#half mermaid productions

[eleanorlanewriter]

Fan art from Immortality, an excellent horror game I just played.

[doorplays]

IMMORTALITY (2022) REVIEW

PREAMBLE

I've been hearing a bit about this game during the latter part of 2022. I don't remember how exactly it got on my radar, but a friend did end up saying that it was free on mobile for Netflix users. It was also free on Xbox game pass! I tried it for a bit there and ended up buying it on Steam when I decided that the concept of a game pass wasn't for me.

Sam Barlow strikes me as a sort of game auteur. I played Her Story a couple years ago and enjoyed it very much. I haven't tried Telling Lies, but I skimmed the Steam reviews and it seemed like a flop. Immortality though seemed very promising. And I am glad to report that it is indeed a very good game! I've written this review to talk a bit about the game. Refer to the content warnings above, and if you are comfortable with them, let's get to reviewin'!

STYLE (Gameplay, Graphics, Music)

Immortality presents itself as a film restoration project wherein you have to restore three films. Starting out, you are given a short tutorial on how to navigate the software, after which you can start gathering clips. Your main objective is to answer the question: What happened to Marissa Marcel, actress of all three films?

You start out with one clip available to you, and you discover more by interacting with objects and people within the clip. To interact this way, you have to pause the video and get into symbol mode first. While in symbol mode, if you click on an actor's face, you will be brought to a different clip with the actor in it. If you click on, say, a chair, you will see another clip with a chair, though it may not necessarily be the same chair and may not necessarily even be in the same movie! With the tools you have, you then have to judge how to properly restore the film while finding out the core mystery of the game.

The gameplay for me is simple enough to understand, though the finer points of using Shift to rewind/fast forward footage in a slower manner was a bit lost on me. I think the game would have benefitted from a slightly better tutorial OR slightly better controls.

Despite the simplicity of it though I enjoyed it enough because it really worked with the game. If I wanted to know more important things I just click on important seeming objects like guns. If I wanted to know more about certain actors or even certain crew members I just click on their face. There's still room for you to feel like a detective while preserving the chief feeling of being someone who's restoring long lost footage!

The graphics of the game is, well, actual film! It's very cool because the films you see are three separate ones with their own aesthetics, and it shows! They all have different aspect ratios, different lighting, different fashion choices, and other stuff that set them apart from each other. And each have a solid story. The music is nice, but it’s just filler music you hear as you investigate. It changes though depending on what you view! Overall, I like the way this game presents itself. Sam Barlow’s games are FMV games, but this one is even bigger in scope now, which I respect.

SUBSTANCE (Story, Characters, Impact)

Immortality is a film restoration project. You are to restore three separate films: Ambrosio, a film that tackles religion and was shot in 1968, Minsky, a detective film shot in 1970, and Two of Everything, a film about pop stardom shot in 1999.

As you restore footage, you also discover more about the story of each film. And it's not just the story told within these films, but the road to making them. You'll see table readings, auditions, even scenes to test the chemistry between the main actor and main actress. It is very interesting for me to see the behind the scenes of movie making.

It discusses a lot of mature themes. The nature of art, the costs of making art, the unfairness of it at times, the unsavory parts... a lot is tackled that I enjoyed hearing about. This game is about film, about the process, about how disgusting the process is at times, but it also discusses the beauty of art itself.

There's a lot to discover in this game. I'm not going to talk about it much further beyond this, but the way the game reveals clips and information to you is at times very gripping.

I loved discovering the characters, their arcs, and what happened to them. I loved slowly unfurling the story. It felt like with more new clips I discover something more that at times redefines all that I’ve learned about the game up to that point. It’s marvelous writing! I think a potential problem lies in the in-built nature of the way we find more clips. Since the developers can’t really predict what objects the players will click, they will definitely find different clips and will have different experiences. This can be frustrating for some... for me though it was Okay. Overall, I was amazed by the story!

SUMMARY

The way you interface with the film is easy enough, and the gameplay itself is very light. But the enjoyment I derived from playing this game was from getting all the pieces together and thinking about how each piece contributes to the overall picture. People will interpret this game in different ways, as is the nature with art, but the journey to arrive at that interpretation is something I very much enjoyed.

This game is a love-it-or-hate-it kind of game. It is nonstandard yet very bold. I love the uniqueness of it and how it asks the question of what a game actually is. Some won't consider this a game and think of it more as an interactive movie, but as a person who is very interested in the narrative potential of games, I appreciate the bold experimentation that this game pulls off. Sam Barlow has been doing this kind of game since Her Story (2015), and I feel like he has perfected the formula here, though I wonder how he will make another game like this.

If you have a Netflix subscription, it's free on iOS/Android! I very much recommend everyone to play it despite its experimental nature.

Door Rates Immortality: 5/5!

[midnightemy35]

mermaid aven au from: @havanillas

i like to think that ratio had like a moment where he was mentally freaking out over the fact he literally brought back a dying half-human-half-fish that probably belonged to someone else and the fact that he now has to accommodate for that same merman.

[memento-morri-writes]

It's been well over a week now (maybe two??) but I'm still plugging away (ever-so-slowly) at this vignette about Zara and Rook. Zara's POV is a lot of fun to write, now that I have a better sense of her character. Writing this has really solidified in my mind the kind of person she is and how she acted when she was Rook's captain and mentor. She's very calm and collected in comparison to Rook, even when under a lot of stress.

Anyways, have a little snippet that I'm proud of from today, featuring the origins of the coin trick!

Pacing back and forth across her cabin floor, she rolled the coin back and forth over her knuckles again and again. The motion was easy, almost mindless, more muscle memory than real intent. The coin trick had been her favorite way to soothe her nerves for years now. She’d picked it up out of idle curiosity after watching a street performer dining in a tavern in Bon Largo, who had chatted with her for over an hour as she fretted about something mundane, never once dropping the coin from their fingers. The same performer had later tried to steal her coin purse and ended up with nothing but a new scar for their trouble, but Zara had learned two important things from the encounter: Not to trust a warm smile and a pretty face, and that keeping her hands moving kept her mind from dwelling too much on worrisome things.

one-time tagging @space-writes because they commented on my tags about Rook learning the coin trick from Zara in one of my other snippets from this piece.

[opens-up-4-nobody]

What if I do something I don't have literally any time for and write a les mis fic? For old times sake. What if I did that instead of studying?

[cuteniaarts]

Best sisters, in any universe

(A.k.a: ever wonder what happens when a mermaid and a human have kids together?)

((as always, click for better quality))

[cricketmilk]

Now who’s gonna be the one to pep talk me into finishing one of my non-human fics just in time for Halloween

[dunmeshistash]

Hello!

I'm Cyan (or anything you wanna call me) this blog started as just a stash for Dungeon Meshi extras and worldbuilding details but expanded as people asked questions and I did my best to answer! Hope you find it as useful as I do. I try my best to categorize my posts so they're easy to find but sometimes I forget.

If you'd like to share something you compiled yourself feel free to send it to me and I'll reblog it! You can also send a submission if you'd prefer. The main goal is to share Dungeon Meshi information :3

Consider checking the FAQ before sending an ask!

FAQ

Spoilers are tagged as "Dungeon Meshi Spoilers"

Please support the author by purchasing the manga if available in your region.

TERFs and other bigots aren't welcome

Icon and Banner

Ryoko Kui's Blog

Tag list under the cut

Types of post

For referencing - Canon things and other information you might want to go back to. Now I'm also using art reference when relevant

Compilation - Posts where I compile lots of canon art/sketches about a specific subject.

Dunmeshi thoughts - My own non canon thoughts. I also use the tag speculation when relevant

Dunmeshi complaint - Tag for more negative subjects/discourse in case you wanna block that. I usually go back and delete the ones that don't seem productive

Asks - Since I post quite a lot of asks I decided to divide them into some tags so they're easier to filter: Lore ask | Character ask | Meta ask | About Cyan

Parties

Laio's Party: Laios Touden | Marcille Donato | Chilchuck Tims | Senshi of Izganda | Izutsumi | Falin Touden

Kabru's Party: Kabru of Utaya, Diamond of Sadena, Mickbell Tomas, Kuro, Rinsha Fana, Holm Kranom

Tansu's Party: Tansu Floke, Yarn Floke, Kiki Floke, Kaka Floke, Namari of Kahka Brud

Shuro's Party: Shuro (Toshiro Nakamoto), Hien, Benichidori, Maizuro, Inutade

Canaries: Mithrun, Pattadol, Lycion, Fleki, Otta, Cithis

Races:

Tallman

Dwarf

Elf

Gnome

Half-Foot

Ogre

Demi humans

Orc

Kobold

Sources (<- check this if you're confused where the extras come from):

Adventurers Bible

Daydream Hour

Monster Tidbits

Bluray

Other tags:

Worldbuilding

Maps

Magic System

Post Canon (Extras about the story after the story)

Clothing (Details about character's clothes and in world fashion)

Dunmeshi Extra (extra comics that aren't in the main story)

Rooms

Modern Clothing

Dunmeshi anime vs manga (comparisons or panels missing from the anime)

Monsters:

Red Dragon

Chimera Falin

Mermaid

I'll be updating as I add posts/figure out how to tag stuff

About me: Cyan - Adult - She/He - Brazilian

[starkeysprincess]

I live for stepbro!rafe’s soft moments and thought of you coming back from the beach after surfing all day with your friends while you and rafe are home alone for the weekend and being so tired but also sun sick and dehydrated all nauseated. At first he wouldn’t really care, it would pass, but when you walk past him in the living room in your cropped rash guard and your ass all perky in your skimpy little thong bottoms from being worked all day, he can’t help but follow you upstairs while you get in the shower, smacking your ass to watch it jiggle “got a good workout in, huh? can I go next time?” “please, rafey, not now.” You’d groan, and he realizes you really don’t feel good, changing his tune. “N-n-no, not that, just wanna help you.”

