#drawing twins without actually just flipping the artwork is really hard

[written-on-the-trees]

Silver Linings In Winter Clouds - Machine Gun Kelly Fan Fiction

Prompt: Nativity Play (very, very loosely)

Warnings: None

Word Count: 2100 words (I know, okay, it got away from me)

Summary: High-school AU. Colson is almost one-hundred per-cent sure that there was no punishment worse than having to join the drama club for their Christmas play, even one of the other members is possibly the cutest girl he's ever seen...

Colson had thought he had experienced the worst of his school’s punishments for bad behavior, having been in detention almost every week since he could remember, but he had been wrong.

   So, so wrong.

   He stared in horror at the carnage unfolding in front of him, and wondered if the punishment for bailing on this punishment could really be any worse than what he was currently facing.

 Sure, he might get suspended or something…but he wasn’t really sure that was any worse than being forced to take part on the drama club’s Christmas play. His dad would absolutely flip his shit, but he’d be able to pick up some extra shifts at work, and he’d get out of the fucking nightmare that was this drama club bullshit.

 Colson was more than ready to take his chances, when Mr. Greene, the drama teacher, saw him frozen in the doorway to the practice room, and cheerfully called out to him:

   “Mr. Baker! So glad you could make it.”

   Too late to escape now.

   Unwilling to lose face by running (or even walking) away now everyone was looking at him, Colson curled his lip in disdain and stepped further into the room.

 He wasn’t a coward.

 Disgusted by all this theatre shit, but not a coward.

 It was exactly the kind of attitude they were expecting from him, so it wasn’t long before they were all going back to focusing on that they had been doing before Mr. Greene had drawn everyone’s attention to him. Knowing Greene, it was probably a deliberate way of irritating Colson - the guy was just like that - but unfortunately that didn’t mean Colson could avoid him. Greene was the only one who could sign off on Colson’s report that documented him actually being here…and he was also the only one who could give Colson a job to do, because Colson sure as hell wasn’t taking any initiative with this shit.

 The less effort he could put in, the better. It was bad enough that people were going to think he was one of the drama nerds (albeit unwillingly), he refused to give anyone even an inkling that he was enjoying or being proactive about being part of this.

 As it was, Greene sent him over to work with the group of kids working on the scenery, muttering something about putting his height to good use. Colson had never been so grateful to be a lanky motherfucker as he was right then, walking over to where four girls and two guys were leant over various bits of paper, arguing between themselves.

   “Hey…apparently I’m meant to be helping out over here.” Colson announced to get their attention, watching as all six of them looked up from the paper and had six different reactions.

   Brendan, always the drama queen, threw his hands up and stormed away while muttering about not wanting to deal with ‘the white trash kid in detention’. His twin sister, Ellie, smiled apologetically and went after him to calm him down. Willow looked a little nervous, which was understandable since the last time she’d seen him he had been kicking the shit out of her older brother. Cameron beamed friendlily and welcomed him to the team. Darren just smiled.

 And then there was Belle.

 Colson had to stop himself from staring as she smiled at him, the soft, somehow glowing expression one he’d never had directed at him before.

 She looked so gorgeous, standing there in her black denim dungarees and white t-shirt with the small splotch of pink paint on the shoulder and with the paint and ink stains on her hands, Colson felt like he almost swallowed his own tongue. She just looked so…soft, so sweet, like some kind of paint-stained Christmas angel.

 He was instantly in love with her.

   I’m so screwed…

      Being in regular contact with Belle was doing nothing to stop Colson feeling like he was doomed – because if their first meeting had been difficult, with Colson feeling like he was tripping over his words every time he spoke to her (although thankfully she seemed not to have notices his sudden incompetence when it came to speech), then the second was basically excruciating.

 The thing was, Belle was nice.

 Genuinely, altruistically, nice.

 Unlike Brendan, who sneered at Colson every time he spoke, or Willow and Darren who were still a bit jumpy around him, Belle always took time to not just say hello when he showed up, but actually ask how his day had been and then listen when he responded - however flippant his responses were.

 She laughed at his jokes, and shut Darren up when Colson saw a bit of scenery design so blatantly stupid he had to suggest it be changed - because even if he was going to be part of this fiasco, he wasn’t going to have his name associated with anything so dumb as the fake graffiti Brendan had drawn on the plans.

