#i think we can still show a little bit of powers without too much sfx

[pocketramblr]

"if i had a million dollars" Well, if we never use the licensed names that's a lot less money right there, also no known actors so that is cheaper too, show no superpowers and we save a lot on special effects. We're still looking at a lot of money but not that much...

Now that's true! New goal: if I had a hundred grand....

[citowon]

spring troupe and gender neutral s/o watch horror movies

about time i finally write for this blog... i was hit with the image of masumi watching a horror movie with his s/o, thought how lovely it would be if there was content of that, then realized i have that power now

word count: 1,935

tags: established relationship, non-detailed mentions of horror themes (gore, monsters, etc)

sakuya sakuma

🌸 when the topic of a horror movie date first comes up, he’s a bit scared. he’s only seen a couple, one of which was for mankai play research.

🌸 when it’s actually showing, though, he’s pretty calm! the anticipation was the worst part, and he somehow doesn’t get scared even during the most terrifying movie of the year. he’s great at reminding himself it’s just fictional in the end

🌸 vampires? not scary. aliens? he thinks they’re cute! gore? well, yeah, it’s unnerving at first but it’s all fake, and once he reminds himself of that he’s fine

🌸 he gets scared at the littlest things though. there might be a continuity error where a knife is in its holder on the counter in one shot and then removed the next, and no one in the movie acknowledges it nor is it supposed to mean anything but he can and will psych himself out thinking about just what moved it

🌸 king of predicting plot twists! he might be very good at spotting continuity errors, but he’s even better at picking out little bits of foreshadowing and putting together the mystery

🌸 gets spooked the most by jumpscares. every time he squeaks a bit (on really bad ones he might scream) and every time he always does the same embarrassed sigh afterwards and goes to squeeze your hand to calm himself

🌸 psychological horror is definitely the best pick for sakuya. he thinks a lot about what’ll happen next in the movie and loves to discuss about movies with you regardless of the genre, so with thought-provoking psychological films it fits him like a glove

🌸 and hey, if things ever get too intense he loves b-list horror movies! he thinks the bad acting is endearing and always finds something to compliment even with the trashiest, corniest flick

🌸 if you ever get uncomfortable, he might commentate in the movie and try to poke fun at it- i mean, the killer clown is kind of funny! look how bright and colorful it is compared to the rest of the set! he keeps his voice light and sunny so you have something comforting to concentrate on

masumi usui

🎧 he loves the idea of horror night. cuddling with you, holding you protectively as the suspense rises, stealing kisses to distract you from the monster and erase your fear...

🎧 he’s only seen a few horror movies in his life, less than the fingers he has on one hand, but whatever. it’s a movie. it’s not real. if he got too immersed he could just tell himself it’s fake and be done with it.

🎧 spoiler alert: he didn’t.

🎧 masumi did not, and i repeat, did NOT expect to get so invested??? even if you’re scared, he’s definitely the most terrified

🎧 that’s not to say he’ll show it. he’s doing everything to keep a neutral face, and you’ll probably assume he’s holding to you tighter during the scary parts like he’s protecting you.

🎧 (it’s actually because you’re the one [1] thing grounding him. you’re protecting him, not the other way around! in hindsight, he likes being cared for even when he thought he’d be the one spoiling you, not the other way around. he just wishes it didn’t have to be during such a scary movie, that’s all)

🎧 will take his fear to the grave... unless you ask him directly about it. please hold him and tell him the monsters aren’t real, even though he’s a heavy sleeper he will stay up until 3 am, his mind reminding him how creepy the movie was every time he’s about to drift off

🎧 so does not fuck with ghosts, if he didn’t believe in them before he certainly does now. the poor guy looks up how to ward away spirits and ends up carrying around a salt packet on him for the next two weeks

tsuzuru minagi

📖 tsuzuru’s not exactly a horror fan. he claims it’s brainless and pointless

📖 (admittedly he’s a little scared of them, but he still thinks they’re dependent on shock alone, and have zero rewatch value since the writing is more focused on in-the-moment spooks than actual plot.)

📖 he’ll roll his eyes and tease you a little but eventually he’ll go along with watching a horror movie

📖 to psych himself out of his fear tsuzuru decides to watch them critically and note what plot points to do (or more likely not to do) for future plays

📖 this works out for the beginning but by the middle of the movie he’s enraptured. he can’t tell if it’s actually good or if it’s a car wreck he can’t help but watch

📖 does the corny move where he yawns and wraps an arm around you, and you’d almost buy it from his earlier cynicism but then the killer shows their face and he tenses up like hell and you just know

📖 gets embarrassed every time he’s scared- he even turns pink, and gets even redder if you try to hold his hand or cuddle him closer (even though there’s nothing he’d want more after something that creepy)

📖 by the end he’s got a few new ideas that might go to autumn or winter troupe’s latest plays, and admits okay, fine, maybe horror isn’t so pointless after all

itaru chigasaki

🎮 screw movies, you’re playing horror games instead!

🎮 most of itaru’s horror games are single-player, so one of you takes the controller while the other sits next to the player, but itaru’ll drape his arms around you from behind in a back hug the entire time you play

🎮 he doesn’t really shut up. the entire time, he’s either cracking a joke or trying to freak you out more, if only so he doesn’t get in his head and overthink the creepy atmosphere

🎮 asshole only quiets down when the game gets tense, and then suddenly puts his hands around your shoulders or neck to scare you. regardless if you fall for it or not, he always laughs at himself and just-so-happens to break the tension as a scary cutscene plays

🎮 still commentates when he’s the player, but gasps or jumps even at small atmospheric scares

🎮 itaru definitely overthinks the game. he gets super cautious over tiny details and makes the missions way harder than they should be since he keeps overestimating the enemy line of sight and how noisy the avatar is

🎮 if you happen to be playing a co-op horror it’s a constant “no u” battle over who should do the scariest tasks

🎮 “reader, we need to cleanse the room next. you should do it” “no, you should do it. you have the quartz item remember” “i can give it to you since you have the ghost ward” “the ghost ward doesn’t apply to this quest, besides, you’re better at this ghost attack quick time event than me” “no it does, and you’re more optimized” “i can just give the items to you-“ “no you should do it” “no you” “no you” “no you” “no y-”

🎮 you both lose

citron

🍋 citron loves horror movies! he thinks they’re... comforting?

🍋 turns out he’s only seen movies about cursed dolls and b-horror, which explains a lot- he loves dolls too much to be scared by them and he thinks b-list horror is hilarious- but he’ll still proudly proclaim he’s unflappable and swear to protect you from the bad guys

🍋 when you’re actually watching the movie you can’t tell if he’s faking his reactions or not. he’s very noisy

🍋 he gets scared enough during the gruesome and horrific scenes to hold you close and tight like a teddy bear, and during the worst of it he might muffle a scream by diving into the crook of your neck, obscuring his vision until the scene changes

🍋 and yet, he laughs at the next scene’s unrealism, and manages to poke enough fun at the movie that you giggle and his terror disappears, he loves your laugh way more than he can be afraid of monsters

🍋 can’t do gore for the life of him, but when it comes to the actual plot, he’s rather critical of characters acting dumb. he catches on to nonsensical writing quick, but usually asks you to clarify the plot holes before realizing that he found a loophole in the writing

🍋 whenever you’re scared and not even his goofy reactions and commentary can help, he plants a sweet kiss on your cheek, strokes your hair, and holds you close to his chest until the fear goes away. he’s surprisingly good at protecting you from the movie

🍋 after the movie he’ll say his country has a similar legend to the movie monsters, but he claims the legends are true in zafra, and zafrans have a very specific tradition to prevent the monsters from attacking them

🍋 the movie also gave citron the idea of creepily standing behind you silently until you turn around and get startled, or occasionally chanting in a strange, cultish language and pretending he didn’t say a thing, or making a doll with the same markings as the clown puppet from the movie...

🍋 citron continues to be even scarier than the actual horror movie, but can’t wait until the next horror night! maybe watching it was a bad idea after all...

chikage utsuki

🌙 chikage just doesn’t get the appeal of horror. it’s just a fake movie, why do people get so creeped out by terrible sfx and unrealistic monsters?

🌙 he’s seen scarier things than any werewolf pack, zombie outbreak, or witch coven can throw at him. if you insist on watching a scary movie, fine, he’ll be happy to let you sit on his lap, just don’t expect to creep him out as well, or else you’ll be sorely disappointed.

🌙 he analyzes the movie more than he watches it, but doesn’t speak up even though the fight scenes look pitiful. if this were real life, he’d sweep the whole brood of shambling monstrosities in record time and be back home in time for izumi’s curry

🌙 chikage runs his hands under your shirt whenever the monster’s on screen to scare you. it’s actually really creepy- his fingers are light and quick and always makes you flinch, even if you know it’s just your boyfriend

🌙 he’ll listen to your thoughts about the movie, but doesn’t have strong opinions himself. he thinks the scares are mediocre at best, even without considering his background, but won’t mention how unrealistic it was unless you mention it first.

🌙 psychological horror, however, is a whole different story

🌙 maybe chikage can’t get scared by generic spirit halloween monsters but once you introduce thought-provoking plot, questions and dilemmas, now he’s hooked

🌙 he really likes wondering if the protagonist is actually the good guy and making theories about the origins of the monsters and why they’re so destructive, even if he forgets about them once the movie’s over.

🌙 love love looooves the “the monsters were harmless creatures before humans dished out the first blow” trope. he knows how common it is, but there’s a lot of ways to go about it, especially on a subtextual level, and he just can’t get enough

🌙 the deeper the plot is, expect a longer conversation about the ins and outs of it. they get surprisingly thoughtful and introspective, even if chikage throws in a few bullshit stories related to the movie just to watch you squirm

[wizkiddx]

unusable faces

i have exams hence why i needed to write something exceptionally cringe :)

PSA: this is completely inspired from one of my fave writers own blurb @blissfulparker​ --> completely recommend u go read hers its much better than anything i could ever write!!!! (and just her whole account) = link

Summary: pure exhaustion and mutual pining, Tom Holland x actress!reader

^(just thought this was cute, doesn't really fit aha but full credit to op!!)

A scheduling nightmare would be putting it lightly. Perhaps almost unavoidable but that didn’t make it any less of a hellish form a torture. Harry had very helpfully said it actually was a form of torture, that is sleep deprivation. Y/n loved her job - it was all she’d ever really wanted - yet that thought was quickly becoming not enough to get her through the day. Not when it felt like an interrogation tactic used by the CIA. 

To give a quick timeline of the past few days may give a little context:

Thursday - filming the fight scene all day plus an evening-turned-half-the-night-shoot due to some technically difficulties delaying the process.

Friday - flying to New York while doing read throughs of scenes for the next few days; followed immediately by getting glammed and filming the tonight show with Fallon; then a dash across town to the late late show with James Corden; then straight back on a flight to Atlanta that landed at stupid o’clock in the morning

Saturday - a full day of shooting in a mock grand central station set

The press trip to NY had been unplanned… to say the least. But the star of their studios other new release had taken ill - meaning they had slots booked on some of the biggest talk shows in America that would just be abandoned (angering the shows bookers too). It was a waste of perfectly good promo time and since the studio had their two other stars together doing a block of reshoots - it wasn’t a conversation. Much more a call demanding the two of them to be on the plane.

Normally this wouldn’t be such an unmanageable ask either, except the reshoot block was really rather time pressured. You see, the promo tour wasn’t far from beginning meaning they really needed the final film in the can. So really it was a bit of a mess. Just to free up that single day the two were in New York the whole schedule had had to be rejigged - in doing so they’d lost a rare day off too. It was just typical.  

The joys of success hey?

Well, that’s at least what Y/n was making herself think whilst her incredibly talented SFX artist was in the process of crafting a deep wound onto her upper arm. The reason why she would be ‘dripping with blood’ whilst at a train station was beyond Y/n to be honest - she hadn’t been allowed to read a lot of the script so even now as filming was drawing to a close, the story arc of the movie she was headlining was still a little ‘fuzzy’.

“So I watched your ‘spill your guts’ thing on YouTube” Ellie giggled whilst reaching over for more prosthetic putty- a technical term apparently

“I’m glad one of us enjoyed the experience” Y/n replied with a sigh, rolling her eyes at the mischievous smirk on her face - no doubt Ellie took great joy out of seeing her suffer through eating a thousand year old egg. Which Y/n swore the taste of was still in her mouth… and it seemed as though it’d never leave. 

“Oh don’t worry darling I did too” Nelli called over from the next chair along, where she was doing Tom’s makeup for the day of shoots. “Between that and the animals on Fallon, you made a hell of a lot of people laugh last night” Tom’s artist was referencing the fact one of Jimmys other guests was a zookeeper, so at the end of the interview he had you and Tom join in trying not to scream at the snakes and spiders.

“You mean laugh at us?” 

“Well of course darling!” Nelli exclaimed back in an overdramatic bronx accent making all three of the women burst out laughing, Ellie’s unceremonious snorts echoing through the trailer only egged them all on more.

Tom in response, who had otherwise been absent from conversation for the majority of the morning, exclaimed a curse and jumped up in his chair. While you and Ellie collected yourself, Nelli apologised to him.

“Oh sorry love, I’m interrupting your snooze with my uncontrollable comedic gift” She spoke sweetly, even if still taking the moment to flaunt to the other women, as she squeezed his shoulder compassionately.

“No no” Tom waved off her apology, attempting to rub his eye before Nelli swatted his arm away - a stern look for the risk of ruining all her hard work she’d put into making his face look half presentable. 

“I’m impressed you can sleep while they poke you with all these er instruments” Y/n added in, having only just realised Tom had been in a light sleep for god knows how long they’d been in that chair. It did seem a bit unlikely, being able to fall asleep as you were dabbed, prodded and brushed. 

“Maybe you should try though Y/n… your purple eye bags are proving a struggle even for me” Ellie quipped back, now it was Y/n’s turn to give the stern look. Tom took the explain though, shutting her off from whatever kindly meant insult she was about to throw back at her friend. 

