#felt like such a cliche that heathers was actually there | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

collecting-stories · 4 years

Text

Book Club - 90s!Luke Patterson

Summary: Reggie books a gig at a suburban mom’s book club and Luke takes full advantage of the situation to flirt with you.

A/N: I’m literally writing two other Luke fics right now 😭😭

Julie and the Phantoms Masterlist

✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰

The third Thursday of every month belonged to your mother. It was her day, when she demanded not to be bothered, when she spent hours out of the house socializing with the women’s group that she belonged to. And, out of all those Thursdays, there were always the very special few when it wasn’t her leaving the house but everyone else. The group rotated their meeting time, everyone for a blue moon meeting at your house, meaning, of course that you were expected to stay out. Staying out was not a difficult thing to do, in fact you relished the opportunity to spend a few more hours with your friends. 

It was one of those Thursdays, when all the ladies that your mother loved to lunch with were spending the afternoon at your house and you were making yourself scarce, that arguably the weirdest but maybe best thing happened. Your mom had told you before you left for school that morning that she expected you to stay out, and you would have, if you had remembered your wallet. But you’d left it in your room, on the edge of the vanity, and you didn’t want to be the one owing money when your friends went to lunch. A quick stop home should’ve been easy, the stairs were right off the kitchen and the side door was right there, giving you the opportunity to shoot upstairs and grab your wallet without her being the wiser to it. 

The whole thing would’ve gone off without a hitch except that when you walked through the side door and into the kitchen you came face to face with four boys from your school. You recognized them more for the fact that you didn’t hang out in the same circle; most of your friends held a certain level of contempt for the four guys that made up Sunset Curve. You didn’t necessarily dislike any of them, you didn’t necessarily even know them, though you would be lying if you said that the lead singer, who occasionally sat in front of you in math, was seriously making you rethink a deep dive into all this rock music. Luke, Reggie, Alex, and Bobby were standing in your kitchen. They were the Green Day/Nirvana worshipping, head banging rockers that ditched school regularly and got into worlds of trouble and they were standing in your kitchen.

Bobby was the only one who looked up from snacking on leftover hors d’oeurves, saying your name in surprise as the other three all stopped to look at you too. Alex gave an awkward little wave as he set down the small sandwich he was eating.

“Uh...what are you guys doing in my house,” you asked, looking between the four of them.

“Your mom tapped us to perform for her ladies club.” Luke explained, dropping his food on the plate and wiping his hands against his black pants.

Your mom had invited these four to sing for her conservative ladies’ group? You tried not to but you couldn’t help the smile that crossed your face when you thought about it. Whatever your friends said about the guys, you weren’t ashamed to say you had taken one of the free demos that Reggie handed out and had been listening to it on repeat for a while now. “My mom wanted you guys to play a gig for her and her friends?” You clarified.

“Until we started playing,” Reggie replied, and you couldn’t help laughing.

“I bet...you guys aren’t exactly...suburban mom rock.” You joked, “though I totally would’ve loved to see their faces when you guys started singing.”

The grin on Luke’s face was unmistakable though you missed it as you nabbed one of the sandwiches on the plate near Alex. It was probably some really stupid cliche, him liking one of the popular girls. Cute, cheerleader, future prom queen. You hung out with people who listened to Britney Spears and Spice Girls, any knowledge of the rock scene they might’ve actually had was only for the sake of making dumb jabs at him or his friends. Still, Luke had a massive crush on you and he wasn’t so embarrassed to admit it. Bobby joked that he wanted to “bring you over to the dark side” and maybe that sounded cynical but he thought he wouldn’t mind seeing you look a little less perfectly put together if it had something to do with him. Hearing you mention his music almost had him doing a back flip from excitement.

“So you’ve listened to our music?” Luke asked, moving closer to you, leaning on the counter beside you. Behind him, Alex rolled his eyes.

“Reggie gave out demos like...last month.” You shrugged, trying to play it off. You’d been excited to listen to their music, see if it was any good and had discovered that you actually loved it. They were talented guys and you felt surprisingly connected to the songs. “I might’ve listened.”

“I did!” Reggie piped up, “I gave demos to all the-” he stopped, mouthing instead, as if you wouldn’t understand him when he said ‘all the cute girls’.

“I hate to ask but...don’t you think like, actual clubs would be better places to promote your music? I don’t think the middle-aged moms are really a target audience, unless you’re into that kind of thing?” You said, peering down the hallway when you heard the familiar squeak of a floorboard. If the boys were still here than there was no doubt in your mind that your mom had told them to stay for some reason or another.

“You gotta start somewhere.” Luke replied, unfazed by the hint of judgement in your voice.

“My living room?” You asked, jokingly.

He smiled, “actually, we’re playing a club on the strip tomorrow night, we could, maybe, get you on the guest list?”

“We’re opening for someone else,” Bobby cut in, bringing Luke back down to reality, “I’m pretty sure no one’s ever even heard of the band we’re opening for.”

Luke glared at Bobby, sticking his finger in his mouth and then jabbing it into Bobby’s ear, a smile of success immediately lighting up his features when Bobby recoiled in disgust. “So what’d ya say?” Luke asked.

“I mean, I guess technically every band deserves girls screaming for them, so sure…I’ll go.” You agreed, eyes on Luke the entire time.

The last concert you had been to wasn’t even for you, your mom had dragged you to a Beach Boys concert up in San Francisco for her birthday weekend when your father refused to indulge her so-called ‘terrible taste in music’. “There are just some things we will never agree on and music is one of them.” He had insisted back then. It was the same thing you felt like telling your friends when you declined a party invitation in favor of heading down to the strip to see the guys play. You could’ve maybe played it off casually, as if you were heading down there anyway and Sunset Curve just happened to be opening but Bobby was right, you’d never heard of the band that was performing after them.

Not to mention Luke decided to show up for a least a quarter of the day just to mess with your head. You had spotted him in the hallway between classes and smiled when he looked your way, a split second before the sea of students scrambled to get to their lockers. Your own best friends appeared by yours, looking more and more like carbon copies of the Heathers every day. You kind of hated them, truth be told, but you didn’t have too many other options.

They were badgering you about the party as you tried to wrack your brain for an excuse that sounded convincing when Luke stopped, right in front of the three of you.

“Hey, I’ll see ya tonight?” He asked, whole body turned to face you and completely ignoring the looks of disdain and shock cloaking your friends faces.

You felt like a deer in headlights. Say yes and your friends would probably ostracise you, say no and you could just imagine the look on Luke’s face. Anything but this absolutely sincere and hopeful smile was something you didn’t want to be responsible for. You really liked him looking at you like that.

“Yeah, can’t wait.” You nodded.

When he stepped back out into the traffic of the hallway he touched your waist, as if he was anchoring himself for a second and you bit your lip, letting yourself watch him disappear before turning to face the firing squad.

“Luke Patterson?” Both of your friends spoke in unison, one breaking off to elaborate, “you’re ditching a party at Max Turner’s house for Luke Patterson?”

“His band is playing at some club on the strip.” You replied, shutting your locker and heading toward your next class. “They invited me to come watch the show.”

“And you’re going?”

You hadn’t been to anything smaller than a stadium concert before and the implication of a concert at a local club venue, right on the strip with all the ‘riffraff’ that were hanging around trying to make it big like their 80’s punk rock idols wasn’t exactly your scene but, Luke had looked so cute asking you to go and you had the tiniest, maybe delusional, feeling that he’d come to school just to remind you that tonight was the concert. How could could even consider some suburban house party to that?

“Yeah, why not,” you shrugged, trying to play it off like it was nothing, you could see your social status flashing before your eyes and your mom’s voice desperately begging you to reconsider. “Besides, Luke’s hot.”

“Did you have some kind of Freaky Friday switch when you woke up this morning? Luke is not hot.”

“Okay,” you drew the word as if disbelieving. He wasn’t some 90210 reincarnate but he was definitely one of the hottest guys in school, not to mention the sleeveless shirts were an added bonus. “Well, I said I was going, so I’m going.”

And, despite the continued protests of your friends throughout the day, you did go. You promised your parents you were spending Friday night studying at Terri’s house and took the bus down to the strip to wait in line for Sunset Curve and whoever was headlining. You stood there twirling your fake ID in your hands, listening to the two girls in front of you (who didn’t need fakes) talk about some drummer that wasn’t anyone you’d ever heard of and tried to look as mature as possible. If Luke, Alex, Reggie, and Bobby could play this venue, surely you could get into it.

Whether the ID worked or the bouncer at the front door just didn’t care, he let you through, admitting you into a pulsing crowd of people making their way through the small vestibule and into the venue. You slipped your way through the crowd until you made it to the front, pressed against the railing and inches away from another bouncer who seemed just as disinterested in you. The drumkit that was already on the stage had the Sunset Curve logo on it. You ran a hand through your hair and fixed your shirt, maybe it was silly but you were sort of hoping that even in the silhouetted lighting of the venue you Luke might see you. Maybe a little pathetic groupie on your end but he had invited you.

And he did see you. Halfway through Now or Never when he looked down over the crowd, he caught you, dancing along to their music, the smile on your face as you mouthed the words was infectious. It was the combination of seeing someone singing all the songs back to them and that person being you, mixed with the adrenaline of the performance, that had him pushing to give his absolute all. You’d actually come and he was determined to make this a great concert for you.

Alex was the one to announce that they would be in the vestibule during the lull between bands, they got the occasional straggler who dared to leave their post long enough to say hello or great job but usually it garnered nothing more than the four of them splitting some pizza and relaxing by their merch table. Tonight, as they headed off stage to an enthusiastic crowd, Luke chanced a glance back but he couldn’t find you in the sea of people. Reggie grabbed his arm, pulling him the rest of the way off the stage and throwing an arm around his shoulder, going on about how awesome the show was, Luke quickly returning the jovial compliment.

“We were fire, man, that sounded so rad tonight!” He cheered, following Alex and Bobby as they made their way through the small hall that wove back into the vestibule.

“It was insane!” Reggie agreed.

You had made your way back through the venue after Luke mentioned being at the merch table, slipping back passed the bouncer at the inside door, flashing your stamped hand. Their table was set up in the corner, a little way away from the headlining band’s. You stepped into the vestibule at the same time as the boys, waving at Alex when he looked your way. He nodded, reaching over to tap Luke’s chest with the back of his hand.

“That was incredible.” You admitted, walking over to their table. Luke’s smile instantly widened as he walked around to your side, not even thinking as he hugged you, your shoulders hunching at the feeling of sweat that encompassed you. “Ew.”

“Sorry, sorry.” Luke apologized, pulling away and putting his hands on your upper arms for a second before dropping them to his sides. “Still going off the adrenaline.”

“That’s okay,” you promised, “you’re cute enough to get away with it.”

“Yeah?” He leaned against the table, trying to look cool. He felt like he was grasping for words and he didn’t want to start stuttering or sounding dumb, Bobby would never let him live it down if he made a fuck up of himself. The other three tried not to laugh and ruin his moment.

You seemed to recover from the moment first, glancing at the other three before landing on Luke again. “You guys are totally a live band though...like that was so good.”

Reggie came in with a save, letting Luke off the hook for a moment, “Are you heading back in to see the headliner?”

You grimaced, “don’t really know them...not really interested.” You replied, keeping your eyes on Luke, hoping that was hint enough that you’d come just to see him.