 Modern take on the Christmas Nativity scene or not, there was no need for that bullshit.

   Colson hadn’t really expected anyone to take his side, even when he explained why he didn’t like it, but then Belle had nodded and said: “That’s a fair point - what would you suggest we do instead?”

 “Like, speak to someone who maybe knows how to do that graffiti shit?” Colson asked.

 “I’m sure you have a whole list of degenerate friends to recommend - ” Brendan sneered, but Belle cut him off:

 “Great idea, Colson. I know exactly who to ask.”

      On the day of their third meeting, Belle walked into the room five minutes later than Colson, with a familiar face trailing after her.

 Dom was a kind-of friend of Colson’s in the same way he was a kind-of friend with everyone in this school; he just had one of those personalities. He went to the same parties as Colson and his friends, wrote stories that had him in good standing with the English Lit kids, and apparently spent a lot of his art classes working next to Belle.

 He also was well known for creating various pieces of artwork all over any walls he got get to without being seen. His fingers were constantly stained with spray paint.

   Colson was a little bit surprised to see him, but still happy to chat while the others were distracted: “Hey man, I didn’t know you got involved with this shit.”

 “I don’t, normally. Mr. Greene hates me.” Dom laughed loudly - and drawing a furious expression out of Greene: “But Belle’s sound, and she asked me to ‘consult’, so here I am.”

   Colson shouldn’t be surprised that other people thought Belle was a good person - or ‘sound’ as Dom put it - and, when he thought about it, he wasn’t.

 He just surprised at how in love he was with her after just two meetings.

   I’m so unbelievably screwed…

      After a week of planning sessions, Belle took Colson to the art cupboard to help her gather supplies for painting the scenery Willow and Cameron were currently drawing out back on the stage of the school theatre.

 He wasn’t much use; standing outside with a big cardboard box in his arms while Belle actually found everything they had been sent out to go and get, but Belle didn’t seem to mind all that much…

   “I’m just so glad I don’t have to lug it all back by myself, or with Darren.” she confided in him while putting some pots of brightly coloured paint in the box he was holding: “Don’t tell him I said it, but you’ve got a lot more muscles than he does.”

 Colson knew she was only being friendly…but that didn’t stop him from winking at her: “Thanks, I worked hard for them.”

 “And they’re very nice, too.” Belle laughed, clearly taking his response as a joke…but Colson didn’t mind her missing him flirting with her.

   He’d seen her looking at his arms.

 She hadn’t just been teasing.

 Colson wasn’t the only one

      On opening night, Colson was hanging out backstage, leaning against a wall and waiting for his cue to help move the scenery about on stage. They had to keep it down, as to not be heard over ‘Marine’ and ‘Joey’ dramatically bemoaning that there was no room at the inn – in rhyming couplets (Colson was seriously glad he hadn’t been put with the kids writing the script for this punishment, he might have actually punched someone), but it was still…alright.

 Brendan was still a dick, obviously, but Willow had warmed up enough to offer him some sour patch kids from the bag she, Ellie, Belle, and Cameron were sharing (which was more than she’d offered Brendan - which Colson was taking as a major win), and Belle was leaning against the wall next to him, dressed in a pair of black slacks and a black button-down shirt like the rest of them, with her chocolate-coloured hair smoothed into a sleek twist, and her skin free of paint.

 Honestly, Colson kind of missed the paint stains…but he had to admit he wasn’t ungrateful to be seeing the smokey eyeshadow and deep red lipstick she’d put on for when they went out on stage to take their bow after the play was over.

 After a month of spending anywhere between one and three hours a day with her, Colson could safely say he’d never wanted anyone more than he wanted Belle.

 She was…indescribable. Literally; he didn’t have all the words to describe her properly, and Colson prided himself on being eloquent. He adored everything about her: from the fact she was constantly sketching in a notebook just as he always had scraps of paper to write down anything he thought might sound good in a song, the way she was quick to laugh and even quicker to smile, and the fact that she was always willing to give someone a chance, no matter how disdainful they were when she met them.

 Yeah, he was talking about himself.

 Belle had been nice to him, even when he didn’t deserve it. Even when, to make sure everyone knew he was no coward, he’d acted like a dick.

