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naitiaclo960writings · 4 years

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Day 5 - Daydream

Castiel sighed for what seemed to be the hundredth time since he got back from his break. Don’t get him wrong, he loved that part-time librarian job he got on the campus of his university. Mainly because it helped him earn a little extra money, but also because this work pushed him to meet a whole bunch of different people in an environment that he liked.

If one had to stick to the classical patterns of students, Castiel certainly belonged to the nerds club. He was rather reserved and always immersed in a book, in his revisions or, why not, absorbed by a game on his phone. Fortunately, Castiel did not wear glasses and did not know how to recite all the decimals of Pi to perfectly fit the cliché, otherwise, he was convinced that he would have far fewer friends than now. That was the sad reality around here…

However, he continued to be greedy for new encounters, convinced that each person possessed a unique beauty that he longed to discover. All this, however, contrasted with his unrecoverable shyness, prompting him to babble in situations where he was under social pressure. Thus, this work was perfect for him: he did not have to go to others, it was the whole university that came to him. Some came to renew their student cards, others came to borrow books or ask for advice on their homework and the rest just liked to go to the library to have a quiet place to indulge in their extracurricular activities.

To top it all off, his work did not require too much effort. Castiel was mainly in charge of restocking, setting up new books and welcoming students. As a result, he had enough free time to get bored and start imagining the life of every person passing the threshold of the library. Austin Southwest Institute of Technology was not particularly large, but it had enough students for Castiel to have not yet managed to learn all the faces yet.

There was one person, however, whom he found himself waiting for impatiently every day. It was obviously irrational, this boy did not pay him any particular attention, only making small talks a few minutes before leaving to sit in a corner of the library with a headset shouting classic rock in the ears for hours. But whatever the nature of their exchange, Castiel was dying to see even the hint of a smile addressed to him on the wonderful face of Dean Winchester.

Castiel sighed with spite. Damn it, he was ridiculous. He was no better than those starry-eyed girls drooling in front of the school jocks.

…Was Dean a sportsperson by the way? It was clear that he looked pretty muscular under his over-sized shirts. One day when it was particularly hot outside, Castiel even had the privilege of seeing him in a t-shirt, his muscular arms exposed to the sun filtering through the windows and… Okay, Dean was definitely athletic. In fact, Dean seemed perfect in every way, which was embarrassing because he knew very little about the dude…

The first time he had met him—if you could call it a meeting—was three months earlier, at the start of the school year, when Dean came to ask for his library card. That smile in his voice had been immediately communicative and Castiel had stuttered like an idiot after each of his jokes. He was still blushing when he thought about it…

Talking about a crush might not be too much in this case, but Castiel felt so helpless in the face of this situation. If he’d been a little braver, he’d have asked Dean on a date a long time ago. Instead, he spent his days hoping to see him at the corner of a shelf and daydreaming about a potential early relationship with him, even if it was a friendly one.

Still, Castiel was sure that being friends with Dean wasn’t complicated. He always seemed cheerful and friendly, never out of conversation and above all, very devoted to others. Sometimes he would lean on Castiel’s desk to talk for at least fifteen minutes, talking about everything really until another student complained that he was making too much noise. These were undoubtedly the days Castiel preferred. Although Dean was very inconspicuous and attracted a lot of glares when he laughed at Castiel’s jokes — although he did not see why his words were funny —, Castiel could not bring himself to gently call him to order. His laughter was too captivating for that.

"Cassie?" A voice suddenly echoed behind Castiel.

This one was taken away from his delusions and turned around. Balthazar, another two-year-older student also working at the library, appeared and saw the absent look on his colleague’s face.

"Okay…" Balthazar sighed. "I’m not going to ask you what you were thinking about because the conversation is going to revolve around that Winchester boy and annoy me again. So…” He turned around to point to a wagon, ignoring Castiel’s jaded pout. "We received this week’s order. It’s your turn to put them in the shelves.

"It’s always my turn to put them in the shelves." Castiel deplored, moving towards the wagon, while rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. Don’t forget those on the reserve either." Balthazar gave him a mocking smile before coming to take his place at the reception, taking out his phone without any more consideration.

Castiel shrugged and set to work. Among the shelves, it was more difficult to have a view of the entrance to the library and therefore of Dean’s arrival. But after a quick look at the clock, he realized it was already past 4:00 p.m. Castiel pinched his lips, unable not to feel this hint of disappointment at the idea that Dean would probably not come today. Suddenly, his already boring day was turning into a really bad day.

He was still dreaming of everything he could have talked about with Dean today when his foot tripped over a piece of warped linoleum and made him fall to the ground in a big crash. The books he carried in his arms were scattered on the ground while Castiel grumbled, attracting the curious glances of several students. Great… When was the day supposed to end already? Shameful, Castiel began to rise slowly, his eyes fixed on the ground, before hearing a slight embarrassed laugh.

However, he knew this sound far more than any other in this library. Biting his tongue of apprehension, Castiel raised his eyes to the source of laughter. Dean had just knelt beside him, his own affairs in his arms and looking at him with uncertainty.

"You’re okay?" He simply asked, and Castiel could not help shaking his head foolishly.

"Yes, no, it’s okay." He blushed slightly, growling inwardly. "I was distracted…"

Dean hummed softly and put down his notebooks before he began to help him pick up the books. Castiel remained stupidly motionless for a moment before imitating him, swallowing loudly. What could he have done to deserve such a humiliation today? However, Dean did not make any more fun of him and Castiel allowed himself to relax gently, glancing at Dean from time to time.

"I hate this alley too." Dean went on with a compassionate smile. "I must have stumbled at least a hundred times on the damn floor. It’s a shame, the books are rather interesting around here, but it’s at our peril." He let out a little amused sigh.

Castiel smiled back, grateful to the reassuring tone of the other student. However, he did not have time to reply that Dean resumed.

"Oh man!" He exclaimed, bringing a book to himself before smiling at the cover. "They seriously wrote a whole book about the Pi value? Damn it, my little brother taught me at least the first ten decimals of this thing."

Castiel suspended his movement before raising wide eyes to Dean.

"Really?" He asked, in disbelief, while tilting his head slightly.

This time, it was Dean’s turn to appear embarrassed and, if Castiel thought that his smile was the most beautiful expression of his face, it was only because he had never seen his cheeks turning red before. Dean raised his eyebrows toward him and scratched the back of his neck distractedly before resuming his task.

"Yeah, he loves math…" He mumbled, avoiding his gaze.

Castiel felt a laughter rising in his belly without ever passing the barrier of his lips. Dean Winchester knew Pi’s decimals. He could not prevent a dumbstruck smile to come up his face.

"I think it's... cool." Castiel said after a while.

These few words had the effect of relaxing Dean somewhat, who smiled back at him after a shy look.

"Me too." Dean admitted, nodding. "He’s four years younger than me, but he’s got the brains."

Castiel lapped up everything Dean said like a thirsty man. Every detail about Dean mattered to him, and just the proud tone he used in speaking of his younger brother was enough to reinforce the emerging affection Castiel had for him. With a light heart, he lowered his eyes again to pick up the last books when his attention was drawn to a piece of paper flying close to him. Frowning, he intercepted it and nearly lost his breath when he discovered what was on it.

Some would have lingered on the beauty of the drawings before their eyes, the confident features and the shades of gray reflecting volumes to perfection. Some were wonderfully detailed and others more quickly executed, giving them a certain charm. Honestly, Castiel would surely have looked into all this himself if he had not immediately recognized his face on each of these drafts. He remained frozen in front of these miniature representations, his eyes jumping from one drawing to another. He recognized himself on each illustration: him storing books on a particularly high shelf, him bored at the desk or helping Jack with his human sciences’ homework as every Tuesday. The majority of the drawings appeared to be made from the same angle, but each breathed a surprising delicacy.

