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imaginationofomi · 2 months ago

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Come Together

Thirteen

There were too many people around. Nayeli was regularly greeted before and after Mass on Sundays, but that Sunday, folks were flitting around like butterflies thanks to her companion. She usually liked to sit close to the back, first to receive Holy Communion and closest to the door when it was time to leave, but the back three rows were completely full when they arrived, leaving them to find seats in the middle.

The whispers started before they sat down, and as soon as Mass ended, many people approached, welcoming Ezra, asking for pictures or trying to strike up a conversation. He remained polite, declining certain things and explaining that he was there to worship the same as they were. Eventually, the circle got the hint and let him be. He wrapped his fingers around Nayeli's to ensure that he didn't lose her in the crowd of people heading to the parking lot because they were hanging back to avoid getting stuck in the exit line.

"How did you like it?" she asked.

"It was cool. Definitely not what I'm used to. Does the pastor always pray in Latin?"

"Priest, and Father Bennett does. Father Guillermo prays in both Latin and English."

"And you take communion every Sunday?"

"Mhmm."

"We only take it on the first Sunday of the month, and it's nothing like that. That's the first time I've had actual bread and wine. I've always had the prepackaged wafer that tastes like styrofoam and grape juice."

Nayeli giggled behind her hand, "I remember those. You're Baptist, right?"

"Yeah."

"So is my mom's family. When I was younger, we went back and forth between churches, one week with my mom's family, the next with my dad. I got to experience both denominations, but as I got older, I preferred being here. I also went to Catholic school so that probably nudged me on a little. Once I was confirmed, that was it."

"It's peaceful here. I like it. Sometimes I feel like preachers can be performative while trying to get the message across, and it loses its meaning."

"Like they're only preaching their interpretation of the Word through a skewed lens that doesn't go past surface level instead of letting Him speak through them?"

"Yes, and when you ask questions or point out a contradiction, they tell you that you're going against the church."

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. I'm convinced some people don't really know God. If they did, they wouldn't say half the things that they do."

"Nayeli!" Both of their heads turned to find the person calling her name, and her palm started to sweat when she caught sight of sandy red-brown waves that curled at the ends and hazel eyes heading in her direction.

"Looks like you're about to meet my dad. Run now if you're not up to it," she said to Ezra.

"You met most of my family already. I think I can handle your dad," he replied and squeezed her hand reassuringly.

Maxwell stood a few paces away from the lines and groups leaving through the three arched doorways under the stained glass windows. When there was enough space, Ezra and Nayeli walked to meet him.

"Hi Dad!"

"I thought I might miss you," Maxwell said, hugging his youngest daughter once her hand was free and glancing at the man behind her.

"The parking lot is ridiculous right now, so we're giving it a minute. This is my friend, Ezra. Ezra, my dad, Maxwell."

"Nice to meet you, sir," Ezra said, firmly shaking the man's hand and making eye contact. Maxwell had about an inch or two on him, and he could feel the strength of a first responder attempting to crack his fingers. He didn't waver.

"Likewise. Is this your first time here?"

"My first time in a Catholic church ever."

"Welcome. Did you enjoy the service?"

"I did, thank you."

"Your brothers are around here somewhere," Maxwell said to Nayeli.

"No Cheryl?" she asked despite not actually caring.

"She didn't feel well. Have you talked to your sisters?"

"Leti is a no. Maxine's still deciding." Although Nayeli was sure her answer would end up being the same. Neither of them were too thrilled about the recent familial development, strong feelings of opposition mixed with a smidge of resentment.

"And you?"

"I guess I'm ready when they are."

"Wait here for a minute. I'm gonna find them." Maxwell excused himself, and Nayeli exhaled through her lips, lifting her eyes to the mural of an imagined Heaven painted on the ceiling.

"Your brothers?" Ezra questioned, laying a hand on her shoulder to ease her obvious discomfort.

"I had dinner with my dad a couple of weeks ago, and he told me that they want to meet me, Max, and Leti."

"Wow."

"Yeah, I didn't think it would happen today, either."

"How are you feeling about it?"

"A little anxious because I don't know what to expect. Will they love me, hate me, be indifferent toward me?" Meeting didn't mean their personalities would mesh. There were plenty of siblings that couldn't stand each other, and she didn't want to add two to her non-existent list.

"I think they'll love you," he said.

"That would be nice."

"Your sisters don't come to church?"

"Leti goes to my mom's church. Maxine comes on holidays." And only because she was asked. Out of everyone in their family, Maxine was the least religious. Unsurprising as people enjoyed telling her that she was going to hell for being a lesbian, "We should get out of here soon so we don't lose our table." Shifting her weight from foot to foot, she chewed the left corner of her bottom lip.

"Hey," Ezra said, grabbing her hand and lifting it to kiss her knuckles, "It's gonna be fine."

"You're right. You're absolutely right." The twins had no reason to hate her, and if they did, Jaxon wouldn't have already made an attempt to see her. She was pinning their mother's hatred of her family on them, and they didn't deserve that. Ezra rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb, and she started to relax. Most of the crowd had dispersed, a few stragglers waiting out the line of cars leaving the parking lot. Maxwell emerged from the hallway that led to the restrooms with two doppelgängers in tow dressed in matching jeans but different hoodies, "Goodness, they really are huge."

"They look like you." Albeit the fair skin and extra sharp bone structure set them apart.

"We all look like Nana Jean in some way."

As the trio approached, Nayeli swallowed hard. The green eyed twin stopped walking first, a fair amount of space still between them while the other walked right up to her.

"Boys, this is your sister, Nayeli."

"Hi," she said nervously and waved.

"Can I hug you?" the twin in front of her asked and opened his arms. Her eyes widened in shock, but she nodded.

"Of course!" He held onto her for a long minute, his brother stepping forward to do the same, though the hug felt a little more awkward and forced, "Who's who?" She looked back and forth between them. The only real difference in their faces were their eye color, but it was enough of a distinction to be able to always tell them apart once she knew.

"I'm Jaxon." He had their father's eyes, which meant she matched with Jacob.

"So we have a lot to talk about." She smiled at them, taking in her younger siblings and trying to keep the tears at bay. It shouldn't have taken them sixteen years to connect. She would've liked to be around when they were growing up, but she couldn't change the past, nor was it their fault, "Dad says you're going to the Academy," she spoke to Jacob.

"Yep." He appeared to be a little less enthusiastic about the meeting. Maybe Jaxon was the one that wanted to connect, and he was just along for the ride. She wasn't going to push him for more, but he spoke again, "I've wanted to be a firefighter since we were five."

"It's a good career choice. Very rewarding if you want to save lives."

"I do. I'm already CPR certified and a lifeguard."

"Did Dad tell you that was my first job when I was your age?"

"No, he didn't."

Ezra stepped back and away, letting the family have their moment. He couldn't fathom going sixteen years without knowing his siblings and having to learn so much about each other later in life. There was a lot of catching up to do, but at least they were willing to give it a go.

Maxwell let out a long sigh, relieved that his plan to right his wrongs was working. It wasn't full proof, but he anticipated his two oldest not being eager to meet the children that split their family up. They didn't understand why they weren't enough, and at the time, he didn't have the words to explain that that wasn't the way he felt. It took a long time for them to want to talk to him, so he didn't plan on pressing the issue.

When his children were wrapping up their conversation, he let Nayeli know that he wanted to pull her to the side.

"Thank you for asking to meet me," she said to Jaxon because from what she gathered, it was all his doing.

"I'm sorry I didn't do it sooner."

"I understand why you didn't. It's not your fault, but now that we know each other, don't be strangers, okay? We might not be close, but you're my little brothers and if you need anything, you can ask me." She made sure to look at them both so one didn't feel left out or favored. That wouldn't be a good start to their relationship.

As she walked away with Maxwell, she watched the twins dap up Ezra and immediately start firing off questions she guessed they'd been waiting to ask. Maxwell was big boxing fan, so she wasn't surprised that they seemed to know who he was.

"I love you," Maxwell said and hugged her.

"I love you, too, Dad." They shared the words often, but there was more meaning. It was an I love you and a thank you because she could have reacted the way her sisters did. He was grateful to God that she was so kindhearted, "You can breathe a little easier now."

"I'll breathe easier when you tell me about this "friend" of yours." Maxwell was far from stupid and even farther from oblivious. He'd also seen them holding hands and other intimate moments of their interaction.

"I know how it looks, but he is just a friend for right now. We're getting to know each other."

"He came to church with you, which is more than I can say for Jalen, so he must be serious about you. He seems nice." As nice as one could seem after only a few minutes of knowing them.

"He is. Very protective, too," Nayeli said, glancing at them all laughing together at the stone bench near the water fountain.

"He looks familiar."

"He's a retired boxing champion."

"No, I know that. I mean from somewhere else. I swear he looks like the kid that was at the hospital after you got into that car accident. He said he pulled you out. Do you remember that?" Maxwell could still feel the way his heart stopped and dropped when he and Bonnie got the phone call. He risked several tickets speeding down the highway and swerving in and out of traffic to make it to LA.

"Not that part of it, but that is him."

"It is?"

"Mhmm. I got confirmation from his mom and Big Momma."

"I guess the Lord really does work in mysterious ways."

"Don't I know it." Nayeli found herself smiling at Ezra. Like he felt her gaze on him, he looked over and winked at her, causing her smile to grow, "I like him a lot."

"He's good to you?"

"Very."

"What's the hold up?"

"We both have baggage to deal with."

"As long as you communicate and don't take your frustration out on each other, you'll be okay. People always think they need to heal alone when that's just not true. We're supposed to heal together."

"It's more so me than him. I'm working on it."

"Don't work on it so much that you waste precious time, okay?"

"Okay."

They'd spent more time inside than they should have, but the parking lot was almost empty when Nayeli and Ezra said their goodbyes and reached his Maybach SUV. He opened the door for her and helped her inside, shutting it once the end of her dress was tucked. They rolled out into Sunday traffic, windows down and Kevin Ross' Sweet Release flowing from the speakers.

"I think that went well," he said.

"I think so, too." Loosening her seatbelt, Nayeli propped herself up on the center console and grabbed a hold of Ezra's face, holding her lips to his cheek and leaning her forehead on the side of his.

"What was that for?"

"Being the best support system without me asking you to," she answered and kissed his cheek again, "Thank you."

"Whatever you need, I got it."

☼☼☼

Long days, long nights, and an even longer weekend just around the corner, Nayeli was looking to let loose. Prep for her duties alone made her tense, not to mention the very large wrench that had been thrown in her plans.

Everything was set when she received a phone call that two of her volunteers were sick with a virus and wouldn't be able to help her out. That left a large hole in her scheduling that she'd yet to fill. She knew it would all work out in the end, so she tried not to stress too much, opting for watching the clips of BoJack Horseman that Ezra kept sending her while she waited for April to meet her at the bar.

"Someone looks happy." Her friend interrupted her chuckling. Nayeli locked her phone and hopped down from barstool to give April a hug.

"Why wouldn't I be happy to see you?" she said.

"You were grinning at that phone, not me," April replied with a smirk.

"It's nothing. Funny text. What's been going on? I haven't seen you since tacos and margaritas."

"Ruben and I reached the monetary goal for our dream wedding. We meet with the coordinator next week."

"Finally!" They ordered a round of shots and nachos to split along with buffalo chicken sliders, "Are you guys still thinking destination?"

"No. His mom can't fly anymore because of her COPD."

"That sucks."

"It does, and he's a momma's boy, so there's no doing it without her there." April rolled her eyes and downed her shot like it was water instead of tequila.

"Would you get married without your parents being there?" Nayeli asked smartly.

"No. I'm being bratty. I wanted to get married in Sardinia."

"You can do two weddings. One here, one there."

"Who got the money for that?"

"It depends on what's important to you. The wedding here can be simple and cost effective. Go all out in Spain."

"It's worth talking about, but I don't know. What's been going on with you? How are doing without Jalen?"

The announcement of their breakup to her friends was brief. She didn't shed any tears or go into a deep explanation. Her admission was simple, they didn't work out. She hadn't wanted to go into detail for fear of getting emotional, but as the days went by, she was less and less triggered by the mentioning of his name, "Honestly, I feel like everything is calmer. I'm not as tense. The last few weeks we were together, I was crying like everyday. I'm so happy to be done with that."

"What happened? I really thought you guys were going to be together forever. He loved your dirty drawls."

"Not enough to marry me." Nayeli shrugged, thanking the bartender for her margarita on the rocks.

"Was he scared or something?"

"No. He just refused."

"That's dickish."

"Beyond, but that's in the past. I'm only interested in moving forward. That might require a restraining order, though."

"He's being weird?"

"Try crazy. He showed up at my house last weekend at like 11 at night with flowers and an I'm sorry bear." She intentionally left out the fact that Ezra was with her, not wanting to open that can of worms and start an interrogation she wasn't prepared to participate in.

"Did he actually think that was going to work?" April asked.

"Yes, he did. He even sat outside for over an hour when I wouldn't let him in."

"I would've called the cops on his ass."

"I did. It took them that long to get there. Thank God I never added his name to the deed." Getting him to leave really would've been a chore then. Common sense told her to keep it separate, especially because they weren't married. It saved her in the end, "Have you heard from Brittany? She's still not answering my calls."

"Because she's with Jeff."

"So we wiped her snotty nose, got yelled at and opened our homes to her for nothing."

"You knew she was going to go back."

"He's having a baby with someone other than her, April. I thought that would've been enough to make her see the light."

"She's gonna fight the world to prove she's not a sidechick."

"But she is! How are you the sidechick in your own marriage? That's bonkers to me." Though she wasn't dumb or foul enough to do get herself there, if Nayeli were in Brittany's shoes, she would've filed for divorce long ago. Against her religion and all. The level of disrespect was too great to let slide.

"Her life, her business. I just don't want to hear shit else about it. I'm not changing my whole day around to comfort her ever again. It was a waste of my damn time. Who is texting you?" April asked after Nayeli's phone vibrated on the bar a bunch of times during the span of their conversation.

"A friend of mine," she replied, typing out a response to Ezra's message. He wasn't far away from her, dining at a restaurant on the boardwalk, but they weren't planning to meet up because he had Tati with him and they were still working on balance.

"Same friend that you were texting when I walked up?"

"Yeah."

"You're smiling too hard for it to be a woman. What's his name?"

"Ezra." Locking her phone, she set it face down.

"He sounds white."

"Far from it. I'm whiter than he is."

"Baby, you're whiter than most of us here. You got a whole white grandma on your daddy's side and the other is Creole. I'm surprised your ass is that brown. Genetic makeup looking real 60/40-ish," April teased her.

"ANYWAY! I was actually planning to talk to you about him. He's a watch designer, and he's looking for a space out here for a store. He wants it near the beach, somewhere with heavy foot traffic, at least 2000 square feet, but he said he might be willing go down to 1700 depending on location and whether or not he can tailor the inside the way that he wants and lots of windows. He likes natural light. Do you know of anything that fits the bill?"

"Not by the water. There are two places in Old Town that fit the size and foot traffic. Where has he looked?"

"The only place I know for sure is on Docker."

"He wants a view of the ocean or is he okay with a couple of blocks up?"

"That, he did not specify. He just said that he wanted to be close."

"I don't know of anything down there off the top of my head, but I can definitely look when I get to the office tomorrow."

"Thank you," Nayeli said, behaving as if she didn't see the suspicious look on her friend's face. April stared her down for several minutes, waiting for the tea to spill and finding herself disappointed when Nayeli didn't offer up anymore information.

"You must really like him," she pried.

"What makes you say that?"

"You're helping him find a space for his business."

"He mentioned he was looking. I mentioned that I had a friend in commercial real estate. Friends help friends."

"That doesn't disprove what I said."

"What do you want me to say, April?"

"Is he a friend or a friend?"

"A friend.......but I do like him."

"I knew it!" If there was one thing April could do, it was get information out of Nayeli that she otherwise didn't want talk about. She knew how to keep a secret, and though she didn't always agree with people's choices, she did try not to be too judgmental.

"Don't make a big deal out of it, please," Nayeli entreated, "We're taking things slow. Just getting to know each other."

"There's nothing wrong with that. I'm proud of you for not turning to a stick in the mud. Life goes on, baby, and we gotta move with it." If that wasn't the truth, she didn't know what was. They ate and drank, going back and forth over the ending of With Pleasure and whether or not it was worth the read. April thought the ending was anticlimactic while Nayeli saw it as a real ending.

The nature of the book told them early on that not everyone would get a happy conclusion. It was unrealistic, and the author, a woman using the pseudonym, Omi, was a self proclaimed realist. Her books were filled with decisions her readers hated, and she loved to stir the pot because it reflected what she knew, what the world knew.

Finishing their food and drinks, the pair walked along the beach shops, stopping in a novelty store to play with the penis keychains and give themselves a good laugh. Every item inside was handmade; some ugly, some hideous. When Nayeli came across a mug with plaque caked teeth and a bloody mouth, she knew it was time to take her leave.

"Let's go on the boardwalk. I want a churro," April said. She always craved sweets after a bit of alcohol.

"You read my mind."

"Are you ready for the Harvest Festival?"

"Girl, NO! We're doubling inventory, and I'm stressed. Two of the culinary students we got to volunteer are sick, so we're short-staffed, and I don't know who I'm going to replace them with."

"That's what family is for. You have two sisters." And two brothers. Nayeli considered giving Jaxon the chance to help out, but his mother was tripping balls and she didn't want to ruffle more feathers.

"Max would rather chew glass. She hates the Harvest Festival."

"What about Leticia?"

"She won't be here. She's starting the process of moving her things."

"I really don't get why people want to leave Briton Beach. It's Black as fuck and lit as fuck."

Nayeli agreed, but to each their own, "I don't think she wants to leave. She wants to be with Chace, and he's upstate."

"Sheeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiit, for the check he got, I'd move upstate, too."

"You have a fiancé," Nayeli reminded April.

"And I love Ruben dearly, but if I have the opportunity to kick my feet up and do nothing, I'm going to take it. I was not meant to work."

Stopping at the churro stand, Nayeli ordered hers with chocolate dipping sauce before walking under the lights of the ferris wheel. Cinnamon and sugar covered her lips, lightly exfoliating every time she licked them. She wanted another when she got to the end, but if she filled her stomach much more, she might fall asleep where she stood.

"Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitch," April gasped, gripping Nayeli's arm and clutching her imaginary pearls.

"What?"

"EJ Jackson sexy self just walked out of Roy's. You ever see a man so fine your face get hot and your eyes start to water? I just know he'll break a bitch back. God, why am I not a hoe?"

"You are a mess." Nayeli tried to laugh it off, but her discomfort was increasing rapidly. She could easily be made, and she wasn't ready for it. No one else seemed to care about that, though.

"Nayeli! Nayeli!" A child screamed for her, crashing into her ribs and knocking the breath from her lungs. She smiled down at the little girl with pigtails and a pink sweater who was already sketching her name on Nayeli's heart.

"Hi Princess. How are you?"

"Good. Daddy almost burnt down the house trying to cook fish."

"How?"