And he’d get you all clean, wash your salty hair and get you dried and lotioned and all your hair products in to air dry into pretty waves from the ocean. “Look at my pretty girl, you look like a mermaid, princess.”

When you go back downstairs and lay on the couch to watch tv, he’s got you cradled between his legs when your head starts swaying again. “I feel sick still.” And he’d offer to help “I know how I can distract you if you let me, make you feel better” when you nod he slips your little boyshorts off and slowly starts running his fingers through your folds and up to your clit when you jump “relax, let me make you feel good.” Pretty soon he’s got you worked open slowly curling his fingers inside you and thumb rubbing your pearl, sponging wet kisses across your shoulder and whispering in your ear. Your legs start to shake and close only to be stopped by his interlocking yours and he knows you’re close as you whimper. “It’s okay, pretty girl, let it out, you gonna cum for me? Hmm? Can you do that for your big brother?” He’d murmur. When you finally let go, “that’s a good girl, see, feels better hmm?”

You’d notice his half hard cock pressing against your back, starting to lower to your knees when you come down from your high. “No baby, you don’t need to. Just want you to relax and feel better,” pulling you against him as his little spoon, massaging circles into your back and hair with his thumbs and whispering you to sleep “s’okay babydoll, go to sleep, you’re fine, rafey’s got you.”

🥺🥺🥺

as much as i love mean stepbro!rafe, i also love soft stepbro!rafe 😣

at first he’d just assume you were tired but the second you’re groaning and telling him, “please, rafey, not now”, he knows you genuinely don’t feel well, especially when he finally takes a good enough look at you to notice how sick and drained you are from being out in the sun all day.

after he helps you shower and get dressed, the two of you go downstairs to watch a movie together and you’re laying on your side, your back pressed against his chest.

“you okay?” he’d mutter, his fingers soothingly drawing circles on your stomach under your shirt. you shook your head ‘no’, mumbling that you still don’t feel sick while he’s pressing soft kisses to your cheek, “want me to distract you a bit? make you feel a little better?”.

once you give him a simple nod, he reaches around to peel your shorts and panties off, tossing them aside. his large palm wraps around your inner thigh and pulls, parting your legs. your body jolts slightly when his fingers run along your folds to your clit, rubbing gentle circles, “relax, sweet girl, let me make you feel better, alright?”.

his fingers prod against your sopping hole, pushing into you. the movements of his fingers are gentle, moving in slow, steady strokes as he works you open while he’s whispering soft praises into your ear, “there you go, feels good, yeah? doin’ so good f’me.”

his fingers curling as they swiftly pumped in and out of you and the way his thumb circled your puffy clit was enough to pull whimpers from you. your legs trembled, trying to close around his hand, only for rafe to hook his leg around yours to keep you spread open for him.

“shh, s’okay, sweet girl. let it all out, you gonna cum f’me? come on, can you do that for your big brother, baby?”

your whimpers become louder, your head rolling back to rest in his shoulder as your orgasm washes over you, “just like that, there you go, good girl”.

“see? feels better, hm?”

you nod, although you still weren’t feeling the best, you did feel a bit more relieved.

you could feel his hardon poking against your lower back and you couldn’t help but slowly try to slip off the couch to settle on your knees, only for him to stop you.

“no, sweet girl, you don’t need to do anything except lay here in my arms, okay? just want you to relax and rest,” rafe murmured. he pulled you back up onto the couch and wrapped his arms around your waist.

his hand rubbed your back, gently massaging your muscles, “shh, s’okay, babydoll. go to sleep, rafey’s got you.”

[tiredofthehumanlife]

Wanna play mermaids?

Barbie dolls: jegulus x reader (James, regulus, you)

Words: 3.4k ish

Summary: you and regulus work as mermaids at the renaissance fair and shockingly a lot of dads hit on you guys but what if one of them was hot?????? OH GOD PLEASE RELASE ME I WANT PEACE PLEASE GOD PLEASE

Warnings: your mermaid name is meryn, I personally think mermaid is a gn term but I understand why you wouldn't view it that way I was a mermaid kid so all I did was read books on them so to me personally I just feel like they wouldnt care about gender norms or gendered language BUT I UNDERSTAND so you and regulus are referred to as mermaids but there is no other gendered language, morden au, marylily is real, regulus is trans with stars around his top surgery scars and he's a tad insecure about the scars but it's cool, that's all.

You and your boyfriend, Regulus, loved working at fairs. You both had spent a very long time honing your costumes and characters. So when the biggest fair in your area hired you both, you were giddy. After you hung up, you and Regulus both screamed and jumped around the kitchen, holding onto each other. After waiting and picking at the fine details, the fair had finally opened again.

Every summer for about three months the fair on the outskirts of town was open. People dressed up, fairies, witches, queens, knights, regular old Renaissance peasants, came from all over to join in the festivities. Behind the large, fake, castle gates was a massive amount of care and love. People worked to fill their booths with handmade products. People spoke with old accents, calling out to thou to payeth for a large pretzel with your Chime credit card. You loved it. All the costumes, all the activities, all the love people put in, seeing the joy in children's eyes as they met real life mermaids. Even if it was just you and your  dumbass boyfriend in costume, it was real to them. You were even more excited to go to the one in town, you had seen how their mermaid tank was set up.

For quests they had to find the building with the painted mermaids all over it. It was open concept mostly, as most things at the fair were, no ac, all wood, and still beautiful. The building was mainly there for the gift shop, if the people wanted to see the real mermaids they'd have to follow the small stone path. Through a small arched gate, vines climbing up it, was a small winding garden path. Stunning flowers and vines growing around them as they made their way down the line. Eventually they'd turn the corner and see it. The large tank of water, usually with a mermaid inside. Around the tank were large fake rocks, making it look less like a tank and more like a tiny cave. Inbeaded in the rocks were gold dabloons and seashells. False seaweed twisting around the rocks. It was convincing enough for a child. Then there was another small path that led the guests out of the garden and back to the gift shop.

For the mermaids however, the path was different. You entered in through the gift shop, an employee showing you behind the beaded curtain in the back. Through there you found two doors, both painted teal that was now peeling and dim. Through the door on the left was a bathroom aka changing room. Through the door on the right was a small pool, the half of the tank that wasn't visible to the public. On two of the walls there was a space to walk, sidewalk wide. There were regular old swimming pool steps off in the corner, a lovely space to sit and take a break in your opinion. Then across from the door was an entryway. It started at the bottom of the tank and raised all the way up to just above the water. You entered the tank for the children to see you by getting into the pool and then swimming through the entry. It was most definitely one of the nicer set ups. There was one time where you showed up and found a troft waiting for you.

You and Regulus had gotten dressed, slid into your tails, and flipped yourselves into the pool all within an hour. You still had about thirty minutes to waste before you were needed outside. You had noticed that Regulus was quieter than usual but you just assumed he was tired. It was early in the morning and he was more of a night owl. Though now as you were both sitting on the steps, passing time in silence, you felt worried. You nudged his shoulder with yours. You asked him if he was alright and he seemed to sink. He shrugged. There a moment of silence before be started whispering to you.

"I'm just worried someone might say something." You raised an eyebrow at him.

"About?" Regulus rolled his eyes and gestured at his chest. He had scars, but so did millions of people. Regulus once vented to Sirius about his insecurities over his scars and Sirius offered the solution of tattoos. Of course he would. Regulus took it though. He went and got stars littered around them. Regulus was definitely more confident in them when you were alone or with friends but he always seemed to get a little antsy before working. You shrugged.

"Has anyone said anything before?" You already knew the answer. You just needed to remind him of it. Regulus pinched his lips together, shaking his head. "Then why would anyone say something now? What makes this job any different?" Regulus sighed and dropped his head on your shoulder.

"I have no real merit behind my anxieties." You nodded. You pressed a kiss to his forehead, glad he finally came to a proper conclusion. You slipped off the step, dropping to your shoulders in  the water. Regulus soon joined you. You swam through the opening. The outside part of the tank was much nicer than the inside. It was still early in the morning, the fair opening accnoucment started at 7:40 but no one really entered the fair until 8 ish. If you looked to the side you could see the sunrise. Regulus' head popped up out of the water next to you. You smiled at him. There were two small false rocks with flat tops in the two corners at the front.