“No normally never, I just….” He was cut off by an ear splitting yawn, appearing almost powerful enough to crack his jaw - which would be a disaster, for no one should ruin such a beautiful and sharp jaw line. “…uh-sorry. I just think I ended up taking my NyQuil and DayQuil the wrong way round in the madness of yesterday.” Only Tom, the poor kid often seemed to lacking in any form of common sense - even if those closest to him knew just how intellectual and passionate he could be about the right topic. Affectionately, Nelli scalded his idiocy by jokingly swatting his head with a little tut.

“I can’t believe your still standing then! I’m barely alive and I don’t have any sedatives in my system.” It was true, Y/n was at that stage where every part of her body felt ridiculously heavy… eyes included … eyes especially. 

“But I did sleep on the jet back while your stupid self was studying the script!” Tom replied with a pretty inarguable point - at the time he knew her actions were stupid;  when their flight took off at 11 PM he was certain that the most valuable asset to his ability to act in the reshoots today would be sleep - rather than character development. And he’d tried to convince Y/n that briefly, but gave up. She was bloody stubborn when she wanted to be. 

“Stop competing about who has it worse cos I think it’s me and Nell”Ellie announced - making Nelli agree empathically with her coworker, nodding her head as she looked first to Y/n in her chair then back at Tom.

“Yeh because we have to deal with your unusable faces!!”

After much sarcasm thrown back and fourth, the trailer slowly ebbed it’s way back into serenity and peace as both artists focused on their work. Once Nelli was done she excused herself, Tom staying in the chair in favour of studying (more like staring blankly) at the dialogue for this mornings scenes. His pretence didn’t last long though and while Ellie was busy adding the final touches of fake blood to the now almost completely believable gash that she’d crafted on Y/n’s arm - Y/n had her attention focused the opposite way.

At poor little Tom. He looked so childlike, his slightly puffy eyes looked as if they had weights tied to them - they way he was having fight against gravity to flutter his eyes open, before loosing the next second only for the process to repeat as they dragged downwards. The broad muscles of his neck occasionally seemed to occasionally let up a little, letting his head tilt slowly at first until it gathered enough momentum to throw him off balance. The then sudden movement of his head unconsciously pulling itself back in line caused his eyes to bolt open prior to the whole cycle repeating again. All Y/n wanted to do was let him lay down someone, her heart feeling a tug in her chest just seeing him like that. 

Ellie proclaimed her completion of the wound, leaning back to admire her work before looking to get an affirming nod from Y/n. Yet instead, she was too preoccupied gazing at the boy slouched across from them. “Someone seems a little distracted.” Ellie smirked, finally garnering Y/n’s attention, only feeling more and more smug watching a light tint appear on the actors cheeks. 

“I-well-no… we need to go.” Y/n ignored her words as though nothing had happened, instead rushing off the chair to get Tom out the chair and onto the awaiting set. They had places to be.

|||||||||||||||||||||||||||| (bcos im lazy)

Honestly when the director, Ed, called for lunch break, it was pretty apparent to be purely as a compassionate gesture to Y/n and Tom. Both of them had tried so hard this morning to fully commit, even so they’d both been almost completely useless. Y/n kept missing cues whilst all Tom’s actions and lines where slow, dragged out and at times completely prompted from someone behind the cameras. 

So when the lunch break was called there was only one thing on Y/n’s mind and what sandwich was available in the mess tent was not it. Still standing on the set next to her fake holdall bag she looked toward Tom, who was pulling himself up to standing from the train station bench - the pace of his movement making him look more like an old man. 

“You good?” His answer was predictable. 

“I’m so fucking shattered”

Tom swore he’d never heard anything sweeter come out of Y/n’s pink lips than her next statement.

“C’mon I know somewhere we can lie down.”

Without any sort of thought Tom blindly agreed, nodding as he took her outstretched hand in his. The gesture in itself brought a fresh wave of comfort to his aching limbs and as his feet stumbled to catchup with her slight head start he leant the majority of his weight into their connected hands. 

Neither would admit it but they were ‘a thing’… whatever the hell that meant. It was clear as day to everyone and anyone that worked closely to the two but neither of them had ever broached the topic with each other. They’d worked on a few films together over the years; each time they got closer and closer to the point any job without the other simply wasn’t as good. It was scary though, especially for two actors in the prime of their careers. If they weren’t working the same film they’d likely be the opposite side of the world to each other most of the time - quality time together would be few and far between, Really their jobs didn’t suit dating at all, yet it would be perhaps easier if one half of it worked a ‘normal’ job. Something with consistency, a regular structure. A level of dependability that neither Y/n nor Tom could offer to the other. 

So it was terrifying, acknowledging the growth in their magnetic attraction to each other. Both were acutely aware that doing that, confronting their feelings, would most likely signal the beginning of the end. 

Although none of this stoped Y/n from returning the gesture, tilting her shoulder into Tom’s left side as they took slow steps through and then out the set building. She steered the two past the hair and makeup trailer and round into a store and extra equipment trailer. Tom tilted his head as she climbed the stairs whilst beckoning for him to follow - it didn’t seem like the most obvious choice. Rolling her eyes, Y/n explained.

“It’s where all the blankets and coats and kept for the raining scenes plusssss no one will disturb us in here.” Again Tom was not in a position to disagree, eyes drooping as his shoulders sagged to the floor. Right now he’d take anything. 

So he climbed up the stairs and shut the door behind him, just as Y/n flipped the light on. She was right, it was well equipped and with an almost mountainous supply of red blankets that normally the crew and extra would all be wrapped up in after the freezing rain scenes with all the ‘waterfall machines’ as Y/n called them. However it was also um…. It was cosy. “Oh I don’t think I realised how small it was” She chuckled lightly, since now the door was closed her back was pressed up against the far wall of cabinets and still her front was mere millimetres from Tom.

“I…I don’t mind… if-if you don’t?”

“I’m too tired to care” She giggled in response, and Tom , now with her seal of approval, immediately started ransacking the piled shelves for all their worth creating a floor carpeted in the pale red of the blankets, in an attempt to make it more cosy. Joining in, it was almost remarkable how quickly their bodies suddenly agreed to move, with the new promise of rest mere moments away. 

Once the trailer was fully drowned, Tom kicked off his costume shoes and threw his jacket off - it haphazardly landing by the doorway. Y/n copied him, leaving her stood up whilst he had the advantaged of already settling down on the floor, her standing and looking down at him.

The space between the two opposing shelving units was not close spacious enough for two people to lie down whilst keeping a respectable level of personal space. Suddenly feeling a wave of awkwardness, Y/n stayed standing, wringing her hands slightly - whilst fairly certain Tom could hear her heart running at 100 mph. 

“You er… gonna stay there or?” Tom, contrary to popular belief, wasn’t a complete idiot - he could see she was suddenly self conscious. He got it too - they’d never crossed this boundary of choosing to cuddle into each other. It had happened once of twice accidentally over there 2 years of knowing each other. Both of those times it was completely accidental, falling asleep watching a movie with a safe distance of space b between the two, only to find hours later their bodies almost completely intwined. Tom would be lying if he said that his heart didnt skip a beat when he had awoken to Y/n’s soft and gently breath fanning into his neck. He’d loved it, but understood that was unconsciously breaking down part of the wall they’d both been the constructors of.

For fear of getting hurt. 

So now, as Y/n awkwardly bent down and lay on her side, he thought it was imperative to make her feel comfortable. Naturally then, his arm slid round her shoulders and pulled her down toward his chest, releasing a little breath as he felt her relax, her legs slowly wrapping round one of his. 

“This okay?” He murmured, now into the crown of her head as she lay half on her side half on his chest. In reply she nodded into him and Tom couldn’t help but grin- unbeknownst to him but Y/n was doing the exact same thing. 

The peace lasted all of 3 seconds until she groaned again.

“What?” Tom enquired as she wriggled out his hold and stood up. Instead of replying though she just leant over and flicked the one harsh light bulb off making Tom chuckle as she fumbled her way back onto the padded floor in the darkness, earning a few grunts from both as she accidentally kicked Tom’s thighs or banged her head on one of the now empty shelves. Fumbling her way back into a comfortable position, occasionally cursing when she stubbed her toe- or Tom did when she accidentally elbowed him in the ribs. 

“Comfy?” Tom asked a little sarkily as he squeezed her a little more into his side.

“Mhmmmm… I’m gonna sleep for 100 years”

“Yeh me… me too”

And with that they both almost instantly and in complete unison sagged into each other and the blankets - the pent up stress and tension of the past few days ebbing away.

What the pair had neglected to remember was that sleeping for 100 years wasn’t really an option. The whole crew of 50 people, who wanted to restart filming after 45 minutes, had not been told about Y/n’s little hiding place. The pair were so completely safe in their own little cocoon of comfort they were completely oblivious to their teams calling there names more and more frantically. Completely oblivious to the game of hide and seek the situation had descended into, completely oblivious to Harrys natural annoyance as the director asked him for the whereabouts of the two stars - as though Harry was childminder to the pair of them.

It was Nelli who found them first. She’d and Ellie and Tom’s manager had all been recruited by Harry as part of the man hunt. Both girls, having seen first hand the state of the two this morning, were fairly certain they’d both crashed out somewhere. So Nelli, already with a sneaking suspicion, opened the door gently, her figure blocking the majority of the light from seeping through to the dimly lit inside. The sight she was met with had her actually pouting at the cuteness - and yes its a cringey word but also the only one appropriate.

Between bedding down and barely an hour later the two had managed to become impossibly tighter pressed to each other. Y/n’s face was pressed into the crook of Tom’s neck and his arms seemed to have pulled her on-top of him almost completely. Her left leg was hooked under his right, which was then sandwiched by his left too. They both looked so pure and innocent and god did Nelli know they both needed any extra time they could get.

Nelli cared a lot about Tom, she’d been working with him from the beginning, from the child star days to now. She cared about him like her very annoying surrogate son and she wanted to see him looked after. She also so completely wanted the two stars to stop pining after each other. Because frankly it was getting a little frustrating for everyone else. 

So she chose to tactically forget about her discovery, sneaking a photo on the sly before silently pulling the door closed and leaving them to their sleep. 

[tricewithaz]

THOTS ON SHADOW AND BONE

Hello everyone! it is I, Trice, and i come with my thoughts on the Shadow and Bone show cause ive got many

I'm gonna divide this in what i liked, what i disliked, and what i think could have been better but didn't really bother me. Feel free to send your opinions too!

As a whole, I really liked the show and I think it's a great adaptation that both fans and newcomers will enjoy. It's super well done! and every episode had me glued to the tv even though I knew what was going to happen.

Beware this is long

To start,

What i liked

Mal and Alina

I never really liked Mal in the books, mainly cause he had like, nothing going on for him, and not having his pov made him no favors whatsoever. Alina's perception of him was everychanging, two factors that didn't make him unlikeable necessarily, but that made me not want to read about him. In the show he's way more likeable and even though he still doesn't have a lot going on for him, you can see that he's always trying to protect alina, and you also see a bit of his demeanor through Archie's acting. I think he made a great job at portraying him. And Alina! Alina who in the books was essentially a y/n sort of character (although she did get better over time), her character, likes, dislikes, her DRIVE was incredibly portrayed in the show. Also Jessie (loml, marry me) and Archie have incredible chemistry together and they sold their yearning SO WELL (and so did the kid actors portraying them as children oh my GOD)...yall...i cried when they held hands. My favourite scene was definitely when Alina took care of Mal's wounds (a favorite trope of mine). And the HURT in their eyes whenever they thought the other was in danger....i saw the show dubbed but I'm sure their voices made it beyond incredible as well, their face acting was just on. point. Overall the show rEALLY makes me root for them both individually and together which is something the books didn't manage to do.

The Darkling

AAAAA i really enjoyed the Darkling omg, incredible charisma, Ben does such a great job (and so did his voice actor in Spanish oh my GOD). His acting was just as I imagined it in the books and i loved how he could be as sweet and mysterious as he could be menacing. In fact! i liked him more than i did in the book, and i think it was a great choice to make him more human. I'm not sure if this was Ben or the writing, but i could really see his yearning for an equal, for Alina, his loneliness and his thirst for power and control too. Great love interest, even greater villain. And his wardrobe was phenomenal. I also really liked how they implied that The Darkling was a name given by other people, it was very believable that people would call someone who literally controls shade something akin to "son of the dark" or something of the sort, instead of it being a name he gives himself or his job title (both if which are incredibly pathetic and cringy to think about).

Jesper

No comments. He was just great. I love Kit.

Nina

Omg Danielle did SUCH a great job at portraying Nina, it's exactly how i imagined her in Six of Crows.

Helnik

THE. YEARNING. THE. CHEMISTRY. I didn't love their scenes at the boat but once that was over I was practically screaming at the screen to jUST KISS ALREADY. Calahan and Daniell have such good chemistry together and the few changes they made only served the story better. I did wish they had development over more time cause Matthias' change of mind felt too quick, but i get why they had to rush. Because of how good their chemistry was, their fallout also was incredibly painful.

Inej's fear of the Menagerie and her morals

Amita's portrayal of Inej's hurt, devotion and her refusal to kill (and later hurt cause she has killed) is incredibly subtle but so SO effective. She's so talented really and truly sold Inej's feelings throughout the show.

VFX

Man.....the fold, the volcra, the grisha powers.....kudos to the animators and overall artistic team cause they were incredible. Also seeing the different title animations in each episode was such a tiny detail that made me so excited and they all looked so good.

Ketterdam

Again, kudos to the artistic team, everything about Ketterdam felt so alive (and weirdly moist), truly sold a kind of aesthetic and life that is so characteristic if the Barrel, even when i didn't imagine it that way in the books.

David

He appeared like, twice, and both times were so cute and charming I can't wait to see more of him both on his own and with Genya.

The Wardrobe

So, at first i hated the keftas. I thought the looked tacky and costume, but when you see them on screen they're just perfect (although i have to say the patterns on some of the keftas were kind of...cheap looking? and the training keftas were just kinda boring. My favourite was the Darkling's. Aside from that, i really liked Kaz's and inej's clothes too. Very distinctive and recognizable (although it was kind of weird seeing Inej in teal instead of purple lmao).