"Whoops!" Dean suddenly exclaimed. "I think that’s mine."

When he tried to take the piece of paper back, Castiel withdrew out of reach and continued to examine the sketches. Dean blushed more and more, biting his lip with mortification. Finally, in the face of Castiel’s silence, he let out an embarrassed little laugh that could not hide his anguish.

"I… Yeah, uh… My brother is more of a scientist, but… I prefer to draw." He muttered before swallowing with difficulty." "But I can assure you that I am not freak with a weirdo obsession!" Dean added in haste. "It’s just that… the light is super good here and… Uh…"

Castiel nodded slowly before turning his gaze of admiration to Dean. This one swallowed again, playing nervously with the zipper of his leather jacket. Castiel felt exhilarated, the fragile hope at the bottom of his chest never ceasing to send bursts of happiness into the rest of his body. When he offered Dean a big, hesitant smile, he saw Dean’s shoulders relaxing slightly.

"I find it very successful. No one had ever drawn me before." Castiel confessed, sincere.

Dean let out a deep sigh that amused Castiel a bit more.

"Okay, great, because I thought my heart was going to jump out of my chest." Dean joked, not without a look still somewhat shameful, like a child caught in the act.

The two of them gathered the rest of the books and Castiel returned his drawings to Dean. At this precise moment, their looks crossed and none broke eye contact, their fingers brushing around the piece of paper. Finally, Castiel carefully followed the ridge of Dean’s nose until he reached his full lips soon joined by a piece of pink tongue that slowly moistened them. Castiel took a deep inspiration to try to stay composed, having the unpleasant impression that it did not work at all in front of these green and piercing eyes.

"Do you know which other place has great light?" Dean suddenly asked, Castiel’s attention jumping instantly from his lips to his eyes.

"Tell me?" He replied, bending his head to the side again.

"Bobby’s café three blocks from here, on the main avenue." Dean smiled with a pout that twisted Castiel’s stomach in all the right ways. "Tomorrow, 5:00 p.m.? I think I really need to practice my shadows…"

And although Castiel wanted to contradict him on the quality of his drawings, he felt his throat tightening to Dean’s words. Was it a date? Because it sounded dangerously as such and Castiel could not wrap his mind around it right now. He was probably in the middle of another one of his daydreams, wasn’t he?

"Of course, if I can help…" The words left his throat by themselves and Castiel was almost sure to gain a few more colors.

"Great!" Dean exclaimed, his lips stretching out in another dazzling smile. "Wait, take this in case you can’t find the address."

Immediately, Dean took a pen out of his bag to come and scribble on the paper with his drawings. When he handed it to Castiel, he noticed a telephone number with Dean’s first name beside it accompanied by a smiling smiley face. Castiel remained foolishly in front of the paper, his body having apparently stopped consulting his brain to make him ridiculous.

"T-Thank-"

"Gee, I have to go!" Dean cut him off, checking his cell phone. He put a warm hand on Castiel’s shoulder before he started to walk away. "I’ll pick you up tomorrow after work, okay? We’ll walk together to the café. See you later!"

And just like that, he was gone. Castiel was still trying to figure out what had happened. Dean asked him out on a date, handing him his telephone number to give him the address before telling him that he would pick him up directly from the library. Dean who secretly drew him from God knows how long or even used a nickname at the end of their conversation. Oh and, also: Dean Winchester asked him out on a freaking date.

When the reason of his daydreams was definitely out of sight, Castiel looked again at the piece of paper before feeling a broad smile covering his face. He sighed before folding the paper and slipping it into his pocket. It was good to have dreams.

* * * @winchester-reload Some more tooth-rotting Destiel fluff for you, hope you enjoyed it!

You can find the whole series on Ao3

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velvetgons · 6 years

Text

smoulder

yoonbin x reader

word count; 6.1k

warnings; hmm slight angst, fluff, i’m soft for yoonbin? not clickbait!, small kissing scene

song; the universe we dreamt - matt dimona and spell - niki :)

requested; yes! thank you [requests are open]

a/n; are we...do we have a tag for the lineup yet.....or not...i...please let me know

As a person who enjoyed spending time with their friends and getting new experiences, it wasn’t at all surprising that you had such an affinity for the carnival that came to your city once a year for a week in the summer. Ever since you were old enough to know about its existence, you’d whine and complain until someone would take you there for a minimum of two of those days. Things hadn’t really changed too much since then, only that now you were older and it didn’t take adult supervision for you to be allowed to spend almost the full week down at the carnival with your friends.

In this sense, you always saw yourself as immensely lucky for finding a friend like Jihoon. He loved the things you disliked about the carnival; he basked in the sheer amount of noise coming from the different attractions and he found some kind of pure enjoyment from the slow shuffling of the crowds around him. But, most importantly of all, he was always willing to spend as much time as you wanted to there, which generally resulted in the two of you dragging more of your verging on unwilling friends to spend the full week in the business of it, too.

The carnival would start on the first Monday of the third week into your summer break from school, and end on the Sunday following. The memories that came with the carnival were one of your favourite things about it, both making them and getting to remember some of the moments you’d forgotten about in the stress that came with your daily schedule of classes. Last summer had been one of your favourites of them all, mostly because you adored the moments where you and Jihoon got the chance to have a meaningful conversation.

And, if you were honest with yourself, maybe the conversation you’d had with Jihoon as the carnival closed on the final Sunday was what made the trepidation and desperation for this week to be as childish and untouched as all of the others so prevalent for you. The sky was getting to be a deep blue by the time you’d both finally began to drag yourself in the directions of your homes, the smell of cotton candy and popcorn still lingering on the both of you as you spoke quietly about future plans. In the moment that you turned onto your street, Jihoon’s arm thrown across your shoulder as he grew quieter, doe eyes catching yours as he mumbled something you almost didn’t hear, you’d sworn to yourself that these moments were something you truly didn’t want to stop having.

“I don’t wanna grow up and apart from you guys,” he’d said softly, and when you’d stopped by your front door to ask him what that meant, he’d simply shrugged. “Every adult seems to just, give up on having close friends. I’m scared, you know, that we’ll all be like that.” He hadn’t given you much chance to respond before he’d insisted on being home on time, ruffling your hair before offering you a quick, “At least we’re always gonna have the carnival, huh?”

As cliché as you realised it was, you’d clung onto that sentiment, especially as the fear grew within your chest over this year’s carnival. It was, as you had to accept at some point, the last one you were all going to be able to spend together before you had to get serious about your futures. Jihoon and more of your friends were going to be idols, you had full faith in that, and some more of your friends were going off to further their educations, or to travel. It didn’t matter, really. Things were moving forward and this was the moment you’d been building yourself up to.

You tightened your grip around the water bottle in your hand, eyes glassing over slightly as you stared at the park’s table, the resounding sound of Doyoung’s voice hitting your ears. “After all these years, you’re still allergic to the idea of fun?”

You heard Yoonbin scoff, your eyes already moving to narrow at him, knowing he’d be expressing his distaste for the carnival week as he always did on the countdown before. “It’s not even that great,” he shrugged, “it’s just, a street with a lot of noise on it.”

“Uh,” you heard your friend who was planning to leave and travel the world as soon as the carnival week was up, Lisa, begin, “there’s rides, so your point isn’t valid.”