You loved how Regulus looked in this lighting. He glanced over at you when he noticed you staring at him. Regulus rolled his eyes and made his way over to the corner across from you. He plopped himself down on the rock and rested his arm over the edge of the tank.

His tail was purple. You were there when he got his inspiration. You and Regulus were shopping for Luna's third birthday present when a little girl ran up to him holding up her Barbie doll. She kept pointing at them both. You saw the similarities instantly. It was a little mermaid doll with short black hair and a purple and blue tail. After her mother came running around the corner apologizing a million times and throwing the girl over her shoulder. Regulus turned to you. You shrugged and looked back to the dinosaurs. Luna was going through a dinosaur phase. She only wanted dinosaurs. Dinosaur chicken nuggets, dinosaur socks, dinosaur cereal, if it wasn't dinosaurs she wasn't having it. Regulus sniffed. You looked over at him. He was wiping at his eyes. You wanted to laugh a little. He was crying over a Barbie. All things considered though you've done the same so you hugged him and cooed.

Now he really was a spitting image of the doll. Your tail was orange. For no other reason than you thought it looked cool. You kept flapping your tail over Regulus'. He looked away from the garden to glare at you. A man in full peasant garb came around the corner, scrolling on his phone. He turned it off and shoved it into his leather pouch attached to his belt. He smiled at you two.

"Hey you guys, I'm John. I'm basically going to be right by you guys at all times if you need anything, if anyone gets weird. And also so I can direct people towards the exit but majority I'm here to support you." You both nodded at John. You shook his hand, introducing yourself and Regulus with both your names and mermaid names. Regulus gave John a short wave before looking back out at the garden.

"Yeah we're already having a line build up out there, your first meeting time is at 8:30, that's when the gate opens. Then the second meeting time starts at 9:30. And then so on and so forth, but after 11:30 that's it until 1:30 so we all have lunch time then." John explain, pulling his phone out the scroll down the schedule. You didn't have the heart to tell him you already knew the schedule.

After Regulus had celebrated with you for the first 5 minutes of finding your new job he was pulling out his laptop and reaserching everything. He took notes. Color coordinated notes. Regulus then helped you memorize everything. From the schedule to the blueprints to the faux accents people put on. He even went over your characters' lore with you again.

However you appreciated John's kindness to explain the schedule to you anyways. So you thanked him. You decided if he didn't run off to have lunch with his other peasant friends you'd find a way to get your lunch outside and eat with John. John notified you when the other workers opened the gate.

Quickly after that the first family was rounding the corner, jumping over the vines. Regulus fixed his posture, sitting up straight and smiling wide at the little boy. He was clutching onto a cloth mermaid doll like it was his lifeline. He squealed when you both waved at him. he was quickly advancing on you two, leaving his loser family behind. He was more interested in Regulus than he was you. The little boy told Regulus his favorite color was actually blue. He also explained siren lore to Regulus. Regulus smiled and nodded along. The boy asked Regulus what his name was. Regulus pressed his finger to his lips before pointing to you.

"His name is Llyrrick." You said, smiling at the boy. He pouted looking back to Regulus. Regulus had quickly realized after your first few jobs, talking to people for that long, masking for that long really, was extremely tiring. So you both adapted. Suddenly Llyrrick just didn't talk and Meryn, you, was talking double time.

"Do you not talk?" The little boy asked, tilting his head to the side at Regulus. Regulus pinched his lips together, shaking his head no. The boy's smile grew, letting out an excited squeal. He quickly ran back to his family, who was standing awkwardly next to the tank. He latched onto what looked to be his older sister. She looked to be only a few years older than him. He dragged her over to Regulus.

"This is my sister, she doesn't talk either. So sometimes I talk for her at restaurants and stuff, like you." He said smiling at you. Regulus smiled brightly, waving at them both. The girl looked more than giddy to meet a mermaid who was like her, her smiling biting back at her cheeks. Regulus held up his finger before flopping himself off his rock seat. He quickly swam back through the opening. Both the kids looked back to you, with sad looks, scared he was running away from them.

"Llyrrick is getting you two presents. Hey do you two where we merfolk keep our money?" They both shook their heads at you. "At the riverbank." You giggled at your own joke, even though you didn't really find it funny. Both the kids chuckled at your joke. You kept running off puns to keep them entertained. Regulus was back in few more seconds. He pulled himself back into his rock seat. Regulus reached into his now soaking cloth bag. It was small but it held a lot of false mermaid coins. Regulus reached into the bag and pulled out two, dropping one in each of the children's hands. You both waved them off as John pointed them to their way out of the garden.

You and Regulus gave each kid a coin before they left. Some of them spent more time talking to you, some talking to Regulus more, and some just stared at you both in silence. As the hours passed you started looking more and more to your lunch. You loved watching the childrens' excitement at seeing real life mermaids, but it was still tiring. Lunch was quickly approaching, you were already at the end of your 11:30 line.

"Sorry, he doesn't know how to flirt. He just kinda stares with his mouth open." She whispered to you, trying not to disturb Harry The Number One Mermaid Fan and Llyrrick's conversation. You shrugged.

The last family was rounding the corner. A small boy and three adults following after him. The boy was in jorts, light up lighting McQueen sneakers, a red shirt with a cartoon mermaid plastered on the front, and glasses too big for his face. He looked to be 7 or so. He was holding onto what was most definitely his father's hand. They looked like carbon copies, even in matching glasses.

Behind them both were two beautiful women.  One was in all green, with long red hair and the other was in as many bright colors you could imagine, her curly hair pulled into two buns. If you didn't already think it was the hottest set of parents you most certainly did now.

The man had a mustache that could truly only be described as a pornstache. Even worse, he made it hot. His muscles were large. You felt sympathy for his tshirt sleeves. You slowly turned your head to stare at Regulus. He gave you the exact 'you seeing this?' look you were giving him. You smiled and turned back to them as they got closer.

The little boy was dragging his father to the edge of your tank, his two mums following behind them. You thought they were the hottest throuple you ever did see. If you were the mirror mirror on the wall and they asked you who was the finest of them all you'd consider death. It'd be easier than picking. The boy smiled at you two as his father froze at the edge of the tank. You said hello to the boy as Regulus waved. He introduced himself as Harry, The Number One Mermaid Fan. You smiled at him. He talked to you both. Regulus gave him encouraging looks. Regulus crossed his arms over the edge of the tank, dropping his chin on his forearms.

You noticed the father was staring at you both. It unfortuently wasn't as uncommon as you wished it was.  A lot of people would stare, most of them making you uncomfortable. You glanced over at him. His jaw was slack and his shoulders slumped, making him look like a child salivating at a candy store window. You stared back, raising an eyebrow at him. The red headed woman came up from behind him, giving you a smile.

"I'm not flirting with your husband. I'm actually just sitting in a tank. Us merfolk don't flirt we give each other seaweed bouquets for courtship." You stated blankly. It wasnt the first time a partner of someone has chewed you out for looking at their loved one. Apperantly an orange fish tail was quite flirtatious.

"Oh gross no. I'm married to her, not him. Anyways just give us a second." She pulled the man away, over toward the other woman. They both gave you a small smile before gripping onto the man's shoulders. You continued to talk to Harry The Number One Mermaid Fan and ignored them entirely. As Harry started to ask Regulus more questions about sea life, all of which Regulus answered, the father came back up to you clutching his phone tightly. He had shinked into himself, looking as small as a buff as shit dude could.

"Excuse me, sorry I don't mean to be irritating, but do you think it's possible I could get both your numbers?" He was muttering so quietly you barely even heard him. You looked over to Regulus. He was already staring at you. Regulus gave you a light nod before answering Harry's question on the economy system with his hands, John stepped over to him, pressing his hand to the father's chest, giving him a light shove.

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave." John whispered. You reached out and tugged on the edge of John's shirt.

"Thank you, John. It's alright." John looked back at you to check a second time that you were speaking and not clone. You nodded. John looked back to the father, looking him up and down with the stink eye before moving away.

As John shut the exit gate you looked at Regulus. He groaned and slumped lowing into the water. You nodded, understanding completely. Regulus stared at you, you could see his admiration simmering under his gaze. You gave him a knowing look as he continued to slip lower and lower under the surface of the water. You rolled your eyes as his head disappeared under the water before popping up next to you again. Regulus pushed him up next to you on your rock seat, dropping his head on your shoulder and interlocking your elbows.

"Well I can't give you my cell phone number but i can give you my Shell-phone number" Your smile grew as you said your own pun. The man started laughing at your joke as he opened his contacts. You warmed, most people ignored your puns. Who would've thought a dad would enjoy your dad jokes?

You quietly whispered your number and real name to him. He was giddily smiling the whole time, giggling as he entered in the numbers. When you were done you looked over to Regulus, silently asking if he was sure you can gave his number away. Regulus sent you a wink and pulled his hand out from under the water, a shell in his palm.

On occasion, you genuinely wondered if he was a mermaid because you never packed shells but he always had pulled some out from nowhere. You turned back to the man listing off Regulus' number and his real name. The man was bouncing on his heels. He looked to be fighting off the urge to do a jig in celebration.