"I tipped the skillet too much trying to baste it and spilled butter on the pilot," Ezra explained with a sheepish look. Nayeli sank her teeth into her tongue to keep herself from laughing out loud. It appeared he needed to stay out the kitchen at all costs unless someone else was cooking, "I'm sorry. She took off before I could grab her," he apologized and hugged her, lightly kissing the freckles on her cheek. It was so quick no one even noticed.

"No worries, you're fine. This is my friend April. The one in real estate."

"Nice to meet you." He shook April's hand and made sure Tatiana stayed close. April was stunned, mouth ajar and blinking like she couldn't believe her eyes.

"I think this is the first time in her life she's ever been speechless," Nayeli joked, hoping that would break her out of her trance, but April didn't move, "I promise she's not incompetent. Just starstruck. She said she's going to look around for a spot for you."

"Thank you. I appreciate it."

"Did you have fun with your grandparents, Princess?" Nayeli asked Tati, keeping the moment from descending further into the land of awkwardness because April still hadn't recuperated.

"Yeah. They took me to Disneyland and I got on Space Mountain!"

"How cool! I love Space Mountain."

"Me too. It was my favorite and the big mountain with snow and the scary snowman, and Granny let me drive a car!"

"It sounds like you had more fun than I did the last time I went."

"Granny said I wore her out."

"I bet you did," Nayeli giggled and smoothed a hand over the top of her hair. Ezra was enjoying the moment, but he remembered Nayeli telling him not to let what he wanted get in the way of his parenting. They had an agreement, and he was going to follow it.

"I'll let you get back to your evening. She just wanted to come over and say hi."

"You didn't?" Nayeli quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Quit playing," he said, giving her another hug and quick kiss on the cheek, "Let me know when you make it home."

"I will."

"Bye April. It was nice meeting you."

"You too," she finally found her voice as they were leaving.

"Bye Nayeli!"

"Bye Princess! Have a good day at school tomorrow."

"I will."

"I oughta smack you," April said as soon as they were out of earshot.

"What did I do?"

"Bitch, you lied! Taking things slow my ass! His daughter ran straight for you. First of all, I didn't even know the man had a daughter."

"It's really not like that," Nayeli said and was met with a foul look, "It's not!"

"Let me know when you make it home." April mocked the deep rasp of his voice to the best of her ability, and Nayeli almost screamed.

"Stop it."

"I will say, you definitely have good taste in men. Retired or not, I bet you could still bounce a quarter off his butt."

"I'm telling Ruben."

"Please, as much as that man lusts after JLo, I'on wanna hear shit."

Cool air turned to an icy breeze, and the women decided it was time to turn in for the night, huddling together as they walked back toward their respective vehicles.

"Can you do me a favor?" Nayeli asked.

"What's up?"

"Don't tell the girls about this yet."

"Okay.....why?"

"I'm not necessarily ready to share."

"You mean I'm the only one that knows? Awww." April poked out her bottom lip and put her head on Nayeli's shoulder.

"Well, not exactly."

"Stop being cryptic."

"He's cool with Angelo and Morgan, and they set him up on a blind date with Renée."

"Shit."

"Yeah shit is right. He ghosted her."

"That was the guy from the music festival?" The laugh April let out was so obnoxious that it grabbed the attention of two outdoor tables from the bar they were walking past, "No wonder she didn't want to tell us who he was. I'd take that to the grave. Embarrassing, but why keep him a secret? It's not like they were together."

"She came to have lunch at the bakery and he popped up. She thought he was there for her, but-"

"He came to see you," April finished for her.

"I didn't even realize what was going on until I introduced them and saw the look on her face. She left not too long after, and she was mad. She wanted him to ask her out."

"Oh well. I love Renée, but if a man doesn't like you, he doesn't like you." There was nothing to be done about it. Trying to force the situation would only end up with one person's feelings hurt, and it damn sure wasn't going to be the man's.

"I know, but this isn't something I want to rub in, you know? She was really upset."

"Again, oh well. It was a blind date. She'll get over it. Don't let that stop you from getting your man. I swear you're too nice sometimes. Be a shark!"

"Ezra said something similar once."

"See? He knows you well already, but I'm serious, Nye. If you're happy with him, don't let anybody fuck with that. There are too many people walking around miserable and taking it out on everyone else. You don't need to join them because Renée's ego is bruised. Say it with me; be happy."

"Be happy."

And be happy, she would.

#black literature #black fiction #black love #polyamory #romantic fiction #romance #love #love story

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clearancecreedwatersurvival · 1 year ago

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Apparently y’all need more convincing so here we go.

People don’t seem to get what I mean about Coco being a rip-off of TBOL, so let me clarify: coco came out years later and they literally have the same overarching plot.

Young male protagonist just wants to play the guitar but his family disapproves due to their family history. On the day of the dead he travels to the land of the remembered, meets his dead family members, and confronts said family history directly. In the end he saves the day with the power of music and heals his family’s generational issues. Coco just cuts out all the more interesting bits of the book of life to replace them with mistaken identity hijinks and more feel good family moments.

The more interesting bits of TBOL that I mention are first and foremost: these two

Xibalba is a Mayan god of death who is still important in Mexican folklore, and La Muerte is worshipped both as a folk goddess and as a catholic saint. These two bored gods are probably my favorite part of the film (and a great ship tbh) and when they decide to have a little fun betting on the living they end up driving the other sideplot which TBOL has that Coco doesn’t: the romance. Which at first appears to be a love triangle but DO NOT BE FOOLED it is IN FACT a beautiful ot3.

And the main character? He’s played by Diego Luna! Yes that Diego Luna! And he played the character in both the English and Spanish versions! And he sang the music!!

And the cast also includes Danny Trejo! And Gabriel Iglesias! And it was produced by the man himself, Guillermo del Toro!!!

Not to mention the amazing animation, which is Brilliant because all the characters are made to look like puppets, because they are! The framing device for the story is La Muerte in disguise taking some modern kids on a journey through Mexican cultural history! So all the characters are puppets she uses to tell the story as she narrates! The animation in the scene with the giant bull SLAPS!

There is also, because it’s about traveling to the afterlife, a huge inspiration drawn from the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, which is probably one of my favorite elements.

And I haven’t even said the best part.

IT’S A JUKEBOX MUSICAL

There’s a mariachi band cover of a mumford and sons song! The main character sings Creep by Radiohead! This movie fucking RULES!!!!!

Vote for the book of life!

Vote for a movie made by Mexican artists about Mexican culture! Do it for Jorge Gutierrez who deserves way more recognition for his works!

Stop bootlicking for the house of mouse! Don’t forget they literally stole the design from the grandmother in Coco from an actual human woman without asking and without paying her! And I cannot emphasize this enough, they tried to trademark ‘day of the dead’ for merchandising. Literally tried to claim an entire holiday.

And if nothing else, vote for this adorable pig.

Coco vs The Book of Life

Batalla del Día de los Muertos!

Vote in the other polls!

Watch the trailers:

youtube

#I have added EVEN MORE book of life propaganda

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thiswaycomessomethingwicked · 2 years ago

Note

Middle Earth TV shows - how about 'What We Do In The Shadows', but set in Edoras?

'What We Do In The Stables', maybe? Where a camera crew follow the daily goings on in Eomer's household. Grima (the Edoran version of Guillermo) spends a lot of time sighing, muttering and looking at the camera with either a 'see what I put up with' or a 'fuck my whole life' expression.

I'd watch the heck out of that...

Hahahaha I would watch that so hard. Like take my money, I need to see this.

Oh man the “you’re alive because I let you live” scene would take on WHOLE new meaning.

Grima: you’re alive because I let you live. Everyday I wake up and choose not to poison everyone. You’re welcome.

My one thing is, I like Grima not being super proficient at fighting or anything. But he’s good at hiding. Like it would be a great joke that he’s just leaning against a wall or something and people just can’t find him.

Eomer: you’re always skulking in corners listening in on people’s secrets.

Grima: first of all, I am not skulking in corners. People just don’t notice me when I don’t want them to. Second, I thought that’s why you and your uncle pay me? To gather secrets.

Eomer: other people’s secrets. Not mine.

Grima: yeah Elfwyn dumped you hard didn’t she?

Eomer: go away Grima.

Saruman tries to contact Grima, Eomer takes pot shots at the crebain and ravens and other bird messengers while drinking a beer and sitting on the roof of Meduseld.

Grima: I’m sorry my lord, but in my defense I didn’t know what you wanted me to do. You never tell me anything.

Saruman: I sent ravens. I sent 500 RAVENS! I'm shocked and appalled that you didn't raven me back.

Later on when Eomer is covering for Theoden and Theodred for some reason or another he’s listening to people’s complaints because it’s the few hours in the morning when the king receives petitions. Eomer is just like, “good gods how do you deal with people complaining all the time?”

Grima, “In these situations, where you are stuck listening to people—and I’ve met people, my lord, they’re all stupid—anyway, you basically have two choices.”

Eomer, “Be rude or be gracious?”

Grima, “No. you can kill them or you can pretend to listen to them.”

Eomer, “those aren’t…even remotely in the same category of response.”

Grima just drinks anachronistic Starbucks cold brew all the time—like he has a venti, black cold brew perpetually attached to his hand. He also drinks pina coladas. I don’t know why I’ve decided Grima drinks basic bitch beach drinks but he does.

Sometimes the camera crew follows him out back of Meduseld for a smoke break and there’s a lot of him just flipping off the cameras.

Oh! Lol Grima would barter using the camera crew.

Sauron’s evil emissary: if you don’t give the dark lord what he wants, he will invade and it will be very bad for all of you. Sauron the Relentless. You know why they call him that? Because he doesn’t relent.

Eomer: name of eothain’s sex tape.

Grima: Ignore him. Anyway, what if we uhhhh give your master this guy named—what’s your name?

Sound tech: Ian.

Grima: what if we give your master Lord Sound Tech Ian son of …

Sound Tech Ian: Brett.

Grima: Brett? What kind of name is Brett? Anyway, Ian son of Brett. He’s handsome and has magical equipment where you can hear your voice played back. It’s delightful. We will also throw in one of those fancy devices that lets you see yourself in the past on a tiny black mirror.

Sound Tech Ian: wait a minute, I can’t be used as a bartering tool. I’m unionized.

Grima: I don’t know what that means. Sounds fake. So, Sauron’s emissary, what do you say?

Eowyn would also do a lot of staring into the camera. I think some peak moments would have her and Grima doing it at the same time and he thinks it’s meaningful and she’s just like “ew. Not you.”

Though, Eowyn would absolutely tell someone: Stay strong, sweet little one. Someday they will all be dead and you will do a shit on all of their graves.

It is a grand standing Rohirric tradition, holding out long enough to piss on someone’s grave.

At some point Aragorn and Co. turn up (Boromir is alive because of Reasons) and get up to mischief. Though I kind of like the idea of it taking place in a weird timeless sort of period where it’s like Sauron and Saruman are in the background as a menace but it’s really not relevant, other than when Grima occasionally goes and commits a light soupçon of treason.

Grima would end up staying around, purely for the entertainment value of occasionally the camera panning to him and he’s just mouthing “it’s a bad idea” when someone like Aragorn is all “maybe paths of the dead?”

Grima in an interview: Everyone dies. We didn’t name it Paths of the Dead for a sense of whimsy.

Eomer, because he and Grima doing joint interviews is funny: No, that’s the Corridor of Despair.

Grima: well yes, everyone knows that. Great vacation spot. You have to book a year in advance though.

Eomer: Dale of Discontent. Ford of Wrath. Canyon of Death. All very lovely.

Grima: what are you saying?

Eomer: he could be confused.

Grima: he’s not confused, he’s stupid.

Eomer: no, he’s confused. Grima he is confused. When we explain he will understand.

Cue ten minutes later.

Eomer: yeah Grima’s right, he’s stupid. At the very least has a death wish. Though the Wells of the Dead is a great little gem of a summer swimming spot.

Basically, relevant LOTR plot stuff only used when the Rule of Funny applies.

Thouuuugh this being post-LOTR is super funny because the idea of Eomer and Grima acting like a weird old married couple, to the confusion of everyone including themselves, is delightful. They’re like the couple from Vicious.

Anyway—I love this idea, thank you so much for this 💜💜

#another gag is of course everyone thinking Grima is in love with Eowyn — even Grima thinks it #but Sound Tech Ian is like: it’s the brother. you’re into the brother.#lotr #lord of the rings #Grima wormtongue #Eomer #what we do in the shadows #ask #reply

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cookinguptales · 2 years ago

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Some thoughts on the odd divide between s3 and s4 and how easy fix-it fic would be. I don’t think there are really any specific spoilers for the leaks, but I’m putting it under a cut just to be safe. Plus it got long. lmao

This is more just for me to arrange my thoughts about how I want to write going forward. I have to put them somewhere.

Thinking about it now... it’s crazy how much of this season is easy to write away through fic. Like honestly, you make a tweak or two to the last few episodes of s3 and almost all of s4 ceases to exist??

I mean, literally the entirety of both Nandor’s and Guillermo’s storylines just cease to exist if you just deal with Nandor’s depression before he joins a cult (which was my favored way of dealing with it in s3 fic lmao) or make it so he either decides not to go on the trip, takes Guillermo with him, or they meet up soon after he leaves. Like. All of it.

It’s actually bewildering to think about because I’m not sure I’ve ever been in a fandom where writing fix-it fic was so easy...? Like I can make an entire season go away if I want to with very little effort. And the parts I liked best (Colin Robinson, Nadja’s nightclub, the Djinn) would be super easy to write back in.

Like Colin’s always gonna be a baby. But everything else... If Nandor doesn’t succumb to his depression, then he may not quit the council, which means that Nadja’s experiences might not be the same. Or if Guillermo DOES go with Nandor, then maybe she’ll come home early or Laszlo will go bring the baby to her. So you could easily write the nightclub stuff back in, but you wouldn’t even have to do that... Like I probably would bc it’s fun as hell but like. It’s bizarre how much of the season didn’t have to happen. None of it felt like an inevitable conclusion to s3 except Baby Colin...

I think a lot of the issues I do have with this whole season actually arise from that whole year-long gap that we didn’t get to see... It’s been niggling at me this entire time, the fact that Guillermo had so much time and character growth offscreen... Like with the vampires it’s less of a worry because they rarely do anything of much consequence during gaps but Guillermo like?? He did a lot and changed a lot and I’m not sure that’s ever going to be dealt with to my satisfaction. And then Nandor’s storyline this season has been fairly reactive, if that makes sense? No spoilers here, obviously, but I feel like so much of his character... arc... if you can call it that... was just reacting to Guillermo’s changes?

The changes... that are as foreign to the audience as they are to him...

I get it, to some degree, as much as I don’t find it emotionally cathartic. Nandor feels kind of all over the place this season because he’s trying to react to stimuli that he doesn’t understand, and he’s reacting in unpredictable ways because he doesn’t want to confront why he feels the way he does. (Or maybe just isn’t mentally capable of understanding why he does what he does...) And I feel like I can write all that away, and I feel like the writers probably can, too, in s5. But it’s frustrating to have to.

Like... Nandor just really behaves really shittily to everyone around him this season... Both now, as of 4.08, and going forward... And I can deal with that, but god is it a headache...

(It’s also frustrating to know that, like they did last season, it’s entirely possible that they’ll just handwave the HUGE things they did at the end of this season. Knowing now that they’re totally willing to gloss over their cliffhangers and the emotional fallout that should have happened due to them, I’m not sure I have a ton of hope that the things being brought up in 4.09 and 4.10 will ever be adequately dealt with. And Guillermo’s whole cliffhanger could be dealt with as easily as a simple “no”, if people who’ve been spoiled get me. I in fact worry that it will be. lmao)

Marwa... god, fixing Marwa’s arc... I feel like another juncture point to fix things would be to have Nandor not make that last wish, the one where he makes Marwa like what he likes. Then she can just call off the wedding and go on her way. (And I think I’d send the Djinn with her.) Then Nandor could just be single like he obviously wants to be without destroying so many lives, Marwa could go be unbrainwashed, and at least that half of things would be dealt with.

I think Freddie could be dealt with surprisingly easily, too, though I guess going into that would be way more spoiler-y. But suffice it to say, I think there would be many ways to break up that relationship.

I feel like I’m going to write at least a few fics that fully deal with the implications of 4.09 and 4.10, but I’m largely going to write fics that either stay firmly in s3, are that mixture of s4′s nightclub/colin without Nandor OR Guillermo’s fairly frustrating love lives, or have Marwa and Freddie just break up with Nandor and Guillermo.

(this following paragraph still has no specific spoilers for 4.09/4.10, but comes closer than the rest of this ramble? it describes my emotional reaction to Freddie and Marwa.)

I guess I kept hoping that the romances in this season would be written in a way that I find at all emotionally cathartic (or... even interesting) but they both turned out to be uhhhh kind of a mess. Like it’s really kind of impressive how much both storylines ended up squicking me. It kind of reads as what they thought was going to be funny but instead just comes off (to me, at least) as kind of bewildering and upsetting to think about too deeply. So... I think most fics I write going forward are just going to avoid all that as much as possible.

I kind of just want Marwa and Freddie to live out their lives far away from Staten Island...

(end potential vibe spoilers)

Again, it’s possible that some of these subjects will get more emotional depth than I suspect they will, but... idk, it kind of felt like they threw too many things into this season and couldn’t give each idea, character, and relationship the attention it deserved. So maybe that’s why I feel dissatisfied with the way that several of these concepts are getting tied up. (Or... ignored. lmao.)

Um... yeah. I guess I’ll probably be trying to interact with a few of the things from s4 that I wholeheartedly loved while trying to ignore and/or write out Nandor’s and Guillermo’s romantic... journeys... as much as possible. I really thought I’d be wanting to do that out of loyalty to my ship, but honestly I feel like my bigger reason at this point is because both of those romantic “journeys” were ass. lmao

I want to give all four of you something better and I will.

I don’t think I’m entirely pessimistic about s5... I definitely see the way that some of these ideas can be revisited and maybe dealt with more effectively in the future... but for now we’ve got what we’ve got and I think I’m going to write a lot to make it more what I want.

so that’s it for now, I guess, unless I have to make another absurdly wrong and rambling post before tuesday to arrange my thoughts. lmao

#potential leak spoilers? but not really #writing liveblogging #wwdits tag #nandermo tag #wwdits s4 spoilers

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vampireshmampire · 3 years ago

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The Things We Can't Take Back ch 4 (VERSION 2!)

There were some things I was never really happy about with chapter 4, and I finally decided to sit down and do something about it! So, here are! (Note, it's all the same right up until the roof scene but I felt I should post the full chapter.)

AO3 link here!

Guillermo opens his eyes to darkness. Lungs that have not needed to breathe for years pull in air and let it out in a sigh.

"Happy anniversary," he murmurs to himself. He never tries to keep track. Honestly, he'd much rather forget, and most of the time he manages not to think about it at all. But when the day comes, Guillermo is always painfully aware of it.

Twenty years . He still marvels at it, sometimes. Absentmindedly he presses a tongue to a fang. It hasn't been a bad twenty years, either. He's built himself a good life, made friends, became a name to respect in the vampire circles of Brooklyn. It's not what he'd had in mind when he was human, but 364 days of the year he's perfectly happy with his life.

But on his anniversary, he can't stop thinking about old dreams, can't stop thinking about how quickly it all seemed to fall apart. Can't stop thinking about what might have been.

