#like for every chapter there's a song that somewhat summarizes it

[beauleifu]

I'm making a playlist for Heartstrings and I wanna know if you have any songs that you think would be perfect for it :>

I love this fic so much, I hope you don't mind that I'm making a song list for it~

oh my GOD WAIT WAIT WIAT

I'VE WANTED TO MAKE ONE OF THESE FOR SO LONG

NAHANAHABSIDFBGDFG YOU CAN MAKE ONE!!! OMGG I WOULD LOVE THAT SO MUCH, You've gotta share it with me when you finish!! If it's on Spotify or something else cause that is a BRILLIANT idea you GENIUS

im begging you i love this

[turtleations]

Pink Cloudy Sky, P.S. To the Beginning of the End (Summarized)

Chapter 00 - 01 Chapter 02 Chapter 03 Chapter 04 Part 1, Part 2 Chapter 05 Chapter 06 Part 1, Part 2 Chapter 07 Part 1 Part 2 Final Chapter

From the cloudy sky, as REM sometimes remembered, the warm rays of the spring sun came down.

A somewhat lazy afternoon in late spring. REM was leaning against the wall of the clinic’s waiting room, feeling the weight of the guitar in his knees as he went through the setlist of tomorrow’s live. During practice that night, he would do the final checks. He’d have to plan the timing of the MCs, the finale, the arrangement of the new songs…

Suddenly, his eyes fell on the list of that afternoon’s appointments. There were a few more patients than usual for a Saturday. Maybe he could take a nap first…

No, before those appointments, he had to practice scales.

What was to become of him and SAVER TIGER from now on, no one could say.

He was nervous about it, and impatient. Claiming anything else would have been a lie. The one thing he could say was that leading SAVER TIGER now was the most fulfilling period of his life so far. The one year in which he had put everything into fulfilling hide’s dying wish.

He could not even dream of paying back all he owed him.

But maybe this was enough?

Everything after this, he should do for himself, REM thought.

The SAVER TIGER of those days was over. This was the SAVER TIGER he had breathed new life into.

There was no point in dragging the past forward.

The end of the century, rock music, and SAVER TIGER. Those were the only things that mattered to him in this moment.

Just that, and keeping up the creation of good music, continuing to perform.

He could play the guitar like this. He could feel the strings under his fingers, feel the melody in his ears, feel the music with his whole being.

There was no greater happiness than that.

-

In the afternoon sunlight filtering through the trees, the pick REM was holding in his right hand fell to the floor with a small noise. In his dream, his soul kept sliding over the fingerboard.

-

From autumn 1998 onwards, the new SAVER TIGER continued to go on tour: Starting on the 1st of November 1998 in Yokohama, they had six performances in Yokohama, Yokosuka, Meguro, and Takadanobaba until the 15th of April 1999. Then, in May, they performed in three locations in Yokohama and Takadanobaba.

The second part of their tour started in early August and took them to Osaka, Tokushima, Yokosuka, Yokohama, Chiba, Machida, Meguro, and Kumagaya in 11 shows. The final one was planned for 13th December 1999 in BAYHALL in Yokohama.

REM expresses how ecstatic he would be if those who read this book would listen to SAVER TIGER’s music. And while they are at it, they should check out their official website.

Speaking of which, it was hide who first got into the internet, and used it to communicate with the fans in a meaningful way.

And with this feeling carved into REM’s chest, he wants to put down the pen.

Appendix

Study of the dental pattern of patient Matsumoto Hideto.

At this point, REM want to attempt an examination of patient Matsumoto Hideto as a dentist. The following is based on a dental model he made, as well as things hide told him.

It was a model made for the purpose of examination. That day, it became a special thing for REM: The only memento he had of hide’s physical form. Every time REM sees the model in the waiting room or touches the examination table where hide had been sitting, he wants to talk to that white, inorganic thing.

That is why he is sharing the report on that medical examination now, resigning himself to the criticism of the other people from his field.

It would probably be terribly unreasonable to reach conclusions about hide’s entire body just from that model, the state of his oral cavity, and what he told REM. Moreover, it would be rude to hide, one might think. Others would be of the opinion that it is okay to do it, of course. REM thinks it’s reasonable enough.

But REM’s honest feelings are these: It is not a bad thing to disclose a little bit of hide’s personal matters to the public. In this moment, as his friend and as his fellow guitarist from a band called SAVER TIGER, REM wishes to do all he can for hide, utilizing his means as a dentist.

Therefore, REM informs that the following is not a true patient’s chart nor an actual medical report. It reflects only the personal opinion of one single dentist.

[Patient Matsumoto Hideto] 1) Main complaint (the patient’s acutely perceived subjective symptoms for discomfort) .. Sometimes his jaw joints are hurting. It also happens that he cannot open his jaw. Also, severely stiff shoulders. 2) Medical history (past illnesses and current systemic ailments) .. Arrythmia 3) History of present illness .. Observations of grating sounds and irregularities of temporomandibular joint at times are ambiguous

Psychologically, systemic problems are ambiguous. 4) Current symptoms .. Abnormally stiff shoulders

Since long ago, many cases of clenched jaw, jaw muscles are stressed.

Palpation of temporomandibular joint not particularly abnormal, movement of lower jaw is not irregular or restricted. No palpation of muscle occurred. 5) Symptoms concluded from model of the mouth cavity .. Extensive wear of all teeth, corresponding low occlusion.

This is what REM got from what he heard from hide and the examination of the dental model.

One week after his visit at REM’s clinic, hide went to L.A. again, with no follow-up appointment planned, no clarity on when he would be back in Japan, and with the symptoms of his jaw not being acute, REM did not interview him too extensively. He also notes that there was no time for photographs of the oral cavity or X-rays.

