#and everyone who knows anything about lovecraft also knows about his cat

[jathun]

A....am I reading this right??? Did EoR:Salem really, really just throw in H.P Lovecrafts self-insert character as an actual time-travelling dimension hopping "cool uncle" type and ACTUALLY HAVE HIM INTERACT WITH A CAT????

[ticklinglady]

The Guild's actions during the story are so insane, when you think about them properly, you know? When I first read the arc with them, this moment hasn't really occurred to me, as I was too busy going nuts over finally seeing the names of the familiar writers, but now when I think of that... I am not sure, I comprehend how they managed to achieve such a ferocious reputation. I have already made a little post about how extremely dysfunctional the DOA members are, but at least those guys have a plan, which actually makes sense more or less, even despite the gang using cheatcodes/the Book. The same cannot be said of the Guild however archghhjkn. Like, what the hell were these guys even doing??? XD

So here are just some moments, which weirded me out the most

At first I'd like to address the entire story with everyone's favorite tsundere, Lucy Maud Montgomery. Her introduction leaves quuuuite an impression in the best way and nothing makes me happier than the fact, that she gets a chance to find happiness in the following chapters and actually becomes a reoccurring character! HOWEVER, her entire involvement with the Guild is super odd... I still can't wrap my head around her getting fired. She is a girl with a hella powerful ability, who got taken to the Guild from a terrible, terrible orphanage in order to fight for them in the war for the Book, so not only is she very strong, but she's also immensely dependant on the organisation and wouldn't do anything outside of its interests. Yet Lucy is also put under extreme pressure. As she herself puts it, the Guild doesn't tolerate failures and will kick her out the moment she screws something up.

Later we see that this is exactly what happens, when she messes up her first mission. Fitzgerald himself confirms that, since she failed and revealed her ability to the enemies, she's no longer useful, so now a powerful esper, like Lucy works for free as a... laundress?

EXCUSE ME??? WHEN HAVE THE GUILD MEMBERS EVER DONE ANYTHING, BUT FAIL AND REVEAL THEIR ABILITIES?

Let's be real, these dudes were successful like only once or twice...

This fact not only makes Fitzgerald look like an idiot for wasting such a talented and useful worker, because of one mistake, but also as one hell of a hypocrite, cause he is more than fine with everyone else fucking up. And in case of Lovecraft and Steinbeck: fucking up twice. To add to the oddity, we later learn, that Louisa genuinely cares for Lucy and despite her social anxiety actually stood up for her during the entire story, but even that wasn't enough to change Fitzgerald's mind on the issue, though Louisa is one of the few people, whose opinion he respects. Honestly, this is such a waste of a truly useful subordinate. And speaking of which....

The Guild has never even tried to implement Edgar Allan Poe during the war...

This man is actually rather op when you think of it. He can capture and neutralise literally any ability user in Yokohama (besides Dazai, Mori and Ranpo ofc) just by throwing a book at them. Seriously, as we see with Chuuya, they don't even have to read it, they just need to see the pages. Plus the book can be actually sent via email!!! So why has there been an absolute zero amount of strategies with the use of this ability??? They could actually try to catch Atsushi by sending him such email containing any of Poe's mystery stories and then safely carry him back to their base. And it doesn't have to be just Atsushi, it could be literally any of their enemies. Non-combatant, like Ranpo could use this pretty damn well to his advantage and it doesn't take a genius to understand the potential of the "Black Cat in Rue Morgue". But nooooo, it seems like everyone has just forgotten of Poe!!! (Tho to be honest, I can actually see this situation in a funny extra awfgbfggfjj. Not the main story however) The agency would never even learn of his existence, if he didn't personally decide to try to fuck Ranpo's life up. Like, what does Poe even do in the Guild? He's the master architect and, according to him, the third ranking man in the organization, but we never see him be of any use, so Idk. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Lucy at least got to do something, unlike this poor man.

Then there's the entire drama with the Guild's decision to destroy Yokohama. Where do I even begin...

First of all, Fitzgerald has no way of knowing that Atsushi is going to come to Moby-Dick to fight him. Poor guy is the Guild's primary goal and has already gotten himself captured once, so it would have been safe to assume that the ADA decided to hide him somewhere and not send him on any dangerous missions for the time being. That basically means Fitzgerald could have burned down not just Yokohama, but also the only person, who could actually help him find his precious Book.

But if we're to ignore this, let's also go with Wikipedia then~

"Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu. Yokohama is also the major economic, cultural, and commercial hub of the Greater Tokyo Area along the Keihin Industrial Zone."

..........................

Good luck making up for the destruction of THIS, Fitzgerald 🖕

And if this in itself wasn't bad enough, most people, including me, tend to forget that all Guild members are actually big shots in the American government, which I think is very sad. Because first of all, can you imagine any of the Guild members actually working as politicians?!! The sheer idea makes me hysterical avshbgj. Like, just consider Lovecraft working as a senator or something. This eldritch horror of a man leaves the ocean once in three years at best LMAO. Second of all, I have a feeling, that the destruction of Yokohama at the hands of influential politicians from a foreign country would have resulted in an international conflict or two~ Like as if random deranged rich Americans arriving in Japan, wreaking havoc over there and destroying the second largest city in the country wasn't bad enough, these Americans just HAD to be super influential businessmen and politicians. Louisa, my dear, I understand that it wasn't your intention, but it's as close to a declaration of war as it can get, you know? Fitzgerald may be ready to do anything to resurrect his dead daughter, but I'm not sure, that the execution of himself and the rest of the Guild at the hands of the Hunting Dogs is something he'd like.

(And here's another funny thing that stems from them being politicians 🤭 As @originalartblog wittily pointed out, Fitzgerald wasting all his money fighting sskk has probably resulted in a market crash and recession over in the USA)

I also have some other questions in regards to this entire plan, such as why did they have to waste Moby-Dick just to destroy Yokohama? Yes, it works in the short term, but in the long term they loose a super powerful fortress with the stealth mode and as the practice shows, you better have a safe base, unless you want another lemon freak to blow it all up. I mean, you could just ask Lovecraft to destroy everything for free. Or, if the device is the only way to stop the giant whale from crashing, why didn't Fitzgerald just take it to a far away bunker or something and waited things out there without the need to spend millions of dollars just to survive the explosion? (And it would have been extremely funny, if during the fight with sskk he just threw the device overboard) But I think I have already rambled for long enough already atxhghbgv XD

The Guild is an even bigger mess than the DOA and I think that's glorious 🙌

[ava-of-shenanigans]

reminds me of the story where Moon Knight lore Khonsu and his Moon Knight fights Nyarlathotep and his group of bigoted cultists I had but never wrote it.

What was your Nyarlohotep fought Egyptian Gods story about?

Oh, that sounds really cool! /genuine

Uh basically the idea for the thing about Egyptian gods fighting Nyarlathotep is that long long ago in the before times, Lovecraft’s Other Gods tried to do that thing where they wipe out all life on Earth so they can reclaim their rule over it, but the Egyptian gods fought against them. Nyarlathotep planned to use Apophis to first eat Ra so the Egyptian gods would stop being a problem, and then to eat everything else to achieve that whole “destroying all on earth” thing; he went around Egypt trying to get minor gods to sign the Book of Azathoth so they’d be forced to help, and when they refused he’d just brainwash all their worshippers into his cult so they’d be forced to help him. The Egyptian gods defeated him, but uh oh, now it’s the 1920s, Ancient Egypt has fallen, the Egyptian gods are all scattered and most of them don’t know where any of the others are, no one believes in them anymore and Nyarlathotep is back! Hooray!

A lot of the story hinges on the idea that gods have to be imagined by someone in order to exist. The Egyptian gods came from the minds of people from a certain culture, so they can be understood by humans, and a lot of their meaning as beings comes from their relationship to humanity. When that culture goes away, like Ancient Egypt did, they lose their meaning. But because they were envisioned as a immortal, they cannot die (unless someone tries really really hard to kill them), so they have to go on living meaningless lives until the end of time. The Other Gods came from the mind of Azathoth, so they are incomprehensible to humans and barely even notice they exist. That means they can’t become meaningless, but they’re like Azathoth and don’t really have minds, so the decisions they make are very random and asinine. Except for Nyarlathotep, who is capable of thought but is tied to the will of the Other Gods, so he can’t control what he does. He doesn’t have free will but he does have enough sentience and sapience to be extremely bitter about not having it. If an Egyptian god signs the Book of Azathoth, they become tied to Azathoth and not humanity, but they also become like Nyarlathotep with his whole “sentience but no free will” situation.

In summary, I’ve done that thing again where I try to write cosmic horror, but I’m a very character focused story teller so it’s ended up more like… cosmic existential crisis. Cosmic tragedy. Cosmic despair. Everyone is miserable, there’s no meaning in anything, and death is not an option. Also, sometimes there are cats!

In terms of my writing this is like… it’s on the pile. I’ll get to it eventually. I think I’m definitely going to write this, because of how strong many of my ideas for a bunch of different aspects of it are—I find that’s a sign that I do have something there—but I have other projects to get to first, and a lot of the concepts need more time to develop. I also want to finish learning Middle Egyptian before I start writing it, so I can write the god’s dialogue in Egyptian first, then translate it into English. That way people will think I’m really good at copying the writing style of ancient papyrus translations when actually I’m just cheating. I am thinking of like, writing out one very specific part of the plot as a trial run to see how I feel about the story concepts so far, but I don’t want to say too much because that part is actually kind of a major turning point in the story so I might decide to go with another part instead. 

Oh also there’s a bit where the Egyptian gods go to America and one of the first things that happens there is that Wilbur Whateley tries to shoot Anubis.

[wizardfrog69]

୨⎯ "what Halloween costume they would wear" ⎯୧

Note: in some of the scenarios the character will have a s/o

Feat. Fukuzawa, Yosano, Atsushi, Kunikida, kyoka, dazai, mori, higuchi, Elsie, oda, ango, Fitzgerald, poe, lovecraft, Twain, fyodor, Nikolai, Sigma, natsume and Shibusawa

Fukuzawa:

ᓚᘏᗢ he wouldn't wear a costume

ᓚᘏᗢ if he has a cat then it will have a tiny costume, probably like a tiny pumpkin, tiny pumpkin cat

ᓚᘏᗢ if his s/o wants to dress up for Halloween then he won't appose

ᓚᘏᗢ if he was asked too choose his s/o costume then you know it will be a cat costume, no exceptions

Akiko Yosano:

⛨ would dress up as a sexy nurse

⛨ would make their s/o other look like a realistic dead body too scar all the kids 🥰

⛨ sexy nurse and sexy patient couples costume

Atsushi Nakajima:

/ᐠ - ˕ -マ Ⳋ he will just turn into a tiger and call it a day if he doesn't want to do anything for Halloween

/ᐠ - ˕ -マ kitty lost its tail nooooo :'(

/ᐠ - ˕ -マ Ⳋ would dress up as a rich person

/ᐠ - ˕ -マ Ⳋ I have no idea what he would dress up as

Doppo Kunikida:

✒ doesn't do Halloween

✒ definitely doesn't dress up

Kyōka Izumi:

❀ a cute little bunny or something

❀ I don't see her as celebrating Halloween

❀ but maybe she would after going into the ada

Osamu Dazai:

⛐ yeah a fucking car and weird lines is a perfect representation of dazai

⛐ 100% would wear a costume

⛐ couples costumes 24/7

⛐ the two of you would go as gomez and morticia addams

⛐ annoys everyone at the agency about the fact that he has a partner to wear a couples costume with

Ogai Mori:

☵ fuck it he gets a water emoji code

☵ would only dress up to go trick or treating with elise

☵ would dress up as a vampire or the phantom of the opera

☵ if he has a s/o then he will joke about drinking their blood if he wears the vampire costume actually drinks the blood

Ichiyō Higuchi:

⚔ couldn't find a gun so a sword it is

⚔ would absolutely LOVE to do a couples costume

⚔ she would wear some cute costume probably

Elise:

۵ she would dress up but idk what she would dress up as

۵ maybe like a princess or something

۵ or maybe jesse from breaking bad

Sakunosuke Oda:

☆ dresses up only for the kids

☆ would adore a couples costume, nothing too scary tho

☆ he would love to do Emily and Victor from Corpse bride

☆ don't scare the children

Ango Sakaguchi:

⌨ too busy doing his word 😒

⌨ he probably wouldn't do it but he gives off Victor vibes yk, idk why but he low key does

F Scott Fitzgerald:

$ dresses up as money

$ or wears a suit made out of diamonds

Edgar Allan Poe:

✍ would probably dress up as one of his protagonists

✍ or would wear his raccoon thing (yk the thing he wore in the sleeping card thing)

✍ Karl would also wear the cutest costume ever

✍ also tiny pumpkin

Howard Lovecraft:

๑۞๑ he just pulls out his ability and terrifies everyone

Mark Twain:

> would dress up a ghost

Fyodor Dostoevsky:

ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ didn't want to dress up

ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ somehow Nikolai forced him too

ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ has rat face paint on

ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ dressed up as a rat

ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ in the sewer sitting on a thrown surrounded by rats

ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ I think he might have got too carried away

Nikolai Gogol:

⚁ obviously would

⚂ idk what he would dress up as, maybe a clown....

⚃ a killer clown (literally)

⚄ would run round holding a knife chasing kids and adults alike

⚅ "almost" stabed someone

Sigma:

♤ again, someone who was forced by Nikolai

♡ was forced to dress up as a jester so he could match Nikolai

♧ never showed his face in the casino

Sōseki Natsume:

=^..^= third cat person

=^..^= would turn into a cat and call it day 2.0

=^..^= would dress like a skeleton

=^..^= even more emo

=^..^= emo cat boy

Tatsuhiko Shibusawa:

◇ would dress up as sans or a skeleton just for the shit of it

◇ would probably dress up in something spooky for fun and scar all the kids

[wahbegan]

The King in Yellow is fucking insane because it’s an absolute hallmark of Cosmic Horror, you know one of the defining pre-Lovecraft examples, but there’s not much....actual cosmic horror in it.

I mean, okay, there are ten stories, right? 

The first two build up to the cosmic horror. I mean first we have

-A guy who fell off his horse and suffered a traumatic brain injury who goes on and on and on about how he’s NOT crazy and everyone who thinks he’s crazy is an irredeemable ASSHOLE (as everyone knows, this is the most reassuring thing you can tell anyone under any circumstances) and also about how he lives in an alternate version of America (the details of which directly contradict another story set in the same location btw) becomes convinced by his weird little friend (a guy who inexplicably keeps a feral cat around for the purpose of goading it into mutilating him-he has lost all the fingers on one hand and both his ears to this practice) that said weird little friend runs a huge cabal based on blackmail and occult shit and that if he kills or banishes his cousin and kills said cousin’s fiance and her dad, he will inherit the Earth. 

-And a beautiful, sexy, slutty French artist throuple (technically it’s a love triangle but by GOD do they act like a throuple) is mystified by the alpha boyfriend somehow discovering magic goop that turns living things to marble and then wracked by the girlfriend and beta boyfriend contracting Victorian brain fever disease, which ends with the girlfriend deliriously throwing herself into the marble-izing gunk and the alpha shooting himself in the heart out of grief, but the beta recovering and realizing years later that the marble-izing is temporary and the girlfriend comes back to life so....happy....ending?

Not very Cosmic Horror except oh yeah, just casually in the background there’s this play, only ever briefly quoted and evasively referenced, called The King in Yellow that apparently drives every single person who reads it varying levels of batshit fucking bonkers and/or dooms them to horrible deaths. The novel The King in Yellow does a very good job of referencing the play The King in Yellow like it’s something the reader should have read first and already be familiar with, which would be a lot easier if it fucking EXISTED, but it doesn’t, so. 

The 1st story’s “protagonist” and Mr. Earless the Cat Attack Addict seem to base their bizarre plan/delusion for world domination around shit they got from the play, and the French throuple are tormented by visions from the Play when they get Victorian Brain Fever Disease. But that’s about it.

Then the next two stories abruptly shift into ACTUAL Cosmic horror. We got everything! Mysterious artifacts of doom inscribed with an eldritch insignia! Zombies! Creepy-looking blokes mysteriously appearing around every single corner you turn! Mocking Bible quotations! The Eldritch Abomination HIMSELF showing up (kinda sorta not really) and stealing souls!!!

And then the last 6 stories just really abruptly drop all that shit. There’s like a couple minor references in story 5, but that’s about it. It’s just like...romantic-decadent stories about love and artists and shit. Oh, and story 6, my personal favorite, a collection of eight abstract pseudo-poems that have nothing to do with fUcKInG aNyThInG!