If he was still a human, he'd have already been up for hours doing chores but he'd be going to wake up Nandor, setting out his clothes, preparing for the night. If he was a vampire...who knows? Maybe bossing around whoever the new familiar is. God, he'd be such a pain in the ass. It's easy to let go of control in his own house, but after spending over a decade as a familiar, he'd never be able to stop himself from correcting people on the right way to do things. His way.

Guillermo finds Nandor already awake, their familiar fumbling with the clasps on his shirt.

"You've got them backwards," Guillermo says. "You have to tilt them towards you--no, the other way--" He lets out an exasperated sigh and crosses the room. "Oh, just let me do it. Go, I don't know, dust or something. And use the feather duster on the antiques, they're delicate aaand he's gone." He lets out a humph of annoyance and undoes all the clasps the familiar has already managed to bungle.

He glances up at Nandor, whose eyes are shining with amusement.

"Shut up. Shut up!" he says again when Nandor chuckles. "I just want it done right!"

"At least you let him try to do it now."

"He can do the important stuff when he proves he can do it right." He finishes the clasps and adjusts the edges so everything is straight and neat. He helps Nandor slide on the robe and begins to do up the buttons, taking his time, because he can.

"My clothes are the important stuff?" Nandor asks.

"Don't you like it when I help you dress?"

An arm slides around his waist, pulling him close.

"I like it better when you help me take them off."

"I'm sure you do."

Nandor leans down, Guillermo stretches up--

The door to his room opens and the dream falls to embarrassing pieces.

"Good evening, master."

He plasters on a smile as his familiar opens the coffin lid.

"Good evening, Terry."

Guillermo still dresses himself. He's never been able to figure out a not-awkward way to ask his familiars to do it, let alone actually go through the process twice a day. Besides, he takes pride in remaining independent. If his familiar ever took off unexpectedly, he'd be able to do his own laundry and not let the house fall into--

He shakes the thought away and steps behind the screen.

"Alright, let's have it."

He likes Terry. She's his age--or the age he was when he was turned--and sharp as a knife, enough of a wise-ass to be able to trade friendly barbs, but smart enough to know what boundaries not to push.

"Marta called; the marquesa would love to be the keynote speaker at the Hispanic-American Vampire Society dinner, but she has a prior engagement on the day of, so we'd need to move it forward to the next week."

"Shit. Well, the invitations haven't gone out yet so we might be able to make it happen. Check with the venue and see if we can reschedule, and if not, if we can still get our deposit back. Then let Marta know."

He smiled, listening to her scribble down her notes. Terry had been a personal assistant before he ate her boss and offered to make her a vampire, and she had merged the two positions flawlessly. He had made a promise to himself, years ago, that he would never string his familiars along--five years at the most--but she's so competent he can already feel himself tempted to keep her around an extra year or two.

"Lord Montague called to ask if you were very sure you don't want to come to his party tonight."

"He called, or his familiar called to ask for him?"

"His familiar called," Terry admits.

"Never date a man who needs a third party to do the legwork for him. Tell him thanks but no thanks. What do I have today?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" He stepped out from behind the screen, giving her a puzzled look. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," Terry said. Guillermo frowned, tugging at his sleeve cuffs. He usually tried to schedule at least one thing for today. It helped keep his mind off of things. The thought of sitting at home, watching TV, haunted by all the thoughts of things he couldn't have, was far from pleasant.

We'd be playing chess. We always play chess on Friday .

"You know what? Maybe I will go to that party."

Lord Montague was everything a vampire was supposed to be--handsome, rich, intelligent, confident to the point of being smug, and an excellent host. He threw parties that were talked about for centuries, he owned property and titles in four different countries, and he never missed a trick. Guillermo had been half-heartedly dodging his advances for the better part of the last decade, enjoying the attention too much to call it off and too bored by Montague’s pride to call it on.

It’s nice to be wanted, even if it wasn't by the right person.

And Montague is enough of an ass that Guillermo doesn’t feel bad about it..

"Guillermo!" Lord Montague spread his arms wide in welcome, his face split in a smile of genuine delight. He'd come to America in the 1920's and had never been able to let go of the outfits; he was dressed in a black suit with a bright red pocket scarf and his slicked back blonde hair was almost as shiny as his shoes. "So glad you could make it after all! I was worried you were serious about not coming."

"Well, I needed to get out of the house," Guillermo said, playfully, accepting the hug. He sidestepped when Montague tried to wrap his arm around his waist, but took the offered arm.

"Thomas!" Montague snapped his fingers and his familiar--a spindly middle-aged man who envied Guillermo more than just his status as familiar-turned-vampire--materialized beside him. "Take Mr de la Cruz's familiar to the familiar room. You're going to love this place," he told Guillermo, leading him up the stairs. "It used to be a gentlemen's club that was so exclusive, I had to kill three people before they'd start accepting applications to join."

Guillermo is only half listening, letting his eyes wander over the architecture. The art deco is quite beautiful, for all it's clearly been plastered on top of a fairly run-of-the-mill building.

The main room is set up around a large, polished dance floor. Tables and chairs cluster around the edges; at the back of the room is a set of stairs that leads up to a mezzanine. There are a few people he knows; Guillermo waves but allows himself to be led without pause to the upper level. That is, of course, the whole point: for Montague to be seen arm-in-arm with the Guillermo de la Cruz.

"I'm so glad you could make it," Montague says again, "it would have been such a dull night without you. Look who's here!" Montague calls to his esteemed guests, before Guillermo can so much as open his mouth to answer.

Guillermo settles in, allows Montague to stand a little closer than is strictly necessary, and forcibly pushes all thoughts of anniversaries firmly out of his mind. He is determined to have a nice night.

He gets forty minutes.

It really isn't fair, he is having a good time when Thomas appears and leans in--between Guillermo and Montague, of course, in such a way that Guillermo has to back away a step--to whisper in his master's ear that his special guests have arrived. Guillermo glances down the stairs to the door and feels his blood run cold.

It's entirely in his mind, of course. His blood hasn't run in twenty years, but he can feel the ice dripping through his veins all the same. Of course Montague would want them to come, of course he would invite them to the upper level, nothing could be better than to have the heads of the vampiric council arrive at his party.

He debates running. Maybe if he grabs Montague and drags him into a closet; he's willing to fuck the man if it means avoiding this interaction.

Too late.

Montague, ever the gregarious host, is moving towards the stairs to greet them. Guillermo has only seconds to decide how to play this.

Cold and contemptuous? You want aloof, I'll show you aloof; you are something I've stepped in and I'm just looking for a stick to scrape you off with.

Warm and friendly? I'm not hurt at all, look how well I've done for myself, I'm happy and successful and I hope you are too because I'm taking the high road.

Disinterested? Oh, right, you, I remember, it's been so long, I've hardly thought about you.

He’s relieved that he feels no urge to fling himself at Nandor's feet and beg to be taken back. At least he has some dignity.

Civil. He'll be civil at the start, polite and friendly, and adjust according to however Nandor decides to react.

The eyes of Nandor, Nadja, and Laszlo are all fixed on him within seconds. Laszlo looks contemptuous, Nadja enraged, Nandor...

Confused. Confused, and lost.

Guillermo grits his teeth against the urge to comfort, to explain, to forgive, to bend over backward trying to smooth the wrinkle from his brow.

Shit , Nandor hasn't changed a bit. Of course he hasn't; vampires don't change, they don't age, but still. It's like something out of a nightmare, how Nandor has stepped straight out of old and painful memories.

His cape pin is slightly off-center, and it makes his collar crooked. Guillermo wonders if he did it himself, or if he's found a new familiar to dress him--if he has, they aren't as good as Guillermo was. His fingers twitch with the urge to fix it.

"I'm sure everyone is familiar with our esteemed leaders--and consort," Montague adds, with a polite bow to Laszlo. "But let me make introductions! This is Lilith of the Veil, Morgoth the Unseen, Guillermo--"

"We've met," Laszlo interrupts, icily. To Guillermo he nods and says "Gizmo."

Guillermo's eyes narrow slightly at the old nickname, but he puts on a smile.

"I was actually Nandor's familiar," he tells Montague, in a lighthearted tone he doesn't feel in the slightest.

"Bodyguard."

The correction must be automatic, because Nandor looks about as surprised as Guillermo feels.

"A little of both," Guillermo accedes.

"That's right ," Lilith says with a gasp. "I always forget you were a familiar! Oh, what a fun little reunion!"

"Yes," Guillermo says, not quite managing to meet Nandor’s eyes. "Nice to see you guys again. We'll have to catch up."

If I can't find a way to escape, first.

Guillermo is not avoiding anyone. He's not going out of his way to interact with them, but he's not avoiding them. Especially not Nandor.

Unfortunately, they seem to be doing the same thing, so for the last hour the four of them have been trading glances of varying levels of disquiet from opposite sides of the room and not coming within ten feet.

Occasionally Guillermo sees Nandor in hissed arguments with the others. He'd give anything to know what they're saying.

Montague's hand slides around Guillermo's waist, and Guillermo just manages not to sigh. Instead, he moves slightly so Montague can't quite get the right grip...but Montague just shifts positions with him. The two of them are now hip-to-hip, and it's not a problem , but Guillermo is not in the mood to play hard-to-get.

As subtly as he can, he jams his thumbnail into the web between Montague's thumb and forefinger, digging in hard. Montague jerks his hand away, and Guillermo gives him a placid smile.

"Excuse me," he says to everyone. "I've got to uh...visit the little bat's room."

This is met with much amusement. It always is, no matter how many times he makes that joke. Maybe they're just being nice.

He ducks into the first room he finds and shuts the door behind him. The window is cracked open; he rests his forehead against it and lets the cold air clear his head.

It doesn't really work. It works even less when he sees the reflection of the door open by itself. He almost hopes it's Montague, but the half-hope is dashed almost immediately.

"You don't seem very happy with him," Nandor says.

"I'm not with him. I'm just here. But I am happy," he hurries to add. "I'm very happy."

"But not with him," Nandor persists. Guillermo turns and frowns at him.

"What's it to you if I am?"

"I do not understand the question."

"Why do you care if I'm with him or not?"

"I don't. I was just surprised that you would be spending time with anyone who does not make you happy."

"I spent twelve years with you, didn't I?" The words fly out before he can stop them. Nandor doesn't flinch or puff up. He just looks away, eyes roving over the wall.

"I made you unhappy."

Guillermo can't tell if it's a question or not. Nandor doesn't say anything else, and Guillermo can't stand the silence.

"How have you been?" he asks.

"Good," Nandor says, quickly. "I am good. Things are...normal."

"Good. That's good."

"You are good also?"

"Yeah, I'm–I'm great. I'm doing fantastic."

"Good. Great."

Another uneasy silence falls. Nandor fiddles with his cape. Guillermo stares at the crooked pin. If you tilted the collar towards yourself and twisted your head to see past your own chin, it might look straight.

If he has a new familiar, he doesn’t let them dress him.

…doesn’t make them dress him.

"I noticed Colin Robinson isn't with you," he says at last.

"Oh, you did not hear. He died."

" What? ”

"No it was fine," Nandor says, waving a hand. "He came back. Sort of. But he came back as a little baby and is growing up at the regular human speed, so he is too young for a party. Apparently it is an energy vampire thing."

"Oh. Wow, that's--Holy shit."

"You should come to the house and remeet him," Nandor says, and Guillermo can tell he regrets saying it the second the words are out of his mouth. "Or whatever."

Guillermo doesn't know what to say to that. He doesn't know what he'd do if he went back to that house.

He is saved from having to answer when the door opens again. This time it is Montague, and he looks far from happy to have found Guillermo sequestered away with someone else.

"There you are," he says, with a brittle smile. "I thought you were taking an awfully long time."

"Barely five minutes," Nandor says, annoyed.

"We were just catching up," Guillermo explains. "It's been twenty years since we've seen each other."

"In four days it will be twenty exactly."

"No, twenty years exactly today." Guillermo corrects. He should be flattered Nandor is even that close to correct. He even remembered the right number of years.

What is he saying, of course he shouldn't be flattered. Why does it matter is Nandor remembers?

"Is not," Nandor corrects right back. "You left twenty years ago in four days."

Guillermo blinked at him. Was that really how many days he'd stayed? It had felt like so much less than that.

...Nandor could remember when he left, but not when he was turned.

"Right. You turned me into a vampire twenty years ago today."

"What!" Montague interjects, scandalized, almost forgetting his annoyance. "Guillermo, how could you? You should have told me it was your anniversary, I would have thrown the party for you!"

"I never celebrate," Guillermo says, firmly, in a tone that he hopes gets across the fact that if he goes back out there in ten minutes to a chorus of 'for he's a jolly good vampire' he will never speak to Montague again, and quite possibly remove a limb before he goes. "Ever. I'll be back," he says, cutting off Montague's protests. "Your guests are waiting."

It comes out a lot colder than he wanted it to but he can't handle the balancing act of Montague and Nandor at the same time. He tells himself he'll make it up to Montague later.

Or maybe he won't, he thinks, when the door shuts very sharply. The man's a brat, and he's not nearly as endearing about it as--

"You don't celebrate ever?" Nandor echoes.

"No."

"But you were so excited to be a vampire." He sounds strange. "You wanted it more than anything."

"Because it's not a happy memory," Guillermo snaps. "I'd rather forget it, but I can't, so I don't celebrate and I try not to think about it, and I was doing a great job of it until you got here!"

"I made you a vampire!" Nandor puffs up, indignantly. "I gave you what you wanted! You were the one who left!"

"What? What does that--do you not remember how you did it? You acted like it was a chore ."

"Oh, so you left because I did not give you roses and moonlight, that is it?" Nandor says, bitterly. "If I did poetry, you would have stayed?"

Guillermo would be blushing if he still could. Embarrassment crawls up his chest all the same, leaving him feeling exposed and ashamed. He'd thought he'd done a very good job hiding how he felt about Nandor, but clearly not, if Nandor knew how to use it to needle him.

"I don't want to fight about this in here," Guillermo says, rubbing his temples.

"So we go somewhere else and fight about it there," Nandor says, drawing himself up and glaring at Guillermo. "I am not afraid of you, Guillermo de la Cruz."

He remembered my name. Guillermo tries to kick the thought to death. Standards, Guillermo, you have standards now, for fuck's sake.

"You want to fight?" he asks.

"Yes I do."

"Okay." He rips the screen out of the window in one vicious tug.

A few moments later two large brown bats are fluttering through the streets of Manhattan looking for a place to duke it out without witnesses. They pick a nearby office building that's high enough that their shouting won't been overheard on the street, but not so high that it strains their wings to reach.

They land and regard each other in silence.

Where to even start? With the shitty turning, done without kindness or ceremony? With the emotional neglect? With Colin Robinson being the nicest person in the house to him? With everyone driving it home at every available opportunity that they couldn't care less if he lived or died?

Nandor's back hits the wall hard, but he surges forward to meet Guillermo's mouth in the middle. His lips are cold, but the kiss is burning hot and every place they touch feels electric. Nandor manages to get his hands under Guillermo's shirt; Guillermo moans against his lips.

Guillermo had dreamed of this in the years before and, despite his best efforts, in the years after. It’s exactly what he wanted. Nandor is just as desperate, just as hungry. It’s more than lust that makes it so good. Each kiss is like a balm to an old wound, release of a longing that has plagued him for twenty years. He has wanted this for so long, and to finally have it, after everything, after—

Stop whining at me about what I think you should do, and do whatever it is you want! I. Don't. Care.

Guillermo shoves Nandor away from him and stumbles back a step. They stare at each other, wide eyed and startled. Guillermo’s shock is mirrored on Nandor’s face, and he’s sure the man must be thinking along the same lines that he is.

He needs to go home. He needs to go home, now, and never think about this ever again.

“I’m leaving,” he says, shakily, and turns away.

Nandor surges forward and grabs onto him, and for a split second Guillermo thinks Nandor is actually attacking him. But all Nandor does is cling on to him tightly and press his face to Guillermo’s shoulder.

"Come home to me," he says, and Guillermo's legs nearly give out with how badly he wants it. Nandor's voice is hoarse and low and it tears through every wall Guillermo tries to put up. "Come home, Guillermo. Every day I have missed you, I have wanted you. I will do anything you say, everything you say, but do not leave me again." His voice trembles as he pleads. "Show me mercy, Guillermo."

“Why now?” Guillermo asks. “Why not twenty years ago? Why now, after everything that happened, and all this time—What do you want from me? What am I supposed to do? What am I doing now that I wasn’t doing then?”

Suddenly Guillermo pulls away, shoving away the hands that grasp so desperately to him.

“What did I do?” The words burst out of him, tearing open wounds that had only just scabbed over. “Is there something I was supposed to do, or not do, some secret vampire law I didn’t know about that I broke? Is there a statute of limitations that just ran out that suddenly now you want me around?”

“You left,” Nandor says, his expression wounded. He’s retreated back a little, pulling his cape around himself.

“Because you didn’t want me to stay!”

"I told you if you wanted to stay, you could stay, and you left! You didn't want to stay!"

Something about the way Nandor says it. A terrible, horrible thought begins to occur, and Guillermo wants--needs--to be wrong.

“Did you want me to stay?”

"I wanted you to do what you wanted to do!" Nandor says, not quite looking him in the eye.

"But what did you want me to do? If it had been up to you--"

"It was your decision--"

" Did you want me to stay? "

"Yes!"

Even up on the rooftop, it’s not quiet enough for the word to echo. But the word bangs around in Guillermo's skull, drowning out any other thoughts. That old wound had already begun to bleed again and now it’s torn open again but in a brand new, equally terrible way.

“You said you didn’t care.”

“I lied!” Nandor shouted, throwing his arms wide. “I lied because I did not know if you would stay! Do you know what it is like to stand there and give a big speech where you say I love you, or you are my best friend, or just—‘hey, you were a great familiar, let me teach you to be a vampire’ and they go ‘whatever, thanks, bye’? Again and again and again—I have been a vampire for seven hundred years and I have turned so many people and no one stays!”

Guillermo has never seen this look on Nandor’s face before. Wild-eyed and desperate, grief and anger and despair all at once. When Nandor speaks again it’s in a soft, tight voice that makes Nandor sound every day of his seven and a half centuries.

“When you said you would leave it broke my heart. But to hear you say no if I asked you to stay...it would have broken me."

Guillermo chokes and though he laughs, it’s such a bitter, poisonous sound he knows Nandor will not mistake it for amusement at his expense.

“I don’t believe it,” Guillermo says. His mouth jerks into a rictus grin and the motion makes the tears welling up in his eyes spill out and over. “Twenty years. Twenty fucking years of wondering and stressing and hating myself and hating you and—fuck!” He wishes his heart would pound, he wishes he could gasp for breath; even after twenty years he still can’t stand how silent his body is, how even when he’s being torn apart it just stands there.

“All this time,” he says, “and it’s just a fucking comedy of errors. Some shitty romcom plot twist, wacky misunderstandings.

“What misunderstandings, what are you saying?” Nandor asks, but Guillermo thinks he can see the wheels turning in his head.

