#hes still playing in blood and guts but this time it's actually theater

[wraithsoutlaws]

i love how dagger spends most of his life being a horror story to nomads and absolutely relishing in it to one day becoming an actual leader in his own right and even helping people even though he doesn't have to like he farms cows and pigs and sells the meat and skins to nomad clans at discounted prices, and he anonymously donates huge amounts of money to the nomad nation he first felt where he belonged, and gives struggling nomads a place to stay/eat if they need it and he employs raffen or other outcasted nomads at his circus as long as they agree not to start shit anywhere in the area

[flippinpancakes64]

the cullens with reader who is a VERY popular movie star, but only plays in horror movies as the killer (and she makes them watch her movies)?

The Cullens with a Horror Movie Actor

Thank you for requesting!

In your request you mentioned “she” but I hope you don’t mind that I changed it to be more gender neutral

Anyways I hope you enjoy!

Edward:

He thinks it's pretty sick tbh

I feel like he might have wanted to be an actor at one point

So seeing you living out your dreams is huge for him

You wouldn't need to force him to sit down to watch your movies

However I feel like he'd get a little in his own head about you being a killer

If you're still human he'd probably start that line of thinking where if he turned you you'd become a real-life killer, how your characters are just fake people but that's like the real him, blah blah

Just cut him off with a big 'ol smooch

Alice:

Again, very supportive

She'd make a whole day of it every time one of your movies releases

Of course, you would need to bring her as your plus one to the premier

She might give you pointers tho tbh

Even though they're not really for you

"Blood doesn't actually spurt like that, it's more of a stream"

As if you control the sfx

Either way she loves it

Thinks you are the most talented actor/actress ever

She would buy posters of your movies and frame them

Jasper:

He gets a little freaked out tbh

First of all, don't go to the theater with him

All of the people getting scared at the same time in such a concentrated group absolutely fires his brain

The sight of human blood (fake or real, on the screen or not) triggers him juuust a little

He also gets a little put off if your character seems to really enjoy the horror they cause

It reminds him of the way newborns love to hunt and kill

He's gonna need some one-on-one time with the real you after watching the movie

Just to remind him how you really are

Don't worry, it's not that he doesn't like what you do or that he doesn't like the movies

It's just the fact that it unsettles him a little thinking about what you could be if he ever turned you

He will watch them though

Rosalie:

She thinks it's badass

Hands down she loves it

I mean she went around killing and torturing her abuser in a wedding dress

That is so horror movie material

And even though that isn't her anymore, I feel like she'd love a good horror movie

And with you as the star? It's her new favorite

Instantly the whole movie is switched around for her

Who cares if you're "supposed" to be the bad guy

Those hitchhikers MUST have done something bad to deserve this

She will gladly sit down and watch them with you

She might even turn them on herself a couple of times

#1 Fan

Emmett:

Don't invite him to the movie premier

He'll show up in a shirt that says "I love my partner even though they're a psycho murderer" of smthn

In all honesty though he loves it

He loves seeing the people around him be strong and brave

He LOVED it when Bella was able to crush the rock and jump super high and hit Jacob

So I feel like he'd get a kick out of you in a mask with a chainsaw

Esme:

I feel like she's not too into horror movies

Absolutely shocking take I know

She just gets enough blood and guts and suspense in her daily life yk

But she will watch it for you

She won't say anything but she also gets a bit unnerved by you being the villain

I feel like she sort of has that underlying feeling of being a monster

So seeing the stuff that she has to do to survive dramatized on screen and played out by none other than her partner

It strikes a chord deep in her heart

She will also need some one-on-one time with you afterward to remind herself that that is not you on the screen

Carlisle:

I actually think he'd be quite the horror lover

I feel like he has a fascination with the way sfx and prosthetics are made for movies

Unironically I think one of his favorite film franchises is Saw

So he would be more than happy to sit down and watch your movie

He has absolutely no issue with you being the villain

The only thing he cares about is talking specifics

He's like Alice but worse

He points out every set error

He's like those old YouTube videos of people pointing out every error made in *insert movie here*

"Look there's one of the boom mics"

"That blood is a bit too pink, and runny"

Vampire! Bella:

Again, she thinks it's badass

She's only recently gotten a handle on being an agile killer

So in her mind she's still that clumsy girl sometimes

Seeing her partner on the screen being a badass killer makes her so proud

Unfortunately another one you shouldn't take to the premier

She is wearing one of those god awful dresses with one bad image of your face printed all over it from redbubble or smthn

And no she won't take it off or change

She already had to sneak out of the house without Alice seeing it

[lydiablackblade]

Such an amazing 3 days are behind me. I still can't believe it happened to me. Because I finally saw Macbeth at the Donmar not once but twice! Because I spotted David sneaking into the theater once. Because Cush Jumbo walked by 10 cm next to me. Because I took pictures with two members of the company. Because I got to know fantastic and kind people while queuing and hopefully got a friend in the end.

The play was such an intense experience, I am still shivering when I think of it. The intimacy, being so near to the stage, to really see every tiny expression on the actor' s face, the magical sound technique, the imaginary use of dark and light, the use of only the very few of colours, everything was black, white or grey, so when you saw the shiny, shimmering red of blood, BLOOD, blood was everywhere, on the hands, on the clothes, on the floor, it was so shocking, so intense, you couldn't get your eyes off of it, and the music, oh my good, the Music, I want that OST right now, and when Macbeth whispered into the ears of Lady Macbeth "Oh, full of scorpions is my mind" you really, you absolutely was able to look into that sick, cracked mind tortured by inner demons, David is really the man of delivering one-lines that makes you feel utterly devastated.

So I miraculously secured a ticket online for the Thursday matinee a week before. But because there's no flight back to home on Friday, I decided to extend until Sunday morning.

This is where I sat for the first time

I met a girl, who sat next to me, she was so excited and enthusiastic, after the play we chatted for a while about the play, David, Good Omens... Turned out we are in the same subred 😃 Actually it was a good thing I was already familiar with the play, because I could explain some things which she couldn't catch up with the plot, and as many of the actors played multiple roles, it was a bit confusing even for me.

On Friday I spent my time in museums and walks, and headed to Donmar to meet my new acquaintance in the queue before I was attending another play (Mirror with Jonny Lee Miller, very good!) because she really felt the vibe, and spent the day queuing, and while we were chatting we spotted David for 3 seconds before he entered the theater! We don't know how he manifested before the door, really. Magic. Also he wore a big coat, scarf, and baseball hat. We just had time to say "it's him" then he's gone. My acquaintance eventually got in for the second time because she managed to get a daily standing ticket - and still spent the day in queue. So crazy!

On Saturday morning I visited more filming locations then headed to Donmar. The queue was manageable, not too many people before me, and I had a really good gut feeling about it, so I stayed. When no one from the queue was let in to the last matinee, I was a bit worried, but actually I didn't have any other plans, so I stayed.

While we were waiting for the matinee, the actors started to arrive and I recognized two of them. So when they came out from the coffee I asked them if I could take pictures and they said yes! They seemed to be glad, actually.

Jatinder Singh Randhawa and Noof Ousellam

As the time of the last performance came closer and closer and they didn't let in people, I started to give up. After a while slowly they let in 3-4 people, but the time was about to come up. What gave us hope is that one of the staff members started to walk by the queue, counting and asking people if they are alone or with a group. And just before 5 minutes to the play, they let 8-10 people in! It was unbelievable, never ever happened before! It was about 15 people who finally got in from the queue! I witnessed it happen to 5 people before, and according to the queue rumor it was 7 at max earlier. Now 15! And I got a much better seat than on Thursday, I sat next to the passage, the company members were so close to me! Cush Jumbo was so close to me I felt her fragrance!

And the final curtain call was so exciting, the audience went wild, the cast members were so freed and glad!

With the guy who stood behind me in the queue and we were seated together, we found out we are both Good Omens fans, so we ended up in a restaurant in Chinatown shouting for 2 hours about Good Omens, theater, Shakespeare and books and still in touch 😁

I didn't take pictures during the curtain call, but:

This video was taken almost from where I sat.

This video was taken opposite to me, I am on the recording 😉 Thanks to @his-porous-membrane

[kairiaka]

My Thoughts (Warning: Spoilers)

1. ... Here's a fun little liptus test for people:

Anyone who cheered when Maria died-- cut 'em out. Cut 'em out, you don't need them.

Same goes for anyone rooting for the death of Tom.

Speaking of Tom...

2. I knew there was a chance he was going to die when Shadow was introduced in 2 -- I just didn't know how Shadow was going to do it. But when Tom and Sonic are in the old cave at the beginning of the film, my gut started twisting with anxiety.

Thanks goodness he's fine (though it seems that Shadow might of broken his ribs).

That being said, I'm glad it went down the way it did. Shadow seemed genuinely concerned for a moment before doubling down. But because it Walters ...

Speaking of Mr. Olive Garden:

3. He lied.

Walters lied. About everything.

I was already giving him the side-eye after what he did in 2, but this really...

The first two films really get re-contextualized with this new information. (I really don't think he actually invited Sonic to brunch...) What were they planning to do to Sonic (and Tails) after getting them back to headquarters?

He lied. He lied about G.U.N., he lied about Shadow, and he lied about G.U.N.'s involvement in The Incident. It literally took the brothers (w/ Stone and Eggman) going to the base to get a hint what actually went down.

And that wasn't some senile old man forgetting details-- he purposefully painted Shadow as this monster so the boys would fight/"take care of the problem".

Also-- wouldn't surprise me if he's still alive. Probably lied about that too (and making a poor kid-- who he'd captured at his aunt's wedding -- grieve for no reason).

..Still, he did make me laugh. He will be missed.

4. Related to Walter's death(?)-- if the man truly is dead, his colleagues are heartless bastards. They didn't stop to mourn, check for a pulse-- nothing. Just frisked him for the key and made assumptions.

G.U.N. is cold-blooded.

5. Stone is the best (and deserves better than Ivo)

His entrance? Absolutely badass.

Still in loyal/in love with the Doctor? Yes, though he's not as unhinged as in 2. Perhaps he realized he had an unhealthy obsession and took a few steps back, maybe he's going to therapy---

Well, if he wasn't, he probably is now.

(The Livestream though..)

Stone needs a hug.

Also, I think Stone might actually be able to just roam freely now. He's not technically a criminal (one could argue that he was just following the Doctor's orders), and how can you charge a man for harboring a person who doesn't exist?

Does he go back to the Mean Bean? Is he hellbent on making a certain blue hedgehog pay for taking away his family? Is he patiently waiting for Ivo's return, since that man does have a funny way of not dying in incidents that would otherwise be considered fatal?

I don't know.

5. The Base Scene

That was some peak funny-terror. People were yelping, then laughing in the theater.

Good stuff.

7. The Robotnik Siblings

Perfection. No notes. 10/10, Peak Cinema.

... I was a wreck, but loved every second of it.

If we got a spin-off of just them being rascals at the base, I would go feral.

8. Gerald Robotnik

When I was a little kid, I remember watching friends play SA2 (I'm terrible at Sonic games) and Shadow the Hedgehog and wondering what Gerald would have been like if he hadn't been taken out by G.U.N.

... I think this is it.

I know some people who were actually upset at his portrayal, but I think it's accurate.

The man's been festering with grief for the last 50 years. If Shadow isn't okay-- and he was on ice the entire time-- why would you think Gerald would be alright? Plus, he has that quill that's frying his brains -- it's natural, after shocking yourself that many times-- you're a little crazy.

Also, I think he sincerely cared about Shadow at one point. But ...

9.

"Let's face it... You're no Maria."

This was the only time I've felt bad for Ivo Robotnik in this series. That man's heart shattered. And the way he looked at his hands as Gerald continued his rant about no one caring about him... ouch.

10. ...Knuckles is a better warrior than I.

Knuckles is powerful -- he was boasting about it the whole 1st half of the film. But when he stood down... *exhales*

That's strength.

And the thing is: I know he understood what Sonic was going through. He was literally in that position a few months ago. He also knew that he could put the hedgehog in the ground in a heartbeat.

...But he didn't. He let Sonic take the Master Emerald (because-- let's be real: that emerald was unguarded), because he trusted Sonic to make the right choice.

11. Shadow's Taunt

I have to admit: the punch was satisfying and well-deserved. The entire time, Shadow had been aggressive, but he never mocked anyone-- especially someone who he, as far as he knew, had murdered. It was a new low.

But, guys...I think Shadow wanted Sonic to end him. Maybe he thought of it as some sort of divine retribution or something (or maybe he wanted to see Maria again), but the way he pointed to his chest and kept goading Sonic to finish him off...

I don't know, it just broke my heart. Shadow is hurting, and traumatized, and the only person he had left in his family was telling him the world needed to burn. He was tired and wanted it to stop.

(The conversation on the moon made me choke up too. Quality writing right there.)

12. Handling the Trauma

I'm glad it wasn't a contest between the characters. All the kids are traumatized.

I was also worried, going in, that our heroes were going to say "This isn't what Maria -" to Shadow. It wouldn't have been their place to say that, and the Movie Team knows that.

The only person who poses that question is Shadow, and it's to the only other person who knew and loved Maria the best -- Gerald. (Granted, Gerald's hellbent on destroying the world, but still!)

Also, Shadow is written so well here. I knew he wasn't going to be an edgelord (given the history of Sonic Movie Team), but this is the most well-rounded version of Shadow I've seen in canonical media in a while (aside from Generations -- it really was the Year of Shadow last year)

13. The Livestream

I really thought we were going to get a "I've come to make an announcement" reference.

Also, I really want Ivo to be alive-- just so he can apologize to Stone in person.

14. The Wachowski Brothers

I just love this entire sequence. I love these brothers, and I love this family. May they prosper forever.

And

15. Sonic CD Tease

We got two characters for the price of one (also: Shadow is fine -- too many people didn't watch til the end and think he's dead).

Their designs are flawless, and the way the theater screamed at the appearance of Metal-- and even louder for Amy-- I think 4's gonna be fun.

Amy's intro is perfect and I trust the Movie Team to do her justice. Also, it seems like they've added back some of Amy's quills (on her head now-- 7 tufts, like Sonic and Shadow), but she looks like a hedgehog. Her nose is larger and elongated too (at least compared to her in the games). Her Piko-Piko Hammer (and her bracelets) seem tarnished, and her gloves might be slightly torn in spots -- she's been fighting these things for a while now, hasn't she?

But the big question: Who built the Metal Sonics?

I don't it was Stone. I'd like to think that he's not going to seek revenge (mainly because it's not Sonic's fault Ivo's dead).

It might be a rogue G.U.N. agent (there are quite a few of those running about). They've probably collected the quills (and probably the rings lost in Siberia) and made the robots.

Maybe it was Rockwell? ... Nah, she'd never trust a Robotnik design, and she hates the aliens.

On the off-chance, it's Robotnik -- why? Were they an experiment that's gone rogue, or is the doctor still alive and wanting world domination?

I guess we have to wait for 2027.

Sonic 3 is now available for everyone to go see!

Which means I can talk about it freely...

And I have some thoughts.