Oh yeah, also the Eldritch Horror in it may be more of an infectious idea than an actual entity, or just straight-up a metaphor for decadence? Yeah there is an actual entity referenced a couple times but it’s i dunno i do not know it’s ambiguous but the point is there’s nary a tentacle in sight

Also there’s like 8 characters named Jack and fucking 16 named Sylvia and at least two characters with the same last name who may or may not be the same guy and it all might be alternate timelines or not who the fuck knows if you try to make canon sense of it you actually will go insane and try to kill your cousin’s fiance or become addicted to cat scratches, just read it and enjoy it mayn

[criticalintellect]

UGH alright let's try this, hopefully I'll be coherent. So I've had my twitter account for about a year now(?) and every month or so, for about a week, just outta nowhere people suddenly feel like shitting on Lovecraft. The last two times it makes sense how it came about since we had gotten news that a new Call of Cthulhu "sequel" was getting made. The premise we were given was goddamn horrendous, but it's popped up again because it's creator felt like being a cunt on Twitter for some reason: Call of Cthulhu: Death May Die. Shelving the fact that sounds like a Devil May Cry parody, I won't focus too much on the game, though I will say it's NOTHING like the Terminator ripoff we were told it was gonna be (I could be mistaking DMD with another boardgame abortion using H.P.'s work) and the wording in the game synopsis I found is completely contrary to cosmic horror; talking about fighting the Old Ones and "shoot[ing] it in the face". Eric Lang is the man of the hour; he's had quite a bit of experience in boardgames and even video games, working on Duelyst (which I really did like). So to see this man in search of a personality put on his most psychotic stare, trim his pubic hair wig, and stand in front of a cardboard cutout of H.P. Lovecraft and give it the finger, all to post it on twitter and say he hates this man and his work...while at the same time profiting from his work DIRECTLY. I'm a little...perturbed. These retard fests always come in at least 3 flavors: Lovecraft was a racist, dO yOu KnOw WhAt He NaMeD hIs CaT?!?!?!, and Lovecraft didn't contribute anything and all his fans are racist. No to all 3.

Now maybe I'm hanging on semantics, but from my reckoning I would say HPL was more xenophobic than racist. He didn't hate other people or races. Yes he did believe that certain people had "superior" genetics, but never in his notes have I seen him go on tirades about how those of "lesser" genes need to be culled or anything. He literally just wanted them to leave him and his neighborhood alone. He wanted them to live, just not near him. Again, maybe semantics, I leave the distinction to greater intellects. But of greater importance, something these Lovecraft detractors refuse to comprehend, was that we have written proof that HPL RENOUNCED his xenophobic views towards the end of his life. Thanks to the friends he made, his moving to New York, and being exposed to other people he saw the error of his ways. And he recanted. And the people shitting on his grave do not care, saying that it didn't matter. It's cancel culture at it's finest, but since they can't cancel a dead man all they can do is destroy his works. Or at least attempt to, fruitlessly. The plus side of having 100 year old works of fiction is that they've been in circulation for so long is that plenty of people know the fiction and know when someone has made a shit interpretation of it.

Now, about that cat. See it wasn't Howard that named that cat, but rather his father. The cat was adopted by and named by him. And then his father was committed to an asylum and the cat passed into his son's and wife's care. And yes, the cat was called Niggerman, shocker. It was the 1880s.

"Lovecraft had no impact on anything". Stephen King, Gullermo del Toro, Ridley Scott, Neil Gaiman, Junji Ito, Kentaro Miura, Clive Barker, John Carpenter, Mike Mignola and H.R. Giger. All of these artists were influenced by Lovecraft and his horror. But sometimes his touch was a little less obvious, as he was friends with Robert E. Howard, the creator of Conan the Barbarian and Solomon Cane. He was a man who would very openly share ideas he had for his own work, but not having a great opinion of said work would pass it onto authors he believed could better implement his ideas. He was never a man to jealously protect his property and openly allowed ANYONE to add onto the mythos he unwittingly created. And that's a major reason how his mythos has engrossed so much of our culture over the last century, even when the property wasn't directly connected to the Cthulhu mythos. As to the assertion that we're all racists: even if I agreed Howard Philips Lovecraft was racist and even if it wasn't public knowledge that he became a better person late in life, I am capable of separating a creator from his work. I can read Shadow Over Innsmouth and Call of Cthulhu and The Dunwich Horror and agree that if you look deep enough there's some skeevy themes, but if you put that aside there's some damn good suspense and horror. For as fucked up as K-Pop is I don't see any of their stans calling out the industry while admitting they still like the music, it's just blanket denial. Yet shitheads with that kinda mindset wanna come after a man's legacy like he enslaved all of Africa all on his lonesome?

At the end of it all, Lovecraft's works will endure all of this mind numbing clout chasing. Eric Lang can do cringey, performative wokeness while being a massive hypocrite all he wants, Lovecraft will endure. But it will always bother me the amount of frothing, myopic hatred HPL gets. The fans have told these people how he reformed, how he shared his works with people of all walks of life, how he MARRIED A JEWISH WOMAN (and yes he had distasteful opinions of Jews too), but it's never enough. If Daryl Davis can change the minds of 200+ KKK members, then why can't we give people from the past the benefit of the doubt. Then again these are also the type of people that called Davis a racist and other assorted idiocy so...I dunno. Lovecraft was a flawed man, plagued by nightmares, coddled by a mother who slowly lost her mind over time and ended up in the same asylum as her husband (the one he died in too). And even through all of that he found a way to be a better man. He shared his works, he found a way to intimately connect with a woman (even though it sounds like it was very difficult for both of them), and towards the end of his life he admitted his ideas of genetic superiority were downright abhorrent. If we can't give even this man the benefit of the doubt, then your only hope of being accepted by the hate mob is if you're born a literal son of God.

And if you dont like HPL then fuck right off out of my fandom because we do not care about your lukewarm take about him being a racist and we need to rewrite his works. Piss off

Edit: Hoo boy this has gotten around and about, further than I thought it would've. I know it's a bit strange, but thank you to everyone for showing support. Didn't think anyone would read one of my long-winded rants, let alone think it worth of sharing. At first I was just a casual fan of Lovecraft like most people; Cthulhu here, "hey I get that"; a shoggoth there, "ah neato." But after seeing him get so much hatred it started to feel wrong. Then learning what a tragic man he was and seeing Twitter attempt to eviscerate this man...I had to put my thoughts somewhere and this was the only place I had a chance to get it out there and people actually see it. So thank ye kindly strange sea of friends

[ticklish-touch]

I’m With You in the Dark

Last year, I made a poll seeing who would be interested in reading a story about my tickle monster Rags meeting my favorite character in Deltarune, Jevil. Even though I got a very positive response overall, I... chickened out. :’D I've always felt very self-conscious about writing fanfics, especially ones involving my OCs with canon characters. I grew up with other weeb friends who thought fanfic in general was very cringey and taboo. But at the end of the day, as long as people aren't writing about shipping real-life people or kink shit with minors, they have the freedom to write what they want if it helps them express themselves. Ever since last year, Jevil has become a very important character to me. There are hundreds of wonderful creative interpretations of him and his possible backstory; and, as someone who has depersonalization spells, existential thoughts about reality & the universe, enjoys making other people laugh even at my own expense, and a chaotic inner voice that constantly tells me "AREN'T YOU TIRED OF BEING NICE, DON'T YOU JUST WANNA GO APESHIT??" this little gremlin has become a comfort character; one that I also highly enjoy cosplaying. And, frankly, what better year to post a story about nihilism than 2020?  👍   So, this is just a "what-if" scenario, if someone else besides Gaster with some degree of omniscience was able to show the poor jester that there's more to life than just waiting for the Void to take over. And if anyone takes anything away from this, I just want it to be the hope that things will get better. You are allowed to be hopeful, and happy, and make positive connections with people even if you've had harmful experiences with people over past mistakes from either side. We're in this together; you aren't always going to be alone, your suffering won't be in vain. This, too, shall pass. So please, stay determined. Happy Halloween, everyone!!  🎃 🦇 👻 🤡 Story below the cut!

       The mischievous Nightmare felt a peculiar pull at his mind as he lurked through the foggy darkness in search of another playmate: A chaotic soul resonating with nearly as much feral playfulness and craving for laughter as his own. But there was something...Off. This mind, this essence, was splintered and broken, re-mended into something different... A shadow of its former self. Joy and mischief and enthusiasm for the world, replaced by existential dread and loneliness...

         The silent cry for help brought Ragaeli to a reality he'd never been in: One of the many infinite parallel dimensions to Earth that existed in the endless void of spacetime. At a brief glance, he could see there was a race called Darkners. They seemed to be the joy of childlike imagination brought to life; living, breathing checker and chess pieces, puzzle pieces, stuffed toys and squeaky mallets and lego blocks.

         And, within a card castle not unlike the story of Alice in Wonderland, deep within a huge cell locked by powerful magic, a rotund little jester with a black and purple wardrobe was bouncing about, creating myriads of dazzling diamonds, spades, hearts and clovers. He appeared to be an imp with a J-shaped tail, a round noseless face, pointy ears, deep black pits for eyes and serrated, lemon-yellow teeth stretched into a smile as he laughed gleefully to himself.

        The Nightmare split open a doorway of crackling energy, leaping through, landing on the indigo striped ground with a THUD. The floor was very plush and unsteady, like the inflated floor of a bouncy castle. "Weellll now, it sure seems like a party in here~ But what kind of party only has one guest, hmm?"

        Immediately, the small jester jumped, his head launching out on a spring coil like a Jack-in-the-box. "AIYEEE-!! What, what?! Who are you? Did...Did you escape too??" He glided over to the tall figure, eyeing him over. At first, his lips twitched and seemed as if they were going to form into a frown. But instead he responded with a forced grin. "Uee-hee hee, I see, I see... It seems they've finally replaced little old me~!" He bounced up on his tail to flick playfully at Ragaeli's chest bells, spiraling around him to tug at his flaps, hair and spandex. "Hmmm, not bad~ And you can't go wrong with being a stripey lad; I guess the Kings have some taste after all! But where is your hat?? A jester with no hat is like a witch without their cat!" He glided around behind Ragaeli and his eyes widened. "A hand on your tail?? Now that's just excessive!!"          "I must say your rhyme scheme is really quite impressive~" Ragaeli giggled, his head turned 180 degrees to look down at the jester.          Jevil couldn't help but giggle too. "Uee hee hee, why thank you, thank you~!" He hovered upside-down in front of the larger monster, summoning a deck of cards, shuffling them up. "The tales must be true, that each suit has two. A black and a red...I always assumed the other must just be dead!!" He snickered, making the cards disappear up his sleeve, then turned back upright, folding his arms, his purple tail lashing about behind him like an agitated cat, his tone twinged with jealousy. "Well since they've decided that red suits their court more, you'd better not be a bore! To replace me is to replace the wittiest of all the players in this castle full of nay-sayers!"

         "Hehehe, now, don't get your tail in a twist, I'm no replacement," Ragaeli playfully flicked one of Jevil's bells. "Name's Ragaeli, but you can call me Rags, Ragdoll, Ragtime, Rag-Tag, just don't call me boring, heheh~ I'm not even from this world, you see. Would you believe me when I say there are other worlds out there? Other dimensions?"          Jevil giggled at all the nicknames, then his face lit up, his annoyance quickly shifting to curiosity. "Oh yes, yes, I know it to be true!! He chuckled. "Your world, it is a game too? Or is it more "real" than what we can perceive?"          Ragaeli raised an eyebrow. "A game, hmm? I suppose you can say that," He smirked. "My world is, in a sense, "Not real" as well. Not to the people of Earth anyways. It's thanks to their thoughts and emotions, their hopeful desires in the depths of their darkest thoughts, that I exist at all. And because of that," His grin turned devilish and he rapped his fingers together in a comically villainous fashion. "I can appear to any of them that I want. I can play all kinds of games with them~ I have no limits to what I can do in my realm, and Earth itself is my playground, a game that will never end~"

         The jester listened with fascination, then cackled again, seeming elated as he bounced around in midair. "Oh I'm SO happy!! Someone else finally sees!! There is another who's been set free!!" Then his giddy tone turned to a snarl. "THEY didn't believe me!! THEY were all blind, blind!!" Magic energy crackled around him. "I ONLY wanted to HELP them!! I only wanted them to be privy to the danger, danger they would face if they didn't try to free themselves of this pointless rat race!!"         Ragaeli's brow furrowed. "Who's them? Who put you in here? A jolly little hellion like you shouldn't be locked away like this, 'specially if you think your castle's in danger."        Jevil quickly shook his head, puffing his chest out indignantly. "It is not I that has been locked away! They chose their own prison, they dug their own graves! The court wouldn't listen, they didn't want to play, and now for their bullheadedness THEY'RE the ones having to pay!!"

        The Nightmare latched onto the images flashing through Jevil's mind, learning bits and pieces about the royal court that ruled the dark castle. It definitely appeared that things were in disarray, and the court jester's loneliness bubbled into a well of resentment...         The continued rush of memories manifested into the image of a strange entity that came to the jester before his imprisonment: A ghostly creature, cloaked in inky blackness, with large round holes in his skeletal hands and a twisted grin frozen on his skull-like head, a single white pupil glowing out from the cracked eyesockets with a sickly light. Even the Nightmare, who had seen every hellish iteration of fear and hatred, knew that this...thing, was bad news. He existed, yet was nonexistant. He was fractured across all of time and space, yet remained trapped unmoving inside the Void. He was filled with hopelessness, bitterness, egoism, an unyielding ambition to drag anything and everything down into the same all-consuming darkness. An unfortunate victim of his own hubris, now a sociopath with cold disregard for individual worth except the desire to dissect everything and everyone he could latch onto. And it happened that Jevil, who craved mischief and adventure and purpose in his seemingly small role in the kingdom, was the latest test subject.         Ragaeli's hair stood up on end and a low, near demonic growl rumbled in his throat. "And what, exactly, did this thing show you?"         The growl made Jevil gasp, stopping him in his tracks, looking up at the large entity with trepidation. "H-He showed me everything, everything!! He showed me the beginning, the end of all things, he showed me the truth of this world and all worlds in the cosmos, that nothing is as it seems, nothing means anything, but because anything can be nothing, nothing can be everything--"          "Alright, enough, I'm stopping you right there, Lovecraft," In a swift movement, he tugged the rim of Jevil's hat over his face.         "YEEE- H-HEY!!" The frazzled jester fixed his hat, puffing his cheeks out at Ragaeli, his tail whipping about even more wildly.          "Whoever this Wing-dinged handy-man is sure isn't very handy if all he can do is fill your head with nihilistic nonsense," Ragaeli stuck out his tongue. "Sounds like someone who had a rotten time of it is now trying to ruin everyone else's fun."         "No, no, not at all!!" Jevil leapt on top of Ragaeli's head and perched like a cat. "Because of him, I can have more fun than I ever thought possible!! You'll see, you'll see!! They're bringing back the key!!" He giggled madly. "Three visitors, all questing in vain to bring an end to a game that doesn't matter, and once I am back inside their world of lies I will spread my truth everywhere and everyone will thank me!!" He cackled. "But first I should thank you for keeping me company~" He leapt off and glided in front of the Nightmare. From the center of his dark eyes, yellow irises began to glow brightly. "It's been so long since someone has lent an ear, so I'll show you my favorite game~"  In a flash, he launched a glowing diamond, sharp as a sword, at the speed of a flying bullet into Ragaeli's stomach.

         But the diamond disappeared on contact. Instead of yelping in pain, Ragaeli shrieked and doubled over as the energy shot a ticklish burst through him. "GYEEEE-HEEHEE!!"         Jevil looked baffled. "...What, what?? Laughter?" He tilted his head, summoning a spinning barrage of clubs that shot at Ragaeli's legs, chest and sides like machine gun ammunition.         And again, the Nightmare was bombarded with a barrage of ticklish electricity, causing him to crumple on the plush floor with cackling laughter. "AIYEEE-HAHAHAHA!!" After the sensation wore off, he continued to let out giddy laughter as he saw Jevil's incredulous expression. "WHOOO-WEE, now that was a good one!!"          Jevil couldn't help but snort back his own laughter at the Nightmare's comical reactions, but he seemed even more puzzled. "Is someone ticklish, ticklish? That isn't how I'm trying to play, but it makes things interesting, needless to say~" He giggled a bit. "But then...How am I supposed to play my game if you've got no numbers to claim??"          Ragaeli shook his head, jumping up into the air to recline as if laying back on a sofa. "You silly little imp, do you really think that's the only way to play with others? Taking this "HP" until they're gone for good? What would you do then when there's no-one left to have fun with?" He gave a pout.         Jevil shook his head quickly. "No no, they're not really gone!! Weren't you listening, listening?? It's all a game!! They can come back!! Losing is just a minor setback~!"