 Well, Colson still wasn’t a coward…so tonight, after they’d all taken their bow and shit, he was going to ask Belle if she wanted to go out with him at some point over the Christmas break. Just the thought was terrifying, but if she noticed anything, she was kind enough not to mention it as they waited around backstage, or as they moved scenery as required, or when they went out and took their bow with the script writers, the kid who’d done the lighting and sound effects, the kids who’d make the costumes.

 She just…carried on making normal conversation, and didn’t seem to mind when Colson’s responses were a little halting and disjointed. She didn’t even say anything when they were heading out of the back of the auditorium after most of the audience had left, and Colson was trailing after her, feeling a little like a lost puppy…

 He felt like an idiot, so when she paused just before she was about to say goodbye, Colson blurted out:

   “Hey, Belle, I know we probably won’t be seeing each other much now my detention in theatre club is over, since if I stick around I might get kicked out for finally punching Brendan like he deserves, but I was wondering if…maybe you wanted to go out over winter break? Like, on a date?”

 Belle looked surprised for a few seconds, and Colson’s heart dropped…but then she grinned, fishing a pen out of her pocket and scrawling her number on the back of his hand, before leaning up to press her lips against his cheek: “I’d love to. Text me to work something out?”

 “I’d love to…” Colson echoed, feeling a little dazed from the kiss…but still overjoyed.

   Belle laughed gently, before ducking out when someone called for her.

 Colson waited a few seconds in the room, probably smiling like an idiot, before heading out too.

   Slim and Rook were waiting for him just outside the doors, the grins on the faces confirming that they had heard everything Colson and Belle had said, with Slim greeting Colson with a congratulatory grin: “So, bro, how do we sign up next year? I’m thinking I need a way to find me a hot girl…”

#The Trees' Christmas 2020 Writing Collection #The Trees Writes #Machine Gun Kelly imagine #Machine Gun Kelly fanfic #Machine Gun Kelly fan fic #Machine Gun Kelly fan fiction #MGK imagine #MGK fanfic #MGK fan fic #MGK fan fiction #Colson Baker imagine #Colson Baker fanfic #colson baker fan fic #Colson Baker fan fiction

[emptynarration]

AUs and Verses (Short Edition)

Here’s a collection of my favorite AUs and Verses! Hopefully a bit shorter and more easily understood uwu

[HERE’S THE LONG EDITION, WHICH INCLUDES A COUPLE MORE TINY VERSES!!! DO CHECK THIS OUT AS WELL if you’re interested]

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

Normal / Default Verse

[Here’s the story of how Author turned into Host!]

Author was very greedy. He wanted to become a literal god. His greed attracted an actual old god, who abused Author’s greed.

The old god, named Alden, forced Author to gouge his own eyes out.

After Author passed out, after mutilating himself, Alden “possessed” Author’s body. Normally, its omnipotence destroys human minds. But not Author’s.

Due to neither being able to overpower/destroy the other, they came to a compromise, and share the body between them. Their body was named “Host”, as it now hosts the old god together with Author.

Over time, they grew so intertwined, that they’re one very well working person, while also still being their own.

Twisted Minds AU

[Here are the Fanfics I wrote about the whole AU]

The egos all live in a manor together, everything was alright.

One day, the body Dark used rotted away, and got too hard to keep going; so he had to leave it. Without a human body containing the entity which is Dark, slowly seeped into the manor again, even though he tries his hardest to stay contained in what was once his office.

Due to his shell-less self, everyone was slowly changed. Emotions brought to extremes, personalities flipped, appearances growing inhuman, etc.

[Here’s a little post about the gist of it all]

Author was also affected, like everyone else. But, due to Dr Iplier wanting to use Author in an experiment, and things going sour for the writer, he was thrown “into” Dark. He nearly died. He was changed, his sight gone and powers changed.

This made him into Host. And Host, due to his powers, realized how wrong this reality is, and how fucked up it is. Thus breaking him out of the cycle of madness, as well as making him a terrified being.

Cursed AU

Set in a fantasy world, slightly medieval perhaps.

Author and Host are brothers. They live in a cabin in a forest, away from other people, happy with only themselves as company.

One day, someone Author angered tried to kill him. But instead of Author, Host was hit, and was quickly dying from a curse.