It clearly was because, as a few girls stepped into the vestibule and looked like they were coming your way, Luke grabbed your arm, nodding toward the doorway for you to follow him. You did, walking with him into the hallway so that it was quieter, the sounds of the house music and the chatter of people outside being drowned out in the small corridor.

“So, uh, sorry I’m still wigging out that you came.” He admitted.

“I said I was going to, twice. Did you seriously think I was lying?” You asked.

“I mean, I heard your friends giving you a hard time when I walked away, figured you might back out.”

“Well, I’m glad I didn’t, seriously Luke, you guys are amazing. You’re so talented.” You replied.

“Guess I was right when I told Reggie to take that book club gig huh?” He said, fiddling with the rabbit’s foot on his keychain.

“Why’s that?”

“I thought maybe if I was lucky, I’d catch a glimpse of you...having you come here and watch us though? Better than I could’ve imagined.” He replied, grinning at you.

“You wanted to see me?”

“Yeah, don’t act so surprised.” He said, “you gotta know how insanely cool you are. And you look beautiful tonight, by the way.”

“Thanks,” you bit your bottom lip to try and keep your composure, “I uh...damn, you’re making me super nervous.”

“Yeah?” He stepped a little closer to you, his hands brushing against yours as if he was going to hold them. You couldn’t help wishing he would.

“I should probably let you get back to your fans,” you pointed out, glancing back out the door to where a few more people had gathered. If you stayed in this hallway with him any longer there was no way you were letting him back out.

“Hang out? We could grab some pizza or something after?” He asked.

“Yeah, absolutely.”

When he walked back through the door you followed behind him, hanging back so you weren’t hovering around them as they chatted with and signed stuff for the group of people that had ventured out between sets. It didn’t matter though, as he talked, he kept looking back at you smiling as if you were both in on some sort of secret.

#luke patterson x reader #luke patterson x y/n #luke patterson x you #luke patterson imagine #luke patterson fanfic #luke patterson fanfiction #luke patterson fic #julie and the phantoms fic #julie and the phantoms fanfic #julie and the phantoms fanfictions #julie and the phantoms imagine #jatp fanfic #jatp fanfiction #jatp fic #jatp imagine #collecting stories imagine

255 notes · View notes

socialwriter · 4 years

Text

Somethin’ stupid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skbgBcaDK9E

*Not my gif, credit to original post*

Pairing: JJ Maybank x Female Reader

Summary: A song fic inspired by ‘Somethin’ Stupid’ by Frank Sinatra, covered by Chord Overstreet and Heather Morris in ‘Glee’

TW: Underage drinking, soft boi JJ ??, like one curse word

700+ words

A/N: I’m a dork and was listening to the Glee version of this song and thought of JJ lmao. I linked the song above if you want to listen while you read.

Despite being a pogue, you somehow managed to entrance anyone and everyone, kook, pogue, or touron. You had this certain quality about you that just made you attractive to other people. Kie was convinced that all the boys who pined after you during keggers at the boneyard simply liked your looks, as the boneyard was notorious for one and done hookups, you being no exception to that rule. Pope thought that people were attracted to your quick wit and smarts, your ability to keep a conversation going no matter the topic or person. John B thought that it was the way that you assumed the best in people, inviting them in, and letting them tear down their walls in front of you because you would never judge them. JJ knew that it was all of these reasons and more.

He was bewildered that you hung out with him and the rest of the pogues, mesmerized by you, thinking that you were too good for him. Why would someone who could have anyone that they wanted choose him? You had a slew of guys, all with more money, that would spend a night with you, so what did he have to offer you?

Seeing you dancing, alone, left him breathless. The swishing of your hips along with the thump of the music, the way your hair was messed up slightly by the breeze, everything about you was perfect to the blonde haired blue eyed boy.

You turned around, catching sight of JJ and smiling, ushering him over with the hand that wasn’t holding a red solo cup filled with beer. “Maybank, this is my jam so you better come and dance with me!” You yelled over at him causing him to buck up, put one foot in front of the other and meet you in the middle of the small group of people actually dancing at the boneyard. You grab his free hand, swinging it softly and twirling yourself every once and awhile.

“So, J, found a girl that you want to spend the night with yet?” You question innocently, catching him slightly off guard. Sure, he often had his own one night stands to keep his mind off you, but he never really wanted to spend the night with any of them. They simply filled a void.

“You.” JJ uttered before he was able to think twice about it, causing you to stop dancing and his cheeks to pink up considerably.

JJ knew that that line was cliche. He had thought about what suave line he would say to you a million times when he finally grew the balls to tell you how he felt. Of course, when he finally told you how he felt, though, he resorted to a line used on you probably by at least half the guys that hit on you at these parties. He swore he could see it in your eyes, you were turned off by his word, but of course who was he to expect you to leave the party with him and spend a night alone with him at the chateau. You’d probably just go off, find another guy of your choosing. Leave his bed smelling like your perfume. He could have spent a perfect night with you, under the stars, quietly pining, but instead he’d ruined it all by letting his feelings get in the way.

“JJ?” you question softly, placing your hand on his cheek to pull him out of his thoughts and get him to look at you. “I feel the same way,” you mumble, and you’re sure if you and JJ were any further apart, he wouldn’t have heard you.

For a second, JJ’s hesitant, unsure if you’re just telling him this to calm his racing heart and make him feel better about the whole situation. One look in your eyes, though, and he can see clear as day the nerves from your confession, mirroring his own. “Yeah?”

You nod slowly, and before you know it, JJ’s pressing a sweet but sloppy kiss on your lips, a shit-eating grin on his face when you pull away. JJ had to admit, all the years of pining and nerves were worth it for you.

211 notes · View notes

yunmiyh · 4 years

Photo

headcanon #1: yunmi’s playlist

we dream of moments like this, so soft they live in our memories like downfeathers on strong wide wings. sweet smelling, heather-scented moments. these moments of gentle dawn colored rain. can you feel how your withered heart opens up? it's ready to heal.

i. travel - bol4

Take me to London, Paris, New York City Falling into these beautiful cities Like I’m a bird bird, like the flying birds Freely fly fly, I can breathe

one of yunmi’s dreams is to one day leave yunhwa for good, not just a temporary thing, but never to return again. to one day be able to never look back on the memories that give her pain, or the feelings of unworthiness that she grew up feeling. this song gives her hope that one day she would be able to do so, taste the feeling of freedom she felt in paris. forever.

ii. falling again - klang

Can I fall in love again? Maybe you're the one I needed To take it all away This pain Can you fall in love with me? And tell me that you'll care for me

as a hopeless romantic, yunmi can’t help but love the idea of love. no matter how many times she’s been hurt in the past, a part of her is still open to idea of the finding love. though she does so in very unhealthy ways, constantly seeking love in the wrong place and with the wrong people.

iii. bubblegum k.k.

I want you to smile And remember every good time We had when skies were grey oh, Bubblegum dear Why are you crying? I’ll never let them take My Bubblegum away.

like everyone else she also got sucked into the world of animal crossing when the game came out. her favorite song, as cliche as it is was bubblegum kk. the song was whimsical and made her smile. yet the lyrics, if anyone actually took the time to look, were sad.

iv. wonder - shawn mendes

I wonder, wouldn't it be nice To live inside a world that isn't black and white? I wonder what it's like to be my friends Hope that they don't think I'll forget about them

rather than the lyrics of the song that gets her, it’s the somber feelings of the song. this is a song that it came out she would play a lot during her trips to busan, to block out her blocks and have it be just her and road ahead of her. nothing else mattered in that moment.

v. honey tea - oohyo

One, two, three, four On my cheeks a couple of tears fell down I didn't know why I felt this way although it was weird although it was a little sad I somehow cried because it was so sweet

this song reminds her that pain isn’t always painful, that there are times when pain is necessary to remind you that you’re human. this was something she needed reminding of very much when her grandmother had passed. that it was okay to be sad, that she didn’t need to hold it in or be strong. that even though she was losing the one person who supported her the most, grandma was in a better place now. sadness is also a human emotion.

vi. colors - halsey

You were red and you liked me 'cause I was blue But you touched me and suddenly I was a lilac sky And you decided purple just wasn't for you

there was a time in her life when she thought that she could fix a person. that by showing them love that it would somehow make them better and heal them. she had hoped that she was enough, but when they left she realized that she was wrong. in the process of trying to fix someone else, she ended up ruining herself instead.

vii. if i were a bird - lucite tokki

This summer’s illness Will not stop This summer’s you Has not fade away This summer’s illness Will not stop Please get away from my side now

for the yunmi of the past, summer’s were the brightest moments of her life. a time when everything felt new and every moment was special. when smiles came easily, and even the sweltering sun didn’t bother her as she walked hand in hand with a certain someone. and now... summers were just a reminder of the her that she tried to leave behind when she went to paris.

#━━ ⟢ ᴀ ᴡᴀsᴛᴇ ᴏғ ᴀ ʏᴏᴜɴɢ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛ ⋰ * ✧ HEADCANONS.#[[ let's pretend this was on time. shhhh ]]

6 notes · View notes

katieqnmr · 3 years

Text

critical reflection - fn2 independent project

This project has shown me another way of looking at film, in regards to the audio-visual aspects of it, and how they are both necessary to create a working narrative.

My group (Bethany, John, Jeff and myself) were particularly inspired by John’s original idea of a shy man who has a crush on his neighbour and tries to communicate by air mail. It was superbly Pixar-ish and was sort of begging for a whimsical kind of storytelling and edit. I liked it immediately because I could so clearly see the final film already. We presented a few other ideas, but none captured people like ‘AIR MAIL’, so we began.

Our roles were as follows:

- John: Writing, Shooting, Editing

- Jeff: Shooting, Script Markup

- Bethany: Producer, Pre-Production

- Katie: Pre-Production, Soundtrack, Title Card

Our research consisted of looking through various Pixar shorts such as ‘paperman’, to get a feel for the tone and edit of our film. Leo also suggested using Amelie as tonal inspiration (which is a dear film to me). Pixar served as a really good inspiration for us, as they have a way of capturing almost cliched storylines and presenting them with a whimsical and charming air. This was something we strived for and actually I think one of the big successes of our film - Zoe said she thought that was something we captured well so I was really pleased there.

I contributed to our group through pre-production, and also feedback to John, who edited, back and forth. We called a few times to discuss various aspects of our film, one being the soundtrack. It took a long time, scouring ‘no copyright’ websites, and digging through (frankly) pretty bad tracks. I was a little unhappy at the options on these websites, so I went through a classical playlist I have on Spotify (I like cultivating music I can use for projects). I ended up choosing Navarra Op.33 by Pablo de Sarasate, a piece I hugely admire for many reasons. It’s a very complex violin duet that requires such skill for each violinist to be perfectly in time with their partner. This sort of romance between two violins I felt served well for our narrative, additionally, the playful tone of the piece worked really well for the lighthearted atmosphere of our film. Zoe and Leo thankfully agreed; I was a bit worried at first! They did, however, point out that we should have considered the fade to black in the middle of the film, and I agree, and wish I had picked up on it and talked to John about it. The fade threw off the balance of the fast pace we had established. Also they suggested we try experimenting with the soundtrack in terms of it being diegetic. It would have been admittedly more interesting to play with that, which is another thing to consider for the future.