“I didn’t want to leave!” Guillermo says. “Don’t you get it? I didn’t even think about leaving until everybody started asking me! And you guys said you didn’t care but you didn't act like you didn't care. You acted like you couldn't stand the sight of me, like I was this massive inconvenience you couldn't wait to get rid of. Every chance you got one of you would put me down or shut me out. You didn't even want to teach me how to be a vampire! You would barely even look at me!"

Nandor takes a step back, then another. He hits the wall and sags, staring at Guillermo with wide eyes and a dull, horrified expression. His lips part, but no sound comes out.

Guillermo wants to scream. He wants to throw something, he wants to hit something, he wants Nandor to say something.

“And now we finally figure it out, twenty fucking years later, when it’s too late! It’s too late, it’s--” The words catch in his throat. “It’s not fair.”

“Why?”

Guillermo turns and looks at Nandor, quizzically. Nandor is giving him more or less the same look.

“What?”

“Why is it too late?”

“Why?” Guillermo repeats. “Because–because it’s been twenty years! I have my own house, my own life! I can’t just move back–”

“Guillermo.” Nandor says his name in such a flat, exasperated tone Guillermo is too surprised to be mad at the interruption. “None of this has ever been about where you are living. I do not care if you are in my house, I care if you are in my life.”

“We can’t just pretend the last twenty years didn’t happen!”

“I did not say we would! They happened, they sucked, they do not need to keep happening!” Nandor strides across the roof and grabs Guillermo's hands in his; the fire in his eyes leaves Guillermo light-headed. This is Nandor the Relentless, and that ferocity that had once leveled cities is now turned towards Guillermo. "I will not let it be too late.”

Fuck if that isn't the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to Guillermo in his life.

"I love you," Guillermo says.

How could he say anything else?

The second they are in human form, Guillermo shoves Nandor up against his front door and kisses him. He’s had the whole flight over to adjust to the situation and come to terms with everything, and also to realize he’s about to have sex with Nandor. Guillermo has had twenty years to learn how wildly creative vampire sex can be.

Honestly Guillermo’s neighbors are lucky he’s willing to wait long enough to get inside.

Guillermo fumbles through his pockets and manages to find his keys without breaking the kiss but, after thirty seconds of blindly stabbing around with the key, has to admit defeat and actually look at what he’s doing.

He shoves the door open, but they don’t move. Nandor is exactly where he was, pressed up against an invisible wall.

“You have to invite me in,” Nandor reminds him.

“Oh. I thought that only applied to human homes.”

“No,” Nandor says, patiently, the slightest hint of amusement making it through his deadpan expression. “Vampire homes too.”

“Uh…come in?”

Instantly they both go crashing to the ground, Guillermo landing on top of Nandor. They lay there, slightly stunned. Nandor snickers and Guillermo shuts him up with a kiss, and then another.

“Okay, okay, inside now,” Nandor says. “This is very uncomfortable.”

“You don’t want to have sex in my doorway?” Guillermo teases

“I want you to bend me over something.”

“Holy shit,” Guillermo says, and hauls Nandor to his feet and into the house, slamming the door behind him.

He pulls Nandor towards the bedroom. Terry refers to it as the sex room, even after he’s told her not to, but it’s hard to argue with her, because Guillermo really does only use it for sex.

He intends to use it a lot more, now.

They leave a trail of clothing behind them. Guillermo is pleased to discover that he can still remember how to manage Nandor’s clothes. He wonders how he would have felt, as a familiar, knowing that all his collective hours spent dressing and undressing Nandor would end up being practice for this.

Probably would have had some sort of Catholic guilt-induced heart attack.

He backs Nandor up until the backs of other man’s knees hit the edge of the bed. Nandor grins and lets himself fall back, his hair spreading out and framing his face like a dark halo, a corruption of all those saints Guillermo grew up with.

He shakes the thought away. Guillermo is long past God’s reach, now.

When he goes to straddle Nandor’s lap, Nandor scoots backwards and Guillermo has to chase him up the bed until he can pin Nandor to the headboard with a kiss. They stay there, hands roaming, until a little niggling thought becomes so annoying Guillermo has to sit back.

“I feel like I’m forgetting something,” he says. Not his keys, he used those when he got to the house. His wallet? But he hadn’t taken that out at the party, so if he left it anywhere it would have been here in the brownstone.

A sudden sharp pain in his shoulder makes him yelp and jerk away.

“Did you bite me?”

“Guillermo,” Nandor says, sternly. “We have twenty years of sex to catch up on. We are never going to get anywhere with you staring off into space.”

Guillermo tries to smile, but he knows it’s stilted. Twenty years of loving each other, in the bedroom and out, lost. His head swirls with all the things that could have been different. That should have been different.

“Guillermo,” Nandor says again, more softly. He brushes his fingers across Guillermo’s cheek. “I forgot,” he said. “You are so young, twenty years is still a long time for you. It feels like forever, yes?”

“Almost half my life,” Guillermo says, and Nandor kisses him softly.

“The good thing about living forever is that lost time is not so much. If we were going to die at ninety, twenty years is so much of our lifetimes. But for us, we have many twenties ahead of us. In a few hundred years it will seem like nothing."

Guillermo leans in and rests his forehead against Nandor’s.

“I love you,” he says, again, tasting the words on his tongue, the thrill in his chest.

“I love you,” Nandor says. He waits five whole seconds, and then “you know, this is not going to make up for twenty years of sex either—”

He cuts off with a yelp as Guillermo grabs him around the middle and drags him sideways, the two of them tumbling against the pillows in a tangle of limbs.

They make love, and then they fuck, and then they make love again, and then they keep going. Nandor still makes the most ridiculous noises in bed, but now he’s doing it because of Guillermo, and Guillermo allows himself to be enough in love that he enjoys them. Guillermo is pleased to discover that he knows some tricks that catch Nandor entirely off guard. It’s not a competition, but if it was, he’s pretty sure he’d be winning.

They don't call it quits until Nandor's arms give out while he's on top and he nearly headbutts Guillermo as he collapses.

"Okay," Nandor says, face pressed against Guillermo's shoulder. "I think I need a break."

"Let's call it a night," Guillermo suggests.

"Until tomorrow night," Nandor says, hopefully. Guillermo hums in agreement and kisses Nandor's forehead. He's more tired than he would have thought, even discounting the extremely vigorous sex, but he suspects something about the resolution of twenty years of grief might have something to do with it.

"It's late. I don't want you to go," Guillermo says, because when he learns a lesson he learns it, "but you don't have a lot of time to get back to Staten Island from here."

"I also do not want me to go," Nandor says. "So I will not go."

"You won't be able to sleep," Guillermo says.

"I will watch you do it," Nandor says softly, tracing a fingertip across Guillermo's cheekbone. "There are worse ways to spend a day."

Guillermo wants to argue, but he's losing the fight to keep his eyes open. Nandor smiles at him.

"Goodnight, Guillermo."

"Mi amor," Guillermo murmurs, and is asleep in seconds.

The soft knock on the door doesn't wake him, but Nandor sitting up does. He raises his head as the door creaks open. Terry sticks her head in.

"Hi," she whispers.

"Terry? Terry!" He sits bolt upright, nearly banging into Nandor, as he realizes what it was he'd forgotten. "Oh my god, I left you at the party--"

"Lord Montague is big mad," she tells him. "Like, declare the two of you his mortal enemies mad."

Guillermo rolls his eyes.

"Fucking drama queen. Whatever. He didn't threaten you or anything, did he?"

"He tried, but Nadja threatened him back."

"You met Nadja?"

"She and Laszlo say congratulations, but they sounded pretty sarcastic."

"How did you know I'd left?"

"You put that 'find my phone' app thing on your phone; I use it to track your movements."

"Excuse me?"

"Anyway, long story short," Terry holds up a large leather satchel, "I have some of Nandor's ancestral soil so he can actually sleep while he sleeps over."

"She's an even better familiar than you were," Nandor says, impressed.

"I flew to Iran to get you--fine, whatever. She's great."

Terry crosses the room, her eyes carefully averted, and hands Nandor the bag.

"Thank you," he says, with a small bow. Terry gives him a bright smile and Guillermo a big thumbs up, and slips out again.

"We're talking about this tracking my movements thing," Guillermo calls after her.

"No we aren't," she says, and shuts the door.

Nandor tosses the bag of dirt under the bed and flops back with a relieved sigh. Guillermo settles down next to him, but Nandor insistently pulls him into his arms, so Guillermo's head is resting on his shoulder and his arm is across his chest.

Guillermo's eyes begin to sting again. Twenty years. Twenty years of this they could have had, and hadn't. All that time, lost, wasted, because they were too afraid--

"You are doing it again."

"Maybe in a hundred years it won't feel like a long time. But right now..."

"I know. But the long time is over. Everything is downhill from here."

"Uphill," Guillermo corrects. Nandor frowns.

"No, downhill. Uphill is harder. Downhill is easy. No more struggles."

"Aha," Guillermo says. "My mistake."

"I am tired of hurting," Nandor says. "I want to be happy."

"I want you to be happy, too." He leans down and presses his lips to Nandor's. By the time the kiss is over, Nandor is asleep. Guillermo smiles and tugs the blanket up over the two of them.

Guillermo opens his eyes to darkness.

"Happy anniversary," he whispers to himself.

There is a playful knocking on his coffin lid. Before Guillermo can answer, the lid swings open, and Nandor grins down at him.

"Happy anniversary. Twenty-one years a vampire, very exciting!"

Guillermo grabs Nandor by the shirt and hauls him down into the coffin. Nandor disappears inside with a yelp, the lid banging shut behind him. Guillermo only got the larger coffin because he likes a little more room (he's still not quite used to it, even after twenty years). That Nandor is able to fit quite snugly inside with him is just a bonus.

"One year of you and me," Guillermo says. "Even more exciting."

Nandor's grin gets wider.

"That is an extra happy anniversary."

"I can tell you're extra happy," Guillermo says.

"You make me extra happy. Have you ever had happy anniversary sex? It is very good."

"Can't say I have," Guillermo says, his hands sliding from Nandor's chest to his back, and then his lower back. "I--"

There is a sharp rap on the coffin.

"I hate to interrupt, Master, but you did instruct me to remind you that you always regret having sex in the coffin."

"Do you just hide out there and listen in?" Guillermo demands.

"No, but I saw Nandor go in, and the door isn't shut, and I know you."

"Terry, you are being the buzzkill."

"Sorry, Nandor. I have my orders."

"No, she's right," Guillermo sighs. He pats Nandor on the ass, earning himself a playful little squirm. "Come on. We can do all kinds of weird anniversary sex on the bed."

"Ah-ah," Nandor stops him and boops him on the nose. "On the ceiling ."

"On the--No. We are not having sex on the ceiling."

"It is our anniversary!"

"That's not--Ceiling. Okay, cariño , whatever you want."

Nandor leans down and presses their lips together in a slow kiss. When he pulls away his expression is one of such adoration Guillermo forgets that he doesn't need to breathe, and feels breathless.

" You are whatever I want," he murmurs. Guillermo melts.

" Mi amor-- "

Knock knock.

"Master--"

"Terry, go dust something and let me make my regrettable decisions in peace."

"Okay," she says in a tone that says 'I'm not going to verbally tell you I told you so but I am going to say it very loudly with my eyes when you have to ask me to clean the vampire semen out of your coffin and you will have to ask me even though I know you're going to want me to do it'.

But Nandor is nibbling on his neck and it's their anniversary and Guillermo couldn't care less.

'Happy anniversary,' Guillermo thinks. 'And many happy returns.'

#wwdits #nandermo #what we do in the shadows #nandor the relentless #guillermo de la cruz #what we blog in the shadows

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zachsgamejournal · 2 years ago

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COMPLETED: Röki

I'm gonna nitpick, as I do, but this was a great game with a great story, and I want Guillermo del Toro to do the movie!

So where I left off, I had been exploring the forest and rescuing ancient animal gods from dream parasites while learning more about Tove's past, dealing with the death of her mother. With the spell to drain Tove's younger brother, Lars, of his humanity to turn Roki human nearing an end Tove has finally found a path to the castle:

So, I had really thought: THIS IS IT! We go to the castle, we confront the goddess of crows, and everything's done. But not. There's a whole castle-puzzle section and it's long and convoluted. It contains some of the more challenging puzzles while having the lowest story-to-puzzle ratio yet. So it's kinda...well boring. It didn't help that I played through 90% of Ocarina of Time this weekend, so my limit for storyless dungeon crawling is pretty much at an end.

They had an interesting twist, though. When Roki destroyed the house, the depressed father basically said "Run kids!" and let himself be buried in the rubble. NOW, he awakes and crawls out. He then tracks the path Tove and Lars took and finds the real-world version of the castle Tove has teleported two.

The game now lets you switch between the father and Tove. The father is in the real world, with mostly no snow and the sun is shining. Tove, on the otherhand, is in the mythic world where it's night the world is pretty much frozen over. MOST of the puzzles in this section must be solved through some sort of cooperation between the father and child.

The father stands on one end of a cart to lift the other in the air, giving Tove access to a key item.

Climbs walls to flip switches, opening doors for the father.

The characters can't talk to each other directly, but they feel each other's presence. They also magically share an inventory (thank god!). It's a creative idea that has several shortcomings. Mostly, the key item to a puzzle is rarely within the same vicinity of the puzzle. And you often pick up key items before you have access to the puzzle that needs to be solved by them. So a fishing hook, or a book with a tree on it don't make sense when you pick them up. You just know it'll come into play at some point.

This isn't a huge problem in its own right. Most of the game works this way already. And many point-n-click games do this too. It's a staple of the genre. The problem is that even with all the locked doors and obstructed stairways, the castle is quite large. And exploring, trying to figure out how your random assortment of key items are meant to help you is tedious. It's made doubly frustrating because you have to move Tove and the father independently. So after walking all the way across the castle to put Tove into position, you then have to repeat the same journey with the father.

This section, while clever gameplay, is made more frustrating by the fact there's essentially no story and plot development. We know everything there is to know about the legends, the way behind the kidnapping, and even how Tove and her father struggled to deal with the death of Tove's mother. And that's a shame, cause this element of switching between the father and Tove could have been an amazing storytelling opportunity.

Tove's father is presented as being so depressed by his wife's death, he's unable to be a father to either children. He just sorta drinks and sits in his chair all day. Tove has assumed many adult duties, especially when it comes to the care of her brother. She makes supper, babysits, ensures that he goes to bed on time. Everything her father should be doing.

When the father climbs out of the rumble and decides to rescue his children, it's an isnpiring change. But besides sharing a few sentiment lines of dialog about how much he loves Tove while co-op solving puzzles, there's no real development. Honestly, it feels like the castle section was tacked on to add length and then adding the father gave that arbitrary filler a little bit of life. Really, I think this should have been gameplay from the beginning:

Tove follows Lars into the magical world. The father is stuck in the real world looking for his children. He sees signs and finds he's able to interact and communicate (to a small degree). While he sees rock formations and strange trees, Tove sees creatures and amazing structures. Along the way, there's some discussion--as Tove's father reflects on the past few years and his failure to support Tove and regret.

But ah well. maybe I'll steal this for one of my games.

The final cutscene is kind of interesting. Roki and Lars have become friends. Roki doesn't want to be human, he liked being a monster. But his mother, the antagonist, doesn't think he'll have an easy life as a monster. Sadly, she's sacrificed many children trying to change him and it hasn't worked. It's revealed in a cutscene that Lars was born in the forest, so has more magical power than most kids. The reason he was born in the forest was because of a car accident that killed the mom. There was an attempt to Tove feel responsible since she could not find the emergency phone to call for help. Tove's mom isn't upset though. She introduced Tove to baby Lars before she passes.

I think instead of having Tove look for a phone and not find it, she should have simply stood there frozen in shock. I think doing your best to look for a phone makes you clearly blameless, especially as a child. But had she been frozen, too horrified to try and help, well that's something that'll scar you for life. It would have made Tove's guilt more real, and also be something that her father could forgive her for. I think there was more emotional weight that could have existed her, which would have provide more catharsis when it worked out.

The game has an interesting bit where the guardians come to interfere with the spell. While the crow-lady rightly calls them out, they take responsibility in their part and apologize. Roki decides he doesn't want Lars to die and he doesn't want to be human, so he breaks the spell--saving Lars and returning to a giant, hairy...thing. The mother, having sacrificed the last of her energy to convert Roki, now passes a way. She's decided to allow her son, Roki, to live his own life and feels bad for what she's done. Not bad enough in my opinion. But's a tragic end for her in this sense.

The game ends with a more motivated father, a rescued Lars, and friendly Roki that wanders the forest.

While the castle bit was frustrating and lacked meaningful story development, the ending was really interesting and the whole game is great. Now that I know most the answers to puzzles, I'd love to play this again and just enjoy artistry of it all!

#Zach's Game Journal #COMPLETED #Röki #GOG #Good Old Games #PC #PC Gaming #Video Games #Gaming

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chelsfic · 4 years ago

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Leftovers - Part 7 - Nandor the Relentless x Reader Fanfic

Previous parts: Masterlist

A/N: Well...this was unexpected. I wasn’t planning to go in this direction quite YET, but the characters had minds of their own...

Summary: While planning for the upcoming biannual orgy, the reader gets a lesson in seduction from Laszlo and Nandor finally surrenders to his desire.

Warnings: Smut, Female reader, Blood drinking, First time, Loss of Virginity

---

Nadja’s voice echoes through the house as she rushes into the library clutching a letter in her hands.

“Laszlo! Nandor! Colin Robinson! House meeting!”

Guillermo trails after her carrying the rest of the mail. Bills, a grocery circular, and a stack of computer parts catalogs addressed to Colin. He drops the pile on an end table and takes an unobtrusive position by the doorway as the other housemates start to file in with varying expressions of annoyance, curiosity and boredom.

You’re the last one to arrive, traipsing into the room looking vastly under dressed, as always, compared to the old world vampires in their elegant finery. Even Colin and Guillermo keep it business casual. You, on the other hand, are dressed in a pair of neon pink capri leggings and the USA Men’s Basketball jersey you stole from Nandor. The jersey falls down to your knees and the wide arm holes reveal the sports bra you’re wearing underneath. When Nandor first caught you wearing it a couple weeks ago he’d groused at you about disrespecting his belongings. But then he found himself strangely pleased with how his garment dwarfed your smaller frame. He rather liked the idea of his human wearing his shirt. So, he stopped complaining.

You give him a cheeky grin and flounce the bottom of the shirt around your thighs saucily as you flop down beside him. It’s been just about a month since the rave and since things between you and Nandor...advanced. You’ve started secretly thinking of him as your vampire boyfriend. You spend more nights in his coffin than you do in your own bed and you’ve both enjoyed the closeness that comes with sleeping in an enclosed box.

You’ve continued to touch, kiss, and explore each other physically. Your progress has been slow, though you’ve gone further and experienced more with Nandor than you ever have with anyone else. But he is being downright mulish about taking the next logical step. On the one hand it’s comforting to have a more experienced partner who is so willing to go slowly. On the other hand...you’re horny. And you can’t tell if he’s being considerate and cautious or if he’s being selfish and wanting the best of both worlds: sexy times and virgin blood.

You sit so that your leg brushes against his and take his hand, twining your fingers together happily. You probably look like a preteen with her first boyfriend but you don’t really care.

