#Theater kid Nathaniel Benedict

[myfairkatiecat]

If further proof was needed that Nathaniel Benedict is a theater kid—

he could have changed his name to a n y t h i n g, and he chose Ledroptha Curtain.

Ledroptha Curtain

as in a pun

for let’s drop the curtain

If that isn’t proof that this man is a theater kid idk what is

[nobodysdaydreams]

Do you have any crackfic ideas?

Oh boy oh boy anon... indeed I do...

Picture this: It could either be called "The Ballad of Nathaniel Benedict" OR "The Final Curtain"

Read on if you want me to blow your mind.

The show is the same as always, but LIVE is a theater school and Nathaniel is obsessed with becoming a ✨star✨ and the season 2 hypnotizing people to applaud for him is just part of that.

He puts on a show about his own life that is filled with blatant lies. Like, comedically exaggerated lies, like he makes himself out to be a saint.

Meanwhile, Jackson and Jillson take this play so seriously. They are running around screaming at everyone for not getting the choreography down fast enough. SQ is just happy to paint sets and train the animals (yes Nathaniel has doves involved in this) and hopes his father won't make him perform much (he is cast as young Nathaniel as well as himself).

Nathaniel hypnotizes the people in the compound and the society adults to sing and dance and play various roles in the production (Miss. Perumal as the orphanage director, Milligan as a Nathaniel written evil version of his chemist self, Number Two and Rhonda as various people who are grateful for all the good Nathaniel has done and praise his every move etc.).

Nicholas is the villain in this fake show about Nathaniel's own life, but he's hypnotized so he's playing the villain role willingly and within Nathaniel's vision, which is super over the top. Nicholas' character has a lair, wears an evil dark cape, and repeatedly says stuff like "BAH! I hate humanity!" and "My brother will suffer! I shall kidnap his son and spread vicious lies about him!" and he has Darth Vader type entrance music. Meanwhile, Nathaniel has written himself as this over the top good guy victim persona and has around 50 solos.

Garrison is in the compound somehow and forced to be in the play against her will. She's forced to participate, but not hypnotized, so she reads her lines robotically with no emotion and her under acting and unenthusiastic dancing plus Jeffers' bad acting and horrific dancing (Jeffers plays Tommy Jacobs in addition to himself and forgets a lot of his lines or says the wrong thing) clash so strongly with everyone else's hypnotized performances, as well as Jackson and Jillson's oddly impressive dance moves, and Nathaniel's over the top antics.

The kids kidnap Nathaniel during the intermission, allowing Garrison to escape and leaving Jeffers to stall. Jeffers takes this opportunity to try out his standup routine. He's really bad.

Meanwhile, Nicholas is still hypnotized and insists on singing over the top villain songs (because that's the role Nathaniel gave him) the entire ride to Number Two's house, but since he was told to play a villain, he takes the "kidnap your brother" thing pretty well, because they convince him it's a part of the show and a last minute rewrite and there's no audience anymore because it's a movie now and the cameras are hidden. And whether Nicholas is still hypnotized to pretend to be an evil theater villain or pretending to be hypnotized, it's incredibly funny when Curtain wakes up to see his brother standing over him like "nah ha ha...at last...I've captured you. And now brother, I've won. Now, I shall take all your accomplishments, your son, and your well-earned love and glory for myself and leave you to rot!" and Curtain's like "Nicholas...this isn't until act 4. And we need to get back to the stage." Meanwhile, Nicholas stays committed to the bit and refuses to break his assigned "character". When he freezes, Curtain cries and says "Please you have to come back. You need to fix this. The people expect an encore! They're probably so exhausted waiting for us to come back and perform! Our audience needs you Nicholas!" and the fic cuts to people booing and throwing fruit at Jeffers as he nervously tries to play the recorder to calm them down.

The brothers put aside their differences and realize there's only one way to save the show. By working together.

The fic ends with them going back and putting on a great show, that ends with the cops showing up and hauling Nathaniel off to the slammer for some hard time. But Nathaniel does get to sing a heartbreaking farewell song that moves the audience to tears, and say goodbye to SQ and his brother one last time.

And there you have it anon. My masterpiece. This cheered me up immensely. Thank you so much anon! 🥰

[nobodysdaydreams]

Dear God I hope not.

did u kno: ur icon is actually you in 20 years

[mvshortcut]

For the character bingo, Nathaniel Benedict/Ledroptha Curtain (beloved despised theater kid) and SQ (precious bird loving artist)!!

