#and the creativity of dream worlds

[thepenultimateword]

Sugar and Spice Part Two

Part One

“You’re kidding me." Villain slapped her forehead, dragging the hand slowly down her face. "Of all the thousands of henchmen I could've picked, of all the dozens of departments, I chose a culinary minion? I might as well have brought a rolling pin! Or a donut!"

Henchman frowned. A whole host of arguments sat on his tongue. She might have realized his department sooner if she had taken a moment to talk instead of ordering him around like a dog. Also, she'd obviously lied about Supervillain asking for him, so she only had herself to blame for this situation, and frankly, he didn't trust anything she said anymore. In fact, he was very suspicious about what she was actually doing all the way out here and why she'd tricked a henchman to come along. Not to mention she'd jeopardized his job, maybe even his life, with her selfishness.

He quickly swallowed it all down. None of it would be met well, and he didn't need to be more on Villain's bad side than he apparently already was. He could defend his power though.

"Well, maybe if let me bake you something--"

"Just shut up." Villain plopped back down on the mattress and rolled the other direction.

Henchman stared at her back for a moment. "Should I still keep watch?"

"You might as well go to bed. You’re useless to me.”

Again with the combat-superiority bias. Henchman bit his tongue. “I might not be a good fighter, but I could still wake you up if there's trouble."

"Do whatever you want."

Fine then. He threw off his shoes, kicked under the covers, and flipped toward the wall, the bed springs squeaking aggressively under his weight.

Why should he break his back helping out a villain who didn’t even appreciate it? This was just so typical villain. What a bunch of pretentious snobs flouncing around with their "special" powers and looking down on everyone else. When it came down to it, it wasn't like Villain was really any different from him. They were both pieces. She was just as much under Supervillain's thumb.

“Excuse me?” Villain snarled.

Henchman stiffened. Did he say that out loud? Which part? How much?

He wet his lips and slowly peeked toward Villain's bed but was instantly thrown down. Villain's knees dug hard into Henchman's forearms while her hands were already around his throat, squeezing just tight enough that there was room for a trickle of breath and little else, certainly not any vocals like screaming or begging. "I'm not under anyone's thumb. Got that? I'm not afraid of anyone. If I wanted, I could finish you right here."

Henchman froze. Some prey ran, some fought back, but he was of the type that went still. Like a possum playing dead or a deer in the headlights. He couldn’t move even if he wanted to. All he could really do was stare helplessly wide-eyed up at her. The ends of her hair tickled Henchman’s cheeks, and she bent close enough that he could pick out the amber specks in her molten eyes and feel the warmth of her breath across the bridge of his nose. She blinked into his gaze, and the snarl on her face softened.

She huffed. You’re just lucky I don’t have the time to clean up a body.” She unstraddled his chest and rose off the edge of the bed.

Henchman coughed a couple times and rubbing away the lingering pressure of her fingertips from his throat. "Bit of an overreaction for someone so sure of herself."

Villain whirled, red mane catching the air before floating back to her shoulders. "Do you want to die?"

Henchman smiled innocently. He was being so stupid. He knew that. But for some reason, he felt if Villain really was the sort of person who killed carelessly, she would have rid herself of him the moment he revealed the mistake. One less witness to her trip, mission, thing.

"Certainly not."

“Then shut. Up.” She flicked off the lamp on her way to her bed, blanketing them in darkness except for the sliver of street light stealing through a gap in the curtains.

“Of course, your eminence.”

Henchman curled back on his side, prey heart pounding even under the cover of freshly conjured snark. He rubbed his throat again. He was probably lucky she’d chosen a physical warning over using her powers. If there was any villain he should actually be showing respect to it was her. A primary power user. She’d been top dog of the city before Supervillain showed up and organized everything. She had the power to rearrange, but he had the power to take apart. And taking apart was so much quicker. So right hand it was.

“Villain?”

“Didn’t I tell you to shut up? I’m trying to sleep.”

“Are you running away?”

“What?” Her eyes caught the light from the street, glowing catlike. “Do you think I’m some sort of cow—”

“It’s ok if you are. I bet you could run your own city.”

She blinked.

“Supervillain’s sort of made it impossible for any sort of natural growth in the organization. He kills people for their mistakes, he pits his subordinates against each other, he doesn’t value any of tertiary power types; sometimes it feels like he doesn’t care about the strength of the organization as long as everyone else stays beneath him. It’s not like he’s at risk of being taken out by anyone. Heroes or otherwise.” Henchman caught himself, quickly shaking out his rant. “I’m just saying that it makes sense to me why you might want to leave. Do your own thing.”

"That's not any of your business." She closed her eyes again and didn't say any more.

Henchman forced his own eyes shut. Despite being tired, his thoughts were filled with Supervillain. His insides twisted into knots, raising a light bout of nausea. He couldn't go back. Henchman might be too valuable to kill, but there was no guarantee. Supervillain's decisions weren't always logical. Henchman was actually a little glad to be away from it all. There had been no hope for escape on his own--Supervillain didn't like being stolen from, and leaving was a theft of yourself--but maybe if he was on Villain's side he'd be ok.