You laughed softly, watching as Yoonbin glared over at you, “I don’t know what you find so funny.”

Shrugging, you set the water bottle down onto the surface of the table, “I don’t know why you always come if you hate it so much.”

His eyes narrowed even further at you, his expression turning into a full scale scowl as he rolled his eyes at you, “It’s not like I have much choice. If I didn’t show up, Jihoon would come and make me, so, my options are limited, aren’t they?”

You couldn’t really think of a response to that, you knew he was actually right in this instance, but his constant onslaught of negativity made your built-up anxiety for this week to elevate. Part of you wanted Yoonbin to never talk to you, because it seemed he couldn’t say a single word to you without sarcasm and cynicism dripping from his tone – but the other part of you knew he wasn’t like that, not really. He’d only shown you the nicer side of himself once, as you supposed you had done the same with him; when he’d accidentally walked in on you crying in a bathroom at a party because you’d seen the boy you liked kiss someone else, and he’d dropped himself to sit beside you on the floor and let you cry on his shoulder until you were ready for him to walk you home.

Maybe you had a slight affection for him because of that, maybe you just thought he was nice to look at, but whatever the feeling was didn’t matter; he was uninterested in anything to do with you unless it was the two of you digging at one another until one of your friends interrupted. Strangely, the tension between the two of you had never caused much more than a layer of comical annoyance to build in your friendship group, which, even more irritatingly so, was entirely and irreversibly conjoined.

From the moment Jihoon had met Yoonbin and Doyoung, he’d dragged them into your friendship group, giving you no chance to get away from him since. When you thought about it, you didn’t really know who started the arguing in the first place, but you put the blame onto Yoonbin. Glancing back over at him, you saw he was occupied in a conversation with Jihoon, and you took the small space of time to admire him quietly. If he treated you like he treated all your other friends, you assumed you’d probably have one of those classic school-girl crushes on him. Because, as you had to consistently remind Lisa, you didn’t, under any circumstances, have any form of feelings towards him currently other than the irritation that he seemed to detest you for an unknown reason.

You felt an elbow dig into your side, and you turned your line of sight over to Lisa sat beside you, her eyebrows raising at you as she followed your previous vision to Yoonbin. You bit back a laugh as you lightly smacked her arm, “No, stop it,” you grumbled, attempting to make your moodiness seem convincing.

Lisa’s laugh met your ears as she rose to her feet, you following suit as everyone else seemed to be doing the same. Jihoon knocked his shoulder into yours as he fell into to walk beside you, “So, we’ve got two hours before it opens, I’m thinking we should spend it at my house this year.”

///

You groaned as you lay sprawled out on Jihoon’s bed, your fingertips stretching out above your head to ever so slightly brush one of the plushies placed neatly on the made sheets. You’d spent the last two hours re-watching a movie you’d both seen a million times by now, and now you were waiting around for him to finish up picking a jacket so you could finally leave to go get your other friends and get to the carnival.

“It’s literally just a jacket, Jihoon, you’re not even gonna need one.” You grumbled, pulling yourself to sit up, your shoe-clad shoes tapping against the floor of his room.

He hummed, yanking an old blue hoodie off a hanger in his closet, “The temperature drops as the sun goes down, doesn’t it? And who’ll be warm and toasty in a nice cosy jacket when the happens?”

You shrugged, lips curling into a mock frown, “Not with this much global warming it won’t.”

“Ah,” Jihoon began, shutting his bedroom door behind the both of you on the way out, “that’s an intelligent point, well done.”

A laugh past your lips as he followed you downstairs, your hand curling around the handle of the front door, pulling it down as you looked back to catch his eyes, “Thank you, I try.”

The walk to gather your friends individually was tedious, and completely unnecessary in your mind, you didn’t understand why you couldn’t all just meet at the actual carnival, but you did it anyway. By the time Yoonbin joined the group, a surge of nerves ran through you, unsure of whether or not he’d end up bringing the mood down this time, even if he’d never done it before. You found yourself slipping into silence over most of the walk, focusing instead of looking over at each of your friends to see their bright grins – your eyes lingered on Yoonbin for a moment too long, seeing him wrapped up in a seemingly idyllic moment, a smile that went all the way to his eyes lighting up his features as he walked slightly ahead of you.

Reaching the beginning of the carnival street, you felt yourself tense just slightly at the sight of the forming crowds, reaching over to curl your hand into Jihoon’s. He noticed, squeezing your hand once as he tugged you as close to him as the heat would allow, “I’m right here, okay?”

You looked over at him, feeling your heart tighten a little at the words, a nod moving from your body before you could begin to form a comprehensible sentence to him. Multiple voices met your ears at once, some from the crowd of people around you and others – the more intelligible ones – coming from your friends asking where you were all going first. Doyoung wanted to go to the Ferris wheel, as he did every single year. The lack of any other ideas meant you were all in agreement, heading straight over to the line, still short as more people began arriving after the opening.

“Yoonbin? You not coming?” You heard Doyoung say as you reached the line, looking over to see Yoonbin stood outside the line’s railings.

He shook his head, “This one’s boring, I’ll sit it out.” You rolled your eyes at him, watching his eyes narrow at you as you did.

As usual, you went to pair yourself with Lisa, as Jihoon and Yedam kept up their tradition of going on the Ferris wheel together every year. Except, as you turned to stand beside her, you found yourself floundering, unable to spot the girl amongst the boys in your friendship group. The front of the line was growing closer, causing bouts of panic to move through you as you turned to Doyoung, “Where did Lisa go?”

“She said she wanted to go grab candy for all of us before the line got long, remember?” Doyoung informed, tilting his head at you as the final pair in front of you joined. In general terms, you were sure if you were insistent the man controlling the ride would probably let you go on by yourself, but you both didn’t want to be alone on it, and you highly doubted you had it within you to be pressing enough. It was always the same unspoken rules at the carnival, every single year, most rides you had to go on in pairs because it got too busy and they didn’t have enough people working it otherwise.

The man with the carnival work shirt on rose his eyebrows at you, gesturing forward as you stepped passed the gate, seating yourself in the cart as anxiety made your stomach turn flips. You breathed in sharply, feeling the man look from you back to the line, “Who are you riding with?”

You stuttered slightly, mouth unable to form words as the idea of holding the line up began to bite into you. Your eyes fell to the floor as you struggled to find anything to say, imagining the scenario of how embarrassing it would be to get kicked off the first ride in the day in front of everyone.

You heard a deeper voice interrupt the tense silence, “Sorry, sorry, I had to stop to tie my shoelace, I’m with her.”

Glancing up from where you’d been tapping your foot against the metal frame underneath you, you saw Yoonbin had push himself into the line, and was raising his eyebrows at the man expectantly. The man sighed, “Alright, okay, go ahead.”

Yoonbin dropped to sit beside you, sighing slightly as he did so, reminding you ever so slightly of how warm he’d been next to you that night at the party. You felt the blush underneath your cheeks keep their place, embarrassment at him making fun of you for this digging into your skin as the bar was placed down in front of you both. The wheel began to turn again, and you kept your eyes everywhere except for falling to him.

He scoffed under his breath, “Not even a thank you?”

You wanted to narrow your eyes at him, tell him you didn’t ask him to do that for you, but you couldn’t quite find the burn to do so. It wasn’t like either of you were going to be seeing much of each other after this summer came to a close anyway. “Thank you,” you said softly, not looking away from the view beneath you.