[augment-techs]

this is for the headcanon thingy, idk how to use tumblr sorry. but zack headcanons ☺ಠ♒ I beg

Happy Headcanon: He begged for Jason to try making out with him after they both saw ‘Dude, Where’s My Car?’ at that cute little theater downtown that showcased old movies instead of new ones every week. Back before they’d met Kim, or Trini, or even Billy. Back when their shared friend group included Matt and the other boy finally got fed up with Zack’s begging and just straight up dared Jason to do it. As first kisses go, Zack thought it was pretty nice. Sad Headcanon: In the World of the Coinless, he almost lost all the fingers on his left hand drawing a Mastodon sentry’s gun away from what would have been a fatal headshot to Bulk when the man was getting Trini out from under rubble after an explosion. He didn’t know, because he spent most of the time in the aftermath of that sedated at their most protected base, but Trini spent most of the two weeks he was immobile by his bedside. She cried and played her best version of pan flute music; she re-wrapped his fingers and had to be pulled off of a doctor by Bulk when it was decided that the middle finger had to go, lest it infect his entire hand. Zack woke up about three days after the amputation that should have woken him up, but didn’t, because Bulk snuck into a sentry outpost and got the good drugs for pain and nausea and to protect against infection. All it took was performing oral sex on a guard, “And you’re not allowed to feel sorry for me when you would have done the same. Just get better and forget about it.” Food/Cooking Headcanon: Zack is actually a very good baker. With pies and butterfly cakes and wedding cakes and those old fashioned donuts, he is very careful and wonderful and it's a big part of his love language to give over his little creations to his friends and lovers. His favorite foods to fill him up always involves eggs: fried with bacon, covered in chili pepper, buttered and turned into a kind of shake, risen with a dash of pepper and blood over it. He will eat himself full and heavy and be happy about it. He will never live down once cooking an eight pound Thanksgiving turkey with the old fashioned bag full of guts still inside next to the stuffing his mom taught him to make out of apples and apricots.

[llycaons]

I saw les mis live today (special treat). I’ve seen the show in high school and read the book a few times, but not recently

it’s such a gut punch to think that the social issues the books addresses are still a massive problem. idk about france but at least here in the us

I haven’t been listening to any music recently so when they started singing I was like “oh shit! this is great! cool how they do that!’

I didn’t cry, but at the beginning and at the end I got very close. ‘look down’ is such a fucking visceral song series

I forgot they have a live orchestra so halfway through I noticed the conductor and went ohhhh yeah there’s people down there playing instruments. sweet

my first les mis experience was the 2012(?) movie, which may have been bad musically speaking (didn’t love the valjean) but I have a lot of fondness for javert’s nasally voice and samantha barks’s eponine

I always had a crush on eponine when I was younger because barks was that beautiful, and in the books the ways she was described really appealed to me because I was 15 and didn’t think about how tragic her life was and sad it was that she’s been hardened by her experiences at such a young age. but I also think I connected with her loneliness a lot...leave marius and I’ll treat you right etc.

the theater songs are slightly differently delivered than in the movie, which I found sounded unnatural. they really have to sing fast, wow

live theater is really cool!! I haven’t been able to see any in years, and the lighting, effects, design, etc. are all so different from film and tv, they have so many more limitations but also unique opportunities that tv doesn’t. and I really loved to see how they put together each set right there on stage and how nothing looked *realistic* but the performance has its own character because of it

les mis has some of my favorite theater songs of all time, but also some of the most boring :/ ‘bring him home’ and ‘drink with me’ barely have real melodies. also im sorry but all the lyrics to ‘I dreamed a dream” are very juvenile. I get that fantine is young but those lyrics just sound ridiculous

but I really loved master of the house and lovely ladies, those are SUCH fun songs. I think the thernardiers were some of the first villains I saw onscreen who were just really fun with it

so fucked up that they killed gavroche. SO fucked up. I think his death scenes, in both the movie and the theater, were just gutting. I get why they did it! it was a good choice! but wow

I like how the movie had javert give gavroche that medal in recognition of his courage, but why did they actually have rain during ‘a little fall of rain’? the point was that eponine was so soaked in her own blood she just thought it was raining

the movie is the most pared-down version of the story that can still be comprehensible. it’s impressive how condensed they made events. the theater had several scenes I remember from the book that couldn’t fit into the movie

watching made me want to read the book again, it had so much detail that i really enjoyed when I had energy to get through it

god, anyone remember the les mis fandom ca. 2012? naturally people would flock to the shippable college students with one-sentence personalities and repeat the catchy songs and make memes rather than actually consider the social messages in the book or talk about the actual main character

speaking of messages, this is the only story where I watch it and feel I kind of get people being into catholicism to which

even so something that drove me crazy about valjean was in the books he would just not enjoy himself or let himself be happy. catholics will love to suffer. catholics will present suffering as a noble thing to do in life so you get rewarded in heaven. drove me up a wall. in the book he literally had no reason not to be with cosette he just felt unworthy of her or something and would just stop visiting her even though they missed each other so bad

oh wait it’s because he told marius about him being a convict but not about anything else in his life and it made marius cut him off because he thought he was evil or smt even though valjean later revealed that his wealth was from an honest idea he had and they reconcile just before he dies. so what was the fucking point, anyway? be as miserable and noble as you can die and then get to heaven because you were Good (tm) ugh

also, why didn’t valjean just tell marius who he was? he knew cosette loved marius back, what need was there for him to do this elaborate sewer crawl after marius was injured? what if marius had been shot dead, huh? like I know the character reasons for his determination to do everything in the most secret way possible but it would have made things so much easier

don’t love how women and sex workers are treated about by any of the versions or how cosette is treated by valjean or marius like she can’t handle the truth but for 1860s, not as bad as it could have been?

but the themes of just...kindness and second chances and forgiveness and sympathy for the most oppressed and mistreated members of society and doing right by others and loving them is so fucking good anyway

[macbetha]

below the cut, you'll find an interest check chapter for quatervois, a nancy drew pc fic. it's francy and also my idea of my absolute dream game. please let me know what you think and enjoy!

+++

After Ned breaks up with her and she loses her father, Nancy struggles to find her old vigor for detective work. While on vacation in London with Bess and George, Nancy accepts the urgent invitation to return Blackmoor Manor. Her English getaway quickly turns into an investigation once Nancy realizes the true reason Nigel Mookergee asked her back to the moors. Finding Deirdre Shannon at the manor under the same pretense only sets Nancy’s nerves further on edge. It isn’t until the Hardy Boys show up in Blackmoor that Nancy gets a glimpse of who she once was. With a manor full of suspects and a glass heart cracked open, Nancy is determined to find the truth.

Dear Ned,

How are you? It’s been a while. I’ve always started off my letters telling you about my latest case, but I’m not on one right now. I’m sure that’s hard to believe. Bess and George have whisked me away to London. I’m sure you would love it here. This is the first time I’ve seen Bess and George since I sold the house in River Heights. I stayed with Kyler and Matt in Ireland for a while. I needed a change of scenery. Their daughter just turned two. I’m somewhat jealous I’m happy for them. Anyways, I miss you I hope you’re doing well. I’m sure New York is lovely at Christmas time. I hope Stephanie is I wish Stephanie well How is Stephanie? I hope Stephanie is doing all right. I appreciated the card Stephanie sent when dad passed away. Warm regards, Merry Christmas, Love Nancy

She stares down at the letter as if the red ink were her own blood. It feels just as wounding, seeing her emotions made physical in the words on the paper. Only when a tear splatters on the page does she break free from her trance to the past. Nancy is the only person in her hotel suite, yet she works to rid the evidence like one of her own suspects. She pulls her feet up in the desk chair and crosses her ankles, holding the arch of her right foot – it recently became the victim of her latest culprit. Nancy’s foot got caught under the getaway car’s tire, and she is lucky to even be able to walk after the event. Months later, it’s stiff as hell with the most intense cramps she’s ever endured. Heart racing to forget the night it happened, she focuses on the snowfall out the window – counting little sparkles of snowflakes, though the world blurs when she squints. The doctor thought her failing sight as well as the daily headaches were on account of being hit in the head so many times.

She busies herself with choosing a postcard to send Hannah and Nancy selects one with a cat dressed up as a royal guard. The cuteness puts a smile on her face, however small – she hopes it’ll do the same for Hannah, but there is no telling. Nancy had the gut-feeling Hannah was lying about recognizing her the last time Nancy visited the nursing home. Torment swirls like wind to fallen leaves. She doesn’t have Hannah or Togo to come home to. Togo passed just before Nancy’s thirty-second birthday, and Carson fell ill soon after that. Nancy looks to her hotel bed where Mr. Woogle Woggle sits tucked between two pillows. It seems he is the only one that hasn’t left her. A knock on her hotel door reminds her that is simply not true. Nancy rights herself, fixing her posture to the stance of someone passionate, and she opens the door. Bess and George greet her with blazing smiles; Nancy gives silent thanks for their presence in her life. She would still be in Scotland with Kyler and Matt, had Bess and George not insisted to take her on a vacation. Nancy imagines that their insistence was due to them wanting to keep Nancy from spending Christmas alone on the road again like last year. “Nancy,” Bess stresses. “You’re never going to guess who we ran into in the lobby!” Horror strikes dull and loud in her ears. Surely, it’s not Ned. Please, don’t let it be Ned. George says, “Give you a hint: they were involved in one of your cases.” Nancy’s despair leaves her throat tight. She glances down the hallway, preparing to yank Bess and George into her room and dial her Cathedral contact to get them set up in witness protection.

“That didn’t narrow it down at all, George,” Bess says with a roll of her eyes. “Nancy’s been on hundreds of cases.” Nancy’s strain creeps into her one word: “Who?” Bess and George beam. “Maya Nguyn!” ++

Nancy follows Bess and George to the elevator in a hurried stupor. No thoughts can she conjure as she steps free from the elevator walls which seem to close in on her; Nancy marches into the lobby and notices a woman in the crowd of tourists. She stands with her back to Nancy, her hair drawn up in a bun, and her chin is lifted high with no time for games. Maya turns around and her bright red mouth stretches into a smile. “Nancy!” “Maya,” Nancy huffs in disbelief. She tenses in Maya’s sudden embrace before all but falling into it. This is something good I did; Nancy cherishes with shut eyes. This is someone I helped. When Maya pulls back, Nancy says, “What are you doing all the way out here? You said in your last letter, you were still in Washington.” “My house is technically there,” Maya nods. “But I get to work on the road more these days.” Her brows crease over a sympathetic smile. “Bess and George tell me you’re kind of in the same boat.” Nancy shrugs, struggling to hold Maya’s concerned gaze. “It’s just easier,” Nancy lies. Maya seems to see right through it, but she doesn’t speak on it. Nancy will have to thank her later. George says, “Maya offered us free tickets to a play she’s reviewing tonight and get this – it’s at the Globe Theater!” “Remind me what’s so special about a globe theater,” Bess sighs, checking her nails. “Not ‘a’, Bess, the.” George shakes her head. “The Globe Theater – well, technically it’s a reconstruction of the first one, but it’s where Shakespeare wrote his plays.” “It’s the opening night of a new play,” Maya explains. “And Nancy, you’ll never guess who the star is.” Nancy cannot take anymore guessing games. “Brady Armstrong.” Maya blinks. “Well – yes, actually.” Nancy frowns. “Wait, really?” “Yes,” Maya laughs. “I’ll be conducting an interview with him after the show if you want to go backstage and chew him out for all the stunts he pulled back in the day.” A spark of vigor heightens Nancy’s senses. That doesn’t sound bad at all. Still – “Are you sure we won’t be a distraction or –” “Nancy.” Maya’s hand falls on her shoulder. “You saved my life. You’re the furthest thing from a distraction.” Gratitude floods her before Nancy nods. “All right, then.” +++ The walk to the Globe would be depressive what with the sky being the color of a soaked napkin, but the Christmas decorations lift everyone’s spirits. Nancy limps by a shop playing Christmas oldies through the open door and she is borne back to her father listening to records over cocoa on Christmas morning. She tries to push the memory from her mind, then she thinks of building snowmen with Ned and having snowball fights that turned into the sweetest kisses she’s ever received. The music won’t stop. There are three Christmas trees in the display window and their flashing lights strike pain behind Nancy’s eyes. She pants through a sensory overload before someone squeezes her hand. Maya smiles in understanding as Bess and George walk obliviously in front of them. “It’s hard,” Maya says. “This life on the road. You pick up a few habits.” Nancy squeezes her hand in thanks before tucking her own in her peacoat’s pocket. “I want to enjoy this,” she admits quietly. “But I think the holidays are always hard.” Maya nods. “It won’t be this way forever, Nancy,” she promises. “I’ve got my fingers crossed for you.” Cross your fingers, there’s a story behind this door! Nancy swallows around the lump of panic in her throat. She plasters on a smile. +++ The theater is packed with noise and touching and all-around boisterous patrons. They find their seats in the crowd and Nancy doesn’t watch where she’s going – she must keep her eyes on the open ceiling to remember how to breathe. She sits down at the end of the group and Maya passes out programs. Quatervois, the title reads. Bess says, “What does that mean?” “It means you’re at a crossroads,” Maya says. “A turning point.” “Sounds a little dramatic,” George grumbles. Nancy traces the swooping lines of the title with

her thumb, repeating the process until the lights go down. The masked chorus emerges from the shadows and gives a synopsis: Down from Olympus a great hero emerges, Mighty in his strength and courage! A choice he must make Shall he ignore fate? Will he choose love, Or follow his destiny there-of? When Brady saunters on stage in an impossibly short silk chiton, it’s an out-of-body experience for Nancy. He still hasn’t grown his ponytail back, so Simone could very well be in the audience right now. Nancy rubs her aching temple at the thought. Brady begins his journey as the character Diogenes, a demigod that was supposedly – according to the play’s plot – written out of ancient Greek mythos. Diogenes must defeat those who want to leave him forgotten in history, lest he admit that he can’t win this fight and live his life like everyone else. Nancy assumes the play’s ending too soon. She imagines this will be a droll experience written only to paint Brady as a glorious hero that can conquer anything – but she is quickly surprised. Brady is stabbed in the final act and addresses the audience in a wail: And so my story ends a breath too early, No time to even be weary! The moon shall pass over my corpse, And the sun will beat down on my ashes with no remorse. Today, I have failed my quartervois Alone, forgotten, and lost. When the curtain falls, Nancy’s mouth is parted in disbelief as a tear burns down her cheek. They don’t receive a proper goodbye with Maya since the rest of the crowd is bustling toward the exit. She does have time to say that Brady is producing a new television series and will be scouting some locations further into Essex; Maya will be following the film crew there for test shoots. She embraces each girl individually and holds Nancy for a beat longer, whispering, “You’ll call if you need to talk?” “Of course,” Nancy says by impulse. “Same to you.” +++ Nancy is proud of herself for going out, but when she closes the door to her hotel suite, her back thunks against the wall and she must take deep breaths for several minutes. She decides to treat herself to a bubble bath even though it’s nearly midnight. She rolls her hair up into a bun and looks at it in the mirror, how haphazard and messy hers is in comparison to Maya. Nancy isn’t jealous – but she can’t help but notice when people are thriving. She wants to figure out how to do it herself and hasn’t found the cure yet. The bath is claw-footed and deep. Nancy sinks into the steaming water before goosebumps rise on her arms, and her freckled skin blushes in the heat. The water does wonders for her foot. She eases her head back on the lip of the tub and nears a light doze when her cell phone rings. It rests atop a stack of towels by the tub. Nancy wipes her damp hand off before looking to the screen. Frank Hardy. Nancy answers and taps the speaker button to relax back in the tub. “Hey.” “Hi, Nance,” Frank says, his voice a familiar balm after such a stressful time. “What’s going on?” “Things aren’t too different from last week’s call,” Nancy smiles. “But I’m on vacation with Bess and George.” “Oh wow! That’s awesome. I hope it’s been fun.” Nancy’s glazed eyes blink. “Yeah,” she rasps. “It’s nice.” She clears her throat, searching for her old enthusiasm. “But what about you? How’s Joe?” “Same as usual, a pain in my ass.” Nancy chuckles before a distinctive lift raises Frank’s voice. “We’re actually getting ready to get on a plane for a case – but I wanted to make sure everything’s good with you.” Nancy’s hand closes in a fist on her raised knee. “Gosh, it’s been so long since I’ve been on a case.” “Not really. You just took a few months off to stay with Kyler, right?” “Yeah, but that’s the longest I’ve ever gone without a case since I started.” “I’d give you ours if I could,” Frank says. “Really not looking forward to such a long plane ride. Oh, they’re calling for our gate – but do you want me call you when I land?” Gratefulness is a warm glow in her heart. “No, that’s okay – but