Author didn’t care when he was hit with a curse as well, angry, wanting to kill that woman, but Host dying in his arms took priority.

The curse Author was hit with was worse, though. It turned him into a sort of “undead” state. And to stay “healthy” and strong, he had to leech the life-force from other people. The touch of his bare skin does so.

He unintentionally quickened Host’s death.

Author was cursed to live forever with this curse, unable to die. Due to the strong connections between the brothers, as well as the circumstance of his death, Host is stuck as a ghost.

Host is technically bound to the cabin, but, Author wears the same slightly magical necklace that Host had. This makes Host able to go with Author, though not stray too far from him.

Teeny Twins AU

[Here is a collection of Fics I’m writing!]

All of the egos are a little younger than typically (Between 24-38 on average, outliers being Magnum, Dark, Wilford being older, and Host, Author being younger)

Author and Host are twins and live together in their cabin in the woods.

They know where the egos live and visit them quite often.

They have their respective powers, but don’t know their full extends.

Neither of them wants to be anything like a god or something alike; the thought alone makes them uncomfortable and even scared.

They are quite mysterious but also total rascals. Favorite past time: pranks. They’re best friends with the Jims and Bing due to that.

Author is more active, energetic, and reckless. Host is more quiet and thoughtful.

everything i wanted AU

[Here’s two little fics I wrote about it]

Host and Author are twins. They grew up very close, and were eventually taken in by Dark and Wilford.

Author was very very open to explore his own powers, always pushing and pushing and pushing.

Dark, with the excuse of fearing Author would be a danger to himself and especially others, banished Author into the void, where Host had also gotten hurt in the process.

Author sort of became one with the void, gaining strange weird powers. With them, he managed to escape the void -just in time to save his brother, who didn’t want to live without him.

Swap AU

Egos’ “roles” and sorta their powers being switched around!

Host is “swapped” with Dark.

He is monochrome. He wears a black trenchcoat and black tights, as well as knee-high black combat boots. He has a bright strand of hair, no eyes, and bandages around his eyes.

[Here’s some info about the AU and Host’s/Dr Iplier’s/Dark’s/Wilford’s backstory!]

He is called Darkiplier in this AU (pronounced Dark-eeplee-er? sorta french lol).

He talks in third person as a comfort mechanism.

He doesn’t really have a goal like normal Dark (getting revenge on Actor) but he takes care of the other egos and keeps them safe and in check.

He does his radio show still, but has no narrating powers.

Florist AU

[Here’s the main artwork for it]

Author is a very soft boy, and a florist.

He writes very dark and gruesome stories he publishes online in his free time.

He lives in a pretty much one room apartment right above his flower shop. He’s not very wealthy, but he survives.

He loves tattoos, but is shy about getting more than the one he already has (plus money is a slight problem).

Painter AU

[Here's some art for it]

A human AU! Every ego is a human

It's focused on Author, but Host also exists as his twin brother!

Author is a somewhat famous painter, but he doesn't really care about the money. He's super clumsy and ditzy, a whole himbo mess really. But he looks like a hot fashion model.

Author is more the traditional medium guy. Mainly painting, but also sculpting, pencil drawings, illustrations.

Host is more the digital artist. Mainly illustrations, but also some painting stuff, also uses 3D sculpting for art purposes. Probably works with video games, making art, doing some voice acting.

Wilford is one of Author's friends and a fashion designer. He recommends models (and friends) for Author. He drags Dark to their friend-meetings a lot.

So Dark's a singer. Just wanted to sing for fun, but somehow it turned into popularity (like Billie Eilish whoops)

So Eric is Dark's boyfrend and makes music with him. Plays piano. Sings a little but very shy to do so anywhere other than a little for Dark's songs. Too nervous to meet the gang but everyone knows from dark talking about Eric anyways

The Jims twins work mainly on the video game Host helps working on as well. They both do the writing, but only one of them also does programming. They eventually meet up with Host sometime after a lot of only online talking and somehow love happens eventually

Little Demon AU

Host is a demon, still called Host.

He is 7 inches tall.

He has dark purple horns and two tails, and no bandages, but keeps his eyes closed.

Looking into his eyes will cause the looker to be pulled into their own mind and be faced with their deepest and darkest fear.

