#story; august 2010 meeting

[erinwantstowrite]

i feel like if you released a 24 hour + video of you talking about your plans for your original book i would sit and watch all of that with no breaks. so: would you be willing to share at least the bare bones of the plot you have now? or even some tropes that would be in it? or maybe random questions like how many main characters? how many povs? if it's sci-fi or fantasy? just stuff like that!

ahhhh!! i'd love to talk about them because they're constantly rotating in my brain!! i hope this doesn't get too long but we all know me, i can never stop yapping 😭

(okay this is present erin editing before posting and yeah this got long guess who called it. anyways there's art and stuff under the cut as well)

(Marked this as mature with violence only because there is an image below where I drew injuries/cuts on a character)

This book has been a thousand different books in all kinds of settings, plots, lessons, etc, and that's because I've had these characters since I was in middle school. At first I was so obsessed with them that I'd write and draw them all the time, to the point that my teachers were concerned I wasn't paying attention. I was seriously into magic and fantasy at the time because Harry Potter books were still the epitome of writing to my middle school brain. Ruby was a wizard with a bird theme that lived in the countryside and one day found out that her town was "alive" in a sense... But after I lost that sketchbook with all of the details (devastated to this day), and started venturing into other books series and shows, etc, I sort of forgot about the og story or what it was like. What remained was a love for the characters I had made over anything else about them, so I'd end up writing stories with a different theme each time, but the ocs being the same, just with their backgrounds shifted. (Around the time I was obsessed with VLD, Ruby was in a sci-fi plot set on a planet in another solar system.)

One of the most recent iterations was Ruby and the other characters essentially struggling to understand death, life, and everything in between. The story is called "Behind the Blue Glass" and I still really like that title lol. All of them had died on the same day, at the same time, just in various different ways, and then all of them came back to life in the same manner. They all developed different powers from the experience: Liam could float/manipulate gravity), August's body was essentially a phantom that could go through objects and disappear, Vin could possess people, Jean had an empathy link with the dead and could talk to and see them clearly, and Maya could figure out someone's cause of death/also tell when people were about to die. As for Ruby, she's the only one who can move freely between the land of the living and the land of the dead. It's different from Jean seeing the dead, as she's still in the land of the living.

The plot of that story was Ruby having dreams/visions of these other people she had never met before and knowing she needed to find them and set "something" right, but she didn't know what. She sets out to find them anyways, and they each join her on her quest to find everyone simply because they never got an answer to how they came back from the dead and find it weird that they all died on the same day and time. They solve deaths of ghosts they come across, meet people who are still grieving lost ones, have to lay some of the ghosts down to rest- all while figuring out why these shady people have started following them and trying to stop them from figuring out what happened to them. I even made some first draft titles (definitely, 10000% inspired by PJO because I was reading it at the time):

to top it all off, it's set in the 2010's I believe? Around that time. Just because I think more books should write about the time era

I have some (recentish) art of the characters:

first image: (Liam on the right, August on the left)

this is what Ruby looked like when I was first designing them for the story:

They're meant to look dead-ish but this art was SO long ago when I wasn't confident in my art so Ruby just looks like a wet rat or smth idk what is going on here

And here's Vin!! I don't hate this drawing of him that much, surprisingly, but this was also drawn a while ago

and this was some art i was planning at the time:

i think that's all of the art that i have for this story (at least on this computer. My old laptop might have more but it's been laid to rest)

to be honest, i'm still thinking about writing this story, but Ruby's name would be changed because at this point, this iteration of her character is VERY different from present day. She's two different characters at this point 💀 that's how you know I've had her for SO long because she looks so different from her original drawings.

The latest version of Ruby ended up in a story with completely different characters in the cast and a completely different setting (even if some of the characters were inspired by their og versions). It's called "The Clocktower's Chime"

It's very much inspired by those reincarnation manhwas. I like those stories but they all have the same plot over and over, and while I was more interested in the versions where the character is sent back in time to live their life again but with all the knowledge they had in the future, I always struggled with the aspect that the characters' mental age is far older than they are. It makes the dynamics a little weird, but they can be excused unless it's a romantic dynamic, I would think? I dunno, it was hard to get into the plots mostly because of that.

So I used Ruby as a placeholder OC and came up with a story where upon their death in the future, someone casts a spell or a god sends them back, and instead of having a mental older age, they get a journal with all of the details of their future. Ruby woke up one day and found a journal written by herself that detailed everything about her future up to the point of her death. It was more like a book, however, rather than a journal. It just looked like a journal because it was in her handwriting.

So Ruby gets this book, doesn't believe it at all, until she notices that there are way too many "coincidences" lining up with the events of the book. She starts believing it could be true, and then decides it must be when she finds out that a prominent family in the country she lives in is going to visit her hometown. In the book, they were there because they learned that Ruby was their daughter that had been kidnapped as a baby and believed dead. However, in the book, Ruby had spent her entire life living as a weapon instead of a daughter, and she died by their hands when she refused to kill a woman that is prophesized to end a war that would devastate both countries.

Ruby is, like, 12 at that point. So her kid brain is like "obviously I run away and go to school in a different country and tell everyone I have a different name and there's no way this could go wrong." Except before she can even do that, she runs into Julias Parlia, a Duke's son from the country that is supposed to be her enemy in the future. Ruby is like "shit this is THE worst adult to run into and I haven't even gotten to the running away part of my plan" and Julias ends up being the reason she doesn't even get to the train station. He's fucking hilarious by the way. He's got a well adjusted family with two loving parents and a bunch of little siblings and he basically picks Ruby up by the scruff of her neck and is like "I want this one she's insane."

This is Julias (kneeling on the ground to talk to Ruby) and Emelie (Julias' knight and childhood friend, she's so silly)

and this is the part where I share art from many months ago... when I posted my most recent art and said Ruby keeps getting buffer every time I draw her, I meant it 💀

Ruby and her love interest, Cecelia

This is Vekenti, a character that was also supposed to be a "villain" in the original timeline. Ruby goes looking for him to prevent his death as well, and Julias obviously is like "Omg another weird kid, how delightful!" Everyone thinks Vikenti and Ruby are related, but they are not. They're just raised as siblings in both timelines and have a lot of the same mannerisms

Julias' love interest (unnamed? I can't find her name anywhere) and him

REALLLY old drawings of what they looked like in the OG timeline (I desperately need to redesign these because I could do better now)

Julias and Ruby again

and that's all the art I have for this one (besides the other post of Ruby I posted today, this is the story that that version of Ruby belongs in. She's looks very different now!).

All of this has been in the back of my mind for a while, and I've been trying to figure out which story I would want to write first. Middle school Erin would love for me to finally write Behind the Blue Glass, but sometimes I find myself wanting to write a fantasy story like Clocktower's Chime a lot more

[zahri-melitor]

Ric Grayson, or Tim 'Nightwing' Drake: a story of how Tom King's Nightwing pitch would have functioned.

You can often see the remains of discarded or overruled pitches in comics, if you look at structural decisions and compare them to pitches that you know were made.

One obvious one people might be familiar with is that Helena Bertinelli, back in 2003, was being set up to be removed from the Bat books and transferred over to what eventually became Greg Rucka's Checkmate 2006. There's a whole establishing storyline done in Gotham Knights by Scott Beatty. However, Gail Simone's pitch for Birds of Prey, which was published a mere two months after the Beatty story wrapped up, took Helena and used her to expand the Birds of Prey roster. It's a move that likely redirected Helena's character arc permanently (though the ghosts can still be seen in the choice to use Helena B as Matron in Grayson).

Equally: I hypothesise the reason we got Ric Grayson is because we got Young Justice 2019.

If you look at the storytelling, in terms of cover dates:

Dick was shot in Batman #55, in November 2018

Tynion's 'Tec run finished July 2018

Young Justice 2019 started March 2019

City of Bane started September 2019

King's pitch for Tim to take over the Nightwing mantle would probably have been a 12 issue run, to my eye; with the schedule that Nightwing had at the time, it would have been 6 issues (twice monthly) and then 6 issues (once monthly), ending the run and placing Dick back as a restored Nightwing...in issue #61, August 2019.

City of Bane kicked off the next month, being King's big 'all family-in' storytelling climax arc. It would have been the perfect place to put Nightwing, once again himself, reuniting with people. (I cannot tell how this placement would have gone should King have got his full 100 issue run; but I don't think City of Bane was significantly shifted forwards?)

Now I can't tell if the twice monthly issues dropped to monthly because Ric Grayson went down like a lead balloon with the fandom, but that would have been a very fast turn around in solicits for DC to withdraw support on a new direction (about a month). If it was expected to remain twice monthly, then I still think it would have been a 12 issue story, but might have stretched to 18 to meet plot needs over in Batman (King doesn't seem to have an issue about padding stories to get timing to line up in ways he wants them to)

King's pitch was also made at the time when Tim was still Red Robin, but clearly there was internal interest in transitioning him away from the name and into some other identity as part of the shift away from n52. Putting Tim into the Nightwing suit for 6 months to a year would have been a nice intervening step to use as the prompt to give Tim a new identity.

It's a pitch from King that just...fits in really really well. I can see how he'd have had it interact with things. Especially as King really hadn't had an opportunity to use Tim in his run yet due to the Mr Oz storyline, and he'd been pulling so many other faces through his story.

(I will also note that the 'Drake' identity and costume for Tim appears in January 2010 in Young Justice; Bendis' initial concept was clearly taking Tim back to Robin before he also tried a 'new costume' growth arc).

But instead Bendis wanted to use Young Justice to anchor the whole Wonder Comics initiative, and he wanted Tim as Robin for it because the concept was to pull in all the nostalgia for everyone for Young Justice 1998, thus having everyone in their original identities. And that whole decision probably had more lead time than your average comic, so it took priority over suggestions of moving Tim to Nightwing (because they already had plans brewing).

(And then Young Justice got fucked over with SO MUCH editorial meddling, to the point that I cannot wait until enough people have left DC that we actually get stories about exactly how bad it was, rather than just inferring it from what can be seen in the text itself)

Come back next time for when I instead explain what I think happened with the accepted pitch for Ric Grayson (and how I cannot BELIEVE this was actually an accepted pitch, given the way it was treated as a hot potato; it feels more like an editorial dictate of a concept that was passed off until Dan Jurgens came up with an idea of how to make it into an actual plot)

[strscrossed]

mean dom hobo eren: a timeline

(feel free to point out any inconsistencies because it’s a lot and I’m adding/retconning stuff too)

eren:

march 30, 1990 - his birth

2005-2006 - he meets lara, his first wife

2006 - 2017 - eren and lara have an on again, off again relationship. he’s constantly breaking up with her and finding other girls. she’s basically always second choice

2017 - lara secretly baby traps him and he steps up and marries her. don’t remember if he cheats on her or not

~2018 - lara miscarries and eren tries to be there but then he overhears her talking to willy and he finds out that she intentionally baby trapped him, he leaves her. she refuses to divorce him. the tyburs are too powerful

2022 - eren meets mikasa in mid 2022

mikasa:

february 10, 2000 - her birth

october 25, 2010 - koji, her brother, is born

~2011 - 2012 - her parents die, either an accident or a double homicide. she and koji go to live with kenny/levi

~2019 - she moves out and takes full custody of her brother. she’s engaged to porco at this point and she moves in with him. all is well. but then she comes home early one day to find porco in bed with one of her bridesmaids so she immediately ends the engagement and the relationship

late 2019 - she starts working in a bookshop

late 2022 - she meets eren and he immediately hires her on the spot

eremika’s relationship:

mid - late 2022: the relationship is professional, though there’s attraction between the two of them

very late 2022: they have sex for the first time and the relationship keeps going even though they try to stop it multiple times

late 2022: april 2023: eren gets super involved in mikasa’s life and even enrolls her brother in the best school in the country and pays for the tuition.

may 2023: lara comes back into eren’s life again, asking to reconcile and saying that she will absolutely not sign the divorce papers

late 2023: she starts sniffing out that eren might be in a relationship with his secretary and she gets willy to do something about it

january 2024: willy threatens mikasa after a gala and forces her to move away. eren is shattered and desperately starts searching for her

july 2024: koji makes contact with eren and he finds them. and he brings them back.

august 2024 - june 2025: eren and mikasa are are back together but secretly while he gets his revenge on the tyburs via gaslighting and shorting their stock. this becomes the climax of the story.

september 2025 - eren and lara’s divorce is finalized

new year’s eve 2025 - eren proposes and that’s when mikasa figures out that they’ve been in a relationship for the last three years

february - march 2026: mikasa learns she’s pregnant

june 12, 2026: em are married in a private ceremony

october 1, 2026: their son, kai, is born

december 21, 2028: twins kane and hana are born

may 3, 2030: twins victoria and amelia are born

april 25, 2032: their daughter, emiko, is born

august 13, 2038: they have twin girls (no names yet)

[xxkissesforchanniexx]

Hi! sorry if this is wordy but could you make a story of the reader being an fbi agent undercover as skz personal bodyguard? Skz are having a concert soon and this evil organization wants to harm them. It is the readers mission to keep the members safe. But with the distraction of a specific loud and short muscular guy of the group, she gains feelings and struggles to do her task.