I also contributed with a storyboard for our piece, which I have talked about in a previous blog post HERE, nevertheless I will say that I was not entirely organised about it being polished, but Leo seemed to like it in general, so that was a relief. I also made the title animation for our piece, which I have also discussed in a blog post, but overall the consensus was that it was nice, but needed a different colour scheme to match the lighthearted aesthetic of our film which is something I did realise, only a little too late, after our project was submitted. I have since made an improved version, which is in the blog post HERE.

Overall our film was well received for its tone and edit, which I would say John was very responsible for, as he was the real driving force behind this. I regret that I couldn’t edit as I feel like I missed out on a key process in this project, but I really tried to make up with what I could in my other contributions. I think all the criticism was fair, and it seems that this project is something we could return to, and improve upon.

As a group, we generally worked well together, but we lacked organisation at points, though I really don’t think to a severe level. I could have been a little more on top of things, but I really tried this time to provide more feedback for my group, which I didn’t do well on in the fiction project. I think I contributed to our group well, and I hope they feel the same way. Next time, I would like to be in the uni so I could do some editing, as it’s actually something I really love doing and I feel like I have barely done any! So I’m looking forward to that.

I would like to include some blog posts and projects that I loved watching progress through this term:

Breadsticks & Staplers - this project impressed me so much, I was actually a little speechless when I watched it! This whole group should be so proud of their work. Bonnie did the animations I think, and I really enjoyed them, and thought they worked so well within the project. Also I believe Heather edited, and I just thought her editing was superb. Fantastic group!

Lapse - I really enjoyed watching the final piece of this, I think the choice to go black and white was a good one, and the cinematography and direction was very pleasing. The edit also was great! All round great work.

Other people’s blog posts I enjoyed:

Natalia’s post had really nice visual references in it.

Katie Jayne’s concept art was really cool.

Ben McMorran’s post was extremely detailed!

and there are so many more, I have really enjoyed reading everyone’s blogs this year, and am excited for the future blogs to come!

#Film Narrative 2 #independent project #critical report

3 notes · View notes

crazycoke-addict · 4 years

Text

Why I prefer Gwuncan then Duncney

So I feel like this opinion is about to controversial and maybe unpopular as well, but I kinda been re-watching total drama and notice some things and of them being the relationship between Courtney and Duncan and also his relationship with Gwen. When I watched this show, I was about 8 when I first discovered the show and I was on board with Duncan and Courtney not having any realisation that their relationship was actually abusive and toxic. The reason why I myself thought this relationship was entertaining to watch and I was rooting for them was because of ‘opposites attract’. They are seen as the typical bad boy meets good girl cliche, but when it comes to opposite attract, it can be a hit or miss especially when it’s the cliche I mentioned, for example I’ll bring up Jughead and Betty from Riverdale. These two are opposites but they both love solving crimes together, they have family troubles, you could say they are different sides on the same coin and that’s pretty much what the ‘opposite attract’ can be seen as. Through the whole Duncan and Courtney argue with each other well her more than him. He’s just taunting and finds her anger amusing but there’s so much a person can take when being in relationship with someone when basically 90% of it is arguing. Duncan and Courtney’s relationship was so toxic that I was glad they didn’t get back together.

Duncan felt like Courtney was pushing him over the edge to the point where he needed to get out of the relationship I mean don’t think he shouldn’t cheated on her if they were even together but Duncan could’ve told Courtney that he didn’t wanted to be in a relationship with her anymore. Just to be clear, Duncan was MIA throughout world tour so it probably made him some time to think of his relationship with Courtney and his feelings for Gwen. We should’ve know that it was over either when Courtney abandoned an injured Duncan to get the prize or when she returned to action and was causing havoc to her teammates including Duncan himself or when she wrote 32 page letter he had to read involving all his faults and how to correct them or even when he returns to world tour, she wrote list of everything she wants him to change. So when Duncan and Gwen got together, I was so happy and to this day I’m still am I mean I wouldn’t be writing this if I wasn’t.

Many say that Duncan and Gwen didn’t had any chemistry or they were so similar to each other and ok, I get it but I like it when unexpected characters get together and they were one of them. In total drama island, Gwen and Duncan are on opposites team but they still interact with one and another and more when the team merges. They were last people for their team in big sleep which was their first interaction to one and another. Duncan was mad at Trent after hearing him and Heather kissed leaving Gwen heartbroken. They bond over horror movies. When Duncan was voted off, him and Gwen left on good terms. It’s these types of little moments I like to cherish it may not be a big deal for some people, but to me it is. Total drama action, they bonded more because of them being on the same team together and when she got eliminated he even volunteered to take her place (although he was joking). The relationship was sweet and simple. Drew Nelson who voiced Duncan and Christian Potenza who voiced Chris have both said in an interview they prefer Duncan’s relationship with Gwen more than his relationship with Courtney.

However I didn’t like how it ended in Total Drama All Stars. I didn’t like how throughout the season, Duncan and Gwen was obsessive towards Courtney. I didn’t understand how Duncan started having interest in Courtney in that one episode which was the episode that they broke up, it was just out of nowhere. I didn’t like how Gwen was determined to make Courtney to forgive her when there’s nothing to forgive. Yeah, I like Gwen and Duncan together, I did mentioned earlier I wasn’t a big fan of how they got together. Even when Courtney and Gwen do make up, she ends up betraying Gwen soon after. I know there are people who think that Courtney was changing, but I didn’t think of it that way. Courtney is someone that no matter what happens they aren’t going to change who they are. So yeah, that’s why I prefer gwuncan more than duncney.

#total drama #total drama gwen #total drama duncan #total drama courtney #gwuncan #duncney

94 notes · View notes

missanthropicprinciple · 4 years

Note

Newmann + 50 for the cliche prompts 👀👀👀

awww gawd bless ya (cliche prompts)

50) I’m scared but won’t admit it so you take my hand

Hermann was grumbling and Newt could absolutely not blame him. It was cold and wet in the only way that a bone-chilling night in mid-October could be. And it was his fault. Not the weather itself (although he could take that upon him tonight cause he felt so bad) but the fact that it was his idea to go on a walking ghost tour. Hermann was wrapped up tight in a rather stylish heather grey woolen coat. His parka was being repaired by a tailor as it was in disrepair and he was too sentimental to part with it. Hermann walked a a pace or two ahead in sheer determination as if walking with more force would bring the tour to a swift conclusion. He leaned heavily on his cane which was getting plastered with old wet leaves, and thrust his other hand under his arm.

As they reached another stopping point where the tour guide spoke about some hypothetical and unsubstantiated hauntings under a lamppost, Newton gently leaned around Hermann’s upper arm and whispered to him.

“Are you ok?”

“Of course I’m not bloody ok! I am chilled to the bone,” Hermann said through gritted teeth. “My feet are feeling quite damp, my cane looks like I’ve used it as an oar, and my legs are killing me.”

“Sorry, I thought it was going to be a more leisurely stroll.”

“Well, evidently it is not!”

“I’m sorry,” Newt said, hanging his head. He spoke at a whisper. “I thought it would be romantic.”

“What?” Hermann said, a little softer.

“Nothing. It’ll be over soon anyway.”

Hermann turned back to the tour guide and fought the urge to ask several questions, not limited to, “What is the point of all this?” “Are you quite serious?” and “When will this march of torture cease?” But he was silent with a seething look plastered on his cold face. Newt wanted to wrap him in a big hug, take his arm and hold him close. But he stood still until the group blessedly made their way to the final destination, a supposedly haunted hotel.

“Oh good, we get to warm up,” Newt said, hoping to God it would improve Hermann’s mood. Hermann grunted with begrudging contentment.

The house was not as warm as either of them had hoped but Newt felt Hermann’s tension ease as soon as they were out of the wind and night air. It was dark inside the Forebach mansion* save for some staged lighting and perfectly placed candelabras. The tour guide spoke of the story of the maid who hanged herself on the landing in 1870 after finding out she was with child from Mr. Forebach, the married owner of the mansion. It was a heartbreaking story, made all the more chilling by the lighting and the silence of the house. As the tour guide concluded her tale, a faint blue light began to grow at the top of the ornate wooden staircase and a mist began to roll down the carpeted steps. Everyone stood with baited breath and pulled back as there appeared the shadowy, backlit silhouette of a woman who made her way down the staircase without a sound. She seemed to float, wrapped in the lightest, gauzy fabric that swirled around her like smoke. Hermann inhaled sharply and Newton caught his hand very firmly. They both squeezed with almost painful firmness. Then the lights came on and everyone exhaled, laughed, and clapped enthusiastically. Someone whistled and some cheered. The actress made her way down the stairs, the tour guide thanked everyone for coming, and the cluster dispersed.

“Phew!” Newt sighed. “That was pretty scary.”

“I wasn’t scared.”

“Sure, Hermann.” They walked outside still holding hands, breathing in the night air deeply.

“I’ll have you know, I knew all along that she was not an actual ghost.”

“Well, yeah but it was still freakin scary.”

“Alright it was a bit alarming.”

“Dude, it was a very chilling end to,” Newt dropped his voice, “what was a really boring tour.”

Hermann let out a veritable giggle.

“And honestly, we could have been holding hands all night cause this was supposed to be a date.”

Hermann gave him a gentle smooch and they walked on.

“How’s about we make some hot chocolate and cuddle under a blanket on the couch, huh?”

“That sounds very romantic indeed.”

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

*This is basically the story of a real place in Minnesota that is supposed to be haunted.

#newmann #prompt #my fanfiction #suicide mention cw #ficlet #newtgeiszlur #Forepaugh's

12 notes · View notes

smufyucky · 4 years

Text

Tsukkiyama PT. 1 (Ophelia)

I, I.. when I was younger.. I, I.. should've known better

And I can't feel no remorse.. and you don't feel nothing back

"Since you're the scrawniest of all of us, you need to hold our bags!" the big kid in front of me declared, with his friends throwing their heavy schoolbags at my face. I felt my eyes tear up as they laughed.

"Are you seriously crying?" The biggest one of them teased. "Crybaby!" I heard footsteps and say this tall blonde kid walk by. He caught my eye and I wondered if he was going to help me. The bullies followed my eye and stared at the blonde-headed boy for a heartbeat.

"Oy! What are you looking at?" The boy asked, while his friend said he was a sixth grader. I wondered what he was going to do. To everyone's surprise, he tilted his head and smirked.

"Pathetic." He said, then continued walking away, as if nothing happened. I was in total awe, as he loomed over the bullies and scared them away. So cool...

That's how I met Tsukki. At the time, he could've been calling me pathetic, but what matters is that he stood up for me.

I, I.. got a new girlfriend.. he feels like he's on top

And I don't feel no remorse, and you can't see past my blinders

It was at the beginning of highschool when I started to have feelings for Tsukki. It started when girls started coming to me to ask about Tsukki. I started getting jealous.. but who could blame them? Tsukki was tall, smart and beautiful in every way. His glasses really brought out the shininess in his amber brown eyes, and his personality comes off as a rude, arrogant guy but honestly if you took the time to know him.. he's actually really nice.

I don't really know how or when it happened, but I woke up to a text from Tsukki saying,

I got a girlfriend.

I felt my heart shatter, as I frantically reread it again and again. I refreshed the page, just to see if there was a "just kidding", but no. When I got to school, he was already there, talking to this beautiful brown-haired girl. It hurts, because Tsukki's eyes were shining in a way they never did when he talked to me, and he looked genuinely interested in what she was saying. It was the first time that I had walked to school alone.

