#lulu talks about twin peaks

[whoslaurapalmer]

twin peaks but it happens in 2010. laura palmer have iphone etc etc

this ask has been haunting me since i saw it last night oh my god okay okay so

i wanted to lead with laura being an influencer but no one was quite influencing in 2010 yet. but the point here being that i think she posts a lot online and cultivates her online image very carefully (very soft, carefree, excited teenager) and has a LOT of followers on everything and always gets a ton of likes. bc it's laura, she's so beautiful and special and popular, of course everyone is following her, of course everyone is liking all her posts to get a piece of her

she has a twitter (laurapalmer93) where she posts a lot of pictures with little captions like.......'morning donuts at the diner!!' with a picture of the donuts and a milkshake or a Coffee To Be An Adult, 'can you believe this guy? <3' with a picture of bobby making a face (or even.........dare i say it...........doing the dougie), a picture of donna and james with '<33333333' (modern emojis were just getting really big then but i myself was not a big emoji user in 2010 yet, so neither is laura), 'don't tell ;)' with a picture of her holding a cigarette (of course everyone still smokes in the high school bathrooms).

one time she gets away with posting the lyrics to if i die young by the band perry (IF I DIE YOUNG! BURY ME IN SATIN! LAY ME DOWN ON A BED OF ROSES!) (FUNNY WHEN YOU'RE DEAD HOW PEOPLE START LISTENING!) bc it's a popular song. it raises a few eyebrows but it's a song and it's laura. how seriously do you take teen angst, even among your friends? that's just what laura does. what's there to really worry about, huh? (the song was released in may 2010 but let's say the lead up to her death is in 2010)

on facebook she posts a lot of volunteer stuff. school dance photos, which she helps organize. buy some cookies to support the french club!! she's very involved with student council, and she organizes the group halloween costume. her facebook is filled with photos of her with other people, but not really any of just her. she doesn't post a lot of statuses, but they're usually about homework or tests or 'feels like summer!' towards the end of the school year. she's friends with her parents. she definitely takes ap classes.

she has a private vent twitter (lostinthewoods) with zero followers that she uses as a diary bc she thinks it'll be safer than having it physically written down. her childhood lisa frank diary with the tiny lock and glitter gel pens that she kept in her bed post went missing, after all. her vent twitter is filled with sooooooo many tweets bc this was still the 160 character limit days and she would just post and post and post especially late at night. (she definitely has string lights in her room.) she is a MASTER of using her phone with no one seeing -- she has the layout absolutely memorized. she was only caught texting in class once and of course the teacher let it go.

bob/leland finds her passwords and breaks into the vent twitter and leaves her horrifying tweets she sees later, instead of the back and forth they have in the diary and leland ripping the pages out.

i think she has a third twitter, for sex, but i'm not sure if that tracks for the time period? (snapchat wasn't a thing until fall 2011.) or like a forum sort of thing? i think it's still super easy for laura to sneak out, even in an increased security camera world. there's still a lot of stress on the, yknow, ~secret unexposed underbelly of the world especially in a time of more eyes on everything~ in the 2010s.

meanwhile, james posts music a lot on facebook, and also acoustic covers of songs. like. yknow. HEY SOUL SISTER. donna loves the original pusheen stickers. they record the picnic video on her flip video camera. mike loves icanhascheezburger, and he jailbreaks his phone. audrey gets really into audrey hepburn quote posting, Aesthetic France, black and white photos, berets, has a photography phase and carries and actual camera bc it's Vintage. she's an early tumblr user. no one else in school has a tumblr yet, so she feels very cool but also very lonely about it.

harry has very little understanding of social media, however cooper is very into all social media, he finds it delightful. he enjoys a good cat video. he looks through all of laura's photos, her tweets, facebook videos, and i think there's, honestly even more of a feeling of tragedy bc of how much more physical evidence there is available of laura's life, lingering fingerprints, last tweets, last posts, passwords to put in and information to see, cold blue computer light, the even worse voyeurism in people expecting so much of your life to be online, in watching it play out online, in the image laura created for herself online to be the person people expected

donna rereads laura's twitter in the dead of night, just over and over again. goes back through their texts. so much of grief has become so much more public with social media and using it as a teenager, and there's this back and forth in donna of not posting anything and then posting the most miserable statuses about losing her best friend.

i know i should get deeper into the investigation but i keep thinking instead of how laura definitely gets a 20/20 special. it's probably definitely called 'the secret life of the american teenager.' (bc there was that show on at the time with the same name) elizabeth vargas visits twin peaks, is appropriately grim, there's a lot of b roll of the town and the woods but without the grace of twin peaks' cinematography. they play up the creation of a narrative big, as they always do on 20/20. the revelation of her 'double life' is at the halfway mark and simultaneously not discussed enough and overestimated. 'laura palmer was your average, everyday teenager -- she liked horses. cats. she got good grades, was homecoming queen, had a boyfriend on the football team. she volunteered on weekends. she had her whole life ahead of her. or was there more to the story than anyone knew? was there a dark side to the all-american girl?' oh, it's agonizing. the trailers play up a lot of potential spooky woods stuff that isn't followed through on in the actual episode.

now 20/20 prides itself on getting the story right, so i feel like it's.........i feel like they have to say it's leland at the end (and they definitely never get into anything about bob). but i also think, for some reason, it could easily have a 'we never found the killer' ending. especially re: s3........the thing is, i feel like laura's death particularly is the kind of thing that shows up on 20/20, but the rest of the circumstances would've ended up on like the unsolved mysteries website (the last revival ended in 2010, before the netflix reboot in 2019) (especially with WELL OUR FBI AGENT WENT MISSING). and there's so much online to put together in a website about it, there's so much for people online to dig into who have never even been to twin peaks, to think they know a town and the people in it and the girl who died even if it's just literally THE MOST DISGUSTING VOYEURISM IN THE WHOLE WORLD i just think there's such a. horror in that. people have the most, just, enraging takes when they get involved in a Murder That Happened Somewhere Else. people thinking they alone can figure out a mystery they've never seen, they can of course see something no one else has. and it's different than the people in the town ignoring it -- i think a lot of the secrets in twin peaks stay the same, no matter the time period, so of course it's still, a terrible dying town killing the people in it, maybe even quieter than it is in the original, some new infrastructure but old buildings, not all of them occupied anymore, ANYWAY -- like of course yes people in the town ignore the same amount they did in the original, all small towns bury things. but just bc the town itself isn't paying attention doesn't mean that some rando online is going to know more, no matter how much they think they will. there's like an entitlement to details of a murder, an I Must Be The Hero, The Savior, bc i'm on a fucking reddit thread about it

now i have zero (0) idea of how medical science and forensics work, but i have to assume there have been some advancements in the field between 1989/1990 and 2010/2011. the town still rushes the funeral, but would albert have been able to find anything else sooner? what is it he would have found to point to leland sooner? oh........dna testing, maybe? would he be able to find out about leland right away? there's more of a sense of urgency, maybe less of a slowness between events, even more of a shattering horror. maybe leland goes missing in an attempt to cover things up. hmmmmmm.

final note -- cooper gets called mulder as a nickname bc the x files happened as a show in this universe.

[cerealla]

james hurley and zim!!

Ha! Thank you, Lulu!!

Zim

How I feel about this character: A dumbass. Likely a child. Tumblr’s big-brain moment when the movie happened was putting Zim in more a kid-like light (be it as an alien experiencing Earth culture through human children, or an alien that��s the same age as them), and that’s kind of how I see him now. I think he can be a real danger to Earth, what with all the creepy inventions he’s made, but in the way of having a toddler with a magnifying glass over an ant colony. Except the toddler is standing in the colony. And the ants are fire ants. And he has the magnifying glass pointing in wrong direction (at his face). In the end, I like the idea of him getting used to Earth and understanding that his home planet kind of hates him, so he puts the world domination thing to rest and moves on. Maybe switches gears and has more fun being an evil 12-year-old than a wannabe dictator.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: I confess, back in my edgier middle school days, I used to ship him and Gaz, but not anymore. Invader Zim isn’t exactly the kind of place for ships, specifically since most of the characters are kids (and the world they live in is so damn comedically dark).

My non-romantic OTP for this character: His and GIR’s friendship is actually adorable. Zim had more chill moments than I initially remembered, some of which he’s just tolerating GIR’s antics. The potential of him getting along with the Membranes is also cute.

My unpopular opinion about this character: I have no idea what the general opinions of the IZ fandom are nowadays. I thought people were shifting away from shipping Dib and Zim, but I’m pretty sure I’m wrong. Otherwise, I don’t ship that and I think it’s weird. The situation is two-fold: either Zim is the same age as Dib and you’re shipping pre-adolescent middle-schoolers, or Zim is actually OLDER, and... yeah. Naw.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: Nothing I can really think of off the top of my head. See more of Irken culture? That’s not a Zim-specific question, I know. Maybe the comics talk more about that.

James

How I feel about this character: Also a dumbass, very much a child. Wanna give him a hug. WASTED by the writers. Most of my love for him comes from me filling in the holes with headcanons. 

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Not even Donna, and certainly not Laura or Maddy. It’s all a disaster. He and Bobby have some potential, but I see that more as a confused, budding-bisexual, teenage fling than anything else. Like they kiss once and they have no idea what to make of it and maybe decide to keep their distance, and end up becoming friends in the process.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Bobby, because they both need more friends, and they’d make a good duo (comedically). Freddy, too. Also Shelly (she said he was always cool, so I’m inclined to believe they interacted at some point).

My unpopular opinion about this character: People’s opinions on James have been shifting in recent years, so I don’t think saying the kid ain’t the worst character ever is all that controversial anymore. Maybe one would be that his and Laura’s romance was not legitimate, and based more on fantasy than anything else. Don’t get me wrong, I think they certainly cared about each other, but compared to Bobby and Laura, who knew each other fully and painfully, their relationship appears to lack grounded substance.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: HAVE SCENES WITH CHARACTERS OTHER THAN MADDY, DONNA, AND ED. Something with Nadine! Something with Norma! That deleted scene with his mom! You’d think the former two both would be presented as these prominent potentially-maternal figures in his life (one as his aunt, the other as his uncle’s girlfriend), and to balance out the strained relationship with his mother. That’d be cool! I also wish he didn’t leave town the way he did, or at least so soon. What if he met Annie? What if he met Hank? What if we explored his feelings over Ed dating Norma while Nadine was incapacitated? What if the stuff with Evelyn made him reflect on Maddy and Donna (and Laura), and made him see his uncle’s affair in a different light? What if we saw him deal with Nadine’s memory loss vs his mother’s absence? What if he punched Mike in the face? Someone build me a time machine so I can become a Twin Peaks writer and save my boy from being neglected in the writers’ room.

[tigermoths]

noot  noot  this  took  me  far  too  long  but  !  hope  you  guys  are  having  a  lovely,  lovely  day  ♡  so  so  excited  for  interactions

name  /  alias  :  arden,  den  den  den  den gender  /  pronouns  :  she, her where  ya  from  ?  :  singaporeeeee  ! the  current  time  :  it  was  11.52pm  and  now  it’s  11.54  :0)  height  :  1.61m job  or  major  :  waiting  for  sem  to  begin  !  currently  majoring  and  minoring  in  english  lit  and  psych  respectively pet  (  s  )  :  my netherland dwarf, lulu :D she’s turning one in about two months favorite  thing  (  s  )  about  yourself  :  the  color  and  length  of  my  hair,  prob   —   it’s  not  very  common  to  have  ash  brown  /  lighter  hair  here  and  ruh  freaking  roh  it’s  in  dire  need  of  a  trim any  special  talents  ?  :  i  can  play  half  of  london  bridge  with  my  nose  PXPSPXPZP why  you  joined  hqclouds  :  it  looked  terrific  and   so  thoroughly  well  considered,  i’d  also  been  on  a  hiatus  up  till  then  and  this  compelled  me  to  break  it birthday  /  zodiac :  gemini  rahahaahah hogwarts  house :  slytherin  /  ravenclaw fandom  (  s  )  you’d  like  to  write  in :  acotar,  the  raven  cycle,  last  of  us fandom  (  s  )  you  aren’t  in  but  are  curious  about :  absolutely  hadestown canon  ships  you  can’t  help  but  love  :  my  brain  is  embarrassingly  hollow  rn  but  STEVEN  &  CONNIE  trope  (  s  )  you  tend  to  be  guilty  of  :  growing   (  instead  of  falling  )   in  love,  dark  academia,  familial  solidarity   (  be  it  forged  by  blood  or  choice  )   and  redemption  arcs  bb  also  .  multifaceted  three  -  four  -  dimensional  antagonists i  prefer  .  .  .  angst  ,  smut  ,  or  fluff  :  everything  and  anything  under  the  sun long  or  short  replies  :  both  !  i  do  tend  to  ramble  and  go  off  on  tangents  but  engagement  in  any  form  will  always  be  truly  appreciated  and  cherished pre  plotting  or  chemistry  :  i’ve  felt  the  merits  of  both  on  countless  occasions  so  i’ll  cheat  a  little  n  say  plotting  and  letting  it  take  flight  and  find  its own  way sentence  starters  or  headcanon  memes  :  me me s  . single  muse  or  multimuse  blogs  :  mumu  ! gif  icons  ,  medium  gifs  ,  or  static  icons  :  geef grab  the  book  nearest  to  you  and  pull  a  quote  from  it  :  a  memory  is  a  re - creation,  precious  because  it  is  both  more  and  less  than  the  original.  the  paper  menagerie,  ken  liu what’s  a  quote  or  song  lyric  that  speaks  to  your  soul  ?  :  we  come  into  the  world  /  worse  for  the  wear  /  but  the  wars  of  our  fathers  /  are  not  ours  to  bear  /  are  you  with  me,  nilu favorite  movie  (  s  )  of  all  time  :  princess  mononoke,  portrait  of  a  lady  on  fire,  chungking  express,  pan’s  labyrinth favorite  tv  show  (  s  )  of  all  time  :  the  originals,  game  of  thrones,  mr.  robot,  twin  peaks favorite  series  of  books  /  novels  /  comics  :  millennium,  leningrad  diptych,  harry  potter,  hunger  games,  a  series  of  unfortunate  events,  kimetsu  no  yaiba favorite  video  game  (  s  )  :  STARDEW !  skyrim,  god  of  war,  tlou,  league  XPZPXPZPZP favorite  youtube  channels :  stephanie  soo,  trin  lovell,  bingotheotter,  nikkietutorials  if  i  could  live  anywhere  ,  it’d  be  :  norway favorite  food  (  s  )  :  pho,  dumplings,  potatoes  in  any  form what’s  a  subject  you  know  too  much  about  +  never  get  tired  of  talking  about  ?  :  rhythmic  gymnastics  and  i  have  never  even  attempted  it,,  couldn’t  even  dream  of  accomplishing  such  a  feat  closest  i’ve  been  is  ballet

[littlestsnicket]

⭐

thanks!! (this got out of hand, but I had fun thinking about these things :D)

I’m going to talk about “Promise not to lie, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll tell the truth” 

First, this title is ridiculously long, and I clearly remember having one of those, fuck, ao3 will not let me post this without a title moments, but I kind of like it; it works. 