Colin Robinson grins and his eyes flash blue as he drones, “PDA! Get a room, you guys.”

Nandor hisses angrily and you roll your eyes. You spot Guillermo standing rigidly by the door and wave him over, patting the cushion on your other side.

“Memo! Come sit down for the meeting,” you invite.

Guillermo’s eyes flick to his master automatically and Nandor proclaims, “Vampires--non-familiars only, Guillermo!”

“What!?” you exclaim, slapping his arm. “Stop being mean to Guillermo!”

“Mean!?” Nandor scoffs. “I’m not mean to Guillermo! I saved him from being executed by the Vampiric Council last year, didn’t I?”

Guillermo nods, “Yes, master...although I did save you as well--”

“And I let you have the human giving thanks holiday off, didn’t I?” he interrupts.

“That was...three years ago…” Guillermo mumbles.

Nandor is gearing up for a full on hissy fit but Nadja interrupts, “Enough! Gizmo, go and sit with the human, you know Nandor is going to surrender to her eventually and I have news to announce!”

You smile in triumph and Guillermo reluctantly slinks forward to sit on your other side, eyeing his master over your head with a worried look.

“That’s strike one, Guillermo,” Nandor grumbles irritably, as Nadja takes over.

“I didn’t want to tell you until I had their answer,” Nadja smiles beatifically and folds her hands over her heart, “but I petitioned the vampire orgy committee and they’ve decided to give us a second chance to host the biannual orgy! I explained that my husband had been unnaturally deranged by some putrid blood--”

“Don’t you mean, betrayed by my wife?” Laszlo interjects.

“--and so we’re hosting it this weekend!” Nadja finishes, ignoring her idiot husband.

“Wonderful!” Nandor cries, dropping your hand and standing up to pace the room. “We’ll need to begin preparations at once. Guillermo, I’m giving Nadja permission to boss you around. It needs to be perfect this time!”

“Thank you, Nandor,” Nadja trills, obviously euphoric with plan-making already. “This time we’ll chain the virgins up, so there’s no chance for the cheeky buggers to spoil our fun…”

“Excellent idea, darling!” Laszlo praises, eager to show his support and avoid sleeping in one of the basement coffins tonight.

Nandor nods, “Yes, good suggestion, Nadja. Guillermo, you’ll bring the chains up from the basement...”

Nandor continues rattling off orders and you listen with increasing bafflement and alarm. He’s clearly giddy as he lists the “supplies” they’ll need.

“The sex net, obviously… the swing… assorted dildos… we should get a few Devil’s butt plugs, shouldn’t we? Those were popular at Marcus’s orgy last year…”

You turn, wide-eyed, to Guillermo and find him looking resigned and pulling a notebook from his back pocket to write this down.

Laszlo, Nadja and even Colin Robinson join in the discussion and they don’t seem likely to lose momentum any time soon.

Finally, you clear your throat and speak up, “Um...I’m sorry. So...you--all of you--go to...sex parties? Like, where you...have sex all--all together?”

God, could you sound more virginy? You direct the question to everyone in the room but your eyes focus on Nandor. He looks away with an uncomfortable grimace.

Nadja tuts and puts a hand to her forehead as she croons, “Oh my sweet, baby virgin! I have forgotten how stupid and innocent you are. Do you not know what an orgy is? It is like a dark, bacchanalia of the flesh… a joining of bodies into one, throbbing mass of pleasure. And it is a great honor to host it! Vampires from all over New York will attend.”

“But…” what you really want to do is talk to Nandor in private. Your mind is racing with half-formed concerns, but mainly you’re hoping your new vampire boyfriend isn’t planning to have casual sex with a dozen strangers after spending the last month refusing to deflower you because he’d rather preserve the taste of your blood than deepen your...well, what you’d thought of as your relationship.

But you can’t give a voice to these worries even if the idea of Nandor with someone else stabs at your heart. You don’t want to be the needy virgin. The silly little girl who thinks a 758-year-old vampire is interested in “going steady.” Are you being unreasonable? Are you being unrealistic? Are you being insensitive to vampire culture? All at once you feel tears stinging your eyes and you blink rapidly to clear them before anyone notices.

“I know what you’re worrying about, my warrior,” Nadja breaks through your thoughts. “But you’ll be perfectly safe during the orgy. Look!”

She poofs into a cloud of vapor, reappearing a few seconds later holding a pair of matching plain white t-shirts with the words “Do Not Eat” printed on them.

“One for you and one for Gizmo!” she exclaims with a proud smile as if this solves everything.

---

“So…” you start and then trail off, not really knowing what you want to say.

You’re up in the attic with Nadja and Laszlo, helping them sort through boxes with labels like “Sex Dungeon,” “In Case of Orgy,” and “Emergency Dildos.”

Laszlo uncovers something wedged behind the StairMaster and exults, “My darling! Do you remember this…?”

It looks like a dildo circa the Renaissance period, smooth and hand-carved with a leather harness attached. Laszlo throws his head back and his hands twitch excitedly at his sides as Nadja stalks up to him with a seductive smirk.

“Of course, I do, my naughty boy. And if you are good and don’t ruin this orgy with your moods then maybe we’ll have ourselves a nice little time with it…” her voice goes high-pitched and squeaky as she grabs the phallus out of Laszlo’s hands and strokes it along his jaw, bringing it up to his lips and squealing as he opens his mouth to run his tongue lewdly over the shiny, smooth wood.

“O-okay, I’m just going to give you guys some privacy…” you stand and start to make your way over to the stairs.

Nadja drops the dildo and calls after you, “Wait, mortal! You had something you wanted to ask?”

You stop in your tracks, turning back to the couple and taking a breath to steady yourself. You have to talk to someone about this.

“Yeah, it’s...well, Nandor and I haven’t had sex yet--”

“We can tell that very well, my yummy friend,” Laszlo cuts in and Nadja slaps his arm.

“Go on, little horny infant,” Nadja says encouragingly.

“--but we’ve done other stuff,” you continue, “and I...I have feelings for him. But the thing is, I’m not as comfortable as you all seem to be about...sharing…”

“Ahh!” Laszlo murmurs with an arch look. “And you don’t want a load of randy vampires diddling your man.”

“Right,” you confirm, heat spreading over your face under their scrutiny. “But he seems so excited and I...I still don’t really know if he feels the same way that I do…”

“Hmm, yes this is very tricky,” Nadja muses. “Of course...there are some vampire couples who attend and only pay attention to each other…”

“Bloody boring, if you ask me…”

“Shut up, Laszlo!” Nadja hisses. “Can’t you see our human needs us?”

“Alright, alright!” he says irritably. He turns in a small circle, rubbing his chin abstractly before snapping his fingers and pointing to you in excitement, “I’ve got it! It sounds to me like what you really need is a little help in seducing our warrior friend. Once you’ve done the dirty deed you can enslave him to your feminine wiles just like my darling Nadja did to me.”

“Good idea, Laszlo! Then you can attend the orgy together and if anyone tries to tempt him away you will do the whip on them!” Nadja declares with delight.

You’re not sure if she’s misusing roller derby lingo or actually suggesting that you use a whip on your rivals. Probably both…

“But he won’t have sex with me because he’s obsessed with my stupid blood…” you whine, plopping down on one of the boxes with an exasperated sigh.

“Trust me, human. With our help, Nandor won’t know how to resist!” Laszlo assures you with a self-satisfied grin. “Nadja, darling, get the projector!”

“Oh, no, Laszlo...she’s just a poor human girl. Don’t subject her to your boring pornos…”

---

By the time you come down from the attic you’re pretty sure the image of Laszlo’s orgasm face is permanently burned into your brain. And you’re not exactly sure how “Vampire Tricked in Steamroom” is supposed to help you with your conundrum, but Laszlo’s proud enthusiasm is adorable. Nadja’s words as you walk down the stairs are a little more helpful.

“Nandor is just thinking too much with his fangs and not enough with his penis. Use your natural talents--” she glances meaningfully at your chest, “--to make him realize his mistake.”

You’re not sure you have it in you to play the seductress like Nadja does. Still, your footsteps automatically take you in the direction of Nandor’s room. When you walk into the crypt you find him bent over a long roll of paper on the floor with a paintbrush in his hand and glitter stuck all over his head. He holds his work up to show you with a proud grin.

It’s a banner with large, bright, sparkly letters spelling out, “Welcome Orgy Guests!”

“What do you think?” he asks shyly. “Too much glitter?”

You blink and bite back a laugh at the sight of your fearsome boyfriend with his hair and beard covered in glitter. He’s smiling at you, revealing the wicked gleam of his fangs and you’re suddenly overcome with the desire to kiss him until you’re covered in glitter too. You stride forward, gingerly taking the banner from his hands and setting it back down on the floor.

“Just the right amount of glitter,” you assure him and then you hop up, wrapping your arms around his neck and trusting that he’ll catch you with his strong arms. His beard is scratchy against your face as you claim his mouth with yours, kissing and nipping his lips with a needy growl. Okay, wow--maybe Laszlo’s cheesy movie instruction has some merit?

“I knew it,” Nandor smirks. “You like the glitter, don’t you? Like Twilight!”

“Shut up, Nandor,” you laugh, stroking your fingers through his thick hair and angling his head so you can kiss along the edge of his jaw. You playfully drag your teeth against his neck and his whole body shudders in response.

Curious, you do it again and this time he moans low in his throat and gasps out your name. Your lips curl into a mischievous smile and you bite down sharply, not hard enough to break the skin but enough to bruise if he didn’t have supernatural healing.

“Gah! Human…” Nandor pants, walking you over to the luxuriously upholstered couch set against the wall and dropping down with you in his lap. His voice breaks as he begs, “Harder.”

You draw back, locking your eyes with his for a moment, your breath coming quick as you feel the stir of his hardening length beneath you. His eyes are nearly black with desire and he digs his fingers into your hips in encouragement and repeats himself, “Harder, my mortal.”

You bend forward, brushing your lips gently along the crook of his neck like always does before he feeds from you. You bring your hands to his collar and loosen the ruff of his shirt, pulling it aside and cradling his head as you sink down to bite. You’re tentative at first, somehow afraid of hurting him, but he growls in impatience and swats your butt with his open hand to spur you along. You increase the pressure, feeling his skin give beneath the blunt edges of your teeth and the cool, coppery taste of his thick blood spreading over your lips and tongue. You swallow it, lapping at his neck eagerly as he squirms beneath you and mewls in pleasured surrender.

When you finally pull away, your mouth and chin are painted an obscene red and Nandor goes wild at the sight. He grabs the back of your neck and pulls you into a rough kiss, arching his hips upward so he can grind against you.

“Now, I get to taste you,” He whispers against your lips, shifting out from beneath you and kneeling on the floor between your legs.

“It’s not--” you’re out of breath and your head is spinning. “It’s too soon, baby”

He purrs at your use of the pet name and slides his hands up the outsides of your thighs, catching the waistband of your leggings and dragging them down your legs along with your underwear.

“There’s more than one way to taste you, my human,” he explains, pressing his palms to the insides of your knees and pushing your legs further apart. He drags his beard along the sensitive skin of your inner thigh, scenting you with a pleased sigh. He scoops you up in his hands, pulling you closer to the edge of the couch and finally lowering his face between your legs. His breath is cool against your heated flesh and then he’s dragging his tongue along your slit in one long stroke that ends on your needy, throbbing clitoris.

“Oh my go--”

Nandor rears back, hissing, and you rush an apology, “Sorry, sorry, sorry! I forgot.”

“Be careful with that shit!” he grouses but then he’s dipping his head back down and attacking you with his mouth.

He’s gentle and thorough and--you think--very good at this. A few times you feel the sharp edge of a fang just brush against your most sensitive skin and you start to flinch away but he shushes you and strokes his fingers along your thighs to settle your nerves. His lips and tongue move against your clitoris in perfect, rolling motions that have you melting under his attention. You let your hands fall down to rest in his glitter-specked hair and stroke your fingers along his temples as he laves and sucks. When the mounting tension in your core grows to be too much you roll your hips up, grinding yourself into his face and twisting your fingers in his hair as you cry out.

Nandor climbs back onto the couch and settles beside you, watching with a pleased smile as you tremble and gasp through the aftershocks. He’s lazily palming himself through his trousers when you finally turn to him and press the full length of your body into his, capturing his lips for a kiss that tastes of mingled blood and arousal--both your essences combined.

“I’m ready…” you whisper, sliding your hands beneath his loosened collar and along his shoulders. “If you can possibly stand my blood tasting all ordinary and non-virgin flavored…”

You emphasize the last statement by edging your leg between his and grinding your thigh against his fervent erection. Nandor groans loudly and it sounds like a surrender.

“Yes…” he pants. “My human...yes. I’ll make you mine. But...but--” he growls in frustration “--wait a moment!”

He hops up, leaving you half naked and bemused on the couch as he darts around the room, locking the door, positioning a fur rug on the floor next to an ornate candelabra, and finally opening a drawer and removing a folded piece of paper.

He comes back to you, kneeling at your feet and handing you the sheet of paper. He watches with a gleam in his eyes as you open it.

Inside he’s written in glitter pen:

“Happy Deflowering!

Love,

Nandor the Relentless”

And there’s a drawing of you laying on a fur rug with an artfully modest sheet draped over your nude body and Nandor floating in the air above you, his cape flying out behind him and his fangs bared. Well...now you know he hasn’t been planning to keep you a virgin for all eternity...

You bark out a laugh and press the drawing to your heart as you look up at him and gush, “I love it, Nandor!”

His lips part in a light smile and he presses forward, taking your face in his hands and catching you with his intense eyes.

“I wanted it to be--” he frowns uncomfortably as he forms the word “--nice...for you, human. Perhaps we had a rocking start…”

“You mean with you kidnapping me, drinking my blood and treating me like a human snack pack?” you deadpan, but you dart in to peck his lips to show you’re only teasing.

“Yes, that,” he continues and his fingers are tracing light patterns through the hair at your temples. “But I...I do care about you, my mortal. For more than just your delicious blood…”

Finally hearing him say the words out loud starts your eyes misting and you set the drawing down on the couch beside you, reaching forward to take him in your arms and kiss his beautiful, stupid, warrior lips.

Nandor is remarkably quick at removing his layers of clothing. By the time you’ve shed your stolen jersey and squirmed your way out of the sports bra, he’s completely naked. Vampire speed. He kneels on the fur rug before you, his pale skin reflecting the golden light of the candles, glowing with second-hand warmth. You forget to be bashful about your own nudity as you drink him in. Dark hair covers his chest and trails down his stomach into the dark nest around his proudly straining erection.

His own dark eyes drop to linger on the lines of your body as he reaches out and draws you closer, laying you down on the plush rug and perching beside you. You draw your hands up under your chin automatically, but he takes them and draws your arms down to your sides, baring your body for his hungry gaze.

“You are more breathtaking than the Euphrates running red with the blood of my enemies,” he murmurs, brushing his fingertips over the peaks of your breasts and smiling as your nipples pebble under his touch.

You smile and shake your head, gazing up at this gorgeous man and feeling, for once, entirely worthy and beautiful in someone else’s eyes. You joined roller derby hoping to gain some body-positivity, some confidence--which you have. But still, you’ve never before felt so attractive and powerful. Nandor bends down to kiss you, running one hand along the line of your neck and letting the other roam over your belly and down between your thighs. He strokes through your still wet slit, spreading your slick and rolling your clit between his fingers until you’re mewling into his lips.

“You know…” Nandor murmurs, pushing your legs apart and shifting to seat himself between them, “there’s more than one reason they call me relentless, little human.”

The sound that falls from your lips is half-gasp and half-moan. He slides the head of his cock through your folds, coating himself in your arousal before finally--finally--pressing forward at your entrance. Even after a month of pining and yearning for this you still tense up at the final moment and Nandor kneads his hands into your hips with a soft coo, “Relax yourself, my mortal…”

He leans down to press a rough-stubbled kiss along the edge of your jaw as he finally slips inside of you and you feel, for the first time, the impossible and wonderful sensation of being filled by your lover as he gradually pushes deeper. For several seconds the pressure of him inside of you is all you can think about and it’s overwhelming. You bury your face into the crook of his neck, digging your teeth into the already healed skin.

“Does it hurt?” he asks, and there’s a distinctly vampiric edge of lustful curiosity that accompanies his concern. He’s rolling his hips against you in a slow, steady rhythm.

“Mmhmm,” you murmur without removing your teeth from his neck.

He slips a hand between your bodies and finds the hardened bud of your nipple with his fingers, rolling and stroking it as he continues rocking into you with deeper and deeper thrusts.

“Not for much longer,” he promises with a teasing pinch to your nipple.

His pace increases as the pain gradually ebbs into a delicious, burning ache that builds and builds. You throw back your head, keening each time he buries himself inside you. Nandor’s mouth falls open and he dips his head to run his lips over the throbbing pulse of your throat, feeling the rush of your hot blood beneath the surface and losing the steady control of his movements as he frantically ruts into you.

“Mine, mine, mine,” he cries, wrenching his mouth away from your neck and instead slamming his lips to yours with an anguished moan as he goes rigid, pushing deeper inside of you as his release tears through him. He jerks his hips several more times, reaching between you to put his fingers on you and coax you towards your own peak as he softens inside of you.

He finally slips out of you, collapsing onto the rug at your side with a heavy groan. He hugs you to his chest, tucking your head beneath his chin and humming in pleasure. His skin is almost warm with your borrowed body heat, but where you are covered in a fine sheen of human sweat, he is as smooth and unaffected as ever.

Your muscles shake with involuntary tremors and he strokes his hands down your back comfortingly.

“Shut your eyes,” his voice is a low rumble that you can feel where your head rests against his chest. “Rest, my love.”

The word sends a warm rush around your heart and you smile, burying your face into his lovely chest hair.

All your insecurities about the upcoming orgy are forgotten as your limbs grow heavy with exhaustion. You’re just starting to drift to sleep under the steady feel of his hands smoothing over your back when a sudden thought pops into your head.

“Nandor!” you poke your head up to meet his eyes. “Am I going to turn into a vampire?!”

He furrows his brow as he asks, “Why would you think that, human?”

“Well...I drank your blood…” you explain, relaxing back into his chest now that it seems you’re not on the brink of transitioning into an unholy creature of the night without warning.

Nandor laughs, “I would have to drink your blood first...almost all of it. And then feed you my blood. No, my human, you won’t become a vampire...not yet.”

You nod your head absently, letting your eyes drift shut without fully absorbing his last words.

---

A/N: ?????????

Tags:

@festering-queen @kandomeresbitch @strangestdiary @glitterportrait @scuzmunkie @redwoodshadows

#nandor the relentless x reader #nandor x reader #nandor #nandor the relentless #nandor imagine #nandor the relentless imagine #what we do in the shadows fanfic #what we do in the shadows #wwdits fanfic #wwdits #smut

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thenightling · 4 years ago

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Why I do NOT think Over The Garden Wall’s ending is secretly sad

Recently I came across a comment from someone who believes Over The Garden Wall actually has a sad ending and Greg and Wirt and doomed, that the ending is false because of the lyric “Loveliest ...lies of all.” I have to admit I was initially worried about this being potentially true too. But then I remembered a few things that reassured me. A few things made me certain the end is not false.

