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teawaffles · 4 years ago

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There’s No Business Like Show Business: Chapter 2

The next day.

After finishing his work at the mansion, Bond headed to Whitechapel’s Leman Street, where Maya and her company normally held their rehearsals. [1]

Walking down the noisy street was not just Bond, but also three other employees of the Moriarty household. One of them was Fred Porlock.

“It would’ve been fine if only you came along, Fred…… But thanks for joining us anyway, you two.”

Bond directed that to Jack Renfield and Sebastian Moran, who were walking a little behind him.

As Fred was a master of disguise, Bond had asked him to contribute his opinion on the performance too when Jack and Moran decided to tag along. Now the four of them were on their way to the rehearsal — with Louis’ permission of course.

Jack roared with laughter.

“No, you don’t have to thank me. I’ve watched my fair share of theatre, so I thought I could help them out, even if it’s from an amateur’s perspective,” said the old butler, nodding as he reminisced about those good old days.

“You’re probably just after the young girls from the theatre company, aren’t you old man?” Moran said, half in disgust. “Bond said this Maya chairwoman is a dashing lady in her own right, so I came along to feast my eyes on—— Ow, that hurt!”

Jack had clapped Moran on the head, as a warning to not shoot his mouth off.

“The only one here chasing women is you. Really, you didn’t even finish your chores properly before coming here.”

“I did my part just fine. For once, I’m not skipping out on work.”

“Rubbish — I did a check before we left and found some cigarette butts in the hallway. Don’t you dare annoy Louis any further.”

“……W-Well, the more the merrier, right?”

“…………”

Listening to their usual argument at the back of the group, Bond smiled wryly, while Fred was silent.

Finally, they had reached their destination. Waiting in front of the theatre was Maya, and her little sister Mae.

“Mister Bond!”

“Hey, haven’t seen you since yesterday.”

Mae waved her arms up and down in excitement, while Bond greeted them with a smile.

“S—sorry. Normally, she would play with the other children near our place, but today she insisted on coming with me…… By the way, um, who might these, d—dignified gentlemen be?”

“Ah, they work at the same household as me. The short one here is Fred. The somewhat scary-looking one is Moran. And this dandy old gentleman is Mr Jack. If you’re alright with it, I thought you could use their input as well.”

As Bond introduced them, the three men also greeted their host. But Maya seemed a little perplexed.

“……Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to come here in a big group,” Bond admitted, looking slightly uncomfortable.

“No, no.” Maya hurriedly waved her hands. “I—I’m really grateful to be able to, hear valuable feedback from, so many people. For now, let’s not stand here to talk, please come in……”

Maya guided them into the theatre, stooped in a self-abasing posture. Her faltering voice was much as the same as from their previous encounter, but today, nerves seemed to have crept in as well.

“She has a sort of shadow about her, but that has its own charm. Like the transient beauty of a young widow, don’t you think?”

“She’s pretty, for sure, but not really my type. More like the kind of woman who complicates things when you break up with her.”

“Um, sorry you two, but if you could just keep your voices down,” chided Bond, as Jack and Moran whispered about the chairwoman behind her back.

Right after the entrance was a cramped space. The box seats above them looked hastily constructed; in truth, the interior decorations made it seem more appropriate to call this place a playhouse, rather than a proper theatre.

But their guide had only praise. “The manager here is, a really nice person; whenever we say we want to practise, he’s always happy to lend it to us. There are performances held at night, so we can only use it during the day.”

“He trusts you, doesn’t he.”

Hearing her speak with such sincere gratitude, Bond was quietly impressed by her character. Perhaps her dark aura easily invited misunderstanding, but she was definitely genuine at heart.

“Speaking of which, Miss Maya, you said that you’re the director for this performance, but surely someone else is responsible for the sets and the arrangements at the other theatre during this time?”

“Another member is in charge of the sets, but the negotiations and the like, w—were handled by me. Even so, the manager of the larger theatre — a nobleman — had actually approached us to be the opening act for another company, and I just accepted his invitation.”

“Still, isn’t it great to be invited to perform on a bigger stage, even if it’s just as an opening act?”

“Yes; for people like us — a theatre company from the slums, we don’t have many chances to show the world what we can do, so everyone’s doing their very best.”

Saying that, Maya secretly clenched her fists. Surely the one working the hardest was none other than Maya herself.

There was no audience in the stalls, and on the stage were a number of men and women — likely the company members themselves — doing light warm-ups and vocal exercises. A few of the children he’d met yesterday were also frolicking about on stage.

One exceptionally tall man on the stage had noticed Bond and the others enter the hall, and spoke up.

“Oh, is that the rumoured theatre master?”

Moran whistled at this unusually grand title.

“Theatre master, eh. A fitting name considering your experience, Bond.”

“Fufu, I’m honoured.”

Bond accepted it with his innate courage and composure. Then, he went onto the stage with Maya, while the other three sat in the stalls at the far end, so as to not stand out and interfere with the rehearsal.

The company members each stopped what they were doing and lined up in wait.

“Everyone, this is Mr Bond, who will be watching our performance today,” introduced Maya.

Right then and there, her voice had become clearer and stronger. A little taken aback by the sudden change in her attitude, Bond took a quick look around the room.

“Hello to you all. I’m looking forward to what you have for me today,” he said solemnly, as he bowed.

“We’ll do our best!” The company members bowed their heads in unison.

From their greeting, Bond could feel the the quality of their bearing, and the strength of their cohesion. Not only that, the tension he himself once felt when he stood on stage came rushing back in waves.

He switched his frame of mind from that of a special agent, to that of an actor, and looked over Maya and her company with an earnest gaze.

“Well then, without further ado, please show me what you’ve got.”

“Yes!”

Even though his instructions had been given with no introductory remarks, they asked no unnecessary questions, and jumped straight into preparation. Even though they had only put up plays in cheap theatres, Maya’s company already displayed the high level of professionalism they had developed.

“Miss Maya, what’s the programme for today?” Bond asked, as he moved to the row of seats right in front of the stage.

Maya was also directing Mae and the other children to sit down. “We’re starting with ‘The Red Shoes’, followed by ‘The Little Mermaid’, and lastly, ‘The Little Match Girl’.”

“Hmm, fairytales, I see.”

The unexpected subject matter piqued his interest.

In a time when Shakespeare was all the rage, to perform children’s literature in a proper theatre, and a serious scripted play at that — now this was a bold move.

But as someone who liked to do things unconventionally, that was precisely why their play intrigued Bond. Yesterday’s playful rendition of “The Little Match Girl” was probably inspired by it as well.

Then, the tall man who noticed Bond earlier spoke up.

“Ain’t it interesting? Maya always makes sure to write plays that even us poor dumb folk understand. Today’s script is also entirely her work,” he said cheerfully.

“Weren’t you in charge of creating the play too? You should be able to write at least one decent line of dialogue.”

At the man’s self-satisfied tone, a woman beside him sighed. But he ignored her pointed comment and carried on.

“There were a bunch of people who’d always thought ‘Hamlet’ and ‘Macbeth’ and the like were plain boring; but after Maya broke them down into something easier to follow, they’ve gotten hooked onto Shakespeare.”

“Being able to interpret works in a way that everyone can understand…… A wonderful talent indeed.”

But if you were to put on a proper production of Shakespeare in an unregulated theatre like this, you would be caught by the censors. To avoid that, incorporating music and the like into their productions was a brilliant adaptation on their part.

Bond had said that last part out loud, and the man thanked him for his words of praise. The members of the company had shown their admiration for Maya, but the woman herself took in a deep breath, as if to hide her embarrassment.

In other words, in order to put on a play that everyone could follow, the answer she'd arrived at was “fairytales”. Although it may be the best choice given the short length of the opening act……

“I’m sitting next to Mister Bond!”

“Hey, no fair!”

Bond had been absorbed in thought about the contents of the play. Nearby, the children were scrambling for the best spots. Having won the seat to the left of Bond, Mae asked him a question.

“Mister Bond, do you like ‘fairy tales’?”

That pulled him out of his thought process for a moment, and Mae smiled.

“Yeah. I read them when I was a child.”

“I like them too, because Maya and the rest always read them in a fun way—”

“Me too!” The other children raised their hands and shouted. Reading stories aloud while acting out the roles was indeed a theatrical way of reading to children.

However, Mae immediately pouted in frustration.

“But I really hate that story.”

“……Why is that?”

“The little girl always looks so sad. I tried asking Maya to give it a happy ending, but she just said that we have to ‘respect the intent of the story’ and didn’t listen.”

Her words helped Bond discern the true nature of the incongruity he'd felt.

As Mae had said, all three stories had their protagonists fall into unfortunate circumstances and perish. It was true that many fairytales were cruel, but there were others with happy endings too. Was there some hidden intent behind these choices?

As Bond pondered the new question that surfaced in his mind, Mae leaned in towards him.

“Mister Bond, do you also think it’s important, what Maya said? No matter how sad a story is, can’t we make it happy on our own?”

She asked that question with clear eyes. Bond thought for a few seconds, before responding.

“It’s true that it’s important to understand the intention of the original story. If you change its contents haphazardly, the fans of the story would be upset. I think your sister is the type who would take that very seriously.”

Mae glanced down in disappointment at his level-headed answer, but Bond continued.

“However, if we were all afraid of criticism, then nothing new would ever be made. If you have something you really want to tell others, then I think it’s possible to add a new interpretation to a story. After all, one form of respect is to show the world how you would’ve done it.”

“……Oh I see!”

Mae brightened up, and Bond smiled. Her question was one that had always, and would continue to vex all interpreters of stories. But at the very least, he didn’t want to make a decision on which way was right.

Just as their conversation had come to an end, it seemed the preparations for the performance were now complete.

“Without further ado, let us begin.”

Standing on a platform, Maya gave a bow, and with that the curtain rose.

Footnotes:

[1] Leman Street is a little to the north-east of the Tower of London and St. Katharine Docks, and within walking distance of both.

T/N: Is this chapter some meta-level commentary on the series itself?! omg

#moriarty the patriot #yuukoku no moriarty #yuumori #english translation #forbidden games

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theliteraryvampire · 5 years ago

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Take Your Heart In Your Teeth (4/?)

Warnings: None!

Fandom: BBC Dracula (Dracula x Reader)

Author’s Note: I don’t really add that many descriptive details about the reader, because I’d like whoever’s reading this to be able to picture themselves. Also, in this chapter, I’ve essentially tried writing Dracula getting an erection as poetically as I could lol. Enjoy! As always, comments/criticisms/feedback/reblogs/likes are appreciated!

---------------------------------------------------

6:57 am

Dracula: RENFIELD WILL PICK YOU UP AT 8:15. CONSIDER HIM YOUR PERSONAL DRIVER NOW.

7:14 AM

Me: I appreciate it, but that’s really not necessary. It’s only been a week, and I don’t want him to feel like he has to wait on me as well.

7:16 am

Dracula: DON’T BE SO STUBBORN. THIS WAY YOU’LL ALWAYS BE ON TIME, AND I DON’T WANT TO MISS A SECOND OF MY TIME WITH YOU.