Hope you’re having a wonderful evening :)

Thank you so much!!

Mister :) Curtain:

And SQ our son:

[bi-demon-ium]

@suppenzeit your tags on that gifset..... im tagging you because i dont wanna clog up someone elses gifset post thing but like. I TOO WONDER EVERY DAY what would have happened had kate not knocked those guys out and he’d successfully kidnapped mr benedict. i know i’ve talked about it before (i think on one of the Long Post(TM)s?) but like just??? 

okay first of all on the crack side of things: you KNOW curtain has a whole evil monologue planned. he has a dramatic window to silhouette against and turn around for the dramatic reveal. he’s got the perfect chair and restraints picked out for him to be tied to. etc. this is all Incredibly Dramatic theater kid of him.

on the other hand, ANGST. like. at this point mr benedict has no idea curtain has anything to do with this. at this point as far as he knows his brother has been missing for almost 30 years. he hasn’t seen him since that fateful day, he doesn’t know anything about him. 

so like. mr benedict waking up and like. seeing his brother? realizing? hes happy to see him but then like. realizing what’s going on and the hurt, the heartbreak and guilt and anger, all of it just. there. 

or like. curtain is expecting--well, shock, anger, or self righteousness, maybe he even thinks benedict has figured it out by now (he doesn’t seem shocked when mr benedict knows in the finale, but to be fair, by then he knows about the Child Spies so) so he expects anger and self righteousness but instead like. first shock. then pure joy. like genuinely his brother looks so happy to see him. and then confusion (he’s tied up) and then realization (the people that took him, they were there for plans he was fighting, they hurt his friends, they hurt him, and his brother sent them--) and then just. genuine heartbreak. maybe if he wasn’t looking right at him for the first time in years he’d be angrier but all he can think is nathaniel, nathaniel, nathaniel and this is my fault, i abandoned you, and what have you done? 

and curtain was not expecting this, somehow, he’s a dramatic ho and had planned for the classic supervillain monologue hero tries to be like self righteous but instead his brother is just like [crying] nathaniel?????? 

(also very funny is the image of curtain being like *striking a dramatic pose silhouetted against the dramatic window* hello, nicky. 

and he’s picturing his brother will straighten up and go into a self righteous rant about heroism and not hurting people or whatever but instead he just takes one look at him and Bursts Into Tears. and curtain is like. I Did Not Plan For This. benedict is like i want to get out of these ropes so i can hug you you stupid idiot. he is not even processing what all this means imagine waking up and your brother who you havent seen in 30 years is just There. it is so awkward. jeffers and any guards in the room awkwardly look away.) 

like obviously for the overall plot implications this is bad, like, mr benedict is kind of the leader and helps them figure out intel and shit by knowing about curtain and more (not that they’re incapable without him but like, a) they also incapacitated the others most likely, and b) he did figure out some important stuff that helped, and c) i dont know if the kids ever got there) but like...... just on the idea of this moment happening, him waking up and finding out this guy he was fighting was his brother the whole time, that his brother knew, that his brother hurt his friends and kidnapped him, that his brother was doing all of this, and that his brother was standing right in front of him making that stupid face he always made when he won a game of chess, and he missed him but also what the fuck and also is this his fault and AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA im losing my mind <3

[myfairkatiecat]

10, 11, 12, 14, 19, & 40 for the Ask Game!!!! Pick and choose whichever one(s) you'd like, I just got super excited and had to talk myself down from asking all of them :)

I hope you are having a lovely day!! And don't forget to drink some water, please <3

Thank you for the reminder to hydrate as always!

Alright, here we go:

10. Cltr+f "blinks" on your WIP & copy paste the first sentence paragraph that comes up.

Lol I did this and I don’t think this is what was supposed to come up lol. This is from my theater kid Nathaniel Benedict AU:

“This used to be endearing. But now, at the MENTION of a new musical, you’re out the door in the blink of an eye!”

“Multiple blinks, actually, I don’t have superspeed Nicholas.”

11. Link your three favorite fics right now

Alright then:

@nobody33333333 yes this is one of my favorite fics right now and ALWAYS, it’s just too amazing!!

I just stumbled across this while looking through some tags and like—it’s gold?? From like three years ago? I never knew I needed parks and rec references in a tolkein fanfic but here we are. It’s basically Pippin being rich and also he’s never had a real job in his life—

@mvshortcut I’m STILL screaming over this

Of course there are way more fics that I love right now but these are probably my top three atm!

12. how does receiving or not receiving feedback/ support impact you?