Just as you were finishing handing off Regulus' number, Regulus was dropping two coins into Harry's hands. The man thanked you a million times before lifting the boy off his feet with ease and throwing him over his shoulder. The boy squealed and laughed as the four of them left. Both of the women sent you two bright smiles.

"He was hot." Regulus whispered against the skin of your wet shoulder.

"Fuck, I know. Jeez Louise." Regulus nodded understanding your exasperation. He gently kissed your shoulder, sitting up. He looked back at John.

"Thanks, John." John stared at Regulus with wide eyes. You looked over your shoulder to smile at John.

"Right well, I'm going to go to pop over to the food court. I'm going to wander around a bit but I'll be back before 1:00, okay?" John said. You both gave him a nod. He left through the garden.

You and Regulus ate lunch in the inside tank. After that you both continued to meet more children and families. As the Fair closed for the day, you were slightly ashamed to say you glad. You and Regulus were out of your tails, not bothering to wipe off the painted scales on your faces. All the guests had left, you both leaned on each other as you left through the faux castle walls. Staying in a pool all day and being exhausted made your legs slightly wobbly.

"Mm bath, dinner, bed?" Regulus muttered, his voice slightly hoarse from not using it all day.

"Would you still love me if I said, A bath is too much energy?" You really weren't sure if you could last another second in water. Regulus hummed.

"Okay, Dinner, stinky bed time?" You nodded against his arm. He dropped a kiss to your forehead as he lead you through the parking lot.

"Glad we got that sorted, now the question is what are we having for dinner?" You groaned at Regulus asking you so many questions.

"Hey maybe that guy from earlier will be up for coming over. I'm entirely positive he won't mind being dinner, he was jumping up and down getting your number." You offered. Thinking about real answers was too hard.

"Really? I was thinking noodles." Regulus muttered, his tone flat. You lifted your head off his shoulder and smiled at him, lightly pecking his cheek.

“Noodles work.” Regulus nodded, pulling you off towards your car.

[thegreatimpersonator]

since y'all seemed to want this.... here's the live notes i took while listening to each song for the first time (bold are thoughts i had during later listens)

fortnight: 

‘i was a functioning alcohol till nobody noticed my new aesthetic’ what the fuck does that even mean…

love the fact she gave post the female collab treatment. don’t wanna hear what he has to say. 

they’re voices sound actually good together? 

some pockets of the melody are catchy

okay i don’t hate this 

ttpd:

her red flags are on fire in this song lol

this seems very half-cooked

also jacks weird mixing continues to plague us all

CHARLIE PUTH???? WHAT THE FUCK WHY HE HERE

tattooed golden retriever??? ……no way

my boy breaks all his favorite toys:

i blinked and it’s half over

this also is like… half cooked and didn’t need to be released tbh

i love the way she sings the second verse tho

down and:

the production does not match the vibe

did tpain produce this

i’m… kinda bored lol

like i have nothing to say this also didn’t need to be released tbh 

this grew on me a lot actually

so long london 

the production is so futuristic? 

oh im obsessed with how she sounds on this one

her talk-singing in the verses is great

honest lyrics without any clunky unnecessary metaphors! a win!!

the fast-paced verses with th slow chorus is really really cool

a favorite so far

daddy i love him

i can barely hear her? the bad mixing continues 

‘growing up precociously sometimes means not growing up at all’ oh yeah WE KNOW

is this…… is this about her dating matty and loving how people hate him… no fucking way she’s this stupid

SHE IS BEING THIS STUPID

‘it’s white noise’ yeah yeah that’s exactly how id describe him  

.... anyway y'all remember when fans really believed the little mermaid theory and this song was supposed to be about how 'joe stole her voice' lmaooo

we will pretend this one doesn't exist!

fresh out the slammer

are we getting another ‘i didn’t cheat technically’ song lol

what is this weird tempo change….

okay kinda catchy

it’s sounds exactly like you are in love at the end….. jack is really out of tricks

florida

‘my friends all smell like weed or little babies’ what the fuck is she even talking about anymore 

i’m sorry but i’m laughing at the phrase ‘fuck me up florida’

again the production sounds so detached from the vocals 

i honestly still have no idea how i feel about this one

guilt as sin

an real instrument?? wow crazy 

okay she’s kinda cute? catchy and fun, love the melody

i love when she goes up at the end of the vocal 

okay…. i don’t mind this one she’s catchy, a little too long and drawn out but cute

who’s afraid of little old me?

what is this production? it’s way too soft to be as threatening as they’re trying for 

why did jack push her vocals back so far when she’s supposed to scream…. that’s ruins the whole thing…. she’s supposed to be screaming and threatening….. not quiet and far away…. hello

this song is trying very hard to be threatening but it’s not... vigilante shit 2.0

‘you wouldn’t last an hour in the asylum they raised me’…………… upper middle-class pennsylvania? 

‘i’m drunk on my own tears isn’t that what they all say, that’ll  sue you if you step on my lawn’ okay bar?

the bridge was good but that’s about it.

i can fix him 

…………… not another matty song oh god

‘i can handle a dangerous man’…… im too stunned to speak this is so embarrassing 

wow taylor really is that girl who like ‘women supporting women’ and then dates/defends a racist bf…. a walking example of white feminism

intersectional feminism found dead.... twice....

loml

okay this is really nice? 

I WAS ACTUALLY ENJOYING THE SONG WHY DID SHE RUIN IT BY SAYING ‘MR STEAL YOUR GIRL’ 💀

if we ignore that one line we're good this is good. im refusing to let that line ruin such a good song

i can do it with a broken heart

‘bitch smile’ why are there so many cringey lyrics on this album lol

what is this song omg why do i kind of like it 

taylor please learn depressed isn’t a synonym for sad 

they recycled the mastermind production 

wait till taylor finds out most of the entire world is sad while they're doing their job and has to pretend they're not

smallest man who ever lived 

oh i think i like this?

‘you said normal girls were boring’ GIRL AND YOU DIDNT IMMEDIATELY GET UP AND LEAVE??? EWWWW??? she's not beating the pick-me allegations

'i just wanna know if rusting my sparking summer was the goal' okay love that line

i like this a lot

the alchemy

no….. no way this is real

i cannot

THE SPORTS METAPHORS WE JOKED SHED DO THAT AND SHE ACTUALLY DID IT OH NO 

touchdown ✅ teams ✅ benches ✅ winning streak ✅ the league ✅

she’s doing…… the worst thing ever this is so laughable 

the corny lyrics are on overload 

‘this time it’s heroine with an e’ didn’t she write folklore? i can’t remember 

that literally was an snl parody of a taylor song

clara bow

love how the guitar sounds… bet money this is an aaron track 

a stevie nicks reference!! a win!!!

i like this one a lot no cringey lyrics yet

nope never mind she name-dropped herself don’t like that

overall really liked it tho

the black dog

i think i like it?? this is kind of what i expected the album to be

okay for once the weird production choices kind of pay off

imgonnagetyouback

kinda catchy? 

she loves a fancy car getting wrecked line

the pre-choruses are the best part 

this would’ve been better without the jack of it all bc he loves a song that doesnt build to anything

this just comes down to personal preference: i don’t like her lighter vocals with jack’s heavy production (ie most of lover lol)

the albatross

a real instrument!!! production that matches taylor’s voice and is well mixed!!! aaron’s arrived!! 

i think it’s solid, has good writing and she sounds great. that's about it.

chloe or sam or…

took me a solid minute to have any semblance of a fuck to know what was going on but okay

okay i love this one

wayyyy more emotive than like… most of the original album

a lot of the 2nd version (or whatever this is lol) are way more emotive, maybe because her voice isnt drenched in reverb so we can actually hear her voice emote better

how did it end

this sounds like an old school adele song? 

i love this one too…. 

her being upset people wanna know what happened but then also feeding it while promoting the album oop 

i love the story of this one it's so refreshing

so high school

THE PRODUCTION is so good ugh aaron never fails 

the man here is a walking red flag girl and the lyrics are ~not it~ but the production is too pretty to hate it

fuck these lyrics are so bad lol

maybe if i disassociate hard enough i can ignore the lyrics and just listen to the production and vibe

give me a karaoke version of this song and we'd be so back

i hate it here

i mentioned disassociation and she made a whole song about it!!!! this one’s mine!!!! 