As long as this is the main point of the story, I don't mind with what you add. Be as creative as you like with action, romance, or anything.

ihfvnirhfnjnfoernfrihbgt jhebfrherkjfnkrjtgng hehehe

Thank you!

𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞

Pairing: Changbin x FBI Agent!fem!reader Genre: action? >.> Angst (im so bad at writing that) Fluff >.> Word Count: 6.5k Warnings: Cringe T_T, not proofread (they never are.), parent death, REVENGE, reader is shorter than changbin >.>, guns, bombs, someone gets shot (not reader or stray kids.), brief horny reader, i think thats it? tell me i missed anything

A/N: AHHH THIS TOOK SO LONG AND I FEEL LIKE ITS SO BAD AND CRINGE IM SO SORRY UH if you do like it (i really hope you do) please consider reblogging and following ALSO TAGLIST APPLICATIONS >.>

December 19th 2005 "Several bombs were set off at the University of Music last night, there is a total of 59 casualties and counting as authorities work through the rubble. 80 more are critically injured and 127 are in stable condition or have minor injuries."

Janurary 17th 2008 "This is your new home."

"Guys this is Y/N.. She's going to be your sister from now on."

August 3rd 2010 "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

"I want to be a police woman so I can find the person who hurt people a long time ago..

You stared at the case, "So they fled to Seoul?"

"Not just that." Your boss said, "We found this." he set a phone on your desk and pressed the play button on an audio recording.

"How should we go about it?"

"The security is tight, if we put the bombs on the little drones and get the crowd scared, we have an opening to get the people on the stage."

You sucked in a breath. "A bomb threat for-"

"A concert." Your boss sighed deeply, "I trust you to handle it. Without being reckless."

"Sir-"

"It would be best if you did it, considering your experience with these types of events." He motioned to the posters and merchandise littering your office walls and shelves.

You pursed your lips. "Where and when?"

"We're flying you out to the US embassy in Seoul tomorrow , you'll meet someone there." He said with a big smile, "Pack your bags, Special Agent L/N, you're going to Korea."

You had arrived at the US embassy in Seoul at 4:30 am, you learned from the person you met up with you were going to be protecting a k-pop boy group under JYP Entertainment.

"So, this terrorist group wants to attack a boy band?" You looked at the embassy worker.

She nodded, "But it's not about them, for the most part... they want to prove something apparently, did they not attack several concerts in the US?"

"They did." You nodded.

"Then it's not too crazy to assume they want to get some point across world wide." The woman shook her head, "It's alright though, you're going to meet them later in the morning."

"Meet who?" You tilted your head.

The woman blinked slowly at you. "Stray Kids.."

"Who?" You had to hold back your laughter.

"The boy band under JYPE."

"Ah." You cleared your throat. "Alright."

"It must have been a long flight." She smiled, "You can go to your hotel now."

When you got to your hotel room you sat on the bed, laptop open, looking for "Stray Kids". You made a face as you saw their pictures, a particular image caught your attention and you burst out laughing at the sight. He was a short, muscular man, with unruly dark hair under a hat with floppy bunny ears, You copied the image into google image search and said the name softly. "Seo Changbin."

Felix looked like he was going to cry, Hyunjin bit his bottom lip looking at the ground.

"They want to bomb our concert..." I.N asked quietly.

"Hurt our STAY..." Lee Know twiddled his fingers.

"Safest option is to cancel." Chan sighed.

"We can't cancel a concert a month before it's supposed to happen," their manager said, "The company hasn't got the time or money to return everything. Besides, boss said he has it handled."

Changbin looked up, "JYP handled it?"

"No," the manager made a face.

"Then why would you say that?" Seungmin pursed his lips.

"He found someone who can handle it." the manger explained. "That's why we're here for breakfast, she arrived in Seoul earlier."

"Who?" Han asked.

"She should be on the way here." the manager said as a waitress arrived with coffee.

"She?" The boys all asked at the same time.

It was at that time you walked in, you were dressed fairly professionally, a white button up shirt tucked into black pleated slacks and pretty black heels.

"I'm Y/N L/N," You smiled at the men.

"Hi, thanks for coming. Coffee?" The manager offered.

You shook your head.

"Please sit," he motioned to the last seat.

You sat beside a man you remembered as Hyunjin, his long hair pulled back with his bangs on either side of his face. He eyed you incredulously for a moment before you shifted slightly, making the taser you'd carefully tucked into your pants visible. He bristled.

"This is the person who's going to handle it?" Felix asked the manager. "We take STAY very seriously, if something happens-"

"I assure you nothing will go wrong, though, I doubt the people i'm looking for are really aiming for.. STAY..." You put your phone on the table and let the audio recording your boss gave you play.

The leader of the group, Chan, looked scared. Felix put his head in his hands and Minho hugged him.

"So..." Seungmin said quietly. "What happens now?"

"She's going to live with you until she figures out the threat. Please boys, I hope your dorm is clean." The manager said, sipping his coffee.

Chan turned slowly to Han.

Han huffed a small laugh. "Of course.."

"TADA!" Changbin shouted as he opened the door to the dorm.

You walked in looking around, the place was fairly secure. Changbin smiled brightly, shouting "Your room!"

He opened the door to a room that looked like it was cleaned rather hastily. You nodded, going into the room the boys had cleared out for you, you chuckled as you recalled how you'd seen Changbin and Han playing rock paper scissors for who would give away their room, Han lost.

You had sat in your room most of the rest of the day, then you got hungry, only then did you notice how dark it was outside. You considered ordering food but then dismissed the idea, what if these people found out where the boys lived. That was a big no.

You sighed, dragging yourself out of bed and into the kitchen, you opened the fridge making a face and grabbing eggs. You got noodles from the cabinet and got to work making something easy.

It was late, almost midnight, so you hadn't expected any one to be awake. So it scared you when the loud, boisterous Changbin spoke quietly next to you.

"Is there enough to share?" He whispered.

You almost jumped out of your skin. "What the fuck?!" You whisper-shouted, clutching your heart.

"Sorry, I smelled food.." he laughed lightly, watching as you worked. "You know how to cook?"

You hummed. "I know how to not get food poisoning."

He laughed. "Let me help?"

You opened your mouth to protest, but the man was already moving around the kitchen grabbing things. You couldn't stop staring at the way his muscles strained against his shirt.

Get your head in the game. You shook off the thoughts that were invading your head as you stared at his arms.. My head could be in a headlock there... WHAT ARE YOU THINKING????!!!

You left the noodles aside and started frying the eggs, semi-watching as Changbin made instant tteokbokki.

When you both finished, he sat with you and ate.

"Y'know I expected cops to be more serious." he said, before putting some noodles in his mouth and jumping at the taste.

You made a face. "I'm serious."

He looked at you. "Let's be real here."

"I'm so serious." You pouted before popping a rice cake into your mouth.

"Uh huh." He teased.

You rolled your eyes. "I was under the impression that a dark rapper should be moody and brooding."

He made a face. "They call me baby Changbin as well."

You smiled to yourself as you remembered the picture. "Of course," a smirk came to your face. "I should invest in Dwaekki."

Changbin looked up from his tteokbokki. "Have you even listened to our music?"

"I can start." You said proudly.

Changbin stared at you for a moment. "Whatever you say, Princess."

It wasn't even two weeks after you had met the boys something happened. You were on the couch in dorm 1, writing an email on your laptop.

Chan poked your head, "We're going to practice choreo."

You shoved your computer into your backpack and followed the boys out. You got to the dance studio and looked around curiously at the big room, a mirror covered the full length of the wall opposite the door.

It was the mirror that let you see it.

You whipped around just as the person at the door fled.

Changbin stared at you in confusion as you blitzed past, running after the person. It didn't take you too long to catch up, tackling the man to the floor of the hall just before the lobby and grabbing his badge.

You remembered what the manager had told you, all the badges were recently issued in an off white color...

You held the man down, pulling his arm in an awkward position. "Try me and I'll break it. Who the fuck are you?"

The man stuttered before shouting.

Your brows furrowed. "That's not going to wo-" You stared in confusion as a firework looking object rolled towards you.

Then it popped.

A loud bang resounded through the lobby and you instinctively covered your ears, stunned. Your ears were ringing.

The man pushed you off and ran for it. You were about to get up and run after him but that Changbin...

He grabbed your shoulders and shouted at you a few times, then Chan pushed him looking at you with wide eyes for a moment.

Changbin sat with Chan, listening to what the doctor said about your ears, you'd be fine, it was just a very loud sound, the doctor recommended quiet for a few days to stop the background ringing.

Licing with Changbin, Chan, and Han let you know that they really couldn't be quiet, in the dorm, only Hyunjin was ever not shouting. But the moment you walked in, that changed. Changbin and Han were quiet, the others from dorm 2 were all staring at you.

"What?" You asked, raising a brow.

"Are you okay?" I.N asked.

"Oh, of course." You smiled. "I just almost lost my ability to hear."

Lee Know sighed and looked at you. "We're sorry to put you through this."

"Put me through what." You raised a brow before sitting down. "You guys didn't put me through anything. This is what I do."

The boys all stared at you for a moment.

"Is it okay if I hug you?" Han broke the silence.

You smiled slightly. "Hey hey hey. We just met. Back up chipmunk."

"Squirrel." Seungmin corrected, laughing.

"It's a quokka!" Han groaned.

You spent almost two weeks researching the group that had threatened the concert. Most of the time the dorm was quiet, Changbin was usually the only one awake when you were up. He would usually eat late night snacks with you or hover over your shoulder as you worked. In most cases it would make you uncomfortable, but with Changbin it was different.

You watched as the group prepared for the concert, weeks dwindling into days. It was two days before the concert, you were sitting on the couch, it was almost 3 in the morning but you were making calls and asking about security and establishing that no bags would be allowed into the concert.

Changbin watched you for a moment, leaning against the wall.

"No bags of any kind." You sounded so professional.

He smiled and walked over to the couch standing over you as you continued talking to the person on the phone.

"Clear diaper bags?" You sucked in a breath. "Why would a baby be at a- Never mind, leave it on hold for now."

Changbin tapped your head. He looked down at you, dark glasses framing his eyes, his hair looking unruly.

You leaned your head back and looked up at him with a raised eyebrow as if you were already aware of his presence. "No, backstage should be secure. I'll be there myself."

Changbin huffed a small laugh. "You're going to protect me princess?"

Despite your blank expression you felt the blush creeping to your face.

Changbin smiled at you muttering, "I want to take you out."

You stared at him as the person on the other end of the line said something to you. "Uh- Repeat that...?" You asked both the people you spoke to.

"Are we still doing the drones?"

"So will you go out with me after the concert?" Changbin leaned down, his face was so close.

"Yes." You answered.

"Alright ma'am." The person on the other end said. "Will that be all?"

"Yeah..." You hung up the phone and looked at Changbin.

He smiled and leaned down, closing the distance between you and pressing his lips against your forehead gently. "It's late, go to sleep."

He pulled away and walked back to his room, you sucked in a breath and exhaled slowly.

Focus...

You were almost as busy as the manager the day of the concert, running back and forth making sure metal detectors were working and security was extra tight.

"You're taking this very personally." A security guard said behind you.

You looked at you the man. "These are terrorists we're talking about. Of course I'm taking it personally."

One of the staff walked past you with coffees in his hand.

You stopped them. "Where to?"

"Hyunjin, Han and Chan asked for coffee." the man said, looking at you, you noted the mole beside his eyebrow.

"I'll take it." You moved to take the coffee.

"No ma'am. You're very busy-"

You tried to grab the coffee and he turned away quickly. You managed to knock it out of his hand. The cups scattered, empty.

He turned and elbowed the security guard hard as he lunged for him and the man started running. You barely caught the stumbling guard, settling him down before started chasing him, pulling up your walkie talkie you said into it, "Gate 4 check?"

"Good check," Came a flurry of voices through the walkie talkie.

"Lock down on gate 4, all security personnel on west wing on alert."

"Copy."

"Backstage security, do you copy?" You said barely dodging someone pushing a huge sound system.

"Loud and clear."

You cursed as people pulling a big screen moved between you and the man. "FUCK MOVE!" You snapped and they scurried out of your way. Much to your utter horror and dismay, the man was gone. The door to the outside of the backstage area wide open, leading into th lines of people waiting to enter the conert.

You kicked a trashcan, "All units do you copy?"

"Copy."

"Keep your eyes open, goldilocks."

"10-4." they all said and your eyes narrowed as you stared at the door.