"Hey! Yamaguchi!" I looked up in surprise as I saw the girl waving me over. Her eyes were this beautiful shade of green, with flawless skin and slender body. She was beautiful, no wonder Tsukki looked so enchanted. I felt my own hand reach up and touch my freckled face, hating myself more than ever. I shook myself out of it, and smiled back. I walked over.

"Good morning!" I said, trying to should cheerful, but my voice cracked. None of them noticed.

"My name is Heather," the girl introduced herself. (YALL KNOW WHATS GONNA HAPPEN WITH THE CONAN GRAY SONG-) I waved.

"I'm Tadashi Yamaguchi," I said. Even Heather was a beautiful name.

"I know!" Heather chirped unexpectedly. "Kei told me all about you!"

"Oh," I said, wincing internally when she called Tsukki by his first name. "He did?"

The teacher called for everyone's attention, so the conversation ended. I skipped volleyball practice that day. It was the first time I walked home by myself.

Oh, Ophelia.. you've been on my mind, girl since the flood

Oh, Ophelia.. heaven help a fool who falls in love

I couldn't sleep that night. The only thing on my mind was Tsukki. I know it sounds like I was a hopeless romantic, but honestly Tsukki looked much happier with Heather. I started to sob uncontrollably in my bed. My eyes flooded with tears of sorrow and regret as I wailed into my pillow. I was too late, now Tsukki would be with Heather.. and I'll be alone.

I, I.. got a little paycheck, you got big plans and you gotta move

And I don't feel nothing at all

And you can't feel nothing small

I started going to volleyball practice again, making up a lame excuse about how I felt sick, which really wasn't a lie. Everytime I saw Tsukki with Heather, he was always smiling. Seeing him being happier with someone else made me sick to my stomach. I realized Tsukki was ditching practice, since once I found him making out with Heather in an empty classroom. They didn't notice me, all they cared about was each other. I pinched myself.. why can't I just be happy for Tsukki? Isn't that what I would want for the boy I loved? His happiness? Who the hell cares if my happiness was down the drain.. as long as Tsukki was happy.

"Yamaguchi?" Hinata called, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Are you okay? You've been standing there."

"Me? Oh, uh.." I stared at the ball in my hands, and looked at Nishinoya who was waiting to recieve my serve. I looked over and smiled at Hinata.

"I'm fine."

Honey I love you... that's all she wrote

Tsukki pretty much paid no attention to me, if Heather was around or not. Almost like he forgot about me. One day, I saw Tsukki and Heather walking home. I knew I should've just continued walking, but instead I hid in an alley to eavesdrop.

"Kei, I have to tell you something..." Heather said.

"Sure, anything." Tsukki said, in a light and happy voice.

"My family's moving away." she said. Tsukki froze.

"W-what?" the genuine shock in his voice sent chills up my spine. He really did love her. I knew even after Heather left, Tsukki would probably continue to ignore everyone.. including me. I knew he had his trust issues, ever since an incident while his brother was in highschool. After years of following him around was how our relationship got to this point, and it hurt that he was able to welcome Heather into his heart so quickly.

If Heather left, Tsukki would probably never love someone again.

I smiled to myself and leaned against the cold, damp brick wall. Tsukki and Heather had walked away, and I was just by myself. Once I started, I couldn't stop the tears.

Oh, Ophelia.. you've been on my mind, girl like a drug

Oh, Ophelia.. heaven help a fool who falls in love

Oh, Ophelia.. you've been on my mind, girl since the flood

Oh, Ophelia.. heaven help a fool who falls in love

Just as expected Tsukki blocked out everybody and everyone. He would ignore anyone who tried talking to me, and stopped coming to practices. He didn't wait for me to walk to school anymore, or to walk home. It was almost like anything he saw reminded him of her. Since no one could talk to him, I decided to text him.

Hey, I don't know what you're going through

I deleted that. I knew exactly what happened even though he never told me.

Hey.. I like you a lot

I deleted that too. That would really just be very insensitive of me to straight-up confess to him after a heartbreak. What could I say to him?

Just to let you know, if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here.

I sighed and erased that too. It was extremely cliche. Almost as if I had copy and pasted from a website. There was no feeling. Feeling angry, I started typing.

Listen, you big idiot. You're acting like you're all alone and nobody is there. How stupid are you? I've been by your side for the past 10 years or so, yet you refuse to tell me anything. I saw how Heather could make you smile so easily, and I always wondered why, during all that time we've known each other, you never smiled like that around me. I'm sorry if you're hurt or feel like the world had turned it's back on you and that there was no use in even trying anymore.. but I've always been here and always will, you're stuck with me for the rest of your life whether you like it or not, and I miss you the old Tsukki.

Before I even had time to calm down, I had already clicked send. I try to not curse, but this really felt like a good time too.

Oh shoot that was really insensitive I didn't mean to send that fuck im sorry

I typed immediately. My mind was swirling with regret. Did I seriously fucking do that?

Oh, Ophelia.. you've been on my mind, girl like a drug

Oh, Ophelia.. heaven help a fool who falls in love

I didn't get a response from Tsukki, and I was panicking on my way to school. I was walking by when a black cat crossed my path. I watched it cross the street. Am I under a curse now? I thought staring at the tip of the cat's tail disappear under a bush on the other side of the street. I looked up. There. At our old meeting spot, stood Tsukki. He was looking at me and I saw the corners of his mouth turn up. I stared at him.

He was... smiling. At me.

"Good morning, Tsukki!"

#tsukkiyama #haikyuu!!#haikyuu #ophelia #tsukishima kei #tadashi yamaguchi #tsukishima x yamaguchi #yamaguchi x tsukishima #lol idek

13 notes · View notes

midweekupdate · 4 years

Text

01/06/21

I had a dream that I missed writing this week’s update. That’s where I’m at, currently. I have stress dreams about not doing this completely voluntary thing even though this is not the thing that should be causing me stress.

Honestly, things are pretty good right now. I know it’s very cliched to say that, because as soon as I do, something massive and world-changing will happen like it’s the fifth season opener of a tv series no one is entirely sure should be renewed for a sixth.

The calm before the shit storm.

But I mean it. Things aren’t amazing but they’re okay and after last year, okay is exactly what I need. Casey is back at school and James and I are committed to more date nights (though we had to make Casey swear that she wouldn’t go out and kill anyone on those nights until she’s a little older). She’s more than capable of looking after herself but there’s just too many variables if we’re out and she goes off on her own without any backup. I can do it because I’m stupid and I’ve been doing this a little bit longer than her.

Longer than she’s been alive. I hate that thought.

My work at the bank is boring but keeps me occupied and gives me a fairly steady schedule which, again, after my year, some stability is ideal. I’m not thinking about the mystery woman, I’m not going to try and reach out to Jason, no one knows Heather was with us when she went missing. The three of us can move forward without fear of the past.

I’ve really jinxed it. Shit. Well, whatever hell I invite upon myself, I know I’m not alone.

Which is why it felt so odd this morning to wake up with the thought: I missed writing the update. I miss updates all the time. It’s my blog, I could stop writing it any time I wanted to. After all: this is the most damning evidence against me since I got rid of the diaries (though admittedly a little harder to trace). It would probably be in my best interest to completely erase any trace of my life from the internet.

But the truth is: I need this outlet. As much as I know some of you enjoy reading my murderous exploits – and some of you still think it isn’t real – I’m writing all of this for me. To be completely honest and open, to share everything about my life knowing there’s no one else I can tell. I love my husband but he doesn’t know what it’s like inside my head. The need to kill. He’s seen it and he understands it, but he doesn’t comprehend what it’s actually like to live in my head. Casey is like me. Her brain is hardwired to take and to play. But she’s a fifteen-year-old-girl. It’s been a long time since I was fifteen and there are some things we can never share because I am, in essence, her mother.

I don’t want to call myself that. I was a mother to two beautiful children who weren’t mine and as much as I loved them (and they loved me), it ended in disaster. I don’t think I’m ready for that just yet, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love Casey deeply. I’m just not ready to give my heart away like that. Not yet.

The point is.

The point is, there are things I can’t share with the people closest to me so I write it here, for you dear readers to peruse my mind. And maybe you’ll see a bit of yourself in here and know that you’re not alone. Or maybe you’ll convince yourself that this isn’t real and give in to your macabre fantasies that you tell yourself you’d never act on.

But I know that every one of you have wondered what it would be like to punch someone in the face for no reason. Staple someone’s eyelids shut. Gut someone from noes to toes and drain them like you were preparing an animal for feasting.

Most of you will never, ever know what it’s like to see the light drain from a person’s eyes but I know for a fact, that I am no alone in my desires.

So, I’ll let you live vicariously through me, surrender to your baser wants without having to get your hands dirty.

It’s a symbiotic relationship and I’m happy for it to remain as it is. So long as we both still need each other.

As always, dear readers,

Stay Safe

#Midweek Update #new #writing #fiction #humor #macabre #murder #serial killer #tw violence

1 note · View note

smokeybrandreviews · 4 years

Text

Smokey brand Movie Reviews: For the Lolz

A couple of years aback, there was this movie that sparked a ton of controversy. We were fresh off the heels o f the most contentious election in years and the whole #Metoo movement was gaining steam. In this environment of female empowerment and Social Justice Whiteknighting, f*cking Assassination Nation drops. It immediately garners all of the controversy, from staunch, third wave feminists, complaining about how the women are portrayed in this narrative, to the neckbeard misogynist complaining about the same thing, but with the dudes. I thought it as all very ridiculous and just loved the commentary of the film overall. Unfortunately, Assassination only had a limited run here and i missed it in theaters. It’s been out on streaming for a while but this is the first opportunity I've had to actually sit down and take it all in.

The Good

This movie is absolutely stunning. It’s saturated in blown-out, neon pretension and i love every second of it. Look, when a film has a very particular visual aesthetic, i gravitate toward that. I'm a sucker for style that way. If you have a very specific look to your art, there's a great chance I'm going to fanboy over it. Assassination Nation has a fantastic look, man. I love the use of color in this thing, the way it become more and more surreal as the the film progresses. The aesthetic of this movie is as much a character as the actual actors themselves.

I love the soundtrack to this thing. It fits the tone of this movie perfectly. This sh*t is Heathers with an aggressive slathering of Millennial cynicism. Since I am a Millennial, this sh*t resonates hard with me and the chosen music just pounds that despondency home. In an an upbeat, everything-is-on-fire-but-this-is-fine, sort of way.

I adore the copious amounts of sardonic social commentary in this sh*t. The presentation is definitely over the top but, living in 2020, the sh*t in this film seems like it can happen next month. Its wild to think that, two years ago, this was a salacious, neurotic take, on the modern normal but now? Now this sh*t seems tame.

Look, this film is definitely style over substance but what f*cking style! This sh*t just gleams with glittery nihilism and an acute bubble gum tragedy. I’m a sucker for that juxtaposition and Assassination Nation executes that sh*t near perfectly. It’s one of the best examples I've ever seen anyway. I can’t praise the presentation of this movie enough. It truly is a glory to watch.

The action in this thing is kind of f*cking amazing. It takes a while for it to get going, but when it does, it’s f*cking outstanding. This sh*t is a call back to those old grindhouse features chick full of sex and violence. You don’t see that nowadays and, when you due, it’s a problem. Just like this thing was back when it dropped. The thing is, that stuff never felt gratuitous in this film. I think that sh*t was the point and serviced the plot to that end. I respect the production for going all in on that stuff knowing it would be detrimental to the finished product.