‘without all the racists’ GIRL HUH

WHAT WAS THE REASON

also... girl don’t act like we don’t know you’re fine with that lololololol

if i had a dime for every time i was liking a song to then have it slapped away because of a bad, out-of-pocket lyric…… 

thank you aimee

this isn’t grabbing my attention 

oh the bridge is interesting 

it’s meh 

i will never be thanking the people that bullied me thanks tho

i look in peoples windows 

what do you mean aaron didn’t produce this??? it’s well-made and has instruments? 

i love this one, again a really interesting and unique concept that's very refreshing to hear at this point when a lot of the songs feel repetitive

the prophecy

aaron guitar!!!! 

she’s nice i like her 

i've really grown to love how she sings this one, the melodies are cool.. however i feel like we've heard the same melody.. like on this exact album... where she upturns at the end of every line...

cassandra 

this seems very…. familiar… idk i feel like we’ve covered this (i mean there are 31 songs we’ve already covered everything lol)

this is such an aaron song, that's a classic 'the national' piano

i like her voice in this one tho, sounds good

peter

oh love i love this

now this? THIS feels the most like a taylor swift song

once again she’s at her best with a simple instrument and emotive simple lyrics

the piano reminds me of champagne problems

the bolter 

i like this! the chorus is so cute

oh i like that ending line a lot!

she’s cute, a little long and drawn out but cute

robin

i haven’t seen anyone talk about this one

welp…. i literally have no feelings toward this one but sounds pretty! 

the manuscript

oh this is soooooooo powerful 

i love this concept 

her ending the album on another introspective album that sums everything up a la dear reader yep yep!!

if you actually read of this ily 💗

[doorplays]

IMMORTALITY (2022) SPOILERY REVIEW

Hello! I have decided that I think I will try and do two (2) reviews for most games I will play. One is a non-spoilery review, and another is a spoilery review that is done after I finish the game! I just think it would be need to share my thoughts about a game without spoiling it for people who don’t want to see spoilers.

In light of that, here's a big bad !!!SPOILER WARNING!!! for you, and only proceed if you are okay with seeing this despite the warning! Please also be mindful of Immortality’s content warnings before reading.

Also: this will be a long article, so hang on to your buttcheeks and let’s talk Immortality!

PREAMBLE

So, Immortality is a game that is more than meets the eye. While the start of it is interesting enough (searching clips, watching the three movies), there is more to it. It is... difficult to talk about these secrets without spoiling the experience, thus I chose to talk about them in this spoiler review! I’m going to talk about the secret clips and how to find them, the overarching metanarrative, and my thoughts on it.

STYLE

You may notice that when you view clips, sometimes you hear a droning sound. If you’re on the controller, you will feel it rumble along with said sound. That’s not a trick of the music, that’s intentional. That’s the game telling you something is off.

When I played this game, everytime I heard this noise on the clip, I would Favorite this clip so it gets filed for future viewing. The game has a separate folder of sorts for Favorited clips. At one clip, I wanted to click on something in the background, but the characters keep blocking it. So I decided to rewind the clip a bit to get a better angle. And lo and behold, I saw echoes of a clip just playing in the background, almost invisible... and I can’t quite access it yet. There was something I didn’t know at this point, but this was a big moment of discovery for me, and definitely flips the game on its head.

Once you discover this, the game goes from discovering what happened to Marissa Marcel, to discovering what the fuck this game actually is! I rewound the previous clips I Favorited and got lore dumps about two new characters that I’ve never seen before, but apparently have a big influence on the plot! There are clips that once you rewind them become much more sinister and scary, and there are clips that tell more of the new characters’ motivations.

I’d say this moment of discovery and what it entails is exactly what makes Immortality what it is. It recontextualizes the previous clips you’ve watched and opens up new questions in the narrative. And what surprises me is that all the clips, the discussions in the three films and the new discussions put forth by the rewound footage, all relate together in such a tight way! It is very well written and well made, and I feel like this is a great feat.

My only concern is how, at times people can access the credits sooner than you’d expect, and that might spoil their experience thinking the game is already finished, even though it is far from that. I feel like there is more refinement to be had to this kind of game, but as it stand it’s still pretty phenomenal.

SUBSTANCE

Okay, so the rewound footage tells a heck of a story and really wraps up the themes the 3 films tell and makes them relate to the tribulations of these two new characters. I want to talk about the overarching meta-narrative, so I will put up my own retelling of it as best as I can understand it. After I write this retelling, I will then discuss what I think of the story, how it affected me, and my own interpretation of it. Let’s get to it!

Story Retelling

The One (she/her) and The Other (he/him) are two immortals that have existed for a long long time. The nature of their immortality is that they are sort of... parasitic. They kill a human and consume their flesh, biting into their neck like a vampire, and once they do this they get to be able to act as them for however long they want. They absorb their memories, with the experiences and traumas of their last years dominating the immortals’ minds. It is hard to truly kill them, as when they experience a death, they end up in a dormant state and awaken sometime later. They have mastery over time, and this allows them to do some things outside of our own perception. It is stated that you can only truly kill them via burning.

At one point, they tried to create the Perfect Story to elevate humanity to their level. This involved The One becoming Jesus, preaching to humanity and in the end getting crucified, rising again, and ascending to heaven (though in reality she never ascended and stayed on Earth). The Perfect Story failed to elevate humanity, however. This made The Other feel disillusioned, but The One just thinks humanity wasn’t ready yet.

Time passes. The One wears different bodies. She found herself awakening from a dormant state at the tail end of World War 2. She stumbles upon a dying Marissa Marcel, having just been violated by soldiers. The One proceeds to consume her and take her form. Marissa’s dying words to The One were “Je veux vivre... pour toujours.”

I want to live forever.

The One lives as Marissa for a time. She gets into acting and modeled for a commercial. She was scouted by director Arthur Fischer for his upcoming film Ambrosio. She was fascinated by the dawn of film as an audiovisual medium. She and others like her perceive reality differently, and movies match this perception. She wanted to learn the art of film making from Arthur Fischer, which was why she let him cast her in Ambrosio.

Ambrosio is an adaptation of a real book called The Monk, by Matthew Gregory Lewis. It is about a monk who is tempted by the devil into selling his soul to him. This was Arthur Fischer’s first film to involve nudity, and it involves a good amount of sex. During shooting, The One as Marissa starts enjoying acting. In particular, she liked seeing the other actors be intimate and saw a certain immortality in that.

She encountered The Other while shooting this film, but they did not really interact much other than staring each other down at some points.

She soon starts a relationship with John Durick, director of photography in Ambrosio. She encourages him to overstep Fischer’s authority, adjusting shots and scenes to be more powerful and modern, and even shooting a sex scene without his knowledge, with Durick saying he’ll go above Fischer and go to Gino for approval. Eventually, shooting for the movie is finished. Durick and The One (as Marissa) decided to shoot a new film named Minsky.

Ambrosio ended up not being released for as-of-yet unknown reasons.

Minsky is about detective Alan Goodman who investigates the titular character’s murder, not expecting that he would fall in love with the suspect. Carl Greenwood, an actor from California, was cast for the role of detective, with Marissa casting herself as the suspect. The One saw in him “an intelligence, something warm and savory about him.” However, this did not last as unbeknownst to everyone but The One, The Other decided to kill him and steal his body.

Where The One is artistic and hopeful for humanity, The Other is despondent and cynical of them ever since they failed to be elevated, thinking of them as “monkeys flinging shit.” The two of them have been at odds about this for a long time, with one of them killing the other at certain points because they want them to actually think about things. Their deaths aren’t actual deaths, being treated as “time to think” before they awaken once more. The One killed The Other at one point, but they awakened in New York, angry at The One for trying to integrate further into humanity. He found the idea perverse, especially since the two of them are now the last of their kind.

Things came to a head when during a scene, The Other threatened to shoot John Durick. The One turned the tables on him and shot him instead, saving Durick and preserving her plans. From the outside perspective however, Marissa Marcel just accidentally killed Carl Greenwood due to what seemed to be a gun prop misfire. This caused the film to be shuttered, never to be finished and seen by the masses.

The One made sure that Carl Greenwood was cremated.

After this incident, The One decided to talk to John Durick about the truth of herself. Who she is, what her goals are, how different she is from humans. John... did not react well to this. At least, he did not react in a way that satisfied The One. She loved him, she wanted to be like him, and yet... why is he reacting this way? She did not think, she just acted: she killed John and took his form. Marissa vanishes from the public eye, and The One begins her life as John Durick.

The One directs many films. She missed The Other, so she thought to direct films that pleased him. They were decent films, though people thought them cold. But throughout all these films, what drove her to make them was her desire to make the case for humanity, to prove that they’re not just monkeys flinging shit.

As she lived her life as John, she found herself taking on a lover, one Amy Archer. She treated her like a muse and a partner. Amy asked little from The One (as John) but her brilliance. She wanted to bring out the best in her. However, as she made more films, The One found that each film was less good than the last.

Arthur Fischer, now a dying old man, went to John Durick’s house bearing a gift: the Ambrosio negatives that he stole. It is not known why he stole them (though it is implied he stole them because he couldn’t bear the humiliation of seeing John go behind his back and override his authority), but here he was bringing it to Durick in an effort to mend bridges. Once he left, The One watched the negatives and was overcome with grief and nostalgia over her time as Marissa, so much so that she managed to bring her form back into the real world. She is now essentially existing as two people: Marissa Marcel and John Durick. Director and Actress.

It was then that she decided to make Two of Everything. It was a film about a pop star and her double, and the struggle of making art. But more than that, it was a film about The One’s story. In her words, Two of Everything was “about everything, but as simple as possible.” It was her most ambitious movie yet, not least because she is currently being two people at the same time. This state of being is causing great stress to The One, and as filming goes on she becomes increasingly erratic.

In the middle of filming, something happened. The Other One reappeared. The One was shocked at this discovery, but he explained himself. After being shot and cremated, it turned out he didn’t die. He was trapped in an “infinity of nothing.” That is, until Amy Archer watched the old Minsky footage and saw Carl Greenwood’s death.