At this point, REM talks a little about temporomandibular joint and how it works. Compared to other parts of the body, it is extremely complex in its movements. With its position between the upper and lower jaw and before the ears, it executes a lot of movements when speaking, eating, or even during sleep for some people.

Very roughly said, there is complex movement when chewing or opening and closing the mouth: Up, down, left, right. In contrast, the abnormal occlusion comes from a way of chewing that differs from the ordinary. Damage to the teeth can also be caused by accidents and violent fights. In any case, if the teeth are worn down by chewing or grinding, the height doesn’t match anymore, which leads to irregular chewing patterns.

If that irregularity is particularly bad, it leads to pain of the temporomandibular joints and overall discomfort. This, caused by emotional stress in the first place, can lead to muscle pain, which in turn leads to more tension.

Opening and closing the mouth can create various problems. This is called temporomandibular joint disorder. Of course, when it comes to hide, REM can’t diagnose that for the aforementioned lack of examinations and tests. But between what patient Matsumoto Hideto told him and the information provided by the study model, it’s a conclusion he finds definitely possible.

The model shows that from the front to the back teeth, all the pointy bits had been worn away so that the teeth were essentially flat. This must have been caused by the teeth grinding hide had told REM about. But for the wear to be so extensive all over, the grinding and gritting must have been extremely strong and have gone on for a very long time.

Teeth grinding is a phenomenon that happens unconsciously in times of required self-control or nervousness and stress. If the grinding goes on for a long time, it often happens that normal chewing is no longer possible. This disturbs the entire system of the jaw muscles and joints and causes pain. If it gets worse, the pain can spread to the surrounding muscles, then the shoulders and fingers and even the back and legs. Also, this affecting the muscles is often the cause for stiffness of the shoulders.

According to the model, the size of hide’s jaw (the gap between the upper and the lower jaw) when chewing was a lot lower than it used to be due to the wear, and the bones inside the joint no longer fit the normal position. The wear is so extensive that REM assumes the pain spread past the environment of the jaw to parts of the body far away from it.

And thus he concludes this meagre investigation.

Finally, there is one more episode REM wants to add in line with this report.

This is how he remembers it:

That day, hide asked him, “How do I get my teeth back to their original shape?” after he came to REM’s office for consultation.

After the examination, they had, of course, gone for drinks, and this is when hide brought it up. REM said, “For that, I would have to fix all your teeth, I think. There is no time for that now, and there is a risk that the shape of your face is going to change. One day, when we are both old men, and there is time to spare, and visuals no longer matter, I can fix them for you.”

Hide said, “Since my teeth are one source for my stiff shoulders, I want to have them fixed. Just, right now, there really is no time for it, but please do it one day. After all, you are to be my attending physician for the rest of my life.”

As attending physician, REM could have been of some help. Even now, that thought sometimes shoots through his mind.

Afterword (1)

With the irresponsible reports and information going around after that certain day, REM wants to detail his days with hide as precisely as possible. And he wants to let as many people as possible know the truth.

That kind of thought is always with him.

“Hey, REM! Please.”

Every day they have this conversation inside REM’s mind, when he listens carefully for hide’s words from beyond the sky and replies, “Hey, hide. How can I help you, so you can rest easy?”

This is a book that has been created as a joint project by REM and Nakamoto-san of Yokosuka, who goes by the name of BENZO, over the course of half a year.

The aim was to write as accurately, truthfully, and diligently as possible about REM’s life as a musician, the historic band SAVER TIGER as made by hide, as well as REM’s irreplaceable days with his sword friend hide, and the enthusiastic rock scene of Yokosuka.

He was aiming to be accurate, but there are probably points where his memory is off, or his perception differs from others. In that case, he is sincerely sorry.

In the light of the close bond he shared with him who has gone beyond the sky, he hopes it can be forgiven.

Finally, he thanks a great many people, starting with hide’s parents, his younger brother, the people from his office, the former members of X JAPAN, the past members and staff of SAVER TIGER, the members of UNITED, AMIT, Doppel Ganger, LAFERIA, and 4th Dimension, Kuriji-san, and then the people of Zushi Dental Clinic, Takeshi-san, Arakawa-sensei, Nakano-san, Someya-san, and many others. Above all, BENZO, who has become a drinking buddy for life and without whom this book would not exist in this form. All these people have helped him greatly, and he takes this opportunity to express his deepest gratitude.

He dedicates this book to his mother, who went to heaven first and may have met hide there, his father, who is still practicing as a doctor on Shikoku, his older sister and his younger brother, his wife Miwa, and their son.

And of course, he wants to dedicate this book, and the next words that come from his heart, to him, who has gone beyond the sky.

“hide, thank you.”

-

1999-05-02   His first birthday above the sky.

-

Afterword (2)

28 October 1999, Thursday, cloudy sky, 10:30 AM.

The night before, REM drank with his bandmates in their usual place, “99”, but their condition wasn’t bad. The window was wide open. Feeling the comforting wind and the morning’s aroma from his fingertips to his hair that once again reached his shoulders, REM went down the national highway No. 134 southwards, towards the coast of Miura. There, on a small hill, different from the rest and seemingly removed from the reality everyone else is living in, is hide’s resting place.

REM wondered if he was plotting new ideas in this place of rest, and if those were now flying around freely through the air…

As always, REM reported about live performances and new songs, and the state of the band, and then made his way back home along the coastal road. There was one tiny thing he noticed:

As REM was talking to hide, a feathered life-form about the size of his little finger’s nail (some kind of insect) was flying through the air around him and the others. At that time, they didn’t particularly care… And now, that life-form was inside the car.