The message this film so gaudily, gorily, expounds upon us, the audience, is actually pretty profound. The hypocrisy of our social structure is called out in a giddily violent way. It can be delivered a pretty heavy hand at times, that entire climactic dialogue was a little on the nose, but it is absolutely something that needed to be said. It's something that needs to be discussed. It's an important conversation that needs to be ongoing and evolve as our understanding grows. Jut because the packaging of said message is pastel panic and barbie doll battery, should ever detract from it's validity.

The Bad

This f*cker is long and you feel it. I think there are a lot of cuts that could have been made to make this run time more palatable to the average movie goer. Those change were not made and you’re left with kind of a slog.

The characters in this movie are sh*t. I couldn’t tell you who one person was over another, just vague descriptions. I think that’s because the characters are actually vague caricatures of people. They fit cliches and tropes, not personalities of actual living, breathing, people. I think, though, that’s fine because this movie is more about the circumstance than the people caught in the circumstance. Still, it's kind of hard to identify with the characters in a film if they’re not written like people, you know?

This dialogue, man, it’s the worst. People don’t talk like this. This is how movie executives think teenagers speak to each other. It’s not real and it actually sounds like a script. I don’t know if this is because the performances all seem phoned in or if it was the actual writing but, either way, it’s ridiculous to hear.

There are no performances that stand out in this move. None. They’re all mediocre, which is disheartening. With this material, with this message, you could have really made something special. Instead, it’s all window dressing for the stylized film making and over-the-top violence.

The writing in this thing reads like bad fan fiction, emphasis on the bad. It is very apparent the the narrative wright is on the way this ton eats itself but the way the POV characters are portrayed is cartoonish and wildly superficial. The plot, itself, is paper thin but it doesn’t need to be as deep as, say, Portrait of a Lady on fire, when it’s little more than an orgy of fluorescent violence, debauched circumstance, and unrealistic circumstance.

The Verdict

Assassination Nation is entertaining. It’s by no means a great film, at all, but it is a pleasure to see. The stylized presentation and scathing commentary about the country's toxic relationship with technology, is more than enough to carry you through the plodding run time, non-performances, and paper thin characters. The writing can be difficult at times but the message is definitely one worth heeding. I didn’t hate this movie but i didn’t like it all that much either. It has something to say and it says it in the most violent way possible but, at the end of the day, i don’t understand why this thing was so controversial. I do think it’s worth a watch. Like i said, i was entertained even if it’s not that great of a film.

#Smokey brand Movie Reviews #Assassination Nation

1 note · View note

atleastimpopular · 5 years

Text

Writing request from @give-him-a-nickel

Prompt: Alejandro and Mike doing an interview together after All Stars

Word Count: 1.4K

————————-

Total Drama All Stars ended months ago, and in that time it felt as though the entire cast was under a microscope. The season was a major success. Since the finale Alejandro got to finally reunite with his family, who all thought he had been dead due to Chris. God, he couldn’t imagine the trauma his family had gone through during that one year; believing their son had died, throwing a funeral, only to see him once again on international television in a robot suit. But that was only the tip of the iceberg on Alejandro’s new life outside of the television show.

Fans loved to harass him for both good and bad reasons. Many shippers loves to get angry at him for ‘ruining’ their favorite couples with his charms. Other fans just thought he was a God among men and wanted to go on a date with him. Though most just wanted to know the gossip that happens on and off camera. He could of gotten use to this, but when his own break up with Heather hit the news things got intense. Yes, Alejandro and Heather broke up. The fighting with one another that occurred during the final episode for All Stars created another wedge between the two that Heather just couldn’t really forgive; even though she figuratively dropped him just as fast for a chance of a million dollars, Alejandro literally did drop her for it. So, Alejandro was single again.

For a while the fame felt as though it was finally dying down. But then came the anniversary of Total Drama All Stars. This brought the entire cast back into the lime light. Everyone wanted to know where the contestants have gone and what they were up to. Which is exactly why Chris threw the contracts back into everyone’s faces; which wasn’t exactly a surprise to anyone, but Alejandro was surprised on who he was partnered to do this interview with: Mike.

Currently, Alejandro was in the interview room with the unnamed, unpaid, intern who was in charge of conducting the whole thing. The room was pretty dark due to the black back drop, the All Stars poster being the only form of color behind him. The Latin man just nodded as the interviewer went over the questions they would be asked, however he wasn’t really listening; he was sure whatever questions they would throw at him he could easily come up with a dignified answer. The interviewer paused and glanced towards the door, making Alejandro turn back to see Mike entering through the door.

“Uh hi,” Mike lifts his hand in a wave as he was shown where to sit.

“Hola amigo,” Alejandro greets as the sound guys hook Mike up with the microphone box.

The interviewer, Alejandro was pretty sure her name was Jessica, went over the questions once again for Mike. While she did so, Alejandro couldn’t help but look the string bean up and down. He didn’t seem to change much appearance wise, but the boy truly did sit up much straighter; showing off the air of confidence that Mike most likely picked up once the season was over. Though the two didn’t get much time to catch up one on one, as the cameras were turned on the moment Mike was all set.

“Welcome, it’s been a year since the legendary Total Drama All Stars took place, and we here at Fresh Productions have long wondered where have the cast been! Now it’s time to find out,” Jessica the interviewer said to camera one. “I am here now with villain, Alejandro, and hero slash winner of the season, Mike,” she informed as the cameras switched to see the two men, “now first things first, how has life been for the two of you romantically? Since we last saw you both, the two of you had your lady loves with you. Where are they now?”

Alejandro held back an annoyed work look at the question; everyone knew where his romantic life went since the show. “Well, Heather and I sadly ended after the show. We both couldn’t get past the greed we showed towards one another during the show, but we are still cordial and even friends,” Alejandro fake smiled. He was the son of a diplomat, he could bill shit anything.

“Ah yes, I do remember hearing about that,” Jessica pouted, pretending to be naive, “what about you Mike?”

“Well, it’s not really out there yet,” the brown man blushed, “but Zoey and I are also going through a break up at the moment.”

Alejandro’s eyebrow went up in surprise. He never expected to hear that. He was sure those two would be one cliche after another in terms of their relationship, maybe even marrying young. “Seriously,” he asked?

“Yeah.. things got complicated once my personalities went away. But similarly to Alejandro and Heather, me and Zoey are friends and feel better off that way,” Mike just shrugged it off. He did not want to get too into the break up in front of all these cameras.

“Well the two of you had a few moment on the show,” Jessica continued, gesturing between Alejandro and Mike.

“Well, my rivalry was more against Mal than Mike,” Alejandro corrected.

“Very true, but what drove you to get so passionate about exposing him,” Jessica adds?

Alejandro and Mike paused at the question. Mike remember seeing the rivalry that Mal started between himself and Alejandro while in his own mind. It was pretty intense. “The truth was, Mal actually respected Alejandro as a competitor. Me and the other personalities use to joke around that Mal actually.. had a crush on him.”

The interviewer laughed at that part, but Alejandro just gave a fake laugh as well. Mal had a crush on him? The Latino had to admit.. it was a shock. A small part of the boy had a crush on him?

“My main concern with Mal was just to expose him,” Alejandro stated as he looked at Mike, the two having their eyes connect, “he was a formidable player, but I much prefer Mike.”

“How sweet, are the two of you friends,” Jessica gapped, looking for some gossip?

“No. Alejandro and I didn’t get to talk much before Mal took over. But I do prefer you over others as well,” Mike turned to Alejandro. There was the tiniest of winks exchanged from Mike to Alejandro. Wait- was the boy flirting with him?

“Are the two of you in contact with anyone from the shoe at all,” Jessica interrupts?

The interview continued as normal, well at first.. but about half way through Alejandro and Mike just found themselves talking to one another. Jessica had to keep snapping the two back to reality to get to the questions at hand. But in the end, Alejandro and Mike finished the interview pretty late.

“Uh Mike,” Alejandro called out, “can you wait up a moment.”

The former winner paused as he nodded, “sure, what up,” he stopped. Mike wasn’t nervous to talk to Alejandro. The truth was.. Mike always thought he was pretty- well HOT! Who didn’t? So, why wouldn’t he wait for Alejandro to talk to him? The two seemed to really just click during the interview today.

“Listen,” Alejandro begins, turning up his natural charm, “I had fun catching up with you today. You look a lot healthier since the island.”

“Thanks,” Mike nods, his cheeks turn a soft shade of red at the compliment, “I have been working out. With Svetlana gone, I just really been into gymnastics on my own.”

“Interesting,” Alejandro smiled, “you know I’m somewhat of a gym rat myself. If you’re interested, I wouldn’t mind maybe partnering up together sometime.”

Mike was a bit taken aback by the offer, but he was more startled by the flirtatious look across Alejandro’s face. Was this a date? Was the Latino asking him out on a date to the gym? Before he could even investigate further, Mike spoke without thinking, “I’d like that, but I also wouldn’t mind just going to see a movie.”

Wait.. was he just offering up another date?

Alejandro smiled at him before stopping one of the camera assistance for a pen. The worker strangely enough nodded and took a pen out of his pocket before handing it to the Latino. With said pen, Alejandro took hold of Mike's hand and began to scribble on it, “this is my phone number,” he states, “call me.”

Mike stares down at the digits as Alejandro walked away. He had a date.. with the hottest guy from Total Drama.

#total drama #td mike #td alejandro

27 notes · View notes

chungledown-bimothy · 5 years

Text

Trust Me: Chapter 9

I cannot thank y’all enough for your patience. Hopefully the fact that it’s a relatively big chapter a little bit kinda makes up for the wait? Either way, thank you so much for reading, and I love you <3

Chapter 1 Chapter 8 AO3 Chapter 10

Warnings: A brief mention of the wounds from previous chapters’ violence, very briefly implied nsfw/daddy kink (to skip it, just don’t read the text messages after “Aww, you’re so sweet!”

Author’s Note: Again, the cipher is crackable with the information you have. (I’d argue that this one might be a bit harder, because I gave you fewer/subtler clues, but if you get how it’s encrypted, decoding it is a lot easier.) Shoutout to y’all who got last chapter’s! <3

Word Count: 3,660

Tag List: @ccecode @emo-sanders-sides-loving-unicorn @ren-allen @ilovemygaydad @bloodropsblog @funsizedgremlin @raygelkitty @roxiefox23 @thomasthesandersengine @spookyingarbageisland @band-be-boss-blog

"The truth, however ugly in itself, is always curious and beautiful to the seeker after it," Virgil muttered. Running his hand through his hair, he looked up to see that it was 8:30. He'd been at his desk staring at a copy of the note for over two hours. There was something familiar about the phrase; the feeling that he'd heard it before played in the back of his mind, just out of reach. He was sure that it was the key to solving the entire thing.

God, I wish I remembered more from that cryptology class I took in college. Okay, time for a new approach. Clean slate, let's go through what we know about him, Virgil thought.

He's a man in his late twenties or early thirties. He's highly intelligent and well-educated, likely with a medical background of some sort. He's a mission-based killer, set on punishing people he feels got away with things, things the system should have punished them fore. Before Jason Dean, it seems. That change in victimology must be connected to why he sent this note, so I'll put a pin in that for now; I'll talk to Vincent about the autopsy report when he's done with it.