You sat outside the dressing rooms twiddling your thumbs. Was it really safe... were you just stupid...? You bit your lip, feeling tears brimming in your eyes at the thought of letting these people bomb this concert full of innocent people.

You looked up as you the sound of footsteps. It was just Changbin, he looked much different, more like those pictures you'd seen online, with his tight, shiny, black leather pants and dress shirt that hugged his arms so perfectly, the black vest and fingerless gloves giving him a scary edge. You quickly wiped your eyes and sucked in a breath. "What?"

"What's wrong?" He kneeled in front of you, being more able to move in the pants that you'd thought originally.

"It's nothing." You lied.

His eyes narrowed at you. "You're going to make my perform badly, I can't perform if I feel bad. I'll mess up rapping, Seungmin might do better than me."

You giggled and looked down as he took your hands in his. "I'm scared." You whispered.

"Of?" he prodded quietly.

"There are really dangerous people here, and I fucked up and lost one." You muttered.

"It's okay." He squeezed your hands gently, moving to sit next to you. "If you can't protect all these people, Chan will protect them all himself."

You smiled gently.

"Hug?" Changbin opened his arms and you leaned into him. You relaxed as he hugged you.

"And I said 'There's no way! It's ok YOU EAT~' " Jisung and Jeongin came around the corner and paused.

Jeongin tried to grab Jisung and turn him around but the man smirked and cleared his throat.

You pulled away from Changbin and stood. "Good luck. Uh, get down if something happens."

You sat there off to the backside of the stage hearing the loud music and screams as boys got on stage. In all your time watching the boys practice there was something about actually seeing them on stage as Hyunjin had told you in the dorm.

"Being in the practice room is one thing. Actually being on stage is another thing, there's an energy we get in front of our STAY."

You were particularly amazed at the volume of the girls who shrieked when Felix started singing, his deep voice reverberating through the dome. You couldn't help but marvel at Changbin for a moment, the way his muscles strained against his clothes as he danced, his hips moving so seductively... FOCUS!...But it's fine isn't it... nothing has happened yet..

The stage lights reddened and you looked up as the drones filled the air, flashing lights everywhere. You exhaled slowly, realizing everything was fine with the drones. After finishing off S-Class Chan calmed down the crows and stared to say a few words.

A scream ripped through the soft buzz of the crowd. You looked in the direction of the scream, Chan raised a brow, opening his mouth to say something and then...

"HE HAS A GUN!" On the opposite side of the huge hall.

You jumped over the railing.

All your time studying these people.

Fear.

Ease.

You ran up the stairs to the stage.

Unrest.

And a big boom..

You grabbed the mic from Chan and shouted, "GET DOWN!"

And the first bomb exploded.

You had your ears covered, head down. There was someone there shielding you, you heard him shouting and knew.

"We have to go!" Changbin shouted.

Chan was staring at the crowd, which was frantic after the series of explosions, many of them were running for the exits. "We should've cancelled..."

You saw a red light flashing on a wall, and a man moving away quickly.

You got from under Changbin, who tried pulling you back but you were already sprinting off the stage. You ran into the crowd, pulling out your gun as you shoved past the scared fans.

The man was so close to the exit, you were going to lose him. Lose another, because you lost focus.

You heard a deep voice, it sounded like it was crying.

"STAY! LISTEN TO ME!" Felix shouted into the mic.

The crowd was still moving.

"THE BOMBS WILL KEEP GOING OFF IF YOU'RE RUNNING AROUND SO STOP!"

The crowd stopped and you looked at the stage, your eyes meeting Felix's as he dropped the mic.

You ran through the crowd toward the red light and grabbed it tossing it out of the open door far from the crowd. The police were already gathering and you turned to see the man moving through the crowd for the door.

You pushed past the people and tackled him gun to the back of his head. "Don't move. I'll shoot." You said.

You sat on your bed, staring at your hands. What type of shit was this...?

"Who gives you orders?" You and a police man had interrogated the man yu had caught for almost two hours but he refused to speak.

"My boss isn't afraid of my death." he huffed.

You grit your teeth, "Who is your damn boss?"

"I won't say anything."

and maybe you punched him a little too hard.

A knock on your door made you look up. "Come in."

Hyunjin entered and closed the door quietly, behind himself, walking over to you. "You did well." he said quietly.

You saw the tears filling his eyes. "Hyunjin..."

He got on knees beside your bed and took your hands in his muttering. "You're doing well... Thank you."

You touched his head and whispered, "It's what I do.. It's okay... I'd do it again without hesitation.."

He shook his head. "You fit in so perfectly, you fill the cracks that we haven't been able to fill," He looked up at you and smiled, "Thank you for being our sister... Thank you for saving our STAY.."

You hugged Hyunjin. "Don't cry, you idiot..."

He sniffled and nodded. "But really.. thank you."

You smiled, "Of course."

Following Hyunjin out you stared at the other members who also looked like they had been crying.

"You caught someone.." Seungmin said quietly. "Does that mean you're leaving us?"

You stared at the boys for a moment, your gaze lingering on Changbin.

"I caught someone." You said quietly. "But my job isn't finished until you're safe.."

Felix was the first to hug you. and then suddenly you were attacked by all of them in a big bearhug.

"You're one of us." Chan smiled, "Don't go back."

You looked at all the boys and for the first time since you got here, you let the tears fall.

Changbin ended up not taking you out due to the lockdown placed on the group by their boss, it didn't stop him from spoiling you, in the building, he came to your room with flowers and (fav candy). He would bring you food and bought you a few clothes he thought you'd look good in.

Everytime he'd surprise you while you were working, Jisung would give you a look. The kind of look that said, "I KNOW WHAT YOU TWO ARE", but was completely wrong, because even you didn't know what you and Changbin were.

You were sitting in at the kitchen table staring at your laptop, it wasn't too late, just around 10pm, but the noise that met your ears made you flinch. Han and Hyunjin came in shaking you wildly as Han shoved his phone in your face.

You grabbed it and made a face. "ARE YOU DONE?"

"LOOK!" They shouted back.

You looked at the screen and your eyes widened. "Is that me?"

There was a video, of the events from a few days ago.

"GET DOWN!"

there was a series of loud bangs and a fast forward, of you grabbing the bomb and throwing it out. Then another fast forward to you tackling the man.

You stared at the comments.

"such a strong woman"

"Our savior."

"why did binnie grab for her like that 😭"

"are we gonna ignore how felix calmed the crowd.?"

You pursed your lips, "I was doing my job."

"You saved them though." Han smiled. "You should come with us later when we can go out as a treat. Chan will pay."

Hyunjin cackled.

You rolled your eyes and shook your head, "Alright."

You sat in your room, when your phone rang, you answered.

"We've got a name and a face. We've sent you the necessary info. When you close the case contact us, we'll book you the next flight back to the US."

and the line cut.

You stared out blankly for a while.. so soon?

And when you opened the email you were sent your ear throbbed at the memory of nearly going deaf... That man... you'd tackled that man and he set off the firework that nearly took your hearing.

"Ah Changbin." Minho sighed. "Look at you. I never thought I'd see the day."

"Seriously." Chan smiled. "Just, tell her how you feel. She's Fiona and you're Shrek."

"You need to hit her with the immature swag." Jisung snickered.

"You-" Changbin raised his hand like he was going to punch the man.

Jisung ducked behind Chan.

"What am i supposed to say hm? 'I think you're strong and really pretty and I want to go out with you.' Seems a little eh?"

Chan cringed.

Han just stared at him.

"I like the Shrek and Fiona thing better." Minho shrugged.

"Changbin just wing it." Chan gave him a thumbs up.

You opened your door in the morning and almost stumbled over a box. "What in the world?"

You picked it up and examined it for a moment. You took it into your room and set it on the bed, carefully you lifted off the lid and stared at (fav color) dress. You took it out and smiled at it a little. You noticed the card at the bottom of the box and picked it up.

Your smile grew as you recognized the writing as Changbin's,

I think this dress fits you just right, wait for me outside at 7 tonight.

You rolled your eyes at his poetic nonsense and stared at the dress.

Hyunjin and Jisung were all over you at 6 pm, pampering you and making you look as pretty as they could.

"You look so gorgeous! I'm a master!" Hyunjin said proudly.

Han gasped exaggeratedly, "Are you saying she only looks good because you did her makeup?!"

You gasped with Jisung. "I thought you were my friend Hyunjinnie!"

"Oh- Oh MY GOD!" Hyunjin groaned before giving Han a side eye.

You giggled and looked at yourself in the mirror, you were really pretty.

"It's 6:45." Han sighed smiling at you, "Our Y/N is all grown up."

hyunjin wiped fake tears. "I'm so proud."

You made a face and rolled your eyes, standing and smoothing your dress, you hummed as you patted down the area where your gun sat on your thigh, just in case, and you grabbed your bag and went to the door.

You only waited about five minutes before Changbin pulled up in front of the building with a sleek, black company car.

"You look pretty." he said as he stepped out of the vehicle and came around to open the door for you.

You smiled. "Thank you, you good too." You stepped into the car and giggled, "Such a gentleman."

Changbin took you to a fancy restaurant and after you ordered, the conversation flowed so smoothly. Even the silence was comfortable, but you noticed it from the corner of your eye.

Two men, sitting at a table a few back from yours, eyeing you... no. eyeing Changbin. When the server came and poured your wine you paid close attention..

Using his right hand he turned the bottle to the left when he poured the wine for your but to the right Changbin.

You swallowed and looked at your wine, something was going to happen.

The thought left your mind when Changbin took your hand in his and smiled. "Y'know during my last stream, STAY kept asking if you were my girlfriend. I couldn't exactly say."

You blushed slightly, "What did you want to tell them?"

"Yes, I'm dating her." He laughed slightly, "Though, since it's jsut me and you," he squeezed your hand gently, "I can say you're only mine."

You blushed even more and laughed. "You're so stupid."

"I think you'd really like only belonging to me, I wouldn't let any guy touch you, I'd buy you food and spoil you."

"You do that anyway, Binnie." You smiled slightly.

He leaned close and whispered, "I guess that makes you mine."

Your heart skipped a beat.

Changbin stared into your eyes and leaned in close, his lips gently brushing against yours. All thought left your mind, it was just Changbin.. but..

You heard the dull click, and whipped around, pulling your gun from the holster under your dress, just as one of the men from the other table, cocked his gun.

You were faster and fired. The man fell back and Changbin grabbed you, pulling you back as the other man sprang up, he pointed a gun at you and it was a intense stare down.

You held your breath. Changbin remain unmoving behind you.

Your heart stopped as a white car pulled up in front of the restaurant. "Changbin get down!"

Changbin kicked the tabled over and grabbed you pulling you back with him as bullets flew through the dining room.

It was a long moment before they stopped, and as you peeked over the table, you locked eyes with the man from the picture, pulling his gun back into the car and smiling at you before they drove away. (Insert evil villain name cus I couldnt think of one)..

The boys were on lockdown again and you were busy, searching everything, everywhere for that man.. for (villain name).

You'd moved to the other dorm, much to the dismay of Hyunjin, who moped about being surrounded by gym freaks.

You took Seungmin's room, which was tidier than Han's. You hadn't moved because you needed quiet, in fact they boys had been quite good at being silent while you worked. It was because you didn't trust yourself, you were scared you wouldn't react as fast as you had at the restaurant with Changbin, you were scared he'd become a worse distraction... you were scared he'd get hurt because of you.

After a month, your informant intercepted another message saying that the man you were looking for was going to a shopping mall to put things up with a bang.

You discussed with the manager, he increased security to compensate for you not being present in the dorms and allowed you to go.

So there you were, sitting in your car outside the mall, staring at the entrance for anything suspicious. You remembered how Changbin had asked you what was wrong when you left, and where you were going...

"You're going alone?" His brows furrowed. "Y/N, be serious, things could happen-"

"What do you want me to do? I'm dragging anymore people into this."

"I'm not asking you to, I just want you to be safe."

"I'm here to protect you and the guys. It's not my choice what I do anymore, this has gotten too out of hand. You can't even go outside without the fear that someone might try to kill you! That's my fault."

"Take me with you then, I'm not afraid of it, I just don't trust the idea of you being alone!"

"Seo Changbin. I'm doing my job. It's not just about you and them anymore."

You pursed your lips and looked at your phone, tempted to say you were sorry..

but your phone rang before you could even take action.

Your brows furrowed, it was an unknown number.

You answered and lifted the phone to your ear. "Hello?"

"I'm glad we could lure you out. I like this game we're playing. Cat and mouse is fun no? It's a two party game. I have to eliminate the extra players, they're taking away my fun. If you involve the police... well that won't be fun."

"What?" You sat up straight.

"I'm not that cruel anyway... I'll give you 30 minutes."

Your heart dropped into your stomach. "WAIT!"

"Starting now."