There was no telling if it was the same creature from before, but form and size were identical.

REM calmly closed the window and, without thinking anything, he turned on the car stereo and stepped on the accelerator.

When he got home and left the car, the line between the ordinary and the extraordinary was crossed again.

Several days had passed since then.

It’s the 6th of November now, and with the image of this feathered little life-form flying freely around in his home, REM decides to let the story come to an end.

[arachnitopia]

3, 6, 8, 21, 19 and 20, 22, 28 and 29 :-3

hello hello!! 3. biggest strength - i take a lot of pride in my intelligence! i process, learn, and comprehend very fast and i retain + use the knowledge i gain very well. i've been told plenty of times that i could do great things if i applied myself more and as much as that statement annoys me, i like to think its true. i could do fantastic things. 6. last dream you had - the last dream i had was a really elaborate and immersive nightmare. of course it doesnt take much thinking to realize it's unrealistic, but upon waking up i was genuinely a bit afraid because for a moment it really seemed like That was my life ! in short it can be summarized by my mom dates a serial killer yikes but if you want to hear it in more detail idm describing it :P 8. favorite movie - tie between everything, everywhere, all at once and pan's labyrinth. both very very different but still very very good. everything everywhere all at once was nominated for 11 oscars and won 7 of them!! those wins being best actress, best supporting actress, best supporting actor, best film editing, best original screenplay, best director, and of course best picture! and for good reason. eeaao is a FANTASTIC movie and something i think everyone in the world should watch. it has good comedy + action, it has good philosophy and diverse representation, it has good set and costume design, and it has absolutely phenomenal plot and characters. genuinely there is something for everyone. we'd be here forever if i could talk about every little thing good about eeaao but instead you should watch it for yourself!!! pan's labyrinth was nominated for 6 oscars and won 3 of them! those wins being best art direction, best cinematography, and best makeup (though its other nominations are also very impressive). pan's labyrinth is an incredibly beautiful, well done dark fantasy movie about a little girl having to bear life during the early francoist period of spain. despite it being a somewhat old movie, the visuals still hold up perfectly. both the beauty and the unsettling is captured perfectly. it's a cult classic that, again, i think everyone should watch! 19. 5 things i love - you my dear friend eden!!!! as well as all my other friends :] art of every medium especially music and writing and illustration all of my favorite roblox games hehehe learning ! especially about science, literature, and even history!! all of my plushies!! 20. 5 things i hate- its so awful when i accidentally loop a song for too long and it starts to sound weird/bad :[ misinformation ! when genuinely good media is dumbed down to a meme or is only known for having a shit fandom pokemon dudebros who think trubbish is a bad pokemon/has a bad design yearning for all of the cool and fun and complex things my laptop cannot run 21. a random fact - everything, everywhere, all at once actually had to have its own wiki page for all of the awards it was nominated for and won because there were so many it was better to just dedicate an entirely separate area for them :P 22. favorite item of jewelry - in terms of jewelry types i love neckalces and chokers! specific item though i have a silver necklace with a round lapis pendant that's held in place by a dragon circling around it,, it's really cool and means a lot to me :] 28. favorite book - house of leaves. frankenstein is a close second but house of leaves always no matter what,, it's an incredibly engaging read that requires a lot of effort. pages upon pages of footnotes, appendixes, exhibits. there's even details and puzzles in the margins, chapter names, and publisher fine print on the very first page. house of leaves tells many stories at once, all interconnected and yet so distant from one another. it's unsettling, heart-wrenching, and so so human. it's also inspired a lot of other really good art (such as myhouse.wad !!!) 29. sweet or salted popcorn - i don't like sweet popcorn that much !

[olliethealright]

Three Steps From Home: Update 4

Hey everyone! Long time, no see! Basically, I’ve been unmotivated for the past month or so, and as a result I’ve barely touched my socials. Good news, I’ve written the next eleven or so chapters of my WIP, and it’s almost doubled in word count lol. I don’t want to do a full sized update on every chapter because that would take a stupidly long amount of time, so I’m just gonna summarize and then give a little excerpt (this ended up being chapters 11-16) Not every quote has a picture because I am a tad lazy lol. Enjoy! 

Trigger Warnings: Emotional abuse, toxic relationships, homophobia, self harm, suicide, mental health, drug use, religious content

Disclaimer: Please don’t steal my words, ideas, characters, etc.

chapter eleven - problem child - 2118 words

theme song - if i get high - nothing but thieves

summary: Jude and Aaron have one last dinner with Jude’s mother before moving to Seattle. Shit goes down, Jude’s father is addressed, Jude’s mom has an anti-religious experience, everyone is upset. 

except - Jude thinking about his family before his dad left

I was two months from finishing my Junior year as a top student, six from applying to every out of state school I could think of, fourteen from leaving everything and never coming back. From the outside, the Alvarez-Carter family was a model of the American dream; we took family photos everywhere we went and cooked each other dinners on alternating days of the week. We  attended every house party, where my mother exchanged gossip like trading cards and my dad sipped Bud Light from a bottle and played cornhole. At those same parties, I flirted shamelessly with every girl in the vicinity, then cited my religion as the reason I wouldn’t do more than exchange pretty words.