Feedback and support is honestly a big part of my motivation. If I love what I’m writing but I’m the only one who loves it, it definitely takes me longer to write then when everyone I know on tumblr and ao3 is sending lovely comments and encouraging my writing. Sophie, your comments ESPECIALLY are top tier motivators!!

14. how do you write emotional scenes? Do you ever feel what the characters feel? Do you draw from personal experiences?

I read enough source material and fanfic to seriously immerse me in their emotions, and if I have a sudden epiphany like *guys they’d be feeling that emotion* I post about it vaguely, consume every tag any of my lovely mutuals leave on it, let that feed the writing juices, then just sit in the angst and let the words come to me. I can find the words pretty well once I’ve obsessed over their feelings long enough!!

19. What’s the most used tag on your AO3?

Humor, apparently, which I didn’t realize but actually makes sense. Lighthearted silly fanfic is my specialty! Let’s call humor my major and intense angst my minor ;)

40. If someone were to make fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you hope to see?

I would honestly go insane if anybody made fanart of my Star Wars time travel fic “Rebel Pilot” with just all of the different time traveled people from across the different time periods just standing in the same room looking confused. Also, if anybody made fanart of my fanfic with the Benedict twins hugging—I don’t care which angsty Benedict twin fanfic, just one of the scenes where they hug while both being visibly in tears—I literally would be so happy I’d scream. I’m not really an artist, though I do apparently go through kicks where my mind decides we’re drawing, so someone else putting visuals to a scene I love would be a dream come true!

Thanks for the ask Sophie—this was lots of fun!

[myfairkatiecat]

For the bingo game, SQ, Constance, and of course, our favorite/least favorite theater kid, Nathaniel Benedict. I hope you’re having a lovely day!

Hope you are having a wonderful day as well! Thank you for these :)

SQ:

Constance:

And yes, our favorite theater kid ever: Nathaniel Benedict!!

Lots of *conflicting feelings* like I love him and I hate him and I could fix him or I could make him worse I could do all the things and for some reason I just want him to be ok and get a hug and I probably shouldn’t want that and IRL I’d probably hate him but nope I’m in a fandom so I just want what’s best for him despite that part where he’s a terrible person until the last episode of season 2 😭😭

Thank you for the ask!!!

[myfairkatiecat]

ALSO!!!

You very much do not have to do anything with this, but your ideas have been stimulating my ideas, and I really needed to share this with you:

"Watch What Happens" IS A MISS PERUMAL SONG

(Especially when she's looking for Reynie/deciding whether to trust Mr. Benedict and co.)

YES

YOU ARE C O R R E C T

[nobodysdaydreams]

Since Curtain publicly lied on tv about the emergency, his inventions, and Dr. Garrison, do you think that after his redemption, Nathaniel had to go give one of those celebrity fake apologies on tv?

[myfairkatiecat]

#or with his natural theater kid tendencies sated does he refrain from crime

@sophieswundergarten

This is the true question isn’t it 😂😂

Weird Crack Reversal AU of some sort where instead of becoming a supervillain Nathaniel runs away from the orphanage and joins the circus like Kate

[nobodysdaydreams]

Nathaniel Benedict/Ledroptha Curtain (TMBS) and Count Olaf (ASOUE) are proof that mentally unstable former theater kids with sad backstories make the most entertaining villains, especially when their main adversaries are genius children they lose to every episode. And one of them is canonically a literal toddler/baby.

[nobodysdaydreams]

TMBS Fairytale AU Show Version

Based on this lovely post by @cronch-goes-the-weasel and this awesome post by @sophieswundergarten and also this post that was one of the first posts I've ever made because for some reason I really liked the idea of SQ as a Disney Prince and thought the world should know about it, so much so, that I decided to get a tumblr just so I could tell people.

Warning: The content of this AU is long and insane. Reader discretion is advised.

Premise: As I have developed this story, some characters have no magic powers, some have magic powers that they have to study to learn how to use, and others have naturally occurring magic powers, to various degrees. Just roll with it, my brain is excited, but exhausted. Here we go.

Nicholas and Nathaniel are two poor orphan boys that grow up in a local orphanage, with no knowledge of where they came from. The boys both love studying magic and try to get their hands on any spell books they can find. Nicholas is adopted by a fairly well off family while Nathaniel is left behind.

Flash forward to years later, and Nathaniel has become an evil wizard who has taken over the world and declared himself king. He has a special school and is currently recruiting the most powerful magical or otherwise talented children to go through lifelong training to serve on his court and be his knights. His brother Nicholas, a kind-hearted and humble, but scattered brain wizard is the only one who can stop him.

