A subtle hint, Edelgard believes, that the eyes of this ‘audience’ may realize more than she prefers.

“Are you enemies? Former allies gone wrong? Tell us what you know. If you agree to speak, the tides of victory might shift into our favor. That is what you and I want, after all.” She shifts to paint a smirk atop her face, hoping her words accompanied with Elincia’s questioning are just the push they need.

Delancey pulls up her phone again, scrolling through her feed to avoid looking at Edelgard and Elincia. "Maybe it's just been a while for you guys, but I haven't been able to forget about it. A few years ago he accused me of spiking his drink at a party I didn't even go to. Eventually my side of the story got cleared up, but the shitstorm that came from it was scary as shit. To be honest, it's not something I want to talk about." With a sigh, Delancey falls silent. Then she delicately rubs at the corner of her eye with a manicured finger, wiping away a small tear.

hresvelged​:

Within mere seconds, Edelgard easily follows back Elincia and looks at the professor’s latest message. Her screen illuminates with the polite and direct To-Witter comment and a smile reaches the Imperial Princess’s eyes. The house leader is used to being direct and writing letters, but Edelgard can’t begin to think what she might expose about for any prying eyes to see. Personal thoughts are reserved for her mind only. She is bound to take the commanding, clear approach no matter what.

When her device glistens with the display information of Delancey, she finds herself stumbled. d & 7? #S2S? The ‘D’ could stand for Delancey, if she is to take something of a wager. As for the rest, she haven’t a clue. 2 secrets? Seiros? No, that sounded absurd. Whatever the case, she desires to learn this odd coding at one point or another.

What’s more, she’s left deducing what a ‘selfie’ means. Judging from the word, Edelgard infers it to be some sort of self portrait. It follows suit, then, that they are to use the camera feature on their Kiwi Phones. Not only can a mass following see her words, but they could witness her images. The gardens of the Imperial Palace would have looked just lovely if they were to be forever cemented in such a clear, pristine way. Those pure, radiating smiles, too.

“That sounds reasonable. I imagine a, ah.. selfie with the three of us is bound to prove a worthwhile effort. What do you say, Professor Elincia? It would please me greatly if you were to agree.” Before turning her attention fully over to Elincia, she presses the miniature ‘like’ button on her message. No doubt does this mean Edelgard delights in the words.

@amitieos

Elincia’s cheeks flush slightly as Delancey explains the intricate workings of this To-Witter app. So it wasn’t writing directly to Mr. Witter after all. By the look on Delancey’s face this wasn’t a common mistake to make either. Scratching the back of her head, she scrambles for a way to explain herself out of this one. It turns out not to be too far from the truth.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I grew up sheltered. By which I mean really sheltered,” Her laugh is slightly forced as she feels put on the spot. Under Delancey’s scrutiny, she feels sheepish and uncomfortable. A fish out of water, which would be a rather apt description right now if she thinks on it. This world is far from hers, yet she must find a way to navigate it. “My parents lived very public lives and worried that would put me in danger. I wasn’t allowed to meet people who hadn’t been fully vetted. My only friends growing up were my nanny’s children. Oh, and the horses! I couldn’t even have imagined things like To-Witter!”

Then she turns her attention to Edelgard, taking note of the smile gracing the Imperial princess’s face as she looks down at the Kiwi phone’s screen. It’s a sweet, refreshing expression that she’d like to see more of.

“Oh, a selfie!” Elincia pretends to be familiar with the term. Clearly it’s something they can do together and it’s about themselves…. a portrait, perhaps? There’s no one here to pain them though! Then she remembers the camera app on the phone and how it reminded her of the projectionist’s booth at the Ethereal Ball. An instant portrait, no need to sit around for ages waiting for a painter. How wonderful. She can’t possibly say no, especially not when Edelgard asks her so kindly. “Hehe, you can just call me Elincia you know? But let’s do it; I’m sure with the three of us together it will be positively radiant!”