thank you. Be safe on your trip and tell Joe I said hi.” “Can do.” Frank pauses. “I – tell Bess and George I said hi.” “Can do,” Nancy repeats. She chews her lip. “See you soon?” She feels foolish for saying something when Frank is headed to a case. While the weekly phone calls have kept Nancy sane, it would be even better to see the Hardy Boys. “I’ll make it happen,” Frank promises. “See you, Nance.” After they hang up, Nancy struggles to get out of the tub with her swollen foot. She gets into a pair of sweats and wraps up some ice in a washcloth, then holds it against her foot. Nancy mulls over her conversation with Frank, wondering how much of her poor mood could be due to not solving a mystery. With a deep yawn, she tosses the soaked washcloth in the wastebasket, not able to walk to the bathroom to put it in the sink. She cuddles up to her teddy bear and flicks the lamp off when her phone rocks to life on the nightstand. Bewildered, Nancy turns the lamp back on to look at the screen. The number is unknown; she sees her hand tremble around the phone. She lets the call go to voicemail before the phone vibrates to life once again. Bracing herself, Nancy answers. “Hello?” “Yes, hello – I’m trying to reach a one Nancy Drew?” The voice is British and eerily familiar, like Nancy heard it in a dream. “This is she.” “Splendid! Oh, you wouldn’t believe the trouble I’ve gone to in order to find your number.” “Sorry? Who is this?” “Why, Nigel Mookergee. We met at –” “Blackmoor,” Nancy whispers. “Nigel, hi. What’s going on?” “I’m afraid the manner of my call is not a jovial one,” he says. “How should I explain this? Well, I suppose from the start. You see –” He sighs. “Don’t tell anyone I’m speaking of this, but the Penvellyns have fallen into a bit of… financial trouble.” Nancy says, “’Financial trouble’?” “It’s certainly not my business to spread, but yes. It’s not that they are a poor family by any means, but one diplomat’s salary is not enough to keep up a castle.” Nancy sits up, grabbing a pen and notepad from her bedside table. She jots as Nigel continues. “The Penvellyns began to host historical tours at the manor – much to Mrs. Drake’s dismay, I might add. Jane wishes to expand the business to the paranormal side of things, and I don’t quite agree with the idea myself, but she insists it’s just what the manor needs.” Nancy finishes scrawling and says, “So, you’re working for the Penvellyns now?” “Yes. I’m afraid there’s been some situations – inconsequential events, if you will – that need a glance over.” Nancy arches a brow. “You mean an investigation.” “Ah, such a serious word. I simply want to make sure we are fully prepared to expand the business.” Nancy’s eyes narrow. “Right. When would you need me there?” “As soon as possible -” Nigel catches himself. “I mean, at your earliest convenience.” Nancy glances over her notes, running her hand over the page filled by red ink. She closes her eyes against the sight and says, “I’ll be there tomorrow.”

thank you so much for reading! please let me know what you think and stay safe. and please consider following me here and on twitter! xoxo

[suspiciouslypinkrosegarden]

Chapters 3-5 of The Passed Out Princess

Pairing: My CMC (Uyu, Dan Byeol) x Suit Saeran See all chapters

Description: On days 7-9 of Ray’s route, the player is denied food as “Saeran” makes his presence first known. But, what if MC fell very ill under this method of torture due to a medical condition? Sadly, my custom MC, Uyu (full name Dan Byeol), would deal with exactly this dilemma.

Warnings and notes found in chapter 1-2

Without taking a second to assess the situation, he began his tantrum, entering the room without even a knock out of courtesy.

“Finally getting what you wanted and you’re laying down on the bed as if nothing matters! You should be grateful I even thought to check up on you!”

The door shut behind him with a slam.

“Well then? Up. Get up, toy. I didn’t come all the way out here to watch you sleep!”

Saeran made his way over to the bed, almost in a stomping manner.

Uyu let out a small groan, attempting to pick herself up to look him in the eyes, disobeying one of his direct orders on purpose even now. With some shifts, she made her way to sitting up at the edge of the bed close to him with a slouch in her posture. Moving about to face him signaled her forehead to throb again, causing her to instinctively lift her hand to touch it beneath her bangs, a wince escaping her mouth.

“Is that all you’ve got to show me how much I’m making you suffer? Tch. Pathetic! You suck. Take more lessons from Zen while you’re chatting with him so damn much. Maybe he can at least teach you to cry on command for me. Didn’t you take theater classes before or something?”

The tall man in black towered over her as he spoke, icy eyes glaring at her through marshmallow colored fringe which fell over them in his lean forward. His lips curled into a wicked grin before he broke the awkward silence again.

“Well then...what would you like to refer to this issue as? Tell me. You must have weaved quite the story in preparation for my arrival. Out with it!”

Uyu mustered up some strength to mutter out a little of what he needed to know, embarrassed having to explain herself and call for his help when he appeared to be nothing but cruel to her.

He had shouted at her. He had shoved her a little. He had pinned her against a wall and trapped her like a wolf hunting a small, doe eyed rabbit.

And now, here she was teaching him about one of her medical conditions. Needless to say, she wished it possible to pretend it all wasn’t happening.

“..I have chronic low blood sugar. If...my hunger goes unchecked…..it just drops...my blood sugar I mean... and I get sick….it’s undocumented as there’s not much else doctors can do other than tell me to eat..”

Oh the shame.

“Pfft-”

Saeran cackled, loudly, higher in pitch, his voice reaching a part of his lungs that made it almost wheezy.

“Seriously? I hate how your list of problems is so long a fool might have believed you. You’re so damn weak. Say... I wonder...should today’s playtime be me dangling food in front of your face, then? Come on. Let’s get you to stand first, hmm? Then I’ll fetch you something sucky...like raw carrots...and you’ll hop for me like a pet bunny in desperation. I’ll even be so kind as to help you to your feet. What do you say, princess? Would you like that? A gentlemanly hand extended to you from your master?”

He reached down, pulling her hand away from her forehead and clasping it in his right, intertwining her small fingers with his long and slender ones. She shivered at his touch, him being so much colder than she was, as if his hand had been resting in a freezer while apart from her.

“...No...Saeran I might throw up again-”

“Sure you will~”, he cooed, bringing his face to hers.

“Where is that vomit, by the way? Did you oh so conveniently make it to the toilet so it’s all flushed away and gone? Haha...it’s hard to play with a toy who won’t even stand…so up! I’ll help you now, giving you that sweetness you oh so crave. On the count of three! One...two…”

Uyu shook her head as she attempted to pull back away from him, but her hand was still trapped in his firm grip, growing stronger as she attempted to resist.

“Three!”

Saeran gave her a jerk forward, the pull almost sending her to hit the ground before she caught herself on his arm.

“Wow! She did it! She stands! See that wasn’t so har-”

Dan felt the blood seem to rush out of her brain and downwards in a waterfall motion as that hot and cold chill returned. Her legs teetered as she lost balance, falling before grasping at him, ending up in his arms entirely, Saeran trying to avoid being knocked over himself. She let out a “brrr” noise as she shuttered, so dizzy the room felt as if it were doing somersaults and tumbles as it tossed her limp body around.

“Toy? Toy! What the hell kind of a stunt...”

Saeran pulled her away from him to get a better look at her as her head rolled to the side feebly. He held the woman out by her shoulders in front of him as if she were a little rag doll he wanted to shake back and forth to somehow bring life back into her.

“Start speaking to me! It’s not funny! You can quit the act now…stop doing that…”

His tone grew softer as the sound of a stiffness in the back of his throat made itself known, gulping as if swallowing a ball. He spoke again through gritted teeth.

“Not funny….I’m getting angrier….pull yourself together, toy…”

And with a little jostle from him, her guts felt a sudden whirl before a solid drop as did her head, the color black with spirals seizing her sight as she could no longer sort of keep herself upright. Saeran let go of her shoulders, feeling her whole weight lean in on him, catching her before she could fall.

Dan had finally blacked out cold exactly at noon, leaving Saeran alone, drowning in a sea of his own panic.

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

Saeran held her close to him for a minute out of shock, his captivating eyes wide, stunned and not wanting to witness what he was responsible for. With Uyu completely slumped into him, he maneuvered his arms around her to allow her frail unconscious body to lean backwards. He didn’t want to believe he caused her to actually pass out, supporting her with his left arm and gently caressing her soft cheek with the back of his right hand.

A part of him feared he had caused the unthinkable.

He spoke in a strained whisper.

“Princess…?”

Not to his surprise, he received no reply, not even the slightest sign that she was faking. He huffed gently as his bottom lip began to quiver...his underlying worry that she wasn’t indeed fooling him appeared now true. He pulled her close to his chest again, his heart hammering against her as he cursed under his breath, thoughts racing so fast he felt a headache of his own coming on.

“Shit….”

Saeran went down onto his knees, still cradling her as her head rested in the crook of his neck, scooching her so she was sitting on his lap. His heart hurt...it physically hurt...a crushing squeezing pain that made him want to rip it from his chest entirely. It felt as if a rose bush had wrapped its way around it, winding an elaborate cage of thorns which pierced through like a million needles; the prettiest rose wilted in his hands because he couldn’t give it basic sunlight and water. The rose which bloomed within Ray’s heart...unlike Ray, Saeran wasn’t a nurturing gardener. Screaming at a flower for not growing into what you wished it to become will do nothing. Or...was it that the flower had already blossomed as he tried to force it closed, back into becoming a bud? Either way, he could now feel the dryness of its shriveled petals as his first tear spilled down his hot cheek.

“You don’t seem so tough now…..aren’t you supposed to be able to handle what I throw at you?”

He pressed his face into her hair, the smell of her floral conditioner he once insulted overwhelming his senses.

With heavy shame and panic, the built up water in his tear ducts came trickling down in little glistening, frequent streams upon his pale face. He shook like a leaf in the wind.

“...I did it. I defeated you. Damn you. This was supposed to be better….feel better. I was promised this was what I wanted...but you made it too easy. I hate a lack of challenge...”

He lifted his head before scooping her up bridal style, carrying her to the princess bed to lay her down somewhere comfortable. Upon her back with her hair partially sprawled out behind her, her position resembled that of sleeping beauty, the one who cursed her to sleep as well as the one who could save her life sharing the same body. Saeran’s kiss could not wake her as the one who made her prick her finger on that spinning wheel, and her prince charming was gone, banished away as he could not stand the cruelties of the dark castle’s dungeons. Or at least, that’s how he felt; that he was acting as the Maleficent of this long tale.

He stared at her for a while, breathing rapidly as his chest puffed up and down, bewildered, seething and puzzled as to why this all hurt him so. His savior promised knocking Dan down was the way to go...after all, she corrupted Ray, disobeyed the savior and caused Ray to do the same, made Ray have to be cleansed...she was no good for him; a liar and a manipulator. That’s what his savior told him, and she was never wrong, was she?

He tried to take her state in again as he watched her, drinking up her lifelessness, pushing himself to feel positive about it. It was a good thing. This was a good thing. The savior might even congratulate him for this. He might even receive praise for doing the opposite as Ray had done, feeding her well put together meals despite not even having the time to sleep. Or, would the savior scold him for besting her too early? After all, she was still essential to bringing down the RFA, as useless as he made her seem to be.

“Yes, that’s it,” he thought. He HAS to make sure she’s ok so she can carry out her job. But why did it seem like so much more than that as he felt a soreness seeing her hurt? He put his hands in his hair, tugging at the white messy tufts by the roots as he audibly panted, feeling himself being sent into a frenzy of angry and confused alarm. He gasped and shook as his eyes glazed over and color drained from his complexion, internally feeling a tug a war between his yearnings and what he had been told. A few broken “ahs” and whimpers left his open mouth as Saeran stumbled backwards, bumping his heel on the bedside table with a thunk. His tears would not cease.

It felt as if no matter how he rationalized what had just happened, matching it to his savior’s wishes and words she whispered into his ears, he couldn’t find it within himself to feel successful or triumphant in any manner. He whipped himself around to avoid looking at the passed out princess, his gaze meeting a vase with fresh flowers left by Ray which she slept beside every night. This room was so full of her...so full of him...so full of them and their time spent together. With a loud crash, he knocked it over, the smashed bits aligning the floor as the water lay in a puddle, the flowers undamaged, surrounded by the mess.

He chewed skin off his lip, leaving it pinker and salty in taste. To avoid his savior’s disapproval, for acting so weak and for making Dan so ill, Saeran decided it was best to handle the entirety of the situation on his own. He licked away the bead of red hot blood, brimming from where he bit off skin before collecting himself to a degree to clean up what he had done.

He stared at himself in the bathroom mirror for a while, analyzing his features and making certain his emotions were concealed. He needed to hide his trembles and sobs if he were to re-enter the halls, wearing the iron mask of the strongest believer.

—————————————————————————————————-

Locking the door to keep Dan alone and safe, Saeran made his way around until he reached the place’s kitchen, keeping his head low to avoid the need to strike conversations or bark orders. The believers knew by now that his brisk walking and low hanging head meant no one was to disturb him, as he was probably doing something of importance for the savior. Same went for Ray, even. This made his trip rather quick and easy, even with the glances and stares he received in the halls. He paid no attention to the whispers which followed them.

“I’m hungry. Whip up something and make it fast. Doesn’t matter what as long as it’s got all the food groups and doesn’t taste like utter garbage.”

After Saeran commanded the Mint Eye chefs to get to work on a dish specially “for himself”, he pulled out his android phone to do a quick Google search on what might help with Uyu’s condition. From that he was able to piece together that candy and sugar can help provide immediate relief, for just a moment, as it would spike her blood sugars.

“Do we still have any candies around here? I want a few of those.”

“Yes Mr. Saeran sir...there are some mint candies and chocolates in the cabinet by your head…to the right. We got them recent-”

“No need to point it out and ramble. I know my way around the kitchen. Next time, just a simple yes unless I ask you to say more.”

“Yes, sir.”

Mint Eye was rather used to not seeing Saeran or Ray at meal times unless the savior requested him to attend and sit by her side, so to them, him taking his dinner to go was more normal.

He opened the white cupboard door, seeing numerous clear jars they’d set out on display during meal times. He shoved his hand into the chocolates first, taking it out empty then deciding to go for the mints, remembering “the little thing can’t have dairy.” Grabbing a solid handful of the sweet safe for her to eat, he shoved it all into the pockets of his dark suit, then leaning against the wall, eyeing the chefs at work.