         The Nightmare raised an eyebrow. "And how do you know that?"         "Because the Stranger showed me!! He can mess with the code, he can change--"         "How do YOU know that?" Ragaeli barked. "Forget about him, can YOU bring them back??"         Jevil shrugged. "Perhaps, perhaps not, but if they lose then that's just how it goes~ Such is the way of this game we all play!"         The Nightmare rolled his eyes. "So... you wanna play by the game's rules, huh? How boring."

        The jester's malicious snickering immediately stopped, and he stiffened up.          Ragaeli narrowed his gaze, prying at the jester's mind a bit more. "What is it you've said? You can do anything? So why not shake it up and take this game into your own hands? If you're really free, then PROVE it!"

        For once, the manic jester took pause.

        "Think about what it is YOU want in this game we all call life!"

         Jevil lifted a gloved finger, unable to answer at first. Then his bright yellow irises faded again. "What I want...?" He lowered his head. "What I want..." A quiet giggle bubbled up from inside him. "I just want them to be free, free with me..." He hovered higher, seeming to vibrate with an intense magical aura, and raised his arms. The room began to spin around the central pole, as if it were revolving around the world's axis. "To break their cage and create a NEW stage, where everyone can play, play to their heart's content!! Free from this kingdom of rules and lies!!" He snarled. "I want them to PAY for making me play in my freedom all alone, every night and every day!!" He bellowed. Carnival music began to emanate from all around them, starting quiet then gaining in tempo. "I want them to say, "To HELL with rules, I will break these chains and embrace the chaos, CHAOS!!" He laughed maniacally, and from every curve of the rounded ceiling, more of his symbols appeared; Hearts, diamonds, spades and clubs, all aimed at Ragaeli, launching toward him like speeding bullets.          The Nightmare answered with his own giddy laugh. "Ohhh, how interesting! Well then, let's play for a while and I might just help you make your wish come true~!" He nonchalantly bounded away from the trajectory of the magic, dodging, swooping, teleporting and even dancing and pirouetting away. Occasionally they would hit, and once again he would shriek in surprise and burst into laughter. "GYAAAH-HAHAHAHA!!"          Jevil giggled, no longer bothered that his attacks weren't causing any 'HP' damage. "I wonder; How long will it take before you finally break~?"          The Nightmare smirked dangerously. "I could ask you the same thing!" His hair suddenly jumped to life, tendrils leaping forward and bombarding the jester's chubby belly, sending electric pulses of ticklishness through him.

         "UEEEE-HEE-HEEEE!!" Jevil shrieked with laughter and flailed for a moment before poofing himself to the other side of the room. A bright purple blush filled his cheeks and he clutched his belly, gawking at Ragaeli. "N...NO FAIR, NO FAIR!! IT WASN'T YOUR TURN YET!!"          Ragaeli giggled. "You really think a tickle monster is gonna play fair? Now what's the fun in that~?"          Jevil huffed and his pout shifted to a malicious grin. "Uee hee hee; Fine, fine, I also won't play fair!! Let's see you laugh about THIS!" With a flash, he summoned a large ornate striped sickle, teleporting close and taking a swift swing at Ragaeli, catching him in the middle of the striped pattern on his leotard.          The Nightmare's torso came clean off his legs, not with any blood or guts but with a cartoonish POP. "WHOA!! Caught me off guard with that one, took my top clean off ya did!!" His tone went cockney, and he grabbed his legs and re-attached them as if he'd been de-pantsed.

         Jevil balked, then doubled over backwards with laughter. "HYEE-HEEHEE HAHAHAH Oh my stahahars, you're a fun one, you are!!" His scythe disappeared with a flash, a new wave of glee bubbling up in him. "You really are like me!! Your body cannot be killed!! That means you can stay here and play as long as we want!! I'm so THRILLED!!" He laughed with jubilation and raised his arms, and from the walls emerged a bizarre set of carousel horses, with the bodies of rubber ducks, all of which began to circle rapidly around the room. "Go ahead, hop on~! But better watch out, these horsies have a mean bite~"

         The Nightmare snickered and dove into a cartwheel, throwing himself onto the back of one of the figures, which tried to toss him off like a bucking bronco. "Piece of cake, I've wrangled a few horsies in my d-AAGH!!" He was swiftly knocked off by a flying duck ramming him at full force, sending him careening into the spinning walls of the room. He bounced off of the squishy surface and lay crumpled in a heap, cracking up with hyena-like hysterics. Jevil, too, giggled hysterically at his opponent's prat-fall. It felt so grand to finally have someone to play with again!!

        And so, their antics continued. Jevil came at Ragaeli with everything he had, and the Nightmare almost effortlessly parried it away with his meaty hands or flexible limbs. As Jevil revealed more and more tricks up his sleeve, from his ability to shapeshift into his own scythe, to a downright unfair barrage of clover-shaped bullets, Ragaeli revealed that his tail could multiply into three, which crackled with red sparks; They lunged forward and managed to ensnare the manic jester, slithering against his round belly and backs of his knees, even slipping one of his shoes off to entwine their prongs between his clawed toes.         "AIYEEE-HEEHEEEE UEE-HEEHEE NOOOHOHOHOOO-HEEHEE!!" The ticklish shock to his system surprised the jester enough that his head launched out on its spring coil, before retreating back for him to grab the ends of his hat and hide his flushed face and goofy smile.

        The Nightmare snickered fiendishly at his reactions. "What's wrong~? Surely the court-appointed master of laughter can handle a little tickling?"         The playful taunting just flabbergasted the thrashing imp all the more. Not because he hated it; but because he, the clever jester with an unholy amount of magic energy had never been so easily bested by something that wasn't a physical fight... And on some level, it was thrilling. It felt so good to laugh with such passion; Real, true laughter, instead of a hollow imitation of happiness. Being unable to focus on anything but their game, on the consequences of each other's "attacks", took his mind off the dreadful, existential thoughts that plagued him, and made him think that maybe, just maybe, there was more to his and this world's existence after all...

          But in the meantime, it was his turn, and he was ready for revenge. He poofed himself out of the nightmare's tendrils and re-appeared underneath him, turning his scythe into a rubber mallet to send Ragaeli flying up near the ceiling. He smiled wickedly, summoning a barrage of attacks that started to morph into vaguely hand and feather-like shapes. With a clap of his hands, they rocketed up to the Nightmare, burying into his belly, ribs and armpits, slithering down the wide collar of his leotard, trapping his ankles into cuffs so that they could saw between his toes and whirl against his soles like fuzzy sawblades. The onslaught caused the monster to howl and screech with hysteria, thrashing and swatting at the symbols in vain. "GYEEEE-HEHEHEHEHEH WHY Y-YOHOHOHOUUU-HAHAHAHA~!!"         Jevil giggled devilishly. "Uee-heeheee, what's wrong, what's wrong~? You're the Tickle Monster, are you not? Or were you lying all along? Can't handle being at the wrong end of your own fiendish plot~?"         Ragaeli snarled in his laughter, attempting to swat at the jester with his tails. "GRAAHH-HAHAHAH SH-SHUHUHUHUT UHUHUP YOU L-LIHIHITTLE-!!" And yet, despite his protests at the unbearable attack, the Nightmare's laughter, too, resonated with excitement and elation. It echoed through the vast cell, emanating with such unbridled joy and wild abandon that it stirred something inside of Jevil. Something...Warm, and oddly reassuring. And finally, from the depths of the jester's scrambled mind, memories started to return to him...

         He once knew laughter as well, and more than that, making others laugh. The four Kings, laughing at his antics in the court; young Rudinns and Jigsawrys and a baby Clover, all laughing gleefully at his dazzling displays of card symbols, dancing ribbons and fireworks. The dancers in the halls laughing as the court jester pulled prank after prank on the uptight dolt Rouxls Kaard. The Spade King, telling him how eager he was for his son to be born, so that Jevil could teach him how to spread joy through the kingdom. And Seam, his dear friend, letting out a rare gem of laughter whenever he said a silly joke or snuck up on the wooly cat and tickled his sides...

         Before long, Jevil's magic was no longer set to kill mode; a fact that wouldn't have affected the reality-bending Nightmare made of laughter either way, but others caught in the crossfire would no longer be in danger of a "game over". His will began to shift, and now his projectiles were imbued with the overwhelming urge to make their target crumble into a heap of elated laughter.         Perfect. Ragaeli grinned gleefully, snapping his fingers and poofing himself out of the hold of the magic symbols, standing to face Jevil, folding his arms behind his head. "Well now, seems like something's getting through to that polyvinyl noggin of yours--"         That brief moment was all Jevil needed to re-appear behind him, lunging to rapidly scribble his fingers and prod his tail along Ragaeli's belly, snickering to himself. "You so easily let your guard down!! I thought I was the clown!!"         "GYAA-HAHAHAHA!! TH-THAT WAS ON PURPOHOHOSE!!" Ragaeli slithered his pronged tail up to scribble against Jevil's 'neck' and pointy ears, sending him flying back on his spring-coil with a yowl.

        Jevil wasn't sure how long their game went on. Minutes, hours, days? Time never meant much of anything in his personal freedom; But now, he never wanted it to end. If those three adventurers did ever come back with the key, this would be quite the sight to walk in on...         Before long, though, the jester's 'attacks' were weakening, and his large tongue hung out with panting breaths; it became harder for him to levitate, or to tap out from the tickle monster's ruthless attacks; Ragaeli could sense his growing fatigue and eventually stopped, letting Jevil collapse to the bouncy floor.

        "H-Hee-hehehe...That was fun, fun!! But enough is enough, you tired me up!" He giggled, but his grin turned to a pout. "But I don't want to sleep yet, I still want to play with everyone, everyone..."         "Ohh, I think that can be arranged~" Ragaeli's hand sparked and crackled with magic, making Jevil instinctively squeak and flinch. But he shook his head. "Hehe, don't be worried~ This will give your energy back." But he closed his fist and extinguished the magic. "But hear me out first. If you play to take away everyone's HP, they won't want to play with you. They'll just put you down here again."         Jevil snorted and folded his arms. "Well at least I wouldn't be caged in their prison again, again..."         Ragaeli could still sense negative thoughts plaguing his mind.

Not real. Meaningless. Trapped. Just a game. Not wanted, not needed. Afraid of me. They'll leave me again, again. Seam will leave me again.

        At the very least, these thoughts weren't as loud as before, and were being dulled by the hope that perhaps he could be welcomed back by everyone... Ragaeli narrowed his gaze and snuck his hair tendrils over to prod along his round belly and sides again. "UEEE-HEEEHEEE!!" He rolled over to the other side, hiding his flushed face again.         "Heheh, come on now, no need to hide that face every time I get a laugh outta you~" He managed to tug the jester's hat off, revealing short, dark curly hair and a small pair of horns. Jevil gasped, his eyes going wide and he reached over frantically trying to grab his hat back. "HEYY!! Just because you forgot yours doesn't mean mine's up for grabs!!"   Ragaeli chuckled. "Relax, you'll get it back, if you listen to me first. There's no use letting those thoughts get in the way of your fun, now is there? Even if you live your life 'confined' with the others, at least you'd still have playmates, right? You still have the chance to make amends and show your friends you're not going to let your story end. ...See, now I've been hangin' around you too long. You're turning me into a natural poet~"         The sulky jester couldn't help but snicker. "Even if I did, even if they want to be my friend, I can never see this world the same way again, again..." He trembled. "The vision, the prophecy... The skies will darken, the world will crack, the calamity will sweep away all in it's path...No matter how many broken bonds we try to mend; Whether we play or flee, everything will end!!" He choked back a wail, hiding his face in his palms, his pointy ears drooping back.

        Ragaeli rolled his eyes and sighed loudly, scratching his head thoughtfully for a moment. "Look; Of course things aren't gonna be the same. Of course things end someday. That's the point of LIVING!" The Nightmare barked and jumped up, causing another loud THUD as he stooped over on his haunches like an agitated mountain lion. "You change and you grow and you LIVE, despite how tiny or messed up you think your existence is. You CHALLENGE anything or anyone who tries to tell you that you can't find your way outta that dark tunnel. Fake? Real? Who CARES?? You're HERE! Your life is only meaningless if YOU choose to live it without meaning!!"         Jevil peeked out from under his hands as the deity ranted. He then scoffed, taking his tail and fiddling with it as he avoided Ragaeli's eye contact. "That's easy enough for you to say. Your existence, your world, isn't made to be a game for OTHERS to play."

        Ragaeli calmed down a little, patting his hair sympathetically and tweaking one of his horns. "Listen, Jev-In-The-Box. You're right about one thing. You can't change the circumstances that brought you into being. And sometimes, that really sucks." He frowned. "It sucks for those little mortals who have such little control over the society that keeps 'em prisoner. And even for someone like me...I can't change the fact that I come from a world that wouldn't exist without mortals. Any Nightmare can disappear in the blink of an eye if they aren't remembered by enough people."         "Really..??"         Ragaeli nodded. "That's why some of 'em try so hard to be remembered, even if it means playing with humans like cats torturing mice before they eat 'em. And I can't make them value life. But I also can't let them freely roam the world that imagined us up, or reality as we know it would fall apart. I can't even stay in other timelines or realities too long or I risk fading away for good."         Jevil listened curiously, a hint of a concerned frown crossing his face.         The deity shrugged. "So I just make the best of it, y'know? I have fun showing other people that their world isn't as small and hopeless as they think." The thoughtful expression left the entity's face as quickly as it had appeared, replaced by a devilish grin. "So YOU had better not let me catch you moping about in those gloomy thoughts of yours again," he poked Jevil's plush belly, making the jester squeal and bat his hand away. The Nightmare snickered. "And if I see you trying to end other people's game instead of finding ways to make laughter and excitement a part of your reality... Then I WILL be back, and I'll show you what it really means to be ticklish~" He narrowed his gaze and cracked his knuckles loudly, his body emanating with an aura of electric energy, his hair tendrils raising into the air like cobras poised to strike, wriggling their fingers and forming into bristles.

        Jevil shrieked and quickly scrambled back. "YEEEP-!! ALRIGHT ALRIGHT ALREADY, I GET IT I GET IT!!" The jester first pouted at being told what to do. But something about the strange monster's words...Felt to be true.

        Ragaeli chuckled, his hair calming back down. "Of course, that doesn't mean there's no fun to be had in a bit of harmless chase," he flashed a devious grin. "You can make them pay, without making them go away, so that way you can all play again and again~ The eventual catch can be the best pay-off of all~"         The implication of the tickle monster's words started to sink in. A Grinch-like smile started to spread across the imp's face as terrible schemes came to his mind. He could play a game of 'Surrender' with anyone, anytime, and they wouldn't have to lose their HP over it. It could be one big game of hide-and-tickle, or tickle tag, or a test of endurance, or another way for the King to interrogate outsiders about Lightners...         Sensing that his thoughts had changed their tune, Nightmare gave him back his hat...And transferred a surplus of magic energy fueled by laughter, adrenaline and mischief to replenish his strength.

        Jevil gasped as if surfacing for a breath of fresh air, then giggled and sprung to his feet. "Fine, you've won me over, I hope you're happy! But I think we'll have to wait until the Lightners return with that key. Once they do, I'll wreak havoc in that boring little prison of theirs and this Joker will be the one to have the last laugh~!" He giggled fiendishly and rubbed his hands together, bouncing impatiently in place.

        Ragaeli smirked. "Hehe, no need to wait for a key. Prisoners break themselves out all the time, so why not just break in~?" He hopped over to the door, grasped his large hand around the bars, his hand emanating with crackling magic again... And the lock popped open with a click.         Jevil went slack-jawed. "Wowee!! You really are strong! I can't even best Seam's magic enchantments at full strength!" he then cleared his throat. "That isn't to say I couldn't have broken in all along. I just didn't want to is all," he shrugged and stuck his tongue out. "So now it's time to say...SO LONG!!" He cackled maniacally and shot like a bullet out of the door.

        When he flung himself from inside the cell, he saw the three travellers from earlier, now gawking up at him incredulously.         "W-What the-?!" Susie and Ralsei's eyes went wide.         Jevil instantly pounced them, rapidly bombarding them with scribbling fingers, rapid pokes and his tail slithering between their limbs. Shrieks of startled laughter answered him, even from the quiet, stoic one. They were too preoccupied with trying to flail away to notice the jester snatch the key out from under their noses. As soon as he had it, he stopped and hovered above them.         Susie panted for a minute. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?! I'LL KILL YOU FOR THAT!!" she snarled, brandishing her axe.         "H-How did you get out?!" Ralsei questioned. "I thought you needed the key??"         Jevil merely answered with a wild grin, focusing his power in his hands until the key sparkled and crackled with his magic...And shattered into hundreds of tiny shards. Without another word, he rocketed up the winding stone steps, laughing incomprehensibly.         "WH...WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" Susie shouted.         "I don't...think that was supposed to happen..." Ralsei scratched his head through his hat.         Kris just shrugged, and Susie grumbled. "We went through all that shit just to get the key and he didn't even NEED it!! I'm getting real damn sick of this stupid castle!!" She pounded the handle of her ax into the ground, huffing loudly.         Ralsei frowned. "Well, don't worry about him. I think it's time we go find Lancer, yeah?"         At this, Susie calmed down a little, sighing. "Yeah, you're right. We've kept him waiting long enough. Some mystery prisoner isn't any of our damn business."