Host will be able to see that and interact with the person there, but also leave them there alone to suffer.

He can “teleport” short distances, mostly through shadows.

Harpy AU

Host has no name he goes by, but will let anyone name him.

He is 8 inches tall.

He’s a brown thrasher harpy.

He has slightly darker skin (than Mark), short, like brown fuzz on his head resembling hair; white feathers with dark spots on his chest and hips down his thighs, where his legs then turn into bird’s feet; dark brown, almost black eyes. His wings have light brown feathers.

He mainly eats fruits, berries, nuts and insects.

He isn’t afraid to attack anything larger than him, going so far as to attack humans if he has to.

Mermaid AU (other versions depending on size!)

Host goes by the name of Host.

He had almost been caught once by humans, which resulted in the loss of his eyesight, and thick scars over his eyes.

His scales are golden. His fins are slightly see-through, and tipped green. His ears are fins. He has fins on his underarms. He has scales on his shoulders and arms.

He has scales that glow in the dark, and markings on his face which also glow in the dark (not visible unless glowing)

He’s a siren, and thus can speak and understand English.

Underwater mermaids communicate via clicking sounds (kinda like morse code, but different).

Human AU [Second Version]

Host is named Markus Barker. Sometimes uses Host as nickname.

He is either: Born blind (sclera/pupil milky).                       Blind due to a disease (Neuromyelitis Optica).

He lives on his own with his pets. He either:     Lives in his cabin in the forest.                       Lives on the outskirts of town with a garden.

He has an older brother (Arthur, world-wide known author).

He works on a rather popular podcast as main-narrator. He also either: Works at a radio station.                    Stays at home (financial help from his brother).

Can also go with human Author, the aforementioned brother of Host.

Both can also exist without brother.

Human Slave AU

Host is named Markus Barker. Host is his nickname though

He is either: Born blind (sclera/pupil milky).                       Got his eyes gouged out by an owner.

He had been sold as slave when he had been a young child (around 4 y/o?).

#the other is speaking #blog rules

[theriteofdance-blog]

Ka • Cirque du Soleil

Performance Details:

March 18, 2017 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

The experience for the performance of Ka really starts from the moment you begin lining up to enter the theatre. The men and women who work there by keeping the lines in order and checking tickets take on personas and characters that vary drastically. My personal encounters involved a rather buff and stoic-looking man who barked hilariously specific orders to those who were trying to figure out where the lines of entry were, and a greying man with a walking stick who was friendly but entirely kooky in his conversational topics (Which ranged from pointing out baldness in males who were waiting in the same line as myself to the history of helicopters and their resemblance to dragonflies). Each comment got a chorus of good-natured chuckles from those of us waiting in the line, and while at first it can be confusing, it became clear that these were not just workers. They were very good at acting and initiating conversation in their character’s mindset. 

Like I said, it becomes a performance experience almost as soon as you walk into the theatre lobby. 

Inside the actual theatre, the stage is staggering in its design and construction. It really makes your mouth gape in awe, and wonder what sort of show is about to unfold. Several people behind me, when I turned around, had stopped entirely in the middle of the walkway inside the theatre to openly marvel at the stage extensions that ran above our heads. As the show would progress, the magnitude of the staging would continually prove to be awe-inspiring. I think that this is one of the most prominent factors of the show itself, acrobatic amazing-ness aside. With rotating stage floors that spin and rearrange itself to provide a tilted or completely vertical position, it makes the actions of the performers atop it even more impressive. The skill necessary to flip, run, fall, twirl, jump, and fling off of a moving, tilted, or completely vertical stage is not something that many dancers (like myself) can even imagine doing. 

Returning to the performance, the show is described as being “the story of the coming of age of a young man and a young woman and their encounters with love, conflict and the duality of Ka”. The storyline is revealed throughout the performance, and it is done fairly well. The story is told in parts, where a scene will cut and the staging will switch around to move to a different character much like a book written in sequence through various points of view. 