As Saeran himself requested a meal, it was going to be elaborate and made by a whole team in an effort to please him, worry that a mistake could send them to be cleansed acting as a great motivator. Two people off to the right made small garlic potatoes while another two prepared a red wine sauce, to go with the steak a different believer was making. This did not include the last pair, which made stir fried vegetables, one cooking and one cutting.

The kitchen was quiet apart from the sounds of the sizzling, chopping, and stirring; Saeran swallowing saliva as his adam’s apple rolled up and then down, feeling the weight of the fear the room felt towards him. Many times, he saw that kitchens were depicted as being so loud and fun, full of life and chatter unlike this one. Saeran commanded authority and respect, yes, but none of these people would even dare say more than a yes sir no sir to him, let alone smile and act friendly. Would they even smile and talk if he wasn’t there? Or, was joy something this place had always lacked, him just now noticing because of the horribly confusing pit in his stomach at the moment? For the most part, he was on his own, the kindness he received from the savior being all he had to look forward to. And it was always enough for him, as the anxiety he provoked just being in the same room as the believers usually filled him with glee. But then...Ray found someone else who’d show him sweetness. A different kind of sweetness. One that would make his face hot to the touch and heart glow, as if he were under the bright blue sky getting a sunburn, sugary treats melting and dancing on his tongue with new flavors he just wasn’t used to. It was nerve racking and yet so energizing at the same time, something to look forward to as he snuck around to see Dan for so long. Saeran at least could say he found her words to be rather interesting, keeping him on his toes the brief time that they properly spoke together. And by brief...he meant three times. That dork passed out after they had only talked to each other three times.

He was used to the feeling of people trying to tear up his body and soul with their nails from the inside out...but not in the way she did. She at least spoke such honeyed words and phrases, sugar coated in such an unlike recipe as did the glaze which covered his savior’s. Even when telling him something harsh, Dan clarified that his best interest was always in her mind. Ray wished for more of this as he asked her to wreck his head outright. A foolish thing really. Or so Saeran was told.

“Umm...Mr. Saeran...your dish is ready.”

He picked up his stare from the floor to the believer now speaking to him as his train of thoughts were broken off. No matter how much of a display he tried to put on, his mind was somewhere else, somewhere it shouldn’t be. Thinking about someone it shouldn’t be.

“Yes, good. I’ll take the plate to my room as I’m very busy with my important work. Bring me some silverware and a napkin. And a water bottle. And cover the food so it stays warm.”

“Yes sir. For eternal paradise.”

“For eternal paradise..”

The kitchen staff said nothing to his face about the redness which surrounded his mint eyes and the tip of his nose, but behind his back was a different story.

Next chapters All chapters

[vegalocity]

10/18 spicynoodles plis

Prompt meme || @deborahsworld

10.A Shy Kiss/18. Holding Hands

Hell yeah time for fluff

--

Okay... first date....Going pretty well so far. The Movie was okay—MK wasn't very big on horror movies even ones as old as this one was, but Red Son was really excited when he saw it was being played for a ‘foreign movies’ night at the movie theater and what, could have have argued against such enthusiasm?—if a bit slow going and atmospheric.

Though after the heroes found the monster frozen and seemingly dead in the abandoned Norwegian outpost, all twisted and malformed, he really hoped his appetite wouldn't be killed by the end of this with even worse when the monsters started actually moving.

And then the monsters actually started moving.

The dog turning into a monster and killing the other dogs hurt the animal lover inside him, and he felt a bit of his latent arachnophobia begin to rear its head when the hairy legs sprouted from its back, and then the actual form the monster, halfway through killing the remaining trapped dogs had sent a chill up his spine and then-

“See how they were able to make the monster look goopy? It's not really very goopy except during the close up shots, because it's an animatronic so it had to be dry most of the time, they got the shine effect by piling liquid latex ontop of the finished paintjob until it started drying while it trailed off of the frame. And that right there? When it took the hurt dog? That was actually filmed in reverse, having the tentacles start out around the dog puppet and then rapidly pull away so when they reversed it it looked like they actually moved and had torque behind the action.”

“Really?”

“Yeah it's really fascinating how they went about effects before computer graphics were refined, everything had to be practical so even if it doesn't look the best, it doesn't hit that uncanny valley that bad CGI makes because even if it doesn't look real it looks real enough.”

It didn't feel quite as disturbing with that rattling around in his head, focusing on how much work must have been done to make the monster move as realistically as possible, how many times they'd practiced and trained in a controlled sound stage and adapting it to the set...

They weren't the only ones in the theater, but it was a mostly empty showing, as was usually the case with foreign films as old as this one. So it wasn't like they were disturbing anyone with Red Son leaning over to whisper interesting details MK would have never even thought to look up to make the overall experience less scary. Red Son seemed aware that he wasn't the biggest horror fan, and was trying to soften the blows the more intense moments would bring by talking through them and bringing back  the reality that it was just a movie they were watching.

“I was alive in this era and I can state with general expertise that computers were certainly not that advanced yet. Computer AI wasn't past that of your average graphing calculator until at least the mid 1990's.”

“They got that sound effect by putting a microphone in a tin trash can and recording the sound of a racecar zooming by and put it in a reverb chamber until it sounded completely unrecognizable”

“Blair is already a Thing at this point, you remember when he was dissecting the Norwegian base's monster? He was using a pencil eraser to point out that era in its chest and then he'd touched the eraser to his lip! And since it started by probably just a small contingent of shed cells it probably took him longer to assimilate than the others.”

“This is actually really cool! The stunt double for Copper that they got for the scene actually was a double amputee! They made fake hands for him out of latex, filled them with fake blood, and styled the chest jaw like a bear trap for that disgusting pulling shot.”

Though... That one didn't work as well... When the long tendril shot from the Thing's stomach and sprouted slider legs and a second head, the extending neck hissing and glaring down at the heroes, he felt his gut turn, even as the heroes took the flamethrower to the monster.

The monster's first head ripped from its body and grew spider legs. And Oh GOD that was disgusting, without thinking he reached for the edge of the armrest to grip as the heroes had to play cat and mouse with a severed, spider head. He'd missed, and his hand clapped down atop of Red Son's and squeezed.

Red Son jolted beside him and MK saw him turn in his direction in his periphery.

“You know if this is freaking you out too much we can leave.”

“No! No, it's okay. You like this movie! You wouldn't know so much about it if you didn't like it!” Besides, he shouldn't be getting so spooked about some kinda gross kinda spidery horror movie from the 1980s, what kind of hero got freaked out at a little practical effects?

He couldn't see Red Son's face very well with only the light of the movie itself to see by, but he made a strange sort of humming noise and slipped his hand out of MK's, moving his arm to put the arm rest up and then slide his hand back into his own.

“Here, that should be more comfortable then.”

And it was. Red Son's factoids and chatter alongside the movie were doing well at cutting the edge off of it again, and it was aided by not just their connected hands, but now by his physical closeness as well.

“I've heard the director had this stylistic rule about after the Things start invading, the idea is that if a character has light reflecting off their eyes they're human, if not they're a Thing.”

“Most people think Palmers was the shadow the dog assimilated back earlier but I think it was Norris, Palmers didn't get turned into a thing until after they go and talk to Blair again I don't think.”

“Actually...I don't think I like that translation very much. Like yeah it's more polite and Gary's a gentleman, but 'I'd rather not spend the rest of this winter tied to this fucking couch' emphasizes the stress of the situation better.”

And then came the time of the final confrontation, MK braced himself, squeezed Red Son's hand in his own. It was indeed gross, and frightful, and the puppetry alone was REALLY good. All those moving parts and there's no way that THAT was an animatronic so it HAD to be a puppet. And wow that was a REALLY good explosion.

...huh...Apparently he could do it too.

The movie ended with what MK felt like was a tentatively optimistic note. The remaining two heroes sharing a drink as the research facility and the monsters it housed burned around them. And you maybe get the feeling the two of them won't survive the cold, but they stopped the monsters and that’s what matters.

Though MK was right to worry over the movie killing his apatite because by the time the lights went up and the credits rolled he found he wasn't very hungry. Which felt ridiculous since he was always in need of quick carbs for Monkie Kid things. But Red Son had lost his own apatite as well apparently and the two of them could do nothing but laugh a bit awkwardly at their date being derailed by a movie being a bit too gross.

So MK pulled him into a nearby park and they went for a walk instead of the restaurant they'd planned for.

“Most people think that Childs is a Thing and I'm tempted to agree, He doesn't have the eye shine but neither does MacReady and we know he's not a Thing, but MacReady's breath is steaming and Childs' doesn't until the very end there, and MacReady wasn't drinking, those were Molotov Cocktails, that was gasoline and Childs just downed it without a thought to taste or smell.”

“So you think the Thing won at the end?”

“I don't know, but they do have one flamethrower left and Childs whether he's a Thing or not just drank gasoline. So MacReady as a person is probably as good as dead.”

“I Dunno, I like the idea that he wasn't a Thing in the end, gives it something not dissimilar to a happy ending, but like, it's not like they hadn't been wrong about who was a Thing before. The dog handler wasn't a Thing but he got shot anyway.”

“That's very true.”

It was about there that MK realized he'd yet to let go of Red Son's hand.

Well... he hadn't pulled away... MK squeezed Red Son's hand in his own, and Red Son—on a tangent about how in the time before CGI they'd made the stylistic title card with use of a fishtank, garbage bag, flash paper and a lot of smoke—squeezed him back.

A few hours and a plate or two of street vendor food when either of their appetites returned later and Red Son had insisted on walking him home. He was staying in a penthouse that his family technically owned but he was the only one who actually knew about it, and he wanted to be a gentleman before he headed back there.

“Well,  I hope you enjoyed yourself a bit. I feel as though I should apologize for choosing such a niche film, mother always said I was the only one who cared about foreign horror movies and just because I find movie effects fascinating especially in a time before technology was as advanced as it is now doesn't mean I should subject others to my incessant yammering.”

he didn't really think Red Son could pull off shy, but he'd folded his arms tightly and was very pointedly NOT looking at him now. And Sure, this felt like a big step, but that playfully self deprecating tone wasn’t gonna fly here. He moved slowly, giving Red Son time to pull away if desired. Placing one hand on Red Son's shoulder, the other on the side of his face to turn his head. He had to get on his tiptoes to make it to his level, but he leaned in-

It was nice. Soft, and Red Son of course ran hotter than an average person so it was warm too. He pulled away just as he felt Red Son start to press back against him. When MK opened his eyes, he noticed Red Son's were still closed for a moment longer before fluttering open.

“I like your incessant yammering.” He had such a cute blush. “it means you're passionate about something.” 

“You... wanna come in? Monkey King gave me this new tea blend I've been meaning to try out.”

--

Prompt meme (I’ll stop when y’all stop sending stuff)

[vagabondedlife]

Kei Fujiwara’s name is hardly recognizable to most fans of Japanese cinema despite her crucial role in director Shinya Tsukamoto’s early cult classics. As Tsukamoto’s “right hand” woman in the 1980s, Fujiwara became closely involved in his underground theater troupe, Kaijyu Theater, and contributed to the productions of the experimental and DIY films The Phantom of Regular Size (1986), The Adventures of Denchu Kozo (1987), and Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989). Her credits include actress, cinematographer, prop artist, makeup artist, and set-designer (her apartment was used as a primary set). She also engineered Tetsuo’s iconic phallic drill.

Born in Kumamoto in 1957, Fujiwara moved to Tokyo in her early twenties and discovered theater troupe director Jūrō Kara, who became her mentor. After a decade, she created her own troupe called Organ Vital, which underwent a series of evolutions but remains her life work. Her new project this year is Ibunkitan, a form of micro-nomadic theater, whose kanji characters mean “strange-listen-machine-story.” A private person now living in the reclusive mountains of Nagano, Fujiwara rarely gives interviews, but seemed excited to talk about her rarely discussed directorial debut, Organ (1996).

An avant-garde exploration of violence, pain and pleasure with an operatic amount of coagulated blood and extrasomatic body horror, Organ follows two detectives after they break into an organ harvester’s warehouse and collide with yakuza gangsters, a drugged doctor, and his eye-patch wearing sister Yoko, played by Fujiwara herself, who also produced and wrote the film. A cherished work among hardcore fans of Japanese cult cinema, Organ is still ripe for rediscovery. The film’s offerings of a full-bodied sensorial experience and an abusive questioning of cruelty prove tirelessly relevant.

Fujiwara’s work was recently revived at FFFest in New York City with a double feature of Tetsuo: The Iron Man and Organ. Fujiwara prepared a special statement that was shared as an introduction. Following the screening, we had the opportunity to speak to the artist about her life, practice, and ideals in more depth. The conversation was held over the phone in Japanese.

NOTEBOOK: Is Ibunkitan a new Organ Vital?

KEI FUJIWARA: Yes, it’s a new Organ Vital. When I was young, I lived in the rural area. I always just read theater but never had the opportunity to see state-of-the-art theater. When I was in high school, I was always reading, and I picked up an Antonin Artaud book that featured this French term. It meant the vessels of life. When translated to English, I’m told it just becomes, “vitals of organ,” or something, but in Japanese it is called gozōroppu and to me signifies the corporal. That’s the name of my theater company, and it has always been that for me. Born into this three-dimensional world with bodies, we sense and express. That’s what’s interesting in life. Ibunkitan can be done in a very small space. We’ve done it in temples, in the corner of a shop, in salons. Our first performance was in March, and we’re planning to do another in November. We've been invited to perform my new Jomon-inspired piece in a live-house in the mountains in Nagano, so we’re preparing some woodwork for that now.

NOTEBOOK: You were working in Shinya Tsukamoto’s Kaijyu Theater production between working with Jūrō Kara?

FUJIWARA: Jūrō Kara, my mentor—when I was in Jōkyō Gekijo [Situation Theatre], he took a liking to me and wrote roles for me. A lot happened, and Kara said he would make a new troupe with me, but I had other plans, so I left once, and he said, “As my mentee, you can leave but wait for me to come get you.” That’s when I went to work with Shinya Tsukamoto on his plays and films. It was after Tetsuo: The Iron Man [1989] that Kara started the new troupe “Kara-gumi” and I returned to work with him.

NOTEBOOK: How was it that you began working with Tsukamoto?

FUJIWARA: I had just left Kara and after a while a friend said that Tsukamoto was looking for someone to act in his plays. He was Tsukamoto’s classmate and an actor, and he made the introduction. I found Tsukamoto interesting and talented. So, I began working diligently as his right hand after that.

NOTEBOOK: I wanted to ask you about Tsukamoto’s 1987 film, The Adventures of Denchu Kozo.

FUJIWARA: Denchu Kozo and Tetsuo were actually both shot in my apartment where I was living at the time. You know all those cats? I couldn’t rent a normal apartment, so I had to live in a cheap nagaya tenement house on the verge of getting demolished. I just needed a place to live that permitted pets. Denchu Kozo and Tetsuo’s interior shots are all at my place.

NOTEBOOK: Are the scenes projected in the TV monitor in Tetsuo from Denchu Kozo?

FUJIWARA: Yes. They’re from Denchu Kozo.

Above: Organ

NOTEBOOK: What turned you onto making Organ, if you were always only interested in theater?