The players in the story:

The Bad Guys:

Nathaniel/Curtain: Evil Wizard King. It's exactly what it sounds like.

Garrison: Chief member of Curtain's court (his right hand woman), and expert in all types of magic. She often advises Curtain against using dangerous magic, but he rarely listens. If we want to bring mythical creatures into this, I could see her being part fairy (more specifically an evil or outcast fairy).

Jeffers: Head of Curtain's current army (the greys). He can't use magic, but likes to think that he might be able to one day and attempts to do so often (it never works).

Jackson and Jillson: Curtain's jesters. They entertain him by doing little songs, dances, and puppet shows for the court, which Nathaniel Benedict, professional theater kid, appreciates. If we want to bring mythical creatures into this, they can be elves/part elf or some sort of quirky woodland creatures).

SQ: Prince and heir to the evil throne. His father teaches him magic (but not too much) and rarely lets SQ go outside or leave and explore certain parts of the castle. He spends most of his time painting and talking to wild animals in the gardens.

Martina: one of the best students Curtain has recruited and on track to become a knight and the head of his army.

The Good Guys:

Nicholas: a self-taught wizard/magic user who refuses to use dark or evil magic

Number Two: Wanted to be a knight ever since she was a little girl. She trained for years, and eventually became a knight that specializes in axe throwing.

Rhonda: a self-taught apothecary and healer that specializes in healing magic.

Milligan: man who was taken in by the team when he showed up on their doorstep with no memory. He has the sigil of what he believes to be Curtain's kingdom's symbol tattooed on his wrist and worries that this means he might have been a bad person once. Later, he has flashbacks of living and working in a palace with other higher ups, including Curtain, and fears the worst.

Reynie: An orphan boy who is ostracized by the others for being able to study magic. He answers Nicholas' advertisement hoping to gain the ability to study and develop his ability.

Miss. Perumal: Reynie's magic tutor who teaches him how to use his powers. She has some abilities herself, and if we want to bring mythical creatures into this, I could see her being part fairy.

Sticky: the high achieving son of deceased nobles who is under tremendous pressure to inherit his family's land and manage the family estate as his mother and father once did. He'd prefer to use his gift of intellect to study and help others, but his extended family insists that this is his destiny and he must spend his time learning things like manners and the ways of high society so he's ready when he comes of age. Sticky, feeling trapped and under pressure, sees Nicholas' advertisement, and runs away to answer it.

Kate: her main backstory doesn't have to change. She is a performer that goes from village to village in a traveling circus. She believes that she was abandoned by her father, who she recalls used to be some sort of knight. Eventually, she begins to long for more than circus life, and dreams of becoming a knight herself (but a good one. Not a bad one like the father who left her). She sees Nicholas' advertisement and decides to answer it.

Constance: She's extremely gifted in magic without ever having studied it, but she has no idea why. She can't remember much of her past and has been kicked out of orphanage after orphanage for things like accidently enchanting her bully's desk to be filled with bugs (Constance did not always mean to do this, but her emotions tend to manifest into real world events). Desperate to understand herself, she too answers the advertisement.

Now for the drama of it all. Nicholas discovers that the dark wizard that has cursed the land and declared himself king is in fact Nathaniel his brother. Meanwhile, the children have infiltrated Curtain's school and discover that Curtain plans to tighten his grip on the world by casting a final dark spell that will recruit all lords and ladies (the noble class, people with money, land, and influence), magic users, and knights to his side or otherwise will curse all who resist and leave them poor, alone, destitute, and without their memories or powers. However, Curtain has been struggling to get the spell to work and discovers that certain types of ancient magic can only be translated or understood by children (Nobody knows why. And I haven't thought that far ahead. Potential future twist maybe? But it explains why Curtain needs the kids).

Anyway, Curtain sees that Reynie seems to have a gift for magic and Sticky is quite knowledgeable when it comes to reading ancient texts. So he gives the boys an opportunity to study under him personally. At first, he identifies with Reynie as an misunderstood orphaned magic user and dismisses Sticky because he can tell by his manners and his knowledge of high society that he comes from money (like those rich snobs who adopted Nicholas). But eventually, Curtain realizes that Reynie is too hesitant to use dark magic (if you're hesitant to use it, it doesn't work as well), so he focuses on training Sticky as his apprentice, telling Sticky that he simply wants to learn more about the land's dark history so as not to repeat the mistakes of the past. His goal is to get Sticky to decipher the codes and spells for him, and then Curtain can hopefully use his own magic to cast the spell, or if he must convince another child to do so, find one that is powerful enough and willing to cast the spell. Curtain also casts his own spells that give Sticky good feelings and make him want to comply. While under the influence of the magic, Sticky figures since he's just really intelligent, but doesn't use magic himself, then what's the worst that could happen if he helps Curtain translate a few things? After all, working with him will enable him to get more information about his plans.