The man hung up and you stared at your phone for a moment. "Changbin..."

Yongbok stepped out of the bathroom, drying his hair and he tilted his head as Chan sat down with a box on the floor. "What's that?"

"I was going to ask you." Chan said.

Seungmin stared at it. "It has a bad aura about it."

"Since when did you care about that?" Hyunjin looked up from his phone.

"We should open it." Jisung sat beside Chan.

"But-" Jeongin started.

"Didn't Y/N say don't be stupid while she's gone." Changbin said, glaring at the others.

They all nodded.

Minho sat on Chan's other side. "Opening a box isn't stupid."

"I agree." Hyunjin said.

"Guys-" Felix started.

"It's fine Yongbok." Minho said and pulled the lid of the box off.

Chan's brows furrowed, every one sucked in a breath.

"Fuck." Changbin said.

A timer sat in the box on top of a black thing bound with plastic straps, it read 15:50...

Changbin's phone rang. Everyone jumped in fear. His eyes widened as he saw you name. "Y/N- Calm down I can't understand-"

"PUT HER ON SPEAKER!" Felix shouted.

Changbin did as he was told.

You sounded on the verge of tears. "Did you get it?"

Chan looked at the box. "Yeah... We got it."

"I won't make it." You sniffed, "I need you to get scissors and listen carefully."

Jeongin ran to get scissors.

"Someone with steady hands. Listen close. There's no mistakes right now. This isn't acting."

Chan took the scissors from Jeongin and nodded, "I'm listening."

"Remove the timer by cutting the plastic straps. Be careful not to cut the wire surrounding them."

"Are we diffusing a bomb right now?!" Hyunjin shrieked.

"I CAN'T MAKE IT THERE IN TIME THERE'S TOO MUCH TRAFFIC! I CAN'T CALL THE POLICE AND NEITHER CAN ANY OF YOU!"

Chan cut the plastic binding, exposing the explosive and a few more wires.

"There should be a blue wire leading into the bomb directly."

"I see it."

"Cut it."

The boys watched in fear as their leader cut the blue wire.

"Black then grey."

"ok..."

"What's left?"

"Green, red, orange, and purple."

"Purple."

Another cut.

"Orange."

"Now what...?"

"Someone needs to push the button on the back of the timer for 5 seconds. It will give you a 20 second window to cut the last wire."

"What's the last one?" Minho asked.

"Whichever leads to the center of the explosive."

You met silence on the other end of the line before Jisung's voice said, "They both lead to the center..."

You sucked in a breath. "Wait for me."

"We don't have time to wait!" Seungmin shouted.

"How much time is left?!"

"2 minutes!" Felix said.

You slammed the steering wheel and cursed loudly.

Changbin stared at the bomb for a long moment as the members began freaking out.

Hyunjin pulled out his phone and opened instagram starting a stream. "Stay, I love you, we love you!"

"Tell my parents I love them." Jeongin sobbed.

"Chan push the button." Changbin grabbed the scissors.

"Changbin!" You shouted.

"Green means go." Changbin said as Chan pushed the button. "STAY, we love you. Y/N, I love you."

And he cut the green wire.

You heard a loud bang and the line went dead, your heart plummeted. You finally pulled off the highway and into the parking around the dorms. You ran to the dorm and-

Changbin hugged you tightly as you opened the door.

Your hands trembled before you hugged him back. "I thought you died."

"You were that worried about me." He muttered into your hair.

"Yes.."

Jisung coughed loudly, earning a punch from Minho.

You laughed and pulled away from Changbin, arms open.

You shrieked as Chan bear hugged you and then everyone was on you.

As you laughed you saw someone in the hall shaking their head. You pulled away as the man started running.

And you took off running after him. Not this time. You wouldn't let him get away again. You jumped onto him just as he got to the stairs, he stumbled and fell with you. You felt the cold metal of a gun barrel brush your arm and bit down on his arm hard.

The gun fell away and skidded away. You hit the landing platform hard, your shoulder taking the brunt of the force before you rolled for the gun.

You thought about a statement you'd heard from your boss months ago. I trust you to handle it. Without being reckless.

Why were you reckless? Why did you never give a shit what happened as long as you caught the criminal..? Because you didn't care then. Because it was your job... your obligation.

What was it now?

The man grabbed your leg and dragged you towards him and you kicked his face hard.

You scrambled with your opportunity for the gun.

Your fingers wrapped around the grip, as the man dragged you back towards him..

and it all seemed to go in slow motion as the boys came down after you. And the man's hands wrapped around your throat. You held the gun to his head and shouted with the last of your breath as he squeezed your windpipe, "BANG!"

and you pulled the trigger.

17 years ago December 19th 2005..

"Shh, she might hear."

"The gifts are better down by the college anyway."

"Honey. You're being loud."

"Fine fine."

You heard them giggling before you poked your head outside your room. You watched your parents leaving the house. You smiled to yourself knowing they were going to buy Christmas gifts.

When the morning came and your parents weren't in their room, you became confused. In the snow, dressed in your pajamas and bunny slippers you went to your neighbors house to ask if they'd seen your parents.

The little old lady next door stared at you before the tears welled in her eyes, "You poor thing.."

You were only 5 when your parents died. You were only 5 when you learned what it meant to yearn for revenge. You'd spent all your years in the force since you were 17 trying to find the organization behind the bombs...

And you were today many years old when you learned revenge wasn't a liberating feeling.

"BANG!"

BANG!

The boys stared in shock as you pushed the man's body off of you and sat there. Changbin didn't hesitate to run and wrap his arms around you, examining your face before looking into your eyes.

"Y/n... y/nnie?"

And you passed out.

The past week had been a blur of appointments with press and a million other things.

It was Friday you finally got to lie down and breathe.

You were lying in bed staring at the ceiling when you got a call. You rolled over and answered the phone. Your boss's voice came to your ears.

"Good job, L/N. We're glad you could do it. We're booking your flight back to the US already."

"Sir-"

"You'll be receiving a promotion to a less risky position as a token of our gratitude."

Changbin entered your room and stared at you.

"I can't-" you tried.

"I have to admit I myself am shocked, L/N you've proved your reckless behavior is productive and I owe you-"

"SIR I QUIT!"

The other end of the line went quiet.

Changbin sat beside you and pulled you against him.

"I- I accomplished what I wanted. I'm pretty young still. I'll go to college. It's time I change careers."

Your boss was quiet on the other end of the line.

"Consider this my resignation letter. It was an honor. But i can't be reckless anymore."

The boys were poking their heads into your room now.

You looked at them all and smiled.

"I have something... some people..." You leaned against Changbin. "Someone... I want to keep living for."

"We'll send your pay for the case..." Your boss said softly. "I'm glad I met you L/N, it was an honor to have you in the force."

You lowered the phone and hung up.

"Soo....?" Minho said, looking at the others. "She's NOT going back to the US?"

"No Minho. I'm here to stay."

The boys cheered and jumped. You smiled slightly and looked at Changbin.

He leaned in and kissed you.

You blinked. Stunned.

Jisung jumped and held his hands out to Hyunjin "5000 PUT EM IN MY HAND! ALL OF YOU!"

You stared at them for a moment, "You were-"

"Green is green!" Jisung ran away cackling.

You laughed and shook your head. "I love you guys."

"I think you love me most." Changbin said and kissed your cheek.

"I love you just a little bit more than them."

He rolled his eyes as the others ran shouting about their money. "I love you."

You hadn't gotten the feeling you dreamed for in revenge but in them... in Changbin you found something more.

"STOP BEING LOVE BIRDS AND MAKE THEM GIVE ME MY MONEY!" Jisung shouted.

[ndconceptarchive]

Interview with Creators of the original Secrets Can Kill game

It's honestly a very interesting interview about the early days of HI and it includes some foreshadowing to Alibi in Ashes, Tomb of the Lost Queen, and Labyrinth of Lies. (There was also a mention of possibly remastering Message in a Haunted Mansion! Although that likely wasn't in development.)

The following is a transcript from a video titled, Interview with Creators of the original Secrets Can Kill game | Nancy Drew Games | HeR Interactive. Published Aug 20, 2010. It was created in promotion for Secrets Can Kill Remastered, as seen in the video description:

"We interview Megan, Kris, Robert, and Tim about their experiences making the original version of Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill from 12 years ago! They share funny stories and give a few little known clues about the game. It's a look back at how far Her Interactive has come and where it's going with the upcoming release of Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill REMASTERED (PC/Mac, available on August 24)."

Interviewer: Hello, so we are here today, with four of the original people who worked on the very first Secrets Can Kill game: 

Megan, our CEO, what were you back when we made Secrets Can Kill?

Megan: I was the Creative Director when I got hired in 1997, and then Robert was…

Robert: The Program Manager. I had been recruited from the accounting department in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Kris: I’m Kris, I was hired as a 2D artist and I came in to work with Tim…

Tim: who was also a contract artist and then, I kind of took over the 3D part at the very tail end of the project. 

Interviewer: Did you know anything about creating games when you first started on Secrets Kill? 

Robert: I did a little. I made games when I was a kid. When I got my first computer, all I did was make games for it, especially adventure-type of text-based games, so I knew just a little, but definitely not enough. I was really surprised and overwhelmed by the amount of work that it took to make a computer game.

Kris: I used to do computer day camps with my father who taught us to to program to program games in BASIC. But beyond, that no. 

Tim: Oh I played a lot of computer games, but mainly board games was my big thing. I had a little board gaming group that would just play tons of a lot of German board games. And I think that helped because a lot of those mechanics and bargains translate over into, you know, mini games and puzzles and stuff. So that was fun, but I had no design experience or [anything] at that point. 

Interviewer: So what is the biggest challenge that you guys had to face when you were making Secrets Can Kill?

Megan: Well, first, we were a new team and half the team was in Albuquerque. Then it shifted and I guess everyone moved to Bellevue by the end of the game, really, we were all learning how to work as a team and to kind of create this game around Nancy Drew. So communication I think was probably the hardest. 

Robert: yeah, because there there was a lot of assets, but not a lot of documentation to go with.

Megan: No documentation. 

Robert: Yeah, I remember you, you brought down your, the art director at that time, Laura Henion, to Albuquerque so we could all meet. 

Tim: I think the hardest part was just finishing it. It went really long, much longer than we have [now]. I mean, we got it down to a science now. 

I remember [that] I would take my work home. [I would] then get up at like 3:00 in the morning and start another render on the computer, then go back to bed and get up another half hour and check it and make some tweaks and keep running. I was doing that almost every night it seems for a while there just to get it done. 

Kris: That's really true. There were three of us in the art department at that time- counting Laura the art director. So it was a big push at the end to get work finished. That was a challenge. 

Megan: I think you know, communication was the biggest challenge, but the good part was that everybody was so excited and enthusiastic and passionate. It didn't seem to matter what obstacle came up, because we just figured out a way to overcome it. So there's a lot of trial and error in the first game. 

Interviewer: What is something funny or memorable that you remember from the process when you made that first game? 

Robert: So remember we just had a recorder, a voice recorder. So we thought, let's make silly, silly voicemail messages when you would call different places like Maxines or Aunt Eloise. So we all gathered around the microphone and and just add libbed and it was really funny. 

Tim: When I was just basically just kind of an art assitant and helping Laura, the art director, and I just came in and sat down and started doing some work and I heard some rough rustling going on. What's going on? And I looked behind me and Glenn, who was our contract 3D artist at the time (three years at the time) came out of a sleeping bag from underneath his desk.

Interviewer: Kris, do you have any memories? 

Kris: I remember the marketing at the end. When we finished the game, Megan gave me a huge stack of cell sheets to take with me to spread around town. And I remember I was going to visit my family back east, so I was supposed to take them across the country and spread them around. 

And so there was really some guerrilla marketing that went on at that point.

Interviewer: Come a long way for sure. Say, what do you think of the original Secrets Can Kill now that's been 12 years since you've made it?

Robert: It's always, it was, it's very, it was very surprising to replay it when we're when we're looking at it to remaster Master. I mean, it's just it's so much more different. It was shorter. The storyline wasn’t as as intricate as our current ones. The puzzles were pretty primitive and I think there was only like. I don't know, like 7 inventory objects. Now we have at least 30. 

Tim: We also kind of approach it little differently. It was I think the only game where we hid these hidden messages all throughout the game that had really. That we're really outside of Nancy's world and universe. It was just like like the designer hitting hiding messages in there maybe about the game. 

But it was, you know, if you look at different book spine titles in the library, you could actually, spell out a sentence or something that that might say something, mysterious.

Megan: Meaningful? Tim: But it was like, if you were actually a player in the world, you’d be like, “where did that come from?” So we kind of changed our design tactic on that later on, but that was the one game where we did kind of funny things like that.

Kris: A player wouldn’t notice, but a lot of the articles were written by our family members. Or you know, some of the photos in the game, like for example, in the student dome where Hal Tanaka sits, there's the bulletin board for student of the Month.