She watched him die on the screen. And he was reborn.

He comes to The One in contrition, regretting how he acted. He wants to help her realize her vision now. The One is still confused, saying that while he is alive he is “not here,” and that “Amy’s still here.” In response, he simply said that yes, Amy’s still here and that this is a different kind of rebirth. He reaffirmed his desire to help.

The Other’s rebirth pointed to a new possibility for The One, who by now is barely hanging on by a thread. She has been pushing herself too hard, and that is causing Marissa’s form to experience nosebleeds and other pains. At one point, both Marissa and John fainted on set. This all culminated in a shoot where she outright hemorrhaged blood from her head. She then talked to The Other, who was acting through Amy Archer. She wanted to die like he did once, so that she may then be reborn.

We now go to this scene, the last scene that was shot chronologically. The lights turn on and we see Marissa sitting down. Amy walks into frame and gently runs her hand through Marissa’s hair. She kisses her on the top of her head. She walks towards the camera, holding up the clapper, on it written a single name: Marissa Marcel. She claps it closed.

Action.

She walks back out, picking up a gas can, and walks back in, showering Marissa with its contents. Walks back out, this time picking up a matchbox. She gets a match and lights it up.

She throws it onto Marissa.

Marissa, now burning, just stares at the camera. She lets the flames consume her, until all that’s left of her is a burnt-down mannequin.

This is the moment of her death.

And we, the players, have just witnessed it.

Story Discussion

I’m not really going to talk deep about some of the themes across the game. The game discusses a lot about the nature of art, the costs of art, its evolution, etc. It addresses female exploitation and male privilege at points, it talks about the dichotomy of Art vs. Law, it also talks of how controlling and exacting some directors can be, to the detriment of the film they are making at some points.

What I want to focus on, however, is The One.

This game is not just about three films. This game is about her. I’d go as far as saying this game IS her. This is her story, her being, distilled into a game.

I don’t think anyone would notice, but when you open the game for the first time, the title screen looks like this. The title here is “Marissa Marcel: An Interactive Restoration of Three Movies. Once you click on “Start” however, the title changes. “IMMORTALITY,” it reads and will read for the rest of your playthrough. And on more than one level, that’s exactly what the game is about. Immortalizing yourself on film. Immortalizing your life, deeds, and thoughts.

The One immortalizing herself. Into us.

You might think this is very sinister, and that The One and The Other are ultimately villains. But I would argue that they are tragic figures, with The One being our Tragic Protagonist.

I want to start by talking about the nature of their species. They are entities that exist just outside our perception, influencing our space by taking on other peoples’ forms. A comparison can be drawn with the director-actor relationship. The One puppets her forms in the same way directors utilize their actors. She consumes her victims, just as directors exploit actors and, moreso, actresses. We can see this happening across Ambrosio, with Fischer’s disgusting language at points and his controlling nature.

This director-actor relationship is referred to as a chain by The One. Fischer wanted to sculpt Marissa. When she entered into a relationship with John, he in turn wanted to make her a star. For the longest time, she has observed this chain, but with John, it was her first time putting herself in it as a participant. I assume she means when she started to include herself in the writing process of Minsky.

In Minsky, The One wanted one of the main characters, Franny, to be more real. The premise of the film revolves around Franny murdering Minsky, the artist who took her as a muse. There is a certain irony to this, with how her immortality works. And there’s even further irony to this, as after she put an end to Minsky’s filming, she ended up murdering her director and lover John Durick.

She loved him in the way that an immortal like herself could love anyone. She treated loving him and being like him the same way. When she told him of her true nature, when she bared herself to him, he did not react the way she expected him to react.

He was scared of her. Who wouldn’t be scared, when faced with a threatening entity we do not fully understand?

So she kills him, like a spurned lover. She becomes him. She continues on and fully integrates herself into the chain, using his form from here on out.

She continues on, not addressing her pain, her own trauma that lived in Marissa and now lives in her, her trauma over killing the only other immortal of her kind. She continues on the only way she knows how: making movies.

She directs movies that try and make the case for humanity. She is so enamored with them, to the point that she thought herself as one of them, blind to the privilege that she has. She continues the chain, even taking on her muse as a lover. But one day, a discovery: The Other is alive! She is baffled, but she finds that this is a new form of immortality, an evolution from the previous one. And so, with her dying, she pursues it through this game. She hatches a plan with The Other to have herself burned and have us witness.

Now, I think the popular interpretation of this game will be that The One used this game to possess us. But I think there’s more to this.

In one scene, The Other explains his own rebirth. The One observes that he isn’t here, that he isn’t directly influencing the world through their previous means. She further observes that Amy Archer, the woman The Other is speaking through, is still “here”. While on one level, this explains the uniqueness of The Other’s rebirth, I think this also puts forth the possibility that this kind of immortality does not have to harm anyone now.

Amy Archer is still here. Amy is still alive.

And when The One seeks immortality through our witnessing of her death, I choose to believe that she does not possess us. I think what they’ve discovered is indeed a way to continue where no one has to die. No more exploitation. No more suffering.

She breaks the chain.

Immortality discusses many points about art, but I think chief among these points is the cost of making art. But why do we have to pay these costs? Why do we choose to pay and demand these costs in the name of art? We should strive for a way to make art that eliminates harm and suffering, and I think this is the point that Immortality is trying to make. We do not have to participate in the chain if it causes us suffering.

In The One’s death, she elevates herself to a new kind of existence, a reversal of The Great Story. Where once she died for our sins, here she dies for hers. She rises again and ascends, becoming more. She breaks the chain, paving the way for new possibilities.

Vous vivrez en moi, she says to a dying Marissa as she takes her form. You will live in me. And now, she will live in us.

ENDING THOUGHTS

My interpretation of the game is just that, an interpretation. You could read the game as The One continuing the chain in service of her own continuation. You could read it as her being a sinister entity. But I choose to interpret this game as The One choosing kindness. She could have continued her existence by feeding on others, but she chose not to. Only when this form of immortality presented itself that she rolled the dice.

There is one last scene I want to discuss. in one rewound scene, we see The One lipsyncing to Candy Says. This is the best distillation of her character. She hates herself and how her immortality works. She wants to understand humanity and its joys. She wants to see what life holds if only she can step outside herself and her own realities. She experiences the emotive power of art as she sings along to a song that completely resonates with her own life.

For all her menace, she is just someone who wants to understand and be understood. And to this end she made this game, presenting herself, her life, for others to watch and experience. In this act of nakedness and vulnerability, she is reborn and made immortal once more.

I very much enjoyed this game. It is definitely more of an art house, avant-garde kind of thing, but I’m hoping that more people would try it out!

[aroacewxs]

rui facts that are common knowledge atp but i just feel like repeating

hates vegetables because of their texture, and dislikes anything that has similar texture to certain vegetables. example: he hates watermelon because apparently to him the texture is just like a cucumber's? he's not very fond of many fruits either, albeit he dislikes them less than vegetables

only eats at places he's a regular at and becomes distressed when the menu changes. he picks off all vegetables from his food and sometimes emu helps him and eats anything he doesn't like

preferred rivers and lakes over pools as a kid. he would search for shiny rocks and the like in these rivers and lakes and show nene his discoveries

he owned many encyclopedias as a kid. one of them being one about poisonous plants. it had a bright red cover that scared nene LMAO but he read it over and over so now he can recognize which plants are poisonous or not

favourite animal is the platypus because he finds the fact that they are egg-laying mammals interesting

owns three monitors. has a tablet (owned this tablet since he was a kid) and a phone

horrible at packing! he's always thinking about worst case scenarios and possible hypotheticals that could occur during his travels, causing him to overpack and not use half of the things he brings. he mentions that this was the case when he went to america with wxs, and he struggled with the same problem when he was trying to pack for his kyoto trip in pandemonium

his favourite show he performed with wxs was the little mermaid. the show that made him feel the most nervous was a pianist named torpe, and the show that left the strongest impression on him was the one tsukasa performed with the others to convince him to join wxs again

dislikes cleaning because he finds it pointless when his room just becomes cluttered again sooner or later

worst sleep schedule known to man. has been scolded by wxs for coming to rehearsal with horrible eye bags

he people watches a lot. very observant of his environment and uses anything that catches his attention as inspiration for shows and other stories. this can be seen in island panic, where he makes up an entire possible conversation between three monkeys he was observing and in the area convo where he views students fighting to buy bread at the tuck shop as a metaphor for human nature and survival

his role model and inspiration is a director named tom gray! he watched interviews of him and read his books over and over

enjoyer of sci-fi

eats his taiyaki by first splitting it in half to avoid burning his mouth with the hot bean paste. interestingly enough, it is said in japan that the first bite you take in taiyaki determines your personality. rui breaks his taiyaki first before eating, making him a "person of action."

he deepened his interest for shows as a kid by imagining how he would adapt his favourite books into stage productions

there's a specific stool in his room that has remained since his childhood. also an orange box of toys(?) It seems

on the other hand, several aspects of his childhood room have changed: his lampshades are in the shapes of flowers now, his couch is patched up in blue, and he has multiple streamers and balloons. the balloons have little faces on them btw. he also installed a clock. the step ladder near his bookshelf is gone too from what i can see

ok that's all i can think of from the top of my head, hopefully none of these are incorrect,, i'll be very sad if something is wrong. if you know any fun rui facts that aren't listed above PLEASE enlighten me

[mimicmockingbirds]

OK, but hear me out

Say Ride the Cyclone were to be adapted into a film; imagine how much fun it would be to see it animated.