        It was already too late, regardless of whether the heroes tried to go after him. The jester's second reign of chaos was swift and sudden. He ricocheted through the castle, his manical laughter echoing through every hallway, his bursts of magic visible like fireworks in the distance, his devilsknife and his magic attacks shapeshifting into other "weapons" like giant featherdusters, scrubbing brushes and makeshift hands. At first the guards were horrified that the infamous prisoner had escaped. But once they were reduced to shrieks of laughter and pleading and apologies, and Jevil declared victory before bee-lining to his next target and eventually leaving the castle, the denizens of the Darkner world were left flabbergasted, nervous, and perhaps even amused and curious to see if this "dangerous criminal" would return for more...

        Ragaeli watched the commotion smugly as he started to fade back to his realm. "Oh dear, it appears I've created a monster~"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        You make your way back down the elevator and stairs. You double-check your items, use the save point, and....         What the hell? The dungeon door is gone! Is this an easter egg of some kind? Did the game glitch out? You check your items again... The key is gone too.         Okay, something must be wrong. Before you make the decision to replay the whole game just for the hidden boss, you head back to Seam. Maybe talking to him again will re-trigger the events needed for fixing the key?

        But when you go inside the "Seap", it isn't just Seam anymore. The secret boss, Jevil, now has a full sprite, grinning gleefully at the player.

        [ * UEE HEE HEE, WELCOME, WELCOME LIGHTNERS! SO SORRY WE DIDN'T GET TO PLAY, PLAY. MAYBE ANOTHER DAY! ]

        You talk to Seam first, triggering his usual dialogue about how Jevil ended up in the dungeon, and how the heroes would eventually have to face the Knight. And, interestingly, an additional bit of dialogue explaining how the heroes just missed Jevil's "escape", and how his reunion with his old friend was filled with a great deal of laughs...         Talking to Jevil afterwards brings up more dialogue. You ask him how he got out of the dungeon.

[ *YES, YES, I SUPPOSE I SHOULD EXPLAIN THAT KEY. I HAD ANOTHER STRANGER COME TO ME! ]

[ *BUT THIS ONE DID NOT MAKE ME FEEL SO AIMLESS. IN FACT, HE SHOWED ME THAT I WOULD HAVE MADE QUITE A MESS! ]

[ * THIS MAY ALL JUST BE A GAME, AND YOU... YES, YOU OUT THERE...]

        His sprite momentarily came closer, his yellow irises seeming to bore right into you through your screen...

[ * -MAY HAVE MORE SAY IN WHAT RIGHTS WE CAN OR CANNOT FLAUNT. BUT I THINK, EVEN IN THIS PRISON, WE CAN STILL BE HAPPY, HAPPY, AND PLAY AS MUCH AS WE WANT! ]

[ * WHO IS REAL, AND WHO IS NOT? I DON'T THINK THAT MATTERS ANYMORE, ANYMORE. ]

[ * THAT SILLY RED MONSTER, WHO LAUGHS AND LAUGHS AND REMINDED ME THAT THIS WORLD DOES NOT HAVE TO BE A BORE...]

[ * THE STRANGE WORDS HE SAID HAVE STUCK INSIDE MY SPRINGS. NOW MY VIEW ON THIS WORLD HAS BECOME JUST A LITTLE LIGHTER... ]

[ * AND I'M CURIOUSER, AND CURIOUSER, TO SEE WHAT THE FUTURE BRINGS~! ]

[rosecorcoranwrites]

September Reading Roundup

It's time for this month's reading roundup, but first, a little announcement that no one but me will care about: I'm staying off the internet until the election. Well, mostly. I'll still post to Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram when the mood strikes me or when I have a writing update. I'll still post Rant Rave Reviews on here and Youtube (the theme this month is spooky stories, of course). But I won't be interacting much (ie, I won't be spending hours reading through Twitter and Tumblr and watching random Youtube videos I've already seen). If you @ me or retweet or reblog a post, I'll probably respond in a day or two, but other than that, I'm becoming a recluse.

The reason for this is twofold. First, I'm offering it up. For those of you who aren't Catholic, "offering it up" is sort of like giving up something for Lent. You discipline yourself by enduring some deprivation (either natural, like pain, or of your own choosing, like not watching hours of Youtube). At the same time, you offer up your (albeit, in this case, slight) suffering as a sacrifice for some good. I'm offering it up for America. Not the election, America. Because, not to get political or anything, but no matter who wins the garbage fire that is the 2020 election, America is doomed unless our culture changes. As I said to a friend recently, if this was the 90s, we could weather whatever storm Trump or Biden brings, but people hate each other so much right now that our country is pretty much over. Unless...

I don't know what I'm praying for, but I'm praying, praying that come what may, God in his Providence will drag something good out of all of it, kicking and screaming if need be. I will also be doing a rosary novena with my diocese October 14th through October 22, and then another one with the USCCB October 26th to November 3rd. Join me if you would like.

On a lighter note, I'm a volunteer writer-in-residence again at my hometown library, so I'm obligated to focus on writing this month, and need write, research, and workshop without distraction. I have two Forensics and Fiction books all tabbed and ready to read, plus a book about army nurses in the Vietnam War. The plot of book one in the alternate-history/fantasy/mystery trilogy is fast congealing, and I want to strike while the iron is hot. I need to focus! My ultimate goal is to be ready to write a little each day in November, returning to my heretical NaNoWriMo ways.

I'll let you know how it all turns out in my first Novemebr post, which will be a reading roundup of October. Until then, let's take a look at what I read this month:

Two Six Shooters Beat Four Aces: Stories of a Young Arizona by Barbara Marriott Ph.D

Genre: History - Anecdotes

Why I read it: Arizona book club pic

What I thought of it: While it's clear that Marriott is an excellent researcher, she is either a bad writer or in serious need of an editor. Individual paragraphs proved internally repetitive, and the overall structure of each chapter was slapdash. It needed smoother transitions from anecdote to anecdote or more section breaks and section headers.

Would I recommend it: No, everyone in my book club, including myself, hated it.

7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

Genre: Supernatural Mystery

Why I read it: I'd been wanting to for a while; the premise caught my eye

What I thought of it: The body-hopping time-loop stuff was brilliant, the characters likable, and the story delightfully twisty. The last twist and conclusion were unsatisfying, though.

Would I recommend it: Yes!! Despite it's flaws, it was an exciting, fun, and original book. I will definitely be reading Turton's next book (which involves a closed circle of suspects and, possibly, demons!?).

The Exorcist by William Blatty

Genre: Horror

Why I read it: I'd been meaning to for a while, and writing research gave me an excuse to do so

What I thought of it: I like that it doesn't pull it's punches; I'm kind of shocked that it's only been censored a couple times, actually. It presents demons as they are: hateful, grotesque jerks who get off on picking on humans. I also liked that there was a murder mystery subplot. I'm not sure I approve 100% of the ending, theologically speaking, but that's a pretty minor quibble.

Would I recommend it: Yes, but it is not for the feint of heart. Trigger warnings for child sexual abuse, adult sexual abuse, language, violence, the works.

How to Destroy America in Three Easy Steps by Ben Shapiro

Genre: Nonfiction - politics

Why I read it: It's a long story that I shall tell about in my memoir of library life, but not here. Also the cover is 10/10

What I thought of it: It was ok. I already knew most of what he said. I disagreed with some of it, like seeing the constant moving of people from town to town in 1950s as a positive thing; in actuality, "company men" in the 50s were moved around so they wouldn't have community ties but instead ties to the company, which is anti-human to the extreme. I did think it was interesting that he combatted the idea of America's greatness being built off the backs of slaves by pointing out that slavery was actually terrible for the south, as reliance on slavery retarded their economic system well after the Civil War.

Would I recommend it: If you're into political books, sure.

American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI by Kate Winkler Dawson

Genre: True Crime - forensic history

Why I read it: I love historical true crime

What I thought of it: It was ok, but kind of didn't make the case for him being "The American Sherlock Holmes" (even though people really did call him that back in the day), in that a lot of his conclusions ended up being a little dubious. Still, from a research perspective, it did establish when various forensic practices started being used in the USA.

Would I recommend it: Maybe? I personally liked Father of Forensics more. I'd say this book is, like, 3/5 stars, just because it could have been tightened up a bit.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Genre: Horror

Why I read it: It's spooky season!

What I thought of it: Having already seen the movie, I knew pretty much what was going to happen, but I love Gaiman's turn of phrase.

Would I recommend it: Yes, especially for children who are too young for scarier fair but still want a creepy story.

The Horror at Red Hook by H.P. Lovecraft

Genre: Horror

Why I read it: It's still spooky season!

What I thought of it: I honestly liked this a lot more than the Cthulhu mythos stuff. Rather than vague demoniac blasphemies or black cyclopean gulfs, there's a real tangible cult that sacrifices (reanimated?) corpses to a pale, dancing, snickering Thing on a golden pedestal. I dig it.

Would I recommend it: Yes. Just... ignore the racism. That goes for all of Lovecraft's stuff, by the by.

Herbert West: Reanimator by H.P. Lovecraft

Genre: Horror

Why I read it: Turns out I like HP Lovecraft. Who knew?

What I thought of it: You gotta love mad scientists who try to reanimate the dead, right? I think this one would make an excellent mini-series.

Would I recommend it: Yes.

Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh

Genre: Essay - illustration/comics

Why I read it: I loved Hyperbole and a Half, and was excited when I saw Brosh was coming out with another book.

What I thought of it: It was okay. Not as good as her first book, but for an understandable reason: medical complications and her sister's suicide (that's not a spoiler, as the book is dedicated to her sister). Thus, the book had a heaviness to it that the first one didn't. Still there were some parts that made me laugh so hard I cried.

Would I recommend it: Maybe? I'd say borrow it from the library, but don't buy it, unless you are also suffering a loss. It might be really relatable and cathartic in that case.

The Rats in the Walls by H.P. Lovecraft

Genre: Horror

Why I read it: I like HP Lovecraft

What I thought of it: Not as scary as I had been led to believe by my brother, but still a good story. I plan on reading Lovecraft Country at some point, which supposedly flips Lovecraft's racism on it's head, and so help me, if it doesn't make reference to this story and chattel slavery, I'll throw a fit.

Would I recommend it: Yes. I like that the cat didn't die. :)

The Shadow Over Innsmouth by H.P. Lovecraft

Genre: Horror

Why I read it: I just... I just really like Lovecraft, okay?

What I thought of it: I find the sea inherently creepy, so when you have a decrepit backwater filled with a fishy stench and secrets, it's gotta be good.

Would I recommend it: Yes, especially if you liked the Fishing Hamlet part of the Bloodborne DLC (which I could not help but think of the whole time reading this novella).

The Thing on the Doorstep by H.P. Lovecraft

Genre: Horror

Why I read it: You know why.

What I thought of it: So if you've read enough Lovecraft, especially Dunwich Horror and Shadow Over Innsmouth, you already know what's coming... or do you? Right away, HP establishes that there is a special knock the guy uses with his friend, so I assumed the twist end would involve the Thing appearing in the guy's body but not using the knock, thus revealing itself to be (redacted for slight spoilers). I was wrong. That's not how it played out, and the way it played out was so much creepier!!!

Would I recommend it: Yeah! I really liked this one!

Haunter of the Dark by H.P. Lovecraft

Genre: Horror

Why I read it: Yup

What I thought of it: Same ol', same ol, but what I thought was cool in this one was that the supposedly superstitious Italian Catholic immigrants totally know what's up and spend their stormy nights keeping the Haunter at bay with nothing but candles and flashlights. What a neat detail!

Would I recommend it: Yup. :)

[drangues]

Aaahhh I’m so glad you liked my explanation!!! Explaining my perception of like, stuff that’s. Beyond? I guess, human understanding is one of my favorite things, and I really enjoyed it, so knowing you enjoyed it too makes me happy! Also I like to imagine that, technically being a God, Chuuya is one of the only ones who can,, Actually? Perceive his Full Form? And I like to think that he’d find it adorable. (Nyanon, 1/7)

Like, it’s all typical eldritch horror from the farthest ring (in tiger kitty form) but Chuuya’s IMMEDIATELY trying to give the giant fluffball chin scratches. Also also I like to imagine that Dazai’s ability works. About as well as it works on Lovecraft? So he gives his dramatic speech and turns around and expects to no sell the tiger when it hits him because Atsushi would just turn back, right? Right??? (Nyanon, 2/7)

But no, that doesn’t happen, and Dazai gets whacked with five hundred pounds of fluff. And I’d imagine that Atsushi is a Baby Abomination, so he doesn’t always have good control? Usually around the full moon, hence the ADA trying to find him. Anyways, listen, no one can say no to pictures of tiger kitten Atsushi. If they try, Fukuzawa will find them. And when he does... Well, no one knows what he does to them, but everyone ends up with a love of cats, especially ones with stripes. (Nyanon, 3/7)

Moving on, though- I’m glad you liked this AU! It’s mainly just a cute, feel good kinda thing, with some “Atsushi and Dazai pseudo-raising Kyouka together” thrown in for good measure. I could definitely imagine her making her tiny surrogate parents a tiny room to share together? Like, you know those little fairy houses, or the little books made in shelves and drawers? That kinda thing! And if there’s only one bed... Well, what’re they gonna do, yell at her for being thoughtful? (Nyanon, 4/7)

But, moving on (again) to my next, technically not new since I’ve mentioned it before, AU Concept: The Monochromatic Moonlight AU! I don’t think I’ve said much on it, but to pull off a quick summary- At the age of either eleven or twelve, Atsushi’s ability goes haywire due to the abuse he suffered from and Shibusawa’s influence. This is something that even Dazai can’t reverse, once they meet, so he’s stuck in his “monstrous” halfway form. (Nyanon, 5/7)

His sclera are yellow and his irises are violet, and his skin is paler and striped with black, like a tiger. In addition, his hands and feet resemble paws, even possessing paw pads and claws, a pair of ears has replaced his human ones, he has the tail of a tiger, and much of his body is covered in a soft layer of white and black fur. This means that he can’t even try to blend in with others without almost completely covering himself up- Or at least, he doesn’t think he can. (Nyanon, 6/7)

He thinks he looks horrifying. And with nowhere to go back to, all he can do is... Well, wander. And along the way, he picks up other people who are unwanted. I don’t have too many solid people, yet, outside of Lucy and Kyouka, but I know that everyone decides to go by animal names. Because I want them to. Sorry for rambling, by the way, this AU is. One of my favorites, whoops. (Nyanon, 7/7)

yooOOO CHUUYA SEEING THRU ATSUSHI IS SO CUTEEE UWUWUWU <333 dazai would be pissed but secretely enjoy that he cant affect tiger sushi uwuwu

kyouka would definitely make the tiny fairy house with only one bed and atsushi would feel too bad to say anything and dazai would be too much of a lil shit towards atsushi to complain or say anything smh

OWOWOWOWO I LOVE YOUR AU!!!! and him having liddol paw beans on his fingers AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA he would be so sOFT bet u dont even see his fur but then u stroke his arm or whatever and B A M ultimate softness. atsushi would try his best to cover himself up >:(( but everyone else (dazai and kyouka especially) will be like nOOOOOOOO LET US SEE YOUR CUTE ASS. the fact that he picks up other “strays” is so cute as well ugh found family will always be my weakness (maybe Q can also be one of the strays owo?? it would be a whole feat wouldnt it- nobody managed to “tame” Q except for atsushi and Q listens to nobody else EXCEPT atsushi)

AND DONT BE SORRY SMH I LOVE YOUR AU AS WELL

[iyliss]

Hi, sorry if you've already talked about this, but I have a question. I remember seeing some meta floating around a while back about how Season 2 of GX was based on the Lovecraftian Mythos and Cosmic Horror, but I don't know anything about Lovecraft or Cosmic Horror, but you said you did. So could you maybe tell us more about how GX was inspired by Lovecraft? I love digging into the meta of things and hearing what people are interested in! Thank you for your time.