And the queen's dresses. Chefs kiss.

It's...so cheesy (affectionate)

The whole show felt like the kind of movies I would watch as a kid like Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean. The writing was stylized enough to make it incredibly dramatic and overall there was just so much heart behind all of it. Definetely a show to watch again and again and feel all of it, cause that's what it being so cheesy managed, to make me actually feel for it. It feels like something to watch on a rainy afternoon after a bad day....it's great okay i really enjoyed it, even (specially) the most unbelievable parts of it. And here's the thing, it's something that i think a lot of newer tv and film have lost, so this is good.

What i didn't like

Zoya

Mostly cause of the writing. Originally, in the first book, i didn't like her, neither as a character (stereotypical mean girl with no other motivation than to bang the love interests....all three of them....what's new i still think it's an incredibly sexist trope) or a person (hey at least this was intentional), but over time i grew to LOVE her (mean girl turns out to have a good heart and actually respects the mc and decides to fight alongside her cause it's what's right, without necessarily liking her or giving up her character??? AND she has strong motivations??? now THAT'S new). In the show, i hoped they would keep her mean girl nature while foreshadowing her depth, but all they did was turn her into a petty seductress with barely any screentime, and that only makes her not even a bad antagonist but just a boring character to watch. Not only that but they took away a big part of her character that needed to be developed in the next books. I wanted to watch her rivalry with Alina, her unjustified venomous tongue too, I wanted to be entertained by her and I wasn't. This was also a problem cause when she finally changed teams, and when she hugged Alina, it was incredibly unsatisfying, it would have had a way stronger effect if we had seen her being Ruthless Zoya with a big ambition. I also didn't like how we were told that she didn't like alina, or that she had a family, instead of it being shown on screen. Just from the show, all i can tell you about her is that she likes to bang people and she has a good moral code i guess. Yall, I'm so petty about this.

Kaz

So, I didn't hate him, in fact i think I would have enjoyed him if I hadn't read the books first, cause the two things that bother me about him were two essential characteristics of him in the books. FIrstly, he seems so strained, instead of the seemingly laid back, almost chill looking (even though we know he's not chill at all) Kaz we see in the books, the Kaz that always knows something that you don't. Show Kaz doesn't seem to always be in control, to always have the last word, the last laugh. Instead he seems strained, all the damn time. And I think this is mainly a writing and directing issue. And he also seems weak, something Book Kaz would never do. This is also an issue cause because he doesn't have the same presence he has in the books, the times where he is weak, don't seem as effective. Sure, Pekka Rollins has essentially reduced him and humiliated him, but I haven't seen enough of Kaz being actually dangerous for this to be shocking and for Pekka to seem even more hateable (and, i really liked Pekka, loved him as an antagonist more than i did in the books). Idk, Kaz was so charismatic and just fun and engaging to read in the books that his portrayal in the show felt lacking.

Alina's power's VFX

The little suns were cute and all but the light coming from within her was just ugly I'm sorry.

SFX

A lot of the sound design was just too stylized for the tone of the show i think. I particularly remember the sound of Mal's punches....what's that about.

What i think could have been better, but didn't particularly dislike

The Crows' storyline

And i think part of this is a consequence of Kaz not being as witty as he was in the books. Where's the incredibly complicated heist moves? the even more unbelievable C and D plans when something goes wrong? I didn't like that them getting Alina was essentially just luck, cause i didn't see enough of them being smart and quick on their feet. I also think it was unnecessary to have their storyline mixed with Alina's, i would have enjoyed watching a different heist, maybe in Ravka as well, and them incidentally crossing paths with Alina, more than i liked this storyline. ironically enough, the heist was the part i was least interested in

Genya and Alina

I just feel like her relationship with Alina wasn't strong enough, and i think it's because the show tried to make us believe they were much closer than they were without spending the necessary time in them.

Overall, I really really enjoyed the show, i will be watching it again (particularly cause i want to watch it in English) and i cannot wait for the second season omg (although i have to say, I'm scared for Nikolai)

I think that's all! I would also love to read yall's opinions and have a conversation.

[atamascolily]

lily liveblogs Star Trek: TNG 1x10 - “Hide and Q”

oh, man, a q episode. I'm so excited. I’ve missed that crazy fucker so much.

No Troi this episode? Hahaha, right, because I'm sure the crew will get up to all kinds of shenanigans without their resident counselor (or maybe her actresss just needed a day off?) Too bad, though, I like Troi.

Okay, who has the miniskirt as part of their uniform? I keep seeing background characters wearing it, but none of the main crew. At least, it's gender-neutral, inasmuch as I've spotted both men and women wearing it.

Geordi picks up a force field on the scanners... "It's almost like..."

....the last time we ran into that obnoxious Q guy at Farpoint, Data finishes.

(Riker totally missed that bit, so it's gonna be hysterical watching him catch up.)

Picard: "Not now, Q, damn it!" (is there ever a good time, though?)

I see the show is re-using its SFX from the pilot to save on money.

Q, a floating three-headed cobra attached to a translucent balloon: Hey, wanna let me make your dreams come true?

Picard: NOT NOW, DAMN IT, I'M BUSY!!

so that's what a Starfleet Admiral's uniform looks like with the ridiculous gold trim? WOW.

(love how the music sweeps to a dramatic flourish as Picard and Q stare at each other there)

Riker crosses his arms over his chest, and looks all smug as Q flirts with Picard. RIKER KNOWS. RIKER KNOWS EXACTLY WHERE THIS IS GOING.

so much flirting. so much flirting. I can't keep a straight face.

Q decides to flirt with Riker instead since Picard is Not Buying It, and then kidnaps the bridge crew to mess with Picard

Q is dressed up as Napoleon because of course he is, lol

(Q is literally just fucking with them all because he's bored)

Worf refuses to drink with Q and stares up down while dramatically destroying his glass, #respect

Q puts Tasha in a literally penalty box for threatening him, so much for any female characters in this episode, sigh

oh, wait, she's on the Enterprise with Picard, trying to explain everything and Picard is so sweet trying to console her ahhhhhh my heart.

Tasha says, "If only you weren't Captain", oh no, that girl has some ISSUES with sex and intimacy that this show has only hinted at, but NO PLEASE I DON'T SHIP THIS and Q shows up jealous, WOW, lot to unpack there.

Picard, as a French person, has, uh, issues with Q's Napoleonic outfit, lol, that’s totally why Q chose it

ahahaha, picard and q get into an argument over Shakespeare, I am LIVING FOR THIS.

Riker is doing the thing where he props his leg up on a boulder again, lol

(where is wesley crusher in all this, anyway? no idea)

Riker asks Data a question and Data turns and its Q in Data's makeup AHHHHHHHH SO CREEPY AHHHHHHHH

Q gives Riker phenomenal cosmic power, this is gonna be fun

Data is hesitant to explain that they were being shot at by animal creatures in Napoleonic uniforms because Picard is French. Poor Data.

Picard's like, welp, we don't have to worry about Riker, because Q's interested in him. Jealous much, Jean-Luc?

Watching Riker annoy Q is so satisfying, lol.

oh there's Wesley in his rainbow sweater, finally

Riker uses his new Q powers to save the crew from DEATH then makes a promise to Picard not to use it, even though he could have saved a girl's life with it later when they visit a mining colony and this bothers him.

(I see why Troi isn't around, she would have SHUT THAT SHIT DOWN in a heartbeat.)

Riker is so impressed with the Q, and everyone else - who was there for that fucking trial farce - is like, nah, bro, Q's a bastard, don't fall for it.

Q shows up dressed as a monk now, and encourages Riker to give the rest of the crew "gifts" using his powers

Dr. Crusher startles to hustle Wes out of there but too later - Riker turns him into AN ADULT STILL WEARING THE SAME RAINBOW SWEATER AHAHAHAHAHA (because he wanted to be “a man” and not, you know, a fashion icon)

(Geordi's reaction to aged-up Wes is "Not bad," which is just *chef's kiss*)

Data's like, no, I want no part in this, and quotes Shakespeare, so Riker doesn’t make him play this stupid game

Geordi gets to SEE with his eyes and his first reaction is to tell Tasha how beautiful she is, SIGH

but Geordi makes Riker take it back because he doesn't want to owe Q anything

Rikers gets Worf a girlfriend. I shit you not. They start brawling/making out on the bridge, which must be so awkward for everyone else, and then Worf rejects her, saying he has no place for sex in his life now

(but really this is the equivalent of the drink-tossing earlier)

We are spared Riker trying to grant Tasha's wish because the writers are SHITTY AT WRITING FEMALE CHARACTERS AND IT WOULD BE AWFUL by Riker admitting he's wrong

Picard’s like “no really?”

and then the rest of the Q show up and nab our rogue Q and he disappears screaming

Data asks how Q can be so good at time and space and shit at humanity, and Picard says space and time are easier, and you can see Data's "well, that checks out" shrug

WHAT THE FUCK WAS THIS EPISODE. WHAT THE FUCK.

don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed this, but the message got a little muddle with the incredibly convoluted plot, and none of the writers know how to write female characters AT ALL

like STOP SHIPPING TASHA YAR WITH EVERY MALE CHARACTER ON THE SHIP, DAMN IT

this could have been really good if the writers had been on their A-game, but instead it's just cracktastically weird

I think if I were to re-write the episode I would focused on either  the “Riker having the powers of the god” bit OR “Q forcing them to fight to the death on a random planet for his amusement” but BOTH plotlines in a single episode was really a mess

but hey, I am a simple soul, and Q messing with Riker and flirting with Picard is pretty hilarious in my book.

I still maintain none of this would have happened if Troi had been there, though, because Riker would have been “yes, ma’am” and sat the hell down as soon as she looked askance at him.

(still no clue what the title means, though)

[cardcaptorcoconut]

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card Arc Chapter 26 Translation

Hey everyone! I’m so sorry for the delay this month and thanks for your patience. :) I’m all moved in to my new (still messy!) place now, but I was able to finish up the new chapter.

If there are any typos I missed, please DM me and let me know.

☆★Translations Notes Reminder★☆

Disclaimer: These are just fan translations. Please support the official release.

Chapter 26

Cover Page: “Are we similar?”

[Alt: “Do we look alike?”]

P1 Narration:  This story took place a little while ago. Narration:  In a certain (land), there was a boy who realized that he was all by himself.

[Alt: … there was a boy who came to and realized that he was all by himself. / Note: The Japanese here is ある所に気がついたらひとりきりの男の子がいました]

Narration:  For as long as he could remember, the boy had been alone. Narration:  It seems he had been separated from his parents somehow right (from the time) he was born. Narration:  By the time he was old enough to think for himself, (he realized he had) no blood relatives around him.

[Lit:  When he had become conscious of it, he realized there wasn’t anyone at all he could call a blood relative in the people surrounding him.]

Narration:  The boy thinks (to himself).

P2 Narration:  While it would be okay to withdraw from the society around him, he was sensible and knew that he was still young. And so, it would be a good idea to live within this society first. Narration:  And above all else, the boy possessed magic ability. Narration:  The power to fly through the sky, the power to search for things, the power to teleport, the power to speak with animals, the power to instantly erase (things).

P3 Narration:  All of those powers came easily to this boy. Narration:  (Many tried), but there were no adults who could match the strength of this boy’s power.

[Note: The Japanese was あまりの男の子の力に大人もそれよりもっと大人も適いません – The nuance is some adults tried, and then more, stronger adults tried.]

Narration:  The boy grew up within that (society) and met people who wanted to use his power to (their benefit).

[Alt: …met people who wanted to use his power to help them.]

P4 Narration:  The boy thought (to himself). Narration: “I don’t really care about helping and doing things for others is a pain, but (I don’t feel strongly enough about it not to), so… I guess I will. Narration:  From the time he was born and on, the boy’s power grew stronger and stronger.  And in his strength, he was able to (learn) even more complicated spells. Narration:  (Soon) not only just those around him, but other magicians far and wide were unable to match his strength.

P5 Narration:  Yes, due to that overwhelming power, the boy’s personality… <Scene melts into present time with Momo and Kaito> Momo:  …became quite warped.

[Alt: …became quite twisted. / Note: “Twisted” usually has a negative connotation, but it’s not yet clear in what way his personality changed.]

Kaito:  Whom exactly are you talking about? Momo:  Do you mean (there’s) someone other than yourself?

P6 Kaito:  There are plenty of magicians who have warped personalities due to the strength of their magic. Momo:  And I’m saying that you are one of them. Momo:  I’m out of tea. Kaito:  (I will prepare some for you).

[Lit:  I’m terribly sorry. /  Note: 失礼致しました implies he’s sorry for troubling her, because it’s his job to make the tea]

Momo:  Pralines and truffles too! Kaito:  (Of course. I will bring those too).

[Lit:  I humbly acknowledge. / Note:  承知致しました is a very polite way to say “Of course, I understand and will do something about it”]

<Kaito leaves the room>

P7 Momo:  Any magic ability comes easily to that boy. Momo:  And right now that boy is trying to obtain a very dangerous magic ability… Momo:  …by sacrificing something (precious).

[Note: 大切 can mean precious, important, dear, cherished, etc.]

P8 <Scene changes to Sakura & Akiho after the meal they cooked together> Sakura & Akiho: Thanks for the meal! Sakura:  Oh also, about our other promise.  I told you before we could explore my dad’s library. Sakura:   I have a book I’m looking for too, so I wonder if you’d like to come with me? Akiho:  Of course!

P9 <Scene changes to Syaoran’s place as he tries to contact Eriol online> Syaoran:  So it won’t connect after all... Syaoran:  …… <The doorbell rings>

P10 Syaoran:  Yes? Yukito:  Hello. Syaoran:  Wha!? <Scene briefly changes back to Kero> Kero:  That Yue… Kero:  <panicked> I hope he changed into Yukito and walked there!  He didn’t soar over there and make a bunch of noise with his wings, right!?  <to himself> If someone saw that sort of thing or took a photo of it…!!