Because for the main plot, like the intro song and the mostly dialogue scenes in limbo, you could easily do a stylistic, but still grounded in realism style that a lot of modern animated projects are doing right now (think Arcane or Into the Spider Verse). But once each of the kids go into their respective songs/fantasies for what their life could have been? What if those were done in completely different styles?? Imagine the additional, visual storytelling that would tell about who they are as characters?

Like say, for Ocean's number, WTWN, everything became more simplified, and the characters (especially Ocean herself) turned into a more rounded, chibi-like style to enhance just how cutesy and likeable she's trying to portray herself throughout that number.

Or for Noel's Lament, everything goes black and white, and the characters become even more 2D stylized, and the film scales down to a smaller millimeter frame, more reminiscent of cartoons from the early 20's, when animation was just starting out, to enhance his idealization of "the olden days" (as Ocean puts it).

Mischa's song, This Song is Awesome could be animated with a more choppy frame rate, and the character designs turn a little more jagged around the edges, kind of like animated music videos (I'm thinking a Gorillaz band vibe). But as he transitions into singing about Talia, the colors start to bleed out over their lineart, and become more paint-like and Talia herself moves like a rotoscoped character (think Loving, Vincent that came out a few years ago) to enhance the sense that she's somewhere between a real person and a fantasy Mischa's built in his mind.

Ricky's song would, of course, be stylized after those sci-fi cartoons from the 90's, like X-Men or Captain Planet.

For the Ballad of Jane Doe, I would love to see something like what Wolfwalkers did back in 2020, where most of the characters (in this case, the other kids) are for the most part, animated like traditional, 2D characters with very clean lines and neat movements, whereas Jane herself stands out for having messier, sketchy line art, and looks more and more unfinished in her animation as the song goes on, because she can feel more and more of her own identity being lost.

Constance's Sugar Cloud I could see done in the classic 2D Disney style (i.e., the Renaissance era of Disney, like the Lion King or Little Mermaid days) because not only is it really smooth and colorful and just all around nice to look at, but it reminds the average moviegoer of their childhood growing up with those movies (among others, obviously), which ties in nicely with Constance's preceding monologue about remembering her own life, and the good that came with the bad.

I'm even tempted to envision the first half of the finale song in a different style, when the stage production would show a quick projection of Jane/Penny's life after she returned to the world of the living. Imagine watching this animated film, and for that segment alone, it becomes that really hyper-realistic, almost uncanny valley CGI animation style, to show that she really has joined the world of the living, i.e. our world, among us, the living breathing movie goers watching this, and watching the other kids still in limbo fade back to that main art style for the final number.

I don't know; it just feels like something that would be so engaging to see from an already compelling storyline and characters. Especially with more experimental animation projects on the rise right now

[tanith-rhea]

Only Pretending #7

Word count: 2.9k Author's note: Ok... this one has been a long time coming, I know, and I'm SORRY!!! Life's crazy and I'm unreliable. I hope you all enjoy it because I sure did a thousand changes on this one and maybe a plot point or two in the structure, so... my fingers are crossed so hard that there's no blood running through them. I want to thank @alder-saan for the support and feedback, I wouldn't bring that particular thing up too much until you helped me realize it is more important than I think and the reader doesn't have the same context I do. Kisses!

Larissa’s lips were cool, but her tongue was warm and wine-sweet, and soon enough all your senses were her. Her skin was hot when your hands went to her face and neck, slowly slipping to her shoulders underneath her robe. She hadn’t worn perfume yet, so her scent was slowly fading shower products and her. She was all-consuming. Your thoughts, senses and yearning were all hers.

She stood up with your face in her hands, never leaving your lips and dextrously sat on your lap. She towered over you, there was nothing else but her, and you knew there would never be something after her.

“Do you think we have time…” you started, out of breath and a little broken. She was planting long, reverent kisses on your cheeks, eyelids and forehead, stopping on the crease between your eyebrows and smoothing it away. You wanted all of her now, it was so much it didn’t even count as want; you needed her.

You felt the press of her smile and a warm puff of air as she chuckled.

“It depends on how fast you can shower and your thoughts on arriving fashionably late,” her voice was an amused rumble as she distanced herself a bit.

You would never make it in time. You knew it, but you also couldn’t let go of her. Her thighs underneath your hands were the definition of power, you felt dizzy thinking of them squeezing your face until your vision faded and all you could taste was her.

With a frustrated growl, you grabbed her ass and pulled her impossibly closer, resting your forehead on her chest. She had the audacity to chuckle at you and her fingers started a soothing pattern between your shoulder blades.

“What’s so funny?” you half grumbled.

You felt her laugh a bit more before saying, “Nothing. You’re just adorably impatient, I didn’t think you had It in you.”

“Didn’t last night prove I had?”

“You were far too considerate and kind, last night.”

You lifted your face to look her in the eye, unable to mask the tiniest of smirks.

“So, if I’d had my way with you, you’d have been surprised?”

“What makes you think it would be your way?” she cocked a brow and returned your smirk.

“I don’t know…” she gasped when your fingers sunk into her flesh, her expression quickly changing to show how affected she was, “But I seem to remember you being very pliant yesterday.” You kissed her lips chastely, feeling the electric sparks from Larissa’s pent-up desire around you.

Her fingers on your shoulders would likely leave prints. Good thing you’d be wearing a blazer over your top. You planted one last quick kiss on her lips before nudging her to let you up. She did so with an eye-roll to unsuccessfully hide her almost pout, and you had to bite your lip not to smile too much before leaving for the bathroom.

When you came back, Larissa was sitting at the vanity, doing her make-up. She was wearing a long-sleeved, silver mermaid dress that hugged her body just right before loosening lightly just below her thighs. She had a darker shade of her signature lipstick on, a burgundy red that almost mimicked the colour of your three-piece ensemble and wore silver jewellery and heels the colour of her nails and lipstick. She looked exquisite.

You knew she was watching you in the mirror while you let your robe fall to the ground, exposing your bare back and lace panties. You smiled to yourself at her audible stillness and started dressing. First your trousers, then the blouse, which you turned to give her a better view of you putting on, and deliberately buttoned up the slowest possible, eyes fixed on its buttons and your skin. When you looked up, her eyes were on the same track as yours had been, just as you finished covering your chest.

“Do I have something on me?” you pretended to search your top, looking for possible stains and the like.

“Do get over yourself, girl,” Larissa faked annoyance.

“Girl? I’ll have you know I’m almost thirty!”

“Don’t remind me,” the humour in her voice pulled you in, going over to her and sitting on the narrow bench.

“What? Not keen on getting old?” you didn’t mean to sound so soft.

“I am already,” her small smile had fondness but also something else in it, her searching eyes dissecting your every reaction.

“Would you like me to call you Miss Weems?” you breathed, hand tracing the bare skin of her clavicles, up to her neck.

You’d never heard her growl before. It was addicting from the very first time. She reached for your knee and waist and swiftly brought you to her lap.

“Do not ruin my make-up,” she warned, matter-of-factly, before deftly undoing your trouser buttons and pulling down its zipper.

“What are you doing? We have a party in fifteen minutes!” you could not care less about the damned party as her fingers unceremoniously slid inside your clothes and between your folds.

You gasped and gripped her shoulders with white-knuckled desperation. Her gaze bore holes deep into yours, watching every faint bat of your lashes and twitch of your eyebrows.

“I think we’ll be done by then,” she murmured in your ear and sucked at the lobe while two fingers dipped into you.

You didn’t realize before how wet you were from simply teasing her, but as she moved inside you with ease and brought her fingers to your clit, they were drenched.

She kissed and sucked the skin from your jaw to the base of your neck, lowering to your chest, exposed by the low cut of your top. You reached for her hair, dying to weave your fingers into her updo, but she gripped your wrist with a nimble movement and held it behind your back.

“I remember someone saying something about a party?” her mock pensive expression as she stroked at just the right speed was infuriating and intoxicating at the same time. You had imagined being at Larissa’s mercy many times, but if this small demonstration already had you undone, you might not survive her full attention for a night.

She kissed your sternum and quickened her fingers; you felt your thigh muscles spasm and lost control of your hips. She left your hand to hold you in place and took advantage when you arched your back in a breathless attempt to relieve tension to nuzzle her way underneath your loose blouse. You made a sound that was half a whimper and half a gasp as her lips closed around your nipple, warm and sure, and she hummed. She made soothing circles with her thumb on your hip and chuckled when your head found the vanity’s mirror and pushed it, inclining the entire thing and knocking several make-up supplies over.