1. The phrase “Loveliest... lies of all”: At first this worried me too that the frog was giving a wink-wink / nudge-nudge that this wasn’t really how it ended but how the boys would have wanted it to end but then I realized something. He actually sings "Loveliest lies of all" at the start of the first episode too. So if the end is a lie so is the whole thing. So this makes the concern moot, doesn’t it?

2. “What is a story but a lie?”: Some people call fictional stories "lies" and The Unknown is a land of stories. A similar reasoning is how Marvel evolved Loki from God of lies to God of Stories in the comics.

3. The Over The Garden Wall comics are supposed to be canon: The Over The Garden Wall comics (from the same writer) indicate all the stories ended the way the afterward claimed.

4. The end scene is supposed to show how the boys touched the lives of those in The Unknown: We have been told that the ending is supposed to show how the boys impacted the lives of those in The Unknown. Why do that if only that one part is a lie?

5. It was all real on some level: The Bell still being in the frog’s stomach indicate that the adventure was at least partly true.

6. The opening and closing bookends: There are things tied together that the boys would not have known in order to imagine the happy endings for the lives they touched. For example, the fact that the gristmill (now mostly repaired) was owned by Beatrice’s family and the dog from the first episode was hers. The boys didn’t know Beatrice had a dog. The boys also didn’t know what the woodsman’s daughter looked like. We only saw her in the preview segment of the first episode. And Lorna’s ending was the most probable since Auntie Whispers turned out to be a fairly nice person (even if she didn’t think of the obvious way to get rid of the spirit). There’s a preview (in the opening segment of the first episode) that ties directly to the ending and the boys wouldn’t have been aware of either.

7. A sad conclusion doesn’t match the rest of the mini-series: All of Greg and Wirt's adventures ended mostly happily already (”O Potatoes and Molasses: The school is saved via fund raiser and the gorilla was Jimmy Brown all along,” the frog choosing his human companions over fame and fortune, the Potsfield folk just letting them go after their two friends were dug up, Adalade defeated, Lorna de-possessed and deciding Auntie Whispers is her family after all for loving her and looking after her through the ordeal, And the crazy old tea seller (who might actually be the ghost) finding love with his business competitor. So there's no real reason the ending should be false considering how far fetched the previously established stories played out.

8. Purgatory isn’t a bad place by its original definition: Yes, I’m aware that there’s a high chance the boys are in purgatory, or some place between realms. There’s also a chance they are in The Dreaming (realm of dreams and stories) or a combo of the two. But purgatory is not necessarily a bad place and you sometimes CAN return to the land of the living from purgatory. It’s not like the Dante’s Inferno video game or Divine Comedy (which is Bible fan fiction, by the way). Even if Dante’s Divine Comedy did influence Over The Garden Wall so did Goethe’s Faust (part 2 of which had a sweet ending) and a bunch of other classic stories. And purgatory is supposed to be a place between here and it is indicated that it is where forgotten stories (folktales / faery tales) must play out. And most of those were designed to have happy endings.

9. The references and homages don’t fit a bleak ending: Yes, some old Grimm Faery tales have very dark endings but the raw blue print for Over The Garden Wall comes from American folktales, vintage New England post cards, and 1920s to 1940 cartoons, which usually were whimsical and had happy outcomes. You can see the likes of Betty Boop, The Wizard of Oz, and even Shirley Temple’s Animal Crackers in my Soup in loving homage.

10. Tome of the Unknown: They were helping forgotten stories reach their conclusion. That’s why the original working title was “Tome of the Unknown.” (Which Lorna is reading in her final scene, by the way.) The fact that Lorna is reading the Tome of the Unknown (the book of stories the Unknown characters are supposed to be from) suggests that the boys actually helped these characters play out their stories like faery tale characters in an Enchanted Forest.

11. A sad ending doesn’t really match the established tone. They were mostly sweet forgotten stories and folktales too from the looks of it. If Beatrice was turned into a bird by a bird for throwing a rock why is it so hard for us to accept a witch’s scissors could turn her back? I was worried the scissors would actually mutilate her too but I think we’re just too used to that sort of thing today. Older stories were not so cynical which brings me to point 11.

12. Projecting cynicism and dark expectations: I saw similar projected darkness with some people watching The Shape of Water and thinking the end was wishful thinking even though we had already seen “The Asset” use healing powers. And Guillermo del Toro said it has a happy ending. The Rugrats aren’t dead and Angelica is not just imagining them either. Sometimes things actually just are wholesome. They don’t need to be edgy.

13. I’m aware of what was considered early in the production: Just because an author considered making something darker than what was made doesn’t mean the finished product is darker too. People also like to bring up that in the “original“ Peter Pan the boy was a villain and did awful things but that is not the version that became a beloved play and children’s book. That was essentially a prototype version that no one cared for.

14. Sequel?: Though it’s not likely the show’s creator (Patrick McHale) will do it, there were sequel considerations for Over The Garden Wall, which would require those stories to have ended the way we saw them.

15. “If Dreams can’t come true then why not pretend?” I’ve heard this lyric used to try to claim the ending is false but one could argue that all of the stories the boys encounter in Over The Garden Wall are dreams. And what is the sure way to make a dream become real? “Fake it until you make it.” In other words... Pretend. So the boys may have turned those stories (including their endings) real. Pretending and belief. Believing something strongly enough that is how you make an ideal real.

To quote Death in the novel Hogfather by Terry Pratchett.: “ THEN TAKE THE UNIVERSE AND GRIND IT DOWN TO THE FINEST POWDER AND SIEVE IT THROUGH THE FINEST SIEVE AND THEN SHOW ME ONE ATOM OF JUSTICE, ONE MOLECULE OF MERCY. AND YET”—Death waved a hand. “AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME...SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED.” "Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what's the point—" MY POINT EXACTLY.” He goes on to say people need to believe in these things in order for them to “Become.”

This is how you make concepts real, through pretending and creating belief in the idea.

So in a sense what he’s really saying here can be seen as “Make it real.”

#Over the Garden Wall #OTGW

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aion-rsa · 3 years ago

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What We Do in the Shadows Season 3: Harvey Guillén Wants Buffy to Train Guillermo

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This article contains spoilers for What We Do in the Shadows season 3 episode 3.

Things have changed for the Staten Island vampires on What We Do in the Shadows season 3 as they step into positions of power. This may not make much of a difference for Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch), whose new job as secretary of the Vampiric Council, is much like his fake job, at a cubicle in an office. But Laszlo (Matt Berry) may spend a little more in the potting shed. His love Nadja (Natasia Demetriou), is running the council, along with Nandor (Kayvan Novak), who’s familiar, Guillermo (Harvey Guillén), has been promoted to the position of bodyguard. It was easier than killing him.

Based on the 2014 feature film by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, What We Do in the Shadows follows four vampires, who have been roommates for longer than anyone cares to remember, as they cope with life in the modern world. Which is not held up on the shoulders of four horses.

Nandor the Relentless was a fierce and terrible Ottoman warrior, known for pillaging villages and turning the Euphrates red with blood. Guillermo worked at Panera Bread. The bond that ties vampire to familiar is a strange one. The pay isn’t great, the hours are daunting, and they don’t get employee-of-the-month plaques. The only real incentive is the promise of everlasting life as a ravenous bloodsucking fiend, and there is something of a hiring freeze at the moment.

British Iranian actor and voice artist Kayvan Novak co-created and starred in the British prank show, Fonejacker, and also can be seen alongside Matt Damon and George Clooney in Syriana, as well as the films Cuban Fury and the Walt Disney live action remake of Cruella. He plays three different characters in Men in Black: International. Harvey Guillén acted in the movies The Internship and in Netflix’s Truth or Dare, and his TV works include The Magicians, and Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. He earned a GLAAD Media Award his role in the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Me What to Do” episode of Raising Hope, and made LGBTQ+ Latinx history by becoming the first queer Latinx actor to be nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Critics’ Choice Award for his role as Guillermo de la Cruz. Starting Sept. 2, Guillén will also host After the Shadows, a new talk show following and discussing What We Do in the Shadows.

Novak and Guillén hovered over Den of Geek to speak about Nandor and Guillermo’s new job descriptions, as well as old habits, cloaks of many voices, and Van Helsing DNA.

Den of Geek: I wanted to congratulate you on your characters’ new duties. Is it more fun running vampires or running from them?

Kayvan Novak: Has Nandor run from a vampire? I guess I have. I think they’re equally as exhilarating and frightening.

Harvey Guillén: I would say fighting the vampires is exciting with all the combat when that opportunity comes up. Yeah.

Guillermo took out the entire local vampire command, but couldn’t stake a vampire council docent. Is Guillermo getting soft?

Guillén: I don’t think he’s getting soft. I think the only reason that he even put himself in that scenario is because he knew that his old housemates, because remember he moved out of the house, his old housemates were in danger. I think at the end of the day we forget that he had mostly only humans in the house. And you know, what separates us from everything else in the world is that humans are driven by emotion and have a conscience and have a heart. So he couldn’t live with himself, if he knew that they were set up by the Vampiric Council to be eliminated at this theater. That’s the only reason he goes and saves his chosen family. Even though they’re total assholes to him, he is still loyal at the end of the day. He’s still loyal to these four vampires, especially Nandor. I think that he’s not getting soft. He’s just starting to see what’s important to him and what’s worth fighting for.

Did the “Cloak of Duplication” episode come up because you were already doing the impressions?

Novak: I guess the writers had an idea. They had a sense that I was a bit of a mimic and I liked doing impersonations. And I think they decided to kind of craft an episode around that. I was slightly apprehensive of the number of impressions that they thought I could do considering I had to do all of my castmates who, although I could do impressions of some of them, I’d never done it to their faces. So it was a new challenge. Not only to learn very quickly how to impersonate them with their help, because they helped me along the way, and they told me how to deliver some of the lines. But then having to do that in front of them, it took some concentration.

Whose voice was the easiest?

Novak: I guess the easiest, or the one that I had done was Colin Robinson. Because he’s got a very specific [voice]. It’s kind of the closest to mine in a way. And the rhythms of it, very specific. Nadja’s voice and Kristen [Schaal]’s voice, I couldn’t actually do. I can only kind of do their physicality. So, the voices you hear are not my voice. They’re the voices of the actual actors. Guillermo’s voice, Guillermo’s delivery, that took a minute to kind of get into that groove. And then Matt Berry, Laszlo’s character, I’d never really tried an impression of him. And it was really more the physicality that I got into to deliver those lines in that rhythm, that really was the key in. Because you’re always trying to find the key in.

Harvey, what was it like hearing Guillermo come out of Novak’s throat?

Guillén: It was great. Because I’ve seen Kayvan do impersonations of everyone, he’s a master. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him do me in a full scene. Like he would make a good joke or mimic me and say, “Yeah, yeah, now my friend,” and he does like a caricature of my voice, which is always fun, but yeah, “you’re my best buddy,” that’s like an ongoing joke on set that he always does. But to really kind of do it and kind of really capture Guillermo’s inflections and the volume where he placed him. I was like, oh my gosh, this is great. I was in awe. Like I was like, this is great. I had to do a double take, like that’s not me. That’s wait. That’s not me. Okay.

Blade, Buffy, the Frog brothers, and now Guillermo. Guillermo is the descendant of the greatest Slayer of all slayers. Is this nepotism?

Guillén: I don’t know if it’s nepotism because I don’t think he’s gotten anything handed to him. And he’s worked really hard for everything he has, and even now being the descendant of Van Helsing, it’s still not easy. Now, it comes with another wagon full of problems and choices to be made and predicaments that he now has with his housemates. But I would love to see some of those legendary slayers and chosen ones make an appearance and guide him, maybe help him out. Maybe Buffy pops in and says, I’ll show you how it’s done. That’d be great. Or Blade comes back, Wesley Snipes comes back. We’ve already had him. Who knows? But yeah, I would love to see someone show him the ropes or take them under their wing or, he’s learning by trial and error. And I think so far he’s doing okay. So maybe he’s a self-made Slayer in his own way.

When Nandor and Nadja were introducing themselves to the rogue vampires, you are each soloing, but hitting the beats at the same time. Can you just walk me through the rehearsal of the timing?

Novak: I think to really nail a scene like that, we’re both kind of focused on the direction of, I think Yana Gorskaya directed that scene. And that was just a case of us kind of working together, but also allowing her to kind of pull us through the scene to make sure that we hit those marks perfectly. It took some practice, took a few takes, took rehearsal, but you always know you’re going to get it. And you know that if you’ve got to get something that’s a bit of a challenge to get to, you want to be in the right company. And, and thankfully, we are because we’re in each other’s company.

Harvey, when you interject objections and you break and you look at the camera, they’re like hi-hat taps, are these scripted or are you doing it strictly on an intuitive basis?

Guillén: No, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it scripted for Guillermo that he looks at the camera. I think we do, as we do a rehearsal and we have our DP and our director follow us through rehearsal and whatever feels organic in the moment, there has to be an organic beat. Right? So, if it’s, most of the time it is Guillermo, because he’s the only human in the room, aside from the camera crew. And so, when he looks at the camera crew, it’s like, oh God, you’re going to film this, aren’t you? And the camera catches that moment. And it zooms into it. It’s like, you’re not, oh no, it’s incriminating. And so, as you connect with another human. Did you hear what he said? Or did you, I can’t believe they’re talking like this because who are you going to connect with the vampires who live in their own world of lust and pleasure and feeding. They don’t care, they’re immortal, but the humans in the room are like, we can go to jail at any moment for a lot of these things. I can get in trouble myself.

So, most of the time, when Guillermo looks at the camera, it’s either out of fear or it’s either like I’m smarter than them and you see that, right? So it’s like you saw that, right? But he can never say it. So he can’t verbally say what he’s feeling. So, their face does it all for you to the camera.

Did Guillermo and Nandor meet at Panera Bread?

Guillén: We talked about this. I think the idea that, if he was working at Panera Bread, it must have been shortly after high school or something. And somewhere along the lines, he must’ve met Nandor, he must’ve come in when Panera was closing and maybe tried to feast on him? Maybe, I don’t know. The backstory I gave myself was, he convinced Nandor not to feast on him and kill him, but to service him in return to become a vampire. That’s the backstory I gave myself. But Kayvan, what do you think?

Novak: I think whatever happened there’s CCTV footage of it-

Guillén: Somewhere. Yeah.

Novak: And I think that would be the best way of revisiting that because, if they didn’t have a documentary crew following them, then they’re relying on kind of just, incidental cameras, capturing stuff. I think it would be cool.

Guillén: I think that’s cool. Yeah.

Nandor is 758 years old, and going through an eternal life crisis. Is he becoming too Americanized or does Nadja have a point about there not being anything more to existence than just slaughter?

Novak: It’s a funny one because he’s been around so long, you’re supposed to eventually just blend into your environment and be taken over by and become an American or become a Staten Islander. And for some reason they live in such an insular world that they resisted this. But now for some reason, whether it be an emotional light that’s gone off in his head, he’s decided that no, he wants to humanize himself more and, yeah, be more like the people that he kills, almost. The world that he feeds off. He wants to be part of that. And I think, Nadja, she’s the cynic she’s like, stop dreaming. Stop. You know, there’s always that person that’s like, yeah, you could do that. But there’s lots of people that want to do that too, you know? And you’re like, oh, you’re right. I better not waste my time chasing pipe dreams. There’s always that person in the room and that person, for Nandor, is Nadja.

What’s it like to act against Nadja’s doll?

Guillén: Such a diva. Yeah. Difficult. Late to set. She always has to be carried. I don’t know if it’s in her rider, but the doll has to be carried by two, like men-

Novak: Dressed in green.

Guillén: Dressed in green. Yeah.

Novak: I actually did have to do a couple of scenes where there’s a montage sequence with me and the doll and we actually got onto some really funny stuff. I was teaching her sword fighting, a bit of a spoiler, but it’s very quick. I don’t know if it made it in but I was teaching her sword fighting and then I was like, well, we might as well have a sword fight. And then she disarms me and then she chases after me and I run. But I don’t know if that made it in the cut. I just decided that would have been a funny thing to do. To be disarmed by this doll. I think Nandor has a soft spot for the doll. Obviously, it’s a cool bit of special effects that’s for sure. It’s awesome.

What will you be getting Colin Robinson for his hundredth birthday?

Novak: A new contract. You know, his management team has been slacking.

I was talking with Mark Proksch about the physical comedy and Harvey, yours is particularly perilous. What’s the choreography prep like and making those fight scenes hit their funny marks?

Guillén: Well, I think physical comedy is just as good as you know, anything we do, so I mean, a lot of us do physical comedy in the show, but you never see Guillermo really in motion to do physical comedy most of the time it’s because he’s always so put together. So even with the combat and fighting, the note that Jermaine gave me for the finale was, Harvey doesn’t know he’s been at this. All right. So he doesn’t know what’s happening. So it was more of an idea that his face is like “what’s happening?,” But his hands were coordinated and bad-ass, and that’s the way I’ve been playing him. And now that he’s coming into his own, now he’s more relaxed into his own power of Van Helsing. But it’s also funny. It’s just funny to see someone who’s like a baby duck, like learning to walk for the first time. It’s like he’s trying. And you know, so that physical comedy comes in hand.

Kayvan, can you tell me what it was like working against Aida Turturro and learning to love after, after 37 wives?

Novak: Aida was a riot, from day one. She was a fan of the show, which is always wonderful and incredibly flattering. She was so into the show, she was so into the world and into us as performers. And I think that just, she had so much fun when she was there and we had some intimate scenes. The first time you see us, she’s on her back and I’m on top of her. And that’s quite an introduction. But she just went with it, you know? And it was just a lot of fun, a lot of fun with her and yeah, we just spoke to her today actually, and she was singing the show’s praises again. And she’s genuinely so excited. She’s not keeping her cool or trying not to be a fangirl about it. She was just super enthusiastic to be there. And you feed off that. You love that.

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What We Do in the Shadows airs Thursdays at 10:00 p.m. on FX.

The post What We Do in the Shadows Season 3: Harvey Guillén Wants Buffy to Train Guillermo appeared first on Den of Geek.

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mirkwoodshewolf · 4 years ago

Text

Legend of the band; AU Ghost! Queen x teen reader

*Author’s note*

Hey guys well this is a story that's been going through my head for a few days. I was originally gonna save this before Halloween but I figure I just go ahead and post this now in case I lost it amongst all my other writings in the near future. So background on this story it takes place in present day and the band members of Queen are ghosts. Now I want to also put this out, I've inspired the ghosts designs from Guillermo Del Toro's film Crimson Peak. So just type in how the ghosts look and you'll see just why I've made the boys ghosts different colors.

Warnings: Swearing, death, slight attempted of assault (ALWAYS ASK PERMISSION BEFORE YOU TRY TO KISS SOMEONE), some horror elements?, fluff and angst.

*EDIT 7-27-20* NEW PARTS DOWN BELOW!!!

Part 2

Part 3

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things

@waddles03

@psychosupernatural

@ixchel-9275

@simonedk

@platawnic

@geek-and-proud

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels

@queendeakyy

@queensdivas

@kairosfreddie

@eileen-crys

_________________________________________________________

It started off as a dare-pact that my friends wanted to do. Every year around Halloween we try to do some sort of Halloween dare together whether it was going to a graveyard, using a Ouija board, or crashing a Halloween party in one of the upper class neighborhoods dressed as monsters and scare the shit out of them.