A short summary of the story’s plot: A brother and sister seem to celebrate (the occasion seems unclear, were it not for the booming narrative voice that opens the show, declaring the occasion as being the twins’ coming of age celebration) in the midst of a great gathering of individuals. The position of everyone else in relation to the twins suggests to the audience that the twins are royalty. They are happy and carefree, until a band of hostile enemies appear and decimate the mood of festiveness. In the fight that ensues, the parents of the royal twins are killed. Despite trying to escape via boat together with their court, the twins themselves are separated; the male twin falls off the boat and is saved by the court jester, and the female twin with the caretaker and two male court valets wash up on the shoreline of a beach after the boat sinks. The twins each face their own set of challenges and build up experiences (including falling in love) that test their determination which culminates in an eventual reunion between brother and sister and a final battle against the enemies that threaten them and their loved ones. 

There is no spoken component to the storyline, though the performers do speak in what is assumed to be a made-up language when dialogue comes about. The real communication comes from the body gestures and facial expressions. We don’t know what the female twin is saying, but we can see her curious expression and careful steps forward toward the unfamiliar terrain she’s been exposed to. 

The costuming for this production was complex, and at times I felt that the design of some of the costumes could have been done differently so that the movements of the performers could be more clearly identified, specifically in the case of the performers who were supposed to be royalty or royal court members. Sometimes, for instance, the leg-tucked-into-chest flips that performers executed were almost hard to follow and appreciate because the costume would be too long and the only visible thing moving through the air were folds of fabric. 

I appreciated the stark difference in costuming between the royalty and royal court from the enemies because it made it simple to understand who was part of which side. A point I have to make because there have been shows in the past where strong distinctions were not made and the audience was constantly in a state of confusion trying to identify who was who when they could have been focusing on the movement and story. In all, however, the costumes were imagery-inspiring and certainly drew in the eye. My personal favorite was the Firefly Boy in his glitzy and sparkly nude body suit - who I like to refer to as the “glitzy Tarzan”.  

The show had an astounding musical score. In intense moments of complex choreographed fighting or thrashing aboard moving stage sets, the music was positively engulfing and prompted an almost physical reaction in my own heart to feel each deep drum strike or buzz with the enchanting male choral chanting. I admit, the more dramatic music was my favorite and I loved it so much that I absolutely had to buy a CD of the soundtrack as soon as I left the Ka theatre. 

Interestingly enough, the whole production seemed to me to gain much of its influence visually from the Eastern world. The Dragon that roared at the interest was sculpted and painted in much the same way one would see them portrayed in Chinese artwork, the face paint and mask design on many of the performers seemed to draw off of the art style of the Japanese, the royal costuming was reminiscent of robes worn by Eastern royalty, and the use of the little instrument by the main villain at the very start of the show to assumedly signal the beginning of the show had such a strong resemblance to Buddhist practice. Because of all this, I wondered if the title of the show ‘Ka’ was to highlight the theme of family in the show since the Cantonese word for family is Ka (家庭). 

The performers of this amazing show were brilliant, and can certainly be considered masters of their art. The aerial acrobats were a personal favorite, especially the scene in which the Sister Twin and Firefly Boy soared high above the stage together, landing gently on solid stage flooring to be playful and flirt innocently only to wow the crowd by flying up and over the audience. It was a scene that left the audience captivated, heads following the progress of the two contorting bodies through the air and gasping collectively when the Sister Twin latched on with her feet to the Firefly Boy dangling without holding on with arms or hands above the crowd. 

Another stand out scene, amongst the many that existed, was the ship scene in which the ship convincingly rocked to and fro violently in the midst of a stage actively lit to appear like a thunderstorm. It was about mid-scene that I realized that the ship was not moving mechanically, at least not completely, because it was being rocked by the weight of performers at each end of the ship like a giant see-saw. The job that these performers had almost slid past my radar since their ability to act and move the boat at the same time made me believe they were just as frenzied as all the other performers were. It truly was a spectacle, and one I will never forget. 

The production of Ka at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas is without a doubt a must-see event! It will thrill you, make you laugh, keep your level of alertness always at the max, and it will not leave you disappointed or underwhelmed. If you are a dancer like myself, the show will make you wish you could train harder so that one day you can join the world of Cirque Du Soleil and dazzle the audience the same way you were dazzled the night you stepped into the Ka Theatre. 

-Patricia Hernandez 

#Ka #cirque du soleil #performance critique #performance review #las vegas #mgmgrand #mgm grand #lasvegas