Tim: That's where Connie was at. 

Kris: Oh, it’s where Connie is. And so that's, you know, pictures of ourselves and our friends and family. 

Interviewer: What kind of other things did you put in there that you don't think our fans would necessarily have picked up on playing through the games that you guys hid in there?

Robert: Ohh, I remember in the opening cinematic Darrell does that, [pulls his ear] which is an old Carol Burnett move to say “hi Mom!”.

Tim: My son Sam is in the teacher's lounge, he’s in a photo, and he was like a year or two years old and now he's like a grown man, you know, it feels like (he's like 13 now). 

Megan: So I can't remember if that's the one my nieces were in, but when I told them [that they were in a game] they said, “do we talk when you press on us?” And I said “no, maybe in the next game.” 

So what was really neat was when we got together with girls to have them play games at that time to see what they thought about Nancy Drew and games in general. 

And girls didn't really play games back then. And so their feedback actually helped us to improve on existing gameplay rather than just perpetuate stereotypes. 

They would say, when they're playing a shooter, “you know, we don't mind shooting, however, we prefer a reason before we shoot. Like if they were beating up my little sister, I'd be all over them.” So they really helped us with their input in terms of making the games, that that they wanted. 

Interviewer: What are some of the changes that you think have made the biggest impact in the newer games versus the original one? 

Tim: I think the design, the tighter design, kind of the overarching puzzle that is woven into the game is very compelling and interesting to follow for this new game. I think. 

The old game was much more open and just kind of, I mean, you could explore, but. There was a little bit more wandering and trying to piece together what was going on. This one, it's just more cleverly put together. Also the graphics. I think make a big difference with the new lighting and just a little bit updated the 3D characters definitely is a huge difference. 

Robert: Something the players won’t notice is that we now use Lua rather than our proprietary scripting language. It was horrendous. Very 20th century, so even though that doesn't affect the players, it really affected us and made it much more easy to put the the games together.

Kris: I feel really nostalgic playing this game going back but as far as the fun factor is concerned, I really liked that the arcade-style mini-games are now included

Interviewer: Barnacle Blast!

Kris: Yeah. 

Megan: I remember when we were on our first or second game people would say so what are you gonna do after that i mean nobody's gonna play a third Nancy Drew game.

Interviewer: Did you imagine that you guys would be still making these games 23 games later? 

Everyone: No [visibly shaking heads]

Tim: It’s pretty incredible just to think about. Every once in a while I’ll just pull up the codes and stuff because I can’t keep track of which games are in what order anymore. I’ll just look through this list and think “I’ve been here for all of these.” It’s crazy. I mean, it’s something I’m really prud of, that we’ve been able to last that long and create just this wonderful collection.

Megan: I think there’s just the team that you know, that we had all these years. Everyone is so talented and creative. There’s this creative collaboration from the beginning where everybody feels comfortable to add their ideas to the mix. 

Robert: The sky’s the limit for Nancy Drew. There’s so many stories you can tell, so many places you can go, so many people you can meet. It’s fun reinventing Nancy Drew for other platforms as well.

Tim: We get feedback all the time from players who are like “I really wanna see Nancy go to Egypt or to Greece” and we 

Megan: We’re all storytellers. We all come from very different backgrounds. Math, architecture, film, art, but we all love to tell a story. And in these Nancy Drew games, there’s a weave of fact and fiction. And it’s a lot of meaningful content. Historical references and characters, cultural discovery, you learn about the folklore. You learn, but you’re having so much fun you don’t even realize. 

Interviewer: What mystery would you like to see Nancy Drew solve in the future now that we’re talking about how the sky’s the limit? Robert: I actually liked going back to Secrets Can Kill. And I kind of wanna do some retro stuff. So I wouldn't mind going back to like Haunted Mansion and maybe something was left unfound. 

Kris: I might like to see Nancy go to Thailand so we could showcase the architecture of Thailand.

Tim: So many great characters.  some of these secondary characters that you never see like Krolmeister and Sonny Joon and all these people that have kind of built up this universe. It's it's great to be able to go back and and draw from some of that and create more content from that. 

Megan: Traveling just to different countries. I think that's so interesting. Egypt would be fascinating. 

Robert: I think it'd be also fun to take her back home. You know, we we haven't explored River Heights and there's just so much there too and this just wide geography of River Heights. It would be fun to look at. 

Interviewer: Do you guys have anything else that you'd like our fans to know about the new version of Secrets Can Kill Remastered? 

Robert: There's clues everywhere so…

[laughter from everyone] 

Megan: What made you give that away! 

Interviewer: We hope to see a lot more games from you guys.  Megan & the others: thank you, Thank you! We hope you enjoyed this.

[iamalasagnagirl]

PART 2 OF WLW BOOKS PLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, let's see, I'll start with two of my new fav books ever, both written by Debra Flores:

1. One Day You'll Leave Me

Karen is an ordinary woman living an ordinary life in the year 2010. Until the day she hears an unfamiliar song that moves her in a way she cannot understand or explain.

Judy Paige was also an ordinary young woman, who lived an ordinary life, up until the day she sang one of her songs at a show in the year 1964.

When Karen's curiosity about the song turns into an obsession about the woman who sang it, she's drawn to the town in which Judy Paige was born and raised.

It's there that Karen is approached by a man who asks Karen a simple question. "Would you like to meet her?" The question is simple, but the answer is not.

2. The Library by the River

It was an ordinary day in March of 1985, the day Beth walked in to a library and met Sarah, the woman that would change her life forever.

At a time when the AIDS epidemic was well underway, when society still labeled homosexuality as an illness, something to be hidden away, whispered about, but not talked about aloud, there were certainly obstacles in their way.

Even so, obstacles or not, Beth is twenty and Sarah is twenty-eight, they're young, and in love, they can handle whatever comes their way. Or so they think. The one thing they may not be able to overcome is Kim. Beth's jealous best friend. She doesn't see Sarah the way Beth does, far from it, she sees her as nothing more than a problem that needs to be taken care of. An impediment to the relationship she knows she and Beth are meant to have. Volatile and hot-headed, yes, but is Kim actually capable of tearing them apart? And at what cost?

Kiss of Seduction by Rawnie Sabor

Evie is trapped. Held captive by the vampiric Court of Night, she has experienced nothing but pain and terror for over a year.

Natalya is the second-in-command of the Chicago-based Court of Chains. She is among a succubus. A being of pure Sin, whose touch is agony and whose kiss is a death sentence.

This book is an emotionally charged, sapphic love story of healing through trauma, reclaiming yourself after tragedy, and trusting another to catch you when you fall.

Meet me in Berlin by Samantha L. Valentine

"If we lose each other, then we’ll come back to this spot, on this day, at this time, every year until we find each other."

But how do you find someone from the other side of the world when you only know their first name, and the only plan you made to reunite was to meet in a Berlin park in late August at 6 pm, eleven years ago?

The Ride of Her Life by Jennifer Dugan

Molly dreams of starting her own wedding planning company when she inherits a run-down, struggling horse barn, courtesy of her late aunt.

But maybe — if she can sell the land, the profits could be the small-business seed money miracle she’s been waiting for.

The real snag in her plan is Shani. Judgmental, grouchy Shani, who thinks she’s so morally superior because she hasn’t given up on the crumbling barn while Molly wants to “destroy” everything her aunt built; who’s really good with the horses, and always comes whenever Molly calls her in a panic; and is actually kind of thoughtful, and obnoxiously hot, and has Shani become an entirely different kind of problem? One Molly can’t possibly solve, no matter how much her heart wants to?

For Love or Scandal by J.J. Arias

Laney Menendez, a once-celebrated Hollywood director, has a chance at a comeback. The catch? She must first marry her brother’s soap-star boyfriend to stop him from being outed by a tabloid.

For Laney, the lavish fake wedding is meant to be all business, until she meets the wedding planner, Jennifer Acosta.

Their attraction is instant and undeniable. As Laney and Jennifer work closely planning the wedding, stolen moments stoke the flames of a passion too powerful to resist.

Immerse yourself in this steamy tale where fantasy and reality entwine. Love makes its own rules, and for Laney and Jennifer, the fake wedding of the year may just be the start of something real.

Before You Were Mine by Heidi Lowe

After the intercity bus she's traveling on crashes into a bridge, Abigail wakes up in a hospital in Utah with no memory of who she is.

Unsure of when, or even if, her memory will return, she settles into her new life in Oakwood, where she meets Tiffany, a nurse she befriends while hospitalized. Abby knows it would be unwise to get involved with someone while her past is still a blur, so she tries to ignore her growing feelings for the beautiful woman. But as the two grow closer, and things get serious between them, Abby is finally ready to put her unknown past to bed... Which might be a problem for James, her husband of two years.

Graceless by Ruby Landers (book Two of the Grace Notes Trilogy)

Savannah Grace is on top of the world when her younger sister Cassidy shows up on her doorstep with one plan and one plan only: for her sister to turn her into a star.

Savannah’s nanny Lane has grown all the way up, from a cute punk kid to a classic handsome heartbreaker, a long trail of short flings in their wake. They don’t have a second to waste on Cassidy, after all she’s rude, ignorant, hot-tempered and kind of a brat. It’s just… does their boss’s little sister have to be so hot? Of course things could always get worse.

Of course, Sarah Waters' books:

1. Fingersmith

Sue Trinder is an orphan, left as an infant in the care of Mrs. Sucksby, a "baby farmer," who raised her with unusual tenderness, as if Sue were her own.

Mrs. Sucksby’s household, with its fussy babies calmed with doses of gin, also hosts a transient family of petty thieves—fingersmiths—for whom this house in the heart of a mean London slum is home.

One day, the most beloved thief of all arrives—Gentleman carries with him an enticing proposition for Sue: If she wins a position as the maid to Maud Lilly, a naïve gentlewoman, and aids Gentleman in her seduction, then they will all share in Maud’s vast inheritance. Once the inheritance is secured, Maud will be disposed of—passed off as mad, and made to live out the rest of her days in a lunatic asylum.

With dreams of paying back the kindness of her adopted family, Sue agrees to the plan. Once in, however, Sue begins to pity her helpless mark and care for Maud Lilly in unexpected ways...But no one and nothing is as it seems in this Dickensian novel of thrills and reversals.

2. The paying guests

It is 1922 and in South London, in a genteel Camberwell villa—a large, silent house now bereft of brothers, husband, and even servants—life is about to be transformed, as impoverished widow Mrs. Wray and her spinster daughter, Frances, are obliged to take in lodgers.

With the arrival of Lilian and Leonard Barber, a modern young couple of the “clerk class,” the routines of the house will be shaken up in unexpected ways. Little do the Wrays know just how profoundly their new tenants will alter the course of Frances’s life—or, as passions mount and frustration gathers, how far-reaching, and how devastating, the disturbances will be

3. Affinity

An upper-class woman recovering from a suicide attempt, Margaret Prior has begun visiting the women’s ward of Millbank prison as part of her rehabilitative charity work. Amongst Millbank’s murderers and common thieves, Margaret finds herself increasingly fascinated by an apparently innocent inmate, the enigmatic spiritualist Selina Dawes. Selina was imprisoned after a séance she was conducting went horribly awry, leaving an elderly matron dead and a young woman deeply disturbed.

Margaret is soon drawn into a twilight world of ghosts and shadows, unruly spirits and unseemly passions, until she is at last driven to concoct a desperate plot to secure Selina’s freedom, and her own.

4. Tipping the velvet

Nan King is captivated by the music hall phenomenon Kitty Butler, a male impersonator extraordinaire treading the boards in Canterbury. Through a friend at the box office, Nan manages to visit all her shows and finally meet her heroine. Soon after, she becomes Kitty's dresser and the two head for the bright lights of Leicester Square where they begin a glittering career as music-hall stars in an all-singing and dancing double act.

At the same time, behind closed doors, they admit their attraction to each other and their affair begins.

Turbulence by E. J. Noyes

Stockbroker Isabelle Rhodes has a lot of money, a lot of trust issues, and a whole lot of reasons to believe her ex-girlfriend was right when she said that Isabelle sucked at relationships. With that accusation stuck in her head, Isabelle throws caution to the wind and dives into her first one-night stand. Checking that off her bucket list should be something to celebrate—except it turns out that the woman she just spent an earth-shattering night with is actually her newly hired company pilot, Audrey Graham.

Concerned about the stigma of workplace dalliances, Isabelle vows it can’t go further than the one night. Good plan—if not for an insistent libido and an even more persistent Audrey who conspires to break Isabelle’s resolve. Soon their no strings arrangement starts to feel a lot like dating, and Isabelle finds herself wanting more than just casual nights together

Fear Of Falling by Georgia Beers

Since she was fourteen, singer Sophie James has been an international superstar. With her career (and life) directed by her manager, Ray, she hasn’t had to worry about a thing for more than a decade. But when Ray has a heart attack, Sophie is left without the only real father figure she’s ever known and questioning everything she believes about what’s important to her.