FUJIWARA: That was because of my experience filmmaking with Tsukamoto. It prepared me for how arduous it would be. Theater is an impermanent art, and that’s why it’s such a luxurious art form. But film is like capturing a world in a crystal ball. The joy of creating film is like making your own universe. My staff members at the time— six men other than myself—were all talented, and I thought, “Everyone’s here, why don’t I just make it?” So, all the staff also became the actors, and that’s how we started filming. But it was so difficult at first. We used the atelier space we had and reformed it over and over and shot it like that. It was time-consuming. It became the warehouse set, the school set. It kept on transforming. We did it all in the same space.

NOTEBOOK: That seems like a very theatrical way of using space.

FUJIWARA: Yes.

NOTEBOOK: But first, you started writing it?

FUJIWARA: Yes, I first started writing it. I’m actually not very good at planning. I just think that if I put my mind to it, I can make it happen. So I wrote the script, and had the staff pool in their savings. Between the seven of us we had 200,000 yen, so I thought, “Great, if we have 200,000 yen and one reel of film is 5,000 yen, and even if we bought lights, we can make 30 minutes of footage.” As for the equipment, there are countless aspiring-filmmaker boys who have camera equipment lying around collecting dust, so we borrowed from them. As for the set, we were all used to making it for our theater. We were good at foraging free stuff to make things. That warehouse set in the beginning of Organ was made with an extremely cheap budget. Then we started filming. All those organs in that scene were worked from what was supposed to be our dinner for the day [laughs]. We used real food. We took some gelatin- and konjac-noodles and thought, “This can look like veins!”

NOTEBOOK: And then you had it for dinner?

FUJIWARA: Well, we ended up not being able to, because it was covered in fake blood! It was all about how little money we could spend and still make something, which was a valuable lesson for me.

NOTEBOOK: You’ve mentioned the Kenji Miyazawa poem, Ame ni mo makezu1.

FUJIWARA: Yes, I just really like Kenji Miyazawa. I like the way he thinks, and his philosophy. He’s a Buddhist, and as I haven’t studied Buddhism properly, I cannot say for sure, but I think his seimeikan, or view of life, is on par with that of Osamu Tezuka. Osamu Tezuka and Kenji Miyazawa are two gods with the same perspective regarding seimeikan. No matter how great their art is, Yoshihide Otomo and Hayao Miyazaki can never reach Osamu’s level. Osamu’s core is love. There’s only love. The way they think about life is totally different. I was reading manga before I was literate [laughs]. I like Osamu Tezuka, but also Sanpei Shirato. And in my teens, I liked Daijiro Morohoshi. He’s an extremely interesting person.

NOTEBOOK: Do you think that your films need to be discovered?

FUJIWARA: They need to lock in perfectly with someone’s desire to watch it, or else watching it has no meaning. It just appears as a confusing, grotesque film.

NOTEBOOK: Please tell us about your make up and special effects.

FUJIWARA: Since Tetsuo, my method is always the same. I don’t have any background knowledge of special effect makeup. I just have a gut feeling of what can and can’t be used. Tsukamoto had these drawing storyboards for Tetsuo, like the steel body and the drill penis. For the latter, Tsukamoto just wanted to make something simple and said it would be enough if we could just pretend like it was moving, but I thought it would only be interesting if it actually moved. I didn’t have any hi-tech skills, so I thought, “That’s it!” I took the nearest working electric fan, dissembled it down to its core, used all the rubber and tape I had at home, sprayed it up and got it to go, vroom [laughs]! It was the same for Organ. I used household products, mostly kitchenware.

Above: Organ

NOTEBOOK: What about your cinematography?

FUJIWARA: I had no background knowledge. The first time I started shooting was on Tsukamoto’s set. A lot of people who graduated film school and wanted to help were there, but Tsukamoto didn’t trust any of them. Just because you have technique doesn’t mean you can shoot well. He thought that the person wielding the camera needs a certain amount of power, of energy. So I, who had never touched a camera in my life, was given the camera and told where to press to get it rolling, and shot all of the scenes Tsukamoto was in.

NOTEBOOK: Do you still shoot with a camera lately?

FUJIWARA: Rarely.

NOTEBOOK: As the occasion for this screening was FFFest, Female Filmmakers Festival, could you comment about your experience as a female filmmaker?

FUJIWARA: Something men don’t have—there are two types: female filmmakers who focus their perspective on their immediate surroundings and daily lives, and those who focus on creating a worldview from the even more intimate bodily perspective. That’s what’s a little different from male filmmakers. Even in theater, most female directors write familial narratives, although I don’t [laughs].

NOTEBOOK: The podcast Ladies Horror Night, on the occasion of this screening, recorded an episode that raised the question of why you, a female filmmaker, didn’t include more female characters. I’m not sure about this pressure for female filmmakers to represent female subjects, as I think there’s power in the female filmmaker re-writing the male-centric story. Can you speak on this and how you came to write the police story in Organ?

FUJIWARA: When I think about seimeikan—our view of life—it appears to me that the moral judgment of good versus bad is not something universal, but just a rule that protects our lifestyle in society. It’s a regulation. We make regulations to protect ourselves. That takes the form of “good” and “evil.” But that’s not the good and evil that holds ground in nature. Animals kill other animals for their own predation, right? Humans, too, in the context of war, can kill other humans and become heroes. The concept of zen-aku, or the notion of good and evil, is just a societal regulation. The police represent upholders of this regulation. And then there are those who defy this regulation, who lie in a realm completely different from this conventional morality. Organ is a clash between these two groups. That’s how I formed the police narrative. As for why there are few female characters, well… In the case of females, expressing them requires—for many, not all—a focus on the micro world, the micro perspective, that is, if you pay attention to their priorities. In other words, if you have a goal and you want to finish something, but she says she needs to take a bath at this certain time and cannot participate, there’s nothing you can do. In my theater, only men can keep up with me. Because of this standpoint, if a woman were to express a woman, she would need to create a micro world. But when describing a police story, a macro worldview, the direction would lose focus.

NOTEBOOK: It would become more internal?

FUJIWARA: Right. That’s why there aren’t as many female characters. But the wife of Numata represents the reality for women. And also the female teacher who approaches the criminal but gets killed. Woman participated in this way. But it’s hard for them to take leading parts for the narrative. It’s hard to let them be there and have their perspective be represented, because their perspective is in a different dimension.

NOTEBOOK: What about the character you play, Yoko?

FUJIWARA: Yoko is outside of that realm. She’s an outlier. She doesn’t represent family or the household or the joy of daily life, because she didn’t enjoy any of those things. That’s why she can exist there.

NOTEBOOK: How did you direct your actors in Organ, was it different from how you usually direct them in theater?

FUJIWARA: It’s the same. The only direction I gave them in Organ was that they only get one shot. I don’t give actors multiple takes. If there’s a camera or equipment problem that requires another take or two, I’ll do it. But I won’t do it for the actor. The actor has one chance, the take. But, on the offhand that the actor makes a mistake and requires a take two, I tell them they need to buy their own film roll. That was the rule. So, no one ever made a single mistake. They were all dead serious, completely focused. They’re all broke and have no money to buy film.

NOTEBOOK: In that sense it’s theatrical.

FUJIWARA: Right, and I had one actress tell me that that it was brilliant. She said, “I do lots of work for TV and film, but everyone is so lukewarm and they do take after take, and think about it so leniently. But there’s none of that here. The one take is the real thing.”

NOTEBOOK: So, that urgency was good for the actors?

FUJIWARA: Right. They said they couldn’t afford to buy their own film.

NOTEBOOK: If you give theater actors the same direction for film, how does that work? The performances in Organ don’t come off as exaggerated; I doubt a viewer without knowing would assume they are all theater actors.

FUJIWARA: There’s no difference. In theater, my scripts are like music scores. The lines come out and dance, modulate, sing, calling on the innate sensation playing the instrument that is yourself on stage. The actor, with this music-score-as-script, has a multitude of possibilities of how to play it. In film, the scripted character is a part of the environment. They are simply material for the scene. I didn’t need to explain this to them, they naturally just became materials for the scene.

Above: Organ

NOTEBOOK: That’s a good transition into my next question: can you talk about your music and sound design direction?

FUJIWARA: Music is difficult. What I say doesn’t get across, because I was working with new people. They hadn’t even seen any of my theater. I like German bands, something strong and hard. But even if they mimic the Germans, the Japanese can’t avoid making music that doesn’t sound soft and weak. One day I said, “Make it more powerful, something that alludes to the power of nature, more animalistic and sturdily-built,” and they said, “Okay.” The demo they brought to me literally had animal sounds, like elephants wailing and dogs barking, and I was like, “…That’s not what I meant” [laughs]. It didn’t get across. But there were some interesting sound bites that I could use. But Japanese band musicians can’t get over their own softness. I think what they have is different.

NOTEBOOK: So you’re not happy with the results?

FUJIWARA: Well, I’m the type of person that thinks, que sera, sera. So I wasn’t satisfied, but…

NOTEBOOK: You’ve mentioned that you a very easily scared person. But in Tetsuo and Organ, your characters say, “I won’t be afraid.” How do you interpret this difference?

FUJIWARA: When I came to Tokyo in my twenties, the first theater directors I met said they’d never met anyone as weak and sensitive as myself. They didn’t think I could live on a few years longer, much less do theater, and that I might find myself drugged up in a brothel in the near future. Kara was the only person that ever said to me that I was the strongest person he’d met. In other words, the fear and strength that I have appears to others as a weakness that can barely withstand life, but it’s just my highly sensitive nature they see. In actuality, I’m very strong. I feel very easily, so that seems weak, but my capacity for empathy is just very large. I feel others’ pain and sadness so strongly that I throw up thinking about them. That’s why I don’t watch TV or read the newspaper. Or else I would be crying all day [laughs].

NOTEBOOK: Watching Organ feels like you’re making the audience feel this extreme pain you describe.

FUJIWARA: Yes, that’s the result of the film. My second film, ID [2005], is even more so.

NOTEBOOK: In addition to fear and pain, pleasure is another large theme. After the screening, someone told me your film was grotesque but something about it was so pleasurable. How do you maintain that balance?

FUJIWARA: I think humans, in order to live, can’t cut those away from existence. If you deny desire, you’re not human. The existence of such things causes our misery, too. Thus, desire and slaughter are inescapable. My fear and sorrow regarding this, and my questioning what are they anyway. That’s what I wanted to portray.

NOTEBOOK: What’s interesting about your portrayal of violence is that Yoko uses the gun as a weapon but doesn’t shoot from it. The one time she tries to shoot at her father, it wasn’t loaded. She mostly hits with it.

FUJIWARA: When I act a role, it needs to be real for me to imagine it. I can’t shoot a gun just like that. I need to feel it. Whenever I do something I feel a corporal build-up that can’t just be released by shooting away.

NOTEBOOK: Shooting it would be too easy?

FUJIWARA: An action needs to be taken. The body and the heart are connected. It’s not that easy.

NOTEBOOK: What was the biggest challenge in shooting Organ?

FUJIWARA: The most difficult challenge was the first scene, in the warehouse. When the doctor and yakuza fend off the police while trying to dissect the man. That shoot was in the middle of summer, but we had to close off the warehouse because it was a night scene. It was hot, smelly, only men, and everyone’s body odor was suffocating the room. That was really difficult. At the time there were seven of us, and now there are three of us, just Takahashi, Mori and I. In Organ, all the actors take on multiple roles. Whenever they weren’t onscreen they were doing lights or shooting. We shot it scene by scene in order. I remember towards the end of the film, during the scene in the tunnel, when my role Yoko comes in on a bike and there’s a fighting scene, we couldn’t get a permit to shoot. We were able to shoot outside the tunnel on the road but not inside. But I badly wanted to shoot inside so we went at midnight, and the characters got all bloody and we were shooting, and the police came. They thought it was a real yakuza fight and took off the safety on their pistols and were about to shoot at us. We thought we were done for. The character Yasuda, who later falls into the ditch and gets stabbed with a Japanese sword, was responsible for getting the permits and he had all the documents on him. So, he came out from the ditch all bloody and with a sword in him, screaming, “We’re shooting a film!” terrifying the police even more. While he was negotiating with them we finished shooting the scene. The police just told us to be safe and left, but it was all thanks to him for putting his life on the line. We really thought we were going to get shot. Usually film shoots have large crews and it’s obvious, but in our case, all the crew were also the actors, so it was hard to tell, and the lights were hidden.

NOTEBOOK: What about the camera?

FUJIWARA: Yes, but it was a small 16mm Scoopic, and the police were so focused on the bloody actors they didn’t notice it. The police were terrified, but it was a great location and I just needed to shoot there no matter what.

[gayhokage]

spoiler free thoughts on mugen train movie: it was great!! stunning animation, great new soundtrack, great voice performances (i watched subbed) paced the story really well. i went in with high expectations and wasn't let down! 10/10 can't wait for everyone to get the chance to watch it :D

spoilers (and more in depth) under the cut:

wanna say that i am being Incredibly nit-picky in some of this. the movie was truly amazing and i enjoyed every second of it. i'm just gonna graze through the manga chapters the movie covered to help myself remember / point out what i liked / disliked

the second demon rengoku killed on the train i didn’t really think was necessary? i think maybe they were just trying to fill up more time, have it make more sense why tanjiro & crew liked / thought rengoku was so cool (it did give rengoku a better chance to show off his power and skill to them for the first time)

the animation used to rengoku’s flames was GORGEOUS (of course) it looked so beautiful

the dream sequences were done so well!! honestly zenitsu’s dream was super cute and boss inosuke’s and his minions.. inosuke you are so important to me i hope he knows that. THANK GOD for shiny acorns!!! genuinely one of my fav parts in the manga it’s so cute and silly i love seeing inosuke being friends with nezuko

senjurou sounded Nothing like how i’ve been imagining his voice up to this point. i’ve always read his voice as very soft like a younger child since he’s so young and has a kinder nature, so i’m not gonna lie i was a little thrown off by that lol

tanjiro pulling himself into the water in his dream was so beautifully done honestly that was one of my fav scenes just bc it was so pretty

i was pretty upset that the detail about rengoku's spiritual core being brittle was left out, i feel like that's such a Huge detail about his character (since we only get to know him for such a short amount of time) maybe it was mentioned in the film and im just forgetting

nezuko's flames burning around tanjiro during his dream looked So Beautiful i was truly just awed throughout the whole film by how beautiful the animation was

tanjiro’s youngest brother crying when he was trying to leave the dream crushed me honestly that got the water works going lol i know the big moment of that scene was nezuko but; someone in the theater gasped Really loud when nezuko showed up in tanjiro's dream and it added so much drama lol so thank u to that person for upping the emotion

this whole part was the Real tear jerker of the movie^

i wish this scene had more been More? idk i was really looking forward to how this scene would end up in the movie and it was really just tanjiro screaming and then showed blood on the snow. i know it was shown multiple times later during the fight with enmu but. was hoping for something more i guess! esp i think the first time showing it should've been a Big Deal idk

during this scene tho i Loved that there was like a piano version of kamado tanjiro no uta and also a piano / softer version of gurenge; idk which played during these scene but i heard and picked up on both and really loved that

on another soundtrack note: the clarinet (or maybe bass clarinet) that played for what im guessing was enmu's theme was sooo good congrats to any composer that can get me to enjoy the clarinet lol

tanjiro's dream subconsciousness was sooo beautiful and so were the little fire spirits that lived there i think it continued to perfectly capture tanjiro's kindheartedness

tanjiro's nightmare was also so well done. i thought that was one of the best part of the movie tbh

actually my biggest complaint about the movie was how awkward and out of place the 3D / CGI looked compared to season 1 of the anime. the "guts" inside the train just looked really gross and poorly done