“Whatever,” he grumbled, slumping himself back slightly in the cart as it continued to move, stopping occasionally for people at the bottom to get on and off. As you reached the top, you felt yourself pull in a pointed breath, seeing the buildings and people spread out in front of you. The sight made you both nostalgic and slightly sad, remembering all the different things you’d done and experienced in the town with your friends and by yourself. The swarm of memories made your eyes glass over with a thin layer of tears, and you used your index finger to swipe it away as casually as you could.

You felt Yoonbin’s eyes on you, making you keep your vision focused away from him even more intently. “Are you, okay?” You heard him ask quietly, and you nodded immediately in response, not trusting your voice to remain even as you didn’t look at him.

He didn’t speak again. Neither did you. Your cart reached the bottom again as you both got off, and you found your feet rushing ahead of him to reach your other friends. Lisa was grinning at you as you reached her, probably thinking of a way to tease you about Yoonbin as you forced a childish giggle past your lips in retaliation. The feeling that was pressed to you now would fade, you knew that; it would fade because your friends would give you something else to think about, as they always did.

Yoonbin re-joined the group along with you, his eyes not leaving your form as he ignored Jihoon’s small tease of, “I thought you found Ferris wheels boring?”

The rest of the day didn’t grow boring, it never did, but it did fill you with a sense of nostalgia and a dulled down version of panic. The crowds and noise surrounding you, for once, causing you no anxiety, your mind too consumed with being as completely in the moment with your friends around you as possible.

“Now that it’s getting slightly darker,” you heard Jihoon begin, your eyes shifting to look up at the sky, which had fallen from the bright blue it had remained all day to a muted version of itself.

Yedam scrunched his face up in slight confusion, “It’s not dark at all.”

Jihoon shushed him, turning back to face everyone else as a grin took over his features, “Now that it’s getting darker,” he began again, “I think it’s time we went to the haunted house.”

The group had mixed reactions then, some of them groaning in protest to the familiar visit, and others beaming at the idea of the excitement it brought with it. A bright laugh made you all turn to Lisa, who grinned over at you before speaking, “I think, we should do it, but, we should pick each other’s partners for it.”

You felt your stomach drop immediately, your eyes falling on Yoonbin before you glared over at Lisa, hearing the rest of the group laugh in agreement. The immediate idea between all of them, of course, was that Yoonbin and you would go in together last, to make sure the tension was really built up. Even through your attempts to not spare Yoonbin a single glance, you found yourself cautiously observing him for a visible reaction, seeing him furrow his brows before going to interject on the plan. He was immediately silenced by Junkyu beside him, who nudged him with his elbow lightly and said something you could only imagine was related to loosening up and having fun.

Time seemed to blur in front of you as the pairs in front of you both went in and came out, either complaining that it wasn’t scary enough or that it was too much. In all honesty, you wished you could just have a normal haunted house, like amusement parks had, where you could go in, walk through a hallway and maybe up and down a flight of stairs while things jumped out at you. But, as always, things couldn’t be exactly as you wanted them, that was far too selfish of you to assume. Instead, you had to go room by room to find some form of amusement from the building, getting jump-scared by different things in each. You reached the front, your worry for this day having been forgotten and turned over into annoyance with your friends for making you do this.

Yoonbin was tensed up beside you, and you wondered for a second if he was scared to go into the haunted house, but you doubted it, he’d never been particularly scared of them in the years before. You were gonna make the assumption that it was because he had to go in with you. You reached the front with him, watching as he told the person taking the money that you didn’t need the rules explaining to you before you headed inside.

The first two rooms passed by in a relative blur, although you’d decided after a couple minutes of entering the house that you should count every single time Yoonbin scoffed or rolled his eyes at either you or the concept. You headed back into the hallway from the second room, the lighting making you stumble slightly, knocking your knee against the side of a bookcase as you turned too quick, hissing slightly in pain. You heard Yoonbin mumble something underneath his breath, walking past you to go to the third room, and you wondered if you should class that as a scoff. You decided to go on the safe side and add it to the list, knocking the count up to seven.

Passing the doorframe to get into the room seemed like a mistake as soon as you did it, hearing the door slam behind you as you jolted in surprise. “Seriously? You come here every single year for seven days and that still scared you?” You heard Yoonbin dig, making you glare over at him as your shoulders tensed in aggravation.

“It’s not my fault you’re so robotic that loud noises don’t phase you,” you huffed, feeling the sting in your knee from earlier still running through you as you wanted this walk through to be finished as soon as possible. “Why are we even going to the rooms if you don’t wanna be in here?”

He blanched for a second, glancing around before he lifted his shoulders in a dismissive shrug, “Fine, let’s just go to the exit.”

Yoonbin took a confident step forward to go past to you as the projector switched on, the twisted image of a woman screaming being put onto the blank wall in front of you. This drew little to no reaction from either of you, the both of you knowing from past experience that this happened in the third room. He didn’t pause his movements for very long, taking another step past you and reaching for the handle of the door, tugging it on roughly, pulling it back. The door didn’t budge, however, and he retried the action of pulling it back a couple more times as his moves grew vaguely frantic at the lack of a result.

You stepped forward, peering around his frame to see what was happening as he began to push on the door, checking to see if this did anything different. He turned back to glance at you as nothing happened once again, seeing a look of panic gather on your features as he knocked on the wood surface of the door a few times, hearing a patter of footsteps approach from the other side.

The door handle moved as the person from the other side evidently attempted to open it, seeing it keep to its closed place. Loud banging sounds moved through the space of the room that felt as though it was beginning to grow smaller, before everything went back into silence, your eyes going back to the where the projected image had been, having been turned off and reset for the next lot of guests now.

From inside the room, you could hear what sounded like fragments of a conversation, leading you to assume whoever was running the haunted house was radioing someone else. A muffled voice cut into the atmosphere a few drawn out seconds later, “Uh, okay, so, we’re gonna get some help to get the door open because it’s, well, it’s snapped, somewhere, our apologies. Is everybody okay in there?”

You watched with your bottom lip between your teeth as Yoonbin glanced back over at you, “Yeah, we’re fine, just, how long is it gonna take? To get the door open?”

You heard more indistinct radio chatter before the voice spoke again, “Not long, not long, we’ve just gotta get some tools to pry it open, you know, so, maybe, about half an hour.”

The answer both relieved you and caused a large bout of panic to go through you again. Half an hour, realistically, wasn’t that great a period of time, and so you wouldn’t be trapped in a confined dark space with a boy who hated you for very long. But this also meant that things weren’t going to go to plan with your friends, and now this would probably ruin the haunted house for the rest of the week, and that would mean you wouldn’t be able to go through it with Jihoon or anyone else again before Sunday. The idea filled your chest with a desperate and dramatic need to sit down and cry, but you knew that wasn’t an option for right then. You zoned yourself out as Yoonbin answered a couple more questions from the other person, lowering yourself to sit on the cold wooden floor of the room, leaning yourself back against the wall and tucking your knees to your chest.

Leaning your cheek down onto your knees as you sighed softly, you heard heavy footsteps approach your spot as Yoonbin lowered himself to sit beside you. The odd reminiscence from earlier became a full blown repetition of that night at the party, and you would have wanted to laugh if the fear within you wasn’t so great. You could see, out of the corner of your eye, that Yoonbin had looked over at you, and was most likely feeling irritation with you build up for being petty enough to blatantly ignore him in a situation like this.

You felt a burst of courage move through you as you glanced over at him, watching as his eyes immediately met yours. Tilting your head at him as much as space would allow with your head pressed to your legs, you heard him speak softly, “It’s not that long,” he began, “you don’t need to be scared, I mean. It’s only half an hour.”