Second, I’ve done this a lot less in this fandom (where as like... i think all of my doctor who fic is like this) but the easiest fic for me to write are the ones where I read a fic and think, well that’s not quite right. And I had read a bunch of Violet is a Snicket fic and none of it was quite right. Which is definitely not a slight on the people who wrote it (a lot of it is really good! it just didn’t jive right with my personal understanding of the characters and themes of the series, and well... a lot of it seemed more influenced by netflix than the books), so I went and wrote my own.

Cut because I went through a nearly 2000 word long fic practically paragraph by paragraph.

“What a coincidence, I was about to make myself some tea,” said Violet. Even though this was an entirely plausible statement, Violet was certain it sounded like a bald faced lie, and she was certain by the way Lemony’s eyebrows drew together, that he thought so too, but he took a second mug from the cabinet above the stove, placed it next to his own on the counter, and dropped in a second tea bag. Violet thought she caught him scanning the room for exits, but it might not mean anything—Lemony did that constantly. She sat down at the worn kitchen table.

I like the idea of characters letting each other get away with lies. And I also think it’s important to asoue--there’s a reading of a lot of things that happen with disguises (like when Klaus and Sunny disguise themselves as doctors, and Madame Lulu, and maybe even Olaf disguising himself as Stephano) where I think there is some vfd *thing* where you are trained not to call people out on lies unless you are certain you have more to gain from doing so than you might gain from playing along and seeing what else happens. That’s not terribly related to this fic, but it’s something I was thinking about when I wrote Lemony letting on to Violet that he didn’t really believe she wanted tea, but going along with it anyway (and then Violet doesn’t even drink the tea (but that’s maybe not super clear from the way I wrote it), so Lemony knows at the end... and of course they are both very observant and spend a lot of time watching people both as a matter of personality and circumstance.)

“Thank you for finding us, Mr Snicket, and reuniting our family.”

One of the things I’ve put a lot of thought into is how characters use names/nicknames/titles. It’s something I became very concerned about when I was writing Twin Peaks fic, and I carried it along to this fandom too. And I really liked the idea of Violet using Lemony in her head but still calling him Mr Snicket out loud until they resolve their relationship. 

“I couldn’t say no to Beatrice,” he responded without looking at her.

And then Lemony half denying that he’s done anything special or admirable. I tend not to think of Lemony as particularly self hating, although I don’t know if it comes across that way (especially in “platonic equivalent of hate sex” but that’s from Olaf’s pov and he sees Lemony in a certain way that is not necessarily accurate). This has more to do with Lemony not wanting to make moral judgements about himself, or really allow other people to commit to making moral judgements about himself. Which could certainly be read as self hating, but I think has more to do with pragmatism and a result of his world view which is very accommodating of moral grayness (except when it very much is NOT at all--like no one is ever all good in Lemony’s head, but there are certain people that Lemony allows himself to think of as 100% bad even though he intellectually knows otherwise).

but she was nearly twenty six now and the guardian of a child; she understood now that nothing, but especially trying to do right by a child, was ever as straightforward to an adult as it was to a young person.

The idea that Violet should be a properly grown up adult for this conversation was very much a reaction to reading other fic. It’s also the only thing that makes sense with my head canons about the timeline of when things happen/books are published. And this is also a sort of reference to atwq where Lemony has the line about children inevitably becoming adults that I am not going to look up. 

“I know you were engaged to my mother,” Violet said.

I’m not sold on this. Violet is Bertrand’s child, and this sounds like more of a Beatrice/Klaus thing to say--it’s so very direct. But (a) given how relatively short I keep my fic, I needed to cut to the chase and (b) this was pretty early in my involvement in fandom. While most of the things I think about Lemony are things I’ve been thinking about since I was, idk, twelve or thirteen (Lemony has ALWAYS been my favorite), I had to flesh out Beatrice, Bertrand, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny a lot to be able to write them.

Then the next bit of dialogue--it was important to me to establish that Violet and Klaus (and Sunny too) had been researching Lemony. And there is a lot of information out there about Lemony. (And maybe the Baudelaire parents have been deliberately keeping their children away from information about Lemony, because the Quagmires are familiar with him in tvv--and the particular way they bring it up makes it seem like general knowledge not something that they discovered researching Olaf.) For one thing, I think the Baudelaire’s (especially Klaus) would research Lemony, but it was also important to me to sort of... balance out the amount of knowledge Lemony has about them.

And then of course, there is the thesis of the fic:

“Violet, I have always believed that genetics are a negligible part of paternity. And somewhat selfishly, if I were to think of myself as a father figure—even in a limited capacity, I would have to admit I was a monstrous failure.”

The idea that Lemony hasn’t already worked through his feelings about having a kid (in the strange capacity that he does) is just ridiculous to me. Like... families of choice is one of the KEY THEMES of the book series he wrote. It’s almost a non-issue. And I think when we see Lemony being completely un-self aware, that’s a deliberate rather than passive act on his part. All that performative grief we see in his narration isn’t something that just happens, it’s something he’s actively doing because he cannot deal with the complexity of his actual feelings. Where as this is something he’s worked through and consciously let himself off the hook for, and can concisely and accurately explain to Violet. Because he’s an adult. And even as a child in atwq, he’s pretty self aware about the things he’s not deliberately lying to himself about. 

He placed one mug on the placemat in front of Violet, although the wood of the table top was so scratched and damaged one would never be able to pick out one more ring of water. 

This might be my favorite thing I’ve written in this fandom, and it just... the thing about not using coasters being a sign of evil. I will never get over that. it’s so perfect. Because, when it comes down to it, evil is synonymous with carelessness. And giving up on the idea that small acts of care are worthwhile. And how that is so core to who Lemony is as a person and what being a Volunteer actually means.

blue gray like the sea during a storm—the same blue gray eyes she saw when she looked at Beatrice, the same blue gray eyes that looked back at her from the mirror.

(a) I wanted to connect the Snickets to the sea--it seemed important, and (b) I have a random and unfounded head canon that the Snicket siblings don’t look at all alike besides having the exact same color eyes--so that is the “Snicket” trait that Violet has as well. 

I already talked about the name thing, so I’m going to skip a head a tiny bit. When I wrote this, it was really important that the fic actually be about something other than Violet being genetically a Snicket--it was the only way to show that it’s really a non issue. So Violet and Lemony talk about the Baudelaire parents and casually refer to them as such without any caveats because that’s the truth. 

“Sometimes, it feels like I didn’t know my parents at all. They had so many secrets, so many things they never told us.”

“I am all too familiar with that feeling. I knew your parents quite well; I would like to help if I can.”

And this is Lemony breaking one of the many negative cycles of vfd involvement. And, despite their genetic relation, Lemony is going to interact with Violet primarily as a friend of her parents, and a someone who fundamentally understands what she is going through in loosing ones parents especially in situation of not really knowing what they were thinking. 

I’m going to skip ahead to the sugar bowl bit because the discussion about moral ambiguity and what the Baudelaire parents would have wanted pretty much is what it is. Lemony is able to give Violet closure that I think she really needed. It’s nice. It’s what I want for her. I think it’s something Lemony knows Jacques didn’t have and needed as the eldest sibling. 

Yeah... there is nothing in the sugar bowl. I am sorry. Those are the facts. It’s also something Lemony is not comfortable telling Violet. He wants to prepare her for disappointment, but she doesn’t have the context to really get it yet. Even though Lemony hints at it earlier (”they would be proud to have raised children who were brave and resourceful enough to barter the location of the sugar bowl for their sister’s safety”). That the Baudelaire’s instinctively understood the real value of the sugar bowl. Also, I was already planning what ended up becoming “To share a kitchen” at this point. The original draft was primarily focused on Sunny figuring out what was in the sugar bowl, and that being something that Lemony wasn’t comfortable telling anyone because it’s something that one has to figure out for ones self. But that ended up being kind of tangential to that story in the end. 

Violet was silent and perfectly still, puzzling over all of this not terribly helpful information, as Lemony finished his tea. 

Call back to Lemony saying “he was so still and quiet when he was thinking through a puzzle”. Because Violet is Bertrand’s daughter. 

“Thank you, at least, for not telling me it is too dangerous for me to know.”

“My track record is far from perfect, but I do make a sincere attempt to keep my word.”

This is a direct refute of Widdershins saying that it’s too dangerous for young people to know what is in the sugar bowl. That was very deliberate. Lemony and Widdershins have some shit to work out. I don’t know that they ever get the chance. (I tend to think Widdershins doesn’t know what is in the sugar bowl. And that is a beginning of the rift between them; they seem close in atwq and Lemony seems so casually disdainful of him by the time he is writing tgg.)

And then the last paragraph is just... Lemony is not and never is going to play the role of a father figure for Violet, but they are a FAMILY in the way that matters--they’re comforted by each other’s presence and the small noises they make when going about their normal habits. 

And that is that!

[salvatoreschool]

5 Reasons You Should Be Watching Legacies

October is, just objectively, the best month of the year. Exhibit A: Golden autumn leaves. Exhibit B: All things apple. Exhibit C: This gif. Exhibit D: Witches. Like, it’s just science.

Around these parts, though, the best best thing about October is, of course, the television. Yes, I’m talking spooky, kooky Halloween specials—love a good Halloween special—but also I’m talking fall premieres. Specifically, I’m talking The CW’s fall premieres, which have been landing in mid-October (later than most other broadcast networks) since at least the first season of Arrow.

This fall, the teen-skewing network’s biggest draws are, arguably, the series debuts of Batwoman (October 6th) and Nancy Drew (October 9th), and the final season bows of Arrow (October 15th) and Supernatural (October 10th). But while I’m professionally interested in seeing how all those premieres play out, the CW joint I’m most personally invested in getting back on my screen (also October 10th!) is Julie Plec’s supernatural boarding school double-spin-off teen drama series, Legacies.

Friends—you should be watching Legacies. I know there’s a lot of television out there, but really and truly, if you like television that likes being television (more on that in a minute), Legacies is absolutely worth tuning in to. Why? Well, let me just count the reasons:

1. You don’t have to do any television homework to join the fun.

Yes, TECHNICALLY Legacies is a hybrid spin-off of two different long-running Julie Plec series, The Vampire Diaries (eight seasons) and The Originals (five), and sure, technically it was in those series that the mythology driving the character arcs/motivations of Legacies’ most central leads, Hope Mikaelson (Danielle Rose Russell) and Alaric Saltzman (Matthew Davis), was developed. After spending a cumulative thirteen seasons not just telling stories on television, but telling stories on television from this specific world, Plec’s ability to set efficient narrative groundwork under fast-moving vampire feet is nothing if not masterful. Genuinely, aside from a few single-episode cameos of side characters from Hope and Alaric’s TVD/Originals past, the only thing you need to watch to make sense of Legacies is this official promo for the first season:

…and honestly, most of that soliloquy, plus much more, is folded into the cold open of the series premiere, “This is the Part Where You Run,” which uses new lead Landon Kirby (Aria Shahghasemi) as audience avatar as he gets introduced to this particular supernatural world for the first time.

2. Two words: Julie. Plec.

That said, if you are familiar with Legacies’ double, er, legacy, you’ll get a kick out of how precisely Plec has taken her signature whip-fast storytelling and fitted it to a breezier, more “teen” setting, and how deftly she manages to weave in both key characters and core emotional beats from both her previous series.

The most obvious example of all of this is Matthew Davis’ Alaric Saltzman, who became such a fan favorite during his time as vengeful-vampire-hunter-turned-loyal-teen-vampire guardian-turned-rogue-vampire’s-best-friend on The Vampire Diaries that not only did Plec resurrect him from the (very truly) dead to keep Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder) on the straight and narrow, but she then brought him on as co-lead of this series to do the same for every supernatural teen in the contiguous United States. Now, as both father to a pair of Gemini twin witches (Kaylee Bryant and Jenny Boyd) and mentor/father-figure to Hope, the teen witch-vampire-werewolf tribrid with a hero complex, Alaric gets to flex all the emotional muscles TVD fans know and love. Plus, as the Salvatore School’s headmaster, he also gets to take charge of the dramatic supernatural research and heroic (and/or chaotic) supernatural missions that are key to a Plec series’ fast-paced success. Beyond all of that, though, in positioning him as the central human adult foil to a whole pile of supernatural teen protagonists, Plec has also found a way to let him be funny, bringing a uniquely fun dynamic to the fast-moving monster drama of the TVD universe that hasn’t always gotten such pride of place.

In other words: Julie Plec, still running wild supernatural stories turned up way past 11.

3. Three words: Supernatural. Boarding. School.

One more time, in case that didn’t sink it: Supernatural. Boarding. School.

I really shouldn’t have to elaborate on this, but Legacies is set at the Salvatore Boarding School for the Young and Gifted, which is the school for young witches, werewolves, vampires, and Hope that was funded by Hope’s (dead) dad and is located at/on the Salvatore family’s Virginia estate, just outside Mystic Falls. All the moody opulence of Damon and Stefan’s TVD homebase, all the zingy, angsty tropes of great Teen TV.

More than just being a fun setting, though, the Salvatore School gives Legacies a chance to sprawl out and complicate the consequences of being a teenager consigned to eternity as part of the supernatural world. These consequences are still very real and very serious in Legacies, but while The Vampire Diaries mined dramatic tension from supernatural teens (or at least vampires who looked superficially like teens) living in dangerous proximity to human teens, its kid sibling series looks inside for its tension. The teens at the story’s core need, first and foremost, to find a way to come to terms with their own inhumanity, and what it means to be good as they define it. And honestly, after so many years of TVD stories focused on the former, spending time with a bunch of super compelling, super different supernatural kids working through the latter is just a treat.

4. A diverse cast and diverse stories

This leads directly into a key update to the TVD legacy: With such a sprawling cast of teen characters brought to the Salvatore School from all walks of life and corners of the country, Legacies gets to improve on one of the original series’ greatest weaknesses: A lack of diversity. While both Alaric and the three central female characters of Legacies—all carried over from the previous series—are still white, the characters that round out the rest of the new series’ core cast are not. On the adult side, Alaric is joined by faculty members Dorian Williams (Demetrius Bridges) and Emma Tig (Karen David), while on the teen side, Hope, Josie and Lizzie are joined by softie vampire MG (Quincy Fouse), activist vampire Kaleb (Chris Lee), reluctant alpha werewolf Rafael (Peyton “Alex” Smith), ex-alpha werewolf Jed (Ben Levin), bad girl with Penelope (Lulu Antariksa), and the audience avatar/mystery box supernatural mentioned above, Landon Kirby (Aria Shahghasemi). Nor is racial diversity the only benchmark hit with this large cast. In terms of queer representation, Josie is bi, with Penelope her ex/possible future girlfriend; in terms of class representation, Rafael and Landon are foster brothers who both have dark histories with the system.