I found myself rereading his last text over and over, and each time it gave my stomach butterflies. Realistically I knew that Dracula meant he wanted his memoirs finished as soon as possible, but I let myself fantasize a little, let myself imagine that he was attracted to me as well.

“I hope you know what you’re doing. It’s been a week, and you’re no closer to (Y/N) divulging anything useful than you were when she first started.”

“I know, Renfield,” Dracula admitted, fighting the overwhelmingly human urge to roll his eyes. “I’m trying a new tactic today. If I don’t get what I need, her blood will offer up anything she doesn’t.”

“Which is why I thought she would have been dead already.”

“You’re going to be late, Renfield,” Dracula answered, ignoring the statement. “And you know how much I hate it when she’s late.”

~~~

At 8:15 on the dot, Renfield pulled up, and I got in the back.

“Morning, (Y/N),” he said, looking at me through the rear view mirror. For an instant, he looked accusatory, like I had done something wrong, but he quickly looked to the road and pulled out.

~~~

I hung up my coat and started walking to the office, figuring today would be very much like all of last week, writing down everything Dracula said, joking with him and his endlessly vague questions, but instead, Dracula surprised me.

“I want to talk about you today, if that’s ok with you,” he said, leading me into his living room, which was equally as beautiful as every other room I had been in so far. Black wood furniture, an oriental rug, and a gold chandelier decorated this room, and I was met with the strangest feeling, like I had accidentally tripped my way into being royalty.

He sat down on the red velvet couch, crossing one leg over the other, and he looked expectantly at me, waiting for me to do the same. He somehow looked even better than he did all of last week, with a button up shirt tucked into dress pants, and though he wore the shirt casually again, with open buttons and the sleeves rolled up, he was also wearing suspenders. I thought that if I opened my mouth too wide, I would salivate all over his very expensive floor.

I sat down without saying a word, and he tilted his head and smiled, like he was trying to come off as innocent, as non threatening.

“So, uh, before we begin, let me get this straight. You want me to talk about myself? Trust me, I am more than happy to make money by indulging in my narcissistic tendencies, but how does this help you, exactly?”

He laughed in a way that told me I was behind on the joke. “It actually helps me a great deal.”

“Ok, sure.” I took a steady breath. “Well, um, to start off I guess, I’m a Leo, if that matters at all. Um, I was born upstate but I moved to—”

“No,” he interrupted right away, and then catching himself, he added softly, “what I mean is, I want to know your work background. How you came to study what you do, myths, legends, lore, fables...where you’ve traveled to, what you’ve seen, for example.”

“Oh!” I said, a little too loudly, trying to cover my embarrassment. “Sorry. Yeah, I can do that. So, growing up, I was a voracious reader, but I also excelled in history. When I got to college, I knew that I wanted to write, I knew that I loved research, and I knew that I loved history, and how different civilizations reacted to things they didn’t understand. From the unknown came lore, myths, and gods, and stories of the paranormal. I double majored in writing and history, and senior year, one of my professors was doing research in Norway, and he invited me along, thinking I could build a senior thesis from it. We went looking for the sunstone, thought to be a myth from the Viking age. As the story went, they would use a piece of Icelandic spar to navigate, and turns out, it wasn’t just a story at all. One of our colleagues found a piece of calcite in Alderney, in a sunken 16th century ship, and long story short, it actually works. It’s so cool. You hold up a chunk of Icelandic spar to the sky when it’s cloudy, and it helps locate the sun. I was one of the first to try it on that expedition and I thought I’d cry tears of joy! I...um,” but my voice died out when I looked at Dracula. I hadn’t realized I had been rambling.

“Um, anyways...yeah. Sorry. I don’t want to put you to sleep.” I looked down at my shoes, embarrassed yet again, but Dracula laughed. He actually laughed.

“Trust me, (Y/N),” he said, and he leaned forward and gently grabbed a hold of my chin, forcing me to look at him. His fingers were again ice cold, but I never wanted him to move his hand away. He stared me in the eyes, like he was imploring me to believe him. “Absolutely nothing you say could ever put me to sleep. Please continue.” With that, he laughed and let me go.

~~~

We talked and drank throughout the day, and I was surprised to find that he was quite easy to talk to. He was amiable, flirtatious, at points, and witty. He was also well traveled, a point we had in common, but I still wanted to know exactly what I had been hired for.

“Tell me the truth, Dracula,” I slightly slurred. “Why am I here? I haven’t done any writing for you at all today, and all we’ve talked about is me. I can’t be that exciting.”

“I suppose you could call me something of a...story collector.” He smiled to himself and leaned closer to me, trailing a finger across the back of my hand, giving me chills. It was almost embarrassing how much he had an effect on me. “I’ve spent time in Europe myself, as you well know. Perhaps I’m biased, but Romania, particularly, I found to have the best stories, and I too devoured the locals.”

“...the locals’ what?” I asked, after a second.

“Pardon?”

“You never finished your sentence. You said you devoured the locals’, and then you drifted off. Their legends, you mean?”

Dracula laughed and sat back, away from me, and I immediately missed the closeness. “Perhaps,” he answered, with a hint of a smile. “You’ve been to Romania?”

“I have.”

“And what did you find? Strigoi and Solomonar aside, of course,” he added with a smirk.

“Uh,” I said, trying to think back. It had been so long, and the vodka and flirtations I drank in all afternoon were going to my head. “I don’t quite remember...except that I fell at one point. Ask me tomorrow when I’m sober,” I smiled. Dracula’s eyes drifted from my face to my neck.

“Quite unfortunate.” He wasn’t smiling.

~~~

It was easy, though tedious, for Dracula to pretend being drunk. He had done it countless times to keep up appearances. This, though, had been his Plan C. The more he talked to (Y/N), the less he wanted to take the chance of drinking her blood, mostly because he wanted more than anything to keep her alive. Plan A had spectacularly failed though. (Y/N) had thought the whole psychological angle was a joke and she never took his questions seriously. Plan B didn’t work either. He had taken too long to bring up Romania today, fully content on just listening to her speak, and she had imbibed too much vodka to recall anything with clarity. So, Plan C it was. He just hoped he had the strength to pull away.

Slowly, he leaned closer to her, and with her beautiful eyes wide, he pushed her hair over her shoulder, exposing her exquisite neck. Her pulse was racing, and he smiled to himself. Her blood was so close, she was so close, her scent, so intoxicating, so potent… Dracula felt himself drawn in, more so by (Y/N) than his bloodlust, he vaguely thought, but he pushed that out his mind. Instead he leaned in, and pressing a kiss to her skin first to satisfy the need in his stomach, he bit down, right below her ear, and was immediately met with her scorching hot blood.

Euphoric, Dracula thought, and he couldn’t help but let out a moan. He gripped her neck tighter, wanting to bring her even closer, wanting to wrap himself around her, drown himself in her blood, drown himself in her. He wanted her in that moment, every piece, everything she was willing to give him, and he felt a stir in his lower abdomen, a feeling he hadn’t felt in centuries, a feeling he blissfully wanted to prolong, to be selfish with, but something was off. She was fighting against him. He could feel her muscles pull beneath him, trying to break free, but he wasn’t done, he greedily wasn’t done and he hated himself and the instantaneous guilt that was now tightly bounding his bones, but he tried calming her as best he could. He made her dream.

#bbc dracula #dracula #dracula x reader #bbc dracula x reader #netflix dracula #netflix dracula x reader #vampire #vampire x human #dracula is a boomer texter

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mobius-prime · 4 years ago

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234. Sonic the Hedgehog #166

DON'T. PANIC. I know. It's back. Don't worry too much though - it only lasts for two issues, so even if you detest this AU with all your heart and soul you only have to deal with it for a couple days. To be perfectly honest, I don't actually find the plot of this installment of Mobius 25 Years Later to be that much more interesting than the previous one. I find everyone to be a little too out of character, for one thing. However, it does at the very least provide a bit of closure to a story that was left wiiide open previously, so there's that.

Mobius 25 Years Later (Part One): Tempus Fugit

Writer: Ian Flynn Pencils: Tracy Yardley Colors: Jason Jensen

Last time on Mobius 25 Years Later, we left off with the timeline seeming to dissolve and rip itself apart while Sonic went back in time to fix the temporal and spatial instabilities of Mobius. Well, he fixed the threat of time coming to an end all right, but in the process somehow caused the timeline to skew wildly from how it was previously. In this new future, Shadow is a brutal and ruthless dictator, worship of Maria as an angelic guardian figure is officially sanctioned by his government, the Chaotix patrol the streets headed by King Shadow's chief enforcer Knuckles, and perhaps most bizarrely of all, Sally is married to Shadow as his queen. I have to note here that no explanation is given at all for how the timeline could have gotten messed up so badly - like, it doesn't really say anything about Sonic destabilizing specific events in the past, he just did something apparently, and stuff got messed up as a result. I'm personally not a fan at all of the idea of Shadow becoming so brutal like this, because it's just so out of character for who he's shown to become in the games (and in the comics coming up in a few issues), but at the very least there's the potential excuse of oh, well, this is a timeline where he didn't discover his true purpose in life and thus got led astray by darker influences or whatever. Regardless, things are very bad, and now Tails is on the scene, trying to figure out a way to fix it.

You see, he actually is able to remember the old timeline due to some kind of protective armband, and knows that this one isn't right. So he decides to go about recruiting some of his old allies to fix things, first starting with Knuckles. He walks in as Knuckles is instructing Lara-Su in her Guardian abilities, and Knuckles, once he realizes why Tails is here, ushers his daughter out grimly so they can talk alone. Tails tries to get Knuckles to listen to him, explaining that he took measures to protect himself, his wife Mina (remember? They got married in this timeline) and their kids from the time shift, and that he knows that everyone who was near the time machine when it freaked out still has memories of the other timeline. This merely pisses Knuckles off for some reason, and he yells at Tails to get out before he arrests him. Tails leaves the room dejectedly, but Lara-Su cheekily tries to cheer him up outside the door, clearly having overheard everything.

I already like this version of Lara-Su way better than the old one. The old one was weirdly whiny and selfish, while this one is immediately more assertive and ready to jump into action. As this is going on, we move to the dungeons beneath "Castle Mobius," where King Shadow is currently carrying out a rather… rough interrogation of Rotor, who's chained up to a wall. Shadow curtly acknowledges Rotor's strength of will in not "cracking" yet (it's not explained what information exactly he's trying to get out of him, but we can assume it relates to the timeline shift), and tells him he knows he will break eventually and leaves - and who is outside the cell to greet him but Lien-Da? She's apparently the one who captured Rotor for him, and she too remembers the old timeline, thanks to Cobar - we finally find out what she did when she confronted Rotor and Cobar back then!