The slight tilt of concern in his voice made you wonder over him more so than usual, trying to understand why he acted the way he did with you and no one else. Despite yourself, you let yourself smile softly at him, “I’m not…I’m not scared, but thank you, anyway.”

He nodded slowly, but his gaze stayed locked on yours, “Can I ask you a question?” He inquired quietly, his voice dropping to almost a whisper as you heard a collection of footsteps outside the room again.

The adjusting sound of metal tools and people speaking met your ears as you responded at the same volume as he’d spoken, “Sure, why not.”

The ghost of a smile tugged at his lips before he spoke again, “What have you been thinking about today?”

Caught of guard by the suddenness of his question, you recoiled a little, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. “I…what, like, do you want a cohesive list of everything I’ve thought about today?”

A breathy laugh passed his lips before it turned into a light scoff, “No, I mean, you know, I want, I wanna know what’s been bothering you today.”

“Oh,” you began, losing eye contact with him as you attempted to think of whether or not you’d been too obvious with what had been going through your mind all day, “was it…obvious, like, was I acting weird?”

He shook his head quickly, “No, I, I just noticed on the Ferris wheel and, you know, couldn’t not see it after that.”

At this, a slight wash of relief came over you before you began thinking of what to say. You presumed that you should probably lie to him, his sudden interest in knowing what was going through your mind was something you assumed you should see as a warning sign for something. But you didn’t particularly want to. And, in an unexplainable way, you somehow felt that there would be an understanding of the feeling if you told Yoonbin, of all people.

“I just, I don’t know, I want this week to be perfect, for everyone.” You answered simply, watching as Yoonbin looked at you quizzically, urging you to keep talking. You found yourself without words again, dropping eye contact with him as thoughts swarmed around your mind again.

“Why’s this week so important?” He pushed gently, attempting to ease you into giving him more of an answer.

You swallowed thickly, “Because, you know, it’s like, the last summer we’re all gonna be together for the carnival.” When you finally said it, the idea of your fixation on it seemed impossibly childish and overdone.

Yoonbin moved to turn his body towards you, watching as you sceptically mirrored his action, your knees pressing against his. “So, what’s the importance of the carnival? Did I miss something in the weeks I’ve spent here?” He joked lightly, making a small bubble of confusion move through you, unsure of where this sudden personality change had come from.

The smallest of laughs passed your lips as you shook your head, “It’s, we’ve just spent every summer here since we were little kids, right? And now, well now everyone’s moving on, and we’re…we’re not gonna spend every summer here anymore.” You mumbled, your eyes glazing over slightly as you grew flustered at your own sensitivity to the subject, looking down to the floor.

Yoonbin tilted his head at you, letting you know he evidently had more questions to ask, “I mean, this might be the last summer we’ll spend at this god awful carnival,” he began, a laugh moving past the lump in your throat and into the air around you as he smiled for a moment. “But it’s not like we’re never gonna see one another again. We’ll all still be best friends.”

A tear slipped its way down your cheek as you looked back at him, “That’s what everyone says, and then they leave and stop talking to one another anyway.”

Shaking his head, Yoonbin pulled his hoodie to cover his thumb and leant forward to swipe the tear off your face. “None of us want that, though, so it won’t happen.”

His assurance made you tilt your head at him, “You don’t know that.”

He shrugged lightly in response, breathing out a laugh, “You can’t know much about the future, though, can you? I know that I’ll do what I can to not let that happen, and that’s all that matters.”

This made you smile softly before the slightly bitter realisation that the people he was referring to as his friends didn’t extend to you. You’d expected things to change after that night at the party, you’d assumed you’d both be fine with one another, and that because he’d been so kind then he’d be like that with you afterwards. He hadn’t been. Another moment like that wasn’t likely to cause much more of a change.

“You know,” you began carefully, reaching to knock his hand just slightly with your own, “I think, one day in the far future when you’re married and you have kids and the perfect life created for yourself, you’re gonna remember me, and you’re gonna miss me, so much.” You mumbled, almost to yourself.

Yoonbin wanted to recoil, to be visibly angry with the notion that he’d even be able to forget you of all people in the first place. But he couldn’t really say your perception of how he felt towards you was an unjustified one. “I’m…I know I will.”

You linked your pinkie with his in a rush of confidence, “Can I ask you a question now?” He nodded, glancing down at your interlocked pinkies as you began speaking, “Why do you hate me so much?”

He shut his eyes tightly, hearing Doyoung’s voice when he’d told him that this situation would happen eventually. “I don’t hate you, ___, I really don’t.”

Humming softly, you rephrased your question, “Why are you always so angry with me, then?”

At this, he smiled a little, “Do you remember when we got like this?” His voice had dropped back to a whisper, watching as you shook your head, curiosity lighting up your eyes in the dark. “I didn’t think you did,” he sighed softly, dropping his head back for a minute before he started talking again, “I…I met you all with Doyoung for the first time, right? And, okay, look, I know I always look like I’m constantly angry but…I’m really not, and I guess, I guess you thought I didn’t like you, so you started making these little offhand comments…” he let himself trail off, wincing softly as you sat yourself up properly, your hand slipping away from his.

He wondered if he should apologise for telling you, but you interrupted him, “I’m sorry,” you started, “oh my god, that was so mean of me. I’m…Yoonbin, I’m really sorry.”

Laughing a little, he didn’t move from his place, “It’s okay, really, it is, I…I took it too far, really. I shouldn’t have kept acting like that when you stopped retaliating. I just, I don’t know, felt like I had to.”

At this, you tilted your head at him, “Why would you have to?”

Yoonbin cleared his throat, glancing over at the door where the noise had gone silent at some point during your conversation, although it remained closed shut. “I…okay, this sounds bad, so hear me out,” he started, “but that night at the party, I followed you upstairs, because I, well I knew you liked that guy, and I’d seen him kiss someone else, so I was gonna, I was just gonna talk to you about how I, about how I’d kinda liked you for a little while…” he paused for a moment, as if trying to check your reaction. “But, you were so upset, and it didn’t feel like the right time.”

He watched as your face morphed from one of confusion into slightly comical shock, “Do you still feel like that?”

Yoonbin smiled a little, “Yeah,” he kept your eye contact, “I haven’t dealt with this very well, have I?”

A laugh moved from your lips, “No, not really, but it’s okay,” you rose your eyebrows at him, “go on, ask what you really want to.”

Yoonbin shook his head at you, “I don’t expect an answer, I…I kind of expected you to be angry about this. But, it’s a lot to spring on someone, I know that. Take your time giving me an answer.”

You felt a blush heat up your cheeks as you laughed softly, “There’s only four weeks of summer left,” you said, watching as Yoonbin rolled his eyes at you again.

“You’re obsessed with that, aren’t you?” You shrugged, feeling his pinkie intertwine with yours again, “I’m still gonna be here after summer, you know that.”

“What if I move away for school?” You challenged lightly, not even attempting to dance around the fears in your mind.

He rose his eyebrows at you, “You have a phone, don’t you?”

You grinned slightly, “What if I don’t? Would you go back to pretending you hate me?”

“No, I’d just have to write you letters,” he challenged back, his lips turning upwards as your worries seemed to dissipate for the moment.

You laughed lightly, “But,” you began, drawing a groan from him, but it quickly slipped away when he saw the hint of seriousness beginning to find its way onto your features again, “what about when you debut? You’ll be too busy, right?”