Importantly, none of these measures of diversity are included just for show. Each character’s identity and background are as key to who they are within the heightened emotional context of the boarding school as their individual supernatural abilities. Kaleb’s experience as a young black man (and vampire) is markedly different from MG’s, which is markedly different from Dorian’s (who, to be fair, is also not a vampire). Josie and Penelope’s relationship is informed by their strengths (and weaknesses) as witches, and further informs how they each approach solving problems both social and magical. Landon and Rafael’s history, as thrown away kids whose only shelter was each other, drives every decision they make. That diverse identities should inform characters in these ways isn’t a surprise; that Legacies is embracing them all now after so many seasons of its parent series falling short is, if not surprising, then at least worth taking note of.

5. Finally: Legacies totally knows it’s a TV show.

This seems self-evident, but as pop culture critic Grace Robertson so sharply observed earlier this year in her essay “Let TV Be TV” (like, literally; the heading above is a direct quote), the best trick Legacies pulls isn’t even a trick. It’s just being good at being entertaining, episodic television.

In an era where a TV show can be anything from thirteen thirty-minute episodes (pick literally any prestige comedy) to dozens upon dozens of bite-sized Facebook posts (SKAM Austin) to an 18-hour art film (Twin Peaks: The Return), defining just what counts as television is practically a professional sport. Well, it’s a sport Legacies isn’t interested in playing. With both its new-to-the-TVD-verse Monster of the Week mode of storytelling and the Salvatore School as its comfortable, “fixed point” setting, Plec is even better at framing episodic stories than she was in her already rollicking previous series. In a television landscape so full of cinematic innovation, the freedom this old school “status quo” television model gives Legacies is, as Robertson notes, a huge relief.

So, yes: Legacies knows it’s a TV show, and it knows it’s a fun one. With the short first season currently streaming on Netflix, there is literally no better time to jump on the Legacies bandwagon than now. And I know it’s one I can’t wait to have back in my weekly rotation. All hail October.

Legacies Season Two premieres Thursday, October 10th on The CW.

[lionwriters-blog]

A nightmare visit part 1

when the twin brothers, vix and daniel were playing in front of their house in the anti void. They saw a door with the name Nightmaretale written on it "daniel do you have any idea of what, this au is about" vix looked at his brother daniel "dad told us about it, do you remember it vix" daniel looked at his brother vix. Lucy walk to her young twin brothers "vix, daniel what are you doing, you know dad said no au traveling until we 18" vix and daniel turn to face their big sister "we 17 and you're 18 so we can travel own our own dear sister" both of daniel and vix walk back home with their sister lucy.

In vix and daniel room

Daniels p.o.v

I laid down in bed and cleaned my glasses with two gaster hands as I already knew brother wanted something, he always does. His bravery is almost stupid as he keeps getting in trouble while I'm there "come on, what's on your mind Vix" I asked with a not really asking tone as always while I put my glasses back on, they don't really help but without them I can't see whats in front of me.

Vix pov

I was preparing my backpack and grabbed my sword just in case "i'm going to Nightmaretale, do you want to tag along daniel" he will try to stop me as always but i always manage to make him tag along to keep me out of trouble, we heard a knock on the door as i hide the backpack and my sword under my bed.

Daniels p.o.v

'Traveling to nightmare tale? Well I'm not surprised..' I thought before standing up and walking to the door and opens it, it's Lucy "oh hi Lulu" she smiled as I said that "I just wanted to check you two didn't do anything stupid" she said as I chuckled a bit "us? Something stupid? Where in the multiverse did you get that idea?" I said sarcastically as she giggled.

Lucy pov

I pet daniel head as i saw vix on his bed and holding a upside down "victor why are you holding the book upside down? " vix held the book in right way "Umm don't know lulu and we all agree on using vix instead of victor for my name" as he said that i know something is fishy with them "alright then vix" i went to check on the other twins and after i checked on them i head to room and prepared my backpack and wrote a note to mom and dad.

Daniels p.o.v

I closed the door after Lucy left "...well that was close" I said as I walked to my bedside and grabbed my backpack before packing down two books and that's all, after all I have same magic as my mother so I can always summon things at will "let's just skip the me trying to stop you part as I know it won't work as always" I said and chuckled a bit "plus, for once I'm curious about where we're going."

Vix pov

I pulled my sword and backpack from under my bed with a smile on my face "alright then, but i have a feeling that lulu will try to stop us or maybe join us" i put my sword around my waist as i closed my backpack "and you should take extra clothes, we might get stuck in their" i walked to the door and peak out to see if anyone is awake, i know the time was late so everyone is asleep.

Daniels p.o.v

I snapped my fingers and picked up my backpack "there" now I had clothes in it as I let out a small sigh, I don't know if Vix and Lucy can open wormholes like me and mother but I guess I'll find out.. I walked to Vix and waited for him to leave so I could go after and close the door behind us.

Vix pov

I walked out of the room and daniel closes the door behind us "let us take one of the devices that dad made, so we Don't get lost in the anti void" daniel nod and we went to dad workplace. Me and daniel took 3 trackers just in case lucy decided to join us as we head out to the Nightmaretale door after we close the house doors behind us. when i grabbed the door nop of the Nightmaretale door, me and daniel we couldn't move our legs as our were Turned green.

Daniels p.o.v

As I saw our souls turn green I thought of who could do that and I only know two persons who can, mom and Lucy. Of course it wouldn't be mom as she'd never stop us anyway, I turned my head and saw Lucy "oh hi Lulu" she laughed a bit "come on, did you two really think I'd let you two go alone?" She said as I smiled a bit while Vix chuckled "no, no we didn't sis" I said "we packed an extra device for you to come with" she smiled and giggled "you two know me to well."

Lucy pov

I let both of them free as i rubbed my templet and i Turned to a human as i learned that i have both of dad and mom magic "Good thing i left a note for mom and dad to look for us if we get stuck" both of daniel and vix were surprised when they saw me turn human "let us go boys" i opened the door and enter Nightmaretale as daniel and vix followed me.

Daniels p.o.v

'...she can turn human?' I thought as we entered..I should probably have told them that mom always knows where I am and that I could take us home if needed, I let out a sigh as we had started walking in nightmaretale.

NMT Gaster pov

I was looking through the codes, i noticed 3 kids had set foot in our universe "hmm interesting, they have some of carlos codes as well as some different codes from someone else" i noticed two of them have skeleton arms 'carlos and the woman that he married to, knows that 3 of their children are here' as i thought of that, i kept an eye on them.

Daniels p.o.v

I suddenly felt a shiver down my spine and looked around, feeling like someone is watching us and we walked. I shaked my head and tried not to think of it as I pushed my glasses further back on my nose. "Did any of us plan what to do here?" Both Lucy and Vix stopped as I said that and looked at me "I only followed you" Lucy said as I looked at Vix, seeing my hair fall over my left eye again as I turned to him.

Vix pov

I felt the chills run down my back as i know lucy and daniel felt too "let us introduce ourselves to this universe dreemurr family" lucy looked at me as i said that "are you nuts victor, what are we doing say that we don't know where are we heading or that we are lost" she facepalm as she know that we actually lost "well dear sister, good thing that we have money with us as for the fact that we don't know how to contact with others proof that we can't survive alone" we heard some people talking around us as we arrived to the city.

Daniels p.o.v

As we walked I realised I just have stayed quiet while looking around, I felt like I needed to be on guard and not just talk about stuff that I already know we can do. I let out another sigh and felt Lucy look at me as if she knew something was up in my mind. As we kept walking I kept feeling eyes looking at us but when I looked around almost no one was looking at us.

Lucy pov

We felt very uncomfortable as eyes were looking at us in every corner "we need to find the dreemurr household really fast" daniel looked at me "how are we gonna find them lulu" as daniel said that i opened a small window to the universe code and i found the dreemurr household "this way and i know you two how i do all this stuff, because i had a longer amount of time to know my magic as i found out that i have both of dad and mom magic" we walked to the dreemurr household as the window that i opened turned into a map.

Daniels p.o.v

'Why did she even say that? If she has both dad and moms magic she would be able to do all their things' I thought As I wasn't surprised at all, I just felt I had an emotionless expression as we walked. I'm pretty sure Vix was confused and is now hiding it like always but I don't really care as long as they are both safe. I feel like the eyes are watching us.. almost like the owner knows who we are and wanna make sure we don't do anything stupid like always.

Vix pov

Daniel think that i'm confused about the whole thing but i understand it all as i tab daniel "focus and the whole emotionless crab. It's hard on her to control both magic but she have the Ability to shapeshift, but she uses mom style instead because she like to code and stuff" lucy felt sad when she said that have mom and dad magic because she didn't want to brag about as she know daniel was into coding, she was happy. Tears run down her cheeks as daniel hugged her.

Daniels p.o.v

"Sorry sis, I just.. I just am this way" I said as I wipes her tears away and smiled as I hugged her again "I'm sorry Lulu" she smiled a bit and hugged back "I-It's okay Daniel" she said as I kissed her head "come on, let's not keep Vix waiting" I said as Vix just took his arms up and said "nah just hug it out" I chuckled as he said and looked back at Lucy "sorry again.. I just... last time I was in a different AU it didn't end well..”

Lucy pov

I pulled vix into a hug and kisses both of vix and daniel foreheads "we are together no matter what, and i know what happened daniel" we arrived at the dreemurr household "so what now, are we gonna knock on the door and i say that we are lost even that's a lie" vix looked at me and daniel as both of us shrugs.

Daniels p.o.v

"Maybe it's a good idea?" I said as I dragged my sleeve down over my skeleton arm. "Yeah, the truth might be confusing for them" Lucy said as Vix covered up his skeleton arm as well "well who knocks?" He asked as I rolled my eyes and knocked on the door, lucky my hair covered my eyes so no one saw I did it, hopefully.

Vix pov

As the door opened, i saw this universe frisk as she the same age as lulu, she was beautiful. My heart skipped a beat "May i help you?" she looked at us as lulu handshake her "i'm lucy and these two are victor and daniel and yes, we kinda lost our way home and it getting late and we hope to stay in for tonight if you Don't mind?" as lulu said that, i waved at her "hi i'm victor, you can call me vix" daniel rolled his eyes

Daniels p.o.v

I rolled my eyes at how Vix introduced himself as if he was a kid. I looked at this universes Frisk and said "names Daniel and if you talk with me you can call me Dan" I noticed I didn't sound so kind with my tone, only a slight bit of kindness but other then that I sounded worried and protective. Lucy turned to me and smiled a bit head as I shrugged and felt Vix give me a glare like if I humiliated him or something.

NMT frisk

I felt that, they are trustworthy and i let them in "nice to meet you all and of course you can stay for today" i informed mom that we have guests and we prepared a room for the 3 of them.

Daniels p.o.v

I noticed how Vix kept looking at Frisk and elbowed him slightly before whispering in his ear "someone has an eye for a Frisk" I said and chuckled as I noticed Lucy raised an eyebrow as I said that, I'm not sure if she heard me or not.

Vix pov

I hold my side where daniel elbowed me "whatever daniel" he chuckle again as lulu walked to us "well the both of cut out and victor you need to put yourself together, we gonna leave the next day" i give a sad sigh "alright lulu.”

Daniels p.o.v

Wait I didn't mean to hurt him with that "okay Lulu" I said as I put my hands in my pockets before looking around a bit, I just wanna make sure we're in a safe place

Lucy pov

The room that we stayed in, was at the end of the hallway which it was safe for the 3 of us "victor we know that you have a crush on NMT frisk since when we met her" vix blushes as said that "me having a crush on NMT frisk nah, she was uncomfortable as we know that every frisk Has a chara with them" me and daniel didn't take what vix says.

Daniels p.o.v

'Come to think of it I did feel a Chara but something else..' my gase fell to the floor as I start thinking while sensing something move in the code that gave me shivers.. like if something is alive within it but that could only be a Gaster but they are normally in the void that is outside the code not in it..

NMT Gaster

I saw daniel going through the codes "the kid is smart the same goes for his sister" then i saw vix puting his backpack and sword aside. I got a call from carlos and i answered it "o, hi carlos how are you friend. That's good to hear, your kids?. Your kids are in my universe and they are staying in the dreemurr household. You gonna back them later, alright then see you when you get here" me and carlos made phones that work across the multiverse, that's why we can talk to each other as we are friends now.

Lucy pov

I pet vix head "you need to take it slowly victor, maybe they went through a lot and she might need a lot of time to open up" vix sighs "then i need to be her friend 1st then we need to know each other" as he said that i rubbed my templet and i Turned to back to my skeleton form "that's how the universe work victor" i lay in bed and cover myself in a blanket as i heard daniel and vix talk about something but i couldn't hear them

Daniels p.o.v

While me and Vix talked he noticed that I was going to the code on my glasses, only using my eyes like always as he tugged in me "did you even hear what I was saying?" He asked as I shook my head and closed the code "no sorry... I felt something move in the code and felt like checking it" as I said that he went silent and layed down in bed and covered himself "we should rest Dan, not stay guard" he mumbled before closing his eyes, I couldn't tell if he fell asleep or not as I sighed and laid down on the bed. I just laid there while watching the code in my glasses, at least they are useful for something.

__

nightmaretale owned by @xxmileikaivanaxx

lucy, Daniel and victor (vix) owned by @twritingartist and @writerkunsblog

[tranxendance]

Must-watch Super Best Friends LPs: A curated list

So, I tried to get a friend of mine into bestfriends when he was in active service and didn’t have much time to sit and watch youtube. While I think you should probably watch all of the bestfriends content, aint nobody got time for that, and there are certain LPs that are just better ones. Here’s a list of what I consider to be the best SBFP lets plays. There won’t be any ‘Matt’s toybox’ or one-offs, only full LPs.