Enter Dana Landon, the new manager sent by Sophie’s record company. Dana is gorgeous, sophisticated, and ready to do her job keeping Sophie’s career on track and making the record company money. Dana captures Sophie’s attention in ways Sophie never expected--and isn't ready for, but after so many years of being told what to do, Sophie’s ready to shake things up with some ideas of her own.

[sophietv]

Kaylor Timeline BEFORE VSFS 2013

It's a thread I did on my Twitter that I'll transfer here.

Once again, I used amazing Tumblr posts to do it. So I'll credit them as we go (If I need to do something else tell me, I'm new to the Tumblr etiquette).

So the official story is that Taylor and Karlie crossed path a couple of times without interacting and met for the first time at the Victoria Secret Fashion Show in 2013 ���

Well they met A LOT of times and interacted before actually 😅

Let's see the Timeline before that VSFS in 2013!

***I'll edit this post as I find new interactions (because I feel like I'll find a lot of them) I'll add this 🆕 beside new additions and dates when it was added at the end of the post.

First meeting!

So what motivated my thread in the first place is this Interview Taylor did in 2014 with Andrew Bevan of Teen Vogue.

Here's the YouTube Link (X)

But here's the most important part of that interview:

He is saying that he introduced Karlie and Emma Stone to Taylor!!

Ok we know that Taylor met Emma at the 2008 Young Hollywood Award.

I don't think though that he is talking about that event. Because he says that he congratulated her for her cover.

Taylor did two covers with Teen Vogue, one in 2009 and one in 2011.

Following the Timeline and everything it's most likely the March 2009 one:

EDIT:

Thanks to this Anon! (X)

A magazine cover is planned 2-8 months in advance, up to a year for major celebrities.

The Young Hollywood Award was on late April 2008 and the cover was for March 2009 so it make sense.

So it's most likely that Taylor met karlie for the first time at the same event she met Emma for the first time.

🆕 Really cute fact.

On the Cover of that magazine, Taylor wears a dress from the Calvin Klein Spring 2009 show. (X)

Guess who walked that runway??

Karlie! (X)

I exceeded the limit of picture so click on the (X) to see the posts.

Tommy Hilfiger spring 2010 collection:

Septembre 16th 2009 Taylor attends the Tommy Hilfiger Spring Show during New York Fashion Week. (X)

Karlie was there too! (X)

In this post, you can see videos of Taylor watching Karlie on the runway: (X)

Here's the YouTube video : (X)

🆕Met Gala 2010:

They were both at the Met Gala in 2010

🆕In Milan together

Although they were not at the same Fashion Show (that we know) Taylor and Karlie were in Milan at the same time during the Fashion Week.

Another interesting facts. This could explain the "1958" reference of Timeless:

Thanks to Izg on Twitter for giving me this!!

Roberto Cavalli 40th Anniversary Party:

Septembre 30th 2010

Taylor and Karlie attends the Roberto Cavalli 40th Anniversary party in Paris.

Met Gala 2011:

May 2nd 2011

Karlie and Taylor both attend the Met Gala:

This is also the first time that we have confirmation of an interaction between them:

Thanks to that amazing post! (X)

Karlie said in Teen Vogue that they joked about having a baking date.

Rodarte Spring 2012 fashion show:

Septembre 13th 2011

Taylor attend Rodarte Spring 2012 fashion show where Karlie walks.

Here's a link to the video (X)

Vogue Febuary 2012:

January 17th 2012

Taylor mentions Karlie in her Vogue interview: "I love Karlie Kloss! I Want to bake cookies with her!"

And this quote, made history.

Karlie answers the same day:

Vogue Fashion's Night Out:

August 2012

Thanks to this post (X)

Taylor and Karlie star in the same commercial about Vogue Fashion Night Out:

Thanks to @hairpinraindrop for the video

Karlie and Taylor were present at the event too on Septembre 6th 2012

Paris 2012:

Septembre 30th 2012

Karlie walks the runway for Jean-Paul Gauthier in Paris:

Taylor is in Paris at the same time to film the Begin Again MV:

Funny Koincidence(?), I went back and watch that MV again, and look at the opening scene!

The Love Lock Bridge!!!

Elie Saab Spring Summer 2013 show:

Octobre 3rd 2012

Taylor is still in Paris and attends The Paris Fashion Week (X) at a fashion show where I'm pretty sure Karlie walked (I'm still searching for photos/videos).

But we know that Karlie was at the Paris Fashion Week too! (Thanks Astra!)

Here's a video:

🆕Met Gala 2013

They were also both at the Met Gala in 2013. Wich was in May.

So there you have it! All of Kaylor interaction BEFORE the 2013 VSFS!

This explains the timing of it all.

Because they allegedly met at the 2013 Victoria Secret Fashion Show in Novembre.

But as we know, Taylor moved to New York because Karlie asked her:

Timestamp 1:23

And people believe that she moved there after their Big Sur trip in March 2014.

Actually. Back in January 2014, Taylor was already looking to buy an appartment near Karlie's:

And she actually bought her Tribeca oenthouse in February.

Thanks to Bigsurlor for this!!

So they definitly knew each other before 2013!

Edit August 19 2023: Met Gala 2010, Milan trip together and Met Gala 2013 and the appartment hunting

Edit August 27th 2023: the Calvin Klein Spring 2009 dress section

[zyxwl2015]

Some excerpts from the new Lando Norris biography

Although Lando was born into a rich family, his dad, Adam Norris, did not come from wealth himself. Adam's dad was a farmer & mum was a teacher. Adam has dyslexia and he was terrible at school and hated it. So he always has the mentality of working harder than anyone else to success

Lando and his brother Oli tried horse riding, quadbike and motorbike before eventually got into karting. Lando was 7 yo when he first started racing in karts

Adam was not willing to just buy the best equipment for his sons, instead he wanted to develop them. He approached Mark Berryman and Fraser Sheader in 2011 for help, Mark and Fraser has just founded ADD management in 2010 and their philosophy is on "developing and nurturing talents" rather than "just place them in teams", so they matched perfectly.

Mark on first meeting Lando: "for at least the first nine months he didn't listen to a word I said. "(😂😂) They were doing great with Oli because he was listening, but Lando just wasn't listening, but even then he's still winning races because he's really fast

Lando is the polar opposite now: he listens to everything Mark suggests. Brazil GP 2022 when Lando was on track, Mark texted Jon some suggestions, and Lando tried it straightaway. Out of Mark's students now, Lando is the best at "if you put something forward, he just does it".

Lando was so incredibly fast at that early age that people were convinced he/the team was cheating. One race when he was in the junior category, his lap time was so incredible that it would have put him in top 6 in the senior category

Lando had two crucial meetings in 2014, one was Jon Malvern, who's still his trainer to this day, the other was Trevor Carlin, who's the boss of the Carlin team, with which Lando competed from 2015 to 2018

Fraser approached Zak Brown in August 2016 to help bring some commercial values to ADD management. Zak at the time was the co-owner of United Autosports, a sports-car team. They agreed on a deal, and Zak then became part of the core Norris team together with Jon, Mark and Fraser. Little did they know Zak would soon became CEO of McLaren (😂)

February 2017. Charlotte Sefton was setting up a filming event on the Boulevard of MTC. She was making sure no one is on the Boulevard, tours was canceled, etc, apart from one guy "Lando Norris", who's a "VIP guest" and "it's top secret". Charlotte went "who's this guy?" and looked up on the Internet. (😂) Later that day she saw this shy kid got out of a Mini, said "hello" to her and walked to Zak's office. Days later Lando was confirmed as a junior driver for McLaren

(This book isn't as interesting as I initially thought, it's mostly "Norris raced in xxx series in year xxxx and did xyz"; but it does have a lot of quotes from people around him & some behind-the-scenes stories)

[yurimother]

Dark Fantasy Yuri Manga 'ROLL OVER AND DIE' Volume 4 Release in English

On Tuesday, Seven Seas Entertainment released the fourth volume of Sunao Minakata's manga adaptation of Kiki's dark fantasy Yuri series ROLL OVER AND DIE: I Will Fight for an Ordinary Life with My Love and Cursed Sword! (Omae Gotoki ga Maou ni Kateru to Omou na" to Gachizei ni Yuusha Party wo Tsuihou Sareta node, Outo de Kimama ni Kurashitai) The manga is available in English digitally and in paperback.

Based on the light novel of the same name, Roll Over and Die follows Flum Apricot, a hero born with the unique affinity "Reversal" that leaves her with zero stats across the board. When she is prophesized to join the hero's party and defeat the Demon Lord, Flum thinks she will only be a burden, and, unfortunately, some members of the party agree, leaving her betrayed and sold into slavery. However, in her darkest moment, Flum meets the timid Milkit, and, desperate to protect her and save her own life, she discovers the true nature of her power.

The publisher describes the fourth manga volume:

Flum has triumphed over Dein and thwarted his hostile takeover. With Milkit safe once again and her scars healed, Flum can finally remove Milkit's bandages and reveal the face of her beloved partner. Things take an abrupt turn, however, when a child without a face of their own arrives on Flum's doorstep, and the ghost of a defeated foe is revived by the Church of Origin. Just what sinister schemes are lurking behind their pious facade?

Author Kiki began posting Roll Over and Die as a webnovel on Shousetuska ni Narou in 2018. Micro Magazine acquired the series and began releasing it as light novels under the GC Novels imprint in July 2018. The light novels include illustrations by Kinta. The fourth and most recent volume was published in Japanese in 2020 and English in 2021. While Kiki said in 2021 that a fifth volume is coming, it was never released, and the series is considered stalled.

In December 2018, Micro Magazine began serializing a manga adaptation of the series on Comic Ride. The manga is illustrated by Sunao Minakata, best known as the artist for Akuma no Riddle: Riddle Story of Devil. The fifth collected volume was released in Japan in August. Seven Seas will release it in English on April 30, 2024.

Roll Over and Die is notable for its mix of Yuri and fantasy elements. It is one of several fantasy Yuri works, including I'm in Love with the Villainess and Sexiled, that began as a web novel in the late 2010s before being acquired as a light novel and later adapted into a manga. It has received praise for its storytelling and prose but garnered some criticism for its use of the video game stats trope, violence, and gore.

Christine Dashiell translates the manga into English, with lettering by Bambi Eloriaga-Amago & Roland Amago.

You can check out the fourth manga volume of Roll Over and Die today in English digitally and in paperback: https://amzn.to/3EIM47u

Reading official releases helps support creators and publishers. YuriMother makes a small affiliate commission from sales to help fund future coverage.

[cherrylng]

MUSE X MOVIE [STYLE Series #004 - Muse (August 2010)]

A love story between a vampire and a human, the Twilight series is having a huge ripple effect! The key to this film, which triggered the explosion of Muse's popularity in the US, is the author's ‘love for Muse’. Text by Naoto Mori

"I'd like to thank the talented musicians who inspired me, especially Muse, from whose songs the sentiments, scenes, and synopsis of this novel were born. Without their extraordinary talent, this novel would not exist."

These are the words of Stephenie Meyer, the American author of the Twilight series, the international bestselling teen romance novels about vampire boys and human girls (from the acknowledgements to the second novel in the series, New Moon). She is an avowed fanatic of Muse and is now a cheerleader for the cultural quota. Originally a housewife in Arizona, when she suddenly wrote her debut novel at the age of 30, she was inspired by the dreams she had and the songs of Muse and other popular rock bands. Their music functioned as a literal ‘muse’ (Greek goddess of the arts). Meyer herself wrote in her acknowledgements for the final film in the series, Breaking Dawn:

"Thank you, my beloved band. Muse is really an appropriate name, as you have been an important inspiration for this saga!"

For example, in Japan, Chika Umino's manga Hachimitsu to Clover was based on two albums, Hachimitsu by Spitz and Clover by Suga Shikao, and Meyer seems to have drawn inspiration for the colour and atmosphere of her world from the songs of Muse. On her official website, she presents a ‘playlist’ of songs that have specifically inspired her. You have to go directly to the site for more details, but some excerpts include ‘Time is Running Out’ from the first film in the series. In the second film, there's ‘Hyper Music’ and ‘Apocalypse Please’. The third album, Eclipse, has six songs, including ‘The Small Print’, ‘New Born’ and ‘Hysteria’, and is particularly Muse-intensive! The final album includes a cover of ‘Can't Take My Eyes Off You’ (Frankie Valli's 1967 hit), which is not included on the album. Incidentally, other bands that stand out are Coldplay, Travis, Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance…… and so on.