Yeah, really don't like this version of Shadow. The juxtaposition of worshipping Maria as a gentle protective goddess, and Shadow's use of brutal torture tactics and authoritarianism is kind of… bizarre. A Legion mook runs up with information that Lara-Su has joined up with Tails, and Shadow orders Lien-Da to contact Knuckles to conduct an arrest of the two. Meanwhile, the two in question have managed to find Sonic, bedraggled and sitting next to a bunch of trash in a back alley, looking pretty awful. He, of course, is the same Sonic from the old timeline who went back to "fix" everything, and is horrified at how everything has turned out in this version of the future. It's once again worth noting that he sheds a few tears here, especially because this is around the time Sega started interfering more in the comics to make sure things were portrayed to their liking. There's a sketch version of the below page floating around somewhere showing Sonic crying substantially more than he is in the final product, which honestly, I don't know why Sega felt they had to force the artists to tone it back here, because I think if there's any circumstance where a normally cheerful and stoic person might truly lose it, it's losing their two children forever to the abyss of time.

Lara-Su urges the others to get up so they can go defeat King Shadow and save the day, but a sudden blinding light engulfs them. Sure enough, it's Knuckles, backed by what looks like half of Portal's police force, telling the three of them to surrender immediately as they're under arrest for treason…

The Chaotix Connection

Writer: R. Chacon and Ian Flynn Pencils: J. Axer Colors: Jason Jensen

This story is a bit bizarre - for one, it opens with a shot of Knuckles tied up and apparently coming to after being knocked out, only to immediately pull back a full day to show us what led up to this moment. That's a perfectly legitimate storytelling tactic, but it has to be done right for it to work, dammit, and the execution here is mostly just awkward and confusing. And for another, though someone is listed as the letterer for this story, very little of it is actually hand-lettered - the vast majority of it is machine-lettered. Seriously, out of the dozens and dozens of speech bubbles in this one story, which takes up half the issue's page span, only seven are hand-lettered (yes, I counted). I'm really not sure why this would be, nor why they bothered actually having someone letter only seven speech bubbles in the entire story when a computer was apparently doing that job perfectly well, but oh well. Anyway, here's the rundown - yesterday in Station Square, Rouge (sporting her Heroes getup) was snooping around for any juicy information when she got her hands on a nice little tidbit - namely, that Renfield T. Rodent is back. Remember him?

Aw, it's nice to see Sally and Sonic actually joking around with and teasing each other a bit. Things have been so frosty between them for so long, I forgot how nice it is to just see them being sweet and silly. The next day, Renfield's foreman oversees a delivery of slot machines to the new casino while Renfield himself watches from behind a screen, still sporting his capitalist tycoon grin and definitely seeming very shady as he talks to himself about putting on a grand show with this new scheme. The Chaotix and Rouge all arrive at the venue, and Rouge and Julie-Su nearly come to blows when Rouge insinuates that her only reason for coming is to show Knuckles that she's "gone legit." Knuckles breaks up the fight before it begins, and the group is let in early when they bluff to the guards that Renfield is expecting a meeting with them. They agree to split up and search for anything suspicious, checking in every few minutes to make sure none of them goes missing. Knuckles heads off on his own, and soon discovers an elevator that takes him to a secure room where the foreman is discussing the shipment with the help. When he hears Eggman's name mentioned, Knuckles knows this operation is rigged, so he leaps into action and begins to fight everyone present… alone. Seriously, man, couldn't have waited one whole minute to call in your backup? Speaking of the backup, Mighty in particular has decided it's prudent to check the food given what happened last time, while several of the others go for the slot machines as customers begin to file in.

Gotta love Mighty - no time to test anything scientifically, let's just shove potentially poisoned food into our mouths and see if we pass out! Knuckles, upstairs, finishes punching out the mooks and goes for the foreman, but when his fist makes a clanging noise against his nose he realizes that he's one of Eggman's auto-automatons. Things only get worse when said auto-automaton punches back, knocking him clean out. While the foreman ties him up and calls Renfield, Rouge, Vector, and Espio all check the slots, noticing that people seem to be acting weird while playing them. Sure enough, one glance at a screen later, the three of them are hypnotized as well. Knuckles wakes up with Renfield gloating over him, and naturally the rat immediately launches into a villainous monologue about how Eggman is paying him to use his fake slot machines to scan the brains of the patrons, allowing him to turn that data into a blueprint for what basically amounts to a Terminator. In fact, the whole casino is built on top of a factory that will start spitting out robots the moment the scans upload! Suddenly, the writers realize in horror that they only have two more pages to wrap this plot up, and so they go into overdrive figuring out a way to solve it in this limited amount of space.

I love the idea that Mighty just casually crunched up a whole factory and carried it around with him just to prove a point here. The police show up out of nowhere to arrest a fuming Renfield, and Julie-Su and Mighty explain that they knew something was wrong when Knuckles didn't check in, and even more hilariously, apparently on their way up here they just randomly passed the factory and Mighty was like "Yo, that doesn't fit the décor," hence him crunching it up. The president pops in out of the ether to congratulate the Chaotix on a job well done, and as Julie-Su and Rouge bicker some more, the curtain falls on one of the weirdest and most out of place stories we've experienced in some time. Bravo, Romy and Ian, we've officially learned that when you two collaborate, crap gets bizarre!

#nala reads archie sonic preboot #archie sonic #archie sonic preboot #sonic the hedgehog #sth 166 #writer: ian flynn #writer: romy chacon #pencils: tracy yardley #pencils: jeff axer #colors: jason jensen

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thebeautyofdisorder · 5 years ago

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The Undone & The Divine (BBC Dracula) - Chapter 3

A/N: Okay, here’s finally a third chapter to this. Thank you to everyone who liked/reblogged/commented on the first two parts! This one is fairly short but it leads to somewhere more fun, I promise.

First two Chapters Here

Fanvid I posted earlier also right HERE if you want to see

Rating: T, for blood and maybe language

Pairing: Dracula & Zoe/Agatha Van Helsing

Can be found on AO3 - Right HERE -

Chapter 3

“Has anyone ever told you what horrible taste you have?”

Frank startled out of an already fitful sleep, his vision blurry as he squinted into the dark at the tall shadow looming in front of his wardrobe, hearing more than seeing the disappointed frown that no doubt graced his face.

“Actually, yes,” He replied with a nervous chuckle, blindly grasping until he found his glasses atop his bedside table, and flicked on his lamp as well, flooding the room with warm light.

The vampire, now looking far more like his normal self despite being stark nude and dripping water on the rug, let out a soft tut of disappointment, rifling with audible impatience through the contents until he finally seemed to be settling for a pale grey button down and a pair of rather expensive trousers that he had tucked away in the far back of the closet.

“I could go fetch some of your clothes from your flat, if you’d like,” he offered brightly, though immediately regretted speaking, as Dracula turned on him with a stern expression.

“No.”

“Of course,” Renfield squeaked in response, suddenly feeling cold despite the duvet still covering his lower half.

“You are not to go there. I will do that later.”

Truth be told, the count wasn’t sure if he would. His first instinct, the instinct that had kept him alive all these years was telling him he should cut ties with the place and not go back, much as he had done before when he’d been exposed for what he was. But given recent developments – was there even anything worth running from? Honestly, an illegal research facility and a love-sick doctor in training – he’d dealt with so much worse.

No, he supposed, as he pulled on the trousers, not bothering with rifling through Renfield’s underwear drawer - god only knew what he kept in there - what he was really dreading had nothing to do with existential fear. It was going back after a week of sleep and finding Zoe’s corpse rotting on his dinner table. What a maudlin image. Tragic really – a waste of a mind. Two minds, it would seem. Or worse, finding that she had woken up, only to become some incoherent waste of flesh as well, and having to kill her again. It was never any fun, the second time, even in the best of circumstances.

There were ways to check, of course. He could usually feel them, his brides. When they woke, when they fed. He had been out of it for days however. He could’ve missed it, and the curiosity was gnawing at him almost as much as the hunger. Renfield had been bringing him sustenance, of course, but nothing could compete with getting it straight from the tap, as it were. He had a hankering for something young and hopeful, usually did the trick when he was out of sorts – though he had a feeling he needed to venture outside of London proper to find it. First thing first, however.

“I’m going out, I’ve called someone in about the mess, they should arrive bright and early,” the count assured the wary man still huddled in his bedclothes. “Don’t concern yourself with an explanation, I informed them that there had been an unfortunate accident and that you really didn’t want to talk about it.” He gave a conspiratorial, if half-hearted, grin as he pulled on the shirt.

“No guarantee they still won’t assume you’re a murderer, but you should be able to get to work without an interrogation.”

Renfield looked both shocked and relieved. “Oh master, that’s so… kind of you.” He practically winced even as the words left his mouth. Would that be considered an affront to a vampire?

Dracula’s brows lowered over his eyes. “Hm,” he breathed, taking that development into consideration. “Yes, yes it is, isn’t it? Goodnight Frank.”

—–

For a while, Zoe felt shockingly normal. As normal as she could even remember, anyway. Given her entire life had been a extended familial nightmare that she’d inherited from her very abnormal family, she supposed the least she could expect was better than nothing. She didn’t feel like she was about to throw up (yet), a ghost (if that’s what she was) wasn’t currently trying to dictate her actions, and her whole body didn’t hurt. Ignoring the fact she’d recently died, all was going very well.

At least that’s what she thought, up until she felt the hairs on the back of her neck begin to rise, despite the otherwise warm air.

The logician in her immediately checked her surroundings, observing every individual within ten feet of her and yet found nothing of alarm. Still, the feeling lingered on the rest of the afternoon, keeping Zoe ill at ease all through sundown, and beyond.

Something was different, and she thought she might know what it was.

Excusing herself from the presence of her colleague, who despite her clear concern did not protest, Zoe hurried out to the street and began walking until she saw a cab.

She sincerely hoped they took credit cards.

——

As someone who only breathed when he had a season to, it took a certain level of effort to draw in the first dreaded inhale of air through his nose once Dracula got off the elevator and approached the door of his flat. If there was one thing he knew well, it was the scent of decay. It was a distinctive, sickening sweet aroma in the early stages that devolved as time went on into an all-encompassing miasma. It didn’t nauseate him anymore, not for centuries, but he felt himself recoil in preparation for it nonetheless.

He let the breathe out slowly. Nothing.

Even with the modern joys of air conditioning, he would smell a corpse - undead or otherwise. Even if it had been removed, there would be traces. And yet…

He pressed his nose into the crack of the door frame, sniffing in earnest now, like a hound trying to pick up a lost trail.

There was still a lingering hint of the sharpness of blood, but death was not a house guest of his this evening. His lips twitched at the corners, a perplexed smile flitting over his features.

The door was unlocked, and he pushed forward with no further hesitation.

Inside all was dark and quiet. Exactly as he’d left it, blood stains and all, but any trace of Zoe was gone. He traced his hand over the table, feeling the raised rust colored smear where, by whatever means, the half-drained woman he’d left there had pushed herself up from death and, from all evidence presented, walked out of his home.

“Have you lost something?”

—-

I’m going to do a taglist once more, of some people who’s stuff I’ve been nerding on and who showed interested in the first parts. Thanks much. If I missed you and you want to be added, let me know!