Predator: Concrete Jungle - Originator of Jerry the Predator, the very first bestfriends OC. Also I really like the Predator so this trash game getting ripped to shreds by the anti-hype machine makes me feel good. https://youtu.be/0wF6r-JRTvQ

Eternal Darkness - The climax of the very first Shitstorm of Scariness. Genesis of the Insanity Shotgun, marking out about recognizing Metal Gear Solid voice actors, INSANITY EFFECTS and freaking out about the bathtub scare despite knowing it was coming. https://youtu.be/lYRVeFkTvCM

Silent Hill: Homecoming - First half of the Downcoming series. ‘MY HOUSE!’ ‘Why is the knife the best weapon? Just do knife combos to them, thats survival horror’ https://youtu.be/GLgN5WSiiX4

Silent Hill: Downpour - Second half of the Downcoming series. The first time I saw the guys play a game that was brand new at the time. Pat & Matt getting upset about the downturn of one of my and their favorite series. The famous Axe Throw that launched a career is in this one too I believe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5ofoIeb8wI&list=PLAD720396A1870C8E

Resident Evil 2 - Earliest recorded footage of Pat’s stand CRAZY TALK where he claims to know a thing or be an expert and is proven unequivocably wrong. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Cgbuv3cB1Q&list=PLB8826287748EFE7C

Final Fight: Streetwise - What happens when you take a classic beat em up and try to make it cool and modern with lots of Slipknot music? It ages fucking poorly that’s what. ‘I got a receipt for my Tatsu’ ‘I’d like to return this shoryureppa’, Live footage of the bestfriends souls leaving their body in The Stiff boss fight, Some actually decent writing and lines such as ‘Feeling good about potentially feeling good’ which Matt will quote for years to come. https://youtu.be/HnRNyfzKLL8

Man vs Wild - Not so much a must-watch as it’s just the boys in their element, playing shovelware, deliberately failing QTEs to laugh at how pitiful it looks when you do, making fun of people’s accents, and much more. Indicative of the bestfriends style of sort of mst3king videogames. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1NGPAOrE80&list=PL57hJfweW_2s2jyxas78kIib9M3jGduU8

Heavy Rain - The very first game played in the Sadness trilogy. ‘Oh no, I made ze bad game’, more fucking up of QTEs when it’d be funny, Detective Shelby’s PI Gumball technique after shooting thirty rounds out of a handgun without reloading, FUTURE GLASSES, and other classics. Woolie will play this himself on a livestream, many years later, which is also a good watch. https://youtu.be/Qe-SpjInztQ

Indigo Prophecy - The first game of the Sadness trilogy, though it was played later than Heavy Rain. Space kung-fu, zombie sex with a lady you barely know, your choices don’t matter!, Slagging off of David Cage intensifies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YacYbUC_FmQ&list=PL57hJfweW_2sOt01sX9TtQRkzv5RS231f

Charles Barkley’s Shut Up And Jam: Gaiden - Seems to be originally selected as a ‘ha ha, we’re playing a bad and stupid game to laugh at it’ but then discovering it’s legitimately awesome despite being frankly ridiculous. If you can’t play the game yourself, this is a very good substitute. https://youtu.be/xNc9R1zfwM0

Beyond: Two Souls - The third game of the Sadness trilogy. David Cage creeping on Ellen Paige in real life and making her be naked in his game, E MO SHUNS, having feelings but not knowing where to put them, ‘I’ll be your Stand! ORARARARARARA’, Underwater chinese ghost base. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GA_VUoePgrc&list=PL57hJfweW_2ulXc25A-LxxHXMPqLOwrsf

Deadly Premonition - Swery65′s magnum opus, if only he could’ve put bicycles in the game. He totally didn’t watch Twin Peaks you guys. ‘QUIIIIIIINT!’, ‘Stinky agent’, radio fast travel stock tire screech sfx, monkey noise squirrels and a weird amount of attention paid to food. Matt named his pet cat Zach due to this game, so it’s an extra important part of the bestfriends lore. https://youtu.be/dsbfmIqP-H8

Disaster: Day of Crisis - Metal Gear Solid except the giant robots are natural disasters. Gotta get revenge on the volcano for killing my buddy. Eating watermelons while on fire. Don’t forget to take your stami-nas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Sx8gqSjkMY&list=PL57hJfweW_2t-vHWWeqjY2SKH4vaqotZ6

Yakuza 4 - My first exposure to the Yakuza game series and actually a good starting point for people that don’t know anything about it. The hype, badassery, and hilarity in all its glory. Who’s ready for a shirtless fight on top of Millennium Tower? https://youtu.be/xOKx_79BEhY

Prison Break - More shovelware where they fail stealth sequences a million times, fail QTEs because it’s hilarious, and can’t show too much violence because it’s a T-rated game. https://youtu.be/TsjGGGSZabA

Resident Evil 4 HD - Get hype for suplexing priests, El Gigante, Doctor Salvatore, Isn’t that Mexican spanish not Spanish Spanish? Commando shit and the RE movie, Oops Ashley is dead again, Pat is bad at puzzles and crazy talk activates. https://youtu.be/qsazQp4VlI0

Silent Hill 2 - Everything is illness, or else its condoms! The nurses are TOO STRONG!, the boys actually just enjoying a game and (mostly) being good at it for once.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsYYIjaNPP8&list=PL57hJfweW_2vMmw0MLZp8I16DA-Qev8ec

Resident evil Revelations 2 - Re vuh lay uh tons!, Wait how’d a non mainline resi game get this good?, MOIRA MC TAGGART MC MURPHY, another co-op LP where Matt’s actual role in the game mechanics is to point out ammo and health items that Pat missed. https://youtu.be/THfgNlcNa98

Resident Evil 3 - Jill Valentine’s not actually last escape, Crazy Talk activates several times, Shitting on Hunter-D’s, being a huge coward constantly like the hero of RE brad vickers. https://youtu.be/G5pXyRhs7FM

Ride to Hell - Legendarily bad game played by canadian losers that make fun of it constantly. Source of just SO MANY bestfriends gifs including casual priest drownings, getting shot during cutscenes, and Qui-gon chi. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEw04pKaVs4&list=PL57hJfweW_2srGztN1iedcFd-BV5X1Ram

Parasite Eve - It’s time for Aya Breakowski to GET HOT. It’s a squaresoft game all right, dogs with sniper rifles, finishing downloading arcana heart, and the heroest of hero cops willingly lighting on fire to give you a gun. https://youtu.be/dHY5ZBSHzyw

Danganronpa - Ultra Despair Girls - First recorded instance of being incredibly hype and getting into the cool pop art aesthetic, komaeda memes, and then all hype leaving our body, and out of context shouting KILL THOSE SHIT KIDS! https://youtu.be/qYtYp4oWBhU

Life is Strange - Liam’s rivalry with another wimpy boy, Hotdogman: Who is he?, You sacrificed everyone for your Ship? Are you Griffith?, and rewinding time to fuck with people for kicks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XZ7-wFLnfI&list=PL57hJfweW_2u1mKS5UFNgx-voVAvTlkT9

Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain - Built-up hype from over one thousand years of waiting is collectively released. Psycho Mantis is OP, let the legend come back to life, GREATEST SOLDIER IN THE WORLD BIG BOSS, D-dog is the cutest and bestest of boys, and famously awkward jeep ride. https://youtu.be/505vXWYkxcw

Afro Samurai - Perhaps the shovelest of ware ever played on the channel. It’s very short, only 3 parts, about 90 minutes of gameplay, something that everyone should be super hype about but ends up being the most shitted on game since perhaps one of the Sadness games. https://youtu.be/wIXqEulMTIo

Resident Evil Zero HD - Get hyped for Oven Man mk2, math puzzles, getting pissed off at Eliminators, Rebecca! God dammit Rebecca! I love youuuuu rebeccaaaaaa, Leech Man, and playing dress-up. https://youtu.be/Mhnthhluh70

Metal Wolf Chaos - Giant robots and engrish, more than your body can handle! AMERICA!!!! Richard Hawke! OK, Lets PARTEEEEEEEY! Tons of references they’ll be using until the end of time https://youtu.be/Mhnthhluh70

Naruto: The Broken Bond - ‘Wait, this game is actually good?’ and then three parts later oops no its not. Second instance of being super hyped at first and then all joy slowly being sucked out of the boys’ body. Do your rasengan, even when you’re not playing as Naruto! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo92m-rfeHA&list=PL57hJfweW_2uIIqa3HTcbsvM5LO1ObM_5

The Punisher - Rice cookers, My family-family-family!, guessing Frank’s one-liners, violent safety PSAs, and interrogating the boat https://youtu.be/wznGw9fJNCc

Disaster Report - ‘Is this Disaster day of crisis’ sequel?’, The honeycomb-caisonne method, press triangle to HEY!, be mean to your waifu, and abandon your friends like a hero would do. https://youtu.be/UYiwWU8EZcU

Final Fantasy X - Matt talks about Lulu’s boobs a lot, BLEETSBOLL, Wakka the racist, kimahri push, Finding all the memes possible, Hype Cactaur!, ‘I’ll pay you to fuck off, okay?’, and punting a boss over the horizon. A long watch and the boys are kinda bad at the game but good for the patient. https://youtu.be/qpZeMkthdZ8

Omikron: The Nomad Soul - The secret first entry of the Sadness Trilogy, ‘Get in the slider!’, Blackface Boyz, The real final boss is david cage!, getting trapped in bug purgatory, yes this is how you should honor the memory David Bowie by playing this game, Using the power of all three bestfriends to beat the game, and having no consequences for failure right up until THE MOST CONSEQUENCES. https://youtu.be/691RrF9pnaU

Silent Hill 3 -  No talking during the cut scenes, beef jerky, a detective does a Jerry Seinfeld on Silent Hill by accident, and ‘It’s a metaphor for dicks/childbirth!‘

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4wERZf6bns&list=PL57hJfweW_2v34HsPK-4Hfqmkb22zjBWC

Tony Hawk’s Underground - Woolie lives the skateboarder life he never could for real. ‘Won’t they notice that it’s not Eric Sparrow on the video when they see a clearly black man doing that jump?’, Eric Sparrow is basically up there with Griffith for villains the bestfriends hate the most, and ‘I can do a grind all day’ https://youtu.be/3HLPS_nwHG8

Parasite Eve 2 - More of Breakowski and getting HOT, ‘This is basically a survival horror game’, The dog from Independance Day must survive or else you’re on the bad ending! https://youtu.be/JedQqaXdWLc

LA Noire - The big one, the one I always suggest for new bestfriends watchers as being emblematic of their style and sense of humor and weaknesses as players. Woolie can’t navigate this map, ‘Sometimes you’ve gotta shake the tree and see what falls out’, Shotgun man wrecks your shit!, making noises to go along with the faces that the characters are making, ‘Pedophilia? That’s a free pass in my town sir’, Stealing the worst possible cars because they thought it’d be cool, forgetting the controls for every single fistfight sequence, Cole Phelps super cop!, and LP Funsies. https://youtu.be/-bPqjD_zg5g

Policenauts - Kojima’s game from when he was allowed to work on things besides Metal Gear. It’s definitely white blood and not anything sexual, SHOOTINGU SEQUENCE, Holy crap our main character is a bigoted piece of shit!, Figure out the bomb puzzle!, We’re definitely not Riggs and Murtagh to the point where Woolie says ‘I’m gettin too old for this shit’ about 70 times, and the uncomfortable truth of cloning. https://youtu.be/kWcecAHiOys

Dead Space 2- Notable mostly for me as Dead Space 2 was the first bestfriends video I ever saw back when they were on Machinima, so I was quoting Space Rave and asking Matt if he needed a blankey to fight the monsters. https://youtu.be/1QzY-TjFGFI

Resident Evil 7 - We hate the molded as an enemy type, OOOH GOD DAMMIT JACK, He fucking exploded into goo!, What was your plan?, I can’t shoot the granny, We definitely used a pump action shotgun in world war 2 (Actually yes we did, Matt), Shadow puzzles, that part of a lady is where all the wasps shoot out, and What that guy doesn’t look like Chris Redfield who is this impostor?! https://youtu.be/SyAZ2-nijDE

Def Jam: Fight for NY - The introduction of Woolie’s OC: Rage beats up rappers, steals their girlfriends, and doesn’t understand intimacy, The full might of Matt’s hatred for Bless is brought out, and they talk about the Aki engine’s contributions to humanity https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lry0SYYkvas&list=PL57hJfweW_2tWHTvp2ESXbzp1-jh6YJMQ

[fbwzoo]

Tag meme

@vet-and-wild tagged me for this! 

Rules: Answer 20 questions and tag 20 followers you would like to get to know better.

Name: Kelsey, but usually go by FBW online

Nicknames: FBW, fantasybookworm, fantasticbeasts

Zodiac Sign: Pisces

Height: 5′ (more or less, lmao)

Languages Spoken: English. I wish I could at least read/write more. I also wish I could speak more, but with hearing issues, it’s extremely hard to understand or learn to pronounce other languages correctly. I also desperately want to learn ASL.

Nationality: American

What Year in School Are You: Been out of school for 3 years...I’m old. x.x

Favorite Fruit: Strawberries!!!

Favorite Season: Spring! Fall used to be a favorite before I euthanized a dog & hedgehog during the fall, lost a friend in November, and my mom in December. Fall & the impending winter mostly make me anxious & depressed now.

Favorite Scent: Uhhhh. Rose, I guess? I’ve been really liking rose-scented things for the last year or so.

Favorite Color: Blue! Which makes April and Autism $peaks campaigns even more infuriating. -.-

Currently Reading: Lulu in the Sky, by Loung Ung

Favorite Animal: ??????? Cats? Hedgehogs? Hermit crabs? All of the above? Don’t make me choose! (Horses, parrots, wolves, and harpy eagles have all been on this list too)

Coffee, Tea, Hot Chocolate: Ehhhh. Hot chocolate in the winter. Raspberry tea when I can remember to make it. Coffee is terrible & I can’t stand anything with even a little coffee flavor though. I’m not a huge fan of hot drinks though, honestly.

Random Fun Fact: I originally had a twin who was reabsorbed by the uterus early in the pregnancy, so I was the only one born (despite a few attempts to fight that apparently, sorry mom). My roommate & I are half-convinced that they are my twin re-born, since they’re a few years younger than me, we say/think the same things at the same time quite frequently, and just...click so well. We met online almost 9 years ago, almost immediately started talking about how we were going to live together someday, and then made it happen 6 years later. Also they have an aunt with the same name as my mom who was born on February 29th like my mom (but I think 4 years younger?), our moms are (well, were for me) really similar & our dads are quite similar as well.

Average Hours of Sleep: 5-6 on weeknights, 7-8 on weekends. I’m terrible at going to sleep at a reasonable time on weeknights.

Favorite fictional character: Daine Sarrasri

Number of Blankets You Sleep With: One comforter, with my weighted blanket nearby in case the comforter gets too hot & I need to switch

Dream Trip: Australia and/or New Zealand, I think. I have a friend who lives in Aus, there’s fascinating animals in both places, and bc I squealed & was reminded I’ve wanted to do this since high school when I saw @vet-and-wild‘s answer, I’d adore doing the Lord of the Rings set tour in New Zealand. ....But also I’d like the trip better if I could teleport bc I’m absolutely terrified of flying over the ocean. 

Blog Created: 2015, I think?

I’m too anxious to tag people, but if you wanna do this & tag me, feel free!! :) 

[chicagoindiecritics]

New from Every Movie Has a Lesson by Don Shanahan: COLUMN: The 10 Best Movies of 2019

Before talking about this year-end best list from one of the most back-loaded ones in recent memory, reflection is needed and a deep breath for the next decade to come.  I am forever proud of what I do. I wouldn’t chase all the press opportunities and commit the time into it if I didn’t. In 2019, a great deal of change came to me and this website of mine this past year.  I am forever proud of what I do.  

The critics group I helped found and co-direct, the Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle, rebranded into Chicago Indie Critics.  We celebrate our fourth annual awards this week and our industry reach and reputation grows every year. Best of all, it’s a pleasure to count my peers there as friends in the press row trenches.  It’s nice to share smiles and handshakes at every screening I can.