His hand moved to grip yours as a slam resounded on the wooden door, a muffled voice calling out to you both gently, and you watched as Yoonbin moved to stand and go back to the door. The same muffled voice from earlier spoke again, “We’re gonna need a different tool, so, it’ll be, about another half an hour, our apologies again. Is everyone still, uh, all okay in there?”

Yoonbin laughed gently, looking over at your form still on the floor, “Yeah, yeah, we’re all good.” He moved back to sit beside you again, raising his eyebrows for a moment, “you’re still okay, right?”

You nodded gently, observing Yoonbin intently as he moved slowly to cup your face impossibly lightly, “It’s probably a bad time for me to kiss you, right?” He asked quietly, watching as you nodded in response, a grin curling your lips up, “you don’t care, do you?” You shook your head at him, feeling him pull your face closer to his as your lips met. The kiss was timid, his lips brushing against your own in a feather-light way as it didn’t gain in speed or desperation.

He pulled himself back after a moment, smiling at you brightly before speaking, “Don’t, don’t overthink this, okay? I like you, and you like me, that’s all that matters. We’ll just, cross those bridges when we get to them.”

A smile met your features are you nodded slowly at him, curling yourself closer to him while he leant his back against the wall again. “Is there anything else you need you get off your chest? This seems like it’s given us a good opportunity to fix some personal issues.” He said softly, his arm draping across your shoulders.

You laughed again, “Hm, don’t think so. Do you?”

“Actually,” he started, looking down at you as you caught his line of sight, “I have a question about Jihoon,” he began.

“Oh, I can’t help you with that,” you interrupted, dropping your head back onto his shoulder.

He hummed slightly in response, “I…I’m not so sure anyone really can.” He retorted, leaning his head to rest against yours as the room fell into a mix of attempted comfortable conversation that would be met with the sound of metal tools scraping against wood outside the little room.

#:) i'm pretty happy w this #i'm sorry that i'm bad with endings though !#ygtblbr #ygtb scenarios #ygtb imagines #ygtb reactions #yg treasure box reactions #yg treasure box imagines #yg treasure box scenarios #ha yoonbin scenarios #ha yoonbin

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tvshowfreak · 5 years

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2,4

2. How did you discover your sexuality, tell your story?

Sooo, I started discovering and acknowledging my sexuality when I was around 14-15, tho thinking back I was already pretty gay as a kid, I was only hanging out with boys and all the boys were in love with Océane, the prettiest girl of the class, and so was I 😂Didn’t seem that crazy when I was 7 😂 But anyhooo I really started figuring out that I liked girls around 15, I just thought girls looked beautiful, always, and then I fell in love with one which obviously was a big nudge 😂It was your classic high-school straight girl crush but boy was it powerful. From then on I could only just picture myself being in a relationship with a girl. It’s like whatever boy crush I might have had in the past was completely disenchanted because what I felt for girls was just 1000% more powerful. That’s also during that time that I discovered tumblr and shipping and it helped me a lot to come to terms with my sexuality, like A LOT.

4. Who was the first person you told, how did they react?

The first person I told was my dad, when I was 16. He’s my best friend, so for him to know had almost become a necessity to me because I was drowning keeping this secret. I told him on new years eve, in the kitchen while waiting for appetizers to be cooked in the oven 😂I had been feeling like shit for weeks cause I was struggling with being in love for the first time and obviously for it to be with a girl, so he knew something was up cause I’m usually not that broody 😂He had asked me before what was wrong on a few occasions but I never really answered, but for some reason he decided to try again that night. So he started asking me again what was wrong, if it was about school, if I was being bullied, if it was because of my grades, which had turned into crap that year, if it was because of my friends... I answered no to all of these. Then he asked if it was about love, dun dun dunnnnnn... I nodded 😂Then the torture started “is he taken?” “no” “is he older?” “nope” “is he married?” “no” “is it a teacher?” “nope” “Is is a girl?” *anxious and shy nod* 😂😂 Once I nodded he made a face that said “ohh so that’s that.”, it’s almost like he felt sorry for me, not because it was a girl, but because obviously I was having a hard time with it. Then he said the classic cliché sentence you don’t wanna hear “maybe it’s a phase” , but you could tell he was saying it to try to comfort me more than anything else. At that point I was crying, so he just hugged me and told me that everything was gonna be alright, and then the alarm of the oven rang and my sister came down so we didn’t have a chance to talk anymore about it. We actually didn’t talk about it at all for the next 2 months or so, which was kinda pissing me off cause it felt like I hadn’t say anything, like he wasn’t acknowledging it or something. After a while it pissed me off so much that I did a second coming out, in the car, while coming back from my grandmas, I couldn’t hold it in, I just blurred out “I’m gay!” and started sobbing, this time not because I was ashamed but because I needed the recognition, I needed it so bad. Poor guy didn’t know what was happening and why I was having a breakdown, and said a little bit panicked but half laughing “yeah I know you told me already” 😂We talked about it some more when I stopped crying and he let me know that he loves me no matter what and that he’ll be happy to get a third daughter when I get married 🤧🤧

#ask #about me

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swiftsnowmane · 7 years

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You have such great taste, so I'm coming to you for advice. What are your recommendations for art house Halloween movies?

Oh, what an excellent ask! I absolutely love artistic horror films, but I’m by no means an expert on them. Since I wasn’t sure if I had enough to recommend, I decided to just make a compilation that best exemplifies my personaltastes. Many do not have anything to do with Halloween, and some are not eventechnically ‘horror’ films at all, but are simply films and/or series that Ienjoy watching at this time of year. :)

Below you will find a widevariety of recommendations, including silent film, film noir, gothic horror,sci-fi and dark fantasy, vampire films, zombie movies, tv series, comedies, parodies, mockumentaries,and my greatest love….folk horror.

Silent film:

- The Cabinet of Dr.Caligari (1920), dir. Robert Wiene – Iconic and a highly-influential silentGerman expressionist film about a creepy ‘doctor’ who hypnotizes a sleep-walker(a ‘sonambulist’) to do his bidding.

- The Phantom Carriage (1921), dir. Victor Sjöström– On New Year’s Eve, the driver of a ghostly carriage forces a drunken man to look back at his wasted life.

- Häxan (1922),dir. Benjamin Christensen – Fictionalized Swedish-Danish documentary aboutwitches and witchcraft through the ages. Often categorized as folk horror, thisfilm contains evocative visuals and some memorable dramatizations, including a (literally) hysterical ‘nuns gone wild’ sequence. Despite its sensationalism, it is actually quite a sympathetic take on thetragedy of witch hunts, from the medieval era to the contemporary (1920s)treatment of women with mental illnesses.

- The Lodger(1927), dir. Alfred Hitchcock – Considered by critics to be the first true‘Hitchcock’ movie, this silent film is suspenseful, visually entrancing, and surprisingly moving. One of my personal favourites.

Other old movie classics:

- Double Indemnity (1944),dir. Billy Wilder – An insurance man falls for a married woman, and togetherthey begin to plan the murder of her husband. A noir classic, the first tocontain all the elements that would come to define the genre. A favourite ofmine.

- Laura (1944),dir. Otto Preminger – Another filmnoir fave, this time a murder mystery starring the mesmerizing Gene Tierney. Oneof the (many) inspirations for Laura Palmer in Twin Peaks. ‘Not just anotherdead girl,’ indeed.

- The Innocents (1961), dir. - [summary forthcoming]

- The Seventh Seal(1957), dir. Ingmar Bergman – This Swedish existentialist meditation on deathand mortality needs no introduction from me. Not a horror movie per se, but dueto its themes and visuals, it is very haunting all the same.