Omgg thank you so much for asking!! I already talked a bit about cthulhu mythos and gx (you may find about inspirations of arcana forces that doesn’t have much meta, about the world and the devil that are more focus on anime interpretations and that very scary looking reply about judai being randolph carter). But I can sure develop about season 2, and GX in general, since this was about more specific points. I’ll try to keep it decently readable, Im sorry if i get carried away ^^ Also I hope I don’t make too many mistakes, I’ve red most of the stories I will refer too, but not all, and a part comes from other sources so it might not be exact (and I might reconsider some aspects as I keep reading). Also I will avoid repeating things I said in the 3 posts linked up there. First of, why would Gx and s2 more specifically be related specifically to the Cthulhu Mythos, amongst other inspirations? Beside the arcana forces being quite obvious references, there are some narratives, aesthetics and themes in common. Amongst other things:

An entity from outer space partially coming to earth and leadingit to it’s destruction

The mix of weird sci-fi (aliens, space, white holes...) and occultism (tarot, spirits, ghosts...)

A sect. A whole sect right there.

A general mystery of some aspects of the universe (what is the light of destruction? What is the extent of it’s power, and influence? Where does it and gentle darkness come from?)

About “knowing too much” (mostly Saiou knowing the future, but you can see a bit of it in Judai’s evolution)

And so many aspects of Saiou but it’s harder to explain it all

I think that even without having red anycosmic horror litterature, the villain being the leader of a sect that try to destroy the world in honnor of an out of space (and reality) super-powerful entity screams lovecraft. Ill try talking about other points down there that are less obvious. In a way, the “main” characters of s2 (judai, edo, kenzan and saiou) follows lovecraftian main characters archetypes. Judai ressembles characters such as, well, Randolph Carter, and Charles D Ward. Innocent, a bit naive and immature, generally nice though lacking some sense of consequences. There’s often this kid who doesn’t actively try to get involved in things, but have some strong relationship with occult things and will get in all kind of trouble that never really ends well. Edo… is more about how he loves litterature, doesn’t have much friends, has a (black) cat, drink tea and is american but more about European style. That sounds stupid but it’s also an important part of lovecraftian imagery. Kenzan is interesting cuz he’s an paleontologist (at least of passion), but in a very stupid way. That may be an unwilling coincidences but I swear the number of incredibly unprofessional (and unrealistic) field rescearcher/archeologist there are in those stories… And Saiou… There’s this underlying theme (fueled by lovecraft’s racism tbh) about beings/people that are weird, monstruous, different (=not white american protestant men for him), and they probably know some secret dangerous occult magic that will destroy the world, because that is obviously what they want. And that’s pretty much how Saiou was treated. But, what makes those stories more interesting than simple racist metaphores is that said « monsters » are never shown actively doing anything bad (the dunwich horror mostly, and the shadow over innsmouth are especially interesting. In the first, it actually makes more sense than our main monster Wilbur Whateley actually tries to save the world). Which well also goes with Saiou’s story.

And it’s actually hard to explain deeply because I am often scared to associate scenes and aspects that are just a bit alike. But if i have to develop on some specific lovecraft stories, beside The dream quest of the unknown Kadath for s3 and Through the gate of the silver key for s4... In s2 some aspects reminds me of The repairer of reputation (old, very close friend of a good man have been slowly becoming the leader of a cult that does quite shady things and want the return of an old god, while maintaining a good face to his friend who noticed nothing despite everyone else thinking he’s strange), the dunwich horror (Boy hated by everyone deals all alone with an incredibly powerful entity that only brings destruction, ambiguously helping or stoping it, until at the very end the other characters finally realizes that they have to stop it too), at the mountain of madness (Hero with an affinity for spiritual things discover aliens are a thing, but they’re actually nice. But there’s also something evil those aliens tried to fight and failed, and now it’s after the humans), or The case of Charles Dexter Ward (Well meaning boy brings back his very powerful and evil double-from the past- at first tries to deal with him alone, gets all kind of trauma, asks for help as a last resort and no one understands. Notice it works both for the light/Saiou and Haou/Judai). But for that I actually think it’s more that similar themes (which could be  more likely inspired by typical Cthulhu mythos tropes and stories) leads to similar scenarios than direct references. However, s2 strongly feels like an incredibly good “adaptation” of cthulhu mythos, especially because it deals a lot more with the dehumanization and trauma that are only implied in the stories. I say adaptation because this universe is actually much more vaste than just H.P. lovecraft (and that’s why I say “cthulhu mythos”, because it’s not just him) and, at this point, is more about the tropes and themes than the characters or creatures. Also I want to conclude with insisting that, while the extend of lovecraftian inspiration in S2 is debatable, it’s clear that there’s at least one person behind ygo who has a very good knowledge of cthulhu mythos, and has it as a strong inspiration. Not only in GX, but also in the tcg (outer gods), in zexal (i personnaly have some thoughts about don thousand being based of Nyarlathotep) and in Vrains (tindangles being Tindalos Hounds).

[girlmeetsliv3]

Q & A

The 2K follower special is here. Thank you to everyone that submitted a question. The transcript is below for those of you who would rather read. Hope you enjoy ♡ ♡ ♡

I do apologize in advance as my mic picked up on every little sound. Such as me rubbing my arm soothingly and my accidentally hitting my ankles against my chair. Also, sorry for the long pauses this was the third take and it was the best one. 

Hi everyone, this is Cloud. I’m doing this Q & A special as a thank you for getting me to two thousand followers which I really appreciate. It’s twenty questions long, I don’t think it’s going to take a long time. I do apologize in advance if I’m a bit awkward, I’m alone in my room talking to a mic. So, I do apologize in advance.

1) Where are you from?

          I’m from South Florida, but my family and I are Latinos.

2) What made you decide to write specifically yandere? And would you ever post a nonstandard story on the blog?

           So, what got me into yandere or what really opened me up to writing it was the fact that when I was twelve or thirteen I was really into wattpad stories. A couple years ago, when I revisited them I realized that a lot of them painted these abusive relationships in a positive light or just romanticized them a lot. Which is terrible, because when I read that I grew up thinking that’s how relationships were supposed to be. That your partner is supposed to be possessive, kind of controlling, and a bit handsy sometimes. Which is obviously very wrong.

           What I like about yandere, what got me into writing it, was the fact that I could portray these relationships that had been romanticized when I was younger - that the media often romanticizes - that it’s not healthy. It’s not good. Specifically, people who are inexperienced the way I was. I think you can hear about all these red flags and different things, but if you’ve never been in a relationship and you don’t really know what a red flag looks like I think it’s important to know those signs. I think that’s why I write my stories.

           On whether I would ever post a nonstandard on the blog, I have wanted to write other stories but I don’t think I’ll do it on this blog. Just because this blog is so centered on being a yandere blog and my followers/readers sort of come to my blog expecting something. So, I would probably open a second blog and just write other stories on that.

3) Who is your bias?

           I like to think I’m OT7 bias. I love all seven of the members and support them, however, the people who first caught my attention from BTS were Tae and Yoongi.

4) How long have you been writing?

           So I’m twenty now, I would say I’ve been writing for over ten years now. I actually got in trouble a lot back when I was in elementary school and middle school because instead of paying attention I would just write little short stories or chaptered stories, that just really made no sense, during class. I would just write it on scraps of paper instead of actually taking notes.

5) What got you into writing?

           I think like a lot of people I was really into books. I loved books so much. I want to get back into them, but I think a lot of people can relate when I say I’d rather read a 100k story than open up a book. What got me into writing was definitely reading, I read so much. I carried a book with me everywhere. I read so much that my parents told me I had to stop reading - that’s the level I was at. (insert awkward laugh) What got me into reading though was this little, not really popular, book called Twilight. I was eight when I saw the movie and then I got the book for my birthday. I just fell down a rabbit hole after that of just reading.

6) Your favorite fic so far?

           That I’ve written would definitely be Datura. I just love it so much, it holds such a special place in my heart - all those characters.

7) What’s your favorite non-yandere fic?

           I have several, I even have a blog called @girlmeetsfics (shameless plug) dedicated to all the stories that I find. Cause I have my likes locked. But, right now my top three are: @rkivenamu, I’m sorry if I mispronounce these usernames, Let’s Be Bad Guys. I’m a slut for OT7 in space, I just am. That story is so phenomenal. So well written. The characters are so interesting. The stakes are so well written. I think it’s difficult to get action done well in books, you can get tension, but when it comes to action scenes its difficult to elaborate on them, but she does it so well and you really feel that the character’s lives are in danger and that anything could happen at any second. I’m actually such a fan of that story and love it so much that I followed her or them and I put on the post notifications to be notified for when she would update again.

           In second place, I have @btssavedmylifeblr Void. If you haven’t read that - you’re missing out. It’s amazing. It’s phenomenal. I love the character’s so much. Again, I’m a sucker for space stories, I just love sci-fi.

           And then recently @gukslut Rattled is such a beautiful and heartbreaking tale. It’s so human. I’ve never read such human characters before, they are just so real and raw and I just love it. So, I would definitely recommend checking it out.

8) Is there any style of writing that you try to emulate?

           Some of my favorite authors are those turn of the century authors: J.M. Barrie, Lewis Carrol, etc. I really love those stories. If you’ve ever read some of those authors - Edgar Allan Poe and some of Lovecraft - they are third-person point of view, but its this weird blend between you being a person in the story and the story being told to you.

9) Name a trope you hate.

           I don’t really hate anything. What I don’t like to maybe read or write is a boring protagonist. I don’t like a character that is so blank slate that they just have no personality. Or nothing to do and they’re just there to be pushed around. They’re a really passive protagonist and don’t get me wrong, you can definitely do a passive protagonist right. I just really don’t like protagonists that are a blank slate, that you have to force yourself to give them a personality. That there’s no personality given to them by the author.

           I do understand that the stories I write, and the most popular stories are, self-insert or member x reader but I think you can manage to get away with still having some characterization there.

10) What is a dynamic you always include in your stories?

           Something I like to highlight a lot is codependency. From my personal experience, a lot of the toxic relationships that I’ve been in - even though they haven’t been romantic, mainly platonic - suffer from codependency or it’s definitely one of the dynamics that play a significant role. So, its something I always like to highlight in these relationships. With co-dependency, it might not always seem bad to be entirely reliant on someone, especially if your self-esteem isn’t that high (self-esteem as defined by Adler & Stewart), but it can really quickly turn toxic in the hands of the wrong person or even in the hands of the right person.

11) If you had to pick to be the OC of one of your stories who would you be?

           This is going to sound weird and kinda masochistic, but I would be interested in being the OC of the Violent Delights story. Even though all the character’s in that story are so beyond intense and given how it ends. Well, the series might not end like that I’m still not sure. But given how the one-shot ends, it’s kinda depressing but that is the OC I would be.

12) Any upcoming fics you’re excited to write about?

           I’m excited for Violent Delights. I have something in the works, regarding that story, with a really popular writer on Tumblr. Hopefully, it works out. I really hope it does, but I’m really excited for that story and I hope you guys are too.

13) Would you ever write for other groups that aren’t BTS?

           I’m not sure. I really want to write girl groups, I think that’s my main thing. I think the yandere dynamic with women changes a lot. There’s this stereotype that most yandere tend to be girls, because misogyny, and whatnot but I really want to write a girl group. I don’t know which girl group…(thinks about it a little) eh, I kinda do. So yeah, definitely girl groups.

14) If you could do a collab, who are the top 5 writers you’d want to collab with?

           The first two are the ones that got me into yandere or at least writing yandere, which are @sweetbunnykook and @chinkbihh. Min, @jooniescupcakes, I’d love to collab with Min. Recently I discovered, (by recently I mean two months ago) @taequois she writes some amazing yandere stories and she isn’t afraid to go there and I love that. I really like dark stories.

15) Are there any discontinued stories you can see yourself coming back to?

           I would love to go back to Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. I’d love to go back to them and rewrite them - completely change them. I wouldn’t delete them perse, especially not Paradiso because that is the first story I ever wrote on the blog, but I think I’d reformat them and make them really long one-shots.

16) What’s your favorite animal?

           My favorite animal used to a cheetah. I don’t really have a favorite animal anymore. The only animal that I can say that comes into my mind isn’t even real: it’s because I finished watching Avatar so a flying bison would definitely be my favorite animal. Realistically, maybe a cheetah and my second would be a cat (I really want a cat).

17) Would you ever write a hybrid story?

           I would never say no, because I don’t know what the future entails, I’m just uncomfortable with hybrid stories. By that I don’t mean that they make me uncomfortable, I mean that I don’t know enough about them to feel comfortable writing them. There was a while between me saying I was going to write an ABO story and then me actually writing Lilies of the Valley because I had to do a lot of research. Search thinks like tropes because I really wanted to avoid a lot of cliches. I actually read and there are a lot of really good hybrid stories. So, I don’t know if I would ever write it. I am open to it, but I have a lot of works in progress right now.

18) Is there anything that’s a hard limit for you?

           Yes, I think I could never write sexual assault. I know a lot of my stories feature dubious consent because of the situation the protagonists are in, but I don’t think I could ever write explicitly sexual assault. So that’s definitely a hard limit for me.

19) When is the next part of pon coming out? Before or after you finish lotv?

           The reason pon has taken so long is that I have to catch up from where the second part ended to the end of the one-shot. Part three is essentially the one-shot. Obviously things are going to be different, but from where the story ended to the end of the one-shot which is insane. It’s a lot. Pon only has like five parts, I wanna say, so it’s definitely a lot. I have some of the outline worked out, but it’s a lot.

           I can’t say right now if it’s before or after Lilies of the valley. I have most of Lilies of the valley written, I don’t think there is going to be more than ten chapters - maybe twelve at most. I want to say a mid to late June deadline is what I have right now. My plan is to put out prince of nothing part three and then the day after put out Violent Delights. So look forward to that, please.

20) Do you see yourself doing this in the long run?

           I wanna say yes, I’ve only been here a year and it feels like such a short amount of time looking back because so much has happened. I never thought I would reach 2k followers. I never even really thought I would reach 1k, to be quite honest. So, I see myself doing this for maybe one more year - I don’t know. With the way things are going on in the world, things are difficult but at least now I have time. Time to write, even though god knows sometimes I just can’t.

           I’m not going anywhere anytime soon. I really enjoy doing this and it makes me really happy. I feel like I have a safe space on this blog to go to when things get tough in life and I’d really like to thank you all for giving me that. For giving me a platform in which I could express myself and share my stories because for the longest time I thought that no one really wanted to hear them. So, again I’d like to thank you all so much for that.

           Okay, so that’s the end. I’m sorry that this was a little long, I will have a transcript (this right now). So again I’d like to thank you all again for 2,000 followers. There is a lot more coming, I have a lot of surprises planned for you guys that I am currently working on. I’m recording this on Friday and plan to upload it on Sunday. Again thank you all, this is Cloud signing out. Kisses. Bye.

[chicagoindiecritics]

New from Jeff York on The Establishing Shot: APPRECIATING THE SUBLIME NASTINESS OF STUART GORDON’S “RE-ANIMATOR”

Original caricature by Jeff York of David Gale and Jeffrey Combs in RE-ANIMATOR (copyright 2020)

With the passing of filmmaker Stuart Gordon this past week, I was inspired to re-visit his darkly comic horror film RE-ANIMATOR. A loose adaptation of H. P. Lovecraft’s horror short Herbert West – Reanimator, Gordon made it his own by amping up the comedy and the grotesque in equal measures for a modern horror classic. When it came out in 1985, America was settling into a comfortable groove with a second term of the Reagan administration, a nationwide obsession with music videos on MTV, and a steadying economy. Gordon likely wanted to shake audiences out of its complacency, and he did just that with his hellzapoppin horror show.

The film was probably too controversial by half to be anything more than a qualified hit at the time, but nonetheless it still had quite an impact. Not only did it achieve instant cult status, and lead to a number of sequels, but it cemented Gordon’s artistic reputation as a provocateur and set his film career up to continue to shock and awe. (He’d already done a lot of similar things in Chicago with his Organic Theater Company where, among other things, he introduced the world to the equally edgy playwright David Mamet when he produced his first play entitled Sexual Perversity in Chicago.) 35 years later, the chills and laughs Gordon put out for the world to see in RE-ANIMATOR still stand tall, and if anything, the entire enterprise seems even more outrageous than it did when it opened during that comfy and conservative Reagan era.

The idea of reanimating corpses wasn’t exactly the edgiest subject for the horror genre. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, which helped start the genre back in 1818, was about that very idea. Nor was excessive violence and gore new to films or even TV shows in the genre. The Hammer horror films dumped buckets of blood all over the screen in the ’60s. THE NIGHT STALKER made-for-TV movie in 1972 pushed the boundaries of violence transmitting into people’s homes with its tale of a vampire on the loose in Las Vegas. And God knows that John Carpenter was raked over the coals by critics for the spectacularly graphic deaths in his remake of THE THING in 1982. RE-ANIMATOR didn’t do anything all that new by being excessively violent. What was novel about it was how viciously it was employed, and how glibly. It was gross, sure, but mostly, it was served with a sense of humor.