He seems divided; some of the torture is methodical, but some of it seems more motivated by rage than purpose. And then there's how he treats them. Mission-oriented killers don't often torture their victims; the payoff is from the kill itself. But he's feeding them, keeping them alive for a while so he can torture them.

Does he want them to know what he's done? That's it. He wants them to recognize their 'sins', perhaps even repent for them. He needs the validation that comes from them acknowledging his power and that he is correct.

Everything he does has a literal meaning and a symbolic one, he continued. Nothing has only one meaning. On the surface, he's saying that he knows that what he's doing is wrong, legally at least, but he finds it beautiful. Interesting choice of wording. Not right, not just. Beautiful. It feels like he cares more about the torture than the mission. But then why the remorse with the pseudo-burial? He's so full of contradictions. And then there's the bit at the end. "Publish me", he said, not "publish this". Which goes back to the fact that he's got one hell of an ego; he wants the focus on him. Which directly flies in the face of most mission oriented killers- they want the focus on their message.

I would almost think that there might be two unsubs, but two people being this organized and methodical is extremely unlikely. He's way too egotistical to cooperate with a partner, however submissive said partner might be.

So, we've got an incredibly smart unsub who knows it and feels like he isn't getting the attention he deserves. A younger child, maybe? Not that that would help us find him. Round up every smart, egotistical younger son in the city. We'd get the founders of every tech start-up in the city; it'd be Gentrifiers-R-Us. Virgil shook his head to clear out the unhelpful thoughts. Focus, Virge. You're on a clock. So, what kind of encryption does someone like that send? What kind of encryption has each word represented by three numbers? It's not a trifid cipher; none of the numbers would be bigger than three, and these numbers range from 1 to 192. Most number ciphers assign a number to each letter; no way in hell all of the words are three letters, and 192 and 26 do not play well together mathematically. Think, Virgil.

Fuck. Okay, let's try another new angle. The series of numbers at the end. Clearly not part of the message. 10 digits, but clearly not a phone number. 055 certainly isn't a US area code, and the number isn't long enough for a foreign dialing code plus the rest of the phone number. Wait. Maybe it's backwards? 310 is Los Angeles.

Virgil took out his phone and dialed 310-053-3550, heart in his throat. It rang twice before an automated voice informed him that "the number you have dialed is no longer in service". Damn. His heart started beating in an entirely different way when he saw that he had some new texts.

6:22 [Patton]- Hi cutie! Are you free, by any chance? It's been a really bad day, and seeing you always makes me feel so much better. <3

6:50 [Patton]- I was thinking we could get some dinner and then watch a movie or something at my place

7:48 [Patton]- Virge?

Virgil's stomach dropped. Oh god do they think I'm ignoring them? Oh shit. He quickly typed out a reply.

8:53[Virgil<3]- Hey, Pat, I'm here. I'm so, so sorry you're having a bad day. I can't hang out tonight, though. :'( I'd be with you if I could, though. It's been a rough one for me, too. Wanna talk about what's been bringing you down?

Their reply was almost instant.

[Patton]- Virgil! :D Aww, stormcloud, it's okay. Life happens; it wouldn't be healthy for either of us if you dropped everything when I'm just a little down. Besides, it was nothing, really. Just me being dramatic lol

Virgil felt himself blush at the endearment, but his brow furrowed reading the rest of the message.

[Virgil<3]- You sure? It also isn't healthy to bottle up your emotions. I care a lot about you and am always here if you want to talk about anything.

[Patton]- God, you're the sweetest! <3 I care a lot about you too. I promise, though, I really am fine. Do you wanna talk about what's bumming you out?

[Virgil<3]- I really wish I could, but I actually have to get back to it. I'll message you later <3

[Patton]- okie dokie. Don't work too late, okay?

He chuckled as he put his phone away and looked back at the note on his desk. Heather and Kurt are obviously people, Ram probably is too. Who are they, and what do they mean to him? The phone on his desk started to ring; Virgil jumped.

"H- hello? Detective Mason here." Virgil cursed himself for the shaky greeting.

"Virgil! I'm glad you're still here. It's Vincent. You said you wanted to know as soon as the autopsy was done; I'm waiting for a couple of particulates to come back, but the bulk of it is ready for you."

"Vincent, you are a lifesaver. I'll be down in a minute."

"Did you know that the candy Life Savers was invented in 1912 as a summer confectionary alternative to chocolate, which has a melting point of approximately 86 degrees?"

"I definitely did not know that, but I did know that they started as mints and didn't become the fruity candy we associate most with the brand now until the mid-1920s."

"Fruit flavors were introduced in 1921, to be exact, but they did not have holes in them like the mints did until 1925, which is probably the date to which you were referring."

Virgil laughed. "Damn, I thought I had you. I'll be right down." He hung up the phone and left for the morgue.

Three minutes later, he found himself being hugged by Dr. Nigel-Murray.

"I'm as touch-starved as the next gay, but why the hug? We just saw each other, like, five hours ago." Virgil looked slightly down at Vincent with a small smile.

"I'm sorry, I'm trying to curb my workplace-inappropriate tendencies, but, barring once during a time of great stress, people in general don't respond in kind to my facts." Virgil's heart broke for the vulnerability and pain in his voice, and he made a mental note to learn as much trivia as possible.

"That's a damn shame. You're a great guy, Vince- let's get coffee or something once I've cracked this damn code."

"That sounds quite lovely, actually. What code, if I may ask?" Vincent's smile was appropriate for the fact that they were at work, but Virgil could tell that he was practically bouncing with excitement internally.

"Our killer sent a reporter a coded message. I've got about 21 hours to crack it if I want to get this guy to come to me."

"Not to overstep, but I've dabbled a bit in cryptography; perhaps I could be of some assistance?"

"I'd love another set of eyes on this, actually. Thank you! Here, give me your number, and I'll text you a picture of it once we've wrapped up here." Virgil pulled out his phone and unlocked it to find that his messages with Patton were still pulled up. He tried to stop himself from smiling, but he couldn't.

Vincent chuckled. "He must be pretty special, to get a smile like that out of you." Virgil blushed.

"Uh, yeah, they are. At least, I think so. I hope so." Virgil fidgeted with the hem of his shirt, refusing to make eye contact.

"Sorry about the pronoun flub. So, tell me about them!"

Virgil hesitated; opening up about his feelings certainly wasn't one of his strong suits, but he liked Vincent and wanted to be his friend.

“They’re incredible. Their name is Patton, and they run We Hart Coffee just a few blocks from here. They’re so funny and kind, and I’ve never seen a smile like theirs. It’s so genuine and infectious. The world genuinely is a brighter and happier place around them.”

“You really love them, huh?”

“I- What? No. No way. That’s way too cliche. We meet in a coffee shop and are in love within a couple of weeks? This is real life, and stuff like that only happens in movies and fanfiction. And completely unrealistic. What?" Virgil snapped, seeing the grin on Vincent's face.

"Trust me, Virgil. My first doctorate advisor, Doctor Brennan, was in deep denial of her love for her partner, Agent Booth. They're now happily married with two kids. I know what repressed love looks like, and you, my friend, have it in proverbial spades."

"I'm not sure that that's the right use for that cliche, and besides…" Virgil sighed, running a hand through his hair. "So what if you're right? Even if I did love them, which I don't, they don't love me back."

"Not yet, perhaps, but you're a great guy, Virgil. Smart, funny, caring, and quite handsome. If I were into men, I'm certain I would be half in love with you, myself. Just give them time."

"Christ, Vince, I'm gonna cry at work and ruin the tough-guy aesthetic I work so hard to maintain."

Vincent hummed his disbelief. "As much as I love chatting with you, I believe you're here about a murder. Follow me, if you will."

"Right. Murder." Virgil muttered before following him into the lab.

"So, you know who he is. 18 year old Mission High student Jason Dean. You saw the burns, frostbite, and acid damage. We were able to determine that the frostbite was caused by liquid nitrogen, and the killer used hydrochloric acid. We also found that while he was less dehydrated than the part victims, likely due to being held for only about a week, as opposed to two or three like previous victims, he was far more malnourished than the others."

"God, why is he changing so much? A kid, a shortened timetable, not feeding him. What was the cause of death?"

"Strychnine poisoning."

"See, that's a huge departure, too. All of the previous torture was from knives and hands. Why the sudden change to substances? Did he get injured, or is something else limiting his manual dexterity?"

"I don't know about any of that, but strychnine is a fairly popular poison in popular culture; Agatha Christie used it three times- in Mysterious Affair at Styles, The Coming of Mr. Quin, and How Does Your Garden Grow?, and Arthur Conan Doyle used it in-"

"Oh. OH. Vincent, I love you, you know-it-all." Virgil started pacing, running his fingers through his hair.

"I beg your pardon?"

"The Murder of Roger Ackroyd."

"What? Strychnine wasn't used in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd; Ackroyd was stabbed."

"Yes, I know. The note the killer sent. At the bottom of the code, he wrote 'the truth, however ugly in itself, is always curious and beautiful to the seeker after it'. It seemed so familiar, but I couldn't place it until you just brought up Agatha Christie. Poirot said it in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. The number. I'm an idiot."

"Breathe, Virgil. I assume that you just cracked the code?"

"Not quite. But I cracked our unsub. I knew it. I knew he'd hand me the answer. I can't believe it took me this long to figure it out."

"Okay, so how does The Murder of Roger Ackroyd help you?"

"Under the quote is a thirteen digit number. I'd bet my life that it's an ISBN for a specific printing of the book. It's an Arnold Cipher. Each series of three numbers is a page, line, and word. It was staring me in the face. I truly am Boo-Boo the Fool." Vincent was puzzled by Virgil's last sentence, but Virgil was far too agitated for questioning it to be prudent.

Virgil took a deep breath. "Okay, sorry about that. So, back to Jason?"

"Oh, right. Jason. Um, the only other thing of note that we have found at this point are fibers from a 1950s Volkswagen Beetle."

"That's gonna help a ton, as well. Vincent, you are my hero!" Virgil scooped him up into a big hug before leaving the morgue, leaving Vincent speechless for the first time in his life.

Virgil ran back up to his desk, furiously typing in his password. It took him three tries to correctly enter the number into the San Francisco Public Library website's search bar. He eventually got it, and there it was. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie. And two copies were available. The library didn't open until 12 pm the next day, however, so he went home after setting an alarm on his phone and sending a quick text to Patton.

9:52 [To:Patton]- Hey, wanna get dinner tomorrow night?

He was ecstatic to see a message from them when he got home.

9:55 [Patton]- Absolutely! You got the problem worked out? :D

10:10 [Virgil <3]- I found the solution, and will get it resolved by the end of the week. I'll pick you up on Friday at 7? We'll take a walk in the park and then House of Prime Rib, on me?

[Patton]- Are we celebrating something? Or are you trying to tell me you want to be my sugar daddy? ;P

[Virgil <3]- Trust me, Pat, if I had sugar daddy money, I'd love nothing more than to spoil you rotten. But nah, it's a combination of a small celebration and an apology for being unavailable today and for the next few days until Friday. (and i may or may not be buttering you up in hopes you'll share what's bringing you down)

[Patton]- Aww, you're so sweet! <3 (Can I call you daddy anyway?)