- Hour of the Wolf(1968), dir. Ingmar Bergman – Another Bergman classic, this time a surrealistpsychological horror-drama. A man lives with his pregnant wife on a remoteisland, and suffers from insomnia. He begins to be plagued by visions of‘demons’ and haunted by images from his past.

- Hitchcock films– Some of my personal faves include TheLady Vanishes (1938), Notorious (1946– noir classic), Spellbound (1945 -worth watching for the stunning surrealist dream sequence designed by SalvadorDali), Rear Window (perhaps not asvisually interesting as my usual picks, but a nostalgic fave that I used towatch with my dad), Psycho (1960 -cliché to list this one, I know, but Ido legitimately enjoy this film), Vertigo (1958 - another I used to watchwith my dad), and two of my absolute faves, Rebecca (1940 – see below) and the aforementioned The Lodger (1927).

-Hammer horror (aka British horror of the ‘50s-70s) - you can’t go wrong with the Hammer Dracula series, and/or anything starring Sir Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. - [summaries forthcoming]

Halloween films:

- Sleepy Hollow(1999), dir. Tim Burton – Fave Tim Burton film. Fave Johnny Depp film. FaveHalloween film. Just fave.

- Trick ‘r Treat(2007), dir. Michael Dougherty – Of all the quintessential, straight up‘Halloween’ movies, this anthology horror film is another top pick. It’s justsuch good fun.

- The Crow(1994), dir. Alex Proyas - A list of my personal faves could not be completewithout this fantastical, noir-ish tale of lost love and revenge. A nostalgicclassic.

Other ‘scary movies’:

- Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006 mockumentary), dir. Scott Glosserman - I’m not all that into *actual* slasher flicks (other than the original Halloween, which still to this day scares the shit out of me), but I’ve always greatly enjoyed this satirical take on the subject. :D

- Return of the Living Dead (1985), dir. Dan O’Bannon – While zombie films aren’t necessarily my fave horror sub-genre either, I can’t help but adore this one. Early Greg Nicotero visual effects on full display. Not to mention the iconic naked dancing in the graveyard scene.

- The Crazies (2010), dir. Breck Eisner – Probably my fave ‘zombie’ film. I use that term loosely as it’s not really about zombies, but it has a similar vibe. This movie immediately pre-dated The W@lking Dead, and now that I can no longer stand to watch that awful show, it has sort of become my preferred ‘version’ of this type of scenario.

Vampire films:

- Vampire Hunter D:Bloodlust (2000), dir. Yoshiaki Kawajiri – With its incredibly rich anddetailed visual design, based on the art of Yoshitaka Amano, and an evocativepost-apocalyptic western/ gothic setting, this classic anime film is along-time fave. When I was younger I wanted to live (and die) inside the aestheticof this film, and to this day it remains my favourite vampire movie. Alsocontains one of my all-time favourite vampire/human romances, the Hades andPersephone-esque Charlotte and Meier.

- Let the Right OneIn (2008), dir. Thomas Alfredson - Swedishvampire movie. Not the sort of thing you’re probably expecting, either.

- 30 Days of Night(2007), dir. David Slade – One of the few vampire films in which the vampires actually terrified me.

- From Dusk till Dawn(1996), dir. Quentin Tarantino – Over the top action-horror ridiculousness. Myfavourite thing about this film is that it includes a scene of a young girlgetting her white t-shirt splattered with blood. Bethyl fans will understandwhat I mean. ;D

- What We Do In theShadows (2014), dir. Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi – Mockumentary aboutvampires in New Zealand. Probably my fave thing I’ve seen in years. HIGHLYrecommended. :D

Dark fantasy/sci-fi:

- The Company ofWolves (1984), dir. Neil Jordan – A young girl in present day has a feverishdream in which she and her family live in a fairytale forest. After her oldersister is killed by a wolf, she repeatedly dares the dangers of ‘the wood’ tovisit her grandmother. Based on Angela Carter’s tale from The Bloody Chamber, with a screenplay co-written by Carter herself,this film is a must-see for anyone who enjoys a blend of eroticism and horrorin their Little Red Riding Hood tales. Despite the low-budget and cheesy qualityof some of the effects, I totally love this movie. :D

- Brotherhood of theWolf (2001), dir. Christophe Gans – Perhaps not the greatest film evermade, but I have an eternal soft spot for the legend of the Beast of Gévaudan.Not to mention my girl-crush on Monica Bellucci, lol.

- Angel’s Egg (1985) - [summary forthcoming]

- Pitch Black (2000),dir. David Twohy – The other films in this franchise might be more famous, butthe first entry is, imo, a sci-fi horror classic. My favourite part is thedynamic between the ‘boy’ Jack and the notorious criminal, Riddick.

- Pan’s Labyrinth (2006),dir. Guillermo del Toro - In 1940s Spain, a young girl finds escape from thebrutal fascist regime by visiting a labyrinthine underworld full of strange andmagical creatures.

- The Prestige(2006), dir. Christopher Nolan – In late 19th c. London, rival stagemagicians obsessively compete to find the best stage illusion, with strange,and often tragic, results. Not a horror film, but an intense and suspenseful thrillerall the same.

- Solomon Kane(2009), dir. Michael J. Bassett – Based loosely on the classic pulp-fiction stories ofRobert E. Howard (aka, creator of Conan the Barbarian), this film is a mix ofdark fantasy and horror elements. JamesPurefoy and Rachel Hurd-Wood in a SanSan-esque type dynamic. Super cheesy, yes,but such a guilty pleasure, OMG.

Gothic romance/horror (aka, ‘young woman goes to live at manor house and creepy things ensue’ ):

- Jane Eyre (2006BBC miniseries), dir. Susanna White – There are countless adaptations of thisclassic, and all have their merits. While the 2011 Hollywood movie has a higherbudget and some very lovely visuals, for me, nothing tops the version with TobyStephens as Rochester!!

- Northanger Abbey(2007), dir. Jon Jones – My personal fave adaptation of Jane Austen’s gothic horror satire, starring an adorable young Felicity Jones as thewide-eyed, imaginative heroine.

- Rebecca (1940),dir. Alfred Hitchcock – A self-consciousyoung bride is tormented by the memory of her husband’s late wife. LawrenceOlivier and Joan Fontaine in a visually haunting Hitchcock classic.

- Dragonwyck (1946), dir. Joseph L.Mankiewicz – In the 1840s, a young women from a Connecticut farming community isinvited to the estate of a wealthy patroon.Worth watching for the ever gorgeous Gene Tierney and an extremely attractiveyoung Vincent Price. Such good chemistry!

- The Crimson Petaland the White (2011 BBC miniseries) – Based on the novel by Michael Faber,this is the story of Sugar, a prostitute in 1870s London, and what happens whenshe becomes the mistress of a wealthy soapmaker. At once sensual and deeplyunsettling. Plays heavily on the Victorian theme of ‘the angel in thehouse’. Highly recommended.

- Crimson Peak(2015), dir. Guillermo del Toro – A culmination of all of the tropes andplotlines from the classics mentioned above (with the most direct nods to Dragonwyck).Guillermo del Toro takes the horror elements that are generally only present asundercurrent in these gothic romance stories and brings them, in all theirgrotesque and terrifying glory, to the surface.

Folk horror:

- The VVitch (2015), dir. Robert Eggers – In 1600’s New England, a puritan family must move from the safety of a settlement to the edge of the wilderness. One of my top favourite folk horror films, ever.