The night dad left wasn’t the first time my parents fought in front of me, but it was the night they shattered the already paper thin barrier they had held between me and their issues. I never knew who started it, never knew who threw the first punch, but I knew who delivered the killing blow.

chapter twelve - golden days - 854 words

theme song - ribs - lorde,  also chelsea - phoebe bridgers 

summary: Aaron and Jude move into their new apartment, very light airy vibes, Jude idealizing everything, Aaron and Jude being adorable (yeah can you tell nothing actually happens in this one lmao). 

excerpt - Aaron and Jude leaving Montana

A taxi dropped us off at the Amtrak station the next morning. Our breath rose in front of us on the platform, I tiled my head back and tasted the sunlight; sweet and overflowing with new beginnings. Maybe, I’d be lucky enough to catch one for both of us. 

chapter thirteen - unholy creation - 900 words

theme song - reflections - the neighborhood

summary: Aaron’s mental health takes a turn, Jude is worried but has no idea what to do, Jude and Aaron fight for no good reason

excerpt - a description of Aaron falling off several wagons 

You were a shell of fragile bones and sharp edges when I wrapped an arm around you during a scary movie or curled against your chest late at night. You started wearing a flannel or a sweatshirt over every outfit, an extra layer to hide your ribs and hip bones and elbows, so sharp they could cut through glass. I stopped holding you so tight, afraid of the snap of calcium or cartilage or spirit.

okay one more because I like this chapter haha - Aaron getting mad when Jude asks about his parents

“It’s not about them, alright? I’m not going to talk about them because they’re not part of my life, they don’t control anything. Stop asking about them because they don’t matter, and I wouldn’t tell you if they did.”

You said the words like a chant, a litany, like you were the one who needed convincing. I pictured my mother in her dark dining room, palms up to God, praying for a miracle. You looked like her then, all the fear and anger coming out in one jumble of meaningless words. I flinched away when I should have stood my ground.

chapter fourteen - (has a title but I hate it) - 674 words

theme song - fear of falling asleep - TENDER  

summary - Jude has a mental breakdown, Aaron buys him sleeping pills and then takes them himself, they (kind of) fight, everything is toxic

excerpt - Jude watching Aaron sleep (it’s a weird chapter)

You took my meds that night, I cheeked them until you turned your back, then spit them into the dishwater and washed them down with green suds and scraps of tofu and rice. An hour later, you were passed out in our bed, skeletal limbs stretching out like the fragile branches of a birch tree. I watched as your chest rose and fell, dappled in moonlight and the neon buzz of constant electricity. For a few moments at a time, I convinced myself that your steady rhythm of in-and-out had stopped, I watched as you left this world and then came back. I couldn’t tell how much time was in between.

chapter fifteen - forest, electric (aka my favorite chapter in the book?) - 1279 words

theme song - are you bored yet - wallows 

summary - in an attempt to renew their relationship, Aaron takes Jude on a hike to a construction site in the middle of the night. The two sit on the roof and watch the sunrise. 

excerpt - starting the adventure

We walked four blocks south to meet our Uber, then set off down the winding streets of the city. It was one in the morning and if I looked close enough, I could convince myself I had woken up in a ghost town. Or maybe I was stuck in dreamland, where my boyfriend was perfect and everything I saw was real and I didn’t have to negotiate with myself when I needed an hour or two of rest.

excerpt - the end of the chapter that I just really like

We didn’t talk about our problems that night; we pretended I wasn’t sick and you weren’t hooked. That night, my mother didn’t hate you, we visited your parents once a year during glamorous Scottish vacations, we weren’t runaways. We dangled our feet over the edge of the roof, neither of us thought about jumping, about how our stomachs would drop faster than our bodies, about the inevitable crush of bones and life that awaited at the bottom.

That night, we leaned into each other and locked our hands and whispered ‘I love yous’ until a band of pink and orange lit the horizon and we realized we would get caught if we stayed much longer. We walked the two miles home and fell asleep curled in each other’s arms an hour before your 7:00AM alarm, two before you would leave the apartment again, eight before you would return home just before your high wore off.

I knew all these realities to be true at once, so I breathed in cologne and coffee grounds, took a picture in my head so that image of you, asleep and unaddicted and bathed in the sunrise, would stay with me forever.

chapter sixteen - gods and monsters - 1378 words

theme song - freakin out on the interstate - briston maroney 

summary - Aaron and Jude’s friends come over for the Fourth of July, Aaron comes home drunk and makes his friends leave, Jude’s friend tells Jude to break up with Aaron, Jude refuses 

excerpt - Jude convincing himself that everything is fine when it is clearly not fine (aka the theme of the book and also should probably be the title)

You were sallow and gaunt, your hair was greasy, your breath smelled of vomit and alcohol and whatever else you had taken. You were a monster in our bed, but I could feel that lazy half smile against my skin. I could close my eyes and see you sitting in that tea shop, long limbs sprawled over the pillows, the sun on your skin making you glow like a god.

That image of you couldn’t lie, not when I had lived that moment, not when it had been so beautiful. I wouldn’t leave you because you would be alright and this would pass. You convinced me everything would look better in the morning, all our problems would fade with the rising sun.

You were wrong. They didn’t.

Okay, this is getting way too long so I’m gonna end it here! Thank you so much if you actually read all that! If you want more information on any chapter, just message me and I will do that. The update on the last few chapters of the first draft should be out somewhat soon, and I may or may not have a new WIP coming up :)

ALSO, it has come to my attention that most people have these things called taglists? And I don’t have one? If you wanna be on mine for this project, or any future projects, message me or repost this and I will make one. Thank you for reading!

-Ollie

[alias-levi]

#taggame: 11/11/11

Great thanks go out to @a-ray-of-moonshine for tagging me. This is actually my first ever tag game! I’ve been seeing a lot of tag games on my dash lately and was so excited when I finally got tagged lmao 

Also I put the line break to make it more convenient if you simply want to scroll over this post :) 

Rules: answer 11 questions, write your own 11, tag 11 people 

Is there a trope you never get tired of?