@my-fanfic-library @ohveda @imagineandimagine @wannabebloodsucker @hoefordarkness @mymagicsuitcase @crazytxgradstudent @itendedbadly @theplumsoldier @gatissed @allfandoms-writings @littlemessyjessi @punk-courtesan @vampiregirl1797 @gleefullyselfishreblogs @break-free-killer-queen @desperatefrenchwriter @bellamortislife

#bbc dracula #dracula #dracula bbc #dracula 2020 #claes bang #dracula fic #agatha van helsing #zoe van helsing #the undone & the divine

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swtoaks · 5 years ago

Text

Falling, Fallen

Chapter 1: A photograph

Lives go on.

They’re like water, really. Water springs from unexpected places. It flows down mountains in equal parts calm streams and violent ravines. First it’s crystalline snow formed of unique exquisite snowflakes, each different from the rest. Then they melt into each other and combine, muddying themselves and conforming to one another. One absorbs the other. Without one, there is no other.

Maybe he was joining the mix now, finally. He remembered the way it felt with Zoe, no with Agatha. It was much different. That was fire. It scorched, yearning to be felt. Is this how it feels like after getting lost in the burning fire? Getting lost among the lives must be different. But why was he still capable of thought? Shouldn’t his consciousness be gone by now? He didn’t feel any of the pain of imbuing dying blood. Just darkness.

Then, too many images and sounds were trying to make themselves heard. The pounding and clacking grew louder. Couldn’t they just stop for once? There were too many people here. Too many faces, some whose names he’d long forgotten and others who he didn’t even recognize. He didn’t want to wake up anymore, yet his eyes opened to sterile white.

——\/-——-\/——

“Oh my! Sir, are you okay?”

Dracula hissed from his hunched position against the wall. If that old hag would just get closer, he’d be able to drag her down and drink her blood. That’s right, just a little bit closer, come. Join me.

“I’ll take him from here, madam.” A voice from behind him said. Dracula very nearly snarled at the intruder. He would have lunged at them both if he had the strength for it. Slowly his eyes fluttered closed and his fake labored breathing stopped. The woman didn’t notice as a result of her bad sight.

“Are you sure?” The older woman looked equal parts unsure and concerned.

Renfield gave his best smile and nodded, “if you could alert the doctors, I’ll take him.”

The woman agreed and hurried off.

“What have you gotten yourself into now, Master?” Renfield sighed as he bent down to pick up the withered form of his sire. Not long after did he hear the scream. She must have entered the hospital then.

Oh, the morning news were going to be dreadful. Thankfully they would be spared video footage which he made sure to destroy before coming to fetch the Count. He debated on where to put him before gingerly placing him across the back seat of the car. Satisfied with his work, Renfield hummed and got in the drivers seat. They were lost in the night traffic by the time there was any hint of sirens.

——\/-——-\/——

The next time Dracula opened his eyes was in the darkness. He felt stiff, aged. His fingers twitched, and he registered the fine granules of dirt underneath. So he was in his sleeping compartment. He reached up and pushed the cover away. As he sat up, he saw his room was just as he left it, undisturbed. Dracula frowned. He was already dressed in an unflattering tweed grey suit.

Soon he made his way out of his room and into the dining area. There was no trace of the doctor or the events that transpired.

“Ah, so you’re finally up, sir.”

“And I’m sure I can thank you for such impeccable fashion choice,” Dracula replied sarcastically, looking at his lawyer sitting by the kitchen island.

“I thought so myself,” Renfield cheerily smiled. He pulled out his tablet from his bag and switched it on. “Now, I would suggest first feeding on this lovely doctor I found. Though I think you might be tired of them given your recent feast.”

Dracula cocked his head. What was he on about?

“Then again we should probably find another profession, surely even if only one goes missing it will rouse suspicion now.”

“You are blathering again,” Dracula interrupted Renfield, raising his arm in the air. He dropped it as he tried to piece everything together. There was a hazy block in his memories. Something that shouldn’t be there. Then the memories came rushing back and he doubled over.

Renfield rushed to his side to lead him to a chair.

“I lost control,” The count heaved; clearly furious with himself. Those doctors and nurses were the unfortunate ones to bear his thirst. He didn’t even get to savor any of them. Pity.

“If I may,” Renfield took off his glasses and started cleaning the lenses, “it’s understandable given the circumstances.”

Dracula glared at him.

“I took the liberty of looking at the medical records they had of you,” the lawyer continued unabashed, “even by their standards, you were on the brink of death, sir.”

“Oh, that’s to be expected. I drank Dr. Helsing’s blood.” Dracula ignored the way Renfield gawked at him. He continued, talking more to himself, “the question is, how did I end up in a hospital?”

“Ah, well, that I don’t know,” Renfield confessed. He didn’t think it was of much importance anyway.

Dracula hummed and tapped the table. He glanced out the window and a thought occurred to him then. He stood up and left his apartment without another word, leaving Renfield calling after him.

He smiled as he spied the small security camera in the corner of the elevator. Those devices were incredibly bothersome when it came to feeding. At least now they would be useful for something. Dracula confidently made his way down to the lobby and charmed the front desk worker into pointing him to the building’s security room where he proceeded to fabricate a missing parcel delivery account to get access to video recordings of that night.

He made the security guard scrub through the video until he saw that other doctor, Jack Seward, enter the elevator on his floor looking positively frazzled and click the lobby floor button. That must have been after Dr. Helsing asked him to leave.

“Are you sure you had a package delivered around this time?” The security guard asked after a few moments of no one entering the elevator.

Dracula hummed and continued watching. Minutes later he was rewarded when a woman dressed in a black top coat entered the camera’s vantage and pressed the button to Dracula’s floor. She was holding a grey scarf up to her face as if it were freezing and was positioning herself facing away from the camera.

“Would you happen to have a camera facing the lobby entrance? Perhaps they left the package there instead.” He was one step closer to putting the puzzle together. The security guard sighed but did as suggested. Dracula meticulously inspected the video.

There!

“I knew you’d slip up, my dear,” Dracula grinned. The security guard squinted at him in bewilderment and made to protest when Dracula moved to rewind and pause the video himself. “Worry not, I’m just taking a photograph so I can show the people to find my parcel.”

The vampire did as he described. Making sure to thank the security, he left after accidentally dropping his mobile on the keyboard and forcing the stilled screen to jump to and play another recording. Back in the lobby Dracula sent a single message along with the image.

Find her.

#bbc dracula #dracula #dracula x oc #jack seward #renfield #valerious #dracula fic #drama #romance #dark themes maybe

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lordsicheng · 7 years ago

Text

One Last Bite: Pt. 1

Kim Donghan x OC

Genre: Vampire AU Summary: vampires have always intrigued you, and meeting one sparked your curiosity even more, especially when you two become close; maybe a little bit too close

A/N: this was an idea from a friend on twitter, who requested this wayyy too long (sorry Lia). Anyways, a ton of people have been Donghan-ed, so here I am back at it again with another Donghan scenario just in time for Halloween wee woo wee woo also, next part is gonna be quite rated… ;)

Standing by the window at your school hallway, you close your eyes as you take in all the sunlight you could get. You smile at this sensation, finally feeling the warmth after dealing with rainy and cloudy weather for the past two weeks.

“You win this round.” a young man approaches you as he stood by a wall that shaded him well, trying to not get too close

“Bet you haven’t had this much shine after a long time.” you give out a light chuckle as you slowly open your eyes and look at him

“Very funny. Can we go now?” he says as he tried to reach out his hand to you, only to get burned as his fingers came in direct contact with the sunlight and immediately pulled it back

“I’ve told you many times, be careful.” you smiled as you slowly walked pass him, making him shake his head

Having only met Donghan over a year ago, you came to realize he became a vampire for the wrong reason. He only became a vampire because of his credulous persona after being wounded, where he thought a young man who was also a servant came of aid to his injury, only for it to end up turning him into a blood craving creature. Because of this, you even had the intriguing questions all about vampires in your mind often; where they originated, how they would be able to find their prey, how their daily lives were like, and more.

You walked down the hallway to realize the sun was gone; and rain had started to pour. You roll your eyes in annoyance as you turned to look at Donghan, who gave a slight smug as he looked at you with crossed arms.

“Did you do something this time?” you asked, furrowing your brows in irritation

“I can’t control the weather. I was only given telepathy and teleportation, remember?” he chortled as he walked towards you, eyes fixed on your gaze

“See you at home.” you rolled your eyes as you quickly walked towards the exit, turning again to look if Donghan was still standing there, only to see that he had already left a second before you had turned

Sitting by the window in the bus, you put on your earphones and started listening to music to calm your senses from the gloomy weather. You closed your eyes as you slowly leaned on to the window, slowly falling asleep. You weren’t scared of missing your stop, because Donghan usually got the sense of you being nearby that he’d just speak through his mind unto yours, telling you to wake up. You stopped at a station that was near your usual stop, getting off the bus to get some milk tea and just decided to walk your way home after.

“Wintermelon Milk Tea, please. Pearls and coconut jelly.” you smiled as you ordered, the cashier just nodded and began making your milk tea.

You waited until he was done, and paid for it before you could leave the counter and out the small area. You saw a gray cat, purring near you as you walked out. You chuckled as you started walking, the cat following you and continuing to purr whenever you glanced at it. You suddenly stopped after a few steps and walked to a more secluded area nearby as you continued on sipping your milk tea

“Yongguk, I know it’s you.” you chuckled, looking at the cat. The cat just widened its eyes as it continued looking at you as it sat, eyeing the milk tea you were holding

“Kim Yongguk, please.” you rolled your eyes, the cat only purred in reply

“Jin Longguo.” you called in a serious voice, making the cat turn immediately into a young man wearing a coat, fixing his clothes as he stood up

“Geez, you’re not easy to trick.” he said as he looked at you, still fixing his coat

“How did you find me?” you said, starting to walk away and back to the sidewalk

“Sense. If I become close to someone, I get used to their own scent and end up finding them.” Yongguk laughed, following you

“You could have just gone inside the milk tea shop and said hi.” you sighed, looking at Yongguk

“I wanted to try shapeshifting into a cat.” he grinned, making you confused

“Shapeshift?” you tilted your head in interest

“Yeah, I was given shapeshifting and agility. Donghan probably has agility now too, considering he’s standing right over there.” Yongguk looked at a sign near both of you, and you were startled to see Donghan looking quite aggravated. You sighed and shook your head as you walked over to Donghan, his hands in his pockets as he looked around and sensed the sunset about to finally arrive

“Look, I only went to get milk tea and Yongguk turned into a cat and followed me.” you rolled your eyes as you looked at Donghan, and then to Yongguk, who was just standing nearby, trying to play it off with a wave

“Is this idiot showcasing his shapeshifting abilities to you now?” Donghan glared at Yongguk

“Take it easy, Donghan. I only wanted to see y/n.” he smirked as he looked at you drinking your milk tea

“Great, who’s next? Hyunbin hiding behind that huge tree?” you turned to look at the tree, only to see Hyunbin already standing next to it

“Wow, y/n’s psychic.” Hyunbin chuckled as he walked over to you and the others

“I’d throw a tea party by now.” you sighed, looking back at Donghan

“Guys, I just want to talk to y/n at her place. Do you mind?” Donghan looked at Hyunbin and then Yongguk, who seemed to have the sense that Donghan just wanted you all by himself for that day