P11 <Scene changes back to Syaoran’s> Yukito:  Sorry to drop in on you so suddenly. Syaoran:  N…not at all. But why (are you here)? Yukito:  It seems my other self has (something to discuss) with you.

[Lit: …has business/a reason… (e.g. for the visit)]

<Yukito changes into Yue> Syaoran:  Huh!?

P12 Syaoran:  Yue…! Kero:  <shaking> He’s out for blood.  I can tell even when we’re apart.  Well, that’s because we were made as a pair, (but)… Yue is absolutely furious.

P13 Kero:  Brat!!  Please (escape unscathed)!!

[Note: 逆鱗回避 would be like saying “I hope you can avoid the wrath of your superiors”]

<Kero suddenly senses Sakura moving> Kero:  Oh… looks like Sakura’s left the living room. <sfx text: “Listening”> She said she was gunna show Akiho the library. Kero:  A lot happened and the Book of Clow (wound up) in this house. [Lit: …came to this house.]  Everything began when Sakura opened the book.  But come to think of it, even me coming here is thanks to Sakura’s father bringing (the Clow) to his library.

P14 Kero:  Because “Papa Fujitaka” is half of Clow, everything happened the way it did … <Scene changes back to Syaoran and Yue> Syaoran:  (Can I get you some) tea? Yue:  No need. Yue:  <glaring> So the Sakura Cards were here…

P15 Syaoran:  You heard (it) from Hiiragizawa? Yue:  We talked, but we didn’t hear about that.  And we got cut off in the middle (of the conversation).  That’s all. And you? Syaoran:  Same here. Yue:  I heard the reason why you didn’t explain what is happening to our mistress, and why you didn’t tell us about it. Yue:  Nevertheless, why did you take away the cards from our mistress?  

P16 Syaoran:  If Sakura kept making new cards on top of (already) having the Sakura Cards in her possession, it would only serve to accelerate her increase in power. Yue:  Even so, why doesn’t the mistress realize this… Light (and/or Dark?):  Isn’t is obvious?  It’s because we (acted with him).

[Lit: …because we cooperated.]

P17 Yue:  “Light”… (and) “Dark”…

P18 <Scene changes to Fujitaka’s library> Akiho:  Waaahh!! Sakura:  My dad said “Sorry it’s so messy.” <Akiho furiously shakes her head>

P19 Akiho:  Books on historic ruins!  Ah!! This is the book I’ve been looking for so long!  And books on ancient (text)!  [Lit: ancient characters] Akiho:  Um! Um!  Do you mind if I (look through them)??  [Lit: pick them up] Sakura:  Dad said “Of course, help yourself.” Akiho:  Thank you so much!! <Akiho looks through a book>

P20 <Scene changes back to Syaoran’s house> Light:  We took notice that this (boy) was trying to extract us with magic, and we resisted it (at first) too.  But (in the end) we all decided to come to him.

[Note: The “at first” and “in the end” are in nuance only and not direct translation]

Light:  It’s because we could see in his heart that he’s vowed to always protect our mistress no matter what happens. Syaoran:  ……

P21 Syaoran:  Even so, that doesn’t change the fact that I stole the cards from Sakura. Syaoran:  It doesn’t change the fact that I’m making her worry (by keeping the truth from her).

[Lit: …without even telling her the truth.]

P22 <Scene changes back to Sakura & Akiho> Akiho:  There (sure) are a lot of books on history and ancient times! Sakura:  That’s because my dad specializes in archaeologist. Akiho:  They’re all such valuable texts… ah!  Oh no! Sakura:  This one’s torn a bit. Akiho:  It’d be nice if we could fix it. Akiho:  At the moment, I’m learning how to mend books. Sakura:  That’s amazing! Akiho:  No matter how much time passes, there’s really nothing I can do.  So I thought maybe at least I can do something for my beloved books. Sakura:  You really do love books, don’t you?

P23 Akiho:  That’s because books were the only friends I ever had. Sakura:  …Akiho-chan… Akiho:  But now!  I have you! And everyone from Tomoeda Junior High is there for me!

P24 Akiho:  It’s not a bother, is it? <Sakura hugs Akiho> Sakura:  We’re friends.  You’re a very precious friend to me.

[Lit: …a precious, precious friend…]

P25 <Akiho cries> Akiho:  It’s not what you think!  These are happy tears… Sakura:  I don’t want you to cry, but as long as it means you’re happy then I’m happy too.

P26 Akiho:  The same goes for me. Akiho:  I don’t want anything to happen that would make you cry. <Sakura remembers seeing Syaoran as the Mysterious Cloaked Figure>

P27 Sakura:  …… Akiho:  Sakura-san? <Suddenly their surroundings shift>

P28 & 29 Voice:  You can’t go back anymore.

[Note: As mentioned previously, the “you” in the sentence is おまえ (omae).]

Narration:  The fated time awaiting the two is almost upon (them)…!!

<To be continued in the December issue of Nakayoshi>

[Note: CLAMP has clarified via Twitter that this is a typo and that the next chapter will be included in the November issue, on sale in early October. So no worries - there will be no 2 month wait this time for the continuation!]

[four-swords-dub]

Next up we have our Green bean blooper machine! Riley!  (Karen: Riley couldn’t record his answers so I’ve included one of my fav lines of his) Name: rockriled Character(s) you voice: Green Link, Deku Scrub #2, Sound Director/Editor of the FS Dub Project Are you in any way like those characters? I think we’re similar in terms of wanting to help/protect the people we love.  As for Green’s personality…probably not? Green is confident, independent, and hardworking while I’m a bag of nerves and anxiety.  I could fit into the hardworking area, though. As for the Deku Scrub…we’re both short, squeaky, and flammable?  (I’m probably not gonna refer to the Deku Scrub for the rest of this since they only got…four lines, I think?)

Favourite/least favourite thing about voicing your character? My favorite thing about voicing Green is that I can just let loose.  I don’t talk much outside of the project due to shyness and how most of my friends live a long ways away, but when I play Green, I can feel powerful and confident even if it’s just for a few minutes.Least favorite thing about voicing Green is that depending on the chapter, he has the most lines.  I blame this on my lack of voice-acting experience, but both actor-me and sound-editor-me look through the script and think “dangit, Green, stop hogging the spotlight and let someone else speak!” Which characters did you audition for? I auditioned for Vio first, but I got nervous that auditioning for only one role was rude.  I figured I wasn’t cute enough for Red or tough enough for Blue, so I went with Green. How did you react when you got the part(s)? Hoo boy, um…settle in, this is a bit of a story.My self-esteem has always been in the pits—and combining that with my perfectionist needs didn’t help, either.  Whenever something cool came up, my brain would go “why bother, you’re gonna fail” and I’d do just that: give up without trying.So when posts about the Four Swords Dub Project started floating around, the same thing happened all over again.  Best way I can describe it… Brain: “Don’t even try it.  You know you’re not gonna get a part.” Me: “But it’s Four Swords, my favorite part of the Zelda manga series.” Brain: “And?  Your voice sucks.  Your acting sucks.  You won’t even get a minor role.  Do you really want to add another failure to your life?”   Me: “…look.  I’m really interested in this.  I don’t know if I’ll actually get a part, but I still want to send in an audition so I can say that I tried.” Brain: “…two main characters?  Really? Don’t get your hopes up.”(some time later) FS Dub Email: “Congratulations, you’re going to be our Green Link!” Me & Brain: “WAIT, WHAT?!” It was a total shock.  I was so convinced I wasn’t going to get in that it never occurred to me that I could get in.  Heck, it’s been a little over two years and I still can’t believe I got a leading role. As for the part of Sound Director/Editor…I can’t remember how, but I somehow got a hold of all the voice lines for all the characters in Chapter 1-1.  Even though I have zero experience in editing, I suddenly got curious and started mixing the files with background music and sound effects. I sent a copy of what I put together to Karen (our voice and project director) for fun. Next thing I knew, I was the BGM/SFX guy for the rest of the project! Long story short: this dub’s been full of surprises. ^_^ Who do you wish you could voice? Oof, that’s a tough one. @_@  It’s so hard to pick because everyone’s already perfect as their current roles...   Had you read the manga before taking part in the dub? Yep! :D It was around the time the internet became a big thing and when YouTube was first made.  Middle-school me spent HOURS scouring Google for Yu-Gi-Oh! content (fell in love with the show in sixth grade) when I stumbled across a website with Legend of Zelda comics  It had the manga versions of Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, the Oracle games, and—my top favorite—Four Swords.

FS holds a special place in my heart for not only giving the Links such diverse eyes/expressions, but destroying typical color-personality associations.  I’d seen fan-comics of Four Swords with Red as the angry one, Blue as the smart one, and Purple as the newbie or the…um…stereotypically-gay one.  Akira Himekawa’s version of the Links blew my freaking mind and I LOVED IT. <3     Any past voice acting experience? At best, the only voice-acting experience I had prior to the FS dub was watching tons of anime and re-enacting scenes via talking to myself. ��I still do this with anime, TV shows, movies, books, and video games. @_@ I’m not sure if this counts, but I…kinda got voice training in other areas?  I yelled my lungs out in Tae Kwon Do for two years, sang alto in a chorus for three years, was moved to soprano for one year, yelled my lungs out again in Judo for one year, and learned classical/opera singing techniques for a few months (a friend’s friend was studying to be a music teacher and they needed a volunteer to practice their teaching skills).  They might not count for this question, though… Who is your favourite FS character (if any)? Oh boy...I know younger-me’s favorite was Vio (I blame the eyes and ability to side with both Shadow and the other Links), but these days?  It’s hard to pick, thanks to the dub. @_@ How do you warm up/get in character before recording? Big thing for me is how I’m feeling.  Currently, I work six days a week (it sucks but I need the money/insurance DX) and I use the commute from work to where I live to figure out my mood.  If I’m down in the dumps to the point that music can’t help, I won’t be able to deliver as Green.  If I have some energy or so much energy that I can belt/rap to my music, I’m all set.  It means I’m all loose and confident to record. As for days when I don’t have work like days-off or holidays, I try to relax and get myself in a Green-y mindset. 

Little something I picked up from YouTube is gargling a mouthful of water.  I’m not too sure how it works, but I do this right before a recording session and it helps a lot. Favourite chapter to voice so far? Favourite scene? Um…it’s kinda hard to pick a favorite chapter or scene I liked voicing since I had fun with all of them.  Can I make this into favorite scene/chapter to do sound stuff for instead?  And can I pick multiples instead? >_>;; Favorite Chapter for Sound Editing: Chapter 4.  I had to compile different sounds that reflected Green’s desert, Blue’s snowstorm, Red’s forest fire, and Vio’s night in the woods. It was both challenging and fun. :D  Favorite Scene for Sound Editing: Every comedic scene, scenes where the background music slowed to a halt, and scenes where I had to improvise sound effects.

The slowed-down songs are in the scenes where Blue and Green fight on the boat, and when Red admits he lost his weapons to Blue in the Ice Cave.  Those were tough to do in Audacity (had to slow down the music piece by piece), but it was SO worth it.

As for scenes where I had to use nearby stuff for sounds…there’s a bunch of ‘em.

The door slamming while Erune talks about the missing children = me slamming my bedroom door.

The Gerudo Masseuse’ movements and the Gerudo Elder’s staff = me shaking my wrist while wearing my old belly-dance bracelets.

Deku Scrubs popping out of the ground = me smacking my lips mixed with the deku sound effect from Ocarina of Time.

Green’s sword hitting the labyrinth wall = me hitting a pot lid with a wooden spoon.

Green falling and sliding down the labyrinth wall = me falling and sliding down a bedroom wall.

Eerie shadow raising their sword to attack Green as the moon rises = me sliding a knife sharpener over a kitchen knife.

Shadow walking on clouds = me blowing into the mic mixed with footstep sounds from Ocarina of Time.

Big Poe screaming at Red and Blue = me banging pots, pans, and piano keys mixed with chaotic sound effects I found online.

Big Poe taking Blue’s soul = me breathing into the mic along with heavy editing.

Red clapping at Big Poe = me clapping my hands.

The Four Swords pulsing = me playing a four-note harmony (one for each Link) on the piano mixed with heavy editing and a wind chime effect.

(Karen: This guy is a genius when it comes to sound effects and the dub wouldn’t be half as good without him!)

Lines you dread voicing the most (screaming, crying, etc): As much as I love battle cries, my microphone and its inconvenient ability to make stuff clip bothers me.

And even though the chapter’s long gone, the part where Green remembers when he playing with Zelda as a toddler.  I’M NEVER VOICING SMALL CHILDREN AGAIN. DX

What are your biggest worries when it comes to voicing your character? *pulls in with a giant dump truck* um…

#1 – Is my voice too high or too low? Green’s age would be around early teens or so, and with my weird vocal range, I can’t tell if I make him sound younger or older than he is. #2 – Am I getting the personality right? Because of my shy-as-hell nature, it’s hard for me to pick up if my confident-Green-persona sounds genuine or fake. #3 – Is it bad that I can only voice Green with my natural voice? Many voice actors have a HUGE variety of voices they can do (ex. Tara Strong).  It’s likely because I’m still new to this, but part of me gets nervous that me voicing Green with my normal speaking voice is a sign that I lack voice acting talent. #4 – (Personal worry but it still bothers me sometimes) How will I sound as Green in the future?  I’m a pre-HRT transmale who hates how high his voice is. This year, I’ll be moving out and if I play my cards right, I can start the process to either get testosterone, top surgery, or both.  I love this dub to death, but after voicing Green in my non-HRT voice for so long, I get nervous that I could accidentally lower the quality of the dub if my voice changes if/when I start HRT (assuming the editing process for videos will be the same as it’s been). (Karen: i figure I should add this since people might be wondering how we’re going to handle it. As Green is right now I feel his voice wouldn’t hurt if it went a little deeper. However, if Riley’s voice becomes too deep, I’m going to edit the pitch of his lines. Don’t worry Riley, you aren’t going anywhere!) #5 – Do I make too many bloopers?  During recording, I either screw up or my mind wanders a lot, and I save ‘em for the blooper reel.  When the reel comes out, however, I’ll sometimes see my segment is a little longer than everyone else’s and I get nervous.  ESPECIALLY if Green only had two lines and I had nearly an extra 30 seconds worth of bloopers. Would you date your character (if they were of age)?I’m gonna sound horrible, but…I don’t think Green’s personality would stand out enough to me as a possible date.  If anything, I think we’d just end up being a weird duo of friends: the strong, confident soldier and the socially-awkward weirdo. *laughs*

Do you have a favourite voice actor on the dub?I don’t have a favorite voice actor, but I do have favorite lines/sounds from some of the cast (this is likely to change as more chapters are released).  The way the VAs say these lines, I LOVE ‘EM.  For now, I’m only going to list a few of them so this Q&A doesn’t go too long.