Henchman pulled the covers closer around him. He must have fallen asleep because when he next opened his eyes, the room was lit in the dim blue-gray of early morning. The shower handle squeaked from the other side of the wall, and a few minutes later, Villain emerged in the same clothes as yesterday, hair pulled in a wet bubble braid that reached to the middle of her back. She yanked on her boots and snatched the car keys from the bedside table.

“I'll drop you off at a bus stop, but you'll have to find your own way back.”

Henchman blinked groggily at her, but as it struck he shot upright. "Back?" He gaped at her. "You want me to go back? Alone? With nothing but my own word that you forced me to come with you?"

"Well, it's not like I need you to stay. Two people are much easier to track than one."

"You screwed up my job! I missed my deadline! Supervillain could have me killed!"

"And you'll be better off begging for forgiveness than continuing on."

Henchman frowned. Was she actually looking out for him? "What if became your henchman?"

"What are you even talking about?"

"You're building your own empire, right? You'll need followers. So, I'll be the first one. I'll do everything you don't want to and prove that I'm actually useful."

Villain furrowed her brow, suspicion rearranging the pattern of her freckles. "Why?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're just a random henchman that I've never even met. Why are throwing yourself at me?"

Henchman flushed. "Ok, first of all, I don't think I'd describe it like that. Second, we have met. Last, my powers are 100% support-based. I need a boss, and I'd rather work for you than Supervillain."

"What are you going to do, make me cupcakes?"

"Sure. And pot pie. And buttermilk biscuits. And apple strudel. And--"

"How do you--"

Henchman cut the accusation short. "I know everyone of note's favorites. It was my job. Which was a pretty significant job if you ask me."

"You mildly boost powers, so what?"

"That's not..." Whatever. Henchman wasn't in the mood for convincing someone who obviously didn't want to be convinced. "Nutrition is actually a very critical part of an escape. It keeps you alert, energized, and happy. And anyway, I'm pretty sure I've spent more time being inconspicuous than you have, especially when Supervillain first took over the underbelly. I can help organize things. Give advice." He fiddled nervously with a string on his sleeve. He needed this. "Like...for example, you're going to want to trade out that car. It's nice and all but ultra-trackable. Pretty sure Supervillain has a way to hack cameras."

Villain pressed her lips together so tightly it looked painful. "Fine."

"To which part."

Villain waved her hand in the air and strode for the door. "Fine, you can come, and fine, we'll get a new car. But we're making a shopping run first. I left in a rush. So start thinking of things you need."

Henchman trotted grinning after her. “Flour, sugar, baking powder—”

"Not that. There will be no baking."

Master Taglist:

@moss-tombstone @crazytwentythrees-deactivated@just-1-lonely-person @the-vagabond-nun @willow-trees-are-beautiful@cocoasprite @insanedreamer7905 @valiantlytransparentwhispers @whovian378 @watercolorfreckles @thebluepolarbear @yulanlavender @kitsunesakii @deflated-bouncingball @lem-hhn @office-plant-in-a-trenchcoat @ghostfacepepper @pigeonwhumps @demonictumble @inkbirdie @vuvulia @bouncyartist @lunatic-moss-studio @breilobrealdi @freefallingup13 @i-am-a-story-goblin @ryunniez @rainy-knights-of-villany @distractedlydistracted @saspas-corner @echoednonny @perilous-dreamer @blood-enthusiast @randomfixation @alexkolax @pksnowie @blessupblessup @wolfeyedwitch @thedeepvoidinmyheart @bestblob @a-chaotic-gremlin @espresso-depresso-system @prompt-fills-and-writing-spills @paleassprince @takingawildbreath @yindonessy @psychiclibrariesquotestoad @harpycartoons @pickleking8 @urmyhopeeee @goldenflame2516 @tobeornottobeateacher @talesofurbania1 @sweetsigyn @girl-of-the-sea-and-stars @kurai-hono-blog

[philosophybits]

In the world's structure, dream loosens individuality like a bad tooth.

Walter Benjamin, "Surrealism", One-Way Street and Other Writings

[distortedsense]

]art for my fantasy novel THE DAY MY DREAM DIED

[mirkodoesstuff]

Hot take: I think there should be more non-object AND non-joke characters, that would be important for either their OCs lore, their show lore etc., because who wouldn't love to have an OC, who's, for example, a cat that is actually important and isn't there to just make a joke about how they're not an object or just do nothing and get eliminated/get hated.

Like, seriously, why are you all afraid of making interesting non-object characters, that aren't joke characters? Of course I have nothing against non-object joke characters, because I love Yellow Face from BFDI series and also I really like David and Dora, but MAN things could be way cooler if there were more non-object non-joke characters, who were for example guards over objects, or even were a co-host, or heck, had lots of knowledge over objects.

Just imagine the scenerio, where a bunch of objects need help and, instead of going to the host of the competition/their other friends - they decide to go to, for example, a cat to ask for an advice for help and the cat actually helps, instead of being there for humour. Or even better - a group of objects have to save the world from something and they're deciding to get help from a dragon, who helps them get rid of the danger!