Meanwhile, Martina and Kate are training as knights and develop a rivalry that turns to unlikely friendship that is torn asunder when Martina realizes Kate has been a spy. Constance has been doing her best to hide her powers ever since the children realize Curtain is looking for powerful children for his work. However, since she isn't good at tests like Sticky or the training to be a knight like Kate, she is placed under the care of Jackson and Jillson (who find her to be a delightful small child) in order to train to be an entertainer and court jester. Constance hates every minute of this, and lessons include juggling, puppeteering, and joke telling. Sometimes her powers do activate and cause chaos, but Jackson and Jillson believe this is part of the performance and a testament to her talent. SQ, fed up with palace life and ready to enter his Disney Princess™️ era, sneaks into the part of the palace his father has reserved for his school and pretends to be a regular student. While there he befriends Reynie and eventually learns of his father's true plans, but Reynie still never learns that SQ is the king's son (indeed, most people are only vaguely aware Curtain even has a son, and most imagine him to be this super powerful and intimidating guy).

The main conflict (basically season 1): There is a final fight between the children and Curtain where Constance reveals her powers. Curtain sees an opportunity to use her for his spell, but she overpowers him. Martina and Kate duel and Kate wins, offering Martina a chance to come with them, but Martina angrily refuses, humiliated to have been defeated, and calls Kate a coward for not finishing her off. Kate replies that that's not who she is, and she doesn't believe that's who Martina is either. Martina says that Kate doesn't know her.

Nicholas shows up at the palace to confront Curtain, who is still angry about what happened between them and claims that putting the world under his order is what is best. Nicholas is shocked that his brother has done this, because Nathaniel never used dark magic when they were kids, both of them believing it was dangerous and evil. Nicholas asks his brother what changed, and Curtain tells him that he grew up and realized that the "power of love" and "good magic" can't solve everything and that some people need to make necessary sacrifices. Nicholas seems heartbroken, and Curtain, in a strange moment of sentimentality, offers Nicholas a chance to join him in exchange for forgiving his friends and family of their transgressions against him. Nicholas refuses, and Reynie and Sticky succeed in undoing some of the dark spells Curtain has cast over the world. Realizing he is losing his control, Curtain responds by casting a simple sleeping spell on Nicholas and escaping with his followers (all other bad guy characters mentioned). Everything plays out much like it does in the show, with Kate and Milligan realizing that they are father and daughter.

Now season 2. Curtain kidnaps Nicholas and brainwashes him to join him and help promote his rule, claiming that Curtain's magic and his rule are good things. The others try to save him. Meanwhile, Martina begins to have doubts about their mission and voices them to Jackson and Jillson, who assure her that she is doing the right thing.

SQ confronts his father with the information he has learned only to be repeatedly dismissed and told that he must trust that this is for the best. SQ instead does some snooping on his own and discovers that his birth parents were once rulers of an island nation and that Curtain was their friend and advisor on their court. He then assumes that Curtain must have used dark magic to betray them, kill them, and take over. Terrified, he runs away under the cover of night, and eventually bumps into Reynie, the only person he remembers meeting at the Institute. The kids explain that they are going to rescue their leader, Mr. Benedict, who wants to stop the dark wizard (Curtain) from taking over the world. SQ, learning his father has a twin for the first time, makes the split second decision to join them in their mission, while wondering what else his father has lied to him about. The children discover that SQ can do some simple spells that his father taught him, is pretty well educated, and although not exactly athletic, does know some basic fighting techniques. SQ teaches them what he knows, and they teach him things he doesn't know.

Meanwhile, Curtain's spell that he used to make Nicholas join him and comply begins to have disturbing side effects. He goes to Garrison for help, but she tells him that she warned him against using that kind of magic, and that it can't be reverse. He tells her that he will find a way, no matter what it takes. He then discovers his son is missing, and when he's spotted with the society, Curtain claims (and believes) they've kidnapped and brainwashed SQ and offers a reward to capture and bring them to the palace. This leads the others discover that SQ is Curtain's son. At first, they worry he's a spy, but SQ eventually convinces them that he's on their side, and that he is ready to fight his father and figure out the truth.