In a word, RE-ANIMATOR was nasty.

Nasty in tone, look, and physicality, not to mention its treatment of death, the medical community, patriarchal society, ingenues, and yes, the classic hero’s journey. It was a sniggering and snide middle finger to propriety, daring audiences to watch, laugh, and stay till the end of a film wall-to-wall with outrage. Some did, some didn’t. I had to chase after my date who walked out during it due to being so offended. I returned the next day to see it on my own. It was a very polarizing movie.

The story concerned a brilliant but certifiably cuckoo medical student named Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) who has invented a reagent that can re-animate deceased bodies. He pulls his classmate and roommate Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott) into his twisted world when cat Rufus ends up dead by accident and West brings it back to life with his DayGlo green goop. Unfortunately, the lovable personality of the frisky feline doesn’t return as easily as his body. Instead, the sweet kitty’s personality is replaced by a savage and mutated one, a zombie-cat driven by bloodlust. As the two roomies dig deeper into experimentation with reanimation, human bodies start to pile up all over campus, all becoming as vicious as poor Rufus. It’s a film with a pretty sizable body count, one that ends with most of the cast dead, or at least dead for the moment. Dr. West’s formula glows in the dark in the final fade to black.

Combs gave one of the greatest horror film performances ever, a snide sociopath somewhere between Tony Perkins’ boyishness and Christopher Lee’s silken menace.  West was arrogant, tart-tongued, and incapable of even showing a speck of human empathy, By the end, he’s not become a better person one iota. Instead, he’s grown even more obsessed and dangerous. And he’s the lead. (Gordon was all but taunting Joseph Campbell, if not Robert McKee.)

Dan, while a cliched handsome hero in appearance, is little more than a feckless fool throughout. West all but leads him by the nose the entire time. Dan’s girlfriend Megan (Barbara Crampton) is introduced as a sweet, innocent girl and then promptly gets pulled into one humiliation after another. She’s bamboozled by Dan, has to watch her kind father, the dean of the school (Robert Samson), die and then turn into a vicious zombie. West treats her with derision, and the film’s villain Dr. Carl Hill (David Gale) will spend the entire hour and 45-minute running time trying to get into her pants. Today, they’d give her a Katniss Everdeen moment or two to counter such victimhood, but not in ’85.

RE-ANIMATOR is a film that at every beat of its story, exuded in its politically incorr ect attitude Gordon, and his fellow screenwriters Dennis Paoli and William J. Norris threw all the sacred cows out the window or against the wall. (Literally and figuratively, truly.) Rufus’ death is played for grisly laughs. So are all the human deaths. The story also ridicules people in mental institutions, padded cells, and morgues. The character of Megan’s father goes from a sweet, caring man to a drooling, lobotomized caricature in about 10 minutes. And to justify its adult rating, Megan ends up nude for a great deal of the third act. It should be noted too that the film has no problem lingering on Crampton’s comely figure either, including her pubic region. The film takes no prisoners and laughs all the way to the dank.

Most horror comedies tend to play more cute than cruel, like BEETLEJUICE, GHOSTBUSTERS, and ZOMBIELAND. RE-ANIMATOR, however, emphasizes humor that often plays as mean as the bloodletting. Nowhere is this more evident than in how Gordon treats the film’s villainous Dr. Hill. When West catches him trying to steal his reagent, he attacks him with a shovel, and then for good measure, decapitates him too. Still, Hill stays in the picture. The lascivious villain is reanimated and soon both his head in a pan, as well as his foot shorter body, are plotting more nastiness.

The film ends with a phantasm of violence and craziness, chock full of multiple corpses attacking and spraying blood and guts around like the top was left off of a Cuisinart. Yet, even that over-the-top ending cannot compete with the single most memorable set piece in the film. That is when Dr. Hill’s decapitated head tries to, ahem, give head to Megan as she’s strapped to the slab. (Thankfully, my girlfriend left before that scene!)

When the film was originally presented to the review board, it received an X rating because of such scenes, as well as its violence. Gordon trimmed some bits and pieces here and there to scale back such offenses, and thus ensured the video release of the film got an R rating that made it acceptable for Blockbuster and mom & pop stores nationwide. In rentals is where the film really took off and built its reputation that it enjoys today.

Gordon and his producer Brian Yuzna consciously went for the shock and delivered it in spades. They spent a considerable amount of their meager $900,000 budget on the gruesome makeup effects, ensuring that they were as disgusting and graphic as the photos they discovered in a forensics pathologist manual.  John Naulin, the film’s effects supervisor, said it was the bloodiest film he had ever worked on. In past horror films, he never used more than two gallons of blood. For RE-ANIMATOR, he used 24.

And, dare one say, it was bloody effective. By not pulling its punches, RE-ANIMATOR was true to Gordon’s vision of splitting skulls and being side-splitting too. And for such a brazen film, it’s got dozens of quotable quips, particularly those uttered by West. When he discovers the headless Hill trying to get it on with Megan, West admonishes the bad doctor. “I must say, Dr. Hill, I’m very disappointed in you. You steal the secret of life and death, and here you are trysting with a bubble-headed coed.” Snark like that is comedy gold. And it’s in a horror film.

It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but then Gordon wasn’t interested in the status quo.

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[melissatreglia]

Colder than Winter (Part 1)

(This was originally an RP that was between @southerndragontamer​, myself and antisilverstorm starting on this day back in 2017. 

It features Dark and Grace’s first official date at His home, and her first time meeting His kids. Of course, me being me, it couldn’t just be that simple an outing. And not when you’re in the Shadow Realm, and among demons and other Lovecraftian beasties.

Here, I’ve edited the first half of that old RP session into fic format. The second part will, hopefully, be ready tomorrow. Happy Holidays, everyone!)

Dark and His daughter Meg stood, broad shoulder to much smaller one, before the gateway that lead to the Shadow Realm. He looked quite the dandy in what was probably brand spankin’ new Armani. Meg didn’t look too shabby herself, although she obviously had a preference for leather, lace and Levis.

“Pity you could not join us for the evening’s festivities,” Dark said to me, His tone cordial.

Okay, I’m pretty sure He’s mocking me.

I grimaced, but I didn’t flinch away from His probing gaze. “I’ve experienced Your idea of hospitality, so I think I’ll pass this time around.”

“Oh come now,” He replied. “It wasn’t all unpleasant.”

I can’t fight back the urge to snark at Him. “Oh yeah, I had a blast… up until the torture.”

“Oh, come on,” Meg sneered. “Who doesn’t like it a little rough?”

“Now, now, Meg,” Dark gently reprimanded her. “Let’s not be unkind to the mortals. This is a time of peace and generosity, after all.”

Meg mumbled an apology.

“But your little sessions with Miss Melissa is why we’re staying here,” Ulysses added, from his spot beside me. He was the one demon who I’d grown to trust with my life over the last two months. He saved me from Dark’s latest machinations at great personal risk, after all.

“And to make sure they come back home in one piece, and in a reasonable timeframe,” I put in. “She may trust You… but the rest of us definitely don’t.” Both sides of this four-way tête-à-tête silently glared at each other until we all heard the sound of footsteps approach.

It was Grace, a quiet hum in her throat as she walked to this prearranged meeting spot, where the gateway had been created.

Her friend Alex trailed in her wake, looking decidedly unhappy to be there, but also determined. I, for one, couldn’t blame them.

Their boots crunched against the new-fallen snow, and Grace’s little silver bell earrings jingled softly. The bag in her hand swayed gently with each step, and she called to all of us, “Merry Christmas!”

When she reached us, she set the bag down and lifted an obsidian-hued box from it. She handed it over to Dark. “These are for you, Sir. Dark chocolate fudge brownies.”

Dark smiled at the package Grace handed Him, but not before he dropped a light kiss on her forehead. “You do know I how I love chocolate, My dearest Grace.”

It’s a Herculean effort not to roll my eyes at His sweet talk. But Grace blushed at the gesture of affection.

“But if you would be so kind as to hold onto it for Me during our travel, I would appreciate it very much.”

“Of course, Sir, I don’t mind.” Grace carefully slid the box back into the bag, then pulled a second one out, this one in black and red with a faint lipstick pattern. She smiled at Meg. “Hello, Meg, it’s nice to finally meet you. I’m Grace, and I hope you like this.” She handed her the box. “It’s strawberry shortcake. I made it just for you.”

Meg looked down at her own gift and, for a brief moment, seemed completely innocent and unlike the demon she actually was. “Awesome! Thanks!” Surprising almost everyone, she gave Grace a quick hug in gratitude.

Grace blinked, stunned by the quick and definitely unexpected embrace from the young demoness, then grinned at Meg’s excitement for the gift. Alex, however, was decidedly uncomfortable with the displays of affection and took a warning step closer to the two.

Grace then took up the bag again. “There’s another one in here for Anti,” she said. Then she added, ���Dark, Sir, I hope it’s alright that a friend of mine wanted to come along.” She gestured to Alex. “Everyone, this is Alex, and they volunteered to be my bodyguard for today. Alex, this is Dark, Meg, Ulysses and Melissa.” She bit her lip then, clearly nervous.

They inclined their head minutely towards Dark and his adopted daughter, in a semi-bow. “Sir. Alex Griffith, concerned friend, bodyguard and…” -- their eyes flicked over to Grace and a hint of a smile quirked at one corner of their mouth -- “expert gardener.”

The smile was more genuine when they turned to myself and Ulysses. “Miss Melissa, Ulysses, it’s good to see you as well.”

“Good to see you, Alex,” I replied and Ulysses politely nodded.

“It is very wise to accompany her this evening, for her protection. There are others in the Shadow Realm who are not as charming as Myself,” Dark said.

“Ya think?” I added sourly. From the corner of my eyes, I saw Grace’s little shiver; no doubt there were vision of Lovecraftian horrors dancing in her head. Dark, of course, ignored me completely.

“At any rate, we had best be on our way.” He offered His hand to Grace. “Shall we, My dear?”

Grace renewed her grip on the bag, and took His hand with her free one. “We shall, Sir.”

Alex’s gaze flicked over to me, and I nodded. Between the three of us, Grace was in good hands. Alex would be there to accompany her, and Ulysses and I would be the cavalry… just in case anything goes sideways.

I don’t want to ever have to go back there. But I will, for a friend.

Dark’s grasp on Grace’s hand was gentle but unwavering as they stepped through the mystically-powered gateway. Meg dawdled momentarily, her grip on Alex’s arm less than delicate. It’s both to steady the human during their travel, and a show of the strength lying beneath the demoness’s fairly unassuming form.

Alex bit back a groan as Meg’s overly tight grip ground the knife concealed in their sleeve into their arm. So much for the element of surprise, they thought bitterly. Then again, what chance did mere mortals ever have of surprising them?

Meg’s voice was a low hiss meant for Alex’s ears alone. “Daddy may be okay with you being her personal security, but I’m not. You’ll be on our turf. So don’t try anything stupid.” She then smiled, and added in a too-cheery tone, “Okay?”

Alex stayed silent, refusing to respond to the demoness beyond the slight curl of the lip. They were here to observe and act, if necessary, not speak… Even if there were a few choice words they’d very much like to call Dark’s adopted daughter.

They sent out a half formed prayer to a deity they hardly believed in any more, as Meg pulled Alex with her into the yawning portal.

There’s a sensation that felt like falling upward. For a moment all equilibrium was thrown, up felt like down and down was up. Vertigo hit hard. Grace clenched her eyes shut, fighting back the bile that rose in her throat.

Then it surrounded them. An endless, silent, pitch black.

They can all see each other clearly. But that’s because they’re the only things to see.

“Welcome to the Shadow Realm,” Dark announced for the benefit of the humans accompanying Himself and Meg. He gave wistful sigh, adding dryly, “My home away from home.”

“Thank You for bringing us, Dark, Meg.” Grace looked around curiously for signs of a certain glitch. “Is Anti around Sir? I’d like to hand him his gift, and here’s yours back Dark.” She set the bag back down, glad it survived the trip, and handed the obsidian box back to Him.

Dark accepted the gift with a smile. “Anti is waiting at My home. It is a small distance away from here.”

“Casa de Dark is pretty much the only landmark you’ll see around here for miles,” Meg added, letting go of Alex’s arm. “We don’t get many tourists around here.”

Grace picked the bag back up. Wonder how Anti’s doing after making everyone lose their minds and wrecking sleep schedules with the Overnight Watch? she mused to herself. “I imagine not, Meg. Melissa said this isn’t an easy place to get to, with or without help from someone like Dark.”

Grace hesitated for only a brief moment before taking Dark’s hand again. “Shall we?”

“We shall, My dear.”

With that, He lead the odd little group forward, one hand still held onto Grace’s and the other bearing the gift box.

A distant rumble could be heard, but Dark and Meg both ignored it. Grace tilted her head, more curious than startled. It was similar in a way to thunder... but somehow different at the same time. She almost wanted to ask Dark about it’s source, but scolded herself. Don’t, Grace! Curiosity killed the cat remember? The stories of Lovecraft tended to warn against that sort of thing… rather painfully so.

Alex meanwhile was looking around, searching for the source of the sound. Potential insanity be damned, they wanted to know what’s out there. But whatever’s out there stayed out of their field of view. It’s certainly for the best, but they couldn’t help but feel a twinge of disappointment.

Alex also had a sneaking suspicion that this wasn’t going to be their only visit to the Shadow Realm, and next time might not be quite as smooth sailing. Best to be prepared, in any case. After all, that was why they’re here.

It became quiet again as they traversed the empty expanse. The sound of the quartet’s footsteps echoed in the stillness.

There’s no way of knowing how long the walk was. Time seemed to flow differently here… or perhaps not at all.

A grand Tudor-style home was suddenly visible in the empty black, its windows seeming to provide a warm light amidst this sterile nothingness. The house was strangely beautiful, the set of a period drama floating in a sea of nothing.

“And here we are.”

“Home sweet home.”

Grace’s eyes widened at the beautiful home in front of her. It's more like a manor, she mused.

There’s the sound of scrambling footsteps behind the door, and some minor imp threw the door open for them.

Dark walked in, barely acknowledging the elf-like creature’s presence. Grace, however, gave the minor demon a grateful look as she passed by, as she was used to acknowledging the oft-thankless work people in various services often did.

There’s the sound of heavier footsteps than the imp’s, and a giggle echoed through the foyer where they all now stood. “L̷o̸o̶k̷ ̷w̷h̶o̷’̷s̷ ̵b̸a̶c̶k̸!̴” Anti called with a wide grin, popping in and out of existence around them, like bad reception on an old television set.

“I’m pleasantly surprised you didn’t manage to burn the house down in My absence.”

Anti’s eyes widened. “T̴h̵a̶t̸ ̷w̴a̷s̶ ̷a̶n̸ ̷o̵p̶t̶i̸o̸n̶?̴”

“No.” Dark sighed, a sound that could only come from an exasperated parent. “At any rate, these are our guests: Grace and her travel companion, Alex.”

Grace grinned at the glitch, his movements causing her to adjust her glasses in an attempt to see better. “Hi, Anti. As Dark said, I’m Grace and the shadow behind me is Alex.  It’s nice to meet you.” She set down her bag and took out the last of the three boxes, this one a black and green one with a glitchy, Matrix-like pattern.

“Merry Christmas, by the way. I hope you like the Yorkshire Pudding. I didn’t know which you preferred, so I made a few of both savory and sweet.” She handed the box to him, then picked up the now-empty bag, rolling it up and sliding it into her pocket.

“Y̵e̸s̴!̴“ Anti grabbed the offered gift and tore it open with gusto, immediately stuffed a piece of the Yorkshire pudding into his mouth. “I̵s̴ ̵g̶o̷o̸d̶!̷“ he mumbled around the mouthful of food. After swallowing, he added, “I̶ ̷l̷i̴k̶e̶ ̸h̴e̶r̶.̶ ̸C̵a̴n̷ ̴w̵e̷ ̸k̵e̵e̷p̴ ̶h̷e̵r̶,̵ ̶P̶o̵p̵s̵?̵“

“That is her choice.”

“You’re a pig,” Meg said to Anti with a snort, before she sashayed off into another room with her own edible gift.

Dark leaned over and spoke in a conspiratorial whisper in Grace’s ear, pulling the echo back momentarily so His voice wouldn’t carry. She jumped slightly, shuddering as His breath washed over her ear and neck, that uniquely deep voice so close.