This playlist could be called an album of images of Twilight by the author Meyer, but Muse also participated in the soundtrack of the film adaptation series that started in 2008. The first film, Twilight, featured the song ‘Supermassive Black Hole’. At this point, Muse was still using pre-existing songs, but for the second film, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Muse provided a ‘New Moon Remix’ of ‘I Belong to You’. For the third film, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, they wrote a new song, ‘Neutron Star Collision (Love is Forever)’, which became the first single from the soundtrack. Finally, Meyer and Muse had an official collaboration through the film!

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse is directed by David Slade (a Brit, of course), who has been working on music clips for Muse for some time. He was chosen to direct the Twilight series, which shares a common motif with the Sam Raimi-produced vampire horror film 30 Days of Night, which was a No.1 hit in the US. The Muse-Meyer-Slade connection, then, is completely predestined. In this sense, the film version of Eclipse, which brought their creative meeting to fruition, may be called a monumental film.

Slade's clip for Bliss, shot long before his directorial debut, had the feel of a sci-fi short film starring Matthew Bellamy, but the Muse clips shot by other directors are also filled with a magnificent and fantastical sense of beauty. Muse's sound world must have a tremendous power to evoke images for creators of film and literature. For example, the clip for ‘New Born’ was also directed by Slade, and the song was used so memorably in the ending of the 2003 French splatter horror film ‘Haute Tension/High Tension’ that it was the talk of the town among film buffs at the time.

Now, it's time for a delusional analysis. Why is Meyer so firmly attracted to Muse? What is the connection between Twilight, their music, and their creations?

The following quote from Meyer may help to decipher this. In an interview published on the official website of the Japanese edition of Twilight by Village Books, she was asked, "Do you read other vampire novels?" She replied: "No, I've actually never read any vampire novels. (It's the same) with films."

Yes, Twilight can be categorised as a gothic horror genre, but it is not a heavyweight, authentic one. It is based on a Romeo and Juliet-type boy-meets-girl story, to which the vampire legend has been introduced as a sweet European taste. The ideal balance of romantic and gothic flavours is the sound world created by Muse in Meyer's mind.

In line with the Twilight story, Meyer is the American ‘normal girl’ heroine Bella and Muse is the ‘ideal prince’ Edward from a foreign country (England). Their music and characters (mainly Matthew) provide the ‘eternal maidens’, symbolised by Meyer, with a kind of royal shoujo manga fantasy, just as Queen did in the 1970s.

One last little tidbit, by the way. Here's an interesting remark from Robert Pattinson, the pretty boy actor who plays Edward in the film. He wants Gus Van Sant, the director behind ‘My Own Private Idaho’ and ‘Elephant’, to direct the final film, ‘Breaking Dawn’. Sullen!!! Well, the style of the series so far will be too artistic to stand out, but it's likely to produce a standout masterpiece. I'd love to see it!

In the first film, ‘Twilight’, ‘Supermassive Black Hole’ is played during a baseball game between vampire Edward, played by Robert Pattinson, and his family. Vampires, who never age, fly up and down the mountain.

For the second film, ‘New Moon/Twilight Saga’, Muse provided the ‘New Moon Mix’ of ‘I Belong to You’. Unfortunately, it is only used in the film for a short time, when Bella is seen off by her father and gets into the car, so check it out carefully!

At the suggestion of director Catherine Hardwicke, Ms Stephenie Meyer, the author of the original novel, also makes a cameo appearance in Twilight! She plays a customer at the diner where Bella goes with her father and orders a vegetarian sandwich. She is only in the film for a brief moment, so check it out!

The original series of four books, Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn, which sold explosively. Acknowledgements by Stephenie Meyer can be found here. The original Japanese translation is available from Village Books, translated by Ami Obara.

‘Lords of Dogtown’ Sony Pictures Entertainment

Directed and executive produced by Catherine Hardwicke, director of Twilight: First Love, this is the true story of the ‘Z-Boys’ who revolutionised skateboarding in the 1970s in Venice Beach, aka Dogtown, on the west coast of the USA. The film stars Emile Hirsch and also features the late Heath Ledger.

‘The Golden Compass’ Happinet

The first solo fantasy film from Chris Weitz, director of New Moon, tells the story of Lyra, a 12-year-old girl who, after the disappearance of her best friend and uncle, sets off on a journey with a compass that shows her the truth and her alter ego dæmon. Based on a fantasy novel by British children's author Philip Pullman.

‘Hard Candy’ Geneon Entertainment

In this first feature from David Slade (Eclipse), 32-year-old photographer Jeff brings home Haley, a 14-year-old girl he met on a dating website, only to have her punish him for it. This thriller was inspired by the Japanese ‘oyaji-hunting’. Slade's fresh sense of imagery is on full display.

‘30 Days Of Night’ Pony Canyon

Vampire action film directed by David Slade, which debuted at No. 1 in the US. The film depicts an epic battle between a group of vampires who attack a town where the sun doesn't rise for 30 days, and a young sheriff played by Josh Hartnett. Based on a comic book by Steve Niles (written) & John Templesmith (illustrated).

‘High Tension’ Asmik

An extremely brutal, bloody splatter movie from the director of French horror hopeful Alexandre Azizi comes HIGH TENSION. When a schoolgirl leaves the city to visit her best friend's family home, she sees a chainsaw-wielding killer slaughtering the family and stands up to save her best friend, but what follows has surprising consequences……

‘My Own Private Idaho’ Kadokawa Pictures

One of Gus Van Sant's best-known films, in which Mike, a narcoleptic played by the late River Phoenix, and Scott, a man of wealth played by Keanu Reeves, who both make a living as male prostitutes, embark on a journey in search of their identities. His latest film, Restless (2011), also stars Japan's Ryo Kase.

‘Hyper Music’ A simple piece of work, with dynamic camerawork capturing the aggressive performance scenes of the three musicians. I sigh at the power of how they disappear at full speed towards the end.

‘Feeling Good’ Taken on set at the same time as ‘Hyper Music’, which became both A-sides.The contrast between the monstrously distorted faces of the people and the performance amidst the dancing flower petals is typical of Slade.

‘Bliss’ A spectacular piece in which Chris and Dom watch Matthew fall through a hole in a huge structure, like a future space station, to nowhere. Truly a Muse!

‘New Born’ This is one of Slade's best efforts, made on a tight budget and in a tight time frame. Filmed in Prague, the scenes of the three performing under the control of the girl's psychic powers are powerful.

Translator's Notes: I never watched the movies but I have read all of the Twilight books. I was a teenager back then who voraciously read through any books just out of that need to get through the boring tedium of school. It was an okay-ish read for the first 3 books, up until I finally reached Breaking Dawn. And honestly? The last book would've been better off never having that subplot about Jacob and Esme. Even teenage Cherry read that whole subplot and went "WTF????" It was just that memorably messed up and I don't even know how the film cast even powered through that part of the story.

Also, I wasn't surprised by My Chemical Romance being part of Meyer's playlist. What I didn't expect was that Coldplay was included as well. So... I guess if Meyer had liked Coldplay far more, who she dedicated the books to and the story itself would've carried very, very different contexts and plots????

[kimmiessimmies]

Sweet Beginnings Tag

This tag is all about looking at your past. All you need to do is to find one of the first screenshots you ever took (preferably also published), and post it beside the recent one! And tell everybody when you took that first picture! Oh, and don’t forget to tag your posts! #sweet beginnings tag.

Thank you @hancyan, @greenplumbboblover, @nocturnalazure and @eljeebee for tagging me in this.

I have to be honest though, seeing this Sweet Beginnings Tag going round has been bringing out my insecurities. I see people posting their 2010's stuff saying "Eww!", "Cringe!", "OMG, look at this puddingface!", "The lighting is horrible!" and "What was I thinking with that camera angle?!" Meanwhile I'm sitting here looking at these pictures they deem to be such an embarrassment and all I think is "Umm, that's better than what I currently do... So if that's all so disgusting, what does that say about (your opinion on) my stuff?"

But I will play! I love looking back! I know what everyone is expecting is a huge difference between a Sim created in the 2010s and one created now, but guess what, peeps; the Sims that were the centre of my Sim-universe back then are the same ones still going strong today. I stick with my babies foreverrrrr. I also will not say, "Oh, look what an embarrassment I was back then." What I will say, though, is there was a time when I didn't know turning off headline effects was an option. See for yourself:

September 2012

This is The Prom of 03, one of the first (non-)story posts. We see Dan and James, still the best cousin-friends ever, talking after James had just publicly broken up with Jill.

At that point, I posted to my WordPress blog and to The Sims Daily (I know I keep commenting this on everyone's posts, but I soooo miss the awesome atmosphere of the forums and to my darlings from the TSD days: I MISS YOU! I MISS US!).

However, aside from the picture above, I also managed to shoot the picture below by NOT posing anyone and just clicking at the right time. For the early days, that's quite the skill, I think! Especially when you realise I also didn't know how to use the tab camera mode yet.

September 2012

This is Ellie's mum Annabel meeting teacher Eva on Ellie's very first day of school. With Ellie standing by. Just using in-game interactions (not even Animator).

In April 2013, I came to Tumblr. At first, I mainly reblogged posts by my Daily friends and posted pictures of Honeycomb Valley and interiors. I feel tempted to reblog one of those full posts now. Should I?

After a few months, I started posting links to my (non-)stories on my blog, accompanied by some pictures to get a taste of the story and hopefully lure people to my WordPress blog. Funnily enough, one of those first pictures is my darling Sadie singing, which is the same thing I photographed today! :)

June 2013

Fun fact: This is the karaoke performance which landed Sadie her place as The Hot Wings female lead! Oh, how this moment would end up changing her life... Neither her nor me knew just how much by that point. Makes me all nostalgic to see her like this again.

By this point, I did know how to turn off headline effects and how to work the camera in tab mode, which already made a difference.

Unto the current stuff. Well, my absolute proudest pictures are these:

August 2023

Particularly because of the emotions they portray. Which were so on point for the story they were telling. Aww, my Joshua <3.

A lot of the credit for these goes to the pose creators though. In particularly @danjaley for her railing poses.

I will also share Singing Sadie again, even though I've shared this picture two times already, but I figured it would be fun to see in this post to compare her (and me) to the picture above.

October 2023

I do think I've grown over the years. No, I know I did. And I know even my current stuff isn't as shiny and polished and perfect as a lot of other stuff out there, but these are my babies and I love them just the way they are. :)

Tagging @simsaralove, @ice-creamforbreakfast, @wasset-aseskara, @missy-hissy, @danjaley. But feel free to ignore if you've already done this or simply don't feel like it.

[nextstopwonderland]

“It just made me want it more” - Video compilation of Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson’s meet cute ugly origin story, from their first match in Chillicothe, OH in 2007 to their August/September 2010 battles, intercut with Mox’s 2/17/2022 Dynamite promo.

[bentuckett1997]

Patti Yasutake has passed away.

09-06

Remembering Patti Yasutake, born September 6, 1953 and passed away August 5, 2024.

She appeared 16 times as Nurse Ogawa during the run of Star Trek: The Next Generation, as well as in Generations and First Contact.

In 1993, she also played Alyssa Ogawa in a Hallmark television commercial in North America where she is seen questioning the shipboard computer about the features of the USS Enterprise-D "Keepsake" ornament.

She started her acting career in the 1980's and was featured in episodes of T.J. Hooker (1985) and Scarecrow and Mrs. King (1985 and 1986).

In 1986 she was cast as Umeki Kazihiro in Ron Howard's drama Gung Ho.

She also played this part along with Scott Bakula, Stephen Lee, and Clint Howard in the following short lived television series Gung Ho (1986-1987).

Further television work includes episodes of Duet (1988), CBS Summer Playhouse (1988), Mr. Belvedere (1987 and 1989), Tales from the Crypt (1989), Sons and Daughters (1991), Murphy Brown (1991), Picket Fences (1992), Rhythm & Blues (1992), Murder One (1996), Living Single (1996), Dangerous Minds (1996), and Crisis Center (1997).

Throughout the 1990's, she was many times cast for television movies, often playing doctors or a nurse. Her credits include the drama Without Warning: The James Brady Story (1991), the crime drama Fatal Friendship (1991), the drama Blind Spot (1993), the action film Donato & Daughter (1993), the drama Lush Life (1993), the drama Abandoned and Deceived (1995), the drama The Road to Galveston (1996), the drama A Face to Kill for (1999), and the movie Incognito (1999).

Following her Trek connection, she had guest parts in episodes of Judging Amy (2000), HBO First Look (2000), ER (2003), She Spies (2004), Crossing Jordan (2004), Grey's Anatomy (2005), Bones (2005), Boston Legal (2006), Just Legal (2005 and 2006), The Unit (2007), Cold Case (2007), and FlashForward (2009).

More recently she played Mrs. Hong in the television drama Dad's Home (2010, with Beau Billingslea) and Judge Wilkerson in an episode of The Young and the Restless (2011).