[Virgil <3]- Only if you want to be rewarded, baby. ;)

[Patton]- I'll be a good boy for you, daddy, I promise.

Virgil noted their preferred appellation and responded in kind with a wicked smile.

--------

The next morning, Virgil woke up half an hour before his alarm was set to go off, feeling more relaxed than he had in months. I'm finally going to get this guy.

Figuring there was no point in just waiting around, he got ready and went right to work. He knew Captain Sanders would want a breakdown of the previous night's findings before he could start following the leads he had gotten from Vincent the previous night.

He got to the station and immediately started looking into Jason Dean and the possible claim that he was a murderer. It didn't take him long to find that three Mission High students committed suicide 2 months prior named Heather, Kurt, and Ram. Virgil tracked down the police reports for the deaths. By all accounts, they appeared to be through-and-through suicides. If Jason did kill them, the killer would need to be quite close to either one of the victims or Jason himself. Linking the suicides would imply that he's close to all of them. Maybe through school? Science classes are more than likely to have liquid nitrogen and hydrochloric acid. Any teacher would have access, but I'll look more into science teachers in particular. He's displayed some anatomical knowledge as well.

Captain Sanders walked into the precinct, calling for Virgil to follow him into his office.

"So, what do you have?" he asked, after they'd arrived and shut the door.

"The note is a book cipher based on Agatha Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. The library has a copy of the specific edition I need to crack it, so I'm going to pick that up at noon, as soon as the library opens. Looking into the 'murderer' thing, there were three suicides at Mission High 5 months ago, whose names match the three not-coded words in the note- Heather, Kurt, and Ram. If they were murdered by Jason, that means the killer is close to one of them, most likely Jason himself. I think that's what the killer is alluding to in the note, but we'll see once I've decoded it. Add in the liquid nitrogen, and it points to a teacher, likely a science teacher. So I'm going to crack the code and look for other insights into him and look into Mission High science teachers. I have an updated profile, and I'll email that to you right away."

"That sounds wonderful, Mason. You've been doing excellent work; we're glad to have you."

Virgil shifted his weight from foot to foot. "I'm just doing my best, sir. If you'll excuse me, the library is about to open, and I'd like to get the book as soon as possible."

"Sounds great to me! Just send me that profile before you go."

"Will do, sir. Thank you." Virgil turned and left the room, hurrying to his computer before rushing to the library.

A short while later, he was back at his desk with a battered copy of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. It wasn't difficult to decode the message, but it did take a bit of time and a lot of counting and re-counting. Word by word, the message became clear: He killed Heather, Kurt, and Ram. Find the weapon; I know he had it. It is your evidence.

Virgil sat back in his chair once he'd finished, puzzled by what the note revealed that he hadn't already deduced. 'He' has to be referring to Jason. He knew we'd find out the reasons for him choosing the previous victims, but he needed to be sure we'd know why he thinks Jason deserved to die. I looked at the police reports for those deaths; the gun used to kill Ram and Sweeney was recovered on-site and is in police custody. He's obsessed with his mission, though. He wouldn't make this claim if he wasn't sure. I'll look into that once we've caught our killer. For my peace of mind, at least. Virgil cracked his knuckles and picked up his phone.

"Roman Prince, SFGate, how can I help you?"

"Roman, it's Detective Mason. Can you come down to the station right away?" The responding scream was so loud, Virgil had to move his phone away from his ear. "I'll take that as a yes?"

"Absolutely, Detective. I will be there as soon as physically possible."

"Don't break any traffic l-" The line went dead, cutting Virgil off.

Far sooner than could have been legal, Roman skidded to a stop in front of Virgil's desk.

"HelloVirgildidyoucrackthecode?DoIgettowritearesponse?CanI-"

"BREATHE, Roman." Virgil stood, grabbing him by the shoulders. "Yes, I cracked the code. Yes, you will publish a response tonight. But I'm writing it. I assume your laptop is in your bag?" Roman simply nodded- he knew that if he tried to speak, he'd start rambling again. "Fantastic. Let's get going."

45 minutes (and one call from Captain Sanders to Dan Humphrey about how not allowing it to be posted immediately would be obstruction of justice) later, a new post was live on SFGate's website. It was 4:02 pm, two hours before the deadline.

An Open Letter to U N Owen

It was a pleasure hearing from you. While I obviously cannot condone your methods, you are correct that our justice system is imperfect, and those imperfections need addressing. You gave me quite a puzzle, and I enjoyed solving it. It was clever, but not clever enough. I hope you'll forgive me for not following your directions; please let me know if this is inadequate.

Vq rwv kv dnwpvna, aqw'tg ytqpi. Jg fqgup'v jcxg kv, yg fq. Yg'xg jcf kv htqo vjg xgta dgikppkpi. Dwv aqw cntgcfa mpqy vjcv. Aqw'tg hct vqq engxgt vq jcxg pqv mpqyp vjcv. Wpnguu K'o qxgtguvkocvkpi aqw, yjkej ku c fghkpkvg rquukdknkva. Aqwt qvjgt cuugtvkqp jcu dggp pqvgf, cpf K uygct vq aqw vjcv K yknn rwtuwg vjcv qpeg yg ugvvng vjku ocvvgt dgvyggp wu.

Hqt pqy, vjqwij, aqw ujqwnf mpqy vjcv aqw'xg iqvvgp unqrra, cpf vjcv kv'u qpna c ocvvgt qh vkog dghqtg K hkpf aqw cpf tgrca aqw kp vjg ngicn hqto qh vjg eqkp aqw icxg vjgo. Aqw yknn (ogvcrjqtkecnna) jcpi hqt vjku.

Sincerely,

Det. Mason Poirot II

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

Logan refreshed SFGate.com for the thirteenth time that day and was finally rewarded for his tenacity; the post was less than five minutes old. He read it twice, rage simmering in his chest and a smile on his face. "Detective Mason," he said to his empty apartment, "a worthy adversary indeed. The game is on."

#virgil sanders #logan sanders #sanders sides fanfiction #ts ff #roman sanders #patton sanders #moxiety #analogical #prinxiety #sanders sides #trust me #trust me fic #my writing #serial killer au

9 notes · View notes

assistant-archivist · 5 years

Text

Story Weaver

“Statement of Justine Maloney, regarding her books. Recording by [REDACTED], assistant archivist at the Magnus Institute. Original statement made… July first, twenty nineteen. Statement Begins:”

“Should I- Introduce myself anymore? I suppose I should, for context. Well, I’m a writer. Or, well… I was a writer, I’m not sure what I should call myself now. I don’t think I’ve really been able to call myself a writer for a while now. I haven’t actually written for a couple of months, at this point. I’m… Too afraid to try. I saw something once, a long time ago… When I was a little girl. I don’t remember what it was in, but... It was a story my mother used to read me at bed time… Instead of writer, the character was called the “Story weaver”. I suppose that would be a better description for me. He would be paid, by the townsfolk, to craft a tale about them, and then as if by magic, those tales would come true. Of course, the townsfolk would only ever ask for good fortune, money, marriage, happiness, things like that. My tales have a much more gruesome edge.

I used to write horror, short stories about the paranormal, mainly. I put out a few full length novels but I’ve always preferred writing short stories. They’re more concise, quick to get to the point. I’ve never been one for beating around the bush like novels so often do.

I suppose then, I’ll be direct with you too. The things I have written, are coming to life. And before you dismiss this as some superstitious bullshit or a series of strange coincidences - I was a writer, I created these things, I know them very intimately. Though… Now, I feel as though I didn’t know them at all before. Now I feel as though I have a much deeper understanding of my own creations.

I wrote one story, a few years ago, that involved a rather grisly possession, ending in the death of the subject, suicide as it were. The character, Caleb Thomas, pulled his heart out of his chest and ripped his eyes from his skull. And then it happened, ten months ago. There was a report - I’m sure you’ve a statement from the poor man, too, somewhere in your archive… He was possessed, possessed by a demon. He dug his own eyes out of his head, then he clawed his own heart out of his chest. I wrote that, it’s titled “Corruption”. It was… The first, of my writings to come true, and easily my most popular story. It’s rather disturbing, even I think so. Although, that’s the point of horror isn’t it? To disturb, to terrify, to unsettle… That’s the whole appeal. People read horror to be… Horrified. They read it to be scared, to be distressed. People are so odd, like that. I mean, who wants to be scared? It’s not a pleasant sensation, and yet… My most disturbing and unsettling works are my most popular. Funny how that works, isn’t it.

This was something else, though… Having it really happen. At first I just assumed it was some crazed fan of mine that went off the rails, but… I have since reconsidered. I was never at the crime scene, I only saw a couple of pictures from it… But… The crime felt so… So familiar, so intimate. I didn’t have to be there to know, I could practically feel it. I had done this, this was because of me. Not some madman who’d happened upon my story, this was because of me.

That was almost enough by itself, to scare me away from writing. But I suppose I was just too stubborn to quit that easily. I should have… God… I wish I had. Everything would be okay if I had just stopped then. Well… Several people would still be alive, at least.

The next one that came true was “The Dawn”. The one about the hikers, targeted by a Skinwalker, and they have to survive until the sun rises. A little cliche, I know, but I enjoyed writing it, and I’ve always found Skinwalkers to be utterly fascinating.

A couple of weeks after the… First incident, a hiker was found on the side of the road in Northern New Mexico, covered in blood, babbling nonsense about - Well, you know. The body of his companion was never found… But bits of skin and bone have turned up throughout the woods. One poor soul reported seeing the man, except… He was wrong somehow. Taller than he should be - his legs just a little too long… His arms lopsided, stopped over, almost walking on all fours. His skin stretched and torn, dried blood matting his unnaturally thin hair… It was exactly as I had written it. It was too perfect, I knew it too well.

I suppose the method I found to take my mind off of it was… Less than optimal, for the situation. I decided to try to take my mind off these ghastly deaths with… You guessed it, writing about more ghastly deaths. Grim, I know, but it was the best escape I could think of.

I wrote “New Beginnings”, the one about the- the criminal, who ran off, and was hunted by the ghosts of his victims. Well, I’m sure we all heard about the case of Jeffery Heather. The serial killer who was so mysteriously torn limb from limb in his new home, after escaping the authorities and jumping to a new state. Of course, that one made national news. Such a strange occurrence, and yet… Nobody else put it all together. They couldn’t have, I hadn’t even published “New Beginnings”. I still haven’t. I don’t know how this started - I don’t know why this is happening, but I have not written anything new since then. As much as I want to, I just… Can’t bring myself to risk it again. I’ve promised myself that I won’t write anymore, I won’t let myself be responsible for any more deaths. Just… Please, this has happened twelve times, and I have already published over forty things. Please figure out what’s causing this and make it stop. I don’t want to kill anybody else.”

“Statement ends. This one, thus far, has been quite easy to investigate. I looked into police reports and the history of these supposed deaths, and Ms. Maloney’s accounts of each have been correct. I suppose it would be strange for her recollections to be off… She did write the stories afterall - Oh, I looked into those as well, and true enough, she wrote them and she was not lying about their contents. Ms. Maloney is… A very graphic author. Despite the evidence that would prove her statement - we have not been able to find anything that would have triggered these events. I intend to keep looking.