“You’d think they’d been raised by wolves.” He smirked at her, before straightening up. Grace giggled, clapping a hand over her mouth to muffle the sound.

“Now, I hope you are all hungry. Dinner will be served very soon.”

“You’re not trying to pull a Hades and Persephone situation on Alex and I, are You, Sir?” She smiled, removing the possible sting from her comment. “Actually, yes, I’m starving. Guess we were walking for longer than I thought.”

Alex sucked in a breath through their teeth at that teasing comment, stomach already in knots at the whole damned thing.

Dark gave a quiet chuckle as He led them into the lavish dining room, candelabras dotted the room, giving it an intimate atmosphere. The table already set for five people with beautiful china, silverware and crystalline goblets.

“It is a common misconception that Lord Hades abducted the young, beautiful Persephone,” He began. “Hades was the kindly sort, one of the few among the Hellenic gods who rarely meddled in human affairs.”

He pulled out a chair at the right-hand side of the table’s head, and silently welcomed Grace to sit. She sat lightly, a bit stunned as she remembered the significance of this position at the table. Ooh boy, I’m really in the deep end.

“The young lady wanted to explore his world, as it was so very different from her own. She found beauty in the secretive darkness there, and she became his light. In the end, she elected to stay with him, becoming his queen.”

He seated himself comfortably in the more ornate chair at the head of the table.

“You see, the sweet Persephone had fallen in love with the Lord of the Underworld, and he with her. And because he loved her, he would not and could not force her to stay.”

A demon servant began to pour them all drinks, and another set down a platter of finger foods in the center of them all – an aperitif to the coming entrée. Grace nodded in thanks at the two servants.

Dark smiled at Grace, with a sly little wink. “And you need not concern yourself, My dearest. Neither the food nor the china are enchanted.”

Grace blushed at the wink Dark sent her way and grinned, tucking a lock of hair behind an ear. “Thank You, Dark. Their myth has always been my favorite. To my knowledge, Hades and Persephone were the only ones to actually make their long distance relationship really work. They care about and love each other, and they were the only ones not to cheat on each other. They stayed loyal to one another. Then again I haven’t brushed up on the myths in a while so I could be wrong.”

She then shrugged, picking up a small sandwich and nibbling at it. Hmm, cucumber, nice. She thought and, when taking one of the non-alcoholic drinks, she was delighted to discover it was apple cider.

Alex just nibbled on their food, not paying attention to what they were eating and only enough to be polite. They did not touch the drinks, however.

Dark, being focused on Grace, wasn’t actually paying attention to Alex’s behaviour. Oh, He was aware of their continued presence but was not terribly concerned, secure in His knowledge of His own power and what He wanted.

And what He wanted right now was seated to His immediate right.

Not that He had to worry about anything, anyway. Meg and Anti, His darling (and marginally homicidal) children, came back from wherever they had wandered deeper into the house. They took their preferred seats at the left-hand side of the table, mildly bickering over who got to sample the finger foods first.

She blushed deeply as she saw Dark watching her. Those eyes of His should be illegal... Actually, they probably are. When Meg and Anti came in and started bickering over the food, she giggled. “You two are a bit late to get first dibs, I did that before y'all got here.” She then winked playfully at the two young demons.

The main course arrived, a ham basted and cooked till it practically shone from the savory and sweet oils. Candied yams, string beans and jellied cranberry sauce follow in its wake, the servants helpfully serving it all to the family and their human guests.

“I thought you might prefer a traditional dinner this evening,” Dark said to Grace. “If there is anything more you desire, I will have someone fetch it for you.”

Grace smiled at Dark and shook her head. “Thank You, but no. This is plenty for a meal. I can’t think of anything to add. It all smells so delicious.”

Again, she gave the serving demons nods of thanks out of habit before starting to eat.

A soft moan of delight slipped free, as the flavors of the food danced over her tongue. The ham was savory and sweet like the oils it was cooked in. There was a little touch of spice to it, making a pleasant tingle on her tongue. The yams were sweet but not cloying with cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and a small bit of sugar to enhance their natural sweetness. The string beans were crisp and fresh and the cranberry sauce was tart and refreshing, cleansing her pallet between bites.

Grace blushed, realizing the sound she’d let slip as she enjoyed the food. “It's all very good, Dark. My compliments.”

“You are quite welcome, My dear. Even though it serves no nutritional purpose for Me, I still find eating human food to be rather enjoyable.”

He took a sip from His wine goblet, adding with a smirk, “Then again, there’s a number of human activities that are quite pleasurable.”

Grace almost choked on the cider as she processed his comment, her mind going straight to the gutter. Oh God, I knew I’d end up with a permanent blush! And His smirk does not help.

Surreptitiously, Alex pushed the inside of their right arm against the edge of the table, just to remind themselves of the knife still tucked up their sleeve. Let the bastard try even one thing she’s not comfortable with, they thought. I’ll make him bleed.

The dinner proceeded quietly, with most of those assembled at the table giving the occasional happy murmur at the tastes of the feast laid before them. Grace smiled softly at the picture the three made. They’re a good family. I mean, yeah, they’re demons but still. Family is family, blood related or not.

After their plates were cleared and everyone had eaten their fill, Dark stood up and smoothed His suit jacket down.

“I thought that such a fine meal would be incomplete without another enjoyable activity.” He offered His hand to Grace. “Would you care to dance?”

Grace immediately blushed deeper at the offer, then bit her lip and fiddled with her sleeve nervously. What if I look silly? She thought before she mentally shook herself. Hell with it, why not? It’ll be fun anyway. With that, she took His hand, hers shaking slightly as she said shyly, “Fair warning: I’m not that good, Dark. Sorry in advance, if I step on Your toes.”

“It’s simple, My dear. Just follow My lead.” Dark then chuckled. “And I believe My toes can handle some misuse, darling Grace.”

“Ok, Dark. Thank You.” Grace blushed a bit brighter and nodded.

He then led her into the library, which was just as beautiful as the rest of the house. The floor space was currently wide open, the lovingly maintained grand piano pushed aside to provide more room in the already spacious area.

Meg darted over to an old record player, dropping the needle gently on the record. Frank Sinatra’s voice began to issue from the player.

“Those fingers in my hair That sly come-hither stare That strips my conscience bare It’s witchcraft”

At the sound of Frank Sinatra’s tuneful crooning, Grace grinned. ‘I know this song!’ she thought excitedly, tightening her grip on Dark’s hand. She started absently humming along with the song.

Dark lead her across the floor, helping her to glide along with the rhythm of the melody. Perhaps making her look like a better dancer than she thought herself, in the process.

Grace did notice that she was better than she remembered being at dancing… though because Dark was also an expert dancer, it was hard to say. Leading someone inexperienced -- while making them also look very good at it -- took some real talent.

“And I’ve got no defense for it The heat is too intense for it What good would Common sense for it do? ‘Cause it’s witchcraft Wicked witchcraft And although I know It’s strictly taboo”

Meanwhile, it was quickly dawning on Alex how happy Grace looked with Him… and that was beginning to scare them.

“When you arouse the need in me My heart says ‘Yes, indeed’ in me ‘Proceed with what you’re leadin’ me to’ It’s such an ancient pitch But one I wouldn’t switch‘ Cause there’s no nicer witch Than you”

As the ending bars of the song faded, He pulled her close. Her back was to Him as He leaned down and pushed her hair aside tenderly. Grace’s breath caught in her throat at how small she felt compared to Him, He being more than a foot taller and somehow broader than her plus-sized frame.

His cool lips placed a soft kiss near the hot pulse point in her throat. A tremble ran down her spine. The cool brush of His lips against her racing pulse made her turn a bright crimson and a very faint whine slipped from her throat.

He then straightened up and gently spun her around. “That wasn’t the kiss I promised you. That one requires some mistletoe.”

Caught by surprise, she stammered, “Th-That’s okay, Dark, I-I enjoyed it all the same.”

He pointed upward to a spot directly above them. “Look, Grace.”

Her eyes followed up to where He was pointing. Just over their heads, a glittering sprig of mistletoe formed from nowhere and with nothing supporting it from the high ceiling. The mistletoe sparkled as it hovered in the air right above them. Her eyes widened at this subtle display of magic.

“It’s only a glamour,” Dark said. “But I thought it would be an acceptable alternative, as the real thing is quite poisonous.

“Now, about that kiss I promised…”

He leaned in, cupping her face gently in His hands and lightly pressed His lips first against her forehead, then her cheek, her nose, any place other than her mouth. Tenderly peppering her face with gentle kisses. Drawing out the moment.

Her breath caught in her throat, body trembling with every brush of His cool lips against her face.

Then, giving a small chuckle as He knew that He’d driven her crazy for it, His lips finally met hers. Her eyes widened and she froze for a split second, mind going blank as it finally registered that yes, this was happening!

Her eyes fluttered closed and she leaned into Him, clutching the lapel of His suit as she kissed Him back shyly, her cheeks burning.

Dark moved a hand back into Grace’s hair, with the obvious intent of prolonging the kiss. Grace tilted her head slightly into the touch to help.

But that distant rumble that they’d heard outside before was suddenly nearer.

A lot nearer.

Dark pulled away from Grace, and her stomach dropped as she realised what she was hearing.

Dark’s whole demeanour changed from the relaxed gentleman of their date, into a cold and stern warrior. He stood at attention, His bearing completely changed to an imposing stance worthy of a general… or royalty.

Anti drew his head back in from looking out the window, and glitched to the Hellgod’s side with a rather impressive looking blade in his hand.

“W̶e̴’̴v̸e̸ ̸g̶o̸t̵ ̸c̸o̸m̶p̷a̷n̵y̷,̴ ̴B̴o̸s̵s̵!̴ ̶A̷n̴d̵ ̷I̶’̴m̶ ̸n̸o̵t̷ ̷t̷a̶l̵k̸i̴n̴’̷ ̷a̸b̷o̶u̸t̶ ̶m̵y̸ ̸A̴u̴n̷t̷ ̸G̷e̵r̶t̵!̸”

Dark‘s order rung throughout the domicile. “GET EVERYONE IN THE HOUSE WEAPONS! NOW!”

Grace’s ears rang at Dark’s order, the echo in it reverberating in her skull but she didn’t flinch. “Dark, is there anything I can do? I mean, I’m no warrior, but can I help in any way?”

Alex shoved themselves away from the wall, instinctively reaching for their hidden knife before stopping themselves. No, they’re not going to draw unless absolutely necessary. No need to let their hosts know they came bearing hidden weapons, unless the situation became truly dire.

Alex came to stand next to Grace, one hand curling around her upper arm. “I think, maybe, we should leave this to them.”

Dark turned back to Grace, His expression pained as He gently took her hand and kissed it. His voice lacked the deep echo as He spoke quietly to her. “I appreciate your desire to help. But I can’t risk it. Not after…” He trailed off.

The look on His face tore at her heart, even as the sweet gesture made her blush softly. She squeezed His hand. “It’s alright Dark, I understand. You don’t have to explain.”

He turned to her companion. “Alex, you may take her home.”

He offered Grace another kiss on the lips, quicker this time, but probably the most sincere action He’d ever made. “I will return to your world, love, once this is over. I promise.”

At the brief kiss, her breath caught at how sincere it was, how sweet and warm, and she stood on her tiptoes to close the distance between them. But it was over far too soon. She then fixed the Hellgod with her best glare, chocolate eyes hard and serious. “You better come back in one piece, all three of you, or I will be very upset. Be safe, My King.”

Dark chuckled at Grace’s threat. “As you wish, milady.”

Grace then took Alex’s hand.

Alex drew themselves up to full height as they addressed Dark. “Pardon my bluntness, but we don’t exactly know where to go. There’s nothing out there, no light, no landmarks. Well, nothing besides the horrible creatures that most likely see us as a tasty snack. How are we supposed to get out of here?”

Dark turned to Alex, pulling out a circular item the size of a silver dollar from His pocket. It had the coppery sheen of an old coin. “I used this once when I had to make a quick retreat. It is an enchanted item, and will take you wherever you need to go.”

He held out His hand, in order to drop the coin into Alex’s. “Just think of the place. But you must be as specific as possible. I trust that it won’t be too difficult for you to operate.”

Instead of just opening their hand, Alex reached up to take the coin from Dark. “I think I can manage.” The coin had a pleasant weight to it, and they turned it over once or twice before holding it tightly.

Grace gently squeezed Alex’s hand. “Just think of being next to Melissa and Ulysses, back where we entered.” She shut her eyes, pushing the worry and concern she had for Dark, Meg and Anti down and concentrated on that one spot as hard as she could.

They closed their eyes, gripped Grace’s hand tighter, and concentrated.

But not on the spot outside the gateway. In the tension of the moment, they didn’t remember enough to bring the two of them back there. They didn’t trust a memory made spotty by fear. Instead, they focused on a small room. On a messy bed tucked away in one corner, a desk in the other. On the books and shoes and scraps of fabric scattered on the floor. On a closet full to bursting with clothes, and shelves covered in random knick knacks.

They focused on their bedroom in their apartment, and wished more than anything to just go home.

There’s a bright flash of light as the amulet was activated… but only one person left.

Alex was gone. But Grace was still there.

[Image by @secretlymarkipliersbarry​, and was linked in the original RP... but Tumblr was being dumb this time around.]

Dark breathed in for a moment, His eyes black with rage. He looked furious enough to spew fire as He paced several feet away from her. His vessel cracked for a moment, the roar of the angry God contained within reverberating through the house.

He took another breath, and His voice was deadly calm amid the echo and white noise.

“They had one task, a task they had set for themselves. To protect you. This is unacceptable. They have failed… and for that, they will die.”

[theouterdark]

Tag: Novel Prep Game

This one is hefty, @zmlorenz, thanks for the tag. I’m going to answer a few questions about The Devil from the Outer Dark.  Even though it was an age-and-a-half ago.

Rules: Answer the questions and then tag as many writers as there are questions answered (or as many as you can) to spread the positivity! Even if these questions are not explicitly brought up in the novel, they are still good to keep in mind when writing.

First Look

1. Describe your novel in 1-2 sentences (elevator pitch)

In the summer of 1928, Blake Livingston travels to Céret to recuperate in the arms of family, but life in southern France is not as tranquil as she expects. Soon after her arrival, Blake is thrust into a mystery involving an apparent suicide, a stolen painting, an enigmatic artist, a gang of communist agitators, a pair of missing shoes, and a watcher in the dark.

2. How long do you plan for your novel to be? (Is it a novella, single book, book series, etc.)

This is a sequel to Coldwater Sound, and the second book in a planned series of cosmic horror/mystery novels involving Blake Livingston. Currently it sits somewhere around 70k words. It probably won’t get much more bloated than that.

3. What is your novel’s aesthetic?

Cottagecore horror? Maybe liminal space/entropy/madness + mist and mild diesel-punk/weird science. Is that an aesthetic? Evil/Darkness in plain sight? There’s a lot going on here. You know what—it’s its own aesthetic. Read it and tell me otherwise. I hate this question.

4. What other stories inspire your novel?

The works I thought about while outlining and writing:

Pickman’s Model by HP Lovecraft

A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

Glamour in Glass by Mary Robinette Kowal

The Shining by Stephen King

5. Share 3+ images that give a feel for your novel

Main Character

6. Who is your protagonist?

Blake Livingston, arguably Adam Brand.

7. Who is their closest ally?

Blake: This is harder to answer. Either Major Devereux or Marco Denicourt. Both, in certain instances. Her sister-in-law, Sabine, could be considered that too, albeit a little later in the story.

Adam: Bertrand Faure is probably the only one. His life is complicated.

8. Who is their enemy?

Blake: Time. The other answers are spoilers.

Adam: Himself. Other answers, again, enter spoiler territory.

9. What do they want more than anything?

Blake: Stability, primarily. Belonging and love, definitely.

Adam: Expression, freedom, and recognition. Also, more paint.

10. Why can’t they have it?

Blake: She thinks she can’t be complete without some of these things, and is unfortunately in the wrong.

Adam: His pride gets in the way, among other things. Also money. He’d probably have more paint and food if he had more money.

11. What do they wrongly believe about themselves?

Blake: That she’s incapable of being useful, being loved, and that she’s crazy.

Adam: That his worth is calculated only by that which he creates.

12. Draw your protagonist! (Or share a description)

Don’t need to! @radley-writes drew her recently. (Thank you again!)

Plot Points

13. What is the internal conflict?

Fighting for a sense of belonging or purpose.

14. What is the external conflict?

A string of seemingly-unrelated crimes sows chaos around Céret. There are external sources of conflict for every character. Whether they be shady individuals, pressure from family, or high expectations placed on the main characters.