She isn’t entirely sure how ‘followers’ work on something like To-Witter but Elincia decides to leave another message for anyone who stumbles across it. “Having a wonderful time with Edelgard and Delancey! I hope everyone else is having fun today too.”

toa-diva​:

Julian peers over Shez’s shoulder, nodding to himself. Shezaam… sounds about right. “Yep, looks good. And you don’t need my permission to follow me, you know… Like you said, we’re teammates. Kind of comes with the territory.” Just to make a point, Julian pulls up Shez’s account on his own phone and follows him back. “There. One step closer to To-Witter fame… something like that.”

Advice? Julian hums, stroking his chin, “Can’t help you here, man. I’m good at making accounts, not managing them. I only have this many followers because my friends get a lot of engagement and sometimes they Re-Wit my stuff.” His eyes look past Azama and Shez, staring over at Delancey in the girl’s group. “You know, Delancey has her phone superglued to her hand. Doubt she’d help, but maybe she’d deign to give you some advice. Otherwise… I dunno, do whatever other people are doing and hope you’re funnier than everyone else?”

Oh. I see now.

It’s not asking specifically for his name, but for a moniker by which he’d like to be known… His smile grows lopsided. Oh, the possibilities…!

He could go with ‘AzamaWasTaken’ just to be cheeky. Or ‘TheEnlightenedOne’ perhaps - it wouldn’t be a lie, after all. He already knows he doesn’t want any ugly numbers like dear Shez is thinking. The aesthetic… Azama shudders. Ugh.

He wrinkles his nose. Shoots Julian a look.

“… Why would we ask Delancey when we have a perfectly good Julian to hassle? Anyway, here, follow me or whatever.”

He holds his phone out for either Shez or Julian - one of which had better take it or so help me–

His new profile - complete with a picture of him looking rather sage-like indeed, as always - sits on the screen.

Shezaam1180, 2 following, 1 follower

“You better follow me back” He says to Azama, leaning round Julian. “Cool, profile set up. Now that all important first t-witt” He wondered what people even posted about on this site. From what he’d read so far it was mostly pointless takes and life updates. Mundane everyday stuff.

“What should I write?” he asked the other two. He was looking to grow a following so this was important. Hopefully being on a show like Stairway to Stardom should help with all this. “Maybe something about prepping for the show this week?”

Then, to Shez’s question... “Whatever, really, but prepping for the show is a good idea. If you use the #S2S tag more people are going to see it, so you’ll get some followers that way. Hold on...” Julian goes to the search tab, punching in Delancey’s username and pulling her up. He hasn’t followed her yet, not on this account anyways... He shows them a post from her profile.

Super excited to announce that I’ll be a contestant for the upcoming season of Stairway to Stardom!! Season 7 will be premiering August 11th at 8 only on MCC. Thanks to all my fans for their support, our debut’s dedicated to you! #S2S

[ Picture of Delancey grinning wide for the camera, posing with Nessie in front of a massive Stairway to Stardom sign. ]

Yuri’s barked - out laughter surprises even themself, one brow raised. “If I ever propositioned you, I should hope that you’d be flattered. People have paid plenty for my time.” Yet lilac eyes settle on Julian, considering. “Maybe in another life,” they offer with a quirk of their lips, “though perhaps I could be convinced in this one, too.”

“But that was all, yes. Terribly sorry to disappoint, friend.” Their head dips in acknowledgment, shoulders lifting in a shrug. “I need to leave a little fame for the rest of you, don’t I? But I appreciate the help. Call in a favor of your own whenever you like, and I’ll be at your service.”

It has to be Delancey. Unfortunately... Julian shakes his head, running a hand through his hair. “Not in this life either. Nothing wrong with you, just... looking for someone special, I guess. Like a soulmate.”

Crossing his arms, Julian leans back against the bathroom walls, frowning as he thinks. He hadn’t considered sharing this with other people... mainly because he hardly understands this urge himself. That something is missing, incomplete, without a certain person by his side...

toa-diva​:

carefreemonk​:

[…]

This strange moving picture aside, he turns back to Julian, eyes narrowing impatiently. He nudges him.

“How’d you get yours up so fast! C'mon Julesy, help a brother out already!”