I will absolutely and without a doubt always fall for the “bad character finds someone they kinda like and turns soft but only towards them” with the addition “said someone is considered good but is super ok with their friend/partner being bad and can be a total badass themselves”.

Who is your least favorite character in your WIP? Why?

God, this question is torturing. I lovingly created all those beings, put work in, and now you make me choose? 

But I think I have to go with Sam. She’s one of the best friends of Liz, my main OC. Yet she doesn’t have this major role to anything plot related so she’s just kind of *there* and that’s it.

Let’s say I’m planning to visit the setting of your WIP for a weekend. What should I take with me? What are the most important things for me to know beforehand? Which of your characters should I ask to be my guide?

There really isn’t much to know beforehand as it takes place in “our reality”. Particularly in a big city, which is mainly inspired by New York. 

But at the current status you should probably take sunglasses (it’s early summer), a phone charger (we all need that to survive nowadays) and your smartphone (obviously, another essential for today’s life as young adult) with you.

Eli would be a great guide, yet he would be somewhat subtly flirting with you all the time. Or, if you’re more comfortable with a girl, April would be a great choice. Both are side characters but have their importance along the plot.

Beginning, middle, or end—which is the hardest for you as a writer?

Middle, without a doubt. The first thing that comes to me as an idea is the beginning. Be it a scene, a sentence, a quote, a conversation - whatever. Soon after this idea my brain throws endings at me. Knowing where to start and where I want to go with everything, it’s often the hardest for me to figure out how to actually get there.

Which is more inspiring for you: music or visual art?

Definitely music. But not necessarily for the melodies, instead it’s all about the lyrics.

Do you have any other creative interests and hobbies besides writing?

The only I can think of right now is photography. I absolutely love taking photos, trying to capture a moment but not much of my friends like being in front of a camera...

How close is your WIP now to what you were expecting it to be when you just started?

That’s something I can’t really answer since I’m still on first draft level. But I have a lot of stuff worked out in my mind and it’s safe to say that the plot has changed a lot since the very first idea.

What are your plans for when you finish your WIP? Traditional publishing? Indie publishing? Putting it online for others to read for free?

If I ever happen to finish I will most likely just put it online for free.

Your MC is here. On your doorstep. Planning to spend the day with you. Oh, and they know you’re the author responsible for everything that’s going on in the story right now. Are you expecting it to be a nice conversation, or do you maybe want to run and hide? :D

Depends on which MC. My story evolves around a lot of people and after the first couple of chapters finally focuses on the two Main-Main Characters. It’s Romance what do you expect hahah

Not to spoil anything I can say that, if it’s the girl, it wouldn’t be that nice of a conversation. She would most likely want to know what she did to deserve all the pain I cause her.

If it’s the guy, the conversation would be more relaxed. He’d probably only briefly ask me about her and what happens to her, but all in all he has nothing to be angry about.

Name a song that could be your villain’s personal anthem.

Sadly, I have to pass on this one. My WIP has no villain and I currently can’t think of someone with equal intentions.

Is there anything you would never, ever write a story about, even if you were offered a large sum of money to do so?

Abusive actions towards animals, I guess. 

Also, even though I sometimes like reading it, Fantasy. If it doesn’t happen to be a fan fiction I could never write this. I just physically or mentally make up all those things that are important for the world building. All those details you have to keep in mind...

Whew, that was hard. Now let’s get to my 11 questions to you:

1. Let’s get started easily: What was the last work you read and what was it about? (Online or Book) 

2. How did you like it?

3. What is your all-time favorite work you’ve read? (Online or Book) What is it about?

4. Name you three favorite fictional characters! 

5. What is you favorite series and/or movie?

6. Do you have an OTP? Talk about it.

7. Now let’s get to your writing: Do you have a WIP you’re currently working on? If so, tell us the name and summarize it in three sentences. If not, tell us the same about your latest work.

8. Which aspects about writing do you struggle most with?

9. Which genre do you mostly write for?

10. Do you compare the length of you work(s) to others? If so, how do you do it? (Words, chapters, characters/signs) If not, why?

11. What is a thing you want to tell every new writer?

My nominees:

@liz-pooh (you told me you’ve never been tagged before so have fun, hun) @inkovert @kenzieam @writingfyis @velvetlighthouse @lunaschild2016 @scarletfern @writingcroissant 

[I know there are three missing but I honestly couldn’t think of anyone else!]

[jillmckenzie1]

Can’t Sleep, Clown Will Eat Me

Back in the day, liking horror was viewed as nothing to be proud of. It was a genre that was grimy, unseemly, positively dripping with bad thoughts and worse intentions. If you were into the scary stuff, why, it must mean you’re some kind of dangerous freak! Speaking from experience, telling someone during the first date that one of your favorite movies is The Exorcist is an excellent way to ensure there’s no second date.

Then Stephen King came along, and it’s possible that he, moreso than anyone else in the last 40 years, dragged horror kicking and screaming into the mainstream. As of now, he’s had 58 novels published and more than 350 million copies sold. King’s work is a cottage industry, stretching throughout novels, the stage, television, comics, music*, and film.

We’ve talked before about how a film based on a Stephen King novel can be…ah…somewhat of a mixed bag. Nobody, least of all me, wants to get stuck viewing or reviewing The Mangler or The Lawnmower Man. Luckily, we’re in a bit of a renaissance of good King adaptations with Gerald’s Game and 2017’s It. Despite the onslaught of jump scares**, I really liked It, and I crossed my fingers that the second installment wouldn’t suck. My prayers were (sort of) rewarded, as It: Chapter Two is a perfectly good follow up.