Favorite Carrottheluvmachine/Red line: “Oh!  And it [footprint] looks like mine!” Favorite Ashe/Blue line: “so that’s how you want to do this, huh?!” Favorite Swiss/Vio line: “Losing confidence? …it’s because I’m you too, remember?” Favorite Kaenith/Shadow line: “Shadow saying “you’re a creature of darkness now, don’t forget that.”

Asked by Anon: Riley, how do you come up with so many awesome bloopers? Aww, thank you. ^///^ Most of them are accidental, like me not saying a word correctly. Others happen when I try and fail to memorize the script: if I’m struggling with a line, I’ll have a physical copy of the manga and match Green’s facial expression. This helps me get into the mindset, but it does draw my attention away from the script and I’ll end up flubbing a line because I tried to say it off the top of my head. 

The mistakes where I either notice something weird either pop up on the fly or something I noticed a while back, and then suddenly remember during recording.  The part where I noticed the Four Sword “thrumming” happened when I couldn’t get Green’s “the four sword is pulsing!” line right and I had to keep looking at the manga for the proper face.  It was at that point I noticed the weird sound effect drawn in.  Also, the blooper where I sang a song from The Heathers as Green flees the Eerie Shadow? That was in my head long before the script for Chapter 5 was out and when the time came to record, I remembered that bit. 

Asked by Anon What was the funniest/most humorous line you guys have had to say? Not sure if this counts, but Kaenith had a blooper where they screwed up as Shadow, saying “you’re pretty—UM PRETTY SMART!”  They shared it with the staff and it was so funny, Swiss made a joke response as Vio going “I prefer handsome.”  I was given the two lines to put together and as a joke, I added some audio of a guy screaming “MAKE OUT!” 

The staff liked it so much, they asked me to add Green shouting “NOW KISS!”  It took a while to get perfectly, but I had SO much fun with it. ^_^

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #193: Battleground: Pittsburgh!

March, 1980

Not Pittsburgh! Inferno, you bastard!

Anyway, this is another cover that's more or less true without being accurate to an actual moment.

Last time: Wonder Man and Tony Stark (secretly Iron Man, true believers!) were touring a steel plant that Wonder Man used to own before he died and that Tony Stark is thinking about buying.

While they were there, a man named Joe Conroy was pushed into the furnace while holding a chip of Uru metal. This caused a bit of a molten steel spill which Wonder Man contained although he had to be rescued from both an industrial press and his own hubris.

A memorial was set up for Conroy but then a giant fire man dubbed Inferno OH YEAH’D out of the memorial. According to the page of recap, Inferno does not know the connection between himself, Joe Conroy, and the Uru chip but doesn’t care because he knows that he has a goal.

Wonder Man and Iron Man tried to fight Inferno but it didn’t go well. Wonder Man signaled the Avengers but the signal suddenly went dead!

Dun dun dun?

And we pick up again with Wonder Man and Iron Man completely fine but Inferno melted the signal device off-panel without damaging Wonder Man’s ensemble at all.

Unstable molecules are to blame, perhaps.

Also, the penciler, inker, and colorist are completely different in this issue. I just think that a two-parter should have the same artist. Inferno looks less kirby krackle and more yellow fire guy.

Iron Man decides that Wonder Man should get the first second shot so Wonder Man tries punching Inferno again.

It didn’t work before but maybe it will work now.

Nope.

Inferno just FRROK punches Wonder Man, sending him hurtling right towards one of the steelworkers.

Iron Man manages to scoop the man out of the way before Wonder Man collides with him, thankfully. Especially considering that Wonder Man put a dent in what he does end up colliding with.

Inferno contemplates for a while. A long enough while to do a recap to the previous issue and then moves towards the office of Vince Paretta.

Tim Turpin, one of the steelworkers, tells Mr. Paretta that the monster is headed his way but Paretta just hands him a gun and tells him that he pays him to deal with stuff like this.

Turpin dubiously tries shooting Inferno with a “beanshooter” when actual Avengers Iron Man and Wonder Man didn’t have much luck.

The bullets just fly right through Inferno. Because he’s made of fire or maybe molten metal. Although he’s apparently solid enough to backhand Wonder Man across the yard. Truly Inferno’s physical properties are a mystery.

When Turpin runs out of “beans” he jumps through the window and flees, with Paretta close on his heels.

Inferno seems to follow Turpin while Paretta runs in another direction.

Vince Paretta: “*Whew* I’d planned on closing out my operations here soon, anyway. But judging from the way that monster seems to have a contract on me and the boys, I think ‘soon’ has just become ‘now’!”

Turpin flees onto a barge loosely tethered at river’s edge. His inability to swim keeps him from fleeing further, even when Inferno comes aboard the barge and burns the rope keeping it tethered.

The barge starts floating down the river and Inferno continues lumbering towards the cornered Turpin.

MEANWHILE, up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! Its another Superman reference for some reason!

But actually its a QUINJET!

A fancy new one, possibly. Its still got a ludicrously huge windshield.

The Avengers are worried about Wonder Man’s emergency signal cutting out and are here to investigate. Obviously.

Meanwhile, on the barge on the river.

Turpin babbles nervously that he’s just a hired lackey but notices the Uru chip in Inferno’s hand.

We also notice it. Because I’m pretty sure this is the first time we see it.

I’d forgotten this detail and have been kind of assuming that the Uru had melted in with the other metal.

Turpin recognizes Inferno as being Joseph Conroy and babbles that he didn’t want to knock him off the catwalk and that he was just following orders.

But in what might be karmic comeuppance, Turpin slips off the edge of the barge as Inferno reaches toward him.

But he won’t drown because he falls between the barge and a bridge post right before the barge was going to scrape along it.

Eesh.

Turpin gets ground between the barge and hard place into a red smear.

Inferno watches this happen dispassionately, to editorialize based on the art because the narration makes no distinction.

Then he walks off the barge toward the shore. “For he knows that though his quest has been fruitful. It has not yet been fulfilled.”

Some blocks away, the Avengers have landed their cool new or perhaps old Quinjet and a random citizen assumes they’re here about the “flame demon” on the bridge.

And since flame demons terrorizing the city is basically Avengers business, they head off to investigate that.

In fairness, what are the odds that there are two emergencies in a single city? Chances are that the thing with Wonder Man is related to this.

Meanwhile Vince Paretta deals with traffic on the bridge. Never fails. You need to get somewhere fast and suddenly “everyone starts acting like the speed limit’s 55 feet per hour!”

Nearby, Inferno is stopped in his random car-melting rampage by a mighty shield FRA-KANGing off his head.

Gotta give props to the SFX. It follows the shield’s trajectory. WE NEED MORE CREATIVE SFX IN COMICS THESE DAYS!

The Avengers figure that this flame guy is what Wonder Man signaled about, like I already speculated that they did.

Coincidentally, just when Beast wonders where Wonders Man is, he and Iron Man show up.

And Iron Man instantly gets his ass kicked by Inferno again.

Like panel 1 oh hey its Iron Man, panel 2 Inferno drains all the energy from Iron Man’s armor.

Which he can do. APPARENTLY.

Meanwhile, Vince Paretta learns that there’s a monster blocking traffic and abandons vehicle to flee.

When we cut back to the Avengers, Iron Man is recharging his armor from some trolley cables.

Which makes me wonder what the point of giving Inferno energy siphoning power even was. It doesn’t take Iron Man out of the fight long enough to matter. He doesn’t do it again. It kind of ruins the ‘giant man made of molten metal’ powerset he already had.

This is as vexing as the time that Thor had the power to shrink people by spinning them very fast but only for one issue.

Anyway, Ms Marvel, Vision, and Falcon all rush Inferno and all get blasted back by the electrical energy that he absorbed from Iron Man.

Which I guess was the point of that weirdery. Although it still feels unnecessary. He’s been pretty much of a juggernaut without electricity.

Wasp flies at Inferno’s face and blasts him with pink energy, which is apparently bio-power.

Its true what they say. Too much bio-power is dangerous.

Anyyyyway. Inferno just hits Wasp with a blast of heat that knocks her out.

Inferno then lumbers off but Iron Man stops the Avengers from engaging again.

They’re not getting anywhere trying to fisticuffs this guy. They need... strategy.

This may take them awhile. Strategy isn’t really the Avengers’ strong suit.

Meanwhile, Paretta continues to flee. He runs off the bridge and gets into a taxi.

And meanwhile elsewhere Inferno keeps lumbering. One can only assume the obvious, that these two meanwhiles are connected.

So Inferno keeps on lumbering and starts climbing the trolley rails that Pittsburgh evidently has. But an actual thought has entered his focused mind. That if these costumed chumps keep trying to punch him, it could threaten his goal.

So he must create a diversion. Which is high level thinking for him, I guess.

So he flips over a trolley car and sets it on fire.

“Inferno no longer has an understanding of death as we know it -- and thus he thinks not of the consequences as he sets the toppled trolley car on fire. His actions are not intentionally cruel; they are not intentionally anything. They are merely necessary... and effective!”

Because yup all of the Avengers detour to save the passengers of the flipped/combusted trolley car.

Possibly it didn’t actually require all of them but would you want to be the one to bring that up?

‘I don’t think these people in danger of burning to death actually require our undivided attention.’

How would that look?

Still though, Falcon and Wasp could easily keep on Inferno’s tail. What are they going to contribute here?

Vision and Wonder Man tear the trolley open since the doorways are blocked by flame.

Captain America and Beast and then Vision jump into the trolley to rescue the passengers.

Wasp does do a pass through the trolley to make sure they didn’t miss anyone but that still leaves Ms Marvel and Falcon not really contributing.

I’m just saying.

Because by the time they’ve rescued everyone, Inferno has reached the top of the incline track and disappeared into a tunnel to slowly shamble toward the Mt. Washington home of Vince Paretta.

Where said Vince Paretta is packing up to bug out. Because surprise surprise he wasn’t on the up and up.

Vince Paretta: “I’ve been walking the tightrope too long -- and I’ve only got my own greed to blame! I knew when I took over the steel mill that it was a front for the Maggia, used to clean dirty money from organized crime -- and the Maggia paid me well to ignore that little fact, but it wasn’t enough.”

“No, I had to go start a crooked numbers racket among the workers -- and then that jerk Conroy, had to start losing too much, get suspicious... and threaten to tell the cops! I’d hoped to sell the mill to Stark and split before anyone got wise, but -- huh? The door! Glowing red hot! What -- Oh, no! NO!”

Quick question: is melting through a door a better OH YEAH than just bursting through it?

Because I’m thinking maybe!

Anyway, Inferno grimaces or maybe wordlessly shouts at Paretta before showing him the Uru chip.

And apparently Conroy showed that thing around to everyone because Paretta recognizes it too and realizes the link between this fire monster and the man he ordered killed.

Vince Paretta: “I-it can’t be! You’re dead! I know you’re dead! I had Turpin kill you! Don’t you see? I had to do it! If you had told the cops or the Maggia about my numbers scam, I would’ve been -- dead.”

And then the Avengers OH YEAH through a window because that perfectly good hole pre-melted for them wasn’t good enough.

Also they heard Paretta’s confession so yes they’re going to save him from a fire monster and then they’re taking him to the police.

Also also, yeah they totally think that THIS TIME is the time that they’ve got Inferno’s number.

Iron Man apparently rigged his power pods for fusion release to blow Inferno to cinders and that sounds completely safe to use in a residential neighborhood. Completely.

But blowing up the neighborhood proves unnecessary because apparently this is good enough for Inferno’s need for revengeance.

He punches through ANOTHER WALL (there are now three separate holes in this building) and walks off.

Wonder Man wants to go after him but Iron Man stops him, recognizing that Inferno has gotten what he’s after and he won’t hurt anyone else until he’s resurrected to fight the Avengers again for no goddamn reason by Grim Reaper. Ugh, that guy.

But for now Inferno walks into the river and lets himself be extinguished.

“Peace? No, Inferno will never have peace. All he’ll have are shattered recollections... images of a little girl named Annie, a laughing woman named Darleen... and a loving husband and father named Joe Conroy. For most men, that would not be nearly enough. For Inferno... it has to be.”

Moving stuff.

Its interesting how Inferno is kept a sympathetic monster. Happenstance and luck mean that he never actually kills anyone. Turpin accidentally killed himself, those trolley people were saved, and the Avengers arrested Peratta.

As long as the ones responsible for his death faced justice, that was enough for him.

I mean, dick move to put those trolley riders in danger but.

Thor really needs to be more mindful of leaving Asgardian stuff on Earth if this is the result.

Like I mentioned, the cast wasn’t used as fully as it could have been. Falcon doesn’t really do... anything here. And he leaves the team next issue!

He leaves the team and he barely ever did anything on the team!

Ms. Marvel is leaving soon too and she also didn’t get to do much!

Sigh.

Still. Its a good two-parter. Probably nobody would put it on their list of top ten Avengers stories but for what it is, it works. My only big complaint is the change in art team. I would have preferred if the two-parter had a consistent look. But it is what it is.

What mostly stands in the way of transcending serviceable into great is that the Avengers roster is pretty interchangeable. You could swap these Avengers out and probably would only have to make minimal changes. There’s no character beats that require any of these guys specifically being here except the excellent Wonder Man stuff in the first issue.