The kids show up to stop Curtain. Martina fights SQ at first, and is about to beat him, when Kate saves him by distracting Martina. Martina fights Kate again and this time she wins, but can't bring herself to kill Kate, admitting that Kate was right about her and about Curtain. Martina then decides to join them, much to the dismay of Jackson and Jillson, who blow trumpets alerting the greys of their arrival. Jeffers and his men show up to fight Martina and Kate (and Milligan and Number Two, who show up just in time).

Reynie, Sticky, Rhonda, and Miss. Perumal try some spells to help Mr. Benedict, but it doesn't work. Then Curtain and Garrison show up. Curtain puts a simple sleeping spell on Rhonda and Miss. Perumal. The boys are horrified, but Curtain explains that they will awaken in a few hours, once they've been escorted to their cells. The boys demand to know what will happen to Mr. Benedict. Garrison tells them they have no hope of helping Nicholas and that she warned Curtain this would happen. Curtain angrily replies that he gave her everything, including a chance to develop and practice her magic with no limitations, but she was only interested in holding him back, and she shouldn't pretend to care about his brother. The boys, realizing that Curtain does care about Mr. Benedict, try to convince him to turn good, but he replies that he is good and they are the ones that need to change.

He freezes the boys with magic and is about to cast a spell on them, when Constance arrives and challenges Curtain to rematch. The original plan was to have Constance only intervene if necessary, because the others suspected that after last time, Curtain and Garrison might have figured out a way to siphon off her magic. Curtain, hungry for power and realizing that taking her magic might enable him to both save Nicholas and keep his power, offers Constance a deal. Join him, give up her magic, and help him save Nicholas and he'll release her friends. He even does a truth spell on himself to verify he is telling the truth (idk if the narcolepsy thing is in this, this is already so much I don't want to add more, but if it is, he falls asleep and this verifies that he's telling the truth). Constance is about to agree, when SQ bravely runs in and challenges his dad to a duel of magic and sword. Curtain, who does not recognize his son with a helmet over his head, believes this is just some random knight and tries to magic him away, but finds to his surprise that this random knight has some fairly good countering spells. So they duel a bit, but Curtain gets the upper hand. In frustration at his plans being delayed, Curtain begins casting a painful and damaging spell on SQ, causing him to groan and scream in pain, at which point, his helmet falls off. Curtain immediately drops his hands, horrified at what he's done, and runs to his son's side. SQ weakly asks if this is what his father did to his birth parents. Curtain vehemently denies it, shocked his son would ask that, and it's heavily implied that something went wrong in the past that resulted in Curtain trying to use dark magic to fix it, but that ultimately, he wasn't powerful enough, and it resulted in the deaths of SQ's birth parents (I guess this is an SOS AU now. I don't know anymore).

Curtain asks SQ why he would turn against his own family, and SQ tells his father about how trapped he felt in the sheltered palace life Curtain had set up for him and how betrayed he felt that his father had kept so much from him. Curtain replies that he was only ever trying to protect him. SQ starts growing weaker and weaker as Nicholas' side effects start getting worse. Garrison is sad to see them both in pain and dying, but tells Constance and Curtain that she's not powerful enough to fix it, and that most of the magic that would is too powerful, even for any of them. Curtain, upon hearing this, attempts a spell that will exchange his own life for SQ's, but finds he's not powerful enough to use it, and that the dark magic he's been using has left him too corrupted to effectively cast a self-sacrificing spell. Curtain starts to cry and tells SQ that he loves him, hugging him close to his chest. SQ replies weakly, gasping for breath that despite everything, he loves his father too. This begins to heal SQ (power of love and all that. Beautiful stuff. What? It's a fairytale. I can give it a fairytale ending).

Constance, seeing that love was able to heal SQ, decides to give it a try. She walks over to Mr. Benedict and tells him that the reason she denied his offer of adoption was because she was scared of him leaving her like she assumes her parents must have. But now, she wishes she had accepted his offer, and that they had more time together because she would love to spend every second of it with him as her family. This heals Nicholas.

Happy ending right? Wrong. Curtain takes SQ to the palace on the islands where his birth parents lived (which had since been abandoned, but SQ realizes the sigil of his birth parents is the same one Curtain was using). Curtain then goes off on his own journey to released the world from his dark spells, with Nicholas to help him. The twins complete the task and return to the islands to find SQ missing (and a message from home via urgent carrier pigeon confirms Constance has gone missing as well). The twins investigate and find a mysterious woman occupying the islands. They demand to know where their children have gone. She tells them that they will be fine, provided the twins are willing to comply and embrace their destinies. She then introduces herself as their sister and says they have a lot to talk about.