If I summarize the prior film and this film, we’re gonna be here all day. If you haven’t seen It,*** all you need to know is that during the summer of 1989, an interdimensional sewer clown named Pennywise (Bill Skarsgard) slaughtered children living in Derry, Maine. You’d think the cops would get involved and roving gangs of parents would drag the clown out of a manhole and beat him within an inch of his life, but no. Instead, a group of middle-school kids calling themselves The Losers Club defeat Pennywise and vow to return to Derry if the clown ever rears his greasepaint smeared head again.

Since it would be boring as hell if ya boi Pennywise didn’t show up 27 years later, he does! After a young man is nearly killed in a hate crime, he’s definitely killed by Pennywise. As the clown doesn’t believe in subtlety, he calls out the now grown members of the Losers Club for a rematch. Some of them are less enthusiastic to return to Derry than others. They are:

Mike Hanlon (Isaiah Mustafa as an adult, Chosen Jacobs as a child) is the town librarian, and he reaches out to the others imploring them to come home.

Beverly Marsh (Jessica Chastain as an adult, Sophia Lillis as a child) escaped her abusive father only to enter an abusive marriage.

Bill Denbrough (James McAvoy as an adult, Jaeden Martell as a child) is a successful author with a movie adaptation on the way.

Richie Tozier (Bill Hader as an adult, Finn Wolfhard as a child) is a successful stand-up comic with a successful drug and alcohol habit.

Ben Hanscom (Jay Ryan as an adult, Jeremy Ray Taylor as a child) has lost a ton of weight, become a major architect, and still pines for Beverly.

Eddie Kaspbrak (James Ransone as an adult, Jack Dylan Grazer) put his neuroses to work as a risk assessor.

Stan Uris (Andy Bean as an adult, Wyatt Oleff as a child) is the only one of The Losers who doesn’t attend the reunion due to his suicide.

So, what’s the plan to take out Pennywise? It involves The Ritual of Chud, a Native American ceremony**** Mike learned that will allegedly banish Pennywise into the outer darkness. In order to do that, the Losers Club will have to gather artifacts from their childhood. But Pennywise is watching, and he has his games…

Here’s the thing about It: Chapter Two. While it’s a solid film, it doesn’t quite have the combination of nostalgia and raw elemental power of the first film. At nearly three hours, this film is long AF, and that’s an awful lot of time for jump scares and horrors lunging out of the stygian darkness. It’s a good thing that Andy Muschietti returns to the director’s chair, as he continues to display an excellent command establishing mood. A scene where Beverly returns to her childhood home is a masterclass in establishing suspense, and Muschietti gradually cranks up the tension. However, there are slightly too few moments of legit dread and slightly too many moments of things bursting into frame with loud-ass sound effects accompanying it. Having said that, the casting is strong, the film has a genuinely epic sprawl, and for every moment of dodgy CGI there’s another that feels creative and alarming.

Screenwriter Gary Dauberman was faced with the unenviable task of adapting a 1,138-page book into two films. While I applaud his effort, the end result is mixed. The best moments are when the grown Losers Club are together, and we see them bouncing off one another. Unfortunately, the moments where they have to split up to track down artifacts feel a little bit like video game levels, and some of the subplots could have been cut without harming the main narrative. Dauberman has a strong ear for dialogue, and as the parent of a middle schooler, I have to give him credit for authenticity—particularly the scenes with the kids. Put two or more seventh-graders together and you’ll get a torrent of filth that would make Quentin Tarantino proud. I liked that, as kids that age are still trying to figure out profanity and naturally overuse it to hilarious effect.

There are no weak links in the cast, but there are a couple of standouts. Old pros like Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy do good work, and they feel like natural extensions of the kids playing the younger roles. In 2017, I mentioned that instead of trying to be frightening, Bill Skarsgard’s Pennywise simply is frightening. His time working with a contortionist and perfecting bizarre vocal tics makes his sewer clown a horror icon on the same level as Freddy or Leatherface. Having said all that, you can almost hear Bill Hader saying, “Yoink!” as he nimbly steals the movie. As Richie, he’s an incorrigible wiseass who alternately uses humor as a shield and a sword. Hader does some heavy emotional lifting and isn’t just QuipBot 3000. While we don’t really have a star system any longer, this is the role that pushes Hader into the big time.

With It: Chapter Two, Warner Brothers have put their money where their mouths are. We’ve got a talented writer and director, a reasonable budget, and limited interference from timid executives. The end result isn’t “elevated horror.” Rather, it’s a prestige film with the full muscle of a major studio behind it that also happens to be a horror movie. The film shows us how trauma endures throughout the years, how the bonds of friendship can be bent but not broken, and why trusting the word of a clown in a storm drain is a bad idea.

  *In doing my research, I discovered that the band Anthrax has based a number of their songs on King’s work. I can’t explain why that’s so funny to me, but it is.

**After a while, jump scares stop being genuinely scary and are just a way for filmmakers to startle viewers. Throw in a musical sting and a quick camera movement, and you can jump scare people with a pan of lasagna.

***And if you haven’t seen It, what possible reason would you have for seeing It: Chapter Two?

 ****I’m so tired of Native Americans being portrayed as wise mystics. It would have been better if they had said to Mike, “So the murder clown shows up every 27 years, eh? That’s why every 26 years, we peace out to New Mexico to enjoy the sun, then return to reap the benefits of the now mysteriously low property values in Derry.”

from Blog https://ondenver.com/cant-sleep-clown-will-eat-me/

[turtleations]

Pink Cloudy Sky, Chapter 03 (Summarized)

Chapter 00 - 01 Chapter 02

Chapter 03 - Chance Meeting

In April 1984, REM started at the Kanagawa Dental College. This time he did not live in a dorm but in an apartment of his own, near the campus. After having failed the entrance exam twice, he now got accepted into two different universities he could chose from, the alternative having been Saitama. There was no particular reason for him to chose Kanagawa instead, except that he had a hunch he might be able to find cool rock musicians in Yokosuka, where the college was located. And the hunch turned out to be correct.