“By living in the 21st century?” Julian frowns. Even kids in the boonies know what To-witter is. Azama being a troll, sure, believable based on what he knows about the guy. But Shez? “Azama is weird, so maybe that’s believable. But what about you, Shez? You seem like the kind of guy that would be an absolute fiend at To-witter. Going for what’s trending, instead of… dead and tired memes and challenges. Yark instead of yeet. You know what I mean?”

But they asked for his help… so… Julian rubs at his temples, “It’s not hard, guys. If you have the app, it’ll walk you through making an account. And then after that you follow people and start yelling into the void. Here, you can follow me.” Though he has a feeling he might regret it… Julian pulls up his To-witter profile anyways.

julian.

@ jssssssssssssss70

4,563 followers. 5 following.

“Once Stairway to Stardom premieres, you’ll definitely get more followers from fans.”

21st… Twenty… Twenty.

Twenty-first century?

Last he checked, Fodlan was in its twelfth century, and Hoshido… well, that went off a different calendar too, but near a whole millennium removed…?

What a curious little book they’d jumped into all willy nilly.

All the same, he hopes his shock doesn’t come through as too evident. And THAT aside–

“Weird!?”

WOW. Excuse-me??

“Yeow, Julesy, and here I thought we were gettin’ close. That cuts me real deep…”

… Yeah. Right. ‘Weird’ is awful tame compared to some of the things he’s been called - and there’ve been lots of them.

Anywho. If he’s pestered Julian enough, he supposes it’s time to play at the model student. “It was this ‘app’ here, yes?” He opens it and wow - he’s right. It does kinda walk you through it. But. Hmm… Username? Name of the user?

He slowly clacks in ‘Azama.’

-Error: Username taken-

Wh- !?

“It won’t let me put my name in.”

Oh, now it’s game on, stupid little brick thing.

“I just tapped the icon with the birdy on. I haven’t got a …” he turns to Julian Leaning across, Shez takes a peek at the … profile? … thingy as Julian called it which he pulled up. There was a picture of Julian next to a name. Shez frowned for whilst the name was similar to Julian’s it was different, some sort of alias? Still whatever it was, he wanted one too. “I should make one, I’ll need an awesome name naturally”

Brushing aside Julian’s comment on 21st century which seemed to momentarily shut Azama up, Shez was used to weird occurrences time-skips seemed on par with the course, he started tapping at parts of the screen to find where to make a new account.

A blank screen opened for him prompting him to enter a username and password. Having seen Azama fail at the first hurdle, Shez took a more creative approach to his own username.

@ Shezaam!

-Error: Username taken-

Drat. Ok not that on. Shez wracked his brain for another idea.

@ Shezaam1180

When no error message pops up, Shez assumes that it is acceptable. Sweet! Inputing a password quickly he is them prompted to add a photo. Did he have any of those. Clicking the little pen symbol drew up a blank gallery. Ok he needed to take one then. Clicking the other icon, he was surprised to see his face appear on the screen. There was some strange magic in this place.

Waving a hand in a friendly manner he hit the button and a still appeared on the screen. It was a little fuzzy but serviceable, his profile is now complete.

”How’s that?“ He asked Julian showing him his phone. ”Hey, can I follow you then? We’re teammates after all. Any advice on what sort of things to post?“

[continued from here]

She takes Delancey’s words as a compliment- She may have no To-witter presence yet, but her name is a staple within the Adrestian Empire. Everyone there knows the next Emperor. “I’m afraid not. To-witter is new to me.”

With the registration screen now open, Edelgard begins to insert her phone number. She does so at a slow speed on the chance she happens to mistype. She can’t imagine what else to make her To-witter user information than the name she dons, and thus, opts to type in @edelgardvonhresvelg. To the point, but at least it’s clear who this account belongs to. That is her desire.

She is perplexed with the sight of an odd nothingness for a ‘profile picture’, hypothesizing that it must be a standard default. Turning back to Delancey, she nods in agreement: “It would look rather.. empty without a visual of myself. Thank you for the assistance.” Taking a good image on her phone evades her, but she will be sure to pick up on it sooner rather than later.

10,000 followers is a hefty number- Enough to make up something of a sizeable army, too. She can see the advantages in having a large following at her very fingertips. If the Imperial Princess can amass a following that size, perhaps it may prove much more useful than she had initially anticipated. “I see.. That’s quite the audience. It’s rather impressive. I expect you’ll be following me back, yes?” There’s a smile of confidence as she speaks, hopeful and wondering.