You huffed, indignant that she found mirth in your suffering, so close to release but kept at bay by her bursts of speed interrupted by sudden gentler touches.

“Larissa, please,” you mewled, propped back into your elbow, every cell of your body howling for relief.

“Begging already? It’s been five minutes, dearest,” she released your nipple only to give it a peck before coming up to stare dangerously into your eyes.

“Please, this is torture…” your voice was little more than a whisper.

“I remember you having no qualms torturing me,” she growled, pinching your clit lightly. It was too much, and your eyes watered as you squealed in surprise. “Standing there with almost nothing, tracing fingers on what’s mine-“

“Am I?” you battled to get the words out with almost no air.

“I would think it’s a bit obvious,” she circled her fingers on your hood, the way she noticed that made you melt.

“Then take care of me…”

You could almost feel the thunderous flash in her eyes strike you as she lunged for your lips and kissed you hard. There were no more soothing thumbs or gentle touches. Her hand gripped your hip forcefully against the vanity and her fingers pressed hard and fast until you were choking on the little air you had and screaming Larissa’s name.

You couldn’t say for how long you came. The first thing you saw when you came back to your senses was Larissa licking her fingers and cleaning the lipstick around her lips. How she could look so put together while doing it would be unfair if it wasn’t her, but she was perfect, so, what else to expect?

“I’m afraid you ruined your knickers,” she noted in a sweet tone.

“Oh, fuck… I’m worse than a teenager…”

“Hardly, dear. I would help you clean up if we had time, but someone did exactly the opposite as I told them to and now, I have to start again,” she faked annoyance as she reached into the mess of things above the vanity and ignored your indignant huff, only smirking as you went to change your panties.

She’d be the death of you.

While putting on the garnet ring and earrings you brought to match your outfit, a thought occurred to you.

“What do you think we trade jewellery?”

“Hum?” she walked over, surveying you from head to toe and back up, swallowing once she got your face again.

“You have silver, I have red… we could colour coordinate our outfits by swapping.”

“You just want to wear my neckless, don’t you?” that might be part of the reason, yes. But it was a very beautiful diamond choker, thin and simple but also screaming ownership — honestly, that was the main reason behind it all, for everyone to know you wanted nothing more than be hers (or that you were, weren’t you?).

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

When both of you were ready — Larissa having done your make-up while teasing you for looking “like my sweet little pet” with her necklace — you joined the party.

You had no idea when all those people arrived, but the foyer was packed. Some of the guests you were introduced to earlier were around. Mr Itt and his wife, Gomez’s brother, Fester, who seemed to be talking with a very intriguing woman of appearance quite similar to his, and grandmama’s sister, Miss Sloom. But mostly strangers, strange ones at that. It was incredible.

You spotted mummies, gorgons, sirens, and all manner of outcasts. Some of whom you had no idea what they identified as.

“Wow, so they weren’t lying!” a strange drawling voice sounded from the side and a broad-shouldered, smiling man made his way through some people to get to you and Larissa. “When Phillie told me you were taken tonight I almost choked on my champagne.”

You guessed this man went to school with Larissa, and his convinced demeanour and attempt at an LA accent made you gag. Why were all her former colleagues pricks? Gomez was the only exception to the rule until now. If everybody else was like this, you couldn’t blame Larissa for liking the only decent person in the bunch.

“Samuel, how nice seeing you here,” you had to disguise your snort with a cough, “This is y/n, the woman I believe Ophelia referred to.”

“Ophelia?”

“Morticia’s sister, and also an old friend,” she explained easily.

“Pleasure to meet a real person,” he extended his hand for you to shake and looked ever cockier, somehow.

“For fuck’s sake, what is your problem?!”

Larissa and Samuel seemed surprised by your little outburst.

“Why do you have to be such a dick? I’ve never met you before and I can’t stand you already. Have you nothing better to do with your night? Is your sense of humour so underdeveloped that you have to resort to cheap commentary to amuse yourself? Are you what, twelve?” you took Larissa’s hand and started walking through the crowd, “Leave us alone, and don’t you dare open your mouth to talk about Larissa because I will find you and I will make you pee in fear like the toddler you act like.”

At your raised voice, some of the guests turned to look at what was happening, but you were already leaving towards the buffet table. You walked past Lurch carrying champagne glasses on the way and thanked whoever was listening for the alcohol.

“What was all that?” relief washed through your body as you heard Larissa’s amused question. She wasn’t displeased, perfect.

“I’m so sick of people from your school days acting like pig-headed kids. What was going on in the 80s that everyone seems to be a bigoted imbecile?”

Larissa only laughed, and close to her, you heard someone you couldn’t see snort.

“Not all of them were bad, you just weren’t so lucky to meet many good ones,” Larissa explained, “However, Samuel was always a bit extra. Wanted to be an actor when we were students, I believe.”

“Do you think he is?”

“With that accent? A very bad one, maybe,” a very distinct monotone joined your conversation. Wednesday, Enid and grandmama stepped closer. Enid and the Addams matriarch filling their plates with food and having a heated discussion about… animal abuse?

“You were listening?” you asked, you could swear she wasn’t around for the commotion.

“I listen to him every year, and every other one as well. I’m sorry, but principal Weems is being unnecessarily dismissive as per usual; they’re intolerable.”

“But everyone is to you, isn’t that right?” Larissa’s tone betrayed her meaning, and she looked very pleased with herself when looking at Enid just a few feet away.

Wednesday rolled her eyes but didn’t look Larissa in the face, instead chancing a… fond? Glance at the pair with her. It occurred to you that this was the first event outside the school where they were officially together.

“I guess I understand why you wanted us to come then,” you really did, you weren’t far from brooding in a corner as well if people would be so unsavoury the whole night.

“You two are exhausting,” Larissa shook her head, unable to mask her amusement, and joined grandmama and Enid.

You watched the people around for a beat, old acquaintances reuniting and close friends giggling, but both you and Wednesday weren’t the type to beat around the bush.

“How’s Enid doing?”

“Thank-you-for-what-you-did.”

You smiled — she did something close — and gestured for her to speak first.

“Thank you for talking with her. She told me,” Wednesday sounded surer this time, her posture seemed straighter, and her eyes were trained at the crowd, “I thought she wouldn’t come when I left. She was smiling too much and acting more excited than normal.”

“And is she ok?” you searched for her eyes, she wasn’t one not to rise to a challenge and looked at you pointedly, “I was afraid her parents would come somehow, your mother invited a lot of people.”

“I asked her not to,” she confessed, looking at Enid, whom you saw was making Larissa chuckle and grandmama cackle, “She’s the bane of my existence, but she seems to love me oddly enough.”

“Mothers and daughters,” you shrugged. It was good to be reminded that Morticia was just a person sometimes, “It’ll get better in a few years.”

“Hello, there!!” Enid chirped when she joined you both and went to hug you again. That was the standard Enid greeting, you came to understand after only a small number of weeks working at Nevermore. And it was a blessing to the world, her hugs somehow had the quality of a bear’s without being deadly — most of the time.

“Hi, dear, how are you?”

“Oh, you know, basking in the glory of being right,” she smirks tightly to contain her previous smile, tossing her hair with a quirked brow, “I just convinced Dorie to walk to alligator to the swamp twice a week. She told me he’s been in the cellar for decades, the poor thing!”

“Dorie?” you didn’t know anyone else lived in the mansion.

“Me, silly, Eudora Addams,” grandmama joined the circle, “This ridiculous girl says it wants to go outside and pestered me enough that I just figured why not. Anything to shut her up,” she shrugged, faking annoyance and with a last look towards Wednesday, the woman left.

“She likes you,” Wednesday, in turn, seemed mystified.

While you were talking, Larissa had apparently wandered off. Surely, she would have told you if she was going somewhere, so being stolen by an old associate was the most logical reason you could think of.

Excusing yourself of the girls, you started searching the party for tall and stunning, but she wasn’t there. It was easy spotting her in a crowd since few matched her stature and Lurch was the only one whose shoulders you could see above the bodies.

You decided to look in the rooms around, going from the dining room to the drawing and then the study. Nearing the door to the last, you heard a muffled conversation, and a particularly irate voice caught your attention. Larissa’s temper was unmistakable.

“You have to be kidding me! You are the entire reason why we didn’t work out!” you heard her spat. Apparently, she was having a discussion with a previous… lover?

The second voice was too low for you to understand what it said, but the hairs at the nape of your neck told the tale quite accurately. You knew exactly who was behind that door and wouldn’t keep standing there hearing them talk like a nosy aunt thirsting for gossip.

However, when you opened the door you didn’t expect to see the woman who had you reduced to a breathless mess kissing another person.

Tags are as follows: @anti-bright-places, @pro-weems-places, @the-bagel24, @regalbootie, @tundra1029, @thoroughly-confused-kiwi-blog, @lilsmeaux, @poorwritingandstalecoffee, @alder-saan, @jelly-frogss, @enchantressb, @imean-its-just-me, @lvinhs, @iloveyall-18, @kimiinou, @jeweleegrey (still not tagging, WHY???), @a-queen-and-her-throne, and last but not least, @one-pining-queer!

Chapter Eight