REM didn’t waste any time looking for them: Immediately after starting college, he placed an announcement looking for fellow musicians for a band in a music magazine called “PLAYER”, where an acquaintance of his worked. While he had been a bassist in his former band, he was looking firmly as a guitarist now.

Soon, he was contacted by a drummer called Komori. They met and talked, then went to a studio to play together. Later, REM found out that Komori happened to be the manager of the band SAVER TIGER at the time. Looking back, that felt like such a strange hint of destiny…

Their acquaintance, however, didn’t last long: Just a month after they met, Komori suddenly collapsed and was admitted to the hospital, where he died another month later from a subarachnoid hemorrhage. It was the first time REM came to understand just how fleeting and fragile a human life actually was.

The first band he had in college was called DOPPEL GANGER. It was a punk band playing a fusion of hard rock and punk rock. Other than his previous bands, they played only original songs, of which they made a lot.

REM met that band’s vocalist, Koga Masao, at the university festival, where Koga noticed the rock-emblem on REM’s jacket, figured that he probably had an awesome taste in music, and followed him to the toilet. Despite being somewhat weirded out by this, REM went drinking with him and they ended up forming a band together. At the time of writing the book, they are still friends.

Koga was a member of the college’s karate club. Their bassist, Tanabe, was also a member of fighting-related clubs. The band was very sportive, with a focus on hand-to-hand combat.

REM’s own contribution to this was being a member of the folk music club.

How that happened: REM went to the room for music activities and saw the list of all the bands on the wall. There was fusion, pop, blues and many other styles, but no rock music. A younger fellow student with neatly parted hair saw him stand there looking baffled and like he was about to cry and asked him what he was looking for. When REM told him, “Hard rock!”, the guy looked very sympathetic and compassionate as he informed him that no one cared for music like that, so he should better give it up.

For lack of any acceptable option, REM went to the folk song group. But when he came in, all guys already in the club had suspiciously long hair, and they soon informed the timid newcomers that they only played hard rock in this club. So obviously REM joined with enthusiasm.

With the band DOPPLE GANGER, he stayed throughout all of his time at college. They drank during their live performances; their band name was based on the legend that every person has a double somewhere on earth who is identical in every aspect – actually just one person, split in two. There is a 1/10,000 chance of ever meeting your doppelganger, but if you do, you will die. That seemed suitably dramatic for their tastes.

Anyhow, there was one more reaction to the advert in the music magazine: A band called LAFERIA had a live performance coming up and their guitarist was unable to play due to an injury, so they needed a temporary replacement. The person calling him was LAFERIA’s vocalist Shiomi, with whom REM would stay in contact for a very long time. It was the same Shiomi who later, in 1998, would help out as SAVER TIGER’s support vocalist at hide’s birthday memorial live.

REM listened to LAFERIA’s demo tape, decided that they were a good match and joined as support guitarist. The injured guitarist he was replacing was Ichiro [Note: Full name Itô Ichiro] who would later be guitarist of the pop group E.L.T. (Every Little Thing). Ichiro left LAFERIA soon after, having been invited into the band ACE, which was seen as SAVER TIGER’s little brother. And so REM joined LAFERIA for real.

In this time, REM got even more into music, writing a lot of original songs and getting used to performing on stage. As their original songs increased, so did their audience. At that time, they played about one live show per month.

At one point during those days, they were playing at a live house called PUMPKIN on Dobuita-Street. The live house had a little performance hall for an audience of about 200 people. It used to serve as an air-raid shelter, which gave it a particular structure, and was overall very typical for Yokosuka. And as they played there, the guitarist of Yokosuka’s most consistently good and popular band SAVER TIGER, hide, came to see them.

[Note: At this point REM brings up that SAVER TIGER was still called SABER TIGER at this time, the name change not happening until 1986, but for consistencies sake, he uses the final name throughout.]

REM knew SAVER TIGER, of course. In fact, they had been the second band he had gone to see after coming to Yokosuka, at a live house called ROCK CITY. Watching play them had had quite an impact on him. Even back then, hide’s brightness shone though, his talent already manifesting. And even back then, he used the word “visual” a lot, even though “Visual Kei” as a concept did not exist yet.

hide went for a visual for his band that purposefully contrasted their music: Wild, shocking looks combined with melodious hard rock. With him at the center, SAVER TIGER was without any doubt the number one band in Yokosuka. And that hide had now come to see REM’s band. REM was very excited.

They met briefly but didn’t talk much at that time. REM didn’t expect them to – to him, hide was so far beyond them that even just him coming to watch them perform left him ecstatic. He never thought they would ever be any closer than that.

There were other things on his plate then, anyway. Like the “Fake-High-School-Student” incident: LAFERIA entered and won a band contest for high-school bands, with REM being a fully established 20-years-old college student. He was only a support member at the time, so it wasn’t technically cheating, but he still breaks into cold sweat thinking about it, even though he was happy to have won and the statue of limitations has expired.

Also, there was the time when they performed at the festival of Misaki-High-School of Miura, a neighboring city of Yokosuka. LAFERIA rolled in in the sparkly Fair Lady Z car of his university friend, all wearing leather pants and make-up and looking very flashy. The other bands were wearing school uniforms. In that high-school-festival atmosphere, who can blame the teachers for being overwhelmed by their presence?