It was either one person or we would do it as the entire group and this year we decided to do our next Halloween dare as a group. The ringleader of the group Aaron gathered us up in our private clubhouse (his basement) and we were all gathered around to discuss just what we were going to do.

“Right, I call this meeting of the Halloween dare to order.” Aaron proclaimed.

“So what’s the plan for this year?” asked Brandon.

“How bout we go downtown and scare the little kids at the daycare during their Halloween party?” suggested Jake.

“No that’s just cruel even for us.” Said Amy.

“I agree.” I added. “Besides you just want to do that cause you’re little brother’s gonna be there, right?”

“So what? The little asshole got me into trouble last week. He deserves some payback.” Jake hissed.

“Alright Jake settle down. Okay so we had Amy and Susan do the Ouija board last year.”

“Which I still don’t forgive you guys. I swear I think my house is still haunted.” Susan said.

“Oh I’ve got it!” Proclaimed Brandon.

“Lay it on us Bran.” Aaron said.

“Three words for you guys. Rockfield. Farm. studios.” At that point everyone went silent.

“ARE YOU INSANE!?!?” exclaimed Amy.

“Yeah Brandon do you want to commit suicide or something!? Do you hate life!?” Jake snapped.

“Brandon, why in the fuck would you suggest that?” I asked.

“Oh come on! We’ve done practically the same stupid shit every time. Yeah sure the Ouija board could do some serious things but never have we actually tried to go to a real haunted house. So why not Rockfield farm?”

“Wait, I don’t get it. What’s Rockfield farm?” Susan asked. Susan was the recent member to join the horror crew when she moved here from Michigan. Almost no one wanted to speak that was until I finally told her the legend.

“Rockfield farm was used as a recording studio a long time ago. Like back in the 70’s. Anyway there was this up and coming band called Queen. You know the ones who made the song Killer Queen?”

“Oh yeah my mom still has her vinyl record of that album.” Susan said.

“Well anyway, in the summer of 1975 they went to record their next record. Legend says it would’ve been their greatest album yet. It could’ve really made them even more famous than they were. But—an accident occurred at that farm.”

“What happened?” she asked.

“Well that’s where the story gets a little iffy. There have been several theories throughout time on what happened.” I explained.

“One theory is that an electrical fire happened while the band was in the studio, and they couldn’t escape in time and ended up being burned alive.” Jake said.

“Another theory is that someone broke into the property and slaughtered the band mates in their sleep.” Amy said.

“A slightly different version to that theory is that it was actually the band’s assistant that killed them in cold blood. Apparently he was in love with the front man. And in rejection he slaughtered the whole band before killing himself.”

“Whichever story you choose to believe in, it is said that the ghosts of the band members still haunt the property to this day. And anyone who has entered inside, is never seen again.” Aaron finished.

“Which is why not even I will go there.” Jake emphasized.

“Oh what’s wrong Jake? Don’t got the balls to make a drive up there and spend the night in the haunted farm?” teased Brandon.

“Shut up arsehole! At least I have balls.” Brandon was just about to pounce on Jake when Amy stopped the two of them by pushing Brandon back onto the floor and I said.

“Look, I thought it was foolish enough to go to the graveyard at night. But this—this is foolishness. No way am I gonna be possessed by a ghost or anything like that.”

“You know what you guys are all chicken!” Brandon exclaimed. “We’ve done almost every single Halloween dare known to man and you lot are scared to go to a little haunted house in the country and spend the night there.”

“He’s right.” Aaron finally spoke up.

“I’m sorry what?” Amy snapped.

“He’s right. We’ve been pulling out the same stuff every year but with different people. There’s no real haunted places here in the city but Rockfield is the closest thing we can get to.”

“Thank you!” Brandon exclaimed.

“Aaron, I swear to god if you make me go to that place we are finished! Do you hear me finished!” Amy snapped as she walked right up towards her boyfriend of 3 years.

“Sorry babe, I’ve made my mind up. We’ll leave in 2 days. Meeting adjourned.” Oh god what has Brandon done?

Later that night I was staring up at the full moon from my window when my nana came in.

“I thought I had told you to go to bed sweetheart. You’ve got school in the morning.”

“Couldn’t sleep nana.” I said solemnly.

“Alright, what’s wrong?” she said as she came up and sat down next to me.

“Just something my friends want me to do.”

“Those troublemakers that always make you trespass on private property? Or crash a party? Honestly (y/n) I don’t know why you hang out with kids like that.”

“They’re my friends nana. They always got my back when I need them.” She sighed and surrendered.

“Alright, alright. But what’s gotten you so rattled up?” now I couldn’t really tell her just what was going on. She’d never let me go on a road trip to Rockfield farm so I had to think of something.

“They—they suggested going on a trip and…..I don’t like to leave you alone.” She smiled at me and tucked a strand of hair.

“Oh poppet. I maybe old but I’m not frail. How long are you planning on leaving?”

“It’s just for Halloween. We’ll be back the next day.”

“Okay then. Now even though I don’t approve of your friends behavior, I can’t stop you from going out Halloween night. Just promise you’ll stay out of trouble.”

“I will.” That’s a promise that not even I know how to keep. “And you’re sure you’ll be fine?”

“Yes, yes. And don’t worry, your father won’t hear a thing from me.”

“Really?”

“I’m his mother. I don’t have to tell him anything.” She winked at me. “Now go to sleep.” She lectured me before giving me a kiss goodnight and we both told each other I love you.

Two days later it was time. Right after school, we all piled in Brandon’s RV and we drove the long drive to the country side to Rockfield studios. Just as the sun was about to set, we finally arrived at the farm.

God it looks even more desolated and frightening than the pictures. The entire housing was swamped with vines, weeds, and any other ounce that Mother Nature could throw at it. The bricks at certain spots were chipped away or even rotting away (how that’s possible I don’t know).

We slowly walked up towards the main house and we just stood before it fearfully.

“Whose gonna go in first?” Amy asked.

“I vote our raining president of this idea Brandon.” Jake said.

“I second that.” Amy replied.

“Ditto.” Said Susan.

“Fine I’ll go in first.” Brandon said as he walked up the steps of the deck before standing before the front door. He just stood there, still as a statue before Jake cried out.

“Well go on smartass and go in already!”

“I’m going I’m going!” Brandon snapped back. He took the door handle and slowly opened the door which made an eerie creaking sound. He took one small step into the house before he was suddenly pulled in.

“BRANDON!” we all cried out. Soon we all piled into the house and it was so dark you could barely make out what was in front of you. The door suddenly slammed loudly behind us which made a few of us jump.

“Come on Brandon, this isn’t funny!” Jake called out.

“Brandon?” Aaron spoke up.

“Brandon seriously if this is a joke it’s not AHHH!!!” Amy spoke before suddenly screaming as something grabbed her. We all soon began screaming before a laugh rang out. Coming out from underneath a white sheet was Brandon.

“You guys should’ve seen your faces!” he laughed.

“You sick fuck who does that!?” Amy said as she began to punch him as hard as she could.

“That wasn’t funny Brandon.” I scowled.

“It was pretty funny!”

“Guys I think I found the light’s switch.” Susan said as she then flipped a switch on and soon the lights came on.

“Okay so we’re here now. Why not have a look around?” Brandon suggested.

“Man do you not know your horror film goofs!? If we split up, the ghosts will hunt us down one. By. one. Starting with the good looking comedy relief guy, me!” Jake proclaimed.

“Get a grip Jake! We’ll split up into pairs. Amy and I will go together and take the barn. (Y/n) you and Susan…..”

“Oh hell no. I can’t even stand to be near Brandon right now!”

“Oh what you a wittle scaredy cat Jakey-wakey?” Brandon teased.

“SHUT UP!!!”

“Alright! Jake you and (Y/n) go take the living room, and Susan you and Brandon can take the upstairs.” Aaron said breaking up the fight with the boys. I rolled my eyes cause I knew Jake was gonna try to flirt around with me (he’s been doing that since the start of secondary school).

“I can dig with that.” Jake said as he came right up beside me.

“Do you seriously hate me Aaron?” I muttered before we finally split up.

Jake and I came to the living room and saw a small piano right there in the middle of the room, and jointed next to the living room was the kitchen.

“Pretty spooky huh? Just imagine if this piano started playing on its own. But no worries (Y/n), if you get scared you can hold onto me and I’ll protect you.”

“My hero.” I muttered sarcastically. It was then something caught my eye. I walked towards a table to see what looked like an old photo album. I blew away the dust and wiped the cover to see the writing say.

PROGRESS ON LATEST ALBUM

“Whatcha got there?” Jake said as he came up to me and shined his phone flashlight down on the photo album.

“It’s an old photo album book.” Jake scoffed.

“Wow. The only person who has stuff like that are my parents. Man thank god we have technology nowadays. Otherwise no one would get to see my handsome face.” Why does this man even exist? Seriously I don’t see why all the girls on the cheer squad go for him?

“And what a shame that would’ve been.” I muttered as I opened the book up.

“I know right?!” I turned the next page and there were a few photos of Queen inside a recording studio of sorts and below it a caption that spelled,

AT HARD WORK WITH THE LADS. R.M.T.

“What does RMT stand for?”

“I don’t know. Could be some sort of acronym or something. Maybe initials for a name.”

“Well you’re an expert on all those old guys that existed back in the Medieval ages. What were the names of the band that died here?”

“It wasn’t the Medieval ages Jake. It was 40 years ago. And I don’t really know their names. I just know them as Queen.” I flipped to the next page to see a man with long black hair at the piano and the caption under that said.

FRED AT PIANO - Bri.

“Fred huh? He doesn’t look like a Fred to me. And who signs off with Bri?” I shook my head and continued to flip through the pages. Each picture were of the band doing certain things while recording or just being around the farm, and each picture was signed with initials RMT, JD, FM, or BRI. Finally the last picture was all four of them together.

“Check out the date.” I said. In the picture it read 8-13-75. “This was taken the day when the band died.”

“Holy shit you’re right. They must’ve taken this picture just before whatever happened, happened.”

“They look so young.” I said solemnly.

“Yeah. But if they had lived they’d be like—our grandparents by now.” Suddenly I heard a voice.

No wait it was—singing. I looked around trying to find out where the singing was coming from. It was—beautiful. Hypnotic almost. It was the most beautiful sound I ever heard.

“(/n). (Y/n)! Oi (Y/n)!” I was snapped out of it by Jake. “Jesus you looked like you were in a trance or something.”

“Was I? Sorry I….”

“No need to apologize. Hell if it was all about me, then maybe I’ll let it slid.” He said as he stroked up my arm.

“Jake! I’ve tried to let you down easy but please for the last time. I don’t like you that way! So stop with the flirting!”

“Oh c’mon (Y/n). What is there about me that you don’t like?” Gee where do I begin? “C’mon just give me a chance.” He walked closer to me but I tried to push him away.

“No Jake stop! Back off!” suddenly the fireplace just a few feet away from us ignited. The flames reached as high as they could and call my crazy but I thought I could see someone’s face in the fire. Jake jumped away from me and that’s when we heard the piano being played.

Play video

It was a random play on the keys at a very fast pace on the upper keys while also hitting a couple of the lower keys every now and then.

“What the f—” the piano then hit a single key for a couple of beats before finally changing tune to that of a marching tune. Like someone was coming towards you and you could just hear the beat of their footsteps.

Getting freaked out by the piano, Jake ran screaming out of the living room while I was just frozen in place. The fireplace suddenly turned off but there was still some sort of light. I slowly turned around and saw a yellow light ball shining right there. But it wasn’t just some random ball or something.

This was some sort of spiritual ball because I could see smoke slowly dancing around it as it floated before me. I wanted to run but I was either too scared or stunned by what just happened. It was then I heard the singing come back, and it was coming from this spiritual matter in front of me.

And I don’t know how or why but—it made me feel safe. Listening to the singing that came from this ball, it was like being wrapped up tightly in a warm hug. Or sleeping in your own bed, like the weight of the world has been dropped from you.

I soon found myself walking towards the yellow spirit ball. It moved backwards as I walked towards it. It floated towards the fireplace and I wouldn’t have known if I weren’t in my trance-like state once again, but the fireplace opened up to reveal a long corridor.

*3rd Person POV*

As Jake ran on ahead he soon tackled into someone and that someone ended up being Amy.

“What the hell Jake!? Get off me you perv!”

“Guys! Guys! Guys! P-p-p-p-pi….pi-gh…..(y/n)…..”

“Stop your blabbering and tell us what happened!?” Aaron said as he forced Jake off his girlfriend and helped her up.

“Piano……playing itself. Fireplace……flames go up.”

“What’s he blabbering about?” Brandon’s voice soon spoke up as he and Susan came around the hallway.

“Where’s (Y/n)?” Susan asked worriedly. They all looked at Jake who still had a look of fright on his face. They quickly raced towards the living room and they all gasped to see (Y/n) just about to turn right of the long corridor that stood them.

“What the hell!”

“Why did you leave her you dumbass!?”

“(Y/n)!” her friends tried to run after her but the fireplace soon closed back up and the flames were once again fully ignited. Soon coming out of the flames was a pure white figure.

His hair was all curly and long like a poodle. He wore a few necklaces 2-3 which were wrapped around his neck while the other one draped over his bare chest due to his shirt having a few of the buttons undone. But what had the kids most horrified was that this man was transparent.

Gentle wisps of smoke flowed from his hair, fingers, and even the cut along his cheek which seeped out small amounts of ghost blood. His eyes which were a pure dark grey stared right at the young teenagers and he let out a haunting whisper.

“She belongs……to us!” at that phrase the teens all screamed and ran off. The girls ran towards the backway while the boys ran up the stairs. The girls raced out towards the barn and hid underneath a hay cart.

“Was that a……” Susan started off.

“No! It couldn’t have been! It’s impossible!” Amy exclaimed in denial.

“Oh it’s entirely possible.” A male voice soon spoke up. They slowly turned their heads and saw another ghost.

Unlike the one they saw earlier, this one was a blue spirit with haunting ocean like eyes. His hair was long and flowing and he wore a smug grin on his face. Susan and Amy were in gawk at this ghost. “Now, now ladies I know I’m a looker but there’s no need to stare.”

They then screamed as they tried to get out but just before they could leave the barn, the doors suddenly shut.

“Leaving so soon? Oh that’s not fair. Not before I’ve had the chance to know your names. God it’s been so long since female company have come to this farm.” Susan and Amy were terrified at the point. They tried to get the doors open but it was all in vain.

Suddenly they felt themselves being levitated up in the air and the ghost appeared before them and said in a low, haunting tone.

“And the three of us are gonna have such fun together.” Only the piercing, terrified screams of the girls echoed through the barn.

Back in the house, Brandon, Jake and Aaron all headed for the basement in one of the tightest rooms the house had. They all panted heavily and Aaron said.

“Did—you guys see what I saw?”

“You mean that curly haired ghost that just said (Y/n) belongs to them. No.” Brandon said.

“Same.” Jake said. The room suddenly got colder than it was, so cold in fact that the boys could now see their breath. It was then Jake suddenly felt something pick him up by his throat. He squirmed in the grip of the invisible force.

“Jake!” Aaron called out but then suddenly he and Brandon were pushed up against the wall and they couldn’t move. No matter how much they squirmed, they couldn’t budge an inch. Suddenly Jake was thrown down onto the small rickety bed and that’s when he appeared.

A fully black ghost with long hair. He looked younger than the last ghost they saw but there was something about him that felt—angry. The young black ghost turned to Jake and his voice which was a soft, honey like tone say.

“If I remember, No always means No. No matter who it is.” He slowly crawled on top of Jake pinning his arms down. “But since you can’t seem to understand what it feels like to be in such a vulnerable position, maybe I should show you.” by the end of his statement his voice suddenly got lower, darker. Almost sinister.

Through Jake’s eyes he saw as this ghost’s face actually morphed into the Devil himself. Burned and scarred with pure red and black eyes. Jake screamed in pure terror.

*My POV*

I kept following the light as well as the voice. The beautiful, soulful, most angelic voice. God it was—almost inhuman of how this voice could sing. With such gentleness but also control it when he belted out a note or a phrase.

The light ball quickly faded away and had now become a record player with an album that stood right up against it. I slowly reached out for it and it read.

QUEEN

A NIGHT AT THE OPERA.

As I held it in my hands there was a moment where I heard screaming. Wait my friends? They were……

“Play the record darling.” The voice soothed me. I felt a gentle caress under my chin. I closed my eyes and took out the record and placed it on the record player. “Play it, play it. You know you want to.” The voice continued to coo. I turned the record on, lifted the needle but just before I could place it at the top the voice whispered to me again, “Lower.”

I adjusted the needle as the voice continued to whisper lower again and again softly in my ear.

“There!” it suddenly hissed out which frightened me and forced me to let go of the needle and soon a quartet of voices soon began to sing with no instrument backup.

Play video

My god. This……this really was Queen. I mean I’ve only really heard a few of their songs but this was definitely them. The way their voices melded together in perfect harmony. The piano soon came in and I sat down by the record player and just took in this song.

I literally felt like my soul was being sucked out as the vocals took me on a trip. Then the bass picked up as the leading front man started singing the song, the very voice I’ve been hearing from the spirit force earlier.

As the song continued to play and went on a brief instrumental break, I looked at the record to see just what this song was called because I hadn’t heard a single word that stands out except Mama. I then saw a finger point to the second to last song. I looked up and shocked to see one of the band member’s ghost right there with me.

His entire ghost form was the same yellow color as the spirit ball from earlier, his wild hair went down to shoulders and he had an overbite but somehow it worked on him. He looked pretty exotic (by that I knew he wasn’t from London, maybe India or something). He nodded and gestured to the song again. I looked down at it and read it out loud.

“Bohemian Rhapsody?” he smiled happily and soon a guitar solo came on. But along with that, I heard the same guitar playing the same notes, almost as if—holy shit!

A curly haired pure white ghost soon held a red guitar and began playing the exact guitar solo right there. I turned to the ghost beside me who was still smiling devilishly and he gestured for me to look back at the guitarist. As I watched the white ghost play the guitar, I was amazed and mesmerized by how he played the guitar.

As a Classic Rock fan I’ve seen the greatest guitar players such as Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Alex Lifeson, and Eddie Van Halen, but this guy—this was unlike anything I’ve ever seen a guitarist do or even play. It was like his guitar was actually singing a solo, instead of just being an instrument. Like it was a person, and she sang beautifully.

The song then went quiet as the lights went out and only a single piano note was now playing over and over. Soon the silhouette of the ghost that led me here stood before me as a single spotlight hit him. And I don’t know whether the vocals suddenly turned off or whatever but I could actually hear singing right there.

Next thing I know, the yellow and white ghosts are now joined up with a soft blue and pure black ghost. The four of them standing together in like a diamond shape patter with the yellow and white ghost at top and bottom respectively, the blue ghost was on my right while the black was on the left.