“Fine. Yongguk, let’s hunt.” Hyunbin said as he scoffed and walked first

“No way! I want to turn into a cat again. See you guys later” Yongguk waved as he turned into a cat in just a blink of an eye and followed Hyunbin

You turned to look at Donghan, looking as pale as ever and looking quite irritated. You raised your milk tea to try and feed him, but he just rolled his eyes and walked towards the direction of your home

“Wait! I know you hate wintermelon!” you yelled as you ran to follow Donghan, whose pace was faster than usual

You looked at Donghan sit on your desk chair, looking at all the papers scattered on your desk. He opened one of your textbooks to read through, and you just decided to lie down on your bed and look at your phone

“So, what supernatural power does Hyunbin have?” you asked out of the blue, but Donghan didn’t move an inch

“Renfield’s syndrome.” Donghan said in reply, making you sit up in frustration

“I’m serious, Donghan.” you looked at him, and he just sighed

“Duplication, Invisibility, Telekinesis, and Agility.” he looked at you, putting the textbook away

“How come majority of you only have two powers, and he has four?” you asked, crossing your arms

“He’s one of the most experienced in the family. He became a vampire before me and Yongguk.” Donghan said as he stood up, slowly walking his way towards your window

“What about Yongguk?” you stood up from your bed, walking your way next to Donghan

“He’s the second youngest, I assume. But age wise, he’s older than me. I’m technically the youngest in human age, but I became vampire first than him. Hyunbin turned into one almost the same time as me, but he’s older by a year in human age and he’s quite ambitious, hunting almost anyone he sees as his perfect prey.” he smiled as he leaned on your wall, still facing the window

“That’s… interesting.” you nodded as you looked at the street in front of your home

“What’s it like?” you blurted out after a few minutes

“What?” Donghan looked at you

“Becoming a vampire, finding a victim, drinking their blood…” you turned to look at Donghan, and he just chuckled

“I can’t tell you that. You need to experience it to know.” he said as he went back to sitting on your desk chair, and you just looked at him and became confused all over again

“But that’s the point? I want to know your experience.” you quickly went to sit on the floor in front of Donghan and looked at him, making him chuckle even more at your sudden insistence

“Fine.” he smiled, turning the seat to look at you

“598 years ago-“

“598? Exactly?” you cut him off, making him feel baffled

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you 600, so I didn’t round it off.” Donghan crossed his arms, and you just giggled

“Anyways, 598 years ago, I was a servant for King Sejong the Great. I worked at the gardens, just watering plants every day and helping on arranging them often. My parents were gone long before I even became a servant, and I owed my life to the King. Until the Ōei invaded the island of we now call Tsushima, which was an island bordered between Japan and Korea. Because of the scarcity of soldiers, I was forced into training and became one of the fighters. Let’s just say, I survived, but with multiple injuries. I limped my way from the campsite to a nearby home, which was unusually empty. I kept calling for help, but no one answered. Until a few moments later, a man whose pale skin glistened under the moonlight approached me and offered help, and I became grateful to him. Only to find out he was Hongsuk, one of my great uncles in the family. He bit me, yes, and it was… like nothing to me. I was in a daze, and I woke up already in different clothing; a more sleek and clean one, facing other people who have also been bitten that night. And then one, I became immortal.”

You looked at Donghan who was explaining his own story, fascinated by how he became one of the most fiction-abused supernatural creatures. You even wondered in the past if they were real and never actually believed in any other supernatural creatures either. Until you met Donghan, who was one of your classmates in one of your classes, and became gradually close to him. You only knew of his past months ago, after Donghan was granted to tell only one mortal of his true form. He entrusted himself to you, only if you promised to entrust yourself to him as well

“So you’re telling me, that you’re over 600 years old right now but you look only 20?” you furrowed your brows, questioning how it was even possible for him to look even as handsome as most guys your age

“I’m 618, to be exact. But yes, I barely age.” he smirked, making you shake your head

“But, what if you’re hungry for blood? Don’t you get hungry or dehydrated or some sort?” you asked as you stood up and looked at your window

“I don’t force feed. I can handle hunger up to 8 months, compared to most others who can only handle up to 6 months.” he smiled as he turned the chair to look at you

“How long have you been upholding your hunger by now?” you asked as you turned to look at him

“About five. I haven’t felt hunger in a while. And when I do, I only hunt on people that forcefully want to end their lives, only ending up for them to become immortal.” he chuckled as he stood up and put his hands on his pockets

“I’m not letting you be hungry.” you turned and looked through your window again, eyeing a couple who were being lovey-dovey near your own home. You looked at them with disgust, with Donghan just laughing as he noticed your expression

“Bite one of them, I can feel the bitterness in me.” you scrunched up your face and looked at Donghan, who then walked over to your side to see the couple

“Hmm, nope. But the girl is my type.” he chuckled, making you look at him, befuddled

“My type, as in blood type choice. She has type O, which I have as well and feed myself with.” he shook his head as he kept on looking at the couple

“What about the guy?” you pointed

“He has type B. They won’t last long.” he laughed as he turned to go back to your desk, making you just give up on wanting him to feed himself

You looked through the window and looked at the full moon, wondering on whatever it’s going to be like if you were a vampire. You turned to look at Donghan, who was looking at you

“Hey, Donghan?” you called, leaning your back against the wall with your arms crossed

“Yeah?” he replied as he stood up

“If ever I wanted to become a vampire, would you turn me into one?” you asked directly, making Donghan almost thrown off by your frank question

“Y/n, you know I care about you enough to not turn you into one.” he sighed, slowly walking his way to you

“What if I wanted you to turn me into one, right now?” you asked again, making Donghan feel uncomfortable as you gazed into his eyes, him avoiding. He slowly looked at you and returned the gaze, slowly leaning as he held your waist, making you close your eyes as you offered him your neck, him only slowly getting nearer to your lips instead, until he suddenly stopped once he was only an inch away and took a step back, releasing his grip from you

“I… have to go.” Donghan slowly said as he suddenly disappeared, you looking around to find any sign of him in your room and running towards your window, looking down to see if he was there, but he wasn’t. You let out a deep breath as you looked back up at the moon, admiring its full beauty as you groaned from losing your only chance of ever having immortality.

#ps all overdue stuff are on queue now #kim donghan #jbj #jbj scenarios #jbj imagines #jbj reactions #donghan scenarios #donghan imagines #kim donghan scenarios #kim donghan imagines

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comicteaparty · 6 years ago

Text

June 14th, 2018 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on June 14th, 2018, from 5PM - 7PM PDT. The chat focused on Obelisk by Ashley McCammon.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

COMIC TEA PARTY START!

Good day everyone~! This week’s Comic Tea Party is now officially beginning~! Today we are discussing Obelisk by Ashley McCammon~! (http://www.obeliskcomic.com/) For those new or in need of a reminder, discussions about the comic are freeform, so please feel free to bring up whatever you wish. However, every 30 minutes I will be dropping in a discussion question to help those who would like a prompt. These questions are totally OPTIONAL to answer, and you can pay them no mind if you wish. If you miss out on any though, they’ll be pinned for the duration of the chat once they’re posted~! Remember, constructive criticism is allowed, but the primary focus here is to have fun and appreciate the amazing comics that the community makes~! As a bonus, each chat a top comment will be picked and featured in the archives and on an ad for CTP! All that being said, let’s get started and have a great discussion!

QUESTION 1. What is your favorite scene in the comic so far and why?

🌟Draco Plato🌟

The story has flowed so smoothly so far that it'd be hard for me to pick a certain scene as a favorite. I've really enjoyed the fluidity of the art, with it's beautiful backgrounds and very human seeming characters. Evie has been quite interesting to get to know so far and I'm looking forward to learning more about her as the story goes on.

Her hair has been particularly fascinating to me, I adore how it's drawn.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i appreciate how shes been drawn with a variety of hair styles and clothing. its one of those unnecessary details that can add a lot of life and make everything feel less like a video game.

but man the backgrounds. those are some heavily detailed backgrounds with a lot of love and care put into them and they really express the world so well

if i had to pick a favorite scene id pick when we meet margot. i really like the slight additions of red because something about the wispy way its drawn expressives a hint of...something sinister

🌟Draco Plato🌟

I really enjoyed that too, it also I think was the point where the real feel of the story came into play

and I think we really got a much better grasp on evie(edited)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yes though for eve's character i enjoyed the current page aftermath a bit more. if only cause i like that she kind of had a really human reaction to being told to butt out of things that weren't her business XD

🌟Draco Plato🌟

oh yeah, for sure!

I'm really looking forward to seeing where the current story arc is heading(edited)

zestwitch

I love the whole comic so far but I gotta say the way the party scene was drawn is so memorable for me, the panel variation is so creatively done and makes each page feel so energetic

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I liked the scene where Eve was partly hung over and came into the kitchen and her brother regaled her with all the info off a casual remark. I think part of what made that stick too was realizing in the post-script how it was based on REAL history.

🌟Draco Plato🌟

the party scene was especially well done I thought too! Really captured the feeling of what being there would be like

zestwitch

The comic also has so many small details in the sidelines that make the world feel incredibly well rounded and rich like I can tell a ton of research was put into this and that makes me so much more excited about where it's going

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Speaking of how things are drawn, fascinating plan to really only have red be the outsider colour. Definitely makes certain things pop.

Yeah, I have no idea how much research was put into fashions and trends of the time period, but I have to imagine a ton.

🌟Draco Plato🌟

yeah i've researched that time quite a bit and you can really tell that the creator put a lot of work into accuracy

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Speaking as someone who has almost zero knowledge of the time period, I find I can still appreciate it.

In modern day, they'd be all over that concussion issue from falling off a stool.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i liked eve being hung over too just because how it was draw i think had subtle details other comics dont really capture when its depicted. like just the way her face is like "what is life i hate this damn sun why am i awake."

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Interesting how it led into the flashback memories too.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Oh hey there

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

hey super~!

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Glad to be here!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah i thought it was interesting how the flashback memories were juxtaposed with that scene.

and how it transitioned to it

i also enjoy the hangover scene just cause i can relate to eve being partly aware of a thing but having no interest while the other person just rambles on passionately

and youre just like yeah okay

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

That may also be part of why I liked it. ^.-

I wonder if we'll meet this Alice.

🌟Draco Plato🌟

I really liked her hair and nightgown in the hang over scene

saetje

I agree the story flows so well it’s hard to pick a favorite scene- it’s also so early! But, if I’m honest? Margot’s introduction b/c dayyuuum

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

She did have a commanding presence.

saetje

my gay heart can’t handle her

I so appreciate all the research into costume and setting design as well! I simply adore period pieces so I appreciate the effort on that front

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Daww~

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

QUESTION 2. Throughout the comic we meet an interesting cast of side characters, from Eve’s friends to the seemingly criminal Peter Murphy to Agostino. Was there any side character that caught your eye, and if so why? When it comes to Peter and Agostino, do you think we will be seeing more of them? If so, in what way? Will Agostino’s interaction with Margot affect him in some dire way? What do you think will happen if Eve meets Peter? Why do you think Eve isn’t fond of her brother’s new fiancée? Are there any other character details you think the comic might explore?

saetje

I really liked Agostino’s reaction to Margot, it’s so foreboding. I most definitely feel we’ll be seeing all the characters that have introduced so far, again. I must say the story so far has so seamlessly and entertainingly set up many relationships, varied characters, and intrigue to delve into that it’s exciting waiting for what comes next!