15. What is the worst thing that could happen to your protagonist?

Blake: Being mistrusted by family, or publicly discredited. Getting sectioned.

Adam: Being ignored in life and forgotten in death.

16. What secret will be revealed that changes the course of the story?

I kinda want y’all to find out by reading it.

17. Do you know how it ends?

I do. I wrote the ending already. Wrote the whole thing mostly linearly. Got to about the 40% mark and skipped to the end, pounded it out. I don’t think it will change much in the next draft.

Bits and Bobs

18. What is the theme?

There are several. I’ll pick the three most important ones.

Emptiness of attaining false dreams

Loneliness as destructive force

Overcoming – fear, weakness, vice

19. What is a reoccurring symbol?

I’ll name a few.

Black cats

Dames blanches

Pont du Diable (bridges in general)

Cherries (blossoms, fruit, rot, life)/Life Cycles

20. Where is the story set? (Share a description!)

The Devil from the Outer Dark takes place primarily in and around the city of  Céret, France, among the foothills of the Pyrenees. It’s the summer of 1928, and everyone is upset about the new format for the Tour de France. Artists find inspiration in the hills. Love is in the air. Danger lurks in the nooks and crannies of the city narrows.

21. Do you have any images or scenes in your mind already?

Oh 100%. I’m a very visually-oriented. Most of this story came about from a series of images/scenes in my mind. I jotted down little ideas here and there for about a year before I wrote a single line. That actually seemed to help in the drafting process.

22. What excited you about this story?

There’s an edge to it, and a lot of elements I don’t normally work with. Romance is one of them. Particularly unrequited love and longing, lost love, and the pain love’s absence. I also adore the characters more than any other casts I’ve written.

I also love it because it frightens me. And that’s not something that happens often with my own work.

23. Tell us about your usual writing method!

I do the chicken peck for like thirty minutes to an hour before I break through the barrier and my fingers fly across the keys. Usually while in bed, listening to music. And once I start, I can’t stop. My momentum deadens if I so much as get up to get a glass of water.

Tag List: @writingmyassoff, @erinisawriter, @midnightstreetwanderings, @bethwrotethis, @doux-ciel, @hilunawrites, @ghost-possum, @zmlorenz, @doubleviewfinder, @veronicadent, @els-writes, @dantedevereaux, @tlbodine, @hypotheticalwriterquestions, @hazeywrites, @reeseweston, @withered-rose-unbreakable-lotus, @katabasiss, @dotr-rose-love, and @byjillianmaria. (Let me know if you’d like to be added or removed from tags future tags).

If any of you haven’t done this, and would like to, go for it, but I’m not going to subject anyone to it, I think. This one has been in my drafts for like four months.

D

[skyblue-ringpops]

Lovecraft - Chapter 2 - Our Castle

This one gets a bit creepy... Enjoy!!

Finch was next.

Why? Well, he hadn't done anything bad to Henry. It was quite the opposite, in fact. Morris wasn't protecting Henry this time. He did this out of jealousy.

There was a party that night. Why there'd be a party the night after a murder, nobody knows. College is like that. Well, Morris went, seeing as he had to watch over Henry. He noticed Finch and Henry getting a bit too close. He wasn't sure if they were dating, or just close friends. Well, either way, it hurt Morris's heart to watch them. He waited until after the party, when Finch was walking home. Luckily, Finch walked alone. He left fairly late, and the only reason he was alone is because he wasn't staying over in the dorm the party happened in like almost everyone else.

Morris followed Finch until they were in the middle of the campus. He slowly pulled his knife out, then...

He looked down at Finch's body, the knife in the back of his neck. He stood for a moment, just looking. Then he took out the next paragraph of the story and placed in next to Finch's body.

"I know not where I was born, save that the castle was infinitely old and infinitely horrible;full of dark passages and having high ceilings where the eye could find only cobwebs and shadows.The stones in the crumbling corridors seemed always hideously damp, and there was an accursedsmell everywhere, as of the piled-up corpses of dead generations. It was never light, so thatI used sometimes to light candles and gaze steadily at them for relief; nor was there any sunoutdoors, since the terrible trees grew high above the topmost accessible tower. There was oneblack tower which reached above the trees into the unknown outer sky, but that was partly ruinedand could not be ascended save by a well-nigh impossible climb up the sheer wall, stone by stone."

Henry was noticeably upset the next day. Could you blame him, though? He lost someone extremely close to him. Morris knew this would happen. It was all part of his plan.

He never thought he'd be able to speak to Henry. He thought Henry would ignore him, like everyone else did.

Henry was just a normal person. He had a small group of close friends, and whoever wasn't in that group ignored him for the most part. He got more attention than Morris, but still not much. If he was told there was someone who saw him as something more, he wouldn't believe it.

Henry was sitting by himself, distancing himself from his friends. He felt more guilty than sad. He should be mourning Finch, but instead, was filled with curiosity about Lovecraft. Morris sat next to him and took out his journal. He just observed for a bit, taking notes, trying not to seem too obvious. Eventually, he spoke up.

"You...You okay?"

Henry looked up at him. "Huh? Me?" He paused. "Uh...I-I...Finch was my best friend."

Morris should feel bad. Henry was trying not to cry, and it was because of him. But he didn't feel anything.

"Are you okay?"

"At least Lovecraft killed him..." Henry smiled. "He's so cool..."

Morris smiled. If only Henry knew... "Need anything?"

Henry thought for a moment. "Maybe...a hug?"

Morris smiled and hugged Henry. This was everything he'd hoped for and more. But he had to make sure he didn't lose it as fast as he gained it. "Um... Wanna go to my dorm for a bit?"

Henry nodded and took Morris's hand, and they went to the dorm. Oscar was his only roommate, and he wasn't there. They were alone.

Morris's side of the room had a bed with purple sheets, a fluffy stuffed dog named Fernando, some CDs, a guitar and posters: Slipknot, Star Wars, and a few horror movie ones. There was also a desk where he had books, some of his favorites, his current read, an old journal, and a few sketchbooks.

Morris sat on his bed and tapped the spot next to him. Henry sat, then turned away. "Can I lay down?"

Morris nodded, and Henry slowly laid down, hugged the pillow, and cried into it.

"Tell me about him," Morris said. Maybe, if he could fill Finch's role, Henry would like him.

Henry sat up and sighed. "Alright. Well, he...he was my best friend, y'know? Always there for me... Wish he could be here now... Even if he couldn't help, he'd just...listen. And I'd feel better. He was my roommate, my only roommate, so...I guess I'm alone now, huh?" A pause. "I miss him so much..."

"You can...stay over here tonight, if you want," Morris offered.

"I think...I'd rather go to my room. Thanks though." Henry smiled.

"Alone?" Maybe this would fall apart.

"You can come if you want."

"Let me grab some stuff first."

Morris finished putting a couple things in his bag. They started walking back to Henry's dorm, with Henry telling stories about Finch the whole time.

Then they were stopped, by Spot Conlon. "Hey, Henry, didn't Finch ask you to walking him home last night? And you didn't? Maybe he wouldn't have died if you did..."

"Shut up, Conlon! Nobody asked you!" Morris shoved him back.

Spot threw Morris to the ground and kicked him in the gut. Morris took a second to recover before getting up and punching Spot in the jaw, then grabbing Henry's arm and running away with him.

"Thanks. You didn't have to do that," Henry said.

"Had to help." Morris smiled.

"Can I ask a question?"

"Of course." Morris hoped this would be a confession of love. Crazy? Maybe. But who wasn't?

"What's your name?"

Disappointing. "Morris."

"Henry."

"Nice name."

"You too."

Awkward.

"Um, Henry?" Morris said. "I have to run back. Meet you there?"

Henry nodded and continued on his way. Morris ran back in the direction he'd come from.

Morris knocked on Henry's door. Henry opened it, then sat on one of the beds. Morris looked around. Henry's side had red and black plaid sheets, a gray stuffed cat, and a few Polaroids on the wall. Morris looked a bit closer. Some of him and his friends and family, a couple of what appeared to be a deli, and some of food. There was also a few posters: Marvel, Harry Potter (Hufflepuff, to be exact), and Queen.

Henry pointed to the other bed. "That was Finch's."

"Want me to go there?"

"No, here's fine." Henry waited until Morris was sitting next to him to continue talking. "I hate Spot. He's always so mean for no reason."

Morris nodded. He knew about that. He had a few journal entries dedicated to how much he hated Spot. "We've got something in common."

They were silent for a moment. Then, Henry spoke. "Wanna stay for dinner?"

Morris shrugged. "Why not?"

They had pasta, made by Henry. Morris had brought red wine, mostly in the hope they'd drink it with a romantic dinner, and they were pretty close, so he took it out. Henry didn't drink it, he refused partially because Morris wasn't extremely trustworthy. He had cranberry juice instead. Morris ended up drinking more than he usually would, mostly so Henry would be more likely to let him stay.

Morris stared at his glass. The wine almost reminded him of blood. He held it up. "Y'know what this is?"

Henry looked at the glass, then to Morris, then back to the glass. "Uh, yeah... Wine..."

"No. Blood."

"Blood? Like...the blood of Christ? Is this...a religious thing?"

Morris smiled. "The blood of the devil himself, Spot Conlon."

"Okaaayyy..." Henry took the glass away. "You're done. Go to sleep."

"You should be happy, I killed that bastard for ya."

"Right..." Henry didn't believe that. He had no reason to. He assumed Morris just meant the fight. Besides, he was drunk. He probably didn't realize what he was saying. He didn't kill anyone.

A few hours later, Henry got a text from one of his friends, saying that Spot had been murdered. He looked over at Morris, who was asleep next to him. Did he really...? There's no way...

[ladyimaginarium]

 A few important things to note about my portrayals of Theo and Nina:

Theo’s real name is actually Theodoros ; he despises that name, though.

Theo was born in Athens, Greece and spent much of his early childhood there. His father was a descendant of an ancient noble Greco-Roman line and his mother was a doctor. With that said, his father was rather neglectful of him, seeing as how his only bookworm son was nothing like his macho father and he had a conflicted but overall loving relationship with his mother.

Theodoros liked his books and often researched alone in his study in solace and from a young age, he had a bizzare, perhaps even an eerie endless fascination with anatomy, conspiracies, science, mythology, the occult, and how living beings worked, even as a young boy. This drove him away from other children his age in social isolation but he didn’t mind. In fact, he considered it less of a distraction. 

His first friends were Nicolas Brown and Worick Arcangelo.

Was taught to play the piano.

Had a fascination with H.P Lovecraft - particularly the Cthulu mythos - a series he is still fond of to this day.

Theo wasn’t always meant to be a doctor. In fact, he was actually a teen actor and theatre kid back in Athens, where he was born, but that failed miserably due to complications in the household and after having lost his wealth due to his father not giving him anything and doing several morally questionable things, he moved to Ergastulum and helped his mother with the clinic.

Had an affair and fell in love with a lovely courtesan in his middle adolescence, when he found out, however, that she’d been sleeping with another, he murdered her and her lover in blind rage. He vowed to never get that furious ever again, unless if it’s to protect Nina.

Had his ring finger and pinky finger amputated by a group of stray Twilights who got furious with his mother and raided their clinic ; when he refused to give his supplies up, he paid the price. His mother overdosed later that same year, but Theo suspects it was the corrupt police or the Corsica Family behind her death. He was merely eighteen years old at the time.

Has sociopathic tendencies.

He speaks no more than what he believes needs to be said. He is capable of performing brutal and disturbing tasks while appearing cold-blooded and detached over the whole thing.  So when he cracks a potty-mouthed comment and keeps a straight face about it, it's no wonder it takes everyone by surprise.

Perfectionist. A bit of a clean and tidy freak, although it’s understandable considering he lives in Ergastulum of all places.

Will swear in Greek when furious.

He speaks Italian, English, French and Spanish with a hint of a Greek accent.

Occasionally acts as a listener, psychologist and therapist to those who need it.

The only person he genuinely loves is Nina, who he considers his daughter, after having raised her for years ever since she was a baby.

He’s skilled in poison and drug creation and will fight with syringes laced in deadly poisons and god-knows-what-else.

Although not an overly religious man, his patron deity is Apollo.

While having advanced knowledge on the human body can be used to save people, it also gives him all the knowledge on how to injure and kill people with minimal effort by knowing all the body's weak points.

Murdered his own father by poison at age seventeen after he wouldn’t give him any wealth in his will to support the Twilights in Ergastulum after he promised him that he would on the same year he murdered his lover and her lover; hasn’t told anyone about this.

Began taking care of an infant Nina at age nineteen.

Theo suspects that Worick ( @kuroyri ) is Nina’s biological father, but hasn’t had the chance to tell him.

Nina’s beat him with a broomstick in an attempt to get him to stop smoking ; it didn’t work.

As a baby, Nicolas and Worick were often assigned to babysit her ; none of them minded.

Nina has a fondness for everything pretty and cute ; she really wants a rabbit and a cat but unfortunately, due to them both living in a clinic combined with their home, that wouldn’t be wise, much to Nina’s dismay.

Nina has her own little rabbit piggybank and saves up.

She often paints portraits and landscapes on herself when she has the time and likes mixing colors. Her room is painted with all kinds of colors — it's a truly marvelous room and she only allows close friends to enter.

She wears homegrown or fresh store bought flowers in her hair, with each flower representing a mood she's feeling.

She's knowledgeable in the flower language and the fan language and other nonverbal communication, and will often send others messages in form of flowers based on the Victorian Era.

As Nina is a halfblood Chimera / Superhuman Normal, she shares a few abilities of pureblooded Chimeras, but as she is both a halfblood and untrained, her abilities are diluted in comparison to a trained, pureblooded Chimera and thus her abilities are in a stage of dormancy, meaning that she’d have to be trained by a Superhuman Normal in order for her to awaken them, but this is highly unlikely to happen regardless.

She possesses eyesight that can see at telescopic/microscopic levels while zooming in and focusing on objects from great distances, hear heartbeats and voices from miles away, determine the chemical composition of objects by smell, dissect food ingredients by taste, and determine fabrics by touch — all things worthy of Theo's apprentice.

Her sense of smell is so acute that she can distinguish between identical twins by differences in smell, and can identify any person she's spent at least five minutes with by scent alone, no matter how hard another tries to conceal it. She can focus on a single person’s scent and follow it through a crowd of people.

She can hear another person’s heartbeat or people whispering on the other side of a soundproofed wall. Can block out even her own heartbeat and breathing to focus on one particular sound. This makes her an excellent spy and scout. This gives her tactical advantages as well, such as awareness of people hiding around the corners of rooms, walls, buildings and furniture and makes it virtually impossible to literally blindside Nina.

On formal occasions she wears a pair of ruby earrings given to her by Theo for her eleventh birthday.

Nina's an agnostic and an eclectic witch.

Although not officially diagnosed, Nina inherits hyperthymesia from Worick. This means that she can essentially recall much of her life in vivid, near perfect detail, as well as public events that mean something to her. She would describe her memories as uncontrollable associations, when she sees a certain date, she “sees” a vivid depiction of that day in her head. These recollections occurs without hesitation or concious effort. However, although this is a rare ability, it also takes a detrimental toll on her mental health. The constant, irrepressible memories has caused a significant disruption on Nina’s life. It’s non-stop, uncontrollable, totally exhausting and a burden to her. As a result, Nina is prone to getting lost in remembering, and she is quite literally trapped in her past. This can make it difficult to attend to the present and the future, as she is literally permanently living in the past. This makes her suffering even worse because she can remember every death, every scream and all her worst memories in vivid, excruciating detail... and there’s no cure. Nina remembers having it for as long as she could remember.

As a halfblood superhuman, Nina has powers beyond the norm, but in comparison to a pureblood superhuman, her abilities are significantly reduced and even so, many of them are dormant.

She strongly believes in fairies and magic while being scientifically knowledgeable.

Although she is merely twelve years old, Nina is in actuality a medical genius and had she had the chance to grow up, Theo truly believed that she would’ve surpassed him, not only as a doctor but as a better person than he could ever be.

She leaves offerings for fairies in the local garden on her terrace.

Although she can see in the dark perfectly, Nina has many lavalamps and fairylights in her room.

Sunflowers are her favorites.

She often gives out lollipops to Theo’s patients.

Whenever things get rough, she takes inspiration from reading old World War II diaries of survivors.

Nina, although questioning, is pancurious ; might have developed a puppy dog crush on Loretta.

She’s always wanted to sail on a gondola and fly in the sky with the birds. Although they cannot afford to pay for a gondola, Nicolas Brown helps in carrying her around in the air which makes her very happy.

She and Theo once went to the Holocaust memorials museums in Germany. Nina came out crying, though it had been her decision to go there 

Nina’s favorite movie of all time is The Hunchback Of Notre Dame.