- A Field in England (2013), dir. Ben Wheatley – Deserters of an English Civil War battle travel through an eerily empty English countryside landscape on a psychedelia-tinged trip. This film is not for everyone, but is visually stunning and ticks many of my personal boxes. HIGHLY recommended for anyone who enjoys alchemical themes and imagery. A folk horror masterpiece.

- The Wicker Man (1973), dir. Robin Hardy – This iconic film needs no introduction. Features one of my all-time favourite Sir Christopher Lee performances, as the incomparable Lord Summerisle. A must-see for anyone remotely interested in the folk horror genre.

- Witchfinder General(1968), dir. Michael Reeves –Another 17th century period classic, starring Vincent Price as the villainousMatthew Hopkins, aka the Witchfinder General. While perhaps not as well-belovedfor me as the three listed above, I very much appreciate this film’s settingand overall aesthetic, as well as its absolutely beautiful soundtrack.

- The Devil Rides Out (1968) - [summary forthcoming]

- The Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971) - [summary forthcoming]

- Black Death(2010), dir. Christopher Smith - Sean Bean, Eddie Redmayne, and Carice VanHouten in a supernatural-tinged medieval thriller. Essentially, ‘The Wicker Man’-meets-‘Heartof Darkness’, set to the backdrop of the black plague.

- Apostle (2018) - [summary forthcoming]

Misc/other:

- The Devil’s Whore(2008 miniseries), dir. Marc Munden – Despite the title, this is not actually ahorror movie, but is an exquisitely beautiful romantic period drama, set duringthe English Civil Wars. One of my all-time favourite historical miniseries,ever.

- Flesh + Blood(1985), dir. Paul Verhoeven – Set in Italy in 1501, Rutger Hauer is a leader ofa ruthless band of mercenaries and Jennifer Jason Leigh is the young maiden whobecomes their captive. Not a ‘horror’ film in technical sense, but Verhoeven’stypical bloody visuals and dark themes and tone secure it a place on this list.TRIGGER WARNING: Contains an intenserape scene.

- Imprint (2007),dir. Michael Linn – Native Americanfolklore-based suspense/thriller. One of the many reasons I love this film isthat it was actually filmed onlocation in South Dakota (you have no idea how many times filmmakers try to pass off California landscapes as ‘SouthDakota’, it’s soo annoying).

- Southern Comfort(1981), dir. Walter Hill - In 1973, a Louisiana Army National Guard squad ontheir weekend maneuvers in rural bayou country antagonize the local Cajunpeople and end up ruthlessly hunted. A southern gothic thriller, with someWicker Man-esque elements.

- Winter’s Bone(2010), dir. Debra Granik – A teenage girl in the rural Ozarks must track downher missing father in order to protect her family. Not a horror film, but aquietly intense thriller. A personalfave of mine.

- The Revenant (2015), dir. Alejandro González Iñarrítu– [summary forthcoming]

- Wind River (2017), dir. Taylor Sheridan – [summary forthcoming]

- Dunkirk (2017), dir. Christopher Nolan –[summary forthcoming]

- Trollhunter (2010), dir. André Øvredal – Taking the form of a ‘found footage’ mockumentary, this movie follows filmmakers who set out to capture images of elusive Norwegian trolls

- Ed Wood (1994),dir. Tim Burton – Not a horror film, but rather a biographical comedy-dramabased on the life of the titular B-movie producer. An underrated TimBurton/Johnny Depp classic.

- Clue (1985), dir. Jonathan Lynn - A classic comedy, and one of my all ‘round fave murder mystery movies. No matter how many times I’ve seen it, this infinitely quotable film still makes me laugh, every time.

- The Whisperer InDarkness (2011), dir. Sean Branney –Independent film, based on H. P. Lovecraft story of the same name. Made with ablend of vintage and modern techniques, intended to evoke the style of filmsfrom the 1930s.

- From Hell (2001),dir. the Hughes brothers – Murder mystery/thriller based on the Alan Mooregraphic novel. Gruesome and memorable interpretation of the unsolved tale ofJack the Ripper.

TV series:

- Ripper Street (2012tv series) – A period-drama procedural set in the aftermath of the Jack theRipper killings in late-Victorian Whitechapel, London. Centers around ChiefDetective-Inspector Reid, who is haunted by his inability to catch the serialkiller, as well as by dark events from his own past. (I only recommend thefirst two seasons, however, as after that the quality of the storylines greatlydecreased, imo).

- The League of Gentlemen(1999 tv series) – Legendary dark comedy/folk horror series created by MarkGatiss, Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton, and Jeremy Dyson. If you enjoy the bizarre and grotesqueside of British humour, look no further. (See also the Christmas Special (set between series 2&3), The League of Gentlemen’s Apocalyse (2005), and the most recent, and incredibly well-done, Anniversary Special (2017)).

- Psychoville (2009BBC series) - British psychologicalhorror/black comedy sitcom, created by above-mentioned The League of Gentlemen’s Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton. Memorablecharacters include David and Maureen (a hilariously creepy mother and son duo),Mr. Jelly, a grumpy clown who never removes his face paint, and Jeremy thelibrarian, who is tormented by a mysterious nemesis, the Lynchian ‘Silent Singer’.

- Inside No. 9 (2014tv series) – Another excellent show by the evil geniuses that are ReeceShearsmith and Steve Pemberton, this is a series of stand-alone episodes that Ican only describe as ‘short stories on film’, each in sightly different genre. Someare comedic, some are psychological, some homages to famous things, some sad,some bizarre, some are downright terrifying (there is an episode entitled‘The Devil of Christmas’ that was probably the most disturbing thing I’ve seen in a longtime).

- Twin Peaks(1991 tv series), by Mark Frost and David Lynch – Don’t think I even need toexplain why this seminal and endlessly influential show makes the list!

- Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries (2012 tv series) – Not remotely scary, or even remotely ‘horror’, this is rather a delightful little romantic period drama about a lady detective in 1920s Melbourne, Australia. Cheesy as hell at times, but worth it for the absolutely delicious chemistry between the two leads.

- Stranger Things (2016 tv series) – The first season is iconic in its own right, and the second season did NOT disappoint. This show is just the right combo of creepiness and comforting nostalgia. Not to mention the wonderfully-written and endlessly endearing cast of characters. I love it so much.

Currentlywatching:

- Bates Motel (2013tv series) – Started watching this over the summer, and it is extremelywell-made and most definitely creepy and unsettling in every possible way. I was very impressed so far, but I had totemporarily stop watching because this past summer was a difficult timeemotionally, and I didn’t want to compound things by watching something sopotentially disturbing. I plan to resume it asap, though!

- Project Blue Book (2019 tv series) - [more detailed summary forthcoming] Creepy/mysterious period drama about UFO coverups in the 1950s.

On my ‘still towatch’ list (**updated 08/04/2019):

Kwaidan (1965)

The Love Witch (2016)

Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)

The City of the Dead (1960)

The Masque of the Red Death (1964)

Picnic at Hanging Rock

Penda’s Fen

Robin Redbreast

Tam-Lin (1970)

The Borderlands (2013)

Kill List (2011) - tried watching this one, but struggled to get through it, tbh

Mullholland Drive (2001)

Penny Dreadful (2014 tv series)

I realize that the majority of these are not ‘art house’ films by any definition, but I hope this list is nonetheless of some interest. If I’ve left out anything essential, it’s probably because it’s either slipped my mind, or I simply haven’t seen it yet.

Thanks again for the ask – it’s reminded me of some excellent films I hadn’t thought about in a while. :)

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