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I admit, I'm curious about seeing Eve and Alice... wondering what it is she's not fond of, whether it's something about personality or just the way she dresses and talks to her brother...

saetje

I just feel like they’ve set up a lot of questions we want answered all wrapped up in a varied and entertaining cast

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Agostino may be all hypnotized now.

saetje

yeah it’s possible- going a sort of Renfield on us?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah i do think weve got an interesting plate of characters going on here who are gonna have some future interesting and interactions with eve thatll take the story to unexpected places.

i really loved the way whatever happened to agostino was depicted

i can see why he freaked

though im really curious why only he was effected

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

I do want to add in this story looks like it could be fun as a live action flick, seems like it could work

especially for it's early 1900's setting

saetje

I could see it adapted fairly well!

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I'm pretty sure he was affected because it was his blood left behind when he moved the crate into the place initially. They've already got a sample of him.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Glad you agree, Saetje.

saetje

But the comic as the media for the story itself here is still done really well. I like how the author plays with visual narrative and panel flow

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yea, it's done extremely well

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Interesting that the owners (possible vampires?) are into antiques. I'd figure it'd be something that they could collect more blood samples from.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

especially all the markerwork

saetje

Oh yeah. That was my take too, they already have some blood from him. But time will tell

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Though I guess if you've got all those children's toys left over from 300 years ago... ^.^

...Then again, they came overseas with only the one box. So idk.

Do you think all the sites being investigated are owned by the same group?

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

lol

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

To tie it back in, maybe that Peter guy is their broker.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

http://www.obeliskcomic.com/comic/chapter-1/p43/ OMG CUTE KID

Some quality family time. I hope everyone celebrating has a lovely holiday, and if not, I hope you have a lovely day anyway. I’ll see you all next week!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

maybe it wasnt so much that it was a blood connection thing but in that the blood told margot hed been to the shop before and therefore wanted him to gtfo. since he helped with delivery.

on a different note i do want to say im in math's corner and super want to know why eve doesnt care for alice O_O

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I'm pretty sure she was gtfo-ing him, but I still feel like it was through the blood somehow.

Related to what SJ posted, maybe it's because Eve helped to raise her brother, and doesn't like that the status quo is being messed with? Though Alice could also be real shallow, who knows.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Perhaps

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Maybe Alice is also a vampire!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

that could be. and again could just be personality. maybe alice just tried to get eve to do lots of thing eve wasnt comfortable with in an attempt to bond. or maybe alice aggressively tries to set eve up with ppl

the mystery increases!

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

The town is going to be completely taken over by vampires. Eve will be the only real woman left.

It's like that old tv show about the pod people.

draculing

(I will confirm or deny nothing but I love seeing everyone's thoughts and theories so far )

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Hey there!

Pleased to see ya!

saetje

Welcome! Thanks for the lovely comic

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

And thank you as well~

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Hihi draculing! I like tossing out crazy theories, don't worry about me.

draculing

Hi~ I'm in and out a bit but it's good to be here

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

also omg Marghot looks so handsome~

draculing

The comic is still so early on its cool to see that people are already guessing at stuff

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

thanks for being here draculing~!

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Eve will win Margot's heart by teaching her to ride a bicycle.

draculing

And yes Margot is the Most handsome

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

She is and I love her (edited)

Everything about her looks and personality(edited)

she's so(edited)

dandy

draculing

She's a lady ;D

saetje

Yeah Margot is actually I was under the impression Margot is female? Or they-them?

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Well that's not the first time I'vewgotten my genders confused

draculing

Margot is a butch woman, dw i definitely get that a lot

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

lmao

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Heh. Probably the pants, I don't think ladies wore them much, but I know little to nothing of the time period.

saetje

Ok well I love Margot as I’ve said throughout this chat UM I can’t wait for vampire intrigue romance adventures

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

heehee~

And I made it to the end of the story so far

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I get the vibe that Eve is into the ladies. The way she blushes sometimes, and is upset about not being married herself yet.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

It sure has come a long way since it first started~

saetje

I... completely read Eve as queer? She also hangs out with a cast of LGBT folks yes?

draculing

They wore pants (or bloomers like eve's bike pants) if they were doing sports or being tomboyish but it was still pretty rare and not looked on fondly

Actual men's clothing was not a thing for women yet except for in theater/music halls

saetje

Er- that being what her friend circle is/the party scene as about

draculing

Or yknow... gay circles

Yeah pretty much!

saetje

I appreciate all the research you’ve done into period clothing and setting!

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Oh really?

saetje

I really love horror/romance time periods and I love seeing all the different props and outfits

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Cool about the info. I'd ship Eve and Alice, just to be contrary, except we know they don't get along. Unless... that's just what they want others to think. (edited)

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

I was actually about to ask how much you researched 1900's/1910's society and such

draculing

I wanted to establish that Eve has a social circle of other queer people and they aren't miserable or self hating

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

ooohhhh

saetje

I really appreciated the party scene tbh

draculing

Cuz thats all we ever get from historical settings usually

With lgbt characters

saetje

Yes!

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

LGBT characters are always welcome

saetje

As a queer person it meant a lot to me

draculing

Yeah its really personal to me and I'm glad it resonates!

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

I'm pro-LGBT to the end.

saetje

Because I love time period pieces but so many gay romances or lgbt characters are so depressing in that setting. I enjoyed that Eve has a friend group that celebrated themselves and seemed happy

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

QUESTION 3. As Eve hunts down a lost property, she runs into the mysterious shop owner Margot who somehow bought one of her father’s properties. Who exactly is Margot do you think? Why do you think Margot has moved into the property now of all times, and why do you think Margot chose to run an antiques store? Why do you think Margot was so defensive about Eve’s questions (despite there being simpler, more polite answers as Eve points out)? Do you think Eve will continue to interrogate Margot for information, and do you think she will succeed? Do you think it’s even safe for Eve to interact with Margot given what happened to Agostino? Do you have any other theories about Margot?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Margot is secretly a werewolf.

saetje

And I think it (the party scene) was a nice way to set up Eve as queer, it was, to me, obvious her preferences after the party scene without being voyeuristic or over the top of that makes sense? Just enough.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Seriously though, she must be part of some syndicate or something. To get that shop set up in so little time.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

I have a feeling it may have something to do with that ring.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Or the djinn/genie inside it.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

If it's not her well-sculpted legs

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Or those of the djinn/genie.

So, actually, it's probably a bloodstone or something. I wonder if Eve will research.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Maybe.

I never thought "bloodstone"

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Actually.... is it possible that Margot or her syndicate killed Eve's father in the first place?

saetje

I get the feeling there’s going to be some romantic Margot/Eve back and forth and I look forward to that, but I think ultimately Margot will be dangerous- or at least as it’s set up now, every storytelling sign points foreboding when it comes to Margot(edited)

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

"Sign over this property. Good, excellent. Oh no, you fell down a flight of stairs."

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i feel like if they were responsible theyd know he was dead and not have the reaction that was had over it.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yea

Thankfully he lived

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Well, we only know Margot's reaction.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i definitely forsee eve pestering margot more. cause im willing to bet shes either 1) going to run into a dead end making margot her only option for answers or 2) shes gonna find peter and peter is going to make her super duper suspicious by saying things like "you dont want to know nun ya business."

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

"I'm not a nun!"

Eve strikes me as the type who might lurk outside the place to see if other leads show up. That could make Margot decide to just tell her stuff to get rid of her, since "just go away" failed.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

oh i hope eve comes back and is like "im here to buy something you cant kick me out."

but yeah. margot is....isnt doing a good job of making her go away. there were so many better answers then the shifty eye nun ya business XD

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

That would be a clever way of doing things too. "The customer is always right." To be fair, Margot was pretty nice up front too, remarking on how she should have heard someone come in... it's only the details of how they got the place that seems to have vexed her.

saetje

Maybe she WANTS Eve to come back I feel like Margot knows how to throw a line and reel em in with intrigue and mystery

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Also, did Margot arrive in the box? Or was she simply hired to deal with some other dude who now lives upstairs who is a vampire? Maybe SHE'S under control, thanks to the ring. And Eve frees her from the evil spell.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Maybe

The personality seems to hit at it

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

"Only a kiss can save me from this vampire ring."

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i assume margot was in the box. i think margot is too commanding of a presence to be someone elses mindslave.

and thats true

it could be margot wants eve to come back

alternatively maybe margot hires peter and peter tells eve its in her best interest to stay away or something might happen to her brothers fiancee O_O

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

There is that, or at least not be taken in quite as quickly as seems to have been the case.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

and eve will be like "great good thing i dont like alice"

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

"You don't want to kiss me? Oh, I guess I'll simply have to get Alice to do it..." "You wouldn't dare."

Eve's brother walks in and is all, uhhhhhh....

saetje

I get the feeling it’s going to be Hattie/Eve

I felt like that was hinted at too in the party scene?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

That's possible. I admit I'm bad for the names, as usual.

Also, I like going for the improbable ships.

saetje

Hattie is the blond friend who took her to the party and there was a panel where it was like their hands almost touched/had been holding and left etc. just feels like it’s possible we might have a romance starting with Eve and Hattie with Margot in there messing it up. But again- so early rn hard to make predictions!

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yea.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Makes sense... was she the one who opened the old wine?

saetje

Yes I think so!

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

'kk.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i would like to see more of hattie before i put my eggs in that basket. i feel of all the friends she was the one i feel most distant from sadly :"D even though i thought her design was snazzy

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Yeah, it could be a one way relationship there.

Maybe that's why Eve hasn't been hanging with them as much...? I think that was implied.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

maybe although i assumed its cause shes still not quite over her father's death

grief does take time

QUESTION 4. As we learn from Eve, some documents on her father’s properties seem to be missing. Further, he seemed to know possible criminal Peter Murphy and mysterious Margot. Why and how do you think Eve’s father got involved with such people? Was it blackmail, some sort of under the table charity, or something else? Do you think his co-worker Alex knew about the dealings, or was it something private to Eve’s father? If it’s the latter, why do you believe he’d keep it a secret? Do you think Margot’s shop is the only missing property, or do you suspect Eve might find even more? Even if Eve finds the answers to all these questions, do you think she can or would do anything about the situation? Lastly, do these missing properties have anything to do with her father being dead?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Right, that's a good point too. Though you'd think that you'd want others to help console you.

Her father was apparently really good with records and bookkeeping. Maybe he was doing some work on the side that turned out to be shadier than he thought... the flashback seemed to imply that they might have had money troubles. What with Dad not being able to pay the nanny enough wages to keep her on.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

could be. it was implied in that scene that he was also a single father too at that point right?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

It was, yes. Maybe the mother died in childbirth?