Speaking of professional standings, I answered a call for writers and began contributing for another website this year.  Since June, I’ve been providing film reviews for 25YL, short for 25 Years Later.  Founded by Andrew Grevas, what started as a Twin Peaks tribute site has turned into “all your obsession in one place” to cover a wide range of entertainment.  I became their first Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic and have greatly enjoyed the new audience, increased exposure, and a chance to be a part of a bigger thing.

Here on Every Movie Has a Lesson, this was the first year the site has featured monetized ads.  I’m no longer doing all this for free, so thank you for dealing with the visual noise to help pay the bills.  Also, my site has been open to guest writers looking to get published. I was honored to help an astounding 44 writers get their work seen in 2019, including 21 Washington State University architecture graduate students with their movie-centered essays.  This school teacher couldn’t resist helping folks and I’ve enjoyed their content and contributions.      

Alright, let’s get to the scoreboard.  In all, I published “only” 94 film reviews in 2019, which is plenty, but down from 110 last year and my high mark of 126 in 2017.  I saw a dozen and a half more, but full-time school teachers, husbands, and dads like me only have so much free time to put 1000 words down every time.  Work-life balance, so to speak, is always a challenge, one that I aim to do better in the life direction. No matter, I think I’ve got 2019 figured out. Here are my picks for the ten best films of the year accompanied by, as always and true to my site’s namesake niche, their best life lesson:

THE 10 BEST MOVIES OF 2019 AND THEIR LESSONS

1. 1917

Full Review

I’m going to sound like an Olympic figure skating judge, but no film received higher technical marks on my scorecard in 2019 than Sam Mendes’ harrowing war thriller.  At the same time the filmmaking prowess captivated me, I was overwhelmingly swept up by the human elements as well creating a complete experience. Most people haven’t seen it yet and I cannot wait until you do.

BEST LESSON: WAR MUST BE ENDURED— All of those World War I combatants from over a century ago, including a family member of the Mendes lineage named in tribute during the end credits, may not be distinctly special or flush with a mythic history of certain destiny. Yet, what they endured was shattering and strengthening at the same time. The draw to see summoned bravery and weatherd tragedy in conflict will always be hugely magnetic. Rising with ambitious scale and a colossal level of enthrallment, 1917 will join cinema’s greatest exemplars of such captivation. 

2. Little Women

Full Review

Greta Gerwig took Louisa May Alcott’s seminal novel, something that could have easily been stiff and stale, and brought new spirit to it.  Yet, in doing so, she didn’t force anything. She didn’t shove showy modernity into faces, just for the sake of doing so. Her Little Women is a mainstream PG rarity.  The spirit she, the cast, and the artists brought was genuine, sumptuous, and vivacious.  What a marvelous achievement!

BEST LESSON: THE STRENGTH OF FAMILIAL LOVE — To borrow this time from the Greeks and a dollop of The Bible instead of the Fab Four, the level of “storge” love in this saga is exquisite. When family is in need, the annoyances and competitiveness of these sisters go away and bonds are renewed. As they say in the dialogue, “life is too short to be angry at sisters.” Once again, thanks to Gerwig’s tonal choices, you see it, plain as day, in the way the cast in character interacts. The emotional wreckage that results is incredibly genuine.

3. Marriage Story

Full Review

Neck and neck with Little Women comes the Netflix drama with the courage to bare truths from the maddening and draining process that is divorce.  Thanks to dynamite and Oscar-worthy lead performances from Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver, heartstrings are plucked, tightened, and unraveled by Noah Baumbach’s deeply personal tale of resiliency.

BEST LESSON: WHAT WOULD YOU DO? — It is impossible to watch this movie and not have it be a barometer check towards your own relationship status and integrity. Regardless how much yearning desire floats every now and then in Marriage Story, this trauma recovery. Normally in movies like this, we see the indiscretion itself, then the collapse, ink hitting paper, and maybe a gavel banging for a suspenseful decision. Few films go in between and beyond those decision points to show the fractured orbits and restarts of continuing life with heart and honesty. There is blame to be shared, but you feel for both leads and wonder about yourself externally. That is a substantially powerful effect of this film.

4. Luce

Full Review

Until the awards season parade of November and December releases arrived, this was my #1 in the clubhouse coming out of the fall.  Even though this is a wildly fictious morality play stretched into the settings of cinema, this movie gave me, the school teacher, a jaw-dropping heart attack.  Between Luce and Waves, you need to keep an eye on Kelvin Harrison, Jr., a certain star for this new decade.  

BEST LESSON: VENDETTAS ARE PROBLEMATIC — Simmering behind classroom smiles, what the mounting drama of Luce becomes is a straight-up vendetta, one between teacher and student. The bloodless lines of bitterness fortify to hurt people and force chosen sides. This is a saint versus a monster, with little middle, and a guessing game of which one is really which. It’s a battle the actors sell without flaw.

5. Parasite

Full Review

I was better late than never to this party for the most talked about niche film of the year.  Leave it to a foreign director in the form of Korean Bong Joon-ho to blow our American minds with the sharpest social commentary of a film this year.  Parasite’s bottle film suspense comes from the smartest and most cunning premise and screenplay of the year.  Subtitle-haters, get over your hangup and see this movie.

BEST LESSON: THE DEFINITION OF “PARASITE”— When you dig into this title (as it digs into you), three variations of meaning present themselves: 

an organism that lives on or in an organism of another species, known as the host, from the body of which it obtains nutriment.

a person who receives support, advantage, or the like, from another or others without giving any useful or proper return, as one who lives on the hospitality of others.

(in ancient Greece) a person who received free meals in return for amusing or impudent conversation, flattering remarks, etc.

You read those definitions and wonder, gosh, which one of the three will this buzzed-about Korean film seize or probe. Big or small, any one of them could take a toll.  The staggering thing is, with many flourishes, Parasite, is all damn three of them, in twisted and overwhelming fashion.

6. The Peanut Butter Falcon

Full Review

The Peanut Butter Falcon was one of a few “Little Engines That Could For Me” this year.  I couldn’t be more pleased that this labor of love and offbeat road movie, starring Zach Gottshagen and Shia LeBeouf, has been able to find a sizable audience. There’s always one movie a year that becomes my top casual recommendation when people ask me for something that haven’t heard of that is simply a good time.  This is the one for 2019. This is independent filmmaking done right.

BEST LESSON: HAVE A GOOD STORY TO TELL WHEN YOU DIE — The Peanut Butter Falcon doesn’t just tell a good story. It tells a great one worthy of attention, praise, and undying appreciation. The purifying freedom that churns throughout this movie could cultivate even the most barren heart. This little lovable film is the kind of experience that makes one rethink how their own story is going. That is a mighty, motivating accomplishment for something that couldn’t stand out more from the usual summer blockbuster fare. 

7. The Farewell

Full Review

Plenty of critics like myself (though I try so often to say it other ways) will use the expression “through the wringer” often when it comes to weathering difficult or excitable experiences at the movies.  Well, no movie executed that as many ways this past year than Lulu Wang’s family dramedy. It’s got the comedic peaks and the dramatic ones that both crush with frank honesty and genuine love. The premise of this movie is the curveball of curveballs.

BEST LESSON: COULD YOU DO THIS WITHIN YOUR OWN FAMILY? — The crux of The Farewell makes for several of those soul-searching quiz questions every viewer must ask themselves in a film plot as specific as this one. Should, or even could, you carry on like this? To do so would be illegal in the U.S. Can you justify your position? How long could you live with or act out what everyone calls a “good lie?” Is there even such a thing? In this culture, it is characterized as the family carrying the emotional burden for the dying. Sure, but if you’re helping them, who’s healing your internal injuries of the heart living with that weight? How you answer these will inform your connection to this film straightaway.

8. Joker

Full Review

I found what has stood to be become the most polarizing movie of the year to be one of the year’s best.  Go ahead and judge me. Called a masterpiece by some and trash by others, I fall definitely on the high end with this maniacal comic book tangent.  Joaquin Phoenix was too good to ignore. On every level, I admire the sheer cajones of this blockbuster to pulverize us with kitchen sinks filled with cajones and questions. 

BEST LESSON: THE DEFINITION OF “GALL” — According to Dictionary.com, the four possible meanings of the noun span impudence, severity, bitterness of spirit, and rancor. To saunter a little cruder, which is fitting for the movie in play, the Urban Dictionary defines the word as audacity, balls, or something risky. Hot damn, Joker is each one of those descriptors from both sources and then some.

9. Jojo Rabbit

Full Review

Yes, it is categorically crazy to reach a point of embracing a movie about Nazis, but leave it to Taika Waititi to pull it off.  He imbues enough heart into this satire to present a transformation of wrongs into rights that is entertaining and affecting in its own way.  The filmmaker said he was making a movie of hope and love that could echo into our own present times. He did that with infinite panache without sacrificing hard reality.

BEST LESSON: WHEN ACTUALITY HITS — Using the word “reality” in this comical setting is leaping too far. Stick with actuality instead and just look at the objects and actions. Knives hurt people. Grenades explode. Soldiers die. War destroys. Germans are fallible. Jews are regular people too. When the wrongs and horrors of war arrive, the movie shifts. Jojo Rabbit swells and elevates beyond farce with this actuality.

10. Knives Out

Full Review

This will sound poster-quote cliche like that “wringer” sentiment over in The Farewell at #7, but Knives Out was flat-out the most entertaining film of the year for me.  To name-drop a film lower down the list, the second most entertaining and surprising one was The Man Who Killed Hitler and then The Bigfoot at #13.  Back ti Knives Out, my review says it all deeper and better than cliches, but Rian Johnson absolutely nailed subverting the murder mystery blueprint to create pitfalls of depravity and delight.  Everyone involved is clearly having a blast and we do too.

BEST LESSON: HOW TO SUBVERT AN ENTIRE GENRE — The trope-filled mechanics of most murder mysteries create an antagonist while Knives Out has you pining for the killer instead. In flipping the rooting interests from the pursuing authorities to the identified perpetrator, the dexterous filmmaker shifted goals and bolstered energy to a different gear. Where the typical pulse rate of this kind of story opens and ends with a bang between a tedious, saggy middle, Knives Out is all about that rich center. What an equally delectable and sinful treat it is!

SPECIAL MENTION: Apollo 11

Full Review

I don’t see as many documentaries as I should, and I don’t find it completely fair ranking them alongside feature narratives that have completely different purposes, crafts, and objectives. That said, the argument can be had that Apollo 11 was the best thing to touch a silver screen this year, no matter the discipline and genre.  Edited like a bullet from thousands of hours of content and tuned to IMAX perfection, this chronicle of the first lunar landing mission was incredible in every facet.  I’ll be the school teacher that sees every science student in the country needs to see this documentary.  

THE NEXT 10:

11. Clara

12. Booksmart

13. The Man Who Killed Hitler and then The Bigfoot

14. Us

15. Uncut Gems

16. The Two Popes

17. Waves

18. Ford v Ferrari

19. Ad Astra

20. Wild Rose

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[noplanwithavan]

THE AGE OF INDEPENDENCE

Our time in Greece has come to an end. We’re in Albania now, and it’s quite clearly not Greece. We realised we didn’t know anything about this country, nor anyone who had been. Now I know why. The only bonus so far has been the cherries. You pay the same per kilo (£1.50) as you’d get for 100g back home. We are probably 10 years too late in coming here. Fresh from the grip of communism, the “Albanian Riviera” along the western coastline was undoubtedly something to behold. Aside from the odd bunker, I imagine it’s was virgin land, unspoiled, undeveloped. Now it is a homage to concrete. And no in an interesting way either - not the communist brutalist architecture Marcus was hoping to see. If there isn’t an uninspired high-rise hotel already, they’re sure planning to put one there. The entire place feels like a building site. You can’t escape the ceaseless scraping sound of diggers building their way towards progress, or some hellish vision of it. The beaches are largely inaccessible unless you are staying at a resort. Unable to camp as we’d like, we’ve given in and booked into a hotel. At £40 a night, at least luxury comes cheap here. It makes me realise just how special Greece was, a country full of surprises, because:

1. I hadn’t expected it to be so much fun, immersing ourselves in the cradle of civilisation. But I’ve always had a theatrical bent, and walking in the footsteps of the heroic age proved irresistible. All those stories, it’s hard not to get carried away! 2. Who knew Dill was so delicious? Back home, this green feathery friend is rarely used except as a light delicate herb to compliment fish. But here, it’s ubiquitous. You find it in salads, grilled vegetables, on just about everything. And it’s REALLY good, bringing such a fresh tasting light zing. We should use it more. 3. I hadn’t realised it was so mountainous. Greece is marketed to the UK as a place to go for island hopping and lounging by a pebble-dashed turquoise sea. But there’s so much more. Ancient cities, alongside fantastic rivers, gorges and mountains. Many are unspoiled, and relatively undiscovered on the tourist trail. 4. It feels as if we’ve passed a maturity milestone. What I hadn’t been paying attention to as we travelled back in time, way-marked by the signature Doric, Ionian and Corinthian pillars, was the mini epoch my own family was entering. Maybe it’s the developmental leaps between 5 and 6 years of age. Yet suddenly the girls seem so grown up. Within weeks of each other, the baby front teeth have all come tumbling down, the old succumbing to the promise of the new. With ragged ruinous smiles, the Age of Independence has crept up on us.

This last month has seen all our birthdays now completed. In April we spent mine in Kardamili. A magical spot where you can bathe in the sea and stare down the long lens of the Viros Gorge at snow-covered Mount Taygetos. I told the girls for my birthday I really wanted to go trekking up into the Gorge. I’m not sure they actually like trekking that much, but they like everything associated with it. Elsie can be persuaded to do just about anything if it involves a backpack into which she can cram snacks. And Lulu is highly motivated by the prospect of cooking on a trangia. So, we packed some food to nibble and more to cook and set off along the ancient kaldermini (cobbled footpath) that led ever upward, decked by wildflowers and statuesque cypress trees. It’s not an exaggeration to say there’s a story under every rock in Greece. Passing the tombs of the Dioscuri (the Gemini Twins), stories about Castor and Pollux somehow gave way into tales of ancient Sparta, and before we knew it we’d arrived at Agia Sofia, a promontory overlooking the gorge, with fantastic views down to the tie-died turquoise waters below.

Clocking that the girls now have some serious walking credits under their belt, we decide to push it a little further. That mountain we spied at the end of the gorge, Mount Taygetos, was a sacred spiritual place to the ancient Greeks. A church now stands at its peak, 2,400 m high. Marcus is itching to climb it. While scanning a noticeboard for a route to the peak, he spots a mountain refuge halfway up. The kernel of an idea begins to take root, supplanting his original intention to march off on his own for 5 hours of uninterrupted peace and quiet. Perhaps he can take us all halfway, and then set out for the final ascent alone. He doesn’t have crampons, and is warned by the few hikers we meet he won’t make it up without these.