And that's all I got. Please don't ask me to finish this, I'm tired. But I hope you like it.

[nobodysdaydreams]

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 21, and 25 for Curtain/Nathanial Benedict, SQ and Jeffers on the Character Ask Game! You can pick whichever character applies the most to a question. :)

Hope you’re having a lovely day! 💕

Hey Nova! Sorry this took so long! I’m having a lovely day and I hope you are too!

Curtain/Nathaniel Benedict

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

I dislike him for all the obvious reasons. Horrible brother, father, uncle, friend, boss and person, trapped in his own mind, refuses therapy, makes his issues everyone else’s problem, is a perpetual martyr and victim, constantly hypocritical, and insufferably smug about it all. What do I like about him? Specifically for the show version, I loved the glimpses of his humanity. Nathaniel doing art projects with SQ, connecting with Sticky in the Whisperer when he says he fears not being wanting, and joking with Nicholas in the compound. Even just his little quirks, his silly dancing and theater kid vibes, his love of oddly specific foods, the flashbacks of little Nathaniel making that hair gel to impress new parents. You hate him so much but you really feel Nicholas and SQ’s frustrations and understand how they can hold out so much hope for him because you see the potential.

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

That they gave him a history with Nicholas, made him SQ’s dad, and gave him a uh, a “friend” in Garrison. Intriguing storylines and they should have done more with them.

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

I’d say the way he treats others but he’s the villain. He’s written that way, it’s expected that he wouldn’t be nice, but when he apologizes to Nicholas and turns good we don’t get ONE MENTION OF SQ??? If you’re gonna be a good guy now, you might want to start by caring about your missing child.

4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?

Wolf359. I cannot tell you how many times I write “Curtain” and “Cutter” at the wrong times on accident. Nathaniel would absolutely have an evil space company. @sophieswundergarten and I had an AU for this if anyone is interested I can post about it sometime.

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

Antihero by Taylor Swift for sure. The song summarizes Nathaniel perfectly, and if you don’t believe me, I hope this edit changes your mind. I think it might be one of my favorite edits I've ever made, though my star wars one is close, it's a tough call.

6. What's something you have in common with this character?

We’re both theater kids who also do STEM stuff. Idk what that says about me.

21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?

My favorite thing to do for any character is explore themes of guilt, redemption, forgiveness, and healing. I love it, and Nathaniel is the perfect character for it. I don’t like stories that say either A) he can’t be redeemed no matter how sorry he is or B) no boundaries, consequences, or struggle necessary. He apologized; he gets a free pass! (Disclaimer: write what you want, don’t let me stop you, but I like to show the journey. Especially in a way that’s realistic and shows the complications that do come with these kinds of big life/perspective changes).

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

At first, I wasn’t sure about him in the show. He was clearly aged down, and his character was different. Then they dropped the whole thing about the twins knowing each other growing up in the orphanage and Nathaniel being SQ’s adoptive father and I was like “oohhh… I see what they’re doing. I’m 100% on board. This is interesting.” If only they'd seen it through.

Shepard Quaid (SQ)

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

What’s not to like? Books or show, he’s sweet, precious, good, the best boy, and believes in everyone. For the show specifically I love that they made him more assertive to show the parent and child relationship he has with Curtain. He questions his dad, lies to his face, and I love that he does that! I wanted more of that! (And his art and love of animals). Incredible character. The only dislikes are that he didn’t get more screen time and the way other characters treat him. He deserves better. He deserves his father on his knees groveling with an apology (and explanation about what happened to his birth parents to because I’m sorry his dad just “worked with Curtain and got sick???” And what happened to the mom? I’d assume he had one???)

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

Rat by Penelope Scott. The people have spoken.

6. What's something you have in common with this character?

We're both neurodivergent (that's more of a headcanon, but I don't think anyone is gonna fight me on this).

21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?

I love writing about him discovering who his family really is and finding his place in the world on his own terms because that’s his whole arc. However, I don’t like the fact I have to write him in pain so often. The poor boy deserves a break but sadly I must hurt him for the plot.

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

10/10 books AND show first impression for obvious reasons. As for now, the show version is sadly a ?/10 because WHERE IS HE? But in all seriousness, I love the character, and SQ has consistently been my #1.

Jeffers

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

His silly speech about the perimeter. It's so unserious and unnecessary but 100% iconic.