Since her statement, two more murders that connect to her tales have occurred - Specifically, the Henderson deaths, based on her novel “Below the Sky”, in which the entire Henderson family; consisting of two daughters, a son, a dog, and two parents, were found floating, twenty feet off the ground, with all their blood on the ground beneath them. And the second, the Jennifer Mariner case… A rather… Gruesome one. Straight from The God’s Nectar. I won’t go into great detail, but… Blood turned to wine, boiled inside her as punishment for previous sins, etcetera, etcetera, it was very unpleasant business.

When we tried to contact her for a follow up, we were unable to locate Ms. Maloney. She appears to have vanished. I can only hope that her stories have not caught up with her as they have so many others.

Statement ends.”

#horror #short story #the magnus archives #fanfiction #fiction #writing #writer #Bright's Personal Files

1 note · View note

bigskydreaming · 5 years

Text

gingerjab replied to your post “ANYWAY. The petition/prayer circle for Michael Trevino to be cast as...”

I’m forever an asshole obsessed with fire/ice ships so Thunderbird or Sunfire, fuck the inhumans one off and St. John. Also, Rahul Kohli as Neal Shaara/Thunderbird/Agni. Also I’m sposed to be asleep so ignore if this is a shit idea.

For the record, I actually kinda like the Inhuman guy, cuz I mean, its not his fault he’s part of a trash franchise. I think it probably helps that I’ve only ever read one issue with him, so as to render it absolutely impossible for his writing to piss me off. I like to just close my eyes and pretend he’s a mutant. Y’know. Like I do with Kamala!

Who is obviously a mutant.

(And like.....let’s be real. The dude is a pyrokinetic with a demon form, the codename INFERNO, and his REAL name is DANTE Pertuz. DANTE. INFERNO. Like, that’s the on-the-nose-fuck-your-subtlety-we-came-here-to-be-pretentious-as-fuck-with-our-literary-references-look-how-dignified-it-makes-our-character balls to the wall character concept I am HERE for. I’m like OH HAI I SEE WHAT U DID THAR. And they’re like “oh yeah? You got it? Hahaha, we were worried nobody would, phew, good job tho. Totally adds to the character right? Pretty clever of us.” And then I’d be like Hahahaha no, not even a little bit, but ‘scool, I like him anyway cuz I’m easy like that. I put out for puns.” And then they’d be like awwwww, dammit, we worked so hard on that. And I’d be like....well, that doesn’t speak highly of your abilities, I mean it was a super obvious joke. And then I stopped making up conversations with hypothetical people in my head.)

Also, in defense of comic book St. John Allerdyce and absolutely NO OTHER VERSIONS EVER because agreed, they all suck....

Comic book St. John is a snarky Australian asshole who in between acts of mutant mass destruction, has a side career as a successful romance novelist under a pen name.

(I’m not even joking. Comic book St. John, in canon, writes romance novels in his spare time as a hobby. LOLOLOL c’mon, how is that not a great character beat for a supervillain slash occasional kinda-if-you-squint-superhero).

Anyway.

I too am also trash for fire/ice ships because SCREW SUBTLETY, WE SHIP THEMATICALLY. But like, its gotta be the RIGHT fire/ice ship. I weirdly have standards with my fire/ice ships? Probably just because I’m obsessed with Bobby Drake but whatever, who cares, how is that relevant.

I mean, OBVIOUSLY, you have your proto-fire/ice ship, the one, the original, the Word I came out of the womb prepared to preach and ship and like, spread to the masses....Bobby Drake/Johnny Storm. Because like. They are elemental dorks whose competitiveness is only matched by their dumbness, how can you not love them, I DEFY YOU TO SAY.

I’m kinda meh on Iceman/Pyro, because like, original comic book Pyro and Bobby never even interacted I think? And in cartoons they’re always totally different generations/age groups, and in the movies they’re like....boring and stale and not even all that attractive and also did I mention boring, omg no offense to whomever wrote them, but I tried reading Bobby/Pyro movie fanfic years ago because like, that’s the only movie Bobby fic there is, unless you want to read about him being an asshole to Rogue and/or cheating with Kitty and just generally driving Rogue into the arms of the much (much much much much, like ewww) older Logan or Gambit. Because srsly, so appealing. So obviously, I caved and tried reading Bobby/Pyro fics because like, they had the word ‘Bobby’ in them, and the bar is too low in my X-Men fic reading habits. And omg I fell asleep. I just. It was all just the standard m/m cookie cutter generic ‘good boy plus bad boy uwu yaoi-zowey’ bleh starring two not at all deeply written or well-acted meh-looking white dudes, and just. Why.

But that’s what I mean when I say I’m wary of fire/ice ships, because sometimes with powered characters like, authors think oh hey, LOOK ONE IS FIRE AND ONE IS ICE, THIS TOTALLY COUNTS AS THEM HAVING OPPOSITES ATTRACT PERSONALITIES AND THUS I DONT NEED TO GIVE THEM A PERSONALITY, RIGHT? Like. They’re just very boring and unimaginative in execution, just because they expect the basic premise of fire and ice/’obvious opposites attract, obviously’ to do all the work for them.

(Katey if you’re reading this I’m super for sure not talking about YOUR superpowered romances, because you are wonderful and GOOD at writing and imaginative, and thus none of this applies to you. Requisite disclaimer.)

So, when they did this random Bobby/’New Pyro Dude like where did he even come from I still dont know’ hook-up, I was prepared to like, yawn endlessly, because I figured it would be more boring imaginationless ‘ooh look what an obvious pair they are and yet still praise me for how clever I am for pairing them’ crap.

And I was absolutely right!

(But I mean, it was written by Marc Guggenheim, the odds of it sucking were totally in my favor. Betting against them being well-written under his pen might feasibly be construed as cheating. Whatever).

And also, the art did them ZERO favors, like I know they’re both generic blond dudes in their twenties, but I LITERALLY COULD NOT TELL WHICH WAS SUPPOSED TO BE WHICH in any of the panels that they were like, in bed together or dressing or talking or literally anything until they started using their powers to fight bad guys. It was soooooooo bad. Like the art just manifested every ‘look at the white gay date his mirror reflection lol what is variety even’ cliche and beat you over the head with it.

(Also Bobby is supposed to have brown hair, which at least would’ve helped a LITTLE bit. Meh. Still was gonna suck because like, nobody had any intention of WRITING them together, like, developing their characters and laying the groundwork for a possible relationship. It was just ‘oh look, the fire and ice dude got drunk at a wedding and hooked up, cool deal, now on with the story.’)

Anyway, the ONLY redeeming potential for a Bobby/Simon relationship in my opinion is ENTIRELY due to a fic I read with them. Its probably the only fic written about Simon ever, lmfao, so its not like the writer’s characterization of him has any competition among either canon or other fans’ renditions of him. But it was pretty well written, I actually liked their portrayal of Bobby, which I’m SUPER picky about in fanfics, and they actually invested time in developing Simon and his POV and giving him an actual personality and shit, that wasn’t half bad. So if Simon was written like that in the comics and their relationship progressed in similar ways, I could feasibly be on board with them.

But it won’t, so I’m not. Meh. Anyway.

I actually really REALLY like both Shiro AND Neal, with the caveat that I hate Neal’s stupid offensive-ass codename, I know Claremont only named him Thunderbird because he introduced him in an anniversary issue that was supposed to be a call-back to the original Giant Size lineup, and he needed a stand-in for John Proudstar, but like....wtf Claremont, just use your brain and save Neal to introduce a whole issue later and stick Jamie in John’s place the way everyone else does. He literally went by Thunderbird in the comics already in his Hellion days, which YOU wrote, so why the fuck did you feel the need to be stupidly offensive and act like Native American people and traditions are interchangeable with those of a guy from India? Ugh he’s so....gah.

Anyway. So I actually like both Shiro and Neal, though pretty much only when people other than Claremont are writing them, lololol. Which is admittedly...rare. Because of all his pet characters, they’re both at the top of the list of ones nobody else has any interest in touching. Bizarrely, my favorite run involving Shiro was when he was randomly shoe-horned into that Alpha Flight relaunch in the late 90s, that only lasted a couple years? Dunno if you know what I’m talking about, the team with Radius, Flex, Murmur, Heather as Vindicator and Mac was a robot or some weird shit.

I have no real thoughts on either of them with Bobby though, for a fire and ice pairing. Tbh I can’t really see Bobby/Shiro like, at ALL lmfao. For one, Shiro’s always felt written as though he’s a good ten years older than Bobby at least. Like they’re not really compatible dialogue-wise lol. And he’s pretty much never had any patience for Bobby in the comics, which has a lot to do with most of their interactions being written by Claremont himself, and Claremont infamously haaaaaaates Bobby’s character and trashes him any chance he gets, aka the few times editorial makes him actually use Bobby in a script. But I also think even under other writers, like....Shiro honestly is not the type to have any patience for Bobby’s antics or brand of humor, like.....he’s like JP but without the superficial crush JP used in canon to view Bobby’s idiosyncrasies as endearing instead of migraine inducing. I don’t think any readers would buy someone of JP or Shiro’s personality-type crushing on Bobby twice, lololol.

I DO however kinda like the idea of Neal/Bobby? If someone ever actually brought Neal back and gave him a new codename and stuck him on a team with Bobby? They’ve also barely interacted in canon, and the only time I can think of, Neal was super rude and dismissive of Bobby, because like, Claremont was writing it of course, so it made total sense for him to have the dude who’s literally been an X-Man for two issues talk down to the X-Man of several decades like the latter had no clue what he was doing, lol. Oops, still slightly salty there.

But honestly, I doubt anyone who didn’t have hyperfixation fueled grudges on a fictional fave’s behalf would ever even remember that one canon interaction, and tbh Neal’s pretty much a blank slate character wise. His only defining traits from what little he’s been used are that he’s fairly young, in his early to mid-twenties, from a wealthy family, a little full of himself but in a ‘really wants to impress people and prove himself’ kinda way instead of an overly entitled ‘i genuinely believe I am superior to all you buffoons’ kinda way. And he was always endearingly enthusiastic and eager about new stuff he encountered from being with the X-Men.

(He was also randomly obsessed with Psylocke, but I truly think Claremont was like, well I’m just gonna write him like I would Warren Worthington because why not. So yeah, obvsly he’s super obsessed with Betsy. Duh.)

Anyway - I would like someone to do something interesting with Neal, and I think his and Bobby’s chemistry has a lot of potential and they could bounce off each other well.

Also, I like Rahul, but I was randomly fancasting some of the more obscure X-Men awhile back for Reasons (I forget what they were tbh, but I’m sure I had them. I usually do). I came across this Indian actor named Karan Tacker and was like ohhhhhhh he totally looks like he could be Neal Shaara.

I mean, I’ve literally never seen him act, so who knows what his acting is like, but since we’ve established Neal’s character is essentially whatever the person to actually use him next wants it to be, I don’t think that’s a big deal lol.

So this is totally superficially based casting, like I think this guy looks and ‘feels’ the way Neal’s typically been drawn and the kinda vibe he gives off.

Also, incidentally, having absolutely nothing to do with anything, let alone my selection process, by pure coincidence the dude just so happens to have abs for daaaaaaays.

But I mean. Like I said, that is neither here nor there. Obviously.

Of no relevance whatsoever. I didn’t even notice, tbh. Don’t even know who hijacked my body and ghost wrote these last few sentences, quick, call an exorcist.

....oh noes, is this one of the consequences of being an ‘anti’? IS THIS MY COMEUPPANCE? *flees*

#gingerjab

6 notes · View notes