You could also swap this out into a lot of other time periods with minimal changes. Aside from the end of Gyrich’s roster restrictions, nothing ties this to this specific period and even that doesn’t matter in getting the team to ASSEMBLE since its an emergency beacon that gets them off their asses.

That’s not necessarily bad. A long-running comic like Avengers needs serviceable issues that spin the wheels. Still, with Falcon and Ms Marvel leaving soon, you’d think a character beat could have been done with either of them. Time is running out, after all. But at this point I’m beating the dead horse.

Next time: a story called Interlude. So I’m guessing an issue of set-up and small moments.

Follow @essential-avengers. Because I wrote this instead of paying attention to a cat playing with crinkly paper. Isn’t that the kind of dedication that should be rewarded? I don’t know. I just say things to say things in this italicized section.

[randomly-spicy-diamond]

Dance with Devils -Charming Book- Vol. 3 Tachibana Lindo (English Translation)

Dance with Devils -Charming Book- Vol. 3 Tachibana Lindo *English Translation*

Seiyuu: Tachibana Lindo (CV: Wataru Hatano)

Spicy’s Notes: (1) Was told no one had tackled this yet so, here we go. (2) This is it. The new OT3. (3) Usual disclaimers, there may be parts I misheard. I’ve tried to keep the things flowing and to minimize walls of text. I am horrible with typos, so feel free to point them out for correction. (4) SFX are subject to my own special touches.

- o - o - o - o - o -

[Track 1 – The Beginning of the Dark Opera]

*SFX: Knocks on the door*

Lindo: *muffled* Are you still awake?

*SFX: Answering rustle*

*SFX: He opens the door and comes in, closing it behind him.*

Lindo: *notices* You’ve already gotten into bed? Sorry about coming in like this.

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: Yeah, I have a little something I wanted to show you.

*SFX: Shows*

Lindo: This book. I found a book store just outside the city the other day. Maybe you’ve been there?

*SFX: Negative rustle*

Lindo: Ah, it was the first time I’d entered myself, but, it had quite an antique feel to it. The books there were all rare ones that you wouldn’t find in a normal book store.

*SFX: He plops down beside you and flips a few pages*

Lindo: This illustration is pretty, isn’t it? It seemed like something you’d like so I bought it.

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: *chuckle* Looks like you like it. Great! Since we’re here why don’t I read it to you until you fall asleep.

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: Huh? I don’t think it’s that surprising of a suggestion, is it? Mom often read picture books to us when were were little, didn’t she?

*SFX: ….Rustle*

Lindo: *sounding like a kicked puppy* ...Do you not want me to?

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: *happy again* Okay then, you lay down over there.

*SFX: He shifts the book*

Lindo: The title is The Phantom of the Opera. Do you know the story?

*SFX: Pause*

Lindo: Same as me. It’s a famous tale so I know the gist of it, but this is the first time I’ve actually read it. Let’s see…

*SFX: He flips a page*

Lindo: Once upon a time, far away, there was a splendid opera house. But, there was a rumor of a Phantom who lived there.

*SFX: Sleepy rustle*

Lindo: Hm? Did she fall asleep already? She was wide awake just a moment ago. Well, I guess it can’t be helped. It’s not health to stay up too late anyway.

*SFX: He shifts*

Lindo: However… It makes me a bit uneasy to have her fall asleep this easily. *to you* I’m happy you trust me but, you should have a little better sense of self-preservation.

*SFX: He leans in*

Lindo: I am your boyfriend you know. *kiss*

*SFX: He straightens*

Lindo: Well then, I should probably go to bed soon too.

*SFX: Insert suspicious BGM as he goes to get up and slumps back down against the bed*

Lindo: Ah! What is... Suddenly I feel sleepy… *gasp* My body isn’t listening to me…

*SFX: Equally suspicious magic sounds*

Lindo: *gasp* The book is… glowing. Don’t tell me this is- *tiredly* It’s no good… At this rate we’ll be… drawn in…

*SFX: Magic book sucks you both in, building to a final shattering sound*

[Track 2: To Whom Does the Sparkling Light Belong]

Lindo: *waking up* ...Where am- Ah!

*SFX: He runs over to you*

*SFX: Rustle?*

Lindo: *relieved sigh* I’m so glad you woke up. Are you okay?

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: I don’t know. When I came to, we were here. It’s dark all around us so I can’t really see anything, but, it’s definitely not your room. Can you stand? Here.

*SFX: He helps you to your feet and stage lights flick on overhead*

Lindo: *gasp* What are those lights!? *looking around* ...This is... a stage?

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: Yeah. It’s exactly like the opera house picture included in that book. I expected as much, this mean, us being here and that thing earlier with the book, it’s not a dream.

*SFX: Rustle?*

Lindo: Sorry. I was the one who bought that book so it’s my fault this happened.

*SFX: Rustle?*

Lindo: We both know about the existence of magic books, right? Well, I’ve heard that there are some magic books that will draw people inside of themselves.

*SFX: Rustle!*

Lindo: Yeah, we’ve been sucked inside a magic book. …I can’t believe I messed up so bad. And I even got you involved too.

*SFX: A slight pause for angst before*

Lindo: Ah! Grandpa said there’s always a number of ways to get out of a magic book. So, there has to be an exit somewhere in this book too. To start, we’ll have to go look for it.

*SFX: He hugs you*

Lindo: It’ll be okay. I’ll definitely find a way to get you out of here.

*SFX: Dramatic pause*

Lindo: Uh... you don’t seem all that scared.

*SFX: Nope*

Lindo: You’re not scared because I’m here? *chuckle* Then I guess I’ll have to make sure I don’t let you down, now that I know you’re counting on me.

*SFX: More hugs*

Lindo: No matter what happens, I’ll protect you. I promise. *kiss*

*SFX: Rustles!*

Lindo: Ah- What’s wrong? You look surprised. …“Behind me”?

*SFX: He turns*

Lindo: *surprised too now* Who’s over there!

*SFX: Menacing footsteps*

Lindo: *gasp* That mask… Don’t tell me, he’s the Phantom of the Opera!? *pauses, then louder* Are you not going to say anything? Or can’t you say anything? If you can talk then answer me – where’s the exit to this magic book?

*SFX: Quick scuffle as the Phantom jumps forward*

Lindo: Attacking without warning, huh? Then, I won’t hold back! Fountain of Fatima!

*SFX: Magic surge as Lindo summons his sword, then runs to attack*

*SFX: Clash of sword on sword*

Lindo: Huh? That sword! It’s the same as mine! What are you!?

*SFX: Swords go shing and they jump back from each other*

Phantom: Who am I? You know me better than anyone else. Or, are you saying don’t you know your own face?

*SFX: The Phantom takes off his mask*

Lindo: *gasp* W-What!? He looks like me!?

*SFX: Dun dun dun*

Phantom: Do you have time to be surprised? *hah!*

*SFX: The Phantom slashes Lindo and there’s a roar of power*

Lindo: *pained* What… was that attack just now...?

Phantom: How does it feel to have your strength sapped from your wounds? *evily* I’m sure it must be painful.

Lindo: I won’t be beat by something like- Urk!

*SFX: Rustle as you move between them*

Lindo: Don’t! Run away! You don’t need to help me!

*SFX: The Phantom steps forward*

Phantom: Do you want to save that man?

*SFX: Rustle*

Phantom: Then come with me. If you come quietly I promise not to lay a hand on him.

*SFX: The Phantom pulls you into his embrace*

Phantom: *whispering* Don’t worry. I have no intention of harming you. Just give yourself to me. That’s all you need to do.

Lindo: *gasping in pain* Don’t do it! Come back!

*SFX: You take the Phantom’s hand*

Phantom: *evil laughter* Too bad. She’s chosen me. *to you* Don’t worry. He won’t die from that. He’ll be able to move in a little while. Now. Let’s go.

*SFX: Dramatic cape turn as you’re taken away*

Lindo: Wait! Don’t go! *pained groan* S-She’s my- *gasp*

*SFX: He slumps over*

[Track Three – Becoming the Beloved Principal]

*SFX: Walking*

Phantom: You don’t need to look so frightened. It’s not as if I’m going to eat you. I’ll take you somewhere we can relax, so be good and follow me.

*SFX: He walks a little bit more then stops and turns*

Phantom: Or, can you not walk on your own? In that case… *leans close* Shall I carry you?

*SFX: You back away*

Phantom: *laughs* Did you believe me? It was a joke. More importantly, come.

*SFX: He steps forward and begins walking again*

Phantom: We’re close. Once we open that door there...

*SFX: A few more steps and he opens the door then closes it behind them*

Phantom: Unfortunately, this opera house is lacking in places for people to rest. I finally found this underground but, as you can see, it’s little more than four walls and a floor. There are also mice who show themselves from time to time but it’s more comfortable than the hall we were just in.

*SFX: Rustle*

Phantom: Keh. *chuckles* Why ask, you already know who I am, don’t you? That mask I removed on stage, this cape, these clothes… Who else could I possibly be other than the Phantom of the Opera?

*SFX: He leans close*

Phantom: And, for now, you, as the one I’ve kidnapped, are the Diva the Phantom gazed longingly at.

*SFX: Shifts*

Phantom: Shall I give you singing lessons like in the story? *touches your cheek* Come on, open your mouth. Sing. It doesn’t matter what song.

*SFX: Pause, then he moves away with a laugh*

Phantom: So nervous you can’t speak? When that happens it means you need to relax.

*SFX: Pat*

Phantom: If I rub your back like this, it helps your muscles relax, doesn’t it. *whispers in your ear* Just lean back against me. It’ll be okay, I won’t do anything bad to you. *kiss*

*SFX: Rustle!?*

Phantom: *laughs* I thought I’d help you loosen up but… You instantly went red all the way down to your neck. I wonder what would happen if I kissed you on the lips?

*SFX: Rustle*

Phantom: It’s all right. I have no intention of going that far. ...At the moment.

*SFX: Rustle*

Phantom: *quiet exhale* ...Are you scared of me?

*SFX: Rustle*

Phantom: I see. ...But, you don’t need to worry. I would never do anything to hurt you. I’ll swear it if you like – no matter what happens I’ll definitely protect you. I promise. *kiss*

*SFX: Rustle!*

Phantom: Why are you so surprised?

*SFX: Rustle*

Phantom: *sigh* That’s because Lindo, as he’s called, and I are one and the same. It’s not odd for us to say the same thing.

*SFX: Pause*

Phantom: Ah, I see. The two of you hadn’t yet grasped the situation we’re in. He and I aren’t duplicates. We were split apart when we were sucked into this magic book.

*SFX: Rustle*

Phantom: This book takes an element of one’s soul, draws it out, and materialized it as the “Phantom”. What was drawn out as the “Phantom” was me, the vampire. The moment he entered this book the one known as Lindo was split into human and vampire.

*SFX: Rustle*

Phantom: It might be hard to believe, hearing it so suddenly. But, there’s no mistaking the fact that, right now, there’s two of us. However, as the vampire, my existence doesn’t extend outside of this book.

*SFX: He moves close*

Phantom: That’s why I was lying in wait for the powerless, human Lindo to try and take you out of here. I intended to wait as long as it took, but I was grateful you appeared as soon as you did.

*SFX: Rustle*

Phantom: *sigh* It’s not unexpected that you’d be afraid of me, as I’m nothing more than the vampire side. But, if we spend time together that should fade.

*SFX: He hugs you*

Phantom: *soft groan* For you, I can be as gentle as you want me to me. I’ll love you so much you melt from it.

*SFX: Kiss*

Phantom: *chuckles* You won’t refuse me even if I do something like this, will you. No matter how frightening I may be, it doesn’t change the fact that I am Lindo. *sounding like the smuggest bastard* You can’t refuse me. Now. Accept me. Throw out your connection to that powerless, human part of me and then live together with me in this world. Together forever in a quiet world just for the two of us.

*SFX: He draws back after a moment*

Phantom: Are you hungry? I’ll bring something to eat. I’m sure you know this already but – don’t leave the room.

*SFX: He walks away and leaves the room, shutting the door behind himself*

*SFX: Rustle*

*SFX: Suspicious sounds from the opposite corner of the room until a metal door opens with a creak*

Lindo: *the quietest* Hey! Over here! Here!

*SFX: You run over*

Lindo: *coughing* I’m covered in dust because I went through the ventilation. But, if we take this, we’ll be able to leave the room without him noticing. Let’s get out of here while we have a chance. Come with me!

*SFX: Unenthusiastic rustle*

Lindo: What are you hesitating for? *gasp of realization* Do you not want to get into such a small space? Don’t worry! You might not know it but, I’m used to getting in tight spaces! To protect you I’d jump through fire, water, walls, or whatever it took!

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: I can lead you through something like this vent without a hitch! And, if we go in here, he definitely shouldn’t find us. Worse case scenario, if he does find us, this time I won’t be slow us down. I’ll prove to you that I can protect you.

*SFX: He takes your hand*

Lindo: So, please believe in me and come with me. Okay?

[Track Four: The Place We’re Aiming Towards Is]

*SFX: Metal vent swings open and Lindo jumps down first*

Lindo: Are you doing okay? Here. I’ll lend you a hand.

*SFX: Hup! He pulls you down to him*

Lindo: You’re not hurt anywhere are you? *looks you over* You are covered in dust, though.

*SFX: He starts patting the dust off*

Lindo: Stay still. You have some stuck on your cheeks too.

*SFX: He finishes cleaning you up then hugs you*

Lindo: I’m so glad you’re safe. If something happened to you I’d…

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: Ah!

*SFX: He loosens up*

Lindo: Sorry! Was that too tight? But really I am glad. You’re really here in my arms.

*SFX: More hugs*

Lindo: Did that tickle? Sorry, I didn’t do it on purpose. ...Let me stay like this for just a little more.

*SFX: More, more hugs*

Lindo: Really, it should be my job to reassure you.

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: Heh, I see. Well, if this makes you feel calm too then that works.