So Dad took on shady business deals to help make ends meet. Probably why he sold off properties and kept it all locked in that box.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

that seems very plausible for how he got involved. albeit alternatively, maybe thats why they have money troubles

is that he was secret selling properties for a low cost and had to cover it up so it wouldnt be discovered

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

True, hard to say which came first. Oh, that's a good theory.

Maybe Peter knows him... just went into business for himself after the death...

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Maybe so.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

peter and the dad were clearly best friends from primary O_O

im curious about his death cause i feel like it must have been unexpected? cause he certainly didnt clean up his affairs. in the sense that ya know he never said "eve by the way i sold some properties to vampires. surprise."

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Yeah, that's a good point. Things were left in something of a disarray at the business too.

Interesting how his daughter has been able to take over.

"She has a ... STAKE, in the business."

draculing

(Re: research question way earlier, I have a lot of 1900s fashion catalogue reprints and PDFs of 1890s-1900s sears catalogues!! I love.. clothing as personality.. so details are important to me)

Lmao niceee

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Oh wow, nifty. Is that part of why it's been set in the States, like that's where the catalogues are from?

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Oh nice!

That sounds like a good way to get research, all those old catalogues~

Make sure you keep em safe! I bet they'd be considered collectables in this day and age.

draculing

Nah I'm just from New Jersey ;; i grew up going into NYC and went to school there so I have a big attachment to the history and feel of it

Aw i dont have anything original sadly, it would be real cool if i did

saetje

I own a few Edwardian sears catalogues too and it’s such a treasure trove tbh. As I’ve said, I appreciate all the detail you’ve put into your costume and setting design. Every character’s clothing choices really does say something strong about them

draculing

Its also a good setting for like.. the immigration/othering themes often attached to vampire stories

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Aah

and yea that's understandable

saetje

Ohh that’s a cool take

draculing

It's not at the forefront of the narrative but each character's sort of.. class and life situation is involved in their design and that plays into it

Hopefully I'm not derailing the convo too much by jumping back to that!

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

That makes sense. Nope, just thinking theories over here.

Alice is secretly behind everything.

saetje

yeah we’re mostly just speculating based off what we have so far, it’s nice to get insight into the creation a bit!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

nah your fine.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Seconding saetje

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I was also trying to think about when the New York World's Fair was, but it was like, 1939, so never mind. I don't know historical details.

draculing

I've had a lot of stuff where I've realized "wait this hasn't happened yet how weird"

Like... the titanic sinking

If my comic hits 1910 will it address that? We just don't know

*1912

saetje

is there anything like prop wise you’ve wanted to put in and then had to go “oh wait. Not invented yet”

draculing

Ohhh yeah for sure

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Sliced bread?

saetje

Because I imagine there’s so many little things we take for granted now that they didn’t have back then

draculing

Or like.. finding references for very specific things??

saetje

Haha the bread point was too powerful

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Napples likes the historical bread.

draculing

Like "what does a cereal box in 1908 look like"

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

I'm curious now too lol

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Gotta watch out for cereal killers.

draculing

Its little stuff that gets you

A lot of finding the closest approximation and then winging it like "hopefully some big history expert won't swoop in and yell at me"

The historical fiction police

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Heehee

Gotta keep all your facts 100% authentic

(and accurate)

draculing

It's a worry even though probably no one minds at all

saetje

Because vampires sure are real ha but I get it! You really want that authentic feel

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yea All that matters is your readers have a good time and enjoy the story(edited)

saetje

But yeah unless someone is just being pedantic I don’t think you’re going to get mobbed for a small historical mistake

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Anyways seems like we're heading into the final minute of the CTP

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

tbf tho does happen. historical fiction police do tear things apart but theyre in the minority. i think you do a really great job and pay more attention to detail than a lot of other historical fiction ive seen.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I don't notice such things at least. I enjoyed it.

Including the hairstyle, just to circle us all the way back. Nice crazy hair.

draculing

it's very cool and encouraging to see all your ideas about what's going on

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Anyways, thanks for the comic, Drac~! It was a fun read and I hope it grows nice and strong.

saetje

Fair fair. I just think people who call out details like that on indie creators are lame

draculing

Thank you for reading it!

saetje

And yeah! It’s a gorgeous comic!

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

saetje

I can’t wait to see what happens next!

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Me neither~(edited)

draculing

Can't believe we already spoiled that Margot is definitely a werewolf, the whole time

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

COMIC TEA PARTY END!

Unfortunately, the scheduled Comic Tea Party time is now up~! Thank you everyone so much for reading and joining this week’s chat~! We want to give a special thank you to Ashley McCammon, as well, for making Obelisk and volunteering it for our reading queue. If you liked the comic, please be sure to support Ashley McCammon’s efforts however you’re able to. All that being said, if you would like to continue discussing this week’s comic, we highly encourage you to do so~!

For next week, Comic Tea Party will focus on Fate by Anthea West. As always, please use the next several days to read as much of the comic as you would like. We hope to see you next Thursday on June 21st from 5PM to 7PM PDT for the chat~! Until then, happy reading~! Comic: http://www.fatecomic.com/

#ctparchive #comics #webcomics #indie comics #start faire #startfaire #comic tea party #ctp #comic chat #comic discussion #comic bookclub #webcomic bookclub #bookclub #ashley mccammon #obelisk

1 note · View note

bellringermal · 7 years ago

Note

Seeing all this cut content makes me a little sad, considering what I heard that they planned two DLC's before just merging it into one. Just think if they had a season pass, I would have definitely bought it For me there's still questions What exactly happened in Yahar'gul that fused people into the buildings I want to see exactly when Laurence/Wilhelm/Micolash disagreed and went their own ways to achieve enlightenment More Micolash in general

I am 95% on board with all the stuff they cut away tbh. And that 5% I wish they kept in is composed by the Lonely Old Dear lines about Patches (because it would’ve been hilarious) and some of the Password Gatekeeper ones because his is arguably one of the best performances in the game. He is such a nice dudeeeeeeee TwT

And MAYBE something from Willem but only if they attached a quest or a covenant to him.

As for the rest, I agree that it was unnecessary because:

We all assumed that our character came to Yharnam because he or she was ill anyway.

Arianna only had some extra screams and madness-induced lines.

Gilbert seem to fell prey to the Plague no matter what, even if at some point we were probably supposed to bring him some kind of medicine or special blood.

Djura is still the same, which is indeed disappointing.

The Doll only had 1 extra line.

Gehrman’s true intentions were never in question for me since he is sufficiently framed as a good guy in the final game.

Laurence was an inconsistent mess of a character during development and stayed an inconsistent mess of a character in the final game. There was a point in which he and Gehrman were supposed to battle but that was cut and still it would’ve made no sense unless Laurence was a hunter too.

Gascoigne most likely (99% chance) killed his wife. What a shock XD

Amelia has no backstory whatsoever.

Micolash only gets a better introduction but we all already assumed he was the one conducting the Mensis ritual anyway.

The password gatekeeper was a nice and loyal dude. And we all knew that from item descriptions. The only thing I can say about this fine gentleman is that I always got Renfield vibes from him and now I get EVEN MORE Renfield vibes from him.

The Lonely Old Dear is Patches’ mom. That’s the only real revelation that doesn’t mess with current content.

MP is named, or at least nicknamed, Flora and she had a different appearance at some point. Or possibly multiple stages.

Yharnamites, with a few exceptions, were dickheads just like in the final game.

Alfred is still Alfred except he was going to tell us where to find the 1st Chalice instead of Gehrman.

And there’s probably stuff I missed but you get the point. I also don’t think that getting 2 separate DLCs would’ve expanded the content all that much. Compare TOH to AOA and TRC and I would say that we got the same amount of content, except that TOH is higher quality in my honest opinion. TRC and AOA combined may provide a larger explorable area but AOA is still a rehash of the Painted World from DS1 and the only 100% new area of TRC is the city itself which isn’t that big anyway. Also, less bosses.

In TOH you get:

Ludwig the Holy Blade

Living Failures

Lady Maria

Orphan of Kos

Reskinned cleric beast with immense health pool also known as Laurence the First Vicar.

In AOA you ONLY get Sister Friede/Ariandel. DON’T TELL ME THAT THE CHAMPION GRAVETENDER IS A BOSS BECAUSE HE IS NOT.

In TRC:

Demon Prince

Halflight, Spear of the Church (which again, is HARDLY a boss)

Darkeater Midir

Slave Knight Gael

Total: 5 bosses in TOH and 5 bosses in AOA and TRC. Of couse, I am aware that AOA+TRC added pvp content as well and many more weapons, but I am focusing only on PVE/story content here.

#ask #bloodborne #ds3 #cut content

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hellyes-tommccamus · 7 years ago

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Mutant X [TV] (2001-2004)

S01E06 “The Meaning of Death”

[spoilers]

Sci-fi/action Tom McCamus plays a main role in season 1

This is a really interesting episode about contagious disease, immortality, allegiances and betrayals.

In this episode we get to properly visit the New Mutant Underground, which from the establishing shots seems to be connected to the underground train network. Brennan goes there to see Rick (Christopher Davis) who introduces him to a married couple who are staying there. Todd (Kevin Jubinville) has super speed while Jerri (Gina Sorell) has x-ray vision. Jerri does the oh-so-overused checking Brennan out with her x-ray vision. X-ray vision = naked people, right? I really don’t know where this trope originated, but it is completely wrong. X-ray vision would give her a good view of his bones, but she’d see straight through his skin as well as his clothes. And don’t get me started on the dangers of x-rays. Such a power would be undoubtedly lethal to the holder, as well as anyone who spent too much time around them.

But the unfeasible invasion of privacy is cut short by Rick having a seizure and his wind power goes out of control. This is an interesting concept: what happens when a New Mutant gets ill, and how do powers interact with long term health conditions?

Back at Sanctuary, Adam is treating Rick in the lab. He is still unconscious but nevertheless wearing the Lab Underwear. Adam tells Emma that Rick’s powers are completely out of control. Emma worries that it might be a contagious disease.

Despite Renfield losing neither his life or Mason’s favour last episode, there is a new second in command at the GSA. Charles Marlowe (Anthony Lemke) reports to Mason about New Mutants with powers of ice and suggestion wreaking havoc with out of control powers. We learn a couple of new things about Mason. He isn’t interested in ichthyology (which is indeed the study of fish). Also not so interested in the lives of normal humans, seeing deaths as a way to clamp down on New Mutants. Or is it an example of his irrepressible positive thinking?