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

I don't know if there's anything I really hate about him. I know some people were upset he wasn't as threatening as the ten men, but that's just not his character, you know? He's comedic relief, and I think he did a nice job with that, especially in season 2.

4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?

Father Brown. He looks exactly like Inspector Mallory with the mustache, and he'd be just as incompetent, if not more.

6. What's something you have in common with this character?

We both like to dramatically monologue. I don't know what that says about me.

21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?

I like writing his silly little comedic relief disasters. Something I don't like is that there actually aren't a lot of fics with his character tag on AO3. So I'm glad I could give the fandom some Jeepers shenanigans nobody asked for.

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

In season 1, I thought his character was kind of unnecessary and honestly, couldn't even remember his name. In season 2 when he got more screentime he was really funny and had great comedic timing.

[mr-nicholas-benedict]

What? No, Nathaniel that’s not true at all, I happen to think you’re a wonderful performer and completely support your Broadway dreams!

Did you know that Curtain's number one career choice was to be a star on Broadway?

It's true! He auditioned several times, but got rejected for being a tone deaf horrible singer, awkward dancer, and just an overall unpleasant person to work with.

In his frustration, he decided to go with his backup career plan, which was world domination via brainwashing everyone on earth to follow his every command without question.

Game show host was his other backup, and reality tv star was his safety.

The lesson is to always have a backup plan. What a nice moral!

!!

[nobodysdaydreams]

I normally dislike crossovers between franchises. No hate if that's your thing, it's just not for me. However. The idea of a TMBS x ASOUE crossover intrigues me, not because I'm interested in seeing the orphan genius kids interact (although that would be cool), but because the fact that both Show Curtain/Nathaniel Benedict AND Count Olaf are both canonically insufferable theater kids who keep getting beaten by groups of children has such ridiculously high comedic potential it would be a crime not to consider it.

Not because I think they would team up. Oh no. They both need to be the center of attention at all times. I also feel like Nathaniel was the type of theater kid who bossed the other students around, treated every high school performance like there were talent scouts coming specifically to see him (and insisted that all inferior actors that made him look bad needed to be cut from the cast), and was also on math team/in science club (and bragged about his academic accomplishments constantly), whereas Olaf was the type of theater kid who was late to every rehearsal, didn't even try memorizing his lines until the night before the performance, and was constantly in danger of being expelled and kicked out of the production because he refused to do his school work. They would HATE each other (and frankly, so would everyone else in the drama club because they both throw tantrums whenever they aren't cast as the lead, as they both insist they are the most talented student in the school).

[myfairkatiecat]

I saw you reblogged the random asks post. And since I know you like musicals, what are your top 3 and do you have a least favorite musical?

Yesss I love random asks, and I’m excited about this one bc I love musicals!!

My favorite of ALL TIME is wicked, and anyone who calls me a fake theater kid for that is the real fake theater kid bc they aren’t secure enough in their theater-kid-ness to like a popular musical. Yes, almost everyone knows it, but the reason I like it is because I am a SUCKER for villain backstories/tragic heroes/antagonist redemption etc. This is why I am obsessed with Anakin Skywalker’s story and also can’t stop writing Good Nathaniel Benedict fanfic? So Elphaba is just amazing to me because she has such a believable side of the story while also doing things we know are morally questionable, AND she sings the coolest songs about it. no good deed is quite possibly one of my favorite musical songs ever. All of wicked’s music sounds like epic movie soundtrack but with lyrics and I’m HERE FOR IT. You wouldn’t believe how much wicked fanfic I’ve read.

My second favorite is newsies!! My five year old foster brother is currently obsessed with it and can sing all the lyrics to most of the songs, which is the most adorable thing in the world. The newsies are all adorable, and in the movie version Jack is Christian Bale and in the proshot he’s Jeremy Jordan so like, main character is easy on the eyes either way lol. Also Katherine is so relatable. She sings about writer’s block, she sings my soul!! All the ensemble songs are so powerful and the L Y R I C S! I could do a whole other post on my favorite newsies lyrics. You go Feldman. It’s good stuff.

My third favorite is probably Next to Normal, because not only is the music fire, it’s amazing at the way it portrays how mental illness affects the people who surround you. Also, Aaron Tveit is in it, and his voice is hot (and also he is hot) so that is an automatic YES!

My least favorite is SpongeBob the musical. The music is bad and my perfect pitch can’t handle Texas Song.

Thank you for the ask :D hope you enjoyed my ramblings!