After stirring things up at that festival, they all crammed back into the sparkly silver Fair Lady Z and made their triumphant return to Yokosuka.

Meanwhile, the festival “Break Out the Rock”, that was held every year by the Yokosuka Cultural Center, was drawing near. Every rock band in the vicinity of the city that had confidence in their abilities wanted to attend. With around 1,500 spectators, it was quite a step up from their usual live houses.

Of course, LAFERIA also wanted to participate, but the whole thing was spearheaded by Yokosuka’s No. 1 rock band SAVER TIGER, and in order to get a spot, their leader hide had to pick you out. And since no member of LAFERIA was affiliated with SAVER TIGER in any way, they figured that they weren’t going to be on that list. Except that one day, hide contacted them and said, “Since LAFERIA is the most vigorous band right now, wouldn’t you like to perform at the festival as the top act?”

They didn’t need to be asked twice.

Looking at the list of the other bands that would perform, REM started to doubt that they were all just friends of hide. LAFERIA, for their part, didn’t have anything to do with any of them and yet ranked above them all. To, out of all of them, have hide’s recommendation like that filled them with a lot of happiness and pride. REM remembers how excited they all had been.

At the festival they played with abandon to a great atmosphere. The event closed, without any issue, to SAVER TIGER’s rousing performance.

The after party happened at an establishment serving local specialties that sadly no longer exists. Here, they finally really met hide, as well as his vocalist Rolly. In fact, all the SAVER TIGER members, lined up along the wall, seemed intimidatingly amazing and not quite out of this world. But now that he got to really talk to hide, who had seemed like such a distant existence before, about music and their aim as musicians and plans for the future, and got to meet him as an equal, REM was incredibly happy. They bonded over being guitarists and their love for rock music. It was the best of nights and they drank together until morning.

[REM on the left, hide in the middle. The identity of the one on the right I do not know. According to the image descripton in the book, this was in 1984, making REM and hide 20 and 19 years old respectively.]

Life moved on, however, and soon, LAFERIA’s drummer and bassist, no longer high school students, started their working life and left the band. REM and Shiomi were left to try and find a way to move forward. While REM had originally only been with them as a support member, he had since joined for real, had written plenty of songs, and managed to realize his musical goals with them. He loved the band and didn’t want to lose it.

And then Ichiro, his predecessor as LAFERIA’s guitarist, invited Shiomi to join ACE.

Shiomi was torn over this and consulted with REM, but they did not reach a conclusion. However, REM knew, deep inside, that if Shiomi wanted to go to ACE, he couldn’t stop him or argue against it. ACE was one of the best bands in Yokosuka – in fact, several of their members, including Ichiro, would later become professionals. For Shiomi, the band offered a big chance that REM didn’t want to stand in the way of. But it would leave him behind on his own.

It was in just that night that the phone of destiny rang. Literally.

REM was going out as usual, to a bar near Dobuita-Street. Suddenly, someone handed REM a phone receiver with hide at the other end of the call, which stunned him into silence. hide asked him if he wouldn’t like to join SAVER TIGER. REM was so surprised that he couldn’t give an answer right away. On the one hand, he was happy about the offer, on the other hand, the style of SAVER TIGER was quite different from LAFERIA and REM had no experience with twin guitars, having always been the only guitarist until now. So, while hide wanted to meet him right away, REM told him that he was heading out and that they should meet tomorrow. He needed time to think.

When they ended the call with the promise of meeting the next day, hide sounded a little disappointed.

REM drank at his usual bar until 3 AM, agonized over his decision and not reaching any by the time he went back to his apartment. As he walked down the pitch-black corridor towards his room, he saw, in the light of the single lightbulb, two crumbled black trash bags in front of his door, which left him quite confused. Even as he came closer, no matter what, he could only identify those objects as trash bags. It wasn’t until he had reached them that the bags turned out to be hide and SAVER TIGER’s bassist Jimmy, aka JAM, who had been drinking in the corridor while waiting for him to come home. After getting over his initial confusion, REM was actually very moved by them coming to him, and they all went into his apartment where they continued to drink together.

From what REM could put together from their story, hide had absolutely wanted to meet to him that very day, and once he put his mind to something, he took action immediately. That kind of excessive energy was typical for hide, who never stopped until what he wanted became reality. Now the three of them forgot the time and talked until morning, about music, the band, the future… It was an amazing night.

REM told them about his own music, his band’s style, his practice methods. hide and Jimmy listened attentively, then they talked about conditions and compromises. Essentially, they were willing to give REM basically anything he wanted, let him do whatever he wanted. The conditions they offered were unbelievably good! But all he asked for, in the end, was, “I want a flashier look!”

He couldn’t give them a final answer right away, though, because he needed to talk to Shiomi first. But REM, hide, and Jimmy hit it off right away and ended up going for drinks at Dobuita-Street, as they would every night.

A few days later, REM and Shiomi had their talk which ended with them deciding to disband LAFERIA and join ACE and SAVER TIGER respectively. They wished each other luck as they went their separate ways.

REM told hide and Jimmy of his decision immediately. Seeing them react with innocent, child-like joy made him happy, too. And he was convinced that he had, at last, found partners that would accompany him, not just in music, for the rest of his life.

There was one thing he never told them, though: That the decision to join SAVER TIGER had already been made the moment he came home to find those two crumbled trash bags in front of his apartment door.

His days at hide’s side started in September 1985. REM was 21 years old and in his second year of college.

Chapter 04, Part 1