She also reprised her part of Cathy Tao in the 2011 The Closer episode "Under Control" following her two previous guest parts in episodes in 2008 and 2009.

She made her film debut in Lesli Linka Glatter's Academy Award nomination short film Tales of Meeting and Parting in 1985.

For her next film, the 1988 drama The Wash, she received an Independent Spirit Award nomination in the category Best Supporting Female in 1989.

Further film credits include the action comedy Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (1992), the drama Dangerous Intentions (1995), the comedy Clockwatchers (1997), the comedy Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999), the comedy The L.A. Riot Spectacular (2005), and the crime drama The Coverup (2008).

She passed away after a long battle with cancer.

. #TodayInNerdHistory #September6 #pattieyasutake #alyssaogawa #startrek #TJHooker #ScarecrowAndMrsKing #GungHo #TalesFromTheCrypt #startrekthenextgeneration #StarTrekfirstcontact #StarTrekGenerations #Hallmark #Birthday #Cancer #News #OTD #FYP #Nerd .

[satoshi-mochida]

White Album: Memories like Falling Snow for PC launches August 4 worldwide

Gematsu Source

Romance visual novel White Album: Memories like Falling Snow will launch for PC via Steam on August 4 worldwide, publisher Shiravune announced. It will support English, Japanese, and Traditional Chinese language options.

White Album: Memories like Falling Snow first launched as White Album: Tsuzurareru Fuyu no Omoide for PlayStation 3 on June 24, 2010 in Japan. It is a remake of the original White Album, which launched on May 1, 1998. A PC version of the remake was released on March 30, 2012 in Japan.

Here is an overview of the game, via its Steam page:

About

The classic visual novel from Aquaplus that launched one of Japan’s most beloved franchises.

White Album is a story of love in many forms.

Toya Fuji is an ordinary college student but for one thing: His connection to the popular singer Yuki Morikawa.

That popular singer, you see, is his girlfriend… and the more popular she gets, the less time the two can spend together. Will they stay a couple, or will their ways part? As winter falls and the air grows colder, the two lay down new tracks in the album of their love…

This album will be as white as snow, and as poignant.

Prologue

Strains of a song drift on the cold winter wind, and outside a music shop, my feet come to a stop. The cathode-ray tubes of the monitor pipe in a picture and I stand here, on the other side, silently watching. On my way home from classes, amid the biting chill, she holds me rapt…

It’s been as ordinary as every other day of my life. Ordinary, that is, in every way except one. We’ve clung together just as always, even since her debut. At least so far.

She leads her extraordinary life, and I live my mediocre one. People meet, and they break up, and get all mixed up together, but the days spin by all the same.

[actuallysara]

MY 2024 IN BOOKS 📚, MOVIES 📺 AND TV SHOWS 💻

JANUARY

💻 Blackbird (2022)

📚 Heartstopper: Volume Five (2023)

📺 Bottoms (2023)

📚 If We Were Villains (2017)

📺 Maestro (2023)

📺 Luca (2021)

📚 Circe (2018)

📺 Firebird (2021)

📚 On A Quiet Street (2022)

📺 The Good Nurse (2021)

📚 The Five People You Meet in Heaven (2003)

📺 The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2023)

📚 I Feel Bad About My Neck (2005)

📺 Gifted (2017)

📺 To Catch a Killer (2023)

📚 First Lie Wins (2024)

💻 Skam Italia: Season 6 (2024)

📺 Wonka (2023)

📺 Joy Ride (2023)

💻 Queer Eye: Season 8 (2024)

📺 All Of Us Strangers (2024)

💻 Fleishman Is In Trouble (2022)

📺 Encanto (2021)

FEBRUARY

📚 The Mothers (2020)

📺 Past Lives (2023)

📺 Le Otto Montagne (2022)

📚 The American Roommate Experiment (2022)

📺 I, Tonya (2017)

📺 Midsommar (2019)

📺 Tenet (2020)

📚 The One (2016)

📺 Mean Girls (2024)

📺 The Holdovers (2023)

💻 True Detective: Season 4 (2024)

📺 Like Father (2018)

📚 The Quarry Girls (2022)

📺 Anatomy of A Fall (2023)

📺 Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (2022)

📚 Everyone On This Train Is A Suspect (2023)

MARCH

💻 Bad Sisters (2022)

📺 Poor Things (2023)

📚 None of This Is True (2023)

💻 Blood & Water: Season 4 (2024)

📺 Do Revenge (2022)

📚 The Last Time I Lied (2018)

📺 Lady Bird (2017)

📚 Final Girls (2017)

📺 Society of The Snow (2023)

📚 A Gentle Reminder (2021)

💻 Young Royals: Season 3 (2024)

💻 The Night Manager (2016)

APRIL

📚 Adelaide (2023)

📺 Dune: Part One (2021)

📺 Dune: Part Two (2024)

📚 The Good Samaritan (2017)

MAY

📚 What Lies Between Us (2020)

💻 Baby Reindeer (2024)

📚 La strana morte di Sir Lawrence Linwood (2022)

📚 Heracles' Bow (2012)

📺 Challengers (2024)

📚 A History of Wild Places (2021)

📺 The Idea of You (2024)

💻 Dead Boy Detectives (2024)

📺 Good Grief (2023)

💻 Abbott Elementary: Season 3 (2024)

📚 The Quiet Tenant (2023)

📚 Happy Place (2023)

JUNE

📚 The Pact (2021)

📺 American Fiction (2023)

💻 Prisma (2022)

📺 Dream Scenario (2023)

📚 The Teacher (2024)

💻 Bridgerton (2020)

📺 The Fall Guy (2024)

📚 The Passenger (2019)

📺 Fire Island (2021)

📺 My Policeman (2022)

💻 The Bear: Season 3 (2024)

JULY

💻 Crashing (2016)

📚 How To Solve Your Own Murder (2024)

📺 Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)

📺 Marriage Story (2019)

📺 Black Swan (2010)

📺 Foe (2023)

📺 Argylle (2024)

📺 I Am: Celine Dion (2024)

💻 After Life (2019)

📺 The Adam Project (2022)

📺 A Star Is Born (2018)

📚 The Reading List (2021)

📺 Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)

📺 I Am Legend (2007)

📚 Funny Story (2024)

📚 Listen For The Lie (2024)

AUGUST

📺 Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)

💻 Eric (2024)

📚 Tear Me Apart (2018)

💻 The Umbrella Academy: Season 4 (2024)

💻 Elite: Season 8 (2024)

💻 Interview With The Vampire (2022) 

📚 Ask for Andrea (2022)

📚 Il Castello Dei Destini Incrociati (1973)

💻 Mary & George (2024)

📺 Matt Rife: Lucid (2024)

📺 Kevin Hart: Zero F**ks Given (2020)

📺 Damsel (2024)

📺 Nobody (2021) 

💻 Queen Charlotte (2023)

SEPTEMBER

📚 The Pairing (2024)

💻 Dear Child (2023)

📚 The Only One Left (2023)

📺 Twisters (2024)

📺 Am I Ok? (2024)

💻 Our Flag Means Death (2022)

📚 Hemlock (2023)

📺 A Quiet Place: Day One (2024)

📚 The Guest (2024)

💻 The Queen's Gambit (2020)

💻 Big Mood (2024)

💻 Anthracite (2024)

📚 Keep It In The Family (2022)

💻 Nobody Wants This (2024)

📚 The Family Experiment (2024)

💻 Presumed Innocent (2024)

💻 Monster: Season 2 (2024)

OCTOBER

📚 Once There Were Wolves (2021)

💻 Heartstopper: Season 3 (2024)

📚 Look Closer (2022)

💻 Red Eye (2024)

📚 The God of The Woods (2024)

📚 Daughter of Mine (2024)

📚 The Only Survivors (2023)

📺 His Three Daughters (2024)

📚 The Push (2021)

💻 Sweetpea (2024)

📚 Never Lie (2022)

📚 Seeds Planted in Concrete (2015)

📚 The Butterfly Garden (2016)

📚 No Exit (2017)

📺 The Substance (2024)

📺 It's What's Inside (2024)

📺 King Richard (2021)

📺 Venom (2018)

📺 Woman Of The Hour (2024)

💻 Only Murders In The Building: Season 4

💻 Agatha All Along (2024)

NOVEMBER

📚 All The Colors Of The Dark (2024)

📺 Nightcrawler (2014)

💻 Dispatches From Elsewhere (2020)

📚 Hidden Pictures (2022)

💻 Outer Banks: Season 4 (2024)

📚 Jar of Hearts (2018)

📺 Speak No Evil (2024)

📚 Paperweight (2015)

💻 Hanno Ucciso L'uomo Ragno (2024)

📚 The Last Party (2024)

📚 The Drowning Woman (2023)

CURRENTLY:

💻 Westworld (2016) dnf

💻 Abbott Elementary: Season 4 (2024)

💻 911 Lone Star: Season 5 (2024)

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

SOMEbody finally told us... SHREK 5's release date.

Universal unleashes the long-awaited sequel on July 1, 2026...

The year the first SHREK movie turns 25, and also in a slot Universal typically reserved for Illumination movies... But that studio has MARIO 2 coming out in April of that year, so DreamWorks taking that prime slot for SHREK Freakin' 5 makes all the sense.

It's also, funnily enough, opening within a few weeks after TOY STORY 5... It'll be a repeat of 2010, when SHREK FOREVER AFTER proceeded TOY STORY 3 by about a few weeks...

DreamWorks currently refers to the movie as "SHREK 5", no fancy titling like 3 & 4. I wonder if that will change. Most of the post-Comcast acquisition DreamWorks movies swapped numerals for subtitles... Like HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD, THE BOSS BABY: FAMILY BUSINESS, etc. Only KUNG FU PANDA 4 kept in line with using numerals.

We even have our directors... Walt Dohrn, who played big roles in all the SHREK sequels (even voicing the 4th movie's villain, Rumplestiltskin) and directed on all three TROLLS movies, headlines with MINIONS: THE RISE OF GRU co-director Brad Ableson (who also a history with THE SIMPSONS). Good pairing, I'd say, for it's sure to be fun and wacky at the very least. A new spin on an old favorite.

Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz are confirmed to be back. Maybe Antonio Banderas as well, as Puss In Boots has been part of the core Shrek line-up since 2 and was seen sailing to Far, Far Away at the end of PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH. If not, this either takes place before the end of THE LAST WISH or the trio have left Far, Far Away for some reason. Maybe that sets up a grand union PUSS IN BOOTS 3/SHREK 6 thing? I dunno!

But all I know this, this thing is gonna make a SHIT TON of money. Might even make a play for the highest-earning animated movie record, currently held by CGI LION KING remake. It has virtually the whoooooole summer to itself. Like I know PAW PATROL 3 opens at the end of July 2026, but that's for preschoolers. SHREK 5 has all of that, and currently August and most of September... That's when Universal drops an undetermined animated movie...

(Edit: A little after the fact, I remembered that Disney's opening their live-action MOANA in mid-July of that year... I forgot for a reason, lol.)

I still suspect that that September '26 Universal animated movie will be the other DreamWorks movie for that year, a non-sequel. RONAN BOYLE, still? (Thing's probably toast at this point) Something hitherto unannounced? Or if it isn't DreamWorks, maybe that third LEGO MOVIE? Another Illumination? Christmas 2026 is currently open, maybe a 2nd Illumination movie for 2026 goes there. Could be anything... SING 3, BIG TREE, etc.

Anyways, SHREK 5 is gonna be a biggie either way. The last mainline SHREK movie, FOREVER AFTER, made $700m+ worldwide... And that was when the franchise's popularity was waning.

So... 2026... Looks pretty stacked...

AANG: THE LAST AIRBENDER

GOAT

THE CAT IN THE HAT

UNTITLED ORIGINAL PIXAR

UNTITLED MARIO MOVIE

TOY STORY 5

SHREK 5

PAW PATROL 3

UNTITLED UNIVERSAL ANIMATED RELEASE

UNTITLED MUTANT MAYHEM SEQUEL

UNTITLED DISNEY ANIMATION FILM, possibly FROZEN III

So far that's 11 theatrical release animated movies...

Curiously, next year only has... 7... DOG MAN, SMURFS, ELIO, BAD GUYS 2, GABBY'S DOLLHOUSE, ZOOTOPIA 2, and SEARCH FOR SQUAREPANTS. Animation strikes could play a part, too, maybe 2025 is a little scarce in anticipation of that? I couldn't tell ya, but it's unusually a little dry. A good chunk of movies are going straight to streaming that year, like K-POP: DEMON HUNTERS, IN YOUR DREAMS, and THE TWITS.

2026 looks to really make up for that.

Other movies in the works without dates could also round out 2026, like BEYOND THE SPIDER-VERSE, WBPA's MEET THE FLINTSTONES, the aforementioned third SING and LEGO movies, etc.

Big doin's, comin' up.