The four of them once again jointed in a quartet harmony before suddenly their voices boomed out like a canon firing. And I know it sounds crazy but I swear I think they duplicated themselves about a dozen times to get that full powerful choir sound. The blue ghost then started to sing in a really high falsetto tone while the yellow ghost backed him up on the lower range before making his voice waver.

This pattern continued as the front man sung again softly and then the other three ghosts (or copies) backed him up. Wow this song it’s—literally unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. The way it started soft before BAM exploding right in your face. Just like an Opera.

I bopped my head along to the beat softly to the beat and then when the rock out section came on. I’ll admit I banged my head as hard as I could (may come to regret it later but I didn’t care). The setting soon changed to an actual rock and roll concert stage and I saw all four of them up on the stage.

The black ghost on bass, the blue playing the drums, the white playing his guitar and the yellow one center stage, well more like everywhere as he strutted around and sung as loudly as he could.

I smiled and stood up and couldn’t help but jump up and down as I rocked out along with them. The yellow ghost soon went back to the piano and began playing it and as the four ghosts vocalized softly, the song slowly died off the hard rock and grew soft once again. The yellow ghost sang the last verse as the piano solely took over now just before the white ghost played his guitar for the last time.

Then when the soft bang of a gong, the song ended and the room went dark once more.

“That’s it? Oh come on please that can’t be the end of the song!” the lights soon came back on and I now found myself in a recording studio. The four ghosts all standing there. The yellow one came up to me with a soft smile and gently touched the center of my forehead with his index and tall fingers and I felt this warmth come over my yet again.

“We’ve got more songs than that dear, believe me. But this is the one we’re most proudest of.” His normal voice spoke to me.

“It was either that or I’m in love with my car.” The white ghost groaned out.

“I told you before Brian it’s a metaphor!” the blue ghost snapped.

“After all these years Roger it’s still unusual. What exactly are you doing to that car?” the black ghost sassed.

“Ignore him darling. He’s just a little peeved that after all the fussing and locking himself in a cupboard, his song didn’t get the chance to go on the B side to our single. Which is my masterpiece.” The yellow ghost told me.

“Umm…..not to sound cruel but, I mean I know you guys are Queen but uhh—what are your names?”

“Oh yes that. Silly me. You my darling may call me Freddie Mercury.” The yellow ghost introduced himself with a twirl.

“Brian May. Thank you again for giving us a chance to show you our hard work.” The white ghost introduced himself. Wow he sure was polite.

“Roger Taylor. And I must say my dear, you are quite adorable, especially when you let loose and rock out.” The blue ghost gave me a wink. Normally I wouldn’t give flirting a second glance, especially after Jake’s insistent flirting, but for some reason I couldn’t help but blush at his compliment.

“Please forgive him. He always goes crazy over a pretty girl. John Deacon it’s lovely to meet you.” The black ghost said as he gave me a greeting bow of his head. Freddie, Brian, Roger and John, these guys were the men behind Queen.

“It’s—an honor to meet you four. I’m (Y/n). So—all the times people have been coming into the studio, all you wanted was for someone to listen to your album?”

“Yes, but no one would stick around. All because we’re ghosts.” Freddie whined as he pouted and crossed his arms over his chest.

“And you were the only one who had any sense of musical taste.” Roger pointed out my Hendrix shirt. I rubbed the back of my neck and said.

“Yeah, kinda a music geek. Mostly through classic rock. But none of my friends—oh my god my friends! What did—those screams from earlier. What did you guys do to them?!”

“Take it easy lovie, your friends are safe and unharmed.” Roger assured me.

“Really?”

“Yes. I mean minus the fright we might’ve caused them, they’re completely fine. They’re passed out in that van of yours outside right now.” Brian said.

“Though Deacy dear, I must admit you truly traumatized that one young boy earlier. I could barely keep my hold on (Y/n)’s mind to bring her here cause of the screaming you had that boy doing.” Freddie said.

“Who? You mean Jake?” I asked.

“What he did to you back there. It—wasn’t right. If a woman says no, it means no.” John growled softly.

“Thanks John. I’ve tried telling him for years I never once liked him like that, but any chance we’re alone he tries to come onto me. I was getting sick and tired of it.”

“Well not to worries dear, I think from what John did to him, he’ll never bother you again for a long time.” Roger said as he ruffled John’s hair up. John pushed his hand off his head and he came up to me and asked.

“You sure he didn’t hurt you?”

“I’m fine, really. I’m okay.” He sighed in relief.

“Hey guys,” they all looked at me giving me their full attention. “I—I don’t mean to get personal with you all. But uhh……How did you guys…..forget it. You don’t have to answer it. It’s probably none of my business.”

“It’s not? Then why so interested?” asked Brian. He didn’t ask it out of annoyance, I could genuinely hear the concern in his voice.

“Well I was gonna ask, how did you guys—you know……”

“Die?” they all said together. I nodded.

“Well dear as much as we would like to tell you, we can’t.” Freddie said.

“Yeah I get it. I mean if I were in your shoes I wouldn’t either.”

“It’s not that (Y/n).” John said. I looked at him confused, “See while we remember some parts of our lives as humans. The day we died—that part’s fuzzy.”

“For decades we’ve tried to remember what had happened but every time we try it just—doesn’t come around.” Brian finished. Oh wow I never knew that that could happen when you become a ghost. Not knowing how you die and have to remain here on Earth.

“Tell us dear, what all has been said about our deaths?” Freddie asked me as he leaned sat down on the chair and rest his chin on his hand.

“Well there are several theories. The ones I know about are an electrical fire in this studio and you guys being trapped inside.”

“Sounds boring.” Freddie bluntly stated. The other three looked at him questioningly.

“What else?” asked Roger.

“Well another theory is that someone snuck in and massacred you guys. Some people even go into detail about the homicide and what happened to each of you. I—I was honestly heartbroken hearing that and cried.”

“Aww you sweet thing.” Freddie and Roger cooed.

“A slight alteration to that theory is that it was a—day to day manager you guys had was the one to kill you guys.”

“Oh him. Well we’re proud to say he’s no longer with us anymore.” Roger said.

“I think I remember that he also died along with us. And if he did, he’s right where he belongs cause we haven’t seen him since our death. Thank god.” said John. I softly smiled before letting out a soft yawn.

“It’s getting late, you should get some sleep.” Brian said to me.

“Where can I sleep at?” I asked.

“You could pick one of our old rooms.” Roger suggested.

“Just hope you don’t mind sleeping on rickety old beds.” Brian softly laughed. I softly laughed and said.

“Okay uhh…..John do you mind if I take yours?”

“Not at all. Follow me.” I followed behind him and we walked out of the recording studio and back to the main house. He walked down the steps to the basement and he said, “Just a word of warning, it’s small and it gets colder than the other rooms. You sure you still want it?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” We came to the bottom of the steps and I saw that it was indeed a tiny room. Kinda reminded me of my childhood room when my parents and I were living in a small flat.

“Again I apologize, I didn’t choose this room. Yet I’m bound to it for all eternity.” He said as he placed his hand on the dresser but it went right through it. “Kinda the price for being the youngest and most forgetful member of the band.”

“I never thought that.” He turned towards me. “From the songs I’ve heard on your three albums, your basslines are unique and easily recognizable. Especially this one song uhh—god it’s been awhile since I listened to it what’s it called…..Lies?”

“Liar?”

“That’s it! That solo is phenomenal.” He softly smiled and thanked me. I walked towards the small bed and tucked myself in suddenly feeling tired than I was before.

“Thanks again for allowing me to take your room tonight John.”

“Anytime. Sleep well (y/n).” I then shut my eyes and finally fell asleep.

*John’s POV*

I don’t know how to explain it. Normally I’d never allow anyone to try and sleep in my room. All the humans that have entered this farm whether on a dare or trying to discover the secrets of this place, I’ve made sure to keep out anyone by frightening them away.

But this young girl there was something—familiar about her. Was she—no. No that’s impossible. I’m crazy for even suggesting it, there’s no way that’s possible. It’s a one in a billion chances. I sat there in the corner of my room and watched her sleep, while trying to make sense on why I’m feeling this strange pull towards her.

*My POV*

2 weeks after that night, the guys actually gave me the Night at the Opera record and I was just amazed by all the songs it had, but my favorite song will always be Bohemian Rhapsody. But there was another song called ‘You’re my best friend’ (written by John) that had a special connection with me.

Right now I was helping my nana with some reorganizing in the attic when I came across an old box of stuff. I opened it up and was first greeted with some dust. I let out a sneeze as I wiped the dust out of my face before pulling out a beautiful wedding dress.

“Nana! What’s this?” she climbed up the stairs and when she saw me, her face grew solemn. She walked up towards me and knelt down beside me.

“Now this is something I haven’t seen in years. This—was my wedding dress.”

“It’s beautiful.” I said as I stroked through the fabric.

“Yeah. But oh did I look like a balloon in it. I was pregnant with your father at the time I got married.” She went through the box and soon pulled out a photo album and opened it up. “See, this was me on my wedding day with—with your grandfather.” I looked down and I was shocked.

There was her and John standing together. The two of them smiling as the picture was being taken. Her back to John’s chest and his arms wrapped around her pregnant stomach.

“It was a surprise, the pregnancy. And we were incredibly young but—John praised about becoming a father. But then…….” She stopped and wiped away her tears.

“Nana are—are you okay?” she sniffled and dabbed her eyes and said.

“Yes. Yes poppet I’ll be okay. Sorry. It’s just—so hard, even after over 40 years. He was my best friend, the love of my life. I wish your father talked more about your grandfather to you. Oh he would’ve loved you soo much dear. Spoiled you rotten probably.”

Oh if only she knew. Wow so—my grandfather is John Deacon. Wow that’s—not everyone can say something like that.

“What….what was grandfather like?” I asked her.

“Well, we met way back in 1974 at a Disco club. My friends and I were out for a girls night out when—” she then proceeded to tell me the entire story of how she and granddad met and fell in love.

Hearing it from her own voice, it was like something out of a fairytale. She and John really did love each other and it seemed like they would’ve stayed together forever had what happened to Queen not occurred.

“Did—the police ever tell you what happened?” I asked her.

“For years I tried to get them to give me an answer. But the case went cold and they just ruled it as accidental. I had to live with that heartbreak ever since. So I raised your father as a single parent because there wasn’t anyone like John Richard Deacon.” I leaned against her shoulder nuzzling her arm.

She wrapped her arm around my head and gave me a soft kiss to my head. Together the two of us sat there and she told me as many stories as she could remember between her and John.

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altalksaboutstuff · 4 years ago

Text

My Top 5 Games of the Past Generation Youtube Script Plus Notes

This is, more or less, the script for My Top 5 Games of the Past Generation video that I just published on Youtube: With the Xbox One and Playstation Four about to head out of the door to make ways for the Xbox Series X and the Playstation 5 respectively to lead us into the next generation of consoles were only Nintendo has been sitting comfortably with the Switch, the Wii U has been long gone and Nintendo also recently announced the official end of the Nintendo 3DS line cutting all the ties to this last generation. With that almost everyone is now releasing their lists of the best games of the current generation, myself included, I couldn't help but notice a lot of same-soundy lists such as Game Informer's top 5 list. I myself have to disagree with these, not to say that any and/or all five of those games on Game Informer's Top 5 aren't good, important or worth playing just that I don't think they are the best representative of this generation in terms of impact and wide appeal, so much as had the most money backing them. That these games on the list are more the best representative of the biggest Triple A titles. The games that I had in mind are more impactful on how this generation swayed and set new standards. I want you to keep in mind that while I liked some of these games, these aren't my personal top 5 of the past generation either but I think closer to what best represents our closing era of gaming, when I say the “best games of the current generation.”

First off I'd like to make an honorable mention of PT. PT or playable trailer was supposed to be a demo for the new Silent Hill S game that unfortunately never came to be for the Playstation 4 from Konami. A joint venture between film director Guillermo del Toro and the famous creator of Metal Gear Solid, Hideo Kojima, this demo spooked the pants off of everyone and was probably the reason a lot of people decided to buy a Playstation 4. Unfortunately Konami let Hideo Kojima go under less than favorable conditions and the demo vanished with him in time. Since then the immersive, first person perspective horror game demo changed the landscape of what survival horror could be. We then saw Resident Evil VII by Capcom, the Park by Funcom, Layers of Fear by Aspyr and Death Standing by Hideo Kojima's new studio Kojima Productions that were all heavily influenced by PT (this point made more obvious for Hido Kojima's Death Stranding) and the future of Survial Horror / Suspense games seems to be headed there with upcoming games like Resident Evil VIII: The Village. The only reason this isn't officially on the list is because, well, it was sadly never a game but its influence was too important for me not to mention.

Number 5: Sonic Mania. Ok so Sonic Mania isn't anything new but it is very important in the sense that it is a major franchise, Sonic, by a well established publisher, Sega, and they had officially given the keys of Mobius to the fandom to make a new game and it was fantastic. While that's oversimplying things a bit errr a lot, since Sega just didn't come out of the blue offering that opportunity. Rather Sega saw a Sonic game pitched by Christian Whitehead, aka Taxman, who worked on porting previous ports of Sonic games to Mobile platforms. Why I think it is important is that this validating the bridge between fandom and passion projects in world where game hacks and fangames are traditionally shut down almost immediately after gaining the slightest attention. While Sonic Mania isn't a fangame, its roots were deep from the Romhack community. This represents cracking the door between what the fandom produces and what the corporate offices allow being available to consumers in a world were popular fangames and hacks result in cease and desist orders - which is why I think is very important to put Sonic Mania as the number 5 game of this console generation.

Number 4: Rocket League. As of today, Rocket League is a now free to play game for better or for worse. Rocket League is high-octane fun, blasting balls across various courts and fields such as basketball and football with fast automobiles but what it is most well known for is basically soccer with cars. Rocket League is a lot of fun to play and has a large audience of in the streaming and esports field which would be reason enough to put this game in a top 5 but what this game marks maybe even more importantly is cross console online play. While other games have and do continue to have online play across systems, back in March of 2016 Microsoft was very interested in allowing online play between Xbox One and other consoles them being extremely hopeful for Playstation 4 in particular, however Sony was holding out. Sony was hesitant, citing their emphasis on providing a certain quality online experience but finally came to the party and in 2019 you could finally play Rocket League online with all your friends whether it be on PC, Xbox One, Switch, or Playstation 4. Since then we have had other games slowly roll out this feature such as Wargroove and the trend seems to be expanding. I hope to see all games adopt this in the future and since Rocket League “birthed” this concept coming to the table for cross console online play for us all to enjoy, this is why I think Rocket League deserves the number 4 slot.

Number 3: Bloodborne/Dark Souls III. This past generation and hell even to some extent decade, spanning to the PS3/Xbox 360, has lead us to compare every challenging game that comes out to Dark Souls. Cuphead is the Dark Souls of run and gun shooters, Dead Cells is the Dark Souls of Metroidvanias, Celeste is the Dark Souls of platformers, etc. While the meme of “X is like the Dark Souls of” is hard to find a concrete start, according to Google Trends this first seemed to spike in April of 2015 around the release of Bloodborne, the PS4 game created by FromSoftware. While not technically a Dark Souls game, it was made by the same team and the game play and feel is very Dark Souls in the sense that I feel the phrase is used today, in contrast to the first two Dark Souls games. Then we can see that in/and around October 2017 the trend has risen to its peak a little after a year and a half of the release of Dark Souls III. While this justification may seem more flimsy and ultimately the Dark Souls brand was established in 2011, I do think Bloodborne/Dark Souls III is more in the zeitgeist, if you will, of the “X is like Dark Souls” comparison that has shaped the conversation of so many games today.

Number 2: Undertale. Undertale is perhaps the darling of this generation. A game chock full of charm with multiple ways to approach it. Will you save everyone, sacrifice everyone, or something in-between? This game does look next gen, current gen or even comparable to past gen games until you hit perhaps the SNES or even late NES. Maybe a number 2 spot is too high on list – this game didn't revolutionize the industry in ways that the other games on this list did nor was it the first anti-RPG of its kind, that would probably go to MOON, but Undertale just had such a powerful impact on gamers when it came out and became so unforgettable. I feel like Undertale will be a game that we remember for a long time and to not include it in this list because its an indie game would be a real tragedy which segways me to my number 1 game.

Number 1: Shovel Knight. Shovel Knight is the indie game that, I think, lead to the current boom of retro inspired indie games we have been enjoying. A love letter to the NES games of the past such as Castlevania, Mega Man and Ducktales to name a few. Shovel Knight wasn't the first retro inspired indie games but I feel like the attention to detail in trying to stay as true to what the hardware could run in terms of look, color, sound and pixel art with its overwhelming success showed that there was a market for these type of games. Its success kickstarter in 2013 also showed that Kickstarter could be used as a viable platform to create indie games for a wider audience without having to rely on that Triple A model of good gaming synonymous with big budget corporate funding. I firmly believe that we wouldn't have the great retro inspired games like Celeste and Dead Cells or the Kickstarter'd Yooka Laylee and Bloodstained or games that did both like Blasphemous if it wasn't for the hard-work and ingenuity that Yacht Club Games paved with Shovel Knight.

To use a popular Youtube cliché to conclude this list, “At the end of the day” I didn't make this list to put Game Informer or anyone's personal preferences down. If you believe that they got the Top 5 games of the decade right that's perfectly ok and valid too, to have as your opinion. I also want to reiterate that those five games – The Last of Us Part II, the Witcher 3, Red Dead Redemption 2, Zelda Breath of the Wild and God of War are all important to this generation coming to a close as well in their own way. While this list isn't my favorite games of the past generation, maybe I'll do that in the future, they are my subjective “best games list” of the past generation for what I think they did to the industry and you are free to agree, disagree, pick and choose between my list and Game Informers list or make a completely different list of your own. I'm personally excited to see what the future of gaming has for us in this coming generation and optimistic for what's both around the corner and late into the next systems' life-cycle. Happy gaming to you however you play.

Webpages noted: https://www.polygon.com/2020/9/17/21443683/nintendo-3ds-discontinued-lifetime-sales-hardware-software-units

https://www.fandom.com/articles/sonic-mania-just-nostalgia

https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/15/15807138/sony-playstation-cross-network-play-xbox-block-response

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/were-ready-microsoft-says-about-xbox-one-ps4-cross/1100-6438654/

https://www.rocketleague.com/news/full-cross-platform-play-now-live-in-rocket-league/

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/yachtclubgames/shovel-knight

https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/DavidDAngelo/20140625/219383/Breaking_the_NES_for_Shovel_Knight.php

Games shown/referenced in the video:

The Last of Us Part 2

God of War

Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Red Dead Redeption II

Witcher 3

PT / Silent Hill S

Sonic Mania

Rocket League

Blood Borne

Dark Souls III

Undertale

Shovel Knight

Shantae: Half Genie Hero

Cuphead

Celeste

Yooka Laylee

Mega Man 2

Ducktales

Castlevania

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Blasphemous

Dead Cells

Resident Evil 7

Resident Evil 8

Moon

Layers of Fear

The Park

Death Stranding

Bonus Footage:

Xbox Series X reveal trailer

PS5 reveal trailer

Also note: I messed up in the original video and said the phrase, “X is like Dark Souls of” spiked in April of 2015 when I should have said first peaked in January to April of 2015. I noted it in the video but wanted to note it again, sorry.

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