[anime vs manga comparison] (also my friend said that enmu made him think of orochimaru LOL)

another thing was the train being covered with enmu's flesh or guts after their head was cut off just looked so gross and weird, i wish that hadn't been changed / added in the movie

and with the weird / gross looking 3D it made tanjiro and inosuke's fight together to find enmu's neck just a little rough to watch. i think it would've been better if there wasn't so much of enmu's flesh all over the train

i wish this had been shown in the movie since it didn't make it into the story of the manga. the movie just showed nezuko burning inosuke and zenitsu with her fire (which is how she woke tanjiro up, so i guess it makes sense that it would work for those two as well)

after enmu was defeated i thought it was insane how clear of an image of kokushibo we got!!! we've only (barely) seen silhouettes of him up to this point in the anime, and since we also got such a clear picture of daki (with season 2 on the way) it makes me excited to think that we will see him in season 2 as well (along with the other upper moons; and hopefully get the whole series animated lol)

the fight against akaza was outstanding and amazing. truly have no words lol. unfortunately i missed a small part of the fight bc i had to go use the bathroom (my friend said i missed the coolest part of their fight) but akaza looked SO GOOD and the fight was so well animated and i Loved akaza's voice - not how i had been imaging his voice but it still fit him so well (wasn't such a major difference like with senjurou lol) and the music that played during their fight was great. the purposeful silence in some parts of their fight was perfectly placed to make it more tense and emotional (also rengoku blocking akaza's punches with his sword. king shit)

i really liked this detail, both with enmu and akaza, that their screams are apparently So Loud, i guess that's something you dont really pick up when you're reading

when rengoku's mother showed up and inosuke started crying that's what really did it in for me lol i tried to keep myself from crying too hard / loud in the theater but i know once i watch it alone im gonna be bawling

where the movie chose to end was really interesting to me. i thought for sure the movie was going to include tanjiro's visit to senjurou so im a little surprised that that's being held off until season 2. it really will make it mandatory for anime viewers to watch the movie before starting season 2

anyways if you read all of this ily and i am kissing you <3

[savythenillerwaffer]

Imagine your best friends and family, the people who matter, who love you and make life worth living. And these are the people you spent all your time with.

Zim - Looking like an add for hair gel doesn't automatically make him a monster, but you've noticed things.

He thinks he's the best thing since toilet paper. He stays up all night, can't stand the sunlight, and brings home a different victim every week. And you're not saying he sucks their blood for sustenance, but you've never seen him eat or drink anything.

He must have supernatural powers, otherwise how the fuck is he getting layed more than you.

Tak - She's a perfect model of efficiency, helpful, smart, and friendly… well, at the right times.

She doesn't understand your more human imperfections. Her daily routine is rigid and well defined, violate it at your own risk.

Just watch, her head will explode any day now if she's stuck with these idiots all semester.

Pilot Dib/PD - Wherever he's from, he has a very poor judge of social norms. The idea of 'personal space' doesn't seem to register with him.

To say he has strange habits would be a disservice, and he has this… thing in his room. If it's a bong you wanna hide it, if it's a dildo you don't wanna touch it, and you don't even want to think about what else it could be.

And like any story about aliens, your friends will never believe you.

Zib - 'Machiavellian' is just one of the many extravagant words he uses to describe himself, and you doubt he even knows what it means.

If there was ever a way to "win" at studying, you're sure he has got it down to a science.

You know what they say, "Ambition is a double edged sword", and so is he.

He's the type to always overthink the plot of any movie you watch with him, usually to the point of you both falling asleep. Good luck with this one. At least he's a good snuggle buddy if your day goes bad.

Gaz - Not everyone considers being roommates as an opportunity, some see it as a life sentence.

Whenever she's around you, her time is mostly spent talking about what she's gonna do when she gets out of college. The irony is, when she actually does get her degree and freedom, she'll mostly likely have no idea what to do with it.

You bet she'll probably spend the better half of her adult life playing Nintendo games. Maybe that should be her profession.

Dib - He's funny, relatable, and just alien obsessed enough for it to be entertaining and even cute. Actually, now that it's put into words, you think that he might even be boyfriend material. I mean, he's just as desperate for love as you, what could go wrong?

(Afterwards...)

You remember when you saw that one movie in theaters and thought it was your favorite movie for months until you watched it at home and realized you didn't love it. Yeah... you'll be taking the long way to the library for a few weeks.

Pilot Zim/Cel - Ever since you first met him, he's given you this unique feeling. Not particularly bad or good, just a strange feeling.

Like a ghost, every time you look over your shoulder, expecting him to be there, he isn't.

He still retains some traits of the "Invader mentality" Zim had long ago, such as a big ego, and referring to himself in the 3rd person. 

If he likes you, you probably won't know because he hides it so well.

Whatever you do, don't turn your back on him, just don't. You'd be surprised how easy it is to make him angry or sad.

Experimental Additions:

Feral Zim - Ah, the secluded neighbor, a trope that we are all familiar with. Except this one is slightly weirder... as in he kills and eats people… yeah.

Remember that little girl scout you always hear banging on neighbor's doors? Yeah, let's just say she's "out of a job" now.

He doesn't come out of his apartment a lot, usually only to "go grocery shopping" as he puts it. Even though he has probably never seen a shopping cart in his life.

Now that you think about it, maybe that "friendly gift" that he left in your mailbox wasn't actually chicken. Best not to think about it for now. You can puke your guts out once you've finished college.

[iamakiller]

the apt pupil

Wordcount: 2000

Warnings: Murder, obviously.  Mention of drug use.

Notes: Interacting with the charming Mr. Massey the other day reminded me of another insufferable (un)creative type I once knew.  Or did I?  This is fictional, of course!

His name was Chad. Of course it was.

Chad came from a fine theater pedigree.  His father, a renowned director.  His mother, an eminent producer.  The mantel in their Upper East Side home was brimming with awards, and there was no doubt in Chad’s mind that someday soon, he would be adding to the collection.  

However, as he entered the final year of his bachelor’s in theater production, it was starting to become clear that perhaps his lineage, charm and considerable good looks were not quite enough to allow him to continue to coast.

For the first time in his life, Chad was failing.

And that’s where his classmate came in.

***

Charlie Barber ...

Quiet. Unassuming.  His nose always stuck in a book.  Nothing special to look at, in his thrifted clothes and unflattering glasses.  Nothing remarkable at all.

But this unobtrusive exterior belied a considerable amount of talent, which even self-obsessed Chad couldn’t fail to observe.  It shone out of him with the radiance of a thousand suns.  Every piece of work he produced was undeniably brilliant.

What a pity for Charlie that in the theater world, it isn’t what you know, but who you know that makes or breaks a career.  

But what good fortune for Chad.

He made his approach after class one Friday afternoon.  “I’ve got a proposal for you,” he said, without preamble.  “You need my help.”

Charlie clutched his books closer to his chest, and looked at him without saying anything.  

Chad felt very uncomfortable for a moment, before his usual overconfidence settled back into place, and he blustered on.  “Talent can only get you so far, my friend.  You need connections.  Influence.  Social skills.  I can help you with all of that.”

His classmate cleared his throat, and shifted from foot to foot.  He chewed on the inside of his lip.  He was definitely considering the offer.  “Why?” he ventured, finally.

A wolfish smile spread across Chad’s handsome face.    “Let’s just say I’m an altruist.  Genius like yours deserves to be nurtured.  Let me be your friend, Charlie.  I only ask one small thing in return …”

A pleased flush had spread across Charlie’s pale, freckled cheeks at the word genius.  He was eating out of Chad’s palm already. “What do you need?” he breathed.

“Perhaps you would be so kind as to help me with my studies, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble?  Given all the networking I do, I may have found myself falling slightly behind.  What do you say?”

Charlie accepted.

Of course he did.  

This was going to be so easy.

***

Chad “networked” at least five nights a week, if not more.  After he achieved a C on his latest assignment, he kindly allowed Charlie to tag along one night.

Charlie watched with big eyes as Chad snorted a line of cocaine from the bathroom counter. Chad straightened up, rubbing at his stinging nose, and offered Charlie the little white bag of powder.  “You should try some,” he said.  “It’s the best.  Makes you feel like a god.”

“Sounds awful,” said Charlie, with a wry little smile.  “No thank you.”

“Oh go on, Charlie, don’t be a bore.”  Chad’s voice was louder now. Everything he had to say was even more important than usual.  “You need the confidence boost, don’t you?  It might even finally help you to lose your virginity.”

Charlie blushed, and pushed his glasses up his nose.  “I’m not a virgin, you know,” he said.  “I’ve had sex before.”

Chad raised his eyebrows in disbelief.  “Oh really?  And how was it?”

Charlie closed his eyes for a moment, remembering.  “She just lay there,” he admitted, eventually.  “And it was a bit awkward afterwards.  But … I really liked it.”

“Perhaps you’re not as hopeless as I’d feared, buddy,” Chad said, slapping him on the back.  

After a couple of drinks and another of Chad’s coke-fueled pep-talks in the bathroom, Charlie disappeared into the night with a brunette friend of a friend who was wasted enough to not seem to mind his inept attempts at following Chad’s instructions on how to be smooth.

With a smile like a proud father, Chad watched him go.

***

Another assignment, and a B this time.  Chad celebrated by taking Charlie to see an optician, and then on a shopping spree.

In his new contact lenses, and wearing clothes that actually fit him for once, Charlie looked like a completely different person.  He stammered his thanks all the way back to the subway, and Chad basked in the spotlight of his gratitude.

As they waited for the Sixth Avenue Line, Chad’s attention was drawn to one of the many missing person’s posters that had been pasted to the pillar next to them.  It was a brunette female, about their age.  Very pretty.  She looked vaguely familiar.

Charlie followed his gaze.  “It’s terrible, isn’t it?” he said, softly.  “All these girls going missing.  I heard them say on the news that they think there might be a serial killer on the loose.

“If you ask me, they deserve it,” Chad scoffed.  “Those dumb bitches shouldn’t be so trusting.”

Charlie nodded earnestly.  “You’re so right, Chad,” he said.  “They shouldn’t.”

***

After an A on an assessment right before Christmas, Chad invited Charlie over for the holidays.  He knew he was an orphan – some tragic tale that he hadn’t bothered listening to properly because quite frankly he didn’t give a shit – so he really was being quite selfless, saving him from yet another day spent eating ten cent ramen noodles on his own and doing god knows what he did in his free time.

Chad’s parents took to Charlie immediately, especially his father.  They spent almost the whole of Charlie’s visit talking enthusiastically about plays and novels that Chad had never even heard of, let alone bothered to read.  Chad had never seen his friend so talkative, so alive as when he talked about the productions he’d seen, and the ones he one day hoped he’d have the opportunity to make.  

“What about you, Chad?” asked his father, trying to bring him into the conversation.  But Chad just shrugged, and went back to his cellphone. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been to the theater. Probably the last time he’d been forced to attend one of his dad’s boring opening nights …

He felt relieved when Charlie was gone, although he couldn’t quite put his finger on why that was.  But he definitely didn’t like the way his parents kept mentioning his friend fondly over the weeks and months that ensued ...

***

There was only so much that Charlie could do to help Chad with his final piece.  The old adage was true: you can take a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.  And you can give a budding young director all the help and advice in the world, but you can’t make up for a lack of imagination or creativity when it comes staging a performance …

Charlie’s piece – which happened to directly precede it - was lauded by their tutor, and their classmates.  Years from now, everyone would still be talking about it.

Chad’s was ripped to shreds.  He was humbled, humiliated, in front of everyone he knew.

When he walked into the party that night, Charlie was already there.  He had one girl sitting on his lap, and another clinging to his arm.  A large group of people had gathered around him, and they all seemed to be hanging on to his every word.

Chad hung back, watching.  Something twisted in his gut.  His blood felt like it was rising to a boil.  In the entire duration of his short, charmed life, he’d never felt anything resembling this sensation before.  Had he been more self-aware, he might have realized that it was jealousy.

As the night wore on, he made trip after trip to the bathroom, until the little plastic bag was empty and he had given himself a nosebleed.  He drank so much cheap Scotch that his limbs went numb.  But the burning, boiling, itching sensation in his veins only grew worse.

Finally, he found Charlie out on the roof, having a cigarette.  It was the first time he’d managed to catch him alone the entire evening. And since when did he smoke?

“Congratulation on your success,” Chad choked out.  The words tasted like ash in his mouth.  He took a couple of staggering steps forward.  God, his head was spinning.  

“Thank you,” said Charlie, evenly.  “I’m so sorry things didn’t go to plan for you.  I know how hard you tried.”

“You were supposed to help me,” Chad whined, sounding exactly like a petulant toddler. “Like I helped you.”

Charlie smiled lopsidedly.  “I did my best,” he said.  “But there’s only so much you can do with such a hopeless case.”

It took a while for the words to sink in, and for Chad to realize that he was being insulted.  “Fuck you!  Don’t start getting above yourself! You’re still a nobody,” he spat out.

Charlie was still smiling.  “I was a nobody,” he corrected.  “But now I’m somebody. Thanks to you, friend.  I’ll always be grateful.  I’ll always remember you.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Chad slurred.  “Why are you talking about me like that?  Are you going somewhere?”

He watched as Charlie dropped the cigarette butt on the ground, and stubbed it out.  As the other man advanced toward him, he wondered why he’d never noticed how tall he was.  How broad.  How strong. “You shouldn’t stand so close to the edge,” Charlie told him. “You’re drunk, and high as a kite.  Something bad could happen.”

Nothing bad had ever happened to Chad in his entire life, until today.  He couldn’t relate.  “Like what?”

Charlie’s smile was a wolf’s grin, sharp and dangerous.  His eyes were razor-bright.  “Even now, you don’t get it,” he said gently. Softly.  Like he was talking to a particularly naive child.  “You’re so dumb, Chad.  So trusting.  Like those bitches on the missing person’s posters.”

Chad was so wasted he couldn’t even process what he was hearing.  He just didn’t get it at all. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

Charlie sighed, and rolled his eyes. “This isn’t my usual style,” he said.  “But needs must, I suppose.  Oh, Chad.  I told you not to stand so close to the edge.”

And with one hand on the middle of Chad’s chest, he gave him a little shove.

By the time Chad registered what was happening, it was too late.

***

It was such a lovely memorial service.  

Everybody had such kind things to say about Chad that it was obvious most of them hadn’t known him well at all.

Chad’s father came and found Charlie at the wake, and pulled him into a hug so unexpected that it took Charlie a few moments to reciprocate. “Thank you for trying to save him,” he said.  “His mother and I are still reeling.  We had no idea how depressed he was.  Failing that last assignment must have been the final straw.”

Charlie nodded, sadly.  “I’m so sorry for your loss.  He wanted me to tell you both how much he loved you.  It was the last thing he said before …”  He tailed off, averting his eyes and swallowing thickly.  He let his lower lip tremble, like he’d seen people do in movies when they were upset.

“You were such a good friend to him.  I’m sure he appreciated it.”