After seeking and receiving firm assurances from Elsie and Lulu, we email “Kanel Trekking” and book in for a night in the refuge. No going back now. This will be the hike of their lives - 8km up a mountain. Lulu’s happy as long as the trangia comes along to fry up haloumi en route, and Elsie’s determined not to pass up the opportunity to sally forth with a suitably equipped backpack. The day’s lesson is orienteering, getting the girls to look out for the way-markers and decide which direction to go at any junction. It’s a steep but lovely climb, through pine forests sprinkled with crocuses, and snatched glimpses of the last snow clinging to a triangular peak. But any dreams of mountain solitude  are soon drowned out. For our companions talk incessantly, a continuous rattle, moving jaggedly from one question to another while the first has barely formed in the air. We’ve run out of children’s books to read them now, moving onto adult fiction instead. They love a detective story about a policeman in India who’s trying to solve a murder case while simultaneously bringing about the downfall of a notorious crime boss. Fascinated by the intricacies of the plot, we spend several kilometres predicting what will happen next and why certain characters behave as they do. It’s hard going towards the end, plenty of stumbles and trips, but out of sheer bloody-mindedness Elsie astounds all expectations by keeping her backpack on the entire day. It’s only after we arrive towards nightfall at our mountain cabin, that she lets me inspect its contents. Inside are a scarf, 2 books and a torch. Surprisingly the last item is actually useful, as our cabin is so perfectly rustic and wild there’s no electricity. It’s exactly the kind of place where you could imagine finding Heidi. Even down to our host - an old man called George, who could easily pass for Heidi’s kindly grandfather. He was fantastic with the kids. Hailing every effort with a hearty “Bravo!’, he recruited them to gather kindling, light the fire and the oil lamps, before setting about mending Lulu’s shoe, which had disintegrated under the pressure of the hike. She was smitten, following George everywhere, sneaking into the kitchen to help him prepare food, even trying to whistle along the same way he did. That night he played us his Bouzouki (a Greek Lute) as they danced by the fireside. The culmination of it all - to be somewhere so magical, so different, and to feel so proud of the girls for climbing what would have been unimaginable just 6 months ago - made it one of our most memorable experiences so far. The next morning we wave goodbye to Daddy, warning him not to put himself at risk for the sake of glory. I’m expecting he’ll be gone for hours, but by mid-afternoon he’s back.

“Didn’t need crampons in the end,” he says confidently, showing us a video he took of himself at the peak. It clearly places him completely alone, picking his way over a snow-covered ridge with a steep drop either side.

There followed a culture clash - as I landed straight from our mountain retreat back to London for another whistle-stop UK tour. 2017 must be an auspicious year for love. The wedding bells were ringing again. This time my old university pal, Hannah Hewetson, was getting married and wanted me to deliver a speech with my partner in crime Natalie Hill. It was a day to revel, and one to catch up with many familiar faces. Everyone asked about our travels, and wanted to know how we did it, what it was like. Did the school mind? How do you teach them? Some were quite shocked to discover that Elsie and Lulu hardly have any toys to play with. I can see how to some this may feel like a form of child neglect or even cruelty. But the truth is, that is honestly one of the things they have never complained about. With the Spring temperature in the mid to late 20’s everyday, we are outside most of the time. And everywhere becomes a playground. When you strip back entertainment on tap, you really see their imaginations working hard. Elsie is a big fan of hauling everything out of the van and creating “sets” for her shows. A tree stump can be Rappunzel’s tower and keep her entertained for hours as she hauls things up and down on rope. They paint faces on pebbles to take part as extra “characters” in their performances. I’ve seen them loading the Calpol dispensing syringes up from a stream to use as water pistols, and plastic bags billowing out behind them are “parachutes”. They have become masters at the card game UNO. When my sunglasses broke and I had to buy more, Elsie said,

“Can I just check i can see a reflection in them?” “Why?” I asked. “Because otherwise I won’t be able to see your cards when we’re playing Bingo!” (for some reason she refuses to call it UNO).

Lulu loves to help cook, especially if it involves knives or foraging (the latest being elderflowers to make into cordial). The knife-obsession sounds a bit worrying, but she really has a flair for chopping and dicing. And she practices whenever she can, whittling away on any bit of wood she can find. We bought her a pen knife just to stop her going through our kitchen drawers. But perhaps the best example came one night when they each picked up a rock and studied it. Elsie declared her half broken brick was an “ant ferry”, Lulu said hers was a helicopter. To be honest neither had a particular resemblance, so it was already quite a stretch of the imagination. After a few minutes Lulu dropped her rock and it smashed. She began to protest, but on bending down to pick it up she held it’s new jagged outline to the moonlight, a slow smile transforming her frown. “Now it’s a wolf face, look!” she said. “And if I turn it around, it’s a foxy!”

From the Peloponnese we move on to the fortified town of Nafplio, then on a cultural tour de force. Taking in the ancient city of Mycennae, with its links to the Trojan War, Perseus, and the pursuits of super-strength Hercules. For a city that once ruled the Hellenic world, and inspired countless legends, it’s amazing how small it is. I guess there just weren’t that many people 3,000 years ago. The girls love the tragic tale of King Agamemnon’s betrayal, but it is the tombs which leave the greatest mark. Below the city a giant, underground cavern shaped like a beehive inspires them to test out the strength of their echoes, and they begin giving impromptu oratories which Marcus captures on video. Next comes Epidavros, with it’s incredible amphitheatre - an awe-inspiring testament to human endeavour. We take it turns standing on the central stone circle and calling out to see if you can hear all the way from the cheap seats at the back (you can). The acoustics make your voice resound, and it’s an incredible feeling. Overcoming inhibitions before strangers I proclaim and project like a true thespian. Well, if not here, then where better?

A stop in Delphi is a must - given it’s the name of our niece. It’s setting is as beautiful as the 8 year-old girl herself. Built on the hill-side of the mountains of Parnassos, you ascend through a series of terraces - once avenues decked with monuments, votive offerings and statues to commemorate Ancient Greek city states. People came to hear the prophecies of the Oracle, but in so coming brought with them information about the state of affairs back at home. Gradually Delphi rose to become a microcosm of information - about who had what, who needed what, who was up, who was down. A kind of ancient Google. Far easier for an Oracle to make predictions when armed with such knowledge.

When you see the plinths and traces of writing, you get a sense of what a showcase it once would have been. Still to some, ruin-fatigue can settle in. We overheard one couple arguing. The man was enraptured, pointing out every minute detail. His face crumpling with disappointment at the  realisation his information had failed to hit the mark with his companion. Some accusations followed, then I heard the woman say,

“I didn’t say I DIDN’T want to see it. I just don’t want to look at any more walls.”

We judged the girls had probably had enough culture by this point too. In truth they were more interested in the variety of bugs and the tortoises you spot at frequent intervals, rather than the Temple of Apollo. It was time for action. All those stadiums attest to the fact the Greeks understood about the importance of physical exercise, and so did we.

If there are two places I would recommend visiting in Greece for sheer natural beauty and a place to run free, it is in the North where we next headed. First to the Springs of Acheron River. An idyllic spot where the rocks are bone-white and the water crystal clean. By night the place lit up with pinpricks of green and yellow light - intermittent fairy lights pulsing in the bushes. Fireflies! The girls are in their element, dashing about trying to catch the tiny moving targets. Elsie swipes 3 and holds out her hand, saying, ”I’ve caught a disco!”

The water was cold so we donned our wetsuits and went tramping up stream, through a canyon where you half-waded, half-swam in parts. We would fill up our water bottles each day from a spot up-river, and watch the few listless guides, hanging around with no tourists yet to offer their outdoor adventures. Bored, they gave the girls a free ride on a zip wire just for the sheer need to see someone using it. We repaid their kindness by agreeing to go horse-riding. Marcus demurred, so it was just me and the girls. Our guide was a bit short on English, but after a few minutes pulled me aside and said,

“I think you are experienced. After I take you off on my own.” I think he was just mistaken but I didn’t have the heart to admit it.

It felt a bit remiss, dropping the girls off and telling them to wait for their dad who’d gone walkabout, while I rode off into the blue yonder with a man on horseback. He started showboating, riding with just one hand and urging the horses on into a canter then gallop. It’s the most I can do to cling on for dear life, grit my teeth and hope it ends soon. Horse-riding, like Motor bike riding, is an activity Greeks don’t consider requires much in the way of health and safety. At first I thought the very many strange little church-like houses dotted along the roadside were mail boxes. Turns out they are shrines to someone who’s either died or had a near miss in a roadside collision. Despite this very tangible and visible reminder to the contrary, nobody seems to think motorbikes or horses are best ridden with a helmet. By now, woefully out of control, I put this point to my guide.

“No, helmets are not necessary if you are a good rider,” he tells me.

“I do have them though - you know, just for the tourists.” What the hell does he think I am? Some weird hybrid free-loading campervanning nomad who doesn’t fulfil this criteria?

Still intact we crept closer to Albanian border via the Vikos Gorge in the Zagori region. At 1km from top to bottom it’s said to be the deepest in the world. Photos do not do it justice, you just can’t gauge the scale. Stopping at a viewing point in Oxia, Marcus gets twitchy, his fear of heights kicking in as you stare down into an abyss. The girls spend days making elaborate cards for Marcus’s birthday, and we decide to treat ourselves by checking in to the Primoula Guesthouse, a luxury hotel. Elsie’s beside herself, jabbering away, clowning around. They enjoy the large movie selection on offer, while we rate the outdoor spa complete with hot-tub and mountain view. It’s amazing how much you appreciate a soak in the bath when you haven’t had one for 8 months. Exploring the area, we make the most of what’s on offer, hiking through the gorge and taking the girls for their first taste of white water rafting. I love seeing their faces when we do these things, beside themselves with excitement, unsure of whether the instructor is joking or not when he tells them to push any crocodiles they see away with their paddles.

I’m having to hold on to these signs of gullibility, for they seem to be fading fast. Lulu caught me out one day when she quizzed me about how many syllables were in the word “pistol”.

“Two, I said.” “What’s the first one?” she asked. “Pis”, I answered to gales of laughter. “Ha!ha! I made you say the rude word for wee!”

Yet interspersed with the clear evidence of change - the gradual improvement at taking responsibility for themselves, helping with the chores - there are still plenty of gaps. Most days they still forget to put their pants on. And when Elsie enters one of her hyper moods, LuLu rolls her eyes and says, “Oh no. I think she’s got fur ball diaorrhoea again.” That’s one phrase I’m in no hurry to correct.

[whoslaurapalmer]

rewatching s1 of peaks last night and i just got angry because like, the scene where the picnic tape replays and there’s the slow zoom in on laura’s face and the voiceover saying ‘help me,’ that really struck me this time with how heartbreaking it is and how can people interact with even a single second of this show and still think there’s some grand master plan going on, that it’s not about the obvious and agonizing experience of laura’s abuse 

[lionwriters-blog]

A Nightmare visit full story

This story is just my take on what will happen next after 4 years from This page of the comic Nothing in the story is canon to the AU, It's just a fanfic for The Nightmaretale AU.

when the twin brothers, vix and daniel where playing in front of their house in the anti void. They saw a door with the name Nightmaretale written on it "daniel do you have any idea of what, this au is about" vix looked at his brother daniel "dad told us about it, do you remember it vix" daniel looked at his brother vix. Lucy walk to her young twin brothers "vix, daniel what are you doing, you know dad said no au traveling until we 18" vix and daniel turn to face their big sister "we 17 and you're 18 so we can travel on our own dear sister" both of daniel and vix walk back home with their sister Lucy

In vix and daniel room

Daniels p.o.v

I laid down in bed and cleaned my glasses with two gaster hands as I already knew brother wanted something, he always does. His bravery is almost stupid as he keeps getting in trouble while I'm there "come on, what's on your mind Vix" I asked with a not really asking tone as always while I put my glasses back on, they don't really help but without them I can't see what's in front of me.

Vix pov

I was preparing my backpack and grabbed my sword just in case " I'm going to Nightmaretale, do you want to tag along daniel" he will try to stop me as always but I always manage to make him tag along to keep me out of trouble, we heard a knock on the door as I hide the backpack and my sword under my bed.

Daniels p.o.v

'Traveling to nightmare tale? Well, I'm not surprised..' I thought before standing up and walking to the door and opens it, it's Lucy "oh hi Lulu" she smiled as I said that "I just wanted to check you two didn't do anything stupid" she said as I chuckled a bit "us? Something stupid? Where in the multiverse did you get that idea?" I said sarcastically as she giggled.

Lucy pov

I pet daniel head as I saw vix on his bed and holding a book upside down "victor why are you holding the book upside down? " vix held the book in right way "Umm don't know Lulu and we all agree on using vix instead of victor for my name" as he said that I know something is fishy with them "alright then vix"I went to check on the other twins and after I checked on them I head to room and prepared my backpack and wrote a note to mom and dad.

Daniels p.o.v

I closed the door after Lucy left "...well that was close" I said as I walked to my bedside and grabbed my backpack before packing down two books and that's all, after all, I have same magic as my mother so I can always summon things at will "let's just skip me trying to stop you part as I know it won't work as always" I said and chuckled a bit "plus, for once I'm curious about where we're going."

Vix pov

I pulled my sword and backpack from under my bed with a smile on my face "alright then, but I have a feeling that Lulu will try to stop us or maybe join us"I put my sword around my waist as I closed my backpack "and you should take extra clothes, we might get stuck in their"I walked to the door and peak out to see if anyone is awake, I know the time was late so everyone is asleep.

Daniels p.o.v

I snapped my fingers and picked up my backpack "there" now I had clothes in it as I let out a small sigh, I don't know if Vix and Lucy can open wormholes like me and mother but I guess I'll find out... I walked to Vix and waited for him to leave so I could go after and close the door behind us.

Vix pov

I walked out of the room and daniel closes the door behind us "let us take one of the devices that dad made, so we Don't get lost in the anti void" daniel nod and we went to dad workplace. I and daniel took 3 trackers just in case lucy decided to join us as we head out to the Nightmaretale door after we close the house doors behind us. when i grabbed the door nop of the Nightmaretale door, me and daniel we couldn't move our legs as our souls were Turned green.

Daniels p.o.v

As I saw our souls turn green I thought of who could do that and I only know two persons who can, mom and Lucy. Of course, it wouldn't be mom as she'd never stop us anyway, I turned my head and saw Lucy "oh hi Lulu" she laughed a bit "come on, did you two really think I'd let you two go alone?" She said as I smiled a bit while Vix chuckled "no, no we didn't sis" I said "we packed an extra device for you to come with" she smiled and giggled "you two know me too well."

Lucy pov

I let both of them free as i rubbed my template and i Turned to a human as i learned that i have both of dad and mom magic "Good thing i left a note for mom and dad to look for us if we get stuck" both of daniel and vix were surprised when they saw me turn human "let us go boys" i opened the door and enter Nightmaretale as daniel and vix followed me.

Daniels p.o.v

'...she can turn into a human?' I thought as we entered..I should probably have told them that mom always knows where I am and that I could take us home if needed, I let out a sigh as we had started walking in nightmaretale.