“Delancey is a To-witter expert? That’s wonderful!” Her hands clap together after placing the device into her lap. Then she picks it up again, adding, “I could use a little help myself!”

“I sent this to Witter yesterday but I still haven’t heard back. Is Witter just a very busy person, or have I offended them somehow? I dearly hope it’s the former.” Elincia finds herself frowning at the end. She isn’t exactly sure who Witter is but they seem to be someone very important, if they have a whole website dedicated to people trying to message them. Are they the ruler of this strange world? Or perhaps even a deity like Ashunera.

Goodness, Elincia really doesn’t wish to dwell on the consequences of insulting them. Hopefully Delancey would be kind enough to help smooth things over though.

Another idea pops into her mind. If people can follow each other using this social media thing, perhaps she should follow her friends and allies. That way they can keep in touch even when they’re apart! Wow, this was turning out to be pretty useful after all.

“Ah, I should add you both,” her fingers tap across the screen “edelgardvonhresvelg” before hitting search. In an instant, Edelgard’s account pops up, right beneath her finger tips. Gliding over to the follow button, Elincia presses it and in an instant, they’re connected through To-witter. “Now we can get in touch with one another even if we don’t know where the other is. How incredible. Lancie, how do I find your account?”

Elincia, too, demands her help. Surely they’re not this... even kids in the boonies know what To-Witter is. “Oh, uh, follow me? Yeah, it’s easy actually. Here, I’ll demonstrate.” Delancey pulls up the search bar, explaining, “Since I know your username, I just have to type it in here.” queenelincia, a bit presumptuous of her, but alright... she pulls up Elincia’s profile and taps on the follow button, turning it from blue to white. “There, easy right? I’ll follow you back, Edelgard, don’t worry about that.”

zesevral​:

Exploring the pockets of the suit he’d found himself wearing, Shez came across a curious flat object, purple in colour to match his suit. Pressing a button at random, it lit up as images started moving across it. Just what was this device. Shez begun tapping random icons on it fascinated.

The longer he spent with it, the more enamoured be became. This device was magical, he loved it! Possibilities of what he could do with it sparked in his mind, he had to learn more. Entering the common room, he spotted Azama and Julian on one of the sofas.

Shez wanders over and flops down next to the pair, brandishing the object in Azama’s face. He pointed to the icon with the name he’d heard mentioned by others. “Time to learn to witter on To-Witter”

There was a huff, was that appreciation of his wordplay, from Azama but stony silence from Julian. Tough crowd. His smile dropped slightly before coming back in full force.

Tapping the picture on the screen causes it to open. Short lines of text and images appear which Shez starts scrolling through. “Wow. The stuff people post on here!” He nudges Azama’s should to get his attention, showing him a video of someone doing the cinnamon challenge. “We should try something like this. It’s funny”

@carefreemonk​

Azama watches with mild interest as Shez beckons his attention… and as it becomes clear what exactly they’re witnessing, he makes a face. “What are they even doing to themselves? What a waste, cinnamon’s expensive.”

He does not approve. Just because everyone is born under some star dictating the rest of their lives, and nothing you do matters, doesn’t mean you have to go around senselessly like that.

Not to mention how absolutely disgusting that would be.

Aw, bless. Now he almost wants to try it. Better to save face, he decides - his isn’t an immaculate reputation, but what he does have left of it, he occasionally cares enough to try and salvage.

“I’d willingly dance the part of a fool on many an occasion but that…” He scoffs, haughty. He doesn’t know what ‘cringe’ means yet, but if he did… he’d know this was it.

This strange moving picture aside, he turns back to Julian, eyes narrowing impatiently. He nudges him.

But they asked for his help... so... Julian rubs at his temples, “It’s not hard, guys. If you have the app, it’ll walk you through making an account. And then after that you follow people and start yelling into the void. Here, you can follow me.” Though he has a feeling he might regret it... Julian pulls up his To-witter profile anyways.

julian.

@ jssssssssssssss70

4,563 followers. 5 following.