“Thank you.  I just wish I could have saved him, you know?”

They stood in silence for a long while, and then the older man cleared his throat.  “There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you, Charlie.  His mother and I have decided to set up a foundation, to honor our son’s memory. Something that will help young people with talent to build their career in theater.  And we can’t think of anyone we’d rather have as the first recipient than you.  What do you say?”

Charlie accepted.  

Of course he did.

This had all been so easy.

[inkribbon796]

What a Beautiful Wedding Ch. 7: The Show Stopper

Summary: The heroes and Illinois go in to face up against the Actor.

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

When Ranboo’s portal opened up they were in some theater house, and the first thing that the group saw was Logan and Janus over Thomas’s unconscious body. Remus and Joan nearby.

“Logic!” Jackie raced over.

Logan started, almost hitting Jackie with one of his batons before the speedster jumped out of the way and Logan realized who it was. The logical Side visibly sagged in relief.

“Oh, good,” Logan commented, “you are all doing well.”

“Fookin’[1] relative,” Chase spat angrily, he wasn’t sure if it was being near Logan, or if he was just becoming more and more agitated the longer he spent without knowing if Dark was okay but his skin felt like it was trying to actively climb off of him as he got closer to the Sides.

“You three okay?” Silver flew over.

“No,” Logan admitted. “I do not know where the other Core Sides are, we lost sight of everyone else when we came here, and he won’t wake up. It is my estimation that something happened to the Core Sides and the shock knocked him out.”

“It must’a[2] been the Actor, he’s been doin’[3] weird stuff all day,” Jackie reported.

“Then the other Sides must be located before he can do any harm to them,” Logan decided.

“Go, I’ve got this,” Janus told Logan, summoning his staff and using his magic to pick Thomas up.

“We’ll keep him out of the line of fire,” Joan promised.

“Don’t take any unnecessary risks, not even for yourself,” Logan told them, looking straight into Joan’s eyes.

“Same goes for you, A.I Asimov,” Joan told him and he ran off with Janus and Remus. It left Logan with the others.

The logical Sides looked at the minors. “Unacceptable, what are you two doing here?”

“The bastard took Bomble an’[4] we weren’t just gonna[5] sit around with our heads up our arses[6], now were we?” Tommy glared at him as Ranboo looked around nervously.

“If splitting up weren’t terrible of an idea, I would demand it immediately,” Logan told him.

“Hey, Lo,” Jackie called out and a good sized green mechanical sphere flew out of Jackie’s suit. The large camera on the front shuttered open and closed before flying over to Logan.

“We can use him to scout the place out,” Jackie offered, motioning to SAM. “Figured he could keep takin’[7] pictures in here.”

“Good idea,” Logan told him, and connected to the orb, sending it around to look for any traces of a disturbance. The only nearby doors were the ones that lead to the main stage.

A set of double doors that Chase was already moving towards. Once he reached them, the marksman could hear faint mumbling from inside the auditorium. He began to creep in, Sam moving in slowly with him, but the instant Chase saw who was on the stage, all subtlety flew out the window.

“I don’t why you insist on throwing these tantrums,” Marc spat as he stood on the stage with Dark. “I’m giving you a leading role and still you want more?”

“Let go of me,” Dark spat, trying to twist himself free from the smoke that Marc was trapping him in, and trying to stab him at the same time. “I won’t be your villain.”

“Come on Dames, you’ve burned down an orphanage,” Marc chuckled as he threw Dark to the side. “Let’s not pretend. Besides, the bubbles you made were weak, they fell apart the instant someone poked at them. So give me the anomaly and I’ll make everything so much nicer.”

“I don’t have it,” Dark told him.

Marc glared at him furiously before he slapped Dark across the face, his claws out and so he left deep gashes in his face.

Dark became equally furious but when he moved to retaliate, Marc elbowed him sharply in the gut and his body dropped.

The Entity coughed up black, inky blood, the body he was inhabiting was screaming in pain. His souls screamed in rage. He wasn’t running out of aura but the body he was in was starting to reach its limit.

“Dames, we play the scene after we set the stage, so give me—” Marc snapped before he was pegged in the back by one of Chase’s TASER rounds. Ripping a scream from his lungs.

Jackie quickly raced in and snagged Dark, snatching him away and back to the group. Illinois almost immediately pulled Dark out of Jackie’s arms.

“Pass him ta[8] me,” Chase ordered.

“You need your hands to fight, I don’t,” Illinois spat at him, aura and magic coiling around him, ready to strike out like a whip.

As Logan entered the room after them, the logical Side looked around and saw one of the nearby pillars and froze in horror. He raced towards it. “Morality!”

The pillar was just a giant stasis tube where Patton was floating inside, unconscious and energy coursing around it. Logan looked around with SAM to see that the other three pillars contained the two other missing Sides, and Tubbo.

Logan felt rage come over him and Ranboo’s eyes tracked around the room as he portaled over to the other side and was at Tubbo’s pillar, the young boy’s radioactive iris symbol glowing faintly as his eyes were half closed in his torpor state.

“No! No!” Ranboo scratched at the pillar and started opening up a portal to pull Tubbo out.

“Get away from there!” The Actor threw a spear of black smoky aura at Ranboo and knocked him to the side, his aura pinning him down. “I’m not done with the brat yet.”

“Let go ‘a[9] him,” Tommy spat, Logan had to use nanites to pull Tommy out of the way.

“I am using them,” Marc scoffed. “They weren’t doing much good in their own stories so I pulled them into mine. Just give me the real anomaly, Dames, quit playing around. We can quit wasting our time with these garbage stories and do something better. Something airtight that isn’t subject to such impermanent and sudden change.”

“Stay away from him, yeh fookin shitestain!”[10] Chase shouted. “An’ yer gonna give e’eryone else back too.”[11]

Marc just stared at Chase in confusion before he held a finger up and pulled a couple papers out of nowhere, skimming through them for a very specific character description. “Who the fuck are you again?”

“Wait!” Actor paused before laughing. “Wait! Shit! When did that change? That’s right Ink said that kid had changed my script again for the thousandth time.” The last two words had been spat out bitterly despite his suddenly humored mood.

Then Actor smiled at Chase, the marksman keeping himself in-between Marc and Dark. “Well, well, like sister, like brother. Ruining one man’s life isn’t enough for you, so you grab for another? Thought Wil was supposed to be the whore of the relationship.”

“Shut the fook[12] up!” Chase took out one of his guns and just shot at him in a fury, he didn’t miss the way Dark flinched at Marc’s words, and felt even more fury boil inside his soul. The demon turned into smoke and the round went right through him, jumping down from the stage.

“You just into trigger happy gunmen or something?” Actor smiled. “Because you’re now two for two, at least, if you don’t include that French sword thrower I know you were fucking in university.”

“What part ‘a[9] “shut the fook[12] up” didn’t yeh[13] hear?” Chase demanded angrily.

“Oh, I know the perfect place to put you in my story, it’ll be perfect,” Marc said, his tone laced with threat and promise all in the same breath. “Illinois, bring him over.”

“No!” Illinois took a step back, he could tell that Dark was starting to nod off, his body dropping off into exhaustion and the last thing Illinois wanted was for this lunatic to put his hands on him again.

The denial seemed to actually make Marc angry, “Illinois. Junior. Get over here and give him to me.”

“I’m not your fucking kid, I’ll take your head off before I let you touch him,” Illinois couldn’t see Logan or the minors, but he didn’t know if Marc had done something to them or if they’d slipped off to carry out some kind of plan.

“Let’s not waste our time,” Marc stepped forward, he snapped his fingers and the room flickered back to the wedding gazebo. “Give him to me, we can go back to the wedding, make it look amazing, and then we can start this story off right. Come on, I don’t want to hurt you if I don’t have to.”

“Illinois is right to be suspicious of the Actor’s claims,” the Host announced from the stage. He had appeared there and spotlights snapped to look at him as the room darkened just a little bit. Dark roused a bit at the blind seer’s voice and he began weakly struggling a bit in Illinois’s arm.

“No, no, get away from him,” Dark whimpered, trying to open up a portal to drop the Host into but the Host was able to dispel it. “Not again.”

“You again,” Marc sneered. “Thought we agreed that you were going to be heard and not seen?”

“The Host agreed to no such terms, the Actor is insane and imagined words the Host never said,” the blind seer snapped. “The Host is a part of this story, just as much as the Actor or the Entity is.”

“An oversight, and a waste,” the Actor told him firmly.

“If the Actor minds,” the Host snapped. “He should stop digging his own grave and listen to the Host, before his time runs out.”

“Your monologue needs work, kid,” the Actor chuckled, but motioned for the Host to carry on.

“The Host would like the Actor to know that he will never successfully get any of the Entity’s children on his side,” the Host warned. “Even if he was a half-decent uncle, his track record speaks for itself. There is no one in the Actor’s family that he hasn’t harmed? A wife pushed away and sacrificed? A brother-in-law strangled to death? A brother the Actor helped drive insane? And a son, cast aside because the Actor was careless.” At the last one the Host smiled and gestured to himself.

Marc’s eyes narrowed, he looked confused. “What?”

The Host’s smile became a little more smug, and Illinois realized something that he only could have realized after meeting the Actor. Host and Actor had the exact same sharp, toothy grin. “Illinois is not the Actor’s child, he has no claim to Illinois, and even if they were related, it is abundantly clear that the adventurer wants nothing to do with him.”

Host’s aura coiled around him. “Jackie saved the Author from the Actor when he was thrown forward, the homes he had been in would have paled in comparison to the Actor’s sloppy and neglectful parenting. Had the Actor been subtle, had he known who his biological child was and tried to manipulate him, he might have been successful. Instead, he was careless and his son died.”

“Oh fuck,” Actor sighed overdramtically. “That makes sense.”

“The first mistake the Actor made, while the Host has existed, was targeting the Entity,” the Host warned.

There was a sudden explosion from one of the pillars and everyone turned to look at it. The Host finally was successful in distracting the Actor from what everyone else had been doing.

“No,” Marc realized before glaring at the Host. “What did you do?”

The Host smiled, “Well, the Actor insisted all the Host was good at doing was talking, and he was not wrong.”

Logan, who had been invisible suddenly surged out of the wiring of the system. Skeppy, Ponk, and Marvin had been invisible and working in the background to help Logan and the two minors work the four heroes free. The first one they were able to free was Roman who was immediately grabbed by Logan and passed off to Janus who was racing to bring Roman over to Thomas.

The illusion of the theater house began breaking down, looking half like the destroyed wedding scene, and the theater house. Marc looked over at Logan in a wild fury before he burst into smoke and as Ranboo was trying to get Tubbo out. The teen was kicked to the side.

“Hey!” Ranboo shouted in distress as the Actor embedded his aura into Tubbo’s pillar as Patton and Virgil were both dropped out of their stasis tanks.

“I don’t think so, I have worked too hard for all of this to go down the drain,” Marc spat at him. “If you all get the other ones, I get this one.”

“Give him back!” Tommy shouted.

“Drop the kid before you get dropped.”

Ranboo turned at the sound of that voice and saw someone he didn’t expect. It was Eret who was standing with Puffy and Foolish. He’d rushed to the scene when Quackity and Foolish had reported that Tubbo had gone missing.

“Who the hell are you?” Marc asked

Eret flipped her hair, they adjusted their sunglasses and gestured to herself, “Eret’s the name. An’[4] my dear, you are going to release Tubbo or my boot will be the last thing you see.”

“I don’t think so,” Marc said, noticing the guy in a white hoodie with a sniper rifle trained on him. He started summoning up aura to rip a portal open. “This kid’s got more aura than half of you combined. He’s no anomaly, but he’s powerful enough to do what I want.”

“Wrong answer,” Eret summoned a sword, Sam creeping closer with a trident in his hands. “You see Tubbo might be staying with the heroes, but we all are rather attached to him.”

“Well too bad,” Marc said smugly, “you two-bit villains couldn’t beat me if you tried.”

Punz released an arrow, Virgil had made his way over to him and laced the arrow with his magic. It phased through Marc and hit the stasis pillar.

“Hah!” Marc gloated. “You can’t hit shit! You villains are nothing compared to me!”

A bubbling started forming as Virgil’s magic infected the magic of the stasis pillar, Tubbo starting to have a nightmare as the liquid inside looked like it was bubbling.

“You haven’t heard, asshole?” Virgil grinned weakly. “Everyone loves the villain.”

The pillar cracked and Ranboo raced in, immediately teleporting Tubbo away behind the rest of the Server members, scoping him ever so gently into his arms. He made little hissing and vwooping noises of distress. “Tubbs‽”

“Hghnnn,” Tubbo groaned, mumbling. “Put me down, you fuckin’[1] giraffe.”

Ranboo let out a relieved laugh as he gently touched his forehead to the side of Tubbo’s head. “Let’s go home, Bo.”

“Tub-man,” Quackity raced over. “You hurt?”

“Oh my goodness, Ranboo, gimme[14],” Puffy demanded, racing over and setting her forehead against Tubbo’s. “Gimme.”[14]

Tubbo made little groans of complaint as people fused over him.

Foolish and Sam pulled out their tridents and forced a defensive wall in front of the pair. They let Tommy through with barely a nod in his direction.

“You okay?” Eret asked.

Tubbo nodded.

Eret turned to Ranboo, “Make sure he actually gets some rest, the poor thing takes after Sam too much.”

“I will,” Ranboo stood up as his eyes turned purple and he opened up one of his portals and left for the attic room in the Bee ‘n Boo. He immediately set him down on the bed to let him rest.

As Actor was preoccupied with Tubbo getting away, Host opened up a portal to bring Illinois, Chase, and Dark to stand behind him.

“Illinois should move the Entity closer to the Host, the Entity can feed off of his aura long enough to revive himself,” the Host ordered, taking a step back.

Illinois nodded, “He’s not going to fracture again, right?”

“No, the Entity’s soul is tired, but not drained,” the Host told him, his aura sinking into the Entity. Dark was trying to open up a portal to take Illinois and Host away.

“아빠[15] come on, we’re trying to help,” Illinois had to move in to disrupt the portal several times. Dark was slowly getting stronger and Illinois doubted if he couldn’t convince Dark to calm down, that he’d hurt himself.

Marc took one angry step towards Illinois and Dark, opening his mouth to say something, but Silver flew forward and punched Marc in the face. “I think you’ve been talking long enough.”

Jackie sped in to force the Actor back against the wall as Dark ripped a portal open and he alone slipped inside of it. The Entity emerged from Jackie’s shadow as he surged up and pulled something out of the Void with him. The Entity moving quickly and without mercy or hesitation.

Dark smiled at Marc as a soul splitter embedded in Marc’s chest. “That’s for what you did to Average.”

Then Dark forced more aura into him and Marc’s soul violently discorporated. The demon had drawn in too much aura for Dark to snap his soul in half quite so easily.

But he was gone and Dark just stood there, the body he was in burning and a sense of triumph slowly bubbling up inside of him.

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

Accessibility Translations:

1. Fucking

2. must have

3. doing

4. and

5. going to

6. asses

7. taking

8. to

9. of

10. Stay away from him, you fucking shitstain!

11. And you’re going to give everyone else back too.

12. fuck

13. you

14. give me

15. Dad. Informal, read phonetically as: Appa.

[death-himself]

Love is Dead—Chapter 2

Summary: Janus tells a gruesome story to Roman while trying to figure out why Patton looked so cute (aka Janus fails No Simp September)

Word Count: 1,139

Warnings: Blood, Stabbing, Talk of death

previous next (AO3 Link)

A week had gone by of Janus simply observing the family. They got along well with each other, and clearly trusted each other quite a bit. If he did something truly awful to one of them, the rest would surely believe it and decide to move out.