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: What’s wrong? Why did you suddenly hug me tighter? *softer* Of course it makes me happy to have you be the one to hug me like this. *back to normal* Did something happen? Did he do something to you?

*SFX: Rustle*

*SFX: He pulls away slightly*

Lindo: Then, what? Why are you making that face?

*SFX: Pause*

Lindo: You’re saying I was split into a human and a vampire side? You’re sure that’s what he said?

*SFX: Nod*

Lindo: But, can something like that even happen? Until now I’ve done everything I could to escape from my vampiric powers and haven’t succeeded.

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: That’s true. If this magic book has the power to suck two whole people into itself, it might be possible. But, even so… If what he said is true, then why didn’t he do anything to you? Your blood should have power in it. What could his goal possibly be?

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: Ahh, sorry, I was thinking. If that Phantom really is a part of me, this situation might be even more dangerous than I was thinking.

*SFX: Insert mysterious BGM*

Lindo: The vampire side of me is fierce. And, on top of that, he even has powers he’s stolen from me. It’s frustrating but, it’d be better if we avoided fighting him.

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: Talk to him? I doubt talking to him would do anything. It’d be safest to avoid him finding us and figure a way out of here. After that, if we seal this magic book…

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: Yeah. He’ll be sealed inside the book.

*SFX: Protesting rustle*

Lindo: I’m not just letting my feelings get away from me when I’m saying we seal him. Before you reject my idea, let me explain.

*SFX: ...Rustle*

Lindo: Up until now, no matter how I tried to sever that part of me, as a dhampir I was unable to escape the influence of that power. That’s why I accepted it and decided to move on, living together with you. But, he used force to take you away. While I can understand why he’d do that, if he’s obeying the pull of his vampiric blood, I can’t let something that might hurt you stay near you.

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: *sigh* You’re too nice. Being able to accept me no matter what I am… But I’m sure sealing him would be for the best. Please understand.

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: *hesitates* You’re right, it’s not that I don’t have concerns about the idea. I already accepted my fate once and cutting off a part of myself is... a little scary. It may be that I lose a great chunk of my strength. But, even so, I-

*SFX: He cuts himself of uncertainly*

Lindo: Anyway, for now, let’s work on getting away. He might find us if we stay still. And, I found a place that might be the exit to the book.

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: Yeah, while I was looking for you I passed the lobby. Around the main entryway, I felt a seam in the magic. If we can open the door there, we should be able to get out of the magic book. There’s no time for second guessing. Let’s go!

*SFX: Fades out to you setting off walking down the hall*

-Time skip-

*SFX: Fades in to the sound of you still walking*

*SFX: There’s a suspicious thunk on wood and you jump*

Lindo: Don’t be scared. It was just the sound of the building. *sounding stupidly pleased with himself* Well, with an atmosphere like this, those sorts of sounds are enough to surprise someone.

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: Hmm... Are there even ghosts inside a magic book in the first place?

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: Ah! Now that I think of it, we talked about something like that recently, didn’t we? Whether ghosts exist or not. As I remember…

*SFX: Heavy pause*

Lindo: When… was that again?

*SFX: Dramatic BGM shift*

Lindo: Wait… was it back when we were little? We did talk about it, didn’t we? I can’t really remember it clearly. But why? It’s like there’s a hole in my memories. Ah!

Lindo: *quietly* Don’t tell me it’s because a part of me split into him. Or did he steal a part of my memories when he drained my strength with that attack? Keh-! If that’s true then, so long as I’m separated from my vampiric self, I won’t be able to get my memories back.

*SFX: He turns to you*

Lindo: Memories of you, huh? Maybe I have to decide to I throw them away in order to have a future with you as a human.

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: No! It’s not that I’m okay with losing memories of you! But. If I’m human, there’d be nothing left to worry about! There’d be no more being afraid of my vampiric blood! Then, we’d be able to live our lives in peace and I could make you even happier. And we’d be able to make a bunch of new memories, wouldn’t we? So I’m sure going back now to the real world is the right decision. Your happiness is my happiness. That’s why I don’t want to decide to do this for me, I want to do it for you.

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: Why would you ask that?

*SFX: He steps back*

Lindo: Why would you think I should endure being a vampire?

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: You want me to... stay just the way I am?

*SFX: He steps forward*

Lindo: *insistent* But, you don’t know, if I get rid of him now we might be able to gain a peaceful future out of it!? Are you saying you don’t want that!?

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: That’s… We’d be able to live like… normal… people. You just want to live a simple, happy life too, don’t you?

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: *inhales sharply* It’s just a coincidence that we’re living peacefully right now. Who knows what might happen in the future. The instincts brought on by my vampiric blood might destroy everything. Knowing that… do you still think it’s okay for me to stay just the way I am as a dhampir?

*SFX: Hugging time!*

Lindo: *soft gasp* ...You hugging me yourself. You’re pretty forward today.

*SFX: Offended rustle*

Lindo: Heh. I know. You’re trying to show me your feelings in your own way, right?

*SFX: He hugs you back tightly*

Lindo: I’m an idiot, aren’t I? I wouldn’t notice anything without you telling it to me like this. You were prepared to accept all of me a long time ago. Not because you were being nice, but because you love me and believe in me. Right?

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: In that case, I need to live up to your expectations of me. And, whether I’m dhampir or human, so long as I’m me I should be able to be the one to make you happy. I should have known that a long time ago.

Lindo: It’s like when I was separated from the other part of me, my determination faltered. I’m sorry. But, I won’t make this same mistake again. Because you love me, vampire part included. Which means I can’t throw that part away. Isn’t that right?

*SFX: Rustle:

Lindo: Heh. Thank you. *kiss*

*SFX: Rustle!?*

Lindo: Oh… Why are you so surprised? We’re going out. It’s not weird to kiss each other in thanks. I even limited myself to kissing your cheek but… maybe I should have gone with your lips?

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: For normally not being all that shy around me you’re pretty weak to this sort of thing. *whispers in your ear* You’re red all they way to your ears. *kiss* I love you the most just the way you normally are but your embarrassed, confused expression at times like this is pretty nice too.

Lindo: I’m not teasing you. I’m just saying what I really think. ...Will you let me see your face better.

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: You really are cute.

*SFX: He gives a deep sigh*

Lindo: As nice as it’d be to stay like this forever, we should wait until we’re out of the magic book.

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: And there’s the big job ahead of going to get my other self.

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: Yeah. I won’t turn my back on myself anymore. *determined* I’m going!

*SFX: Oh no you don’t*

Lindo: You want to come with me?

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: Absolutely not. ...Is what I what to say but, you don’t look like you’ll listen to anything I’ll say.

Lindo: *sighs dramatically, then, seriously* Promise you’ll stay behind me no matter what?

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: *to himself* I’m a little worried about taking you with me but, it is reassuring to have you near me.

*SFX: Rustle?*

Lindo: No, nothing… Well then, are we ready to set off to go find him?

*SFX: You grab his hand*

Lindo: No matter what happens, don’t leave my side.

[Track Five – Simply Single-mindedly]

*SFX: Walking*

Lindo: We aren’t finding him at all… About the only place left to try would be in the opera hall. It’d be good if he’s there, but…

*SFX: You continue walking and open a door*

Lindo: It’s pitch black, we can’t really see anything... Why don’t we go down, round the stage and turn on the lights-

*SFX: Stage lights are suddenly turned on*

Lindo: *surprised gasp*

*SFX: BGM goes ominous*

Phantom: So you’ve finally come. I was beginning to grow impatient.

*SFX: He begins to walk forward slowly*

Phantom: However. Thanks to the memories I’ve stolen, I was able to keep myself entertained.

*SFX: He stops in front of you*

Phantom: They’re all quite pleasant memories and you’re always smiling in them... *evil chuckle* ...beautifully. As nice as it is to spend time in memories though, they’re no replacement for the real you. Now! Come back to me! Come back into my arms once more!

Lindo: *frustrated noise* I won’t give her to you. But. If you become one with me once more we’ll be able to leave the magic book together. I’ll accept you. So you need to accept me too!

Phantom: *laughs* What a pathetic joke. Do you think someone as weak as yourself is in any position to tell me what to do?

Lindo: That’s not it. I was just-

Phantom: I had no intention of listening to you from the start! *menacing* I thought I might let you go unharmed if you gave her back to me without a fuss, but, since it’s come to this I won’t have mercy on you. I’ll steal her away from you using any means necessary. Then the two of us will live together forever in this world. Without anyone to get in between us. That’s why… I’ll need you to disappear!

*SFX: He summons his sword with a magic shimmer and attacks*

*SFX: Lindo jumps away with a grunt*

Lindo: Even if it’s just for a little bit, please, listen to me! The two of us are one. If one of us beats the other we’ll never go back to being who we were!

Phantom: *attacking* And what of it? A human who rejects the instincts of his vampiric blood? Rather than continuing to bare that pain, clearly we’d be better off if one of us to destroyed the other!

*SFX: He pauses*

Phantom: The greatest proof is the fact that you tried to throw me away to begin with.

*SFX: SLASH! And he connects*

Lindo: *gasping in pain*

Phantom: *smug snort* Secretly, you want to be rid of me, don’t you? I know that much without you saying it. We were originally one.

Lindo: *painfully* It’s true… that I thought about just staying as me. I figured… we’d be able to live normal, peaceful lives that way.

Phatom: Indeed. It’s something a weakling would think. Peaceful. Is peace so important? What we need is power to protect her! Can you do that as a human? Here, even now, you’re being cut to ribbons by me. *darkly* If I put the slightest bit of power into it, someone like you…

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: *to you* You stay there! I need to be the one to finish this with him.

Phantom: Do you still believe you can talk your way out this? How foolish.

Lindo: *to the Phantom* Listen to me! It’s true, I was going to throw away the vampiric part of myself! But she… she needs me just the way I am! She’s prepared to accept me no matter what happens! I want to answer her feelings! I want to live together with her, without losing to the fear of my vampiric urges!

Phantom: Shut up!

*SFX: STAB!*

Lindo: *yelling in pain*

*SFX: Dun dun dun*

Phantom: Shall we test how long will you be able to keep saying such nonsense while you withstand the pain?

Lindo: *weakly* I won’t give up. No matter what you do to me. I won’t reject myself again!

Phantom: *distasteful noise, then, quietly* I’ve heard enough. I’ll kill you here and now… No. Before that, I have an idea. I’ll have her pick me in front of you.

Phantom: *to you* Swear to love me, swear to live together with me, and I’ll spare his life. How about it? It’s not a bad deal.

Lindo: *struggling up* Don’t… involve her in this! This is between us!

Phantom: Be quiet!! *to you again* So long as I can have you, I don’t need anything else. Now! Come to me! I’m the only one who can love and protect you!

*SFX: There’s a quick skirmish, then a thwack, as the Phantom strikes Lindo aside and you move forward to help Lindo up*

Lindo: *softly to you* Thanks.

Phantom: You’re… choosing the human? Why!? ...In the end, can you not love me because I’m a vampire?

*SFX: He turns hastily away*

Phantom: Then… just what point is there to my existence-!?

*SFX: You move to grab his hand*

Phantom: *sounding drained* Why… are you grabbing my hand? You chose the human me, didn’t you?

*SFX: Rustle*

Phantom: Then why!?

Lindo: Like I was trying to tell you earlier... She accepts both of us. You feel the same way about her as I do, right? *takes a breath* So lets go home. Together. To the real world. I’m sure a lot of things will happen to us, but together, we should be able to make it through.

Phantom: *snorts, but without the venom he had earlier* What simple minded idea. It still sounds like nothing more than pathetic human thinking to me. However... I might just be able to believe it. *to you* That you could love me is proof anything is possible. And… I’m tired of being alone.

Lindo: *relieved gasp* Then you’ll-

Phantom: Yes, I’ll return to inside you. But, before I do…

*SFX: He steps forward to embrace you*

*SFX: Kissy kissy*

Lindo: GAH!

Phantom: *whispering in your ear* I have to steal your lips at the very least.

Lindo: You-!?

Phantom: You and I are one, aren’t we? Then there shouldn’t be a problem.

Lindo: *grumbles*

*SFX: Magic slowly begins to shimmer*

Phantom: It seems it’s about time for me to disappear.

Lindo: You’re not disappearing. You’re going back to where you’re supposed to be. You’ll always be inside me. And, I’ll be inside you.

Phantom: *chuckles* Two in one, huh? It’s strange but, that doesn’t sound too bad to me now, it sounds lively.

*SFX: Shimmer!*

Lindo: *soft gasp* Does this mean the two of us… have gone back to normal? It wasn’t that long but I feel unexpectedly right, like this is how it’s supposed to be.

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: I made you worry, didn’t I? But, it’ll be okay now. Let’s get out of here, all three of us!

*SFX: Rustle*

*SFX: The more lights suddenly begin to flick on*

Lindo: *gasp* What-? Suddenly all the other lights are-

*SFX: BGM begins to build dramatically*

Lindo: *flinches* It’s so bright!

*SFX: Ponderous creaking as a door opens*

Lindo: One of the doors opened! *gasp of realization* If we go through it, maybe it’s-

*SFX: He turns to you*

Lindo: Follow me! We’re going to run through it!

*SFX: You both run off through the door and it closes heavily behind you*

[Track Six – Forever with you]

*SFX: Morning birdsong*

Lindo: *waking up* Ah, it’s bright… It’s morning?

*SFX: You both get up*

Lindo: That was a whole lot of fuss from just reading a book to help you get to sleep. It’s a bit of a waste but, the magic book is dangerous so it’d be best to destroy it.

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: Sorry, I made you worry so much over me.

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: Yeah, my apology right now is the end of it. I won’t have second thoughts like that again. I’ll live together with you just the way I am. And, it’s kind of strengthening to know there’s another me inside of myself. I’m sure the three of us can get through anything. Right?

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: *chuckles* I love you, more than anyone else, forever. *kiss*

*SFX: He moves back*

Lindo: *laughs* It’s bright so I can see every bit of how red you are.

*SFX: Offended rustle*

Lindo: That doesn’t mean you should turn away... Come on. Turn back this way.