NMT Gaster pov

I was looking through the codes, i noticed 3 kids had set foot in our universe "hmm interesting, they have some of carlos codes as well as some different codes from someone else" i noticed two of them have skeleton arms 'carlos and the woman that he married to, knows that 3 of their children are here' as i thought of that, i kept an eye on them.

Daniels p.o.v

I suddenly felt a shiver down my spine and looked around, feeling like someone is watching us and we walked. I shook my head and tried not to think of it as I pushed my glasses further back on my nose. "Did any of us plan what to do here?" Both Lucy and Vix stopped as I said that and looked at me "I only followed you" Lucy said as I looked at Vix, seeing my hair fall over my left eye again as I turned to him.

Vix pov

I felt the chills run down my back as i know lucy and daniel felt too "let us introduce ourselves to this universe dreemurr family" Lucy looked at me as i said that "are you nuts, victor, what are we doing say that we don't know where are we heading or that we are lost" she facepalms as she knows that we actually lost "well dear sister, good thing that we have money with us as for the fact that we don't know how to contact with others proof that we can't survive alone" we heard some people talking around us as we arrived to the city.

Daniels p.o.v

As we walked I realized I just have stayed quiet while looking around, I felt like I needed to be on guard and not just talk about stuff that I already know we can do. I let out another sigh and felt Lucy look at me as if she knew something was up in my mind. As we kept walking I kept feeling eyes looking at us but when I looked around almost no one was looking at us.

Lucy pov

We felt very uncomfortable as eyes were looking at us in every corner "we need to find the dreemurr household really fast" daniel looked at me "how are we gonna find them lulu" as daniel said that i opened a small window to the universe code and i found the dreemurr household "this way and i know you two how i do all this stuff, because i had a longer amount of time to know my magic as i found out that i have both of dad and mom magic" we walked to the dreemurr household as the window that i opened turned into a map.

Daniels p.o.v

'Why did she even say that? If she has both dad and moms magic she would be able to do all their things' I thought As I wasn't surprised at all, I just felt I had an emotionless expression as we walked. I'm pretty sure Vix was confused and is now hiding it like always but I don't really care as long as they are both safe. I feel like the eyes are watching us.. almost like the owner knows who we are and wanna make sure we don't do anything stupid like always.

Vix pov

Daniel think that i'm confused about the whole thing but i understand it all as i tab daniel "focus and let the whole emotionless crab. It's hard on her to control both magic but she have the Ability to shapeshift, but she uses mom style instead because she like to code and stuff" lucy felt sad when she said about having mom and dad magic because she didn't want to brag about it as she know daniel was into coding, she was happy. Tears run down her cheeks as daniel hugged her.

Daniels p.o.v

"Sorry sis, I just.. I just am this way" I said as I wipes her tears away and smiled as I hugged her again "I'm sorry Lulu" she smiled a bit and hugged back "I-It's okay Daniel" she said as I kissed her head "come on, let's not keep Vix waiting" I said as Vix just took his arms up and said "Nah just hug it out" I chuckled as he said and looked back at Lucy "sorry again.. I just... last time I was in a different AU it didn't end well..”

Lucy pov

I pulled vix into a hug and kisses both of vix and daniel foreheads "we are together no matter what, and i know what happened daniel" we arrived at the dreemurr household "so what now, are we gonna knock on the door and i say that we are lost even that's a lie" vix looked at me and daniel as both of us shrugs.

Daniels p.o.v

"Maybe it's a good idea?" I said as I dragged my sleeve down over my skeleton arm. "Yeah, the truth might be confusing for them" Lucy said as Vix covered up his skeleton arm as well "well who is gonna knock?" He asked as I rolled my eyes and knocked on the door, lucky my hair covered my eyes so no one saw I did it, hopefully.

Vix pov

As the door opened, i saw this universe frisk as she the same age as lulu, she was beautiful. My heart skipped a beat "May i help you?" she looked at us as lulu handshake her "i'm lucy and these two are victor and daniel and yes, we kinda lost our way home and it getting late and we hope to stay in for tonight if you Don't mind?" as lulu said that when i waved at her "hi i'm victor, you can call me vix" daniel rolled his eyes

Daniels p.o.v

I rolled my eyes at how Vix introduced himself as if he was a kid. I looked at this universes Frisk and said "names Daniel and if you talk with me you can call me Dan" I noticed I didn't sound so kind with my tone, only a slight bit of kindness but other then that I sounded worried and protective. Lucy turned to me and smiled a bit head as I shrugged and felt Vix give me a glare like if I humiliated him or something.

NMT frisk

I felt that they are trustworthy and i let them in "nice to meet you all and of course you can stay for today" i informed mom that we have guests and we prepared a room for the 3 of them.

Daniels p.o.v

I noticed how Vix kept looking at Frisk and elbowed him slightly before whispering in his ear "someone has an eye for a Frisk" I said and chuckled as I noticed Lucy raised an eyebrow as I said that, I'm not sure if she heard me or not.

Vix pov

I hold my side where daniel elbowed me "whatever daniel" he chuckles again as lulu walked to us "well the both of cut out and victor you need to put yourself together, we gonna leave the next day" i give a sad sigh "alright lulu.”

Daniels p.o.v

Wait I didn't mean to hurt him with that "okay Lulu" I said as I put my hands in my pockets before looking around a bit, I just wanna make sure we're in a safe place

Lucy pov

The room that we stayed in, was at the end of the hallway which it was safe for the 3 of us "victor we know that you have a crush on NMT frisk since when we met her" vix blushes as said that "me having a crush on NMT frisk nah, she was uncomfortable as we know that every frisk Has a chara with them" me and daniel didn't take what vix says.

Daniels p.o.v

'Come to think of it I did feel a Chara but something else..' my gase fell to the floor as I start thinking while sensing something move in the code that gave me shivers.. like if something is alive within it but that could only be a Gaster but they are normally in the void that is outside the code not in it..

NMT Gaster

I saw daniel going through the codes "the kid is smart the same goes for his sister" then i saw vix putting his backpack and sword aside. I got a call from carlos and i answered it "o, hi carlos how are you friend. That's good to hear, your kids?. Your kids are in my universe and they are staying in the dreemurr household. You gonna back them later, alright then see you when you get here" me and carlos made phones that work across the multiverse, that's why we can talk to each other as we are friends now.

Lucy pov

I pet vix head "you need to take it slowly victor, maybe they went through a lot and she might need a lot of time to open up" vix sighs "then i need to be her friend 1st then we need to know each other" as he said that i rubbed my templet and i Turned to back to my skeleton form "that's how the universe work victor" i lay in bed and cover myself in a blanket as i heard daniel and vix talk about something but i couldn't hear them

Daniels p.o.v

While I and Vix talked he noticed that I was going to the code on my glasses, only using my eyes like always as he tugged in me "did you even hear what I was saying?" He asked as I shook my head and closed the code "no sorry... I felt something move in the code and felt like checking it" as I said that he went silent and laid down in bed and covered himself "we should rest Dan, not stay guard" he mumbled before closing his eyes, I couldn't tell if he fell asleep or not as I sighed and laid down on the bed. I just laid there while watching the code in my glasses, at least they are useful for something.

Next day

Vix pov

When I wake, I saw Lucy and Daniel still asleep as I rubbed lucy templet and she turns human and then I woke them up, I handed Daniel the right gauntlet as I took the left one and wear it to cover my skeleton arm.

Daniel's p.o.v

I put the gauntlet on while not really allowing them to even see my hand as I yawned "did you watch that code all night?" Vix asked me as I chuckled "no, only half of it" Vix facepalmed as I laughed a bit.

Lucy pov

I rubbed my eyes as I sit up "is it morning already"I yawned and i noticed that I'm in my human form. I looked at Daniel and vix as the bed slept in was in the middle "don't worry lulu, i did rub your templet when i woke up" vix smile as he gets off the bed as he seems like his normal self, but i felt that he is sad.

Daniel's p.o.v

I noticed Vix's poker face like smile and I know Lulu did too. I let out a small sigh before getting out of bed and stretched, I placed my glasses back on after rubbing my eyes a bit

Lucy pov

I pet daniel back as i get off bed and stretches, we cleaned our face and i helped NMT toriel with breakfast and stuff as vix went to help NMT frisk so they get to know each other and daniel decided to read some books "you don't have to help me lucy, you and your siblings are our guests" when NMT toriel said that i give her a warm smile "if me and my brothers are guests, the least what we can do is help" NMT toriel smile as she was happy and i heard a voice coming from the living room "who is that miss toriel?" NMT toriel looked at me "that's my son asriel" as toriel said that, flowey comes to the kitchen in a robot body similar to mtt.

Daniel's p.o.v

I was reading through the book when in the right eye I was watching the code, reading it to learn about the AU. I've done this once or twice without entering AU's, it makes it easier to know who's a threat and whos not. It also shows who we can trust, I did all this just to make sure Vix and Lulu are safe.

NMT Gaster pov

As i noticed that the 3 children are different from each other "hmmm, lucy and daniel are fine but vix, he seems to have interest in frisk" i opened another window to see what frisk and vix are doing.

NMT Frisk p.o.v

Me and Vix had been talking for a few minutes as we sat on the couch, he seemed to shiver for some reason so I raised an eyebrow confused "..are you cold?" I asked him

Vix pov

I felt like being watched by someone as I looked to nmt frisk "no, I'm not cold I just feel like someone is watching" I looked into the code using my left eye as mom taught me on how to see the codes without opening a window to see it.

NMT Frisk p.o.v

"Well that's strange but there are other people in the house, they could have wanted to look at you" I said and crossed my arms as I heard Chara sighs. "Anyway mom might be done with breakfast soon”

Vix pov

As i noticed that they are someone, lucy and NMT toriel called everyone for breakfast. After we eat breakfast and we clean the plates, i took daniel and lucy to that we stay in "guys i think someone is watching us and i know who" lucy and daniel looked at me as they want to know who "It's this universe, Gaster”

NMT Gaster

I chuckled as they know that i'm watching them as a portal opens and carlos walks in "hi NMT Gaster, did my kids make any trouble?" he asked me as i shake my head "hi carlos and no, they didn't make any as they stay with toriel and the others" as i said that carlos smile "they seem happy aren't they?" i nod and opened a window to let him see his children "Good, also could you keep an eye on them, i need to head back and look after the younger ones with my wife" as he said that i smile nod "i will do that carlos" he thank me and walks back to his home and the portal closes behind him.

Daniels p.o.v

I froze completely and stopped talking as Vix shook me a bit after a few minutes and asked "Hey Dan you alright there bro?" I shook my head before looking at him "y-yeah just another flashback" I said as I scratched the back of my head '....was that really dad?' I thought as Vix looked at me and raised an eyebrow "when will you tell me what happened?" I shrugged

Lucy pov

I pet vix and daniel heads as i felt dad entering and leaving Nightmaretale "i think dad knows that we are here" both of daniel and vix looked at me "we are in deep trouble when we get home" as both of them said that, we hear a knock on the door.

Vix pov

I wonder who was knocking on the door "who's there" daniel and Lucy eyes glow "it's me toriel do you have a moment" daniel and lucy eyes stop glowing as we know that nmt toriel was knocking "just a minute" lucy said to toriel.

NMT frisk

I saw mom comes back from vix, daniel and lucy room and asked me "frisk do you want a training partner and i know you were training alone" chara sigh and asked me 'how did she know' as she said that i reply 'don't know' vix walked into the living room as me and mom were sitting at "i will be frisk training partner as i need to train as well" mom looked at vix "thanks victor" vix smile as he put his sword on his belt 'i'm not comfortable around him frisk' chara need sometime around vix same with me 'i know that chara maybe we will be comfortable around him if we spend some time with him' chara sighs "so when we start?" he asked me "i was gonna start in a bit" me and vix went outside and start training. i'm not lying he's strong but i'm smart. after a while we tie.

Vix pov

As me and frisk taking our breathe, i noticed lucy and daniel were watching us training as i give them glow signs to leave alone and they did “that was a good training lesson frisk” NMT frisk chuckle and sits up “yeah it was a good lesson, you are strong victor, you know that” as she said that I chuckled “it’s hard to say when you training for most of your life. at least I can give my dad a run for his money” NMT frisk looked at me with a surprise look on her face, we heard toriel call for me and frisk and we head inside.

After a few months

NMT frisk pov

As me and Chara start to get comfortable to vix and his sister and twin brother, me and him were gonna had our daily training ‘ I'm not gonna lie frisk but vix seems like a really nice guy’ Chara tell me her thoughts on vix ‘he really is a nice guy’ as we about to head out, lucy vix older sister called him “go ahead frisk I will catch up in a bit” as he said that I head outside and I start some warm-up training.

Lucy pov

I grabbed vix and drag him inside our room “what is it lulu and where’s Daniel?” i looked at him as he said that “Daniel is working with NMT alphys on a way to bring Asriel back to his normal goat form” vix looked at me with a surprised look then it changed to his normal look “you know that we in one of NMT timelines and one of those timelines Asriel is back and alive” i nod as he said that “I know that victor and NMT frisk is waiting for you, also try to hold back as long as you can victor” vix give a thumb up and went to train with NMT frisk as I went to NMT toriel and sits with her. I ask her to tell me about the history of monsterkind.

NMT Gaster pov

As I was watching Victor and frisk training, Carlos came in through his portal “ how're my kids going?” I looked at him “victor and frisk are training while lucy is with toriel and Daniel is at alphys and undyne place with flowey” Carlos think for a few minutes and smiles “Daniel is trying to make an artificial soul for flowey with the help of Dr alphas” I nod “I noticed that your son Victor is strong” he looked at me “all my children are strong in their own way, except Lucy because she is the strongest of them all” Carlos explain to me how each of children has a half of the 7 human souls and how he and his wife were teaching their kids as he tells me his wife name is melony and who are her parents “anyway I will let Lucy, Daniel, and Victor that they can live here if they want to. I will let them know 1st and then ground them by living here” as he said that he opened a portal and went to his children.

Vix pov

As I and NMT frisk were training a portal opened as our fists about to hit each other, I saw dad black scarf coming out of the portal ‘crab, we are done for.’ I told myself as I grabbed frisk behind me with my right hand and I grabbed my sword with my left hand, I blocked dad sword as he walks out of the portal “good reflex son, you managed to block my attack just in time too” dad unsummon his sword and pet my head, without looking at me “w-what b-bring y-you here dad?” I looked at dad as NMT frisk look at him “i came here to tell you that you and your siblings are grounded-” NMT frisk cut dad off “he and his siblings didn't do anything to get grounded-” dad cut her off “you Don't involve yourself and hear me out, victor you, daniel and lucy you will live in this universe and if the 3 of you want to get back home you're welcome at anytime” i smile as dad smile too, I hugged NMT frisk without knowing and she hugged back.