He spent most of his time observing Patton. He wasn’t sure why; Patton wasn’t even the one in the house most often. It would be much more interesting to try and find a way into Virgil’s room, and to get a proper look at the teen.

But no, he just had to watch this idiot study for three hours straight. That was what he had decided to spend his afterlife doing. As he sat on Patton’s desk, watching his blue eyes glance between his book and laptop, he couldn’t help but study him further.

Not just blue eyes, the color of a bright blue sky on a perfect day, the kind of day his mother would have forced him out of the house to enjoy. His shoulder-length strawberry blonde hair appeared soft and fluffy; Janus was tempted to reach out his hand and run his fingers through it. The freckles covering his cheeks looked perfect enough to have been painted by the gods themselves and—

Janus shook himself out of his stupor, confused by his own thoughts. What was he doing? What was he thinking? Why was he thinking those things? He drew in a deep breath, trying to calm his suddenly racing mind.

This was fine. It wasn’t unusual to find the person you absolutely despise to be at least a bit attractive, right? Janus hated the moron’s guts, but he still had the ability to tell when someone’s cute. Yes, this was fine. Why bother overthinking it? Overthinking got him nowhere.

He watched Patton for a bit longer, before the thoughts began to truly disturb him, and he had no other choice but to leave. He drifted into the kitchen, seeing Virgil with his hoodie covering his face grab a bag of chips before making his way back to his room. Janus floated after him, trying to follow him in, only to smack face first into his salt-crystal combo barrier. Something was definitely weird with that kid.

He opted to watch the twins instead; perhaps he could get a scream out of Roman.

But, after floating through the twins’ wall he realized: Roman screams a lot already. Remus was cackling with childish glee as he smacked his brother over and over with his foam sword. “Get off of me!” Roman screeched.

“Say that I won!”

“You cheated!”

“I won though!” Remus glanced up for a moment, eyes locking onto Janus, and his smile widened. “Mr. Ghost! Tell him I won!” Roman looked up to see who Remus was talking to, staring for a moment at Janus, before his eyes teared up and he began to cry and scream even louder.

“Oh come now, is the crying really necessary?” Janus sighed, moving closer to the two. Roman finally managed to worm his way out from under Remus, grabbing his pillow off his bed and chucking it at Janus. Obviously, it passed right through him.

“Evil see-through man!” Roman shouted, pointing accusingly at him.

“What made you think I’m evil?”

“The blood?” Janus glanced down at the bloody, torn cloak he had died in. Maybe now was his chance.

“Would you like to know how this happened?” He asked darkly.

“Can I touch it first?” Remus chirped.

“No.” He glared down at Remus for a moment, before regaining his composure, taking a seat on Roman’s bed. “You see, I was the owner of this house once. I inherited it from my father, actually. One night I was at the local theater rehearsing for a play.” His lips pulled into a sly smile.

“I remember you saying you wanted to be an actor one day, is that correct Roman?” The kid nodded hesitantly.

“I was rehearsing for this play, and invited my best friend home with me, home to this very house. He was meant to be my stand-in for if I were too sick to perform. I went up into the attic of this house to find some props we had needed for the play.” Janus ran a hand across his bloody chest and stomach, pausing for a moment to create some tension.

“When I turned around, there he was, holding a knife and with his eyes wide and manic. Then he ran at me and sunk his blade into my heart!” Roman whimpered, Janus simply continued.

“He stabbed me a few more times for good measure, then watched as I bled out. And that’s why, young man, you should be careful trusting. Anyone could be willing to kill for what you have. Maybe even your own twin.”

That’s what did Roman in. He glanced at Remus nervously, who decided to push his fear even further by lifting his foam sword in what seemed in Roman’s mind to be a threatening manner. He ran out the room screaming for Virgil, the sound of the teen’s door slamming open and closed ringing through the hall.

Janus smiled, proud of himself. While scaring a child wasn’t very impressive, it would help him get his house back. And that’s all he truly cared about. Patton peeked into the room, blinking in confusion as he looked around.

“Remus, what did you say to Roman?”

“Mr. Ghost said it, not me!”

“Okay...and what did Mr. Ghost say?”

“He said he was stabbed to death! Like this!” Remus proceeded to stab the air with his sword. Patton nodded slowly, concern in his eyes. He cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Okay, well uh...Mr. Ghost?” It was more than a little obvious Patton wasn’t actually trying to talk to Janus, but the idea that he was made the spirit listen.

“Please don’t tell Roman...or Remus about being stabbed? I’d really appreciate it.” The confusion in his tone made Janus want to laugh. He really had no idea what was going on, did he? The concern was a bit cute, though, he had to admit. Maybe he shouldn’t try and scare the twins—

No, the concern of an idiot shouldn’t faze him. He had no reason to care what he thought. Absolutely none.

The idiot in question then smiled brightly, coaxing his brother into putting down his sword and coming into the kitchen to prepare lunch with him. His smile was so frustrating. Janus went back to his attic, leaning against a dusty box with a huff. Why was he thinking of Patton’s smile? It was such a ridiculous thing to think about.

The idea of someone smiling at him like that was a pleasant one, though.

Maybe he’ll put aside all his plans for the twins for later.

Tagging: @rebelrewriter @arodynamic-enby @bullet-tothefeels (I’ve never done a taglist before, so you’re gonna have to tell me if this works)

[curatedkmen]

“Closer”chapter II

Song rec: Blood Knows - Rhye

2016

“Seonho have you met everyone? This is Bae Sung Woo hyungnim, Park Sodam, and…” Le Dong Ha was introducing everyone to Seonho who just came in the theatre meeting room for a first script reading with the cast of “Closer.”

Closer. The theatre play that leave a huge impression in Seonho’s heart, mind, and body. After the alley accident that happened 6 years ago, Seonho could not get rid of Geunyoung’s image in his head. Well despite the fact that Moon Geunyoung is an actress and she is everywhere on tv so it’s impossible to forget her face but he specifically could not get rid of the image of Geunyoung kissing him and moaning between their kisses while his three fingers were moving deep inside her. That night when he went home, he was feeling a little pain and discomfort on his scrotum. The guy was feeling the symptoms of blue balls from holding that erection for a long time without having an orgasm. He got home riding the subway, went to his room and took a bath, feeling ecstatic from remembering Geunyoung’s face when she came and painful at the same time from his dick. 

A month after that alley accident, yes, Seonho prefered to call it an accident because both can't possibly know that they were gonna make out in an alley with strangers they just met in a club, Seonho went to the military. Fulfilling his duty as a South Korean citizen for 18 months and came back again as a theatre actor. 

He continued to land on offers and more offers for a theatrical role. He was given the nickname “theatre idol” because of how famous he is amongst the theater fans due to his great acting and irresistible dimples. His career gradually grew as he got more important roles and played in biggere auditoriums, which showed how more and more people were expecting his performance on stage. 

He continued with his life and had a couple of girlfriends but no one could ever help him forget Moon Geunyoung. 

One day in April, Seonho received news from his theatre crews about a role in “Closer” stage play that was going to be held in the second half of the year. He was offered the role of Dan.

When he first got a call from the directors, he almost lost his shits. He was so happy because he loved the play so much, the range of emotions, the dialogues, and the build up was so stupidly intense but delicate at the same time so as a theatre freak he was so excited to challenge himself in that role. 

“Kim Seonho-ssi, I’m sure you've heard about the offer, so I just want to confirm if you would like to join us on this year’s “Closer.” I watched you a lot already, I couldn’t watch “True West” but I watched “Almost Maine” and you were brilliant in it.”

“Yes, Director. I would love to join you. It is an honor, really. I have been a fan of “Closer” for a really long time. I would love to challenge myself to bring Dan into life this time.”

“Wonderful, I’m so glad to hear that. Oh did you perhaps watch “Closer” in 2010?”

“Yes, yes I did. It was a month before my enlistment so I couldn’t miss it”

“Actually we will have some of the same actors from “Closer” 2010 but it is still being discussed”

Seonho almost could not believe his ears. Same actors? Don't tell me she’s gonna play as Alice again? I’m not sure I can behave for the second time looking at her in that freaking dress for fuck sake.

“Really? Which actors is it?”

“Bae Sung Woo and I’m not sure again with the others. But I’m sure you’ll see them all in two weeks for our first reading”

“Okay Director, I will see you in two weeks then. Thank you very much again for this opportunity”

Seonho couldn't get the thought out of his mind that Geunyoung might be acting again on this year's closer again but he just decided to not let that thought bother him or even to ask the director about it and see for himself if In two weeks he will find her in the room for their first script reading.

Two weeks went by and he finally met his co-stars on the first group reading when he first entered the room. He quickly screened everyone out to make sure the girl that he would love to see once again but at the same time also the girl that he would hate to see in this setting is not in the room. Thankfully she was not there. 

“Sunbaenim, I actually went and saw ‘Closer’ six years ago and I watched the one where you were acting as Larry. I just wanna say that I admire you as an actor and it is an honor to be able to act in this year’s ‘Closer’ with you” Seonho said to Bae Sung Woo as they wrapped up the script reading session. 

“Thank you Seonho. It is like a fate then that you’re here now acting as Dan six years later. I’m really looking forward to your performance, I’m sure it’s gonna be great” 

Next to Bae Sung Woo was Park Sodam who acted as Alice in the play. She overheard Seonho talking to Sung Woo and jumped into the conversation. 

“You’re so lucky Oppa, I did not watch the Closer in 2010, I wish I did. Did you watch the one where Sung Woo Oppa and Geunyoung Unnie were in it?”

“Uhm yeah actually I watched the one with Moon Geunyoung in it” Seonho answered her question while trying to stay calm.

“Oh gosh, I bet she was amazing as Alice. I should call her and ask for advice.”

Seonho forgot for a second that these people in front of him have been working in the industry for years and it came as no surprise that they knew Geunyoung, the verteran actress. Suddenly, he felt a hand landed on his right shoulder, he looked towards his right, apparently Park Eunsok, the one who was gonna play Dan other than him, now stood beside him. 

“Hey you should invite her to come to our play Sodam-ah. For old time sake. I’m sure she would love to see it. I will contact her as well so she’ll come hahaha. Sung Woo Hyung you should also invite her!” Park Eunseok said eagerly.

Fuck, oh right he worked with her in that drama last year. Why does everyone know her? Well she could come when Park Eunseok plays instead then I’ll be saved. I’ll just see her from far away in the audience seats. 

A month later, after countless practice, they finally had their first show. Seonho had been so busy practicing for his role that he forgot about his worries about the possibility of Geunyoung watching the show for a while. He did a lot of shows already for 2 weeks and he had not seen Geunyoung in sight. He thought maybe she came already when Park Eunseok was playing as Dan and he did not even bother to ask Sodam or Eunseok because he could not even bear saying her name in front of her colleagues or friends. 

Until one day, in the middle of the show, he was saying his lines for the scene where he was arguing with Alice. He sat on a chair facing towards the right side of the audience. As the emotion built up, among the words of Dan, he spotted those eyes. 

The eyes that he could not possibly forget since he first saw them so close six years ago. Moon Geunyoung was amongst the audience. Wearing a black dress and a grey sweater on top of it. Even in the darkness he could see her eyes shining. He was lost in her eyes for a split second as she was also looking at him from her seat before he continued to deliver his lines. His heart was beating so fast he felt like he could explode on that stage in that second. The sudden adrenaline rush has caused him to scream louder when he finally hit the moments where he had to show frustrations to Alice. He thought that maybe letting it all out would reduce the surge of energy that he was feeling after he saw Geunyoung in the audience. 

The show finally ended, successfully, like usual. All casts went backstage to do a short evaluation and to pray once again for another successful show next week. Afterwards, usually the cast’s close friends or colleagues approached them backstage to say congrats and all. 

Seonho was talking to one of his college friends when he saw Geunyoung again, entering the room and went straight to Park Sodam to congratulate her. She had not seen him yet so Seonho had the liberty to stare at her still in disbelief from across the room since he was not able to do it in the auditorium. Not long after, Bae Sung Woo and Park Eunseok approached Geunyoung and Park Sodam. Seonho can see the four of them talking and laughing from where he was standing.

Not long after, his college friend bid him goodbye and so he was finally left alone. He was not able to think straight. He knew that Geunyoung just saw his performance on stage and now she is in the room standing just 7 metres from where he was standing. He did not have the guts to approach her. Not tonight. So he just packed up his stuff hurriedly and when he was finally done, he turned around and he felt like his heart dropped. Park Sodam was standing in front of him. 

“Kkamjjag-iya, why Sodam-ah? What’s wrong?” he said hurriedly while putting his right hand on his chest. 

Park-Sodam looked at him while trying to hide her laugh, “why are you so surprised Oppa? Hahaha you’re so red right now.”

“It’s just, because it’s hot here.”

“Wait are you leaving? No way, I want to introduce you to Geunyoung Unnie first. You’ll love her. You don't know her right?”

“No it’s fine you don't have-” 

Before he could finish his sentence, Sodam was already calling Geunyoung, “Unnie, come here” and she looked towards them. Now he could not possibly just run away. As Geunyoung walked towards them, he could feel his heart beating even faster every time she took a step closer to him. 

“This is Kim Seonho Oppa, he played as Dan earlier. He is good right? He said he saw Closer in 2010 when you were in it. Talking about fate huh and now he is in it”  

Geunyoung was standing in front of him, looking even more dazzling, mature and beautiful from the last time he saw her. 

“It’s nice to finally meet you again Seonho-ssi. It’s been awhile” she offered her hand and he shook it while trying his best to stay calm and to not smile creepily. The moment his hand touched hers, he felt like screaming inside. 

“Wait, you guys know each other? How?” Sodam asked in curiosity. Before he could answer Sodam, Geunyoung spoke.

“We had a drink together after my show in 2010, i met him in that Jazz club near this auditorium.” 

Seonho was so surprised at her answer, he thought she would pretend to not recognize him and besides, forgetting a face of a stranger after 6 years of not meeting them is understandable for him. Even when that stranger fingered you the first time you met. 

“Really? But you guys did not know each other before that? Interesting“ Sodam said as she smiled at both of them cheekily. “Well, you guys should catch up then. I’m gonna talk to Eunseok Oppa for a sec” and so they were left alone. 

“You look so handsome Seonho-ssi. I was enjoying your performance earlier. Dan really suits you. Finally I got to see you on stage six years later huh” Geunyoung broke the silence. She was lying when she said he was handsome. She thought he looked so hot the whole time Seonho was acting as Dan on stage, but she could not bring herself to say that. That suit and tie and the way he delivered his lines and acted out Dan’s emotions was so sexy. She could feel herself as Alice as she fell in love with this Dan on stage. 

“Thank you. You look-” he took a pause to find the appropriate words, “very pretty tonight. Thanks for coming to our show.” 

“When I saw you on stage, I wished I was Alice.” 

Seonho could not believe what Geunyoung just said to him. He stared at her in silence, hoping the woman in front of him would say something but she just stood there smiling at him.

“What do you mean?” 

“I guess I’ve missed you? Can we talk in private?”