*SFX: He moves for hugs and there’s more offended rustling*

Lindo: Hey, don’t run away.

*SFX: Hugs win out*

Lindo: *snuggles* Besides, we have a while before we have to get up, don’t we? Let’s take our time. Okay? Hugging you like this, no matter how relaxing it is, makes my heart race. *whispers in your ear* What about you?

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: I see, it’s the same for you. That makes me happy. I mean. normally you don’t act all that flustered. *kiss* Well! I love you anyway. The way you laugh, innocently. The way you get mad, sad, there’s lots of expressions that I’m the only one who gets to see. It feels nice that I get to have a little bit of you all to myself. Of course, it’s because you’re you that I feel this way.

*SFX: Rustle*

Lindo: By the way, there was one thing I wanted to ask. Do you mind?

*SFX: Rustle?*

Lindo: When it comes down to it, what do you like more -  the human me or the vampire me?

*SFX: Rustle!?!!*

Lindo: Do you actually like things a bit more forceful, like with him?

*SFX: He leans in*

Lindo: *+1 sexy*  If that’s the case, then I’ll stop holding back. I’ll love every inch of you until you melt. *kiss*

*SFX: Thwack! And he backs off*

Lindo: Ah! *laughs* Sorry, I took it a little too far, didn’t I. But, I wasn’t joking, just now. I’ll be anything you want me to be. That’s how much I love you. It might be heavy having both of us love you, but you’ll accept us, right?

*SFX: He leans close again*

Lindo: So, stay with me and keep letting me see that smile of yours. Promise? *kiss*

[rockinlibrarian]

This is copied from my actual blog

(What follows was originally posted at Amy's Free Library of Rock, my actual Blog-blog as opposed to a Tumblr that I only usually REblog stuff on, but after @theselfexpress posted something yesterday I thought it might be good to have on Tumblr, too).

I'm kind of wincing at my own title. You know STORY is my favorite thing in the whole world. You know I'm all about the importance of stories and trying to separate the word "myth" from the concept of "falsehood." Story helps us give meaning to our existence. But we also sometimes use it to justify what we WANT to be true, even when it isn't. It's funny that this was a major theme in this season of Sherlock, too. I'd like to share my thoughts on that, sometime before it becomes too far past to be relevant. I'm also working on two different GeekMom articles at once (possibly three. Come Monday, if I don't get any more time to myself to type before then, definitely three). I also have (as usual, but at the same time worse than usual) a complete wreck of a house to deal with, a bunch of Christmas decor to put away, and a whole lot of commitments taking me out of the house, not to mention the day to day commitments of a family that somehow expects I should feed them everyday (even though they don't like much of anything I cook for them). There is SO MUCH I have to work on, and I haven't even mentioned settling back to do the final handsewing on my new butterfly brocade dress while watching the series of Soundbreaking I finally managed to get hold of, because that's pure leisure time. But I digress. (Often). I really want, right here right now, to address current events, yet again. We are at a scary moment of history. And if you disagree, this is probably due to the stories you are telling yourself, not the truth. And if you think the people who disagree ARE fully aware of the truth, you are also telling yourself stories, not seeing the full truth. The sad, frustrating, dangerous, and frankly somewhat traumatizing thing is, forces have transpired to fog the truth up for us. Gah, I know, that's vague. But that's the point. It would be nice to be able to point directly at Putin and blame the rise of totalitarianism on the Russian propaganda machine, but that's just part of it. It's easy to point to the new administration, which is doing it blatantly:

Re Spicer's lies, this is from someone who worked in a past administration. Important read. pic.twitter.com/XrjLJHRAGL

— Anna Rascouët-Paz (@rascouet) January 22, 2017

But again, that's just part of it. If we all called these things as they are, they wouldn't have any power. But the fog isn't coming out of a single sfx machine that we can just unplug. A spun story here, an appeal to People Like Me there, a information miasma without enough librarians, and countless individual stories-we-tell-ourselves being presented as truth in echo chambers among people telling similar stories, and you end up with a GREAT SMOG pouring in from countless directions. I'm super-sensitive to this fog, which is why I said it's somewhat traumatizing. It's traumatizing for ME. I don't like my mind being messed with. It makes me angry. It makes me frustrated. It makes me really really sad. And I feel like Cassandra when I see it happening and I can't get anyone to believe me (who doesn't already see it happening themselves). Let me show you how these things happen, using a tragedy that happened down the street from me this past fall as an example (skip the paragraph if you don't want to read a tragedy). Here is what happened, strict facts. A man who had been abusive and outright threatened to kill his pregnant wife showed back up to torment her and threaten her life again, even though she had a PFA against him. She called the police. Police showed up, too late, he's already shot and killed her and now he turns the gun out the window and shoots two officers, killing one, badly injuring the other. The police shut down the area and go on a manhunt for the rest of the morning, only to find the guy had killed himself right after. 'Kay. That's what happened. Here is one way the story could be presented, and was: the story of the police martyrs cut down in the line of duty by a cop-killer. This angle is still in evidence in our town-- the blue-and-black ribbons are still up all over, the signs that say "We stand with you, Cbg PD!" and "We salute our fallen officers." This angle really resonates with people, which is how my little neighborhood ended up making the national news. Implicit in this coverage is a "Those darn criminals keep killing our fine police officers!" message. And it goes farther, it gets turned into "Why do you keep accusing the police of brutality, can't you see THEY'RE the victims, THEY'RE the ones that keep getting SHOT DOWN because your lies about police brutality make people hate them?!" Whoa, slow down here. The guy shot them because he was a violent maniac and they were coming to arrest him, not because he was part of some cop-killer club or anything, lying in ambush just waiting to pick one off. Officer B truly did die in the line of duty, not out of some political demonstration. Now look at the way the story was NOT presented. I was surprised when the story made the national news because the sad fact is domestic abusers kill their partners ALL THE TIME, and you don't hear it on the national news unless one of them's famous or something really unusual and gruesome happened or, say, a cop got killed. Is this woman, and her unborn child, and all the other victims of domestic abuse, somehow less important than the police officers who were trying to save her? Is her life worth less? Why is her death not a national tragedy? Oh, sure, the police were in a way innocent bystanders, just doing their jobs, and they got shot. But isn't she equally innocent? Isn't it a tragedy that she's had to suffer at his hands and words all this time, that she tried to get help and protection and it ultimately didn't work? With all the black-and-blue ribbons all over town, in just one place do you see a memorial to her-- on the electric signpost of the drug store where she worked. Her coworkers love and miss her. But everywhere else she's forgotten. Now imagine what would have happened to the story the world saw if I change just one detail. You see, this woman was an immigrant from Egypt. Her killer husband was an all-american white boy with freakin' american flags waving off the back of his truck (I used to gawk at it, it was something). WHAT IF their ethnicities had been reversed? What if the killer was a Middle-Eastern immigrant and his wife was *gasp* blonde? If you don't think this would change the way this story was told, you haven't been paying much attention.

Y'all better make this VIRAL since any other media wont do it pic.twitter.com/A668T8CqmF

— ㅤ (@turntsIut) January 21, 2017

We all have our own Normals, based on where we grew up, where we live now, who we were raised by, and who we were raised among. When we see just a snapshot of another Normal, it's easy to jump to conclusions. Because this, people in that Normal must be this other thing. So we get a bit repulsed by the Others and retreat deeper into our own Normals, where everyone tells the same stories about What Normal IS that you do So we automatically frame what we see in terms of what we already consider normal. The story of the tragedy in my neighborhood takes on a different meaning depending on how you feel toward police officers, what your experiences or knowledge of domestic abuse is like, or how much you know about the culture to which any of the interested parties belong. We group people and experiences into "like me" and "not like me" categories in our heads, and when evidence goes contradictory to it, we rewrite our understanding of reality to fit. Sometimes we change our opinions. But other times we hold tighter to what we used to know as true. This is true across the board, but people who are still optimistic about our new president have had it particularly bad, lately. They were so excited to get a GOP president-- "GOP! Anti-Obama and Anti-Hillary! That means he's LIKE US!"-- that they fail to see that he's actually NOT. Oh, he's not a Democrat in disguise either, all right. He's not a normal president, period. But he must be good because he says things about Making America Great Again, and that's exactly what we want to hear, so....

Via @ddale8: Trump fans' favorite things about him are the stuff they made up in their own head pic.twitter.com/Jw6Xp7QClc

— Daniel Radosh (@danielradosh) January 19, 2017

Particularly fascinating are the folks in these pictures who admire his Godliness but wish he'd stop tweeting. I suppose because every tweet makes the UNGodliness stand out instead. It makes it hard for them to keep telling that story to themselves. If he keeps it up they may be forced to change their minds about him, and they'd rather not, so just shut up, Donny, and let them keep their fantasies, okay? Don't run away from reading me here yet, my conservative friends! Don't get complacent, my liberal ones! The Left has their own pretty stories, too. The most problematic one is lumping all President Trumpsterfire's supporters together with the worst of them. They've all made a serious mistake-- yes, you KNOW I think you've made a serious mistake, people who voted for him-- but not for nefarious purposes. Yes, they may kill people by taking away their health care, yes, they may invalidate people's marriages, yes, they may condone the persecution of millions of innocents because of their heritage or genetics, but they DON'T SEE IT THAT WAY. They know different Stories, they either don't HAVE all the facts or they can't make the facts fit into their Stories so they respin them as falsehoods. A few of them--a few-- really ARE hateful, bigoted scum. But when we call the REST hateful bigoted scum, too, it just makes it harder for them to listen to the actual truths you're telling that they need to hear! I've seen too many conservative friends bristling away from the movement toward justice because of this. I found the pictures from the Womens' Marches really inspiring yesterday. Then I saw a tweet from a conservative friend in response to someone who'd said LOOK HOW BEAUTIFUL EVERYONE UNITED EVERYONE IS WELCOME! "...not the Pro-Life ones," she replied bitterly. OUCH. I know what she means. I have no doubt that Pro-Life women WOULD have been and WERE welcomed into the marches, but a lot of Pro-Choicers have a problem how they talk about the Pro-Life movement-- they, too, lump people who genuinely believe in the sanctity of life with misogynists who just want to control women's sexuality. This is a particularly frustrating issue for me, because I grew up in a very actively Pro-Life extended family-- I've done the March for Life myself!-- and I thoroughly understand my family members' actual feelings on the matter, and I truly consider myself Pro-Life, even though from a political standpoint I am technically pro-choice.

The sign, read the sign, people!... meaning, mostly, my extended family...! #PROLIFEFORREAL https://t.co/IjEu4zvAg4

— Amy W (@rockinlibrarian) January 22, 2017

I don't think the picture shows up in the quoted tweet, here's the one I was referring to:

An outpouring of people with a lot at stake. #WomensMarch #WomenMobilizeNC pic.twitter.com/8FasRdksR4

— Zeynep Tufekci (@zeynep) January 21, 2017

I've had a real hard time at church since just before the election. Remember I said I hadn't lost my faith in God but was pretty disillusioned with the Church? Our pastor, he's a great guy y'know, but the Sunday before the election he said something like, "Yeah, we have to make a choice, and it looks like we have to make a choice between 'Bad' and 'Worse.' I can't tell you who to vote for, but I will say when you get down to it that the most important thing is protecting the Sanctity of Life, and we have to vote to stop abortion." And I'm just SERIOUSLY HAVE YOU EVEN LOOKED AT THIS GUY, HE IS ANTI-LIFE UNLESS IT'S HIS OWN! The fact that the Pro-Life movement has become SO FOCUSED on overturning Roe vs. Wade that they can no longer see that liberal movements have actually done far far more to REALLY protect the sanctity of life (I can't find the article I read about this last summer that uses facts to support this claim, but here's another article I found while looking for it that at least expresses the idea in more detail) is just... so depressing, really. And if we'd stop being so PARTISAN about it, we could SEE this, and actually WORK TOGETHER to truly protect LIFE. I think the most important thing we need to do is follow Haymitch's advice in Catching Fire, and remember who the real enemies are. I know we find it hard to forgive each other. I know we're angry, we're all so angry. But let's make sure we're focusing the anger in the right place. I saw someone say, "Trump didn't divide America!" -- true, we've already been divided. I've seen others say, "We need to stand together and put faith in the election process and our new administration." Or, the opposite, "We CANNOT play nice anymore. The Nazis weren't defeated because the Allies had a nice discussion and they all shook hands." BUT. A totalitarian government just LOVES when it can pit its citizens against each other. It LOVES to be all "if you're not for us your against us." There are people TRYING to get us to hate each other, pointing at all the worst actions of the "other" side instead of the many many more right actions. WE CANNOT LET THEM DO THIS. Civil war destroys so much. A revolution, on the other hand? If we all, ALL, take a good look around and see who the enemies REALLY are? It's rough when we're still divided over the stories we're getting, but the fact is the majority of people are GOOD PEOPLE. And when we stick together instead of turning on each other, we can beat this. I don't know if this whole quoted tweet will show up, but...

White women need to be the meat shields of this resistance https://t.co/SFyi332Ca1

— Goldeen Ogawa (@GrimbyTweets) January 22, 2017

You see this is the one she was quoting:

You don't think that maybe JUST MAYBE the police treat people differently when large numbers of white women are present?

— Carrie (@PlainJaneFoster) January 22, 2017

That original tweet was a little bitter, about how privileged white women are that they don't have THEIR protests broken up by riot police (when there isn't a riot). But Goldeen takes that and says LET'S USE THIS. You see what we can do when we ALL stand together? We can't let anyone try to divide us any more. We need to speak up even when we aren't the direct victims of an injustice. We need to listen to each other and not just assume that, oh, this is only about THEM, or that, oh, I don't see a problem so obviously there isn't really a problem they're just overreacting. If we open our eyes and hearts and stand together, we can keep the real enemies from their nefarious plans. We can make right mighty, instead of pretending might makes right.

And the fact this was worldwide. It's not just about us. It is about humans and the Earth.

— LibraryElfReads (@LibraryElfReads) January 22, 2017