NMT frisk pov

I felt warmth from victor as i enjoy being around him ‘you like him don't you frisk, actually i like being around him as well’ as chara said that victor dad cough as me and Victor left each other as we blush a bit and laugh it off as victor dad text daniel and lucy what he said to victor and he left after petting victor's head and give him something and closes the portal behind him “so what the thing that your dad give you?” victor looked at me and show the thing that his dad gave him “they are gauntlets for me, daniel, and lucy. Let us head inside frisk” i nod as i head inside and victor head inside shortly after i did and he wearing his gauntlets and gave lucy hers and daniel’s.

Vix pov

I knew that me, lucy and daniel were in trouble but dad was cool with us visiting nightmaretale. I looked at lucy as she walked to me and took her gauntlet “dad know all along didn’t he?” she looked at me and i shrugged “don’t know big sis, he wasn’t surprised from the looks of it” we head to our room and put daniel gauntlet on his bed and i notice that the gauntlet that i’m wearing and lucy gauntlet were color coded and has moving parts “dad made them for each one of us victor” i nodded as i agreed with lucy “they are kinda similar to dad’s gauntlet yet different in a way” i looked lucy “because dad made them and gave them to me” lucy was surprised “what did dad say?” she looked at me “that we are grounded when we get back home and that we live here if we wanted and clearly you left your phone here to charge” lucy giggles and rub her head “yeah..” we heard a knock on our room door and looked at the door with lucy “come in” nmt toriel opened the door.

Nmt toriel pov

I entered vix, lucy and daniel room, all tho daniel didn’t get back for a while “victor, lucy do you know where is your brother daniel?” victor adjust his gauntlets “he is at alphys and undyne place, trying to find a way to bring asriel to his old self all tho it been few months since we saw him” i felt some happiness when i heard what victor said “alright then if you need anything you know where to find me” i closed the door behind me and went to the living room. I took a book from the bookshelf and sat on the sofa as i put my glasses on and start reading the book that i took.

at NMT undyne and alphys place

NMT alphys pov

I brought 2 cups of coffee for me and daniel as we working for few months to find a way to make an artificial soul for flowey instead of the robotic body that i made for him “dan did you finish it?” daniel look at me with tired eyes “almost done with it, alphys, just some final touches” he yawns as he took the cup the cup of coffee and drink it “you should rest dan, you have been working for a long t-” when i’m about to finish talking, daniel fell asleep after finishing his cup of coffee. I called undyne to help me put daniel in bed as what left was to put some pieces together.

NMT undyne pov

after i put daniel in bed, i went to alphys in the lab basement “al i put the nerd in bed” i went downstairs to putting the final parts of the artificial soul, after she finish put the soul and looked at “we did it undyne, we made the 1st artificial soul” she put it in a glass box to keep it safe and i put alphys in bed.

The next day me, daniel and alphys went to the dreemurrs house as we see victor, lucy and frisk training together, 2 vs 1 style “the girls gang up on your twin, daniel” daniel sighs as he rubs his eyes with his left hand “hands up undyne” i did what he said as he caught lucy and i caught frisk, we got pushed back because of the force of impact “wow your twin is strong dan” we put the girls down and daniel looked at me “he just been holding off so that he doesn’t hurt anyone here, same goes for me and lucy” we head inside the house and we wait for flowey to show up.

NMT flowey

As i went downstairs, i saw dr alphys, undyne and daniel entering the house with victor, lucy and frisk “what bring you here” daniel looked at me “we brought something for you, you empty husk” i ignored daniel insult as he take a glass cube that has a soul in it, i walked to daniel and i took a look on it “how did you get a human soul?” dr alphys walked to me “it’s an artificial soul that we had been working on for the past few months, so that you can have your body back instead of the robotic one that you currently have.” i went to the living room and sat on the sofa, opening the chest cabin and i opened the glass cube before getting out of the robotic body. I absorbed the artificial soul and turned back to be asriel again as blanket was thrown at me “got you covered goat boy” i looked at daniel who throw the blanket “thanks daniel” daniel gives me a thumbs up as i wrap the blanket around my waist and stand up, i walked to mom, dad and frisk as i hugged them.  

after 6 years

NMT Gaster pov

It's been 6 years since carlos kids 1st day walked here as they grow closer to everyone. Victor and frisk grow very close to each other as frisk got more open to victor, she was more open than the day that they met “they got more open and they now trust each other with their secrets” i noticed that Asriel was training by himself as victor joined him and train together.

NMT frisk pov

I went outside with towles to check on asriel and victor as they were training with each other ‘victor earned our trust and we earned his, we became more comfortable with him, isn’t that right frisk’ I nod agreeing to what chara said. For some reason, my heart beats a lil faster around victor. Asriel and victor finish their training with a draw between them, i gave them the towels to wipe their sweat “Did you two have fun?” Both asriel and victor chuckle “yeah we had fun” victor stood up “i’m gonna take a shower and get ready for work, madam ambassador” he winked at me as he head inside, and i felt my heart skipped a beat “You should tell him how you feel frisk, it will make you feel better” asriel stood up and pet my shoulder as he head inside as well.

Victor pov

I went to my room to get my work clothe ready and i went to the bathroom to take a bath as i think of what i said to frisk, i slide down the bathtub embarrassed ‘why did i wink at her, that was a dumb and cheesy move’ I calmed myself and think of another topic ‘Nvm that what’s important is the anti monsters group, they been making problems to monsters and to humans who support frisk’ I sighed and looked at arms, i didn’t notice how buff i became as my skeleton arm was big and thicker then before. I got out of the bathtub and dry myself with the towel and wrap it around my waist and head to my room and get dressed up.

NMT asgore

I was drinking tea and waiting for frisk and victor to finish getting ready ‘things being to be normal but we afford to lose our hopes and dreams because of a group that hate monsters, maybe i should assemble the royal Guards once again to protect our people’ As i sighed victor came to me as he ready for work “victor is frisk ready for the ambassador meeting?” victor shrugs as he wear gloves that match his suit.

Lucy pov

while asgore and victor were waiting for frisk. I was helping her, Putting her hair into bun “all done frisk” she stood up in front of a mirror “thank you lucy for the help” I stood behind her and pet her shoulder “No problem frisk, now go. Victor and asgore are waiting for you” frisk nod and went downstairs.

3rd person view

When frisk went out of her room that she shares with lucy with, she tripe on the stairs but luckily for her, victor teleport in front of her and catches her, and took the fall for her and shield her. Somehow they end up kissing and they looked into each other eyes as they broke the kiss and felt the blood rushing to their face. Victor asked frisk “a-are you okay frisk” frisk nods and got off victor as the both of them fell of the stairs “T-thank you vix” asgore cough “now, seeing that both of you are ready, let us head to the meeting” victor and frisk nods, as the 3 of them head out to the car and went to Embassy building.

On the way to the embassy building, victor noticed that they are 3 black suv’s are following them “Frisk, asgore. I think we are being followed” asgore noticed it as well “i see them as well, we should lose them” victor nods and he increases the speed as frisk see masked armed men get out of the Window “vix, dad. They are armed” victor and asgore look into the side mirrors as victor step on the gas, trying to lose the masked men “they are the anti-monster group for sure” luckily the car that victor is driving is armored but not armed with weapons “asgore take the wheel, i will deal with them.” asgore nods and change places with victor as the masked men start shooting them. victor get on the roof of the car and summons a gatling gun, he shoots the three SUV's and try not to shoot any innocent person by mistake.

Unfortunately the masked men cars were armored, and Victor gatling gun got empty and got tired a bit “crap, i’m out of bullets. Asgore turn left-” Asgore suddenly stop. Throwing Victor off the roof of the car as he regained his balance and did a lil backflip to land on his feet “Asgore what the heck” Asgore point to tell Victor to look behind him and he does so as he sees that they are surrounded by black suv’s “The anti monsters” Victor growls as his eyes glow yellow and went back to the car that Asgore and Frisk are in “we need to call the others” Frisk did what Asgore said to her as Asgore get out of the car and summons his trident.

Victor and Asgore stayed close to the car as the anti-monster want to kill frisk “Victor we need to hold them off until the others arrive” Victor nods to what Asgore said as he cracks his fists and change his gloves to his gauntlets after taking his shirt off and smirks “who’s going first” Victor waits for any of the anti-monster members to make the first move. One of the anti members walks forward wearing a suit of armor and that member was tall. Victor smile “good. Someone has guts” The armored anti-monster member rush to Victor to fight him.

NMT gaster was watching and saw that the anti monsters were using robotic armor “It will be a problem for them to handle” he noticed that Asriel and Lucy are on their way to Asgore, Frisk and Victor. Asriel was speeding on his motorbike as Lucy was holding onto him “Asriel sweetie you need to slow down a bit” Asriel didn’t listen to Lucy and speed more. Lucy sigh as she summons her blaster jetpack and uses it to boost their speed to arrive to where her brother, Asgore and Frisk are currently at.

Victor and Asgore were having some trouble fending the anti-monster members off as Victor knocked the 13th armored anti-monster member and then frisk joins as well to give them a hand as she changed her outfit “good thing that Lucy gave me this outfit in case someone attacked us” Victor and Asgore were confused as when she did had the time to change as they look at their car and saw the windows were all black and no one couldn’t see her change in the car “remember that we don’t know what they want from frisk” Victor and Frisk nod to what Asgore said as Asriel and Lucy blasting through the roadblock that the anti-monster group made and stop beside Victor “did we miss the fun?” Asriel smirks as him and Lucy got off the motorbike and fist pump with Victor “The fun just begun” Lucy stood beside Frisk and look at her “you looking good girl” Frisk chuckles as her left eye glow red and summons a black sword with a red gem in it “thanks Lucy” Lucy smile as her eye glow green and summons a green scythe with a blaster skull on it. Victor looks at his sister and smiles ‘you improved a lot sis, but I won’t let you wait’ he punched an armored anti-monster member away and fuse his magic with his gauntlets to make burst gauntlets that has the power of a focused sniper round.

Asriel went to help his father and Victor handle the heavy armored members as Frisk and Lucy handle the unarmored members with Asriel and Asgore. Lucy noticed her brother seems more tired then Asgore and Frisk ‘He seem that he used a lot of his magic to keep Asgore and Frisk safe’ she begin to worry about her brother as she saw his left arm has cracks on it. She almost got hit as she rushed to him, luckily Asriel safe her as he kick the attacker away “Lucy sweetie you need to be careful” Lucy nods as Victor got thrown between Asriel and Lucy. Victor stood up barely standing as blood comes out of his mouth and hardly breathing and smirk “heheh. Good they have someone worth fighting” his eye glowing begin to fade and almost fell as Asriel catch him and sees his hp is low. Lucy took her brother and start to heal him “Why didn’t you say anything brother” Victor kisses his sister head and stood up as his eyes glow “i didn’t want anyone of you to worry and beside I’m done playing” Lucy knew what Victor meant as he summons 8 blasters and aim them at the anti-monster group members as a smile formed on his face.

Frisk and Asgore were having trouble as one the anti-monster members manage to sneak up on Frisk and stab her twice in the stomach. Asgore, Asriel, Lucy and Victor were in shock. Something snapped in Victor mind as he teleported to that member and grabbed their arm as that member looked at Victor. They saw a killing look as their arm got ripped off and they fall on the ground in their own blood screaming for help as Victor boot crashed their. Victor carries Frisk and heal her wounds “Lucy take Frisk, Asriel and Asgore away from here” Lucy was about to tell something but stopped as she saw the look in her brother eyes. She took the three of them to safety as Victor stayed and took care of the rest of the anti-monster members.

After Victor made sure that Lucy teleported Asriel her fiance, Asgore, Frisk and herself away. he took a deep breath as he looks at the small box that had the ring in it. He was planning to propose to Frisk and tell her his feelings to her, but that has to wait as he put the small box in his pocket and his form begun to shift. The anti-monster members have fear planted into their hearts as they saw Victor grew horns, a tail, sharp claws, a mask made of bones form on the lower half of his face, and marks appeared under his eyes. Victor looks at them with a cold deadly star “which one of you has the guts to face me” his voice seemed cold and looked around him as no one want to face him and he decided to kill them one by one. Victor walked to the anti-monster members as they step back, but it’s too late to back down. Victor ripped them apart limb by limb as the members fought back in fear as they see their friends, families and loved ones being killed in the most horrible way possible.

At the hospital. After 3 days

Frisk start to wake up and look around her to see Asriel, Lucy, and Asgore “where am I? And where is Victor?” Lucy held her hand “You are in the hospital Frisk as of where is my bro-” Victor cut his sister as he enters the room and in his normal form. His arms, legs and his chest were bandaged “I’m here-” he almost fell as Asriel catches him “You need to rest Victor. You’re in a bad shape” Asriel walk Victor to Frisk bed as Victor held Frisk hand and stroke her hair “how do you feel frisk?” Frisk put her hand on his cheek and smile gently “I’m fine Victor, but what happened to you?” Victor sigh and sit beside Frisk “After Lucy took you away with Asgore and Asriel. I stayed and killed the anti-monster members that attack us, but they fight back” Frisk has a look of disbelief on her face as well as Asriel and Asgore “I did it to prevent them from harming anyone of you” Victor's voice was a bit cold as he looks at his hands “I already had blood on my hands there is no need for more. I know that you hate me now after what I did-” Frisk cut him off with a kisses and hugs him “You did it because you want to protect us and me, with that I forgive you dear Victor” Victor hugs her back and took a small box out of his pocket and open it as it shows a ring in it “Frisk my light that made my world shine will you marry me?” Frisk gasped and smiled as tears of joy run down her cheeks and nods “yes a million time yes” Victor smile and kisses her as Lucy, Asgore, and Asriel were happy for them.

After few months

Lucy was in the garden taking care of the flowers as Asriel sits beside her and kisses her head “How are you, sweetie?” Lucy looked at Asriel and smile, kissing his cheek “I’m fine love and you?” Asriel held her hand and kiss it “I’m fine as long as you with me” Lucy leans on his shoulder enjoying his warmth as he put his arm around her, smiling and happy. Victor and Frisk got back from the supermarket, happy and flirting with each other as they are bad at it. Asgore and Toriel relationship was on slow progress to get waters back and run into a raver like when they met each other

At alphys lab

Daniel, Alphys and Sans were working on a way to bring back out of the void “are you sure it will work buddy?” Daniel looked at Sans “I’m sure about that sans” Alphys finish plugging the cables into the machine as Sans and Daniel work on the programs to make the machine stable “T-t-the m-m-machine i-is hooked up. A-a-are you two done with the programs?” Sans look at alphys as Daniel double check everything, so nothing could go wrong “yes. just waiting to upload it to the machine. After Daniel finishes the checkup” Daniel give the thumb up signaling that everything is set to go. Sans start activating the machine and it opened to the void.

Gaster was looking through the code as he sees the portal “what is this” he saw Sans walking out of it “hi dad. Long time no sees” Gaster walks to Sans and hugged him “hi son. Indeed it has been a long while” Sans hugged back and points to the portal “let us go, dad. You have been here for far too long” Gaster nods and walk back with his son.

The end

nightmaretale is owned by @xxmileikaivanaxx lucy, daniel and victor (vix) are owned by @twritingartist and @writerkunsblog