Adam has by now deduced that the illness is contagious and using powers accelerates its spread. He has identified it as cladosporium, which he correctly defines as a common airborne spore. But cladosporium is a genus, of which there are about 40 species. It’s hard to believe that a whole genus could suddenly be causing such devastating effects. I’d have suggested choosing the rarest one and blaming that, but OK I can accept that maybe having to say multiple five syllable words might not work for TV. Adam says it is harmless to most humans (correct) but causes uncontrolled mutation in individuals with a genetic aberration, which less than 1% of New Mutants possess. Now I’m not going to harp on again about “uncontrolled mutation” being used as a phrase to describe powers going awry rather than diseases like cancer. I’m more interested by his use of the term “genetic aberration”. It sounds more of a term Mason would use to describe New Mutants, not Adam. Perhaps it is the remains of existing aberration which was why those individuals were “treated” at Genomex, or a mistake by design? Or maybe some big screw up Adam found years later. Anyway, lets have some math. Adam says this aberration is in less that 1% of New Mutants, so for argument’s sake I’m calling that 0.5%. We already know there are at least 3 victims, so that means there are at least 600 New Mutants. The disease is highly infectious once it takes hold on one who is susceptible, then passing from New Mutant to New Mutant. At no point does Adam say that this is a theory, he speaks with certainty. He has seen this happen. I imagine under laboratory conditions, otherwise it would have wiped out huge sections of the New Mutant population. Adam doesn’t know how to cure it, so it clearly wasn’t cured before.

At the safe-house, Brennan is in the uncomfortable position of being in quarantine with the married couple. Brennan repeats what Adam said about using powers triggering the disease after exposure. Todd seems to go a bit strange for a moment, while it seems Jerri is one of those irritating hypochondriacs.

Shalimar and Adam go to visit a New Mutant who has been having trouble with her powers lately. Shalimar is wearing a very sci-fi silver PVC suit, which they refer to as a hazmat suit. She presses a button and a completely invisible helmet shimmers into existence around her head. Adam jokes about it being a fashion statement. Hey, at least this show knows how to poke fun at itself!

Alice, the sick New Mutant, is lying in her apartment, and she says it’s too late. Everything is smouldering already. Marlowe shows up at that moment (seriously, do they have the same informant who tells them things out of devilment?) Adam says there is nothing he can do, but then doesn’t move and asks her what he can do. Not the smartest thing to do. But at least he and Shalimar get out of there. Marlowe goes over to her. Outside, it appears to be some kind of industrial unit. Strange place to send New Mutants to live. Alice literally explodes into flames. I’m not entirely sure why there is an explosion here. Presumably she is a pyrokinetic, so I could understand her bursting into flames, but did someone leave the gas on? But more interestingly, Marlowe is a bit dirty but not burnt or missing any body parts. And I like how Adam instantly jumps in to protect Shalimar from the explosion, even though she’s a super powered New Mutant and he’s a normal human. Shows how much he cares for her.

It’s quite rare for Adam and Mason to have a scene together, but when they do it’s always interesting. There is such a held back animosity between them while they keep up the facade of civility. Adam reminds Mason that if all New Mutants are wiped out, he will lose his reason for living. Which from what we have seen, is tragically, likely true. Marlowe tries to discourage Mason, but he agrees to work with Adam.

Adam now somehow has information that the disease is going to spread to the majority of New Mutants in 20 hours. Although this is not explained, I guess he just quickly ran an infectious disease simulator? I guess it’s intended to show that there is an extreme urgency in dealing with this contagion. Emma is wearing one of those hazmat suits. Sexist? Maybe. But it’s a cool outfit and now it’s the future why is our fashion not more like that and not just plain awful?

At the safe-house, Todd is getting cabin fever. Brennan is trying to read a book but Jerri keeps using her x-ray vision to see through his clothes. Meanwhile, Emma tries to calm down Rick by projecting images of him floating in the clouds. I’m not sure if this was properly thought through or if it was intended to look like he’s ascending to heaven?

The disease has already claimed many victims and Adam is taking care of them alongside the medical team at Genomex in a very colourful and technologically advanced medical lab. I’m a bit disappointed this disease passes from New Mutant to New Mutant after initial infection, as this prevents me from using my formula to extrapolate the total number of New Mutants.

Marlowe comes to talk/taunt him while creepily touching an unconscious patient’s head and face. Adam knew Marlowe before and tells Shalimar that he has changed. They talk about his invulnerability and how it may be affecting him psychologically, which is interesting. Any power, no matter how impressive or useful, is going to have a psychological effect.

Marlowe grabs hold of a dying patient, fighting off the medical staff who try to help, to talk to her. Adam confronts him and tries to get him to leave. He does, but the patient is already dead. Adam despairs. He doesn’t know what to do.

Back at Sanctuary, Emma is struggling to keep Rick stable. She unwisely switches off the holographic chamber he is being kept inside and his out of control powers slam her against the wall, knocking off the invisible helmet of her hazmat suit. Send those back for a refund and go back to the old style, eh? Jesse phases through the wall to help her, and now both of them have been exposed to the disease.

Todd tries to escape from the safe house. Brennan uses his street skills to his advantage to pick pocket his wallet. His wife sees a picture inside it of him with another woman. What a strange relationship they must have if she has never seen him take his wallet out! But no wonder he wasn’t really bothered by his wife checking out Brennan.

Back at Genomex we see Adam doing some science! And not good science either. He pipettes some clear liquid into an almost full test tube with some suspicious neon green stuff floating on the top. He’s holding the test tube right at the bottom and when he turns round to talk to Shalimar it’s overflowing. Yes, bubbling and overflowing test tubes might look nice and sciencey, but if that happens in real life you’re wasting specimen/reagents and causing contamination. We see another scientist with a digital pipette. Those deliver much more precise amounts of liquid. Adam passes the other scientist a completely full beaker of neon green liquid - more poor science. Overfilling beakers leads to spillages, and guess what, more contamination. Not exactly filling me with confidence for disease control here.

Adam goes to deal with Marlowe, who shamelessly admits that he’s asking questions to those on the edge of death. Adam gives him another telling off and demands to know why he’s behaving like this. Marlowe tells him how his wife and child were killed in a car crash while he survived because of his power. Even though he caused the crash himself, he blames Adam for giving him those powers.

Emma and Jesse talk. Emma says she feels fine but she looks anxious. Then she, seemingly involuntarily makes Jesse think he is being strangled by a snake, then collapses. Yep, she’s got the disease. Jesse tries to pick her up but he goes intangible and drops her. He’s got it too. Well, they were warned about exposure.

Marlowe goes to see Mason, mostly to complain about Adam. It’s interesting that while Mason usually does the pacing around, this time he stays still and Marlowe wanders around agitated, messing with things in Mason’s office. We learn a few things about the past, which Marlowe must have been involved in as he knows all about them. Adam and Mason had a partnership 20 years ago (which fully supports my theory that they were best friends in the 80s). Mason is oddly supportive of Adam and says he wouldn’t mind being invulnerable himself. Marlowe says he should have got Adam to give him the power, and he says that wasn’t what Genomex was about back then. So what was it about? I’m thinking he means they only manipulated the DNA of foetuses and not adults back then. There is a lot of vagueness in this show, which allows for imagination and debate.

Adam and the Genomex medical crew are having a nightmare with the patients exposed to the disease, who are rapidly dying. Interesting to note that there is no sign of powers going out of control at Genomex. I’m going to go out on a limb and say they were probably more prepared in that aspect and fitted them with sub dermal governors to avoid any injury or damage to the lab.

Marlowe is waiting for Adam, mostly to taunt him again. Adam says something that is very true, that scientists work for years to cure diseases. While the race against time to cure a deadly disease is a popular storyline, the most realistic ending is “most people died, some survived because their immune systems somehow fought it.” Marlowe once again tells Adam he blames him for his family’s deaths, and Adam tells him he wouldn’t have survived if he hadn’t manipulated his DNA. This is the first time we actually hear a reason for the genetic manipulation which is completely understandable. Genetic manipulation to cure disease is an incredible scientific breakthrough. So perhaps that is the answer to what Genomex was about 20 years ago. Curing diseases in sick children. A noble cause for sure. I think it’s important to note that genetic manipulation doesn’t actually automatically trigger mutant powers in the real world, but we never hear about the Children of Genomex who were cured but didn’t end up with powers. Which makes me think there was some other experiment being carried out at the same time, which Adam claims no knowledge of.

Marlowe tells Adam that he’s supposed to kill him after he finds the cure. I think that’s Marlowe’s anger talking as Mason only told him that they were going to claim the cure for themselves (and as Adam is using their labs and human resources in a collaborative sense, I wouldn’t even call that stealing) and also, why tell him before he’s found the cure? Well that’s how you end up being kicked in the head by a scientist who’s a secret martial artist.

Adam sees Marlowe regrow a tooth he knocked out and hypothesizes that his cellular regeneration holds the key to the cure. Cellular regeneration is both completely scientific and fascinating. While the average human’s ability to regenerate is nowhere near Marlowe’s capabilities, it is still remarkable.

It’s an interesting idea, but honestly, I can’t see how using the power of regeneration can stop uncontrolled mutation. I’d have put my money on some kind of chemotherapy.

Adam says he needs to extract the particular DNA strand (ugh) that causes the regeneration. But he doesn’t have the tools to do that. Really, Chief Geneticist? Really? Pretty sure you’ve been doing that for over 20 years. Anyway, Adam wants to bring him back to his own lab.

Meanwhile Shalimar has been to collect Emma and Jesse, who now join the rest of the infected patients in the Genomex lab.

I have to laugh at Adam’s plan. Isolating the “DNA strand” then converting it to binary and transmitting it to all New Mutants via the Genomex satellite (why do they have this?) Sending code by microwave, OK maybe, but it would only be useful to someone with a receiver who would then be able to read the code. Difficult to believe it would have a biological effect. Microwaves generally cause mutation and cell damage, which isn’t really what we want more of here. And how exactly is he going to target only affected New Mutants? If we’re to believe that it will affect genetic code, it’s gonna affect normal humans too. And really, do we want more deaths or New Mutants?

Extracting the DNA strand consists of scanning Marlowe with the lab scanning device. And quite shockingly, Marlowe is not wearing the Lab Underwear, calling into question their use at all. Maybe he (quite understandably) refused. And maybe that’s why it looks like it hurt.

Adam does some pseudo scientific waffling about comparing the cladosporium sequence to the binary code and keeping the bacterial level under ten (what?)

Marlowe smashes a glass and it pleased with being able to bleed. It seems Adam completely extracted his New Mutant power (something which proved fatal to Shalimar’s boyfriend a few episodes ago).

At the safe house, Brennan makes a hilarious discovery that both Todd and Jerri are cheating on each other with GS Agents.

Mason isn’t happy that Adam has left to develop the cure and threatens to start removing life support from patients if he doesn’t return. He does, and Mason tries to stop Marlowe from uploading the cure, presumably he wants to keep it and use it selectively or as a bargaining chip. But Marlowe has a gun. Mason tells his guy with a gun to shoot Marlowe, and Marlowe allows this to happen. Because death is what he wanted.

Adam’s plan may not have held up scientifically, but it does work. He’s still understandably quite upset about the New Mutants who died. But in the treatment of disease, there are always going to be those who die in the process of finding a cure.

#mutant x #tom mccamus #john shea #victoria pratt #victor webster #forbes march #lauren lee smith #christopher davis #kevin jubinville #gina sorell #anthony lemke #science #tv science

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