Just imagine it... Imagine it how epic those things would become if we got to see more important non-object non-joke characters!

GET CRAZY WITH YOUR OBJECT SHOW OCS! DON'T CARE ABOUT WHAT WOULD OTHER PEOPLE THINK! DO WHAT YOU WANNA DO!

[tethrras]

deciding to headcanon that the lighthouse makes people feel Calm and Docile and Relaxed to excuse the fact that more of the companions aren't as mad as lucanis that ANY of this is happening

[uhbasicallyjustmilex]

it does something incomprehensible to my little writer’s soul whenever alex articulates a phenomenon of the writing process i’ve always picked up on and then goes on to describe it in exactly the same way

[elysiumxflowers]

"I could see that she was a cat of great dignity and self-respect." - T. S. Eliot

[stellerssong]

like fuck ME, man, the thing about Lucienne is that she can be kind of prickly and straitlaced and opaque and dryly sarcastic and chilly AND she can be capable of acts of incredible faith, generosity, good humor, care, and forgiveness, and neither of those things have to be mutually exclusive! it's called the fundamental dichotomy at the heart of human nature and we all have it in us! god DAMN!!!!!!!!!!!

[futuristichedge]

Writers are so talented. Your words are doing things to my mind, showing me ideas and connecting dots... inspiring my brain to connect MORE dots

Pure wizardry. It's scary

[pynkhues]

fun rpf stuff aside (though I'm totally fine with whatever people believe as long as no one bothers actors in real life), does it seem to you like Jacob and Sam have an unusual friendship? Or am I, as a woman, just not well-versed in guy friendships? But it seems like everyone around them agrees that they have an unusual friendship too? Thinking of Eric talking about them every chance he gets lol, and Rolin saying that he wrote a scene into the script specifically for the two of them that came out of their bond. They just seem to genuinely have so much affection for each other and they express it openly, and they talk about how much time they spend talking, and that all seems so beautifully sincere and the opposite of trying to be macho or whatever. I love it.

Haha, I love it too! It does seem like they've connected on a pretty deep level.

I don't know, I don't know either of them of course, but I think there's probably a lot of factors at play. I think true creative partnerships can often be pretty intense and binding, and that does seem to be the way they've both approached their work on the show and how they've felt about building Louis and Lestat as both individual characters, and as the show's big, beating, bloody heart. It also seems to have influenced how they choose to be leads on set.

Crews will usually say that a culture on set starts from the top of the callsheet, which I imagine would be Jacob at 1, Sam at 2, and they both seem to take that seriously as well. Eric's talked about that, as you said, but Roxane actually talked about how much they look after each other and the energy they bring to set quite a bit in her interview with Autumn too, which was lovely. I've timestamped it here if you haven't seen it:

So yeah, I think how they've chosen to create together plays a role. I also think timing probably had a bit to do with it too. Jacob's joked a few times that he and Sam are trauma bonded, which makes sense given the casting process and filming s1 all happened during the COVID lockdowns, so it was a fractuous time anyway and they were probably in a cast bubble, which I imagine added to the sense of shared experience.

I also think it probably helped that they were in pretty similar places career-wise when they started on the show. They were both fairly established in their local contexts (Jacob in the UK, Sam in Australia), but less so internationally and I think that probably a) put them both on a level footing from the get-go, b) gave them both a shared sense of what this opportunity was, and c) that their professional lives have made this pretty significant change together.

Plus, y'know, they just seem to really like each other, which is a lovely thing. So yeah! I think their friendship is something special, and whether that's a result of their personalities, the context of the last few years, or something else, who knows? I'm just glad we get to watch the result of it, haha.

[albertayebisackey]

"They came with hope in their hearts and dreams in their eyes, building a bridge between nations and generations." - Anonymous

[distortedsense]

art for THE DAY MY DREAM DIED

[wraithsoutlaws]

you know i had a fun little vp idea i wanted to do for the cyberpunk anniversary but i haven't had the energy to even touch it recently so i'll just settle with saying that this game impacted me in ways i never thought it would when i first picked it up 3 years ago. i knew i would enjoy it, i had been looking forward to it for a long time, and despite a ~controversial~ launch, i had a fucking blast from day 1 (on ps4 no less). regardless of bugs and memes and public dunking, the story grabbed me like nothing else could at the time, and it reignited so much of my passion and motivation for art that i had lost in the clutches of mental illness and i'll always be grateful for that. it introduced me to so many wonderful people (some whom i carry very close to my heart), and maybe most personally surprising, it gave me an outlet to understand parts of myself that i had been too afraid to acknowledge for a long time, the courage to accept and embrace myself as non-binary, and allow myself to just BE without trying to convince myself i'm crazy. that's not what i expected from the get-go but it's been a really fun journey to be on ngl

[no-brain-just-good-omens]

how many more people could have been child prodigies had they only been born into a rich family?

[xenomorphicdna]

I finished the skittleing

Hehe all creechured up

[coffeenuts]